The Black Mask Brothers

by Alex Rite

Chapter 3: Settling In

Man...can't believe it...

...My house was destroyed.

Alex wrapped a shoulder around me and gave me a brotherly pat. "It's alright man, he'll be fine." He said.

"I know...my house won't though..." I said. He gave me the most confused face ever. I stared back at him with anger, and yet, tears streaming down my face.

"You live in my damn house. Don't look at me like that." I told him. He held his hands up in defense, and the Inspector Gold Heart came in.

"Alright, Alex, we're going back to the HQ and file this report--"

"Oh no. No you aren't. Your going to give me a new house, and your going to pay that fine." I told her, wiping off my manly tears and replacing them with fury. She looked at me like I just slapped a puppy.

"Sir, we don't have time to pay the fine." She said, but I laughed at her face.

"Your funny, you know that? Do you even know what you guards have to pay?" I asked her. She shook her head, and I laughed harder. "750,000 bits, plus the new damages, resulting in 900,000 bits total."

I already knew Inspector Alex's-new-crush would be shocked, but Alex himself was shocked. I wanted to smile, but my mind was to damn angry at what happened to Spark and my house. She held a nervous smile before she spoke. "N-nine hundred thousand bits?! Did the fire ponies even pay that off?!" She asked.

I shook my head in response.

"Celestia herself said that if you guys don't pay it before the deadline, not only do I get all the money you guys owe me, but I get a brand new house built by you guards." I told her.

"When is it?"

"A year ago, but I was nice and I wanted to give you a chance, since my friend Alex told me you guys were busy since the Tirek incident. How unfortunate."

I was practically losing my mind at this point, and she could tell. She tried to turn around and look for the Fire Ponies, but they were already gone, leaving an I.O.U. note. She looked back at me. She gave a heavy sigh. "Where would you like to live...?" She gave me another sigh with a sappy look.

I smirked. "A brand new mansion."

She looked like she was tazered, but I kept my stance. "Don't make me tell Celestia how late that deadline is." I told her.

She tried to give me another stern look, but failed. "We will give you another house within week at max." She said, but then she gave me same face she always gives to her clients.

"But as of now, you will be living with your friends."

Good enough for me. I'll be with Rainbow, but...dear merciful Celestia, have mercy on Alex when he encounters Sparks girlfriend.

Please spare Alex, my Princess in savior.

"So, where we stayin?" I asked my brother as the medical team caried Sparks away.

"I'm staying over at Rainbowdash's, while you... are gonna have to room with Spark Plug's girlfriend."

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "Uh-uh! No way in Tartarus I'm staying with that psycho! Especially since Sparks broke up with her, remember?"

I could practically see the gears turning in my brother's head as he tried to recall my statement.

"Oh yeah. You're right. But you can't stay with me and Dash."

"Why?! You think I'd get in the way of you trying to make a move on her? Heck, I could help! I mean, I'm a regular caso-neigh-va, while you're... well, you."

"And what is that supposed to-"

"AHEM!!" interrupted Gold Heart, catching our attention. She then began to blush. "Uh... I-I've got a spare room in my apartment. You... you could stay with me until your new house is ready."

I could feel my cheeks turning red, and could hardly think of a response.

"He'd love to!" Baws answered for me.

"Great! I'll... see you later, then!" And with that, Gold Heart went off to talk to damage control.

"Good luck, caso-neigh-va." Baws whispered to me.

I elbowed him in the gut.

Freaking Supermare; can't tell who they are until that mask is off. Have you ever got feeling where you know who they are, but a simple object makes them a completely different pony, so you just want to yell that out? I have, lots of times.

I give a small chuckle, and it kept going once I saw what Rainbow was doing. She hovered a small gray cloud over Alex, and he suddenly got chills.

"Did it just get dark?" He asked. I replied with a smile.

"And it will get even wetter." I said. Before he could ask, Rainbow stomped on the rain, and it poured onto him. She flew down and gave me a high-hoof. "Now that's how close we are!"

Might as well be the Joker from Batmare, because that's how hard I was smiling. We gave a mighty laugh afterwards, and we got rid of the cloud. "Now, good luck at your marefriends house." I told him.

He looked at me with a glare, before giving a small smile. "Prepare for your flank to get pranked." He rhymed. I just gave him a smile before flying off.

Once me and RD got to her house, she brought out her keys. "Prepare for the time of your life! My fun house!" She said. I couldn't wait, and I was pumped to go in! Until, well...

Soarin was in her house.

Celestia why?

"Soarin? How'd you get in?" Rainbow asked. He jumped a bit before looking at her.

"Oh, by Rainbow--" then he got a good look at me. "--And...Winter."

"Hey...Soarin. How's it going?" I asked him. He doesn't look very happy to see me. Okay, let me get this out of the way. Me and Thunderland are not good friends. We have some stuff that happened in our lives that I probably might explain later.

...Dumb fucks who be reading my diary, go fuck off!

But, regardless, we aren't good friends. Soarin is a whole other story. I literally don't know what I did wrong. He just hates me. Rainbow and him be talking in privacy but, well, I don't know. Poor guy hates me.

And he just happens to be at her house at the time my house burned down.

...Fuck.

I plotted my prank revenge as Gold Heart led me to her apartment. My mind was blank at the moment, but my revenge would be complicated and sweet.

"Anyways, here's my apartment." said Gold Heart as we entered the door into a nice, simple apartment.

"This place is nice!" I said.

Gold Heart blushed. "You really think so? I mean, it's not much..."

"Hey, it's cleaner than my old place. I mean, really, my brothers can't microwave a pizza without making a gigantic mess. So, yeah, you got a real nice place, Goldie."

"Well... thanks." She replied. "Your room's over there, right across from mine."

"Ooh, me likey."

Gold Heart blushed again. "J-just wash up before dinner."

"What are we having?"

"Hay burgers."

I did a double take, then grinned like an idiot. "Nice apartment, pretty mare, and hay burgers? Somepony pinch me, because I gotta be dreamin!"

...

...I felt a disturbance in the force...

...

DAMN YOU ALEX!! Why does he get to have hay burgers?! This is so--!!

"Winter!!"

"Huh? W-what?" Okay, so I may have dozed off a bit. Not like I missed something important!

"Did you hear anything I say?" Rainbow asked.

I replied with no hesitation. "U-um, yeah! Yeah! I totally heard ya!" She gave me the most BS face she has ever given me, it will make cow poop sound like it's pure fact. She sighed, and Soarin chuckled under his breath.

"I'm going to have a chat with Soarin real fast. Don't go anywhere." She told me.

I nodded, and she walked off into her room with Soarin. Suddenly, my temperature dropped. Oh Celestia not the--!!

"ACHOO!!"

...Cold. Fuck Spring, fuck Summer, fuck allergies, fuck everything that's hot. Wait...

...DAMNIT ALLERGIES!! They always mess with my head!!

I looked to see the back door opened, and I gladly closed it. Once that was done, I checked out her house. It wasn't that bad really. Nice furniture, and awesome radio. I swear, if machines are able to project color pictures, and I'm not able to see them, I'ma be pissed. That would be awesome to go through before I die. Actually, what would you call that? P.P.? Projected Pictures?

...Crap, toilet joke.

Other than gibberish coming from the other room, the sound of clocks bothered me.

Tick-tock-tick-tock-this-sucks-its-boring--

bzzt bzzt

The heck? Is my ear pied going off? Before I could even figure out that question, Spark spoke.

"Winter? You there?" He asked.

"Spark? I thought you were in the hospital!!" I kept my voice down from the others hearing, even though they were in the other room.

"Still am. Where's Alex?"

"At his GF's house, why--?"

"For some reason, I'm not getting any feedback. Something's interfering with his ear piece."

"Spark, what's going on?"

"You know how your burned-down-house is a few blocks from the hospital?"

"Don't remind me."

"I'm getting some strange activity going on. I hear female conversations and large equipment being tampered with at the scene. I would check it out, but..."

"And Alex is not available at the moment?"

"Thinking about it now, it may not be a smart idea. Alex is with a royal guard."

"And he's gotten away about robbing a few bank heist in front of Princess Luna during the Gala. That's easy for him to lie off of."

"Anyway, you going to check it out?"

"Record the conversation. Alex is off the list because of interference with something. I'll tell him tomorrow."

"Right. I'll keep an ear out!"

"Good job."

And that's when Rainbow and Soarin came out of the room. What news do you have this time?

The next day, thanks to Goldie pulling a few strings, I was able to take the day off to check in on Sparks. For somepony who constantly tried to arrest us, she really was a sweet mare. Of course, she'd beat me up if I said that.

When I walked in Spark's room, I found Baws inside as well.

"How'd you get off work?" I asked.

"Didn't. Got Dash covering for me."

"And I regret asking. How was it at Dash's?"

"Soarin was there."

"Oooh- You got cock blocked!!"

"Shut yo face!"

"Gentlecolts!" Interrupted Sparks. "We have a lot to talk about, so quit acting like you're five years old again!"

"The heck do you mean again?" I asked him. He gave me the stink eye, and I sighed. "Sure...fine, whatever."

Okay, you guys may not know, but we are in the hospital, and theirs a pony behind me just coughing on my luxurious flank. I swear, my flank will turn freaking saggy because of him. I'm getting angry not giving him a massive horse-powered kick. I hold in my rage, and I continue, "Anyway, Alex, how was your time at your GF's?"

He growled at me, and I smiled. "Didn't even make a move now did you?" I asked him. I swear, he looks close to just giving me the day of my life; painful and brutal, but hilarious all in the meanwhile.

"COUGH COUGH"

And...it was back. I heard a sigh coming from Spark, and he looked at me. "I thought I told you to stop acting like fillies." He told me.

I gave him a toothy grin. "I'm not, but thanks for the compliment anyway. I'm actually nine, so thanks for that. I don't look a day older than five!" I sarcastically told him.

Spark sighed, and the nurse came in. "You doing okay, Spark? These two men bothering you?" She asked.
He muttered something under his breath, which neither of us got.
"Excuse me?" She asked.

"I'm fine, thank you." He, I guess, repeated. She nodded, and walked past me, a bit of her tail rubbing on my blue coat. She grabbed the stallion behind me and pushed him to the door, but she gave me one good look before taking off. I stared at the door like a flipping idiot.

"...Isn't she the nurse from the counter?" Alex asked. I gave him a small shrug. "Don't know, but pretty dang skinny for a earth pony." I told him.

...Hey, do you think she was hitting on me?

I noticed the look on my brother's face.

"She was not hitting on you."

"And what makes you think so?"

"Because the only mare who even hits on you just a little bit is Rainbow."

"You think Rainbow's into me?"

"Was that not obvious? I tease you about it so often."

"Yeah, but... I never actually noticed."

"Again: totally. Romantically. Challenged."

"It's true." Sparks agreed.

"Told ya."

"What does Sparks know? Literally every mare avoids him when he tries to go on a date! Heck, I'm still wondering how you--" I pointed at Alex, "--haven't made a single move, and you--" then I pointed at Sparks "--only got a girlfriend because we told you to get out the damn house a few weeks ago! Even and still we had to make the move for you, because you were to damn scared to ask her!"

"Chill, just a tease." Alex reassured me, but I was a little peeved off how Sparks thinks he knows how to get a damned date when he thinks I don't. "Sure I don't notice a lot of things, but don't think your the damn smart guy around here, okay?" I said.

They both were a little shock at my sudden outburst, but they nodded anyway. "Now...hurry up. My little sis is about to get out of school today, so make this quick."

"You have a sister?" Spark suddenly perked.

Nope nope nope, he ain't getting nowhere to my sister. Screw him.

"Yeah, but she's spending a week or two at my house. She's been living with my Mom for the past few years. Hurry up." I said.

Spark sighed sadly, which I have no fucks to give at that point. Sorry, more fucks will be here soon, but in the meanwhile, you can give a damn to charity.

"Anyways," Alex said, "What's the big important shiz you gotta talk about, Sparks?"

Sparks brought up a newspaper from the hospital bed, and we took a look at it. "Your burning building was in the front page." He said.

Burning Building in Ponyville?

...The fuck does it have a question mark for? OF COURSE MY HOUSE BURNED DOWN!! "Okay, so?" I said, still retaining my anger.

"Look closely at the picture." He told us. We looked at the picture, which had nothing out of the ordinary. My house was burned in the aftermath, and it seemed to rest in the forest. A bunch of guards were there too, so theirs that. "...What are we suppose to be looking at?" Alex asked.

Spark groaned, then tapped on the newspaper. "Read the article!!" He yelled. Grinning like a it idiot, I read the article.

Officer Red Cherry has reported that the building has burned down during the day, and no pony was able to confirm who did it. Seeing no suspicious activity, Inspector Gold Heart and her assistant Alex Rite has declared this building to be tore down tomorrow afternoon. Officer Red Cherry claims that this fire went off during the morning rise--between 7:30 to 10:00 A.M--and will be investigating shortly.

Alex raised a brow in question, and he looked at me. "We were at the house until 9:00, so it had to be between somewhere around there." He said.

"Not only that," Spark pointed to another part of an article, "It says that the Vendetta crew has burned several buildings containing hard-to-catch thieves like the Changelings, Diamond Dog Industries, and Griffon U.C."

"Griffin U.C.? Isn't that an undercover agency?" I asked. Spark nodded, and he set the news paper down. "The Vendetta Crew has burned down buildings containing thieves, and the Royal guards are slowly catching on. If they figure out that the building they burned was your house..."

He trailed off, but me and Alex knew what he was going to say. "They will suspect we're the thieves!" Alex exclaims.

Well shit!!

"Sweet Celestia have mercy!" I exclaimed, panic stricken. "If they find us out, we'll never be able to escape! Not to mention, Gold Heart probably won't go out with me!"

"Baws?" said Sparks, glancing to our brother. Completely understanding what he meant, Baws raised his hoof. Next thing I knew, his hoof made very painful contact with my face.

"Thanks," I said, rubbing my cheek. "I needed that."

Baws raised his hoof again, but I quickly grabbed hold of it.

"Don't push your luck." I said, glaring.

"Anyways," Sparks continued, "the good news is, I managed to erase any trace of the Vendettes before I lost consciousness."

"And the bad news?" Baws inturupted.

"The bad news is: they know who we are."

"You're right. They could expose us if given the chance..."

"So what?" querried Baws. "We just sit back and take it like whimps? You know I can't do that!"

"I agree. I can't stand for this; stealing our stuff, destroying our home, harming Sparks- these ponies need to pay."

Sparks grinned. "I knew you two would say that. That's why I've got a plan."

"Plan time, huh? Well lay it on us." replied Baws, as he and I huddled in with Sparks.

"It's not gonna be easy," Sparks informed us. "It's gonna take time, resources, skill, and more ponypower than the three of us have alone. But together, I think we can do it. We're gonna take down the Vendette Crew one at a time, until there's nothing left of them but memories."

"Ooh, I like this plan!" Baws interjected. "I'm excited to be a part of it!"

"So what do we need to do?" I asked.
"First, we need to lay low until the new house is ready: that will be our main base. During this time, we need to find out as much about the Vendettes as possible. Once we've accomplished that, we move into phase two. Are you guys ready to become legends?"

We all nod to eachother, grinning like idiots. It was time for the Black Mask Brothers to make our names go down in history.

"What about that recording?" I asked him. Alex seemed a bit confused about that, but I still kept my stance. Sparks brought out a small recorder, Celestia knows what the heck that is and how it was formed, and he replayed the tape.

At first, it sounded like some of our stuff from the burning building was being tampered with, but I could make it out quite clear. "Rose, have you found the book?" a feminine voice asked.

"Yeah," another mare said, "Trust me, they should know who their messing with now. They should be caught by next morning if were correct."

"Complete fail." I couldn't hold back saying it, which resulted in my boys chuckling a bit. More sounds were tampered with, and I couldn't help but be intrigued in what they were going through.

"If not, then they should at least know that we are a group they shouldn't mess with." the mare confirmed.

"Oh yeah," 'Rose' said, "Robbing a casino, and exposing the Black Mask Brothers, we should be the infamous Vendetta Sisters, not them!"

"C'mon, we got the information we need now. Let's go."

And with that, silence was heard. Guess that was the end. "Their good, but not good enough." Alex said.

"Agreed, we should be able to take them down easy if we can figure out where their hideout is." Spark said, but a few things confused me, so I shook my head in denial.

"I don't get it," I told them, "just...how did they find us? Not even the guards nor Princess Celestia herself could find us, and yet, they found us with ease. Not only that, what information did they steal? What's so vital to them that they would steal from us?"

"We can't let that go, we know this, but we can't do anything until we can get a new hideout and our equipment back. We're sitting ducks, just letting them toy with us until we are no longer use to them." Spark said.

"Just do our regular daily lives, and we'll figure out what to do next. Winter, keep us informed of our house. Spark, once you get out, find out more about the crew." Alex told us.

"And what would you being doing?" I interrupted. He gave me a smile. "I'll be checking in reports and crimes on these Vendettas. Good luck out there." He said.

I nodded and took my leave.

Good to have ya back Alex.