In every 5 years, Catalysts from all around the world gather in a pre-selected city by the WDA. Filled with hopes, dreams and a zeal to prove their worth they go there to participate in an audition. Hosted by WDA and judged by Zachraya Hemwick himself this audition is the only time when the Catalysts put a show of their new additions to the world of Godwork Reactions. If selected riches, fame and everything in between are all yours to take, if not then a life of obscurity is all that waits.
She was different though; she couldn't care less. Who knows what her name was and why she was there? She never wanted to impress anyone but did it anyways; After all, Zachraya Hemwick applauded her, absolutely stunned by a perfect reaction created by a phenomenal mind. She could have asked for anything and Hemwick would have given it to her if only she hadn't disappeared into thin air.
It took him two years to find her; all he wanted was that reaction and he wouldn't leave without it. So she agreed but on one condition. She tasked Hemwick to find a specific kind of person, and only on the day when he does, will she perform the reaction. No one knows what kind of person she wanted, all we know is that 15 years later Hemwick went back to her with a 12-year-old boy and on that day she did as promise.
The name of that reaction was Stormsong and the name of that boy
"Akshar"
"Time to wake up buddy"
Sitting beside the slumbering body of Akshar with one knee down is a Ranger of the WDA police force, Shubhankar Bose. He is accompanied by his partner, a scout, Mansi Joshi. Bose had taken off Akshar's helmet and opened up his vest while Mansi took off his shoes and rubbed his feet. None of it worked; there was not a flinch, he still laid there in the cold pavement showing no signs out of his unconscious state.
"It's not working sir what do we do?" With a tense expression, she asked, her forehead creased and lips stretched thin, slightly downturned at the corners.
"There's no need to cry Miss Joshi, he's not dying," Bose said as he stood up fiddling his pockets and fetching a pack of cigarettes.
"I am not crying," she said with a blush on her cheeks shying away her eyes.
"Sure, looks like you are about to, in any case..." Bose pulled a cigarette from the pack, tapping its filter gently on the box. As he held the Cigarette between his rolled lips he nestled his thumb against the side of the middle finger, while the remaining digits gently coiled inwards, drawing near to the tobacco.
He snapped his fingers; the friction emitted a spark that grazed the tobacco igniting it with a flicker of flame "Looks like there is no other way" he said taking a slow, deep drag, letting the smoke swirl around him.
Bose folded his fingers again this time aiming at Akshar's motionless body
The moment Mansi saw his pose, she started jittering throughout, waving her arms in a no gesture."SIR! This is a little too much, maybe we should just take him to a hospital, he is your nephew after all."
"He is a giant pain in my butt that's what he is, WAKEUP DUMBASSS!!" Bose snapped his fingers, the friction this time was large, emitting a giant and wild curl of lightning jolting straight into Akshar's chest.
"WWWUUAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Akshar was jolted awake like a spring-loaded puppet! His limbs hilariously lingered in dreamland, still touching the ground! One could see the lightning vibrating through his body.
Loosely but finally, he opened his eyes, only to see two faint figures with three heads, four arms and ten legs, they were saying something but it was all gibberish, almost extra terrestrial.
"ALIENS ARE REAL!!" Akshar exclaimed.
"I think it worked"- Bose claimed
"I think you made it worse"-Mansi concluded
As the faint figures became more defined, he realized, although to his disappointment, that they were not aliens. Dressed in black & white, a tie reaching the tip of their belt and leather gloves till their wrists they were WDA police officers. The sweet girl had a long ponytail, with big eyes and thin lips while the man looked a lot like his uncle.
Buzz cut hair with strings of white, his jaw an aftermath of a hasty shave and the same brand of cigarette limply held between his teeth. The man was a spitting image of his loving uncle…..wait a minute— "Uncle BOSE!!"
"There he is!" ~Bose
"Oh, thank god!" ~Mansi
"Need a hand?" Bose leaned forward offering a grip of support.
"Naa, I got that covered" Akshar shot a stream of air from the back of his shoulders springing himself to a steady stand. He immediately turned and grabbed Bose by the shoulders, his face lighting up with sheer delight.
"I can't believe it, there is not even a burn mark, you look just like before ... Absolutely terrible" Akshar said with a smile so wide that it might just have crossed the outline of his face.
Bose just looked at him squinting his eyes, no blinks involved whatsoever "Ha...Ha" Snapping his fingers he zapped Akshar's knee.
"Ow ow ow ow,....heyyyyy??, I was just kidding," Akshar rubbed his knees hastily and as he did, he said with a smile, this time a polite one "I am glad you are okay"
"I KNOW right, Dr Hassan did an amazing job!!" Mansi jumped in front of Akshar's face with puppy-like eyes. If she had a tail, it would be waggling right now.
"Hey, Mansi! It's been a long time, how are you these days?"
"Oh, I am glad you want to know, how about we go for a coff.."
"We don't have time for this," Bose sternly said as he moved towards the crime scene pointing his thumb towards it and looking at Akshar's face "Kid, what the hell happened here?"
Akshar's smile vanished in an instant, replaced by wide eyes filled with shock. Before he stretched a long line of melted bridge floor, its surface twisted and deformed. Piles of burnt cash, blackened carbon, and drifting ash spread throughout the wreckage, the acrid smell of destruction lingering in the air. He had this chill beating at his bones that something ghastly had transpired here, something he should have stopped but didn't.
"I…., I don't know, I mean th…the van is me, but…...I know nothing about the floor" he said looking at Bose completely perplexed. Bose turned away dropping the cigarette bud on the ground and then squashing it beneath his feet. As he took out another one from the pack he said "Then it must have happened when you were out. By the way, how did that happen?"
Akshar came forward lining himself with Bose "Gamba gauntlets, the guy sucker punched me".
"We caught one of them"
"Just one? There were three. Shit! Was his name Rashul by any chance?"
"Don't know, the guy was jumpy, had to knock him out"
"Of course you did, typical ranger behavior"
"Anyway, it seems our scout is up, Miss Joshi if you would please"
"Certainly, sir, right away," she responded with a composed nod, took a moment to steady herself, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath, which she held for precisely 10 seconds and when she exhaled— a subtle transformation began.
Her skin became a rough surface of dotted lines, conspicuous violet veins stemmed into her eyes and her pupils dilated stretching almost to the edges, At the same time her delicate nose became slightly pointed, with wider nostrils.
With the instinct reaction active, all her senses were now at a whole new level. She could see the very molecules forming the structure of things. Every muscle movement, heartbeat, and breath echoed in her ears. She even caught the scent of blood flowing through the veins of those nearby.
Under the reign of WDA, there are two types of police officers in the world, the Rangers and the Scouts. Each type has its own set of unique reactions that help them excel at their jobs. The Rangers are your brawlers; they are the ones who break walls, bones and occasionally someone's face. They take hits and deal blitz.
The scouts on the other hand are detectives; they observe and analyze to scrape out the underlying truth. They are the first ones to knock on your door, watch your every move and if you do something wrong, they will be the first ones to find you. And that is exactly what Mansi was now ready to do.
She crouched and caressed the molten ground, turned to look at the smashed van and then back at the end of the bridge.
"The van is almost 14 years old, judging by the number of fingerprints it has been used a lot, however the cover on the steering wheel has erosion caused by leather gloves. We probably won't find any fingerprints of our culprits. The molten floor is because of a firefly bomb; I can see its traces in the rubble. It was thrown by someone standing around the van. The target dodged the impact only by a couple of steps."
"So, no one was harmed, right?" Akshar asked, his tone carrying a mix of concern and hope.
"Negative someone was harmed, I can see blood particles, in fact, there is a trace of smell separate from the firefly originating from where you laid" she replied.
Akshar's heart sank, it happened again, someone became a victim to a needless death on his watch. That stupid guy, he should have let him help, the guilt gnawed at him. With a burdened heart, he lowered his head in disappointment, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Wait, are you telling me that someone willingly jumped into the explosion, why would anyone do that?" Bose asked in confusion.
"Desperate times, desperate measures," Akshar whispered
"What?" Bose enquired, trying to comprehend.
"It was the guy who knocked me out, he did it to save his friend" Akshar raised his head having a pretty good idea of what had transpired. "Uncle Bose I think you caught the guy who threw the bomb, what do you think Mansi?"
"I can see a trail of footprints leading all the way out the bridge and since we came from the other side, I think you are right." She said with a slight nod.
Bose took a long drag and held it in for even longer, as he exhaled, he said "Which means we still have one robber on the run, Kid, Chauhan is going to kill you"
"Why did you say that?" Akshar asked, his brow furrowing with concern.
"What? I am just stating facts," Bose replied casually, tapping the ash off his cigarette.
"Yes, but the way you said it implies that he is going to do that right now. Is he coming here?" Akshar's voice betrayed a hint of panic.
"YuPPh!" Bose confirmed with a nod, the seriousness of the situation sinking in.
"Okay, then it's time for me to leave. Bye Uncle Bose, Mansi, always a pleasure," Akshar said, spotting his helmet and boots lying on the floor nearby. With a sense of urgency, he hurried over to grab them.
As he reached for his helmet, he accidentally knocked it with his elbow, causing it to wobble precariously close to the edge of the bridge. "Whoa, no!" he exclaimed, reaching out to steady it. He let out a nervous chuckle, grateful that his helmet was safe.
Next, he snatched his boots and struggled for a moment to put them on quickly, hopping on one foot and then the other. It was a slightly comedic sight, but he didn't have time to be graceful.
"I'll see you later, Uncle Bose!" Akshar called out, his voice slightly breathless, as he secured the helmet firmly on his head and fastened the boots. He was about to step into a sprint when Bose chained him with the words "Too late, he is here".
Waving through the moonlit sky, flapping its wind-scattering wings was this giant bird made of nothing but clay. It flew towards the Hudda Bridge and as its enormous shadow touched the bridge floor, it dived.
It crashed on the bridge like a wrecking ball, the clay that was a bird just moments ago was now layers of paste scattering all around like the many petals of a lotus crowned up. Right in the centre of it all was this hulking giant of a man, who stood as a pillar, his bushy beard still unmoved his yellow bandana unscathed.
A thin line spread across his massive belly, splitting open into a muddy maw, which then, with a growling sound, sucked in all of the clay like a voracious whirlpool pulling everything into its depths.
This is Roshan Chauhan, Host to the Mud Mouth Badge number 1991, Ace of the WDA, Second in Command of team Panaha.
Stomp...…. Stomp...…. Stomp.... Stomp, his boots made the sound, every step sending tremors through the bridge as he walked towards the three before him.
"Miss Joshi, present your assessment bullet points only" He ordered, his voice calm yet heavy.
'Yes, Sergeant,' she replied, avoiding direct eye contact. Not because she was scared of him, although she was, but between his beard that reached the nape of his neck and his bandana aligned with his brows concealing almost all of his hair, there was hardly any face left to look at.
"There were 3 of them"
"Akshar tried to stop them but was,...un,..able to"
"We caught one of them"
"One died because of a firefly bomb, and the third one was able to escape"
"All of the money got burnt in the explosion"
Akshar stood next to Bose, hands folded behind his back, and head slightly lowered, making a deliberate effort to avoid meeting the Sergeant's unwavering gaze. Throughout Mansi's briefing, he carefully observed the Sergeant's expression, hoping to detect any subtle changes, but none were evident. Chauhan maintained a stern and unyielding frown; his eyes fixed on Akshar without a single blink.
"On a scale of 1-10, how likely do you think it is that he is going to drown me in the river below?" Akshar asked Bose in a hushed undertone.
"Drown you 0, bludgeon you to death however, a 100" Bose smirked.
Chauhan's imposing shadow engulfed them, transforming the two average-height men into mere hills facing a towering mountain.
"Good to have you back Bose." ~Chauhan.
"Thank you Sergeant" ~Bose
"Now fuck off" ~Chauhan
"With pleasure, Sergeant" ~Bose
Although Chauhan's words were addressed to Bose his eyes were not. They had locked themselves on Akshar's guilt-ridden face and were not ready to let go. There is an unspoken rule among the WDA officials in Panaha, if someone you know is in the crosshairs of Chauhan's gaze then you should mind your own business because they are already dead. That is why Bose just wimped away.
It is an art to state your disappointment without uttering a single word, and according to Akshar, Sergeant Roshan Chauhan was such an excellent master of this art that even his own mother could not compete with the Sergeant.
The silence was awful it was like the oxygen around him was slowly slipping away. After a while he just couldn't take it anymore, so he decided to break it "Hey Sergeant, how have you been? I hope you are feeding that belly of yours something other than clay."
It didn't work.
"No? Okay listen, I know it looks bad but."
"Do you know, I used to be a corporate employee" Chauhan finally released his voice.
"I..... didn't, but hey we all make mistakes right?" Akshar said knowing well that a profound lecture was now in session.
"I was never fond of that job, perhaps that's why I was not particularly good at it. One day after a set of some poor performances my manager calls me up and tells me this. There are two types of issues that hold back an employee from excellence, skill issue and will issue."
The words hardly resonated with Akshar, after all unlike Chauhan being an ACE is the only life, he has ever known. He wondered what point the Sergeant was trying to make, hoping dearly that it was not about what happened a few weeks ago.
"You see Akshar a skill issue can be fixed, a person can be trained longer, made better informed but will issue, there are just no solutions for that. Everything about you EVERYTHING that you do screams that your will is too weak."
Akshar had no more jokes left in him he just stood there limply taking the brunt of those harsh words. He knew where this was going it was only a matter of time now.
"Damaged public property, loss of life, a bomb blast, bank's money destroyed, and an escaped robber, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, why? Because you couldn't do your job properly just like with Manni Khoba."
There it was, right on cue as expected. Will there ever be a time when Chauhan will let it go? Perhaps not in this lifetime. Since that night every conversation between the two, no matter how short, always ends up on the same topic. It's like an unresolved knot, tightly entwining their relationship, overshadowing their bond until they find a way to untangle it
"Sergeant with all due respect, this has nothing to do with that psycho. What happened today was a mistake what happened then was not." For the first time, Akshar looked straight into Chauhan's eyes in a stern act of defiance.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Boy, Manni was the only lead we had on Butcher, If not for your stupid interference we would have caught him by now. Everything that goes wrong in Panaha can always be traced back to Butcher. Six months of planning and you ruined it all in ONE night."
"And for what? In the end, you couldn't even save the person you did it for"
"SERGEANT!" Mansi yelled from behind alerting the Sergeant that was a real low blow.
Too late though, just those words alone were enough to break Akshar's spirit, It crumpled like a stack of cards, doubt took root and suddenly he was not so sure that he made no mistakes.
"I am sorry, Sergeant," he murmured, his head bowing in disappointment, his voice barely audible.
Chauhan sighed, taking a few steps past him "Don't be sorry, be better, you are lucky the other members are out on a mission with the captain, otherwise, I would have suspended you by now" he said.
Chauhan's wide belly mouth opened once more, releasing an abundance of clay that shaped itself into the giant bird once again, with Chauhan seated atop it. "Bose, appoint one of your juniors to catch the missing robber"
"Sure Sergeant" Bose replied.
The giant bird rose, its wings unfurling, and with a mighty leap, it took to the sky. Akshar stood there as if there was no life left in his body, wondering if the Sergeant was right. Doubts clouded his mind as the colossal creature soared, mirroring the turmoil within him.
Akshar's shoulders slumped; weariness etched across his face. Doubts gnawed at his confidence, making him question his abilities as an Ace. His mind teetered on the edge of giving up, but he fought to push those thoughts away.
"Hungry?" Bose asked, his voice filled with concern, knowing well what was going on in his nephew's mind.
Akshar let out a soft sigh, his response barely audible, "Hunh."
"You look hungry. I am too. Let's go grab a bite," Bose suggested, sensing the internal struggle his nephew was facing. "I have a feeling this is going to be a long night."
Akshar hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded, a glimmer of gratitude in his eyes. "Yeah, I think you are right. Let's go."
They walked together, a sense of camaraderie between them, as they sought solace and comfort in the company of each other, leaving behind the burdens of the day, at least for a little while.