The Nightwatcher Chronicles: Assassination

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Six weeks had passed since the Battle of the Bands. The rivalries between the bands have died down. Canterlot High School returned to normal. What disturbed me and the Teen Mutant Alliance was that the rest of Canterlot was quiet, too quiet, for the first four weeks.

Then, the crime rate in Canterlot rose quickly. As in a 250% increase in fourteen days. According to the local news station, the number of crimes per night hadn’t been that high in fifty years.

The crimes weren't your typical gang crimes. Instead of holding up convenience stores, they were robbing banks. Instead of mugging random people on the street, they were raiding the homes. It was horrible and we could do nothing about it. The mayor of Canterlot, Mayor Mare, tried sending police to those parts of town but that didn’t help either. What concerned me the most was that there was no sign of the Black Snake or Hamato. Devin thought they packed their bags and ran for the hills. Eric said that Hamato wouldn’t give up that easily. I figured they were planning something.

The Rainbooms had the same hunch, but they didn’t have a single clue on what Headhunter was planning, either. Then, I came up with a plan of my own.

It was Friday night and we were at the pool at the apartment complex. I was sitting on a poolside chair with Dalton, Brody, and Sunset Shimmer. Everyone else was playing pool volleyball. I'm not a volleyball person. Football, soccer, powerlifting, and track are about all I care for. Sunset Shimmer had mostly been talking to us about our powers and our group.

“So are you guys ninjas?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“Yes and no,” Dalton replied.

“What do you mean?"

"We take on the roles that the shinobi once took upon. Assassins and mercenaries, primarily. Hannah is just a vigilante in training. Some of us use weapons that the shinobi used. However, they aren't traditional. Matthew uses two full-sized katanas. Typically, a ninja would dual-wield two short-bladed swords called wakizashi swords. Dylan uses a ninjato, a straight-bladed sword developed for movies. It too is untraditional."

"Not only that, we use guns, which the ninja never used, and we don't use throwing stars or throwing knives. A lot of our weapons come from our nation's military," I added.

"One could say that you are
untraditional ninjas," Sunset Shimmer said.

"No. Ninjas in our dimension worked for the highest payer. We worked for our government. In the Black Snake's case, they can be terrorists," Brody said.

"So, why did Daniel get that large tattoo?"

I looked at the pool just as Daniel jumped up and spiked the ball back over the net. He started shouting and chest bumped Levi. Daniel's tattoo is Hawaiian. It covers the entirety of his chest and his left bicep.

"Where he is from, those tattoos are a part of their culture," I explained.

"Oh. They look good on him. The long hair does, too."

I found that last comment to be odd. Daniel's hair goes down to the middle of his back, and it's usually messed up. Normally, girls don't compliment a guy's hair unless they like them. Sunset Shimmer has admitted to liking some guy from another school she met at Jessie's softball game. I decided to ignore the comment and move on to a different topic.

"Are there any kids at CHS in a gang?" I asked.

Sunset scratched the side of her head. "No, but there are three boys that could be called a 'gang'," she replied.

"Who?"

"They call themselves the Diamond Dawgs. Rarity has few run-ins with them."

"I'll ask her to show them to me on Monday."

The next Monday at Lunch, I brought up the subject of the gangs to the Rainbooms. Then, I asked Rarity to point out the Diamond Dawgs. She pointed her thumb at three boys, who were sitting off by themselves.

One of them was extremely short, as in less than five feet and six inches. The other one was approximately five-eleven. The last one was huge and looked to be around 280 pounds and over six feet tall. They seemed more like a typical group of bullies instead of a gang. Rainbow Dash thought so, as well.

“The Diamond Dawgs?! They are a bunch of bullies who don’t amount to jack crap!”

“I wouldn’t call them that,” Fluttershy said, quietly.

“What would you call them?” Eric asked.

“I say they are well connected. I was in the hallway when I overheard the Diamond Dawgs talking about the Cobra Kings’ leader who was killed by a ‘ninja dude’, and every other major gang leader was killed, too. Then he took over the gangs.”

“Since when did the Diamond Dawgs get affiliated with the Cobra Kings?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Who cares? All I need to know is why Headhunter is getting involved with the gangs. He’s a terrorist for crying out loud. Shouldn’t he be doing terrorist stuff?” I said.

“Elaborate on the phrase ‘terrorist stuff’,” Hannah said.

“Car bombings, gunfights, blowing stuff up. That sort of thing,” I replied.

“So no 9/11s?” Jessie asked.

“From what I’ve seen in the past, the Black Snake isn’t capable of hijacking an airplane. Much more, crashing it into a building,” I responded.

"Explain to me what 9/11 is,” Applejack said.

I sighed. 9/11 is a tough subject for all of us, especially Levi. His cousin, Gabriel Hernandez, was in the North Tower when it was hit. Even though Levi wasn’t born yet, 9/11 was a horrible event that affected his family. From what Levi said, Gabriel was on the 93rd floor and was killed instantly when the plane hit. How his family found out, I have no idea but I took his word for it.

Anyway, I explained to the Rainbooms what 9/11 was and what happened with The Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93. The Rainbooms were horrified. Then they became worried that would happen to them. Dylan reminded them that I had said the Black Snake wasn’t capable of something like that. Deep down, I'm pretty sure we all knew that the Black Snake could outdo what Al-Qaeda could pull off.

“Back to the gangs and stuff, how are you going to get info from the Diamond Dawgs?” Pinkie Pie asked me.

“I’ll ask them,” I replied.

“That’s a laugh. They’ll deny it and throw you in a dumpster somewhere,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Not looking like this, I won’t,” I said.

“Huh?”

“What he means is that he’ll go as the Nightwatcher and interrogate them,” Eric explained.

“You can’t do that here!” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed.

“I wasn’t planning on it. I’ll follow them after school and ‘speak’ with them privately,” I said.

“Are you going to torture them like you did Flash Sentry?” Applejack asked.

“No,"

“So what’s your plan now?”

"I’ll know when I get to that point.”

“I’m going to tell you upfront. If you end up fighting them, they fight dirty,” Rarity warned.

“So do I,” I said as I pulled my knife. I stopped carrying a pistol around because it got aggravating having to take it off and hide it during athletics.

“That looks like one of the knives that our military uses,” Rainbow Dash said.

I handed the knife to her so she could look at it. She seemed interested and shook it in her hand. Rainbow Dash handed it to Rarity, who was interested in the writing on it.

“It feels like it is vibrating. Did you feel it, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity whispered.

“Yes, I did. What is it made of?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It is made out of vibranium. The rarest metal in our dimension,” I explained. “It is only found in a nation called Wakanda.”

“And the writing on it?” asked Rarity.

“It is Xhosa for, ‘Destroy those who seek the destruction of the innocent,” I replied.

“That’s...lovely,” Rarity said.

“Not the best of inspiring quotes but it will do.”

Rarity handed me the knife. Just as I was going to put it in a hidden sheath in my jacket, Principal Celestia came up behind me and took my knife.

“Hey, that’s mine!” I exclaimed.

“Now it's mine, Mr. Wilson,” she replied.

“You can’t take that. It’s expensive.”

“You should’ve thought of that when you came to school with it. We have a little ordinance against that.”

“How was I supposed to know that?”

“Did you read the school code of conduct manual?”

“No, I didn’t. Someone stole my backpack.”

“It seems to me your irresponsibility has cost you. If you want it back, you pay the office forty dollars. Good day, Mr. Wilson.

I was disgusted and furious. Fluttershy suggested that I could get another vibranium knife. Eric said it was impossible because you have to get invited by the king of Wakanda to enter the nation. I was pretty sure that King T’Challa wouldn’t allow me to enter the nation just for a knife. Finally, I decided to buy it back when I needed it. Right about then, I noticed that Daniel wasn’t there. Neither was Sunset Shimmer.

“Hold on. Where’s Daniel and Sunset Shimmer?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Eric answered.

“Who cares,” Justin said. “Daniel can take care of himself.”

“How considerate of you, Justin. You are a true friend,” Levi said.

“You’re welcome, Levi.”

“To answer your question, Daniel is in lunch detention for dozing off in class and Sunset is in the library,” Applejack said.

“Dozing off?” I asked, trying not to laugh

"I was in his class. He was snoring loud,” Pinkie Pie explained.

Right about then, the bell rang to go to sixth period. I didn’t have a sixth period so I went to the library. Mrs. Cheerilee was out all week because she had surgery on her gallbladder. Fortunately for me, I had the library to myself.

I went up to the second floor and found my own personal “area”. For the next twenty minutes, I researched the gangs in the city and found a list of all the gangs on the Canterlot Police Department website. They were organized by threat level.

At number one were the Cobra Kings and at number two were the Black Dragons. About the time I reached the end of the list, I had to use the restroom. I left my spot and went to the bathroom. After I arrived, I went to the stall furthest from the door, for the privacy of course.

When I closed the stall door, the door to the bathroom burst open, which startled me. A group of guys came in and began to talk. I stood on the toilet seat to get a better look. The group of boys was the Diamond Dawgs. I crouched down and remained quiet.

"When is Boss Man gon' do it?" one asked.

"I don’t know. All he told me was that ‘Numero Uno’ would be taken care of,” replied another.

“I hope this Headslayer dude knows what he’s doin’,” said the last one.

“It’s Headhunter, you idiot.”

“My bad. Idiot!”

“When are we supposed to get the call?”

“At 4:30. Boss Man told us to be at West Elm Avenue. There’s an alley next to Big Momma's house.”

“There? That’s Cobra King turf?”

“That is what I said. Boss Man said that the Cobras won’t lay a finger on us or they’ll bite the bullet.”

“Good to know.”

“ Alright. We’ll meet there. Let’s just hope that the cops won’t find us.” They left after that.

What just occurred was a new concern. The Diamond Dawgs were in contact with Hamato about something he was planning. Who cared about mere gang crimes when Hamato was planning something. From the sounds of it, the plan was something big.

I pulled out my phone and texted Orange Bunny to get my Nightwatcher gear ready. Then, I texted Rarity that I have to help her with her English assignment at a later date. After sending the two text messages, I returned to the library. Eventually, the bell rang to release the students to seventh period.

For me, seventh period was World Geography. Thankfully Levi, Eric, and Daniel were in that class. Eric and Levi sat in the middle of the room while Daniel and I sat against the wall opposite the door, towards the back of the room. I sat in front of him.

That day we were watching a video about Saddle Arabia so I seized the moment to tell Daniel about the recent development.

“Psst. Daniel, eu não vou estar em casa até mais tarde hoje à noite.”

(Portuguese) “Psst. Daniel, I won’t be home until later tonight.” I informed quietly.

“Mengapa? Apa yang sedang berlaku?”

(Malay) “Why? What’s going on?” Daniel asked.

“Watashi wa daiyamondo Dawgs to yoba reru gurūpu no otokonoko ni shitsumon shimashita.”

(Japanese) “I have to interrogate a group of boys called the Diamond Dawgs,” I replied.

“Per che cosa?”

(Italian) “What for?”

“Tāmen kěnéng huì liǎojiě Hamato de xià yībù xíngdòng”

(Chinese) “They might have information on Hamato’s next move,” I said.

“Okay.” The rest of the class was spent watching the video about Saddle Arabia.

Honestly, the video was very interesting. I learned a few things about the country. For example, the rulers are elected by their congress. To me, that’s a faulty election system.

Seventh period ended and eighth period started: my least favorite period of the day. The subject wasn’t what I hated, the subject was Algebra 2, but I hated it because none of the other TMA members were in the class. Only Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Sunset Shimmer were in that class along with seven other students.

That period went by fast since we worked on parabola projects. Due to my enhanced memory, I was able to finish it quickly and continue my research on gangs. Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer were working while Rainbow Dash was taking a nap. I had to elbow her at least five or six times to keep her from getting into trouble.

Finally, the bell rang to end the school day. I put my project in my backpack and ran out of the room. Then, I took the student parking lot exit and ran to the apartments. I usually wait for Jessie but she had softball practice.

When I reached the apartments, I went inside and put my school stuff on the living room floor. On my bed was my Nightwatcher gear. After removing my school clothes, I put on my gear. Then, I went out the door.

I ran over to the motorcycle and cranked it. Then I backed out and took off. When I reached Sugar Cube Corner, Orange Bunny’s voice came over the comlink.

“Hey, dumbfuck. Do you know where you’re going?” Orange asked.

“Yeah. A road called West Elm Avenue,” I replied.

“Do you have any fucking clue where that is?”

“To be quite honest, I have no clue.”

“Let me look this shit up.”

Despite her bad attitude, Orange Bunny guided me to the street. It took me about twenty minutes to get there, not bad for rush hour traffic. Plus it was filled with Orange Bunny telling me information about the Cobra Kings, including their founders.

Big Momma, whose house where the Diamond Dawgs were meeting next to, is the mother of the two boys who founded the Cobra Kings. The “Big” in Big Momma is no metaphor. She was at least 400 lbs, six feet, and five inches. Her boys are just as big but weigh less. One of them is in a maximum-security penitentiary for killing seven people.

West Elm Avenue was extremely sketchy. I was worried that my motorcycle might get stolen. Then, I remembered that Orange Bunny installed the invisibility device on my motorcycle.

I found a good spot to put my motorcycle and waited for the Diamond Dawgs. About fifteen minutes later, the Diamond Dawgs arrived and went down the alley.

I activated the invisibility device and walked over to a building that overlooked the alley. The next ten minutes were spent looking for a ladder. Eventually, I found one.

“Where is a grappling hook when you need one,” I mumbled. “Thanks a lot, CIA.”

The building was about twenty feet tall. The jump wouldn’t break my legs or make a lot of noise. Mainly, I taught myself to land softly.

I waited for a few minutes before jumping off the roof. When I landed, pain shot through my legs, but I shrugged it off.

“Are you the Diamond Dawgs?” I asked loudly in my dark voice.

The Diamond Dawgs looked up and were startled. They loosened up as I approached.

“Yes. Who are you?” asked the medium-sized one.

“You can call me...Nightwatcher,” I replied.

“Oh. Boss Man told us about you. He told us you were his arch-nemesis or somethin’,” the smaller said.

“That’s good to hear. Alright, my associate informed me that you have information that I want.”

“And what’s that?” asked the larger one.

“Headhunter’s next move. Tell me and we won’t have a problem.”

“You think we are going to tell you if you ask us to. You’re funny, Nightwatcher,” chuckled the smaller one.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice,” I growled.

“Me and the boys will choose what’s easier for us,” said the medium-sized guy.

The Diamond Dawgs surrounded me and were chuckling as they did it. What didn’t make sense was that they weren’t intimidated. My pistols and my katanas should have done the trick.

“Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” snarled the big guy. “You can leave and get your info somewhere else or get your ass kicked.”

I replied by getting into an Ichimonji no kamae fighting stance.

“Before we start, I’m going to tell you one more time. Tell me what Headhunter is planning,” I announced.

“Not happening, Nightwatcher,” the big guy said.

“Alright. Have it your way,” I growled.

Right about then, the medium-sized guy charged at me. The fight had begun.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading the first chapter of Book 2 of the Teen Mutant Alliance's adventure in Canterlot. Chapter 2 will be released a week from today. I'll try to post these chapters weekly. Thanks again.

Chapter 2

As he closed in on me, I merely stepped out of the way. The Diamond Dawg kept on running and accidently tackled the smaller guy, who was behind me. Then, the big guy charged at me. I stepped to the left and close-lined him.

Generally in a fistfight, I would use martial arts to end it quickly, but I was entertained by a group of “tough guys” attempting to fight me.

The smaller guy pushed the Diamond Dawg that tackled him and then attacked me with a broken beer bottle. I disarmed him and picked him up by the throat. He was choking and tried to fight back. I simply tossed him into some empty garbage cans.

The big guy got up and took a swing at my face. I decided playtime was over and switched to martial arts. The first punch the big guy threw, he missed by a couple of centimeters; the second punch I caught mid-flight. Since he swung with his right fist, I caught it with my left hand. I elbowed him in the face with my right elbow. He staggered back as I released his fist. Then, he tried to stand up straight. To deal the final blow, I ran, jumped, and roundhouse kicked him in the side of the head. The first Diamond Dawg was down.

I turned around to face the other two. The medium-sized guy threw a bicycle chain at me. He was using it like a bull whip. Thanks to my enhanced reflexes, I was able to dodge it. The bicycle chain retracted and returned to him. I drew my katanas to even the fight out. Or not.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” the guy snarled.

He whipped it again but this time I ducked. As the chain went over my head, I used my right katana to sever it in half. The Diamond Dawg seemed surprised that my katanas were able to do that. I stood up and walked towards him. He started throwing things at me. Primarily garbage and stuff like that. He even threw a rotten apple core and a banana peel.

As I neared him, he got up and ran out of the alley. I shrugged and went after the last Diamond Dawg, which was the smaller one. It took me a couple of moments to find him. He was hiding behind a dumpster that looked like it hadn’t been emptied in a few years.

I sheathed my katanas and picked the guy up by the throat again, but I didn’t choke him this time. After that, I slammed him against the wall. He began to shake and sob loudly.

“Let's try this again: what’s Headhunter’s next move?” I snarled.

“I don’t know,” the Daimond Dawg cried.

“Maybe this will help jog your memory,” I said.

I pulled one of my pistols and pressed the barrell against his chin. I pulled back on the hammer.

“My associate told me you and your...gang were discussing a ‘Numero Uno’ and that the Headhunter would take care of them. What does that mean?” I growled.

“If I tell you, Boss Man will have me killed.”

“Right now, all you have to worry about is giving me the information I need.,” I growled.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll tell you.”

“ Who is ‘Numero Uno’?” I asked.

“It's a gang word for the mayor,” he replied.

“Mayor Mare, huh?”

“Yeah. Boss man wants to kill her. He thinks if she’s dead, the city will be easier to take over. He’s supposed to call me any minute to tell us when it is gonna happen.”

“Why would he tell you that?”

“He wants us to be on the lookout during the assassination.”

Right about then, I heard a cell phone ring. It was the Diamond Dawg’s phone. He reached for it and pulled it out.

“Don’t sound like you just saw a ghost because he’ll think something is up. Put the phone on speaker, as well.”

He followed my directions.

“Hello?” asked the Diamond Dawg.

“Are you and your gang alone?” Headhunter answered.

“Yes. We are.”

“Good. The assassination will happen exactly seven days from now. One of the snipers will take the shot around 9:00 pm. I need you and the other two to keep watch. If shit hits the fan, get the fuck out of there and I’ll send some of my warriors to kill the mayor. Are there any questions?”

“No.”

“Good. One more thing, if you are interrogated by the Nightwatcher or any of those other dickwads he calls his friends and you tell them anything, I’ll gut you and friends. Are we clear?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Be ready for next week. See you later.”

The Diamond Dawg hung up and slipped the phone into his pocket.

“There. You got what you wanted. Can I go now?” the guy asked.

“Sure.” I replied.

I released my grip and he fell to the ground. Then I holstered my pistol and turned around. As I was walking down the alley, the Diamond Dawg called out to me.

“Hey, Nightwatcher. Mind if I gave you some advice?” the guy asked.

“Okay,” I said as I turned to face him.

“ At first, you didn’t seem threatening. Only until you started kicking our asses, we were scared,” he explained.

“Your point is?” I asked.

“Get a suit upgrade. You look kind of stupid,” he replied.

After that, I returned to my motorcycle. Then, I drove off. Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the apartment. As I got inside, I was surprised to see the Rainbooms. Dalton was teaching them how to play BS. Justin and Orange Bunny were playing with them. Everyone else was doing their own thing. I stood there for about a minute until Jessie noticed me.

“Hey, babe. How did the interrogation go?” she asked.

“Gather around and I’ll tell you about it,” I replied.

I sat down on the counter as everyone else gathered around. As they did that, I removed my breathing apparatus and laid it beside me.

“According to the Diamond Dawgs, Headhunter is making a bold move.

“How bold?” Devin asked.

“He’s going to try to assassinate Mayor Mare,” I replied.

The Rainbooms were shocked that Hamato was going to try to kill the mayor. For the rest of us, it was not a surprise that he would try something like that.

“That little terrorist wouldn’t dare.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Apparently he would,” Jessie replied.

“If he’s going to try to assassinate her, then what’s up with the gang stuff?” asked Fluttershy.

“It's a smoke screen,” Sunset Shimmer replied.

“How would that be considered a distraction?” Rarity asked.

“The police will be where the gang crimes are more likely to occur. They won’t be guarding the city hall,” Eric explained.

“Not if we tell Mayor Mare,” Pinkie suggested.

“Yeah. If we tell her, the mayor will have guards throughout city hall,” Fluttershy agreed.

“That’s where your plan will fail. A sniper will be the primary method of assassination. Hamato said if that fails, he’ll send in some of his terrorists to carry out the operation while the sniper disappears into the night. Those guards won’t stand a chance against the Black Snake warriors,”I explained.

“So we’re doing an extraction mission?” asked Devin.

“Looks that way. We can’t take everyone, though,” I replied.

“Why?” Brody asked.

“You know on Called to War: World War II there is a mission to extract Lieutenant Bowen from the Nazi headquarters where they were interrogating him in the Campaign Mode. How many men did Sergeant Lewis take?”

“He took three guys. Corporal Howards, Private Sanders, and Private Ry-”

“We don’t need all the names. Why did he take three guys?”

“Because if he took a company, it would attract too much attention. He wanted to use stealth instead of going in big and dumb.”

"Exactly."

“ Which guys are you taking?” Dylan asked.

“That’s a good question. Who came with me to Hawaii to get General Silas’s daughter from Colonel Armistead?” I asked.

“I think it was Brody, Devin, and Daniel,” Lance announced.

“Speaking of Daniel, where is he?” asked Sunset Shimmer.

“Yeah, where is he? I haven’t seen him all day,” Levi said.

“For a guy who can burst into a ball of flames, he sure does go missing quite easily,” Hannah added.

“He’s at Flash’s house. He needed help doing a World Geography project,” Lance said.

“Wasn’t that due last week?” Jessie asked.

“Yes, but Flash was out with the flu last week. Mr. Trotter gave him an extra three days to turn it in,” Fluttershy explained.

“My question is why Daniel has been avoiding me,” Rainbow Dash.

“Maybe because you keep calling him a coward and a wuss in public,” Rarity responded.

“What am I supposed to think when he didn’t show up for our rematch.”

"Did you consider the fact that he lost interest, dumbfuck,” Orange Bunny added.

“Umm...no.”

“Matthew was right. The little shit is a self-centered asshole.”

“Orange Bunny! Cut the cussing everyone out already,” Jessie ordered.

“Whatever,” Orange mumbled. She proceeded to give Jessie

“Matthew, did you call me a self-centered a-hole,”

“No. I said you were being a jerk by being self-centered. Orange Bunny has a tendency to put words in people’s mouths that they didn't say.”

We talked until about eight-thirty. The Rainbooms, Jessie, and Hannah went to Rarity’s house for a slumber party. As for me and the rest of the guys, we had our usual Friday night Called To Duty: World War I and II, two-versus-two tournament. Daniel showed up as soon as we picked teams. Justin was going to play by himself if Daniel didn’t show up.

The guys and I designated Justin as “Gamemaker” since he knew how to make tournaments interesting. He picks the weapons and maps. The week before he made pistols only. For WW2, he picked Hacksaw Ridge, and for WW1 he picked the Argonne Forest. This time, the weapons were snipers, pistols, and grenades only. For the second World War, the Springfield M1903 ,since I prefer making headshots.
My partner was Dalton and we took the championship. Brody and Levi didn’t stand a chance. Levi was trying to snipe me with a Nazi 9mm Luger at eighty yards. The only thing he achieved was getting shot by by yours truly.

Then, we went to World War 1. Justin changed the weapons last minute to German infantry weapons. The German Mauser is a horrible rifle for shooting guys who are consistsntly jumping trenches. Dalton and I got fourth place in the tournament.

We stopped playing around two-thirty in the morning. Mainly, we didn’t want to get in trouble with the security guard. A few weeks prior, the security guard received a complaint about us being too loud.

I woke up the next around nine-thirty. About ten o’clock, I woke up Brody, Daniel, and Devin. They wanted to know why I had woken them up. I told them we had “spontaneous recon missions”. They groaned and got up. In about fifteen minutes, they were ready. We all got in Jessie's truck and drove off. I was driving since everyone else was grogy.

“Where are we going?” Brody asked.

“To city hall,” I answered.

“Why are we spontaneously scouting out Canterlot city hall?” Daniel groaned.

“In a week, Hamato is sending a sniper to kill Mayor Mare. We have to get her out of there,” I explained.

"Couldn't we just tip the mayor off?" Brody asked.

"We already discussed that," I replied. "Hamato would just send his terrorists to kill her."

“Let me guess: you chose us because of that extraction mission in Hawaii,” Daniel said. “That was an adventure.”

“Didn’t Amy Silas have a crush on Brody?” Devin asked.

Brody groaned and shook his head "Yeah, she did have a huge crush on me. Not only that, she became obsessed with me. Amy followed me on InstaPic and had the CIA give her my number,” Brody explained.

“I remember that. You were pissed off for the longest time,” I laughed.

“Do you know what she looks like now?” Daniel asked.

“No, but I’ll check.”

Brody pulled out his phone and started messing with it. Eventually, he found a recent picture of Amy.

See, Brody used to hate this girl because she, as mentioned, was obsessed with Brody. What Brody said next surprised me.

“Dude, after two years, she got pretty. Devin, get a load of this.”Brody handed the phone to Devin.

“Brody, you gotta hit her up. She's hot.”

“Are you really having this conversation? Come on, guys,” I said.

“Matthew, you’d say the same thing. Bro, check it,” Devin said.

He shoves the phone in my face and I see a girl, wearing the skimpiest bikini I’ve ever seen. I batted the phone away, and I ordered Devin to give the phone back to Brody.

“Man, you did the same thing with that actress, which you creepily knew that you two were the same age.” Devin mumbled.

“I used to do crap like that. That was when I was 16, now I’m dating Jessie. Just end the conversation. Daniel, I need you to guide me to city hall. I only have a rudimentary knowledge of it.”

“Fine, take a left here,” Daniel said.

For the rest of the trip, the truck was silent except for Daniel giving me directions. Brody was playing a game on his phone while Devin was listening to music. After about thirty minutes, we arrived.

We parked on the other side of the street. The city hall was huge, about four stories tall and there was a large circular window on the third floor. To be honest, the building slightly resembled the White House. The columns and the roof were about it.

“Alright. What are we looking for?” Devin asked as we got out.

“We need to find out where the mayor’s office is and where the sniper might be located,” I replied.

“I’ll go inside and ask somebody,” Brody volunteered.

"Don't be too suspicious when asking," Daniel said.

“Once we know where the mayor's office is, Daniel, I need you to go find a possible spot for a sniper when Devin and I find a good entry and exit point.”

“What about a vehicle to get the mayor to safety?” Brody asked.

“I’ll take care of that,” I answered.

Brody jogged across the street and entered the city hall. The rest of us waited by the truck and tried not to look conspicuous. It wasn’t long before Brody returned.

“Where is it?” I asked.

“It’s the room with the circle window,” Brody replied. The room he was referring to was the top floor of City Hall

“That would mean the sniper would be…” Daniel said but trailed off as he looked up at the building we were next to. The building was the same height. A generic place to put a sniper. Then, we moved on to the next part. Devin and I casually walked to the other side of the street and behind the city hall. Behind the building, there were huge air conditioners and a ladder that went to the top of the building.

“That's our entry point. It's perfect for being discreet,” I announced.

“What about an exit point?” Devin asked.

“That I don’t know,” I replied.

“There’s got to be an emergency exit somewhere,” Devin said.

“Let’s check the other side,” I ordered.

Devin and I rounded the building but we didn’t find one. I think in our dimension, that is against city building codes.

We returned to the truck. Daniel and Brody had a box of doughnuts they were eating in the truck bed. I took a chocolate covered doughnut that had a vanilla frosting. It wasn’t as good as Mrs. Cake’s doughnuts.

“What did you find?” Brody asked as he licked the icing off his fingers.

“We found a good entrance but we didn't find an exit,” Devin replied.

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked.

“He means there are no emergency exits,” I explained.

“That’s dangerous,” Brody said.

“Yeah, no kidding,” I agreed.

“So what now,” Daniel asked.

“I guess we can go home or ask the rest of the guys if they want to hang out at Sugar Cube Corner,” I said.

Right about then, we heard a women talking really loud. It came from down the street. There wasn't anyone close by. We looked at each other and walked down the sidewalk, hoping to find out where the wome came from. We walked down the sidewalk and find an alleyway. There were at least five guys standing in front of a sharply dressed woman, who was on the ground.

“Please, stop,” the girl cried.

“We won’t stop until you give us what we want,” one guy said.

I saw two of the guys were pointing pistols at the woman. The rest were unarmed. Either way, we had to get her out of there.

“ Devin, hand me that can by your left foot,” I ordered quietly.

He bent down and handed me the can. I held it like a football and threw it as hard as I could.

Author's Note

Hey, everyone. Sorry for the late release. I'm on vacation and completely forgot about it. Thanks for reading Chapter 2. Chapter 3 will be released. next Sunday. If you have any comments or questions about the chapter or story, feel free to either PM me or post it in the comments section. Bye for now.

Chapter 3

The can flew and struck one of the guys holding the pistol on the side of his head. His body went limp and fell to the ground along with his pistol.

“Leave her alone,” I snarled.

The Cobra King gang members turned to face me. They wore blue jeans and identical letterman jackets. The jackets were red and white and on them was a picture of a cobra with a crown on it.

“What are you going to do about it?” the guy with the other pistol asked.

“Believe me. You don’t want me and my friends to do something about it.”

“Metiyu, ene bol buruu sanaa yum.”

(Mongolian) “Matthew, this is a bad idea!” Brody said as we walked closer.

“Wiem, ale musimy coś zrobić”.

(Polish) “I know, but we have to do something,” I responded.

We kept on walking closer until I came almost a yard from the guy holding the pistol, which was now pointed at my face. I could smell his breath. It smelled like alcohol.

“The way I see it, we can settle this like reasonable men or we can resort to rather violent measures,” I suggested.

“Hate to tell you this, bub, but we aren’t ver-”

I replied to his mouthing off by slugging him in the face. The sound of bone cracking rang out as my fist connected with his jaw. He collapsed to the ground.

We fought the Cobra Kings for a good two minutes. They were a bit more difficult to fight than the Diamond Dawgs. We finished the fight with all of the Cobra Kings unconscious. Daniel helped the woman to her feet.

“Are you alright?” Daniel asked the woman.

“Yes, thank you,” she replied.

“What’s a woman of your stature doing with the Cobra Kings?” I questioned.

“Oh. I’m just a dean at Crystal Preparatory Academy and I owe them some money,” she answered.

I pulled out my wallet and tossed a couple of hundred-dollar bills on the ground. Brody was about to object but Daniel stopped him.

“I’m Mi Amora Cadenza, by the way. My friends call me Cadence. I’m the dean over the Science Department,” she said.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I said as I shook her hand.

She shook hands with the rest of us as they introduced themselves.

As mentioned before, she was sharply dressed in a long turquoise skirt and navy blue suit coat. I could see that Dean Cadence had a light-blue shirt on. She had a golden necklace. She had pink skin with pink, yellow, and purple hair.

“Isn’t CPA that rich kid school on the West side of town,” Devin asked.

“Yes, but 67% of our school’s population are actually middle-class, Devin,” Dean Cadence corrected.

“Evet. Bahse girerim bu çocuğun ebeveynleri orta sınıf maaşları yüksektir.”

(Turkish) “Yeah. I bet those kid’s parents have high middle-class paychecks,” Devin mumbled sarcastically.

“I’d better get going. I have a meeting with Principal Cinch in forty minutes. A taxi can get me there in forty-five minutes,” Dean Cadence announced.

“We can take you there quicker than that and free of charge,” Daniel offered.

“You don’t have to do that,” Dean Cadence

"It’s the least we can do,” Daniel said.

“Why thank you, boys.”

As we walked to the truck, I walked over to Daniel so we could chat. I made sure we spoke in different languages so Dean Cadence couldn’t understand the conversation.

“Qual é a grande ideia, Daniel?”

(Portuguese) “What is the big idea, Daniel?” I asked.

“Kanojo o koko ni oite oku no wa tokusakude wa arimasen. Koburakingusu ga me o samashi, tsuiseki suru baai wa dō narimasu ka?”

(Japanese) “It’s not a good idea to leave her here. What if the Cobra Kings wake up and track her down?” Daniel answered.

“Men yuk mashinasida o'zim bilmaydigan odamlarga ruxsat berganimda, Jessi nafratlanadi.”

(Uzbek) “Jessie hates it when I allow people that she doesn’t know in her truck,” I complained.

“C'est pourquoi tu ne lui dis pas.”

(French) “ That’s why you don’t tell her,” Daniel said.

“hsnana , lakunani la 'asheur bialradaa hial dhalik.”

(Arabic) “Fine, but I don’t feel good about it.”

I got into the driver’s seat and I told Daniel to get in the back. He complied and Dean Cadence got into the front passenger’s seat. She gave me the directions to Crystal Prep Academy.

Thirty-five minutes later, we arrived at the Academy. Dean Cadence's pink skin looked pale. Mainly because I was driving eighty miles per hour, 75% of the way. While the guys in the back seats were hooping and hollering as I weaved through traffic, Dean Cadence was gripping the seat and telling me to slow down.

“Have you always driven like that?” she asked, sounding shaken.

“Only when I’m in a rush,” I replied.

“Well, at least your promise was kept. I’m here early. Thank you for the lift.”

“No problem,” Daniel said.

Dean Cadence got out of the truck and closed the door. I made a u-turn and drove to a fifties-type diner that was down the road that we liked to eat at. The diner was about ten minutes away.

We arrived, got a seat, and ordered. I got a chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, a soda, and green beans. The others got different meals like bacon burgers, chicken sandwiches, and whatnot.

“So, that was an adventure,” Daniel said as he put a spoonful of collard greens in his mouth.

“Amen to that,” I agreed.

“To be honest, it beats sitting at home and waiting for…' our friend' to do something spectacular,” Brody announced.

“It feels good to take a few swings at some people. How long has it been? Six months?” Devin said.

“I don’t know about you guys but it has been a while since I’ve eaten a double bacon burger,” Daniel said.

“Daniel, you are the only person I know who’d eat collard greens with a double bacon burger,” I said.

We ate for a few minutes. Daniel left for the bathroom. While he was in there, Rainbow Dash and a couple of her friends from the softball team walked in. They were seated in a booth about three booths down from us. Devin and Brody suggested we leave because she would try to get Daniel to fight her. I agreed but we couldn’t get the waitress's attention in time. Daniel was on his way back to the table, Rainbow Dash called him out.

“Hey, Daniel! Still avoiding me, coward?!” she shouted.

Daniel ignored her and sat down. Rainbow Dash continued to trash talk Daniel and challenge him. I had to apologize to the manager because someone complained about it.

When we were walking by, Rainbow Dash said something that set Daniel off. He turned around and slammed his fist on the table. The blow knocked over a drink and a plate to jump. The table even cracked.

“Listen, you arrogant prick. I’m tired of you going on about me being a coward. It takes bravery to turn down a fight than to go through with it,” Daniel growled. “But, I'll take you on just to show you how overconfident you are. Happy now?”

From the look on Rainbow Dash’s face, she was scared. She was shaking and she was sweating. Heavily. Then, I saw her usual cocky grin creep across her face.

“You're on,” she mumbled.

After that episode, we paid for the ticket and left. We returned to the apartment and we found Hannah, Jessie, and Sunset Shimmer sitting in the living room. The rest of the guys were at the local bowling alley. The three girls were watching one of those lovey-dovey, doctor-themed, soap operas. Jessie brought some DVDs with her. Sunset Shimmer seemed very interested in the soap opera. Orange Bunny was at her computer watching cartoon voiceovers. You know the ones.

“Are you guys seriously watching this crap?” I asked.

“Yes, we are,” Jessie said.

“I suggested watching that World War 2 movie about a group of men who attacked the Japanese fortifications in the Philippines islands,” Hannah complained.

“You mean Raids Against the Rising Sun?” I asked.

“Yeah, that one,” Hannah replied.

“Hannah, you're just like your brother. You prefer war movies over something that girls like,” Jessie groaned.

“Hey, I told you that dating me was a package deal. Almost everyone in the Wilson Family had the same movie preferences as me,” I reminded.

“Shut up, you guys. They are about to reveal if Doctor Hoover is the father to Allison’s baby,” Sunset Shimmer commanded.

“I warned Sunset not to get into that bullshit but no one ever fucking listens to me,” Orange Bunny grumbled.

I rolled my eyes and went into my bedroom. After laying on my bed for ten minutes, I decided to go swimming. It had been at least three weeks since I took a dip in the pool.

I took off my clothes and put on my swimming trunks. Then, I grabbed a towel from my bathroom. On my way out, I informed everyone I was going to the pool.

I walked about two hundred meters to the swimming pools. The pool was behind the main office and it was an outdoor pool. It was also a heated pool, so it was warm.

After laying my towel on one of the pool-side chairs, I began to warm up. Some push-ups, crunches, and jumping jacks. After that, I dove in and I swam for about thirty minutes until I saw an orange figure at the edge of the pool. At first, I thought it was the manager, who had orange skin. When I got closer, the figure was Sunset Shimmer. I swam to the edge and propped myself up using my arms.

“Hey, what's up?” I asked.

“I don't know how to ask this so I’m going to ask you straight up. Can you tell me about Daniel?” she said.

“I’m assuming you want to know more about him. Well, he’s turning 19 in a few weeks. In our dimension’s time, that is. And he pl-”

“Not that. I want to know more about his character and his...past.”

“You’d better take a seat.”

Sunset Shimmer sat on a pool-side chair as I got out of the pool and sat in a chair next to her.

“Daniel is quite an interesting guy. His background isn’t the brightest one in the world. If you see Levi and Daniel hanging out a lot, that's because their pasts are similar. When Daniel was around nine years old, his father left because he fell in love with another woman. That scarred him for a long time, since he was close with his dad, at least before the divorce. Not only did the divorce scar him emotionally but physically. Have you seen a scar on his left arm?”

“Yeah. I asked him about it but he only said it was a long story.”

“He isn’t wrong. Anyway, his parents were arguing one night and he heard his dad hitting his mom. He ran into their bedroom and slugged his dad. His dad took out his pocket knife and cut him. That’s as far as I’m going with that story.”

“I had no idea that happened to Daniel,” Sunset Shimmer said.

“Neither did any of us, until he became our friend. Daniel wasn’t big on having friends. When he became our friend, which was after he got his powers, he opened up. I was unsure about him at first since he was a jerk ever since I first met him over nine years ago. Despite his past, he is a kind, loving, and courageous guy. Let me ask you a question: Why do you want to know more about Daniel?”

“I really can’t say,” Sunset Shimmer replied.

As she said that, Sunset Shimmer blushed. Then, I put the puzzle pieces together. I felt stupid for not noticing before. Sunset Shimmer had a crush on Daniel Baxter.

“You have a crush on him, don’t you?” I asked, quietly.

“Well, a little one. It’s not anything big,” she said.

“That ‘little’ crush of yours would explain why you hang around him a lot and ask about him."

“He’s a nice guy. I like Daniel Baxter, the violin player. Not as Daniel Baxter, the vile assassin on fire.”

“Understandable, but also know he has an innate temper that is close to savage. Rainbow Dash almost caused him to go over the edge today.”

“I can get past that and the age difference.”

"I sincerely doubt that,” I mumbled.

I was about to explain more about the “mysteries of Daniel Baxter” when Orange Bunny jumped the fence and landed on my chair. She scared both Sunset Shimmer and me. That’s what I get for teaching a mutant rabbit how to be stealthy.

“What are you two fuckers doing?” Orange Bunny questioned.

“We are talking. Got a problem with that?” I replied.

“I don’t, but Jessie might.”

“What on Earth are you talking about?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“I saw you two leaning forward,” Orange said.

“ You thought we were...going to kiss?!” I asked.

“Me? Kiss Matthew? No offense, Matthew, that is gross. The beard is...not all that great.”

“Hey. Keep the beard out of this,” I said as I rubbed my beard.

“I still think you were,” Orange Bunny objected.

“Why would I kiss him? I have a crush on Daniel,” Sunset Shimmer shouted.

“You have a crush on Daniel!” Orange exclaimed. “That is the best thing I’ve heard all fucking day.”

“Don’t say anything to him,” Sunset Shimmer pleaded.

“Hell’s yeah I am.”

To ensure that Daniel found out about Sunset Shimmer's crush himself, I grabbed Orange Bunny by the ears. Then, I carried her over to the pool. She was dangling over the deep end. The thing about Orange Bunny and pools is that she can't swim very well. Let me assure you, that is the best way to pressure Orange Bunny.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, motherfucker?!” Orange screamed.

“If you still plan to tell Daniel about Sunset Shimmer’s crush on him, I’ll drop you in the pool,” I replied, slyly.

“You know I can’t fucking swim,” Orange said.

“Exactly. Now, if you simply reconsider, you'll remain dry and not drown.”

“Fine. Just let me go, asshole,” Orange ordered.

“Poor choice of words,” I said.

Much to Orange Bunny’s dismay, I released her. She fell into the pool and she panicked. Orange Bunny started splashing around trying to keep herself above the water. I told Sunset Shimmer to hand me the life preserver that was beside my chair. She tossed me the preserver and I tossed it to Orange.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” Orange Bunny asked as she sat on the preserver.

“You’re smart. Figure it out,” I answered.

I grabbed my towel, left the pool area, and walked back to the apartment. Sunset Shimmer followed me back, as well.

“To follow up on our prior conversation, do you have any advice for me?” Sunset Shimmer asked, quietly.

“Just be yourself. If he likes you because of your character, he’s the guy you need to go for,” I said.

We walked in silence for the rest of the way back. Sunset Shimmer was probably thinking about the advice I had given her. It should have made her think.

The same advice made me think when Dad told me that. The only difference was that Dad said that I didn’t need to change myself to impress Jessie.

I had something else on my mind. Something more important than Sunset having a crush on Daniel. Despite our formal job titles, Devin, Brody, Daniel, and I were going to save a life; not take one. We were going to attempt to save Mayor Mare’s life.

Chapter 5

I guided Brody and Devin to City Hall. The trip took about twenty-five minutes or less. Because of the short trip time, we're able to kill some time on the roof.

After parking our vehicles behind the building, we climbed up the ladder Devin and I found during our recon mission. That didn’t really sit well with Brody. I could understand why he complained.

“This is stupid. Why didn’t the CIA give us grappling hooks? It would allow things to go a lot quicker,” Brody complained.

“For one, the CIA doesn’t have a huge budget to get that kind of stuff. The government gives most of the money to the NSA, the military, and SHIELD. The Avengers get a decent chunk, too. The CIA and the FBI people are on the back burner,” I said as we reached the top.

"What about the Justice League and Teen Titans?" Dylan asked.

"They are privately funded by a certain billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," I replied.

“SHIELD can go die in a fucking hole. Just because they have Helicarriers doesn't mean shit,” Orange Bunny announced over our comlinks.

“No one asked you, Orange Bunny,” Brody replied.

“Fuck you, dickhead,” Orange retorted.

Devin, Brody, and I sat there for half an hour, going over the plan until we began the first phase of the plan. There was a stairwell that went from the roof to the floor with the mayor’s office. I held the door for Devin and Brody as they went down the stairs. As I closed the door, I saw the Black Snake sniper setting up. I gulped and walked.

We descended the stairwell until we reached the floor where the mayor's office was on and opened the door. The hall was empty except for a couple of men dressed in suits. They stood a couple of doors down from the mayor’s office.

One of them was the district attorney, Hairy Jailhouse. From what I’ve heard, he was a tough guy. He put away the man who conspired with the Black Snake to have Councilman Hoarse assassinated. The man next to him was the police chief of the Canterlot City Police Department, Chief Silver Star.

“Good grief, what are they doing?” Brody whispered.

“Talking. Duh,” Devin replied.

“I know that. Whatever they are talking about can’t they talk about it outside?” Brody said.

“Shut up, you two,” I growled.

Just as I said that the two men moved off into an elevator that was in front of them. I pushed open the door and we moved to the mayor’s office when the two men went into the elevator.

I opened the door and there was Mayor Mare. Well, she was on the phone and facing towards the circle window. We snuck in and stayed out of view of the sniper. I motioned to the other two to remain quiet.

The mayor was talking to somebody about a person named MeMe. I was assuming it was her grandmother. The “somebody” was more than likely a nurse because she mentioned MeMe’s meds.

Devin became impatient and he cleared his throat to get Mayor Mare’s attention. He did get her attention but she was probably expecting someone official, not masked vigilantes. Mayor Mare told the nurse she would call her right back. She stood up and I got an idea of who I was dealing with. Then, she scowled at us.

Mayor Mare looked like she was in her fifties and was sharply dressed. Kind of like Dean Cadence. The mayor had a skin color that looked like the color of manilla flowers. She had gray hair that was long.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Mayor Mare. I’m Nightwatcher and these are my associates: Mind Probe and Shadow Charger,” I replied.

“Look, Mr. Nightwatcher. I’m in no mood for jokes. So if you don't mind, please get out of my office.”

“Ma’am, tonight, the Black Snake is going to kill you. We are here to get you out of here, alive,” Brody explained.

“How come I wasn’t informed of this earlier?” she questioned, impatiently.

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that your life is in danger,” Devin snapped.

Mayor Mare stood up and began to yell at us. I looked at my watch and it hit eight o’clock. Devin must have used his ability to read the sniper’s mind because he charged at Mayor Mare. I was more shocked than Mayor Mare was.

Devin ran and dived over the desk. He knocked the mayor down just as a bullet flew through the window, which sent glass flying, and hit the desk. The impact sent shards of wood flying everywhere.

“Shadow Charger, take out the lights!” I shouted.

Brody drew one of his pistols and shot out the lights. The lights burst into a billion pieces and rained onto the ground. Mayor Mare got up, looked at the desk, and then us. She put her hand on the back of her head.

“That could’ve been my head,” Mayor Mare murmured.

“We’d better get a move on. I’m sure the Black Snake has a backup plan in mind.”

Right about then, I saw an explosion on the roof where the sniper was. It shook the building and knocked over an expensive vase.

We ran out of Mayor Mare’s office. Surprisingly for a middle-aged woman, she could keep up with us. We made it to the elevator only to find out the power to the elevator was shut off. A minor setback, or so we thought. As we turned around, about two dozen Black Snake terrorists stood there. Well, different-looking ones.

They had leg armor, microfiber body armor, and a breathing apparatus with visors over their eyes. I gulped and drew my pistols. Devin and Brody did the same. Mayor Mare hid behind us, which while not the safest idea, was better than her standing out in the open.

One of the ninjas stepped forward. He was taller than the rest of the group and had sheaths for sais on his waist. I assumed he was the leader.

“Shichō, naitou~otchā o uragaeshimasu. Kanojo wa watashitachi no taigi no tame ni shinanakereba narimasen,”

(Japanese) “Turn over the mayor, Nightwatcher. She must die for our cause,” the leader demanded.

“Sō suru riyū wa nanidesu ka?”

(Japanese) “What makes you think we’ll do that?” Devin asked.

“Maindopurōbu, anata wa rikai shimasen.”

(Japanese) “Mind Probe, you will not understand,” replied the leader.

“Anata wa watashitachi no shitai o norikoeru hitsuyō ga arimasu.”

(Japanese) “You will have to step over our dead bodies,” Brody announced.

“Anata no chōsen wa ukeire raremashita, Shadō chājā.”

(Japanese) “Your challenge has been accepted, Shadow Charger.”

Chapter 6

Hi, this is Devin Cochran. You know, the Mind Probe? Matthew let me tell this part of the story from my point of view. I don’t know why but I’m not going to question it. Okay, let’s get to the story.

When Brody said, You will have to step over our dead bodies. I facepalmed. That was the dumbest thing you could have said to guys who want to freaking kill us. Although, I did want to fight the new and improved Black Snake terrorists.

After the leader said, Your challenge has been accepted, the terrorists began shooting. The bullets and shotgun pellets just bounced off our shields. Mayor Mare crouched down behind us and covered her head. I saw Matthew nod his head, as he drew his pistols. Brody and I drew out pistols and shot back. We wasted the terrorists. Blood splattered as our bullets hit them. Within forty seconds, I think, all but one of the Black Snake terrorists were dead. Only the leader was alive.

He looked around at the bodies of his fellow terrorists. The dude tossed his Mk-47 on the ground and pulled the katana off his back. I couldn’t believe he didn’t get killed. Seriously, all of his buddies took the L already.

“Shichō o kudasai.”

(Japanese) “Give me the mayor,” the leader demanded.

“Kotaeha nōdesu.”

(Japanese) “The answer is no,” Matthew said as he holstered his pistols.

Matthew was about to pull out his katanas but I stopped him. I wanted to kill the leader.

“He's mine,” I replied as I took my bo staff off my back.

I ran towards the leader. When I got close, he swung at me but I blocked the blow. Then, I spun the bo staff and went to stab his throat. I read his mind and figured out that he was going to block the strike. So, I caught him off guard.

He swung his katana like a baseball bat. I slashed his left leg and plunged my other spearhead into his chest. He groaned and fell to his knees. The katana he was holding dropped to the ground. Then, I pulled out my staff from his chest.

“Anata wa yūkan'na senshi, kokoro no tankyū-shadesu.”

(Japanese) “You are a valiant warrior, Mind Probe,” the terrorist grunted.

“Wish I could say the same,” I said.

With one quick motion, I sliced off his head. Blood splattered everywhere and got all over me. I heard someone puke and halfway thought it was Brody. After I turned around, I saw Mayor Mare tossing her cookies. Brody stepped out of the way to steer clear of the chunks.
“ How do...you do that...without...throwing up?” Mayor Mare groaned, in between heaves.

“You get used to it after a while,” Brody said.

“Enough with the chit-chat. More Black Snake terrorists are probably coming into the building. We need to move, if you want to get out of here without a bullet in your head,” Matthew ordered.

“Alright, let’s get a move on,” Mayor Mare said as she stood up.

We stepped over the dead bodies and went down the stairs. I took the lead while Brody was behind me. Matthew was last so he could protect the mayor if we got busy fighting.

All of us slightly jogged down the staircase. We got about two floors down when we almost ran into more Black Snake terrorists. All of us kind of froze and stood there for a second or two. Eventually, I threw my staff like a spear at the first guy that I saw. The staff flew and pinned the guy to the wall. His rifle clattered to the ground. After that, the rest of the terrorists began shooting at us. Brody, Matthew, and I fired back. It was almost point-blank shooting. The mayor was screaming.

The shooting just kept going and the terrorists kept coming. Bullets were flying everywhere and hitting almost everything, including us and even the hand railing. I haven't seen that much shooting in a while. I barely had enough time to get my staff out of the wall. Do you want to know how hard it is to shoot a Desert Eagle while trying to pull a bo staff out of a concrete wall that is halfway into the wall, and doing it single-handed? Matthew had to help me. Brody thought it was funny.

Finally, we made it to the bottom of the stairs. From the top floor to the bottom floor, there were bodies everywhere. To be honest, I was surprised that Mayor Mare wasn’t dead yet.

Speaking of Mayor Mare, she was more concerned with the clean-up than being thankful that she was alive.

“Good grief. The clean-up is going to be horrendous. There is blood and bodies everywhere. This is going to be expensive and... oh my gosh he’s still moving!”

There was a terrorist at Mayor Mare’s feet that was still alive, even with half of his face that was blown off. He was trying to crawl away. Matthew said he would take care of it. Matthew walked over to the terrorist and told him, Lights out. The mayor yelped when Matthew pulled the trigger and killed the terrorist.

Finally, we walked out of the stairwell.

Brody, Matthew, and I were expecting terrorists on the other side. Instead of there being more of them, there were a few bodies of police officers on the ground. We walked around and examined the bodies.

A few had been killed by being stabbed. Others had Japanese throwing knives, called kunai, sticking out of their chests. The rest had bullet holes in them. Once again, Mayor Mare threw up. We sat the mayor down so we could find a way out.

“Mayor Mare, are there any other exits besides the front door and the roof?” Brody asked.

“Not that I’m aware of. The building was built with only two exits, so it would be easier to defend the building from attackers.”

“Some safety measures,” I grumbled.

“This means we have to go out the front door?” Matthew asked.

“Unless you want to go back to the roof and jump off,” I suggested.

“There is no way I’m going to the roof. You may be able to do that but not me,” Mayor Mare protested.

“Fine, but there are a dozen if not more Black Snake terrorists guarding our escape route. We need a better plan,” Matthew announced.

I couldn’t figure out a decent plan. All of mine sucked. They're either stupid or extremely dangerous. Despite my idea, Brody came up with one that was decent enough, or at least Matthew thought so.

“What happens when bullets hit a high-speed spinning object?” Brody asked.

“It depends. Most of the time, the bullets will deflect and fly off. What do you have in mind?” Matthew responded.

“We have to leave Mayor Mare here for this. Mind Probe will be in the middle while spinning his bo staff. You and I will shoot from either side of Devin.”

“It sounds like a Thermopylae situation. A bit risky, but it is worth a shot,” Matthew said, “Mayor Mare, stay here. We’ll be right back.”

“Do what you need to do, Nightwatcher,” she said.

I put my pistols back in their holsters and took my bo staff off my back. We lined up and received a nod from Matthew to go ahead. All three of us walked around the corner. There were more Black Snake terrorists than I’ve seen in years. More than fifty or sixty of them. What surprised me, even more, was that they didn’t even see us. There was a police officer in front of one of the terrorists on his knees. The terrorists said something, pulled out his pistol and shot the police officer in the head. In return, Matthew shot the terrorist in the head from his position. All the terrorists looked at us, and then they pointed their rifles at us.

“Pātī o kaisan shite mōshiwakearimasenga, anata wa saranakereba narimasen.”

(Japanese) “Sorry to break up the party, fellas, but you have to leave,” Brody announced.

That’s when the terrorists sort of looked at each other and then they opened fire. I began to spin my staff. Matthew and Brody began to shoot back. Sparks popped up as the bullets hit my staff. Terrorists were falling dead as Matthew and Brody returned fire. Then, we advanced towards the terrorists. Our plan was actually working because the Black Snake began to fall back. We were halfway at the front door when they stood their ground. We were about fifteen feet from their front line, when some of them stopped shooting, pulled out their katanas, and charged. That freaked us out. Brody and Matthew put away their pistols and pulled out their katanas.

When they reached us, they started swinging at us. I thrust my staff into the first terrorist I could reach. I used every martial art that I could think of to fight off my attackers while using my mind-reading powers to stop their attacks. What was bad was that we were being pushed back and more kept coming into the building. Matthew was farther back than any of us. I couldn’t see Brody at all. That’s when I got hit in the face.

I had just stabbed a terrorist in the neck when I saw a rifle butt centimeters from my face. There was no time to react. Pain shot through my face as it hit me. I collapsed to the ground and so did my bo staff. The only thing I could do was pull out my Desert Eagles and start shooting as I was getting up. My face began to swell, and it was hard to aim.

Then, I saw Brody get dead-legged as he grasped his calf. A terrorist swung his fist and knocked Brody to the ground. A group of terrorists surrounded Brody and began brutally kicking and punching him. One guy raised a katana, with the tip pointed at Brody. Then, he brought it down. I thought they killed Brody. Then, a bolt of lightning came through the ceiling. Bodies went flying as Brody stood up. What he looked like amazed me.

His body had arcs of lightning all across his body. The veins and arteries glowed a deep blue and some looked like they were pulsing. His fingertips glowed the same shade of blue. Brody’s eyes were completely blue and his pupils weren’t even visible. He looked awesome.

The terrorists didn’t seem fazed by Brody’s transformation because about ten of them attacked Brody.

With his new sense of courage and a strangely amplified voice, Brody bellows, “It’s time to bring the charge.”

Brody stuck out his arm, as he usually did to shoot lightning, but this time it was different. The lightning was bigger and bolder. It sent the terrorists flying and screaming. They were already dead by the time they hit the ground.

All of them continued to fight on, but it was no use. Even with the overcharged Brody, The Black Snake pushed Matthew, Brody, and I together. It was to the point where the only way out was behind us. Brody thought we were dead.

“I guess this is it for us,” he said.

“Come off it, Shadow Charger. Keep blasting them with lightning,” Matthew ordered.

Brody followed Matthew’s order, but he only killed a few at a time. That only ticked them off even more, and they moved in. At this point, I remembered the bo staff was where I had fallen. Then, I felt like I was done for.

“Saigo no kotoba, anata wa 3-ri? Watashitachi wa min'na mimidesu.”

(Japanese) “Any last words, you three? We’re all ears.” sneered one of the terrorists.

“Anata ga saigo no ikiwosuu made, watashitachi wa anata to anata no rīdā to notatakai o yamemasen.”

(Japanese) “We will not stop fighting you and your leader until you take your last breath,” Matthew replied.

“Sore wa daitandesuga, kesshite okorimasen. Kantarotto no yōgo-sha, shinu junbi o shite kudasai.”

(Japanese) “It's bold but will never happen. Prepare to die, defenders of Canterlot,” the terrorists said, probably grinning while he said that.

As the terrorists moved in for the kill, we positioned ourselves in various battle stances. We were ready to die defending the mayor. Then, I heard a tender whisper. A whisper so quiet that I could barely hear it. Even with my enhanced hearing.

The whisper said, "Your time has not yet come.”

Then, an explosion at the front door shook the building. There was a blinding flash afterward. Bits of brick rained down on the terrorists. Some were hit and killed by them.

A glowing figure, whose head was on fire, flew through a giant hole in the building. The figure was Daniel! I think we were more surprised than the terrorists.

One terrorist shouted,” Who are you?”

In a calm and low voice, Daniel replied, “I’m the heat you can’t take.”

Author's Note

Hey, everyone. I decided to do an early release today. Thought you might enjoy that.

Chapter 7

Hello readers, my name is Daniel Baxter. Most of you know me as Lava Pit. Like with Devin in Chapter 6, Matthew let me tell part of the story. So let’s get to it. We are going to backtrack a bit; like right after Matthew, Devin, and Brody left.

The picture Matthew showed me burned a hole in my heart. Everyone thought I was going on the mission and I chose to stay behind and fester my burning rage at Flash Sentry. What would my friends think? What would Sunset Shimmer think?

I did have a slight crush on Sunset at the time. After about four weeks of getting to know her, I began to have feelings for her. I only told Flash that I thought she was attractive so I wouldn’t expose myself.

Anyway, I felt like a fool. I sat up and began to think. Leaving my friends because “secret information” had gotten out about me was stupid. I was fed up with myself.

Suddenly, I heard a voice. Not a loud or normal voice but a tender whisper. It was so quiet that I could barely hear it. Orange Bunny had left the apartment to go to the woods to meditate or something, so it couldn't be her playing one of her annoying tricks.

The voice said, “Don’t be hard on yourself, my son. You have been forgiven.”

I stood up and set myself on fire. No one was around me. Where did that voice come from, was the question that was going on in my head?

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Turn around, Daniel,” the voice commanded.

I turned around and I saw a floating, burning branch. What was weird was that the branch was not even burning up. That reminded me of how God appeared to Moses through a burning bush, except there was only a branch.

“Who are you?” I asked again.

“I Am Who I Am,” the voice said.

I quickly knelt before the branch. Silly, right? Not to me. God was speaking to me. I felt honored but also afraid.

“What is it that you need, my king?” I asked.

“I need you to rise, Daniel, so I may see your face.”

I stood up and stared at the floating stick.

“Do you know what I see when I look at your face?” He asked.

“Which face?” I questioned. “Flesh or flame?”

“Both.”

“Umm...fear. Terror. Burning hate. Explosive temper.”

“That’s not what I see. I see bravery, courage, honor, and kindness.”

“Well, what I said is what people see me as.”

“So you value how people see you over how I see you?”

That struck home. I lived most of my life thinking it mattered how people saw me. When people told me horrible things about myself, I believed it. That’s why I reacted horribly when Rainbow Dash called me a coward.

“Yes, I have,” replied looking down at my feet.

“Don’t believe everything people tell you, my son. I look at you as if those things you named never existed. You are my wonderful creation, and your powers are equally wonderful. Daniel, go help your friends. They will need it.”

Instantly, the stick’s flame flickered out, and it dropped on my cot. I picked it up but I heard a knock on the door. Then, I hurried over to the door. I opened it and there stood everyone who was praying over the team.

“What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked.

“I...I...I was thinking,” I stuttered.

“About what?” Eric asked.

“Something important. Besides, I’m not supposed to leave until five minutes ' till eight.”

“Oh.”

I let everyone in. My heart began to race when I saw Sunset Shimmer walk in. She blushed as she walked by me. I think we exchanged a silent hello.

We sat down but we remained silent. My eyes kept glancing back and forth between my feet and the stove clock. I was so nervous that Jessie had to ask me to stop tapping on the metal bar on my cot. I didn’t even realize I was doing that.

Finally, the clock changed to 7:55. I stood up and went to the door. I opened it and stepped into the cool evening.

Before I could set myself ablaze, I heard Sunset Shimmer call to me. “Daniel, be safe.”

I sighed and replied honestly, “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”

After I closed the door, my body erupted into flames. I crouched and jumped into the air. My body instinctively knew to fly. I flew about 500 feet and then I stopped. I faced the direction of the city hall. Taking a deep breath, I flattened out my body and flew as fast as my body could go.

The wind rushed by me as I flew. It was somewhat enjoyable but I kept myself focused. Then, a gust of wind caused me to fly out of control. I accidentally flew through a billboard that was advertising new propane lighters. I tried to regain control but it was no use. Eventually, I landed in the middle of the street, creating an eight-foot crater. People screamed and ran. Some of them pulled out their phones and started taking pictures. I got up, turned to the sky, and went on my way.

Finally, I saw the city hall but I ran into a problem. I saw the Black Snake sniper take the shot. Horrible thoughts ran through my head. Mainly what-if questions.

Out of a burst of fear, I threw my left hand out to shoot a stream of fire but a large fireball flew out. The fireball hit the sniper and caused a massive explosion. I flew down to where the sniper had been. There was not much left of him or where he was laying.

Bits of burnt clothes and flesh were everywhere. I could have sworn there were pieces of his head. Where he was laying, there was a gaping hole. I saw a room with a bed and desk. No one was in the room. The only intact thing was his rifle.

The rifle was a Barrett M107A1 sniper rifle, I know little about guns but from what I’ve heard, those guys have one heck of a kick.

As I was examining the remains of the sniper post, there were shouts in Japanese and automatic gunfire. I turned around and seven Black Snake terrorists charged at me. What was weird was that they looked like a formal military.

Bullets and shotgun pellets hit me but my obsidian body held strong. This is where you see the real fight.

I slung my hand and shot a shard of obsidian at the closest terrorist. The shard struck him in the chest. He and his rifle fell to the ground. By that time, the other terrorist reached me. One swung his fist at me but I caught his fist and melted it. He screamed but I fired another obsidian shard into his chest with my other hand. The next one swung a katana at my head. I stepped back and pulled out my katanas.

You see, my katanas are different. They are fused to my body and they disappear when I return to normal. Why that happens, I don’t have a single clue.

Anyway, I fought the terrorist for under a minute until I plunged one of my katanas into his head.

Eventually, I killed all of the attacking terrorists. I heard shouts coming from the street. I looked over the ledge and saw dozens of Back Snake terrorists running into City Hall. Suddenly, I saw a large bolt of lightning come down from the sky and went through the roof. My eyes widened and I jumped off the roof. I landed behind the terrorists. None of them saw me. Then, I threw two fireballs at the front door. The explosion shook the ground and sent terrorists flying everywhere. I slowly flew into the building. There were at least thirty or more terrorists with Matthew, Devin, Brody standing in front of them. All of the terrorists turned around and stared at me.

“Anatahadare?”

(Japanese) “Who are you?” a terrorist asked.

I looked down at the terrorist who asked me the question

“I am the heat you can’t take,” I replied.

The terrorists looked at each other then they were caught off guard when Brody blasted some of his terrorists with his lighting. Then, the fight continued. I shot shards of obsidian and blasted them with fire. Matthew, Brody, and Devin continued their fight with huge body counts. Within five minutes, all but one Black Snake terrorist was dead. I flew down with the others when the fight was over.

“Saigo no kotoba, terorisuto no obutsu? Watashi ga kiite iru.”

(Japanese) Any last words, terrorist filth. I’m listening,” Matthew sneered.

The terrorist yelled as he grabbed his pistol and put it to his head. Then, he pulled the trigger. Blood splattered everywhere as the terrorist fell over.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“Nothing, I guess,” Brody said.

“Not exactly,” Matthew corrected. “Mayor Mare, you can come out now. All of the terrorists are dead.”

I turned around and the mayor walked towards us. As soon as she reached the room, she threw up. After she was done tossing her cookies, she looked at me.

“Who is this?” Mayor Mare groaned.

“One of my other associates, Lava Pit,” Matthew replied.

“And who created that big hole in the front door?”

“That would be me, Mayor,” I admitted.

“Do you have any idea what it will cost to repair that?”

“I honestly don’t know but it might be a lot,” I guessed.

“Might be?! It will be a lot. But you have saved my life. That overshadows the destruction here.”

Then, I heard sirens in the distance. The police had finally shown up. I thought that was a good thing. Matthew, of course, thought otherwise.

“I don’t think that your police force or SWAT teams are going to agree with that,” Matthew said, as the sirens got closer.

“Leave if you must, but if you leave in a rush, the police will think you tried to kill me.”

“They can think what they want to think. Only you know the truth.”

We were about to leave before Mayor Mare stopped us to ask us a question.

“Before you leave, can I give you some advice?” she asked.

“Sure,” Matthew replied.

“Get a uniform upgrade. You look sloppy and unprofessional. Not exactly what the city needs from its heroes.” Mayor Mare said.

“I’ll think about it,” Matthew said.

Then in Portuguese, Matthew told us to move out. Matthew, Devin, and Brody ran out of the building while I simply flew out. By that time, the police arrived and began shooting at us. We didn’t dare fire back.

Matthew and the others retrieved the vehicles and drove off. Some police officers returned to the cars and began to drive after them. I prevented them from getting any further. I threw a fireball that exploded and created a huge crater that would be impossible to drive through. After that, I flew back home.

Chapter 8

Hey, everyone. It’s Matthew again. I hope you enjoyed the storytelling from Daniel and Devin's point of view. It shakes things up a bit.

Returning to the story, we finally arrived back at the apartment. Everyone greeted us and was glad that we were alive. We told them that Mayor Mare was alive and safe. After that, we removed our masks.

Jessie went to kiss me but she saw the cut across my chest where a Black Snake terrorist had cut me. She flipped out and ran to get some alcohol and a rag. Hannah got up and tended to Devin's wounds. Brody announced that he had an injured leg and almost died. He sat down and stretched his leg to get the soreness out. Orange Bunny only laughed at his misfortune.

I immediately went to my bedroom and laid on my bed. I kid you not, sleep came within five minutes. Morning came quicker than expected, so did the fact that my katana’s hilt was digging into my skull.

All weekend, the extraction team and I rested and tried to heal up for the upcoming school week. Eventually, our time of rest came to an end with the crappiest 7:00 am alarm chime of my life.

When the TMA arrived at CHS, the students were talking about masked and flaming vigilantes saving the mayor’s life. Some of the students heard it from their parents or a Saturday morning news report. Others read it in the Sunday newspaper. Most of the students believed the information, while the rest thought it was a rumor. Our bruises did catch a lot of the student’s attention and we had to come up with a reason that wasn’t too far-fetched. But they remained primarily focused on the vigilantes.

Later that day, we found out that Mayor Mare was holding a televised press conference at City Hall’s auditorium. She was going to tell the public and the press about what happened on Friday night. The press conference would occur during our lunch period. Many students requested that the conference would be shown. Principal Celestia agreed and said the TVs in the cafeteria would show the conference.

Almost every student was anxious. The TVs were behind were me, the TMA, and the Rainbooms sat, so everyone else was crowded around us. I could barely move my arms to eat. Dalton was squashed between the linemen. Finally, the press conference came on.

The camera zoomed in on the mayor’s face. Within seconds, she began to speak. This is what she said:

“My fellow citizens, you may have heard the rumors that masked vigilantes saved my life from the terrorist group, the Black Snake. I’m here to put those rumors to rest. They are true. Allow me to explain the events that transpired. On Friday night, there was an attempt made on my life by the Black Snake, but their plans were thwarted. Four vigilantes, who go by the names Nightwatcher, Mind Probe, Shadow Charger, and Lava Pit, saved my life from the terrorists. I didn’t get to say this to the vigilantes because they disappeared just as quickly as they arrived, but thank you for saving my life and standing up to the Black Snake. I don’t know who or what you are but you have done this city a great service. As for the Black Snake, I regret to say that we have underestimated their power. I have underestimated them. We’ve laughed at their antics and their leader. Due to this, the terrorists run rampant through the streets. Twenty-five of our police officers are dead and the most violent gangs in our fair city have free reign. The Black Snake instills fear in our hearts. We are not strong enough to face them on our own. So, I ask you, if there is anyone else like the Nightwatcher, Mind Probe, Shadow Charger, and Lava Pit, will you help me? Will you save Canterlot from the terrorists that scourge us? That’s all I ask. Now, I will answer any questions you have.”

Right about then, people began to lose interest and go their separate ways. Everyone at our table was relieved that we had room.

“So, what did you think about the press conference?” I asked.

“It was really good, in my opinion,” Brody replied.

“A bit short for a press conference but it was a good speech,” Dalton said.

“The press conference was okay,” Devin said.

Dylan kind of had the same response as his brother. Almost everyone had the same answer. Including the Rainbooms, except for Pinkie Pie, of all people, had an insightful response.

“It was courageous of her to admit that she underestimated the Black Snake. To be honest, I think I did, as well. At first, I thought they were a group of psychos. Now, I see they are powerful and really, really dangerous.”

“I think we are all guilty of that,” Rarity admitted.

“Yeah, same here. It was a rude awakening for all of us. It took a cut across the chest, getting hit in the face with a rifle butt, and dead-legged for us to figure it out,” Brody said.

“On the bright side, we are a little more prepared for what they are capable of now,” I added.

“It seems to me that if they fight dirty, so should we. You know, fight a little fire with fire,” Daniel announced.

“No pun intended?” Hannah asked.

“No pun-...you know what? Screw it. Pun intended.”

The rest of the school day was laid back and easy-going. No fights broke out, no one lost their cool, and no one had anything against one another. That’s what I call a good day.

Later that day, Daniel went to Coach Fast Ball and apologized for his outburst in his class. He also apologized to Fast Pitch for attacking her with the pen and threatening her. They both accepted Daniel's apology and forgave him. That afternoon, the roles for accepting apologies and forgiving were switched.

All of the TMA were in the apartment. Jessie was laying on the couch because she was recovering from softball practice. I was sitting next to her, listening to some music. The rest were playing video games, doing homework, and whatnot. About 6 o’clock, there was a knock on the door. Devin put down his homework and opened the door. It was Flash Sentry.

“Hi, Devin. Is Daniel around by chance?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, he is.”

Devin turned his head towards the bathroom and called for Daniel. He told him that someone was at the door that wanted him. Within a few seconds, he appeared with only a pair of gym shorts on. Daniel saw Flash but was unfazed.

“Hey, Daniel. Can I talk to you for a second?” Flash asked

“Sure. What’s up?” Daniel answered.

“I heard about what happened between you and Fast Pitch. It didn’t take me long to find out what you attacked her for,” Flash said.

“Oh, really,” Daniel replied

“I came over here to apologize for telling her about what you thought about Sunset. Fast Pitch, a group of her friends, and I were in a game of Truth or Dare. I got caught up in the Truth part and I told your secret. I’m so sorry, Daniel. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Can you forgive me?” Flash explained

“I don’t have much of a choice, Flash,”

“You don’t?”

“Nope. Forgiveness is something God asks his children to do. We are supposed to forgive the same way He forgives us. Yes, I do forgive you, man.”

“So we’re good?”

“We’re good, Flash. Thanks for stopping by.”

“Oh, that reminds me. This Friday night, I’m having a party at my house because my parents put in a new inground pool and it needs a test drive. The DJ that I hired backed out yesterday so I need some entertainment. So, do think that TOCB can show up. Levi, Dalton, and Eric can do their music as well. I’ll have pizza, drinks, finger food, etc. Nothing too big, since my parents are strict on that thing.”

“Jessie, you are the manager. What do you think?” Daniel asked.

“Sure. If it is alright with the rest of the band,” she responded.

“You had me at pizza,” Levi said

“Screw that, you had me at ‘Friday’ and ‘party’,” Lance shouted.

“I guess that decides it. TOCB will be there. What time do you want sound checks?” I asked.

“6:30 would be fine. The party is at 7,” Flash replied.

“Sounds good. See you later, Flash,” Daniel said.

Flash waved “bye” and Daniel closed the door. Then, he went to his bed and laid down on his cot. It was good to have Daniel back. He was a valuable asset to the team and a good friend.

I never told the team that Daniel almost walked out. It is not being dishonest but I thought some things are best left unsaid. Some of you may agree with me and others may not.

In the following weeks, the Teen Mutant Alliance and I waged war on the Black Snake. Everything we were taught and what we stood for was put to the test. The Black Snake became more ruthless by the day but we were ready. The people of Canterlot became more aware of who we were and how many there were of us.

Every couple of days, a new member of the TMA would go into the field. Soon all of Canterlot knew every member of the Alliance.

A local news station started doing a news report called the “War Over Canterlot”. They would give updates about the war and introduce us to Canterlot, so to speak. The news station also started a competition to give each of us a nickname. I think the prize was $500 or even $1000. Some of us got good nicknames.

Brody got the nickname, “Electric Ninja”. Devin got, "The Interrogator". Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of the competition. The people of Canterlot were idolizing us even after our horrible ways of fighting the war. That changed when I received my nickname. A 7-year old girl won the prize for this nickname, "Guardian of Canterlot". I thought it was a decent nickname that came from a second-grader.

It seemed that the fair citizens of Canterlot received us pretty well. Notice that I said, “seemed”. Not everyone liked us or appreciated what we were doing. But that is another story for another time.

Author's Note

Hey, everyone. This concludes Book 2 of the TNC series. Book 3 will be released on October 23. I need a little more time to get it ready. For now, I will be focusing on my other story, I Am Anonymous. If you would like to read that, go ahead. I won't be offended if you don't. Anyway, thanks for reading Book 2.
The Nightwatcher Chronicles
Book 3: Narcotics
Chapter 1 release: October 23, 2021.

Chapter 4

The day of the mission was coming quicker than I wanted it to. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to save Mayor Mare's life, it was the fact that we might not get Mayor Mare out of city hall alive. Stopping the sniper would be the easy part, but stopping dozens of highly skilled Black Snake terrorists storming the building would be the hard part.

During the days leading up to the mission, Devin, Brody, Daniel, and I spent most of our free time training and planning. On Wednesday night, the guys going on the mission decided to spar. Applejack said that we could use a field on the back of her family's property. When Daniel, Brody, Devin, and I got there, I didn't expect to see the Rainbooms and the rest of the TMA. They brought lawn chairs, snacks, and drinks.

"Umm...what are you doing here?" I asked.

"To see you fight each other, silly," Pinkie Pie replied.

"This isn't fighting. It's just a sparring match," Brody said.

"So? Make it a real fight," Rainbow Dash added. "TO THE DEATH!!"

"Yeah, no," I answered, flatly.

"What about one of us have to give up," Dylan suggested.

I looked at the guys behind me. They thought it would be a good idea.

"We aren't going to screw up your property, are we?" I asked Applejack.

"Nah. We don't ever use this property for nothing," she responded.

"Okay. It's your funeral."

Brody and Devin were in the first fight. They removed their shirts and pulled out their bladed weapons. We decided beforehand not to use guns since we didn't want the police coming after us.

They stood about 20 yards from each other and about 50 feet from us. Devin got into a ihen no kamae stance. Brody got into a te ura gasumi stance. There was silence for a moment. Then, in the blink of an eye, Brody and Devin run at each other. When they near each other, Devin performs a helicopter strike. Brody parried the blow and swung his katana across Devin's abdomen. Much like before, Devin blocked the blow. Brody quickly reared up his leg and side kicked. Honestly, it is a nice switch from ninjutsu to taekwondo. He caught Devin off-guard, and Devin got kicked in the face. He went flying until he hit the ground. Everyone around me either said, "oh", or "that had to hurt". All of that occurred in under five seconds.

"I thought you could read minds?" Brody taunted.

"So you want me to try?" Devin sneered as he wiped the blood dripping from his head. "Your funeral."

Devin stood up and held his staff horizontally in a two-handed grip. Brody got into a jodan no kamae stance. Then, Devin began spinning his staff. He was spinning the staff so fast, I could feel the wind being generated. I could tell Brody became nervous by the look in his eyes.

Devin charged forward while spinning his staff. Brody charged forward. Using his powers, Devin figured out Brody's next move. Brody was completely defenseless. Devin stopped spinning his staff and swung at Brody's legs. It was only later I realized Devin changed his attack because he knew that Brody thought Devin was going in for another helicopter strike. Anyway, Brody was swept off his feet and landed on his back. Devin swung his staff like a baseball bat. The staff hit Brody's katana. I guess Brody didn't have a good grip on it because the katana went flying. It landed about fifteen feet away. Instead of diving for it, Brody got up and backflipped to get some distance. Then, I saw a familiar look in Brody's eyes.

"Hey, where are you going?! I'm not done kicking your butt!" Devin shouted.

"I'm not done kicking yours!" Brody replied.

Brody extended his right arm. I saw his veins, arteries, and his scars from getting electrocuted by lightning began glowing blue. Interestingly enough, the scars looked like streaks of lightning. Then, Brody shot lightning out of his fingers. Devin expertly dodged the lightning. He often used acrobatics and enhanced agility. Finally, Brody stopped his lightning barrage. Devin held his staff at his side. He had a defiant smile on his face, but he was breathing heavily from all of his acrobatic maneuvers.

"You could at least try to hit me!" Devin shouted.

"Wasn't trying to," Brody said.

Arcs of lighting began appearing all over Brody's body. The areas that glowed when Brody used his lightning began glowing again. This time, it began to pulse. In Brody's hands were balls of lightning. I heard what sounded like dozens of birds chirping, or bats squeaking. Justin went nuts.

"Holy crap! He's doing the Chidori!" Justin yelled.

"But without the hand signs," I added.

"Weebs," Dylan said as he slapped my back.

"Ow," I grumbled. I returned my focus to the fight.

Devin must have figured out what Brody was doing. He charged at him. He was spinning his staff again. When he got close to Brody, he jumped and tried to perform the deadly corkscrew strike. This time, Brody caught him off guard. He tossed the balls of lightning at Devin. The balls hit him in the chest and he went flying. Devin's staff went flying, as well. He landed about 100 feet away from Brody. As for Brody, his body stopped glowing, and the arcs of lightning disappeared. Brody started walking toward Devin, picking up his katana, along the way. Brody poked Devin with his katana, as Devin struggled to get up. He helped Devin up and walked him over to where we were sitting.

"That hurt," Devin groaned.

"Well...you did get struck by two balls of lightning," Dylan added.

"If it makes you feel better, that wasn't at full power. The real deal would have torn you in half," Brody explained.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Devin grumbled.

Brody shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the grass. Daniel and I removed our shirts and laid them next to where we were sitting.

Daniel and I stood up and walked out to where Brody and Devin had stood. I twirled my katanas and just let my arms hang down at my sides. Daniel burst into his flame form. His long hair became a standing flame on the top of his head. Parts of his body disconnected and lava-filled in between. Lastly, his eyes transformed into lava. Two obsidian katanas grew from his back. He pulled them out and charged at me.

I waited for him to close enough, then I dodged him. I swung my katanas at his back. As I expected, they merely glanced off. Daniel is made of indestructible obsidian, so adamantium has a hard time cutting through it. Daniel turned around and shot fire out of his hands. I jumped over him just as a bit of the flame burned my pants. When I landed, I had to dodge a barrage of obsidian shards that were the size of kunai knives. Daniel threw another dozen obsidian shards, which I used my katanas to deflect. I figured out that Daniel knew that I was a close-quarters fighter so he was trying to keep me at a distance where his strength lay. What surprised me was that Daniel pulled his katanas off his back and charged at me again. I bent my knees, spread my feet to shoulder-width apart, and held my katanas at a raised position. When milliseconds, our swords clashed. The next few moments, all I could see was a blur of swords swinging and hitting each other. My only defense was my reflexes. A long time ago, I learned to rely on my reflexes rather than my skill with swords. Skill is useless when your reflexes are slow, and when you are missing a limb or two. Finally, we blade locked for a moment. The only thing I saw was Daniel's burning eyes. I felt him trying to overpower me. To break the blade block, I pushed with all my strength against Daniel using the locked swords. I performed what I call a spinning dropkick. You squat and spin around while sticking out your leg. The gained momentum will knock your opponent off their feet. I guess Daniel wasn't expecting it because he had a surprised look on his face as he fell. To put some needed distance between us, I single-handspring backward.

As Daniel got up and slid his katanas on his back, I decided to come up with a plan to beat him. I guessed that Daniel knew he couldn't beat me hand-to-hand, and I knew I couldn't beat him from a distance. Then, I noticed that Daniel's feet were no longer touching the ground. He was flying about ten feet in the air. At this point, my katanas were close to useless. I saw Devin's bo staff laying where he left it. Then, I dropped my katanas and took off running. Daniel shot fire from his hands. The fire made it difficult to get the staff but I managed to get it. I held it in an Ihen no kamae stance.

"Since when do you know how to fight with that?" Daniel asked.

"I'll let you know when I kick your butt," I replied.

I spun it around my body, to show off a bit, and held it in a charging position. Then, I charged forward. Daniel threw another barrage of obsidian shards. I let them bounce off my shield. Like a pole vault, I jabbed the staff into the ground and the momentum pushed me up. Instead of dropping the staff, I held on to it. Then, I swung the staff like a baseball bat. The staff hit Daniel in the head. The force sent him flying to the ground. He landed close to the audience. I could tell he was pissed off. His blazing body burned brighter and he was baring his teeth. However, his heavy breathing showed that exhaustion was weakening him. That was my advantage. I charged at him again, but this time, I strategically attacked all of his limbs. Daniel tried his best to block the blows with his katanas, but he was out of energy. Just because Daniel is indestructible, doesn't mean he can't feel blunt-force damage. Finally, I ended the fight with a blow to his left thigh. He collapsed and held up his hand to signify his concession.

I dropped the staff and helped Daniel to his feet. Daniel seemed frustrated that he lost to me.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I don't know. What do you think?" Daniel replied. I could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"No reason to be sarcastic, dude. You lost fair and square."

"I know. That's what is pissing me off."

The Rainbooms and the rest of the TMA let Daniel and Devin rest while we picked up the field. We went home that night and got some much-needed rest. My body ached from the fighting. I was not used to that level of fighting, which was an eye-opener.

The next day after school, the extraction team formed a decent plan for the extraction. Brody, Devin, and I would leave for City Hall around seven o’clock. Daniel would stay behind so he could take out the sniper before eight and aid us by taking out the Black Snake terrorists entering City Hall. While Daniel flies to City Hall, we’ll use that time to try to convince Mayor Mare to leave with us. I had a feeling that she would be less than compliant. If she complies, we’ll have to fight our way out of the building. During that time, Orange Bunny will call the police and Canterlot Police Department to get Mayor Mare to a secure location. It's crude and far from flawless, but regardless of that, we would have to do it.

All-day Friday, the extraction team and I were nervous. The first period felt like it took hours. My first period was Physics. The class wasn’t what I hated. It was my monotonous 70-year old teacher who made it boring.

The second period was a band. That class was a little more eventful since we were practicing music for the spring concert While that was happening, I prayed to God that the plan would work properly.

The break came around and the extraction team and I went to my “special spot” in the library. There, we went over the plan multiple times. Our talk was interrupted by Sunset Shimmer, who found us and wanted to know what we were doing. I let her know, with a look that it wasn’t the time to hang out with Daniel.

The third period was English and that was the most disturbing period of the day, to say the least.

The teacher was the head softball coach named Fast Ball, and the class was mostly composed of the softball girls. The only people that weren’t softball players were Eric, Daniel, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, and me. The coach and the softball girls mainly talked about the drama that was happening around the school.

Here’s the disturbing part: One girl exposed Daniel by telling everyone that he admitted to Flash Sentry that he thought Sunset Shimmer was attractive and had a crush on her. Daniel grew pale and laid his head on his desk. As for Sunset Shimmer, she blushed and played with her hair.

Eric, who was sitting by me, turned around, and he had a confused look on his face.

“¿A qué se debió todo eso?”

(Spanish) “What was that all about?” he asked.

“No lo sé. No sabía que Daniel sentía lo mismo por Sunset Shimmer.”

(Spanish) “I don’t know. I didn’t know Daniel felt that way about Sunset Shimmer,” I replied.

Coach Fast Ball began picking on Daniel. Poor Daniel began to groan softly and mumbling about the dilemma he was in. Then, to make things worse, Coach Fast Ball started that annoying chant that every couple hates. The problem was that Daniel and Sunset Shimmer weren’t even a thing.

“Sunset and Daniel, sitting in a tree,” Coach Fast Ball and the softball girls chanted. ''K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love. Then, comes marriage. Then comes a baby and in a baby carriage.”

I turned around and looked at both Sunset Shimmer and Daniel. Sunset Shimmer slumped down in her chair and stared blankly at the wall. As for Daniel, he just glared at me, like I had said something.

“Kradete go nožot nazad i izvadete me od mizerijata.”

(Macedonian) “Steal your knife back and put me out of my misery,” Daniel begged.

“Ik zou denken dat je snel en pijnloos wilt in plaats van langzaam en pijnlijk.”

(Dutch) “I’d think that you’d want quick and painless rather than slow and painful,” I replied.

“W tym momencie to nie ma znaczenia.”

(Polish) “It doesn’t matter at this point.”

“Bù, wǒ bùnéng. Nǐ jīn wǎn yǒu yīgè rènwù.”

(Chinese) “No, I can’t. You have a mission tonight.

Daniel laid his head back on the table. He mumbled something under his breath. Only God knows what he said because I couldn’t tell what he said.

What concerned me, with this particular situation, was that Daniel might be pushed over the edge. You may remember that I told Sunset Shimmer that he had an innate temper that was savage. Also, I was worried that he would not be focused that night. Eric must have felt the same way because he addressed the class.

“You need to quit acting like a bunch of middle schoolers. It is very pathetic that you are acting like this,” Eric announced.

“What are you, our dad?” asked one of the softball players.

No, I’m not. Daniel has an important event tonight and his focus doesn’t need to be elsewhere,” Eric replied.

“What is he doing tonight? Punching Sunset Shimmer’s V-card?” a softball player named Fast Pitch, who was sitting in the front row, asked.

That comment set Daniel off. He picked his head up off his desk and glared at the softball player with a familiar look of burning anger in his eyes. I knew this would end badly.

Daniel grabbed his pen and threw it like a knife. The pen flew and stuck in the wall near Fast Pitch's head. Everyone in the room was surprised by the pen-throwing, including me.

After that, Daniel got up and paused in front of the desk of the softball player. He told her that she was lucky he missed her head. Then, he stormed out of the room.

I told Coach Fast Ball that I would try to calm Daniel down. He let me leave the classroom and I went after Daniel. By the time I left, Daniel was about halfway down the hall. I ran and called after him but he wasn’t happy to see me.

“What do you want?” he asked gruffly.

“I want to know what the heck you were thinking back there?” I replied.

“You want to know what I was thinking? I was thinking of how many ways to kill Fast Pitch,” Daniel growled.

"We’ve talked about this. You can’t do crap like that. Now her dad might press charges.”

“Does it look like I care?”

“You should, Daniel. She isn’t one of the guys. We can shrug off that kind of thing, but she might not. I understand how being embarrassed like that feels. I wanted to give the kid, who embarrassed me, the Royal Flush, but I chose not to. You got to think these things through, man.”

“I was mainly pissed at Flash for saying something I told him to keep quiet.”

“That’s understandable. Although, you handled that situation like an undisciplined student, though. I don’t think-”

I hesitated. I remembered how I wanted Daniel to find out about Sunset Shimmer crushing on him. Well, I almost told Daniel about it. Stopping in the middle must have been strange to Daniel because his mood changed. It went from angry to confused.

“You don’t think, what?” Daniel asked, returning to his previous mood.

“Never mind that part. It wasn’t important,” I responded.

“Sure, it wasn’t.”

“As I was saying, don’t ever do that again. Everything you do is my responsibility.”

“What are you, my father?” Daniel asked.

“No, but the CIA made me responsible for you and everyone else. I chose to be responsible for you guys. One goof up, I would lose my job,” I responded.

“I don’t want to be under your ‘watchful eye’ anymore. You're not my dad, you can stop spewing your dad's wisdom on me.”

I was truly hurt by Daniel’s words. Not that I was sensitive to it, but I was the only guy willing to give Daniel a shot at being a friend.

“Daniel, this is not-”

“Shut up, Matthew. Just shut up. Consider tonight’s mission my last, then I’m out. In fact, to Hell with the mission. Don’t expect me to show up.”

“If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you. Give me your resignation in the form of a letter.

“Fine.”

Daniel walked away and left the school. I was stunned that Daniel would quit like that. Not only did I lose a valuable component to the TMA and TOCB, but I also lost a friend that needed one. For the first time in years, I began to feel defeated.

I slowly walked back to Coach Fast Ball’s room. I began to ask God what was going on. Why on Earth would he walk out on his friend? Daniel wasn’t acting like...you know, Daniel. He may have a temper, but he is loyal to his friends.

I walked back into Coach Fast Ball’s room with a dazed look on my face. Then, I sat down and hoped no one would talk to me but Eric turned around and spoke.

“What happened out there?” he asked.

“Daniel’s out. He is out of the...band,” I replied.

“What about the Teen-”

Pinkie Pie was about to say, Teen Mutant Alliance, until Sunset Shimmer told her to shut up through gritted teeth. Pinkie shut her mouth and slumped down in her chair.

Then, the fourth period came about. That period was a bit less intense. It was the Audio Visual class. Devin, Dylan, Justin, and Levi were in that class. I spent that period editing videos that were recorded a couple of days later.

The fifth period was athletics. Since it was Friday, Coaches Pig Skin, Fast Ball, and Hammer Curl allowed the boys to play two-hand touch football which quickly turned into a brutal game of tackle football. What I mean by brutal is that a couple of boys had broken noses and fingers. For about thirty minutes, I forgot about the incident with Daniel and the mission that night. The only reason I was reminded was that Brody was playing quarterback and I suggested he give the ball to Daniel since he had a knack for being an amazing fullback. Lance had to remind me that Daniel had left.

Lunch was quiet. By this point, everyone at CHS heard about Daniel’s blowup Some of the students became afraid of us while most of the kids thought it was cool that Daniel was able to get the pen on the wall.

The rest of the day was filled with ignoring teachers and mentally preparing for the mission. During the eighth period, I went to the office and paid forty dollars to get my knife back. Principal Celestia warned me not to bring it to school again. I complied and walked out of the office.

Finally, the bell rang and school was out for the weekend. Devin, Brody, and I rushed home. We had to get our gear. As we jogged home, Brody suggested we prayed after we got ready. Brody, Daniel, and I agreed to his proposal. Except now, Daniel probably wouldn’t even join us for that.

When we reached the apartment, we tossed our school stuff in a pile near the door. Orange Bunny promptly cussed us out for “being fucking sloppy”. I ignored her and went straight to my room. On the way to my room, I saw Daniel lying on his cot. He was asleep and showed no sign of getting up.

I closed the door and got undressed. Then, I put on my Nightwatcher gear. Devin and Brody knocked on my door and told me they were ready to pray. I opened the door, let them in, and closed the door behind them. We got down on one knee and began to pray.

Brody began and prayed for our safety and the safety of Mayor Mare. Then he prayed for His strength and help to stay focused and that our weapons wouldn’t fail. Devin was next. He prayed for the mission’s success. He prayed that the mission wouldn’t have too many flaws, since Daniel wasn’t going to show up. Finally, he prayed for patience, courage, and strength.

My prayer was different from everyone else. Well, the experience was different.

“Dear, Heavenly Father-”

As soon as I said those three words, a strange feeling came over me. Everything around me seemed to be frozen, including Brody and Devin. That was probably the strangest thing that happened to me.

I stood up and looked around, but no one else was in my room. At first, I had the suspicion that Dalton was pulling a prank. That idea soon faded when a blinding flash filled my room. It only lasted for a few seconds. I turned around and saw two angels standing on each side of my bed.

They had on armor that was ancient Israeli armor but it was gold. Both had spears that were about the same height and the angels that were held in their left hand with gold spearheads. In their right hand was a gold ancient Israeli shield. On their left hip was an ancient Israeli sword. I drew one of my katanas and got into a sasagakure no kame battle stance. The two angels didn’t seem fazed and looked at each other and grinned. They looked back at me.

“Who are you and what do you want?” I asked.

“Make way for the Prince of Peace,” an angel on the left ordered.

I stood up straight. Just as I did so, a bright light flashed. The room was filled with light and nothing could be seen except the angels. After about five seconds, Jesus came out of the light. This time he looked extremely different.

His hair was much shorter and his beard was groomed. Instead of blue eyes, He had hazel eyes. Also, His skin wasn’t white, it was close to Eric’s skin color. Jesus’s clothes were also different. He wore flowing robes with a golden sash on His chest that read King of Kings and Lord of Lords. On Jesus’s head, he wore a golden crown that had twelve spokes. Each had a different precious stone in it. The stones I could see were carnelian, chrysolite, and beryl. He looked like a king. A king that should rule all nations for eternity.

Not out of fear but out of respect for my king, I knelt and bowed before Him. I placed my katana in its sheath.

“My son. Please rise,” Jesus said.

Following Jesus’s command, I stood up. He looked at the angels and spoke to them. He told them to return to Heaven so Jesus and I could speak alone. The angels obeyed and with the same blinding flash, disappeared. As for Jesus, He reached out and hugged me. I hugged him back.

“It’s good to see you again,” Jesus said.

“Same here. How’s Mom and Dad?” I replied.

“Perfect.”

“I should’ve figured. What do I owe for pleasure?”

“You know, the usual.”

"Right. I don’t know of anything that requires your help. That is, besides the mission.”

“It's not the mission to save Mayor Mare that I’m here for.”

“Then what?’

“I’m here in regards to Daniel Baxter. Not your mission.”

“What you're saying is that you are here to help me so I can help Daniel with his current predicament? Am I right?”

“You are correct, Matthew.”

“Okay, what am I supposed to do? Trying to talk to him was a bad idea.”

"It was a good idea but you chewed him out for his actions for most of the conversation. I’m not saying that Daniel was right for throwing a pen at Fast Pitch. You handled that, okay, but you made the situation worse by not letting him express his feelings and not trying to comfort him. He is truly hurt about the softball girls making fun of him. Remember the last time something like that happened to Daniel and what you did.”

I thought back to high school. As I mentioned, Daniel had an explosive temper that was sometimes close to controllable. He was kind of withdrawn and quiet when he arrived at Harleton High School. He remained that way for a good while. Mainly, he was still emotionally scarred from his father leaving. Daniel told someone about his past. Then they spread it around the school to see how Daniel would react. Not too long after that, he beat the crap out of the boys who spread it. Afterward, I found Daniel and calmed him down. It worked and that’s when I found out he had powers.

“See, you should have done that instead of chewing him out the entire time,” Jesus said.

“You're right. I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“I forgive you, my son. Just remember that you need to talk to him, not at him,” he added.

“Roger that.”

“Before I go, remember that my Father and I are always with you, your family, and your friends. Including your new ones.”

“I will.”

“Until next time, goodbye, my son.”

“See ya.”

A blinding light appeared behind Jesus. He waved as He backed up into the light. Jesus disappeared and a thunderclap boomed in my room. My vision went black but returned to normal. It seemed as if it had resumed and I was back on my knees. For some odd reason I said, Amen, and everyone stood up.

“Good prayer, Matthew,” Devin said as he patted me on the back.

“Umm..thanks,” I replied.

“ I’ve got one question, though. Why did you pause for like twenty seconds,” Brody asked.

“I...had to...think of the right words to say. Tonight is a tense night.”

“That's fair.”

I glanced at my watch, as I walked out of my room. It was five o’clock. We had three hours until the Black Snake sniper took the shot. Brody suggested we leave at seven so we could have time to go over the plan once more at City Hall. Daniel rolled over on his cot and told us to shut up. I didn’t even realize we had woken him up.

Devin pointed out that no one else was in the apartment. I pulled out my phone and texted Jessie where everyone was. About three minutes later, she sent a picture. It was a picture with everyone in the gym. Including the Rainbooms and Flash Sentry. The rest of the Teen Mutant Alliance were in a circle, with their arms around each other. Jessie said they were praying for us. Hannah was in the background with the Rainbooms and Flash Sentry. She had her Bible in her right hand, with it open. I asked Jessie what Hannah was doing. She replied and said she was teaching them to pray. Hannah was using the passage where John asked Jesus how to pray. Better known as the Lord’s Prayer.

I showed the guys the picture. Devin and Brody grinned and encouraged each other. Daniel overheard us talking about the photo. He asked for the picture. I went over to him and showed him the photo.

Here’s the thing. I could’ve sworn that look of remorse came over Daniel’s face. Also, Daniel might have said, Holy crap. What have I done?, in Hawaiian. I was hoping the photo would help him decide to have a change of heart about the mission.

I told Devin and Brody to be ready to leave at 6:55. They gave me a thumbs up and then I returned to my room. I spent the next fifty minutes listening to our music. Eventually, the time came to leave so I put my phone on my nightstand and left my room.

“Gentlemen. It’s showtime,” I announced.

Brody grabbed his katana and slid it into its sheath. Then, he slipped on his mask which looked like a ski mask. Devin grabbed his bo staff and put it on his back. There is a large magnet on his back. Then, he put on a breathing apparatus that was similar to mine. I did the same with my breathing apparatus.

We left the apartment and went to our vehicles. After that, we got on them and cranked them. We drove off to prevent an act that we performed many times.

Author's Note

Sorry for the late release, this chapter took longer to write than I thought. The fight scene at the beginning of this chapter took a while and college preparations also contributed. Hope you enjoyed it.