//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Smooth Criminal [1] // Story: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Roundabout Friendship // by TenTa //------------------------------// The Changeling hive. Located in forests unknown, this place is infamous for being the sole living space to, none other than, the Changelings. Though there has been speculation of many more hives, this was the best of the bunch. This was the Queen's hideout. Atop a towering tree nearby, stood a fellow citizen of the hive. A young bughorse, stiller than the cloudless sky that loomed above, gazed off at the mountain of Canterlot with thoughtful intent. Only left to wonder: How were things like over there? "Billie?" She didn't even flinch at the sound of the changeling spontaneously speaking out to her. "Billie? What are you doing up here? I thought you were meant to be with the others." "I was...?" She responded in a low effort of playing dumb, never looking back to her brother. "Yeah! Y'know, as a part of the plan to break the shield? We were told everyone had to be there. Well- I except me, cus... you know..." He took a bitter gaze at the total lack of his right foreleg. A useless little stump in its place. "-Whatever...! What's important now is that you get your flank over to Canterlot before the general finds out about and kicks it half a mile away!" "Hey, Madeira... Can I ask you something?" "H-huh? Can you-? Why? What is it?" "Do you dream?" "Come again?" "I said," A little spite and volume was added, "Do you dream? Dummy." "Dummy? Me? I'm older than you...!" "Just answer my damn question please..." "Fine, fine... Yeah. Of course, I do. Why wouldn't I?" "Well, what do you dream about?" She gave him a side look. "And why does that matter to you?" "Can you just... Go with it! I'm tryna have a moment here..!" Madeira sighed, "I get it, Billie. You're trying to be 'whistful'. That's okay. But just once, give it to me straight. What's it about this time...?" "I! I...! I... Ugh..." She held her face for a moment, turning fully around to look him dead in the eye and say with 100% seriousness, "I wanna leave the hive." "What!?" "I know! I know! It's just...! I want the best. For me, I mean." "But Billie, this is the best for you...! Out there, out in Equestria, we're more despised than... than...! Than rat shit, for Faust sake!" Madeira pointed directly toward Canterlot, "As we speak, we're giving it our A-game and then some trying to over-throw the current Princess of the Sun and crash the freaking Royal wedding! At this point, we won't be good enough to even be called rat shit!" "Madeira, shut up! Someone might hear us...!" She said in a stage-whisper. "Right...! Right... Sorry..." Billie took a long and drawn out-breath as she slowly digested what he had to say. Her eyes jerking ever so slightly as she looked off to one side. "Last night... I-I was just dreaming... It wasn't much, it's just... I dreamt I was... a pony. In a family with my mother, my father, and two brothers... I was just living in a small, picturesque town, next to the ocean, Greenland fields going on for miles, filled with all different colours of flowers... That was it. That was my dream. For a good portion of the night, I lived there. It was a plain and simple town. So ordinary, but so, so, so beautiful...! And I'd be damned to Tartarus if I said that I wouldn't kill to stay there, with my family, just a bit longer." It was no lie, the look of distant happiness within reach was plastered on her face. "But then..." Her look immediately dropped, "I was just out on the field, taking a walk. I-I picked a flower and it just w-withered, slowly in my hoof. Looking around me, it showed the same thing, with everything died. The s-sky turned purple. Houses crumbled... An unnatural hurricane blew me off my hooves. I couldn't stop it, I just kept tumbling towards the sea... I fought for my life and dug my hooves into the sand to get a grip. But when I looked up, I saw my family, all of them, 5 metres away just... staring at me. With a face of disgust that burned itself in my memory. I tried to hold a leg out to them, but that only got them to step further way. The wind dragged me hard and my hooves kept slipping until I reached the edge of the ocean. My reflection showed me, back to normal. As a changeling. Before, everything was dying. But after I got to the ocean, I could see the town again with no damage sign of it. Like nothing ever happened. I got back up and tried to go back, only to feel a hand clasp my leg. Then another one. And another. And another. And another... I looked back; it was just a bunch of hands stretching out from some dark abyss and holding me back. When I tried to push against them, my body broke into pieces and, before I knew it, I was drowning. And it felt so real... I really couldn't breathe until the last second, when I woke up. Gasping for air and everything." "Well. It was really that bad, huh...?" Madeira said, desensitized to her little vivid 'nightmares' by this point. "And let me guess, that dream was some sorta sign for you to leave?" "How could it not be? These dreams have been coming more and more frequently. And c'mon, with a place as big as Equestria, there has to be somewhere where I'm excepted. These dreams don't have to continue being dreams...!" "Hey, calm down...! I wasn't disagreeing with you or anything. Actually, I think I'd be happier going with you. Beats sitting here and starving to death. It's just... How can you be so sure?" "I dunno," Billie shrugged. "Can you see into the future?" "Err... No...?" "Then there's only one way we'll ever find out..." She said, facing the way of the sun. Doujaa~~~n Jolt stumbled up the small staircase leading to his door. Tearing open bandaid that contained his keys and unsuccessfully fumbling around the keyhole, much to his annoyance, before getting it at last and unlocking the door. "Hey, Dad...!" He shouted over the door slamming behind him. "How's are you?" No response. Only the minor echo of the house greeted him. "hmm... Dad? You there?" Entering the door to his left leading to the living room, Jojo still found no pony around. Odd, considering his old man only worked night shifts and therefore had waaaay too much time during the day. Maybe he's out..., Jojo hypostasized, not being too bothered to think. He went right past the wedged open door and made way to the kitchen to see if anything was new in the fridge. Completely unaware of the figure that loomed in the dark between the wall and the door, rearing its head out before pouncing on-air as he leapt right on Jojo and- "BAH!!" Jojo was tackled straight to the ground before he even had a chance to flinch, or even scream. With the weight of another holding him down, he inched his hoof desperately to his aquire [Moonlight Lady], only to halt when a boisterous laugh filled the air above him. "Bwah-Hahahahahaha! AHH Hahahahaha! Ahhh~~~, you alright Jo?" "Wait a sec, Dad??" Jolt snapped his head around to find his old man right above him, bearing the same goofy grin he always wore since... well... forever. "What the hell, Dad?! You scared the living shit out of me...!" "Heh heh heh...! You don't 'ave to say, I can see that clear enough. My word, you went paler than Celestia herself...!" Jojo gave a disgruntled sighed, failing to hold back the smile. "I love you too, Dad." Geo Jo Star, his fathers' real name, finally got off Jolt, offering him a hoof up only to put him in a headlock and give him an aggressively affectionate head rub. Geo looked similar to Jolt, being his father and all, with only a beige coat colour, no Bandages or a flat cap and slightly spiked up hair. Other than that, the two of them are near identical. They both entered the kitchen, Geo sitting at the table having a cuppa and Jolt continuing his trek to the fridge for food, coming back to the table with the fruitless result. "So Jojo, how was your little journey?" "Oh, it was alright, really. It was nice to just be out and about, y'know? I didn't get the job though..." Geos' expression sank in sympathy, "Dah... Talk about unlucky... This is, what, the fourth time you've been rejected?" "Unfortunately so. I dunno what to say really. But I did get to meet the mane 6 on the train...!" "Did you now...! Interesting. And how did that go down?" "Yeah! They were... not exactly like I expected, but still. Though I was pressed a bit on how I dressed..." Geo took a stern, more focused look at Jolt. "And...?" "And... well, I got outta there using [Moonlight Lady] when they weren't looking. Then I headed home and... Yeah." Geo's features still remained slightly unsatisfied. He heavily nodded after a short thought session. "Y'know, Jolt, yer easy to read." "H-huh?" "It's ain't too serious... It's just that whenever you have something more to say you'd rather not spit out, you never make look me in the eye for anything more than a whole second. Suddenly, the fly on the ceiling becomes more interesting than me." Jolt blinked hard, taken back in surprise more than anything, "I... do that?" "Mmhm. And now, yer mind is on 'igh alert. There is no fly on the ceiling, I just made ya look." He took a smug sip of his tea, "I don't know who said this, but we, from the average pony to a well trained, precise, best-of-the-best athlete, all have flaws. 'Signs' and 'patterns' that can give anypony a vague idea of just whats goin' on in your head. Everyone 'as these flaws, but it takes a mean, keen eye to notice. And what I'm seein' right now, is that you have much more to say. Come on, you know you can talk to me right?" He said as his bright smile beamed blinding lights that Celestia's sun could only dream of. Like most smiles, his one was very contagious. Jolt couldn't help but chuckle. And so, he explained everything. Form the barbers' regards, to the hostage, and even the fight that ended in catastrophic collateral damage. He couldn't assume his dad would be happy about the confrontation, but he could say that would listen wholeheartedly. He's a brilliant listener, after all... With the cuppa now empty, Geo had hooves on the desk, letting the events fully sink in. "So... You used your power on those knobs all to save some girl?" "Basically..." "I mean... You did the right thing, Jo, but you are aware of the ginormous crater you left behind does cost a lot to repair, right? You should be lucky that you weren't pulled off by the police yerself." "I'm sorry, Dad... It was just the heat of the moment. I couldn't really help myself..." "Yes, but you should be more careful. You know better than this..." "Yeah..." "..." "..." "...Did you at least kick their arses?" "O-oh. Er, yeah?" "Haha...! That's it, they got what they deserved...! Not saying I'm happy that you could've potentially cost me bundles o' bits, but in this context, those sunssabitches will know to never fuck with the Jo family...!" "...S-so, you're proud of me??" "I guess you could say that." Another softer, smile made its way to Jojo's features, "You're weird, Dad." "Eh?? You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who uses a mug for a weapon, thank you very much...!" The door ringed suddenly, cutting off the banter. Geo offered to get it but Jojo was just too courteous, he still followed close behind. Past the door, was a deep blue, average mare with a cyan mane and tail, with her hair wrapped up in a ponytail. "You alright, JoooJo~~?" "Um... Hello?" "How've ya been? I came here just like you asked." Geo pushed past, "Sorry to interrupt, Miss, but who are you?" "Oh! Are you Jolts father?" "Yes, that's me. What about it?" "My my...! Jolt, you haven't told him yeee~~t?" "Told me 'what'?" Geo made a face at Jolt, one of both concern and an ominous blank stare. Jojo opened his trap to say something (anything) of clarity but was forced to shut it when the girl rushed past to deliver a dead solid kiss on the lips. バーン ! ! She held it for what felt like hours; Jojo lost his train of thought with each passing second. Till she (Finally!) broke away, cuddling him with one arm, "He really didn't tell you, huh...? You see, I happen to be dating your son for some time. He's my B o y f r i e n d...!" To say Jojo was shocked would be the understatement of the century. This mare knocked on the door, waltzed right in and proclaimed that he and she were dating?? Needless to say, he didn't know how to react. I mean, how could he? Clearly, this mare had the wrong stallion or something. "Well, Jo, is this true? Heh heh...! Not bad! Not bad at all...! But, weren't ya planning on telling me sooner?" This wasn't true. None of this was. The mare; her sudden entrance, it was all to bizarre. Jojo was going to deny his question when he felt that he couldn't open his muzzle. At all. He even began unnaturally nodding. This wasn't him, no way. His body was moving entirely by itself...! 'W-What the hell...? The hell is going on?!' "Ah, I see, I see. So, lass, what's yer name?" He said as he closed the door. "Billie Jean. But my friends just call me Billie." "Right, welcome to our residence. Please, make yerself at home. If you need anything, I'm 'ere" Geo walked right back to the kitchen, leaving the 'couple' by the bottom of the stairs. "Will do." She said, more to herself than him. "Now, are you ready, JoJo?" "Ready? Ready for what?? I don't even know you...!!" He would've questioned further, had he not been stopped by another quick kiss on the lips. All motor functions basically disabled, Billie gently pushed him so he fell back on his flank. Thing is he didn't stop falling. Fear struck him as her lips detached and Jolt plopped right onto a dense and swirly water-ink surface with a glass-like thunk. Out of his view, he heard an exasperated being let off as he realised what came to be. He was now looking up at the sky, the clouds seemed closer than usual. "Finally... I was starting to get sick of kissing you." Jolt pounced to his hooves. Billie standing straight ahead, reading from a notebook. The image of a mare once before burst into a spire of neon green flames, revealing from the hoof to the horn a one of a kind Changeling... "Jolt Jo Star." The notebook burned up. "You...! You're no mare! What the hell do you want with me, Bughorse!?" Jojo declared war as he ripped open a bandaid, summoning [Moonlight Lady] his grasp. "Go on! Answer me! Before I personally come over there an' smash yer skull in an' try and read yer mind...!" "My Faust, do you ever shut up?" Jojo barely had enough time to grunt as he felt a tension draw his mouth shut once more. "And besides... You're in no position to order me around." An ominous navy blue aura oozed from within' her. And then! A humanoid figure creepily phased its way out of her: Its body was covered in black and white strips than constantly overlapped each other which begged the question of whether those strips were its skin or its clothes, it bore an evil crimson fedora on its head that constantly obscured its eyes, the phantoms lips were sewn together with a metal wire and over the main joints of the being (from its shoulders, torso, abs knees and heels), it had various array of protective black padding. This figure loomed like a tower above the emotionless Changeling. "I see we both have Stand powers... Not something common to come by. But rest assured, You won't live long enough to face 50% of what my [Smooth Criminal] can dish out..." ゴ ゴ ゴ |To Be Continued==>