章 22: Other side of the story
The moment Savant saw Surya on the streets performing some magic tricks with fire, he knew that the guy was bad news. The information Savant could read off of him was terrible. A serial arsonist who got the power to control fire through mutation, it was a disaster in the making.
After some investigations and confirmations, Surya became a part of Savant's plans. He was picked off the street and Sage used her powers to unlock the second mutation in Surya's DNA to make him more powerful. At the same time, a mental suggestion and a tiny bomb was placed in his head.
Whenever anyone tried to search through his memory, Surya would self-detonate with the infamous words, 'Hail Hydra!'. It was a trap laid out for both Hydra and the Hellfire Club. And by virtue of association, other agencies like SHIELD, CIA, and KGB along with the whole political world, mainly the USA, were pulled into this conflict as well.
"Don't you want to make the world a better place? So why cause conflict?" Sage asked Savant while they were alone in the car.
Savant nodded, "Yes, I want a better world. But a better world does not mean a peaceful world. To me, conflict is a necessary tool for a civilization to progress. The hands guiding the conflict and its scale define how much the progress will be and who will profit from it."
"So, you are that mastermind in the dark guiding the conflicts in the world? Sounds like a childish teenager's fantasy." Sage chuckled.
"No, in this world where there are so many different interest groups with their own agendas. There can't be just one mastermind in the shadows. Anyone with some amount of resources plays that role knowingly or unknowingly.
The higher the influence and resources at hand, the higher the table of the world they sit at to play this game. And I just made my move in the game at the highest table."
Sage pursed her lips, "You're acting all mysterious again. It might work on others but not on me."
Savant let out a defeated sigh, "You've seen a test tube blow up in my face and me falling flat on my face while in the lab, so of course you'd not see me as a mysterious man in the shadows."
Sage leaned over to Savant's ears suddenly and whispered, "I thought it was very cute of you though."
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{Surya POV, Flashback}
"Fuck, why are these people screaming outside this early in the morning?" I walked down the stairs to get my breakfast.
Of course, my 'handler' or as they like to say to the public my assistant, Vaman was waiting in the kitchen drinking some kind of tea. "It's already 7 in the morning. And those guys are just your fans here to greet you. You are as popular as some Bollywood celebrities like that Raj Kingo Deva."
"Yeah I know I'm great and I deserve all the worship but can you make them shut up in the morning, I need my sleep too you know." I really hate those noisy guys in the morning.
Vaman just stared at me for a second with those scarily cold eyes of his. I have done some horrifying shit but his cold, emotionless eyes make me feel inferior as if he sees me as an ant. All the power I have doesn't even scare him a bit.
I had a dream once where I roasted him alive and he just continued staring at me with those eyes. Those eyes had seen death much closer than I ever did, I knew it. That's why I never dared to test his patience too much. Anyway, I am practically a god in this country so I don't need to care too much. I can just enjoy life.
Vaman finally spoke after staring at me for a while, "Let me remind you, you deserve nothing. Your fame? We gave you that. We poured money and resources to make you a hero. All the comics, movies, and TV series we made in the last half a year exaggerating your heroics are what made you a hero.
Don't get too inflated and do stupid things now. We can give you all that and we can take it away as well."
I wanted to retort aggressively but I couldn't speak out when those eyes looked back at me. But I didn't want to seem afraid of that bastard either. Just when I was feeling conflicted, I was saved by the bell quite literally. The telephone rang and I walked up to pick it up.
But another hand reached for the phone before me. It was one of the 'servants' working for me. It was obvious that all the servants were well-trained spies or soldiers but when I complained that Vaman blew me off stating that as long as I get excellent service why does it matter?
"Hello. Yes, this is Surya's home number. Yes, yes. I'll get him on the line then." He spoke for a while before handing me the phone. "It's from the US embassy." He said.
My heart skipped a beat. I had been contacted before by the US Senator and General who had come to visit. We had been discussing a secret deal where I would work for the US and I'll get the same treatment or better than I was receiving here. But it was supposed to be a secret. Why are they contacting me like this?
"Hello. Yes, this is Surya speaking." I answered the phone.
"Mr. Surya. We called to ask you if you'd be able to escort the Senator and the General to travel around the city. We got permission from your government." The voice on the other side asked. I knew they wanted to take this time to meet in secret.
"Yes, it would be my honor. Just let me know when and where to meet." I started talking details of the escort mission while thinking about how to ditch the tail named Vaman. He was like a shadow who always followed me everywhere.
"I have an escort mission for those US guys for a tour of the city." I tried being casual about it. Making it sound important would mean that he would definitely follow me.
To my surprise, Vaman didn't need any convincing, "Fuck! The world has so many problems and they want to use you as a bodyguard to some white guy? What are they even thinking? I'll go complete the unfinished missions, you can go be the fancy bodyguard."
Vaman cursed. It had happened a few times before. Vaman would use his magic or whatever to disguise as me and go help people while I attend events with famous people or sleep at home with a new girl I took a liking to.
It worked out fine for me regardless. Now I can go meet those people without having to look over my shoulder.
At the embassy, I was greeted warmly by US Senator Buckman, "Thank you for agreeing to our request on such short notice. We really appreciate it."
"No, no. It is my duty." I spoke with them in the way I had been taught during this time as a superhero, exchanging pleasantries and making small talk.
Taking the car out of the city, I flew above the convoy while greeting some fans who enthusiastically shouted whenever they saw me. They were such naïve fools. They believed whatever their government fed them and worshipped me as their savior.
When we reached far enough from the city where there were no humans in sight for miles, the convoy stopped on a clearing at the foot of a hill.
"Okay, let's get down to business Mr. Surya. I had to bribe a lot of people to get you here alone with us. So, please don't waste my time and tell me, who do you work for and why did you target Shaw?"
The US Senator's question baffled me. He just said he bribed my employers, the government. So why is he asking? And who is Shaw? "What are you talking about Mr. Buckman? I don't understand."
The General sighed and spoke, "I told you it was no use talking. Activate it already."
Having lived all my life escaping from pursuit, I knew some danger was coming for me. I wanted to fly away. But it was already too late. Something came from behind and pinned me to the ground face down.
I struggled to get free and looked back only to see a metal robot on top of me. The Senator spoke again, "It is better for both of us if you just answer me. Who do you work for?"
I knew there was some misunderstanding here but I wasn't going to take this lying down. I created fire blasts on my back to shake away the robot and got up. "I don't know what you're talking about. You better let me go or…"
The Senator smiled, "Or what you'll burn me like all your victims? What are you staring at me in surprise for? You didn't hide the traces well enough. Only idiots like the Indians would get fooled by your act."
I had an overwhelming urge to burn this white guy down to ashes. I shot a massive column of fire from my hands at him but at that moment the robot from earlier came back and stopped my attack while the other humans retreated.
While retreating, the Senator taunted me, "It's better to give up early and answer my questions. Your disgusting mutant powers can't save you from the pinnacle of human weapon, the Sentinel. It was designed to adapt to and kill your kind."
I could see that he was right. With my fire that can instantly melt metal, I wasn't even doing any damage to the robot. I tried increasing the intensity of the fire but the robot walked up to me and punched me on the guts. And so, we started a melee battle.
I covered my body in the hottest flames I could make and punched and kicked the robot. But the robot would always parry and hit me harder. It was just torture. I couldn't fight and I couldn't escape. Most importantly, I wasn't sure why I was in this situation.
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Author here. Got my first two-star rating today. Just said the MC was not failing enough. I must say, it bothered me more than I thought it would.
Anyway, I'm going to post around this time from now on. Throw all your stones at me so that I'm motivated to write more.
To read 5+ chapters ahead get on the Patreon and support my writing.
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