"Hey Arman, whom are you talking to?"
Someone shouted from the other side of Arman's house's compound wall.
Arman turned around, and then he saw that it was the milkman.
"No, I am talking to no one. How are you, Uncle?"
Arman said to the milkman.
The milkman asked Arman. "But what are you doing here? Have you come to a relative's house? And your house, I saw that it was completely destroyed. How did that happen?"
Arman was lost in his thoughts. What should he do now? Should he go around tell everyone that an Alien creature barged into his home and completely destroyed it, and he has got some powers, using which he can burn things? Or should he remain silent and ignore various questions asked by the public? The best thing was that, he should make up some excuses and not tell the truth till the end.
And he did that very thing.
"Well, let's just forget it. Why recreate the sad events and spoil our mood. Let's just move on."
The milkman then saw someone on the roof.
"Who is that girl? Is she your younger sister?"
Arman then looked up at the roof.
He then looked at the milkman, and said.
"She is not my sister. She's like a... you know... a kind of a paying guest."
And soon enough, Eveline realised that the guys below, were talking about her and they also saw that she was staring at Arman.
She instantly hid behind the walls on the roof.
The milkman bid his farewell, as he had a lot of work to do.
Arman looked at the flame king with questioning eyes.
"Can't others see you?"
Asked Arman.
Flame king replied.
"I am visible only to those, who I want to be visible to. That is why your brothers, who are here since past 3 hours, can see me."
Arman then looked at his brothers. These guys were here since 3 hours! Yet Arman couldn't get a glimpse of them. Or rather, Arman did see them, but didn't notice them as he was busy with his exercises.
On getting spotted, his brothers instantly left. Making some excuses such as 'Boorrring' or 'I was just passing by'.
Arman laughed at his brothers state.
The Flame king then continued his words.
"And that is why, that lass can't see me."
Arman exclaimed. "What? She might be thinking that I am crazy and I talk to myself."
And now, the Flame king started laughing at Arman.
"That will do for now. You can go and take a rest now."
Said the Flame king.
[ Welcome
Name: Undefined
Grade: Undefined
Phase: Pre-assimilation stage.]
[As you are not completely assimilated with your powers, you can't access them completely. Once it has been confirmed that your ability to cope with the powers is increased, the assimilation will progress.]
[Current progress: 7%]
Arman opened the refrigerator, but he didn't find anything tasty.
He notified his brothers that he was going to the restaurant.
After taking a bath, he dressed up and donned his sunglasses.
Arman started his car and came out of the parking lot. And also out of his house.
And H.E.X.A., hidden in the bushes, saw him doing so.
He reported it to Soso through a plug in his ears.
And then Soso ordered in a majestic way.
"Quick, get onto the plan."
H.E.X.A. went in a flashback.
H.E.X.A. asked Soso.
"So what do we do now?"
"Hunt that boy Arman."
Soso replied.
H.E.X.A. asked "But that is impossible. Previous time he beat us so badly. It was his mercifulness that he spared us.
I don't think so that he will let go of us this time. We will die for sure."
Soso formed a grin. Then he started laughing.
He then said. "That might be the case, if we confront him head-on. But we won't do that.
You, H.E.X.A. will wait outside his home till he leaves. And once he gets out of his home, we will take hold of his brothers. We will use them as hostages."
H.E.X.A. revealed himself. He walked straight inside.
Ali was sitting near the pool.
H.E.X.A. thumped Ali. And Ali turned around to see who it was.
H.E.X.A. sprayed something on Ali's face.
"Have the smell of chloroforme, lad."
Ali started sneezing and coughing.
"You! Who are you? Why did you spray pepper spray on me?I can't see anything" Ali cried.
H.E.X.A. was surprised. He checked the spray bottle. And it indeed was pepper spray.
He quickly took another spray bottle and sprayed it on Ali's face.
Ali fainted.
"One down, one remaining."
And Jamal, who was studying, was being approached by H.E.X.A.
H.E.X.A. grabbed Jamal by his head.
Jamal was taken aback.
He tried to free himself, he shouted for help.
Eveline, who was doing some paperwork, heard him.
She ran towards Jamal's room.
She saw H.E.X.A. and took out her dagger.
She was about to strike, but was interrupted by the sound of a beep.
The hologram appeared.
This time it was wearing a mask.
"What are you doing?"
The hologram asked Eveline.
"What do you mean? I am just saving that kid."
"No need! Do only what I pay you for." The hologram declined.
Eveline protested. "But I can easily defeat the target."
"No means no!" The hologram thundered.
Eveline clenched her fists. She returned to her room as if she hadn't heard those voices.
H.E.X.A. took both of them to the spaceship.
****************
Arman was driving his car.
He was thinking only one thing.
'How do I tell Jacob and Dan about my powers?'
And then Boom. Arman's car was blasted away.
It flipped over its own weight three times in air.
Arman kicked the door of the car and came out unscathed, and saw that it was H.E.X.A.
Arman became very angry.
He thought. 'I should have killed these guys back then. But there is nothing to worry, as I can do it now.'
He prepared his fist, which was burning and was about to dash towards HEXA.
But then, H.E.X.A. said to Arman.
"Relax, I am not here to fight. Your brothers are in our custody."
Arman let go of the burning fire in his hands.
"What did you say?" Arman asked
.
"Don't want them to die? So do as I say. Tomorrow morning, meet us in the same place, we met the first time. And then you will have to kill yourself, so that the powers get seperated from you. Once you drop the powers, we will let go of your brothers."
Saying so, H.E.X.A. flew away.
"What should I do? Kill myself and save my brothers, or kill my brothers to save myself?"
Arman asked himself.
He was in a quite stressful situation.
Then, he remembered something.
He quickly dialled Jacob's phone number.
"I want to meet you in the restaurant near my home, bring Dan with you."
He didn't say much, he didn't even hear the replies from Jacob. He just aborted the phone call.
Jacob couldn't understand what Arman was upto.
He sighed, and then got ready.
*******************
"You mean to say, that you possess the ability to summon fire and control it according to your will?"
Jacob and Dan didn't trust Arman's words.
They kept cross examining him.
"Yes, that is what I wanted to say."
Jacob and Dan declined.
"Are you out of your mind? The number of people who have elemental powers does not exceed hundred. And most of them can't even completely summon the true element. All they can do is bring a false element. And you are telling me to believe that you can summon a perfect Flame? Enough of your bluffing!"
'How do I make them believe.' Arman couldn't think of anything.
"It is true guys! You got to believe it. The probability is low, but it is not impossible."
Arman thought that with this, he might have convinced them. But to his surprise, they already had an answer ready for this too.
"The matter is not of probability. There are only three ways through which the likes of you can get powers.
First is that you killed someone with those powers. Which is impossible.
As for the second one, it is that some powerful being looking for a successor would gain interest in you. That too is impossible.
Look at yourself. You look so feeble! Why would someone choose you as their successor? There are millions who are better than you in Japan alone. Not to mention the entire earth.
The last one, Affan's statue, of which we have only heard in the legends. We don't even know if it exists or not! And even if it exists, it's location is unknown. Many spent their entire lifespan in search of it. Yet, they found nothing but despair.
Tell me, what else you have to say."
Arman thought for a while.
"I can show you my moves! Will you then believe me?"
"Okay, then show them to us."
Arman looked around. This was a quite crowdy area.
"What happened? Why don't you show us your so called 'moves'."
Just say that you don't have any powers." They didn't stop taunting Arman. Especially Jacob.
"Not here, behind the Mount. Fujiyama."
Saying so Arman escorted them towards his car.
*******************
"Alright, we have arrived at the spot. Show us what you have got to show."
Said Jacob and Dan, to Arman.
Arman was about to show them his powers, but the Flame king came out.
He warned Arman.
"Hey lad, I am warning you. Don't tell them about it. I don't trust them. You don't need them, I am there for you. Just chase them away."
Arman became very angry. " Ohh 'I am there for you'? You aren't doing anything about it. These guys are my last hope and now you want me to chase them away? No way! I am going to use them as a bait to save my brothers. So get out of my way now."
"But what if they spread the news that you are the..."
The Flame king was about to finish his words, but Arman cut off his words.
"Enough!"
Meanwhile
Dan said to Jacob.
"What is Arman doing? Didn't he tell he would show us his powers? And now he's talking to himself."
Jacob then said to Dan.
"He is doing so due to anxiety. First he lied to us. Now that the truth is about to be unearthed, he is trying to divert our attention.
He is nothing but a liar, bluffer, pighead..."
Jacob kept on cursing Arman.
Jacob's words seeped into Arman's ears.
They sounded like many needles constantly stabbing his eardrums. Arman's face turned red and he became very angry. He clenched his fist. And then the fist started burning. He punched Jacob and Dan with it.
"Hiyyyaaaahhh"
And BOOM!
The attack missed them by an inch
Their face was black, as ash was spread on it.
Had they been hit by it, they would have died.
Jacob and Dan dropped their jaw down, as they were surprised. Their mouths were fully open, for any bug to burrow inside.
They were gasping for a breath.
Arman returned to his senses.
"What just happened to me?" Arman soon realised what might have happened.
"Uh, sorry guys. I swear that I didn't do that on purpose.
Jacob and Dan turned around to see a giant hole in the Mountain.
It was like a tunnel.
"What was that Arman?" Asked Jacob, still struggling to breathe.
But Arman ignored Jacob's questions.
"Is that your power?" He asked the Flame king.
"No, it wasn't my powers. Just for a nano second, you lost the control of your body and went berserk.
Now that I think about it, I initially chose you so that I could use you as a vessel. But when I tried to take over I couldn't. Maybe because of that thing."
Arman was intrigued by the word 'Vessel'
"What do you mean by a Vessel? Could you please explain it to me?"
"Ah... no, you might have heard it wrong."
"Hey Arman, whom are you talking to?"
Jacob and Dan asked in unison.
Then, with a snap of his fingers, the Flame king made himself visible to Jacob and Dan.
"To me." Said the Flame king.
With the sudden appearance of the Flame king, Jacob and Dan were scared.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Their wits were scared out.
Jacob instantly climbed Dan's back.
Dan shouted. "Come down, I want to climb your back!"
"Don't worry, I won't cause you any harm."
The Flame king consoled them.
Arman then asked the Flame king.
"Why did you make yourself visible to them?"
"Now that they know about the powers, why hide me?"
Jacob slowly climbed down Dan's back.
Both of them approached the Flame king, still vary of him.
Arman explained everything to Jacob and Dan.
"So Ali and Jamal have been kidnapped?"
"Yes."
**************