LOOP (TS)

Part-1

But it wasn't just them this time.

Haseena's hands curled into fists, her jaw tightening. Her heart pounded against her ribs, an unfamiliar weight pressing into her chest. She had stood firm before, justified in her belief that Karishma needed to change. But watching her—dying—again and again, without hesitation, without any regard for herself, stirred something she wasn't ready to acknowledge.

Something that hurt.

"What is this?" Haseena's voice was sharp, but beneath it was something fragile, something unsettled. "Yeh sab kya ho raha hai? Yeh koi punishment hai? Ek illusion?"

The Mysterious Woman's knowing gaze settled on her.

"Jaise aap ek loop mein hain, waise hi Karishma Singh bhi ek loop mein hain," she said, her voice eerily calm. "Har baar main sirf ek condition rakhti hoon—ke woh khud ko bacha le, aur aap logon mein se kisi ek ko marne de. Aur har baar..."

She lifted a hand, and the screen flickered once more.

This time, it showed Karishma in the same strange, void-like space they had been transported to. She was panting, exhausted, her face streaked with dirt and blood. She had clearly been here for a long time.

And opposite her stood the Mysterious Woman.

"Main phir keh rahi hoon, Karishma Singh," the woman's voice from the past echoed through the room. "Yeh sirf ek loop hai. Yeh asli maut nahi hai. Agar aap kisi ek ko marne deti hain, toh loop khatam ho jaayega."

Karishma swallowed hard, her body trembling, but her expression never wavered.

"Agar main khud ko bachaane ke liye kisi ek ko chhod doon, toh main Karishma Singh kaise kehlaungi?"

MPT members stilled.

The recorded conversation continued.

"Samajhiye Karishma Singh," the Mysterious Woman pressed. "Yeh loop tab tak chalega, jab tak aap ek baar apni jaan pehle nahi rakhti. Aapko sirf ek baar yeh sochna hoga ke yeh bas ek illusion hai. Jo marenge, woh waaqai nahi marenge."

Karishma let out a hollow laugh. "Aur agar galti se yeh sach nikla toh? Agar sach mein kuch ho gaya toh?"

The Mysterious Woman was silent.

Karishma's voice cracked. "Main risk nahi lene waali."

The screen went dark again.

The room fell into silence.

Haseena felt something tighten around her throat. Risk nahi lene waali. The words echoed in her head, over and over.

She had believed Karishma needed to change. But this... this proved that she had been wrong.

Karishma wasn't the one who needed to change.

They were.

The screen flickered once more, dragging them into another nightmare.

A deserted warehouse. Shadows stretched long under dim, flickering lights. The air felt thick, suffocating, as MPT watched the scene unfold.

Cheetah stood frozen in place, his eyes locked onto something unseen—until the camera shifted, revealing a sniper positioned on a far-off rooftop. The rifle's scope gleamed ominously, its target locked.

On him.

MPT sucked in sharp breaths, realization hitting them all at once.

"Bhag jaa, Cheetah!" Santu shouted instinctively, though she knew he couldn't hear her.