The sun rises behind the mountains surrounding the desert, in the distance appears a huge fortress surrounded by huge walls. A sign says between letters worn by the elements "Welcome to Paradise," and black car travels the worn road that leads into the walled city.
"Paradise is the most dangerous place in the whole county, I hope you know what you're doing Leon."
"Me too Dash... me too."
Leon parked the car outside a bar, the heat began to ascend. The two descended from it and headed toward the back. At the time, a truck stopped behind them. A woman dressed in a plaid orange shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots descended from the vehicle, her hair moved with the air and her face was hidden by a hat. She walked slowly towards the couple until she was a few feet from them.
"It seems that Rarity was not lying, I guess you guys are the ones who I must guide in this suicide mission or am I wrong?"
The woman raised her hat and Dash was able to recognize someone familiar.
"A... Applejack... is that you? But... but you can´t... you..."
"Died? I don´t think so sugar cube, it takes more than just a bullet to the head to finish with me."
"You know each other?" Leon asked.
"Let´s say we have a history together. Enough of that, let´s do this; I want to get out of this fucking place before nightfall. If paradise is bad during the day, at night it becomes a living hell. Will be a long journey to the heart of this place," Applejack said as she returned to her truck to take her weapons.
Leon opened the trunk of the car, pulled out a suitcase and opened it. Dash came and picked up a shotgun to place it in her back and a pair of pistols in her belt. Leon took his new acquisition, asset the G3A3 systems and placed it on his shoulder, also he placed at his waist his beloved python.
"I hope the old Virgil were right about this rifle, I feel weird for not having Matilda with me. By the way, who is she Dash?"
"Somebody that was very important to me. I really don´t know how to take seeing her again. All this time, and she didn´t bother to tell me that she was alive?"
"That´s because I couldn´t allow you to know it Dash, there was too much at stake if you knew that I was not dead..."
"Don´t go out with that now Applejack, you know that you could have all my help, we could have..."
"SHUT UP RAINBOW!!! Now is not the time to talk about this. Here have this." Applejack said flatly while handing them bulletproof vests.
"Get ready, do not expect a friendly reception, and Dash..."
The two stared at each other. Leon could almost feel the gaping wound between the two.
"There will be time to talk, now walk." The three entered in the alleys of paradise.
After they disappeared into the shadows, someone left the bar and took his radio.
"Garble, here Flake, we have visitors."
"The detective?" Asked a voice from the other side of the band.
"Yes, and he´s not alone, guess who are with him."
"Cut the crap, who is it?"
"Commissioner Dash and someone else, but I don´t know who is."
"Well, this is going to be interesting. Ok, mobilize the men you have in that area. You can kill the others, but we need the detective alive. Sparkle will be here soon and will be glad to know this. "
"All right Garble, I´ll get the party started."
***_____***_____***
Dash looked over her shoulder at Applejack; she in turn looked back at her and turned her head to one side. Leon walked without taking his eyes off the roofs and fences of the houses, people who lived there was used to seeing people with weapons at hand, in that place was strange to see someone without them. The three stopped near a small store and Applejack went into it. She said something to the person inside and came out to communicate something to her partners.
"It seems that here is cooking something big. There are rumors about movement in the old steel mill, that place is our goal."
Applejack said as she began to move on.
Leon came to her, "do you think Sombra can be there?"
"That bastard? There’s a possibility, the guy has a reputation for being as a hunting dog when he wants to catch his prey. Moreover, his allies also can be quite a pain in the ass."
"Yes… I had the pleasure of meeting Sparkle."
"And you still here? Wow you're a lucky guy."
Dash was listening to every word, but her thinking was focused on her old friend, she still could not explain the fact that she was there, she had to know what was what had happened in all these years.
"And tell me, Applejack, are you still hunting big fishes?" Dash said dismissively.
"And you're still tough and stubborn as a mule, Rainbow." Applejack replied. "I told you not the time. Anyway, if you mean what happened to Gilda, you know perfectly well that it was something out of my control."
"Damn it Applejack, don´t you ever mention her again." cried Dash.
The three stopped and the blonde girl turned to see Dash; Leon could feel the anger in the eyes of both but said nothing.
"Listen to me Dash. I loved her, she was like a sister to me, but her betrayal was something could not stay that without punishment. Do you remember how everything ended? Do you remember the cries of pain of those children? Were you able to forget? 'cause I still have nightmares about that day."
Dash ducked her head and tears of anger began to fill her eyes.
"No... I'll never forget it... but Gilda... she was my friend..."
"Mine too Dash, and it was something I had to overcome to do my job. Do you think I was happy of end her life? No Dash, you don´t know the pain it caused me. And the worst was to hear her say that she didn´t regret her actions before I put a bullet through her head. Remember it, and tell me if you had not done the same, more in your position."
Dash looked up, but before she could say anything; a sharp sound was heard followed by a laugh and that put them in alert.
"But what a touching moment, the old friends meet to heal differences? I'm glad you´re doing it now, because none of you will leave this place alive. Everyone, we have a trio of rats in our beloved city... I WANT THEM DEAD!!!"
The transmission was cut off; they began to hear voices, shouts and footsteps approaching them quickly. After a moment of silence, a bullet ended on the floor very close to them; the three ran for cover.
"From where did that came from?" screamed Leon.
"I don´t know, they must be in the upper levels. Applejack, are you ok?" Dash exclaimed.
The blond-haired girl took his gun and pointed towards a window. "I HAVE YOU NOW BASTARD" cried and pulled the trigger; the bullets passed through the wall and from the darkness came cries of pain. Leon saw more hostiles arrive in a van, without hesitation he opened fire on them; several were killed on the vehicle and others were able to take cover, the engine of the truck exploded into flames killing a couple more.
Dash saw more of them appear on rooftops around their position. She took her gun and smashed a door to enter the building, started up the ladder and on her way appeared several guys armed with machetes and batons. She received the firsts with her gun, came to the second floor where melee faced them. One of them lunged at her only to be greeted with a kick and the guy rolled over the floor. One more came threatening her with his knife; Dash called him with her fingers. The guy scream like mad and attacked her, Dash dodged his attacks and took the weapon to stick it in his head moments later.
Applejack looked how several men began to surround them, whistled and Leon ran to her.
"Where did Dash go?"
"I saw her go there, but these rogues are blocking the entrance, if we do not move soon we will be sitting ducks."
Leon stood up and shot to the closest ones, the scope of his weapon allowed him to make every bullet count, Applejack took two 9mm and put her back against Leon´s to get a full view.
"Left second floor." he shot and a guy fell from the balcony.
"Three in the front, behind that car."
She adjusted her hat and shot the gas tank, the explosion blow up several of them.
Dash on her own was cleaning the building. When she opened the door at the end of the ladder, saw several guys with hunting rifles pointing to his teammates. She was about to finish them but someone took her gun and forced her to fight again with her hands. The guy moved pretty fast, and a punch entered on Dash´s face, however; this allowed her to hold him by the head and broke his neck. The gun fire alerted her, she got in the ground and more guys ran towards her. She got up and took the shotgun to receive the first with the butt of it, then, another took her to the wall and tried to choke her, a bullet passed through the skull of the guy and Dash retrieved her breath. From below, her blonde friend had managed to save her life.
Leon had separated from Applejack and had entered to a small store walking through the corridors shooting at the enemies that appeared in his path. When the first charger was done, he took his colt and two guys came screaming and emptying their weapons towards him. Leon knelt, wet the tip of his gun and pulled the trigger; the bullet passed through them like if they were made of paper.
Several hostiles fell from the top of buildings, more and more bodies were piled in the street and after some minuets, everything seemed to end. Dash came out the door and walked over to Applejack. Leon soon arrived with them.
"I must say, it´s been a while since I had so much fun." He looked at her and laughed. Applejack review one of the vans and removed the dead driver from the seat.
"Ladies, more will come soon, we must hurry." She told them to get into the van; they did so and went deep into the citadel.
***_____***_____***
Twilight and Trixie walked down one of the corridors of the old factory. They were escorted by a couple of guys dressed as hooligans and with face painted. They stopped at a gate and one of them invaded the personal space of the silver-haired girl to fill himself with her scent.
"You're such a sweetheart, what you and I… argh..."
Trixie had placed a sharp metal tip directly on his neck; just enough to get into his skin and the blood began to flow.
"Don´t you ever dare to go near me, or this will enter in a very painful place for you, got it?"
She said as she sank the weapon, the guy nodded and she pulled the tip and then she hit him in the face; Twilight smiled.
"You know, that you can be as evil as the boss?"
"I have learned from the best, by the way, how was your night?"
Trixie told her as she raised her eyebrows, the cheeks of her companion took a scarlet shade and images of previous hours passed in front of her. If there was something she loved from Sombra, it was the way he treated her in the intimacy; that wild way in that he loved her always took her to the sky.
Twilight ran her fingers over her lips.
"It was... good..." she could not hide her excitement, "soon will be your turn."
She added at the end. Trixie's eyes widened and she lowered her head, she still feared him too much to get to that stage. Twilight saw her reaction and laughed quietly. The bulb above the gate shone in red and one of the men opened it to allow them to pass.
The two entered a large room where there were screens showing different parts of the citadel, all was monitored to maintain control. A guy in a red suit looked closely several screens and laughed cheerfully.
"What's so funny Garble?" Twilight asked.
"It seems that your friend Leon is a professional, he just exterminates two commands I sent against him, and now it seems that he will come to this place."
"Damn, what are you waiting for? Stop him" Trixie said exalted.
Garble turned to face her. "Why ruin the fun? Like if anyway he will get out of here alive."
"Remember, we need him alive, he knows where´s the girl, you can´t eliminate him yet"
"A yeah, the girl, you mean her?" Garble said showing a screen to Twilight. It showed Fluttershy, she was tied to a chair and her eyes were covered with a handkerchief. She was crying and calling Leon.
***_____***_____***
"Applejack, are you sure you know where to go?"
"Of course I know, I know this place like the back of my hand Dash, leave everything to me."
"Well… you better get ready, we have a serious problem." Leon said.
"What do you mean?"
Both he and Dash raised an arm pointing towards behind them; Applejack looked in the mirror and saw a huge truck coming towards them at full speed.
"Darkside?... this has to be a fucking joke." She said as she stepped on the accelerator.
Leon took his rifle and shot towards the truck; the bullets bounced like balls on a wall.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"It´s Darkside, Garble´s secret weapon; the damned must repair it, that thing is as powerful as a tank."
"And now you say it, how we will escape from..."
Dash was speechless when she saw two guys coming out of the highest part of the truck with a couple of vulcan cannons.
"We're dead."
***_____***_____***
"For the last time, where is the girl?" Twilight said facing the guy in the red suit, he was laughing.
"She is safe in another place, and still don´t know if I will give her to you. She´s very beautiful and I would rather keep her; I want to have fun with her."
In an instant, Trixie had placed a knife to his throat, "cut the crap and tell us where is she."
Several Garble´s men surrounded them and pointed their guns; Twilight analyzed the situation.
"I remind you that even if you are part of the children of darkness, here in paradise, you have no power. I recommend you watch your actions."
He said as he took Trixie's hand to put away the knife.
"If you really want me to give you the girl; tell your boss that will cost twice."
"You know that the deal was for ten grand, you better respect that or..."
"Or what Sparkle, do you think that I have fear of Sombra? If he really wants her; he will not mind pay whatever... now… well… we could fix this another way."
He approached Trixie and grabbed her by the waist.
***_____***_____***
"Hold on!"
Applejack cried while maneuvering the car to avoid the fire of Darkside, the truck seemed unstoppable; passing through the walls of buildings like if they were made of paper, both Leon and Dash fired to the truck without effect.
"We have to lose it, otherwise we're doomed," said Dash.
"Applejack, you have to get behind that thing," shouted Leon.
"Are you crazy? We supposed to flee not give ourselves to the death," replied the blonde girl.
"Trust me, I know what I´m doing."
Applejack looked at him and nodded, went into one of the aqueducts and for a moment lost sight of the truck; until the engine roared and the thing fell from the second floor. Applejack again accelerated and the pursuit began. The truck was soon over them, and when she considered it close enough; she used the hand brake and the truck passed by without stopping. She stepped on the gas and was now right behind Darkside.
"What are you going to do?" Dash asked.
Leon looked at her and shook his head said, "I don´t know."
After that he went over the hood of the truck, with his hands told Applejack that she had to get closer. She full throttle and Leon jumped to the back of the truck and by signs told them they had to distract the driver.
"Get ready Dash, this will be a bumpy ride," said Applejack.
"Let´s do this cowgirl!" She replied.
They went in front of the mechanical beast and the men of the machine guns opened fire on them. Leon was climbing by the side of the truck, when he got to the top; several men armed with knives and machetes rushed towards him.
Leon dodged as fast as he could their attacks. One of them got to cut him on one leg but he ignored the pain. When the guy went towards him, Leon took him by the arm, broke it and kicked him off the container. Another came screaming and Leon took the revolver to shot him.
"One less, who´s next?"
He said to the other subjects who hesitated to attack, eventually all rushed at him, Leon ran towards them.
***_____***_____***
"Damn bitch!!!"
Garble growled and covered his face with one hand, this was filled with blood; Trixie had caused him a deep wound with her
knife.
"Do not ever touch me again, pig," she exclaimed.
Garble looked at her with hate and tried to grab her again, but Twilight put the barrel of her gun between his eyes, Garble´s men pointed their guns at them.
"Tell them to lower their weapons, or I´ll pull the trigger."
"Do it, and you will never have the girl, with the push of a button, she will die."
"Enough," said Trixie and in an instant all the men of Garble that were surrounding them fell to the ground. In her hands, Trixie was holding a pair of knives which dripped blood.
"Who the hell are you?" Garble said in surprise and fear.
"Someone to who you don´t want to piss off," replied Twilight, "now, I´ll ask this only once, where is the girl?"
***_____***_____***
The crack of bones of the last guy that Leon threw off the truck was heard when the wheels passed over him. He had traces of the fight in his legs, one of his arms and his cheek was bleeding. This didn´t care him and ran up to the front of the truck. He finished with the guys of the guns and using one, started firing into the cabin of the truck, a hole opened in the roof of it and he could see the driver. Flake looked at him and tried to take his weapon; it got stuck with the seat. Leon changed charger, Flake moved the steering wheel to try to make him fall; but he began firing, the interior of the cabin was filled with blood. Applejack was close enough for Leon to jump to the rear part of the vehicle before the mechanical beast crashed into the retaining wall and exploded.
"Are you okay?" Dash asked.
He only nodded while breaking part of his shirt to make a tourniquet on his arm. Dash checked the wounds of his legs this were not so serious. Applejack stopped the truck and they got off.
"Dude, you're really crazy, but you saved us." Applejack said.
"Not yet finished, we must reach factory."
"Calm your horses and look behind you."
He turned and realized that they had reached the gates of the old steel mill. An alarm sounded and they knew something was wrong; without wasting more time they entered the factory, moments later, from inside, gunfire was heard.
***_____***_____***
"Okay, okay… I'll tell you, she is in..."
Garble was about to reveal the location of Fluttershy when a door flew open and two men came running and breathing hard.
"Sir... We have a serious problem." Said one of them.
Twilight moved the gun from the front of Garble and he walked to his men.
"What happens?"
"They just break the security breach, they´re coming this way and are killing us all."
More echoes of gunfire sounded in the corridors of the building. Garble came to the screens. He saw Leon and Dash firing in several directions.
"No way, how could they get to...?" His eyes widened when he saw in another of the screens a girl with a hat.
"Applejack..."
He said through gritted teeth.
"That bastard does not yield to anything," said Twilight staring at Garble.
"Come on Trixie, we have a prey to catch."
The two went out the door. Garble looked with contempt the image of the blonde girl.
"So… you're still alive… well, you're just a loose end.
***_____***_____***
Leon walked down a hallway. From several directions came the echo of the weapons, he had to be stealthy to avoid attention. He got to the end of the corridor and looked at several subjects out of a door, waited until no one was in sight and went towards it. The stairs lead him to a large room where he could see several screens, he watched many of them looking for something that could be useful; some showed only static and others had no signal. He was about to leave the room when he heard someone say his name, he recognized the voice instantly and fear gripped his thoughts. Turning slowly to see one of the screens, his arms lost strength when he saw his protégé; Leon felt his heart stop. He walked to the screen and with his hand stroked the cool glass.
"No... Fluttershy... how...?"
"Garble, fuck, is anyone there? Answer, I'm getting tired of being the babysitter, send someone else."
Leon was surprised to hear the call. The guy on the other side of the radio kept talking. He began to seek the answer switch; over the console was a blinking red light. He pressed it and the line seemed to open,
"Leon here."
"Fuck dude, what are you guys doing? I been calling for a while and no one answers, where is the boss?"
"He is... busy... some cockroaches entered and he is taking care of them."
"Damn, and I´m here annoyed to hear this damn brat mourn." Leon gritted his teeth, "whatever, tell him to send someone else, I want to go."
"I can go myself... where are you?"
"What? Are you kidding? Come here now."
"I´m... the newbie, so I need you to tell me where you are."
A shadow silently entered and closed the door behind, began to walk quietly through the rail until was behind Leon.
"Well, I'm in the south store, near the old train station. Hurry up man, I'm really tired of listening her, I want to put a bullet in her head..."
"No!" Cried Leon.
"No? What do you mean?"
"I mean... you can´t do that, the boss would cut your throat, isn´t she not important to him?" Leon said with a sigh.
For a moment there was no reply, he feared that the guy does not believe him, was about to say something else when the other spoke again, the shadow lifted his gun and pointed it at him.
"You're right, those ten million can´t be lost. But still, for her own good, she better shut up. Hurry up; if I hear the name of
Leon... wait a second... what was your name again?"
Leon was speechless, he had to think of something and fast. A small red dot appeared briefly on the screen; Leon instantly dropped to the floor and the bullet entered directly in the console panel.
***_____***_____***
The neck of his attacker bowed to her strength and only heard the crack of his vertebrae. Dash dropped him and looked around, the silence seemed to own the place. She began to move down the corridor with a shotgun in her hands, unexpectedly, a pair of hands appeared and took her weapon. Twilight came out of one of the halls and both stared at each other.
"Commissioner, what a surprise to find you here."
"Sparkle... I knew something smelled bad. Tell me, does your boss does not like doing things by himself?" Said Dash with mocking accent.
"If you know what suits you, you'd better get out of here. Oh better still, surrender this instant and spare me the need to kill you, just as we did with... wait, what was his name? Ah yes... Soarin."
Dash's eyes opened wide. Anger filled her and threw a hit towards Sparkle. She dodged it and tried to hit Dash, she took her arm and send Twilight to the floor. Twilight felt the force of the fall and with her hands avoided Dash's foot from shattering her face; she turned in the ground and kicked Dash. Sparkle was placed on her and began to hit her face while she tried to cover. When she had the opportunity, Dash embraces herself to Twilight´s body and impacts her face with a header. Sparkle roared and got up with her hands over her face. Dash took advantage of the situation and charge against her to crash her into the wall.
***_____***_____***
Applejack fell down, but fortunately the vest had saved her life. With great pain stood up and look for the origin of the shot, in the hallway saw someone pointing at her; she raised her gun and shot to make the subject hide behind one of the walls. The pain of the impact took her breath so she took cover behind a box.
"You are like a bad dream Applejack, you have managed to survive all that I have tried to do to kill you, and even you survived that bullet in the head."
"Do you think something like that would stop from killing you Garble? You don´t have that much luck."
"Keep mocking bounty hunter, this time, I'll make sure you don´t cause me troubles again."
The box was shattered by a shot, Applejack ran for cover behind another. Garble kept shooting and gave her no chance to react. A metal plate was lying on the ground, Applejack took it and placed it in front of her while she moved towards Garble. When the distance between the two was shortened, she took the plate and throws it towards her opponent, he wasn´t able to avoid it and the weight of the metal caused his leg to give away. Garble gave a cry of pain and fell to the ground. Applejack smiled and walked over to him.
"Garble, you know, I always dreamed of this moment, at last I have my prey right where I wanted, and by the way, someone asked me to give you something."
He was writhing in pain, but stay frozen he saw Applejack taking her knife and raising it in the air.
"This is for Big Mac."
She said and nailed her knife into the chest of Garble, the pain made him scream again. Applejack took the rifle and pointed it at his head.
"Tit for tat bastard." she said and pulled the trigger.
***_____***_____***
Leon looked at the console, at least he knew where Fluttershy was, but first, he had to get out alive. The silence was cut by the footsteps of someone who approached him; he pulled out the revolver from the holster and got up. Finally, in front of him, he saw a silver-haired girl.
"So you're the famed detective."
"And you must be one of the minions of Sombra, am I right?"
"It will be a shame to have to kill you, but you're just cluttering our plans."
The two were pointing guns, Leon could not waste any more time and he knew it.
"Enough of this nonsense, who are you?"
"My name is Trixie, and I will be the last thing you´ll see."
She dropped her weapon, from her leg she took a knife and looked at Leon,
"Let´s do this more fun."
The knife passed inches away from Leon´s chest. Trixie´s attacks were fast and for him cost to stay out. The wounds on his body did not help his situation, his movements were slow and fatigue began to take effect. Trixie knew she had him on her hands, so her attacks rose in intensity. Trixie's knife entered Leon´s shoulder, he only let a slow pain scream out; but that allowed him to take the girl by the neck and hit her in the face. Trixie was enraged and punched him in the stomach while taking one of her knives, but before she could use it; Leon took her by surprise, he hugs her and twisted her arm. With his free hand pulled the knife from his flesh and placed it in the neck of Trixie.
"Listen, now you'll explain why Sombra is so interested in catching Fluttershy"
"Forget it, you're just prolonging the inevitable, she will be ours sooner or later and you'll be dead by then."
Leon pressed the knife against Trixie's throat.
"We'll see about that. You chose a bad day to mess with me. Now here comes my retribution, you better start telling me the truth. "
"I see you're not playing, well, if you really want to know, we don´t require her at all, better yet, we don´t even need her alive."
He felt fear from Trixie's words, "speak bluntly, or your life comes to an end."
"Well, here's your fucking answer. When we had her in our power, we inoculated her with a virgin strain of a virus so that it will develop inside her blood. But we did not have something in the formula, the host must die so that the process is complete, after she dies, we can harvest the virus and put the world under our power."
Leon dropped the knife, in his mind; Trixie's words were repeated over and over again.
"Flu ... Fluttershy ..."
Trixie took her gun and placed it on his forehead.
"Now you know the truth, it's time to end this."
"Leon ... don´t go ... don´t want to lose you too..."
Fluttershy's words filled her mind.
"Look at yourself, are you defeated? Did you forget the promise you made her? She needs you more than ever, arise, you have a job to do..." he cursed himself.
Leon looked up and saw the barrel of the gun, like a wild animal growled and moved Trixie's arm, she shot but the bullet hit the ground. His hand came to her neck and lifted her into the air for a moment, with all his might, he took her to the ground, the blow was devastating and she lost consciousness. The door flew open and Applejack entered the room.
"Leon, are you okay?"
"Yeah... where is Rainbow?"
"I do not know, but we have to get out of here before..."
Applejack froze and collapsed. Leon ran to her and took her in his arms.
"Applejack, Applejack... answer me... what's wrong?" His hands began to fill with blood and saw that she had a shot in one of her sides, she was breathing hard.
"You do not know how much I desired to have you like this, to see you suffer."
He lifted his gaze to meet with Twilight.
"Finally you will pay; you will not escape this time."
A thud was heard and Twilight vanished instantly, Leon was puzzled to see who had saved him.
"Told you we haven´t finished yet bitch."
"Dash, Applejack´s wounded."
Both rose to the girl and took her out of the factory. Upon leaving, they put her in one of the cars.
"You have to take her to a hospital."
"What are you talking about, you're not coming?"
"They have Fluttershy, I have to rescue her, I'll see you later."
Before Dash could say anything else, Leon closed the car door and entered another, floor the accelerator and disappeared between the buildings in a matter of minutes. Applejack grumbled and Dash looked at her.
"Resists some more, soon you'll be fine."
She lit the car and headed out of Paradise.
***_____***_____***
Twilight woke up and looked around, got up and saw Trixie lying on the floor; she came up to her and tried to reanimate her.
"Trixie, wake up."
The silver-haired girl squirmed and opened her eyes. Looking at Twilight she smiled.
"Where is he?"
"They must have escaped by now."
"Damn, he must be on the way to rescue her."
"What?"
"Leon... Garble got the girl in an old warehouse near the train station."
"Great, we will not get there in time..."
Twilight took her phone
"Sparkle here, Garble is dead, he was able to find the girl, she is in a warehouse in the train station, go get her, you must hurry, Leon is also on the way."
They were both in silence, Twilight looked at Trixie.
"Come on, this place no longer serves our needs."
***_____***_____***
The night begins to fall on the city, the car engine roars and my mind is stuck on one thing; rescue her. Sombra really has something great in his hands, all starts to make sense, the theft of the laboratory, the disappearance of the scientists.
"Her blood... she must die."
Trixie's words spin in my head, the thought of what this means to her leaves me breathless. Floor the accelerator and in the distance the city begins to take shape. I quickly find the store and left the car as close as I can. The station is deserted and only one of the stores has a few lights on. I take Matilda out of the trunk and run to the entrance, as far as my knowledge goes; there was only one man with her, I hope so.
I walk down the main hall; the place is full of boxes with words in other languages. I go to one that is open and in it find weapons, traffickers bet this is their distribution center. At the end of the ship I can see what appears to be the main office; a radio sounds and lights are on. Through the window I can see the shadow of someone on the inside. I walk up the stairs without trying to make noise.
"Hello, hello... fuck, someone answer, I´m bored, Leon, are you still there?"
I recognize the voice of the guy talking; I enter the place and point the gun at him.
"Do you expect me?" He turns and I shot him.
I check the site; a door allows me to enter other room, in it I find Fluttershy. I reach her, freed her hands and she shouts that I do not hurt her. I remove the blindfold and her eyes open wide, she smiles and cries as she hugs me by the neck, I do the same.
"I thought the worst, I thought you had..."
"Don´t say it, don´t even think about it, I'm here. How did they…?"
"I had gone out to buy some things for the bakery, a car approached me and two guys came out of it, I was told to go with them and sprayed me something. When I woke up I saw only darkness and I heard someone who was on the radio, that's all."
"No matter now, we gotta go."
We go to the main office and through the window I see a number of subjects with weapons looking everywhere, one is standing at the door and stares at us.
"HERE, I FOUND THEM!!!"
He shouts to his teammates. I shot the last bullet of the gun and he falls down the stairs. Bullets enter through the walls and I place Fluttershy under the desk while I cover her with my body.
***_____***_____***
I'm terrified; I only hear screams and gunshots. He hugs me and tells me not to worry, that everything will be okay. I know he's telling the truth, but the terror consumes me and I can´t do anything but mourn.
In an instant he loose and tells me not to move. He leaves of the desktop and the next thing I hear is curses and shootings. Several minutes pass and I hear an explosion followed by screams. Another explosion makes the place crumble. Someone comes into the office; I can hear their footsteps and see that stops in front of the desk.
"I have you."
He's someone I do not know, tries to take me out of my hiding place and I scream as loud as I can while I grab of what I can. I hear gunshots and the man falls to the ground, his back smokes. More steps approaching and this time is he the one who appears. He smiles and holds out his hand, I take it and hug him. He tells me to close my eyes; I do and let him guide me.
The smell of smoke turns the cool night air. We got into a car; he starts the engine and hit the road.
We did not talk the whole way. I look at his face, has wounds over all his body, but despite that, he is with me, as he promised. What at first felt for him was fear, now, has become something else, but still do not know how to describe it. Every time he touches me, stares at me, I feel I'm protected, he will be able to give everything for me, and that fills me with joy.
We get home and he opens the door. I sit in the sofa and look at him save his weapons; he looks so tired, walks with difficulty and touches his shoulder with a grimace of pain. Pain, that's all that I have caused him since I met him, but still; he always tells me that nothing will pass me, and today he has shown.
I get up and follow him to the kitchen, I embrace him and my feelings overflow from my eyes, he flinches and turns to look at me, gently caressing me, his gaze is so serene.
"Why me?... Why do they want to get me?"
He is shocked and crouches as if to tell me something.
"Listen... I will not let anything or anyone hurt you... I will always protect you."
Those words make me smile and I rub my face against his chest.
"Hey... you know what today is?"
He says and I look at him a little confused.
"Today is our anniversary, has been a month since I met you, and I could not be happier for it."
He says and kisses my forehead.
"I would not want it any other way."
***_____***_____***
"Let me guess, you were late, right?"
"No Twilight, he finished with all of us, only I was able to escape."
"Well, this is getting complicated. You just let him ruin our chance, and you know what you're going to get for that."
Trixie said to the guy, he just kept silent and handed his gun to her, she took it and shot.
"Well, what we do now, Twilight?"
"I... I don´t know, the issue in Paradise left our hands, it will be better to tell Sombra about this."
Trixie was scared but still said nothing. When they entered Sombra´s office, they saw that he was standing in front of the window and someone else was with him; a woman with long hair.
"You know, I begin to doubt your effectiveness ladies."
He told them, they just kept silent.
"Our plans are in the final stage and only thing stopping us is a man. Garble was killed, that makes me happy. But the detective is still alive, even more so; do I must remind you that the strain also has a life time? Time is running out, get out of here, I´ll speak to you later."
"Sombra, I..."
"GET OUT!!!"
Trixie stood behind Twilight, she just nodded and the two left the room.
"I hope you give better results than those two."
"You can be sure of that sir. Now, tell me, who is the objective?"
Sombra placed a couple of pictures on the table, the girl brought them into the light of the lamp and gasped as he looked at the persons that in they appeared.
"I can´t imagine how Garble was able to capture her, but he´s dead now. So her location is still unknown. If you find the detective, you find the girl."
She felt fear and Sombra noted it.
"Something's bothering you, Luna?" Asked Sombra.
She stared at him; she calmed down a bit and stood up.
"No sir, all is well, soon I will deliver them to you. With your permission."
She turned and walked towards the door.
"One thing more," said Sombra and she stopped, "I just want the girl, kill the detective... and bring me his head."
A chill ran down her spine. "So I will," she said and left the room. Moments after she left the building, she paused in the middle of the street.
"Leon... in what have you got into?"
***_____***_____***
After showering, I check my wounds, the one in my shoulder is deep but at least the bleeding has stopped. I clean them carefully and place disinfectant and gauze. I'm dead, both physically and emotionally. I keep thinking about her, I can´t believe that that bastard have used her for something so perverse, perhaps I can find a way to make the virus go away, maybe there is a cure.
I check the house and make sure all is well. I look into her room and she is curled up, it was a tough day for her. I walk into my room and the phone rings.
"Yeah?"
"Leon? Thank goodness you're okay, Fluttershy, how is she?"
"Don´t worry Dash, everything is fine now, how´s Applejack?"
"The bullet didn´t cause severe injuries, she will recover soon... I'm glad all is well."
"Yes... me too..."
"What´s wrong Leon."
"Nothing... it’s just the fatigue... see you later"
"Ok... bye Leon."
I hang up the phone and turn off the lamp. It is not long until I hear her footsteps entering to my room. I smile and turn on the lamp. She is standing in front the bed without saying anything and looks so tender. I move to the end of the bed and lift the covers; she smiles and comes to the bed.
"Thanks."
She says and curls up next to me. I hug her and turn off the light.