Topics

Hijinks yawned out of sheer, unadulterated boredom. It was barely halfway through the morning and she'd already finished rigging another flashbang. Albeit, it was a small one, but that was the whole point. Later she'd find a cafe somewhere and slip it under someone's chair, but it was just too early now and no one would really be out for lunch yet. Her brothers were probably off somewhere causing their own mayhem, and she just felt too lazy to go floating about half the city looking for them. They always found each other by the end of the day anyways.

Now she lazily paddled through the air, her flotation anklets glowing their usual faint blue even in broad daylight. Certainly something interesting would happen in this stupid town... before she had to make something interesting happen. 



Guess who was at it again?

That's right.

Shockstar.

Shouting something unintelligible, the yellow colt darted through several legs of several angry phonies all about tripping over himself as he dug through his pack for another round capsule. His eyes narrowed, target in sight, he slid to a halt, cranking his arm back then shoving it forward, letting the capsule fly.

The orb flew threw the air, right on target as per his training help with Orbit. Closer and closer it drew before it finally landed.... smack dab on the dark behind of a floating mer foal. "WHAT?!?!?" Shockstar screeched as he stared in disbelief as this little filly managed to float right in the way, causing yet another critter to evade his grasps.



   
Hijinks wasn't particularly paying any attention to where she was going, so long as she was going forward, she'd have to end up somewhere. It wasn't until some random object smacked her rump that the little filly's thoughts came back to the present. Her thoughts came back alright- quickly, angrily, and violently.

With a flinch and a snarl, Jinks whirled around and glared in all directions, looking for whoever hit her. Alas, it took only a moment for her eyes to lock on the bright yellow colt screeching in her direction, and the weird ball that now lay lifelessly on the ground next to her. "What the flying fox you little jerk?! What was that for? You wanna have that stupid tail ripped off your stupid butt? Got a death wish buddy?" she puffed herself up as much as she could and picked the ball off the ground, tossing it rather ominously from one hoof to the other.

Who did this kid think he was, throwing stuff at strangers. Didn't matter at all that she was planning on blowing up a cafe table later... that was for her to do to other phonies... not the other way around!



   
Still frowning, Shockstar's stupid tail flicked angrily atop his stupid butt, much like a cat ready to pounce. "Well MAYBE if someone hadn't floated their fish butt into my way this wouldn't have happened!" he huffed, taking in a breath and puffing out his chest.

The floating filly didn't scare him any, but the fact she dared to toss his capsule so carelessly? "It got away now thanks to you! And That's mine by the way!" he pointed at the orb she was playing with. Shock reached out with a hoof to try and snatch it back, thinking he'd easily be on his way again and wouldn't have to deal with floating fish ponies any more today.

Unless he could capture her too? Did she have awesome water moves?

Naaah.

Probably not.



   
Hijinks blinked in surprise. Other kids never stood up to her. She gave off too much of a delinquent vibe for most of them to really get into a scrap with her. This idiot was actually about to attack her for his stupid ball. It would be pathetic if it wasn't so funny... she'd have no qualms leaving him battered and bleeding. Alas, his weirdness kinda caught her attention. With an insolent grin, she flicked her tail under her and shot backwards, as she would in water with the same motion; after he didn't back down, she expected him to jump straight to force. These hover-bands were quite handy once you figured out how to use 'em. Continuing to toss his stupid ball from one hoof to the other, she replied, "I'll give it back to you... don't worry... only -if- you tell me why it's so freaking important... what got away? Your sanity?"




   
Shockstar facehoofed.

She did have some nice comebacks but she was a little lacking in the brain department. "No dummy, the monster! And THAT." he pointed at his ball she kept tossing back and forth between her hooves. "Is what I use to capture them with. Don't you watch TV or anything?" he grunted, letting out a loud "Sheesh." before stepping forward yet again to try to pry his ball out of her hooves. "They don't come cheap and I've already lost some. I'm not going to lose another one because you decided to be a seal for a day." he rolled his eyes before staring back at her. If she thought she was gonna just make him give up from a few comments, she was sorely mistaken.




   
Hijinks blinked and froze in such surprise and interest that she forgot to keep the ball away from the kid. He was able to finally wrest it from her without all that much prying as she stared at him, half incredulously, half distrustfully, "So let me get this straight... you're chasing monsters?" Pausing, she looked back at the ball in his hoof, "With some expensive tech?" She blinked a few times and her eyes narrowed shrewdly. This kid seemed so earnest; like he truly believed in what he was saying. Maybe he had some kind of special monster-vision power? Adults were always going on about having a purpose and it playing to your strengths... and she heard some weird story once about how earth phonies were really in tune with nature or something; then again, she always thought that was just what they told themselves because they were the least special kind of phony. Then again, with that tail, maybe this kid was some kind of mutant.

"We don't have a TV... so... guess you're just going to have to prove you ain't some lying punk and show me these monsters..." she had to admit, having some kind of monster-catcher on friendly terms might come in handy. Heists would be so easy... aint no one gonna say no to a filly with a monster-friend.




   
"I...." Shockstar froze, mouth open.

He blinked at the girl unsure what to say. Her tone had just pulled a sudden 360 and she seemed completely different.

Well sort of. She was still demanding.

Rolling his eyes, Shockstar groaned. Though the yellow colt couldn't help but let a grin start to tickle the corner of his mouth. "Alright. I'll show you them, but we have to track another one down since you made me loose the one I was chasing...." he huffed slightly before taking in a deep breath and letting out slowly.

"Follow me then." he told her as he nestled his tech back into his saddle bags and pushed passed her, eyes alert and ready. It usually wasn't very hard to spot a flying type, they seemed to be every where, but actually getting one of the pocket creatures to stay grounded long enough to capture was another story. So instead he looked for something else. When a distinctive sound crossed his ears, he came to a halt.

"There!" he pointed towards a very regular, very plain dog across the street yapping at the window of a food shop. "Oooh, looks like a normal type. Not too special but he might evolve...." he mused, mostly to himself as he studied the dog, his own twisted and delusional mind calculating things that didn't even exist.

At least, not in real life and not for this scenario.




Hijinks grinned somewhat triumphantly as he agreed to take her monster hunting with him. As they plodded along, her eyes naturally slid from pockets that would be easy to pick to stores that weren't watched very well. She left the monster-spotting to the weird kid; it was his specialty after all. It wasnt until he came to a sudden stop that Jinx looked for something monstrous.

At first, she tried looking past the stupid looking mutt barking at a window. Maybe the dog was barking at the monster? Maybe the kid really was the only one that could see the monsters... they were invisible! And people always say that animals have a 7th sense... or something like that... so the dog was barking at it.

However, the more she looked at the kid and followed his eyes, the more she noticed he was staring at the dog and not whatever the dog was looking at. Huh... it just looked like a dog. Maybe it was a diamond dog, or it breathed fire, or something! Fudge, there were too many unknowns here, and Hijinks didn't like it.

"Alright... so, what now....?" she asked distrustfully. 




With a roll of his eyes, Shockstar took a deep breath to try to reign in more of his nerves. He wasn't aware how much this mer had really shaken him up tossing his capsule around like that! He had to be calm or he was going to mess this all up!

"Well now we capture it." he stated matter of factly. "There are two ways to do that. One is to battle it and wear it out but... Encore isn't with me right now so I can't exactly do that. So the only other choice is to throw the capsule and hope it stays." he said, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he prepped his hoof for the throw.

He had to be precise and since its back was turned he had the advantage here.
He just hoped his new friend here didn't mess things up....

Rearing a hoof back, after a couple seconds of him holding his breath, he let loose the capsule and watched as it flew towards the dog, smacking it right in the back of the head. It let out a whimper and a startled yelp before bounding away in seconds. Shockstar stood stunned, a look of confusion crossing his features. "That should have worked..... uhg you really did break my capsule!" he sighed in frustration, stomping a hoof on the ground before hanging his head low.





What else could Hijinks do but listen to this crazy kid's babbling as he talked about battling monsters, and someone named Encore. Was he going to go beat up an innocent dog? What a nutjob! .... she was actually starting to like this kid. The adults hadn't turned him into some mindless robot yet; he was probably missing too many bolts and screws for that anyways. She watched with amused interest as he threw his ball at the dog and knocked the stupid thing right on it's head. As it ran away yelping, Jinx dissolved into laughter, until she was suddenly being accused to breaking the stupid 'capsule' again.

With a roll of her eyes, Jinx floated over to the thing and nudged it with her hoof. An evil thought floated through the back of her mind-- could she get this kid to just chase and beat up animals with her all day? She grinned at the thought. Phony were always telling her to make friends...

Turning, she put on a look of deep thoughtfulness, "Man, I'm sorry that didn't work out... maybe the monster was just too strong. Maybe we should trap one! We can use... uh... monster gems to weaken it. I heard a phony once saying that if you throw monster gems as monsters, they get easier to catch... just to... y'know... to make up for possibly breaking your, uh, capsule..."




Shockstar simply stared at the mer as she floated there laughing at him then babbling on about some kind of monster gem nonsense. Didn't she know that's not how it worked? "That's not how any of this works!" he about shouted, stomping his hoof in frustration.

He took a moment and tuned her out, sighing as he shut his eyes and sat down to really think things over. Did she believe him or was she just playing along to make him feel better? And why did that feeling feel....well... familiar? "You don't believe any of this do you?" he tilted his head and stared at her. He rubbed a hoof over one ear and sighed again. "Not many do actually... guess it does sound pretty crazy." he stared at his capsule as she kicked at it and reached to grab it.

He looked it over in his hooves and a frowny face of defeat washed over him. "Maybe this thing was broken all along....that's gotta be the reason why none of this is working today!" he declared, determination seemingly renewed. At least somewhat anyways...

She'd probably still laugh at him some more though.

The night was cool and quiet, a good sign given what Error was heading home from.  Any walk unaccompanied by sirens was a good one.  It was always such a hassle when her actions were found out too soon and she was forced to scramble into hiding.   All that was left of her job was to show proof to her client that her mark had been handled and then the mer could enjoy a nice long soak in the tub to get the filth of the day off. 

In the dim light of the street lamps the specks of blood were hard to make out against the mer's cold blue skin as she floated her way home.  Her hair coiled around her neck to keep it from interfering with her business, a single glowing eye shining out from the darkness beneath her hood.    By all accounts she looked exactly like one would think someone with a purpose as dark as her's should.  With a career in ending lives System Error was nearly as heartless and hardened as you would think.  What strange beauty she was graced with was offset by the cold metal with which she was adorned.  An upgrade she called it.  The mer had little room for affection beyond the small amount she spared the phony she called her parents and cared not if other phony found her unsettling.  Few others had ever earned the right to anything more than the privilege of being used.  Who cared if they were creeped out or entranced?

A soft sigh escaped the mare as she passed by a dark alley, pausing for a moment to look into it's shadows.  With no cops chasing her she wouldn't need to rush down one of those to elude their claws.  How fortuitous... 

   
   
Hijinks had pulled it off. It wasn't easy, getting three of them, but they needed them. Her brothers were really good at what they did, but she didn't want to drag them into every heist. There always had to be at least one of them in the clear to save the other two if need be. And this job was conspicuous enough anyways that the three of them would have taken more space and attention.

With a large, heavy bag weighing her down almost so that even her flotation anklets couldn't keep her stomach off the ground, she snuck through a dark alleyway, very accustomed to the surroundings. They lived in a similar dark corner of the town anyways.

Unlike the stranger she was about to meet, Jinks was unnerved by the silence. It was almost too quiet. So intently was she listening for hoofall behind her, that she did not notice the shadowy figure passing before her. That is, until she bumped into it. With a sharp intake of breath, the dark filly peddled backwards and glared up at the phony before her. She was about to give her usual, snarky bark telling them to watch where they were going, but then she got a better look at who she'd accosted and thought better of it. The mare before her didn't seem like someone to bother.

"Uh..." was all she really got out, wondering whether to go back the way she came or head onward like nothing happened...


Something small brushed against her leg. That was unusual. The mer slowed to a stop and tilted her head as she stared down at the creature. Her glowing eye lit up the child as she gazed down upon the filly, finally settling on the bag in the girl's hooves. For a moment she was silent, lips pursed together before she shouldered off her hood. What amount of her long hair she had tucked back slid out, dangling just above the ground.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to be out?" It wasn't really a question that needed answering. Error was perfectly aware of what time of night it was. It was the time when phony like her were out and lurking. Her father was fond of this time too. What better hour to break in to some little jewelry shop to swipe something for mama after all. Her eyes flicked to the bag again. Ahhh, that explained it.

"Got something good there, kid?" A smirk slowly spread across her face. Maybe if it was something really good... 


Hijinks just stared up at the mare suspiciously as Error looked her over, doing her best not to react as she pushed off her hood. She was weird and pretty... and Jinx already didn't like her. Liked her even less as she started asking stupid questions.

Her eyes narrowed and she rolled her eyes, "If you care about how late I'm out, then you'll be the only phony in the world, so don't bother". Something in her kept her from replying with her usual snarky, nasty comments about phony minding their own business. She may be a delinquent, but her time on the streets have taught her when someone is bigger and badder than she is. And this stranger was not to be trifled with.

That is, until she smirked that stupid smirk. Hijinks knew exactly what she was thinking. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew. That face... that look... was so familiar. She'd seen it on her brother's faces when they were thinking of heisting something. With a quiet growl, she pulled the bag closer to herself. If it had been money or whatever, she'd probably have just given it to the crazy mer-lady and ran, but her brothers needed these. It was going to be cold tonight...

"Guess how good it is depends on how much you need it..." was all she said back. 


Something valued by the desperate? Now that was rather intriguing. What would a kid need so badly that they'd be out at this time of night all alone? The mer tilted her head, a wide grin plastered across her face. Well, what someone needed was purely subjective. She could 'need' an expensive figurine to complete her collection or she could 'need' a warm meal.

"Oh? And how much do you need what's in that sack?" Error purred, circling around the smaller female. It wouldn't be hard to just reach out and grab the bag or intimidate the filly into handing it over. She could see the girl was already wary of her. A smart decision on the child's part.

"I certainly don't care about your well being little one," she smirked, glowing eye flashing. "But, i'm sure your poor stupid little parents must." 


Hijinks was filled with both rage and anxiety over this mare's treatment of her. She narrowed her eyes and glared up, using all her restraint to not just quip back. Oh how big and brave... an adult picking on a kid. Stupid adults. Jinx fantasized getting big and finding this pathetic bully and stabbing her in the eye.

Alas, for now, she knew she'd be the one getting stabbed in the eye. With a derisive snort, she looked back down at the bag, "Fuck it, you want to steal from a kid? Here. Have it." Then spinning around, she knocked the bag towards the mer-mare with her own fishy tail. It landed with a soft thud as she continued, "Hope you sleep well tonight. I'll let my brothers know you're the reason they're cold. Not like their not fucking used to it anyways".

But then the parent comment was enough to set her off, "Oh... my parents? Y'know 'em? Ya, let me know how much they care next time you run into 'em. I'd ask myself, but we've never met. Oh, since you seem the type, kick 'em in the head for me too. Y'know, cause I love 'em so much". Jinx wasn't entirely sure what had gotten into her, she was usually never this chatty... but this mare somehow hit all the wrong spots. 


What a feisty little one. Error watched the filly with amusement as the bag was surrendered to her. "If you need it so desperately maybe you should've put up a bit more of a fight," she smirked as she gave the bag a nudge to reveal it's contents.

Eh. Blankets. The mare gave a snort. "You know, perhaps if you weren't so stubborn I would of let you keep these. But, you let your pride get in the way and now they're mine... Unless you convince me otherwise." 



Hijinks rolled her eyes and sighed, trying to bite back her frustrated rage. This adult was creepy and tedious. She still wasn't sure if the weird mare wanted her dead or not, or if she should stick around for too long and find out.

With an impatient sigh, she grumbled back, "Honestly lady, aint nothin' to do with pride. First rule of livin' on the streets, live to fight another day. You've got some crazy vibe and I'm hopin' to just not piss you off, cause my brothers need me more than they need some stupid blankets.... I'm just not very good at not pissing people off, so... I'm just gonna go..."

She frowned and gave one last longing glance at the battery-powered, electric blankets half exposed in her bag, before shaking her head and backing away slowly, "Just like an adult... always gotta make life miserable for the rest of us, just cause you can. Like life aint already shit enough".