No Town for Old Men [Open]

"We're definitely blowin' this place sky high. Hog! Oi, hurry up, mate!"

The voice came from one of the only two living beings in the derelict old town, or as far as they knew it was just the two of them. Jamison, nowadays called Junkrat, had been intending to just pass through this part of the seemingly endless stretch of road, heading to California to shake things up in good old Hollywood, the only thing that had stopped their straight shot was Junkrat's need to 'piss like a racin' horse' as he'd put it. Of course, in the process of taking a leak, the young man had become quite distracted by the town they'd stopped in. Route 66, or what was left of it, was American history, which meant jack shit to him, but it made it all the more tempting a target.

He was being tailed by his enormous bodyguard as he picked through what was left of the place, making sure there wasn't anything especially valuable left before he turned it into a smouldering pile of rubble. His accomplice, Roadhog, had arms laden with a rather threatening cocktail of explosives, that Junkrat intended to rig up everywhere for a good old fashioned fireworks show. They would do this, and then they would head to California, it was a perfectly sound plan, which was incredibly concerning given the unsound mind it came from.

He wasn't being particularly quiet as he kicked debris and fallen bits of what used to be various storefronts around, unaware that he was making his way closer to the only other person besides them in this old shithole. He let out a string of barely controlled giggles as he shoveled over a pile of junk before clicking his tongue in a displeased way, "This place is cleaned out, Hog! Lets blow this place t' the sky and shoot through!" His words were shouted now, ignoring the huge man's warning grunt, he'd obviously spotted the other person, attempting to warn his charge, who seemed content on either not hearing him, or hearing him and not caring.

He laughed a bit too gleefully as he began unpacking the explosives from his bodyguard's arms, beginning to carefully situate them to the walls of the shop front, making about as much racket as a bull in a china shop in the process.

Catching wind of voices, the old Soldier was now on guard. No one else should be out here, people don't take this highway, they take the train. The subject of the talking was also not very heartening. He opened the back door and pulled out a pistol, it was a colt. 45 caliber. Nice and meaty, good for taking out punks. He did his best to be stealthy, though the brace didn't make it easy as he moved towards the voice. Incredible trigger discipline, he slipped between two old buildings. There they were. A rather tall and wide fellow, with a thinner cohort. Seem about George's height. He heard something to the effect of what Hephaestus had suggested. His eyes were drawn to a make shift explosive device rigged up to the wall. Great.

He hustled out of the Alley and aimed his gun at the big guy and his mad little beast of a cohort. "Hey, kid, who are you and what the hell do you think you're doing rigging up explosives on private property?" he grunted, his northern accent rather apparent. Certainly wasn't from the prairie land. "Or dontcha think anyone would notice?" He certainly had. "Why don't we go ahead and pull this off the walls, leave both nice and civil." They looked like Junkers, great.

Wasn't there a pair of Junkers in the newspaper recently who'd been wreaking havoc on the surrounding area? Just his luck to run into them. He probably should have brought the hammer rather than the pistol now that he thought about it. All the same the stubborn man stared down the pair rather fearlessly. "I don't want to have to shoot ya."

"Once we get these little beauties rigged up good 'n proper..." He was finally alerted to the sound of movement behind them as his sentence trailed off, or he sure thought it sounded like movement, though it could have just as easily been debris settling, it still put the man every so slightly on edge. He turned to look behind him, feeling satisfied when he didn't see anyone there, he continued to speak as he grabbed another explosive to stick to the wall, "Like I was sayin', we can rig these up an' then blow this shit hole. Literately!" He cackled at his own humor.

His bodyguard noticed George step out before Junkrat, who had his back turned as he affixed another explosive to the wall. The behemoth of a man grunted, and Junkrat turned to him, "What're you whinging about, Hog?! Can't ya see I'm---Oi! Who the hell are you?!" The deranged man either didn't notice the gun or didn't care, looking every bit the part of utterly offended that someone had the nerve to interrupt them. The larger man that served as his bodyguard however became tense at the firearm, a guttural snort.

Junkrat, however, found his statement absolutely hilarious, "Private property?! Since when?!" He let out a deranged giggle and looked around, "This place is a dump, ya drongo, 'bout as private as an outhouse with the door blown off, mate!" He reached to grab another explosive from his companion's arms, tossing it in a nearly threatening gesture, "oh noice and civil, he says." His voice was dripping with sarcasm and a barely contained laugh, this guy was a real riot, "how's about instead I blow this shit hole and you to kingdom come?" He quipped, just as much a threat as it was a suggestion, though he wasn't terribly fond of having a gun waved in his face, he knew he had more than enough firepower to at least make a clean getaway if he needed to.

Where his tone was light and playful in its deranged way before, his expression darkened a little at that little ghost of a threat, or that was how he took it, "you threatenin' me, mate? Because I think yer a little outmatched here." He snickered and his smile became wide, "You go ahead and shoot me, Old fella'." He cracked his neck and let out an unhinged giggle, "see where that gets you with, Hog here." The massive man beside him have a grunt, warning him to button his trap before he made things worse, "What?! This old drongo ain't gonna shoot me! He's all bark!" His tone was mocking, directed just as much at George as it was at his companion, who's massive hand had come to rest on the merciless hook, at the ready in case he needed it.

/Hehe, George you're out of your league, time to go to sleep old man/ Mused the voice inside his head, and George was about to disagree, this was well within his means. Two men, he could easily take them out with two clean shots right? Or maybe not, but he didn't get a chance to think about as his head started to go fuzzy. /Nighty night George, be back home before you know it.../ And externally the Old man seemed to wobble. Taking an uncertain step back, little currents of electricity made little scorches over his skin and ignited his shirt.

In the smoke he was momentarily obscured only to have it blown of by a crackling spit of burnt ozone. Old man Pickford had been replaced by a grinning half-naked fiend of a fellow. He raised a brow. "I think you'll find it's you who are out of your league, little fire starter," a new much richer voice chimed in. "Though I do like your idea, I had it myself. Old Georgey doesn't think it's a very good one..." He shrugged. Currents of electricity leaving a sort of lightning bolt along his chest. Burnt into the skin.

"But I can't let you blow him up, cause then where would I live?" He chuckled and looked to Roadhog a moment, then back to Junkrat, running his tongue along his teeth. "I do love the smell of burnt ozone. You wanna try me out boom boy?" Cheeky bugger, as he looked over the pistol, shrugging his shoulders. Really should have brought the hammer.

Taller, broader, madder and younger looking, Hephaestus certainly wasn't George. He chuckled before putting a hand over his mouth, oops probably should laugh at them, might make the big one angry. "I don't really like guns, not nearly as much fun as the hammer...but it'll have to do."

He'd seen a lot of things over his lifetime, good things, bad things, nightmarish things. It took a lot to legitimately surprise the former Junker beyond a sarcastic mocking of surprise, but he was certainly not expecting to see the scene that plastered a wide eyed expression on his face. When the old man made an unsteady motion backwards, he was ready to make a snide comment about it, but something was going funny about this guy.

The air seemed weirdly charged as he seemed to ignite from some unknown source, "Hog this ain't just me head goin' funny, right, mate?!" All he could get in reply was a agitated grunt, go figure. He gasped and shielded his face when the smoke that had all but engulfed the old man seemed to split into a burst of flame, and when it cleared there was something, or someone, standing in front of the pair that was certainly not an old man.

He felt personally offended, comical given the situation, when this...Whatever he was, decided to call him out of his league, "Oi you wanna make a bet on that, mate?!" He stood at his full height now, running his still-human arm over his nose and snuffing, "I've seen spiders back 'ome bigger'n'scarier then you, ya fancy candle stick!" He oofed when the bigger of the two roughly nudged him, another warning yo shut his mouth, but he was more interested in this bloke's agreement, clearly pleased that this guy seemed to get it.

Of course he didn't expect this...Whatever he was to actually help him, no of course not, that would be far to easy, "HA! A big bloke like you?! Pull the other one! You're the biggest bastard I've ever seen!" It was his own deranged compliment, and perhaps a rather cheeky attempt to get this guy on his own side, after all, he looked like he could cause some mayhem of his own.

He chuckled and his eyes took on that expression somewhere between a threat and maniacal glee, tossing and explosive in his hand and giggling, "Maybe, the question is do you wanna try me out, Candlestick?" He matched cheek with cheek, his face broken into a wide, unhinged grin. He was thoroughly glad that they'd stopped in this shit hole town, it was shaping up to be his favorite kind of day, though his companion seemed seething with barely contained rage as he watched closely, he didn't like this guy waving a gun in his charge's face, and Junkrat wasn't fond of it either, "C'mon, mate, we're all friends here, why don't ya put that away and gimme a hand?"

Seemed the atmosphere had responded to the rivulets of electricity that couldn't help but buzz around Hephaestus' skin. He tilted his head a moment considering Junkrat and his rather large compatriot. "How about we start like this instead? Names Hephaestus, I like to make Lightning bolts out of static," He mused the rather uncontrolled lazy shocks compounding on the pistol that was still held rather loosely in his hand. "You wanna see a trick, match stick?" He chuckled a bit.

He turned his arm out, and without really aiming fired a shot towards the explosive George had seen when in the alley way. The shot was loud and cracked like a thunder splitting the air. Rather than set off the bomb it sort of just disabled it. Shorting out the circuitry. "Isn't that a funny thing? No more boom. You'd think I'd cause trouble with this arm I've got, lucky me it's made just for my sort of talents." He shoved the loaded gun into his pants. Leaving the handle sticking out. "But hey, I wouldn't mind being friends, how about we shake on it? Like chaps?"

It's not generally advisable to touch Hephaestus, as he offered his hand all friendly like, unarmed to a point. He grinned. "Then maybe we can really make a big boom out of this hunk of wood in the middle of nowhere eh? No George, no guns, just folk and explosions." Maybe he was just crazy, or maybe this was part of a plan, he seemed sincere enough. Though that could just be dimwitted courage. Hard to tell the difference between coniving genius and over confident brute.

"Promise I won't break any more of your things, I like to save it for Omnics if I can." A crackle through his hair, maybe that's what kept it waving like that, static electricity.

He was no stranger to life or death situations, and despite the fact that the tense atmosphere has seemed to clear a bit, it still was very life or death. Junkrat was crazy, but he wasn't stupid, he didn't know a thing about this...Thing, what he was capable of, or how short his fuse really was. So for now, the former Junker would be on his best behavior, for the most part, anyway.

He gave a wide, toothy grin when the man introduced himself, "Hah, well, g'day then." He gave a loose salute that was a gesture more akin to swatting away flies, "Name's Junkrat, This here is Roadhog. Me bodyguard." He put emphasis on the last part, a promise and a threat, "ain't no one who can level a building quicker than me." He was clearly proud of this fact, fixing him with a wide grin, which quickly became a little displeased, match stick? These nicknames were getting old.

He didn't flinch when he flicked his arm out, nor from the ear splitting crack, it wasn't like his ears weren't already shot from too many times being way too close to his detonations. It wasn't the noise that rubbed him the wrong way, it was the tale tell sound of a circuit board fizzling out that did it, "Oi, mate, just who d'ye think you are messin' with my shit?!" He grunted as he pulled the thing off the wall, putting it to his ear before tossing it aside, "Tch. Okay that's a neat trick, ya drongo. But hands off my goods or I will blow you to kingdom come." He didn't like the fact that this guy could so easily disarm his explosives, and he was even less trustful of that outstretched hand, waving it away with a wide grin.

"I ain't shakin' yer hand mate, sorry. Yer buzzing with more static than a live wire in water. I ain't no dill." He crossed his arms instead, his posture for the moment was much more relaxed, more so than Roadhog's at any rate, "Sounds like my kinda party, mate. Plenty of fireworks." He was liking where this was going, though he was still a bit wary of the situation, mostly fed into by his partner's clearly tense stance, he was optimistic that he'd get his fireworks after all.

But Hephaestus' next words struck an especially choice cord in the man, "Now yer speakin' my language, mate! All they're good for is scrap metal!" There was a vehement tone in his voice and a deranged chuckle, his life had bee uprooted and turned upside down because of those damn omnics, and he could be considered one of the lucky ones, a touch of radiation induced madness was leaps and bounds better than what some ended up with. He gave the man a wide grin, an off-kilter look in his eyes, "Any man willing to lay waste to those scrap heaps is a friend to me."

Hephaestus chuckled, so the other guy was a maniac but not a dumb one. Well that changed some things, as cracked his fingers. He nodded thoughtfully about it, he stroked his beard setting it standing on edge. "Junkrat eh, well well, Roadhog, never heard more appropriate names in all my life, not that I hear much. George has to be the big man in control all the time. Big men are never really in control are they though really?" He flashed a grin, brow raised. Interesting pair he stepped forward a few and held his hands up.

"You're smarter than you look, I've got enough amps running through my body complete the circuit and your heart would stop, can't blame me for trying can ya?" he mused as he glanced from Hog to Rat, considering them a bit. "Never was much for the hero business, but they did let me go wild on the enemy can't be too choosy...who you fight for." He raised a brow at the pleasure the man seemed to derive from the idea of junking robots. Sounded good to him, if there was one purpose he was really designed for.

The ground was showing little burns from the electricity singing it. "I make a really good lightning rod you know, ahhh sounds like a good party to me as well. No one lets me blow anyone..anything up these days. Be a good boy they say, we'll get the team back together soon, they say, we'll save the world the say. Never was much for the world, don't know why I'd want to save it." He gave another laugh and shrugged. "Tired of being poked and prodded, asked about my feelings."

He nodded. "Omnics were all I was designed to destroy, every system needs a failsafe don't you think? Something to pull the plug." He rolled his neck, a satisfying pop sounding. "So, whadduya say? We light this place on fire, and you let George scoot on out of here in one piece? If I let George back out. I'm not really enjoying our dull drive through the country side. Not enough carnage."

Junkrat met his eyes to the other man's, challenging behind his off, unhinged expression. At the very least, the immediate danger seemed to have passed, and now this guy seemed less intent on slyly killing them, and more intent on talking, which suited Junkrat just fine, He could be a fighter if he needed to be, but he was at a marked disadvantage physically to this mountain of a man, "Ha! Couldn't agree with ya' more, heroes fall harder, an' make a more impressive sound." He cracked his neck as he said this, he'd had entirely enough of heros at this point, he would work for them if they paid him enough, but he wasn't cut out for that noble bullshit.

His expression was amused and he poked his tongue out, "Course I ain't no drongo, mate. I know when someone's trying t'kill me!" He imagined his death wasn't the full intent, more an idiot test so to speak, "I suppose I'll give ya one, it was a clever attempt. Might've fooled any other bloke." Lucky for him, he'd been electrocuted about as many times as he'd blown himself up. He fixed the man with a look that was beyond bitter, "I've had my taste of heroes, givin' my home to them souless junk piles." He didn't remember much about his life before the fusion core's detonation, but he did remember that. Being displaced left a sour taste in his mouth, "Too right, I'd fight for any side as long as they let me blow shit apart." He giggled at this, though some of his past dealings with so called 'good guys' had left him a bit bitter.

Junkrat looked around and clicked his tongue, laughing at this statement, "Ha, clearly yer a man after me own heart. What's the world done for me? Took me home, that's what. I'll return the favor ten fold. Blow the whole world sky high." He could see where the ground was becoming singed, impressed at the power that had to be coursing through this guy, though he kept that to himself largely, no need giving the bloke a big head.

The rat snickered at the terminology, "Pull the plug, ought to have done that ages ago. Before the damn things decided they deserved a say in the world." His eyes were bright with excitement as he thought over that offer, to be honest, he hadn't planned on blowing this George fellow to the sky, he would have been collateral, but this seemed much more fun, "Alright, you got yourself a deal, cobber." The behemoth beside him finally seemed to relax his stance, deciding to trust the situation for now, "Ha! Now there's a sentiment I can get behind, we were on our way to Hollywood to spread a little cheer of our own." He grinned wide, then looked curious, "So I got enough explosives here to give us quite a show, what can you do, sparky?" He was curious what kind of destruction this guy could rain down.

Hephaestus considered everything a moment, as he rolled his broad shoulders. He gave a bit of a grin, as he leaned back on his feet. "Like to meet someone who understands, the hero business wasn't for me. Course they call me crazy. Can you believe that? Crazy! Haha no no, it's the heroes that are crazy. Playing at being better than everyone else," he mused as he rolled his neck. "Last run in with a hero he tried to blow my head off, guess I wasn't exactly being a good boy."

He sighed as he put his hands on his hips, little sparks from the contact. Magnetized to him. Guy was picking up old screws and metal scrap on his feet, he shook one of them aggressively. They released after a moment. "Hmmm thanks, nice to be told you're smart once and a while. Guy could start to believe the scientists, and what do people in white coats know anyway? Just because they have a fancy title. Telling me I'm a mistake. What are they? Angels?" He huffed and shook his head with a sneer. "Any side? Why pick a side, both have nice things that would look better in pieces." /Son of a bitch/

"What was that George? You think we should show him what happens to an old dried out building when it's struck by lightning? I couldn't agree more, what a grand idea," he let his charge build up along his arm. "Now not quite as nice as being able to just set it up and go boom, but if I touch it. Well then we get thunder." He stepped over to one of the dusty old store fronts. Rolling his shoulder. "Normally I'd have the hammer for discharge, but George left it in the car. Stupid old man." He grinned and connected with the building, while wood was a good insulator generally, the charge over whelmed it and the power of the discharge blew apart the building like kindling, leaving unique charred mark on what wasn't burning outright. The flashy show was followed of course by thunder, as was the nature of light and sound.

Hephaestus gave a sigh. "That's better, nothing worse than building up a charge with no where to go. Starts leaking like a battery. Until, BAHBOOM...what do you think Junker?"

As a matter of fact, he could believe it, this guy had crazy written all over him, in his eyes and the way he spoke. Of course, this suited the former Junker quite nicely, as he had his own touch of madness, who was he to judge, right? He gave a little giggle, "Oh sure, you ain't crazy, mate. And my name's not Jamison." He waved a hand casually, "crazy ain't so bad, of course the good guys'll tell ya' different. Wont they?" He'd had his fair share of so-called heroes trying to put him down, end his reign of mayhem, what a bunch of party crashers. Annoying.

The little bits and bobs sticking to the man's feet didn't go unnoticed by him as he watched him attempt to shake them loose, "Ha! You ever get stuck to cars like that, mate?" His face was cheeky as he said that, his grin only widening at that statement, "White coats are just as bad as suits. Buncha' liars, every one of 'em!" He gestured to make finger guns at the man and cackled quite raucously, "Haha! You get it! The world is full of people and places that just need to be blown sky high!" He enjoyed this guy, a man after his own heart.

Junkrat's blood was really pumping when Heph suggested giving him a demonstration, forgetting in his excitement that he might need to move out of the way until his bodyguard yanked him out of the direct vicinity, "Now we're talkin', cobber! Lets blow this place!" He was giggling about as madly as a kid given free reign in a candy store, practically vibrating with unchecked energy as he watched the man directed the charge in his arm. His eyes were wide and a gleeful grin split his face as he watched him connect with the building, the resulting explosion stumbled him slightly, but the sound that followed was music to his ears.

When the display was done he hobbled over to his side to admire his handywork, it wasn't often that Junkrat was impressed, but right now he looked pretty damn enthralled, "ACE MATE! Oi, that was some impressive handywork!" He let out a fit of unhinged giggles, "Mate I know explosions and that was beauty!" He could tell by the lack of hostility coming from his companion that even the ever silent Roadhog was a little impressed.

Hephaestus flashed a toothy sort of grin. "Like that eh? Good, I have maybe two or three of those before I have to build the charge back up, lets make the most of it," he mused as he was already crackling with barely contained electricity. What a fascinating effect, did really explain why he burned out George so bad though. Using a human being as a supercharger really did a number on the circuitry. He glanced around. "So how about you show me a little of your mayhem then? Promise I won't try to stop you."

He looked at his feet. "Oh, yes, can hang upside down on a metal rafter if I have to, not sure the use in it but I stick to any sort of scrap," he mused. "And any little piece of scrap sticks to me." He shook his foot a bit more. "Oh well." He stepped a bit more towards Junkrat and his cohort. "Hollywood you say? Sort of where we're heading, well California anyway."

He stroked his beard. "If I could drive I'd offer you a ride..." Haha, no one in their right mind would let him drive anywhere.

Junkrat returned his grin, the scrappy young man understood that, for sure, "Hehe, I understand that, I'm packing a lot of explosives, but it ain't infinite. Eventually we gotta lay low so I can build more. Bit like recharging, eh mate?" Luckily, he'd become so quick handed when it came to building those things, it was almost as second nature to him as breathing.

His eyes lit up with a different kind of madness when he was given permission to show off his own skills, "HA! Now yer talkin'!" He waved his large partner in crime over, who was still carrying an armful, "Ya' learn a thing or two surviving in an irradiated scrapheap of a home, these little stickies pack enough whallop to open a reinforced safe door. They'll make mince of these dusty old buildings." He spoke as he methodically affixed the explosives to the walls of the old shop he'd already been working on, connecting them along with wires.

He looked over at him and snickered, "Bit like a bat, could be a handy way t'get the drop on someone, eh?" He snickered, "good thing we didn't shake hands then, eh? Mighta' been dead AND stuck t'yer hand." The being dead part wasn't as funny as the being stuck to his hand part, that was assuming he shook his hand with his scrap arm.

He stepped back to Heph's side when he felt satisfied with his placement, "yeah, Hog 'n me figure we can go shake things up a bit for the nice folk who live there!" He looked over at the behemoth of a man and smirked, "HA! I get it, Hog wont let me drive either, friendly offer for y'to make though, mate!" He grinned wide as he held the detonator in his hand, "but lets shake things up here first." He giggled fiendishly as he pressed the button, and the resulting explosion sent debris flying everywhere with a ground shaking BOOM, the deranged man leapt in the air with a giddy cackle, "BONZER! That was a good one, mate! Did you see how far that debris flew?! HA!" He was shaking with barely contained excitement now, buzzing with energy.