Collating Karma (Part-1)

'Schhh'

Faint black smoke evaporated from his body as Prakash dissolved his baby pigeon transformation and stood under the sun. Prakash gazed at the 11 remaining pigeons that were injured to such an extent that they couldn't move even when he stood in such close proximity to them.

The pigeons craned their necks in his direction as drool leaked out of their beaks but their legs failed to comply with their wishes. In their previous battle, the poison of the wasp stings had accumulated in their bodies to terrifying degrees that it lead to two of their brethren suffer from a heart attack as a result.

The only reason they could last so long was due to the weak toxicity of the wasp poison and the relatively lower number of stings they had suffered. But the moment their adrenaline rush faded as they rested on the rooftop of the shopping mall, their bodies became weak and were overcome with pain and an intense sense of irritation.

Another pigeon landed near Prakash and intently gazed at his eyes. It then took off to the skies and seemed to be on the lookout for other birds that might attack them in the meantime.

They were exposed atop the rooftop, and the birds were predators of the skies that could spot them from kilometres away.

"Thank you Vikram," Prakash muttered to the consideration his brother showed to him as purple smoke gushed out of the pores on his skin and coagulated into a cocoon that wrapped around his body and shattered to reveal a cute puppy from within.

The puppy then slaughtered the 11 helpless pigeons by biting their throats one by one. The moment he killed the first pigeon, the pigeon Vikram had transformed into immediately swooped in from the sky and lifted the carcass of the dead bird and transported it towards the base. It then proceeded to transport the other pigeon carcasses the very next moment after the puppy had killed them.

The moment the puppy finished killing all the 11 birds, it transformed back into him only after Vikram returned to the rooftop after transporting the last pigeon carcass to the base. The purple snakes that had emerged out of the 11 pigeons immediately gushed into his body and activated his 'Purple Transformation'.

The pigeon that Vikram transformed into then carried the immobile Prakash on its back and safely descended back at the base.

The people in the base cheered the moment the duo landed. Some of the younger folks in the crowd began weeping in joy at the safe return of their leader. Prakash opened his eyes to gaze at the cheering crowd as he felt flustered at the positive reception.

After Prakash stepped on the ground, the pigeon immediately dissolved into purple smoke and revealed a pale-faced Vikram and a tired Victoris. The tired Victoris then shattered into purple smoke and was absorbed back into his body.

Prakash hurriedly supported the unstable body of Vikram as he gazed at the irresponsible younger brother of his wife who had overnight won the heartfelt support from hundreds of people; he was now their pillar of support.

"Good job out there," Prakash complimented.

"You too; honestly it came as a surprise when I saw your combat prowess," Vikram heaved a sigh of relief. The sacrifices he would have had to pay to win against the three bluish figures would have been many times greater without the help of Prakash.

"Store the bird corpses for now. I'll deal with them the moment I have rested enough," Vikram commanded one of his subordinates as he strolled towards one of the Lego structures alongside Prakash as he waved his hand and made some small talk with each of the people who came to congratulate his victory and inquire upon his wellbeing.

After he had entered into a secluded room and rested atop a cushion made from cotton, a sense of exhaustion permeated the face of Vikram as his body began to spasm uncontrollably.

"Vikram!" Prakash experienced a fright as he hurriedly supported Vikram when two more figures rushed in and helped him.

A few seconds later, the shaking body of Vikram settled. He then used a piece of wet cloth handed out to him by one of the two figures to wipe away all the sweat that had drenched his body.

"Thanks for the help, Shreya." Vikram thanked the lady who had handed out the piece of wet cloth to him.

"You shouldn't overtax your body so much. Using that ability comes with a severe cost you know," The lady addressed as Shreya remarked with worry as she gazed at the small hair-like cracks that had formed all across the body of Vikram that were rapidly healing under the effects of the water that was rubbed on his skin just now.

"Then tell me, was there a better option that didn't involve dozens of sacrifices?" Vikram inquired in a calm tone.

Shreya abruptly shut her mouth; she didn't have any better ideas so all she could do was remain silent.

"We have also collected the bodies of the four zombies," The other lady interjected into the conversation as her eyes drifted towards Prakash who standing at one corner of the room and seemed to be in deep thought as he listened to the conversation that went back and forth between Vikram and Shreya.

She witnessed this man having combat prowess on the same level if not higher than Vikram, not to mention his handsome visage. His well-built figure that complimented his handsome face further made her heart beat faster.

'Who is this man?' The lady wondered in her mind as a slight blush creeped onto her face.

Vikram had almost fully healed after drinking a cup of water as his eyes noticed the lady who stood next to Shreya and seemed to be secretly checking out Prakash.

The eyelids of Vikram twitched in annoyance as he got up and motioned for Prakash to follow him. The four of them traversed through a few hallways until they exited their Lego structure and walked along the hallways of the shopping mall until they reached a certain store and entered it through a small gap that had been made artificially through the door.

A series of insect carcasses were laid on the floor followed by the four bluish figures and the pigeon carcasses that were laid out at the very end.

A group of people were huddled in front of a certain raised platform and seemed to be weeping as they gazed at the mangled bodies that were carefully placed atop the raised platform.

Vikram and co. walked through the crowd and stood before the raised platform as they saw the rows and rows of mangled bodies that were slowly dissipating into purple smoke.

"W-What is happening?" Prakash stammered as he stared at the purple smoke rising out of the bodies of the people laid to rest.

"This is what happens after we die. Our body dissipates into purple smoke and then gets absorbed by the earth," Vikram replied as his eyes moistened.

Some of the people whose bodies were dissipating were people who had fought alongside him during many perilous battles. He also saw the figure of a youth who was bawling his eyes out as he kneeled in front of the shrivelled body of a girl.

"Arvind, I'm sorry," Vikram placed a hand on the shoulder of the crying youth as his eyes became cloudy and a thin stream of tears leaked out. Arvind and that girl who was now a shrivelled mass were one of the first people who had supported him as they struggled to survive together.

"I-I was too late…why couldn't I have known sooner? I could have saved her had I arrived 3 seconds earlier, Jothi…. Jothi died without a reason," Arvind hugged the legs of Vikram as he bawled like a kid. The surrounding people also began to weep tears of grief as they saw the teary sight of the youth who always had a bright smile on his face and was the first to rush in to save people in danger.

Vikram's body trembled as he hugged the body of Arvind that lay weakly in his embrace; his throat felt parched, while his chest felt heavy.

Arvind left the embrace of Vikram after he had emptied all of his tears and weakly stood up while wiping away the tear marks on his face.

"Stay strong and become stronger," Vikram patted the shoulders of Arvind as a form of support. Nothing he could do to the youth at present might heal his scarred heart; only time will tell.

The body of the lady had already fully dissipated into purple smoke and was absorbed by the Earth. The bodies of the other people laid to rest had also fully dissipated, leaving only some rags they wore before death on the empty platform. The mourning crowd joined their hands together in front of their chest to offer prayers to the deceased so that they may pass on in peace and enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Arvind clutched the piece of cloth his friend Jothi wore before her untimely death; still in disbelief at the fact that she had died before him.

"Come with me," Vikram held the hands of the dazed Arvind as he dragged the youth away from the raised platform; if they stayed here any longer, the youth might very well commit suicide to follow after his friend.

Prakash and the two ladies followed after Vikram and gazed at the four bluish bodies that lay in front of them.

"Take them all," Vikram said as he pointed at the four bluish figures that lacked a head now and had suffered various degrees of injuries to their bodies.

"Take them and ensure that such a situation never repeats itself in the future ever again; remember that you still have a family to protect," On his words, a fire lit up in the eyes of Arvind but it was still full of doubt and self-mockery.

"I-I couldn't even save a single person. Can I really protect my family with my measly strength?" The more he talked the greater he lost the fire that had been ignited in his eyes.

"Hmm, there were four zombies that attacked us this time," Vikram said as he motioned for Arvind to intently gaze at each of the injuries done upon the bodies of the four bluish figures.

"I ripped apart the heads of these two zombies," Vikram said as he pointed his finger towards two zombies, "While Prakash killed these two," He then pointed towards the other two zombies.

"But, look at the injuries this zombie sustained," Vikram said as he pointed to one of the four zombies that had suffered the worst injuries of the four, "And I wonder, who was the warrior that damaged this zombie to such an extent,"

"I really wonder who apart from me and my brother has such bravery and combat prowess,"

"I really wonder,"