Season 1 — Episode 4: "Steel and Starvation"
[Scene opens: Early dawn in the forest]
The mist hung low like a wounded ghost, curling around the edges of the forest as Surya trained relentlessly, his body battered and bruised. Sweat trickled down his face, mixing with dirt and dried blood. His breath was ragged, his arms trembling—but he didn't stop.
He screamed as he lifted logs twice his size, dropped into deep squats, lunged across uneven terrain, and sprinted until he collapsed. He climbed trees barefoot, letting the bark cut into his palms, then hung until his grip failed him.
> "One more… One more…!" he growled, teeth clenched.
Even when he fell, he forced himself up. Again. And again.
---After 3 weeks
[Cut to: Underground Refugee Basement – Present Day]
The basement was a graveyard of fading hope. Dim, flickering lights lit faces stained with hunger and despair. Time had become meaningless. Days blended into each other. All that remained was survival.
People fought over scraps of stale bread and rotten fruit. A mother slapped a man for stealing a piece meant for her child. Two brothers punched each other to near death over a moldy rice packet.
The soldiers, once the basement's order, now stood helpless. Their eyes were hollow, their uniforms ragged. Even their guns no longer meant safety—only reminders of what they could not stop.
Some had already taken poison pills they kept hidden, believing death by their own hand was better than being torn apart by the Wormen if the basement was breached.
A teenager curled in the corner, staring blankly at the ceiling.
> "It's better to die in darkness… than to be eaten alive in the light."
No one even turned to comfort him. Humanity was unraveling, thread by thread.
---
[Cut to: Deep in the Forest – Training Ground]
Surya stood in front of Aditya, panting, holding his side where bruises throbbed.
Aditya tossed a small fruit into the air and caught it. His wild eyes were calm, unreadable.
> Aditya (coldly): "If you want food… land a single hit on me. If not—go to sleep starving."
Surya's stomach growled, but his pride was louder.
He gave a single nod.
The training battle began.
---
[Forest Combat Scene – Intense, raw]
Surya charged forward, faster than before. His footwork was tighter, punches sharper, his body remembering every lesson from the past three weeks.
But Aditya moved like a phantom—effortless, vicious, precise. His blows came not just with fists, but with lessons.
Each time Surya lunged, he was countered. Thrown. Slapped to the ground.
Every time he stood up, another merciless kick landed in his ribs.
> Aditya (taunting): "Faster than before... but not fast enough to survive."
Surya kept attacking, sweat flying off his body. But with every swing, his speed dropped. His vision blurred. The trees spun.
His rage grew.
He remembered his mother's voice. His father's hand. Sai's jokes. His own screams.
The faces flashed in his mind, fueling him.
He screamed, leaping with a fierce downward strike.
Aditya blocked it—barely—but smirked.
> Aditya: "Anger is a weapon. But without control, it's a blade turned inward."
Surya stumbled back. Aditya's words cut deeper than his fists.
> Aditya: "You think power comes from pain? From rage? No. Power comes from discipline through pain. Strength is when your emotions kneel before your will."
That was when something clicked inside Surya.
He closed his eyes. Took a breath. Let the rage settle into his bones—not explode.
He launched forward again. This time not blindly—but with purpose.
A low sweeping kick. Aditya jumped—
But in that split second, Surya twisted mid-air and executed a perfect tornado kick, his leg connecting with Aditya's chest.
A crack echoed in the silent forest.
Aditya flew back, landing with a grunt.
He wiped blood from his lip… and smiled.
---
[Aditya slowly stood up, nodding]
> Aditya: "Not bad… For the first hit. You'll eat today."
Surya collapsed, smiling through the pain. His ribs felt cracked, but his heart burned with something new—belief.
---
[Cut back to: Refugee Basement – Same night]
A woman screamed. Someone had tried to steal her bag.
A gunshot rang out. Everyone froze.
One of the soldiers, once silent, had pulled the trigger into the air.
> Soldier (screaming): "If we kill each other… they've already won!"
But the silence didn't last long.
An old man whispered:
> "Humanity's biggest enemy… was never the Wormen."
> "…It was always humanity itself."
---
To be continued…