THE CROWD INSTANTLY RESPONDED WITH WAR CRIES.
Several of them started to use their powers to arm themselves. It was the first time that Ram was seeing this spectacle. If he weren't at it's receiving end, Ram would've enjoyed it.
It even made Ram realize that several objects that the users threw at him earlier were also created by their powers as well.
The users of Water and fire created shields in one hand, while they created different weapons like swords, baseball bat, lances, hammer, knives. The only difference between the weapons summoned by them was that Water User's weapons were glowing with rippling blue light while the Fire User's weapons were glowing with waving golden-red flames.
The Users of Air formed whirlwinds of air in their hands while several of them curled their arms around a faintly visible gray colored whips that was thicker than Ram's arms.
The Users of Space opened their portal and some brought real weapons, while others sculpted numerous tentacles just like Ram had seen earlier on The Giant Tentacled Sphere.
The Users of Sound were waving their hands as if they were master organizing music show. Each wave of his hands producing small ripples of waves that were making towards Ram.
The only reason Ram was still alive was because of the Sphere that he was in.
The Users of Illusions were preparing themselves. Though Ram couldn't see what it looked like.
For a moment, Ram wondered whether he could also use his powers to make glowing swords?
No. He couldn't. His reactors were destroyed by Veera. Even if his life depended on it, he would not be able to use it to protect himself.
As Ram was drowning in his sorrow, he once again heard the same voice calling him. It filled with a sense of urgency. It also felt familiar to him, as if he had already heard the voice since long time.
Ram looked everywhere to see if it was the Twins that were calling him. But no. There was not sight of them. He was surrounded by angry Elites and their Families, the guards as well as Elders.
Suddenly, the sphere that Ram had been inside before vanished and some of the gusts of winds were approaching him.
On it's trails, some of the other Users of Fire, who still hadn't formed their weapons and shields moments ago — who might have gotten their inspiration from watching Dragon Ball Z during their childhood — threw fireballs at Ram.
After seeing the Users of Fire threw, Users of Water— who seemed to be inspired by Avatar: The Last Air Bender— also sent a huge waves of water from their hands towards Ram.
It reminded Ram of the tsunamis from the movie 2012.
Ram raised his hands, despite knowing that they wouldn't protect him. Just as they were about to hit him, they froze.
Veera Froze the Flow of Time for everyone around them.
Veera waved at Ram as if they were best friends and stepped out of the sphere. Or rather, Veera walked right through it.
He was walking slowly on the air, as if he was perfectly supported by invisible steps. He walked like he had all the time in the world, or in his case, he had the ability to slow or increase the Flow if Time.
If Veera had the ability to use Two Powers of Time at the same time, Ram would've meet his doom much quicker. Veera would've used them to torment him in so many ways that Ram could only imagine.
Veera walked even slower the closer he was to Ram. It looked like he could sense Ram's torment. Once he approached Ram, he grinned at him. He swept his arms in an arc, pointing towards the now frozen Elites and their families, The Guards and The Elders, as if he were presenting something spectacular.
"Amazing isn't it?" he asked.
Ram glared at him.
"What? You aren't impressed? Do you know how much harder it was to control the whole crowd that's present here?" he asked.
Ram spat at him. "I believe you had much practice in this matter. After all, you have destroyed many organizations like The Institute before. You must be feeling especially proud of yourself," he said.
Veera nodded as if Ram had just complimented him and that infuriated Ram even more. Who the heck does he think he is?
Veera glanced all around the room. "Though I did have practice of controlling the crowd, using hypnosis as well as Powers of Time, it was only in smaller scale. This one though, it's the biggest crowed I had ever faced. But I lived longer for nothing. I thrived in challenges. Only going through would make me stronger," he said.
"Then how about you returning my powers to me so that I could be more of a challenge to you?" Ram asked.
Veera shook his head. "Sadly, I don't think I can fulfill your wish. If you were to have powers, you would've used it to counter my powers. I thrive in challenges, but I don't want to face impossible situations. Moreover, once the reactors were destroyed, there was no way one was ever going to gain the powers again," he said.
Ram's hopes crashed even more. He didn't think there was any way he was going to come out of this alive.
A mournful voice was calling Ram from afar, but Ram ignored it. He believed that it was not his help that was calling for him, it was probably his own inner voice urging him to find an escape.
"You are proud of your achievements aren't you? Then what are you waiting for, return The Flow of Time to normal for others so that you could see me dead, see The Institute destroying themselves," he said.
Veera frowned at him. "You don't seem to enjoy the spectacle I have put for you. Don't you see how amazing to see all the Users of Powers of The Institute displaying their abilities at the same time?" he asked.
Ram glanced at the frozen weapons made out of fire, water, the barely visible gray whips of air, the tentacles and portals that were at various stages of opening or closing, all around him.
"No. Not when they are directed towards me. Why don't we switch places? You are having so much fun. Imagine how much fun it would be if you were in my place. What do you think?" Ram asked.
Veera chuckled. "Very funny. As much as I like others at the receiving end of the spectacle that I usually create, I don't want it for myself. I am very ambitious. I have dreams that I have yet to achieve," he said.
Ram glared at him. "What about me? Don't you think I have dreams that I wanted to achieve? I was just a normal guy after Aunt El wiped my memories. Why did you dragged me into this? Wait! It was Aunt El who made Sandhya approach me, but I believe it was who orchestrated everything from behind so that everything happened as you wanted. Why did you chose me as your tool that could bring chaos?" he asked.
Veera shook his head. "You are at the wrong place at the wrong time. Moreover, I have orders from above, who thinks just because he has more power than me, he could order me. Don't worry, once I obtain even more power, I will take him down," he said.
Ram chuckled. Can he listen to his own words? Whatever, he knew nothing would come out of talking with him. "Go on, do your worse," he said.
Veera shook his head. "You are no fun at all," he said and walked back into the sphere that he shared with Sandhya and Chandra.
The Flow of Time returned to normal for a moment only to freeze once again. This time even including Ram.
The attacks of the Users moved even closer to him.
Ram watched in horror was Veera picked two Elites from the cluster that were on the verge of attacking Ram, one of whom quoted at Ram 'Know Thy Enemy' earlier, placed them in front of him, shifted his hands at them in such a way that if others were to look at them, they would believe Ram was about to attack them.
And that was what happened.
Ram could see the portals opening below him, could hear someone gathering their emotions and fed it to their reactor, then spreading it in the form of water towards the Two Elites, closing their portals soon after.
It was a blast of water in the shape of a thick rod that pierced the two Elites heart, who stared at Ram in horror as blood sprayed all around them, most of it falling on Ram's face as he was in front of them.
Their weapons, a hammer made out of water and a lance made out of fire dropped down below, lost in the endless abyss of the dark sphere.
The crowd grew silent for a moment, their attacks dispersed just as they were about to reach Ram and stared at him in horror.
The Two Elite's who had just died were dropped out of their spheres, falling down into the endless abyss of sphere just like their weapons did.
Anger resurfaced in all of their faces as they screamed at the top of their lungs, readied their weapons and blasts, moving towards Ram from all the directions.