"Hey, useless trash!"
The hallway echoed with laughter. Varun didn't look back. He kept walking, head down, heart racing. He had learned long ago that reacting only made things worse.
BANG!
A sharp shove sent him crashing into the lockers. Metal thudded, and his books tumbled from his arms, scattering across the floor.
"Did I say you could ignore me?" sneered Ronit, towering over him, his posse of followers already laughing.
Varun slowly picked up his books without saying a word. The pages were bent, the corners torn. He could hear the whispers.
"Pathetic."
"Look at him crawl."
"He's just a waste of space."
The bell rang. But even freedom from the classroom didn't free him from the insults. Another normal day.
Varun made his way through the corridors, silent and invisible. Teachers didn't care. Students pretended he didn't exist—until someone needed a target. Then suddenly, he was the center of attention.
But not for anything good.
That afternoon, as rain poured from a steel-grey sky, Varun walked home, backpack soaked, uniform clinging to his skin. The weight of water wasn't nearly as heavy as the weight in his chest.
He passed alleyways he usually avoided. Today, he didn't care. He wasn't afraid anymore. Just… numb.
He reached his apartment, a crumbling building on the edge of town. His father—well, he hadn't seen him in years. His mother had died when he was just a baby, a memory too faint to hold onto.
Home was quiet. Too quiet.
He dropped his bag and went to his tiny room. The walls were covered in old schematics, tech magazines, and posters of futuristic machines. He loved science. Loved building things no one else understood.
That night, the storm came.
Varun lay awake, staring at the ceiling, listening to the thunder. Each rumble echoed in his bones.
I wish I was stronger.
I wish I could make them stop.
I wish... I wasn't powerless.
The lamp on his desk flickered.
Then — BOOM!
A flash of light, white and searing, exploded through his window. It wasn't lightning. Not this time.
Varun sat up, heart pounding.
The air felt wrong. Heavy. Electric.
Then — pain.
It started in his chest, a shock that stole his breath. He clutched at his shirt, gasping, but the pain grew. Spread. Burned.
His vision blurred. Muscles tightened. Bones felt like they were breaking and rebuilding all at once.
And just when he thought he'd die —
Silence.
He collapsed back onto the bed, body trembling, lungs gasping for air.
Then he opened his eyes.
And the world didn't look the same.
The shadows seemed sharper. The air clearer. He could hear the soft hum of the fridge in the kitchen. A drip from the bathroom faucet. A car two blocks away.
His arms looked… different. Stronger. Veins glowing faintly under his skin.
Varun sat up slowly.
He felt like he could run a marathon. Lift a car. Smash through walls.
But most of all — he felt alive.
He looked at his hands, flexed his fingers.
What happened to me?
Somewhere deep inside, a voice whispered:
This is only the beginning.
And without knowing why, Varun smiled for the first time in months.
Tomorrow, school would be different.
Tomorrow, they would all see the new Varun.
And the battle… would begin.
But outside, in the dark alley across the street, a figure stood motionless. Watching.
He turned and vanished into the shadows, eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
The storm hadn't ended. It had only just begun.