Chapters The Nightwatcher Chronicles: Narcotics
Three months had passed since the assassination attempt on Mayor Mare’s life. The war against the Black Snake spread across the city. It seemed to not affect our fight against Hamato and the Black Snake. It was very aggravating. Not only that the support for the Teen Mutant Alliance dropped for the most stupid reason. Our suits. The Teen Mutant Alliance and I were using what we had and worked with it. It’s what we fought for was that mattered, not how we looked.
Then, a big-name clothing line designer started bad-mouthing us by calling us “hobos” and “street scum”. As usual, I ignored it and carried on with our fight against the Black Snake. I tried tuning out the “noise” until about a week later after that clothing line designer made her slightly demeaning comments
Jessie, Rarity, and I were at a spa that was close to Rarity's house, which was ten miles away from the apartment complex. I’m not a spa-going person. I’ll clip my nails via my teeth and I don’t need skin moisturizers even though I have a dry skin problem. Jessie persuaded me into going by promising to cook my favorite breakfast the next morning. It was mildly embarrassing because I disliked being touched in ways that make me uncomfortable. A spa would be an excellent example of that.
Anyway, they were soaking in a hot tub that had essential oils in the water while I was being rubbed down with skin moisturizers, trying to make the best out of my less-than-comfortable situation.
“So...umm...what do you think about the Teen Mutant Alliance?” I asked the lady who was rubbing me down, whose name was Mint Oil.
“They’re decent people, I suppose. Besides beating criminals up and killing terrorists,” Mint Oil replied. “Although their attire isn’t all that impressive.”
“What makes you think that?”
“To be honest, they look like a bunch of slobs running around. Not like a disciplined group of…of...Elie, what was the word you used to describe the Teen Mutant Alliance?”
“Vigilantes,” the other lady replied, who was in the back smoking.
“Vigilantes, that’s it. When I saw the Blitzing Knight, Cloaked Hunter, and Shadow Charger about a week ago, I thought they were homeless until I saw their weapons.”
“Maybe they don’t care about how people think they should look.”
“Perhaps, but as my mother used to say, ‘Mint Oil, when you want a job in the future, dress for it. Don’t look like a bum.’”
I thought about what she said. Deep down, I knew she was right. Three months ago, that Diamond Dawg had acknowledged that I looked less than intimidating, and Mayor Mare said that we need a suit redesign. Perhaps it was my stubbornness that was the reason why I refused to listen.
“Maybe you’re right, Mint Oil,” I said, quietly.
“If only the Teen Mutant Alliance would listen to our opinions, but I'm sure they are more focused on their war with the Black Snake, which is perfectly understandable,” Mint Oil sighed.
“I know where the Nightwatcher hangs out when he’s on patrol. I could put in a good word for you,” Rarity announced. “Let’s just hope he listens.”
I was still thinking about the uniform situation until an unpleasant smell filled my nostrils. It smelled like a tea I used to drink in Brazil, called chimarom, but it also smelled like a mixture of sugar and skunk spray. The woman, who was named Elie, walked back into the room but she looked different than when she walked back there to smoke.
She was glazed over and looked a lot more relaxed than when she went back to smoke. When she walked past me, the smell followed her. I knew that she wasn’t sprayed by a skunk while she was smoking. She had been smoking marijuana. Jessie must’ve smelt it too because she wrinkled her nose.
“Es marihuana, Jessie.”
(Spanish) “It’s marijuana, Jessie,” I told her.
“That was a good hit! You should try some of it!” Elie shouted, sounding extremely high.
“Quite, Elie. You’re disturbing the customers,” Mint Oil scolded.
“You be quiet, bitch!”
The ladies argued back and forth for a solid ten minutes. I think it was safe to say I was a lot more uncomfortable and awkward than when I first walked into the spa. Finally, Rarity said something.
“I think we’ve spent enough time here,” Rarity announced, nervously.
Rarity and Jessie got out of the hot tub, grabbed a couple of towels, and went to the register to pay for the treatment. I managed to shoo Mint Oil away and leave with the girls.
“What were you talking about that required you to speak in a different language?” Rarity asked curiously, as we left the spa.
“Elie had been smoking marijuana in the back,” Jessie responded.
“Marijuana? Where did she get that?” Rarity asked.
I just shrugged my shoulders.
“It seems to me that Headhunter is dabbling in drug dealing. That makes the war against the Black Snake much more difficult,” Jessie said.
“No kidding,” I grumbled.
Later that night, I was on patrol in the business district of Canterlot City. For the most part, it was quiet. It was when some motion in a parking lot in the park caught my attention. I climbed into a tree to get a better look. Two Black Dragon gang members walked out from behind a van. They had on blue jeans, grey t-shirts that had a large black dragon on them, and black jackets. One gang member was armed with a TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol, and the other one had a shotgun that resembled a Mossberg 500 tactical shotgun. Another one had a large, silver briefcase in his hand. They had begun looking around and acting suspiciously. Five minutes later, four Black Snake terrorists appeared from the shadows.
The terrorists’ arrival got my attention. One of them had a black duffle bag, and he tossed it on the ground. The Black Dragon with the case opened it up, and I saw stacks of money.
“Is that the exact amount?” the terrorist asked gruffly. The heavy Japanese accent was very prominent.
“No more, no less than thirteen thousand, as requested,” the gang member replied slyly. “Now, show me the merchandise.”
The terrorist laid down his Mk-47 and opened up the duffle bag. In the duffle were bags of this white stuff that looked like bricks of crystal quartz wrapped in plastic, except it wasn’t. It was bricks of cocaine. It looked like the unrefined stuff, which is better known as crack cocaine. At this point, I knew it was time to intervene.
I pulled out both of my pistols and killed the Black Snake terrorists. They didn’t even have time to reach for their weapons. The gang members saw me jump down from the tree. I ran towards them as they began to shoot at me. Bullets and pellets hit my shield but the Black Dragons kept shooting.
I jumped down from the tree and did a taigāsurō no ha move on the closest Black Dragon. His head hit the ground and lay there, unconscious. Then, I used my pistol to hit one of the other members across his head and he collapsed. The last gang member dropped his TEC-9 and got into a Bobi no kamae stance. I was impressed.
“You know ninjutsu?” I asked as I holstered my pistols.
“I was taught by the best sensei in Canterlot,” the Black Dragon sneered.
“Let’s see how skilled you are.”
I threw the first punch to test his reflexes and they were very fast. He blocked my punch with his forearm and used his other elbow to throw a left hook. Seizing a perfect opportunity, I punched his elbow and I heard his elbow crack. He screamed in pain. Then I switched over to judo and did an Ippon seoi nage move. He landed on his back with a loud thud.
“Mercy. Have mercy, please. I beg you,” the gang member pleaded.
“Why are you buying drugs from the Black Snake,” I growled as I pulled out a katana and pointed it at his face.
“They offered us protection from the police if we said we would sell this stuff,” he cried.
“Who are you selling it to?”
“Anyone who will buy it. It’s $162.50 s a kilo.”
“That’s expensive, even for crack.”
“Hey, I’m not making the price tags here.”
I walked over to the duffle bag. There were at least twenty bricks of cocaine in the bag. I reached out and took out a brick of cocaine and began walking away.
“What are you doing with that? Are you going to snort some yourself?” the gang member asked.
“No. I’m going to have an associate of mine check out this stuff to make sure you weren’t being set up.
I turned around to go to my motorcycle but a woman from behind me told me not to move. I turned back around and I saw her pointing a small .22 caliber pistol at me. The woman was none other than Mint Oil herself. She alternated pointing the gun at me and the gang member, who was still on the ground.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m keeping you two hobos here until the cops get here,” she replied nervously.
I grunted and turned around to return to my motorcycle. Then, I heard two gunshots. Two bullets hit my shield where my right shoulder would be. Rolling my eyes, I kept on walking into the darkness. Police cars came around a corner on the far end of the park. Thankfully, I had a motorcycle parked under a tree not too far away.
As I cranked it and drove away, I remembered what Mint Oil had called me and the Black Dragon gang member. She didn’t even recognize that I was the Nightwatcher. That was the last straw. I drove angrily back to the apartment. I had enough with the hobo bullcrap.
Eventually, I arrived at the apartment complex but I had to turn off my motorcycle to avoid waking everyone in the complex up. After pushing the motorcycle to my parking space, I walked up the stairs and went inside the apartment.
Lance, Dylan, and Eric were still awake while everyone else was on patrol. They were playing cards while Orange Bunny was playing a first-person shooter game on the computer. They didn't notice I had come in. I tossed the brick of cocaine on Orange’s desk.
“I need you to analyze the contents in that brick,” I ordered Orange Bunny.
“Fine. It better be worth my fucking time,” Orange Bunny grumbled.
I sat down on the couch and removed my mask.
“That was unbelievable,” I grumbled
“What happened?” Eric asked.
“The names we get called because of our uniforms,” I replied.
“Wait. That is what is got you in a bad mood?” Lance questioned.
“Yes. I'm on the verge of getting that upgrade that everyone is telling us to get,” I announced.
“It’s about time. Devin is complaining that he has a hard time using his bo staff,” Dylan informed.
“He’s been complaining about that for months, dude,” I said.
“The question is, who are you going to ask to make the uniforms?” Lance pointed out.
“It has to be someone that knows that we are the Teen Mutant Alliance. We can’t afford to tell anyone else,” Eric added.
“Ha. I’d love to hear that conversation. ‘Hello, So And So. My friends and I are the Teen Mutant Alliance and we need a suit upgrade because we are embarrassed about the way we look. So please-”
“I get your point, Lance, you don’t have to mock me. Besides, we know someone who can make the suits for us.”
“And who would that be?” Eric asked, suspiciously.
“Rarity. Duh,” I replied.
“When are you going to ask her about the upgrades?” Lance asked.
“I’ll figure that out sooner or later,” I replied.
“Let’s hope she’ll agree to it,” Dylan stated.
“She will. Rarity owes Devin and me a favor for saving her from a situation that happened a couple of weeks ago.”
“I finished analyzing the shit you gave me,” Orange Bunny announced.
“And?” I asked.
“It's 100% refined cocaine. Where did you find this shit.,” Orange replied, a little loudly.
“The Black Snake. They have been selling drugs to the gangs so they can sell it to people who’ll pay for it.”
“How much a kilo?” Lance asked.
“$162.50 a kilo,” I answered.
“That’s pretty expensive for a kilogram of cocaine.”
“How would you know, Lance,” Dylan questioned.
“My older brother, David Wallace, dealt drugs before I was born. My family lived in Virginia and he and a couple of his friends were dealing with a bunch of jocks from the local college when the police showed up. He pulled out a gun and began shooting. Five cops died that night and David was the only one that was caught. He was convicted and five years later, he got the needle. When my powers came up, I swore that I’d stop drug dealers so people don’t end up like my brother,” Lance explained.
Eric asked Lance who told him the story. He said that his parents told him the story and they found out about his drug dealing business when they found a list of each drug with a price of how much each kilo was worth.
“Lovely story, Lance. Now, what do I do with the fucking coke?” Orange snapped.
“Have Daniel burn it when he gets home from patrol,” I replied.
I went into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. After removing my weapons, I changed into a pair of shorts and went to bed. The guys played Uno for about another hour before they went to bed.
As I laid down on my bed, I thought about how I was going to ask for the upgrades but I fell asleep before coming up with a decent plan. Then, I had a dream that was interrupted by Jesus.
I was sitting on the beach with Jessie, holding her hand when the Lamb of God himself walked by. He was wearing red swim trunks and He didn’t have a shirt on. To be honest, I expected him to have six-pack abs but no dice.
“Hello, my son. I need to speak with you,” Jesus greeted.
I told Jessie had to leave and she released my hand.
After getting up, I walked with Jesus a little way down the beach until He started talking. He had a serious look on his face so I decided to pay special attention.
“We’re alone. What’s up?” I asked, curiously.
“I’m here in regards to Lance.”
“First, it’s Daniel. Now, it’s Lance. What’s wrong with him? He seems fine to me.”
“He may seem like it, on the surface. You already know not to judge a book by its cover. Notice how Lance sounded when he talked about his brother.”
“Lance did sound a little choked up.”
“He’s very serious and passionate about stopping the distribution of drugs. If I were you, I’d let him help with it.”
“No disrespect, Jesus, but I can't fight a war on drugs and against the Black Snake. It would be a war on two fronts. You saw how that worked for Adolf Hitler. He failed miserably.”
“You’re right, Matthew. Here’s the difference between you and Hitler. First, you have me as a guide. Hitler had mere mortals, who were evil, as guides. Second, I’m telling you how to fight a drug war.”
“Remember when David went to attack the Philistines and he asked how to attack them?”
“Yes, I do.”
“And remember how your father told you that you were like David in many ways?”
“Yes, I do. How do I stop the next drug deal?”
Jesus grinned and gave me this order.
He said, “When you get your upgrades, go interrogate the Black Dragon gang members in prison. They’ll talk. I promise.”
“Okay.”
The dream ended and I woke up. The sun was just coming up and a cardinal was singing just outside my window.
The Nightwatcher Chronicles: Narcotics
I rolled out of bed and got dressed. I didn’t know if anyone else was up so I made it a priority to be extra quiet. Not exactly hard for me since I was an assassin. I went to my bathroom to trim up my beard and comb my hair. Then, I put on my backpack, grabbed a protein bar, and left the apartment.
The reason I want to go to school early is that Rarity went to the school to prepare the Home Economics room. Rarity was the assistant to the teacher since she could sew and cook. Rarity was supposed to be in the Home Ec room but that wasn’t the case today. I looked for her in the classroom but she wasn’t there. I decided to go look for her at her locker, and she was there like I predicted.
I walked up to her but her locker door was blocking her view. She was putting on make-up. Five minutes later, she finished and closed the locker door.
“‘Sup,” I greeted.
“Aaah,” she screamed“A little jumpy this morning,” I chuckled.
“I didn’t see you standing there. What are you doing at school so early? You’ve been late to school all last week.”
“The war against the Black Snake has been taking a toll on me.”
“I can tell. So, what brings you here to my locker.”
“Remember when you told Devin and me you owed us one for saving you?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“I need to call in that favor. It's a big one.”
“What is it, Matthew?”
I scratched the back of my head and sighed. One of my characteristics is that I hate caving, and I knew Rarity would milk it for all it was worth. My stubbornness has a lot to do with it.
“The team and I need suit upgrades,” I requested.
“What’s that? I didn’t quite hear you,” Rarity announced, trying to annoy me.
“The team and I need suit upgrades,” I repeated.
“I still couldn’t hear you. Can you repeat what you said?”
“You heard what I said, Rarity.”
“I’m messing with you. Can’t you mutants take a joke?”
“Yes, we can. So how about it?”
Rarity reopened her locker and dug around in it. She pulled out a folder filled with paper. She handed it to me. I opened it, and I saw a bunch of suit designs. Each page had three designs on it.
“You already knew I was going to ask you about the suit upgrades?” I asked
“Orange Bunny was the one who knew you would. Orange and Dalton have been working together on some technology for you all,” Rarity responded.
“I’m somewhat ticked about being kept in the dark but I’m more impressed with the initiative to start on this.”
I started thumbing through the designs. All of the designs were very nice. Some of the designs had armor. Brody had a symbol on his suit. Then, I noticed something about Devin’s suit design. Unlike the rest of us, his suit was sleeveless.
“Can you explain why Devin’s suit doesn’t have any sleeves?” I asked.
Rarity blushed. I groaned and rolled my eyes. She was smitten with Devin Cochran. My question was why Devin of all people. He was not exactly the dating type. That was just the way he was. Not only that, he wasn’t even her type.
“Well...umm...I thought it would be beneficial since...you know, he uses a quarterstaff and he needs to be flexible,” Rarity explained, obviously lying.
“Sure, Rarity. Your blushing is a huge indicator that you have a crush on Devin and you just want to see him in a sleeveless suit.”
“Devin? Matthew, you’ve lost your mind,” Rarity replied.
"Indirect eye contact and dilated pupils are a huge indicator that you are lying. So do you or don’t you?”
Rarity sighed. “Yes, I do, but please don’t tell him. I want him to find out on his own.”
“Fine. Just a fair warning, he isn’t boyfriend material.”
“Oh. That’s unfortunate.”
Rarity had a look of disappointment come across her face, but she quickly shook it off.
“Anyway. You show the rest of your team those designs and they can pick one of the three designs. I can get them done within a week.”
“Good. I’ll show them during Break. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I slipped the folder into my backpack and walked away. The Physics room was on the second floor. Eventually, I arrived in the room. Dylan was in there talking to Brody. Brody didn’t even have Physics 1st period. I sat in the seat next to Brody.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I got my schedule changed. I dropped out of Art because ‘my talent lies elsewhere, as Mrs. Pastel put it,” Brody explained.
“So...she basically said you that you suck at art.”
“Yeah, to put it rudely.”
I pulled out the folder that Rarity gave me. Dylan and Brody gave me a confused look. I pulled out the pieces of paper with “Shadow Charger” and “Blitzing Knight” written on it. They seemed interested in the designs.
“Pick a design, so I can give it to Rarity later,” I instructed.
“It’s so hard to decide. All of them look awesome, but I guess I’ll go with option two,” Brody stated
“I noticed that the suits resemble Spider-Man’s black international suit, but minus the mask,” I added
“It’s going to be hard to let go of my old suit. I have had that since my first mission,” Dylan announced.
“I remember that. The mission to Zhytomyr,” Brody recalled.
“Remember when we had to chase the weapons truck to Odessa?” I asked Dylan.
“Yeah. I ran out of gas twice. Then, we had to go to Bulgaria. That mission took way too long,” Dylan replied.
“What mission?” someone asked.
I turned around and Flash Sentry was standing behind us. He sat down in front of me. I didn’t want to tell him about the mission, but Flash seemed interested.
“It was Dylan’s first mission. We had to go to a country called Ukraine. Specifically, a city called Zhytomyr,” I explained.
“What happened?” Flash asked.
“There was a Ukrainian mob boss that was supplying weapons to socialist rebels in a country called Bulgaria. The rebels were closing in on the nationalists. We had to shut down the supply of weapons in Ukraine. Later, we found out the last supply came from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. We finally intercepted it in Bulgaria, around the town of Plovdiv. I accidentally shot a box of mortars instead of a Bulgarian rebel that was shooting at me. The truck exploded and killed an eleven-year-old girl. About an hour later, Dylan and I were on our way back to the United States.”
“Besides the dead little girl, it sounded like a cool mission.”
“Not really, but Dylan held his own very well for his first mission.”
We talked for about another ten minutes until the bell rang and kids began to come in, but the Physics teacher, Mr. High Frequency, didn’t show up at all. We sat there for a little bit until Vice Principal Luna arrived.
“Attention, students. I have some bad news, Mr. High Frequency had a heart attack this morning and he is in ICU at Canterlot General Hospital. I don’t know if he had any work for you to do so don’t do anything stupid. Study for a test, read a book, or go to the library right after I take attendance,” Vice Principal Luna announced.
She pulled out her phone and took attendance. When Luna left I turned to Dylan and Brody and began talking about last night.
“Dylan, het iemand anders gisteraand 'n dwelmbussing gehad?”
“aelv Hannah lae Devin daihed phuakkhao thangsong daichab kummangkon dam thi khai okhkhen.”
“Sizinandidabwitse ngati iwo anali kugulitsa zochuluka kuposa cocaine ndi chamba.”
“Mod wieħed biss biex issir taf.”
“ich weiß.”
I texted the rest of the Teen Mutant Alliance to meet me in the library during Break for “something urgent”. I received nine text messages asking me “why” or “what for”. I simply replied with “just be there”.
Eventually, 1st period ended, and I went to the band hall. Most of the band was missing because of a field trip for something. Mrs. Treble Clef got mad at Hannah for disrupting class because she was trying to get my attention. I assumed she wanted to talk about my text message.
Eventually, Break arrived and went to my special spot in the library. The team arrived a little bit afterward with irritated looks on their faces.
“Okay, Matthew, we’re here. What do you need us for?” Lance asked.
“Some of you may be aware of some changes I’ve decided to make to the TMA. For those who are unaware, we are getting suit upgrades,” I informed.
“It’s about time,” Devin said
“Thank God. My suit sucks,” Levi announced.
“I don’t think I need a suit because of obvious reasons,” Daniel added.
“Rarity didn't have a suit design for you, so I guess she considered your abilities. Hannah, what about you?” I asked.
“I could use a suit redesign, I'll coordinate with Rarity about the materials that are used in my suit,” Hannah replied.
I passed out the suit designs. Everyone looked at them, and they seemed intrigued. Some made their decisions quicker than others. I decided to go ahead and choose my suit while we were at it.
Honestly, all of the designs were amazing but I ended picking the third option because it looked casual. I wasn't interested in something fancy. Everyone finished picking the designs they liked and handed the pieces of paper back to me. After placing the sheets in the folder, I placed them in my backpack. The bell rang and the team. I stopped Lance before he could leave to go to class.
“Hey, Lance, walk with me. I need to talk to you,” I said.
“Sure. What’s up?” Lance asked.
“I wanted to tell you that you will semi-spearhead this drug war thing we’ve initiated,” I informed.
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I thought about fighting a drug war and thought it was a bad idea.”
“What changed your mind? Usually, once you make your mind up, you don’t change it.”
“Consider this one of the few times where I do change my mind. Anyway, I had some ‘motivation’ that persuaded me.”
“Motivation?”
“I wasn’t sure I could do anything with this drug war, decision-wise, that is. Do you think we can do it?”
“Yeah. The team has the capabilities to take on both the Black Snake and the drugs.”
“I guess we can give it a shot.”
“That sounds alright to me. We’ll talk after school about what we’ll do.”
Lance and I parted ways as I headed to English. We were supposed to finish some analytical questions on a chapter of the books we were reading. It was Equestria’s version of Oliver Twist. It was called Cinnamon Twist. The book was a lot less dark and less violent than our dimension’s book. Anyway, the TMA members and the Rainbooms that were in there had already finished so we talked about the drug busts that occurred.
“Daniel, I heard you stopped a deal last night,” I stated.
“Yes, I did. It took place around midnight in the supermarket parking lot. There was around a hundred thousand bucks worth of coke in four duffle bags,” Daniel responded.
"Can I assume the Black Snake was selling it to the gangs?"
"You'd be assuming right."
"Did the police show up?"
"The police came when someone spotted me fighting the gang members."
“It’s not every day you see a flying guy on fire,” Eric explained.
“Wait. Did I hear you say that the Black Snake was selling drugs to gangs,” Sunset Shimmer asked.
“Yep,” I answered.
“Why are they selling cocaine?” Pinkie Pie asked loudly.
Eric, Daniel, and I shushed Pinkie. I told them that they were to never mention it in public again. Then, Sunset Shimmer changed the subject.
“I heard you guys are getting suit upgrades. Is that true?” Sunset Shimmer posed, quietly.
“Yeah, it’s true. Let me guess, Rarity told you?” I replied.
“Well, it’s about time! You guys look like you live in a dump and decided to fight crime!” Pinkie Pie announced
“Ali kdaj drži jezik za zobmi?”
“Ik denk het niet, Matthew.”
“Je suis d'accord avec Eric.”
Once again, I chewed out Pinkie for opening her mouth. Thankfully, everyone else in the class ignored Pinkie’s outburst. The rest of the class period was spent playing video games on our phones and discussing Canterlot’s drug problems. Sunset Shimmer invited me to play video games on her gaming channel on the internet. I wanted to but the video game was a game Orange Bunny made, so I suggested another game. Not that Orange Bunny did a bad job; it was the fact that it was based on the American Civil War. According to Equestrian History, no such civil war occurred.
Lunch came around and I returned the folder to Rarity. She told me that the suits, the new technology, and the rest of the gear would be ready within a week. That surprised me because there were nine of us who were getting new suits.
Three days later, Orange Bunny called me in the middle of school to come home so she could show me something. I ended up telling Principal Celestia that I had an emergency and I need to return home. Thankfully, my story worked, and I went to the apartment. When I got there, Orange Bunny was waiting for me at the door.
“About fucking time you get here,” Orange Bunny grumbled.
“What was so important that you had to call me at school?” I asked as I closed the door.
“Grab your katanas and follow me.”
“For what?”
“You’ll see.”
I grabbed my katanas and Orange led me outside. I was praying no one would notice us because a mutated rabbit was walking in front of me, and I was carrying a pair of Japanese swords. It would give me and the team unwanted attention.
Eventually, Orange Bunny led into the woods that was behind the complex. In the woods was a large metal building with one door and one garage door. The building had no windows, as well. Orange went to the door, which had two keypads next to it. One close to the ground, and the other about four feet higher. Orange Bunny put in the passcode, and I heard the door unlock.
I followed Orange Bunny into the building, and I was amazed at what I saw. There was advanced computer equipment, metalworking equipment, tools, workbenches, and more.
“Where did you find this stuff, Orange Bunny?” I asked.
“Stuff I put together in the past few months. Most of it, I used to make the suit upgrades. But the main reason I wanted you to come here is for you to test out a new piece of equipment I created.”
Orange Bunny led me to the device, which was in the back. It looked like a plasma cutter. Orange Bunny made it very clear that it was not a plasma cutter. I couldn’t tell what she meant until I saw a computer next to it, unlike a usual plasma cutter.
“What is it?” I questioned, examining the machine.
“It’s an engraving device, dumbass. See the engraving needle,” Orange grumbled.
“Okay. Why did you build this...engraving machine?”
“The reason is, you impatient fuckwad, is that I build it to engrave the toughest metals, even adamantium.”
“How?”
Orange got on the machine and opened a small latch and I saw a pink-ish glow within the wires. For some reason the glow began to pulse and make a low, humming noise.
“I used a Chitauri explosive device to power the engraving machine.”
“Where did you get that?! I thought all of that went to the Damage Control Vault.”
“Fuck no. The billionaire shitwad, Tony Stark, kept some. When we went to New York, I jacked one of the explosives from Avengers Tower. Then, I hid it in a lead box.
“I can’t believe this. Do you have any idea what it will do if it is exposed to any type of radiation?”
“Duh. There’s a fucking reason why I don’t use anything that is fucking radioactive. Now if you’re done chewing me out the fuck out, I’ll show you how this thing works.”
Orange Bunny told me to lay one of my katanas in the clamp that was under the engraving needle. Reluctantly, I laid it down and I tightened the clamp. Then, Orange Bunny turned the computer on and told me that I could download an image or type something. Then, the machine would scan the object, and you could pick where the engraving would go.
I typed the word “trust” but I translated it into Japanese. The device scanned my katana and it showed a picture of one monitor. I placed the Japanese character near the hilt.
The machine came to life and the engraving needle came down and began engraving. Sparks flew as it engraved “trust” into my katana. In ten seconds, the word was perfectly engraved in the sword.
“Put more than one word on you katana, shitbrain,” Orange told me, “ Why do you have to stick to the fucking basics.”
I put the Japanese characters for “loyalty” and “faith” on my katana. Orange Bunny asked me why I put those specific words on the sword. I said those words were the foundation of friendship and working as a team. Orange Bunny thought it was stupid.
After I finished with my first katana, I put the same words on my other katana. Orange Bunny suggested I put “Nightwatcher” on the other side of my katanas and I did so. Orange handed me some black paint that you can paint metal with and I painted the engravings. The paint made my katanas look a lot better than before. At that point, I was more excited about our upgrades than I was before.
I made the rest of the Teen Mutant Alliance come to the building that evening. As I expected, most of the team complained about it. Orange Bunny got them to shut up. When everyone got quiet, I explained why I wanted them at the building.
“You wanted to show us an engraving machine?” Lance asked
“What the heck, man. I need to finish my homework,” Justin complained.
"No, you don’t,” Hannah snapped, “ You never do your homework. You copy off of Matthew.”
“It’s more than an engraving machine. Well, it is but it can engrave into the strongest metals.”
“Titanium doesn’t count as a strong metal, Matthew,” Levi informed.
“How about adamantium?” I asked.
“There’s no way an engraving machine can engrave into the strongest metal in existence,” Dalton countered.
“It is when you use Chitauri technology, bitch,” Orange explained.
Everyone became concerned when Orange Bunny mentioned Chitari technology. The last time she got her paws on the alien tech, she resurrected about 200 dead Chitauri soldiers. The Justice League had to fight them because the Avengers were in Sokovia. It was a big mess and Orange has been banned from the Avengers Complex.
“Don’t worry. She won’t resurrect any aliens this time,” I informed.
“How does it work?” Lance questioned.
“Let me see your katana,” I requested.
Lance handed me his sword, and I placed it in the clamp. I went through the same process, I did earlier. I typed the words “trust”, “loyalty”, and “faith”, translated them into Japanese, and the machine engraved the worlds into his katana. As I did with mine, I painted the engravings with black paint. I let him engrave “Cloaked Hunter” on the other side of the katana, as well.
For the next hour, the rest of the team engraved these words and their vigilante names into their swords. Later on, Dylan had just engraved his sword and painted it. He came up to me and asked me a question.
“Matthew, why did you want us to carve those words in our swords? What does it do with us?”
“A lot. It’s the keys to friendship and being a team,” I explained.
“Makes sense. Any word from Rarity about our new uniforms?”
“Not much. She only told me they’d be done by the end of the week.”
Devin groaned and walked away. I left the building, and my sister followed me. We didn’t say much except a simple greeting and small talk.
It bothered me that Hannah and I had drifted apart after Mom and Dad were killed. She moved to Central City while I spent some time in Gotham City and traveled the world with my job with the CIA. It seemed like we didn’t even know each other anymore.
About a month after we arrived in Canterlot, I found out that Hannah got a third ear piercing in each of her ears. Jessie called me a “pathetic, older brother” because of it. The only time I set foot in Central City was when the CIA sent me to kill Carmine Falcone’s brother, Mario Falcone. Hannah only showed up to shop my so-called “rampage”. That was after I put a bullet in Mario Falcone’s head.
We walked in total silence until we reached the apartment. Hannah sighed and looked in the direction of the building. She seemed concerned about something, but I couldn’t figure it out.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
“Lance told me about you telling him he could help you lead this drug war and why you let him,” Hannah asked.
“Yeah. So what?”
“He also told me about his brother, David Wallace.”
“The one that killed five policemen and was executed by lethal injection.”
“Yeah him. Anyway, I did some research and I couldn’t believe what I found.”
“And what did you find?”
“David Wallace isn’t dead.”
Author's Note
Hey, everyone. I'm going to do frequent chapter releases since this story was already pre-written. Taking college into account, it will not be consistent release periods.
The Nightwatcher Chronicles: Narcotics
I immediately called bullcrap, even if Hannah was extremely confident in her discovery. Hannah led me upstairs to the apartment and Orange Bunny’s computer.
“Are you sure David isn’t dead? You know that every state penitentiary that carries out executions has records of every execution that has been performed that are accessible to the public,” I informed.
“That’s what I checked out. The only Wallace that was executed in Virginia was Alexander Wallace, and he was charged with the rape and murder of three teenage girls. He was convicted and executed in the 1920s,” Hannah explained.
I suggested we tell Lance about his brother not being dead, but alive. Hannah said we shouldn’t say anything until we got more proof. I disagreed with her statement, and she disagreed with mine. This went on for about five minutes until Lance and Justin walked in. Hannah and I shut up real quick.
“What are you arguing about now?” Lance asked.
“It doesn’t matter, Lance,” Hannah replied.
“Are you sure because I could hear you from the parking lot?”
“I’m sure.”
Hannah shut off the computer and went to lie down on her cot. Lance and Justin sat on the couch and began playing video games. As for me, I went into the bedroom and laid down on my bed. I got bored quickly so I turned on my computer and began looking for David Wallace.
After looking through records in the CIA database that I still had access to I eventually found David. He was alive and living in Boston, Massachusetts. He had a wife named Kara, and two beautiful daughters. Lance was uncle, and he didn’t even know it. I had more than enough proof to show Lance but I doubted Hannah would let me show him. So I held off for a little while longer.
Four days later, Rarity finished making our new uniforms. Orange Bunny and Dalton finished all of the technology and the equipment. Everyone, including Jessie and the Rainbooms, was excited.
After school, everyone went to our apartment to see us try on the new suits. Rarity asked me to go first. Orange handed me a bag that looked like an oversized lunch sack and told me to get changed.
I closed my door and opened up the bag. First, I pulled out a long-sleeved shirt and pants that, as previously stated, looked like Spider-Man’s international suit, except the shirt had gloves attached to it. I slipped on the pants and shirt. On the back of the shirt, there were two sheaths, that looked like Deadpool’s sheaths, and a hood. I picked up my katanas and slid them into the sheats. The holsters that were attached to the pants were made of polycarbonate. I slid my pistols in the holsters. I tightened the leather belt that came with the suit to where I was comfortable.
Orange Bunny yelled at me to hurry up. I rolled my eyes and continued getting changed.
There were two metal wrist gauntlets in the bag. I slid them onto my wrists. They were comfortable and snug against my forearms. Finally, there was a metal helmet at the bottom of the bag. I picked it up and examined it.
The helmet had a simple visor that went across the front. It had a design on the cheeks and a subtle “w” on the forehead. I slid it over my head. The helmet didn’t slide around when I shook my head. I put the hood over the helmet, and the hood fastened to it. I assumed the hood had magnets in it. I was a little confused because there seemed to be more to the helmet.
The helmet came to life and a bunch of HUDs (Heads Up Displays) appeared. The displays looked a lot like Iron Man and Batman’s HUDs. I was very impressed with the helmet.
“Hello, Matthew. My name is Nightwatcher Artificial Intelligence or NAI,” a female voice said, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“The same to you,” I muttered.
“Hurry the fuck up!!” Orange Bunny shouted from the living room.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I responded.
I opened the door and everyone clapped and cheered. Rarity and Jessie squealed with excitement. Orange merely grinned.
“It seems that everyone thinks you look amazing,” NAI announced.
“How do you feel?” Rarity asked.
“I feel amazing,” I replied.
“I assume you met NAI,” Dalton said.
“Yeah. She seems cool.”
“More than cool. She’s one of the most advanced AI in our dimension,” Dalton informed.
“I’m going to assume that Orange Bunny stole the AI from Tony Stark and renamed it,” I said.
“They did not, Matthew. I was created by their bare hands, so to speak.” NAI told me.
“So what can NAI do?” Devin asked
“You know how JARVIS works, right?” Orange Bunny said.
“What’s up with Orange and Tony Stark? It’s like she’s trying to compete with him,” Levi asked.
“Yeah, like a mutant rabbit could compete with a multi-billionaire that is the leader of the Avengers,” Justin laughed.
“Shut the fuck up and let me Devin’s question or I’ll shove my-”
“Enough, Orange Bunny. Please continue!” I shouted.
“Fine. NAI works the same way except for the entire butler concept. She can hack into anything that requires a computer to operate or the computer itself,” Orange Bunny continued.
“Like what?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Security cameras, doors that have keypads, and even military-grade databases. There isn’t anything she can’t hack. All of you will have her in your helmets or face masks.”
“Face masks?” Daniel questioned.
“Even though you didn’t want a suit, we thought a facemask would be an appropriate addition to disguise your true features,” Rarity explained.
“The facemasks will operate the same way as the helmets,” Dalton added.
“What else can she do?” Dylan asked.
“She can pilot your vehicles while you aren’t on them. You can summon them with a button on those wrist gauntlets and NAI will get them to you. Also, there is a radar in your helmets that NAI will use to tell you about vehicles all around you when you are driving. She can also scan fingerprints and run facial recognition on command. She can recognize people in both our and this dimension and she can act as a GPS, as well. NAI can understand over 100 languages. That’s all she can do for now. I’ll add more shit to her later.”
“What else did you create?” I asked.
“See that thing on your left gauntlet? Take a guess what it is,” Orange told me.
I glanced down at my left gauntlet. There a device resembled a miniature dart launcher. Of course, I knew that there was more to the little device than that.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” I replied.
“After two years of complaining. I created a grappling hook that is made of proto-adamantium. It can pull up to 1,500 pounds, pulls up to 35 miles per hour, and can shoot over 150 meters.”
“Finally so good tech,” Brody said.
“To activate the grappling hook, you press the button that is in between your thumb and forefinger. Once you press it, your helmets will have a target reticle that will turn red if the area is out of range, and it will turn blue if the area is in range. You can also use it like the Batclaw, too. All you have to do is pull back so the hook won’t pull you.”
“I’m going to assume you added a lot more stuff to the helmet,” I said.
Orange Bunny nodded and began to explain. There were six modes that we could choose from. She also said that more than one mode could operate at the same time. To activate a mode, you had to tell NAI to activate it.
The first mode that Orange Bunny created was the Night Vision mode. It operates a lot like ordinary night-vision, but with a twist. Instead of the HUD showing everything in green, everything would be in color, as if the lights never went off. The night vision would activate as soon as I entered low light conditions and it would deactivate in bright light conditions.
The second mode was called Thermal Vision Mode. It worked the same way as a thermal vision camera.
The third model was called Medical Mode. This one is a little more complicated. When activated, you have to tell NAI to scan one person at a time. A HUD will appear and show you the heart rate, blood pressure, any injuries, brain activity, skeleton, arteries, and organs, upon request.
Mode number four was called Combat Mode. NAI uses the radar to show where opponents are at by using red dots and allies with green dots. What’s cool was that when I pulled out my pistols, target reticles appeared wherever I aimed my pistols. It saves me the trouble of actually trying to aim. The target reticles, like the grappling hook, will turn red if the target is out of range, and it would be blue if the target is in range. Orange Bunny told us that the target reticle for Lance was different since he used a bow. Orange told us that the helmet would also give an alert if a rocket had been fired, an explosive had landed nearby, a gunshot and where they came from. NAI could use this mode to scan for threats in a crowd, too.
The next mode was named CSI Mode. As the name suggests, this mode was made for a crime scene investigation. It can show footprints and give what type of shoe it was and the size. Fingerprints and blood droplets will show up, as well. Bullet holes, casings, and shotguns shells and pellets would show up, and the mode would also show the caliber of the bullet or pellet. If a body is present, the helmet would scan it, if I give the command, and give the estimated time of death, how they died, and who they are. The downside was the helmet can only scan one person at a time.
The last mode that Orange Bunny created was Reconnaissance Mode. The helmet can pick up sound waves from human vocal cords from over 150 meters. Phone calls on both landlines and cell phones can be monitored without a bug, as well. On the side of the helmet, there is a little gadget that spins. What that does is cause the lenses in the visor to zoom in or zoom out. Orange Bunny also mentioned that a lip reader was installed but it isn't 100% accurate. The reader was 89% accurate. It is good enough for me.
Some other features that the helmets and facemasks had were integrated comlinks. The HUD would show who was speaking with sound wave bars on it. A breath filter was installed that could filter out deadly gases, smoke, and biological microbes. Along with that, NAI could identify what was in the air when we ask her to. Also, the helmets and facemasks could enhance vision to where we could see through smoke and fog. As an added feature, for Orange Bunny, there was a camera that allowed her to monitor and record our missions from either our HQ or the apartment. I was against it but there wasn’t any point in arguing with her.
Rarity got up and pulled out from behind the counter a huge duffle bag that you could probably store a sumo wrestler’s body in. She said that it was full of everyone else’s uniforms. The rest of the team got up and sorted through it. They looked like a pack of wolves digging through a deer.
Fifteen minutes later, the team had gotten into new uniforms.
We stood around admiring each other until Applejack got our attention.
“Umm..guys. Aren’t you guys supposed to be doing something?” she asked.
“I don’t know Are we?” Justin responded.
“You’re superheroes. Go protect the city, you bozos!” Pinkie announced.
“Will you keep your voice down? You are going to blow our cover,” Hannah snapped.
“Sorry.”
“Lance and I will go interrogate the Black Dragon the police picked up last week. The rest of you, go on patrol. Kill any Black Snake terrorists on sight,” I ordered.
“Where is that guy being kept?” Lance asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll ask NAI.”
“You can’t,” Orange Bunny announced.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because she’s not fucking able to, dumbass. I didn’t program her to do everything. I don’t want to get bored.”
“Fine. Just look up the location of where this guy is,” Lance said.
Orange spun around in her chair and started typing. Within seconds, she had the location of the Black Dragon. He was in a cell in a prison called Brookville Regional Penitentiary.
“NAI, give Lance and me the directions of Brookville Area Penitentiary,” I ordered.
“Sure thing. It’s about thirty miles from here,” she replied.
On the HUD, a little box appeared in the top left corner. It looked a lot like a GPS except it was blue and red.
Lance and I left the apartment and walked over to our vehicles. We cranked them and drove towards the penitentiary. The traffic wasn’t horrible so we were able to get to the penitentiary in fifteen minutes.
We had to park in the woods near the entrance because if the police saw us, they would impound our vehicles and or arrest us. Mainly, because the Canterlot Police Department police chief, Chief Silver Star, had a task force to arrest me, the team, and anyone else associated with us. Being discreet was our only option.
Lance and I found a spot at the fence about four hundred yards away. Thankfully, the cameras weren’t aimed at the spot down the way we came. Then, we encountered another problem. The 10-foot fence was a barbed-wire fence.
“Now what?” Lance asked.
“I don’t have any idea,” I replied.
“You could jump over the fence,” NAI suggested.
“I thought AIs were supposed to be smart,” Lance grumbled.
I started backing up to get a running start. Lance advised against it and suggested that we should look for a lightly guarded exit. NAI and I disagreed and went with the jumping the fence idea. I ran as fast as I could. When I was about five feet away, I jumped. Thankfully, I landed on my feet. Lance didn’t have the same result. His boot got caught on the barbed wire, and he fell face forward. It was hilarious. It took all of my strength to keep from laughing my head off.
Lance got up, dusted himself off, and we jogged up to the building. There were no windows or doors. I decided to use the grappling hook to get to the roof. I pressed the button on my glove and the grappling hook activated. Then, I aimed. The gutter was a bad idea so I aimed underneath it.
I pressed the button, the hook fired, and hit the brick with a thunk. Two seconds later, I was pulled upward. I had to reach for the wall and pull myself over the wall. Lance had the same problem, except for the fact that he almost fell off.
“Orange Bunny, can you give a schematic of the building?” I asked.
“Sure, give me a second.”
Orange replaced the GPS with a schematic of the penitentiary. We found a way into the building but it was a door that had a staircase leading to the insane asylum part of the prison. With reluctance, we opened the door and walked down the stairs.
When we got to the bottom, we accidentally came upon a guard with and a prisoner. Both of them seemed freaked out to see us. Lance lunged forward and knocked out the guard. I pulled out a pistol and pistol-whipped the prisoner.
Lance and I made our way towards the holding cells, which were near the interrogation rooms. In the cells, were mainly gang members. I saw a cell that held Black Dragon gang members but the one we were looking for was not in there.
“Hey, you two. Where’s your friend?” I asked.
The gang members looked at us and laughed. I wasn’t amused and neither was Lance.
“We ain’t tellin’ you shit,” one of the gang members laughed.
“I can tell you,” someone announced in a cell to the left.
The voice came from a gang member. Lance and I walked over to the cell. The guy was wearing the orange jumpsuit and was accompanied by three other guys. He had a scorpion tattoo on his wrist and his neck. He was a Bloody Scorpion gang member.
“NAI, run a facial recognition on this gang member,” I ordered.
NAI ran it and the guy’s name was Bloody Shank, and he was the hitman for the infamous gang. He had a rap sheet that was longer than a honey-do list.
“Where is he?” Lance asked.
“In the interrogation room, down the hall, first one on the left. You can’t miss it,” Bloody Shank answered.
“Thanks. Why willing to give up the Black Dragon guy? Aren’t you guys working together?” Lance asked.
“Working together? Ha! Do you call ratting us out the Neon Streak working together?”
“Good point,” I said.
Lance and I walked down the hall and we arrived at the interrogation rooms. Only one was being used, so we waited for who was questioning the Black Dragon to get done. About two minutes later, I heard someone slam their hand on a table inside the room. Then, a man in a suit and a security guard stood there. The man in the suit was the CPD’s best detective named Hawk Shaw.
He was shocked to see us at the door, and so was the security guard. I pushed Hawk Shaw back into the interrogation room. The Black Dragon gang member looked at Lance and me, who didn’t seem fazed by our arrival. I closed the door and locked it so no one would enter.
“What is this? You aren’t the backup I requested,” Hawk Shaw complained.
“Beggars can’t be choosers, can they?” I replied.
“Who are you?”
“I’m the Cloaked Hunter and that’s the Nightwatcher,” Lance answered.
“Oh. You’re those vigilantes fighting the Black Snake. My wife has seen you before,” Hawk Shaw announced.
“Send her my regards,” I requested.
“What brings you to Brookville?” the security guard asked, nervously.
“This scumbag you’re holding has been in contact with the Black Snake,” I explained.
“Isn’t that why he’s here?”
“He was also in possession of narcotic drugs. This numbskull was going to sell it to anyone who’d buy it,” Lance added. “We have everyone reason to believe more drug deals will occur, and he might have the information we need. So, uhh…”
I didn’t know the gang member’s name. In Spanish, I told NAI to run a facial recognition scan on him. The gang member’s name was Small Time. After identifying the drug dealer, I continued the interrogation.
“Give me the details of the next drug deal with the Black Snake. We aren’t interested in your gang, only the Black Snake,” I said.
“Listen, jackass. I’ve been chained to this damn desk for five hours. The cops have used every legal interrogation method they could think of to get information out of me. So if you think that you can walk in here and ask nicely, you’ve lost-”
I drew my knife and threw it at the handcuffs. The chain broke. With a quick stride, I stepped in front of the desk, pulled Small Time over the desk, and slammed him against the wall. Hawk Shaw almost had an aneurysm.
“The way I see it, you’ve got two options at this moment. The first option is that you can answer my question and be somewhat unharmed. Option Two is I can turn you over to Cloaked Hunter. I can guarantee you that he won’t be as nice as me and I don’t have qualms with either option. Did I make myself clear?” I growled.
“Go to hell,” Small Time sneered.
I tossed him to the floor and walked over to Lance.
“U redu, Lance, ti si na redu. Koristite bilo koji metod koji vam je potreban da biste dobili potrebne informacije.”
(Serbian) “Alright, Lance, your turn. Use whatever method you need to get the information we need,” I informed.
“Habe ich eine Linie, die ich nicht überschreiten kann?”
Germa) “ Do I have a line I can’t cross?”
“Não o mate. Precisamos dele vivo.”
(Portuguese) “Don’t kill him. We need him alive.”
Lance nodded. We walked over to Small Time and helped him to his feet. Small Time looked over at me and shot me a smirk. Just as he did that, Lance punched him in the face. Then, he started beating the crap out of Small Time. Hawk Shaw tried to pull Lance off of Small Time but got kicked in the chest. Finally, Lance picked him up and slammed him against the wall.
“When is the next drug deal!!” Lance yelled.
“Go rot in hell,” Small Time groaned.
Lance grabbed Small Time by the throat and pushed him against the wall. Then, Lance pulled an arrow out from his quiver. Then, Lance stabbed Small Time in the shoulder with the arrow. Small Time’s scream was silenced when Lance tightened his grip on Small Time’s throat.
“Nightwatcher, he can’t do this? Do something,” Hawk Shaw shouted.
“I am doing something. I’m waiting for the information I need.”
“Okay, smartass. Stop this or I’m going to call security.”
“Mǎ xiū, bǎ tā bì zuǐ.”
(Chinese) “Matthew shut him up,” Lance snarled as he drove the arrow deeper.
I pulled out my pistol and approached Hawk Shaw. He asked what I was doing, but before he could finish his sentence, I pistol-whipped him. Hawk Shaw fell to the ground. The security guard stood in the corner, in awe. I holstered my pistol and resumed watching Lance finish his interrogation.
Lance pulled out the arrow and yelled, “Tell me when the next drug deal is or the arrow goes elsewhere!!”
“Go fuck yourself,” Small Time huffed.
I could tell Lance had enough with Small Time. He reared back and aimed the arrow at Small Time’s face. Lance thrust the arrow forward.
“Okay! Stop! Stop! I’ll talk!! I’ll talk!!” Small Time screamed with what little energy he had left.
Small Time collapsed to the ground as Lance released him. I helped Small Time into the chair. Then, I cut a sleeve off Hawk Shaw’s suit coat and wrapped it around Small Time’s arm. Lance continued the interrogation.
“Alright, spill,” Lance demanded.
“That Headhunter guy wanted to take our deals up a notch. Instead of small deals in parking lots, he wanted to give us more to sell than could ever imagine. The deal is going to take place in the Furry Squirrelly warehouse on Wednesday night.”
“What time will it take place,” I asked.
“About nine o’clock,” Small Time replied.
“Is there else we should know,” Lance asked.
“Yeah. Headhunter said he’d send some of his ninjas to ‘protect the merchandise” just in case you assholes showed up. I guess they’re going to have a run for their money.”
“You guessed correctly,” I said.
I drew my pistol and pointed at Small TIme. Then, I pointed at the security guard. He gulped and he backed up a little further against the wall.
“Not a word,” I ordered. He nodded his head slowly as Lance and I turned to leave.
I holstered my pistol. Before we could reach the door, a siren began blaring and a voice came over the intercom announcing an intruder was in the prison.
The Nightwatcher Chronicles: Narcotics
"What did you do?" I asked the security guard angrily.
"I didn't do anything, but I'll check it out," he replied.
He pulled out his walkie-talkie and asked what was going on. The guy on the other end announced that they found a prisoner and prison guard in the maximum-security wing that was unconscious. Both of them confirmed that they saw masked men in the prison.
I opened the door and ran to the left. Lance was close behind me. The thought of asking Orange Bunny for directions slipped my mind because the siren continued to blare, and it made it hard to think. We arrived at a door that resembled an exit. I opened the door. Lance and I were confused at what we saw. We had stumbled into a room that had about ten or twelve people in it. They were all wearing formal clothes, some of them wore military uniforms, and they all seemed concerned until they saw us. On the other side of the room was a large window. The window showed a small room that had three men and a middle-aged man strapped on a gurney. Lance and I had found the execution observation room.
"Sorry, wrong room," I apologized
Before I could even leave the room, the man called out to me. He mouthed, "Shoot me". I considered ignoring him, but I decided to give him his last request. He closed his eyes as I drew my pistol and took aim. Then, I pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced the window and hit the inmate between the eyes. Lance and I ran off again but this time I asked Orange Bunny for directions.
"It's about fucking time you called me. Give me a second," Orange replied.
The HUD of the prison schematic appeared in the same spot it had before. Orange Bunny said there was an exit that was located about one hundred feet in front of us. I heard Lance mutter, "Thank God". We reached the exit within seconds and Lance kicked down the door. That was a bad idea because the door clattered to the ground and alerted a guard tower of our position. A bright light shined down in our faces.
"Activate Combat Mode," Lance and I said, simultaneously.
Immediately, the HUD changed. The radar popped with a green dot on it. I assumed it was Lance. A red exclamation pointed in the direction of the gunfire. I pulled out my pistols and two blue target reticles appeared. I turned and shot out the spotlight. One guard started yelling into his radio but I couldn't tell what he said. The other guard continued to shoot at us, which was justified since we technically were using lethal force.
Lance and I ran towards the chain link fence but I didn't exert more energy by jumping over it again. I told Lance that we needed to find a gate or something because I refused to exit the same way we entered. Lance said he would think of an "exit strategy".
Then, the combat radar showed about ten red dots located behind us, and they were moving fast. I turned around to see who was behind us, and Equestrian soldiers were running toward us. Lance looked behind him and looked at me. We were screwed. Or so I thought. Another green blip, that was moving fast, appeared on the radar. I thought it was Hannah at first but it was Daniel. He shot fire from his hands and created a literal firewall between us and the soldier. The flames were looked to be almost fifty-feet high.
"What are you doing here?!" I asked.
"Sounded like you needed the help of the comlink," Daniel replied.
"Thanks!"
The soldiers recovered and continued their pursuit. Daniel sent a fireball at the fence and blow a huge hole. In Hawaiian, he told us that he'll distract the soldiers while we got out of sight. I thanked him and we ran towards our vehicles.
Daniel was still dealing with the soldiers when Lance and I reached our vehicles and drove off. I told Daniel to disengage the soldiers and go back to Canterlot. Within seconds I heard a loud boom, from Daniel breaking the sound barrier, and an orange streak soaring across the sky.
We had a bit of trouble getting back to Canterlot because police cars were en route to the penitentiary because of the mess we caused. Therefore, we had to take backroads to back to the apartment. Finally, we got back to Canterlot City in one piece.
Hannah stopped us near a park and told us to go home, immediately, without offering any explanation why. I didn't want to be ordered around by my little sister. Lance could tell I wasn't going to comply, so he told me that he was tired and had some homework to finish. I rolled my eyes and drove off. We got home and I still wasn't happy about being bossed around by Hannah. Orange had overheard the conversation I had with Hannah and laughed at me when I walked into the living room. That was one of the few times I wanted to strangle Orange Bunny.
I walked into my bedroom and removed all of my gear. I put on my shorts and a shirt and got into bed. Then, I tried to sleep but I couldn't. Orange wasn't making my situation any better by yelling at Lance. Eventually, I fell asleep.
At lunch the next day, I explained what happened the night before to Flash and the Rainbooms. When I got to the part about being attacked by the army. Flash and the Rainbooms grew pale. I asked what was the matter.
"The soldiers were there because that the inmate had assassinated a respected general about twenty years ago. He was supposed to be executed the lethal injection last night," Flash Sentry explained.
"Well, I saved the government from wasting barbiturate drugs."
"You still broke into a prison," Sunset Shimmer added.
"I don't see how that matters," Lance said.
"And Cheif Silverstar wants to arrest you for breaking into the prison and attacking Equestrian Army personnel."
"So does several governments for illegally entering their nation and assassinating their politicians. What's your point?" Brody said.
The Rainbooms still told us to be careful told us and in the unlikely event that if the military did hunt us, they wouldn't be as lazy as the CPD. Dalton believed that the military wouldn't hunt vigilantes because of the waste of Equestrian citizen tax dollars. I wasn't concerned about the military or the Rainbooms' warnings, so I decided to watch the TV that was hanging from the wall.
Then, everyone at our table grew quiet when a news report on the TV came on about a death of a student. It was as a guy from Crystal Preparatory Academy. The reporter said the student, named Straight A's, died suddenly in his sleep last night. It was weird that the student's cause of death was stated as unknown. People don't keel over for no reason. Then, the reporter announced when the funeral would be.
"That's strange," Applejack announced.
"Well, duh. People don't kick the bucket for reason. It's common sense," Pinkie said.
"What's bad that the coroner couldn't figure out how he died," Sunset Shimmer added.
"I want to know what killed this kid and what his parents know," I said.
"I'm assuming you are going to investigate?", Jessie asked, quietly.
"Yep, we are," I replied.
"Who's we?" Brody asked, suspiciously.
"I'll go to the morgue. Dylan and Devin can go talk to the parents, and see what they can tell us," I replied.
Dylan and Devin nodded to accept the mission.
After school, we were getting ready for that night, but I called Lance into my bedroom. I was already dressed for that night, minus my helmet. Lance didn't have his weapons on his uniform, yet. He walked in and closed the door behind him. I let him sit on my bed while I sat across from him in my chair.
"What's this about? You've never called me into your room to talk," Lance asked.
"You're right, but this is very urgent," I answered.
"Oh. I feel special."
"Sure, you do. Anyway, Hannah and I looked into what happened David."
"I already told you that he got executed for killing five cops. End of story."
"I remembered but Hannah found something that didn't match what you told me. The information that Hannah made me wonder why your parents lie to you."
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"Hannah found that there wasn't a drug bust gone wrong, no dead policemen, and there wasn't a David Wallace being executed. The only Wallace to get executed in Virginia was a serial killer and rapist. He died in the 1920s. Your brother is alive, Lance."
"You've got to be joking with me."
I picked up my phone and went to one of David Wallace's social media pages and handed my phone to Lance. Lance's eyes grew wide open, and he began to scroll through the page. I asked him if he was okay, but all I got was a sigh. Lance gave my phone back and sat there in silence. It was hard to tell if he was happy, mad, or confused.
"A lot take in?" I asked.
"What do you think? I mean my brother is alive. My parents told me he was dead. It doesn't make any sense," Lance replied.
"Do you need to sit out tonight? I don't need you in the field distracted."
"No, I don't need to sit out. I'll be alright."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Lance got up and left my bedroom and I followed him out. Everyone was in the living room. They were suited up and ready to go. Orange Bunny handed me a piece of paper that had "Mission Debrief" typed on the top. There were two paragraphs typed below the title. I rolled my eyes.
"Everyone listen up. We've got plenty to do tonight. Dylan and Devin, as I mentioned earlier today, you will go to Straight A's house and question his parents. Make sure you aren't being followed. I will go to the morgue to find out how the kid died. The rest of you go on patrol and...are you kidding me?"
Everybody looked at me funny. I explained that Orange Bunny typed that everyone else will go on patrol and die a miserable death. It also included a hand-drawn picture of her giving the double one-finger salute with a speech bubble above her head. In the bubble were the words, "Fuck you, Brody" in all caps. Everyone turned and glared at Orange. She flipped all of us off and laughed.
After that, we left the apartment and I went to the morgue. I arrived at the morgue in ten minutes but it took me another ten minutes to make sure the cameras didn't see me.
I used the grappling hook to get on top of the roof. After entering the building through the staircase, I made my way to the morgue. I eventually made it into the freezer room but I encountered a problem.
Besides about eight freezers containing dead bodies, all of which are stacked four trays high. I wasn't expecting any company. The coroner was still there cleaning up at nine o'clock at night. He saw me and, strangely enough, he smiled at me.
"Hello, there," the coroner greeted.
"Uh...good evening," I replied.
"Who might you be?" he asked.
"You can call me Nightwatcher," I answered. "And who are you?"
"My name is Under Taker. "
"A pleasure to me you, Mr. Under Taker."
"I think I've heard of you. You are the vigilante that runs around town fighting that ninja group."
"That's me."
"What can I do for you, Nightwatcher?"
"I need your help. Do you have someone named Straight A's, in your...care, right?"
"I wouldn't say 'care', but yes I do."
"You said that his cause of death was unknown."
"That's correct."
"I came to find out for myself how he died because it seems suspicious that a young boy died for some odd reason."
"I see. Lucky for you, I haven't embalmed Mr. A's yet, so feel free to do whatever you need to do. Just let me pull him out."
Mr. Under Taker walked over to the second column of freezers and pulled the second try from the bottom. I walked up to the tray, pulled the sheet covering him to his waist, and looked down at Straight A's body.
He looked like a typical jock, tall and muscular. He had blue hair and dark red skin. This guy didn't look like the kind of person to die at a young age. As you can tell, that's not the case. I need to know what killed Straight A's. From what I could tell, there were no injuries anywhere on his body, but I had another idea.
"NAI, activate CSI mode and scan the body," I ordered.
"Sure thing, Matthew," NAI replied.
"Who are you talking to?" Mr. Under Taker asked.
"My artificial intelligence that is in my helmet," I answered as I tapped my helmet.
"Oh, okay."
NAI finished scanning the body in seconds but unlike the autopsy report suggested, she suggested multiple injuries. She said there were six-seven puncture wounds in each arm where the artery in his arm is located. Four wounds were in his wrists. I immediately knew what could cause a wound that small. A needle. That gave me an answer on how Straight A's died, but I needed proof.
"Mr. Under Taker, do you mind if I take a blood sample from him so I can run a test."
"Well, I guess you can but the blood is frozen," Mr. Under Taker answered.
"That's not a problem."
I took a lamp that was on the examination table and held it over Straight A's arm. Within seconds, the arm almost returned to its normal color. Then, I put the lamp on the ground and pulled out my knife. I made a little incision on the artery in the forearm. A little trickle of blood came out as I pulled my knife away.
"Can I have a cotton swab or a q-tip?" I requested.
"Sure," Mr. Under Taker replied.
He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a cotton swab and gave it to me. I dabbed it in the tiny pool of blood out and slipped it into my pocket. I thanked Mr. Under Taker for his cooperation and turned to leave. As I was about to leave the room, Mr. Under Taker called out to me.
"Yes?" I asked as I turned around.
"Thank you for what you are doing for Canterlot City," he said
"I don't do it alone."
"Oh, I know. My little granddaughter talks about your friend, Neon Streak, all the time. That's according to my son."
"Understandable. Neon Streak is a good kid and a reliable fighter. And thank you for supporting us and what we do, unlike Chief Silver Star."
"Cheif Silver Star is just jealous that you're able to stop the Black Snake and not the CPD."
"He isn't really on the top of my concern list. Thanks again for letting me do this."
"Anytime, Nightwatcher."
I left the morgue the way I entered. After getting on my motorcycle, Dalton and Brody called for me to help them out because they got attacked by some Black Snake terrorists near the supermarket I had to sneak into in the first book.
My mission was completed without a hitch. I was hoping that the twins had the same success but their story was different from what I had expected.
Author's Note
Sorry for the delayed-release. I have been busy with college and, to be honest, getting distracted with other things. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
The Nightwatcher Chronicles: Narcotics
Hey, what's up, guys. My name is Dylan Cochran. Some of you know me as Devin's twin brother. All of you should know me as Blitzing Knight. Matthew let me write about Devin and me going over to Straight A's house and talking to his parents. The reason why is beyond me but here I am.
Devin and I left the apartment around the same time Matthew did but we went the other way. Straight A's parents lived on the east side of Canterlot City, which was the rich part of the city, in a gated community. The problem with getting into the gated community was the police and the security patrol that area a lot more than any other area.
After we managed into the gated community, we had to hide our vehicles. The problem was that there weren't any convenient hiding places. Devin said we should park them in an empty parking garage that didn't have its door closed. Thankfully we found one that was two houses down from Straight A's house.
Devin and I made it to the house in a few seconds. There were no lights, and we used Advanced Recon Mode to see if the parents were still up. We found out the parents were asleep, so we planned on how we were to enter the house. We jumped the fence that bordered the backyard and brainstormed.
"Dylan, use NAI to shut off the security system so we can get into the house without having security or the police on our butts," my brother told me.
"We don't need to do that. I can teleport in the house," I answered.
"No one likes killjoy," Devin mumbled.
Devin put his hand on my shoulder and I teleported into the living room since the blinds were open. I can only teleport to places I can see in plain view. Inside, there was a memorial for Straight A's that was in front of a fireplace. A cat was laying on the couch. Devin pointed out a staircase that led up to the second floor.
We walked up the stairs, and we had to open every door on the second floor to find the parent's bedroom. It just so happened the bedroom was the last room we searched. Devin and I went inside the room, but I almost woke the parents up by sneezing.
I stood at the front of the bed while my brother leaned against the door frame. Devin cleared his throat to wake up the parents but that didn't work. I donkey kicked the wall, and the room shook. The parents woke up instantly.
The father turned on a lamp but still was a little sluggish. His wife had a different reaction. She saw us and screamed her head off. The husband tried to reach for a small revolver that was laying on his nightstand.
"I wouldn't go for the gun if I were you," Devin warned.
"Give me one damn good reason that I shouldn't shoot you!" the father shouted.
"For one, shooting at us would be a waste of ammo since bullets aren't effective against us. Ask the Black Snake."
"And we are just here to ask you two some questions," I added.
"Who are you?" the wife asked us.
"I'm Blitzing Knight and behind me is Mind Probe. You've probably heard of us," I introduced.
"Yes, we have. What questions do you have about our son?" the father asked, sounding annoyed.
Devin asked if their son had any friends that seemed shady or were in any gangs. The parents told us that he wasn't affiliated with anyone like that and the father seemed very offended that we asked that question. The mother why we were so interested in Straight A's death. I told them that the coroner's autopsy report said that the death of Straight A's was unknown and we found it strange he died from an unknown cause.
"Can we see your son's phone? We'll only look through it," Devin asked the mother.
"Sure, but you must leave afterward and leave us alone," the mother replied.
"We will," I assured.
She pulled out a drawer in her nightstand and pulled out a cell phone. Devin walked over to her and got the phone. He tossed it to me. I attempted to get into it, but it had a password.
"You know I can unlock for you," NAI said.
I jumped a little bit but I calmed down. I wasn't used to Orange Bunny's AI yet.
"Sure, go ahead," I told NAI.
Within seconds, she unlocked the phone and opened the contacts app. There wasn't anyone that seemed shady until we reached the "s" section. There was only one contact that stood out. I was the contact for Small Time. I looked at Devin and showed the contact.
"Bukankah ini pengedar narkoba yang Lance dan Matthew menginterogasi di penjara?"
(Malay) "Isn't that the drug dealer that Lance and Matthew interrogated in prison?" Devin asked.
"Da, je. Pretpostavljam da strejt petice nisu tako "strejt" kao što smo mislili."
(Bosnian) "Yeah, it is. I guess that Straight A's wasn't as "straight" as we thought," I replied.
"What did you find," the father asked angrily.
"Nothing except one contact that raises our suspicions," I said.
"It's the contact of a Black Dragon gang member named Small Time. He was arrested for being an accomplice with the Black Snake. And, he was planning to sell narcotic drugs to people here," added.
"You're insane. My son would never get involved with a gang member! We raised him better than that!" the father shouted.
I tossed the phone on the bed and walked into Straight A's bedroom, which was one door up the hall. Devin and the parents followed me into the bedroom. I turned on the light and began looking around the room for any drugs that might still be there.
Devin suggested looking under the bed and in the box of springs. I picked up the mattress and threw it off the bed. Devin found a gym bag underneath the bed that had dirty clothes and four empty needles and two full ones. The parents were stunned at Devin's discovery. I pulled out my sword and cut into the box of springs.
Some springs were missing and were replaced with several bricks of cocaine and a bag of heroin. Devin pulled out a brick and examined it. The mother pointed out that they were wrapped in plastic wrap, and that she found a receipt that belonged to her son. It had two boxes of plastic wrap and sandwich bags on it.
"This is ridiculous. My son would never sell drugs and besides-"
The father was interrupted by a crashing noise from outside. Devin shut off the lights and told the parents to get down. I walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain.
"Who's out there?" the mother asked.
"Probably just a raccoon or a stray cat," the father grumbled.
"It turns out that your trash panda just happens to be twenty heavily armed Black Snake terrorists in your backyard," I replied.
"I thought these guys were ninjas, not klutzy junior high kids. We shouldn't have heard them coming," my brother said.
"People make mistakes, dude," I replied.
"What are they armed with?"
"Fifteen of them have Mk's and the rest have MP5s. All of them have sidearms and katanas. Get the parents in their bedroom."
Devin left the room while I kept an eye on the Black Snake. Then, the terrorists that they MP5s entered the house. My bother came back into the bedroom but I pushed him back out.
"What's your deal, dude?" Devin hissed.
"Ryochika wo koroshi watashi tachi no shohin wo torimodoshi masu."
(Japanese) "Kill the parents and retrieve our merchandise," a terrorist ordered.
"That's my deal," I replied.
We activated Combat Mode, and we pulled out our pistols. Devin crouched down while I stood behind him. We waited until the terrorists got onto the second floor. Then, we opened fire. Within a few seconds, we killed all of the terrorists but we alerted the rest of them.
Devin hosted his pistols and pulled his bo staff off his back, ran, and jumped out the window. Gunfire erupted in the backyard that alerted every cop in the area.
"Orange, stall the police for us," I ordered.
"Now you fucking bastards need me. I'm on it," Orange Bunny said.
I jumped out the window. There were already eight dead terrorists that Devin had killed. I shot one who was shooting at my brother and shot another one, too. I put my pistols in my holsters and pulled out my sword.
A terrorist threw down his rifle and unsheathed his sword. He had two other terrorists at his side who had their swords pulled. They slowly moved towards me.
"Ani no burittsu kishi to issho ni shinu junbi oshite."
(Japanese) "Prepare to die alongside your brother, Blitzing Knight," the head terrorist snarled.
"Sō iu kotodeshou."
(Japanese) "We'll see about that," I replied.
The two flanking terrorists charged at me. I plunged my sword into the first guy's chest. He fell to the ground. Then, I swung and sliced the head off of the other terrorist. I turned to the head terrorist.
"Anata wa watashi ga shinu koto ni tsuite nanika o itte imashita."
(Japanese) "You were saying something about me dying," I taunted.
"Inshō-tekidesuga, jūbun ni inshō-tekide wa arimasen."
(Japanese) "Impressive, but not impressive enough."
"Dylan, behind you!" NAI shouted.
There was a red dot on my radar, that was a terrorist. I turned around and saw a katana coming down. Then, I parried the blow and lunged at the terrorist. He batted my sword away and sliced upwards. I dodged his sword. The terrorist only fought with one hand so I began targeting his free hand.
When he trusted, I spun around and sliced off his free hand. He fell to his knees while clutching his arm. I brought my sword down and stabbed him in the neck.
The other terrorist, that I taunted earlier, charged at me. I got ready to fight him but Devin had another idea. He ran and slid to stab the terrorist but he jumped over Devin. Devin got up and used his gauntlet to stop a blow from the terrorist's sword. Then, he tossed his bo staff into his left hand. Devin punished the terrorist in the throat and did a flying roundhouse horse kick. When the terrorist staggered back, my brother stabbed him in the leg. Devin pulled the staff out and plunged the staff into his chest. He pulled it out but the terrorist was still alive.
"Not feeling so powerful, huh?" Devin sneered.
"Jigoku ni iki nasai."
(Japanese) "Got to hell," the terrorist snarled.
Before we could say thing else, he pulled out his pistol and shot himself in the head.
"Well, now what?" Devin asked.
As if on cue, we heard sirens in the distance, and a lot of them. The sirens sounded like they were getting closer. Orange Bunny told us that she saw on a security camera that the police were entering the gated community on the opposite end.
We ran for it which involved us knocking down the backyard's gate. Devin and I ran down the garage where parked our vehicles. After we go on our vehicles, we drove out of the gated community and drove back to the apartment. Matthew contacted us and said he had information that would help us solve Straight A's death. I told him that we had some info, too. Some info that would be shocking to the rest of the team.