"What should we do now?" I ask Abe, who is the main protagonist of this conflict.
"Tell the girls."
"Are you sure?" Asks Jack. "Right now? At this moment?"
"I don't know," answers Abe. "Look... I need coffee now. Let's go to the cafeteria and try to make a plan before lunchtime."
"Ok," I say. "Go. I'll wait for you outside. I need to breathe some fresh air to relax."
Abe grabs both Jack and I's shoulders. "Look," he says. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I am the main responsible for this... I'm afraid a gang war may start because of my decision..."
"It's OK," says Jack while nudging him. "You made the best decision... family. You wouldn't bring Rarity back with the Fort's money..."
Abe nods with his head while sighing. "Are you going to wait outside, W?"
"Yes. I will go later."
Outside
This is only the beginning. I feel this simple thing would turn into something massive and will fuck all our lives. My life, Jacky's, Abe's... even Rarity and her friends would not be the same after all of this. My perspective of this is calm... by now. I feel the men have something under their sleeves, something big.
There is something that's also worrying me. A guy is looking at me... well, he is reading a book, but he stops reading it for some seconds, looks at me, he continues reading and repeats the same thing over and over... Who is that guy? It can be a spy, but his worried, shy gesture makes me wonder he is just a normal dude. Wait... I think I know that guy. Glasses, purple skin, a yellow jumper with an atom drawing on it... he was in the cafeteria this morning. He can't be a spy, come on... look at his face!
Eventually, he gets up and walks next to me, but then stops. He just stands there for two seconds and turns around to look at me. "Hey," he says while waving his hand.
"Hey," I answer with a smile.
"Um... thanks for saving me."
"Uh... from what?"
"Pietro. He was mocking me, and then you... well... you appeared and broke Little Ace's nose. That was... truly epic, yeah... truly epic."
"Oh... it was in self-defense, kid."
He stretches his hand. "Micro Chips," he says. I think that's his name. I stretch my hand too and we do a handshake.
"Call me W."
"Woah... and are you new here? I never saw you in maths, chemistry, physics, IT..."
"No... I'm not a student, dude."
"Then who are you?" he asks, confused.
"Um... an old... uh... a friend from Pietro. We... used to mess..."
"Come on, don't be shy," says Micro Chips. "Don't lie to me, I won't tell anybody." I'm an idiot, why did I stop for so long while making the lie? I have to invent another one now.
"Uh... well... Pietro and I were friends until he started talking with those guys from Canterlot."
"Yes," he answers. "Little Ace is an idiot. I hate him... and there are other dudes like Duke Starlight or Dark Specter who are not so stupid but tend to follow Pietro's orders... I don't know if I will put up with them in the Fall Formal... I mean, Pietro will mock me because nobody asks me to dance... *sigh* I'm just a stupid techie."
"Don't say that. There are lots of girls in the school... one of them may like you," I say while grabbing a cigarette.
"How is that possible? I am not you."
I am not you. I don't like that phrase, amigo. Comparing yourself with others is not a good thing for you. "What do you mean with that?" I ask him.
"Come on... look at you, man. You are like a male version of Vignette Valencia. You are handsome and you also have that bad boy personality that girls love. You may be now one of the most popular guys in school... and you are not even a student."
"Really? Why?"
"Come on, man... after Little Ace's incident, everyone started talking about you. Every group of the school said positive things about you because you faced Pietro and his friends... The Rockers, the Techies, the Eco-kids, the Dramatics... even the teachers! Some girls were talking about you... but... how can I tell you this."
"They wanted to fuck me, right?" He-he.
"Um... yeah. They truly wanted to make sexual relationships with you. I remember some of them... Octavia and Watermelody were talking about you, also Spitfire... um..."
"Stop there, I don't care. The thing here is that you are comparing two different guys: You and me. We may be men, but that doesn't mean we are the same. You have your pros and cons and I also have my pros and cons, and I have cons for real."
"Like what?"
"I won't tell you because it's not necessary. I see you have a pro: you are smart." He nods with his head. "You can use your smart head to have a normal conversation with someone."
"Yes..." he says. "I do want to invite someone to dance, but... I just don't know."
"Who?"
"Pinkie Pie."
"Um..."
"The girl with pink, poofy hair."
Oh, the crazy girl whose smile was bigger than her whole face. Yes. "Um, yeah... if you use your head to inspire yourself and to let you know that you can invite her to dance... you will win."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Jack and Abe are in the cafeteria, thinking about how to keep Rarity and her friends safe. At 12 all the students will come here for their lunch, so they don't have so much time to plan this. They have to be quick. Suddenly, a girl appears and interrupts their conversation. Blue skin, a yellow and purple star-styled hair clip that holds her white hair and blue tufts, a blue sweater and a purple skirt. Both Jack and Abe recognize her: Trixie Lulamoon... Daughter of the Crazy Lulamoons. She starts looking around and then she waves her hand at Jack, before approaching them.
"Hi," she says with a smile.
"Um... hi," answer both of them.
"Aren't you W's friends?"
Both Jack and Abe are confused. Why would she look for W? "Um... yes," says Jack. "Why?"
"Did he leave?" She says while blushing. "Trixie... just wants to talk to him."
"Um... he went outside to relax. You can look for him at the entrance."
"Ok..." she says while twirling her hair. "Thank you!"
She leaves the cafeteria and Abe focuses on something: "Did you see her?" he asks.
"What?" says Jack.
"Her face. Her cheeks were red. She was also twirling her hair..."
"Don't make me laugh..." says Jack, while chuckling. "She can't be in love with W. You know W doesn't know what unconditional love means. He thinks with his dick, not with his heart."
"Yeah... poor girl. Anyway, let's go back to the plan..."
The same four men who were in the yellow room hours ago are now back: Hopkins, Patch, Tom, and Gordo.
"So they left and you are looking for them," says Hopkins. "Look at Ron and his boys... I never thought they were able to run away from you, Gordo."
"Yeah..." says Gordo. "I feel guilty, though. Ron and I are good but... I see in Blueblood a bigger spirit... a better charisma... I think if I stay with Blueblood, things will get better. Ron Delight and his Pirate boys are now histories."
"They haven't died yet, Gordo," says Tom Delight. "And my brother doesn't die easily, you know him."
"He will... Blueblood will find them in less than thirty minutes, but I don't know... he is trying to find the perfect time and place to execute his plan... that's something I like from him... he is so strategic. He reminds of that fucking Plegovich maniac. He will be a very good gang leader in the future."
"So..." says Patch. "I've been waiting for the topic you came for."
"Oh, sorry..." says Gordo. "Blueblood's been thinking about including you two in the project." He said two but three guys are listening to Gordo's words. They know one of them would be left in the dust... and may be killed in that same room too. Patch, Hopkins and Tom Delight start looking at each other. It may be the last time they will be together in this room. "So..." says Gordo. "Hopkins and Patch."
Tom's face fades to white. The other three guys are looking at him, but the tension is interrupted by a sound: the doorbell. Patch grabs his deluxe cellphone and presses his finger on an app. Then, the cellphone shows who's outside: Ron Delight.
"Woah," says Patch. "Ron's outside."
"What?" Says Hopkins, looking at Tom. "Did you tell him, you motherfucker?"
"No!"
"Don't lie to me!" He shouts while grabbing Tom's white shirt. "You did it!"
"NO!"
"Hey, guys..." says Patch, after finding out his waiters let Ron in. "Hey..."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, PATCH!" says Hopkins. Patch loses his mood and jumps onto him, giving birth to a fight. Gordo tries to stop them but everything is interrupted when someone opens the door.... a guy with an eye patch.
Hopkins and Patch stop fighting. Gordo and Tom just stay in silence while looking at Ron.
"What the..." says the Pirate while drawing his gun. Hopkins gets up from the floor and Ron recognizes him. Finally, after all these days, both men are face to face. "Hopkins!" Shouts Ron. "YOU SON OF A..."
Hopkins fires his gun on the roof and runs away. Ron, who took cover under the table because of the gunshots, starts following him. Tom decides to escape and leave Gordo and Patch in the room.
.
"COME HERE, YOU BITCH!" shouts Ron, while reloading his handgun. Hopkins has crossed the Mansion's Street and is now on the other side, which has old cottages filled with junkies.
Patch's Mansion.
"Patch."
"Yes, Gordo?"
"Call the No Soul Dogs."
"How about Blueblood's orders?"
"Just call them!"
Ron is still chasing Hopkins while getting nearer to the Main Street. Meanwhile, Tom is following Ron, trying to call his attention. "RON!" he shouts.
"Shut up, Tom! I'm trying to get that douchebag!"
"You can't reach him now!"
Ron stops while looking at Hopkins running to the main street. "Traitor... bloody traitor."
"I know he's a traitor but... we have to get out of here now. They may get rid of me! They don't want me inside the project!"
"And why would you be inside the project?" Tom shuts his mouth and doesn't answer. "Why? Did you want to leave me in the dust, you dumb?"
"But Gordo said--"
"I don't care what Gordo says."
"He said the only thing I should care about-"
"I AM YOUR BROTHER, TOM! I took care of you and left you in your privileged place!" Tom sighs and seconds later, Ron nudges his shoulder. "Look, man... I know you did this because you were scared... just don't do it again, OK?"
"Yeah... but has the gang war been born?"
"Uh... I don't know."
Suddenly, a car stops in front of the street. Then another one. Another one. Three cars stop in front of them. All the guys inside are armed and one of them is recognized by both Delight brothers: Rabidity, a grey-skinned, voluptuous man with dark grey hair... he is the leader of the No Soul Dogs, a notorious street gang from La Lima. Rumour has it Rabidity lived his childhood on the other side, as a species named Diamond Dog. Then, he accidentally discovered the other side, met Patch and became friends. Rabidity gets down from the car and the Delight Brothers start running away.
"Oh shit... Where did you park the car?" Asks Tom.
"Main Street."
"Are you fucking crazy?"
"I didn't know bloody Hopkins and the No Soul Dogs would be here!"
Ron and Tom run from the No Soul Dogs, turning on the left and passing through some houses. No one realizes two unknown dudes are passing through their houses, except for one man who drew his shotgun but decided not to shoot.
After passing through gardens and backyards, they finally arrive at Main Street and look at a black car. It is Ron's. However, the No Soul Dogs have already arrived in the street. Lots of them are getting out of their cars or drawing their guns. Rabidity comes out with a machine gun.
"This is it, Ron," says Rabidity. "The Pirates' Ship has been sunk."
"Wait, Rabidity!" Shouts Tom. "If you kill me, you won't have my drugs anymore..."
"I don't c--"
Rabidity's words are interrupted by one of the No Soul Dogs. "Wait, no," He says. "We can't kill Tom... he's the Chef! And we also can't kill Ron. I mean, they are the Delight Brothers... if we kill one of them, it just doesn't make sense..."
A discussion starts because of the dude's opinion. Ron and Tom Delight slowly move to their car, but Rabidity stops them again.
"Hey!" He shouts. "Don't move."
"Let us go, Rabidity," says Tom.
"And what are you going to give me?"
Tom looks in his trousers' pockets and gets out a key. "This is the key to my meth shed, Rabidity. I have it outside Patch's Mansion, in a little hut. The best meth that has La Lima is there."
Rabidity looks at his henchmen, and all of them gather to discuss the situation. Ron and Tom slowly move to the car but Rabidity catches them again: "Hey, you!"
"Wait!" shouts Tom. "We are just approaching our car."
"Give me the key."
Tom throws the key to Rabidity and he catches it. They are so easy to convince. The humanoid diamond dog looks at the key and smiles. "Ok then..." h says. "You can go."
"Wait!" says one of the No Soul Dogs. "What about Gordo?"
"Would you prefer Gordo or a hut filled with meth?" says another guy.
"The second one... I'd say."
"So...?"
Ron and Tom get in the car and turn it on.
"Do you think Hopkins is still here?" asks Ron.
"It's no worth looking for him now... he must be in the suburbs of La Lima... I'd like to know how he will survive there..."
"Why would he be here in the first place? I just don't know..."
"Um... it's a long story..."
Ron sighs. "Gordo tempted him to join his group, right?"
Tom nods his head. "He robbed 12 for him, brother..."
"Son of a motherfucking bitch... If I find him, I'll kill him and Gordo. Two fucking dumbasses..."
Ron accelerates and leaves La Lima with Tom.
Butter Valley is the richest zone inside Las Pegasus. It is a small VIP city where all the magnates and millionaires live inside their luxurious mansions. However, four massive mansions are completely apart from the valley. The two mansions who are on the left are painted with red, and the other two are painted with yellow. These cosy and beautiful mansions have an owner: Nicholas Plegovich.
All of the four mansions have a name: The first red mansion is named Public Property, the other red mansion is called Utopia, and the other two are named Montreal and Nicholas. Mr Public Property and Mrs Utopia were Nicholas' parents, while Montreal is his late brother.
Lucas and Pietro Plegovich are waiting outside the Montreal mansion for someone. Then, an enormous, robust, yellow-skinned man with brown hair and a chin puff beard opens the door. That man is Sergei, Plegovich's assistant and right-hand man.
"Sergei," says Lucas. "Is uncle Nico here?"
"No, Lucas."
"Where is he now?"
"Busy."
"But where is he, Sergei?"
"Plegovich ordered me not to say where he was."
Lucas sighs. "Can we enter, at least?"
"Yes."
Sergei has also an eerie nickname: The Robot. Gangsters recognize him because of his monotonous behaviour and also... his sadistic strength while doing work for Plegovich. He has tortured so many people that gangsters say that even Plegovich is scared of his bloodthirst.
.
There is a big painting of a light blue-skinned man with black hair and a trident tattoo in one of his cheeks. He also has something special that calls Pietro's attention: his eyes. His left pupil is orange and his right one is yellow. He had heterochromia.
"Do you know this guy, Pietro?" asks Lucas.
Pietro saw him once or twice in his uncle's old photos, but he doesn't know his name or relationship with Nico. "No."
"That guy is Montreal Plegovich... our father."
Pietro's eyes open wide. "W-Wh-What?"
"Yes, Pietro... well, he passed away a long time ago but... he is our father for real..."
"Uh-huh... but... why does he...?"
"What?"
"His eyes."
"Oh," says Lucas. "Heterochromia. He had it... and Uncle Nico also has it."
"Ok, Lucas... is this why you brought me up here?"
Lucas stays silent and sits on a couch next to the painting. He asks Sergei a glass of whiskey and a minute later he comes back with the glass. Lucas drinks it and starts talking: "I brought you here to tell you that your decision yesterday... was the wrong one. If this Fort project succeeds, we will be rich for life and also our legacy will be the biggest after Nico's retirement!"
"Are you sure our uncle is going to participate?" asks Pietro.
"What do you think, Sergei? Will Plegovich participate?"
"Yes," answers Sergei. "But he is not sure."
Suddenly Lucas' smile fades away... "What do you mean with that?" asks Lucas.
"He doesn't know if he will stay with you or with your brother, Lucas."
"Fuck," whispers Lucas while grabbing his head. Suddenly, Sergei's cellphone starts ringing. He looks at his screen: MR. PLEGOVICH.
"Привет." says Sergei. Lucas knows who is he talking to now. Sergei only speaks Russian when he is talking to Plegovich.
"Они в доме?"
"да."
"Передай мне с Лукасом, пожалуйста."
"да," says Sergei, before handling the cellphone to Lucas. "Your uncle."
Lucas grabs the phone and says: "Hi, uncle..."
"I know everything, Lucas, and I've just defined my side."
"Which one?"
"You will stay where Pietro wants to stay."
"B-but... a... are you...crazy?"
"What did you say?" says Sergei, angrily. Lucas apologizes with a gesture.
"But... you know this project is too important! We can get so much..."
"It will fail, мальчик. The Fort is the hardest place to rob... even I failed while trying to rob it."
"But they say they would use the Elements..."
"Oh... so it would be a lot worse, my child... that's why Pietro is more clever than you, мальчик. They will use things that may not exist... "
Lucas stays in silence.
"What happened, my kid?" says Plegovich, while chuckling. "Did somebody eat your tongue?"
"No... no... it's OK but... what about the other dudes? Gordo, Blueblood? How will they react if I leave the project?"
"Gordo, Blueblood and their boys are just a bunch of idiots, Lucas. Now, the best thing you can do is to listen to my advice and leave that group. Now, give this phone back to Sergei."
"Yes," says Lucas, while staying shocked and silent. Plegovich has spoken.
I am now on the football pitch. I tried to get back with Jack and Abe, but they are too busy making a plan to take care of the Elements of Harmony. I get bored with being in that tense conversation and I'm now watching a match where Rainbow Dash's team is winning 2-1.
I didn't know Rainbow Dash was so good at sports, especially this one. I look at how everyone gets surprised at her moves while she is playing. She looks like a professional girl. The other thing that calls my attention is that the girl who is describing the match has a really low voice. I mean, some whispers near me are louder than her voice. I turn around and I realize Fluttershy is in that spot. Now I know why it is too low. While turning around to look at Fluttershy, I realize some girls are looking at me. I instantly get embarrassed because those girls are not teenage girls... I mean, one of those girls is Abe's younger granddaughter, and the other two girls that are along with her look like her. They may have 12 or 13 years old. Ew, gross!
But then, I realize they weren't looking at me because they thought I was attractive. One of those girls, a yellow-skinned one with long red hair, jeans, and a green t-shirt appears next to me with a card.
"Um... who are you?" I ask them.
"Are you W?" asks the red-haired girl.
"Yes."
She gives me the card and shakes my hand. "My name is Applebloom, and they are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Someone I can't name left this and it is for you."
"Um... ok. Why don't you want to tell me who is this?"
"She told us not to say anything," says Applebloom, and then Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo look at her.
"You've just said she's a woman," says Scootaloo and Applebloom covers her mouth. Then, Sweetie Belle raises her hand and starts speaking:
"Um... are you one of my grandpa's friends, too?"
"Uh... yes. Why?"
"I want to tell him that... I'm better, you know... I think I don't need three psychologists per week anymore."
"Three psychologists? Oh... your grandpa is sometimes a crazy dude. I'll tell him."
"Bye," they say to me before waving my hand. I open the card and I realize it's only a sheet of paper with a message:
"W:
Go to the gym... now! It's urgent!"
Ok... nobody signed this and calls my attention. I think this may be a trap, but it's almost impossible for the other gang to lie to me right here, on Canterlot High. I decide to leave the football match, which is about to finish in less than five minutes.
I'm walking through the hallway and I realize some students are talking about this morning's situation where I was one of the protagonists. I think Micro Chips was right on that... I'm leaving a name in this place. My name. I ignore this and find the gym after ten minutes.
Gym
I open the door and all the lights are off. That's not something I like too much, and that's why I put my hand inside my pocket and I slowly start drawing my handgun but suddenly, the lights turn on and I look at Pinkie Pie, the happy girl, along with Sunset Shimmer, a cowboy girl and Twilight Sparkle. There is also a small table filled with snacks and there are balloons that are floating everywhere on the roof.
"SURPRISE! SURPRISE!" shouts Pinkie Pie, while jumping with joy. Every other girl starts clapping. "Thank you for what you did, mister trenchcoat! That's what I prepared for you this surprise party!"
"Wait... what?" I say. Why would they make a surprise party for me? "What did I do?" I ask.
"You saved me from Pietro and Little Ace," she says while jumping in front of me. Then, she grabs my ear and whispers to me: "Rumour has it Little Ace was sent to the hospital."
"Welp, he deserved it," says the cowboy girl, before shaking hands with me and finding out she has an indescribable force that can compete with Granny Smith's. "Mah name's Applejack, folk. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Applejack... Call me W. So... you made this only because I saved Pinkie Pie from Pietro?"
"It was all Pinkie's idea," says Sunset Shimmer.
"MY IDEA! MY IDEA!" shouts Pinkie Pie while eating some chips. Suddenly, Fluttershy and Rarity enter the gym.
"Oh, look who's here..." says Rarity. The spoiled child has come.
"Hi, R," I say.
"R?" she says, angrily.
"How are you?"
"After everything that happened? Including the death of my kidnapper and my grandpa following me all the time because he's very paranoid... fine."
Everyone is silent now. Even Pinkie Pie is not saying anything, but then, the tension is interrupted when someone calls me by my name in the gym... Trixie.
"Trixie?" says Applejack. "What you doin' here?"
"Um... I've been looking for W."
"I'm here, Trixie. What do you want?"
Her face blushes. "Can we talk in private for a moment?"
Every one of the girls looks at me. I approach Trixie and I start talking to her at the gym's entrance. "What happened?" I ask her.
"I realized Trixie's dress is not so... how can I say this... nice."
"Why?" She grabs her cellphone and shows me a photo of a dress that looks like it has been used by an old canterlotian lady in 1936. "Um... well..."
"Don't say it. Trixie knows it is ugly... The problem here is... where can I get a new dress? An impressive dress for the Fall Formal must be very expensive..."
"Um..." I start thinking, and then my eyes focus on Rarity. "I have an idea... RARITY!"
She looks at me with her S.A.S.C (stupid angry spoiled child) face. "Yes?"
"Would you do me a favour?"
"Which one?"
"Do you have enough time to make a dress for Trixie?"
"Wait, what?" asks Trixie to me. "Are you crazy?"
Rarity's face changes to a happier one. "Sure... I should talk to you later about the dress, Trixie. How about getting together after Cranky's class?"
"Um...OK... It would be fine..." she answers while looking at me, and then she says: "Um... Bye... then," before running away from me. I return to my old spot but Rarity stops me with her arms.
"Are you dating Trixie, darling?"
"What?" I say while putting her arms out of my shoulders. "NO!"
"Whoops... I thought you were," says Sunset Shimmer, after all the girls start laughing including Fluttershy. "You two are too cute together!"
"Awww..." says Rarity. "Trixie and W! Wixie!"
"Shut up, please!" I shout. "Would you stop shipping me with Trixie?"
"Don't be so exaggerated, buddy..." says Applejack while laughing. "You remind me of Rainbow Dash this morning when she talked about how the cops tried to run her over..."
My face changes now. I'm worried. Oh. Oh no... That's not a good piece of news.
"What?" I ask Applejack.
"Yes, it is stupid... she said the cops tried to run her over on purpose."
I shake my head while looking to the roof. "What happened?" Asks Twilight. "Is that important?"
"It is," I answer. "Someone's looking for you."
To be continued...]