Part 1: Overwhelmed

  The night tore at Arjun like a living thing. He ran through streets slick with recent rain, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Six signals pulsed in his awareness—six people in danger, scattered across the city like drops of blood on a map. The sensation was overwhelming, disorienting; each pull was competing for his attention.

  *Too many. Too many.*

  *"First one—two blocks north,"* Garuda directed. *"Move!"*

  Arjun moved. His feet pounded the wet pavement, golden energy flickering around him as he pushed his body faster than any normal human could run. The city blurred past—closed shops, empty streets, the occasional late-night wanderer who stared in confusion at the sprinting figure wreathed in faint light.

  The first possessed avatar was attacking a food vendor, overturning carts and hurling produce with manic strength. Purple energy swirled around a middle-aged man whose eyes held no recognition, no humanity—just that awful, empty hunger. The vendor cowered behind his ruined stall, hands raised in futile defense.

  "Please!" the vendor was crying. "Take the money! Take everything! Just don't—"

  Arjun didn't hesitate. He charged in, golden energy flaring around him. A wind-enhanced punch caught the possessed man in the chest, sending him staggering backward into a lamppost. The metal bent from the impact. The possessed man snarled—an inhuman sound—and launched himself at Arjun with terrifying speed. But Arjun had learned from his previous encounters. He sidestepped, letting the man's momentum carry him past, then delivered a spinning kick to his back. Wind burst from the impact, amplifying the force. The possessed man crashed into a parked motorcycle, toppling it.

  He was getting up again. They always got up again. Arjun pressed the attack, not giving him time to recover. Punch. Gust. Punch. Each blow drove the possessed man back, and each gust disrupted his attempts to counterattack. It was brutal, exhausting work—but it was working.

  Finally, with a desperate surge of power, Arjun created a concentrated wind sphere and slammed it into the possessed man's chest. The dark energy flickered, wavered—And fled. The man collapsed to the wet pavement, coughing and confused. His eyes were brown again, normal, filled with terror at finding himself in a strange place with no memory of how he'd arrived.

  "What... what happened?" he gasped. "Where am I?"

  "You're safe now," Arjun said, already backing away. "Just stay down. Help is coming."

  He didn't wait for a response. The second signal was screaming in his awareness, three blocks east.

  The vendor called after him: "Wait! Who are you?!"

  But Arjun was already gone, swallowed by the night.

  ---

  The second possessed was stronger. A young woman with an athlete's build, moving with terrifying speed and precision. She'd cornered a group of teenagers against an alley wall, purple energy slithering around her fists with an apparent malevolence. The kids—three of them, maybe fifteen or sixteen—were pressed together, crying, one of them bleeding from a gash on his forehead.

  "Please!" one girl was sobbing. "We didn't do anything! We just want to go home!"

  The possessed woman didn't respond. Couldn't respond. Her face was blank, her movements mechanical—a puppet on invisible strings. Arjun threw himself into the fight without a second thought.

  "RUN!" he shouted at the teenagers. "Get out of here!"

  They didn't need to be told twice. As Arjun intercepted the possessed woman's charge, the kids scrambled past and fled into the night. Wind gusts deflected her first strike—a punch that would have shattered his skull. A sweep at her legs bought him space, but she recovered faster than expected, spinning into a kick that caught him in the chest.

  Crack.

  Pain exploded through his collarbone. Something had broken—he felt it give way, felt the grinding sensation as he twisted. But there was no time to process it, no time to stop. The possessed woman was already coming again, faster than before, as if sensing his injury. He fought through the pain. Fought through the exhaustion already dragging at his limbs. Drew deeper on Garuda's power than he ever had in training, feeling the golden energy burn through him like molten fire.

  His wind attacks grew stronger. More precise. He created a gust that lifted the possessed woman off her feet, then slammed her into the alley wall before she could recover. Again. And again. Finally—finally—the corruption broke. The purple energy dissipated like smoke in a strong wind. The woman slumped to the ground, unconscious but breathing. Arjun leaned against the wall, gasping. His collarbone screamed with every breath. His vision was starting to blur at the edges.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  *Four more. There are still four more.*

  *"Arjun,"* Garuda's voice was tight with concern. *"You're pushing too hard. Your body—"*

  "Can't... stop..." Arjun forced himself upright. "People are dying..."

  *"You can't save anyone if you collapse."*

  "I know." He started running toward the third signal. "But I have to try."

  Behind him, the unconscious woman stirred. She would wake confused, frightened, with no memory of the horrors her body had committed. She would need help—psychological, emotional. But Arjun couldn't give her that help. All he could do was save her life and move on. It never felt like enough.

  —

  Part 2: Breaking Point

  The third possessed was different. Arjun felt it the moment he arrived—a wrongness in the energy, a depth of corruption far beyond the others. This wasn't just possession. This was something more. The possessed man stood in the middle of an intersection, cars swerved and abandoned around him. He was huge—easily six and a half feet, built like a wrestler—and the purple energy surrounding him was thick, almost solid. When he turned to face Arjun, he smiled.

  "Finally," a voice that wasn't quite human emerged from those twisted lips. "The little bird comes to play."

  Arjun's blood ran cold. The possessed—no, the thing—moved faster than anything Arjun had faced. He barely dodged the first strike, felt the wind of it pass inches from his face. The second caught him in the shoulder, spinning him around. The third— The third sent him flying into a parked car. The impact crumpled metal. Arjun felt something give way in his chest—a rib. He coughed, and blood spattered his lips.

  *Get up. Get UP.*

  He staggered to his feet, calling wind to his hands. The gust he summoned was weaker than it should have been—exhaustion bleeding away his power—but he threw it anyway. The possessed man walked through it like it was nothing.

  "Pathetic," the thing wearing a man's face said. "Garuda chose poorly."

  It raised a fist wreathed in purple energy. Arjun raised his arms in a futile defense, knowing it wouldn't be enough. Knowing he was about to die.

  *I'm sorry, Didi, Mummy, Papa. I tried.*

  The killing blow descended—

  And a column of flame slammed into the possessed man from the side.

  ---

  Part 3: Fire and Wind

  Arjun blinked through smoke and confusion. The possessed man was down—not defeated, but staggered, his right side blackened and smoking. Between him and Arjun stood a figure that hadn't been there a moment before. A young man, maybe twenty-one, with dark hair styled in an artfully messy way and a leather jacket that probably cost more than Arjun's entire wardrobe. He stood with casual confidence, flames dancing around his hands like they were the most natural thing in the world.

  "You looked like you needed backup," the stranger said, grinning over his shoulder at Arjun. His voice was warm, easy—the voice of someone who'd seemingly never doubted himself in his life.

  "Who—?" Arjun managed.

  "Save the questions." The stranger turned back to face the recovering possessed. "Let's finish this first."

  He launched himself at the enemy without hesitation, fire erupting from his fists with every strike. His fighting style was flashy, aggressive—all offense, no defense, powered by raw confidence and what Arjun now recognized as divine energy.

  *He's like me.* Arjun concluded.

  The possessed man roared, swinging wildly, but the stranger danced around him with practiced ease. Fire bloomed and died in rapid succession, each burst precisely controlled. But even with the newcomer's power, the possessed was too strong. He adapted to the fire, shrugging off burns that would have incapacitated a normal person. The stranger's attacks were hurting him, but not stopping him.

  *"Help him,"* Garuda urged. *"Your wind—it will feed his flames."*

  Arjun was already on it. He had pushed himself upright, ignoring the screaming protest of his broken bones. Drew on every scrap of golden energy he had left. And when the stranger launched his next fire blast, Arjun threw wind behind it. The effect was devastating. The combined attack—fire supercharged by rushing air—struck the possessed man like a meteor. He flew backward, crashing through a storefront window. The purple energy flickered wildly.

  "Nice!" The stranger's grin widened. "You've got wind? Perfect combo!"

  Together, they pressed the attack. Fire and wind, dancing in deadly harmony. The stranger's aggressive style complemented Arjun's more defensive approach—where one left an opening, the other covered it. Where one attack fell short, the other enhanced it. They moved like they'd been fighting together for years instead of seconds. Finally, with a combined assault that shattered windows for half a block, they broke through. The purple energy exploded outward, dissipating into nothing. The massive man collapsed, unconscious but free.

  For a moment, silence. Then Arjun limped over to the fallen man, ignoring his own injuries.

  "Are you hurt?" he asked, kneeling beside the unconscious form. "Can you hear me?"

  The stranger stared at him with an expression of pure bewilderment. "They just tried to kill you," he said curiously, "and you're worried about them?"

  "They weren't in control." Arjun checked the man's pulse—steady, strong. "It's not their fault."

  "Huh." The stranger tilted his head, studying Arjun like he was a puzzle to be solved. "That's... an interesting perspective."

  Sirens wailed in the distance, growing closer.

  "We should go," the stranger said, extending a hand to help Arjun up. "Unless you want to explain all this to the cops."

  Arjun accepted the hand, biting back a groan as his ribs shifted. "What about the others? There are still three more—"

  "Already handled." — Arjun then realised that following the takedown, the pulls had stopped flaring. The stranger supported Arjun's weight easily, guiding him away from the scene. "Felt them too. Got to three before I found you. For now, let's just get to somewhere safe.”

  Arjun seemed equally shocked and impressed as they disappeared into the night.

  ---