Central City: The Con is On

[SHM 128 III]

Central City, capital of the Chaos Dimension. Both the President of the United Federation as well as GUN HQ resided in this political hub. Despite this, however, the city had just as much crime, if not more, than any other metropolitan area.

And speaking of such, there was a certain thief who was making his way down the streets of Central City at that very moment, casually flipping a ring into the air and catching it as he walked.



Axe was... in a word, pleased. Sure, his trip to Mystic Runis resulted in him gaining little besides a satchel of food and a burned hand, but the detour to Resort Island paid off tremendously. A wallet and cash register's worth of rings, and the opportunity to royally screw over someone who ticked him off? That was well worth the injuries he took during the fight.

And now, his feet took him to Central City. He had a friend there - or, at least, the closest thing one could have to a friend in his line of work - that he hadn't seen in a while. The hyena figured now was as good a time as any to drop by, if only so he could brag about his most recent conquest. Naturally, the biggest challange would be finding her, as it wasn't like vandals like them had a perminate place to stay, and the city was, in fact, quite huge. Therefore, Axe was forced to do his searching the old-fashioned way: walking down any given street while keeping his eyes peeled and looking in all allyways for her.

"... ... ..."

That's not to say he liked the old-fashioned way, of course.

[@ Dizzy @]

It wasn't often that Luna noticed individuals on the street. Sure, she knew there were people, but they never had faces to her. Most of the time they were shoes, or pockets, or the occasional bountiful hammerspace. They were all one moving, uncaring mass that neither knew nor cared that people lived and died. So she took from them- all that she could, as often as possible.

So when she fell into silent step behind the young thrope, she didn't take notice of the familiar red fur, or the short hair and careful step. All she got was a wallet- a girl's wallet, and she smiled in realization, chuckling while still striding behind him.

"Man, Axe, letting me swipe from you? You're getting old."

[SHM 128 III]

Axe just stopped and let out a low chuckle before holding up the cresent moon bracelet he had just swiped from Luna's arm while she was pickpocketing him.

"Of course I let you swipe me, my dear. I saw you comming up behind me in the reflection of that store window. I could've just as easily snapped your wrist and let you know even sooner that your attempt had failed, but a girl like you needs a self-confidence boost every now and then, least you start bawling about your ineptitude. Trust me, I don't handle crying girls well."

He said all this without even turning around, follwed by waving the bracelet back and foward.

"Now, can we trade back? I highly doubt this bracelet would look flattering on me in any way, shape, or form."

[@ Dizzy @]

"Give me that back. And-" She reached up and walloped him about the head with her free hand. "You call me inept, I'll make you infertile, then we'll see who cries like a girl." Then she grinned, giving Axe half of a hug while simultaneously returning the wallet to his hammerspace. "The heck have you been anyway, big brother?"

[SHM 128 III]

Axe took the whack and half-hug in stride, but physically winced when the cat called him 'big brother.' Sure, he knew her a little more than anyone else he interacted with on a semi-regular basis (which wasn't a lot at all), but... He certainly wasn't that close to her. Not by a long shot.

... Or, at the very least, he wouldn't admit as much.

"Hey, I told you not to call me that," Axe retorted, half-joking, half-serious, "the last thing I want is people assosiating you with me. We're... 'business partners' and nothing more. I don't want some certified loony thinking he can get some leverage on me by messing with you. Revenge by proxy is such a messy affair."

He then tossed the bracelet back to her.

"In regards to your actual question, I was off exploring new places, meeting interesting people, and robbing them. The end result was a valuable lesson for me: don't go into jungles looking for cash, for all you'll get is a burnt hand courtesy of a psychotic ninja. Instead, one should simply rob the local ice cream shop, provided you smash the cashier's face against the counter enough to knock her out rather than just tick her off."

There was a moment's pause as the hyena took the wallet back out of his hammerspace and inspected it, mostly to make sure Luna didn't take anything out of it during her short possession of it.

"... And don't get me started on the morbidly obesse cat who was an apparent master of fishing-pole-fu."

[@ Dizzy @]

Luna shook her head. "See Axe, this is why you don't get involved with these rich morons. You just snatch and run, why bother wasting time with all the rest of it? That's why you get into so much trouble."

It was so much easier to get away with things when the people she stole from didn't have a face to put to their anger. Sometimes she did tag them and watch their moment of discovery, the moment they knew they'd been robbed. So many emotions- rage, disbelief, even sadness. Watching too much of that last one what was made her abandon the wallets after they were emptied of cash. Honestly, there was no need for the little.. scraps of people's lives they carried around. Pictures and numbers, sometimes little trinkets. No, all she wanted was the money- they could keep their lives.

[SHM 128 III]

"Ah, but where's the fun in simply snatching and running?" the hyena inquired, turning to her as he put the wallet back in his hammerspace, satisfied that Luna didn't pick anything from it, "It's all about sending a message, my dear. Anybody with careful enough hands can simply rob someone. It takes a mastery of the skill, not to mention a little love for the theatrics, to do so with style. I'd like my victims to know they were swindled not by a simpleton with blind luck, but by a professional, and a little flair goes a long way towards that. Sure, they may be able to put a face to me, but that's why I move around so much. After all, if you can't be famous, might as well be infamous."

Axe whipped out one of his switchblades and began twirling it around.

"Besides, if I'm damning myself to Hell, I might as well do so dramatically."

[@ Dizzy @]

"Yeah, drama is very you, Axe." Luna rolled her eyes. She'd snuck into movies now and then. Axe seemed to have some sort of idea that he was some grand thief, a charming conman, some sort of anti-hero. Honestly, she just thought he was silly - entertaining, but silly.

"So, care to share the wealth?" Her grungy purple shirt clung to her rather visible ribs. More and more people seemed to be running on credit- which she could do nothing with. Some nights she was back to just stealing food; others she could find a lucky wallet full of useable cash. (rings?) But she was going hungry- hungrier- more often than not lately.

[SHM 128 III]

Axe kept his blade spinning as he replied.

"Well, what can I say? I grew up in the theater. Grew up even more when I left."

He stopped spinning the dagger for a second after that last line, trying to rebury the memories that brought up. Soon enough, though, he was back to spinning it at full speed.

"As for your inquiry, you know how I am with hand-outs. I stole this cash by myself fair and square and therefore it is rightfully mine. However..."

He flipped the knife around so that he was holding onto the blade between his thumb and forefinger and offered the hilt to Luna.

"I'm all for pulling a double-con and splitting the earnings 50-50. What say you?"

[@ Dizzy @]

Luna grinned, showing fangs, and plucked the knife from his hand with her petite paws. She closed it, rolled it across her knuckles, flipped it into the air and caught it with her opposite hand. "Sounds like a plan. What do we run? Bait and switch? Find the Lady?"

[SHM 128 III]

Axe also smiled, showing off his own set of sharp teeth.

"I'd say a little of Column A, a little of Column B... You find the lady, I do the bait and switch."

Taking out a ring, Axe began twirling it around on his finger.

"After all, the best cons are like a magic show..."

Without warning, he whipped out his other switchblade and stabbed it through the center of the ring and into the wall right next to Luna's head.

[@ Dizzy @]

Well, it would have been next to her head. But as soon as she saw his arm move in a threatening manner, her legs simply moved her to the side, her claws came out and her grip on the knife tightened. All this without asking permission from her brain.

Luna turned her head to peer at the knife. "Don't do that. You know I'm jumpy."

[SHM 128 III]

Axe just chuckled and held up the cresent moon bracelet which, while she was reacting to the switchblade, he had swiped off her arm... again.

"... It's all about misdirection."

[@ Dizzy @]

Luna rolled her black eyes, twisting the second blade from the wall, and flipping both closed with an elegant flip of the wrist. "You're real lucky I didn't stab you, big brother." She held out his weapons to him, and smirked broadly. "...Though I suppose that'd only give you another hole to talk out of."

[SHM 128 III]

And Axe simply smirked right back, ignoring the big brother title again as best he could, and took back his weapons while returning the bracelet to Luna for the second time in about as many minutes.

"Indeed. Just stab me in the chest and we can have a literal heart-to-heart."

Hiding his blades back underneath his wristbands, Axe looked towards the mass of people walking by, all of them in his mind just begging to be stolen from.

"So... Shall we begin?"

[@ Dizzy @]

Luna grinned and reattached her bracelet. Then, she too gazed out at the crowd of potential profits. So many pockets, so little time.

"Oh yeah. Let's part some money from these fools."