The Midnight Stranger Completed G

A stranger to the rescue

A Stranger to the Rescue

Surya was running as fast as his legs could carry him. He knew he had been running long enough for his body to give up. But he had no way of finding out. The only way he could find out if he had reached his limit was when exhaustion would hit his brain and muscles, and they would shut down, and Surya would fall to the ground without any warning, the goons would beat him to pulp and the next day, he would wake up as an angel, next to Aai.

That wouldn't be ideal, though. Supri would kill him if he died. He'd rather face the devil himself than his girlfriend when her temper flared up. He had to fight. He had been running for a while now, and stopping and fighting was looking more attractive by the minute. Especially because of his supernatural ability of not feeling pain. So, all he needed to do was stop, have some water, and then beat some goons up. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Except there was no water, and he genuinely wanted to die. Why were there so many of them, anyway? Did they have a WhatsApp group where Goon 1 had texted, "Found the freak in kacchi galli, get your weapons!" and bam! All of them had landed up together for the mission? Didn't they have other freaks to chase? Was he the only weirdo in town?

Focus, Surya! Supri yelled inside his head. He touched his water sipper to his lips, hoping find a few drops, but there was nothing. He had exhausted his water while he had been running for… God knows how long now.

Sighing, he took his position. The goons looked at him in disbelief, and one of them even laughed.

"Idiot!" one of them muttered and attacked. Watching him fling himself at Surya, the rest of them took an attacking stance. They may have underestimated him, and Surya couldn't blame them. He was alone, and they were about fifteen of them. Even a Math illiterate could tell the odds were against him.

He threw a punch at the attacker's jaw, followed by another on his lower ribs, being careful enough to bruise and not break. He then blocked his feet and threw him to the ground. As soon as he'd done that, Surya looked up and realized he had messed up. They all charged at him like a herd of wild buffalo.

Fighting fourteen men should have been easy, he had done that about thrice in five months now, but this was different. He was so damn tired. He couldn't even feel his muscles moving. One of the disadvantages of not feeling any pain is that you have no idea what's going on with your body.

He fought though. He threw punches and kicks with everything he had, even managing to knock down a couple and push back a few. But his vision started going blurry. Dehydration was slowly setting in. He tried to focus, but before he could land the final Ushiro Geri on his attacker's face, he blacked out.

Siku gaped as the man dressed in a red tracksuit fell to the ground, his swimming goggles askew. He realized the man was probably his age, but there was something about him that made him look younger. He waited until the men had left and then went up to him, crouching down to check his pulse, which was decidedly weak.

His mind was whirling with questions. Who was this man who hadn't even winced in pain once as the men had slashed him with knives and punched and kicked him? Was this just another gang fight in Mumbai or was it part of a bigger conspiracy?

The last time Mumbai was caught up in a conspiracy, Rajat and he had lost their best friend, their Bhavesh. Bhavesh, who had just wanted to help the citizens but was caught up in a huge water scandal that Rana had started. Bhavesh, who was the only one out of the three owners of Insaaf TV who had actually stuck to the purpose of starting the channel, to help fight corruption, but had lost his life while fighting.

Siku knew he couldn't take him to the hospital. He had been in hiding for about three years now and couldn't be in a place where he would be visible. But it was clear this man needed medical help. He pulled him to a shop in the corner of the street, laid him on his back, and lifted his head. He undid the zipper of his tracksuit to check for broken bones, and saw that he had broken his forearm. How was this man alive?

Siku raised the man's legs, trying to redirect the flow of blood back to the man's brain. He did for a few minutes, hoping that he could gain consciousness. Siku knew that he had to get his bones and injuries tended to and that hospital was inevitable. Siku fished out his phone and dialed Rajat when the man opened his eyes.

"Don't get up, you had fainted," he said gently as he disconnected the call.

"Water… ," the man croaked.

Siku gave him some water from his bottle, and helped him lean on the steel sheets of a dilapidated shop he had taken shelter under.

After a few sips, the man looked at him, beady-eyed.

"You have broken your arm, and maybe your ribs are bruised. You have a few knife injuries too," said Siku.

"Papa is going to kill me," the man whined, ignoring his medical diagnosis.

"Can I ask what happened?" Siku was curious.

"It's a long story." The man waved dismissively.

"Is it… is it gang wars?"

The man blinked at him.

"Like in movies?"

Siku nodded.

"No. But the men are part of a gang. Can you dial Supri on my phone and tell her where we are right now?"

"Don't you want to go to the hospital? Your arm must be killing you?"

The man sighed and then glanced down at his pants, signaling him to check his pocket.

Siku pulled out the wallet and phone and looked inside. It had a Medical Condition Card.

Name: Surya Sampat

Medical Condition: Congenital insensitivity to pain

The card had his address and emergency contact number.

He looked at the phone that was smashed to bits.

"Your phone is smashed. Should I inform your dad?"

"Oh no, he is on his third honeymoon. Give me some time. I'll call Supri when I feel better."

He sat next to Surya, and that's when it hit him. Surya wasn't scared of his mask! Heck he hadn't even blinked at his absurd get-up. It seemed like he had accepted that people routinely dress up in black, with red glasses and walk around Mumbai at night, helping injured men. Had the fight affected his brains? Siku looked at Surya suspiciously.

He watched as Surya moved his broken arm into place and fixed it with a resounding click. Then he used the medical supplies he had on him to dress Surya's knife injuries.

"What is your name?" Surya asked.

Siku was hoping that Surya wouldn't ask his name. He shook his head. No matter what, he couldn't reveal his real name. Though he went around Mumbai scaring rule-breakers, he had never taken on another name after "Bhavesh". People called him "Red Mask'' but it had never felt right. Bhavesh Joshi. That was the name Bhavesh had taken up while fighting injustice, and Siku wanted to stick to it, but no one could know, not after Bhavesh was dead and Siku had faked his own death, it would put Rajat and Sneha at risk. He had only told Rana that his name was “Insaaf Man'' and had tied himself to Insaaf TV, but Rana wasn’t alive to tell that to anyone.

The media called him Bhavesh Joshi, because that was the name he had used publicly to take down Rana, but after that, he wanted to keep the name away from limelight. It was almost an irony that Bhavesh Joshi had died, twice.

"Insaaf Man."

Surya blinked, trying to recollect the name but shook his head.

He asked if he could make a call, and Siku offered him his phone. He dialed Supri who began yelling at him so loud that Siku could hear it, but Surya was unfazed. It made him miss Sneha, for some reason. He knew she still loved him, but he couldn't go back to her and it stung.

"Where are we? I need to go to the bus stand of Telang Road, Matunga." Surya asked as he disconnected the call.

You have multiple knife injuries and a broken arm, what is wrong with you? Siku wanted to yell but shook his head instead.

"We are in Matunga, I'll take you there."

He supported Surya, letting him lean on him, while Surya kept his broken arm immobile, pressed to his chest. They walked slowly.

"So, can you tell me about the attack?" Siku ventured. He wanted to be know if Mumbai was under threat. He wasn't sure what he would do about it, but it was worth a shot knowing if there was danger looming out there.

"Do you know Jimmy from Jimmy Security Services?"

"Yes, wasn't it a front for drug peddling and extortion?"

"Yes, Jimmy is the brother of Supri's Kumite teacher, Mani. Mani was also my teacher, though not directly. I learned Kumite by watching his tapes."

"You just learned Kumite from his tapes?" Siku was shocked. If there was one thing Siku's karate teacher had taught him, it was to learn any form of martial arts under supervision and in physical presence.

"Yes, so, anyway. Jimmy attacked Mani, and stole his necklace, so I went to get his necklace. I don't like necklace chor. I lost my Aai because of on. We got into a scuffle with Jimmy, and just when we had the upper hand, Jimmy pulled out a gun. But Supri got to it and shot Jimmy. Mani took the fall for it and was arrested. So from then on, whenever Jimmy's men get out of jail, they hound us. But people in the jail made Mani boss of the jail, of sorts, so at least he is safe in there."

Siku was taken aback at the nonchalance in his tone. What even was this man? But at least one of the few cases that he had marked as unsolvable was now solved. He had never believed that Mani, a handicapped man could overcome 50 men and kill his own brother, no matter what the police report had said. He finally had the answers to his questions. Since he had been hell-bent on exposing Rana then, he hadn't focused much on Jimmy, but he was glad that the man was now dead.

Necklace chor… Had Surya lost his mother in an accident during chain snatching? Siku turned to ask him but let it go. They continued walking till they reached a bus stop. Surya was still sipping the water Siku had given him. Siku helped him on to a seat.

"I should go. Take care," said Siku.

"Siku, are you okat?" A sharp voice came from behind him and he whirled around, his gaze landing on short, but well-built woman. Even her uniform couldn't hide her defined muscles. The woman rushed to him and before he knew, started yelling at Surya, but Siku didn't miss the worry that she was hiding behind her annoyance. Surya assured her that he was ok, and when she was sure of it, she looked up at Siku.

"Who are you?"

"Supri, this is Insaaf Man," Surya said excitedly, as if his two best friends were meeting for the first time.

Supri raised his eyebrows at him.

"Insaaf Man?" she asked, curiosity evident in her voice, and stepped closer.

"I need to go," Siku said.

The Police and he never got along. It would not help to linger. He almost dashed off and didn't stop to watch Supri helping Surya into the jeep. Nor did he hear her ordering her hawaldars to investigate the attack before driving Surya to the doctor.

He had got unwittingly caught up in the backstory of a man he had only just met and had tried to help. it had been a hell of a night.