Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel

by Neeraj Chand

  “Good .” DoctorFahim said. “Then you should go to the training hall now to get started. Divya will be observing your training sessions in case you run into any problems. Best of luck, Neel.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Neel nodded, and left with Captain Shukla. The two made their way to the hall.

  “How long will my training take beforeI"m ready?” Neel asked the man striding silently next to him. “That will depend upon you.” Captain Shukla said. “Some people pick it up more quickly than others. If you pay attention, work hard, and keep on practicing what we teach you, you should soon see a marked difference in your skills.”

  “So, what exactly are you going to teach me, Captain Shukla sir?” Neel asked him. He felt that this form of address was distinctly a mouthful, but he could not think of anything better.

  “You can call me Arjun.” t he Captain offered. Neel looked at him in surprise. The Captain saw his expression, and the corners of hislips turned up in a small smile. “I can assure you,Neel, I"m almost as much at sea inthis business as you are. I"ve had experience in a wide field in my time of duty, but training a teenage Meta human is far removed from anything I"ve attempted till now.” He gazedseriously at Neel. “I"ll try to help you learn in every way I can, but I"ll need your total trust and cooperation if we are going to make this work. Can you give me that?”

  The dark eyes were grave and earnest, and the young boy nodded slowly. “I"ll try my best…. Arjun.” “Good.” Arjun opened the door of the gymnasium. The instruments that had been in the centre yesterday had all been pushed to one side, leaving a large space in the middle empty, on which a practice mat had been placed. Negi and Premi were waiting for them on the mat, both wearing loose exercise clothes.

  “Good to see you again, Neel.” Negi said with a smile, shaking his hand when they reached thetwo. “I hope you can handle a little vigorous exercise. Now is the time to put your abilitiesto work.”

  “But don"t let the training intimidate you.” Premi said. His manner was still reserved, but he gave Neel a small smileas he shook his hand. “This is just the beginning, and that is always the hardest part.”

  “ Doctor Fahim and Miss Divya Nayak will be observing our training sessions from there.” Arjun told Neel, pointing towards a window at the top end of the hall. The window was painted white and Neel could not see through it.“Just to check your progress, and to see if there are any new developments in your capabilities.”

  “Is that likely to happen?” Neel asked, feeling slightly apprehensive. All the talk of training was making him nervous. Even with all the exciting things that had happened yesterday, he could remember that he had fallen down a lot, and though his physical prowess had been impressive, his movements had not been marked by grace or agility. The matter of fact way everyone was talking about developing hisskills couldn"t hide the fact that he didn"t have any. Negi and Premi glanced at each other when he asked the question.

  “We"re not exactly sure.” Arjun admitted. “This is a new drug collected from the cells of apes, apparently. Not only are you the first person to have undergone this transformation, but I"ve been told that the effects of the serum on someone of your age group is different from what was being expected. So we"ll be keeping our eyes open tosee what happens.”

  “Right.” Neel said . He had a sudden vision of himself with hair sprouting all over his body as well as a long tail, leaping around the hall and throwing exercise gadgets at his trainers. The image was not in any way helpful.

  “So, let"s get started.” Arjun said. “ First you need to change.” He handed Neel the exercise clothes he had worn yesterday. Neel went to the room attached to the gym and changed quickly.

  When he returned, the three had moved to the centre of the mat and were waiting for him. “Your body is now the most powerful of its kind on the planet.” Arjun began. “You saw what you did to the punching posts yesterday. That was an untrained and unrestrained exhibition of your power. To handle that level of strengthis not an easy task.” He looked at Neel shrewdly. “Have there been any accidents, these last few days?”

  “Well, yeah.” Neel admitted slowly. “I had a really hard time getting my brain speed under control.I still can"t control it completely. And I have to be careful how I touch things, and hold them,so I don"t break them.” He stared at Arjun and added in a burst of candor. “I"ve really scared of holding anything too hard.I"ve tried to stay away from my mom and everyone else the last few days becauseI"m afraid of hurting them.”

  Arjun was watching him closely, and a flicker of pity appeared in his eyes . “Well, our work from now on will be to help you cope with your new abilities, and turn them to your advantage.” he said gently. “We"ll teach you how to manage your strength and brain speed.”

  He moved over to the edge of the mat, leaving the middle of the mat empty. “You need control overyour body and your movements.” he said. “You need to learn how much strength you can use, and how much you have to hold back. Train your body, and your mind will be trained in its control as well. There are actually two ways to learn that kind of physical control, through dancing and through fighting.”

  “Unfortunately, doing the moonwalk will not be particularly helpful in a combat situation.” Negi added. “So we"ll just focus on teaching you to fight.” Neel gave a small laugh.

  “You"ll be learning a composite of various fighting techniques.” Arjun continued. “They will be of invaluable use to you in learning control.”

  Neel nodded. He had been expecting something along these lines. But again, he felt compelled to point out a crucial point.

  “I"ve never done anything like this before.” he said. “And you saw what I did to the posts the other day.”

  “That day showed us that you have the potential.” Premi said. “It is up to us now to tap into it and see how far it can be taken.” Neel nodded.

  Arjun motioned to Negi. The stocky little man moved forward to stand in the centre of the mat, directly in front of Neel. “Karate is the discipline that teaches you the importance of posture and technique in combat.” Negi explained. “See my legs?” He stood with his legs positioned apart, his knees bent slightly.

  “Balance is the key.” he told Neel. “No matter what position you are in, you need to maintain your balance. Try it.”

  Neel moved to stand in front of Negi, and imitated Negi"s position, arms raised to shoulder level, legs bent and spread slightly apart. Arjun walked up behind Neel and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back sharply in a single sudden movement. Neel wasn"t expecting it, and tumbled over backwards until Arjun steadied him.

  “Always be prepared for the stealthattack.” Arjun said, helping him resume his position. “Merely assuming the correct position is not enough. You have to actively stop your opponent from throwing you off balance, and that means that when I pull you towards me, you pull away from me, and do your best to maintain your position, allright?”

  Neel nodded, assuming the position again. Arjun paused for a moment. Then, he swiftly grabbed Neel from behind and tried to pull him back. This time Neel was ready. Any other person would have still found it hard to maintain the position, but Arjun was unable to move Neel an inch.

  “Good” Arjun said, releasing him and walking to his side. “Now let"s try punching. Watch Negi.” Premi came to stand on the other side of Neel. Negi curled his hands into fists and raised them halfway up to his face. His hand shot out, fast and hard, and came back almost at once to its original position. Again, Neel imitated him, moving his hand more slowly and carefully.

  “Always keep your fist closed tightly.” Premi said, holding Neel"s outstretched hand and closing his own hand around his fist. “And don"t bend your wrist when you"re punching. One of the biggest mistakes amateurs make is that they keep their fist and their wrist loose. When you punch like that, all the force behind the punch is misdirected. You accidently bend your hand on impact, and end up spraining your wrist.That"s unlikely in your case, but it"s still a very painful expe
rience.”

  Again, Neel nodded. He repeated the punch, trying to do it exactly as Negi was showing him, first with one hand and then with the other.

  “Better.” Arjun nodded. “Now keep punching till we tell you to stop, and keep in mind what Premi told you.” Neel"s instructor s stood watching as Neel mutely punched the air in from of him, still in the defensive position. As Neel"s confidence increased, so did the speed of his punches, until his hands became mere blurs in the eyes of those watching him. Negi shook his head in disbelief, and Premi"s dark eyes watched the young boy intently as he tried to follow the movement of Neel"s hands. Arjun glanced up at the white window, from where he knew both Doctor Fahim and Divya were watching. He returned his gaze to Neel.

  “Okay, that"s enough.” h e said. Neel heard his voice, and stared at him uncomprehendingly. He stopped punching, and closed his eyes for several minutes. The others knew what was happening, and they stayed quiet until he opened his eyes again.

  “Sorry.” Neel said. “My mind started running fast again. You told me to stop, right?” “Yes, I did.” Arjun said, looking at him thoughtfully. “Your speed certainly seems to be a problem at the moment. We"ll see what we can do about it. Now it"s time to learn how to kick.”

  Negi moved back, and Premi took his place in front of Neel. He also placed his feet apart like Negi had done. “Balance is even more important for kicking then for punching.” He told Neel. “You"re putting all your weight on one leg. That makes your body unstable, and easy to topple. So you need to be sure how long you can keep your body in that position when you kick.” He paused for a moment, and then kicked once in the air, his foot moving smoothly above his head. He returned to his earlier position and paused, looking at Neel, who was watching intently. This time he kicked twice, his leg in the air for a longer period of time. Another pause, and this time three kicks in rapid succession, all the time his body maintaining perfect balance. Neel watched him in awe.

  “How far you can control the speed and force behind your kicks depends on you.” Premi said. “Let"s try a single kick for now.” Again, he showed Neel the position he needed to assume.

  “Right. Now try a kick.” Knowing full well he would not be able to do anything remotely similar to what Premi had done, nevertheless, Neel assumed the position. In a sudden motion, he raised his leg up, in his nervousness raising it higher than he had intended to, and exactly as yesterday, he toppled over backwards. Arjun and Negi were waiting for him, and managed to catch him before he reached the ground.

  “Never mind.” Negisaid, grinning as he helped Neel to his feet. “It takes a little practice. But try not to raise your leg so high. You might wind up knocking yourself unconscious with your own foot.”

  “Try it again.” Arjun said, “Focus on doing the right movement, not the height. Stop when your foot reaches your waist.”

  Neel obeyed. This time he stopped his foot at his waist level, and managed to stay on his feet, although he knew his kick had little of the grace and force that Premi had exhibited. “Again, repeat the kicks until I tell you to stop.” Arjun told him, his instructors stepping away from him. Neel repeated the kicks, improving his balance as he continued the exercise. He managed to raise his foot to his chest level, and gradually, his kicks became more forceful, and much faster, until again, the men could hardly follow the movement. Once more, Arjun called for him to stop.

  Neel closed his eyes again, trying to regain control over his mind. Arjun stared at him, and then turned to the other two men. “I think I"ll take him out now.” he told them. “He needs to learn to control his speed before he can focus on anything else properly. Go tell DoctorFahim that we"ll continue the combat training tomorrow.”

  The other two nodded. “ Till tomorrow then, Neel. Take care.” Negi called out to him. Neel had regained control by now and waved back to him, a little surprised by the abrupt departure. Premi nodded to him as well as the two turned away.

  “Let"s go outside.” Arjun said, leading Neelout the gymnasium. “Learning to manage your speed would be a better idea right now. How often do youhave trouble with it?”

  “It"s better now.” Neel said. “It was really hard the first few days, but I stayed up all night till I learnt that trick Doctor Fahim taught me tofocus on one thing till I"ve relaxed. But I still can"t control it completely.”

  “W e need to move beyond just slowing down your brain.” Arjun said. “Your speed can be an incredible advantage if you learn to use it well, and if you can learn to control it to speed up and slow down at will.”

  They arrived at the vast field they had visited the day before, with the huge open ground, and a smaller one to the far side which contained various curiously shaped bars and bluffs. “This"ll do.” Arjun said, bringing them to a stop in the middle of the field. “Now you don"t have to worry about keeping your speed down. Start running around the field with as much speed as you can manage. Stop runningwhen you feel tired.” Neel made his way to one end of the field.

  Arjun turned his attention to his watch, ready to time the young boy. Neel reached the end of the field and turned, assuming the running position. Arjun nodded to him and called out, “Ready…Go!”

  Neel took off down the field. He began slowly, trying to keep his speed under control so as not to trip and fall. But his brain began to speed up, and his legs moved unconsciously to keep up. And then suddenly he was running flat out. His heart beat loudly and joyously. He had never felt so completely alive After days of having to stay cooped up in the hospital, days of having to keep his speed slow and keeping his brain under control, it felt amazing to finally be able to leave all the worry and care behind and just run as fast as his legs could carry him. The wind swirled and whipped around him in powerful waves, and he experienced the same exhilaration he had felt the day before while jumping. Arjun kept an eye on his watch even as he followed the progress of the blur around the field.

  Ten laps later, Neel was still running at top speed. Arjun checked the time. No slowing down at all. Most impressive. He wondered how long it would take to tire the boy out.

  Thirty laps later, Neel was still running. After the fortieth lap, Arjun finally called for him to stop. Neel saw Arjun waving to him, and raced straight for him. He skidded to a halt fifteen feet away from Arjun, small bits of grass and roots flying behind his trail. He walked slowly towards Arjun, a big grin on his face.

  “Very impressive.” Arjun said with a smile. “Did you feel any fatigueat all?”

  “I was starting to feel somethingat the end.” Neel admitted “But I"m pretty sure I could"ve still gone twentymore rounds.” “Your endurance is certainly beyond anything I"d been preparing for.” Arjun remarked. He studied Neel closely. “I noticed your speed changed pretty quickly from fast to normal just now.”

  “ Yeah,I don"t really know how that happened.” Neel said uncertainly. “One second I was going as fast as I could, and then I saw you waving, so I came to you, and then when I stopped running, it"s like my mind stopped speeding up as well.”

  “That would make sense.” Arjun nodded slowly. “When you slowed down the speed of your body, your mind, which was in control of your speed, slowed downas well.” He looked at Neel thoughtfully. “It"s a useful fact toremember.” He motioned to the smaller field on the other side. “Let"s see about your reflexes now.”

  “How fast was I going?” Neel asked with interest as they walked towards the field.

  “About ninety miles an hour.” Arjun said, shaking his head in wonderment.

  They reached the smaller field, and Arjun took Neel to the place where the various barbells were kept. “ As incredible as your running speed is, the speed of your reflexes should be faster still.” Arjun said. “It"s going to take a lot of concentration to use that speed the right way when the time comes, and you"ll have to learn some techniques to combine them all in a useful manner.”

  “Do I learn all of themtogether?” Neel asked in surprise. “Shouldn"t I just concentrate on learning to f
ight for now?” But Arjun shook his head. “Ideally, it takes years tobecome a proficient fighter.” he said. “Unfortunately, we don"t have thatkind of time. That"s why the way we plan to teach you is very different from normal combatclasses.” He looked thoughtfully atthe young boy. “There"s also the matter of the accelerated speed of your mind, which should mean that you are able to grasp subjects much faster than the average person can. That"s why you"ll be learning several techniques at the same time.”

  Neel nodded. “I guess that makes sense.” he admitted, but then added awkwardly, “Although I"m not sure about the fast learning part.I still don"t feel any different that way.”

  “We"ll worry about that when the time comes.” Arjun said. He took Neel to the bars, and to where a wall about six feet off the ground had been built.

  Arjun leaned back against the wall, his hands folded against his chest. “Have you ever heard of Parkour?”

  Neel considered the word for a moment, then shook his head. “It"s clearly visible in a lot of areas nowadays.” Arjun said. “I"m sure you"ve seen movies where a person is shown running over buildings, over a large variety of obstacles, climbing over walls within seconds, jumping down from great heights and rolling to the ground?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Neel said. Stunts like those were a staple part of action films, from Casino Royale to Barrier thirteen. “That is parkour.” Arjun said. “ For a long time its various techniques were scattered in different disciplines, which have only recently been incorporated into a single activity by a man called David Belle. Parkour is defined as the ability to move from place A to B with minimum effort, no matter how many obstacles are placed in you path. If you can master that technique, you will be able to travel over any terrain and anypart of the city with ease.”