What a Lil' Prank Led To

Chapter 1: A Little Accident

Scout looked up from his bed, bouncing a baseball towards the wall, catching it as it plummeted back to him. Today was boring so far. Sniper was finding some sort of contract, Engineer and Pyro were busy testing something out with all the others, and spy... Yeah, he's probably in his room smoking. Scout scoffed, thinking about his father. Man, that guy's freakin' annoying!

Standing up, Scout decided not to be a lazybones today; be more like his usual, energy-filled self. Placing his baseball on his desk gingerly, Scout slipped his sneakers on before shutting the door behind him. The halls were oddly empty, due to Engineer's new invention attracting most of the mercenaries. It was oddly silent, the place devoid of the usual mess and shouting.

"What's so interesting about another one of Hardhat's buildings?" He mumbled to himself as he walked along, his eyes meeting with Heavy sitting on the couch. "Oh, hey Heavy. Whatcha doin' here? Ain't Hardhat buildin' sumn?" Heavy nodded, looking to his side. "Yes! Engineer is building something interesting. Doktor is there too!"

Huh? Interesting, what could it be that the Engineer was building? "Oh? Cool, I'll check it out! Thanks man!" Flashing a bright smile to Heavy, he waved goodbye, darting into the halls once more.

Now this was really piquing Scout's curiosity. What could it be?

As Scout began to hear the commotion, he heard some familiar voices. "Hey, everyone! I'm here!" He grinned, elbow on the wall. Seeing Engineer hold some kind of invention, Scout tilted his head. "Hey Hardhat, wuzzat thing?"

The Engineer looked over to Scout, greeting him before responding. "Howdy, son. This here... is a new invention of mine." He glanced over to Pyro, sitting in excitement. "It's a sweet little Cupid's Bow." All the mercs except a few grinned like little girls, examining the little bow in the Texan's hands. If this thing actually, really worked... There are endless freakin' possibilities! Holy crap!

"Yo, what?! Are ya serious?" Scout smiled brightly, thinking of who he wanted to shoot with it. Definitely Miss Pauling. The boy thought, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "Now, I haven't really tried this thing out yet. I ain't exactly sure if it's gonna work... But I've got 11 PhDs. I'm almost always right."

Medic nodded, patting the small crossbow with a mischievous grin on his face. "I helped out. This thing contains a lot of... Oh well, it's not important. It will make the victim fall in love instantly!" The man cackled shortly. "Now... Would anyone like to try this invention?"

Scout raised his hand almost instantly, almost grabbing the invention from Engineer's hands. "Me! C'mon, gimme!" His voice was excited, like a small child provided with ice cream. It was silly, but Scout was too excited to care about what the others thought about him.

"Alright then, pardner. Here ya go. If it works, make sure to let me n' doc know, alright?" The man grinned, handing Scout the crossbow. After taking a closer look at it, it seemed to be decorated with rhinestones and pink glitter. Mumbles definitely designed this thing, Scout thought. The glittery and colourful appearance gave it away.

Running off to Miss Pauling's office, the boy was greeted by none other than Sniper. "Oh, heya Snipes. Whatcha doin' here?" Scout asked, crossbow in his hands. Sniper eyed the thing weirdly as if to show he disliked its outlandish appearance. "...Heading over to Miss Pauling. What's that thing?"

"Engie's newest invention! A Cupid's Bow, according to him, heheh~" Sniper nodded but dismissed Scout. Seems like he wasn't exactly interested in it. "Well, you best not shoot any of the mercs with that." Sniper scoffed, his tone teasing and playful.

"Yeah, yeah. You don't gotta worry about that. I ain't gonna use it on them. Besides, they wouldn't wanna get shot with a pink thing like this." Scout chuckled, holding it tightly. Even the arrow was an ugly shade of hot pink. "Whatcha gonna do with Miss Pauling? I was heading there too."