The underground lab was dim, lit only by a flickering holographic interface that floated mid-air. Rudra sat silently in his chair, his skull mask lying on the table beside him. Without it, he looked tired—too young to carry the weight of an entire system on his shoulders, yet too hardened to belong to a normal world.
He stared at the screen in front of him. Dozens of red dots blinked on the digital map.
"All corrupt officials, businessmen, and gang leaders connected to Project Bright Ashes..." he muttered.
A soft robotic voice responded from the speaker. It was Eva—his AI assistant.
"Targets marked. Would you like to prioritize based on cruelty rating or political impact?"
"Both," Rudra replied, eyes cold. "If I don't tear the rot out now, it'll grow again."
Just yesterday, he'd saved 48 children from a hidden lab posing as a school. But the cost? A viral news video that labeled him a terrorist. The man who saved lives was now the villain.
And yet… Rudra didn't blink.
He picked up the mask and put it back on.
The skull face lit up.
Elsewhere, at City Police HQ
ACP Meera Taneja slammed her palm on the table. "You're telling me the masked man saved all the children? And not a single casualty?"
The junior officer gulped. "Yes, ma'am. The footage we retrieved confirms it."
She leaned back, confused.
"This doesn't make sense," she whispered. "Every villain leaves blood. This one... left hope."
Her voice trailed off, but the idea lingered.
Was the Skull Mask… really a villain?
Back in the shadows
Rudra stepped into the darkness of the metro station, a briefcase in hand. He passed by beggars, ignored by most, but not by him.
He dropped small pouches of medicine and food near each one. No words. Just actions. He had his rules. Do good in the dark. Let the light take the blame.
He didn't wait for thanks.
He walked away—like a ghost.
Meanwhile, a new threat brewed.
In a luxury suite of a five-star hotel, a man in a velvet suit poured wine, watching the footage of Rudra on loop.
"I like him," the man said with a smile. "He's dangerous."
Another man beside him—tall, muscular, wearing sunglasses at night—asked, "Should I kill him?"
"No," Velvet-suit man replied. "Let's use him."
He turned the screen off and smirked. "Every devil has a price. Let's find his."
Midnight. Rooftop of City Tower.
Rudra looked over the city, the cold wind brushing against his coat.
"I never wanted to become this," he murmured.
Eva responded softly, "Then why continue?"
He was silent for a long time.
Then he answered, voice heavy with purpose.
"Because someone has to clean the blood—before it reaches the children."
He took a deep breath, adjusted his mask, and leapt off the edge.
The night swallowed him whole.
Inside an abandoned hospital, a child spoke to her mother.
"Maa, the Skull Man saved me," the girl whispered. "He looked scary, but he held my hand."
The mother cried silently, hugging her daughter.
Some called him a villain.
But to the forgotten, the abandoned, the crushed?
He was their hero in the shadows.
And he wasn't done yet.