DIVINE CHAMPIONS: A BOLT OF LIGHTNING

RISHI TELLS, AND ASKS

The next day, when Rishi reached the office, he felt quite happy. No, 'happy' was not the word, rather he felt relieved. He had a talk with his father in the car, which seemed needed, given all the crazily weird things that had happened last night. He was dying for this. Mr. Roy had asked him, "You ready to talk about it?"

"About what?" Rishi asked.

"About last night, of course, what else?"

"Oh, yeah. Baba, I am so sorry. I had no idea myself about all that."

"Hey, hey. Why do you apologize? You didn't do anything wrong. Its just that you are weird. Which makes you different. That's great, right?"

"I guess so."

"Does Rick know?"

"Not yet."

"Then tell him. He has been there with you for so long, he needs to know. And right now, he and you can deal with this better than me. I still haven't exactly gotten my heads wrapped around it."

"We need to tell Mum, too, perhaps."

"Not yet. You will know the right time."

Rishi could have argued, but he knew better than it. He knew that if his father was resisting the idea of telling his mother, there must be a reason behind it. While he got out of the car, Mr. Roy said, "Listen. No matter how weird things get for you, I am always there for you, watching your back." Rishi's stomach churned. "I know that, Baba." he said, and left.

As soon as he saw Rick in the office, he got hold of his arm and said, "I gotta tell you something. Right now."

"What?" Rick was surprised.

"Yes, now."

"Alright, tell me."

"Not here, somewhere private."

"Oh...kay. Dude, you are freaking me out."

"What about your cabin?"

"I don't have a cabin. But I know a place. Come on."

The two scampered away, as Rick led Rishi to a storeroom. He stood in front of him. Rick was wearing a sky blue shirt today, and black pants. His shirt sleeves were folded till the elbows. He was looking at Rishi with his brown eyes in such a way, Rishi found it very difficult to calm his nerves. He looked around. The chamber was ordinary, except for only one thing: a large broken desk in there. Once, it must have been one of the employee desks that stretched from one end of the room to another. Now, it was broken.

"Rishi, what were you wanting to tell me?"

"I want you to see something."

"Alright. What?"

Rishi moved towards the desk. Though broken, it was still big. It looked too heavy for a normal human being to lift. Rishi closed his eyes, concentrated, and with a little force, held the desk on his skinny arms. His arms still felt no pressure.

Rick collapsed on the floor, in shock. His face was a carbon copy of Mr. Roy's face last night. He somehow managed to mutter, "What the...?"

Rishi put down the desk. "I have a lot to tell you."

And Rishi repeated the whole Thor story all over again. He was careful that way. He made sure Rick had enough proof so that he would believe him. Now that he had seen Rishi lift that huge desk without much trouble, he seemed to believe the tale. His eyes were wide open, yes, but they were not disbelieving. 

"Man, that's huge." He finally spoke, "I should not be able to believe this, but I just saw..."

"Yeah. Tell me about it."