CAPTURE HIM?
Had he gone crazy?
Ram stared at Veera as if he were looking at a silly child. He gazed at the Elite or the guard beside him and he gasped.
The new person that entered just now was staring at Veera as if a subordinate was looking at his commander, with respect and a hint of fear. He agreed with Veera and he stepped back into the hall.
Ram could hear them talking loudly about what was going on.
About Ram and him being Harbinger of Doom.
Ram wanted to curse his Aunt El really, really bad.
Even though it had delayed his trial at Justice Hall, it came back to haunt him many times now. But this time it seemed grave.
He turned to where he hoped Aunt El would be there and stared at her.
Aunt El didn't spoke.
Had she left?
Ram didn't know. If that were the case, then Ram was all alone in this for now.
Ram was startled. He realized that he was able to think clearly and his hearing returned to normal as well.
But there was also some other sound mixed in it.
Ram didn't know what it was and didn't care at the moment.
His body was still not responding to him.
He ordered it to move.
But it didn't obey.
The most Ram could do was shake here and there, grunting with effort and sweating like a pig.
Ram once again stared at Elder of Water and his guilt increased.
Elder of Water had promised him that the Transfer of Powers and Memories wouldn't hurt him.
But look at him now.
He looked—
"It looks like Elder of Water had dealt a huge blow to him before he went down. Let's use this opportunity to apprehend him," Veera said.
Ram groaned. Veera was taking this personally. What had he done to him? He had kissed Sandhya, Chandra's fiancée. Not his fiancée or his girlfriend. Why was he acting like a bad movie villain now? "I didn't do anything to him," Ram said.
Veera scoffed. "There were only two people inside of this room. One of them was lying, on the verge of death while the other was awake and much alive. If you hadn't done this to him, then what would?" he asked.
Ram shook his head. Had he implied that he knew Aunt El was here? Did they have gadgets that could detect when someone were using The Obscurer? Or had they not realized that Aunt El was still here in this room (she was still here right, watching over him?)
Also hadn't Veera ever heard about a saying that one shouldn't blindly believe what they are seeing? "Had it ever occurred to you that Elder of Water was the main culprit here, trying to kill me?" he asked.
Veera glared at him. "Elder of Water was the laziest person I have ever seen. But when it comes to the matters that concerns the safety of The Institute as well as those who live inside it, he would do anything to keep us and The Institute safe. And from what we know about you, you are the devil re-incarnate, the Harbinger of Doom. Let's not waste time talking to him. Esteemed guards, apprehend him and make sure he never forgets what he would receive if he has any ideas about harming anyone in The Institute in the future," he said.
So they were guards, not the Elites. That's good to know. Couple of guards stepped towards Ram and Ram thought it was time for him to move.
He tried again to move his body.
And failed miserably.
He tried to use all the fear and frustration he was feeling and when he nudged it into the reactor just above his navel, the one that would help him to use the powers of time, nothing happened.
It's as if the reactor didn't exist in the first place.
Or had shutting down Em resulted in him not being able to use his Powers of Time?
Ram stared at his stomach in horror.
What the heck was happening?
Before Ram could take next breath, the guards appeared in front of him. They crouched down to his level, put their hands on his arms and lifted him up.
Roughly.
Their grip on Ram's hands were so tight that he thought they were going to bruise.
Ram struggled against them, trashing wildly. Or as much trashing as his body allowed him to do at this moment.
It was not much.
Their grip tightened and the pain Ram felt was more intense than earlier. If his head hadn't been clear before, now it was.
He was able to think as clearly as he had ever been.
It's funny how pain can make one clearheaded.
Ram decided that once he come out of this mess, he hoped that he would come out of this mess alive, he would use pain as a motivation to achieve many things in his life.
He promised himself that he would.
Ram resumed struggling against them and the guards grip tightened even more.
Ram yelped. "You are going to break my arms at this rate," he yelled.
Veera glared at him. "Don't worry. If something were to really happen to Elder of Water, what you are going to face then would make you realize that what you are facing now seemed nothing," he said.
"I didn't do anything to him," Ram said once again.
Veera ignored him. "Let's take him to Elder of Space's prison. I believe that right now, Elder of Air's base was compromised. We also have to relocate her as well as others and perform a thorough search on what might be wrong here, how he was so easily able to escape her prison and roam all around as if it were his own, how he was able to enter and even incapacitate Elder of Water, who was a guest of Elder of Air," he said.
Ram glared at him. "You are treating me as if I am a criminal. If I were as powerful as you thought I was, powerful enough to take down Elder of Water, then how come I am not able to do anything to you?" he asked.
The guards and Elites stared at Veera, as if he were their commanding officer that they trusted and waiting for an explanation.
Veera smile faltered and he was speechless.
Only for a moment.
"Did you think just because Elder of Water was lazy and careless to certain extent, he was powerless as well? Besides Elder of Time, he was the most powerful person amongst Faction of Hope. The battle must've cost him something," Veera said, pointing towards Ram. "That's why he was unable to move even now. Let's not waste time and take him to Elder of Space. Meanwhile, gather all the Elites under Elder of Air and usher them to safe place. As for Elder of Air and Elder of Light — who were still arguing about some personal issues they had — along with Faction of Realist's Elder, Elder of Sound — who was trying to act as peacemaker between the two of them, they would probably be in the guest room. Someone go and inform them of the situation. It's better if we take them to even more secure location than we are taking the Elites, like Justice Hall. Their security is our top most priority," he said.
The others nodded.
Ram groaned. Wasn't Veera supposed to be just a lackey of Chandra? How come he had more power than even most of the Elders?
Veera stared at Ram's face and smiled.
It was the first guard whom Ram had seen earlier spoke. "Just because we worship Chandra and Sandhya doesn't mean we are powerless. We have connections on both the factions and Veera here is also the president of their fan club.
"Many top level authorities of both the factions were under him, working on many fan-fiction stories and serial fiction that were being published every week. Those connections helped him to achieve this status," he said, gazing at Veera as if he were watching his favorite movie actor.
Ram stared at them.
A fan club shipping Sandhya and Chandra? Veera being the President of that fan club? Many top-level authorities making time to write fan-fiction about Sandhya and Chandra and Veera publishing them on their version of what? Kindle?
And that somehow led them to make him as their leader in this matter?
Neither of them make any sense.
Something was wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
He stared at the other guards, who had entered when he was arguing with Veera and they were also looking at Veera with the same gaze.
It was as if they were being hypnotized.
He stared at Veera and it dawned on him. "You are… you are…" he trailed off, his voice shaking so horribly than after the transfer of power of water and memories of Elder of Water.
Veera's gut sucked in, followed by stillness for a moment and then a visible grey fog left his mouth, spreading all around the room in waves.
The temperature of the room plummeted suddenly.
When the waves were in front of Ram, it ignored him as if it was avoiding him purposefully and soon…
The world froze around them.
Veera also has the ability to freeze time.
And it could affect others, just like his own.
He also know how to hypnotize people.
Ram realized who the culprit that had been hypnotizing others in the Institute and how the culprit had done it. He also realized who had been monitoring him all monitoring him as well.
"You are the senior that Elder of Water was talking about?" Ram said.
Veera chuckled. "That brat had indeed developed much. To think he would master hypnotism so much so that he was able to come out of my hypnosis and even teaching those two girls to do the same. And more importantly, he even went as far as to put his life in danger by transferring his powers and memories to a waste like you, while I am really impressed for his achievements, but somewhat disappointed by him on his decision to chose you as his successor, " he said.
Ram stared at Veera in horror. "How come you are at the same age as Chandra and Sandhya?" he asked.
"Power of Time. It will let us be an Immortal. Isn't it cool? Even you will also get to enjoy like me provided you are willing join our side. What do you think?" Veera asked.
Ram spat at him. "No. Don't even think about it. I will never join an evil organization just to make myself seem young. I will expose your identity to everyone," he said.
"Oh. How you are going to do that? Let me make it clear for you. I have made it sure that your trial will arrive earlier than they had planned. Let's see what happens if you reveal all of this while I will also reveal the 'Evidence' I have against you. Let's see who they are going to believe. You or me?" Veera said.
Ram stared at Veera in horror. He wanted to say something, at least shout at him. But he couldn't.
"If you are wondering how come I am able to use the Power of Time, don't worry. You will come to know, if you survive this trial that is. But the chances of you coming out of this alive were slim, so I will give you a hint. I am the one that the whole of the Institute feared and worried about the most. So you should too."