[Scene Setting: Present-Day City – Morning]
It was another day of rejection.
Arjun sat on the edge of a bench in the corner of a public park, shoulders hunched under the weight of his worn-out satchel. His résumé — creased and coffee-stained — fluttered in the morning breeze, clutched in his hand like a fading hope.
The city pulsed around him. Cars honked, sirens howled in the distance, and high-rises cast long shadows over the sidewalks below. In this noisy, sleepless world, Arjun was just another face in the crowd. Unemployed. Unimportant. Invisible.
He stood, preparing for another pointless walk to another pointless interview, when a sharp scream sliced through the air. Across the street, a child stood frozen in the middle of the road — a delivery truck barreling toward him, brakes squealing far too late.
Without thinking, Arjun ran.
The world slowed.
He didn't remember moving, only the deafening rush of instinct, adrenaline, and a sudden pulse of heat around his chest.
As he threw himself forward, pushing the child out of harm's way, the truck skidded violently, striking a lamp post just inches from them.
People screamed. Tires smoked. Arjun blinked, breathless — then looked down.
The locket around his neck had split open.
Inside was no photo, no relic — but a radiant, shifting mark, glowing with golden energy. It burned into his skin like a brand, and in that instant, a word thundered through his mind:
GANDIVAM.
And in his hand, from nowhere, formed a bow of light and steel, ancient and alien, as if pulled from the stars themselves.
[Aftermath & First Conflict Tease]
Gasps echoed. Phones came out. But something darker stirred.
Two men in black suits stepped from the alley across the street — their eyes cold, their movements too precise. One raised his hand, and from it formed a twisted black spear, dripping with dark energy.
One word passed between them, and it chilled Arjun to the core.
"Kaurava."