29 A Rat

Aditya found that that the world suddenly stopped, he knew this feeling very well.

"Tya, what are you doing?"

"Adi, I noticed that you were a little disturbed when you heard her voice and you seem to be a little wary of this woman, so I immediately activated 'Slow timing'," Tya responded.

"Well, I am wary of this person but 'slow timing' is not necess…, wait who named this ability as 'slow timing'?" Aditya changed his sentence in the middle as he asked a more burning issue.

"me."

"Your naming sense is as simple as your character Tya." Aditya expressed, "Until I change the name, let it remain as it is right now."

This ability of Tya could be considered as an S class ability if there was a classification of such abilities. For example, take the situation Aditya was in right now, he was able to chat leisurely with Tya without a little bit of concern that he was identified by Taarini. This was an almost cheat like ability, each second was like a minute for Aditya so he had ample time for thinking measures and countermeasures.

Aditya had the time to observe each of the members who were following Taarini, their attires, their manners, he could tell that this beautiful woman did not have any malicious intention. Aditya's inner player found out a new application for this power. He could appreciate any beautiful woman for as long as he wanted. The greatest regret of a player was not being given adequate time to appreciate every inch of a beautiful woman when she passes by you in a public place. Now with this ability, he could.. cough cough.

This woman had a youthful but mature shapely face, her skin was healthy and shining which could be attributed to her maintenance. Her eyes were like a masterpiece for Aditya. There seemed to be stars shimmering in her eyes, though he saw that eyes were cold, there was an indescribable light which lit a fire in Aditya's heart when he saw them. Her skin tone was several shades lighter than his. She did not dye her hair as he saw that she tied up her thick long black hair into a ponytail.

She wore a beige coloured 100% polyester casual shirt, her slim neck could be seen with the spread collar. Her thin, fit hands, which felt like sculpted out of marble stone, were covered by three-quarter sleeves. Though her shirt was not an exact fit which accentuated her curves, her figure was exposed occasionally as a low-speed wind caused undulating waves on the thin fabric of her shirt. She wore a pair of white solid leggings which almost caused Aditya to bleed from his nose as he saw those long legs. Aditya sensed a wild feeling when he saw this woman, with his experience of his dream world, Aditya was sure that she would be great in bed.

"Tya could you directly hand over the switch of this 'slow timing' ability to me, "Aditya asked as he gulped. He was beginning to appreciate this 'Slow Timing' more and more. This 'view' was very lethal for Aditya whose blood was akin to gasoline in this age. Only a small spark was needed to get his 'horsepower' running. But this view was akin to a grenade. Especially, Aditya had been dreaming about an alternate world these days in which he was living three months in one night. He knew what kind of escapades he had done during those months there where he was living his dream of waking up every morning with beautiful girls.

"Sure"

Aditya found a symbol which looked like a pocket watch hanging in his mind, it was glowing with changing intensities in red colour. As long as he willed it he could activate or deactivate this power. For once, he felt that Tya had selected a good colour for this ability. He deactivated this ability as the symbol turned green. Although the process description seemed lengthy, it was not more than a minute so in real time it was just a second.

Taarini was a little dazed when he saw the calm look on Aditya's face as he looked straight at her eyes. She had imagined that he would be at least a bit edgy when he saw her and the gang behind her. Yet, she could not see a hint of fear in his eyes which were bright and piercing as if all her secrets were accessible to him. This amplified her determination to recruit him. But before that…

"Can I ask you, how was I recognized?" Aditya asked as he gave a smile while rubbing his head. He was sure that this woman did not have any ill intention towards him so he admitted frankly.

Taarini had the same cold look on her face as she nodded towards the first person to her right who seemed like a first mate of a pirate group as he said, "Any person of the underworld are masters of disguise, so we also learn the art of identifying disguises also. Three feature on your body would betray you if you did the same thing in front of an elite underworld gangster i.e. ears, moles, tattoos. You possess all of them."

"and you are?"

"Munna"

"So, Elder brother Munna, you are saying that I was recognized by my ears, moles and tattoos?"

"That would be the case if it was any other elite gangster, but Big Sis could even remember your body odour, palm lines, hair swirl patterns, scars. It does not make much difference if you cover your face or not in front of Big Sis." Munna explained rather patiently. Aditya felt that this man fulfilled the role of a capable assistant and a brain thrust while that Dev represented the muscle power.

Taarini was observing Aditya intently as he conversed with Munna. She was deciding on how to recruit this person. But before that, she wanted to see for herself whether this teenager had the skill described by Flaming Tiger gang members. If so, he could become her sharpshooter. By the looks of it, this 'kid' did not have any background and was an uneducated orphan working for a living.

She was confident in her ability to recruit him and train him. She just had to show a bit of luxurious living, what money and power could get him. She was sure that she could hook him. But after observing Aditya for a few moments, she knew she had hastily jumped to conclusions. This person did not show any fear when he exchanged with real gangsters who had this brutal aura permeating from them. He looked totally at ease. His movements and demeanour did not match with his job at all. Now she was not so sure about easily recruiting him.

Taarini did not feel even a sliver of guilty for thinking of dragging a pure person into depravity by luring him into the underworld. The day her elder brother decided to become a gangster, he and all his family members inherited the vulnerabilities of being attacked, betrayed and killed at any time, anyplace. If she had to protect her close ones or the people who were dependent on her, she had to recruit new blood. Also, she only lured people but never forced someone into depravity which was considered very noble of her in the underworld. But first of all…

"I don't have the habit of being in debt, it is a fact that I owe you a huge favour, what do you want?" Taarini asked in her characteristic chilly tone. She did not speak much, she cut straight to the point.

Aditya turned towards Taarini as he smiled and said, "I want to join your gang and become a gangster."

Taarini cold look faltered when she heard those words. Of all the possibilities, she had not thought that this teenager who looked so lean and delicate. Even his beard had not started growing, he had actually wanted to become a gangster of his own volition? She had not used any bait yet.

Yes, Aditya wanted to enter the underworld. He had given this issue quite a bit of thought, it was not a reckless decision of a hot-blooded teen. It was not only Tya who was getting rusty during the past week, but it was also the same to him. Living in a garage, repairing cars from time to time would be a good and relaxing life for sure but it won't bring him any nearer to his parents. He had to get to know this world, the one in the light but most importantly he was required to understand the dark side, the side which you won't find on the mainstream media, the side people fear to talk about. What better place to start his mission than the underworld where all the rats of the society get together.

He wanted to become a rat who possessed many hideouts, he wanted to vanish from this society. He wanted to become a shadow in the dark. He knew that if he wanted to make any bit of progress in his search, any legal means was not viable any more. There was not even a slight mention of those bastards in the mainstream media or even the internet. So, if he had to start searching those dark, inaccessible places which were murky, full of dirt, he had to prepare to get his hands dirty as well. Right now, he did not have any worries, no need to study, no need to ask permission from parents. So he made this decision for himself. He could stay waiting for someone to find his parents for him.

Even if Taarini had not approached him, he would have thought of other methods of taking this path. Taarini appearance was just a timely help.

As Aditya was mulling over these thoughts, he did not know that Taarini was suddenly having second thoughts about recruiting Aditya. He wanted to join her gang by his own choice or was it a trap of an unknown enemy? She would miss a prodigal sharpshooter if she doubted, her condition right now was not as rosy as she pretended to the outside. She had heard that a new gang had appeared which was uprooting gangs as if they were weeds and taking over the underworld. She had to make a decision now.