The Tainted Masterpiece

He did not notice at a distance since the cinema is slightly dark. Cinemas are built like this after all. Now that Mark got a close look at the gangsters, he can confirm that these guys' ages ranged from about 14 to 16 years-old.

"You three raise your hands and don't dare move unless you guys want your heads blew off."

He coldly said towards the three idlers before staring at the last one and said.

"And you there, get away from her."

"You! Who are you? We don't think we offended you! You shouldn't play hero, there is four of us here and we outnumber you!"

One of the three made a tough front for some reason while the boss and the other two were remaining quiet. The member who tried to intimidate actually moved towards the front of the barrel as if he was not afraid of the gun.

The other two gangsters though were snickering inside. They used this tactics several times before when they are compromised in their gang activities, so they knew what would happen to this idiot who took the initiative to play hero before their group. They noticed that the person did not answer and thought that he is taking the bait as his eyes darted towards every single one of them. They also thought that he was actually afraid to shoot.

Unfortunate for them, they are the once playing the role of idiots here. Mark did not take the bait obviously darting his eyes towards the gang members because he is looking for something. Though he already had a hunch on who had it, he just had to make sure so he wouldn't need to waste ammo.

Yes! He just didn't want to waste ammo!

The gangsters were all smiles inside but unfortunately for them, their hopes were dashed when the man actually smiled. A smile filled with disdain towards them. He then spoke.

"Nice teamwork but…"

Mark threw a kick to the crotch of the gangster in front of him making him suddenly bend down then…

BANG!

"I won't fall for that."

The gang leader lost his right arm as the shotgun obliterated his arm up to his elbow and a revolver pistol flew along with the severed right hand.

Mark already knew that the leader had a gun due to various reasons. First, the dead guy near the entrance was killed by a gunshot. Second is that by the nature of these rapists, they should have already ganged up on the girl on the floor, yet, she was served on a platter before the boss and three did not make any move and that is not by respect but actually because they were afraid. Third is that the member who he just kicked actually tried to move in front of his gun not to intimidate him but cover the gang leader's movements.

As Mark already knew who had a gun, his eyes darted on the members and became sure that these kids only had one gun. It is because when he showed himself, the reflex action the three members made was actually to try and grab their weapons which are all melee types and they did not even try to let go of those despite being pointed with a shotgun.

Just as the leader was about to raise his gun, Mark delivered a sinister ball-crushing kick and shot the leader's arm when the he one kicked bent down in pain. Actually, he wanted to shoot down the leader dead but he made a compromise due to various reasons.

The leader stood up in shock of the pain and clutched what remained of his arm but immediately. His hard sword already fell soft and dangled unsightly as he rolled about the floor spreading blood on the cinema wall and floor. Screams of pain echoed throughout the cinema hall. The one Mark kicked already fell unconscious on the floor and is actually foaming in his mouth.

The other two seeing what happened to their leader and their friend, did not succumb to fear and surrendered but actually fled as fast as they can. Leaving their weapons behind, the two ran separate ways inside the cinema before passing through the emergency door near the big screen one after another.

They ran in frantically in fear that they will get shot and end up like their comrades but their grim reaper in their minds is actually just watching them like looking at cockroaches running away from being stomped to death.

Mark just watched the two in disdain without any notion to chase. They are not worth the ammo needed to subdue them he also thought of a plan for them. He then approached the severed arm and took a harshly folded handkerchief from his pocket and used it to pick up the blood covered revolver before wiping the blood off.

"A .38?"

Mark asked himself as he observed the gun, looking at every angle, amidst the painful screaming in the background.

He opened the chamber and took out the contents revealing two empty casings and four .38 live bullets. Mark removed the empty casings and stored them in his pocket and returned the remaining ammo back to the chamber loading the gun and pulled the firing pin back.

Holding the newly acquired revolver, he approached the groaning gang leader. The leader's voice is already hoarse due to his violent expression of his pain through his mouth and weakened due to severe loss of his life sustaining liquid. He clutched the stump that remained of his arm trying to lessen the blood flow to no avail. He stared at Mark who is approaching with severe fear in his eyes.

He then remembered the faint gunshots they heard earlier which they chose to ignore. Those gunshots and the shot that was aimed at him is actually the same. They shouldn't have ignored it if he knew that this will be his outcome. To think the girl he coveted as he saw her earlier in this mall would become his unlucky star.

"Don't kill me… You can have the girl, just don't kill me…"

He was afraid that this guy who is akin to demons in his eyes would directly kill him.

Mark on the other side did not pay attention to the leader's hoarse begging. He heard his begging but who would beg someone with their pants down? His dangling eggplant is pointed straight at him! He can't help but feel the urge to shoot it. In the end, he bent down and reached for the leader's pants, not to help him put it on of course but to feel the contents of the pockets.

He found eight .38 rounds inside the back pocket. No wonder the pocket looked heavy. He then left the leader shivering in both pain and fear. The leader stayed still and silent as he started feeling weaker and weaker.

Mark then turned facing the victim who is sitting silently on the floor. The girl's round baby face was beautiful. Her long below shoulder length hair looked soft and straight. The length of her body, arms and legs were all in proportion. Even her breast was neither big nor small for her stature. He thought that if an agency put her into the showbiz industry, this girl would sure go big in no time.

She is like a beautiful masterpiece.

Unfortunately, this perfect looking suffered harshly in this incident. White sticky liquid stained her fair colored legs, body, her face and also dripping from her mouth. It showed how many times the bastard gang leader reached his climax in doing her in. Also, there is the blood of the gang leader splattered on her as he is shot just over her body. Bruises can be found on her left cheek and arms.

Ignoring the remains of her unfortunate situation, Mark can't help but admire her appearance. No wonder the gang targeted her.

Then Mark frowned.

The girl was also looking at him but she had neither action to hide nor cover either her breasts or her nether regions. Her eyes are listless and even though she is staring at him, it looked like she wasn't either.

Mark then sighed.

'This girl already gave up in life didn't she?'

He thought as he scratched his head over the matter.

"Just what should I do here?"

Mark muttered.

He is an Otaku and to some people like him who were never meant to be someone attractive, saving a beautiful damsel in distress might be a good dream to happen. But now that he experienced it, he had no idea what to do afterwards. After all, his interpersonal skills, though not non-existent, it is very low.

He tried of remembering if there is any anime or novel references he can use but there is nothing he could remember that could fit his situation at the moment.

"Argh, dammit, whatever."

'I'll just do what I can, I guess?'