(A/N):
Drop a here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
Guys I hope you put more comnts and power stones... Which will encourage ...
....
The rest of the evening passed surprisingly peacefully.
At least on the surface.
Dinner turned noisy because of Karuppu and Karthi fighting over the last chicken piece.
Brinda eventually threatened both of them with a spoon.
Lakshmi complained nobody appreciated her cooking properly.
And Sivakumar silently watched the chaos with the exhausted expression of a man long abandoned by peace itself.
By night, the earlier tension in the house had faded enough that even Jothika relaxed completely.
Since it had beco late, Lakshmi insisted she stay the night.
Which naturally ant Brinda imdiately kidnapped her into her room for nonstop "future anni gossip."
anwhile upstairs,
Karuppu sat in his room checking cricket gear for the next morning.
Bat. Gloves. Pads. Shoes.
The Under-19 Tamil Nadu selection camp had finally called him for the selection of Indian team.
Three-day evaluation camp.
Performance based.
If he played well enough, he could officially enter the Indian youth setup.
For Karuppu… That mattered.
A lot.
Because despite cinema entering his life…
Cricket still lived inside him like second blood.
The next morning arrived quietly.
The family gathered around the dining table for breakfast.
Karuppu had already changed into training clothes while quickly eating idlis like soone preparing for war.
Lakshmi kept adding more food to his plate despite his protests.
"Amma1, I need to run there."
"You'll run better after eating."
"This is athlete oppression."
anwhile Sivakumar calmly drank coffee while reading newspaper headlines.
Karthi was already teasing him.
"Don't co back crying after getting yorker."
Karuppu imdiately replied:
"At least I play sports. You can't even dance behind caras."
"DEI!"
Soon breakfast descended into normal sibling warfare again.
After finishing, Karuppu grabbed his kit bag and stood near the entrance.
"Okay, I'm leaving."
Lakshmi adjusted his collar automatically.
"Play properly and be careful."
Brinda grinned at him.
-Grin!
"Don't fight selectors."
"No promises."
Jothika smiled softly.
"All the best."
Karuppu dramatically folded his hands.
"Thank you, future national award-winning anni1."
Suriya sighed shaking his head.
"Go before I hit you."
Laughing, Karuppu finally boarded the car waiting outside and left toward the Under-19 selection camp.
The vehicle slowly disappeared beyond the gate.
And strangely…
The house beca quieter imdiately after.
Too quiet.
Jothika noticed it instantly.
"That boy creates half the noise in this house."
Lakshmi chuckled helplessly.
-Chuckles!
"Only half?"
Even Sivakumar smiled faintly.
Then after a while, he let out a sigh and picked up the remote before switching on the television.
The screen shifted to Jaya TV news.
Initially nobody paid much attention.
Until suddenly—A familiar location appeared on screen.
The bar.
The exact sa bar involved in the recent protest.
Now completely burned.
Smoke-blackened walls.
Destroyed entrance.
Fire departnt visuals.
Police barricades.
The news reporter spoke dramatically.
"Late-night fire accident destroys controversial bar located near school zone…"
Everyone at the dining table slowly beca silent.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The visuals showed severe destruction.
The building was practically unusable now.
Then ca footage of the owner and workers.
All heavily bandaged.
So with burns. So limping.
The reporter continued to explain what had happened.
"The managent has apologized publicly to local residents…"
Then one clip played where the injured owner himself spoke emotionally before dia caras.
"This is God's punishnt… We should never have opened alcohol business near school children… We made mistake…"
The dining hall beca completely still.
Even Karthi slowly lowered his spoon.
Sivakumar frowned deeply.
-Frown!
Because sothing about this entire situation felt…
Wrong.
Too sudden. Too dramatic.
Then—The doorbell rang.
Everyone looked up instantly.
A security guard hurried inside from the gate area.
"Sir…"
He looked confused and alert.
"The bar people ca."
Silence followed.
"What?"
"They want to et you."
Now even Lakshmi looked unsettled.
After a brief pause, Sivakumar finally nodded slowly.
-Nod!
"Let them in."
A few monts later—
The sa n entered the house.
And the sight itself looked bizarre.
Every single one carried bandages sowhere:
arms, shoulders, forehead, neck, hands.
So limped while walking.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The owner himself looked pale and shaken.
The mont they entered—They imdiately folded their hands respectfully toward Sivakumar.
"Sir…"
Their voices trembled genuinely.
"We made mistake."
Before anyone could react—The owner suddenly bent down and touched Sivakumar's feet.
The others followed imdiately.
Lakshmi stood up in shock.
"Wha... What are you doing?!"
The man's eyes looked genuinely terrified.
"We swear…"
His voice shook badly.
"…we will never open another bar near school or temple. Please forgive us."
Sivakumar himself looked completely confused now.
"This is unnecessary—"
But the n didn't even wait for his response.
They apologized repeatedly.
Then quickly left the house almost like people escaping danger.
The mont the gate closed behind them…
Silence swallowed the hall again.
"...."
"...."
"...."
A long silence.
Then slowly—Everyone turned toward one person instinctively.
Sivakumar.
Because only one terrifying possibility existed in everyone's mind.
And unfortunately… The sa possibility had also reached his mind.
Upstairs, the television still replayed visuals of the burned bar.
anwhile far away on a cricket ground…
Karuppu adjusted his gloves calmly under the morning sun.
Completely absent. Completely innocent-looking.
Without any care.
Flash back....
Previous Night...
After dinner, the house had slowly gone quiet.
Suriya and Jothika remained downstairs talking softly about wedding arrangents while Karthi watched television with Brinda.
Lakshmi moved around the kitchen making sure everyone had eaten properly like always.
anwhile upstairs, Karuppu had returned to his room.
He threw himself onto the bed tiredly and stared at the ceiling fan spinning lazily above him.
The Darjeeling schedule exhaustion still lingered in his body.
Just as he was about to close his eyes—His mobile phone rang.
Karuppu frowned slightly seeing the caller ID.
-Frown!
Viswanath Uncle.
One of the senior social workers who frequently worked alongside Sivakumar during protests and public awareness campaigns.
Karuppu imdiately attended the call.
"Hello, Viswanath uncle?"
The man's voice sounded unusually tense.
"Karuppu… your father is okay right?"
Karuppu sat up slightly.
"Hm? Yeah. Why?"
There was a pause.
Then Viswanath suddenly started venting emotionally.
"Aiyo1… these fellows crossed limits today."
Karuppu's expression slowly changed.
"What happened?"
anwhile downstairs…
The family still believed the matter had successfully been hidden from him.
Unfortunately for them…
Fate itself apparently enjoyed cody.
Viswanath continued angrily over the phone.
"That bar people behaved horribly."
Karuppu's eyes narrowed instantly.
-Frown!
"What bar? The sa one near the school da!"
And slowly… Everything got explained.
The protest which happened. The argunt unfolded. The push on Sivakumar.
Sivakumar falling into the mud.
The insults. The threats.
Viswanath kept speaking emotionally without realizing each sentence was making the boy on the other end colder and colder.
Inside Karuppu's room, silence slowly swallowed the air.
"...."
His playful expression vanished completely.
The small bandage.
The weird atmosphere during lunch.
The forced normal behavior.
Everything suddenly made sense now.
anwhile Viswanath kept rambling.
"We told your father not to go personally also…"
Karuppu quietly asked trying to maintain his tone.
"Who pushed him?"
The question ca too calmly.
Viswanath unknowingly answered.
After the call finally ended—The room remained silent for several long seconds.
Then slowly… Karuppu stood up.
No anger visible on his face.
Which honestly made things worse.
He calmly walked toward his cupboard and opened it.
From inside, he pulled out:
a black hoodie, dark jeans, and gloves.
Then from another shelf—He took a long black kerchief.
Recently purchased.
Because according to him.
"Every deeds need a ergency disguise materials."
At the ti, nobody took him seriously.
2:30 AM
Chennai streets slept beneath dim yellow lights.
Dogs barked occasionally in the distance while humid midnight wind moved through the empty roads.
At this hour, most shops had long closed.
But not the bar.
Despite regulations banning alcohol sales after 9 PM…
The place still operated loudly.
Music.
Drunken shouting.
Motorbikes parked outside carelessly.
Business continued exactly like usual.
anwhile from a darker side street—A lone figure walked quietly.
Black hoodie. Hands inside pockets.
The kerchief tied across the lower half of his face.
"...."
Only sharp eyes visible.
Karuppu.
Before reaching the bar area, he stopped briefly near a roadside street vendor who still sold cheap festival items and toys late into the night.
The old vendor blinked in confusion as the hooded boy picked up one particular item.
A cheap plastic Red Ranger mask with elastic rubber strap.
"Twenty rupees,"
The vendor muttered sleepily.
Karuppu paid silently.
"...."
Then right there beneath the dim streetlight…
He wore it.
The result looked absurd.
And strangely terrifying.
A full-grown hoodie-wearing figure standing silently at 2:30 AM wearing a Red Ranger mask.
Even the vendor looked unsettled as he left the place.
anwhile Karuppu simply adjusted the mask properly and continued walking.
Inside the bar, smoke and alcohol sll filled the air heavily.
Half-drunk custors laughed loudly while old kuthu songs blasted from speakers.
Nobody paid much attention when the masked figure entered initially.
Most assud the one who entered was a drunk prankster, college idiot, or ntally unstable custor.
Karuppu calmly walked toward an empty table and sat down casually.
One of the attenders approached imdiately.
The man paused slightly seeing the mask.
"…Sir?"
Karuppu leaned back lazily.
Then deliberately changed his voice deeper.
"One Chicken 65."
A pause.
"And half bottle."
The attender still looked suspicious.
Mostly because the custor was wearing gloves, hoodie, and a Power Rangers mask at nearly 3 AM.
But this was Chennai.
People had seen stranger things when they get drunken.
So finally the man just nodded awkwardly and walked away.
-Nod!
anwhile beneath the cheap plastic mask…
Karuppu's eyes slowly scanned the entire bar.
Searching. Waiting.
And sowhere deep inside that noisy alcohol-filled building…
Several people were about to have the worst night of their lives.
The night inside the bar slowly dragged forward.
One by one, drunken custors staggered out laughing, arguing, or barely walking straight.
Plastic chairs scraped loudly across the floor.
Old kuthu songs still blasted from dusty speakers while workers lazily cleaned tables around the remaining custors.
Yet through all of this…
One thing kept bothering the attenders.
The masked fellow sitting silently near the corner table.
The Chicken 65 placed before him remained untouched.
The half bottle too.
Not a single sip. Not a single bite.
He simply sat there motionless beneath the Red Ranger mask.
Watching. Waiting. For the right mont
Finally one of the attenders beca uncomfortable enough to approach the owner near the counter.
"Anna1…"
The owner looked irritated.
"What?"
"That fellow…"
He pointed subtly toward Karuppu.
"…sothing feels wrong."
The owner frowned and looked over.
-Frown!
The masked figure still hadn't moved.
At another nearby table, a few half-drunk n continued loudly talking nonsense.
One of them laughed arrogantly while speaking.
-Hic-cupps!
"Hehe... that Sivakumar fellow ah?"
He mimicked pushing soone dramatically.
"I barely even used strength da!"
The others laughed drunkenly.
-Haha!!!
"He fell directly into mud!"
Another man added proudly.
"These social worker fellows think they can control us."
More laughter followed.
anwhile beneath the mask…
Karuppu sat completely still.
Only his fingers slowly tightened around the edge of the table.
The owner finally sighed irritably and walked over.
-Sigh!
By now, only a handful of people remained inside the bar.
The workers had already started preparing to close.
The owner stopped near Karuppu's table.
"Eh."
No response.
"It's closing ti."
Still nothing.
The owner frowned harder now.
-Frown!
"Who are you?"
Silence.
"You drunk or what?"
The nearby drunk n started laughing seeing the weird scene.
Finally annoyed, the owner reached forward intending to shake the silent masked idiot sitting before him.
The mont his hand touched Karuppu's shoulder—Everything exploded.
FAST.
Karuppu suddenly grabbed the untouched half bottle from the table.
Before anyone could even react—
-SMASH!
The glass bottle shattered directly across the owner's forehead.
A horrifying scream echoed through the bar.
Blood sprayed instantly as the man collapsed backward crashing into a chair.
For one frozen second… Nobody moved.
Nobody understood what had happened.
Then chaos erupted.
"DEI!"
"AYYO!"
"CATCH HIM!"
Chairs fell. Workers panicked caught off guard by the sudden attack.
The drunk n stood up in shock.
And slowly—Karuppu rose from the chair.
The Red Ranger mask stared silently at everyone beneath the flickering bar lights.
Then in a calm voice distorted behind the kerchief—He spoke.
"Who pushed Sivakumar?"
*******************************
(Author note:)
I hope you guys give your opinion and idea's.
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Don't forget to review guys...
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