INFINITE SKILLS SYSTEM: DORIAN FLINT'S RISE TO AWESOMENESS.

Chapter 7: “Blacktips.”

“Leave me alone! Please!” 

The cries were very audible and deep wracking sobs followed next.

Dorian watched as a young woman stumbled out of the alley, her eyes wide in panic and tears running down her cheeks in rivulets.

The few people also towing the alleyway stopped to look at her. She was very pretty. With a dainty shape and wearing a black dress that outlined her slim waist and curved hips. Her ebony hair curled at the tips and her skin was nice, near flawless.

Everyone was enamored by the crying damsel and some made moves to go to her but they froze the next minute like an electric current just ran down their spines. Under the clear sunlight of the afternoon, four huge men walked out of the curve of the alley.  They had menacing looks on their faces and they appeared rough but what made everyone stop was the single slash on their left cheeks.

Dorian cursed under his breath.

“Blacktips.”

The Blacktips were a well-known local gang this side of the city. They burglarized, robbed, manhandled the common people, and now they were after this girl.

Anyone around the scene walked away briskly. No one wanted to die.

The man at the head of the group laughed. He kicked the heaving girl’s leg and she crumpled onto the floor. Her sobs tore at Dorian’s heart.

“Look at the bitch cry men! “Please, leave me alone.” “ The other men laughed at their boss’s joke and the black-haired girl gave a loud sob, dragging herself away from them.

They let her, and Dorian could see the cruelty glinting in their eyes. They were tormenting her. Trying to break her spirit before they finally did whatever it was they wanted to do.

Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be nice.

The Blacktips goons laughed uproariously again and sneered.

“Run as far as you can bitch! We’ve got bikes and we have cars. Your head has been paid for. You’ll die either way.”

An assassination.

Dorian frowned. Who would want to kill her and why? The system’s voice finally resurfaced as it warned in a grim yet glum tone.

~Choose carefully Dorian. Your manhood is on the line.~ And almost as an afterthought it added ~With your looks, females probably don’t like you so you may not need it. But choose carefully. You never know~

Dorian couldn’t tell which hurt most. The fact that the system gave that last comment in the most honest and sincere tone it had ever given a comment in so far, or the fact that the system said he couldn’t pull any bitches. He had a girlfriend for fuck’s sake.

“Hey, guys!”

Dorian leaned on the handlebars of his bike as the goon’s heads snapped to him. They shared surprised looks and burst into laughter right after. He could probably tell what was making them laugh.

A guy on a pizza bike confronting them, gangsters of the Blacktips gang.

“Are you looking for death pizza boy?”

Their reply was mocking and Dorian grinned back at them.

“What do you guys think about a bet?”

The system chose now to chip in ~Do you know what you’re doing?~

Dorian kept his grin on his face and let his mind work out the details. The Blacktips were a local gang. They dealt mainly in locale-related crimes like mugging, vandalizing, burglary. They’d never have the money for bikes or cars. If they did, they wouldn’t be mugging people for twenty dollars. These bikes and cars were probably provided by the client, and these goons were yet to kill the girl because those cars and bikes were probably on loan, or maybe they just wanted to show off.

What kind of killers would tell their victim “We have cars and bikes.”

It’s killers who aren’t used to having such. Their next words were near growls.

“Do you want to die, kid? You think you can save her with your puny pizza bike?”

That confirmed it. Dorian nodded bravely.

“Sure I can, want to test it?”

One of the goons stepped forward menacingly but he was pulled back by the gangster at the head of the gang. The man was grinning.

“What’s in it for us?”

Dorian brought out the 200$ in his front pocket and flashed it in front of them. “I have more stashed somewhere, and you could always come after me now and take this from me, but I promise that even if you kill me, you’ll never get the rest of the money. Let me take the pretty lady onto my bike, and then you guys can come after us. If you catch us, do as you please. You can beat me, kill me, I'd tell you where the rest of my money is. Almost three thousand dollars.”

Hah! Like he had that amount of money.

A wiser man would have said no. 

A wiser goon would have laughed in his face, and threatened him with bodily harm before agreeing. But these Blacktip gangsters wanted to show off their new bikes. They wanted to show off their new cars. Their eyes were already glinting with greed at the thought of beating him to a pulp and collecting his money, then maybe killing him and dumping his body in an alley.

“You’ve got yourself a deal kid.”

Dorian smiled, heart, pounding in his chest. He got off his bike and walked over to the young lady still sobbing and heaving on the floor. Her face looked wracked with grief and her lips were trembling. She looked like she was hyperventilating lightly, and this close, he could see she had a black dot just underneath her left eye.

Dorian helped her get up and she looked at him warily. Maybe it was the soft smile on his face or the slight panic in his eyes, but she allowed him to help her, though sobbing heavily even more as she climbed his bike.

Her words were silent and shaky as they came out.

“They’re going to kill us.”

Dorian wrapped her hands around his waist and looked back to give her a slight smile. She looked away and he sighed heavily.

“They’ll have to catch us first.”

The system’s screen came into view again and Dorian blinked at the new stats being displayed.

[MISSION: RESCUE THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS.

STATUS: ACCEPTED.

RESOURCES: FORTUNAL AND DEPENDENT ON NEED. WHATEVER YOU NEED WILL BE GRANTED] 

Dorian’s face lit up  ~Even guns?~

The system’s message came back immediately.

[EMPHASIS ON THE WORD “NEED”.]

Dorian frowned. What the hell did that mean?

“Are you ready pizza boy!”

Dorian’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at the cars and bikes now facing him. Two sleek dark cars that definitely cost more than the Blacktips could afford, and two powerful metal bikes that made his pizza bike pale in comparison to theirs.

The sound of revving engines and purring tanks filled the air. Dorian set his bike into gear and was surprised to see he now had a full tank. The bike didn’t let out that disturbing cough sound when he turned on the ignition, and he could grip the handlebars comfortably now.

“Hold tight, okay?”

The younger female obeyed immediately and Dorian put on his helmet.

“Ready.”

Two black bikes shot out toward Dorian before he could even get into gear. Dorian wheeled around and sent his bike flying across the gravel at the last second. 

The chase was on!