Part 3

Mumbai dockyards

Arun placed his foot on the brake, deftly stopping the yellow 1930 Ford Model A near some massive crates used for transporting mass quantities via ship, "Oh no" he saw that the entire dockyard had been completely bathed in red colored lights. His father's invisibility invention couldn't withstand red lights. Red colored lights were his only Achilles' heel, "Now what do I do?" he sighed

Verma Orphanage

Meanwhile, back at Arun's orphanage, Astral, Jerrica and the Holograms were taking care of the kids while Calendar and Rio were cooking dinner for everyone. Jerrica tried to distract the kids from the billows of smoke that were emanating from the kitchen. Secretly, she was worried about Arun, and it was obvious that Astral was concerned too. Jerrica could sense that there were some feelings being passed between Astral and Arun, "Astral, can you watch them for a moment, I want to run up and see if there's another game we can play"

"Sure thing Jerrica" Astral smiled, "I love spending time with the kids" and it was true, Astral took to the kids like a duck to water, certainly as much as Danse and Raya enjoyed being around the children, and the kids in turn enjoyed playing with Astral, hearing her stories about America and her travels and they all applauded vociferously when she performed her magic tricks.

Jerrica took the stairs two at a time, then ducked into the children's bedroom. She touched her earrings, "Synergy, I'm very worried about Arun"

"As you should be Jerrica" Synergy replied, "Mogambo has anticipated Arun's Mr. India weakness"

"He's going to put the children in more danger?" Jerrica knew that Arun loved his young charges and would fight to the death for them

"No, Mogambo has bathed the entire dockyards with red light. Red light is his invisibility bracelet's vulnerability"

"How is he ever going to manage now?" Jerrca posed a question to Synergy"

"How is who going to manage? Astral stood at the doorway

"Oh" Jerrica turned towards Astral, "Arun" she was truthful, "he's in terrible danger"

"I know, he mentioned it before he left tonight" Astral leaned against the door frame, "I wish there was something I could do to help him"

"There is" Jerrica realized, "someone like Jem would never be able to help him in a situation like this, right"

"Well Jem's a singer. I don't really see how singing is going to give him a hand"

"Exactly, but you've got the gift of sleight of hand"

"And exactly how is that going to help?"

"You'll be able to see through whatever hocus pocus Mogambo has going on"

"If you think so" Astral sighed

"It's like that guy in the time travel movie, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything" and I know you can do this Astral"

"I guess I can"

"Of course you can" Jerrica pushed some money into Astral's hand, "We'll stay here and take care of the kids. You go down to the dockyards and give Arun a hand,"

"You're not going without me" Ramar appeared at the doorway behind Astral

"What?" Astral and Jerrica incredulously asked in unison

"I've known him for years, and besides, I even was one of his father's students. I couldn't call myself his friend if I didn't try to help him out"

"Alright then, let's go" she pulled him along with her

Mumbai dockyards

"Come on Mr. India" Mogambo bellowed, "You wanted to save your India, so you blew up my island. Now who will save you?"

"Yeah, come on out" Frack echoed, "Ow" he winced as Mogambo elbowed him in the ribs

"Mr India!" Mogambo's voice rang out, "maybe you'll be worried about this" he dragged Seema into view from behind a few crates. Bound with ropes, she shrieked from Mogambo's rough treatment

Arun fidgeted in the car. Unsure of what to do, he turned on the wrist invention, rendering himself invisible. "How will I manage this?" he wondered aloud. A few feet ahead of him, the red lights bathed the grounds with an eerie glow. For the moment, he was safe, but the second he stepped into the crimson luminescence, Mogambo and his skinny underling would see exactly where Arun was.

The streets of Mumbai

"From what Jerrica has told me about Mogambo, I'm not sure what to make of him"Astral glanced at Ramar as the pair sped along in an auto rickshaw

"What do you mean?" Ramar looked at her quizzically

"Arun told Jerrica that Mogambo wanted nothing more than to rule India with an iron fist, that he'd placed explosives in various locations in hopes of bringing India to its knees"

"Yeah"

"Mogambo for that matter has no real powers- he's just a tyrant. Frack is a mediocre magician as well. If I can get to them before they do anything, I'll be able to expose Frack as a fake, no matter what it takes!"

Mumbai dockyards

"Show yourself Mr. India, if you dare" Mogambo bellowed

Arun sighed, "It looks as though I have no choice" he stared blankly at the expanse of waterfront ahead of him.

"Arun!" Astral's voice rang through the night air, "Oh damn, he's gone" she came near his car

"No, wait" Arun's voice emanated from seemingly nowhere

"Who's there?"

"Mr. India" his voice boomed

"But-"

"I'll explain later" he brushed her confusion away, "Mogambo is out there, but his red spotlights are my Achilles' heel"

"Wow, you really are clean cut if the red light district is your Kryptonite"

"My what?"

"Never mind" she shook her head, "just let me go with you. Ramar is paying the auto rickshaw and will be here momentarily"

"He's here too?"

"Yes, he was worried about Arun"

"Yes, of course" Mr. India agreed, "the two of you are the only ones here, right?"

"Right" Astral confirmed

"Good" he exhaled, "But we've got to find a way to handle Mogambo's red lights"

"I think I know how to handle that" Astral winked, pointing to Ramar. The seven footer was running towards the vehicle

Minutes later, Ramar made his way around the dockyards, taking leaps a high jumper would be envious of, and smashing the red tinted spotlights with his bare fists

Astral, meanwhile, took Mr. India's hand and the two made their way through the darkened dockyards. Onlookers would have only seen Astral cautiously walking through the waterfront storage area. In fact, as Mogambo and Frack watched from their vantage point above the action, they saw only Ramar and Astral down below.

"I don't get it" Frack complained, "I thought Mr. India would arrive"

"Fool" Mogambo scowled, "Mr. India is invisible. He must be here, and the other two must be helping him"

"How do you know?"

"If they are not helping him, then they are merely foolish to have come here" Mogambo grinned evilly, "destroy them!" he commanded Frack

"You got it" Frack raised his eyebrows as he hurled fireballs from his hands, invoking incantations to bring about the bolide

Beneath Frack's gaze, Astral dodged the balls of fire as she and the invisible Mr. India rushed behind Ramar's pathway of darkness as he burst red tinted bulb after bulb in his quest to darken the waterfront

"Try these" Mogambo handed Frack some Asian throwing stars, "a gift from the late Dr. Fu Man Chu" he referred to one of the doctors on his original, but now deceased advising team

"Sure thing" Frack grinned maliciously as he set his sights on Astral and Ramar. Taking aim, he let two stars fly in rapid succession, nearly impaling Ramar, whose quick movements saved his life. Frack stared at Astral, and let two more stars shoot from his hands. Astral saw the sharp implements of death coming towards her and deftly deflected them with her chunky gold bracelets. Frack was beside himself with anger. Before he had a chance to throw another star, he felt something lock around his neck. Struggling with his assailant, he realized there was no one holding his throat. Glancing sideways, he saw Mogambo struggling as well, again with an unseen attacker. "Mr India" Frack choked out, finally realizing who had nearly bound his vocal cords

"Yes, Mr India" he boomed in response, "while you were having target practice with my friends, I managed to find you here, unguarded"

"Curse you Mr. India" Mogambo managed to growl

Soon, Astral and Ramar climbed atop to where Mr. India had subdued Mogambo and Frack, and had deftly tied them up using ropes he had found there

"These two deserve the hospitality that only Arthur Road Jail can give you" Mr. India's voice bellowed into the night. The two villains seemed to hover over the ground by their own accord. Astral and Ramar realized that Mr. India was carrying the two.

"But where's Seema?" Astral wondered aloud

"She's back there" Frack cried, belatedly realizing his fate, "we knocked her unconscious and left her behind those boxes"

"Fool" Mogambo chided him, "now they can go release her"

"Who cares!" Frack whined, "we're going to jail anyway"

Arun left the tied up Mogambo and Frack and rushed to Seema's side, making himself visible and desperately shaking her awake

"Arun?" Seema opened one eye, then the other, staring groggily at him

"Are you alright?" Arun bent on one knee to take her hand. Astral and Ramar waited by the incapacitated Mogambo and Frack

"He really likes her, doesn't he?" Astral sighed, staring at her shoes

"Her? No way" Ramar shook his head, "I heard she can't stand kids; and him with a house full of them, what a horrible match"

"What happened?" Seema rubbed the lump on her head

"Mr. India saved you" Arun hesitantly replied, worried that she would give away his secret

"Mr. India?" Seema tilted her head to one side, "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Kapil Dev!"

"Uh yes" Arun nodded, smiling to himself, "the cricket player. Yes, exactly. Just remember to keep his secret safe"

"Of course" she shushed herself

Verma Orphanage

"Why do you have to go?" the orphans rallied around Jerrica as she packed

"I've got a business to run kids" Jerrica tried to explain, "and I'm needed back in Los Angeles"

"But who will read to us?" one child clung to her leg

"Who will play games with us?" another child hopped on the bed

"What about Selina?"

"Selina aunty's ok" a child complained

"Ok" Jerrica thought a moment, "what about Astral?"

"Oh yes, Astral aunty is lots of fun!" the children cheered, "she does lovely magic tricks for us"

"And she reads for us" one child grinned

"And tells us stories" another child jumped up and down

"And plays games with us" a third child exclaimed

"Why don't you all run downstairs and tell her how much you enjoy her being here with you" Jerrica suggested. The children scrambled down the staircase to do just that.

A few hours later

"We're all packed and ready to go" Kimber called from the top of the stairs, a suitcase in hand. The other Holograms, Danse and Rio trudged down the staircase, their bags in tow

"Look what we made!" some of the children raced from the other room, holding up a large banner which read "Good By and Good Luck Holograms"

"Oh how sweet" Kimber smiled

"Astral aunty helped us" one child shouted gleefully

"You're really good with the kids" Arun smiled, "it's great that you're here for them"

"Just for them?" Astral looked away momentarily

"Well no" Arun walked towards here, "not just for the kids. I want you here too"

"Really?"

"Yes really" he laughed, "what do I have to do, get down on one knee and ask your hand in marriage"

"Not just her hand Arun Bhai"Jugal grinned, "ask for all of her"

"Ha!" Arun laughed, "alright then. Astral-" he stopped

"What's wrong?" Astral looked worried

"How did you get such a lovely name like that?" Arun looked genuinely puzzled

"Everyone just calls me that. My real name is Maeve Eldritch"

"Alright, Astral it is" he grinned

Astral leaned close to Arun and whispered into his ear, "Only if I can call you Mr. India"

"What's with all the whispering?" Ramar grinned

"Arun here was just telling me a little secret" Astral smiled coyly, "he wants me to stick around Mumbai"

"That's great!" Ramar beamed, "we were thinking about setting up some roots back here too"

"We have the guest room here!" Jugal spoke up, "nobody's using it"

"That's true" Arun nodded, "unless Ramar and Selina might want to use it"

"No way" Ramar held up his hands in mock protest, "we think you should have it" he motioned to Astral

"besides, we want to get a place a bit closer to Ramar's parents"

"Right" the hulking man agreed, "someone's got to take care of them. Why not us"

"Then it's settled" Arun clapped his hands together once, "everyone wants you here Astral. Please do stay"

"Of course, I'd love to stay" Astral bowed gracefully

"You both make a great pair" a pigtailed girl dreamily smiled at Arun and Astral

"Just like Romeo and Juliet" another girl agreed

"Much better than-" Jugal began. Then he stopped, realizing no one had mentioned Seema in quite awhile, "Let's go play football outside!" he grabbed the green and yellow soccer ball and ushered the herd of orphan kids out to the bungalow's dirt courtyard

"She's right" Arun smiled, "we do make a good team" he nodded towards Astral's direction, "if you want to be"

"I do" Astral smiled, "but it would get pretty boring with just us here"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I think that if we're going to keep this place running, we'll need some more help around here than just Calendar" she motioned toward the cook, "not that he's not an immense help"

"I do what I can" Calender laughed, "but we love having you here. The kids need a woman around. There are only so many pony tails I can tie before my hands pain"

"I see what you're getting at" Selina interjected, "we'd love to help out here" she held Ramar's hand, indicating that both of them agreed on this decision

"Five can do much more than only two. We'd better get to work then" Arun began, "there's so much do to"

"We'd like to help you all" Jerrica came forward, "we've got more time until we have to leave"

"But you've done such already" Arun smiled, "I won't turn down an offer of help, but surely you have other things you want to do, sight-seeing perhaps"

"If I've learned anything," Jerrica began, "it's that helping others gives a feeling that money can't buy."

"Maybe this will help" Danse produced an audio cassette, "a little music helps the work go faster" she popped the tape into a battered black stereo and everyone pitched in with the emerging plans on bettering the orphanage, as they listened to songs that included "Takes Work", "Love Unites Us" and "Back In Shape"

"What's happening in here?" Jugal and the other kids came in from playing football

"We're thinking of ideas on how to make the orphanage better now that Ramar, Selina and Astral will be working here" Arun explained

The children shouted exclamations and danced around, evidently enjoying the news

END