The Sound of Silence
For the Piltover Police Force, the past few weeks had been rather quiet. Perhaps too quiet, Caitlyn thought as she sat in her office, flipping through her diary to check if anything was actually scheduled to happen for the next century. On any given day, there would be a string of crimes committed across the city for her and her fellow detectives to solve, but as of yet, this day in particular had served up nothing that required her expertise. A couple of petty robberies, a tavern brawl or two maybe, but those could just be handled by a handful of officers and a little bit of Heimerdinger's hextech machinery. Once upon a time, Caitlyn would have single-handedly defended the city herself, but now she was older and wiser, knowing she was better off selecting only the cases that would require her expertise and marksmanship to apprehend the suspect. All those little grunts running around in their blue uniforms with their standard-issue Piltover stun-guns were no match for some of the brutes she'd taken down. But one case in particular had been ongoing for a long, long time…
Where could that little brat have got to? Caitlyn wondered. That brat, of course, was the most prolific criminal that the streets of Piltover had ever known, that slippery little waif the people had taken to calling 'Jinx'. Her face was plastered all over the city on peeling and fading posters, many of which had at some point or another been vandalised by the suspect in question, childish insults daubed in pink paint across her own visage. It was hardly uncommon to be patrolling the streets on any given day and see 'Hat Lady smells' or 'How are you gonna catch me with those fat hands?' on the walls. Nothing was more infuriating than being outwitted by someone so childish, even more so now that the trail had gone completely cold.
It had been four weeks since Ezreal's house had been blown to smithereens, the last crime on record that could be definitively ascribed to the pigtailed portent of doom. The damage was going to cost the city council upwards of millions to fix with the amount of priceless artefacts that had gone up in flames and smoke, but with Ezreal being a legendary hero and all, they were willing to do whatever it took to appease him. If only they could've spent some of that renovating the police station and replacing some of the awful décor that had somehow lasted fifteen years without someone realising how ugly it was and incinerating it. But no, the hero in name only had to come before the real saviour of Piltover. Typical government corruption. Caitlyn could not have cared less about the reparations Ezreal was set to receive, though, because while carrying out her investigation of the crime scene, she had come across a discarded weapon that unmistakeably belonged to Jinx. The shark bazooka that now sat in the evidence locker had lain among the debris, and there was no way it was getting back into her hands. Not unless she fancied taking on the entire police force to get it back and could somehow break into a blast-proof vault.
How curious it was, though, that she might abandon one of her weapons like that. Caitlyn was sure that Jinx had a thousand other weapons hidden away somewhere, though she dared not imagine where. Was it some sort of hidden lair, deep within the bowels of the city? Had she procured an abandoned warehouse and repurposed it as her hub of mischief and misery? Caitlyn could not say with any conviction, and that was what had angered her so much for years. How could she, the greatest crime-buster Piltover had ever known, been unable to eliminate the ever-present threat of Jinx? How was it that so many others had been easy targets, yet the Sheriff of Piltover had hardly ever even managed to lock her sights on this one? Everything about Jinx defied logic, and that's why it was so annoying. Just as an answer looked close, the little bitch appeared to have vanished entirely. There hadn't been a bombing in weeks. Nobody had suddenly exploded while walking down the street since five Tuesdays ago when Mrs O'Hara who lived a few blocks away fell victim to a particularly nasty case of what locals called 'The Chompers', a savage sort of improvised explosive that would latch onto their victim's leg and pin them in place before detonating. A thoroughly nasty way to go, but one that none had suffered since that fateful night when Ezreal lost everything.
Caitlyn was thinking quite hard about these matters when she was interrupted by the rapping of knuckles on the translucent glass of her office door. At last, something to occupy me from myself, thought Caitlyn, although it must be said, I am excellent company.
"Hey, Cupcake, you in there?" an aggressive voice hollered. There was no mistaking who was waiting outside her office. Nobody but Vi was allowed to call her 'Cupcake'. The last fellow who'd dared do that had soon found himself with a nice little hole between the eyes for his troubles, and so would the next. Vi, though, she was a special case. There were rumours all over the place about what those two were getting up to together, and people especially wondered what role those massive gloves Vi always wore played in proceedings, but neither of them were ever going to answer those publicly. What they got up to in private stayed behind closed doors. Right now, though, the door needed to open or it was at risk of being smashed off its hinges.
"I am," Caitlyn replied as she rose from her chair and reached across her desk for the ornate tea set she had set aside specifically in case Vi showed up. Thankfully she'd brewed up a fresh batch not long ago so it was at just the right temperature as her partner in crime-fighting threw the door open. The gloves were off, although Caitlyn knew that from the way that Vi's knocking hadn't pulverised the glass already. Somehow, it was always surprising how much smaller and slighter the iron-fisted enforcer was without her armour and augmentations. Instead, she wore a simple blue jacket over a white button-down blouse, with blue stone-washed denim jeans and an uncharacteristically smart pair of black brogues. It appeared her fashion sense was finally starting to evolve past the garishness of Zaun. Her off-duty gear in the old days had been so unbearable to look at, but now she could almost pass herself off as a functioning human being.
"I must say, I'm surprised to see you here," Caitlyn remarked as Vi pulled back the chair opposite her, making a horrible scraping noise in the process. "I'd have thought you'd be out in the thick of it, roughing up a few of your former friends." Vi shot her a disapproving glance after that comment. It still touched a nerve bringing up her past that she no longer remembered, especially since her origins lay in Piltover's bitter rival of a city, Zaun. The two had been working together long enough, though, that both of them would have known Caitlyn did not mean to be genuinely disparaging. It was merely a joke, a bit of what the lads in uniform called 'workplace banter', an ugly term that she wasn't fond of using but had no better alternative for.
"Naw, it just ain't the same out there without you by my side," Vi replied as she seated herself before reclining and putting her feet up on the table. Caitlyn was relieved to see there was no dog mess on the bottom of the pink-haired ruffian's soles this time. Ignoring the tea, Vi reached into her jacket pocket, retrieving a squashed packet of cigarettes and a cheap plastic lighter. Caitlyn's first instinct was to open a window, but for some reason, today she felt like making an exception. Ironic that the times when the streets were quietest were the ones that made her least content. Some of it was in the thrill of the chase, she supposed, the high of catching a menace to society and serving up sweet justice. Without that, what was the point? How was she supposed to fill her days? Well, there were several she could think of, but for now those would have to wait…
"How touching," Caitlyn said as her partner stuck one of the cigarettes in the corner of her mouth and flicked the lighter on. "Back in the day you would have chased down even the pettiest of criminals without a second thought. I'm sure the chaps at the hospital miss those days."
"Yeah, well, things change," Vi said, lighting the end of the cigarette. "Man, how I've needed one o' these…"
"Did you really wait until coming into my office to start smoking?" Caitlyn asked, slightly annoyed at Vi's lack of consideration for her wish to keep the air in her office somewhat cleaner than the rest of the city. "I'm not saying stop. Just don't leave the ashes on the floor this time."
"Sure thing, Cupcake," Vi said before breathing deeply, taking a large drag of her cigarette before flicking the ash into her cup of tea. Why do I even bother? Caitlyn thought, unappreciative of Vi's slovenly habits. Well, when you grow up in a place like Zaun, I suppose manners are rather low on the list of priorities. "Just for you."
"How kind," said Caitlyn as her eyes scanned the desk, looking for something that could serve as an ashtray. Alas, there wasn't really anything within arm's reach that would do well apart from the saucers. Either way she was going to be washing up after this. "So, what actually brings you here besides invading my personal space?"
"Oh, y'know, boredom," Vi said, shrugging her shoulders. "That, and well… things just haven't felt right the past few weeks. You know what I'm talkin' about, right?"
"Are you referring to the lack of a certain Little Miss Jinx in the area?" Caitlyn asked, well aware of the rivalry between the two of them. It was clear that somewhere within their pasts, the two had some sort of connection, but nobody knew much more than that due to the inconvenient memory loss of Vi and the outright insanity of Jinx meaning it was impossible to actually trust anything she said. "I think everyone in the whole bloody city's noticed that. And no doubt a very high percentage of them are relieved."
"Yeah, I ain't sayin' I wanna see people's lives get wrecked or anythin'," Vi said before taking another drag. "But ever since we found that big gun of hers lyin' around, I've just not been able to shake the feelin' that something's up. When I start smoking twenty a day, that's when I know shit's starting to hit the fan."
"I can't deny there's something very odd about it," Caitlyn concurred. "We find one of her weapons on the scene, then suddenly it appears that her reign of destruction over Piltover has ended almost as suddenly as it started. That can't be a coincidence." Jinx was finally gone, but why didn't it feel like a relief, like a weight off their shoulders? Any other time a criminal of such notoriety vanished off the map, there would be raucous celebrations, and Caitlyn might actually stop being so uptight for once, but this felt different. She wasn't quite sure if it was due to not having put a stop to it herself or something deeper, but something about Jinx's disappearance did not bode well.
"You think someone else got to her before us, maybe?" asked Vi, sitting back contemplatively while extending her right arm to tip yet more ashes into her tea. Caitlyn definitely didn't feel like drinking her own cup now. "Some vigilante thinking they can play hero and take the glory by offing her first or somethin'? Maybe Jayce goin' rogue and figuring he's got the better of us?"
"If he's in any way involved with this, then he's certainly keeping his lips firmly sealed," Caitlyn replied sternly. The Hero of Piltover was well-known (and loved) by all within the force, although he much preferred to go it alone without being affiliated with the police in any manner. Sometimes, as the outspoken fellow that he was, he even commented that he was the only justice Piltover could count on, but just as many times he had praised the brilliant duo of Caitlyn and Vi for their astounding work to keep the streets of Piltover clean. Would it really be such a good idea for him to go behind their backs and eliminate their most sought-after target by far? And if it truly was him, he wouldn't have left her weapon behind, would he? The man was famously a bit of a tinkerer, and probably one of the most brilliant human scientists the city had to offer, although even he would admit his work was not even close to matching the prowess of the Yordle Academy's alumni. Surely in the interest of his craft, the gun would have been at least of some interest to him.
"Well, if it ain't him, I'm outta ideas," Vi said. "Ezreal didn't get back til a week after the event, so he's outta the question. Do the Yordles know anything?" Caitlyn would often liaison with the furry little creatures in her pursuit of the more insidious and technologically-advanced criminals, just in case one of their own kind had gone mad, and also because they made the most delicious cupcakes. A pile of them sat to her right, but with Vi's feet in front of her face and the smoke spiralling around her, Caitlyn's appetite was near enough non-existent.
"Not that I'm aware of," she answered after a brief delay. She'd actually spent several days touring the Yordle Academy campus in the immediate aftermath of what was now colloquially known as 'The Event' gathering information from students and professors alike, since in all likelihood they would all have been awake at the time. Laziness was a quality that Yordles lacked, which made them excellent at whatever they put their minds to, and was surely why their cakes were so good too. "Even Ziggs had nothing to say on the matter and he's had several close calls with Jinx in the past." The so-called 'Hexplosives Expert' was an honorary dean at the Academy and one of the few denizens of Piltover that Jinx did not wish to destroy, merely hug and accidentally squeeze the life out of. Some believed this was the sole reason he invented the Satchel Charge, so that if he ever saw Jinx coming he could put a fair bit of distance between the two of them with a well-timed explosion.
"You woulda thought at least he might know where she is, if only cos he's gotta watch out for her twenty-four seven," Vi replied, taking one last monstrous drag from her cigarette before stubbing it out on the rim of her saucer. "Boy, did I need that…"
"Frankly, the only possible conclusion to arrive at is that Jinx has left the city," said Caitlyn. Would she ever do that? Where else was there that would even have her? Zaun?
"Maybe she got so bored of this place she just up and left it entirely," Vi said. "Can't say I blame her. The night-life here is pretty shitty, not gonna lie. And I should know, I've been on both sides of it." Although she'd known the criminal underbelly of Piltover long before switching her allegiance to the police, her experiences on both sides of the law didn't differ too much, as both had mainly comprised of punching various people in the face with her heavy metal fists.
"She certainly doesn't seem the type who'd settle in one place for long," Caitlyn said, nodding in agreement before brushing aside a length of her cascading purple hair with her hand, as it was rather getting in her way and distracting her from proceedings. "But we haven't heard of any sightings of her anywhere. The whole of Runeterra should be able to identify that face by now, and yet we've heard nothing. How is that possible?"
"Well, if she's crawled back to Zaun, they're hardly gonna let us know, are they?" Vi asked. Of course their biggest rivals would never divulge such information. That would be like Noxus and Demacia negotiating with one another in a peaceful manner. It just wasn't possible. If anywhere was a good place to start looking, it would be Zaun, but if she really was there then she was their problem now. Anyone from Piltover, especially a member of the police, would have to be insane to set foot inside Zaun. It was certainly the sort of city that might let such mischief go unchecked.
"I suppose," Caitlyn said with a sigh. "If she really did go back to Zaun, though, why did she leave that wretched bazooka behind?" When the two had been scouring the scene together, Caitlyn had attempted to pick the heavy artillery up but failed to even pull it a few inches off the ground. Meanwhile Vi, with the help of her augmented suit, had been able to heft several piles of rubble and had absolutely no trouble carrying the weapon back to the police station. "I don't think in all the times I've seen her she's ever been without that thing."
"Well, you've only ever seen her through the barrel of your gun, Cupcake," Vi replied. "I've been up close and personal, and… well, now that you mention it, yeah, she really did like carrying that thing around. Surprised she could carry the damn thing being so scrawny." That was one thing Vi was definitely not jealous of Jinx for, her flat-as-a-board physique. As far as Vi was concerned, Jinx was no woman, just a crazy little girl playing in the world's biggest playground, and sometimes it felt like she was the exasperated mother chasing her daughter around after a few too many Yordle cupcakes. If Vi had ever got her huge hands on Jinx, the girl would've snapped in half like a twig, but Jinx had an uncanny knack for being able to slip away down the smallest of alcoves, darting out of sight in a millisecond and leaving Vi no choice but to punch her way through walls in her pursuits, which ultimately slowed her down and led to Piltover's most wanted criminal invariably escaping.
"It's certainly an interesting little conundrum," Caitlyn agreed.
"What, how she carried that gun?" asked Vi.
"Not that," Caitlyn said, resting one of her hands atop her diary and drumming her fingers. "I meant why she didn't take that particular gun with her if it meant so much to her."
"Eh, beats me," Vi said, shrugging her shoulders before reaching for another cigarette. "You really think it's that big a deal? She coulda just got herself another one or somethin', right?"
"We can't rule out that possibility, no," Caitlyn said. "It just seems so unlike her to just cast away one of her weapons like that. Perhaps it was meant to communicate to us that she's decided to leave part of herself behind for us to treasure while she explores pastures new." Why am I even theorising what's going on in that nutter's head? Caitlyn mused. It'd take one seriously patient shrink to get inside that thick skull of hers.
"Nah, too subtle," Vi remarked, dismissive of the communication theory. "Come on, Cupcake, you really think she'd just leave a thing behind for us to figure out? That's not her style! She'd be all up in our faces like 'screw you losers, I'm outta here! Wheeeeeee!'"
"'Wheeeeeeee?' Where does that come into it?" asked Caitlyn, slightly perplexed by the pink-haired pugilist's current train of thought.
"That's her blasting off, never to be seen again," said Vi, shaking her head and putting her hand up in front of her in a 'stop' motion. "Forget it, Cupcake. Gee, and I'm supposed to be the one with no imagination here."
"I guess there's more to you than punching after all," Caitlyn quipped, smiling. As much as Vi was her absolute polar opposite, she was still enjoyable to be around. If she wasn't, then she wouldn't have lasted five minutes, let alone the several years they'd been partners for.
"I punch, I smoke, I drink, I gamble, I cheat and lie," Vi said, listing off all of her most charming qualities. "And that's me on a good day."
"I daren't imagine what a bad day with you would be like," Caitlyn said. "I suppose many of your other extracurricular activities would be replaced with more punching…"
"Darn right, sister!" Vi answered. Sister. That word reminded her of something Jinx often said. 'You think I'm crazy? You should see my sister!' Nobody had ever met this relative of hers, or had even the faintest idea if she even existed. Again, Vi found herself wondering where the menace of Piltover was right now. What was she doing? The partners sat in silence for a short while as Vi smoked more cigarettes and Caitlyn contemplated whether eating a cupcake would be considered rude or not, before deciding to forget about social conventions and eat one anyway. How much time had passed, neither could say, as Caitlyn's clock was broken. For some reason she'd just never got around to fixing it and it had stayed at quarter past ten for the past six months.
"Never thought I'd say this, but I kinda miss her in a way," Vi said eventually. "It's like, yeah, she was kinda crazy and delusional and destructive and caused us a hell of a lot of trouble, but that stuff really kept us on our toes. We were never short of stuff to do. There was no time to get bored with her around, whereas now, we're just sat here in your office, talking about stuff. Like, we've never had time for that."
"Is that really such a bad thing?" Caitlyn scoffed. "Now that she's out of our hair, crime rates have plummeted. The city's much safer without her in it. The townsfolk can rest easy knowing that they're safe for the first time in years. Is that not what you want?"
"Truth is, it ain't," Vi said, flicking her lighter on and off with her left thumb. "I'd rather be out there takin' names and kickin' ass. Unlike you, I'm just not cut out for desk duty. My best work is done out there, punching the snot out of bad guys. But it's no fun without you backin' me up, Cupcake. It's just not the same. Chasin' Jinx used to get me pumped, ready for action, but since she's gone it's all felt kinda hollow."
"I see," Caitlyn said, reaching over to place her dainty hands on top of Vi's much rougher right fist. "Vi, I don't like seeing you like this. It worries me. I'd noticed things weren't quite right, but I didn't really pay it as much mind as I should have. I'm sorry if it feels as though I've let you down, Vi. I should have known." She looked deep into Vi's pale blue eyes, her sincerity clear as the Piltover day.
"None of this is your fault, Cupcake," Vi replied, making sure her lighter was no longer burning before putting it back in her pocket and placing her left hand atop Caitlyn's. "It's mine for getting all hung up on the past. I mean, I shouldn't even care what happened to her. I should be glad she's gone, but I'm not. The streets feel so empty now. Hell, life feels empty without her in it." Caitlyn swore she could see the beginnings of a teardrop forming in the corner of Vi's eye, but the pink-haired menace would never admit it.
"Well, you definitely came to the right person," Caitlyn said. "You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone else who could ever comprehend having such a feeling. I can't say I have a great deal of sympathy for the girl after everything she's done to my city, but it's true, the circumstances of her disappearance were unsettling to say the least. Like you said, if she'd been planning to make an exit, she certainly wouldn't have been ambiguous about it. Makes you think…"
"Yeah, one of the few things that does," Vi said in a slightly self-deprecating manner. "That's why it sucks. She's gone, but we don't know where or why. Nobody's seen her in weeks. She couldn't be dead, could she?"
"We did the most thorough perimeter search in the history of the force," Caitlyn said. "If she was dead, we would definitely have found her. I don't doubt she's still alive, but something out of the ordinary happened that night for sure."
"Yeah…" Vi scrunched up her face, looking a cross between mournful and thoughtful. "Guess there ain't much use dwellin' on it anymore. We'll never know, will we?"
"I suppose not," Caitlyn said sympathetically. "For all we know, she could have given up her life of crime and left Piltover in pursuit of a normal life."
"Ha! Really?" Vi snorted, cracking a smile. "Ya think she'd be able to put down the explosives for five minutes? No way! What's next? You gonna tell me Heimerdinger invented a robot powered by cheese or somethin'?"
"Well, actually…" Caitlyn began to say, having witnessed exactly that when her investigation had taken her to the Academy of Science. She was, however, prevented from finishing her sentence by the crashing of glass behind her. The stained-glass window behind her exploded as a brick flew through it and landed directly in the middle of Caitlyn's pile of cupcakes. Immediately, she drew her hands away from Vi and picked up the object, which had a note wrapped tightly around it.
'Hey, Pilties, here's a present! Come get me, losers!
From your friendly neighbourhood Zaunite, Ekko.
P.S. it only took three tries to nail those cakes.'
"The little bastard!" Caitlyn snapped, dropping the brick onto the floor. "Those were freshly baked this morning!"
"Looks like we're back in business," Vi said, standing to attention and craning her neck around the sheriff to see if she could spy the little brat outside the window. However, he was already gone. The time-traveller was at it again, and this time he wasn't going to get away. "I'll go get suited up. Meet me in five outside the station?"
"Absolutely," Caitlyn said, stepping away from her desk towards the hat stand in the corner of the room while trying to avoid impaling her foot on stray shards of glass. There sat the signature top hat that had gained her the infamous moniker of 'Hat Lady', and hung up on the wall close by was her trusty sniper rifle with its many adornments. It was good to finally have a decent excuse to use it again. She and Vi could now forget about what had happened to Jinx. The boy who could turn back time was back in town, and without any other distractions in their way, perhaps this time the duo could finally apprehend him without a rewind...