Arnab started to feel that his fears were about to come true so he asked what the Minister wanted him to do.
'A simple quid pro quo. Don't worry; this may be new to you, but its how politics works. You do something for me, and I do something for you in return.'
'What could I possibly do for you?'
'Before we get there, let me tell you what I can do for you. I can give you my official blessings, and say that you are working in collaboration with the government. That way, you can go about your business without worry, and not have to worry about a police bullet in your back.'
Arnab began to suspect that the Minister was not making the offer out of the kindness of his heart, so he asked what he wanted Arnab to do.
'My man Sharma has already mentioned it to you. Elections are coming up, and in our democracy, elections are a bit like Football; possession counts for everything-by that I mean possession of the polling booths.'
Balwant Singh roared in laughter at his own joke, and Arnab continued listening in silence.
'Sharma will give you a list of polling booths. The Opposition will also be trying to capture these the night before polling, and I need your services in ensuring they don't do so. It's as simple as that. Think of it this way-you just bash up some more goons-no different from what you would be doing anyways.'
Arnab had a sad smile on his face. To hear such an offer from the Law Minister was a sobering experience. Balwant Singh took his silence to mean that Arnab didn't find the offer attractive enough, so he asked Arnab to give the phone to Sharma. Sharma listened to the Minister's instructions and hung up. He motioned to the man with him, and he stepped forward towards Arnab.
'We will also handsomely reward you for your services. Here is a token of our appreciation for your help in the elections.'
The man opened the suitcase in his hand to reveal stacks of thousand Rupee notes. Arnab was by now getting tired of being offered money-why didn't these people understand that everything and everybody was not for sale?
Arnab asked Sharma to dial the Minister again. When Singh picked up the phone, Arnab made his intentions clear.
'Sir, your offer is tempting, but I cannot possibly accept it. As for Upadhyay, I'll take my chances.'
Balwant Singh's friendly demeanour disappeared in an instant. It was replaced by a low, menacing growl.
'You fool! Upadhyay is the least of your worries. You are in the deep end of the ocean, not playing in a children's pool anymore, and I'm the fucking shark that rules it. For all your superpowers, I can rip you to shreds if I want.'
Arnab remained silent, so Singh continued.
'Have it your way, but I will teach you a few lessons in power.'
With those final ominous words, Singh hung up.
***
The next evening when Arnab got home, he was about to change and head over to Khan's place. By now, Khan had become much more than a boxing instructor. He was the only person who was privy to Arnab's secret, and that had created a strong bond between the two men. The previous night, Arnab had called Khan to tell him what had happened during his meeting with Sharma and Khan had told him that while he had done the right thing, in today's day and age, doing what was right usually came with a high price. As Arnab reached Khan's house, he found the old man in a very agitated state, muttering curses under his breath and pacing up and down the room.
'Khan chacha, what's up? You look really worried.'
Khan paused and looked at Arnab.
'Those bastards set you up!'
When Arnab asked what he meant, Khan turned on the TV and threw the remote down on the floor in disgust. A young female anchor was in the studio and Arnab saw the headlines scrolling across the screen.
'Superhero for sale! Sting operation exposes so-called Superhero.'
Arnab looked on in dread as the screen then flashed a grainy video that showed his previous night's meeting. Sharma was nowhere to be seen, perhaps having been digitally erased from the footage, but the video showed the man opening the suitcase to Arnab, and then the camera zoomed in to show the currency notes in the suitcase.
The audio had also been doctored and was devastating. In the video, as had happened the previous night, the man with the suitcase said,
'We will also handsomely reward you for your services. Here is a token of our appreciation for your help in the elections.'
But then someone had inserted a voice over which showed Arnab responding with a 'thank you'. With the hood it was impossible to see his face anyways, so to any viewer it looked like Arnab was accepting the money. The anchor returned on screen,
'Here at Tamasha.com, we always believe in exposing the real face of the scams in our society. And tonight we have got hold of video footage which shows Laxman Yadav, a known fixer for the Opposition, approaching the so called superhero of Delhi, and buying his services to help fix the upcoming elections. Is this the new face of Indian democracy?'
Khan turned the TV off, while Arnab sat in front of it, speechless. He had interpreted Singh's threat to imply that he would probably have more run-ins with Upadhyay's men or other hired goons, and while certainly something to watch out for, he had been confident that he could handle any such threat. Never had he imagined that the Minister's vengeance could take such a form.
He looked up hopefully at Khan, like a drowning man grasping at straws.
'Khan chacha, there's always some nonsense or the other on TV. Maybe people will just ignore it.'
Khan however had little by way of reassurance to offer.
'Arnab, this could be bad. A man can survive physical attacks and broken bones, but if you shatter his reputation, it can be a much more dangerous thing. I pray it turns out to be as you hope.'
Arnab woke up the next morning, a Saturday, to find that his worst fears had been realized. Almost everything that could have gone wrong had gone belly up, and in spectacular fashion. Tamasha.com had kept running the hidden camera footage all night, and most other channels had picked it up. Laxman Yadav had also accumulated significant airtime, telling anyone who would listen that he had offered ten million Rupees to the city's famous superhero to enrol his services in capturing polling booths. Either he was a seasoned actor or just very used to telling white lies, since he seemed utterly convincing, and Arnab wondered if the money in the suitcase had in fact gone to Yadav to get him to malign his own party. The leaders of the opposition party cried themselves hoarse that they were not behind it, but in the battle between laboured denials by old men and a sensational piece of video, the video seemed to win hands down.
As Arnab kept tracking the news through that day, things kept getting worse. Balwant Singh came on TV and while he took the moral high ground and refused to condemn Arnab, he did say that it was unfortunate that in this day and age of corrupt politics that the Opposition practised, nobody was as clean as they seemed. Arnab would have brushed off the accusations and insinuations if they had come from Balwant Singh and hysterical TV presenters alone, but by evening the backlash he faced took a new turn. Forums and message boards on fan websites and communities dedicated to the 'Guardian Angel' started becoming inundated with messages filled with a sense of betrayal and anger. Arnab read through some of them,
'I thought he was at least a clean role model but looks like he's no better than the other scum'.
'I am so hurt. I believed in him and now he's turned out to be no more than a gun for hire.'
And on it went. To have the same people who blindly believed in him and deified him turn against him so quickly came as a shock to him. Even so, he kept telling himself that it was one thing to put comments on a website and quite another to actually turn your back on someone who had done nothing but help you and asked for nothing in return. So that night, against Khan's advice, Arnab set out again on his nightly mission.