《THE LIFE OF NORMAL-TARO》 1 Taro Not so long ago, but in a planet that''s certainly far, far away, stood a hero amongst hero named Emilia. She was not just the hope of her planet, Wados, but the hope of the entire galactic civilization. Sure, Wados is a planet full of people born with superpowers, but none quite brilliant like Emilia. But, our story doesn''t concern that woman¡ªnot yet. Our story begins in a small city in Wados named Shining, where a bunch of people sat around in a very small office. "Leader, you should just quit smoking while you can. It isn''t that healthy, you know?" Tyler scolded his team leader Normal-taro, who coughed like crazy, on his excessive smoking, to which Taro sneered. "Humph, if you got time for pestering me, you sure do have time for completing the battle reports from yesterday, right?" He said as he threw some files over to his subordinates. Being the disaster management squad amongst the battle hungry citizens of Wados was difficult by itself. Other than that, the arrival of these so-called villains has been nothing but trouble for Taro and his crew. So, battles occurred frequently in Wados, whereas disaster management crews like themselves, spread out cleaning the massive piles of rubble that these fights leave. They also report on illegal fights. "Leader, you''re heartless!" Tyler cried as he took the reports. "Better be heartless than jobless." Taro said as he took another puff and coughed yet again. His subordinates looked at him with pity. "What are you lot looking at? Go do your damn job." Upon hearing Taro''s order, they scrammed. "Man, why is it that our leader is such a pain in the ass? The guys from other sectors are lucky. I''ve heard from my friend that they could just laze around doing nothing!" Random subordinate number 1, who''s totally not important to the plot, sighed. "Well, you do know about our leader, right? Then, why say such stupid things?" Tyler patted on the guy''s shoulder, whose name he had already forgotten. "Yea, it must be hard since you''re the only person without an attribute." Random subordinate number chimed in on the conversation, taking pity on their leader, who''s the only one above twenty, who doesn''t have an attribute of his own. Unlike his name suggests, Normal-taro is a unique specimen in the glorious planet of Wados. Wadorians are born without any power, like any other normal civilizations. However, by the age of fourteen, their powers dwelling inside them wakes up as their own personal attributes. These attributes can only prosper on their fellow attribute planet, i.e., there''s about sixty per cent of Wadorians whose attribute planet is Wados itself. For the rest, their attribute planet might be any one of the thirteen other planets in their Mandora star system. What''s the role of attribute planets, you ask? They give out their natural elements as the power of the ones who has that attribute. For example, people living in Shining city who has Wados as attribute planet, usually has light based power, since they are the city of light¡ªtheir town glows even at night. Mysterious stuff! Whatever the case is, everyone from Wados, the only planet with living beings in the entirety of the Mandora star system, is bound to have an attribute which shows itself when they get to fourteen. Scientists have yet to find the reason of this weird power transfer. However, everything changed with Taro. He''s gonna be twenty-seven in the next fall and yet he hasn''t manifested any super-power. His parents sent him to all thirteen planets twice, but to no avail. Disappointed in himself, Taro decided that he would not rely on any higher power, but his body alone. He gave his utmost attention to his body above all other things. He has been conditioning himself and learning martial arts for nearly a decade. Surprisingly in this hero-ridden world, he has yet to lose a fight when he steps into the arena or so he says. His subordinates believes the bullshit he spews, because they have never seen their leader lose a fight. Upon hearing number 2, Tyler was very quick to change the subject. "Ha, it''s one already! Let''s go. I''ve heard that the cool moon restaurant has a new dish on their lunch menu." "Wait, what about the reports? Did you do it?" Taro, who silently walked by him, asked. "Leader, you just gave it a few minutes ago! It''s not like I can do it within a few minutes." Tyler said, in spite of him having the Time planet''s attribute, where the time was almost hundred times faster than Wados¡ªhe could''ve completed the report within seconds. Taro didn''t mind this blatant lie. "Hmm, fine. Let''s go to the cool moon then. My treat." He announced. "Well, the leader tends to be good sometimes, doesn''t he?" Number 1 whispered. "I heard that." Taro said as he placed his hand over number 1''s head. "Sometimes? Aren''t I always good?" He asked. # Cool moon. The second moon of Wados, named by an astrologer, who''s naming sense was utter bullshit. The restaurant was the one situated in this particular moon, jointly owned by that astrologer and a random investor. People didn''t need to wear any spacesuits in this moon, since its composition is similar to Wados. In one of the seats of the said restaurant, Taro sat staring the sky. "What happened, leader?" Tyler asked, concerned about his leader''s recent daydreaming spell. "Huh? Nothing. Just looking around." Taro said as he was forced back into the reality. "Leader, I heard that you don''t like supers [????]. Is it because you don''t have an attribute yourself?" Random subordinate number 3, a new guy to the squad asked the taboo question, which was basically a cold rumor along the entire planet. "Idiot! You don''t ask such questions to the leader!" The other subordinates screamed inwardly. "Well, it''s purely job-related. I''m not interested in attribute shaming. I just hate everyone with an attribute equally¡ªexcept you guys, since you''re my subordinates and you tend not to mess up." He laughed. "I can''t necessarily say that about the supers or even villains in that case, right? Sure, both the sides might look like they have some noble intentions, but it''s not like I care. I just hate everyone who messes up my peaceful time in my office." Taro explained. "Villains? Noble intentions? Leader, are you villain fanatic?" Number 3 asked, shock still in his face. As Taro was about to answer, an employee came by, as he saw Taro taking out a cigarette. "Sir, smoking is not allowed here. So, if you please¡­" "Ah, sure." Taro threw the cigarette into the ashtray and got back to his point. "So, what were we¡ªyeah, no I''m not a villain fanatic, you idiot. But, villains tend to have sad backstories, right? Almost half of them were the brightest students back in their academy days and were robbed of their opportunities by influential parent''s son or daughter who weaseled their way through to the scholarship, just so that they could be called great heroes." "Hmm, I never thought much about that." Tyler interjected, before going silent soon after, as he got himself into a deep thought. "Well, your thoughts were shunned out by the mainstream media who glorified these so-called heroes, which brought out this notion of revenge out of these bright kids and turn them into today''s villains whom the media label as terrorists. In fact, they are just sacrificial beings created by the society themselves so that the heroes have someone to fight against." Taro further explained the things that he thought were the faults in their society, like an everyday talk. After hearing all that Number 3 came into a conclusion. "So¡ªyou hate the heroes because you don''t have any attributes?" "What? How the hell you came to that ending after what I said? You know what, I don''t care. I hate both sides anyway¡ªboth sides have their fair share of crazies. Both equally make my life a living hell." Taro sighed. Suddenly his phone rang. "Shit, speak of the devil. Massive destruction in the fifth avenue. Lunch time is over. Let''s go." # The squad swung by the fifth avenue as soon as possible. As Taro lingered around the scene, Tyler took the initiative as the assistant leader. "Hey, Nick! So, what happened?" He greeted the police officer, his former batch mate in the hero training program, which they both failed. "It''s as you see. Two individuals fought their way through from here to there." Nick explained in detail. "It seems like these people are not registered into the Wadorian registry." "Wait, you mean¡ªthey''re terrorists?" The entire squad came up with the same conclusion and gasped. "Are you lot flipping idiots? There''s just two section of people who aren''t registered¡ªme and kids." Taro interjected, belittling his subordinates'' thought process. "Leader, you?" Number 3, who sat in the restaurant, hearing the leader singing praises about villains (described as per Number 3''s thoughts), laid his suspicion on Taro subconsciously. "Yea, like hell I did this. I was with you guys when it happened. There were two individuals, after all!" Taro roared. "So they''re kids." Tyler spoke out as he looked around for clues. "Fucking kids, who just got their attributes itching for a fight¡ªthat''s what this is. They can only enter themselves into the registry at sixteen and enter the arena for a duel after registration. So, kids below sixteen, they''re our culprits." Nick said as he was reminded of the old rulebook in their training program. "But, how are we supposed to find these kids?" Tyler wondered. Taro laughed loudly. "That''s easy. It''s those two. Scared shitless, aren''t ya?" He asked the two kids standing in the crowd, quivering. "We''re sorry." The two apologized almost instantly since they were caught. "How did he?" The entire squad plus Nick was amazed by Taro''s amazing skills. "Their demeanor was very weird. They probably thought they could escape from the leader''s eyes if they stayed near the scene and acted oblivious. Little punks." He explained. The plan to expose the two kids was a double edged sword, since he never actually knew whether they were the real culprits or not. He thanked God, since the kids weren''t the ultra-genius kind, who could''ve fucked him over pretty easily. "I''m sorry, uncle. I''m the one who forced him to fight." Kid #1 came forth apologizing. "No, uncle! I''m the one who forced him." Kid#2, pushed #1 aside and tried to take all the blame on himself. "Ah, you two are good kids. Wait a few more years and you two will become good heroes. But, right now, you are just two dumb kids who did this dumb shit. Now, if I want to, I can probably arrest your parents under the pretense of unguided disaster territory or some shit like that." Taro said. Now that he knew that the kids were¡ªkids, he made up some rules just to scare them a bit. "No!" They cried. "But, I''m not gonna do that. I''m gonna leave it at this. I believe you might have learn a lesson from this¡ªthat if you ever do this stuff outside the arena ever again, it doesn''t even matter if you are registered, this uncle will haunt you in your dreams." He said as he patted their heads. "Yes." The kids shouted. "Now scram." Taro said, as he gestured them to leave. "Tyler, clear the scene." "Yes, sir." Tyler left. Nick followed. "Your leader is quite talkative, isn''t he?" Nick asked. "Yea, he has an impeccable hearing too." Tyler said, slightly smiling. "Shit." He thought, as he saw Taro glaring at him from a distance. # After the events earlier, which snatched their well-deserved break, Taro and the troop decided to head to the nearest bar to end that day. "Ah, a cold beer in this warm summer night¡ªhow better can life get?" Number 1 pondered as he felt the bliss of life. Meanwhile, Taro looked as if he was thinking about something. He had not even touched the beer before him. Tyler, who felt this as weird, decided to check up on Taro. "Leader, what happened?" "Nothing. I was just thinking." Taro snapped out before drinking the beer as whole. He let out a peaceful sigh and continued. "Tyler, if I''m ever to disappear one day, I hope you''ll lead the team in place. You will, right?" He asked, basically triggering a death flag for himself. Tyler was quick to point this out. "Leader, don''t plant a doom flag by yourself." "Haha, you didn''t answer." Taro laughed. "Of course." Tyler looked concerned for his leader, but his answer sounded firm and decisive. "Well, that puts me in ease. I''m old now, you know!" Taro mocked in an old man''s voice. Tyler sighed. "Leader, you''re thirty." "Well, I''m already an uncle." Taro said as he pouted a bit. "Hung up about the stuff earlier, huh?" "You could say that." Taro replied. He sat silently for a moment before getting up. "Well, I''m gonna go out for a walk. Put everything in my tab." "Yea, sure." Everyone sounded enthusiastic upon hearing Taro''s words and ordered a bunch more drinks. Outside, Normal-taro took a whiff of the night''s air¡ªit reeked of smoke. He smiled as he squatted beside someone smoking. He took out a cigarette of his own and started smoking and coughed endlessly. "I think you should quit smoking." Park Sinyim, the waiter from Cool Moon spoke as he took the cigarette out of Taro''s mouth. "If I do that, who will ever be your smoking partner, you idiot!" Taro said as he took the cigarette back and laughed. A couple of coughs sneaked in too. Park Sinyim was Taro''s former hero academy roommate and current best friend. Yes, Taro was enrolled into the hero academy under the norm that he could never enroll into the main course, the hero training program. Hence he took the support course and joined disaster management. Park Sinyim, however, was a hero training program enrollee. "Hmm, let''s go. The ground will look real shiny tonight." Park stood up and reached out a hand towards Taro. "To the theme park?" Taro asked as he grabbed Park''s hand. The theme park was Shining''s one and only, which usually was unguarded at nights. They started hanging around that place for the view since their academy days and now it had become a tradition. "Where else?" He asked as he began walking. [???????????? ????????????????????????''???? ????????????????, ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ????????. ????????????''???? ???????????????? ????????!] "Emilia, huh?" Park sighed as he heard it from a TV in a stall whilst passing by. Hearing her name gave him some flashbacks. Why? Because, Emilia was his classmate in the hero training program and the one he lost to in the final duel which gives them the hero student¡ªthere''s just one hero per batch, so had the galaxy''s hope not been in his match, Park might''ve been a hero by now. "Shit, man. Emilia''s real famous now, isn''t she? After she screwed you over and all." Taro sneered. To be honest, he doesn''t have a genuine hatred for any heroes or villains¡ªwith the special exception named Emilia. He hated her guts for multitude of things that occurred in his past. He was not the kind who let''s go of the past. Unlike Taro, Park always respected Emilia. "Well, a scholarship and power could be bought, but the love, respect and admiration that the people have for her¡ªthat''s genuine. Honestly, I''m really happy that she''s the one who beat me. After all, I can say that the Galaxy''s hope was the one who defeated me in the final duel, right?" He asked. "Right." He said mockingly. Suddenly he heard the clanging of metal from somewhere nearby. Being the isolated pathway that it was, this sound was brought to Taro''s attention pretty quickly. "Hey, do you hear that?" He asked Park. "What?" Before Park could even ask about the details, Taro was already running. "Wait, where are you running off to?" Park shouted as he ran after him. Taro ran because he found someone''s silhouette by the corner of the road. Being the clich¨¦d daredevil, he decided to take the risk and run after it. The closer he got, he realized that the shadow before him was of a child and it had chains bounded to its legs. He wanted to get a hold of that child and ask about its whereabouts. However, when he grabbed its shoulders, the child disappeared as if it was never there to begin with. "Damn it. It''s gone." He muttered. "Man, if you told me already that you were running to the theme park, I would''ve walked. And what''s gone?" Park, who picked up the pace by the end, asked. He was panting¡ªhe was nowhere near the hero candidate he once was. "Huh? Nothing, I guess." Taro, who just realized that he was already at the theme park, snapped back. He treated what happened as his own imagination''s work. "Well, let''s get in. I''ll pour you some whiskey." Park said, patting on Taro''s shoulders. "Hey, it''s summer. Are we supposed to drink that?" He asked. "What are you saying? There''s no seasons for alcohol!" "You''re right." "Here you go. Cheers." "Cheers." They drank the whiskey and stared at the bright land. The park was situated at a place where they could enjoy the scenic view when moonlight and shining light merged and gave out an angelic glow. People at Shining, who usually had a hard time sleeping at nights, very much enjoys this image. "Hey, do you know why the land glows after midnight." Park suddenly asked, which puzzled Taro. "Well, due to the soil composition, the elements like¡­" Taro started spouting his science. He was quickly stopped. "I''m not talking about that. Haven''t you heard the old legend?" Park asked yet again. "Not interested in folklores." Taro brushed it aside. Park didn''t listen and began talking about the legend. "Well, it goes like this. It says that our land glows because it''s welcoming the Gods." "Then why at midnight? Why not always?" Since he already had his legs dipped in water, he thought to venture deep. "Because Gods arrive at midnight." "Why can''t they?" He was about to probe further when he was yet again stopped by Park. "There are no questions in the story. If I say so, that''s the fact." He proclaimed. "And this is why I don''t believe in children''s stories and bullshit like that." Taro sighed. "Well, not like I care about your preferences." "Fuck off, I''m going." For some reason, Park''s statement rubbed Taro the wrong way and he left the room where they were having their drinks. However, he did take the bottle with him. "Why so serious?" "What''s up with the guy? Getting pissed off because of a children''s story. Meh, it''s not like I''m not gonna see him tomorrow. We''ll settle it then." Park muttered, not knowing that he planted the second doom flag. "As if God''s gonna come to this damn planet! Why that guy doesn''t gets his facts straight. But why did I get so angry? Who knows?" Maybe it''s the hatred for the planet or it was something about Gods that rubbed him, he was subconsciously pissed. But since he had a rude interaction with Park, he decided to not go back for now and just walk around the park. That''s when he saw the little kid yet again. "Hey, little shit. You''re back, huh? Wait for me, I''ll catch you." Even though he was somewhat confident that his mind was messing with him, his body didn''t react accordingly. Instead, he chased after the kid¡ªmaybe it''s the alcohol. Meanwhile, Park was having his quiet time, before an alarm started off suddenly. "What is it?" He looked out and saw that the roller coaster was moving. "Why the fuck is the roller-coaster moving? Shit! Where are the breaks, goddamn it?" He ran towards the engine room and looked around for the breaks. Finally, he found the break lever. He pulled it, yet nothing happened. "Fuck, why isn''t the breaks working?" Desperate, he looked around for Taro, checking whether he was by any chance close to the roller coaster. "That idiot!" Not much of a surprise¡ªhe was there jumping around alone like a fool. What Park didn''t know was that Taro wasn''t alone, at least to him. He was just following the child in front. "Stop jumping around." He yelled before it finally stopped. "Stopped, huh? I''m gonna catch you now, you little twerp!" He jumped onto the non-existent kid. However, he was left with nothing but air in his grasp. He didn''t quite notice it. What Taro also didn''t notice was that a roller coaster was on its move and he was right on its path after all that jumping around. "Hey, idiot! Don''t go near the coaster rails! What? Get down, you drunk bastard!" Park screamed as he ran over to him with all his might. "Eh? What did you say?" Taro looked at Park and yelled back. And now he noticed that the non-existent kid was not in his grasp. "Fuck, and now he''s gone. Where did you go now¡ªHoly shit?" A little late now, but he did notice the roller coaster when it was seconds away from him. "This idiot leaves me no choice. Muscle is Justice, full power!" Park unleashed his unique power, ''Muscle is Justice'', which increases his muscle mass by about 500%, if he did practice every day. Now, he could only exert 150%, that too for a couple of seconds. "Taro, jump off!" He screamed. "He jumped off, right? The coaster doesn''t look like it''s gonna stop. Ha, this is how I''m gonna end, huh? Not as flashy as I thought it would be, but at least I saved one life." Park thought to himself and let out a sigh as he was hit by the coaster. The 150% was not enough. He was satisfied, but an ominous feeling was yet to leave him. "Something''s off. Why do I feel something on my back?" He wondered what it was as if he didn''t already knew the answer. # [????] Supes referring to the super-heroes, of course! 2 Isekai Usually, someone from the amusement park kicked himself and Park outside in the early morning, which proves to be their alarm of sorts. Yet, something was different that day¡ªway different. He had no idea what was so different though. He got a rough idea of that in a minute as he finally opened his eyes wide open. "Hmm? So, where exactly am I?" He saw himself in a room which was weird. He looked around for a hot minute to realize the problem about it. The magazines, the posters¡ªhe could read none of it. He felt weird as he went around touching things. "So similar, yet so different. Even the constitution of materials are weaker. What is this stuff on the wall? It''s so brittle." He muttered as he poked his finger into the wall, which led to a grey powder coming out of it and formed a humongous amount of cracks in it. The stuff was very weak compared to his standards. "That my friend, is cement. It is one of the sturdier stuff around here. We use it to build houses and stuff." A man came in from the door, dressed up all funny. He looked like the street clowns from Skyliner planet that he used to love when he was a child. However, he still felt as if something was different. He decided to leave his lingering feelings aside and commented about the elephant of the room. "As if!" He believed that he was probably in a Mandowood [????] film set. It looked realistic¡ªfor a movie set. Seeing the disbelief in Taro''s eyes, he led him to a lift which got them to the outside world. "Look at all those places? Even if you dug a hole on those walls, you''re gonna find the same stuff." He said. "Oh, you weren''t kidding!" Taro, with his immense experience in construction work in the past for paying off his tuition fees, had a good eye for sophisticated constructions, which none of those houses candled to. Thus, he came to his conclusion. "So, I guess this place isn''t Wados. I''ve heard that people in Skyliner planet wear¡ª eccentric clothes. Not gonna lie, I''ve went around all the thirteen planets in the Mandora twice and never seen one like you. This isn''t even the Mandora star system, is it?" He asked as they went back to the room. Even the skyliner troops weren''t stupid enough to wear these weird clothes. "No. This is the solar system. Also, you''re on a planet called Earth." The man who accompanied him explained. "Well, I''ll contact the higher ups and tell them you''re awake. They''d be willing to answer those questions of yours." The man gave a warm smile, which calmed Taro just a little bit. "Okay, thanks." "Here, take it." The man gave a weirdly wrapped package in his hand. It was warm. "What''s this?" Taro asked. "Food. You might be hungry, right?" Taro felt thankful as he heard the man''s words. He always appreciate a person who gives food to someone else in need. "Oh, I''ll make sure to eat it." He said, with a joyful smile. "Good. I''ll be on my way." The man left in a moment''s notice. After he left, Taro placed down the weird package and pranced around. In Taro''s eyes, everything about this planet was weird. He started thinking. "????????????????????????????????????????''???? ???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????, ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????. ????????????????, ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????????, ????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????, ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????????????. ????????????????, ???????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????????????????. ????????????????, ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????????? ????????????????? ????????????????????." Suddenly, that last night''s event came by like a flash. "???????????? ???????????????????? ????????????????. ???? ???????????? ???????????????? ????????????????. ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????? ????????¡ª???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ????????, ???????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????, ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????. ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ????''???? ???????????????? ????????????, ????????????????????? ???????????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ????????????????''???? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????¡ª????????????????????, ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????????????????! ????????????????????, ???? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???? ???????????????????????? ????????????????! ???????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? [????]?" The conclusion that he came up with made him smile a bit. That would explain why everything looked oddly familiar but different, an expression he had used multiple times already. However, instead of tank-kun like in those comics he read, it was coaster-kun! Either way, if that was the reality, he was satisfied. "Sir, this guy sure acts weird." The man, who previously acted real nice in front of Taro earlier, said to official as they looked over him through CCTV. "Let him be. Now, you were telling me?" Special agent Ponnappan asked. "Yea, the alien poked a finger onto the wall and you can see its state for yourself. He even called it weak, in addition to that." The man explained what he saw to his superior. Ponnappan gasped. "Such power! Thankappan, have you found out how they came to this planet?" "No, sir. It was all too sudden. They literally appeared out of thin air." Field agent Thankappan replied. "Hmm, I see. What about this Wados they were talking about?" He asked. "We''ve sent a message about it to our benefactors. We''re waiting for their reply." The field agent replied. "Got it. I guess it''s time to welcome this alien to our planet." Ponnappan said with a smirk on his face. # "Whoa, this food is actually good! Grain sized and easy to consume. Ideal food of the ideal world." Taro enjoyed eating this delicacy that Thankappan gave him. Except it was no delicacy, but a rice meal with fish curry, which had no fish but only the curry, from a nearby food stall [????]. Still, an avid street enthusiast could always argue that the food was indeed a delicacy as Taro said. But, whilst enjoying his meal, he sensed some movement from outside. He expected the field agent and wanted to thank him once again, but it was a different man. "Who are you?" "I''m a higher up official who''ve come to answer your questions and ask some of my own." Ponnappan replied. "Well, can it wait?" Taro asked as he glanced at the food. "Sure." The special agent said and waited for him to finish the meal. When he did so, Ponnappan had a not so casual idea in his head. "In the meantime, try bending the plate in your hand." "Why?" Taro was confused. "Just for the sake." He replied. Taro obliged, thinking it might be some weird custom on Earth. He took the plate and bent it literally with his two fingers. "What about it?" "????????????????, ???????????????? ????????????''???? ????????????????????????. ????????''???? ????????????????????????¡ª???????????? ????????????????????????!" The special agent was surprised. It was a steel plate that he bent so effortlessly. Taro wasn''t indeed normal¡ªhe was a great threat. "So, what is it that you wanted to ask?" He asked as he gulped inwardly. "First, how in the world did I get here?" He got straight to the point. "Well, I was about to ask you the same question." Ponnappan replied. "You don''t know?" Taro was confused. He thought that there might be a chance that the dumb idiot who proclaimed that he''ll answer Taro''s questions, would know the answer. "No." Taro sighed and continued. "I see. Now, what is this place? Where exactly is it?" "If you''re talking about the planet, it''s named Earth and I don''t know how far it is from your planet, Wados. Well, we called up our benefactors on this issue and we might be able to inform you about the same. Now, if you''re talking about this establishment specifically, then this is one of the secret bases of a world government based organization called Men in Black. We are the connecting link between humans and aliens. We are responsible for the protection of alien rights and needs when they stay on this planet. This base is located in the coastal region of Kerala. [????]" Ponnappan looked proud as he said it. "Black?" Taro didn''t quite get it since none of them wore any black in them. On the contrary, it was all vibrant colors. Ponnappan chuckled. "Black is just in name. That means we are protecting the citizen of this planet and aliens like you in dark. Like, we are the ones hiding in the shadows." "What?" Ponnappan was surprised. He never expected Taro to take such a sudden turn in his questions. He expected somewhat of a cultural question, not something that involves with their trade secret. Ponnappan sweated immensely. The alien before him was really bizarre. Even though they were just assumptions, he really knew his facts, he thought as he couldn''t even judge the difference between facts and assumptions. "What do you mean?" The field agent decided to act dumb for a while. Upon hearing the conversation through their comms, many high ranked official rush towards him. They had a sense of fear and disbelief in their expression, which was the one that Wadorian people dawned when they saw him back in the day, fearing that he hated them and would turn into a terrorist soon enough. He felt like home. "Why do you need it?" One of the officials asked. "Just wanna take a look at it. Nothing else. I''ll give you back as soon as I finish looking." Taro decided to speak the truth. He didn''t lie about anything until now and decided not to do such a thing further too. After a session of intense deliberation amongst officials, Ponnappan himself decided that it wouldn''t be that much of a bad idea. "Hmm. Here, take it." "Hey, what are you doing?" The officials were surprised. They even had baseless thoughts like Taro might make an explosive out of it or something. "As I said, I''m just looking." He said, not minding their gazes. When he finally got hold of it, his suspicions were cleared. "Oh, you''re Glomera''s bitches, huh? Catch!" He blurted out as he saw the technologically advanced, Glomera star system''s insignia. "Mind your language!" Every official present were enraged, as if they were insulted on a personal level, although it was the World leaders who signed an undisclosed deal with Glomera. "I just said it as it is. Judging from your reaction, it seems like the Glomera star system hasn''t announced their intentions yet." Taro said, which piqued some officials'' interest, since the alien seemed to know about the undisclosed part of the deal. "What do you mean?" Ponnappan asked. "..." None spoke. It took him little to no time to hit the right nerves since every word he spoke was true. "How...?" The officials were stumped. The alien before him was explaining word-by-word, exactly the stuff that they knew about. Learning about the existence of another civilization other than themselves in the universe was a huge piece of news for the world government officials, so when the Glomera civilization offered their vast knowledge and chance to conquer the space, they were indeed overjoyed. "Oh, you look surprised! Probably wondering how I know all these. Because I''ve seen it happen time after time with many other planets. You know what happened to the people in that planet now? They''re Glomera''s slaves now." He sighed. Glomerans were a bunch of assholes and it was a known fact in the universe. He didn''t want another planet to lose their freedom too. "Didn''t you say you are the shadow protecting the people or something? Then listen carefully. Cancel the deal you have with Glomera. Only then you can protect your people." Taro requested them off it. After hearing the long explanation, none spoke for a while. And when a voice was finally heard, it was of a laugh. One laughed and others followed. Soon, everyone including Ponnappan were laughing. "Haha. You think we''re going to end a long beneficial partnership with a higher civilizations because a random alien like you talked shit about them? As if!" The special agent laughed more loudly as he ridiculed Taro. "Fine, don''t listen. None of my concern. But when that shit actually happens, do remember about this random alien who warned you about it." He replied with a stern expression. Ponnappan laughed a bit more and decided to ignore the entire explanation that Taro gave. "When that happens, right? Sure. Now, I guess it''s time to end our little talk. Here you go. This is the information on our world¡ªwait, I forgot. You can''t read this!" Ponnappan was about to put back a bunch of books that he brought, when Taro stopped him. "I''ll just look at the pictures then." He said as he grabbed the books from the special agents. As he silently surfed through it, he suddenly stopped at a picture that showed Tokyo dome and felt nostalgic. "???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????. ???????? ???????? ???? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ????????????????????????." Thankfully, he doesn''t remember that disastrous run, so his nostalgia didn''t last very long. [????] "No worries. Too much help from a shady organization is not too good anyway!" Taro laughed it off like nothing. He was doing all he can to rub them the wrong way. "Then, I believe this is the end of our brief partnership. Farewell, Mr. Whateveryournameis." Ponnappan mocked Taro, even in the very end. Taro decided to return the favor. "Farewell, Mr. Clown." [????] Furious, Agent Ponnappan called one of his subordinates towards him. "Hey Lonappan, come here." "What is it sir?" Lonappan asked. "Lead that guy to #306. Let him suffer a bit." A sinister smile was visible in the special agent''s face. "But sir..." "I don''t want you talking back at me." He roared. "Yes, sir." Lonappan had no chance but to cower back. "But, always keep your eyes on him. He might be an asshole. But he''s too strong for his own good. You never know what trouble he might bring to this planet." Ponnappan said, with his intense foreshadowing ability. # [????] The ¨Cwood reference of the movie industry. But instead of it being the planet''s movie industry, it''s the entire star system''s movie industry. Blunder at first¡ªliked it, so decided to keep it. [????] Well, I guess I don''t have to explain much about this, do I? But for those who don''t know, isekai means other world, I believe? But instead of our friendly neighborhood truck-kun, it''s the tank-kun that does the heavy work. Don''t blame me, blame Warorian mangakas. And yes, I wrote comic instead of manga for generalization. [????] Thattukada: Covered carts on the roadsides which sell the street food of kerala. Everything tastes good there for some reason! [????] A state in the southern-part of India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala [????] A jab at the "weird" clothes that the Earth people seemed to wear. 3 Holy Land "Sure. Tell me, do I really have to wear this?" He voiced his concern one last time, hoping for a miracle to occur. "If you want to blend in, then yes." Lonappan said the truth that Taro already knew, yet desperately opposed. "Fine. Let''s get a move on already." Taro sighed and followed Lonappan to the lift. Thankappan was already waiting for them on the outside. He took a deep breath and smiled. "Wow, I did not notice it when I came up before, but this place is really nice!" He exclaimed. "Ah, we take pride in ourselves for keeping it clean." Lonappan smirked. "Not that. The air here is really good!" Taro said, taking another deep breath in. "We do have one of the lowest pollution rate in the city." Although it was not the answer that he expected, but Lonappan really took pride on that little fact too. "It reminds me of my planet. Like the carbon dioxide, sulfur, nitrogen and all? Ah, too good! Except the oxygen pollution is a bit high here, isn''t it?" He said as he sniffed his nose. Lonappan sighed. "I see, you''re the kind who breathes in the pollutants, huh?" "What do you mean?" Taro asked. "We breathe in oxygen, not the other gases." Lonappan explained. "Well, that would make you the ones breathing in the pollutants, am I right?" Taro asked. "If we were in your planet, sure. However, this is our planet and here you are the weird one." Thankappan included himself into the fray. "Man!" Taro sighed. He was supposed to be in a planet with no superpowers, but he was still considered weird. He wanted to cry; the poor guy wanted a normal life! But he decided to not worry about it anymore. "Whatever. So, what''s this place?" He asked. "It''s called snehatheeram [????]." Thankappan explained. "Snehatheeram?" Taro asked. "I guess it means lover''s bay or something?" "That''s weird. I don''t see any lovers here!" As he glanced over the beach, he saw multiple families glancing at the sunset, but no lovers. He took the name quite literally and was really disappointed at one point. "There may be some couples around. It might just be that you can''t see them." Lonappan said, looking around noticing that they weren''t any actual couple. "Maybe, it''s just for the namesake. Just like the black in your name." Taro laughed with a slight mockery in his face. "It could be that too. Anyway, it''s a family spot these days. So you might be right." Lonappan decided to end the conversation and continued walking. "I don''t know. Lonappan''s the one who knows. Only he could lead us there." Thankappan answered. Taro directed his question towards Lonappan upon hearing that. "Where is it, Agent Lonappan?" "Follow me." He instructed. Thankappan and Taro followed. # They followed him for so long¡ªso long that they didn''t even notice that they swapped multiple buses and ended up in some unknown place. "We sure took the long way. Tell me Lonappan, why are we so far away from your base?" Taro finally asked after snapping out of it. "Only the single digits are fairly closer to the base. The special agent has asked me to lead you to #306. That''s the reason for this distance." Lonappan explained. "So, where are we now?" Taro asked. "We are in a place called Mundur." Lonappan said. "Mundur? Lonappan, have we already reached Palakkad? [????]" Thankappan asked, quite surprised that they travelled that far in the short period. "No, we''re still in Thrissur." Lonappan said, shaking his head. "Hmm, I don''t get what''s going on, but will I get to see my new residential soon?" Taro didn''t quite get what this explanation was about, so he asked about the thing that interested him. "Don''t be frantic. We still have to walk for a good five minutes and reach Pazhamukku." Lonappan said, nodding at Taro. "Aw, man!" Taro didn''t quite like walking. The man honed himself with multiple martial arts throughout the galaxy, wasn''t rather too fond of walking. He sighed. However, Lonappan was right in his estimation. In exactly five minutes they reached Holy land, a quite good looking two story house. "Is this it?" He asked. "Yes, it is." Lonappan nodded his head. "Finally! Let''s get in then!" Taro said quite excitedly. As he was about to get in, a man watering the plants outside the house jogged towards them. "Lonappan, how are you?" He asked. "Timothy-chetta! [????] These are the two I talked about over the phone." Lonappan replied, dawning a smile that even Thankappan hasn''t seen before; a smile so fake that it nearly made Taro puke. "Two?" The confused Thankappan whispered at Lonappan. "I tell you about it later." He whispered back and changed his focus back to Timothy. "Chetta, I''ll lead them to the room." "Sure, see you later then. Lonappan, we do have to talk about the rent later though. We have extra people living in there now." Timothy said, rubbing his fingers, signaling money. Lonappan laughed. "Sure thing!" He assured Timothy. "Who''s that?" Taro asked while they headed over to the first floor. "Timothy, your landlord from now on." Lonappan explained. "I see. So, let''s go!" Taro gave a thumbs up. He was still excited about stepping into his new settlement. "Let me remind you, you''re not the only one who''s living in that place. Beside you, three other people reside there¡ªall aliens." Lonappan said. "At least I don''t have to act different, am I right?" Taro laughed. "Yea, however the people living across the hall are humans. So don''t act all alien-ish before them. I hope you''ll remember it. Get in." Lonappan invited them into the second floor. Holy land was not that big. Taro was surprised that the landlord actually agreed to stuff him into that one room too. Three tenants in the small house including the landlord, he sure was a shrewd guy. But, even though one might think that it would be crammed, the room was actually spacious. It was really weird¡ªa room too small yet spacious. Two things in contrast, still they ended up working in harmony this time. "Whew, this place is nice! I thought the place would be shitty when I saw the higher up of yours smile like that." "????????????????''???? ???????????? ????????. ????????, ???????????? ???????????????? ????????????????! ????????????''???? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ????????????????." Lonappan thought, as he glanced at Taro with sympathetic eyes. Taro didn''t notice the glance. Instead he saw two people and a dog before him. "Welcome to the bachelor pad, newbie!" One said. But, Taro didn''t quite get the one saying that until the other one pointed at the one who stood there without much movement. "Wow, your mouth''s not even moving! Where are you even talking from? Wow, you''re aware of my dialect already?" Taro asked. It was a weird phenomenon indeed. Taro''s guess was for the man to be a philanthropist or something. "Wow, disgusting!" Taro gulped subconsciously. "Hey, I''m a really high level species, you know?" The small creature retorted. Its voice somehow was much cuter than before, since its voice wasn''t amplified like before. It wasn''t disgusting either¡ªit was just small, really small. "I wasn''t talking about you, but the way that mouth tore open!" Taro explained. "And I believe that there''s no one in the universe who won''t recognize someone from plankton civilization. It''s truly a pleasure of mine to finally see a personality of such great species." He replied as he bowed respectfully at the creature. "Oh, so you do know me, huh?" The creature was small, yet its pride in particular stood above all. "Well, who could forget the ones that destroyed eleven bases of the liberation army during the galactic wars and caused their defeat?" Taro buttered the creature a bit more. But it wasn''t a lie. Twenty years ago, due to a really stupid debate between two galactic civilizations, a fight took place. Concerned about the situation of the respective civilizations if this war prolonged, citizen from both the civilization joined hands and formed the liberation army. Soon, it wasn''t just the two civilizations. Creatures from multiple civilizations began to band under this liberation army banner, in order to liberate their civilizations from evil and stupid leaders. However, an evil leader of one such civilization contracted the plankton civilization for the eradication of the said liberation army. The planktons infiltrated under their noses and planted bombs in their bases. Many people died. Although Wados was a neutral party in this war, everyone in Wados remembered that event as clear as day. "Ah, that was twenty years ago, huh? Kid, you really know your history. Where are you from?" The plankton asked. "I''m from Wados." Taro replied. A series of flashbacks galloped back into the plankton''s mind. "Ah, now I get it! Your mercenaries were hired by the both sides, weren''t they? From front line to the defense, you Wadorians were all over the battlefield. Also, you were the guys who suffered the most damage too when we destroyed those bases." Plankton looked down as he said it. "Sorry, kid! It was a job from a client. We couldn''t do anything about it!" "Don''t worry! It''s not like someone important to me died in that battle." He laughed it off as if it wasn''t a big deal. He laughed it off as if his parents, the only people who used to believe in him and hoped the best for him, hadn''t died in that battle. He laughed it off as if they weren''t in the base number eight of the liberation army, trying to protect others from the blast. He laughed it off as if he didn''t hate whoever coined the plan back then. "By the way, gotta respect the secrecy of your kin. Twenty years and you''ve still not revealed the client''s name to anyone." He wanted the name. By hook or by crook, he so dearly wanted that name. Of course, he might not even be able to return to Wados if the situation remains the same, but if he got the name, he would at least have a face to imagine when he conjure up the revenge plan that he had been cooking up since he was six. "We can''t go around saying the name of a client and destroy our reputation, now, can we?" The plankton smiled. He was indeed a tough nut to crack. Taro decided that he would leave that matter for another day and focused on familiarizing himself with the others. "I like you kid! I''m plankton #69420. But, everyone here calls me Kunjan [????]. What''s yours?" He asked. Taro smiled; a smile so genuine that no one would even guess that he was filled with intense hatred just a while back. "That''s a good number! And my name''s Taro¡ªNormal-Taro." "Normal, huh? Saada [????]. Let''s make it Sada. Taro is a bit iffy. Sadataro will be weird. So, what about we change taro and put Sadanandan or something?" Kunjan asked. "Not bad! But, I''ll prefer it if you called me by my real name when we are the only ones around." He requested Kunjan, as he extended his hand. "Sure. Now meet up with the others." He replied as he shook on it. "Hello, Taro. I''m Gibli. People around here calls me Gibli too." The man named Gibli extended his unusual looking lengthy arm. "You sure are lanky. I guess you''re from Fallen Ark." Taro speculated as he shook hands. "Indeed, it''s as the plankton says, you sure know your history. But I''d like it if you don''t call it Fallen Ark¡ªjust call it Ark." Gibli replied with a gentle smile¡ªyet a bright fire lit in his eyes. Ark, a civilization filled with lanky figures like Gibli was one of the initial targets of Glomera civilizations. Almost all of them were Glomeran slaves, other than the ones that escaped. Taro guessed that Gibli was one amongst them. "???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????!" Taro thought, but decided not to say it out loud. He remembered reading about the Ark community eating the heads of people that they hate. He shivered as he thought of it and replied. "Sure!" "Good. I''ll be on my way then." Gibli headed out. After Gibli headed out, Taro started patting the resident dog''s head and noticed something weird. "Hey, Lonappan! You said there''d be three, right? However, there''s just two here. Where''s the other one?" "You''re standing in front of him." Lonappan replied to the puzzled Taro. "Hey, don''t think of me as a normal dog!" The dog stood straight on his two legs and barked. "Ah, the dog talks!" Taro was quite freaked out after witnessing that. "I said I''m not a dog. My species name is canino!" The dog barked like it was personally offended by Taro calling him a dog. "Yea, canine¡ªdog!" Taro replied straight forward. But the canino couldn''t care about that anymore since it had a short attention span¡ªlike dogs. "Whatever. My name is M''Baku. But the kid next door calls me Charlie. So I''m Charlie." "Oh, Charlie! Who''s a good boy?" Taro mockingly patted Charlie. "Fuck off!" Charlie flipped the finger and walked away. "How old is that dog?" Taro asked Kunjan. "Older than you can imagine. He''s been in here for the longest time. He''s a weird dude. Don''t get fooled by his looks. Therefore, it''d be great if you stayed away from him for a bit." He replied. "Hmm, I can see that." Taro said as he watched Charlie walking with swagger. "Go take a shower and get some sleep. Go sightseeing or something tomorrow. You still have to familiarize with this place, right?" Thankappan suggested. "Yea, thanks." He headed towards the shower. "???? ???????????????????? ????''???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????." He thought to himself. Thankappan stretched himself. "So, since you''ve met up with everyone, I''ll be going." As he was leaving, he was stopped by Lonappan. "Where do you think you''re going?" He asked. "Lonappan, what do you mean?" Thankappan was puzzled. "Ponnappan asked us to keep an eye on this dude. So, you''ll stay alongside him in this house." Lonappan explained. "Then what about you?" Thankappan asked. "My house is the one next to this. So, I''ll be living there." He explained and pointed the house through the window. "I see." Thankappan sighed. The field agent finally was assigned with his first assignment. # Late night; Taro was sleeping peacefully when he felt something by his leg. "What''s happening? Why do I feel something against me?" "Hey, new guy! Don''t move. Hold that position, just for a little bit. I''m about to¡ªI''m about to!" It was Charlie, the canino, dry humping his leg. He looked like he was about to drop a load. Taro didn''t held back. One punch and he was flying across the room. "Fuck off, you creepy dog! Next time you do something like this, it won''t end within one punch." He roared. "So strong! I like that." Charlie gave out a perverse smile as if enjoyed that and left Taro. He decided to finish what he started some other day. "???? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ????????????????????. ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????!" Taro sighed. He couldn''t sleep with that stupid dog around now. So he decided to go outside a bit and saw Thankappan there. "Hey, what are you doing out here so late?" He asked the field agent. "Huh? Nothing. Just that the moon''s bright. What about you? Why are you up?" He asked back. "Just some minor disturbances." The dog came into Taro''s mind. Although he had an immense desire to punch it beyond the farthest of galaxies, he decided to leave it alone¡ªfor now. "Now that you''re up anyway, can you help me?" He asked. Thankappan nodded. Taro hurriedly went inside and brought something back. "What is this?" He asked. "Some plain cards. I wanted to buy basic necessities but I can''t talk right now, can I? In short, I want you to write something in your language." Taro humbly requested. "Sure! And if you want, I''ll drop you somewhere you can buy them." Thankappan suggested. "Thanks man!" Normal-taro felt thankful for meeting such a kind man in his hard times. # [????] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snehatheeram_Beach [????] There are two Mundurs in Kerala, in two different cities, Palakkad and Thrissur, and hence Thankappan''s confusion. [????] Older brother. Equivalent to ''san'' in Japanese or ''hyung'' in Korean. [????] Meaning small (??????) [????] Saadarana (??????) meaning ordinary or normal. 4 Taro goes shopping 1 "Thanks again, my man! I would''ve invited you into the mall, but since you said you had things to do, I''m gonna refrain from doing so." Taro bowed towards Thankappan to show the absurd amount of respect that he felt for the guy. He didn''t imagine someone helping him to these lengths, even if they were orders from the higher ups. "Ah, no worries." Thankappan gave out a bitter smile upon seeing Taro''s sincerity. Thankappan lied about him having things to do. The special agent was tired of escorting the alien, even though this was supposed to be the first job assigned to him. "????????????????, ???? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????. ????????????????, ????????????????????????????????." He was pretty quick in getting rid of the guilt inside him. "Okay then. I''ll go buy my basic necessities." Taro waved his arms and jogged towards the mall, only for Thankappan to stop him. "You sure you''ll be able to come home by yourself?" The agent asked. "????????????????, ????????????¡­" A smile came forth in his face as he heard Thankappan''s words. It had been a long time since he considered some place as his home. "No problem. I got them cards that you gave me. If I can''t get back, then I''m not even qualified to live on this planet." Taro laughed. "Don''t say that!" Thankappan retorted. "By the way, be careful when you get back. The traffic over here is four times more than any other place." "Sure, I''ll keep that in my mind." Taro gave a thumbs up. "I see. I''ll get my ass out of here then." Thankappan nodded his head and got back into the rickshaw. # In Holy Land; Thankappan had arrived after his short trip to the mall with Normal-taro. The special agent took no time to turn on the fan and jumped into the sofa. It felt like bliss. "Whew! Finally, the rest that I deserve!" Thankappan sighed. "I see. This is the important thing that you told about to Taro, right?" A voice was heard beside him, which startled Thankappan. It was Plankton, in his human appearance. "#69420! What¡ªwhat''re you implying?" Thankappan was flustered by Kunjan''s question. "I''m implying that you''re a good-for-nothing lazy bum. You didn''t think anyone else would hear your conversation now, did you?" A sharp gaze pierced through human Kunjan''s stoic face. It was the gaze of the plankton¡ªa gaze so sharp, that it sent shivers down Thankappan''s spine. "How?" Thankappan dared not to follow up. He was literally frightened still by Kunjan. "I didn''t account for that." Thankappan cursed on himself inwardly. "You should''ve." The plankton placed a hand on him and continued. "By the way, how ruthless can you be to send an alien out in the wilderness all alone? I don''t think he even knows the way back." "It''s just fifteen minutes from here! And he promised that he''ll be back, safe and sound." Thankappan protested. "You should be ashamed of yourself, young man! You basically left a child out in the streets." Kunjan clicked his tongue in disappointment. "But he''s no child!" "He might as well be, since he doesn''t fucking know the way!" A slight anger was heard from Kunjan''s voice. The plankton had already got quite fond of Taro within the few hours since they met. "Damn it! Enough with the emotional blackmail already! You''re speaking as if I don''t feel any remorse about it." Thankappan''s guilt-ridden mind couldn''t comprehend the barrage of arguments and rebuke from the plankton. "What''s up with the early morning spat?" Lonappan, who had been in the house beside for the entire night, joined in on the conversation. "Lonappan! You see, Thankappan here ditched Taro in the middle of the road." Kunjan explained the situation in short. This ticked off Thankappan. "Hey, what''s up with the change in narrative? Look here, Lonappan. Taro asked if he could buy some basic necessities and so I took him to where he could buy it." He explained, hoping that his colleague would understand his side of the story. "And where''s that?" Lonappan asked. Thankappan didn''t quite get how the flow of the conversation changed into that direction, but he answered. "Koma-mall." Lonappan took a deep breath and shouted. "YOU IDIOT!" [Sigh] "Indeed, what an idiot!" Kunjan shook his head, the disappointment clearly visible through his body language. "What happened guys?" Meanwhile, Gibli who heard the commotion in the living room, asked. "Gibli, this idiot took Taro to the Koma-mall to buy his stuff." Kunjan took it on himself to explain the situation. "Truly, his idiocy is incomparable." Gibli agreed with Kunjan and Lonappan. Seeing the three calling him an idiot time after time, Thankappan finally snapped. "Hey, cut it out. What did I do so wrong for you freaks to call me an idiot?" He screamed. "Ah, I see. Years of training inside closed doors wasn''t meant to teach you common sense after all." Lonappan placed a hand over his shoulder and sighed. "What are you talking about?" Thankappan didn''t get it. He was confused as of why these people called him an idiot. "Look, how much did Taro have on him?" Lonappan asked. "One lakh [????], probably?" He replied. "Well, by the end of this night, he''ll not have a single penny of it left on him." Lonappan explained. "What do you mean?" Thankappan still didn''t get it, yet he was intrigued. Lonappan took a few steps towards the window and opened it. A cool breeze flew through the opening. Lonappan stared at the rising sun for a good few minutes before he spoke. "You don''t know shit about the underlying evil of this planet¡ªshopping malls. Taro''s current mindset is indecisive. He doesn''t know what to buy. And the devil of the shopping mall resides in an indecisive mind. You know what? Even an indecisive mind is fine. Do you know what''s not? An indecisive mind with ample cash to spend. That''s where the demon king of all the evil resides." Lonappan brushed his hand past his head as he continued. "Places like Koma-mall¡ªyou should only enter that god forsaken place if you have no cash to roll or if you have a clear cut decision on what to buy. Taro''s the complete opposite. He has the resources, yet he doesn''t know shit. Basically, you let a simpleton run amok in the demon''s castle." The scene of Lonappan explaining a shitload of nonsense about shopping malls was worth the watch, according to Thankappan. The others were in awe about Lonappan''s storytelling skills too. But Thankappan was still confused about a thing. "Dude, what''s up with the demonic innuendo?" He asked. "That''s the reality when it comes to those malls, isn''t it?" Lonappan asked back, putting on a cool yet cringeworthy smile on his face. Anyone else and that would''ve been pure cringe. Somehow, he managed it. "True." Plankton nodded his head on agreement. "I agree with that statement." Gibli doubled down on it. "Wow, everyone''s on sync." Thankappan was amazed that the three were in complete agreement on this case¡ªeven though the topic of agreement was his idiocy. All of a sudden, he caught up with Lonappan''s crazy storytelling and was in a frenzy. "Wait, I let Taro buy stuff from such a fearsome place. What the hell am I supposed to do now?" He asked, as he got into an intense panic mode. Lonappan looked at him and shook his head in disappointment. "Right now, there''s nothing you could possibly do. Once an innocent person gets his sight on the allure of the demon incarnate, there''s no saving that person. We could''ve done something if you told me before you did it. Only if you did that!" He grabbed tight onto Thankappan''s shoulders and was visibly in immense pain. Thankappan, swept over by the Oscar worthy performance from Lonappan, suddenly came back to his senses after his little panic session. "Hey, don''t place the blame on me!" He squeaked. Lonappan stopped his acting for a second and looked straight at Lonappan. "It''s a hundred percent your fault." He bluntly replied. "For real, that''s on you." Kunjan joined in. "This is what you get for your idiocy." Gibli, once again doubled in on it. "Now, we can''t just bash on him for lacking the common sense. For now, let''s wait and hope that Taro has a strong will." Lonappan said. "Highly unlikely." Kunjan replied. "Other than that, you''re fucked if he went missing too, since you were the one who left him alone in an unknown place. Just gonna remind you that part too." "Don''t make me suffer like this, please!" Thankappan spoke in a low voice. "????????????????, ???????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????!" The special agent cried on the inside. He knew it¡ªif it went wrong and Taro goes missing or something, this had the possibility of ending up as a diplomatic issue that might even end up in a war with Taro''s home planet. And if it doesn''t, it''ll at least end up with him being dismissed from MIB. His life and job depended on whether this one alien safely shops from a random shopping mall. What a fucking life! # [????] One lakh INR is roughly 1300 USD. That''s some big bucks for a broke guy like myself. 5 Taro goes shopping: Aftermath Although, it didn''t last for long. "Well, that would mean he could still go missing, huh?" Kunjan couldn''t stand the depressed atmosphere that Thankappan created and was fairly quick in changing the subject. "Speaking of Wados, did any of you lot ask him about his superpower?" He asked. "Superpowers¡ªwait, what!?" Thankappan was surprised at this revelation. He knew Taro was strong, but he didn''t know about him having a superpower. "Wadorians have superpowers. Why else do you think they were literally everywhere during the war?" Kunjan asked. "If we''re talking about superpowers, I guess it''ll be purely super strength. I saw the dude cracking walls as if it''s a biscuit and bending steel plates as if it''s nothing." Lonappan chimed in, reminiscing about all the stuff that happened the last day, as if it''s from eons ago. After carefully considering the possibility, Kunjan gave out the reply. "Nah, super strength is exclusive for the bastards from the Martial Planet." "Wait, Wados is a planet of superheroes, right? Isn''t super strength one?" Lonappan asked. However, Thankappan was focused on something else entirely. "Hey, you''re missing the point here. There''s a fucking Martial Planet with super strong people? Oh, there''s some people around here who''d pay good money to get to that place." "Well, how can I say this¡ªthe superpowers Wadorians have is something like, what you guys call as magic. Super strength is a superpower, but it''s not magic. However, there still are some people in Wados who has the power to utilize their magic to buff up their strength." Kunjan explained. "Could it be that Normal-taro is one such person?" Lonappan asked "He could be. But if you ask me, it might just be that the gravity of this planet changed his power level a bit; it auto-adjusted and now he''s supposedly a monster in your eyes." He replied. "But¡­" Thankappan was about to say something, when he was cut short by Lonappan. "Ok, then. I sure hope that the people from the Martial Planet do not invade this planet." Lonappan gave out a sly chuckle. "True, because the planet that you''re living in will disintegrate within mere seconds if they were to step a foot into this planet." The plankton looked serious for a moment before turning back to normal. "Well, whatever his ability is, let''s just ask him when he gets here, shall we?" "Speak of the devil!" Thankappan spoke as Taro joined in on the fray. "Hey guys. What are you talking about?" Taro asked even though he clearly heard his name uttered multiple times. Taro stood still for a few minutes before unraveling his side of the story. "Well¡­" # Earlier that morning. Thankappan had just left the premises and now he was completely alone in the mall even though many people passed by. He took a deep breath in and slapped his cheeks. "Okay, I''m ready." His nostrils flared with excitement. Of course, no one batted an eye towards his antics because no one cared. "I''m here to buy the basic necessities and nothing else." He talked out loud before realizing a fatal flaw in his plan. "????????????????, ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????????????????????????????" He regretted his decision on letting Thankappan leave. But he had no time fretting over it, since Thankappan had already placed his complete trust to him. "Well, I got them cards that Thankappan gave me! Let me get into a store then." He looked around and found an aesthetically pleasing store. "Now, that looks fine." He stepped inside the store, brimming with confidence. "Hello, sir. What can I do for you?" The store employee asked. Taro fumbled with the cards for a good few seconds before taking out the right one and gave it to the employee. [????????????????????. ???? ???????? ???? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????.] The employee glanced at it and thought for a moment. "Basic necessities, huh. I''ll show you the way to that store, sir." He grabbed Taro''s hand and led him towards the store that sold the so-called basic necessities. However, Taro panicked. "???????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????? ????????????????????, ????''???????? ???????????????? ???????????? ????????????????!" After resisting the employee for quite a while, which was quite simple¡ªrather, he had to be careful on controlling his power while resisting, so that the employee doesn''t get injured¡ªhe finally took out the card that Thankappan asked of him to use in this particular situation it was as if Thankappan''s a psychic. [???? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ????????.] "I see." Suddenly, a creepy smile formed in the employee''s face. Taro flinched; he had never witnessed such a sinister smile on someone''s face before. It was the smile that showcased his inner motive¡ªgreed. "How about I show you our latest model of smartphones, Banana X-phone pro?" The employee asked as he desperately pulled Taro back into the store. # Back at the Holy Land, Lonappan looked pretty irked. "You idiot!" He screamed. "Yea, what an idiot, am I right?" Upon hearing Lonappan call someone other than himself an idiot, Thankappan decided to join in on the fun. Lonappan twisted his neck sharply towards Thankappan and spoke. "I''m talking about you." Thankappan didn''t get it. "Why me? Why again?" He got on his knees and wailed. "What''s up with the cards that you gave him?" Lonappan asked. "I thought it would help him during crisis." Thankappan replied, trying desperately yo show off an innocent pup face. "Yea, it did more harm than help. You see, your dumb brain made two big mistakes. First of all, why did you make him a foreigner, when you could''ve just made him a dumb or mute or something like that? Next, who in the right mind would right something like I got money? Did you intentionally do that? Did you wanted him to get swindled?" He asked as Thankappan looked more dejected with each passing second. Finally, Thankappan got a gist of the cardinal sin that he commited and gave out his expert reply. "I didn''t expect this to happen." Lonappan scratched his head. "Of course, you didn''t. You might be an elite rookie, but that''s just what you are¡ªa rookie. You still got stuff to learn." He turned his attention back towards Taro. "So, what''s the end result?" "I bought these." He showed the things to Lonappan. Every single one of them were Banana products. "Hmm, let me see. You really bought the first thing that the dude showed you." Lonappan looked like a disappointed father looking at his son''s progress report. "My goodness! A banana! How much did that cost?" The formerly dejected Thankappan jumped around when he saw the smartphone. "About sixty nine thousand." Lonappan looked at the bill and answered. "Nice!" Thankappan liked it. "What are you talking about?" Lonappan looked confused as he asked. "You said sixty nine. That''s the nice number." Thankappan chuckled. "Then you would like this too. Taro brought the ten year extra guarantee for four twenty." "Wow, that''s two nice numbers, straight in a row." Thankappan continued chuckling like an adolescent kid who heard his biology teacher talk about sex in the sex-ed class. "Still, it''s nowhere close in beating me. I have all those numbers in my name." Kunjan said with immense pride. The plankton really had a pride so enormous, that it couldn''t be confined in his body. "Yeah, that''s really amazing. You gotta tell me how you got that name someday." Thankappan said. "It''s nothing much. I got validated for my services by the army and they gave me a reward to choose the number in my name. And I chose #69420." Kunjan explained his bizarre tale. "Wait, then are all the people in your planet called plankton before validation?" Gibli stepped in, after he kept his silence during the majority of this debacle. "Basically." He nodded his head. While this conversation occurred, Lonappan continued digging deep towards all the things that Taro bought, which weren''t many since they were all expensive. "Yup, these are all useless." He concluded after looking around. "Wait, what happened?" Kunjan asked. "Somehow, he managed to waste all the money he had on the X-phone store." Lonappan explained. "What?" Gibli and Kunjan stood where they were, dumbfounded at the revelation. "He said those are all important." Taro gave out his side of the argument. "How did you know that?" Kunjan asked, since Taro was not supposed to know the language. "The demons there has their own way of communicating with wandering souls." Lonappan replied to the question. "In conclusion, you wasted the entire allowance that the MIB gave to buy a damn expensive phone that''s too big for your hand and is the exact copycat of its predecessor." Thankappan wrapped up the entire thing in a nutshell. "I guess, yeah¡­" Taro sounded unsure of what happened or how it happened as he gave out his reply. "There''s nothing much to worry about, since we got our monthly allowance. We''ll all chip in some money for now and let''s get to the next month." Kunjan consolidated and gave out a bright smile, while Gibli gave a thumbs up in the background. "Unfortunately, that''s not how it works for Taro." Thankappan was the one who came forth. "What do you mean?" The plankton asked. "You see, I kinda pissed off their head and he cut off my monthly allowance." Taro explained, giving out a little chuckle of his own. "Ponappan got pissed at your words? Dude, what did you do?" Kunjan was thoroughly impressed. "Well¡­" Taro shrugged his shoulders. "Let''s just leave it at that. But, what are we supposed to do right now?" Thankappan asked, as he tried changing the subject. Lonappan gave out a stern reply. "What else? We''ll work." # 6 Job Hunting Taro was confused. "Wait, you guys never go to work?" He asked. "Why would we? We get our monthly allowance to play around with." Gibli was the one who replied. "Wouldn''t people get suspicious of you guys? Like, you never leave this house¡ªhow would you explain it to people?" Taro asked, yet again. "Well, people rarely ask. However, if they did, I''d just say we''re doing our work online. That''s kinda booming up these days." Kunjan sprung back in his feet and replied. "I see. Don''t worry. I made this mess and I''ll make sure to clean this up. I''m gonna find a work for me to do. Thank you for your concern, if you had any¡ªbut I''ll walk alone in this path." Taro reassured. He didn''t wanted anyone else to bust their asses because of him. They were already so kind to him, so he dared not to ruin it for them. "Cut the cringe crap out, man. Even though we''re from different planets and civilizations, around here, we''re basically the same. So, of course we''ll do anything to help you out, good brother." Gibli answered as he placed his hand over Taro''s shoulders. Taro was on cloud nine, since Gibli just called him a good brother. "By the way, how are you supposed to work around here when you know jack shit about this planet? Do you know the exchange rates? Do you know how much a lakh is supposed to be in universal currency? Hell, you don''t even know how to speak the dialect; how''re you gonna save yourself from getting swindled?" Kunjan chimed in with his questions. "Guys, I''ll just make them believe that I''m a mute." Taro shrugged. "What happens then? As I stated previously, you can''t communicate. Therefore, if you have to work, you''ll have to take one of us with you. And if one of us is down to work, wouldn''t it be better if everyone''s out there earning the money. The more, the merrier, you know?" Kunjan explained. Before Taro could reply, Lonappan took the helm of the conversation. "Okay, you guys are under our supervision. And as the self-proclaimed team leader of this troop, I take full responsibility for the idiocy that our rookie performed." "I''m sorry, everyone!" Thankappan bowed towards them and apologized. "Anyway, I agree with them. If you''re gonna work, we might as well." Lonappan said. "We?" Thankappan stood back up and asked. "What? You were the root of the problem. How dare you think you''ll go scot-free?" Lonappan scolded Thankappan. "Hey, it would have happened sooner or later." The rookie retorted. "Yea, but you accelerated the process!" Lonappan shouted. "Grr, why do you care so much about what people think?" Kunjan''s stoic face somehow looked pissed off about it. "Nah, I believe that it''d be good for us to have a believable cover story." Taro replied. "Let me think. The firm we''re working for filed for bankruptcy due to the economic crisis in our country and now we''re jobless. How about it?" Kunjan asked. "That''s pretty good!" Taro gave out a thumbs up. "Cool. Now that''s done, how do we go finding ourselves a job?" Kunjan asked as he stretched his body out. In the meantime, Lonappan successfully subdued Thankappan and placed him in a sharpshooter. He got back into the conversation as he left the knocked out Thankappan on the ground. "I have my connections. Weren''t you supposed to be online wizards? Find something there." "Let''s get to it!" Kunjan gave out a shout which could only be called a battle cry. # Hours passed. Everyone seemed busy. Even the previously knocked out Thankappan was up and about and really focused on his tasks. Finally, after long eight hours or something, everyone returned back into the living room. Lonappan stood up. "So, welcome back everyone. How did the job hunting go on your side? Let''s start with Gibli over there, shall we?" "So, I applied for a mechanical engineer job vacancy¡ªit''s like fifty thousand a month. I''m an expert when it comes to machinery and stuff, so I''m pretty sure I''ll get the job." The lanky alien smirked. Lonappan clicked his tongue. "Dude, where are your credentials? Where''s the degree? You think you can waltz into that job opening with no degree and no accolades and you expect the job just like that? Let me tell this to you, millions of aspirants get into engineering every year and among those who pass out, almost twenty percent of the engineers are either unemployed or are not working their desired jobs. No one can guarantee you a decent paid job with no degree, unless of course if you''re related to someone influential. So, plan ditched. Next, Plankton¡ªwhat''s your plan?" He turned his attention towards Kunjan who cleared his throat. "Look, we know that the guy''s in MIB are seriously stronger than the normal mob. And we also know that Taro''s insanely strong. Taking these points to account, how about we become bodyguards?" He asked. "Good idea, but no. Taro''s new to this planet and as you said before, if the reason for his super-strength is gravity, I would like him to adjust to the surrounding first and have a minimum level of interaction with people. Because, there''s a good chance that he might end up hurting the people he''s meant to keep safe." Lonappan replied. "That''s true." Everyone agreed with Lonappan''s assessment¡ªexcept one. "Hey, I know how to control my actions!" Taro cried. "I understand what you mean. Even though, we trust you, you never know what might just happen in a job like a bodyguard. You might even end up killing a person, if you''re not careful. Sure, you might be able to control your actions, but emotion is just a wild thing. We just can''t grab full reign over our emotions." Lonappan stood still for a moment and continued. "We''re in need of a less conspicuous way for utilizing your power¡ªall of our powers." Lonappan clenched his fist to look cool in front of his peers. "Oh, I know! I applied for a head and sous chef jobs! I''ve seen the plankton make tasty dishes!" Thankappan sprung up and ruined the scene for Lonappan. "It seems like the idiot will always be an idiot." Lonappan shook his head in disappointment for the umpteenth time that day. "I''ll give you a bit of leeway this time around, since everyone seemed to say some dumb shit or the other. Now, what about you, Taro?" He didn''t waste any more time in his junior and turned his attention towards the Wadorian. "Well, you''ll get it soon. So, don''t worry." Kunjan encouraged Taro. Taro smiled as he suddenly remembered something. "By the way, I have an idea." ''What is it?" Lonappan asked. At this point, Lonappan was willing to listen to all sorts of bullshit. "How about we write a Webnovel on the galactic war? We do have a person who had a first-hand experience of it." He pointed towards the plankton. "Oh, that''s a really good idea! I can do that!" Kunjan agreed with Taro. "But wouldn''t that be plagiarism?" Gibli, who remained silent over the course of this conversation after his failed plan, asked. "Do you think anyone knows about the galactic war in this world? And it''s a historical event. How can a war be copyrighted? We can even write about it from a different perspective. How about the perspective of a fearless leader of plankton society?" Kunjan asked. "Someone apparently do know about this galactic war you talked about. Look!" Thankappan replied the question for him as he showed his phone up in their faces. Kunjan took the phone from him and started reading the synopsis. "Huh, interesting. Even the years are same. Someone outdid us on that." "Well, you''re not the only alien species here, are you?" Lonappan spoke. "True. What are we supposed to do now?" Kunjan asked to the senior agent. Lonappan stayed quiet for a few good minutes. The rest patiently waited on him to give out an expert answer, since he''s the only one with any sort of outside experience. "Okay, if we''re too do something, start small. Look at the bottom of the barrel. So, I did it. If there''s some job that''s able to utilize our skills inconspicuously, there''s only one job I can think of." He smiled as he spoke. "???????????????? ???????? ?????????" Everyone were really interested as to what Lonappan had in store. "Boys, you guys are gonna do construction work!" Lonappan proclaimed. # 7 WPP "????????????!" Taro screamed inwardly. Finally, the construction work he did back in Wados to pay off his student loan seemed to have some use. "What else? It''s the one workplace which has Taro lifting inanimate objects rather than animated ones, lowering the risk of injury by a considerable amount." Lonappan explained to which Kunjan asked. "Haven''t you heard about certain workplace incidents?" "Ha, if that happens¡ªwell, we can look into it then." The agent replied. "So, how are we approaching this new venture?" Gibli asked. Out of nowhere, Thankappan jumped back into the conversation yet again. "Cut it out for a minute. You?" "¡­What?" Lonappan had no idea what the rookie was talking about. "You just said ''you''." Thankappan spoke. "So?" Lonappan wanted to see what his junior was getting at. "You didn''t use ''we''. You excluded yourself out of it." Thankappan looked mildly infuriated of it. "Ah, yes. I won''t be doing the construction work though." Lonappan smirked. "Wait, didn''t you say we were gonna work together?" Thankappan asked. He couldn''t believe it¡ªa betrayal in plain sight, yet the one that no one expected¡ªsince no one other than Thankappan cared. "Nah, I meant it as the organization, not me as an individual." Lonappan elaborated. "I see." It took Thankappan a few seconds to get what he meant. "You bastard! You meant me, didn''t you?" The mild infuriation turned into a fully-fledged fury. "Truly, for once, you didn''t act like an idiot." Lonappan clapped and others joined in. Even though, it was for the ongoing joke, Thankappan was slightly happy that Lonappan didn''t call him an idiot. Therefore, he calmed down and asked. "I don''t get it, why?" "Look, the people around here know me as this hotshot employee of a certain establishment that gives an extremely stable pay. I would like to keep that face if I wanna stay relevant enough¡ªif I wanna keep those connections I talked about. You stop being that, you''re relegated to the lower grades of the society." He explained. "Like us?" Gibli asked. "Exactly." Lonappan was not one to mince his words. "I can''t exactly risk it with my wife and kids too, you know? I don''t want my kids thinking that their dad is a degenerate of this society." He spoke. "I got a question. How come you got wife and kids? Aren''t the MIB not supposed to have these relationships?" Kunjan asked. An MIB employee leading a normal life in the background was such a weird sight for him. He expected the field agents to have their names erased from all the records or something. "Well, I mean, it''s a perfect cover, isn''t it? No one suspects a damn thing when you''re married. Like, rarely anyone asks me of my job after I got married." He chuckled. "Have you placed any thought on what would happen if your cover is confiscated? Wouldn''t that place your wife and kids in danger?" Kunjan asked yet again. "Hmm, let''s see. MIB has a shelter protocol for its employees. Even though my wife and kids aren''t MIB''s employees, they still are an accomplice in keeping my cover up. So, they''d be included in it as well." Lonappan took in a deep breath and stood up. "Now that I''m done explaining that, let me get to thing that we were talking about." # Early morning in the next day. The five of them stood before an oddly decorated building. It had flags of similar design all over the place and occasionally, a board consisting of some random guy''s face was seen. "What''s this place?" Taro asked. "The Worker''s Political Party (WPP) Ward office." Lonappan replied. "Come here." Thankappan dragged Lonappan to a corner and asked. "What are we doing here? I thought we were going to the Worker''s union or something." "We are, aren''t we? Almost ninety percent of the Worker''s union are WPP''s members. You wanna get into the Worker''s union? You have to get WPP''s blessings." Lonappan briefed the task they had in their hands. "Is this really necessary? Associating yourself with a political party is dangerous in and of itself, isn''t it?" A concerned Thankappan asked. "Do you even read the newspapers, my dude? If you knew who the ruling party of the state government is¡ªyou wouldn''t have said this." Lonappan said in a condescending tone. "I know WPP''s ruling the state. However, haven''t you heard the rumors surrounding the party? That they''re involved in killing people and all." Thankappan whispered as he replied. "That''s like literally every other party in this country. And why do we have to get so political about it?" Lonappan asked. For once, Thankappan agreed. "Exactly! We just wanna do some construction work. Then, why are we in here?" "Do you really think you can waltz in and do construction work? No. If you were to do that, the worker''s union will make your life a living hell. They''d make it their mission to ruin your every gigs. So, yes. This is indeed necessary." Lonappan gently pushed away Thankappan''s arm and grabbed it instead. "We''re going in, boys!" He proclaimed as he dragged Thankappan alongside. # Inside the WPP''s establishment, Lonappan met up with a middle aged man. "Hello, Gopu-chetta! How are you?" He gave out his greeting. "Lonappan! I''m fine. What are you doing here?" Gopan, an active member of WPP, asked. "Chetta, these are the kids that I talked about yesterday. They wanted to do construction works and they wanted the party''s blessings." Lonappan replied, pointing towards his comrades. "I see. What are your names?" Gopu asked them. "I''m Thankappan." "Kunjan here!" "Hello, I''m Gibli." "¡­" Taro didn''t reply. Confused, Gopan asked Taro. "What about you, kid?" Instead of Taro, it was Kunjan who replied. "Ah, he''s Sadanandan [????]. Sorry, he''s a bit shy." He gave out a faint laugh. Just as it happened, Taro grabbed inn Kunjan for a private discussion. "Why did you say that? Couldn''t you just have said that I''m a mute?" He whispered. "Very well." Taro agreed with the notion. He bowed towards Gopan and smiled. "I see. I''m extremely happy that you''ve agreed to join our cause." Gopan looked genuinely happy as he said those words. "????????????????''???? ???????????????????? ????????????????????, ?????????????????????????" The aliens and Thakappan wondered. "???????????????? ???????????? ????????????????????????, ?????????????????????" Kunjan put forth his thoughts. "????????????????????????????!" Lonappan gave out a silent scream. Gopan was visibly confused about all the weird facial expression the guys were putting in. However, he regained his composure soon enough. "Hmm. Anyhow, fill these in and a fifty rupee donation would suffice." He gave out a membership form. Few minutes later, Lonappan returned the filled form with said money. "Here you go!" "Thank you. From now on, you guys are official members of the WPP. Cheers for the new beginnings and a long-lasting partnership!" Gopan smiled. # On the way back home, Kunjan finally blurted out his concerns that he kept relatively hidden for the entire time. "I don''t get why we did that! Like, I know the Worker''s union has about ninety percent WPP members, but that mean there''s like ten percent of the opposing party''s members. So, even if we joined the WPP, there''s still this possibility of them ruining the gigs for us." "Ah, Kunjan. There''s this thing called the majority''s rule. Whoever leads in number, leads overall. So, if the other party dares to invade our gigs, WPP''s vast majority will crush them under the premises that they bullied the new members." Lonappan laughed off the concerns. "Now, are you sure we''ll get work?" Kunjan asked, just for reassurance. "Of course, this world thrives in nepotism and influence. Sure, we don''t have the family background, but since a leading political party is backing us, they''re bound to call us; maybe out of the devotion towards the party or out of fear." Lonappan explained. "You know, it sounds too good of a deal for a mere membership and a fifty rupee donation. So, what''s the catch?" Kunjan asked. He had doubts about this and he really didn''t want them to come true. "Well, there''s no catch, per se. Rather, an influx of new members is always a good sign for a political party." Lonappan answered. "And also, there''s the elections too." "Election? But we''re aliens!" Gibli jumped in with the reply. "Aliens under the guidance of the world government backed MIB, that is. Do you think it''s difficult for us to get you some ID? We''ll get you the voter''s ID and you''re good to go." Lonappan rubbed his nose on that. "They''re gonna do it just for the votes?" The more Lonappan explains, the more Kunjan got concerned about WPP''s objective. "Dude, political parties does everything just for the votes." Lonappan laughed. "However, they also expect you to bring in new members on your own. In addidtion to that, there are a few other things too. But, you''ll learn about it eventually." After barraging a series of questions towards Lonappan, Kunjan''s doubtful mind eventually subdued as he let out a sigh. "Huh, after staying politically neutral for the longest time in my planet, I ended up joining a political party in a different planet. Life works in weird ways!" The plankton exclaimed. # [????] The name ''Sadanandan'' means someone who remains happy at all times. It has no connection with normal or ordinary. However, just to remind you, plankton named him Sadanandan because of ''Sada''s'' similarity to ''Saada'', a derivative of ''Saadarana'' which means ordinary/ normal. 8 Fuel to the fire "Indeed." Someone answered from below. Taro looked down to saw Charlie standing in his two legs, sipping coffee just like him. "Fuck! Don''t creep me out like that, my dude. Aren''t you supposed to be a dog? It doesn''t look like a dog-like behavior when you do that shit." Taro was genuinely creeped out by Charlie after his first night in the Holy Land. "For the love of God, I''m a highly intelligent species of the canino population. I''m not a dog!" Charlie retorted. He didn''t like Taro calling him a dog and in turn completely denying the existence of his intelligent group of species. "Dog, canino¡ªpotato, po-tato; just the same shit." Taro shrugged his shoulders. He couldn''t care less about the Canino species he talked about. So, he quickly changed the topic. "By the way, where the hell were you last night? Like we were having a serious discussion about us taking up a job and you were MIA." Charlie was irked about how Taro didn''t give a fuck and decided to have his own share of fun. "It doesn''t matter if I was present or not, is it? Remember, dogs can''t work, you know! It won''t be a dog-like behavior if I did that shit." He laughed. However it sounded as if he was coughing hard. "You sly old fox! Using the ''I''m a dog'' statement when you deem necessary!" Taro exclaimed as he gave out a wicked smile of his own. "That''s how we''re supposed to use them anyway, aren''t we?" Charlie tried to apply that wicked smile on himself. Instead, he looked super adorable. "Wait, okay. You are a dog, right? Dogs doesn''t need to have an allowance, right? How about I, an intelligent humanoid species take that cash and use it for the greater good." Taro patted Charlie''s head. Charlie reacted swiftly to this action and swatted Taro''s hand off his head. "Yea, I heard how this ''intelligent humanoid species'' fluffed up his entire allowance and is in desperate need of a job. So, fuck off. I had enough of this conversation." Charlie got back into all fours and curled his body in a corner. "Hey, you dodged my previous question. Where in the flaming hell were you for the last two days?" Taro asked. "I do what I want to do. Who are you to judge me?" Charlie replied with a sneer which pissed Taro off. "Sheesh, I was just looking out for you." He said as he left Charlie alone. "I don''t need an idiot looking out for me." The dog retorted back. However Taro didn''t bat an eye anymore. Instead, it was someone else that gave a reply. "Did someone say idiot?" Thankappan stood up from his bead and looked around. He was still sleepy. "Huh, an ugly spat with M''Baku, huh." Gibli came out of the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee of his own. "He has a bit of a temper and a foul mouth. That''s why we don''t mess with the dude." Gibli explained. "Do you know where he was for the last two days? Like, does this shit always happen?" Taro looked as if he was whispering to Gibli, but it was a small room and Taro voiced beamed out crystal clear towards M''Baku, who decided to give a silent treatment. "I presume he was chilling across the hallway with that girl. To answer your question, yes this happens often. He doesn''t like Plankton''s cooking." Gibli answered with a chuckle. He could clearly see M''Baku''s ears pointing up, as if he was listening the conversation attentively. M''Baku got the wind of it and finally decided to break off his minute long silence. "Guys, you''re literally talking about me right before. At least have the decency to talk behind my back. However, Gibli is right. Plankton''s food is too less of a quality dish for an exquisite tongue like mine." He said. "Besides, what does the other family give you?" Taro asked. He was kinda happy that M''Baku decided to talk. He might''ve been a creep, but who could resist the charm of an adorable dog! "They give me this fantastic coarse food in bite size and it has multiple fantastic flavors. Just, simply amazing!" M''Baku answered as his mouth started watering on the thought of that. "Well, that''s a roundabout way to say dog food!" Gibli replied. But this time, he decided to give out a full laugh. "And you say you''re not a dog." Taro joined in on the fun as well. Fed up off the ridicule, Charlie stormed off yet again. "Yea, I''m not coming back to this conversation." He said as he was leaving the room as slow as he could. "So, what''s the deal with this girl you talked about?" Taro asked, returning back to their conversation. "She''s the one who named him Charlie. Moreover, he lets no one else call him by that name." Gibli got back into his explaining stuff session. "Hmm, seems like an interesting relationship." Taro gave out his thoughts. "Yea, he kinda like her." Gibli replied to that, clearly witnessing Charlie''s reluctant walk towards the door, as if he wanted to hear what they were talking about. "Eww, like a pedophilic love?" Taro was disgusted. Pedophilia was shunned upon in the entirety of the universe other than some backwards planets, who still hasn''t updated their thought process. But it made sense in Charlie''s case, accounting the behavior he saw from the dog. However, Gibli corrected him after he felt that Taro genuinely meant that. He wondered what happened between those two, for Taro to consider him as such a lowlife. "I guess it''s more like a father-daughter love. Who knows, maybe it could be pedophilic too! He''s a creep, afterall!" Gibli continued adding fuel into the fire. "Guys, I''m literally here!" M''Baku barked before giving up the notion right away. "Fuck it, I''m gonna get myself out." "Oh, hey Charlie!" Enter Lonappan, who stretched out his hand to give out a high five. However, M''Baku thought of it as an advance to pat his head and swatted his hand away. "Call me M''Baku, goddamn it!" He barked at Lonappan, before sprinting out of the room. "See? Just like I said." Gibli turned towards Taro and spoke. "Sheesh, what''s wrong with that dude today?" Lonappan shrugged his shoulders. "Hello, Lonappan. How''re you doing?" Taro welcomed the agent. "I''m fine. Where''s Plankton?" He asked, looking around the room. "He''s cooking." Gibli replied. "I see. Call him up¡ªwe gotta go." He said as he stopped before Thankappan, still sleeping like a log in his bed. "And someone wake Thankappan up!" No one did, so Lonappan took it upon himself as he pushed his junior to the floor. "What happened? Is it the job?" Kunjan came out wearing an apron. "Remember when I talked about a few things that you''ll learn eventually? Looks like today''s that day." Lonappan answered. # "So, what''s this thing that you speak of?" The plankton asked yet again. "Okay, you know how the WPP''s the ruling party of the state government and some random ass one''s the ruling party in the centre, right?" Lonappan asked. "Right. Why is that important?" Kunjan asked back, since he didn''t get the flow of the conversation. "Because now, the central government''s been increasing the price of fuels, like one rupee per day or something and people ain''t liking it." Lonappan answered, with a smile for no apparent reason. "So, what''s WPP doing?" It was Gibli who asked the question this time. "We''re gonna conduct a strike all over the state. However, to conduct such a deed, they need numbers. You get what I mean?" He explained. "We''re the number." Kunjan finally got the thing that Lonappan talked about. "Right, we just have to get to the central government controlled facilities and make some peaceful ruckus there." Lonappan continued. "There''s such a thing like a peaceful ruckus?" Taro asked. Since he used to be a team leader of the disaster management back in Wados, he had never seen a peaceful ruckus. It always ended in casualities. So, he was quite intrigued. "Apparently. Or so he says." Gibli had his doubts too. Meanwhile, Thankappan had nothing to say, since his system hadn''t turned on yet. He was still sleepy. "So, what''s the pay?" Kunjan asked the important question. "Wait, isn''t that like a free service because we''re WPP members now?" Gibli raised his concern. However, Lonappan cleared those doubts. "Two hundred per head. How does that sound to you?" "Huh, it''s not free service?" Gibli was honestly surprised. The glomerans never paid them a penny when they integrated the Ark into their society, hence he expected somewhat similar of a situation here. "Well, the members of WPP are working class members, right? I know for a fact that there''s no way they''d be willing to spend a day to conduct a strike without pay. However, isn''t two hundred a bit low?" Kunjan asked Lonappan. "It is what it is. Rather than the money, it''s an opportunity to prove that we are the faithful members of WPP." Lonappan shrugged as if he couldn''t help it. "True. Who''d have expected for such an opportunity to come right before us just as we began our journey as WPP members?" Gibli asked. He was kinda happy that such an opportunity came through. "Dude, we''re in Kerala. There''s strikes on literally every stupid thing in every single day!" Kunjan replied. He knew something like this would happen sooner or later. "Touch¨¦." Lonappan agreed with Kunjan''s assessment. "Well, what''re we waiting for? Let''s go!" Kunjan stood up, throwing his apron aside, ready to go. # ????????????????: I''ll just list all the alien''s names and their Earth names (if that''s what you would like to call it.) 1. Normal-taro: Sadanandan. 2. Plankton #69420: Kunjan. 3. M''Baku: Charlie Gibli''s called the same and others as well. 9 Break through "Yup, but it seems like the police has already caught whiffs of it. Look at those barricades!" Lonappan pointed out towards the barricades besides the police forces surrounding the area. "Well, the WPP did proclaim this strike on national television. So, this does makes sense." Kunjan replied. "Anyway, we''re here now. What''re we supposed to do though?" Gibli asked. Since he had not been outside for the longest time and wasn''t particularly interested about the news, he had no idea how strikes usually worked in Earth. "Well, people usually aggressively protest at this point. But our goal isn''t that. Our goal is to blend in with the crowd and make it seem like we''re protesting." Lonappan replied. "But we are protesting, aren''t we?" Gibli was visibly confused. Sometimes, he can never understand what Lonappan means. "Indeed. However, we have to absolutely make sure that we don''t get caught during this." Lonappan answered. "What?" Thankkappan who stayed silent for the entire ordeal, looked surprised as he heard about the possibility of them getting caught. "Why else would the police be here?" Lonappan asked. "To control the mob." Thankappan answered almost immediately. "And how do you think they''ll control the mob?" He asked yet again, to which Thankappan replied in quick succession. "By arresting people?" "Precisely." Now that he got the answer he wanted, Lonappan took his leave. "Well, I got some people to meet, so I''ll just leave." "What are we supposed to do?" Gibli asked yet again, since Lonappan didn''t give him a clear objective before. "You remember Gopan, right? Meet him. He''s the organizer around here." Lonappan responded as he blended into the crowd. "Sure." Gibli faintly spoke as he saw Lonappan go. But, Lonappan stopped in his tracks and turned back to his junior. "Thankappan, I''ll leave them in your hands." However, he quickly changed his decision, up on realizing the error in his decision. "Shoot, maybe not. Kunjan, you''re in charge." "Hey, a little belief in me would be appreciated!" Thankappan gave out an ungodly pout. "Earn it, my dude. Earn it." Lonappan laughed it off before finally leaving the premises. "So, we have to find Gopan, huh?" Kunjan looked around, searching for Gopan. However, they didn''t have to move, since Gopan bumped into them beforehand. "Hey, guys!" Gopan spoke, whilst waving his hand. "Hello. We were just talking about you." Kunjan welcomed Gopan to the fold as he extended his hand. "I see. Seriously, thank you for coming though." Gopan replied as he shook on it. "We''re WPP members, after all." Kunjan replied. A keen eye-sighted person could see a faint twitch in Kunjan''s stoic exoskeleton, as if he was trying to give out a friendly smile. "That''s the spirit!" Gopan spoke enthusiastically before looking at the barricade. "Although, we''re gonna have a hard time breaking the barricade this time around." "Huh? Breaking the barricade? Why?" The four of them were surprised. They didn''t know this part of the plan. "Weren''t we supposed to have a peaceful ruckus or something?" Gibli asked, laughing nervously. "We are. It''s just that breaking the barricades symbolizes that the people opposes the decisions taken by this government and are trying to break through, so that their voices could be heard." Gopan explained the significance of his actions. "Wow, I didn''t expect such a deep symbolism in such a deed." Thankappan looked up to Gopan in awe. "Yea, but you said it''s gonna be hard this time. What was it like earlier?" Kunjan asked him the relevant stuff. "Well, the police force is just a bit more this time. Well, the possibility of them hunting us down even before we reach the barricade is highly probable." Gopan briefed on the situation. "Isn''t that against the law? You wouldn''t have caused a ruckus by then, right? So they can''t do such a thing unless provoked, am I right?" Kunjan asked, yet again slightly flexing on his prowess. "That part''s simple if they place a mole among us. They''d just throw a rock or two at the police and voila, they got their incentive." Gopan laughed it off, even though his words carried serious weight. "That''s cheating!" Gibli squeaked. The squeak did not suit his lanky self. "This is a war, basically. Everything''s legal." Gopan gave out his great wisdom. "So, we have to give it our all and try to break through the barricade then." Thankappan blurted out his thoughts. He looked excited. "That''s what we''re aiming for." Gopan agreed with Thankappan in this case. "The pay." Kunjan uttered in a low voice. "Huh?" "Will there be any pay hike if we''re able to pull it off?" Kunjan asked to the baffled Gopan. After staying silent for a few seconds, Gopan busted into a laugh. "It seems that someone''s quite greedy for the money! But yes, there''s a possibility that you''ll get a thousand per person if we can pull it off." He said as he nodded his head. Suddenly, all of them looked seriously fired up. "???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????!" They collectively thought. "It seems like you made your decision. Also, why don''t you talk about it with Lonappan?" Gopan asked, since he was a bit concerned about the sudden change in their behavior. "Uh, yea sure! Bye, Gopan." Kunjan took his leave as soon as possible, dragging the other three with him. "Okay, guys. See you later." Gopan decided not to question this, since it seemed like they looked genuinely faithful towards WPP. After getting a few meters away from Gopan, Kunjan finally let go of their hands. "Shoot. Lonappan is not gonna allow us to break the barricade now, is he?" Kunjan voiced his main concern. "Well, he did ask of us to blend in with the crowd." Thankappan replied. "Yea, blend in; not stand out!" Kunjan spoke.. "Wait, before you go any further. What''s the plan?" Gibli still had no idea of anything that was going on. He had been asking for a plan since long ago, but no one seemed to give out a clear cut reply. He just couldn''t handle it. Arkians respected a well laid out plan more than anything. "Simple. We let Taro break it." Thankappan gave out the brief and concise plan. "Do you even know the meaning of blending in?" Kunjan shouted, since he heard Thankappan speak absurd stuff. "Yea, if it got uncontrollable, I might''ve to take some drastic measures to protect your identity." Thankappan seemed to agree to that assessment as well. He was dangling towars both sides at this point. "Hmm, that doesn''t sound too good. We have to be inconspicuous about our approach." Kunjan knew that even though Thankappan sounded like an idiot at times, he was still an MIB agent trained in a reclusive dungeon. He could very well be a ticking time bomb. "How about if Taro gently break through the barricade?" Thankappan slightly modified his earlier plan. "Well, wouldn''t that make him stand out too?" Kunjan retorted back. "Look around you. What do you see? You see a mob. And what do you think they''re trying to do? The same think that we are. Therefore, if Taro somehow is able to control his power, then we can utilize the confusion created by the people and break through." Thankappan explained. "Sounds like a plan!" Gibli joined in on Thankappan''s bandwagon. "You know, we''ve called you an idiot all along¡ªbut you do deserve some credit here and there!" Kunjan was, for some weird reason, approving Thankappan''s minimal plan as well. "Oh, thank you for the compliment." Thankappan took this praise to his heart. "Guys." Finally, Taro who had not spoken a word since arrival, spoke out. "Yea?" "There''s just a small problem with this plan." Taro sounded grim. "What is it?" Kunjan asked. "Look, ever since I landed on this planet, I''ve never been able to go all out with my strength. So, I extremely"really don''t know the extent of my power." Taro explained as he clenched his fists. "Damn, that''s the stuff only a monster could say." Thankappan looked towards Taro in awe. "Hmm, this is a problem." Now, Kunjan''s expression was grim as well. Suddenly out of nowhere, Gibli jumped towards Taro and screamed. "Punch me, Sadanandan." "Huh?" Taro was extremely puzzled by this sudden development. "I said punch me! Although, it''s a bit risky, we Arkians have a reinforced body, much stronger than whatever material that barricade is made of." Gibli said as he tightened his bbody to the maximum. However, Kunjan smacked him on his head before anything happened. "Shut the fuck up! You are one of the final remnants of the free civilization of Ark. Give an ounce of respect to your civilization, even if you don''t care about yourself. Trying to get hit with a punch, it seems." He scolded Gibli. "I''m sorry. I should have thought it out." Gibli gave out his sincere apology. "What are we supposed to do now?" Thankappan asked, since it looked like a dead end. "We''ve got no choice. Gotta trust our gut on this and let him swing." Kunjan replied as he waited for the event to begin. # "You ready?" Kunjan asked Taro, who was in the frontlines as well as the other two. The mob was gushing in and were also trying to break through on their own. Some tried climbing, but the police quickly pulled them down. "Yes." Taro nodded as he took a deep breath. "Cool. Just gently push the barricade when I ask you to." Kunjan recalled their super basic plan. "Sure." Taro nodded yet again. A few minutes of silence followed as Kunjan focused on his surroundings. However, in a specific moment, the entire mob gushed towards the barricade at the same time. Kunjan picked this up and shouted. "NOW!" What came later was utter destruction as the barricade flew above the police officers heads as if it was a paper plane and landed on the telecom center''s doorsteps. "Holy¡­" "What in the¡­" The aliens had no words to say. "I did tell you guys! This is the best I could do to suppress." Taro gave out a smile, now that he did it without destroying the entire city. # In the meantime, Thankappan was alone, looking for the other four. "For God''s sake, where are these people now?" However, instead of them, he bumped into Gopan. "Lonappan!" "Ah, Gopu-chetta. Have you seen the others?" He asked. "Oh, they didn''t tell you about it?" Gopan expected them to meet by now and was surprised. "About what?" Lonappan asked yet again. "They were extremely"really enthusiastic when I talked about breaking through the barricade." He smiled as he spoke. However, for Lonappan, it was horror. "Shoot. Are they in the front lines now?" "If they planned to do that, then most probably." Gopan nodded. "Shit. I gotta go." Lonappan throttled himself towards the front as quick as he could, but to no avail. By the time he got there, he saw a blasted out barricade and a smiling Taro surrounded by his shocked colleagues. "Ah, so much for blending in." Lonappan sighed. # 10 Escapade Thankappan and Kunjan were flabbergasted upon seeing the flight of the barricade. Gibli felt thankful that he backed away from getting hit by Taro. On the other hand, Taro seemed really happy to destroy some shit, since his job in Wados was cleaning up such shit. He understood why the Wadorian citizens loved to cause a ruckus every now and then. However, the thing that surprised all four was that none of the people around them looked shocked or didn''t even care to stop as they ran past the free space caused by the utter destruction of the barricade. "Wow, these guys are really passionate about running into the building!" Gibli exclaimed. He felt like the people around them were so devoted to their task and WPP itself that they didn''t give a bat''s eye about their surroundings. "Nah, it might be just that they couldn''t salvage the reality of the situation." Kunjan guessed it on point. However, none of them could believe that such a thing could happen and quickly dropped the notion. "Look. Are you sure you did this with the minimum power you could muster up?" Thankappan turned and asked to the visibly happy Taro. "Okay, like it''s not the bare minimum! If we are to talk about my strength in percentage level, I would assume that I used somewhere around one to five percent of my total power." Taro replied as he cracked his knuckles. "Oh, my God! Like, I don''t even wanna imagine what would happen if you used your entire power in this planet. It would just vanish into thin air within a second, right?" Thankappan''s voice quivered as he imagined that catastrophic event. "Never have I seen someone speak of their power in such trivial fashion other than one particular race. Taro, tell me. Are you really from Wados or are you a denizen of the martial planet?" Kunjan asked. He remembered witnessing the utter destruction caused by one of the martial planet''s finest at that moment. "Okay. I think this conversation could also be held back in Holy Land, right? So, what do we do now?" Gibli interrupted the conversation and asked. He seemed really tense about such a free approach towards things. "You''re right. Although, I don''t think there''s much to talk about anyway." Kunjan looked at Taro for a few seconds before he continued. "Look, we completed our objective, we broke through the barricade and they are in the building. We get paid extra. So, we can just turn around and leave now." Kunjan answered much to everyone''s relief. They didn''t know how they got their asses out from this situation, so they didn''t want another one. "Guys, aren''t the police supposed to guard the frontline and arrest them. Then, why the hell are they here?" Thankappan asked as he pointed behind. The police had surrounded them and they had sticks in their hands. "Hmm, shall I fight them?" Taro asked as everyone looked at him with horror. "No, they''d die from it!" Gibli screamed. "How about we get hit with everyone? It''d just be a few hits and we could escape during the confusion." Kunjan suggested. Taro and Gibli nodded their heads along, but one person did not agree with this plan. "Screw it. It''s easy for you guys. One has a dud body immune to external attacks, other has a very tough exoskeleton and this one doesn''t look like he could get hit with any earthly attacks. So, who do you think the exception is? Me! I didn''t spend all these years in the dungeon so that I could get hit!" Thankappan cried. Like, literally he was on the verge of gushing out with a whole lot of tears. "I thought you learned some body hardening techniques back in the dungeon." Kunjan replied to the plea. "Just because I learned a few body hardening techniques, that doesn''t mean I like to get hit like you people do. I''m not a masochist, you bastards!" He screamed, before someone muffled him by covering his mouth and dragged him along. "Shut your trap if you wanna escape!" It was Lonappan with the save. He saw the entire episode unfolding and yet waited for the right time to jump into the conversation. He was meticulous in weird sorts. "Wait! How are we gonna do that?" Kunjan asked. He didn''t sense Lonappan beforehand because he isn''t capable of sensing faint presences. However, he was curious about Lonappan''s plan. "Well, if you shut up and follow me, you''ll get it." He sounded a bit enraged as he spoke. He asked them to blend in; instead they ended up causing a ruckus of unimaginable scale. He was pissed off and rightfully so. The guys decided to shut their mouths after that and decided to quietly follow Lonappan. In the end, they had an auto-taxi waiting for them a little farther away. And inside it was Gopan, vigorously waving his hand. "Hey guys, once again!" Gopan gave out a smile as he continued waving his hand. "Hello, Gopan. Why are you here?" Kunjan asked. Gopan was supposedly the organizer of the strike in this part, however he was not present in the main site now and instead was frolicking around in the auto-taxi. "Well, this is my day job." He replied as he continued playing around with the steering wheel. "And here I thought you were a loyal subordinate for the WPP." Kunjan said half-jokingly. "Loyal? Sure. Blind follower? Hell no. I got four kids to look after. I can''t go to jail for no reason!" Gopan replied. Unlike his cheerful self, he decided to answer it a bit more seriously. However, Thankappan was focused on the big picture. "You got four kids? In this time and age? Aren''t you supposed to do some family planning or something?" He asked. "Well, the plan was for two kids, but we were blessed with twins for both times." Gopan answered with a pleasant smile in his face. Anyone could easily guess the love he held for his children through his smile. "Hey, you''re invading his privacy with such questions! Back off with it." Lonappan scolded them. However, he was quickly stopped by Gopan. "No, that''s fine! We''re all acquaintances after all." That said, the rest of the journey was a dread, since no one dared to open their mouths due to Lonappan''s warning. Lonappan isn''t strong by any means. If we are to consider power alone, his elite subordinate would easily topple him. However, his words carry extreme weight and has a certain amount of dignity. Ina parallel universe where the king''s rule exists, Lonappan would''ve made an exemplary king. "Alright everyone, get out now." Lonappan ordered the lads once they reached Holy Land and the lads followed it. "Had a blast today¡ªlike literally!" Gopan laughed as he handed a card to Kunjan. "Here''s my number. If you lot get into some shit, call here and I''ll sort it out." "Thank you. I''ll keep that in mind." Kunjan politely bowed his head as Gopan left the premises. "Well, that''s done. So, do whatever the shit you do now and I''ll do mine." Lonappan said as he bid farewell from the crew. # Later that night. Everyone seemed to be fast asleep¡ªwell, other than Taro. He always had a weird sleep schedule since his Wadorian days. He had many sleepless nights trying to hone his martial arts skills so that he could stand straight in the society without getting ridiculed or called powerless. It took a toll on him and now he rarely sleeps. "Why the hell are you still awake?" A voice came from behind. It was Lonappan, who managed to sneak into the Holy Land with the key that Timothy gave. "Well, why the hell are you even here? You do know that there''s a family living in the opposite room, right? You shouldn''t sneak in like this in the middle of the night." Taro scolded. "You''re right. I''m sorry." Lonappan apologized. Both stood silent for few minutes before Lonappan handed him a box. "What is this?" Taro asked. "Cigarettes. You want one?" Lonappan asked as he lit one for himself. "Oh, it seems cigarettes are prominent stuff back in your home planet too. I didn''t expect that." Lonappan said as he disposed the cigarette. "I''ll avoid smoking near you from now on." "I appreciate that." Taro gave out a faint smile. "Now, shall we talk some important stuff?" Lonappan asked. He looked dead serious. # 11 Hope Lonappan loosened up a little. "Well, it seems like you''ve got strength. A lot, in fact. Like an inhuman amount of it." He said. Taro agreed with Lonappan''s assessment. "Makes sense. I''m not human after all." "True." "So, what are you getting to?" Taro asked yet again. "I want you to stop exerting this strength. It won''t be like this time. Once you start doing that stuff frequently, people are going to notice it. Then, we wouldn''t have no choice but to use the neuralyzer [????]." Lonappan replied, as a grim look dawned on his face. "Again, makes sense. More importantly, you guys have a neuralyzer?" Taro calmly changed the subject. Lonappan went along with the flow. "Used to be a standard MI equipment before the scientist learned that its use on humans might lead to permanent amnesia or maybe even insanity. By the way, I expected more of a dramatic response when I said to stop. It seems like you don''t have a grasp in theatrics." He looked agitated. For a guy who stays silent for a few seconds after a punch line just so that the imaginary live audience could give out the generic laugh, Taro''s lack of flamboyancy disappointed him. "Why?" Taro asked as he looked at the moon. Lonappan jumped up on this. "What do you mean why? I''m a sucker for charismatic acting chops. Aren''t you?" He asked. Taro shook his head. "I did not mean that. Why do you go to such lengths to hide the existence of aliens? Why don''t you let it out? Are you afraid that the MIB wouldn''t exist when the cat''s out of the bag?" "Nah, we could just be the interspecies law enforces openly then. However, I do understand where you come from. Imagine, what would happen when the people in this world suddenly realize that their whole life was a lie and aliens do exist? They''d go insane even without us using a neuralyzer." Lonappan explained his side. "I feel like you are underestimating people. For sure, they would be some people who believe in the existence of aliens." Taro retorted. He truly believed in what he said. Lonappan also seemed to agree with this statement. "Yea, that might be true. Although if we consider the majority, they believe they are the only ones in this universe. Hell, people used to believe that Sun revolves around Earth back in the days." "Wow, incredibly self-centered people!" Taro was amazed at this discovery. Maybe it was because Wados stepped into the universal civilization pretty early on, no one in Wados seemed to be as self-centered as the ones in Earth when they are to describe the significance of their planet, even though they are an undeniable power in this universe. Taro denied this statement. "Again, that''s a hypothesis. Don''t you think people would embrace this fact that the aliens exists? My planet did. Why not yours?" He asked. He thought that humans deserved to know about the truth of this universe. He didn''t want the truth to stay hidden. He knew he couldn''t make a big change with his one decisive mind, but he hoped for the day when collective minds go forth with this notion. So, if he can''t convince Lonappan about this, he might as well stop. It''s not that he particularly cared about earthlings, but the universe is so vast and filled with wonderful things to see, it would be a pity if the earthlings missed this sight just because the world leaders and other organizations didn''t want them to know about such a possibility. Lonappan took a deep breath in. "Okay, I''ll tell you. Fundamentally, your planet is way different than the Earth. Let me number it out. First, the earthlings are incredibly religious people. So religious that they some turn into fanatics and commit hate crimes in its name. Now, imagine that someday they get to know that most of the Gods they used to worship and commit hate crimes over were just aliens who helped building our civilization early on and our stupid asses thought they were Gods." He said. Taro suddenly interrupted the flow. "Okay, that ain''t different from Wados. We have a religion back there too. However, they didn''t freak out on the discovery of aliens!" He exclaimed. He saw this as an opportunity to convince Lonappan. "Very well. That leads me to the next point. You lot are beings with superpowers. The reason you didn''t freak out was because you deemed the aliens as inferior even if they had advanced machinery because they didn''t have what you have. Based on what I''ve known, people don''t cause a ruckus about what they deem inferior. Let me imagine, the aliens were more fascinated about you than you were, right? Let me also take another guess. You got propelled to a universal power, when you stepped into the galaxy, right? You were strong from the beginning, even if it was not technological. However, earthlings are weak in every departments other than their wits, maybe. People fear what they deem as strong. That''s why the higher-ups are sucking to the Glomerans. They fear their power. And if what you said back in the HQ is true, the moment we stepped into the galaxy, unlike you, we''ve already become slaves. See the difference?" Lonappan asked. "¡­" Taro stayed silent. He needed some time to process what he heard just then. He continued staying silent since he borderline agreed with what Lonappan had to say. Upon seeing Taro''s silence, Lonappan decided to continue. "Last, but not the least. Humans can''t even figure out how to deal with the shit inside their civilization, how are they gonna deal with a new one? You see, Earth has a wonderful amount of discrimination. We got casteism and we got racism. Even in a seemingly mutual relationship, they somehow find one inferior class." Lonappan sighed before he continued. "I shouldn''t say this, but my final point is that we''re a bunch of idiots. Sure, racism and casteism might eradicate once we reveal your existence, however, that''s just because they''ll get a new one to discriminate based on the species, body shape, color, dialect and all sort of stuff. It doesn''t matter if you''re strong, as long as you''re in our turf, these people will beat you and shame you. I''m not talking about all humans here, since MIB is also a human establishment, so I do believe many might just be accepting¡ªbut there are this bunch of assholes. Now imagine if they pissed someone like you or this Martial planet''s guys off¡ªwe get immediately annihilated. Imagine if they pissed plankton off¡ªthe results won'' show in the beginning, but I''m sure they''ll easily defeat us in a full-scale war. The reason for such a war would be some idiot''s derogatory remark. Ultimately, it''ll be because of us, who decided to reveal that aliens exists." Lonappan finally stopped and gasped for breath. He explained more than he previously thought he would. Taro was in awe. "Wow, I didn''t think you''d think that far. Shit''s deep." He extended his hand for a truce in their battle of opinions. Lonappan shook on it. "And I didn''t think you''d hear the entire thing." He gave out a grin of satisfaction. "I believe what you said makes sense. But sooner or later, Glomerans gonna want more of you and eventually make you their slaves." Taro decided to drop the nuke of truth before long. Lonappan nodded. "I realize that. All that said, I kinda believe in humans too. When time comes, they''ll fight. They might lose the fight, but they''ll persevere. That''s human nature." He felt hopeful towards the future of humanity. He continued. "You see, we have not been sitting idly for all these years. We''ve built relations with multiple civilizations now. I believe they''ll help when shit goes down the drain." He gave a thumbs up. "I suggest that you somehow form a diplomatic relation with Wados as well. We''ve got bad blood with the fucking Glomerans." Taro looked pissed off as he talked about the Glomerans. "Why?" Lonappan wondered. "They were the only bastards who tried to colonize us." Taro replied. "And what did you do?" Lonappan asked, since it would be good to take notes on their battle. "We drove them off with our brute strength." Taro answered with a cheeky laugh. Lonappan chuckled as well. Wadorians did it in the way only they could do, maybe with the exception of martial planet. "Ha. Very well, we''ll contact Wados too." He wasn''t much hopeful about them contacting Wados since the Glomerans controlled the inter-galactic communication systems, however, he felt the need to say yes at that moment. Taro smiled before a voice came from behind. "The Ark will rise!" The voice shouted before suddenly turning silent. It was Gibli. "Fuck. When did you get here?" Taro asked as he looked around to see if anyone had woken up. "I heard Glomerans and I got up. I didn''t knew you were in cahoots with the glomerans." He looked towards Lonappan. "Not exactly." Lonappan replied as he shook his head. "I was kidding. But you are in the same state as we were back then. So, the Ark will stand by with you." Gibli clenched his fist and held it out. "As if! The Ark''s Glomerans slaves now." Taro mocked Gibli. "Don''t you dare!" Gibli didn''t like people calling the Arkians as Glomeran''s slaves. It took quite a toll on his pride as an Arkian. "I''m just telling you the truth." Taro shrugged his shoulders. "Well, even if we are ''working'' for the Glomerans, our sentiments always been against them. So, Earth and Ark¡ªtogether we''ll conduct a civil war!" Gibli once again extended his fist. "I hope it doesn''t come to that though." Lonappan extended his fist as well. "Oh, it will!" Taro patted on his shoulders. Lonappan smiled. He was concerned, however now was not the time. "Shoot, it''s midnight. Go back to sleep, you idiots!" "Very well." Taro and Gibli went back. However, Lonappan stopped Taro for a moment. "Hey, look. You don''t have to stop using your strength, you know? Just learn how to exactly control it with your will." Lonappan said as he left. "Ha, thanks." Taro bowed. He got back up and once again looked at the moon and sighed. "???????????????????? ???????????????? ????''???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????!" He thought as he walked back to the bed. # [????] Yes, the one from the movie which wipes out/ manipulates memories. 12 Martial Arts So, when Taro travelled to the Martial planet listening to all the rumors of it being a lawless planet, he was pleasantly surprised. He wasn''t shunned but was accepted by the mass to be a part of their culture. He was helped throughout his stay and he was invited to join them to wherever they went. Somehow, the stay which was originally scheduled for a month or so, changed to a year. Eventually, the one became two. Meanwhile, he succeeded in forming a relationship based on trust and he learned martial arts to its very basic and beautiful form. After a two year stay back in the Martial planet, he was called back to Wados to join the disaster management squad. When he returned, he learned that his strength grew exponentially. Rather than any other martial arts he learnt around the universe, the one from what people called the ''Home of martial arts'' was well refined and immensely powerful. However, he did not grew complacent. He followed the path of martial arts and diligently followed it as time went. However, upon reaching Earth, he couldn''t do so. An unplanned and unexpected journey caused all sorts of confusion in his mind and things were hectic. And in the end, he skipped his morning training. What brought him back to it was the strike the other day when he pushed the barricade slightly ahead. It was not a blood thirst to fight or things like that¡ªit was much more of a simpler reason. He felt exhilarated when he used his power for the smallest of things. He wanted to do more; he wanted to make use of his way of living. And it directly coincided with what Lonappan said the other night. He had to control his power and he felt martial arts is the way to do so. Early next morning, Taro got out of his bed and headed straight towards the small lawn that the Holy Land had. Taro bowed deeply towards the rising sun as a sincere apology for not practicing the art, since the bright Sun resembled the Martial planet, not because the Martial planet''s a star¡ªit''s a planet made of one of the hardest substance to be discovered in the universe, lithargen¡ªbut because the Martial planet shone as bright as the Sun did. The thing about Taro is that he never had to use this technique in his life. Ten years ago, he left Wados in his late teenage years yearning for power. However, his return was too quick. Two years as a martial artist doesn''t even compare to the years of training by the Martial planet inhabitants. So, he was weak if we are to consider strength alone. Even as times went by and his strength grew exponentially, he never had to worry about destroying a planet or something along that lines, because he resides in Wados. The planet in and off of itself was not as hard as the Martial planet, however, noticing the increasing trend of casualties and destruction of monuments and buildings due to their increase in population, battle hungry maniacs and rebels, the Wadorian government had fortified their entire planet and established the disaster management squad, where Taro worked, pretty early on. But now, two things changed. One; ten years flew by and his current strength is stronger than ever. Two; he isekaid into a planet that''s neither made of hard materials like in the Martial planet nor fortified like Wados. So, he had no choice but to meditate. As he closed his eyes, he could sense the flow of power through his body. He strengthened his will so that he could forcibly shift about ninety five percent of his power towards his abdomen, thighs and shoulders. "Shit!" He muttered. He couldn''t control it entirely, so the power displacement got fucked up. Instead of equally shifting the ninety five percent of power to those three places, he ended up shifting it entirely on his shoulders. With this, he could tackle an entire horde of Rugby [????] players. "Well, it is what it is!" He said as he got up from his seat. He decided to practice Wu Long [????] planet''s backhand technique, which solely composed of using one''s backhand for all the attacks. It did not look impressive, however the technique was the sole reason some people consider the Wu Long planet as the heroes of the Galaxian War. "What the hell are you doing?" Thankappan, who unnaturally woke up early that day, asked. "Can''t you see? I''m practicing my martial arts." Taro replied as he continued with his strikes. "No! Martial arts'' supposed to be flashy! Where''s the high speed dashes and high pitched screams? That''s the real stuff!" Thankappan spoke as he imitated a bunch of moves he saw in some iconic movies. "Well, that''s very stereotypical of you! Look, martial arts is about protect and defend, not attack and retreat." Taro preached, even though he was a bit intrigued about the martial arts of Earth, of which Thankappan spoke so highly about. "Whatever, man! But this is not my martial arts!" Thankappan screamed as he walked off. "Whoa! What''s happening right now?" In comes Lonappan, serenaded into the Holy Land with Thankappan''s tantrum. "It seems like your junior does not appreciate my way of martial arts." Taro replied without interrupting his motion. "Hey, don''t disrespect someone else''s culture and practices!" Lonappan smacked Thankappan''s head and the junior agent writhed in pain. "I''m sorry!" Thankappan apologized and ran away from Lonappan. "So, does this have something to do with what I said yesterday?" Lonappan asked. "I guess? It did lit a little flame inside me!" Taro replied. "So, how is practicing martial arts and gaining more strength gonna help you control it?" Lonappan asked. "Look, if martial arts can increase one''s strength to an exponential level, then martial arts could also teach one how to control the power that he attained." Taro replied. "So, right now you''re learning how to control rather than attain, huh?" Lonappan continued his questions. He could only imagine a massive catastrophe if Taro were to attain more power. "Yup." He replied. "Hey, I just woke up and saw Thankappan crying. Do you guys know something about it?" Gibli asked while walking down the stairs. "Well, I just gave him a smack in the head. Nothing big." Lonappan explained. "Oh." Gibli stood there for a moment before staring at Taro''s actions. "Wait, isn''t that Wu Long backhand? That''s some cool stuff!" Gibli exclaimed. "You know of it?" Lonappan asked. He did not expect such a reaction from Gibli. "Know of it? I''ve felt it first-hand! Like, literally everyone who steps foot into the galaxian civilization has heard of it at least once!" Gibli continued like a fan boy. "I did not expect such a celebratory status for this martial art!" Lonappan was in awe. "They are legendary guys! By the way, how did you even learn it?" Gibli asked to Taro. "Isn''t it just some backhand strikes?" Lonappan asked, in a blunder of a moment. It was like if someone said Karate is just a bunch of strikes and muay-thai is just a bunch of kicks. "How dare you! It''s all about precision strikes that one could never achieve through a mere glance." Gibli got angry, real fast. "Chill, my man!" Lonappan tried to calm Gibli down and failed. However, as Gibli was about to continue his rant, Taro interfered. "I learned it from a rogue Wu Long citizen." He explained. "What? He went rogue? Against Wu Long? Whoever it is, they sure like to court death! But, why would they go rogue on Wu Long in the first place? Those guys are heroes, right?" Gibli wondered. "Things are never as it seem, my man!" Taro spoke as he stopped his practice. Upon seeing that, Lonappan jumped into the conversation yet again. "Now that you''re done with your practice, call everyone else down." He ordered. "What is it?" Taro asked. "What else? We got the job we''re looking for." Lonappan replied. # [????] No, I''ll never call it football! That would be stupid. [????] For some reason, all I had in my mind was the Wu Tang Clan when I wrote it. Thus, the name. So, I''m just gonna go listen to them. 13 Work "Yea, what are we waiting for? Let''s go!" Gibli exclaimed. "What do you mean? I thought we would be able to do anything over there." Gibli said. He had already imagined himself doing all sorts of things in the workplace. "As if! You don''t know jack shit about construction and now you want free reign? Like, try walking before you start running." Lonappan replied to Gibli''s pipedream. "So, how are we gonna go with it?" Kunjan asked the plan. "Well, first of all, you lot will be doing nothing other than the heavy lifting stuff. I don''t want you guys anywhere near the machinery. You need experience for that." Lonappan explained. "You see, I do have experience working in this sector and I believe that could be of help." Taro flexed his multi-year experience on construction work over Wados. "You might be right. Even so, I''m not gonna let you do the machinery. You used to work with the Wadorian machinery. That experience might be of little help. And I don''t wanna imagine how terrifying you''ll be if you are to have machines by your side." Lonappan suddenly got a chill as he inadvertently imagined that scenario. "Yea, I guess so." Taro agreed with this as well, albeit disappointed about this. Lonappan tried to console the disappointed Taro. "Don''t look so down. In fact, only one person is experienced enough to do the work in this area." "You?" Kunjan asked. "Hell no. It''s Thankappan." He replied to everyone''s amazement. "This guy?" Kunjan asked as he pointed towards Thankappan, in midst of him picking his nose. "Yes, I''m that good!" Thankappan proudly proclaimed. "Seriously though, this guy? It would be better if you let a toddler handle it than this guy right here." Kunjan shook his head as he retorted. "Hey, don''t insult me like that!" Thankappn cried. For once, Lonappan stood with his plea. "Thankappan''s right. He might look and even act like an idiot, but I believe in his training back in the dungeon prepped him for any random job thrown into him." Somehow, Lonappan''s statement irked Thankappan more than the original one. Everyone agreed. "True. I believe in the MIB''s training regimen." Kunjan replied. "Me too." Gibli chimed in as well. "Hey, it would be nice if you give some of that trust to me too, you know?" Thankappan resorted to screaming. "Don''t be complacent with about the praise that I gave you. You gotta work hard to earn it." Lonappan said as he patted his junior''s shoulders. "Was that even a praise though?" Thankappan wondered. "That''s cool. I''ll do that." Kunjan agreed to the notion.. "Although, Taro will have to strictly do the heavy lifting alone." Lonappan asserted his point. "I understand, but¡­" Taro was about to say something before he was cut short by Gibli. "What about me?" He asked. Nevertheless, before Lonappan could give a reply, Taro interrupted. "Wait. I just displaced my strength over to my shoulders. I can''t use my hands with the same power as before now." He said. "Well, can''t you just meditate once again and shift back your power?" Lonappan asked. "I can, but there''s no guarantee it''ll go the way I want to." Taro replied. "Very well, seems like it would be better if Gibli helped you carry them¡ªlike Gibli can load and unload stuff from your shoulders and you can carry that stuff around. Gibli does have his hardened exoskeleton feature." Lonappan pointed out. "Wait, I thought it was for defense alone." Thankappan spoke. "It gives me quite a bit of strength too." Gibli replied as he hardened up and broke a rock nearby. Taro was intrigued. "Wait, is it genetic or¡­" "Sorry, man! You can''t learn it. It''s genetic." Gibli shrugged. Leaving that idea aside, Taro replied. "Okay, I''m fine with Gibli helping me." "Now that all''s said and done, shall we move?" Thankappan asked. # A kilometer or two away from Holy Land¡ªthere it was, the construction site. They went there in Gopan''s auto. "Have a great day a work, guys! And make friends along the way." Gopan wished them luck. "Will do, Gopan." Kunjan replied. "Wait here, Gopan." Lonappan ordered as he walked out of the auto and look at the guys. "Ok, this is as far as I go. I told them about you lot and they said they''ll help you. So, behave and don''t do anything stupid." He reminded. "Sir, yes sir!" Everyone shouted as if they were in the military. "By the way, where are you going?" Kunjan asked to Lonappan. "Oh, trekking with my family. My son''s been asking for it." He smiled. "Lucky bastard!" Thankappan muttered under his breath. However, Lonappan heard it. "Mind your language if you don''t want me reporting the higher ups about all your mishaps." He said. "Weren''t you supposed to guide me? You''ll be held responsible as well." Thankappan replied with a mocking smile. "Piss off!" Lonappan flipped the bird as he walked away. "See, it''s that easy to make him tuck his tail and run." Thankappan whispered and chuckled. "I can still hear you!" Lonappan shouted as he flipped the bird one more time. "I''m sorry! I won''t say that again." Thankappan''s behavior turned a full 360 as he apologized. "Seems like you''re the one who''s tucking the tail." Kunjan laughed. By this time, Thankappan was already used to this treatment. "Yea, yea. Go on with the mockery." "Guys, how about you be a bit professional about this?" Gibli suddenly placed a damper on the joyous mood amongst them. "What''s up with him?" Taro asked to Kunjan. "Typical Arkian doing typical shit." Kunjan sighed before he replied. "It is as you say, Gibli. We''ll be pros from now on." He assured. "Thank you." Gibli felt relieved. Meanwhile, someone came running towards them. "Oh, you might be the ones that Lonappan send." He said. "Yes. Hello, I''m Thankappan." "I''m Kunjan." "Hello, sir. I''m Gibli." Gibli chose to be a pro in introduction too. "¡­" Taro didn''t speak and bowed his head instead. "Ah, you might be the shy one." The man broke the silence and spoke. Kunjan was quick in playing cover-up. "Ye-Yes. His name''s Sadanandan. Don''t worry. He''ll talk when he settle in with you guys." He smiled. However, such emotions were not visible through his stoic shell of a face. "That''s good. I''m Vineeth and it''s nice to meet you." The man introduced. # "So, what are we doing?" Gibli asked, eager to know what exactly he had to carry. "Well, Lonappan told me about it. So, Thankappan, you can go cut the cinderblocks. Kunjan, you''ll give me a hand and Gibli and Sadnandan can carry that granite over there." Vineeth laid out the plan. "Okay." Everyone agreed. Suddenly, Gibli dragged them into a corner. "What is it?" Taro asked. "Look guys. First impression''s the best one. We gotta show them that we''re hard working people and impress them with our work ethic. That''s the way to go if you ask me." Gibli gave out his opinion. "I might have to agree with Gibli over here. Let''s work quickly and effectively so that our tenure with these guys remain longer." Kunjan chimed in as well. They all agreed to Gibli''s plan. As soon as they got into work, they wasted no time. Thankappan was quick to find an efficient method to cut the cinderblocks without any hassle. Kunjan joined in on the work rather than watching. Taro and Gibli carried several marbles simultaneously and shifted it to the inside. Vineeth and several others looked surprised at this spectacle. "Hey, hey, hey! What the hell are these guys doing?" An old guy came running as he saw this sudden increase in pace around the worksite. "It seems they''re good at what they do, Pranchiyetta [????]!" Vineeth exclaimed. A buzz filled in the workplace. "Fuck being good at it. Put all those things back to where it was and restart it. But this time take it slowly¡ªlike, you over there, instead of cutting those cinderblocks efficiently, play around with it; do it slow. And you over there with that stoic face, just watch; don''t work. And you two¡ªwhat are you monsters? Do it slow, it''s granite for fuck''s sake." The old man screamed. "Wait, what did we do wrong? Isn''t this effective?" Kunjan asked. "It is. Too effective, to be honest. We don''t want that." Pranchi retorted. "But why?" Kunjan didn''t get it. "Because, we''re trying our level best to slow this shit down." Pranchi replied. "Again, why?" Kunjan asked. Pranchi took in a deep breath. "Okay, let me explain. We are working in terms of daily wage¡ªthat means it''s not a contract. You get it? If it was a contract, we would''ve worked our asses off and completed it as soon as possible. However, this is a daily wages situation. That implies, no matter how much we slack around, we still get paid. It works well with the fact that the people paying us can''t fire us because no sane worker will take someone else''s unfinished work. So why waste our energy, if we''re getting the money for doing nothing. So, hear me out and do what I said." He explained. Before things escalated any further, Vineeth interrupted. "Don''t worry, Pranchiyetta. I''ll make them understand." He assured. "I trust you to do that, Vineeth." Pranchi said as he waked off. "Who''s that guy?" Kunjan asked. "He''s Francis¡ªwe call him Pranchiyettan. He''s our boss." Vineeth replied. "Should we do it as he said? Because, my conscience is telling me not to." Gibli spoke. He didn''t felt good doing what the old man told. "Even though your conscience is precise and I feel that way too, unfortunately, he''s our boss and we gotta do what he says. And think of the bright side here. Wage for minimum amount of work. That''s someone''s wet dream right there!" Vineeth chuckled. "Yea, we''re leeching off of someone''s hard earned money. Don''t you feel guilty?" Kunjan asked. Suddenly, Vineeth''s expression turned grim. "Look, I get what you said. But this is my only job. I''ve got mouths to feed. My wife joins in on earning money for our household and even with that, it''s not enough to pay our mortgage. So, I don''t wanna be placed amongst you and lose my job. I don''t know what your reason is for coming here, but if you''re looking for an ethical workplace with no exploitations, then screw off from here. Well, might as well screw off from this entire country since there isn''t a place like that here. But, if you are here to earn some money, shut your traps and do as he said." Vineeth said and stormed off. The rest of the day went uneventfully. The crew listened to Vineeth and toned down their efforts. Although, it didn''t felt like they deserved it, they finally got the first pay on their own in this planet. # [????]¨Ceta: A derivative of chetta; more like an informal version of it. 14 Truth "We really did leech the money out of someone''s pockets, after all." Kunjan replied as calm as he can and asked Gibli to move on. Eventually in a few minutes, they reached Holy Land. And in there, they were welcomed by Lonappan. "Hey, guys. How was work?" He asked. "It sucked." Gibli answered. "It really did." Taro doubled it. "They''re right about that." Kunjan agreed with it as well. Lonappan was honestly surprised. "Wow, I tried my level best to find a gig that''d require nothing out of you. I didn''t expect such a backlash." "Wait, you knew it and you flipping planned it all along?" Gibli asked. "Of course! Minimum work, maximum wage. Isn''t that amazing?" Lonappan didn''t find anything wrong about that. "So that would mean you wanted us to go down that path too, huh? Corruption!" Gibli raised his voice. He lived his entire life earnestly. He didn''t like the path that Lonppan chose for them. "Boy, isn''t that a strong word to use in this scenario." Lonappan had no idea what was going through Gibli''s mind. How could he? He wasn''t a psychic. "That''s the case, isn''t it? Leeching cash out of an unsuspecting individual is what you want us to do." Gibli continued his rant. "Well, yea. That''s part of blending in. Like there''s the so-called corruption all over this country. There''s no living in the bright side shit around here. You wanna blend in with the humans, you better start living like one." Lonappan explained his side. "Why the hell are you talking about corruption like it''s a rather common thing or something? It''s not unavoidable. Ark is corruption free! We did it, therefore you can too." He said those words so passionately that it irked him off when he heard the plankton''s cheeky laugh beside him. "Why are you laughing, plankton?" He asked as if he was about to pick a fight. "I might''ve agreed with you to some extent, but I lost you in that last half. Get your shit straight before you start preaching someone." Plankton said, as he continued laughing. "What are you insinuating?" Gibli sounded really serious. He was all fun and games when it doesn''t involve someone badmouthing his planet. "Huh, you really believe it, don''t you? That the Fallen Ark is corruption free." Kunjan replied. He picked a serious stance as well. "Don''t you dare!" Gibli advanced towards the plankton, fully committed on attacking him. He hated people calling his planet ''The Fallen Ark''. "What do you mean?" Gibli was as furious as he was confused. "Huh, the Ark really did a good job covering up stuff, eh? The Ark''s world leaders colluded with the Glomerans and sold you off." He shouted back. "Impossible! Don''t speak of such lies before me, you murderer!" Gibli screamed as a grim look appeared over the plankton''s face. It was as if it hurt him on a personal level. "And here I thought that I could believe you, you spineless coward." Kunjan looked at Gibli with disdain. Meanwhile, Taro interfered this fight. "Gibli, no. What he said right now is the truth." He said. However, Gibli was not in the mood to have a civilized conversation. "How''d you know about that, you dumb fuck!" He cried as he lifted his fist towards Taro, which was stopped immediately. It was hard to get a hit on Taro as it is, Moreover, Gibli was filled with rage . A mind filled with unnecessary emotions could never hurt Taro. "Shall I?" Taro turned towards the plankton and asked. "Please do." Kunjan pleaded. Taro nodded and tackled Gibli to the ground. # Few hours later, Gibli woke up in his bed. "What happened?" He wondered. He couldn''t remember anything that happened a few hours earlier. "Oh, you woke up! Have some green tea. I guess it might calm you down." It was Kunjan, who came to him with a cup of green tea in his hand. Gibli gladly took the cup and took a sip out of it, "So, I fucked up?" He asked, as he placed the tea aside. Kunjan nodded his head. "Yup, you went crazy and Taro had to tackle some sense into you." "Ah, that explains the throbbing pain." Gibli chuckled whilst grabbing his abdomen. "Yea, he got really pissed off about it." The plankton had a hearty laugh as well. Soon, Gibli came back to senses and the atmosphere got serious again. "Okay, I''m ready. Tell me everything. From what you know to how you know it." He looked like he was ready to swallow the hard pill of truth. "Do you know about the Glomeran civilization and their practises?" The plankton asked. "What do you mean?" Gibli was confused. The things he knew about Glomera was the things that he learned from his textbooks. Kunjan sighed. "It seems that you''re not aware. Well, Glomera is like the Goa [????] of the universe." He replied. "I don''t get it." Gibli didn''t get the obscure reference. "Shit. Okay. Glomera is like the Las Vegas of the universe." He explained yet again. This time, Gibli caught the reference. "Their main source of income is gambling?" He asked. "Exactly. Now, the things they gamble on is a little different from Las Vegas. They conduct a contest at first. They would''ve planned to conquer someone and people would''ve to imagine who that was. Like, they''d have to bet on it and stuff. Once that''s over, people would gamble on how long it will take for them to conquer that place. Normally, the Glomerans would go to that planet and show off their technologically apt community; they might be gambling assholes, but they''re some of the most intelligent species too. So, when this technologically inferior planet sees the stuff, they''d be willing to do anything for it and eventually fall into their trap." Kunjan explained, "Just like what happened to us." He was reminded of the Ark''s fate. However, Kunjan clicked his tongue upon hearing that. "Now, that''s the lie that was fed up to your mouths." He said. "Come again?" Even though Gibli did say he was ready for the truth bomb, he didn''t expect such a twist in the tale. "You know the time it took for the Glomerans to conquer the Ark?" Kunjan asked. Gibli nodded. "Yea, it''s three ye-" "Days. Three days." Kunjan cut him off and replied. "What?" Gibli was shocked. He couldn''t get any words out of his mouth. "In what was called the heist of the century, a mystery participant accurately guessed the time frame and won the entire shitload of money." Kunjan continued. "Heist?" "Well, even though Glomeran civilization as a whole weren''t allowed to participate in the bet, this incredible win was met with doubts that it might actually be the Glomerans itself that worked their way in as the mystery participant. Things got more heated up when the Glomerans refused to reveal the identity of this participant." Kunjan replied. "What happened then?"Gibli was completely invested. This was a very different take on the tragic tale of their civilization. "Due to massive protests from the masses, they had to finally reveal that person." "Who was it?" Gibli asked. "Who do you think? As I said before, it was the entirety of the Ark''s governmental body." Kunjan reminded him of what he said during their fight. "What?" Although he did heard it before, he still had difficulty in swallowing it down. "Yup. Even though, this announcement was met with a massive backlash, the Glomerans argued that the Arkians placed the bet before they were officially part of Glomeran civilization. So, it was actually deemed legal." Kunjan looked towards Gibli with pity as he saw the Arkian''s perplexed face. "Fuck, they swindled us all. For three years¡ªwe had a ''diplomatic'' relation with Glomera for three years. I guess the Glomerans teamed up with our leaders and kept it in dark." He looked furious. "Yea, they didn''t sign the contract back then. They did it just so the Ark leaders could claim their innocence and get the masses with them." Kunjan said as he patted Gibli''s shoulders. "All these years. Those fuckers played with us for all these years!" He clenched his fist nin anger before realizing one important thing. "Damn, the rebels were by their side the whole time. Are they in this too?" He asked. "Nah, they don''t know shit. That''s the beauty, isn''t it? The government proved to be the perfect impostors for the Glomerans and got them all the insider info." Kunjan replied. "Yea, I kinda feel bad for the rebels. All the trust placed in the wrong people." He looked down as he spoke. In the midst of this session, Taro jumped in. He was accompanied by M''Baku. It looked like they made up for what happened a day or so before. "Hey, you fine now?" Taro asked. "Yeah, get in. You too, M''Baku." Gibli invited them in. "Good to see you back, M''Baku." Kunjan shook his hand. "Huhu¡­ Yes, call me by my real name like that!" M''Baku was really happy about this. "By the looks of it, it seems like he told you the truth." Taro spoke. "You knew it too?" Gibli asked, showing a weak smile. He really didn''t know how to react anymore. "Everyone knows the infamous tragedy that unfolded back then." Taro replied. "Even I know that!" M''Baku chimed in. "We''re a fucking joke in the galaxian community, huh?" Gibli looked down. He felt inferior to the people around him at that moment. "It''s¡­" Taro tried consoling. However, he was aware about the fact that he suck at doing those. Hence, he decided to change the topic. "Tell me, have you thought of going back to your home? Like, I came here by the means that I''m not aware of, nevertheless, I do dream of going back." He spoke out with hope glimmering out of his eyes. However, instead of Gibli, it was M''Baku that answered. "Hah, you''re gonna have that dream for quite a while now. Rather, that''s all its gonna be¡ªa pipedream. I''ve been here for four years now¡ªcame here by accident too. Of course, I had my spaceship with me, even though it was fucked up entirely. Therefore, I agreed to it when the earthlings promised to repair it. Four years and everytime they came up with an excuse." "They confiscated it under Glomera''s orders, huh?" Kunjan realized the truth pretty quick. "Why''d they do that? I don''t see any use of it." Taro wondered. "Imagine if any big shot came here by accident. They could extort a hella money from their planet as an exchange." The plankton replied. "Would they go that low?" Taro asked even though he knew their history. "Well, they would just guise it as a diplomatic exchange or some shit. Those fuckers love money." The plankton looked annoyed as he talked about them. "Alright. You guys dodged my question though." Taro got back to his point. Instead of answering, the sly plankton dodged the question. "What would you do, Taro?" "Well, I guess I''ll go back home. Even though I''m treated differently just like in here, at least I don''t have to relive through all the shit I went through again. It took me years of effort to effectively become a near-normal mob back there. So, I''d like to get back to that." He answered and turned towards the canino. "M''Baku, what about you?'' M''Baku sighed before he replied. "I''d like to meet my wife and the twelve children of mine!" He smiled as he thought of them. "He''s a dog, alright!" Gibli chuckled. "I''m gonna forgive you this one time just because you seem down." M''Baku pouted. "What about you, #69420?" Taro called the plankton by his chosen name since everyone called everyone by their real name now. "I ain''t going nowhere. I''m content here. Universe is shit anyway!" He finally replied. "Very well. And you, Gibli?" Taro shifted the question towards the Arkian. "Initially, when I knew about Glomera''s involvement with Earth, I opted to stay and fight for them so that they don''t suffer the same fate as Ark. But now, I gotta get back to Ark one more time. I can''t just forgive the government for what they did." Gibli looked like he finally had a clear goal. "Ha, it seems all dreamt about leaving this planet too¡ªexpect one here. Well, here''s to our dreams." He held out his fist. The others did as well. The four aliens formed a bond that night. # [????] Its as Kunjan said. Goa is one of the only two states in India where gambling is legal. It''s the more prominent one though. 15 Dear Diary "Yea." The others shouted alongside¡ªagain, other than one person. "Heh, it''s not easy as you make it sound. Did you think you could waltz into the MIB base for one of your spaceships and they''ll just give it to you? Hell no. That''s not the way to go, if you ask me." The plankton spoke nonchalantly. "Look who''s interested in this conversation." Taro chuckled. "Well, how do you think we should go about on this?" He asked. "First of all, I''m merely giving out a constructive criticism for your non-existent plans. Secondly, if you ask me, I believe we should sneak our way in." Kunjan replied. "I get that. But where do you think the spaceships would be?" M''Baku jumped in between them and asked. "I guess it''d be in a rather secluded location, right?" Gibli took a guess of his own. "That''s what they want us to think. However, it might be right under everyone''s noses." Kunjan replied. "So, in and around here?" Gibli asked. "Nah, when I said right under our noses, I meant the entire human civilization, not just us for. Now, if you are to consider the trend, it has to be in Manhattan or somewhere around there." He explained. "How did you come up with that conclusion?" Gibli was interested in how he pinpointed the MIB''s main base. "Haven''t you seen the movies? Danger always befall Manhattan. That means they have something to hide." Kunjan said, in a rather serious tone. Gibli sighed. "Boy, and here I thought you were smart! It''s a fictional Hollywood movie for crying out loud!" He struggled to stay calm after hearing such a bizarre explanation. He didn''t wanted Taro to punch him again. "I know that. But there''s always an underlying fact beneath the fiction. Hell, there''s even an MIB movie that people consider as fictional. Is it though?" Kunjan posed the question he deemed valid. Gibli had no choice but to agree to that argument. "Very well. However, even if we are to consider his words as the truth, we need money to get there. A fairly decent amount of cash." "Therefore, we gotta continue what we''re doing right now and work." Kunjan replied. "Hell yea!" Gibli screamed which immensely annoyed the plankton. "Why are you so hyperactive, bruh? You were literally depressed a few minutes ago." He spoke. "One can''t possibly stay that way all the time, right?" Gibli smiled brightly under the night sky. Upon hearing the ruckus, Thankappan forced himself into Gibli''s room. "Hey, guys! What''s are you talking about?" He asked. "Well, we were talking about how earnestly we''re gonna work from now on." Gibli replied, since he couldn''t reveal their plan of sneaking into the MIB HQ someday. "Good for you! By the way, Lonappan''s wife made some food for us. So, come on out." Thankappan said. "Who knows? He might''ve lied about it or something." Thankappan replied. "I''m fine with it as long as I get something good to eat." Kunjan spoke with pride, since he''s the cook in the Holy Land household. "Ever the picky eater." Taro sighed. "If you ask me, I just need plenty to fill my belly." Gibli answered, whilst rubbing his belly. "And then there''s the glutton." Taro sighed again. Meanwhile, M''Baku headed towards the door. "Yea, you guys enjoy it. I''ll be over at Shivani''s house." "Now the girl has a name?" Taro asked as M''Baku opened the door. "She always did, dumbass! I just decided to call her by that name." He barked. "Well, you could''ve just said that you''re going to the next door or you''re going to the neighbor''s or something. Why so specific?" Taro asked, to which M''Baku sighed. "Geez, I''m not gonna argue with you guys. I''m off." He quickly exited from the room. # . . . Dear Diary, A few days ago, two more guys started living across the hall. It seems like there''s four people currently living inside that small apartment. That''s a lot! Mother didn''t like how many people lived across the hall, since we''re two women living in this place with four bachelors across the house. She wasn''t insinuating that they''re rapist or stuff¡ªshe was just concerned about what the society might think about such stuff. She did called Timothy-chettan on that. Anyway, let me tell you about them. There''s this lanky dude called Gibli. I heard he''s a tribal person¡ªthus, the unusual name. However, he''s pretty chill. It''s like he knows I''m introverted and intentionally avoids me. I like that about him. It''s that or he never noticed me as I passed him. If that''s the case, that should''ve been fine by me¡ªhowever, for some reason I feel a bit bad about that. I feel like the worst thing that could happen to someone is to not get acknowledged. Yes, I''m an introvert wanting to get acknowledged by someone. That''s pretty stupid. Anyhow, he''s cool. The next one would be Kunjan. Until now, I have no idea why people call him by that name. The dude seem pretty built and his height sure does exceed mine. Well, I can understand it if it''s his legal name. Or else, it might be an inside joke that I''m not aware of. I''d like to know more about it, but I just can''t get myself to talk with them. Well, mother did ban me from talking to them as well. She said there''s a chance they might be drunk all the time and even smoke pot and that I have to be careful around people like them. However, I feel like it''s just a misconception. Kunjan is pretty chill too. He nods as he passes by me and I nod back. That''s the only form of our communication. The strange thing about him is that I sense him smiling but I''ve never seen him do it. I''d like to see his smile someday. I hope I don''t sound like a creep saying that. Then there''s Thankappan. He''s fine, but I feel like he''s a bit excessive. He tries to have a conversation with me every time we met. I know he meant it as a friendly neighbor sort of way, rather than a pedophilic one, but I just don''t like people invading my personal boundary and stepping up to talk to me even if it might be normal. I just don''t like speaking to people. Finally, there''s Sadanandan. He''s mysterious, if you ask me. He never bats an eye towards me or give a nod. I might sound like I crave attention, but I can''t handle it when people straight out treat me like I''m invisible. In fact, the most he did was slightly nodding as I passed him. However, I don''t believe that was intentional. I don''t believe he''ll ever intentionally acknowledge my existence. Fun fact¡ªI heard a rumor that no one has ever heard him talk. At first, I was a bit skeptical about this and decided to tail him for a bit. That bit of a distance turned out to be an entire journey and I ended up getting scolded by my mother. Anyhow, it was as the rumors said¡ªhe never speak. However, he ain''t dumb either. I heard Kunjan say to someone that Sadanandan''s a bit shy, which would mean that he''s an introvert like me! Which would in turn explain why he won''t bat an eye towards anyone. He''s just shy! I can''t blame him for that. He''s a comrade! However, something strange happened today. Let''s start with the morning. Sadanandandan was out doing some weird hand gestures. Well, it had to be some martial arts, which is fine¡ªthat''s not the strange thing. Later in the evening, a fight broke out between him and Gibli for reasons unknown. However, the fight didn''t last long. Like, Sadanandan instantly subdued Gibli and the fight was over. I didn''t know such a thing is humanly possible. It didn''t even last a second. Anyway, I am intrigued yet a bit wary of him. He seems like he holds a dark past or a grave secret or something. Yes,my neighbors are a bit weird, but you wanna know who''s not weird? Charlie! He''s the most adorable doggo I''ve ever seen! I don''t know what his real name is and because I''m a bit hesitant to ask my neighbors, I named him after our dead doggo. Even though my mom doesn''t like the neighbors, she holds Charlie near and dear because he looks just like our doggo. I know, right? They piqued your interest too, didn''t they? Even though, they seem a bit weird, they feel like nice guys. Someday, I would like to hold a proper conversation with them. I''ll tell you all about it then. Yours truly, Shivani. . . . Shivani closed her diary with a satisfied expression. Just as she did it, she heard a faint knock from her door. It was so faint that it couldn''t even be classified as a knock. Instead, it felt like someone gently scratching the door with its paw. "????????''???? ????????????????!" It didn''t take her much time to recognize who it was on the other side. She got up and ran towards the door. She didn''t blink an eye as she opened it and tightly hugged he person before him. "You''re here, Charlie!" Yes, it was Charlie. "Woof!" Charlie barked as he wagged his tail. Shivani got up and patted his head. "Come on in, Charlie boy. I got your snacks." She invited the dog inside and closed the door behind him as he paced through the front door. # 16 Drank and Drugs* "Boss, can you please not say it out loud like that? It''s kinda embarrassing." Tyagi [????], one of the subordinates, pleaded to his boss. "What''s there to be embarrassed about? We did something that no other people could do! If you are to ask me, I feel like it''s a cause for celebration. Don''t you think so too?" Francis gave out a disgusting smile as he dangled a few notes before Tyagi. "It''s as you say, boss!" Tyagi jumped around, clearly showing off his intent to gobble it all by himself. However, he could see the glaring eyes behind, therefore he decided against it. "Take it. And do whatever the fuck you guys do." Francis handed over the cash to Tyagi and walked off as if he''s cool or something. Poor guy was didn''t know that he wasn''t cool. However, one person did admire this uncool stride. "Thank you, boss!" Tyagi cheered. "What a suck up!" Thankappan scoffed at the sight of Tyagi jumping around. Meanwhile, Vineeth took the money off the guy and distributed it. "Ooh, cash!" Thankappan jumped around the sight of money¡ªsimilar to what Tyagi did. "You don''t even get the irony of your actions, don''t you?" Kunjan sighed at Thankappan''s actions. "Whatever! I can buy¡ªwait, what was I supposed to buy? Wait, why do I even need money?" He wondered. He genuinely had no idea what to do of this money. "Well, didn''t you get really jealous when Taro bought that phone of his?" Gibli planted an idea in Thankappan''s mind. "I kinda did. However, this won''t be enough to buy one for myself. Therefore, if I wanted to buy one, I could''ve done it with my MIB salary." Thankappan replied. "Hmm, then do what you do with your MIB salary?" Kunjan decided to ask him. "Save it?" He answered. "Shoot. Besides, if you''re gonna save it anyway, save it for Taro then. We were supposed to do that anyway!" Kunjan suggested as he glanced over Taro, who stood silent for the entire moment. "Of course! I forgot about that!" Thankappan spoke out. "I still don''t know how you''re an MIB agent." Kunjan sighed. Amidst this heated conversation, Vineeth came up to them. "Hey, guys! We''re having a party¡ªif you wanna call it one. Well, we''re just gonna have a couple of drinks. You wanna come?" He asked. "Ooh, drinks! Let''s go!" Thankappan readily agreed to that idea. "Don''t you think Lonappan will be worried about us?" Taro, dragged them to the side and asked. Thankappan looked baffled. "Him? Worried about us? Nah. He just doesn''t care." He replied. "I''m fine either way." Kunjan replied as if he didn''t care. "Me too, I guess?" Gibli joined in as well. "See, majority vote decides! Therefore, I win!" Thankappan screamed excitedly as he turned to Vineeth. "We''ll come, Vineeth." He said to Vineeth, patiently waiting for their reply. "Cool, get in then." He pointed to the jeep parked next to them. "Ooh, you got a jeep! Let''s go!" Thankappan hurriedly jumped in. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Kunjan sensed the danger, although he ain''t no psychic. "Nah, don''t worry about it. Everything will be fine." Thankappan managed to place a red flag as he got in. # "Where the heck are we?" Taro asked whilst looking around. "I don''t know, man. Let''s ask Vineeth." Gibli replied. "Sure." Taro nodded. "Vineeth, where exactly are we supposed to be going?" Gibli asked. "Well, we''re going to the paddy farmers'' motor shed. That''s where our stock is." He replied. "Why is it there?" Kunjan, who remained silent during the whole journey, spoke. "It''s because the police rarely checks it out there." Vineeth replied, smiling. "Wait, police? Are drinks illegal?" Thankappan asked. "Not really. Although, we aren''t really supposed to drink in the open and then drive later, are we?" Vineeth asked. "Yea, why would you do that?" Kunjan looked at Vineeth with his expressionless eyes, which made Vineeth a bit nervous. "I don''t know. It''s fun to drink with friends, I guess?" He gave out a nervous chuckle. "Then why not do it in your home?" Kunjan asked. "It''s not exactly nice to drink in front of your wife and child now, is it?" Vineeth countered with his valid argument. "Why not in someone else''s home? Like some bachelors in here." Kunjan attacked with his new argument. "Well, we fear that we might be a nuisance for the people around." Vineeth defended his argument yet again. "Won''t you be a nuisance if you drink and drive?" Kunjan sharpened his questionnaire. Vineeth started sweating profusely. "Man, you ask a lot of questions. Oh, we''ve reached the destination. Finally!" He jumped out of the jeep as soon as it stopped. As Vineeth walked towards the motor shed, Tyagi pushed him aside and took the lead. "Hello, Maniyan-chetta. You got our stuff?" He asked. "Yea! If you want, we''ve recently got some of this too." Maniyan, the motor operator, answered as he slyly passed a bag to tyagi. "Damn, that''s some good stuff. Since when did you became a seller?" Tyagi asked. "Well, I bought it for myself. However, I thought it would be nice to give it to a fellow brother." Maniyan replied, patting the shoulder of the sacrifice¡ªTyagi. "That''s cool of you. How much is it?" He asked, feeling slightly emotional. "No, no! I don''t need anything. It''s for a brother¡ªhow could I ask for money?" Maniyan continued making Tyagi emotional. "Don''t say that. Keep this." He slipped a few notes in Maniyan''s pocket. "Nah, take it back. You know what? I''ll ask something when I''m in need." Maniyan replied, as he gave the cash back. "That''s fine too." Tyagi spoke. "Okay then, see you. If you want some of it, I''ll be by the bridge." He said as he waved goodbye. "Yea, see you!" Maniyan enthusiastically waved back as they faded to the dark. He took his phone and dialed a number. "Sir, I''ve done what you ask of me." # "Wait, where are we going now?" Kunjan was confused. Vineeth did say that they reached the destination and yet they were moving. "We''re going to lie low. We do this kinda stuff under the bridge." Vineeth smiled, pretty satisfied about his barely qualified pun. "Damn, you meant it in a literal sense, huh?" Kunjan looked disgusted. "I guess? Well, we''re here. Hop out." Vineeth hopped out yet again. However, yet again, he was stopped and over-shadowed by the tyagi. "You guys sit somewhere around. I''ll prepare a few rounds." Vineeth replied as he walked off. He clearly wasn''t fazed by the tyagi''s actions. "Wait, what are we having for drinks?" Thankappan asked Vineeth, stopping him in his track. "Well, we were thinking more like beer and maybe a bit of vodka." He replied. "Huh?" Thankappan looked confused. "What?" Vineeth gave out a confused look as well. "That¡ªthat sounds alcoholic." Thankappan looked around, got close and whispered. "Huh?" Now, Vineeth looked genuinely confused. Upon hearing Thankappan''s reply, Kunjan dragged him aside. "Wait, you came here not knowing that they meant alcoholic drinks and not normal drinks? What are you, a cheesy innocent MC of some drama?" He asked. "Guy, I really didn''t know! I didn''t get to drink alcohol while in the dungeon, so I didn''t expect it." Thankappan shrugged. "Well, now you know it. Wanna scoot?" Kunjan gave out a suggestion. However, Thankappan looked determined. "No. I wanted to experience drinking it at least once." "If that''s your choice, so be it." Kunjan decided to stand by the special agent''s decision. He was supposed to be their overseer, after all. # "Damn, I never would''ve thought this guy would be an alcohol-virgin." Tyagi laughed, taking the lead of the troop for some reason. "You see, I never got the time to try it." Thankappan looked embarrassed as he replied. "Call it luck then. You got the time now." Vineeth interjected the conversation before Tyagi could. He seemed pissed off then. "Yea, get me a shot." Thankappan asked for a drink. "I''ll start it weak. How about a beer?" He was about to pour the beer in the mug, but was stopped by Thankappan. "Nah, if we''re to begin something, I''d rather prefer it if we began it with a bang." Thankappan answered. "Okay, we don''t have the much stronger stuff, however, we got vodka. Is that enough?" Vineeth asked as he placed the beer bottle down. "Vodka it is!" Thankappan shouted. Vineeth handed the drink to him. "Here we go!" Thankappan took a deep breath and drank it in one-shot. Since he was a beginner, he didn''t last long. "Yup, looks like he''s done for the night." Vineeth chuckled as he saw Thankappan wriggling around. "I want mooooooooore!" Thankappan screamed. "It seems so." Gibli agreed with Vineeth''s analysis. "How come you''re unaffected?" Tyagi asked, as he glanced over towards the three aliens who looked just the same after drinking three or so shots. "Experience?" Kunjan replied. "I guess it goes all three of you." Tyagi chuckled. "Of course! We don''t usually go down with just this." Gibli replied this time instead. "Oh, you can go stronger!" Tyagi gave out a sly smile. "Yup!" Gibli nodded his head. "Then how about this?" Tyagi whipped out a bag. Gibli took the bag and opened it. "What''s this? A cookie?" He asked. "A special kind, if you ask me." Tyagi smile as he took out the cookies from the bag and distributed it to the ones around, including the wriggling Thankappan. "Alcohol and cookies are quite a unique combination." Gibli gave out his opinion. "Try it. You''ll like it!" Tyagi assured. "Okay." Gibli was intrigued. "Let''s do it together on three." Tyagi said. "One, two and three." The entire circle ate the cookie. It didn''t took much time for them to witness the cookie''s marvel. "Fuck. What''s going on?" Gibli was confused over all the fluttering images before him. Meanwhile, Taro, who stayed silent over the entire time, except for occasional whispering, jumped up and shouted. "WOW. I CAN FEEL IT. I REALLY AM AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD!" He shouted these in Wadorian, which no one other than the three understood. "Hey, can you hear what Sadanandan''s saying?" Vineeth asked around. "Oh, cool! It seems like we''re having the same hallucination!" Tyagi high fived Vineeth. Suddenly, Vineeth looked startled. "Hey, can you hear it?" He asked around yet again. "I already told you; I can hear the gibberish too." Tyagi replied. "Not that; the sirens." He asked. "Might be some kind of hallucination too." Tyagi replied. "Cool!" Vineeth decided to believe that without retorting, because he couldn''t care less. However, Vineeth suddenly got the chills when he actually saw a few police officers this time. "Hey, guys. I don''t think it is a hallucination. Can''t you see the police?" "Meh, that''s a hallucination too." Tyagi assured. "Unfortunately for you, it''s not." The police officer grabbed Tyagi''s shoulder. "Hey, the hallucination says it''s not a hallucination." Vineeth shouted at Tyagi. "Well, maybe it''s not a hallucination, after all. Although, we could be the hallucination too. Who knows?" Tyagi was on a trance at that moment. Meanwhile, Vineeth decided to check if it''s real and punched the officer, just to get punched back in ten folds. "Wait, guys. I think this is real! What should we do?" Vineeth started panicking. Tyagi stood silent for a few seconds. "Well, fuck me then." He replied as the police dragged him and the entire circle into the police station. # *This is not a typo. For some reason, I decided to pay a homage to my favorite Dutch song "Drank and Drugs", by Lil Kleine and Ronnie Flex, which might also be recognized as the unofficial Dutch national anthem by some. [????] His name literally means sacrifice or someone who sacrifices (if we are to be specific) in both Malayalam and Hindi. 17 Busted 1 "Oh, you''re awake! Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Someone asked. It took him a bit of time to recalibrate his focus towards the person. It was Kunjan. "I don''t know! My memory is a bit hazy." Taro decided to tell the truth, since he had no idea on what was happening. However, Kunjan didn''t look so. He had it under control. "Understandable. It''s supposed to have a recoil after all." Kunjan nodded at himself before he checked Taro''s body. "What do you mean?" Taro asked, however, before he could get an answer, he saw Kunjan''s focus lingering towards someone else. "Man! Why does my body ache?" Thankappan wondered as he stretched out his shoulders. "Ah, Thankappan! Well, that''s because of all the wriggling you did." Kunjan replied. "Wriggling?" Thankappan didn''t get it. He forgot everything since that one shot of vodka. "Another one with the amnesia. Let''s see what happened with the third one." Kunjan sighed before he left Thankappan behind and headed towards Gibli. "Gibli, wake up!" He slightly nudged his shoulder to see what would happen. However, Gibli was in deep sleep, reliving one of the bitter moments in his life. "No, I don''t wanna leave Ark. I don''t wanna leave you guys!" He moaned. "Seems like he''s having a very emotional farewell. Let''s ruin it." Kunjan looked sadistic as he repeatedly punched Gibli. "Ouch! Why''d you do that?" Gibli cried as he dragged himself away from Kunjan. "Obviously to wake you up. Now tell me, what happened yesterday?" Kunjan got straight to the point. Gibli looked around for a moment and sighed. "Ah, we ate the cookie and ended up here, didn''t we? I knew it was some kinda drug." He proclaimed as if he made a new discovery. "No shit, Sherlock. By the way, you missed the adventure in between." Kunjan replied. "What do you mean?" Gibli was curious about this. "The adventure of the police officers chasing us and throwing us into this cell." Kunjan answered. "And here I thought that I''m the one with the entire recollection of that event." Gibli sighed as he saw the plankton superiority that he had heard rumors about. It was once said that even though planktons were small, they emitted immense pressure, since they were simply best at everything. Today, he got a glimpse of it. "Well, I''m an Arkian. We do have our strong foundations which would delay the effect of any drug that enters our system." Gibli explained his side. "No wonder your medical field looks like it''s the worst in the entire galaxian civilization." Kunjan shared his thoughts. This time, Gibli agreed with this assessment. "Exactly! They ain''t actually weak. Like, if you consider pure skill, they surpass every other doctor in this entire universe, since they''re able to cure the Arkians of their ailments even with a delay." He explained before turning towards Kunjan. "That said, I don''t know why it didn''t affect the plankton." He replied. "What is it, Plankton? What did you do?" Thankappan and Taro was curious as well. "Heh, I guess you could say that I endured it. Rather, it didn''t affect me a bit." Kunjan gave out a grin. "That''s crystal clear. I asked you for the reason." Thankappan replied, not impressed with Kunjan''s smug face. "Look. Just as Gibli talked about his Arkian heredity helping him, me being a member of plankton civilization helped me too." Kunjan gave out his explanation. "Shoot, genetics again!" Thankappan sighed. If it was something that he developed through thorough practice, he could''ve make use of that technique. Unfortunately, that didn''t seem to be the case. "Hell no. Being a member of plankton civilization, the same civilization that conducts covert operations for anonymous personalities, we have to go through harsh training so that we won''t spill out confidential info or jeopardize the anonymity of our employee. Therefore, I had to go through a multitude of hallucinogens and torture back then, some ten or hundred times stronger than this shit. So, I developed tolerance." Kunjan shrugged it off as if it was nothing. Meanwhile, the others had a hard time processing what they just heard. "Man, that''s dark!" Thankappan, who planned on practicing it, decided to leave it at that. "Anyhow, from what you said¡ªthat would mean that you were sane when we got caught." He spoke. "Yup, totally." Kunjan nodded his head. "Then why the hell are you here? You could''ve ran away by yourself; or you could''ve take us away with you. At the very least, you could''ve warned us." Thankappan scolded. "Well, you should be held responsible for what you did." Kunjan got back as well. "As I said before, why didn''t you¡ª" Thankappan was cut short by Kunjan. "I''m involved in this too, right? So, I deserve to be punished too." He replied. Gibli sighed before he spoke. "Great! We asked this guy to raid the MIB HQ with us. He''ll just give up right in the beginning if this is the case." He was met with a dumbfounded audience of three. "Huh?" Thankappan was the most baffled one amongst them. "Nothing." Gibli quickly tried to cover up. Thankappan took in a deep breath. "I''m just gonna pretend I didn''t hear anything you said right now because that would be downright impossible and you''d be placed in a prison for planning something ridiculous as this." He spoke in a calm and rational tone. "Wait, you''re chill about it?" Gibli was surprised. He never expected this turn of events. "I am. Because I know it''s impossible for just the three of you¡ªfour including M''Baku if he agreed with it too." He replied. "Cool, we''ll continue with our plans then." Kunjan spoke this time. "Good luck." Thankappan wished them for their plan. Since that was done with, Gibli turned his attention back to Kunjan. "Now, back to our point. Why?" He asked. "Because we deserved it." Kunjan bluntly replied. "Man, I get it. But don''t you think this is a bit much? Look at Vineeth over there for example. The guy''s in shambles." He pointed towards Vineeth, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "No! I can''t be in a prison. My wife¡­ my kids¡­ I can''t let them get shamed because of me! Why did I agree to do this shit?" Vineeth cried. It was a similar case for several others as well¡ªexcept one asshole, of course. "Man, can you pipe down. It''s not that big of a deal." Tyagi raised his voice as he picked his nose. "And then there''s that asshole. He fucked us all over and now he''s chilling out there." Gibli looked at Tyagi furiously. Although, Tyagi didn''t care since he was used to it. "Yup, he deserves a harsher punishment." Kunjan agreed with Gibli''s sentiments. "Dude, since when did you become this justice warrior type of character?" Gibli asked. This version of Kunjan was quite Different in what way?different from the one he know. "What do you mean? I always stand by justice." Kunjan assured. "Very well. Are you expecting something to happen to him?" Gibli asked. "Unfortunately, no. At least, nothing right now. But I feel like a storm''s coming." Kunjan gazed towards the farthest ceiling. Suddenly, Gibli''s face turned grim. "Here comes Kunjan''s impeccable bad omen radar." He spoke. "What do you mean?" Taro asked. "I don''t know how, but whenever he talks about something going awry, it generally does." Gibli explained. "That''s just straight up black tongue [????]" Thankappan replied. "Black tongue?" Taro was interested in this new term. "It basically means the same thing that he said right now. Bad omens coming true." Thankappan explained it briefly. "I hope he''s wrong about it this time though." Taro whispered. # Back in the Holy Land, Lonappan had been waiting for the guys for hours now. It was awfully silent. However, this silence was broke when his phone rang. He picked it up¡ªit was Gopan. "What''s up, Gopan?" He casually greeted his comrade. "Ah, it seems like I''m the only one who heard about it." Gopan replied upon hearing Lonappan''s laid back voice. "Heard about what?" He asked. "About how the guys got jailed for illegal consumption of marijuana." Gopan replied. "Huh, that explains why they''re late." There wasn''t much of a surprise in his voice as Gopan expected. It was as if he knew it would happen. "Well, did all four got caught?" He asked. "Yea, why''d you ask?" Gopan asked back. "Even Thankappan?" Lonappan didn''t want it to be true. Even though he did call his junior an idiot for fun, he didn''t want that to be factual. "Yea, even him." Gopan replied. "????????????. ???????????????? ????????????????????!" Lonappan cursed inwardly. "Gopan, it seems like we''ve got to help." "Sure! I''ll come by as soon as possible and we can go to the station right after." Gopan said. "You do that. However, before the police station, we will have to move to another place." Lonappan gave out an order that Gopan didn''t expect. "Huh? Okay." Although a bit doubt crept into him, Gopan decided to place his trust on his friend and headed towards his auto. Lonappan hanged up the phone as well and clenched his fist in anger. "For fuck''s sake. Making me pull out a double duty. I''ll never forgive them for this." He cursed. # [????] Indian myth which states that someone with a black tongue might be able to say things that''ll come true. Applicable mostly to bad omens and stuff. 18 Busted 2 "Don''t ask me questions." Lonappan quickly shut him out. "Dude, I''m the driver. I''ve got to know where we''re going." Gopan chuckled nervously. Lonappan nodded. "Right. Move aside, I''ll drive." He opened the driver seat''s door and tried to push Gopan aside. "What the!" Gopan was surprised by Lonappan''s actions. "Bruh, I''m not giving up my beauty to you." He held onto the steering wheel. "Very well. Forcefully, it is then." Lonappan said as he tried to get him off the steering wheel. "Nooo." Gopan screamed. However, Lonappan gave out a few punches and Gopan quickly receded with his futile efforts. "Fine, you might''ve won this time. However, can I really trust you to be careful while riding? Hell, do you even know how to ride this baby?" He asked. "Who do you think I am? Of course, I know how to ride this shit." Lonappan replied. "Hey! Language!" Gopan cried. Lonappan didn''t care for such trivial things. "Whatever. Let''s move." # Lonappan and Gopan stopped at an uninhabited land and got out. "The fuck was that?" An exhausted Gopan asked. "What?" Lonappan gave out a confused look. "I mean, who drives like that? I hope there weren''t any traffic police out there, since we were flying over our way here. Wait, where even are we?" He asked as he looked around. However, Lonappan completely ignored him and was busy on his phone. "Shh, don''t talk. I''m trying to make an important call." He instructed Gopan. "What''s up with this treatment, my man? You took my auto by force, you aren''t allowing me to talk now. Why are we in such a rush? I get it; the guys are in jail. Although, if that was the reason for your rush, you would''ve headed to the police station, instead of a random-ass place. Now, are you even gonna reply or not?" He pleaded with Lonappan to answer. However, yet again, Lonappan ignored him and was on his call. "Hello, sir. You saw my text, right? Yes, even Thankappan did. Yes, sir. I''ll be taking it with me. Please forward the codes to me. Thank you." In his defense though, it was Ponnappan, his MIB superior, that he was trying to talk to. However, Gopan had no way of knowing this. "Dude!" Gopan cried. "What?" Lonappan had literally just noticed him screaming. "I was talking." Gopan cried yet again. He couldn''t handle this amount of ignorance. "Yea, I heard." Lonappan lied. However, Gopan sniffed the lie from afar. "As if! Who was on the phone?" He asked. Lonappan thought for a moment before he answered. "Hmm. I''m not allowed to reveal the information." Lonappan realized his mistake and spoke the truth. "Okay, look. It was my boss. He''s helping me deal with this conundrum." "Wait, why would he help you get your friends out of jail? Why would he care if some guy''s in a jail?" He asked a valid question. "Well, Thankappan is his son. So, there''s that." Lonappan decided that lying would be a better option in this situation. "Wait, the same Thankappan who lives with three others and does manual labor for a living is your boss'' son? I don''t quite get this connection." Gopan was confused by this new revelation. "You see, my boss wanted Thankappan to learn how to earn on his own. So, he had him away from the manor and wanted me to help me on that." Lonappan elaborated his lie. "Hmm, something smells fishy. However, I''m gonna believe you this time, although it''s obvious that you''re hiding some big stuff." Gopan changed the subject. "Anyway, how''s we standing in this barren land related to getting them out of jail?" He asked. "Well, boss did say that there''s some stuff here that could help me in this. That''s why." Lonappan replied as he went around looking for something. "Cool! Where is it?" Gopan asked. Lonappan finally stopped. "Here." He said as he grabbed something off the ground. A pillar appeared out of nowhere and it shone like crazy. "Whoa! It''s too shiny for my eyes!" Gopan cried as he kept his eyes shut. "Don''t worry, the blindness would just last for a few seconds." Lonappan assured. And as Lonappan said, it only lasted for a few seconds. Once he opened his eyes, the pillar disappeared as if it was a dream to begin with. "Hey, did you have those glasses on before?" He asked, as he noticed the shades in Lonappan''s eyes. "Nah, wore just now." Lonappan replied. "So you knew this would happen?" Gopan was frustrated. "Yea, boss told me." Lonappan nodded his head. "How come you didn''t tell me? Could''ve saved my eyes." Gopan was gradually getting fumed up. Meanwhile, Lonappan was getting annoyed. "Geez, I can''t tell you every little thing now, can I?" "No, although you could''ve just given me a heads up." Gopan replied. "Damn, can we stop arguing about every little thing? It''s annoying me. Let''s go already." Lonappan said as he headed towards the auto. "Fine! Wait, you got what you came here for?" Gopan asked, since he had no idea about what the stuff on the pillar was. Lonappan nodded. "Yup. So, let''s go." "Wait, what is it? Wait, no. I don''t wanna know." Gopan already knew that the answer would be another lie, therefore decided otherwise. "Great! Let''s move then." Lonappan said as he asked Gopan to drive. # Back in the police station, the mood was gloomy. "Well, it''s been what? One hour since he talked about the upcoming storm, but I don''t see shit coming our way. I guess even a black tongue fails in delivering bad omens once or twice." Thankappan spoke. "I guess we''re lucky then." Taro said, much to the dismay of Gibli. "No. Why? Why did you have to jinx us like that?" He cried. "Bro, don''t worry. That black tongue stuff and all, it''s just a myth." Thankappan assured them. Again, Gibli wailed in distress. "Great! Another flag beside the multitude you guys placed already. Guess something big''s coming after all." Just as Gibli spoke, came Lonappan from the front. "Hello, officers. How are you doing?" He asked. "See? This is what I told you!" Gibli pointed towards Lonappan and cried. "Chill, it''s just Lonappan trying to get us out." Thankappan patted Gibli on the shoulders and assured him, since he knew his senior very well. This shocked gibli. "Just? It''s Lonappan. The guy doesn''t give a damn about us, right?" "Right." Thankappan nodded. "Then why is he here? Look at his face. Doesn''t he look annoyed?" Gibli pointed towards Lonappan, who was glaring at them. "Oh, my word! We''re doomed." Thankappan saw hell before him. # Few minutes earlier, Lonappan and Gopan had arrived in front of the police station. "Get out, we''re here." Gopan instructed. "Great." Lonappan jumped out. "I''ll wait for you here. I hope everything goes fine." Gopan spoke with a smile. "No." "What?" Gopan was confused as to what he meant by that refusal. "You''re coming in with me." Lonappan cleared his doubt. "But why?" Gopan, although cleared of the doubt, did not understand why Lonappan insisted on his arrival. "You being with me might give me a tactical advantage." Lonappan explained. "Huh, you can just go on and say that I''m indispensable." Gopan chuckled. Lonappan stood there for a while before he replied. "I guess you''re indispensable for me." He said, contrary to Gopan''s expectations. "Damn, I did not expect you to actually say it." Gopan was a bit embarrassed. "So, are you coming in or not?" Lonappan asked. "Yea, I''m coming in." Gopan jumped out as well. # Back to the present. "Hello, officers. How are you doing?" "Who are you two?" The sub-inspector asked. "Hello, sir. I''m Gopan of WPP. We''ve met before." Gopan answered as he held out his hand. "Yea, what''s the intent of your purpose?" The SI asked as he shook the hand. "Well, you have four of our latest recruits inside your cell. Look!" Gopan pointed out the four as they waved hello. The SI sighed. "Those four? I''m sorry, Mr Gopan. However, I don''t think there''s anything I can do for you in their case. We caught them red-handed, consuming marijuana out in the public. That''s not an offence that you could easily turn an eye for." He explained. "Well, can I talk to them at least?" Lonappan interrupted and asked. The SI shook his head. "I''m afraid I can only allow them to talk to their lawyer, Mr?" "Lonappan." "Mr. Lonappan." "So, that''s a no too?" He asked. "Yea." "Even with this?" Lonappan tried his hand yet again, but this time he slid some cash underneath. "Sir, I hope you know that bribing a government official, a police officer at that, is a serious crime and I could send you to jail right now." The SI spoke in a stern voice. "But will you, though?" Lonappan asked, smiling. The stern SI suddenly smiled back. "You got five minutes, Mr. Lonappan." "Cool." He walked menacingly towards the cell. "Oh, no! He''s coming." Gibli freaked out. "Keep your calm, guys! He can smell fear." Thankappan said as he sweated profusely. "So, how come you ended up here when you were supposed to come back home?" Lonappan asked, as he continued glaring at them. "Ah, we just had a series of misconceptions." Gibli gave out a nervous laugh. "Like consuming marijuana." "Exactly." Gibli nodded. Lonappan sighed. "Well, I don''t care about what you take in through your mouth, so I''m fine with that." "Really?" Gibli was happy for a split second while it lasted. "Rather, what I''m angry about is that I had to come in here to get you out." He replied. "So?" Thankappan asked. He knew something''s coming. "You will suffer the consequences for your mistakes after I get you out." Lonappan smiled. "Ha, the bad omens came true after all." Gibli sighed as Kunjan consoled him. "You getting caught disappoints me, Thankappan." Lonappan shook his head in disappointment. "I''m sorry, sir." Thankappan apologized. "If it was just the other three, it would''ve been fine. On the other hand, you''re a MIB official. A junior at that." Lonappan clicked his tongue. "Is there any problem?" Kunjan asked upon seeing Lonappan''s concerned face. "I don''t have an identity since I''m an MIB agent. They wiped the old one out the moment I joined the establishment. Besides, for an official new identity, one has to qualify into a senior post." Thankappan explained the situation. "So, if the police are to ask you to submit your identity to get out or something, you got nothing?" Kunjan asked. Thankappan nodded. "Exactly. My presence here will cause some serious problems." He looked down, contemplating his life choices. Lonappan smiled. "Fortunately, I''ve got a plan." He said, as he grabbed something from his pocket. He had prepared for this outcome already. # 19 Neuralyzer Before anyone else could make an assessment of it, Lonappan quickly placed it back in his pocket, and tossed a pair of sunglasses towards Thankappan. "Catch, you''ll need it." "Wait, what about the other three?" Thankappan asked, as he knew the effects one could have due to the device. "They''re aliens. I haven''t seen them get affected by this." Lonappan assured. "Lonappan, is there any way to get everyone out of here?" Thankappan asked. Lonappan scratched his head. "Now, why would I do that? If it wasn''t for you, I wouldn''t have even tried to let the three beside you out." He replied. "Well, look at them. They look like they deeply regret their decision." He pointed at Vineeth and multiple others wailing in regret. "Deeply regretting something afterward is bullshit. They should''ve thought of it earlier." Lonappan shrugged. "But they got kids!" He pulled out the trump card. "Even serial killers and terrorists have wife and kids. Does that make them immune to law?" Lonappan asked, as coldly as he could. Thankappan knew that his argument was stale, so he tried to salvage it. "Look, I know it sounds like I''m trying to defend criminals-" "You are." Lonappan retorted. Thankappan nodded. "Yea. However, if you are to tweak some facts accordingly, they might never do that again." He suggested. "Why are you so adamant about doing this to begin with, huh?" Lonappan asked. "Consider this as my one and only request made towards you." Thankappan looked serious as well. Lonappan scoffed. "As if! Getting emotional and saying that it''s your only request doesn''t work on me." "I see." He looked disappointed that his advances didn''t work. "Yea, so there''s no way of letting them all out, huh?" Once again, Thankappan looked down in disappointment. "Yup, there has to be a sacrifice." Lonappan explained. "????????????????????????????????????¡­" The four of them turned their heads towards one person who sat there picking his nose the entire time. "There''s one person perfect for this then." Thankappan pointed Tyagi out. "Great, let''s begin." Lonappan got up, wearing his own sunglasses. Upon seeing Thankappan wearing one as well, the inspector was at frenzy. "Mr. Lonappan, did you hand something to them? That''s against the rules!" He cried as he advanced towards Thankappan. "Wha!" Before anyone could react, the flash already infected them and they got into a trance. Lonappan took a deep breath, as if he was preparing for the events to unfold. "Okay, what the hell is this?" He shouted at the inspector. "What do you mean?" The inspector looked at him with a confused look on his face. "Why have you imprisoned this amount of people in here when the culprit''s that one?" He asked as he pointed towards Tyagi. "What? I did nothing." Tyagi desperately tried to fight back something he had no idea about. "Wait, what did he do?" The inspector asked, scratching his head in utter confusion. Lonappan gave out a shocked expression."Oh, my goodness. I did not expect this from the police! You caught the guy literally smoking marijuana and you don''t remember that now?" He asked. "Really?" Yet again, the SI did not understand what was happening. "Yea, look at your table. See that marijuana?" He pointed at the bag of pot. However, the sub-inspector didn''t get one thing. "Wait, why are the others here then?" He asked. "How would I know? That''s for you to answer now, isn''t it?" Lonappan shrugged. "Huh. Constable, let them out. I guess we made a huge mistake. We have to rectify it before the media gets involved." He instructed the constable who opened the prison cells to everyone except Tyagi. "Great judgement, Mr. Inspector." Lonappan extended his arm. "Thank you, Mr?" The inspector had already forgotten the past hour or so and hence wasn''t aware of Lonappan''s identity. "Lonappan, we''ve met already." He smiled. "I can''t necessarily remember that. I apologize for my actions tonight." The inspector bowed deeply. "It''s not me you gotta apologize to." He said as he pointed out to the previously imprisoned people. The inspector turned towards them and bowed deeply. "I apologize on the behalf of the entire police station." "That''s fine." Someone commented. "Man, I really thought I did something bad. I can''t imagine that scenario. My wife and kids would''ve had to live a hard life then." Vineeth chuckled in relief. "Bruh, don''t think that far ahead." Some guy shouted out. "Anyway, let''s go!" Another guy insisted as they exited the station. Well, everyone except Tyagi. They would imprison him for a long time. Meanwhile, a confused Gopan headed towards Lonappan. "Hey, Lonappan! Why exactly were we here? It seems like I forgot something important." He spoke. Lonappan suddenly gave out a perplexed expression, as if he wasn''t the perpetrator. "Damn, what happened to everyone here? We were here to release these unfairly imprisoned people, don''t you remember?" He asked. "I guess?" Gopan trusted the words of his friend. "Well, whatever. Take us back to Holy Land, Gopan." He requested. "Ah, sure." Gopan and the guys headed towards the auto. # Inside the auto; the guys were relatively silent the whole time, except for the occasional; burps and excessive breathing. However, Kunjan broke this silence. "We shouldn''t have done that." He spoke. Lonappan nodded. "I agree. But that''s what Thankappan wanted." "We can''t do something huge as this on the whim of one person. That was stupid. Every single one in there deserved every bit of the punishment." Kunjan replied. "Again, I wholeheartedly agree. But, just like me, Thankappan is a MIB agent too. I''m sure he''ll bear the responsibility when the grave consequences hit back at him in the long run." Lonappan explained. "Ah, sure. Pin the blame on me." Thankappan sighed. "You are to blame though." Lonappan told. "I know. Can''t you just give me a moment to play victim?" He cried. "We''re here." Gopan announced and everyone got out. "Thank you, Gopan. Here you go!" Lonappan gave him the fare. "Again, call me anytime! I''ll come to help." Gopan said and went back to the auto stand. In the Holy Land, there was one creature waiting for them. "Hey, idiots! I heard you got caught." M''Baku laughed. "Can''t you keep it down? Are you gonna announce it to the whole town?" Taro finally opened his mouth. "Maybe, if it pleases me." M''Baku laughed yet again. "You crazy dog!" Taro chased him. The others followed suit. "Hehe. Catch me if you can!" M''Baku screamed as he ran. Meanwhile, Thankappan and Lonappan stayed back. "Hey, don''t you think they''ve gotten a bit close recently? That''s good." Lonappan spoke. "Yea, that''s great!" Thankappan chuckled nervously. "???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ????????????''???? ???????????????? ???????????????? ????????????????''???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????." He thought. "Thankappan?" "Yes?" "I hope I wouldn''t have to bring up this thing ever again. I don''t like using it. At least, not in such a way that it could jeopardize people''s precious memories." Lonappan ordered. "Yes, sir. I assure you such a blunder would never happen again." Thankappan replied. Lonappan scoffed. "Hehe, as if! You''ll continue making mistakes. That''s what being a human means. I hope you eventually learn from those mistakes and develop. That''ll give you the experience that you seriously lack." He said as he patted Thankappan''s back. "Duly noted, sir." "Okay, go away then." He dispersed him off. # Later that night, Thankappan suddenly got up to piss. And in the dark, he saw a shadow. "What the!" He freaked out and moved a few steps back. "Hello, Thankappan." It was Lonappan. "Geez, you scared me! What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He asked. Meanwhile, everyone woke up from the commotion. "What happened?" Taro asked. "Damn, why are you here, Lonappan?" Gibli sighed. "Hello, everyone. Remember how I talked about the consequences of dragging me into the police station?" He asked. "Ah, is it that time already? I didn''t expect that!" Thankappan tried to prepare himself for the forthcoming events. "Nope, I just came here to remind you of that." Lonappan said nonchalantly. "What?" Everyone got confused for a second. "I don''t easily forget stuff. Therefore, you better believe me when I say this, it will come and it will come in the time you least expected." Lonappan spoke. "Well, we didn''t expect it right now!" Thankappan shrugged. What followed was a long, awkward silence. "Yea, I should''ve planned it a bit more. I didn''t expect you to be this surprised about this." Lonappan replied, breaking the silence. "Anyone would be surprised if they saw a person menacingly seated in a chair in the middle of the night!" Thankappan explained. "Hmm, interesting. I''ll take a note of that. You guys can go to sleep. I''ll be going." Lonappan quietly exited the room. "Seriously?" Gibli cried as he went back to sleep. "????????????????, ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????!" Thankappan thought of the obvious as he went back to sleep. # 20 Double Standards "What''s up, my man!" Gibli patted on the back of surprised Thankappan. "Huh? I''m fine. What about you?" He asked. "Yea, I''m good too." Gibli smiled. Meanwhile, everyone else entered the fray as well. "So, shall we go?" Gibli stepped his foot out of the Holy Land. "Wait." Someone called them. It was Lonappan. "I hope you remember what happened yesterday, right?" He asked. "Geez, that was literally a day ago. There''s no way we''d forget." Gibli shrugged. It wasn''t like he was lying, though. "Great! Then, I hope nothing like yesterday happens ever again. Understood?" Lonappan pierced into their souls with his gaze. "Yes, sir!" They yelled simultaneously. "Good, you''re dispersed." Lonappan ordered as if he was a military general. # Since the last gig was done the day before, they were obviously on a new construction site today. This time, they had to renovate two or three rooms of a fairly huge mansion. The guys started their ''hard work'' just like before. "What are you doing?" Francis, their boss, asked. "Crap! Did I do it too fast?" Gibli thought and readjusted his pace yet again to a much slower rate. "Again, what are you doing?" Francis asked, with a disgusted look on his face. "Fuck, does he want me to go even slower? Is that possible? Well, might as well." With much difficulty, Gibli slowed his pace into one of a snail. "Do you think this is a joke?" Francis asked furiously this time. Gibli had enough of this. "Look, I can''t any slower. I don''t get what you want me to do!" He cried. The other three looked confused as well. "Why the hell are you slowing down? Who asked you to do that shit?" Francis screamed to his face. However, Gibli wasn''t one to back down. "You did, remember? We were doing it fast, and you asked us to slow the fuck down." He screamed back. "You numbnut! That was the other one! Do you even know whose this mansion is?" Francis shouted. "Do I have to know?" Gibli asked. "Well, if you''d have known, you wouldn''t have talked shit like this." Francis sighed. "It''s RKD''s." "RK Dutta of the Koma Mall. He''s super rich! So, we do this perfectly, we get paid handsomely and we might be called upon yet again. Get that in your thick skull and work hard." Francis explained. "But!" "No ifs or buts. Get back to work and do it fast." Francis ordered. Gibli clicked his tongue. "Okay." He got back to his work. "I hate this!" # Unlike last time, RKD''s gig was completed that same day, without any delay. Taro and the other three were allowed to showcase their power this time, and it vastly helped in cutting down the workload for the others. And this time, their boss was pleasantly surprised by this development, since this benefited him too. "Boys, we did it! One day for a one week renovation. This has to be some sort of record!" Francis, similar to the day before, stood in front of his handiwork and gloated. However, this time he had valid reasons to gloat about it. "Hmm, isn''t anyone gonna get embarrassed this time?" Francis broke out into laughter. However, no one laughed. They had no idea what Francis was talking about, since they did not have a clear recollection of the last day. Hell, they wouldn''t have even known that the construction over the other place was over if Francis hadn''t called them. Francis gave out an awkward cough. "Never mind. Here are your wages." He gave it to the nearby one and quietly walked away. Meanwhile, Vineeth yet again took it upon himself to distribute the cash. "Here you go, guys! Your share." Vineeth handed them a bit extra since they were of great help that day. "Thanks." Kunjan smiled back as well; however, Vineeth had no way of knowing that. "Damn, I hate it." Gibli muttered. "Shoot, if you hate money so much, gimme that! I''ll make use of it." Thankappan tried grabbing the money out of Gibli''s hand. "Wait, why do you even need that money, anyway?" Kunjan took the money off Thankappan and handed it back to Gibli. "Now, what is bothering you?" He asked. "These crazy double standards! I can''t handle it." Gibli sighed. "What are you talking about?" Kunjan asked. "Can''t you see what''s happening? When it''s an uber rich guy, they do stuff fast, and when it''s a poor guy, they leech every single dime out of him. What''s up with this?" Gibli asked. "Well, isn''t that just the power of money in this society? Look, rich people are rich for a reason. They got ample money. That means doing stuff for them is beneficial for people since there''s this possibility of them giving a tip or asking for further help and stuff. However, that''s not the case for the poor. If they are spending money to build something, that''s a thought out stuff they''ve decided and saved money for the longest time. That might just be the last one in their tank. Therefore, there''s no next time for us workers. So, as to get the maximum out of them, we drag it out as much as possible." Kunjan explained and took a deep breath. "Damn, that''s sad." Gibli sighed. "That''s the sad case of this money driven society. People are driven on this insatiable greed once they know that being earnest gives them shit. That''s what Glomerans have been using for centuries now, am I right? Greed in the minds of individuals." Kunjan spoke. "But we did not harbor such greed inside us. We were a peaceful community!" Gibli spoke about Ark. "True. But in your case, they took advantage of individual greed of your world leaders. They gave them stacks of cash and your asshole leaders betrayed you. Even when one has everything, he always longs for something more. That''s the cycle of life, I guess." Kunjan explained. "Well, that sounds deep to say the least." Thankappan nodded along. Meanwhile, Vineeth came running towards them. "Hey, guys!" "Hey, Vineeth!" "By the way, the guys out there are going out for a party. You guys coming?" Vineeth asked. The guys totally knew where this conversation was leading to. "Aw man! I don''t think we can do that. Since we''re near Koma Mall and all, we planned to watch a movie tonight. So, no party, I guess." Kujan took the helm of the conversation and replied. "Oh, if that''s the case, no problem. Have fun watching the movie!" Vineeth wished and turned around. However, Thankappan stopped him in his tracks. "Vineeth, wait! I suggest you don''t go to this ''party'' as well." "What do you mean?" Vineeth looked confused. "Well, you did see what happened with Tyagi, right?" He asked. "Yea, you''re right." Vineeth nodded his head. "Well, why don''t you take your wife and children to the movies too?" Thankappan suggested. "Might as well do that." Vineeth laughed. "By the way, tell the others too. It''d be fine that way." Thankappan spoke. "Will do! Bye, guys." Vineeth headed back. That night Vineeth went for a nice matinee movie with his family. Thankappan turned towards Kunjan and asked. "So, which movie are we gonna watch?" "Dude, you''re supposed to fool people with me, not get fooled by me." Kunjan shook his head. "Wait, we aren''t watching a movie then?" Thankappan asked. "Hell no! We don''t even watch TV even when we have it. Why''d we even spend money on a movie then?" Kunjan asked. "Yea, we got a TV in the room, huh? I wanna watch something now!" Taro interjected and spoke. He missed primetime television. "It''s not like we don''t want to either! It''s just that we can''t watch that stuff because of our work and since sleep is essential." Kunjan replied. "Well, it''s not like I sleep the entire time." Taro said to everyone''s surprise. "What?" "I can''t sleep for more than one hour. My body automatically wakes up." Taro answered. "So, don''t you feel tired?" Thankappan answered. "Well, yeah. Just not sleepy." Taro replied. "Wait, you were faking your sleep this entire time?" Kunjan asked. "Yea." "Are all Wadorians like this?" Thankappan asked. "Not that I know." Taro replied. "Well, we gotta turn up the TV at night then." Thankappan announced, which made Taro happy. # 21 Kung-fu "Ah, you''re back! Why didn''t you go to ''party'' this time?" Lonappan welcomed with a scoff. "Haha, very funny¡ªnot! Look, that was just a mishap. It''s not like that''s ever gonna happen again!" Thankappan retorted. "Mishap, it seems! Well, whatever. Go do whatever shit you wanna do. And here, take this." Lonappan handed a lunch box to his junior. "What is this?" He asked, looking around the package. "My wife made this. Hope you like it." Lonappan gave out a genuine smile. "This looks small. This was supposed to be your lunch, wasn''t it?" Thankappan put forth his suspicion. "Well, I thought you guys might like it!" Lonappan replied with a sly laughter. "Dude, you gotta stop lying to your wife about these stuff." Thankappan sighed. "It''s the nature of our job, isn''t it?" Lonappan asked. "Yea, you do you, my man. By the way, if you heard loud noises from the house tonight, it''s just the TV." Thankappan spoke. "It''s your house and your television. Why would I care?" Lonappan asked. "Well, that''s true. However, I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Don''t want our neighbours to complaint about the noise from here!" Thankappan replied. "What''s up with the sudden interest in television and stuff? Don''t you have work tomorrow?" Lonappan asked. "Not sure. Even if we do, Taro rarely sleeps so he''d manage." Kunjan jumped into explain. "Yea, I''m the one staying awake." Taro nodded. "Hmm. Your choice. I''mma scoot." Lonappan spoke and walked back to his home. # Later that night, everyone had their pajamas on¡ªexcept for Taro. His eyes brimmed with excitement. "You ready?" Thankappan asked as he turned on the television. "Yea, just tell me how to surf channels." Taro spoke. "Sure. This is the remote and this is the up and down buttons; this right here is volume and these are a whole bunch of other buttons." Thankappan instructed while Taro carefully listened. "That might be enough, I guess? Thanks, Thankappan." Taro smiled. "No worries. But look, there ain''t gonna be many good shows or movies this time of the night." Thankappan warned. "Nah, that''s alright. I can''t determine what''s good or bad in this planet''s entertainment industry, after all." Taro shrugged. "You''re right about that." Thankappan chuckled. "Enjoy your viewing then." Taro nodded as he indulged himself into the world of television. He actually didn''t understand nothing of what was shown in the television. However, motion picture is not always about the dialogues but the actions. Although, most of them he surfed through were much more dialogue centric than action. Taro was instantly hooked on this. Not only did the man felt nostalgic to him, but the way he moved deserved immense praise too. The moves was undoubtedly martial arts. Learning of the existence of this unique style, Taro had this immense desire to learn this art as soon as possible. Therefore, for the rest of the night, rather than enjoying the movie for its plot, he deeply studied the actor''s moves and patterns. By the time morning came by, Taro could merely copy a fragment of that man''s moves. Although, his innate power and years of learning multiple martial arts might cover up this inability to do anything more than copy it, Taro was adamant about learning the real thing. "So, how was it?" Thankappan, still in his morning blues, asked. However, Taro didn''t speak. Even though, the television currently broadcasted a telemarketing ad, Taro continued to stare at it attentively. This concerned Thankappan. "Dude, you fine?" Thankappan vigorously shook Taro and yet there wasn''t any response. Taro, retracing the entire movie marathon scene by scene didn''t even noticed Thankappan beside him until much later when the commotion grew louder and louder. "Huh, what is it?" Taro asked, breaking out of his focussed state. "Damn, why didn''t you respond earlier?" Thankappan looked concerned as he asked. "I didn''t realise that you were calling. What were you talking about?" Taro asked instead. "I asked how is it going?" Thankappan spoke. "Ah, it was fucking awesome! So, I saw this guy doing these stuff and he was fucking amazing!" Taro looked excited. "Hold on. Who exactly are you talking about?" Thankappan asked. Unable to describe the guy he saw on the TV, Taro was in a pinch. He knew how the guy looked, however, he didn''t know how to accurately describe a jumpsuit. Therefore, instead of describing his appearance, he decided to imitate the move set of that person that influenced him the most¡ªa one-inch punch. Although, he did it, he made it sure to do the move in thin air. "Wait a minute! They broadcasted a Bruce Lee movie at night?" Thankappan looked at Taro with awe and a slight hint of jealousy. "I see, his name is Bruce Lee, huh. He''s freaking amazing!" Taro exclaimed. "You just spoke out a universal truth." Thankappan smiled. "By the way, is that the kung-fu thing you spoke about?" Taro asked, as he remembered that one conversation with Thankappan. "Yea, pretty flashy, eh?" Thankappan spoke as he imitated some moves. "Where can I learn that?" He asked. Thankappan stopped in his tracks. "Dude, how strong do you even wannabe?" Taro chuckled. "As strong as I can be." Thankappan got lost in the track of thoughts for a moment. Then he grabbed Taro''s phone and searched something before he gave it back to him. "Look, it''s a dojo. Let''s go tonight and apply for it." "Why make it tonight? You can go there right now, if you wanna!" In came Lonappan with a cheeky smile. "What do you mean? We''ve got work then." Thankappan retorted. "Well, I called Pranchiyettan and he told me that there ain''t no work for you today since you guys finished it pretty soon yesterday." Lonappan answered. "If that''s the case, may I head there on my own?" Taro asked. "Sure. If that''s what you want, then go for it." Thankappan replied. Happy about this decisions, Taro hurriedly left the Holy Land and headed towards his destination. # After an hour or two of walking, Taro finally reached his destination with the help of his mobile device. However, once he reached before the dojo, he remembered one important thing¡ªthat he couldn''t speak. What''s more amazing is that none of them remembered this fact. They worked on more of a reflex action back then and ended up with Taro being in a totally unknown place with no one to speak for him. However, Taro wasn''t one to give up due to these minor inconveniences. He fearlessly entered into the dojo. And yet, this fearlessness fizzled out once he saw the smallest amount of crowd in the dojo. It wasn''t just another crowd¡ªthose were kids. After careful consideration, Taro decided that it''d be apt if he view the lessons from the outside. Therefore, he fully immersed himself into what the teacher was teaching. Although he failed to consider the fact that he looked like a pedophilic creep gazing on the children out there. As soon as the parents of these kids saw him do this, they quickly threw him out. Taro was disappointed, yet he understood their concerns. However, he wasn''t ready to give up. He still had the burning passion to learn kung-fu. # Back in the Holy Land. "Yea, we messed up huh?" Thankappan spoke. "Yea, they threw me out. Probably thought that I''m a creep or something." Taro sighed. "Well, you probably stared at them for too long." Thankappan shrugged. "I was learning!" Taro retorted. "Dude, you should probably stop doing it that way." Thankappan suggested. "I''ll take that into consideration." Taro nodded. "So, what are you gonna do now? Do you want us to talk to the dojo?" Lonappan asked. "No. I want to do it by myself. This is a trial that I set for myself." Taro replied. "Even if they continued considering you as a creep?" Thankappan asked this time. "Even then, yes." Taro replied. He had finally found a goal within reach; a thing that he could do right now. "Alright then. I''ll try my level best to accelerate the production of your translation." Lonappan assured. "I appreciate that." Taro nodded in approval. "Now that that''s done, let''s wait for the other three." Thankappan spoke. "Where are they?" He asked. "They went to the amusement park." Thankappan replied. "Amusement park; without asking me. They have no idea what''s in store for them." Taro clenched his fists and grinned. # Chapter 22: Onwards to Thrissur "Why are you chasing us? We asked you, didn''t we?" Gibli screamed as the three ran away from Taro. "When the hell did you do that?" Taro asked, as he calmly walked towards them. "What are you talking about? We came by you this morning and asked you, didn''t we?" Gibli looked towards his other two companions for the sake of confirmation. "Yea, we came by you when you were watching some random shit in the television." M''Baku doubled down on Gibli''s statement. "I was concentrating back then. I didn''t hear you. Should''ve tried harder." Taro shook his head in dismay. "Hey, how is it our fault? We didn''t knew that!" Gibli cried. Suddenly, Taro stopped in his tracks to reconsider his decision. "Maybe you''re right. You know what? I forgive you for not knowing that." "We didn''t even do anything wrong to begin with!" Gibli cried inside. However, he didn''t dare to express it on the outside, since he knew of Taro''s strength. "Oh, you guys seem like you were having fun back then!" Lonappan laughed as he saw a frustrated Gibli staring a hole through him. "Why didn''t you join in on the fun then?" Gibli asked. "Nah, I''m fine. You guys should enjoy." Lonappan smiled. "By the way, you guys don''t have work tomorrow too." "Fuck. Why did we do the RKD work that fast?" Gibli muttered. "However, there''s a WPP event happening. You guys coming? You''ll get paid as well." Lonappan rubbed his fingers as he smiled yet again. "Well, what''s happening tomorrow?" Kunjan asked. "The chief minister''s coming to Thrissur. So, we ought to have a huge crowd to welcome him, right?" Lonappan asked. "There''s also the need to show how strong of a support you have against the opposition." Kunjan chimed in. "Exactly. Underhanded mind games is where Indian politics--politics generally is." Lonappan agreed with the assessment. "So, are you in?" "It''s advantageous to us in every way possible. So why the fuck not!" Kunjan replied. "Great! I''ll swing by tomorrow morning." Lonappan gave out a thumbs up. # Next morning in the Holy Land household; Gibli, Kunjan and Thankappan were frantically pacing around. Lonappan, who happened to enter the house right at that moment was visibly confused by this commotion. "What happened?" He asked his colleagues. "It''s Taro. That guy is missing!" Gibli exclaimed in panic. "Calm down. When did you see him last?" Lonappan asked. Gibli tried taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He replied. "I saw him last when I was going to sleep. He was watching TV, just like yesterday. However, by the time we woke up, he was gone." "Did he give any indication as to where he was going?" Lonappan interrogated. "If we had known that, we wouldn''t have been panicking right now." Gibli cried. "Fucking calm down, will ya? The dude doesn''t know many places. So, let''s restrict our search parameter within this area." Lonappan ordered. Meanwhile, Gopan came by driving his auto. "Hey, guys! What happened?" He asked as he looked at the panicked faces of the Holy Land residents. "It''s Taro. He''s¡ªwait! Where the fuck were you?" Gibli pointed at the auto and screamed as Taro nonchalantly exited it. "What do you mean? I stopped by the dojo, waited for an hour and now I''m back." Taro explained. "Wait, what is he saying?" Gopan whispered towards Kunjan, which brought him to a realisation. "Stop right there. Then how did you even end up with Gopan? He doesn''t even understand what you''re saying." Kunjan pointed out. However, Gopan answered this question. "Ah, I saw him by the road. Since I knew he was coming here and I am as well, I decided to give him a lift." Gopan explained. "By the way, I thought he was shy! He knows to talk now? What language was that?" Suddenly, the room turned dead silent. None of them knew how to explain this situation. Gopan had heard Taro speak loud and clear and there was no way one could blatantly lie. Well, all except one couldn''t. And that one guy with the silver tongue was Lonappan. "Ah, he''s speaking the Paniya [1] language obviously! Since he''s from the Paniya tribe after all!" Lonappan explained without even breaking a sweat. "Damn! And here I thought they would have a slight Malayalam influence since they''re Keralites, after all." Gopan looked at Taro in what could only be told as sheer curiosity towards him. "Does he speak Malayalam then?" Gopan asked. "He does! Fluently at that. However, since he''s comfortable speaking in Paniyan, we let him speak in that until he grows out of his shell. We can''t force it on him, you know?" Kunjan came in with the save at the last moment. "I guess that makes sense." Gopan decided to place his trust on their lies and headed towards Taro and patted him on his shoulder. "I hope you gain your confidence. Then, we''ll have a nice chat, okay?" He asked as Taro nodded silently as instructed by the other four. Gopan smiled. "So, shall we go?" # The four and Gopan stepped foot out of the Holy Land in the early morning. However, morning went by and afternoon came through, yet they didn''t reach anywhere near Thrissur. To clarify, to travel from Mundur to Thrissur takes about thirty minutes to about one hour on a normal sunny day. So, this was truly an unforeseen event. And the reason for it? The arrival of the chief minister of the state, representing WPP and the collective union of multiple parties, Vijay Das. Mr. Das had been in the political field for over fifty years now. Still, he''s able to bring in people with the sheer power of his speech alone just like when he began his political career. That''s what made him relevant through all these times, even when many experience and up and coming leaders stood in his way. Gopan, although a member of the WPP, was technically a member of the subsidiary party of WPP, the Worker''s Political Party of India (WPPI), who joined hands with WPP pretty early on. Even though, he wasn''t in sync with many things that WPP or the government did at times, he still respected Mr. Das and considered him as an idol. And hence, he was excited. However, his excitement was put on hold when he saw the traffic. "Damn, are we even going to see Vijay Das?" He cried in disappointment. "It seems that many people came by their own volition, unlike us." Kunjan assessed. "Yea, it seems so. I didn''t expect that." Lonappan said, as he looked around. "So, what are we gonna do now? Abort?" Kunjan asked. "We''re watching his speech. No questions asked." Gopan and Lonappan said simultaneously to everyone''s surprise. No one would have expected them to say these particular sentences in stereo. "That was surprising!" Kunjan let out a sigh later. "What''s the plan?" He asked. "We walk." Yet again, Lonappan and Gopan said it in stereo. For the aliens and Thankappan, Gopan''s behavior was understandable. However, they didn''t expect Lonappan''s response. They wouldn''t have expected in their lifetime that Lonappan was such a Vijay Das geek for unknown reasons. The group decided to follow Gopan and Lonappan''s orders and followed them. Since they''ve already waited for hours in the traffic, they didn''t particularly care even if they walked. Taro and Gibli had absurd amounts of stamina, while Kunjan had his mechanical exoskeleton; Gopan and Lonappan had their willpower, which could possibly drive them for another hour or two. The walk took a toll on one person alone and that would be Thankappan. Even that was in small amounts since he was a product of the MIB dungeon. If a person were to see the spectacle that happened in Thrissur that day, they''d probably say that it''s similar to a marathon. The one with more stamina wins. And therefore, it was to no one''s surprise when the stamina monsters caught up and reached one of the viewable points. "Hell yea! Finally, we reached the pinnacle." Gopan cried and suddenly broke into tears. Lonappan joined in as well and they got into a whole lot of hugging and emotions at that moment which none of the other four understood. "Dude, it''s not that big of a deal. You just reached the front of the pack." Kunjan sighed. "Yea, you wouldn''t understand how we feel now!" Gopan cried. "What do you mean?" He asked. "I met Lonappan in one such Vijay Das convention. Fuck, is this the fifteenth anniversary of our friendship?" Gopan looked at Lonappan and asked. "If we don''t consider the exact dates, then yes!" Lonappan smiled. Upon hearing this, the aliens and Thankappan dragged him to the side. "Wait, how long have you been a field agent?" Thankappan asked. Lonappan laughed. "This would be my fifteenth anniversary." "Wait, does that mean?" "He''s my first friend ever since I got my new identity. I don''t remember having any other friends. Fifteen years and the geezer never changed. He trusts me so much, you know? Been there for me since the beginning, never doubting my words even when it sounds extremely fishy. He annoys me a lot at times. But, I guess somewhere along the line, I started trusting and liking him as well. Hell, you could even say that I love that guy!" The normal Lonappan was out of the window as he started tearing up. He wiped off the tears and joined Gopan in his celebration. # [1] Paniya language is a tribal language in Kerala. More details on the language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paniya_language (Don''t ask me how Lonappan knows such obscure info on the fly!) Chapter 23: Fifteen years 1 Fifteen years ago; a certain young man walked down the halls of MIB establishment in Thrissur. He just had his graduation ceremony that promoted him into a senior field agent; he could officially dawn a name now. He entered into a room where his senior, who helped him throughout his time as a junior field agent, was waiting for him. "Hello, Lonappan! Wait, are you really okay with that name?" The senior asked. "Well, you used to call by that name all the time. To change that would be weird for me right now." Lonappan replied. "I see, that''s fine then. Anyway, congrats on your promotion!" The senior hugged Lonappan tightly. "Ah, congrats on your as well, Ponappan! Desk agent now. You gonna be fine with that?" Lonappan asked. "Geez, thank you. I guess I''ll manage. The field agent thing was tiring me anyway. What about you? You''re gonna be all alone from now on until they assign someone over you. Are you gonna be okay?" Ponnappan asked. "I don''t know. Never tried doing it without you. I''m just gonna go with the flow; you know, go where it takes me and stuff." Lonappan answered. "Hmm. Although, if you ask me, you should join in with me as a desk agent. You are quite skilled; you''d get in within two years or so; unlike me." Ponnappan laughed. "I haven''t given much thought to it. Well, I''d like to be a field agent as long as I can do that shit. I don''t know, it gives me a sense of freedom; like I can do more and have something left in me. I guess I''m kinda afraid of what''ll happen if those wings are taken away from me." Lonappan explained his emotions. "Can''t say I don''t understand. I would''ve done the same thing, if not for my ailments. However, there would be a time you''d have to make a decision. I hope you make the right one then!" Ponnappan spoke. "You bet!" Lonappan smiled. "Oh, by the way, what are your plans?" He asked. "Well, now that I''ve become a desk agent for life, I intend to climb in the social hierarchy of our organisation. Who knows? Maybe in a few years time, I might even end up being the commanding officer of this sector!" Ponnappan accurately predicted the future even though he meant it as a joke. "Taking commands from you would be fine, I guess! Unless, you turn into an unbearable asshole!" Lonappan predicted the future as well. "Don''t worry about that!" Ponnappan laughed it off. "By the way, the head called you. He might be assigning your first solo field job. Good luck! Now, hurry up." He pushed Lonappan out of the room. "Yea, I should probably go." Lonappan walked back to the meeting room, before he stopped in his tracks. "Hey! Thanks for everything." He smiled. "Don''t thank me just yet. Your trials are just beginning!" Ponnappan patted him on the shoulders. "I''m aware of that." Lonappan sighed. "Are you nervous?" Ponnappan asked. "Yup. I''m really nervous. All these days, I had you to guide me and now I''m all alone. That''s a strange sensation." Lonappan told the truth. "Meh, I trust you to do well. This is just the starting trouble. Besides, everyone has that." Ponnappan replied. "Yea, I''ll try to live to the trust that you placed on me." Lonappan spoke. Ponnappan sighed. "Bullshit. If you''re gonna do something, do it for yourself. Don''t just live to please someone or overly rely on them. Just do what you wanna do without fucking with someone''s life. Sure, do fuck them up if they try to mess with you." Ponnappan suggested. "Hah, I''ll do that." Lonappan chuckled before looking at his watch. "Shoot, I gotta go now! See ya around." He waved goodbye and ran away from his senior. # Later that day, in the heart of Thrissur, Thekkinkadu Maidan [1], stood Lonappan looking around for something. "Damn, where is this guy? I''m in the right place, right? Let''s see. The report says that an alien is trying to sell their planet''s drugs to some guy and they''ve used this convention of some political leader as the exchange point." Lonappan muttered as he recalled the mission report. Meanwhile, a passerby stopped before him and stared at him hard. "What did you just say?" "Oh, I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to disturb you." Lonappan apologized and walked away. However, that passerby didn''t give up. He caught hold of Lonappan''s shoulder. Lonappan didn''t appreciate this. "Stop right there. You just said that Mr Vijay Das is a random political leader!" The passerby exclaimed. Lonappan sighed. "Wait, that''s it? You stopped me here for this shit?" He asked as the passerby continued pressing on his shoulder, which annoyed him to no bounds. "Let me see. You came here on a WPP convention and badmouths our leader. Are you a traitorous bastard?" The passerby started to cause a commotion as more and more became aware of this argument. "Think what you want to. I don''t give a shit. Just leave me alone." Lonappan replied as he swatted off the passerby''s hand from his shoulder and walked away yet again. However, this time, two random people blocked his way and stood ground as he tried wriggling his way through. "You''re neither gonna agree or deny, huh? Well, that means we have the choice to consider you whatever the hell we want. And you know what? I think you''re a traitor. Moreover, you know what we do with traitorous little bitches?" The passerby asked as he cracked his knuckles. "Oh, boy! You''re gonna regret picking a fight with me, you know?" Lonappan tried to warn them. But, no one gave a shit about the warning. "Well, let''s see who regrets their decision then." The passerby and the other two slowly headed towards Lonappan. Lonappan wanted to back out of this, since this could be bad on his character assessment sheet. However, they kept pestering him and resorted to violence the first chance they got. There wasn''t any way to have a civilized conversation from the beginning. Even if he had apologized back then, these idiots would have still picked a fight with him. Lonappan hated these kinds of people. So, now that he got no choice but to fight, he decided to thoroughly defeat them. He was about to raise his fist and give out a straight punch to the passerby''s face when someone jumped in between. "Wait! Tonychaaya [2], what are you doing here? I told you to wait back in the entrance, right?" The guy looked towards Lonappan and asked. Lonappan looked at him with utter confusion. "What do you?" Before he could finish his sentence, the other guy dragged him to his side and whispered. "Look, I''m trying to save you ass here! So act accordingly." Lonappan silently nodded his head. "I thought you meant here. Sorry!" Lonappan acted along his part. "Ah, don''t worry. I''ll forgive you for this rookie mistake. Come on now!" The person grabbed Lonappan''s hand and walked forth. However, he was also blocked by the trio. "So, who are you now? Another traitor?" The passerby asked. "No. I''m Gopan of the fourteenth ward. I''m a WPPI member." Gopan smiled as he introduced himself. "Of course, you''re from WPPI. Is he one too? Well, that would explain his utter disrespect to our leader. You fucking maggots think you''re holier than thou even when you have only one seat in Kerala. Fucking hypocrites!" The passerby scoffed. "Hey, I adore Mr. Vijay Das! Therefore, why do we even need to have this fight since we''re all people under the same umbrella of WPP?" He asked as he yet again started his stride. The passerby giggled. "Of course, the maggot wants to escape now that he''s afraid of our numbers. You know what? Fine! Take that fucking friend of yours and die in a ditch or something." The passerby shouted as he pushed around Gopan and Lonappan. Lonappan was pissed off by this action. However, Gopan clasped on his hand tightly and rushed away from the scene. "Whew, narrow escape!" Gopan sighed after reaching a considerable distance away from the trio. "Why did you stop me?" Lonappan asked. He really wanted to break some of the teeth of those assholes, at the very least. "Look, you should thank me for saving your ass instead of blaming me for saving you. And by the way, all Indians are supposed to be brothers and sisters [3], right?" Gopan asked, smiling. "As if! Just spout the damn truth that you were afraid after all!" Lonappan spoke. "Damn, this insult is what I get for saving your ass and not breaking your cover." Gopan shook his head in dismay. "How did you?" Lonappan stopped himself from asking. "Wait. Is he from the MIB sent to monitor me? Should I ask him? But, what if he''s not? Then my cover would be blown! Let''s just rephrase it a bit." Lonappan coughed. "How did you know?" "Oh, well. Since you didn''t even know Vijay Das, there''s now way you''re a WPP member!" Gopan explained. "Wait, that''s it? That''s the reason behind your hypothesis?" He asked, quite surprised about what he heard. "Yup!" Gopan nodded. Lonappan blamed himself for his far-fetched thought process. He sighed. "What if I was interested in your party and Vijay Das wanted to listen to his speech first before joining WPP?" He asked. Gopan thought for a while. "Hmm, I didn''t think of that! However, if that''s the case, then welcome to WPP. I''m Gopan!" He extended his hand. Lonappan shook on it. "I''m Lonappan." # [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thekkinkadu_Maidan [2] Substitute of chetta; used mostly by catholics in Kerala (Achayan) [3] Gopan''s referencing the wordings in India''s pledge, "All Indians are my brothers and sisters." Chapter 24: Fifteen years 2 "Why are you so restless?" Gopan asked Lonappan, who was looking around for the alien drug dealer. "Huh? No, it''s nothing." Lonappan quickly got into his calm and composed act. Although, he did look out for the drug dealer here and there. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let''s get closer so that we get to hear Vijay Das!" Gopan exclaimed, grabbing Lonappan''s hand. However, Lonappan placed a hold on Gopan''s momentum. "You really like Vijay Das, huh?" He asked. "Well, he''s a role model of mine and many others. He stood the tides of time and stayed relevant through all the times, since his emergence. So, how can I not like such a guy?" Gopan explained with such passion that Lonappan got swept up in it. Gopan took this chance and tried dragging Lonappan with him to the perfect viewpoint, right before the podium. However, Lonappan quickly got on defensive. "What are you doing?" Lonappan asked. "I thought since you said you were interested in WPP and Vijay Das, it would be great if you got a first hand experience by listening to his speech." Gopan explained. "Don''t you remember the ruckus we caused earlier?" Lonappan asked, desperately trying to slip away from this scenario, so that he can get back on track with the drug dealer. However, Gopan was a tough customer; he didn''t think things out rationally. "Does that even matter? Looks like things subsided quite a bit." Gopan replied, never minding to check the actual situation. "At least check the surroundings before you make bold claims like that!" Lonappan thought as he sensed apparent hostility from the trio from before. He sighed. "You know what? I can hear plenty from here." Gopan was a bit disappointed by this. However, he couldn''t afford to be careless, because Lonappan was supposed to be a potential WPP member in his eyes. Therefore, he decided to stop, before getting to what he considers the ideal viewpoint. "Are you sure you can hear clearly from here?" Gopan asked, hoping for a positive answer. However, Lonappan had no intentions of giving Gopan the reins of this situation. "Yup, hundred percent positive about that." He smirked. "Well, I guess that''s fine by me too then." Gopan couldn''t help but be disappointed yet again. "By the way, do you want something to eat or drink?" Lonappan asked, trying out one of the moves from the famous book ''How to get away from conversations: for dummies and introverts''. "No, thank you." Gopan quickly shut out this advance. Therefore, Lonappan ended back in the same situation. However, he didn''t give up. He tried to change the perspective this time. "Well, then. I want something to eat or drink. So, I''m heading out." He told as he tried getting away. Gopan sniffed out this plan. He couldn''t afford Lonappan to escape; he had to make him a loyal servant--follower of WPP. "Wait, how about I buy it then?" Gopan suggested. Again, Lonappan couldn''t afford this. He knew what Gopan was planning; he''ll make it as quick as possible. Therefore, he pulled out the trump card. "Do you even know when Vijay Das comes? Look, if you went to buy it for my sake, you might miss his arrival! Can you afford to do that?" Lonappan used Gopan''s sentiments against him. Finally, Gopan admitted his defeat. "Fine! Go. Make sure to come back quickly!" He ordered. "Depends on what I''m buying though!" Lonappan replied as he ran. # Away from Gopan now, Lonappan had his freedom now. He searched the entire Maidan for any clue. However, he ended up empty handed and hungry. So, he decided to head towards a stall in Thekkinkadu. Much to his surprise, he actually saw his suspect drinking tea in the stall. "Of course. Crowded yet not that crowded. Perfect place to do all sorts of shady deals. However, what kind of idiot still wears his MIB certified skinsuit? Bruh, you gotta change that shit if you''re dealing with drugs and stuff. You''re easily identifiable! Now, I have to be careful though. The report did say that it can sense direct hostility. So, calm down dude!" Lonappan mentally prepared as he walked towards the stall and ordered a tea as well. For the next few minutes, nothing much happened other than the two occasionally sipping their teas. Lonappan was contemplating about the right moment to act. However, he didn''t expect his nerves to get the better of him and he accidentally let out hostility towards the dealer. This mistake cost him since the alien started running into the crowd. Even though the moment of lapse allowed the alien to escape from his clutches, Lonappan quickly caught up with him. But the terrain was unfavorable for him. The alien tried to blend in with the crowded. Therefore, before it completely blended in with the crowd, Lonappan managed to tear off a piece of its skin suit, revealing his shiny interior. This made the chase considerably easier for Lonappan, who caught up with the alien with relative ease. Lonappan continued to drag it out of the crowd and to a relatively isolated field and ensued in a fist fight with it. There wasn''t much of a conversation between them. They silently attacked and countered each other. However, it was pretty apparent that Lonappan would end up being the victor when Lonappan caught it by its face. Although, in an absurd turn of events, the alien shed its skinsuit, revealing its true face, which was blinding. The alien tried to take advantage of this and escape. But, it did not expect Lonappan to close his eyes to capture it, which turned out to be the decisive moment. "Fucking caught you finally! You can''t wriggle out now. Let''s go to the detention center, bitch!" Lonappan spoke as he handcuffed the shining alien. "Wait, what''s happening here?" A voice came from his back. It was Gopan. # "Fuck!" Lonappan muttered before slyly turning towards Gopan. "Hey!" "What is this? Why are you putting him in handcuffs? And why is he shining like crazy?" Gopan asked, confused about the sequence unfolding before him. "Shit, I have to lie now." With no choice before him, Lonappan resorted to lying. "He robbed a store!" "Liar!" Gopan retorted. "What do you mean?" Lonappan did not expect such a sudden whiplash response. "We are in the middle of nowhere. Hell, you''re holding him down in a paddy field. And I''m supposed to believe that he committed a robbery here? Well, it would''ve made sense if you said you caught him while he was pickpocketing." Gopan shook his head in dismay. "Crap. I shot on my own foot with that. Should''ve kept it abstract. What should I do now?" He suddenly panicked. The only thought that came into his mind was to use a neuralyzer. However, for a newly promoted senior like him, it was difficult to get hold of that, since it''d take a hellish amount of procedures. Riddled with this inescapable scenario, he decided to speak the truth. "He''s a drug dealer. I saw him try to sell his drug under the shade of this convention." This time, he didn''t elaborate. "Well, you sound genuine this time, for some odd reason. So, what''s up with the handcuff?" He asked. "I did a citizen''s arrest once I saw it." He quickly answered back. "Wait, do you carry the handcuff all around hoping for a citizen''s arrest?" Gopan couldn''t believe it. "Well, everyone has their own weird quirks, am I right?" He chuckled. "Hmm, and why is he shining?" Gopan asked. "That''s his mask." He responded without any delay. However, Gopan did not reply or ask any further questions. "Did he believe it?" Lonappan crossed his fingers expecting any sort of reply from Gopan. Finally Gopan replied. "Damn, that''s so realistic! It got facial features! But dude, isn''t this a poor choice of a face mask?" He asked the alien as he pulled its glowing face, believing that it was fake. "Wait. He actually believed it?" Lonappan couldn''t believe it himself. The person who sniffed out his earlier lie which was far better than this one, somehow believed this poor attempt of a lie. He couldn''t understand what went through the guy''s head that made him the most sharp person to the world''s dumbest person within a split second. "So, what are you gonna do with him?" Gopan asked. "I''m gonna hand him to the police. Wait, why are you even here? Weren''t you supposed to hear Vijay Das?" Lonappan asked. "Well, he''s late. They said it''d take him one or two hours. So, I came searching for you." Gopan replied. "Right around now, huh?" Lonappan calculated. "Shoot." Gopan looked at his watch and was about to rush back when he stopped. "Are you gonna be fine by yourself?" He asked. "I''ll be fine. Don''t worry. Go watch your leader''s speech. And don''t worry. I quite like WPP now. Their member''s seem quite kind. Who knows? I might even join it someday!" Lonappan assured Gopan with a smile. Gopan smiled back. "Will I ever see you again?" He asked. "If fate wants me to meet you, then yeah." Lonappan replied. "Placing faith on fate, huh? Very well. See you someday, Lonappan!" Gopan bowed. "Likewise, Gopan!" Lonappan bowed as well, ruling out the possibility of them ever meeting. # Chapter 25: Fifteen years 3 Back at the MIB Thrissur sector, Lonappan dragged the alien back on his own. He got a hero''s welcome--or that''s what he likes to imagine. In fact, the agents around were going on with their own business. However, one person did his best to give Lonappan the hero''s welcome he thought he deserved. "Hey! Congrats on your first solo mission. I''m so proud of you!" Ponnappan patted Lonappan on his back. Lonappan smiled. "You know how good I am, right?" He asked. "Yea, yea. The boss is looking for you right now." Ponnappan replied. "Oh, okay. Let me just put this guy--shit, this person into the detention center." Lonappan spoke and led the alien to the detention center and threw him into one of their cells. "Ow, be a bit careful! You''ll ruin my skin." The alien cried. "As if you''re diamond like skin''s ever gonna get destroyed. Besides, even if it did, do you think I care? If anything, you should''ve never tried selling alien drugs in the streets." Lonappan retorted. "Well, you guys do not give me a whole lot of money now, do you?" The alien asked, much to the dismay of Lonappan. "Our salary is lesser than your allowance from MIB. Think about that for a second. Moreover, what''s up with lavish spending? I don''t get it! We''re in India! Everything''s considerably cheaper in here when you compare it with the United States! Even then, if you''re not able to control your expenses. I will never understand that." Lonappan replied, shaking his head in disappointment. "Hey! I''m the royal heir to the kingdom of Ciabatta! I deserve extreme care and a first class stay. I do not deserve the treatment I get from here." The alien cried. "So, you own a white bread. What''s the big deal about it?" Lonappan asked, purposefully trying to rile up the alien. "That''s not what I mean!" The alien tried to give out a counter argument, however Lonappan wasn''t interested in any. "Oops! Unlike you, I''m hella busy catching shitheads like you. So, try explaining that shit to yourself until I come back in another fifty years, your highness!" Lonappan mockingly bowed and walked away. "I''ll get you for this, Agent Lonappan!" The alien muttered under its breath. # "Congratulations, Lonappan! Your first solo mission. How do you feel about it?" MIB''s commanding officer asked. "In short, it was generally fine. A bunch of hiccups here and there, however, fine overall." Lonappan answered, as he suddenly remembered Gopan. "Hmm. I think what you did was exceptional. So, I want you to blend in with the society." The boss spoke. "You mean?" Lonappan was a bit surprised. "You''re gonna lead a normal life from now on. Of course, that''d be a solid cover, so you can still do what you''re doing in the shadows. Furthermore, you can keep surveillance on a bunch of aliens too." The commanding officer explained. "Where are you posting me, sir?" Lonappan asked. "Near #306. A relatively new base. You''d be the first one surveilling that area. Congratulations on that as well." The officer shook his hand. "Thank you sir!" Lonappan had no idea how to feel about this. # "Bwahaha!" Ponnappan laughed out loud. "Dude, don''t laugh like that! You''re hurting my feelings ever so slightly." Lonappan spoke with a pain in his voice. "How can I not laugh? Not only did he sent you to babysit a bunch of aliens, but also he''s sending you to one of the secluded areas there for an alien ''babysitting'' center." Ponnappan gave out a chuckle. Lonappan sighed. "It is Alien ''surveillance'' center for you! And this Pazhamukku doesn''t seem that bad! I''ll manage somehow; until they deem me eligible to do bigger and better things." Lonappan looked hopeful as he spoke. "But, why would the boss do something like this? Isn''t this a straight out punishment? Maybe, he cares a lot about you and doesn''t want you to go to the front lines, eh?" Ponnappan asked, slightly nudging his shoulder. "As if the boss is capable of having such emotions!" Lonappan scoffed. "Well, it''s that or he straight up hates you. You can decide on what you want to believe." Ponnappan replied. "I''ll rather believe the hard truth rather than dwell myself on a fantasy of a lie." Lonappan made his decision. He decided to accept this punishment without backing down. "Hmm. However, if you ask me, I can see pros too. You can marry and have a happily married life with your wife and kids for real! That''s a pro for sure." Ponnappan smiled. "I can''t think of marriage and stuff when I have many things I want to do as a field agent." Lonappan replied, contradicting his future self. "Very well. I hope you continue having this drive. It''ll lead you to great things!" Ponnappan gave out an expression filled with pride towards his junior. "Thank you, Ponnappan for your extreme confidence in me even when they deemed me a failure." Lonappan bowed his head. "Hey! This is just a small hiccup. They probably made a mistake or something! If he didn''t, then he misjudged your strive to achieve greatness in this business. So, don''t lose your hope! You can still do it." Ponnappan assured, which cheered Lonappan up. "Yea! I''ll try my best." Lonappan nodded his head. "Good. Now, get your bags head to #306, I guess." Ponnappan replied. # "Hmm. Mundur bus stop. Where to go now?" Lonappan looked around once he got out of the bus. The directions he got were very vague. So, he was stumped. "Wait, I remember seeing an auto stand a few meters before. I''ll just hand this address to them." Thinking that, he headed towards the auto stand and jumped into the first auto he could see. It was an auto taxi. "Where do you wanna go, sir?" The driver asked without turning his head. Lonappan gave the parchment to the driver, still reluctant in turning his head. "Get me here." He instructed. The driver nodded and they began the journey, which ended in ten minutes or so, when the driver abruptly stopped. "Oh, did we reach the place? Well, how much is it? Wait. Is this the right place?" Lonappan asked as he saw a large banner with WPP written on it before him. "Well, you did say you''ll join WPP last time didn''t you?" The driver asked. Lonappan was perplexed. "What do you? Oh no! It''s you!" Lonappan sighed. The driver turned his head back. It was Gopan, to no one''s surprise. "What a coincidence, don''t you think? For us to end up meeting like this?" Gopan gave out a bright smile. "Wait, what about going to my home first?" He asked. "Nah, you''ll disappear on me like last time!" Gopan replied. "Moreover, who knows! WPP is a wonderful political front. You might even make a few good friends!" Gopan smirked as he dragged Lonappan to the establishment. # . . . "Wait. Did you come back just to tell us that backstory?" Taro asked. He was confused when Lonappan suddenly came back after his emotional scene with Gopan. "Well, I thought it would be a travesty if you can''t enjoy this moment with context." Lonappan replied. "Wait, what happened with your beef with the former boss?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, well. It seems Ponnappan was right and he actually liked me and cared about me a lot." Lonappan explained with a smile. "How did you come up with that conclusion?" Thankappan asked. He wasn''t well informed about the beef between Lonappan and the old boss, so he was interested in this. "You see, he''s my father-in-law now." Lonappan gave out a cheeky laugh. "What! Then your wife is¡­" "The boss'' daughter. He actually came to me one day eight or nine years ago and we had this deep conversation. At the end of it, he asked about my thoughts on marriage. I told him that I don''t particularly care. He said that it''d be difficult for me to find a person for myself since I have no background and said that he knows someone who''s fine with that. And I said cool. Therefore, I ended up marrying his daughter and now we have two kids." He explained. "What did she think about it? Like, that was a straight up arranged marriage, wasn''t it?" Thankappan asked. "Well, she said she''d be fine if I allowed her to continue with her job." Lonappan answered. "And what did you say?" He asked. "I said that her career and future isn''t mine to decide or play with. So, she still teaches to tenth grade kids and we''ve been married happily for eight years now." Lonappan gave out a thumbs up. "Ah, that''s good!" Taro felt thankful that Lonappan didn''t pull out an entire episode''s worth of story. Suddenly, Thankappan jumped back in on the conversation. "By the way, totally random question, what happened to that drug-dealing alien? It didn''t seem that happy when you completely humiliated it. Did it come seeking revenge?" He asked. Lonappan sighed. "I guess you could say that. However, I can''t exactly call it a revenge. Hell, might as well tell that tale now that I''m in that mood now!" # Chapter 26: Headache from the past Seven years ago; Lonappan was playing cricket before his house with his five year old son, when his wife called him inside since the landline rang and the person on the other side asked for him. He picked it up. "Hello?" "Lonappan, it''s me." Ponnappan''s voice came from the other side of the call. "Oh, hey! What is it?"Lonappan asked. "Well, it''s important stuff." Ponnappan replied. "Dude, I can guess that since you called in on the landline. Now, I asked the reason behind this." Lonappan spoke. "I don''t want to speak about it like this. I wanna meet you." Ponnappan answered. Lonappan sighed. "Fuck! Okay, I''m coming." He slammed his phone on the desk before turning to his wife. "Babe, I gotta go. Boss says it''s important." "What are you waiting for then? Go!" His wife slightly nudged him. It was supposed to be an off day for everyone and yet Lonappan had to leave. Although it disappointed her, she knew Lonappan loved this job and didn''t want to stop him from doing it. "But¡­" Lonappan hesitated from leaving the house. He glanced at his son playing cricket all by himself and felt like he was a bad father. His wife understood his thoughts. "Don''t worry. I''ll manage that part. Go do your job." She assured him. "Thanks, babe." He gently kissed her on the cheek and headed towards their son. "Son, daddy''s got some urgent work to do. So, I''ll have to leave now. Will you be fine?" He asked as he stroked his son''s head. "Don''t worry, dad! I''m a big boy now. I''m not sad." The kid said as he tried flexing his muscles. Lonappan chuckled. "Yea, you sure are!" He said as he kissed him on his forehead and got up. With a heavy heart, he stepped out of his household. Before actually heading to the MIB base, Lonappan headed to #306, Holy Land. "Hello there, everyone! I''m going to the MIB base. Therefore, I''ll be locking this room from the outside." He proclaimed as he opened the door. Four people stuck out their heads upon hearing this for a moment before sticking it back in; they were the resident aliens of the past. "Whatever, dude. Not like we care anyway." Alien number one replied, as he continued playing on his game console. He didn''t a shit; the other two didn''t either. One alien did though. "Dude, can you buy me some potato chips? It looks like it''s gonna end." Alien number four spoke as he pointed out a mountain of potato chips. Lonappan choked at this sight. "Huh? Yea, sure." He wanted to quickly close the door and end dealing with them. "Okay, cool." Alien number four also got back to his slacking off. Lonappan sighed. "Damn, why does every alien who enters this room end up like this? Like, I have no problem with them playing video games, however, they should at least clean up the room they are living in, for fuck''s sake!" He muttered under his breath. # MIB base; Lonappan stood before the commanding officer''s room for a hot minute before entering inside. There, Ponnappan sat waiting for him. Eight years had passed and one thing that changed from when he began his career as a senior field agent was how Ponnappan ended up becoming the commanding officer, taking the reins off from Lonappan''s father-in-law. Originally, the father-in-law wanted Lonappan as his successor and wanted to keep it inside the family. However, Lonappan didn''t agree to it and wanted to continue his life as a field agent, which led to Ponnappan''s emergence. Lonappan was happy about it, since he felt like his senior deserved this. However, as of lately, he had been hearing rumors about Ponnappan''s strange behaviors sometimes. He didn''t have concrete evidence about that, so he decided to leave it at that. "Welcome, Lonappan! Come in and take a seat." Ponnappan pointed at the empty seat. "So, what made you call me in person?" Lonappan asked as he made himself comfortable. "Bring it in." Ponnappan ordered. An agent walked in with a handcuffed alien. The alien was smirking when he saw Lonappan. "Agent Lonappan! Do you remember me?" The alien asked as he tried removing the face mask. However, since his hands were cuffed, he had trouble shaking it off his face. "A little help please?" It asked the agent that brought it there. The agent nodded and helped it take off the face mask to reveal the shiny interior and gave out its rendition of an evil laugh. However, unlike what it expected, Lonappan didn''t recognize it. Hell, he didn''t even bat an eye. "So, why did you call me?" He asked Ponnappan. "What! You don''t remember me! How dare you!" The alien tried attacking Lonappan. Its advances were quickly stopped by the agent beside it. Yet again, Lonappan didn''t care about it. "What is this? You told me you got important stuff to speak with me and I came. And now you show me this--weird thing?" He asked as he gave out a disgusted look towards the alien. "No! Just no! That look you just gave out! No one dares to disrespect the heir to the Kingdom of Ciabatta!" The alien cried. "Why would I care if you own a piece of white bread? Wait! I remember making this lame joke at someone." Lonappan spoke. The alien got excited. "Me! That would be me! Remember anything now?" It asked. "Well, yea! I remember every joke I say. Even if it''s lame as this one." Lonappan laughed. "I hate you! I freaking hate you! You remember the joke you told eons ago, yet you have difficulty remembering the person you made fun of?" The alien screamed at the top of its respiratory organ. "Of course. I meet with and work near many aliens, so it''s difficult for me to remember one specific alien unless they did something really memorable." Lonappan explained. "So, what you mean is that I''m not even worthy of your attention. The heir of Ciabatta isn''t even worth your attention!" The alien cried. "Dude, don''t take it that personally! I just said that I don''t remember you. Nothing that big of a deal. Isn''t it better if people forgot about you? Like that''s like the main shit that MIB strives to achieve!" Lonappan tried to salvage this situation, but to no avail. "That might be your case, but I''m the heir to Ciabatta, for fuck''s sake! I''ve always strived to gain people''s attention. Now, this random guy tells me that I''m not even worth his attention and I''m just another mob character. Tell me how you''ll feel if someone told you that." The alien gave out its emotional speech. To a certain extent, Lonappan felt bad for his actions. "I''m sorry, dude. I didn''t think of what you''re going through. My bad!" He apologized. The alien did not expect Lonappan to apologize. "Nah, it''s fine. I just had to get it out of my chest." The alien forgave Lonappan, before he quickly remembered his original intention. "Well, now that everything''s gone calm, why don''t you reveal what you told me back then?" Ponnappan asked off the alien. The alien took a deep breath in. "Eight years ago, when this guy caught me selling drugs, someone else clearly saw the entire thing and was clearly communicating with him. At first, I thought maybe he was a fellow agent. However, later I heard him question your agent about me. By the way, he also saw my real appearance and yet Lonappan did absolutely nothing about it." It explained. "Wait, you''re that person!" Finally, Lonappan finally realized the alien''s identity and turned back towards Ponnappan. "So, you''re going to believe this junkie now?" He asked. While the alien fumed behind trying to find a right counter, Ponnappan took the lead. "Well, we did make it undergo a lie detection test. And it seems that the alien''s speaking the truth." He replied. Lonappan sighed. "A lie detection test could be cheated though. You know that, right?" He asked. "I''m aware that normal tests could be cheated, but we''re MIB. Our techniques are top-notch." Ponnappan assured. "By the way, I read your handbook. It says that in such situations, an official should use the neuralyzer. However, I''m pretty positive that this guy didn''t do that!" The alien added fuel to the fire. "Will you shut up, man?" Lonappan glared at the alien before sighing. "Why do you even remember all this stuff?" He asked. "Eight years in the detention center doesn''t let you forget things pretty quickly, buddy!" The alien replied. "So, what''s your excuse?" Ponnappan asked. "I was a rookie official back then. You think I''ll get hold of a neuralyzer just like that on my own? That''d mean I have to capture both and put the other person in detention until I get permission. Besides, I saved the situation with my impeccable lies." Lonappan explained. "So, you don''t deny what the alien just said?" Ponnappan asked. "Dude, you''re missing the point! Well, whatever. You look like you''re not gonna listen to me anyway. So yeah! I don''t deny it. But!" He tried to counter. However, Ponnappan stopped it. "I just wanted to hear you out about this. Now that I have, I''ve made my decision. There''s no choice other than to use neuralyzer on that person." Ponnappan declared his verdict. # Chapter 27: Revealed! Lonappan sighed. "Okay, cool. But, first let me-" He tried saying something, however yet again his words were cut short by Ponnappan. "Nothing''s gonna change my verdict, Lonappan. My decision is final." Ponnappan said like a broken recorder. This irked Lonappan. "Will you fucking shut up now and hear me out. Look, I get it. You stand by your decision. Although, I would like you to take my one suggestion into consideration." Lonappan spoke, trying hard to compose his calm. "What is it?" Ponnappan asked. He decided to hear out his friend. Lonappy took in a breath of relief. "Finally! Look, I''d suggest you meet Gopan before you actually use the neuralyzer." He suggested. "Well, I''d have to meet him anyway if I wanna use the neuralyzer on him." Ponnappan shrugged. "You bloody well know that''s not what I meant. I want you to have a man-to-man talk with him. That''s all." Lonappan replied. "Wait a minute. Gopan? You know the guy from back then? That''s oddly suspicious!" Ponnappan spoke. "Ah, well! Coincidentally, he lived near #306. Hence, we became acquaintances. That''s why I''m asking you to have a chat with him." Lonappan replied. "Oh, then that makes it simpler. We don''t have to literally scratch the Earth''s surface searching for that guy." Ponnappan was relieved. "Very well. I''ll have a civilized talk with him. However, don''t expect much from it. My decision won''t change." He reiterated the same statement. "This mother-" Lonappan felt like cursing, however stopped himself from it. "Fine. As long as you have the talk with him. Then, what are we waiting for?" Lonappan got up. Ponnappan followed suit. "Wait, that''s it? No infightings? No suspensions or dismissals? Your agent is related to that guy; don''t you feel something weird about this? Like he''s planning something sinister with that guy? How can you trust this guy anymore? Isn''t he a traitor?" The alien cried since it expected something more when it actually decided to confess its crimes. Ponnappan got serious for a second. "So, you want me to believe you rather than my junior whom I''ve known for a long time. Tell me, in what way does that make any sense?" He asked. "Our pal right here expected a lot more when it broke out this ''sensational'' news." Lonappan chuckled as he patted the alien''s shiny dome of a head. The alien fumbled for words. "Well, weren''t you trying to persuade your superior from using the neuralyzer on your friend? Isn''t that clear opposition towards his decision?" The alien asked with a shaky voice. "By no means I tried to stop Ponnappan. Didn''t you hear him? He said his decision was final. I just wanted him to visit my friend and have a nice chat with him." Lonappan explained his side. "Now, go back to where you came from and don''t you dare to come back!" He waved the alien goodbye. "I''ll get you someday, Agent Lonappan!" The alien cried as it was dragged to the detention cell. "Sure! I''ll be here anyway!" Lonappan shouted before turning towards Ponnappan. "Shall we go then?" # "Are you sure about this?" Ponnappan asked Lonappan as he hesitated to ring the doorbell of Gopan''s house. "Yea, why not? I just want you to meet him before you make any important decision." Lonappan replied. "Very well." Ponnappan nodded and rang the doorbell. Gopan''s wife answered it. "Oh, hey Lonappan. You want me to call Gopan?" She asked. "Yea, thank you." Lonappan answered as she left to call Gopan. And in a few seconds, Gopan came running whilst trying to tie his mundu [1]. "Hey, Lonappan¡­ and guy! Wait, did you bring him here since he wanted to join WPP? You could''ve gone straight to the office for that. You don''t need me for that!" Gopan spoke as he looked around for his auto''s keys. "Gopan, chill. He''s not here to join WPP. He''s my¡­ colleague at work! He wanted to see you." Lonappan explained the situation. Ponnappan gave out a welcome smile. "Colleague? See me? Why would he want to see me?" A confused Gopan asked. "Well, Lonappan used to talk so highly about you in the office. Since I was in the vicinity, I decided to meet you and just have a friendly chat." Ponnappan explained. "Oh, if that''s the case, come in. I gotta get to the auto stand by nine though." Gopan spoke as he invited both into his house. # Gopan, Lonappan and Ponnappan had about an hour of casual chat, before Ponnappan decided to drop the bomb. "Hey, Gopan. I heard a funny story about the day you two met from Lonappan. Care to elaborate?" Ponnappan asked. Gopan''s eyes twitched with excitement. "Oh, I remember that day like it was yesterday!" Gopan replied much to the delight of Ponnappan. "See, we were in a WPP convention in the Thekkinkadu Maidan that day. WPP means the Worker''s Political Party by the way. And Vijay Das was giving the speech, you know?" Gopan continued to give out a ten minute worth explanation about WPP, Vijay Das and all other party related things that happened that day. Ponnappan was annoyed by this. Gopan literally told everything else that except for the incident he wanted to hear about. Just as he was about to explode with rage, Lonappan came up with the save. "Dude, you remember how I did the citizen''s arrest that day?" He asked. "Oh, yea! You caught an idiot drug dealer wearing a bright mask! That was really stupid!" Gopan chuckled. "Well, that wasn''t a mask, but its real face. By the way, it was an alien." Lonappan spoke without giving a fuck. "What?" Gopan and Ponnappan simultaneously asked. While Gopan was questioning the absurdity of this, Ponnappan was trying to understand why Lonappan would reveal something like this to a civilian. Gopan laughed out loud. "As if! Stop mocking my intelligence like this! Trying to make fun of me, this lad!" "But I ain''t lying though! That was an alien and we are members of an elite force called Men in Black who mediates the relation between humans and aliens." He replied. "Dude, what the hell are you doing? You''re revealing everything!" Ponnappan bit his tongue in anger and frustration. "I get it. I''ll let you write the indian remake of Men in Black!" Gopan chuckled. "Damn, don''t give people ideas!" Lonappan gasped. "However, what I said is the truth. And by the way, we have an agreement with one of the galaxian civilizations, where they supply us with cosmic weapons and stuff." He glanced at Gopan with all seriousness. Gopan patted on his shoulder. "If you want me to believe it so badly, I will believe any shit you say." He smiled. "See?" Lonappan eyed Ponnappan. Ponnappan''s mind was troubled. He had no idea how to perceive things. Right then, he saw his trusted junior revealing everything there is to know about the Men in Black and a guy who''s actively rejecting the truth. He dragged Lonappan to a corner and whispered. "What are you doing?" He asked. "Isn''t this therapeutic?" Lonappan asked back. "We''re supposed to be the secret keepers of Earth. We have the responsibility to carry them, fully knowing that we''re not supposed to reveal it to anyone. Yet, your mouth is so loosely bound to this!" Ponnappan cried. "Why don''t you try it first? It''ll help." Lonappan nudged his shoulder. "No, I won''t do it!" Ponnappan strongly rejected it. However, his rejection didn''t last very long and Lonappan''s persistent persuasion proved effective. In a matter of a few minutes, Ponnappan sat before Gopan and started talking about all kinds of things, like the stress he had to endure due to his position, his nagging senior officials who just dumped responsibility onto him and several other things. And Gopan patiently heard the stuff without saying a word until an hour or two actually passed. "Shoot, it''s nine now. As I said, I gotta go! Anyway, what you said was really interesting. I like how you merged reality and fiction into one coherent unit- that''s great! I really hope you make it into a story. People will like it!" Gopan said as he shook Ponnappan''s hand and headed out. Ponnappan breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw Gopan leaving. They did as well. However, they did not talk to each other for quite some time. Finally, Ponnappan decided to break the silence. "How long do you think it will take for him to realize that what we''ve told is the truth?" He asked. "As long as the aliens don''t loudly proclaim that they exist and wage war against us or something, he''ll never realize." Lonappan assured. "Have you ever felt guilty? Like leaking all our secrets and stuff?" Ponnappan asked. "We did not leak it! We merely confessed like one does to a priest in a church. So, I guess I don''t. Rather, it takes the weight off my chest." Lonappan explained. "Huh, makes sense!" Ponnappan muttered as he continued silently walking beside Lonappan. In the following few years or so, Ponnappan continued with his sporadic visits at Gopan''s house to relieve himself of his stress, until he became stressed out about relieving his stress like this when he completely stopped coming. However, he never erased this from Gopan''s memory since he formed a trustful relation with him. # [1] A traditional wear mostly seen in Kerala. Also called Lungi, Dhoti, Veshti amongst many other names. Chapter 28: Welcome To Paradise "Damn, I did not expect such a detailed backstory!" Gibli said in awe. "That''s the kind of thing you should expect from me!" Lonappan said, with his pride soaring through the sky. "Wait a minute! I never knew a time when the commanding officer was kind and friendly! That seems like a glaring inconsistency in my point of view!" Thankappan spoke, thinking of all the times Ponnappan trashed him before everyone. "I guess people change! He''s an asshole towards me too these days." Lonappan told, reminiscing all the good times he had with Ponnappan back when he was a rookie. "That''s like a whole one eighty of a change! For a person to change its behavior in that manner, they have to face some sort of drastic situation. So, what was his drastic experience that changed him for the worse?" Kunjan asked. Lonappan shook his head. "I don''t know man. I know for sure that it was a gradual change, however, I''m not sure as to what had happened to him. Had I known, I would''ve tried my best to divert him from whatever path he''s taking." He replied. "Why don''t you start now? Who knows, he might still have that one soft spot for somewhere in him." Kunjan spoke. "I don''t know man! He looks like he''s beyond that point of salvation." Lonappan put his head down in disappointment. It hurt him mentally, thinking about it. "It''s not over; it''s never over. As long as you hope for something and work towards it, it''s never impossible. Even your boss can turn to the old cheerful person if you''re willing to try." Kunjan assured. Lonappan felt ashamed at that moment. The alien before him has more of the so-called humanity than he ever had. He gave up on Ponnappan the moment he witnessed the slow-burning change. "I shouldn''t have given up on him like that." He blamed himself for that. However, he wasn''t willing to give up, now that he has a chance to redeem himself. "You know what? First thing that I''m gonna do after this is to invite him over for dinner." He proclaimed. "Great! Do that." Kunjan gave a thumbs up. "Can I join you too? Then it''ll be like three generation worth of senior-rookie relationships." Thankappan interjected with his puppy eyes. "Dude, this is supposed to be an emotional reunion of friends. Don''t try to ruin it!" Kunjan retorted, which made Thankappan a bit sad. "Fine! Don''t call me then! I won''t come by even if you begged me to come." Thankappan pouted. "Cool, I don''t want you to!" Lonappan said, before giving out a light chuckle. "Bruh, don''t be mad about it! I will invite you some other day, okay?" He asked. After giving out a few seconds worth of silent treatment, Thankappan replied. "Okay, however, you better remember that I like sweet things." He replied. "Ah, don''t worry. My wife''s an expert at making that." Lonappan assured. "I see. That''s settled then." Thankappan gave out a sweet smile. After coming out of the dungeon, he started living for those small things in life; things that made him genuinely happy. Hence, this was one hell of a moment for him. "Hmm, since that''s settled, why don''t you join Gopan over there and listen to the Chief Minister''s speech. He''s been raring for you to stand by his side." Thankappan pointed towards Gopan, who had been looking at Lonappan with expectant eyes for the whole time. "Shoot! I''ll head over there then. I hope you guys enjoy this too!" Lonappan waved before heading towards Gopan. # "Dude!" Taro sighed. "What is it?" Thankappan asked. "How do people even like this shit? Like the guy looks expressionless as fuck. He doesn''t give out any gestures and yet the people over here cheer like crazy. I can get why people like movies so much, however, this is just torture for me!" Taro sighed yet again. "Touch¨¦!" Gibli sighed with him. "What do you mean touch¨¦? You can literally understand what that guy''s saying! And judging by the crowd''s reaction, apparently he''s been giving a banger of a speech, albeit expressionless." Taro said as he looked around and watched people jumping around with each words that Vijay Das said. "That''s political stuff! I can''t literally feel any hype when he tries badmouthing the other party!" Gibli shook his head in dismay. "Why does he do that though?" Taro asked. "Well, to rile up the masses, I guess? I''m pretty sure they are all close buddies behind the scene." Gibli gave out his assessment on it. "Then aren''t we idiots for even listening to this speech?" Taro asked. "Well, we believe there''s a thing called democracy in this world! So, of course we are!" Gibli replied. "Can we please not get political this time? I''m not in a mood. Instead, why don''t you enjoy the pure moment of joy experienced by Lonappan and Gopan¡ªwith context this time?" Thankappan asked of them. "Sure." They agreed and stared at the two for a few minutes before they got bored of it. "Wanna escape from here?" Kunjan placed the notion to escape from this hell before them. "Why not?" Gibli and Taro joined in on this. "Guys, what will they think?" Thankappan pointed at their two hype bunnies, Lonappan and Gopan. "Don''t worry. I don''t think they''ll even notice. I mean, look at them enjoying while we''re suffering here!" Kunjan scoffed. "So, everyone in on this?" Taro asked. "Yea!" Everyone replied simultaneously. # "Are you sure you know the way?" Thankappan asked to Kunjan. It had been around one hour since they got their asses out of the WPP convention. However, it seemed like they were nowhere near the destination¡ªor they had lost their way. "Calm down. You have to suffer a bit if you wanna reach paradise!" Kunjan replied, slightly annoyed by Thankappan''s question. "You''re hyping it too much, you know? I hope it lives up to our expectation!" Gibli warned. "Shut your trap and follow me." Kunjan ordered. After a few more minutes of walking, they finally reached their destination. "Here you go! We''re here." Kunjan''s eyes glimmered. However, the others had doubts in their minds. "You sure this is the right spot?" Gibli asked. The other two had the same thought as well. What they saw before them was a mediocre restaurant that could be seen in every corner in the city of Thrissur. "Idiots! Don''t judge the book by its cover!" Kunjan scolded the four. Somehow, he sensed the thoughts of other two too. Believing in Kunjan''s words, they entered the restaurant. "Chetta, four plate shawarmas and one al fahm!" Kunjan ordered. "And now, we wait!" They waited for fifteen minutes exact when the plates actually came in. "It seems like the food''s coming." Gibli proclaimed the obvious. Kunjan clicked his tongue. "Tch. Not food. Paradise is awaiting us, my man." Kunjan corrected him. The other three were surprised. They had never seen Kunjan so passionate about something. And he wasn''t wrong about his assessment in any way, shape or form. The shawarmas and al fahm had their own charm that made them irresistible for the patiently waiting crowd of four. As the food reached their table, they didn''t even spare a word critiquing or praising it. Instead they began gobbling it up as whole. None of them spoke. They were so focused on consuming the literal masterpiece before them that they forgot to talk. It took them exactly five minutes for them to consume the entire thing. By the end of it, they were in a perfect balance. Their bellies were full, however their taste buds wanted more of it. The simultaneous burp they gave out was music to their ears, but incredibly disgusting to the onlookers. "That¡­was¡­amazing! Best thing I''ve eaten for a good while now!" Thankappan screamed out his satisfaction. "I don''t even have words to explain it." Gibli spoke. "Indian cuisine is amazing! I can''t get enough of it." Taro cried. "It ain''t Indian, it''s Arabian. However, I understand your sentiment." Kunjan corrected him. "Well, this makes me want to travel around this planet then. As much as I miss Wadorian food, I don''t think it can top this!" Taro voiced his thoughts. "See, what did I tell you before? Welcome to paradise [1]!" Kunjan smiled. "However, wait till you eat the desert! Chetta, a chocolate brownie." Kunjan ordered. The brownie reached their table within seconds. They took a bite out of it and they felt like they were coursing through the heavens. "This is perfect. Easily consumed and cold. I suddenly feel like I can go one more round with all the food." Gibli shouted. However, Kunjan barred him. "No, you''ll ruin the perfect balance if you do that. Everything''s perfect as it is. You try to do more, you''ll end up upsetting your stomach or something." "I''ll heed your advice on that." Gibli agreed with Kunjan on that this time. He didn''t want to intentionally ruin a perfectly great meal time. "So, now that we''re done here, shall we go back? The convention might be done by now." Taro suggested. "Sure, let''s not make Lonappan and Gopan wait." Kunjan got up, paid the bill and got out. The other three followed him as well. He was supposed to be their pathfinder, after all. # *[1] Hey, another song reference in there! This time, it is Green Day''s hit song, ''Welcome to paradise''. Give it a listen if you''re into Green Day. Chapter 29: Disappearance "That was satisfying!" Gibli burped as he walked back to the convention. "It sure was!" Kunjan agreed. He was proud of his choice. "Let''s go back again someday!" Gibli suggested. The others wholeheartedly agreed to this. "Hey, we''re near!" Thankappan announced pointing at the convention. "Yea, let''s go meet up with the two." Kunjan increased his pace a little. So, did others. However, no matter how fast they got there, it wouldn''t be of no use. "Where the hell are everyone?" Gibli looked around and asked. They saw absolutely no one around in that convention. Everyone seems to have gone somewhere. "Shit, we can''t even ask around now that no one''s here" Thankappan clicked his tongue. "What about the houses in here?" Gibli asked. "Are there really houses near here?" Thankappan looked around. "Why don''t you try calling in one of their cells?" Kunjan suggested. "Good idea." Taro took his phone and called them. He had been learning how to use mobile phones these days, so calling someone was relatively simple for him. It was more of a muscle memory than actual deep understanding of the apparatus. Although, he did learn what certain voices meant. "I don''t think they''re gonna take the phone. I can''t hear the beep." "Let me check. It might be his ringtone or something." Kunjan took the phone off Taro and placed it near his ear. "Well, Gopan''s phone is switched off. So, not good on that side." Kunjan sighed. "Same with Lonappan. I don''t think they''re gonna turn it on anytime soon." Thankappan said. "So, what are we supposed to do now? And why the hell did they went off without informing us first?" Gibli asked. "Well, we did that too, didn''t we? Anyway, we got three options now. One, we can search for them in this vast city. Two, we can wait by Gopan''s auto. Gopan would need his auto since that''s literally his livelihood, therefore if we waited by it, at some point they''ll swing around and everything would be fine. Three, we go home without waiting for them." Kunjan gave out the options. "Wait, won''t they wander around looking for us if we went straight to the Holy land like that?" Gibli asked. "Well, it''s not like we will turn off our phones like they did. At some point, they will get fed up with searching us and actually turn on their phones and call us. However, I don''t think they''ll even bother searching for us. It''s Lonappan. He doesn''t give a damn about what we do." Kunjan explained. "Ah, that option hinges on a what if situation¡ªlike, it''s totally on chance whether they turn on their phone or not. They could act like total idiots at that moment and forget that phones exist. I don''t like to take chances like that." Thankappan sounded intelligent for once, since this was one of the few times he held a detailed opinion for something. "Okay, understandable. Then what about option number two? We''re not gambling in that. I''m hundred percent positive that Gopan will come, even if Lonappan doesn''t. So, how about that?" Kunjan asked. "No." Thankappan bluntly replied. "Why?" Kunjan didn''t get why Thankappan would outright reject this method when it should''ve checked all his boxes of approval. "I don''t wanna wait for them for a long time doing nothing." Thankappan answered. "You can play around on your phone or something meanwhile, rather than just standing around doing nothing." Kunjan suggested. "No. I''m bad at it. Like I can''t do shit when I''m expecting someone and they don''t come around even after all that expectation!" Thankappan gave out a reason for his rejection. "Well, you can''t have everything in your life now, can you?" Kunjan asked. "Umm, if we followed your first plan, we can, right?" Thankappan asked. "Are you an idiot? We will have to search this entire city if we wanna get some clue. That''s like searching a needle in a haystack!" Kunjan exclaimed. "But we''d be doing something, right? I just don''t wanna laze around. And you know what? If we ended up with nothing, we can just follow the second plan anyway! Simple!" Thankappan shrugged. "Then what if Gopan and Lonappan somehow end up near the auto before us and leave for Mundur? That''s entirely possible too, you know?" Kunjan asked. "Even if that happens, buses are still around at this time, public and private ones and all has the Mundur stop. So we have nothing to worry about." Thankappan assured. "Hmm, you''re making a whole lot of sense tonight. Fine, we''ll do it your way." Kunjan finally agreed to it. "Now the question is where to begin with?" Gibli asked as he looked around to see none. "Taro, give me your phone again." Kunjan ordered. Taro wasted no time in giving it. "What is it?" He asked as Kunjan got busy with his phone. After a few moments of silence, Kunjan showed the phone to everyone. "This!" On the phone was the live media coverage of the WPP rally helmed by Vijay Das. "There was no chance in hell that the media isn''t covering this shit." He spoke, extremely proud of his minimal investigative skills. "Where are they now?" Gibli asked. "They''re on the exact opposite side to us. We can catch up with them easily." Kunjan replied. "Then what are we waiting for? Let''s go!" Thankappan shouted as he advanced. # As Kunjan told, the gang caught up with the rally within mere minutes. "Whew. Now, where are the two?" Kunjan asked as he surveyed the area. Thankappan pointed to the distance. "There! Right behind Vijay Das." He pointed the two out. "Do you think they''ve even noticed our disappearance?" Gibli asked. "Nah, mate. I don''t think so. They don''t give two shits about us." Thankappan replied. "Touch¨¦." Kunjan agreed with Thankappan on that. "Anyway, let''s just meet up with them." Thankappan led the way to them. He poked Lonappan''s shoulder who turned back. "Hey!" "Hey, guys? Are you enjoying this?" Lonappan asked as he continued chanting the party slogan. "Yup, they definitely didn''t notice our disappearance!" They collectively thought. Thankappan cleared his throat. "Hell yea! I am, for sure! However, poor Gibli is feeling sleepy. So I thought it would be better if we leave now." Thankappan smiled. "Dude, why the hell did you throw me under the bus like that?" Gibli cursed Thankappan inside, however continued keeping a smile up front. "Yea, what can I say? People in Ark sleep and wake up early." He shrugged. Taro decided to chime in as well. "Well, it''s boring for me, since I don''t know what''s happening. Although, it''s like that right now, I would like to come back someday when I actually understand what''s happening." He spoke out the truth, except for the last part, maybe. "Hmm. You guys better go then. It''ll last for like four more hours or something." Lonappan answered. "Fuck. Okay, cool. We''ll move by bus then." Thankappan replied. Meanwhile, Gopan jumped in. "Hey, guys! What is it?" He asked. "Well, they want to leave. These guys are new to this, so they can''t possibly be good at this like us. Gibli wanted to sleep or something. What a wuss, right?" Lonappan laughed. "I''ll get you for this, Thankappan!" Gibli glared at Thankappan with vengeful eyes, which he didn''t noticed. "Can''t blame them for that. Have a safe journey back guys!" Gopan wished. The crew left the place and headed to the nearest bus stop. Unlike earlier, since the crowd reduced, the number of buses increased. Thus, they were able to get a bus fairly easily and they headed back to Mundur. On the way, they saw Koma mall, fully lit up, in its majestic form. Thankappan suddenly had a desire inside him. "Guys, didn''t they say it''ll take them four hours or something to return? Why don''t we just go to Koma mall and watch a movie or something? It''s allure is calling me!" He spoke as he gazed at the mall with awe. "My answer is gonna be the same as last time." Kunjan replied. "I might have to agree with Kunjan as well." Gibli chimed in. Unhappy with this, Thankappan turned towards Taro, hoping for one supporter among them. "What about you, Taro?" He asked. However, Taro wasted no time to think. "No!" Taro rejected the notion almost immediately. "That place is evil!" He hadn''t forgotten his incident with the Koma mall. "Of course, you would think that! Well, fine. You go enjoy boring old movies or something." Thankappan sighed. "However, do tell me if there are any bangers among them." Thankappan added. "You''re asking the person who doesn''t know the difference between the two." Taro pointed at himself and replied. "Ah, right! I forgot about that. Well, I guess I''ll just sleep then." Thankappan shook his head in dismay. Soon enough, they reached Mundur. None of them uttered a single word until they got back since they didn''t want to disturb their neighbors. Upon reaching the Holy Land, Kunjan, Gibli and Thankappan went to sleep, while Taro watched television as per his routine. However, he kept his eye to check whether Lonappan had returned or not. Thus, another peaceful day ended in the Holy Land household. # Chapter 30: Critical Stalking The next morning. The one person who came last was the first to wake them up. Lonappan somehow was able to wake up before everyone else. Or maybe, he never slept¡ªno one will ever know. "Get your dumb ass up!" Lonappan shouted as he shoved Thankappan off his bed. "Ouch! Be gentle with me next time!" Thankappan cried. Instead of heeding Thankappan''s request, Lonappan rained a couple more swift kicks on him. "Piss off! Who told you to make a sexual innuendo the first thing in the morning?" He asked as Thankappan cried in the background. "I just can''t help it! It''s natural stuff!" Thankappan cried, caressing his aching regions. "As if!" Lonappan scoffed. However, he didn''t want to dwell in such a stupid conversation first thing in the morning. So, he ignored Thankappan and decided to focus on the other four instead. "Wait. Where''s Taro?" He asked as he looked around. "Ah, he might be doing his morning practice in the out." Gibli replied, casually picking his alien nose. "Nah, I didn''t see him when I came here." Lonappan countered. Gibli sighed. "Well, he might be at that dojo then. He did say that it''s his morning routine, didn''t he?" He asked. "That''s true." Lonappan nodded his head. However, yet again Lonappan had gone off topic. So, this time he changed the topic again. "Look, I''m here to tell you a few things. First of all, once more, you don''t have any work today. Second, I''m gonna be super busy today, so I can''t check upon you or cater your needs. Thankappan, I hope you''ll handle that. Finally, as I said in the last point, the stuff today is an important job for me¡ªlike, life or death, kinda important. So, if one of you dare mess with me in between that, make sure to suffer my wrath." He said in an ominous tone. Everyone gulped. They didn''t even want to imagine the wrath they were supposed to face on top of the other one he had promised earlier¡ªyes, no one had forgotten it! Therefore, they readily agreed to his conditions. "Sir, yes sir!" They screamed simultaneously. "Good. Then, Thankappan, you''re leading the squad and plankton, you''re in charge of Thankappan. Ciao!" Lonappan didn''t waste further time and rushed out of Holy Land. "Why do you guys talk like I''m extra baggage?" Thankappan cried. "Hey, at least he made you the one in charge. That way, you aren''t totally a waste of a human." Gibli tried consoling him, which further aggravated the mental hit he got earlier. "Dude, you''re certainly great at giving backhanded compliments even if you are a total dumbass." Thankappan hit back with a counter. "Oh, will you look at that? Finally learned how to counter an insult, huh? Even if it is a totally lame one, you could consider this as progress." Gibli patted Thankappan on his back. "Fuck you! You know what? I''m gonna show you that I''m a good leader today. I''ll make Lonappan proud of my surveillance!" Thankappan announced. "Good luck on that!" Gibli scoffed. "I can sense a hint of sarcasm in that, you know?" Thankappan spoke. "No shit, Sherlock!" Gibli scoffed yet again. This ''friendly banter'' continued for a few more minutes. However, it subsided soon after. And then, it was just the normal stuff. M''Baku went to Shivani''s home, Thankappan started doing a hard survey on things, and Gibli slept soundly, Kunjan sat in a corner reading Earth''s literature and Taro¡­ "Guys, where''s taro?" Kunjan asked, closing his book. "Didn''t I told you before? He''ll be at that dojo." Gibli yawned and got back to sleep. "Nah, man. He never gets this late. Something''s wrong. Did he go missing again?" Kunjan raised his suspicions. Now the other two started having doubts. "Well, isn''t the guy beside you supposed to be leading us aliens? Don''t you think he should take responsibility on this?" Gibli asked. "Don''t you put the blame on me! He went missing before I was made in charge. And weren''t you the one who confidently said that he''d be in the dojo?" Thankappan asked. "Now then, did you check the dojo? No, right? First, bring in the evidence before you pin the blame on me!" Gibli scoffed. "Enough! Both of you, shut the hell up. Taro might be missing and all you want to do is have petty fights?" Plankton asked. Both felt shameful about their behavior. "I''m sorry." Thankappan apologized. "You''re right. We should focus more on finding Taro." Gibli chimed in as well. "Good. Then, that''s what we''re gonna do." Kunjan got up. "Shall we start with the dojo then?" # Few hours earlier. As Gibli stated, Taro was before the dojo, literally staring at the morning practice. The warnings weren''t enough to stop him from entering the dojo. Even the parents of the kids who had been practicing gave up on chasing him out of there. Instead, they transferred their kids to other dojos. The dojo master had nothing to lose now¡ªwell, except for the last ten students or so. Therefore, he too gave up on trying to get Taro out of there. As to secure the handful students left with him, he decreased the training fee, which made their miserly parents extremely happy. The morning practice ended in an hour or so. The dojo master had a shower before he got into his casual clothes. He then proceeded to close the dojo and exit the place. Usually, this was when Taro leaves the premises. However, this time, Taro didn''t move. "I can''t leave like this. He already has a bad impression of me, so why not go all the way until he actually ends up accepting me as a pupil?" He thought as he decided to "follow" the dojo master. Upon seeing Taro relentlessly following him, the dojo master decided to pick up his speed. However, no matter how he tried, he could never completely escape Taro''s clutches. No matter where he went, he saw Taro. Taro had recently seen a movie where the hero relentlessly followed the heroine, stalked her to no end and even dressed up a woman to get her attention. While this was glorified as pure love, Taro knew that this was stalking¡ªjust like how he was aware how his current action could be considered as stalking. However if people could accept the movie''s stalking as noble and for true love, Taro was convinced that he stalked the dojo master for all the noble intentions and his undying love for martial arts and hence should be held in the same position too. Therefore, he followed the master to the ends of the Earth. Morning soon turned into evening. The dojo master was tired. Taro had kept up with him that entire time. He appreciated the tenacity, even though he was a stalker. However, it was time for his evening dojo classes, so headed to the dojo, even though it was just a formality at this point. Ever since Taro''s stalking, he lost his entire evening batch, because parents were afraid to send their kids at night to a dojo with a stalker. This irked the dojo master. Even after everything that happened, Taro still continued stalking him. He couldn''t hold it off any longer. It was now or never. He chose to face his stalker. # "Damn, as expected he''s not here!" Thankappan sighed as he faced the dojo''s entrance. "Well, you can consider my confidence as shattered." Gibli spoke. "So, what are we gonna do now?" Thankappan asked. "What else? Let''s ask around. There''s no way that no one knows of his whereabouts." Kunjan ordered. The other two agreed and the trio went around searching for Taro. In the midst of this search, Thankappan suddenly got a phone call. "Hello? Yeah? It''s that important? Sure, I''m coming." Thankappan hung up the call and looked at them in dismay. "Okay, look. It was Lonappan. Seems like the job was so important that he needs more hands now. So, I gotta go. Kunjan, I guess you''re in charge now." Thankappan told. "Don''t worry. We''ll find Taro." Kunjan assured. Thankappan nodded his head and left the premises. However, things didn''t go exactly as Kunjan planned. None of them actually knew Taro''s whereabouts. "Huh, it seems there''s actually a way for people to not know one''s whereabouts!" Kunjan sighed. Hours of search and yet he ended up with nothing. "Wait, isn''t that Taro out there?" Gibli suddenly pointed. "And the dojo master. Has he been following that guy this entire time?" Kunjan wondered. "Damn, that''d be super stalking then." Gibli replied. "What else can he do at this point?" Kunjan asked. "Look, it seems they are heading back to the dojo. Wait, what''s happening?" Gibli asked as he saw the dojo master turn back. "He''s finally going to confront his stalker it seems." Kunjan assessed the situation. "Should I put a stop to that situation? You know Taro''s strength. One wrong step and the dojo master might end up as flesh and bones." Gibli asked. "Wait. I need to see it to the end. I believe in Taro in that case. He won''t pointlessly pull out violence. So, I''m interested in what will happen. Let''s watch." Kunjan replied as he pulled Gibli with him and hid in a corner. # Chapter 31: Trouble "Good. Then, Thankappan, you''re leading the squad and plankton, you''re in charge of Thankappan. Ciao!" Lonappan didn''t waste further time and rushed out of Holy Land He sighed. He heard Thankappan whining in the background, however, he couldn''t literally give a damn about that. It was a very important day for him. He was inviting Ponnappan to his house. He wasn''t lying when he said it''s a literal life or death job for him. He was following up on his promise to have a long talk with his best friend and his mentor. Therefore, he needed that to be perfect with no interference from the idiots in #306. He paced himself back to his house, where he was welcomed by his wife. "Hey, honey! Seems like I still got some time left before I get to work. Do you want my help in cooking?" She asked. "No! You''re all dressed up for work. I can''t possibly let you work like this. By the way, you really look beautiful today!" Lonappan smiled as he gently nudged her out of the kitchen. "Oh, you know how to flatter me! However, I wasn''t kidding when I said that I got time. What do I do about it?" She asked. "Get yourself comfortable over in the living room. Read the newspaper then. You know what, I''ll bring some refreshments over." Lonappan kissed his wife in the forehead and headed back to the kitchen. His wife smiled and did as Lonappan instructed. In a few minutes, Lonappan came back to the living room with a glass of lemonade in his hand. "Oh, nice! A lemonade! Place it on the table for now. I''ll drink it in a minute." The wife requested. "Sure." Lonappan placed the lemonade on the table and sat beside his wife for a few minutes. He woke up early that day to prepare a grandiose full course meal. Finally, he was so close to completing it. Therefore, the fatigue was visible in his face. His wife noticed this too. She folded her newspaper and faced towards him. "You look tired." She said as she grazed her fingers through his face. Lonappan smiled. "Nah, I just wanted to sit beside you for a moment." He answered. "Liar." She replied. Both of them had a good laugh for a while. "So, are you nervous? Since your boss is coming?" She asked as she led her fingers to his hair this time. "Nervous? Yeah. However, is it because he''s my boss? Nah. I''m inviting him in as my dear friend. We haven''t had a good talk for a while. However, you haven''t seen him since our wedding, right?" He asked. "Yea, he didn''t speak much to me back then too. Like, was he against our marriage or something?" She asked. "Nah, he didn''t just expect me to marry and get settled, since I was always against marriage and stuff." Lonappan explained. "Then what changed that you ended up marrying me?" She asked. "I guess our first meeting? Like, I felt like marrying this person would be really cool and I''d be happy with her." Lonappan replied. His wife sighed. "We think alike, huh?" She chuckled. "I love you." She suddenly professed her love. Lonappan gave out a bright smile. "I love you too." He brought his face forth and closed his eyes. His wife closed her eyes as well. As they were about to kiss, the doorbell rang. "Seems like your friend has arrived!" His wife said as she pushed Lonappan back. "Sigh, ruined the mood for me." Lonappan got up and opened the door. "Yo! I''ve been waiting for¡­huh?" # "Why are you here?" Lonappan asked the man before him. "Were you expecting someone else?" The man asked. Lonappan hesitated to answer. "Of course not!" He nervously laughed as he lied to the old man. "Babe, what are you doing by the doorstep? Bring him¡ªin?" Lonappan''s wife walked towards the door just to be surprised. "Dad!?" She shouted. "Hello, my daughter. How are you doing?" Lonappan''s father-in-law, his former boss, invited himself in. "I''m doing great! Take a seat, dad. Oh, here''s lemonade!" She gave him the lemonade that Lonappan made for her. How convenient! Her father nodded. He took a sip of the lemonade and looked instantly refreshed. "Well, you sure know how to make good lemonades." He smiled. She shook her head. "Well, it''s actually Lonappan who made the lemonade." She replied. "Oh?" Her father looked surprised for a moment before regaining his composure. "Well, he had all the qualities for becoming a good house husband then." He replied. "Oh, that''s fine. He still has his job. He loves-" She was about to say something, when she was interrupted. "Why not retire? Being an ''architect'' is really dangerous, isn''t it? Like who knows, a random steel rod might hit your head or something. Furthermore, don''t you make enough money for both you and your husband? If that isn''t enough, I have a good amount of money." He suggested. Lonappan looked serious. "It isn''t about the money. I love this ''job'' and I will continue doing it. No one can tell me otherwise." He replied. "Besides dad, haven''t you worked at the same place? Then, how could you say that?" His wife argued. "I had a desk job. I wasn''t an on-site ''architect'' like your husband over here." The father-in-law explained. "So? That doesn''t mean you can make me back off from the job." Lonappan sounded furious. The feud between the father and son-in-law was getting heated. Meanwhile, his wife was getting weirded out by this. "Oh, will you look at that? I have to go to my job now. Babe, I''ll leave dad with you! Bye!" She escaped from the premises the first chance she got. "Damn it! Don''t leave me here alone with him!" He cried in his mind as he waved goodbye. The father-in-law sighed. "I feel bad for driving her out with our fight. I won''t behave like that again. Where are the kids?" He asked. "They went to school way before you arrived." Lonappan answered. "Shoot, I came here for nothing. Should''ve come here on a Sunday or something." The father-in-law clicked his tongue. "Wait, you came here to see them?" Lonappan asked. "Yea, why? You didn''t want me to meet them or something?" He asked back. "No, it''s as you said before. You should''ve come here on a Sunday." Lonappan replied. "Yea, I regret my decision too." The father-in-law answered as he took another sip off the lemonade. "So¡­Are you going now?" Lonappan posed the question before him. "Huh?" He looked at Lonappan in confusion. "Well, you couldn''t see the kids, so why don''t go for now and come back another day?" Lonappan asked. "Are you kidding? I don''t want to come back for a second time at this age! I''ll just wait here." He replied as he relaxed on the sofa. "Crap." He cursed inwardly. In the very next moment, the doorbell rang for the second time that day. This time he was sure about the identity of the person behind the door. "Double crap!" "Why are you standing still? Go open that door!" The father-in-law ordered. "But!" Lonappan tried protesting. He didn''t want to open that door, since his father-in-law wouldn''t exactly like the person on the other side of the door. He sure as hell didn''t expect such a turn of events when he planned this meeting. "You want my old ass to open the door then?" He asked. "No, I will." Lonappan replied and slowly walked towards the front door¡ªthe slowest that he could. However, the person on the other side relentlessly rang the doorbell. "Stay here. Even I can do better than that." The father-in-law got up. However, he was pushed back to the sofa by Lonappan. "No, I''ll handle this." Lonappan assured. He felt it. There was no escaping this situation with lame tricks. He had to face it like he always does. He took a deep breath in and opened the door. "Look, you told me to come, so I came. Now, you should at least have a courtesy to open the door at the first ring of the bell." Ponnappan spoke as he came in. "Ho, look who it is. Lonappan, were you waiting for this bastard?" The father-in-law scoffed at Ponnappan. "Yo, old geezer! You are still alive, spineless coward!" Ponnappan scoffed back. The old man sighed. "Look, I know you aren''t gonna call me your senior. So, at least call me by my name." He spoke. Ponnappan sighed as well. He sat on a couch opposing the old man. "Hello, Chinnappan." "Hmm, that''s good." Chinnappan turned towards Lonappan. "Now, why is this fucking asshole here?" He asked. "Hey, hey! I thought swearing was out of bounds, you fucktard!" Ponnappan hit back as well before turning to Lonappan. "So, as he said, why is he here?" He asked. Lonappan stood silent for a moment. He was cooking up his brain. The two people who should not have met have met each other. This was certainly bad for him. "Shoot! An explanation would still won''t be enough to get at least one of them out of the house. I need some help here for sure." That''s when a particular person came into Lonappan''s mind. "Oh no! My phone''s vibrating. Seems like someone''s calling me. Just wait a minute, okay?" Lonappan took his phone and ran towards the kitchen. # Chapter 32: Four generations "What else? Let''s look around. There''s no way that no one knows about his whereabouts." Kunjan ordered. The other two agreed and the trio went around searching for Taro. During this search, Thankappan suddenly got a phone call. "Hello?" He asked. "Thankappan, you there?" Lonappan asked from the other side of the call. "Yeah?" "You need to help me, like right now! I''m at a pinch and I would definitely like someone''s help. So please, can you come?" Lonappan literally begged him. "It''s that important?" Thankappan asked. This was the first time he heard Lonappan in such desperation. So, he kinda understood the gravity of the situation. "Of course! Why would I even call you if it wasn''t?" Lonappan asked. Thankappan contemplated for a moment. Although the Taro case was present, Lonappan''s desperation seemed more important. Therefore, he made a decision. "Sure, I''m coming." Thankappan hung up the call and looked at them in dismay. "Okay, look. It was Lonappan. Seems like the job was so important that he needs more hands now. So, I gotta go. Kunjan, I guess you''re in charge now." Thankappan told. # Outside Lonappan''s house. Lonappan was grabbing Thankappan by his hand who seemed like he was trying to escape from there. "Thankappan, don''t leave man! You gotta help a brother!" Lonappan said as he continued tugging on his junior''s arm. "Dude, you made it sound like it was important. In the end, it was some shit happening in your house?" Thankappan asked with a disgusted look on his face. "You have to understand the gravity of the situation!" Lonappan was trying to convey his distress, however, Thankappan stopped him. "And you have to understand what others are going through too! Taro''s missing, you know? We were searching for him when you called me. When I listened to you, I thought it was something important and I abandoned those guys there. Therefore now, I feel like a fucking asshole for that." Thankappan sighed as he felt bad for the other two. Lonappan took a long breath in. "Are you done?" He asked. This irked Thankappan. "What do you mean am I done? Didn''t you hear what I just-" Thankappan was about to go on a rant when Lonappan hit him in the gut which instantly brought him to his knees. "If you''re done, shut your trap and listen carefully. In there, are two of MIB''s leading men, one past and one present. Unfortunately, these two people happened to be my father-in-law and my friend. Due to some unforeseen events, they both ended up in my house simultaneously. Now, let me ask you, do you know the relationship between them two?" He asked as Thankappan writhed on the ground with pain. "Ow, fuck! No, I don''t." Thankappan cried. "Oh, you naive younglin. They fucking hate each other. Hence, if you don''t want a war to erupt here, you better help me." Lonappan ordered. After a bit of huffing and puffing, Thankappan got up. "So, what do you want me to do?" He asked. # "Now, who the hell is this?" Chinnappan asked Lonappan, who brought in Thankappan. "Thankappan, why the hell are you here?" Ponnappan asked. "You know that guy?" Chinnappan looked at Ponnappan. "He''s from the dungeon." Ponnappan replied proudly. "Fuck, he''s a sprout of that wretched place? It shouldn''t have existed to begin with." Chinnappan sighed. For a moment, pure terror took over and was clearly visible in Thankappan''s eyes. "What do you mean?" Lonappan asked. Amongst the four, he was the least informant of the MIB dungeon project. He was curious as to what Thankappan''s upbringing was. Although Lonappan didn''t notice it, Chinnappan''s perceptive eyes clearly noticed the terror in Thankappan''s eyes. He sighed. "Wanna take a seat, kid?" He offered a seat to Thankappan. Thankappan smiled pleasantly as if the past few seconds didn''t happen. "Yes, please. Thank you." He silently took a seat. "You know what? I''ll get food for us!" Lonappan quickly headed back to the kitchen, leaving the three by themselves. "..." "..." Thankappan was feeling nervous. None of them talked and this caused some heavy atmosphere that made him feel as if he was being choked. Therefore, even though he was terrified to make a move in such a situation, he felt like he had to. "Hey, it seems that four generations worth of MIB''s senior-rookie tandem''s present here! That has to be a unique event for sure!" Thankappan spoke, trying to break the ice. "Fuck." Ponnappan muttered under his breath. "What?" Thankappan looked at him, confused about why he muttered it. Ponnappan sighed. "Look, kid. I don''t care whatever the shit you want to say, however I would prefer if you say three generations worth. I don''t acknowledge that old fart as my mentor in any way, shape or form." He spoke. "Aww, looks like you care though! Liar." Chinnappan chuckled, his artificial teeth set nearly falling off his mouth. "Fuck off!" Ponnappan looked extremely irritated by the mere presence. Chinnappan flipped the bird as well. Meanwhile, Thankappan smiled. He had never seen this side of the commanding officer. "What the hell are you smiling about?" Ponnappan asked Thankappan. "Nothing." He shrugged. "Then fucking stop smiling or I''ll sew your mouth shut." Ponnappan threatened, which made Thankappan chuckle. "This fucker!" Ponnappan was this close in pouncing over Thankappan, when Lonappan came in with the food. "Look what I got!" Lonappan exclaimed as he brought forth all his masterpieces. "Damn, it smells good." Chinnappan took a whiff of it and spoke. "I can''t disagree with that either." Ponnappan chimed in and for the first time in ten years or so, they finally agreed on something, even though it wasn''t something substantial. "Let''s dig in then!" Thankappan placed away the fork and knife that Lonappan placed beside him and started feasting on it with his bare hands. Upon seeing this, the others followed suit as well. Gradually, it turned from a luncheon to a normal afternoon in every Keralites household. "So, how''s work these days?" Chinnappan asked. Ponnappan sighed. "There it is!" "What the hell do you mean?" Chinnappan asked. Thankappan wondered as well. However, Ponnappan didn''t reply. Instead, it was Lonappan who replied. "We were having a moment right there. And you had to ruin it by asking about work." He said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Hey, it''s not like I asked you if you were still that bloody Glomeran''s bootlickers!" Chinnappan scorned. "This! This is what I hate about you, old man! Why do you and that fucking alien badmouth Glomera and our beneficial relationship so much?" Ponnappan roared. "I merely spoke the truth. By the way, I''m really glad someone else shares my view." Chinnappan smiled. "You fucking-" He got up. However, Lonappan stopped him from further actions. "I see. He''s the main reason why the boss got pissed off when Taro talked about Glomera." Thankappan thought as he listened to the war of words between the two. "You and everyone else within the MIB can''t see the big picture. Even if someone were to fucking hand you all the evidence pointing out the fact that you were being swindled, you''d just act oblivious about it." Chinnappan shrugged. "That''s literally what happened though!" Thankappan thought as he continued munching on his food. Suddenly, he felt an intense glare at him. It was Lonappan. "Please do something about this!" His eyes begged. Lonappan could literally handle anyone else in this world except those two. Maybe,, it was the trauma that they caused his younger self, but he can''t seem to raise a voice when those two act up. Thankfully, Thankappan got his SOS and jumped in to change the subject. "Hey, so this -appan part of our names, is this just for our line or does any other agent have that name?" He asked. Ponnappan laid back as he heard the question. "Nah, it''s confined to us. Well, the old man began it though. See, MIB has this tradition where if one becomes a senior agent, he/she has to face their mentor. It''s not just that you get to prove your superiority over your mentor, you also get to pick your name and the right to name your successors a variation of the name. If you lose, you just have deal with whatever stupid name your mentor gives you." He explained. "So, Chinappan began the -appan naming?" Thankappan asked. "Yea, who the hell names themselves Chinappan and passes that shitty naming sense down to his juniors?" Ponnappan looked disgustingly at Chinnappan. "You could''ve changed it though! Too bad your ass lost to me!" Chinappan laughed out loud. "Old man, are you picking a fight with me?" Ponnappan asked as he rolled up his sleeves. "I can still beat your punk ass, you know!" Chinnappan took off his teeth as well. "Wow, I never knew there was such a history around just a name. Wait, that means I''ll have to fight Lonappan? I wonder how strong he is. Well, not as strong as Ponnappan it seems!" He thought as the two men beside him riled up for a fight. Amidst all the commotion, Thankappan suddenly got a message on his phone. He had been expecting an update from the plankton. However, it wasn''t him.instead, it was from Lonappan beside him. "CALL ME! RIGHT NOW!" # Chapter 33: Change Cowering from the sheer intensity of that stare from Lonappan when he received the message, Thankappan had no choice but to comply with Lonappan''s wishes. Hence, within a few seconds, Lonappan''s phone rang. "Hello? Yea? Something important? Sure! I''m coming right away." He hung the phone with a serious expression on his face. Ponnappan and Chinnappan had stayed silent for a bit, wondering the reason behind Lonappan''s sudden seriousness. "Guys, something happened and they need the seniors'' help. Therefore, Ponnappan and myself need to get going!" He muttered as he grabbed Ponnappan. "You sure it didn''t say ALL active MIB agents?" Thankappan asked, trying his best to escape from the old man along with the two. "Nah, fam. They specifically asked for the senior agents." Lonappan smirked, immensely happy about this while Thankappan cried inside. "Well, if it''s that important, I think we should get going straight away." Ponnappan looked serious as well. "I gotta agree with the shithead for this one time. By the way, don''t worry about me! This guy will keep me company." Chinnappan said as he pointed towards Thankappan. "I will?" Thankappan asked. He desperately didn''t want to. The old man gave him bad vibes. "Of course, you will. We''ll talk quite a bit about many things!" Chinnappan gave out a warm smile which sent chills to Thankappan''s spine. "Now that''s all settled, we will get going." Lonappan quickly dragged Ponnappan with him and escaped while Thankappan wailed on the inside. "So, shall we talk?" Chinnappan asked, folding his arms. # Within a few minutes time, Lonappan took Ponnappan on his bike and went as far as he could. Finally, they ended up near a paddy field where no one was present. "Whew, narrow escape from the old man! I feel bad for dumping Thankappan there though!" Lonappan sighed in relief. "Why are we here? Weren''t we going to the MIB office?" A confused Ponnappan looked around and asked. Lonappan shook his head in disappointment. "Dude, that was a lie! I made Thankappan call me. For real though, I don''t know how you are still the commanding officer if you get fooled by stuff like this!" Lonappan replied, still shaking his head. "Well, it''s not like I trust everyone." Ponnappan spoke. "So, why is it that you brought me here?" He asked. "Didn''t you want to get away from the old man? So, I helped you in it." Lonappan gave a smile. Ponnappan scoffed. "I can clearly see from your face that the one who needed escaping from the old fart is you. Nevertheless, I''m gonna thank you." He replied. "You better!" Lonappan chuckled. "So, what was the purpose behind inviting me for lunch?" He asked. "I wanted to have a friendly chat between us; two really good friends." Lonappan replied. "Hmm, let us." Ponnappan liked this idea. Lonappan smiled and nodded his head as well. However, a few minutes passed and yet neither of them talked. They didn''t know where to begin with and desperately wanted the other to do the role of the ice breaker between them. In the end, Lonappan took the initiative. "Hey, since we''re this close, why don''t we go all the way and meet Gopan? He''s been asking about you, you know?" Lonappan asked. "No, if I went there, I''ll end up using the neuralyzer on him and I don''t wanna do that since¡­" Ponnappan was about to say something, but decided to stay quiet instead. "Hmm, is that so? We''ll not go there then." Lonappan spoke and they had another instance of long silence. However, this time Ponnappan decided to break the silence. "Can I ask you something?" He asked. "Shoot." "What happened to you?" He asked much to the surprise of Lonappan. "What do you mean?" Lonappan asked. "By the way, the same question can be directed towards you too," He added. Ponnappan laughed. "Yea, we both changed, huh? Well, it''s because of my new position and the powers and responsibility that came with it." He answered. "These powers changed you to the point that you became a tyrant to your subordinates and a lap dog for the higher-ups?" He asked bluntly. Right now, he was talking to his friend and not his superior, so he did not have to mince his words. "Isn''t that the clich¨¦ of every workplace? Unlike you, I became a part of the system. And inside this system, we have to act according to the system''s suggestion." Ponnappan replied. Lonappan clicked his tongue. "Don''t blame your mistakes on some non-existent system. Give me a proper answer." He demanded. Ponnappan sighed. "Proper answer, huh? Would you believe me if I said I was acting before you this whole time?" He asked. "No." "Hmm." He thought for a while. "I''m in it for the money?" "As if you need money in the first place." Lonappan replied in a disgruntled voice. "I like tormenting people? The higher-ups have promised me a promotion?" Ponnappan gave out the options. "The second one is possible. However, if that''s the case, your friend right here will beat the shit out of you. And you''ve worked hard for everything you ever did as well. So, a little difficult to believe." Lonappan replied as he cracked his knuckles. Knowing the intensity of Lonappan''s fists, Ponnappan shivered and gave into the pressure. "Okay, look. This is the only way to survive." He replied. "What do you mean?" Lonappan asked. "That old geezer fucked up so bad with his statement before his retirement about Glomerans that the higher-ups actually considered shutting down this sector fearing that there might be another batch of idiots just like him. Therefore, to stop that from happening, I had to plead with them. And they asked me to keep a tight leash on you guys, which ended up with me looking like a tyrant." Ponnappan explained. Lonappan stayed silent for a moment before giving out a sigh. "Damn, why do you have to redeem yourself like this? Just tell the others too. They''ll forgive you too!" He cried. "I don''t want them to forgive me. I''ve been an asshole to them after all." Ponnappan replied. "So, since I told you my reason, why don''t you tell me yours?" He asked. "What?" Lonappan asked back. "You getting married, having kids, reluctant to leave this place and other stuff generally. Seriously, what happened to the free spirit that I once knew?" Ponnappan asked the question this time. Lonappan sighed. "I guess I learned to appreciate small things in life now. I didn''t expect much when I got married to my wife, however, she taught me to take stuff easily, one step at a time and I became content in doing that I guess? Sure, I might''ve thought of jumping around places, meeting new people and doing multiple missions when I was young. But now I learned that rather than meeting new people, living with the same people who make you immensely happy is way better! I learned about how having a family is the best feeling in the world. So, yea the free spirited me is no more, I guess." He replied. "Hmm. And yet, it feels like you got the answer you were searching for the longest time." Ponnappan spoke. "You could say that." Lonappan nodded. "So¡­ Friends?" Ponnappan extended his hand which was swatted away by Lonappan. "What fucking bullshit is this? When were we not friends?" He asked, smiling. Ponnappan laughed. "Yea. So, should we go back now?" He asked. "I guess. Although, I now feel bad for leaving Thankappan alone with the old man. I wonder if everything went fine." He spoke. # Back in Lonappan''s household. "So, shall we talk?" Chinnappan asked. "I''m sorry! It was me who called Lonappan back then. He wanted to escape from here!" Thankappan quickly blabbered his mouth and betrayed Lonappan''s trust. He didn''t feel that sorry though. "I''m very well aware that my son-in-law lied to me about important stuff in MIB, so you don''t have to worry about that." Chinnappan assured. "Well, did you know that Lonappan actually invited Ponnappan to mend their friendship?" Thankappan asked. "Do you think I''m an idiot or something? I might be a bit old, but by no means I''ve become senile! I''m aware that I played the role of party pooper in their lunch plan and you were brought in by Lonappan so that you could do something to keep me in check, right?" He asked. Thankappan was right to be terrified of the old man. He felt like the old man was scarily accurate with his intuitions, even though it could have been deduced by literally anyone with eyes and a decent perception. "Since, you know about everything that there is to know, what else can I possibly say?" Thankappan asked. "Don''t beat around the bush, kid! You know what I''ve been interested about ever since I learned about you." Chinnappan replied. Thankappan knew what he meant. However, he didn''t want to talk about that. So, he decided to act oblivious. "What do you mean?" He gave out a nervous laughter. Chinnappan sighed. "You''re gonna play this game, huh? Cool, tell me about the dungeon, kid." He ordered. # Chapter 34: Dungeon "No." Thankappan firmly denied Chinnappan on his order. "Come on, man! Be a good sport about it now, can''t you?" Chinnappan said as he nudged Thankappan on his shoulder. However, Thankappan rejected all of Chinnappan''s advances. "Please don''t force me." He requested. "Hmm, so you''re not gonna speak of it?" The old man asked. "I''m afraid I can''t speak of it." Thankappan replied. "Geez, such a letdown." Chinnappan sighed. "You know what? Let me make it easier for you. I''ll reveal a secret of mine and you''ll tell me about the dungeon and stuff." He spoke. "..." However, Thankappan didn''t answer. "Okay, cool. I''ll tell you mine then. I have this habit of speaking as if I know everything when I know jackshit. In short, my entire thought process is plagiarized from someone else. Remember that one famous person who copied another famous person''s review tweet for a movie word-by-word?" He asked. "No? I don''t think anyone knows." Thankappan replied. "Boy, you should surf through the internet every once in a while to get that sort of tea! Well, at least reading the entertainment page of the newspaper would suffice!" Chinnappan spoke. "You are a weird old geezer." Thankappan muttered. "Thank you. I take pride in that." Chinnappan smiled. "I didn''t mean it as a compliment though!" Thankappan thought as he saw Chinnappan''s gleeful face. "Anyway, as I was saying. My thoughts are plagiarized. What do I mean by that? I do not have a single original idea. Like, I use someone else''s brilliant idea to appease to people or just sound smart generally. Oh, you want an example? The thing about Glomerans I talked about a bit before; yea, an alien told me back then. Of course, it might be a hoax, however, it made sense, you know? Hence, I made it my brainchild and got all the hatred." The old man laughed as if he had gone senile. "Geezer, why would you do that?" Thankappan asked, confused about Chinnappan''s objective behind doing such a crazy thing. "Well, in an off chance it actually turns out to be true, they''ll regard me as a flipping prophet." Chinnappan laughed hysterically. "You see, it''s the faces, my man! Have you seen their faces when someone talks about that shit?" He asked. "As a matter of fact, I have seen one." Thankappan replied, reminiscing about the time Ponnappan got frustrated with Taro. Ponnappan getting frustrated about it at Chinnappan was also a memory that flashed past, however, it wasn''t that long ago to reminisce about. "So, you get what I meant, right? Their faces get way too twisted when I talk about this ''rumor'', now imagine how their faces will become when this ''rumor'' actually becomes a fact?" Chinnappan laughed as loud as he could until he choked himself up. "Drink some water, old man!" Thankappan handed him a glass of water as he struggled breathing. "I''m fine now. Thank you." Chinnappan declared a few minutes later. "Sheesh, that was scary. Anyway, you got some balls to actually admit your mistakes or weird sadistic behaviors in this case." Thankappan sweated as he tried giving props to the old man. "Meh, this is nothing. You get old and you tend not to give a fuck about things." Chinnappan shrugged. "Ah, I see." Thankappan silently nodded for quite a bit of time. "So, are you gonna tell me your story then?" He asked. "When was that part of the deal? You just randomly spoke up about this so-called secret that I could''ve lived without ever knowing." Thankappan scoffed. Chinnappan was shell shocked. "Hey, that''s not fair! I''m one foot towards the grave and you made me waste my precious time talking about that shit! Hell, you wasted everyone''s time!" He cried. "Do you think I care?" Thankappan asked. "Come on, man! I''m an old man, I forget things. You can rely on me! The second you say something to me, I would''ve forgotten about it. I promise!" He swore. "As if! You''re a vily old man. I can''t seem to believe you on that." Thankappan sighed. "Damn, I don''t get it! Why don''t you talk about it?" Chinnappan cried in frustration. "Everyone''s got their own secret, old man!" Thankappan replied. "Was it that bad?" The geezer asked him in a concerned voice. For a split second, Thankappan actually fell for it. "You could say that." He replied. The old predator wasted no time as he tried pouncing on the prey. " Don''t worry. This old man''s there for you! This is a safe space. You can talk about anything you want in here." This time, the sly old fox used a soothing voice. However, the charm did not work for the second time. This time, Thankappan caught the whiff of the trick. "Nah, old man! You can''t go all psychiatrist on me! Been treated worse back in the dungeon." He scoffed. Chinnappan smiled. "Good, that''s a great start. Why don''t we speak more about it?" He asked. This irked Thankappan. "Fuck off, old man!" He quickly got away from Chinnappan. "Sheesh, as I said before, you''re no fun." The old man pouted. Meanwhile, the duo didn''t notice that hours had already passed by and it was evening. "Grandpa!" Chinnappan''s grandkids enter the scene. "My cutiepies!" Chinnappan ran towards his grandkids and hugged them tight. Taking advantage of this moment, Thankappan quietly slipped out of the house. Outside, Lonappan and Ponnappan were waiting for him. "What the hell are you two doing outside? Couldn''t you have saved me back then when I was questioned by the old man?" He cried. Lonappan scratched his head. "To be honest, we kinda wanted to know about the dungeon too." He replied as Ponnappan nodded. "Fuck you two! Respect someone''s privacy now, will ya?" He flipped off the finger and walked off. "Sheesh, what''s wrong with him?" Lonappan asked his friend. "I don''t know. Maybe he got that temper of the old man?" Ponnappan shrugged. Thankappan on the other hand, was really pissed off as before. However, this calmed down a little when he saw Gibli, Kunjan and¡­ "Wait, where''s Taro?" He asked. Gibli and Kunjan exchanged a few looks before Gibli finally opened his mouth. "About that. What happened is¡­" # The dojo master fearlessly headed towards Taro who had been stalking him for days now. He believed in his own strength and if things go awry, he was sure that he could subdue Taro. However, before that, he wanted to have a chat with Taro. "What do you want? I mean you''ve been around for pretty much the whole time now, so I''d like an answer." The master demanded. However, Taro couldn''t understand shit and stood still. Seeing this, the dojo master tried harder. "What do you want? You here to kill me or something?" He asked. However, yet again no reply came from Taro'' s behalf. Taro tried his best trying to understand the body language, however he got a whole lot of nothing. According to him, the Earthlings move differently as they talk. You can never decipher something unless you have a translator and you end up hearing what it is from the cat''s mouth. "Oh, you''re gonna give me the silent treatment, huh?" The dojo master got into his fighting posture, ready to attack at any given time. This time, Taro finally saw a familiar posture. He was aware of why the master was taking up the pose, it was to attack the stalker. However he saw it as his chance. This was his only chance of actually explaining his intentions with his actions. Therefore, he bowed deeply towards the dojo master. This move thoroughly confused the dojo master. He would understand if the guy tried attacking him, however, the one before him was bowing. "Are you apologizing?" He asked. "No, you idiot! Understand his actions for goodness sake!" Gibli silently cried in the shadows. "Shh, let him figure it out by himself." Kunjan whispered back. "Well, how dense can one be?" Gibli asked before quickly turning his attention back to the scene unfolding before him. "Hey, do you even understand me?" The dojo master relieved himself off his stance and asked. However, Taro did not answer. Instead, he continued bowing towards him. "Wait. You shit head! Crap taker! Asshole! Bitch!" The dojo master suddenly riled up a series of profanity towards Taro. However, yet again, Taro remained unflinched. "What the hell is that guy doing? Maybe I should go beat him up a bit." An enraged Gibli tried advancing, but was quickly put to stop by Kunjan. "Wait and watch. The specimen is achieving a breakthrough moment!" He instructed Gibli. Therefore, Gibli stayed back yet again. "Wait, by any chance, don''t you know Malayalam?" The dojo master shouted before trying to collect his thoughts. "Wait, wait, wait. All this time, were you trying to be my student? You just didn''t know how to communicate, huh? I apologize." The dojo master bowed his head too. Noticing this, Taro raised his head back up. "So, why don''t you enter into the dojo this time around, instead of staying on the outside?" The dojo master invited him in by grabbing his hand and dragging him in. # Chapter 35: Friendly Banter "So, what you''re saying is that Taro creeped his way into the dojo. Is that right?" Lonappan looked at the two aliens and asked. "Yes, that''s right." Gibli replied and Kunjan nodded his head to that. "Hmm, okay. This could seriously be a problem later on. You get what I mean, Ponnappan?" He turned to his commanding officer and asked. "I get it. I''ll fast track the translator making process by a bit then. Don''t expect too much though. It might still take time." Ponnappan replied. "Wait, everything''s fine with you two then?" Kunjan asked. "Yea, I guess? There wasn''t anything to begin with." Ponnappan shrugged. "Yup. I totally believe that." Kunjan thought as he reminisced of the time he met up with Ponnappan. That was pretty shit. Meanwhile, Gibli tried taking advantage of this situation. "Well, since you are in a good mood and all, how about you reinstate Taro''s monthly allowance?" He asked nicely as he could. Ponnappan smiled. "Look, I don''t have anything against Taro. If it was on me, I would''ve done that already. However, Taro pissed off the commanding officer of MIB. I don''t know how I can salvage that." He replied. Gibli stared at him in confusion. "Hold on. Aren''t you the commanding officer?" He asked. "Yes." Ponnappan nodded. "So, he pissed you off?" Gibli asked. He needed clarity more than anything now. "Nah, He didn''t piss ME off." Ponnappan reiterated his statement. Gibli was at his wit''s end. "Argh! That doesn''t make any sense. You humans are really weird with your word plays and stuff. Just fucking say it already!" He cried. Kunjan patted on his shoulder. "Calm down, mate." He said as he turned his attention towards Ponnappan. "So, you''re saying that he didn''t piss off the YOU you, however, he managed to piss off the commanding officer of MIB you, right?" He asked. "Precisely." Ponnappan nodded his head in agreement. "Precisely? What does that shit even mean?" Gibli screamed, utterly confused about whatever Kunjan said. "Well, he''s saying that there''s no chance in hell that he''s gonna give that allowance. So, don''t bother." Kunjan tried calming down Gibli who desperately wanted to chew off Ponnappan''s head. "Then he could''ve just said it bluntly." Gibli calmed down and replied. "Well, humans like adding a certain amount of mystique to their words." Ponnappan smiled and waved his hands around in the air for no apparent reason. "That''s just plain stupid in my opinion." Gibli spoke as Ponnappan shrugged his shoulders. "So, Taro is in the dojo now?" Lonappan, trying to divert the conversational topic asked to Kunjan. "Well, yea. He''s out there. I don''t know how long it''ll take though." Kunjan replied. "Speak of the devil and he shall arrive." Ponnappan spoke as he pointed at Taro in the distance. "Oh, hey Taro!" Gibli waved hard before turning towards Kunjan. "I never got that sentence. Does he mean Taro''s the bad guy?" He asked. "Human''s have some weird dialects that even the universal translator finds difficult to understand. Therefore, it''s better if we don''t try to decipher their shit." Kunjan replied. "Hey, guys!" Taro waved back. "So, how was it?" Lonappan asked. "I guess it went well. I will be going tomorrow as well." Taro replied. "Oh,it''s fine if you get a bit late tomorrow. I messaged your boss and he said that the work will only start the day after tomorrow." Lonappan spoke. "Whoo! Finally, we got work again!" Gibli cheered up. "Boss?" Ponnappan asked, dropping a confused expression. "Well, weren''t you the one who nulled Taro''s monthly allowance?" Lonappan asked back. "Yes? However, why are the others working?" Ponnappan asked, still confused about it. "Well, since they care about their roommate! Except for Thankappan, of course. I asked him to join in for surveying them." Lonappan replied. Hearing this, the previously walked off Thankappan came running back. "I care about my roommate too!" He cried before turning his attention to Taro. "Taro! Damn, I''m glad that you''re back!" He cried as he hugged the alien tight. "Were you worried?" Taro asked. "Of course! I was searching for you too, until these two shitheads called in for me!" He scoffed at Lonappan and Ponnappan. Taro suddenly noticed Ponnappan for the first time since he reached there. "Oh, hello Mr Clown!" He smiled and waved his hand. "Yea, hello, Mr Whateveryournameis!" Ponnappan dawned the fakest smile on his face as he said his greetings. "Well, glad to see that your hostility is still alive and kicking. Not that I didn''t expect anything less." Lonappan sighed, seeing the commanding officer get in a catfight with an alien. "Yea, I''m gonna go now!" Ponnappan laughed and quickly escaped the premises. "I''ll come as well!" Lonappan joined Ponnappan and headed out. "Me, as well. Gotta get some of that well deserved sleep." Taro chuckled and headed towards the Holy Land. "But, you don''t sleep?" Gibli spoke, not knowing Taro''s intent. "Oh? Yea. I''m off to watch television then." Taro quickly changed his initial excuse. "Well, you could''ve just said that before. Why did you lie?" Gibli asked. However, Kunjan stopped him. "Not the right time to run your mouth like that, Gibli." He said as Taro glared a hole into Gibli''s chest. "Eek!" Gibli cried as he saw this and quickly shut his trap. # Meanwhile, Ponnappan and Lonappan were once again alone by themselves for the second time that day. "Ha, the wind''s a bit chilly, eh?" Lonappan asked, trying to make a conversation out of it. "It''s night. What else do you expect?" Ponnappan replied bluntly, thrashing all follow up conversations that Lonappan had planned. "Sheesh, it is quite difficult to have a conversation with you, huh?" Lonappan sighed as he continued walking. "Well, you did know that from way before, right?" Ponnappan asked. "Yea. I''m fine with it. However, your social anxiety is just gonna let your image grow more sinister before your subordinates. Like, they might think that their boss is so high and mighty that he can''t even give a fuck about what they are talking about." Lonappan explained. "As if! And even if that''s true, you can''t just get rid of social anxiety whenever you want. Understand the pain of people living with it. They can only hold a proper conversation with the people whom they genuinely trust. Trying to make them different altogether will just ruin it for them." Ponnappan spoke. "Begin small then. You don''t have to just talk with every other person in this world. Go to a therapist or something. Speak about your troubles. Maybe, it''s not that you are unable to hold a conversation, maybe it''s just because you''re stressed." He replied. "Wait, aren''t they related and not different?" Ponnappan asked. "How would I know? You''re supposed to ask that to the professionals. Like therapists." Lonappan got back to his previous point. "I''m fine with talking with a therapist and all. However, talking about my profession to them is not a good idea, don''t you think?" He asked Lonappan. "Well, you''re speaking as if there isn''t a mental health act and a certified MIB therapist around you!" Lonappan shook his head in dismay. "You just don''t wanna go, do you?" He asked. "No, no! I''ll go fix an appointment with a therapist soon. So, don''t worry about that." Ponnappan assured. "Good." Lonappan nodded in approval. The silence got back into the fold. Honestly, Lonappan didn''t mind. It was good weather and he could just enjoy it in silence. However, Ponnappan decided to try his best to start a conversation since he was responsible for thwarting Lonappan''s advances. "#306¡­" He mumbled. "Huh?" Lonappan didn''t quite get it. "The #306 guys. They changed now, didn''t they?" Ponnappan asked. "What do you mean?" Lonappan asked back. "Well, you do know the curse of #306." Ponnappan replied. "Ha, the one where an alien ending up in that room becomes extremely unproductive and stuff?" He asked. "Yea, those guys look really proactive now. That''s a huge shift." Ponnappan replied. "Well, you could thank Taro for that." Lonappan spoke. Ponnappan didn''t quite understand that. "What do you mean?" He asked. "He''s exactly the person that was required to fill the hole right in the middle." Lonappan said. "You still are not explaining jack shit, mate." Ponnappan complained. Lonappan sighed. "Look, as I said, the current squad was also quite similar to the earlier ones in room 306. However, Taro''s arrival changed it. Why, you ask me one billion times? Well, Taro is someone they want to help since he knows jack shit about this world and someone delays his translator''s arrival. Also, he''s strong. By strong, I mean insanely strong." He explained. "Give me an approximate value of his strength." Ponnappan requested. "Well, on a given day, he can destroy this planet if he puts his mind into it." Lonappan answered. "Holy! So, why isn''t he in the calamity level danger''s list?" He asked. "Ah, I forgot!" Lonappan chuckled for no reason. "This is no small matter! I''ll add him in immediately." Ponnappan took out his phone and did some stuff. "There. He''s at a calamity level now." He sighed. "Well, don''t worry. I''ll survey him at all times!" Lonappan assured. "You better! Or the world will literally end!" Ponnappan replied. # Chapter 36: Dojo Log 420 [Dojo Log (or Diary for the idiots unlike the mighty dojo master!) Day 420] So, shit happened. When I said shit, I meant like massive shit happened. I don''t even know how to recover from this. What happened, you ask? Well, let me just spend all the time I should be working into writing my backstory that I''ve written like five times this past week because I don''t think I have much of a job anymore. Where should I begin with? I began doing this because I once saw a damn awesome movie with this martial art tournament as the main focal point when I was a kid. (P.S. Whenever I talk to my son about this, he always talks about the lame reboot of the movie and how it''s the greatest thing in the world. Bitch, how dare you!) Anyway, ever since then, I thought of it as my destiny to chase after this. So, that''s exactly what I did. I made my poor parents spend their hard earned money to send me to a dojo and promised them that I''ll be a prodigy in this art. Little did I know that they would take a little kid''s assurance a little too seriously and spend literally their entire life savings into it. Hence, when i actually got bored of this shit, I couldn''t just back out of it and had to go on with what my idiotic ass said back when I was a kid. However, unlike in my childhood, once I became a teenager, I learned that becoming a prodigy is totally not my thing. I learned that prodigies have some unique talent in that field. Those guys put in a substantial amount of effort. And I did jack shit. So, I gave up on becoming a prodigy and tried becoming a regular guy winning regular district championships. And that''s when I knew that I''m one of the worst of the lot and I''m not even qualified to be the district champion. I was trashed in the first round. I didn''t have any excuse. If it was the champion who beat me, at least that would be a proper excuse. Ultimately, I was just not that good. My crazy parents however, continued believing in me and spent their money to buy my way into becoming a master. They bought off all the belts. It was easy though, give the master some extra cash and you are automatically qualified. The fun thing is, they still considered me as a prodigy. I wonder which prodigy buys their way like I did. Anyhow, knowing that I can''t just tell my parents the harsh truth that I suck, I decided to go on with it. I participated in various tournaments, lost thoroughly to those master-level martial artists. Unlike me, they didn''t entirely buy their way through, so they were quite powerful. Finally, after four full years of leeching off my parents'' blood, sweat and tears, I won the municipal corporation''s martial arts tourney by sheer dumb luck, since my scheduled opponent got constipation and withdrew from the tournament. I got what I needed; an accomplishment. I used it to start a dojo of my own. Since the tournament occurred relatively far away from my home, no one knew how I won it. They just knew that I won it. So, I swindled my way into people knowing me as a respectable dojo master. Since I was a tournament winner, parents sent their children to me. Hence, my dojo became a reputable one with a number of kids. With this, my parents were happy. Too happy that they ended up getting a stroke and died in consecutive days. I feel sorry for them. I wonder what would''ve happened if they were actually blessed with a prodigy unlike the garbage that I was. They would have done everything in their power to make their kid taste success. Poor lot died without enjoying their own life. After their death, I learned that on top of everything they''ve done for me, they actually left me a inheritance of quite a hefty amount. They sure were crazy about me! Anyway, there''s always this one loose mouth guy in a family. In mine, it was my uncle who actually walked around the town revealing that my parents left me a small fortune. By the end of it, many people knew about that. So now, I had money and a stable job. Therefore, in came marriage proposals. Since I was rejected every time I asked someone out, I decided this would be a better way for me and ended up marrying my wife and had a child with her. My life was going perfectly fine, although, my son''s just like me though. He said he wanted to learn some stuff too, knowing how that ended up for me, I denied it. He calls me a bad father now. I don''t care. I will raise him as a doctor that''ll let him have a decent life at the age of fifty five. Putting those things aside, let''s talk about what''s been happening these days. So, suddenly one day, this random dude started to stand guard to my dojo. No, I didn''t appoint a security, but this guy stared through the window pane the entire time I took my classes. Like, he''s full on giving out a creepy stare. I was half sure that he ain''t some guy checking out his girlfriend in my dojo, because that would be downright illegal since the guy looks around thirty and all the girls in my dojo are under eleven. Therefore, I kept that in mind. Next, I confirmed it with the kids in my dojo. It wasn''t their relatives either. Now, my first theory seemed plausible. Just like me, the kids'' parents were also suspicious of this creepy dude who could possibly be a pedophile. Thus, they asked me to make him leave the premises. So, I did. However, he always ended up by the window, when I took my classes. Creeped out by this, many parents withdrew their kids from their dojo and it got a bad name of having a pedophilic stalker around. Now that I think about it, my stupid ass should''ve just called for the police back then. Why didn''t I do that? Anyhow, I striked down my fees quite considerably so that I could keep the money saving parents in my clasp. Therefore, the classes went as usual, but with a particular someone staring at the window until the classes were done. However, there''s this one thing in common. He always ends up leaving right after I finish the classes. He doesn''t annoy me or the kids, so I was for some reason tolerating this stalking rather than reporting it to the police. I really hate my decisions sometimes. Anyway, yesterday, this changed. This guy followed me literally everywhere I went. At first, I wasn''t sure this was the case. However, once I saw him follow me into a restroom one kilometer away from the dojo, I was pretty much sure. So, I decided not to go to some deserted place and tried blending with the crowd instead. Now that I think about it, I could''ve gone straight to the police station back then. My goodness! All the time to report it, but my fucking brain decided to leave on a vacation or something it seems. Anyhow, blending didn''t work as he followed me all the way through back to my dojo, where I was supposed to have my evening classes, the one emptied up now because of this guy. Since he did something different from normal, I decided to do it for once as well. I approached him. That''s when I learned that he''s not familiar with our dialect and it seems that he wanted to join the dojo for the longest time, but was unsure about how he should approach about it. I felt bad for judging him by the creepy stare. Therefore, I invited him into my dojo. Even though he knew nothing of what I spoke to him, he understood my actions. He absorbed all the stances and moves like it was child''s play. Maybe this is what people call a prodigy? How would I know? He might just totally suck and it might just be that I can''t judge his aptitude since I''m the worst. So, what''s the upside, you ask? Well I got a new pupil who may or may not be the prodigy I longed to become. Oh, you want to know the downside too? Well for one, I got little to no pupils now and my new pupil''s the one responsible for it. And this new pupil is one who might not even know when it''s time to pay or when to arrive for classes. Well, he might know when the classes are since he stared at these windows for the longest time. Well, then. I just don''t know how this will end up or if he''s gonna come tomorrow or if he''s just a stalker mole placed by some rival of mine to destroy my business or something else. I''ll just have to wait till tomorrow and see what''s up. I''ll write an update about it sooner or later. Until then, ciao. # Chapter 37: Translator A fine morning. Back in the MIB Snehatheeram base, a slightly annoyed Lonappan paced himself towards Ponnappan''s office. Rather than waiting for confirmation from the inside or knocking at his door, Lonappan bursted through the door. Things changed a lot from a few months back. Well, it turned back to how it usually was for Lonappan seven or so years back. "Why did you call me at this time of the morning?" A moderately irked Lonappan asked. "Calm down. Take a seat instead of fuming at me. You want a cup of coffee?" Ponnappan asked as he pointed his junior towards a seat. "Well, the coffee here is pretty good, so why not!" Lonappan said as he sat on a chair. "Now, are you going to tell me why you called me here?" He got straight to the point. "Dude, calm down! At least wait until the coffee is brewed." Ponnappan felt mentally exhausted upon seeing the hyperactive but irritating subordinate of his. "Fine, whatever. I can wait for two or three minutes." Lonappan scoffed and sat silently. However, with each passing moment, his discomfort was clearly visible for Ponnappan. His eyes twitched and he swung his legs more intensely with each passing moment. In the end, he started fidgeting his entire body. "Here''s the coffee, sir." An MIB official came in with their coffee. "Thank goodness!" Both Lonappan and Ponnappan heaved a sigh of relief, for entirely Different in what way?different reasons, of course. "Okay, tell me now. It''s six in the morning. I hope you called me for a reason. Unlike you, I''m a pretty busy man, you know?" Lonappan said as he took a sip of the coffee. Ponnappan suddenly broke into a laughter so hard that he coughed out his coffee a bit. "Dude, don''t go joking around like that. As if you''re busy!" He laughed yet again. Lonappan didn''t like this one bit. "Fuck off. Stop with your laughing and tell me why you called me." He demanded. After a few more seconds of laughter, Ponnappan finally managed to control it. "Fine, fine! Take a look at this." He tossed something towards Lonappan which he caught with pure reflex. "Dude, don''t throw stuff like this. And what is this?" Lonappan was pleasantly surprised when he saw the thing in his hand. "Are you kidding me? You fast tracked the translator''s manufacture?" He asked. Ponnappan shrugged. "Well, my friend did ask for it!" He smiled. Lonappan stood up and bowed before him. "Thank you. This is gonna help Taro a lot." He bowed yet again. Ponnappan was slightly embarrassed by his subordinate''s actions. "Don''t thank me. Thank the manufacturing team for doing it as soon as they can. "Yea, I''ll thank them as well.." Lonappan smiled as he turned back to exit. However, Ponnappan stopped him. "Wait. Let me tell you one more thing. As I said before, this product is a fast tracked one. So, the dev team were unsure about its performance. Therefore, be careful about that too." He advised. "Can I ask you a question?" Lonappan asked. "Shoot." "How long does it actually take to build this translator?" He asked. "Well, as you know, the universal translator, the real one I mean, is near impossible to build for us. However, a close replica like the ones that the junior field agents use takes about an entire year to make. And an inferior one of those which the aliens use takes about half the time, maybe a bit less if they really tried their level best. However, it is Different in what way?different in Taro''s case." Ponnappan explained. "What do you mean?" Lonappan asked, confused. "That guy¡­ He is scary beyond imagination!" Ponnappan slowly replied. "I get that! But why would that make his translator production any Different in what way?different than any other aliens?" He asked. "Nah, I''m not talking about him being a calamity level threat! I''m talking about his crazy mechanic skill or whatever you call that. You do remember what he did with the universal translator, right?" Ponnappan asked, as he reminisced about the time when Taro called them Glomera''s little bitch. Suddenly, his annoyance sore up, therefore he decided not to think about that anymore. "Hmm. So? What did you do with this translator?" Lonappan asked, pointing at the translator in his hand. "The question is what did I plan to do with it? Well, initially I planned to disable every other function that a normal translator has and make it a simple translator consisting of only the Wadorian language and Malayalam, you know? Which would''ve meant that there wouldn''t be the auto translate option and he couldn''t read the texts and hell, he couldn''t even speak in any other language other than Malayalam; not even English!" Ponnappan replied. "Why would you do that?" Lonappan looked at his boss with utter disbelief. He never expected Ponnappan to go to such lengths. "Why not? I don''t trust him one bit. You give that alien something and you never know what he''ll end up with." Ponnappan revealed his reasoning for doing so. Well, it wasn''t much of a reason, but a gut feeling. "And? Why didn''t you do that? You did sound like you failed in that attempt." Lonappan said with a doubtful look in his face. Ponnappan sighed. "You guessed right. Well, if you thought about it, simplifying such a complex mechanism to a simple version should be pretty easy and less time consuming, right? Wrong! It seems like making a simple edition from an extremely high level piece of machinery requires the same level of expertise and understanding of the machinery as making the exact copy of that complex machine. Which means, it might''ve taken us an year or maybe more to make that, which wasn''t possible since someone requested me to fast track the process." He responded. "What did you do then?" Lonappan asked curiously. "Well, we had to scratch out our initial plan to make that and instead we changed it into the normal version that all the aliens use. Even so, they still had to work their ass off on this since they would be nowhere near completion if it was the normal speed. Hell, they didn''t even get a proper chance to give it a check up. Hence, I ask you to consider my request from before." Ponnappan replied. Lonappan immersed in his own thoughts for a moment before finally opening his mouth. "Well, why didn''t you just build a few extra ones rather than building it on the fly? Would''ve saved you the time and effort from doing this then." He said. Ponnappan shook his head in dismay. "Do you really think we don''t know that? Well, you do know about all the anomalies that happened this year, so you''re not allowed to ask such a stupid question." He scoffed. Lonappan nodded at that. "You''re right. That''s my bad! I should''ve thanked you a little more instead." He apologized. "Dude, enough with that! Go butter someone else." Ponnappan said, requesting him to leave. "Sure!" Lonappan chuckled as he turned back. However, yet again, he was stopped by Ponnappan. "By the way, the calamity threat management squad called me up from the headquarters." He said. Suddenly, the atmosphere turned heavy. "What did they say?" Lonappan asked. "Well, they said that they usually get this type of reports from multiple bases. However, they usually turn out to be a dud. Therefore, they can''t just place Taro in the calamity level list just yet since it is such a rare case." He replied. "Understandable. So, what are they planning to do?" Lonappan asked. "Well, they said that they''re gonna send someone from the calamity threat management squad to evaluate the situation. And they''ll rate him depending on the situation. Anyway, let me tell you two things. First, I don''t know how this agent from that squad''s coming. Which means that they could swing by incognito or they might announce their arrival beforehand. Therefore, always keep a check on Taro and don''t let him do anything reckless. I''d much rather have a dud calamity threat case in our area, rather than grabbing the attention of the entire MIB society." Ponnappan sighed imagining the scene that would cause. "Hmm, I''ll make sure to keep a check on him. Even if I am not around, Thankappan is. I choose to place my complete trust on him." Lonappan confidently replied. He wasn''t kidding though. Even though he made fun of his junior, he believed that there''s no one better than Thankappan if they are to strictly talk about field agent stuff. "Cool. You do that. Next thing, I have no idea how they''re gonna assess him though. I don''t know whether it''ll be some provocation or whether he''ll be invited back to the headquarters to take some random test. Hence, I''ll repeat my previous statement yet again. Tell him to lie low. I''d be fine even if he resorted to hiding his power in that case." Ponnappan spoke. "Dude, why did you even try to register him as a calamity level if you were this concerned about your peace? You could''ve just let it by." Lonappan shrugged. "Well, momentary excitement, I guess? Calamity level is a big thing, isn''t it? Naturally, I got excited and did it without thinking and I deeply regret it now." Ponnappan answered. "Well, you contradict yourself at times like these. Well, I''ll try explaining it to Taro. Don''t worry! So, shall I go now?" He asked as he turned back once again. "Sure." Ponnappan gave a thumbs up and Lonappan exited the room. # Chapter 38: The way of martial arts Few hours later; back in the Holy Land. The aliens were all awake, meanwhile the one human amongst them was still in deep sleep. However, his peaceful times ended when Lonappan came in and kicked his ass out of the bed. "Oww, not again!" Thankappan cried, as he rubbed his ass in pain. "Well, I''ll stop when you actually grow out of this phase and become responsible." Lonappan replied, shrugging. "What? Is sleeping that big of a crime?" Thankappan asked a valid question. "In my eyes, you sleeping around is a grave crime." Lonappan replied. "Whatever, dude! Why did you wake me up?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes. "No reason! Just felt like waking you up." Lonappan answered. "I hate you. I''ll get you for this! I swear on that." Thankappan cried. He treasured his sleep more than anything in this world and it pained him when Lonappan disturbed it. "You do you, my brother! By the way, where''s Taro?" Lonappan turned away from Thankappan and asked to the plankton. "Oh, he''s-" Just as Kunjan was about to reply, someone flushed the toilet and came out. "Don''t worry. I''m still here." Taro came out and answered. "Oh, well. Aren''t you going to the martial arts place of yours today?" Lonappan asked. "Yea, but nature called before I could do so. Therefore, I''m still here." Taro answered. "Huh, I never thought about this before¡­" Thankappan said as if he was about to start a conversation. "Don''t." Kunjan interjected. "Huh?" "I know what you''re thinking. And I''m not interested in talking about that." Kunjan replied. "How do you even?" Thankappan was surprised by this. "Of course, you were gonna ask why an alien would need to go to the toilet. I know your tendencies pretty well." Kunjan replied. "Well, I didn''t say that. You did!" Thankappan laughed for no apparent reason. "Can we please just stop this conversation?" Lonappan requested. "Why? You got something better to talk about?" Thankappan asked. "Well, literally anything is better than this conversation." Lonappan sighed. "Although, I do have a better topic to speak on." Lonappan smiled. "Which is?" Lonappan turned towards Taro and tossed an object towards him. It was the translator. "Catch!" "What the!" Taro caught it and was pleasantly surprised. "Well, I didn''t expect to receive it this soon!" He smiled. "Well, you gotta thank a certain someone for literally pleading with the higher ups for a faster production speed of this stuff!" Lonappan rubbed his nose in pride. "Oh? Thank you, Thankappan! You''ve been pretty vocal about it these days." Taro turned towards Thankappan and thanked him. "The hell? I was the one who pleaded with the higher ups." Lonappan cried, unlike his usual composed self. "Really? You should have said so then.Thank you, Lonappan!" Taro bowed towards Lonappan. "Ah, really! Don''t thank me! I just did what a friend usually does!" Lonappan said, although his expressions said the opposite. "So, are you gonna try it on?" Thankappan asked. "Yea. I''m going to." Taro took a deep breath in before he placed the translator near his ear. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to actually calibrate the system before opening his eyes. "Hello, guys!" He said, but this time, unlike all the times he spoke in Wadorian, the words that came out from his mouth were in Malayalam. "Nice! It''s working perfectly!" Kunjan replied by giving a thumbs up. "Yea. However, Ponnappan did give me a warning though!" Lonappan said. "What warning?" Kunjan asked. "Well, since this equipment was made in such a hurry, he said that it wasn''t quality tested. Therefore, he can''t promise its smooth functioning." Lonappan replied. "Hmm. Well, the important thing is that it is functioning at least and now Taro can hold a normal conversation with people. If there''s any problem with the system, we''ll see it at that." Gibli jumped in and replied. He was really happy that Taro could finally go to places himself and not creep people out like he did with the dojo master. "True. Then I''ll get going." Taro headed towards the door. "Have a safe journey." Gibli said, nearly crying his heart out. He felt like a mother finally letting a child leave the house on its own. # One hour or so later; Taro stood before the dojo like he always did. However, this time unlike before, when the dojo master noticed his presence, he did not turn his head away. Instead, he rushed towards him and invited him in. "Hey! What are you doing out there? Come in!" The dojo master shouted. However, Taro was hesitant. He could see the shock in some parent''s faces when the dojo master invited him in. Although, what pained him the most wasn''t the parents, but the disdain and pure terror in the faces of the children training in the dojo. However, the dojo master didn''t bat an eye towards these gazes. Instead he took it upon himself to invite Taro in. Well, he had to drag Taro in for the most part. Thankfully, Taro was just half hesitant about this. Had he been completely hesitant about going in, the dojo master might have had a really hard time getting him in. "Kids, he''s the new student in our dojo! His name is¡­ What''s your name?" The dojo master turned towards Taro and asked. "Ta.. No, my name is Sadanandan." Taro almost said his real name. He never had to introduce himself ever since he reached this planet so it was a bit awkward for him. "Huh? Well, it seems you can speak to me now!" The dojo master was surprised. "I''ve been practising." Suddenly, his translator suddenly glitched and he spoke Spanish, a language he had never even heard before, in the midst. "Hmm, this is what Lonappan''s warning was about, huh? This is gonna get weird now." Taro thought. "Well, I can see that!" The dojo master said, noticing the sudden change in the language in the middle. Well, it''s not like Taro tried hiding it or something. "Anyway, kids! This is Sadanandan and he''s the new pupil of this dojo." The master welcomed Taro, without much fanfare. Suddenly, one of the parents came in running. "Master I actually forgot! My kid has his morning classes today. So, he actually has to leave now!" The parent gave out a nervous laughter. The master sighed. "Is that so? Well, education is important for a child. So, I won''t be stopping you." He replied. "Oh, thank you! Come on kutta, let''s leave!" The parent held her kid''s arm and dragged him. "But mom! I don''t have-" The kid tried saying something, however his mother covered his mouth. "Shh, if you don''t say a word now, I''ll buy you ice cream! How about it?" The mother whispered to her child''s ears. For the child, it was music to his ears. He shut his mouth almost immediately and let himself be taken away by his mother. The dojo master looked at the other parents after this, who seemed eager to take the kids away too. "Now, do you guys have something to say?" He asked. "Ah, well. We have a function to attend to. So¡­" One of the parents shamelessly jumped up into explaining his obvious lie. "Well, there''s this feast in our church¡­" "Friend''s birthday.." "Sports tournament¡­" One by one, the parents started giving out their lame excuses and left with their children. Well, it wasn''t like the dojo master didn''t expect any backlash. However, he never did expect it on such a level. "Master, you do know that they aren''t coming back, right?" Taro asked, in his broken Malayalam with a tinge of English this time. "Yea, I know. Well, it''s obvious that they are concerned about their child''s future in this dojo with you around as an official pupil, since they weren''t particularly fond of our ''actions'' before. Therefore, I guess it''s for the better since I decided to teach you the way of our martial art. There''s no going back, you know?" The dojo master smiled. "But, master! I don''t understand! If they were concerned about my actions, they should have left the dojo beforehand, like the others did. Why now?" Taro asked. The glitching of his translator proved a pain in the ass for him. However, the master didn''t mind. For him, it was much better than Taro creepily staring at him for hours. "Well, I think they didn''t like how I pitted you in with them. Before that, you were just an outside concern. However, once I brought you in, the shit turned real. And they didn''t want their kids to mingle with you." He explained. "Then you should have given me a different schedule!" Taro spoke. He didn''t like how his master lost his entire pupils because of him. The dojo master chuckled. "You don''t get it, Sadanandan. Before me, you''re all the same. You''re a rookie, a beginner to follow this path. And I can''t just differentiate you because you''re a bit Different in what way?different. That''d be discrimination. Well, I wanted the kids to learn a bit more about you too, so that they won''t consider you as a threat. Can''t do that now, can I? However, I''m happy that you''re still here, Sadanandan." Taro was nearly on the verge of tears. This was one of the few times when someone treated him as an equal. For a guy who had never been equal or normal within a group, this was a big deal. He never thought that a man who barely knew him would sacrifice his livelihood for him. Hence, he felt like he had a responsibility to do his best. In that very moment, he swore in his mind that he''d study his master''s way of martial arts diligently. # Chapter 39: Tampered "Okay, that''d be all for today!"The master said as they bowed towards each other. "You did pretty good for just a beginner. Have you tried martial arts before? Your body looks like it''s familiar with some amount of martial art." He said. "Well, tried some before." Taro answered with minimal words as possible. The master didn''t ask further questions since he could see Taro''s discomfort with holding long conversations. "Cool, you can go now." He waved goodbye. Just then, he remembered something. "Wait! Take this. Next time, change to this when you are inside the dojo. It''s your uniform." The master handed in the uniform and replied. "Thank you." Taro bowed and received the uniform. However, he had nothing to put it on. The dojo master noticed this and gave him a plastic cover which was just lying around. Taro thanked him for his generosity. However, the master was thankful towards him because ever since the government banned the mass usage of plastic, these covers had just been lying around. He just didn''t want to throw it away and take part in polluting the Earth directly. He was totally fine if Taro threw it away though. Just didn''t want to carry around more sins than he already had. Taro, seemingly unaware of this, was distressed about something else. "Shit! This translator''s really limiting my speech. Well, it''s better than nothing, but it honestly annoys me. I should just give a full check. Hell, I''m a support class graduate! Therefore, checking out a translator will be much easier for me than the people on Earth." Taro thought as he walked towards the Holy Land. # "Shit!" Taro shouted out loud, visibly furious about something. "What happened?" Gibli asked. He was genuinely scared of Taro''s actions since returning from the dojo. Like, half an hour earlier, he returned and headed straight towards the only free table in their room and started working on his translator without even talking to anyone. It was seriously concerning. And moreover, he gave out an uncharacteristic shout, which made him concern about the Wadorian even more. "Where is Lonappan?" Taro asked. He looked seriously annoyed. Gibli had tasted a fraction of Taro''s power when he was as calm as a rock and hence, didn''t want to imagine what the case would be in his annoyed state. "Oh, don''t worry! I''ll get him as soon as I can." He said and ran as fast as he could, far away from a fuming Taro. Kunjan, who saw Gibli running like a madman, wanted to ask him the reason. However, Gibli didn''t seem like he wanted to stop. Therefore he headed inside to check on what he was running from. "What happened to Gibli?" He asked Taro. Taro sighed. He looked slightly relaxed. "I don''t know man! I wanted to know where Lonappan was and he started running away saying that he''d find that guy." Taro replied. "Did something happen?" The plankton asked. "Well, I''d like to talk with him about something." He replied. "Hmm, is it about the translator?" Kunjan asked. He could see the disassembled translator before Taro on the desk. "Yea." Taro nodded his head. Suddenly, Lonappan came bursting through the gates of the Holy Land. "What happened? Gibli came up to me and said it was something important and then started spouting some random gibberish. I came running since I heard it''s something important. What is it?" He asked, as he tried hard to catch his breath. "The translator''s been malfunctioning. It starts to translate my words to some other random language midway through the sentence." Taro complained about the faulty appliance. Lonappan sighed. "Oh, was that it? Didn''t I tell you that it''s a fast tracked product. So, it''s supposed to have certain faults." He explained. "I know that''s the case. However, that''s not my problem." Taro replied. "Then what is it?" He asked. Taro held up the translator in Lonappan''s face and replied. "This seems like it''s been tampered. And before you try to slither away from this, let me remind you that I can assemble and disassemble the translator like it''s child play and I''m a graduate of the support class of the Wadorian hero academy. Therefore, I can assure you that there''s not a human being in your planet who could claim that they''re more of an expert in this sector than me, so choose your words carefully. This piece of equipment is not of poor quality because it had been fast tracked. It''s poor quality equipment because someone wanted to make the lowest grade translator but couldn''t and ended up using it to make a normal one because they had no choice. Now, I understand why they had no choice, because as you said before, a certain someone pleaded to get it fast tracked. So now, the question remains. Why the hell did MIB try to set me up with the lowest grade translator?" He asked. Once again, Lonappan sighed. "Well, I hope you didn''t forget about the little scene you created back in the MIB base. You remember what Ponnappan told you back then? He did say that he''ll provide you with the low grade translator. And that''s exactly what he tried. You should be thankful that instead of actually making you wait, he actually changed his mind and handed you a normal one, even if that''s a bit faulty." Lonappan explained. Taro dwelled in Lonappan''s words for quite some time, before finally opening his mouth. "You''re right. I apologize for the rude remarks. Ponnappan did say that he''ll hand me the lowest grade translator. I''m sorry. Maybe, it''s because of this constant language glitch annoying me, I''m worried for the past few hours. And because of that, I tried bad mouthing you and the organization. I''m truly sorry." Taro apologized multiple times. However, Lonappan didn''t care much about Taro''s outbreak anyway. Everyone has their own reason for losing it one time or the other. "Meh, it''s fine. You know what? I''ll meet up with Ponnappan on this one. Don''t worry. However, it might take a bit of time to make you a new one. Will you be fine with it?" He asked. "Yea, no worries! I''ll use this one in the meantime. Who knows? It might just stop annoying me!" Taro chuckled. Before leaving the premises, Lonappan looked back and asked one more question. "Didn''t you say that you''re a support class graduate or something? Why couldn''t you fix it?" "Ah, since the materials were already salvaged once to make a normal translator out of a low grade one, I can''t salvage it for a second time, since the materials will end up being useless." Taro explained. "Hmm, understood." Lonappan gave out a thumbs up and exited the Holy Land. # "Weren''t you a super busy person? Why are you here for the second time this day?" Ponnappan indulged in a little bit of sarcasm as he saw Lonappan in his office. "Shut up! I''m here to talk about the translator you gave me." Lonappan said as he jumped into a seat. "Oh? What about it?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, you jinxed it. The translator seems to have a problem. Taro said that it glitched between languages at times which proved to be really annoying." Lonappan sighed. "And by the way, he actually found out about you planning to give him the low grade translator." He replied. "How did he find out? Not that I was planning to keep it a secret, however, I didn''t expect him to find it out on his own." He replied. "Well, he checked on the translator and found it." Lonappan replied. "See, this is exactly why I wanted to give him the lowest grade translator. That alien can sniff out everything about these technologies we might have no idea about. It''s really a scary skill." Ponnappan spoke. "So, tell me now. What do you want me to do?" He asked. "I''d like you to make another translator. Let the dev team take their time, however there shouldn''t be any faults with that one." He suggested. "Well, I had already made the preparations for this. The dev team are in their way to make the lowest graded translator." Ponnappan replied. "May I give out one more suggestion?" Lonappan asked. "Shoot." "Maybe stop with your obsession with making this lowest grade translator? I get it; you don''t like the alien. You don''t like how the alien reiterated the old man''s line. However, cut him some slack, will you? You''re gonna build the next batch of normal translators, right? Just make an extra one for him. Just don''t make him pissed with your lowest grade bullshit and all. Who knows? Might even end up with a ''calamity'' in the office." Lonappan gave out a gentle threat and shrugged. "Even though I don''t like how ominously you phrased it, I''ll be generous enough to take your suggestion to consideration. I don''t really like ''calamities'', you know?" Ponnappan smiled. "That''s all I wanted to hear. Now that that''s done, I''mma scoot!" Lonappan waved goodby and exited the room. # Chapter 40: Surpass One month after the translator debacle, everything returned to normal in the Holy Land household. Few days after that event, Francis actually called them up, since they finally had a construction job ever since the RKD gig. Things were finally stable. The squad did their job from morning to evening and had a good sleep at night. Although, things were slightly different in Taro''s case. For the guy who rarely sleeps, the schedule was tightly packed. In the early morning, he heads to the dojo and attends the training session. After that, he goes to the construction work alongside his housemates. Moreover, he never fails to attend the evening session at the dojo too. The dojo master was surprised by this tenacity. Taro had already talked about his job, so he thought that Taro might probably be slacking off at his job since this amount of stamina was impossible for a ''normal human being''; little did he know about Taro''s real identity. After the training session, he heads back home where he ends up watching all sorts of midnight television programs. Except, this time around, he could understand the content he was watching. This changed his perception towards certain programs. For example, the most favorite television show of his which he thought was a comedy show ended up to be a serious soap opera about a dispute between daughter and mother-in-law, which was so bland that he wished to watch it like before. In such cases, he turns off his translator and enjoys it just fine. Although, some stuff, like the late night news debate continued to be funny even after the context. A random morning; Taro was getting ready to head to the dojo. He thought of wearing the dojo uniform that the master gifted him pretty early on, however, he remembered the master''s words of not to wear it outside. He did wear it beforehand once and the master was not pleased. Hence, he placed it in his bag, which he bought with his money from a local street vendor. He didn''t dare go to the Koma mall alone after all that happened. "Guys, I''m heading out!" Taro announced as he headed out. Although, he did say everyone, only Kunjan wakes up early. So, he might as well have meant it towards Kunjan. "Okay! I wish you a safe journey!" Kunjan, in his plankton form, greeted him with a smile and waved goodbye with his tiny hands. Taro smiled and headed out of the Holy Land. He looked up to the sky. It had a slight orange hue. It was beautiful. The weather was great too. He could sense it-that sweet feeling one might get when there''s a great day waiting for him ahead. # Few hours later; at the dojo. One could see two people inside the dojo. It looked like the two of them had a practise bout. One was relatively fine while the other was sweating profusely. Anyone could clearly predict the outcome considering the state of the two fighters. As expected, the really tired man lost as he fell flat from exhaustion when he tried attacking the other guy. "Whew, that''s enough!" The dojo master cried as he turned himself around to his back. Upon hearing this, Taro bowed deeply and helped the master up. "It seems that I''ve got nothing to teach you now." He chuckled. Although, he laughed, Taro could clearly see the disappointment in his eyes. The master was disappointed in himself as he felt that he wasn''t equipped enough to teach the prodigy before him; the prodigy he once longed to be. Taro shook his head. "If it wasn''t for you, I wouldn''t have reached this level, master!" He humbly replied. Even though the master was multiple levels beneath him in terms of power, he was still his master and deserved the respect that Taro gave him. Taro could feel the difference ever since he came to the dojo. Rather than being able to control the flow of his power like he did while doing the meditation or using the opponent''s strengths like the Wu Long planet''s technique, the martial arts here gave him the much needed stability. Once he got a complete grasp of the stability, along with his meditation techniques that he practised almost everyday, he could exert the right amount of strength on his punches. The dojo master smiled at Taro''s remark. "As if! You''re plenty by yourself. However, I really didn''t expect you to learn everything within a month. Consider me surprised." He said. "That''s because I got such a good teacher." Taro replied with a bright smile of his own. He still had to suffer from the glitches of his translator, however, he learned to live through it and the dojo master didn''t mind it either. The master sighed. "Enough with the flattery! Nothing''s gonna come off it." He took a deep breath before he tossed something towards Taro. "Master, this!" Taro looked at it and exclaimed. It was a black belt; the same color that his master wore. "Well, I wasn''t joking before. This is the extent of what I could teach you. As of now, you''ve officially surpassed me." The master spoke. He couldn''t even believe his own words. However, he was happy that he ended up with such an amazing pupil. "Master. Does that mean I''m not your pupil anymore?" Taro asked, looking down to the mat. The master could sense the sadness in his voice. He scratched his head. "Well, that doesn''t mean you couldn''t come back here and practice and stuff. This dojo will continue to be your home." He smiled. "Master¡­" A nearly teared up Taro hugged the dojo master. This was the second time an Earthling talked about home when it came to him, which would mean that this is the third time in entirety that someone offered him a place that he could consider as his own home if he considered Park Sinyim. This reminded him of his dear friend from Wados. He wondered what might''ve happened to him. "Enough with this!" The master tried pushing away Taro who had been tearing upon his uniform, however, he found it hard to do so since Taro''s grip was so strong. "By the way, why don''t you join the municipality''s martial arts tournament? That could commemorate the culmination of our teacher-student relationship!" The master spoke out, desperately trying to get away from Taro. Upon hearing this, Taro let go of the master and got into thinking. "When is the tournament?" He asked. "Three days from now! How convenient, right?" The master chuckled. Well, he didn''t expect himself to register his pupil to this tournament since there was no chance in hell that one would be able to prepare for it within one month. However, since this special pupil of his defied his expectations, he put forth the notion that he kept away previously. "And how long will it take?" He asked. "Well, depends on the number of participants who register into the tournament-or your category at least. So, it might end up early, however, it could also take an entire day to complete. Hence, you might have to take a day off from work. If you ask me, you might as well take two days off since I don''t want you to get fatigued before the tournament." The master answered. Yet again, silence filled the dojo as Taro got into a deep thought. Few seconds later, Taro finally opened his mouth, getting rid of this awkward silence. "Hmm, as much as I want to jump in and give you my word, I have to think it over. Taking a day off could mess up my work schedule. So, I gotta get the permission of my mates too!" Taro spoke. The dojo master understood his concerns. "Makes sense! I can''t blame you if you''re busy. And I placed this before you with limited time too. So, if you can''t make it, let''s just participate in some other tournament!" He smiled. "I''ll try my best to make it to this one." Taro replied. The master nodded his head. The next few moments were filled with silence. Taro and his master changed into casual clothes. Normally, they chat about something while doing so. But this time, it was just pure silence. Maybe, it was because of it was the final class. Upon changing, Taro quickly picked up his bag and was ready to head out. "I''ll be going then." Taro proclaimed and stepped out before he got stopped by the master. "Taro, did you still think that the pupils taking off from this dojo is your fault?" He asked, reminiscing about the time when Taro blamed himself for his pupils exiting the dojo. "Well, since the kids left your classes more rapidly than before upon my arrival, I do believe I''m partly in fault in that!" Taro replied. However, the master didn''t actually hear Taro saying ''partly'' since it was in some other language. "If that''s how you think, then you''re wrong! As I said back then, they were the victims of their parent''s mindset. I still stand firm with what I said over a month ago. You''ve proved your worth as a martial artist in this one month. And that''s all I wanted from my pupils. I''m proud of you." The master patted his shoulders. This time, Taro sighed. "Did you just stop me for this? Stop being so emotional, man! It''s not like we''re not gonna see each other again!" Taro shrugged, giving out a cheeky smile of his own. "You cheeky bastard! You were the one who started it!" The master screamed and chased Taro who had already started running. They both had smiles in their faces. They were happy. # Chapter 41: Permission "So, what you''re saying is that you wanna go for some martial arts tournament and you want us to cover for you?" Gibli asked Taro. "Yes, yes!" Taro nodded his head along. He turned off his translator since it might cause more irritation if he kept it on. "Hmm, why not! It''s not like we''re doing this work for you or something." Gibli shrugged. Taro stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to process what he just heard. "Was that sarcasm?" He asked. "What do you mean? I was serious as hell! If you wanna go to a martial arts tournament, then make sure to go to a martial arts tournament. There''s no sarcasm behind it." Gibli replied. "No, not that. The other thing you said. I feel like you clearly said that in a really sarcastic voice. I can sense sarcasm, you know?" Taro asked, to which Gibli shrugged. "Well, think what you want to. Oh, Thankappan! Did you hear?" Gibli called out Thankappan, who seemed to be loitering around in the workplace. "What? Is it something good?" Thankappan asked. He desperately needed something. The work this time was building some poor man''s house, so the double standards their boss had still applied in this scenario and hence, Thankappan was left with no choice but to wander around. "Well, it seems like Sadanandan here wants to participate in a martial arts tournament." Gibli replied, with an incredibly sarcastic voice that seriously irked Taro. Taro sighed and turned towards Thankappan. "I need a day off for that. So, I wanted you guys to cover for me that one day. However, since you lot want to act like such dicks, I''ll manage it some other way!" Taro looked frustrated. He never liked sarcasm directed towards him, even though he liked making sarcastic comments. "Wait, when did I ever act like a dick?" Thankappan asked. "Yea, I didn''t act like one too!" Yet again, Gibli used an obvious sarcastic tone before breaking down into laughter. "Okay, dude. You gotta chill! I meant it as a joke." Gibli replied. Taro sighed. "Fine! So, what do you think?" He asked. Gibli thought for a while. "Well, I feel like we could manage shit here. There''s gonna be no apparent change if you left too. Hell, even if the four of us left, there won''t be a significant difference. The work''s been that slow." The Arkian explained. Upon hearing the stuff from afar, Kunjan joined in as well. "So, did you manage to control your power yet? Because, you might even break someone''s bones with that punch of yours." Kunjan spoke. "Well, you could say that. I do combine my own technique with what I''ve learned from this planet and it works pretty well." Taro replied. "Now, how are you gonna tell this to Lonappan?" Thankappan asked. "That''s kinda my concern too! I don''t expect him to just agree if I ask him. Therefore, I want you guys to tag along with me when I meet up with him. Your presence might persuade him, maybe?" Taro hoped that''d be the right approach. "Well, might as well tag along to see what happens!" Gibli spoke up. The others agreed. They formed a plan to bomb this up on Lonappan just as they enter Holy Land. # "Cool, you can go!" Lonappan replied. "Huh?" Everyone looked at Lonappan in surprise. They never expected it to be this simple. They didn''t even completely explain their part and Lonappan agreed instantaneously. They didn''t quite get what''s going on. "So, what just happened?" Thankappan asked, since no one really talked. "Well, I just said that Taro could take part in the tournament." Lonappan replied. "Just like that?" Gibli asked, trying to confirm whether what he heard was the truth or not. "Just like that." Lonappan reiterated Gibli''s lines. "But how? Why?" A confused Gibli asked. Lonappan sighed. "Well, if taro''s confidently asking me to participate in such a tournament, that''d mean that he actually managed to control his power or do something with it, unlike the last time. So, why the hell wouldn''t I place my trust on him?" Lonappan shrugged and continued. "Well, Taro could also understand the level of control he has over his strength. Now, that''d be fine, wouldn''t it?" He asked. "Yea?" The squad questioned their ears. What Lonappan said made complete sense, but they couldn''t believe that such a laid back Lonappan ever existed. "Are you sure about it?" Thankappan came close to Lonappan and whispered. "What do you mean?" He asked. "Well, weren''t you the guys who placed him in the list of calamity level threats?" Thankappan asked. "Yea! Well, I guess we''ll know if he''s really a calamity level threat or not." Lonappan smiled as he replied. "Wait, are you sure you want to take such a gamble?" Thankappan asked. He resorted away from whispering this time. "Well, I''ve been known as a gambler since the earlier times." Lonappan chuckled. "Who the hell did even call you a gambler?" Thankappan asked, seriously concerned that something''s wrong with Lonappan that day. He sighed. "So, what happens if he''s actually a real calamity grade and he ends up losing his control over his strength? You''re gonna let people die because of that?" he asked, not caring whether taro or other aliens heard it or not. Taro remained silent, since Thankappan did make a good point. Lonappan laughed. "Since, when did I start caring about people?" He asked. "Dude, we are the Men in Black. All we do is caring about people and protecting them. That''s our entire job resume! And you''re saying that you don''t care?" Thankappan asked, shaking his head in dismay. "Well, if you don''t care about people, at least you care about your job, right? What do you think will happen to the personal responsible for handling the alien if the said alien screws up under his watch? He gets fired. So, you can handle that too?" He asked yet again. "Well, I did create a new bank account and moved all my funds there, so I don''t really have to worry about them freezing my original account. So, I''m not that worried about the job or money." Lonappan replied. "Do you think MIB are a bunch of idiots who can''t find this ''secret'' account to which you directly transferred your funds now, do you?" Thankappan asked, trying to instill some sense into Lonappan. "How many accounts do you think I have? You think MIB''s gonna be after my tail the whole time?" Lonappan asked, giving out a wicked smile. Thankappan sighed. "I can''t win in this argument now, can I?" He asked, admitting his defeat. "Well, not really. Besides, trust the guy. He''s your comrade, isn''t he?" Lonappan asked as he got close to Thankappan. "And you know what? Ponnappan''s been trying to find a way to prove that Taro isn''t actually a calamity grade threat. So, don''t you think this would be a fine example if he managed to do it without any huge damage?" He whispered. "I see." Thankappan turned back and glanced at Taro. "So, you got your answer, right? Let''s go back then." He started to walk away from Lonappan and the others followed suit. "Wait a minute! Care to explain what happened there? We would like to know too." Gibli spoke as he kept his pace even with Thankappan. "Didn''t you just see what happened? Lonappan just gave Taro his permission and he can now fight in the tournament without worry." Thankappan replied. "I can see that! I''m asking what made him take this decision without outside persuasion." Gibli questioned further. "Well, it might just be that Lonappan''s high on something or he''s just in a good mood today. I just can''t exactly pinpoint it to something because I have no idea too. Well, it seems like Taro''s incredibly lucky since it ended up being quite easy because of whatever Lonappan''s going through." Thankappan replied, trying not to expose any information about Taro''s placement in the calamity grade or Lonappan''s motive behind letting Taro join in the tournament. Even though, he didn''t like taking such high risk involving civilians, it seemed like there''s no other choice but to observe Taro''s performance in this tournament. Taro nodded his head. He was quite satisfied with this. After heading to #306, he called up his master and told him the good news. He was ecstatic as well. The following three days were such a drag for Taro. He tried concentrating on working, however he couldn''t. He then tried deluding himself in the world of television, however that plan ended up as a failure too. Maybe it was the nervousness or excitement of participating in such a tournament, the three days ended up as a really dragged out, dull days for Taro. He couldn''t sleep or focus on something. The entire time he imagined beating up faceless people and winning the entire tournament. This continued until the day of the tournament finally dawned upon Taro. He didn''t have to imagine it up anymore. He had the chance to do it now. # Chapter 42: Touch "Master!" Taro shouted before the dojo master''s home, which he found accidentally one day. However, the master was asleep. It was about three in the morning when Taro decided to cause a ruckus out there. Although, in Taro''s point of view, it isn''t that early since he doesn''t really have a normal sense of time. Taro didn''t give into the silence. He shouted even louder. He shouted loud enough for the entire block of houses to get up and shower curses towards him- well, they would''ve done that if it was like five or something, but they couldn''t be concerned enough to wake up. Upon getting no reply, Taro headed straight into his master''s house and rang the bell. Now, he was familiar with multiple appliances like doorbells and stuff. Thankappan was kind enough to teach him about that. "Okay, listen to me now, Taro. There''s a science behind how to use these bells. First, you ring the bell once; this is the warning bell. Why is it a warning bell, you don''t ask for some reason? Well, it''s a warning for the hell that you''re gonna raise with this bell. You hear that noise when I hit this button. Yes, the annoying one. Most of them place such annoying ones in their houses since it plays with the same theory as that of alarms. The more annoying it, the more you don''t want to hear that shit. So, the warning bell is for them to run to us and open the damn door. So, you might have understood what I meant by hell, right? That''s where I literally destroy the heck out of this bell! Although, in your strength terms, it would be more of a gentle press like this!" Taro was reminded of the time when Thankappan went on a frenzy with the Holy Land''s doorbell and got the plankton mad. Even though, he clearly knew that there''s a fundamental error in Thankappan''s teachings, Taro decided to follow up on that because he liked doing stupid things like this. Therefore, true to his teachings, he gave out the warning bell first, to which no reply came. He took a deep breath and went on his ''gentle press'' routine, which left the people around no choice but to wake up. People from even one kilometer away from Taro''s current position gave out some vulgar language, some of which made no sense to him. He did not understand why these people were so keen about his dead parents and human body parts. The translator made no sense this time, so he decided not to care about it and rang the bell until someone came out of the house. It was the dojo master''s wife. "What is it?" She asked. "Master?" "Huh?" "Where''s the master?" Taro tried looking inside and asked. The wife sighed and headed towards his husband who slept peaceful through all this commotion and pushed him out of the bed. "What the! Hey, why did you do that?" The master asked his wife. She got furious; so furious that veins popped out her head."Hey! How did you even sleep through all this commotion? And someone came searching for you! Seems like it''s the so-called prodigy you were talking about. I''m gonna tell you this one time. If one of your students ever dares to barge in like this in fucking three in the morning, I''m not gonna spare you anymore!" She gave out a serious warning, sending chills in the master''s spine. Hearing this, he desperately tried focusing on the main point. "Wait, did you just say Sadanandan''s by the door?" He asked, getting up from the floor. "Seems so." She said as she pushed her husband out of the room and closed the door on him. "I''m gonna be sleeping on the couch for the next few days, huh?" The dojo master muttered as he headed towards the door. "Hey, master!" Taro enthusiastically waved his arm as he saw his master. However, his master couldn''t possibly muster up such enthusiasm after just waking up. "Hey! So, what are you doing here at this time of the¡­early morning?" He asked. "Well? Aren''t we gonna go, master?" Taro excitedly asked. The master stayed dead silent for a moment, before finally opening his mouth. "The fuck are you talking about?" He looked at Taro in disbelief. Taro was puzzled before coming into a realization. "I came by a little early, huh?" He gave out a light hearted chuckle. His excitement had done him over this time. "No shit, Sherlock! You just had to get by the dojo by nine. By the way, how the hell did you find my house? Wait, on second thought, don''t answer. Your answer is just gonna weird me out in some way." The dojo master replied. Yet again, Taro gave out a light hearted chuckle. The master sighed. "So, what are you gonna do now?" He asked. "Well, I''ll just go back and swing by at nine then." Taro replied as he turned back from his master and headed out. However, the master stopped him. "Wait, you idiot! Are you just gonna waste your energy just like that? Get in! I''m not going to be able to sleep anyway." He was worried about what his wife might think about it, but he was more worried about the condition of his pupil. "Sure." Taro took upon this offer and nonchalantly walked into the house, which slightly pissed the master off. "Have a seat. Well, let''s just see what''s on the television, shall we?" After channel surfing for a few minutes, the master decided to watch a live pro-wrestling pay-per-view. [1] # The next few hours passed like a breeze. When the wife found out that her husband actually brought in the pupil instead of chasing him, she attained a whole new level of fury. However, she didn''t show this on her face before a "guest". The dojo master already knew his fate and succumbed to it. After eating the breakfast, which could possibly be the last one in a long time from his wife, Taro and the master finally headed out to the municipal indoor stadium. "So, this is the place where I''m gonna have my fight, huh?" Taro looked at the not-so-majestic stadium and got fired up for the event. "Well.... Not really." The master replied. "What! What do you mean?" Taro asked. He was promised a fight and now his master contradicted his statement. "Listen, you''re not fighting; you''re facing different martial artists in a bracket-style tournament." The master replied. Taro was confused. "What''s the difference between the two?" He asked. "Okay, let me put this in your head right now. You absolutely will NOT land an attack on your opponent." The master spoke, much to Taro''s surprise. "What!" "Hear me out, okay? All you''re gonna be doing throughout this entire tournament is defending like your life depends on it. Nothing else; just defend the heck out." The master proclaimed with a smile on his face. "Wait, how am I ever going to win the fight then?" He posed his biggest concern. "Meh, fret not. It''s actually a point-to-win tournament. Fighting to find out who''s the strongest is a thing in the past. Although, that system was pretty cool compared to this. I feel like it had a feeling of excitement." The master sighed. "Anyway, you just have to tap their body real gently to earn the point. Like keep your defence up all the time and try for a counter¡­ touch. Don''t worry about all the point scoring, I''ll teach you before your fight." He answered. "Why do you make me do this, master?" Taro asked. He wanted to get down in a fight. Well, he would have been fine with the point system, however now that his master asked him not to give an actual punch but a touch, it genuinely irked him. That would mean he''s just doing what the pro-wrestlers were doing with their punches back in that pay-per-view he watched. Although, the flips were real though. The master sighed. "Okay look. I know that you want to test your strength in a tournament like this, but do you really think it''s a good choice? I would''ve allowed you to give out a punch or kick if you were someone else. However, it''s you who we''re talking about. I''ve fought with you multiple times. I''ve seen you fight without restraint. You really think these people here could manage taking a hit from you?" He asked. "I was restraining back then though!" Taro thought as he nodded his head silently, as if he agreed with his master''s statement. He continued. "You understand, right? So, the only way I''m allowing you to enter in this tournament is if you promised me that you''ll only defend throughout the entirety of this tourney." The master spoke. "Might as well do it! It might act as a good challenge for me." Taro thought. "I''m in!" He proclaimed as a smile arose in his master''s face. "Then let''s show them who''s boss!" The master said as they got inside the indoor stadium. # [1] We''re talking about major wrestling pay-per-views here (You know which ones I''m talking here). Well, the live broadcast of those events usually happens in the early morning in India due to obvious time differences. The Japanese or UK ones aren''t usually broadcasted live here, so I have no idea about how those work. Chapter 43: Prodigy awaits "The fuck is this?" Taro asked as he stared at the crowd. "Well, take it in, my pupil. This is how prestigious a martial arts tournament is!" The dojo master proudly proclaimed. "As if! You''re seeing the same thing that I''m seeing, right? Why are the numbers so low?" He exclaimed as he pointed towards the very few people walking around in the indoor stadium. The master gave out a chuckle. "Well, it''s just that we''re a bit early! Weren''t you the one in such a hurry? Had we came here somewhat late, you would''ve seen a sea of people here." He replied. Taro sighed. "Fine, it''s my fault then. So, what are we doing?" He asked. "Well, we gotta register you as a participant now." The master said and headed towards the registration desk. "Hey there! We''re here to register my pupil right here for the black belt category." The personnel, a really old man, looked up to the master. "Black belt, huh? Are you sure though? Like the number of black belt participants are low in this tournament in general, so why don''t you just place your participant in the brawl-for-all category?" He asked. The master laughed. "Pretty fancy name for the exhibition category, old man! However, fret not. I decide what''s best for my pupil, not you. So, listen to me and put him in the black belt category." The master''s complexion suddenly got dark for a moment, as if he was releasing some sort of ominous aura. The old man felt a bit chilly after this. "You know what? You''re right! Who am I to tell you anything? Here''s the form." He quickly gave out the form and started conversing with the next participant. "Master, why did you do that?" Taro asked. "Huh?" "Well, won''t the brawl-for-all category have more fighters than the black belt category? Why didn''t we register for that?" He asked. The dojo master sighed. "Okay, hear me out. First of all, you really wanna face a bunch of white belt small fries in a category which isn''t even an actual category? I don''t think so. Secondly, it seems that the guy''s bluffing. I believe there might be a few more participants in the category." He explained. "Finally?" "Huh?" "Well, you just can''t end an explanation like that without a conclusion, can you?" Taro asked. "Oh, I''m sorry! I too thought that there would be three points for some reason. Once I realized that was the case, I thought it might not be a good thing to use ''finally'' for my second point." The master shrugged. Taro sighed. "Why am I even talking about this when it''s their own language and I don''t know shit about it?" He thought before coming back to his senses. "Anyway, do you really think any more participants will come? A black belt at that?" He asked. "Believe me. Give it a few more hours and this place will be crowded as hell!" The dojo master assured. # Few hours passed after the dojo master put forth the bold claim of his. To sum it up, nothing really happened. A few more participants came through, however none of them were black belts. Meanwhile, the tournament had already begun for the brawl-for-all category. "So, what''s your explanation?" Taro asked. The master gave out a nervous laughter. "Well, the day''s still young. The black belt category is the last one. Someone could still sign up for it!" He said. "What kind of a tournament allows someone to participate in the last possible second?" Taro wondered. "Well, this one does! We don''t question their logic, my dear pupil!" The master replied. "Hmm, I sure hope that''s the case and someone actually signs up for it. Or else I''ll be really disappointed." Taro spoke. Even though the master didn''t understand what Taro said in the end, he got the gist of it by looking at the terrifying look in the Wadorian''s face. So, Taro waited. He waited until the brawl-for-all ended. He continued waiting, until all the belted categories ended. In the end, he won through a bye and was crowned the champion of the black belt category. He wasn''t happy about this at all, since all he did throughout the entire day was watching someone else having all the fun that he should''ve been having. "And the champion of the black belt category, Sadanandan." The announcer invited him into the podium during the award ceremony. However, Taro was reluctant to go out there and receive something that he didn''t think he deserved. After all, the martial arts tournaments back in the Martial Planet were all about finding who deserved the title of the strongest and had the right to challenge the head of the planet. Although Taro wasn''t able to participate in the tournament due to it being restricted to the Martial planet citizens because of the ''challenging the head'' aspect, he loved watching those tournaments and always wanted to fight in one such tourney. However, right now, he ended up as a martial arts champion without even proving anything. He just couldn''t accept this result. "What are you doing? Go get the award!" The dojo master tried persuading Taro into it. "No!" However, Taro was still adamant about it. "Will the champion please head to the podium as soon as possible?" The announcer''s voice sounded more irritated as time passed. "Please? Pretty please? Just go to the podium and get the championship. You don''t even have to pose with it. Hell, you don''t even have to take the award back with you. I''ll take care of it." The master assured. Since Taro had a soft spot for his master in his heart, he reluctantly headed to the podium and received the award with a stoic expression in his face. "Here you go! Do whatever the fuck you want with it." Taro sighed as he tossed the award at his master. "Phew, finally another award to decorate my dojo! I''ll make this the focal point in the flyers I''m gonna make!" The master thought, not even hiding his happiness. "Bravo! Finally, someone won something for your dojo, eh? You might be feeling mighty proud about that, right? Even though he did nothing to win it." Someone interfered with the dojo master''s train of thoughts and barged in clapping his hands. "You!" The master looked at the man with pure shock in his face. "Yes, it''s me!" The man relished this view. "Who are you?" "Hell no!" The man''s face suddenly got twisted beyond recognition at this. The master laughed at this. "Sheesh, I''m kidding, dude. How could I forget the ass whooping that I gave you back in the day?" He asked. The man looked flustered. "That was just once!" He shouted. "Seems like you''re still pissed off about that one time, since you seem to remember it so fondly!" The master replied. "Fuck off!" The man spoke. And then as if all this didn''t happen, the man quickly changed the subject. "So, how do you feel shamelessly winning the tourney like this?" He asked. "Extremely happy. Do you have a problem with it, you shithead?" The master fought back as well. The man scoffed. "Hmm. Be happy while you can. Because your pupil will lose cleanly to mine at the state tourney. Or will you chicken out and not bring your pupil to that?" He laughed. "You bet my pupil will whoop your pupil''s candy ass just like I used to do with you!" In the heat of the moment, the master accepted the challenge. The man chuckled. "Very well. I''ll see you later then!" He was about to walk away, when he quickly returned. "Let me just gloat about my pupil before I go. Remember how you used to walk around saying that you were some kinda prodigy when you defeated me that one time. Well, you know what? You were wrong. How do I know? Because I know of one. Eighteen years old; just became a black belt after thirteen years of intense training. Could''ve just become a black belt whenever he wanted, however, he decided to hone his immense talent all these years. And now he''s possibly the very best of all the black belters in India. Hell, he might even be able to take on the world! A real prodigy; that''s whom your pathetic pupil''s going to face. You really think he can handle it? Wait, don''t answer. You''ll find it when my pupil thoroughly defeats yours in the tournament. Bye!" After hyping up his pupil to the sky, the man ran away. "Master, who the hell is he?" Taro asked. "Ah, he''s Anil. He used to be my dojo mate. Pretty great in what he does. Been the national champ once or twice. We used to be good friends back then. Well, I guess he didn''t really forgot the time when I luckyman''d [1] him once." The master sighed. "Lucky man''d?" Taro looked at him, confused. "Shoot, my bad for putting in a reference. I thought it would sound cool. Anyway, this is bad. Really bad." The master replied. # [1] The main character of Tottemo! Luckyman, who fought (and won) his way through sheer luck. Chapter 44: Difference "What''s the problem, master?" Taro asked as his master looked concerned. "If it''s that guy and his prodigy that you''re concerned about, I''ll make sure to beat him thoroughly." Surprisingly, Taro gave out an entire sentence without much of a glitch that time. The master sighed inwards and then glanced towards Taro with a smile on his face. "Look, I appreciate the bravado and all, however we are NOT going to the state tournament. We just won''t." He replied. "Master! Didn''t you promise that guy?" Taro asked. He wanted to show off in that tournament and smack the shit out of Anil''s pupil. "People make mistakes, okay? I made a huge one by accepting that challenge. Anil might make fun of me for the rest of my life, however I won''t allow you to participate in the tourney nevertheless." The dojo master replied. Taro didn''t get why his master acted like that. "Master, why are you so adamant about not letting me participate?" He asked the question that arose in his mind. The master looked distressed, as if he didn''t know how to explain it. However, he wanted his pupil to know the reason. "Sadanandan, ten years. I''ve been in this business for ten years, give or take. I''ve always wanted to become a prodigy even though I didn''t actually know what it meant to be one. However, that changed when I met you. For the first time I understood what these prodigies are capable of. Hence, I thank you for showing me that." He gave out a smile. "Well, I''m not actually one but it feels good for some reason though!" As Taro''s pride grew inside, he still didn''t get the answer he needed. "So, why the hell are you not allowing me to participate in the tournament?" He asked. The master sighed. "Because you''ll lose." "What?" It didn''t make sense to Taro. As far as he knew, there wasn''t anybody as strong as him on this planet. However, his master seemed really convinced that this prodigy guy would be able to beat him. That would mean that this guy''s either an alien like him or the Earth really had strong people beyond the realm of his imagination. Either way, hearing this only made him more fired up. "Why do you think he''ll beat me?" Taro asked with a smile on his face, which his master thought was one of overconfidence in himself. "I''ll give you two reasons. First of all, you''re my prodigy. What do I mean by that? Well, you''re a prodigy in my eyes; the eyes which had previously never seen a prodigy. So, my prodigy radar could be wrong. Let''s be real for a moment here, I''m one of the weakest black belters in this area. To be a prodigy in my eyes could mean nothing special. However, Anil''s case is different. He''s actually pretty talented in martial arts. So, if that guy calls someone a prodigy, you better believe he''s the real deal. Although, I believe that only a true genius could achieve what you did. Which neatly brings us to the next point. Let''s say you''re a prodigy and my eyes weren''t deceiving. Let''s also say Anil''s pupil is one too. What do you think makes you two different from each other? Good master for the other guy? That''s a yes. But more importantly, it''s the experience. You might have the talent, but you''re still one month in practising martial arts. However, Anil''s pupil had been doing this for like ten years or something, I don''t remember what he said. Anyway, that''ll be a deciding factor in the battle between two." The master explained, after which he had to look around for a glass of water, since he explained too much. "I see." Taro looked disappointed. He wasn''t disappointed about what he just heard, instead he was disappointed at his misconception. When he heard from his master that the so-called prodigy could possibly defeat him, he was considering a fight of insane proportions where he could actually unleash his real fighting prowess. However, upon hearing the explanation and actually reconsidering the possibility of such a thing happening, he could deduce that his master was talking about his strength that he revealed before him, which made sense, because there was no way that his master could know about his real power level. Hence, his disappointment towards his own judgement was immense. However, to an out-of-context outside perspective like his master''s, it seemed like he was really disappointed about his powerlessness to face a true talent. The master looked at him with pity. "I can understand what you''re currently feeling. This is why I wanted you to face someone relatively new and gain experience first. And that''s exactly why I can''t let you face a guy like him in one of your very first matches. Failure might be the stepping stone to success, however if you are to fail so miserably that your inner strength gets destroyed, there''s no coming back. You''re talented. I don''t want such a thing happening to you." The master patted him. However, Taro showed an expression, much different from before; much different from what the master had expected. He gave out a gleaming smile. "Who do you think I am, master? Do I really look like someone who will back down and tuck his tail once I get destroyed? No, I always get back up. Therefore, even if I''m gonna be defeated by that guy, I''ll still bounce back and I''ll continue practising even harder because that''s what I do. That''s how much I love martial arts." He responded. The master sighed. "I don''t know if that''s your overconfidence speaking or your genuine love towards it. Whatever it is, I really wanna believe you. However, are you really sure about it?" He asked for the first and last time. "Yes, I am." Taro gave out an emphatic reply. "Well, there''s nothing I could do then. I''ll believe in you and move forth towards the tourney next week." He replied. "Next week? Isn''t that too soon?" Taro asked. Although he wanted to participate in the tournament, he didn''t expect it to be this soon. He didn''t know how he''d be lucky enough to get another free pass from Lonappan like he did this time. "I get that. However, that''s the nature of tournaments around here, due to the low number of competitors. They just wanna get over with it. What? You don''t wanna participate now that it might be a bit too early than you imagined?" He asked. "It''s not like that!" Taro protested, thinking of a nice way to explain how he had to get permission from his babysitter Lonappan. "Hmm, you got no choice though! So be prepared for that, I guess." The master replied. # Few hours later; back in the Holy Land household. Unlike other times, each one of them were present in the tiny room that couldn''t even be called a living room. Before them stood Taro, explaining the stuff that happened that day. Everyone listened attentively about what Taro had to say. "So, what you''re saying is that even though you participated, you technically won it without fighting." Kunjan summarised. "Basically, yes." Taro nodded his head. "Isn''t that cool? You can just straight about brag about winning it! People don''t have to know about the finer details now, do they?" Thankappan asked. He thought much like a certain someone that Taro knows. "Shush. I don''t think it''s about awards or prizes for Taro. It''s about the honor. That''s what every martial artist strives for. I don''t believe Taro feels like he won it in an honorable way." Gibli interrupted Thankappan. "You''re exactly right!" Taro agreed with Gibli''s explanation. "I see. What are we supposed to do then? It''s not like he can put the award on the line and challenge someone, right?" Thankappan asked. Taro coughed to bring their attention back to him. "About that. The state tournament is scheduled for next week. And since I won this tournament, I''m qualified to participate in it. So, what do you guys think?" He asked. "Yea, go for it!" Gibli replied enthusiastically. "I don''t see why not." Kunjan agreed to it as well. "I don''t understand how you find it enjoyable, but since you do, just do it!" M''Baku, who made an unusual appearance that day, replied. "Well¡­" Thankappan didn''t give out his opinion. Instead, he looked towards Lonappan. Everyone kinda knew that their opinion doesn''t mean shit if Lonappan said no. However, they still tried their level best to appeal it to the final judge, before he made a decision. They hoped that Lonappan had the same chill mood that he had three days back. "Oh, are you waiting for my decision? Of course, you can participate, Taro! I believe you should at least fight once to judge your current level and the effectiveness of what you learned. It would be a shame if you didn''t." Lonappan replied, much to the surprise of everyone there, except for Thankappan since he knew the reason behind it. Taro was happy beyond words. "Thank you, Lonappan! I swear I''ll repay you for this!" Taro spoke. And this way, Taro finally could see the state tournament in sight. # Chapter 45: Teenage angst The next day; MIB base, Snehatheeram. Lonappan was seen heading into Ponnappan''s office. He didn''t seem in much of a hurry. Judging by that, one could confirm that it wasn''t something really important. Even if it was, the annoyance in his face clearly showed that he was being summoned for some reason. Without wasting any time, Lonappan stormed through the office door of Ponnappan. "What is it? Why did you call me out?" He asked, as he got himself comfortable. He still had the annoyed look on his face though. "Sheesh, dude! Don''t be throwing darts with your eyes like that!" A startled Ponnappan replied, before he composed himself. "So, what happened with Taro''s fight?" He asked. "What do you think happened?" Lonappan asked back. "Well, for starters, I would''ve expected half a building to get destroyed and huge commotion to happen around the indoor stadium. Seeing that nothing substantial that would literally collapse us happened yesterday, something definitely meddled with the fight. What is it?" Ponnappan couldn''t suppress his curiosity. "Dude, you''re supposed to be the head of this base. You''re supposed to have your eyes at the very least, throughout the entire city of Thrissur!" Lonappan sighed. "Well, you lot are supposed to be my eyes and ears now, aren''t you? So, why don''t you cough up what happened yesterday and we could just disperse this small meeting of ours?" Ponnappan ordered in a commanding voice. "Fine! Taro automatically won the tournament since there weren''t enough fighters to face him. There weren''t any actually." Lonappan gave out a summary of what happened. "Hmm, that''s concerning. So, what are we supposed to do now?" Ponnappan asked. "About that. Taro said that there''s a state-level tournament next week. Apparently, his master''s fierce rival''s disciple would be participating in it." Lonappan replied. "Ho? Battle of the disciples, I see. I believe you gave him the permission to attend the tournament?" He asked. "Yes." "That''s great. However, don''t the aliens suspect you since you''ve been so benevolent lately?" Ponnappan asked. "Don''t worry about that! I do what I want anyway. They''d just think that I''m in my weekly defy the authority mood. Either that or they''d think I''m doing pot or something." Lonappan replied. "Well, it seems like you''ve got plenty of experience in this ''defy the authority'' mood that you speak of. We might just have to have a talk someday." Ponnappan spoke. "Yea, sure! As if that would happen!" Lonappan chuckled as he headed towards the door. "Hey, I can hear you!" Ponnappan replied as he heard that. "It''s not like I was particularly hiding it or something! See ya!" Lonappan was about to get out of the office when Ponnappan stopped him for the last time. "Wait. I''mma ask this to you, just out of curiosity. Did someone actually record the events that happened yesterday in that tournament?" He asked. "Well, since nothing happened, I don''t think so?" Lonappan was pretty vague about the reply that he gave, since he forgot about one important thing, which he realized soon enough. "Let me rephrase the question for you then. Did someone actually head to the tournament with Taro at that time?" He asked. "No?" Ponnappan sighed. "I''m just gonna pretend like I didn''t hear that this one time, since nothing really happened yesterday. However, think about it! What would you have done if something had actually happened, like if Taro actually got to fight? One, you wouldn''t have got the footage to prove that Taro isn''t a calamity threat. Two, even if he was and subconsciously released his real strength, you wouldn''t be able to use the neuralyzer and calm down the situation. And three, related to two by the way, what the fuck would you have done if he was one! That would literally mean that you let out a walking time bomb capable of destroying the entire planet into a martial arts tournament with civilians everywhere!" He explained. "Truth be told, if he''s a calamity threat and he actually fucks up and releases his true strength, this planet would be blown into smithereens even if we were around." Lonappan replied. "I know! However, that doesn''t mean that you couldn''t do your job! At least feel guilty about it, man!" Ponnappan cried upon hearing his subordinate''s nonchalant reply. After putting some thought behind it, Lonappan finally replied. "Very well! I shall appoint Thankappan on that duty." "Sure. But I don''t get it. What happened to you? You were supposed to be the most senior official under me, you know? You are the role model of some of the guys around here. Then, how did you even make such a rookie mistake?" Ponnappan asked. "I don''t know, if you ask me. Sometimes, I feel like I don''t give a shit about anything. Sometimes, I feel like fucking it up intentionally. And other times, I have no idea about the things I do. Does that answer your question?" Lonappan asked. "You''re in that stage of life, huh? Well, shit happens! You just gotta go through with it." Ponnappan replied. However, Lonappan didn''t quite get it. "What do you mean? What stage of life?" He asked. "Okay, listen carefully now. You''re going through a certain phase called teenage angst. Now, now! Don''t get cranky! Mood swings are common in these times. So, take it easy and communicate with me as much as possible." Ponnappan replied, as he made weird hand gestures and repeatedly chanted ''Sun''s getting real low'' for some reason, which didn''t work for Lonappan. "The fuck, man? I''m nearly thirty, you know? Which means I''m closer to a midlife crisis than I am to a teenage angst!" He exclaimed. Ponnappan sighed, stopping those weird hand gestures he made. "Yea, yea! You are a real grown man capable of making human babies. However, if you ask me, you sure reached your physical maturity, but your mental growth is still at puberty even though you are really smart and make quick witted decisions. It''s not a big deal though! I believe that each one of us had a mental age of five when we actually became a field agent, since we honed our combat and intellect, however forgot to pick up common sense along the way." He explained. Somehow, this opened a whole new world before Lonappan. "Whoa! That explains why Thankappan acts like he does at times! That''s exactly how my son used to act when he was five, except Thankappan has a better IQ, of course!" "Well, you tend to notice it in your juniors rather than yourself. Although, Thankappan is a special case though. The dungeon deformed his mental age more than us. So, he has the mental age of like three." Ponnappan replied. "I see. However, I''m not gonna retract my previous statement though!" Lonappan spoke. "Hah, I get it. You tried so hard to draw up a similarity and I ruined it the very next sentence. I apologize for that." Ponnappan shrugged. "That''s fine. I''ll get going then." Lonappan headed out before he voluntarily stopped this time around. "Hey, you weren''t kidding, right?" He asked. "About what, exactly?" "Well, about how you''ll have a talk with me about my¡­ angst?" He asked. "Oh, yea! I wasn''t kidding. You can swing by anytime you want and have a talk with me!" Ponnappan replied. Upon hearing this, Lonappan closed the door from the inside. "I see. I''ll take upon that offer now!" He jumped back into his seat and thus began an hourlong session of literal gibberish. # Few hours later. Lonappan had already returned from the MIB base and he felt refreshed for the first time in a long time. Therefore, when he saw that Thankappan had not yet woken up, rather than doing the usual shenanigans, he proceeded gently. "Hey, Thankappan! Wake up, sunshine!" Lonappan whispered in his junior''s ears. "Mmm, don''t do it! It''s tickling my ears!" Thankappan moaned in his sleep. Lonappan chuckled. "Well, you still got to wake up though! And I have just the method!" He said as he proceeded to tickle him all over. "What the hell am I watching?" Kunjan, who heard the laughter and headed towards Thankappan bore witness to that unholy scene. "Hey, plankton! Well, isn''t this how you manage a three year old child?" Lonappan asked as continued tickling Thankappan. "But, he isn''t¡­ never mind. Continue with your shenanigans." Kunjan gave up midway and headed back to the kitchen. "What the!" It seemed like another comrade had fallen from witnessing the unholy scene. It was Taro. He didn''t even utter a single word after that and headed straight towards the kitchen, where the only woke person in the household was. "Did you see what was happening in there?" He asked. "I did." Kunjan nodded. "What is he doing?" He asked. "Can''t you see? He''s tickling Thankappan. He''s managing a three year old, it seems." He replied. "Huh? What? Why? How?" Taro was riddled by more questions than answers at this point. "Don''t try to question what you saw. Just accept it and move on as far as you could. That''s the only thing we could do right now." Kunjan replied. Unfortunately the other two aliens fall prey to this scene as well and it completely ruined their days. Upon realizing what had happened, Thankappan asked Lonappan to never do that again, which he reluctantly agreed. And thus, slowly but surely, everything reverted back to normal in the Holy Land household. # Chapter 46: A strict senior A day or two passed from the "incident" that no one were so keen to discuss, however the mental wounds still remained fresh from that incident. "Thankappan! Wait a minute!" Lonappan chased after his junior, who was about to step out to work with his alien mates. Upon hearing Lonappan''s voice, Thankappan flinched and hid himself between the aliens. "You do know that he can still see you, right?" Kunjan asked the cowering Thankappan. The junior field agent sighed. "I know. It''s just for reassurance purposes." He replied. "Oh! Then that''s cool." The plankton nodded. "Hey, Thankappan. Why are you hiding over there? We got stuff to discuss." Lonappan spoke towards his junior. "Ah, it''s nothing. I can still hear you! You can speak to me like this." Thankappan assured. "Dude, it''s MIB business. You still wanna act like this?" He asked. On this, Thankappan stopped hiding and dragged Lonappan towards a secure location where the aliens couldn''t hear them. Not that the aliens were too keen to hear about it to begin with though. "What is it?" Thakappan asked. "The state tournament that Taro talked about; you''re gonna accompany him." Lonappan replied. "I don''t get it. Why?" Thankappan asked, not hiding his annoyance about this decision. "Because you''re one of the best rookie field agents that the MIB has ever seen and I wholeheartedly believe in you!" Lonappan smiled. "Ugh. Enough with the buttering. What''s the real reason?" He asked. "We do need footage to show the HQ that Taro isn''t a calamity threat, right? Well, no one did a fucking thing to record the municipality tournament. Although that went well for us, I don''t think there will be a second time. Hence, you''ll accompany him, capture the footage, submit it to me and then I''ll submit it to Ponnappan and in due time, it will reach the HQ. Simple." Lonappan shrugged. "I see. However, I don''t get one thing. WHY ME? I don''t like doing this stuff. I''m fine with doing the construction work. Why don''t you head over with Taro for the tournament? You don''t have anything to do, right?" Thankappan literally wailed before his senior. Lonappan sighed. "I swear that you''re the strangest kid I''ve ever seen. So, you wanna ditch your main job of doing nothing but watching a damn martial arts competition in this case to work in a construction site, which takes real effort. Is that what you''re saying?" He asked. Although it didn''t make sense in his senior''s mind, it made all sorts of sense in Thankappan''s. "YES!" He replied emphatically. "As I previously stated, you don''t have anything to do! So, you better go with him." Thankappan spoke. It was less of a request, but more of an order to speak frankly. This seriously ticked Lonappan off. "Nothing to do, huh? While you''re loitering around with your alien friends, I''m out here properly doing what I was actually assigned to; my MIB work. Most of the time, I team up with other senior agents to track down rogue aliens and stuff. If not, I would be having strategic discussions with our commanding officer. Beside all this, in my free time, I head in as a guest lecturer in the MIB boot camp. Now, tell me, what''s important? Your little construction job or my hectic schedule?" He asked with a fierce gaze in his eyes. The heavy atmosphere around him was slightly unbearable for Thankappan. He gulped down a little. However, he thought of giving out his true feelings rather than putting up a front. "Well, if you ask me, and consider just my opinion alone, you know what my reply would be, right?" He asked. Lonappan sighed. "So, you''re telling me that you''d put your satisfaction before saving the world, huh?" He asked. Although, he didn''t care either way, since he cared so little, he had to act like a proper senior in this scenario. "When did saving the world enter this conversation? Hmm... if it hinders my satisfaction¡­ well, I don''t really know!" Thankappan failed to give out a definitive answer since he had never properly thought out such things. Even though he thought of getting promoted as a senior agent as soon as possible, his current way of living was pretty nice. So nice that it slightly shifted his perspective. "Well, keeping check of a possible calamity threat is the same as saving the world if you ask me. So, even if you don''t care too much about this, you just don''t have any choice, do you? You''re still bound by the chains of hierarchy and that would mean defying my orders would lead to grave consequences like¡­ I don''t know? A possible farewell from this place and all your alien friends out there?" Lonappan asked. He hated every single moment of this conversation because he never cared about such things. However, he deemed this as necessary since Thankappan seemed like he wanted to move forward. For a few minutes, Thankappan stood silently. Then, he finally opened his mouth. "I''m sorry, sir. I''ll take my job more seriously from now on. And I''ll make sure to go with Taro to the tournament." WIthout spouting another word, Thankappan left the premises and joined up with the aliens. "Damn, the kid sounded really pissed off about it!" Someone''s voice rang out of Lonappan''s phone. It was Ponnappan. He heard the entire conversation. "But why did you let me in on this conversation?" He asked. Lonappan finally let out a heavy sigh as he placed the phone to his ears. "Well, I did it to show you that I''m still doing my duty properly! I''m keeping the kid in check and it seems that unlike me, Thankappan knows how to do his work diligently. That''s a good thing, right?" He asked. "You know, you really shouldn''t preach the things that you don''t follow. MIB boot camp''s lecturer? Really? You''ve never come by that place for the past six months. You''re busy? As if! You''re either doing some political work for WPP or sleeping in the base. So, what you said was kinda shitty." Ponnappan, who used to act the same way towards Lonappan as he did to Thankappan right then, replied. However, unlike Lonappan, Ponnappan actually followed up on his words and took his job seriously. "Do you really think I don''t know that? It''s just¡­ Look, I know his dream, okay? And to follow that, it''s better to have your mindset rather than mine. Well, even then, I don''t wanna mold his mind or something. He could choose his path upon getting promoted as a senior official, like I did. Until then, I''ll act as the strict leader like you did." Lonappan replied. "Huh, you sound like a parent talking about his kid for some reason. Meh, whatever. I hope your efforts pay off! Ciao." Ponnappan hung up the phone. Lonappan dwelled on that he might''ve been hard on his ki...junior, however, he quickly left it aside. # Few hours later, the guys were having their scheduled morning break from work and they were casually chilling. It was a poor person''s gig after all. "Hey, so what happened in the morning out there?" Kunjan dropped in the conversation starter. "Oh? That reminds me." Instead of replying to Kunjan, Thankappan stood up and walked towards Francis. "Pranchiyetta, got a minute?" He asked. Francis, who was having difficulty sipping the piping hot tea, looked up towards him. "What is it?" He asked. "Well, myself and Sadanandan would be taking a leave next week. So, you think you could manage that?" Thankappan asked back. Francis thought for a second. "Well, next week, we would still be doing this job, so I guess you two won''t be missed. So yea, it''s fine!" He replied. "I see. Thanks, boss." He bowed and turned back. "So, you won''t tell me what''s going on?" Francis stopped him and asked. "Well, Sadanandan''s participating in the state martial arts tournament. And you know how he''s shy around new people, right? I''m just heading with him so that he doesn''t get nervous." Thankappan explained. "Martial arts, huh? His humongous power makes total sense now!" Francis replied, looking a bit surprised by this fact. "Yea!" Thankappan chuckled. "It''s totally not because he''s a possible calamity level alien!" He thought as he walked back to the pack. "So, you headed out abruptly. What was that all about?" Gibli asked this time instead of Kunjan. Thankappan cutting him off without giving a proper answer seriously hurted the little plankton. "Well, the thing''s this. Tar...Sadanandan, I''m heading to the tournament with you. So, you better win!" Thankappan smiled. "I see, that''s what the talk in the morning was about, I believe?" Gibli asked. "Yup, I got orders to accompany him to the tournament. And I might as well record the match for you guys to watch, eh?" Thankappan asked. "That would be pretty cool!" Gibli liked the idea. "I would want them to watch my match as well! I''m happy that you''re coming with me!" Taro really felt happy. Now, he could no longer wait for the state tournament. "Hehe, no mention. I''ll cheer for your victory too!" Thankappan smiled upon seeing Taro happy. "Well, accompanying him to the tournament isn''t bad, after all!" He thought to himself. # Chapter 47: The long wait The next week came by quicker than expected. Taro had expected something like what happened before the municipality tournament. However, he was calm and composed. Unlike last time, he had someone to look forward to and fight. Although he didn''t know who it was and what he looked like, he knew that a prodigy was around the corner. As much as this prospect excited him, he was prepared to get disappointed as well, since he had witnessed what Earthlings deemed powerful and that was truly disappointing. Therefore, the days flew as Taro diligently worked and trained without having a feverish wet dream of all the strong competitors. "Taro, are you ready?" Thankappan asked on the night of their departure. It wasn''t the day of the tournament though. The tournament was scheduled for the next day. However, since it was held in the state capital of Kerala, Trivandrum, they decided to travel by night on a train. Even though the dojo master was initially opposed to this idea since a train ride could cause fatigue to his pupil, Taro persuaded him, since he didn''t want to miss an extra day working in the construction site. Taro, previously meditating, opened his eyes upon hearing Thankappan''s voice. He picked up his duffel bag containing his uniform and took in a deep breath. "Yes, I am!" "Then, let''s go. Your master asked us to head towards the railway station by ourselves and he''ll meet us there with the tickets. Gopan will be coming in a few minutes too. Let''s head down." Thankappan said softly. It was just nine at night. However, the aliens were tired for some reason that day even though they literally did minimal work. Therefore, there wasn''t anyone departing them off. Well, all except Lonappan, who was waiting for them before the Holy Land. "Hey guys! Gopan said that he''ll be here in a few seconds." Lonappan looked at his watch and spoke, before turning his attention towards Taro. "Well, best of luck, Taro. I''ll pray for your win¡­ without serious injuries to the other side, of course!" Lonappan chuckled. Taro sighed. "Don''t worry, Lonappan. I''m a responsible martial artist. I''ve grown past carelessly destroying stuff." He assured. "I sure hope that''s the case." Lonappan replied. "Hey! Gopan''s here!" Thankappan pointed to Gopan''s auto and spoke. "Hey, guys. Hop in! Your train''s at ten-thirty, right? I''ll get you there within half an hour. Plenty of time, right?" Gopan asked. "Yup! That''s cool." Taro said as he and Thankappan hopped in. # Gopan fulfilled his promise. In exactly half an hour, they reached the Thrissur railway station. Taro and Thankappan hopped out of the auto taxi and thanked Gopan for his mad driving skills and headed inside the station. The first thing they did inside was to try to find the dojo master. However, he was nowhere to be seen. "Is he late?" Taro wondered. "Well, you got his number, right? Call him." Thankappan suggested. "Yea, you''re right." Taro took out his phone and dialled for his master. However, before calling, he turned on his translator. The phone rang for a long time until the dojo master finally picked it up. "Hey, Sadanandan! I''m sorry! I''ll be out in a minute. Wait for me out there." The master said. Taro was shocked. "Wait, you''re just leaving your house? The train''s gonna get here by ten-thirty, you know that, right?" He asked. "Yea, yea. I''ll be there by ten-twenty, don''t worry! And for your kind information, the railway is always late, so don''t worry about that." The master replied. "But that doesn''t mean you can-" Before Taro could utter another word, his master hung up the phone. "He''s treading through the thin wire, huh?" Thankappan asked. "Yea." Taro replied. Their conversation didn''t last past that. They didn''t have much to speak anyway, since they lived under the same roof and worked together. Even if they did, they had plenty of free time to talk between work, so they were literally out of small talks. Because of this, every minute was literally like hell. He finally experienced the feeling he felt during those three days. However, the only difference would be that back then, it was a wait of excitement and this time was a dreadful one. Taro hated it. He was a sucker of punctuality ever since his time in the disaster management squad. That''s what made him an excellent leader. He had a habit of leaving a few hours early as a head start since he feared that he might mess up something if he did it at the last minute. This was evident by the fact that he arrived really early to his master''s house last week. For a guy like him, the wait for his unpunctual master pained him. He couldn''t focus on anything other than the big clock in the station. He was nervous about missing the train. While Thankappan casually strolled around, Taro intensely stared at the big clock for the entire time. Finally, the promised time had arrived. It was ten-twenty, however there was no sign of his master. "Thankappan, it''s ten-twenty one and master''s not here!" Taro raised his concern towards his carefree peer. Thankappan sighed upon hearing this. He could see it in his eyes. Thankappan was a sucker for punctuality and such people couldn''t bear waiting for anyone else. However, as of then, he couldn''t do anything to help him other than give out a few words of random bullshit. "Dude, chill! It''s just one minute. Wait." He replied. Taro waited. He counted each second and when one minute passed, he alerted Thankappan yet again. "Ten-twenty two now!" He was slightly panicking. Thankappan shook his head. "We''ve still got eight minutes, right? So, be patient for a second." He suggested. Yet again, Taro calmed down and counted down the clock. As soon as the clock struck ten-twenty three, he was about to alert Thankappan once again. However, a voice interrupted him. "Hey, guys! Sorry, I''m late!" It was the dojo master. "See? He came." Thankappan was more relieved than Taro upon seeing the dojo master''s arrival since he might''ve had to suffer a few more of Taro''s alert if he hadn''t come. "Hello, I''m Thankappan." He extended his hand towards the dojo master. The master awkwardly shook it. "Uh, hi!" However, he looked concerned about something as he shifted the topic. "Okay, don''t freak out when I say this¡­" "Oh no!" Taro gasped. "What happened?" Thankappan looked towards Taro and asked. "Well, whenever someone tells you not to freak out, there''s something to freak out about, right?" He asked back. "Well, he''s certainly got a point!" Thankappan agreed with Taro''s assessment on that. "So, what''s there to freak out?" Thankappan turned to the dojo master and asked. The master sighed. "Well, look. I booked the ticket for the sleeper coach last week, okay? It was on the waiting list back then; I guess it was two hundred or something. However, I didn''t care about that, since most of the people take back their reservation by the time the day actually arrives. And that happened. Yesterday, we were thirty, thirty one and thirty two respectively. It was all going fine. Now, the problem is that the train is gonna arrive in six minutes and we''re still in the double digits!" He calmly explained. "No¡­" Taro knew it. He could sense the heavy atmosphere before his master even talked. Since, Taro didn''t seem level-headed like his usual self, Thankappan took the helms of being the level-headed one in this scenario. "So, what are we supposed to do now then? Miss the train entirely and take the tickets for the next one?" He asked. The master shook his head. "No, we can''t afford that. We don''t have the luxury of time. We have to get in on this one. Don''t worry, though! We could still get in on the sleeper coach with our current tickets." He replied. "No." Taro suddenly spoke out. "Huh?" Thankappan and Taro''s master were confused by this. Taro sighed. "We''re not gonna do it that way. My travelling luck is fucked up. So, if we do things illegally like that¡­" "It''s not illegal, though! Although, we might have to lay on the floor or something." The master explained. "You don''t understand. My luck''s so bad in journeys that even if it is kinda legal, the TTE [1] will actually throw us out." Taro replied. "Whoa! He sure is paranoid about such stuff!" Thankappan thought. "What''s the plan? We''ve only got five minutes." He spoke. "Isn''t there any ticket that''s cheaper and easily obtainable for the train?" Taro asked. His master thought for a few seconds. "There''s the general compartment. The actual price is one hundred and twenty something, however, no one pays that cash. We could literally enter it for free!" He replied. Thankappan was satisfied by this outcome. "That''s great! Now-" However, he was cut short by Taro. "No." Thankappan had enough of it. "What now?" He cried. "Just because everyone else is jumping on it for free doesn''t mean we are too! I talked about my luck, right? So, what if the TTE catches us travelling for free? I can''t do that! If we''re doing it, we''re doing it the right way. We''re paying for the ticket!" Taro proclaimed. # [1] TTE- Traveling Ticket Examiner. The guys who check your tickets if you''re travelling by train. Chapter 48: The tiring journey "I''m so sorry for this! I really thought Sadanandan would comply with it. What are you gonna do with those sleeper coach tickets?" Thankappan asked the master while waiting at the ticket counter to purchase the general compartment tickets. Since Taro was before them, Thankappan made sure to whisper or else considering Taro''s varying mood at that time, he had no idea what might happen. "Ah, you''re worried about these tickets? Well, don''t; since I''ll get a refund anyway!" The master replied with a smile, waving around the tickets. "Three general compartment tickets for Trivandrum, please!" Taro walked towards the counter and spoke. However, unlike Thankappan and his master, who had a basic idea of what he meant, the man at the counter blinked at this. Upon seeing this, Thankappan stepped forth and handled the matter. "Ah, what he meant was if we could get three general compartment tickets for Trivandrum?" He asked. "Okay, sure! Wait a minute." The man inside quickly handed them their ticket and the matter was settled. Receiving a train ticket for the first time in his life, Taro was excited. Although Taro tried searching in the internet about the trains and their structure and stuff, he had never seen one and this was his opportunity. However, he was worried about something. "Well, how will we know where the train''s gonna come? Also, how will we know which one''s the general compartment?" Even though he did surf the internet about trains, he didn''t look into the compartment classifications. Hence, he was curious about it. "Well, as of where the train''s arriving, it''s on our ticket and they will also announce it, so that''s not a problem. If we''re to talk about the general compartment thing, well, you''ll know it as soon as the train arrives here. There''s no way you''ll miss it!" The master assured. # "Holy shit!" Taro couldn''t comprehend what he just saw. His master wasn''t lying about it. One could easily guess which one''s the general compartment by looking at the sheer number of people in there. The compartment was brimmed with people and the train hadn''t even reached its halfway point. "See? What did I tell ya?" The master gave out a nervous laughter. He really didn''t want to enter this mass of extremely sweaty people enclosed in a compartment which seemed really tiny now. "What the hell are you guys doing?" Thankappan shouted. However, when the other two looked around for him, they couldn''t actually see him. "Guys, I''m here! Come on! Or you''re gonna miss the train," Somehow, Thankappan was seen in the middle of the compartment. Even when people pushed him around, he slithered his way into there, something the other two didn''t even dared to do. However, seeing Thankappan''s tenacity, the other two had no choice but to go in head first. That wasn''t a very successful plan though! By the time the train left the station, the two were barely hanging on the edge. Thus began the long and tedious journey to Trivandrum. Although the beginning was really difficult, they slowly headed towards the middle part. They didn''t get there though, but they secured a place where they wouldn''t actually fall off from the train. Meanwhile, Thankappan somehow had already found a place to sit in this rush. The two of them were really envious of Thankappan''s godlike skill in this. Rather than worrying about himself, the dojo master was worried about his pupil. In his mind, there was no way Taro would be a hundred percent for the tournament. He regretted not persuading Taro to leave a day early. However, there wasn''t anything he could do at that moment. Although he did want Thankappan to vacate that seat for his pupil, he knew how trains worked. Once you vacate a seat, someone else will grab it for sure. Hence, it wasn''t guaranteed that his pupil would be able to get that seat. Therefore, he didn''t make that request. Instead, he asked Taro to place his duffel bag in a way that he could sit on it. However, Taro refused to do so since he respected the uniform inside it. He wasn''t considered about sitting anyway, since he had an inhumane amount of stamina. Although, he was concerned about a few things though, and one such thing was his proximity to the toilet in the compartment. Unlike the other compartments, the toilet in the general compartment was poorly managed. Well, even if they were well managed, people out there would make a piss pool out of it. Hence, it was really hard to take in a breath or two without actually smelling the stench from the toilet. The second thing which concerned him was the enormous amount of people beside him, who seemed to be pushing him every other chance they got; unsuccessfully, of course. However, since these people were so close, he had to restrict his upper body movements, because he worried that one wrong move might throw many people out of the train and that wasn''t ideal in his eyes. The main problem was when someone tried to enter the toilet. They had to pass by him every time they had to take a piss. This proved fatal for two reasons. One, Taro had no idea whether they washed their hands or not. This was vital because sometimes they had to touch him to get past him. The thought of them not washing after entering the toilet was terrifying for Taro. Although he wasn''t a germaphobe, things like this still disgusted him. And the second reason was the suggestive touches he had to endure along the way as they entered and exited the toilet. Taro wasn''t attracted to human beings of any gender since he couldn''t imagine them as sexy after meeting up with many beauties as he ventured throughout the universe trying to find his attribute. That''s why he never understood why the Earthlings conducted a Miss Universe beauty contest without actually bringing in the beauties from the entire universe. It also pissed him off when he realized that the Miss Universe pageant was a step below Miss World, which made no sense! Anyhow, the point is, he didn''t find the Earthlings attractive. And even if he did, that doesn''t mean he would allow random people to touch his body without his permission. Granted that it was crowded, but he could sense certain people''s intent by looking at their faces. For example, a certain old woman coursed her hands through his chest and nether regions, giving out a smile which she considered as seductive. However, he considered it as plain creepy. And it wasn''t just women; certain male humans did so too. Disregarding the gender difference, he just wanted to smash their faces to the ground. However, he controlled his urge to do so and complained about the blatant sexual harassment to Thankappan with his eyes. However, Thankappan did nothing and asked him to endure; again with his eyes. Without any other choice, Taro endured this, or so he thought to do first. That day, many people left the train with utterly broken feet. None of them had any idea as to who stomped their feet. This minuscule thing gave immense pleasure to Taro. Although his upper body functions were limited, his legs did the job here. Couldn''t smash their faces, so smashed their feet instead. As time passed, the crowd thinned out and finally Taro was freed from having to stay near the toilet. At around six hours since their journey began, Taro was finally able to have a seat alongside Thankappan and his master. However, this run was short-lived since they had already arrived at their designated station, hence the peace was short lived. After six hours of hardship, they had finally reached Trivandrum at about four-thirty in the morning. The three of them were tired. Thankappan tried to call a kuber taxi, however his internet was dwindling for some reason. Hence, when an auto driver sweet talked them into riding his auto to the arena, they let them be sweet talked as they couldn''t give a damn about it. However, once they entered the auto, the driver''s behavior changed entirely. Rather than taking them straight to the arena, he started taking short stops and chatted with random people. Although they didn''t care for it since they had plenty of time till the tournament began, this kind of action from the driver sure made Taro and Thankappan miss Gopan and his mad driving skills. In the end, the journey which should''ve been fifteen minutes, took them an hour, which was still early seeing that the arena hadn''t opened up yet. Hence, they didn''t complain. Hell, they didn''t even complain when the driver tried to swindle them and asked them about five hundred rupees as the fare. Taro didn''t particularly care about it. Meanwhile the two humans beside him were too tired to have an argument. "Taro, we got about three hours. Take a nap. I''ll wake you up." The master suggested. Since Taro knew that his master would probably cause a fuzz if he didn''t do so, he acted as if he was sleeping for about fifteen minutes. Once he opened his eyes, he saw that his master had fallen asleep beside Thankappan. Therefore, instead of sleeping around, he warmed up his body for the entire three hours, before waking the two up. # Chapter 49: For my master "Oh, thank god, at least this one looked packed!" The dojo master sighed as he saw the number of participants outside the arena. "They could be for the other belt tournaments too, you know?" Thankappan replied. "Nah, as long as there''s at least one guy participating in it, I''m fine! That would still be considered as a tournament match." The master spoke with a smile. "You sure are optimistic! Well, Taro did say about that one guy''s pupil. I guess that''s the reason?" Thankappan asked. "Yup!" He nodded. "Well, that''s good." Thankappan replied, before noticing something peculiar about the people passing by. "Hey, Sadanandan?" "Yea?" Taro looked at him with sparkling eyes. Even though he knew he had to restrain, the prospect of having a fight was always exciting in his eyes. "Ah, it''s nothing." Seeing the sparkle in the alien''s eyes, he decided not to speak anything of it. "Let''s go inside, shall we?" # After registering into the tournament without much fuzz, Taro and the crew learned that the black belt category was an eight man elimination tournament and conveniently enough, if he reached the finals, Taro would face Anil''s pupil. Even though the tournament bracket was revealed, Taro and the other two couldn''t find Anil or his pupil, although Thankappan was blindly around not knowing who Anil was. Finally, when the tournament was about to begin, Anil made a grand entrance with his pupils. Around him were about twenty or so of his students and among them were two people wearing black belts. One looked slightly older than the other. With that, the guys could guess which one was the prodigy that Anil talked about. Upon seeing Taro''s master, Anil''s face lit up. "Hey! I didn''t think you would actually come to this tournament with your pupil! Don''t blame me though, since you always chickened out the last moment, I thought you''d do that this time too." He spoke in a tone filled with mockery. The master scoffed. "Huh, really? I wouldn''t miss it for anything though! Your face when your so-called prodigy loses to my pupil would be so priceless. I hope it''d be like the face you dawned when I destroyed you!" He gave out a laugh. Although Anil was pissed off about this, he held in his anger. "Let''s see how long you''ll laugh like this. I''ll intently watch your pupil''s fights. So don''t disappoint me." He replied. "Well, before getting concerned about mine, you better watch out for yours. I sure hope your prodigy will last till the finals so that Sadanandan here could kick his ass!" The master spoke, giving out a sinister smile. "Ah, don''t worry about my pupil. Even if your pupil wins the first match, this guy right here will be his opponent. So, don''t keep your hopes up!" Anil said, as he showed off his second black belt pupil. "Let''s see." The master spoke calmly. [The participants of the first match of the black belt category, please head towards mat number one.] "Oh, seems like they''re calling for us. Let''s go!" Anil said to his ''prodigy'', who nodded his head. "Hey, watch this carefully, okay?" He turned back to the dojo master and asked. It all ended in a matter of a few seconds. A swift punch to the abdomen was all it took to end the hopes of the opponent''s advancement. The ''prodigy'' didn''t even bow at the end, which pissed off most of the martial arts enthusiasts. However, they couldn''t deny the absolute power they saw from the guy. "See? You got something to say now?" Anil whispered as he walked past Taro''s master. However the master decided to remain silent towards this obvious taunt. Instead he turned his attention towards taro. "Sadanandan, your match is up next. Are you ready?" He asked. "Yes, master!" Taro replied without a delay. # . . . Harish TP, age twenty-four. I''ve been practicing martial arts for nine years now. I was never the bright kid. Never good in studies, never good in athletics; hell, I wasn''t even good at martial arts too. I was about to give up on it, on everything. My parents weren''t so fond of me, so that sucked too. Life felt like a burden. I wanted to end it. That''s when my master came for the save. Unlike my parents who didn''t see any value in raising me, my master said that he saw potential in me. At that time, I thought that he said so because he wanted to swindle some money off me. However, when my parents shunned me off, saying that I was no use and that they preferred my younger brother more than me, my master was the only one who stood by my side. When I learned that I was the adopted one and that was the actual reason behind my parents deserting me, the master was the only one who consoled me and took me in. When I started hating on this world and its darkness, he shone as a bright light before me. That was why I intended to prove my master''s words right, even though it seemed like I wasn''t some talented martial artist. However, that didn''t work out so well. Even after two years of intense training, I couldn''t get past the first belt. This made me sad, because I felt like the faith that my master placed in me and the potential that he talked about was wasted on me. However, no matter how much I badmouthed myself before him, he always talked about how I had immense potential. Finally, I couldn''t handle any longer. No matter how much I tried, I still couldn''t improve. I was still stuck in mediocrity. While many of the master''s pupils strayed farther away from me, I was still weak. I felt like my master misplaced his faith in me. So, I talked to him about it. About how I was weak and how I don''t have any potential that he talked about. However, my master denied this. He revealed what the potential he saw in me was¡ªit was tenacity. Tenacity to not give up even in the worst conditions. And he said that was what made me a martial artist. Hearing this from him made a huge change in my life. Sure, I was still shit in martial arts, however I didn''t give up and started striving to get better. Little by little, it worked. I lost multiple matches against people but won quite a few as well. Finally, after seven years of harsh training, my master finally handed me the black belt and with that he also promised me that I will be the dojo master once he retires. I didn''t ask for it however since he decided it, I wanted to make him proud. I wanted to get into the nationals under his tutelage. Therefore, I entered into the Kollam municipality tournament. Luckily, I was the only one out there in the black belt category, so I got into the state tournament. I wanted to win it too and head to the nationals. I was confident of winning it. However, contrary to my expectations, I was utterly destroyed in the very first round by Master Anil''s pupil. He went on to the nationals though, so I could say that I was beaten by the champion. I wasn''t particularly sad since there was always the next year. So, I trained diligently for the tournament hoping that this would be the year I win it all. Similar to last year, I was lucky enough to get a bye in the municipality tournament. It was at this moment when my master revealed that he was about to retire and hand the dojo over to me. I was complacent. I imagined my master would be by my side all the time and was too lax about it. I never considered his retirement and that was my fault. And now, if I didn''t win the tournament, I would be breaking the promise I made to my younger self. So, I have to win this time around. There wasn''t much of a time lapse between the municipality and state tournaments, so I tried my best to get all my basics straight. Once I reached the arena, I realized that there were a few new faces in the mix. Even Master Anil had a new pupil alongside the one that beat me last year. This time however, I wasn''t facing him in the first round. I was facing someone named Sadanandan. I have never heard of him, so I believe that he''s a newbie. Newbie or not, I have just one goal in my mind. And that was to beat the guy in the first round, face my enemy from last year in the second and beat him too and beat whoever enters the finals. From the looks of it, it seemed like Master Anil''s new pupil would be the finalist. Nevertheless, I have to win no matter what and I''m going to begin my win streak with Sadanandan. . . . # Chapter 50: First fight Harish and Taro headed towards the mat almost simultaneously. However, Taro was stopped by his master before he entered the mat. "You remember the rule that I talked about? It still applies. Try winning by soft blows and defense. When I say soft blows, it should have a bit of power, you know? Like a teeny tiny bit of your actual power." The master ordered. "Ah, rules! You forgot to tell me the rules of this fight." Taro replied. "You''re right. Ok, listen. I''ll try to make it as brief as possible. Look, scoring is quite simple here. You can score a point by placing a hit on any of seven regions: head, face, neck, chest, abdomen, side and back. So, land a punch over those places. Although, a punch in the face wouldn''t be so apt. Like, focus on the abdomen and chest regions. Make sure to defend their punches and kicks with your hands." The master explained. "What about kicks?" Taro asked. "Hmm, since you will be focusing on defense, I''d rather see you use your hands and keep your legs grounded. Stability is important for defense. Once you take your leg off the ground, you have to be absolutely sure about landing a hit. However, as I said before, we''re trying to minimise the damage and increase the effectiveness. So, no kicks." The master said. "I see. Is there something else that I have to know?" Taro asked. "Let''s see. Well, although you can score three points by landing kicks or landing a technique on a fallen opponent, we won''t be concerned with that. They award points for good form, timing, distance and stuff like that too. Hell, they will even give you points for sporting attitude. Don''t go for hits below. That''s a strict no-no. Also, don''t go for a technique after the referee calls for stoppage. By the way, if you wanna end the match soon, try to get eight points as soon as possible.. As soon as you get a lead of eight points, you win. I guess that''s all you''re gonna need." His master explained with a sigh. Never had he explained the point system to anyone just before their match. "Thank you. I''ll make sure to abide by the rules." Taro replied with a smile. It kinda felt like the arena battles back in Wados. Even though it gave freedom to unleash your superpowers, the Wadorian government placed strict rules since the heroes were kinda destroying the premises with their violent fights. Taro was happy about that since the disaster management squad had less work to do after the enforcement of that rule. Even though, on Earth, it was a much different reason to enforce such rules, he was quite content to follow such rules. "You better!" The master spoke as he nudged him towards the mat. On the mat was Harish waiting for his arrival. Upon catching Taro''s glance, Harish gave out a light smile. Taro smiled back as well. Meanwhile, the referee made his way to the mat as well. "Ready?" He asked. "Yes!" Both answered. "Bow! Fight!" The referee roared. As soon as the match began, Harish advanced towards Taro as quickly as possible, reducing the distance between them. He had hoped to land a swift kick on Taro''s side, giving him no time to prepare. However, it was as if Taro had expected Harish to do this. He shifted his stance to a wider one. And rather than giving importance to mobility, Taro gave importance to the defense and sinked as low as he could, gaining the utmost stability. After that, it was much simpler for him to defend against the kick with his bare hands. Seeing that he sacrificed his mobility to put it all into defence, Harish thought of quickly following up with a punch to the chest. However, he failed to notice the punch that was headed straight to his abdomen. Just like that, he lost one point. Harish was flustered by this. That''s when he made the mistake of backing up rather than continuing his advances. With that, Taro got time to retreat and prepare as well. And this proved to be a costly mistake. As Harish tried attacking, all his advances were defended against and countered. Harish entered into a state of despair by the time Taro had a hefty lead of seven points. Not knowing what to do, Harish was destroyed. He started throwing random punches towards Taro, which missed him. "I¡­ have¡­ to¡­ win¡­" He said as he swung his fist with his entire body. Rather than concentrating in good form, he wanted to land at least one punch on Taro''s body. "Harish!" Someone shouted. It was his master. He looked sad. Harish realized it. Rather than giving an apt send off for his master , he was concerned about winning the match and heading to the nationals. It was his own selfish desires. His master never wanted this; he never wanted to see his pupil''s desperate punches. He rather liked the pupil who lost the fights but earned the respect of his opponents through his displays. That exact moment was when Harish realized that martial arts was not about scoring points, it was about putting up a respectable front against your opponent. It wasn''t about winning trophies, it was about survival; a way to lead life. Harish stopped throwing stray punches and got back to a basic stance. Each time he tried attacking, he was stopped by Taro''s arms, however, he was relentless as well when it came to Taro''s counterattacks. The match which had strayed off from being a martial arts match reverted back into one where Harish attacked and Taro counter attacked. However, neither one of them scored any more once the defense game began. In the end, the match dragged until the referee signalled the fight''s end. Harish somehow managed to last the entire match. Even though he knew he lost, he felt like a weight was off his shoulders. Taro won the match ten to two; the judges awarded him three extra points for his technique, form and timing. Meanwhile, Harish ended up gaining to because of his actions and behavior in the latter half of the fight. The tenacity of not giving until the end even though the fight was done really impressed the judges. "Thank you!" Harish bowed deeply towards Taro for the fight that he had. The fight that made him realize what kind of martial artist he was. "Ah, don''t worry! I had fun! Lots of it. You got spirit. I like that! Let''s fight again, someday!" Taro tried to break down his words as much as possible, so that his translator won''t glitch. Harish smiled as he saw Taro''s exhilarated face. He got a sense of satisfaction. "Sadanandan, huh? I''ll remember your name! Let''s have another fight someday. And that day, I''ll finally crack that defense of yours!" Harish laughed as he left mat first so that his opponent could celebrate his victory. "Well done." Harish''s master gave out a little hug. Once he was embraced by his master, he couldn''t hold it in. He broke into tears. Even though he did have a new perspective towards martial arts, he still wanted to win. He still wanted to give his master a proper farewell. "I''m sorry." He said as he cried down his master''s shoulder. His master pushed him back. "What are you sorry about, huh? You just showed off our dojo''s values and worth out there! Didn''t I tell you? Winning or losing in a tournament like this doesn''t matter. What matters is that you don''t give up and stray your path. And even if you did, you must show the tenacity to get back on track. You just showed that to me. So, don''t be sorry. Be proud instead. Be proud of what you have become. Be proud of finally achieving the potential that I saw in you. The fight you showed today is the best farewell that anyone could possibly give me. So, don''t cry. Stand tall instead!" Harish''s master replied as he patted his shoulder. As his master said, Harish wiped the tears off his face and stood straight, proud of what he did on the mat. "Yes, master!" Harish shouted in a broken voice. "That''s good! Now take this." The master said as he tossed him something. "This is!" "What? Did you think I was joking about you being a dojo master? Well, I wasn''t. I don''t think there isn''t anyone else who''s capable of managing our dojo other than you. So, from this moment, I''m no longer your master. I''m just a father watching his son from the sidelines. I''ll swing by and cheer for you though!" The master smiled. "Son?" Harish was overwhelmed by his master''s words. "Well, I considered you as my son for a long time now. Of course, if you don''t like me calling you that, do tell me and I''ll¡­" "NO!" Harish stopped him from speaking any more. He finally heard what he wanted to for the longest time and he didn''t want to lose it. "Thank you for everything¡­ father. I love you." He nearly broke down into tears while saying those words. "I love you too¡­ son." He said as he embraced Harish. A huge smile dawned on both their faces. It was the greatest day of their lives. # Chapter 51: Zaheer "Hmm, looks like that guy''s pupil knows how to fight!" Anil spoke as he observed Taro''s fight. "You''re right, master." The prodigy pupil of his agreed with the assessment. "Eh, really? I can''t believe it! It seems like he can''t even attack." Zaheer, the other black belter in Anil''s squad exclaimed. The prodigy scoffed. "Idiot. There''s more to this than meets the eye. How the hell did you even get to the nationals?" He said and walked away since the next round was on the way. "Sorry for not being as intelligent as you!" Zaheer mumbled in quite a mocking voice. "Jai is right, Zaheer. It''s not the lack of attack we''re talking about. Don''t you think it''s strange that he''s still scoring points even when he''s on defense?" Anil asked. "Isn''t that since his counters are good?" Zaheer asked back. "Exactly! For getting a pin-point counter, one''s defense has to be really good; good form and all are essential in that case. Even if the person''s really good at defense, have you ever seen such a defense? Sure, a wide stance helps in defensive maneuver. However, this guy hasn''t even leaked out a single point. That''s some inhuman defense. Which means he''s skilled. Hence, I want you to do one thing." Anil replied. "Don''t worry, master! I''ll make sure to defeat him thoroughly. It will be exciting." Zaheer said. His face was brimmed with excitement. "What? No! I want you to destroy his leg so that he won''t participate in the finals. Although, I''m pretty sure Jai can overcome his defense, I just don''t like taking risks." Anil ordered. Zaheer looked perplexed. "Master, I can beat him. It''s no big deal. The I can face Jai in the finals!" He tried convincing Anil. "Didn''t you hear what I just said? Are you going to defy my orders? Have you forgotten what I did for you? Have you also forgotten what your senior did for you?" Anil asked. Zaheer gulped. He couldn''t defy his master''s orders. "Yes, master. I will break his leg." He said in a low voice. # . . . Almost ten years; I''ve been under Master Anil''s tutelage for almost ten years. I still remember those days of glory like yesterday. I was the star of the dojo. The prodigy. People had high expectations of me; at least it seemed so back then. If you ask me now, I''ll just say that everything was a lie. However, back in the days of naivety, I really believed that they were all hyped about me. With that in my mind. I hastily reached the black belt, reaching the promised land that was waiting for me. Well, at least I thought that would be the case. Few months into getting in the black belt category, I learned that they were fucking with me. They hyped me up because they wanted to leech off money from me. Even Anil sir lied to me. How did I know that? Because my seniors started destroying me in spars every chance they get. Well, if I was that good, shouldn''t I be the one winning? When I pointed it to the master, he said that my seniors had learned advanced techniques that required extra pay. Listening to the bull shit he spewed, I spent the money that my uber rich parents earned and learned the techniques. Surprisingly, I won the following spar. Therefore, whenever I lost in a spar, I paid money to earn a new "technique" and won the following spar. With the confidence I gained from these encounters, I entered into the municipality tournament of Palakkad, which had a fair share of competitors. I lost. Hell, I was wiped out in the first round pretty convincingly. That''s when I caught drift. However, Anil master quickly wiped off my doubts by saying that I still had a lot to learn and said that I''ll learn the next year''s tournament if I listened to him. Hence, I listened and learned. The next year, I won the municipality tournament through a bye since I participated in the Wayanad district, since it usually had less competitors. Guess what? I won the state tournament too. It wasn''t that difficult beating my competitors. And I automatically won the finals since my opponent''s leg was destroyed by one of my seniors. Well, I thought it was stupid of him to do that. I saw him crying in the locker room. I felt no remorse. He brought it to himself. Had he beaten his opponent instead of disqualifying himself, we could''ve faced each other and I could''ve defeated him¡­ or so I thought. The next year too, a similar thing happened. I won easily and one of my seniors got disqualified. I noticed the pattern but I didn''t give a damn because I was an idiot back then. Funny thing is, I always lost in the very first round in the nationals. And when I confronted him about it, he always said that I lacked experience and leeched more money. Now that I think about it, it might just be that he doesn''t have the influence on the national sector as he had on the state tournaments. Anyway, I remained the ace of the dojo for the longest time. Until one day, when the master asked me to spar with a kid quite younger than me; a kid named Jai. He looked nothing special. He also had a white belt, so I didn''t quite get why the master asked me to fight him. However, I learned exactly why after the spar. It was my defeat. My complete defeat. The kid destroyed me, the guy who won two state tournaments back-to-back. That day, I learned my place; I was the foolish cash cow. I never felt helpless before. Everything I learned was a lie. Every fight I had was fake. The so-called legacy I had was nothing but bought by money. The pain of knowing this was unbearable. Just think about it. Everything you staked your life into, all turned out to be a big fat lie. Upon making peace with it, I decided to leave the dojo and start anew. However, the prick named Anil was one wily guy. He blackmailed me saying that once I leave the dojo, he''ll make it sure that I won''t win a single tournament even if I won through hard work. Well, that kinda sucked. I didn''t want that to happen, so I continued on as his cash cow. Meanwhile, I met up with the senior who disqualified himself from the tournament in my first year. I learned that he had a dojo of his own. I told him about everything, about how I wanted to start from the scratch. He listened and asked me to swing by his dojo after Master Anil''s classes. I did. And thus, I began from the basics. For the next few years, I lost all the tournaments I participated in, even though I competed under Anil''s banner. Not that he cared. As long as he got money, he was satisfied. Such a fucking prick! Well, I didn''t care for his classes either. I practiced what I learned from my senior''s dojo in Anil''s dojo, hence my time was productive, at least. Fat forward to last year, finally after many years, I won the state tournaments. It was an amazing feeling. The first time I did it with my strength. My master; my actual master was present in the attendance too, which made the victory more sweet. Even though I won the state tourney, I still lost the nationals in the first round. However, I was content. I was ready to take one step at a time. That''s when I learned that Jai was participating this year. Anil''s favorite pupil; the one he believes will conquer the nationals. When I heard that, I practised twice as hard. I wanted to enter the finals. I wanted to beat him and get revenge for what happened that day. Well, revenge is a strong word. What I really needed was to achieve peace about the fact that I''m finally better than my previous self. Winning or losing didn''t matter. Hell, he defeated me back when he was a white belt, I didn''t want to imagine what sort of monster he currently is. However, I wanted to test myself out.. I wanted to prove to my master that I''ve gotten better under him. He swung by this time too, which made me pretty happy and nervous at the same time. However, Karma is a bitch, isn''t it? Just like my first two tournaments, Anil wanted someone to take a hit so that his favorite could win. Although, this time the sacrifice ended up being me. My master was looking at me all excited, however he didn''t know that I''m going to suffer the same thing that he did back then. I now understand why he cried back then. I feel like crying now. But, I gotta do this now, don''t I? Fuck, this is what I get for allying with the asshole. An ally, huh? Just like my name. And now I have to put up with it and do the cliche villain''s sidekick things. Like seriously! I feel like I''ve seen this done in a martial arts movie! And now I''m gonna screw over poor Sadanandan guy just like those movies. He seems like a good lad. Wonder what would''ve happened if we were to fight for real. However, that''s not possible now, is it? . . . # Chapter 52: Semi-finals "Hey, Sadanandan!" While Taro was prepping for his next match, someone called him from behind. It was Harish. He was still a bit teary eyed from the events that unfolded after the match. "Yo! Good fight out there." Taro smiled. "Yea, thanks." Harish blushed, since it was the first time that someone other than his mast...father appreciated his bout. "Oh, by the way, you''re facing Zaheer next round, right? I got info on him if you''re interested." He said. He wanted to be of some help for Taro who enlightened him of his way of martial arts. Hence, he was prepared to talk about his bitter defeat last year. Although, he didn''t feel bitter about it anymore. Taro thought about it for a while. "Hmm, let me hear it then." He replied. "Well, he is a three time state champion. Although, his second and third reign as champion has a big time lapse. I still remember it clearly. The first two times, he was focused more on doing flashy moves. However, that didn''t help him anymore and fell into the pit of losses. Surprisingly, he made a big return to the state competitions by winning the title. It was a bit strange though; like he changed quite significantly." Harish explained. "What do you mean?" Taro was in a hurry. Harish''s explanation seemed long since he had literally seconds to prepare. "Well, it was like he reverted back to basics. Like, he won the entire tourney with just the basic techniques. Nothing flashy. It was like he was a master at that." Harish replied. "Hmm, so you''re telling me to look out for his basics, huh? His style makes sense though! Sometimes sticking to the basics is the best thing one could do. Anyway, thanks! I''ll keep what you said in my mind. Gotta go now! They called my name." Taro waved and was about to head towards the mat, when he noticed something. The glitch on his translator was less frequent. Hell, there hasn''t been a glitch for a while now. Therefore, before heading towards the mat, he headed towards Thankappan. "Hey, seems like the glitch has subsided¡­ for now." He looked happy as he replied. He can finally spew random bullshit in a single language now! "Ah, that''s great! But, the fuck are you doing here? Get your ass to the mat." Thankappan ordered. # Few minutes later, the referee got between the already present Taro and Zaheer. However, before the referee could announce the start of the match, Zaheer bowed before Taro, unlike his colleague Jai, who doesn''t have an ounce of sportsmanship. "Sorry." He mumbled under his breath as he bowed. It was a heartfelt apology for what he was about to do. Seeing Zaheer''s polite bow, Taro bowed as well. Once all the pleasantries were all done, the referee finally announced the start of the match with a "fight" scream. Once that happened, both competitors got into stances. While Taro decided to take up the wide stance which gained him the victory, Zaheer took a more careful approach, thinking that Taro might do something different this time. However, seeing that Taro hadn''t changed his strategy, Zaheer started giving out a bunch of powerless side-kicks to test out his defense. And as expected, Taro defended against them and even countered a fair share of them. As Zaheer desperately defended against the counters, he timed one wrong and a point was leaked out. He didn''t care about it though. He had plenty of opportunities to get a point back. Although, unlike him, someone was clearly upset about this outcome. He could sense the intense glare shot at him, asking when he was going to do the screw-job. "Ah, I get it, you fucking prick. I''ll do it in a moment." Zaheer thought as he distanced himself from Taro and got himself ready. From what he had seen of Taro, he knew that Taro wouldn''t attack one bit. Therefore, he took ample time in preparations. Once he mentally prepared himself, he advanced towards Taro and gave out a bunch of side-kicks. What people didn''t notice was that each new kick was lower than the other. It reached a point where the kick could possibly be called a thigh kick. However, since Zaheer was careful about his approach, he was safe. What he planned was a precise kick to the knees; the kinda kick that doesn''t have an enormous amount of power behind it, but enough power to get the job done. He decided to do so after careful consideration. If he went straight forth with a stomp or something similar, he would straight up be disqualified for malicious intent. He wanted to avoid that as much as possible. He wanted to face Jai no matter what. His plan was theoretically perfect. Best case scenario, he could break his opponent''s leg and no one actually disqualifies him. Worst case scenario, Taro might end up buckling his knee, which would open three different scenarios. First of all, he could actually take advantage of it and score a win when his knees entirely give out. Secondly, he could still gain a victory on points, even though Anil wouldn''t approve of it. And finally, if nothing worked, he could still go for a proper stomp and get disqualified. Hence, after all those kicks to the side, he feigned a punch and expected Taro to defend against it. However, Taro didn''t even flinch.. It was as if he knew that this punch was a dud. Noticing this, Zaheer really wanted to change his plans and punch him instead. However, since he already started a motion, he couldn''t back off it and aimed for his knees. He didn''t miss it. The precise kick struck Taro right in the knee. To further prove his innocence later, Zaheer tripped on the mat after the kick, making it look like a pure accident. However, Taro didn''t fall. He didn''t scream. He stood still. His face remained expressionless; it remained stoic the entire time. The referee responded quickly and made Zaheer stand back and checked on Taro. Then, something unexpected happened. Taro smiled and said he was fine. The situation was weird in Zaheer''s eyes. The kick was precise, it was bound to get him hurt. He believed that this was a desperate attempt to stay in the fight. However, upon noticing Taro''s smile, he was sure. It wasn''t much of an injured guy trying to do his best kinda smile. It was more of a taunt, trying to provoke Zaheer. He was sure. The kick didn''t even tickle Taro. "Damn, I''m facing a fucking monster, huh?" He sighed inwardly. Zaheer felt like he didn''t have any choice. After he got a warning and the fight restarted, he went on a frenzy. He didn''t even hide his malice. He full-on went for a stomp on Taro''s knees. However, the more he did that, the more sinister Taro''s smile became. It seemed like he was enjoying the madness. The referee tried intervening, however, since none of the kicks landed the mark, he was reluctant to stop, which was bad refereeing if you think about it. Few minutes passed since Zaheer began his stomp parade and only two things happened. Either he missed the spot or Taro defended it with his hand, which was kinda simple after further lowering his stance. Taro chuckled. "You will never win like this, you know that, right?" He asked nonchalantly, in between a tournament fight. Zaheer sighed. "I know." He replied as he continued on with his tactics. "Then why are you doing it?" Taro asked, confused about the logic behind the Earthling''s tactic. "Master''s orders." He replied. Taro could see Anil smiling like crazy with the corner of his eyes, "Jeez. And you''re still considering him as your master, huh? Rather than having an asshole like that guy as a master, it would''ve been better if you got yourself one that cares about you and your thoughts." He said. Upon hearing this, Zaheer finally stopped his rampage and glanced at the crowd. There, he could see his master-his real master, staring without even giving out a word of cheer. He didn''t look disappointed. He looked like he expected this. Even though his face looked stoic, his eyes looked like he understood what his pupil was going through, which made sense, because he did go through it. Zaheer sighed. For the first time in the entire fight, he had a clear conscience and a greater conviction. "You stopped!" Taro exclaimed happily, since it seemed like his words went through his opponent''s head. Even though he greatly enjoyed a challenge, he felt like his opponent had been disrespecting the martial art by using underhanded tactics. "Yea." "So, you made a decision, right? What is it? Will you continue the shit you did before or will you fight for real?" Taro asked. Zaheer sighed. "Fuck it. Fuck Anil. Fuck everything!" He mumbled and took his usual stance; a rather basic one. Taro smiled upon seeing this. The match went on till the time limit. Even though Zaheer tried his best recovering, he couldn''t get a comeback. He lost convincingly as he lost a few extra points due to his initial attitude. However, he didn''t feel sad. Rather, he felt happy that he had a proper fight at the end. He felt like a real martial artist upon exiting the mat with a bright smile on his face. A feeling that he never got after all these years under Anil''s tutelage had finally blossomed. # Chapter 53: Father As Zaheer walked out of the mat with his head held high, Anil looked at him with displeasure. He rushed towards Zaheer and pulled him by the collar. "What the hell was that?" He asked in a really menacing voice. "What?" "The stunt you pulled out there. That was a direct defiance of my orders." Anil rumbled. "What stunt? I just had the fight of my life out there. What do you have against that?" He asked. Anil sighed. "Are you stupid or are you acting like one? Do you remember what I told you before you step foot into the mat? I asked you to destroy that fucking guy''s leg. Instead, what did you do? You had your ''little fight'' and lost miserably. Ah, why the hell did I even expect you to do something? Useless idiot." He mumbled. Until that moment, Zaheer tolerated everything that the prick had to say. However, there''s a limit to tolerance. With his display, Anil had finally placed a dent on his tolerance. "You know what? Fuck it. I quit." He replied with a straight face and tried walking off. Anil was shocked by this declaration. However, he did stop Zaheer by grabbing his hand. "What did you just say?" He asked. "Did you lose your hearing, old prickly bastard? I said I''m getting the hell off your dojo." Zaheer didn''t mince his words. The sharp tone of his words surprised Anil. He was flustered. He didn''t expect the loyal dog to growl at him. The greedy bastard wanted to stop Zaheer from exiting the dojo at all costs. After all, he was the cash cow. "But¡­ but¡­ our relationship as teacher and student! How could you cast that aside?" He asked out of desperation. "Are you kidding me? Student-teacher relationship? Between you and me? Why are you lying, old man? At most, you thought of me as your cash machine. It''s not like I was oblivious to that fact. Since you didn''t value our so-called relationship, I won''t value it as well. I gotta thank you though! Because of your behavior, I got a chance to experience what a real master-student relation feels like!" Zaheer smiled. "You sound like you got a master already." Anil replied. "Already? It''s been going for a long time!" Zaheer replied as he waved towards his real master with a bright smile in his face. Realizing that his pupil finally broke the news to Anil, he smiled and waved as well. "That guy! Isn''t he my student?" Anil looked shocked. "Sheesh, at least remember the name of your pupil, dude! Why would you, right? After all, he''s one of those people you sacrificed for someone else to get over. In his case, it was me. I went to apologize to him and to my surprise I noticed that he was a much better teacher than you. Even though you didn''t teach him much, he self-taught and honed the art. If you ask me, he''s at least ten times better than you!" Zaheer shrugged. Anil laughed. He laughed so much that he almost looked like a maniac. "You do know that I can destroy your career, right? I''ll make sure that you could never join this tournament!" He replied. "Do I look like I care? What I''m looking for isn''t these tournaments, I''m looking for the exhilaration that practicing martial arts gives me. I don''t even need to join some random tournament and win trophies for that. A dojo and a caring master is enough for me." Zaheer explained. "Caring master, huh? Well, I''ll inform you that I have the powers to permanently revoke your dear master''s license. And after that, your master can''t teach martial arts to anyone. How would you feel about that?" Anil asked. This time around, Zaheer started laughing like a maniac. "Haha, since when did you have that amount of power? As far as I know, the most you can do is meddle with the results of a state tournament. Fuck it, let''s just imagine that you got some influence or you know a certain someone who could do that to my master. Do you really think I''ll stand still while you do that? To your kind notice, I do have a superpower that could trample over any sort of power you have. I''m rich¡ªfilthy rich! You really think that you''re meager influence can triumph over a fat stack of money? Keep dreaming, old man!" He replied and then heaved a sigh of relief. "I don''t get it. Why was I even following you? Well, one could say that I respected you. However, not anymore, you filthy mongrel." With that said, Zaheer walked away. On his way to his master, he was stopped by Jai. "What a disgusting performance! You sure you''re Master Anil''s pupil?" Jai asked. For a moment, Zaheer didn''t say anything. Instead, he flipped his middle finger during that time. After calming himself down, he finally opened his mouth. "Look, you didn''t like my fight? I''m fine with that. So, fuck off and console your pathetic master. By the way, don''t look down on Sadanandan. He might just surprise the heck out of you." Zaheer warned. Jai scoffed. "As if! Just because you lost, that doesn''t mean that I''m going to!" He replied. "Whatever, dude! Do your high and mighty shtick. I just thought of saying it out of goodwill." Zaheer spoke and wasted no more time there. He knew that trying to convince Jai of something was pointless since he was a muscle head. After Zaheer left, Jai walked towards a nearly devastated Anil. "Did you hear him? He¡­ he left the dojo!" Anil screamed. All he could think was all the money he could have exploited if Zaheer stayed a bit longer. "Don''t worry about that idiot, master! I''ll fulfill your wishes!" Jai proudly proclaimed. "You''ll be my cash cow?" Anil asked. "What? No! I''ll beat that Sadanandan guy, head to the nationals and make you proud! That''s my promise." Jai explained. # . . . Useless. Everything I did felt useless because of my perfectionist father. Nothing I did seemed enough. He always found flaws in it. I still remember it clearly. I showed him a drawing I made in kindergarten of him. The next day, he gave me a detailed report of where I went wrong with the drawing. I was four, what did you expect off of me? A picture-perfect portrait of you? Hell, even if I did, he wouldn''t have been satisfied with it. How do I know that? Because I tried doing that once and he still pointed out the minute faults. It was during this time of turmoil that I was introduced to martial arts. Well, I already had a basic idea of fighting since my early days, since my perfect father thought that it was a good idea to instill that in a young child. He said that since I''m his bloodline, I should be able to do the things that he was able to do. Anyway, he sent me to Master Anil''s dojo because it had a good review. He did not spare an effort to even look further into it. Hell, he didn''t even come with me to the first day in the dojo, because he wanted me to man up and do everything myself. I couldn''t care less though. That man made me walk to kindergarten by myself since the beginning, therefore this wasn''t that big of a deal. Once I enrolled myself into the dojo, I made sure not to mention my father''s name since he banned me from doing so. He wanted me to pave my way or so he said. Even though the master didn''t particularly care about me in the beginning, he noticed it when I started absorbing all the techniques relatively easily. The early training helped me in that, I guess. Once he noticed me, I was kinda afraid that he''d start judging me like my father. However, it was quite different. He started cherishing me instead. He called me a prodigy and all. It was like¡­ I finally got the long overdue praise that I should''ve received from my father. If you ask me, he was a much better father figure than my actual one. The first thing that master did was to pit me against the black belt students in the dojo. When I beat them easily, he praised me more and more. He trained me every day and took care of my needs. I was happy around him. Within a few years, I became a black belt master. However, my real father was still disappointed about me. He said that I was nowhere near him, which seemed true when he destroyed me in a mock fight. Therefore I continued training. I made a promise that until I get the approval of my father, I won''t enter a tournament. And after all these years, I got the acknowledgment this year. I fought him and lost this time around too. However, he did say that I got a bit strong, which he never said all these years. Even though I made him wait all these years, the master never complained about me not entering the tournament. Instead, he praised my commitment. I feel like he''s part of the reason why I was finally acknowledged by my father. I respect my master. I like him very much. When I felt down, he cheered me up. Now, it''s my chance. Zaheer disappointed him. And now I can make him proud by winning the state tournament and the nationals. I don''t care what others call him. For me, he''s a father-figure and a person I respect. And I''ll make sure to do anything to make him happy, just like he made me happy. . . . # Chapter 54: The finals "Dude! You''re in the finals!" The dojo master exclaimed as he hugged Taro tight. Although he knew Taro was pretty good in martial arts, he never expected him to reach the finals, especially when he had to face Zaheer in the second ever match he fought. With every passing moment, he could see the way to the nationals more clearly. However, he did notice a big boulder at the end of the path¡ªa boulder named Jai. "Finals, huh? Don''t worry. I''ll beat that prodigy!" Taro replied, as if addressing his master''s concerns. The master scoffed. "There you go with your overconfidence yet again! You gotta be wary against a guy like that¡ªwell, against any guy, if you ask me." The master replied. Taro shook his head. "It''s not overconfidence or something like that. It''s just my belief on what I learned from you. I know for sure that I can beat him." He assured. The master sighed. "There''s no helping you, huh? Fine, if you''re that confident, don''t you dare lose!" He replied. "Believe me, I won''t." Taro smiled. "I feel like I should say something. However, since they made this emotional kinda atmosphere, I don''t wanna butt in." Thankappan thought, as he heard their conversation, reminiscing about the one time he actually witnessed Taro''s one-percent of power. "Hell of a fight, man! Hell of a fight!" Zaheer interrupted the master-pupil moment, after he broke off his relationship with Anil. "Ah, yes. It was a pretty interesting fight, especially the first half." Taro replied with a smirk in his face. Upon realizing what he meant, Zaheer bowed deeply. "Ah, I''m sorry. I didn''t want to do it. The circumstances¡ªwell, I could say it''s because of my circumstances, however I don''t feel like pinning the blame on anyone else, even on that prick Anil. After all, I did listen to him and tried injuring you. What I did was stupid and I shouldn''t have done that. I''m truly sorry for my actions." "Ah, don''t worry! I quite enjoyed our fight. So, don''t apologize. At least you came into your senses in the second half. And even if you didn''t, it''s not like you would have broken my leg anyway." Taro meant every word he said. The Wadorians had abnormal bone strength from birth and combining that with Taro''s extreme training all these years, Taro''s bones won''t break even if he was hit by a tank. "Haha!" Zaheer scratched his head. He felt as if Taro was mocking him with those words, however, his face and tone said otherwise. He was confused. "Well, since you''re familiar with that prodigy-guy, got some tips for me?" Taro asked, trying to deviate the focal point. Zaheer thought for a while. "Hmm¡­ I don''t think you can score any point if you continued doing what you did with me. You might have to actually attack this time around. The guy''s an all-rounder. He got excellent defense and attack. So, he can do all three¡ªdefend, attack and counter, unlike you who does two. So, attack!" He explained. "Ha! I don''t think that''s the way I wanna go. Nevertheless, thank you for the tip." Taro replied. Zaheer sighed upon hearing Taro''s reply. "Well, it''s your fight! So, you do you. The most I can do is wish you luck." He shrugged. "Thanks. Seems like it''s time to head to the mat then!" Taro said as he jogged towards the mat. # The finals between a prodigy from an esteemed dojo and an unlikely underdog from a random dojo. One focused primarily on attack and won the matches within seconds, while the other focused on defense and dragged all the matches to its absolute limit. Both talented, however one seemed to excel at everything. Naturally, the experts sided with Jai in terms of skill. Although that was the case, everyone in the arena including these experts wanted Taro, the ultimate underdog, to go rags to riches. Unlike all the other category finals that happened that day, everyone was excited when the two black belt competitors stepped foot on the mat. While one bowed his head deeply as a sign of respect, the other completely disregarded this, even though he knew that he might lose a point for that. However, it wasn''t a point game for him. What he was looking for was complete dominance. The fight began with thunderous roars. Yet again, Taro wasted no time and took the wide stance. Jai, who notoriously started and ended the other matches within a blow or two, stood still. "Tch, you''re boring!" Jai clicked his tongue in disappointment. "You sure you wanna drop your guard like this and talk whilst fighting?" Taro asked with a smirk on his face. Jai sighed. "It''s not like you''re gonna pull off an attack against me or something. And you''re the one who talked to your opponent in the last fight weren''t you? So, why can''t I do it?" He asked. "You''re right. Talk all you want. After all, I''ll be the one winning the tournament!" Taro replied. "Ha, pretty mighty words for someone who only knows how to defend and pull off a random counter. You can never defeat a perfect package like myself with just those two things." Jai spoke. "Well, you might be someone who could do a thousand moves, however I''m the one who could do the one move I know perfectly. So let''s see if your moves work or mine does." Taro replied as he waited for an attack. Jai smiled. "You know what? I''ll play your game. But, you''ll still lose." He said as he went for a few kicks to the side. Taro anticipated it and blocked them. Seeing this Jai smiled more violently. His attacks went on getting sharper. He continued attacking on both sides and as usual Taro blocked the attacks. These attacks contained a pattern¡ªJai attacked his left side once then the right side twice. This pattern engulfed Taro in that he instinctively went to defend his right side after Jai attacked the left. This momentary blunder was taken advantage of, as Jai went straight to the chest. Taro took a step back after receiving the hit. "See? What did I tell you?" Jai laughed. Finally, he did something that the other two weren''t capable of¡ªbreaking the defense on the first go. He was sure that this would crush his hopes. However, what he saw was Taro viciously smiling. "I''m sorry. I acted like an idiot. This will never happen again. You''ll never score again!" He assured. And it was as he said. Minutes passed but Jai couldn''t break his defense. Taro blocked every attack like a pro. His stance was wider than any other time. Jai was honestly fed up with this. "Look, we both know you''re not going to win if this continues. So, why don''t you attack me? It''ll be more fun that way!" Jai spoke. "Nah, I''ll pass. I''ll beat you just as it is. Besides, I made a promise.'' Taro replied. "A promise, huh? To your dear master, I believe? However, are you in a position to keep your promise? You''re losing; you know that, right?" Jai spoke while nonchalantly throwing out some punches. Taro noticed this lax and countered into a punch to the abdomen and scored a point. "See? A few more hits like this and it would be my victory." He chuckled. Jai remained calm. He felt like it wasn''t a big deal, since he noticed something peculiar about his counters. To test his theory out, he intentionally let him counter his moves and score some points, before finally confirming his suspicions. "Bastard? Why are you holding back?" He asked furiously. "Huh?" "You''re holding back with your power. I don''t like that!" Jai replied. "Why are you pissed off? It''s based on points, after all. Who would care if my punches are a bit soft? Although, I would like to give you a solid punch though!" Taro spoke. "Then what''s holding you back?" "Well, I did make a promise." Taro replied. "Fuck, no! You know what? Screw it. I don''t like this at all. I''ll make you fight me at your full power and then triumph over you!" Jai proclaimed. "That''s a bit¡­ impossible!" Taro thought as Jai relentlessly attacked him. It wasn''t about wins or losses for him anymore. He felt humiliated by Taro''s actions. It was hurting his warrior pride. And he wanted to heal that. However, it seemed almost impossible at that point. None of the punches riled Taro up enough to pull off an attack. Jai sighed. "You''re a tough nut to crack. If you won''t attack me like this, then I''ll have to seek out something different. Geez, I never thought I would steep so low." Jai took a deep breath. "YOU MOTHERF*CKER!" He screamed. Taro looked at Jai with disappointment in his face. "Now, why would you say that about my dead mother? That''s really bad!" He asked. He didn''t like how Earthlings always use one''s parents while speaking profanity. Jai didn''t expect that. "Oh, I''m sorry! What about your father?" He asked. "Dead." "You got any girlfriend or lover?" "Nah. Not interested!" "Sheesh¡­ Who shall I use as a verbal weapon? Wait, how can I forget? You adore your master, don''t you?" He asked. "Yea?" At that point of time, Jai lost the dignity of a so-called prodigy. He wanted to get acknowledged by his opponent, who deemed him as not worthy to fight him in his full power. His father ruined him into an acknowledgement seeking dog that he wasn''t afraid to hurl curses to get what he wanted. "That bastard can go suck a d*ck!" He said. "Look, what he does is not my concern or problem. If he''s fascinated with men''s genitals, let him be fascinated by it. It''s not something to be ashamed about." Taro replied. "Curses don''t work against him, huh? Then threats it is!" Jai thought. "You know, if you don''t attack me, I might just ruin your master''s Karate career." He shrugged. It wasn''t a hollow threat. He had Anil on his side, someone who could do stuff like that with enough money. Taro knew this very well. "Please refrain yourself from doing something like that!" He replied as he remembered how he ruined his master''s business when he stalked him around and how much it pained him. He didn''t want his master to suffer any longer because of him. "Oh, is it working?" Jai smiled and continued with his threats. "Well, I can just make the people revoke his license. And I believe his life is solely based around the dojo, right? With that gone, he''d have nothing left and would''ve to beg on the streets. And what would be the reason? You and your stubbornness to attack me. So, what''s your choice?" He asked. He was sure this worked pretty well. Taro took in a deep breath. "You brought it on yourself." He mumbled. Jai was delighted. His plight was successful. "Right! Come at me with your full for-" Before he could say anything else, Taro closed the distance within a second and a punch almost faster than light landed on his face, which hurled him to one of the walls of the arena and almost past it. Cracks formed on the wall from the punch. Jai was completely out. "What the!" Thankappan couldn''t believe what just happened. He was dumbfounded. Although for different reasons from Thankappan, the others were dumbfounded as well. It was as if they saw a monster. They couldn''t believe it. No one spoke; no one moved¡­ Well, except for one. "Shit! This is certainly a mess that''s gonna piss a lot of people!" Someone spoke as he effortlessly passed everyone around him, who stood like dolls and headed towards Taro. "Hi!" He waved at him. Taro didn''t recognize the guy before him. He was slightly different from the people around him for some reason. He couldn''t pinpoint what exactly that was. "Who are you?" He asked, as he checked him out. The guy thought for a while. "Hmm, if you''re to ask me¡­ I guess I''m your impending doom?" He smiled. # Chapter 55: John "Doom?" Taro was confused. This random guy who doesn''t look that strong came up to him and introduced himself as his doom. He couldn''t think of anyone whom he had pissed off recently. "Yea? How is it? Meeting your inevitable doom like this?" The man asked in a cheerful tone. Taro thought for a while before he answered. "Hmm¡­ Seems like my doom''s a bit self-conceited." The man chuckled. "I guess I am, when I''m faced with alien scum like you." His tone and expression changed instantly. Taro sighed. "Damn. This is why I don''t understand you humans! At one moment, you''re all cheerful and stuff and the next moment, your mouths are filled with profanities. Calm down, will ya? It''s like I miss Wadorian terrorists now-even they are better mannered than you guys." He spoke. "Well, since you know that I''m an ''alien scum'', I believe you''re from the MIB?" He asked. "John Krabinski, MIB HQ." The man introduced himself. "Headquarters, huh? It''s in the US, right? That explains the difference I felt in you. The complexion, tone and stuff is really different from the goons beside me." Taro replied. "Did you call us?" Someone spoke from behind. It was Lonappan and the aliens. "What the hell is happening?" Thankappan, extremely confused about everything that unfolded in the arena, was the next person to snap out of it. Right then, he had many questions in his mind; like why Taro suddenly went berserk and why are the others here and why is the guy from the headquarters here so soon. Since Taro had similar questions as well, he dragged his companions away from John and formed a circle. "So, who''s gonna explain what the hell''s happening?" He asked. Lonappan raised his hand. "Well, this is what happened." # The morning after Taro and Thankappan left for Trivandrum. The aliens back in the Holy Land were having their morning tea in peace. Kunjan learned to make this tea when M''Baku told about how it was made by Shivani''s mother. Even though it was a tea by name, it was more of a glorified hot lemon juice than a tea. Nevertheless, it was tasty. Kunjan prepared this tea every day, however since things were so hectic in the household that they usually forget about it and the tea turns cold. And once it does turn cold, it leaves a bad aftertaste, so everyone hates it. That wasn''t the case that day. Since two key people were missing out, they didn''t have much traffic and hence, things weren''t hectic as usual. Therefore, they could sip the tea while it was hot. They were in bliss. "Oh, you guys are having the lemon tea? Care to give me a cup of it too?" Lonappan barged in out of the front door and asked. "You! I don''t even get how you get in the house when you don''t have the key¡­" Gibli''s speech was cut short by Lonappan, as he dangled the keys before him. "I sniped the key off Timothy-chettan!" Lonappan replied. Gibli sighed. "We should really stop taking the key away from the lock." "Wait, I thought you guys did it because you anticipated my arrival." Lonappan spoke in a gentle yet slightly whiny tone. Gibli scoffed. "As if!" "Then why are we doing it though?" M''Baku looked towards his alien compatriots and asked. "For Lonappan to enter whenever he wants." Kunjan replied, sipping the tea. Aw, fuck. Really?" Gibli asked. "See, what did I tell ya?" Lonappan laughed. It was right amidst this joyful banter that the doorbell rang to put a stop to the commotion. "Were you expecting someone else besides me?" Lonappan asked. "You think we''re capable of inviting someone to our house?'' Kunjan asked. "I don''t know, man. I feel like you guys have changed quite a bit recently." Lonappan replied. "Even if that''s the case, I assure you that we haven''t invited anyone for today." Kunjan gave his reply. "Very well. It might be someone looking for Timothy-chettan. Wait, I''ll go check." Lonappan headed towards the door and answered it. Before him was an extremely fair person¡ªthe complexion rarely seen in the motherland of India. He had very blond hair as well. Lonappan was confused about the identity of the person. "Who are you?" He asked. "Holy land; Room #306. I believe I''m at the right place." The man looked at his phone and mumbled before noticing Lonappan before him. "Hello! I''m from the headquarters." # "Please sit." Lonappan led the man to the only chair that wasn''t massively damaged. Ever since Taro came in, there''s been a deficit of chairs. He usually unintentionally damaged the chairs, so he had been sitting on the floor, even though he stopped breaking them for a long time. He said that he felt comfortable on the ground. "Thank you." The man sat on the chair and moved quite a bit to find a comfortable position. "I''m Lonappan." Lonappan introduced himself. "Hello. I''m John Krabinski." John introduced himself as well. Suddenly, Kunjan flinched. It didn''t go unnoticed though. "What is it?" John asked Kunjan. "Did you pick the name for yourself?" The plankton asked. "Yea, why?" "Ah, well. Your name makes sense then." Kunjan replied. "Oh, that? I just love the actor." John cleared his part. "Why didn''t you just go all the way, then?" He asked. "For copyright and branding purposes." John replied. "Huh?" Kunjan looked dumbfounded, as John fiddled with the thin veil of fiction and reality. "I have a perfume line under my name. So, it would''ve been hard with the legal disputes that might happen if I just blatantly stole his name." John replied as Kunjan heaved in a breath of relief. "So, why are you here?" Gibli entered the conversation. "Ah, who among you is a guy named Normal-Taro?" He asked. "Mr. John. Let''s speak about that privately, shall we?" Lonappan interrupted and asked. However, by that time, Gibli had already replied. "Taro''s out now. You won''t be able to get hold of him for a day or two." However, even though Lonappan requested it, John was rather inclined to ask the aliens since he felt like Lonappan was hiding something. "Why? Where did he go? For what reason? Who''s with him?" He barraged Gibli with a bunch of questions. "Well, he went to Trivandrum to participate in the state martial arts tournament. Since he went by train, it might take him a bit of time. And he''s with Thankappan and his dojo master." Gibli answered. "Ah, Thankappan''s my subordinate, so you don''t have to worry¡­" Lonappan tried containing the situation, however it was too late. "Are you kidding me? You just let a fucking calamity level threat out to fight a martial arts tournament! How stupid are you lot?" John screamed. "Sir, its potential calamity-level threat. It''s not proven yet. And this fight might prove whether he''s one or not." Lonappan corrected John. "Does that even matter? What matters here is that you let out a ''potential'' disaster maker out in the wild, with your subordinate¡ªwho''s most probably a junior field agent, the sort of person who couldn''t even contain the alien if it went on a rampage. Well, if it''s a calamity-level, it wouldn''t even matter if he''s present or not, right? Since, the entire planet will disappear anyway! What ticks me off is that you sent the bomb right into the ideal place to explode. To a martial arts tournament? Are you fucking crazy? There''s people everywhere in that sort of event." John explained furiously. "Not like I care about the people anyway." Lonappan mumbled. However, nothing escaped John''s ears. "Oh, seems like we got an edge lord between us! You don''t care about the people? You don''t care about the work we do? Don''t worry, neither do I! However, whether we like it or not, we are the last line of defense because the innocent people who actually care about the world might die without even knowing why and the reason for that will be people like you and me¡ªpeople with knowledge of what''s really happening around the world." John spoke with a passion in his voice. Lonappan stood still for a while, contemplating all the idiotic moves he did for the past few weeks. "You''re right! We can''t let innocent people die because of our mistake!" Lonappan was motivated. He wanted to stop Taro from fighting before something grave ended up happening. # "I get what you''re saying. However, weren''t you the one who trusted Taro and Thankappan and stuff?" Ponnappan asked on the phone. Lonappan had called him to explain the events that unfolded before them moments ago. "I still trust them. However, something''s been bothering me for a while. And with John''s words, the worry''s just increased. For some reason, if Taro ended up getting unhinged, what do you think will happen? We won''t be able to protect anyone¡ªnot even the ones close to us. It would''ve been fine if we had been done with this before John''s appearance, however if Taro did something even minutely wrong, everyone''s gonna be blamed for it. We gotta be careful about that." Lonappan explained. "What about all the ''our mistake'' thing you said? You sound like you just care about the ones around you; not anyone else. You kinda sound a bit shrewd sometimes." Ponnappan replied. "I guess I''m a bit selfish before anything else. Well, it is as you said once. It''s really a bother if they found out that a calamity-level threat resides here. I prefer peace too." Lonappan spoke. "For real though, you contradict yourself sometimes with your speeches! I just can''t get a hold off you. Anyway, what are you guys planning to do?" He asked. "We''ll most probably be heading towards Trivandrum." Lonappan replied. "I sure do hope that the tournament ends peacefully before you get there!" Ponnappan spoke. "By the way, I''ll send something for you. Keep it by you on the journey. It might just help you if everything goes awry." He said and hung up the phone. # Chapter 56: Mission: Delay "So, how are we gonna get to Trivandrum?" Lonappan asked John. After his conversation with Ponnappan, he was hell bent on reaching Trivandrum as late as possible. "Well, I thought that we could get to the nearest airport and get a connecting flight to Trivandrum." John replied. Hearing this, Lonappan took out his phone and surfed for a bit. "Look, the tickets for the cheapest connecting flight are over. Now, all that''s left is the tickets for a twenty-two thousand''s ticket." Lonappan spoke, with a genuine concern in his voice. "Dollars?" "No, rupees." "Well, that''s fine! I can spend that amount for the two of us! You don''t have to worry about it!" John shrugged. "Well, that''s just a waste of money, isn''t it? It''s not healthy for a miser like me. I just can''t get on the flight spending that amount of money. My conscience won''t allow me to." Lonappan pulled out the ultimate trick of his book¡ªthe power of bullshitting. "How is that a waste of money? As long as we reach the arena before this Taro guy faces someone, it''s an absolute victory for us! Nothing wasteful about it." John explained. Lonappan sighed. "That would be idiotic." He replied. "What do you mean?" John was perplexed. He didn''t understand why Lonappan was opposing him so hard. "Okay, listen to me now. A train takes about six to seven hours from Thrissur to Trivandrum. Meanwhile, a plane takes about four hours." Lonappan replied. "And? What''s the problem?" He asked. "You don''t get it. The plane takes about four hours from Kochi, the nearest airport. That means we still have to get to Kochi first. That journey takes about two to three hours. You get what I mean? Then there''s this variable called traffic. So, let''s just sum it up and say that it takes about seven to eight hours to reach Trivandrum like this." Lonappan explained. "What if the traffic is like, really toned down? One could place that as a possibility too, if we''re bringing up variables. We could reach by five to six hours, right?" John asked. Lonappan scoffed. "Seems like you''re underestimating the traffic in Kerala. It would only go up not down. We are the sort of people who would make a mess out of traffic even if there''s a global pandemic going on, not that it''s something to be proud of. However, there''s that. So, if we''re considering traffic as x, then x would always be greater than or equal to two. However, this is different for a train. It''s always on time¡ªat least it''ll only be a bit late. It travels on a straight lane with nothing to interrupt it. Hence, no variables to disturb our journey. So, which one do you prefer- a gamble or a sure shot?" He asked. Actually, he hid the two most important reasons for choosing the train because those are the ones that couldn''t be revealed. First of all, the fixed time of the train works in his favor. Even though he gave a rough estimation of timing, there are rare instances where x became one¡ªthat was a threat for him. Secondly, he was to meet up with the guy that Ponnappan sent to grab whatever he gave him. John thought for a while. "Variables are not reliable. So, I guess you''re right. However, I''ll book the train tickets. And get ready. We have to make it fast!" # A few minutes later. Gopan''s auto stopped before the Holy Land. The auto was a bit crowded with John, Lonappan¡­and the two aliens. "Why are you two here?" Lonappan asked. "We''d be lonely in there! M''Baku has Shivani; we don''t have that sort of bond. It''s not like we have something to do, anyway!" Kunjan smirked as Lonappan flinched. The plankton knew that Lonappan can''t reveal that they''re working in a dangerous place like a construction site or John would freak out about that too. Hence, he remained silent throughout their journey to the railway station. However, what could''ve been an hour long journey with a lousy driver was cut to half by Gopan''s expert driving skills. Lonappan cursed inwardly while John praised him and tried giving him an extra few bucks. However, Gopan rejected it, saying that it''s against his ethics. In the railway station, it was as Lonappan expected. The train was about half an hour late. John was impatient, however they could do nothing in this case. Now, all that Lonappan had to do was to find the guy that Ponnappan sent. Hence, he tried slipping away from the gang to call Ponnappan. However, John stuck to him wherever he went and it was getting annoying. "Hey, John! Come with me! You don''t know about the food here, right? I''ll show the brilliance of Kerala food." Gibli grabbed John''s arm and ran towards the railway restaurant before he could give a proper answer. After they left, Kunjan turned around and stared towards Lonappan for the longest time. However, what he didn''t know was that underneath the stoic exoskeleton, the plankton was trying to smile. "What?" Lonappan asked as he saw the stare. "Well, it''s not like we don''t know what you''re planning¡­" Kunjan replied. "And? What''s your stand?" Lonappan asked. "Can''t you see what it is? We do care about our homeboy after all! Go call Ponnappan." Kunjan ordered. "Thanks." Lonappan bowed and called Ponnappan. "Hey! So, where is the guy? Really? Why do you pick that place? There''s literally thousands of other secret places. Okay, fine! I''ll get there." He sighed as he hung up the phone. "What is it?" "I''m gonna go to the toilet for a bit." He replied. "Gee, that''s an odd place for a meet-up." The plankton spoke. "I know right!" Lonappan sighed yet again as he headed towards the toilet. A few minutes later, John and Gibli came back from the restaurant after having a burger. They did plan to have a puri or a dosa [1] if Lonappan took his sweet time. However, since Kunjan gave him the signal to come back, he chose to eat a burger instead, much to the disappointment of John. "What the-where''s Lonappan?" Gibli asked. He was surprised. He expected Lonappan to be there since Kunjan called him back. "Oh, don''t worry. He''s in the toilet. He''ll be back soon." Kunjan assured. However, he didn''t come back for a long time. "So, what''s taking him this long?" John asked. "I don''t know? Maybe he''s taking a dump or something?" Kunjan replied. "Oh, speak of the devil!" Gibli said, as he pointed towards an incoming Lonappan. "Oh, my God! I''m never going into a public toilet ever again. How do these people even manage to make it so dirty?" Lonappan spoke with a disgusted face. "What did you even expect?" Kunjan asked. "You''re right!" Lonappan nodded. "Oh, seems like the train will arrive soon." John said as he looked at the train listing. And as he said, the train arrived soon enough. The gang tried getting into the sleeper coach before someone tried to push them aside, when John stopped them. "Where do you think you''re going?" He asked. "Huh? Oh, I forgot that you aren''t familiar with things here. The coach right here is called sleeper coach. It''s all good and cozy, however the problem is that people crowd before these coaches. Therefore, you have to get in as fast as you can or the train leaves the station. So, what are you waiting for? Let''s push our way in!" Lonappan tried grabbing his hand. However, John swatted Lonappan''s hand aside. "This coach isn''t what I booked though!" He replied. "Oh, no! You didn''t just book the tickets for the general compartment, didn''t you? That place is a nightmare! You''ll suffocate in such a place. It''s twice as crowded as here. And only idiots buy tickets for that compartment. Ah, I should''ve checked upon you when you said you''re booking the tickets. Oh, the misery!" Lonappan cried. John sighed. "Once a miser, always a miser, eh? Do you even know the existence of AC compartments in this train? Your negligence towards slightly fancy things is just fascinating." He replied. "Well, I do know about them. However, I never concerned myself with that part of the train." Lonappan spoke. "Well, concern yourself with that part then. We''re going in it!" John proclaimed. "Yay!" Gibli jumped around like a little kid. Holy Land didn''t have an air conditioner because the owner Timothy was a complete sucker for money and didn''t want to spend them. So, this was one of the rare chances where he could sleep under an AC and he was ecstatic. The AC compartment was every bit of what they expected. It seemed luxurious in the first glance¡ªso luxurious that Lonappan felt his heart crack. However, the services were top notch. A fully functional clean toilet, a comfortable pillow and a blanket to cover yourself. Since it was morning, they thought they might not need a blanket, however the AC was chilling, therefore they had to embrace themselves with one anyway. Hence, seven hours later, John and crew reached Trivandrum as comfortable as possible, unlike a certain troop that came before them. # [1] Amazing food one should try once someone ventures into South India or India in general. Chapter 57: Felon After seven or so hours of comfortable journey, the crew finally reached Trivandrum. However, their headaches weren''t over as of yet. It seemed like none of the people around knew the existence of a martial arts tournament that day. "Didn''t you say that it was a state tournament?" John asked Lonappan. "Yea?" "Then why don''t these people know where it''s held? Those tournaments are supposed to be a big deal, right?" He asked. "Well, I feel like the popularity of martial arts has been deteriorating¡ªI believe that it generally has less fanfare. Only hardcore fans of martial arts go to watch such tournaments." Lonappan explained. "That''s bad. That''s causing us immense difficulty to find the arena now." John sighed. "Yea¡­ Bad¡­" Lonappan replied. As far as Lonappan was concerned, this situation was optimal to waste time. It was pretty favorable. Suddenly, an auto driver, who happened to hear their conversation, jumped into the fray. "Oh, are you going to the arena where the martial arts tournament is held? I know that place! I can get you there!" He said. He was the same guy who dropped Taro and the guys to the arena as well. "Fuck!" Lonappan cursed inwardly. His plans were getting thwarted. Nevertheless, he did know about pesky auto drivers who would drive an extra few kilometers to snatch off extra cash from their passengers. So, he believed that everything was still on track. However, he didn''t took one important factor into account. "Look, we''re in a hurry here! So, here''s what I''m gonna do. How long does it take for you to get to the arena?" John asked. The driver thought for a while. "Hmm, about an hour with the traffic?" He gave out a rough estimation. He planned to make it longer though. "Okay, here''s the plan. If you''re able to get us there within forty-five minutes, I''ll chip in an extra thousand bucks. If you managed it within thirty minutes, it would be five thousand and anywhere below fifteen minutes will get you fifteen thousand rupees. How about it? Feel like taking us there?" John asked with a smile on his face. He unleashed his ultimate power¡ªmoney. And naturally, the prey played right into the predator''s hands. Getting fifteen thousand in one trip was something no auto driver could imagine. So, of course, he took up the challenge. It was miraculous. What they saw was a driving worth appreciating. They reached the arena within fifteen minutes. One could argue that it was a minute over fifteen¡ªand by one, I mean Lonappan. However, John wasn''t a miser like him, so he decided to reward the driver for his efforts because he was sure to have a few court summons in the coming days for reckless driving. While this made John happy, Lonappan was still nervous. However, he did his part. It was already five. No tournament lasts that long¡ªor so he believed. However, reality was much different. He could hear two random people chatting about an undefeated underdog facing one of the top seeds in the black belt category finals. He didn''t even have to think that far to know that the underdog was Taro. After all he did to waste time, they still ended up there before his final match of the night. It was as if Gaia wanted them there that exact moment! Even though Lonappan tried persuading John of several things like getting an ice cream, with the destination in sight, John wasn''t swayed. He walked up inside the arena and found out that Taro and his opponent had already started their fight. Lonappan sighed in relief. He kinda felt that John wouldn''t interrupt a match like this. However, the farther the match went, the sinister the smile on John''s face grew. Lonappan didn''t understand the intention behind it. It was as if John knew the flow of the match already. And finally, when Taro punched straight on his opponent''s face, his expression went back to normal. "Looks like I have a felon to catch!" John mumbled as he made his way past a shocked crowd. # "So, yea. That''s what happened." Lonappan finished his explanation. "Well, I guess I''m at the fault after all. I did punch a guy in his face clean." Taro sighed. "That''s what I don''t get! You looked angry. Did he say something to piss you off?" Lonappan asked. "Well, he said that he''ll strip my master off his martial arts license if I don''t punch him with my full power." Taro explained. "Wait, was that your full power?" He asked. If that was his full power, there wasn''t any case to be made about his existence as a calamity-level threat since he won''t be one. "Hell, no! That was probably about one to two percent of my power. It''s not like I would punch him with my full power when someone asks of me!" Taro shrugged. "Well, next time someone asks you to punch them, don''t even use one percent of your actual strength, okay?" Lonappan requested to which Taro nodded his head. "Look, I''ll be trying to salvage this situation. So, always say yes when I push a question towards you." He replied to which Taro nodded his head yet again. The circle disbanded and they headed towards John. "So, what''s up with the secretive meeting? Not that I really care though." John scoffed. "Well, I wanted to let you know that this was Taro''s strongest ever punch. Like this is the most Taro could ever do. So, there''s no chance that he''s a calamity-level threat, right?" Lonappan looked at Taro, who nodded without further notice. John sighed. "I don''t care if he''s one or not. What matters now is that he straight up punched a civilian without restraint, if I am to believe what you said. He had malicious intent while throwing the punch and it''s against the tournament rules too, I believe. Therefore, he''s a felon and deserves to rot in the detention center." He replied with conviction. Kunjan, who remained silent the whole time, headed towards Lonappan and whispered. "Wait, what would''ve happened to Taro if he was proved to be a calamity-threat disaster?" He asked. "He would''ve been sent to the detention center." Lonappan replied. "Shoot, no matter what, eh?" Kunjan sighed. "Look, I said that I''m gonna salvage this situation and I''m planning to go by my word!" Lonappan assured the plankton of that. Kunjan smiled. However, John wasn''t as pleased as the plankton. "Enough! Set aside this part of the conversation for now. We''ll get to it later. We gotta deal with this first." John pointed to the still shocked crowd, who remained patient throughout the entire flashback. "Lonappan, go check that guys vitals. See if he''s still living." John pointed at the fallen Jai this time. Lonappan decided to follow his orders and quickly checked Jai. "He''s breathing fine. I feel like his jaw bone just disintegrated because I can''t feel anything out there. It''s at the very least broken to multiple pieces." He gave out a rough estimate of the situation upon squishing Jai''s face. "This guy! How strong did you punch him for the mandible to disintegrate?" Jai asked Taro. "As strong as I could." Taro calmly replied as Lonappan asked him to. "Sheesh. Well, I''ll focus on that part later. What''s important right now is this!" John took out the latest version of the neuralyzer. "Okay, let''s see. Where''s the script? Oh, here it is! Ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention please? What I have in my hand is¡­" John read word-by-word from the script before turning on the neuralyzer. "Thankappan! Glasses! Quick." Lonappan whispered and they were able to wear it just in the nick of time. The aliens didn''t care though, since they weren''t affected anyway. After flashing the neuralyzer, John entered into the state of thinking. "How should I fabricate the story?" He looked towards the squad and asked. "A car hit the arena from the other side and formed the cracks on the walls?" Lonappan suggested. "Yea, why not! What about the guy on the ground though?" He asked. "Well, he could be the only guy that the car managed to hit." Lonappan replied. "What about the people who know about Taro? How can we erase their memories?" He asked. "Mr. John. Will you please let me handle the situation then?" Lonappan asked back. "Yea, why not! I''ve been asking you anyway!" John gave him the green light. Lonappan cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen. Today, you were able to witness the birth of an urban legend. The legend of an unnamed underdog who managed to defeat the Goliath even after many difficulties he had to face. No one remembers his face. None of you remember his name either¡ªnot even his own master. All you know is that this guy came in, defeated the opponents, won the glory for his master''s dojo and silently exited the scene of martial arts, never to be heard again. Oh, and as you heard before, there was a hit and run and it managed to injure that guy over there." Lonappan ended his lore by pointing towards Jai and headed towards John. "So, how was it?" He asked. "Well, it was filled with loopholes! If a person has doubts about our story and wants to follow up on that, they''ll easily find the obvious flaws in our fake lore. However, it''s a fine job nonetheless." John replied. "Now that that''s dealt with, let''s get to our little discussion, shall we?" He asked as he stared towards Taro. # Chapter 58: A second one! "Ah, wait. Hold my sunglasses, will ya?" John handed the glasses to Lonappan before he took his smartphone. "Okay, look. I''m gonna call my superiors back in MIB headquarters and report that there aren''t any calamity-levels here." He replied, still staring towards Taro. "Really?" Everyone was overly excited once they heard it. "Hey, hey! Don''t get too excited. I just said I will give my report based on what I saw. That means I have to report everything that I saw. Hence, the felony will automatically be reported as well." John basically crushed the atmosphere. "What do you think is gonna happen once you report it to them?" Kunjan was the one who asked. Seemed like the question was in everyone''s mind as well. They looked concerned¡ªthey looked as if they knew what was gonna happen. "Ah, for God''s sake! This is why I don''t like cheesy, emotional moments! I can clearly see that you guys care a lot about each other. Seems like you care about the aliens too, alongside the alien scum." John was about to continue his talk when Taro interrupted him. "I am not alien scum!" It looked like he took a particular offense against that terminology. John sighed. "Sure, you aren''t." "Then don''t call me that!" He pouted. "Nah, if you take offense to that, I''m just gonna continue calling you that! And you did hit a civilian. So, you''re alien scum!" John replied. "Fine, do whatever you want." Taro finally conceited. Since that was done, John finally came back to the topic of discussion. "Anyway, what was I talking about? Yes, I can see how you guys care about each other. I''m not stupid, you know? I knew you wanted me to get delayed and that''s why you asked me to use the train. However, it worked in my favor since an abnormal amount of traffic was seen today in Thrissur-Trivandrum path or so my smartphone says. Anyhow, I''ll try to do the best that I could do." He assured. "So, what would that be?" Lonappan asked. "Well, in Taro''s case, he will have to head to the detention zone anyway. For your junior over there, he will be demoted to a meager desk job for negligence of duty. For the same offense, you might be relieved of your position though. And your boss will be on probation for a certain amount of months or a straight up suspension or dismissal based on his hand on this event. And for the aliens, the security will be tightened and they''ll have to relieve their freedom for quite some time. We''ll provide them the things required, of course!" John explained. "Ha, this will be perfectly fine by me!" Lonappan laughed before looking around his peers who looked sad. "However, I don''t think they''d be happy with this decision at all!" He replied. "Well, there''s nothing I could do but to provide moral support now. I hope you guys will stay strong even while all this stuff happens." John offered words of consolation even though he meant none of them anyway. "Nothing you could do, huh? I guess I''ll have to do it by myself!" Lonappan mumbled as he reached out to his pockets. "What are you!" Before John could finish his sentence, Lonappan took out the thing from his pocket. It was a second neuralyzer. The MIB: Sneehatheeram certified one! Without wasting a moment, he flashed it on John. Thankfully, the ones required to wear the sunglasses in the pack were wearing one and since John stood opposite the crowd in the arena, Lonappan didn''t have to worry about them as well. It was a flash of sublime timing. Lonappan was relieved once he saw that John was in a trance just like the ones in the crowd. "Whew. Let''s begin then!" "When did you?" The squad was surprised. They didn''t expect Ponnappan to foresee this far ahead and give Lonappan a neuralyzer. "Silence! Let me begin! Look, you might be wondering why we''re here. Well, we were searching for an alien terrorist who had been destroying places for weeks now under Ponnappan''s orders. And you asked us to let you in on that because you didn''t want to babysit the aliens. Since you didn''t want to, we had to bring the aliens as well. Anyway, as you can see the terrorist attacked this place, however they slipped away from us. Ah, about Taro being a possible calamity threat, we haven''t seen much from Taro anyway, so it''s difficult to judge anyway." Lonappan sighed after he completed. Just as he finished up the lore, Taro jumped in. "By the way, I''m no alien scum. Remember that! Instead, you like me! You really like me!" He added in. Lonappan looked at Taro in shock. "What the hell did you do right now?" He asked. "Well, he seemed like he hated me a bit. I didn''t want him to hate me anymore." Taro replied. "Oh, man¡­ That was stupid! Look, let me explain how this procedure works. Neuralyzer induces a state of trance in a person. In this state of trance, one could replace an event in someone''s mind with something else. However, the catch is that you have to tell it in a lore form." Lonappan explained. "You didn''t explain it in a lore back then with the policeman, did you?" Thankappan asked, reminding him of the drug scandal. For him, it was a practical session on how to use the neuralyzer, hence he was taking notes. "Ah, that time! I woke him from the trance, remember? That''s a different technique. It''s called forceful awakening. In that state, the one in trance''s mind will be in a state of confusion. If we are to make use of this confusion, we can carve up a story as a conversation as a lore." Lonappan answered. "Then, what did Taro do wrong?" Thankappan asked. "Well, in both the cases I explained before, the events unfold as a story. The first thing Taro did wrong was that he ordered rather than conjuring up a story. We never order because humans aren''t machines. They don''t react to orders. They react according to the events they remember. Secondly, we never tamper with one''s emotions. Even if we are to order someone, we''ll always order them about the event. However, Taro placed a direct order to replace one of John''s emotions with something else. Emotions are unstable unlike memories of an event. So, tampering them might be detrimental." Lonappan explained. Thankappan was still taking careful notes of what he said. "Hmm, I see. I get what you mean by that. However, why didn''t you specify that Taro isn''t a calamity-level threat?" He asked. "Well, that''s for averting the suspicions of his higher ups." Lonappan replied. "What?" "Look. If we just said that he isn''t a calamity-level without any valid proof, his higher ups would definitely be suspicious when he says that to them with conviction. And they might investigate further and might find out how his memories are tampered and we''ll be fucked. Rather than that, giving him a neutral stance would be much better¡ªsince that would let his mind think that Taro has no involvement with the incident right here since he doesn''t remember seeing him use his powers. So, naturally he''d say that he doesn''t have enough proof yet and he needs more time. Then, we just have to survive his snooping around and no one will doubt us." Lonappan explained. "Hmm, smart." Thankappan commented. They were a bit further away from John so that he doesn''t hear this conversation in his trance and somehow ends up memorizing them. However, suddenly Gibli walked away from the pack towards him. "Hey! You''re cool about aliens working in construction sites and stuff¡ªwell, aliens working outdoors in general. You don''t think that it''s a big deal that should be reported to the higher ups." Gibli ordered. Hearing this, Lonappan was shocked for a second time that day as he pulled Gibli aside. "Didn''t you hear anything I just said? Don''t order him stuff! Even if he''s an MIB agent, I don''t think his mental strength is enough to carry out such orders. It might get imbalanced now unless this guy''s mental power is superior¡ªwhich means we''re fucked because if he has that sort of mental power, he might remember the actual events sooner or later." Lonappan blabbered. "Well, since he might be snooping around for quite some time, wouldn''t it be weird if he saw us going to work? Since, MIB doesn''t the aliens to work outdoors most of the times¡ªwell, except for our sector, if I had to say. So, if I place that in his mind, wouldn''t he be chill about it and not report the senior officials about it?" Gibli asked. Lonappan sighed. He understood the intention behind what Gibli did, however he wasn''t very fond of the pattern he used. "Well, let''s see if he receives the order or not. I certainly hope he doesn''t though!" He replied. "Ha, anyway, get your acts together. I''m gonna wake him up from the trance." "Okay. We''re ready!" Everyone nodded. Lonappan took a deep breath and then vigorously shook John. "Hey, John! What''s your opinion on that?" John was confused once he regained his composure and saw Lonappan rigorously shaking him. "Huh? What are you doing? What happened?" He asked. # Chapter 59: Taking it slow "What do you mean by what happened? That terrorist has escaped. We have no idea where he went! We were asking for your opinion, however you seem like you''re not listening!" Lonappan replied, shaking his head in dismay. As John collected himself from his ''daydream'', he apologized. "I''m sorry, guys. Even I have no idea as to where this terrorist escaped to!" Lonappan sighed. "That''s fine! Most importantly, the people here are safe! And I think it''s high time that we scoot from here." He suggested. "Yea." The guys agreed as well. They slowly exited from the arena, where the people started recovering from the trance with altered memory. "So, was I gonna do something? I don''t know; I feel like I forgot some stuff." John spoke. "Well, you did say that you were gonna call the HQ in regards to something. So, there''s that." Lonappan replied. "Oh, yea! Wait here for a minute or two. I need some privacy." John said as he left the squad outside the arena and moved to a rather secluded place. "So, what do you think?" Thankappan asked Lonappan, after John had left. "Hmm, too early to speculate. However, from what I observed, it''s indeed a success. He remembers the event differently now." Lonappan replied. Meanwhile, once he reached the secluded region, John took out his smartphone and dialed to HQ. "Hello? This is agent John Krabinski here." He spoke. "John, what''s the report?" The voice from the other side of the phone asked. "Well, seems like there''s a really smart alien running on loose here in Kerala. He somehow outsmarted us and escaped. So, I may have to look into it." John replied. "Hmm, someone capable of giving you the slip, huh? That''s interesting. You should definitely look into it. However, what about the calamity threat back there? What''s your assessment about that alien?" The voice asked. "Nothing solid. The subject hasn''t shown much movement, so I can''t judge him based on what I''ve seen as of now. I need some time to give out a proper answer about him." John replied. "Sure, take your time. However, by the end of it, you should give me a proper answer about that. If you can catch that alien terrorist in the meanwhile, that would be great too!" The voice ordered. "Yes, ma''am!" John then hung up the phone and walked back to where the squad was. "Shall we go then?" He asked. # On their way back to Thrissur, they decided to take the tickets for the AC compartment of the train, rather than the sleeper one, under John''s suggestion. For John and the three who came with him to Trivandrum, it wasn''t that big of a deal. However, for the first wave guys like Thankappan and Taro, this was a big deal. They felt like they were in bliss¡ªthe same feeling the second wave squad had on their journey to Trivandrum. While most of them tried to sleep in the AC compartment, Taro looked up and stared at John in the opposite upper berth for the longest time. However, his staring hour was interrupted by Lonappan, laying in the lower berth opposite to him, directly below John. "Hey, can I ask you something?" He whispered, well aware that John''s been squirming on the top. However, he particularly didn''t have to worry about it, since he had changed the language into Wadorian in the translator, the one language that wasn''t installed in the HQ translators. "Sure." "You went to the dojo to learn Kung-Fu, right?" He asked. "Yea?" Taro didn''t like where the conversation was going. "Well, then. Why did you learn Karate instead?" He asked. "What?" "Well, it''s a ''dojo'' in the first place; that''s Japanese. For Kung-Fu, it''s something else entirely. The uniform isn''t exactly white for it and the belt color ratings are different. Didn''t you notice anything different when you went to the dojo or the tournament at least?" Lonappan asked. "You see, my translator always registered it as martial arts rather than Kung-Fu or Karate. And as for the dojo¡ªall I saw was ''training ground''. So, I couldn''t possibly decipher which martial arts that I learned. However, you guys could, right? Why didn''t you inform me?" He asked. "We thought that was intentional and you liked Karate!" Lonappan answered. "I can''t deny that. I do started to like Karate after practicing it!" Taro replied. "Geez, that''s the most boring plot twist that I''ve ever heard about!" A voice from the top chimed in as well. It was Thankappan. "Deal with it! It wasn''t meant to be one anyway!" Lonappan replied. After the reveal of the sub-par plot twist, Lonappan went back to counting sheep and Taro reverted back to staring at John. "What the hell are you doing?" John stared back at Taro and asked. "What? I just wanted to check up on how you are doing." Taro replied. "That doesn''t mean you have to stare at me for hours! You''re weird as fuck!" John said as he went back to sleep. "Hmm, seems like he hasn''t stopped hating me yet! The order didn''t work." Taro thought as he went to sleep. What he failed to notice in the dark was that John blushing for some reason. # A few good hours later, the squad ended up back in the Holy Land. Even though Lonappan had offered him a better place to stay, John decided that he would stay in the already crowded Room 306 with the guys. The guys agreed while Lonappan contemplated on how to reveal this to Timothy. In the end, he decided he would speak with money rather than words. It was about two in the morning and everyone was asleep¡ªexcept for Taro, of course. However, he didn''t watch television this time and stared deep into the darkness instead. At that moment, he could hear light tapping at the front door. Before he could get up and unlock it, the door was already unlocked. Since he knew of just one person who could do that, Taro sat back in his chair. "Hey, Lonappan! What are you doing here this time of the night?" He asked. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about something." Lonappan replied. "Shoot." "Remember how I gave you permission to do martial arts?" He asked. "Yea?" "Well, I''m gonna retract that permission now." Lonappan replied. Taro thought for a while. "Hmm. That makes sense." He nodded his head along. "Wait, you''re not gonna ask why?" Lonappan asked. He expected Taro to be curious about it. He never expected Taro to straight up accept the reality as it is. "Let''s see. It''s because John''s around, isn''t it? First of all, since my master''s memory is altered, I can no longer practice at the dojo, since that could mess things up." He replied. "Yea, there have been cases where a subject''s real memory got revived when it got in contact with something that emotionally bound him with that memory. It acted as a trigger to activate that memory." Lonappan explained. "Going by what you said, I might act as a trigger for the master since I''m emotionally attached to him and end up reviving his memories. So, practicing at the dojo is impossible. And what''s left is to practice here, at the Holy Land. However, the person who should not be triggered is here." Taro continued on with his side of explanation. "Well, there has been some other cases, where subjects with abnormal or rather strong mental power reviving their memories even if it''s not an emotionally attached moment." Lonappan added in his interesting tidbit. "And as of right now, we don''t know about John''s mental capabilities. Seems like the order didn''t work though, since he still kinda hates me. However, that couldn''t still be considered as a valid gauge of his mental prowess. Hence, I can''t practice martial arts before him, right?" Taro asked. Lonappan sighed. "Since we''re already on this topic, I want you to not work in the construction site as well. First of all, it was kinda my fault that I didn''t tell you the reason for us allowing you to participate in the tourney. Had you known about the calamity level stuff, you wouldn''t have let your emotions run amok. Secondly, I don''t want you to do anything that could potentially showcase your strength to John and hence I ask you to not work in the construction sector. Don''t worry, I''ll find you a job that''s less power oriented and until then you could keep your job here. However, I still believe it''s time to take it slow and do something mediocre." He explained. "I get that. Anyway, the tournament thing was partly my fault too because a martial artist''s emotions should never run wild. And I agree with you on the fact that I shouldn''t work on construction sites. So, do what you wanna do. Get me a normal desk job and I''ll be really happy to do that. Less effort and more pay¡ªwho wouldn''t want that?" Taro smiled. "Hmm, you''re deceptively intelligent. Well, I did know that from the time you argued with Ponnappan. But, it''s easy to talk with you. It''s been a productive chat today! I''ll see you later then." Lonappan gave out a nod of respect and went back to his home. "Time to take it slow, huh?" Taro sighed as he continued staring into the darkness. # Chapter 60: Bury it up "Shit, why is this happening right now!" Taro cursed inwardly. However, all that came from his mouth was in English. The translator had malfunctioned yet again. "What a travesty!" "What happened?" John asked. "Ah, my translator''s been malfunctioning for a while now. Usually, it''s just a few words that glitches out. However yesterday, it didn''t glitch out at all and I could speak Malayalam fluently." Taro sighed. "Now, it''s glitching yet again?" He asked. "Yup. Not just that, it''s permanently set on that glitch. In this case, I''m stuck speaking English for an undisclosed amount of time." He answered. "Why don''t you ask the MIB guys here and get it replaced?" John asked yet again. "Well, they do know about this. However, they don''t have an extra ready-made one, so I''ll have to keep on using it." He replied. John sighed. This is why we make an extra hundred ones beforehand." He spoke. "It''s not like aliens arrive here every now and then like they do in the headquarters, right?" Taro chuckled. "Huh? I guess you''re right! I gotta go now. I have¡­ things to do." John quickly left the premises, which made Taro wonder what he did wrong. "Damn, what''s wrong with me?" John screamed inwardly. Ever since the events unfolded in Trivandrum, he felt flustered whenever he was around Taro and he didn''t know why. It was like his brain was screaming to him that he really¡ªreally like Taro. He couldn''t even organize his feelings when he was near Taro. Therefore, he escaped from taro''s side to get the shit straight. "Hey, Taro! Aren''t you coming?" Kunjan shouted towards Taro. "Ah, wait! I''m coming! Just don''t go." He screamed back. "Don''t worry about that! The place is really close, after all. Take your time." Kunjan replied. He wasn''t kidding about that. It''s literally a one minute walk to the construction site, the Heavenly Flame School. Even though Francis was angry about their sudden absence and asked them to arrive early to the work site as a punishment, it didn''t particularly matter this time because it was that close. Few minutes later Taro arrived. "Shall we go?" He looked at his colleagues and asked. However, he was stopped by a menacing voice. "Where are you going?" John asked. Everyone stood still. They don''t know whether the order worked. Since John seemed to hate Taro, he was particularly worried about what might happen if they were to tell the truth. It was a difficult choice; things might never be the same according to what they say to the guy. However there was one brave idiot who didn''t think so hard. "We''re going to work. Why''d you ask?" The same person who ordered him yesterday was the one who ousted the truth to him without concern. Gibli really didn''t think at both instances¡ªhe did those spontaneously. Gibli''s action shocked the squad. They didn''t expect him to just blatantly tell him about what they were doing. Although, they did know that they might have to tell him sooner or later, they never expected this soon. At that moment, Thankappan desperately wished Lonappan hadn''t gone to Snehatheeram with the neuralyzer. "Hmm, I see. Are all of you going? Even the dog?" John asked, as he pointed to a sleepy M''Baku. "Do I look like I can work on this planet looking like this? Also, fuck you! I''m not a dog. I''m canino." M''Baku tried flipping his middle finger, however since his fingers were almost the same size, there wasn''t much difference even when he folded other fingers in his paw. Thinking that M''Baku was calling him in, John squatted and patted him several times. Furious about the disrespect he received right there, he tried biting and clawing John, however his attacks weren''t successful as he put the canino to sleep with a swift chop. "Okay, seems like you''re the ones going for work." John replied. "Yea¡­" Thankappan gulped as he replied. He had already seen pure strength in Taro, however he had never seen the precision of strikes and chops before this. The chop didn''t hold much power. It wasn''t the power, but the precision that helped him put the dog into sleep. Thankappan didn''t want to imagine what would happen if he were to face John. However, one person was imagining his fight against John and was smiling like crazy. To no surprises, it was Taro. Once John saw Taro smile, he turned his head to avoid his gaze, since he didn''t know when he might unintentionally blush. However, Taro took it as another sign of John''s hatred towards him. "So, can we go now?" Kunjan asked John, as he stood before the front door. Since Gibli revealed it already, he didn''t have to keep anything a secret. John didn''t reply for a while. "Hmm. Yea, why not! However, leaving with just the junior agent isn''t that smart. So, I''ll join you at your workplace today. Speaking of agents, where''s Lonappan?" He asked. "Well, he was summoned by the commander." Thankappan replied, without putting much thought behind it because something amazing happened right then. The order actually worked unlike what they expected. So, he slyly took his smartphone and informed of this event to Lonappan. "So, what are we waiting for?" John asked and headed out first. However, Taro did nothing but stared towards John in confusion. "Weird! If the other order worked, mine should''ve too. Why does he still hate me?" He thought. And so the misunderstanding continues. # In the MIB base of Snehatheeram, Ponnappan and Lonappan were having a staring contest with each other. Not really, but no one really talked. They sat silently waiting patiently for the other one to talk. However, Ponnappan finally cracked under pressure. "What did I do to receive your silent treatment? He asked. "Huh? What are you talking about? I''m just waiting for you to make a coffee for me so that I can begin my briefing." Lonappan replied. "Why do you need my handmade coffee for that?" He asked. "That''s because I really love the coffee you make." Lonappan replied. Ponnappan was slightly pissed by this. "Ah, but how does this consider the¡­ you know what? I feel like there''s no use lecturing you. Your eyes seem dead. You won''t listen to my words anyway." He sighed as he got up and prepared the coffee for Lonappan. Upon seeing the coffee, Lonappan smiled and drank it with utter happiness. The dead eyes finally regained its life. "So, now will you tell me?" He asked. However instead of speaking, Lonappan got up and grabbed something from his pockets and placed it before his commander. "Thank you for giving this. It really helped us." He bowed before retracting back to his comfy seat. "Ah, you screwed up, huh? Why don''t you just tell me the whole story?" Ponnappan asked. Since he was gonna brief it anyway, Lonappan didn''t particularly mind¡ªat least, he doesn''t have to stand in attention if he''s telling him like this. After retelling the whole story, Ponnappan was more concerned than pleased. "Taro went berserk, huh? That sucks. And by the way, what were those two idiots thinking? They ordered him in the state of trance. I sincerely hope that it doesn''t work, because that will spell our misfortune." Just as he said that, a message arrived on Lonappan''s phone. "Misfortune, huh? You do have a black tongue. Look at this!" Lonappan showed the message that Thankappan sent him to Ponnappan. Ponnappan looked shocked. "That monster! What even is his mental power?" He asked out of sheer curiosity. "Funny, isn''t it? One with the highest mental power is the easiest to control with the neuralyzer." Lonappan almost coughed out the coffee because he tried scoffing. "Well, they''re usually the ones who could break out of the effects of the neuralyzers too." Ponnappan replied. "Wouldn''t that be too late though? Imagine if this tech gets in the hand of some terrorist group and they search up someone with high mental power and orders them to kill everyone in a particular place. That guy will listen and kill them all. And when he finally breaks out of the mental prison, all he''ll have is blood in his hands and regret for something that he didn''t intentionally do. At that point, he''ll probably wish to stay back in that prison. That''s sad." He spoke. "And that''s exactly why only the MIB are allowed to handle this tech; don''t over-complicate things, my man! And take this back. You''ll need it, anyway." Ponnappan said as he tossed the neuralyzer back to Lonappan. "Look, now that we have a basic idea of his mental prowess, I''m gonna ask you of something. Stay by him all the time with the neuralyzer within your hand''s reach. Let Thankappan take this responsibility at night. Flash it on him once he shows a difference in his behavior. That''s all we could do. And since it has come to this we''ll make sure that he never leaves Kerala ever again." Ponnappan looked dead serious as he ordered it. "Yes, sir." Lonappan knew the gravity of the situation. If John goes out of Kerala, then there''s no way that they could contain the secret of what happened that day and what they did to him. They had to bury it up before anything serious happens. # Chapter 61: A not-so monumental deal It was eight in the morning and Shivani was getting ready for school. Even though the school begins at nine, Shivani likes to get there by eight so that she won''t have to meet up with anyone. The Heavenly Flame was a rather busy school even with its rural setting¡ªor maybe, it was this rural setting that made it filled with students in the first place. Anyhow, as she stepped out of her room in the Holy Land, something unexpected happened. Her neighbors in the opposite room had stepped out at the exact same time as her. She wasn''t that surprised though¡ªwell, she was surprised to see a foreigner on the mix, but other than that, this wasn''t that unusual. There used to be times when both parties had stepped foot outside at the exact same time. However, being the introvert that she was, Shivani never batted an eye towards them. Occasionally, Thankappan tried to do a bit of small talk with her to lessen the awkwardness in these situations, however, she just nodded her head and smiled a bit and exited the scene as soon as possible. This time was no different. Once she got out of the Holy Land, she felt relieved. Her neighbors always took the path to Mundur, so she had the road to school all for herself¡ªwell, not literally, but it seemed so in early mornings. However, yet again, the band of men defied her expectations as they followed her this time, rather than taking the path to Mundur. She was distressed. She didn''t know why they were following her. She didn''t wanna look back and wanted to escape as soon as possible. So, she paced herself up. However, it seemed like the other party paced up as well, which didn''t help Shivani''s distress at all. Since it was a short walk/run, she felt much safer once she reached the gates of the Heavenly Flame School. However, nothing seemed to have changed because the men continued following her inside the school as well. All she wanted to do was to get farther away from them for the time being. Even if they were following her or if it was a giant misunderstanding, knowing that a group of people were behind her placed her in a great deal of stress. So, she ran into the school building, hoping they won''t follow her this time. As expected, it was a misunderstanding from her part. She came to know that her neighbors are here to build a new auditorium or something. She was relieved; not because she came to know about it, but because she knew they won''t be "following" her anymore. The band of men created a minor attention towards themselves, especially from the girls, as they were sorta handsome. Although Shivani wasn''t a sucker for men, she did think that they were handsome. "Hey, you see that group of men over there?" Abhirami, Shivani''s close friend pointed at her neighbors and asked. "Yea?" "They look cute, don''t they?" She asked. "I believe handsome is the term that you''re looking for. Yes, they are handsome." Shivani replied. "Hmm, why don''t I head over there and ask them out or something? Maybe say that I like them or it is love at first sight?" She asked. Shivani sighed. "Dude, what''s with you and auto drivers, bus conductors and construction workers?" She asked. "Cute guys, you mean?" "You''re weird. Do what you wanna do. However remember this, whoever says that they like you back is probably a pedophile." She replied. "Okay, wish me luck." Abhirami was about to hop her way to the ground when Shivani stopped her. "Where do you think you''re going?" She asked. "Eh? Didn''t you just tell me to¡­?" "Hey, don''t involve me in your bullshit. And look at the time. The class is about to begin." She dragged Abhirami with her to the class. # "We kinda freaked the girl out, didn''t we?" Taro sighed. He did catch a glance of Shivani''s face as she was trying to get away from them and she looked horrified. "Eh? I feel like she''s a diligent girl and wanted to get to the school early!" Gibli, the one who can''t comprehend human emotions replied. "Nah." The others thought almost simultaneously. No matter what perspective they took, they could never see it the way Gibli saw it. "Well, we can''t do anything about misunderstandings." Kunjan replied and the group fell into a silence with literally nothing to talk about. Soon enough, the rest of Francis'' workers arrived at the scene and they got to work. # Since it was a school work and since the Heavenly Flame were regular customers, Francis wanted to finish up the work as soon and as perfect as possible. They did take an hour-long break though. The most peculiar thing about that day was that Taro didn''t shy from talking even though his translator is set on English. Maybe it was because an English speaking John was present or maybe it was the comfort of standing alongside close friends on the outdoors, he did find it easier to talk this time around. And someone noticed this and headed towards the gang. It was the principal of the Heavenly Flame. "Hello!" She interrupted the merry time of the band. "Ah, hello¡­" They felt awkward when a random woman decided to jump into the conversation. The discomfort was felt by the principal as well. "I just heard English from here. And I was kinda curious as to the one speaking it." She spoke. "Ah, well. We felt like it was comfortable to speak in English for once. John right here came from the US. Even though he''s fluent in Malayalam, he feels like home when we speak in English." Thankappan replied. "Ah, may I ask why the foreigner is on the work site?" The principal asked as the guys felt annoyed with each passing moment. It was like the principal was intruding in their personal lives and they didn''t appreciate it one bit. "Well, he''s a friend." Thankappan decided to keep it short. He had no desire to let her hang around. "I see. So, have you guys learned English or you just talk in it for fun?" She asked. Gibli was pissed off upon hearing this constant barrage of questions by the woman. "Well, it''s for fu¡­" Before he could say anything, Thankappan stopped him. He had a weird smile on his face. "You see, the four of us studied English at an academic level. Like, we have all the qualifications to be a teacher!" Thankappan placed his shot out there. "Oh, really now?" The principal and the aliens simultaneously wondered as they looked at the smiling Thankappan, for different reasons, of course. "Then why didn''t you pursue the teaching career?" She asked. "Almost every school rejected our resume for one reason or the other. It seemed that most of them had ample employees under them. We even said that we would work on a low salary!" Upon hearing this, the principal''s eyes glimmered. Thankappan didn''t fail to notice it. He tried this hand deliberately because of a rumor that floated around Mundur that the principal is a miser. And he knew once she heard about the salary thing, she''d fall for it. "I''m just gonna ask this out of sheer curiosity. How low do you mean by a low salary?" She asked. "About five thousand rupees." He replied. "Damn, that''s really low." The principal thought for a while before finally speaking up. "Can you guys come to my office for a while? I got something important to discuss." She said as she signaled towards her office. "Sure!" Thankappan started walking towards the office, but was quickly stopped by the aliens. "What''s happening right now?" Taro whispered. Thankappan smiled. "Just trust me on this!" He said as he slipped out of the aliens'' hold and walked towards the office. Seeing the face brimmed with confidence, they thought of trusting Thankappan on this. "Sit." The principal pointed them to the seats, but they refused since they were still on their work clothes. "So, what is it that you wanna talk about?" Thankappan asked. "I believe you are already aware of what I''m about to ask." The principal sighed. "If you are interested in working for five thousand rupees per month, we here are willing to offer all five of you jobs." She replied. "Hmm. Make it four. John here doesn''t have a degree!" Thankappan replied as John glared at him. It was not like any of them had a degree in English! Neither John nor the aliens didn''t understand why Thankappan excluded him. "I see. I can provide jobs for the four of you then! However, you should submit a detailed resume with all the valid certificates." The principal replied. "Sure, give us a day¡ªmaybe a week. We''ll be here with our resumes." Thankappan assured her. "Very well. I believe this has been a fruitful conversation! I''ll be waiting to hear more from you in the coming days." The principal extended her hand and Thankappan shook it. Thus, a not-so monumental deal was formed. # Chapter 62: Lets go for a trip! Right after their meeting with the principal in her office, everyone heaved a breath of relief; well, except one. "Okay, what was that?" John asked, slightly furious that he was intentionally left out. "What?" Thankappan acted oblivious to it. "Ah, don''t you dare do that! Why did you leave me out? It''s not like you guys have a degree too, you know?" John asked yet again. Thankappan sighed. "Okay, look. I got a message from Lonappan right then. He wanted you to stay closer to him than with us. Like, he said that it would be nice to have an experienced veteran by his side to lead him on. So, there''s that." He replied. Upon hearing that, John''s pride grew up to no bounds. "I see. I get it now. Of course a guy like Lonappan might need my experienced insight sometimes. There''s nothing wrong with that. Hey, I''m sorry for lashing at you. Let''s head to your boss here and talk about it, shall we?" He asked, as he walked up front. "Sure!" Thankappan followed shortly. However, he was dragged back by the aliens. "So, what''s the real reason? It''s because he received the orders, innit?" Kunjan asked. Thankappan looked towards John to check whether he''s eavesdropping. Once he confirmed that he wasn''t doing that, he whispered. "Okay, yeah! Since his mental prowess is like up top, there''s a really huge chance that he''ll regain his memories in a jiffy. Then we''re all screwed! So, Lonappan''s keeping him close so that when he does regain his memories, we could keep on flashing the neuralyzer on him until he can no longer remember it." He replied. "Hey, weren''t you the guys who said using the neuralyzer twice on a person could cause neural damage?" Kunjan asked. "Ah, that''s for the normies. This guy isn''t a normie now, is he? So, if we gotta keep him in bay, we gotta do something radical." Thankappan replied. "Very well. Do whatever you want. I was just concerned about you guys since we were accomplices on this after all." Kunjan spoke. "Meh, it''s more like we were the masterminds and you are the innocent bystander dragged into this mess with no way out, so you ended up being the accomplices." Thankappan shrugged. Kunjan sighed. "And here I was trying not to picture you guys as the bad guys." "Well, that''s due to your narrow perspective, my man. If we are to look at it from another angle, we might be the rebels who stand up against the laws, trying to protect the alien rights." Thankappan gave out his view on the issue. "I see. Humans do have a knack in glorifying themselves even if they do the worst shit." Kunjan replied. "I guess so. Shoot! We better go. John''s waiting for us over there." Thankappan spoke as they walked towards John. Meanwhile, Shivani who came to the principal''s office for some reason was surprised to see her neighbors coming out of the office. Little did she know about the deal that happened inside the office! # The rest of the day was incredibly uneventful. The crew talked about their new job opportunity to their current boss and told him about how they were leaving this job. Francis wished luck to the boys, while the co-workers gave them an emotional farewell since those guys were the reason why they could loiter around without any worry. Meanwhile, back in the Holy Land, they decided to dial Lonappan up since he was still in Snehatheeram for some reason. "Hey, Lonappan!" Thankappan spoke. "Yea?" "Remember how you talked about how we should bar ourselves from heavy work and focus on some desk job instead?" Thankappan asked. "Well, yea. What happened?" Lonappan wondered since Thankappan sounded excited. "You see, we have been offered to teach kids in the Heavenly Flame School." He replied. "What? How? Why?" Lonappan was confused. He didn''t expect for them to score a job when they didn''t even have the right credentials. Sure, he could''ve supplied them with the documents and got them a job, however getting one without them was surprising. "Well, Taro''s translator glitch made him speak English and the principal out there was impressed and offered us the job." Thankappan replied. "Wait, what? That''s it?" He had hoped for some epic scene involving the principal and the guys. "So what you''re telling me is that the principal, who has no idea who you are, came up to you while you were doing construction work, got impressed by Taro''s english and then randomly offered you the jobs no questions asked? Damn, did the job interviews get so simple these days?" Lonappan asked. "You see, we did lie about us four having the degree and stuff. So, we need the MIB''s help on this." Thankappan replied. "Sure. But what about John? Surely he was offered one before you, right?" Lonappan asked. "True. However, considering the¡­ circumstances, I told the principal that he doesn''t have a valid degree. So, they left him out. And later, I told him the reason too. Therefore, that part''s fine." Thankappan explained. "I see. I''ll talk about it with Ponnappan then. See you at home." Lonappan hung up the phone and looked before him. "You heard that, right?" He asked Ponnappan, who was listening attentively. "Yup. I''ll ask them to hand the necessary documents to you before you leave. Don''t worry." He replied. "Cool. I''ll wait here then." Lonappan spoke as he laid back. Ponnappan sighed. "Dude, there''s tens of rooms in here. Hell, we literally have a resting room. So, why''d you have to cave in here?" He asked. Lonappan thought for a while. "Well, I feel comfortable in this seat. So, there''s that." He replied. "Ah, if it''s the seat, I''ll just ask the people to move it to the resting room. Then you''d move there, right?" Ponnappan asked. "Hmm, if that''s the case, I like your coffee maker. So, are you willing to move that as well?" Lonappan asked with a smirk on his face. "You bastard!" Ponnappan was fuming. "You do know that I bought it with my first salary, right?" He asked. "So? Aren''t you gonna put that in the resting room so that I''ll get the fuck out of here?" He asked. "Damn you. Try to understand the emotional meaning behind it." Ponnappan pleaded. Upon seeing that it made no effect, he finally caved in. "Fine. Do what you want. I don''t particularly care." He slightly pouted. Lonappan smiled as he went to spend the entire time curling up in his comfortable seat, waiting for the documents to arrive. # Few hours later, Lonappan arrived at the Holy Land with the documents. However, he was welcomed with an ominous silence. "Sheesh. Who ruined the mood in here?" He asked as he saw the council of men (aliens) gathered around him. "Oh, hello Lonappan! We''ve been waiting for you. We got a lot to talk about, you know?" Taro spoke as he pointed to a seat. Lonappan nodded as he headed towards the seat. "So, what is it? And where''s Thankappan and John?" He asked as he looked around for them. "Ah, those guys? Well, I asked Thankappan to take John out for a while so that we could have a nice long talk." Taro replied. "I see. What do you wanna talk about?" He asked. "This." Taro placed the translator on the table. "What about it?" He asked. "You heard about the job, right? The problem here is the only reason I got the job is because the translator glitched out on me. However, that''s not a stable solution, is it? I got no idea if the translator would glitch again or not. There''s even a chance that with this shit, I might never be able to speak English again, which would be a sham." Taro explained. "So, what do you want me to do?" Lonappan asked. "Look. I know we talked about this before, but I gotta have a new translator, my man¡­ With the heavy lifting work, no one really cared if I talked or not. However, in this case, I really have to talk fluently if I am to work in this sector. So, is there any way that I could get a new one?" He asked back. "Okay, listen to me. There ain''t a new ready made translator in our sector. And the new materials will only arrive in a week." Lonappan was about to continue, before Taro interrupted him. "I can make one for myself, you know?" He spoke. "You know as well as I do that Ponnappan isn''t gonna allow that to happen. So, no ready made ones and no new materials for you. I truly believe there''s no way to get hold of a translator legally." Lonappan replied. "Is that so¡­" Taro seemed disappointed as he looked towards the ground. Lonappan sighed. "I did say legally though. So, if you want me to set you up with an illegal translator, I kinda can." He replied. "What? Can you really do that? How?" Taro asked. "Well, clear your schedule tomorrow. We''re going on a trip!" Lonappan proclaimed. # Chapter 63: Kunnamkulam "Well, you don''t have to worry about the schedule since we''ve dealt with Francis. So¡­ we''re pretty free, you know? So, what''s the plan? Where are we going?" Gibli asked. "You see, WE are not going, I am going and I''ll take Thankappan and Taro alongside me." Lonappan replied. "Dude, why? Take us too!" Gibli cried. Lonappan sighed. "Look, even if you''re not coming with us, you have a pretty important job to do. So, there''s that." He spoke. "Hmm. So, what would that be?" Gibli asked. "You and plankton have the task of distracting John till we come back. That guy''s a top notch agent. So, if you fuck that up, he''ll follow us for sure. We don''t want that to happen now, do we?" He asked. "Don''t worry. We''ll take care of that." Kunjan assured. "However! We do have the right to know where you guys are heading to." Gibli replied. "Fine. We''re heading to Kunnamkulam." Lonappan answered. "Oh, I see. Good choice." Gibli gave out a thumbs up. "Well, it makes sense now! I''ve got to agree with the Arkian here." Kunjan nodded his head in approval as well. As the rest of them nodded their heads silently, one confused person scratched his head in the midst. "Okay, is there something that I don''t know about? Because the way you guys are nodding is just killing me!" Taro looked around and spoke. "Fu~fu, you''ll get it when you get there!" Gibli chuckled, which agitated Taro further. As he was about to pounce on the Arkian and grab his neck, John and Thankappan made their appearance. "So, what''s going on here?" John asked. Taro quickly took his hand away from Gibli''s neck since he had no idea about which action would accidentally trigger his memory. "Ah, John! Look, we gotta get to Snehatheeram base quickly. The commander is calling for Taro, so we gotta escort him there." Lonappan quickly grabbed John, turned to the other side and talked. "Well, that''s fine. Let''s go!" John was already moving towards the door, when Lonappan stopped him. "You see, when I said we, I meant myself and Thankappan. You gotta stay back and keep a check on these aliens." Lonappan replied. Upon hearing this, John was slightly disappointed. However, being the agent that he is, he recovered from that phase pretty quickly. "I understand. I''ll keep a check on them. Don''t worry." John assured him. "Cool. So, shall we go?" Lonappan looked towards Taro and Thankappan and asked. # About half an hour later, the trio stepped out of the bus and reached Kunnamkulam bus stop. Taro looked around the place to check what''s so special about this place. However, he couldn''t find anything remotely unique about Kunnamkulam from Mundur, so he was confused. "Guys? I don''t get it. What''s so special about this place?" Taro decided to ask Lonappan about this. "I believe you have doubts right now. Like, it doesn''t make sense now, does it? So, let me discuss a fun fact about this place. There''s a saying about Kunnamkulam that every Malayali believes. It says that Kunnamkulam has the counterfeit of literally everything in this world." Lonappan replied. "For real?" Taro asked. "Meh, not really though. I believe that this rumor came around when someone in Kunnamkulam started counterfeiting currency. Then someone else made fake toothpastes and soaps and stuff. They were lone incidents with no correlation. However, since two counterfeiting cases happened around the same place, people started joking about how Kunnamkulam has the counterfeit of literally everything in this world." Lonappan explained. Taro sighed. "So, we came here due to a rumor that arose from a literal joke. Like, really dude? Aren''t we wasting our time here?" He asked. Thankappan clicked his tongue. "Listen to what he has to say first though. Then you''ll understand." He replied. Taro looked towards Thankappan and then shifted his attention back to Lonappan. "What does he mean by that?" He asked. "Well, you see¡­ It is indeed a joke among Malayalis. However, there were a few beings who actually believed this rumor, you know? I remember a few aliens under our supervision who protested about how we took their great translators and handed them pieces of shit kinda translators. So, they were really angry at us and wanted revenge. However more than the revenge itself, they needed proper translators for some reason; maybe they cherished it so much. Anyway, that''s when they heard about this rumor about a certain place where they could get the fakes of literally everything. Although they knew that there''s a fat chance of it being a fake rumour or it being applicable to only the Earth stuff, they still held a glimmer of hope and headed to that place. In the end, it was just a big old joke. However, they weren''t ready to give up yet. So, they decided to build a base in the same place that gave them hope." Lonappan shared the lore, before taking a moment to breathe in the midst. "Then? Then what happened?" Taro liked a good lore, so he asked for more. "So, they set up a base out there. In there, they decided to make counterfeits of translators. However, they didn''t have a good builder in their team, so they decided to be the people who sell translator parts. Yet again, there''s a problem since they didn''t have any parts. So, they decided to be scavengers. Somehow, they could notice an alien''s arrival cum crash landings before MIB itself and reached those places and robbed the places entirely. So, after a few successful raids like that, they not only sold translator parts but alien junk materials generally." Lonappan explained. "Surely, you guys caught the culprits and confiscated the properties in their hand, right?" Taro asked. "Yea, we did catch them and confiscated it. However, if you don''t know, we are scummy people. So, we found numerous advantages by leaving them be rather than keeping them on hold. So, we did just that. We got into a partnership with them for the junk stuff. The deal was like this- they would find the aliens for us, we would confiscate it and give them their share too and report them as missing from the blast or something. This way, we had something to report to our superiors and we get to keep hold of some stuff too, rather than the HQ entirely ransacking us. With this, our scientists had something research about other than the meager shit that the HQ gives us to research." Lonappan replied. "Whoa, you guys are truly greedy bastards, huh? But why though? You guys don''t have a past and you live in the shadows, so why''d you need these stuff? Why be this greedy?" Taro asked. "Well, guys like myself don''t have a past to remember, but sure do have a future to look forward to. Why are we sniping stuff away from the HQ, you ask? The same reason that a mad scientist does experiments- pure curiosity over these stuff. It''s not like we''re the only doing this, right? The HQ is surely hiding stuff from the Glomerans to quench their own thirst of curiosity. So, it''s just a cycle of deception, I believe." Lonappan explained. "Okay, makes sense. But there''s something that doesn''t. So, your boss is fine with joining hands with aliens to smuggle the tech, but he''s against me taking a look at the translator and making one for myself?" Taro asked. "Look, I can give you multiple reasons for that. First of all, he kinda hated you from the beginning. Even though the stance is a bit softer nowadays, the hatred still remains, I guess. Second of all, it''s a strategic partnership between ourselves and the aliens, where we are mutually benefited. We help them smuggle these stuff, they lend the stuff to us for research purposes. And lastly, you have something frightening that they don''t. You have the ability to make stuff out of these alien junks. You can make a translator if given the materials, right? Well, they can''t. So, we don''t have to worry about them making potentially dangerous stuff that could just blow up the entire planet. With you, that''s isn''t the case. You somehow seem like you have a deep understanding towards alien tech and it''s seriously concerning if you''re to build some stuff, because we don''t know the functionality of it. It could literally be anything, you know? So, would you really give something that could make potentially explosive stuff to someone who has the capability of making it? Unless it''s warring periods, the answer''s no. So, there you go. That''s the answer." Lonappan explained. Surprisingly for the MIB agents, Taro didn''t question them further. "Hmm, that makes sense. I really can''t blame you guys for that. So, are we heading to the alien junk seller right now?" He asked. "Yup, you''re right!" Lonappan nodded his head. "And then? What are we gonna do?" Taro asked. "You really want me to spell it out, huh? Just this once, you''re given special permission to build a translator for yourself." Lonappan replied, to which Taro gave out the brightest smile possible. # Chapter 64: Magnite Taro laughed hysterically, which caused immense discomfort on the other two. "Well, aren''t you worried that I might make a nuke or something and blow the whole planet up?" He asked. Lonappan sighed. "I would like to believe that we have formed quite a bond between us, you know? So I place my unconditional trust towards you and truly hope that you won''t make something like that." He replied. "Oh, blind trust? Is that all? I feel like you''re hiding the original reason from me." Taro stared at Lonappan. Lonappan coughed slightly. "Well, since we learned that you alone have the power to destroy this world without props anyway, so I don''t think there''s any reason for me to stop you. The world''s kinda fucked either way!" He answered. "Hmm, I guess that''s believable. I do have the power to destroy this world, after all!" Taro spoke as he strolled forwards. "You know, when you say it like that, I have a hard time believing that you can actually do it! No offense, I know you''re really powerful, but I don''t think any calamity level threats have ever truly proclaimed that they could singlehandedly annihilate the world. So, that''s weird." Thankappan inserted himself into the conversation. "So, you want me to destroy this world? Say, yes and I''ll do that! Come on, what''s your answer?" Taro asked as he cranked up his shoulders. Thankappan sighed. "Geez, you do now that I didn''t mean it like that, right?" He cried. "Damn, dude! It''s not like me to take things literally all the time. So, chill!" Taro patted on his shoulders. While this conversation went on in the background, Lonappan stopped. "We''re here." Before them was a small shop named ''Ajish spare parts''. From what they advertise on their board, it seemed like they sold spare parts of vehicles and stuff. Only select people knew about the real intention behind the upbringing of this shop. As soon as they stepped in the shop, they were welcomed by a manly voice. "Hello, dear customers¡­ Tch, it''s you guys!" The man inside clicked his tongue upon seeing the faces of his ''customers''. "Seems like you don''t appreciate our arrival! Hello, Ajish." Lonappan smiled as he waved his hand. "I don''t. What do you guys want?" An annoyed Ajish asked. "Well, what do you think we''re here for?" Lonappan asked. "Look. I believe we have given you guys'' rightful share. So, if you''re here to extort more from us¡­ well, better be prepared to suffer the consequences." Ajish replied as he cracked his knuckles. "Hey, we aren''t assholes!" Lonappan replied, to which the guys around him stared in disbelief; even his own junior. So, he decided to correct his slight mistake. "Hmm, we aren''t assholes all the time! I could act like one and ask more of the stuff, however I''m not here to incite a fight between the MIB and aliens." He spoke. "I see. However, you still haven''t answered my question. Why the hell are you here then?" Ajish asked. "Damn, is this how you speak to your customers?" Lonappan asked. "You are here to buy stuff?" Ajish asked, with a tinge of disbelief in his eyes. The MIB officials never bought stuff from his shop. They usually took what they wanted and left the premises. However, it seemed different this time. "Yup. Well, I guess it''s not me to be exact though. It''s this guy." Lonappan pointed towards Taro. "He''s Normal-taro¡­ or Sadanandan, if we''re talking about Earth names. Feel free to call him Taro though. The ''normal'' part''s a bit weird for us too." He shrugged. "Hello." Taro bowed his head. "Ah, hello. What are you here for? Well, we got all kinda stuff here. So, do tell me if there''s something in your mind." Ajish spoke. However, it wasn''t Taro who replied. "You see, his translator is kinda glitching due to us supplying a defective product¡­ a fast tracked one to be exact. We couldn''t quality check it. So, it ended up glitching on him. However, as of right now, he''s in dire need of another translator. So¡­" Lonappan replied. "Wait, don''t you know that we don''t sell ready made stuff here? So, if you need another translator as soon as possible, that''s downright impossible for us in the moment because we''re really busy building stuff for other aliens too. Therefore, if you are to place an order right now, I can only guarantee you a new translator by the next year or something. Five months, if we are to push ourselves to the absolute limit." Ajish replied. "Damn, he kinda need the translator by tomorrow." Lonappan spoke back. "The fuck? If that was the case, you guys should''ve come at least a month before or something. At least then, we could''ve managed a half decent one. However, right now, it''s just not possible. I''m sorry." Ajish apologized. Lonappan chuckled. "Ah, don''t worry about it. You just gotta supply us with the translator parts. He''ll do the rest." He assured Ajish. However, Ajish didn''t look so sure about it. "Really? Well, if that''s the case. Wait here for a moment." He went to the back of the shop, where he stored the alien machinery junk. Few minutes later, he came out with a few weird looking stuff. They were all really small stuff. However, they did look special. "Here you go. There''s all that you need. So, go for it, I guess?" Taro walked to the front and checked out all the stuff that Ajish brought out. "Wait a minute. Where''s the magnite coil?" He asked. "Magnite coil? Hmm, wait a minute." Ajish went back to the storeroom yet again and brought out a small coil. "Catch. However, I don''t get it. Why do you need a magnite coil to make the translator? I haven''t seen one in any translator I''ve ever checked on." He spoke, incredibly curious about what Taro was thinking. "Where did you get this stuff? I mean, like the origin of this chip and transistor." Taro asked. Ajish felt like Taro was intentionally pushing aside his question. However, he decided to answer his question. "Let''s see. The chip and transistor, huh? Well, the MIB supplied it to us as part of the bargain. So, I guess it''s the Glomerans''. As of the rest, we took it from several different translators and stuff." He explained. Taro diverted his attention towards Lonappan. "Tell me. Why did you take the chip and transistor of the translators from the other transistors and supplied them with the Glomeran''s stuff instead?" He asked. "Well, we were taught that we are to give those two items to the HQ no matter what. They kinda don''t care if the other parts are lost. They particularly ask for these two. So, we barter the chip and transistor that we have for the other ones. If you''re to ask me what the HQ does with it, I guess they supply it to the Glomerans." Lonappan replied. Taro chuckled. "Well, it makes total sense! I''ll tell you something interesting. If you''re to make a fully functional translator with a certain planet''s chip and transistor, the translator will send a signal to that planet and they''ll be aware of your location." He explained. "So, a fucking distress signal, huh?" Lonappan asked. Taro nodded his head. "Yea." "Wait, does that means that the Glomerans know that we''re illegally making translators?" Ajish asked. "You see, I did say a fully functional translator. How did you learn to make a translator?" Taro asked. Ajish finally realized it. "Ah, we learned it from the MIB''s blueprints!" "Exactly, the fact that your translators are actually imperfect versions actually helped you guys. And to answer your question from before, I''m gonna build a fully functional universal translator right now." Taro replied. "What? Didn''t you just say that it would report that to the Glomerans? Won''t we get screwed over?" Ajish asked. "Do you really think I don''t know that after explaining this shit to you? What do you think I asked you this for?" He asked as he pointed towards the magnite coil. "What will that do?" Ajish asked. Taro sighed. "You haven''t been in wars or at least classes about them, huh? Ever heard about how certain planets send a few warriors in stealth and blending in missions. They did have their translators in hand, that could send their location report to their concerned planet. However, some planet leaders were really worried that an enemy civilization might hack their system and reveal their positions, which could be extremely dangerous. So, someone developed a technology that would allow the stealth members to go completely incognito that they won''t even appear in their own planet''s systems, unless they want to. Many were surprised that such a thing could happen and desperately searched for the production method. They thought that it would be a really hard method, however when it was revealed that a simple coil could do this stuff, it really caused the scientific world to go on a frenzy. And that coil which surprised many people due to its utility is the one right before you. Now, is that enough explanation for you?" He asked as Ajish listened to him in awe. # Chapter 65: A small tremor "Yea, that will do! However, I''d still like to see how you make it though!" Ajish said as he stared at the magnite coil. "Yea, sure!" Taro nodded along. "You know, why not make a simplistic translator instead of making a high end one? That way you don''t have to put that coil in it, right?" Lonappan asked. Honestly, he felt like this was a complete drag! "Are you kidding me? Are you the kinda person who will tell an artist to curb their imagination? If you are, then shame on you! I can''t just make a simplistic translator, you know? That''s not my style. You gotta look at the full scope every time. I bet you''ll want a high end one once I complete mine." Taro replied. "Ah, you mistook my intention. Even making a normal ass translator is real hard work and it takes a ton of time. I know you took your support class or whatever it was, however will you be able to complete making one before tomorrow comes around?" Lonappan asked. Taro grinned. "It seems like you underestimate me! That''s fine though. Even if you don''t believe my words, you''ll get it through my actions." He assured Lonappan. # One hour later; the guys were still in the shop. Taro was working hard on his translator. The other three including Ajish were concerned about the progress. Even though it seemed way faster than what they are used to seeing, it didn''t seem like it would be completed within a day. Well, completing even a simple translator within a day was an achievement in and out of itself. However, after all the big talk that Taro did, if he wasn''t able to complete a fully functional translator within a day, it would hurt his pride. With the immense pressure on Taro''s shoulders, it didn''t help that the three of them stared at him throughout the time he worked. Annoyed about this, he threw them out of the workshop and worked on it alone. This did give him a sense of relief and he could focus on the work. Eventually he came out of the workshop all sweaty. "Wait, are you done?" Lonappan was surprised. "This has to be some sorta record! The guy finished making a translator in an hour? What an absolute madlad!" His mind was excited by this development. Taro smiled as he tossed a small device towards him. It was the translator-the actual universal translator. "See it for yourself!" He said as Lonappan hurriedly passed his translator to Thankappan and wore the new one. "Whoa! What in the fucking world!" He swore in disbelief. He just couldn''t fathom what he saw. "Ah, you never knew there was an actual screen like that, eh?" Taro chuckled. "No¡­ What is this?" A bewildered Thankappan asked. The information was too much for him to process. For the first time in a long time, he was overwhelmed. "Wait, wait! There''s a screen for the translator? Damn, I missed that feature! Does this have Womble too?" Ajish asked. "Womble?" Thankappan, who stayed silently during the whole ordeal and enjoyed seeing his senior getting overwhelmed, asked. "Ah, well, it''s the intergalactic browser. Much like the internet browsers on Earth, if you ask me." Taro explained. "Damn, you couldn''t get a more creative name then? It seems too similar to the one we know here." Thankappan replied. "Well, Womble has existed since ancient times. At least, a good thousand years, if you ask me. So, if there''s anyone plagiarizing, it''s you guys." Taro retorted. "Answer my question, damn it! Is there Womble in it?" An agitated Ajish asked. "Funnily enough, it does work!" Taro replied. "Really? Give it to me!" Ajish grabbed the translator off of Lonappan. "Whoa! This is amazing! It works! Womble works!" Ajish jumped around like a little kid who just got their candy. However, Lonappan had questions in his mind that he needed answers to. "What''s funny about it?" He asked. "What?" "Well, before you used the term ''Funnily enough''. So, what''s the funny part?" He asked. "Ah, that. Well, you see¡­ Just like your browser needs the internet to function, the Womble needs cosmicnet to get itself online. A normal translator doesn''t need this though. Communicating with the extra terrestrial beings is like communicating through a mobile phone. It uses signals and stuff. I guess you need a receiver for it too. However, for universal translators and stuff, the receiver needed for communicating with aliens is integrated into the circuit, so that isn''t a fuzz. I believe you just have one translator with you that has that facility, right? It ain''t that special. However, the Glomerans made you believe that¡­Anyhow, let me just get back to my point. Unlike normal communication, cosmicnet is a totally different beast. Therefore, unlike normal communication, scientists haven''t yet been successful in compressing the receiver into a translator. The day that they actually end up doing it will be the day that the entire universe sees a new wave of revolution." Taro explained. "You still haven''t got to the point." Lonappan replied. "That''s because you didn''t really listen to me. You thought I was talking gibberish, eh? Basically, cosmicnet needs one big receiver. That one is enough to cover the whole planet though! Now that''d mean that someone actually made a flipping receiver on Earth and no one probably had an idea about that." Taro explained. "Are you for real? Wait, what does it look like though?" Lonappan asked. "Hmm, let me think. Probably like an antenna or something? Like those mobile towers that you guys have in here." He replied. Lonappan suddenly had a burst of realization and turned towards his associate, who seemed like he had a similar thought as well. "Eiffel Tower!" They said simultaneously. "What is that?" Taro asked. "Wait. Look at this. Is this it?" Lonappan asked as he surfed through the internet and found the picture of Eiffel Tower. "Damn, someone actually did build a receiver out in the open, huh?" Taro sighed. It wasn''t that big of a surprise though. He was surprised when he realized that he could use cosmicnet on Earth. "Yea. However it''s built by three human though- Stephen Sauvestre, Maurice Koechlin and ¨¦mile Nouguier.What''s your thoughts on that?" Thankappan asked. "Damn, you are the last person who should stereotype them as humans. By the way, what''s with you flaunting your internet intelligence? You could''ve just said three humans! Anyway, that does give a few possibilities though. Either one or all of them are aliens. Maybe, they''re MIB agents. Although it could be possible that they were contracted to make it by MIB agents who were asked to do that by your alien overlords." Taro replied. "You''re right! I shouldn''t have categorized them as humans. Although, it''s surprising that the MIB academy didn''t teach us how the Eiffel freaking tower is an alien architecture." Thankappan spoke. "Well, the ones who made it or asked to make it didn''t want people to know about it. So, most probably, the MIB agents weren''t the ones who actually commissioned it. And I don''t think Glomerans are the ones who did that too. Because they''d have feared about you guys somehow accessing the cosmicnet. And that might reveal their dark past to you. So, I think they don''t know about it and haven''t checked for it as well. Those idiots! Might as well cause a bit of trouble for them. Hey, Ajish! Pass the translator." He ordered. "Oh, here!" "Thanks!" Taro surfed through the cosmicnet before turning his attention towards Lonappan. "Hey, you''re not the kind to freak out when I talk about Glomerans, right?" He asked. "Have I ever freaked out though?" Lonappan asked. "Cool. Then read this. After that, pass it to Thankappan too. I hope at least a few learn of this truth. Well, it isn''t like Thankappan doesn''t know it anyway¡­" Taro shrugged. Lonappan read the article that Taro showed them and then passed it to Thankappan. "I''ll be honest with you on this. Even though I heard some stuff and how you were gonna go to¡­ erhm, well even though I heard those stuff, I kinda had a hard time believing it. However, now that I''ve seen it by my own eyes, it''s too real. I suddenly feel bad for Gibli. And kinda afraid about what''s gonna happen with this world." Thankappan replied. "Where were they gonna go?" Lonappan asked Thankappan, who hesitated to answer. However, Taro didn''t hesitate. "We were planning to go to America to your HQ and raid it and take those spaceships that you took from the aliens." He replied. "Quite a bold plan. I wish you luck on that." Lonappan replied. "Thank you." Taro smiled. The event progressed smoothly unlike what Thankappan expected to happen, which made him sigh in relief. "Should we talk about this to the higher ups? Maybe Ponnappan or something?" Lonappan asked. "Nah, not yet! That guy has strong emotions about the ''mutually beneficial partnership'' that Earth and Glomera has. That sorta guy won''t listen to the actual facts. It would be more harmful if he heard such news. He can''t handle it. We can maybe bring it up someday later, slowly but surely. Until then, I''m just happy that another Earthling is aware about how much of an asshole the Glomeran civilization is. That''s enough for now." Taro replied, with a smile on his face. Things were changing in Thrissur. It might only create a small impact now, but these small tremors would someday create an earthquake and Taro was waiting for that day patiently. # Chapter 66: An offer "Shall we go now?" Taro looked towards the two MIB agents and asked. "Ah, don''t worry about anything. We got plenty of time. So, if you have something else to do, you can do that!" Thankappan gave out a nervous chuckle. Taro thought for a while. "Nah, I don''t have anything to do here. So, let''s go!" He replied. "Think about it a bit more. You might be forgetting something. Maybe you want to do something?" Thankappan spoke. "Dude! Really, I''ve got nothing! But what''s up with you? It''s as if you want me to do something instead¡­ Ah, makes sense now. Why don''t you just say it to my face rather than going about it in a roundabout way? You want a translator made, is that it?" Taro asked. Thankappan sighed. "Lonappan asked me to approach this way. I wanted to ask you in a straight forward fashion, you know?" He shifted the blame towards Lonappan. "What? When did I ask you to do that?" Lonappan acted oblivious to it. "You!" It seemed as if the two agents were revving up for a clash, when Taro laughed like crazy. "Dude, your speech and tone clearly shows that you''re lying about this. Or else, why would the usually calm headed Lonappan turn flustered about every other word. Be truthful. I know you really want the original universal translator!" Taro replied. Upon listening to him, Lonappan didn''t hide his desire any longer. "Please make one for us too!" He requested Taro. "Hmm, since you''re polite about it¡­ Why not! Give me an hour or two." He said as he headed back to the workshop. # Exactly two hours later. Taro exited the workshop with two universal translators. He tossed them to the agents, who seemed happy about receiving one. Just then, Lonappan had a thought in his mind. "Wait, can''t you contact your home planet now? Since you got a universal translator and all." He wondered. "It might seem like that. However, one can only establish communication if we are really close like we are right now. Then we''ll get the whiff of the translator near us and choose to establish communication with them. We gotta do this just once though. Like this." Taro connected his translator with their translators. "You can hear me through the translator now, right? Now, you can talk to me through the translator at any time without further trouble. This ain''t really the only way though. If you got the special code of the one you want to establish a communication with, then you can use it too. However, that''s usually long and difficult to type in." He replied. "Wait, you got Womble now, right? Can''t you just search up some Wadorian government establishment''s codes and call them up?" Lonappan asked. "Hmm, true that! However, we gotta consider the consequences. Since this is a conquest region for the Glomerans, I''m sure that they got Earth on a tight watch. So, what do you think will happen when they see someone from here trying to attempt a communication with Wados who''s one of the neutral powerhouses of the galaxy? Like, the magnite coil does hide the presence of a translator in a particular place, however they can''t hide the traces of a call. So, Glomerans will get a whiff of this and then ask the MIB to search for us and if they can''t find us, they might actually head here by themselves to find us. I''m fine with them coming here, however you guys will be fucked. Think about that!" Taro replied. "Wait, what if you ask some people from your planet to come here to pick you up. Didn''t you just say that you guys are the strongest neutral nation?" Lonappan asked. "One of the strongest. Martial planet''s up there too. They don''t associate themselves in any fights even as mercenaries though." He replied. "Whatever, since you''re one of the strongest, won''t the Glomerans back down if they''re here to pick you up?" Lonappan asked. "Okay, listen. Once again, I''m fine with it. However, YOU are the ones who should think about the consequences. First of all, they won''t send a huge amount of reinforcement or even a singular person for a person like me. Unless it''s someone like the galaxy''s hope or something, they won''t even give a damn about where you''re stranded." He sighed. "Galaxy''s hope?" Lonappan asked. Taro felt annoyed. He felt as if he uttered something he shouldn''t have. "Hero Emilia; hailed as one of the strongest of Wados and hence dubbed as the galaxy''s hope. I kinda know her. Real asshole, if you ask me." He replied. "Oh, I see. Continue with the point you were making." Lonappan requested. "Very well. Secondly, even if they ARE sending reinforcements to pick me up, I don''t know how long the journey is for them. And it''ll be their first time venturing in here, so it''ll take time. And unlike them, Glomerans know the way to get here relatively easily. So, even before Wadorians could step into the scene, Glomerans would arrive here and make this place a war zone, which would make it difficult for Wados to interfere because of their neutrality. Then they''ll just mercilessly slaughter you people. So, there''s that to consider." Taro replied calmly. For a good moment, silence filled the room. None of them talked. Taro was waiting for a reply, while the two agents were contemplating about what they just heard. Meanwhile, Ajish was thinking about how the aliens trapped here could make a run for it if Earth indeed becomes a war zone. Finally, Lonappan opened his mouth, breaking the silence. "It seems like we have to abandon the idea of contacting an alien planet now. So, I guess the only plan with legs right now is stealing a spaceship from MIB HQ!" He replied. "I guess so. Damn, it''s surreal! I can''t believe how chill you''re about it!" Taro exclaimed. He thought of Lonappan as a hard nut to crack, just like his boss Ponnappan. "Meh, I believe that certain things changed me for the better. Made me softer, I believe. Sheesh, I don''t want my father-in-law to know about my stance though. He will jump around like crazy, saying that I finally am on the right path or something." He felt a chill on his spine as he was reminded of his father-in-law. "Father-in-law?" Taro asked. "Chinnappan. Former MIB Snehatheeram commanding officer." Thankappan interjected and answered instead. "Man, your family and friends have the MIB Snehatheeram on hold, huh?" Taro chuckled. Lonappan didn''t appreciate the joke though. "Enough! Shall we go? The lads must be waiting for us in the Holy Land." Lonappan headed towards the exit. "Geez, you had all the time in the world when you wanted something from me. And now you are concerned about the ones in the Holy Land and don''t have time? What kind of bullshitting is that?" Taro asked. Lonappan sighed. "Fine, you still got something to do?" He asked. Taro smiled. "Nah, I was just teasing ya. Let''s move." He said as he wrapped his arm around Lonappan''s shoulder. "HEY!" Ajish called them from behind before they stepped out of his shop. Once they turned around, he grabbed Taro by his hand and looked innocently towards him. "Okay, look. You got a rare talent. Making translators in one hour is really a cheat skill. So, how about you work here with us, huh? We''ll pay you a great sum. Hell, we''ll give you anything that you want. So, why not jump to this side?" He asked. However, instead of Taro, it was Lonappan who gave out an answer. "No. He won''t. Just stop. I don''t even wanna imagine him here. It''ll attract too much attention! We can''t afford that right now." He replied. Ajish sighed. "Shut your trap. At least let the big guy take his own decision, will ya?" He asked as he looked towards Taro. "Well, it''s as the agent says, man! I can''t afford the attention. And even without that, I can''t accept your offer, since I already made an appointment with someone else. Had you asked me a day or two ago, I would have considered it. However, now I just can''t. Sorry!" Taro bowed his head. "Ah, don''t worry about it. I didn''t know that you had some sorta commitment and asked you out of nowhere. That''s my mistake. However, if you ever get bored of that or if they fired you or something, always remember that the doors of this establishment will always be open for someone of your caliber." Ajish replied. Taro nodded his head. "I''ll keep that in my mind. Thank you. I''ll be going then." He walked away from Ajish. "Bye!" Ajish waved his hand enthusiastically. "Damn, I should''ve asked him to make a translator for me as well. I''ll ask him someday when he returns, maybe!" He thought as he watched Taro''s back as he moved further away from him. "I wonder what the lads will think of my new and improved translator once they see it!" Taro thought as he walked towards the bus stop with the two field agents by his side. # Chapter 67: New beginnings "Heyo!" Taro jumped into the room where the aliens and John were patiently waiting for them. "Eyy!" Gibli jumped up as well. He always loves a moment where he can be hyperactive as hell. "So, notice any change?" Taro asked before changing the language to English. "What about now? Real fluent, isn''t it?" He asked. "Yea, it''s fluent. Finally, eh? Now you don''t have to worry about it!" Gibli replied. Meanwhile, John walked towards him. "Seems like the MIB base here isn''t a dunce after all. Congrats on getting a new translator." He spoke. Taro chuckled nervously since it wasn''t MIB base''s technical brilliance that got him the translator. "Yea! Thanks, mate." "Before you thank me, take this." John handed a suit to him. "I bought it for everyone. Since you''re gonna be teaching children and all. The least you could do is to look professional. I got one for you too, Thankappan." He handed one to Thankappan and spoke. "Whoa, thanks man!" Both thanked John. "You''re welcome. Good luck for tomorrow." He wished them luck and headed outside to get some air. # Next morning. After the misunderstanding before, Shivani really didn''t want to meet her neighbors again, so she decided to exit her house a bit early. When her mum asked what''s the special occasion, she just replied that she had a special morning class. She didn''t like lying to her mother, however she couldn''t tell her that she was a bit shy and embarrassed about facing her neighbors and wanted to head first before they even stepped out of the house. In retrospect, she thought that would have been a good idea since her mum could be understanding sometimes. Since now that she just told a lie to her, she had no choice but to go with it. However, things didn''t go as she planned. As soon as she stepped out of her hou...room, she was faced with three suited men stretching their bodies while another one tied their shoelaces. She couldn''t just escape them anymore. As she accidentally locked eyes with the one tying the shoelaces, he gently smiled. Not knowing how to respond, she quickly wore her shoes and ran out. She was kinda relieved though. Since her neighbors were wearing suits, she was sure that they weren''t heading to her school for manual labor today. She just didn''t want to get in contact with them more than she does. # "Dude, we freaked her out yet again!" Gibli sighed. "I believe it''s this guy''s creepy smile." Taro said as he slightly kicked Thankappan. "I have to agree with Taro on this. The girl seems like an introvert. I don''t think she can handle extreme advances that Thankappan''s been putting in." Kunjan nodded his head as he spoke. "Hey! It ain''t creepy. For your information, I know she''s introverted. That''s why I''m smiling at her, you know? Like, I''m being a welcoming face that she''ll find familiarity in sooner or later!" Thankappan explained his stance. "Welcoming? It''s real creepy, dude! How will you react if a guy you don''t talk to at all starts to smile all of a sudden for no reason? Especially if you''re an introvert or a girl?" Gibli asked. "Since I''m neither of those, I don''t know the right answer." He replied. "You''ll be creeped out. That''s what will happen. So, calm down with your smiles, okay? Especially since we''re gonna be dealing with kids later." Gibli requested. "I''ll try." He replied. "You guys are going?" John, who just woke up, asked. "Yea. By the way, don''t worry about what you''ll be doing and stuff. I called up Lonappan, so he''ll be coming soon and you two can do whatever the guy''s been planning to do." Thankappan replied. "I see. See you in the evening then?" John waved his hand goodbye. "Yea." Thankappan nodded his head as the crew headed down and exited the Holy Land. # A minute later. The crew were before the school gates. However, there wasn''t a single soul that they could see on the school grounds. Well, they did know that Shivani had headed to the school, so they knew at least one person was there in the classrooms, at least. However, there wasn''t anyone that they could find. No officials; no one. "Are we a tad bit early?" Taro asked as he looked around. "Wait a minute. I see someone!" Thankappan pointed out someone walking a bit away from them and paced towards the person. It was a woman, who looked a bit older than them. "Chechi [1]! Where is everyone?" He asked. "Well, the teachers are all in the chapel out in the hostel doing their morning prayers. So, they''ll be coming out in a bit. By the way, what''s up with you guys?" She asked. "Ah, I''m Thankappan. These people right here are Sadanandan, Kunjan and Gibli." He replied. "Hello, chechi." The other three spoke simultaneously. "You see, we''re here to meet the principal. We kinda have a job interview today." Thankappan said to the woman. "What do you do around here, chechi?" He asked. "I''m Jenna, the school peon. And speak of the devil! She''s here." Jenna pointed towards the chapel, where a horde of teachers were exiting it. "Ah, thank you for your help!" Thakappan bowed deeply and headed towards the chapel with the aliens. "I didn''t help you though!" Jenna thought as she watched them prance towards the principal. "Hello, there!" Thankappan and the crew waved their hand towards the principal. "Oh, you guys are here! I honestly thought you would take a bit more time to¡­ think about it, you know?" The principal spoke. "Well, the offer you gave us was god sent! There''s no way that we were ever gonna reject such an offer!" Thankappan replied. "I hope you brought your resume and stuff?" She asked. "Yup. Here it is!" Thankappan showed the resume off. "Great. Let''s head to my office. I''ll check it there." The principal led them towards her office. # "Okay, your documents seem legit. A few of you seem to lack a bit of experience, but I guess you''ll manage anyway. We''ll be assigning you to the lower grades, so don''t worry. Anyway, congratulations. You''re hired! You''re officially part of the faculty of the Heavenly Flame School." She smiled. "Oh, thank you. We''re pleased to be part of such an esteemed faculty!" Thankappan replied. "Well, you don''t have to necessarily sweet talk, you know? And about your schedule today, I''ll inform you in a bit. In the meantime, why don''t you meet up with your friends over there? They seem really eager to have a chat with you!" The principal spoke as she pointed towards Francis and the workers waving towards them. As soon as they saw it, they stood up and thanked the principal for the job opportunity that she had given them and exited the office to meet up with their former co-workers. "Hey, guys! How are you?" Thankappan asked as he met up with them. "We''re fine! And you look hella fine too, ya know?" Francis replied. "Yea, damn boys! You look sleek in those suits!" Vineeth voiced Francis'' opinion as well. The others shouted similar compliments towards them. "Thank you guys! Like, for real¡­ Thanks! Francis, if you had never taken us in, we''d never reached this place and this job would never have been possible. And you guys as well! If you never took us in as your friends and comrades, we''d have been alienated. Thank you for all your help! We''re here because of you." Thankappan gave out his emotional speech. "You sure got a way with your words, eh? But, it''s all you, kid! Even if we had brought you here for work, there''s no way you would''ve got the job if you weren''t qualified, right?" Francis asked. "Yea, never would''ve thought you got a degree in English and stuff! But the unemployment rate is high here, so it makes sense that you did construction work all this time. However, you''ll be happy now, right? Finally getting a job that you''re actually qualified for?" Vineeth asked. Thankappan nodded his head. "You''re right. However, we''re gonna dearly miss you guys though! We had fun with you guys, you know?" He smiled. "We''re gonna miss you too, man! The abnormal strength and skills that you guys have really helped us, you know? We''re gonna have a hard time finding someone of your caliber anymore." Francis sighed. "Well, I sure do hope that you find someone quite as skilled and powerful as us. Someone close, but quite not our level though, since that''d be impossible!" Thankappan laughed. "Oh, you got quite the confidence in your skills, eh?" Francis laughed as well. "Of course! Where else are you gonna find the all-star team of two powerful and one smart alien and one highly trained MIB field agent? Sure, finding someone barely close to us would be gosh darn impossible!" Thankappan thought as he laughed a bit more. "Anyhow,we got work. So, why don''t you head back and do your thing while we do ours. And good luck for your new adventure." Francis extended his hand and Thankappan shook on it. "Thank you. We wish you luck as well." Thankappan replied as he headed back with a bright smile on his face. # [1] Female equivalent of chetta. Chapter 68: Twelfth grade! "Ah, you''re back in the right time! Let me introduce you to the vice principal of this school- Miss Rita." The principal pointed towards Rita as she spoke. "Hello, Miss Rita." The crew of guys simultaneously spoke. "Hey¡­" Rita nervously waved her hand upon hearing a bunch of grown men''s simultaneous replies. However, since she''s been hearing hundreds of kids greet her simultaneously, she quickly got back to her groove. "So, if you will follow me, I can lead you towards the staff room. I''ll hand over your schedules over there." She spoke as she walked out of the principal''s office, signalling them to follow her. "Cool, we''ll be right behind you." Thankappan replied and the suited men closely followed her. It was a spectacle for the kids who got to the school early that day. It looked as if their vice principal was followed by a bunch of bodyguards or something. Noticing the looks that the kids were shooting at them, Rita looked towards them and spoke. "You know, you don''t really have to be so suited up. Like, we do have a uniform code for our teachers, but it''s still lax. So, you can ditch the jacket once you enter the classrooms. It''s already so hot in our country, so you don''t have to make it more hot for yourself." "I see. We''ll take that into consideration." Thankappan replied, while the others stayed silent. Unlike Thankappan, who''s pretty much used to invading other people''s privacy and sparking random chats, the other three were a bit confused about when to jump in. Hence, Thankappan helmed in all the conversations while the others still waited for the right moment just like they did with the peon. "Here we are! The staff room. Let''s meet your new colleagues, shall we?" Rita headed in and in followed the four. There wasn''t much fuzz about their arrival, since everyone seemed to be deeply involved in their own shit. However, they did stand up and introduced themselves to the new teachers. The crew did notice the hint of displeasure in their new colleagues'' eyes. Maybe it was because they have a background of working in the construction sector. Or maybe it was because that the principal literally offered them jobs at first without even looking at their credentials. Anyway, animosity was clearly seen in their eyes. Not that the aliens cared though. Even back when they were working under Francis, they were initially met with eyes filled with animosity before it turned into one of admiration. So, they hoped to do a similar sorta magic in this workplace as well. After all the introductions, Rita called them to her table. "Here you go. These are your schedules." She said, as she handed them pamphlets. "Ah, sweet! Third graders!" Gibli was satisfied with his less jam packed schedule. "Grammar for sixth graders, huh? Not that bad." Thankappan was satisfied with his one as well. "English for fourth graders and physical education? But, I''m not a PE teacher!" Kunjan was confused about his schedule. "Ah, don''t worry about that! There isn''t technically any education related to sports. You just gotta take the kids to the school ground and let them play whatever they want." Rita clarified. "Oh, is that so?" Since it didn''t seem that difficult, Kunjan nodded his head in satisfaction. "Umm, what about me? I didn''t get my schedule." Tar¡­ Sadanandan raised his arm and spoke. "Ah, here you go!" Rita handed his pamphlet. "By the way, we looked through your credentials and I''ve gotta say, you''re the one who impressed us the most. You know, we''ve been looking for a teacher like you for a few months now. It''s like you''re godsend!" She replied. "Hmm, English for second grade¡­ And twelfth grade? Moreover, I''m the class teacher of the twelfth graders?" Sadanandan asked, surprised about this sudden development. "Well, we did want you to take classes for the tenth grade as well. However, since the schedule was already decided two months ago, we just can''t change it! We''re deeply sorry that you''re stuck with the second graders." Rita bowed her head and apologized. "Wait! The twelfth graders¡­" Sadanandan was dumbfounded. He was trying to oppose them since they appointed him in the twelfth grade, while they were apologizing to him for making him teach the second graders. Like, he was being apologized for the thing he was totally fine about doing. "Ah, I believe in you, Mr Sadanandan! Even though it seems a bit soon for you to become a class teacher, with your accolades, I''m sure you''ll make a fine teacher!" Rita smiled. # After the crazy reveal about him becoming the class teacher of the twelfth grade, Taro dragged his crew to a corner. "Okay, what was that all about?" He looked towards Thankappan and asked. "What do you mean?" "I mean, why is she talking about some credentials that I am not aware of? Weren''t we supposed to be equals? Then how come I''m the only one highlighted here? Not that I particularly hate any fame, but I feel like I don''t deserve this praise!" Taro replied, as he glared towards Thankappan. Thankappan sighed. "Okay! We might or might not have given you a few extra qualifications and degrees." He replied. "Why would you do that? Do you have any idea what you just did? I''ve got to teach twelfth graders while you guys teach third and fourth graders now. Do you know what that means? I''ve gotta be around teenagers!" Taro cried. "Why, you ask? Because we in the MIB made a collective decision to do so. Because this way, you''ll be elevated among the rather ordinary resumes that we have and have a better opportunity at getting a decent job. You do know that even if we got fired, we could just waltz back to Pranchiyettan and do our work there, right? However, that''s not possible for you now, is it? We still gotta worry about John, you know? So, yea we made it a bit more favorable for you. By the way, why are you so butt-hurt about this? What''s so bad about teaching teenagers?" Thankappan asked. "Don''t get me started, dude! Okay, hear me out. I would like to believe that us people from Wados are the most disciplined and mannered people of the entire universe. Mind you, it''s not just me. I believe the two of them will agree as well." Taro pointed towards the two aliens and replied. "Yea, Wadorians have incredible mannerisms! He ain''t lying about that." Kunjan agreed with his statement. Gibli nodded his head along as well. "See? Anyway, even though we''re that good, there''s still a small section of annoying people in a particular age group. I hope you know what I''m talking about. I''m talking about teenagers, man! Those spawns of demons are annoying even back in Wados. So, I don''t wanna imagine how rotten the teenagers on Earth are! And now I''ve gotta face them on a daily basis because of something that you did." Taro sighed. "Hey! Shivani''s kinda chill though!" Thankappan retorted. "That''s because you''ve not actually held a conversation with her. Maybe once you do, that facade will be broken as well. I''m not even kidding! She might be an introvert, but who knows how she behaves in class." Taro replied. "Seems like you had your fair share of troubles with teenagers." Thankappan spoke, upon hearing Taro. "Aw, man! It wasn''t a fair share. It''s more like the lion''s share of trouble was caused by teenagers. Back in Wados, I was in the disaster management department, you see. Do you know who causes the most damage? It ain''t the terrorist¡­ It was the damn teenagers. They''d just prance around destroying stuff and we always had to get hold of them and lecture them. And since they were in that rebellious phase, they never listen to whatever we had to say and continue wrecking shit. And since we couldn''t just smack their asses since that''d be child abuse, we had to continuously suffer." Taro replied. "Damn, however I don''t think it''ll be that bad. Well, the Earthlings might be a bit talkative, but I believe they won''t run around destroying stuff." Thankappan tried using words of consolation. "Oh, no! You know what''s worse than hyper-active teenagers? It''ll be talkative and emo ones. Some have the thought that they''re holier than thou and the emo ones are like, no one has ever suffered the pain they have suffered and stuff. A couple of egotistical dipshits. Damn, I''m gonna have a hard time around them, aren''t I?" Taro asked, looking all miserable. "You are." Thankappan replied, since he knew that no words of consolation was ever gonna calm Taro down. "I guess I gotta endure through this for the team!" Taro gave out a weak smile. "For the team!" The other three chanted as well as they patted his shoulder. "Mr. Sadanandan! You have the first period slot since you''re the class teacher. So, follow me. I''ll lead to your class." Rita interjected and signaled Taro to follow her. Taro took a deep breath in and followed her, while the other three wished him luck. # Chapter 69: A " Nice" Introduction Rita and Sadanandan walked through the silent corridors. Since the students attended the morning assembly in the school grounds, the silence was formed. Else, it would''ve been a noisy mess out there. Since they were walking silently through these already silent corridors, Sadanandan felt slightly awkward. So, he tried to break the ice between them. "Hey, I got a question to ask." "Oh, shoot!" "Well, two months have passed since this academic year began, am I right?" He asked. "Yea." Rita nodded her head. "Then that would mean the assignment of class teachers to all the classes is already a done deal, right?" He asked. "You''re right." Yet again, Rita nodded her head in agreement. "Yea¡­ So, why is the twelfth grade without a class teacher now? Did something happen to their class teacher?" Sadanandan wondered. Rita sighed. "Well, we tell people that the twelfth grade''s class teacher was fired due to his actions and behaviors." She replied. "So? What really happened?" He pried. "Ah¡­ He ran away." She answered. "Ran away? What made him do that?" Sadanandan bombarded her with questions. "Sheesh! You sure are interested in fishing out past events, aren''t you?" Rita asked. She looked as if she didn''t want to explain that part of the story. "Of course! He''s my predecessor, after all. I would like to know what made him run away. Like, if it''s the kids or something like that¡­" Sadanandan replied. "Oh, no! It''s not his students that made him run away. Actually, kids love this guy. Like, he''s really a good teacher, but an awful human. His students don''t know that though. He hates taking in responsibilities. So, when he was assigned with a class, he couldn''t care less about it. Moreover, if we add his inappropriate behavior towards the fellow teachers even when he has a wife and kid waiting for him back in his hometown , he was truly a recipe for disaster. We''re kinda lucky that he decided to run for it!" Rita sighed. "Wait, why didn''t you fire him beforehand then?" Sadanandan asked. "Didn''t I talk about his insane popularity amongst students? We didn''t even want to imagine the backlash that we would face if we were to fire him! So, we reprimanded him. Like, you should have seen the parent''s reaction when they learned that we said that we "fired" him to cover his sudden disappearance." Rita replied. "Damn, that''s kinda low! You should''ve fired him the time he started showing his real behavior." Sadanandan suggested. "Well, we should''ve¡­ And would''ve if we had a trustworthy backup like you, Mr Sadanandan." Rita smiled. "Oh, seems like we''ve reached our destination." She pointed towards a classroom. Sadanandan nodded and entered the classroom. He was shocked to see the number of desks in the class. "Hmm, are you sure we''re in the right class?" He turned towards Rita and asked. Rita stared at Sadanandan''s confused face before breaking into laughter. "Ah, I get what you mean! Don''t worry you''re in the correct one. There''s just thirteen students in the twelfth grade. It''s the school''s record breaking number though!" She said with a proud look on her face. "Like¡­ the record for the lowest number of students in a particular grade?" He asked. "Ah, no. This is the most students we ever had in twelfth grade." She corrected him. "Damn. Is this the case for the other grades as well?" Sadanandan asked, dawning a sad look on his face. In his point of view, it seemed as if the school wasn''t making a profit from teaching. Now, it made total sense why the principal offered them jobs without even considering prior experience or that they were construction workers.. She had to save money as much as possible, from the looks of it. Rita got the gist of what Sadanandan was thinking from his expression. "Mr. Sadanandan, you''re mistaken! It''s just the eleventh and twelfth grade in this sorry state. Every other grade has a minimum of hundred students. It''s just that both these grades are relatively new ones for our school, since we didn''t have the license for teaching those grades till two or three years ago. So, even though we are a pretty credible school for teaching students till the tenth grade, people still don''t trust their kids with us for eleventh and twelfth grades, since we haven''t shown anything particularly mind blowing in that sector." She replied. "Wait, you can''t show what you guys are capable of unless you''re allowed to, am I right? Unless you have enough students to teach, how can you even show what you''re made of." Sadanandan was baffled by the parent''s mindset. "That''s exactly what we say to the parents! Only a few actually understand what we''re talking about and enroll their kids to our school though. And how would they? When there''s some teachers among us who specifically ask the parents to transfer their kids to other schools after tenth grade¡­" Rita''s emotion meter just went on a turmoil in a matter of moments. "An enemy within, huh? You got some crazy roster of teachers in here. Did you find the person who did it?" He asked. "Yea¡­" "And?" "She''s still working here." Rita replied. "So, let me just sum it up. There''s some teacher that bad mouths your school and its reputation and not only did you find out about her, you still let her have her job?" Sadanandan asked, surprised about the idiotic actions that the school management seemed to take. "Well, if you don''t know this already, we''re seriously understaffed. So, every helping hand is welcome, you know? Even if the hand extended is an enemy''s." Rita explained her stance. "Damn, why not post an ad on the newspaper or something? You could get a few people interested that way." Sadanandan suggested. "As if! You really think people would be interested in working for ten thousand rupees per month?" Rita asked. "Hey! I feel like I''m being attacked. But yeah, there''s gotta be guys like me who''s in dire need of the job they are actually proficient at." Sadanandan replied. "I''ll take your suggestion into consideration. Anyway, it''s high time that the assembly''s gonna disperse. So, the students are gonna come running soon. So, I hope that you''ll manage the thirteen kids under you from now on. They might be a bit ticked off, since their favorite teacher''s gone¡­ Or at least, that''s what the substitute teacher said. So, handle them with care, I guess? And if you need some help, feel free to ask me about it. I''ll make sure to help you whenever I can." Rita spoke in a cheerful tone. "Sure. Thank you, Miss Rita." He bowed his head and they went their separate ways. # It was as Rita said. Just after the morning assembly was dispersed, the kids ran towards their classes like crazy, even though they were strictly asked to keep their discipline. Even the senior most kids were busy finding out who could actually get to their class as fast as they could. Taro sighed at the sight of those little devils running around. Wados or Earth, the kids in the age group of thirteen to eighteen were eerily similar in both the planets. While he reminisced about the annoying brats back in Wados, while seated on the seat reserved for the class teacher, a small horde of kids barged into his classroom as well. However, upon seeing a totally unknown man in their class, the students rechecked whether they were in the right class. Once, they made sure that they weren''t mistaken about their class, they cautiously entered the classroom, avoiding the gaze of the man before them. Taro looked around and noticed that only the boys had arrived and waited for the girls to arrive as well. While waiting, he suddenly locked eyes with one of the students. The guy looked almost as tall as him and had a dark brown tan as if he was sunbathing during the entire year. He looked pretty handsome as well, but the arrogant look he had on his face made him look ugly. It seemed like he thoroughly hated Taro for some unknown reason. Soon enough, the girls arrived as well. Surprisingly, the number of girls were more than the boys in this class. And they came in making all sorts of ruckus, not realizing that the existence of an unknown man in their classroom waiting for them. The first one to notice was the class leader, Shivani; she was surprised to see her neighbor who was supposed to be working in the construction sector seated in the teacher''s seat. The second one was Abhirami; she was pretty excited to see one of the few hot construction guys that she wanted to kinda scream. Other than those two and the guy who locked eyes with him before, everyone else in the class had a mix of disinterest and hatred written in their faces. Taro sighed. "Damn, I haven''t even introduced myself and they seem to hate me! Hell, hate me after getting to know me! That would make sense." He screamed inside his mind before calming himself down. Once everyone was seated, he finally got up. "Hello, everyone. I''m Sadanandan, your new class teacher." # Chapter 70: Fun An awkward silence ensued after Sadanandan introduced himself. Since, no one seemed keen to break the silence, he took it upon himself. "Hoo, it looks like I''m not welcomed here." He said as he found quite a substantial amount of hostile eyes. He sighed. "I''m fine with that though. So, why don''t you start by introducing yourself to me?" He asked as he pointed to the girls side first. Abhirami, who was the first among the girls, stood up. "Hey! I''m Abhirami! You''re the hot guy in the construction site a few days ago, aren''t you? How come you''re our class teacher now?" She asked. Sadanandan was about to reply, however someone scoffed. "Hmm, it''s as if this school is picking up teachers from anywhere these days! Pathetic." A boy replied. No, it wasn''t the one staring darts towards Sadanandan, but the one before him. Sadanandan sighed yet again.. Then he turned his attention towards the boy. "Look here, kid. I''m standing here before you because I''m qualified enough to. If you can''t believe it, you can just look through my certificates for all that matters. So, if you''re just concerned about my past where I had to work like a dog and not my qualifications.... You can go suck a lemon or something!" He replied. "Well, even though I don''t really deserve to be here, at least I do on paper!" He thought as he gave out that reply. The whole class stayed silent for a hot minute. The boy composed himself and gave out a reply. "But¡­" He was about to elaborate his point on something, however he was quickly stopped by Sadanandan. "Cool, since you seem to hate me and really like your old class teacher, let me tell you an interesting tidbit about him. I believe you''re old enough to know about the shit he did. You know he sexually harassed a few teachers in here? How''d you know about that, when the school managed to hide it from even your parents? Anyway, about his firing. Do you even know he wasn''t technically fired; he should''ve been, but he wasn''t. He ran away; from his responsibilities; from teaching you¡­ Look, I hate badmouthing people and I hate judging people based on what I''ve heard about them, however since you seem to be doing that to me, I thought why not!" Sadanandan spoke, which was once again followed by a long silence. However, this time, he wasn''t interested in breaking the ice. He felt that the kids before him had to break the ice once or twice or else he''ll be the only one making an effort to converse. Soon enough, someone did raise their voice. However, it wasn''t the boy who was arguing about his past, but the guy who was glaring at him before. "Meh, who even cares about that?" He asked. "Huh?" Sadanandan was confused. The boy before the glare guy sighed. "What he means is that we kinda knew that he was a total asshole. But, he did teach us pretty well. Maybe it was because of his character or something, but no one seemed to care about us when he was our class teacher. Like, we were under scrutiny for no reason when we were in the eleventh grade. However, once he became our class teacher, the school became a lot more peaceful, you know? So, we were kinda afraid if the past was gonna repeat by itself." He replied. "Huh?" The glare guy was the one confused this time, however no one really noticed him. Sadanandan thought for a while. "Okay, look. I don''t really care what you do, unless it''s something illegal. So, if someone''s talking shit about you, do tell me and I''ll stand up against them if your claims are valid. My words will have an impact since it''ll be hard for them to find a guy like me who''s willing to work in minimum wage even after the necessary qualifications." He gave out a thumbs up. "Hmm, I''m Ross." The boy introduced himself, as if acknowledging Sadanandan as his class teacher. "Hello, Ross!" Sadanandan smiled. "Anshuman here!" "Hi sir, I''m Laxman." "Josephine." "Shivani." ¡­ Soon enough, almost the entire class introduced themselves and the ball ended up in the glare guy''s court. He took in a deep breath. "Hey, you! You guys have been taking my words in a different context." He spoke. Sadanandan was slightly confused by what he meant. "What context did we take your words by?" He asked. "Look, I don''t particularly give a shit about the old guy." He replied. "Oh, really?" He scoffed. "Pipe down that expression on your face! I don''t give a shit about you either, fucktard!" "Hmm, you got quite a spiteful tongue for a young man. What''s your name?" He asked. "Hey! I''m not a ''young man''. I''m twenty-two. By the way, it''s Juan Printo." Juan replied. Sadanandan walked towards Ross and whispered. "Okay, is he for real?" He asked. "Ah, he''s talking about his mental age. He''s a bit weird in that aspect. And yes, his name is Juan Printo. He legally changed his name a year ago or so the teachers said. However, neither the teachers or Juan revealed his past name. So, that''s a real mystery!" Ross whispered back. Sadanandan got a gist of it now. "Hey, kid. What''s your nationality?" He asked. "Don''t say Spanish or Mexican!" He thought in his mind. "I''m half Spanish and half Mexican." Juan replied in the most awkward Spanish accent. Sadanandan sighed. "The translator clearly indicated that the kid''s Indian. Damn, delusional about his actual identity and a fake tan on for some reason. Is he some kinda special needs student? If that''s the case, maybe I should treat him with a bit of care, eh?" He thought as he smiled gently. "So, Mr. Juan. What''s your problem with me?" He asked. "Nothing much. I just want Mrs Veronica back to teach us!" He replied as he tossed his luscious hair back. Even though his actions and existence were weird, Sadanandan did admit that the hair toss looked pretty chill and the kid looked attractive even with the fake tan on. Not that he particularly cared about it, however that''s how he thought. Several of Juan''s classmates seemed to think the same way, even the guys. "Mrs Veronica? Who''s that?" Sadanandan asked. "It''s the teacher who teaches for the tenth grade. She came by to teach us English when the other guy ran away." Ross explained. "So¡­ What''s so special about her?" He asked. Ross found it difficult to answer his question. So, he brought him closer and whispered. "She''s hot." Sadanandan sighed. Juan seemingly had a crush for his teacher. He looked at Juan. "Teenage crush on your teacher, huh? Can''t be helped. Everyone has a crush like you have when they''re around your age. However, we gotta put that aside and focus on something else¡­ Like your studies." He replied as he patted Juan''s shoulders. However, Juan swatted his hand off. "What are you even talking about? I was this close to seducing her! A few more days and I would''ve been sleeping with her!" He nonchalantly replied. "Huh? What''s wrong with this kid? He''s delusional, alright!" Sadanandan thought as he heard Juan''s reply. "Hmm, is that so? However, bringing her back is not something I could do. So, you gotta deal with me! Anyway, isn''t she married?" He asked. "So?" Juan asked, as if it doesn''t concern him. Since nothing seemed to matter to Juan anymore, Sadanandan gave up on that part and let his delusions run wild. "Anyhow, even though you''re "twenty two", as long as you''re a student learning under me, I hope you''ll put all those thoughts of yours aside and focus a bit on studies as well." He suggested. "Sheesh, fine!" Juan nodded his head. "Great! Let''s get to our class then. Open your textbooks and do tell me where you stopped." Sadanandan spoke. # Teaching a bunch of twelfth graders wasn''t as bad as Taro previously thought. Although the poems seemed a bit hard to comprehend, the translator simplified it for him, so he had little to no difficulty in explaining them. Even the kids seemed satisfied with his explanation, so he saw it as an absolute win! The rest of the day went pretty fine as well. He had to teach the second graders too, which was much simpler than the twelfth graders. He didn''t meet the eyes of animosity but curiosity, which was kinda fun for him. Since the syllabus seemed simpler, he had his fair share of fun teaching the second graders. He did have to teach a few more classes here and there and with that, the eventful day came to an end. "So, how was it, Mr. Sadanandan?" Rita asked Taro who had his head down the staff room desk. It seemed like he was more prone to mental than physical one. "Ah, well¡­ It''s pretty fun, I guess? The second graders were absolute darlings! Other classes were fine too. The twelfth graders were a bit¡­ eccentric. But, they''re pretty great too, once you get to know them. So, yea. I believe I''ll be able to have a bit of fun here!" Taro replied, with hope written all over his face. He was truly excited for the days to come. # Chapter 71: Lie After the classes ended for day one, Taro sat peacefully at the table reserved for him in the staff room, waiting for the others to swing by as promised. Since eighth grade and above classes were an entire different block from the lower ones, the teachers teaching those grades had a different staff room in that block. Hence, Taro spent the whole day not seeing the aliens and Thankappan, except for the brief glances he had at them taking classes when he was on his way to the second grade. Anyhow, he wanted to discuss how the classes went with them. However, the wait for them seemed longer than necessary. So, he decided to take a stroll through the school corridors. Since the students had already left the premises, it was simpler to walk during that time rather than in a break time or something, where the kids were running through those corridors. However, while all the other classes were closed after the kids left, for some reason, his own class was still open. So, he walked towards the twelfth grade classroom with the intentions of closing it, when he saw that someone was still present in the class. "Oh, hello sir! What are you doing here?" Shivani asked, as she saw Taro by the entrance. "Shouldn''t I be the one asking that question? Aren''t the classes over? What are you still doing here?" Taro asked, as he walked towards her to check upon what she was doing. Upon seeing him advance, Shivani suddenly fumbled the book she had in her hand and quickly placed it in her bag and acted as if she didn''t do that in the first place. "Ah, I''m just doing my homework. Nothing else!" She nervously chuckled. Even though he clearly saw what she did, Taro decided to keep silence on that matter, since Shivani wanted to hide whatever that was so badly. So, rather than poking that up right away, he thought of prying it up from her some other time, slowly. "Hmm, studious, eh? That''s cool. However, can''t you do it in your home too? The school would close the shutters once we exit. You know that, right?" He asked. Shivani shook her head. "Nah, I''m usually the one closing the shutter. I made a deal with the school peon on that." She replied. "Is that so? Good for you then! Do you mind if I sat here?" He asked, pointing to a seat relatively far away from her. "Sure! It''s not like I have the power to deny you a seat in this class or something." She replied. "Oh, cool!" Taro jumped into the seat and gazed to the outside, looking for his alien and MIB friends. However, occasionally he peeked towards Shivani as well. As he expected, she was kinda uncomfortable with him sitting here, because it seemed to obstruct whatever she was doing before. "Well, she could''ve just denied my request! I would''ve just gone back to the staff room." He thought. However, he knew how it would''ve sounded like and no student would order a teacher like that. So, he sighed. The uncomfortable atmosphere around Shivani started to affect him as well. "Ta¡­ Sadanandan!" Taro stood up when he heard Thankappan''s voice coming in. "Yo! I''m here!" He waved his arm signaling his presence in the twelfth grade. "What are you doing there?" Thankappan asked. "Giving company to my student." He replied. To check who this student was, Thankappan and the two aliens walked towards the twelfth grade. "Oh, it''s you! Thank you for taking care of Charlie, by the way!" Thankappan bowed his head towards Shivani. "Wait, his real name is Charlie?" Shivani asked, surprised by this revelation. "Well, not really¡­ But he insisted on that being his Earth name because of you. So¡­" Thankappan thought before replying. "Yea! Why''d you ask?" He asked. "It must be some sorta fate! I named him Charlie as well, since I was a bit hesitant to ask you his name." She replied, with excitement brimming in her voice. "Really? Wow, I didn''t expect that! What a twist of fate, eh?" Thankappan nervously chuckled. "So, we''re gonna go now. Do you wanna come with us? Since we''re going to the same place after all! Also, as a sort of apology for scaring you for two days." Taro pitched in his thoughts. "Damn, I kinda forgot that we''re neighbors, even though we were talking about Charlie. But, yea. I mean like why not! If it''s not a bother to you, then sure!" She replied. "Cool, let''s go then." Taro urged as he stepped out of the class, looking as if he was about to run through the corridors like the kids do. "Wait, coming with you is fine and all¡­ However, are you still gonna wear that? Because you guys walking around me wearing that might make you seem like you''re my entourage or something." Shivani asked, pointing at the jacket that they put on. Although, they didn''t wear it while taking classes because Rita asked them to, they did wear it now since it would be simpler that way rather than carrying it in their hand. "I mean like, why not? It''s a gift from John after all! Ah, John''s the foreigner in our group, by the way. And, it''s one of the half decent clothes that I get to wear after arriving here." Taro replied, as he coursed his hand through the fabric of the jacket. "Arriving¡­ here?" Shivani asked, confused about what Taro was talking about. Thankappan noticed Taro''s slip of tongue and jumped in to cover his mistake. "Ah, you see. He''s from the Paniya tribe! He''s one of the only few of that tribe to actually graduate from something. However, he never left his tribe while learning. He was the only one to graduate from his own home in the tribe. So, this is kinda like the first time he''s out of the tribal community. And he always felt like the dressing sense here is a bit bogus! So, yea¡­" He sighed after explaining a butt load for no reason. "I see¡­ Now, I really wanna see what the Paniya tribal people wear. I hope it''s really cool, since Sadanandan Sir seemed to think that way!" Shivani replied. "Ah, yea! It''s REALLY cool! I don''t know when I''ll be able to go back, however once I do, I''ll get you one from there!" Taro replied. "Great! Shall we go then?" Shivani got up after packing her stuff. # Shivani felt really embarrassed as she walked to the Holy Land with the four people by her side. It was as she expected. The four of them looked like her entourages and the people were staring weirdly at them as they walked by. Although it did make her flush quite a bit, she thanked God that none of her classmates or juniors weren''t around to see this spectacle. Or else,it would''ve been a weird scenario for her¡­ not that it isn''t already! "Ah, by the way, I apologize for smiling towards you everyday! I thought it would make us feel closer for some reason, but my colleagues here said that there''s a chance that I weirded you out." Thankappan spoke as they were on their way to the Holy Land. "Don''t worry about that! I guess you did bring up this sense of familiarity after smiling a lot of times!" She replied. "What did you just do? He''s gonna smile even more creepily towards you from now on. It''s gonna be a pain in the ass!" Kunjan, who remained silent for the most part, sighed. Shivani laughed. "Well, so be it then! Let''s see how creepy he can get!" "I see! Don''t be blaming us when you get freaked out by him or something!" Kunjan replied. By then, they had already reached the Holy Land. When they were about to go up the steps, they saw someone coming down. Although they expected that it would be John, it was actually Shivani''s mother. "Shivani! What the hell are you doing with these guys? Don''t you know how society will perceive you once they see you with guys like this?" She asked as she grabbed Shivani by her hand and dragged her away. However, Shivani stopped her. "Mom, stop. Let me just introduce these guys to you. The guy in the middle is my class teacher, Mr Sadanandan.The others are teachers at my school as well!" She replied. Upon hearing this, the mother let go of her hand. "Oh, I''m sorry! But, I really thought you were construction workers!" She apologized. "Well, we kinda were. However, circumstances led us here. Now we''re English teachers! So, yea¡­" Taro replied. "I see. Anyway, how''s my daughter doing in the class? She always seems a bit tired from the early and late classes when she reaches home, but I hope she''s doing fine over there¡­" She replied. Taro was kinda confused. He knew for a fact that there weren''t any special classes. He looked towards Shivani. She looked worried as well. It seems like she was lying to her mother. "Ah, yes! I think it''s just gonna last a few more days. Don''t worry." He decided to lie a bit about it as well. "Ah, is that so? Thank you for taking care of my daughter. We''ll be leaving then!" The mother took her daughter''s hand and climbed the stairs. "Thank you!" Shivani mouthed as she headed up. "You owe me one!" Taro mouthed back. # Chapter 72: The Reason After the mother-daughter pair exited the scene, the aliens and Thankappan turned their attention towards Taro. "So, the twelfth graders don''t have any sorta extra classes these days, right?" Thankappan asked. "That''s right; they don''t." Taro nodded his head in agreement. "Then that would mean that Shivani lied to her mother." Thankappan spoke. "Right again!" "By saying that they have extra classes, you lied to her as well, right?" He asked. "Yup! You''re getting a whole lot of W''s here!" Taro replied. "Bruv, why would you lie to her like that.? You know teachers shouldn''t lie to the parents about what their children do, right?" Thankappan asked. Taro nodded his head. "Right, that way I could be a great teacher before the parent''s eye. However, I''m trying to be a good teacher in both their eyes though. You see, I did say to my students that I don''t care what they do unless they do something illegal. And the thing she''s doing sure isn''t any illegal stuff! So, I do have to keep that moniker, right?" Taro smiled. "So, you''re not gonna ask her why she lied then? Since you don''t care and all¡­" Thankappan''s face was filled with doubts. "Well, I wouldn''t have. However, she involved me into this, didn''t she? So, she owes me one now. So, I''m gonna ask her the reason she lied as a reward for doing my part. Although, I did say about me not caring, how could I not when she looked troubled about something? That would make me a bad teacher, wouldn''t it? Damn, this is what I get for having contradicting opinions! Look, I kinda wanna be the cool yet responsible teacher whom both the parents and their children could trust on. So, yea. There''s that." He sighed after giving out that weird explanation. "Damn, you do you, bruv! I hope it works out." Thankappan replied as he climbed up the stairs. However, before he could reach the top, someone was out there, already waiting for them. "What took you so long? The girl next door arrived three minutes early." John scolded. "Sheesh, we were just talking! Chill out, dude." Thankappan shrugged. "But!" John was about to hit back with a counter argument, however he was stopped by Taro. "He''s right, you know? What''s the problem with being just a few minutes late? Were you lonely or something?" He asked. John stayed silent for a moment, before slightly blushing. "Well¡­ yeah¡­ Lonappan said he was busy today, so he couldn''t make it. Therefore, I ended up staying here, waiting for you guys to come. So, sorry if I sounded petty about it. It''s just that the television''s kinda shitty on weekdays!" He replied. "Oh, we apologize as well. We were inconsiderate about your situation as well." Thankappan bowed deeply. "You know what? I''m gonna ring up Lonappan and make him regret leaving you stranded!" He said, as he furiously dialed up Lonappan''s number. "Umm, you don''t have to do that. He promised to compensate for it tomorrow. So, that''s fine. Anyway, enough talking about me! Come in and let''s talk about what happened in the school." John spoke as he walked in room #306. # Next morning; knowing that Shivani would be walking out of her home early, the guys stepped out early as well, which ended up with them "coincidentally" meeting each other. And they decided to act as such. "Oh, hey Shivani! What a coincidence, eh?" Thankappan chuckled. "Yea¡­ Good to see that you aren''t wearing those jackets. Although, now that I think about it, it did seem to work on you." She replied. "Ah, thank you. However, it seemed like the male teachers in the school wore rather casual clothes. So, we decided to ditch the jacket and lean to the more informal side of things." He spoke. "I see¡­" Shivani slowly nodded her head. Even if Thankappan said that, they looked more formal than anyone else in the school, even without the jacket. "Shall we move then?" Kunjan asked as he moved forward. Soon enough, the others followed suit. However, Shivani noticed something strange. It was as if they were rushing to move away from her. With each step they took, they seemed to move farther away. In the end, she ended up alone with Taro. "Ah¡­ It''s pretty weird that they left us here, eh?" Shivani laughed. "I asked them to do that." Taro replied. "You did? But, why?" She asked, with a shocked look on her face. Even though she did throw in that facade, deep down she knew why her class teacher made such a situation. "You remember how I told you that you owed me one yesterday?" Taro asked. "No?" Shivani tried to deny such a thing ever happened. "Well, it doesn''t matter if you don''t remember. I''m just gonna tell you now. You owe me for the lie I told your mother about the extra classes." Taro spoke. "That''s¡­ fair, I guess." She sighed. "Cool, I''m gonna cash in my reward then. So, why did you lie?" He asked. Shivani sighed yet again. "I knew you were gonna ask that!" "Hmm, so if you did know, it would be easier to answer, right?" Taro waited for her reply. "Fine! Okay, look. I was writing¡­ stories. Mum doesn''t like it. She wants me to become a doctor since she wants stable job opportunities for me. However, I like doing this. I tried talking to her about it, but she makes death threats that she''d die if I don''t practice medicine. I love my mum, okay? Had she said that she''d kill me or something, I would''ve happily placed my life on the line for my dream job, because that''s how little I care about my life. However, her life''s a bit precious for me since she worked hard trying to get me into this school. So, tell me¡­ What the hell am I supposed to do at this point. Do you think I can tell her that I''m writing novels and stories in the school because I''m afraid she''ll learn of it? Wouldn''t that make her even more distorted? I want my mum to be happy¡­ However, there''s still a small bit in me that wants to be happy, you know? Do the stuff I want, no matter if I''m lucky enough to get famous from it or not." By the time she completed explaining her reason behind lying, she was already on the verge of tears. Taro honestly felt bad for the girl. It kinda felt like he was treading through a tightrope. So, he had to answer carefully or else the already little trust she had in him would crumble down even further. "It''s your mother''s joy to yours, huh? Truly a difficult choice. Before that, do you even like medicine? Like would you be okay if you are to go down that path?" Taro asked. "Well, if you were to ask me this question a few years back, I probably would''ve said yes. However, recently my mum has been glorifying it as a holier than thou career, which is making me hate it. Like, I respect all the doctors who earned their way to it, but do you really think one would be happy or a good doctor at that, if they''re to hate that stream? One has to have a minimum likeness to a job to stick to it, right?" She asked. She seemed hellbent about making her point before the class teacher, since she couldn''t bring it up to her own mother. "Hmm, you hate it, huh? Doesn''t that make it simpler then? Just don''t practice medicine. Even if you are forced to, don''t leave your writing aside for it, since that''s important to you as well. Just don''t give up on your dreams though! Make it work somehow. If you can''t exactly do what you originally hoped for, do something related to it. Just keep on trying until you succeed in that sector so that you can finally walk to your mum with your head held high and say that you did it." Taro replied with a bright smile on his face. "Well¡­ that''s really what I''m planning to do for the most part. I''ll someday try to convince her that I don''t like it. If she doesn''t agree with my decision, I''ll go along the flow and work from the inside. That''s the only way. Anyway, thank you for listening to me though! I desperately needed someone to speak about it." She spoke. "Ah, glad to help! You know I''m planning to help the other kids in the class with whatever is in their mind too!" He replied. "Good luck with that! You could do it with me because I like to talk to people about my bottled up feelings. The others are more tight lipped about it than me, you know? You''re probably gonna have a harder time dealing with them than you had with me! So, yea¡­ As I said, good luck!" She gave out a thumbs up. "Well, we''ll never know about it if you don''t try, eh?" Taro replied as he looked towards the bright sky with hopeful eyes. # Chapter 73: Juan Shivani sighed upon hearing Taro''s proclamation. "To think that you''re gonna retroactively put your head into that mess¡­" She shook her head. "Meh, it''s gonna be fun. I couldn''t speak to many people when I came here, because I¡­ was shy. So, I''m spending my time from now on by talking with others for the most part." Taro replied. "Huh, very well." Shivani didn''t have a reply to what Taro said. She felt that it was great that her teacher could overcome his shyness. "Hey! Who do you think I should have a talk with next?" Taro asked. Shivani thought for a while before replying. "Hmm, if you''re thinking of going easy with it, I would suggest someone like Abhirami. She''s easy to talk to. You just have to ask and she''ll tell everything that happened to her the past week or something." "Fu~fu! I like to live dangerously though! So, tell me, who do you think would be the most difficult for me to ''influence''?" Taro asked. "Well, you do know that there''s one particularly eccentric character in the class¡­ Or, at least I believe you do. On a second thought, I don''t know if you think he''s eccentric as well. But, he is a bit weird if you are to ask me." She replied. "I know you''re talking about Juan. And yea, I too think that he''s not that normal. Like, I have seen many kids having crushes on their teachers, however this guy just straight up says that he''s trying to seduce one. Moreover, he says that to his class teacher. You see, I''m not one to snitch, however what if I was one?" Taro asked. Shivani sighed. "Not normal, huh? You could say that. He''s not normal by any means. From perfect scores in the tests to representing our school and winning a gold medal in the national school games for three events nonetheless. No matter how you look at him, he''s a model student and a perfect specimen for the school to show off as their diamond in the rough. Even standing near him is tiring. Like, he has a charm that attracts people to a certain degree. So, even if you were to snitch on him, he would''ve gone scot-free, because he''s at a level where the prefecture can''t just treat him like every other student." She replied. "Hmm, so no one would actually point out the stupid shit he might be doing because he has a special status now. Seems like I have a tough nut to crack over there." Taro spoke as he walked the corridors of the school. Since he was so engrossed in his talk with Shivani, he never noticed that they actually reached their destination. "Hey, by the way, you spoke of his charm. By any chance, did you get attracted to that as well?" He asked with a smirk on his face. "As if! I''ve been near him for too long to know what he is. I am resistant to his charm. Like, yea he is attractive, however I can only see him like a friend. Especially, when he explicitly stated his taste in women. Like, how could I like a person who says that ''only a mature woman can quench my thirst''? More than feeling attracted to him, I feel sad for some reason. And as I said before, I know him better than most of the people here do, so I feel nothing." Shivani replied, with an expressionless face. "Speak of the devil!" She spoke as she pointed towards Juan prancing around Veronica, the tenth grade English teacher. "So, is he just attracted to her, or?" Taro asked. "No, no. There''s two or three that falls under his ''refined taste''. However, Mrs. Veronica is the only one in this block, so yea. And she''s a bit more attractive than the rest." She replied. "I see." Taro spoke. He thought Juan''s case is a bit weird to just directly start with him. He decided to begin in another direction. # The class with the twelfth graders went relatively well. Other than Juan, who looked furious because it wasn''t Veronica taking the class, everyone else was attentive and it ended up becoming a fun class to lecture to. After the class, Taro headed to the staff room. There he saw Veronica, who seemed to be preparing for her next class. Although he wanted to have a chat with her about Juan, since he was busy as well, he decided to postpone that talk to later. Then, the first break came about and every teacher was in the staff room. Taro headed towards Veronica''s desk. "Hey, Mrs Veronica!" "Oh¡­ Mr. Sadanandan. Did you want something from me?" She asked while lazily looking up towards him. She seemed uninterested to have any sorta conversation with. "Well, yeah. I wanted to talk to you about one of the students in my class, Juan. You know him, right?" He asked. Suddenly, her ears perked up when he heard the name. "What about him?" She asked, the disinterest from a moment ago had vanished once he mentioned Juan''s name. "Ah, he said that he had doubts on this portion of the chapter. I couldn''t really explain it to him. So, care to explain this? Then I can explain it to him as well." He replied. Originally, he was about to ask something else, however he felt like he got the answer he was looking for¡­ or at least, somewhat close to it. Once, she understood that it was just a doubt clearing session, she went back to her former behavior and blandly explained it to him. Taro thanked her and went back to his desk. "I guess even mentioning his name could attract people''s attention, eh? Damn, I was gonna ask if she was attracted to him or something, however I was hesitant to ask that, because then I would have to ring up the police¡­ I hope that isn''t the case." He sighed. After that, every time he had free time, he started digging up information about Juan, like the stuff kids had to say about him, which was mostly good and his records, which was pretty great as well. He learned that Juan stays in the school hostel even though his house was relatively closer to school. The reason stated was that his father worked abroad and he would be the only one left in the home. Taro saw nothing that mentioned his mother other than her name, which intrigued him. However, to sum it up, he felt like spending an entire day behind this felt like a waste. Taro thought that it would''ve been better if he just straight up talked to Juan. So, that''s exactly what he did. The last period that day was computer, which separated the four computer students from the science batch who are usually taught together because of their less number. So, when the classes were over and they were about to exit their class, Taro stopped Juan saying that he had something to talk about. "So, what is it?" Juan asked with a pissed off expression. He still felt annoyed whenever he had to face Taro. "Ah, I would like to meet your parents. Like to talk about things with them." He replied. "Well, my dad is abroad, so you can''t meet him. However, there''s my aunt and uncle, so you can meet them. Although, my aunt is mentally ill, even though she won''t admit it herself. So, I''ll call uncle up. He''ll talk to you." Juan replied. Taro noticed that Juan intentionally left out his mother. Although, that might be because he didn''t want to trigger some memories he didn''t want to, Taro chose to recklessly push the boundary. "What about your mother?" He asked. Juan sighed. "Mother¡­ She''s dead¡­" "I''m really sorry." Taro realized that he went too far with it. "...to me." Juan continued. "She''s dead to me." "What happened?" Taro asked. "Well, she¡­ Wait a minute, why do I feel like you''re invading my privacy?" Juan caught a whiff of what Taro was trying to do. "I''m doing no such thing!" Taro replied. "Is that so? Great! I''ll just go then." Juan tried exiting the room, however Taro stopped him from doing so. Juan thought of bulldozing through him, however it seemed impossible to move Taro for some reason. Finally, Juan gave up trying and stayed back. "I have something else to say too." Taro spoke. "Really? Tell me then." Juan ordered. However, there wasn''t anything that Taro really wanted to say. He just wanted to hear about Juan''s mother and why Juan considers her dead. "Umm¡­ well¡­" Juan sighed yet again. "Okay, you don''t have anything to say. Move, now! I gotta go." He replied. "Hey! Do you really think it''s okay to tease a story and then take it nowhere?" Taro asked. "Okay, if it''s about my mother, then it''s a memory that I don''t like to remember and you won''t find it interesting as well. So, let''s leave it there." He replied. "I won''t know what to think about it if you don''t talk to me about it." Taro replied, completely disregarding the first point that Juan made. "Fine. Sit. I''ll tell you my story. However, remember this. You''re annoying as hell!" Juan replied. "Oh, I know." Taro replied as he took a seat opposite to him. # Chapter 74: Juans backstory: Mother Juan Printo. He''s a brilliant kid, everyone said. He doesn''t have to do any effort to achieve literally anything, they said. Natural born talent. A perfect specimen. Everyone called me by different names. Neither confirmed nor denied such bold claims, because I ended up being unsure about why I''m doing the things that I did. Born into the Printo "family", my father is a foreign businessman and my mother was a housewife. So, I didn''t get to see my father a lot. Back then, mom told me that dad was a big deal in the foreign lands and told me some bizarre tales about how he beat a dragon or some shit like that. Since I was a little kid at that time, I easily believed her lies. I missed the old geezer. With each passing moment, I wanted to meet him. I wanted him to tell the tales of the foreign lands, about how he did all those things that mom talked about. However, when I asked my mom about his arrival, mom always told me that it will take time because dad is going through a great adventure. And so I believed. Like, he seemed to be saving the world, if mother''s words were to consider. How could I bring such a great person, just because I wish to see him? I don''t know how it started. Maybe it was because I was kinda ashamed that I was such a great person''s son and yet I had nothing special about me¡­ or it was my enthusiasm to show him my new skills when he eventually returns, I started taking up new activities. Like sports, academics, you name it. I aced it all. Although, people were seriously impressed with me, I didn''t consider it a big deal because I''m such a great guy''s son; I had to at least do this. Mind it, I was a little kid and I still believed every word that mom said. Then suddenly, mom revealed that dad''s gonna come soon. I was super excited. I was like a super fan who''s genuinely excited about meeting their idol. I started building up this great image about him; how his eyes would be filled with hope and how he will have a cheerful personality like every heroic character in story books. However, reality was often disappointing. My image of my dad shattered in a day. All these years of build up, crumbled within a day. And I had no one to blame other than myself. I preferred to believe the words that my mother said. However, I should''ve considered it as Santa Claus, a convenient lie to get a kid''s hopes up. The father I met didn''t have eyes filled with hope. Rather, those eyes looked tired and it was filled with despair; as if he was in the unending stream of pain. He wasn''t cheerful; he was depressed. He looked like a man who had to do things that he didn''t want to, but had to. I noticed it, however initially I thought that he was just tired from the adventure he had. Thus, I decided to not ask him his side of the adventures.Rather, I told mine. I told how I picked up soccer and I excelled in it and how I''m studying third grader''s curriculum. While I said those things to him, I caught a glance of his eyes. I will never forget the look that he had. It was a look of disinterest. The man looked as if he didn''t care whatever I did. He treated me as if I wasn''t his child. A child who hoped for a cool father, got a cold father instead. Honestly, if he said something along the lines of it not being enough, I wouldn''t have been so hurt, since that would at least mean that he cares about me and what I do. Instead, he just totally ignored me and all my efforts. It was as if he didn''t care what I did as long as I breathed. I still don''t know why he had a kid if he wanted to ignore me like that. Anyhow, my outlook towards my dad seriously changed that day. I hated him. Especially because he had a fight with my mother after I "went to sleep". They didn''t know I was still awake and heard their entire fight. Father having a fight with mom, who did good by me, made me hate him even more. I couldn''t hear what the fight was about, however I knew dad was the reason for it. The old geezer left the home next day without even saying goodbye to me. Which honestly made me relieved, because I didn''t wanna meet him ever again. I had my mother who stayed by my side. I could rely on her no matter what happens. I hoped that she would stay by my side forever like that. It was as if God himself cursed me for having such a wish, because my hope was broken soon enough. Five months after the geezer left for the foreign lands, I saw a letter on my desk when I woke up. It was my mother. She said how she could no longer live as my father''s wife and that the old geezer didn''t give her the love she deserved. So, she decided to elope with the one that actually gave her the love that she deserved. In the end, she begged for forgiveness. Upon reading that letter, tears flowed from my eyes, because this was the biggest betrayal that I ever had to face. Like, I understood what she meant to some extent, but I always thought why couldn''t she take me with her? Why leave me alone like this? However, nothing more than her selfish desires to pursue lust than motherly love came to mind. While I continued hating father, after that event, mother topped the list. Her gall to leave a five year old kid alone in a house was admirable to the extent that I would like to give a slap across her face if I am to meet her again. However, I vowed that I would rather die than meet the person who sweet talked and then ditched me. At least, dad ditched me without any pretense. He never showered me with love and then ditched me like she did. Anyway, with that I started living alone. No one came to check me out until my uncle and aunt did after a month or two after my mother''s departure. They invited me back to their residence, to which I complied because I thought that would be better than staying alone. That''s when I learned that my aunt is a complete psycho who mentally abuses her child. When she tried doing the same to me, I called up dad and told him that I would rather live alone. Thankfully, since that geezer didn''t care about me,he actually allowed me, a five year old to live alone. However, to show that he wasn''t that much of an inconsiderate monster, he sent me a butler as well. Although the butler existed and asked me to order him for things, I thought of doing it myself. Somewhere along the lines, I kinda understood what people meant by calling me a brilliant kid and stuff. So, I decided to act arrogant about it. I continued excelling in every field. Even though the geezer didn''t care about anything else, he seemed to care about my marks when I entered school. So, every other time, I showed him my report card and since he was satisfied with my marks, I was given a free pass. So, I started to act out the way I want. Arrogant, haughty bastard chasing around women. Since no one dared to stop me because I showed incredible results in whatever I did, I thought of continuing on that path. Meanwhile, I learned that the old geezer married someone else abroad and they had a boy together. Not that I cared about him, however I seriously wished that the child doesn''t have to go through what I went through. Although I met the geezer several times, he never talked about having a new family, so I never asked. If he wanted to keep it as a secret, might as well. Everyone likes me. Everyone will continue liking me no matter what I did; that was my thought process after I did every shit that I did. Then I noticed it; they don''t like me, they just tolerate me. They didn''t want to get tangled with me. I thought I was fine with that. Like, I have already experienced loneliness. So, I was fine with that¡­ I wanted to be fine with that. However, I wasn''t. I knew that this is a hole that I dug up¡­ this distance between me and the people around me. But, in some corner of my heart, I hoped that someone would jump over that hurdle and get to me. No one did, until one day a person dared to do that. # Chapter 75: Juans backstory: The Girl A girl; a weird girl at that. She was the one who tried to jump that hurdle and close the distance between me and her. It was weird though, because she was the one who kept the most distance from me once I enrolled in this school. So, yea. A few years ago, I joined this school because I simply wanted to. The teachers here seemed to think I''m some sorta big deal, so I kinda liked it here. Once I joined my class, I saw many people surrounding me, asking me all sorts of questions. However, as I said before, one person particularly stood out because of this boundary she kept. It was like even if I tried to initiate a conversation with her, she wouldn''t have bulged. However, it''s not like I didn''t try. I once tried talking to her about some random shit, however it seemed like she had an innate ability to turn all sorts of conversations sour. Not even kidding, two minutes into the conversation and all we had to say was Um''s and Ah''s. I was really curious as to how she ruined a conversation that seemed to go in a right direction. Anyway, it was in the early times that I changed my name officially to Juan. The reason? Well, mother gave me my real name. I hate her, so I started hating the name as well. And since I decided to change my name, I thought something exotic would be fine. And I slightly tweaked my persona and appearance to match my name. Although I guess this was the event that weirded out many people. So, I saw many who wanted to know why I changed my name and appearance, however since it was personal stuff that I didn''t like to reveal, I avoided the topic. Now that I think about it, I started getting reminded of my mother more when I changed my name because of all the people around me asking the reason. However, yet again, this girl didn''t. Hell, she didn''t even talk even if I sat beside her. So, whenever I was riddled with questions, I would sit somewhere close to her and receive that well-needed sense of peace. All this time around her and she never asked me the reason for the name change. So, someday I asked her whether she would like to. I was kidding of course¡­ But maybe not. I don''t know what I was thinking that day. Anyway, she just simply replied no and said that it was my decision to do so and she won''t ask a reason for it. I felt it as sweet. So, then the phase began when people started avoiding me. Maybe it was because earlier people thought of me as a jester who does hilarious stuff and now that a few learned that I kinda am a genius. It was then that this girl started noticing me¡­ Well, it was less of just noticing but more of a competitiveness. While I came first in exams, she was always the close second. However, it wasn''t like she hated me for taking her spot or something. Although we were competitive, she never expressed shame in asking me her doubts on certain topics. I liked that we had a certain level of sportsmanship among us. However, it was not just the studies though. She started to chase me in sports and everything else as well. I felt the sense of having someone right behind you on a race. It was nice that someone thought of me as a competition. Usually, it was like Juan''s so perfect that we can''t touch him. However, with her around me, I knew of at least one person who treated me as an opponent. It was at this time when we were elected as the school leader and the deputy leader of the school. She was pissed about it. Like, if it was up to her, she would''ve tried to compete against me for the post of school leader, however at that point the school didn''t allow girls to stand in that post for some reason. Therefore, instead of standing against me, she had to stand beside me. And oh man, I could see that she was absolutely sour about it. The time we had as the school and deputy leaders was the one that brought us closer. We had to go to many meetings together that we ended up becoming more familiar to each another. That''s when I learned that she wasn''t the tight lipped girl that I once thought she was. Once she starts trusting someone, her mouth doesn''t have a filter. She continues on with her hopes, dreams, life at home and everything in between. And since she told me all those stuff, I felt like I should tell something about me as well and revealed my past to her. She became the first person to whom I ever talked about this stuff. I guess it would be fine if I said she was my first real friend. . . . # Juan completed telling his story, although he purposefully changed the gender of the girl to a boy for some reason. Meanwhile, Taro had no idea as to why Juan revealed half the things he said because he had no reason to say some of the stuff. However, now that he learned most of the things about him, he understood the crux of the problem with Juan. Although, he had doubts on what Shivani said since Juan seemed to be a pretty loose lipped person like her as well. "Maybe, he trusts me or something because I''m that good of a teacher." Taro thought as he gave out a bright smile which creeped Juan out. "... Okay, now that I told you everything, I''m just gonna go." Juan got up. He felt a bit awkward since he never expected that the second person that he would reveal his back story would be his male class teacher. "Hey, Juan!" Taro stopped him. "Yea?" "Why do you chase around the teachers, asking them out and stuff?" Taro asked as straightforward as possible. He wasn''t a smooth talker. He didn''t know how to bring up topics in a roundabout way. "Hmm, do I need a reason to do so?" Juan asked before thinking about it for a bit. "Well, if you''re asking me, I guess I wanna have sex?" He spoke. "Ah, don''t you think it''s a bit iffy to talk about sex in your age?" Taro asked. "Well, I mean, why not? It''s the age where boys are really horny, right?" Juan took the straightforward route as well. "You do know that the legal age of consent is eighteen, right?" Taro asked, slightly proud about knowing that fact. "I guess you''re right. I''ll wait to get eighteen then. It''s not that far anyway." Juan replied. "So, why do you chase around teachers then? Don''t you know kids around your age if you wanna date and stuff after you turn eighteen?" Taro asked. "It''s all about my taste, teach. What can I do about it if it''s my taste though?" Juan shrugged. "Is it really though?" Taro asked. "Huh?" "What I''m saying is that is it really because women that age suits your taste or that they remind you of your mother?" He asked. "Eww, teach! I don''t have an Oedipus complex!" Juan replied, showing visible disgust. "Dude, chill. I''m not talking about sexual attraction. It''s more like you expect motherly love from mature people. You used to love your mother and think that she loved you back, right? However, she betrayed your trust and ended up leaving you. So, you crave for it. Now you believe that you can regain that sorta motherly love if you date someone older than you, which is not true at all." Taro explained his observation. Juan thought for a while. "Hmm, maybe teach is right! But¡­" Although he felt so, he didn''t want to admit it. "Meh, I think it''s purely a sexual sorta attraction." Juan replied. "Is that so. Fine then. However, if someday you actually crave for that motherly love, don''t just look out for a mature woman¡­ There might be someone around your age as well; someone who can give you that sorta attention; who talks and listens to you; who cares about you¡­ Like that boy you talked about! Although, that would be a bromance then! Anyhow, think about it, okay?" Taro asked. Upon hearing Taro''s explanation, he started seriously contemplating his decisions. Although before he could speak, someone interfered. "Mr. Sadanandan, ready to go? The others have come. Oh, Juan. Hey there. What are you doing?" Shivani asked. "Oh, we were having our talk." Taro smiled. "I see¡­ The talk, huh¡­ So, are you done with that?" She asked. "Yea, I''ll take my stuff from the staff room and come with the guys. You can wait here." Taro replied and paced to the staff room. "So, how are you doing?" Shivani turned to Juan and asked. "Someone who cares about you, huh?" Juan looked at the girl and smiled. "I''m doing fine! How was your day?" # Chapter 76: Who are you? "I''m doing good. Seems like Mr. Sadanandan had quite a long talk with you as well." Shivani spoke with a smile on her face. "Oh, you were a victim to his talk too, huh?" Juan asked. "To an extend, yeah. However,it kinda helped me though. Although, you''re a weird guy, so I don''t know how much impact it caused you though." Shivani shrugged. "Well, we''ll see about that!" Juan smiled. Meanwhile, Taro ran back to the class. " Yo, the guys are here. Shivani, are you coming?" He asked. "Yea!" Before she exited, she turned back to Juan. "See you tomorrow, Juan." "Sure!" Juan waved his hand as Shivani exited the room. While Juan was contemplating all the emotions that he felt inside his mind right then, Shivani and Taro were on their way to the school ground where the others were waiting for them. "So, what were you two talking about while I was gone?" Taro asked, trying to break the silence between them. "Do you really think we could talk about something so substantial for the few minutes you were gone?" She asked. "Well, you should''ve talked about something, right?" Taro asked back. "There''s a thing called privacy, you know?" Shivani sighed. "If you are so keen about it, well, I asked him about getting trapped into a talk with you. I guess you talked his ears out, right?" She asked. "Nah. Instead, he was the one doing the talking. I just listened for the most part." Taro replied. "Oh, yea? I thought that he''d never open himself to another person like that!" Shivani looked surprised upon hearing this. "Well, I am that good!" Taro chuckled. Silence befell between them yet again. So yet again, Taro took it upon himself to break the silence. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" He asked. "Sure." She nodded her head. "Do you know who the deputy leader was when Juan was the school leader?" He asked, since he felt something weird about the way he talked about that person. "Oh, that would be yours truly. Why? Did Juan talk about those hellish days?" She asked. "Hmm? Nothing." Taro shook his head. "Is that so?" Shivani asked and then stayed silent. She was living up to the moniker of conversation damper. "Why did you have to change her gender, Juan? Maybe, you thought that I would mistake it as love or something?" Taro wondered as he walked. "Hey, do you think Juan will fall for someone his age?" He asked. Shivani thought for a while. "Hmm¡­ I don''t know as of now, since his current attraction is towards old ladies. However, the taste of a person could change, am I right?" She asked. "Hey, Mrs Veronica isn''t that old¡­" Taro replied. "Well, compared to the other unmarried teachers here, yes she is." Shivani spoke. Taro sighed because the girl seemed set on acknowledging Veronica as an old lady. "Oh, we''re near. I can see them." He pointed to a considerable distance and waved his hand. The faraway one waved back as well. "Yea¡­" Shivani mumbled. It seemed as if she was thinking deep about something. "Hey!" She called Taro. "Hmm?" "You''re really open about things like teenage romance and stuff, huh?" Shivani asked. This time around, Taro was the one thinking. "I mean¡­ Yea, kinda¡­ I''m fine with kids having their teenage romance and stuff. Isn''t it natural stuff that everyone experiences at that age? Like, who knows, at least one percent of them might actually end up together!" He explained his stance. "Natural, huh¡­ You should tell the other teachers that." Shivani sighed. "Fu~fu. Do you think they haven''t experienced one or two at your age? Of course they have!" Taro smiled. "Ha¡­ You know? You are a bit different from the teachers here¡­ Weird, but in a pleasant way, I guess?" She spoke. "I see. Thank you. I will take that as a compliment." Taro replied as they headed to the two aliens and the MIB agents, the one''s waving their hands like crazy. # "Ha, the guy''s not gonna change anytime soon, huh?" Taro sighed as he saw Juan once again prancing around Mrs Veronica the very next morning after he gave out a pep talk. "Well, it''s difficult to change a person''s behavioral pattern so soon. It''ll take time. So, wait for it." Shivani, who stood right beside him, consoled him in her own way. Somehow, even during all those shenanigans he did, Juan managed to notice them and waved his hand as he walked towards them. That was when Taro noticed the rose in Juan''s mouth, which made him look like a cliche playboy from those movies. "Hello, there!" Juan took the rose out of his mouth and spoke. However, it seemed like he had no other place to keep the rose¡­ At least, he acted like that when he gave the rose to Shivani. "Here, take it. Mrs Veronica isn''t accepting the rose today for some reason. Good for you, eh?" He smiled. Shivani smiled back as she received the rose from him and threw it as far she could, much to Juan''s surprise. He then ran towards where the rose fell to retrieve it, because he believed it was such a waste to throw such a good rose. While he did that, Shivani just walked opposite to him, with a weird expression in her face that Taro the alien couldn''t really explain. However, Taro meanwhile, stood amidst the two opposite walking people with a coy smile on his face. # The classes that day were normal as usual. It seemed that the twelfth graders had finally accepted him as the class teacher and adapted to his teaching style, much to the delight of Taro. Other than that, the second graders were still being cute as ever and Taro was kinda happy. At a random point, Taro wondered where Juan got his rose from since he resided in the school hostel and tried to search upon that. That''s when he learned that Juan dedicated a part of his room for growing roses. Taro was a bit weirded out yet relieved since he knew of a whole lot of other plants that he could have grown instead, but didn''t. However, weird things began to occur once the lunch break came by. Taro was quietly trying to stay by his corner while having his food, which was handmade by John of all people. For some reason, he felt as if John''s been acting too friendly these days towards him, which he doesn''t really hate; rather he quite liked. However, he was kinda worried that it might be because this could also be an act after regaining his original memories. Therefore, he did inform Lonappan about this event who asked him to stay wary around John. Anyway, while he was having his food quietly, someone approached him. It was a woman. "Mr. Sadanandan. We have to talk." The woman spoke as if she was looking down on him. "Hmm¡­ Who are you though?" Taro asked. It had been a few days since he arrived at the school, however, he hadn''t yet familiarized with their names yet. Therefore, he thought it was a welcome change that someone actually approached him to chat, so that he could learn their names at least. However, what he thought as a chance to familiarize with his colleagues, made the woman feel like he was ridiculing her for approaching him. "You''re quite rude, aren''t you?" The teacher spoke with immense hatred in her tone. "Not really, I just wanted to know your name." Taro replied. "I''m Mary; I teach physics to the twelfth graders. Well, I kinda thought that you would at least remember the names of the teachers who teach your class!" Mary scoffed. "Miss Mary, don''t take me wrong, however you see¡­ I really have a difficulty trying to remember the names of the ten to twelve kids in my class, so do you really expect me to learn everyone''s name in a jiffy?" He asked. "Ha, I don''t care about your problems. I just wanna say something to you before I head towards your class." She replied. "Hmm, so you seem like you wanna dump over your problems onto me and yet don''t wanna listen to mine. Quite an unfair trade isn''t it?" Taro asked. However, at this point, she started completely disregarding any of Taro''s statements as if he didn''t say them and instead spoke of the stuff in her mind. "Mr Sadanandan, you should keep your students in check." "Hmm¡­ Okay, look here, Miss Mary. It''s been like what? A few days since I joined? I don''t even know how those kids behave and you just want me to keep them in check? Don''t you think you''re being a bit harsh on the newbie here?" He asked, visibly shaking his head in dismay. "Well, you''re the one who quickly took the post of class teacher aren''t you? Why don''t you quickly take the responsibility as well?" She asked. Taro sighed. "There''s no way that you''d back down, huh? Take a seat then. Let''s have a chat about my students, shall we?" # Chapter 77: Outcast "So, what is it that you wanna say about my students?" Taro asked as Mary took the seat opposite to him. Mary sighed. "Your students. They are little rascals!" She spoke in a rather loud voice, attracting every teacher''s attention. "Aren''t every kid like that? They''re naughty devils. We can''t help it now, can we?" Taro asked. "I don''t mean it like that!" Mary retorted. She hated that Taro interrupted her in mid-explanation. "Then what do you mean, Ms Mary?" Taro asked. "I mean¡­ They talk too much!" She spoke as if it was some big revelation. Taro didn''t look impressed by this. "Are you kidding me right now? Every single person I know about is a freaking chatterbox, including me. So, what''s wrong with that?" He asked. Mary looked frustrated. She seemed like she had something to say, yet her words weren''t conveyed to Taro properly. She was truly annoyed by this predicament. While she was trying to explain the situation correctly, someone else jumped into the conversation; an unwanted third-wheel of this conversation. "What she meant is that your students lack discipline. Like, they don''t even care if teachers are present. They just talk disregarding us." The woman raised her hand and spoke on Mary''s behalf. Taro clicked his tongue. He hates it when someone else speaks for a person. "You are?" He asked. "I''m Joanne. I take Mathematics for your grade." She introduced herself. "Hmm, is that so? By the way, you do know that Ms Mary knows to speak for herself, right? Or are you implying that she can''t?" Taro glared at Joanne as if he was about to penetrate her soul at any given moment. "I know¡­ I just thought she was struggling¡­" Joanne was about to say something, however was cut short by Taro. "I know it seems like she was struggling. However, it''s not like I''m particularly busy. I had time and she had stuff to say. We would''ve resolved it within us. Without external help." Taro sounded a bit arrogant as he spoke. However, this was just because the bug named Joanne interrupted the flow of the conversation. He absolutely hated people who lack the sense of not breaking the flow of conversation between two people. "So, Ms Mary, do you have anything else to add, or is Ms¡­ Joanne''s statement all you have to say?" Taro asked. "Yes." Mary nodded her head. Taro sighed. "Ms Mary, you are aware that your simple yes won''t answer my question, right?" He asked. Mary realized her mistake after this. "Yes. I''m satisfied with Joanne''s reply." She nodded her head once again. "Damn, that''s a shame. You could''ve added a bit more just for an argument''s sake." Taro sighed before turning his attention towards Joanne. "And as far as Mrs Joanne''s complaints go, they might be seventeen, however they''re still freaking kids! Deal with it. Act accordingly. You''ll get them soon enough. Well, if you can''t view them as kids, then view them as teens. Aren''t teens always the more annoying ones than kids? Like, it''s where the emo stage develops. Really annoying. However, yet again, they''re still teenagers. They''ll make noise. They''ll think that they grew up when they actually don''t and think they''re slightly superior, now they''ve matured like us. You just gotta understand their behavior pattern and then embrace it in even though you find it annoying. Then it won''t be a problem." Taro explained. He felt as if most of his students were hard to understand if he was to look at them from afar. However, once he got to know them, they weren''t half bad. Meanwhile, Taro had no idea why he was defending the students so much. He could see some irked faces on the crowd once he completed his explanation. It seemed like he said something that they clearly despised. Anyway, after becoming the class teacher of the twelfth grade, he believed that he was responsible for them even though it hadn''t been that long since he was appointed. However, in this particular instance, he didn''t defend them because he felt responsible, but because the teachers'' argument seemed petty and stupid that he couldn''t even comprehend. "Like, what''s wrong with kid''s talking? If you can''t stop them from talking, then it''s probably your fault of not being able to control them, right?" He thought as he saw some teachers getting ready to dish out some counterarguments. "What do you think about the girls and boys of twelfth grade mingling out in the public?" Someone asked. Taro couldn''t believe what he just heard. "They''re freaking classmates, dude! What''s the problem with them mingling out in public? That''s so stupid!" He barked out. "Romantic advances are prohibited in school compounds though!" Some other teacher shouted. "Oh, man! Just because a boy and a girl are talking out publically, that doesn''t mean that they''re in love or something! That''s some weird thoughts you have, dude! Haven''t you talked to any girls publically without the intention of asking them out or something?" Taro called out the man who shouted the reply. However, the man silently slithered away. "However, it''s against our culture, you know?" Some female teacher came out this time. "Argh! The culture is utter bullshit then. Like, which culture shuns upon a boy and a girl speaking on friendly terms? Why do you consider that so weird? I simply don''t get it! And I forgot to say something before. Romantic advances are prohibited here? What''s wrong with students asking another student out? What''s wrong with them confessing their love to their crush? Why are you so against it? Isn''t teenage love fun? Two idiots with no idea about literally anything falling in love for no reason, fantasizing about the life they''d have in the future before realizing that every dream they had of living together was stupid and deciding to focus on their careers rather than loitering around saying stuff like ''I love you'' to one another. What not to laugh about that?" Taro asked. He wasn''t particularly passionate about love or having a relationship with someone. However, that doesn''t mean that he''ll put a stop to everyone else''s relationship fantasies. Joanne seemed to be fuming from the reply that Taro gave. "I guess you might find it funny. However, things like that will destroy the student''s future as they won''t focus on studies and stuff. We can''t do that! We are teachers! Our duty is to teach them about how to live in this society, not let them do whatever they like." She spoke. "So, you''re saying there''s no such thing as love in this society?" Taro asked. However, Joanne was at a stage where she denied listening to whatever Taro had to say. Therefore, she instead gave out her reply, without concerning herself with what Taro had to say. "I hope you listen to what we have to say and teach them to walk in the right path. Just friendly advice." Taro scoffed at the woman''s audacity to say that everything she said was on friendly terms. "Fuck, this is frustrating as hell!" Taro thought, before giving out his brightest smile to Joanne. "Oh, thank you for your ''friendly'' advice, Mrs Joanne. However, choosing to follow up on your advice or not is purely my decision. Just like you have an opinion on my students, I''m sure that they have an opinion about you as well. So, I would like to hear that before taking sides with anyone here." He replied. "Is that so?" Joanne was disappointed that Taro didn''t get her point. And Taro never will. He thought that only the kids were slightly weird, however, it seemed as if the teachers rival them as well. However, during all the commotion, Taro didn''t notice that Mary slipped out of the staff room as he argued with the teachers. When she returned, she had Rita with her as well. "Mr. Sadanandan. The principal is calling for you!" # Taro followed Mary and Rita to the principal''s office where she asked him the reason for his behavior. However, he firmly replied that he said nothing unusual. Once the principal saw his resolve, she decided to leave the topic aside and talk about the students instead. She said that she had been receiving several complaints from people that the twelfth graders are not showing enough discipline and asked him to talk to the kids about that. However, he didn''t really want to. But when the principal eyed him that the teachers won''t back down if he doesn''t do something like this, he reluctantly agreed. This action not only made the principal happy, but it made Mary happy too, because she thought of it as some big victory. After getting out of the Principal''s office, Mary said that she''ll give him five minutes to advise the students before her class and left without waiting for Taro and Rita. While walking back to the staff room, he sighed. "Ha¡­ I became an outcast now, didn''t I?" He asked Rita. Rita thought for a while before replying. "Maybe. However, I''m gonna be with you though! So, feel free to talk to me!" Rita smiled. "Really? I''d take upon that offer someday!" Taro smiled back as well as they slowly walked back. # Chapter 78: A Lecture Upon Taro''s return with Rita to the high school block, he was instructed by Mary to accompany her to the twelfth grade to talk some sense to the students. So, Taro had to do so, albeit reluctantly. Once he reached the twelfth grade, he understood that Mary and the teachers'' claim about them being extra noisy was kinda true. However, if he were to give out his thoughts, he would probably reply that the echo of the classroom is the reason that their noises were amplified. Of course, their high-pitched voices were the icing on the cake. Taro didn''t get why even the boys here have an extra pitch in their voices. He kinda gets why the teachers are advising the kids to talk less; they probably are annoyed by their voices. Anyway, Mary had a bright smile as she entered the class which really paid little to nothing of attention on her arrival. However, she wasn''t angry unlike the past few days. Instead, she glanced towards Taro, the one waiting outside the classroom, eyeing to him that what she said was absolutely right. "Alright, students. I called in your class teacher. He would like to talk about a few things to you." Mary said as she invited Taro in. That''s when Mary noticed that the students paid at least a bit of attention when it came to their class teacher, even though he had only been here for mere days. She felt kinda insulted, as she understood that the students clamoring in her class was due to her own shortcoming when it comes to crowd control¡­ Or in this case, eleven or twelve teenagers. Although her heart readily admitted her mistakes, her mind didn''t want to do that and thus continued to pin blame on the students, because that was the easier way out in such scenarios. Taro scoffed. He knew that Mary expected similar treatment to him as she suffers from the kids. However, it was not like the kids weren''t obedient and attentive to begin with. It''s all about getting to understand that these are teens who might have extreme mood swings. He slowly walked towards the middle of the class and was about to say something, however then proceeded to stare towards Mary. The physics teacher didn''t understand why the teacher was staring darts at her. Taro sighed, since it seemed like she didn''t get his sign. "Ms. Mary, can you please give me five minutes with my students? I would like to talk to them. Alone." He made his point pretty clear. Mary tried to protest by saying that she wouldn''t be able to hear what they talk about this way, however once she fell victim to Taro''s cold stare, she thought otherwise and exited the class. Once Mary exited the class, Taro closed the door, which made the already dim twelfth grade class even darker. He never understood why someone would pick such a gloomy looking room as a legitimate class. He believed that being in such a gloomy place could either make someone totally silent or extremely irritable. Unfortunately, the students before him fell into the latter. Anyway, while trying to close the door, he noticed that there''s no latch on this side of the door, so he supported it with a desk. After successfully closing the door, he walked back to the teacher''s desk and sat on it while giving out a sigh. "You know, I''ve received complaints from like the entirety of the teachers from the staff room." He spoke. The students before him weren''t dumb. They knew exactly why their Physics teacher would let another teacher in the class, when usually she''s so stingy with time. This was not the first time that happened. Every teacher lectured them and it seemed like their current class teacher wasn''t any different. However, they did feel good since this lecture took five minutes off the Physics class, which the students unanimously hated. Like, they used to think that the problem was with the subject. However, once they went to a tuition center and listened to the teacher there, they understood that Ms Mary was missing that passion that the other teacher had. Without any passion, it was simply bland in their opinion. Seeing that no one raised their voice against him made him understand that they knew what sorta complaints is the ones that he talked about. And he understood that they were expecting some lazy lecture about how they should not do this and that. However, Taro didn''t plan to do so. He thought that it would be weird to implant an ideology on someone''s mind unless he himself believed in it. So, yet again, he sighed. "You guys can calm down. I''m not gonna eat you or something. Look, the teachers here asked me to lecture you about a whole lot of stuff, most of which I barely care about because it doesn''t concern me. However, they did talk about how noisy you lot are, which I have to agree with." He didn''t want to mince his words, so he decided to go with the straight forward approach. "You see, you could be extremely annoying in their eyes¡­ Well, you are a bit annoying in my eyes too, not gonna lie. No one likes someone who just talks like literally every single second. The case in point would be myself and my roommates. No one really likes us. Even in this school, I became an outcast because I spoke something against the masses. Anyway, if people don''t like us for who we are, it doesn''t matter. However, that doesn''t mean that you can ignore their voices; especially if they are meant to be your seniors or someone whom you''re meant to respect. Look, I have no problem with you talking. Just respect the effort that a teacher makes to take a class for you. And the easiest way to do that would be giving the attention that they''re looking for. It would be heartbreaking for someone to take classes and receive no attention for the work they do." Taro explained before stopping to take a breath. He wanted to say more, however after careful consideration, he decided that any more of this, and it would make a negative impact. After a few seconds of silence from both sides, someone finally broke the silence. It was Ross, the kid who didn''t make much impact in Taro''s radar¡­ until now. "Sir, what if the class is boring? What should we do then?" He asked. "Well, if the class is boring or something you hate, try your hardest to listen to it and make sense of it. Even then if you find it boring¡­ Well, act like you''re interested or something That always works! That would give them an illusion that you''re really interested in what they have to teach. Is this something that I have to say to you? It''s not like you''re aware of something trivial like this, right?" He asked to which the students nodded their heads in agreement. "Okay, since that''s done with, I''m gonna go now and call your Physics teacher. Ciao." He opened the door and called Mary. She was waiting for him to come out as she kept a considerable distance from the classroom to give them their privacy. Once she got in, she felt the difference from any other class she taught. The class was silent and attentive. It felt like they were listening to everything. She felt relieved of this atmosphere and wondered what Mr Sadanandan did to create such an atmosphere. # By the time all the classes ended, everyone learned of the massive change of behavior from the twelfth graders. They talked it up like it was some big thing, however Taro didn''t understand the reason for it. It was supposed to be the Teaching 101. Anyway, even though he managed to do something like this, not a single teacher in the high school block approached him and made him feel like an outcast. Taro hated this feeling. Every time he tried living normally, whether on Wados or Earth, he ended up being treated as an outcast. While the first two times was about his power, he didn''t understand the reason for getting outcasted for the third time. Anyhow, since he was familiar with this kinda situation, he didn''t find it weird. The only teachers who conversed with him were the ones who had classes in both middle and high school block, mainly because no one talked about the events to them. Even though the events felt chaotic at some point, he felt at ease by the end of it. He still had people on the other block waiting to talk to him about what happened there and the second-graders English class was fun to teach as well. And back at home, he had John to talk about.... Well, it''s been quite busy these days that Taro and the crew actually forgot to ask the happenings about John and Taro. Taro thought that it would be great if he could talk about it with him soon. # Chapter 79: A look at Johns day John was bored. His roommates had been going out regularly for their work, however he was back in the home, waiting for them to come back. Originally, he was to go with Lonappan to whatever work he did, however Lonappan cancelled on him at the very last moment. However, he did promise that he will take him out the next day. So, he was happy with that because there wasn''t any reason not to believe him. Even though the days were fine, it was much better than the nights. When he tries to sleep at night, he gets sudden flashes of memories occasionally. When he tries to focus on it, he gains nothing but a sharp pain in his head that would keep him awake the rest of the night. However, no matter how painful it was, he was kinda okay with it. That was because whenever he was up in the middle of the night, he could always see one person still up and watching television. It was Taro. Seeing the alien intently watching the television was fun for him. Therefore, whenever he is up, he makes two cups of coffee, one for himself and other for Taro and then intently watches whatever he is watching, even if it''s the same movie for the trillionth time. As long as the other party was happy watching them, he was happy as well. John himself didn''t know the reason, but whenever he was near Taro, he got this special kinda feeling that wells up inside his chest. It''s not just that. Whenever Taro approaches him to have some kinda talk, for some reason he always sees flowers and a bright atmosphere overall around him. He didn''t know what to think of it. He wanted to think it was some kinda attraction to him, however he was sure that he was straight for his entire life. Although, he had read somewhere that straight people could end up gay too. It wasn''t that he was against such an emotion, however sometimes he felt as if the feeling was forced. It was as if the mind was the one asking him to get attracted to the alien, not his heart. Anyhow, he was conflicted. # As promised, Lonappan came by to pick him up. Although John''s work here was to keep an eye at Taro, the one rumored to be a calamity-level threat, he trusted Thankappan with him to do a good job, because he was an MIB official as well. And he was aware of that Thankappan''s from the dungeon, so that assured him as well. Anyway, Lonappan took him to a beach. When John questioned him about it, he replied that it was the place where their base was situated; a place called Snehatheeram. Initially, he never thought he might have to stay in Kerala longer, so he never bothered to head to the MIB headquarters here, however now that him leaving this place seems like a distant dream for reasons unknown, he thought that it would be great to visit this place. Once he entered the place, John learned that Lonappan was trying to tie him into doing desk work. Like, he was not against it, however if there''s anything he excelled at, it was in working as a field agent. So, he requested Lonappan to let him do field agent stuff instead. However, Lonappan was slightly reluctant, but John didn''t know why. Of course, John isn''t aware that Lonappan was worried about letting him do that because there could be a chance that intense action might jog his real memories. So, even though Lonappan and the boss Ponnappan rejected his request, he was totally cool with it, because it had been quite a while since he actually did something worthwhile. Therefore, John ended up doing all the desk work allotted to him in record time and asked for more. When they gave him more work to do, he did those in insane speed as well. It was as if he was some sorta insane work monster who gobbled up everything before him. It was certainly a wonderful scene in his fellow MIB employees eyes because their workload just went flying to John''s hands who expertly completed his tasks. He did his tasks so fluently that Ponnappan actually ended up requesting Lonappan to take him to some field assignment because he felt that John might end up rendering his employees entirely useless if this went on. Reluctantly, Lonappan agreed and the two of them teamed up. Meanwhile, the desk job squad was extremely sad that John was leaving the desk after one day, during which he completed about two months of work. They even ended up throwing a party commemorating John''s legendary one day stint at work and promised that no one will ever forget John''s work as they collectively nominated him as the employee of the month. John teared up during the party saying that he will miss them as well. Anyone who actually doesn''t know the truth might have thought that John is a long time employee who formed a long bond with the employees here. That''s the kinda impact that John made within one day. # The next day was different. When Lonappan came knocking at his door, he handed a document to John. The document stated about an illegal alien spare parts trade center in a place called Ayyanthole. Lonappan didn''t talk much, except briefing the current situation in that place. He spoke why this was confined into a two man mission and why catching the alien was of utmost importance to which John nodded his head. Once they reached Ayyanthole by bus, they started walking towards a rather remote area. Finally they ended up finding a newly made shed. Once they got inside, they found nothing. However, Lonappan nonchalantly cracked open the secret underground passage in this small shed. Inside they found out many alien tech and learned that it was all hoarded by one alien alone. They would have understood if the warehouse was stocked by multiple aliens. However, the alien they caught spoke up and said that it was solely responsible for this shed. The agents weren''t buying its story. Therefore, they questioned it until it finally cracked under pressure and revealed its accomplices. Meanwhile, the alien did not forget to take a jibe at the MIB: Snehatheeram base for partnering up with a similar establishment like theirs. However, before John could hear anything about it, Lonappan knocked the alien unconscious with a straight punch. By the end of it, the two of them called in support and managed to catch everyone involved in this illegal business. The captives, like the first one tried taking a shot at the MIB, however every one of them ended up suffering the same fate as their predecessor- a straight punch managed to knock them all out. John did wonder why Lonappan acted all aggressive against those aliens, however when asked about it, the agent simply said that they insulted him, which seemed like a pretty valid reason in John''s mind. After a successful raid, Lonappan invited him to have food with him, which John agreed to. Although John expected a fancy restaurant of some sort, Lonappan actually led him to a street food vendor. John was content with it because he believed that one could only learn about a nation''s taste if they are to taste the street food there. Although the vendor suggested they eat Kolli boti combination (Tapioca and buffalo''s intestine), Lonappan ended up choosing Tapioca and egg combination. Since Lonappan picked that combo, John was naturally intrigued about it as well and ordered the same. John ended up tasting one of the best foods that he ate in a long time. At that moment, he made a promise to eat this at least once more before he left India. Little did he know that the MIB base here was never gonna let him leave India. After having food, John followed Lonappan to the WPP office, even though Lonappan told him that he could arrange an auto to the Holy Land if he wanted to. In the office, many looked at him with intrigue in their eyes, because most haven''t seen a foreigner up close like this. However, many were surprised when John spoke fluent Malayalam. Gopan jokingly even said that his Malayalam was much better than Sadanandan''s when he first arrived here to which Lonappan wholeheartedly agreed. Meanwhile, some of the WPP members wanted John to join their party, because it would be great to see a foreign flair to their party. However, Lonappan quickly put a stop to their advances by saying that he was a guest. Overall, John had quite the fun in that place. An hour or two later, when he finally got back to the Holy Land, he saw that he actually arrived much later than his teacher roommates, which made them wonder what happened that day. Since they were the ones who told their tales from school whenever they arrived back home, John felt like it was a nice change that he was the one speaking of his day now. # Chapter 80: Petty The mornings are usually normal for Taro. The routine of waking up, followed by a "light" warm up and then a cup of lemon tea had stuck with Taro after doing it for a repeat for many days.This routine made him happy; gave him peace. Back in the day, it was usually followed by them going to work in some construction site, which made him happy as well, since it gave him a chance to put his strength into some use. However, since John''s arrival and the Karate tournament''s events, he had to be careful about how to deal with stuff. And that''s how he ended up joining a school as a teacher and it had been a pain in the ass. It''s not like he hated the profession. Actually, he loved it and the kids were co-operative, a thing that he didn''t expect from the teenagers. However, the ones acting irrational weren''t the students but the teachers. Within just a few days, they managed to isolate Taro and made him into an outcast. He would have dealt with that too if they didn''t dawn this condescending face, which constantly was begging him to punch the shit out of. However, that day, Taro decided to focus on the job in his hands rather than what some asshole says. So, as a man with a mission, he decided to go even earlier than his roommates because if he wanted to avoid people from the staff room, he had to get there early and head straight to the twelfth graders'' classroom. And that''s exactly what he did. Shivani, who wondered what happened to her class teacher because he wasn''t in the group that she walked with that day, was surprised to see him sitting at the teacher''s desk. Like, she knew that the spot was for the teachers to have a seat, however a teacher coming into their class this early was unusual since they usually loiter around in the staff room. With Taro''s presence in the classroom, the atmosphere became really awkward. None of the students were comfortable trying to have a decent chat before him because they had to tone down and censor parts of their conversations. He didn''t ask them to do so, however that''s how it usually worked. Some of the students were so uncomfortable that they actually headed to the loo to have a decent conversation there. However, one could see a few daring ones like Abhirami who took it upon herself to talk about various unrelated matters in her loud obnoxious voice. While the others thought that their class teacher might annihilate Abhirami for her loudmouth, seeing that he didn''t do literally anything gave them some much needed confidence to just talk like crazy. In a few minutes of time, what was initially a rather quiet class ended up bustling with noise, which Taro didn''t particularly mind. However, he knew of a few who minded this sorta behavior. They came rushing to scold the students, but seeing their class teacher sitting silently even after all this commotion angered them to limits unknown. However, rather than taking it on the class teacher for his irresponsibility, they decided to take it on the kids instead, because their voice was deemed to be the lowest with no position to give out an opinion¡­ In other terms, a perfect sacrificial lamb to take up all the blame. Taro didn''t speak of it, because he had already spoken about what his thoughts were on this the day before to the students. So, he simply stared to the floor as the teachers talked. Seeing their class teacher behave so, the students acted similarly as well. Thinking that they were sorry about their behavior, the teachers let them go for their "grave" offense. Anyway, the rest of the day seemed relatively fine¡­ or initially it was. Taro had completed his schedule and was playing Gacha games on his mobile. Almost twenty percent of what he earned always went into buying in-game currency of these Gacha games which allowed him to summon some characters of the game. However, he was so unlucky because he only gets high rated characters if those are guaranteed in a particular summon. It sucked to be him in that aspect. So, while he was getting frustrated about his unluckiness in the game,he was asked to lead his students for their Physical Training class because the teacher was absent. It wasn''t that hard since all he had to do was to tell the kids to do whatever they wanted on the ground and they ended up doing it. Hell, they even played stuff like chess and caroms when the period was supposed to physically train their bodies. If it was in Taro''s hands, he would''ve just taught them his warm up exercises, the ones deemed difficult by his peers in the Holy Land. In the end, he decided otherwise and just simply let his students do what they want. It rained quite a bit that day, so the main ground was a bit muddy. Hence, most of the students confined themselves to the indoor stadium that the school had and played badminton and other games that required them to stay indoors. Meanwhile two of the students were adamant about stepping out to the muddy grounds to play because they wanted to play football. They were Shivani and one of her best friends, Sujatha. Although Shivani wasn''t that interested in that sport, since her best friend whom she basically considered as a sister was, she was adamant about playing it as well. Taro was reluctant to let them play in the mud, however when they said that they were only gonna do some kicking practice, Taro allowed it. Sujatha was a member of the Kerala Under-18 football team, so people understood her craze behind the sport. The entire forty minutes, the only thing that the two of them did was doing penalty and free kicks while the others played the other games. Although at that moment, they didn''t expect to get in another tussle with the teachers. # After the period ended, the students were asked to come back. However, Sujatha headed to the sports room to put the ball there, while Shivani cleaned her shoes since it was muddy. However in her rush to get back to class, Sujatha actually forgot to do so and ended up unintentionally muddying up one of the mats placed on the corridors. However, Mary, their physics teacher, had keen eyes and didn''t miss this. "Mr Sadanandan, can you bring the ones who played on the other ground today?" Mary barged into the twelfth grade and asked. Since he didn''t know what went wrong, he asked Shivani and Sujatha to follow him, who ended up following Mary to the aforementioned carpet. "You see what this is?" Mary asked. "A carpet?" Taro asked back. "Not that. You see the muddy stains in this? Now, I didn''t see this stain until an hour ago and now it magically appeared. So, who do you think is responsible for this?" She asked. "Is this it?" Taro sighed and asked. He didn''t get why Mary was acting so annoyingly. After all, it was just a carpet. "Is this it? This is one of the school''s properties. And these two here dirtied this carpet. How are you gonna answer this?" She asked furiously. The two girls didn''t know what to say about this and decided to remain silent. However, Taro wasn''t one to stay silent when the one opposite to him said something idiotic. "Ooh, that''s mighty low. How low can you go after this, huh? School''s property¡­ Like, what made you so angry, dude? That''s some petty talking right there." He replied. "What do you mean? I didn''t say anything wrong! What are you gonna do about this carpet, huh?" She asked. Taro sighed. "Fuck it!" "Huh?" "I said fuck it!" He raised his voice as he took the heavy carpet up his shoulders. "Mr Sadanandan, that sorta language is vulgar. You know that too, right?" Mary was flustered by Taro''s swearing. Taro stood still for a while before turning his attention back to Mary. "You know what? Fuck that as well." He spoke as he walked away with the carpet, while Mary stood still without any witty comeback in her mind. A few minutes later, when the kids came out of the school to head to their homes, they saw the twelfth grade teacher washing off the dirt in the carpet and stared curiously. Meanwhile, the two girls came up to help him on this, which he clearly refused. Taro didn''t do this because of what Mary said, but because of how she acted as if she needed to hear an apology from the girls for what they did. While many teachers continued to look upon him with disdain due to his so-called over attachment with his students, one teacher came for help from the teacher''s side. "You didn''t have to come, you know?" Taro spoke to Rita who helped him to lift the carpet, unaware of his super strength. "What did I say? I said I''ll help you, didn''t I?" Rita tried to smile as she was crushed under the weight of this heavy carpet. # Chapter 81: Avoiding Rita "I don''t know why she''s acting like this." Taro sighed suddenly, while he was having dinner. No one around him knew what he was talking about. "Who are you talking about?" Kunjan asked. "The vice principal, Miss Rita. I don''t get why she''s acting so nice with me. Like, if you ask me, I''m totally fine with people acting antagonistically towards me, because then you don''t have to actually feel bad about it when you hate that person." He replied. "Wait, you hate Miss Rita? That''s surprising seeing that you two seemed to have some kinda friendship going on between you two." Kunjan spoke. "Well, I don''t know. I feel like she''s acting overly nice to me. You know, if there''s any kinda people whom I actually hate are those who acts like that, because that would mean that they''ve got something to hide. Like, no one behaves like that unless they need something from us, right?" He asked. "Hmm, I don''t like how I''m agreeing with your statement. But, yea. Most people who act too sweet are the true jerks of this society." Thankappan spoke in agreement towards Taro''s statement. "Well, that could certainly be the case. However, you should think about the other options before you jump into that conclusion. Like, what if she''s acting that way since she bears the responsibility of the vice principal of the school and she hates to see a fellow teacher getting oppressed like this?" Kunjan asked. "I would''ve considered it, however you should think about her position for a moment. She''s the damn vice president. If someone''s getting oppressed, she has the power to stop the oppression entirely. She doesn''t have to jump in to help me like she''s doing right now, because that''s kinda stupid." Taro replied. "Maybe, she loves you or something? You do know that situations like the one you get stuck in certainly gives her time to form a genuine relationship with you, right?" Gibli chimed in his thoughts while giving out a sly smile. "Ha¡­ Just no. I don''t even want that to be true." Taro quickly replied. "Why? Are you interested in the same sex, maybe?" The one who asked the question was John, who kinda blushed while asking it; although no one seemed to notice it. Taro thought for a while upon hearing the question. "Hmm¡­ I don''t know how my sexual orientation is. Just didn''t get the time to think about stuff like that. I feel like I''ll think about it when time comes. Other than that, I''m not interested in having a romantic relationship with someone because I''ve heard that romance ruins stories. Many of the comics and stuff that I used to read back in Wados was ruined by some romance jumping into the fray for no reason. So, yea. I believe my life to be similar as a story as well. I just don''t want some annoying counterpart to come in and ruin my entire story. So, yea. It''s off the charts." He explained. "Makes sense." Kunjan replied. "So, what are you gonna do about her then?" Thankappan asked. "Well, there''s only one thing that I could do, which would be to avoid her whenever possible. It wouldn''t be that difficult though. After all, we''ve got work to do from now on." Taro replied. "That''s right! We''ve got the sports day coming up, right?" Thankappan asked, "Yea. Who would have thought that we would end up straight in the middle of the sports day and stuff? However, it''s really exciting though. A bit sad that we ended up managing different houses." Kunjan jumped in. "I heard that happened because every house needed a compulsory male teacher. Since the other male teachers didn''t want to concern themselves with the sports events and stuff, we ended up getting the pick. I wonder what would''ve happened if we didn''t join the school by now. They would''ve reluctantly did the job anyway, right?" Taro asked. "Yea, most probably¡­ By the way, why is the sports day this early in this school? I heard that the other schools does this event by the time their annual day functions come around." Gibli posed his doubts. "Well, I heard that we used to have a similar schedule as well. However, this time they wanted to do it early so that students can focus in their studies or something along the lines." Thankappan explained. "Is that so? That explains it." Gibli replied. "Anyway, it seems that many are trying to dump responsibilities on us. So, we''ll end up riddled with work to do. And with that, I won''t have time to have a conversation with Rita; so that''s cool." Taro sighed. "Hey, can I ask you guys something?" John jumped in and asked. "Yea?" "Can I come to watch the sports day event as well?" He asked. The three around him looked at each other before giving out an answer. "Well, it''s not like the school has barred the entry of outsiders as long as they have an invite. So, yea¡­ We''ll set you up with an invite and then you can tag along with us for the sports day." Taro replied. "Oh, cool! I would like to see what the sports day of this region looks like." John replied, looking all excited about the prospect of getting to see the sports day. # It was as Taro said. The teachers ended up dumping all the responsibilities to the four of them, even though they were the least experienced with the school and its system. They were happy with it though. As Taro expected back then, he didn''t had to hold a conversation with Rita because he was extremely busy. The four of them had many things to do, including selecting the four members for the 4x100 meters relay. However, in their opinion, the worst thing to do was to manage the March past squad for each houses. They had to start from selecting the members to choosing what those members wore during the competition. They heard that it was the most competitive things on the sports day for some reason, even among stuff like a freaking race! Anyway, the students enjoyed these kinda events because they got a whole lot of free time when they got involved actively in team competitions, taking time off to practice. The twelfth graders weren''t that active in it though, other than Juan and Shivani; they were basically forced into participation, since they were good in what they do. However, that doesn''t mean they weren''t participating at all. Since they were seniors, even though they didn''t took part in sports generally, they had to bear responsibility for various related matters. For example, people like Juan, Shivani, Sujatha and Abhirami and Anshuman are previous house leaders, so they impart their experience currently as well. And few other students used to advice the house leaders back then as well, like Aleena, another member of the twelfth grade. They were still busy this sports day as well. Even though they were working in as well, since they seemed to have less work load than the others, although that wasn''t true, the task of making the main placards with the house symbols were dumped to the twelfth graders as well. Although they were really competitive against each other, there weren''t many who were actually talented in making those, so every house sought the help of Shivani and Juan, since they were pretty good in making those. Everything seemingly went well until some asshole teacher had to act in. This time, it wasn''t Mary but Joanne, the Math teacher and some teacher from the other block. Shivani heard a rumor about the other block teacher asking her house representatives to make some extra placards signifying the current affairs or something. Since it seemed like a hot rumor at the time, she actually said that to her house''s in-charge, Mrs. Joanne about it. However, it wasn''t taken in as a big deal because there wasn''t any announcement from the school to make those placards. In the end, the school did announce it and instead of thanking her for saying that beforehand, Joanne and the teacher from the other block ganged up and ended up blaming Shivani for inciting fight against different house and something of similar lines; which was stupid because she was the one doing the main placards of at least two of the houses. She tried defending herself, however the more she did, the more they retaliated for no reason. In the end, she felt it was stupid and left the premises. However, she started to hold a grudge against Joanne and the other teacher for the rest of her life. It seemed like a day couldn''t go on unless someone from the twelfth grade ended up getting scolded from the teachers. It seemed the grudge the teachers had in their minds towards them was deep and they were unaware of the reason behind it. Anyway, Taro was unaware of this event or else he would''ve had another argument against Joanne. With that, the day ended and the day of sports festival dawned upon them. # Chapter 82: Johns suspicions Sports day; one of the most illustrious events in the school history¡­ Or that''s what one would think by the preparations the school had done. However, it always paled in comparison with the school''s annual day event¡­ which wasn''t really up the standards as well. The hype for days like this was not about how grandiose these events were but the relieved minds of students who sense a valuable off day. Hell, they don''t even care about half the events that happen unless it concerns them. It was truly weird since solidarity and solitude were both seen on days like these. Because of this, John, who came in expecting something spectacular, saw that most of the stuff was extremely half-assed. "Are you kidding me with this?" He asked as he looked around. "I know, right? It looks mighty fine! I''m really proud of how it turned out." Taro replied, obviously not understanding that John just made a sarcastic comment and wasn''t commending them for a job well done. However, in Taro''s and the others eyes, it was truly a big deal because they took part in this. "What are you saying? This looks garbage!" was what John wanted to say, however, he had a gist of how the guys would react, so he kept his mouth shut. While the other four exited the scene after this short banter since they had things to do that they were in-charge of, John was left alone to fend for himself. He took this moment to lurk around and check on what the school had on store this day. For the most part, he wasn''t that impressed. They had a cheaply made Olympic torch though and this made him pop. However, in this sea of mediocrity, someone stuck out like a sore thumb. This person was speaking fluent Spanish. He looked from around the area, however he had an unnatural amount of tan. John felt like these two things directly contradicted each other. It was not like he thought that a multilingual person was rare or something, however the fluency that the person before him showed was unnatural; as if there''s some apparatus helping him on this. Something that could directly translate one language to another without a mistake. While John was busy speculating, a hand was slammed into his shoulder. Shocked by this, he suddenly turned and was this close in attacking him, however stopped when he saw the person who slammed the hand. "Hey¡­ What are you doing here?" Lonappan asked with a coy smile on his face. "Here to see the sports day event that they got here." John answered. "Don''t you need an invitation to get here?" Lonappan asked again, to which John took out his invite from the pocket. "There you go! I got an invitation. What about you? How come you''re here? Do you have an invitation as well?" John asked back. Lonappan sighed. "Bruh, I got a wife who''s a teacher here and a child who''s a student of this school. The faculty clearly knows who I am. Well, if they don''t know that, I''ve got myself an invitation as well." He replied as he showed off his invite. "Cool. Let''s grab some seats for ourselves before parents like yourself come and gobble those up." John suggested. "Sure, why not!" Lonappan agreed to it as well, and they walked up to two empty seats. "Hey, can I ask you something?" John asked as they made themselves comfortable. "Yea?" "Since you''re here without even informing me beforehand about this, were you trying to ditch me for the day?" He asked, to which beads of sweat suddenly started raining down from Lonappan''s forehead. "Ah, what a good day, right?" Lonappan suddenly changed the topic in a seamless transition. "Judging by your reaction, you were planning to ditch me, huh?" John threw a suspicious stare towards Lonappan. "Ah, what makes you say that? I knew you were here!" Lonappan replied, giving out a nervous chuckle. "Is that so? I have been keeping an eye on the movements of everyone in the Holy Land, but none of them seemed to come in contact with you or vice versa." John spoke, his stare grew sharper each time he uttered a word. Lonappan was shocked to learn that the Holy Land is no longer a safe place to talk about the events that happened during the tournament because this guy had everything basically on-hold. It''s not like he already pranced around in the Holy Land loudly proclaiming the events of that day, however he had hoped that once he wasn''t home or a bit far away from them, they could maybe have a brief discussion about it and how he reacts to each members. However, hearing his words, Lonappan was suspicious of several things. He suspected that he might have planted bugs on them and installed security cameras all over the Holy Land. It might not be the case currently since John was robbed of his money back then and is basically living off MIB: Snehatheeram''s money. However, this was a possibility that Lonappan and company had to look forward to when they were dealing with the guy named John. Anyway, surprises aside, Lonappan continued to defend himself. "But¡­" Or that''s what he planned to do before he was rudely interrupted by John. He literally had no chill. "Oh, I know what you''re gonna say. You saw them while they were in the Holy Land or some shit like that, right? Sadly for you, I was with them as we headed over to here TOGETHER, so that won''t work. What next? Yeah, how about you went to #306 and saw that none of us were there, and you decided to come here so that you would know what''s going on? That''s a convenient lie, right? Because if you saw none of us there, you would''ve called me and asked me my location since that would be considered as a minimum decency. Maybe, what I just said was true, and you didn''t see me there and thought it was a good opportunity to just slip out and have a free day for yourself. Although, that couldn''t be the case because the way you''ve been handling me for the past few days was as if you didn''t want me to go anywhere alone because you sensed a threat with it. So, if you had not seen me, you would''ve panicked. After all, you definitely had a reason for not letting me work here as well, right?" John took a deep breath before continuing. "So, putting all that together, I guess this is what happened; you wanted to come here. You expected the others to come here as well, however you didn''t expect that they''ll take me here as well. Instead, you thought that they''ll leave me back in room #306 because they''ve been ordered to. This way, I don''t go out, and you get to be here. You never accounted for my irresistible charm to work against what you planned." John said as he gave out some anime girl style poses. However, rather than looking cute with it, he looked imposing since he still had the fierce stare in his eyes that even made some little kid cry from about a hundred meters away. Cracking under the pressure of the obviously superior officer''s stare and intellect, Lonappan admitted his mistake pretty easily. "Yea, I was planning to ditch you. Like, I didn''t want to do you dirty like that, but¡­" Lonappan hesitated to speak anymore. "I get it. You had orders as well." John sighed. "That''s right." Lonappan reluctantly nodded his head. "Well, this might just be a good time as any if you wanna reveal why you''re treating me like this. As I said before, you seem to perceive a threat if I go out alone¡­ As if I would see something or someone¡­ Like, you''re hiding something¡­" John spoke, trying to make sense of things. Lonappan sighed. "I honestly didn''t expect to use it this soon after the last time." He mumbled. "Hmm? What are you talking about?" John asked. By the time he took a look at Lonappan''s face, he already had his sunglasses on. "I''m sorry!" He apologized as he flashed the neuralyzer on John. Luckily, John was the only recipient of the beam because people were at a considerable distance from them. Lonappan sighed yet again. "Okay¡­ What is it that I wanted to say? Ah yea! I came here with you lot. Like, I joined you guys back in Holy Land, and we walked together. And¡­ yea, it''s not like you''re not free to do anything. You couldn''t do the teacher job because it might cause some inexplicable visa problems; you knew they were basically gonna screw things over. So, you rejected it after careful consideration. And you tagging along with me is because I''m the one with the most experience of this city here. So, yea there''s that. This should be enough, right?" Lonappan looked towards the dazed John for a moment before hiding the neuralyzer and getting him back to his senses. "Hey, what happened to you? Suddenly going on a daze like that¡­" Lonappan threaded through a tight rope with the words he used. "I¡­ don''t know¡­" John replied. "Hmm, is that so? No matter. Let''s just watch the sports day, shall we?" He asked. # Chapter 83: A screw-up After the usage of neuralyzer on John, everything went perfectly fine. Both Lonappan and John watched everything unfolding before them, although, there wasn''t much to watch there because they hadn''t yet started the sports event officially. However, they were content with seeing children running, jumping and crying. Even though that was kinda annoying, Lonappan was fine with it because he didn''t want John to have any sorta recollection about the incident that happened just a few minutes ago. Thankfully, Lonappan''s worry subsided a little upon seeing John thoroughly enjoying every single moment. Since he hadn''t been around children for a long time now, seeing them do literally anything made him happy! Lonappan was kinda perplexed because he did not expect himself to use the neuralyzer on that particular occasion; it was much more of a reflex action rather than a well-thought-out plan like the one that happened during the tournament. Not just that, he wasn''t satisfied with his explanation that he gave to John while he was in the trance, so he was kinda worried that some loophole might have formed, which might enable John to remember all the events that happened, So, he made a promise to himself that he was not going to let John out of his sight at all. Or at least, that was the plan until the aliens and his subordinate Thankappan came up to them. Upon seeing them Lonappan forgot all about his promise and then just headed towards them to tell what actually happened just a moment ago. "Yo, how are you guys doing?" Thankappan asked with a smile on his face. However, before he could get an answer, Lonappan grabbed the four of them far away from John. "Hey, what are you doing?" Gibli asked. "Don''t ask me any questions right now. I''ll answer every doubt thyat you have, but right now we gotta move as far as we can. So, let''s go to a secluded place. If you know such a place, lead me there." Lonappan ordered. Without asking any further questions, the guys took Lonappan to a rather secluded place where he heaved a sigh of relief. "So, what''s going on? We have reached the most secluded place that I know of in this school, so you better start answering my questions." Thankappan spoke in a serious tone. " Ok, listen. I might have screwed up things just a little bit. " Lonappan replied. "Screwed up? What do you mean you screwed up?" Thankappan asked. "Well, you see. I might have used the neuralyzer on John." Lonappan chuckled nervously. "What the hell? Why did you do that? I hope that you probably have a good reason for doing so, right?" Thankappan asked, looking for an answer from his superior. However, Lonappan hesistated to give an answer, which made Thankappan suspicious of his senior even more. "Why aren''t you answering?" He asked again. "You gotta believe me when I say this. It''s not my fault this time! He started suspecting some of the things that''s been happening around the Holy Land, so I had to shut him up somehow. Do you know he has been spying on us since he has been staying at the Holy Land? No, right? Even I didn''t know, until now. " Lonappan replied. "Ok, that might be a little concerning, however I don''t think that''s enough for you to flash the neuralyzer on him! It''s not like we were saying something really controversial or something around him, right? But then again, I really hope that you had a legitimate reason to use it on him. Hell, you were the one who actually preached us about the problematic part of the neuralyzer and here you are, using it freely like it''s some free real estate or something. If you are to consider, it is like the second time we are using the neuralyzer on him, right? Don''t you think that repeated usage of the neuralyzer might eventually corrupt his mind or something?" Thankappan asked. "Look, I know what I said. I know that using the neuralyzer has huge side effects. I''m aware that that what I did was a huge mistake. I shouldn''t have used it on him. I should have just tried talking to him a bit more so that his doubts subside a bit, rather than foolishly using the neuralyzer on him on a whim and for that I gotta apologize. Realistically, I would have apologized to him, however that would be impossible due to circumstances, so I am doing the second best thing that I can. I am sorry for panicking and I really hope that it doesn''t instill a long-lasting problem on him." Lonappan replied. "Ha... I would like to say that apologizing would solve things up, but it really wouldn''t. However, if it helps with your guilt, then so be it. Other than that it doesn''t really help. So, what we can do is sincerely hope that we haven''t caused some mental problems for John. At least, he doesn''t look that bad now that I look at him... Oh, my god! He is gawking at the kids! You really screw things up, didn''t you?" Thankappan asked. At that moment, he felt like he was the sane one amongst them. "Ah, don''t worry about that. That''s kinda normal. He hasn''t been around many kids recently, so he doesn''t know how to behave around them and that''s why he looks at them like that. It''s not on me, you know? Don''t just put all the blame on me like that." Lonappan sighed. Things had been going a bit wrong for him this day, however this wasn''t one of the mistakes that he caused. So, he was kinda relieved. "Is that so? That''s good; he already has a problem then, so I guess we won''t be adding a lot to it with the neuralyzer. Anyway, I think you should go back and join John because I think you not being around him would be a much bigger issue than you actually being around him... Although, it seems like your presence around him isn''t much of a help either, so I don''t know what to think about it." Thankappan spoke, taking this opportunity to take a jab at his senior. "Ha ha, real funny! But yea, I think I should go. So, good luck with whatever shit you''re gonna do today." Lonappan spoke as he waved goodbye. "Thanks!" Thankappan and the aliens shouted back. # Although John did bad mouth the preparations that the school made for the sports day earlier, he kinda understood that simplicity was sometimes the best answer one could give. Because one thing that all the extensive preparations in this world couldn''t give is might be a smile in a child''s face. However, this sports event was able to plant a smile on the faces of these children. It was pretty fun if you were to ask him. Several of the initial welcome segments of this sports ceremony was a bit cringy in his mind, however John was still able to enjoy a big chunk of the events that occurred that day. The surrounding people were excited about it, so naturally he was too and in the end he could enjoy that day like everyone else did. Meanwhile, the others had their fair share of fun as well. For Lonappan, it was seeing his son bag a few gold medals, while for the others, it was the friendly competition that they were having against each other. In the end, when the sports day was done and dusted, they came to know that the house that Taro was responsible for actually became the champions by a really narrow margin. And this narrow win led to an intense banter between the four people responsible for the four houses. At first, it was just a war of words. However, as time passed, it soon escalated into somewhat of a strike fest. Although, by the time that happened, the other three retracted their previous statements and accepted Taro''s win because they knew how good he was when it came to a fist fight. They didn''t want to mess with the bull because they knew they would get the horns if they did that. So in the end, it was peaceful by the time Taro and the company received the championship from the principal. After that ended, the four of them were getting ready to go back to the staff rooms however they were stopped by John before they did so. When they noticed John''s presence before them, they kinda looked around for Lonappan as well. However, they couldn''t see him; it looked as if he gave Lonappan a slip to meet them. Suddenly it seemed like Lonappan''s worries weren''t one without a reason. "Hey, John! What are you doing here?" Thankappan asked. "Oh, well I wanted to have a talk with Taro here." John answered, while staring at Taro. "Hmm, sure. Have your chat! We''ll leave." Thankappan and the others left, leaving Taro and John alone. "What is it?" Taro asked. "I want you to answer my question." He spoke so seriously that it made Taro gulp. # Chapter 84: Misunderstandings "Hmm... Sure. However, I got stuff to do, you know? Like, the twelfth graders might be waiting for me back in the class... Well they are not exactly waiting for me... Hell, they might not be waiting for me at all! However, it would be rather difficult if I don''t get there as soon as possible because unlike some kids, this lot is really energetic and annoying in certain aspects. Yeah, they kinda talk a lot. So, if I don''t get there as soon as possible, some other teacher might, and then they will most probably get in trouble. You get what I mean?" Taro asked. "No worries! I''ll make it short. You are the class teacher of the twelfth grade, isn''t that right?" John asked. "Yeah. Isn''t that why I told you that I gotta get to the twelfth grade like right now?" Taro asked back. "Cool. Look, I want to know about a student in your class." John replied. "Huh?" Taro was kinda surprised because he didn''t expect John to be asking about one of his students. Rather than that he expected John to be asking about what happened in the tournament or something like that, because a certain person did flash the neuralyzer on him, so he was kinda worried that the flash might help him regain his memories. However, even though that doesn''t seem to be the case, he was still perplexed about this confusing event. "Ah, don''t freak out. I just need to know something because he kinda stood out among the students. This is more of the curiosity of a person in the audience rather than you know... an MIB agent." John replied. "Is that so? Well, it makes sense then. I know which student that you are talking about!" Taro replied with a smile on his face. "Of course, you do. Well, at least you should because he is a student in your class, right? It will only be weird if you don''t know!" John spoke. Taro found it difficult to identify whether what John spoke was considered sarcasm on Earth or just another lame joke. "Real funny, John... Anyway, he''s Juan. He''s pretty much an expert in grabbing everyone''s attention, so it''s not that surprising that he did yours too." Taro replied. "As you said, he is too much of a showstopper, so I was kinda interested." John replied. "What? Do you want to recruit him into your Secret Service as well? Taro jokingly asked. "It''s not like that!" John replied laughing. "It''s not like I can say that I suspect him to be a part of MIB already, right?" John thought, however outright kept his silence on that particular part. "Anyway, is that all?" Taro asked, unaware of John''s thoughts. "Well, it seems like that kid is fluent in Spanish as well!" John spoke. "You noticed that too, huh? He''s kinda fluent in almost every language, so I guess that''s not much of a surprise!" Taro replied. Although, with each reply that John got he furthered his misunderstandings even more. "So, is there anything particularly strange about him that you noticed?" John asked bluntly. It seemed as if he didn''t rely much on subtlety. "That''s kinda a weird question, don''t you think?" As expected, John''s lack of subtlety adversely affected him as Taro started doubting him. "You see, I kinda felt something was weird with him, so I just wanted to ask you about that, maybe it''s something that''s been troubling you as well!" John slyly placed Taro before the conversation making him feel as if he is genuinely concerned about his roommate. "Wow you are really weird, you know that? No offense! I meant it in a good way. You see, I still don''t know how you found out, but yea¡­ Juan is a bit on the weird side." Taro looked at him in awe. "Well, you learn a thing or two if you work on my side of the job." John replied, feeling slightly proud of himself after noticing such an obvious thing about Juan. "I guess that makes sense. Anyway, he''s weird in all sorts of ways, I guess. Although there''s a reason for his weirdness, I believe. I got to hear his backstory, so I can sympathize with him and also kinda understand why he acts like he does." Taro spoke, giving out an emotional tone. "Of course, he has one sad backstory! That''s kinda the first thing used by the MIB agents to fool people, you know? Like literally everyone drops their guard when they listen to some kinda emotional story of a certain eccentric character. However, doing this in such an obvious manner... He is one brave son of a gun, alright!" John thought yet again not revealing his doubts to Taro. "So, what exactly are these weird antics that you are talking about?" He asked. "Well, he chases around the teachers for some reason, saying that he is twenty-two or something... an obviously false statement. Other than that, I can''t seem to remember every sorta antic that he does, but he has his fair share of trouble in the school. Maybe, I''ll talk about it some other day when I actually remember all that stuff." Taro replied. "This guy! How brazen can he be... revealing his actual age and all! Does he not fear the repercussions for all the events that he might cause due to his idiotic behavior? Maybe I should have a talk with him or something. But what if he isn''t a real agent... who are we kidding here? He is obviously an agent; a rookie one at that. Seems like the aliens are unaware of it, while the MIB guys don''t want to reveal it. Doesn''t matter, it will all be solved once I get to actually meet him but my suspicions are usually right though. Anyway I should treat this case carefully or else I might screw it up big time." John thought, while standing before Taro silently for quite some time, which made him extremely uncomfortable. "Huh, seems like you are done asking the questions and me standing here by your side while you say nothing is kinda weird, so I''ll head back then." Taro replied. "Oh, sure. Sorry for wasting your time though." John spoke. "Meh, it''s my pleasure. Anyway, it''d be better if I go back. I can already hear loud voices from my class." Taro sighed as he turned back. "Good luck with that!" John laughed. "See you later then.'''' He said, as he waved his hand goodbye. "See you." Taro said as he ran back. As Taro left, someone grabbed John''s shoulder from behind. "John! What the hell are you doing here?" It was Lonappan, who looked genuinely worried by John''s sudden disappearance. "Hey Lonappan, I just wanted to have a talk with Taro over there¡­. Oh, he''s already gone now though!" John replied. "I see¡­ That''s fine. However, from the next time, do tell me if you are going to do something like this." Lonappan spoke. "I will." John assured him, to which Lonappan heaved a sigh of relief. "So, what were you two talking about?" Lonappan asked. "Nothing much. Just some random talk between two roommates." John replied. "Is that so? Well, it''s all good then." Lonappan looked a bit suspicious, however decided to let it go and walk back to the Holy Land. "Hey, Lonappan! Can I ask you something?" John asked while they were amidst walking. "Sure, what is it?" Lonappan asked. "Tell me the truth, okay? Are you hiding something from me?" John asked which Lonappan couldn''t hide his nervousness, which proved fatal before a seasoned veteran like John. "I knew it! Should''ve kept a check on your expression though¡­" John thought as he secretly laughed at Lonappan''s blunder. "What are you talking about? I am not hiding anything from you, so don''t worry about it." Lonappan spoke. He was slightly uneasy at that question. He felt as if John''s getting too close to the truth yet again, and it might be the right opportunity to use the neuralyzer on him. However, he thought of the scolding that he received from his peers back at the school and decided not to flash the neuralyzer on him just yet. However, he was plenty suspicious this time around as well. However, he decided to wait until the right opportunity before doing something drastic. "I see¡­" John didn''t say much upon seeing Lonappan''s grave expression. "Not gonna reveal it yet, eh? That''s fine though, I got plenty of time to spare. I will someday make your mouth reveal the truth. So don''t screw it up before that happens." John thought as he walked by his side. Anyway, during the rest of the journey they didn''t speak much to each other. However, one thing was for sure; both were suspicious of each other for totally different reasons. When nightfall came and everyone got back to the Holy Land, certain suspicious events started to occur. For some reason, John started asking more about Juan to Taro, while Lonappan started asking about the conversation that he had with John. While both were confused by the answers that they got, the most confused one here was Taro himself because he had no idea about what was going through their minds. # Chapter 85: Guide to living on Earth 1 . . . I''m Normal-Taro. People call me Taro for short. Oh, the Earthlings call me Sadanandan. Yes, I''m an alien. You see, I don''t know how I reached this bizarre planet. One day, I was drinking alcohol with my best friend back on my home planet and the next, I was here on this planet. Not that I was particularly unhappy about this development. If there is anything that I regret, it''s that I couldn''t inform my best friend that I''m doing fine, and he doesn''t have to worry about me. We''ve been through everything together, so starting a new life on this planet without informing Park was one of the things I deeply regret. I wonder what he''s doing right now¡­ Does he remember me? Is he still chasing around that bitc¡­ the Galaxy''s hope, Emilia, hoping to ask her out someday, an obviously impossible task? Who knows? Whatever it was, I hope he is happy living his life out there. So, I''ve been here for quite a few while now. Earth is pretty normal contrary to what I believed. I was initially freaked out by their costumes, however I can see their charm now. I got to wear a blazer recently. It looks hella fine on me. Anyway, Lonappan, your MIB caretaker, asked me to write my experience during my stay here on Earth. So, you''re kinda like my junior, aren''t you? Ah, by the time you read this, I most probably would''ve left this planet. However, you can always ask for me if you ever arrive in Wados. Anyhow, Lonappan asked for this a long time ago, however I never knew what format I should write this in. So, a long time passed with me trying to think of a writing style that would appeal to a fellow alien like myself. That''s when I read a novel about a little girl writing about her experiences during some war on this planet in a diary format. Surprisingly, I could see it from her point of view. Therefore, I thought of writing that way as well. However, once I started writing, I realized that I wasn''t much of a writer and that I can''t describe my experiences with words¡­ I might just bore you. Like, I can talk about it to you as long as you want, however my writing abilities are a bit on the weaker side. But, I had promised Lonappan and co that I will write something, so rather than writing every day, I might come out on some random days and write everything that I basically remember from the last time I entered something into this book. Anyway, since this is the first entry, I''ll start from the very beginning. I''m gonna skip my life before Earth, because that''s worthless information. All I''ll say is that I''m a Wadorian who doesn''t have an attribute of his own. Bit weird, isn''t it? I''m kinda weird¡­ But, I''ve heard that people who say that they''re weird aren''t actually weird, but they''re the ones hoping that they''re weird. In that prospect, I''m not weird, right? Anyway¡­ Although I didn''t have an attribute, once I arrived at this planet, I noticed that the people here didn''t have an attribute as well. I was kinda ecstatic, however when I learned that I just became a being with monstrous strength due to the gravity of the planet or something, the excitement quickly died down. So, as a fellow alien, I''m gonna tell you something. Don''t exert your power on this planet if you''re included in one of these three categories- Wadorian, Martial planet resident, basically any planet with a stronger gravitational pull. Because if you do exert your strength, the people will treat you as a monster. However, I don''t think this point will help you because you''ll only read this book after reaching the Holy Land¡­ And by that time, if you''re like me, you''ll screw things up. So, if you haven''t screwed up yet but are curious about exerting your strength or just have this itch to fight, better listen to what I have to say. So, if you''re from the Wu Long planet, then you''re fine to use your planet''s backhand techniques since that one is basically low risk, high reward kinda martial arts. Sure, you can''t use your power, however you can ask for a spar with one of the caretaker agents¡­ Well, ask for the guy named Thankappan. He kinda dissed the backhand technique, so you better beat him clean with it! The Wu Long planet guys who have no interest in learning other martial arts can skip this part. Anyway, for the rest, let me introduce you to a martial art named Karate, which I originally thought was Kung-fu. It''s pretty practical and fun to do. It prioritizes attack and defense alike, however defending has its own charm as well. So, if you''re interested in battling it out on a Karate dojo, I have left the business card of the dojo I went. The master there is chill and will teach Karate pretty well. However, I''m gonna give a warning to you. Never ask about me when you''re before him. Due to certain circumstances, he believes that I''m dead, and I would like for it to remain that way. So, you don''t want to do random fights, instead you need a chance to test out your strength, huh? Oh, and it would be great if you had a job rather than leeching on the MIB "pocket money", huh? Well, why not both? Let me introduce you to the construction workers industry. Okay, I know that construction workers are common on every planet, but you''re the one who said you want an outlet to use up your strength and earn money. There''s just this profession that I can think of. If I learn of something else, I will inform you later. Anyway, if you''re interested in working in this industry, ask Lonappan to let you meet a guy named Pranchiyettan. He will take you in easily, as long as you follow his orders precisely. He doesn''t even care about your origin. However, you need to be careful when your coworkers call you out for a party or something because they''re probably asking for you to come to their party, which might involve in taking of marijuana, a hallucinogen. Don''t take it because it''s unhealthy and there''s a chance that you might be caught by the police. Then, your caretakers will have a hard time releasing you. Oh, and by the way, if you haven''t been informed already, Earthlings don''t know about the existence of aliens, so keep it a secret until the corrupt world leaders sell out this planet to Glomerans. Oh yea, that''s a thing that''s gonna happen in the years to come. I hope you''re able to escape this planet before that happens¡­ Hell, I hope I''ll be able to do so before that happens. ¡­ What were we talking about? Yea, jobs! So, if you don''t like exerting your strength but would like to work because your pride wouldn''t allow you to walk around doing nothing, there''s always a teacher slot open in the school near you, The Heavenly Flame school. You just gotta make a fake resume with all your fake degrees that will become a reality with the MIB''s help, don''t worry about that. Decent pay with a chance to teach kids, isn''t that great? However, you can''t do it if your translator is shitty, which happened in my case. In such situations where the MIB can''t provide a new one, and you''re stuck with a malfunctioned version, head to "Ajish spare parts" and make an order for one translator. Don''t worry, it isn''t technically illegal as it is affiliated with MIB: Sneehatheeram. And if you''re that confident about your translator making abilities like I am, ask if you could build one, and they''ll allow you to do so. However, don''t forget about the magnite coil though, or you''re screwed. Anyway, that basically kinda sums up my current adventures on Earth. I skimmed out many parts because I believe these are the basics that you should know and also I simply don''t wanna write any longer. Oh, it feels like you''re asking me for more¡­ Since you''re asking so kindly, I''ll tell you a few more things. Don''t go to a shopping mall, especially Koma mall, until you get familiar with this place and your expenses. I made a rookie mistake and screwed up there. I hope this helps you. And by the way, there''s a paradise in Thrissur center which serves Arabian food, so check it out if you want. Another thing, I guess you might have met up with Ponnappan. He might look like a haughty idiot, however, he''s kinda nice and really helpful. So, treat him well, I guess? Hell, treat everyone in MIB well; they''re nice guys. Okay, then. I''m gonna wrap it here. I hope you''re enlightened to the slightest, at least. Anyway, I''m gonna tell you one thing. I treasure this place like my home planet. It''s the place that gave me a family, so how can I even hate it? So, I hope that you might find happiness on this planet like I did. Good luck. . . . # Chapter 86: A game of chess Things were pretty weird in the Holy Land household; that''s the usual scenario. Although they themselves might call it relatively normal, if someone else were to get a house tour of their room, they would definitely smell something fishy other than the pet food that Shivani gives to Charlie every morning. The girl is really diligent on that matter. She knocks at their door at six o''clock and hands Charlie''s food to Taro since he''s the only one up at that time. Although they talk to each other on their way to school and in class and stuff, she never holds a conversation with him at that time. She''d just give the food and head back to her room. M''Baku hates the food, however painstakingly eats it because of the thought behind it. It has a really fishy smell, so everyone basically wakes up at that point. Back to the point. Although things were weird on an everyday basis, it elevated to a whole new level that day. As stated before, everyone wakes up from the stench that Charlie''s food brings right at six o''clock. However, someone else was awake that day besides Taro. It was John. Him being awake was pretty fine by itself, however as soon as he woke up, rather than greeting Taro, he started sneaking around, believing that Taro hadn''t noticed yet. However, Taro did notice but didn''t act up because him finding a veteran MIB agent in his stealth mode will raise suspicions from John''s part. He had a cover to keep up, so he didn''t give it an eye¡­ Or so he acted. Secretly, he peeked at John''s actions here and there and found it really suspicious. First, he looked at Taro''s schedule that day for some reason. Taro didn''t understand this sudden interest that John had to his schedule and the twelfth grade in general¡­ specifically, Juan. Although John did his best to cover up his intentions with a bunch of lies, Taro was perceptive. He was assigned to find the idiots who messed up with Wadorian structures back in the day, and they had similar body language as John had. If John was an expert in his field, Taro was as well¡­ Or else, why would he, a person without an attribute, be a team leader? It was evident by John''s talk that it had something to do with Juan. The main thing he could remember was when John flinched when he talked about him inviting Juan to MIB. He believed that may be John was interested in Juan''s skills and wanted to recruit him to MIB. However, he was slightly concerned as to how a show-off like Juan might settle in an organization that''s supposed to be a secret. Will he even allow them to erase his real identity? While he had these complicated thoughts, John continued his search. Suddenly he headed back and took a photo of Taro''s schedule. However, he forgot to turn off the flash and the shutter noise that came when a photo was taken. Surprised by this, John jumped back instinctively and tried to put the schedule back in its place. He then stood there as he normally does, fully expecting that Taro might''ve noticed him. However, to him, it seemed like Taro didn''t, so he heaved a sigh of relief. Unlike Taro though, Gibli and Kunjan, who had war traumas and mistook the camera flashes as flash bangs, woke up. So, John could no longer continue with his desperate search and gave up. Taro, the one who saw the entire fiasco was feeling troubled. He had yet to know what John was planning. # Things continued to surprise Taro. Lonappan came to the Holy Land at seven o''clock looking for John, which was weird for a guy who arrives after they leave for work. Taro could understand this part since Lonappan was worried about the neuralyzer incident. However, what happened next surprised him. John, the person who cried about Lonappan leaving him out of the fun he has, actually rejected him. He looked right in his face and said that he wasn''t interested to go out that day. This made both Taro and Lonappan suspicious, however both decided to not pry it any further. That doesn''t mean that Lonappan didn''t try asking him to come to the MIB base yet again, however John''s stance in this matter didn''t change. In the end, Lonappan gave up and said that he was leaving to the base. Although, both John and Taro knew that wouldn''t be the case. It was like a chess match, however both clearly knew each other''s moves, since they learned from the same master. However, Taro here was playing three-dimensional chess, with his observations. Anyway, eight o''clock came around and the group of four was ready to leave for school and John diligently waved them goodbye. Although Thankappan and Gibli were busy to notice, since the former was busy talking to Shivani who accompanied them and the latter was generally absent-minded , Taro and Kunjan were clearly aware of the act John was putting up. It seemed like another one had entered into the three-dimensional chess, or at least to silently spectate the events. # As Lonappan expected, by the time afternoon came by, John left the Holy Land. And as John expected, Lonappan began following him. Thus began the cat and mouse chase. Although John''s target was the school, which was literally a minute or two away, he wasn''t stupid enough to give out his location to his opponent, so he led Lonappan as far away from school as possible. To shake off Lonappan''s tail, John used the public transport in his disposal and changed the bus three times, entered an auto once and finally caught a taxi. Since he was slightly inexperienced in tailing even though he knew he roads better than John, Lonappan lost in his chase. However, he grinned as if he was the victor. From the beginning, Lonappan''s plan wasn''t to successfully chase down John, but to give him the false hope that he had won in this little game. If Lonappan wanted to, he could always head back to Pazhamukku and catch John lurking out there, however he wasn''t that stupid. If he did that, John wouldn''t drop his guard down. He intentionally stayed back, got inside a little bakery and ordered a sandwich and called up someone while eating it. He was ready to bring in the observers down into the field. While teaching to the twelfth graders in his second period of the day for them, he received a call from Lonappan saying that John was heading towards the school and asked him to be on hold, to which Taro agreed. Taro called in Kunjan, his second accomplice in this mission, who readily agreed as well. They were all sided with Lonappan as they knew Lonappan''s mission, however was unaware of John''s actions. Surprisingly, Kunjan informed Thankappan and Gibli as well. It turned out that they were accomplices of Lonappan in this mission as well. They acted like dunces so that John wouldn''t suspect a thing. It wasn''t an even playing board. There weren''t any observers or anyone playing 3D chess; it was a match between Lonappan with his trusted officials and a lone king in the opposition, John. He was lured into this elaborate 1000 IQ plan all along. The king no longer had a move to do, other than gracefully giving up¡­ if the king himself was aware that he got checkmated. However, John was unaware of such a thing. He did suspect Taro in the beginning, when he did basically nothing. However, that event was exceptionally covered by Kunjan and Gibli giving out their war memories, even though they didn''t have such a trauma¡­ At least, Kunjan didn''t. For Gibli, it was a mental warfare against Glomerans rather than a physical one, so the flash bang story didn''t apply to him either. Anyway, John was there at the exact time that he wanted to arrive- the time when Taro moved to the next block after his second class with the twelfth graders. However, something unexpected happened. Taro, instead of leaving, stayed in the class and taught the third English class of the day for the twelfth graders. This made things tough for John. He was hoping for Taro to leave so that he could catch up with Juan since he had certain things to talk with him during the break time after this class, in the time it took for Taro to reach this block. However, it was as if the Gods above heard his prayers. Some teacher called him from the other block to head to that part of the school due to the confusion that he caused by the sudden change in his schedule. So, as soon as the bell rang and the class ended, he ran towards the other block, giving John his golden chance he was waiting for to meet up with Juan. Little did he know that it was a play on him as well to drop his guard further down, as the random teacher who "called" Taro was none other and Kunjan himself. # Chapter 87: John meets Juan John, ecstatic about the golden opportunity handed to him on a platter by "lady luck", thought it to be the perfect moment to approach Juan and clear his doubts. So, he waited for quite some time for Juan to walk out of his classroom. Yet again, it seemed as if the luck was on his side as he saw Juan walking alone. It looked as if he''d been lucky that day. Too lucky, in fact. Normally, he would have been suspicious of his bizarre luck. However, since coming to India, he had been interested in looking at the weekly horoscope seen in the Sunday supplement of the newspaper. Even him acting out covertly that day was because the horoscope said that the best day for people of his zodiac sign. So, one could say that somewhere along the line, John turned into a believer of Astrology. So, what seemed like a suspicious event turned into a totally believable one because some astrologer said that it''d be a good day for him. Anyhow, once Juan walked towards the area in the school where people extremely" don''t walk through, he was dragged into the dark by John. Juan struggled so that the mystery person doesn''t have an actual grasp on him. When it seemed like it worked, the person pushed him to the wall instead and covered his mouth with his hand. "Don''t talk!" John ordered, to which Juan nodded his head. Although he couldn''t clearly see the male before him due to the lighting of the place, he noticed the man''s stature and hoped to take him out in due time. However, it seemed that he was wrong and the person wasn''t someone whom he can face by himself. However, Juan didn''t know why someone would try to do something like this to him. The only reason he could think of was his old man, so he cursed inwardly and acted as obedient as he could. John sighed. It seemed like Juan had an accurate grasp of his strength and he made sure to obey his orders. Initially, it seemed as if Juan was an ordinary citizen. However, he knew that no ordinary person would be this composed before an impending danger, which meant he had extensive training on how to behave in a situation like this¡­ A training like maybe the one that MIB gives? Anyway, John was incredibly suspicious by now. "Hmm, certainly not an ordinary person! Looks like I was right all along." John thought, thus making the incredibly idiotic mistake of judging a book by its cover. It seemed as if his judgement skills were messed up by the simpler situation that led him here. For a person who worked under high pressure situations, his skills lost their edge when he had to handle things in a rather simpler atmosphere. "So¡­ MIB, huh?" John spoke, yet again cracking under the relaxed atmosphere and revealing something that shouldn''t be revealed to a normal person. However, to him, Juan was a rookie MIB official, so he just talked the way he did with any other MIB official. "What the hell?" However, for Juan, this was not the case. Some random person just came up to him, dragged and slammed to a wall and was talking about some MIB stuff. The only MIB he remembered was a movie series that he watched way back. "Are you from the Spain branch or something? By the way, what''s with the name Juan? Are you like, telling every one about your identity? Oh, I''m Juan from MIB, you know that¡­ Something like that? That''s pretty stupid for someone of our profession. How the hell did the Snehatheeram base even approve of someone like you to do a mission? Like, I guess I can understand why the branch you came from is unaware of the culture of this place and stuff and accidentally asked you to play yourself while acting as a native person, however the Snehatheeram guys shouldn''t be this stupid, right? Clean up your image, kid! I don''t want you walking around with the name Juan anymore. It sounds stupid in this place. Also,what''s with the mental age of twenty-two jokes, huh? It isn''t a joke, right? It''s your real age, isn''t it? Don''t do stupid stuff like this. You''re sullying the name of our organization." With that said, John let go of Juan and quickly left the premises, not even giving enough time for Juan to comprehend what he just heard. "What in the world just happened? Why is some random guy so irked about my name? Crazy guy¡­ He sure is strong though. I guess I''m weak in that aspect." Juan sighed as he walked back as if nothing happened. From that day forth, Juan started on an insane muscle training routine, a speck of madness second to only Taro''s madman routine. # "What did you just ask?" Lonappan was surprised by the stuff that Taro asked. While John was thanking the God of luck and had a brief interaction with Juan, Taro and squad was listening to the stuff that John spoke to Juan, while giving out a live report to Lonappan on the phone. "I asked whether Juan was part of the MIB as well. It kinda makes sense though¡­" Taro replied. "Hell no! How did you come up with that?" Lonappan asked back. "Well, it wasn''t me who came up with that. John just asked him if he was from the Spain base or something. Ah, he said that he had no idea why the Snehatheeram base would allow such a thing to happen¡­ I guess it''s about Juan''s actions and stuff¡­" Taro replied. "What the hell is that idiot on? Of course not! That kid isn''t an MIB agent. How the hell did he get that idea?" Lonappan sighed. "I mean¡­ Juan''s kinda sus¡­ So, I guess I understand where he''s coming up with such claims." Taro spoke to which the other three around him nodded their heads in agreement. "Ha¡­ Anyway, that kid''s not someone from the Spain base or an MIB agent. If he was, we would''ve got info on that and as John said, we wouldn''t allow him to behave this way which would bring in unnecessary attention." Lonappan replied. "Hmm, I guess John was mistaken then. But, how come he made such a grave mistake in assessing a person?" Thankappan came forth and asked. "Well, I believe that we gave him too much space that he dropped his guard on literally everything. I don''t know what made him drop his guard this bad though. I would''ve expected him to sense something off with the strange stuff happening and Juan''s expressions. Maybe he''s under the weather or something?" Lonappan replied. "Speaking of Juan¡­ What should we do with him now? He learned about the MIB too, right? Should we flash him with the neuralyzer? However, there''s the side effect problem; we don''t know how much his mental strength is¡­ Also, the neuralyzer is with you, so¡­" Thankappan spoke. "I guess we won''t need it." Taro raised his voice, grabbing the attention of the surrounding three. "What do you mean?" Thankappan asked. "Juan seems to be unaffected by most of what John said. Hell, he didn''t even notice John speaking of MIB. Also, he''s thinking of John as some crazy guy as well. I guess if some random guy says stuff like John did, everyone would think that, right?" Taro explained. "Hmm¡­ Let''s not flash the neuralyzer on him¡­ not that we can do it now anyway. However, Juan¡­ He''s definitely a strange kid. How can he be so composed even after the strange events that just occurred? Definitely strange." Lonappan replied. "But not MIB?" Taro asked one last time as a confirmation. "Definitely not." Lonappan replied firmly. # Back in the Holy Land, John welcomed the four like he always did when they came back. However, he seemed a bit tired. It looked as if what Lonappan said was the truth. John seemed to look tired and lost his edge. The four guess that it would be some sort of midlife crisis. After all, John seems to be at that point of his life. "John, did something happen while we were gone?" Taro asked, genuinely concerned about him. However, John was suspicious about whether Taro might''ve noticed his presence back in school, so he decided to answer a bit carefully. "I don''t think so¡­ Why''d you ask?" He asked. "Well, you look kinda tired for some reason, so I thought something might''ve gone wrong¡­" Taro replied. "Ah, it''s nothing¡­ Guess the age caught up with me!" John laughed as the squad looked at him in concern. However, John believed that those gazes were of doubt and was still cautious. "But you''re like thirty-something, right?" Taro asked. "Yea¡­ I guess, I became old a little early?" John continued with his laugh. "I guess that happens to people. Don''t worry about it." Taro patted his shoulders and went off. The other three did the same as well, since John''s words basically proved Lonappan right. They decided to give John a little bit more attention from that day. Lonappan followed suit on this as well. However, John was confused with the treatment he got from that day. # Chapter 88: Lets have a chat It was a pleasant day in the Holy Land household. Everyone was having the time of their life from the moment they woke up. Taro had a similar vibe to the rest of his roommates as well. Somehow, it seemed as if there''s nothing that could possibly stop him that day. Although that feeling would soon change when he headed to the school¡­ ¡­ Or so he thought. However, contrary to his expectations, his experience in the school that day was extremely peaceful that day. No annoying kids, no nagging teachers saying that the twelfth grade is equivalent to a fish market¡­ No one came forth and complained. As long as no one complained about anything, he was the happiest man on this planet. Thus, that day ended extremely peacefully. Taro thanked the unknown powers for giving him such a normal day. The next day was¡­ the same as well. They woke up with a cheerful vibe as the day before. Taro hoped for the day to go the same as the last one. And the hopefulness seemed to work, as it was a sunny day as they stepped out of their room. "Hey, guys!" Shivani, who came out of her room simultaneously as them, greeted them. She was gonna treat the squad as her teachers outside the campus as well, however Thankappan insisted that she treat them as friends why they saw her outside, to which Shivani had to oblige because Thankappan looked as if he was gonna go do some drastic measures if she rejected it. "Hey! What a coincidence, am I right? How many times have we been coming out of our rooms at the exact same time?" Thankappan asked, laughing at this incredible phenomena that he totally didn''t create intentionally. "Is it really though?" Kunjan asked with suspicious eyes¡­ or his normal eyes. The guys couldn''t differ between his expressions. Even Shivani gave up trying to understand his expressions. However, she could still guess his emotions through his tone¡­ Although that''s what she expected, Kunjan had been learning to speak stoically as well, so that his voice matches his face and body language. And with that, neither Shivani nor his roommates understood his emotions in the exoskeleton mode, at least. "Yea, why''d you ask?" Thankappan asked while his pleasant laughter turned into a slightly nervous one. "Ah, why are you guys just standing here? Shouldn''t we head to the school?" He asked, trying to change the subject. Honestly, it wouldn''t have been totally a random incident if they happened to meet at the door one or two days by accident. However, by the looks of it, no one could say that it was a mere coincidence. And with Thankappan not denying the claims made, it was clear as day that Thankappan was using his MIB skills to stalk a girl. No one knew the reason though. Although Thankappan was the one who created this opportunity for them and Shivani to meet, he was the one who headed to the school at the fastest pace, which was still snail''s speed compared to his actual one. Meanwhile, Taro and Shivani held a conversation in the very back of the pack. "So, how are you doing in the school lately?" Taro asked. "Aren''t I supposed to be the one who should ask you that? I''ve been in this school for what, ten years now, so I''ll hold up no matter what the circumstances are. Instead, you''ve been for literally days, right? How are you hanging up?" Shivani diverted the question back to Taro. "Well, it does seem like things have gone peaceful as of recently. I can sense no nagging coming from any parts and honestly, that''s blissful." Taro replied with a peaceful look on his face. "Touch¨¦." Shivani agreed with Taro''s assessment on that. "Oh, yea! How''s your ''individually talking to each student'' thing going?" She asked, curious about his advancement after herself and Juan. "Ah, I totally forgot about that. Like things really haven''t been going smoothly till a few days ago, so I didn''t have time to think about that." Taro replied. Although that wasn''t his only reason. It seemed as if his popularity among the students were fairly decent, and they started to treat him like a decent teacher. So, he didn''t see a reason to do that stuff any longer. As long as he has his time of peace¡­ That''s when he realized why he thought of doing this in the first place. He had a fake degree. So, the least he could do was to be friendly with the ones he was teaching to. "However, I''m planning to restart that mission from today onwards. So, who do you think I should meet up with, huh? I don''t want to deal with someone like Juan the day I returned to do this. Let''s go with someone easy." Taro replied. Juan wasn''t that difficult to deal with. However, he didn''t want someone to strike him with their heavy backstory. He wanted a lighthearted one to begin his journey with. "Well, I told you before. If you''re looking for an easy mode in this, Abhirami would be the way to go. She''s pretty much an open book. You just have to be willing to read it¡­ Somehow, I felt like I worded it wrong. I don''t know why." Shivani spoke. "Me neither. You Earthlings.... City folk talk in a weird way, with all your undertones and innuendos! And here I am, not understanding the reason for doing so¡­" Taro replied, hoping that Shivani didn''t notice his slip of tongue. "Ah, Mundur isn''t exactly a city. It''s still a village. Although I''m from the city, I too settled around this area when I was in the second grade." Shivani spoke. "Is that so? Good for you." Taro replied. However, it was as if he couldn''t advance the conversation any longer. Shivani''s power of minimal speech came into play late in the game, making their walk a bit awkward for the next few seconds. However, after reaching the school, the awkwardness was gone as they were gonna leave in separate ways. "So, I''ll try having that talk with Abhirami today." Taro said as they stepped their foot inside the school gates. "Ah, sure! See you in the class, Mr. Sadanandan." Shivani waved goodbye as she saw one of her friends in the distance. # The last period. Taro wasn''t supposed to be in the twelfth grade at that period, however circumstances led him to be there. For some unspecified reason, the chemistry teacher, whose name Taro didn''t bother to inquire, was absent and Taro was asked to fill in for her that day since he was just loitering around. He was slightly unwilling, however saw it as a chance to hold back Abhirami to have a chat with her. However, since it was supposed to be someone else''s period, he wasn''t asked to take a class, so he ended up loitering around the same way he did in the staff room. He was honestly bored due to this. Since he was in a class, he couldn''t just open up his phone and play some game, so he ended up doing the second best that he could- he checked on what Abhirami was doing. He was keen on noticing people''s habits before having a talk with them because he truly believed that actions spoke louder than words. So, rather than straight up talking to her, he decided to look at what she did. However, Abhirami took Taro''s gaze in an entirely different meaning. "Hey, Shivani!" She called out to her friend in her lowest possible voice. "What?" Shivani whispered back. She was busy writing, so she didn''t appreciate how her best friend disturbed her. "Do you think Mr. Sadanandan has an interest in me?" She asked. "What in the world are you talking about?" Shivani was confused as to how her friend got that idea. "Well, he has been looking towards me for quite some time now, so what is it if it isn''t love at first sight?" Abhirami, the romance enthusiast, asked. "He''s your class teacher! Are you really attracted to your freaking class teacher?" Shivani asked in slight disgust. "First of all, I would like to believe that the feeling is mutual. Secondly, it''s not like no one has crushes on their teachers, right? The boys literally worship Mrs Veronica, so why are you disgusted if I simp a little for Mr. Sadanandan?" She asked back. "Okay, look. I''ve got no problem if you got some feelings for the teacher. However, I don''t think the feeling''s mutual. The looks he gave you¡­ well, you''ll soon know the reason¡­ And if that feeling''s mutual, he''s probably an offender, so run away from him as soon as possible." Shivani suggested. "Let''s see." Abhirami gave out a vague reply. After the class ended, while the students were raving to get out, Abhirami was stopped by Taro as he said that he had something to talk with her. Upon hearing this, she threw a knowing look at her best friend who could do nothing but sigh at her misunderstanding. # Chapter 89: Abhirami "So, what is it, Mr Sadanandan?" Abhirami asked as she took a seat really close to Taro. However, Taro didn''t quite like how close she was, so he decided to keep a certain distance from her. But, Abhirami didn''t stop her advances and continued sitting uncomfortably close to him. In the end, he decided to have a chat with her while walking around the class. "Umm¡­ How are you doing in class these days?" He asked, trying to ease up the conversation before asking her about the troubles she was facing. "Well, the classes had been pretty fun since you came in as the class teacher! Before that, it was all a dread¡­" She said with a smile on her face. "Dread before I came, huh? Did the other teachers bully her or something? Well, I wouldn''t be much surprised if they did, but that''s real low, people!" Taro cursed at the teachers inwardly. "You know¡­ if you got something troublesome going on, you can always tell me!" Taro offered his help in hearing her troubles. Upon hearing this, Abhirami hesitated a bit. Seeing her do so, Taro was sure that she was hiding something that seriously burdened her. He didn''t want her to burden something troublesome. However, he couldn''t outright ask her to say the stuff that''s been bothering her, because that would be considered as bothering her as well. He believed that may be him calling her out like this to have a talk could be considered as a bother as well. Since it didn''t seem like he had much of a choice, he decided to put the best smile he practiced for countless years before his mirror, as if it was meant to say that he trusted in her and would listen to her troubles. Abhirami was melted by seeing such a gentle smile. Little did she know that this smile was the product of years of hard work. Initially, Taro didn''t know how to smile. He couldn''t smile after his parents died. So, the lesser he smiled, the more people considered him to be repulsive among the social circles. No matter how much he tried, he couldn''t even get people to accept him for a part-time job. In the end, he finally got the construction worker job which didn''t particularly care about him smiling. He thought that he was satisfied with such a workplace where he didn''t have to mingle with people; he thought that being able to provide for yourself was enough and there''s no room for unnecessary camaraderie with random people. That was, until he met him. "Mr. Sadanandan!" Abhirami shook Taro as violently as she could to try to wake him out of his trance and she succeeded in doing so. "Ah, what happened?" Taro asked as he gently pushed Abhirami away from him. He was so engulfed in the past that the story about his fake smile ended up someplace entirely different. "I don''t know! You were the one spacing out like that! Aren''t you the one who''s supposed to answer?" She asked. "Well, I''m slightly nervous, I guess?" He blurted out. True, he was slightly nervous about holding a civil conversation with someone who doesn''t know the meaning of private space. However, that wasn''t the reason for him spacing out. Since, he already told her that, he didn''t think of correcting it. He''s supposed to hear her troubles, not the other way around! "Ah, I didn''t think this would create such an immense pressure on you. I feel bad for you, I truly do¡­ So, you don''t have to trouble yourself in doing this." Abhirami sighed. She could see her class teacher sweating, and she felt bad. "Oh, what a sweet child¡­ She understood that I had slight trouble in talking with her, and now she''s ready to postpone our talk to some other day? I should thank her¡­" Is what Taro thought, before a bomb was dropped by Abhirami. "I am interested in someone else anyway. So, if you said that you liked me, it would''ve placed me in a really difficult position." She said as if she saw nothing weird about it. "I''m sorry, what?" Taro couldn''t comprehend what just happened before him. "You called me aside to tell that you actually love me, right? I saw you when you were trying to take a look at me in that last period. I had expected you to come to me with this sooner or later, so I''m glad that you came in this soon. So¡­ Here''s my answer. As much as I wanna tell that I like you as well, I''m involved in a romantic relationship with someone else. Therefore, I have no choice but to reject your proposal. I''ll give you a call when I''m available. Is that okay?" She said. "What the¡­" Taro couldn''t even believe what he just heard. "Look, I know you''re really sad. But, you gotta be brave about it, alright? You''re the class teacher. You have a job to do. Be diligent about it for now. We''ll think about us at a later time." She spoke as she patted his shoulders. At this point, Taro didn''t even care about pushing her aside. He was furious. "How self-centered can a girl even be for her to have this sorta illusion? Look here, bitc¡­" He was about to rain profanities at her, before remembering that he''s her class teacher now, so he had to give respect to the part he was playing and talk calmly to her. "It''s nothing like that. I''m not interested in you. Not even the slightest!" He spoke. "Huh, why? Is it because I''m not attractive enough to suit your taste?" She asked. She was ready to reject him because she thought that he was interested in her. However, now that he said that he didn''t actually like her, she wanted to know the reason behind it. "No, no¡­ You''re really attractive. However, you''re my student¡­ We have obviously a huge age difference as well. I''m thirty, you see¡­" He replied, trying his best not to tick her off. "I''m fine with that sorta age difference¡­ Especially when it''s someone as sexy as you." Abhirami spoke as he pulled him closer. "Hey, hey, hey! What sorta behavior is this? Don''t you like someone else? You''re acting too much like a sl*t¡­ Wait, I shouldn''t say that about a student even though that''s true. Also, if this was a boy, people would call him a stud and applaud such behavior. I mean, why is being a stud even a good thing? Doesn''t that mean you''re a cheating asshole. Crap, I''m getting off point." Taro quickly gathered himself before thinking of something to get out of this situation. "I have a fianc¨¦!" He gave out the only excuse he could think of. Upon hearing this, Abhirami moved away and clicked her tongue. "Who is it?" She asked. "Someone from my place." He replied with conviction. She clicked her tongue yet again. "Do you love her?" She asked. "Yes. With all my heart." He replied. She sighed. "Then you should''ve said so earlier. I wouldn''t have pulled a move at you. I don''t like stealing someone else''s boyfriend. Like, men shouldn''t cheat a maiden like that." She replied. "Says the girl who tried to score with me while having an affair with someone else. What kinda double standard is it? Anyway, what''s with teenagers on this planet trying to get into a relationship this early? The crappers back in my planet are usually busy trying to destroy areas in their age. Why are these kids so mature in this planet?" Taro thought while staring hard at Abhirami. Uncomfortable by the stare, she took the matters to her own hands. "So, why did you even call for me then?" She asked. "Well, I wanted to see if you had anything troubling you and if you do, I thought maybe we could have a talk about it¡­" Taro replied. "Hmm¡­ How good are you in love related things?" She asked. "As good as any other guy." He replied. "Well, that''s good enough for me!" She said as she dragged Taro into a seat to have a talk. # "Okay, so you''re saying that you''re actually interested in a guy and to learn more about him, you befriended his best friend, who is equally attractive. And that friend told you that your crush actually likes you, but by then you and his friend had already got attracted to each other and got yourself in a relationship. Now, your former crush is aware of the entire story, however the poor idiot is still attracted to you and now things are getting awkward between you and your boyfriend because of this unnecessary emotion of his friend towards you and he is currently stuck in this situation where he has to pick either you or his best friend, your former/current crush, for him to actually happy. Isn''t that right?" Taro summarized what he actually listened to in one breath. "Yea, that''s basically it. What do you think?" She asked. "This girl! Did she want me to be her third fiddle or something? Trying to triple-time¡­ You''re actually evil, aren''t you?" Taro felt horror as he stared at the girl before him. Meanwhile, Shivani, who was walking towards the classroom to call Taro, saw him and her best friend "happily" chatting and decided to leave them alone for now. "Seems like those two are having quite fun there!" She mumbled with a bright smile on her face. # Chapter 90: Gacha gamers, unite! The chat with Abhirami went for a bit longer than Taro expected and in the end, her father had to come to the school for her to actually leave his side. Never in his life had Taro actually felt exhausted doing something. However, in that particular moment, he was done; he was so exhausted that he felt as if his brain wasn''t even functioning normally anymore. "Mr. Sadanandan! How are you doing?" Shivani finally came out of the shadows and confronted Taro directly. "Ah, it''s you! Why haven''t you gone home yet?" He asked. Normally, they head to the Holy Land a few hours early, so he was surprised that she stayed back. "Well, we head there together, right? So, it''s not a big deal." She shrugged. "Wait, the other three are waiting too?" He asked. "Obviously! They''re waiting for you on the school grounds." She smiled as she replied. "Hmm, let''s head down then." Taro stood up from his seat and headed to the ground. "So, how was your talk with Abhirami?" Shivani asked, to which Taro could do nothing but sigh. "Ah¡­ If I had to explain the experience that I had with her, I would use the word excruciating. She''s got quite a mouth, doesn''t she? How can this girl talk for this long? I mean, I was trying to learn what''s going on with her life and maybe give her some advice based on that, however all I got to know was the love triangle she has with two guys. I mean¡­ why? Why can''t she be like a normal person involved with just one guy or no guy at all! I mean, life doesn''t end if you don''t end up in a relationship. Look at me! Thirty years and I still haven''t got myself in a relationship¡­ Wait, don''t tell that to Abhirami because I told her that I was engaged to put a stop to her moves¡­ Her moves¡­ Yea, she was trying to make moves on me amidst her love triangle stuff. I mean¡­ Is she trying to create a harem of guys or something? That kinda stuff doesn''t work smoothly like it''s shown in shows and stuff, she knows that, right? Argh¡­ I''m getting annoyed!" Taro couldn''t control his emotions. After wasting hours trying to listen to a teenage girl''s romantic problems, he couldn''t remain sane anymore. "Hmm, she isn''t that bad though. Underneath all that advances towards random people, haughty behavior, blabbering mouth and several other stuff, she isn''t that bad. I mean yea, she literally forces you to do things her way, I mean this past day, she forced me into playing some Gacha game¡­" Shivani was about to tell her side of the story, when Taro stopped on his tracks. "Gacha game?" He asked. "Oh, don''t worry. We don''t use our parent''s debit cards. We play for free!" Shivani reassured him, misunderstanding his surprise as one about her playing a game with in-game transactions. "So, you guys are playing a Gacha game, huh? Which one?" He asked. His face looked as serious as it can go when he posed the question. Suddenly, Shivani felt as if she made the wrong decision talking about Gacha games before her class teacher. She could sense sweat beads rolling from her forehead. She didn''t expect her rather free flying class teacher to turn dead serious upon the mention of Gacha games. However, she had already dug a hole for herself, so she had no choice but to jump head first towards it. "Ah, it''s the Holy War: Grand Battle¡­ It''s the game of the ani-" Before she could complete her sentence, she was interrupted. "It''s the game of the anime Holy War: Battle Maniacs, I know that!" He roared. It seemed as if he was really furious about it. "Why didn''t she tell me about it?" He roared yet again. Seeing the person beside her go full-on furious mode, the socially awkward Shivani couldn''t handle the situation and suddenly went timid. "I mean¡­ she wouldn''t have expected you to make a big deal out of it!" She roared back¡­ at least tried to after mustering up all the courage that she could find. However, it ended up as a squeal, rather than a roar like the one Taro did. One could clearly hear the fluctuations in her voice and Taro wasn''t any different. After coming back to senses from Shivani''s squeal, Taro sighed. "What I mean is that, if she didn''t have anything serious troubling her, then she had all the time to talk about the game and the strategy she uses in the game or something. I mean, my strategies aren''t really working in the PvP these days, so I would have loved to get an opinion on them. Rather than speaking that sorta stuff, what did she do? She ended up talking about her romance, which I totally didn''t care for!" He explained the reason behind his fury. "Wait a minute! You play the game?" She asked in surprise. She never expected a teacher to play a Gacha game! "Every day! It''s like my salvation." Taro smiled. "Whoa! I''m playing as well. Hell, Sujatha is playing it as well!" She spoke in excitement. Thankfully, she got out of the timid shell that was brought out due to Taro''s sudden fury. "Dayum! How about we become friends then? What''s your friend code?" Taro asked as he took out his phone and opened the game. "About that. I don''t actually remember the code. It''s got weird numbers and stuff. So¡­ I will send the code when I reach home. I guess I''ll give you my Budsapp number, so send me a hi, and I''ll send the code to you¡­ Or, you can send me the code, and I''ll send you the friend request." She replied. "Hmm, gimme your number then. I''ll send you the code, so hit me up with a request when you''re free!" And with that, they ended up exchanging contacts with each other¡­ or at least, Shivani gave her number to Taro. It would''ve been easier if she had her phone right then, however the school had strict rules against students bringing electronic items to school. So, this was the only action they could do. Anyway, the world''s longest walk to school grounds, which had a roller coaster of emotions, ended in a pretty high note. The squad had a pleasant time walking back to the Holy Land. # The next morning; Taro had a bright smile on his face. He got to play the Holy War game with the people he knew for the first time. Although he previously tried making his roommates play the game, they weren''t really sold on an anime game and rejected his invitation. However, with one go, he just got three people willing to play the game with him when Shivani ended up asking Abhirami and Sujatha to send him requests as well. It was a pretty fun night for him. He actually ended up playing PvP matches against all three girls and realized that even with his cash infused squad in the game, he could only defeat Abhirami by a hair''s breadth. The other two were relatively easy, however Abhirami was an entirely different beast in the game. At that point, he had a newfound respect towards her in his heart. He wasn''t ashamed to admit that he was actually weak and decided to take classes on the strategy he should use from her at least once a week. Thus, his previous opinion on her became null and void with this. "What the hell are you spacing out for? It''s time. Let''s head out." Thankappan spoke, as he waved his hand before Taro''s eyes. He didn''t like getting late, especially since he''s being so calculative about it. "Ah, yes!" Taro replied as he got up and stopped reminiscing about the awesome time he had in the game. With him up, everyone was ready to go to school. Thankappan excitedly opened his door to greet Shivani, however he didn''t expect someone to block his path to her. He was about to rain profanity on the person before him¡­ He quickly placed those thoughts on the back seat when he realized that Lonappan was the one standing there. "Hey, Lonappan! Are you here for John? Great timing, I guess¡­ We were about to go as well! I mean, what are the chances, huh?" Thankappan laughed. "No." "Huh?" "I''m not here for him. I''m here for you guys." Lonappan replied. "But, why?" Thankappan didn''t quite understand. He couldn''t remember screwing anything up more than what Lonappan did in the recent times. "Hmm, I''m not comfortable speaking about it around other people." Lonappan replied, signalling towards Shivani behind him with his eye. Shivani seemed to notice this and quickly left the premises before Thankappan could even give an explanation. After Shivani left, everyone went back to the room, much to the surprise of John. "So, what is it?" Thankappan asked, clearly showing his displeasure towards what Lonappan just did. "Well, you''re all off-duty today." Lonappan dropped the bomb that none of them expected. # Chapter 91: Consequences 1 "Huh? Why? We''re so ready to go to school! We have schedules and stuff, you know? Furthermore, we can''t just randomly take a leave of absence without saying nothing to the faculty. So, give us a day or two to at least give our explanations." Thankappan desperately tried to make Lonappan think differently. "Ah, you don''t have to worry about the leave of absence stuff. I''ve discussed it with the school. You''re granted permission to take the leave. You lot are English teachers. No one gives a damn about English teachers. Rather, your fellow teachers rejoice when you take a leave because they just got an extra slot to just push through the syllabus. So, yea¡­ Today''s a leave for you guys." Lonappan replied, much to the dismay of the four. They quite enjoyed their time in school, so missing even one was kinda sad for them. "I never would''ve thought that you got such an amount of power that the faculty almost immediately agreed with us taking a leave even though we didn''t actually come up to them and requested it." Kunjan spoke, slightly curious about his relationship with the school. "Well, my wife works there, and I''m a prominent WPP member. I''m pretty influential." Lonappan replied, almost flexing his influence on them. "Hmm¡­ Speaking of your wife, we haven''t met her in the school yet. What''s up with that?" Kunjan asked. "You didn''t? That''s weird. She should be in the high school block teaching social studies." He replied. "Hmm, makes sense then. These guys aren''t in that block and I don''t care about people around me. So¡­ What''s the occasion? You didn''t mention it yet." Taro spoke. "Damn, I nearly forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me, by the way. So, do you remember me talking about certain consequences that you might have to face for the shit you did?" He asked. "Not really." Taro replied, after which Lonappan glanced at the other three who didn''t seem to remember it as well. Lonappan sighed. "Well, that''s a bummer. Had you known that, I would''ve let you go scot-free! However, since you don''t remember, just work through it and try to remember the conversation we had. Ah, anyway. I hope you got what I''m talking about by now. You''re gonna be facing the consequences for your actions that day." He gave out a bright smile as he spoke. "Hey! How is that fare? We don''t even remember why you''re reprimanding us! Don''t you think we have the right to know as well?" Thankappan protested. "Hmm, why would that be a problem, huh? I''m just following up on a thing that I said that I will do. It''s not my fault that you''ve been fucking it up every single time that you don''t even remember a single thing by now." Lonappan nonchalantly replied, to which none of them could argue against. They really did screw up a lot that they''re having a hard time remembering them. It''s kinda totally their fault to begin with. "I''m sorry, but what the hell is happening right now?" John, who was surprised initially and confused currently, asked. "Well, I guess you can call it an old grudge. Don''t worry about it; you won''t be involved in this. Instead, Ponnappan will be accompanying you today. That''s good, isn''t it?" Lonappan smiled. However, John was more or less disappointed. It seemed like rather than putting him aside for the consequence event, he wanted to actively take part in contributing any sorta stuff to it. But, as of then, he could do nothing other than nodding his head in agreement. Although that was the current situation, he promised that some day, he''d actively take part in such events since it is an important friendship bonding moment. Just as he made that decision, the doorbell to room #306 was rung. When John went to open the door, he saw that it was Ponnappan who came to pick him up. Without further ado, he headed out with the MIB: Snehatheeram''s commanding officer, leaving the other four before the terrifying presence of Lonappan. "So, shall we get going as well?" Lonappan asked as he walked towards the door. "Wait a minute! How long have you been planning for this day?" Thankappan asked. Lonappan thought for a while. "Hmm. To be blatantly honest, I forgot about it as well until recently. However, I''d like to believe that me forgetting it is deliberate unlike you douchebags who forgot it by doing a shitload of douchebaggery! So, most of my plans are recently thought out, so there''s meant to be flaws in my execution of stuff." He replied as they headed out the door. # The three aliens and Thankappan had their mouths open as they saw the stuff before them. They were in a bingo hall where old people were filled to the brim. "Why are we even here? Hell, is bingo even relevant in this country? I''ve never heard of a bingo hall in this place¡­ Weird." Thankappan spoke. "Well, bingo exists here, although that''s like a small population''s hobby. And the reason you''re here¡­ well, it''s the punishment that you''ve gotta endure." Lonappan replied. "So¡­ What is it gonna be?" He asked. Upon this, Lonappan handed each a bingo card. "You''re gonna be playing bingo with the crowd." Lonappan replied. "Hmm, how is that a punishment?" Thankappan was confused. He has faint memories of playing bingo with friends back in the day, so he knew that the game was pretty fun. So, he didn''t understand why his senior would consider it as a punishment. "It is not." He replied. "Then?" "You know how old people are, right? They might look meek, however they are the ones with the most vigor. And you know, bingo is hella competitive in their circles, so what if someone ruins it for them by calling bingo now and then. Now, imagine it with four people; imagine the people''s displeasure. Ah, I''m getting chills!" Lonappan laughed like a maniac upon explaining it. "Ah, don''t you have any original ideas? Sniping ideas isn''t good, you know?" Thankappan asked. "I told you, I had little time. So, I had to take inspiration from certain places." He replied. "So, what if we reject doing this?" Kunjan got to the main point. "At least one month in the detention center without any interpersonal communication." Lonappan didn''t even flinch as he replied. "Wait, we won''t even get the phone?" Taro asked, caressing the phone that has become the love of his life. "What do you think?" Lonappan stared towards Taro for quite some time. "Let''s go, boys! We don''t have time to lurk around idly¡­" Taro spoke as he headed towards one bingo table. Since Taro went head first, the others decided to follow suit as well. # That day, the four of them experienced hell. Lonappan intentionally picked a mentally tiring stuff rather than physically tiring one since he knew that the guys were literal stamina monsters. However, their mental strength doesn''t seem to be that high. And it worked just the way he wanted it to work! They felt shitty. Not only they had to constantly disrupt the game, they had to face the intense glare that the old people gave out every time they called for a bingo. Initially, the old people around were surprised by the quick bingo call, however the hype subsided when the officials realized that it was a mistake and everything went back to normal for a brief while. However, that''s when the madness began. In between every number, one of the four called bingo and disrupted the flow of the game. This action ticked off many, but they were willing to think of it as immature brats trying to play bingo for the first time. Although they were pretty lenient initially, things went absolutely ballistic when they did it continuously for at least fifteen minutes, upon which they had the opportunity to hear some incredibly colorful profanities and death threats. It lasted until the bingo officials forcefully threw them out, which basically was a big relief for them. They were finally free from the clutches of old people and the so-called consequences. They were tired though. Taro recollected that he felt almost the same as the past day when he had to hear Abhirami''s tale. The stamina monsters were destroyed internally. The results of this punishment made Lonappan pretty happy. He never expected this to be such a huge success. He had been thinking of a mental punishment, however was afraid whether it would actually work against them or not. Furthermore, he was reassured when he heard about Taro''s tale about him talking to some girl and getting exhausted and learned that it was effective. Now, not only he had a perfect punishment, he also had a contingency plan if Taro''s ever gonna go berserk on Planet Earth. With that, he was satisfied with the results, and he took them back home, upon which the lads jumped around thanking the one above for saving them from total destruction. Little did they know that they were yet to fully deal with the consequences. # Chapter 92: Consequences 2 "Ah, home sweet home! Do you even know how happy I am to see you?" Thankappan spoke as he stroked the front door of room #306 as gently as he could while the others got creeped out by this behavior of his. "Don''t make it any weirder than this, for Pete''s sake. Open the door now, will ya?" Lonappan urged him. "Gee, fine! Seems like you''re really enthusiastic in getting back to your home¡­ Did your wife cook you some good food or something?" Thankappan asked. "What my wife cooks is none of your business. So, are you gonna open that door or are you gonna keep stalling for time and earn a whooping from me?" He asked back. "Seems like someone''s getting a bit moody." Thankappan mumbled as he opened the door. "By the way, where''s John? It''s kinda late, so I thought he''d be here already." Taro looked around and asked. "Hmm, John will not be coming here today." Lonappan replied. "Huh?" The people around were baffled upon hearing this. "Why is he not coming? Isn''t it kinda dangerous-" Gibli raised his voice in opposition, however he was quickly interrupted. "John is currently with the commanding officer of the Snehatheeram base. So, if Ponnappan can''t tackle unforeseen circumstances, I believe no one in this base is capable of doing so." Lonappan replied with conviction. "I will have to vouch for our leader as well. He''s great¡­ Or at least I''ve heard that he''s great. Not seen him in action though. Oh, how I would spend my entire fortune to see him do the field work once¡­" Thankappan replied, totally fanboying over his superior. "I wouldn''t go that far especially after seeing him work. I mean, he''s not sloppy, but he''s not that great either." Lonappan replied. "Why isn''t John coming though? Is there any problem with him lurking around?" Taro asked. "Well, if he''s here, he''d have to sit through the punishment you have to face, right?" Lonappan asked with a sinister smile on his face. Upon this declaration, the faces of everyone in the room went pale. The atmosphere suddenly got gloomy as well. "Punishment, you say¡­ Didn''t that end when we got kicked out from that bingo hall?" Thankappan asked, giving out a nervous chuckle as well. "What are you saying? Did I ever say that the punishment ended?" Lonappan asked with a shocked look on his face, as if Thankappan just blurted out something blasphemous. That''s when they realized that Lonappan was a freaking demon. He intentionally left out that the punishment wasn''t over yet to give them a false sense of satisfaction only to bind them with the harsh truth. "Ah¡­ But what punishment can you even give us at home?" Thankappan asked in a tone similar to mockery. "Don''t say that! People have been doing a variety of stuff from home these days. So, a little mental torture isn''t that big deal as long as you have a television set in the house, which you obviously have." Lonappan replied as he pointed to their television. "Curses! What are you trying to do, you demon!" Thankappan pulled out a cross with his hands. "Now, now. It''s not that big of a deal. You just have to sit here and watch everything that I''m gonna show you through that television." Lonappan replied, upon which the aliens calmly took the seat. It had been a long time since they had been tortured by someone. Like, the war veteran Plankton #69420 would never have imagined that he would find a pack of old people staring darts at him as unbearable. The situation was pretty similar to the other two as well; so they were kinda intrigued about what Lonappan''s gonna do. Unbeknownst to them, they turned into fine masochists. However, that wasn''t it in Thankappan''s case. He was legit afraid of his senior''s sadistic side. He had worked with him for a long time to realize what kinda monster Lonappan is. In fact, he remembered a rumor that he used to hear from his colleagues when he was the new kid on the block. The rumor said how Lonappan was the greatest torture specialist in their sector and at least a top hundred material in the entire world. It was said that he dishes out tailor made tortures for each one of his victims. The name of the torture specialist was so well known at a point, that the criminal aliens voluntarily revealed all their sins and asked MIB to give them jail time. However, some day, the torture master voluntarily walked away from torturing them because he didn''t felt like it. It was said that aliens all over the world¡­ yes, the whole world, rejoiced upon hearing this. However, Thankappan wasn''t present to see this since Lonappan stopped going the torture master path by the time he was assigned to Thankappan. Nevertheless, the rumors were silently floating throughout MIB, so Thankappan happened to hear it as well. After a bit of convincing or if you wanna be all technical about it...threatening, Thankappan eventually gave up and sat with the aliens. He plugged in the USB on to the television and clicked a video. The first video showed two rather fine Brazilian girls. It was all fine in the beginning, even a little sexy. But everything changed when they took a cup out of nowhere. "Eww! What are they? Eww! Oh, my God! My brain! This is gonna remain there forever! Why would you do this to me?" Thankappan cried, while the other three watched without batting an eye. He wasn''t that surprised by that. However, what surprised him was that Lonappan proactively watched the video without even flinching, while he himself felt like puking. "How are you even watching this?" He directed his question towards Lonappan. "Oh, I''m not affected by any kinda mental torture. This doesn''t make me feel anything." Lonappan replied with a pleasant smile as disgusting scenes ran in the background. Realizing that he''s the only one getting affected by this, he quickly resorted to the only thing he could rely on. "Lonappan! According to Indian Penal Code, section 354 A, you can''t force another person to watch obscenity like this. So, stop it at once!" He ordered. He somehow remembered the laws because he once read it out of interest. Furthermore, he''s a bit of a genius, so he kinda does stuff like this. However, Lonappan looked unimpressed. "Hmm¡­ I could poke out a few loopholes to what you just said. First of all, that works only if a man shows this material to a woman. Are you a woman? No. Secondly, let''s just say for argument''s sake that the law equally covers every person in India, is there any proof that you''re a legal citizen of this country? No. Thankappan technically doesn''t exist and even if he does, he isn''t an Indian citizen. I can also conclude that even if you try arguing again, I, a person who doesn''t exist, am watching this with four people, who also don''t exist. So, the penal code doesn''t apply to us." Lonappan replied. The argument that Thankappan thought to give him a little bit of fighting chance was instantly thwarted by the demon. He never expected Lonappan to be so well-versed in law. In the end, Thankappan was toast after he had to watch the entire content from beginning to end, without skipping even once. After that was completed, the only one whose eyes looked defeated was Thankappan, so he was exempt from the rest. "So, what are you gonna do with us?" Taro asked, to which Lonappan smiled brightly. "I still have quite a bit on my arsenal." Lonappan smirked as the video suddenly changed for one with an anime girl. "Hitomi-chan!" A voice was heard. It was Gibli. It looked as if he knew who this character was. However, it only dawned to him a bit later that this was a punishment. "What¡­ what are you gonna do to Hitomi-chan?" He asked. "Just watch." Lonappan replied. "Atsushi-kun! Ah, Hitomi-chan and Atsushi-kun¡­ What a nice¡­ Hitomi-chan? What the? Who are these people?" What followed next was Gibli''s confused and painful screams. Each time Atsushi-kun had to see what Hitomi-chan was doing with old men, he cried like a baby, until he couldn''t handle it anymore and cried a river. Lonappan effectively ruined Gibli''s anime watching experience that day. Upon seeing the defeated look on Gibli''s face as well, he sent Gibli out to recuperate.Two people remained after this. Those two didn''t even flinch both times. They expected Thankappan to lose early because he had human emotions when he saw human stuff, however the one with Gibli was unexpected. They never knew that Gibli was interested in anime, which made them wonder how Lonappan found his anime love and even his favorite characters out. "I don''t know how you found out Gibli''s weakness, however that''s not gonna work with us. You know that, right? This¡­ sex video route doesn''t invoke any feelings in us¡­ Just like you. So, if this is it, then we win!" Kunjan spoke, to which Lonappan laughed for a hot minute like a crazy bastard. "Do you know I hate losing? I knew this wouldn''t work on you. So, I went on a different route for you two. Are you ready?" Lonappan asked, with his smile growing more maniacal with each passing second. # Chapter 93: Consequences 3 "What is this supposed to be?" Kunjan asked, not understanding the purpose behind what Lonappan was showing him. He wasn''t kidding when he said that this was unlike the other ones. This didn''t have any sorta nudity, so he was intrigued. "Oh, it''s nothing much though. I just compiled a few scenes from Indian cinematic and television history that I thought you would like." He replied. However, with all the smiles he pulled up while saying that, Kunjan had a hard time believing his word in the beginning. A few minutes later though, it seemed as if his words were true after all. How, it took a few more minutes for it to turn all wonky. "Stop right there.! How can she still talk after getting hit by a bullet? That''s crazy and stupid at the same time!" This was the beginning of the unraveling of the alien named Plankton #69420. In the next few moments, one could hear stuff like, "Did that guy just jump into the train which has electric lines on the top and ran the same path the train was going and eventually overtook the freaking train and saved the child by the nick of time? Does physics not affect this man?" "Is she even suitable to be a sniper when she''s closing the wrong eye?" "How did that guy kill the others with a freaking banana?" "Oh, my goodness? Did she just hand-wash a freaking laptop?" And, "How long is that car gonna spin on air like this?'', among many other remarks. By the end of it, Kunjan began questioning almost everything he knew. It was unbearable; so unbearable that the war veteran Kunjan had to plead with him to stop. "Please, stop this! It''s seriously insulting my intelligence. No more, or I''ll forever be an idiot!" He cried. Lonappan sighed. "Shoot. I was gonna make you watch a few soap operas too, however since you look like you lost as well, you can go now." He replied. "If it''s soap operas, I''m fine with watching it." The one unfazed throughout the entire journey, Taro spoke. Soap operas weren''t a problem for him. Of course, initially he had some problems watching it. But as time went through, he grew immune to it, just as Lonappan was to it. Maybe, he even started to enjoy it quite a bit. "No, no! That was for Kunjan. Well, if you had the tiniest bit of expression during any other time, I''d have made you watch it, however since you didn''t, I''m taking the last resort." Lonappan spoke as he ejected the USB device from the television and turned on the cable television. "Why did you take the USB out, huh? You got nothing for me there?" Taro asked. "Just wait! It''s the perfect timing, you know? I never expected such impeccable timing! Like, them dropping out at them timing they did was all to lead you to this moment. I''ll introduce you to prime time news!" Lonappan spoke as he pointed towards the television, where people from Different in what way?different places were talking to each other¡­ Well, talking is an understatement. They were literally arguing against each other ever since the show started. Soon, Taro learned that the ones arguing were politicians. He could even see one from WPP. Although it was all fine in the beginning, when the show got into the half-hour mark, Taro''s mouth was twitching in annoyance. Lonappan noticed this pretty quickly and smiled. "You know who''s the most annoying personality on the planet. That will be politicians and them alone. You know how I know that? Well, I''m a party member too. I''ve been near these guys. They are ANNOYING to the punch! I''ll tell you something. No matter if one survived till the end like you did or all four, this was always gonna be the end point. Us Keralites, who have been watching this shit for years are immune to it, unlike you, who just started watching this. I had a good time today." Lonappan spoke, upon which Taro stood from his seat. "I lost. I lost clean. Good game!" He extended his hand and Lonappan shook on it. Taro''s case was Different in what way?different unlike the other three. While they were wailing by the end, Taro was much more civilized when admitting his defeat. He didn''t feel disgusted, hurt or confused, he was purely annoyed. Lonappan hit a nail in his case. This was why he was really happy when he heard that Abhirami annoyed the hell out of him, and he was exhausted due to it. It was similar in this case as well. After getting up from his seat¡­ away from the debate on the television, he was mentally exhausted. He headed to his room and went to sleep, an event that happens once in a blue moon. In the end, Lonappan was satisfied. The consequences event was cleared with a clean sweep. He couldn''t help but feel proud about doing such a thing in such a short amount of time. So, with the satisfaction in his hand, he headed back to his house to have a good night''s sleep. # Early morning the next day; Lonappan was asked to pick up John, who stayed with Ponnappan in the base last night. Well, stuck would be a better way to explain it. Ponnappan didn''t speak to him even once. He was so busy in work that John ended up helping in some of it. By the end of it, it felt like they made a solid team. John went to bed when the clock struck ten because it had been a routine for him. However, Ponnappan somehow managed to forget about sleeping as he engulfed himself with work. John was a bit annoyed about the light in John''s room, however he didn''t want to ruin his flow of work. So, he ended up sleeping in a room far away from Ponnappan''s room. Anyway, by the time Lonappan reached his office, Ponnappan looked spent. He never thought he''d be working unceasingly, so when he actually did that his eyes were this close into sleeping. Noticing this, he placed the important papers away from himself as he feared that he might mess them up and went to sleep. Obviously, his sleep was disrupted by Lonappan, so he glared at his subordinate like he was gonna kill him in any given second. "What?" Lonappan asked as he noticed the glare. Ponnappan sighed. It was his fault in staying up late anyway, so he decided not to take the anger out on Lonappan. "Nothing. How was your day yesterday? Did you have fun?" Ponnappan asked, to which Lonappan smiled and recollected the entire events that happened the last day. By the end of the summary of the events that Lonappan gave, Ponnappan was thoroughly impressed. "Damn, to think that you''d aim at their personal weakness like that¡­" He applauded Lonappan''s efforts. "Meh, it wasn''t much. I had someone inside noticing even the minute things they did and minor fluctuations they had in their behavior when certain things happened. So, I''ve got to thank him as well for my flawless retribution. Upon getting a clear idea on that, it was simpler to guess what would work with one person and what wouldn''t. Well, all except one though. Thankappan''s one was simply based on human behavior and disgust people had for that particular video. I had to band him with other human beings because his behavior was a bit bizarr, if you were to ask me. Like, it fluctuates in a speed that it''s useless to grab on a single point and hang on it. Honestly, it was a gamble. Thankfully, that worked, which also means that he needs more training to tolerate all sorts of stuff." Lonappan replied. "Hmm, maybe we should grab all the inexperienced officials in this place and organize a toleration session for them?" Ponnappan asked. Basically, he meant that he would like for his subordinates to suffer mental torture. "That would be ideal." Lonappan agreed to it as well. And thus, the two maniacs joined hands in organizing one of the most disturbing sessions for the newbies. If only someone else knew at that time, they would''ve tried stopping them before they team up like this. "By the way, the insider you spoke of before, is it that canino guy in room #306? You didn''t speak about him, so I naturally believed that he would be the spy for you." Ponnappan spoke. Lonappan nodded his head. "You''re right. M''Baku wasn''t part of the consequences list, so I seek out his help on this event. And I have to say that he did a pretty great job with that. I recommend him if any stakeout missions come by. He could literally act himself and no one would bat an eye." He replied. "I''ll take that into consideration. By the way, since you seem to have fun mentally torturing people yesterday, I''d like to inform you that the torture master position is still-" Ponnappan''s dialogue was cut short by Lonappan. "Not interested in revisiting my past." He replied. "Hmm, I guessed that would be the case. Then how about a brief cameo of the torture master for a day, when that tolerance class comes by. I''d like it if the newbies learn about the legend of the torture master as well." He smiled. "Hmm, maybe I can do it just that once¡­" Lonappan agreed to the notion. The poor MIB newbies had no idea that such a big event happened behind their backs. # Chapter 94: The rise of the yandere dog John, who walked beside Lonappan back to the Holy Land, was a bit bugged by Lonappan''s constant humming. "Hmm, did something good happen?" He asked. "You can say that." Lonappan gave out a smile as he replied, which wasn''t appreciated by John since he thought that the smile was a bit smug. "Good for you. Seems like you''re having plenty fun these days. I''m REALLY happy for you." John spoke, trying to give out a guilty feeling to Lonappan. However, Lonappan wasn''t one to get that feeling of guilt. Instead, he continued smiling, seriously irking John. The MIB headquarters'' veteran felt rage welling up inside him against the person beside him. He made a promise to give out a similar smug smile one day. Meanwhile, back in the Holy Land, things were seriously gloomy after the fiasco last night. The four didn''t even utter a single word to each other when they woke up. The trauma induced was so strong that they had no choice but to remain silent since the ones beside them had also endured the same fate as them. Since Thankappan was usually the talkative one, he couldn''t bear this silence. Therefore, the atheist Thankappan headed to a church for the first time in his life to confess to the priest of his sins. Well, he did omit the part about his job as an MIB official, however other than that, he did talk about his job as a teacher and the events that happened the last day and stuff. He could release all those stress he had by the time he left the church. He looked forward to having a productive day. However, the other three were still gloomy. Taro skipped over the morning news when he turned on the television and thought of watching some movie. However, Kunjan grabbed the remote and changed it into an English movie channel, which the both didn''t mind. As for Gibli, he was seen roaming around rooms carrying his phone. Occasionally, he would stop and look at his phone nostalgically. He had the image of his favorite characters, Hitomi and Atsushi on there. He looked sad as he deleted that image from his phone as a symbolic gesture of never watching anime again. He learned the past day that 2D girls are capable of hurting him internally, so he was willing to pull himself away from this weakness. Although the atmosphere was gloomy, the four of them, including Thankappan, the one on his way back from the church were recuperating from the horrible events of yesterday in their own ways. Seven o''clock came by, and they left for school. And yet again, they had a meeting of complete coincidence with Shivani. Hell, even Shivani was aware that this wasn''t a mere coincidence as her neighbors always ended up exiting their house at the exact time she did, no matter how early or late she was. Hence, she was slightly worried about whether someone bugged her home or placed a camera or something. If that was the case, then Thankappan was her primary suspect. Anyway, Shivani was quick to notice that everyone else except Thankappan seemed to be in a rotten mood. So, she decided to point it out since it was kinda getting uncomfortable to walk beside Taro. "Hey, did something happen yesterday?" She asked. "Huh? Why''d you ask?" He asked back. "Well, I happened to hear some screams from your room yesterday. It was not just me who heard it though! And today, it seems like you sucked a lemon or something. I mean, you''re making it kinda obvious that something definitely happened last night." She gave out her explanation. "Hmm, something did happen, however, I''m not willing to share any other information on that matter. It''s nothing big, don''t worry about it. Hell, even I don''t know why I''m making a big deal out of it¡­ I better snap out of it!" He spoke as he slapped his cheeks to jog his mind up from the immense lag that it was facing. Although Taro went back to normal after that and smiled towards her, she could still see something lingering in his eyes. So, Shivani thought that it would be pretty cool if she could get her friends together and give her neighbors a little cheer up gift. # Back in the Holy Land, John just returned home and saw that the guys left the place already. He didn''t ask Lonappan about what happened because he wanted to hear it from his roommates. However, now that they were no longer there, he thought that it would be better if he was to ask Lonappan about it. "So, take the stuff that you need. There''s a mission for me. If you''re interested, you can come. If not, I''ll leave, and you can take your time." Lonappan spoke. "Oh, wait! I''m coming. It''ll just take a minute." John spoke as he quickly headed in room #306. He didn''t want to stay in the room all alone, waiting for his roommates to come back just to hear stuff from yesterday. If that was what he wanted, as he previously thought of, he could always ask Lonappan. So, going with Lonappan really seemed like the better option to him. While Lonappan waited for John to come back, someone approached him from behind, putting him on high alert. "Jeez. Calm down, will ya? It''s just me!" The creature waved his hand¡­ front paw to be exact. It was M''Baku. "Oh, it''s you! How are you doing?" Lonappan asked. "I''m doing fine." He replied. "Anyway, let''s get to the main point. I did the things you asked me to do with splendid success. So, did you get what I asked for?" He asked. "Yup, I got it right here!" He said as he dangled a new gold dog chain before M''Baku. "Hmm, looks like it''ll look hella fly on me! Come on, take this shit off me and put the new chain on me!" He ordered, to which Lonappan complied. He kinda understood why M''Baku didn''t like the chain he had on his neck previously. It was cheap. It made him itchy. He had been asking for a new chain for the longest time, however MIB rejected it saying that the bank which had his money had a technical problem. Since he technically looked like a dog, he wasn''t allowed to manage his finances because the MIB feared that he might end up buying something from some shop, freaking the people around him as a result. However, if someone were to see this from an outside perspective, they would wonder why the MIB won''t buy something for him if he asked. Well, it was Lonappan''s plan so that when clutch time like the one hand comes around, he could bribe the canino with a gold chain with his own allowance money. However, Lonappan had a huge misconception in his mind. It was that M''Baku collected all the information just to receive a gold chain. What Lonappan didn''t know was that even though he didn''t have the MIB finances, he had some stacked in Ajish''s spare parts due to an old promise they had with each other. So, if he wanted a gold chain, he could''ve easily used that. However, in this case, he wanted a reason, so he thought that Lonappan highlighting the gold chain worked perfectly to his plans. Anyway, his reason for doing Lonappan''s odd jobs was simply because his roommates had pissed him off. Like, it''s not a petty reason like they hadn''t talked to him for a hot while or something¡­ It''s just that with each passing day, it seemed as if their relationship with Shivani was getting better and better, to the point where he was pushed into becoming a random side character. M''Baku wasn''t that pissed at Gibli and the plankton. He believed that they were two necessary sacrifices to be made so that the other two suffered miserably in the consequence event. Why the hatred towards the two of them? Well, in Thankappan''s case, he was the one trying his hardest to get closer to Shivani. He didn''t like how hard he was trying to do so. So, he was perceived as a threat that should be dealt with sooner or later. And he believed that this would only be a stepping stone to the things he was gonna suffer if he doesn''t leave Shivani''s side. Now, Taro''s case was different. It did seem like he wasn''t actively trying to pursue Shivani. However, he was the main culprit who has been ruining his life on a daily basis. Whenever M''Baku went to Shivani''s room to relax a bit, all she had to talk about was what Mr Sadanandan did in the class that day. It was going on to a point that his haven was on the brink of collapse. He didn''t like how she talked about someone else while he was around trying to do almost every trick to grab her attention. He wanted her for himself. All her attention and love; everything! Slowly, but surely, a yandere dog was surfacing in the Holy Land household. # Chapter 95: Heading to Mundur The classes were pretty boring that day¡­ for Taro at least. It wasn''t much different from any other day, however with Taro''s mentality, he couldn''t enjoy taking them even when he was teaching classes for the adorable second grade. Well, it wasn''t just Shivani who noticed Taro''s aloofness. The other students noticed it as well, since it was pretty hard to miss. While explaining a chapter, Taro randomly stopped talking and looked at the distance for no reason. Although the students relished the free time they got due to this, they were kinda concerned for their teacher''s well-being. As for the teachers in his block, they didn''t particularly care about his behavior because they never noticed it. So, as long as he kept his mouth shut, no one gave a damn about him. He kinda liked this though, so he didn''t complain about it in his mind. However, he did miss his roommates with whom he could have a decent chat with at situations like this. However, the most problematic part for Taro wasn''t all this. He didn''t get why he was this gloomy for the entire day. Like, he knew that the debate was hellish, however he never would''ve thought that it would cause such a dent on him. Like, Thankappan instantly recovered from the trauma in the morning while the other two recovered as well, when the trauma was actually heavier for them than he had. In his case, he didn''t know what to do. He did believe that his feelings loitering around this topic was wasteful, however. This was truly the worst; his awareness of himself over acting in a situation didn''t help him a bit. Anyway, the day ended without any kinda major events, just the way he liked it. Taro preferred the days he spent as a teacher more than any other odd jobs he did back on his planet or on Earth. It made him feel like he was a normal person after all, a feeling he sought after for all these years. In disaster management and construction work, he always felt as if he unnecessarily stuck out. However, it was different here. No one gave two fucks about what he did, which gave him great pleasure. So, he was about to leave the premises, however saw Shivani having some kinda conversation with Juan and decided to wait for her. The conversation was kinda quick. It ended with Juan handing something to Shivani. "Oh, Mr Sadanandan! What are you doing here?" She asked. "What else? I was waiting for you. Shall we go?" He asked. "Sure." She nodded her head and ran towards her class to pick up her bag before returning to Taro''s side. They, as always, had a walk where neither of them tried whatsoever to hold a conversation. Taro felt it was weird. He knew for a fact that he wasn''t socially awkward around people back in Wados. However, it changed vastly when he reached Earth. He believed that not to speak much due to the problems with the translator played a huge factor in his newfound social awkwardness. However, these phenomena was multiplied almost thrice whenever he was around Shivani. He believed that she was a natural conversation repellent; a good person to keep around when someone''s bugging around. Anyway, he didn''t like this atmosphere when they were alone. Like, he''d be fine if she were to jump in between a conversation with some person he didn''t like. However, when it concerns himself, he wanted her to actually hold a conversation. He was a pretty selfish person in that aspect. To break the ice between them, Taro was the first to speak up yet again. "So, what did Juan give you?" He asked. "Hmm?" "Well, I saw him passing something onto you. I asked what it was. I mean if it''s some illegal stuff, I have to report it to the school faculty, you know that, right?" Taro chuckled. Knowing both the students, he knew they wouldn''t be involved in some shady shit, however better safe than sorry, right? "Ah, it''s nothing like that. He wanted me to buy something from Mundur. Since I''m going there today anyway, I thought I''d do it for him." She replied. "You''re going to Mundur?" Taro asked. "Yea! It''s not just me! Abhirami and Sujatha are coming with me as well!" She spoke. "Hmm, that''s great¡­" Taro replied. "By the way¡­ If you''re free and willing, you can come with us too, you know? You can call in the other guys as well." She mumbled. "Well¡­ Maybe not. I''ll just ruin the fun time you''re having." He replied. "Ah, don''t worry about that. We''re not fun free spirits anyway, so we''ll be fine with you around. We were kinda planning to invite you beforehand, so¡­ Anyway, I didn''t know how to bring up this topic without feeling like I''m becoming a bit forceful about it, like what I''m doing right now." She spoke as she looked kinda dejected. Taro sighed. "I don''t have a problem with sticking around if you''re fine with it." He replied. "Yea, we''re totally cool with it." Shivani assured. "Oh, Shivani! You''re back¡­ And with Mr, Sadanandan! Did you tell him about it?" Abhirami went straight to the point. Seeing Abhirami makes Taro relieved in some form. It wasn''t that he became socially awkward, it''s just that some people existed on this planet who emit strong social outgoing and awkward vibes, like the two people beside him, so he actually ends up adapting to their behaviors. Anyway, the three met up with Sujatha a little later, on the world''s longest corridor and soon enough, they met up with Taro''s roommates and together, they headed up to Mundur. # "Ha, I still can''t believe that Shivani ended up asking me out on a date like this¡­" Thankappan, the one extremely flattered when they asked him to accompany them, replied. "But I didn''t ask you to come though! I just asked Mr Sadanandan." Shivani replied bluntly to which Thankappan chuckled. "Well, inviting ''Mr Sadanandan'' effectively means inviting me as well, since the guy absolutely can''t stay away from me!" Thankappan replied as he clung on Taro''s arms, an action that Taro himself despised. "Seems like someone would like to go to jail for thinking like a pedophile. Or much better, seems like someone''s asking for me to bash their skull." Taro replied, in a deep ominous voice which instantly made Thankappan shut his mouth up. So, the group ended up shopping for things like a new toenail clipper and stuff. However, after about five minutes of wandering through the streets of Mundur center, they were clueless. It seemed as if the girls hadn''t exactly planned out the journey. Well, they did plan to shop for quite a bit of time and then head to the bakery nearby under the guise of being tired and wanting a refreshment. However, they never expected that they wouldn''t have anything to shop for. Like, even Sujatha, who believed that she was a spender, couldn''t think of stuff to buy. And even if she did, there was someone else who messed up the plan. That day, Abhirami showed them how much of a miser she was. Like, the money wasn''t even her, it was Juan''s, who lent it to Shivani upon seeing the class teacher''s dampened mood to cheer him up. However, Abhirami couldn''t help but be picky about almost anything they tried to buy, saying that it was useless, and she could show them a place where they could buy that stuff in a bargain. It got to a point where the girls regretted bringing her out on this particular occasion. Since, the shopping event doesn''t look like it was gonna work, they decided to skip it entirely. "Mr Sadanandan, don''t you feel thirsty?" Shivani asked. "Not really-" "Well, I do. So, let''s go to that bakery. They got pretty great milkshakes." Shivani said as she headed towards the said bakery. And pretty much everyone else followed, except for Taro. "Wait a minute. Didn''t you wanna buy something for Juan?" He asked. "Ah...." She suddenly remembered the lie that she fabricated and started searching her shopping bag desperately for something that actually looked like a thing that Juan would use. Thankfully, she found one. "This! He asked for this!" "A toenail clipper with a rather girl... bright design?" He asked. He was gonna say girlish, but since everyone had their own personal preferences, he didn''t wanna badmouth it. "Well, he said he was fine with any design. Rather, he was all about the utility." Shivani replied. "Is that so?" Taro looked suspiciously at the three girls, which made sweat beads flow from their foreheads. However, thankfully for them, there was someone covering for them unintentionally at that moment. "Oi, Ta¡­ Sadanandan! Are you coming? Can''t you hear the cry of the ladies here? They want a drink, man! So, don''t act like this and let''s head there." Thankappan spoke with a smile. Taro sighed. "Ah, what a shame! I have to listen to a lolicon simp''s words now." He mumbled as he headed towards the bakery. # Chapter 96: A master plan In the bakery, Taro came into the realization that he might be used as the cash cow in this situation. After all, he can''t let his students pay the bills when he''s with them and his roommates are inconsiderate arseholes who would gladly leech off his money. So, what he wanted to do was to create a situation where he didn''t have to pay the bills and not be seen as an inconsiderate bastard at the same time. You see, after the blunder with his smartphone back in the Koma mall when he had just arrived at Earth, Taro had come a long way when it came to money. Rather than lavishly spending it like the others in his group did because they receive monthly "pocket money" from MIB, he had to conserve it like a miser. He learned the value of money and how not to spend it. However, he still doesn''t know why MIB''s not giving him his pocket money as well. "I mean, I did reconcile with Ponnappan, right? Like, he was all fine around me. Then why do these bastards get the money and not me?" He glared at his fellow aliens who looked happy checking out the bakery. Anyway, Taro quickly took a seat and urged the others to do so as well, hoping that they didn''t order something crazy expensive. However, he didn''t realize at the time that no matter how cheap they ordered, the final amount will be pretty hefty. Then there was Thankappan, who ordered the most expensive milkshake to just piss him off. He even followed up and tried to order the same shake for the girls as well, however they politely rejected the offer. They were even worried about how expensive it was and stuff like that. With that, Taro''s respect towards his students jumped leaps and bounds away from the respect he had for Thankappan, which basically stooped down to nil at this point. As for Taro, he didn''t order a milkshake; instead he tried ordering a cheap lime juice. However, this time around, his students didn''t support his point of view and forced him to buy a milkshake instead, which deeply pained his miser heart. So, even though his mind was going through an internal turmoil of an emotional rollercoaster, Taro felt right at home. He had been depressed for the most idiotic thing until then. Well, he regretted doing so. After all, he was the one who used to run around looking for challenges to face and had this thought that no one or thing could defeat him mentally or physically. However, he was proven quite wrong at that, since a mere news debate was enough to disturb his mental strength. He felt as if he was at the basics then. At least he had something to work on this way. Therefore, Taro made a promise to himself to cover all the bases and make himself invulnerable to almost anything that this world had to offer. The others had no idea that in the following days, they might have to listen to political debates all day long. Had they known it, they would''ve screamed the heck out. # Taro drank the last bit of milkshake from the one that he had to buy. After all, he had to savor it for every bit of money that he had to spend. The others around his table didn''t seem to mind his actions, since they were doing the same thing as well. Anyway, Taro noticed the waiter carrying the bill and sighed. The time had finally come. He was about to grab the bill that the waiter extended, when someone else grabbed it. "Huh?" He looked around and found that it was Shivani who did it. "Why did you do that?" He asked, to which Shivani had a confused look on her face. "Why else? I wanted to pay the bill." She replied. "Wait, you''re going to pay the bill?" The one who asked wasn''t Taro. It was Thankappan. He didn''t expect this development to occur when he ordered the expensive stuff. He thought that Taro would be the one paying and wanted to tick him off. However, now the situation has changed. He finally realized why the girls rejected getting the expensive one as well. "Damn it! Now I seem like a huge money spending asshole!" "Ah, you don''t have to do it! I mean, I''m your teacher¡­ So, I''m supposed to do this at least, right?" Taro uttered blatant lies, with a concerned look on his face. This was the exact situation that he was hoping for. Someone else had jumped up to pay the bill. Although the story progressed the way he wanted, he didn''t like how it was the students who offered to pay and not his roommates. And since it was them, he had to spout lies like the one he did, so that they won''t view him as a bad teacher. "Hey, don''t worry about that! We noticed that you were a bit down today and wanted to cheer you up. So, consider this as a cheer up and thank you gift!" Shivani replied with a bright smile on her face, while Taro cheered for this development internally. "Hmm, I guess I can''t reject my student''s gift now, can I?" Taro sighed. However, Thankappan and co could clearly see the victorious look on his face that he deliberately didn''t try to hide. He had basically won. This gift was only meant for him, so the other three were basically leeches. Hence, they took it upon themselves to pay for the stuff they ate and drank, even though the girls repeatedly said that they would do it. In the end, Taro headed back to the Holy Land as a happy man, not knowing that someone was intensely glaring at him by the time he returned home. # M''Baku was mad. He was mad about how for a fifth day in the row, Shivani came home and began talking about her class teacher without even batting an eye towards him. She sounded excited when she talked about him. M''Baku fondly remembered the times when the first thing she did upon returning home was petting his head. He felt extremely special back then. However, now, he was kicked aside and the one who took the special status in his place was Taro. M''Baku couldn''t understand how calm and unfazed Shivani''s mother was when she heard that her daughter was with her class teacher. Like, it''s a bad world and the crime towards women was getting high as the days passed. However, here she was, Shivani''s mother, who seemed totally fine with knowing that her daughter was with a man who had just been the class teacher for a few weeks at this point. M''Baku really commended the blind trust she had. However, it''s too stupid¡­ is what he wanted to say if he did want the duo to get freaked out due to him. He didn''t have plans like that, so instead of trying to mend the situation there, he started planning sinister stuff to teach a lesson to the crux of the problem, Taro. ¡­ For the remainder of the day, M''Baku spent his time tailing Taro without grabbing the said person''s attention. He wasn''t swift as the wind, however since no one cared about his position, him roaming around nonchalantly wasn''t a big deal. He initially didn''t have a plan to execute. And that was he was tailing him, to actually get a plan. However, the efforts mounted for a big nothing. Since nothing came into mind, he went for the simplest of solutions. Physically hurt him. Now, mentally hurting him was something he planned earlier. He was going to turn on the news channel and let him suffer. However, he never would''ve thought that the Wadorian himself would turn on the television and watch it. This made the first plan to crumble down, since there was nothing that he knew that could mentally damage him. Although physically hurting him might have seemed like a far-fetched idea, in M''Baku''s mind, this was one of the few things that would actually work. The method he went for was suffocation. Like, he wasn''t actually planning for a murder, he just wanted him to suffocate t a point that he realizes his mistake of approaching Shivani. However, for doing it successfully, his actions should be restricted. Or else, Taro could just thwart him off with his sheer power. So, the only time he could think of doing such a stunt was when he goes for sleep. However, the Wadorian was a monster who didn''t need much sleep at all. So, M''Baku was worried that his plans wouldn''t see the light. However, it seemed as if luck was on his side that day. Since Taro was watching the debate, he was mentally exhausted like the days before. However, he wasn''t irked about anything that they said; he was simply tired, so he went early to bed. M''Baku snickered after seeing this scene. He could finally commence his master plan. # Chapter 97: Luck Although he wasn''t totally aware of the complete extent of Taro''s powers, M''Baku liked to believe that he''s the one who knows the most. After all, he was the one who tailed him more than even the MIB officials. Even then, he couldn''t blindly trust the claims that Taro made about how he was capable of destroying Earth. He thought of Taro''s claims as someone spouting random bullshit. The more he thought on it, the more it seemed that Taro''s claims were ridiculous. For starters, the planet destroyer claim. Well, it isn''t like that was impossible. However, he had never heard about a Wadorian who''s capable of doing such a thing; well he did hear about Wadorians blowing up moons though and those people were revered by the Wadorian people as legends. So, if Taro was someone capable of destroying a planet, a feat that no one in the illustrious Wadorian history was capable of, Taro would''ve ascended from the realm of a mere mortal to a freaking God. However, no one ever spoke of an alien named Normal-Taro when they spoke of Galaxy''s Hope and stuff like that. He had heard the hero Emilia''s name thrown around in that discussion, but never Taro. That was basically plenty to debunk his claim. However, M''Baku had to give it to Taro. He believed that Taro was a real smart man, since he intentionally changed the explanation knowing that someone would find the bullshit behind his claims. One random day, out of nowhere while having tea, he "revealed" that he was trained by the people in Martial Planet, and he had mastered multiple techniques. He did show off a backhand technique before, so his fellow aliens believed in him pretty easily. However, M''Baku scoffed back then, and he scoffed even now when he thought about it. While the other aliens might not have noticed, however this claim had major flaws as well. He remembered learning that the people on the Martial planet are reclusive and only converse with the community they built up. They hated speaking with people from other planets so much that they rarely held inter-planetary meetings. The other planets were totally fine with it since they were a special existence in the Galaxian civilization; the one which shouldn''t be trifled with. Then there was Taro, who claimed that he received training from such people. How could he even believe those words? Well, even if he tried to reveal this obvious lie to his peers, they would''ve instinctively refuted him saying that Taro was capable of doing Wu Long''s backhand techniques. However, M''Baku believed that what Taro did was mere imitation of the technique and not the actual one. And since the imitation was pretty clean, the surrounding ones believed in Taro¡­ A rookie mistake that the Canino would never commit. Also, how he arrived at Earth was a total mystery that no one knew about. In M''Baku''s eyes, that was the only strange thing about Taro. To conclude, M''Baku was unaware about how much power the dude possessed, however he was sure that his power level wasn''t that high as he exaggerated. He believed that if he played it cunning against him, even he had a chance at beating Taro. And cunning in this scenario was to tie him by his bed and suffocate him for a bit. To further humiliate him, he even planned to shag him for a bit, like he did back when he arrived for the first time. Thinking about doing that made him quite happy. It was for a noble cause after all. # M''Baku had little planned out. Tie him to the bed, torture him to the point that he''ll not mess with Shivani ever again. Even though M''Baku claimed that the power Taro told he had was exaggerated, he had no hard feelings to accept that his strength was considerably higher than the human beings of Planet Earth. So, if he was to idiotically tie him with a normal plastic or coir rope, he would break out of it and subdue him in record time. Hence, he sniped the aluminum wire that the electricians used for drawing power lines that he saw was lazily thrown around. He had a hard time sneaking it in, but since he was the ninja dog that no one sees, it wasn''t much of a big deal. Anyway, with that wire, he planned to keep the monster tied. Since Taro went to sleep and no one else was awake as well, he slowly sneaked to the place where he kept the wire and dragged it towards Taro''s room. Just when he was about to move towards Taro, he went back to the laundry basket and took one sock and a duct tape with him. He thought of stuffing the sock on his mouth and taping it over since he didn''t want John to hear him. Although, #306 is called a room, one could always argue that it''s actually an apartment with two bedrooms and that argument would be right. #306 had two bedrooms. Until John came in to live in the Holy Land, it was actually the plankton and Gibli in one room while Thankappan and Taro occupied the other. However, things changed when John came. Taro shifted to Plankton''s room while Taro stayed in the room with John. Therefore, M''Baku had to be careful when doing this since there seemed to be a chance that John might end up noticing his actions. Therefore, the lesser the sounds, the better for him. Anyhow, M''Baku was about to move the stuff inside, when his ears caught up with rain outside. He was kinda baffled about the downpour and thunder, but he felt as if it worked out perfectly for him. Truly, the luck seemed to have sided with him that day¡­ At least, that''s what he believed. # Inside Taro and John''s room, he could see both with their blankets covering their entire body due to the sudden chill they felt due to the rain. M''Baku placed the stuff that he bought near Taro''s bed and jumped into the bed with the wire in his mouth. However, that''s when he noticed something bizarre. The person inside the blanket was soft¡­ Too soft. He felt that if he thrust his hand in its abdomen, he would end up killing him. "That''s weird. Did the bastard have such a brittle physique?" M''Baku wondered before taking off the blanket away from Taro''s body. "What the!" The thing he saw before him was nothing more than two pillows stacked to make it look like a person. M''Baku was fooled. "Yo! I was waiting for you to come, you fucking dog!" A voice came from his side. He couldn''t see the person clearly, but the lightning helped him see his face and the thunder set up the ambience. It was as if the rain deliberately happened to just give out this sorta atmosphere. Also, the way he was rocking back and forth on a rocking chair that M''Baku never knew existed also gave the ominous feeling that he felt in his heart. Throughout the entire day, he felt as if he was lucky. However, now it seemed as if the luck backfired. Or worse, it wasn''t luck after all; it was a planned event meant to look like luck. Suddenly, he flinched when M''Baku noticed Taro staring darts at him the entire time he was thinking. "What are you looking at?" He asked. Taro sighed. "The entire day, you followed me like a freaking bug. You know what people do with annoying bugs? Kill them." He replied, to which M''Baku gulped. "However, I''m not gonna do that, you know? Instead, I''m gonna politely ask ya. Why are you doing this shit, huh? Judging from what you brought here, were you trying to strangle me or something? Why¡­ Why would you follow me like that? Why would you spy on us and report everything to Lonappan?" He asked. "Hmm, so you knew." M''Baku was the one sighing this time. The image of a ninja dog crumbled down when this was revealed. "Of course, I knew. Eyes don''t lie, you know?" Taro chuckled before turning the serious switch back on. "So?" "I didn''t like how you guys were getting too close to Shivani." He replied honestly, to which Taro looked baffled. "Are you kidding me? You snitched on us and tried to tie me up right now for that? What kinda crazy bastard are ya? Dude, you could''ve just told us about it. You didn''t have to do this elaborate thing¡­ Damn¡­ You''re extremely stupid sometimes¡­ You know that, right?" Taro sighs turned into a slight chuckle. "I''m sorry. I should''ve talked to you about it before taking drastic methods like this." M''Baku replied. "You better be sorry! Anyway, I kinda forgive you. However, that doesn''t mean I can stop talking to Shivani. First of all, I''m her teacher and secondly, she has the right to do whatever the fuck she wants. Who are we to interrupt that?" Taro posed the question. "You''re right. I was an idiot. Sorry again." He replied. "Hmm, that''s all well¡­. However, I hope you don''t try something stupid like this for a second time, because I can''t promise you that I''ll be this forgiving then." Taro spoke in a tone which sent shivers to his spine. That day, M''Baku decided not to mess with Taro anymore, even unintentionally. He was sure that he''d straight up kill him when that happens. # Chapter 98: Attention M''Baku felt troubled. He knew that Taro was strong. However, from this exchange of looks, he felt as if Taro could beat the shit out of a hundred caninos. Although that doesn''t prove the claims of his capability to destroy a planet, M''Baku did agree that he majorly underestimated him, and he should be extremely careful around Taro. The next day was bizarre¡­ at least for everyone in the Holy Land except for Taro and M''Baku. They had the pleasure to see M''Baku walk on his two legs serving lemon tea to Taro, the guy reading the newspaper. Hoping for a similar treatment from the canino, the rest of them sat around reading a newspaper as well. However, M''Baku didn''t bat an eye towards their antics. Not only that, he even served breakfast to the seated Taro. The aliens, John and Thankappan were utterly confused about the treatment Taro received and tried questioning both parties about it. However, neither of them said anything about it and treated it as if it was a normal occurrence, which did nothing other than increasing their curiosity. However, the more enthusiastic they were about it, the more tight-lipped Taro and M''Baku became. Anyway, the time to head towards school arrived and as usual, Thankappan was hopping around, saying that the time is not right yet. And then suddenly, he barged through the front door and met Shivani, which was totally a coincidence. Although he did say coincidence, both Shivani and his roommates knew that this was carefully planned. However, they were curious as to how he knew the exact time she left, even when it is a bit early or really late. The doubts about Thankappan''s existence a creep who plants a camera in someone else''s house was the most prevalent one, since he had all the powers to be one. While Thankappan spoke some random gibberish to Shivani, the girl was focused on something else. She saw Charlie peeking out of #306, which surprised her. "Charlie! Ah, you were in your home, huh? I was kinda worried when you didn''t head here after having your food." She headed straight towards the "dog" and patted his head. "Hmm, that''s where he heads to after six o''clock, huh¡­ I knew he was in your room for the most part, but I didn''t know that was the case in the morning as well." Taro spoke. "Oh, I''m sorry for not informing you about that." Shivani bowed her head and apologized. "Meh, don''t worry about that. You''re taking care of him for the most part after all. I should actually thank you for that." He smiled, at which Shivani sighed in relief. "Well, I like him. And it isn''t that I''m taking care of him. It''s more like he''s keeping me company." Shivani spoke as she stroked Charlie''s head. "Hmm, seems like you''re quite fond of him¡­" Taro replied in somewhat of a playful tone. "Yea¡­ I really like him." Shivani replied firmly. She wasn''t playful about it or something. She actually was fond of Charlie. Hearing this, M''Baku wanted to give her a hug, however she was wearing the uniform, and he didn''t want to mess that up. So instead of that, he took turns looking at both Taro and Shivani with a thankful look on his eyes, to which Taro gave out a thumbs up. # Last night. After the failed attempt, M''Baku couldn''t sleep even when he was pretty sleepy. He tried doing so, however the lingering doubt on Taro strangling him to death while he was sleeping, kept him awake. Like, it was a possibility he couldn''t deny. So, his body in entirety was vigilant against the imminent threat. Meanwhile, the power went off due to the rain and stuff, giving the Holy Land more of an eerie atmosphere, which made M''Baku even more alert. Since he couldn''t sleep, he decided to walk around inside the atmosphere. That''s when he saw it. Taro sitting before a window, watching the rain droplets hit on the window with a thud sound each time it does so. He was watching it with so much interest; M''Baku couldn''t even comprehend the situation. He believed that the lack of a proper balcony in this room was what made Taro sit before the window like this. "How long are you gonna stand there like that? Come sit in the chair if you''re here because you couldn''t sleep. Maybe we''ll have a quick chat." Taro didn''t even look back at M''Baku as he spoke, The canino followed Taro''s orders without missing a beat as he took a seat next to Taro. "So, what are you doing?" M''Baku asked. "Can''t you see? I''m enjoying the rain." Taro spoke in a rather monotonous voice, which kinda surprised M''Baku since he had never seen him speak that way. "Well, if you wanted to enjoy the rain, you should''ve opened the window or headed out or something. You can''t even see the rain in this cheap blurred window now, can you?" M''Baku asked. "Hmm, I hate getting soaked in rain. I know it''s just water on this planet. However, the rain back in Wados still annoys me to hell¡­" Taro spoke with an annoyed expression. "Rain in Wados, huh¡­ Hyaluronic acid¡­ Ah, the sticky stuff. No wonder why you hate rain so much¡­" M''Baku replied with a chuckle. "So, how come you didn''t sleep? Are you maybe afraid that I''ll choke you while you sleep? Makes sense, if you thought of me as a psychopath. Do you think of me as a psychopath?" Taro asked him with a straight face, which made it difficult for M''Baku to answer. "Nah¡­ I don''t think of you as a psychopath¡­" M''Baku replied, giving out a nervous laughter. He had heard about how actual psychopaths don''t like hearing the truth about their mental instability, so he was concerned. "Trying to lie when your face gives out the truth is the worst thing, isn''t it?" This time around, Taro was the one who laughed. However, this one laughter made M''Baku even more worried about his life. He didn''t even know that people could judge canino''s expressions. The canino species were special in that aspect. Since they looked¡­ different from the others who looked like humanoids, people found it difficult to decipher their expressions. So, a tinge of guilt in their face when they blatantly lie couldn''t be caught by others that easily. However, M''Baku had one before him who could see that. Although, he believed in the possibility of it being a bluff as well, since his voice seemed plenty nervous. "..." Even though numerous stuff went through his brain, he didn''t express it before Taro. The Wadorian sighed. "Anyway, you were pissed off at me because I was talking to Shivani, right?" He asked. "Well, that... Also, all she talks about when she returns home is about you. That pisses me off as well" M''Baku spoke the truth that had been annoying him for days. "Hmm, She isn''t giving you any attention these days, right? Seems like that irks you as well." Taro replied. "How did you?" "What? Did you think I''m blind or something? Why else would you try to do shit like what you tried, other than grabbing her attention?" Taro sighed. M''Baku was a bit iffy about talking things like this to Taro, however it seemed as if the Wadorian possessed knowledge that deserved respect. "Anyway, the way of approach is all wrong. What made you think that messing with me will earn you brownie points before her? Wouldn''t that inadvertently make her hate you and like me?" Taro asked. M''Baku had never thought of that. He suddenly realized his mistake. "What should I do now?" He asked, with his head down. "Hey¡­ Do you even know why she doesn''t give you that much attention?" Taro asked back. "No¡­ Had I known, I would''ve tried to change myself or something." M''Baku replied. "You idiot. It''s not that you made some grave mistake or something. It''s just that she treats you like family now." Taro spoke. "Huh?" "Initially she might''ve poured you with immense affection since you''re the neighbor''s dog that she can''t see much. However, since you freely went over there every other time, she thought of you as her own family. Like, she believed that you ain''t gonna go nowhere." Taro replied. "Isn''t that great?" M''Baku smiled as he spoke. "It is good. However, you won''t get the attention you crave for if you head there like that. I mean, you know why she talks about me that much? Because there''s a chance that I made an impact in her mind with the little amount of time I took the classes for her that day. You do know that the less time you spent with a person, the more impressionable they are. Since you''re always there, she kinda takes it for granted. So¡­ now that you know about it, you still wanna get her attention?" He asked. "Well, gaining her attention once or twice will be pretty nice if you ask me." M''Baku replied. "Is that so? Then do as I say. Don''t just head over to their room the first thing in the morning. And everything else will flow just the way you want." Taro spoke with utter confidence beaming from his face. # Chapter 99: Impending disaster It worked out just as Taro told him. Shivani was kinda worried when she didn''t see Charlie in the early morning and was elated when she got to see him with the guys. He was indeed able to capture the attention of her. He thanked Taro for that. Well, he couldn''t just straight up say thanks to him because of Shivani''s presence, however, he did throw out a thankful glance towards Taro, who looked at him with a smug smile on his face. Although M''Baku didn''t like the looks of it, he thought of not messing with him for that day and enjoyed the moment with Shivani. The lads then headed for school. Shivani kinda didn''t want to leave M''Baku alone, however, Taro forced her to do so by saying that he''d mess up with her attendance record if she doesn''t come, which turned out to be a great threat in her eyes. Normally, M''Baku would''ve been angry since Taro was taking away his precious time with her. However, this time around, it made sense to him. He did this to create a distance between the both. Only then would someone know the value of something. And if he wanted to get pampered by Shivani just like before, he had to do this. He couldn''t act like an obsessive person anymore... Slowly but surely, the yandere dog of the Holy Land household turned a new leaf and became a more docile existence. # M''Baku was pretty happy when he returned to #306 in the evening. He spent quality time with Shivani. The first thing she did when she returned home was to search for him. And when she saw him, she petted him like crazy, which made him inwardly giggle with happiness. Although she did start talking about the events that happened in school that day, which included Taro as well, M''Baku didn''t mind it because he got the attention he was looking for and was more than happy about it. So, for him, it was more productive than any other time he spent in that room before. "You look pretty happy." Taro, who saw a smile on M''Baku''s face, asked. Seeing a smile in a species that looks like a dog, was a bit difficult to take in. After all, the only thing that M''Baku did before him was barking. It was a weird, yet refreshing change. "Yea, I kinda am happy, I guess¡­" M''Baku replied. "What? She patted you for an extended period or something?" Taro asked, chuckling. "In fact, that''s exactly what happened." M''Baku told him the truth, not knowing that Taro meant it as a sarcastic remark. Even if he knew, he would''ve said the same reply. Anyway, the answer that M''Baku gave made Taro a bit embarrassed. "Hey, it seems like you''re straight-up changing into a dog with each passing day." Taro replied, cackling once again. He meant it as a sarcastic comment this time as well, however, yet again, M''Baku took it differently. "Hmm, that does seem like a genuine possibility, doesn''t it? Never would''ve thought that would end up happening though. Me acting like a dog from this planet? That thought itself was absurd. However, here I am, acting like one, with no regrets." M''Baku smiled even more brightly, showing off all the teeth that he had. Seeing this sight, Taro sighed. "So, what''s up with you? What did you see in her that made you like her to this extent?" He asked. Although he was told that M''Baku held affection towards Shivani, he never knew what kind it was or why it existed in his mind in the first place. So, he was intrigued. "Well, I see my daughter in her, I guess? Kinda innocent and a good person. I miss her so much, you know?" M''Baku looked at a random star far away in the sky through the window as he mentioned it. One could see the longing of a father to meet his child. "... That makes sense, I guess. Whew, I was kinda worried that you were actually into her or something." Taro sighed, this time, it was one of relief. "What do you mean?" M''Baku had a strange look in his eyes as he questioned Taro''s words. "Ah, you see. Seeing your clingy behavior and all, I thought you held another feeling¡­ something different from familial love. More like, a romantic one, I guess? I was worried that it might end up becoming unrequited." Taro replied. "Dude! What kinda bullshit are you even spouting, you evil being? I''m a family man all along. I have a wife waiting for my arrival back in my home along with my two sons and a daughter. So, don''t you dare think up something like that!" M''Baku literally barked. "Okay, chill! I didn''t know that now, do I? Hell, I don''t know anything about you other than that you were the first one in #306." Taro raised his voice as a form of retaliation. "I see¡­ I can''t blame you for bearing those kinds of thoughts since you weren''t aware of it. Anyway, I don''t get attracted to any other species other than canino, for your knowledge." M''Baku replied. "Well, the dogs in this world are kinda like canino, so¡­" Taro was about to say something, however, he was quickly cut off by M''Baku. "Are you freaking kidding me with your comparison? Sure, they might look the same as us in some aspect¡­ To hell with it, they really do look like us in a complete sense. However, that''s where the comparisons end. The dogs here severely lack intelligence. Yes, they are bright, but they can''t solve the problems that humans solve, right? That in itself is a major difference from us. We can do that easily¡­. Scratch that. We can do stuff much better than these humans ever do!" M''Baku spoke with obvious pride in his voice. He truly believed that he was better than humans while acting as a pet of a certain human. Anyway, Taro didn''t want to dwell on that topic any longer, so he decided to put an end to this. "Is that so? Hey, don''t you think it''s raining a bit much today? What''s up with this?" Taro asked, trying to change the topic discreetly. However, he didn''t know that this rain was the sign of an impending disaster. # Next day. Taro was in the staff room with his head down. He felt bored. So, he wanted to go out and walk around for fun. However, when he looked outside from the window, he knew that wish of his wouldn''t be fulfilled anytime soon. It was raining. Scratch that. It had been raining since last night. Although it rained nonstop, it was less intense in the beginning stages, so no one was annoyed by this other than students who had the Physical Training classes that day. With rain pouring the way it did, students were asked not to play football , unless those were done in the indoor stadium. So, the usual football-playing kids crowded in the indoor stadium to play badminton and basketball, which irked the ones who play those every week. However, they couldn''t do anything about it since the football kids were a bit of rowdy that they didn''t wanna mess with. So, they willingly gave up their spot and instead picked the spots of kids playing games like carrom and chess, leaving them with nothing. However, when the intensity of the rain increased ever so slightly that the water droplets started leaking into the indoor stadium as well, the rowdy kids ended up taking the place for carrom and chess as well. This ended up leading many kids back to class, where they decided to make paper planes and play book-cricket. Hearing that the other kids were having fun while they were playing the boring game of chess, the rowdy kids decided to thwart their fun over there as well, which annoyed the other kids very much. While Taro saw this event happening on the school grounds, he just sighed. He couldn''t care less about these events. The rain took his ability to work hard and all that was left was a lump of alien meat who didn''t want to do anything¡­ Well, he did want to walk to get this laziness off him. However, if he did that now, he would ruin his dress that he ironed in the morning. And that was something he wanted to avoid. He didn''t want to get himself drenched with rain, however, he wanted to walk as well. He tried walking around in the indoor stadium, but the trickling rain made him get back to the high school block. Then, he remembered how long the corridor was, so he decided to walk there. That''s when he realized that the corridor wasn''t actually that long, but it just felt like that because he walked with someone else. "Ha¡­ When will this rain end?" Taro sighed as he looked at the downpour. # Chapter 100: Walk to the old home It was as if nature was playing a cruel joke with Taro at this point. The downpour never stopped. The intensity of the rain increased instead. Rather than walking out in the open without giving a damn, he was constricted under an umbrella, slightly worried that the rain might ruin his dress. The rain phobia that he formed back in Wados wasn''t helping the case in any way, shape, or form. Anyway, what was thought of as a light shower ended up becoming one of the biggest rainfall that Kerala had experienced in recent years. It was so big of rainfall, that several of the areas there started flooding. The state had to declare it as a natural disaster; the worst one in recent years. To think that it started with a drizzle of rain. Taro thought it would happen though. He knew that rain is a wicked thing that does stuff like this. Thankfully for the residents of the Holy land, there wasn''t any flood in their area. Also, the rain subsided for a few good hours. So, Taro and company thought that it would be a good time to go out. Since a natural disaster was announced, the schools were naturally closed, so they had a lot of free time, thus the plan to walk outside was formulated. Even the MIB was closed due to its proximity to a beach and the ones in the facility had closed the underground pathway shut and moved away from their base until the water receded. So, it wasn''t just Taro and his teacher squad, Lonappan and John were free as well. Thus, the plan of loitering around had more members than ever. So, they were about to leave the room, when Thankappan asked them to stop for a while before heading out. The guys knew what was going on. This usually meant that Shivani was going out as well. M''Baku, who previously wanted to stay back and sleep, noticed this and fetched his leash to Taro. The Wadorian then clipped the leash to the chain in M''Baku''s neck and waited for Thankappan to open the door. Yet again, the numbers of the outgoing team increased. After a few minutes, Thankappan opened the door and coincident¡­ deliberately met up with Shivani. Noticing that they got out simultaneously on a non-school day, Shivani got literal chills in her spine. The more she glanced at Thankappan, the more she saw a creep in him. Anyway, at least she had something to be happy about since she saw that Charlie was going out as well. "Hey, guys! Where are you going?" She asked, while gently stroking Charlie''s head. "Ah, we were just going out on a walk. What about you?" Taro asked. "Hmm... Is that so? Mom told me about how our old¡­ real home just got flooded. So, I was just gonna check it out." Shivani replied. "Old home?" Taro asked. "Yea, that''s where we used to live." She replied. "Did you sell it or something?" Taro asked. "Nah. We just don''t live there anymore." She replied. "Huh¡­ But why?" Taro asked. "Well, that''s a place that gets flooded a lot. Like, even when a natural disaster of this level isn''t announced, that place would get flooded. That''s how our old home rolled." She replied. "I see. That''s why you shifted to here, huh. Makes sense." Taro nodded his head. "By the way, I''m kinda interested in seeing your old home. So, since we''re just loitering around aimlessly anyway, we''ll join you on your journey to your old home!" Thankappan proclaimed as if they were going on a journey to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. "That''s fine by me. There''s actually a shortcut to my home if we head in the path of our school. However, I''m pretty sure that shortcut is flooded by now. So, let''s go the roundabout way, through Mundur." Shivani spoke. "Fine by me." Thankappan spoke as he led the way. The others followed him as well. Meanwhile, Shivani was glancing towards Taro time after time while they walked. More specifically, she was glancing at Charlie, whose leash was in Taro''s hand. "What? You wanna walk him around?" Taro asked, to which she didn''t speak a single word. Instead, she vigorously nodded her head. Taro sighed. "You should''ve just asked, you know?" He spoke as he handed the leash to Shivani. "Charlie likes you as well. So, he would be totally fine with you taking him around. I mean, he won''t run around like a crazy person and will totally act like a good boy. Won''t you, Charlie?" Taro spoke as he glared towards M''Baku. The canino wanted to shake his head and say roger, however, Shivani was by his side, so he couldn''t do those stuff. Instead, he slanted his head like the dogs do when they hear something weird. This earned cute points with Shivani, as she headed down and hugged him tightly. He smiled like crazy, unbeknownst to Shivani. While that happened, he did feel like someone was glaring darts at him. However, when he looked to the front form where the glare came, no one seemed to be looking at him. Even though that was the case, he knew exactly who it was though. It wasn''t that big of a surprise to him. # Once the squad reached the front gate of the Holy Land, they were joined by Lonappan, who headed straight towards John and walked beside him. He wanted to shield the MIB veteran of anything that would possibly jog his memory. Even if it does jog his memory, with his position beside John, he could always flash the neuralyzer on him which he was currently carrying in his pocket. Thus they headed towards Shivani''s old home¡­. Or at least, that''s what they planned initially, but they felt weird about how Shivani was the only woman in their squad right now. Lonappan told that he could bring his wife on this walk as well, however, the squad felt weird since none of them had ever held a proper conversation with Mrs. Lonappan. Thus, that notion was thwarted. So, instead, they headed to the school, hoping to meet the only woman they know of. "Hey, guys¡­ And Shivani! Wow. It''s just that¡­ this is really an odd combination. How come you guys are together like this?" Rita, the vice principal asked. She was one of the people that Taro sought to avoid, however, this time around, he had no choice but to do this. However, Taro swore to himself that he''d try having a decent conversation with women from now on¡­ Then he wouldn''t have to call upon Rita like this. "Well, we''re kinda like neighbors. So, we ended up meeting each other." Taro replied. One could sense literally no energy in his reply. "Is that so? I never knew that." Rita replied as she fixed her gaze at Taro. Ever since they came to the school, Rita had her eyes fixed on him. Although the others found this simple since they couldn''t manage to function under such a sharp gaze, they were kinda pissed off about how she viewed them as if they were mere bugs. "Yea¡­ So, you see. We were about to head to her old home and see how much it flooded over there and we suddenly thought of you. So, you wanna come with us?" Taro got straight to the point. Although, he did not mention that the invite was merely out of obligation. "Oh, really? I''d love to head there with you!" Rita spoke out of elation as if Taro just invited her to an amusement park rather than a flood-affected area. "Ah, that''s good. Great, in fact! I''m really happy to hear that." Taro gave out an awkward smile as he spoke; quite a different complexion compared to Rita opposite him, who was giving out a bright smile. He felt it¡­ That this journey was gonna be hell for him. And he wasn''t wrong about that at all. During the entire journey to Shivani''s home, he could feel Rita''s stare towards him. Not only did she stare at him like that, she actively tried to converse with him, which kinda made him uncomfortable, since he actually didn''t want to talk with her. However, since she was trying to invade his private space, he tried invading someone else''s by getting in a conversation with someone else, hoping that she would voluntarily walk away from him. However, that''s when he noticed that the others were keeping a distance from him. They betrayed his trust in them. Each time he stepped towards them, they increased their speed. And when he finally caught hold of someone and forced them to speak, Rita would interfere and shorten up the entire conversation by saying that someone else was calling for them. And since those guys didn''t want to hold a conversation with Taro in the first place, they would happily act along with Rita''s lies and run far away from the Wadorian. So, in the end, it looked like he had no choice. He was stuck with the crazy woman, who''s supposed to be the vice-principal of a school. # Chapter 101: His playground "This is your home?" Thankappan asked, surprised seeing the scene before him. "Yup. You get why we moved houses now, right?" Shivani smiled. What they saw before them was a run down house which was entirely flooded. The house was barely visible with all the water. It was really a sorry sight. "Yea, I get it." He nodded his head. It wasn''t just him. Everyone else was astonished about this as well. Rita was the one who was the most surprised though. She had been teaching Shivani for three-four years now. Yet, she never knew that her old home was this much of a rundown place. The shock was immense. The woman, who was sticking with Taro during the entire journey, walked towards her student and patted her on the shoulders. "I didn''t know¡­" She spoke, however words failed to come out of her mouth. "Meh, I was deliberately trying to hide that. So, it makes sense that you didn''t know. The principal is the only one who knows in our school." She spoke, yet again with a smile on her face. "Hmm, it''s a surprise that it didn''t flood any further. Didn''t the weather forecast guys say that this is one big flood?" Kunjan spoke as he looked at the sight. While the others thought of his words as insensitive towards Shivani and her situation, Shivani herself didn''t mind. "Ah, it is a big flood situation. Although, it usually doesn''t flood that much in Thrissur since its mid Kerala. This region usually doesn''t flood. Except this place though. Our area gets affected by floods almost every year. So, this wasn''t much of a surprise." She replied. "Does it always flood to this magnitude? I mean, your home is totally underwater now, right? Is that always the case?" Kunjan asked. "Hmm, not really. It does flood every year, however this is the first time that such a big one happened. It''s always the half of the house or somewhere around that. So, I guess it''s the impact of the actual natural calamity." She sighed. "Well, I just wanted to see how much the water level was. Now that I have seen it, shall we go back to the Holy Land?" She asked, to which everyone nodded their heads and walked back. "By the way, if it always flooded like this, how did you manage living here during those times?" Taro, who was silent this entire time, since Rita walked away from him and that was the only time he could relax, asked. Rita was already by his side, so he didn''t stop himself from talking to someone else. "Ah, as I said before, the past floods were manageable. Like, I could walk in it. So, that''s exactly what I did. Although, the last flood was a bit different from the past ones as well¡­ That''s why we took on a decision on moving to the Holy Land." Shivani replied. "You guys really made the right decision on that." Taro spoke. "Yea." She nodded her head and slowly backed away from Taro since Rita just reverted to her clingy behavior, and she didn''t want to get in the crossfire. Taro tried stopping her, but he was unsuccessful. In the end, his journey back to the Holy land was the same as his journey from the Holy land. Taro could only sigh at the face of this predicament. # Back at the front gate of the Holy Land. Lonappan and Shivani had already gone back to their respective house/room. The ones left before the gate were the aliens, Thankappan and Rita. "Hey, aren''t you gonna drop me to school?" Rita tugged Taro''s shirt and asked playfully. Taro sighed. The disease inside Rita had gone far worse than he had expected. She was really fine when they met a few days back and moderately talked. So, he didn''t understand why the woman was all clingy that day. At first, he thought that it was the students that kept her behavior under control. However, even in the presence of her student, she remained clingy. So, he was really baffled at this point. Anyway, he wanted to get as far away from her as possible and was planning to head straight to his room as the other two did. However, the others beside him didn''t make it possible for him, since Thankappan wasn''t willing to give the keys to the room. "Huh, why would I? The school''s literally a minute or two away from here. Why would I accompany you for just that?" Taro scoffed. He really wanted to get away from Rita. "So, you wanna send a lonely maiden all by herself to the school, huh?" She pouted as she spoke. "Dude, it''s literally a few steps away from here! Why would you need me to join you?" Taro spoke; he sounded annoyed as he spoke. "Bruv, I think you should join her. She''s right, you know. A young maiden like herself in these streets¡­ It''s dangerous." Thankappan spoke. "Et tu Brute? It''s broad daylight and this is one of the safest roads that you''ll ever see! Why are you picking her side?" Taro cried. "Well, you know¡­ The school''s pretty much empty now and the classes are open¡­ So¡­" Rita was about to suggest something when someone interfered. "Even the sports room?" It was Gibli. "Huh? Yea¡­ Even the sports room." Rita replied. "Really? Hell, yea! You know what? I''m gonna accompany you two as well." Gibli proclaimed, much to the dismay of Rita. "Dude¡­" Thankappan was about to speak, trying to persuade him from doing so, however Taro jumped in before he could. "Fantastic! We''ll play badminton when we get there. How about that?" Taro was excited. Seeing Taro excited, Gibli got pumped up as well. "Yea! Let''s see who''s the best in badminton!" He jumped up accordingly as well. The more this conversation progressed, the worse Rita looked. However, someone was thinking of salvaging the situation before it got messed up. "Ah, well¡­ If Gibli''s coming, I''m coming as well." Thankappan spoke out as Rita glared hard at him. He signaled her to calm down, which didn''t turn out well. "Hmm, is that so?" Taro had a twisted look on his face when he glanced towards Thankappan. "Yea¡­?" Thankappan suddenly got all nervous when he saw the look on his face, however decided to stand by his decision. "That''s fine by me then. What about you two?" Taro faced John and Kunjan and asked. "We''re not coming. M''Ba¡­ Charlie is with Shivani now. However, I don''t think he''d want to stay there for more. So, we''re gonna wait for him in our room." Kunjan replied, politely rejecting the offer. "I see. Good luck with that." Taro spoke as the four headed to the school. This is where Thankappan played a part. He dragged Gibli slightly away from the two and gave Taro and Rita some space. Taro was really baffled. He had clearly stated how he didn''t like Rita''s behavior before his roommates. So, he didn''t understand why this guy was trying so hard to do this. Anyway, they got to the school pretty soon as Taro spoke before. Although this wasn''t the case when they walked to the school during school days because Taro liked talking with Shivani and all, in this case, a walk which usually takes two minutes was done in two minutes itself. Rita was pretty disappointed by this, however was still happy since she got an extra two minutes of time around him. Meanwhile, Gibli ran towards the sports room like a child who just received candy. He was excited. He took a badminton racket and was ready to play. "Hey, who''s coming to play against me?" He waved his badminton racket vigorously as he shouted. "I will¡­" Thankappan was about to volunteer since that would mean alone time for Rita and Taro, however Taro yet again interrupted him. "I will play with you, Gibli!" He shouted back, before looking back to Thankappan. "You know I don''t play badminton, right? I''ll just play till I lose and give it back to you." He smiled. "Ha, that''s fine by me. Don''t worry." Thankappan smiled back. He knew that the Wadorian was speaking the truth about not playing badminton. And since he said that he''d just play till he lost, Thankappan was really fine with it. Well, how long can a man go unbeaten, especially when he''s a newbie? Taro held the racket in his hand. He grabbed it with his both hands, trying to figure out which one had a better grip on the racket. However, it seemed as if both were just the same. So, he randomly picked his right hand to play. The first serve was Gibli''s. Since both were basically newbies, Gibli thought of serving a normal one. It all seemed well and good until Taro sent back a bullet of a shot that barely went out of court. Taro sighed as he once again tried to get a better grip of the racket. "I''m sorry. I couldn''t get a grip on this. That''s why it went out of bounds." He gave out a genuine smile. Thankappan felt it. Taro lied. He wasn''t a noob. That wasn''t a mistake. He wasn''t gonna leave the court anytime soon¡­ This is his playground. # Chapter 102: Badminton match Thankappan sighed. He kinda expected that the Wadorian had something up his sleeve. However, he never expected that it would be that he knew how to play badminton all along. It was kinda like a non-essential skill to know. However, right then, it worked in his favor. Anyhow, Thankappan was worried about something else. He knew that the match was gonna be heated as hell, which meant that both their powers might accidentally leak out before a civilian. So, the first thing he did was to take Rita to the high school block''s staff room and promised her that he''ll bring Taro around once he loses his match. Rita was fine with it since she wasn''t that fond of badminton, and she also had to correct the papers of the exams she conducted a few days ago. So, it was a win-win kinda situation for her. Thankappan was relieved as well, since he hadn''t planned any further after this¡ªwhich meant that if she had no right then and forced her way back to the indoor stadium, he would have no choice but to knock her out. So, the MIB agent went back to the stadium/ground to check upon the match. And it was just what he expected¡ªpure madness. The way they played badminton wasn''t something that humans could even comprehend. For instance, Gibli tried aiming for the farthest corner when Taro was in the other corner. Normally, it would''ve been easy points for Gibli. However, Taro accelerated to the other corner at an impossible speed and returned the cork back to Gibli''s court. Such kinda insane things continued to happen in the said game. Gibli wasn''t bad as well. Even though his speed wasn''t top-notch compared to Taro''s, his lanky figure could cover up that weakness. Meanwhile, both seemed like they didn''t have a dominant hand, since they played with both hands the entire game. The first round ended after a whooping one hour of back and forth play, where Taro ended up as the victor with the slightest margin. They were playing for three rounds, so Thankappan had nothing to do but tally the scores which came in after five minutes of rally play. The second round had a similar vibe as the first round¡ªexcept, it was even longer than the first one. It took two hours for this one to end. And this one ended with Gibli winning as well, which meant that they were gonna have that third round as well. Thankappan was suspicious of Taro in this case. He felt as if the Wadorian deliberately lost that round to get that final round. "Wait, you lost! You said that you''ll stop if you lost once!" Thankappan screamed as he thought of what Taro said to him previously. "You''re not gonna go against your word now, are you?" He gave out a smirk as he spoke. "Hmm, you''re right." Taro agreed with Thankappan this time around, which the MIB agent totally didn''t expect. He thought that Taro might''ve refuted his words and tried playing that third round. "Huh, really?" He didn''t even hold back his surprise that time. "Yea. I''m sorry, Gibli! I guess we''ll never have our fated third round." Taro looked gloomy as he spoke. "What the hell are you saying? You''re gonna play the third round with me and there''s no doubt about that!" Gibli confidently proclaimed. "Really?" Taro looked happy for a second, before going back to his gloomy mood. "But Thankappan wouldn''t like it." He replied in a really low voice. "What the¡ªThankappan. You would agree with us having the third round, right?" Gibli turned towards Thankappan and asked. "Ah, yea! Totally!" Thankappan replied subconsciously. He didn''t expect that he himself would end up agreeing with this notion. However, when Gibli asked him like that, he felt as if he couldn''t refuse his request. "See? What did I tell you, Taro?" Gibli laughed like crazy as he felt proud of himself. "You were right, Gibli! And thank you, Thankappan!" Taro glanced at Thankappan and gave out a smile. If someone with no experience in studying expressions of people and the meaning behind it saw Taro''s smile, the person would probably think that his smile was gentle. However, Thankappan knew. It was a smile of victory. He fell into the trap that Taro created. However, at that point, he could only sigh and give back an awful smile. So with Thankappan''s permission, the two of them played the final round. It was as exhilarating as the last two rounds, except the rally was the longest of them all. It was as if they took ten minutes to get one point. So, it took about two and a half hours to get to the match and game point, which was in the favor of Taro. While they began the rally, footsteps were heard from the high school block. It was Rita, who had been waiting for Taro''s arrival all this time. Hours passed, however Taro never came. So, she finally made her way back to where they were playing. "You guys! This is bullshit! You know I just corrected the papers I planned to work on tomorrow. I mean, I gotta go back home now! How many games have you been playing-" She was screaming from the time she was in the corridor; however she stopped doing so once she saw Taro literally soaring in the sky. It was as if she fell in love all over again. "This is their first match." Thankappan whispered low enough for Rita to catch hold of his words. "Wot?" She was dumbfounded. She thought that they would''ve played more than ten games by then, so to hear that this was the first totally surprised her. Anyway, this sudden shock didn''t stop her from watching the final rally¡ªat least, the final one, if Taro won. She understood why the single match took so long. Both looked experienced in this game. However, she couldn''t fathom the level of stamina both had to play nonstop like they did just then. In the end, Taro was the victor with a really narrow margin¡ªliterally, Gibli was this close to saving the match for himself, however he couldn''t reach the cork. While on one side, it was pure elation, on the other, it was heartbreak. However, they did appreciate each other''s efforts as a token of sportsmanship as they shook each other''s hands. "Wow, that was simply seriously amazing! Are you two even humans?" Rita asked, staring at both in awe. Although, she meant it as a compliment, that wasn''t really the case when it came to those two since they were actual aliens. Thankappan thought of even flashing the neuralyzer on her that was given to keep John in check, however stopped himself from doing so. He wasn''t as dumb as his senior who just jumped into conclusions from all the vague terms which hold no substance. He knew she meant it as a compliment, so he stopped himself. Meanwhile, the two aliens gave out a nervous laughter upon hearing such a compliment from the vice principal. After all, she wasn''t wrong about that. "Anyway, I gotta tell you one thing, especially now that I know of your athletic prowess. We got an inter-school teachers sports meet coming up sometime after the flood subsides. Would you be interested in joining it?" Rita asked. The aliens thought for a while before coming up with a decision. "I mean, why not. It''d be pretty fun, right?" Taro chuckled, while Gibli nodded his head in agreement as well. "What about you, Thankappan? Are you interested in joining as well?" Rita posed the question before Thankappan. The MIB agent sighed. It felt as if he didn''t have any choice but to participate since his main job is to monitor the aliens, after all. "Yea, I don''t know how good I''ll be, however I''m in as well." He replied. "Sweet! Our school''s gonna reap some serious shit in that tournament this time around!" Rita spoke as she laughed maniacally. "Umm, yay!" Taro gave out a short cheer before heading to the sports room to keep those rackets back in their original position. "Wait, you''re going?" Rita asked. She thought that they would continue playing. "It''s getting late, right? Don''t you wanna go home as well?" Taro asked. "Ah, I lied about going home. I live in the hostel." She mumbled as if she had some grave backstory behind why she was in the hostel. However, Taro wasn''t interested in that even a bit. "It''s like that, huh? But, we still gotta go home though. So, we''re gonna stop it here." He replied. "I see. Then how about I walk with you to the Holy Land?" She proposed an idea. "Nah. Then you would''ve to return here all alone. You know how that''s dangerous for a young maiden like yourself, right?" Taro smiled. Rita was shocked upon hearing her own words thrown back at her. "Well, you could always walk back with me to the school." She spoke. "Ah, who in their right mind would do something so useless and time-consuming. We''re just gonna head back by ourselves." Taro gave out a stern reply as he waved goodbye at her. The extremely disappointed Rita could only helplessly wave back at this point. # Chapter 103: Lemon tea can make friends "I don''t get it!" Thankappan spoke out loud as the group were walking back to the Holy Land. "What do you not get?" Taro asked. "Rita¡ªwhat do you think of her?" He asked back. "What do you mean?" Taro tilted his head in visible confusion. "She''s cute, right?" Thankappan had a knowing smirk on his face while he asked that. "I guess you can call her cute by human standards. Now that I think about it, I only call little children cute, since they deserve to be called that. So, don''t ask me." Taro shrugged as he spoke. "Ha. So, you do think that she''s cute." Thankappan gave out the conclusion he received from Taro''s words. "That''s an odd thing to say, but yea. You could kinda say that she''s cute." Taro nodded his head in agreement. "Then is there something wrong with her?" Thankappan asked. "Oh, don''t get me started! First of all, that clingy behavior she has pisses me off. Secondly-" Before he could complete his rant, Thankappan jumped back and interfered. "No, I''m not talking about that. I meant if she had something wrong with her¡ªher looks or something like that? I mean, something you don''t like as a Wadorian citizen." He asked. "Not really. If you''re asking me whether she''s appealing to the eye, then yes, she is. If not, then why else would Juan run after her with a rose in his hand?" Taro chuckled while thinking about Juan for some reason. "I see. Nothing wrong with her looks too. Then why the hell are you not getting in a relationship with her. I mean, she''s giving you all the signs, right?" Thankappan almost sounded frustrated as he spoke. "Dude! What the hell''s wrong with you? First of all, I''m a freaking alien. Who''s gonna take responsibility if I fall in love with someone and demand to take her back to my home planet when it''s time for me to return. Will you? No, right?" He asked. "Well, we don''t know how long it would take for you to return to Wados. So, why don''t create some good memories for yourself while you''re here?" Thankappan asked back. This time around, it was the Wadorian''s turn to get frustrated. "Why the hell do you think that good memories can only be formed once you get to a relationship? What kinda stupid logic is that, huh? What? You don''t think good friends can give good memories as well?" He sounded passionate as he asked. "Ah, that''s not what I-" Thankappan tried defending himself and his statement, however before he could do so, his speech was interrupted by Taro. "Secondly, it''s not all about the looks. Sure, Rita might look a bit cute or beautiful even. If you wanna feminize it that way, however, her behavior can''t be tolerated by me. I''m gonna tell you this one time. I don''t judge people by their looks, but their characters. Even if Rita wasn''t this beautiful, but her behavior was polite, if she were to properly ask me out then, I would have said yes. And I would not actively look out for it, since I''m not interested in those sorta things, so I''m gonna say this to you yet again¡ªeven if she was polite, I wouldn''t actively ask her out. So, as of right now, she''s not even in my radar, dude!" Taro replied. "Ha, that''s disappointing." Thankappan sighed. "Why? I don''t get it. Why are you trying so hard with it? Why don''t you just leave me be? You didn''t care about it before, then why now?" Taro questioned. He didn''t like how Thankappan was getting fumed about his personal life. "That¡ªoh, we got here! That was fast! Those guys might be waiting for us! So, let''s not waste our time loitering around talking random shit, shall we?" Thankappan gave out a nervous chuckle as he ran towards #306. Although Taro had things that he wished to speak with Thankappan, he didn''t think of it as that important, so he played along. "Hey, we''re¡ªback?" Thankappan, who gave out an enthusiastic cheer once he opened the door, was surprised by the events that happened before him in live time. "What the hell are you two doing?" He shouted upon seeing John and Kunjan Greco-Roman wrestling on the ground. "Close the doors! Or else this bastard will try to escape." Kunjan cried as he muffled John''s mouth as the MIB veteran tried struggling his way to the door. However, Thankappan listened to Kunjan''s words and closed the door once Gibli and Taro slipped in as well. "Okay, what the hell is happening right here?" Taro, who happened to see this for the first time since he had to rush in under the orders of Thankappan, couldn''t hold off his surprise and asked. "He¡ªthis guy remembered everything!" Kunjan cried as John somehow weaseled his way out of his clutch. "Shit. Catch him¡ªknock him out for all that matters!" Thankappan cried as John slipped him as well. However, once he said that knocking out was fine as well, John''s fate was already decided. When literally centimeters divided John and the door, he was knocked out cold by Taro. His sheer punch was enough to knock his lights out. So, once that was done, John''s unconscious body was dragged into a chair, and he was tied. Thankappan couldn''t use the neuralyzer at this point because the receiver should be conscious upon its use. So, he turned towards the plankton instead. "What the hell happened right here? Are you sure he remembered all the stuff? Or was it some vague bullshit just like what happened with Lonappan back then, huh?" Thankappan was suspicious. He joined in because John was trying to escape and that''s never a good sign. However, he didn''t know the reason behind it. "I''m not kidding. He remembered and was about to call the MIB HQ. However, I threw away his phone and that''s how we ended up like this!" Kunjan replied. "Hmm, I''m still gonna need some explanation. About how this guy actually ended up remembering it. So, are you gonna elaborate the stuff that happened or not?" Thankappan asked. # Few hours ago. It had been quite some time since Taro, Thankappan and Gibli left for the school with Rita on the pretense of playing badminton. Well, Kunjan knew that Gibli wasn''t lying about that and genuinely wanted to play badminton while Taro wasn''t interested at all, but agreed to it because Gibli joined in. The one who did it under a pretense was Thankappan, because the plankton could clearly see the ulterior motive behind the MIB agent''s tagging in. He wasn''t aware of the reason, however he wanted to make Taro and Rita a thing for some reason. So, John and Kunjan were the ones left in #306. Although M''Baku planned to come earlier as well, however Shivani requested them that she wanted to be with him for some more time, so they had to agree with the request. Since they were all alone, and they didn''t have any sorta shared interests, things were getting awkward. Not being able to comprehend this awkward atmosphere, the plankton got up from his seat and went to the kitchen where he got some peace. He then proceeded to make some lemon tea to cool off his mind. For some reason, he had been getting this urge to drink lemon tea every other time. Kunjan suspected that he became an addict to lemon tea. However, since it was working out for him, he decided not to mind it anymore. As long as it works, why mess the system, eh? Since he was making one for himself, he decided to get one for John as well, hoping that he would end up liking tea, thus creating something mutual between them. Although he had served the lemon tea to everyone else in the household, he was never able to serve it for him since John''s arrival was the reason they had to work as teachers and this didn''t work with John''s sleeping schedule. He didn''t want to serve cold lemon tea to John since he considered it the worst. So, this was perhaps the best and only case where he could serve some hot lemon tea for him. "Here, take this!" The plankton placed a mug of the lemon tea before him and spoke. "What is it?" John asked, since he couldn''t recognize the beverage. Lemon tea had a distinct color much like green tea, which John hadn''t tried in his life. "It''s lemon tea. Pretty good tea, if you ask me." Kunjan replied with a smile on his face. "Tea? I don''t drink tea. It''s just bland mud water with no particular taste, isn''t it?" John asked. "You just told bland earlier. You don''t have to specify it twice, you know?" Kunjan sighed. "Well, that''s how much I dislike tea." John replied. "Hmm, don''t judge a book by its cover. Try drinking it. You might actually enjoy it." Kunjan assured. "Ha, I guess I''ll trust your words on this!" John closed his eyes and took a sip of the tea. Suddenly, a bright smile was formed in John''s face. "It''s pretty good!" He spoke while taking another sip out of the mug. "What did I tell ya?" Kunjan smiled as he took a sip of the tea as well. It seemed as if a friendship just bloomed between them, simply because of a lemon tea. # Chapter 104: Johns memories "Wait, what the hell happened then? From what you just told us, it seems like you just became friends. Then how come all this became total shit, huh?" Thankappan asked. "Well, if you just listened to my full tale rather than blocking my words like this, you would''ve understood what happened. Just listen to me now, will ya?" Kunjan sounded furious as he spoke. "Ha, I apologize. You can continue." Thankappan spoke. "Anyway, as you said, everything was fine in the beginning. It seemed as if we were gonna end up as best buds if the streak continued. However, it all took a weird turn just an hour ago." Kunjan spoke as he looked out of the window, reminiscing the events that happened an hour ago. # One hour ago. Both John and the plankton lost count on how many lemon teas they drank. It''s been that long, however, the ones who went away still didn''t come back. What baffled them was even M''Baku didn''t make his way back after all the talks about distancing himself from Shivani and stuff. That''s when the plankton learned that M''Baku mostly pulled that antics just before Taro. He hoped for him to continue doing so without external pressure. "Hey, I''m an alien, so I won''t get diabetes. However, that''s not the case for you now, is it? Just how many cups of tea did you have right now? Can''t remember clearly now, can you? Ha, the sugar has corroded your brain." Kunjan sighed as he tried taking the cup away from John. Although he did show some initial resistance, John did give away his cup. "How long are they gonna take? I mean, how many games are they even playing?" John groaned. "Well, why are you so worried about their return to here?" Kunjan asked. "Hmm, I''m bored, I guess?" John thought for a while and answered. "Why the hell do you think that them returning to the Holy Land will get rid of your boredom, huh? You know why you''re so bored? Because you just kept on waiting for the longest time for no freaking reason. So, if you''re that bored, why don''t you watch the television or something, they''d surely have something that excites you." Kunjan replied. "Well, that would have been the case if you guys had subscribed to all the freaking channels in the cable, you cheapskates!" John sneered. "Oyy! Don''t blame me for that! I''m not the one micromanaging the overall finances of this household! If you gotta blame someone, blame MIB, since they''re a bunch of assholes who keep their money for themselves." The plankton scoffed. "Hey!" John took the insult as if the plankton insulted him on person and was about to confront #69420. However, the plankton was quick to defuse the situation. "Oh, I meant the MIB in the Snehatheeram base. They sure are weird, aren''t they?" He gave out a nervous chuckle. When he noticed that John had receded back to his seat, he considered it his victory. "I guess you''re right about that. Bunch of weirdos." John nodded his head with agreement to Kunjan''s statement. Although Kunjan did feel happy since he got a backing to his outlandish statement, he thought it to be weird that one of the weirdest guys in MIB was calling the Snehatheeram base weird. That was indeed a thing to behold in the plankton''s eyes. "Yea, yea! I know I''m right!" Kunjan decided to play accordingly to the situation. "Ha. I don''t care about that though! Why aren''t they coming?" John snorted. Kunjan was surprised by his confidence on the ones out to kick out the boredom off his life. He was surprised because he never did notice the slight blushing of John''s cheeks. # John was in a dilemma. He saw how actively Thankappan participated in trying to set up Rita with Taro. Normally, it would''ve been fine because he doesn''t care about something trivial like this. However, this time around, he was feeling something iffy. He didn''t know the reason behind it, but it sure did piss him off. He didn''t like it. What fumed him even more was how Thankappan asked him to drop Rita to the school, even when the school was literally minutes away. Although it did anger him, he knew that Taro was not gonna give in to such persuasion ¡ªthat is until he did. He was perplexed because he never expected that from him. Then he learned that it was because Gibli was going along as well and wanted to play badminton. This relieved him just a bit. However, the inclusion of Thankappan into this squad didn''t help his anxiety, since he knew that the guy was planning something. And it did seem like that was the case. Hours passed; yet they saw no sign of them. Although the thing from the plankton civilization assured him that they''d be just playing badminton, John couldn''t help but envision Thankappan playing shenanigans and isolating Taro and Rita in some way. Who knows, alone time with a person¡ªespecially one from the opposite gender could change the feelings that one has for that person. Yet again, John didn''t know why he worried about this case¡ªhe just made himself believe that he was worrying about it because he worried about hiding the existence of aliens from people. If Taro is gonna date Rita and somehow reveal to her that he''s an alien, that would cause a lot of annoyance for the entirety of MIB. That would mean that before things escalate any further, he''d have to flash the¡ªJohn suddenly forgot what he was planning to do with Rita. However, he didn''t think much of it, because moments like these, where he suddenly forgets what he was thinking was pretty usual these days. He didn''t know the reason behind it, however since he didn''t think much of it as well, he never dug deep into it. Anyway, he wanted Taro to return home and as soon as possible for the alien community on the Earth and MIB¡ªbut most importantly, for himself. # "Ah, I remember now! Wados has something quite similar to badminton of this world. The people over in that planet are super crazy about it¡ªjust imagine the football craze in this world; it''s something like that. And as of Gibli, he''s naturally athletic; so he''d pose a good challenge against the badminton crazed Taro. I guess they''d be smashing twenty or thirty minute rallies right now. Because if it''s them, that sorta thing is possible!" Kunjan gave out an exciting tidbit to raise the morale of the annoyed John. And it did work! However, not in the way Kunjan expected. "Smashing¡­" He mumbled the word repeatedly. Somehow, he felt as if the word had some other meaning than two men playing badminton. Something more¡ªsomething that he forgot. "Ah, yea¡­ Smashing." Kunjan gave out an awkward laughter when he heard John repeatedly mumble that word. "Hey, what do you think? Taro would be totally flashing his badminton style against Gibli right now¡ªright?" The plankton pulled off some words that he''d never say in a lifetime just because he knew about this weird infatuation that John had for Taro. "Flashing¡­" Yet again, John mumbled one of the words that #69420 spoke and this time as well, the word seemed to unlock some of the innermost memories of his that had been locked away previously. "Yup. He''d be flashing like that!" Once again, the plankton followed the mumble with an awkward laughter. "I see. Just like you lot flashed the neuralyzer on me, not once¡ªbut twice?" John followed it up with an insane laugh while Kunjan glanced at him all dumbfounded. "Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" Kunjan tilted his head. "Ha! Don''t act like you don''t know shit! I was-" He was about to say something, before he was cut short by the plankton. "Yea, I know you were flashed. However, it wasn''t like I was the one who did it to you." Kunjan replied. "I know that! But, you get the point on what I''m trying to say, right?" John sighed upon hearing Kunjan''s side. It''s not like he ever stopped the MIB maniacs from doing that injustice on him. The plankton sighed. "So, you remember everything?" He asked. "Yup. I clearly remember how Taro ''smashed'' through that wall in that karate tournament!" He spoke with a smile on my face. "Shoot! That''s why you were mumbling smash back then, huh?" He sighed yet again. "Exactly! And now, thanks to you jogging my memory back, I''m gonna snitch on those guys to the ones in the HQ. It''d be pretty fun to see what''s gonna happen to them then." John gave out yet another maniacal laughter, before making the stupid decision of showing off his smartphone before the plankton. However, in his defense, he was confident that Kunjan wouldn''t be able to snatch the phone off him. Little did he expect the "plankton" to actually crack open the exoskeleton of his and grab his phone away from him and head back into his exoskeleton all in one go. Well, even if he had expected that, he wouldn''t have definitely expected the small plankton to have an insane amount of strength. Hence, he was truly defeated in all aspects in that particular case. # Chapter 105: Kunjans weakness "Huh, you stupid plankton! Give me my phone back!" John screamed as he tried snatching his phone back. However, it was already inside Kunjan''s exoskeleton. So, he had no other choice but to go on a one-on-one fight against the war veteran. "Ah, you''re actually planning to attack me, huh? You know that you can''t physically damage me, right?" Kunjan gave out a chuckle. "Oh, I know. And that''s why I''m gonna do some mental damage on you!" John proclaimed. "Ah, trust me. I''m quite immune to mental damage as well. I mean, at least I got better after getting tortured by Lonappan." He shrugged. "Tell me, how did Lonappan torture you?" John asked. "Why? So you get to do the same against me as well? Unfortunately, that''s not gonna work, so I might as well tell ya!" The plankton ended up telling him about that one day, since he was confident that John wouldn''t be able to harm with that sorta information. However, John''s expression differed from what he had expected. John was laughing as if he heard something hysterical. It had a tone of mockery as well, which Kunjan didn''t find tasteful. "Haha! Are you kidding me? He tortured you by showing some random shows which makes no sense plot-wise? I mean, I guess it might''ve tortured you a bit back then, however he seemed to have missed the point. I don''t think that''s the right one if he wanted to torture you. Seems like his information network was limited, unlike me who got to see it all in first hand." John continued laughing after he spoke. "What do you mean? I don''t have any other things that could inflict mental damage on me and that''s a fact!" Kunjan tried defending himself, Lonappan and his information source M''Baku in a single turn. "Oh my, over confident now, are we? Do you really think you don''t have any other weaknesses? Well, I know of one. It might seem extremely meager in someone else''s eyes, however those meager weaknesses are a goldmine in my hands." John replied. "What is it? Aren''t you going to show me my weakness now?" Kunjan asked. "Sure, sure! If you''re begging me for it; I don''t have any choice!" He took the lemon tea that had been refilled for the umpteenth time and drizzled it onto the ground. "Don''t you dare!" Rather than getting tortured, such actions enraged the plankton. The same lemon tea which seemed to bring forth a friendship between the two was being trashed right before him. It was disrespectful in the plankton''s eyes. "Oh, getting irked now, are we?" If a random person viewed this scene, they would think that the two were acting like little children. However, little would they know about the psychological warfare that was happening before their eyes. "Plankton, think about it. I''m pouring your favorite lemon tea on the floor that you carefully mopped yesterday. You know that the lemon tea could be a bit sticky in this kinda cheap tile, right? Wonder how much it''ll get messed up if you don''t clean it soon." John spoke with a serious look this time around. "You bastard! You evil bastard!" #69420 mumbled, which delighted John. "Ah, feeling tortured now, are we? What about your previous statement, huh? About how you have nothing that could inflict mental damage, huh? Feeling the pain now?" He asked. Kunjan bit his lip in anger and tried running towards the mop he kept nearby to mop the mess that John made. However, then came the dilemma. If he just blindly ran towards the mop, John would actually escape through the front door. So, he walked carefully towards the said mop while monitoring John, which ended up proving to be a tiring task. Seeing John drizzle the tea to the ground was excruciating. The plankton endured it as he finally got to the mop. Once he got hold of that, he ended up running towards John. However, he was late. John dropped the cup onto the floor, causing it to break. So now, it wasn''t just the tea; it had broken shards of the cup on top of it as well. Kunjan blamed himself for this event, even though he knew that there wasn''t anything he could do to save the cup from its inevitable demise. It was the sad truth that he wasn''t willing to accept. While the plankton mourned for the cup''s death, John tried creating more havoc. He threw the newspapers that Kunjan had carefully placed and made a mess out of it. He tried pushing down the glass stand that had a multitude of things, including the television into the ground; however, before he could do so, Kunjan stopped it. Although the mess made by the papers remained, at least the most valuable and clean stuff was saved, which made Kunjan a bit relieved. However, that relief just covered a small portion of his mind. Unfiltered rage filled the rest of his mind. After setting the glass stand back up, the plankton rushed towards John and spear tackled him right into the shards of the cup he dropped to the ground. When those shards pierced through John''s skin, a loud cry was heard from his side. John tried wriggling to get those shards out, however it only helped in its way in going deeper inside John''s skin. While this happened, Kunjan was actively trying to get some punches on John as well, which meant that it was hell for John on both sides. He struggled to push the plankton aside, however the exoskeleton was exceptional. For the longest time, the duo wrestled in the ground. At times, John miraculously escaped Kunjan''s clutches and tried wreaking havoc. Whenever John escaped, he threw stuff that Kunjan carefully arranged and made a mess. And when he couldn''t escape, he used his legs to kick the glass stand that he previously tried to push down. However, whenever he tried that, the plankton wouldn''t sit still as well. He actively blocked John''s advances in destroying the stuff he arranged with precision. And the reinforced exoskeleton made sure that he won the match-up every single time. It came to a point that it ended up as a stalemate. Neither of them had any sorta upper hand against the other, no matter how much they tried. However, they were nowhere close to giving up. Both hoped for some momentary distraction which could cause the other to lose their focus. And that came by the arrival of the ones who came back from the school. Kunjan got distracted for a second from their arrival and John got his window to escape. However, the thing he didn''t consider was the mighty Wadorian named Taro. Although he thought it to be a momentary distraction to his favor, little did he know that it was actually in the opposition''s favor. Taro stopped him dead in his tracks, and his advances were quickly dealt with. It seemed as if John wasn''t lucky that day. # "Ha¡ªyou''re saying to me that he got triggered by the words ''smashing'' and ''flashing''. What''s up with this dude''s triggers?" Thankappan sighed. "Well, at least we know which words to not use before him." Taro spoke in a hopeful tone. "So, are we gonna tell Lonappan about this?" The plankton asked, to which he received a negative reaction from the ones surrounding him. "Are you kidding me? Remember how we trashed him back then when he flashed John back then? What do you think he''s gonna do now?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, but John didn''t actually show signs that he regained his memory back then, did he? However, this time around, we got proof!" The plankton argued. "Well, that''s something we can''t say for sure. He would argue that he diffused the situation before it could grow into something grave¡ªlike what happened right here. He could easily argue that he''s the sole reason that such a thing didn''t happen back then and gloat about it." Thankappan spoke. He looked annoyed, thinking about the mess that Lonappan might create if he knew about this event. "So, we won''t inform Lonappan about it, huh? Is everyone fine with it?" Kunjan asked, to which everyone else nodded their heads. "However, there''s still a problem though!" Taro spoke up. "Hmm, what would that be?" The plankton asked. "The neuralyzer. This would be the third time that we use it on him, right? Why didn''t he have some sorta side effect from its use? I mean, using twice is supposed to have some kinda side effect, right?" Taro asked. "Oh, he has high mental strength. That''s why-" Thankappan''s words were cut short by Taro. "Yea, I know that. And what do you think will happen if we flashed it for the third time? I can only think of two possibilities. He might end up forgetting everything as part of the neuralyzer''s side effect or he''d be totally fine, which would be totally weird. I mean, if that happens, don''t you think the effect of the neuralyzer on him would be totally nullified at some point? I mean, it''s a possibility, right? Think about it." Taro spoke, which brought forth a tough decision for the group. # Chapter 106: Terror of Thankappan "Nah, it''ll be fine!" Thankappan assured him. He sounded really confident for some reason as he patted Taro''s shoulders. "How can you be so sure?" Taro asked, clearly confused about Thankappan''s strange confidence. "Well, it''s not that I''m sure about it. It''s just that we''re all screwed equally if it doesn''t work out in our favor." Thankappan replied. Suddenly, the hand that he used to pat Taro''s shoulders quivered. "Ha, what happens when-" Taro was about to put forth the possibility of everything crumbling down. However, before he could complete his sentence, Thankappan clamped his shoulders even tighter than before, asking him to stop. "Just, no. We don''t have the luxury to think about the future. Look, he''s coming to his senses." Thankappan spoke as he pointed towards John. # John slowly opened his eyes. It seemed as if Taro knocked him out for a very long time. The surroundings were so bright for him. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a good look at the people before him. However, he didn''t have to guess their identities, since he already knew who they were. "You bastards!" John screamed as he tried lunging towards the people before him. However, he was unsuccessful in doing so. He noticed that they tied him down to the chair. Since that was the case, he didn''t struggle too much and receded back to the chair, since he didn''t want to waste too much energy. He was planning to escape, so every bit of energy was important to him. "Ooh, thinking of escaping now, are ya?" The one who stood in the middle approached really close to John and gave out a smile. It was Thankappan. "Piss off!" John tried spitting at him, however Thankappan dodged it. "Hey, why would you do that now, huh? I don''t wanna get some weird illness from your spit! Hmm, what do we do about it then? Well, we''ll make you clean it after we flash you one more time!" Thankappan''s smile grew even more sinister as he continued speaking. John was trying to conserve his energy. However, upon hearing this statement from Thankappan, he could no longer keep it quiet. "Fucking¡ªI''ll kill you! I''ll kill you all! How can you be so careless? You fuckers flashed twice at me. Including the orientation, this would be my third time getting flashed. Do you even know how dangerous that is?" He asked. "Yes." Thankappan gave out a straightforward reply. This enraged John even more. "Then why would you do that, huh? I would''ve ended up with no memories of literally anything. Not just the shenanigans you pulled out in that tournament." He screamed. "Hmm, so?" Thankappan tilted his head, as if he was not getting John''s point. "Huh?" "Why would we care about that?" He asked. "Argh! MIB handbook. You remember the rules, right? They do not allow you to flash the neuralyzer on a fellow agent because it might prove fatal. It''s an official rule! Do you even know the punishment for doing such a thing? You would all lose your jobs. Hell, you might as well be imprisoned or killed for hiding the truth about that alien right there!" John spoke as he pointed towards Taro. Thankappan thought for a while before replying. "So, what you''re saying is that even if we are to leave you without flashing you for the third¡ªfourth time to be exact, you''d end up snitching on us and get us imprisoned or killed, huh? Well, here I was thinking of not flashing you, expecting you to keep your silence on it or get an immunity for us, at least. But, now that''s all in the drain!" Thankappan sighed. John just realized the opportunity he missed. Had he lied, he would''ve been able to escape without harm. However, now he messed that up as well. "Ah, I did not mean¡ªyou know what? I''ll get you that immunity. Hell, I won''t even speak of this incident, or any, as a matter of fact. So, is that offer still up?" He asked, giving out one of the most innocent voices he could pull off. After hearing this, Thankappan sighed yet again. "Ha, should''ve lied when you had the chase, man! You sound too desperate now."He shook his head in disappointment towards John''s attempt. John knew it as well¡ªthe line was to incite him and give him the slightest of hopes. It didn''t hold any sorta meaning or weight behind it. It was hollow as the man who spouted it was. "Very well. Why aren''t you flashing the neuralyzer on me? Why drag it out this long?" He asked. "Wha¡ªI''m not dragging it out! You were the one asking questions! You know what, I''m just gonna straight-up flash it at this point!" Thankappan proclaimed as he brought the neuralyzer before John''s face and wore the sunglasses. Although Thankappan sounded confident as he shoved the neuralyzer, his face and body language relayed his intentions to John. He looked concerned about something, and this was John''s best shot at doing something. He kicked Thankappan in the knees, causing him to go down. John followed it up by kicking the ground and doing a barrel roll with the chair. He then grabbed the neuralyzer off Thankappan and didn''t waste a single moment to flash it on him since he didn''t want to miss the angle he was on. "Ah¡ªthe aliens are trying to kill us both. We are best buds! You were about to save me when the Wadorian kicked you in the knees. If we don''t report this to the HQ, it''s gonna be the end of us both!" John screamed, hoping that some of it would get relayed to Thankappan, who would''ve got his memory wiped by now. However, when he stopped tumbling, he realized. There was a man shielding Thankappan from the neuralyzer''s rays. It was Taro who came in for the clutch-save. Since that happened, John tried to do it once more as he twisted his hand back to adjust the position of the neuralyzer. However, before he could do anything with it, the plankton took it off his hands, while Gibli made him sit back in an upright position. "Well, divide and conquer, huh? Quite a good plan, other than if you think about it a bit more and you''ll find it completely stupid! I was wearing the glasses, for Pete''s sake! And even if the glasses fall off and you hit me after the ray slipping through Taro''s defense, even then it wouldn''t matter. I might stand by you for the time being not knowing the truth behind your words, however we''ll get trashed by these three if that happens! What were you even thinking?" Thankappan asked, as he dusted himself and got up. "You see, that was the problem. I didn''t get any time to think. That was my only chance, and I made use of it." John replied. "I see. Splendid effort¡ªnot enough to mess anything, but great effort. Now,don''t worry about anything and just sit still as I do this!" Thankappan once again shoved the neuralyzer between them, although this time around, he kept it at a considerable distance from John, which made John smile. John hadn''t given up. He wasn''t planning to until he actually ends up getting flashed. So, instead of giving his consent to flash the neuralyzer on him, he instead closed his eyes shut as hard as he could, trying to make this process as difficult as possible. "This guy! What are you doing? Are you trying to play the long game? You know it won''t work, right? Why are you even struggling, huh? Last ditch effort? It''s gonna amount to nothing¡ªyou know that, right?" Thankappan groaned in annoyance. However, John didn''t give him a reply. Instead, he continued what he did, not giving Thankappan an obvious chance to flash the neuralyzer on him. He felt immense satisfaction doing this. Although John looked pleased, the others surrounding weren''t. Thankappan was getting more annoyed as the minutes ticked on. "Okay, screw it! You''re gonna play this game? Fine! We''re gonna force your eyes open then!" He proclaimed as he signaled Taro to do the dirty deed. John''s struggles didn''t last too long upon the involvement of the Wadorian. He seamlessly opened the eyes that were previously forced shut, to the point that John was afraid that Taro might accidentally end up bleeding his eyes. Since Taro made his job easier, Thankappan felt at ease as he brought forth the neuralyzer¡ªthis time around, brimmed with confidence. However, before he could actually flash it on John, someone interrupted him. "Ha, sorry guys! I''m late. I mean, Shivani wasn''t leaving me alone for some reason¡ªwhat the hell are you guys doing?" M''Baku asked with horror clearly depicted in his face. He didn''t get why John was tied to a chair and why Taro was holding the man''s eyes as if he was gonna tear it off. He was confused at this point. "M''Baku. Leave. You never saw this, okay?" Thankappan spoke in such an ominous tone that he had no choice but to shake his head as he ran back to Shivani''s room. He learned of the terror that was Thankappan. From that day forward, he did his best to not get on the MIB agent''s wrong side. # Chapter 107: Torturer to Admirer After Thankappan scared off M''Baku, he got back to John and this time around wasted no time to just flash the neuralyzer on him. "Is it done?" Taro asked as he slowly took his hands off John''s eyes. "Yup, he''s in a trance now. So before I force him to wake up, make sure to untie him and stuff." Thankappan ordered. "But, what if he remembers everything anyway and maybe acts before us as if he forgot everything?" Gibli posed the question. "Hmm, we''d be screwed then. Hope that isn''t the case and the Gods are with us on this!" Thankappan muttered. "Damn. I never knew you believed in God." Taro chuckled. He knew that every planet has their own version of Gods just like his planet had. However, when the citizens of the said planet comes face-to-face with an extraterrestrial being, their faith in the God that they worship usually disappears. So, it was kinda weird for him to see a man who deals with aliens on a day-to-day basis, hoping that God would help him. "Well, I don''t. It''s just that at times like these, there''s no one else more reliable than the one above. I mean, there''s nothing much we can do but to hope for a miracle, right?" Thankappan asked. "Yea. I guess that makes sense. You call out God only on times when you need a miracle." Taro replied. "Yup. That''s right!" Thankappan nodded his head. "Now, the ropes. Loosen it slowly¡ªlike, really slow." He ordered. Taro squatted down and went to work with the tight knot that was in John''s hand. Meanwhile, Lonappan stood there, trying to plan out a credible lie about the situation. "Ah, got it! Okay. John, you and Kunjan were having lemon tea. The plankton thought that it was getting late and went out to bring everyone back home. He went to Shivani''s room and brought back M''Baku. After that he headed towards the school to bring the rest." Thankappan took a breather before he continued. "However, that was when the problem began. M''Baku didn''t like how you were just sitting there drinking lemon tea and was extremely bored as well¡ªso, as to nag you, he tried messing up everything in this place and hence this mess. He then knocked you out with your own mug. The last scene you saw before closing your eyes was M''Baku going back to sleep after wreaking all the havoc. The end." Thankappan concluded to which the aliens applauded, since his story making skill was insane under such a pressured situation. "Now, since this shit is dealt with, let''s go meet the most important piece of this puzzle!" Thankappan spoke as he walked towards the door, however stopped midway for some reason. "M''Baku, I know you''re out there trying to hear the conversation. So, why don''t you just get your ass out here since you know your role already." He spoke in a voice so commanding that M''Baku had no choice but to resurface before him. "Are you sure about it? I''m a terrible actor, you know? I might just mess it up and trigger his memory back." The canino warned. "Well, how hard is it for you to plop back into the ground and just lay down completely still? You acted like a fucking dog before Shivani all this time, didn''t you? So, don''t say that you lack acting chops!" Thankappan spoke. "I mean, acting like a dog is kinda simple because canino is the same as them in some sorts." M''Baku spoke. "As if! Do caninos piss when they see an electric post too? No, right? But you shed your shame and did it before Shivani, didn''t you? And I''m not here asking you to give out an Oscar worthy performance. Just go down to one corner and just lie down and do absolutely nothing!" Thankappan barked the orders. Rattled by the MIB agent''s words and the previous actions that he got to see, M''Baku agreed to do it without much of a fuss about it. Now, all that they had to do was to put the plan into action. For that, they took the rope with which they tied John and nimble footedly walked back to the front of the door. They would soon set the plan in action. # .... It was all dark for John. He couldn''t get a clear memory of what just happened. Something did, but he couldn''t get a hold of it. He knew that he wouldn''t get the answers he was looking for if he was to close his eyes like right then. So, he attempted to open them, revealing his beautiful red eyes which complemented his unreal blonde hair. He looked around and all he could see was a colossal mess. Newspapers, lemon tea that had been integrated to the floor and shards of glasses and the writhing pain in his back. It was a horror to even walk in such a situation. Seeing this, a question arose in his mind.Who did this? No matter how much he raked his mind, he couldn''t find the answer¡ªthat is, until he spotted M''Baku sleeping peacefully in the room''s corner as if nothing happened. He then remembered it. Him having tea; M''Baku ruining it; them getting into a big brawl and in the end, him eventually losing because the canino pulled off a dirty trick by hitting him with his mug rather than his own hands. Although he couldn''t remember the exact scenes of these events, which kinda felt suspicious to him, he could describe it no matter how many times he wanted. Anyway, it enraged him. He knew how much the plankton cared about the interior of the room since he''s the one who does all the work. So, he thought that there was no excuse for either of them to give to the plankton when he returns home. While he was contemplating what to do in this situation, he heard a loud thumping by the front door. No, he had actually been hearing it ever since he woke up, however he noticed it right then. He knew for a fact that it was the plankton and the ones who went to the school that were banging the door. This meant that he had no time to clear up the mess before him. He was so angry about it that he glared at the canino for a few good seconds before opening the door. What he didn''t notice was the sweat drops pouring out of M''Baku who couldn''t handle the pressure of such a situation. "Yo, John! How are you¡ªOh, my God! What''s up with this mess?" Thankappan brought forth his A-game when it came around to him acting surprised. "Ah, you see. Me and that bastard had a slight miscommunication and ended up having a really small fight." John replied, giving out a light chuckle. "Damn, if a small fight brings in this much havoc, I don''t wanna see you in a massive fight!" Thankappan laughed. "Massive fight¡­" John mumbled as if he was missing a huge point. Everyone in the room noticed it and tried their level best to deviate John from his actions and thoughts. The first one to actually act upon it was Thankappan, who tried rectifying his own error. "Hey plankton, what do you think about it? I mean, you''re the one who''s always doing the major chores, right? I thought you''d have an opinion about it!" He shifted everyone''s attention to the plankton, including John''s. "Ah, #69420! I''m sorry. We messed up. Shouldn''t have done that. It''s totally our fault." John bowed his head and apologized. Meanwhile, the rest of them sighed because they could successfully deviate John from triggering anything. Now, everyone looked towards the plankton, hoping that he wouldn''t mess it up after everything they did. "Hmm, I''m fine with it! I mean, it IS a mess, however it''s nothing that we can''t just clean up. So, don''t worry about it." The plankton spoke with a bright smile on his face. Seeing the goodwill from the plankton, John''s eyes were almost brimmed with tears. He felt as if the plankton was an angelic existence, since he gave him a lot of lemon tea and now, he was saving his as well. In his eyes, no one seems to do things like that. However, had he known about the fights they had, he wouldn''t have been thinking so highly of the plankton. Kunjan''s situation was exactly the opposite. Seeing the one who vowed to torture him look at him with utmost respect was something that he couldn''t handle. He tried averting his eyes from him, since whenever he saw the look dawned on John''s face, he would subconsciously be reminded of the sinister look that he showed him just a few hours ago. Meanwhile, the happiest one to come out from this exchange was Thankappan. Not only did he save the day, he did it before Lonappan came to know about it. He also saved himself from a potential screw up that happened earlier. So, to see everything going according to plan was just sublime for him. He felt peaceful after this event. He hoped that this peace lasts long. He didn''t want another mess up to happen anytime soon. # Chapter 108: Exams After the John debacle, the days went relatively smoothly, with Lonappan never learning about that stuff. Initially Thankappan was suspicious that M''Baku might leak it to him, given that he got some kinda reward. However, he was surprised to see the canino not sparking another feud. Rather, he looked towards him with respect and fear, a feeling that the MIB agent appreciated. Since M''Baku wasn''t considered a threat to their current peace anymore, Thankappan''s attention reversed towards John. He was still suspicious of John. He couldn''t decipher whether John was acting so to avoid suspicion or if the neuralyzer actually worked. Because the neuralyzer working would be a bigger surprise than John faking it. Ever since flashing the neuralyzer twice on John, the scientist back in MIB confiscated the device they used on him to check whether it was the device or the man who created this miracle. Instead of that one, they handed a totally different one to Thankappan. And that was the one he flashed on John, which proved that the man was the wonder and not the apparatus. Anyway, peace descended in the Holy Land household. No one had basically anything to do. They tried turning on the television, however the signal was busted because of the flood causing problems to the cable services. So, instead they placed their trust on their internet, which thankfully worked, saving them from boredom. So, for the entire time it flooded Kerala, the lads ended up playing games on their mobiles. Maybe it was the boredom affecting Shivani as well. She didn''t let M''Baku off her sight for the most part. The canino made a promise to himself that he would not spend a lot of time with her once the school opens since he might go back into obscurity. The flood lasted for a week¡ªthe more wide scale one. Since the floods weren''t completely done yet, the school gave out an extra week as a holiday. However, they warned the kids that there would be an exam once they return to school. This warning made both the students and teachers busy. The sudden announcement of an exam sent the students into a panic and they burrowed inside their textbooks. Meanwhile, this announcement was out of nowhere, so the teachers went on panicking as well to prepare the papers¡ªwell, most of them did. For the English teachers, this part was relatively simple compared to correcting the papers, since they directly copied most of the parts from the internet or the guidebooks. Since no one bats an eye because it''s English and the fact that their board exam papers were done in a similar fashion as well, it was perfectly fine for them to do this. So, rather than a panic like the room opposite to them was going through, the guys from #306 were having a good time. They were the only ones genuinely excited for the reopening of the school. # The day of the reopening swung by and they were about to excitedly run off to school, however Thankappan stopped them. He was still in his coincidence routine. He waited for Shivani to walk out of the room and do the same schtick he did for a long time now. "Hey, Shivani! What a-" Before he could complete his greetings, he noticed her face. It was haggard. The bags under her eyes, her looks, everything. It looked as if she went on a mad run to some place. "What happened to you?" He asked. However, her timing of response was late since she couldn''t really notice her surroundings. It was early morning, and she started it with being tired as heck. "Oh, it''s you guys! How are you doing? What happened to me, you ask? A series of long sleepless nights happened." She gave out a faint smile as she walked in front, before anyone else could take that spot. She didn''t even give a damn about wearing the shoes right. Everything was pretty shambolic in her case. The lads gave her the much needed space that she yearned for and walked a few steps behind her. They were genuinely concerned about her wellbeing. M''Baku had previously told them about what was happening back in her house, about how she went on a learning spree. However, they didn''t expect such a drastic change to happen. They didn''t make a single noise as they walked towards the school. Thankappan accidentally coughed once, but felt pressured by the atmosphere and never coughed again. Once they reached the school, they could hear Shivani mumbling something out of anger as she stared at someone. The guy she was staring darts at was Juan, who was frolicking around as if that day was the best one of his life. This seriously pissed her off. While she had to mess up her entire sleep schedule, Juan was just plainly messing around since he knew he''d get the top marks by doing basically nothing. The envy and rage she felt towards Juan was immense. She just walked towards Juan, grabbed him by his years and walked towards their class as poor Juan wailed in pain. He didn''t even know why she was acting like that. The best explanation he could think of was that she was jealous of him going after another woman. Thinking that was the case, Juan gave out a slightly haughty chuckle, which wasn''t that well received by Shivani as she tightened her grasp on his ears, causing him to further wail in pain. # That day was a tiring one in both the students'' and teachers'' perspective. While the students have to continuously write the exams for the entire day, the teachers had to run across the classes to supervise them. It was an absolute pandemonium, which both the parties survived by sheer willpower. So, it came out as a surprise when the principal announced that the arts day was upon them in a week''s time. It was truly a joyous moment for the students who went through one of the biggest trials placed before them. However, for the teacher, it was more of a nightmare than anything. Not only do they have to correct the papers, but they have to do the preparations for the arts day as well. Almost all the teachers inwardly sighed as they listened to the principal''s announcement. The aliens and Thankappan didn''t mind this situation, though. They were really bugged about the lack of work recently, so this was pretty great for them. Without their own knowledge, they had somehow turned into workaholics. Although an entire day went through, Shivani was still pissed at Juan for some reason. However, at this point, Juan accepted the hatred with little opposition, thinking that it''s the things one gotta suffer from being famous and well-liked by his peers. Shivani didn''t like how smug he looked, however it wasn''t like she could do something about it other than stop her fury at him. She learned that the more angry she got, the more smug Juan got. So, in the end, she decided to completely avoid him to some extent. The lads returned home. Unlike them. John had quite a busy time in the MIB: Snehatheeram base during the floods¡ªat least, after the events that happened that day. Snehatheeram base had secluded itself into an underground base for the time being since it was too close to a beach area. However, they somehow let most of their field agents in to do the cleaning and unfinished desk job. There were just a few alien events during the floods, so that was the best time to do the task such as that. Since John was MIB and free as hell, he was invited for the job as well. Normally, Thankappan would''ve gone as well, however, since there were aliens to babysit, Lonappan and John were the ones that went for the monsoon cleaning. And now, since the floods had subsided, normalcy returned to the MIB as they reverted to a proper base, rather than just the underground one. Thankappan was initially jealous of John, however, now that he got work to do, he couldn''t focus on being jealous like that. He instead worked his ass off at correcting the papers and completed that in record speed. Seeing this speed, the aliens were hyped up as well, as they checked the papers in record speed as well. However, they later realized that they were checking an English paper which doesn''t have a fixed answer for any question unlike science or history, so they inspected the papers once more thoroughly. Even with the rechecking, the time they took was still a day, which was kinda impressive compared to other teachers. It surprised the students when they got their English papers the day after giving out the test. The aliens and Thankappan were relieved as well, since only a fewstudents argued with them about their marks, which either meant they did a good job or that the student was afraid of approaching them. Either way, they were happy with what they did and were looking forward to the Arts day. # Chapter 109: Deal with the devil Arts day was closer than ever before. Even though it was called Arts DAY, it was more like a week-long event. The school decided that they would do literary competitions beforehand so that the kids who participated in multiple programs would find it easy. Thankappan and the aliens, who thought of enjoying this event, couldn''t do so. Since it was the literary event first, the English teachers were asked to be the judges for literally every single competition in English, which turned out to be a pretty excruciating task. The amount of crap that kids wrote infuriated them all. By crap, it doesn''t mean grammatical errors or stuff like that. Some self-proclaimed "rebels" who liked to go against the rules, decided to put in weird-ass stuff just so that they could get back at the system. These rebels didn''t place their names though, since they were afraid of getting caught. However, finding them was a piece of cake for their not-so-normal teachers. Even though that was the case, they didn''t want to spend their time looking for brats who thought that they were doing something good. Anyway, the appearance of such shit posting entries caused much trouble for them. Someone wrote about an idle student when the topic was about an ideal student¡ªalthough, in that one particular case, they thought that it was an honest mistake because the kid had written his name, detailing the harms of becoming an idle student. However, this wasn''t the case for those rebels though. Their usual topics were love letters to Mrs. Veronica, their hatred towards the principal and some even professed their love towards Rita. Taro was amazed by reading this. "Wow!" He muttered. "What happened?" Thankappan, the one sorting out the good entries from the shit posts, asked. "Well, I never knew that Rita was this popular among students. I mean along with Mrs. Veronica, many students who said that they loved Rita." He replied, giving out a light chuckle. Kids who should be having their first crushes were straight-up professing their love towards someone. Taro found this situation amusing. He wondered if that was just the case of Keralites or if the entire planet was like that. Thankappan sighed. "Of course she''s famous among the students! Good behavior and looks, and moreover she''s single. She''s more capturable of a target than Mrs. Veronica who''s married." He replied. "Don''t talk in otome game terms just because you''re playing it recently for some odd reason. Calling her a capture target for students is plain weird." Taro spoke. "Hmm, I guess I made the wrong choice of words. However, don''t trash my choices like that. I play otome games because I like them. There''s nothing wrong with a man liking something! It''s his choice!" He argued. "Sure, sure! I was just talking about the word choice. I apologize if I offended you in some manner." Taro bowed his head in apology. "Apology accepted!" The MIB agent gave out a bright smile. "Anyway, I guess you''re right about Rita. However, I don''t think these kids would think of her as someone approachable if they knew about her true nature. Just imagine. She''d be like this with everyone who gets close to her, right? It''s plain creepy." Thinking about Rita clinging on him gave Taro chills. "Dude, it''s just before you!" All of them including the aliens thought almost simultaneously as he spoke. However, they knew Taro was aware of it but was denying it as if it''s her usual behavior. So, they decided not to speak about it and cause a debate among themselves when this was the first time they got to hang out in school together like this. So, for the rest of the time, they just didn''t talk about it and went on with their judging. It was a pretty pleasant experience, other than having to read some of the letters. # Once the judging was over, the gang decided to do something fun. They decided to hand over the confessions for the concerned teachers to read. However, they decided that they would never give the principal those hatred letters they got. While confessions could be flattering, hate letters could have an adverse effect. They could see the principal going on a school-wide search to find the writer of the said letter to reprimand him. When the time came around to hand those letters to the teachers, it was quickly decided without opposition that Taro would be the one giving them to Rita. While Taro thought that his friends were conspiring against him, it was just that they couldn''t imagine facing the wrath of Rita if anyone except Taro gave them. Rita; she was a peculiar character in their eyes. Although Taro was only able to see the helping and clingy side of her, the lads were also able to see an entirely different side. What Taro said back then was true. If the kids learn of her REAL behavior, no one would''ve even dared to write such love letters in her name. ¡­ It all happened a few weeks back. Taro was late to school that day because he was the last one to go to the toilet and the one before him, Gibli, took his sweet ass time. Taro didn''t shower since he hated the sensation of it anywhere on his skin. Like he''s fine drinking it, however just imagining it on his skin¡ªwe''re going way off-topic. Anyway, since he was the last and Shivani happened to go to the school a bit early that day, Thankappan betrayed his trust and continued with the coincidence routine. It wasn''t just Thankappan though. The aliens betrayed him as well. He expected at least Gibli to wait for him since he was the one who made him late, however even he turned his back. The aliens thought of it as a light prank on the Wadorian since it was a planned event, however, they never thought that they would end up regretting that decision entirely. When they reached school, they noticed that Rita was looking around for someone. Taro had previously talked about this, so they knew that the one she was searching for was Taro. Although they didn''t understand why Taro wouldn''t give a damn about Rita''s advances, they never directly tried hooking up with her or something because that decision was something that Taro himself should take. "Yo, Miss Rita! Waiting for someone?" Thankappan looked around and giggled as he asked. "Well, yea. I was waiting for Taro. He¡ªhe took some notes from me yesterday. I wanted that back." She made an excuse on the spot. "Hmm, but you''re a math teacher though. Why would he need your notes?" Thankappan asked, tilting his head sideways. Rita, who realized her mistake, suddenly got all flustered. "Miss Rita. You should try giving out a better lie from now on." Thankappan laughed. "Umm¡­" Rita blushed in embarrassment. "You like Sadanandan, don''t you?" Thankappan asked in an almost teasing tone. "Huh? How did you know that?" Rita looked surprised. "Oh, come on! We''re not blind! Anyone who''s near you two will instantly know about it." The MIB agent shrugged. The embarrassment was something that Rita couldn''t handle, so she hid her face with her hands as her whole face went pink. "I never knew that people knew of it." She spoke in a muffled voice. "Where is Sadanandan then?" She asked. "Oh, we just played a prank on him-" Before Thankappan could complete the sentence, Rita interfered with it. "You played a prank on him?" She asked. This time around, she was no longer blushing or hid her face behind her hands. She looked grim. "Well¡ªit was a harmless prank! Don''t worry about it!" Thankappan automatically justified his side as he saw the grim face. It was as if Rita would kill him if he gave out a wrong answer. "Harmless or not, you played a prank on him, right? How dare you do that?" She went on a full 360 on her behavior which weirded them out. It wasn''t the same face that they usually saw. "If you listen to our explanation-" Yet again, Thankappan tried saying something, however, was cut short by Rita. "Do I look like I give a damn about your shitty explanation? Argh, I literally wanna kill you all! How could you do such a thing to that poor thing? He''s so cute! How could you?" Rita looked at them in rage. "Girl, you''re treating a possible calamity disaster as a poor thing! I just can''t!" Thankappan accidentally sighed as she was muttering something to herself. "Hmm? You know what? For what you did to him, maybe I should just stab you all with a knife or something, huh? What do you think?" She spoke as she poked her finger into Thankappan''s body as if re-enacting a stabbing scene. Although they knew that this threat held no substance since they were trained individuals, the sudden intense atmosphere made them drop their guard as well. In that panic, Thankappan held on to the one thing he could gamble with. "You like Taro, right? How about we set you up with him? I mean, we could be your wingmen! How about it?" He asked. "Hmm, interesting!" That day, the gang made a deal with the devil, unbeknownst to Taro. # Chapter 110: Arts Day "Mmm, hey!" Taro approached Rita in somewhat of an awkward manner. "Oh, hey! What are you doing here?" She asked, looking all surprised. "Well, this is the highschool block. So, is there a problem with me being here?" He asked back. "No, I didn''t mean it like that! It''s just a pleasant surprise to see you here when you have stuff to do in the other block with the Arts Day stuff. And it''s especially surprising to see you start a conversation with me." Rita blushed as she spoke. "Ah, I see. Makes sense. I came here to give you this." He handed her all the writings of the students who wrote how much they loved her, "What is this?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Love letters." Taro replied. "From you?" She asked. The thought of him giving her a love letter made her heart skip a beat. Taro knew it. He knew that she''d act like that. However, rather than acting all disgusted or embarrassed about it, he gave out a stoic face just like the one Kunjan''s exoskeleton gives. "No. It''s from the students." He replied, with no significant change in his expression unlike Rita expected. Rita knew about the letters, since Sadanandan''s friends had already given her a message about his arrival and the contents of the letters. So, when she acted surprised and asked if it was him who wrote the letters, she expected a slight blush from his part. However, nothing of that sort was seen from his face, which immensely disappointed her. She clicked her tongue as she received the letters. However, then she got a brilliant idea and started reading out the letters aloud. "Dear Ms. Rita. You look so lovely! You''re so blinding. How can a woman be so beautiful? Your figure is so good. Your ample¡ªoh, my! Are you sure that some student wrote it? I mean, some of the stuff he said here is pretty suggestive, you know? I don''t think a student could write something like this. Maybe a teacher-" Before she could complete her sentence, Taro cut her off. "Hmm, is that so? I would have to look for which teacher wrote that stuff. It''s still sexual harassment, you know? Writing stuff like this¡­" He spoke in an extremely monotonous voice. "Ah, I don''t have any complaints though!" She replied. She wanted to convey her thoughts that it would be fine if Sadanandan was to send something like this as well. However, the moment those words left her tongue, she felt that the way she put it out made it sound weird. "I see. I still think you should take some action against it. You never know what kinda stuff these people will try next. Being vigilant is a fine trait." He said as he scratched his head. He was unsure whether to treat her as a maniac or a blockhead. So, for now, she treated her as a blockhead. "Fine trait, huh?" She mumbled before turning towards him. "I''ll stay vigilant from now on!" She gave out a bright smile as she replied. "That''s nice." Taro smiled back. Now that she knew that she was an actual airhead who needs a bit of care, he started looking at her in a new light. He felt as if she was like a little sister whom he should take care of. Even though she seemed interested in him romantically, he could not see her as such. If only he knew of the truth¡­ # Finally, the Arts Day was upon them. After all the literature stuff went by like a passing storm, the lads finally had time to just settle in and take a deep breath. It was all going well¡ªtoo well until they were made aware that they were going to the judges of the speech competition. The ones who worked hard thinking that they would be left out of any sorta judging were devastated. They had to sit inside a rather congested room listening to the speeches of at least twenty-five kids on the same damn topic. And it wasn''t like any exciting topic which made them invest their time in it. It was more about the pollution in India and stuff. This ticked off Taro in particular because he found Earth fun, mainly because of the pollutants. If that was to go, there wouldn''t be any difference between this planet and other random planets. Even though ticked off, Taro didn''t let his personal opinions cloud his rational judgement. He judged them on the base of their technique and skill, just like the rest of them did. In the end, it took the entire half of the day for them to actually complete the task of judging for the speech. The lads were toast after this. However, the fact that they got the rest of the day for themselves excited them. So, they went straight to the main stage to see what''s going on in there. That''s when they noticed it. No one seemed too excited for the Arts Day. The kids were loitering around rather than watching the actual performance. Not knowing why it was like that, Taro and company watched the stuff and learned of the harsh truth. It was boring. Truly boring to the core. Just like the speech competition. They thought that the literary week was much better since the kids wrote a whole bunch of shit, since their identity was protected if they wrote it anonymously. However, in this case, they were showcased before the entire school. Therefore, they couldn''t act like shit before them, because that might be how these kids remember them for the rest of their school lives. Bored with the programs, Taro and the lads split up and lurked around. They split up because lurking around as a group meant someone would pull them into doing something. After splitting up, Taro went on a search for his students from the twelfth grade, but they were nowhere to be seen. So, he had a new task of finding them. However, before he could think of it as an exciting new adventure, he was shown the way to them by one of the volunteers keeping track of everyone''s movement. It seemed as if the kids were holed in their class. Usually, that wouldn''t be possible. However, since they were the seniors of the school and no one gave a shit about them in the first place, they were given permission to stay in class¡ªa thing most of their juniors wanted to do as well. Once Taro got a glimpse of what they were doing, he concluded that the ones inside the classroom looked more happy than the ones outside. Well, they had no one to mess with them, thus had full freedom and they were enjoying it. Taro, who felt that the Arts day was boring contrary to his expectations, joined in on the fun with his class. If someone were to ask about his reason for holing up with them, he could always bring up the excuse of supervising the kids. The thought of doing so brought a bright smile to his face. Initially, when his students heard the footsteps of someone closing in on them, they were quick to hide their pens. They were playing pen fight, and it was something that always led to teachers confiscating their bulky pens that they brought especially for this. However, when they saw Taro, they were initially relieved. However, when he walked towards them, they panicked as they thought that he was about to confiscate their pens as well. "Can I play that game with you guys?" Taro''s request surprised them. It was the first time that a teacher proactively involved themselves into a pen fight and there was no reason for them to hesitate in inviting him as well, because now they had a teacher in their midst as well¡ªwhich meant that no one was gonna confiscate their stuff. They had something to brag about at this point. Although Taro initially seemed confident about playing it, as the game was all about getting your opponents'' pens off the table, he learned that the game was more difficult than he imagined. Raw power wouldn''t let him win. Precision and brains were also equally important in this. And this realization was revolutionary in his mind. When he tried winning with raw power alone in a six person pen fight, he could only get two or three out. However, that came with his sacrifice as well, which meant that he thwarted his chance of winning by playing reckless and gave two of them a perfect opportunity to win. Knowing this, he made skillful plays where hitting him would mean death for others. And this increased his enjoyment in the game by tenfold. By the end of the day, he ended up winning multiple matches, which made him immensely proud of his achievement. He had more fun that day than he expected, albeit unexpectedly. He hoped that he would play pen fight with his students some other day as well. # Chapter 111: Ansar and the foul mood The next morning; it seemed like a normal day. However, they had an open assembly that day since they were gonna announce the house with the most points on the Arts Day. Taro wasn''t aware of such a thing, since the houses basically had no role to play in the Arts Day. It was the individual efforts of the kids that got them the prizes. Surprisingly, he saw his house winning the championship for Arts. Taro felt guilty as the house leaders forced him into the stage because he didn''t give even the tiniest bit of shit about the Arts Day and ended up playing pen fight with his students. So, for someone who played no role in it to grab the championship felt really awkward. However, he was relieved seeing his alien and human friends grab a hold of the second and third prize. The guilt didn''t hurt him anymore, knowing that his roommates had a similarly unproductive day as him yesterday. After the ceremony ended, the students started dancing around the championships and this continued for five minutes or so before the teachers got involved and dispersed the crowd back into their classes. Therefore Taro went back to the twelfth grade as well. However, something was wrong with his class. Throughout his duration of teaching in the first period, he noticed a drop in the atmosphere which made it difficult for him to take classes. He didn''t know the reason behind it, but he could notice the foul faces of a few. The bell took an eternity to ring. Once the class ended, Taro wasted no time to learn about the reason behind such a gloomy atmosphere. So, he headed straight to Shivani, his trusty student, and asked her about it. But the answer she gave was all so vague and made little to no sense. Taro felt like she was hiding something from him. So, rather than disturbing her with questions, Taro took a back seat and ask the second most trustworthy student of his in the class¡ªJuan. He called him out in break time and asked him about it. Although Juan could be considered trustworthy, he didn''t know about anything that doesn''t concern him. So, when asked about the situation in the class, he basically gave little to no information and hence turned out to be useless. The third time was the charm, though. At lunch time, Taro called upon his third most trustworthy yet annoying to talk to student¡ªAbhirami. In learning about class gossip, Abhirami was actually rated higher than both Shivani and Juan in Taro''s mind, but he deliberately didn''t call out for her because he knew how difficult it could be with her around. But it seemed as if he had no choice at this point. He didn''t engage in a heart-to-heart conversation with anyone in the class other than these three, so they were the only choice before him. "You called for me?" Abhirami popped her head into the staffroom and asked. "Ah, yes. Come in." Taro invited her in. "Hmm, why me though? Why, alone? Be truthful. You had some other thoughts in your mind, didn''t you?" Abhirami blushed as she spoke. Taro knew something like this would happen. In his eyes, Abhirami was more annoying than Rita¡ªnot that he considered Rita annoying at this point. Anyway, Abhirami deliberately pulls off certain innuendos that he is displeased about. And the worst part is that she got no shame. Consider the current situation. Taro wasn''t the only teacher in the staff room. Yet Abhirami had the audacity to make such a weird joke before them, which made them turn their attention to him, turning it into an incredibly uncomfortable ordeal. If he was one who cared about an excellent reputation among his peers, he would''ve desperately tried to correct this obvious mistake. However, he didn''t. "Think what you wanna think. I don''t really care. I called you here to ask a question." He replied. "Hmm?" "What''s up with the class? The gloomy atmosphere and stuff." Taro asked. "Oh, wait. Our class has always been gloomy, hasn''t it? That''s one of the positive points of our class¡ªit''s easy to fall asleep!" Abhirami giggled as she spoke out loud. She really didn''t care what the others heard. "I know about that. I''m talking about the eerie atmosphere. Like, did someone have a big fight or something? Coz, that''s the feeling that I get when I walk inside that class." He explained his side. "A fight, huh? I guess that did happen. But, it''s more like a verbal one than a physical one." She replied. "Was Shivani involved?" Taro asked. "Wow, how did you know?" Abhirami asked back in astonishment. "It''s easy to get a whiff of that. She didn''t want to talk about the class in the morning, so I thought she was involved in the mood''s creation." Taro replied. "You''re right. She got involved." Abhirami nodded her head as she agreed. "So, who''s the other one? There should be an opponent too, right?" Taro asked. "Well, you know Ansar, right?" She asked. "Ansar¡­" Taro mumbled. He knew the name. He was a student in his class as well. However, he seemed too meek to create such an atmosphere. That''s when he was reminded of the rumor on how Ansar was an unhinged person when he wasn''t around. Since he never got to see it, he thought little of it. But, now that he considered it from that rumor''s point of view, it made total sense if he was the guy who picked the fight with her. "So, what did he do?" Taro asked. "You see, Taro recently got a girlfriend." She took a deep breath before describing the event. "However, the girl was someone with whom he hadn''t had a conversation anywhere other than in social media. So, when Shivani learned about it, she warned him that the girl could actually be some guy trolling him. However, Ansar assured her that wasn''t the case." She was about to continue, but seeing that Taro wanted to say something, she stopped for a moment. "Well, how can he be so sure though? What Shivani told could be true. I mean, such guys who wanna act like girls to make fools of guys exist." Taro spoke. "Mmm, that''s true. However, in Ansar''s case, she used to be his junior back in the tuition class." She replied. "Was. I guess she has left the tuition by now, then." He replied. "Yup. Anyway, when Shivani heard him, she yet again warned him saying that he shouldn''t put his entire trust on this girl since this was an online relationship, which could crumble as soon as it''s built up and end up hurting him. However, this statement was taken in poorly by Ansar, who then said that Shivani was jealous of him having a relationship, which led to the foul mood." She concluded her explanation. "Wait. Why would she be jealous if he''s in a relationship? That''s kinda like a weird statement." Taro scratched his head upon that. "Ah, that''s because Shivani had a crush on him back in the day. She kinda asked him out on a date, but back then he was in a relationship with someone else. So, Ansar''s thinking that she''s jealous that someone else is taking his attention now." Abhirami explained. "Shivani asked someone out? Damn, why does that sound so weird for some reason?" It surprised Taro. Somehow, he had this idea that Shivani had never directly looked for a relationship¡ªthat was like one of the major reasons he felt comfortable talking to her. And now that he knew that wasn''t the case, he felt as if something had changed and he wanted to talk about it with her. "I know, right? I have no idea why she fell for that guy. It''s totally a weird combination to begin with." Abhirami shrugged as she spoke. "Hmm, thanks for the information. At least, I now know that I''m not the reason for the gloomy atmosphere." He sighed. "Anytime! By the way, if you want, we could even have private sessions like the one we had before." She giggled as she walked back to the class. Even while leaving, she had to say something scandalous. Everyone was staring darts at Taro, intending to call the police at any given time, however Taro didn''t care and went back to playing his gacha game. # Evening came by and everyone was getting ready to return home and as was Shivani. However, before she could leave the premises, she was stopped by Taro and asked to wait for him. This was a situation she wanted to avoid at all costs. She didn''t like that day and wanted some isolation and was hoping to exit the school premises as soon as possible. However, before she could do so, Taro came by and she couldn''t reject him and leave him to dust since they were neighbors who "coincidentally" meet up every day. "Sorry for making you wait. That wasn''t part of the plan." He apologized. "Ah, don''t worry about that." She replied as they began walking. Normally, they would have a hard time bringing up a topic to speak about. However, Taro was prepared that day. "Hey, can we talk?" He asked, much to the dismay of Shivani. # Chapter 112: A talk about love "What is it you wanna talk with me about?" Shivani asked reluctantly. She didn''t want to have a conversation, however, since it was her class teacher asking her something, she had to agree to it. "Well, I wanted to talk about today''s events. I heard that you were a part of the group that caused that gloomy atmosphere, so¡­" Taro didn''t want to word it that way, however he could only do so for some odd reason. Hearing Taro''s words, she sighed. "Yea, you could say that. There was a giant misunderstanding from the other team''s part, so that mood was caused. I apologize." She bowed her head. "Ah, don''t bow your head so easily when it''s not even your fault." Taro tried stopping her when she looked up to him in confusion. "How do you even know that it wasn''t my fault?" She asked. "You see, I asked someone else about today''s events as well." Taro spoke the truth. "Hmm, if that was the case, why even talk to me about it? I mean, you know I''m not at fault, right? Then how come you''re talking to me about it?" Shivani asked. "That''s because I heard from the person about the relationship that you had with the person you had your argument with." Taro yet again hid nothing from her. He was one who believed that speaking the truth will only benefit in the long run. Shivani sighed once again in this brief interval of time. "Ha, it''s Abhirami, isn''t it?" She asked in annoyance. "Well, it could be. However, how are you positive that it could be her? It could be someone else, you know?" Taro didn''t outright deny it because he was curious how Shivani deduced it. "That''s simple. There''s only a handful of people who know about what transpired between me and Ansar¡ªand Abhirami is one." She replied. "Then she''d just be one suspect out of the many, right? How come you''re so sure about it?" Taro asked. "Again, that''s because I know her so well. She''s the only one among the people who know about it to have a loose tongue that basically reveals every info to the entire world. And I know her relationship with you, so it has to be her." Shivani stayed grounded at her point. "Hmm, that''s a solid argument. You know she talked about it as loud as she could before the teachers?" Taro asked. "Ha¡­ This girl would get me caught up in some shit, huh?" The annoyance in Shivani''s increased tenfold as she heard the news. "Well, I guess it''d be fine. They knew about the time when I asked out a guy back in ninth grade and did nothing about it. So, hope it works out that way." She was hopeful in this case. "Ah, you used to get the Juan treatment, huh?" Taro chuckled. "A mild version of it, yes. Juan is basically an unleashed dog at this point. Dude''s free to do anything. It''s not the case for me. If I mess up big time, it''ll reach my mom''s ears, so there''s that." She replied. "Anyway, you falling in love with someone is something that I never expected." Taro replied. "Hey! Don''t call it love. I had an infatuation for him. That''s it. I don''t who termed it as love before you, however all I did was ask him out. I wasn''t in love with him or something¡ªno matter how that douche spreads those rumors." She spoke. "Well, I''ve heard the word ''love'' been thrown around for literally everything. So, a mild infatuation would also be termed as such here." Taro shrugged. "That''s what I hate. Can''t ask out people at this point without people thinking that I''m a crazy person who''s asking out literally every person in this world." She replied. "Nice, you avoided the slur!" Taro spoke. "Ah, I can''t call myself a you-know-what, right? Because I''m not one. I just don''t want to fall in love with the wrong person. And for that I won''t shy in asking out people on a date." She gave out her answer. "Great! Anyhow, as I said before, you asking out someone was something that I couldn''t imagine." Taro chuckled. "I''m a human as well, you know. I get attracted to certain people. It''s not like you haven''t found people attractive, right?" She asked. "Hmm, I found an actress attractive. Does that count?" Taro asked back. He was talking about an actress from back in Wados, however didn''t feel the need to specify. "Well, it''s not like it doesn''t count. However, it would be better if you tone down your preferences a bit and look around yourself for a bit." She suggested. "If I''d only find a person, I''d like to date by toning down my preferences, I''d rather stay the way I am¡ªsingle. It''s not like I''m actively looking for someone to hook up with." Taro replied. "Ah, I feel ya on that. Sometimes, being single is way better. Nothing to worry about, you know?" She took in a deep breath as she spoke. "You know you''re a seventeen-year-old, right? You still got a long way to go with relationships and stuff." Taro replied. "Sixteen." She corrected him. "Huh?" "I''m sixteen." She reiterated. "What? How is that even possible? You''re in twelfth grade, so-" Before he could complete his deduction, he was cut short by Shivani. "I''ll be seventeen in a month." She smiled. "Wait! Then you''re not sixteen. You''re seventeen!" He argued. "Not yet, though." She countered back. "Well, you win on that, I guess." He was quick on admitting defeat in that case, knowing that Shivani won''t give up if he didn''t. "Anyway, being sixteen is kinda like the age that most experience relationships. Hell, I''ve seen people way younger than me proposing¡ªPROPOSING their classmates. You should''ve seen that. It was crazy as hell." She spoke. "Maybe it''s this image that love''s all fluffy in their mind. They''ll probably get over it once they experience it." Taro replied. "I guess so as well. Anyway, I''d have expected for you to have experienced at least one relationship in your¡ªhow old are you, anyway?" She asked. "Twenty-seven, nearing twenty-eight. So, near to the thirty side." He replied. "My goodness. You''re that old and never had a girlfriend? But, why? You look pretty fine to me. Is there some kinda reason behind it?" She asked. "Well, I was not in a situation where I could go on a relationship with someone." He replied. "Family matters, maybe?" She asked. "You could say that." He replied. After his parents died, he didn''t have enough time to think about stuff like getting in a relationship. He was quick to turn his attention to part-time jobs. "I understand." After that, she didn''t ask any further, thinking that she might hurt his sentiments. Noticing this, Taro led the conversation. "You know, it''d be great if I get to date someone someday." He replied. "With your preferences, I deem that one as impossible." Shivani chuckled. "Never say never, gurl. Who knows, maybe someone who matches my preferences might just pass by me." He spoke with enthusiasm in his tone. "Wait. I didn''t ask much about your preferences before when I heard that you crushed on an actress. However, what''s your actual preference?" She posed the question before him. "Hmm, if it''s dating someone, preferably with good looks. I mean, we''d only be dating, right? I can always drop out after getting to know her behavior. However, if it''s for a serious relationship, I''ll look at their character. Someone I genuinely like that actually likes me back. I don''t want someone who''s just in the relationship for his/her convenience. I hate people half-assing relationships." Taro replied. "His or her?" Shivani stared at Taro once she heard that. "Well, it''s not like I can predict my future self''s decision right now, can I? For now, I''m straight." He replied. "I don''t think that''s something that could be changed so easily." She replied. "Who knows? Maybe you''re right on that.But, let''s see." Taro spoke. Shivani sighed. "Never would have thought that I''d be talking about relationships and stuff to a teacher and a male one at that." She replied. "Shows how cool I am, right?" He spoke with pride filled in his face. "Yup. You''re cool!" She nodded to that statement. However, Taro hadn''t expected for her to say that and was surprised. "Yea, I''m cool!" He reiterated his previous statement, as if he was boosting his morale up with that. "Anyway, it was a productive conversation. I liked it." She replied. She felt thankful that Taro actually forced a chat from her when she didn''t want to have one. If that wasn''t the case, she wouldn''t have experienced this situation and she probably would''ve continued feeling pissed about her fight with Ansar. "Likewise." Taro gave out a smile. He could think about something that he placed in the backseat for the longest time, so he was pretty satisfied by this conversation as well. Conveniently enough, by the time they completed their conversation, they had already reached the ground where the lads were waiting for them. Thus, they headed back to the Holy Land in a rather pleasant mood. # Chapter 113: You disgust me Evening of the same day. Taro had a bath¡ªwhich technically shouldn''t be called a bath, however called that so people won''t be confused. Like, if someone heard them say that Taro was wiping his body with dry clothes, people will surely think of it as extremely weird. After the said "bath", Taro was just laying flat on the ground, when he fondly remembered his conversation with Shivani and felt nostalgic about it. He was acting as if the conversation he had just hours earlier was something that happened decades ago, which was weird. What was more weird was that the guy was down on the dirty ground that the plankton was yet to clean. Although he came to learn about that later on, he didn''t shy away and just remained on the ground. Meanwhile, the rest of the team was back from their various duties as well and they were all in the living room alongside Taro¡ªjust not on the ground. The only creature that accompanied him on the ground was M''Baku and those two looked like they were having fun because the ground was cold. "Why can''t you just sit in a chair or something?" The plankton asked, looking disgusted by Taro''s actions. "Well, if I''m to do that M''Baku here will feel lonely being the only person on the ground. You don''t wanna bring out any inferiority complex in him, right?" Taro spoke, almost in a reprimanding tone. "Ah, I don''t have a problem with being here alone. Don''t mind my inferiority complex. I''m fine like this." M''Baku replied. He wasn''t lying about it though. Previously he used to have a superiority complex. However, that was curbed in by the actions his roommates did to John that day. What replaced it was a crippling inferiority complex. However, he felt it as simple living with that, since he wouldn''t be destroyed because he had an inferiority complex, while the other case was totally possible. "This guy! Don''t worry, bruv. I''ll be here with you." He replied. "That''s kinda like the main problem." M''Baku mumbled. "Huh? Did you say something?" Thankfully, Taro did not heard M''Baku''s words. "Ha¡­ I said nothing. Don''t worry about it." The canino assured him. "I see." Taro gave off a suspicious look towards him for a few good seconds, however quickly changed the topic once he saw M''Baku''s expressionless face. "Hey, guys! I had like a really interesting conversation with Shivani-" He was about to talk about the full event that occurred between them, but was stopped by two people. "You had an interesting conversation with Shivani? When did that happen?" M''Baku and Thankappan simultaneously asked. "Well, while our way back to the Holy Land." Taro replied. "Liar! We were with you on your way back here!" Thankappan countered his reply with photographic evidence of Shivani. "Wait, that''s Shivani." Taro replied as he tried his best to find him in a super creepy close up shot of their neighbor. He just took someone''s picture without consent, which would be considered creepy by most. "Umm,, well yea. But can''t you see yourself in the image?" Thankappan asked, while shoving the evidence into his face. "That''s literally a head shot of Shivani." Taro replied. "But, you see that fabric right over there." Thankappan spoke as he pointed at the farthest corner of the image where a small black fabric was seen. "Well, that''s you." He said as if there was nothing wrong with what he said. Taro cleared his throat. "Even though the evidence shown here is criminally inconclusive, I will agree with the statement that he made that I was with the lads when we came back since there''s a good amount of eyewitnesses to confirm that." He answered. "Well, then. How come you had this ''interesting chat'' of yours with Shivani?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, we had it in the corridor." Taro gave out an honest reply. "Of course! The infinite corridor. I should''ve thought of that." Thankappan sighed. "Infinite corridor?" Taro tilted his head in confusion upon hearing this. "You know about it, right? Like how if you have someone to converse with on that corridor, it''ll never end." Thankappan tried saying it in a spooky tone, however no one found it spooky. "Huh. Even though I know about that, I never knew that someone called it the infinite corridor." Taro replied. "That might probably be because no one actually does call it an infinite corridor." He replied. "Is that something you made up yourself?" Taro asked. "Yup." Thankappan spoke in a very shy tone. "No wonder why that sounded so shit." Taro said bluntly, which kinda hurt the MIB agent''s emotions. "Hey! It''s cool though! There are even more lamer named stuff on this Earth." He argued. "Like the name Thankappan?" Taro smirked as he spoke. "Again, it''s not me who picked this God awful name!" Thankappan argued. "No matter. You talked about lamer named stuff, so I pointed you to it. Not a big deal at all." Taro shrugged after he learned that Thankappan was sufficiently hurt. This time around, the MIB agent decided not to talk against the Wadorian, because he felt like he might lose in an argument against him. However, he continued believing that infinite corridor was a cool name, no matter what others said. "So, you never said what conversation you two had." M''Baku came in worrying that Thankappan might jump in with something else yet again which may prolong the event description from Taro. "Ah, it was about love and stuff. Did you know that she had a crush on someone in my class?" He chuckled as he spoke. "Who the hell is he?" Thankappan asked with all the seriousness. "What are you gonna do if you knew about it?" Taro asked back. "Break his bones, maybe?" Thankappan suggested. "Don''t worry about it. He rejected her when she asked him out on a date." Taro replied. "Hmm, all the more reasons to break his damn bones. Who does he think he is?" Thankappan spoke as he cracked his knuckles. "You disgust me." Taro said out of nowhere, thinking about his actions towards Shivani. "Thank you." Thankappan took it as a compliment, to which Taro could only sigh. "So, what''s the point of telling us this?" The rational plankton jumped into the conversation and had a doubtful look on his face. # Chapter 114: The story "Nothing much. I just felt like telling it to you. And maybe talk about you guys'' experience in love as well." Taro replied to the plankton''s question. "Hmm, since when did we start talking about our experiences in love and stuff?" Plankton scoffed on this idea and was about to get up, when Taro forced him back to the seat. "Since today. Come on, tell me! You oughta have some sorta story, right?" Taro excitedly asked. "What about you?" Kunjan asked. "Huh?" "I mean, if you want us to talk about it, you should be the one who talks first, right?" The plankton spoke with a smile on his face. "Ah, but I don''t have any stories though. Like, I was not in a situation where I could do something like that." Taro replied. "Well, we''re all in the same boat then. I mean, I was in the battlegrounds from the beginning, so if you wanna ask whom I loved, I would probably say something like my torturing device." He spoke. It looked like the plankton was reminiscing all the great times he had with the torturing device and that wasn''t really a good thing to imagine for the rest of them; therefore, they quickly turned their attention towards someone else. "Ah, Thankappan! What about you?" Taro asked. "Hmm, being inside the dungeon didn''t help me in anything other than my training, so I''m in the same boat. Although, there''s recently been a budding crush for me recently." He spoke, blushing slightly. "You better not be talking about Shivani." Taro spoke, while holding his phone close to call police at any given time, much like what the teachers did back then when he talked to Abhirami in the staff room. "No, I''m not. Sheesh, what made you think that?" Thankappan asked in a frustrated tone. "The constant coincidences we''ve been having with her in the mornings, your creepy advance towards her and you taking pictures of her without consent." The rest of them thought as the MIB agent pouted. "So, who else is it?" Taro asked. "Well, there''s this anime that Gibli showed to me once. The girl in it is pretty good looking." He replied. "Ah, shouldn''t have asked you." Taro sighed. "Oh, you watched my suggestion! Nice." Gibli was the only one happy after listening to Thankappan. "And Gibli, what about you?" Taro asked. He didn''t expect anything from him though, because the ones he expected had been pretty disappointing. "Ooh, listen to me, okay? I got a pretty good tale for you guys." Gibli replied, which shocked the people around him. ''How come Gibli has a better story than them?'' was the question floating in their minds. "Hmm, do tell us then." Taro urged. "Okay. Look, this is from years ago, when I was backpacking across Western¡ªEuropeana. I was just outside of¡ªBarcelonalulu, hiking in the foothills of Mount¡ªTibidabodabu¡­" Gibli was about to continue with his tale, when Taro stopped him. "It''s my fault that I trusted you to tell us a good tale." Taro sighed. "Well, it IS a good tale!" Gibli assured. "It is. Just not yours, right?" Taro spoke. "Huh?" "You really thought that you could get away with it by just changing the names to something that doesn''t even exist in Ark and sounds eerily similar to the places on Earth. I mean, I watched every television show that airs in India regardless of the language. You trying to make a fool out of me, boy?" Taro asked. "I thought you wouldn''t know." Gibli replied. "Ha¡­ Anyway, who is it that you wanna sleep with among us?" Taro bluntly asked. "Wha¡ªwhat the hell are you talking about? I''m not interested in sleeping with any of you!" Gibli was flustered by Taro''s question. "Well then. Why did you tell THE story then?" Taro asked. "What is that?" Gibli asked, totally confused about what was going on. "This is why you shouldn''t reference anything unless you watch it thoroughly. Or else you''ll look like a fool, just like right now." Taro replied. "I''m sorry." Gibli looked ashamed. "Meh, it''s nothing to apologize about. Rookie mistake, that''s what it was." Taro patted Gibli''s shoulder before continuing. "Now that the tale''s done, John, you wanna say your experience with love?" Taro asked the guy from the HQ, who was just being the spectator for the most part. "Oh, never thought that you''d ask me as well." John replied. "Well, you''re our roommate and you''re here right now, so it makes no sense if we don''t ask you. And I got this feeling that you''d be the one experience with this kinda stuff the most." Taro chuckled while he gave out his reply. "Is that so?" John mumbled. "Well, I have yet to experience something called love. I mean, I have met up with quite a lot of women and made love with them, however, it''s usually for the undercover missions. If it''s not that, either I or the woman opposite me would have some reason not to get in a relationship. Like, there won''t be anything wrong between us and yet we''d end up stopping at the very first stage. Things like this is why I''m quite surprised seeing Lonappan married." He replied. "Ah, he loves his wife quite a bit, doesn''t he?" Taro spoke. "Yea, but it wasn''t love at first sight or something like that. Hell, they weren''t even dating before their marriage. It was an arranged marriage. It seems like they fell in love with each other after marriage." Thankappan spoke. "Damn, to get into such a loving relationship after getting into an arranged marriage, dude''s truly lucky, isn''t he? I mean, it''s a huge gamble, isn''t it? Marrying someone without even getting to know them clearly; it isn''t something practical at all. I mean, there''s a lot of stuff that could end up going wrong in a relationship like that. And yet, they survived. Good for them, if you ask me."John replied, to which everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "Ah, now that we heard everyone''s¡ª" Taro was about to wrap it up, when someone raised their hand. "Aren''t you gonna ask me about mine?" The person asked, turning all the attention towards him. It was M''Baku. # Chapter 115: MBakus tale "What?" The ones who saw M''Baku raising his hand were surprised. "Why do you look so surprised? I remember telling you about my daughter and stuff." M''Baku pointed towards Taro, reminding about that one rainy day. "Umm, yea. You did that. But I thought you meant it metaphorically or something." Taro replied. "What do you mean metaphorically?" The canino looked confused upon hearing Taro''s reply. "Well, something like if you had a daughter, she''ll be like Shivani or something." Taro gave out the answer. "What the¡ªwhy would you think something like that?" M''Baku asked. "Hmm, you see, I heard that you are the oldest resident of the Holy Land. So, I thought you were a hermit without a family and stuff. I mean, a man will go insane if he didn''t meet up with his wife and kids for a long time, right?" Taro asked back. "I guess I can''t give back a counter argument to that. But if I gotta, well, I know MIB isn''t gonna let me go back to my planet, so rather than going crazy about it, I''ve learned to live with it." M''Baku replied, while glaring darts at John, the one from the MIB HQ. "I''m going to sleep then, if all that you''re gonna do is badmouth MIB. We''re doing this to protect you guys. You won''t understand." John groaned as he walked back to his room. "As if!" Gibli mumbled. He was once again reminded of the fact that Glomerans had the Earth under control, just like his home planet. "So, why''d you never try to escape and stuff? You know, you could''ve gone to the headquarters and stole your ship back." Taro spoke. "Hey! Don''t say something like that so loudly!" Thankappan, who knew their radical behavior from a while back, scolded them. "Ah, yea. Sure, we''ll keep our voices down." Taro replied, almost in the form of a whisper. "So, why didn''t you try that?" He asked. "You think I didn''t want to do that? Unlike you lot, I don''t have a humanoid form! Even plankton has his exoskeleton. For me, they didn''t provide something like that, because I already look like a creature from Earth¡ªa freaking dog! You think a dog can make transit from here to the headquarters without getting a suspicious look like you guys? No!" M''Baku whispered back. However, his whisper had a bit of fury in it. "Hmm, I guess that makes sense. So, anyway. You got someone back on your planet waiting for you, huh? Unlike our sorry asses." Taro sighed. "It''s been years since I left that planet. I wonder if she even remembers me." M''Baku looked down as he reminisced about the good times. "Don''t be like that. Like, what do people say¡ªtrue love never dies, right?" Taro tried cheering him up. "Oh, no! Maybe she thinks that I''m dead by now and might''ve married someone else." The word ''die'' triggered M''Baku''s hidden insecurities. "Dude, just don''t go into the drain like that and cheer up! She might be waiting for you patiently, you know?" Taro spoke, patting M''Baku''s head. "I sure hope so." M''Baku replied with a gloomy face. "So, are you gonna sulk around like this or are you gonna tell your story?" Taro asked. "Well, I''ll tell the story then. Better than sulking around by all means." M''Baku took a deep breath before he began. "It all happened almost fifteen year ago." # Fifteen years ago; Planet of the Caninos. The graduation ceremony of the final year students of the prestigious Canino college of education. M''Baku was one among those who graduated that year. He wasn''t that good at anything, but he survived all those years and that was basically his major achievement. However compared to him, E''Lulu was much better. She was in the top of her class and basically perfect and what she did. M''Baku couldn''t even hold a candle to her. That''s why it was surprising when E''Lulu came up to him during the ceremony and said that she wanted to talk to him. Without making much fuzz, he decided to follow her to see what she wanted from him. However, yet again, he was surprised when she took him to the rooftop of the college. It was scenic that day. The evening sky with a slight orange hue was a beauty to watch. And the wind that made E''Lulu''s hair flutter¡ªM''Baku was having the time of his life. Anyway, he didn''t expect her to utter those words next. She said that she was interested in M''Baku and wanted to date him. He was surprised. The honor student was asking him out for no proper reason. When asked about the reason, she talked about how M''Baku made the class fun with his antics which made her get attracted to him. M''Baku had a hard time believing it. He thought that it was a prank, since everyone called him the class clown for his antics and here''s someone who admired him for it. However since he thought that there''s no harm in dating her, he accepted it. Fast forward to a year, they got married with nine kids. Initially people were confused as to why E''Lulu chose M''Baku when she had it all, however they didn''t think of questioning it as it was her choice and caninos weren''t nosy people. So, they lived their life happily with their fourteen kids¡ªfive born a year or two later. E''Lulu started working in the government sector as a highly paid officer, while M''Baku followed his dream of being a space explorer. Both were really busy, but always made time for their kids. It was a loving family. M''Baku and E''Lulu loved each other deeply and loved their kids deeply as well, which made their life pretty easy and fun. Ten years later, it was their daughter''s graduation ceremony from the college they passed out and both the parents were eager to make time for it. So, M''Baku thought of undertaking his space exploration job a bit too early so that he could make time. Little did he imagine that he would end up finding a black hole that let him strand in a planet called Earth for five long years. # Chapter 116: The condition "Well, that was¡ªtoo normal." Taro replied after hearing M''Baku''s story. "What do you mean too normal?" M''Baku questioned. "I mean, there wasn''t any struggle, any intricate tale on how you got attracted to each other, nothing of that sort. It was sorta like a really bland love story." Taro replied. "What did you expect? Did you think that I''ll have some story like the one in those shoujo manhwas? Simplicity is better at times, you know?" M''Baku tried defending his tale. Sure, it wasn''t the most exciting stuff to hear on this planet, however he cherished those memories and Taro was trying to belittle it. And he didn''t like it. "Ah, I''m sorry. You''re right. Simplicity is way better now that I think about it. No unrequited love, no multiple suitors, just straight up love. That''s kinda like the preferred scenario for the most." Taro replied. "Glad that you understood it." M''Baku replied. "So, what are you worried about? I don''t think your wife is gonna forget you or something. I mean, FOURTEEN kids! There''s no way one would forget someone after that!" Taro replied. "You really are a dog, aren''t you?" Thankappan stared at M''Baku before cracking up. "Piss off, Thankappan!" M''Baku glared at Thankappan before turning his attention back to Taro. "It''s not that I''m worried right now. I just miss them¡ªreally miss them." M''Baku went silent after saying that. He once again looked gloomy. Seeing this expression on M''Baku''s face, Taro suddenly got sad as well. He thought about the fourteen kids, who haven''t met their father for five long years. He knew the pain of losing parents, and he didn''t want anyone else to experience that. "Wait. I could help you on that." Taro spoke. "On what exactly?" M''Baku asked. "If it''s about escaping this planet, then it''s probably a bit more difficult than you think." He spoke. "No. Not that. I could help you send a message to your family." Taro replied. "What?" It wasn''t just M''Baku who looked shocked. Everyone else in the room had a similar expression on their faces as well. "I''d be taking a leave from the school tomorrow. I need to go somewhere with M''Baku." Taro looked towards Thankappan and requested. "What do you mean, you gotta go somewhere? If that''s the case, I''m taking a leave as well! I''m responsible for looking after you two! Can''t just let you waltz into some place." Thankappan spoke. "Then what about the ones in school? Who will keep an eye out for them?" Taro asked. "I''ll ask Lonappan to do it just for tomorrow!" Thankappan replied. "What about John, then? Who''s gonna look after him?" Taro asked again. "Well, Lonappan could do both if he''s here. He''s pretty much a freaking expert!" Thankappan assured. "I see. We''ll be going to Kunnamkulam tomorrow." Taro announced. "Kunnamkulam. You don''t mean-" Thankappan got an idea about what''s going on. "We''ll be making a trip to Ajish''s spare parts." Taro proclaimed with a smile on the face. # Next morning. Shivani was relieved that the coincidence trope wasn''t applied that day by Thankappan. However, she was kinda worried as well because the sudden stoppage of this trope made her think that they were having some sorta difficulty. This worry ballooned when she learned that Taro and Thankappan were absent. She went to the other block and ask the other neighbors of her about the situation. That''s when she learned that they were absent because they went to the vet for Charlie''s routine check-up. This relieved her of her worries and life went back to normal. Meanwhile, the trio of Taro, Thankappan and M''Baku had made their way to the shop. Even before they could step inside the shop, they saw someone running out. This mystery man pounced towards Taro and hugged him tight. It was Ajish, the owner of the shop. "You''re back! You know how long I''ve been waiting for you?" Ajish asked with tears in his eyes, quite contrary to his usual behavior. It seemed as if Ajish truly missed Taro. "I''m not here to take up on your offer. I just needed help on something." Taro replied as he forcefully pulled Ajish off him. "Ha, that''s fine. I''m just simply pleased that you came here to this humble shop of mine." Ajish spoke in a cheerful tone. "So, what is it you need my help with?" He asked. "I''m gonna be making a navigation based SOS pod." Taro replied. "What? My goodness! I don''t even know if we got the spare parts for making such a thing. Even if we do, we have no idea where it would be. After all, it is-" Before Ajish could say anything more, Taro interrupted him. "Do you have a ship''s navigation and radio system? Also, it''d be great if you got the short distance messenger pod, hyper fuel system, and a piece of solar panel¡ªthe nice one." Taro ordered. "Oh, yea. We got all those, wait a minute." Ajish ran back to his storage room and caused a lot of ruckuses inside it. After about five minutes, he returned with the stuff that Taro ordered. "Would this be enough? If not, I can''t help it. These are like the only ones we got¡ªespecially the navigation and radio. The MIB are pretty meticulous in taking those stuff. Even this¡ªwe got this because our MIB didn''t report about an extra ship to the headquarters. Pretty nice guys, eh? Anyway, is this enough?" He asked. "Yup, that''s plenty." Taro was about to receive it from Ajish''s hands, but Ajish moved it away from the Wadorian. "What are you doing?" Taro asked. "Well, I said it, didn''t I? These stuffs are rare¡ªlike, super rare. We went through a hard time trying to procure them. So, I''m kinda reluctant to give it to you." Ajish spoke in a childish tone. "What do you want?" Taro didn''t beat around the bush and asked. "The right price for it." He replied. "I''ll ask the MIB to send the cash to you." Thankappan intervened and spoke. "Meh, money is kinda worthless before this stuff. I need something more." He replied. "Again, what is it you want?" Taro asked in a slightly annoying tone this time. "Well, I want you to make a hundred state-of-the-art translators for me. Not that difficult for you now, is it?" Ajish put forth his condition with a bright smile on his face. # Chapter 117: Pod to the Canino "Meh, the question should be if you guys have enough materials to make that?" Taro shrugged while giving out a smirk. "YES!" Ajish looked pretty as well when he heard Taro''s words. "Hmm, was that, ''yes, we have the materials'' or ''yes, Taro finally agreed to it''?" Taro asked. "I guess it would be both if you ask me." Ajish replied. "Very well. Here''s how I''m gonna do this. I''ll make fifty translators first. Then I''ll make the SOS pod. And then, I''d build the rest of the fifty. I kinda don''t trust you just a bit, so I thought this would be a good idea." Taro spoke. "Understandable that you don''t trust me. However, it''s not like I can cheat my way out and I won''t get screwed by it. I''ve heard the rumors swirling around, you know? About a super strong Wadorian who''s been kept under MIB''s watch for being a calamity level threat." Ajish sighed as he looked towards Taro to see his expression. He had expected to see some kinda displeasure from Taro''s side. However, the one pissed off about this was Thankappan instead. "Hey! How come you knew about it?" The MIB agent asked. "Well, it ain''t that difficult to find such information if you have the right incentive to offer. Like. I even know about a certain Karate tournament and stuff that happened back in that day. So, yea. No big deal." Ajish smirked towards Thankappan, giving out an all knowing look. "Ha, really though! How did you hear it?" Thankappan asked yet again. "You shouldn''t have forgotten that aliens lurk around in all places on this planet. So, it isn''t that difficult for one random alien to actually be around the scene of crime when you did that stuff. And since the neuralyzer won''t work on us, it makes the rumor spread even further. I suggest you ask Lonappan to be careful when apprehending aliens before the headquarter guy. Who knows, maybe some alien would ''accidentally'' reveal everything to him. Like, you can''t flash the neuralyzer for the second time on someone, right?" Ajish asked. "Ha, if he only knew about the times we actually did that to him! He''d be pretty surprised." The two aliens thought as they heard it. Meanwhile, Thankappan''s thought process was stuck at a completely different point. "Hmm, maybe the MIB should construct an alien neuralyzer. This way they won''t be able to leak the stuff like they usually do." He thought. "Ah, I gotta warn Lonappan about it as well." He took his phone and sent a message to his senior. "So, yea. What was I even saying? Oh, you got no reason not to trust me.I won''t be screwing you over." Ajish assured. "What do you say? You accept my proposal or you don''t. You''re making it sound like you don''t." Taro looked annoyed as he heard Ajish''s words. "Oh, yea. I accept. Don''t worry about it. I''m all on board with it." Ajish replied as he nodded his head. "Great. Let''s get to work then." Taro spoke as he cracked his knuckles. # Making fifty translators. It didn''t take Taro much time once he got into that flow. Once he found the flow, it took him about roughly three hours to get to the fifty milestone. A thing to remember was that this kinda stuff took months for inexperienced people. Taro was a prodigy at making this¡ªis what people who are inexperienced in making translators would think. However, Taro was aware. He knew that those were rookie numbers. An actual master technician would only take about thirty minutes to an hour for fifty translators. It might not sound that far between Taro and a master technician. However, the amount of practice required to even reduce the time spent by five minutes was hellish, so Taro would never call himself an expert in it. Master technicians; it sounds fancy, however it''s basically daily labor. They would be given a quota of translators to craft and given a time frame. If they complete by that time, they''re given a raise and extra time to just loiter around; if not, they''d have to suffer even more. Kinda like high risk, high rewards. Taro was initially thinking of becoming a master technician before Park Sin¡ªone of his close friends basically forced him to do something more physical, thus it ended up with him being in the disaster management squad and his friend¡­ Anyway, after completing the fifty translators, he headed to make the SOS pod. The idea is simple. He would record M''Baku''s voice into it and then set the coordinates to the Canino planet and someone could find it and send it to E''Lulu. The advantage of the device is that it''s the only one which works outside any of the radars set by any civilization. The Glomerans will simply not catch it; they can''t. Taro had plans for sending one to multiple planets, informing them about how the Glomerans are trapping them on Earth. However, once he realized that the materials for it were scarce, he made just one. And it made sense to send the message to Canino planet for a multitude of reasons other than M''Baku being able to send a heartfelt message to his wife. He couldn''t send it to Wados because he knew that the Wadorians would just scoff at it because it''s shameful that a being from Wados, one of the most powerful species of the Galaxy, wasn''t able to break free from the planet. Sending the pod to Ark is basically useless because they are already in Glomera''s clutches. No matter how much they struggle after getting this information, the struggle would be futile. As for the planktons, Taro simply didn''t trust them. He believed that they would straight up sell them out and earn out of it. They aren''t ones to care about their brethren. So, it was pointless sending it to them. Hell. it''s dangerous, even! "M''Baku, the pod''s ready. Did you prepare the stuff you''re gonna say in the recording?" Taro asked. He was hopeful. He didn''t know how long it''ll take for the pod to get to the planet, however he was sure to receive the help he was looking for once it got there. # Chapter 118: From MBaku to ELulu "Yea, basically. I thought of something that I guess would be enough for her to know that I''m alive." M''Baku replied. "Hmm, good. You''re gonna talk about how they''re treating you as a prisoner too, right?" Taro asked. "Hey, we''re giving him excellent treatment!" Thankappan, who heard the gist of the conversation, got triggered upon hearing this. "Yea, I''m not talking shit about you lot." Taro replied. "But it sure seems like it though!" Thankappan spoke. "Ah, maybe a little then. People are never gonna swing by if they didn''t hear some drastic shit like that. We want the caninos to arrive soon. I don''t know how long it''ll take for the pod to reach them. So, if I wanna drag them out as soon as possible, I have to pull out stuff like this." Taro replied. "Hmm, okay. Just mention to your family that MIB: Snehatheeram is treating you well. I don''t want us to get bad rep." Thankappan glanced at M''Baku and requested. "Sure. I''ll mention that. Don''t worry." M''Baku assured. "So, are you ready?" Taro looked towards M''Baku who gave a confident nod. Seeing this, Taro turned on the recorder of the pod and waited for the canino to say it all. # [Hello, honey! You remember me? It''s been five years, you know? Or has it been more than that? Am I declared dead back in home? Ha, that would be funny now, wouldn''t it? Oh, wait. If it''s someone other than my wife picking it, please send it to the government official named E''Lulu. Tell her that this is a message from M''Baku. Anyway, how''s life treating you? Are the kids alright? What about you? Are you doing fine? Are we still a thing or¡­ No, I''m not gonna go down that rabbit hole just yet¡­ So, you might be wondering how I''m still alive, huh? Remember that day five years ago? I found a black hole that day. It sucked me in and guess what it''s kinda like a long distance portal. Who would''ve thought, eh? Anyhow, I crash landed into a planet called Earth where this species called humans are present. They look more like the Wadorians for some reason. How do I know that, you ask? There''s a Wadorian stuck in here as well. So, it''s easy to compare. Now, I know what you''re thinking. How come you didn''t come back if you were alive? Well, the guys on this planet seized it from me and have put me in kinda like a house arrest at this point. But I don''t believe that the humans are doing it by their own accord. Recently, I heard that the Glomera civilization has made Earth their most recent betting planet, so they''re probably the ones controlling this planet from the shadows. Anyway, because of this, we didn''t even get normal translators. Initially, I thought that we were guests. But turns out we''re prisoners. It''s actually shit. But some humans are kinda good as well. The MIB: Snehatheeram branch guys are chill. The girl next door reminds me of our daughter, U''Nana. She''d be doing graduation this year. I''m planning to attend it at least this time. I couldn''t attend U''Nana''s after all. Fucking unlucky, eh? Anyway, I got a few roommates. The Wadorian I spoke of before¡ªhe''s one of them. Then there''s an Arkian in the midst as well¡ªimagine his expression when he learned that this planet is under Glomeran''s control as well; priceless! Hmm, not that I find joy in someone else''s pain. Then we got a plankton. Yup, the war clan. He''s pretty chill, though. He''s not all about betrayal and backstabbing like those other planktons. Quite a chill guy, if you ask me. And there''s one human as well. A weird guy with good intentions. I''ve only been surviving because of these lot and the memories of you and the kids. I miss you guys. So, I couldn''t do anything about it until now. However, the Wadorian is pretty skilled with machinery and he''s the one who made this pod. Anyhow, if I don''t make it by the time this pod arrives, which could vary from a year to a decade, send help by all means. We''re planning to steal one ship someday, however, now is not the right time. When we do that, we''ll make our way to the canino planet. Once you get this message, try to establish a communication with us. Like send a blank message saying something like ''Are you there?'' or something. If we''re near, we''d send you a message. If not, then try your best to get an expedition team to Earth. If you''re able to reverse the track of this pod, you''ll be able to find the route to Earth, so there''s that. And if you could somehow pass this message to the planets of my roommates, that''d be pretty great as well. At least Wados. I don''t trust the others that much. Yea, that''s kinda it... E''Lulu¡­ I miss you. I love you. For once in all these years, I am hopeful. I feel like I could meet you someday. And that day would be the greatest day of my life. This is M''Baku, citizen of the canino planet. Signing off.] # "Oh, you''re done?" Taro asked as M''Baku came out of a silent room and handed the pod back to him. "Yup." M''Baku nodded his head. "I hope you conveyed what you wanted to convey." Taro looked at M''Baku with a concerned look of sorts. After all, this message is the one that''s gonna decide their fate. If M''Baku had said something insulting towards his wife and she actually gets triggered by it and decides not to help them, everything will end up in vain. "Yea, I believe I did that." M''Baku replied. Taro wanted to open the pod and hear the message. However, it was something that a man sent to his wife. So, he didn''t feel like doing so. Thus, rather than being concerned about it, he trusted the canino and sent the pod to the atmosphere. "Wait, how are we gonna send it into the atmosphere?" Ajish interrupted and asked. "The solar panels come into play in that. Just keep it in sunlight for an hour or three. We''ll send it space after getting the translator stuff done." Taro replied as he went back to work. # Chapter 119: Double-edged sword It took another three hours for Taro to complete his quota of a hundred translators. It thrilled Ajish when he saw a hundred high-quality translators before his eyes. The bargain wasn''t cheap for him, however, he certainly didn''t regret it. Originally, Ajish had planned to ask Taro to build the hundred translators by a month or somewhere around that time range. However, before he got a chance to clear that out, Taro took in the work and actually made a hundred in a single day. Ajish was kinda happy that he didn''t actually mention the one month time limit. Although he was initially worried about the quality of the translators since those were made in bulk, after careful inspection, he felt like he was worrying for no reason. The translators were identical to one another, as if those were machine made. Ajish''s trust towards Taro increased by leaps and bounds because of this event. Even though he knew about certain experts in this field, he still believed that Taro was the best since he didn''t have the arrogance that those masters possessed. Anyhow, the time finally came for them to send the SOS pod to space. "So, how are we gonna do this?" Thankappan asked. "You see, the SOS pod requires a little elevation before it could actually begin its flight. The mechanism is a bit weird. However, they were somewhat deliberate, if you ask me. The normal engines are all recorded in the main intergalactic system so that in an off chance that you get lost, they can track you down." Taro explained. "What? They got a tracking chip or something?" Thankappan questioned. "Yup. With that, they can find the missing person. So, if the SOS pod had that, there was a chance that people could actually track it. However, the patentees of this machine asked not to place a traceable engine in this because the pod isn''t a species driven ship. The masses agreed with it, although it was a double-edged sword." Taro answered. "Double-edged sword?" "Although it helps in SOS situations if you''re stuck in some place against your will. However, it can''t be used as a medium to share top secrets, because if someone ever intercepts it, the senders would have no idea about it since they can''t track it." Taro replied. "I see." Thankappan nodded his head as he processed the information. "But wait a minute. How come no one took action when we confiscated your ships? The intergalactic system should be able to track it, right?" He asked. "Glomerans have a major hold in the system. They''re pretty powerful, you know? So, I believe what they did is that they registered the ships that crash landed here as if the people in those ships were having their vacations on Earth." Taro replied. "Wait, why are the Glomerans even doing this? What''s the point of keeping a few aliens on hold? I''ll never get it." Thankappan sighed as he thought about it. "Hmm, the point of doing this, huh? Well, there are two things that I see when I think about it. One would be the person in itself. Imagine if the person trapped here is some big shot of a planet. They could extort money from them in exchange to that man. Second, the ships. Even if the said person isn''t a big shot, his ship has to be from his home planet, right? That means, the Glomerans could learn about their technology as well." Taro explained. "I see. By the way, does this system accept a missing person complaint?" The MIB agent asked. "They do. However, they don''t respond to any unless the missing person is a massive person. I mean, they have no use bringing in some random person who might not even cover their travel cost to the said planet." The Wadorian replied. "Ha, only if I was the Galaxy''s hope or something! They would''ve swarmed in to let me get away from this planet." M''Baku sighed as he wished for the impossible. "Galaxy''s hope?" Thankappan was curious about it. "The name given to one of the most powerful people of all the galaxies. They named it galaxy''s hope since inter-galaxy''s hope doesn''t sound that cool." M''Baku replied. "Makes sense. So, who''s this person?" Thankappan asked. "Emilia." Taro was the one who answered. "Ah, yea. Kinda forgot for a moment that you were Wadorian as well." M''Baku sighed. "Wait, she''s Wadorian as well?" Thankappan asked in surprise. "Yup. One of the strongest of the Wadorians." M''Baku replied. "Hmm. Weird." Thankappan mumbled all of a sudden. "What''s weird?" Taro asked. "Oh, it''s nothing. So, about Emilia¡­" Thankappan tried continuing the conversation. However, he looked as if he was hiding something from them. But Taro didn''t probe any further since he didn''t want to hear something unnecessary from him. "Emilia¡­ She''s a brat who gives off this disgusting feeling. So, it''s wonderful that you actually aren''t her. Because if that was the case, I would''ve ditched the Holy Land from the moment I met you." Taro looked disgusted as he talked about the Galaxy''s hope. "Man, you''re the first one that I''ve seen talk trash about Emilia. I mean, the person who the masses see on their screens is completely opposite to what you just said. How come you got such a negative opinion on her? You got a grudge to settle with her or something?" M''Baku asked. Ajish, who was silently listening during this entire ordeal, was curious about it as well. "Ha, she''s kinda like my classmate. At least, I had plenty of chances to hold a conversation with her. And that''s why I''m aware about how she''s one of the most self-centered people in the entire galaxy. She is kinda like a bully as well. The facade she''s showing before the world, it''s fake as hell." Taro explained. "I don''t know, man! You kinda sound like a jealous ex who broke up with her back in the day and now that she''s successful, you regret it. However, now that you asked her out again, and she rejected you after learning your truth, you''re badmouthing her now." M''Baku weaved in a story of his own. "Damn, what''s up with the detailed story?" Taro sighed. "Anyhow, I''d rather die than get in a relationship with that woman, But, I know about a person who did like her. Wonder how he''s doing." He looked at the clear sky as he was once again reminded of his best friend. # Chapter 120: Millisecond "So, where were we again?" Taro asked once he came back to his senses. "Well, we were previously talking about the Galaxy''s hope. However, our initial goal was to send the SOS pod to space." M''Baku explained. "Oh, yea. I gotta get a nice throw, eh?" Taro sighed as he stretched his arms. "Throw? You''re gonna throw it? Didn''t you say that it got an engine?" Thankappan asked. "Well, then. Don''t you remember me saying that the pod needs a bit of elevation to get that jump start?" Taro countered with a question. "Ah, how high are we talking about?" Thankappan asked again. "Well, normally it needs an elevation at the point where planes fly. Yea, that would be the ideal height." Taro replied. "Normally¡­ What about now, then?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, it''s evening. This pod works on solar power. There''s no sun up right now." Taro explained. "Then?" "I''ll have to aim for the space." Taro spoke nonchalantly. "Damn, you speak of it as if that''s some effortless task!" It surprised Thankappan. Hell, he was even surprised when he heard about the normal elevation requirements. His mind was begging him to get a helicopter or something to get that level of height. However, now it seemed impossible. "Hmm, that''s because it is." Taro replied. Thankappan sighed. "Ha. Sometimes I forget that you''re actually an alien with a massive amount of power." "Meh, it''s fine if you forgot about it. That basically means that I am actually blending in." He replied with a bright smile on his face. "If you say so." Thankappan spoke, as he lightly nodded his head in agreement. The group of four traversed into a rather barren land. "This land¡­ Who''s the owner of it?" Taro asked. "It''s the government." Ajish replied. "Would they get pissed off if a small dent formed here?" He asked again. "Nah, not really." Ajish answered. "Is that so? Then I suggest that all of you get a few steps away from me. There''s gonna be shock waves." Taro basically ordered, even though he named it a suggestion. No one had any objection to that, so they receded to a few steps back. Taro looked towards the sky for a few moments before completely relaxing himself. Then it took a weird turn. None of them on the sidelines saw what exactly happened. They knew something had happened while they were intently watching, but all they could see was a relaxed Taro who just came back after doing nothing. "What the hell happened?" Thankappan asked the returning Taro. "What do you mean? I just threw the pod into space. Hopefully, it started working now." Taro stared to the sky before he spoke. The trio looked dumbfounded. It happened in a millisecond. He threw a pod with full force into space within the span of a millisecond. However, Ajish couldn''t really believe it even though he knew that Taro was a Wadorian, so he headed to the site from where he threw it, only to see a massive dent that he didn''t see before. It seemed that Taro used a tremendous amount of force behind that throw of his. The dent formed was rather unnatural. Well, calling it a dent in itself was weird. It was more like a crater formed when a planet collides with a meteor. However, Ajish could feel it. Taro was being considerate with that throw of his. Knowing that people were around, he intentionally threw it with a far less force than he normally uses, and that''s why the world didn''t split into two with that throw of his. Ajish turned towards Taro, who still looked aloof. All sorts of doubts that the alien had about Taro till that day was cleared by the Wadorian within a single day. Although someone could argue that the Wadorian did it by sheer luck or the gravitational pull of this planet, they would be stupid enough to not understand the precision at which he did it. Anyway, he felt thankful that the parts he supplied were a bit more sturdy than usual parts. Or else, the moment that pod left his hand, it would have disintegrated like nothing. So, the shop owner had just one thing in mind. If he wanted to see a proper future, he should stick with the Wadorian before him. That''s the way of survival. # "I just can''t believe it!" Thankappan had his eyes wide open. His surprise from a few minutes ago still hadn''t subsided. It was as if his eyes didn''t have the right FPS to watch that scene. "What is it you can''t believe?" Taro sighed. It was for the fifth time that the MIB agent was repeating his sentence over and over again. "Well, that you threw that pod to space!" Thankappan replied. "I see. If you don''t wanna believe it, then please don''t. Why waste your time on this?" Taro asked. "But-" Thankappan didn''t have an answer to it. Taro sighed yet again. "You know, I can make a rock complete one rotation around the Earth with no hitch." He assured. He wasn''t lying about that. He was confident that he could do something like that. "Umm, don''t do that. It''d suck if the rock is to land on someone''s head in the midst. That would technically be murder, wouldn''t it?" Thankappan asked. "I mean¡­ Yea." Taro agreed to it as well. "We''ll do an actual test of strength someday. I''ll check it then." Thankappan replied. "I see." "Damn it. I never thought that you were this powerful, even though you gave us plenty of opportunities to know that already. I don''t know¡­ Maybe, you actually blend in pretty well. I see you more as a normal human than anything until I see stuff like this." Thankappan sighed. "Aww, I''m extremely happy to hear such a thing. I would like it if you think of me as a human as well." Taro smiled. "Hmm, maybe I should treat you as a calamity level threat at times like these. I mean, at least I won''t be surprised by what you do then." Thankappan replied with a chuckle as they head back to the Holy Land after a successful endeavor. # Chapter 121: Abhirami is gloomy now The very next morning. Taro woke up from the sleep that he forced himself into because of M''Baku''s constant nagging. Ever since they got back after launching the SOS pod, M''Baku had been asking about when the pod will reach his planet. However, Taro had no idea about it. There were a multitude of reasons for that. First of all, he didn''t know where Earth was located. Even when he tried searching for their location in Womble Maps, they couldn''t find it. A major reason for that would be the Glomerans. Being a crucial part of the intergalactic civilizations, they had a considerable hand in building Womble. Not just that, they had the right to interfere in some of Womble''s works as well. Since Earth was their recent betting planet, they intentionally hid the planet''s details from Womble, so that no betting participants try to head there and ruin the fun for them. Since Glomera had the final say in everything, the participants gladly agreed to that, and thus Earth was a secretive planet to the rest of the universe. Although they routinely came to know what was going on the planet, the Glomerans never revealed the place. Secondly, the fact that M''Baku came to Earth through a black hole made even an approximate assessment impossible. Earth could be way farther than the Canino planet or way closer than they expect. And finally, the unpredictability of the SOS pod.Even if they knew the actual path to the Canino planet, they could never predict that the pod would go on that path since it is programmed to go on the path in which their ride would be smoother, to protect the pod from danger. Which meant that instead of a rough ride that might take a month, the pod will always prefer the smooth ride no matter how long it takes. Taro tried explaining these to M''Baku. The canino nodded as if he understood everything the first time around before promptly coming around asking the same question. Taro felt frustrated, but he explained it again. The limit was around the fifth time. Taro just got up from where he was seated and headed to his long unused bed after giving out a sharp glare at M''Baku. He tried his best sleeping since he didn''t want to hear anything from M''Baku. Little did he know that even if he stayed awake, M''Baku wouldn''t have annoyed him after that stare of his. # After following the same trope that he had been following for months at this point with Thankappan, Taro finally reached the school. The only notable thing that happened during the walk was knowing that Shivani missed him. Like, this schtick had been going on way too long. So once someone doesn''t make an appearance for a day, you''ll clearly feel the difference. Especially when the one who talks to Shivani during the walks was Taro. Anyhow, unlike the previous time, the mood of the entire class was cheerful. Well, most of it, except for a particular corner where a girl sat silently looking all annoyed and stuff. Usually she was the one who''s hyperactive even when everyone else was gloomy. That''s why it was weird for Taro to see Abhirami like this. After his class ended, just like the Ansar incident, he called upon Shivani to learn about this gloomy aura surrounding her best friend. However, it looked like Shivani didn''t know about it since Abhirami stopped her from asking. Taro wasn''t ready to give up just yet. He still had the image of the annoying but good teacher on the students'' mind, and he didn''t want to wipe it off because the teachers had already alienated him for being a potential pedophile. He could''ve tried to rectify this nasty rumor, however didn''t feel like doing it because he believed that the more one tries to refute a rumor, the more it solidifies. He knew that his belief was kinda stupid, however he still wanted to stick to it since being alienated felt kinda better. So, Taro ended up calling Abhirami for the second time to the staff room, thus successfully gathering many hateful gazes from his colleagues. Taro didn''t get why these people hated him when all he did was make the students like him. It was truly odd. "Hey, Sadu!" Abhirami waved her hand and shouted his newly made nickname as obnoxious as she could to grab everyone''s attention. Taro sighed. "What''s up with that? Just call me by my name." He ordered. "Ha? Don''t you remember me talking about it in that very steamy chat we had yesterday?" She asked, turning all the glaring eyes towards him. Taro shook his head in dismay. The chat she was talking about was the one they had in that gacha game that they played, where Taro asked if she wanted to play a friendly match against him. The chat wasn''t steamy and this new nickname wasn''t mentioned as well. But seeing that Abhirami really enjoyed making him look bad, he decided to let it go; especially since she had a foul mood previously. "I see. Now let me get to the point. How come someone always has to be in a foul mood these days?" Taro asked. "What do you mean?" Abhirami acted as if she didn''t know what he was talking about. Taro sighed. "First it was Ansar and the problem with him, and now it''s you. What happened today that you look so¡ªnot you?" He asked. Abhirami silent for a while before finally giving out a reply. "I would like this conversation of ours to remain strictly between us. So, it would be better if we kept our voice down." She suggested as she took a glance at all the teachers staring at her, hoping to hear something like yesterday. "Hmm, weren''t you the one who shouted about Shivani''s crush on Ansar yesterday? How come you''re so secretive about your stuff now?" Taro asked. "That''s the difference, isn''t it? This is my problem, and that was hers." She replied. "You''re such a terrible friend, you know that?" Taro scratched his head as he spoke. "Maybe I am." She didn''t deny. Instead, she gave out a smile. It wasn''t like Shivani didn''t know about that fact. "So, what is it?" Taro asked. # Chapter 122: Abhiramis troubles Abhirami sighed. "I''m getting stalked." She said a really low voice. "Hmm, by whom?" Taro asked. "Multiple people. Like, there''s two or three guys waiting for me at the bus stop. Like, they say unsavory comments about me and stuff. I mean, if someone from them likes me, then they should ask me out rather than stalking like this. Of course, if they ask me out now, I''m gonna reject them because I came to know about their stalking practices." Abhirami replied. "Ok, it''s not like I don''t believe you. But, are you a hundred percent sure that these guys are stalking you and talking about you?" Taro asked. "Of course! They even talked about how¡ªno, I''m not gonna tell that. But, yea. They do know my name and stuff." She answered. "And do you know them?" He asked. "Other than these stalking sessions, no. I did hear that they were from somewhere nearby though." She replied. "So, do you know about why they''re stalking you?" He continued with his questionnaire. "Because they like me? Because I''m attractive?" She replied. "Hmm, can''t deny that." Taro mumbled, which caused Abhirami to suddenly blush. She did say that she was attractive, but never thought that Taro would agree with it as well. "Don''t blush like that. You''re attractive; that''s a fact. I don''t have any hidden intentions behind that. So, calm down. I''m still one with a fianc¨¦." He replied. "Don''t blush? It''s a natural phenomenon. I can''t stop that! Rather, stop telling things unexpectedly like that!" She was about to shout before keeping it down. "I see.I won''t repeat the same mistake then." Taro replied. "So, how long has this stalking been going on?" He asked. "About a month or two now." She replied. "Damn, I got more questions now than before. One, why didn''t you speak of it to anyone before? Two, what happened today in particular?" He asked. "Well, even if I had told anyone about it, they would just find a way to blame it on me. Like, you know how I act, right? Some people straight-up call me a s*ut just because I behave the way I wanna behave. So, even if they come to know that I''m being stalked, they would give out a reply somewhere in the lines of me deserving it. So, I kept quiet, hoping that it would someday subside normally." She sighed yet again. "And today, those people followed me to the school. It made my journey really awkward. Like, I couldn''t do anything at that point. I didn''t want to involve my friends into this, you know? These people are crazy. I don''t want my friends to deal with crazy people." She replied. "Hmm, I know this might sound like you''re taking the simple way out, but how about you come by the school bus or your father''s car for a few days until all these events just subside, for the time being?" Taro suggested. "No." It was a firm denial from her part. "They''d still stalk me. I don''t want my classmates or parents getting involved in this." She replied. "Well, parent''s involvement is better for you, don''t you think? I mean, they could complain about it to the police or something." He spoke. "These guys are dangerous, you see. They''d come for revenge if I do something like that." She answered. "Ha. Then what are you planning to do?" Taro asked, since he had no idea himself. "I don''t know. Maybe I should just continue with it like normal. I mean, they have to bugger off someday, right?" She sounded hopeful, but the grimace on her face was clear. "That''s a stupid way to think. You did nothing until now, and they followed you to your school. If you continue on that, what do you think they''ll do?" Taro asked, slightly raising his voice before going back to normal. "What am I supposed to do then? Get into a fistfight with them? Like, I really don''t know! So, why don''t you suggest something if you don''t want me to just go on with it?" She sounded frail at that point. The usual Abhirami was nowhere to be seen. "Damn it. Fine. You know what we''re gonna do today? I''m gonna walk with you to your bus stop. I gotta see them as well. Like, how dangerous are these guys you''re talking about." Taro spoke. "Wait a minute, is that a date?" Abhirami shouted. The teachers who gave up on eavesdropping before instantaneously got back to it now that they heard such sensational news. "Date? What the hell are you talking about? You wanted me to think of a solution, so I did." Taro replied, frustrated about how she raised her voice on just that particular occasion. "And that solution is us going on a date!" She went back to being her usual self at this point. Noticing the change, Taro decided to be lenient about it one more time. "Well, if you wanna consider a normal walk with some person as a date, might as well. Who am I to judge you on that concept?" He spoke. This brought a bright smile on Abhirami''s face as she hopped up and headed towards the staff room door. "Then see you on the date!" She said as she ran back to the class, leaving Taro all alone in the wilderness. The stares were even more fierce at this point, but Taro bore it all. # Evening that day. Usually Shivani was the only one waiting for him, but this time around Abhirami was there as well. She had already told her best friend about the "date" but didn''t reveal the stalkers part. Although Shivani felt that something was awry, she didn''t poke her head into it, since she believed that her teacher had some sort of plan in his mind for him to do this. They reached the Holy Land much faster than they usually do. On their way there, Taro had already explained to his friends about what was going on, so they sped up their pace. Once they reached the place, they were about to go their separate ways, when Abhirami stopped him. "Wait!" "Hmm?" "You look like a teacher in this costume. We''re going on a date, you know? Change your clothes!" She basically ordered him. # Chapter 123: Date! "Again with the date!" Taro mumbled in slight discomfort. Although this wasn''t a date, as Abhirami said, the repeated words from her mouth had been making him slightly regret his decision of accompanying her alone. He could''ve made his roommates accompany him as well, but he felt it would not be a good idea. This was something that Abhirami had confided to him alone. So, he felt responsible for it, as a teacher who''s aiming to look cool. "Hmm?" It seemed as if Abhirami didn''t hear him right. "Nothing." Taro could only sigh at that point. "By the way, isn''t it better if I wore this dress itself? I mean, they''d learn that you have a teacher that would protect you of such stalkers." He suggested. "A reliable teacher¡­ If they come to know that you''re there as a teacher, they''d think that you just came with me just that once per my request. However, if they were to think that you''re my date, they would believe that there''s someone that I can call on my discretion if I''m being troubled." She explained her side. In Taro''s mind, it seemed as if she had planned it all beforehand. "But, you know that I''ll come by to help if you ever got into trouble, right?" Taro glanced at her smiling face. "Of course, I do! But, they don''t, right? So, they''ll think that it was just a one-off appearance from you." She replied and tried stroking his hair for dramatic effect. However, Taro quickly dodged her hand. "So convoluted. It would be all done if I gave a simple warning, you know?" Taro sighed. "Nah, that would just increase the annoyance. People usually have a tendency to do the exact thing that they''re warned not to do." She replied. "Well, it''s not like they''d find the courage to do it if my fists are doing the talk." Taro spoke while cracking his knuckles. "That''s real cute!" Abhirami giggled as if that was the funniest thing she had ever seen. "Hey! I wasn''t kidding." Taro argued. He was kinda itching for a fight as well since that tournament. "Sure, sure!" She continued her giggling fit before she noticed Taro''s serious face and stopped. "I''m an advocate against violence, you see. I wouldn''t like your beautiful fists to get hurt punching people." She said as she stroked his hand. "Ah, how can you flirt with me like that? Didn''t you say that you had someone you liked?" Taro sighed yet again. He liked Abhirami. However, her approach towards him made it really tiring to converse with, since she doesn''t even hide the fact that she''s flirting with him. "Hmm, I guess I''ll have to update you on that story." She mumbled. Unlike her in the previous instance, Taro could catch it. "Wait, what happened?" He asked. "Nah, today''s not the time to tell that. I''ll tell that to you some other day." She replied. "More importantly, the dress. You''re gonna have to change it." She spoke as she tugged his clothes, which made him even more uncomfortable than before. "I see." He cautiously took her hand off his clothes and maintained quite a distance from her. "Give me five minutes. I''ll go back to my room. Until then, you-" "I''ll be in Shivani''s room. So, swing by if you pick something out. Pick something sexy, by the way. Not that this one isn''t, but wear something hip which looks sexy on you." She spoke as she ran towards Shivani''s room. "How can this girl act like this? I''m her teacher, for Pete''s sake!" Taro mumbled as he trudged up to his room. # "So. How about this? Is it fine?" Taro flaunted his skin-tight pants and bright-red casual shirt. "Hmm, you got any leather pants? I mean, it would look great on a thigh like yours! By gawd, I''ll kill myself to get thick thighs like yours." Abhirami spoke as she was literally drooling while staring at his thighs. "Stop sexualizing me!" Taro said as he tried hiding himself. With each passing second that she stared at him, he felt as if he was losing his innocence. "Hey, I''m just telling the facts!" She shrugged. Taro was relieved that the others weren''t here to listen to what she said. Or else, it would''ve been difficult for him. "Anyway, is it fine? I''m nearing thirty, you know? I don''t think guys nearing thirty would wear stuff like this!" He spoke while fixing his pants, which stuck to him way more than he intended. "Well, it has its charms. I mean, you look younger in it¡ªnot that you don''t already. Usually, you look somewhere around twenty-three and twenty-five. Now you look like your age is twenty. The dress really played it''s part well!" She smiled as she gave out her reply. "Oh, thanks." He wore sunglasses and a cap after hearing her words. "What are you doing?" Abhirami asked, slightly confused. "I don''t want people to recognize me. I mean, a rumor that I''m showing partiality by heading out with a student is not something I want." He answered. "Ah, don''t worry about that. The rumors are even worse than you think." She chuckled. "Ha¡­ You might just be right about that." He didn''t deny her words. After all, the performance that she put before the teachers was enough to bring a critical look to him. "So, just take that off¡ªwait, no. Remove the cap. THe glasses look good on you." She suggested, to which he complied. "Ok, shall we go then?" # It took them about fifteen minutes to reach the bus stop. If it was him alone, Taro could''ve even reached the place within seconds. However, Abhirami dragged it on more than it should have, which made him slightly annoyed, especially since all that she had to talk about was her expertise in romance. She did randomly mention that she was extremely unattractive back in the day, however it seemed that lady luck was on her side that day. They reached the bus stop right at the moment he tried posing the question. So, they began focusing on the task in hand. # Chapter 124: Realization "Are they the ones?" Taro asked, pointing towards a group of men who had been looking towards them for quite some time. "I mean, is there anyone else here who''s literally glaring towards you?" She asked, before giving out a loud laugh as if she wanted to spite them. "So, what are we gonna do now?" He asked. "What do you think we should do?" She asked. "Well, if we''re going with my plan, I would''ve beat some sense into them by now." He replied. "And if I allowed you to do that, you would''ve been in jail by now already. That''s kinda stupid, you know." She sighed. "I know. But, it''s been long¡­" His voice trailed off in the midst. He was reminiscing about his times in Wados, working as the team leader in the disaster management squad. He kinda loved that position. He frequently got a chance to battle it out with the perpetrator if he or she was still around by the time they came. If not that, there were the arenas where he could battle it out. Compared to that, he felt rusty since he hasn''t done any beating for a long time. And this feeling overcame his rationality in times like this. "Ha, I don''t know what you''re talking about, but I think you should act sensibly¡ªlike, you are a teacher, right?" She spoke. "Well, you were the one who asked me to leave that entire persona off. Currently, I''m an immature brat who''s a bit hotheaded." He replied. "Interesting. I''m actually glad that I told you about this. Had I not, I wouldn''t have known that you got this side as well." She smiled. "Argh. I don''t like how your words sound so genuine yet flirty. You sure got the charm, alright. If I was a lolicon, I would''ve been attracted to you." He spoke with no chill. "Such a risky joke. But how dare you call me a loli? I''m one year to eighteen, you know?" She replied. "And I''m one year close to twenty-eight. What''s your point?" He asked. "Well, I''ll be eighteen, the legal age, next year. If you are not finding me attractive because I''m not of legal age, after a year, we could date, you know?" She was blushing as she said that. "Nope. Not interested. At all." Taro''s reply was stern. "Wait, didn''t you just say that you would''ve been attracted if-" Before she could complete her sentence, Taro cut her off. "Yea, in some alternate universe where you weren''t my student. And even in that case, I''ll be a bit taken aback. I''m simply not interested in relationships now. It''s not my major priority." He replied. "Then what is?" She asked. "Huh?" "Your major priority. What is it?" She asked again. Taro stayed silent and thought for a while before coming up with an answer. "Living my life normally, I guess?" He replied. "Then how has your life been till now? I mean, you''re a teacher, for Pete''s sake! How more normal can your life be at this point?" She asked, sounding a bit frustrated. That''s when he seriously looked back to his time on Earth. Even though certain things happened which wouldn''t slot him into the ''normal people'' category, like the tournament incident, since those events were wiped off people''s memories, nobody looked at him differently. No one thought he was weird or treated him like a stranger. He found a family, even. If he had asked his previous self about his dreams of being normal, he would''ve described this scenario. Taro felt it; Abhirami is right. This was the life he was looking for. Being normal didn''t look impossible anymore, since he was living so. "Huh, I never put much thought into it before, but you''re right. This is normal!" Taro went off on a laughing fit which surprised both Abhirami and the stalker group. After the initial surprise, Abhirami was more or less happy that she could talk some sense into her teacher. Since she was on a roll, she continued riding that momentum. "Look, I don''t know what kinda stuff you went through before, but let me tell ya. Your major priority has been fulfilled ever since you took the job as a teacher." She spoke. "It does seem so." He nodded his head vigorously before heaving a sigh of relief. "You know, because of certain things that happened in the past, my concept of normalcy is quite wonky. So, thank you for reminding me that the life I''m leading is normal as well." He gave out a genuine smile. Until now, there had been two concepts of normalcy in his mind- one of the Earth and other of Wados. While the life he currently led was treated perfectly normal on Earth, it wouldn''t be so in Wados. On that planet, being normal means having a superpower and extraordinary abilities. So, when both these concepts continuously clashed in his mind, he forgot that normalcy actually meant being able to blend into a society without people judging you all the time. Normalcy meant not being ostracized by a group of people for being different somehow. Even though Taro was enjoying this normalcy by hiding certain parts of him, he felt like life is much better if you have something to hide rather than having all your cards out on the table. Back in the day, the Wadorians treated him as a weirdo since everyone knew he didn''t have a superpower. However, that wasn''t something that could be hidden because once you check your aptitude. Now, he''s treated as a normal person because he could hide his power. The key to the life he sought to lead was right in his hand unlike before, and that was truly the best thing that could''ve happened to him. "Ha, you don''t have to thank me for that, you know? I just said what came into my stupid mind. That''s it." She got embarrassed when he thanked her. "Well, you might think it as trivial, but it really helped me. So, if there''s something that you want¡ªlike a gift or something, do tell me." He spoke. "A gift, huh?" She thought for a while before shortening the distance between them in an instant. She gave a peck on Taro''s cheek. "There ya go! Got my gift." This time around, the ones surprised were Taro and the stalkers. # Chapter 125: Nonsensical "Eww, what the hell did you do just now?" Taro shouted as he desperately tried to wipe the place where she kissed him to the point that it got red from all the wiping. "Well, I wanted my gift!" She spoke with a sly smile on her face. "You know I can charge sexual harassment for such a thing, right?" Taro asked. "Hmm, I know. However, first point to note is that they''d simply laugh it off and second, I''m underage. So, no one cares." The sly smile on Abhirami''s face turned into a full fledged evil smile. "You are a demon!" Taro gasped. "Maybe, I am." She chuckled. Taro sighed. "I don''t even know what to do with ya." He spoke. "Good. I enjoy being unpredictable." She replied. "Hey look! There''s my bus!" She pointed to a cyan colored bus speeding towards them. "Ah, see you tomorrow then!" He waved her goodbye. "Yea." She was about to step up to the bus, however she turned back one last time. "By the way, now that your major priority is sorted out, you should seriously consider dating someone. You are twenty-eight for Pete''s sake!" She advised. "Relationships are not the only thing in someone''s life. There''s a lot to worry about and enjoy without even dating a person. So, I''m trying to enjoy those things for now. But, yea¡­ I''ll think about what you said. Maybe, I''ll date someone even. But that''s in the distant future." Taro replied. "Well, if that''s the case, do consider my-" Before Abhirami could even complete her sentence, Taro interrupted her. "No." "But, I didn''t-" "Still a no! Never gonna date you in my life. Ever!" Taro''s answer was straight to the point. "Hmm, we''ll see about that." She smiled and waved goodbye as she got onto the bus. The elegance she showed until then was all gone once she entered the bus. It was a battlefield to earn a centimeter of space to stand on her two feet. Even though Abhirami exited the scene, Taro stuck around to see what the stalker lads did. He didn''t even take a glance at them, but he could clearly feel an aura of hostility coming from where they were. It was clear as day that they were jealous of this unknown person "stealing" the kiss of the girl that they''ve been stalking for quite some time. However, Taro couldn''t care less about something like that. It wasn''t as if he was the perpetrator behind it! Anyhow, after five minutes or so, he could see that the stalkers had moved away from the bus stop, which meant that they were only here to stalk Abhirami. Taro sighed. "Would they even consider stalking them if they knew about her actual behavior? Well, there are people who consider that as hot as well, so they just might." He thought as he walked back to the Holy Land, all exhausted. # Next day; the classes weren''t as gloomy as before, however Taro could sense it. Abhirami was pulling out a ''please ask me what happened'' look on her face. So, at that point, he had no choice but to actually do that. Once the class ended, he called Abhirami out. "So, what happened?" He asked. "Well, nothing much. They still haven''t stopped their stalking tendencies." She replied. "But the mornings are kinda fine though, since everyone''s making their way to school. Evenings are the problem." She spoke, giving out a few sighs to bring out the gravity of the situation. "Then you shouldn''t have said ''nothing much''. You want me to accompany you today as well, isn''t that right?" He asked. "Basically, yes." She didn''t even hide her elation when she heard that. "Ha, your face is acting out, you know? It''s making me suspect you might have hired those stalkers, after all!" He said with a doubtful expression on his face. "Why would you even say that?" She looked angry. "You really think I would do something like that?" She asked. "Hmm, yes." He replied bluntly. "Yea, maybe I''d do something like that." She didn''t even deny the possibility this time around. "However, I assure you. This batch of stalkers isn''t my creation. Maybe the next batch would be, but not this one." She replied. "I see. I''ll believe you on that then." He replied. "So, you''re coming with me, right?" Abhirami asked. "Do I have any other choice?" Taro asked as he nodded his head ''yes''. # Evening, that day; they were at the bus stop. While Taro was desperately waiting for her bus to send her off, Abhirami was trying to create similar situations like yesterday. "Yes, you are living your life normally now." She spoke out of nowhere. "Huh?" "I said, your life is normal now." She replied. "That isn''t gonna earn any brownie points anymore. I''m aware of that fact as well. So, change the topic." Taro answered. "Ha¡­ And here I thought we would get yesterday back if I said that." Abhirami sighed. "It was a totally random moment. It''s not like it''ll come by that frequently." Taro replied. "You''re right. Oh, there''s my bus!" She pointed to the same blue bus as yesterday. "Hey, can I say something?" Taro stopped Abhirami, who was preparing for a battle, and asked. "Yea, anything." She replied. "I don''t think that I''d be able to accompany you every time these stalkers follow you." He spoke the truth. "What am I supposed to do then? It''s not like there''s something I could do other than get you to accompany me." She replied. "Hmm, that would be wrong. There are things you could do." Taro answered. "Don''t say something nonsensical as giving out a complaint to the police or something!" She spoke. "Well, I won''t understand why you think giving a complaint to the police is nonsensical, but what I''m suggesting is not that." He replied. "Then?" "How about you bring your phone? You got my number, right? If not, I''ll give that to you in the game chat. This way, you can call me if you got into any sort of trouble." Taro suggested. Abhirami sighed. "You''re right. Giving a complaint to the police might not be nonsensical. But this sure is!" She blurted out. # Chapter 126: A promise to herself "But, why though?" Taro asked. "Why?" Abhirami looked at him as if he just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "You know the school rules, right? No electronics to school! They''ll confiscate my phone if I brought it to school." She replied. "But who asked you to bring that to school?" He asked, looking as if it was Abhirami, not him, who said the most ridiculous thing. "You did! You just did. Like, literally seconds ago! How can you deny something like that?" She asked, as she went crazy trying to understand why he denied something he said right then. "Ah, you should notice what I said more clearly from now on. I asked you to bring your phone. I never asked you to bring it to the school." He spoke as if he just made a revelation. "Well, if you''re not gonna elaborate stuff, a person would always think the more convenient point." She replied. "Hmm, I guess you''re right about that. My bad!" He was aware of his mistake, thus apologized. "As long as you get it. So, where is my gift for correcting you?" She asked. "When did I ever say that I was gonna gift you something?" Taro tilted his head as if he didn''t get what she meant. "But-" "Never in my life am I gonna allow you to kiss me again. That''s my promise." He replied bluntly. Abhirami sighed. "Very well. So, how am I going to keep my phone in my hand but not in school?" She asked. "Well, come to the Holy Land before you head to school. I''ll keep your phone over there. Or, I''ll just keep your phone in my hand. Like, no one''s gonna search my desk for your phone, right?" He asked. "Hmm, not a bad idea! I''ll hand it to you tomorrow morning and decide what to do with it by yourself." She replied. "Cool, bye then." He waved her goodbye as she prepared for another battle. # Next day, Abhirami headed to the Holy Land and handed her super expensive phone to Taro. She expected him to get flustered by this, but that''s when she realized his one was super expensive as well. Anyhow, the phone was perfectly safe in Taro''s hands. Taro was afraid. He didn''t know what kinda ringtone she had on her phone and stuff, so he switched it off as soon as he got it, so that he wouldn''t get screwed. This turned out to be the right decision since Abhirami''s ringtone was her voice saying ''I love you, Sadu'', which she deliberately changed yesterday knowing that he''d take the phone to school. Abhirami hadn''t realized that Taro switched the phone off, so she frequently asked if someone called for her and Taro would repeatedly deny it, which she found weird because she had asked someone to call her on the phone right at ten in the morning. Taro found it weird as well since the frequency at which she started visiting the staff room asking if he got a phone call increased. It didn''t take him much to realize that she had planned something for him on the phone and in no way was it gonna be something helpful to him. Once the classes ended, both walked towards the Holy Land with the rest of the squad who had little to talk about between the heated conversation they were having. "Here''s your phone." Taro handed it over to Abhirami once they exited the school premises. "Ah, thanks. You sure there weren''t any¡ªwait, you switched it off?" She looked shocked as she said that. "Well, it''s not like you were gonna receive that call of yours if the phone was at home. So, I switched it off." Taro replied honestly. "But, you lied to me." Abhirami looked as if she was gonna tear up at any given time, while she switched on her phone. "Hmm, was the call that important for you?" He asked. "Yes?" She replied, not really knowing what to say, since it wasn''t the call but the ringtone that was important to her. "Really? It wasn''t the ringtone, then?" He asked. "Huh?" "Wait." He dialled her number, which she received in their game chat and rang it up. "Ahhh¡­ Sadu¡­ I lub you! I really lub you! Ahhh¡­" was what everyone heard coming from Abhirami''s phone. They all had stoic looks on their faces, not knowing what expression to give out after hearing such a thing. "So, what would''ve happened if someone had called your phone while I had turned it on? My colleagues would have heard it. You really enjoy doing this, huh? Thankfully, I wasn''t that big of an idiot to just put it on like that. I really don''t like you sometimes when you do stupid stuff like this." He didn''t mince his words as he expressed his emotions. "But that was a harmless prank-" Abhirami tried arguing, but she wasn''t given the chance to do so. "It might be for you. But, you must think about the consequences when you do shit like this. Like, I don''t particularly care if you did something like that to me. However, have you thought about what would happen if it was someone else. This harmless prank of yours might''ve even ruined his life." He explained. "I wouldn''t go that far¡­" She spoke. "Yea, I know that the last part is a bit exaggerated, but his colleagues will surely isolate him." He replied. "Hmm... So, it''s fine as long as the person is you?" She asked with a smile on her face. Taro sighed. "I''ll never understand why I spent my time and effort explaining this stuff to you. I look like an idiot now." He spoke as he sped towards the Holy Land without waiting for any of them. "You okay?" Shivani, who was there to witness the spat between the two, asked. "I was just trying to lighten the mood." She spoke in a disappointed tone. "I know. But not everyone''s gonna get that. So, don''t feel bad." Shivani replied. Abhirami clutched her hand in frustration. "Maybe I should stop doing that, eh?" She asked. "Yea. At least, pick the right moment." Shivani didn''t even deny it. "Okay, I''ll do that!" She made a promise to herself that day not to tell lame jokes at inappropriate times. # Chapter 127: Danger Taro was frustrated; a bit angry as well, however, he was more frustrated than angry. Abhirami''s actions were clearly taking a toll on him, to the point that he regretted offering his help. Now that she''s allowed to carry a phone, he didn''t have to accompany her, which gave him that much needed peace of mind. Even though he basically ran towards the Holy Land ditching all of them, he tried monitoring them through the window of their room. However, their room doesn''t give him the view that he needed, therefore he headed towards the roof and hid there. There he saw Abhirami headed straight towards the bus stop, spending no time lurking around the Holy Land for the first time in many days. Since the others were coming, he got down from the roof and headed back to the room. Anyhow, now that he didn''t have to accompany Abhirami to Mundur, he had some spare time. Therefore, he played some online PVP matches in his favorite gacha game. He deemed it in the top priority list since it was a rankings match. If he drops out or loses a game, he would lose a point. While it might not seem like an enormous difference, considering that there were about thirty players with the same point as his, he would go down thirty spots in the rankings if he were to lose. So, he was serious about it. So serious that he was treating it as the fight of his life as he slowly pressed on the start match button. And that''s precisely why he got so annoyed when he saw Abhirami was calling him. Initially he thought of not taking her call because of what she did, however he was the one who offered to help her and asked her to use the phone instead. So, he couldn''t just cast a blind eye over this. Hence, with a heavy heart, he disconnected the match and took the call. "Hello." He spoke, but no response came from the other side. This made him incredibly furious. "Okay, this is just a shit act from you. I mean, you''re trying to screw me over for the second time. I knew I shouldn''t have taken this call! I don''t know what I was hoping from you other than this-" He was about to go on a full on rant, but a faint voice came from the other side which made him stop in his tracks. "Help me." # "What the! Hey, what''s happening? Abhirami, is everything fine?" Taro, who was in a slight panic mode at that moment, asked. (Huff) "Those guys, they¡ªthey are chasing me." Abhirami replied. One could hear her panting extensively, which made it seem like she ran a long way or she wasn''t athletic at all. "They, as in those stalkers? Look, you gotta talk to me right now. Where are you? Tell me exactly where you are." Taro ordered. "I¡ªI am on that path behind the bus stop. Like¡ªlike straight behind it. It''s a long straight path; so if you are to head here, you''ll find me." Abhirami replied. "Is that so? Just keep running for a few more seconds. I''ll make my way there." Taro assured as the call was cancelled from the other side. Even though Taro said that, he didn''t know how to ride any sort of vehicle. So, it looked impossible for him to reach Mundur in such a short time. A normal human could never do such a thing; emphasis on the normal human part. # Abhirami was exhausted. She tried her best to keep up the pace while speaking to Taro, but soon realized that it was making her slow. Therefore, she hung up the phone and focused on running¡ªor at least that''s what she planned until one of her stalkers pulled her by the string of her bag, causing her to fall down. Even though that happened, she didn''t just give up there. She tried getting up, but that one man still had the string of her bag. So, she ditched the bag and tried running for her life, however failed doing so as one of the guys pinned her down. "Why are you doing this?" Abhirami asked as she raised her slightly before getting slammed by the one who was pinning her body down. "Why, you ask? Because you cheated on us with that guy! Is he your new boyfriend or something?" The man asked. "Cheated you? I don''t even know you, then how is it possible that I cheated on you?" Abhirami asked as she struggled on the ground before getting pinned by the other men as well. "You bitch! You knew it all along while we were following you to your school and stuff. You were sending signals to us back then. How dare you act like you know nothing now?" One of the stalkers asked. "Signals? I don''t know what you''re saying. I never gave you any-" Before she could say another word, stalker number one slapped her face. "You glanced at us all seductively! You''re the one who did that! And now you deny it, you fucking wh*re? Do you do this with all the guys? Send him all sorts of signals and kiss some other random dude before him! Shame on you!" Stalker one roared. "But, I never did such a thing!" Tears welled up in her eyes. She was afraid and hurt. She was being accused for the things she never did. She didn''t know what to do at this point. She didn''t get it. Why were they acting like this? What''s up with this unrealistic scenario? How did she end up here? She didn''t understand one bit. "Ha¡­ Still feigning innocence, are you now? Very well, do what you want. But that doesn''t clear you off your sins. You''ll be punished today for all the evil things you did!" Stalker one shouted. "By the way, where''s that new boyfriend of yours? Did you ditch him as well, like you always do? Ah, man! Had I known about it, I would''ve invited him as well. We could''ve punished you together!" Stalker two laughed as if he said something hysterical. "Hmm, were you talking about me?" A voice called them out from the back. It was Taro. # Chapter 128: Taro saves the day! "What the! How¡ªwhy are you here?" Stalker one asked, all flustered about it. "Huh? This is a public path. So why is it that I can''t come by this path?" Taro asked. "I see. Wait, she ditched you, didn''t she? How about we take revenge on her together?" Stalker one asked in a serious tone, believing that Taro and Abhirami were a thing to begin with. "And how exactly are you planning to do your revenge?" Taro asked. "Ah, that!" Stalker one took out a knife from his pocket. "I was thinking of stabbing her a few times with this." He replied. Taro took the knife from him to inspect it. Although initially stalker one was reluctant to give it away, for the sake of solidarity and revenge he gave it. "Hmm, do you really think that this could hurt someone?" Taro asked. "Well, if we hit the right spots, then maybe. Like, we could stab right into her heart. How about that?" He asked. Taro sighed. "By the way, tell me one thing. Why are we taking revenge on her again?" He asked. "Huh?" The group of stalkers were confused, but Stalker two answered this one. "That''s because she cheated on all of us! She deserves to get punished!" He spoke. "Ha, when did that happen?" Taro asked. "What do you mean?" They asked back. "She never cheated on me." Taro replied. What he meant was that they were never a thing to begin with, so how could she even cheat on him. However, what they interpreted was that they were still a thing. "Wait, give back my knife!" Stalker one tried grabbing it from Taro''s clutches, but a slap from him brought him down. "You want this knife?" Taro asked as he seamlessly bent the knife to the point that it became a stainless steel ball. "There you go! You can play with it now." Taro smirked. "You bastard!" Stalker two, who pinned down Abhirami instead of number one when Taro came around, gave the task to number three as he advanced towards the Wadorian. "Now, you shouldn''t pick a losing fight, my dude." Taro grabbed number two''s skull and bashed it straight to the ground in one quick motion. Once that was done, all they could hear was stalker two''s endless scream in agony. "You!" Stalker three looked towards Taro with hatred in his eyes. He wanted to get a swing at Taro, but was afraid of doing so. Therefore, he continued with his task, since he''d have a leverage in his hand that way. However, he didn''t notice that because of the worry about his impending doom, he had accidentally loosened his grip on Abhirami. And she took advantage of this as she used her elbow to get a hit on his gut. In pain, stalker three completely let go of Abhirami. Once he did that, his impending doom was no longer impending. Taro closed the distance between them and then rammed another hit on his gut, thus making him spit out blood. This outcome satisfied Taro. Since that was dealt with, Taro turned his attention towards Abhirami, who was dusting herself off. "Hey, I''m sorry. I could''ve just straight up got you off from that position, but I''m just a sucker for theatrics." Taro spoke. "Saving the damsel in distress at the very end, huh? Not that I ain''t angry at you for leaving me like that for a long time, but it sure made you look cool, so yea." Abhirami shrugged. "We did a cool tag team move as well! So that''s pretty amazing!" Taro spoke excitedly. "Well, you did the amazing part. I just sucked the coolness out of it." She chuckled. "Hmm, I guess so." Taro spoke as he nodded his head. "Hey! You were supposed to say that ain''t so, and that I was cool as well!" She shrieked. "Well, what can I say when you are spouting truth like that?" Taro smirked. "This guy!" She sighed. "You!" Someone called them both out. After looking around, they came to know that it was stalker one who got knocked out from a slap. "Oh, you''re awake! Look, don''t stalk people from now on, especially someone below the age of eighteen. Hell, don''t even get it in a relationship with someone like that. It''s really annoying." Taro suggested. "Well, look at who''s saying that? The one who''s in a relationship with a seventeen-year-old girl. You are not the one who should suggest something like that to me." Stalker one. Taro got irked by this statement. "You know what? I''ll just beat you into a pulp. That''d be better." He spoke as he glared at stalker one. "Mr Sadanandan¡­ Just no!" Abhirami came to the stalker''s rescue, or so he thought. Instead, she pushed Taro aside and started stomping on his face like crazy. "You know that there''s a chance that he''s actually enjoying it, right?" Taro asked. "Shoot. Then just slap him once like before. Maybe not a knockout slap though." She suggested as she moved away from stalker one. "Hmm, sure." Taro wasted no time and slapped him just once. Because of the decrease in strength of that slap, stalker one could survive without getting knocked out. "Okay, let''s go then." Abhirami urged as she picked her bag from the ground. "Sure." Taro and Abhirami were about to get away from the place, when stalker one stopped them. "I''ve got connections, you know? I swear I''ll make your life a living hell after this! I''ll make your life a living hell. I''m gonna kill everyone you-" Stalker one was about to say something, but he stopped in once he heard Taro''s mumble. "Ha, it''s better to leave things attended, huh?" Taro sighed as he cracked his knuckles. "Wait, are you gonna beat him up now?" Abhirami asked. "Hmm, what made you think that?" He asked. "Well, you were cracking your knuckles and stuff." She replied. "Ah, don''t worry. I''m not gonna beat him. I''m gonna hand them over to the police instead." Taro replied. "... Oddly responsible response." Abhirami mumbled, which Taro caught. "Hey, I''m your teacher! So, I am pretty responsible!" He spoke in a playful tone. "Is that so? Where are we gonna find this police officer then?" She asked. "Hmm, follow me." He said as he dragged three men on the ground. # Chapter 129: Youre hiding something "Are you saying that he''s a police officer?" Abhirami asked as she pointed her finger towards a person wearing a khaki colored dress. "Well, he''s wearing the uniform, right?" Taro asked back. "Ah, that''s right. But don''t you think he could be a traffic police officer?" She posed the question. "Hmm, initially I did. However, don''t the traffic police wear white shirts here?" He countered with another question. "You''re not wrong. Let''s head to him then." Abhirami spoke as she headed towards the officer. "Mr Officer, can you help me?" She asked. "Yea? Oh, sure!" Abhirami''s sudden appearance surprised the man. "There are these stalkers who had been following me for a long time." She said whilst pointing towards the three people that Taro had been dragging through the mud. However, misunderstandings were bound to happen when Taro stood menacingly with three men in his clutches. And naturally, the officer got the misunderstandings as well. "Young girl, stand by me. This guy seems dangerous. He''ll continue-" The man was about to say something, but was interrupted by Abhirami. "Oh, don''t worry. He''s the one who saved me." She replied. "Is that so? Good job¡­ young man." The man was confused as to call him young for his youthful appearance or old for his menacing look. "Ok, thank you." Taro gave a slight nod upon saying that. "Stalkers, huh? I''ll call in my superiors and have a talk about it. In the meantime, leave them to me." The man requested. "Cool." Taro tossed the body of three men towards the officer. The man in khaki checked their bodies and its condition. "Hmm, I''m not blaming you or anything, but what made you beat them into a pulp?" He asked. "Ah, self defense. They came up to me with a knife. I felt threatened. So, I threw that knife away and beat him since he threatened me." Taro spoke nonchalantly. "Dude, people do not beat another person into a pulp because they feel threatened! They run away. I can tell that this is deliberate. Maybe, it''s because of the girl¡­" The officer thought as his head turned towards Abhirami before returning his gaze back to Taro. "Good job, I guess?" "Thank you. I just did what any other citizen would." Taro replied. "Yea¡­ By the way, are you going to lodge a complaint against them?" The officer asked. "Does the police put them in jail without a complaint?" She asked. "Well, we could do it for a few days that way. Although, having an official complaint gives it credibility." He answered. "I see. Do I have to come to the police station to file a complaint?" She asked again. "Not really. Just write a complaint in letter format to the Sub Inspector and give it to me. I''ll lodge a complaint based on that." The man replied. "Okay, I''ll do that." She shook her head and headed to a quiet area to draft her complaint. After a few minutes of careful planning, she wrote the letter and handed it to the officer. Once he got that, he moved forward with the official procedures. "Ha, since that''s dealt with, shall we go back to the bus stop?" Abhirami asked, to which Taro nodded. # Back in the bus stop; they were waiting for the bus. But it seemed like both of them had things to say and ask the other. However, neither was attempting to begin the conversation until Taro finally gave up and took the lead. "Hey, I got something to ask." He spoke. "Shoot." "How did it happen? Like, what made you think you should run?" He asked. "Well, when someone comes to you at top speed waving around a knife, you''ll have the gut instinct to run as well, right?" She asked back. "Did those guys flail around that knife for everyone to see?" He asked again. "Pretty much, yea." She nodded her head. "Ah, freaking idiots." Taro sighed. Abhirami chuckled upon seeing this. "Sure they are!" She said. "By the way, why did you run straight back? I mean, there''s a huge road slightly to your right, where more people would''ve seen you and saved you. Instead of that you took the path that barely anyone walks by." Taro spoke. "Well, they used the ''surround me'' tactic. So, I had no choice but to run that way even though I realized it was a trap." She replied. "I hope I answer then all your questions." "Yea, most of it." He nodded his head. "Great! Now, it''s my turn to ask the questions." Taro gulped as soon as he heard her say it. He knew what the question would be. "So, how did you come to my rescue that soon?" She asked. Taro sighed. He was right. "Wait, you didn''t want me to come or something?" He asked. "No, I didn''t mean it like that and you are aware of that as well. I appreciate the help that you did, since I would''ve died if you didn''t. But your movements are way too suspicious. I mean, it didn''t even take a full minute for you to come to my rescue." She spoke. Taro sighed yet again. It''s not like he can reveal that he used his natural strength to leap high in the sky, defying the gravity to reach there. So, he thought of a much more simplistic lie. "I¡ªI was going to buy something to eat for myself. The others ate the stuff in the Holy Land, so I thought of restocking it." He replied. "Hmm, why today? Why didn''t you do it yesterday when we had already made our way here?" She asked. "Well, I wasn''t made aware of this until today. So, how can I do something yesterday?" He asked. "I see. Good defense. I give you full marks on the explanation. Something''s making me suspicious of you, but I''m just gonna believe your words for now." She replied. "What? You think I colluded with those three buffoons and staged a fight?" Taro asked. "Not entirely impossible of a scenario. But, I''d believe your words in that, don''t worry." She assured him. "Then what are you suspecting me of?" Taro asked. "I don''t know. Something''s telling me you''re hiding something from me. Not that I wanna put my head into it. Do what you wanna. But I sure will appreciate it if you ever opened up to me." She replied. "Oh, my bus came! Time to go! See you tomorrow at school, Mr Sadanandan!" She said as she waved goodbye. # Chapter 130: Motivated Taro was intrigued. He hadn''t shown even the tiniest bit of his capability, and suddenly Abhirami started suspecting him. Either she knows too little and wanted to incite a conversation with it, or she knew too much and was saying it as some sort of warning. So Taro was basically treading on a tightrope. Anyhow, next morning came and Taro headed straight to Abhirami to check up on something. "Hey!" He waved towards Abhirami. "Wow, you''re making too many advances towards me recently, huh? I''ve been noticing¡­" She giggled as if that was the funniest thing anyone has ever said. "Well, the recent days have been hectic for reasons that we both know. So, it''s understandable when I approach you, right?" He asked. "Look, I''m fine with it even if there wasn''t anything to talk about, However, the people around us are not that lenient with their thoughts." She replied as she glanced around them. Taro did that as well and saw many eyes glaring towards them for a split second. "Hmm, we''ll talk in private then." Taro spoke. "Well, if you want to add fuel to the fire, do that. I''m happy to comply." She gave out a really sweet smile, which gave him diabetes. "Ha, then let''s just talk here." Taro spoke. They were in the corridors. It''s not like many people were passing through since it wasn''t the break time, however the ones that passed by were all glaring, which irked Taro to a great extent. However, for the sake of having the conversation, he decided not to bat an eye at them. "So, what do you wanna talk about?" Abhirami asked. "Well, what happened? Like, did the police call after you filed a complaint?" He asked. "Ah, about that¡­" "Doesn''t sound that good when you start like that." Taro spoke. "That''s because the news isn''t good for me." She replied. "Hmm, I see. What happened?" He asked. "Well, the first thing is that they didn''t call me at all. Instead, I got this news from the police officer we met up with yesterday. He said that his superiors disposed of my complaint and made it seem like I had no complaints." She spoke. "Now, why would they do something like that?" Taro asked. "Well, because one of three is from a really influential family." She answered. "Okay, I get it now. I guess they''re out the cell as well?" Taro spoke. "Most probably, yes." She nodded her head. "So, how was it today? Did they come around looking for you?" He asked. "Not really. And that part surprised me. It''s like¡­" Before she could say her deduction, Taro snatched that opportunity from here. "Like they''re planning something more sinister from before?" Taro asked. "Ah, yea." She looked seriously pissed off when Taro cut her off. "Hmm, how are we gonna go with it today? I mean, I''m not gonna stop escorting you back to the bus stop until this shit subsides." He replied. "Yes! I hope this never subsides!" Abhirami wished deep inside her heart. "Your emotions are leaking out your face, Abhirami." He sighed. "Is that so? It''s not like you didn''t know what I think about it already." She shrugged. "Well, whatever. Just don''t go before I do. Like, there''s always a chance that they''d even arrive here to get their revenge." He warned. "Revenge, huh? What did I even do to be the recipient of someone''s revenge?" She sighed. "You''ve heard those acid cases, right? Those girls did nothing wrong for them to get their faces melted by acid. But, the guy always thinks of having revenge on someone when they reject them. Attractive people like yourself have a hard time at that¡­" He replied. Abhirami sighed yet again. "Why is it you have no problem calling me attractive?" She asked. "Because I say the truth." He said with a straight face. "At least blush once or twice when you say stuff like that. It''s like I''m the only one whose heart races when I hear stuff like this." She replied as her face gradually turned beet red. "Well, that''s probably the case." Taro nodded his head in agreement. "Ha¡­ I''ll make you blush someday! And that would be the greatest victory of my life!" She proclaimed. "You''re supposed to write the board exams this year, you know that, right? How about you place this enthusiasm into that? I mean, aim to score the perfect scores, then that would be your greatest victory." He replied. "Will you give me something?" She asked while fidgeting. "What?" "When I get the perfect scores¡­ Or at least about four hundred fifty in five hundred, since no one in the school has done something like that¡­ So, will you give something to me then?" She asked. "You know what? I''ll grant one wish of yours if you became the school topper. A singular wish." Taro assured. "Yay¡ªwait, that''s unfair! There are two monsters in this batch. You want me to surpass them? That guy, Juan, will probably score five hundred, for Pete''s sake!" She cried. "Well then. You gotta tie with him if such a thing happens then." Taro spoke. "This guy¡­. Fine! However, don''t you think it''s unfair?" She asked. "What is?" "The amount of wishes. It should at least be three." She replied. "Hmm, I can agree with that. However, you can''t wish for infinite wishes or something that might require for you to be of legal age." Taro explained. "Well, I can save the wish for later, right?" She asked. "Sure. However, before you think that far ahead into the future, think of the board exams. I gave you a pretty hefty task, you know? Not everyone can do such a thing. Hell, I don''t even think anyone has scored perfect scores in board exams. So, yea!" Taro smiled. However, this smile faded away as soon as he saw the smirk on her face. "You know, teach¡­ I never felt the need to study that hard. I got stuff even when I didn''t study. So, I rarely study shit and still end up in the top five, although that''s in twelve students. So, think about it. What if I actually try? It ain''t gonna be easy, but it''s not like I''m gonna lose now that I''ve got a goal." Her smile got even brighter as she said those words and walked away from Taro. She was motivated for the first time in a long time. # Chapter 131: Followed Evening that day. Taro waited for Abhirami in the corridors. It took her quite a bit of time because she was busy chatting with Shivani in the class. When she came out of the class, she acted like she did not know that Taro was waiting for her. This irked Taro off, since he had already informed her about that. At this point, he really wanted the stalker event to subside soon so that he could actually stop being around Abhirami. Anyhow, this time around, it didn''t feel like they would take an eternity to get to the school grounds. That''s mainly because Taro sped way ahead of the other two. "Hey, did something happen between you two?" Shivani nudged Abhirami and asked, while alternatively glancing at her and Taro. "Why did you ask that?" She tilted her head sideways, as if she didn''t know the reason behind it. Shivani sighed. "Look, he rarely does stuff like walking way ahead of us. It started when you fought with him. And it still continues. So, yea. That''s the reason." She replied. "Hmm, you don''t have to worry about us fighting with each other. We are in quite a good relationship." Abhirami assured. "I can see that." Shivani replied sarcastically. "Hey, I wasn''t kidding, okay? We got in a better relationship yesterday after certain things happened." She spoke. "The fight mended your friendship?" Shivani asked. "Yup!" Abhirami nodded her head. However, only Abhirami knew that the fight both meant were two different ones. Since she didn''t want to let her best friend worry about the stalker situation, she didn''t think of correcting Shivani about her misconception. "What a load of crap! Something surely happened between you two in the midst if you two really patched up." Shivani spoke. "You could say that. I apologized to him when I got in the game with him." Abhirami lied. She didn''t apologize to him even once, and now that made her feel guilty. She thought she should apologize to him on their walk. She knew her actions could be considered annoying by people. After that brief conversation, they joined in with the teacher neighbor crew and together they headed to the Holy Land, where they split into two groups¡ªone with the entire Holy Land residents minus Taro and the other comprised Taro and Abhirami. This happened after Taro changed his clothes into more casual ones. So rather than calling it a split, it would be better if we consider it as a separation from the pack. Anyhow, they were on their way towards the bus stop. Both of them rarely talk when they are walking. Most of their conversations occurred when both were already in the bus stop because Taro thought that having a conversation while they walk would have the same effect as the corridor¡ªthey''ll never get to the bus stop if they were to do that. However, this time around, Abhirami really wanted to talk with Taro. "Hey, can we talk?" She took the initiative. "Hmm, we''ll be reaching the stop in about seven minutes, so how about we do it then?" Taro asked. "But it won''t take much of your time, I promise!" She spoke. "Ha, it''s not like I can persuade you from doing that when you are being that stubborn." Taro sighed as he signaled her to talk. "Well, I''d like to apologize." She said with a determined look on her face. ".... For what?" Taro asked. "For the actions I did yesterday." She spoke. "Hmm, what actions, though?" He asked. This put Abhirami in a state of confusion. She expected various things, but not this. She thought he would be angry about her actions yesterday or just straight up forgiving about it, but never would''ve thought that he''d completely forget about it. "The ringtone stuff." She spoke. It took Taro some time to realize what she was talking about. This was because of how he only remembers significant stuff that happened. His brain automatically throws out all the insignificant memories into the recycle bin. So, if stuff like this happens, it usually takes him some time to recover those memories. Anyway, after a few minutes of hard thinking, he got what event she was talking about. "Ah! You were talking about how you put your voice saying that you love me. But didn''t you apologize to me already?" He asked. "What? No. That''s why I''m apologizing to you now." She replied. "Hmm, I have an old man''s memory system." Taro chuckled, although he had a selective one than like that of old people. "I see. So, I''d like to apologize for my actions. I shouldn''t have-" Before she could give out an elaborate apology, Taro stopped her. "Apology accepted." Taro replied with a bright smile on his face. He really didn''t want to hear an apology for a memory that he had already discarded. So, he quickly forgave her. "Oh, thank you." Abhirami was even more confused at this point. In the beginning, he acted like he forgot about the event, and now he forgave her almost immediately. She suspected he had amnesia of some sorts. "Hmm, you were right. It only took a few minutes. Let''s resume the walk at our normal speeds then." Taro said as he picked up speed. Abhirami followed suit. After a few minutes of walk, they took the shortcut to the bus stop rather than the main one because it was pretty hot that day and the main road didn''t have any trees unlike the shortcut. So, they were enjoying the gentle breeze and the view, when Taro noticed a few people lurking around. The shortcut is not usually used by many because the shortcut is not exactly that short compared to the main road. It''s used by people only when they feel like the weather is hot¡ªjust like right then. So, initially, Taro didn''t think much of it because that was the sort of weather that they were experiencing. However, he took notice of it when he sensed these people were strictly following them. Even when Taro seriously dropped his pace, the other group didn''t try to overtake him; instead they waited for him to walk. Hence, there wasn''t much to debate about. They were being followed by these people. # Chapter 132: God of death Taro looked back at frequent intervals. Seeing this, Abhirami looked back as well. However, she saw nothing behind them. So, she thought Taro was just being paranoid for reasons that only he was aware of and thought little of it. However, things took a bizarre turn soon enough. Taro started dropping his pace and increased his pace out of nowhere. And this seriously annoyed the hell out of her. She felt as if Taro didn''t forgive her and was punishing her like this. Anyhow, the final nail hit in the coffin when Taro looked towards an empty space and shouted for someone to come out. Abhirami thought it as ridiculous. However, Taro looked serious when he did so. And it seemed like it wasn''t a joke after all when three men jumped out of the bushes nearby. It was the three that she knew well for all the wrong reasons. # "Never would''ve thought that you three would spring up the very next day like this." Taro sighed as he saw the smirking faces of the three stalkers. "Well, it''s not like us to give up that easily." Stalker one laughed as he said those words. "You know¡­ This trait would''ve helped you a lot if you turned it towards your work or something. Why waste it on something like stalking?" Taro asked. "Shut up, dude! Just because you got the girl doesn''t mean that you have the right to say stuff like this!" Stalker two roared. "Get the girl? Dude, she''s not an object. First, stop that kind of thinking and maybe you''ll find someone who finds you attractive." Taro replied. "Ha, talking shit about my looks, huh?" Stalker two clenched his fists in anger when he said that. "When did I make fun of your looks? Don''t take my words out of context like that." Taro spoke. "Argh, I don''t care anymore. I just wanna inflict pain upon you!" Stalker two shouted. "Hmm, seems like I went easy on you three yesterday. Don''t worry. I''ll treat you much better today." Taro had a vicious smile on his face. However, the other side looked confident as well. "You know, I admit it. You''re strong. But do you remember what I said yesterday? I said I''d get back to you. And I plan to do that today." Stalker one spoke. "And how is it gonna be?" Taro asked. "Like this." He snapped his fingers and out came thousands of people from all sides of the road. They were surrounded. Meanwhile, the maniac stalker one laughed like how a maniac would. "Are you feeling afraid now? Are you gonna cry? Piss your pants? Grovel and apologize?" He asked. "Hmm, no. I''m gonna fight all of you and make you cry." Taro spoke. "Oh, you got confidence, eh? Let''s see how long that confidence of yours will last." Stalker one continued to laugh. Taro took a deep breath before turning towards Abhirami. "I want you to promise me one thing." He spoke. "What is it?" She asked, while trying to gauge the gravity of the situation. She couldn''t think of a situation where they''ll get out of it scot-free. So, when Taro asked her to promise something, she thought it would be something in the lines of- "I''ll fight them and create an opening. Make a run for it then and call for the police." However, reality tends to surprise people. "Never tell what you''re gonna see today to anyone. Act like this never happened in your life." He spoke so confidently that Abhirami had no choice but to nod her head in silence. However, her mind was in turmoil. Taro never asked her to escape or anything¡ªalthough she didn''t expect that, it was certainly in Taro''s character. She didn''t know why Taro was this confident. And even though she knew that believing in such a blind confidence is stupid, but somehow, his confidence held some sort of weight behind it, which made her agree with the notion. "Good. Now that you agreed to it, let''s start the show." He smiled as he walked towards the crowd. # It was supposed to be impossible. A single man against at least hundred men. There were a lot of ways that the hundred men could easily over power against the man. He was supposed to lose¡­ "... Then why?" Stalker one cried as he saw his hired muscles and friends down on the ground, lifeless. "Because you seriously underestimated me. If you wanted to gain an upper hand on me, you should''ve brought in at least a thousand people. Not that even they could beat me though." Taro spoke. If anyone else had said that, they would be ridiculed. However, stalker one knew. The man before him wasn''t joking about it. Even a fight against a thousand men couldn''t beat him. When the fight began, all the hired muscles of his thought that it was absurd bringing out this amount of people to beat that one man. However, some understood the danger that man possessed when he bashed one of their comrade''s skulls into the ground¡ªhe ended it with one hit. The horror in their eyes when they saw such a scene was a treat to watch for Taro, at least. He went around punching and kicking people, bringing each down with a singular shot. It was something inhumane. Even when people tried ganging up on him, he weaseled his way out expertly. No one could contain him. With each passing moment, the situation became drastic for the hired men. Meanwhile, Taro was enjoying this bloodbath. He missed getting involved in a mass fight like this, so this was a fine experience for him. Although when he did this during his disaster management days, there wasn''t this much of a bloodbath since the rules restrained him. Even now, he abided by the rules. However, when someone came in to provoke him, he couldn''t just sit simply and take it all along. He tried justifying it as delivering what they deserve. However, he knew deep in his mind that he was simply doing what he wanted to do for a long time now¡ªhave a fight where you don''t have to give much care to the opponent. "Ha¡­ I''m enjoying it way too much¡­ Now, what shall I do to you?" He looked towards stalker one with a crazed smile and asked. The stalker pissed his pants and grovelled before Taro. He felt fear. The God of death was staring at him. He simply didn''t want to die. # Chapter 133: Indecisive Seeing stalker one''s pathetic state, Taro broke into laughter. "Ah, don''t worry. I''m not gonna kill you or something." He said as fallen bodies surrounded him. However, the stalker didn''t have time to consider whether what he said was actually the truth or a ploy to humiliate him and kill him off later. Even if it''s the latter, he had to grasp at this one chance. "Oh, thank you, my liege! I''ll never forget your benevolence. You are the greatest!" His mouth spouted words of flattery like it''s something that he said on a usual basis. "I''m benevolent, huh?" Taro muttered. "Yes, you are!" Stalker one nodded his head. "And I''m the greatest?" Taro asked, as he slightly fidgeted in embarrassment. There was no way that stalker one didn''t notice this action! "Yea! You are the greatest person who I''ve ever seen!" Stalker one cheered. "And I''m a freaking bastard that you hate." Taro muttered with a serious expression this time around. "Yea¡ªwait, no! I don''t hate you. I adore you, my liege!" He cried. Taro clicked his tongue. "I hate liars, you know?" He sighed. "I did not lie except for the last one!" Stalker one countered, trying to salvage the situation. "Hmm, if that''s the case, don''t you think it''s even more weird? I mean, I beat all your subordinates and I''m on the verge of beating you up. For you to ''adore'' me would mean that you have something similar to Stockholm syndrome. You got that?" Taro asked. "Yea, yea! I got that!" Stalker one nodded his head even more vigorously. "Ha¡­ You know how actual people with mental illness find it hard to say that they got that, however the ones who don''t have that have no actual difficulty in saying stuff like they are a bit mental? I feel like we got a similar situation here." Taro replied. "But I''m not lying¡­" Stalker one continued denying Taro''s claims. "Maybe not. But do I look like I care? I just wanted to entertain myself a bit. Now that I''ve done it, I''m bored with you." Taro spoke. "You said you won''t kill me." The man mumbled. "That''s right. I won''t kill you. Instead, I''ll injure you¡­ I''ll injure you badly." Taro spoke as he revealed a faint smile on his face. He picked the stalker by his head and repeatedly rammed him to a wall nearby. The stalker''s group were kind enough to find an isolated place, so he didn''t have to worry about people coming to find out what the ramming voice was. There was nobody there to stop him. Except for one. "Stop!" A shriek was heard. Taro looked back to see Abhirami on her knees now, screaming at him. "Hmm? Why''d you want me to stop?" Taro asked. "Those are humans as well! If you beat him like that, they''ll die." She cried. "Why do you pity them? What if I wasn''t able to fend them off and asked you to escape while you got the chance and in the end, you found me dead? Will you be forgiving them like you''re doing right now if I was dead as well?" Taro asked. Abhirami stayed silent for a while. "But you''re not dead, right?" She mumbled. "And how does that relate to the question that I just asked? I might not be dead, but it''s not like every other guy could do what I did just now." Taro spoke. "Yea, how did you do that?" She asked. "Answer me! I''m asking you a question! Don''t deviate from the topic." Taro sounded serious as he said that. Abhirami sighed. "I don''t know. I didn''t think that far. Had you died, I would''ve cursed them to death." She replied. "See? What''s so different now?" Taro asked. "You''re alive now! You don''t have to do this!" She cried back. "Again with that! So, you''re fine about cursing them to death had I died, but you don''t like it that I''m alive and trying to beat them to death. Does that make any sense to you?" Taro asked. "But¡­" Abhirami tried defending her statement. However, Taro was irate at that moment, so he wasn''t interested in listening to anything that she wanted to say. "You''re indecisive. I don''t like indecisive people." He looked away from her. "By the way, I''m not gonna kill him. Killing is not part of my creed." He replied. "Then, the people here are-" "They''re all alive. However, they made a grave mistake in attacking me. So, I had to give them the punishment for doing so." He spoke as he bashed stalker one few more times to the wall before throwing him aside. "So, what are you gonna do now?" He asked. It took her some time, but she realized what he meant. "Oh, don''t worry. Your secret''s safe with me." She replied. She was literally shivering as she said those words. Taro laughed. "Your conscience won''t be able to handle this big of a secret." He spoke. "Trust me! I can handle it!" Abhirami assured. "Look, you are one of the biggest blabbermouths that I''ve ever seen. So, it''s hard to trust your words in that case." Taro replied. "I''m not kidding! I''ll keep it a secret to my grave!" She shouted. "Hmm, it''s not like I don''t trust your word, but I really don''t trust your word." Taro shrugged. "Then what are you gonna do?" Abhirami asked, as she slowly stepped away from Taro. "Well, I''m gonna relieve you from the burden of carrying such a secret." He replied. "How? By killing me?" She asked. "This girl! I don''t kill people, it''s my creed¡ªI told that to you before, right?" Taro sighed. "Then how are you gonna do it?" She asked. "Let me make a call. He''s gonna relieve you from it." Taro replied. "He?" "A friend. Wait." Taro dialed up a phone number and called. "Hey, I sent you the coordinates. You can come here, right? Oh, what happened? Well-" Taro got busy chatting with this friend of his. Meanwhile, Abhirami found it as the perfect opportunity to escape. She felt something was fishy. She wanted to run away as soon as possible. So, she slowly stepped back from Taro before trying to make a full-fledged escape. # Chapter 134: A different person "I wouldn''t do that if I were you." Taro spoke after getting off the call from the mystery person. Upon hearing Taro''s voice, Abhirami went on a panic mode and started running away from him with her eyes closed. It didn''t matter where she ended up at that point. She just wanted to get as far as she could from him. And for that she ran with full speed. "It''s no use, you know? There''s no way that you''re gonna outrun me." Taro whispered in her ears. Getting chills from this scenario, Abhirami opened her eyes and saw Taro comfortably running beside her while she was running for her life. A lot of complicated emotions course through Abhirami''s mind at that moment. However, she could only utter a singular word. "How?" She asked with a shocked look on her face. "I''m pretty athletic, you know?" Taro smirked. It''s not like he could reveal that he''s actually an extraterrestrial being, so he lied. "But¡­" She muttered as she continued running. However, she found no point in doing so and stopped moving. "So, when is your friend coming?" She asked. "Hmm, surprising! Pretty quick to concede, huh?" Taro spoke. "Well, you would''ve caught me even if I tried my hardest. There''s no point playing a losing game." She replied. "That''s pretty pessimistic of you! Normally, people would say something along the lines of ''I''ll do my best and then if I lost, I''m just unlucky''." Taro spoke. "That isn''t smart or optimistic. It''s plain idiotic. I''m just taking the realistic approach. If I was sure that I could shake you off me, I would''ve been optimistic and given it my all. However, just by looking at you, I can sense it. It''s useless if I run away." She replied. Unlike her usual carefree self, this version of Abhirami was serious and rational. This made it weird for Taro since just a few minutes ago, since he could see three versions of Abhirami in the span of thirty minutes- the airhead, the indecisive and the rational. "You''re truly a weird person." Taro muttered. "I don''t wanna hear that from you." Abhirami sighed. Taro chuckled. "That''s right! I''m a bit weird as well, aren''t I?" He spoke. "A bit would be the underestimation of the century." Abhirami replied, before both of them went all silent. They literally had nothing to talk about. So instead they sat around waiting for this mystery person. Abhirami looked calm. While her previous self was shit scared by all the bodies lying around, this one wasn''t even fazed once. It was as if this one was an entirely different person from the other two. "So, you still think what I did was wrong?" Taro asked, just to check if her stance was still the same. "Hmm, I was wrong before. What you did was an act of self defense. And you have killed no one as well. So, I understand why you took out your rage a bit. It''s a hundred people, after all. Even the strongest will get a bit unhinged in a situation like this." She shrugged. Taro was surprised. "Does this girl have multiple personalities? Hmm, nah. If it was that, she wouldn''t have recognized what her other self did as what she did. Which means that she suddenly became like this out of nowhere. Is it the trauma? I don''t know, dude!" He thought as he stared at Abhirami. "Can you not stare at me like that? It''s making me a bit uncomfortable." She spoke. "Well, weren''t you the one who said that you were fine with me staring at you?" He asked. "Did I say such a thing? Well, even if I did, it''s weird for me right here, so I''ll advise you to not do it." She replied. "Hmm, aren''t you afraid of me anymore?" He asked again. "What for? I know for a fact that you won''t kill me. Your creed, remember? And even if you did, there''s many people who saw us walking together, so you won''t get away from the law." Abhirami explained. "Well, in a rational point of view, what you just said might be right. However, I can surpass common sense, you know?" Taro smirked. "How can you escape scot-free after killing a person?" She asked. "That''s a secret!" Taro chuckled. "Very well. I''ll believe that such a method does not exist." She spoke. "Sure, think what you wanna think. It''s better that way." He replied. "Hey, Taro! What''s the emergency?" A voice rang out from the corner. It was Thankappan. "Taro?" Abhirami tilted her head in confusion. "Ah, Abhirami''s here too. Taro''s something we call him at home.... Wait, what''s all this?" Thankappan asked as he pointed towards the bodies lying on the floor. "You just noticed it? Well, they tried killing me, so I did it on self defense." Taro explained. "Hmm, makes sense. But, so many civilians! Ha, that''s a lot of work. I''ll just text my colleagues." Thankappan said as he took his phone and texted them. "So, you brought it, right?" Taro asked. "Yea, but why did you¡ªah, of course!" He glanced at Abhirami and nodded his head. "I had no choice. They would''ve attacked her if-" Taro was trying to explain his side, but was stopped from doing so. "Nah, nah. I understand this time. It was an absolute necessity rather than a simple rage like the one back in the tourney. So, don''t worry." Thankappan replied as he walked towards Abhirami. "Why is Mr Thankappan here?" Abhirami asked. "Well, let''s take a walk, shall we? I''ll explain it on the way." Thankappan suggested, to which she nodded her head in agreement. Thankappan gave out a light smile, before heading towards Taro. "Hey, these people are way too scattered. Can you pile them up in one corner or something? It would be easier for the agents. The ones near will come soon to help you as well!" He whispered. "Pile up, huh? Dang, it''s weird hearing you talk about them like that!" Taro chuckled. "Well, how else can I explain it? Place them gently? It feels even weirder. Anyhow, do that, and I''ll sort out the stuff with Abhirami." He assured as he ran back to Abhirami. # Chapter 135: Neuralyzer to the play! Thankappan and Abhirami walked together for a considerable distance before she opened her mouth. "So, what are you gonna do?" She asked. "Huh?" "Mr Sadanandan brought you here because there''s something you can do to make me stop from talking, right?" She asked again. "Well, it''s not wrong technically¡­" Thankappan shrugged. "Hmm, so are you gonna cut my tongue out or something? I can still write and stuff to point out what he did. So, are you gonna cut my fingers out as well? Then I''d find some other way¡­ So, are you gonna kill me?" She asked as she sighed. "Ha¡­ Why are your thoughts so dark? What makes you think that?" Thankappan countered with a question of his own. "Can you blame me for it? After all the things I saw, it''s obvious that I''ll have thoughts like this. How else are you gonna stop me from talking?" She sounded frustrated as she said that. "Makes sense. But no, we''re not gonna kill you or something. And the answer to your last question would be this right here!" Thankappan showed off the neuralyzer. "What''s this?" She asked. Thankappan sighed as he took out a small notebook from his pocket. "Okay, this right here is a neuralyzer. Or else known as¡­" He began doing the stuff that he usually does before he uses the neuralyzer on a person. "What are you doing?" Abhirami looked confused. "It''s standard government procedure before neuralyzer''s usage, kid." Thankappan replied. "Government? Aren''t you a teacher in a private school?" She looked even more confused at this point. Nothing made sense to her. "Yes, and no. Anyhow, say goodbye to your memories now." Thankappan smiled as he flashed the neuralyzer. "What the!" Before she had a chance to think about what was going on, she was already under the neuralyzer''s spell. "Hmm, so here''s what happened. You and Tar¡­ Sadanandan were walking together when a few¡­ stalkers tried wooing you. You didn''t like it and politely declined their advances. However, they tried attacking you out of spite. Thankfully, Sadanandan knew karate. So, he made space for you to escape and that you did. And that''s when you met me and told what''s going on¡ªand that''s done. All that''s left is¡­" Thankappan shook Abhirami out of her trance. "Huh? What''s happening? Mr. Thankappan?" Abhirami felt as if something veiled her memories as she tried to remember the events that preceded this. "Thank god, you''re back! I was seriously worried when I saw you just space out in the open like that!" Thankappan sounded really concerned as he spouted those words out of his mouth. "Ha¡­ I see." Suddenly, she remembered everything. Taro valiantly fighting off three people and asking her to escape and call for help and how she met Thankappan on her way. "Mr Sadanandan¡­ He''s in danger! We''ve gotta help him." She cried. "Where''s he?" He asked as Abhirami pointed the way back to where the fight occurred. "Hmm, you stay here. I''ll check on him and return." He spoke. "No. I ran away once, but I''m not gonna do that again. I''ll come with you." She urged. "Is that so? Hmm, even if that''s the case, I''ll be leading from the front. I don''t want them randomly pop up on you." He replied. "That''s fine." She nodded her head. "Cool. Let''s go." Thankappan walked forwards. He was concerned about whether Taro could hide away the bodies. So, he thought of walking as slowly as possible. However, once he did that, Abhirami nudged him from behind, asking him to walk quicker. Hence, he had no choice but to do so. Although that was the case, he wasn''t gonna give up that quick. "Sadanandan? Is everything fine there? I''ll be coming there WITH ABHIRAMI!" He shouted as he walked towards Taro. He did it quite a few times that Abhirami got annoyed by it. However, she said nothing. "Sheesh. You don''t have to scream like that." It was Taro who finally made Thankappan put a stop to it. Abhirami looked at Taro, who looked tired. She could even see a few blood stains after fighting three people. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran towards him and hugged him. "Mr Sadanandan! You''re alright!" She could no longer control the stream of tears falling from her eyes. "Hey! What are you crying for?" Taro asked. "I thought that I''d never see you. After all, you had to fight three people!" She said as she tried to stop her tears. "Three, huh¡­ Yea, it was pretty hard, but manageable." Taro replied. Although there was some guilt in his voice for feeding a lie to her brain, he believed it was necessary, so he didn''t think much of it later. "Is that so? Where are the three now?" She asked. "Ah, they ran away. They couldn''t deal with me and my tenacity, so they fled as soon as they got the chance." Taro replied with a smirk on his face. "Hehe, you''re a karate master, after all!" She smiled. Taro suddenly flinched and turned towards Thankappan, who slightly nodded his head. "Ha, yea¡­ I''m super powerful in that terms." He spoke. "No kidding." Thankappan unconsciously blurted out. "Hmm?" Taro stared at him. "Ha, nothing. I said nothing!" Thankappan covered for himself. "Anyway, why don''t we head to the bus stop now? You had a traumatic experience with those stalkers, so it would be better to get a rest." Taro suggested. "So, they were actually stalkers, huh?" Thankappan was surprised. When he framed the story, he randomly called them stalkers, so when he heard that his fake story thankfully matches with the real one, he was extremely happy. "Yea, they couldn''t handle rejection¡­ Pathetic bastards." Taro scoffed. "So, what do you think? Are they gonna come again for me?" Abhirami asked. "I don''t think so. After all, I gave them a really stern warning!" Taro smiled. "Hmm, is that so? Then it''s great! Thank you, Mr Sadanandan!" She smiled back as a response. After this event, Taro and Thankappan escorted Abhirami to the bus stop, and she could go back home happy without being concerned about the stalkers. Taro and Thankappan waved their arms as they sent off Abhirami. However, once she was nowhere to be seen, the MIB agent stared at Taro. "Okay, you''re gonna tell everything that happened today!" He spoke. # Chapter 136: No BS around Lonappan As Thankappan ordered, Taro ended up explaining everything that happened before he came. Initially, when he informed Thankappan about this, he did not explain it clearly other than asking him to bring the neuralyzer. However, since it was Taro, the walking disaster who asked for it, the MIB agent was sure that something huge happened and he wasn''t kidding about it. "So, that was stupid!" Thankappan exclaimed as he heard Taro''s explanation. "Huh, why''d you say that?" Taro inquired. "Well, first off, why the hell did you make her stand there to watch your fight? Wasn''t that idiotic? You could''ve done the valiant hero shtick, gave her time to run away and then quickly dispose of them in the time span that she brings someone for help. Simple as that!" Thankappan shook his head in disappointment. "I could have done that, huh? I just didn''t think of it at that moment. My bad!" Taro spoke. "Well, even with the situation you brought yourself, you could''ve salvaged it without having to use the neuralyzer on Abhirami." Thankappan replied. "Hmm? How?" Taro asked. "Well, you could''ve acted like you were getting beaten up by them. It''s not like you''ll get hurt by it, right?" Thankappan asked back. "Well, I won''t get hurt by whatever the earthlings have to pull out." Taro replied. "As I said, get beat by them, get the sympathy from both parties¡­ They''ll feel bad for you and leave you. Problem solved." Thankappan spoke. "Sounds easy. But it would be difficult in practice." Taro replied. "Well, it''s because your dumb ass did crazy shit like this!" Thankappan sighed. "I apologize." The Wadorian bowed his head. "Anyhow, with this, we have to be vigilant around Abhirami now. We can''t afford to have her memory jogged. She''s not John. If we flashed her twice, her memories are done for." Thankappan replied. "You''re right. I''ll be careful around her." Taro nodded his head. "But don''t be too careful and make her doubt your actions. Act normally, okay?" Thankappan spoke. "Sure." Taro nodded again. "Let''s go back to Holy Land then." Thankappan spoke as he walked towards the Holy Land with Taro following suit. # "So, what happened?" Gibli asked. "The guy beat down a hundred people and now MIB lads are busy cleaning his mess up." Thankappan was the one who replied to it. Taro simply nodded his head, acknowledging that Thankappan''s words were indeed the truth. "Why would you do that though?" Gibli asked again. "Well, they were the ones who picked a fight with me. I merely showed them they picked the fight with the wrong freaking person." Taro replied. "They stalked Abhirami, so he beat them up. That''s the actual gist of it." Thankappan interfered and spoke. "Ha¡­ Here I was, thinking of sounding all cool!" Taro looked dejected. "Hmm¡­ Abhirami, huh? You better stop mingling with her. Or else, you might end up like M''Baku." Gibli spoke. "Well, it''s not like I can''t leave a student who asked for a favor alone, right? I did what I think is right and I''m not gonna stop doing that." Taro sounded unwavering as he said that. "Is that so? Very well. It was merely a suggestion. So, yea." Gibli shrugged. "Yea¡­" Taro nodded his head, before looking around. "By the way, where is John?" He asked. "Well, he''s with Lonappan, so currently he might be in¡ªoh, no!" The shock was clear in Thankappan''s face. "What?" Everyone looked anxiously towards him. "They''ll be in the clean up duty now." Thankappan answered. "What''s the problem with¡ªoh, no!" It took little for them to understand the gravity of the situation. If Lonappan and John are there, it wouldn''t take them much to guess who caused the ruckus. And that might in turn jog John''s memories, which isn''t good for anyone. While they were worried about this, they heard a knock on the door. Since most were so anxious to even open it, Thankappan volunteered to do so. "Hello¡­ John and Lonappan!" Thankappan''s voice went on a ride as he shrieked. "Sheesh, calm down will ya! That''s annoying." Lonappan spoke. "I''m sorry." Thankappan apologized almost immediately. "It''s fine. Why aren''t you going in, John?" He asked. "Ah, yea. Is there anyone in the bath?" John asked Thankappan. "No." "Great. I''m taking a bath then." John said as he headed towards the bathroom. Once he was gone, Lonappan walked in and stared hard at Taro. "So, you got anything to say?" He asked. "Hmm?" "Don''t act dumb with me. I know what happened. I just want to hear from your damn mouth as well." Lonappan spoke sternly. Taro sighed before describing the incident in detail. "... So yea, that happened." He concluded. "You know, even if you are not in the calamity level threat list in reality, I''m gonna make a strong case to add you in. You are an actual menace at times than the actual threats!" Lonappan sighed this time around. He couldn''t just believe what he just heard. "Well, I apologize. It was not my intention. They just randomly attacked out of nowhere and I panicked and used self defense." Taro replied. "Freaking liar! If that was the case, you would''ve stopped after the first few." Lonappan replied. "I planned on doing so. However, once I tried stopping, I realized I couldn''t. The blood lust was too much for me to handle. Sorry." Taro replied. "Well, then. Why didn''t you land a hit on the girl then? You couldn''t control it, right? You should''ve beaten her up as well then, if I''m following your words clearly." Lonappan spoke. "You see¡­ Her face was the one thing that saved me! When I saw it, my uncontrollable blood lust suddenly lowered out of nowhere. If it was not for her, I would''ve wreaked havoc in this place." Taro spoke. "So, you''re saying that you missed the girl entirely when you were fighting with her in that crowd and yet you noticed her once you decimated those people." Lonappan summarized it. "I knew you would understand." Taro smiled. "Bullshit. Next time around, pull out a better lie from your ass or you''ll be put in a house arrest. Understand?" He asked. "Yup." Taro had no choice but to nod along to the intimidating voice at that point. # Chapter 137: A basketball match The very next day after the incident was strangely peaceful, according to Taro. It went like it normally would, and this was definitely a curveball to Taro who expected something to happen that day as well. However, once he fully processed the situation, he learned how lucky he was that day. All the other days had been hectic for one reason or the other, which made Taro believe it was normalcy. He actually forgot how to laze around after all the things that had been happening for the past week. Anyhow, that day was different. There were classes, but other than that, he was a free man. No one came running to him asking for help, he wasn''t asked to do some kinda errand, it worked perfectly for him. Since he was free for the most part, he spent it by playing the gacha game he loved, before realizing that it is a stressful task in itself. Gacha games are addictive and sucks your soul out. So, before he ended up like that, he stopped doing that and spend the day lazing around. However, the thing is that Taro didn''t know how to actually enjoy free time. Back in Wados, when he got free time like this, he usually spent it by working out. But he was afraid to do so in here because of obvious reasons. Therefore, Taro spent most of the time on his desk in his staff room, shifting positions frequently to the point that his colleagues found him as an eyesore. Not that Taro cares about it, though! Anyhow, no matter how many times he shifted, he didn''t feel comfortable. So, he tried forcing himself to sleep. Even that seemed impossible, since the Wadorian was a person who sleeps rarely. Taro was in a pinch. He never imagined that he would actually get bored with lazing around. He was reminded of his time as a construction worker. He never took a break back then, and thus he was happy. And now, he wasn''t exactly sad, but he was certainly conflicted. Now that he could no longer feel comfortable in his seat, he took a walk across the school. He thought that if getting congested in a room doesn''t allow his boredom to go away, the openness would always help. And he was right about it, for the most part. The chilly breeze helped him in various ways. While he was in, he couldn''t do anything. However, now he had a rational mind. He felt happy as he reminisced about the old times while he casually strolled through the school grounds. While doing so, he noticed his students were playing basketball. He wasn''t made aware of the rules of that game until he was forced to watch it, because someone among his roommates asked the cable operator to switch the channel with Taro''s favorite one. Even if it was due to sheer necessity, after watching that one match, Taro was pretty excited. The game wasn''t exactly his cup of tea, however, it looked exhilarating to play. So, once he saw his students play, he unconsciously walked towards them. "Hey, it''s Mr Sadanandan!" Abhirami, who was playing in the match amongst other lads and girls, waved her arm vigorously. Taro checked around and found that it was actually a mixed basketball match. He was pretty happy seeing the harmony among his students and didn''t want to see it die off anytime soon. "Hey! So, how was your day?" He asked. To a normal person, it would seem like Taro was exchanging simple greetings. However, that wasn''t the case. He was specifically asking about the aftermath of the incident that happened the day before. And Abhirami noticed it as well. "Nothing much happened today. They didn''t even come by, thankfully." She sighed. "Great!" Taro smiled. "I guess the MIB people did a good number on them." He thought. "Humm. You can still come to Mundur with me if you want to¡­" Abhirami spoke as she shrugged. "What? Why the hell would I?" Taro tilted his head in confusion. "Well, I thought you might have grown fond of walking with me." Abhirami chuckled. "Thankfully, I didn''t develop such a habit, so I won''t be walking with you." Taro spoke. "Is that so?" Abhirami looked disappointed, but there wasn''t anything that Taro could do to help, other than agreeing to walk with her, which was something he definitely wanted to avoid. So he remained silent. "Hey, teach! What''s up with you being here?" Shivani asked as she walked towards them. "Ah, well. I was about to take you all back to the class since I got permission to teach English this period." Taro replied, looking as stoic as he can. "What?" The students looked dumbfounded, before entering into a state of panic. This was their only time to play, so they didn''t want some teacher to steal it off them as well. Taro chuckled. "I was kidding, of course! Why would I need an extra period when my portions are almost complete?" "Well, the joke was too real. There''s been times when teachers took our PT (Physical Training) period, so yea." Ross, who rarely speaks to him, spoke. "I see. Anyhow, I was just passing by, thought I should give you lot a visit." Taro replied. "Hmm, how about you play a game with us then?" Shivani put out the suggestion. "... I''m fine with that. However, will your PT teacher be fine with it?" Taro asked. "We can just ask him, right?" Shivani said as she ran towards a big burly man named Samuel, who''s also their PT teacher. She asked him about it, to which he nodded his head. "I''m fine with it. However, I think one of the team would be at a disadvantage once he enters the game. So, I''m gonna suggest this. How about I join one of the team as well? It would be fun that way." He spoke. "Whoa, that''s a great idea!" Shivani agreed to the notion. And soon, everyone else did as well. Thus they were split into two teams and were ready to play. # Chapter 138: Juans playing as well "You ready?" Samuel asked with the ball in his hand. "Yup." Taro nodded his head. "Cool. Prepare yourself! You''re gonna get royally defeated." Samuel laughed like a madman. He was sure that he would win. First of all, he was a PT teacher who works out every other day, unlike Taro, who''s an English teacher. He expected nothing from Taro, who looks like a pretty guy with no substance. In his eyes, muscles are where it is! The second reason for his confidence would be the team he picked. Although the twelfth grade comprised a few students, there are some athletes in this pick. Samuel knew who they were and picked them from the beginning, leaving Taro with a ragtag of a team. "Wait, there''s a member less in our team." Shivani shouted before the match officially began. "Hmm, you''re right about that. However, what are we supposed to do about that? I mean, blame your teacher for losing the toss and picking such a¡ªvibrant team." Samuel smirked. He just couldn''t help leaking it out. He was in the neutral faction in the fight between Mary and Taro. He really didn''t care about it since it seemed petty. However, he was super furious when he learned that Taro''s actions gained him massive favorability among students. For someone who had been actively trying to look cool before the students, it was frustrating. So, rather than a fair fight, what he was looking for was humiliation¡ªcomplete and utter humiliation. He believed that once the kids see their teacher''s pathetic side, they would think that he''s cool and Taro''s trash. "Sorry, not sorry, Mr Sadanandan! This is a fight that I must win!" He thought as he shrugged. "So, you''re gonna make us play in this disadvantage, huh?" Shivani stared at Samuel and asked. "Shoot! If I made them play with a member less, they''d think that I''m a tyrant. Well, even if they got one extra member, they''re touted to lose. So, why not?" He sighed. "You see, I''m all in for that. However, the rest of them explicitly said that they don''t wanna partake in the match. So, if you''re able to convince them¡­ Why not! You can play with the same number." Samuel replied. "Is that so? You heard it, right?" Shivani turned her head towards the non-playing classmates. "Yup. I''m joining in." Someone jumped out from behind them. It was Juan. "Wait, you never play any games with us, how come you''re playing now?" Samuel looked dumbfounded. "Well, she called for me, so I came." Juan replied as he pointed towards Shivani. Samuel sighed. Had he known that Juan would come if someone called for him, he would''ve done that earlier. After all, he excelled at stuff like this. However, he had a question in his mind that''s been bugging him. "Hmm, would you have come out if we asked for you as well?" Samuel asked. "Nope." He gave a stern answer. "Shit! How is that fair? Wait, is she his girlfriend or something? That''d make total sense!" Samuel sighed yet again. Had he picked Shivani, he could''ve got Juan in his team. "Not really, though! She''s more like my best friend of the entire world than anything." Juan spoke out of nowhere, while staring at Samuel. No one seemed to understand why Juan said such a thing out of nowhere. No one except Samuel. "You! How did you-" Before Samuel could say anything more, Juan interrupted. "It''s called intuition." Juan replied. "What kinda intuition allows someone to read someone else''s mind?" Samuel looked towards Juan in disbelief, but Juan simply smiled. "So, shall we start our game?" Taro spoke. However, before Samuel could nod yes, someone else interfered. "Ta¡ªSadanandan!" It was Thankappan. "Yo, Thankappan! Why are you here?" Taro asked. "Well, I saw you were gonna play, so I wanted to get a closer view." Thankappan replied. "Hmm, I see. Sit beside the kids then, you''ll get a good view. Or better, be the referee of this match. That''d be an entirely different view compared to the sidelines." Taro spoke. "Ah, I''ll be the referee then¡­ Since it''s cool. Hehe." Thankappan chuckled. "But before that, Sadanandan, can we have a private conversation?" He asked. "Sure." Taro nodded. Once he did that, Taro was immediately dragged away from the group of people. "What the hell are you doing?" Thankappan sounded frustrated as he said that. "What did I do wrong this time around?" He asked, sounding equally frustrated since he didn''t know Thankappan''s reason for frustration. "You are playing a basketball match with them! You know you''re gonna mess it up, right? You''re gonna grab the ball and never leave it until the end of the match or do some superhuman shit like that! I can''t afford you to do that. There''s already one who''s been flashed here, so I would prefer if I can''t survive without completely wiping off someone''s memories." Thankappan sighed. "Don''t worry. I''m not gonna play that role this game. I already know what I''m gonna do. I just have to play in the shadows for this game. After all, there''s a bright shining star there who''s gonna hide me in plain sight." Taro spoke as he looked towards Juan, who was stretching. "Ah! You''re right about that! He''s pretty good! Let him do all the flashy stuff and you can just lurk around, maybe?" Thankappan suggested. "Well, that''s what I''m planning to do, at least." Taro spoke. "Oh, great! Let''s do the game then." Thankappan took the lead and headed to the grounds with Taro right behind him. Both the teams were nervous. For Taro''s team, it was the lack of proper team coordination that haunted them. However, the entry of Juan into their squad relieved them from most of their worries. They trusted it all on Juan. Samuel knew about it and found it pathetic how the team is trying to rely on Juan for the most part. Basketball is a team sport. A single man cannot win it for you. So, Samuel was supposed to be confident because he had the superior team. However, even with all that said, he was wary of Juan. He''s an all purpose player. So, if it was him, there''s a chance that Taro''s team actually wins¡ªeven if the probability was too low. However, Samuel wished to destroy even the slightest bit of worry he had from the very start. The game is on! # Chapter 139: Playmaker So, the teams were set. Samuel had an all-men team. Even if that was the case, he really wanted Shivani on his team as well, since he had seen her play and she was better than a few of his members. However, he wasn''t that sad because the ones on his side were experienced playing alongside each other for many competitions. And compared to this, Taro''s team was a sham. It relied on individual prowess than the team. Such a team was bound to fail. He knew how good Shivani and Juan were, but Abhirami, Sujatha and Taro in particular were useless in his eyes. He knew how Sujatha and Abhirami were good at other sports, but basketball sure wasn''t one. Juan and Samuel were on the front to grab hold of the ball when the referee Thankappan threw the ball up in the air. Taro''s decision to not be the one in place of Juan not only made sense to Thankappan, who didn''t want Taro to shine too much, but also to the ones on the sidelines since they knew how good Juan was. Anyhow, the one who got their fingertips on the ball was Juan, who nudged it towards his teammates. Although he expected little from most of them since they are amateurs, Shivani was one person he trusted because of her experience and the times they played together in practice matches. The plan was simple in Juan''s mind. Send the ball to Shivani and she''ll dribble it back to him and he can then do the rest. It''s not like he was disrespecting the rest in his team, but their skills weren''t on par with the two of them. So Juan looked back to see whether Shivani got the ball. However, much to his surprise, it wasn''t Shivani there. He was sure that Shivani would be there, however it seemed as if there was a last-minute change in positions. Therefore, the one standing there was Taro, who was grinning. Juan sighed. The first part of the plan was thwarted. However, it is still manageable. As long as Taro sends the ball to either him or Shivani¡­ "Hey, what are you doing?" The usually chill Juan looked frustrated as he saw Taro preparing for a long throw with the ball. Even if he was fast, there was no chance that he was getting there in time. However, Taro was smirking and mouthing that everything''s gonna be fine. And this only irked him even more. He could only watch as the ball floated above him. And just like him, the others in the ground missed that one person pacing like her life depends on it towards the said ball. It was only after she caught the ball in her grasp that the people noticed her. "Abhirami!" Everyone shouted. Samuel''s team ran back to cover their basket, however she was in a spot where she couldn''t miss it even if she wanted to. And hence, the first two points belonged to Taro''s team. No one believed what they just witnessed. Well, more than the basket in itself, they couldn''t believe how they missed Abhirami. Although she wasn''t an outstanding basketball player, she was an excellent runner. A gold medalist for the hundred meter sprints. So, it shouldn''t have been much of a surprise to see her cover the ground and score an absolute sitter of a layup. However, it did surprise them. It showed them how much they underestimated the opposition team. So, they planned not to do that anymore. Samuel was planning to do it slow and rebound from the initial shock as he threw the ball towards Ross. But yet again, Abhirami became the thorn in his side as she intercepted the pass and threw it towards Juan, who was in acres of free space. For someone who''s able to score even in high-pressure situations, this was easy as hell. Anyhow, back-to-back points cooled down Samuel''s side than making them frustrated. They could deal with something like this as long as they were the ones who get the last laugh. Therefore, they ended up showing a passing clinic where the entire team came through together to score the two points. But while Taro''s team was desperately defending, there were two people showing no movement whatsoever¡ªTaro and Shivani. Taro was inside the three-point line while Shivani was outside it. Both of them watched as they saw the ball go through the hoop. Samuel didn''t understand what was going on, but he wasn''t gonna miss such an open invitation. He took it upon himself to score the first two points for the team. His teammates were coming towards him to congratulate him, but that was when he saw the plan. Just as the ball came down after passing through the hoop, Taro wasted no time and made the throw to Shivani, who was all alone on the other side of the court. She took her time and scored a three-pointer for the team. No matter how fast Samuel and co ran, they were still slow. By the time they got there, Shivani was already walking back. So, Samuel and co were definitely surprised, but there was one more surprised than them. It was Juan. He wasn''t aware of their tactics at all since they discussed none, but Taro, Shivani and Abhirami worked as a well-oiled machine for some reason. Not that he hated it, since it got them baskets. He just wanted to be part of their silent cahooting. Anyhow, that''s when he started looking at Taro, since he was the one who looked like he was controlling the game. The throws he made didn''t look that special, but the sense to notice his teammates'' position and using them to their full extent was certainly admirable. In that sense, he was the perfect play-maker for a team. It wasn''t just Juan who noticed Taro''s worth in the team. Samuel noticed it as well. He became well aware that the team that he was facing changed from a normal team to a monstrous one right before his eyes. He wasn''t even sure about winning the match at this point. Hell, his priorities changed from winning to not getting humiliated. Taro broke Samuel''s spirit in the matter of a few moves. # Chapter 140: One-sided Seeing Samuel in his dumbfounded state, Juan sighed. "Oh, come on! Are you gonna be speechless with just this? I haven''t even started my hunt, you know? If this is how you''re gonna be, you''re gonna be gaping your mouth by the end of it." He said as he passed by Samuel. Upon hearing this, Samuel came back to reality. "Shit, being belittled by your student doesn''t feel good at all." He mumbled while clenching his fists. "Boys! Don''t be scared now, okay? It''s just the beginning. We''ll still get a lot of chances!" He assured them. "Who''s getting scared? Don''t put your personal anxiety on us, Mr Samuel. Moreover, it''s exciting this way, isn''t it? A terrible beginning to a very great ending. Ah, I''m getting chills just by thinking about it." Ross spoke as he gave out a bright smile. "Exciting, huh¡­ Sure it is." Samuel smiled as he passed the ball to Ross. Samuel''s team continued the same passing strategy from before, since that was a technique they were comfortable with. Anyhow, whilst noticing the ball''s movement, Samuel was also keeping an eye at his competitors. It seemed as if Taro was planning the same thing that he tried when they scored a basket. He wasn''t moving. His partner in crime this time around wasn''t Shivani, though. It was Abhirami. Although she wasn''t quite the three-point shooter like Shivani, she was still pretty good at the layups, so it seemed that Taro was trying to get a two-pointer this time. So, this move made Samuel''s team look for a three-pointer, but they stopped themselves from doing so, since they were looking for a careful restart to their game. Therefore, since two of five would not fight them under the rim, Samuel dribbled his way under the rim and tossed the ball for an easy two¡ªor so he thought of doing. However, the ball was swatted away with full force by someone. Samuel looked to his side and noticed that it was Taro. Anyhow, the swat was so hard that it looked like it was gonna go out of bounds. But Samuel''s team knew what was going on. They expected Abhirami to sprint once they saw Taro jump up and swat the ball, so they had collectively run back to protect their basket. Since it was Abhirami, they covered the base of the basket, so she couldn''t do the layup. Hence, they were kinda surprised when Abhirami didn''t rush inside the two point zone. Instead, she made a throwing action in the three point line before passing the ball to Shivani, who scored the three-pointer, increasing the point gap between them. Samuel''s team weren''t that concerned though. At least they didn''t look like it in their faces. However, once you see their playing style, you could decipher that they were a bit concerned. At least, they looked like they wanted to win. Rather than the passing play that they did for the last time, they did a whole team rush this time around, which was a really risky gamble, since if they weren''t able to score it, the other team would definitely do so. And yet, they were willing to do it because they believed they could do it. And the risk paid off. Samuel faked the throw to basket and instead passed it to Laxman, who passed it to Ross and they got two points. From that point, it was just a bloodbath figuratively, of course. Both teams started scoring baskets on a regular basis. However, the initial lead saved Taro''s team for the longest time¡­ Until the final twenty minutes. Sujatha, who was protecting the rim, got tired and wasn''t able to pull off jumps, and Samuel''s squad pounced on the one member''s fatigue to the point that they actually got the lead before the last twelve minutes. It was a monumental comeback¡ªat least for them. They didn''t celebrate excessively like they did in the beginning of the game. But they were still happy about it. Victory seemed pretty close to them. "Ha¡­" Juan sighed as he witnessed this scene. "Mr Sadanandan. Seems like you''ve been passing less and less for me, you know?" He pouted as he spoke. "Well, that was kinda deliberate. I wanted my best player to straight up wreck the opposition in the final ten minutes." Taro smiled. "We could''ve just widened the lead into something greater that they couldn''t win, even if they scored basket after basket in the last ten minutes. Why didn''t we do that?" Juan asked. "You know, I like theatrics. Very fond of it. So imagine it. An underdog team dominating for the most part, thus reversing the roles in that one game. People cheering for the new underdog team who kept on with their desperate fight. And in the end, they got the lead in the very end. Then they string up a few successful attacks, cementing the other team as the underdogs this time around. Then one man changes the entire game. Delightful story, eh?" He asked. "Hmm, too many twists." Juan replied. "Well, sometimes that just gives the story a unique charm." Taro spoke. "But you really think that people would treat me as a great guy who saved his team. Wouldn''t I be the freaking last boss if it was some game?" Juan asked. "Well, I guess that would be the case. But isn''t being the last boss quite a fun position?" Taro asked back. "Hmm, an antagonist of utmost importance. I like it!" Juan smirked. "Then let''s begin our ambush!" Taro smiled along with him. What followed next was a massacre per se. Because of the faint presence Juan had for most of the game, they gradually thought that Taro and Juan weren''t on good terms, so they weren''t passing the ball to each other. But the last ten minutes told a different tale. Every single time the ball was in Taro''s hand, he always passed it to Juan, who would always score. This way, they scored almost thirty points in that last ten minutes, without allowing Samuel and co to score even a single basket. The once close contested match became a one-sided affair in the end. # Chapter 141: Activities Samuel sighed. They lost considerably. Though one can argue that Taro''s team only won because of Juan''s last-minute antics, everyone knew that the strategy was pre-planned since Juan didn''t play any role for the lion''s share of the game. Anyhow, a strange feeling crept up in Samuel and the lads'' minds. It wasn''t sadness or anything. It was respect more than anything. For them to actually win against a coordinated team and to play to their strengths¡ªit really seemed like a situation that comes by in an anime or novel. It seems impossible, but they actually pulled off. "Good game!" Samuel extended his hand towards Taro. Taro smiled as he shook on it. "Well, it really was. All thanks to Juan and the rest." He spoke. "I see. Undervaluing yourself before others, huh? But don''t think I haven''t noticed it." Samuel giggled. "I have no idea about the stuff you''re speaking about." Taro continued to act oblivious, even though he was aware that he was caught. "Hmm, very well. I won''t be pushing it any further. However, I''ll just inform you of this. There''s a inter school teachers sports tournament happening in a month or two. It''ll be pretty fun to see you perform in that competition." Samuel spoke. "... I''ll think about it." Taro replied. "Just the words that I wanted to hear! I feel like you''re hesitating because you don''t want to stand out for some odd reason. That''s fine as well! You can play team sports." Samuel could deduce Taro''s thoughts perfectly. Taro stood silently for a while before answering. "As I said before, I''ll think about it." Taro reiterated his words from seconds before. "Yea, yea. See you later, Mr Sadanandan. I wish to play against you some other day as well." Samuel smiled. "Some other day¡­ Yea, see ya then." Taro waved his hand and left Samuel high and dry. "Good game, teach!" Abhirami came by this time around. "Yea, same to you." Taro spoke. "Well, I never knew you were this good of an athlete! Your stock just rose considerably, you know that?" Abhirami asked. "My stocks?" Taro tilted his head in confusion. Even with the universal translator, the translations of certain sentences were wonky as hell. "My stocks? I''ve never invested in stuff, though. So, in here, just being athletic is enough to get your stocks to rise? Dang, that''s some way to make easy money!" Taro thought as he heard that. "Ah, yes! The stocks of you being an ideal husband." Abhirami''s eyes were gleaming as she spoke about that. Taro sighed. Here he was thinking about flaunting his athleticism and buying stocks and increasing its monetary value. However, his dreams were short-lived. "And what would those stocks help me in any way?" Taro asked. "I don''t know? Girls will find you attractive, maybe?" She shrugged. "Do you think I need something like that?" Taro sighed. "I''m having enough trouble without all that stuff. I don''t want more anytime soon." He replied. "Well, it''s not like that''s your choice, though! It occurs naturally." Abhirami shrugged again. "Whatever! It doesn''t matter. I''m not gonna give my time and effort to it." He replied. "Great. So, what are you gonna do now?" She asked. "Hmm... Go back to the staff room and cool down, I guess." He answered. "I see. Good luck with that." Abhirami spoke as she was about to turn around, but she stopped in her tracks. "By the way, what are you gonna do tomorrow around in the sixth or seventh period?" She asked, while looking back at him. "Tomorrow is Friday, right? I''m free around that time. Why did you ask?" He asked. "Well, I wanted you to come with me to a place then." She spoke. "Nah, bruv. I''m not falling for it." Taro stepped back as she said that. "It''s not some shady place." She assured him. "Then where is it?" He asked. "... That''s a secret!" She smirked as she ran back to the glass. "A secret, huh? What sorta trouble is she gonna put me in this time around?" Taro mumbled. # Next day, five minutes after the sixth period started. Even though Taro clearly expressed his worries the past day, he was quite curious to see where Abhirami planned to take her. However, five minutes passed, but he didn''t see her in the corridor. "Were you waiting for me?" A voice came from behind him and this clearly startled him. "What the! Don''t do that stuff again. Startling me like that! You know the consequences¡ªwait, is that a-" Taro looked dumbstruck after viewing what she wore. "A karate gi? Yes!" Abhirami smiled as she flaunted it before Taro. "Why are you wearing a gi to school? Does the school allow something like this?" He asked. Abhirami sighed. "I thought you''d be more excited about it. But, you''re talking about school rules and stuff, huh?" She asked. "Well, school rules are rules to follow, you know? If you''re wearing a gi without the permission of the concerned authorities, you have to change it immediately." Taro spoke. "Hmm, seems like you don''t know the existence of the activity period." Abhirami mumbled. "Activity period?" He looked confused since it was the first time he heard of it. "Haven''t you noticed that when Friday comes around, the students are nowhere near their classes? Why do you think that is?" She asked. "Hmm, these activity classes are responsible for that?" He asked. He did notice this, however, since it didn''t concern him at no point in his teaching career in the school, he never meddled with it. So, this was the first time he heard of such a thing. "How perceptive of you!" Abhirami looked proud as she said that. "Well, you asked that question when I asked you about the activity period. So, yea. That was the only reason that came to my mind." He replied. "Ah, is that so? Anyhow, activities¡­ It''s¡­ activities¡­ I don''t know how else to describe them. Like, we do various stuff in this period. Although, a student can only choose one activity from a variety of them, like drawing, violin.." Before she could continue depicting all the activities, Taro interrupted her. "And Karate, by the looks of it. So, the place you wanted to take me to is-" This time around, Taro was interrupted by Abhirami instead. "Yup! We''re going to the school''s Karate dojo!" She said excitedly. # Chapter 142: Harish? "Karate dojo, huh? But why, though?" Taro asked. "Well, weren''t you the one who told me that you''re a Karate expert? I thought it would bring back those fond memories you have for the martial art in your mind." She smiled. However, this one didn''t apply for Taro. The "fond memories" Taro had for Karate were completely destroying an entire tournament. So, he wasn''t particularly fond of retracing back to those memories. "Hmm, I never knew you were practicing Karate!" Taro spoke, trying to deviate the conversation from his memories to something Abhirami-centric. "Ah, well. You weren''t aware of the activity period in the first place, so it''s understandable." She replied. "I''m not talking about that. A karateka has a certain aura around them. I mean, even the least experienced one has some sorta fighting spirit in them. And a fellow karateka can always sense it¡ªor at least, I can! So, how come I can''t feel it from you? Even in all the times you got involved in a fight around me, you never took up a stance or even looked willing to do basic self defense. So¡­ How come?" He asked. "Ah, you see.. I didn''t take Karate seriously from the beginning. So, even though I''m in the karate class, I literally know nothing." She sighed. "Then how about now?" He asked. "Huh?" "Do you feel like learning Karate?" He asked again. "Yup!" She nodded her head. "After all the events that happened around me these few days and seeing you fight as well, I feel like learning it even a bit would be better for me." She spoke. "Hmm, great! You won''t regret it. Karate is a wonderful martial art." Taro replied. "Is that so? Anyhow, let''s head to the dojo no, shall we?" Abhirami asked, to which Taro nodded. A few minutes later, both of them were on the topmost floor of the old block of the school. "Is it here?" Taro asked before she opened the door. "Yea, it''s technically the auditorium. But on Fridays, we treat it like our dojo." She replied. "I see. Let''s get in!" She swung the auditorium door open. "I''m here, Sensei!" She shouted. "Oh, it''s Abhirami! Don''t shout too loud, okay. The kung-fu guys are gonna kill us, if we disturbed them. So¡­" As the master was walking towards her to reprimand her a bit, he noticed the man behind her. And the man noticed him back as well. The two stared at each other for quite a while, before coming to a realization. "WHAT!" They shouted almost simultaneously. # Taro was confused. The one before him was Harish, whom he faced in the tournament. He never expected that someone from back then would be here. This was even more surprising because Taro clearly remembered that he originally wasn''t from Thrissur. A lot of doubts crept up in Taro''s mind with each passing second. "Wait, why did you two scream like that? Do you two know each other or something?" Abhirami, who was in between the two, was equally confused as well. Taro was the first to respond in this scenario. "Umm, I don''t know how to say this, but I''ve watched Mr Harish''s matches, so I''m kinda familiar with him. A bit of a fan, if you ask me." He smiled as he cringed inwardly. "Ah, that makes sense! My master is pretty famous, you see! He even faced the mysterious winner of this year''s state tournament! Sure, he lost quickly, but I''m still proud of him." She giggled. "Abhirami!" Harish sighed since he couldn''t control the girl at all. "So, why did YOU scream, sensei?" Abhirami turned towards Harish and asked. Taro was curious about it as well. In his case, it was because he knew Harish. However, that shouldn''t be the case for Harish, who isn''t supposed to know about him. "... Unless the neuralyzer didn''t fall on his eyes back then. Which means his memories are still intact. Which means¡­ DANGER! Wait, let''s not jump into any conclusions. Let''s hear what the dude has to say." He thought. Anyhow, Harish''s facial expressions weren''t helping him at all. He looked nervous, as if he was trying to hide something from them. However, after a few seconds of contemplation, he looked calm. "Well, I screamed because he did!" He answered, whilst pointing towards Taro. "Eh? I''m pretty sure that your screams were almost simultaneous." Abhirami spoke. "Maybe you misheard¡­ It''s a scream, after all." Harish shrugged. "Hmm, you might be right about that." Abhirami lightly nodded her head. However, the suspicion in her mind wasn''t cleared though. The situation was the same for Taro. The more Harish tried to deny it, the more suspicious Taro became. He felt that even if Harish didn''t have the memories beforehand, his meeting with him surely jogged his memories back. However, without concrete proof, he couldn''t accuse something like that and asked his MIB friends to flash him again. Therefore, he was determined to stick around Harish no matter what. So, the first thing he did was that he went to the principal''s office and requested her to appoint him as the preceding teacher for Karate, which she happily agreed. From the very next moment, he placed close attention to what Harish did. However, Harish didn''t feel very comfortable with Taro''s staring. It genuinely creeped him out. So, as to make him stop staring, he thought of actively involving Taro in the class itself.'' "Mr Sadanandan? I heard from Abhirami that you''re a karateka as well. So, would you like to have a spar with me or something? It would be pretty fun!" Harish smiled. "Nope, I don''t do spars without putting on my gi." Taro gave a stern reply. "Is that so? Then why don''t you bring your gi the next time you come by? We''ll have a spar then! The kids genuinely seem excited to watch you fight, so¡­" Harish tried to guilt Taro into bringing his gi. "Hmm, I guess I''ll bring it for the kids then." He replied and soon the bell rang. "Okay, I gotta go now. Nice session by the way." Taro spoke. "Thank you for being the official advisor for Karate." Harish bowed as Taro nodded his head and left. Soon enough, all the kids left. That''s when Harish picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Hello? Yea, it''s me. I met with him today! No, I''m not kidding! It''s him¡ªSadanandan." # Chapter 143: Search for Sadanandan (Note: This chapter is in first person POV.) I''m Harish TP; a karate practitioner. My life had been way too normal throughout my entire life until I met this one person. He called himself Sadanandan. I met him during the state karate tournament. I thought little of him in the beginning, since my eyes were all on getting into the national tournament. However, that''s when I got thoroughly defeated by him. That''s when I started noticing him. Even though I started noticing him, he remained nothing more than a dark horse pick for me. This is because I fought with the ones who advanced with him and they were no simple opponents. But yet again, the man before me defied all the expectations and defeated his opponents with ease. The person who I thought wouldn''t even advance in the first round, advanced to the finals. It was truly miraculous¡ªan underdog story, if you ask me. Only, it wasn''t one. He was strong. Too strong. He was incomparable to us. It took the finals to make me realize how strong the guy was. I should''ve noticed it before though¡ªafter all, he did just defend to win all his matches. Anyhow, in the finals, he obliterated his opponent Jai because he ticked him off. And we aren''t talking about a simple knock out or something. He straight up got Jai''s body to go through the wall of the indoor stadium to the outside. I''ve never seen such a thing in my life. But the strange thing is this¡ªfor some reason, no one remembers this incident the way I did. They were talking about a mystery participant when everyone knew his name just a minute before. It was as if someone was deliberately wiping out the memories related to Sadanandan from people''s brain. That''s when I remembered it. A suited guy holding a rod of some sorts. He was telling some random gibberish back then, and now people were saying the same thing¡ªwhich means that he manipulated people''s mind the way he wanted. I tried to think of a reason why I was the only one who wasn''t affected with this. The only conclusion that I came up to was that rod that I talked about before. I believe it released some sort of light from it. Ever since that, people started believing that fabricated tale. Thankfully, I wasn''t hit with it, since I accidentally closed my eyes due to dust particles entering my eyes. So, I believed I was the only remnant of the truth for the longest time. I wasn''t too excited to tell this to someone else because I knew well that no one would believe that a man was the one responsible for the hole in the wall. However, things changed a bit when Zaheer asked to meet up with me one day. I didn''t know why he was asking for me back then, but he soon revealed that he remembered the events that happened on that day as well. It seemed that he realized my knowledge on the incident since one of our mutual friends started badmouthing me, calling me crazy and stuff because I asked if he remembered about it. So, we mutually broke our friendship with our mutual friend because he''s an asshole. Other than that, we partnered together to find any info on Sadanandan. We were curious as to why his identity was so protected and whether he''s some sort of unique existence. Anyway, we were like two conspiracy theorists at this point. You see, there were times that I doubted my own memories just because everyone was remembering one event while I remembered something entirely different. I thought I was the crazy one. However, with Zaheer on my side, I no longer doubted my memories. Sometimes, it''s not us in the wrong just because we are on the opposites to the entire world. They could be wrong as well. So, we started our investigation about this elusive character from his dojo. But here''s the thing, the dojo master remembered his disciple winning the tournament and for some reason, in his memories, he died soon after. It seemed as if they twisted some tales to certain members. I felt bad for him though. Think about it. He''s the one who carries the most trauma after the tournament. He is unaware that his disciple is actually well and alive, and that''s sad to see. Since we didn''t get any clues from the dojo master, we looked around and still found nothing. We literally spent months trying to find this guy, but he was nowhere to be seen. I was worried that he was imprisoned or something for the stuff he did that day. In between all these searching for Sadanandan, we were still working our asses off in our normal jobs. Other than having a dojo of mine, I also taught karate in schools, for which I''m paid¡­ fairly. And one such school was the Heavenly Flame School. I taught karate there on Fridays. It''s pretty fun, you know? On the off chances that I get, I tried endorsing my dojo to them, but they rarely heed my business mind, but it was kinda fine though. I wasn''t sad about it or anything since one out of twenty kids joined my dojo from the school since they actually liked me. Anyhow, the thing''s this. I expected nothing from this school, even when I agreed to teach karate there. However, I guess God works in ways that I can''t even fathom. I met the guy we were actually searching for in a total accident. It seemed like he remembered me as well. However, he acted as if he didn''t, so I kept my face as well. He took up the teaching profession, which I felt was weird for a guy like him who gets ticked off easily. So, it seemed as if he hadn''t revealed to people that he''s a karateka as well, probably because he worries that someone might actually draw his connection to the tournament. But he still agreed to spar with me, which is exciting since I practiced even more since that loss. I finally caught up to the person, I''m not leaving him that easily! # Chapter 144: How long will the peace last? (Back to 3rd person!) "Seems like sensei really like you." Abhirami giggled as she said that. "Now, why would you say that?" Taro sighed. "Well, it seems like he was basically devoted to ya! Hehe." Abhirami continued giggling. "Ha, that''s just because he wanted to see my fight for some odd reason." Taro replied. "Hmm, it''s just not him though. Literally everyone in the karate class wanted to see you fight. He just voiced their opinions." Abhirami replied. "See? He was devoted to me for you guys!" Taro replied. "Haha, you really just say devoted! I was making fun, you know?" Abhirami''s giggle turned into a full-fledged laughter at this point. Taro grew so frustrated hearing her laughter that he did a noogie on her head. "Oww, that hurts!" She cried. "That''s exactly what I hoped for." Taro replied with a smirk. "Ha, the suffering of being Mr Sadanandan''s favorite student." She sighed. "When did I ever say that you were my favorite student? I feel like you need another noogie." Taro raised his knuckles, but Abhirami ran away as soon as she saw him prepare. # Back in the Holy Land. The group of four was chilling while watching television, waiting for John to come back. Since the mood was too gloomy for reasons unknown, Taro broke the silence. "Hey, you know what happened in the school today?" He asked. "Classes." Thankappan gave out a really lazy reply. "This fuc¡ªI know classes happened today!" Taro spoke. "Then why did you even ask?" Thankappan scoffed. "Well, I was trying to break the freaking silence in here!" Taro replied. "Hmm? But the television''s on, though!" Thankappan spoke. "I know! But are you even watching it? It''s on for the sake for being on." The Wadorian sighed. "So, what did you wanna talk about?" Thankappan asked, conceding to Taro. "I was gonna say that I met Harish in the school today, but I don''t think you lot are interested in hearing it. So, I''m not gonna say that to you." Taro replied. He was genuinely pissed off by their nonchalant behavior. He kinda hated it when someone acted the way Thankappan did when he was about to say something. "I''m sorry for my behavior. But who in the world is Harish?" He apologized. "Ah, don''t you remember him? He''s the one from the tourna-" Taro was about to talk about the tournament, but thought against it. However, the thing is that he already hinted towards it, so his roommates had an idea about what he was talking about. "Tournament, huh¡­ That''s weird. Are you sure that it''s a mere confidence?" Kunjan asked. "Well, I think so. I asked Abhirami, and it seems like he had been teaching Karate in the school even before we joined the school." Taro replied. "Is that so? Then I guess it was a coincidence." Kunjan spoke. "By the way, did he show some weird signs?" Thankappan interjected and asked. "Weird signs?" "Ah, you see, some sort of action like he recognized you or something. There''s a chance that you might have accidentally jogged his memory with your face alone. So..." Thankappan was being precocious about it. "Hmm, not much. Well, initially he looked surprised, but that''s kinda it. He acted normally after it." Taro explained. "Why would he act surprised around you? Does he remember something? Is that why? It''s possible, right?" Thankappan went full on suspicious mode upon hearing this. "Maybe. But there''s also the chance that he was surprised since no teacher heads towards the karate class. It''s the first time, I guess." Taro replied. "I see. That could be it too." Thankappan nodded his head. "So, what are you gonna do now? Are you gonna meet him next Friday as well?" He asked. "Well, I made myself the instructor/advisor of the karate class. So, yea. I gotta go since it''s kinda my duty now. And other than that, he asked me to spar with him, so I better get my gi as well." Taro answered. "You''re gonna spar with him?" Thankappan sounded grim as he asked. The last time Taro fought was disastrous, after all. "What are you gonna do when he says something to tick you off?" He asked. "I give you my word. I won''t even attack once." Taro assured him. "Nah, I don''t believe ya." Thankappan sighed before coming up with an idea. "You know what? I''ll accompany you to the auditorium with ya and preside over the match!" He spoke. "Just like the basketball match, huh?" Taro asked. "Yup. Just like the basketball match." Thankappan nodded his head. "Very well. It''s not gonna harm me or anything." Taro shrugged. "By the way, the gi. Are you gonna take yours to the fight?" Kunjan raised his arm and asked. "Yea, why did you ask?" Taro questioned. "Hmm, I suggest you don''t take that to the school." Kunjan replied. "And what''s the reason behind it?" Taro asked. "Well, isn''t that gi from your dojo? Don''t you think it''s gonna trigger some memories in Harish or whatever his name was?" Kunjan asked. "Shoot. I didn''t think about it that much. You''re right about that. Better be safe than sorry, eh?" Taro smirked. "That''s right." Kunjan nodded his head to that. "By the way, it''d be fine if you won, but try not to utterly destroy the man''s confidence like you did to the Samuel guy." He spoke. "You heard, huh?" Taro chuckled. "Well, Thankappan right here is quite a blabbermouth, you see." Kunjan shrugged. "Hey! You were the one who actively approached me asking for what happened in the match!" Thankappan retorted. "Did I do something like that?" Kunjan acted confused. "Don''t you do that act before me!" Thankappan sounded frustrated as he saw Kunjan''s acting, which was already too crippled by the lack of expressions in his face. "Hehe." Kunjan laughed. However, yet again his stoic face was incapable of expressing his "inner" emotions. Everyone else could only sigh upon seeing this sight. It was a pretty fun atmosphere overall, since they were unaware of the fact that Harish actually remembered everything. However, once they learn about it, the situation would be much more grim than anyone can expect. But the peace is kept¡­ for now. # Chapter 145: Stare Next Friday came by with the blink of an eye. It was way too fast in Taro''s mind. Usually things move way too slow, but this time around it moved too fast. He believed he was kinda waiting for the spar with Harish, so the time moved faster for him. Taro was prepared that day. He bought his gi a few days ago. The gi was one of the most generic gi''s one could ever see. The gi didn''t have the emblem of the dojo, and it was plain white. So, no one would get any idea from it. Anyhow, by the time the activity period came, Abhirami actually rushed to find him. "Mr Sadanandan!" She waved her arm and came running towards him. "Hey! Stop running in the corridors." He instructed. "Hmm, now you choose to act like a teacher, huh?" Abhirami sighed. "What do you mean?" Taro asked, tilting his head sideways, confused about what she said. In his mind, he had always acted like a teacher, so he didn''t know what made her say that this was the only time he acted like one. "Ha¡­ Nothing." She replied. "Is that so?" This time around, Taro was the one who sighed. He always hated a conversation like this when someone says nothing for an answer. However, he didn''t show that in his face and decided not to pry any further. "So, why are you here?" Taro asked. "Aren''t you coming to the dojo this week?" She asked. "I promised Mr Harish, didn''t I?" Taro smiled. "Ah, the spar! I completely forgot about that! It''s gonna be pretty exciting!" She said in a cheerful tone, however Taro knew she didn''t actually forget about it but acting like that to build up anticipation, which is an extremely weird tactic. "Yea, let me just wear my gi. I''ll meet up in the auditorium." Taro replied. "Dojo." "Huh?" "We''ll call the place dojo for now." Abhirami spoke. "Ah, yea. I''ll meet up with you in the dojo." Taro corrected himself. "Cool. Bye!" Abhirami went back the same way she came to him¡ªrunning. "This girl! Why doesn''t she listen to me when I say not to run in the corridors?" Taro sighed as he was preparing to change his clothes. He entered the twelfth grade since there was no one in the class, unlike the staff room, which had a few teachers. He tried locking the door to the class, but soon noticed that there isn''t a lock from the inside for the classroom. Therefore, he did the next best thing. He closed the door and laid a bench by it so no one could open it. But once he undressed himself, he noticed two intense stares at him. Normally, he couldn''t sense stuff like that, however, this time around, the stares were extremely intense that it gave him no choice but to notice. Taro looked around and his eyes fell towards a pair of eyes that were staring at him through the slit of the door that he tried closing up completely with the bench. Initially he acted as if he didn''t notice it to make the creep lose their guard and once that person did, he rushed towards him in full speed to the point that he put the bench aside, swung open the door and grabbed the culprit in a singular flow. "You! Why the hell are you here?" Taro let go of his grab on the person and sighed. It was Abhirami. "Well, I thought I should maybe give you a company." Abhirami nervously chuckled. "You know what you did right now is stalker-esque, right?" Taro asked. "Really? I was just admiring you though." She said with a bright smile dawned on her face. This made Taro sigh yet again. "Just reverse the scenario and you''ll get what I meant." Taro replied. Abhirami thought for a while before blushing. "You know, if it''s you doing that, I''m fine with-" Before she could complete her sentence, Taro interrupted her. He didn''t want to hear another word from her mouth. "Stop. Just stop. It''s not me. It''s some other creep doing this. A creep that you don''t have even a hint of feeling towards. Would you be fine with that?" Taro asked. "No, I won''t be." She answered. She got what Taro meant by what he said- he didn''t have any sort of feeling towards her. But she didn''t care about that. But what hurt was his comparison of her with a creep. "Cool, now head to the dojo now. I still have to put my actual dress in someplace safe so that no one does anything weird with it." Taro ordered. "Okay, see you later." Abhirami once again turned back. However, this time around, she didn''t run like before, which gave Taro a bit of relief. "Ah, seems like the girl listens to me even though it takes a bit of an effort to make her listen." Taro sighed. "By the way, who was the second one then?" He mumbled as he got in. The Wadorian was pretty sure that there was someone else other than Abhirami who stared at him with the same intensity. However, when he looked around for the person, he couldn''t even get a whiff of them. It seemed like they were pretty much an expert in such stuff. "...Or that extra person doesn''t even exist!" Taro muttered as he kept his dress on the top of the shelf where some books were kept. "Then let''s head to the dojo, shall we?" Taro stepped out of the classroom with excitement. # Few minutes after Taro left the classroom. Had someone accidentally opened the door of the twelfth grade, they would''ve seen the vice principal of the school sniffing a dress. "Ah¡­. Sadanandan''s smell is all over this dress!" She cried as she continued sniffing it like it''s the last day of her life. "This is bliss!" She cried yet again. It took her another ten minutes to get back to normalcy. While she looked as if she was enjoying the sniff session before, she looked deadly serious as he folded his clothes. "Now¡­ What is the Abhirami girl trying to do with MY Sadanandan? Should I just deal with her once and for all?" Rita was brewing sinister thoughts in her mind at that time. # Chapter 146: Stalemate "Mr Sadanandan! You''re here!" Harish jogged towards Taro and shook his hands. "Yup!" Taro nodded his head. "And you''re in your gi today as well! Nice to see that you''re ready for a fight!" Harish sounded excited as he said that. "A spar. Not a fight." Taro corrected him. "Yes, yes. You''re quite right." He smiled as he agreed with Taro on that. "So, let''s go in, shall we?" Taro asked. "Yea!" Harish let Taro walk before him and followed right behind him. "By the way, the gi-" "What about it?" Taro asked. "Don''t you think it''s too bland? I thought you''d have got a better one, with the symbol of dojo and stuff." Harish shrugged. "Well, that wouldn''t be possible since I learned martial arts from a police managed self defence class." Taro replied nonchalantly. "Police class, huh?" Harish mumbled his words. He knew Taro was lying, however he couldn''t outright put it out since he might get screwed by the light emitting rid then. So, he was looking for making the person reveal it instead. That''s when he realized a flaw in Taro''s plot. "Wait, police self defense classes¡­ Aren''t they only for girls? How come you were able to practice there?" He asked. Harish was sure that this one would be the one that makes Taro reveal his secrets. Ever since he saw the punch from Taro in the tournament, it enamored him. It made him believe that humans can be even stronger than they currently are. This misconception of considering the alien Taro as a human was the one making him do all the stuff. He wanted the knowledge and wisdom that Taro possessed to better his martial arts. And for that, he''ll grab on every leverage that he might get on Taro. "Ah, about that. 2015; they did a mixed session back then. I took part in it." Taro answered. "Ha, is that so?" Harish looked suspiciously towards him, but Taro didn''t care. While Taro talked with the kids there, Harish took out his phone and searched for the 2015 session of the self-defense classes and it was indeed true that it was a mixed one which in turn meant that Harish yet again didn''t have the vantage point in Taro''s case which ticked him off. Taro had seen Harish searching it up and secret and was thankful to Kunjan since he''s the one who brought up this point to him. Anyhow, since gathering some useful information seemed kinda impossible at this point, so Harish brought up the spar. "So, Mr Sadanandan. Shall we spar today?" He asked. "Hmm, wait a minute. I''m waiting on someone for that." Taro replied. "Someone?" Harish was confused. He did not know about someone else''s arrival. "Ah, yea. The one who''s gonna referee our spar." Taro replied. "Well, why don''t we make one of the students do that? It''ll be simpler that way, right?" Harish asked. He did not know who this person was, but something definitely smelled fishy since the said person actively asked to be the referee. He simply didn''t want that person to be one at this point. "Oops, sorry I''m late!" A voice was heard from the audi¡ªdojo''s entrance. It was Thankappan. "Oh, hello!" Harish was all smiles on the outside, but his insides were literally churning from tension. He remembered him well, since he was by Taro''s side in the tournament that day. And seeing him here made him feel weird. It was as if the guy was always there once Taro got in a fight, as if waiting for something to happen. Anyhow, even with all these thoughts in mind, Harish still invited him in to referee the match. "So, we''re doing standard Karate rules, right?" Thankappan asked. "Not really." Harish replied. "We''re doing a spar. So, I don''t think we should consider the point system here." He spoke. "Then?" "We''ll do a few rounds of fighting. Just testing each other out." Harish replied. "Hmm, we don''t really need a ref then, huh?" Taro wondered. "Not really." Harish nodded his head as he stared at Thankappan. "See? You are not needed here! You can go now." He thought as he stared. However, Thankappan thought otherwise. "Well, I''m already here. So, I really wanna see how my friend fares against a black belter like yourself." He smiled. "Ha, really?" Seeing Thankappan''s persistence, Harish''s smile was twitching like crazy. "Yup!" Thankappan nodded his head. And thus Harish and Taro got ready to spar with Thankappan in the audience. The kids were hyping it up like crazy that even the kung-fu group came to the dojo to witness the epic fight. However, what they got was two men standing still in defensive stances, hoping for the other one to do the first move. "Are you kidding me? Is this why we came?" Someone shouted. "Dang, if I wanted to see two men standing against each other, I would''ve just watched¡­. Something! I''m not getting a witty remark right now." Someone else shouted. "Sensei! What are you doing? Fight!" A disciple cheered. And soon enough the rest of them gave chorus to his cheers. Harish sighed. "Ha, seems like they want us to fight physically rather than mentally." He spoke to Taro. "Well, we weren''t exactly fighting either." Taro shrugged. "We were fighting against our instincts." Harish replied. "Hmm¡­ Let''s just give them the fight they''re looking for, shall we?" Taro asked, but received a glare from Thankappan as he proposed doing so. "Sure. Who''s gonna deal the first swing then?" He asked. "Since you asked, you can do it." Taro replied. "I''m not particularly interested, though. So, you do it." Harish spoke. This back-and-forth dialogue went for about a five minutes until the viewers started booing them. "Okay, look. You got Karate to teach. Are you gonna waste your time like this rather than spending that valuable time on your disciples and the betterment of their techniques?" Taro asked. "Well, they know the basics. They can train with those in this session. And even now, I''m teaching them a lesson on how to be patient. So, you don''t have to worry about my disciples." Harish smirked as he spoke. This stalemate continued on to the point that the onlookers slowly left the premises. It seemed as if the fight was neither gonna start nor end anytime soon. # Chapter 147: The spar "So, how long are we gonna keep doing this?" Taro asked out of sheer curiosity. "As long as you want it to. I mean, I''m not gonna pull out a move on you unless you attack me first." Harish replied with a smile. "Hmm, you know that an entire period flashed by with us just standing here, right?" The Wadorian asked. "I''m aware of that, yes." Harish nodded his head to that. Taro sighed. "Why?" "Hmm?" "Why are you doing this?" Taro asked. "What do you mean?" Harish tilted his head in confusion. "Don''t act like you don''t know what I''m talking about! Why the hell aren''t you pulling out the first move? It''s the most advantageous situation one can be in, right?" Taro asked. "Funny, because I can ask the same question to you as well! How come you don''t attack me first?" Harish smirked as he asked him the question. "Well, it''s my personal creed. My sensei asked me not to pull out attacks as much as possible." Taro replied honestly. "So, what''s the threshold?" Harish asked. "Till I can no longer rely on just counterattacks to cover my bases." Taro answered. "So, since I''ve answered that, what about you? What''s your reason?" He asked. "Hmm, nothing novel like that. I kinda instinctively felt like you were a counter attack type of guy. So, I chose to be one as well." Harish shrugged. "I see. So, now you''re aware that I''m not JUST a counter attack type of guy, right?" Taro asked. "Yup." "Great. How about you put an end to it then? Attack me and we''ll get the party started." Taro ordered. "Well, just because I know that you''re not just a counter attack type doesn''t mean that I''m gonna go against my strategy. The current you are really comfortable with just dealing it with counters. Which means that you''ve practiced counters way too many times. So, if I''m to attack you, you''re still gonna counter and win the whole thing." Harish analyzed. "Hmm, surprisingly perceptive." Taro nodded his head to Harish''s hypothesis. "You''re right about that. It''s the style that I used recently, even. So, people might think that I grew attached to counters when in reality, I really don''t even care about it that much." Taro scoffed. "Is that so? Why won''t you just attack then? You getting afraid now?" Harish spoke in an almost mocking tone. Taro took in a really deep breath before he spoke. "Don''t tell me I didn''t warn ya." He spoke. "I won''t," Harish smiled. "Cool." The very next moment, Taro, who stood before him for a straight hour, was just missing. Like, literally no trace of the person was seen for a second or two. This scene was so bizarre that kids started taking notice of it. After all the time, without even a single movement, suddenly there was a massive movement. And this excited the disciples. However, they were actually surprised when they realized it was not their sensei but Taro who made the decisive movement. But here''s the thing. No one saw Taro, even if they squinted their eyes. They could only see him once he landed a hit in the solar plexus of Harish. However, Harish was confident. He had trained his body for far too long for it to crumble down from a hit to the solar plexus. Everyone around thought of it as a stupid move from Taro''s behalf as well. He could''ve aimed a lot of places with the kind of leverage he got with his movement, however he chose to hit the most sought yet trained fatal point of the body. Although that was the case, no one believed what they saw next. They saw their master crumbling down onto the mat, gasping for breath from the hit. "Shit, why was I so confident about receiving his hit? How can I forget about the punch he pulled off in the tournament? He could''ve killed me with that punch of his." Harish thought as he coughed uncontrollably. "So, shall we continue?" Taro asked. "Nah, I give up this round. You won." Harish smiled. "How is that even possible?" Some of the students shouted in admiration. "Well, when the force in which you throw the punch is too much, you can actually manhandle the defence." Harish, who was gasping for air for a second, stood up and explained. "I see. So, shall we train our strength considerably and be like Mr Sadanandan?" One of the disciples shouted and others followed it up as well. Harish sighed. "Do you even know how long it might''ve taken Mr Sadanandan to be the level in which he is? It takes a lot. Not a novice play, you see." He spoke. "Hmm, we''re ready to follow through with it though." They cried. This time around, Taro was the one who sighed. "Okay, look. Strength is not the only answer. A martial art can''t be perfect with brute strength alone. If that was the case, what''s the use of learning a martial art even? We could simply fight as barbarians. There are reasons we learn certain techniques. Consider me. If I didn''t learn the basics, I wouldn''t know when to strike and stuff¡ªthat is, if you take out my instinctual nature." Taro chuckled. "Putting yourself up on the pedestal, eh?" Harish asked. "Well, I simply spoke of the truth and nothing else." Taro shrugged. "Ha, I just can''t say any reply since you kinda deserve to be arrogant." Harish sighed. "Wait a minute. Does that mean that Mr Sadanandan is better than our sensei?" One disciple called out. "Hmm, not necessarily. In terms of strength and counters, possibly, yea. However, I feel like he has more polished moves and a lot of experience." Taro replied. "... Strength and counter attacks, huh¡­ It really does gel with each other. And this coalition makes it really difficult for the opponents." Harish analyzed. "Think about it. Polished moves and counters. No matter how strong a person is, martial arts always finds a way for the weak person to take advantage of the opponent''s strength as well. So, if it was my choice, I would''ve preferred my moves to be more polished than strong." Taro spoke. "Hmm, you''re right. Polished moves are fun to watch as well. I guess I''ll go that path." Abhirami, who stayed silent for the most part, spoke up. That day Harish''s dojo received an extra fifteen or so students from the Heavenly Flame school alone. Truly a monumental day for Harish! # Chapter 148: Lets tail Harish! "Hmm, you could''ve done it in a less flashy way, right?" Thankappan asked Taro after the spar ended. "I could have. But the excitement would have been far too less that expectation." Taro replied. "Well, it would''ve been fine, you know? Without any excitement, it would''ve been fine." Thankappan sighed. "... I''m a man of theatrics. My mind and body wouldn''t allow me to do such a thing. I was getting bored, you know? A freaking hour doing nothing. I didn''t want to spend another hour doing the same thing. So, I took the helm of the fight myself. Is there something wrong with that?" Taro asked. "No, but being cautious is always for the better. Fighting recklessly like you did will only trigger something inside him, which thankfully isn''t the case as of yet." Thankappan replied. "Not really." "Huh?" "I don''t know. All the time I''m around the guy, I feel like something''s off. I don''t know what, but something is surely off. Like, he asked about the gi like we thought he would and he deduced weird things about me." Taro spoke. "The gi, huh? Well, that was to be expected, wasn''t it? Anyway, what was this weird thing that he deduced?" Thankappan asked. "My fighting stance." Taro replied. "What''s wrong with it?" "Well, if someone takes the stance I did, the first instinct that the opponent has is to attack him relentlessly to the point that I drop my guard. However, what he did was waiting on me to do the first attack." Taro explained. "For a whole hour too. That''s truly a weird scenario." Thankappan mumbled as his hand caressed the neuralyzer in his pants. "What do you think the reason is?" Taro asked. "Hmm, I could only think of two reasons. It''s either his muscle memory of facing you. His body remembers about your mannerisms during a fight and fought accordingly. Or, the guy hasn''t lost memories at all and is playing dumb with us. If that''s the case¡ªwell, the neuralyzer will play a role again." Thankappan explained. Taro sighed. "Damn, the usage of the neuralyzer has been way too high ever since I came around, huh?" He asked. "Well, it is. But, it''s not like it''s a liquid solution or something that we have to refill again and again. So, it''s kinda fun, that is, until the word reaches the HQ. If it does, we are royally screwed. Just thinking about it gives me chills." Thankappan was literally shivering as he said that. "Hmm, isn''t that why you lot wiped out John''s memories? So, I guess it''ll be fine¡ªuntil someone does something stupid and forgets about it." Taro spoke ominously. "Dude! Don''t jinx it like that! We''re literally in a tightrope right now. I mean, you remember the last flash? How the hell did he conjure up all those memories from seemingly out of nothing? I mean, the words weren''t that significant, right?" Thankappan asked. "It''s as you said. But it''s not like there is anything we could do about it, right? I mean, if it worked out as we hope it does, John wouldn''t have remembered that event in the near or far future, and even if he did, the second flash would''ve made him forget literally everything about him. So yea, life works in strange ways." Taro explained. "Ha, I guess that would be right." Thankappan had no choice but to agree with Taro''s statement. "Anyhow, I feel like we deviated from our initial point. I believe we should put someone to tail Harish until we can be entirely sure about his innocence in this matter." Taro suggested. "Hmm, not bad! How about we tail them ourselves?" Thankappan asked. "Well, isn''t that MIB''s job?" Taro asked. "It is. But I thought you''d be bored staying at home doing nothing on a Saturday." Thankappan replied. "Look, I didn''t say that because I don''t wanna come with you or something. As a civil servant on my home planet, I don''t usually make a normal civilian tag alongside me when I''m on duty." Taro spoke. "Hmm, I don''t either. But this is unofficial duty, right? I''ll be taking a holiday tomorrow. So, it''s more of a private investigation than an official MIB one." Thankappan replied with a smirk on his face. "I don''t know why you''d do something like that, but I''m in." Taro replied. "Oh, great¡ªwait, why not? What''s wrong with what I''m gonna do?" Thankappan asked. "Well, I don''t think you''re that dim to realize it." Taro spoke. "... Ha, I know. It would be stupid. However, these are some things that we can''t detail in the MIB records. We are going after normal people. If we''re gonna do it the MIB way, even if Harish knew about you, he would actually forget it since he''ll grow old by that time." Thankappan explained. "Whoa, are official investigations so hard to do in the sector?" Taro asked. "Not really. We''re free to do whatever the fuck we want when we''re investigating aliens. However, civilians are an entirely different ball game, my dude. The papers have to be accepted by a helluva lot of higher ups. And if our luck is shit, the papers might end up in the HQ''s hands. We''re fucked if that happens in this case, you know that, right?" Thankappan asked back. "Can''t we just say that we suspect the person of knowing the existence of aliens?" Taro asked. "They''d ask a detailed account on why you suspect them of such a thing and how you know about it and stuff like that. It''s truly a hassle." The MIB agent explained. "Truly a hassle, huh? I guess we got no choice but to do it ourselves then. By the way, are you gonna at least talk about it to Lonappan? I don''t think we should do something like this without asking him first." Taro suggested. "You are overly cautious, aren''t you? I wasn''t planning to do that, however I changed my mind now. You''re right. I should tell him., I know he won''t accompany me because of John, but he''ll at least know where I''ll be if some emergencies come by." Thankappan replied. "Great! Let''s tail Harish tomorrow!" Taro proudly proclaimed much to Thankappan''s embarrassment, since he was the only one who got weird looks for some odd reason. # Chapter 149: Changing destinations "You''re really enthusiastic, aren''t ya?" Thankappan asked Taro, who pretty much dragged him out of his bed in the early morning. "Well, obviously!" Taro nodded his head vigorously. "Do you even know where he is?" Thankappan asked. "That''s where you come in, right?" Taro smirked. Thankappan sighed. "I''ve had eyes on him since yesterday. It seems as if he had promised to meet up with a friend today at about ten in the morning." Thankappan replied. "And where would that be?" Taro asked. "I heard that it''d be Koma mall." Thankappan replied. "Of course it is! Seems like people hold Koma mall in pretty high regards, eh?" Taro scoffed. "Still pretty pissed about the phone incident, huh?" The MIB agent chuckled. "I literally knew nothing about this world! For them to take advantage of me like that is just scummy." Taro pouted. "Sadly, scamming innocent people of their money is how the world works. I mean, consider the banana phone of yours as an example. They haven''t changed the design for about ten mobile versions now. They simply repackage it in a new name and raise the price. And people get scammed from it and the company earns billions." Thankappan explained. "Ha, that''s kinda sad to hear." Taro sighed as he stared at the morning sky together with the MIB agent. "Hey, what time is it?" Thankappan asked. "It''s six o''clock." Taro nonchalantly replied. "What the heck! I have not even prepared for school this early. Why the hell would you do this to me?" Thankappan almost cried. "Well, you never told today''s schedule to me. How am I supposed to know it then?" Taro asked. "Ah, it''s my own fault then, huh?" Thankappan almost wanted to smash his head to the wall at that point. # Ten o''clock came by really slowly once Thankappan was up. He basically had nothing to do after preparing this early, and thus he ended up watching television with Taro. While it seemed that there would be nothing much interesting on the television, they still had professional wrestling live, so Taro watched it, since he picked up the hobby of watching it from the dojo master''s house. Thankappan was totally fine with it as well, so they basically had a blast¡ªat least Taro did. For Thankappan, who basically looked at the clock every other second even when Taro repeatedly said that the show was three hours long, had a really hard time to just idle around. Anyhow, after the MIB lad literally waited for ten, it finally did swing by and they headed to the bus stop. "Hey, shouldn''t we have headed before ten if we wanted to meet them?" Taro asked. "Yup." Thankappan nodded his head. "Then why are we leaving at exactly ten?" Taro asked. "Coz we are late, that''s why." He replied. "Then why didn''t you tell me that we are gonna be late? We would''ve skipped the end sequence of the show. It was kinda garbage anyway." Taro sighed. "But you seemed to be enjoying the show." Thankappan replied. "Ha, you really are crazy in some sorts." Taro sighed yet again. "Anyhow, it seems like we did the right thing by heading there late." Thankappan said out of nowhere. "What do you mean?" Taro looked confused by Thankappan''s sudden out of context dialogue. "Well, it looks as if Harish isn''t headed to the Koma mall in the first place." Thankappan replied. "Hmm, maybe him and that friend of his changed their decision by call late at night?" Taro swung forth her wild guess. "Not possible since I''ve tapped his phones and examined his chats. I don''t think he could discuss something like that without my volition." Thankappan scoffed. "What even happened to privacy and encryption in this world!" Taro sighed as he heard Thankappan. "Those stuff ceased to exist for a long time." Thankappan bluntly replied. "Is that so?" Taro stood silently for a while before breaking the silence himself. "So, where is he heading?" He asked. "Well, he''s on his way to Thrissur right now. So, we can catch up with them if you want to get back in thirty seconds." Thankappan suggested. "Hmm, I''m against speeding on the road. So, no." Taro was strict about this. Even Taro himself used his speed on rare occasions, since he didn''t want to be a nuisance. He was worried about hurting people. Even though he knew that the speeding he talked about was completely different to what Thankappan envisioned, either way, it put people in danger and Taro was totally against it. "Ha, fine. We''ll go by bus and get there as late as possible after they finish up all the important chats." Thankappan sighed. # "Whoa! We reached faster than I expected. Maybe we won''t miss anything after all." Thankappan sounded extremely pleased after learning that buses have the capability to achieve really high speed that a person won''t expect from a bus. "See, what did I tell ya?" Taro chuckled. "What?" Thankappan tilted his head. "Never mind. Where is he now?" Taro asked. "No idea." "I see¡­ Wait, what? What do you mean, you got no idea about his location? Are we tricked by them? Do we really suck at tailing?" Taro asked. "Hmm, we aren''t tricked¡ªwell, maybe. Anyhow, it seemed as if he had turned his phone off, so tracking him would be a bit difficult." Thankappan was contemplating on what to do. "Well, isn''t that him over there?" Taro pointed towards the direction where Harish was calmly sipping a cup of tea. "Never would''ve expected that!" Thankappan stood in awe. It was as if luck was on their side. However, the luck depleted way faster than expected when the person whom Harish was talking to took notice of the two by some odd means. After he noticed them, it took little for the two humans to exit the premises. Thankappan didn''t think of following them again, since it might freak them out. "So wait a minute. Did we just come here for nothing?" Taro sounded frustrated. "In a sense, yea. But we also learned that Harish has a secret that he doesn''t want to get revealed." Thankappan concluded. "Well, let''s latch onto whatever ''w'' we get at this point, eh?" Taro asked, as he watched the ones he was supposed to keep an eye on, moved far away from them. # Chapter 150: Zaheers dilemma While Thankappan and Taro walked back to the bus stop, there were two people literally staring at them even in the really crowded area. "You really think they saw us? Are they really here for us?" The person on the right asked. "Okay, think about it. They came here the same time we did, one of them pointed directly towards me and when we walked away, they gave up and are seemingly going back. Do you even need any more sign, huh?" The one on the left took off his cap and asked. It was Harish. "Hmm, I guess they were actually looking for us, huh?" The right one took off his cap as well and it was Zaheer, the one who faced Taro in the tournament semi-finals. Zaheer was like Harish as well. The neuralyzer didn''t affect him because dust entered his eyes and he was desperately trying to get it off when the flash happened. And when he saw people forgot about the event, he didn''t go out of his way to search for the truth or stuff like that. However, when he heard that Harish remembered it just like him, he was intrigued and met up with him. And ever since then, they started looking up info about the guy named Sadanandan, in which they were heavily unsuccessful until the day Harish met up with him in school. Anyhow, seeing that normal private investigators couldn''t find even a single piece of information about the person, they realized he could be a big shot or a really dangerous person. Therefore, they believed that someone might be watching over them as well since they were looking for him. Hence, they only talked about him once they met face-to-face and even then, they switched off their phones as an extra precaution. They even made codes about their meet up places. Like this time around, even if they planned for Koma Mall on the phone, they actually meant Thrissur. And even with all that precaution, they were actually caught. This was a serious hit for their confident approach. "So, were all our efforts for naught?" Zaheer sighed as he glanced at the sky. "Not really. I guess it would''ve been perfect if we had switched off our phones on our way here as well." Harish replied. "Do you really think that''s the only reason they followed us? I mean, they could''ve eyes and ears on literally everywhere. Hell, we don''t even know who those people are." Zaheer looked worried. "Eyes and ears everywhere, huh? We should avoid CCTV as well from now on." Harish spoke. Zaheer sighed. "Why are we even doing this?" He asked. "Huh?" "I mean, we could just act like nothing happened and end it right there, right?" Zaheer asked. "No. I need to know what happened that day. How come he has that insane amount of power? And how can I get it?" Harish looked determined as he said that. "So, you really don''t think like this is a giant waste of time that might get us in trouble on various levels, huh?" Zaheer looked tired. "Not really. I know that a karateka doesn''t rely on pure strength alone, but if there''s a way to exert it with each strike, you really think I won''t covet it?" Harish asked. "Why are you going that far with it?" Zaheer asked. "Well, karate is basically my life man¡­ Unlike you, who has another job. So, if I''m making it my profession, I should aim to be at the top of it, right? I believe that I''d be able to do that once I get the strength that I''m looking for. I mean, humans can''t seem to break through that limiter when it comes to strength. So, I''d like to be the fir¡ªsecond one to break it." Harish smiled. "Is that so? Anyhow, see you later then." Zaheer said as he walked away from Harish. "You sure you don''t want to hear about what Sadanandan and I did in the school yesterday?" Harish asked. "Really not in the mood today. Maybe some other day?" Zaheer spoke in an awkward tone as he waved his hand. "See you later then." Harish looked kinda disappointed initially, but he went back to normal after a few minutes of silence. # Zaheer really didn''t want to see Harish ever again. He seemed obsessed with Sadanandan. And being in contact with an obsessed person is something he didn''t want to experience. What he really wanted was someone to confide with. Since Harish seemed to be the only one who had the tournament''s memories, he thought he was the perfect person to do so. Only if he knew about his normal behavior earlier. Anyhow, Zaheer had already planned to distance himself from Harish after today''s incident. Being near a person who seemed crazy enough to take on a dangerous person will screw up his life as well. After the meetup, Zaheer headed to the hospital where Jai was recuperating. Initially, Jai asked him not to come since he believed Zaheer came to make fun of him. However, Zaheer didn''t stop coming and Jai stopped asking not to come. So, they both silently acknowledged each other. One good thing that happened because of the tournament in Zaheer''s eyes at least, was that Jai''s behavior considerably changed for the better. He was no longer arrogant all the time. He was haughty, but not intolerable. Zaheer believed that Jai became a friend material now. So, he was hoping to calm his mind with Jai around, however reality gave him quite a shock. He saw that there were people spying on them from various places. He wouldn''t have realized this, but they changed even the attendant, making it hard for him to not notice. The surprising thing was that Jai acted cool about it, but Zaheer couldn''t. After all, he could see the stares clearly. He didn''t know what kinda hypnosis they did on Jai, but he wasn''t gonna be fooled. However, he did not know what to do. No one would believe him if he said something outrageous like the entire hospital employees were changed in a single day¡ªno one, except one man. Zaheer picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Oh, hey! Listen, shall we meet up in Thrissur tomorrow?" He asked. # Chapter 151: Taro wanna take a break "Ha! So do you believe me now?" Harish asked. "Well, it was never about me not believing you. I was simply creeped out by your eccentric behavior." Zaheer replied. "Dang, that''s so straightforward that it stings a bit." Harish chuckled. "I don''t know of any other way of speaking." Zaheer answered. "Good for you. I hope no one gives you a straightforward reply to you as well." Harish spoke. "Why?" Zaheer was confused. "Nothing. You won''t understand." Harish sighed. "So, what are we supposed to do now?" Zaheer asked. "Why are you asking me about that? I''m only after that superhuman power, you know?" Harish scoffed. "Well, I wouldn''t have been monitored by shit ton of people if it weren''t for you and your blabbering mouth." Zaheer retorted. He was legitimately angry and frustrated. After all, it wasn''t just him that was in their eyes¡ªJai was monitored as well. So, if those people were some kinda shady people, his¡­ friend would get in the harm''s way as well, which was something he couldn''t tolerate. Harish scratched his head in annoyance before giving up the act. "I know¡­ Although this endeavor started as a mere curiosity, I too feel like it has grown way more than it should''ve been. Too big that we can''t put a stop to it right now." He answered. "Why?" "Huh?" "Why can''t we put a stop to it?" Zaheer asked. "Hmm, if we''re gonna suddenly put a stop to it, the ones monitoring us would be supersuspicious of us. And we''d be dead by daylight." Harish spoke. It frustrated Zaheer. He felt like he was in a never ending vortex at this point. "What are we supposed to do then?" He asked. "Two things. Act like idiots and do what we''re doing and hope that we don''t come across something really important." Harish explained. "Did you just place a freaking flag on us?" Zaheer went ballistic at this point. "Flag? What''s that?" Harish looked confused as he heard the unfamiliar term of speech. "No, nothing. I hope we don''t fuck up from now as well." Zaheer sighed. He felt as if something ominous was coming, and he didn''t like the feeling at all. # "It seems like those two met again. It seems like the name of the one he had a chat with was Zaheer." Thankappan spoke as he glanced at his phone. "Zaheer? Oh, man. We''re meeting up with the peeps from the tournament one after the other, huh?" Taro sighed as he sat on the floor. "He was in the tournament as well?" Thankappan looked suspiciously at him. "Yea! And he''s the one who I faced in the semis." Taro replied. "Hmm, why are they meeting suddenly though? Did they really start to remember the events from the tournament?" The MIB agent muttered, contemplating whether he should directly use the neuralyzer on them. "No way!" Taro laughed it off as if it''s nothing. "Hmm, why are you so confident about it?" Thankappan asked, because the confidence was unnatural. "Well, I feel like they''re there to talk about some random stuff. They''re quite good friends, you know? At least, I think they are. I don''t know. My memory''s a bit fuzzy." Taro spoke. "What? Did repeated exposure to the neuralyzer affect you as well? I didn''t know that multiple flashes screws up aliens too. I will make good use of this information." Thankappan was about to note it down, however Taro stopped him. "Nah, bruv. It''s just me brain not being able to comprehend stuff." Taro nonchalantly replied. "Is that so? Well, that''s too sad for you." Thankappan said in an almost mocking tone. "Yea, I know." Taro went with the flow. "Anyhow, I don''t think they remember anything¡ªis what I want to say, but I''m not an idiot. It''d be better if you monitor them. After all, they''re the ones who got flashed. Who knows what might''ve happened?" Taro spoke. "You''re right. We''ll continue monitoring them." Thankappan replied. "Hmm, great!" Taro nodded his head in satisfaction. "By the way, I wanna tell you something." He spoke. "What is it?" Thankappan asked. "I''m taking a leave from school tomorrow." Taro replied. "I see¡ªwait, huh? Why would you do that?" Thankappan asked. "Well, because it seems like a pretty good day to just laze around." Taro replied. "Is that so? Aren''t you doing the exact same thing in the school as well?" Thankappan asked. "Hmm, I kinda have to agree with ya on that. However, I don''t wanna meet up with anyone today." The Wadorian spoke. "Huh, very well. Take a leave then." Thankappan shrugged after seeing Taro''s reluctance. "Wait!" Taro stopped Thankappan, who was about to leave him since the talk was done with. "Now what?" The MIB agent sounded slightly annoyed at Taro''s call. "Aren''t you gonna monitor me so that I won''t wreak havoc in this place?" Taro asked. "Shit. I completely forgot about that! Thank you for reminding me... Wait! Why are you even reminding me? You could''ve had a free rein tomorrow. So, why do you make me tag along?" Thankappan asked. "Well, I wanted you to remember your duties." Taro brought forth one of the innocent smiles that he could ever bring out. "My, my! What a fucking lie!" Thankappan almost screamed when he heard Taro''s explanation. "You helping me just because you care about my duties is one of the craziest things that I''ve ever heard!" He spoke. "Hey! I was a civil servant back on my planet. So, seeing a fellow civil servant forget his duty is painful to witness." Taro clenched his heart as he spoke. "Really? I kinda wanna believe you, but I know that the words you spout are hot garbage. So tell me, what''s your actual intention?" Thankappan asked. It seemed that Taro was immensely weak in backing up his statements. His defense literally lasted for a minute. "I wanted to go to Ajish''s shop. I kinda forgot the way to there¡­ So, yea." Taro answered. "See? I knew you were bullshitting about caring and stuff! Ha, anyway... We literally went there twice, and you still forgot? Shame on you!" Thankappan scoffed. "Just this once. Then I''ll leave on my own. I promise!" Taro replied. "As if I''m gonna allow that to happen! I''mma keep my eyes on you so that you don''t do stuff like that." Thankappan spoke. "That means you''re coming, right? Yay!" Taro hopped around in joy while Thankappan looked disgusted by the Wadorian''s actions. # Chapter 152: Scarlet The next day, while Taro and Thankappan headed to Ajish''s shop, there were two others set to depart on an adventure as well. "Ok, buddy. You ready?" Harish asked. "I''m not your buddy. But yea, I''m prepared." Zaheer replied. "Great, let''s go then." Harish grabbed his "friend''s" arm, but Zaheer swatted it off like it irked him. "Where and why are we going though?" Zaheer asked. "Kunnamkulam. Because I heard from a bird that Sadanandan seem to lurk over there for quite a while with his friend." Harish replied. "But today''s Monday, though! He has a teaching profession. You really think he''ll do something like that today?" Zaheer asked. "Nope." "Then why are we even going?" Zaheer sighed. "I really don''t wanna go, you know?" "Well, aren''t you a numbskull? Look, I know perfectly well that Sadanandan is not gonna be there today. And that''s the point. We avoid him and yet it seems like we investigated him. Perfect plan, don''t ya think?" Harish laughed like a maniac as he explained the point. "Dayum, never would''ve thought that such a brilliant idea would come from your stupid brain." Zaheer spoke as he patted Harish''s shoulder. "Hey, who are you calling stupid?" Harish looked real pissed when he heard that. "I''m sorry. I just wanted to highlight the brilliance of your plan." Zaheer responded. "Is that so? Then do it so that I won''t have to be called stupid anymore." Harish replied. "Well, sure is soft to compliments, are we?" Zaheer chuckled. "I mean, who isn''t?" Harish chuckled along with him as they headed to Kunnamkulam. # "Here we are!" Taro looked ecstatic as he glanced at the magnificent ''Ajish''s spare parts'' shop. He even felt a little nostalgic for some odd reason. Maybe it was because he got to build some cool stuff every time he stepped inside the shop. "You are really fidgety today." Thankappan stared at him and spoke. "That''s because I''m really excited." Taro replied. "Ha, I''ll never get it." Thankappan sighed. "You don''t have to. It''s my sense of excitement, not yours. It might be totally different for you." Taro spoke. "You might be right about that." Thankappan replied as he glanced at the shop sign alongside Taro. "Why are you two out there like that? Get in, my boys!" A man ecstatically called them inside. It was the shop owner, Ajish. "Damn, to think that he hated the sight of us when we tried to step in before. What a change of behavior!" Thankappan whispered to Taro''s ears. "That''s because you didn''t have this game changing commodity back then." Ajish scoffed. "Ah, you look at me as a commodity, don''t you?" Taro sighed as he heard the word from Ajish''s mouth. "I didn''t mean it like that." Ajish tried defending his statement, but didn''t find the right words to do so. "Ha! Just kidding. I''m not angry at you or anything." Taro chuckled. "Oh, thank go-" "I''m simply disappointed in you." Taro spoke with dismay, clearly in his voice. "Oh, that''s the worst!" Ajish cried. "Anyway, is there something for me to show my skills?" Taro asked. "Yes. Yes, there is." Ajish smiled as the dismal mood disappeared. "And what would that be?" Taro asked. "A couple hundred translators." Ajish answered. "Perfect. Let''s go!" Taro urged. Inside the workshop, Taro alone stood as the other two stayed out. They didn''t want to mess with Taro''s flow as he does his masterful work. And within minimum time, Taro completed the given task. And as always, his work thoroughly impressed the peeps. However, they never did notice that they weren''t the only ones gawking on Taro''s state-of-the-art translators. # A few good hours earlier. Harish and Zaheer met up with a shady as hell private investigator to get the info on Taro. "Why the hell are we here?" Zaheer asked. "Well, if we wanna "search" some person, shouldn''t we find a private investigator? And if we wanna fail at the task, isn''t a shady person the best one to call for?" Harish brought out his maniacal laugh yet again. "You really are crazy, aren''t you?" Zaheer sighed. "Anyway, who''s the guy?" He asked, as he pointed straight at the guy seated before them. "Oh, forgot to introduce him to you! He is the masterful detective of the illustrious Kunnamkulam, Scarlet." Harish introduced the private investigator in the most over-the-top way possible. "So, he''s called Scarlet?" Zaheer asked. "Yes, I am." Scarlet, who didn''t have a hint of the scarlet shade anywhere in his body. But Zaheer actually didn''t mind it that much, since not everything that''s given a particular name has to have characteristics accordingly to that¡ªexcept for orange, of course. "I see. Now, where did you see this person named Sadanandan? And how did you know that the person was him?" Zaheer asked. "Well, I gave him an image to refer to." Harish was the one who gave a reply. "I understand. So, are you sure it''s him?" He asked Scarlet. "A hundred percent! I can even bet my job on the line if you want me to." Scarlet spoke. "Well, don''t. Since your job is shady, I can''t seem to believe you." Zaheer replied. "It might be shady, but it''s still got better pay than what you two do." Scarlet chuckled. "What?" "I mean, come on! How much can a karate "specialist" earn even?" Scarlet spoke in an almost mocking tone. "Hey! What the hell? How did you get that info?" Zaheer asked. Harish looked equally fumed on that statement. "Well, when someone''s personal info is like an open book, how can you not take a peek at it?" Scarlet scoffed. "You should really be careful when you click on that R-18 site the next time around, I tell ya!" He spoke. "This!" Zaheer took offense to that. "I understand." However, Harish was pretty understanding about it. "See? It''s as simple as that! Just accept it, dude!" Scarlet hung his hand on Zaheer''s shoulders, but the karateka was quick to swat it off. "Whatever! Be sure not to touch me like that again." He warned Scarlet. "Sheesh, chill." Scarlet chuckled yet again. "And do your damn job, by the way, instead of joking around like this." Zaheer spoke in a harsh tone. Scarlet sighed. "You wanna see Sadanandan? Fine, follow me." # Chapter 153: Dang it! Hes a good investigator! "Where are you even taking us?" Zaheer asked as Scarlet took them into some dark alleyway. "I''m not gonna rob you, don''t worry." Scarlet assured them. "It''s not like you''re not gonna rob us, it''s just that you can''t rob us since we are karatekas." Zaheer scoffed. "Nice! You got me on that one." Scarlet smirked. Zaheer sighed. "So, where are you taking us?" He asked yet again. "Just come with me now, will ya? Didn''t I say that I''ll show Sadanandan to ya? I''m planning to do just that." Scarlet replied. "So you''re saying to me that he was in this dark alleyway doing some shady shit as well." Zaheer spoke. "Why? Can''t believe it? Well, there''s always a different side for the people we know so dearly about, so don''t be surprised." Scarlet replied as he patted on Zaheer''s shoulders. And Zaheer swatted off his hand yet again. "I wasn''t surprised about that or anything. What I''m surprised about is the fact that your hand touched my shoulder yet again, even after clearly warning you not to do that kinda shit." The karateka looked serious as he said that. "Bruv, it''s just a hand. Chill." Scarlet shrugged as he took the hand off him. "Again, don''t do something like that carelessly. I''m not a fan of it." Zaheer replied. "Sheesh. Fine. Anyhow, a few more meters and we''ll reach our destination." Scarlet spoke as he increased the pace. And within a few minutes, they reached a shop named ''Ajish''s spare parts''. "Hmm, why though? It makes little sense. Frequent visit to a spare parts shop isn''t something that people normally do." Harish, who had stayed silent for the most part of the walk, looked at the sign and mumbled. "Maybe he has something of value here?" Zaheer put forth his guess. "Something valuable? In a freaking spare parts shop? Are you crazy or what?" Harish looked at Zaheer as if he told one of the most obnoxious things in the world. "Well, think about it. A seemingly nothing shop could be a great hideout spot for whatever you wanna hide, don''t you think?" Zaheer asked. "Hmm. You might just be right about that." Harish nodded his head along. "Or there''s also a chance that he was here to buy something that only shady businesses sell." Scarlet sowed the seeds of discord with that sentence. "Hmm, are you talking about drugs and stuff?" Harish asked. "Maybe, who knows?" Scarlet acted as if he knew nothing. "Well¡­ I have nothing to say. I''ll talk about it once I see it for real." Harish spoke. "Cool. He''s here. See for yourself." Scarlet spoke as he pointed towards hyper ecstatic Taro. "Why the hell is he here?" Harish went ballistic upon seeing Taro. "Well, I told ya, didn''t I? I said he''s gonna come and here he is." Scarlet was proud of his achievement. "Wait, a minute! Weren''t you the one who said he''s not gonna come?" Zaheer whispered to Harish. He sounded furious. "I didn''t think he''d be here as well. It''s not my fault!" Harish whispered back, sounding almost as furious as him. "Well, you should''ve investigated it before calling in a private investigator." Zaheer sighed. "Did you really think that THIS guy was gonna find him?" Harish asked. "Not really." Zaheer replied. "See, this was just our luck, my man¡­ Any other day and we would''ve missed them." Harish spoke. "No." Scarlet gave out a serious reply in the midst. "What?" "I said no. It wasn''t just dumb luck. It was a part of careful planning. I''ve been monitoring him for weeks now. And the day before, I heard him say that he wanted to come here. So, yea¡­ It isn''t luck that made you see him here." Scarlet explained. "Did you just buy a super smart detective instead of an idiot one?" Zaheer gave out a questionable look at Harish. "I''m gonna tell ya again. I had no hopes for him to find Sadanandan." Harish replied. "Real proud of me now, aren''t you?" Scarlet laughed at their misfortune. "Proud? I feel like strangling you, but I''m gonna leave it there." Harish spoke. "Why are you being so rude to me? You wanted me to find the guy, I found the guy. If you wanted to ACT like I found the guy and yet have him no show when you come by, you should''ve specifically asked me so. There''s a package for that as well." Scarlet explained. "Really?" "Yup. I came to learn that many people hire me believing that I don''t have the basic investigative skills. They just want me to act like I''m doing my job and then just not do my job. And that''s why I came up with this idea. They got what I want, and I got the money for acting. Pretty great, eh?" Scarlet spoke. "Why the hell didn''t you tell me about this when I met up with you?" Harish was this close to blowing up in rage. Had he known about this, he certainly wouldn''t have picked the other one. "YOU are the one who didn''t ask me about it!" Scarlet retorted. "Hey! Who the hell ASKS for something like this? You''re the one who should''ve talked to me about it. For real!" Harish brought forth a counter of his own. "Hmm¡­ I feel like both the parties are right in certain points. I mean, I just can''t blame Harish for not asking Scarlet about it since it isn''t something that you normally ask. So yea¡­" Zaheer gave out his opinion. "The way you shaped the sentence makes me believe that you''re leaning towards me with this, however since you don''t wanna hurt this guy''s feelings and at the same time, you don''t want my pride to grow as well. Isn''t that right?" Harish asked. Zaheer sighed. "How come you''re so smart in moments like this?" He asked. "What do you mean moments like this? I''m always smart, you know? It''s just that I don''t have to use my smarts often." Harish replied. "Is that so?" Zaheer mumbled. "So, what are we gonna do now?" He asked. Harish thought for quite some time before coming in with a reply. "Well, since we''re here already, why don''t we just take a peek at what he''s doing?" He asked, not knowing what he was actually gonna see. # Chapter 154: Im here for you! "What in the world?" Zaheer and Harish opened their mouths almost simultaneously. They couldn''t believe what they just saw. Taro went inside the workshop and then did something amazing. He assembled a unique piece of machinery within minutes. And as a follow up, he assembled around a hundred similar pieces in the span of an hour or two, without getting tired. It was truly a treat to see. "What is he doing? What is this machine? I understand nothing!" Harish cried. "This guy!" Scarlet looked amazed by what Taro did, but kept his mouth shut in the very next moment. "Hey! You''re hiding something, aren''t you? It seemed like you had something to say. Spout it out." Zaheer ordered. "Dude, what are you even saying? I was just being amazed by seeing this level of speed!" Scarlet spoke. "Humm¡­ I don''t believe you for even a grain of salt, but since I don''t care about this, I''m not gonna ask any further." Zaheer said as he turned back. "Let''s go. It already feels like we just saw something we absolutely shouldn''t have. I really don''t wanna see Sadanandan tearing up a skyscraper with bare hands or some shit like that." He spoke as he paced up. "You''re right about that, bruv!" Harish followed suit. However, Scarlet stayed back. He stared towards Taro in the workshop with a piercing gaze. "Finally!" He looked elated. "What the hell are you doing, dude? Stop standing there like a freaking statue. Let''s go!" Harish called Scarlet out, who snapped out of his extremely happy mood and followed them. # "Hmm, why did I just feel like someone stared at me creepily?" Taro looked around as he spoke. "You felt it too?" Thankappan asked, as he looked around the same way Taro did. "I don''t know man. I feel like its bad news for us." Taro sighed. "Don''t say anything like that with that black tongue of yours!" Thankappan sounded worried as he said that. "Hey, I have a perfectly yellow tongue!" Taro retorted. "Since when is a yellow tongue perfect? It''s disgusting, isn''t it?" Thankappan asked. "Hey! A yellow tongue is the perfect tongue back in Wados. I don''t even know how you find those disgusting pink tongues good!" Taro cried. "Shit! I forgot how their planet''s so freaking weird." Thankappan spoke, which infuriated Taro. "Well, we''re a slightly cooler version of Earth, so suck it!" Taro laughed. "In what aspect-" Before Thankappan could even finish his sentence, Taro jumped up with the response. "We got superpowers, dude! What you got? Technology? We got them as well¡­ So again, suck it, dude!" Taro laughed like a maniac yet again. "Ha¡­ But you don''t have the heart of our people!" Thankappan spoke with his hand clenching his heart. This was the final straw for Taro. He couldn''t bear hearing another bullshit from Thankappan. His laughter leaked almost instantaneously. "Haha! Heart? You lot? Humans tend to overestimate themselves a little too much, eh?" Taro asked. "Why? Don''t you think humans have a wonderful heart?" Thankappan asked. "I''d be lying to myself if I said something like that. Sure, there are a few good people. But that doesn''t mean that you can take credit for all of them." Taro spoke. "Well, whatever! Are you done with your work here?" Thankappan asked, quickly diverting the topic. "Hmm, wait." Taro turned towards Ajish this time. "So, any new or wacky machinery for me?" He asked. Ajish looked a bit sad upon hearing that question. "It''s been quite a while since someone crash landed in this hellhole. So, no. There ain''t none." He replied. "Dayum, that''s actually sad. Well, nothing we could do about it, I guess. Let''s move then, shall we?" Taro asked. # In a dimly lit room, there sat a man¡­ an alien, laughing almost maniacally for no reason. "Hahaha, I was stuck in this hellhole for years now! It seemed like there was no one skilled enough to rebuild my spaceship. However, at long last! Someone actually came in for the save! I can leave this place! Sadanandan¡­ or whatever the hell his name is. He''s mine!" Scarlet continued laughing after this. # "Dang, why is my nose itching so much?" Taro asked as he scratched his nose like crazy. "I guess someone''s talking about you from somewhere." Thankappan replied. "Damn superstitions¡­" Taro scoffed. "Well, it could be for real at times as well, you see¡­ Like how your black tongue messes up shit." Thankappan spoke, much to the dismay of Taro. "My black tongue messed no one''s life!" Taro cried. "I don''t know man¡­ It just might." Thankappan chuckled. "It feels like you want it to happen, dude." Taro sighed. "Maybe¡­ Maybe¡­" Thankappan spoke. "This guy! Anyway, I''m fine with going to school tomorrow, by the way. Not gonna drag you on some weird journey again." Taro replied. "Meh, even if you were gonna ask me about that, I would''ve dragged your ass back to school. So, don''t worry." Thankappan smirked. "Is that so? Hmm, that makes me wanna go out again." Taro said playfully. "Well, what did I tell ya? I''ll drag your ass back to school just as I promised right now." The MIB agent replied. "Hah, my freedom is so restricted." The Wadorian sighed. "Well, that''s a given in your case, don''t you think?" Thankappan asked. "Hmm. I guess you might be right about that." Taro spoke. "I''m always right, dude!" Thankappan shrugged. Both of them looked at the bright moon in the night sky that illuminated their house. It looked really beautiful. However, it seemed like there was a black dot on the moon. At first, they thought of it as a fly of sorts and didn''t give it too much thought. But as time passed, this "fly" got bigger and bigger until it got to their size. "Hello, boys! How are you doing today?" The fly asked. "Ooh, the fly talked? Noice." Taro gave it a thumbs up. "How long are you gonna keep up this act, huh?" The fly asked again. "Who are you? And why the hell are you flying around like this?" Taro asked. "Oh, I didn''t introduce myself, didn''t I? I''m Scarlet. And I''m here for you, my sweet, sweet man¡­" He spoke. # Chapter 155: Scarlet and the Crimson Planet "So, Scarlet, huh? Who among us are you here for?" Taro asked as he looked around. At this point, he and Thankappan weren''t the only ones who were up. The other two were close behind them as well. However, they weren''t gonna intervene unless something massive happens that even Taro can''t handle. Thankfully, John hadn''t returned yet for some reason, so it was more or less peaceful. "Well, who among you can play with alien technology? Just one, right? I''m here for him." Scarlet stared deep into Taro''s eyes and spoke. "Okay, you''re here for me. Why, though? I mean, you just said why, but what''s the reason behind it?" Taro asked. "Oh, you want to hear a backstory, I presume?" Scarlet spoke. "Yup, a backstory is exactly what I''m asking for." Taro nodded his head along vigorously. "Cool. Giddy up boys. I don''t even know how long it''s gonna take." Scarlet spoke. # Planet Crimson. A seemingly wonderful planet if you were to view it from the outside, but the planet was corrupted to its root. It was simpler to be a robber for poor people like myself, because that''s how it worked. Rich people had their rich people''s life with secured education and stuff while poor people lived their lives as pick pocketers and robbers. So, as a person in the majority in this case, I was also a robber. Life''s actually pretty well if you were to just rob as a small time robber. However, I couldn''t afford to do such a thing. Why? Because I have lived with my mom since childhood, who took care of me all along and fell gravely ill in the process. And now, I was the one who should look after her just as she did with me. Therefore, it so happened that I became a pretty famous robber who even looted from banks and such. Since the rules and regulations were loose and almost non-existent, I could go scot-free every time I did something like that. But, now that I think about it, it would''ve been better if I was caught by the law back then because I was caught by something even more sinister. As I said before, one of my most high-profile robberies was the one with the bank. What I didn''t realise was that while robbing the bank, I also did rob a small amount of one of the most influential people on the planet, Carmine. Influential would be the apt word to describe them, because literally every single thing passes through her before it gets out. And when I say that, I mean literally everything. If the government wanted to pass a law, they ask for Carmine''s consent first. If someone wants to smuggle some drugs through a particular path, they need Carmine''s permission. So, they were literally the monarch of my planet. So, unfortunately, my robbery caught Carmine''s eye, and they invited me to their base. I thought they were going to dispose of me because I robbed them. But instead, they rewarded me with stuff that I''ve never even seen in my life. I wasn''t sure to accept it because this sort of reward means that they needed something from me. And indeed they did. Carmine swung by and asked me to be a galactic ambassador of the Crimson planet. Initially, when I accepted the offer, I thought it was some big shot job, but later I came to know that this was a glorified name for robbing throughout the galaxy. I really didn''t want to do this. If I left the planet, then mother would be all alone and there would be no one left to attend to her. However, I idiotically gave my word to them and now I''m bound by word and it simply cannot be broken. Therefore, I left my mother with a caretaker and left to venture into the galaxy. After seeing some television shows about how galactic journeys work, I was excited about the opportunity that I just received. However, reality was far from my expectation. There wasn''t any hope. My "teammates" were shit. The ship was a garbage disposal vehicle. And the people in the other planets weren''t welcoming at all. I guess the last part is because we are from the Crimson planet. Here''s the thing. Everyone in the entire galaxy knew we are robbers. However, none of them could actually convict any of us because they never get proof of it. And even if they did, the most they could detain was a singular crimson robber, who''s offered by the team as a sacrifice. Anyhow, I could gain a standing among my teammates because of my extreme skills in this sector. I was never happy with them though. Like, if you ask me, being a robber is a chivalric job as well. And when guys like them barge in saying that they''re gonna kill some people and various other disgusting stuff, I felt like shite. And hence, I tried my hardest to get out of the team and it worked when Carmine determined that my team would just shackle me down. So, I kinda had everything at that point. I had enough money. My mom was doing well. And I was doing solo missions. It was only later did I realize that it was the calm before the storm. It all went downhill from that point. The first thing that screwed me over was hearing the death of my mom. As I was stealing people''s money to see her healthy, I never really had a decent chat with her. The doctors said that she had a hard time in the end and was asking for me. And as for me, I was looting people. I guess karma struck hard¡­ But it should have been me who died then. Why her? Anyhow, I heard this news while I was being chased during a mission and guess what? I messed up. My ship was struck by the chasing one and I was sent through an aberration that existed around the said planet for a long time, which they named the death hole. Now that I think about it, it''s an apt name for that hole as it sent me to this hellhole known as Earth. Ah, I''m truly unlucky, aren''t I? # Chapter 156: Lets go! We got a spaceship to see. "So, let me just repeat what you just said. You became a ''robber with high moral standards''. Your life was seemingly set, but suddenly the only person you cared about died, now you literally have no connection whatsoever with that planet of yours. You are a free man, right?" Taro asked. "I don''t know, man. The way you make it sound seems so cold." Thankappan spoke. "But he''s kinda right about it, though!" Scarlet jumped in with a reply. "Huh¡­ I''ll never get you alien lots. Sometime, you give out sentimental stories, but lack the emotion to back it up." The MIB agent sighed. "Hey! Don''t group me with this guy! I''m from a pretty well developed nation while this guy is from the dark alley of the universe. So, care to change your statement?" Taro asked. "Nah, man. I don''t discriminate with aliens. As long as you guys are from outer space, you''re all the same to me." Thankappan shrugged. "That''s some high-level shit that I just heard." Taro spoke to which Scarlet nodded his head along as well. "Well, this is a place which has suffered from discrimination, so I''m not gonna do that, even if you beg me to." Thankappan gave out a stern reply. "Hmm, it''s still not going to be NOT bullshit though." Taro replied as Scarlet nodded his head yet again. "Anyhow, where did I stop? Ah, yes. So, you don''t have any commitment to that place, then why are we even trying to go back?" He asked. "I didn''t get to see her face after her death since that aberration transported me to this place. I''d like to get one last look at her at least." Scarlet spoke with a singular tear in his right eye. "Wait, how long have you been here on this planet? And why in the world did we in the MIB not know about it?" Thankappan asked. "Hmm, it''s been about two months now, I guess¡­" Scarlet replied. "Aren''t you gonna answer the second one?" Thankappan asked again. "Well, it''s not the first time that I''ve got to a planet without the authorities noticing it. And even if they noticed me, I always got a way to slither out." Scarlet snickered. "Still, it''s pretty unbelievable if you ask me. You, along with your ship crash, landed in our area and you were actually able to hide it?" Thankappan asked. "Pretty much, yea¡­" Scarlet smiled. "Hmm¡­ That''s like crazy! I guess I should suggest to our department to identify the ships clearly next time around so that we don''t miss out on any person." Thankappan spoke. "That would be great." Scarlet replied. "I see. So, anyhow, two months passed since your mom died. Do you even think that you''ll get to see her face at this point?" Thankappan asked. "I''m a pretty high-profile person back on my planet, you know? There''s no way that they''re not gonna keep her safe for a little more time." Scarlet spoke. "Hmm, but why do you believe that they will trust you?" Thankappan asked. "Huh?" "Well, you disappeared mid-way through a chase. What makes you think that they''ll think that was an accident and not a pre-planned event?" Thankappan asked again. "...." For a moment or two, Scarlet had no words to say. "Well, no one jumps into that aberration intentionally, since they know that would mean death." Scarlet replied. "That might be true. However, it can also be interpreted the way I did, right?" Thankappan asked. "Do you think that they''ll keep your mother''s dead body safe if they believed you committed treason? No, they won''t. Instead, they would put her on a stake and burn her or something, don''t you think?" He asked. "Hey, that was too low!" Scarlet cried, with tears in both his eyes now. "Yea, it was kinda a low blow, dude." Taro agreed with Scarlet in this case. "Hey! I was just following up with the dark humor that you guys did! Why was it offensive when I did it?" Thankappan cried. "Well, you need a certain knack while dealing with dark humor, which you oh so obviously lack." Taro replied. "Ha¡­ Keep your secrets for yourself then!" Thankappan pouted, but he recovered back pretty soon enough as well. "By the way, I wasn''t kidding for the most part when I said that. So, what''s gonna happen once you realize that they fucked you over?" He asked. "... Well, that''s a discussion for another day, right?" Scarlet asked. "Hmm. Then what exactly do you want to do now?" Thankappan asked. "I need to go home as soon as possible." Scarlet replied. "If that''s the case, then why are you even here?" Thankappan asked again. "To take the one who has the capability of fixing my spaceship." Scarlet spoke whilst pointing at Taro. "Well, how come you know about it, huh?" Taro went on a bit of an aggressive route, while Thankappan firmly took the spot of the good cop in the charade. "Dude, I work as a private investigator here. I know about most of the stuff that happens around here. And in your case, I really didn''t have to put in an extra effort. I mean, you were practically making those translators out in the open." Scarlet shrugged. "Hmm, I guess you''re right about that. Never would''ve thought that someone would spy in at the spare parts shop." Taro sighed. "It''s an establishment where aliens come by on a regular basis. Especially since the release of the new and improved translators, people have been monitoring Ajish''s shop for quite a while now. So, don''t be surprised if more people like me came by." Scarlet replied. "I see. So, a few minutes ago, when you said you wanted me, you actually meant you wanted me to fix your spaceship, right?" Taro asked. "Exactly! You got that right!" Scarlet smiled. "Of course, I got it right. Anyhow, what do you want me to do now?" Taro looked towards Thankappan and asked. The MIB agent stood silently for quite some time, thinking about the possible options, before coming to a conclusion. "Let''s go. I wanna see this spaceship that went under MIB''s radar." He spoke as he gave out a determined look on his face. # Chapter 157: Cardinal "How long do we have to walk? Hell, why are we even walking? Just tell us the coordinates and we''ll get there." Thankappan sighed as he walked. He wasn''t tired or anything, but was simply bored. He tried surfing on the internet whilst following Scarlet, but his phone shook so much while he tried doing so, hence it wasn''t a viable option as well. "It''s not a place that some maps can show you." Scarlet spoke without batting an eye towards Thankappan. "Well, it does exist on this planet, right? Then it would have a co-ordinate. And even if we can''t get to it since it has a secret passage or something, we''ll still be able to get to its entrance, right?" The MIB agent asked. "... I just don''t know how to send the coordinates to you." Scarlet decided to be truthful this one time. "Is that so? Too bad. It would''ve been way simpler then." Thankappan muttered. "Or if you increase your pace ever so slightly, we''d have a simpler time as well." Taro jumped in with a suggestion of his own. "Hey! I''m doing this for your own sake! Well, a bit for me as well. I mean, can''t have the person who''s gonna fix my ship be totally gassed out once he reaches the ship, right?" Scarlet shrugged. "Well, you don''t have to worry about that since-" Taro was about to say something, but was cut short by Thankappan. "Ah, thank you for your concern. We''re of extremely weak constitution after all." Thankappan sighed. Upon hearing this, Taro shot a glare at Thankappan, who asked him not to worry about it. "Hmm, seems like the dude isn''t aware of Taro''s antics or the fact that he''s a Wadorian. It isn''t a good idea to pull out all the cards early, right?" Thankappan thought as Taro continued with his glare. After a few more minutes of walk, Scarlet suddenly stopped and started pulling out some of the weirdest moves that they''ve ever seen. By the end of this "performance" a gate popped up out of nowhere. "Let''s get in, shall we?" Scarlet asked as he took the lead in his territory. The other two nodded along and followed him. However, the walk was not yet done. They had to move for another five minutes, before they were met with another gate like structure. But this time around, Scarlet didn''t have to do any weird dance move of sorts. "We don''t have to walk for another five minutes, right?" Thankappan asked. "Not really. It''s right here." Scarlet replied as he pointed towards an enormous mass in the dark area. "Meet Cardinal. My personal ship." Scarlet turned on the lights, and they could finally see it. A bright red spaceship¡ªif we could even call it that. What they saw before them was just scrap. It was destroyed to an unimaginable extent. "Hmm, I now understand why we missed this ship." Thankappan spoke as he coursed his hand through the ship. "And why is that?" Taro asked. "Because we just might have mistaken it for a meteor or something. I mean, in no way, shape or form does this piece of garbage look like a spaceship." Thankappan answered. "Hey, it''s a treasured comrade of mine! Don''t badmouth it!" Scarlet warned. "Sheesh, fine!" Thankappan scoffed as he walked away from the Cardinal. Without taking another glance at Thankappan, Scarlet looked straight at Taro beside him. "So, can you fix it?" It was a make or break question at that point. Taro remained silent for quite some time as he inspected the exterior part of the ship. He sighed. "I don''t know. I don''t have an answer for that. I can only say something once I get a look of the inside part as well." He answered. "I see. What are you waiting for then?" Scarlet asked. "Your permission to disassemble, I guess. And since you''ve given me that just now, I''m gonna look at it as well." Taro gave out a smile as he went on to work on the Cardinal. # While Taro was having the time of his life with the Cardinal, the atmosphere around the other two was extremely awkward. "... Hey!" Thankappan tried breaking the ice between them. "..." However, Scarlet wasn''t bulging since he was so focused on what Taro did. "I said hey!" Thankappan spoke, while flailing his arms around. "I heard that. I''m not deaf." Scarlet sounded extremely annoyed as he said that. "Then why didn''t you reply?" Thankappan asked. "Because I didn''t feel like doing so." Scarlet gave out his honest reply. "Hey! I''m trying to build a conversation here! Cooperate with me, will ya?" Thankappan asked. Scarlet sighed. "So, what is it you wanna talk about?" "Your name¡ªI really thought you were a girl." Thankappan spoke. "Hmm, I''m one though." Scarlet replied, much to Thankappan''s surprise. "Wait, a minute! You''re not a man then?" He asked. "Ha¡­ No, I''m a man as well. The gender constrictions on your planet is weird for me." Scarlet replied. "Wait, does that mean-" Thankappan wasn''t given a proper chance to express his astonishment as Taro interfered. "The crimson planet residents are androgynous." He replied. "Yup. But I''d suggest you concentrate on the work before you rather than the conversation behind you." Scarlet spoke. "Yea¡­ Will do!" Taro sounded enthusiastic as he said that, but his face said otherwise. "Wait, what pronoun should I use while addressing you then?" Thankappan asked Scarlet. "Anything you like. Him, her, they¡­ It wouldn''t make much difference." Scarlet replied. "Then is your mum androgynous as well?" He asked. "Well¡­ yea! She''s the one who gave birth to me, so I call her mom rather than dad." Scarlet answered. "Hmm. I got a doubt, though. So, if your mom copulated with your dad and your dad happens to bear a child this time, would that child be your sibling or step-sibling?" Thankappan asked. "Yea, we''ll be siblings then. Even though the roles are reversed, we still have the same parents, so¡­" Scarlet shrugged. "Humm. If you lot are done with your talk, then shall I tell you about the Cardinal?" Taro interfered and asked. "Ha¡­ Please do." Scarlet replied. They looked really anxious to hear what Taro had to say. # Chapter 158: Tyson and Nevada "Yea¡­ I can''t do jack shit about it." Taro spoke. The horror in Scarlet''s face was clearly visible as he said those words. "What do you mean you can''t? You''re accustomed to stuff like this, right? You can mend any technological stuff, right?" Scarlet sounded desperate as he uttered those words. "I don''t know if someone told you that or if you were the one who thought of me like that, but it would be better if you get that delusion out of your mind." Taro suggested. "What do you mean?" "I mean that I''m not a sorcerer who can conjure up materials out of nowhere or reverse the time of a specific object to fix it. I''m a mechanic for the most part. I can only fix stuff if given the right materials." Taro explained. Scarlet sighed. "So what is it you need?" They asked. "Well, the engine basically disintegrated to nothing once you crash landed on Earth. So, before anything else, you''re gonna have to bring a new engine." Taro replied. "Hmm¡­ Would Ajish have that? Then I could just buy it off him, no matter what the cost is." Scarlet spoke. "Nah, he doesn''t have that." It wasn''t Taro who replied this time, but Thankappan. "Why, though? He should have stuff like that, right?" Scarlet once again sounded desperate at that moment. "Look. MIB: Snehatheeram and Ajish''s shop has a deal going on. You know that, right? And in accordance to that, we can''t let him snipe something massive like a ship''s engine because that would make us suspicious in the HQ''s eyes." Thankappan explained. "Hmm, is the engine in your possession then?" Scarlet asked. "Nope. They force us to send it to the HQ as soon as we report it to them." Thankappan replied. With each passing moment, Scarlet''s complexion became worse than before. "So, were there any new crash landings recently?" They asked. "... Nope. There''s been a distinct drop in the alien arrivals to this planet recently." Thankappan replied. "Hmm. Looks like the Glomerans have announced their subjugation plans." Taro muttered. "Huh?" "Nothing. I said nothing." Taro chuckled. "... What are we supposed to do now?" Scarlet asked. "Well, does it have to be the Cardinal?" Thankappan asked. "What do you mean?" "I mean, are you fine with any other spaceship?" Thankappan asked again. "Hmm. I have a special bond with the Cardinal. However, if there''s a possibility where I can escape this wretched planet, I would take it. And I''ll return once more properly for my beloved ship." Scarlet replied. "If that''s the case, I''m gonna suggest something radical. Well, it''s something that these idiots planned to do before, but it didn''t seem possible since they weren''t as skilled as you." Thankappan spoke. "What is it?" Scarlet asked. At that point, it didn''t matter if the thing Thankappan suggested was dangerous or not. Scarlet just wanted a means to escape. "Go to America to our HQ. Steal a ship and fly away. You''re the crimson robber, aren''t you? I don''t think even the tightest security could confine you if you work it out sensibly." Thankappan suggested. "Hmm, America¡­ Can I run over there?" Scarlet asked. "Yea. But it''s time consuming and you''ll be exhausted as fuck by the end of it. So, better catch a plane. You got the money, right?" Thankappan asked back. "... No." Scarlet gave out a rather meek reply. "Then how were you planning to pay for that engine if Ajish had it?" The MIB agent asked. "I would''ve robbed a bank or something." Scarlet replied honestly. "Ha¡­ Makes sense. Anyhow, if you''re planning to do that, do in moderation. Just the price of the ticket." Thankappan spoke. "But the passport and stuff¡­ I mean, he isn''t a registered alien by MIB, right?" Taro interfered with the conversation. "You''re right. Then there''s always another way which doesn''t involve you robbing a bank!" Thankappan exclaimed. "And what is that?" Scarlet asked. "How about you smuggle yourself in a delivery part of the plane?" Thankappan asked. "Hmm, not an impossible task by any means." Scarlet looked satisfied by it as well. "By the way, all this time and I never asked your names, huh? So¡­" He looked as if he wanted to know their names. Taro was about to speak, but was blocked by Thankappan, who took the initiative. "I''m agent Tyson. And he''s Nevada." He bluntly lied. Taro looked at him in confusion, but he maintained his natural face. "Huh, interesting names." Scarlet mumbled, but they didn''t think much of it. "So, don''t you wanna leave this wretched planet as well, Mr Nevada?" It took time for Taro to realise that Scarlet was actually asking him. "Ah, well¡­ We are waiting on something. Once everything falls into its place, we''ll make our move." Taro replied as he thought about the pod. "I see. I was about to invite you with me, but since you have plans, I''m not gonna force it on you." Scarlet replied. "Okay, then. You can leave. I''ll show you to the entrance. Sorry for calling you out in the middle of the night like this." "It''s fine. I hope you succeed in your mission as well." Taro gave out a warm smile. After exchanging pleasantries, Scarlet led them to the entrance and bid adieu. For the most part of their walk back to the Holy Land, Taro and Thankappan didn''t talk. Only when it seemed like they were in a fair distance from Scarlet did they talk. "So, why did you lie?" Taro asked. "Is that even a question to ponder about? Scarlet is an unregistered alien who''s planning to steal a spaceship from the HQ. Think about it. In an off chance that he gets caught, he''s gonna leak all the secrets to them. So, you want him to say that we were the ones who suggested this idea to him?" Thankappan asked. "No." "And there''s the answer to your question. Think of Scarlet as a scapegoat from now on. If he succeeded in stealing a ship, you can follow suit if you want to. But if he fails, there''s a lot more planning that you should put into it." Thankappan explained. "I''ll keep that in my mind." Taro replied. They talked little for the rest of the time. Both were contemplating certain things that''ll happen in the future and couldn''t help but feel anxious about it. # Chapter 159: What about me? "So, what happened?" Kunjan asked the two as they stepped into the room. "Nothing much. We just went to look at a really messed up spaceship." Taro replied. "And? Can you fix it?" The plankton asked. "Unfortunately, no." Taro shook his head. "Hmm. That''s kinda sad, I guess." Gibli who sounded sleepy replied. "Maybe. But there''s always a silver lining." Thankappan jumped in and spoke. "And that would be?" "Scarlet is gonna infiltrate the MIB HQ soon." Thankappan replied. "Ha¡­ You talking shit about the headquarters. Isn''t that kinda traitorous?" Kunjan asked. "Well, the HQ has only managed to give me terrible memories throughout my life. My allegiance lies with the Snehatheeram base and it will always be right there because of certain reasons. And I kinda didn''t talk shit about them. So, yea." Thankappan replied. "Hmm, by the way, think about the future for a bit. We imagine that this Scarlet person is gonna fail in infiltrating for¡ªstealing a spaceship, yea? But imagine if he or she-" While Kunjan was on his way to explain his point, he was interrupted. "They." Thankappan spoke. "Huh?" "The pronoun would be they, since Scarlet is androgynous. But it''s fine, though. Just wanted to point it out." Thankappan replied. Kunjan sighed. "Is that so? Anyway, let''s just get back to the point. What if the person actually manages to steal a ship? Wouldn''t that screw our chances oh so slightly?" He raised the question in his mind. "Well, I got a contingency plan." Thankappan smirked. "And that would be?" Kunjan asked. Although the plankton was usually sceptical about the usual Thankappan who frolickles around, he was always reassured by a confident Thankappan. He chose to believe in whatever the MIB agent was gonna say next. "We''ll keep hold of the Cardinal, the spaceship of Scarlet. He''s surely gonna return for it since it is that precious to him. I can see it in his eyes." Thankappan explained. "Believing in a material is all we could do right now, huh?" Kunjan sighed. "We are not keeping hold of that material alone. We''re holding onto the memories that the person spent on the ship. It''s not something that can be recreated anywhere else, you see. No matter what new model they buy, those memories will always remain precious. So, it''s a strong option to put our trust on." Thankappan assured. "If you say so. I chose to put my trust in you, and you have placed your trust in the Cardinal. So, inadvertently or not, I''m trusting the Cardinal as well." Kunjan smiled. "Me too, me too." Gibli was quick to jump into the bandwagon. "So¡­ Off to sleep, right?" Taro asked. "Yup!" Everyone said simultaneously as they headed to their respective beds¡ªall except Taro, of course. Taro, who had nothing to do at this point, decided to turn on the television, but he stalled for a while as he stared at the bright moon above him for quite some time. He hoped for a successful mission for the person with the red hair. # "Ready to get back to work?" Thankappan asked Taro, who sat before the television for six hours straight at that point. "I don''t know, man. The past two days made me an old man who doesn''t really wanna work." Taro spoke. Thankappan sighed. "I don''t even know why I''m forcing you into coming since it would be really beneficial for me if you were to stay back. But well, I kinda want you to come to school for no particular reason." He replied. "No particular reason, huh? You liar! I know very well about why you want me to come around." Taro scoffed. "What do you mean?" Thankappan looked as if he did not know what Taro spoke about. "I''m the only one in the high school block. If I''m to take a leave, you can''t enter and exit the block so freely." Taro smirked. "But why would I care about that?" Thankappan asked. "You might not. But out there in a few hours, a girl''s gonna come out who''s on friendly terms with me but sees you as an extremely creepy person. You can''t really be walking with her without me by your side, right?" He asked. "I don''t even-" Thankappan was about to defend his honor, but Taro put a stop to it by putting a hand on his mouth. "Dude, don''t degrade yourself any further than you did already. There''s also the fact that if I took a leave, you will have to take one as my aliensitter, so yea¡­ There''s another reason. Anyhow, I''ll be coming. You don''t have to worry about that." Taro smiled. "Is that so? Very well. See you by the front door in an hour." Thankappan spoke. "Dude, our room''s literally in feet'' width. You don''t have to say dramatic goodbyes because it''ll be super embarrassing when we meet each other in five seconds." Taro shrugged. "Ah, well¡­ I just wanted a nice exit. Is that something hard to ask?" Thankappan cried. "... You''ll see what I mean." Taro said as he walked away. Literally seconds later, they met up "accidentally" yet again. "Are you gonna give me a dramatic hello now, huh?" Taro asked. "Shut up, dude!" Thankappan walked away from Taro, only to meet up with him a few seconds later. "See? Trashed the dramatic goodbye, didn''t I?" Taro chuckled. "Never have I felt the urge to smack someone right across their face as I feel right now." Thankappan sounded frustrated as he said that. "But you simply can''t now, can you?" Taro laughed like a maniac. "What are you two doing?" Kunjan asked as he stared at them. "An extremely friendly verbal communication." Taro replied. "Ha¡­ You never know when these verbal communications become physical confrontation. So please refrain from doing anything like this in the kitchen." He warned them. "Hmm, you''ve been extra careful ever since the John incident, haven''t you?" Taro asked with the coy smile on his face. "What about me?" A voice was heard from the back. The voice of the person he wasn''t expecting at that moment. He sure did hope that the person didn''t get his memory jogged by anything he said. # Chapter 160: Calm before the storm "John! You''re up, huh?" Taro gave out a really nervous chuckle. "Why wouldn''t I be?" John asked, with a bizarre look on his face. "So, why were you talking about me?" He asked. "We were not talking about you! There''s a student named John in the second grade. We were talking about how playful he is." Taro spouted out lies as if it was nothing. "I see. I thought you were talking about me. Continue talking then." John said as he walked away. Once John was at a considerable distance from them, they could finally heave a breath of relief. "For a person who spoke about how this place is too small, you sure talked loud enough for John to hear." Kunjan spoke. "Hey! He did not hear it all, did he now? So, don''t put the blame on me!" Taro cried. "Whatever, dude! Just don''t speak of him when he''s home like this." Kunjan warned. "I know. I''ll keep that in mind." Taro replied. # The school that day was really boring for Taro. He was already engrossed in the magical world of equipment building that normie stuff like teaching didn''t excite anymore. "You look so bored, you know that?" Abhirami pouted upon seeing Taro''s listless expression. "I know. I''m bored. Yup. Too bored. Ha¡­ How are you doing?" He asked. "I was doing fine in the morning, but your listlessness affected me and now I''m bored as well." She replied. "Is there something you wanna do?" Taro asked. "What do you mean?" Abhirami looked kinda confused. "I mean, is there something you really wanna do. Like, for real?" Taro asked. However, it was too vague for Abhirami. "Are you talking about my goals?" Abhirami asked. "Hmm¡­ I guess you can say it that way." Taro nodded his head along. "Well, well¡­ What made you curious about my goals?" She asked. "Nothing much. I just felt like asking something to you and so I did." Taro replied. "Ha.. I''m gonna talk about my goals before you change the meaning of your sentence to anything else." Abhirami sighed. "I''d like to become an astrologer." She replied. "The one with the hand signs and stuff?" He asked. "Shoot! I meant astronomer! Or at least, an astrophysicist. I wanna see some stars and shit." Abhirami replied. "Oh, really? That''s a nice wish to have." Taro smiled. Seeing Taro smile, Abhirami continued speaking about her dreams. "If possible, I''d like to be a rapper, a beatboxer and a professional wrestler." She spoke. "Hmm, the first two one seem like they might go hand in hand, but the third one seems too random. How come you choose it?" Taro asked. "Well, I don''t know. Wrestling seems cool. And I can''t resist cool stuff. It''s just that. I don''t think I''ll be able to be one, but I can dream, right?" Abhirami laughed. "One day¡­" Taro spoke before stopping himself. "Huh?" "One day, if I invite you to see the stars up close, will you come with me?" He asked. "Oh, my! Are you asking me out on a date right now?" Abhirami chuckled. "Not really. Okay, don''t think of me in that scenario. What if some random person invites you to see the stars up close?" He asked. "I''ll politely decline." She answered. "Why?" "Do you think I''m crazy or what? Going with some random man just because he promised me to show the stars¡­ I''m an adult with a fully functional brain, you see? Ain''t gonna go with some random man." She scoffed. "Then what about me?" He asked. "Hmm?" "What if that random person was me?" He asked again. "I wouldn''t waste a heart to be with you on that journey." She replied with a bright smile on her face. "Easy there, tiger. I''m still an unknown person. You don''t know a lot of these secrets that I''ve been hiding. Don''t trust me so easily." Taro spoke. "Well, if I can''t trust in you, I can''t trust in most of the people near me. Like, you saved my life multiple times, dude! I trust you with all my heart." Abhirami continued on with her smile. "Is that so? But something about you still worries me." Taro sighed like an old man. "Well, we can work it ALL out in due time." She tried winking, but ultimately failed. So a weird closing of eyes is all that he saw. "Ha, what a weird girl!" Taro sighed as he saw her move away, while even more teachers glared darts at him. # The day ended up as another ''way too normal'' day. It should''ve been a fun day, but it wasn''t. Every time Taro got to enjoy a ''way too normal'' day, he always ended up in an immense problem the very next day. And hence, rather than enjoying it, he was worried about the next day''s shenanigans. "How was your day?" Thankappan asked once they got in the Holy Land. "... Way too normal." Taro replied. "Oh, no!" It wasn''t just Thankappan who exclaimed, the rest did so as well. Initially, when such a thing happened, the aliens and Thankappan were quite keen on calling it a mere coincidence. However, as time went by, the coincidences were too much and the superstition action turned into something that the Holy Land inmates fear as the calm before the storm. And hence, the gang came into the living room to discuss it. "So, what do you think it''ll be? Any ideas?" Thankappan asked. "Guys! Maybe this one is a false alarm. It might not happen." Taro replied. "Nah, man! It''ll happen. I guarantee it. The events directly preceding it might even start today¡­ who knows?" Thankappan sounded extremely worried. "Calm down, people! It might not-" Before Taro could say anything more, he was interrupted. "This is not a discussion about whether it will happen. It''s just a simple preparation. Even though nothing happens, we''ll feel a bit more secure then." Thankappan explained his side. "So, what are our-" Someone rang the doorbell in the midst. At first, the lads paid little attention for obvious reasons. But it seemed like they had no choice. "It seems like we have no time to even build up a decent plan." Thankappan spoke as sweat beads rolled down his forehead. # Chapter 161: The plan With a concerned look on his face, Thankappan slowly headed towards the door. He was hesitant because he felt like the Taro curse was gonna hit them like an earthquake once he opened the door. However, he had no choice but to do so, since the one on the other side was literally destroying the door bell with each passing second. "What took you so long, dude?" Lonappan asked as he pushed him aside and barged into the room. "Were you hiding something from me or what?" He asked as he continued looking around for some hidden stuff. However, there never was something like that, so his efforts were quite literally meaningless. "Not really. We were planning something." Thankappan spoke. "What? Are you planning to break into the MIB HQ or something?" Lonappan asked. "Ah, someone else''s already planning to do¡ªnothing. No one''s planning to do anything." Thankappan was quick to recover once he realized that he never told about Scarlet to Lonappan for quite obvious reasons. "You''re acting quite sus, man! I feel like you''re hiding something from me." Lonappan stared at his junior for quite a long time. However, being the professional that he is, Thankappan didn''t even bulge under such immense pressure. Seeing the unwavering look on Thankappan''s face, Lonappan quit staring at him and went back to his usual self. Only then could his junior heave a sigh of relief. "So, why are you here?" Thankappan asked. "Can''t I be here, dude? That''s quite rude of you!" Lonappan looked really sad as he spoke. "You know I didn''t mean it that way, right?" Thankappan asked. "Then what way did you even mean? I haven''t stepped a foot inside this room for quite a long time and THIS is the welcome I receive?" Lonappan went aggressive in his tone. Thankappan sighed. "What do you want me to do now, huh?" He asked to which Lonappan smirked. "I was kidding, bruv! I didn''t mean it! Just take it as a joke." He patted his junior''s shoulder and walked towards the company of aliens. "Ha, you''re too good of an actor¡­" Thankappan sighed yet again as he walked behind him. "Thanks for the compliment." Lonappan bowed a little before stopping before the troop. "How are you doing, guys?" He asked. "I was doing fine¡­ Before you showed up. Now I''m all gloomy." Kunjan replied. "Why? What did I do?" Lonappan asked. "You did nothing wrong¡ªyet." The plankton replied. "So what? You consider me as a bearer of bad news now?" Lonappan asked. "Not really. I think of you as the bearer of the Taro curse. On other note, do you have any bad news? I mean, since you explicitly stated so." Kunjan asked. "Nah, not today. But it deeply hurt my feelings, by the way." Lonappan pouted. "I see. I don''t care. I''m incapable of comprehending human emotions. Hell, I can''t comprehend any sort of emotion, so good luck with your hurt feelings." Kunjan spoke in his monotonous voice, which made his claim even more credible. "Is that so? Well, no use wasting my efforts on you then." Lonappan sighed. "By the way, what''s up with this curse talk?" He asked. "Well, Taro felt extremely bored today. And when he feels so, usually something unimaginable happens the very next day. We were just thinking of a plan to survive this ordeal." Thankappan replied. "Ah¡­ Damn! It''s gonna be a hard day at the office tomorrow, huh?" Lonappan sighed. "Guys! The curse is not real! Don''t worry." Taro jumped in and assured them. "Again, I''m not saying that it''s something real. However, we gotta consider the scenario and decide. I mean, we should be careful for an off chance of it happening, right?" Thankappan asked. "Dang, it feels like d¨¦j¨¤ vu for some reason." He spoke. "That''s because we had the same conversation a minute earlier." Kunjan replied. "Ah, we certainly did that!" Thankappan exclaimed before going back to normal. "So, what do you say?" He looked at Taro and asked. "As long as you don''t treat it as a curse because of me, I''m fine with it. Treat it as a natural disaster or something." Taro shrugged as he spoke. "Sure. If that''s what you want." Thankappan replied before turning his attention to Lonappan. "You never told me the reason for your arrival. And why are you here without John?" He asked. "John''s with Ponnappan right now, so he''s safe. And as to why I''m here¡­ Well, I came here with no evil intentions. I just had a lot of free time since John was no longer on my head. And hence, I came!" Lonappan replied. "Is that so?" Thankappan stared just the way Lonappan did to him earlier. And just like him, Lonappan didn''t bulge either. So, Thankappan chose not to question any further and focused on the entire table after quite a good while. "So, what exactly is our plan?" He asked, looking at each of their faces. "Well, aren''t you the acting head of this meeting of ours? Conjure up a good plan by yourself." Kunjan spoke. "I wholeheartedly agree with that!" Lonappan seconded it, while the others nodded. Thankappan sighed. "This is a really odd situation. We know the time period in which some shit is gonna happen. But we don''t know exactly what shit is gonna happen, so we can''t exactly prepare for something like that-" Before he completed his explanation, Lonappan cut short the conversation. "Then what''s the point of this meeting, if we can''t prepare anything in the first place?" He asked, which mildly infuriated Thankappan. "You do know I was building up to say something, right? Why did you interfere?" He asked. Lonappan realized the nuisance he just caused. "Apologies. I was insensitive. So, please do tell the rest." Lonappan requested. "Well, surely we can''t prepare for an unknown event thoroughly, but we can prepare more than enough, right? I mean supplies and stuff. We need to treat it like a massive calamity." Thankappan roared. "Yea, that''s the spirit!" Lonappan cheered at him from the sidelines. However, Taro was quite worried about this. A curse named after him was seemingly bringing horror into everyone, and he didn''t like it at all. He was determined to stop this curse at all costs for the sake of his good name! # Chapter 162: Hiding away "Supplies and stuff is the only thing we discussed so far¡­ We really don''t have any idea about what to think of next, huh?" Taro sighed. "Well, it''s the unknown. We just can''t prepare too much for the unknown. So, rather than baseless preparations, what we need is vigilance. We gotta monitor things happening around us¡­ Taro in particular." Thankappan replied. "I''ll take care of that." Taro assured him. "Great. The meeting, which has mostly been a waste of time, is dispersed!" Thankappan spoke as he got up. Soon, the rest of them got up as well. The next day was gonna be a really decisive day. # Next morning; the ones in the room #306 got up way earlier than they usually do. This was their form of staying vigilant. So, by the time they usually woke up, they were actually done changing. And it got even weirder when Thankappan barged out without waiting for the coincidence stuff. He really didn''t want any danger to befall on a normal civilian due to them, but that argument seemed extremely flawed since they were heading towards a place where civilians, that too minors, came to learn. Thankappan didn''t reveal the real reason, but the aliens suspected that he was nervous enough with the curse stuff that he didn''t want to meet up with Shivani. And as for Shivani, she felt weird that day since everyone left without her. Initially, she suspected that they were just late, so when she confirmed that they left without her, she was kinda devastated and she didn''t know why. The more that she thought about it, the more it seemed great to her, and yet she felt betrayed by them. However, she didn''t want to blame anything on them just yet before hearing their side of the story. Hence, she headed towards Taro the first chance that she got upon reaching school. However, as if deliberately avoiding her, every time she came around hearing rumors about Taro being there, he would''ve left already. She got fed up with this cat-and-mouse chase, so she headed back to her class. Also, the bell rang and Taro had the first period, so everything worked out the way she hoped it to. However, even though Taro swung by to take the class, it was almost like the Taro that day was merely a shadow of his former self. He didn''t sound confident; he ran with the chapter and hell; he didn''t even maintain eye contact with any of the students. It was truly a sorry sight to see. Now Shivani was genuinely concerned. The morning began in a really confusing way, and Shivani wanted answers. Therefore, just after the classes ended, she decided to catch up with Taro, but Taro was running at a freight train speed. By the time she got to the staff room running at her full might at that, Taro had already left for his next class. After this, Shivani tried waiting for Taro by the staff room any time she got free, but Taro never came. And this made her sad. She truly felt betrayed by whom she considered a friend that day, and it felt damn worse. # Taro had a busy day. Not only he had to stay vigilant all the time, he had to stay away from the ones with whom he usually talked to, since it would adversely affect them if it was actually a curse because of him. Usually, avoiding people was a simple task. However, what made it difficult for him was that someone was actually pursuing him all the way. He had to routinely avoid her so that nothing dangerous happened to her, but seeing Shivani sad like that was too much for Taro. However, he had promised himself. Just this one day and everything would go back to normal¡ªis what they believed. So, he was willing to do this for a day. When he saw Shivani''s dejected face, he actually thought that she would give up on talking to him. But she actually wasn''t giving up. By the time the last break came by, it wasn''t just Shivani who looked for him, but the entire class. He did not know where to go at that point without arousing suspicions. However, as if godsend, Rita pulled him to her office and closed the doors on it. "What the!" Taro was surprised by this development, but Rita asked him to stop. "They''re out looking for you. If you make any noise, they''re gonna find you here. Is that something you want to see happen?" Rita asked, to which Taro vigorously shook his head no. "I see. Great. Now we shall wait." Rita spoke, and they waited until the voices subsided. "Thank you for your help. Would''ve had a hard time without it." Taro smiled as he opened the office door¡­ or he tried doing so, but the door was locked. "Will you please open the way for me?" He politely asked. "Well, before that. Answer me. Why are you avoiding them? Did something happen between the two of you?" She asked back. Taro sighed. "It''s slightly complicated." He replied. "Don''t worry. You got all the time around the world since I''m not gonna open up the door anytime soon." She replied with a smirk on her face. Taro sighed yet again. "Okay, where shall we begin¡­" # Taro talked about his curse to Rita, except for the regions where an ordinary human would find it difficult to believe about. "So you''re saying that you avoided her because of this stupid curse thingy." Rita spoke. "Yup." Taro nodded his head. "Okay, that''s idiotic. Plus, even if you wanted to avoid people, give them a heads up or things like this will continue to happen. They care about you way more that they care about anyone else. So, just go explain your stupid stuff to people before they isolate you or something." Rita replied. "You''re right! What am I even doing? Surely they''ll come to an understanding with me once I talk it with them, right?" He asked. "Sure took you a long time to realize that." Rita smirked as she tossed the key to Taro. "Go get them, tiger!" # Chapter 163: The Omen is real Taro had the door open and was about to leave, but he stopped at the very last second. "That term was pretty strange." He spoke as he looked towards Rita. "What term?" She asked. "The ''go get them, tiger'' term." He spoke. Rita sighed. "Are you kidding me?" She asked. "Don''t you think it''s weird as well? He asked. "You were going out to do something, right? Or are you backing out of it already and this is your way of showing disinterest?" She asked. "Hmm, not really. I was just super weirded out by that term." Taro shrugged. "Just go now, will ya?" Rita sounded annoyed as she nudged Taro out from her office and locked the door from inside. "Dang, she can''t seem to fathom a simple question as this, how is she gonna teach all those kids?" Taro sighed as he began striding down the hallway. "Mr Sadanandan!" Shivani cried as soon as she saw him. "Oh, Shivani! I was looking for you! I wanted to-" Taro was going on in a normal manner, but Shivani was simply frantic as she grabbed Taro on the spur of the moment, forgetting that he was her class teacher. "Where were you?" She asked. "Rita''s office. Why''d you ask?" He asked back. "We were searching all around for you! And to think that you were in her office." Shivani sighed. "Ah, about that. I apologise. I''ve been avoiding you for quite some time now. There''s a legit reason though. So you just gotta hear me out." Taro spoke. # "You avoided us for that?" Shivani shouted. "What? What happened? Oh, Mr Sadanandan! Here you are!" Abhirami waved her arm around. The rest of the twelfth grade were behind her as well. Upon seeing them, Shivani shared the reason that Taro told her. And just like her, they were having this dumbfounded expression on their faces as well. "Unbelievable! I never knew you were one with superstitions like this." Abhirami spoke. "Me neither." Shivani replied. Soon others followed suit. "You did a boring class because you thought you would be unlucky for us¡­ If that''s not the weirdest thing that I''ve ever heard, then I don''t know what is." Ross replied. "You sounded like a dead fish. Not that I know what a dead fish sounds like. Hmm, I guess it''d be a flappy sound if you banged a fish on the wall repeatedly, so is that it?" Juan asked. "Somehow, I found that conversation really weird and creepy." Shivani stared at Juan as she spoke. "What? I just talked about banging a fish¡ªI get it. Not really a direct reference, but I guess it would work as well." Juan shrugged. "Anyhow, back to the point." Shivani clapped once, turning everyone''s attention to the main point that is Taro. " Mr Sadanandan. Even if you are superstitious, we are not. So, if you believe that you''re gonna be a bad omen to us, continue believing it. However, we are not gonna. So, please act normally now, will ya?" She asked. Taro sighed. "Okay. Here''s the thing. I''m not a superstitious person as well. However, things happened that made me believe it. So, even if it doesn''t happen this time around, I don''t want danger to befall the people I care about. Is that something I shouldn''t have thought of?" He asked. "...You care about us, eh?" Abhirami asked with a sly smirk on her face. "Of course, I do! Why wouldn''t I?" Taro asked. "Hmm. If you care about us, then you wouldn''t do stupid shit like this before asking to us first." Shivani pouted. "...I really can''t think of a counter argument for some reason. Anyway, prepare to face the consequences of hanging around me then." Taro spoke with a gentle smile on his face. "Yea, yea, we''ll deal with it when time comes. Let''s go back to the class for now. Miss Mary is absent today and since you''re our class teacher, they''re probably gonna ask for you to be there anyway. So¡­" Shivani tugged on Taro''s shirt indicating him to follow her and that he did. # "See? Nothing happened! You were worried for naught." Shivani spoke. "The day isn''t over yet, Shivani. And you in particular have to be extra careful since you''re gonna be in proximity with me due to the closeness of our abodes." Taro spoke. "Meh, if anything were to happen, it would''ve happened already. I don''t see it happening now." Shivani replied. "Do you have a black tongue or stuff like that?" He asked. "Again with the damn superstitions." Shivani sighed. "Just answer my question this time, will ya?" He requested. "I might have a little bit on the side. Not too much, just a little bit." She replied. "Oh, boy!" Taro looked worried as he heard it. "Stop. Don''t. Nothing''s gonna happen. Just stop giving off that worried look." Shivani spoke. "... Okay." Taro nodded his head. "Shall we go then?" She asked. "Together?" He asked back. "Of course!" She smiled. "Fine." Taro walked alongside her in the infinite corridor. # Nightfall. Nothing noteworthy happened in the Holy Land household. "Ha, it''s just as Shivani said. Nothing actually happened. I guess it was just me worrying a bit too much." Taro sighed as he looked at the bright moon which looked more beautiful than any other day. "I guess so¡­ You''ve been on the edge for the whole day, huh?" Thankappan asked as he accompanied Taro on the moon watching. "Yea, almost messed up certain things because of that." Taro spoke. "Almost, huh? Glad that it didn''t mess up then." Thankappan spoke. "Yea, me as well." Taro replied. "What a peaceful night, right?" He asked. "Hmm, it truly is. But the black tongue worries me." Thankappan chuckled. "Oh, shut up! I ain''t gonna believe in that shit anymore. It''s bogus, dude! There''s no such thing as a black tongue. It''s just that things tend to happen around me and the quickest and easiest way to explain it was the black tongue. Nothing else." Taro replied. "Is that so?" Thankappan asked. "Yup, that indeed is so." Taro replied. "Hmm, you better start believing the black tongue then." Thankappan spoke. "Huh?" The MIB agent pointed to the moon. "I see something coming our way." He replied. # Chapter 164: Catching the spaceship "Oh for all that''s good and holy, tell me it''s not happening!" Taro cried. "Unfortunately, it is." Thankappan replied. "Why? Just why? And what even is that?" Taro squinted his eyes to get a good look at the thing that had been fastly approaching their area. "Hmm, I don''t know man. I can''t make out what it is. But isn''t this too familiar of a scene?" Thankappan asked as he stared at the sky. "Night with a bright moon¡­ Fucking hell, is it Scarlet again? It shouldn''t be, right? He should be in the United States right now." Taro sounded extremely worried. "Why are you asking me? How will I know if that''s Scarlet?" Thankappan asked. "What''s happening?" Kunjan asked as he entered the scene alongside Gibli. "Something''s straight up coming towards us and I suspect that it''s Scarlet." Thankappan replied. "Hmm, where is it?" The plankton asked to which Thankappan pointed it out. "Well, I don''t know if that''s Scarlet or not, but I know one thing. It''s a damn spaceship." Kunjan replied, trying his hardest to sound excited in his extremely monotonous voice. "What?" The other three simultaneously gaped their mouths open. However, Thankappan''s reason of amazement was something totally different. "You had extreme eyesight?" He asked, staring the plankton in awe. "Innate ability. Pretty useful skill." He replied. "Screw that¡ªrespectfully, of course. But what else do you see there? Like, any abnormalities or anything to notice?" Taro asked. "I don''t know if it should be considered as an abnormality¡­ Nah, surely it is. The way the ship is moving¡­ It''s obviously gonna crash land here." Kunjan replied. "Fuck, no. There''s literally civilians everywhere! What are we supposed to do now?" Thankappan panicked. "Should I call Lonappan?" He asked. "Dang, wait! Didn''t you learn anything in the MIB academy or whatever shit that is? Something substantial?" Taro asked. "I learned to call the superior officer once you see this kind of impossible shit!" Thankappan spoke in a higher pitch. "So, nothing that could help us in this situation, huh?" Taro asked. Thankappan sighed. "Dude, I learned about how to deal with aliens with respect to their diplomatic relations and stuff like that¡ªnot how to catch a flying spaceship!" He replied. Suddenly, Taro jumped around like he got a brilliant idea. "Catch¡­ Of course, I can catch the spaceship! Nice one, Thankappan!" He spoke. "... I didn''t mean it like that, but yay!" Thankappan acted happy as he heard that. "Wait!" Kunjan shouted. "Dang, dude! You''re too loud. What now?" Taro asked. "Someone''s following the said spaceship." He spoke. "Oh no!" Thankappan''s face looked grim. "What happened? Come on! I don''t like suspense! You know how I skip a movie to the final if the suspense is too good, right?" Taro asked. "You do that? That''s weird as hell, dude!" Gibli cried. "Oh, man! This is the most unnecessary chat that I''ve seen!" Kunjan spoke. "I talk when I''m nervous. And I talk about the most random shit. So, yea¡­" Taro shrugged. "Are you gonna tell me now?" He looked over to Thankappan. "Is that a flying black car?" The MIB agent asked. "... Yes. Yes it is." Kunjan replied. "Whose is it?" Taro asked. "MIB official vehicle. Are they doing anything though?" Thankappan looked intently at Kunjan. "Not really. It seems like they''re waiting on something." The plankton replied. "Hmm. They''re totally fine with the destruction of the whole area since they can always wipe it off people''s memories, huh? So typical of them." Thankappan scoffed. "So, what am I supposed to do now? I had planned to catch it but if I did that right now, it would only bring up more problems." Taro spoke. "You''re right. It''ll totally mess us up. So, we can''t do that." Thankappan agreed with Taro in that case. "So what are we supposed to do? Just look at it or what?" Taro asked. "I don''t know man! It''s fucked up now. The only thing we could do is to throw it into a freaking safe spot or something." Thankappan went ballistic. "Of course, why didn''t we think of it before?" Taro once again had that sparkling look on his face. "What exactly are we talking about here?" Thankappan asked, confused about what Taro actually meant. "We''re gonna throw the ship into some safe place!" Taro replied excitedly. "Wait, that''s not practical. First of all, the trajectory would be totally off from the initial trajectory and this would make the ones in the black car doubt that. Secondly, they''re gonna see ya if you do something like that." Thankappan put forth his doubts. "Is that it? Then it''s totally possible. It''s gonna come down to the timing though." Taro spoke. "How exactly?" Thankappan was still sceptical about it. "Look. In about three minutes, the ship is gonna be real close to those electric post wires. Those are pretty strong wires, right? To the point, that it might actually sustain the weight of a ship and actually deviate it, right?" Taro winked. "Oh, yea¡­" Thankappan nodded his head as if he could actually imagine something like that happening. "But what about them seeing you?" He asked. "They simply will not." Taro replied with a smug look on his face. "Care to elaborate?" Thankappan asked. "I''ll just do it at a speed that would only make them see a blur as it happens." Taro replied. "What the hell? Are you fl*sh or what?" Thankappan stood astounded at hearing the statement. "Meh, if you wanna think of me like that, please continue doing so." Taro smiled. "This will work, right?" Thankappan asked. "If everything falls right as I expected, then yea." Taro replied. Two minutes passed like absolutely nothing. And with that, they could clearly see the ship and the person inside it. It was indeed Scarlet who was literally screaming. But Taro was strangely calm. He had just the goal in mind to run the distance between him and the ship in the least time possible. He took a really deep breath as he opened his eyes and prepared himself for the madness to come. # Chapter 165: Saving Scarlet "You ready?" Thankappan asked, glancing to his side. Taro took a deep breath before looking back at the MIB agent. "Yup." He nodded his head. "Cool. Brace for impact in five¡­ four¡­ three¡­" Before the count reached two, he disappeared from their side and was before the spaceship, which was so close to the electric line. Taro actually forgot one thing. He thought that this would be easy, but he forgot that it wasn''t a spaceship made on Earth. And this meant that the ship was hella heavy. However, since he began it, he didn''t want to end it on a bad note. He mustered up all the strength that he could and forcefully threw the ship into the open ground that the Heavenly Flame School had. But the thing is this. He was actually planning to throw it much farther away to an actual barren land. So, even though he threw it to an open space, a huge explosion would occur once the ship touches the ground. So it wasn''t over for him. Thankfully, the MIB vehicle had a ten second delay and that was all the time that he needed. It truly was lucky that Scarlet had a ten second head start on them or else, the situation would''ve been way more complicated. After throwing the ship to the school grounds and landing safely, Taro wasted no time and ran towards the school, jumping over the protective fences with relative ease and was actually able to reach the point of impact before the ship. The Wadorian was tired¡ªat least his arms were after the feat of strength that he did just a second or two ago. And hence, he couldn''t just deadlift the spaceship for a second time. So, rather than completely stopping the ship, he thought of slowing the momentum of the ship. The problem was this. He couldn''t think of a way to slow it down. Things were hectic and his brain stopped functioning for a split second. And this had implications at crunch time. Knowing this he just caught the ship by his bare hands again and started going on a mad swing. The swinging motion was really fast the first time, however, once the initial round was done, he was somehow able to slow it down before literally banging the ship to the ground. After taking a one second breath, the Wadorian smashed open the ship''s door and was met with an astonished gaze of Scarlet. "Who the hell are-" Taro didn''t even give Scarlet a chance to complete their sentence, as he literally sliced Scarlet''s hand with his bare arm¡ªnot into two, but a lot of blood poured out. "Don''t ask any questions and don''t make any noise. You''ll get the reason later." Taro spoke. Scarlet, who bit their lips in pain, nodded along to the stern command. Upon seeing this, Taro wasted no time as he took Scarlet''s hand and made it pump out blood into the cockpit. After that was done, Taro literally ran around grabbing Scarlet''s hand with all his might. And this made Scarlet dizzy, but Taro simply didn''t care. And then, Taro ran into the conveniently placed bushy area, which was quite thick to hide the two of them. There, he quickly tied up his t-shirt on Scarlet''s hand to stop the blood flow. Once he made sure that he wasn''t gonna leave any trials, Taro took another way back home to the Holy Land. # "What in the world is happening here?" The night watchman of the Heavenly Flame School showed as he saw a spaceship in the school grounds of nowhere. "Nothing much. Just a random spaceship falling out from the sky. The usual shit if you ask me." A man in black suit answered. "What? Who the hell are you? How did you get in?" The watchman asked. "Dude! There''s a live spaceship before you and you still ask about us." The first man sighed. As for the second one, she didn''t join in with the banter and headed straight to the cockpit of the ship. "Are you gonna stop doing that with people before you flash them? It''s kinda weird." The woman spoke. "Well, their expression is an addictive thing to watch, you know that, right?" The man asked. The woman sighed. "You have a weird sense of enjoyment." She replied. "It''s not like you don''t know that already!" The man chuckled before heading towards the watchman, who looked really confused about the events that were happening around the guy. "What are you gonna do to me? What''s that thing you just brought? It''s that a gun?" The watchman freaked out as he saw the machine in the man''s hand. "Don''t worry. It''s not a gun. It''s something called a neutralyzer. Let me tell you what it is." The man began reciting the neutralyzer talk from the official MIB guide. "Whew! Done with it! So what tale shall we weave this time around?" The man wondered. "Don''t." The woman spoke. "Huh?" "Let the man stay in a trance for some time. The clean-up squad from the headquarters will come pretty soon." She replied. "Is that so? Then let''s do that. By the way, what did you find out?" The man asked. "The guy''s really lucky to have escaped our clutches. See the blood? Due to that bounce from back then, the momentum of the ship decreased quite a bit and the alien was able to escape with just some external injuries. And there''s a trail of blood that stops in the middle of that bushy area. I guess the alien found something to cover his injury with." She sighed. "Hmm. No footprints of sorts?" The man asked. "Unfortunately, none." She replied. "A lot of weird things¡­ First of all, how did the ship bounce? Is that even possible? And secondly, did the alien fly away or something?" The man sounded a bit suspicious of the events as he spoke. "Who cares? Our task was to retrieve the ship, which we did just now. As for everything else, the headquarter might assign the MIB base here to look into it, once we report it. Or even better, I heard that the John guy is here. He''s great at this stuff, isn''t he?" The woman asked. "I guess so¡­ Oh, the clean-up crew''s here! Let''s go after getting that guy out of his trance." The man spoke as he walked towards the watchman, after taking a quick glance at the scene for the last time. # Chapter 166: Scarlet joins the squad "Why in the world is he here?" Thankappan asked as he pointed at Scarlet. "Well, I just had to." Taro replied. "I know every one of your faces." Scarlet spoke with a confident smirk on his face. "Okay dude! Were you just threatening us?" Thankappan asked as he grabbed Scarlet''s collar. "Not really. I just gave out one of the many reasons why you should help me." Scarlet spoke. "No one''s gonna believe you. You know that, right?" Thankappan asked. "Yea, an MIB agent''s word would be more credible than a robber''s. However, in certain cases where the evidence is too in your face to miss out, they will have no choice but to believe in them." Scarlet replied. "Like right now?" The MIB agent asked. "Exactly. The people from the headquarters are here. I can literally walk out of this house like right now and have a little chat session with them." Scarlet replied. "Goddamn it! We''re trapped!" Thankappan exclaimed. "I got a way though. And that involves you saving my ass." Scarlet replied. "How exactly do you want your ass saved?" Thankappan asked. "Well, accommodation with you will be sufficient for me." Scarlet gave out a genuine smile this time around. "You do know how small this room is, right?" S asked. "I''m well aware of that." Scarlet replied. "Then why would you do something like this?" Thankappan asked as he internally sighed. "I don''t have many friends. So no one''s gonna save my ass other than myself if I''m trapped in a jail situated in one random planet. Also, me not having friends also means that I don''t have a place to take refuge." Scarlet replied. "Hmm. That''s actually a pretty valid reason." Taro replied. "Wait, there''s a problem." Kunjan raised his hand just as the deal seemed official. "What is it?" The MIB agent asked. "John and Lonappan. Especially John since he lives with us. How the hell are we gonna hide this person from him?" The plankton asked. "Ha. I didn''t think of it before, but how are we gonna deal with¡ªis what you thought I would say. But no. He is a great robber, isn''t he? Surely he can escape through a few old doors!" Thankappan came out with the proposition. "So, we''re really gonna have him crash on here, huh?" Taro asked, as if finalizing the decision. "Unfortunately, that''s the only way I see." Thankappan replied. "Yay!" Scarlet thought of yelling it out but was happy with a small cheer as well. "Remove that t-shirt. We''ll do a proper first aid for your hand." Kunjan spoke as he took out the first aid kit. As Kunjan was tending to the wound that Taro caused in Scarlet''s hand, a call came to Thankappan''s phone, which he obviously answered. "Hello." He spoke. "It''s Ponnappan." "Hello, sir. How are you-" Without giving Thankappan a chance to complete his sentence, Ponnappan got to his point. "What the hell happened there?" He asked. "Huh?" # "I don''t get it, sir! What do you mean what happened? Nothing happened." Thankappan replied in a stern voice, but his face was completely nervous. "Is that so? We got news about a weird alien lurking around in your area and I thought they were talking about Taro. It seems that I was wrong." Ponnappan replied. "Is that so? By the way, how is it going with John?" Thankappan asked. "I prefer not to talk much about it." Ponnappan answered. The junior agent chuckled. "Seems like you had quite some fun." Ponnappan sighed. "If endless suffering is your means to have fun, then yes. I did have plenty of fun." He replied. "I see. Okay, sir. See you tomorrow then." Thankappan quickly wrapped up the conversation worrying that he might bring up some information about Scarlet. "So, what was it about?" Kunjan asked. "Well, a rumor about one weird alien lurking around in our area." Thankappan replied. "Taro?" Kunjan asked. "That''s exactly what Ponnappan sir thought as well, funnily enough." Thankappan answered. "Hey! Don''t make jokes at my expense!" The Wadorian cried, but his pleas were falling in empty ears. "By the way, I found something weird." Thankappan diverted the conversation. "And what would that be?" Kunjan asked. "So, since Ponnappan sir knew about Scarlet lurking around and stuff, I thought he would definitely talk about the bouncing of the spaceship or at least spaceship in general." Thankappan explained. "But it seems like he didn''t." Kunjan spoke. "Exactly! Why didn''t he talk about it? Isn''t that like the first thing that he would? That only means one thing." Thankappan spoke. "The guy''s who came here didn''t explain to him about it. Guess they don''t want the other bases to know about their minor defeats." Kunjan gave out his assessment, which made the MIB agent quite angry for some reason. "Dude, stop stealing my lines like this! I won''t have any at that point." Thankappan cried. "I''m simply a step ahead. Literally and figuratively." Kunjan replied. "Oh my. The smugness is something that I can''t and don''t want to handle." Thankappan scoffed at the sight of it. "Then just don''t. What else can I say?" Kunjan shrugged, which made Thankappan even more angry. But the plankton was having his fun with it, unbeknownst to anyone since his monotonous voice didn''t let people know about it. # A few hours ago. John was having a pretty good time alongside Ponnappan. Normally he would''ve been in the Holy Land, but Ponnappan borrowed him for a week straight for some reason, but he didn''t complain about it. He felt that it was more fun that he usually has. He never experienced going to the beach and stuff once he set foot in Kerala, but he was able to do it that day. He sure felt like it was bliss. But this thought didn''t last long as it was interrupted by one of the phone calls. "Hello. Ponnappan here. Who''s this?" He asked as he picked the phone up. "I''m from the headquarters. I''d like to speak about something to you." Once he heard the reply from the other side, the castle he built up surely crumbled. # Chapter 167: Call from the headquarters "What is it?" Ponnappan asked. He was really concerned about the timing that they called him. The one time John was with him was the time that they picked to call him. It made him suspicious in a lot of ways. There are no coincidences¡ªat least, not to this level. However, it didn''t surprise him since it''s simple as hell to check upon stuff like this when a person has a mobile phone with him. So, he was pretty sure that the call was actually for John instead. Although he didn''t want John to speak with them since there was a chance of triggering his memories, he was thankful that the headquarters picked the right time, since now he could manipulate them into not talking. "You see, two of our field agents were on an international duty in your jurisdiction and they found something suspicious." The person on the other side of the call spoke. "Wait just a minute! So what you mean to say by that is you sent two of your field agents into my jurisdiction without giving me a briefing about it." Ponnappan spoke and he sounded dead serious about it. "Ah¡ªwell, it was an urgent mission. They didn''t get enough time to brief you about it." The person answered. The initial fumbling was quickly noted by the commanding officer of the MIB: Snehatheeram base. "Still doesn''t make sense. They might have come by plane, right? That means they had all the time to report it to me." Ponnappan replied. "They came there in the MIB 6 model car. So it was too quick of a journey." With each passing second, the person on the other side grew more and more frustrated. "Hmm, even then they would''ve got enough and more to call me up. I mean, there were two, right? I guess they don''t know the reason why we''re paired up in two like we do. If one was driving, the other could''ve called, right?" Ponnappan brought out a valid question. "Well, they were really engrossed in the work that they actually forgot it." The person replied. "I guess you guys in the HQ treasure those two very much since you''re trying your level best to cover for them. Doesn''t matter though. They broke the rules, they gotta suffer the consequences. I''ll be filing a complaint to the tribunal and they will give them their appropriate punishments." Ponnappan spoke. "Please no. Just let it go this one time. We are even willing to give you some compensation!" The person replied hurriedly. Ponnappan stayed silent for a while before replying. "Compensation, huh¡­" He mumbled. "We are willing to give you anything other than some top secret stuff that only the top brass of MIB knows about." The person spoke. "Nah, don''t worry about it. I''m not gonna be an asshole with my compensation." Ponnappan promised. "I see. So what is it that you want?" The person asked. "Well, send us some new alien tech for a while. The researchers are quite bored with the stuff that we have in our hands." Ponnappan spoke with Taro in mind for some reason. "Done. New tech will come by every other week for your researchers to work on." The person promised. "Great! Now what is the main matter about?" Ponnappan asked. "Ah, yea! So two of the agents were on their way back from their mission-" The person was trying to complete his sentence when Ponnappan jumped in to interfere with it. "About the mission¡­ What was it about?" Ponnappan asked. "That¡­ is strictly confidential." The person replied. "Well, they would have had to tell me if they did brief it to me. So, why-" This time around, it was the other person''s chance to do the same to Ponnappan. "It was a grade S mission." He spoke. "Is that so? Then I won''t be asking about the details of the mission. Did they succeed though?" Ponnappan asked. "They successfully completed the task they were asked to do." The person answered. "Hmm, seems like there was a side mission to it as well, but they didn''t complete that one." Ponnappan spoke. "Is that how you deciphered it? Well, it''s your choice to think so." The person replied. Ponnappan could almost visualize the person shrugging at that moment for reasons unknown. "You can continue with what you were saying, by the way." Ponnappan gave the helm of the conversation to the person and took the back seat. "Ah, thanks for that. So, on their way back from the mission, they saw an alien." The person spoke. "... Okay. Any characteristic features?" Ponnappan asked. "It seems like the alien is fast." The person replied. "Wait, did they actually see the alien then?" Ponnappan asked again. "Well, they did once and then it was gone in the next." The person spoke. "You sure it wasn''t a hallucination of sorts?" Ponnappan sighed. "There were traces of its presence in the area around, so yea." The person answered. "Hmm, and now they want me to investigate this alien, huh?" Ponnappan asked. "Precisely." The person replied. "Hmm, if that''s the case, you gotta let me know something about the alien other than the fact that it''s fast." Ponnappan spoke. "We''ll send you the coordinates then. Check your phone." The person spoke. Ponnappan sighed as he looked at the phone. It was exactly as he worried. The place located was #306 and the description about the person was that he was fast. There was just this one person who fit the bill, no matter how much he thought about it. "Damn it, Taro! What did you do now?" He cursed the Wadorian in his mind before getting back to his senses. "I''ll look into it then." Ponnappan replied. "Great! Thanks, guy!" The person sounded genuinely ecstatic as he said that and hung up the phone. "I''ll have to look into what those bastards are up to when I''m not at home now." The commanding officer mumbled as he looked dejected. "What happened?" John, who heard the conversation from Ponnappan''s point of view, asked. Suddenly, Ponnappan felt tense. He didn''t know what to actually say to the person before him since it could trigger his hidden memories. Ponnappan smiled as he weaved a quick lie in his brain. # Chapter 168: A fight between liars The thing about being an MIB agent is that they are great liars. The recruits actually had a class that taught them how to lie like an expert. Not only did they learn to lie expertly, they also learned to decipher said masterful lie. Hence, a showdown between two MIB agents would be one intense affair. Although all learn the same stuff, the way they soak it in is different. And as in any sector, they were people who excel at lying while some sucked. So, it wasn''t enough to just learn it since the other person can always sound genuine to the point that you won''t even doubt him even if you knew that every single word of his is a lie. But the problem with Ponnappan and John is that both are self proclaimed experts at lying. Neither of them have ever been caught lying but they''ve caught plenty. So, both had an in-depth understanding about what a lie is, which made it really difficult for Ponnappan, who had the ball in his court. The only advantage that he had was that John didn''t know the information that he just heard. However, he simply couldn''t trust it. They could''ve just sent it to John as well- was what he thought. So, he was basically treading on a tightrope here. Ponnappan took a deep breath. He thought of mixing up the lie with the truth so that John would take the lie in ease as well. "Well, it''s nothing much. Another alien sighting nearby. It was the HQ calling me to report that." Ponnappan instantly regretted the fact that he used the HQ in this lie when he could''ve simply said that his subordinates were the ones who informed it. "The HQ did? That''s weird. Why would they report it?" John asked the question that Ponnappan thought he would ask. The commanding officer sighed. He lost the initial battle when he gave out the headquarter term. It was the point that could have given him a complete win and yet he fluffed it. However, there was no point dwelling in the last, so he decided to continue on with it just the way he did. "Well, it seems like someone other than you came to this place from the HQ for some reason." Ponnappan replied. "Wait, why though?" John looked confused as he asked. "Maybe some alien caused some sort of a ruckus." Ponnappan shrugged since he didn''t know the exact reason himself. "Alien¡­ ruckus¡­" Suddenly, John started mumbling those words. "What the hell are you doing?" Ponnappan asked. However, there was no reply from the American''s side as he continued mumbling the same thing over and over again. "Alien¡­ ruckus¡­ hall¡­ karate¡­ Oh my goodness! I remember everything-" Before he could properly comprehend all the memories that just flowed in, he was met with a flying kick that headed straight towards him. And out of sheer luck and muscle memory, John was able to dodge the kick in the very last moment. "You! I knew it! You were in it as well!" John literally screamed. "I don''t know what you''re talking about." Ponnappan shrugged as he continued swinging towards John before he could gain stability. "You asshole! Just wait until I get a-" John, who was more focused on trash talking than defending got hit with a punch with relative ease. "Shouldn''t you focus at times like these?" Ponnappan asked as he precisely hit John''s cheek the next two times. "Oww!" John cried. However, he was finally able to attain that sturdy base he was looking for, so he was more confident than ever. "What is happening, sir?" One of the MIB agents who were asked to guard the area came running as he heard the ruckus. "Bring the neuralyzer quick! I''ll hold him till then!" Ponnappan spoke. "Yes, sir!" The agent turned back and ran, but John was a bit quicker than him. "Shit." Ponnappan could only curse as he saw his subordinate getting one shorted by John. "I''m not gonna fall for the neuralyzer trick again. I promise you that!" John laughed maniacally as he walked towards Ponnappan. The commanding officer sighed. "No chance, huh?" He asked as he raised his two fist into a boxer stance and taunted John to attack first. And the American who was itching to get his hands on the ones screwing him around, gladly took up on that offer. John lunged forward and swung his fist towards his face. Initially he meant it as a feint and hoped to get the second hit on Ponnappan''s abdomen instead. However, this is where experience came to play. Ponnappan was aware that it was a bluff. Seeing the guy before him not moving at his taunt, John was put in a predicament of either going with the punch or withdrawing his action entirely. It would''ve been smart to just withdraw and replan in the given situation, but being the greenhorn of this high profile fight, he chose to drive it in his face. But the momentum was pretty shabby, so Ponnappan ate the punch before smirking hard. John realized it. The man before him wasn''t ordinary. He''s hiding certain things and he didn''t like it. But there was literally nothing he could do about it since he was rocked by the direct hit in his balls. "Ha. Fighting after a long time¡­ it still feels pretty good." It was the last thing John heard before closing his eyes. # "You brought the stuff?" Ponnappan asked to his previously unconscious subordinate. "Here it is, sir!" The subordinate handed out the neuralyzer to him. "Hmm. Why does everything make me nostalgic now? I really haven''t flashed someone for a long time now¡­ And I gotta flash it on a person who''s already been flashed once. Ha, it''s really gonna be difficult." Ponnappan sighed. The commanding officer was unaware of the other two times that John was flashed for no good reason. Even doing it twice contained a certain amount of risk, four would''ve been simply unimaginable. If only Ponnappan knew about it¡ªthis would''ve never happened in the first place. # Chapter 169: A sin to bear The next morning. Taro and company momentarily forgot about Scarlet since they were nowhere to be seen. But later on, the lads found Scarlet sleeping in one of the corners. The sight of the alien from the Crimson planet made them realise the huge risk that they just took for no particular reason. "Hey guys!" Scarlet flailed their arms around as they saw the guys approaching. "Hi, Scarlet. How are you doing today?" Thankappan asked. The MIB agent was the one who found himself in the pits of hell. He was stressed out because things could screw up with just a blow. On one hand, he had Lonappan to worry about and on the other hand, there was the returning John to worry about. And on top of that, Ponnappan suddenly called him and said that he was accompanying John to the Holy Land. That was the icing to the cake. "What happened, bruv?" Taro asked Thankappan who was biting his nails and looked extremely tense. "Ha, just thinking about how to manage this shut situation." Thankappan sighed before revealing his predicament. "Hmm, all three would be coming, huh? That''s gonna screw up a lot of things." Taro spoke after hearing the tale. "I know, right? What am I supposed to do now?" Thankappan asked. "Well, isn''t that something you should ask yourself rather than asking me?" Taro asked back. "Technically, yea. Since I''m the caretaker of you lot, I should be the one making decisions as well." Thankappan nodded his head along. "Although, if you were to ask me, I would simply ask you to not create a situation where Scarlet and the other three meet. It isn''t that impossible, right?" Taro asked. "Hmm, not really. Why the hell didn''t I think of it before?" Thankappan wondered. "Well, I guess you were a little too tense to think about it with common sense." Taro answered. "So now you gave me a chance to look like I said some unbelievably intelligent shit." Taro chuckled. "...You did say the right thing at the right time for all that matters." Thankappan replied. "Now. Where shall I hide him?" He wondered yet again. "Them." Taro spoke. "Huh?" "It''s them, remember? Scarlet is androgynous." Taro corrected him. "Ah, man¡­ I live on a planet with two genders and multiple sexual orientations. And yet I find it difficult to just accept androgyny. Don''t ask why. Even I don''t know the exact reason." Thankappan sighed. "Maybe it''s because that is an unknown region for you humans. By the way, the crimson planet residents are fine with calling them a male or female though. Although, you gotta ask which pronoun they use." Taro replied. "You are well versed in a lot of cultures, aren''t you?" Thankappan asked as he looked at Taro in awe. "Well, if you travelled around the galaxy the way I did, you''ll learn a thing or two about each planet." Taro shrugged. "Ha, flexing your galactic adventure experience, aren''t you? Where did that end you up? This Earth, right? I know this planet better than you, so suck it!" Thankappan laughed like a maniac. "...Weird. Isn''t it natural for one to know about their home planet? Why are you speaking as if that''s a great deal?" Taro asked, well knowing that his words can create a potential fight between them. "What are you guys talking about?" Scarlet, who literally came out of nowhere, asked. "My goodness! Don''t just pop up like that! You just gave me a scare with it." Thankappan spoke. "Is that so? I''ll be careful with it the next time." Scarlet promised with a bright smile on his face. "And, what were you talking about?" He asked. "You''re awfully curious about what we talked, aren''t you? Trying to find another leverage in our conversation?" Thankappan asked, giving out a suspicious look at Scarlet. Although he allowed Scarlet''s hopefully brief stay in the Holy Land due to certain reasons. But that doesn''t mean that he has a single shred of belief towards Scarlet. All that he sees is an opportunist who takes advantage of anyone and everyone. "Not really! I just wanted to hear what you were saying, so that I get to participate in it as well without getting confused about what we''re taking about." Scarlet spoke in a disappointed voice. "Ah, screw that stuff. By the way, I wanna ask you, are you fine with being called a male or female and not androgynous?" Taro asked, trying to ease up the tense atmosphere. Scarlet thought for a while. "Hmm, I guess I''ll be comfortable if you treat me as a man since it would help me blend into here as well." Scarlet replied. "Is that so? That makes it simple." Taro smiled as he replied. "Shit!" Thankappan mumbled as he looked out the window of the room. "What happened?" Taro asked. "They''re here and together!" Thankappan replied as he pointed to the three black suited men at the entrace. # "It''s not like you didn''t knew about it before. So¡­" Taro shrugged. "Yea, but what are we gonna do about this guy?" Taro asked as he pointed towards Scarlet. "Five minutes. I can hold them off for five minutes. Do whatever the shit you want to and make sure that he stays out of the room when five minutes come by. "Cool. Give me a signal then. I''ll wait for that." Taro replied. "I see. Hide for now in the bathroom or something. We''ll deal with everything else later." Thankappan spoke as he forcefully dragged the two of them into the bathroom. And in that exact time, the doorbell rung. Taro took a deep breath before heading to the door to welcome his seniors. "It seems like you were a bit late in opening the door. What''s up with your broken punctuality?" Ponnappan asked as if he waltzed into the room. "I was in the bathroom for a bit. So yea." Thankappan blatantly lied, hoping that they wouldn''t check into the bathroom since he already arrived from there. "Is that so?" Ponnappan mumbled as he continued looking around. "Where the hell is Taro?" He asked. "He went to school already!" Thankappan replied. "You idiot! You''re supposed to keep an eye¡­ Nothing. I said nothing." The commanding officer was about to reprimand Taro, but he thought against doing so, since John was nearby and literally everything related to Taro and alien mannerisms are taboo near him. "I''m sorry, sir! This one was an honest mistake." Thankappan bowed his head and apologized. "Nah, nah. It''s as you said¡­ An honest mistake." Ponnappan did a whole 360 on his behavior. "By the way, Lonappan and Thankappan, I wanna talk about something with you. John, you can go talk with your roommates then." He said as he headed out of the room. While this happened, the aliens dragged John far away from the bathroom, so it was an easy path to the outside if Taro was willing to jump from the first floor. So, Thankappan gave them the sign upon which Taro proceeded to escape the room. Seeing Taro actually managing to escape, Thankappan breathed in a sigh of relief and headed out to where Ponnappan was waiting for him. "You know, usually I would be reprimanding you for letting Taro go like that, but there are important things to worry about right now, so I''m gonna focus on it." Ponnappan spoke. "What is it, sir?" Thankappan asked. "The thing is that due to some unforseen circumstances, I had to flash the neutralyzer on John." Ponnappan replied. "What?" Thankappan and Lonappan simultaneously gasped. This was the fourth time that John got flashed¡ªnot that Ponnappan knew anything about it. The first one to recover was Lonappan. "So, did something happen? Did it work? Did he act in some weird manner?" He barged in with the questions. He was naturally worried since he was the culprit of one of the unapproved flashed to John. Although, it is said to be fine to use in emergencies, Lonappan was a bit conflicted as to calling his situation an emergency. "Slow down now, will ya? It''s just the second time. Didn''t really cause much damage in him or showed any other side effects." Ponnappan replied. "Even then, we gotta be careful with this stuff, right?" Thankappan spoke. He wasn''t worried since just like Lonappan, he was part of one of the four flashes as well. "Says the guy who bunked his responsibility just a few moments earlier. "That''s just-" Thankappan tried defending himself, but didn''t felt like it after he thought of it. "Anyhow, I just told you what I wanted to tell. It kinda pricked my conscience to not talk to you two about it since you are the ones around John. But now that I talked to you two about it, I felt like a burden''s off my chest." Ponnappan sighed as he said that. It was a sigh of relief. However, that wasn''t the case of the other two. A sense of guilt rose in their chests as they heard Ponnappan speak. However, neither of them talked about it. It was a sin that they had to bear. # Chapter 170: A buzzing After that heartfelt talk from Ponnappan, he along with Lonappan left the premises since they had stuff to attend to. Once they left, Thankappan leaned against a wall and took a deep breath. All this time, he had been feeling stuffed. The pressure and the guilt he felt all this time was pretty immense. And that took a heavy toll on him at that exact moment. "Did they leave?" A whisper was heard from his side, which made him startled. "Fuck! Why the hell are you here?" He looked at the person and asked. "Well, it''s my home, so¡­" Taro shrugged. "I''m not talking about that. You were supposed to be with Scarlet, damn it! Why would you leave¡ªwait a minute! Where did you even leave him?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, don''t worry about that." Taro got close to whisper. "I locked him inone of the classrooms. No one''s gonna open it. Not on my watch!"He spoke. "But you''re not there though. So, you basically left him vulnerable." Thankappan spoke. "Ah, don''t worry about that. He''s a Crimson Planet resident. He''ll disappear from people''s line of sight before they can even catch a glimpse of him." Taro assured. "That''s exactly what I''m afraid of. He''ll disappear the hell out of everyone''s line of sight including us. Then we''re screwed." Thankappan sighed. "I didn''t think of that. I apologise." Taro spoke with remorse filled in his voice. "Don''t. I shouldn''t have just given the helms to you without giving out a proper plan." Thankappan spoke. Taro looked dejected as the MIB agent uttered those words. It was as if Thankappan expected him to screw up but had no choice other than giving him the reins at that moment. This kinda shattered his confidence. It wasn''t the physical self but the mental one that got attacked at that moment. "Should I just bring him back then?" Taro asked. "Are you an idiot or what? Suggesting bringing in the most wanted person at this moment to a place under MIB watch is kinda something that seems idiotic in the first glance but it''s kinda a genius move the more I think about it." Thankappan''s expression changed from disgust to curiosity to full on agreement throughout the course of the conversation. Initially Taro was dejected at seeing the disgusted face, but as time went on and he was able to see a happy Thankappan, the dejection and worries left the premises. "So are we gonna bring him right now or?" Taro was excited since his plan just got approved. "Not now. Let''s just check whether he''s still in the room that you locked him in." Thankappan spoke with a tad bit of worry in his face. "So what happens after we find him there?" Taro asked. "Well, that''s a conversation to conduct after we actually find him there. So, shall we head to the school?" Thankappan asked. "Sure." Taro nodded along. Thankappan looked back at the others. "Just head to the school at your leisure. Myself and Taro have something to do, so we''ll be heading off early to school. Ciao!" He spoke as he dashed towards the school. # Outside their room, Taro and Thankappan were busy wearing their sandals when Shivani popped up at the same time. "So, is this coincidence or-" Shivani was stopped right on time by Thankappan. "No kidding. This was an actual coincidence. And we gotta hurry a bit today. So, see you later in class." Taro waved his hand and increased his lace by a bit. "Hmm. It really does seem like they''re busy today, huh?" Shivani mumbled as she walked towards the school as well. # "This is it." Taro and Thankappan stood before a door which looked almost as dignified as the principal''s office. "Open the door." Thankappan requested as Taro seemed a bit hesitant. However, Taro wasn''t mentally prepared to open up the door, so Thankappan took it upon himself to do that, as he grabbed the keys from Taro''s hand. "Nevermind. I can do that." Thankappan spoke as he grabbed the keys, before taking a quick breath as he opened the door. Initially, they were prepared to check upon even the tiniest shadow that passes them to the outside. However, once the dust settled, they realised that they won''t be needing it since Scarlet sat right in the middle of the room. "Hey, guys! Finally! Been waiting for you for a long time. How come you two are the only ones? Screw that! At least the two of you were able to swing by with your hectic schedule and stuff! That in itself is amazing. So, by the way, what did they tell?" Scarlet asked. "Nothing much. Just the usual things." Thankappan replied. "So, are we gonna go now?" Scarlet asked as looked around "I guess, yea. We gotta transfer you back to the Holy Land, so definitely yes." Thankappan replied. # A few minutes later, Taro and Thankappan were before the door of the Holy Land. Scarlet was with them as well, but he wasn''t that visible to the normal eye. "What are you guys doing?" A voice was heard from behind. It was John. One of the few people they wanted to avoid while smuggling the Crimson Planet resident. "Contemplating whether to open it or not." Thankappan replied. "I see. If you aren''t gonna head inside, let me go then." John spoke. "Oh, sure. By all means." Thankappan gave out a faint smile as John passed by him. "By the way, something seems to be buzzing. I guess it''s a mosquito or something. Just kill it, will ya?" John requested as he walked away. "He found me. Even he himself doesn''t know that yet, but somehow he did." Scarlet spoke. "Hmm, this is gonna be a problem." Thankappan muttered. "But it can still work out pretty fine!" He decided to be a bit optimistic about it. "I''m unable to think of it like that." Taro replied. Maybe it was because it was his idea, but John noticing sure made him a bit uneasy. "Let''s head to the one defined bedroom and hide him there." Thankappan spoke to which Taro nodded along. It wasn''t that difficult to hide Scarlet who erases his traces each second. Therefore, even with the presence of an experienced field agent, they were a bit relieved as they left him for school. # "So, how was the day?" Thankappan asked Scarlet that evening. "I found it pretty fun. After all, I had someone to play with." Scarlet smirked. "Hmm, we never asked anyone to-¡ªfucking hell! Are you talking about John?" He asked. "Exactly." Scarlet nodded his head. "How the hell did that happen?" Thankappan asked. "Well, after you left me in this room, that John guy came by saying that he''s sensing the presence of a mosquito here and started swatting around for hours straight." Scarlet recalled the events. "And? Did he catch you?" Thankappan asked. "Dude! Isn''t that a null and void question? I mean, you saw him out, right? He''s freaking tired as hell, ain''t he? There''s no chance in hell that he''s gonna find me. I ain''t kidding about that." Scarlet seemed extremely proud as he said that. "I''ll believe you then, since he looked gassed after all." Thankappan replied. "And it''s great to see you have fun in crunch situations like these." He spoke. "Oh please! I''ve seen worse. Things at this level are just child''s play." Scarlet replied. "And yet you screwed up with the escape attempt." Thankappan sighed as he thought about how better the situation would''ve been if he actually managed to escape. Surely, the balance would crumble and things would''ve been a pandemonium, but it would''ve been exciting nonetheless. "I didn''t screw up. It wouldn''t have been this way if Taro was with me." Scarlet spoke with certainty. "What do you mean?" Thankappan asked, confused about Scarlet''s weird confidence about it. "I was able to get in, steal the ship and get out without people knowing about it. But the thing is that they tuned it in a way that the ship would only fly horizontally once it reaches a certain elevation. Once I came to learn about that, I decided to push through here, hoping that Taro would be able to do something about it. But you know what happened. Anyway, if Taro was with me that day, he could''ve done it then and I would''ve escaped." Scarlet explained. "Dang, the slightest of variabilities screwed up things for you, huh?" Taro asked. "Yes. It did." Scarlet spoke in a serious tone. "I sure do hope next time would be a success." Taro smiled. "Which means that I''ll want you coming with me to space." Scarlet replied. "Unfortunately, that won''t be possible anytime soon since we''re waiting for a certain event. Once that''s done, we''re swell to move to space!" Taro spoke in a cheerful tone. "I''ll wait then." Scarlet spoke. "Wait, weren''t you hurrying the last time? Why are you slowing things down now?" Taro asked. "The crash¡­ I feel like it''s my mother''s message to slow down for a bit. And if she''s asking me to do that, I should abide with it, right?" Scarlet smiled as he glanced at the night sky through the window. It really seemed beautiful. # Chapter 171: The article "Ha, I see. Maybe it really is a sign." Taro spoke. "What do you think?" Scarlet asked. "About what?" Taro asked back. "About my mother''s body. Do you think I''ll be able to see my mom''s dead body in one piece if I went back right now?" Scarlet questioned. "You want me to tell you my honest opinion about it?" Taro asked, with a serious look on his face. "Yea, sure. That would be better. I''ll be able to make a good decision then." Scarlet spoke. Taro sighed. "I don''t think you could make a good decision or something like that with what I say right now, since it seems like you realized what we realized a few days ago. My thoughts haven''t changed one bit from back then. You are a traitor to your country¡ªat least, they might have painted you that way after your mysterious disappearance. So-" Before Taro could continue on with his explanation, Scarlet jumped back into the conversation. "What makes you think that?" He asked. "Ah, man. It feels like we''re going down the same rabbit hole for the second time. It doesn''t seem like you''re gonna believe any of our words. That means there''s just one other way to do it." Taro grunted as he tossed his translator towards the Crimson planeter. "This-" Scarlet stared at the translator. "I made it. You might''ve seen me make it in Ajish''s shop, right?" Taro asked. "Hmm, even when I saw it then, I never thought that it was this advanced. Amazing!" Taro stared at the translator in awe. "You guys seem to underestimate me at times." Taro shrugged. "So, why did you give this to me?" Scarlet asked. "Ha, do I have to tell that to you as well? There''s Womble in the translator. Search up your planet''s recent affairs on it." Taro replied. "Wait, a minute. Does that mean-" Scarlet looked as if he was so close on tearing up. He knew that if Taro asked him to check on Womble, something serious happened. "Just¡­" Taro tried saying something, but words barely came out of his mouth. So, he walked away and Thankappan followed. "Are you sure you want him to read that?" Thankappan asked. "I don''t know. I felt like he should. I mean, it''s something that involves him, right? So, he should know." Taro replied. "He has the right to get pissed off about it, swear vengeance against the people who did and all that stuff. Who are we to stop him?" Taro asked back. "You''re right. But don''t give your translator like that to everyone. It''s a really special existence on the planet. If other aliens come to know about it, things would get really difficult." Thankappan spoke. "Don''t you think they already know about it? Since Ajish is selling it." Taro asked. "Hmm, they do know about the existence of the improved translator, but they don''t know who made that stuff. What do you think will happen if they came to know about that as well?" Thankappan asked. "My workload will increase? But I like that though." Taro shrugged. "Ha, you masochist! Anyway, it''s not gonna be just that. They''re gonna find you and come here and cause a ruckus and stuff." Thankappan desperately tried to make Taro understand about the dangers of it, but Taro really didn''t seem to care for that. Instead, his eyes were sparkling. "The aliens are gonna cause a ruckus? Wow! That''s amazing! They can do that if they have the balls to do so. And even if they do, I promise you that they won''t come back for a second week since by that point I''ll make sure that they won''t be able to walk with their two legs." Taro smirked. "This guy! I momentarily forgot who I was dealing with. Apologies. That was a mistake from my path." Thankappan sighed. While they continued bickering with each other about totally random things, they heard a cry coming from the corner. They found Scarlet trying his hardest not to cry, but ultimately failing to do so. He was clutching his chest as he cried and seemed to be in a lot of pain. Thankappan felt bad and tried approaching Scarlet, but Taro stopped him from doing so. "Why are you stopping me? The person seems to be in a lot of pain. Shouldn''t I at least console him in some way?" Thankappan asked. "No." Taro gave out a blunt answer. "Why?" Thankappan asked yet again. "At times like this, people need a supportive person to lean on. I can be-" He was about to talk about how supportive he can be, but Taro stopped him from doing so. "Dude, this is something Scarlet should deal with by himself. I know it might seem ruthless to you or something, but trust me, it''s a lot better this way." Taro replied, reminiscing about the time he had a similar experience as well. "And with that support pillar statement. What can we even do, huh? We''re two people who don''t know jack shit about how he lived his life and all that stuff. So, even if we are gonna offer some words, those would be empty ones. And trust me when I say this, hollow words hurt more than none at all. So, rather than offering those words which hold no meaning, we''ll wait for him to get better after all this and help him on his way. We''ll offer him support in a way that only we can do. We''ll support him as a friend." Taro spoke, to which Thankappan slightly nodded his head. The two of them glanced at the emotionally hurt Scarlet one last time before distancing away from him. # The article that Taro and Thankappan saw in Womble was brutal with their words against Scarlet. It was the media site managed exclusively by the Crimson planet''s government. So, any words spoken in the site meant that the government spoke them; more importantly, it was the words of Carmen who had the government by a leash. The said article called him a thief and a coward who earned the reputation by underhanded tactics, which Taro found quite funny, since underhanded tactics the only thing that the Crimson Planet residents knew of. So, for the government to single Scarlet out like that seemed quite idiotic. The rest of the article spoke about all the evil deeds that Scarlet did. They even apologized to the other planets for having such a shameless thief arise from their planet. They took this opportunity to put Scarlet''s name before all the heinous deeds that they did and asked the other planets to band together with them to catch him. The comment section of the article was unanimously against the Crimson Planet''s government, since literally everyone knew that the entire planet is responsible for the crimes. If their claims were true, Scarlet would have to be one of the legendary robbers in history. Anyhow, it wasn''t just the unrealistic crime rate that the government talked about that shunned people away from this article. The mention of Scarlet''s dead mother and how they basically threw her body into the space was a hot topic of discussion. The level of disrespect that the lady didn''t deserve¡ªthat was the general sentiment. No one found it as an ethical punishment. So, rather than gaining support for their grand conquest, all they received was backlash. The article failed spectacularly. "Damn, that was truly shit behavior by the Crimson Planet''s government." Gibli, who heard the tale from Taro and Thankappan, spoke. "Yea, some planets would have sided with them had they not mentioned doing such a thing. However, they did say that and now everyone looks at them as monsters." Taro explained. "And look at this now! They just apologized for making such an insensitive remark and are trying to rectify their mistakes by going on an active search for his mom''s dead body." He spoke. "Isn''t that great? I know that unwinding their own mistake isn''t a massive deal, but Scarlet can see his mom for one last time now, right?" Gibli sounded hopeful as he asked that. "That would be a hard no. If those pricks just said that they are gonna find my mom''s body, it''s gonna take at least twenty years. And even then I don''t believe they can do that." Scarlet, who just entered the room, spoke. "Space is vast. I have to accept the fact that I can''t see my mom anymore. It''s simply not possible." He sighed. "Scarlet! Are you sure about that?" Gibli asked. "Yea." Scarlet gave out a stern reply. "Then what about your Crimson Planet travel? Is that on a halt as well?" Taro asked. "Nah, I''ll escape this planet and head there when chance arises. Even without her body, I would like to pay respects to my mom. Also, I gotta get my revenge as well. I mean, after all that they have done to me, it''s not right if I give nothing back to them, right?" Scarlet asked as rage clearly projected on his face. He was determined for once. # Chapter 172: Invisibility A determined Scarlet was fine and all, but that didn''t mean that he no longer had to hide. Every time he came any closer than six feet to John, he quickly hid his presence, an innate skill that he perfected after robbing multiple big name places. It''s basically a skill that''s untraceable. Like, many people tried to locate him but always failed to do so. The skill was nothing Earth shattering. Neither wasn''t a superpower like the ones Wadorians had. It was more like a characteristic feature of the Crimson planet residents. They usually had one of the three skills¡ªnimble hands, fast footwork, and invisibility. If it feels like the third skill is far more overpowered that breaks the balance between the three powers, that''s exactly the case. The invisibility skill is a rare one in the Crimson planet''s history. Only one out of a million received this power. Even though it might seem like a moderate number of people received the power once you calculate it out, there''s always the matter of talent. Some might receive invisibility but not know how to use it, while others might be pretty much adept in using such a skill had they received it in the first place. Scarlet was a rare case, though. He was in that elite hundred or thousand people who mastered the invisibility skill. However, only few people knew about it since neither he nor his mom were open about his powers. Hence, no one was aware of the fact that the youngest one to master the invisibility skill wasn''t some random twenty-year-old, but Scarlet at the age of ten. This proficiency is the reason why Scarlet was scouted in the first place. Even though Scarlet''s mom tried hiding the skill, nothing went past Carmen. Anyhow, the same skill that he used to plunder various places was now used totally differently. In both the cases, he was supremely confident that no one''s gonna find him out when he was invisible. Unlike other people who blatantly exploit the skill for what it was, Scarlet was different. Along with polishing the skill in itself, he also polished himself. He repeatedly trained holding his breath and walking nimble footed until he finally blended in as one with the environment. ... Or so he thought until recently; until he went toe to toe with the man named John. Scarlet often got weirded out whenever he was close to John. It was as if he could sense Scarlet''s presence even when he was perfectly hidden. Like, he would often scoff about how it stinks whenever he was somewhere around Scarlet. The Crimsoner thought it was a weird coincidence and tailed John to see if he does that anywhere else as well. However, never did he do that again, up until that one moment when Scarlet got a little too close to John, when he uttered the same words yet again. It was as if he had a smell sensor set for Scarlet. However, the thing he didn''t understand was why John found his smell disgusting. Anyhow, it simply wasn''t just the smell sometimes. There was a time when John straight up stared into Scarlet''s eyes and looked into his soul. It was as if John knew he was there at that moment. He really wanted to suspect John for his actions. But the thing is, even when John does all of these things, at the very next moment he would be as if he did none of that in the first place, which made Scarlet think it wasn''t intentional to begin with. It was more of an innate animal instinct that made him realize his presence. And this made him Scarlet''s natural enemy. # "What happened?" Thankappan asked as he saw Scarlet deeply thinking one fine evening.. "Is this how you feel when you finally get a worthy opponent?" Scarlet mumbled. "What happened? What the hell are you talking about?" Thankappan looked kinda concerned by Scarlet''s words. It somehow sounded a bit ominous. "John¡­ He can sense me." Scarlet replied. "What?" Thankappan literally screamed for the entire town to hear his beaming voice. "Shit! My ears! Calm down for a moment, will ya?" Scarlet sounded annoyed as he said that. "How can I even do that? It''s my right to freak out when I hear shit like this! I mean, if he can sense you, doesn''t that mean this is the end?" Thankappan sounded concerned, before barely bringing back his sanity. "By the way, since when did he start noticing you?" He asked. "Hmm, I guess from the beginning." Scarlet replied after thinking about it for quite some time. "WHAT THE HELL?" This time around, Thankappan screamed louder than before, roping in some annoyed neighbors. "Stop, stop. I feel like you just had some kinda misconception, now that I think about it." Scarlet spoke, trying to salvage the situation. "What misconception, huh? You just said John can sense you and you didn''t report it to me, even after all this time. Had you talked to me about this even a bit earlier, we could''ve done something about it. However, it''s a distant and distinct memory at this point. I can''t wipe that out without going into some extremities. Anyhow, if he knew about it, then that means he''d be calling for the HQ right now¡ªhell, he might''ve called for it long before. Shit! This sucks! What are we even supposed to do right now?" Thankappan hyperventilated and breathed into a paper bag that Scarlet brought for him. The Crimsoner waited for quite a few minutes for the fiasco to end. "Are you done now? Calm enough to listen to what I have to say?" He asked. Thankappan took a deep breath before throwing away the said paper bag. "What is it?" The MIB agent asked. "Okay. What I said right now, it might not be true after all." Scarlet replied. "What?" Thankappan meant to scream this out as well, but after the hyperventilation event, he didn''t find the strength to do so. "Look, he IS noticing me, but he''s not." Scarlet spoke while scratching his head, not knowing how to explain what he meant. "Okay, that did nothing to help. And if you''re trying to riddle me with it, please stop. I do bad with riddles." Thankappan requested. "Wait, it wasn''t a riddle or something. I simply didn''t know how to explain the shit to you¡­ Give me a minute." Scarlet requested back to which Thankappan nodded his head. After that, Scarlet thought of ways to explain what he meant before finally finding the right words¡ªor at least, the words he thought were appropriate in this scenario. "Here''s the thing. John noticed my presence every time I got close to him, but he never found me. He can''t see me, so he''ll never catch me for sure. But this animal instinct that the guy possesses is honestly terrifying." Scarlet replied. "Is that so?" Thankappan was relieved just a tiny bit. After all, John sensing Scarlet even with his instincts is still a dangerous situation. "Yup, that''s it. You don''t have to freak out now." Scarlet spoke. "Yea, no. That''s still worrying. But wait a minute! Just a few minutes ago, it seemed like you were enjoying this shit." Thankappan looked suspiciously at Scarlet as he spoke. "What do you mean?" Scarlet, who forgot about what he said previously after the freakout that Thankappan just had, asked. "Well, you asked if this is how it feels to have a rival or something along those lines." The MIB agent replied. "Did I really say that?" Scarlet asked. "Yup, you did. Your inner thoughts leaked out back then, huh?" Thankappan asked. Scarlet chuckled. "I guess you could say that." He spoke. Thankappan sighed. "Listen, I''m fine with whatever you do, but don''t deliberately expose yourself to John for the thrill, because the dude''s strong. Really strong. I guess he got the brawn more than the brains. So, if you pulled out some crazy shit before him, you''re gonna get punished and you''re gonna get punished like crazy." Thankappan warned. "Is he that dangerous?" Scarlet asked with disbelief in his eyes. "Oh, my goodness. He''s a straight up brawler! Do you even know how long it took for us to stop him?" Thankappan asked. "How long?" Scarlet asked back. "Well, it didn''t take much now that I think about it, but that was basically Taro putting a stop to him back then. If it wasn''t for him, we would''ve suffered badly." Thankappan spoke the truth. "It''s like that, huh? Anyhow, I wasn''t planning to mess with him anyway, since anyone who sees through my facade even by sheer luck is supposed to be strong. I mean¡­ I''ll show you." Scarlet got up and turned himself invisible and ran towards Taro, who just arrived with his fists clenched, fully meaning to hit him. Although Thankappan couldn''t see where Scarlet was, he knew the intention behind his run. After a few seconds, he heard a loud thud on the ground after Taro punched the thin air. It revealed that it was Scarlet gasping for breath. Scarlet knew Taro was strong but didn''t expect him to beat him down on one strike when he rushed towards him. It seemed like there was still a lot for Scarlet to go for perfect invisibility. # Chapter 173: Scarlets training "What the hell did I just watch?" Thankappan questioned himself as he saw Scarlet wailing in the ground. "I don''t know either man!" Taro shrugged as he checked upon Scarlet. "Dude, are you okay?" He asked. "Yea, yea. I''m fine! Don''t worry about me!" Scarlet assured him and tried getting up, only to collapse back to the ground the very next second. Seeing this sad state of his, Taro decided to pick him up and placed him on a seat. "There you go." Taro sighed as he did that. "You didn''t have to-" Scarlet tried to be modest about it, but Taro wasn''t having none. "Who are you kidding? That was a clean hit. It surely hurts, right?" The Wadorian asked, "Not really. Hell, the hit wasn''t that perfect one. So, it really didn''t-" Scarlet tried the same shtick yet again, but this time around, it was Thankappan who countered it. "Just don''t. I know that you are having a hard time to accept that your invisibility doesn''t account to shit before Taro. But that''s part of growing up, right? I mean, you''re not really worried about John noticing now, are you?" He asked. Scarlet thought for quite some time before replying. "Hmm, you make good points. I really can''t consider John as a MASSIVE threat like I perceived before. He''s still a threat, but it does feel like I can overcome him in due time." He spoke out his mind. "See? This defeat brought out the motivation in you. That''s pretty good, right?" Thankappan asked again. "I guess? I''m not sure." Scarlet shrugged. "Don''t worry. You''ll get it in due time." Thankappan spoke, patting the Crimsoner''s shoulder. "I sure do hope so." Scarlet sighed. After "consoling" Scarlet for some time, Thankappan left the premises since he felt like loitering for some time. So, Taro occupied the seat that the MIB agent previously sat and glanced at him. "Are you alright?" Taro asked Scarlet, who obviously didn''t look fine at all. "Yea, I''m swell!" Scarlet replied, when he obviously wasn''t anywhere near swell. "Dude, I''m not blind, you know? I can see your state right now. I apologize. I didn''t expect the surprise attack, so I became way more vigilant than and this is the stuff that happened due to that." Taro sighed. "Taro, I''m not blind either. You got power and an absurd amount of it. So, to think that you''re apologizing to me even after controlling yourself is simply amazing." Scarlet spoke in awe. "Well-" Taro was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the noises of the footsteps. He didn''t know who these footsteps belonged to, but it really didn''t matter much. So, instead of standing his ground, he quickly got hold of Scarlet and got him to a safe distance and returned back to his original position. And this action was beneficial since the one behind the footsteps were neither Thankappan or the other aliens. Instead, it was John who came, so it seemed as if his intuitions were right after all. "What are you doing here?"John asked. "Why? Can''t I stand here?" Taro asked back. "Nah, I didn''t mean it like that! What I mean is that it''s pretty freaking chilly today!"John spoke. "It sure is." Taro nodded his head along to that. "So.... Why the hell are you standing out like this when it''s this chilly?" John asked. "I don''t know! I felt like it, I guess?" Taro shrugged as he spoke. "Is that so? I don''t know why, but I felt like you were having a conversation with someone." John spoke. "What made you think that?" Taro asked. "I heard some kinda voice from here. It was muttering something that wasn''t clearly audible. So, yea. That''s how I came up with the conclusion." John replied. "You really got a good sense of hearing, for real!" Taro was astonished by this skill. "Was I right, then?" He asked. "Yes and no, if you ask me." The Wadorian replied. "What do you mean?" John tilted his head in visible confusion as he heard that. "I mean, you were right about the talking part, but I wasn''t talking to anyone in particular. Rather, I was talking to myself at that time." Taro gave out a gentle smile.as he said that. "Really? I guess that would match it as well." John shrugged as he walked back to his room. "Ha, today''s been a long day, hasn''t it? I guess I should take a little nap. But before that-" Taro ran back and retried Scarlet out from the safe zone and placed him on the extra bed that they bought for him. "Are you fine with this?" Taro asked. "Yea! Just not sure that I''ll be even able to get up tomorrow." Scarlet replied. "Don''t worry about that. John''s not gonna come to this place. And even if he did, you can just turn invisible for a quick second." Taro suggested. "Let''s see what I''ll be able to do when such a time comes around." Scarlet sighed. "Meh, don''t worry. You''ll do fine." Taro assured him before heading to sleep. # Scarlet; he didn''t have a last name, but this barely mattered in the Crimson Planet, since no one had the surname thing in the Crimson Planet. Anyhow during his time around the universes, he always thought that his skill was one of the superior skills. So, when people lined up to fight him, he never declined a single one-on-one match. And to no one''s surprise, they always lost against Scarlet. So, he was basically a celebrity in the underground, where he had an undefeated streak at a very young age. Anyhow, this fame and people seriously overratinghis skills as if it''s something Godly sure did fly by his head back then to the point that he became a bit haughty since there were none who could have a compelling fight with him. If only the Scarlet from the past knew about the quick defeat he conceded, his pride wouldn''t have been this high. So, this particular defeat, it took a toll on both physical and mental levels. However, Scarlet wasn''t gonna give up anytime soon. Before all the haughtiness and stuff came by, Scarlet was a normal person who had to work his ass off to get to where he was. So, hard work was not a problem for him. However, the problem was to pick a place to train. Initially he thought of continuing what he did earlier and wanted to work around John. However, he knew his body better than anyone and he was well aware that he won''t be able to go toe-to-toe with a guy like John in his condition. Although that was the case, he was pulling for a quick recovery so that he can go against John once again and eventually surpass him. So, the initial pick was simple. He went for Gibli¡ªthe one with least awareness of the surroundings. The Arkian was perfect in this situation, in Scarlet''s mind. And his mind was on point with that. He trained his heart out without making Gibli notice him even once. And hence, Scarlet changed the training personnel from the Arkian to the plankton. The plankton could actually sense him at times, which either meant that he was lacking or that it was a random coincidence. Scarlet thought of it as the former and trained his heart out until Kunjan was no longer able to sense him. Even then, there was one person who intently stared at him as he did all those stuff¡ªTaro. He constantly stared darts at Scarlet to the point that he continued doing so even after he left the next training circle. He wasn''t confident with John just yet, so he decided that going out was the better idea. When he was about to do that, the man staring at him told about it to the concerned personnel, that is, Thankappan, who started following him with the help of Taro. The MIB agent was worried that Scarlet might escape their confinement, but the Crimsoner simply didn''t have such plans since he wasn''t nowhere near the strength to actually pull off something like that. Anyhow, with the crowd training, Scarlet was able to retain much of the nimble skills that he lost and he felt like he was one step closer to actually attaining his previous strength. And hence, he finally trained his body with long distance running without removing the invisibility for an extra challenge. Initially, it felt like hell, but eventually it got better. Scarlet felt as if he returned to the past with all this hard work. It was as if he just regained something of his that went missing a long time ago. So, after the conditioning of his body, he felt it. He regained his previous strengths and was ready to train around John. He was hesitant about doing it soon after recovery, but he felt like there was no other way if he had to get better at it. Thus he headed to John with a strong resolution. # Chapter 174: Crimson Robber The said resolve didn''t last that long though, since Scarlet started having doubts just like before when he got near John. So he thought that it would be better if he doesn''t approach John for the time being. "Ha¡­" Scarlet sighed as he slumped into a chair outside. With John inside, he couldn''t be comfortable there. Thus he was always outside to the point that it became a habit. "What happened? You look a bit down today." Taro, who happened to see Scarlet''s slouched appearance came by to check on him. "Am I actually useless?" The Crimsoner asked. "Is this about that punch I gave you?" Taro asked. Had he known that his one punch would end up demotivating Scarlet entirely, he wouldn''t have done it. However, on the other hand, he only did it since he sensed massive bloodlust. So the only person to blame was himself¡ªwas what Taro thought, before he remembered that he was actually there to cheer him up. "The punch¡­ And several other things. I mean, the punch was a reality check for me. But, nothing seems to have worked out ever since then. I simply don''t know why. Is that because I''m useless?" Scarlet asked. It looked as if Scarlet wanted to hear Taro say that he was useless for his own self satisfaction. However, Taro wasn''t willing to give such a cheap satisfaction. "That''s what you would like to hear, right?" Taro asked. "Huh?" Scarlet looked as if he didn''t understand what Taro meant. "You want me to say that you''re useless so that you could just give up. Take the easy way. But I''m not gonna do that. You wanna know why? Because that would be me disrespecting the efforts you made. The hard work you put in. The status you attained, albeit being one of notoriety." Taro replied with a determined look on his face. Scarlet stayed silent. Somewhere in his mind, he wanted Taro to actually call him useless. And this hurt him on a whole new level. All this time in his life, he was able to get ahead by struggling and now he simply wasn''t willing to put that in¡ªthat something extra that could help him surpass his barrier. This pissed him off. "Hmm. I guess you''re right. The current me would''ve been smacked around by the past me if he saw me now." Scarlet replied. "Ha, by the way, if you were useless, you wouldn''t have been known by all those people as the Crimson robber. So, chin up, dude! You still got a lot to give to this side of the spectrum." Taro spoke as he chuckled. Upon hearing this, Scarlet sprung up from where he sat, looking all energetic and enthusiastic. "I gotta go now. Thanks for all the advice!" "What are you gonna do now?" Taro asked. "Well, I''mma do something that I''ve been putting off for quite a while now!" Scarlet replied as he ran to the inside. # John was having a quiet few days¡ªwell, not in the ordinary standards, but certainly in John standards. Till a few days ago, he heard a constant buzz that annoyed the heck out of him. He never knew where that sound came from, but he certainly wished to obliterate it once he got his hands on whatever it was. Anyhow, as all those sinister thoughts brewed up, the voices stopped entirely all of a sudden, as if there was no voice to begin with. The days of peace and prosperity came back to John''s life. "Yo, John! Ready to go?" Lonappan asked as he stood by the door. "Yea, just wait a minute." John replied before staring at a mirror beside him. He slapped himself into reality and turned back to Lonappan. "I''m ready now! Let''s move." John spoke as he took the lead, while Lonappan stared at him from the back as if he saw something extremely weird. "You look awfully happy all of a sudden." Lonappan indirectly referenced the incident that occured before him. "I don''t know¡­ I guess it''s been a really good day today." John shrugged. "Is that so? Good for you! I hope your productivity increases by a tenfold with this good feeling then." Lonappan chuckled. "If that''s what you want me to do with all thisenergy of mine, so be it." John scoffed. "Well, what else would spend your energy on other than that?" Lonappan asked. "... Why can''t I think of anything?" John scratched his head, but no thought came to his mind. "Because you''re an MIB agent. And you love this job more than anything else in this whole wide world." Lonappan gave out an all knowing smile. "Is that so? That explains a lot then." John mumbled as he walked. "By the way,what are we gonna do today?" He asked. "Well. We''re gonna apprehend a particular person." Lonappan replied. "Just the usual then?" John asked with an annoyed look on his face. "Nah, man. This is a bit different. I guess this guy''s a high profile one." Lonappan spoke. "Apparently, the guy is named Crimson robber or something like that." Lonappan read the case file and spoke. "Holy hell! The Crimson robber''s here? On Earth?" John looked kinda excited as he heard that. "Seems like you''re a bit too hype about it. Why, though?" Lonappan tilted his head in confusion. "Ah, seems like you don''t know much about the Crimson planet and stuff, huh? The dude is a freaking legend, if you ask me. For all the wrong reasons, of course, but he was a legend nonetheless. The last thing I heard about him was that he mysteriously disappeared and his home planet was frantically searching for him since he''s an important figure." John explained. "Wait. If we had this Crimson robber in our custody, we should simply get hold of him until we could strike a deal with the Crimson Planet on transferring him. Maybe they can protect our planet or something." Lonappan spoke. John sighed. "There are a lot of fundamental problems with what you just said. First of all, we have yet to see the formation of tar. And even if we saw it, we would never be able to communicate directly with the Crimson planet officials as long as the Glomerans have a hand in it. And finally, no one and I mean no one strikes a deal with the Crimson planet people." He concluded. "Huh? Why is that?" Lonappan asked, with a curious look on his face. "Whatever you say about them, they are first-class criminals with whom people don''t like to associate since they would also be targeted due to their contact with the two." John replied. "Oh, I see. It''s like that, huh?" Lonappan dwelled deep in thought before coming back to reality. "Well, there''s no use thinking about it. We gotta find the man or the woman, according to the gender stuff for the Crimsoners, right now." He spoke. "Hmm." John looked at the characteristic features of Scarlet in the case file. "It''s a pretty extensive case file now that I look at it. We Earthlings could never do something like this." He spoke. "Yea, the Glomerans were the ones who gave us the info, I believe." Lonappan spoke. "I know. I''ve been receiving stuff like this for the longest time." John spoke. "Anyhow, characteristic feature, invisibility. Ha, how the hell are we gonna find the guy if he''s invisible for the whole time?" He scoffed. "I don''t think it''s that overpowered skill. I believe that he gotta take a break with that." Lonappan spoke. "Invisibility, huh¡­ Just imagine¡­ He might just be around us right now." John spoke, to which a long silence followed. The long silence was then broken by the cackling of the two people. "Haha. As if that would happen!" Lonappan laughed along as he said that. After laughing for some time, John''s mood got serious. "I know that we''re laughing about it right now, but there''s a chance. I mean, until a few days ago, I felt this disgusting feeling in the house at times followed by a buzzing noise. I''m not insinuating that it''s the Crimson robber, but what if?" He asked. Lonappan thought for a while. "Well, if it was the Crimson robber, then that means it''s actually impossible to find him by normal means." He spoke. "Impossible by normal means, huh? Then that would mean that you got some abnormal means to find the guy, huh?" John asked. "I guess. I haven''t thought of it yet, but I don''t think it''s downright impossible to catch this guy. Nothing is impossible. Take out a pen and paper. We''ll jot down the ways to catch the guy." Lonappan ordered. John nodded and took out the pen and paper as he was asked to. Anyway, they were hopeful to catch the Crimson robber. However, the thing that they weren''t aware of was that the Crimson robber was right behind them hearing all the shit that they said. Had they been aware of that, they wouldn''t have said some stuff that they did. # Chapter 175: Terrifying luck No matter what plan they touted, none of them seem to impress the both of them. To capture a person like Scarlet, they needed something extraordinary and none of the plans seem to give off that spark. "Should we stop this shit?" Lonappan asked. "Huh?" John slightly tilted his head. "I mean, all we did was come up with a bunch of nonsense, which in now way could be considered as a solid plan of any sorts. So, what choice do we even have?" Lonappan asked. "And by the way, there''s no confirmation if the Crimson robber would come by our place. So why even bother?" Lonappan asked to which he received a slap from John. "Why bother, you ask? Because there''s a chance. There''s always a chance and it would suck if I were to miss the chance to have a decent talk with the person." John spoke passionately, which didn''t impress Lonappan, but impressed someone entirely different was definitely so. "Dang, Inever knew that there were actual people who respected me. Had I known that the situation was like that, then I wouldn''t have to suffer the way I did." Scarlet thought as he walked invisibly alongside John and Lonappan. Anyhow, in the flow of the movement, Scarlet accidentally whistled, which changed the course of the journey¡ªor so Scarlet believed would happen. Thankfully, it didn''t. But that doesn''t mean that the whistle did not pass through the skillful ears of John. "Dude, wait! I just heard someone whistling. Could it be¡­!" John looked all excited as he said that. But Lonappan was quick to follow up on that. "No. Just no. Don''t go down that rabbit hole. You are hallucinating right now, you know that?" Lonappan sighed. "Wait, no. Believe me. I''m not kidding. I just heard someone whistling." John cried. "Poor soul. The hallucinations have gone too far. I feel for you now." Lonappan patted John''s shoulder. Since it seemed like Lonappan''s not gonna believe him anymore, he stopped himself from talking about it. In this whole ordeal, the one who was the most thankful was the Crimson Robber himself, Scarlet. He legitimately whistled but Lonappan came for his save. Even though Lonappan refuted the possibility of the Crimson Robber being around them, John wasn''t willing to let go. While Lonappan frolicked carelessly, John just raised his awareness level to an even higher plane. Scarlet noticed this and tried walking carefully around them. However, the occasional tree twigs and stuff screwed him up since John noticed every single one of those noises like crazy. Anyhow, even with all the snooping around, John didn''t have a legitimate reason to believe that the Crimson Robber was near them, so he subsided eventually. "Yo, guys!" A person came in to welcome the two. It was Ponnappan. "Yo, Ponnaps!" Lonappan waved his hand and tried getting in the MIB base. However, Ponnappan stopped him before he could do so. "So, what do you think of it?" The commanding officer asked. "About what?" Lonappan questioned. "About the Crimson Robber." Ponnappan replied. "Hmm. I don''t think he''s-" Lonappan was about to say that the Crimson Robber wasn''t in Kerala or at least, inside their jurisdiction, but John interrupted before he could say so. "He''s here." John sounded confident as he said that. Scarlet, who was watching the event unfold, was partially impressed by the resolve John had. It''s just that he didn''t appreciate the fact that the resolve was aimed towards his head. Anyhow, Lonappan sighed upon hearing John''s words. "Damn, still not off your delusions, huh? The Crimson Robber is not-" He was about to cement the fact that Scarlet wasn''t around them, however, someone interrupted this time and it wasn''t John. "No." Ponnappan replied. "Huh?" Lonappan looked confused as he didn''t get the meaning behind the no. "He''s here. He''s for sure here." Ponnappan spoke as he stared at what looked like a blank space with a flower vase. However what people didn''t know was that Scarlet stood at that exact place. Scarlet got a little nervous with Ponnappan''s action. First of all, his confident announcement that Scarlet''s among them and secondly, the cold stare towards him. This made him question the real identity of the commanding officer. So, after staring at the blank wall, Ponnappan began walking towards it like a possessed man. Lonappan and John were confused about it, just like Scarlet was, but none of them spoke a single word since they were slightly curious. But Scarlet didn''t have the luxury to simply wait around till Ponnappan came to him. He didn''t want to do that. So, he slyly moved away from the flower vase and towards another secluded corner. After walking all the way towards the flower vase, Ponnappan finally stopped. He didn''t talk for quite some time. Instead, he took a flower from the vase and stared at it. "Are you even gonna talk?" Lonappan finally cracked since he saw nothing of value in that slow walk that Ponnappan just did. He was legit annoyed. "Ah, damn. I just forgot about it." Ponnappan chuckled. "What were we talking about then?" He asked. "We were talking about your confident response on the Crimson Robber''s existence in our jurisdiction." Lonappan replied. "Ah, that! I''m confident because¡­" It seemed like Ponnappan was gonna give an answer, but instead he started his walk yet again. This time around, it was towards the secluded corner where no one stood¡ªexcept Scarlet, of course. Scarlet was confused for the umpteenth time that day. He didn''t know if what Ponnappan did was intentional or totally random. If it was intentional, then he was supposed to be a difficult enemy. And if it was totally random, he had amazing luck. He wanted to decipher it further, but Ponnappan was coming, so he had to move away from that corner. Since he believed that Ponnappan''s not gonna go back to the place he already went, he decided to occupy the space with the flower vase yet again. "For fuck''s sake! Why the hell are you walking again?" Lonappan sounded impatient as he said that. "Zip it and appreciate the theatrics. I mean, it looks cool, right?" Ponnappan asked. "Cool in what way? You''re literally just walking around. What''s that to do with anything cool?" Lonappan asked. "Ha, you just won''t understand. And if you don''t understand, you won''t be able to appreciate it." Ponnappan spoke. Lonappan sighed. He couldn''t just handle it. "Look, if you got something to say, then just say it. If not, then don''t waste my time like this." He replied. Upon hearing this, Ponnappan stopped on his tracks. Then he did a sharp turn back to the flower vase and lunged towards the place as if he had someone to catch up to. Seeing this, Scarlet was pretty shocked. He was ninety nine percent sure that Ponnappan was aware of him. And this brought him to a conundrum. That one percent of uncertainty screwed him over more than the ninety nine percent. He had two choices basically. He could either move away like he did twice and have Ponnappan follow him the entire day, or just put an end to it by getting a hit at him and escaping the place. But, the escape plan had a significant constriction with two people named Lonappan and John standing by. And in this case, plan number one certainly seems feasible. However, he also had to consider the fact that if Ponnappan was aware of him, then there''s no chance to escape unless he actually gained the upper hand. Scarlet was stuck between the two choices that he actually forgot to execute either one of them. In the end, without his knowledge, Ponnappan got centimetres close to him to the point that he could hear the commanding officer''s breath. Once he got that close, he stopped for some unknown reason. For some weird reason, he was hugging Scarlet and this made him really agitated. It was as if Ponnappan was making fun of him. Scarlet finally got the answer he was looking for. Since he was this close, there''s no way of missing the punch. He clenched his fist and was about to hit the punch of his life when Ponnappan suddenly retracted and walked back to where Lonappan and John were, causing all sorts of confusion in Scarlet''s mind. The Crimsoner looked around, searching for what Ponnappan did to him, until he realised that something was missing on Ponnappan. The flower he took from the vase was no longer in his hand. Scarlet looked back and saw that the flower was back in the vase, which meant that Ponnappan didn''t head there because he was aware of his presence, but merely because he wanted to put the flower back into the vase. At that point, Scarlet realised something. Ponnappan had an insane amount of luck to the point of it being actually terrifying. He could totally fool someone on something by literally walking around, just like what he did right then. # Chapter 176: A shadow "Okay, I''m done." Lonappan spoke. "What?" Ponnappan asked, since he didn''t get the context. "I said I''m done! You took a lot of time. And that pissed me off. You shouldn''t have done that. I don''t even wanna hear out your stupid reasoning now." Lonappan scoffed as he began to exit. "Wait, wait! I apologise. I shouldn''t have wasted your time like that. It''s my bad. I don''t know what got into my head but I thought it would look cool. And by the looks of it, it certainly didn''t." Ponnappan spoke as he grabbed his junior''s hand. Lonappan initially struggled to make him let go off his hand. However, that was when he was reminded of how strong Ponnappan actually was, underneath all the grumpiness and lame theatrics. This made him change his mind¡ªnot entirely, but he stopped at his tracks, at the very least. After that, Lonappan got into a deep thought considering the possibilities if he were to punch Ponnappan''s face to let go of his hand. And since the odds didn''t look favorable to him, he decided otherwise and thought of hearing him out. "So, you''re not gonna do your so-called theatrics again?" Lonappan asked. "Nope. I promise you that." Ponnappan spoke. "What if you break that promise?" Lonappan asked again. "Well, a free hit on me. You''ve been wanting to have that on me, right?" Ponnappan asked. Suddenly, Lonappan''s eyes glimmered. "Deal. Now screw up." He replied. "Haha, I''m not stupid enough to screw up like that once I promise something to someone." Ponnappan chuckled. "Then tell me the reason why you believe that the Crimson Robber is among us." Lonappan replied. "Hmm, not among us per se, but he certainly is in our jurisdiction." Ponnappan spoke. "They." John corrected. "Huh?" "They. You should call the Crimson Robber ''they''. The people from Crimson Planet are androgynous, so." John shrugged. "Very well. ''They'' certainly are in our jurisdiction." Ponnappan corrected himself, which was appreciated by both John and the invisible alien. "So, hit me up with the reason behind your belief." Lonappan replied as he took a seat nearby. "Okay. You gotta look at this." Ponnappan spoke as he handed a headshot of Scarlet to him. "Ah, it''s in the case file. So I''ve already seen it. Don''t worry." Lonappan answered as he handed back the headshot to his senior. "I know that. I just wanted you to have a good look at the alien''s face before you see what I''m about to show you." Ponnappan replied. "Okay, cool. Now show me what you wanted me to see." Lonappan said as he nodded his head along. "Here." Ponnappan handed the next image to him. "This¡­" Lonappan looked shocked as he saw the image. "Yup." Ponnappan nodded his head. "... Is just some random hippie, isn''t it?" Lonappan asked. "No! What makes you think that?" Ponnappan asked as if he heard something absurd. "I mean, what doesn''t? Look at his costume, the beard and that weird bag that he''s holding. I''mma tell ya right now, the dude probably got a shitload of marijuana in that." Lonappan spoke. I don''t smoke shit like that¡ªwas what Scarlet wanted to say once he heard Lonappan''s words, however since he was meant to be silent in this scenario, he didn''t lash out his emotions. "Hmm, now that I look at it, he certainly looks like a hippie." Ponnappan agreed with Lonappan this one time, which made Scarlet feel like he was betrayed. "But hippie or not, do you recognise the man?" He asked. "It''s the Crimson Robber, isn''t it?" It wasn''t Lonappan who answered it. Instead it was John, who looked like he was totally gonna fanboy on Scarlet before beating him into a pulp. "Right! It''s him. It''s a CCTV image of the guy. You know where it was taken from?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, since you''re asking me like that, I''m pretty sure that it''s in our jurisdiction." Lonappan replied. "That''s right. But do you know where exactly though?" Ponnappan asked again. "Hmm, no idea. Where is it?" Lonappan asked back. "It''s in Kunnamkulam." Ponnappan replied real slowly. At this point, Lonappan could probably count it as part of theatrics and get his free hit on Ponnappan, but he knew why his superior did so. It''s because there are few people who make frequent visits to Kunnamkulam these days and he wanted Lonappan to take notice of that. "I see. Kunnamkulam, huh? It could be a coincidence though." Lonappan spoke, to which John looked confused, since he didn''t have the context behind what he said like Ponnappan had. "I didn''t say it wasn''t. It''s just that there are a whole lot of coincidences when I looked into it." Ponnappan spoke, almost indicating the involvement of a certain group of aliens. "You gotta remember, Kunnamkulam is an attraction place for the aliens because of the shop." Lonappan reminded his senior. "That may be so, but-" Ponnappan was about to refute the statement, but before he could do so, John interfered. "What shop though?" He asked, which stumped both of the people beside him. After all, Ajish''s spare parts is an illegal establishment. "Hmm, well. You see, we established a shop for the aliens who miss their homes. Like we got all the stuff for them¡ªfood and all." Lonappan lied since that''s one of the few things that he was pretty good at. "Ha, that''s a pretty great establishment. Nice! Giving something to the aliens who miss their home planet! That''s really amazing. I would like to suggest this plan to the headquarters as well¡ªthat is, if they are to call me anytime soon. For some reason, they haven''t called me for the longest time. Do you know the reason for that?" John asked. "Huh? No, no! I have no idea at all! I guess they''re a bit busy these days. You know, with the Crimson Robber and stuff." Lonappan shrugged. After all, there''s no way he could tell that they were the reason for him not getting any calls from the headquarters. "Hmm, I guess that''s the case. It''s pretty weird though. I used to get calls for every international mission that I went for. But they asked me not to call them unless it''s that important. So, it''s not like I can call them back as well." John sighed. "I guess it''s that insignificant of an investigation for them." Lonappan shrugged. "Well, even if they aren''t gonna call you back, don''t worry. We love your work and will be more than happy to invite you in our small squad." Ponnappan gave out his pleasant looking business smile that swindled a lot of people just like right now. "Thank you. Those words mean a whole lot more than you think." John gave out an honest smile unlike Ponnappan, which made the commanding officer feel a bit guilty about certain things. "... Let''s go back to our topic shall we?" Lonappan spoke up seeing the unease in Ponnappan''s face. "Let''s do that!" Ponnappan hurriedly replied. "So, this image was taken near the said shop a day before the person resurfaced in America. It seemed as if they were waiting to meet up with someone. Any idea who it might be?" Ponnappan asked, clearly indicating the involvement of the Holy Land aliens once again. "How would I know that? And how the hell do you know that as well. It''s a freaking image! How can you decipher something like that from an image?" Lonappan asked. "Well, it isn''t just the image. The camera captures video too, you know? And the video clearly shows that they met up with someone that day. And the next day, he''s gone to America trying to steal ships, as if someone spoke to him about it. Weird, isn''t it?" Ponnappan asked, while Scarlet silently gulped in the corner as he heard it. Lonappan knew it. Someone in the Holy Land has involved themselves with Scarlet and gave out a crazy plan to the guy which almost became a success. However, he wasn''t ready to just blame it outright on them just yet. "Hmm, if you''re so sure about it, then why not catch the person with whom the robber met up with. I mean, you caught him on the camera, right?" Lonappan asked. Ponnappan took a deep breath. "Okay, here''s the thing. We saw the person but it wasn''t clear enough to get the actual person." He replied. "I have no idea what you mean by that!" Lonappan sighed. "Well, we couldn''t catch him in the camera. I mean, we did¡­ But that was the person''s shadow." Ponnappan replied. "Hmm, how did you know that it was a man. It could also be a woman, you know?" Lonappan spoke. "It could be. I just used man as a reference." Ponnappan answered. "Is that so? Fine then. Let''s assess the situation. From what you said and what I''ve seen, we can confirm that the Crimson Robber is in the vicinity¡ªor at least, was in the vicinity. And now we''re stuck with no evidence pointing out to where they could be and the one piece of evidence¡ªwhich could not even be called that, is literally a freaking shadow. I summed it up pretty nicely, right?" Lonappan asked. # Chapter 177: Struggles of being invisible "Basically, yea." Ponnappan nodded his head upon hearing Lonappan''s summary of the events. "Nice. Now, tell me. What the fuck are we even supposed to do in a situation like this?" Lonappan asked. He sounded extremely frustrated about the lack of everything in this case. "Well, it''s not like you can''t do anything. You can ask a certain someone, you know?" Ponnappan spoke. Lonappan sighed. "If that was the case, you could''ve just called him here and asked directly, don''t you think? Why go the roundabout way?" He asked. "Hmm, he trusts you more than me. It''s the junior-senior relationship like the one we had. He''d like to be questioned by you than me." Ponnappan replied. "Thankappan knows something?" John asked. "Huh?" The both on his side looked surprised as heck thinking about how John found out who they were talking about. "Oh, come on! I''m not that big of an idiot! It''s child play to decipher that you were talking about that guy since you were talking all about junior-senior relationship and shit like that. So, if that was meant to be a secret of some sort, then that was a poor attempt to hide it from me." John explained. "We were not hiding something from you. It''s how we usually talk, I guess." Lonappan shrugged, as if there was nothing weird about it. "I see." John nodded his head with a suspicious look on his face. "So, does he know something then?" He asked. "Nah, not really. We just wanted him to know about this as well. More manpower, you see." Lonappan replied. "Huh, weird. It sure didn''t sound like that when you two talked just a few seconds ago." The suspicious look on John''s face grew even more as he stared at Lonappan. However, Lonappan didn''t crack under the immense pressure and replied with a straight face. "I didn''t know it sounded like that to you. Look, there''s a language barrier between us. Even the most advanced translator¡ªwhich, to be honest, isn''t the one in your ear right now, could make mistakes. So, something that I said in Malayalam might sound entirely different after getting translated. Yea, so it probably got mistranslated." Lonappan replied. "Is that so? I guess that makes sense." John nodded his head yet again, still not believing the shit that Lonappan spouted. "So are you gonna talk to Thankappan about this?" Ponnappan asked, not feeling the need to hide the name anymore. Lonappan thought for a while. "I don''t think he should be disturbed for something like this. I mean, he''s the one looking after the aliens. So, it doesn''t make sense." is what Lonappan said, but what he meant was- "Dude, he simply is a caretaker of the aliens in the Holy Land. I don''t think he''s involved in this." "That''s precisely why I want you to have a talk with him. After all, he''s one of our front line men when such a crisis happens." Is what Ponnappan replied to that, but the real reply was- "Why do you think I said that? After all, he''s the one in front when shit like this happens, right? With the Karate tournament as well, he becomes a spectator one way or the other." Lonappan sighed. It seemed as if he didn''t have a choice anymore. "Fine. I''ll have a chat with him about it." "Great. Let''s see what he has to say." Ponnappan spoke with a smile on his face. # After this brief conversation, Lonappan left for the Holy Land, while John followed Ponnappan to talk about his prospects of working in the Snehatheeram base if the HQ actually ditched him. In between both the parties, there was one party who was actually freaking the hell out right then. He had his mouth closed with his hand, so that he doesn''t accidentally bring out any voice. He had no plans of turning back into a visible personality. At least, not for the time being. Scarlet looked out of the window and saw Lonappan going in a car to question Thankappan. It was only then he realized the danger of the situation if Lonappan was to get home before him. Well, it might not be that bad, but Scarlet sure did want to inform Thankappan beforehand. Thus came the thought of getting to the Holy Land before Lonappan. Initially, it was just relaying the message to Thankappan in some way, shape or form, but there wasn''t any other way for him to communicate with the junior agent unless he heads there himself. After all, he didn''t have a mobile phone or Thankappan''s number. He didn''t even bring money on him, so he couldn''t catch a taxi. Thus he came up with the brilliant idea of getting on a limited stop bus, which goes way faster than a normal car, which is technically illegal¡ªand reaching Mundur before Lonappan does. And for this, Scarlet thought that a good idea would be to stay invisible, since he wouldn''t have to pay for the ticket in that form. However, he forgot the fact that the buses in Thrissur are a literal crowded clump. And if they were to see an empty spot, they are gonna have a swing at it and grab that spot no matter what. So, in this case, Scarlet''s invisibility seriously messed with him as he was thrown around by people in a struggle to get that eleven inch spot that he was previously standing on. At one point, Scarlet actually managed to sit on the lap of the driver, after which he seriously regretted the decision of entering inside the bus. If he wanted to, he could have got on the top of the bus and avoided all the fuss. But, there was no point in regretting it then, since he was stuck with it at that moment. However, the main point to note was that the limited stop was fast¡ªway too fast, to the point that he was sure he would reach Mundur before Lonappan would. However, as fate would have it, he couldn''t exit on his stop due to the crowd, so he literally crowd surfed before reaching the next stop to get to the door. The problem with limited stop buses was that the stops were limited. So, the next stop after his stop was about ten kilometers away from his. So, he actually had to waste time getting on a normal bus back to Mundur, which completely destroyed the massive lead he gained with the limited stop bus. But he wasn''t ready to give up just yet. Once he reached Mundur, he didn''t see Lonappan anywhere, which either meant he was already at the Holy Land or that he hadn''t reached Mundur yet. Since there was this faintest glimmer of hope, Scarlet was determined. He grabbed on to the first car that went their way and firmly occupied the top of the car. The said car was going way too fast, if you were to consider the fact that it''s a place with a lot of twists and turns. And this concerned Scarlet. He might injure himself in the process of humping down. The only thing that gave him the slightest of relief was that the curve before their house was one hell of a curve that makes even an expert racer take a notch down in speed. Anyhow, while staying on top of the car like a wet blanket placed to dry in the sun, Scarlet sure did wish for a running power, which could''ve helped him a whole lot in cases like this. He simply could''ve ran all the way from Snehatheeram if he wanted to and didn''t have to cling to structures like he did right then. While this unattainable dream seriously bugged Scarlet off, he noticed that he was near the Holy Land and got up on the top of the car as if he was some action hero movie before somersaulting from the top for no apparent reason. Thankfully for him, he didn''t get a fracture after pulling out something idiotic like that. Anyhow, he didn''t give a thought for any of that as he ran towards Thankappan to hand over the info. However, someone had already occupied the space near Thankappan before he could. # Back in the Holy Land, Thankappan was having a guilt free moment with some random stray cat, when someone approached him. "Are you free right now?" It was Lonappan who asked him that question. "What do you think?" Thankappan asked as he picked the cat and showed it to Lonappan''s face. "You seem pretty free in my eyes." Lonappan replied. "If that''s how you see it as, then why even ask?" Thankappan asked. "Well, there''s a thing called common courtesy. I don''t know if you''re aware of something like that." Lonappan scoffed. "Ha, you are feisty today. I don''t think the conversation we''ll be having is gonna be anywhere near productive." Thankappan sighed. "Hey! Decide on that after hearing me out first." Lonappan spoke. "Sure. If that''s what you want. But I''m warning you man, I don''t believe it''s gonna be any good." Thankappan replied. "Maybe." Lonappan took a deep breath and stared at Thankappan. "The Crimson Robber? Do you know them?" He asked. Chapter 178: A clear rejection! Initially, Thankappan flinched as he heard the name Crimson Robber. However, it didn''t take him more than a second to revert back into his usual expression. But the thing is, for a seasoned veteran like Lonappan, that lone second is enough to understand almost half of the stuff going through a person''s mind. And Lonappan could see the sudden internal conflict that Thankappan had. "What happened? Cat got your tongue?" Lonappan asked as he patted the small cat''s head. "Ha, it''s not that. It''s just¡ªwho the hell is that guy, even?" Thankappan asked, as if he wasn''t aware of it already. However, both of them knew that wasn''t the case. "Mind the pronoun. And didn''t you get it from the name? They are a robber." Lonappan replied. "Why are they named Crimson then?" Thankappan asked. "Well, that''s because they hail from the Crimson planet, don''t you think?" Lonappan shifted the question back to Thankappan. "Why ask me? You are the one who''s supposed to know about this shit, right?" Thankappan scoffed. "Yea, I know. I just wanted to check your general knowledge." Lonappan shrugged once he conceded defeat to Thankappan''s statement. He simply wanted to connect the dots and bring the conversation into a full circle, but with Thankappan in such a fiery form, he felt like he didn''t have a chance¡­ or so he thought initially. However, just like how he felt the pressure from his senior, Thankappan felt the pressure as well, even though his reason is totally different. "Is that so?" Thankappan chuckled. "Anyway, I don''t know about anyone named the Crimson Robber. Are you done then? I gotta tend to this kitty cat." Thankappan spoke as he slowly stroked the cat''s head. "Few days ago, the Crimson Robber was seen around this area. You sure you haven''t seen them?" Lonappan asked as Thankappan was getting ready to head back to the house. "Nope. Not that I remember anything from any day other than today." Thankappan shook his head. "I see. Then what about in Kunnamkulam? Have you met them there?" Lonappan asked. "I really don''t know if I''ve met up such a person. But if I have, as I said before, I won''t be remembering the person." Thankappan replied. "So, if you don''t have any other question, I''m gonna head back." He spoke as he slowly walked back. "Yea, see you later then!" Lonappan waved goodbye as Thankappan slowly moved away from him. Although Lonappan had an idea before, he could say it with certainty now. Thankappan knows the Crimson Robber and is deliberately hiding it from him for unknown reasons. It didn''t seem like he was gonna crack anytime soon. But he knew of a person who would. # "Yo! How are you today?" Lonappan asked as he waved hello. M''Baku sighed. "Why in the world are you here?" He asked. "Whoa! That sounds kinda rude. I''m your caretaker as well, you know? And why are you angry with me? Did I do something wrong?" Lonappan asked. "Well, you didn''t do anything¡ªyet. I''m simply concerned about what you''re gonna do later." He spoke with horror clear in his face. "Hmm, why do you make it sound like I''m some despicable villain or something? I don''t understand." Lonappan shrugged. "Ha, it''s just that whenever I get in something that involves you, it doesn''t really seem to work out that well for me." M''Baku replied. "Really? I didn''t know." Lonappan sounded apologetic as he said that. "Nah, it''s fine. So, I''mma ask this to you yet again. Why are you here?" He asked. "Meh, I just felt like coming here." Lonappan replied. "Liar." M''Baku scoffed. "Huh?" "I said you''re a little liar!" M''Baku spoke a little more louder this time around. "M''Baku! Don''t forget your cover in situations like this. I mean, it''s fucking hellish to flash people because they happen to see a talking dog. I just don''t wanna do that." Lonappan warned. "That''s fine and all, but why does it feel like you are avoiding something?" M''Baku asked, keeping his voice to the minimum this time around. "Avoiding what?" Lonappan looked confused, as if he had no idea about what M''Baku was talking about. "I said you are lying about certain things. Why aren''t you mentioning anything about it, huh? Did the cat bite YOUR tongue, huh?" M''Baku asked, with a knowing smile on his face. Lonappan sighed. "You heard, huh?" He mumbled. "We caninos have an amazing sense of hearing. Even the mumbling shit you did just now; I heard that clearly as well." M''Baku replied. "Well, did you hear everything then? Absolutely everything?" Lonappan asked. "Yup." M''Baku nodded his head. "Then you know why I''m here, right?" Lonappan asked. "See, I knew you wanted something from me. And yes, I do know what you want from me." M''Baku replied. "What''s it?" Lonappan asked to check whether both of them were thinking on the same wavelength, "You want info on the Crimson Robber and his relation with Thankappan and the Holy Land in general, right?" M''Baku asked. "I''m not kidding when I say this. Join MIB when you feel like it. I think you''ll make a great addition to the team." Lonappan replied with an impressed look on his face. "I''ll think about it." M''Baku answered. "So, what do you say?" Lonappan asked. "No." The reply was instantaneous. M''Baku didn''t even spend a second to reject Lonappan''s request. "But why though? We were going on the same wavelength and stuff. So, why?" He asked. "Being on the same wavelength doesn''t mean I have to help you or anything. I have no intention of doing so." M''Baku gave out a stern reply. "But the MIB lunch is amazing!" Lonappan tried enticing him with a position in the MIB and food. However, M''Baku wasn''t impressed by this. He simply scoffed. "Nah, man! Kunjan makes amazing food as well. I just want that. I have no need for your catering food." He replied. After the rejection, Lonappan''s face looked down. "Can you tell the reason why at least?" He asked. "Ah, well that''s because of what I said before. I really like what Kunjan makes as well." M''Baku spoke. "No. Not that! I''m asking you the reason for your rejection. Why won''t you help me out on this?" Lonappan asked. "Oh, that! I don''t wanna risk my life, dude! I mean, I''m the one living here with those guys. I can''t keep on betraying them every now and then, can I?" M''Baku asked. "But-" Lonappan was about to say something, but M''Baku didn''t even give the opportunity to do so. "I know you are a big deal and terrifying to a few and all, but not for me. I feel like Thankappan will literally kill me if I snitch on them again. So, please just go." M''Baku pleaded. "Okay, okay. I''ll go. Take care, Mr M''Baku!" Lonappan bowed his head out of courtesy before heading out of the Holy Land. He took out his phone and dialed a number. "Oh, hey! We gotta meet. Soon." He spoke through the phone. # Evening that day. Lonappan was enjoying a bit of family time with his wife and son as they played ludo, a game that they haven''t played for quite a while. Hell, game nights in itself is a rarity since Lonappan had been really busy these days. So, both the wife and son were extremely happy to see Lonappan present, which immediately made them suggest a game night. Before ludo, they tried playing caroms, but Lonappan won in an unnatural manner, which made them quit it and focus on ludo instead. And in this, the son won the first match as the beginning of an unbeatable streak, which made him very happy. That in turn made both Lonappan and his wife pretty happy. So it was a real fun day in their household, before the doorbell rang. Lonappan''s wife planned on opening the door, but Lonappan stopped her from doing so and took it upon himself. Once he opened the door, he saw Ponnappan''s smiling face. "Uncle!" Lonappan''s kid ran towards Ponnappan and hugged him tightly. Ponnappan was kinda like a frequent guest in Lonappan''s household, so the kid knew him pretty well. "How are you doing, kiddo?" Ponnappan lifted the kid and swung him around before safely placing him on the ground. He reached down to his pocket and took out something. "Hey, didn''t you say you wanted the megamultiman 3600 key chain the next time I come home? Here you go." He smiled. "Uncle! You remembered!" The kid didn''t expect it, but it was a welcome surprise for him. "Of course I did. After all, I''m your uncle!" The smile that was on his face ever since his arrival to Lonappan''s house was still not wiped off his completely. "Uncle, we''re playing ludo right now. Do you wanna come in and play the game?" The kid asked. "Hmm, I''ll do that. But before that I need to have a private chat with your father. Will you wait until then, kiddo?" Ponnappan asked. "Yup! I''ll be waiting for you, uncle!" The kid ran away looking all happy with the key chain dangling in his hand. Ponnappan kept the smile on his face until the kid left the place. When he did, the face went straight into serious mode. "So, what''s the purpose of this meeting?" He asked. # Chapter 179: Stakeout at the Holy Land "It''s as you said." Lonappan spoke in a mild tone. "What? I didn''t hear that." Ponnappan brought his ears close to hear his speech. "I said you were right about it." Lonappan replied, this time in a slightly higher voice. "What do you mean? I was right about what?" Ponnappan asked. He knew what Lonappan was talking about. However, he did this just for the sake of riling his junior up and since he has a very huge ego problem. "Crimson Robber. The ones in the Holy Land are aware of them. Hell, they came in close contact with them¡ªat least, that''s what I believe." Lonappan replied. "Hmm." Ponnappan thought for a while before answering. "What you believe, huh? That means you didn''t get any conclusive proof that they maintained contact with the Crimson Robber. Then what makes you believe that they did? I mean, what indicated to you about such a possibility?" He asked. "Well, the speech mannerisms, of course. Thankappan missed a beat in the beginning when I started to talk about the Crimson Robber. That was a reflex action that he just couldn''t control. He managed to hide this later on, but the initial reaction sold him out." Lonappan explained. "I see. Rare blemish from Thankappan, eh? He''s been a bit more expressive ever since he started living with the aliens. It''s easier to get his expression for us now, but won''t it be the same for others as well?" Ponnappan asked, to which Lonappan laughed. "You know very well that it would be impossible. He is vulnerable around us since he knows us that well. He ain''t that stupid to show his emotions before random strangers. Remember, he''s a dungeon graduate after all." He reminded the commanding officer. "You''re right. I wonder why I got worried about that all of a sudden." Ponnappan laughed it off as well, before turning back to the focal point. "Was it just Thankappan you spoke to? Or was there someone else who would have confirmed your suspicions?" He asked. "Yup. Remember M''Baku? I headed to him to get some sort of info on the Crimson Robber. However, he said that he wouldn''t help me because of the trouble that Thankappan would bestow on him if he came to learn about it." Lonappan replied. "And you stopped at that?" Ponnappan asked. "Basically, yea. Because he didn''t outright say that he never met the Crimson Robber. Instead, he denied to pass any information about the Crimson Robber to me, which means¡­" Lonappan waited for Ponnappan to complete his sentence. "He has the info but fears Thankappan''s retaliation." Ponnappan replied. "Exactly! So, you get what I mean, right?" Lonappan asked. "Yea, we know that the Crimson Robber came in contact with the Holy Land lads, but we don''t have definite proof. So, how are we gonna get the robber?" Ponnappan asked. "Hmm. I have no good idea about that as well. I mean, we''re facing an opponent capable of turning invisible. We don''t know the extent of it or anything like that. We''re gonna be blind. How can we find someone like that?" Lonappan asked back. "We don''t." Ponnappan gave out a simple reply, which made Lonappan go on a frenzy. "What in the fucking world are you speaking of? I mean, we just cracked a part of it just mere moments ago and now you want to just stop what we''re doing? That''s one of the craziest shit that I''ve ever heard." Lonappan sounded furious. "Calm down, will ya? Don''t just hear half the story and jump on me. Hear the entire thing before doing that." Ponnappan scolded. "Yea, right. Sorry. I just got a bit over the top for nothing. I mean, I really don''t have the right to be that, now that I think about it. Since I was the one who didn''t believe that the Crimson Robber was here." Lonappan sighed. "Well, shit happens, man. What else can I even say?" Ponnappan shrugged. "The plan, maybe? You could always say about the plan." Lonappan gave out a punny reply, which wasn''t well received by the opposing party. "You just gotta ruin the moment, huh?" Ponnappan couldn''t even look at him¡ªhe was that disgusted by the lame joke. "I apologise." Lonappan was lightning fast at apologizing when he felt like he offended someone. And Ponnappan, being used to the lame jokes and puns that he cracks, quickly forgave him. "Yea, it''s fine. Not that big of a deal. Anyhow, we were talking about not finding the Crimson Robber, right?" Ponnappan asked. "Yup." Lonappan nodded his head to that. "You were right about one thing. The one against us is an unknown opponent. He turns invisible, so there''s no way to find them and that''s a fact. But to find the robber, it isn''t really necessary to look for him alone, right?" Ponnappan asked again. "Wait, you mean-" Lonappan was about to reveal the plan, but Ponnappan didn''t want him to steal the thunder. "We just have to put the others on our surveillance. If the robber is keeping contact with Thankappan and the others, we''ll make our move. If not¡­ well, they will. If they''re familiar with each other, they will meet each other at some point." Ponnappan spoke in an assuring voice. "Hmm, well we''ve bugged all the phones and rooms already, so we don''t have to worry about missing their talks." Lonappan replied. "Yea, there''s that as well." Ponnappan mumbled before turning back to Thankappan. "By the way, you gotta do something as well." He spoke. "What is it?" Lonappan asked. It really did feel like he did nothing on this mission, so he was fine with receiving a task to do. "You gotta do a stakeout." He ordered. "By stakeout, you mean¡­ I gotta stay on the lookout for the whole day and night?" Lonappan asked, disbelief filled in his voice. Normally, it''s the junior agents who do the stakeouts. However, in this case, since the junior is also one of the people getting investigated and that he really doesn''t have any other juniors, the responsibility of staking out fell on Lonappan, who was about to do it after a really long break. "Yup, for the whole day and night. However, most probably, you might only have to stay on the stakeout for that one night if everything goes just right. Most probably, they''ll have a meeting of sorts to discuss the shit you did today and the robber will most probably be on that as well. Wait until they show themselves. When they do, just waltz right in and do whatever you plan to do. I''m just involved in finding the person¡ªnot exact punishment on them." Ponnappan explained. "Great! A whole day, huh? It''s really gonna be taxing." Lonappan sighed. "Especially since it''s gonna be the first time you do in a very long time. Just try it. Who knows? Maybe you are still the same as back in the day. That''d be pretty freaking amazing, don''t you think?" Ponnappan asked. "That''d be really cool. But it''s highly unlikely. I''ve grown old, you know? The bones have started wearing off." Lonappan said sarcastically. "No use pandering to me about your old age. You gotta suffer and then eventually overcome it! I wish you all the luck on that, my dude. And before you ask me about it, no. I won''t allow someone else''s junior to do a stakeout in your place. It''s your duty!" Ponnappan replied with a smile on his face. "Sheesh, I''ll need to get a few more juniors someday." Lonappan sighed as he thought about it. "Good luck with your stakeout, Lonappan." Ponnappan gave out his usual business smile to which Lonappan scoffed at and exited the scene. # Midnight that day. Lonappan didn''t count the time that he spent on the small car of his, but to his knowledge, a lot of time passed and there was no sign of anyone in the attic or anywhere in general. So, Lonappan was freezing in a place where it''s usually hot without anything to do. Well, he would''ve had something to listen to, but it seemed like they were already aware of their bugging system. None of them gave any voice other than that one static sound from it. Hence, Lonappan turned it off and decided to trust his ears and eyes. But it got too boring as well, since he had to stare at the same place the entire time. His only reason for the restlessness wasn''t just the boredom, but also the seat. He had re-adjusted it multiple times to get that one right position and even that seem uncomfortable for him at times. It was truly hell. Lonappan was briefly reminded of why he hated going on stakeouts like these. He always got back pains after this and that''s never a good thing. When he became a senior official, he expected to let his juniors do shit like stakeouts, but never expected himself to get involved in one after so many years. As Lonappan was sighing at his misfortune, he saw a slight movement in the Holy Land household. It seemed as if someone finally started moving in that place, which meant Lonappan had work to do. # Chapter 180: Caught Lonappan didn''t outright head over there and "bust" in the act or something like that, since nothing seemed to be happening there. He knew Scarlet was there, but he didn''t know where he was. After all, it seemed as if he wasn''t comfortable enough to drop the invisibility yet. And only when that happens, could Lonappan barge in like he planned. "So, what happened? Why did you call us all like this?" Taro was the one who opened his mouth first and asked the question. "Nice question. And the answer for that would be to wait and let the others come." Thankappan replied. "Isn''t literally everyone who wanna hear the shit you wanna spout here already?" Taro asked. "What about Scarlet though?" Thankappan asked as he looked around for the Crimsoner. "I''m here. Don''t worry about it." A voice was heard from right behind Thankappan, which kinda freaked him out. "Oh, I didn''t mean to scare you like that." Scarlet became flustered because of the sudden switch in Thankappan''s expression. "Ah, I wasn''t scared or something. I simply was surprised by the sudden voice from behind. Nothing much." Thankappan calmly replied. "Is that so? Good then. Pardon my misunderstanding." Scarlet bowed his head, however no one noticed¡ªno one couldn''t. He was still invisible and Thankappan didn''t appreciate this. "By the way, why are you still invisible? It''s just us, you know? We''ve already seen you, so¡­" Thankappan shrugged. "Well, after the events that transpired on the morning today, I don''t want to become Mr Lonappan''s prey!" Scarlet spoke. "Ha, understandable. He''s really a monster in a sense." Thankappan sighed and gave out a relatable line, furthering his friendship with the alien. Meanwhile, someone was grinding his teeths and waiting for a perfect time to get his revenge on his junior for the way he potrayed him before a new alien. "Wait, what happened on the morning? And how come I don''t know about this?" Taro asked. "Ah, Scarlet followed Lonappan and John to the MIB base for some reason. And he happen to hear certain things from there. You didn''t hear about it till now because this is the only time we get together and I wanted everyone to know about it. So there you go." Thankappan replied, instead of Scarlet. "So, what is it?" Taro asked. "Yea. They know. If they didn''t know about our communication before, they certainly know about it now." Scarlet spoke. "You sure? You used an if right there. So, is that a possibility, or?" Taro questioned. "If¡­ I used it for the effects, I guess. But they asked to Thankappan about me and stuff. They were speculating most of the stuff, most of it turned out to be true too!" Scarlet exclaimed. Thankappan sighed. "I''m not saying because I work with them, but those two are literal monsters when it comes to investigative stuff. So, yea. They just can do stuff like that." He nodded his head along. "What''s the plan?" Taro got straight to the point. "Well, escape their suspicions, I guess. We gotta act the same whenever Lonappan asks us about something specific." Thankappan replied. "Seems like someone''s been watching a lot of movies these days." Taro chuckled since he remembered somewhat similar of a dialogue in one of the movies he watched. "I kinda did, but that''s not the point. The point is, Lonappan will continue doing it, so we have to say that we got no idea on who the Crimson robber is, alright?" Thankappan asked. "Sure." Everyone nodded their heads. "Cool. Now that''s done, I have nothing else to say. So disperse or do whatever you planned to do." Thankappan spoke as he exited the place. Soon enough, everyone else followed suit, other than one person¡ªwell, two. "You still here, Scarlet?" Taro asked. "Yup. Why did you ask for me?" Scarlet asked back. "Ah, it''s nothing. I was planning to close the door once everyone leaves. Since you''re gonna be the final one to leave, I hope that you''ll take on that responsibility." Taro spoke. "I can do that. No worries." Scarlet assured him. "Great. I''ll leave that to you then." Taro waved his hand to thin air, felt a bit awkward about it and then eventually left. Once he left, Scarlet headed towards the door and locked it from the balcony before releasing his invisibility. He stared at the Moon which looked elegant yet same as the day before and dwelled on some random thought. "Hey, do you know the Crimson robber?" Someone asked him out of nowhere¡ªquite literally. Scarlet couldn''t even sense his arrival, which initially made him think that he was hallucinating. However, once he pinched himself, he realised that it wasn''t a hallucination and on putting a little thought into it, he learned about the owner of the voice. "Umm, I don''t know about that person." Scarlet gave out the cookie cutter response that Thankappan wanted him to say. Hearing this, Lonappan chuckled. "Dude, you misunderstood what Thankappan said, didn''t ya?" He asked. "What do you mean?" Scarlet asked back. "That response wasn''t meant to you. After all, I know your face. So that doesn''t work for you." Lonappan laughed as Scarlet started feeling nervous. # The people from Crimson Planet are on the weaker side. They are not natural brawlers or have any sort of superpowers. Instead, it''s their innate skills that kept them alive. Those skills allowed them to rob and that''s all they needed. In the off chances when they were caught, they wait for no one and escape like it''s all that matters. Scarlet was in a similar situation right then. His instincts wanted him to run away from the guy in front as soon as possible, but there wasn''t anywhere to run to. His instincts wanted him to jump over the balcony and run, but he knew he would break his bones once he does that. "I know what you''re thinking." Lonappan spoke. "Huh?" Scarlet gave out a puzzled expression. "You want to run right now, don''t you?" Lonappan asked. "How did you-" Scarlet opened his mouth to say something, thought otherwise, shut his mouth back and simply kept his ears open to what Lonappan had to say. "Well, that would be the movies. Anyhow, glad to hear that I was actually right. I just read about you Crimsoners and that article talked about how you lot hated traveling the normal way. It also talked about your tendency to run and stuff. So¡­ Anyhow, try jumping from the balcony and you''ll be in the hospital bed for months. And don''t try going invisible on me right now. You just locked your door, so it''ll be easier for me to apprehend you if you mean to escape." Lonappan smiled. "Oh, by the way, hello Mr Scarlet. I''m Lonappan. But you probably know that already. After all, you followed me all the way to the MIB base." He continued smiling, but the smile had a different meaning this time. "What do you want?" Scarlet asked. Lonappan sighed. "Such bland, overused response. Change the tone at least. It''s too boring¡­" He spoke. "And what do I want you ask? What do you think I want?" He asked. "It was me." Scarlet mumbled "Huh?" Lonappan neither understood nor heard what Scarlet said. "It was me. I did it all alone. The others did nothing wrong. I was the one who messed up with your people in the headquarters. So, yea." Scarlet spoke. "Ah, a sacrificial confessions to save your mates, huh? That''s cute. But that was a wrong move, dude. After all, I can still charge them with harbouring a fugitive and screw them as well." Lonappan gave out a maniacal laugh. It suited him really well. "What the!" Scarlet initially lost his composure, but quickly regained it since he knew that it was all about the mind games right then. "Wait! I forced them into doing it. I forced them to hide me here. I had the Canino hostage as well. So, how about that, huh?" Scarlet asked. Lonappan sighed. "Okay. What you just said¡­ it might''ve made a lot of sense in some other place, but not right here. Why, you ask? Because of the calibre of the men you said you threatened. First of all, there''s my junior, Thankappan. So, I believe in him¡ªscratch that. I believe in his fighting prowess." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Anyhow, other than my junior, there''s someone else capable of destroying walls in that group. No kidding! He thinks cements as some unusable substance when there''s an actual industry that came from it. Anyhow, when there are guys like them, do you think I''d believe what you just said?" He asked. "So, if even I don''t believe what you say, what do you think will happen if you were to post a complaint against me or do some shit like that? It will always backfire on you since you are the ones lying." Scarlet stayed silent for the longest time. He simply didn''t know what to say or do. But finally, he opened his mouth. "What do you want me to do?" He asked. It seemed like he had no choice but to listen to the man. # Chapter 181: Fire of passion Lonappan sighed. He never planned for this to happen. He didn''t think that the Crimson Robber would act so pathetically before him for some people with whom he didn''t even have a week''s contact. While Lonappan couldn''t understand this, he still appreciated this emotion. It meant that he wouldn''t betray the lads if he was caught by the headquarters. "Come on! Are you gonna keep me waiting like this? Just tell me what you want me to do and let''s just put an end to it." Scarlet spoke. "Ha, this wasn''t how it was supposed to go." Lonappan shook his head. "Look here, I''m not here to apprehend you or some shit like that. You still gotta meet up with Ponnappan though. I don''t know what goes in his mind, so I can''t promise anything when it comes to him." He replied. "So, you''re not gonna do anything to me?" Scarlet asked with a slightly relieved expression in his face. "Nah. I don''t find enjoyment in tormenting already defeated people like you." Lonappan replied. "Do I look like that to you?" Scarlet asked. "Kinda, yea. Maybe it''s just how you look. Then, I apologize. That was an insensitive remark on my side." Lonappan bowed his head down. "Ah, no! It''s isn''t my face. It''s just that I felt kinda defeated after what happened." Scarlet replied. "What exactly happened?" Lonappan asked. "Nothing much. Taro landed a blow on me with relative ease. No one had ever done that to me. And this unexplained feeling has been revolving around me ever since then." Scarlet answered. "Ah, the first time you got the taste of defeat, huh? That sure does suck, doesn''t it? I still haven''t accepted my first defeat yet." Lonappan looked afar as he said that. "Your first defeat?" Scarlet was intrigued. He was a sucker for tales and this time wasn''t any different. "You wanna hear about it, huh? Okay. It was against my senior. We have a tradition of naming your junior. However, our line of names sucked. But, here''s the thing. We have a chance to change our names by defeating our seniors, thus setting up a new line of naming system, which could be extremely short lived if you were beaten by your junior." Lonappan spoke. "So, you were defeated in that?" Scarlet asked. "Defeated would be an underestimation. I got my ass handed to me that day. It was a brutally one-sided affair with my senior overwhelming me. I was supposed to be the best of my batch, you know? So, it kinda sucked when people legions lower from me got to choose their names. It''s not my fault that I got that monster as my opponent, you know?" Lonappan cried. "Then, how did you got over it?" Scarlet asked. "I didn''t. I still get raged whenever I see the stupid smiling face of my senior. I''m sure that he''s elated of messing up my name like this. And the match in itself was a sham." Lonappan replied, with a rage clearly forming on his face. "Sham? How come?" Scarlet asked. "Well, I didn''t have literally any time to prepare for him. While other kids had mock battles with their seniors and could strategize beforehand, I got no luxury like that. Even then, if my opponent was literally anyone else, I would''ve won. And that''s the thing that gets my blood boiled." Lonappan replied. "Well, it''s not really a¡ªI said nothing. Don''t mind me." Scarlet quickly shit his mouth as he saw Lonappan''s complexion. "So, what was my point even? Ah, yes! You don''t have to forget about your first defeat. Instead make it the fuel to your fire¡ªthe passion and the strive to get better! Would you be able to do that?" Lonappan asked in a fierce tone. "Sir, yes sir!" Scarlet screamed back. "Are you sure?" Lonappan screamed yet again. "Yes, sir!" Scarlet screamed, with even more grit than before. "Good. Then do that." Lonappan replied. "Scarlet! What''s happening there?" Someone banged the door after hearing all the voices coming from the outside. "It''s nothing!" Scarlet spoke back, but before requesting the person to leave, Lonappan interfered. "This guy! I wanted to meet him as well." Lonappan opened the door at which Thankappan fumbled into the ground. "Heyo, Thankappan!" He waved his hand with a huge smile on his face. "Lonappan." Thankappan looked as if he saw a ghost before him, since he was the person he expected the least to see at that moment. He then turned his attention to the side where he saw Scarlet awkwardly waving his hand. He sighed. He was caught. However, he didn''t want others to get dragged down with him as well. "Yea? You got something to say now after this?" Lonappan asked. "Well, I''m the one-" Thankappan tried taking the blame for the team, but Lonappan stopped him before he could do so. "Stop right there. I know what you''re planning to do right now. Taking the blame, huh? Unfortunately for you, this guy did it already and failed at it pretty spectacularly. So, off with that sacrificial attitude." Lonappan spoke. "Yea. I guess I''ll put an end to it now." Thankappan replied as he nodded his head along. "Hmm, if you are gonna follow through with that word that you gave, it will work out for ya." Lonappan spoke. "I''ll keep that in my mind." Thankappan replied, before shifting the topic. "So, what was happening here?" He asked. "Before I answer that, you lied to me, didn''t you?" Lonappan asked with the tone of disbelief taking the center stage. "About what exactly? You gotta specify certain stuffs. Else, it''s gonna be hard for me to memorize it." Thankappan spoke. "Seems like you''ve been lying way too much these days." Lonappan spoke. "Well, you know our line of field. So, that''s like a necessity here." Thankappan shrugged. "Nah, I''m not talking about that. I was talking about the amount of times you lied to me, you shithead!" Lonappan cried as Thankappan gave out a sly smile. "Ha, I just can''t say every single thing to you, can I?" Thankappan sighed before regaining his composure. "Anyway, screw that. What exactly did I lie to you?" He asked. "About not knowing the Crimson Robber. You were my first suspect. I mean, you sounded nervous." Lonappan replied. "Shit, you noticed my momentary hesitation, huh?" Thankappan clicked his tongue as he silently cursed himself. "How could I not? It was way too obvious." Lonappan spoke. "Hmm, I see. I''ll develop it soon. So, yea¡­ Who was the second suspect then?" Thankappan asked. "Well, it wouldn''t technically be right to call him a suspect, since he''s been really helpful to me. So, I consider him as an informant more than anything." Lonappan spoke. "It''s the dog, isn''t it? Of course it is. Who else could possibly be your informant in our batch?" Thankappan asked. "Ding, ding! You''re right about that!" Lonappan gave his junior a round of applause. "Mark this down. I''mma kill that dog with my own hands someday and it will be a treat to behold¡­ For me at least." Thankappan gave out a sinister smile as he said that. "Calm down, dude! You''re planning way ahead at this point." Lonappan spoke. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Scarlet, who went silent for the last quarter of the stretch, asked to Lonappan. "Shoot." "So, by some off chance, was your senior, Ponnappan, the commanding officer of your base?" Scarlet asked. "If you thought so, then you thought right. Ponnappan was the one I couldn''t beat and that still pains me." Lonappan replied. "Then, wait a minute. That means¡­ you were able to defeat Thankappan?" Scarlet asked. "Now, where did that theory spring up from?" Lonappan asked. "Well, weren''t you the one who said that you gotta continue with the name given by your senior if you got beaten up? So I thought Thankappan was in that section of people as well. Is he not?" Scarlet asked. "Ah, I guess that causes a bit of confusion. For him, the name is a temporary one. He hasn''t had that fight against me yet. Only then will a name be permanent, which will most likely be soon enough." Lonappan replied. "We''ll see what happens, dude! I''m gonna win this time around." Thankappan scoffed as he said that. "Let''s see. There''s still a long way to go to get there." Lonappan replied. "By the way, Ponnappan asked for you to tag along Scarlet as well." He spoke. "Wait, what? What just happened?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, Ponnappan called for him since he''s interested in certain things." Lonappan replied. "Then what about me? Why do I have to tag along?" Thankappan asked. "Well, I feel like you might know the reason for that. If not, then Ponnappan will explain the reason to you. You don''t have nothing to worry about, I promise." Lonappan assured him. "Dude, it gets heavy when you speak like that. Just speak normally now, can ya?" Thankappan asked. "Nah, my thing is to scare the shit out of you. Why would I not do that, huh?" Lonappan laughed like a madman to which Thankappan could only helplessly watch. # Chapter 182: Ponnappan is waiting "You ready?" Thankappan asked Scarlet who was staring at the mirror for some reason. "Yea, let''s go." Scarlet replied as he walked out of the bathroom. Since John was forced to go on a cold case due to unknown reasons, Scarlet was able to freely roam around in the house. He knew that once he goes to the MIB base, this short term privilege will be lost. So, instead of outright heading to Snehatheeram with Thankappan, he loitered around the house, snooping at every nook and cranny. "We''re gonna be late, you know?" Thankappan spoke. "Well, they didn''t give us a fixed time, so why worry about something like that?" Scarlet asked. "Huh, you''re right. Maybe it''s just my behavioral pattern that''s making me do this. Take your time then. We''ll go slow this time." Thankappan smiled as he replied. "Yea, Ponnappan wanted you there by an hour. And now you''re already late. I wonder what he''ll do now." A voice came from behind. It was Lonappan. "What? I never got any info like that!" Thankappan screeched. "Really? Then what did I send right here?" Lonappan asked as he shoved the smartphone before them. "Huh? You never sent the message." Thankappan replied after looking at the phone for a good few minutes "What!? Let me see." Lonappan unshoved the phone and looked carefully at the message. That was when he realised that he never switched on the internet last night. "Seems like I made a mistake there. Oops." He shrugged as if he couldn''t help but mess with them. "You! At least call him and say that it''s your fault and not ours." Thankappan looked frustrated as he ditched his shoes and wore sandals instead because of the hectic nature. "Now why would I do that?" Lonappan asked. "Why? Because you were the one who committed the mistake. So you''re the one who should clear up the mess as well." Thankappan spoke. "Humm. That does make sense. But I really don''t feel like doing it. I just don''t." Lonappan replied simply by pouting. "What''s wrong with you, dude? You''re being really weird, you know that?" If Thankappan looked frustrated before, he was full-on enraged now. He was not in the mood for playing games, so this seriously annoyed him. "I know. I just wanna see that despair on your face." Lonappan smiled like a crazy guy. "You know what? Fuck you, that''s what. I just don''t know why I thought you would do shit." Thankappan walked off after saying that. Scarlet, who had no idea what to say, alternatively looked at both of them, before silently following Thankappan. "I prepared an auto for you. I paid for it as well. So, if you''d be so kind to get in that auto, it''d be great." Lonappan shouted. Thankappan couldn''t believe in anything Lonappan said. So naturally, he thought that his senior was messing with him as he said that. He thought that maybe Lonappan brought some messed up autorickshaw intentionally to get him late. "As I said before, fuck you and fuck the damn auto you brought as well!" Thankappan spoke as he swung the door open. "Dang, that was a bit harsh." The voice didn''t came from behind this time around, instead it was from right before him. And the person sounded a bit hurt by the remark. "Gopan! Were you the one that Lonappan called?" Thankappan sounded a bit surprised. "Well, like he said that you guys were in a hurry and there''s no one better than me to get you there as quick as possible." Gopan replied. But the disappointment still hadn''t left his voice. "Is that so? I apologise for the remark. It was simply a jab meant for Lonappan and instead it hit you." Thankappan sounded sincere as he said it, so Gopan quickly accepted the apology. "I guess I can''t take it personally then." Gopan shrugged. "Let''s go, shall we?" He asked, without dwelling another second in the conversation. "Yup." Thankappan nodded his head and quickly got to the auto. # "We''re here!" Roughly forty-five minutes later, Gopan exclaimed. It was a rough ride. However, they went fast¡ªreally fast. They were really lucky that they didn''t get a speeding ticket for the rush that they did. Anyhow, they got a bit nauseated after the lengthy journey. However, they had something to overcome now. "By the way, why the hell are you even going here? Are you two going on a double date or something?" Gopan gave out a sly smile. "Ah, it''s nothing like that." Thankappan tried stopping Gopan from speculating, but that just lead to more misunderstandings. "Ah, I''m sorry. I shouldn''t have said that. After all, you two might be on a date with each other after all. Look, don''t be afraid or anything. I''m not against same sex relationships and stuff. I''ll be rooting for you two even if others don''t." Gopan spoke with the brightest smile on his face. "It''s not like¡ªfuck it. Thanks man." Thankappan didn''t even try to refute anymore. He didn''t want to waste any time in pointless conversations. "No probs. Tell me if you two need any help. I''ll be happy to help. The marriage laws for same sex is a bit of a hit topic around here, but activists of WPP like me are trying our hardest to get the bill passed in the parliament. So don''t worry." Gopan spoke. "Ah, thanks. You guys are the ray of hope for people like us." Thankappan gave out a fake smile to get out of the situation. "Okay then. See you later." Gopan continued smiling and waving as he left the premises. "Oh, thank goodness. Now let''s go to the base." Thankappan took the lead after Gopan left. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Scarlet spoke. "Well, if it is about what I said to Gopan, then let me tell you, I haven''t thought of it yet." He replied. "What do you mean?" Scarlet asked. "I mean, I haven''t thought of my sexual orientation or stuff like that. So, identify me as tank for all that matters." Thankappan spoke. "It''s a first for me that someone asked to identify them as a freaking tank." Scarlet chuckled. "Well, it''s kinda like a lame meme on Earth, so yea." Thankappan shrugged. "By the way, where exactly is the MIB base?" Scarlet asked. "You see the hut there?" Thankappan pointed to the distance. "Yea. From there?" The Crimsoner asked. "Hmm?" "Wait a minute-" "Yup. That''s the base." Thankappan smile. "My goodness. I sure didn''t expect that." Scarlet spoke in awe. "Ha, you''re gonna be even more surprised once you saw the interior." Thankappan smiled. # "You were right. I''m honestly surprised." Scarlet spoke as he looked around in pure elation. "Haha, I knew it. Majestic, isn''t it?" Thankappan asked. "Well, majestic would be an overstatement. But, it sure is something spacious. Like really spacious and clean." Scarlet replied. "Ah, that''s an apt description, I guess." Thankappan shrugged. "It''s a perfect hideout, though. I mean who expects a top secret base to be a hut¡­ Well, if someone knew about the super secret organization, then maybe they would think of that. But other than that, it''s no use raking your brain." He spoke. "The explanation felt weird, but I feel the sentiment." Scarlet replied. "Then that''s all that matters." Thankappan replied. "Yo, Thankappan!" Someone called for him from the sides. "Hey, Rocky! How are you doing, my man?" Thankappan gave out a really casual greeting. "I''m fine, dude. By the way, is that the person?" Rocky asked. "Ah, yea. Meet Scarlet. My friend. Scarlet, this is my other friend, Rocky." Thankappan spoke. "Oh, hi." Scarlet greeted first. "Hi." Rocky greeted back. However, the atmosphere grew extremely stale after the greetings exchange. And Rocky felt it pretty soon and wanted to avoid an awkward staredown down the road. "So, I heard the boss is calling for you two." He spoke. "How does he look right now?" Thankappan asked. "The one who served tea to him said that he looked dead serious. Also, he was mumbling something. So, I don''t think the situation''s that good." Rocky spoke. "Is that so? Maybe we should come some other time." Thankappan was literally about to turn back before Rocky got a firm grip on him. Soon enough, it wasn''t just Rocky, the whole place who had trapped them. "What the hell is this?" A surprised Thankappan. "You don''t have permission to leave." Rocky spoke. "What the-" "We simply don''t wanna incur the boss''s wrath. Who knows what happens if you were to go from here scot-free?" Rocky sighed. "Dude! Unfair!" Thankappan cried but if fall on deaf ears. "I''mma tell you something else too. Outside this place right now, there''s this guy named John. You know what''ll happen if he comes to remember something, right?" Rocky asked. "Okay. Leave me alone, will ya? I''ll head towards the boss." It took for him to say that before they left him alone. However, they still didn''t believe him completely and had few people following him like a bodyguard until Ponnappan''s room. After careful consideration and reconsideration, he finally opened the door. # Chapter 183: Menacing Even though he opened the door, Thankappan was still hesitant to actually get in. Unlike Lonappan, he didn''t have a great relationship with Ponnappan. What they shared was a working relationship where Thankappan took Ponnappan''s orders, no matter what or how shitty it was. That was the life of the junior agent. Although the Ponnappan he saw with Lonappan seemed extremely friendly and approachable, he was still the commanding officer of the MIB: Snehatheeram base. So, Thankappan was extremely worried since he just committed treason now that he thought about it. After all, he just helped an alien pursued by the MIB HQ. He was slightly worried about the consequences. "Aren''t you gonna come in?" Ponnappan asked from the inside. Thankappan hadn''t even completely opened the door yet, so he was surprised that Ponnappan knew that it was him. "Ah, yes sir." Thankappan broke out of his trance and got inside Ponnappan''s office. "Hello there." Ponnappan flashed a smile. "General Ponnappan." Thankappan gave out a smile as well. "Huh, I''m the commanding officer though. Clearly you forgot the hierarchical system of the MIB, didn''t you?" Ponnappan sounded a bit grumpy. "Oh, I thought we were referencing iconic movie lines, so¡­ I apologize, Commanding officer Ponnappan." The junior agent was quick to apologize. "Sheesh, don''t go apologizing so quickly now. I was simply joking." Ponnappan shrugged. "I see. My apology wasn''t a joke, sir." Thankappan replied. "My goodness. Chill for a bit now, will ya?" Ponnappan sighed. Since that didn''t seem possible, he shifted his attention from the stiff Thankappan to the person beside him. "Oh, so you are the elusive Crimson Robber, aren''t you?" He asked. "You can call me Scarlet." Scarlet replied. "Oh, then you can call me Ponnappan as well. Nice to meet you, Scarlet." Ponnappan extended a hand to shake hands, but Scarlet simply stared at the extended hand without making a single noise. This brought forth an awkward atmosphere, so Ponnappan retracted his hand quietly. That''s when Scarlet snapped back into reality. "Oh, I''m sorry! I didn''t mean to do that. I simply was fascinated by the greetings humans does that I actually forgot to greet back." He shrugged. "Ah, no worries. I didn''t feel awkward at all." Ponnappan gave out a really dry chuckle. "By the way, if you felt weirded out or awkward by the way we greet each other, do tell me. We''ll do it your way¡ªalthough, I really don''t know how you greet people though. How is it?" He asked. "Crimsoner''s greeting?" Scarlet asked to which Ponnappan nodded his head. "Oh, we lick tongues as a form of greeting." He replied. Ponnappan looked baffled. He didn''t know how to take in what Scarlet just said. "Okay, let me just process what I heard right now. So, you smack lips when you see someone, right? That''s what you mean by licking, right?" He asked, hoping that would be the case. After all, that was the least disgusting of all the actions that he thought of. "Nah, we lick each other''s tongues." Scarlet spoke. "Okay, so you french each other, right?" Ponnappan asked. "French?" Scarlet looked confused as he heard that. "Ah, it''s a kiss that involves both tongue and lips." Ponnappan explained. "Eww, we don''t kiss every random stranger we meet on road. That''s weird as hell!" Scarlet cried. "Oh, thank God!" Ponnappan sighed in relief as he heard that, but he still had that one question lingering around in his mind. "Then what did you even mean by licking tongues? Is there any machine or something that''s named tongue that you lick or something?" He asked. "Nah, it just mean what I said. We open our mouths, protrude our tongues out and lick it. It''s simple as that." Scarlet replied. "My goodness. That''s even more disgusting that a normal French kiss." Ponnappan thought as he pictured the horrifying scene. "You know what? We can skip the greetings part. It''ll be better that way." He chuckled nervously. "Oh, I see. It looks like you felt a bit uncomfortable by my explanation. Tell me, is that so?" Scarlet asked. "Well¡­" Ponnappan had a difficult time telling the truth since he thought that it would offend Scarlet. However, the other guy didn''t give a damn about offending Scarlet. "Uncomfortable? We''re straight up disgusted by it. I mean, licking tongues¡­ Eww!" Thankappan showed a gagging expression as he said it. "Oh, come on! It''s not like your handshake thing is not obscene." Scarlet shrugged. "What do you mean?" Thankappan asked. "Just head to the Minoko planet when you get to venture in space and give them your handshakes." Scarlet spoke. "Okay, what does a handshake mean in that planet?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, they have coitus with their hands." Scarlet replied. "Eww, that''s disgusting as well." Thankappan continued with his gagging expression. "If that''s disgusting, what would that make you, who tried to shake hands of random people?" Scarlet asked. "Ha¡­ That would make me a disgusting human being too, wouldn''t it?" Thankappan sighed. "Exactly. Clashes of cultures is a thing. So, don''t outright call something disgusting, because you''ll be called disgusting by someone using the same loophole as well." Scarlet spoke. "Ah, I apologize. I shouldn''t have said that." Thankappan apologized for the second time in a few minutes. "I wasn''t looking for an apology. It''s just a friendly reminder." Scarlet replied. "Yea, dude! You gotta stop with the apologizing shtick. You''re apologizing way too often to the point that it sound weird." Ponnappan added in. "But I just apologized two times though." Thankappan looked confused when he heard the boss say that. "Two times in a five minute chat is way too much to begin with, don''t you think?" Ponnappan asked. "I guess?" Thankappan replied. "Then stop doing that." Ponnappan ordered. "Okay, I''ll try my best not to say sorry again." Thankappan answered. "Cool, then shall we talk about the reason I brought you two here?" Ponnappan asked with a smile on his face. # The awkward atmosphere that left the room after the brief interaction between the three went back up once Ponnappan started talking about the reason. The two didn''t want to talk about it once the commanding officer glanced at both, hoping that they would actively reply once he broke the ice. However, now that it seemed as if that wasn''t the case, he decided to helm the conversation himself. "So, Scarlet. Did you have fun messing with the MIB HQ guys? You destroyed their ship too, didn''t you? To think that the HQ wasn''t able to get a hold of you¡ªthat means, you''re pretty sneaky, aren''t you?" Ponnappan asked, however no reply came from Scarlet''s part. Seeing how unresponsive the Crimsoner was, Ponnappan decided to turn his attention towards Thankappan. "Thankappan! You''ll reply, right? How did it feel, harboring a fugitive in a house of which the rent is fully paid by the MIB, huh? Was it fun playing hide and seek that way? Were the other aliens involved in this as well? Of course they are, aren''t they?" The commanding officer had no chill as he said that. ¡­ Neither of them talked. If the previous scenario was cheerful, this one was straight up nightmare level for the both. It wasn''t scary per se appearance-wise. His words were simply menacing. "Oh, come on! Am I gonna be the only one talking in this entire scene. Although, I like talking way too much, I don''t really wanna talk the entire time when you two have an exciting tale to tell. Now, tell me." Ponnappan sat up like he was waiting for them to speak. However, even after that, neither of them spoke and this made him really frustrated. "I see. So, you''re not gonna talk now, are you? You''re making me resort to harsh tactics, you know?" He spoke. Even that warning didn''t seem to have any impact on the both of them, so he just went with it. "Okay, if I just hand Scarlet over to the HQ, with all the legalities and stuff definitely against you, you would be imprisoned in a closed chamber for the rest of the eternity." He glanced straight into Scarlet''s eyes as he spoke that. It slightly flinched once and that was enough for Ponnappan at that moment. So, he turned his attention back to his subordinate. "Now, you. For hiding a wanted criminal in a high profile area as one of the MIB residency, you''d have your ass served on a plate. I mean, the HQ will be really angry, won''t they? I mean, Scarlet was hidden by one of their own. Such a betrayal¡­ It''s highly possible that you''ll be fired with your memories wiped out and imprisoned. Or, you''ll be straight up taken out. You know our council, right? There''s no such thing as human rights in this little group of ours. So, no one''s gonna plea against the council or ask them to reduce your sentence. You know that, right? Hmm, whatever will you do now?" Ponnappan asked with a sinister smile on his face. "We''ll speak. We''ll speak, alright." Thankappan finally succumbed under pressure, which made the commanding officer even more elated. # Chapter 184: A Small Dream After Ponnappan had his little talk with Thankappan and Scarlet, both of them told the entire sequence of events that happened all these days. "Ha, you guys¡­ are totally stupid! I mean, you already live on the edge with John living with you and you took an unnecessary risk like this? You know what would''ve happened if John was the one who found the truth first? Well, I don''t have to particularly speak about it now, do I? I mean, you know it already, right? It''d mean the end of this base as a whole. So, why? Why take such a big risk, huh?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, we weren''t meaning to take such a risk. It just¡­ happened. I mean, everything was going way too fast that we didn''t get a chance to think it through and we made the wrong decision. But at least, we didn''t get caught. So, that''s a plus." Thankappan smiled a bit, but took the smile when he saw the grim face of the commanding officer. "See, this kind of behavior. My God, does this kind of behavior pisses the hell out of me! I mean, you escaped barely and it wasn''t due to your skill or strength. Instead, it was pure luck and a what if scenario. If that isn''t the most ridiculous thing that I''ve ever heard, I don''t know what is." Ponnappan sighed. "I''ve seen an almost fifty year old man jumping from a thirty foot structure, so¡­" Thankappan shrugged. "Oh, come on! We''re not competing about which is the most ridiculous feat. We''re talking about your idiocy here." Ponnappan sounded frustrated as he said it. "Yea, I understand that. I just saw more ridiculous things than it, so I wanted to talk about it." Thankappan replied. "Also, we relied on Scarlet''s skill all that time. You know that the Crimson Robber can disappear, right? So, the statement that we didn''t have a skill to rely on is just bogus." He spoke. "Hmm, he does have that skill. However, how did you assess that it would be a hundred percent effective against someone like John. He''s a seasoned veteran, you know? I''m sure he noticed at least something, right?" Ponnappan asked. "That he did." Thankappan nodded his head. "See? What did I tell ya? I knew it. Too dangerous around that man. That was too huge of a gamble." Ponnappan spoke. "Then¡­ What are you gonna do now?" Thankappan calmly asked. "It''s not me who should do something now, right? It''s you. What do YOU plan to do, huh?" Ponnappan asked back. "Okay, that''s weird. I thought when you badmouthed us, you would have some sort of brilliant plan. It seems like you have none of it." Thankappan shrugged as he gave out a disappointed look. "Hey! Shut your trap. I¡­ have¡­ plans, okay?" Ponnappan defended himself, but he sure didn''t sound convincing as he said those words. "I see. What are your brilliant plans then?" Thankappan asked. "You see, they aren''t much of a brilliant plan, but I do have some ideas." Ponnappan replied. "Fine. What''s your overly underwhelming ideas?" Thankappan asked, forgetting all about the tense atmosphere he felt moments ago as he started dominating the conversation. "Well, you see¡­ How about we look after Scarlet in this high spec facility of ours? It''d be great, right?" Ponnappan asked. "So, you mean to imprison Scarlet in our base, huh?" Thankappan asked. "Oh, I didn''t mean it like¡ªwait a minute! Why not? We could just imprison him! After all, he''s got a bounty on him." Ponnappan smiled. Thankappan sighed. "I don''t understand you at all. At one point, it seemed like you wanted to help out Scarlet and now it seems like you wanna give him to the HQ. Which part is the real one?" He asked. "Ah, you''re taking my words in the wrong way. Our base is gonna be the last place they''re gonna check for Scarlet. So, he''d be pretty safe in here. I give you my word on that." Ponnappan replied. "Okay, before I say why that isn''t such a good plan, let me ask you one thing. Why?" Thankappan asked. "Why what?" Ponnappan asked. "Why are you so keen about going against our HQ? I never knew you were so anti-HQ. Don''t tell me, are we some terrorist organization that''s working undercover planning to overthrow the structural integrity of this world?" Thankappan asked back with a doubtful look on his face. He knew that wouldn''t be the case, however there''s no other way to make sure. "Hmm, what do you mean terrorist?" Ponnappan countered with another question of his own. "Pardon?" "Define terrorist for me." The commanding officer commanded. "Terrorist, huh? According to the internet browser I have searched it on, terrorist is a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. Why did you ask?" Thankappan asked. "Emphasis on the against civilians part. Let me ask you something. Did any of our actions hurt normal civilians?" He posed another question in this constant back and forth of questions. "Well, there''s the time with Taro in the tournament. And then there''s another time with Taro where we barely escaped a dangerous turmoil. Dang, most of the civilian endangering moments happened ever since Taro came into the scene, huh?" Thankappan realized the common pattern of this. "Ha, he''s an anomaly trying his hardest to lead a normal life. Leaving him aside, did our base deliberately do something to endanger people?" Ponnappan asked. "Not that I know of." Thankappan replied. "Okay, that''s great. Then what about MIB as a whole? Have they done something to endanger people?" He asked. "Hmm, I simply can''t look into all the mishaps and scandals caused by the entirety of MIB. I neither have the time to do it nor wanna spend my efforts to find such things." Thankappan bluntly replied. "Understandable. Then I''ll decrease the radius quite a bit. How about our HQ? What do you think about them?" Ponnappan continued with his questions. "They are pretty much ideal, aren''t they? I mean, perfect records, great agents. I mean, I was trying my hardest to get into the HQ, before¡­" Thankappan quickly shut his mouth once he realized what he was about to say. "I know that you were touted to get to the HQ, but were sent to us because of some incident and your Keralite lineage. You don''t have to hide it or anything. I do have a little bit of an access as the commanding officer. Not much as to get the info on what that incident was, but enough to know about your aspirations, at least. And don''t worry. I''m not gonna ask about the incident. But do tell me when you feel comfortable with it. I mean, I like stories." Ponnappan shrugged. "Someday¡­ Someday¡­" Thankappan mumbled. "Anyhow, what was your point with asking me about the HQ?" He asked. "Well, they did put up a nice front before everyone, didn''t they?" Ponnappan asked. "What do you mean?" Thankappan asked. "You know, you don''t have to act like you don''t know anything. I mean, the aliens have told you about it, right? I hate to quote the old fart, but Chinnappan was right. The MIB colluded with the world leaders and sold out this planet." The pain in the commanding officer''s face was obvious as he said it. "You finally acknowledged it, huh?" Thankappan mumbled. "With all the evidences right before me, how couldn''t I?" Ponnappan asked. "So, what''s up with saving Scarlet from them? Is it some sort of rebellious statement against them? Or are you trying to gain the trust from the aliens so that you can have them on your side when you fight against the HQ?" Thankappan asked. "Oh, believe me when I say this, I don''t have that big of an aspiration. I just have one thought in my mind." Ponnappan replied. "And that would be?" "Hey, Thankappan. You know what MIB stands for, right?" Ponnappan asked out of nowhere. "Men in Black, right?" Thankappan answered. "Ah, I wasn''t asking for the full form. I meant the ideal. What''s the ideal behind our organization?" He rephrased the question. "Well, we are a secret organization that protects the right of humans and aliens and keep the balance of the world." Thankappan replied. "That! Protecting the right of aliens. Have we been able to do this?" Ponnappan questioned. "What do you mean?" Thankappan asked. "Forcefully confiscating their ships, handing them cheap translators and grabbing hold of theirs, keeping them under high surveillance and not allowing them to leave this planet. If this is how we protect alien rights, then we don''t really know the meaning of the word oppression. I mean, it''s surprising how calm the aliens are with this treatment. If it was me, I''d have went against the people of this planet." Ponnappan sighed. "So, here''s the thing. I may not be able to create waves on a grander stage, but I''d like to protect this planet and every being residing in it¡ªwhether that be humans or aliens. And I believe that this one thing would help a lot into this small dream of mine." He answered. # Chapter 185: A Productive Conversation "Man, I did not think that you''d have such noble thoughts!" Thankappan replied. "Ha! Surprised?" Ponnappan smirked. "Well, when I said I didn''t think so, I meant I still don''t think that you would have such noble thoughts. So, what''s up? Why are you acting like this, huh?" Thankappan asked. "What do you mean? This is no act! It''s my honest belief." Ponnappan replied. "Sure, man. If that''s how you wanna put it as. I''ll act as if I believe your words." Thankappan replied. Ponnappan sighed. "I just can''t make you think otherwise, huh?" "There are reasons behind my belief. So, yea. You can''t." Thankappan replied. "And what would that reason be?" Ponnappan asked, slightly curious about it. "You see, why would YOU, the embodiment of loyalty towards the MIB do something like this. I mean, in my entire tenure in this base, I''ve never seen you do something like this. I mean, you''re pro-MIB, right? I feel like it''s an elaborate setup for something rather than a simple dream." Thankappan spoke his mind. "Hmm, that is where you went wrong. Haven''t done anything like this, you say? What about Ajish''s spare parts shop, huh? It''s an illegal establishment in MIB''s eyes, isn''t it? So, that directly contradicts your statement." Ponnappan shrugged. "That''s different." The junior agent replied. "How come? It literally goes against what you said. So, why is that any different from what I''m trying to do?" The commanding officer asked. "Well, I''ll agree with one thing. Ajish''s shop is very anti-MIB of you. However, think about it. You have nothing to lose by supporting such an establishment. Rather, you gain something by this transaction. I mean, gaining alien tech is certainly a good deal, isn''t it?" Thankappan paused for a while before continuing. "However, this scenario doesn''t benefit you in any way, shape or form, which makes me think¡­ Why? Why would the commanding officer, an ultimate opportunist, do something like this? What is there for him to gain?" He posed another question before him. Ponnappan sighed yet again after hearing this. "Okay, let me see. First, you accuse me of being pro-MIB. Then, you accuse me of doing something anti-MIB, saying that I have a cash grabbing mentality. And now, you accuse me of having an anti-MIB mentality, saying that I have some kind of ulterior motive for doing something my heart asks me to do. Now tell me, how am I supposed to take your words seriously and give you a proper answer? I mean, you''ll find some wonky counter for that as well, won''t you?" He asked. "Well¡­" Thankappan shrugged, since he was planning to do exactly that. "So, yea. Believe me if you wanna. I don''t really care. It''s your choice to, after all." Ponnappan replied. The junior agent thought for a while before replying. "Just this once. I''m gonna listen to what you have to say just this once. Hell, you could''ve just placed an order on me to listen and I would''ve, now that I think about it." He spoke. "Nah, I didn''t want your attention that way. I wanted you to listen me for real, rather than bearing a grudge against me for listening something I asked you to listen." Ponnappan spoke. "The more you say shit like this, the more suspicious I get of your actions. So, let''s skip over it and speak about the important stuff." Thankappan suggested. "Ah, yes. Let''s do that." Ponnappan nodded his head in agreement. "By the way, just a few minutes ago, why did you say that having Scarlet under our protection here isn''t practical?" He asked. "Ha, you know about Scarlet''s skill, right?" Thankappan asked. "The invisibility one? Yes. The Glomerans were pretty quick in giving his profile." Ponnappan replied. "I see. Anyway, that''s the reason." Thankappan replied. "What is?" "That he is invisible." Ponnappan looked baffled as he heard the reply. "How would that be a problem?" He asked. "He could escape your facility at any given time if he wants to." Thankappan replied. "Hey! I''m not gonna-" Scarlet tried defending himself, however before he could do so, Thankappan interjected. "I know that. However, our commanding officer here isn''t someone who trusts people that easily." He replied. "Where did you even come to know about stuff like this?" Ponnappan asked, showing off a bizarre expression. "Ah, I got a profile on you before I came here. It said quite extensively about your behavioral pattern." Thankappan replied. "So, what you''re saying is that everything you judged me off of is from some profile that you read about me, which was written by MIB officials, right?" Ponnappan asked, to which Thankappan nodded his head. "No wonder why you thought of me like that. I acted as the loyal version before them so that they won''t sketch me. I never thought that you would believe in something like that after spending months here." He replied. "Well, I don''t easily trust people either." Thankappan spoke. "But you trust reports made by people?" The commanding officer asked. "¡­ It seems stupid, doesn''t it?" Thankappan sighed. "But at that point, I trusted MIB more than you because of obvious reasons, so you gotta understand that." He replied. "Yea, yea. I get it. I''m not gonna poke on it any further." Ponnappan replied. "Anyhow, the profile on me was right about one thing. I don''t trust people. So, yea. I would always have this feeling that Scarlet might escape if we are to hold him here. Then, what''s the alternative? Should we put in a special chamber in which he won''t be able to escape from?" He asked. "Hey! You''re fighting for the alien rights. Do you think solitary confinement is the way to go?" Thankappan asked. "Not really. But what other option do we have?" The commanding officer was baffled at this point. "I see no way other than this one singular path." Thankappan spoke. "And what would that singular path be?" Ponnappan asked as he tipped off his chair from curiosity. "Let him stay in the Holy Land." Thankappan proclaimed. # Ponnappan sighed and sat back as he heard Thankappan''s words. "So, what makes you think that I won''t get your obvious ploy, huh? I mean, I''m totally fine with it. However, you lot are not on the totally trustworthy level yet. And hence, I believe that you''ll screw me over one way or the other." He spoke. "Okay, I can explain the reason. Won''t you listen to that?" Thankappan asked. "Shoot." "We have a method to find him." Thankappan made another bold proclamation. Ponnappan stared at him. "Do you even know what you just said? Even the HQ can''t sense this guy if he wants to just disappear. And yet, YOU have a method that could find him?" He asked, with a clear doubt on his face. "Yes. That''s exactly what I said." Thankappan nodded his head. "Then what is it? Your brilliant plan to find Scarlet even when he is invisible." Ponnappan asked. "Taro." "Huh?" "The Wadorian can actually sense Scarlet even when he is at a certain distance away from him." Thankappan replied. Ponnappan suddenly went on a laughing fit. "Great! Fucking great! So you''re gonna make an atom bomb keep check on a grenade, huh? That''s the most bizarre thing that I''ve heard." He continued laughing as he said it. "I wasn''t kidding though. He''s the only one capable of doing it. So, why not use him? I mean, it''s not like you have a bad relationship with the Wadorian these days." Thankappan shrugged. "Hmm, although you made an incredibly unconvincing argument, I''m gonna go with it because I feel like Taro will have fun with it." Ponnappan spoke. "I don''t think so, but he''ll do a good job with it." Thankappan replied. "Ah, I agree with you on that." Ponnappan smirked. "So, yea. That''s it. I really didn''t have much to ask to either of you. It''s made to look as if I''m interrogating the both of you, but I just wanted to have an honest talk with you two. And I''m glad that I could have that." He replied. "Likewise." Thankappan gave out a small salute as he got up. "And Scarlet¡­. Have fun on Earth, I guess." Ponnappan gave out a pleasant smile as he went face to face with the Crimsoner. "Ah, I''ll try my best to do that." Scarlet replied, giving out an incredibly nervous laughter. This entire conversation was particularly nerve wracking for him since he wasn''t involved in it for even a single moment other than the time they wanted some opinion from him. And most of the time, his opinion held weight and he hated that. So, now that he was finally able to leave this conversation, he felt relieved. He felt like he never wanted to return back to this base if he were to be treated like a third wheel of a conversation again. And with that, Thankappan and Scarlet left the base and set out for the Holy Land. Ponnappan heaved in a sigh of relief. He felt like he had one of the toughest yet productive conversations and hence he was satisfied by it. "Dang, never knew you thought like this." A man emerged from the dark corner of the room saying those words. It was Lonappan. # Chapter 186: A lie on top of a lie "What do you mean?" Ponnappan gave out a weird look towards Lonappan. "You know exactly what I mean. Alien rights and that sort of bullshit. As if you care about something like that." Lonappan had a hearty laugh after that. "Hey! A man could change, you know?" Ponnappan pouted, an expression which didn''t cute at all on his face. "Maybe. But the guy I know for all these years can''t." Lonappan replied. "Look, I even started believing in Chinnappan''s conspiracy theory. What else do you want me to do?" The commanding officer asked. "Well, you knew deep down in your heart that the MIB and the world leaders sold out our world to step into the galaxy and for further possibilities. You just weren''t ready yet to accept that fact. But now that you saw the evidence of it, you have no choice but to believe in it. It wasn''t your choice, but your necessity." Lonappan spoke. Ponnappan sighed. "Even so, I adapted to it, right? I didn''t sulk like some shitty guy and took action for the survival." "What? Saving one alien from punishment is integral for our survival?" Lonappan asked. "You have no idea, dude! You have no idea¡­" Ponnappan muttered. "See? I knew you had some ulterior motives other than the bullshit you were spewing. Hell, even the kid caught your bullshit!" Lonappan spoke. "And yet he chose to believe in me." Ponnappan had a proud tone in his speech. "Of course he will believe in you even after knowing that literally every single word that came from your mouth was crap. Why? Because you are our leader. So, no matter what kind of shitty decision you take, we''ll all be sinking together alongside you. Therefore, we kinda have no choice but to believe in you. Ah, the agony of being your subordinate!" Lonappan shook his head in dismay. "You could always betray me and become a spy for the HQ. That way, you can get out scot free when we get caught for our antics." Ponnappan shrugged. "Nah, I hate the MIB HQ as well. Not for the selling out Earth shit, but for other reasons." Lonappan replied. "It''s the kid, isn''t he? My, oh my! I never thought that my junior will actually feel empathy for someone else." Ponnappan chuckled. "Well, the dungeon is a shitty place and shouldn''t exist. Remember how he was when he was assigned to me? The situation was pathetic. I don''t what made him so, but some shit surely happened during the time he spent in the dungeon. And only now did he finally came out of his shell. He cares about these aliens. Standing by him is the least I could do as his senior." Lonappan replied. "Dang, I was making fun of you when I said about the empathy thing. But I never expected for you to actually care about him. I still remember how reluctant you were when I assigned him to you. You sure came a long way since then." Ponnappan looked proudly at his subordinate. "He''s actually pretty smart, you know? Way smarter and capable than both of us combined. He might do some stupid shit at times, but he would play an important factor in whatever you''re planning. There''s no doubt in that." Lonappan replied. "What do you think I''m planning?" The commanding officer asked, curious about what his subordinate thought. "You said that you were thinking in a really small scale. And that makes me believe that what you''re planning is in a large scale¡­ Pardon, a gigantic scale, to be exact. You''re actually planning to drive out the Glomeran forces when the time comes, aren''t you?" Lonappan asked. "Oh, come on! How are we supposed to do that?" Ponnappan chuckled. "Taro and the entirety of the Holy Land and that group from the other day; also that woman¡­ You''ve made quite a nice number of allies. Although, this might not be a number fit for a massive war, the number is steadily increasing, so¡­" Lonappan left the rest of the sentence to his senior''s imagination. "Dang, I actually like your vivid imagination that could actually predict what I''m planning." Ponnappan smirked. "How did you know?" He asked. "Been around you for a long time to know that you look at the big picture." Lonappan shrugged. "Hmm, the squad we have right now is too little. That''s why I didn''t want Scarlet to lose his shit and do the heist again right after his previous one. Even though the minions of the HQ can''t catch him, the main guys in charge could sense his presence if they''re specially looking out for him. He needs practice. I''d like it if his presence is concealed to the point that even Taro doesn''t catch a sniff of it." Ponnappan replied. "That''s gonna be a long and tedious path." Lonappan got chills even as he thought of it. "It certainly will be. But, he''ll do it. I feel like he''ll do it." Ponnappan assured him. "Well, that''d be great." Lonappan replied. "By the way, why didn''t you say the truth to the kid? I mean, he''s the first one to collude with the aliens. He''s certainly on our side on this affair as well. So, why?" He asked. "I know that. In fact, I''m banking on the kid to convince the Holy Land lads when time comes. I mean, I don''t think you have that sort of influence on those aliens now, do you?" Ponnappan asked back. "Not really. I guess it''s because he''s living with them, but he really has a tight knitted relationship with the aliens." Lonappan replied. "If simply living with them was enough to build a trustworthy relationship with them, then John would''ve been able to do that as well. Don''t discredit the kid''s strengths. He has this special sort of charm that attracts people. I felt it. And probably you have as well." Ponnappan replied. "That''s some high praises that I hear from you. I mean, even I haven''t heard such praises." Lonappan chuckled. "Well, you can''t sing praises of someone right before them, can you? It will make them conceited. And one thing you should never be is conceited. It ruins people." Ponnappan replied. "True that. So, was that the reason why you hid your true intentions from him as well?" Lonappan asked. "In a way, yes. If I told him about my plan, he''d be ecstatic and work even harder. I''m aware of that. But you got to think about the person who''s always by him. It''s John. We can''t afford to slip up before him. I''m in no way implying that Thankappan would slip up before him, but there''s always the off chance that it happens and we can''t brush aside that slither of chance." Ponnappan explained. "Damn, you''ve thought way too hard about it haven''t you?" Lonappan chuckled as he asked. "Quite a bit, yea. I couldn''t factor in the anomalies like that one alien who just popped out of nowhere into this planet. But now that I think about it, he might actually be the one important piece that I felt was missing as I made this plan." Ponnappan spoke with extreme fondness in his tone. "We don''t know what comes next, my man. That''s the beauty of life. Although, I know one thing. The troops that the Glomerans are gonna bring would be massive as heck. And we''re gonna get screwed by them." Lonappan spoke. "Hey! Don''t be so pessimistic about it! I mean, we have the element of surprise. We can freaking surprise the hell out of them. What do you think?" The commanding officer sounded optimistic. "Highly unlikely. But, I like your enthusiasm. Continue doing the shit you''re doing." Lonappan smirked. "I don''t even know why I asked you that question. Of course you''re gonna answer negatively." Ponnappan sighed. "I''m not all negative. Ask me about the food that I had from our canteen." He urged. "How was the food?" Ponnappan reluctantly asked. "I''ve seen way worse." Lonappan shrugged. "How''s that any different from being negative?" Ponnappan asked. "You didn''t listen to me now, did you? I just said that I''ve seen way worse food. That means the food is way better than that way worse food! Get it?" Lonappan looked as if he said something mind blowing. "Yea, no. I''m not dealing with your shit anymore. Get the hell out of this room." Ponnappan ordered. "Oh, don''t be like that!" Lonappan said as he lazily occupied a seat in the room, much to the dismay of the commanding officer. "Anyway! Who would''ve thought? You are gonna be a freedom fighter! My goodness, the thought alone is making me feel kinda weird." He chuckled. "And why is that?" Ponnappan asked. "Because I feel like you just lied to me." Lonappan replied. "What?" "Come on, dude! As I said before, I''ve been with you for years now. I know when you tell a lie. The reason you told me was a lie on top of a lie. So, what''s the truth, huh? Do you have a personal grudge on the MIB or hell, the Glomerans?" He asked. Ponnappan stayed silent for a while before sighing. "I guess you could say that." He replied. # Chapter 187: Trust What came after Ponnappan''s reveal was a long and ominous silence. Lonappan definitely didn''t like it, but was forced to put up with it to respect his senior''s wishes. However, minutes passed and yet Ponnappan came up with no reply. And this irked Lonappan off. He could no longer stay silent; he simply didn''t want to. "Okay, I''m waiting. Any time now!" Lonappan spoke. "What are you waiting for?" Ponnappan asked with a puzzled look on his face. "What do you mean? You are gonna tell your backstory, right?" Lonappan looked confused as well. "When did I ever say that?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, why did you even mention you having a grudge against Glomerans then?" Lonappan asked back. "Hey, you asked me a question. And I replied, there''s nothing more than that. I wasn''t gonna tell you anything about my grudge against the Glomerans. And hell, it''s not even the Glomerans that I have a grudge against." Ponnappan replied. "Then who do you even¡ªyou know what? No. I''m not gonna ask you that because you certainly don''t want to reveal that to me, then why the hell do I even try? It''s useless." Lonappan replied. "Well, I''m glad that you understood that." Ponnappan nodded his head in satisfaction. "Godammit, you''re supposed to console me and say some shit like you trust me or something and eventually reveal your backstory! This wasn''t how it was supposed to end up." Lonappan sounded frustrated as he said that. "Ha, that''s not gonna happen anytime soon. Look, you are my junior and all, and I feel like we share a special bond of sorts. However, we are not yet at the level to share personal traumas and experiences." Ponnappan drew a boundary at that moment. "Damn. If not now, then when? I mean dude, we''ve gone through a lot of stuff together as a duo; as a team. And yet you can''t trust me with something important and I feel kinda sad about it. No, scratch that. I really feel sad about it. And in some way offended as well. It''s like the years of friendship amount to nothing for you. And here I was thinking that we had the said special bond that you mentioned, but obviously we don''t." It simply was frustration that was heard from Lonappan''s voice. It also had grief and it had a lot of sadness. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, I guess?" There was no remorse in Ponnappan''s speech. "An apology isn''t what I need right now. What I needed was trust and yeah, it feels like I''m not gonna get that from you. Someday, maybe." Lonappan sighed. "Anyhow, I got a lot of stuff to do, so I''m just gonna leave. Have a good day, sir." He didn''t even look back as he headed out. Ponnappan looked as if he was about to stop his junior from exiting the room. However, in the very last moment he decided not to and sighed as he glanced at the back of his junior. His face looked conflicted. # Back in the Holy Land. Thankappan and Scarlet were getting a heroes welcome¡ªor at least that''s how they wanted to make it seem as. However, in reality they didn''t get much of a heroes welcome. Rather, it was another simple welcome. "So, how was it?" The plankton asked. "It worked out pretty well. I mean. Ponnappan was really a nice guy. Like. he fights for alien rights and shit. How can I hate a dude like that?" Scarlet asked. "Hey, come on, tell me your kidding! You are, aren''t you?" Kunjan asked. "Why would I kid about something like that? The guy is genuinely nice. Like, he was nice to me. He was nice to Thankappan. I don''t understand why you feel so skeptical about this." Scarlet spoke. He was kinda pissed off by this. "Honestly though, I am with Kunjan on this." Thankappan gave out his verdict. "What?" Scarlet felt betrayed by Thankappan words. He thought that the one who accompanied him would at least side with him. However, he was gravely mistaken. "Dude, I mean I''ve seen and talked to the commanding officer several times, while you are judging him by that one time you met him. However, in my case I have to judge him from the times I met him since the beginning, and that''s a hell of a lot of times. So, while he might seem cool and understanding to you, I feel like that was all an act; a deliberate act to get us into some kind of scheme that he''s planning". Thankappan explained his views. "I see. That kind of makes sense. You do you, man. I will just judge him by what I have seen and what I''ve seen is what you said before; a calm and understanding man. And I believe that even if he''s plotting some master plan in his mind, it would have some sort of sense behind it." Scarlet replied. "Oh, there''s no doubt about that. He is a good man. But let me assure you, he''s trying to use us for something. That something might be good for us, or for the entire alien kind and humanity. However, that doesn''t change the fact that he''s trying to manipulate our thoughts." Thankappan spoke. "Well, if he wants to manipulate me into doing something good, I''d gladly be manipulated. I mean, I''ve been manipulated to do bad things, so this is certainly better than that scenario." Scarlet replied. "I guess it might seem right to you, but it definitely isn''t for me. For each their own, right? You can get manipulated as much as you want, and I''ll try my best not to get manipulated and wait till he gives me a proper explanation and reasoning about what he''s trying to do." Thankappan gave his thoughts. "Whatever the case may be, the good thing is that Ponnappan actually agreed with Scarlet''s stay in the Holy Land." Taro, who did not speak until now, gave out his opinion. "I guess we could consider that as a win." Thankappan sort of agreed with Taro as well. "Very well. Let''s have a celebratory orange juice on this auspicious moment." Taro said as he ran towards the refrigerator to take that one bottle of orange juice that he accidentally brought way back. He wanted to get rid of it for a long time, but never got the opportunity to. "Oh, and by the way, you have been appointed as the special caretaker of Scarlet as long as he''s living here with us." Thankappan spoke as Taro came up with the bottle of orange juice. "What?" Taro looked puzzled by this sudden revelation. "But why?" He asked. "I mean, you are the only one capable of sensing Scarlet when he goes invisible. And that was basically the only factor that made Ponnappan seriously consider keeping him in the Holy Land. So there you go. Congratulations." Thankappan gave out his usual business smile. But Taro was pretty immune to it since he had seen it already. The Wadorian sighed as he thought about. the predicament before him. "There wasn''t any other choice, huh?" He asked. "None whatsoever." Thankappan replied. "Well, then. There''s nothing to do other than lamenting to oneself in that case." Taro replied with a dismal look on his face. "Hey! I am not that high maintenance." Scarlet argued. "I know. It just feels like a burden on top of my teaching job." Taro replied. "Then maybe you should quit the teaching job and focus on this one alone. I mean, Ponnappan is actually willing to give you a salary for your services." Thankappan lied a bit about it. Although, if Taro was willing to accept this job because of this clause, Thankappan will be more than happy to negotiate about the salary with his higher up. "Hell no, man. I mean, cool. I''m fine with doing the job that you ask me to do, but don''t ask me to actually stop doing the job that I want to do. You understand what I''m saying? I like teaching. I mean, I might not like some aspects of it. But at least I am able to go out and loiter around like a normal person. If I am to focus just on the job that you gave me just now, there is a pretty good chance that I might be actually confined to this one room alone. Now that I think about it, maybe that''s the plan that your commanding officer thought of¡ªlike two birds with one stone, am I right?" Taro asked. "I don''t know, man. Maybe it is, but it''s your choice. He didn''t explicitly ask you to¡ªyou know quit your job. You can still work and have an eye on Scarlet, you know? Maybe even have him around you at school as an invisible dude. That works, right?" Thankappan asked. "I guess. I''m fine with it. I don''t know what Scarlet has to think about it." Taro replied, as he turned towards Scarlet for his opinion on the matter. "Look, I''m fine with whatever you decide. I mean, I get to live in the Holy Land. What else do I need?" Scarlet replied with a bright smile on his face. # Chapter 188: Odd Coincidences The next day Taro realized the gravity of the job he just accepted. Scarlet couldn''t be considered as a normal person. Rather, he was like a curious child. He hopped around like a freaking monkey for no apparent reason. It was weird, because he''s been in this world for far too long for him to act like this. Maybe it was because of the fact that he was roaming the world with his "friends" for the first time. And this made him extremely happy. Nevertheless, it made Taro''s work really hard. Taro not only had to look out for himself so that he doesn''t cause any ruckus, but now he was on double duty. He had to look out for Scarlet as well and regularly check whether he was trying to pull off any shenanigans. Although last night''s Scarlet acted real mature and spoke maturely as well, the current Scarlet acted entirely different. The primary reason Taro could think of was that the Crimsoner was having way too much fun with it. Also, no one other than Taro could sense it, so if he were to reveal it to anyone else, they''d probably think that he was crazy after hearing Scarlet last night. So, in the end, the Wadorian had to deal with this mess himself. Before he left the Holy Land for the school, he grabbed Scarlet by his collar and dragged him all the way; not that anyone knew about it. And when someone asks the status of Scarlet, he just simply shrugs and says that he''s in the corner or something while he was right in Taro''s clutches. Other than that part, that morning was the same as every other morning. Thankappan tried doing his usual shtick with the coincidence thing, while Shivani acted as if it was totally a coincidence as well. Well, initially that wasn''t the case. Shivani rarely acted so. Rather, it was more of her giving out a disappointed look whenever Thankappan tried pulling it off. However, recently she had a change of mind due to all the events that happened and decided to play along. After the usual five minute talk about it being a total coincidence, the group made the way to the school, where they felt really weird for some reason. "Hey, does it feel like we haven''t been here for a long time?" Thankappan asked. "It''s funny that you say that because that''s exactly how I feel." Gibli, who hasn''t been involved in any of the chats recently, decided to chime in with Thankappan''s opinion. "Hmm, I thought I was the only one who felt this way." Taro gave out a look of comradely to the two. "So what you''re saying right now is that we all felt the same thing?" Thankappan asked as he looked towards Kunjan. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Kunjan asked. "Well, I said we all and by we all I didn''t mean we three. There are four of us, remember? How about you dude?" Thankappan asked again, this time staring even harder at Kunjan. "What''s gonna happen if I say that I felt like you do as well?" The plankton asked back. "I don''t know. It''ll just end up as a weird coincidence, don''t you think?" Thankappan gave out a sly smile as he said that. "My goodness. You and your thousands and thousands of coincidences. You do know that you''ll get punched by these fists someday, right?" Kunjan asked as he brought his fists towards Thankappan. "I wasn''t kidding about the coincidences, dude! At least not this one. I mean it''s way too bizarre to term it as a one off coincidence. I feel like there is something sinister beneath it." He spoke in a really spooky manner, as if to bring forth the horror element of this incident. "Okay, let me just process what you are trying to say. You think some hundred year old witch just barged into our house and sped up the time or something? Or else what? They took some of the time we spent here making us feel like we haven''t been here for a long time? Either way, both of the scenarios feel like utter bullshit." Kunjan replied. "I know that! I didn''t mean it like that. Just wait a minute. Let me ask this to someone else. Hey Shivani, what do you think about it?" Thankappan asked. "About what?" Shivani looked puzzled since she wasn''t giving any attention to whatever crap that Thankappan and company were spouting. "Didn''t you just hear what we said?" Thankappan looked disappointed as he heard Shivani''s reply. "You know I was looking around for my friends out here, so I couldn''t actually hear what you guys were talking about. My sincere apologies, but could you repeat the question again?" Shivani decided to go on a polite route with this. Thankappan gave out a sigh. "Okay. We were talking about how every single one of us felt as if we hadn''t stepped foot into this school for the longest time." He spoke. "Maybe that''s because of all the holidays you took recently. But did you take too much leave though? I mean, I remember a few of them, but was that enough to make you think as if you haven''t stepped here for a long time? I don''t know. But if you are asking my opinion, I guess, I felt like it too. Just a little bit, but I did feel like we had a long break. I don''t know why. Don''t ask me that but yeah. Now that I think about it even more, it seems more and more clear that I felt the same way as you guys too." Shivani looked amazed at discovering this fact. "See? What did I tell you guys?" Even more than her, Thankappan was the one who looked like he had one of the biggest victories of his life. "Okay. Now, what conclusion can we take from this? That every single person who resides in the Holy Land felt as if there was a big break before we returned to school? What, we had selective memory loss? Like, all five of us did?" Kunjan asked. Honestly, he was feeling a bit skeptical about this situation as well. However, he wasn''t willing to actually reveal his skepticism to them. Thankfully for him, before Thankappan could get another word in, the teachers were called in for a meeting by the principal. Although, Thankappan looked as if he wasn''t going to leave this matter aside, Kunjan had already made plans to avoid him for the entire time that he walked around speaking of this odd coincidence. The plankton had hated coincidences to the point that he didn''t want another one brought up anytime soon. # "It''s so boring." Taro spoke while he was seated, waiting for the principal to arrive at the meeting. "Bear with it, dude. I feel like it''s gonna be some kind of big announcement for the principal to call upon the entire faculty like this." Kunjan spoke. "Big announcement, huh? What do you think it will be? I mean, we already had our arts day and our sports¡­ Wait, did we have our sports day yet?" Taro asked. "I believe that happened." Kunjan replied. "Damn. Time just flew away like the wind that I didn''t even realize it happened. Then what would the announcement be? Don''t tell me! Is she gonna announce the date of our annual day?" Taro asked excitedly. "Really, do you think so? I mean. It''s four or five months away from now, isn''t it? At least that''s how it usually happens." Kunjan replied. "Yes. That''s the usual case. However, this isn''t any other usual year, am I right? Think about it, we had a huge flood and stuff. Don''t you think that''s gonna accelerate this year''s annual day a bit earlier than usual?" Taro posed the question. "I have no idea, man. The best we could do right now is wait for the principal to come here and announce whatever she plans to announce." Kunjan spoke. "I guess you''re right about that. But where the hell is she even?" Taro asked as he looked around. "And as If she was waiting for someone to look for her, the principal arrived into the meeting room at the exact same time that Taro looked around for her. Everyone stood up as a sign of respect towards the principal, to which she asked everyone of them to be seated. After that, she headed towards the podium where the mic was and checked it a few times before getting any words out. "Since we don''t have much time to have a long meeting, I am gonna keep it short. I called you out here so that I could announce that this year''s annual day will be taking place in two months." She announced, to which she received a thunderous applause. :See, what did I tell ya? I knew it! Doesn''t that mean the kids could start practicing right now? Yay! Another two months of free time to enjoy." Taro looked elated as he applauded with the others. As if she heard what Taro just said, the principal followed up her announcement. "You sure know what this means, right? You gotta work your ass off to cover two months of portions in the next month so that the kids get one month of time to practice the stuff they''re gonna do. So, chop chop, off you go to work." She left the podium as soon as she came after dropping the bomb that made Taro gape his mouth open. # Chapter 189: The class erupts "What the hell, dude?" Taro literally squealed as he heard the announcement. Since the ruckus in the meeting room was huge, no one other than their small group heard his squeal. It wasn''t a pathetic squeal at all; rather it was a squeal with extreme grief in it. Although, it did sound a little bit annoying, so the squad felt thankful for the ruckus since it cut down the audibility of the squeal down a notch. "Well, you got what you wanted, right? Annual day in two months. You were spot on about the announcement!" Kunjan tried doing a cheerful voice, but with his stoic face, it seemed as if he was trying to openly mock Taro. "Argh¡­ Not now, plankton. Not now. You know what I meant, right? I thought we were gonna get another two months of nothing to do. Instead, what do we have now? We gotta pump up our classes into accelerated mode to take two months portions in one! This isn''t what I wanted." Taro groaned and cried quite a bit. Kunjan sighed. "If you think we''ve got it hard, look around you right now." The plankton paused for a moment and urged Taro to turn around and look at each and every one of them. Initially, Taro thought that the plankton meant it metaphorically, but with him having to turn around like that, he understood that he literally meant it. "Yea, I looked around. Now what?" The Wadorian asked. "See the panic in their faces?" Kunjan asked. "Yup, just like the one we have right now." Taro replied. "There''s a distinct difference in our look and theirs." The plankton corrected him. Taro looked around to reconfirm if he missed any difference in their expression. "What''s that difference? I don''t sense anything!" He exclaimed. The alien wanted answers. "Look around once again. However, this time around, look out for our fellow English teachers." Kunjan ordered, to which Taro nodded his head. The one thing that he noticed was that the English teachers he saw had much more relaxed expressions than the others, with Malayalam and Hindi teachers joining in this relaxed group. By no means had they seemed as if they achieved nirvana or something, but the panic in their faces was much less compared to what Science teachers had. "Is this the power of language?" Taro asked as he turned back towards the plankton. "Rather than it being the power of language or something stupid like that, it''s the relief of having comparatively easy portions to take. For the science teachers and stuff, they gotta take their classes multiple times for the students to get half of what they want to convey. Unlike them, the language teachers have to spend way less for the students to engrave their teachings in their heart. Now, look at the Malayalam teacher." Kunjan pointed towards a Malayalam teacher and ordered. "Hmm, she looks relaxed, I guess?" Taro shrugged, not understanding the meaning behind why Kunjan made him look over at that woman. "You know, Malayalam has the most to write even when compared with Social Sciences and all?" The plankton asked. "Really?" "Yup. And yet she looks calm as heck. Do you know why?" Kunjan asked again. "Well, Malayalam is these kids'' mother tongue, isn''t it? Maybe that makes it easier for them?" Taro guessed. "That''s right. Also, its story based teaching, just like English, makes it the easiest subject for the students. So, it''s not the length, it''s the ease of understanding that worries most of the teachers here. However, we are in that language category. Think about your classes. I mean, you teach kids who are more than well versed in English. So, even if the syllabus is a bit more, they would pick up what you say pretty quickly. You also teach the polar opposite of the students, don''t you? I mean, the second graders may find it harder to understand what you say, but their syllabus is seriously less compared to the one that the twelfth graders have." Kunjan paused for a moment before getting to his conclusion. "So, what I meant to say was that we have it way easier compared to what the Science teachers are going through right now." He shrugged. Taro stayed silent for quite a while as if he was processing what Kunjan just said at a rapid speed. It wasn''t just Taro, but the others were in a similar daze as well. What Kunjan didn''t realize was that he was going way too fast with his conversational speed that the others had to take a moment to comprehend what he just said. After a few minutes, Taro finally looked as if fully understood what Kunjan said. "Oh, yea! They definitely have it rough. I just wanted to vent about something." Taro gave out a sly smile. "I see. I hope you had fun venting out." Kunjan spoke. "Oh yea, I did." Taro gave out an even brighter smile. "Cool. If that''s done, let''s go back to our respective classes. Or else, Thankappan might bring up that conspiracy theory of his yet again." The plankton said as he got up from his seat. "Did you just mention me or something?" Thankappan, who was in a trance of some sorts, snapped out of it when he heard his name being thrown out. "Nah, not really. Maybe it''s just your imagination." Kunjan replied as he hastened his pace. "Hey, wait! Hear me out about the theory we spoke about earlier." Thankappan tried stopping Kunjan, but the plankton was a step ahead of the junior agent. "Yea, no. Not gonna happen. Didn''t you hear the principal saying us to hurry? So, why the hell are we even here right now?" The plankton asked as he amped up his pace. "Wait a minute. We''re coming as well!" The others followed suit. "You guys do that. Since I''m in the same block, I''ll just loiter around here." Taro said as he waved goodbye to his roommates. "Bye, Sadanandan!" The others waved back. At this point, they became familiar enough with his other alias that they don''t accidently call him by his real name out in the open anymore. "Yea." After the lads left, Taro stared at the empty podium for the longest time before getting up. "Ha, I got a lot to do this month, huh?" He mumbled with his fist still clenched, holding off Scarlet from running away. # Back in the class, the students seemed to be eagerly waiting for him. Initially, he didn''t get why, but soon enough he understood the reason. The principal calling for a massive meeting like the one that day was always a big deal. So, they were naturally curious as to why she called on them. However, even after getting it, Taro decided to act oblivious for his own personal pleasure. "What happened? Why are you all looking so restless?" He asked. "Princi called for you guys, didn''t she? What was that all about?" Juan asked. "Oh, that? She wanted us to accelerate with our portions since we lost valuable time with the flood and all. So, let me tell this to you already. The portions we were meant to take slowly in about two months or so, we are supposed to take them in a month. I mean, it is fine for me since we''re talking about English here and you guys are smart enough to grasp it. However, it is gonna be way harder for you lot, since I''m not the only one who''s gonna rush with their chapter. Damn, I can''t even imagine learning two months'' worth of Social and Science in just one month. I guess it''ll be a lot of fun for you lot." Taro replied with a smirk on his face. "How is that fair? It''s not our fault that a natural calamity came by. If anything, the board should extend the dates of our exams or reduce the portions or something." Ross shouted out in frustration. "Meh, you''re lying." Juan, who looked dead straight into Taro''s eyes, spoke. "What do you mean?" Taro asked, still keeping that smirk on his face. "You''re enjoying it way too much. I''m not sure about it, but I feel like either you are lying about it entirely or you''re hiding parts of the announcement made just to see our reactions. Or hell, you''re just a full-on sadist who enjoys seeing us suffer." Juan shrugged. "I guess I understand why he thought that the kid was part of the MIB now. He''s way too intuitive for his own good. It''s either that or he''s pulling off an extremely wild guess." Taro thought, as he secretly awed at Juan''s skills. "Who knows, it might just be the third option, you know?" Taro was the one who did the shrug this time. "Yup. That''s entirely possible." Juan nodded his head. And with that, the class erupted to a level that Taro didn''t fathom. The voice of disagreement rang out from the class to the point that the entire block could hear it. Concerned that it might piss off certain people, Taro decided to reveal the truth. "Chill out, guys! Although the two month thing is the truth, the reason we''re doing it is because in two months, we''re gonna have our annual day." He proclaimed, to which the class erupted¡ªjust for an entirely different reason this time. # Chapter 190: Offending people "Hmm, that''s better¡­ At least a bit than the other scenario." The kids still looked doubtful, but they sounded relieved by the fact that their annual day was gonna be conducted early. "I guess¡­ I still feel bad for you guys though." Taro spoke in a really sad tone as if to imply that he was indeed sad. "And why is that?" Ross asked. "I mean, I''m not the only person who''s been asked to do this, you know?" Taro replied. "Oh no!" Ross and Juan realised it at the same time. The entire class realised it soon after. "Oh, yes. It''s not just English, every other subject''s gonna be accelerated so that you get enough time to practice for the annual day." Taro replied. "That''s bullshit!" Ross squealed, after he couldn''t contain his own emotions. "Language, Ross." Taro scolded. "Sorry for that. But I''m really angry about this decision." Ross replied. "I sure can see that." Taro spoke giving out a light chuckle in the midst. "But my anger is justified, isn''t it? I mean, the previous annual day never had an accelerated month or shit like that. So why now? Is it a grudge against us? I mean, why else would you do something like that?" Ross asked. "A freaking flood happened, Ross. Look at the big picture. I mean, everything doesn''t revolve around you! Sheesh." Taro shrugged. "Well, I guess I deserved that." Ross sighed as he quickly accepted the criticism "Dang. You knew I was kidding, right? Else, I wouldn''t have said something like that. I apologise if I hurt your feelings in any way." Taro gave out a light smile as he said that since he believed that it was what humans do when the people opposite to the them are feeling grumpy. It didn''t make any sense, but if it ain''t broken, don'' try to fix it since it might end up creating more disturbances. "Meh, it''s fine. Don''t worry about it." Ross told it off much to Taro''s relief. Ever since getting into this world, he had to be extra careful about not offending people. And him not knowing what offends people really worried him. He was reminded of the one time he went to Thankappan to speak about his worries. # A month or two ago, Thankappan was loitering around in the front lawn of the Holy Land for no apparent reason other than the fact that Timothy wasn''t gonna come that day at all, which meant they had the whole house for themselves¡­ Or at least, everything except the residence of Shivani. Not knowing what to do with such a luxury, Thankappan started rolling around in the grass that Timothy recently put up when he was planning to show the house to some other people. Actually, the landlord wasn''t actually planning to do so. Instead, he was using this as a leverage to increase the rent. Timothy knew it. If the lads were to break off this rent agreement because of a money spat, they''d be in the losing end. Although, the aliens and Thankappan had started building up good reputation in that small village area, that didn''t mean that they would actually allow six men to live in their houses, no matter how much money they put into it. Also, Thankappan didn''t curse about this decision. Why? Because John and Scarlet''s been living in the room rent free for a long time. So, he was actually planning to give that extra rent to Timothy. Therefore, he happily obliged to the landlord''s request. And this baffled Timothy, since he was hoping for a massive spat. However, this one was way out of his expectation. While this made him suspicious, Timothy thought of leaving it aside since he got what he came for. Prying into someone''s else''s life and stuff wasn''t one thing that Timothy was so keen of doing. There''s also his worry that the lads would actually turn back on their word if he decided to stick around for a little more. Hence, Timothy quickly made his way out of the Holy Land. "Now that I think about it, the landlord of ours is really considerate about certain things.." Thankappan spoke as he continued rolling down in the ground. "Well, I guess you''re right about that. I haven''t talked to him much since you were the ones doing it, but he seems like a money hungry yet nice dude. I mean, he''s allowing you to roll on the grass that he spent his money to set up, after all." Taro replied. "He didn''t give me any permission to do that though. It''s just my way of relieving stress." Thankappan spoke. "Oh, is that so? Then I prefer not to give an opinion about him until I get to have at least one decent conversation with him." Taro replied. "I see." Thankappan seemed uninterested with the path that the conversation was taking. Also, the rolling on the ground was way too much fun than he expected that he wanted to fully immerse in it. However, before he could do that, he wanted Taro away. He decided to take the polite route of making him leave. "So, why did you come to me?" He asked, hoping that it would be something trivial. However, he didn''t expect the Wadorian to sit beside him once he asked that. "I wanted to ask you a question." He spoke up. "What is it?" Thankappan grumbled. At that moment, he would do anything for Taro to leave the vicinity. So, a question wasn''t much of a big deal for him. "Okay, I don''t know how to begin with this. Wait, I''ll think of a right way to convey what I''m meaning to say." Taro spoke before going on a silent streak. This action pissed Thankappan off as the rolls became more and more aggressive to the point that he had to worry about to fully uprooting the grass from the ground. And just for that reason, he subsided his anger. "Okay, dude! You got a question. Just spout it out. Don''t think about it too much. So, tell me what comes to your mind first." Thankappan requested. "Yea, sure. First thing that comes to my mind, huh? I would like to eat that pizza thing that you bought yesterday. That''s a-" Before he complete his sentence, Thankappan jumped in. "Okay, I didn''t think that I would have to specify about it, but hearing you, I definitely should do that. When I asked you to tell me the first thing that came in your mind, I didn''t literally mean that. I meant the first thing regarding whatever it is you wanted to speak about. Now, if it was just about the pizza, I''ll hit you up with it soon enough. Don''t worry about that." Thankappan assured. "Oh no. This isn''t about the pizza. Rather it''s about this weirdness I''ve been feeling lately." Taro spoke. "Weirdness, huh? What do you think is the cause of such an event?" Thankappan asked. "Hmm, maybe it''s because I worry way too much for the silliest thing sometimes?" Taro put forth his guess. "I see. So, you have something that''s been worrying you and yet you believe that it could be trivial. But let me tell you something. If something''s troubling you, no matter how others perceive it, you should jump into the bandwagon and perceive it with that same eye as well. So, are you gonna tell me?" Thankappan asked, after pulling out bullshit easily. If he was asked to give a short summary of what he said then, he would have a hard time with it because he literally had no idea what he said. "Okay. You see, there''s a slight cultural clash with both of our planets and we''re both aware of that. But the thing is, I don''t know what offends people in here. So it''s hard having a normal conversation without repeatedly double checking yourself. So, I got to know. What offends people here?" The Wadorian asked to which Thankappan had a hearty laughter for a minute before reverting back to his normal behaviour. "Oh, pardon me. I wasn''t laughing at you or something. I was thinking about the answer I was gonna give you." Thankappan replied. "And? What''s the answer?" Taro asked. "Everything." Thankappan replied with a smile on his face. "What do you mean?" Taro looked puzzled as he asked that. "I mean, wouldn''t that be the same in your planet as well. No two people are the same. So there''s trillions of actions and each action could be judged by at least one person in this world. So, I see no problem in being carefree because if you''re gonna be meticulous with it, you''ll have a pretty bad time." Thankappan replied. "You''re right! I don''t understand why I''ve been so conceited about it. Earth in its core is just like Wados. People are shitty everywhere. How come I forgot about that? Thank you for reminding me, dude." Taro sounded enthusiastic and elated as he said that. "Happy to help. See you later then." Thankappan quickly waved his hand, slowly nudging Taro out of his picture. And once he left, Thankappan finally felt relieved. # Chapter 191: Lena "What the hell happened here?" Taro slowly walked to his desk in the staff room as he mumbled that. The situation was grim. Every single teacher seemed to have fallen. They had their heads buried to their desks. They looked defeated. The reason for such a sad state of the staff room was the overwork they had to that day. Usually, the staff room was brimmed with noise on all sides¡ªsome gossiping; some just giving out random factoids and such. Anyhow, Taro was accustomed to such an atmosphere. If it was Taro in the beginning of his tenure at the school, he wouldn''t have cared for either way, however, the bustling grew up on him and it stuck with him. Therefore, this grim mood affected him heavily than he expected. "Well, they had a lot to teach after all!" Someone spoke from the behind. Taro freaked out a little before looking back to see a smiling woman there. "Hey!" She waved her hand. The woman¡­. Taro had no recollection of ever conversing with her. Since, he didn''t bother to learn the names of his colleagues due to his bad blood with the people there, he had no idea who she was either. However, the woman had an air of familiarity around her and yet he couldn''t grasp the reason behind it. "Hi." Taro gave out an awkward reply as he tried his hardest to grasp even the tiniest bit of information about her. While doing that, he didn''t realize that he was staring too hard at her. "Excuse me! What are you doing?" The woman questioned. "Oh, I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to do that." Taro apologized. "Don''t worry. I know I''m beautiful and that made you do that." The woman laughed at her own joke. Taro didn''t find it to be that funny though, since he didn''t get the funny part in that statement. In his eyes, what she said was the truth. He certainly would''ve found her attractive if he preferred Earthling women. "Okay, seems like the joke didn''t reach you." The woman gave out an awkward laughter when she didn''t get even a sliver of smile as a response. "Not really. I mean, you might be wrong about the reason, but that doesn''t change the fact that you''re beautiful, so¡­" Taro shrugged. The woman laughed. "Oh, seems like you''re quite straightforward with your opinions. You do this to every girl you see?" She asked. "Nah. Only to the beautiful ones." Taro replied. "People, huh? Does that mean you compliment men as well?" She asked with a sly smile on her face. "If they are beautiful, then yes." Taro answered. "My, oh my! You''re pretty unique." She chuckled even more after this. Once a conversation was established, Taro felt it to be quite weird to ask her name. However, he felt that it was a good opportunity to do that rather than doing it after they have an even longer conversation. "Pardon me, but I really didn''t catch your name." Taro spoke. "I never introduced myself though. So, it makes sense." The woman nodded. Taro heaved in a sigh of relief. "Okay, let me tell you the truth. I thought you were gonna freak out because I didn''t know your name. And I didn''t want to mess up the vibe we created by asking your name, so yea." Taro replied. "Then why did you ask my name?" The woman asked. "Well, any later and it would be more awkward that this." Taro answered. "I guess you''re right about that. I''ll introduce myself then. Hello, I''m Lena. I teach Malayalam here. And I know you didn''t ask, but I''ve been saying this ever since some of our faculty members started hitting on me¡ªI''m married, by the way." Lena introduced herself. "Ah, it''s fine. If you''re being hit on by people, then I guess you have no choice, huh? By the way, I''m-" Before he could finish his sentence, Taro was interrupted by Lena. "Taro, I know." She replied. "Ah, yea. You know that alrea¡ªwait, what?" Taro looked dumbfounded at her. He didn''t know if his ears betrayed him or if that''s what she said, but he did hear her say Taro, instead of Sadanandan. For a hot moment, he was about to go with the flow before realizing it. "Your name''s Sadanandan, right? I mean, almost all of the faculty is aware of your name right now, so it isn''t that big of a deal that I know it as well." Lena replied, this time around, using the right name¡ªor at least, Taro heard the right name. "Oh, yea. That makes sense." Taro chuckled awkwardly this time around. He wanted to confirm if he heard it right back then, however he didn''t feel like that was the right time to do it. Hence, he decided to focus on something else for now. "Wait! Since you are a Malayalam teacher, you are in a similar situation as me, huh?" Taro asked. "A little less to teach than the poor souls around us? Yes. And for the notes and all, we could make one of the kids recite it, so our part of the job is way easier than them." Lena replied. "You''re right about that! I mean, after teaching like this, I can''t even imagine myself doing what they''re doing now." Taro spoke with a relieved look on his face, before giving out a light chuckle. Lena followed with her own chuckle as well. "Oh, my goodness! What am I even seeing?" A shocked voice came from behind, which once again startled Taro. At that moment, he decided that he would never turn his back to the entrance of the staff room because that would mean he would get startled the way he got twice that day. Anyhow, Taro sighed as he saw the source of the shocked voice. It was Abhirami. # "What now, Abhirami?" Taro asked, upon seeing his student in the staff room. "Oh, I''m here to submit my record book here, but what the hell is happening here?" She asked back. "Ah, didn''t I tell you about the acceleration thingy? Yea, this is the aftereffect of that. Nice, isn''t it?" Taro showed off the people around him as he said that. "No. Not that." Abhirami shook her head. "Then what?" Taro asked, confused about what she meant. "I meant this." She pointed towards Lena and himself. Taro sighed. "What about this?" Taro asked again. "When did this happen? I mean, when did you become all cheerful with each other? And MRS Lena? Did you mention that you''re married? I mean, you shouldn''t give false hope to people, right?" Abhirami asked, showing off an irked expression as she said that. "I did mention it, but I don''t think he''s interested in me that way. So, you can rest assured, Abhirami. I''m not gonna take your man." Lena replied. "Oh, my! How did you know that?" Abhirami blushed as she heard Lena say that. "No, why would you say that?" A contrasting look appeared on Taro''s face almost simultaneously. "Well, it is pretty fun, isn''t it?" Lena asked, as she began chuckling once again. She was having way too much fun with it. "It might be for you, but it ain''t that much for me. You got to nip such thoughts from the bud or who knows what might happen?" Taro shrugged. "Hmm, it''s a simple high school crush that kids feel for their good looking teacher. Take it like that and you''ll be fine." Lena smiled. "Easy for you to say that." Taro grumpily replied. "And you do know that she has other boyfriends as well, right?" Lena asked. "Wait, how do you know that?" Abhirami looked flustered as she asked that. "Hmm, let''s just say that the walls here have ears." Lena replied. "Nah, that''s bullshit!" Abhirami spoke. "Hey! Language!" Taro gave the second warning of the day. "Oh, sorry. That''s crap. Walls have ears? Nah, my dear friend Shivani has an extremely loose lip, doesn''t she?" She asked. "Ah, what makes you say that?" Lena asked, with a slightly shocked look on her face. "Wait, you teach Malayalam to my class?" Taro asked, upon hearing Shivani''s name being mentioned. "Well, not the entire class. Just Shivani. I mean, she''s the only one who took the Bio-language section with Malayalam as her choice of language. There''s Aleena in your class who took Bio-language stream as well, however, she has Hindi as her fifth subject." Lena explained. "Oh, I see." Taro nodded upon understanding what she meant. "Anyway, it wasn''t Shivani who told me that. You see, you haven''t made your affairs that hidden. I mean, literally everyone in the school knows and yet they don''t mention it to you just because." Lena replied. "Is that so?" Abhirami asked. "Yup, that''s exactly the case." Lena replied. "Hmm, that makes sense. It all makes total sense now." Abhirami came into a realization. "What? What makes total sense now?" Taro asked. "Huh? Ah, why my boyfriend broke up with me." Abhirami replied. # Chapter 192: Abhiramis breakup "Ah, are you talking about the former crush''s best friend boyfriend?" Taro asked. "Yup, he broke up with me yesterday." Abhirami replied. "Oh, I''m so sorry." Lena swiftly came by her side and hugged her tightly. "Nah, it''s okay. I''m fine. I''m pretty fine." Abhirami replied. "So, what was the reason?" Taro asked. "Hey! It isn''t nice to ask a question like that in such a hard time!" Lena sounded furious as she said that. "Look. I''m a rational person. I got to get a hold of the entire story before consoling or cursing someone. Maybe you might think of it as insensitive, but I simply don''t care." Taro shrugged. Lena was about to go off on him before Abhirami broke into tears. "I never knew he''d find out." She cried, much to Lena''s surprise. "Find what out?" It wasn''t Taro, but Lena who posed that question. "Well, the fact that I was cheating on him with his best friend." Abhirami spoke. "Wait, his best friend¡­ Isn''t that like your former crush?" Taro asked. "Yea, he was so sincere about it when he asked me out that I couldn''t actually reject him." Abhirami replied. "Then why didn''t you break up with your then boyfriend once this one was set in stone?" Lena, who slowly pulled herself away from Abhirami, asked. "Well, I was planning to. But I heard that he was planning some big surprise for me and that he was really excited to show me the results. I simply didn''t want to break his enthusiasm, so I thought of breaking up after that." Abhirami replied. "Hmm, wouldn''t that have an adverse effect?" Taro asked. "How?" "You see, if that surprise was something that your boy¡ªex-boyfriend poured his heart and soul into doing, then once you break up with him, he''ll always see it as something associated with that bad memory." Taro replied. "That would''ve been the case, if the surprise was something like that." Abhirami nodded her head. "So, did you ever come to know what that surprise was?" Taro asked. "Oh yea! The break-up! That was the surprise. He said that he came to know that I got into a relationship with his friend and that he no longer wanted to see me. He also cut all his connections with his friend. So, one thing''s for sure. I have driven a wench in their relationship now." Abhirami replied. "Well, you can''t blame him for that. His best friend and girlfriend betrayed him like that. No one would like to be in contact with two people like that." Lena sounded disgusted as she said that. "You never fail to make me dislike you more and more, huh?" Taro looked equally disgusted as well. "Hey! I know I should''ve broken up when I got the chance¡ªwell, there wasn''t any chance to begin with. That''s what screwed me up. Blame the time period; not me." Abhirami argued. "Aren''t you the one who cheated on him? Is it the time period that made you do that?" Taro asked. "¡­No." Abhirami mumbled. "So, accept that it''s your fault. Don''t just put the blame on something like a time period!" Taro scolded. "Yea, I''m on the wrong here." Abhirami agreed. "Cool. So you and that other guy are still together?" Lena asked after a long period of silence. "Ah, yes." Abhirami nodded her head in confirmation. "Then why the hell did you even shed tears here? I mean, you''re with your original crush now. So, you should be happy, right? Was that happy tears?" Taro asked. "Nah, it was dramatic tears, if you ask me." Abhirami replied. "My goodness. With each passing second, the respect and fondness I have for you is drastically decreasing." Taro looked spiteful towards Abhirami. "Well, does it matter when that is already in the bottom of the barrel?" Abhirami shrugged. "Oh, you''re right about that." Taro replied. "Anyhow, let''s get to some of the important points in this scenario. So, you like your current boyfriend?" Lena asked. "I''m in the process of finding out. We''ve planned quite a few dates, you see." Abhirami smiled as she thought about it. "So, if someone even more attractive is to come by and ask you out, will you be leaving him as well?" Lena asked again. "No. Okay, listen. It was an honest mistake. Everything was a mistake. I shouldn''t have tried approaching my crush the way I did. Everything went downhill from there. Should''ve directly asked him out when I got the chance to do that. Had I did that, we wouldn''t have ended up together in such a roundabout way." Abhirami sighed. "Do you realize your faults now?" Lena asked. "Yes. I understand them." Abhirami replied. "Then it''s probably fine. Don''t go the same route as this one and it''ll all work out." Lena assured her. "Oh, will you look at the time right now? Don''t you have a class to attend to? I mean, they are teaching you a lot these days. So, it''d be better if you head over to your class." She suggested. "Shoot. You''re right. Bye, guys!" Abhirami waved her hand and ran away. "At least use the proper honorifics when you''re at school¡­" Taro shouted, but it fell on deaf ears. "It''s fine though. I guess she''s treating us as our friends. It''s kinda cool, isn''t it?" Lena asked. "I guess¡­" Taro shrugged. "By the way, can I ask you a question?" He spoke. "Sure. What is it?" She asked back. "Do you really think she''ll change after hearing any of what you said?" Taro asked. "You know what''s the most important feature that a teacher must possess? It''s trust. Trusting your students goes a long way. You can never term someone as a failure just because he failed once or twice or even multiple times. Instead, you should trust them to do good; trust in their abilities and capabilities; trust them that they''ll do the right thing. That''s what I did here. I trusted her. She might''ve done something stupid this one time, but she''ll learn from it¡ªat least we can hope that she will. It all depends on her and what she wants. We can just put our faith in her to do the right thing." Lena explained. "Hmm, seems like I still have to go a long way to become a good teacher." Taro spoke. "Well, you''ve come into a realization about that. That''s the most important part. You can now be a good teacher if you want to. Just put in the right efforts." Lena replied with a smile. "You are good at pep talks, aren''t you?" Taro asked, with amazement clearly depicted on his face. "Ah, that! I''ve seen my husband do them to my kids and myself all the time. He''s pretty good at it, you see. So, after hearing them for all this time, I accidentally began doing good pep talks as well." Lena replied. "Your husband sounds like a great guy!" Taro spoke. "Yea, he is. He works in an office around Kunnamkulam area, you see. He said that he used to give pep talks there all the time as well. That''s what made him well versed in it." Lena spoke with a smile brighter than any of them that she ever gave out during their conversation. Taro noticed this phenomena pretty quickly as well. "Humm, you really enjoy talking about your husband, don''t you? Your expression clearly says that." He replied. "Am I that transparent? Ha, I really do like talking about him. He''s a really sweet guy. I really love him." She blushed as she thought of her husband. "Love marriage, I presume?" Taro asked. "Nah, it was an all-out arranged marriage. Our love and stuff came after marriage. I wasn''t planning to marry when my father came up with this proposal from his junior staff, but I would''ve really regretted it if I didn''t back then. I mean, I wouldn''t have been this happy. He''s literally the perfect person in my eyes. No one can replace him. Well, dad''s gonna be a lot pissed if he ever heard this though. He has this love-hate relationship with my hus. Maybe, it''s because dad was my husband''s superior back in the day." Lena explained, to which Taro intently listened. The more he listened to Lena''s story, the more it felt familiar to him for some reason. He couldn''t quite pinpoint the reason why he felt so, but he felt as if he had heard this story somewhere else. To clear his doubts he decided to throw out a few questions subtly. However, when the time came to ask those questions, the subtlety went outside the window. "Hey, where do you live, by the way?" Taro bluntly asked. "Oh, I''m literally this close to the school. I mean, my home''s just a few meters away from here." Lena replied. Once he heard that, Taro understood where he heard this story from and why it felt so familiar. Thus, to finally confirm his doubts, he asked the one question that''s been revolving in his mind. "If you don''t mind, can you please tell me your husband''s name?" # Chapter 193: The husband A few months ago. Lonappan came to the Holy Land with food packed in multiple lunch boxes. He said that it was for them from his wife, however, Thankappan was quick to catch him on his lie. It was actually for Lonappan, but for some unknown reason, he was willing to give them that food. Since it seemed like Lonappan was hiding something from them, the residents of the Holy Land naturally thought that food was bad and that Lonappan was treating them as sacrificial lambs. However, none of them actually said no to the food because Lonappan looked as if he would literally beat the living hell out of them if any of them denied the food. Hence, they reluctantly took the food, Anyhow, it was totally different from what they imagined. They learned that Lonappan''s wife was an extremely good cook. And that was the only piece of information that they received of that woman even after months of staying in the Holy Land. The one person who knew something other than that was Thankappan, so the aliens decided to ask him about it. However, Thankappan got his information from the gossips in the office about how Lonappan''s wife is previous head Chinnappan''s daughter and how he was planning to introduce nepotism into MIB as well by placing Lonappan on the top of the Snehatheeram branch. Although those were baseless rumors, seeing Lonappan and Ponnappan out in the open glaring at each other makes them believe so. Since Thankappan was in among a few who knew how close Ponnappan and Lonappan were, thus had a hard time believing all the rumors that came from those gossips¡ªthat is until he had the four generations meeting in Lonappan''s house. Chinnappan being Lonappan''s father-in-law was the only confirmed piece of news for him. Other than that, Thankappan wasn''t actually allowed to see Lonappan''s wife or get any other information from out there. After this, the only other piece of information about Lonappan''s wife that they received was when they were going for the teaching job. Lonappan subtly hinted that his wife taught in the Heavenly Flame School. However, no one noticed¡ªor at least, they didn''t care about it. The hype to know more about Lonappan''s wife fizzled as quickly as it arose, so by that point in time, no one was actually interested in meeting her. And eventually they forgot everything about it, until it resurfaced in the most unexpected moment. # "Sorry, who''s your husband again?" Taro asked, as he couldn''t believe what he just heard. "Okay, I know it''s not the usual name that you hear in the streets these days, but neither is my father''s. Hmm, maybe that''s how they bonded in the office back in the day. Anyhow, his name is Ponnappan." Lena replied. "What?" Taro stared at her with his mouth gaped in surprise. Up until that moment, he expected Lena to be Lonappan''s wife, but instead it ended up being Ponnappan''s wife and it made no sense to him at all. Literally everything she said pointed towards her being Lonappan''s wife, from her house being meters from here and it being an arranged marriage to her father having a weird name and being the subordinate. That''s why he couldn''t comprehend it when it was revealed that Lena was Ponnappan''s wife. "You sure it isn''t Lonappan?" He voiced his frustration by accidentally blurting out the question. "Lonappan¡­ How come you know the name of my cousin''s husband?" She asked. "Cousin?" Taro looked confused as she said that. "Ah, you haven''t met my cousin¡­ You see that women in that corner with her head slumped. That''s my cousin, Leia. She teaches Mathematics here. That Lonappan you spoke about is her husband. Now that I think about it, her husband has the same string of name as well. And her father as well. My, oh my, now that I think about it, isn''t those kind of names too common around here? Or is it just my family tree?" Lena wondered. "It''s definitely your family tree!" Taro thought as he freaked out inside. However, he calmed himself down in a few seconds and acted as naturally as possible. "So, what''s your father''s name then?" He asked. "It''s Konappan. It''s a weirder name that the others because it sounds more like a slur than a name. That said, my father says that he handpicked the name for himself. I would never understand why someone would pick such a stupid name if they''re handpicking it themselves." Lena sighed. "Hmm, maybe there''s some unknown reason behind it or something." Taro shrugged. He no longer wanted to do any sort of small talk. He wanted answers and he wanted it fast. So, he quickly jumped to his next question. "Where exactly is your house?" He asked. "Didn''t I tell that to you already? It''s literally meters away-" She was gonna repeat the same answer, but Taro stopped her. "I heard that. I need the exact place. I mean, I live around this region as well, so I thought that knowing a fellow teacher''s house would be beneficial for me since I could always head there if I need something. I''m relatively new here, you see. So, it would be helpful." Taro tried his hardest to ask her about her house without coming off as a creep. And Lena understood what was going on pretty quickly. "Dude, calm down. I''m not gonna think of you as a creep. My house is in Mundur. Like really near to the center. So, even though it isn''t as close to my cousin''s house, it''s closer in my eyes." She replied. "I see. You still didn''t tell me the exact place, but that''s fine. I just needed this info." Taro spoke. "Is that so? Then you can''t head to my home if you need something. Or was that a lie?" Lena asked. "That¡­" Taro''s inexperience in lying was clearly showcased in this situation. If it was Thankappan, he could''ve easily weaseled his way out. However, for Taro, the situation was extremely tricky. He couldn''t think of one proper lie to cover up what he said. Lena chuckled. "Oh, don''t worry. I''m not gonna ask the reason. It seemed like you really wanted to know where my house for whatever reason. And you looked relieved after you learned about it. So, if that gives you peace, that''s enough for me." She replied. "Oh, by the way. Give me your number. I''ll send a text. I mean, if you really need my help someday, don''t hesitate to pop a text over to me or call me." She said, to which Taro obliged and gave her the number. "Ah, got the number. Thank you for your help." Taro spoke. "It''s fine. By the way, try mingling with your colleagues. Well, if you feel uncomfortable about it, then do that once you feel comfy enough. But talking with your colleagues helps¡ªespecially if you''re stuck in some difficult situations." Lena replied. "I''ll keep that in my mind." Taro replied. "Hmm, I would''ve introduced you to Leia as well, but since she''s busy recuperating and I have the next class in five minutes doesn''t help it at all. Some other day maybe. See you later." Lena spoke as she grabbed some textbooks and walked out of the staff room, leaving Taro in an extremely bizarre state. # Scarlet initially thought that the day would be boring as heck. That''s why he did all those antics that he did in the morning. He wanted to entertain himself by making Taro chase after him. However, Taro took the boring path and caught up with him quickly and had a clench on him the entire time. The hardest part for the Wadorian was to turn the pages during the classes. It didn''t seem like he could turn the pages with the hand he had the book on, so he tried using the other hand. However, the slight fear of letting go of Scarlet made him do it the hard way. Scarlet, who felt sorry for him, flipped the pages for him instead, making it seem like it''s the breeze that did it. Anyhow, other than that, there wasn''t anything for the Crimsoner to do, so the day was exactly as he expected it to be¡ªboring. That is, until a woman came in to speak with Taro. Initially it was all well and dandy, but with each passing moment, Taro expression changed like crazy. Hell, it even got to a point that Taro accidentally let him go. However, Scarlet was too invested in it that he actually stayed by Taro''s side. Thus, he became the second person in the Holy Land to meet with Ponnappan''s wife. However, he didn''t feel it the same way as Taro felt it. Instead, it was Taro''s expression that told him the story. He understood that this was some sort of big revelation and the others would possibly have an equally unique expression in their face once they hear it. Thinking of it made Scarlet excited. Life had become boring for Scarlet to the point that he had to look at people''s expression to get himself excited. However, he didn''t exactly hate this mundane life either. He was happy and that was all that mattered to him. # Chapter 194: Why did you hide it from me? Taro was dumbfounded for the entire day. He had a lot of questions in his mind. The reveal that Lena was Ponnappan''s wife was a big swerve for him. It was an even bigger twist to learn that Ponnappan and Lonappan were related to each other through their wives. "What happened?" Thankappan asked as he saw Taro spacing out as they returned back to the Holy Land. "Yea, what happened? You looked the same when I came by your block during the lunch break." Gibli spoke as well. Taro stayed silent for the next few seconds before finally processing the question that they just asked. "I guess it''s the after effect of learning a big secret." He replied, naturally grabbing the attention of his peers. "What secret?" Thankappan asked. "You remember how Lonappan mentioned that his wife worked in the high school block?" Taro asked. "Yea. Why? Did you met with her or what? Is that your big secret? How is that a secret?" Thankappan asked. "Listen to what I have to say, will ya?" Taro kinda sounded frustrated as he said that. "Sure. What''s the big secret, champ?" Thankappan asked. "I actually met up with Lena, who is the cousin of Lonappan''s wife Leia." Taro replied. "Yet again, I don''t know how this constitutes as a big secret¡ªnever mind. You continue." Thankappan spoke as he saw Taro''s face fuming with anger from his interference. "You''re right. Me meeting with Leia''s cousin randomly wouldn''t be such a big secret. However, I want to hear your opinion when you hear that Lena is actually Ponnappan''s wife. So, how was that? A secret big enough for you?" Taro asked, as Thankappan stood still for a moment. "What did you just say?" Thankappan asked. He couldn''t believe what he just heard. "I said that your commanding officer and your senior are relatives through their wives." Taro answered. "Okay. That does constitute as a big secret." Thankappan nodded his head vigorously for quite a few times as a confirmation. "See? What did I tell you?" Taro had a victorious look on his face. "Yea, sorry for not listening to you before." Thankappan spoke, as he walked towards the Holy Land the same way Taro walked a few seconds before. However, the difference was that Taro recovered from it after revealing it to everyone else. But Thankappan had no one else that he could reveal it to. "Haha! Look at your face! It''s pretty funny!" A voice rang out of nowhere. "Hey, Scarlet. Don''t make fun of people like that." Taro clenched on the invisible Scarlet''s collar as he said that. Scarlet sighed. "Even a few days ago, I was a big deal, you know? I mean, I''m the guy who successfully broke into the MIB headquarters where no one even thinks of breaking into. How badly do you guys have to nerf me?" He asked. "Well, we aren''t the ones nerfing you. You simply can''t escape Taro. That''s your weakness, isn''t it? Try overcoming that yourself and maybe you''ll garner your way back to credibility." Thankappan spoke. "Hmm, you''ll see about that." Scarlet sounded motivated to a few and extremely vague to the others. Nevertheless, none of them darted an eye to that statement since they had something else to think about. "Anyhow, doesn''t that mean that Ponnappan lives in Mundur as well?" Gibli brought forth the question he had in his mind. "Well, just because his wife works here doesn''t mean that he has to stay here." Kunjan brought logic to the table of discussion. "Ah, Ponnappan lives in Mundur as well." Taro replied to Gibli. "What?" Among them, Thankappan was the one who was shocked the most. "Great. I stand corrected then." Kunjan slowly made his way out of the conversation and decided to just listen to what others had to say. "Well, it was Lena who told me that. Ponnappan lives here as well." Taro assured. "Ha, what''s up with you MIB agents and Mundur? I mean, literally every single one of you are here now. How come? I mean, there are other alien caretaking places under your jurisdiction, right?" Gibli asked. "Yes, there are. But what would that change?" Thankappan asked. "Well, we can all shift to somewhere else with no drama like this. I mean, that''s a good plan, right?" Gibli asked, hopeful about his plan. "Nah, it''s fine. Think about all the stuff we would miss if we are to leave this place right now. This place, the people and the relationships we made those things. It will be hard for us to just leave it be. Also, we''re at the eye of a cyclone right now. We won''t get screwed over unless we do something idiotic to mess our safety up." Thankappan explained. "I guess you''re right about that. Where else would you get this freedom, huh?" Gibli asked. "Yea, ''freedom'' as in having three MIB guys on your tail the entire time with one being a ticking time bomb with all the secrets buried in him without his noticing." Kunjan mumbled. "Well¡­ Do you have to sound so negative, my dude?" Thankappan looked in the plankton''s direction and asked. "Hey, I was just stating the obvious. I didn''t mean to offend anyone, you know that, right?" Kunjan asked. "I guess?" Thankappan shrugged and after that, a silent and awkward atmosphere was formed and it was up to Taro to change the mood. And since Taro had a lot to ask, it wasn''t that big of a task. "Thankappan, I got a question to ask." He spoke. "Shoot." "Do you think that Lena knows about us?" He asked. "As fellow teachers, yes." Thankappan replied. "Nah, I didn''t mean like that. I mean like the alien thing and my real name and all." Lonappan gave out an explanation for what he meant. "I don''t think so. The only way she''d know that is if Ponnappan told her. But I trust him on not revealing that info to his wife, since the agents are not allowed to share sensitive information with no one and if he or she does that, they''ll be fired and their memories get wiped." Thankappan explained. "Huh¡­ Is that so?" Taro sounded disappointed as he heard those words. "Why did you ask?" Thankappan asked. "Nah, it''s nothing. I''m just freaking sure that I heard her call me Taro loud and clear." He replied. "Wut?" Thankappan gave out a plain face as he heard that before chuckling to it nervously. "Nah, man. You probably hallucinated. I mean, you could be mistaken, right? Did she said that multiple times?" He asked. "Nah. It was just that once. So, yea. It might just be a hearing blunder on my part." Taro agreed with Thankappan on that part. "Great, now that you got the answer you were looking for, it''s time for me to get some answers on my own." Thankappan spoke ashe snapped out of his conflicted mind-set. "And how are you gonna do that? I mean, I got some questions as well that I would like to get answered, so yea¡­" Taro shrugged. "Ah, don''t worry about that. I''d be answering all your questions in due time. And that would be after I get the answers to mine. And as for my method to receiving the answers, well¡­ I''m just gonna be straightforward with it." Thankappan revealed. # Evening time in the Holy Land. Lonappan accompanied John like he usually do. However, the difference that day was that there was someone waiting for him for the longest time there and he was surprised to see his face pop up right before him once he opened the door with the spare key. "Fudge cake! Why are you standing there like that?" Lonappan asked to the man before him. "I wanted to meet up with you, so I waited for you here." Thankappan replied. "Dude, if you wanted to talk with me, you could''ve just dialled me up." Lonappan shrugged. "Nah, I felt iffy when I thought about doing it for some reason. My heart kept telling me to meet up with you before doing anything. So, here we are." Thankappan replied. "Truly eccentric, aren''t you?" Lonappan sighed before continuing. "So, what''s the thing you wanted to say to me?" He asked. "You never told me." Thankappan mumbled. However, Lonappan was quick to catch the mumble. "What did I never tell ya, huh?" He asked. "About your wife and-" Before Thankappan could complete his words, Lonappan interrupted. "Hey! I did tell about my wife working in the school, the same block as Taro. So, don''t tell me that I haven''t talked about that my wife being there near your vicinity." Lonappan defended his statement from before like crazy. "Is that so? But I''m not talking about your wife though." Thankappan replied. "Who then?" The senior agent asked. "Well, I''m talking about your wife''s cousin, who''s the wife of our commanding officer. Now, tell me. Why did you hide it from me? And what else are you hiding for the last minute?" Thankappan asked with a serious tone. # Chapter 195: Lenas truth "Wait a freaking minute. I didn''t hide anything from you!" Lonappan argued as he heard Thankappan''s frustrated voice. "Oh, really? Then how come you didn''t telling me about that?" Thankappan asked. "Why? Because you didn''t ask." Lonappan shrugged. "You sound like it was common sense to ask such a thing. I mean, you are the one who deliberately came up and said that your wife works in the school. So, I would''ve expected you to take up that enthusiasm and talk about Lana or whatever her name was as well." Thankappan spoke. "First of all, it''s Lena. And secondly, I talked about my wife because she''s MY wife and I knew she''d be fine with it. However, I don''t know whether Lena would get offended if I talked about her with someone else." Lonappan explained his part. "Weird. Why would she get offended if she doesn''t hear about it at all? I mean, would you snitch on us if we were to talk about her? At least, that''s how it sounds like when you say it like that." Thankappan replied with a sour look on his face. "I didn''t mean it like that." Lonappan argued. "But it sure did sound like that." Thankappan countered. "Okay, listen to me. I don''t like talking about people behind their back." Lonappan spoke. "Huh? That''s the most bizarre thing I''ve heard from you. Look, just because you gave a heads up to us about this woman, it wouldn''t mean that you''re talking behind her. Rather, you''d be helping us avoid her. I mean, she teaches in Taro''s block, my dude. He''s the one person who shouldn''t come in contact with people who got close connection with you people." Thankappan replied. "Nothing wrong happened, right?" Lonappan shrugged it off, not even batting an eye towards Thankappan''s concerns. "Ha¡­ I just can''t believe what you''re saying! I mean, I''ve never seen you act so irresponsible. I don''t know the exact reason behind what you''re doing, but whatever it is, I hope it works out well for you. I¡­ Fuck it. I don''t care. Just go now." Thankappan headed back to the room leaving Lonappan stranded. It did seem that they had a fallout at that moment. # Early morning next day. Lonappan headed out for what seemed like a nice walk to Mundur and back. However, the agent took a pit stop at a house on his way back home. He knocked on the door and it was answered by a man who looked abominable. He looked as if he didn''t get a good night''s sleep for the longest time. "Why the hell are you here?" Ponnappan asked as he rubbed his eyes to stay awake. "I wanted to talk." Lonappan replied as he invited himself into the house. "Then what the hell are we used to doing in my office, huh? Play checkers or what?" Ponnappan asked as he tried grabbing Lonappan by his shoulder and shove him outside the house. However, he was too much like a weasel and he weaseled his way out just like that. Once Lonappan escaped his commanding officer''s clenches, he made himself comfortable on the couch placed right at the centre. "So, are you gonna hear me out?" He asked. Ponnappan sighed. "It does seem like you won''t leave until I listen to whatever bullshit you spout¡­ So, what do you wanna say?" He asked. "Cool. It seemed like your dear wife met up with the boys from the Holy Land." Thankappan revealed, much to Ponnappan''s surprise. "What? When did that happen?" Ponnappan asked. "Yesterday, it seems. The lads, especially Thankappan looked really pissed off by this." Lonappan explained. "Oh, really? I didn''t want that to happen like that. I just wanted to meet the guy that hus hyped up as one of the strongest aliens that he have ever met. I mean, that''s a solid praise, you know?" A feminine voice came from the side. Lonappan looked to his side and saw Lena waving her hand like crazy, to which the agent sighed yet again. "Why would you do something risky like this? I meant there are ton of other ways." He spoke before turning towards Ponnappan this time around. "And you, don''t hype up about job things like this to your wife next time on. I mean , it would be a direct dismissal if someone is to complaint about it to the headquarters." He explained. "Don''t blame him on that. I''m the one who asked him about the events in the base and with the aliens and stuff. So, yea." Lena shrugged. "You do know that you are no longer an MIB agent, right?" Lonappan asked. "Ha, don''t remind me of that. It''s making me wanna go back on a mission one last time." Lena spoke as she reminisced about the good times. # Chinnappan and Konappan; two brothers recruited by the MIB when they aced their written and physical tests. It was a first for the MIB that two brothers passed it on the same batch. Thus, they were in a conundrum. They didn''t know whether they should wipe their memories completely or not. In the end, they decided to wipe it all off other than one selective memory that the brothers choose. Thus, when the brothers were asked of it, they requested them to keep their relationship intact. They were basically orphans who were abandoned by their parents. They stumbled upon this opportunity by pure luck. However, they didn''t actually expect to ace the tests which made it hard for them in a way. They simply didn''t want to forget about the one relationship they have. So, in the end, even though they forgot their origin and stuff, they still knew that they were brothers and that familiarity was something that kept them going until that one point came when they had to be separated. Two of them in the same place meant wasting potential, so the MIB sent Chinnappan to Snehatheeram and Konappan to Hyderabad. Both became commanding officers and all was going well. Since marriage wasn''t actually forbidden, both got into a wedlock of convenience and both were blessed with daughters. While one thought that his daughter shouldn''t end in the same path as his and choose one for her own, the other thought of having the daughter succeed him. Thus, Leia became a teacher and Lena became an MIB officer. However, Lena simply didn''t like being an MIB agent since it wasn''t her own decision. Thus, the first ever decision she made for herself turned out to be a big one as she eloped with her fellow colleague Ponnappan and eventually married him. Since there''s no other person who could possibly save her from her father''s wrath, Lena headed towards her uncle, who actually helped them. However, this created a bad blood between the brothers. This only increased once Chinnappan recruited Ponnappan into his squad and eventually made him the commanding officer since he had no choice at that point. In Lena''s case, in order to stray further away from what her father paved, she looked to learn anything non physical. It ended up with teaching, something that her cousin, who was eight years younger than her suggested. And it did work out for her which made it even more sweeter for her. She was finally independent of everything that shackled her. Although, the pay was significantly less compared to what she used to receive, she was happy and that was all that she wanted. A few years later, her cousin entered into the teaching business as well, so things were relatively fun for her that way. However, through all that, she never stopped training because she didn''t know when it would come handy. Although everything seemed fine, the main problem arises when she gets reminded of the thrill of going on a field mission with her husband. Eventually, she starts missing the MIB and then begins to nag her husband into spilling the events occurring at that place. Ponnappan is an upright officer, but he was weak to his wife''s words. Thus, he spills the beans way too easily and that''s usually enough for her. However, this time around, she actually wanted to meet up with the Wadorian whom her husband spoke so highly about. After hours of back-and-forth talk, Ponnappan actually agreed to Lena''s conditions¡ªthat is, if she doesn''t directly involve in any of the Holy Land aliens'' actions. But her curiosity was immense and she wanted to meet up with the said strong guy. And in the end, she actually met up with Taro, creating all sorts of problems along the way. She felt bad for doing it and asked Ponnappan if she could be of any help including a brief return to MIB to clear the mess up, but her reliable husband promised that he''d deal with those problems himself and deal with the problems is exactly what he did. Ponnappan decided that he''d personally walk around to resolve the situation. This turned out to be a huge news for the Snehatheeram sector, many of whom were gonna see their captain in action for the first time. # Chapter 196: A verbal spat "It might make you wanna do that, but you do know that once you''re out of the MIB, you''re out of the MIB, right?" Thankappan asked. "Hey, I retired from the job by my own accord. Which means that it''s fine if I''m the person being told about your confidential stuff. I mean, I''m still part of MIB unlike what you claim. It''s like I''m in the Hall of Fame of the MIB, you know?" Lena replied. "My goodness! Just because you retired doesn''t mean that you could enter into the freaking hall of fame. Like how does that even make sense to you?" Lonappan looked frustrated as hell from talking with Lena. "Calm down. I''m considering my accomplishments as I say that, you know? I''ve done shit that makes me a hall of fame worthy person. At least, I''m a lot better than that Deckland guy who got into it last year." Lena shrugged. "Oh my! Sure, Deckland might not be a super spy or some shit like that but the man''s ninety and he has never missed a day to work until the day he retired. That''s not something anyone else can say. He was awarded for his something that you could never say you had for this stream of work." Lonappan hit back. He didn''t even know how this conversation escalated to a verbal spat, but now that it turned to one, he wasn''t willing to stake his claim at a victorious battle. "Ooh, was that a jab at my retirement and initial hatred towards the job, then I guess I just have one thing to say. But before that, what the hell are you doing, honey?" Lena turned towards her husband and asked. Ponnappan expected the both to get so engulfed in the verbal spat that he didn''t think that his wife would catch him if he were to bring in some popcorn to the mix. However, now that she did, he really didn''t have a explanation other than he did so to enjoy the spat. But he didn''t outright say that because he would suffer the wrath of his wife if he were to do that. Since that was the case, Ponnappan thought that a distraction would be the better option to save his ass. "Honey, what was the one thing that you were gonna say? I mean, you''re gonna lose the flow if you''re gonna be involved with me like that." Ponnappan spoke. "Not gonna happen, my man. You find it really fun, don''t you? Your wife''s out here going all out in an argument and the first thing you thought of was popcorn?" Lena snapped. "Honey, it isn''t like that. I just¡­ I mean¡­" Ponnappan was having difficulty in lying for the first time in a long time since the opponent this time was exceptional in catching his lies since he''s been with her for years now. However, like an angel, Lonappan came in for the save¡ªjust not the way he intended. "Yea, your dear subordinate is having the verbal spat of his life and your mind was on popcorn? Why aren''t you in here supporting my statements, huh?" He asked. "Umm, just a heads up, if my HUSBAND is gonna support anyone''s statement, it''s gonna be mine. I mean, he''s married to me after all. So, he WILL take my side." Lena jumped into the conversation as she stared darts at her husband. "Ah, I will support¡­" Once again, before Ponnappan could spout out stupidity, Lonappan came in for the save. "Okay, what I''m hearing right now is you threatening your husband to take your side even while is extremely reluctant in doing so. I mean, you do you¡ªif you''re that afraid. But if this was fair and square, you know whom he''s gonna support, right?" He asked with a smirk on his face. "Hey! This is fair and square! I''m not threatening my husband by no means. Isn''t that right, hon?" Lena stared darts at her husband once again. Ponnappan was sweating profusely. He was at a crossroad and he really didn''t want to answer such a question. "Uh, I mean¡­" And yet again, his prayers were answered by a swift interjection by his guardian angel Lonappan. "How the hell do you think he''s gonna go any other way than your way when you are staring at him like that? You seem like you''re gonna kill him if he goes against you." Lonappan spoke. "It''s just how I look! I have a scary face¡ªI don''t have to act one out to threaten someone. And my hus knows that. So, what I''m doing right now is totally not threatening to him, ain''t that right?" She asked as she didn''t drop the scary look off her face. This time around, Lonappan didn''t even allow Ponnappan to utter some ifs and buts as he interjected. "See, you did that again, how-" Normally, even literally seconds ago, Ponnappan would''ve been pleased by this development, however, the man changed his opinions and thoughts in literal seconds since that''s the way he learned to survive. Hence he had a clear answer, but it was ruined once Lonappan decided to interfere in that one case he didn''t want the guy to interfere. "Stop." He roared as the both before him stopped right then. No matter how goofy he behaved at times, Ponnappan still had the aura of a leader and neither his friend nor his wife could go against it¡ªnot at that moment at least. "She''s right. She has a natural scary face. And I have seen it for years that I''ve grown immune to it." He replied with a satisfied look on his face. Ponnappan thought that he did the right thing and supported his wife''s statement by saying that. However, Lena thought differently. "Wait a minute! You think my face is scary?" She asked, with a surprised look on her face. "Babe, I supported your statement right there. So, shall we stop it at that and not cross section my point any further?" Ponnappan asked. He never expected his supportive statement to dig a grave for him like that. "Ha, if Ponnappan''s saying that her face is scary at all times, I just have to believe it, don''t I?" Lonappan sighed as he added fuel to the already blazing fire. "Zip it." Ponnappan glared at his subordinate before turning his attention towards his wife. "Babe, you''re the most beautiful person in the entire world for me¡ªscary or not. And I love you deeply. Nothing''s gonna change that fact." He spoke as he dropped the popcorn from his hand, walked towards her and caressed her. "Really?" She asked. "Yup." Ponnappan nodded his head. "I love you as well. And I was kidding. I am not angry at you for real. You tried your best supporting me, didn''t ya? Just picked the wrong couple of sentences. Good thing is that I''m aware of my imperfections." Lena shrugged. "Your imperfections make you even more perfect, my love." Ponnappan smiled as he bumped heads with his wife. "Oh, come on, guys! Get a freaking room!" Lonappan, who was made to watch all this, cried. "We got the whole house for ourselves. It''s unfortunate that an intruder is asking us to get a room in our own house." Ponnappan spoke. "I''m an intruder? Okay, dude! I know where your allegiance is now." Lonappan spoke with a hurt expression. "It has always been with her." Ponnappan shrugged. He wasn''t an idiot to blurt out any other answer than that. Although, he seriously hoped that Lonappan would get the situation he was in. "Cool, it''s time for me to leave now. So, yea. Bye." Lonappan decided to head straight out after hearing it from Ponnappan. "Lonappan, wait!" It was Lena who stopped him, as Ponnappan was heaving a breath of relief. However, the relief turned into panic as he had no idea why she stopped his subordinate. "You know, his allegiance might be with me, but that doesn''t mean he forfeited his freedom of having an opinion. Who knows, he might be thinking differently about the topic on our hand¡­" She replied. "So you wanna reel me back with that and humiliate me once more, huh? I understand." Lonappan turned back yet again towards the door. "Hey, I''m not kidding! He might have a different opinion. And if he does have one like that, then I''ll stop myself from forcing him to cough up the inside scoop of the MIB." Lena promised. And this promise turned Lonappan''s head back. "Are you for real?" He asked. "Yup. Pinky promise." She swore. "Okay, I believe you." Lonappan nodded his head. "Seriously! You don''t believe my word but you believed in my pinky promise?" Lena looked surprised. "A person bring up that manoeuvre only when they are telling the truth. I know that for a fact. So, putting that aside, what are your thoughts, Ponnappan?" Lonappan asked, to which the eyes turned towards the commanding officer for a reply. Now came the real conundrum for Ponnappan. He simply didn''t know what to answer as he stood silently for the longest time. # Chapter 197: Lonappans Rage After a long time of contemplating, Ponnappan opened his mouth. "Okay, here''s the thing." He was about to go on a rant about how this decision was one of the most difficult ones he had to make, but before he could do so, Lonappan interjected yet again, much to his displeasure. "My goodness. I thought that it would be an easy decision. I mean, what the heck, dude?" Lonappan shrugged. He had already given up on this argument, but surprisingly it seemed as if he was still in contention. "Yea, I didn''t think it would take this long for you to come to a decision." Just this time alone, Lena agreed with what Lonappan said. Seeing both of the ganging up on him like that, Ponnappan snapped. "Hey! You were the ones who asked me to make a fair and square decision. And it wouldn''t be fair if I''m going to side with one for no apparent reason. I''m having this timeout so that I won''t have to regret about it later." He explained his side. "Ah, makes sense. Good job, honey." Lena gave out a kissy face to appeal to Ponnappan, but it was to no avail since he was seriously pissed. "Dang, man. I didn''t think you would do that." Lonappan looked at his commanding officer with admiration. "Of course, you wouldn''t think so! I''m a better person than y''all think!" Ponnappan pouted. "Hey, we know that! Don''t we, Lonappan?" Lena turned towards him and asked. "Well, if you are not considering the numerous complaints that the trainees have for him¡­" Lonappan was stopped midway by Lena''s stare and was forced to change the track of his dialogue midway. "¡­which would be nil even if we were to consider it, I''d say that he''s a better person than most people think." He saved the conversation at the very last minute with a well crafted sentence¡­ is what he thought, but it wasn''t hard for Ponnappan to get his previous statement. "Dude, you really gotta report to me if someone has something against me. At least, I should make an effort to understand their hatred towards me, right?" Ponnappan asked. "Hey, no one hates you! I was just trying a funny opener for a heartfelt line. Seems like that didn''t work by the looks of it." Lonappan sighed. "Is that so?" Ponnappan asked, but he still wasn''t convinced with what his subordinate said. "Even if that''s the case, if you saw someone saying that they are having difficulty being under me, do report me, okay?" He asked again. "Yea, sure. Will do that." Lonappan nodded his head vigorously as he replied. "So, shall we go back to our main point then?" Ponnappan asked. "Oh yea, you were gonna tell your reasoning behind your decision and also the decision itself, weren''t you?" Lonappan asked back. "Dude, why even say that? I mean, we all know that I''m gonna do that now. So, who are you even explaining it to?" Ponnappan shrugged. "I said it just so that we''re all clear about what''s going to happen." Lonappan replied. "Then? Are we all clear now?" Ponnappan asked. "Crystal." Lonappan replied with a slight nod and a nice smile on his face. "Okay, then. As I said before, I took a lot of time because I had a lot of things to consider." Ponnappan took in a deep breath. "You never said that before." Lonappan interjected yet again, to the point that it got annoying even for the reader. "Huh?" "You never said those exact words before." Lonappan replied. Ponnappan sighed. He was this close to beating the living shit out of Lonappan. However, he calmed himself down at that moment. His patience was simply superior than anyone else''s. "Why does it seem like you''re doing this intentionally?" Lena''s husband asked. "I don''t know, man¡­ I just feel like I''m gonna lose. And you know how I hate losing, right?" Lonappan asked back. "Oh, yea. The memory of you handling your loss against me like a chump is still fresh in my mind." Ponnappan said as he reminisced about the times with a bright smile on his face. "Wait! What happened? And how come I don''t know about that?" Lena, who got curious about the story, asked. "Babe, let me tell my decision first. I mean, we''ve been dragging it for way too long now that it feels like I''ll entirely forget about it by the time we finish up with the other story." Ponnappan spoke. "Is it that long?" Lena asked again. "It really isn''t¡­ However, I like to tell a story the way it should be told¡ªas a story. So, it might get a bit long, who knows?" Ponnappan shrugged. "Dude, I told my wife that I was gonna go for a walk to Mundur. At this point, she might accidentally think that I walked to Thrissur." Lonappan said with a concerned look on his face. "Shush, Lonappan. Can''t you see that Ponnappan''s preparing to tell the story? Don''t ruin the mood like that!" Lena warned. "Whatever, dude! I have nothing to say. Go on with the story then." Lonappan scoffed. "You just don''t want me to learn about your humiliating lose, huh? I mean, the more you act like this, the more I want to hear it. So, be my guest and keep acting like this. I''m totally fine with it." Lena folded her hands and waited for Lonappan''s reply, which never came. "It seems like Lonappan has nothing to say now, so get on with the story, honey." She requested. # Years ago. A young upstart named Lonappan was getting ready to face his senior Ponnappan in a fight that decides his fate¡ªspecifically, his name. Honestly, Lonappan hated his name. It sounded weird and not modern at all. With all the Abhisheks and other fancy names, his just struck out like a sore thumb. However, it was his opportunity to win the right to pick his name now. The only thing he had to was to beat Ponnappan, his senior. He had fought his senior quite a few times and each time he did that, he had gained the upper hand. His senior was a tactical genius, but lacked in the physical department. So, Lonappan was out there with his utmost confidence. In fact, he even challenged his senior face-to-face that he''d beat him clean, something that no junior had tried to do before. He was that confident at it being his absolutely victory. Thus, when he was faced with a loss rather than a victory, Lonappan was bewildered. He didn''t know how it happened. He thought he had it all sort out and yet in the end he lost. "How? How come I didn''t win? How come you are way stronger than the last time I fought with you?" He asked to Ponnappan, who wasenjoying his grand victory. His senior laughed as he patted Lonappan''s head. "Okay, kid. You gotta remember this super important thing, alright? Never outright show your strengths and weakness to someone else, especially if you know that you''ll be facing this person somewhere along the way." He spoke. "So, what you mean is that you lied to me during this entire time. When you got injured on that one fight against me, was that faked too? What about the time I beat you clean as heck? That too?" Lonappan asked to which Ponnappan slightly nodded his head. Seeing his senior nod, Lonappan got furious. Not only he had to live with the awful name, but he had to listen to the people around him ridiculing him after the bold proclamation he made earlier. While he couldn''t do anything about the first thing, he felt like he could do something for the second one. The ones around him were talking about how weak he was and how they could beat him easily if they were to go on a fight against him. "Oyy, fuckers! If you have the balls to back your words up, then I challenge you. Put your name on the line and let''s see who wins." He spoke. However, everyone else were hesitant in doing so even after everything they said about him. Someone argued that it went against the rules. But much to everyone''s dismay, the commanding officer Chinnappan decided to interfere with the proceedings and said that it wasn''t against the rules. However, he clearly stated that Lonappan would gain nothing from winning this fight, but would lose his right to become a senior field agent if he were to lose the fight. And if the others lost, they would only have to revert back to their original names¡ªwhich meant they had to forfeit their right to pick a name for themselves. While some still hesitated, other extremely confident dudes stepped up to the challenge. However they didn''t expect what was coming for them. Lonappan lost clean to Ponnappan, who was actually considered one of the best of the base. If it was anyone else, he would''ve won and he was demonstrating just that with the one vs sixteen match he had. However, his anger wasn''t quenched with just that. Instead, he forced every victorious participant to fight against him. Since they were genuinely terrified of him, they silently accepted their fate and lost gracefully. Thus, Lonappan''s batch became the only one without even a single name change and Lonappan and his temper was the only reason behind it. # Chapter 198: A step back and another one forward "Dang, that was low, dude." Lena sighed as she heard what happened back in the day. "Hey, everything is fair in love and war. And what I did back then was war. There''s no doubt in that." Lonappan replied. "Well, they were ridiculing him¡ªmy junior, that is. So, I''d argue that what he did was absolutely the right thing. I mean, no one dared to make fun of a loser since then. It somehow became a rule of sorts, but it all began with what he did. So, there''s nothing wrong with that." Ponnappan spoke. "Hmm, if you put it that way, I''d have to agree with the statement as well." Lena nodded her head along. "You bastards. You don''t value my words, do you? When I say something, you two would pick out something wrong in it. But when it''s you speaking, you''re fine with it, huh?" Lonappan sounded a bit disappointed as he spoke. "I mean, you''re basically finding fault in everything, my man. If we say something against you, it''s a conspiracy against you while if we say something supporting you, it''s hypocrisy or some bullshit like that. Just pick a lane, dude!" Ponnappan urged as he got incredibly tired of the uninvited guest. "Yea, fuck it as well. Are you gonna tell me your overhyped decision or should I just get the hell out knowing that your verdict is always gonna be against me?" Lonappan shrugged. "Stay. You''ve already went through all this bullshit, so hold on for a few more minutes and then you can exit the house as a happy¡ªwell, content man, at the very least." Ponnappan replied. This made Lonappan stop in his tracks, metaphorically at least. "Go on. I''m listening." Ponnappan took a deep breath. "So, I''m gonna side with my wife just this once because¡­" Before he got the opportunity to tell the reason behind his pick, Lonappan turned back and stormed out. "Okay, then. Now that you''ve already told me your answer, I''m gonna leave before you give out some ridiculous reason for your well thought out pick." Lonappan said as he was leaving. Before Ponnappan could stop him from doing so, the man had already got to the door and exited. The one place where Lonappan trumped him was agility. Even back in the day, Ponnappan couldn''t keep up with him, so it was impossible for the leisure life living commanding officer. "Seems like I''m seriously out of shape now. O couldn''t even imagine chasing him down. You know how that feels?" Ponnappan turned towards his wife and asked. "You could say that for the both of us. I don''t think I could chase him down as well. And that sucks." Lena sighed. "We seriously got complacent as soon as an opportunity to laze around came out way, huh?" She asked. "That we did." Ponnappan nodded his head to it. "So, shall we slowly head back to our previous workout routine?" He asked. "Oh, man! That would be excruciating for the current us, don''t you think?" Lena asked. "Absolutely. That''s why I asked if we could slowly return back to it¡ªemphasis on slowly." Ponnappan answered. "Ah, cool then. Let''s do that." Lena extended her hand and Ponnappan shook on it. "Great. I''ve been thinking of doing it for a long time now, so this works perfectly for me." The commanding officer gave a thumbs up to his wife. "Ah, glad to be of your help." Lena smiled. "By the way, what was your reasoning behind your pick? Since it doesn''t seem like you can talk about it to Lonappan any longer, how about you say about it to me and get some peace at least." She suggested. "Well, I guess I''d do that." Ponnappan shrugged as he sat beside his wife. "So, tell me what you want to." Lena ordered as she ran her hands through her husband''s hair. "Okay, I seriously considered all the possibilities, you see. Don''t get offended or anything, when I say this, but I completely agree with what Lonappan said about a person being done with MIB after he or she retires."Ponnappan spoke. "Oh, don''t worry. I''m not offended. It makes sense in its own way." Lena replied. "Great. So, my initial thought was to support Lonappan just this once because he said the right thing. It was just a no-brainer, if you ask me." Ponnappan shrugged. "Then what made you change your decision, huh?" Lena asked. "Listen to me, okay? It''s because you''re way too overpowered. And I''m not talking about the physical part¡ªin which your on par with me as well. I''m talking about your connections." He replied. "I love how you dodged a bullet right there with your reply." Lena chuckled. "Anyway, what''s about my connections?" She asked. "So, if I''m to stop telling you about stuff happening in the MIB, that''s not gonna change anything. You wanna know why? Because you are in contact with two of the people who are highly influential. I mean, your uncle spilling all the secrets is a given since he has such a loose tongue, but now that you''ve patched up with your father as well, you''re gonna get the exact sequence of events if you want to." Ponnappan explained. "That''s true. Oh, and by the way, I''ll be calling dad for lunch next week. I know you two still haven''t patched up since I messed up things for us, but I thought that this would be the right opportunity to bury that hatchet." Lena spoke. "Hmm, it''s weird being around him. I mean, he rolls his eyes around me and always gives me these disapproving looks. And recently he''s been talking about how he''d die before seeing his grandchild and how lucky Chinnappan is, since he could see his. I haven''t said to him that you were the one who''s not interested in having a kid yet, because he''d be devastated if he was to hear that." Ponnappan replied. "And I thank you for doing that, my little secret keeper. Ah, that thanks is also for supporting my decision after all these years." Lena pecked on Ponnappan''s cheek as she gave out her reply. "Well, it''s a difficult phase for both of us. So, if we were to have a kid, it would be hard for us to give the kid the love that they require. I''ll most probably be out in the office while you might have to take care of the kid yourself or even have a nanny look after the kid. I don''t want that. I want to be around them as much as possible. You too want that, right? So, I respect your decision." He replied. "Ha, I''m just blessed that I got such a great hubby." Lena smiled as she pulled Ponnappan''s cheeks to either sides. "Hehe, likewise my queen. Likewise." Ponnappan smiled brightly. "Anyway, we were talking about your connections with those tow old bastards. I mean, they shouldn''t get any info from the base as well, but the guys in there respect those two way too much, so everything falls in those two''s ears as well." He sighed. "Well, they did make an impact as the commanding officers of their respective bases." Lena shrugged. "Yup. So, if you want any info, you could simply go to them, right? But I don''t want that to happen, so I''d rather tell you than let that happen." Ponnappan replied. "Huh, sounds like hus is a bit jealous." Lena smirked. "It isn''t jealousy or some shit like that. Just like those two bastards hate me, I hate them as well. It''s mutual hatred, you see¡­ So, I just don''t want my wife to talk to someone I hate when I have the answer you''re searching for." Ponnappan replied. "You do remember that I asked you to join on lunch with my father¡ªthe guy you apparently hate, right? Are you gonna feel uncomfortable with that?" Lena asked. "Meh, even though I don''t think anything''s gonna patch up between the two of us, I''ll still try my best tolerating him. That''s the least I could do, right?" He asked back. "Why?" Lena muttered as she stared at her husband''s face. "Huh?" Ponnappan looked confused by the question with no context. "Why does it feel like you are always taking a step back to heed my selfish requests? You can always turn down things, you know that, right?" She asked. "A step back, huh? Well, if taking a step back by myself allows us to move forwards as a family, I would much rather do that than take those steps by myself. And I''ve never thought of your requests as selfish. And why do I do this? Because, I love you." Ponnappan kissed his wife on the forehead as he said that. Lena took a deep breath. "I''ve decided." She proclaimed. "Hmm, what?" Ponnappan looked confused yet again by a vague reply this time around. "Let''s have a child." She said with an excited look on her face. # Chapter 199: A huge decision "What?" Ponnappan just couldn''t believe what he just heard. Those were words he once wanted to hear so badly, but had to throw the notion out since it didn''t seem possible. However, now that Lena finally said it, he could only stare at her in disbelief. "Are you for real?" He asked. "Yup. As real as¡­ I''m sorry. I can''t seem to find a nice pop culture reference to correlate it with." Lena chuckled. "Ah, screw that shit. But, you aren''t kidding about it now, are you? I mean, it''s been a really long time since we had a talk about this." Ponnappan spoke. "Yea, I realize that. And that''s what is making me say this. Honey, I want a child running around in this house." She spoke. "Ah man! I don''t know whether I should smile or cry right now. I mean, this is a huge decision, you know? Maybe you should think it through." The words that came out of Ponnappan was not what he wanted to say. He wanted to celebrate and yet his words were filled with concern on whether he forced her into taking such a decision. Although he wanted a child so badly, he''d hate it if he''s forcing his will on her. "I had around ten years to think about it. So, I believe that my decision is a well thought through one." Lena replied with a smile. She knew what he was going through¡ªat least part of it. He was going through a mixed bag of emotions and wanted a sane person to be by his side. She decided to be the sane person this time around, just like Ponnappan had been for her all this time. "But remember what I said earlier? I might not be able to be near the child all the time. You have a similar situation as well, don''t you? You got a job to take care of. And I don''t want some random nanny to experience all the little things that our child goes through. So, is this the right time?" He asked. "Hear me out. It is the right time. If work is the thing that''s bothering you, then we can take a holiday from it in turns. Sure, we won''t be there to take care of the child together, bit at least one of us would be there, right? And if any emergency comes in your job, if that''s what worries you¡­ Well, just ask Lonappan for help. He''d make a good leader as well, you know? After all, wasn''t he the one who was actually touted to be the commanding officer?" Lena asked. "Ah, you''re right about that." Ponnappan nodded his head vigorously as he got the answer he was looking for. "Trust in your subordinates this one time. I don''t think they''ll betray your trust. Hell, they might even exceed your expectations. Who knows?" Lena shrugged. "Yup. I should trust them more¡­" Ponnappan mumbled. "So, that part is settled, right? Now, what else?" She asked. "Tell me the truth, kay? Are you being pressured into making this decision due to what I said or something?" Ponnappan asked. Lena sighed. "Ha¡­ That was the thing that was concerning you, huh? Well, what you said might have influenced me in some way, shape or form¡­ That''s certainly the truth." She nodded her head. "I knew it. Honey, if you are not comfortable with this decision, then just don''t. Something like having a baby is a huge decision, right? And you''re the one who''s gonna go through all the pain and suffering while going through labor and stuff. So, don''t take such a decision because you''re pressured." Ponnappan spoke. "Even if you are the one who pressured me?" She asked. "ESPECIALLY if I''m the one who''s pressing you to take such a decision. I''m an indecisive man incapable of making clear cut thoughts. Don''t believe or follow what I say for the most part." Ponnappan replied. "Hmm, interesting. The person you describe yourself as isn''t the person that I see before me. I mean, you are the most level headed person that I''ve seen in my life. And if you are indecisive, then I can''t seem to think of a decisive person. If you weren''t decisive, then no one in your base would''ve followed you. So, cut with the bullshit." She spoke. "¡­" At this point, Ponnappan had nothing to say. He simply nodded his head to what his wife had to say. Lena sighed again. "Okay, look. When I said that your words were a clear influence for me to take this decision, I meant it under positive light. You words made me think about how self centred I was. I mean, you were hoping to have a child for a long time now, haven''t you? Let me guess, it probably started when Lonappan had a child, right?" She asked. "Yea. But I wanted to respect your decision, so I never talked about it." Ponnappan spoke. "You idiot! I love you more than anything in this life and I love the fact that you listen to me and all, but how will this relationship move in the right path if you''re the only one listening? You should speak out too- your selfish requests and your frustrations¡ªeverything! I wanna hear it all, just like you do mine. So tell me, how would you like it if we are to have a child together right now?" She asked again. "I''d be the happiest person alive in this world." Ponnappan replied bluntly. "Then how would you feel if I back out of it right now saying that it was my fickle mindedness that made me say it?" Lena asked. "I''d be a little disappointed, but I''ll still wait for you to take that decision someday." Ponnappan smiled. "This guy¡­" Lena mumbled as she turned her back on her husband. Ponnappan was the one who sighed this time around. It felt like his wish of having a baby would still be unfulfilled. "What the hell are you doing?" Lena turned back and asked the disappointed looking husband of hers. "Huh?" Ponnappan gave out a confused look towards his wife as he failed to understand what she tried to convey. "Aren''t you coming to bed?" She asked. "Huh, but it''s early morning and we just¡ªwait a minute!" Ponnappan exclaimed as he realised what she meant. "The baby isn''t gonna automatically produce by itself, you know?" Lena gave out a coy smile as she signalled Ponnappan to follow her. # Evening that day; the commanding officer, who''s usually the first person who reaches the office, took till evening to get there. At that point, it wouldn''t have made a massive change had he took a holiday that day. But still, for the sake of saying that he came that day, Ponnappan stepped in his office in the last possible second. "Why are you even here, my dude?" Lonappan, who saw Ponnappan creeping inside his own office, asked. "I can ask the same question to you too! Why are you seated in my chair, huh?" Ponnappan turned the tables with that question. "Why, you ask? Because our commanding officer came like ten to twelve hours late to the office that I had to reluctantly take the command. It sucks, but what other choice did I have?" Lonappan asked. "I''m sorry, man¡­ It was totally out of the blue, but I HAD to be late today. Else it''d have been hard for me." Ponnappan replied. "What''s up with you speaking about it as if it was absolutely necessary?" Lonappan asked. "Because it was." Ponnappan answered. "What? Leaking out sensitive MIB information to an outsider was absolutely necessary? You could''ve at least spared the minute details, couldn''t you? I mean, it looks like you told literally everything to her seeing the time it took for you to come." Thankappan scoffed. Ponnappan sighed. "Ah, fuck that shit. You''re not understanding the importance of the time I took off." He spoke. "Well, I''ll never know it unless you explicitly state what that is." Lonappan replied. "So, we took a really important decision. Lena and I are gonna have a child!" Ponnappan announced. "What? She''s pregnant? Oh, God no! I got into an argument with a pregnant lady. Shouldn''t have done that." Lonappan looked distressed as he heard the news. "Oh, no. You''re taking it the wrong way. I said that we finally decided to have a child. Not that she''s already pregnant with one." Ponnappan corrected his subordinate. "Ah, I forgot that your wife had a no child policy. Congratulations, man! You don''t have to give a reason as to why you were extremely late today now. And I hope that my visit was one of the factors that lead to that decision." Lonappan joked. "Huh¡­ In a way, it was indeed your visit that sparked that conversation. So, I gotta say thanks to you as well¡­ You''re like an angel or something, my dude!" Ponnappan declared with a extremely bright look on his face without a tinge of embarrassment. It was Lonappan instead, who was embarrassed by his commanding officer''s actions. # Chapter 200: Everyones gotta go! "What the heck, dude? Have some shame!" Lonappan cried as he saw the commanding officer trying to hug him. "Well, I''m just appreciating your help. There''s nothing to he ashamed about, right?" Ponnappan asked. "I''m not a huge fan of physical contact unless it''s my wife or my kid. So, back off." Lonappan warned. "Just add me into that list just this once, will ya?" Ponnappan asked as he gave a tight hug to Lonappan. Since it was such a joyous moment for Ponnappan, Lonappan decided to let go of it just this once as asked. "Okay, look. Never again, got it?" Lonappan asked as he pushed the commanding officer away. "I''ll think about it." Ponnappan gave out a sly smile as he replied. "No. No thinking. I want a clear answer." Lonappan spoke in a serious tone. "Sure. I won''t do it again." Ponnappan sounded disappointed as he agreed to it. "Great." Lonappan was relieved once he heard the confirmation. Once relaxed, he moved away from Ponnappan''s seat and seated himself in his usual seat. "So, how are you feeling right now?" He asked as he made himself comfortable. "Well, ecstatic to say the least. I mean, never expected it to happen so randomly and now that it did happen, I''m really happy." Ponnappan spoke out his mind. "Hmm, it''s great that it finally happened and all, but man¡­ you took a long time to come to this decision, don''t you think?" Lonappan asked again. "Well, that''s certainly the case. But the wife wasn''t comfortable with it before. And I''m against anything that makes her uncomfortable." Ponnappan replied. "Admirable." Lonappan applauded as he heard the answer from him. "However, you two are like what¡ªthirty something now? I''ve heard that it''s difficult for couples above thirty to conceive a child or something. Like, most of the development deformities is for the children with the parents around that age." He spoke. "Where did you even hear such a bullshit statement?" Ponnappan asked. "The internet, I guess? I don''t actually remember where I heard it from." Lonappan shrugged. "Nah, I just checked. It ain''t from the internet. Maybe it is¡­ I mean, there are a lot of self proclaimed medical experts on that platform. Iguess they can do whatever the shit they want because internet is such a place, but that doesn''t mean that you gotta believe in what some random asshole spouts." Ponnappan spoke. "Yea, you''re right. But man, I read or heard it from somewhere a long time ago, so you can''t just blame me for thinking it as real." Lonappan replied. "I guess? But next time you drop bombs like these, do a research on it first, will ya?" Ponnappan asked. "Will do." Lonappan replied. "Great. Then leave. I feel like I got a lot of catching up to do today." Ponnappan said as he shooed Lonappan away. "Not really. I did the most part. You just gotta look into the files that came by like right now." Lonappan replied. "You did everything else?" Ponnappan asked in awe. "Yup." Lonappan nodded his head. Ponnappan looked into the files that his subordinate sorted out and every other work he did and was clearly impressed. "Oh, man. This makes me wonder why you didn''t accept the commanding officer''s position when Chinnappan asked you to do it." He sighed. "Look. I know I''ll do well in this too. But for a man like me who''s on his lookout for a little bit of thrill, I can''t be enclosed like this." Lonappan answered. "Hmm, whatever the reason might be, I''m simply glad that you helped me in this case as well and that too exceptionally. I guess Injust got what I''m looking for." Ponnappan mumbled. "And what would that be?" Lonappan asked. "You see, the baby will be coming someday and at that time, I would have to be my wife''s side so that I don''t miss anything. I was looking for someone to cover for me while that happens. Now I know that I don''t have to look that far to get a replacement for me that day." Ponnappan spoke as he patted Lonappan''s shoulder. "Okay, dude¡­ I''m not against doing it, but you''re looking way ahead into the future. We''ll think about this stuff when your wife gets nine months pregnant or something, okay?" Lonappan asked. "Cool. I just wanted to know that if you''re gonna help me when in need." Ponnappan replied. "You do know that I''ll always be there when you need me, right?" Lonappan asked. "¡­ Yea. I know that." Ponnappan smiled. "So, head out for now. I''ll swing by after looking into the rest of the files. After that, let''s grab a cup of coffee or something." He spoke. "Great! I''ll meet you then." Lonappan waved his hand as he exited the room. # Back in the Holy Land, the lads were feeling off. They were just loitering around with nothing particular to do and hated doing it. "What''s up with today, man? Why do I feel so bored?" Gibli broke the silence and asked. "Well, because we haven''t been doing anything today, why else? I mean, this is a normal occurrence in our household, isn''t it?"Taro asked as he continued watching television. He was probably the only one who didn''t get bored. "Why are we here? Why aren''t we going out? I''m getting bored, you know?" Gibli sprang up and asked. "Don''t ask me. Ask this guy." Taro pointed towards Thankappan who was casually eating chips. "Huh? Me? What? When? Why?" Thankappan, who just noticed Taro pointing towards him looked all flustered. "Well, you''re the leader, right? Will we be able to go out anytime soon?" Gibli asked. "Hmm. I am the leader, huh? Sure doesn''t feel like it." Thankappan chuckled. "Don''t crack such jokes right now, man. You''re supposed to be the one saving us from the hellhole!" Gibli cried. "I ain''t saving your asses! I mean, why do you need saving? What''s wrong with staying indoors? It''s perfectly fine doing that. Aren''t we having a good time here?" Thankappan asked. "Well, if aimlessly sitting on a sofa and hating every single moment of it is having a good time, then I''ll have to agree with you on that." Kunjan, who stayed silent the entire time spoke out. "It isn''t that bad¡­" Taro tried putting in an argument of his own. "Yea, you seem to be coping with this lifestyle way too quickly for some reason. However, it isn''t that easy for us. We are organisms that would like to see the light of the day at least once." Gibli spoke. "But it''s night though." Taro shrugged. "Argh¡­ Very well, I''d like to see the freaking night lights!" Gibli seemed frustrated as he spoke. "Cool. You do you." Taro gave a thumbs up and proceeded to watch television. "So, anyway. When can we go out?" Gibli turned towards Thankappan and asked. "I honestly am not in the mood¡­ I feel like we will get into some huge mess if we were to get out of this room; especially at night time. I mean, we were tangled up with this guy at night, right?" Thankappan scoffed as he stared down at the sleeping Scarlet. "Hmm, it seems like you are backing away from a challenge. Is this what cowardice is? It is, isn''t it?" Gibli tried gaslighting Thankappan into letting them out. "It might just be that, you know? Don''t wanna risk getting into another mess. Can''t we just enjoy the peace we have right now?" The MIB agent asked. "Be adventurous, my man. Life is all about those special moments, ain''t it? You''re never gonna forget those moments in your life!" Gibli spoke passionately. "Trust me when I say this. I really wanna forget most of the shit I went through¡ªno kidding." Thankappan sighed. "But¡­ but¡­" Gibli had no argument left to give. "Okay, you wanna argue and shit? Do that somewhere else. Don''t do it while I''m trying to enjoy a show." Taro roared as he got fed up of what was happening around him. "I''m really sorry, dude. But we got no choice. Make this man say yes to our request and we''ll stop." Gibli cried. "Your request. I never said that I''m backing you up in that request." Kunjan interjected himself into the conversation. "What? Well, if you aren''t, then Taro¡­" Gibli looked towards Taro who was shaking his head no. "M''Baku¡­" He turned his attention towards the canino after seeing this. "Hell na, man! I can just go to Shivani''s if I want to and get the enjoyment I''m looking for." M''Baku replied. "Then Scarlet at least¡­" Gibli turned towards his last resort, who was sleeping peacefully. "Huh, there''s no one backing me¡­ Doesn''t matter. I''ll continue with my struggle even if my voice is the only one ringing out loud." He cried. "Oh, goodness gracious great balls of fire¡­ I just can''t. Just let him go now, will you? I just wanna watch television peacefully." Taro cried. "Hmm, I''ll allow it then." Thankappan replied to which Gibli went nuts. "Only if everyone''s going." The mood of the room just went south as Taro displayed a disgusted look on his face upon hearing this. # Chapter 201: How about Athirappilly? "Unfair! That''s unfair!" Taro jumped up and shouted as he heard what Thankappan told. "How would that be? If one is going out, then everyone''s gonna go out. It''s as simple as that." Thankappan shrugged. "Then what if someone doesn''t want to go out?" Taro asked. "Didn''t I answer that already? If one''s not going, then no one''s going." Thankappan replied. "Shit¡­ You''re doing this because I supported Gibli even though I don''t wanna go out, right?" Taro sighed as he posed the question. "Not really. I made this decision with a sane mind. Think about this. I can''t leave you¡ªespecially YOU alone in this house. But neither can I make the others go to wherever the heck they wanna go when there''s a chance that they''d end up escaping or worse¡ªgetting lost. I''m the agent responsible for all of you. There''s no Lonappan here, so I''m the sole official. Hence, if I''m gonna give the permission to go out, I gotta take all of you out together. So, it isn''t some petty revenge for something trivial as you think." Thankappan answered. "You know, I''d be fine even if you are to leave me alone in here. I mean, nothing''s gonna happen in here, so why ruin my night?" Taro asked. "Man, since when did going out began to ruin your night, huh?" Thankappan asked. "Well, ever since I learned about the pleasures of staying in and living like a sloth." Taro replied. "Hmm, looks like you blended with this lifestyle a little too well, huh?" Thankappan looked surprised at hearing Taro''s reply. "I guess so. I really didn''t have the time to appreciate what the television had to offer back in my planet, so I guess now''s a good time than any to appreciate them, albeit this one being from an entirely different planet." Taro answered. "Interesting. Good for you that you''re adapting to this life this well." Thankappan gave out a thumbs up. "Ah, you''re welcome. So, how about you let me stay here and continue adapting, hmm?" Taro asked with a coy smile on his face. "Unfortunately that''s not gonna happen. I mean, even the Holy Land isn''t safe from unexpected events. And that''s why I want us to stick together. If something happens, we''d at least be together at that time. And if that''s the case, we can always think of a solution." Thankappan spoke. "There''s no other way, huh?" Taro looked dejected as he asked. "Other than every single one of us spending our night before the television, I don''t think there''s any other way" Thankappan shook his head to say no. "Fuck." Taro silently cursed before reverting back to his original form. He just didn''t know what to do. On one hand, he could always screw everyone else and do a selfish play and make them stay at home. While on the other hand, he could become a sport in his roommates eyes and let them all go out. Anyhow, Taro simply didn''t like going in the evil path, especially for petty cases like this. He had already decided that if he was to turn to the dark side, it''s gonna be meaningful as heck and he''d literally screw over everyone in such a situation. Taro sighed. He was about to get his verdict out, when Gibli got to his front and stared at his eyes with sadness. Those two eyes of his were desperately asking Taro to make a right decision. And Taro wasn''t one to not listen to people''s pleas. "Fine. Let''s go then. Where are we going then?" The Wadorian asked. "Not planned yet. If you ask me, we should just do it without planning shit. It''ll be exciting, if you ask me!" Gibli spoke, not yet over the fact that Taro actually agreed with it. "Hell nah, man. Going to the outside without a proper plan sucks. Trust me on that. I got experience on that." Taro spoke. "Hmm, you might just be right about that." Thankappan mumbled as he agreed with what Taro said. "So, where are we supposed to go then?" Gibli asked to Taro. "You really think that is a question to ask me? I mean, there''s our caretaker right there and you still ask me the question?" Taro asked as he pointed towards Thankappan. Gibli turned his attention towards the MIB agent that time around. "So, where are we going, Mr Caretaker?" Gibli asked. He didn''t mean to sound condescending, but it sure did feel that way when he said that. "Wow, seems like I pissed someone off." Thankappan spoke as he heard Gibli. "Oh, no. I didn''t mean it like that. It just came out as condescending." Gibli tried refuting it. "Is that so? Guess it''s fine then." Thankappan didn''t took much offense at the tone to begin with, so he didn''t make a big deal of it. "Great." Gibli heaved in a sigh of relief as he heard Thankappan''s answer. "Okay, where are we going then?" Gibli went back to the main point of discussion. "Where do you want to go?" Thankappan asked. "Well, somewhere I haven''t gone before. Since I can''t describe such a place, you just gotta use your imagination to think of a place that''s new as well as entertaining for me." Gibli spoke. "Hmm, it''s night time as well. I simply can''t think of such a place for some reason. I would''ve suggested Athirappilly waterfalls, but I don''t think it will be great at night. I''ve only seen the place at morning and it''s heavenly at that time. But, at night¡­" Thankappan seemed a bit hesitant to speak. "Well, if something''s good looking at the morning, it definitely would look great at night as well, right?" Gibli asked. "Not necessarily. I''ve seen some guys and girls who look drop dead gorgeous at morning while look like absolute shit at night. So, there''s that to consider as well." Taro spoke as he heard what Gibli said. "Ah, well. That''s people, right? I''m talking about a particular spot in here. People can fool us with their fake ass look, but not places. Once a beautiful place, it will always look beautiful, unless some asshole screws with it." Gibli spoke. "Why does it feel like you said something smart yet it sounds extremely¡­. Off putting?" Kunjan, who didn''t care for the most part, interjected with a question of his own. "Ah, it does leave a bad taste in all of our mouths, huh?" Taro jumped in Kunjan''s bandwagon as well on that. "I kinda have to agree with that as well." Thankappan nodded his head lightly. "Hey! Don''t belittle me like that. I can say smart things as well." Gibli cried. "Yea, yea. We hear that." Taro patted Gibli''s shoulder as he gave out a light chuckle. "Anyway, I just searched on the internet about the waterfall you talked about. As long as we book a resort or something there, it would be fine. We can witness the place in it''s full glory then. I''m not saying that we can''t just waltz in like normal, but don''t you think they''ll think of us as some shady guys if we were to do that?" Kunjan asked. "I guess so? I don''t know man. Never went there at night." Thankappan shrugged. "Very well. Let''s just follow on with my plan then. I think that would be better if we want to keep a low profile." Kunjan replied. "Sure. But you think there''s gonna a bus to the place at this time of the night?" Taro jumped back into the conversation and asked. "Hmm, that''s a problem as well. But I believe that would be resolved if we just ask Gopan to drive us to the place." Kunjan answered. "You know how much that''s gonna take. That''ll be some big bucks, my dude." Thankappan spoke. "Well, you are the one who said that we''ll go out if everyone''s going. You are also the one who recommended that waterfall to us. So, don''t you think you should be the one paying for the trip as well? I mean, we''ll chime in a few rupees for the stay, but you gotta cough up the money for the trip." Taro exacted revenge against Thankappan with this.. ¡­Was what he thought, but the MIB agent looked really calm. He didn''t particularly care if he was to pay for it. "Sure, I''ll do that. Got no problem with it." Thankappan replied with a smile on his face. "You''re hiding something for sure." Taro called out on Thankappan''s smile. "Ah, glad that I wasn''t the only one who felt that." Gibli spoke. "What do you mean, guys? I don''t get it!" Thankappan still had the smile as he said that. "Oh, really? That smile¡­ That damn smile¡­ You do that when things go on your favor. Tell me, what is it?" Taro asked. "There''s nothing-" Before he could complete his sentence, Kunjan, who rarely interferes, interfered. "Got it!" The plankton proclaimed. "What is it?" Taro turned towards Kunjan and asked. "The trip is gonna cost less that the stay, isn''t that right, Thankappan?" Kunjan asked the MIB agent who stood there with a sly smile. # Chapter 202: Maniacal laughter The sly smile didn''t stay in Thankappan''s face for long. He reverted to a shocked look since changing expressions were easy as hell for him, although sometimes the reaction time takes a big delay like right then. "What are you even saying? It''s pretty costly, you know¡ªthe trip, I mean." The MIB agent replied. "As if I''d believe that!" Kunjan spoke while looking dead straight into Thankappan''s eyes. And since he had a stoic exoskeleton, the stare had a great impact "I''m not kidding! It''s real!" Thankappan stopped midway through his sentence as Kunjan''s stare did quite the mess up with him. However, being the rationale man that he was, he somehow recovered pretty quickly from that. "¡­As I was saying, the trip is quite costly." He tried "speaking sense" into their alien brains. "Nah, I don''t believe you. Especially not in this case. But I do know of a person whom I can believe in." Kunjan spoke. "And who might that be?" Thankappan asked. "Just wait a second." Kunjan said as he picked his phone up and dialled a number. "It''s gotta be Gopan, isn''t it? I don''t get the point of asking that question, Thankappan." Taro shrugged as he interrupted the conversation. "Ha¡­ I know that as well. But I felt like it would be bad manners if I don''t play along with him." Thankappan shrugged back as he replied back to Taro. "I guess I can vibe with that." Taro nodded his head as he heard Thankappan''s answer. "But, you do know that your lie is gonna get revealed when Gopan takes that phone call, right?" He asked. "Yea, I know¡­" Thankappan sighed before continuing. "I just wanted to rile you guys up this time. So, yea." He spoke. "You see, I know that we''ve only been near each other for months now, but after noticing the way you talk and stuff, I can smell the lie from a distance. So, don''t try bullshitting and just say that you were hoping that we never knew of that." Taro spoke back. "Well, if you already knew about it, why should even try telling you the same thing that you know of. It''s way too good lying to a person about something that they know the true nature of. I mean, if you''re capable of making a person believe in your lie even when they know of the truth, then how skilled you have to be, right?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, true that. Ever managed to do that in your entire life?" Taro asked. "Nah, never managed to do that. But I know of a person who did it. I still fear that person deeply. I mean, it''s a fearful skill to possess." Thankappan spoke. "I guess so. It''s like manipulating the world the way you want others to see, right?" Taro asked. "More like wordly illusion, isn''t it?" Gibli jumped in after listening to the conversation for the longest time. "The master of deception. The word wizard. Which sounds good?" Taro asked. "Master of deception has a wide range of spectrum. Word wizard sounds better, but it doesn''t work with lies, does it? Maybe we should mix both the terms and call that person a master of words or something. Else, we could just call him master of lies. That does sound straight onto the point." Gibli spoke. "It does sound good." Thankappan nodded his head along. "Damn, what an unproductive conversation, huh?" Taro sighed. "It sure is." Gibli agreed to Taro''s words that time. "How come? We just gave a cool nickname to a person with whom I''m acquainted with." Thankappan was about to continue his rant about how the conversation they had was productive, but Taro jumped in the midst of it. "¡­Which could be Lonappan or even Ponnappan, according to what I know of you. Probably Lonappan. I mean, you''re close with him than you are with Ponnappan. So yea¡­" The Wadorian spoke. "You really do think that these two are the only guys I am in contact with, huh?" Thankappan sighed as he heard Taro''s words. "I mean, is that even wrong? I haven''t seen you talk to anyone else other than the ones in the Snehatheeram base when it comes to your fellow MIB agents. And among those, it''s mostly Lonappan, so¡­" Taro shrugged as he gave out his explanation. "You know¡­ You don''t really have to talk to each other every other second to be close friends with someone. Who knows, I just might have a lot of good friends I don''t usually talk to." Thankappan spoke. "But do you? That''s the big question here." Taro spoke. "That will remain a secret. So you shall never know that." Thankappan spoke. "Damn it!" Someone screamed out in frustration from their side. It was Kunjan, who was fed up of calling Gopan for the umpteenth time. The frustrated voice sure didn''t match his stoic face. "What happened? Your call didn''t go through again?" Thankappan asked with a bright smile on his face, which Kunjan absolutely hated for some reason. "Fuck it. We''re leaving." The plankton got up and stormed out of the door after saying that. "Wait, where? To Athirappilly? And how? By foot? Dude, it''s like¡ªwait, it''s possible to me, at the very least. So, I''m in." Taro said, all excited about the trip. "What? No! We''re not gonna run that distance!" Kunjan turned back and spoke. "We''re going to Gopan''s house." He proclaimed. # After a heated back and forth argument about who''s gonna be the one going to Gopan''s house, it was decided that everyone would go there together, much to the dislike ot one person in particular. However, Taro didn''t make much of a scene this time around because that would only waste time, so they were in front of Gopan''s house way earlier than they expected them to get there. Kunjan was the one who rang the doorbell since he was the one most eager to see Gopan. However, instead of Gopan, it was his wife who answered the door. "Oh, it''s you guys! Why are you here?" She asked. "¡­" Kunjan, who was expected to answer her question, didn''t do so, which brought forth an awkward couple minutes of silence in the front porch of the house. "What the hell are you doing?" Thankappan whispered as he nudged the plankton. "Huh? Well, I formulated all the dialogues expecting that Gopan would be the one answering the door and now that''s thwarted, I don''t know how I should answer now." The plankton whispered back. "Oh, Dang. That''s a predicament and a two you got right there. This is why you should learn how to improv on the spot." Thankappan spoke. "Watch me now." He instructed the aliens as he turned to face Gopan''s face. "Damn, he makes it sound like that''s an impressive thing while more than half of his own species knows how to do that." Taro sighed. "Zip it." Thankappan instructed as he turned back and glared back at the aliens, before reverting back to his original path to talk with Gopan''s wife. "Is Gopan there? He asked almost bluntly. "Nah, he''s out for a trip. I don''t know how long it will take for him to come back, so¡­" Gopan''s wife shrugged. "Dang, who''s gonna take us to Athirappilly now?" Thankappan sighed a bit loud this time around. "Athirappilly?" Gopan''s wife asked. "Ah, we were planning to go to Athirappilly like right now, but now that he''s not here-" Thankappan didn''t get a chance to complete what he was about to say, when someone stormed into the porch from inside the house. "You guys are going to Athirappilly?" Gopan asked. "Gopan! I thought you were gone-" Thankappan didn''t even get time to exclaim properly when Gopan grabbed his shoulders. "Never mind that. You guys are really going tk Athirappilly, right?" Gopan asked yet again. "Yup, we are gonna go right now." Thankappan nodded his head. "Then hop in to the auto. We''ll go right now." Gopan said as he got the keys for his auto-taxi. "Wait. Before that, I got a question to ask." Kunjan, who recovered from the ailment after Gopan''s appearance, spoke. "Shoot." "How much does it take to reach Athirappilly?" He asked. "Hmm, it usually takes around like two thousand rupees or something. However, I''m gonna just give you lot a two hundred discount and make it two thousand." Gopan replied. "Wait, wasn''t it two thousand to begin with?" Kunjan asked. "No, I said around two thousand, not exactly two thousand." Gopan corrected him. "Hmm, you said that you''d give us a two hundred discount. And that made it a round two thousand. Which means that the earlier, it was two thousand two hundred, right?" Kunjan asked. "Roughly, yes." Gopan nodded his head. "Is that so?" Kunjan asked again, to which Gopan nodded as well. "Great, a room in the resort takes about ten thousand. So, fuck it., I''m paying for the trip and Thankappan, you pay for the room. You can''t fool me this time." The plankton laughed like a maniac as he said those words. The laughter was made even more creepy by his facial expression which equated to nil. # Chapter 203: Alienated What Kunjan expected was a dejected Thankappan who was getting pissed thinking about paying the money for the stay, but the MIB agent looked unfazed by it and the plankton didn''t know why. "What the hell man?" Kunjan decided to voice out his frustration. "Hmm? What happened?" Thankappan asked. Slowly but surely, a smile began emerging from his face. "I knew it! You got something planned. I don''t know what that is, but there seems to be something." Kunjan stared at Thankappan hoping that it would make spill out what it is. "What do you even mean?" Thankappan asked with disbelief on his eyes. "Nah, man. You can''t fool me with that." The plankton moved away from the MIB agent as some sort of reflex action. "I literally have nothing to fool you with. So I just don''t know what you''re saying." The disbelief stayed in Thankappan''s face as he spoke. "Again with that. I just!" Words didn''t come out of Kunjan''s mouth after that. Instead, it was a bunch of growls that came out. "Hmm, so who''s paying?" Gopan asked. "I will be-" Thankappan was about to take on the task, when Kunjan finally got out of his growling phase. "Wait a minute. I''ll be paying for the ride." He announced. "Cool. You do that then." Thankappan stepped back with his offer to pay for the ride upon hearing that. "Damn it. At least change the damn expression for a bit! You''re being way too easy going about this. And that''s suspicious as heck as well." Kunjan spoke. "Dude, I''ve always been the same as right now. I don''t care either way. Just tell me your decision, will ya?" Thankappan asked. The plankton sighed. "Screw this. I''m paying for the room. I feel like you''re planning for something and it will work out if I''m to choose paying for the drive." The plankton replied. "You know, there could be a slight chance that I''m deliberately doing this so that you have to pay for the expensive room." Thankappan whispered in Kunjan''s ears. "Fuck¡­ That''s a possibility as well. But would you even reveal something like that if you aren''t gonna pull something out of your ass? That''s my question." The plankton spoke up. "I''m doing my best to cause discord in your mind and now that I see it up close and personal, it seems to be working." Thankappan shrugged. "Yea, it is working for some odd reason. Well, it''s not that odd, since you''re the one being the devil''s advocate right now." Kunjan spoke. "Nah, I''m just being leisurely about it. I don''t care either way." Thankappan replied. "Argh! I don''t get it. Are you trying to make me pay the price for our drive or do you want me to do the exact opposite thing?" Kunjan asked to Thankappan. But it wasn''t The MIB agent who replied. Instead, it was the Wadorian who jumped in. Taro was simply fed up with the pointless banter. "Screw this shit, okay? Screw both of you. Taking all this time for some bullshit thing. Gopan, don''t worry. I''ll be the paying the fare." He assured. "And as for you two, just fuck off or something. I just don''t wanna hear something like this ever again." He warned. "Ah, your wish is your command, my lord." Thankappan gave out a reply¡ªbowing down and all. "Now, what did I just say right now, huh?" Taro sighed as he had to hear that. "I''m sorry." Thankappan apologised. "I''m sorry as well¡ªfor doing pointless banters and all." The plankton jumped in this apologizing bandwagon as well "Yea, it''s fine¡ªfor now, that is." Taro mumbled before going back to the main point. "Anyhow, since I''ll be paying for the trip, I suggest that we head there as soon as possible. I don''t wanna waste more time than necessary. And about the room thing, you do whatever you want to. I don''t give a damn." He spoke. "Well, I''ll pay for the room then." Thankappan offered his help on that matter. "As I said before, I don''t care. You do you, my man." Taro replied. "Let''s go then, shall we?" He asked. "Sure. Let me get the vehicle from the back and we''ll get going." Gopan said as he ran way towards his auto taxi. Meanwhile, Thankappan walked towards the plankton. "You happy now? It resolved peacefully, didn''t it?" He asked. "Yea, as long as I don''t have to pay for shit, I''m happy." The plankton nodded his head. "Damn, since when did you become such a money hungry alien?" The MIB agent asked. The plankton took in a deep breath. "Well, you see, I''m from the plankton civilization. And it seems like I gotta refresh your memory on what we do. We are freaking mercenaries. We risk our life for money. So, whether it be intergalactic money or Indian rupees, it''s always gonna be valuable for me. And why didn''t I show this miserly face of mine before, you ask?" "I didn''t." Thankappan interrupted the flow of the conversation for a cheap comeback, which made Kunjan speechless for two good seconds. "Ah, great. A lame joke is always great to hear." Kunjan clapped his hands and laughed in the monotonous way possible. That was the only time that his voice matched his exoskeleton. Thankappan could only laugh awkwardly since that''s what the clap made him feel. "It wasn''t planned or anything. It was more of a reflex action. Forgive me." He spoke. "As I was saying, the only reason I didn''t show this face of mine was because the money I spent wasn''t mine to begin with. It was the MIB''s. But now, I''m being asked to use the money I earned and that''s something I hate doing." Kunjan finished up his previous statement with that. "Hmm, what if I were to tell you that it wasn''t really MIB''s money, but a short loan instead and you gotta pay it back with the money you are earning currently, huh?" Thankappan asked. "Well, if that''s the case, then better be prepared with a bomb squad or something because I''ll burn your entire establishment of MIB into ashes." Kunjan replied. "Oh, man! Thankfully that isn''t the case, so you can hold on to your horses." Thankappan spoke. "Great. Everything will be fine then. As long as no one touches on my money, everything will flow smoothly." Kunjan assured. "Hey, what the hell are you two doing? Taro and I have been calling for you two for a while now." Gibli came running towards the both of them. "Wait, weren''t you with us just a few seconds ago?" Thankappan had a confused look on his face. "What the hell are you even saying? Wait, it doesn''t matter. Hop into the auto right now and be prepared to suffer the wrath of Taro. K mean, he looks really pissed off right now." Gibli spoke. "Shoot. Maybe we should hurry. Pissing Taro off isn''t a good idea after all." Thankappan said as he ran towards the auto where Gopan was waving for them to come. Other than that, there was a dark aura as well. They could see Taro''s fury from a mile away, so they were gulping as they headed to the auto. # Contrary to what they expected, Taro didn''t blast off on then when they got into the auto. They thought that Gopan''s involvement was the reason behind Taro''s meek nature, but that wasn''t the case. He simply couldn''t care about it anymore and just wanted to end this whole journey thing. After a few hours worth of journey, they finally reached Athirappilly. But the thing was that the place was completely pitch dark. "I can''t see a thing." Thankappan spoke out once Gopan left the premises. "Well, you knew that would happen, didn''t you?" Taro asked. "I kinda did, yes." Thankappan nodded his head. "Doesn''t matter. The waterfalls still look beautiful as heck." Gibli said with a really elated look on his face¡ªexcept Thankappan couldn''t see that as well. "Dude, how can you say that when you can''t see shit?" Thankappan asked. "What do you mean?" Gibli looked confused. "I can see everything clearly." He added. "Wait, you can see things clearly at night?" Thankappan asked to which the Arkian nodded his head. "Of course! It ain''t that big of a deal. I mean, everyone here can see at night too, right?" Gibli asked. Thankappan looked as if he heard the most ridiculous thing in his life. "What in the world are you talking about? Of course n-" "I mean you ain''t wrong." Taro interrupted Thankappan, which left the MIB agent bewildered. "Of course, yes. I mean, who can''t at this point." Kunjan shrugged. Gibli turned back towards Thankappan and gave a knowing look. "See? What did I say?" "So, that means I''m the only one who can''t even see a step ahead of us?" Thankappan asked. "Yup." Gibli nodded. "Oh, shoot. I forgot that he wasn''t like one of us. Being a human can be excruciating at times, eh? Don''t worry. I can give you a play-by-play commentary if you want me to." Taro patted Thankappan''s shoulder as the Earthling felt alienated by the aliens. # Chapter 204: The story writes by itself! "Yea, let''s go to our stay." Thankappan urged as he felt like he was being the odd one out. "Nah, nah, fam. It''s freaking great as you said. So let''s just look around a bit more." Gibli suggested. "But, that¡­ is¡­ unfair!" Thankappan cried. Initially, no one batted to the MIB agent''s pleas. However, once his voice got super annoying, they had no choice but to give in to his request. "Fine, to our stay then!" Gibli raised his voice as he said that, which made it crystal clear to hear for people in his near vicinity and even for the ones further away from the Arkian. # "This is the stay you talked about?" Taro asked as he stared at the room that he just received. It wasn''t bad or anything¡ªrather, it looked just like their room in Holy Land for which they pay an approximate of five thousand rupees. So, paying ten thousand rupees for a room like that just for a single night seemed extremely idiotic in Taro''s eyes. And it wasn''t just he who thought so. "Don''t you think it''s a bit on the normal side?" Gibli voiced his thoughts. "Ah, that''s the charm of this room, don''t you think?" Thankappan asked with a smile on his face. "Uhh¡­ Yea?" Gibli had nothing more to say since he was confused more than anything. "I think what the Arkian meant by what he said was¡­ Don''t you think that this room looks a bit cheap for a room that we paid ten thousand rupees for?" The plankton asked. "Huh¡­ Who in their right mind would pay ten thousand freaking rupees for a room like this? With that kind of money, I can get an actual resort to stay in!" Thankappan looked towards them in shock at what he just heard. "Wait, you didn''t pay ten thousand rupees for this then?" Kunjan asked. "Of course not! I paid a thousand for a single night." Thankappan replied. "Ha, your confidence earlier is justified now. You knew you would get a cheap room, didn''t ya?" Kunjan asked. "Yup. The manager is a member of the WPP. We''ve met up with each other quite a few times, so yea¡­ We build a friendship and stuff and told me that he''ll give me a reduction if I''m ever to stay here. Of course, I never did plan on coming here, but now that I got a chance like this, I felt like it was a good chance to use it." Thankappan explained. "Wait a minute. You joined WPP the same time that we did. So, how come you have friends in WPP that we don''t know of?" Taro jumped into the conversation and asked. "Well, you see. The thing is that I never stopped going to WPP conventions after the one time that we did because I felt like it would benefit me someday. While you guys just loitered around, I thought of spending my time productively, if that''s how you wanna think of it as." Thankappan replied. "Nah. Hearing a political leader speak of random shit that you don''t even care about and being forced to clap to it is hardly productive. But it did help you in this, so I can''t deny that it was productive either." Taro shrugged. "I was promised a resort experience and stuff. I''m robbed!" Gibli cried as he heard of it. "Let me think about it for a second. I never promised such a thing to begin with. Rather, it was the plankton¡ªsorry, #69420 who deduced it that way when he searched it on the internet. It''s not my fault. I didn''t feed you any lies. The internet preferred to talk about expensive resorts than normal rooms and hype you up. Blame the internet, not me." Thankappan argued. "True that." The plankton agreed with him just that once because it was he himself that caused this disillusion in Gibli''s mind. "Ha¡­ You never told that, huh? Now I feel sad." Gibli sighed as he took a seat. "Don''t worry, my man! We''re not here for the resorts. We''re here for the view. Think of all the things that we''re gonna see tomorrow!" Just as Thankappan said those words, someone knocked on their doors. "Oh, it''s the food!" The MIB agent jumped up and headed towards the door. On the other side of the door was the friend that Thankappan mentioned, holding on to their food. "Heyo, Thankappan!" The man waved his one hand. "Hey, Sasi! How are you doing, my man?" Thankappan shook Sasi''s hand as he got on with the pleasantries. "I''m doing great! By the way, I''m so sorry that I couldn''t lead you to your room. I was away when you came in, so I had to make others do that. And since I couldn''t do that for you, I took the responsibility of supplying your food." Sasi spoke as he dangled the food before them. "Ah, man! No worries. I still get the discount for the room, right?" Thankappan asked. "Ah, you still worried about that? Don''t worry. I don''t back away when I give a word. Unless you''re staying for a whole freaking month or something, the discount will stand." Sasi assured. "Great! This room is pretty nice as well. Reminded us of our own room back home." Thankappan smiled as he spoke. "Fantastic! By the way, what about the others?" Sasi asked. "Oh, I haven''t introduced them to you yet, have I? These are my roommates and fellow WPP members- Sadanandan, Gibli and Kunjan." Thankappan replied. "Humm, any WPP member is like my family. So, if you ever wanna return to this place, you''re more than welcome to do so." Sasi spoke. "We''ll remember that." Kunjan replied. He meant it in a nice way, but the way he sounded and looked said otherwise. "¡­Okay." This made Sasi retract a bit with his offer. Seeing this, Thankappan dragged Sasi aside. "He didn''t mean it as a threat or something¡­ It''s just that he talks like that. So, don''t feel intimidated." The MIB agent spoke. "I didn''t get intimidated! Not at all!" Sasi tried defending, but the slight shiver that coursed through him said otherwise. "It happens. He''s an intense figure to talk with. Once you talk with him long enough, his hard exoskeleton would be removed and you''ll be able to see his chill side." Thankappan said as he patted Sasi''s shoulder. "As I said before, I''m not intimidated!" Sasi argued. "Okay, okay. I get it." Thankappan spoke, giving out a knowing smile. "I¡­" Sasi thought of defending himself a bit more, but thought of it as useless, so he turned towards an entirely different topic instead. "Did you see the waterfalls? Oh, I guess not, since you got straight to here, righ" He asked. "Nah, we briefly stopped by and looked around. Pretty nice atmosphere, don''t you think?" Thankappan asked. Hearing this, Sasi looked at his friend in shock. "You did what?" He asked. "We looked around. Why? Is there any problem in doing so?" The MIB agent asked. "Hmm, you might not have heard of it since you aren''t from here. But there''s a fairly new rumour going around. It''s about a fairly huge creature lurking around in this area. It''s not like an elephant or something. It''s more like a human, but not a human at the same time. No one''s seen its face, however the one''s that caught its eye accidentally was chased indefinitely and was only saved since they somehow got out of the particular region where it resides." Sasi explained. "So, this creature doesn''t go out of its designated area, huh?" Thankappan asked. "Yup. It''s always been the south side of the waterfall." Sasi replied. "Hmm, is that so? But we didn''t saw any creature there though?" Thankappan shrugged. "You were there?" Sasi was even more shocked once he heard that. "We kinda were. I don''t know if you were talking about the exact coordinate thing when you talked about this creature, but we were South-ish, yea." Thankappan nodded. "Oh, dear God! Wait a minute. I believe the temple nearby is still open since the priest there sleeps near the temple. I''ll have him do some pooja to ward off evil spirits and such." Sasi spoke as he started rushing away from them. "Wait, didn''t you say that it was a creature?" Thankappan asked. "I don''t know! No one''s touched this creature. So, as far as I''m concerned, it could be a evil spirit bound to that particular place." Sasi replied. "What the hell am I still doing here? I''ll head to the temple. What are your birth stars¡ªnah, screw it. I''ll do it in my name." Sasi spoke as he ran away then. After Sasi left, there was an awful lot of silence in the room for one minute exact. After one minute, Thankappan opened his mouth. "Guys, do you believe in evil spirits and stuff?" He asked to which everyone shook their head no. "You''re the human here, aren''t you? Do you believe in spirits like that guy?" Taro asked. "Nope. That means there are a bunch of people who don''t believe in spirits in here and a creature of unknown origins. The story writes by itself, don''t you think?" Thankappan asked. # Chapter 205: The Creature "I don''t get this story you''re talking about." Kunjan replied to what Thankappan said. "Me neither." Gibli shook his head. "We''re gonna head to the waterfalls in the morning?" Taro asked. "Okay, I get the other two not getting what I mean, but Taro, how the hell did you even decipher that from what I said, huh?" Thankappan asked. "I don''t know. I thought that''s the story that writes by itself. I mean, we were gonna go there in the morning, right? Isn''t that the story?" Taro asked. "I guess I kinda understand why you thought of it like that. Nah, scratch that. I don''t understand and I won''t try understanding it. Anyhow, the story I was talking about was going out right now and checking out what this evil spirit is. None of us believe in spirits, right? So, that''s what I meant." Thankappan explained his statement. "Oh, you could''ve just said that straight up. We aren''t well versed with the riddles on Earth." Taro replied. "That wasn''t a¡ªyou know what? My bad! I ain''t gonna do that again. And back to our initial point we go. So, anyone up for this night time adventure?" Thankappan asked. "You see, we''re all totally fine with it, but the thing is that you''ll be left out, wouldn''t you? I mean, my condolences for your bad sight, but-" Taro patted on the MIB agent''s shoulder only to get swatted away. "Hey! My eyesight isn''t that bad! Hell, it''s normal human eyesight!" Thankappan argued. "Again, my condolences to you for being human." Taro replied. "Screw you!" Thankappan flipped out his middle finger before regaining his composure. "So, it seems you''re all fine with it. Don''t worry about me though. The flashlight on my phone would be more than enough for me to see." Thankappan spoke. "You know, I''ve been hooked up with the horror genre recently, although I don''t actually like that shit. But you know what I''ve noticed? The first one to go down is the one who had the light source. So, good luck, I guess." Taro shrugged as he said those words ominously. "Why the hell do you have to be like this to me, huh?" Thankappan sighed at Taro''s words. "I''m simply the harbinger of truth. Oh, and add justice to that as well. Light too. Both of those sound cool with harbinger just like truth." Taro spoke. "I have nothing to say anymore. You do you, man. No one''s stopping you, I guess." Thankappan patted Taro''s shoulder before turning towards the others. "So, if all of the shenanigans are over, then shall we go?" Thankappan asked, to which everyone else nodded their heads. # "You do know that this light of yours is gonna shoo away whatever the creature is that we''re looking for, right?" Taro asked to Thankappan, who was twirling his mobile flashlight around. "No kidding. When I heard him say flashlight from his mobile, I thought it would be of low power. But this shit is way more brighter than a normal freaking torch and this is making me angry." Kunjan spoke next. "No kidding, times two. I thought he meant fleshlight when he talked about it." Gibli said and followed up with a cackle, but no one responded. "Try a little better next time, dude!" Thankappan darted a disappointed look at the Arkian''s face once he heard that incredible joke. "That was the best joke I could do with a flashlight, so don''t blame me for that." Gibli shrugged. "Ah, don''t worry, man. I got the joke. It wasn''t half bad." Taro consoled the Arkian. "Oh, dude! Don''t do that! You''re gonna bring out more lame jokes from him. You gotta pull out the weed early on, you know?" Thankappan sounded frustrated after hearing his fair share of jokes during his life. "Well, who knows? Maybe you''re gonna enjoy or miss listening this same lame jokes. So, let''s enjoy this when we got the chance to do so." Taro replied. Thankappan sighed once he learned that there''s no way to argue with Taro. "Sure, if that''s what you wanna do, who am I to stop you?" He asked. "Aww, that''s nice of you to be so understanding." Taro looked proudly at the MIB agent as if he was his own son. "Well, that''s what being a team player is all about, right?" Thankappan asked. "Exactly. Glad that you understand that." Taro said as he gave out some hard pat to Thankappan''s shoulder to the point that it pained the MIB agent quite a bit. "Fucking great. Shall we go back to our monster hunt then?" Thankappan asked as he clenched his shoulders. "Hmm, how do you know that it''s a monster though?" Thankappan asked. "Again with the most useless questions in the most crutch time. What''s wrong with you?" Thankappan asked as he looked towards the Wadorian in disbelief. "Nah, man. It ain''t useless as long as it quenches my curiosity. So, you willing to answer me?" Taro asked. Thankappan sighed. "Fine. What makes you think that it isn''t a monster then?" He asked. "Naw, dawg! You ain''t throwing that question around. Answer me first and I''ll answer you. That''s the way to have a talk, isn''t it?" Taro asked as he indicated Thankappan to talk. "Ha, whatever. Look, you heard what Sasi said, right?" Thankappan asked. "What did he say other than that it is an evil spirit and it has a designated area?" Taro asked. "Oh, didn''t he tell you that this creature only lurks around in the forest at night?" Thankappan asked back. "And? That makes it a creature? I know a species of Aliens who does the exact same thing? You know what they''re called? Not creatures!" Thankappan spoke. "Wow, that''s like the least convincing name for a species trying to make people believe that they aren''t creatures. Like, literally any other name would have been fine! Even if you named them Bob, it would''ve been fine!" Thankappan argued. "Oh, no no¡­ They''re not actually named not creatures, I just said that they are not named creatures. You know what I mean?" Taro asked. "Oh, I see. Then what''s the name of their species?" Thankappan asked. "Lamians. Cool, right?" Taro asked. "I guess? I''m not good with names." Thankappan shrugged. "Ah, it''s fine." Taro replied. "So, what were we talking about? Oh yea, what made you absolutely believe that it is a creature?" He asked. "Didn''t you talk about this creature having it''s own territory? That''s so creature thing to do!" Thankappan spoke. "Hmm, wouldn''t that make humans creatures as well? After all, you lot are the ones building walls and stuff to solidify your territory, right?" Taro asked. "Of course we are creatures! I mean, is there any doubt about that? And why is that a surprise? You lot have boundaries as well, right?" Thankappan asked. "Yup, we are creatures too. I just wanted to make sure of your derivation of the word creature. Anyway, what you mean is that there''s a good chance that the creature in there could vary from a small rat to a huge ass human to a freaking alien, right?" The Wadorian asked. "Yup." Thankappan nodded his head upon that. "Great! It would be freaking amazing playing guess who with you, huh?" Taro sighed. "Yup, every single person hated playing that with me." Thankappan replied. "Glad that you''re self aware." Taro spoke. "Meh, not that big of a deal. Self aware people are the ones who crack the lamest jokes. No kidding." Thankappan replied. "Personal experience doing so, huh?" Taro asked. "Exactly." Thankappan replied. "So, how about we look around for this creature now?" Thankappan asked. "Do we have any clues though? I mean, you guys find something yet? We''re near the south of the falls, right?" Taro asked back. "Nothing as of yet¡­ is what I thought of saying, but what the hell is that?" Kunjan pointed to the near distance and asked. A dark figure was out there. It was quickly approaching them and they were struck with a conundrum of putting up a defensive stand or offensive one. The pace of the creature''s approach was way too fast that Gibli was caught off guard. He swung a fist towards the creature on instinct and that was the beginning of the downfall. The creature slammed Gibli on the ground with one swift punch and everyone else was caught off guard as well this time around. Kunjan was the next to fall victim to this creature as it covered the distance between them with an unbelievable speed and knocked him out, or at least it appeared so. The thick exoskeleton actually saved the plankton''s ass, however he decided to lay low for a while and hit back on the creature at the opportune time. While that happened, the creature got involved in a close quarters combat with Thankappan. What was expected to be a close fight turned out to be a lukewarm affair as the creature managed to overpower Thankappan with ease. Although, the creature defeated Thankappan, it couldn''t knock him out. However, the mental scar was cut too deep that it couldn''t be recovered anymore. And in the end, there were only two people left¡ªTaro and the creature. The Wadorian took in a deep breath and taunted the creature. # Chapter 206: No use hiding it from me! "Come on! We haven''t got the whole night to do this. Wait a minute. I got plenty of time to beat your ass. So maybe, let''s just take it slow, shall we?" Taro smiled as he continued taunting the creature before him with various amounts of obscene moves. The creature didn''t laugh or talk. Instead, it just stared at Taro without moving for a hot second. Until then, the creature was speeding up, however all of a sudden, it stopped and Taro didn''t know why. "Yo! The hell are you doing? When I said I got the whole night, I meant I got the whole night to duke it out with you and not get involved in a freaking staring contest." The Wadorian shrugged. Upon hearing this, the creature nodded its head and rushed towards Taro, swinging at him with full force. However, it didn''t took the Wadorian much to evade. "Too easy, bruv. Where''s the fiery that you showed when you were beating the others down, huh?" Taro asked as he hopped around like an MMA fighter. The creature stayed silent after the taunting and continued swinging at Taro, which the Wadorian avoided in ease. With each swing, Taro''s confidence increased. He wasn''t yet to be complacent¡­ or at least that''s what he thought to himself as he did various antics, however without even realising, he had started being complacent. "Oh, come on. How long are you gonna do the straightforward swings, huh? Try something new. Something different. Rile me up! Come on!" As Taro said those words, the creature changed the course of the swing and instead went for a punch, which Taro ducked out of instinct. However, following that up was a shin kick, a new move out of the creature''s repertoire. Yet again, Taro managed to evade it, but he certainly was impressed with the new moves. "Oh my! It seems that you actually listened to me. Damn, recently it feels like no one''s been valuing my words that I felt like not talking at all. Seeing how you, a totally random creature of the falls is listening to me, my heart is filled with gratitude and pleasure." Taro spoke as few beads of tears rolled out of his eyes. Seeing how emotional Taro became about this trivial thing, the creature actually stopped and waited for him to recover. However, Taro didn''t appreciate this gesture. "Oh, come on! Don''t do that! Look, this is a fight. I''m the one who lost his focus on a fight. And you being my opponent should make good use of such opportunities. Understand?" Taro asked to which the creature nodded it''s head. "Great. Let''s continue with our fight then." Taro spoke as he raised his fists. However, contrary to the excitement that Taro felt in the last few seconds, it was a whole lotta less right then. The reason was that the creature was back to it''s old tracks. In Taro''s eyes, the creature was that button smashing kid in the arcade game section. Like, he spams the same move a thousand time and then all of a sudden learns the existence of the other buttons and then slightly touches it once before going back to his button smashing ways. Honestly, it got to the point of being irritating for the Wadorian. Here he was, expecting a full on fight and all he got was a boring ass one. "What the hell is this? What are you doing? I thought you listened to what I said. And instead, you''re doing the exact same thing I asked you not to do. Why? Come on! Give me the excitement!" Taro screamed. Since it was night time, his voice got pretty amplified. As if he heard what the Wadorian meant, the creature started doing a couple of kicks and punches¡ªall of which that was easily evaded by the Wadorian. However, since what Taro was looking for was excitement and not actual hardcore fight experience, he was happy with this change. "Great! Fucking great! You listened to me! Again! Man, if we weren''t fighting each other, I would''ve wanted to befriend you. Like bruv, how much I missed having someone listen to me!" Taro spoke. Although Taro could see everything else at night, somehow he couldn''t see the creature''s face, which made the Wadorian sad. He actually wanted to see the creature''s expression because what he expected was the face filled with happiness and joy. Nevertheless, since he couldn''t see it for himself, he just had to imagine it up. "Aw, man! It''s been a long time since I had fun like this. I hope this never-" Before he could even complete his sentence, he was hit with a punch that sent him for about ten metres. Taro looked disgusted. Not because someone managed to hit him. Not because someone sent him flying¡ªif that was the case, he would have been elated since he''s such a huge masochist. Rather, it was the fact that he became complacent that he looked disgusted. But more than that, the fact that the move that took him down was generic swing number 266 was the one that made him enraged. "Oh, boy! You didn''t just do that!" Taro riled himself up and jumped around in rage as the creature watched by. He was about to just blast himself up and beat the living shit out of the creature when he noticed something peculiar about it that made him smile wide to the point that it looked creepy. This peculiar thing got him back to his chill mood. "You know, that was a nice trick that you did right now. Irritate me enough that I get riled up, then throw that one piece of treat then riling me up once again to get into my head and then beat the living shit out of me. It seems too much like someone I know of. Like eerily similar to that." Taro spoke. However, no response came from the others side. "You ain''t gonna respond, huh? Too bad, if you ain''t gonna do it, I''ll make you do it." Taro spoke as he rushed towards the creature. The Wadorian went for the same swings that he hated moments ago, but this time, he had that creepy smile. He was truly enjoying this moment. Just as Taro did previously, the creature managed to evade every single swings of his as well, which made Taro even happier for some reason. Taro wanted to speak, but he decided not to and focussed himself on the battle. The eery silence accompanied by the harsh winds from the empty swings was truly unbearable for one plankton, who was waiting around to pounce on the creature. However, seeing how Taro was enjoying this, he decided to just lurk around and enjoy the stuff before him. "Pretty skilled, aren''t you? Very much like someone I know¡ªwhich could be a total coincidence, but you know what I mean, right?" Taro asked, to which the creature responded by throwing out a punch. "Nah, my man. You''re done with your quota. It''s my time for the attacks now." Taro replied with a smile and barraged with a stream of punches. While the creature somehow managed to dodge fifty percent of the punches, he couldn''t block the other fifty and that was the turning point of this fight. By the end of his barrage, Taro stood tall, while the creature was down tending to its wounds. "As I said before, quite skilled. But then again, I have something that you don''t have right now. You wanna know what that is?" Taro asked as he slammed his fist on the creature''s face¡­ or at least, that''s what he thought, but it rolled out of bounds. Taro didn''t give up. He followed the creature''s rolling motion and tried hitting precisely on his face and nowhere else. However, with each passing moment, it seemed like the creature''s formidable rolling defence was winning, until it wasn''t. What happened was that Taro gave up on chasing the creature and began to outrun it. And that was an easy task. When the creature sensed it, it tried rolling the other way, but Taro blocked that path with his foot and his foot was strong enough to actually block that path. "You know how I was talking about you lacking something? Did you find out what that is? Well, if not, let me answer it for you. It''s pure strength. I mean, even if you have good skills, if you are faced with someone of equal skills, you have to rely on the pure strength, right? I just did that. But I can''t just blame it on you, can I? I mean, your power reduces at a constant rate depending upon your distance from your attribute planet, right?" Taro asked. "¡­" No response came from the other side, which made Taro sigh as he took his foot off from the other side. "Ohh, come on! You really thought that I wouldn''t when you used Muscle is justice after all the times that we sparred against each other? Don''t act oblivious now, Park! How are you, my friend?" Taro asked with a smug smile on his face. # Chapter 207: Park Park Sinyim; Taro''s best friend for oh so many years. Taro claimed that the creature was that person. However, he had no way of proving it before the fight or after. He had put it all on belief, hoping that it would work out the way he wants to. But for that to happen, the creature had to reveal himself. And that didn''t happen. Taro hoped for Park to reveal almost instantly and hug it out or something. Therefore, he never expected the hesitation from his best friend''s part. While the hesitation continued, Taro was confused by his own right. "Now wait a minute. If he is indeed Park, how come he knows Malayalam. I mean, I haven''t turned my translator into Wadorian yet, then how?" He questioned in his mind. It didn''t take him much to get to the bottom of it though. If Park was taken in by the MIB, then he would''ve got a decent translator. But by the looks of it, it didn''t seem like that would''ve been the case. However, even if he wasn''t taken in by MIB, Park had his own translator since he was an hero academy alumnus. But Taro couldn''t strike out the possibility of it being damaged, so there was that too. Therefore, Taro was in a conundrum. He had no answers this time. He just had faith on his friend. Well, that''s when the possibility of translator being damaged popped back up. If that was the case, then there was no chance in hell that Park understood what he was saying, which meant that the power of friendship is real and they were able to communicate due to that¡­ is what Taro would''ve liked to believe, however he knew that such things were utter bullshit, so there was that. Anyhow, he turned off his translator in the hopes that the creature is his best friend. "Hey, buddy! How are you doing?" Taro asked. "¡­Why is it that you look slick and I look so ragged, huh?" The creature finally spoke. "Hell yea! I knew it! Damn man! I missed you!" Taro went for a hug, but Park stopped him from doing so. "Dude, you see me, right? I haven''t bathed in a hot while. So, don''t hug me like that!" Park warned. "Oh, screw that!" Taro said as he hugged his best friend tightly. "Eww. I feel disgusted for you dude!" Park cried. "Hmm, so care to explain what''s going on here?" A voice came out of nowhere. Both of them looked around but they saw no one. "Look down, Taro. I''m here." Both looked down to see the plankton frantically waving his hand trying to catch their sight. "Hey, it''s a plankton! Is he your friend, Taro?" Park asked. "Yup. He''s #69420." Taro spoke. "Nice. I''m Park Sinyim." Park introduced himself. "Ah, care to explain what''s going on right now? Why is your friend here? And how is your friend here?" The plankton asked. "I would like to get an explanation about it as well." Taro replied. "Me too." Park nodded his head as well. "Weird. So, what you''re telling me is that you have no recollection of how you reached here, huh? Hmm, you never told us how you got here, did ya? Should''ve thought that something was off back then." Kunjan spoke. "Well, I didn''t say anything because I myself have no idea about it. One day, I was at Wados and the next thing I know is that I''m in this planet. Weird, I know." Taro replied. "I have the exact same experience as well." Park joined in. "I assume you two were together when whatever it is that happened." Kunjan spoke. "Yup. We were drinking in the amusement park and we ended up here." Taro replied. "Huh¡­ Weird circumstances to get transported. I mean, what happened that you suddenly got to here?" Kunjan asked. "I don''t know, man. The last thing I remember was this guy doing some stupid shit and me trying to save him, unsuccessfully of course." Park replied. "Wait a minute. You tried to save me? Huh, somehow, I remember those events differently." Taro spoke. "How do you remember it then?" The plankton asked. "Let me think. We were drinking and then something happened to the rollercoaster and then¡­" A piercing pain struck Taro as he tried remembering the rest of the events. "What happened?" Park held Taro''s hand in concern. "¡­ I don''t remember. I can''t seem to remember what happened back then. Whenever I try remembering it, a pain comes by. What am I supposed to do now?" Taro asked. "Ah, I guess that happens. I mean, it''s a vague memory of a drunken night. Of course, it will be hard for you to remember." Kunjan theorized. "Anyhow, whatever happened that day is the reason that you''re here is what I want to say, but I''ll seem stupid if I said that out loud like I did right now. As long as you can''t remember the stimulant for your transport, we can''t get the easy way back to your planet." He added. "Yea, I''ll try my best to remember it then." Taro nodded his head as he replied. "You do that. Meanwhile, I wanna ask something to your friend here." Kunjan shifted his attention towards Park. "Go on. I''m listening." Park spoke. "How the hell did you get stuck here? Why didn''t you contact MIB? Hell, they would''ve contacted you, right?" The plankton asked. "First of all, I don''t even know what MIB means, so I can''t contact them. I don''t have a proper means of communication as well, so there''s no chance of them contacting me. And about how I got stuck here, well, I don''t know. I woke up and voila! Here I was in this place with no idea how I got here. I tried communicating with the people here, but the people got scared shitless when they saw me coming, so I decided that I''d do a routine patrol looking for a person who can actually understand me. And seems like lady Luck is on my side that I actually got to meet my best friend. Or else, I might''ve been stuck here for the longest time. Damn, I don''t even wanna think about it right now." Park sighed as he concluded his point. "Damn, that was simply lucky, wasn''t it?" Kunjan looked amazed as well at this revelation. "True that." Park nodded his head upon hearing that. After all, he met his friend in the randomest way possible. "So, what are you gonna do now?" Taro asked. "Well, I gotta take a bath now, so if you can make that happen, it would help me a big deal." Sinyim replied. "Dude, wait. I got a few questions now. You don''t have a functioning translator with you, right? Then how come I can talk with you? And two, how the hell can you say what you just said when you are in front of a freaking waterfall?" Kunjan asked. "Okay, I''ll answer the first question first. I do have a functioning translator, but it doesn''t have whatever language that Taro spoke to me just a few moments ago. In your case, well it seem like you turned off your translator for some reason and that''s the thing. And what the hell is water supposed to be?" Park asked. "Wait, before anyone answers that, I have another question as well. Are we speaking in my language now?" The plankton asked. "You just realised it right now?" Taro asked. "Honestly, yea. We''ve been talking in way too many languages these days that it takes time for me to realise which one is which." Kunjan answered. "Oh, dang. Anyway, back to what you said. How can I explain this? Wait. It''s like¡­" Taro stopped and turned his translator off the one time and spouted something in Wadorian that only Park understood. The plankton could''ve always turned the translator back on to hear what he said, but he decided to give them a bit space after invading their personal space. Also, he knew that Taro was talking about the water substitute in Wados, so he wasn''t intrigued about what Taro said. After a few seconds, Taro turned the translator back on. "You get what I mean now?" He asked. "Had I known that earlier, I would have bathed myself once or twice a day for fun." Park sighed. "Well, it''s the past. Let''s look into the future. I''mma take a dip in the waterfalls and clean myself up then." He said as he ran towards the waterfalls. "It''s weird. How the hell did he survive for months here? Do you guys have like an extra metabolic pathway or something that acts as a reservoir of energy? I mean, that would explain it." Kunjan spoke. "That would be really convenient for the given situation, wouldn''t it? But no, there''s no such thing. We just have to ask him on how he survived once he returns from his bath." Taro spoke as they waited for the alien to return. # Chapter 208: Battle of persistence "Ah, I just ate whatever the heck I got from here." Park replied upon being asked about his survival there. "By whatever, do you mean the fruits lying around and stuff? Damn, that''s really resourceful of you." Kunjan appreciated a person who''s able to survive no matter what is put before him. So, naturally he began respecting Sinyim as well. "What? Hell nah! I meant that I looted stores for food and lived off it." Park replied. "Oh, shit. Why did I even thought of being respectful towards you then?" A taste of disgust filled the plankton''s mouth as he heard Park''s response. "I never asked you to be so." Park shrugged. "You know, I can simply call the police right now and lodge a complaint against you. Right, Thankappan?"Kunjan turned towards Thankappan who was tending to his injuries from the beating he received moments earlier. "Well¡­" Thankappan was about to give out a proper reply for the first time after getting his shit kicked out, however Park had other plans. "First of all, there''s no proof about what I did. Secondly, I''m pretty aware that you won''t do that since alien welfare is a thing here." Park replied. "Hmm. Well, alien welfare might be a thing and we might not be able to call up the police, however we do have a detention centre, so if you wanna be treated as a criminal anytime soon, you''ll probably end up there." Thankappan warned, with a glaring look on his face. "Speaking of that, how are we gonna get him into the Holy Land. I mean, what would Lonappan say?" Taro asked. "Ah, don''t worry about that. Another person won''t be a big deal. I mean, if Scarlet can hang around, then your friend can do that as well." Thankappan replied. "Great, but Lonappan¡­" Kunjan was about to voice out his concerns as well, but the MIB agent stopped him midway. "Didn''t I say not to worry about that. I meant it, you know? I''ll convince Lonappan for you guys. So for now, enjoy some quality time with this friend of yours while I go back and sleep. Total waste of time, if you ask me. I should''ve never asked you to do this, I guess." Thankappan sighed as he walked away. "I''ll never understand the dynamics of that man. One second he''s all happy and in the other he''s grumpy. Can never expect a stable behaviour from him." Taro spoke as he stared down at Thankappan who was walking away. "I guess that''s true." Kunjan nodded his head along. "Okay, although I''m not gonna be all grumpy about it like Thankappan was, I guess it''s a good timing for me to leave with Gibli right here and leave you two alone. So, I''mma go then." The plankton spoke as he got back into his exoskeleton and picked up the Arkian, who was still out from the beating he received and piggybacked him off. "Ha, pretty nice guys, aren''t they?" Taro asked as he looked at his best friend. "Yea. They are nice guys." Park nodded his head in agreement. "Ok then. Tell me, why the hell did you beat them then?" He asked. "Well, it wasn''t something that I planned. However, I felt like that was the only way to gain your attention." Park replied. "Dude, what the hell are you even saying? If you wanted to get my attention, you should''ve showed your face to begin with. I mean, how the hell did you even manage to hide it to begin with?" Taro asked. "Well, the leaves helped in that." Park answered. "I don''t get¡ªwhatever. I ain''t asking it. I feel like shit will get more complicated if I''m to ask the science behind it or something. So, let''s just focus on the good parts, shall we?" Taro asked. "Well, I''m fine with either. I mean, you''re the one who asked those questions to begin with, so¡­" Sinyim shrugged as he spoke. "Don''t go around putting the blame on me now!" Taro looked offended before swatting it off as a joke from his best friend. "Anyway, thinking of how we''re gonna live together like before, it makes you excited, don''t it?" He asked. "Yea, it does. Just like the old days, huh?" Park asked with a smile on his face. # "No." A stern reply came from Lonappan''s side. "What do you mean no? You let Scarlet in, but you can''t let my best friend in as well? Why are you being like this?" Taro asked. The day of his return back to the Holy Land wasn''t going the way he wished it to go. For some reason, a sudden downpour occurred which made their journey back a bit more difficult as they moved through the dirt roads. However, things took an even worse turn when Lonappan actually rejected the plan of having Park live together with them in the Holy Land. He didn''t expect a no from Lonappan, so the shock was considerable. Lonappan sighed. "You want answers now, hu Well, first of all, your friend here isn''t registered with-" He was about to finish his sentence, but Taro didn''t give him the luxury to do so as he pounced back. "Ha! Is Scarlet registered then? Why is he allowed then? Huh? Answer me, will ya?" Taro asked. "Calm down first and listen to me. What I said was the first reason. And in that case, yes, Scarlet wouldn''t have been eligible to live here as well¡ªif not for the loophole. He can disappear on accord. Your friend can not. And that makes a very huge difference. We''re living with a really volatile person in John. And I can''t risk it with him. Who knows what he might plan to do if he''s to regain his memories!" Lonappan spoke. "¡­. This is unfair!" Taro cried. "Welcome to reality. It''s often disappointing, isn''t it?" Lonappan asked. "I''ll get you back for this!" Taro spoke as he stormed off. "Sure, whatever. Good luck with that." Lonappan wished as he waved his hand goodbye. # "Are you listening to me now?" Taro asked to Thankappan who looked disinterested by the conversation. "Yea, yea. Lonappan didn''t accept your request and you are fumed by that decision. I get it. After all, I''ve been hearing this for the umpteenth time now, so I know what''s going on." Thankappan replied. "Hey! Why do you sound like you don''t even care about what''s going on, huh? This involves you as well!" Taro spoke. "Huh? How come? When did I get involved in this shit?" Thankappan asked with shock clearly written on his face. "You were the one who said that you''re gonna make Lonappan agree about Park''s stay here! Did you forget about that already, huh?" Taro asked. "Oh, my! You actually believed that shit? I was kidding. You really think I can make Lonappan change his decision once he''s fixated on something. Not gonna happen, dude. Not gonna happen at all." Thankappan spoke. "Then why did you even say something like that? I believed in you! And you betrayed my trust." Taro said with a disheartened look on his face. "Okay, look. I wasn''t planning to do that to you. It just happened. I was going with the flow by saying that. And I regret saying that at all now. I didn''t know that you''d actually believe that. I apologise." Thankappan bowed his head. "Nah, I don''t want your apology or something like that. I wanted to stay with my friend, but if that''s not meant to be, then what can I do, e" Taro asked with a sulky look on his face. Thankappan sighed. "Oh God, I know I''m gonna regret doing this, but I''ll try asking directly to Taro just this once. I don''t think it''ll work out, but all I can do at this point is to try. So, that''s what I''m gonna do." He spoke to which a bright smile rose from Taro''s face. "Thank you! I know that there''s a chance that it won''t work out the way I want it to, but at least you''re trying and that''s what matters the most for me at least."Taro replied. "Glad that you think of it that way." Thankappan felt thankful for Taro''s approach and thought of doing it as soon as possible. It was only after Taro left that he understood the gravity of the situation. Unknowingly, he actually accepted a heavy task in his hands. He had the weight of his promise on him and he had never regretted accepting a task more than right then. Although Taro said that feelings was what mattered the most, he made it so that it would be devastating when Thankappan actually fails in completing the task. It was truly a psychological move that Thankappan didn''t expect. However, now that the task fell into his hands, he decided to give his maximum trying to convince Lonappan. It was a battle of persistence. Who persists with their argument for the longest time wins. And the battle was on. # Chapter 209: Guilt tripping Thankappan walked slowly towards his senior. He wanted to delay it as much as possible. However, Taro was watching him from afar, so he simply couldn''t weasel his way out of it. "Hey, Lonappan!" Thankappan greeted in an extremely friendly, almost bubble-gum way. "Hmm, no." Lonappan replied instantly. "What?" Thankappan looked by the sudden rejection out of nowhere and wondered what that was. "No for the question you''re about to ask." Lonappan replied. "But I haven''t asked you anything." Thankappan shrugged. "Yea, you didn''t. But you''re planning to ask one, aren''t you?" Lonappan asked. "¡­Yes." Thankappan mumbled. "Well, no would be the answer for that then." Lonappan replied. "How can you give out a reply like that when you haven''t even heard the damn question, huh?" Thankappan asked. "How, you ask? Well, you see, I know the question that you''re gonna ask. How do I know that, you ask? Well, that would be my fantastic instinct and the fact that the guy is peeking towards here for a long time now." Lonappan glanced towards a rather high wall and spoke. "I''m so far from you! How did you even find me?" A voice came from the wall. Soon enough, a head popped up from there as well. To no one''s surprise, it was Taro who popped out from there. "You see, it''s called basic instinct. But I do gotta tell you¡­ Bruh, that''s some impeccable hearing you got right there." Lonappan looked surprised as he said that. While he only managed to see Taro by accident and called it instinct, the Wadorian was actually able to listen to him from that far. And the MIB agent was seriously impressed by this. "Perks of being an alien, I guess." Taro shrugged as he answered. "I guess that''s the case." Lonappan nodded his head to it as well. "Anyhow, back to our point. I''m gonna be telling the same thing to him that I said to you. No means no. I''ve told you the reason behind my decision and it was justified, wasn''t it? I''m not gonna deport your homeboy or something. I''m just gonna have him live in some other house for the time being." Lonappan spoke. "You just said for the time being! If that''s the case, then how long?" Taro asked. "Well, that would be as long as John stays in the Holy Land." Lonappan replied. "Then let me ask you this. How long is John gonna stay in the Holy Land?" Taro asked. "Well, he''ll be staying in the Holy Land as long as he stays in Kerala. So yea, there''s that." Lonappan replied. "Okay¡­ If that''s the case, then how long is John gonna stay in India?" Taro asked, before stopping Lonappan from answering the question that he put out. "Now, if you''re gonna answer it with something like ''as long as he stays in India or something, then I cannot guarantee your safety." He warned before signalling Lonappan to continue. "Oh boy! Just dodged a bullet right there." Lonappan gave out a nervous chuckle before continuing. "Oh, what was your question? Yes, when will John leave Kerala, right? Probably never, if you ask me. I mean, I don''t wanna jeopardize us in any way, shape or form. So, I probably won''t allow him to leave. I''m sorry, man. It involves the future of our base as an entirety, so I can''t mess that up." He replied. Taro jumped from the wall and walked towards the two MIB agents. "It will never happen then, huh?" He asked. "Probably not." Lonappan replied. "That''s unfair! I want him close!" Taro cried. "He''s gonna be close to you though. I mean, we aren''t gonna send him that far. As far as I remember, there''s a spot left in #305. So, we''ll get him there. How about that?" Lonappan asked. "Wait, #305? That''s like one number close to our number, right? Does that mean that place is that close to us?" Taro asked excitedly. He would''ve been fine with that as well since he could see Park everyday. "Yea, yea. It''s fairly close. It''s in Aluva." Lonappan replied. "Aluva?" For the guy who hasn''t gone out of Thrissur after getting to this planet had no idea where that was. "It''s two hours or so from here." Thankappan, who was listening into the conversation chimed in with his geographical knowledge. "Two hours?! Two freaking hours? Even the MIB base isn''t that far from here! How am I supposed to go there everyday?" Taro asked, with surprise filled in his face. "You simply don''t. And well , I remember you calling the distance from here to the MIB base as far. So¡­" Before Lonappan got a chance to finish his sentence, Taro jumped in. "Precisely my point! The guy who had difficulty travelling for an hour or so back then is gonna have a really hard time with a two or a two and a half hour journey!" Taro spoke. "What am I supposed to do then, huh?" Lonappan asked, fed up of listening to what Taro had to say. "Either you allow Park to stay here with us or you lend him a place that is relatively closer to here. It''s as simple as that." Taro replied. "You see, that ain''t gonna be that simple as you make it sound. Look, in an off chance that I approve of it, there''s still one above me who has to approve it. Sure, there isn''t any decision maker above him for a thing like this, but you do know how harsh decision maker that guy is, right?" Lonappan asked. "Shall I take this as an approval then?" Taro asked. "Huh? I said an off chance. I never said that I''d agree to it." Lonappan argued. "Okay, look. It''s fine, isn''t it? I mean, as you said right now, even if you accept my request, there''s still one above you. So, if he is to reject my request, you won''t have to feel guilty about rejecting my heartfelt request. What do you think? Good plan, don''t you think?" Taro asked. "Hmm, intriguing. I''m pretty used to taking harsh decisions in life and having curses thrown at me. So, I''ll be fine with it, don''t you think?" Lonappan asked. "You do know that I have the capability of tipping the balance of this freaking world, right?" Taro asked. "I do be kinda forgetting about it sometimes. Pretty used to "Normal Taro", I guess." Lonappan chuckled upon saying that. "Ah, that was a good joke... NOT! If you forgot about that, I can make you remember that. If you''re gonna refuse asking Ponnappan about my request, I can always destroy at least half of this world and make you the sole person responsible for the destruction. How would you feel about that? The whole world will turn against you with that, you know? You really want that?" Taro asked, after which Lonappan went on the train of deep thoughts. "¡­ Nah, man. I''m fine with being antagonized by half of the world, but my family will get involved in that mess as well and I don''t want that to happen. So, I''ll shift the responsibility of giving you a proper answer to my superior then. Let him get the blame!" Lonappan laughed maniacally for a few seconds before turning back to his usual expression. "Ah, but I''ll remind you this. He''s a difficult man to speak with when it comes to things like this. I can''t promise you anything. I''ll just ask him about it. Whether he allows it or not is not my responsibility." Lonappan warned. "Ah, it''s fine. It''s the feeling that matters. As long as you put in your maximum effort into this, I''ll be happy with it." Taro gave out a really friendly smile, which brought goosebumps in Lonappan''s body. "Why do I feel like I''m being guilt tripped or something?" Lonappan asked. "Ah, there''s someone who feels the same as me right now." Thankappan, who stayed silent for the most part since it wasn''t time for him to speak till then, spoke. "So, you thought of putting the blame of the destruction of the world on me, huh? You backstabbing person!" Lonappan looked shocked as he said it. "Well, you''re doing the same thing, right?" Thankappan asked. "But I don''t expect it to get revealed to the person whom I''m gonna backstab! You and me are different in that aspect." Lonappan replied. "You know, I can just pass this info to commanding officer right now and pull you back to the same level as mine. You want that?" Thankappan asked. "Hmm, no. I don''t want that to happen." Lonappan replied after which a long silence followed. None of them had anything to say at that point and just wanted to get the hell away from each other. However, none of them were able to give out a word of farewell for some reason and brought in the weird atmosphere. In the end, they decided to slowly retreat away from each other and go on their separate ways. While two of them were light headed and relieved, one felt like he was about to step into deep trouble. # Chapter 210: This is the way Few hours later; back in the MIB base at Snehatheeram. There was a man loitering before an office door, contemplating whether to enter the said office or not. It took the person a good few minutes to decide, but in the end, he took in a deep breath and opened the door. "Heyo, chief!" Lonappan waved his hand around as he greeted. "Dang, that sounds nice. Keep calling me chief from now on." Ponnappan spoke with a smile on his face. "Ha, you enjoy that shit? Then screw it. I''ll never call you that again." Lonappan spoke. "Dude! You''re being real sadistic right now. Let this man enjoy such little things." Ponnappan spoke with a tinge of sadness in his voice. "Then let THIS man enjoy his share of happiness as well." Lonappan pointed to himself as he spoke. "Cool, if that''s what is making you happy, then so be it. I don''t wanna mess that up for ya." Ponnappan replied, still keeping that sadness in his tone. "Oh, you''re trying to guilt trip me as well, huh? Might have worked the first time, but not gonna happen this time as well." Lonappan jumped around as he said that. Ponnappan kept a sad face for quite a long time, but Lonappan remained unfazed by it. After a few seconds, the commanding officer gave up and let out his breath. "Damn it, was it that obvious?" He asked. "It''s never that obvious, my man. It''s just that you lot crack under pressure so easily, so I don''t really have to know if it is true or not." Lonappan shrugged as he answered. "Well, I could''ve maintained my expression for a few more hours under pressure, but you seemed like you got a lot in mind right now, so I thought of stopping it and give you a chance to speak. So, come on. What is it that worries you right now? Or what are you here for?" Ponnappan asked. "Oh, if you were concerned with what I had to say, then keep on going. I have a plenty of time in my hand to bring up the issue that I wanted to talk about." Lonappan spoke. "Hey, your face definitely says otherwise. Come on, now. We''ve been close to each other for what¡­ so and so number of years, right?" As Ponnappan was about to follow it up, Lonappan interfered. "You don''t even remember how many years we''ve been together for?" Lonappan asked. "Now, now! Don''t be sensitive about that like my wife." Ponnappan replied. "Oh, my! You don''t even remember the day that you met your wife?" Lonappan stared at his commanding officer with a surprised look on his face. "What? I forgot it just once and she made a big deal out of it. I just don''t understand the thinking behind it." Ponnappan looked frustrated as he said that. "Dude, I don''t care if you forgot about the years that we spent together, but don''t you dare forget the meeting, dating and wedding anniversary. And if you can remember your asking out to be your girlfriend and proposing anniversary as well, you get the extra brownie points." Lonappan spoke. Ponnappan sighed. "I''m just gonna say this again. I don''t get the reasoning behind remembering these dates. Why should I even?" He asked. "Well, those days are supposed to be special for you guys, right?" Lonappan asked back. "Hmm, I feel like every day with her is a special day for me, so¡­" Ponnappan shrugged. "Oh, that line''s gonna give you some extra brownie points for like a few seconds before she realises that you actually forgot the dates." Lonappan replied. "Ha, that''s exactly what happened." Ponnappan sighed yet again in the short span of speaking with Lonappan. "See? I knew it! Even if you consider those dates as something trivial, that''s not the case when it comes your wife. She actually cherishes those dates like no other. So, you gotta respect her wishes as well, understand?" Lonappan asked. "Yea, you''re right. I''ll go learn those dates now." Ponnappan was about to get up from his seat, but got back to it just as he got up. "But before that, what is it that you wanted to say, huh? You seem to really drag it out for no reason for quite some time now. I''m not saying that your advice just now isn''t gonna help me or something, but it seemed like more of a desperate attempt to elongate the conversation than just a simple advice." He speculated. This time around, it was Lonappan who sighed"There''s no use hiding it from you, huh? I come here with a request." He spoke. "Okay, what is it?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, technically. It''s not my request, but someone else''s." Lonappan replied. "Hmm, you never said it was your request, so yea. That would be true." Ponnappan nodded his head to that. "Okay, good. But remember, you really don''t have to give out a yes to this. A no would be absolutely fine as well, you see." Lonappan spoke. "Yea, yea, I know. Now tell me, what is it?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, what else to say¡­" Lonappan unconsciously mumbled. "See, intentional dragging of the said conversation. Why are being so?" Ponnappan asked. "I don''t know man. It''s just that I don''t feel like asking you the question. Somehow it feels unfair. As if I''m dropping all the load on to you." Lonappan spoke. "I don''t know what you mean by that, but even if that is the case, shouldn''t you let me decide on that?" Ponnappan asked. "I should, but¡­" Lonappan still seemed quite hesitant about it. "Then do it. Don''t think about the consequences or shit like that. That''ll be on me to think about. So, just say it and be done with." Ponnappan spoke. "Okay, here we go then." Lonappan took in a deep breath. "It''s from Taro." He replied "Cool, cool. Go on with it." Ponnappan signalled for him to continue with it. "You remember how I messaged you a day or two before on the fact that we found another Wadorian when we went to Athirappally, right?" Lonappan asked. "Oh, yea. I vaguely remember reading that." Ponnappan replied. "Vaguely. Dude, info about aliens is supposed to be our bread and butter. And you took it so carelessly?" Lonappan asked again with a stern voice. "Hey, don''t go on blaming me for that. You messaged me on our private chat and not the official one. It''s obvious that I''ll be reading that chat casually, right?" Ponnappan countered back with another question. "Oh, my bad! I was in the wrong that time. Anyhow, it''s about that guy we spoke about." Lonappan replied. "Okay, what about him?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, the thing is that Taro requested for him to stay in the Holy Land as well, so¡­" Before Lonappan could even complete what he wanted to say, the commanding officer of his had an answer already. "Sure, why not?" He asked. "Wha?" Lonappan was sure surprised by this development. # "What do you mean, huh? You don''t know the threat of having two Wadorians under the same roof, do you?" Lonappan asked, with the surprise still instilled on his face. "Well, that''s far better than not having the two of them under the same roof." Ponnappan replied. "Again, what do you mean?" Lonappan asked again. "Let me guess something. I''m sure Taro threatened you by saying that he''d go ballistic if we don''t allow his request, right?" Ponnappan asked. "Yea¡­ Kinda." Lonappan nodded his head. "We can''t just swat it off as a hollow threat. I believe it''s a legitimate one. So, there''s like a fifty percent chance of destruction of the entire world if we let the two live under the same roof and a ninety nine percent if we don''t. So, tell me. What should I choose, huh?" Ponnappan asked. "Wow, I never thought of it like that." Lonappan looked enlightened once Ponnappan completed the explanation. But he still had questions in his mind. "Then what about John? What are we supposed to do about him? I mean, an unregistered alien and Taro''s friend as well. The red flags he raise is really huge. Should we shift him to #307 or something?" Lonappan asked. "Nah, fam. The guys from the Holy Land are the only ones who actually have an idea of John''s¡­ issues. So, let''s continue keeping it like that." Ponnappan replied. "Then what the hell are we even supposed to do, huh? There''s no other choice." Lonappan spoke. "There''s always a way, you know?" Ponnappan gave out a knowing look as he said it. And it didn''t take Lonappan much to realise what his commanding officer meant. "Oh, no! We''re not doing this again." He outright refused it before even hearing out since he was that sure. "But that''s the only way¡­" Ponnappan cried. "What about the one I suggest?" Lonappan asked. "My way is the only way that''s gonna get the approval of mine though! But I still want you to do the deed and satisfy my curiosity." Ponnappan spoke as he handed Lonappan an object. "Never thought I''d see this again and this soon¡­" Lonappan spoke as he clenched the neuralyzer. # Chapter 211: The task "This is risky business. And when I say risky, I mean real risky! Think about it. I can''t even remember the number of times we flashed it in John. And now you want to do it again. What do you think will happen, huh?" Lonappan asked. "As I said before, I''m curious. I wonder how many times can he take it. I know it''s not ethical to do such shit, but I don''t know man." Ponnappan shrugged. "You know how curiosity killed the cat, right?" Lonappan asked. "I don''t think that''s the right way to use that phrase." Ponnappan replied. "Ah, I know how the phrase goes. Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, right? And I do know how to use it. However, this time, I just meant it literally. Your curiosity might just fuck things up for everyone. What do you think will happen when John actually gains some sort of resistance to the flashes? We''re all dead. And I''m not kidding about that." Lonappan spoke with a grim tone. "Hmm, what do you think they''re gonna do once he regains the memories, huh?" Ponnappan asked. "Well, to begin with, we''ll be fired and a detailed investigation will be done against us, upon which they''ll for sure learn about our transactions with aliens and hiding of fugitives and a lot other stuff. That would give us plenty of jail time. And with the added human experimentation without proper permission and being secretive about a potential calamity level threat¡­ Ha, a long time inside the prison would be the thing that awaits us. I don''t want that to happen, man¡­ I got a wife and a kid who waits for me to come back home every night. I love them¡­ I just don''t wanna part away from them." Lonappan sounded a bit weak as he said it. The commanding officer stayed silent for a few seconds. "I love my wife. More than anyone or anything in this world. I don''t have a kid yet, but I understand how you feel about yours. I know what is going through your mind. But let me tell you this, I''m willing to flash the neuralyzer on John a hundred times over if it''s gonna save the world. I know it sounds melodramatic and you might think that we could always reason with Taro since he''s such a chill guy, but we can''t bank on that. Who knows when he''ll snap. Maybe me rejecting his request might be the final straw towards it." The commanding officer sighed. "As for the John side of things, the most that could happen is that we get fired for what we did and a jail time. And if I''m to take all the blame, I can save all of the people here, including you. My wife knows what we''re going through, so she''ll understand if it ends up like that. So yea¡­ Don''t worry about it." He spoke. "Ah, fuck you, bruv. You do know that if you''re going down, we''re all going down, right? We''re just not gonna let you take the fall alone, whether it''s me or anyone else in this base." Lonappan spoke. "Wait, weren''t you the one who said that you got a wife and kid waiting for you?" Ponnappan asked. "Yea, but that doesn''t mean that I can ditch the one person who''s been by my side for an eternity now." Lonappan replied. "What? You forgot the years we were together as well?" The commanding officer chuckled. "Nah, I just don''t want you to know about that without spending effort into finding it." Lonappan answered. "There''s no shame on telling that you forgot something. I mean, I forgot it as well, didn''t I? Well maybe, I''ll make a bit of a fuzz about it like you did when I said that." Ponnappan replied. "I''m not kidding when I said that I''m hiding it!" Lonappan argued. "Whatever, man¡­ If that excuse makes you happy, then you do that." Ponnappan shrugged. "I''m not¡­ Nah, screw it. Think what you wanna think. I don''t think I can change how you think stuff, so¡­" Lonappan shrugged back. "Anyhow, we are all good with the neuralyzer plan, right?" Lonappan asked. "You''re the one who has the doubts, not me. So, tell me. Are you good with it? Still worried about the jail time and stuff?" Ponnappan asked. "Nah, man. You were right. We took this role to protect this planet. And if I don''t do this, I just might not be able to do so. Also, it''s not like we know if John has already gained immunity to the flash and he''s acting as if he don''t remember shit to gain all sorts of evidence." Lonappan answered. "Hmm, that could be a possibility as well." The commanding officer nodded his head in agreement. "Well, if that''s the case, then you can''t do the sacrificing thing you said before. He might have gained enough evidence against all of us at this point. So, all we could do is to hope for the best, I guess." Lonappan replied. "Yea, good luck with your¡­ mission? Activity? Request? Action? What is it?" Ponnappan asked. "Call it whatever the hell you want to. Bye! I''m leaving." Lonappan got up and waved his hand. "Hey, wait!" Ponnappan called him out from behind. "What?" Lonappan looked slightly irked by what his superior did. "You know what I was doing when you were coming in? Or at least what I was planning to do after this conversation ends?" He asked. "Well, I was concerned about what you''d think about Taro''s request when I was coming in, so I really didn''t notice what you were doing back then. And as for what you''re planning to do, how am I even supposed to know that shit, huh? I''m not clairvoyant or something like that." Lonappan replied. "Oh, I didn''t mean like that. I thought that I might have made a mention of it or something. Ah, no worries. Go do your task." Ponnappan waved him goodbye. "Finally decided with fix, huh?" Lonappan asked. "Yea, it made a bit of sense, I believe." Ponnappan replied. "Cool, see you later, chief!" Lonappan walked off without turning back. "Ha! He did the thing!" Ponnappan almost screamed with a bright smile on his face. # "What happened?" Thankappan rushed towards the returning Lonappan and asked. "I''m going to meet up with John. Where is he?" Lonappan asked. "Ah, he''s inside. He''s been crying about you not informing him that you''re gonna be away for the day. Honestly, it''s getting a bit annoying at this point and I''m not even kidding about that." Thankappan sighed as he said that. "Cool. I''m gonna meet him now. You coming? I might need your help." Lonappan spoke as he continued walking. "What? My help? Why? And what about the other thing?" Thankappan asked a plethora of questions as he kept his pace with his senior''s. "Look, I''ll give you all the answers that you seek for in due time. But before that, just lend me a hand, will ya?" Lonappan asked. "Sure. But what are we gonna do?" Thankappan asked back. He was confused by the events happening. "You''ll see. Just follow me for now." Lonappan commanded. "Jeez, you know I don''t like secrets like this, right?" The junior MIB agent looked frustrated as he asked. "And you are not good at keeping secrets either. So, what''s your point?" Lonappan countered. Thankappan looked as if he was offended by this statement of his senior''s. "That''s not fair. I''m pretty great at keeping secrets! Of course, there are occasional blunders, but that happens to any human, right?" "Well, you''re supposed to be an MIB agent, dude. We''re the biggest secret keepers. We''re unlike others in that scenario. So, you are ineligible to make that comparison." Lonappan replied. "I guess you''re right about that." Thankappan lightly nodded his head. He really didn''t want his senior''s words to be proven true. "John''s here, right?" Lonappan asked as he pointed towards the American''s room in the Holy Land. "Yup." "Great. Get ready now." Lonappan warned before bursting through the door. The sudden crash at his door made John alert. He picked his gun and pointed towards the door, but quickly withdrew it once he saw the people there. "Lonappan! Where the hell were you, man? Wherever you were, you could''ve sent me a message, couldn''t you? I waited for a long time for you to come." John spoke. "Ah, I''m sorry. Wait, can you show me that gun?" Lonappan asked as he gently grabbed on to the gun. "Oh, you noticed the new gun! It''s the latest model S6-95 laser gun. Your chief gifted it to me. How is it?" John asked. "Is that so?" Lonappan spoke as he tossed the gun towards Thankappan instead of John. "Hey, what are you!" John was about to complaint about the way he handled the gun, but stopped himself when he saw Lonappan wearing sunglasses. # Chapter 212: Predicament "Oh, shoot!" Thankappan fumbled the sunglasses off his pockets and wore it as soon as he saw his senior pop out the neuralyzer. Thankfully, he wasn''t that late at doing that. However, the same thing couldn''t be said about John who had the neuralyzer right up his face. He didn''t have his sunglasses near him, since he didn''t expect someone to barge in and shove a neuralyzer. But that''s exactly what had happened and he was struck in a predicament. John''s sunglasses were on his bed, which was just a full stretch jump away from where he stood. Although, in normal case it would have been easy for him to get the hell away from there and make that jump to his sunglasses, but this wasn''t just a normal case. Before him were two highly trained professionals. At least, if it was just a singular person, he could''ve fought him off, but two people decreases his probability of success right into the depths of hell. The only thing he could bet on was the inexperience of the second person. However, that was a difficult thing to bet on as well since the second agent was the graduate of the MIB dungeon. Anyhow, for the time being, John decided to leave the plan of getting the sunglasses. Rather than that, he decided to have a talk with the one holding the neuralyzer before him. Then again, he was hit with a roadblock. He had no idea as to why Lonappan was trying to do so. He hadn''t done anything to antagonize him. And even if he did, there wasn''t much of a reason to flash him. So, rather than using deception and escaping the heck out, he was curious as to what the two of them had against him. Thus John decided to act on it. "So, what''s happening here?" He asked. "Can''t you see?" Lonappan asked bluntly. "All I see is a neuralyzer before me. I don''t get the reason. Why are you doing this?" John asked again. "You need a reason?" Lonappan asked back. "Well, I''m gonna forget about it anyway, so why not?" John shrugged. "Nah, man. Forget it. I can''t trust you for some reason." Lonappan replied. "Bruh, that''s unfair. I deserve to know why I''m getting flashed." John spoke. "Nope. Let''s not do this. I know what you''re trying to extend this stupid conversation of ours. What do you hope of doing, huh? Maybe I''ll lose my focus in the midst and you might be able to take the neuralyzer off me. How does that sound? Or maybe, you''ll get a knock on the guy on my left and I might get confused by it and then you might get the device off me then. Who knows?" Lonappan shrugged this time around. "Ha, there''s no use trying to rile you up, huh?" John sighed. "You''re right about that. I don''t easily crack under pressure." Lonappan replied. "Over-hyping, are we now?" John smiled. "Nope. Just stated the truth." Lonappan replied. "Okay. Then I''m gonna state a fact of mine as well." John spoke. "Go on. I''m gonna let you tell that at least." Lonappan signaled him to speak. "Hmm, is that a good idea though?" Thankappan, who was silent for the most time listening to what the other two had to say, interfered. "And why would you say that, hmm?" Lonappan turned towards his junior and asked. "Well, think about it. Whenever you let your opponent have the last word, they end up doing some crazy shit and escape their predicament." Thankappan spoke. "Ah, you''ve been watching too many movies, my dude." Lonappan replied. "Ah, true. Too much movies." John looked at Thankappan and winked, which brought in a chill in Thankappan''s spine. "Anyhow, I don''t have to explain the rulebook now, do I?" Lonappan looked at John and asked. "True, true. Get on with it then." John nodded his head. Lonappan took in a deep breath. "Okay, let''s go." "Let''s." John smiled and in the very next second twisted his body and jumped towards his bed. However, it didn''t go as John planned. In between John and the bed stood Thankappan to intercept his jump. "Haha, didn''t expect me, did ya?" Thankappan laughed. "Nah, I kinda did." John smiled as he sniped the sunglasses off Thankappan. "Shit!" Thankappan screamed. "Ha, you grew complacent, my man¡­" Lonappan sighed as he saw his junior''s defeat. "Now, what are you gonna do?" John asked as he wore the sunglasses. "You know, I would''ve escaped the place by this time. I wouldn''t have gone for this stupid backtracking." Lonappan replied. "Meh, if you had to face the man before me, then you would''ve done the same." John spoke. "Ha, high praises for me. I like it." Lonappan smiled. "You''re welcome." John smiled back as he swung a fist towards Lonappan. However, it didn''t even scratch him. Lonappan could easily dodge the fist because he was calm while John was frantic. "You should calm down, bud. You can''t beat me at this point." Lonappan spoke. "You''re right at that." John nodded as he took a deep breath. He lunged towards Lonappan and tried head-butting. However, yet again, Lonappan was able to get the better of him. But, John didn''t stop his attacks. And with each attack, his precision seemingly got better and got narrow misses at Lonappan. In the end, John went on an attack fest while Lonappan went completely immersed in defense. "What do you think about me now, huh?" John asked as he seriously panted. "Well, I hoped a bit more from you since you are from the MIB HQ. However, seems like you''re not a big deal after all." Lonappan scoffed. "Ha, underestimating now, are we?" John asked again. "Nah, it''s a fair judgment based on what I just saw." Lonappan replied. "Hmm, well¡­ Let''s see if you think the same after a few minutes now." John gave out a smug smile. However, even after a few minutes, the result was still the same. Lonappan was up top dominating while John struggled to get a strike. "Now, now. It seems like you were underestimating me quite a bit as well." Lonappan spoke. "I guess, I was. I really didn''t expect you to be that good. A guy like you could do well in the HQ as well." John pandered to Lonappan. "Nah, fam. That will not happen." Lonappan shook his head. "Why, though?" John asked. "I''m facing you right now for my survival. I wouldn''t fare that well in the HQ since I wouldn''t be fighting for my home, my family¡­ my life. So, no. I won''t do well in the HQ." Lonappan replied. "I see. What are you gonna now? I''m not gonna let the sunglasses off my face and you won''t be able to use the neuralyzer on me." John spoke. "Still underestimating us. Hell, it''s simply not an underestimation. It''s a criminal underestimation." Lonappan sighed. "What do you mean?" John looked confused. "I''ll let you in on a little secret. You deserve to know this at least before you get flashed. I''m not the best fighter in our base. Hell, I''m not even the best brawler in this very room, you know that?" Lonappan asked. "What do you-" Before John got a chance to complete his question, he was kicked right in his face. "Blink and you''ll miss!" Thankappan screamed as he kicked the glasses right off John''s face. After the kick, Thankappan took the glasses off the ground and wore it. After that, John never got the upper hand. While Lonappan was completely immersed in dodging, John was able to pull in a bit of offense. However, with an actual brawler against him, John, the guy from the MIB HQ seemingly stood no chance. "Okay. What now?" Thankappan looked towards Lonappan as he stood over John, who was coughing blood. "Now, we''re gonna flash the neuralyzer on him and that''s gonna answer the question that you asked previously." Lonappan replied. "Cool. The floor is yours then." Thankappan got away from John and let Lonappan do his job. "Hmm, you still up, John? Can you see me?" Lonappan snapped his fingers a few times and saw John blinking his eyes. "Ah, you''re awake! Okay, here we go!" Once he saw the eyes open, he spared no time to flash the neuralyzer. "What now?" The curious Thankappan asked. "Zip it, will ya? And let me do my job!" Lonappan scolded to which Thankappan silently nodded his head. "Okay, let''s see. The Holy Land residents. There''s you, Thankappan, Gibli, M''Baku, Scarlet, Kunjan, Taro and Park. That''s it. Park and Scarlet are the residents of this place as well. And you being here in this state is because you tripped on the oil in the floor that someone in this place accidentally spilled. And¡­. John! John! What the hell happened, dude?" He asked with a concerned look on his face. "¡­.I slipped. Someone spilled oil into the floor." John said with great difficulty. "Who in the world would do such a thing? You poor thing!" Lonappan continued on with the concerned look, but in the off chance that John took his eyes off him, he managed to get a smirk across to Thankappan. #