The punching bag shook violently.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Inside a dimly lit garage, a boy kept throwing punches with calm precision. Every strike landed clean, controlled, with no wasted movement. Sweat rolled down his jaw, dripping onto the cold concrete floor below.
Medals lined the walls behind him.
Gold.
Silver.
Bronze.
Silent witnesses to years of discipline.
This was Raj.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't rushed.
He was focused.
His fists moved in rhythm, breath steady, mind empty. The world outside the garage did not exist for him. Only the bag. Only the next punch.
Then
Ding.
A doorbell rang. Soft. Almost hesitant.
Raj didn't stop.
Thud.
Ding.
Again.
The garage door creaked open. Footsteps echoed faintly inside. Raj finally slowed, resting his forehead against the bag as he caught his breath.
A familiar voice came from behind him.
"Raj… you're still not ready?"
He turned.
A girl stood near the entrance with her arms crossed. Her expression was annoyed, but her eyes carried amusement she was trying to hide. Sharp, observant eyes. The kind that noticed everything.
This was Mira.
Raj blinked. "Oh." He checked the time and froze.
"…yeah. That's on me. Sorry. Lost track of time."
A boy leaned casually against the doorway, laughing. Taller than Raj, relaxed posture, careless confidence written all over him.
"Told you he'd forget," he said. "That boxing bag is his real girlfriend."
This was Arin.
Raj grabbed a towel, wiping sweat and blood from his knuckles. "Give me two minutes."
---
A few minutes later, the three of them sat inside a moving car. City lights passed by the windows, blurring into streaks of white and gold.
That's when it became clear.
They weren't just friends.
They were inseparable.
Raj sat quietly in the back seat, staring out the window. His reflection stared back at him, eyes distant.
Mira scrolled through her phone, occasionally glancing at Raj as if checking whether he was still present.
Arin hummed to himself, drumming his fingers on the dashboard.
"So," Arin said, breaking the silence, "you nervous?"
Raj shook his head. "Not really."
Mira smirked. "You say that about everything."
The car slowed.
They had arrived.
---
From the outside, the building looked ordinary. Plain walls. No signboards. Nothing that suggested importance.
Inside, it was a different world.
Machines hummed constantly. Screens flickered with shifting data. Scientists moved with urgency, their voices overlapping in controlled chaos.
This was a research laboratory.
At its center stood a man with tired eyes and a proud smile.
"Raj," the man said, turning toward him. "You're late."
"Sorry, Dad," Raj replied.
This was Shan. A scientist. And the man responsible for bringing them here.
Shan gestured toward the massive chamber behind him. "Come. I want you to see this."
At the heart of the lab stood a structure unlike anything Raj had seen. A circular frame surrounded a distorted sphere of air. Space itself seemed to bend inside it, twisting unnaturally.
"A teleporter," Shan said. "Still experimental."
Mira's eyes widened. "You actually did it?"
Shan smiled tiredly. "Almost."
Before Raj could ask what that meant, alarms blared.
Red lights flooded the lab.
"What's happening?" Arin shouted.
"Energy spike," a scientist yelled. "The core is destabilizing!"
The sphere pulsed violently.
Raj felt the air around him tremble.
"Everyone move back!" Shan ordered.
Too late.
The teleporter collapsed inward, light exploding outward in a deafening crack. Raj felt himself lifted off the ground. Instinctively, he grabbed Arin's arm and Mira's wrist.
The world shattered.
---
Raj woke up coughing.
Dust filled his lungs as he rolled onto cracked ground, gasping for air. His head pounded. His ears rang.
"Arin!" he shouted. "Mira!"
"I'm here," Mira's voice answered, shaky.
Arin lay nearby, unmoving.
They weren't in the lab.
They weren't on Earth.
The land around them was barren. Dry. Cracked as far as the eye could see. No trees. No water. No signs of life.
The sky was pale and lifeless, the sun hanging motionless above them.
Arin groaned weakly. "Something's wrong."
Raj knelt beside him. Arin's skin was hot. Too hot.
"We need to move," Mira said. "Staying here won't help."
Move where, Raj wondered.
But they walked.
One day passed. Then another.
The land never changed.
By the second day, Arin struggled to stand.
By the third, he collapsed.
Raj lifted him onto his shoulder without a word. Every step burned. His legs screamed. His vision blurred.
"I've got you," Raj muttered. "Don't fall asleep."
Eventually, his strength gave out.
Raj fell forward, shielding Arin as they hit the ground.
Mira screamed his name.
Raj's vision darkened.
Then
"I see something," Mira whispered.
Raj forced his eyes open.
Far away, barely visible against the dead land, stood a village.
Hope flickered.
"I'll get help," Mira said, already running.
Raj watched her disappear toward the horizon.
Above them, the empty sky remained silent.
And somewhere in this unknown world, something had begun to notice them.