An Upgraded Soul

"Big Sis, are you sure about it? Aditya is still a kid." Munna hesitated a while before turning towards Taarini and asking in a low voice. Munna usually did not question the orders of Taarini but today he felt he needed to. "You might push him away by doing this." though Munna had not talked or conversed much with Aditya, he had come to like this kid who was always positive and enthusiastic about learning everything and possessed a talent never before seen.

This kid did not mind been beaten by others in order to learn, he had not seen Aditya bearing a grudge or looking with resentment in his eyes at those people who hit him down again and again until he couldn't get up. He would always come back the next day full of energy and start fighting. Only this time, he would be the winner. Faizal, Phani, John, Dhanush etc were all beaten the next day by this martial genius.

Taarini had a cold gaze in her eyes which seem to hold stars as they shimmered, she walked in a fast pace towards the centre of the warehouse. Other followers like Raghav perspired as they tried to keep with her. They too had their brows pressed as if they had some concern as they sneaked glances at Taarini.

"I know what I am doing, I am not his babysitter or nanny so that I have to think about his feelings, he came to me to become a rat and I agreed, it's that simple," Taarini replied curtly as the floodlights could be seen in the distance where her core members were waiting for her. 'Also I don't have the time to wait for Aditya to be ready' this was her inner thought which she would not share with others. There was an important reason that Taarini summoned everyone now.

"Something is not right," Munna spoke as he gazed in front. Taarini also frowned lightly as she increased her pace.

"What do you mean?" Raghav asked as he put his hand on his handgun as he looked around cautiously.

"It is too calm," Munna answered as he also increased his pace to catch up to Taarini while Raghav started jogging. The congregation of gang lords and mobsters would be considerably noisy like in a crowded fish market. Everything about these fellows would be unrestrained, be it there anger or laughter or voices.

When they reached the place, they saw all the gangsters silent as they watched with wide-open eyes and mouths in a direction. Munna and Raghav also instinctively followed their direction as they saw two youths counting money while one was sitting cross-legged on a table while the other stood beside him. They had already forgotten the place they were in and the purpose of coming here.

The corner's of Munna's mouth twitched when he saw these youth. Raghav covered his eyes as he did not want to see anymore when he heard their voices. A chill started to permeate from Taarini as she looked at the centre.

About eight people were rolling with pain on the ground forgotten by everyone as they held their limbs and g.r.o.a.n.e.d with pain.

"Adi Big bro, give me 10% please, I was the one who collected the money and tempted everyone to bet," Faizal asked as he licked his lips and gathered all the hard cash as Aditya started stashing them in a cover bag.

"Get lost," Aditya concentrated on keeping the cash as he hummed with a lollipop in his mouth.

"5% then, elder brother it is 2 crores ($290,000), I can pay away my car loan." Faizal started massaging Aditya's legs.

"Oh? How much should you pay?" Aditya asked as he looked at Faizal bemusedly. Frankly, Aditya did not know how to spent this sudden windfall. He had wanted to fight because he wanted to get recognition from these brutes. But in addition to that, these people poured money against him thus resulting in this unexpected fortune.

"Somewhere around 30 lakh (around 43,000 USD)," Faizal scratched his head as he thought hard.

"Okay, I will pay the whole money, but I want to use your car whenever I want," Aditya said as he took a pile of money and threw at Faizal putting up a filthy rich appearance.

All the spectators were so occupied with watching this spectacle that they did not notice the new visitors. The people on the ground continued to roll and m.o.a.n in pain.

"Of course, Elder brother, I knew you would like my car, here's the key, I only bought this car to show off. I have another car for my daily activities," Faizal happily passed the key to Aditya as he filled his pockets with the money with a bright smile.

"Mmm, very good, follow me like this and you will reach the prime of ..." Aditya patted Faizal's shoulder putting up a proud act but he suddenly noticed that Faizal's smile had frozen as he looked at his behind. Faizal's hands had started trembling already. Aditya knew that something was wrong but he did not get tensed as his brain rotated fast thinking about this situation.

Cough cough...

Aditya coughed as he looked 'disappointingly' at Faizal and continued with a face which suddenly became gentle and modest as he said in a teaching voice," Faizal, do you know why I asked you if you wanted this money?"

Faizal was puzzled as he shook his head with a smiling face which was uglier than a crying one. He knew that he was finished today when he saw Taarini Big Sis's chilly countenance.

"It's this, why did you think I took away the money and packed in this cover bag?" Faizal had noticed that Aditya's voice suddenly transformed from teacher's to a saint's.

"Is it for myself?" Aditya asked the questions but quickly answered them himself without giving the chance for Faizal to answer. The other spectators nodded vigorously when they heard this question.

"No, this for our Big Sis, Taarini Miss," Aditya answered in a natural voice like it was a matter of fact as he looked into a distance as he sighed.

"Uhh?" Faizal was gobsmacked when he heard these words. He looked at Aditya's sagely expression and contrasted it with the filthy-rich one he showed previously. Even the spectators were puzzled when they heard these words.

"I thought that I had to check your devotion to Taarini Big Sis. That is why I offered you money. I thought you would also think like me and refuse the money as this money is neither yours nor mine but Big Sis's. But you..." Aditya paused as he looked at Faizal disappointingly again. Faizal looked pleadingly at Aditya. He understood now that Aditya was going to throw him under the bus to save himself.

Aditya patted Faizal shoulders as he said," Okay, I understand that not everyone can be as unattached to money as I am. At least, think about it seriously after going home today. Come on give back the money." Aditya expounded moral lessons to Faizal without blinking even once.

Faizal nodded with a bitter face and took the money out as Aditya stashed it away and then did not immediately turn back but turned to the side where the injured people lay forgotten by everyone. He immediately put on the countenance of a sage as he immediately rushed at them with mercy in his eyes. No one noticed that Aditya had not returned Faizal's new car keys.

"Tch, Tch, brothers my heart is pained when I see you like this, let me get you to treated, Oh Sandu why is foam coming out of your mouth, let me call the ambulance for..." Aditya turned towards the side as he discovered Taarini's icy gaze on him. Even with all his preparation, Aditya felt his heart skip when he saw her.

Taarini was truly gorgeous today. She wore a white cotton-silk embroidered tunic with a V-neck. She wore a real red mid rise spandex trousers which were slim fit through h.i.p.s and t.h.i.g.hs but flared at the end. This pair of pants brought out the wild beauty of her long fit, shapely legs perfectly. She donned a pair of fish hook dangler Silver Red-Onyx earrings which matched with her trousers.

Aditya's gulped as he saw Taarini looking at him with unblinking eyes as she walked towards him as silence reigned everywhere which was punctuated by the clip-clop sounds of her Fuchsia pink strappy heeled sandals. Only now did everyone notice that their boss had come as they stood straight and in line as they held their breaths.

"Miss Taarini, please accept this humble offering of mine," Aditya held the cover bag filled with money to Taarini. He was confident that Taarini would definitely return this money to him as that's what a leader is expected to do in this situation. Frankly, Aditya was the one who earned this money. He already gave a lot of respect by offering the money to her. If she accepted it without any reciprocating gesture, her followers might look down on her. So Aditya was pretty confident with his plan. Only he did not imagine that Taarini had a different plan.

Taarini looked at Aditya for a full minute before nodding her head. Raghav came and took the money offered. Just when Aditya thought that the money would be returned to him. Taarini smiled icily as she said," I am very satisfied with your devotion, Aditya. It just so happen that I have a gift for you too."

Aditya frowned lightly as the script was diverting from the prior established path. He smiled as he bowed and said," it is my fortune that Miss Taarini thinks so highly of me." he had to keep his act up since he started it.

Taarini looked at Munna who nodded and clapped his hands. All the members looked with suspense as they heard the sound of someone yelling as some men dragged a person into the middle and left him there as they drew back into the lines of other gang lords.

A bad premonition surfaced in Aditya's heart as he looked at the person whose face was covered with a jute bag. He could tell that the person was terrified with all the shivering of his body. All the humour and act vanished as a grim look appeared on his face.

"This is my gift to you, do you like it?" Taarini looked at Aditya as she asked coldly.

"Who is this, Miss?" Aditya asked sternly, he did not have the mood to put up an act anymore as a forbidding sense of fear surfaced in his mind.

"Why don't you see for your self?" came the reply.

Aditya gulped as he went and removed the bag. The person became still when he felt that someone was approaching him.

"This is..." Aditya frowned a little as he looked at the person's face drenched in sweat as he looked around in fear while his mouth was taped preventing him from speaking.

"This was the guy, Rana, who had betrayed you the other day, right?" Aditya remembered that this guy. Due to his exceptional memory, even the words spoken by this traitor surfaced in his mind.

'Elder sister, I thought that with Elder Brother's death, you would change and lead us to become the biggest gang in Bangalore's Underworld but I was very disappointed that you were the same as the elder brother. You have many qualms to smuggle drugs, encourage prostitution or extort money from the wealthy. How much money could we make by running entertainment centres like pubs and bars? I have lost my patience waiting for you to change. That was why I contacted Flame tiger myself and surrendered to him.'

'You look at her big brother, she is awake but doesn't have the strength to resist, you can do anything to her, even many embarrassing things which she would rather die than do if she was fully conscious.'

"Miss Taarini, what do you mean by gifting this traitor to me," Aditya asked with puzzlement as he was even revolted to look at this person's face. Even he as a newcomer, already knew that the real relations are built on pure trust in the Underworld. The day Rana decided to betray Taarini, he lost his credibility. Aditya was sure that even Flaming Tiger would not have kept Rana close to him after he dealt with Taarini. He wouldn't be surprised if Rana was killed as well.

Taarini shook her head as she said sternly," I am not gifting this unfaithful vermin to you, the true gift I bestow you..." Taarini's face became grim as she replied icily, "is his death."