"Then I will need to head to my office to get some things." I started heading in the direction of my office/home. Mr. Dusk said he would be waiting at the station while. I went back home and made sure my saddlebag had everything I needed. I restocked the first aid kit, made sure I had some spare bits, and of course since this week was suppose to be my vacation I was going to have to bring Nancy with me. I call her down and place her in my bag. I then headed to the station where I see Mr. Dusk waiting for me.
"Your good?" He asks.
"Yes." I said. There was a sound of a muffled meow from my bag.
He had a questionable look in his eyes as he glanced at my bag. "You're bringing your cat?"
"I might be." I go over to the ticket booth to buy the tickets, once I buy them I walk back over and I hand him his ticket. We get on the train and I take a seat by Dusk, I read a book as I always do on a train. I glance over to Mr. Dusk seeing that he fell asleep, he must be tired from following me around and all the transformation of going back and forth between his evil self and normal self.
Time goes by as I was almost done with my book and the train pulls up in Manehatten station. I turn to my client and shake him gently as I spoke."Get up Mr. Dusk." He wakes up right away and I stood up. "Lets go." Once we were off the train I allow him to lead the way to his lab.We ended up walking towards the high class part of Manehatten. I recognized it instantly from my past cases.
I look at Mr. Dusk as he walked in front of me. "Your lab is here?"
He nods."Yeah my great Great Great Grandfather gave me a house in this district to use as a lab and a hideout." I nodded as we headed inside the property, we walk through the rusty gates and looked and saw a lovely garden. When we got closer I look at the red mansion with old gargoyles on it. We walk through the doors and it revealed a front room that was filled with feng shui.
"Nice place." I smiled.
"Thanks." He replied.While we were walking down the hall,he stops and looks at a picture of Celestia battling Sombra.
"Interesting picture." I said once I stopped and started looking at it.
"It feels alive" He tells me. I nod as he talked and turned to see a doll walking in front of us. It looked like an orange and white bear with several metal stitches, the shoes were red with a white stripe and it had a red diamond above it’s head.
"A doll?" I said confused.
"Yep a living doll. Made it myself. He is the first thing I made"
I nodded. "Interesting."
I watch as he looks at the doll closely. "Where’s the gem?"
"Was there suppose to be one? " I asked thinking it was a decorative gem. He nods to tell me yes. "Somepony might have taken it or it could have fallen off."
Mr. Dusk shook his head now after I said that."It couldn't have been any of those,the gem is his power source."
"Oh" I said realizing that if it didn’t have the gem then it wouldn’t be able to move but if the gem wasn't there how could it be moving.
"So there is only one way to hide it and have the doll stay alive." He said to me. ”And that would be inside the doll and that would mean the culprit came here."
I nodded. "To your lab then sir." We head to the chrome silver lab, the pounding of pistons and the hums of machines can be heard everywhere around us. We look and see a stallion wearing a mask that looked like Mr. Dusk, he also wore a neon vest like my client wears. He was trying to steal Mr. Dusk’s designs, this had to be the phantom. "Hmm interesting." I said looking at the Phantom.
"Who?" He said turning to me.
"Your interesting. You look look a lot like my client." I said taking a few steps forward.
"Maybe I am your client"
I ignored what he just said since I didn’t think he was my client as he has been with me for most of my case. I turn to Mr. Dusk. "Do you recognize this stallion besides that he looks like you."
"No.Never in my life." He told me.
I nodded crossing my hooves "Good to know. Now Mr. Phantom. I suggest you explain yourself."
Phantom looked at me. "There is nothing to explain"
"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Equestria is Doomed"
"No it is not." I said pulling out the prototype of the shutdown remote.
He looked surprised and confused. "What is that?"
"A remote to shut down the robots." I smirked
He pulls out his gun. "Do you want to test me?"
Nancy popped her head out of my bag and hissed at him. I smirked. "I really doubt you will use it."
He fires at me and I dodge it. "I am a professional assassin."
"I'm a detective your point?" I said as the bullet I dodged hits Dusk's leg."Are you okay Mr. Dusk?"
Mr.Dusk nods "Yes"
I nodded. "Good." I look towards the Phantom. "Where are the robots."
"Being combined." The Phantom said.
"You will release them back into my client's hooves." I said in a commanding tone.
"Why will I do that?"
"Because I am asking you." I replied.
"You expect me to listen to a useless Detective?" He said.
"I am not useless. " I stated.
“You are bound to laws."
"Yes but that does not make me useless. " I slip my saddlebags off but the Phantom quickly fires at it, Nancy was lucky and jumped out of my bag before the bullet could hit it. I glared at him. "Put the gun down." He then shoots at me and I dodge it not wanting to get hit. He then punches me and I fell back slightly and once I recovered from the hit I punched him back. He grabs my hoof and slams it into the ground,I yelped in pain for a second. He continues attacking me and I keep dodging it. I kick him in the stomach but only to see that it wasn’t Phantom who felt the pain but Mr. Dusk.I look over to him wondering why he felt the pain. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head at me. "No I was kicked in the stomach. He is able to direct pain to the real pony he's impersonating."
"Hmm..That is interesting." I turn to Phantom. "How can you do that? Is that your special talent?"
The Phantom nods "Yeah, along with many other things"
I wondered what other things this stallion could do, he really was interesting. "Like?"
"Why should I reveal my secrets now?"
"Hmm you have a point there. How about we play a game? If I win you tell me your secrets, give up the robots and we take you jail." I smirked wanting to buy some time for me to come up with a plan to capture him.
"What kind of game?"
"Your choice in the game." I answered.
"I don't have time to mess around"
"What makes you think we are going to be messing around. I am just saying we could just play a simple game. It would put an end to us just hitting each other around like we were a punching dummy."He told me no for the game so I glare at him as I tried to think, he returned my glare with one that felt like it could freeze a stone. That is one tough glare. I thought. I look around and notice that nothing besides us were moving. I couldn’t even see Mr. Dusk take a single breath.
"Strange.." I muttered. Time was frozen, was this another one of the Phantoms so called talents?
"That is another one of my many talents." He said confirming my assumption.
I nodded "So I see. So you can control time. That does explain how you stole all the robots."
"That's small time."
I tilted my head. "Really sir?"He nods yes and I continue to speak. "Interesting,"Now what do you want?"
"You leaving."He said.
I shook my head. "That will not happen. You have stolen from my client so I would like to have the robots back and then take you to jail. Then I would leave"
"No jail can hold me." He smirked,
"We will see about that"I wait for his next move and the next thing I knew he was gone."Where did he go.." I look around as feel something hit me hard on the back of my head. Everything went black. I groan as I wake up not knowing how long I been out. I could tell time was moving again as Nancy licked my face. "Ow." I said to myself.
"Ummmm we have a huge problem." I heard Mr. Dusk say.
"I realize that." I replied to him as I stared at the ceiling. After a minute I sat back up. "Where did he go."
“No clue.” He told me.
I nodded and I stood up. "Okay we need to find him."Mr. Dusk nods agreeing with me. "Lets go." I rub my head.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
"My head hurts from when I got knocked out." I said as I rubbed it a little bit more. I felt goose egg starting to form and knew that I may get a bruise.
We start walking and he informs me. "He's now you"
"WHAT!!" I shouted, Mr. Dusk seems to know a lot about this Phantom that he is only bringing up now.
"When he kills or knocks a pony out he get’s a mask of the pony also the body type and clothes and also the memories." He replied.
"How...also he may not like what he sees in my memories..." I said thinking a lot about the memories of past cases, the feelings I felt from them and memories from my childhood.
"One of his talent. Also he has no fear"
"Good to know.."
"But he is good at faking"
"My brother could tell the difference I bet." I pick up my bags, Nancy hopping back in them. Luckily there was only one bullet hole so nothing was falling out. I start walking out of the lab. Mr. Dusk follows me. "Where should we go next?" I asked.
"No clue." He said looking angry.
"Why are you angry?" I asked.
"SHUT UP!" He yelled at me. I looked at the ground.I didn't say anything not wanting to make my client madder.We get out of the lab and I see his fur turning black, it made me think that Dark Dusk/ evil Dusk was coming out.
"Is Hyde coming out?" I asked calling the evil side Hyde. He shook his head and I then noticed the blood. Did he get more hurt from the fight with Phantom? If not then where was the blood from. "What happened?"
"I decided my case can't be won." He said looking at the ground.
"What did you do.." I looked at him.
"I used magic"
"And?"
"That's it." He replied. I knew magic could be used to kill somepony but I never thought a pony would do it to themselves.
"Why don't you think your case can't be won?" I asked him if that was the only reason why he wanted to kill himself then I wanted to know.
"He's too smart."
I rolled my eyes, "That doesn't mean we can beat him."He coughs up blood in response as his fur returns to white."Why is your fur returning to white?" I asked wanting an explanation
"It seems I can’t die."
"Why can't you die?" I asked. He said that he was using his magic to kill himself but now it was not working. This is interesting.
"I honestly don't know"
I tilted my head at him as I heard his explanation. "You and the Phantom interest me more with every minute that we are on this case."
Mr. Dusk raised an eyebrow. "Should I be scared?"
"Why? That I find you interesting?" I asked.
"Yes." He nods.
"You shouldn't be scared." I said walking.
"Okay" He replied as he keeps up with me.
I turn to him. "Is your leg okay?" Referring to when he got shot.
"It's perfectly fine" He responded.
"That's good." I said and keep walking, I noticed Mr. Dusk kept up without a problem so that was at least good. As I walked I wondered where we need to head to now. I was worried if the Phantom did take my form what would he do with it. He knows all my memories, the memories of me with my father and brother growing up in Manehatten, the ones that contained my past memories with my other relatives that were not so well as they blamed me for why my mother vanished a few days after I was born, they treated me as I was cursed and unlovable. He had some of the important memories I had with my two oldest of best friends that made me smile and didn't mind my coldness. My thoughts kept going on like that as I walked down memory lane in my mind. I was snapped out of them when Mr Dusk spoke.
"He couldn't have gotten far"
I sighed. "I hope not." We get outside the house we see the streets were filled with blood, houses were completely demolished, ponies body were reduced to ashes.
"Oh god." I heard him say.
"We must find the Phantom now!" I said as my voiced filled with anger seeing the scene of destruction. It made me more angry knowing that he was probably wearing the mask of me.
"Okay" He said as we walked and see a pony looking afraid of me. I knew the pony was afraid of me because of the Phantom as I never seen the pony before.
I look to the ground as I heard the pony say. "Don't hurt me again."
"I wasn't the pony who hurt you." I said softly.
"You weren't?" The pony responded.
I nodded. "It was an imposter. I would never hurt a pony if they haven't done anything wrong."
"Then it said we are condemned and sentenced to death" The pony told me. I didn’t want to hear any more.
"That wasn't me." I said coldly and turned to Mr. Dusk. "Let's go." I silently walk ahead as I quickly wiped away a tear. I never cry in front of other ponies and I wasn't going to start now. I started to feel like my reputation would be ruined because of the Phantom.
"Hey calm down if you need to cry I'll give you as much space as you need."Mr. Dusk said.
"I don't cry." I said coldly as I walked.
"Liar" He responded.
"I know I am." I said still in my cold tone.
"Cut the act" He said but I didn't respond as I continued walking. Just as the Phantom I wear my own mask but I wear mine to protect myself and to not show others that I’m weak. I look around for another me knowing that Phantom would still be wearing the mask of me. I find it on the ground and I pick it up to examine it. Like the masks we seen in the past it looks well made and made of flesh like the last one.