//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Donuts, Douches, and Danger // Story: The Black Mask Brothers // by Alex Rite //------------------------------// Chapter 8: Donuts, Douches, and Danger Baws Bunch of walking around a gigantic house later, we finally end up in Sparks. "So...what's this lead you got?" I asked. He turned back at me with a goofy smile. "Donuts." He said. We stared back like we were first graders. "Uh...what?" I said. "Donuts! Recently, a certain some pony has been ordering a few donuts to an unknown location." He said. He pulled up some sort of machinery I will not care for later, and shows us two ponies loading up a cart. "Donut Joe's workers are sending them donuts to that location. If your able to switch the jobs with those two, I'm certain you'll find the Vendetta!" He said. "Unknown location and you have no idea that it's the Vendetta?" I asked. He shook his head, but his goofy smile is still there. "Even if it isn't, you have to at least try." He said. What...the...? Alex "Look, it's the only lead we got." I said. "I say we go for it." "You're more focused on the donut part, aren't you?" replied Baws. "Yes I am." I said with a goofy grin. "So what's the plan, Sparks?" Spark Plug grinned. "I'm glad you asked..." Baws Spark smiled, and brought us clothes. Only, they had a giant donut on one side, and the other side said Donut Joe's. I stare at him with the most questioned face I've ever made that day. "...You planned ahead." Alex said. "Yes, yes I did. Now go get those jobs, boys!" He told us. And once again, we had to leave from my mansion. In a single day. Once we left though, I scratched my chin. "Uh...what did he say was the plan?" I asked. Alex stood around as well, thinking the same thing. "Not sure...blend in and follow, I guess." He said. Best I could get from the plan, I guess. Alex A while later, we were hiding outside of Donut Joe's, waiting patiently. Two ponies came out and started loading a carriage. One went back in, probably to grab more donuts, and Baws and I went to action. Baws jumped him from behind, and knocked him out. I hid the unconscious pony in a bush while Baws waited by the carriage for the other employee. When he came out, Baws and I both jumped him and we went through the same process as with the first. We then both got in the cart. "That was surprisingly easy." I said. "Yeah, it was. But anyways, let's get going. Hand me the adress list." I stare, confused. "I thought you grabbed it!" "No, you were supposed to get it off the employees. Now go get it!" "Why don't you get it? You're the one driving." "I already got comfortable. I ain't gettin up." I facepalmed. "Look, let's just flip a bit for it- heads I go, tails you go." "Deal." I grabbed a bit and tossed it in the air, Baws' eyes following it's ascent. Quickly, I pushed him out of the carriage, landing hard on his flank, and caught the bit. "Tails. I win. Now go get the list!" Baws got up and dusted himself off, glaring at me before trudging off, muttering curses at me under his breath. Baws Man, fucking hurts." Grumbling isn't my best suit to blow off steam, but its the closest I'm going to get. Two unconcious ponies, and I'm the one to find the address list. "Let's see..." I trail off, trying to loot the guy for an address. On one unconcious worker, I found keys, lint, a pack of mints, an I.O.U card, and a love letter from BlueBerry. Cute name, I guess. On another, I found more useless junk like food wrappers and pencils, but at least I found the address. "Thank you, jeez." Relief of sigh and anger flew out of my mouth, and I hurried back to the cart. "Here's the address, asshole. Now read them." I said, jumping onto the chariot. The ponies running the chariot but on the saddle for the chariot. "Alright, tell us the directions!" One of them said. "Uh... we're going to 131 Hoofton Avenue, in the warehouse district." said Alex. Soon, they took off, carrying the two of us to the street. I laid back, sleep suddenly taking over my body. "Hey, your falling asleep?" Alex asked. "Force of habit." A yawn escaped from my mouth. "Wake me up when we get to the street, alright?" I heard a sigh come out of him, and a chuckle out of me. Your turn to look out for danger, alright? Wake me up later. Alex We arrived at the warehouse a while later. I looked to Baws to wake him up, and couldn't help but chuckle. See, Baws naps way too often on jobs, so I carry a marker around for just such an occasion. This time I had decide to go with the classic handlebar mustache, monocle, and writing 'I M N idiot' on his forehead. the best part was, he could go hours without realizing it was there, and by the time he noticed he'd have no idea who had done it. Chuckling again, I woke Baws up. "Yo, bro, we gots ta go." "Yeah yeah," grumbled Baws. We got up and started unloading the donuts onto a little trolley. After unloading them all, we proceeded to take them inside. The ponies pulling the carriage caught Baws' attention on the way in, as they kept chuckling and looking in our direction. "What are they laughing at?" asked Baws, pointing at them. "Nothing- just some joke I told them about a guy who fell asleep and got his face drawn on." I answered. "Heh. You'd have to be pretty stupid to let that happen." "Yes. Yes you would." I grinned. Baws ... My nose itches. I have to scratch it. My hoof was already at my muzzle before I could mind the word 'scratch', but when I scratched my muzzle, black ink came off. It didn't take me long to realize what happened. "...Aww dude! What the fuck?!" I yelled at Alex. He laughed like a maniac on a sugar rush. "Sorry, I had to do it!" He said. ...Fucking bastard! Tons of licking and wiping off black ink as Alex the douchebag laughs his flank off, the ink was finally gone. "Asshole." I mutter. "Don't sleep on the job then! Plus, payback." He said with a stupid grin. I growled like a pitbull. Alex We entered the warehouse and found ourselves in a small room with another door on the other end. Seeing no one around currently, Baws and I decided it was time to snoop around. Baws tried the door, but of course, it was locked. "Piece of cake." I said, pushing my brother aside. Sticking one of my claws into the keyhole, I began shifting and jabbing until the lock came undone. I looked to my brother with a smirk, but he looked like he could care less. Upon entering the doorway, Baws and I were shocked by what we saw- a gigantic room filled with glass cases containing all manner of weaponry. From spears to swords to metal claws, it was all there. Some of them even seemed to be enchanted, and each was labeled with a name and properties. "Dude- we hit the mother load!" exclaimed Baws, marveling at all the stuff around. "No kidding! These things are incredible!" I said, skimming the labels of some of the items. I didn't exactly like what I saw. "What worries me is what they plan on doing with this 'collection' of theirs'." Baws "Man, just imagine what the Vendett's are gonna do with these things! ...And why did they order donuts?" I asked. "No idea, but--" "Hey! The donuts here!" "Aww sweet!" That scared the absolute shit out of me. I wasted no time to secure me and my friend. When we took cover, he frantically pushed my hoofs away. "Dude! What the heck?!" He yelled. I hushed him up by slapping the hell out of him. "Dude! Donut delivery! Of course ponies are going to be here!!" I said. He stared blankly at me, before his brows fell. "Shit!" He said. I looked around; weapons, weapons, and more weapons. "Find a weapon. I'll be over there." I pointed to a alley full of crates. Alex I snuck around out of sight, searching for a weapon that would suit me- figuring we wouldn't be planning on leaving them behind, I wanted to find something I actually liked. A flaming sword? No, I got fire breath, there's no real reason to own that. A spiked club? No, too heavy- I'm more of a light and nimble kind of pony. A spear? Close, but I didn't want a weapon I could actually kill somepony with, just give 'em a good beating. Then I found it. The Hook Staff. It was very simple in design- a three foot long silverish staff that ended in a large hook, big enough to hook around the trunk off a small tree- but something about it just spoke to me. I noticed there was a button on the staff a few inches below the hook, and, growing curious, read the plaque under it's case to see what it said about that. Apparently, when the button was pushed, the hook could be shot out of the staff on a magic chain that could go as far as the weapon's owner willed it to, and would retract upon releasing the button. It was also enchanted to be extremely light weight, but almost impossible to break. This made it useful as both long range weapon and grappling hook. I grinned. Me likey. Quickly picking the lock, I grabbed the Hook Staff and moved before anypony could see me. Now I could only hope that Baws had managed to find something without getting himself into trouble. Baws Shit shit shit shit! Okay, um...let's see...A sword? Nah...that sucks. Batarang? No, it's for Batmare and it's plastic anyway. A shovel... ...Why? "Hey! Who are you--?" I grabbed the shovel and flipped my head. A loud clang was heard, and I finally took a look to see him fall to the ground. "...yay..." I whisper. Alex came in, and his large staff was almost taller then him. "Hey, you alright?" He asked. I gave him a nod. "I...think I'm gonna stick with the shovel." I say. He stared at me blankly, then at the unconcious body. "Um...what about him?" He pointed a hoof at him. I waved mine. "He's fine." I reassured. Alex "Hey, did you here that?" "Yeah- it came from over there!" "Shit!" Baws and I exclaimed, knowing our cover had been blown. Before we could run, however, we were soon surrounded by about a dozen ponies. "Stop right there!" Baws and I glanced at each other, and we grinned as we saw we both had the same idea. "Six you, six me." said Baws. "I know- so unfair," I replied. "They're gonna need a lot more backup." With that, I pushed the button and swung the Hook Staff, the hook and chain arcing so that it sent six of the gaurd ponies a bit away from the fight, and I jumped over to continue the fight. This should be fun. Baws The ones behind me are going to need some help, like, loads of help. Flaunting my Shovel, I waved a hoof at my opponents. "Come on and fight me." I say. The first pony ran towards me, and I happily gave him a smile. He swung a hoof at me, but my Shovel nearly blocked him. I heaved my Shovel down wards, a loud clang echoed through the warehouse. Two ponies ran side by side, and I swung my Shovel to one of them. Though, it missed, and they both clobbered me in the gut. I didn't fall, but I did take a few steps back. Fucking Jesus that hurts. I swung my Shovel overhead, flattening one of them into unconcious was. I'm not going to lie, that was a bluff attack, but I also swung one right behind me, another clang was heard. "Man, fhis shhofel shucks." I say with it stuck in my mouth. Hey! No homo! Another pony ran up to me, but me hitting him with the wooden part of the shovel, I say I probably broke a jaw. He stumbled back, a growl came out of his mouth, but I shut him up by sending the sucker to sleep. Two more to go. This pony was a female, seeing as the moment I hit her upwards, she made the girliest sound a stallion could make. "Batter up!" I say, swinging the shovel like a baseball bat, and sending her flying into the last stallion. They crashed into the crates, and I could just hear cheering. "A home run!!" I yelled. Alex While Bawws was doing that, I was taking down my own set of gaurds. When I had gotten over to them, a few had gotten back up and were ready to fight. One charged at me from the right, but I sent him back with a quick swing of my Hook Staff. Unfortunately, this left me open on my right, where another guard managed to rush me with a kick to the side, sending me tumbling onto my back a few feet away. Three of them tried to dogpile me while I was dazed, but I quickly managed to regain enough of my wits to turn into a shadow right when they were above me, causing them to crash into each other and land hard on the ground. I quickly Shadow Glided out from under them, returned to my regular form, and grabbed my Hook Staff, which had not turned into a shadow along with me. I'd have to remember to get it enchanted to do that. Before the three could untangle themselves from one another, I gave each a quick smack to the head with the Hook Staff to knock them unconscious. Then I turned to my other three attackers, only to narrowly dodge a brick that had been thrown at my head. I glared in the direction of the other three gaurds, unsure of which one had thrown it, but the message in my glare was clear- I do not like having things thrown at my head. Two of them seemed a bit hesitant, but one mare tried to rush me. Big mistake. I inhaled deeply, and before she got within punching range, released a large blast of black fire. Another one of my darkness abilities, I was able to breath fire balls and flaming streams of black fire, known as Shadow Fire, which, while not actually harmful to living creatures, was able to disorient them, making them feel like they're getting burned without actually burning them. The mare attacking me got an up close and personal demonstration- my full Shadow Flame went straight into her face. She screamed, slapping herself at fire that wasn't actually there, and I knocked her out with a quick punch to the head. After she slumped onto the ground, I turned my attention back to the last two guards, only to see that the two had begun to run away. I chased after them, knowing that if they got away they could call for backup. Quickly closing the gap between us, I took a quick swipe with the Hook Staff, releasing the chain so that the momentum caused the hook to slam into the head of one guard and ricochet into the head of the other, knocking both unconscious. Grinning at my success, I looked again at the silver staff held in my claw. "Oh I am definitely keeping this baby!" A moment later, Baws and I had the guards tied up and thrown in a closet. "Okay, now that that's taken care of- what are we looking for here again?" inquired Baws. "I think we're supposed to find an office in here with a file on everpony employed at Scarlet Rose's mansion so we have somepony for Shift to impersonate for the heist." I said, glancing around. "I'll look for that. You should call Spark Plug and tell him about what we found- I think he'll be very interested in it." Baws We rushed out the warehouse, a look of pride in on our faces, and anger in our bellies. Not going to lie, mines growled like a pit-bull when you taunt it with a bone. I looked at Alex, who was holding back laughter. I waited patiently, then it finally came. "Grrrollll..." He blushed like a field full of tomatoes. "Hah. You feel it now?" I asked. "Shut up." He said. He gave a look around town, not knowing this street. "Uh, what do you want to eat?" He asked. I stared at him like a fucking idiot. "Donuts. That's what." I mention. He laughed, and we got right into eating. Though, the day went pretty fast. Found a couple children, and knocked a couple people out in a day. Felt nice. The sun was setting to the point that all you can see is the orange in the sky. "Hm...you ready to hit the hay?" I asked. He looked like he was going to give an answer, but then his eyes slowly shrunk. "We need to feed the kids. Spark can't feed them." ... ... ... ... SUN OF A BI--!!