"What's taking them so long?"
"No, I have to relax, no turning back now. I have to do this "
"I have to…"
"For her"
…
…
"I will do whatever is necessary"
He reminded himself as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel of a rusty van.
Dressed in black and a face hidden by a ski mask Sachin was a man who knew all too well what it means to be a victim of the whims of life. He is shivering, sweating and with every passing second it's getting just a little harder to breathe. "Where are you guys??? At this rate we will get caught, I can't get caught, I am all she has" where were they indeed, it's been 30 minutes already since they broke into the bank and it's been awfully quite since then.
Could they have been caught? No that can't be, they have been planning this for a good six months. They looked into every detail; the catalyst prepared them for everything. Then why is it taking so long?
Did they leave him behind? No, Rashul would never do that, the other guy maybe but not Rashul. They grew up together after all, if they didn't have each other's back, the streets of Panaha would have chewed and spit their bones in the gutter a long time ago.
He conjured up myriad scenarios in his head, but the question still gnawed at him like a relentless itch. Why is it so silent?
"BRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!"
"Wh, what the FUCK!"
This was bad, really bad. The bank alarm blared, signaling trouble. Law enforcement or, worse, the ACE agents could be on their way. Sachin's chest thudded like a drum, the sound reverberating in his bones. The darkened T-shaped road where the van hid was now illuminated by windows all around, exposing their failed plan.
It was time to leave and fortunately they were right on cue.
The two men Sachin was anxiously holding his breath for finally showed up, crashing open the bank's door, stumbling down the stairs. They sprinted towards the van, each gripping two bags of cash tightly on their shoulders, their movements resembling those of maniacs.
"Start the car!!" roared Rashul as he hurled his bags through the window while the other guy rushed towards the rear side door and did the same. With all three of them in the van, Sachin, fueled by tension, stepped on it, propelling the vehicle like a bull on fire. Every time he turned the wheel they almost crashed at the corners, sending the others in disarray.
"What are you doing, did you forget how to drive??!!" the other guy in the back seat screamed as he grabbed Sachin's collar making it worse in the process.
"Sachin CALM DOWN, breathe" Rashul ordered and Sachin obeyed, he loosened his grip on the steering, taking deep breaths to recover and getting the van back on track. "You are good buddy, its okay; we will make it I promise."While Rashul assured Sachin like an elder brother, putting his hand on his shoulder, the other guy was not so lucky. Instead he was in the crosshairs of Rashul's resentful eyes.
"Your hand is still on his collar, Jageet, put it away"
"Oh, not again," Sachin murmured, the words escaping his lips like a sigh. The intense stare between the two men radiated with contempt, an all-too-familiar occurrence that Sachin found incredibly irksome. What made it even worse was their ability to consistently escalate the situation.
"I don't like your tone Rashul, don't make me blow you up with this" Jageet warned, his hand raised, clutching a firefly with a swollen abdomen, resembling a ball in size. His mask stretched into a grin, and he held the insect just inches away from Rashul's face.
Rashul quickly grabbed Jageet's wrist
"What the hell is that??!!" Sachin's attention was taken away from the road by this disturbing thing— a small head, twitchy legs and a swollen lower body with a gas like substance swirling inside, dripping something pulpy.
"Keep your eyes on the road!!" Rashul yelled.
"Oh yes, sorry-sorry"
"And you what the hell is wrong with you?!!"
"Hehehahaha, I am kiddiiiiiiing, I would never waste something this special on you, hehe" Jageet chuckled, gradually moving back and settling atop the bags of cash. "It's called a firefly bomb, Sachin. It's a living weapon except it is used for Kaboom instead of pow pow" he says as he playfully throws the bomb with a wave of his wrist only to catch as it comes down and then do it again.
In the world of Godwork reactions, the concept of a living weapon was all too familiar to Sachin. The possibilities were limitless when it came to forging weapons through reactions. Lizards, spiders, snakes, bats—there was no shortage of choices, each one offering its unique flair. One could opt for the mundane, like knives or hammers, but where's the fun in that? And that's all that ever mattered to Jageet, the fun of it all— Sick bastard.
It's like what Rashul always said there are those who are inflicted by all the crazy in the world and then those who are infected by it. When they laid eyes on him for the first time, standing there in a crooked stance, jumbled hair, with an obscene smile and crazy in his eyes they knew he was the later. If the Catalyst hadn't pushed them, they would have dumped him already.
"You think this is funny!!" Rashul twitching in rage yanked Jageet by the shirt and Jageet being Jageet inversely matched his intensity with "yes, very".
"Rashul stop" Sachin tried to intervene.
"NO, I am done with this guy; you wanted to know what took us so long right? Well it's because of him. This garbage of a person wanted to kill the security guard inside."
"What?? Jageet we agreed no one gets hurt"
"It doesn't work that way wet pants, look at what happened, if we had just killed that guy then there would have been no one to raise the alarm."
"WE are not like YOU! We are not….murderers."
"Well, then you are stupid"
"Oh, so just because I am not an asshole like you, I a,…."
Sachin craned his neck closer to the windshield with squinted eyes, his fury now in a stalemate, his lips at a halt.
"Guys, is that a person flying towards us?"
"What" Rashul and Jageet both looked through the windshield and for the first time they agreed on something "Oh shit, Storm song!!"
At one end of the Hudda Bridge, perched above the sacred Ganges River, a weathered white van bore the burden of three cunning robbers. While on the opposing end, a green blur with a stroke of orange blazed forward, slicing through the air with precision—it was an ACE of the WDA
"WATCH OUT!!" They all screamed with everything they had, absolutely sure that the ACE was going to crash into them.
But,
The ACE dashed under the van, blasting a huge gush of air from his upper back, hurling the van several feet above the ground. Inside, Sachin and his friends were sent crashing into every wall. For just a second the van hung in the air, and then gravity caught up.
"HHHAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" They screamed as the van plummeted with its front end leading the way. It slammed into the ground impaling the asphalt like a half-driven nail, getting pinned as a monolith.
Sachin and Rashul slammed onto the windshield. They sprawled on the glass, their backs pressed against it, desperately gasping their lungs out.
"Oh thank god, it didn't break" said Rashul
The glass began to crack, its sound biting in their ears and tearing their hope.
"You just had to say it" wept Sachin.
The glass broke open thudding the two straight to the ground, followed by the van losing its grip and falling flat upside down.
"Wohh" Sachin and Rashul laid flat on their backs and he couldn't believe his luck; they missed it by a hair, being crushed by the cars sudden fall.
But that doesn't matter anymore, they had bigger problems. The ACE was coming for them and if they want to leave in one piece they have to get back up Now.
"Rashul, Rashul,…RASHUL!" He rattled him again and again, harder and harder, but to no avail. Rashul was out cold and it was the same for the other guy. Jageet lay face down on the broken windshield, his arms spread wide on the road. Right beside him were the cash bags, arranged alongside the firefly bomb.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Tap
Sachin could hear the sound of his boots frisking the ground, they were gentle, slow and deliberate. It was all up to him now. He grabbed the bomb and rushed it.
He stood in a shallow pose with bent knees. He held the bomb with both hands as tremors coursed through his body. He strained to maintain control as he faced someone he knew he couldn't beat.
"Don't come any closer, I have a bomb. I I I wi, will blow it up. You, you hear me??!!"
Dust and wind were one, dancing around as he emerged. A lean hunter-like figure, his face sculpted like a Spartan. His black hair whipped about like flickering flames. And when he spoke
"First, if you knew how to use that bomb you wouldn't be holding it like that. Second, there is no one on this bridge apart from you guys and I, and that thing won't hurt me. So the only one in danger is you. Lastly, those who are really capable of killing never give a warning."
His voice flowed like a song played on a flute.
He is Akshar Nayak, Host to the storm song, badge # 3579 an ACE of the WDA.