Waters: An Equestrian Gangster

by King Genesis

Swans

MAIN RULE WHILE VISITING MANEHATTAN: WATCH OUT FOR THE BLACK CARS

Manehattan

Eye Patch was terrified when he found out what was waiting for him on that Manehattan corner.

He was driving to the infamous Butter Valley, house of the Swans, respecting the main rule he invented and taught to all of his workers, including Abe, Jack and W. Watch Out for the Black Cars. Those are the ones driven by the most dangerous people that exist in this country. Those are the cars driven by Bloodswan's workers. He hasn't seen any one of them yet, feeling a strange sigh of relief... until he arrives at that corner.

The intersection between Wildglow Street and Blueblood Avenue. There is a car repair shop which looks small on the outside, but actually hides more than just mechanics, cars, tools and the smell of oil. It's one of the most powerful places in all of Manehattan. Once he arrives at that corner, he lowers his car speed and looks for a second for the name of that store:

The Lake.

Lake of Swans, Eye Patch says to himself.

From out of nowhere, sadly, appears a black car right in front of him, getting out of Wildglow Street and turning to the left with Eye Patch from behind. He only deviated his sight from the street for one second. One. Freaking. Second... and the car starts his march by switching the left turning light on in the middle of the avenue... it's clearly delivering a message. They have already identified his face. "Star Swirl's sake," he whispers. "Fuck."

The black car turns to the left in the corner and enters the mechanics' store. Eye Patch, for a second, thinks about accelerating but knows that would be completely stupid to do... it would be his death. He stops the car and slowly turns to the left, entering right behind the black car.

He enters the shop, being observed by people infested by the smell of gasoline who act as normal mechanics but are actually mobsters and workers of the most dangerous man in this country. Once the vehicle stops in front of him, he does the exact same thing. He expects three or four men to get out of the vehicle and order him to follow them, but gets absolutely terrified when he finds that there is only one man in the car. Once he opens the door and gets out, showing his monstrous appearance, all of the mechanics in the store stop working and throw the tools away to look at him in fear. A big, tall man who looks like a wall of concrete, with clear yellow skin, a brown military haircut and green eyes. His grey smart suit, with a black shirt and a mustard-coloured tie, makes him some kind of scary, intimidating demigod, but what people are most terrified of him is his cold sight and gestures. He never smiles. He barely blinks. He barely changes... that's why he earned the nickname of the Robot, not only because of his cynical and freezing attitude but for his impressive strength and his legendary record of murdered mobsters.

His real name is Maschine, and he is the Swans' most loyal worker and main caretaker of Father. Eye Patch begins to wonder what's going on... Why Maschine is outside the house of the family?... and why did he specifically stop him? "Ma... Maschine?" stutters Eye Patch, getting out of the car and putting on his sunglasses. "What are you doing outside of the Valley?"

"Father and Mr Bloodswan ordered me to look for the remaining mobsters," he replies to the gangster, not even looking at his face and talking like a computer-generated voice. "They have been waiting for hours and they are impatient. You know Mr Bloodswan hates people who arrive late."

Eye Patch raises a hand. "Once he called me, I did nothing but get myself prepared for the reunion. I apologize if I took so long, Maschine."

"Do not apologize to me... apologize to the ones who are angry because of your lack of organization." He literally speaks like a robot, something that terrifies Eye Patch. His voice seems to be just... nothing. It's monotonous. It's dead. It's cold. He doesn't even shout... he doesn't even whisper. He only keeps the same tone... and makes him unable to answer what he's saying. He feels he's talking to a computer who can kill him with a finger. He sighs and opens his car door but suddenly gets interrupted. "What are you doing?"

He turns his head to look at Maschine and raises his shoulders. "I'm getting in my car. I'll follow you."

"No." Maschine opens his car's door. "Mr Bloodswan is not happy today. He does not want any car related to the family or his workers to be parked in Father's valley."

"What?" Eye Patch squints his only eye. "And you want me to leave the car here?"

"Yes." Eye Patch tries to take his sunglasses off but Maschine interrupts him. "Mr Bloodswan is not happy today. He does not want to see the infamous scar that Red Punch left you." Eye Patch closes the car door in silence and looks at all of the workers. "Do not take your glasses off while being in the car."

"I won't," replies Eye Patch while locking his car. Then, he points at the workers. "I want it like this when I come back... not even a small scratch, you've listened?" The workers look at each other, smiling and chuckling until someone else talks for the gangster.

"You scratch the car and I will make you swallow your own bones," replies Maschine, getting in the car. All of the workers stop smiling. "All of you remember what I did to your partner."

Eye Patch parks the car in silence, inside the shop, and then gets in the car looking at the scared workers, next to Maschine. The whole ambience inside it feels... weird. Tense. Strange. He then looks at Maschine, who is observing the scared workers. "Those workers looked like they've seen the devil," he softly says. "What did you do to his partner?"

Maschine looks at the car wheel. "I did nothing." He pauses while grabbing the keys. "I only sent him to the pet."

Eye Patch's skin freezes after hearing that. His pupil shrinks and he gasps. He only knows one person (if you can call it like that) known as the pet... the monster hidden by the family. "You mean... Grey Blackle?"

"There is nobody else nicknamed the pet in the family, Eye Patch."

"But..." Eye Patch stutters. "I thought Father stopped using Grey Blackle because he thought he was too brutal for what he does..."

Maschine snorts, something strange from him. He did something else. "Both father and son missed the peculiar abilities of the human-pet."

The gangster feels his throat is closed due to his nerves. "Damn" is the only thing that Eye Patch can say about it. Maschine turns the car on and leaves the place with Eye Patch.

---

Canterlot High

Two young adults, recently coming out of their teenage years (well, supposedly) are walking in a school hall. One of them is absolutely confused and shocked because of everything that happened minutes before, in the Principal's Office. On the other side, the girl is not in her best mood... she is getting tired of this guy named Cattle Prod and his group of bullies, but she's now trying her best to talk to this new kid and show him what this school is about, not only to clear her mind but to make him feel included. "Sorry if I'm a bit under the weather," she tells to her new classmate. "Something happened minutes ago and well..." she makes a small grin while looking at him. "Things that can happen at big schools, right?"

Swift Arrow nods his head. "You feel OK, then?" he asks. "Don't do this if you don't want to."

"No, no, it's OK..." she chuckles while scratching her long, rainbow-coloured hair. "I don't want you to get lost... um..." she stretches her hand to Swift. "Principal Celestia already said my name, but well, I'm Rainbow Dash, classmate, loyal athlete, and also Canterlot High Football Team's Captain." Swift looks at her for a second, chuckling and then shakes hands with her.

"Swift Arrow. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," she replies. "I've gotta admit you've got quite a midfielder face. Don't you want to try it out? For the football team?"

That was unexpected. Swift laughs while putting his hands on his pants pockets. "I wish I could," he says, "but I'm really bad at sports."

"Uh, don't say that, dude!" she chuckles. "Don't lower yourself. You won't know how great you are at sports until you give it a try."

Swift Arrow smiles, uncomfortably, despite recognizing the girl is actually kind. "Um, well..."

"Dash!" suddenly another voice is heard at the end of the hall. A shy, purple-skinned girl with glasses and a ponytail. "Dash, um... Rarity was calling you, we are in the cafeteria..." Swift Arrow's eyes widen at the moment she mentions that name. Rarity. She is the one... Abe's granddaughter. The one Abe told him to protect from Cattle Prod... but then, out of nowhere, the girl with glasses points at the kid who is in the middle of them both, like a stranger. "Uh... um... hi?" she slowly waves her hand.

Swift Arrow blinks twice, going back to reality and looking at the girl. "Hi, uh..." he takes a short breath. "Hello, my name is Swift Arrow... I'm a new classmate in your course."

"He's my wingman right now," adds Rainbow Dash, smiling. "Celestia told me to guide him into the school, but honestly..." she bites her lips. "Despite the football pitch, I do not know how to go to any other place... and the school is huge..."

"Did Principal Celestia answer to what you said about..." Twilight pauses for a bit, looking at her. "You know?"

Swift finds out both faces turn into a much more serious gesture. "Yes, I did," replies Dash, "but she told me she will work it out with your brother right now... I don't know what are they going to do, honestly..."

"Uh..." suddenly interrupts Swift Arrow. "Something's going on?"

Both girls look at the kid. "No, no," replies Dash, chuckling. Her face changes. "Something that happened this morning, Swift... can I call you Swift?"

"Yes, yes," he nods. "It's OK."

"Um..." Dash stays blank for a second. "We will go to the cafeteria right now with my friend, Twilight Sparkle. She's the nerdy girl."

"Oh, come on, Dash!" she crosses her arms. "I don't call you the sporty girl."

"Relax, I'm just joking, Twi..." she replies, chuckling. "Well, we go... um, and then my friend Twilight may help us to show you the school," she says while looking at Swift Arrow. Twilight rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything. "Do you want to go with us? I mean... me and Twi's friends are there. All of them are kind and cool... 20% cooler than the rest!" She smiles and then scratches her hair again. "Well, but..." she puts a finger over her chin. "Fluttershy is too shy, Pinkie Pie is a little bit too hyperactive and..."

"You said Rarity also," adds Swift Arrow to the conversation. Twilight raises an eyebrow.

"You know her?" curiously asks the nerdy girl.

"Uh..." Swift Arrow stretches his back. "No, no... I was just saying, because she said... uh, that... name." He chuckles nervously. "Her name."

"Yeah, sure," Rainbow Dash chuckles. "You are learning our names, that's good!" she snaps her finger. "Let us show you the cafeteria, dude. I assure you'll get on well with every one of my friends."

"You didn't ask him to join your team," Twilight bites her lips. "Did you, Dash?" Both Rainbow Dash and Swift Arrow look at each other and the girl squints her eyes, smiling. Twilight sighs, but doesn't complain about it. "It's okay if you say no to her. She does not bite."

"But I do kick!" suddenly Dash starts jumping and fastly moving her legs until she stops several seconds later when Twilight crosses her arms. "Uh... maybe I can train later..."

Swift Arrow emits a small laugh after hearing that. He can't believe the spectacle he's looking at, the weird chemistry between these two girls. He became so focused on it that he started slowly walking towards them, unconsciously.

---

Jack's Car

"Gallantry?"

Jack is desperate.

His lungs feel crushed after learning what happened minutes ago. How did W get discovered and busted? And what did he tell them? What did he do? He doesn't know what to do and started to tie loose ends, to make, or try to, things easier.

"Yes, yes... Commissioner Gallantry?" he says, talking to someone by phone. "Yes... uh, look. It's Jack... remember me? The guy from Maretreal? The worker?"

He touches his forehead, feeling a cold breeze sticking to his hand.

"Oh, you're busy right now, well... I've sent you a message because of something that happened a few minutes ago... have you read it?"

Silence while listening to what the other man, Canterlot Police Department's corrupt Commissioner, has to say.

"You didn't? Oh. Ok... you've been talking to a partner, oh..."

He lies against the car seat, defeated and anxious.

"Please, if you mind, could you open it and read the message as soon as possible? It's about a problem we had with my partners from the city." He slowly gets up from his tomb but falls back again when he hears that name. "No! No... With the city I mean... um, my city. Please, this is a thing between us and you, Gallantry. I don't want Big Baby to know about this... OK?... but, yes, I know, but I don't want you to tell him..."

Long pause.

"Because it's something quite... you know, personal for us. It's a thing... please could you read the message and call me later if you can't do it right now? Yes?" However, his nervous face changes when he finds out the commissioner abruptly ended the call. He sighs and clenches his fists while still holding the mobile phone, but decides to calm down while leaving it on the passenger seat and opening the car window. He breathes and lets fresh air enters his crushed lungs for once, until the phone rings back. "Goddamnit" he only says while grabbing it to read the name of who's calling:

ABE

His partner. He fastly answers the call while trying to calm himself down. "Abe?"

"Hey Jack. I'm waiting for this lazy-ass guy from the jewellery store to give me the boxes I need to sell. What's going on with that W and Snowblind thing? Do they really want to do that stupid, childish mockery? They wouldn't even last ten seconds."

"Abe," Jack sighs while touching his forehead again. "Now I don't have time to talk about that... something much worse has happened."

A gasp is heard from the other side of the phone."What? What happened? Are you OK?"

"We are... I think. W's been discovered by Celestia and Luna but--"

"No," can be heard. "How did he...? Wait... what? The--?"

"I told you he's been discovered... but his youngster booty was so freaking lucky he managed to elaborate a whole plan B with just talking to them... he had a bit of luck because he actually remembered the fake name I used as a Canterlot policeman."

Pause. "He used the Jumping Manner name?"

"Tied Shoe," he answers, shaking his head. "Jumping Manner was the one I used for Baltimare."

"And why did he use that name for?"

Jack sighs, about to tell the truth he was trying to hide. "Well... he presented himself as Swift Arrow and to justify his speech and save his ass, he said I was Tied Shoe, his partner in the police department of Canterlot..."

Nothing is heard from the other side, but Jack already knows Abe is trying to mentally process what he has just said. "He put you and that department on the bowl too? damn this... Was that the best idea he had?"

"At least they let him in... that's the good piece of news." He takes a look at the school one more time, focusing on two adult women approaching the car. "He didn't call me yet, but once he comes back I'll tell him tha---" He observes what he saw again and looks at them both. Celestia, Luna and their confused but tired faces. They were looking at him for how long? And now they are slowly approaching him? Since when? "Holy... holy shit. They are coming."

"What? Who? Who are you talking about?"

"The Principals. Come on, this has to be a dream..." Jack's hands start trembling while opening the glove box. He takes out the sunglasses he took off, just to calm down, and puts them on his face one more time to cover his eyes. "I've got to hang out, bye," he tells his long-time partner and looks at himself in the rear view mirror.

He can't hide the fact he started sweating and can't stop biting his lips, not only because he is about to talk to two of the most important (and innocent) subjects of this plan, but also because he is about to reencounter an old school classmate. The last time he saw Celestia's pretty, soft, pinkish-white face in such detail... he wasn't even 30 years old. They weren't even in the 21st century... W was just a baby held within the arms of his parents. He has to get prepared... he thought about this since his protégé, the spy, Swift-Arrow-man, left the car. What if he had an opportunity to talk to them one more time? What would he say? What would they say? What would she say?

God, or Star Swirl, or whoever is up there, may have given him that opportunity to find that answer. "Excuse me?" one of them asks. Jack doesn't even see who asked. He slowly opens the car door while feeling the slow pace of time kicking him from behind. He takes his head out of the vehicle while getting his fake badge out of the visor.

He turns around to look at them both, putting a hand in his black jacket and the other holding the badge, touching the air. He maintains a serious face before showing the police badge to both of them for a second. "You must be Celestia and Luna."

Both women stop in the middle of the street while looking at the man. They slowly approach his car, nodding their heads. "So..." Luna says in a low tone, biting his lips and walking nearer the cop. "You sent your young apprentice alone into one of the biggest schools in the country... to lie to the two most important members of the Canterlot High system about something they've been begging you to investigate?"

"And," adds Celestia, whispering while laying down against the car front, "without even telling us about it."

Tied Shoe's forehead is betraying him, feeling colder because of the sweat. However, he knows how to handle this... bruh, he handled worse things than this. "Now that I hear the plan I elaborated along with my partner Blunt Weapon coming from a mouth that is not mine, I do understand the whole..." he shakes his head, closing his eyes, hiding in the sunglasses. "... non-sense of this mess. This was a sketch that wasn't finished. An embarrassing idea... I'm extremely sorry." He slowly raises his hand to his neck with the badge on it. "We were desperate of what was this kid hiding behind his back. It looks like there are things... we cannot describe."

"Us neither," say both sisters at the same time. "That's why we asked your commissioner for help," adds Luna, looking at the badge and then redirecting her sight at the cop, "but he decided not to answer, telling us Cattle Prod was just... a troubled kid."

"A kid that was not guilty of committing such mundane acts," says Celestia, still laying down against the car, crossing her arms and frowning. "Could you show us your badge one more time, Mr Tied Shoe?"

"Um... sure," he slowly takes a breath while showing it to the principal. "Sargeant Tied Shoe. Number 687. Six, eight, seven. Right now, dressed as a civilian."

"We see that," replies Luna with a fake smile, only to approach the cop, getting nearer him. He finds out she had, in all this time, a rolled paper under one of her arms. "Tell me, Sargeant Tied Shoe... could a troubled kid, not guilty of committing such acts, be able to do or be related to this?"

Luna slowly gets out the sheet of paper from under her arm and unfolds it for Tied Shoe's eyes. The cop starts reading:

***
TO MY BEAUTIFUL STRAWBERRY PASTRIES CELESTIA AND LUNA

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO

The thoughts of a troubled bully are slowly vanishing from Jack's head. Once he keeps reading the strange letter, the theories of a darker background behind all of this... are slowly being confirmed.

DON'T MAKE ME WRITE AGAIN OR ELSE YOU WILL HAVE ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS WITH ITS TONGUE COMING OUT OF ITS THROAT HANGING OUT AT YOUR DOOR

HERE YOU HAVE THE NEW COMPETITOR FOR THE LOTTERY

84 GALLOP STREET

YOU CAN EVADE A HAPPY FAMILY SLAUGHTER IF YOU LET HIM BE

- 💧.

"Oh, my..." softly whispers Tied Shoe while slowly taking off his sunglasses. He reads the letter one more time and puts the sunglasses on again. "This is... this... Gallantry never told me about this. This is horrendous."

"And why would he never tell you about it?" asks Luna. "This letter is literally a death threat against a student whose eighteenth birthday was just... weeks or a month ago, I don't know, but a whole life on her future... now... Do you understand why my sister and I wanted your help?"

Tied Shoe sighs for a second and slowly nods his head. "Yes. I truly understand... I'm deeply sorry about this plan I made and developed... it would be an eternal stain for me."

"And it is an absolute lack of respect for us," replies Celestia, in a way that makes both Tied Shoe and Jack feel bad. She approaches the cop and starts speaking in a lower tone, making the man shiver on the inside: "This is the last time I will say it because I care more about my students in this situation than ourselves... it's insane that we begged you for help all this time, only for you to answer with a secret investigation on your own and under our noses. As I told your younger partner inside, we don't have any troubles in... collaborating in what was your original plan but... we want to speak to Commissioner Gallantry to clarify certain things."

"Firstly," fastly interrupts Tied Shoe. "Firstly... now that we are talking about clarifying things, Gallantry may be the commissioner, but I'm the main mastermind of this. I take all of the guilt for this... stupid project. By the time I was making this along with Swift Arrow and other partners and workers... he was helping and raising hands in other cases we are not into."

"We understand," replies Luna, "but we want to talk to him anyway... tomorrow. We are busy now."

He raises an eyebrow, nervously. "About what?"

"Well... you told us you didn't know anything about those letters we receive almost all the time, which appear in the school's pitches because he did not tell you." Luna bites her lips. "We wonder why."

The cop only raises his shoulders. "I don't know, miss... um..." he shakes his head and slowly approaches his car's door. "It may have been a mistake... Gallantry would never do this on purpose. These last weeks have been very heavy for him... we had three big cases in which he focused on... and has never left his chair since... um, look..." he shakes his head. "Could we go back to the letter, please? Could I take it to the department? As evidence?" He sighs and keeps his badge in a pocket, about to take off his sunglasses.

Both sisters look at each other until Luna stretches her arm: "Show it to your boss, please." Tied Shoe slowly grabs the sheet of paper from the Vice-Principal's arms while she takes a look at the school. "I'm afraid we have to go back to school. We've still got a lot of work to do before Monday. As we recently said and if the chat with Gallantry is checked, your younger partner will begin his course in two days, as Swift Arrow, a new student coming from Manehattan. Every night, he will inform us everything that he does inside our establishment."

"Wait a moment."

Both Luna and Tied Shoe redirect their eyes to the one who said that: Principal Celestia, who is now crossing her arms, looking at them both, about to step in on the street. "Tia?" Luna says while raising an eyebrow. Jack, hiding behind his sunglasses, feels goosebumps one more time. "What do you want to say?"

"There's something..." she whispers while approaching her younger sister and the cop. "There's something we didn't tell your younger partner."

Now Luna raises both eyebrows. She remains in silence while the confused Tied Shoe looks at the Principal. He feels her perfume slowly covering his whole body. "Yes?" he says. "What is it?"

She slowly breathes. "I told your partner neither me nor my sister saw the faces of those who may be behind Cattle Prod's back."

"Tia..." Luna is almost covering her mouth with her hand. Tied Shoe raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this?"

She touches one of her younger sister's shoulders, while not taking her eyesight from Tied Shoe.

Her eyes... her purple eyes are like spotlights. His old friend from High School, Crescent Bunny, told him they were like stars in the sky. At night. His whole skin and existence begin to slowly move and rise one more time. "Yes?" slowly says Tied Shoe while taking off his sunglasses.

"We lied." Celestia closes her eyes. Luna does not look at them both, but at the school. "We actually saw two men related to Cattle Prod, but we have absolutely no idea about who they are..."

"Is there anything you can describe from them?" Tied Shoe blinks, slowly hiding his eyes again while moving the sunglasses. "Anything you can remember?"

She slowly nods her head and looks at Tied Shoe again. "One of them, the one I remember the least, had short brown hair, clear green skin, some kind of tattoo on his neck he tried to hide from us but was barely visible..."

Jack begins to clench his teeth, nervously. The neck tattoo means something that he does not even want to process. He feels his throat closing, about to explode in pieces. "A-and... what else?" he asks, clenching his fists. "Do you remember the physical appearance of the other man?"

"That's the one we remember the most," interrupts Luna, still looking at the school. "It had some kind of appearance and elegance... that we've never seen on anybody else." Tied Shoe squints his eyes, trying not to listen to her and find out the truth. "He was petite. I don't remember it but... maybe he was 5'3'' or 5'4'' tall. He was wearing a weird, shiny suit coloured in purple and some kind of yellow that completely drove me and my sister out of focus... he had a white hat and..."

Luna pauses when both find out Tied Shoe is feeling lost. He blinks twice, puts on his sunglasses and takes a breath. "Are you OK, Sargeant?" asks Celestia, raising an eyebrow, while the man lays down against the car.

"Don't tell me..." he says, crossing his arms. "This... this petite man you've been telling me about..." he closes his eyes hidden in the dark glasses. "Did he have two different eye colours?"

At that moment Luna looked at Celestia and the older sister, in fear, blinked once. "Yes." Tied Shoe clenches his teeth stronger. "Yes, he had two different eye colours..."

"Who is he?"

...

"Do you know him...?"

---

Butter Valley

The top of the world.

Butter Valley might be one of the most visually attractive places in Equestria. Huge green spaces constantly living and being under the hottest sun, holding the foundations of some of the most beautiful chalets and mansions of the country, surrounded by pure luxury: cars, decoration, furniture... everything in Butter Valley rains gold, power, money.

People tend to think that Butter Valley is an excentric town, whose inhabitants are the richest of the richest, but what they don't know is that all of the mansions, cars, furniture and every building inside the valley is actually owned by just one family.

A special one.

The main mansion's entrance, located in the Valley's centre, is made of big golden bars which shine under the sun, like the gates to heaven. In its upper part, there is a beautiful sign made with marble and artistically carved with detail, which reads:

"We live together until destiny takes us to our end."

Below the beautiful marble sign, there is a smaller one:

"The Magic of Friendship."

Eye Patch always had goosebumps while reading that sign, despite never admitting it. It's not only a sign, a phrase... it's advice, a warning... something that wants to tell you which kind of people actually live inside.

Two armed men open the gate and the car enters the most powerful place of Equestria. A long path of bricks is run by the car, being the witness to the beautiful landscape of green, trees and the magical blue sky that feels lighter and warmer than any other place. Eye Patch doesn't enjoy it, though. The beautiful land contrast with the horrible human beings inside... he still can't believe those are actually human beings. "What did you do to that tree?" says Eye Patch, pointing at a tree with all of its branches cut in half and with no leaves. It's the only one that is not healthy and feels... different.

Maschine takes a really empty look at the tree. Feels... soul-less. "Mr Bloodswan did not like how that tree was looking at him." Eye Patch raises his eyebrows. "So he sent some workers to cut its branches. To watch it suffer."

A basic representation of the family. "It?" asks Eye Patch. "Goddamnit..."

The beautiful path suddenly gets interrupted when one man gets in the middle of it, like a thief waiting for its prey. A lime-skinned man with formally combed short brown hair and a swan tattoo on his neck. Behind him, there is a huge mansion surrounded by lots of black cars. Eye Patch sighs when looking at that man and turns to Maschine: "Can I get out of the car?"

The robot blinks. "Not yet," he replies. "Wait, until I turn off the car engine."

"Well..." Eye Patch bites one of his lips. "Do it, then."

The gigantic gangster slowly turns his head to look at Eye Patch. "Do not order me to do things, Eye Patch."

The Maretreal man's eye shrinks but does not fall: "I'm not ordering you to do anything... just, I'm waiting."

"You said--"

"Well, it was a saying... I didn't say it as an order, OK?" You understand?"

Maschine, however, does not take his sight off Eye Patch while turning off the car. Once the engine is off, Maschine opens the car door while slowly getting out. Eye Patch slowly opens his door, trying not to get insulted or attacked, and sighs while looking at the man he has been trying to talk to for thirty seconds: "Sharp Baton." Both of them have a smile on their faces. Both of them are fake smiles.

"Eye Patch," happily replies the grandson of the man while Eye Patch closes the door. "Had a nice chat with Maschine?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Pretty good. It was fun."

"Sure..." says Sharp Baton, changing his face into a more serious gesture, approaching the gangster. "Did you tell him why were you getting late to... the meeting, you know?"

Patch only makes a small smile after that. "I prepared myself since the first moment he called me."

"Everybody says the same excuse to the man." Sharp Baton shakes his head and turns around. "Don't waste my family's time and enter the mansion." He starts walking into the house. "Besides, someone else is waiting for you and asked for your presence."

Eye Patch raises his eyebrows while fixing his jacket. "Someone else, who?" he chuckles. "Grey Blackle?"

Sharp Baton stops and turns his head to him. "I'm being serious, Eye Patch." He starts walking again, stepping on a marble slab which heads into the entrance door. "An old friend of yours has asked for your presence twice. He was impatient."

Maschine walks into them both and opens the door for Sharp Baton, in silence. Eye Patch, being stuck in a thought, stays in his position. "Tell me..." he says. "Tell me it's not who I think it is."

Sharp Baton laughs next to an immobile Maschine. "Uh, ha... I knew you were thinking about him..." he only says before entering the mansion in silence. Eye Patch sighs and starts heading to the door. Maschine, he is just standing.

Entrance Hall

The door leads to a long, narrow hall illuminated by a path of ceiling lights. Everything it's delicate, clean and merges Eye Patch into a wave of peace... until he hears a raspy voice at the end of the hall. There is a closed door there. "What are you waiting for?" asks Maschine. "Keep walking."

Eye Patch only sighs while walking to that door. However, once he is about to open it, someone else does it for him: Sharp Baton presents to him the one who has been waiting, who is sitting on a chair, holding a box of pills in one hand.

A mundane man from the first point of view. A big, obese, dark blue-skinned man with short black hair grossly covered in gel, recently shaved and with a big black suit, a gigantic white shirt and a tiny bowtie. Once he looks at the man who passed through the door, with only one eye, he smiles. However, Eye Patch doesn't feel the same. "Did you sit on that chair alone?" he asks seriously. "Or you needed help to stay straight for more than five seconds?"

"Oh, don't be rude, honey," the fat man laughs. "Aren't you happy that you are looking at your father one more time in real life?"

"Just like you," replies Eye Patch. "Did you miss me, son... Baby?"

"Big Baby," replies the fat man. "Big Baby for you, Patchie Patch."

"I'll call you the way I want until you stop mocking my--"

"Well," suddenly interrupts Sharp Baton, who was there the whole time. "I've got to admit I enjoy watching your childish discussions, but my grandfather and my uncle wanted everyone to be silent for a couple of minutes... until everybody arrives."

Both Eye Patch and Big Baby remain silent until the one-eyed man realizes something. "I am the second one who arrived?" asks Eye Patch.

"Yeah," replies Big Baby, chuckling and mocking his rival. "Always the second one."

"Shut the fuck up..." Eye Patch closes his eye and then looks at Sharp Baton. "Can I get a glass of whisky, at least?"

"No," replies Sharp Baton. "Alcohol in this house is only for the family."

Eye Patch sighs while Big Baby can't stop smiling.