[Honesty - PRP] Who Said Crime Doesn’t Pay? [Knockout/Hellion] (Complete)

[HopelesslyPretty]

Another quiet night in Phonyland - the perfect opportunity for Knockout to scope out some new locations he'd been meaning to check up on. While the vigilante regularly patrolled for evildoers and other criminals, he still had to pay the bills when there wasn't some phony needing to get whooped. His other side job was stealing leftover junk from abandoned places and reselling it later; a typically quick and easy job. The Pegasus looked around the dimly lit area and found his primary target: an abandoned warehouse. With ease he hopped and flapped over the chain link perimeter fence, looking for a way to get access inside the now rusting metal building.

[cursedwanderer]

Hellion moved at a slow trot down the cracked and overgrown pavement.  A makeshift backpack constructed of old burlap sacks was nestled between his shoulder blades, a soft clanging of spray paint cans could be heard with every step.  The colt squeezed between a gap in the chain link fence, bag momentarily snagging on the metal loops before he gave it a sharp tug.  Once free he took a breath and looked up at the warehouse.  He'd scouted it out a few days past and had been waiting with nervous anticipation since.  The location was going to be perfect for his latest idea he mused as he walked towards the garage doors that had previously been used for deliveries.  He'd slid a stone under one of the garage doors when scouting the place out, now he just had to lift it enough that he could fit under the door without making too much noise...

[HopelesslyPretty]

Knockout knew the place had gone under several months ago so he wasn't expecting any other late night visitors to the property. He moved closer to the building and into the shadows, and standing on his hind legs to check the dusty windows to and see if there were any possibility of remaining merchandise or equipment inside. It looked like there was a decent amount of boxes and shelving units so he figured it would be worth investigating. Just as he hopped back down and was about to look for something to bust the window with, he heard a rustling and then creaking sound. Frowning with confusion at the source of the noise he rounded the corner of the building, expecting to maybe find a door or shutter swaying with the wind... Instead in the distance he caught sight of a dark and lumpy shape trying to squirm under the door. "What the hell? That's the biggest raccoon I've ever seen!" Now interested in what he assumed was an animal, Knockout started heading that way!

[cursedwanderer]

Hellion's ear flicked, did he hear someone yell about a raccoon or was that just his imagination?  The colt pursed his lips, not pleased with his current vulnerable position of half under the garage door.  He wiggled as he tried to maneuver his lumpy bag under the door without damaging any of the cans.  Once the bag was clear he pulled himself the rest of the way through the opening, leaving the stone to keep it propped as a way out.  Wary, he looked around.  He was pretty sure he hadn't seen guards when he had surveyed the place earlier, but that didn't mean they couldn't of just been hired on.  If  he got caught he'd be screwed once they checked his bag and wouldn't that be just his luck?  The colt pressed against the wall, trying to scoot towards a hiding place.

[HopelesslyPretty]

Before he could get too close the shadow disappeared beneath the garage door. Knockout stopped a short distance away, puzzled as to why a raccoon would have gone to so much trouble to get inside this place. Scowling to himself, he walked closer and then he noticed there was a rock propping the door up. An animal definitely hadn't left that there. Was someone else here..? Getting caught by surprise if there was another trespasser was the last thing he wanted. In order to get the jump on the other party first, he quickly lifted up the shutter and ducked inside, loudly letting the garage door drop back to the ground in the process. "Private Security, Freeze!" He yelled into the room, sure that he would scare the living daylights out of anyone else if they were actually there.

[cursedwanderer]

Speak of the devil.  Hellion jumped and cursed under his breath.  Maybe he should of brought his siblings along for this little outing, then one of them could of been a lookout.  He hadn't thought he'd needed it after giving the place a good look over, but evidently he'd been wrong.  His wings twitched as he weighed his options.  It was a little difficult to fly with his bag, he could ditch it and try to escape.  But, those cans were hard to come by.  The stores typically kept them under lock and key which meant he had to persuade adults to buy them for him.  On the other hand though, if he got caught with his paints...  The colt slid the bag off his shoulders and nudged it behind him, trying to hide it from view.  "Oh no, officer," he simpered as he tried his best to sound innocent.

[HopelesslyPretty]

The sound of a foal's voice slightly caught KO off guard- he hadn't expected a kid but that at least explained where the 'raccoon' had come from. Instinctively he didn't trust the innocent voice to be totally harmless but he did relax ever-so-slightly. "Keep your hooves where I can see them and don't move." He walked over to the smaller phony, looking him over to determine if the stranger was actually some sort of threat to his own criminal interest in the property or just a runaway. "Isn't it past your bedtime? You should be at home where it's safe." Knockout noticed the bag behind Hellion and gestured with a flick of his tail towards it. "Unless you're planning on making this your new place." He kept his tone authoritative but it was also pretty clear that he was curious.

[cursedwanderer]

Hellion pursed his lips as the adult spoke and mused over his options.  The stallion certainly did seem to buy his pitiful act.  If only his siblings had also been here to run interference...  The colt gave a small sigh then looked up to the stallion, doing his best to look as innocent as possible. "I don't have a home sir."
  He didn't like that the stallion had taken note of his belongings.
Certainly he would notice the clanking of the clans if he tried to move his bag, but he didn't want to just leave them here.  He chewed his lip.  "But I'm not looking to live here either."

[HopelesslyPretty]

Knockout could tell he was onto something when he had mentioned that bag. This foal was homeless but wasn't trying to move in... if they weren't planning on camping out overnight he must be here to do one of two other things. He couldn't help the knowing grin that started to show on his face as he spoke. "So you're here to either steal or trash the place..?" He gave the boy a chance to speak his mind, interested in seeing what the younger pegasus would do once his plan was called out.

[cursedwanderer]

The adult was smiling, which Hellion thought was certainly a curious reaction.  Perhaps this guard was smug for having caught what he supposed a thief.  While the colt was not against stealing or 'trashing the place', he certainly wouldn't consider his intentions for the walls of this building to be either of those.  In fact he was almost affronted at the possibility that someone would view his art so negatively.  "I certainly would not consider my intentions to be anything but positive.  I was simply wanting to emphasize the sadness and state of decay of this place.  One might even argue I'm making it prettier..." He grumbled under his breath.

[HopelesslyPretty]

Deciding to drop his security guard act, KO resisted the urge to roll his eyes and answered the mumblings somewhat more gently. "Whatever you say, kid." He wasn't exactly a creative phony himself so the colt's 'new vision' for the place wasn't something he'd bother judging. "I'm not actually an officer so I don't really care why you're here. As long as you stay out of my way no one needs to know there were two trespassers here tonight." He figured keeping it simple would be the best way to prevent the little guy from getting riled up further.

[cursedwanderer]

Well now that was an interesting twist.  "I suppose that would explain why you weren't here when i checked out this place before..."  Hellion quirked an eyebrow as he looked over the red male.  "I think once I'm done here they won't really need anyone telling them there were trespassers, my art will make it obvious enough, not to mention whatever you're planning on doing.  Planning something nefarious perhaps?"

[HopelesslyPretty]

"My plans involve taking advantage of free merchandise," Knockout said while making his way over to some large and half-opened boxes. He started fishing around in one, shrugging a shoulder as he continued the conversation with the colt. "If it were really valuable it wouldn't have been left behind. I'm just cleaning up, like a janitor or something." He looked over to Hellion after only finding crumpled newspapers and some crappy office supplies in the box, intending on opening up the next one. "What's your art style? I think you'd know better than to leave your signature here."

[cursedwanderer]

He couldn't argue with that.  He and his siblings were all lovers of the four hoof discount.  "One might stumble upon some forgotten treasure.  Our memories tend to be fickle and unreliable at best."  Hellion shrugged his knapsack back onto his shoulders.  "Depends on my mood.  I'm not foolish enough to just tag my name on a wall, that's for unimaginative plebs to do."  He turned his eyes to the old worn brick.  "I wanted to emphasize the decay and make something gritty yet impressionistic.  A rotting carcass to suit this rotting carcass of a building."

[HopelesslyPretty]

Graffiti, huh? He got the feeling that this guy really must be pretty dedicated to his passion if he'd pick a medium that wouldn't be easy for just anyphony to match. Not to mention the subject matter... he felt a bit of respect for the colt's choice of theme. He nodded to Hellion, intending to let him go on his way now that they'd cleared up why they both were here. "You've got a pretty big canvas with this whole warehouse and the place is lit well enough at night. You should be able to find a wall that suits your needs." KO shifted over to the next box, lifting it up and shaking it a bit to assess the weight of its contents. "I'll let you do your thing since I've got plenty to search over here. If you need help getting through another heavy door you can call me over. My name's Knockout." He didn't consider it too much of a hassle to help out if it was just lifting another garage door or something.