You know, things had been kinda heavy for Oscar for the past few months. The rocket sub was invaded by the world's most aggressive robot, his relationship with Billi was up and down, and that rocket meeting really turned some drama up to eleven. He needed a break, which is why when his good friend skyler dross invited him to go out he would accept without hesitation.

It had been a while since he and the good captain went all out. Sure it usually ended with horrible unpredictable consequences, but that was usually part of the fun! Wearing a casual getup for bar hopping, Oscar approached the Lilycove docks with some pep in his step. Yet as he approached Skyler's boat, something seemed off. Other sailors seemed on edge, walking in the opposite direction in a hurry. Did she start early and start throwing things again?

As he got closer, he soon caught her voice on the wind. A staggered curse that sounded as though she were struggling. Oscar broke into a sprint, running across the dock all the way to her boat. As he clambered up the boat ramp, he would stop dead in his tracks as the full scene came into view. Toddlers had staged a mutiny on the ship! A collection of baby pokemon were running wild, and while they all seemed pretty savage already they somehow became more riled up with Oscar's breathless approach.

Oscar looked to the ragged Skyler, the dots connecting in his mind one by one. He groaned, being unable to believe that he had been roped into baby sitting duty. His first instinct was to run, but as he looked into Skyler's desperate eyes--well how could he possibly say no? Oscar stepped onto the ship, clapping his hands together roughly, "Alright runts, line up!" 

They did not line up. The smeargle in fact splashed some paint toward him, covering Oscar in color. He felt foolish for thinking that would work. Oscar looked to Skyler, "Find cover!"

Captain Skyler Dross did not, in fact, take cover. There was little to no cover to be had in the deck of the ship; the door to the cabin having been locked up along with the door to the bridge. The toddlers were a bundle of chaotic energy that left nothing but destruction in their wake, and Skyler shuddered to think of what they could do should they be given access to her apartment. Or where the navigational controls were.

So, at the cost of her own safety, Skyler had elected to keep the little terrors limited to the deck. Of course, now she'd condemned Oscar to the same fate but - maybe? - he'd find it in himself to forgive her? Could it possibly be more chaotic than trotting along on top of a drunk Girafarig, really?

It was as if the world had read her thoughts and wanted to prove her wrong.

The Tyrunt huffed in annoyance and Skyler could see the exact moment when she knew she should've let go of the rope. But if Skyler was anything, it was stubborn. So when the tiny t-rex gave a mighty tug on the rope, the captain also kept her grip on it.

And was sent flying through the air, dignity all but forgotten when her bottom landed on the wooden floor of the deck with a 'thump' - while Tyrunt happily chewed and ate the rest of the rope. 

"Oscar, run for your life!" She was only half joking.

To add to the indignity, Smeargle thought it a good time to smear his tail over Skyler's face, giving her the strangest (and neon) KISS-inspired makeup. Judging his work acceptable, he jumped away to continue his... dick? Who knew, really. 

But Oscar, despite his attempts at taking cover, would find one set of eyes focused on him. The face of his doom was pink, cute and absolutely adorable. If not for the dark, cold, dead eyes that stared unblinkingly, the Happiny that waddled up to him would make for a hilarious figure. Instead, when the light hit the tiny (and very sharp) blade in her possession, it came off as bizarrely menacing.

It almost seemed as if the Happiny grew a few inches, positing her sword in an 'en garde!' position in front of Oscar.

oscar clayton

mission

Skyler didn't have to tell Oscar twice. He jumped his way onto the deck, looking for a strategic place to operate this Baby War. Alas, hiding places were scarce and the toddlers knew this. Their anarchy was patterned specifically so that if the adults decided to confront them--it would have to be directly. As Oscar turned, he found one babe that knew exactly how much power it had over its caretakers.

The happiny's gaze locked with Oscar's, the two staring each other down tensely. Oscar took a step back, a bead of sweat rolling down his head. He knew what must happen, but fuck the thought of it scared him. The happiny charged, holding its knife out with homicidal glee. Oscar stood still, quivering eyes locked onto his charging assailant. Just as the pink menace came close enough to swipe, Oscar made his move.

It was over in a second. Oscar had grabbed the knife and the toddler with separate hands, pulling them apart easily. Oscar chucked the knife overboard before stuffing the happiny under his armpit. Realizing that it had been defeated, the adorable pink princess began to sniggle and cry. It would receive no sympathy from Oscar, for he knew its true nature. 

Oscar held it tied as the crying baby wiggled, "I got this one, we need a place to put it!"

skyler dross

Captain Dross jumped into action at Oscar's shouted statement, rising from her prone position to survey the sorry state of the deck. Smeargle's cyan paint, she knew from experience, would be a pain to clean - both from the ship and from her face.

Her gaze shifted to the brig, where she kept the pokeballs neatly locked. Except that her keys had been taken from her and hidden somewhere. Another solution would have to be found.

A length of rope caught her attention, narrowed silver eyes following its length to a feasting Tyrunt. She knew that getting the rope away would be useless and would most likely send her flying yet again. But there was a strategy she hadn't yet tried - one which had proved tried and true before. She tugged on the length of rope, and when the Tyrunt turned to her with dark intent in his eyes, Skyler dropped the bomb.

"I'll tell Ata. And Ankaa will be very disappointed."

The rope immediately slackened, the thought of his two moms bearing down on him for misbehaving apparently proving enough to stop his rampage on the length of rope. The captain immediately took the rope for her own and signalled to Oscar. "Oscar, bring her 'ere! We're tying up the miscreants! Get the Smeargle!"

She'd barely ended her sentence before finding a foothold on a rope ladder, hoisting herself up with the practised ease of someone who'd done this a thousand times before. A reaching hand found the shiny Eevee, his tiny teeth clamped on the furled sail, and tugged him free. A whiny growl immediately assaulted her ears, causing the captain to grimace - and then hiss in pain when sharp fangs sank into her arm.

"You fu- I'm going to clean the deck with you!"

Should Oscar be able to return with the other two babies, Skyler would have the rope ready.

oscar clayton

mission

"Right uh, where did it--"

As Skyler went off to capture the eevee, Oscar looked around for the smeargle. You would think it would be easier to track down with all the paint it was leaving behind. All the while, the happiny under his arm squirmed and wailed as it tried to escape. Every few seconds Oscar had to adjust it so he wouldn't let the damn thing go by accident. 

Suddenly a shadow loomed over Oscar, and he whirled around to be met with an ambush. The smeargle had gotten up onto the rope ladder and jumped off just in time for Oscar to meet its cruel gaze. The demented artist knocked him over, consequently sending the happiny flying out from his grip. The egg wielding baby immediately lost her crocodile tears, chuckling evilly as she scurried off to hide.

The smeargle tried to run off as well, but Oscar wasn't gonna let it get away that easily. He grabbed it by the tail, pulling it to him as he got to his feet. "You like painting others huh? Let's see how you like this!" Oscar bopped the smeargle all over its face with its own paintbrush, coloring it bright cyan as it wiggled in ticklish dismay. When he felt satisfied, Oscar wrapped the tail around the smeargle, tying it up with its own appendage. 

Oscar placed the struggling brat near the ladder, giving the tail one more tug to make sure it couldn't escape. He then left to follow the happiny, scared for his life as he wondered what horrors she had in store for him.

skyler dross

Captain Dross wasn't taking any chances. Once Oscar has secured Smeargle with its own tail, cyan paint dripping from its snout (hah, not so funny now, was it?), Skyler did the same with both the Tyrunt and the Eevee. Ignoring the most adorable puppy eyes ever sent her way, the captain used the length of rope to tie the two miscreants to the mast.

"You're staying there. There'll be no mutiny aboard my ship." Her tone was perhaps more serious than the situation warranted for, but this was her ship and not even adorable babies were exempt from punishment should they break the rules.

At least, Skyler thought, she wasn't kicking them overboard. Though it was still a possibility, given that there still was one baby missing - and she was the worst of them all.

"Any luck, Oscar?" Stepping from behind the pale haired man, Skyler would quickly do a sweep of the area with narrowed silver eyes. Last she'd seen, Oscar had been holding the pink monstrosity under one arm. "Did you happen to see wh-" Her sentence was cut off abruptly when she noticed with quickly growing alarm that the door to the brig was hanging open.

It shouldn't be possible. Captain Dross had made sure to lock it. 

"Don't look her in the eyes," was all she told Oscar, tilting her head to the open door and approaching on careful steps. A pokeball materialized in her hands, revealing a blue Gallade. "Guinevere?"

The Happiny shouldn't have been able to reach the navigational controls, much less climb up on top of them - but Skyler knew not to be surprised when Guinevere blinked up at her with dark, soulless eyes. Her stubby paws had been in the process of reaching for a button.

The anchor. Well. Shit.

"Time to take a nap, baby-" One step into the room was all it took. Tiny eyes gleamed evilly just as a button was pressed down and the clinking of heavy metal chains echoed in the nearby docks.

"You little shit, c'mere!" 

The Happiny giggled maliciously and jumped away from the controls, closely followed by an enraged Skyler.

oscar clayton

mission

As Skyler noticed the open brig, Oscar was busy looking in the opposite direction. He did not believe the happiny was capable of opening doors, so he never thought for a second that she would go near the brig. Yet as Skyler caught his attention, Oscar would look over and suddenly feel his stomach churn like a tornado. 

"Mother fucker.." Was all he could manage as he gazed slack jawed at the open door. You know what kind of baby could pull that off? A very evil one. Oscar followed Skyler and her gallade to the door, stopping at the frame while she kept moving forward. He figured it would be the most strategic place should the anti-christ somehow make it past Skyler.

Moments later there was a loud crashing sound, nearly sending Oscar's soul into orbit. He was so spooked that he nearly missed the little bastard as she tried to make a getaway. Not this time fuck-head.

Oscar ignored Skyler's instructions, looking the creature directly in the eyes as she charged. The beast approached, smiling deviously as it tried to find a way to get past Oscar's defenses. What she likely didn't expect was for Oscar to bend down and scream like a berserk warrior. The happiny was startled, tripping over itself and rolling to a stop at Oscar's feet. Oscar quickly snatched it up, rolling his eyes as it began to sniffle. 

"Spare me the waterworks, we all know you deserved a good scare." Yet as the babe began to cry, Oscar's bleeding heart got the better of him. He groaned loudly, walking out onto the deck while holding the happiny in a cradle. As he rocked his arms back and forth, the frightened imp would begin to calm down and slowly fall into a deep sleep.

Oscar walked to the other roped up deviants, surprised to find them also sleeping. Darn things wore themselves out. Just to be safe Oscar tied the happiny with the rest before turning to find Skyler. "The menaces are secure!" he declared once he found her. "There was a crashing sound, what did the happiny do?"

skyler dross

Captain Dross would pop out of the brig with her chaotic mess of blond hair looking like it wanted to poke someone's eyes out. Rattled and exasperated, the short staccato of her steps would precede her appearance behind Oscar, looking over his shoulders at the sleeping toddlers devils. "I'm never having kids," she announced matter-of-factly, fingers twitching at her side where her flask would usually be - before it'd been stolen. Who knew where it was now. Probably down with the fishes.

Shit, she needed a drink.

"Guinevere? She pulled up the anchor. Nearly got the thing stuck in another boat." Her voice descended into a furious whisper at the end, the object of her fury napping angelically by the mast, unaware of the venomous glare being sent her way.

A couple of seconds and a deep breath later, Skyler continued. "Anyway, I think we've earned ourselves some drinks. Thanks for the save, Oscar. I'll get the tab tonight. Actually..." A hand slammed down on Oscar's shoulder, quickly accompanied by a lopsided grin, its curve more tired than one would expect of the captain.

Toddlers, her nemesis. Who would've thought?

"... I have this expensive as fuck whiskey down in my apartment. Can't remember where I got it." She'd actually won it in a game of chance, but she'd been too drunk then to even bother remembering. "But it should be good. That's how those things go, innit?" 

There was no hint of hesitation as Skyler all but herded Oscar down the steps to her humble abode within the ship, unaware or uncaring of the trust implied in the gesture. This was Oscar, after all. "Make yourself comfortable, I have enough booze to get three Wailords drunk." It somehow sounded less like boasting and more like a promise.

When the ship captain reappeared from behind the kitchen door, she was holding enough bottles to make any bartender envious. And a bucket of popcorn too, for some strange reason. 

Silver eyes gleamed with devious intent, teeth flashing out from behind her lips as she waved the bottles in her hands - challenging. "You in?"

oscar clayton

mission

Oscar shuddered at the thought of the anchor causing property damage. Luckily that wouldn't concern them, the crisis was averted leaving the night open to festivities. Oscar let out a heavy sigh of relief, satisfied in his efforts. After all, he didn't expect to use any effort at all!

Skyler's suggestion to cover his tab brightened Oscar right up. At the very least he was glad that their plans were still on, he was really looking forward to it. Especially after this misadventure of theirs.

Yet Skyler would offer up another idea, to drink expensive whiskey at her apartment. Oscar had to admit that the offer intrigued him, he always wondered what Skyler's home looked like. He imagined something out of a pirate movie, with maps and treasure strewn about. Before he could answer though, Skyler was pushing him toward the stairs.

"Alright alright no need to push geez."

He was briefly worried for the napping toddlers, but he assumed her gallade would have things under control from here. Down below he had to admit that her apartment was--nicer than he had expected. Just very comfy, gave him an odd cozy feeling. As the captain came around with refreshments, Oscar looked to her with a bit of surprise. The expression quickly faded though, replaced with a wide grin.

"How could I refuse?"

skyler dross