Deep beneath the bustling streets of Mumbai, in the sterile, windowless heart of the Department of Special Phenomena (DSP) headquarters, Meteoroid Man existed in a state between nightmare and reality. He floated in a massive containment cylinder filled with a dense, energy-dampening gel. Sensors monitored his every flicker of internal energy, his every muted, stony movement.
Dr. Bharat Maske, the man trapped inside the rock, was lost in a fog of sedatives and despair. His attempt to cure himself had failed catastrophically, leaving him weaker and more unstable than ever. Now, he was a prisoner, a specimen under the cold, analytical gaze of Agent Rao and her team of scientists.
Agent Rao saw him not as a man, but as a potential weapon and an unprecedented source of energy. "Subject M," as they called him, was too valuable to leave dormant. The directive from the top was clear: understand the power, control it, and if possible, replicate it.
The experiments began subtly. Small energy pulses designed to stimulate a reaction, tissue samples extracted with laser drills, attempts to communicate with the consciousness within the rock. Meteoroid Man remained largely unresponsive, his internal energy suppressed by the containment field.
But Rao was impatient. She needed results. She authorized more aggressive methods. They increased the power of the energy pulses, trying to force a reaction, to measure the limits of his power output.
Inside the containment cylinder, the man who was Dr. Maske felt each pulse like a physical blow. The energy wasn't just stimulating the meteoroid; it was aggravating the unstable bond, tearing at the fragile truce between the human mind and the alien rock. He felt the cold, ancient consciousness within him stir, not with purpose, but with a blind, primal rage against the constant prodding.
"Energy readings are spiking, Assistant Director," a scientist reported, his voice tight with nervousness as he watched the monitors. "The internal structure is becoming unstable."
"Maintain the pulse," Rao commanded, her eyes fixed on the containment cylinder. "We need to know the threshold."
They pushed too hard.
With a silent scream that resonated only in the mind, the bond between Dr. Maske and the meteoroid didn't just destabilize; it shattered. The human consciousness of the scientist, already weakened and despairing, was overwhelmed, consumed entirely by the raw, ancient, and now utterly enraged alien force. Dr. Bharat Maske was gone. Only Meteoroid Man remained.
The green light pulsing within the cracks of his rocky form exploded outwards. The energy-dampening gel vaporized instantly. The containment cylinder shattered like glass. Alarms shrieked throughout the facility.
Meteoroid Man stood free, no longer floating, but planted firmly on the lab floor. His glowing green eyes burned with a cold, absolute fury. He was no longer confused or in pain. He was pure, focused rage.
"CONTAINMENT BREACH!" someone screamed.
The DSP soldiers opened fire with their specialized energy weapons, beams of blue light slamming into Meteoroid Man's body. But he didn't even flinch. The attacks only seemed to make the green light within him burn brighter.
He raised his hands. Green energy gathered in his rocky palms, far more powerful than anything he had unleashed before. He fired. Not focused beams, but wide, devastating waves of pure destructive force. The energy blasts tore through the lab, vaporizing equipment, melting steel bulkheads, and instantly disintegrating the soldiers who stood in his path.
Agent Rao stared in horror as her containment protocols failed, as her elite soldiers were turned to ash. She drew her own sidearm, a standard-issue pistol that she knew was useless.
"All personnel, evacuate!" she yelled into her comm, even as the ceiling began to collapse around her. "Code Black! Subject M has breached containment! He is hostile! Lethal force authorized!"
Meteoroid Man turned his glowing green eyes towards her. He remembered her face. She was the one who had ordered the pain.
He didn't rush. He walked slowly, deliberately, towards her, each heavy footstep crushing the debris on the floor. Agent Rao stood her ground, firing her pistol uselessly against his impervious hide.
"You don't understand," she said, her voice shaking slightly but still firm. "We were trying to help you!"
Meteoroid Man stopped in front of her. The jagged crack that served as his mouth widened. "Help?" his voice rasped, colder and more alien than ever before. "You disturbed my sleep. You caused me pain. There is no help. There is only... silence."
He raised his hand, green energy crackling around his rocky fingers. Agent Rao closed her eyes.
The green light flared.
Minutes later, Meteoroid Man stood alone in the heart of the ruined, burning DSP headquarters. Everyone was dead. Agent Rao, the scientists, the soldiers – all silenced. The most secret and powerful defense organization in India had been broken from the inside out.
He looked around at the destruction he had wrought, but there was no satisfaction in his glowing green eyes. Only a cold emptiness. The experiments had burned away the last vestiges of Dr. Maske's humanity, leaving only the alien rock and its rage. His desire to become whole was gone, replaced by a new, simpler impulse: to destroy anything that caused him pain, anything that represented the noisy, fragile world he no longer belonged to.
[To be continued…]
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Author: Vansh Rahate
Editor: Vansh Rahate
Story by: Vansh Rahate
Under: Alaukika Studios