Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel (19 page)

 

“No way.” Neel saidemphatically. “I feel in control of my body and my mind now. And
it‟s only because of all the training you guys have given me.”

“That‟s good
to know.” Premi said. He glanced atNeel. “And may I say, on our part, we
could not have asked for a better pupil. Your hard work is what allowed you to achieve this
transformation.”

Neel stared at him. He felt a lot closer to his trainers now then he had at the beginning,
and was conscious of a desire to tell Premi just how much the three of them had helped him.
“I wanted to thank you guys.” he said slowly. “I was really scared in the beginning, when I
woke up in the hospital, and then when I went home that first day. I never thought I‟d be able
to act normal again. I almost went insane thinking about it.” He hesitated for a moment, but
then continued, “You know, I got the feeling, at the beginning,that you didn‟t really like me.
But you still helped me get control over my body and use it properly.And I‟m really grateful
for that.”

“Neel, please understand, it was never as simple as liking or disliking you.” Premi said
gravely. “You have no idea how unorthodox this whole operation is, and the stakes involved
are sky high. I was just reserving my judgment of your ability until I knew what kind of a
trainee you‟d be.” Premi turned to smile at him. It was a genuine smile. “And when I did, I
was impressed. Along with Captain Shukla and Negi.”

Neel grinned back. “Thanks.”

 

“And thank you.” Premi said, his eyes back on the road.

 

“For what?”

“For not making fun of my surname.” Premi turned to
him with an unexpectedly
comical grimace. “I‟d had to deal with that all through school and the army. The jokes come
easily when your surname means „lover‟.”

Despite the gloomy surroundings, Neel burst out laughing
. “I was too nervous to even
think about how funny your name is.” he said as he settled back to watch the street they were
on, still chuckling.

They were in a seedy part of the city now, with broken down shacks and piles of garbage
on either sides of the road. Neel had passed through the part with Arjun a few times, but had
never actually entered the area.

“I have to show you something.” Premi said, stopping the car. Neel looked at him in
surprise. “You need to become comfortable with this kind of environment. And driving by it
in a car will not help you do so.” Neel nodded and got out of the car as well.

They walked down a back alley, Premi pointing out certain landmarks of the street as
they made their way deeper into the area. They reached the middle of the alleyway, still
talking. The entire area was deserted, and looked like it had been uninhabited for some time.

A rustling sound reached Neel‟s ears as some bags were pushed aside, and he knew
something was wrong seconds before it happened.

The attackers were upon them before Premi could turn. One of them seized him from
behind and flung him into the side of a building. He hit his head hard on the wall, and a grunt
of pain escaped his lips. The attackers turned, their eyes dark with deadly purpose as they
made their way towards Neel.

Neel stood unmoving. The surprise and ferocity of the attack had momentarily frozen his
mind. Before he could respond, before he could even think about fighting back, he had been
seized by his collar and thrown headfirst into a wall as well.

Neel got to his feet to see Premi fighting both the men at the same time. Premi was an
expert fighter, but he was no match for the two men, who were both moving with deadly
precision. It was only a matter of time before he would fall.

Neel rushed forward to help. Bizarrely, the one time he needed to speed up, his brain
was moving at an excruciatingly slow speed. The movements of the two attackers seemed
lightning fast.

Neel moved forward and grabbed one of the men from behind, dragging him back. The
man stood no chance against his strength.

But then Neel felt a strange reluctance and uncertainty steal over him. One part of his
mind was warning him to hold back, to maintain the secrecy of his identity, even as another
part was shouting at him to do what was needed to get the situation under control as quickly
as possible. This situation was like nothing he could have imagined. It was not a sparring
session at the hall. There were no neatly padded mattresses to practice on, and no comforting
presence of his coaches in the corner to turn to if things got out of hand.

There was only violence, immediate and terrifying in its sudden appearance in the
shadowy and grimy surroundings. The fast and savage assault made the fourteen year old
retreat into a shell. This was no playground tussle, or a movie fight viewed safely from the
sidelines. Hearing the ugly smack of punches being traded and the fierce grunts of the
attackers, Neel experienced a fear that seemed to cripple his ability to fight back. The punch
he threw at his assailant had none of the science and precision that his coaches had worked so
hard to teach him. It was a wild blow, weak and poorly aimed. It was the result of panic. The
man dodged it easily.

Neel tried to grapple with the two assailants, but they had an excellent knowledge of
combat. Neel was on his back again within moments, staring up at the murky sky. He could
hear Premi valiantly get up yet again, calling out to him urgently.

A moment later, Neel heard a sound that was much more menacing than any other he
had heard that night. The sharp click of a gun being loaded.

 

Neel raised himself off the ground to a sitting position. One of the men had pulled out a
pistol, and was pointing it at Premi.

At that moment, a distant and strangely detached
part of Neel‟s mind took over. He
closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, everything had slowed down. There was
no uncertainty within him now. The bullet from the gun could not be allowed anywhere near
Premi.

By the time that the man had raised the gun to half his shoulder level, Neel was already
moving.

 

The shorter assailant had been watching his progress. He shot out a hand, hard and fast,
aiming for the eyes and bridge of the nose of the young boy.

 

The hand was seized in an iron grip and twisted backwards. Before the man could react,
his body was sent flying backwards into a wall.

 

The second‟s delay had given the other man time to point the gun at Neel and fire. The
bullet tore through the space where Neel had been standing, but he was already gone.

The man fired in a circle, the bullets burying themselves in the wall, and flying off into
the distance. Neel dodged a bullet which passed within inches of his skin. He grabbed the gun
and crushed the barrel.

The assailant moved fluidly through the little distance left between them. The next
second a series of hard, punishing punches drove through the air at Neel. He blocked them,
and stayed his ground.

A punch to his head from behind made him turn. The other attacker had joined them,
and now both the men were attacking him with redoubled fury.

Neel ducked and dodged their blows, blocking their kicks and punches. Not even their
combined force was enough to push him back. There was no longer any hesitancy in Neel‟s
movements. He could hear the grunts of the other two men. He knew he was not supposed to
do any permanent damage, but was equally aware that he could hurt them so badly that they
would not be able to get up again for some time. He was in control now.

The battle raged for several more seconds
, the sound of the men‟s labored breathing and
the beating of hands and feet against hardened flesh. A punch sent one of the assailants
staggering back, wincing. The other man was shoved back violently enough to throw him
onto the floor on his back.

They recovered, although it took them longer to get back to their feet this time, and were
back on the attack. Again Neel met them. Idly, the distant part of his mind wondered who
they were. Did this mean someone knew about his involvement with the project? They would
need to be kept conscious for interrogation. Should he knock them both out, or wait for
Premi‟s signal?

Again, the men fell on the floor in front of him, and he stood in front of them, poised
and ready. This time, however, they did not get up, but remained sitting on the ground,
panting.

It was then that Neel noticed that Premi was just standing there, watching him intently.
He seemed unharmed, but had not made the slightest attempt to help Neel. In the dim light,
Neel saw a slight smile playing across his face. Neel stared at him, then back at his two
assailants. One was tall and broad shouldered. The other was short and stocky and powerfully
built.

In three rapid steps Neel stood directly in front of them. He peeled the mask off the face
of the smaller man to see Negi grinning up at him.

 

“Oh, come on!” Neel groaned. The other man peeled off his own mask to reveal the face
of Arjun. Premi laughed and came forward, clapping Neel on his back.

 

“Congratulations.” he said. “Not many people can do what you did to these two.”

 

“This was just an exercise?” Neel asked, helping Negiget up. “You could have told me.
I was so scared!”

 

“Not as scared as I was when you punchedme.” Negi said, leaning heavily on Neel and
wincing slightly. “I think a rib got cracked.”

“Oh man, I‟m so sorry.” Neel said in alarm. “
I was trying to keep my strength down. But
I thought you were going to kill us or something. And then Arjun pulled out that gun and
started waving it around.”

“Which I did with the utmost care.” Arjun re
marked, smiling at Neel as he supported
Negi‟s other shoulder. “The first bullet was a rubber one. Once I was sure you could handle
it, I used real ones.”

“Sorry about the ruse, Neel.” Premi added. “We needed to make sure you wouldn‟t
panic in a real combat situation. We had to know you were prepared to face the real thing.”

 

“Yeah, I understand.” Neel shook his head ruefully. “And I did panic at first. I had no
idea what to do. It was all so crazy and sudden. It wasreally scary.”

They continued towards the car, the night once again calm and peaceful. By the time
they had left the ominous side alley and were on the main road, Neel had forgotten his fear,
and was talking excitedly about the fight.

“I just froze at first.” He said e
agerly to the other three. “I couldn‟t believe it was really
happening. Then I saw the gun pointing at Premi, and it was like something just snapped in
my brain, and I knew I could do this.”

“And a couple of secon
ds later, something snapped in my stomach, and I knew I was
looking at a cracked rib.” Negigrinned, even as he winced slightly. “Excellent hand lock, by
the way. I think that one even surprised Arjun.”

“It did.” Arjun agreed. “I was expecting a punch but this was actually preferable.”

“Yeah, I know I had to get the gun away quick, but I didn‟t want to knock you out o
r
anything either, you know, in case of interrogation later or something.” Neel explained. “So I
just decided to wait till you were both too tired to fight.”

Arjun left Negi
‟s side and Premi took his place, supporting Negi‟s side instead. Arjun
hung back a little from the others. He could hear Neel still talking rapidly, “I still wasn‟t sure
if you guys knew that I wassuper strong and all, so I didn‟t want to show too much of my
strength.”

Arjun took out his mobile and dialed a number, watching the three walk towards the car,
Neel still happily discussing every punch and kick with the other two in great detail.

 

For a moment the phone rang, and then General Bakshi picked up. Arjun stared at
Neel‟s back as he spoke into the receiver.

 

“He‟s ready.”

 

CHAPTER 8: Putting on the Mask

 

That evening Neel met the car outside the government building as usual. He greeted
Arjun as he got in, and they were soon on their way.

Neel was aware of a chan
ge in Arjun‟s manner. His responses were even more laconic
than usual, and he did not ask Neel any of the usual questions about the areas around them.
They drove in silence for the most part until they had gotten out of the city.

“So, after last night‟s exhibition, it‟s been decided to move your participation in the
project beyond the training part.” Arjun spoke suddenly.

Neel stared at him, a mixture of excitement and nervousness erupting within him.
“What
exactly does that mean?” he asked. He had realized already that this day would come. After
all, histime at Swan labs wasn‟t just as an experiment for Doctor Fahim. He was being
trained by the army, and they would want some return on the resources they had invested in
him.

“It
means that you are now in a position to use your abilities in a way that could help the
government and the country.” Arjun said. “Doctor Fahim will tell explain everything in detail
once we get to the lab.” Neel nodded and settled slowly back in his seat.

When they arrived at Swan labs, Neel could almost sense a change in the atmosphere of
the place. Suddenly everything seemed more brisk and businesslike. The hall gym was
closed, and they made their way to the main building instead, heading for DoctorFahim‟s
office.

Arjun knocked on the door, and they entered the room to find Doctor Fahim, Divya,
Negi and Premi inside, along with General Bakshi and Mr. Rai. Doctor Fahim rose as they
entered.

“Welcome, Neel.” h
e said with his usual warm smile as he rose and made his way
towards them from behind his desk. “We have been listening to an account of how easily you
defeated two of our most highly trained officersyesterday. I congratulate you.”

“Allow us to
add our congratulations as well.” Mr. Rai added with a smile, shaking
Neel‟s hand. “It is good to see that all that time and efforthas paid off.” General Bakshi said
nothing, and merely nodded in Neel‟s direction. But his expression for once was not as severe
as usual.

“Thank you, sir.” Neel said, blushing slightly as he shook the Minister‟s hand. “I never
could have done itif they hadn‟t trained me so well.”