ZIGGS
One sure thing Ziggs learnt from Jinx during the trip to her home is that, despite the apparent colorful and carefree appearance, she was quite reserved concerning personal matters. This and a bit of her volatile appearance as he heard her say 'shut up' to someone whom Ziggs figured it wasn't him. Sort of the same 'shut up' he heard during the confrontation with the so called 'Rat Man'.
But then, Ziggs was a *bit volatile* himself, and he did spend the time with the lunatics in Bonscutt most humans never would, at least not for THAT long. He sure could be able to relate to her, in time, just as she related to him in regards to explosions. At least one, from most of the people he met, to build some bridges with.
And to think all that started with a monstrous wolf, crazy fanatics and a hooded woman pointing directions...
While hooded and not moving so much for the journey, Ziggs could start feeling the eyes relaxing as darkness overtook him and the temperature died down a bit, indicating they were passing by some sort of sewer pipe or perhaps a mine shaft. Perhaps a strange place for her to inhabit, but then he took shelter within an abandoned bomb factory. That alone made any judgement moot, too.
"Bombs to make music?", Jinx asked, as their conversation continued. "Really?"
"Explosions, to make music.", Ziggs replied. "Yeah, it was early in stage, I didn't get to make a live experiment yet... I mean before..."
"Before the 'not-so-good-day'. We can relate...", Jinx nodded, putting the crate he was in down to the ground. Despite her reservations, Ziggs also thought it best to keep at least this part of his life from her, at least until he could open it up to her, much later.
"We're here, at last?", Ziggs asked, all comfortable, despite the temptation to lift the hood pricking him on.
"Nearly, nearly...", Jinx answered, as he then heard something loud unlocking and opening up, almost like a hard lock. The creaking sound was then heard, indicating the door was open, and a few seconds passed before Ziggs felt the crate with the mannequin besides him, which he presumed was the 'Silco' she was talking about, being lifted up again.
"Still, I hope to getting back to it, I still hope for a live experimentation.", Ziggs said as he then heard the supposed door closing shut hard. "Imagine, explosions along with music. That'd cause some reaction, sure, but would eventually soothe over the shaky ones, with enough time they might even-"
His words were paused as he felt the hood suddenly pulled up, and then he blinked the eyes behind his googled and shook his head, before he could see more clearly now. It was now mostly dark, filled with rock walls on both sides, indicating both Ziggs and Jinx were on what looked like to be a very tight fissure, perhaps an abandoned mining site.
The only illumination came from a bit ahead, following the wooden platform which ended up in what looked like a long shut down ventilation turbine extending into the far below. A ventilation turbine which apparently looked more homely than anything else. With what looked some sort of small carnival merry-go-round and some sort of workshop at the pivot base. As well as apparently colored a bit, from mostly doodles at the distance.
The sight left Ziggs awed, to the point the googles would be sparkling if they only could. "You live here?", he asked, impressed.
"See? Told you you'd like it.", Jinx snickered, starting to walk down the wooden platform all the way to the turbine, where Ziggs could see more of it, admittedly astonished. He could see the doodles of various colors and forms, ranging from words such as 'HA! HA! HA!' and 'Boom' to eyes, some birds, and, in some cases, the drawing of a monkey face of sorts. On the turbine wing that the platform was connected to, Ziggs also noticed, besides the large merry-go-round, a bathtub filled with bullets.
A bit ahead, he also saw the close by base of the pivot, at least safe with guardrails unlike the wings, where aside from the clear workshop, where even some separate parts were strewn about as well as some sort of steel butterflies, there was also a small desk with a gramophone device and some crates as well, with various salvage.
Jinx then lowered the crate she was carrying, allowing Ziggs to get up and walk out, the eyes scanning and registering every part of that impressive place. The workshop, the stool where Jinx worked, and even a mirror broken and shot, giving a clue she might've had another 'not-so-good-day'. The Yordle's head turned to another wing, close by, where he could see an empty couch and even some hanging toystuffs around.
"You have all this for yourself...", Ziggs was marveled, lightly stomping the turbine's metal 'floor'. "But isn't it a bit, y'know, *unstable* to live in?"
"Unstable?", Jinx asked, snickering in mockery then. "Been throwing Chompers here a good long time, fuzzer, nothing happened. Plus, there were those shakies just early, and look it where we are!"
"Good point...", Ziggs nodded, walking a bit to the corner, contemplating the abyss below the turbine from a distance as Jinx headed out with the crate, but then coming back as she took the Silco mannequin, bringing it with her.
The Loose Cannon then rested the mannequin by the table as she then took another Chomper from her hip, the one she shown Ziggs back at that alley outside. "Check this out.", she then pulled the pin as the ticking on the Chomper started and she let it fall deep down into the abyss, and she whistled the sound of it fallen.
Some seconds passed before the inevitable fireball lightened up the rocky caves of the deep, as well as the shockwave and noise that also set a whole flock of bats flying upwards, no doubt all spooked off by the detonation, all headed outside the cavern.
"Even your own test site.", Ziggs smiled. "And no one *ever* said anything wrong about what you do?"
"You've no idea...", Jinx rolled her eyes, taking her seat on the stool on the workshop to start sewing the plushy half-burnt doll head into the torso. "But Silco owned this place, and I was with Silco. Who'd ever be that dumb to say anything about me to his face? And he pushed me, too, he did. 'You should focus on your gadgetry, Jinx.'", she said this phrase with a mocking tone. "'Take some time, Jinx...'", she snickered a bit, feeling distant, eyes focused on the mannequin.
"Did much more than my supposed mentor ever did...", Ziggs nodded, snickering. "I can already see, our friendship's gonna be something beautiful..."
Jinx suddenly twitched, caught off-guard, almost puncturing 'Silco's' head with the nail. "W-wait, what?", she asked, turning to face Ziggs, as if she were triggered by it. "What'd you say?"
"Nothing, I just said our friendship's gonna be beautiful.", Ziggs answered, caught a bit off-guard.
Jinx twitched a little bit a second later, shaking her head. "No.", she said, nervous. "No, no, no, no. N-nothing against it, just... please, *not that*."
"What, no friendship, you mean?", Ziggs asked.
"No.", Jinx answered, as Ziggs remained a bit dumbstruck. "In fact... I'd rather you'd be my enemy, really.", she then snickered.
"En- *enemy, what?", Ziggs asked, caught off-guard by that, as well. "But- you just helped me out there, we were doing so fine knowing each other, you even brought me here."
"Oh, oh, yes, yes, you don't get it. You don't get it...", Jinx nodded and got off the stool, heading off to Ziggs' right, blushing a bit, eyes darting away, feeling lost and embarrassed. "Where do I even start, where do I- shut up, you!", she then waved off in thin air, clearly the ones in her head, as Ziggs interpreted it, harassing her. She then, after thinking it a bit, turned around and pointed at Ziggs. "Okay, you start, Ziggsy. Say a thing that enemies do."
Ziggs shrugged and raised his elbows. "They hurt you?", he asked, a second later.
"Oh, that's a good start.", Jinx nodded. "Yeah, true, they do hurt you, knives, guns, bombs, even bare knuckles..", she snickered again and shrugged, and then raised her index finger upward. "But, here's the thing: It's enemies, so... you're already kind of expecting that.", she snickered. "Not like friends, which you *don't* see it coming, and it hurts a lot more. For all they want to hurt you... at least they're more honest!", she smiled and opened her arms "So, enemies hurt, but don't hurt like friends do. There's that."
"Huh, that is new to me...", Ziggs eyes darted off as well, thinking about that 'no-so-good' day from eons ago. "But, still, quite an out-there thinking."
"I know, I know, I'm just getting started on it.", Jinx nodded, smiling, until it hit her. "Oh, another one: Enemies, they don't lie."
"Don't lie?", Ziggs asked. "That's the thing they do *the most, they gossip on your friends, they seek to divide you!"
"Yup, gossip, the point exactly, but turns out it's the other way around!", Jinx answered, now livened up. "You see, that's a real one, there was this ogre woman I worked with, she never liked me that much. Then, a day comes up she and her people were after someone, but didn't let me in for whatever reason. So I tie her, and she tells me it's my sister they were after, or rather ex-sister, and that she had someone else with me, as if she replaced me! Sure, I dismissed it as bull as anyone would, I'm not that crazy. But then, a bit later, I do meet her, my ex-sister. And guess who was there!"
"The someone else?", Ziggs concluded.
"Oh-ho, and what a someone else!", Jinx bared her teeth, in anger. "And clearly ex-sister had shown to have the hots for her.", she groaned angrily, and then shook her head. "But, let's not talk of it, it still proves my point. Enemies don't lie."
"Just because the ogre told you that?", Ziggs asked, a second later. "Don't you think she told you that *just* to hurt you?"
"Of course she did, but the breaks is, *I* thought she was full of crap, me!", Jinx beat her chest. "And the ex-sister didn't open with me on that, too. So, enemies do have the goods that friends would instead keep under the rug. Makes enemies a more reliable source."
Ziggs hummed a bit, shrugging a bit. For as much insane as she looked, Jinx was bringing some points across, he had to admit. "So you kind of have this crackpot theory, then...", he said.
"I crack a lot more than that.", Jinx snickered.
"Anything else to further back that theory, then?", Ziggs asked.
"Oh, plenty, you bet.", Jinx then headed back to the workshop to finish sewing up the mannequin's head into the torso. "Like, enemies get your name right, enemies don't leave you, enemies don't bore you, they know what's wrong with you and whatnot... It's been working so far.", she chuckled.
"I see...", Ziggs slightly nodded, albeit a small tinge of concern also went into him as Jinx then finished sewing up. "Well... mind if I then take a bit of a while, then?", he asked as Jinx then turned to face him. "Before I... could be your enemy?"
A moment of tense silence passed off as Ziggs eyeballed the Loose Cannon, whom remained immobile for a couple of second.
"Yeah...", Jinx nodded, shrugging. "Yeah, I could use some time too, I mean, I did try getting enemies too quick all at once, didn't end very well...", she then suddenly snapped a second later. "Shut up, we're just talking, him and I! H-he don't mean that!"
The shout almost made Ziggs take a step back as Jinx shook her head and then glanced back at him, a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry...", Jinx mumbled, almost whispering.
"Will I ever get to know who they are?", Ziggs asked, a second later. "If you don't mind asking?"
"Might take a bit of a while, too...", Jinx took a breather, looking back at the mannequin torso with 'Silco's' head now properly stitched. "Might do that, if you'll wait a bit here, please.", she said, grabbing the torso. "Gotta get the rest of him, I promised him I'd get it over with."
Ziggs took a glance at the torso, realizing that maybe that might be one of the things to help stave off that overreacting. "Okay, I can wait.", he nodded. "I'll be right here when you get back..."
Jinx smiled and snickered. "I *knew* you'd hold up to that.", she then rested the torso, picked the weapons she rested and walked off towards the wooden platform, carrying the torso while picking some other Chompers and even what it looked like a rocket, clearly the 'food' for Fishbones strapped to her back. "Back in a jiff, furs. Don't touch anything, unless you fancy a bite."
As Ziggs watched Jinx dart away, almost like an overgrown fairy-ish spirit, he then looked all around the turbine around him, noticing the workshop, the bathtub, the drawings and words all around and even the spread about rockets with their mean monster-like faces and the monster-like Chompers on the floor of the pivot.
And then the actions from before, such as shooting that rat-man's foot as if it were nothing, even if that pervert rat did deserve it.
Only this time it wasn't in wonder anymore, but instead feeling a bit uncomfortable from all that, now realizing perhaps a clear pattern, let alone purpose, behind most of all that.
The years in Bonscutt had shown him that, in between his bouts between his cell and the... ministrations given.
"...is this what a psychopath looks like?", he asked to himself, a bit quietly. But then he shrugged. "Still better than rats and wolves, though."