My entry for Metrotopia - the superhero branding competition...
Name: Sensei Bose
Superpowers: Eternal youth, superhuman strength
USP: Invisibility cloak of Renkoji
City & Reasons: Delhi is the crime capital of the country. It witnesses the highest number of violent crimes in India including murder, rape, dowry deaths, molestation and kidnapping. In 2007, the crime rate in Delhi stood at 357 cases per 100,000 people, against a national average of 167. In 2009 alone, 53244 criminal cases including 467 murders, 581 rapes, 1764 dacoit attacks and other heinous crimes have been recorded in Delhi.
If there ever was a city in need of a superhero, it is indeed Delhi.
Background Story:
Day: Monday, Oct 19th 2009 Place: Thuan Monastery, Japan
He lay back on the armchair and closed his eyes… he had a premonition of ill tidings. His premonitions were rarely wrong... His thoughts wandered back, to the night of that fateful plane crash in Tapei 65 years ago..
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To the world, Aug 18 1945 took the life of one of India’s greatest freedom fighters, Subhash Chandra Bose – feverish investigations and rumors fuelled by the Indian government’s secrecy soon subsided, as India became more preoccupied with celebrating her new found independence.
The K-21 heavy bomber had just lifted off fromTaihoku (Taipei) when there was a terrific explosion and the plane started vibrating heavily. ‘It’s a bomb. The cowards.. the main fuel line is ripped..We’re losing altitude!’ shouted Habibur Khan, his trusted aide. There was a resounding explosion and the acrylic stench of burnt flesh – that was the last thing Bose remembered before blackness prevailed…
It was a year before those eyes opened again… He tried to move but atrophy had overpowered his limbs. His dry crackled groan prompted a worried young monk to call the Marpapa. That was the first time he laid eyes on Master Thich Thai Thuan. There was a twinkle in his old wise eyes. He spoke and Bose could immediately sense a strange power emanating from that voice, ‘Sensei Bose, it indeed gladdens me to see you awake. Take rest now, we will speak when you are stronger!’ Bose drifted off again..
From that day on, Bose’s recovery was swift, willed on by his steely grit. He realized very soon that something was different.. He had crystal clear vision even without his charred thick rimmed glasses.. He had already noticed that all his flab was gone and his body looked much more supple and healthy. His aging limbs had become muscular and sinewy. His mind was raging with a million questions. Where was he? How did he survive that horrendous crash? What had they done to him? But Thuan didn’t seem to be in a hurry to answer his questions.. Any attempt to get answers was met with a calm smile and ‘All in good time Master Bose’.. It frustrated him no end, this calm countenance..
A week later Bose was allowed to venture out to the river.. He approached the crystal clear water and recoiled in horror… he couldn’t recognize his own face!! A handsome stranger stared back at him from the waters..
He burst into Master Thuan’s study ‘What have you done to me? What trickery is this? I want to know!’Master Thuan sighed and beckoned him to sit down..
” Master Bose, when you were brought to this temple, you were on the verge of death - Your face and neck were completely charred, your limbs broken! I had no alternative but to use our most closely guarded potion– the ‘furousen’ – the fountain of youth to save your life. You will never age. The Furousen also brings with it other powers which you will learn in due course.. “
Half a century later he was still discovering the full extent of his powers..
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‘Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!’ The cry of anguish awoke him from his reverie.. ‘Oh my God! Master Thuan..’ he knew instantly. He rushed to the master’s quarters.. Thuan lay in a pool of dark blood, ‘Bose.. my friend. There is no time..it was Kalia!’ he coughed violently spitting out blood, ‘return to India. I...I stopped you all these years. But now the time has come.. My room.. The attic.. box..’ and he fell down motionless.
Bose had been trained enough to know that there was no time to lose.. he rushed to the master’s room, opened the trapdoor to the attic, and thrust the wrought iron chest under his cloak before jumping out of the window into the swirling waters below. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the entire monastery burst into one gigantic ball of fire..
The strong icy cold current and jagged rocks would have killed any ordinary mortal in an instant. But Bose was no ordinary mortal. He swam effortlessly and broke into a run as soon as he hit the bank not even pausing to catch a breath…
The next day a clean shaven, handsome young man dressed in a business suit boarded the flight from Tokyo to Delhi. The large iron chest did warrant a second look, but the false bottom and its deadly contents escaped the attention of the overworked airport crew..
Kalia! Bose knew that Kalia was the dreaded henchman of Shaitansingh, the dreaded politician and naxal warlord who ran his drug and human trafficking business out of Delhi..
Attire: Bose looked at himself in the cracked mirror at the cheap Delhi hotel. Not bad for a 112 year old he thought. Virgin alloy plated Japanese armor which couldn’t be pierced by bullet or blade, adorned his proud torso. At his hip swayed the dreaded twin blades of Shinkoji shimmering in the twilight. The large crossbow of Tsun Jo (folklore had it that this bow had never missed its target) swung effortlessly from his broad shoulders. Wrapped around his neck was the famed invisibility cloak of Renkoji. Twin ankle holsters carried the daggers of Time, betraying their supernatural origins through a pale blue glow.
The rebel was ready for retribution..
