6 - A Reenacted Joke

by SorrowfulReincarnation

It's the end. It was inevitable, and they all knew it. Denied it, but knew it would come. It is one final game they will be playing. But will this game have any winners? As sisters turn upon another, and the borders between crime and justice begin to fade, can anyone emerge without loss? Set in the 'Bad Day'-Universe after its finale.

Information: This one-shot is the sixth installment in the "Bad Day"-Universe of mine, set after the final installment, "A Final Joke", and is with that the third installment after the main series has come to an end. Since it refers to it, I highly advise you to have read the series up to this point to not be spoiled and/or understand everything in this.

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A reenacted joke

"This wasn't supposed to happen! It wasn't!"

With this furious cry, Vi jumped over a pile of rubble. She landed on her shoulder rather roughly when she attempted to catch herself in a roll, and even though the pain that shot through her was almost unbearable, with how bruised her body already was, it was better than what would've happened to her otherwise.

A sudden hail of bullets shot over the top of the pile of rubble – some concrete that had been part of the ceiling, a metal beam protruding from it – and hit the wall on the far side of the abandoned warehouse, digging countless holes into the wall. Seeing the state the wall was in after only a few seconds, the brawler was more than happy that it hadn't been her. Better the wall than her.

Delicate fingers curled around the enforcer's arm, the hand they were attached to pulling the enforcer over the ground and into the cover that the pile of rubble provided from their assailant. With a curse, Vi propped herself up against the concrete, rested her back against it while waiting for the pain to slowly subside. But with the way that blood was running down her right arm, a deep cut in both the fabric of her jacket and her skin there, that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

She knew the cut wasn't from her reckless jump over the pile of rubble and the rough landing. Earlier, while chasing their assailant into the building, she had cut a corner and had missed the rod of metal that had protruded from the concrete wall, the sharp metal cutting into her flesh as she ran past.

She hadn't cared then, but the pain was gradually getting worse. The building was in a state of disrepair, and every step was a danger in itself, the constant hazard of hurting oneself present. It had only become more dangerous when Vi had ascended the stairs, which had led to the current situation to begin with when she had chased the criminal into a pitch-black room, and the floor had given in under her weight.

The pain of falling right on top of the pile of rubble they were hiding behind now – actually the floor that had given in under her – should've been unbearable, but the shock and the adrenaline in her veins had numbed it.

Now, with the adrenaline calming down, it was only the dark thoughts in her head that made her able to stand the pain. To drown out that her right arm was in any state but to be used. The exhaustion and the pain that took their toll on her body.

She wanted to throw her head back and cry. Wanted to sit there and just give up, let the pain and exhaustion take over and claim her. This all was not supposed to happen.

Aside her, Caitlyn kneeled behind the pile of rubble as well – one foot flat on the ground and one knee resting on the ground, the rifle resting on the ground aside her - and cast a careful glance around it, scanned the warehouse for the enemy that was somewhere in the story above them and shot down through the large hole in the ceiling. The sheriff swallowed, even though she found it hard to do so, and felt her hands tighten around her rifle.

"No, it wasn't supposed to be like this." agreed Caitlyn silently, her keen eye scanning the darkness of the story above for any bright flashes that indicated where the muzzle of the mini-gun was located. The room they were in was dimly lit, with only the empty windows letting in some of the light of the late afternoon, but the room above them was almost completely cast into darkness, the windows boarded up, letting only very few rays of sunlight in.

It had become dead silent after the last attempt at perforating Vi a thousand times with bullets. So silent that, if not for the holes in the wall near them, one might think that the danger was nonexistent. But it was the silence that made both cops uneasy. The silence of nothing moving. The lack of any action.

But the criminal was up there. Somewhere in the darkness, hidden from their view by the veil of blackness. If it was moving, then only with the utmost caution and balance. Not only was the ground fragile up there – so fragile that it had broken under the weight of the brawler and her gauntlets – but the rubble and the dust crunched under every step, alerting everybody nearby of one's every movement.

So the criminal had to be there. Couldn't have moved without them noticing, especially with how the floorboards in the corridor above them squeaked with every step. Somewhere up there, it was lurking. Watching their every motion. Waiting for them to leave their cover.

"I can't see her. But she's there. Somewhere." murmured the sheriff quietly, telling herself rather than Vi. Lifting her rifle and resting her tricep on her knee, Caitlyn reached for the lenses on her hat and pulled them down. Behind her, Vi shuddered at the sharp groaning noise of the lenses being moved and adjusted, and sent the sheriff a glance just as Caitlyn peeked around the pile of rubble again, this time scanning the darkness above for movements through the magnifying lenses.

Still nothing, even with the lenses. Even with her keen eyes. A low hiss escaped her and she pulled her rifle up, propped the barrel onto the pile of rubble and lowered her head until her eye and her lenses aligned with those of the weapon for additional magnification.

Vi watched the careful movements. The motionless and unblinking eye of her girlfriend. She wanted to help, but doubted that she could see anything with her eyes alone, especially since her eyesight wasn't nearly as good as that of her partner. Nowhere close to needing glasses, but still not without flaw.

So the brawler leaned her head back, rested it against the rubble, and closed her eyes. Calmed her breath. Listened. Sharpened her other senses. If she could not see, she could at least try to hear.

At first, she could only hear the faint breathing of Caitlyn. Being an experienced sniper, the sheriff's breathing slowed as she aimed, and her movements came to a near halt. A steady hand was essential, Vi knew that from when she had given it a shot and had aimed once through her girlfriend's rifle and had noticed how erratic her movements suddenly seemed, despite her not even being aware of moving her hand in the slightest. If Caitlyn herself was aware that her breathing slowed and her movements came to a halt, Vi didn't know.

Then she heard it. The crunching of rubble beneath a heavy combat boot. The brawler's eyes shot open and she turned her head, peeked around the rubble, immediately focused on a spot in the darkness where she believed the sound to have originated from.

A mistake.

The sound had been made intentional, almost like the criminal had known she'd been listening. The moment that Vi peeked her head around the rubble, the darkness lit up for a split second, the split second of a trigger being pulled and a shell being emitted from a barrel. The bullet missed, both cops pulled their heads back and Vi cursed, her heart beating thousand times a second, not unlike the bullets that riddled the wall again.

She cursed. The criminal knew her too well. And of all the days that it was just the two of them, without any backup or any other partner, it was that day. Of all the days this had to happen, it was that day.

"Shit." The sharp curse that escaped the brawler let the sheriff glance over to her, checking if Vi was alright. No question was asked, even with how much Caitlyn wanted to. But she knew the answer. Knew Vi's current state, both physical and mental.

"Vi, I..." began the sheriff, but was interrupted faster than she had guessed. But it wasn't her Vi was addressing. Wasn't her she turned to. Instead, Vi let out a low chuckle – not one of amusement, but despair – and threw her head back, turned it so that she could peek over the top of the rubble.

"You think this is fun, don't you?" roared the enforcer, hands balling into fists inside her gauntlets in frustration, the hextech sliding over the dirty ground, "You think you have us, don't you?!"

"Technically, she has." whispered Caitlyn begrudgingly under her breath, knowing the dire situation the two of them were in. The gunner in the story above was in the favorable position, had them cut off from the exit, which was located on the other side of the room. Even the windows were out of question, seeing as the way to them was without any form of cover, making them easy targets. They were sitting ducks as they were right then.

"I know." hissed the brawler back, but didn't turn to her girlfriend, "We're shit outta luck if we try to run and she opens fire again. Unless she comes down, she's out of my reach, and the darkness up there makes it impossible to snipe her. Unless..."

"Don't even think about it!"

"What? I didn't even finish that, cupcake!" complained the enforcer, this time turning to her partner to send her a frown. But the hard stare told her that Caitlyn knew very well what her intention had been.

"I'm not letting you play the bait and make me shoot her once I can see her in the muzzle flash!" growled the sheriff, slapped the enforcer's leg gently, "You're putting your life at risk with moves like these. You're not invincible. If she gets you, you're done for."

"I know that. Fine, so we don't do it that way." growled Vi lowly and bit down on her tongue, holding back her more colorful vocabulary. Sometimes, she wasn't even sure who had a more colorful vocabulary when it came down to it – her or her crazy maniac of a sister. "Any better suggestions then, cupcake?"

"I wish I had." shot the sheriff back and glared around the pile of rubble again, scanning the darkness anew, one finger uncharacteristically rubbing the trigger of her rifle, "This is driving me insane. We need to get out of here and find a different way to approach this. As it is, she's at advantage. If we only had Jay, her heavy artillery would be what we need right now. She could easily give us cover, or..."

The sheriff trailed off, bit down on her lip. She knew she had just made a mistake, she didn't need to glance over to Vi to know. Didn't need to see how one heavy gauntlet began to shake in anger. She had spoken the name. Had mentioned Vi's sister.

The enforcer's eyes turned to the wall closest to them. Lingered on the countless holes in the concrete wall, the bullets in the wall. The brass contrasted with the gray of the concrete that it had penetrated. Everywhere. Everywhere but in one spot, where it had instead bounced off and had merely left dents.

"Check the shutter. See if it leads out." murmured the enforcer as she turned back to peek over the rubble as well, hoping to spot the criminal in the darkness of the story above. The sheriff reacted, sent her a glance first, then the shutter behind them.

"Seems to lead deeper into the warehouse." mused Caitlyn silently, "As far as I know, there's a storage room at the back of the building. I guess this leads to it."

"So we could get out of here that way?" inquired Vi, "There has to be a window there, right? I mean, we don't even need that much of time! Once we're in another room, out of her sight, we can retreat properly, maybe even turn the situation around to our advantage! Set a trap!"

"Guess so." agreed Caitlyn, adjusted her lenses as she turned back to the darkness in an attempt to keep tabs on their assailant, knew Vi would groan long before she actually did and yet continued, "But there's a catch."

"There always is." snarled Vi after a groan. Silently, Caitlyn had to agree, knew from past experiences that in their line of work, there was never any job without complications.

"The shutter is locked. Simple padlock, some chains."

With this short information, Vi swallowed, her throat feeling unusually dry. It wouldn't be hard to break the padlock, even without her gauntlets. Both her and Caitlyn had experience with that, the sheriff herself had smashed the one or other lock during the years, even more complicated ones. For Vi herself, it was even easier, it was just grabbing the chains and ripping them apart. But she'd be an easy target while doing that as she was forced to turn her back to their assailant, and without seeing their enemy, Caitlyn wouldn't be able to provide her any cover.

There was a way, though.

"Why so quiet today, huh?" roared the enforcer over the pile of rubble, "You're usually more talkative! So where is that talkativeness today, huh? Your loudmouth? Your...!"

Interrupted by a sharp click, followed by the sharp sound of a projectile shooting through the air at great speed, both cops pulled their heads down and guarded them with their arms. An explosion rocked the place, the pile of rubble behind them shifted, part of it destroyed, but not enough to expose the two of them.

For the second of the rocket being fired, the face of a maniac became visible in the darkness, illuminated by the flash of the muzzle and the following light of the rocket's propulsion. The twisted expression of a madwoman that enjoyed what she was doing, a spark of insane excitement within her eyes. But as fast as it had appeared, it was swallowed by the darkness again. By the veil of blackness covering it again.

Until, with a sharp snap, a red light began to glow in the darkness of the room above the two cops. A steady hiss of red sparks being emitted from a flare took the place of the silence. And in the red light, the maniac stepped up to the hole that connected the two rooms. Placed one foot at the edge of the hole and leaned closer to it, slammed the heavy pink mini-gun down on the ground, and let the rocket launcher slide into its place over he shoulder.

Standing in the red light of the flare, Dr. Jay Inks, better known as 'Jinx', stood in the same skimpy clothing with the same weaponry she had carried for years.

"I'm sorry!" called the high-pitched voice of the maniac down, mocking them just as much as the criminal did as she grabbed her long blue braid and began to twirl it a bit, "I didn't know you wanted to talk, fat hands!"

Vi's head shot up and she glared over the pile of rubble, which was now considerably smaller, providing less cover. A glare that might as well be able to kill people had found its way onto the enforcer's face, a scowl – teeth bared and lip raised in disgust – that would've scared every oh-so-brave child away.

"This ain't a joke, Jay!" bellowed Vi, momentarily forgetting her need for cover, "What the hell do you think you're doing? What the hell is the meaning behind all of this? We spent weeks, heck, even months living together, we celebrated Christmas together, we goddamn worked together every single day – and you're throwing it all away? You go back to being a criminal, just like that? No remorse? No regret? Not even a single doubt?!"

"I went back because I was having doubts, Vi." came the surprisingly calm reply from the madwoman, an electric-blue eyebrow slowly rising, "Doubts about this being right. Being a cop all of sudden. Living a normal life. I know I'm not normal, I don't even pretend to be, even when I was working with you guys!"

She slowly shook her head, madness making place for an expression of despair.

"I'm not made for the sane life, Vi. Jinx ain't." she added slowly, quieter, "The moment I grabbed Fishbones, Pow-Pow and Zap, and slipped into my old clothes, I knew Jinx didn't die that night in the chemical plant all those months ago. Just like Jay didn't die years earlier. But the problem is..."

A flash of pain shot over the face of the madwoman, her face scrunching up. A hand darted for her forehead, grabbed it. Headache. Pain. Her skull felt like it was splitting apart. Kneeling further down, she reached for the small white pill bottle by her feet, placed there after Vi had fallen through the ground.

"The problem is that Jay is too much of Jinx. I'm not saying that she died, not anymore. Both survived their respective bad days. Both are in there." she whispered, panting as she unscrewed the lid of the bottle and shook one into her hand, swallowed it dry immediately, "Both are in here. In my head..."

The enforcer bared her teeth and growled lowly, not quite unlike a feral animal. She was angry, angry deep down that she hadn't noticed the doubts. The silent questions in Jinx's head as to who she was, as to who was her dominant personality. Jinx or Jay? Jay or Jinx? Two women that were the same, but differed in their state of mind.

Her eyes trailed down to the weapons at Jinx's feet. To the madwoman's occupied hands. Calculated.

"Cupcake." she whispered, trying to get the sheriff's attention, "This is our chance. No complaints, we don't have much of a choice. I'll distract her, and you unlock that shutter somehow. See that you get the lock out of the way. We need to get through there! She's kinda stable right now, but we know she's bipolar. When her insanity sparks again, we're shit outta luck!"

"Got it."

The sheriff wasted no time, immediately made a dash for the shutter. Motivated by this, Vi pulled her own fists up and climbed the pile of rubble, leaped over it. The reaction from the maniac was immediate as well – the pill bottle dropped from her hand, white pills scattering over the floor, a mini-gun being pulled up.

Vi rose her hands even higher, shielding her face as Jinx pulled the trigger all the way and unleashed a hell of brass that Vi had to maneuver through. Empty shells hit the ground in rapid succession, the muzzle flashes mixed with the light of the flare, illuminating Jinx's panicked face. The bullets bounced off Vi's blast shield, blue light flashing rapidly, brass mere inches away from the brawler's body.

Each impact held little power on its own and did little to damage the shield, but the initial design had been made with large single impacts in mind, and had only been modified to counteract Jinx's mini-gun, and only for short instances. The drain on the shield energy was enormous with so many impacts in rapid succession, and both of the sisters dreaded the moment that the shield would break. One in anticipation, one in fear.

Hearing the shield generator hum louder, the strain on it forcing the machine to go beyond its limit, Vi knew the moment of its failure was coming closer. Seconds away from it, she dove behind a pillar, hit the ground in a less than professional roll, didn't care as the pain sparked through her body again.

She couldn't remain in cover, couldn't allow Jinx to turn her attention to Caitlyn, who was exposed and without the chance to defend herself as her back was turned to Jinx. So, pushing herself off the ground immediately, ignoring her own pain, the enforcer left her cover and dashed for the next pillar.

Could only hope that the second she had given the blast shield to recover and cool down was enough for it to not immediately shatter with the next bullet. No longer hidden by the pillar, the hail of bullets immediately picked up again, new bullets slamming into the side of her shield.

It wasn't until the first bullet grazed her arm that Vi knew she was out of luck. A hot, searing pain as the bullet grazed her arm sent Vi into panic and into a stumble, a stumble in which she luckily avoided the following bullets, brass tearing through the air just above her.

Unable to catch her balance, she fell, hit the concrete. A snarl escaped her lips as the pain from before acted up again, the exhaustion and the ache becoming much more apparent within this single moment.

The hail of bullets stopped suddenly, but not with the trademark sound of a gun being out of bullets. Looking up from her position, realization and relief washed over Vi.

She had landed behind the other pillar.

Her head hit the ground, exhaustion getting the better of her. Having chased Jinx for the better part of the day through the most narrow alleys of Piltover had drained her of her energy. Her stamina, which she had claimed to be inexhaustible for years. She had always silently known better than that, but had too much confidence in herself as to admit that. But for Jinx, it had been easy to crush that confidence. She had proved Vi's claim wrong several times over the years. And now once again.

The blast shield came to life again with a steady hum, but it was lower than usual. The energy was exhausted, and had yet to recharge. It wouldn't do that in time.

And yet she pushed herself up again. Gathered her strength, cursed and panted, forced herself up onto her feet. Immediately falling into a sprint towards the next – and last – pillar in the room that would provide her cover, back where Caitlyn was hacking away at the padlock with the stock of her rifle – apparently having given up to pick the lock – in an attempt to open the shutter, Vi dreaded what would be next.

The shield wouldn't stand much more. Only a few bullets. Bullets that never came.

Confused by the lack of the bullets riddling her with holes, the enforcer turned her head, tried to spot her sister in the light of the red flare. She couldn't allow Jinx to have turned her attention to Caitlyn. Had to intercept if that was the case.

What she found instead of Jinx having turned to Caitlyn was Fishbones being pointed at her. Crying out, a rocket was unleashed from the mechanical shark's jaws, smoke and fire trailing behind the projectile as the rocket tore through the air. The enforcer had no time to react, could only come to a sliding stop and pull her gauntlets up to shield herself.

The rocket slammed into her gauntlets and exploded. Fire and smoke enveloped the enforcer, a great heat that only the blast shield protected her from, the same blast shield that once again shattered, this time sending her sliding backwards over the ground.

Her curse was drowned out by the sound of the explosion. Her pain was numbed by the exhaustion. Her gauntlets were hot from the explosion, but had suffered no damage, as had her body, even though it was giving off smoke as a result of the heat.

Hitting the wall behind her with her back first, the enforcer cried out in pain, but didn't lower her guard at any moment. Kept her gauntlets up. There would be more rockets. More bullets. Something would be there. Something would be there to make her pay.

A howl of frustration echoed through the room, followed by a woman taking a step back, aiming shortly, pulling a trigger. A single shot rang out. And the padlock hit the ground in pieces.

"Vi! Now!"

Caitlyn didn't have to call out another time. Immediately lowering her gauntlets and putting them against the wall, Vi pushed herself off with the unnatural strength that she had through the gauntlets, sending her into what was more of a flight followed by a clumsy stumble than running towards Caitlyn. Either way, it saved her from the next rocket.

The sheriff pushed the shutter up, opening their way of escape just in time for them both to dive under and for Vi to turn around and slam it back down, only a second away from Jinx pulling up her mini-gun, trigger already pulled all the way.

With loud clatter, brass slammed into the shutter. More dents appeared in it, making it questionable how long the shutter would stand the onslaught of bullets, and Vi didn't waste any second to back away from it.

For the moment, they were safe.

"Shit." cursed the enforcer, backing away even faster, twirling around to face her girlfriend, "Shit, that was too close for my taste."

Caitlyn sunk down to the ground against a crate, nodding absent-mindedly. Pulling her hat off, she brushed her hand through her hair, combed a few strands out of her face and stared at the ground before her. Vi wanted to, too, but she couldn't. Had to move. Had to do something. Anything.

So she scanned the large room. Caitlyn's assumption had been right, it was a storage room. Large and littered with shelves, crates and boxes. Some empty, and others filled with what looked like unfinished machinery, gears and other parts. While she didn't know what the abandoned warehouse had once been used for, the assumption that it was for some kind of factory was there now, in her head.

How very fitting for Jinx. Too obvious to be her hideout, but it seemed less like a coincidence that she had led them there, and that suspicion continued to grow within Vi with every minute that passed and every event that took place. Jinx had planned this, that was without a doubt.

The sound of a metal door slamming close above them made both of the cops cringe horribly. The horrible realization that the sound of bullets slamming into the door had stopped washed over Vi, and in sheer panic, she stumbled forward and twirled around, claiming a spot in front of Caitlyn to guard her.

Raising her gaze to the sound of steps on a catwalk above, Vi did indeed find Jinx up there. Something sassy lay in the calm and slow steps of the madwoman as she approached the edge of the catwalk, weapons strapped to their respective places on her body, an insane glint in her pink eyes as she looked down upon them that made Vi shudder.

Their retreat was cut short. Jinx was once again in a position of advantage, even though there was no darkness anymore to hide her this time. The veil was lifted by the flare that she carried in her left hand, and though it made her an easy target, all that Caitlyn did was to pull the rifle up and aim at the loose cannon's right leg.

Her finger didn't even rest on the trigger. She didn't want to shoot. Wouldn't shoot unless there was no other way. And even then, a shot to the leg would only serve to temporarily take Jinx out, allowing them to flee or take another action.

Vi wanted to take this other action. Wanted to grab something – a crate, a shelf, a box, even a wrench or a gear – and haul it at Jinx or the catwalk. Preferably to either knock her out, or get the catwalk to crash down with the loose cannon.

But the situation at hand was different. She was given a simple choice – guard Caitlyn with her life and risk Jinx attacking or getting away, or attack Jinx and risk the loose cannon hurting the sheriff. And, despite how dramatic it sounded – She would choose Caitlyn over Jinx. Over Jay.

It was the thing that she had learned from the loose cannon herself, the one thing that Jay had taught her. Both of them meant a lot to her. Meant the world to her. Made up her world, were the two things that balanced her world out. Were light and darkness. Sanity and insanity. But not good and bad. There was no good and bad, only good in bad, and bad in good.

But even though these two meant everything to her, it was Caitlyn she would choose. Not because she could do without Jay, but because Caitlyn could do what Jay couldn't.

Pick up the pieces. Fix the broken as good as she could. No matter how much Jay would try, she wouldn't be able to.

"Oh for f..." Jinx cut herself off, coughed in an attempt to cover the swear – with Caitlyn around, both of the sisters held back on the more colorful curses, knowing how little she enjoyed it – and reached for her throbbing head again, "Relax, seriously, I'm not going to kill you."

Both cops rose an eyebrow, especially as Jinx leaned onto the railing and began to twirl her braid again with a small smile on her lips.

"Just yet, that is. I have something much more fun in mind."

"Only problem is, you have a really twisted idea of what is fun, Jay. One that neither Caitlyn, nor I share." growled the enforcer back, "So why don't you get the hell down from there and we solve this the good old way? My fists, your face?"

A delicate electric-blue eyebrow gently rose a bit, along with the mad smile of the loose cannon as she stopped to twirl her braid. Amusement was back, and it was drowning out the terrible headache that she had, the pain that threatened to split her skull apart.

The madness had always been able to do that. When she had been giving in to it, embracing it fully in before giving up on being a criminal and joining Piltover's Finest, it had always managed to drown everything out. Depression, anger, even pain and frustration. Pain had often even triggered it in the first place. A little self-harm had always managed to get her back into a good mood. It was one of the reasons why rebuilding or inventing things was so much fun to her – part of the thrill came in shape of not wearing any form of protection for her hands, often leading to cuts, bruises and burns of various shapes and varying degrees.

"Thanks, but while that is fun, I think I'll pass this time." chuckled the madwoman, picked up to play with her right braid again – with the other burned off during the fight in the chemical plant, she had only that one left, not that she minded – and gently tapped the railing with one index finger, "What I have in mind is actually more fun, I believe."

"Don't make me come up there to beat your face in, Jay!"

"I'd like to see you try, fat hands! 'Cuz, ya know, with these hands, it's a wonder you even fit into a room, let alone through a door!" snorted the loose cannon in return, twisting her upper body in a weird way until she was practically leaning backwards over the railing, one finger pointing at the enforcer that was now upside-down for her, "How do you even go to the restroom with those? Are you even going there, or do ya simply pee your pants, 'cuz you know that you'll not even get them off in time?"

"You little...!" escaped the enforcer, but before she could finish the threat, which would've been about twisting a spine in an uncomfortable way, Caitlyn reached out to her and gently grabbed her lower arm to get her attention. Turning her head to frown towards the sheriff, Vi watched as Caitlyn gently shook her head.

"Let's see what she proposes. It might be our chance to turn this around and catch her. We can see about talking sense into her then." muttered the sheriff quietly, lowering her rifle and standing up, turning to the maniac above as well, "Alright, Jinx. What kind of game is this?"

A content hum rolled in the maniac's throat, a grin spreading across her upside-down lips. With sudden erratic movements, she twirled the right way around and jumped away from the railing, causing the whole catwalk to shake and groan under the weight of the weapons on the lithe frame of the madwoman.

"Ha! I knew you'd be reasonable, hat lady! You've always been the smart one! I knew you'd be interested in hearing what game I want to play!" exclaimed the maniac excitedly. She stepped back up to the railing, let herself fall onto it, elbows coming to a rest on the cold metal. The catwalk shook again as the mini-gun at the madwoman's waist swung against it, but Jinx didn't seem to care. Didn't see the risk that others would've seen.

"Shut it." growled the sheriff, neither liking the nickname, nor the mocking tone to Jinx's voice, "What's the catch? What kind of game is this?"

"Oh, it's a fun game!" responded the loose cannon calmly, let a smirk cross her lips, "A challenge, if anything. And it's a challenge for both of you, both alone and together. I made it so that both of you have something to work with."

"What's that supposed to mean?" inquired Caitlyn cautiously, raising an eyebrow at the older woman atop the catwalk. Jinx's smirk grew in response and one hand slipped down to her mini-gun, gently stroked it in between its ears. The loose cannon was too confident for Piltover's finest. Something about this game was not right.

"Oh, nothing, really. Just that I prepared a challenge of wits and brawn. So something for both of you." chuckled Jinx, "There'll be something to figure out, a riddle to solve, and that's for Caitlyn mostly. You're free to help her of course, fat hands, but it's something for Caitlyn's level of intelligence. You have to think laterally, and let's face it, that's not your strong point. And that's why the riddle will lead you to your strong point, where you'll have to use your fists!"

"Oh great." muttered the sheriff under her breath. Jinx, preparing a riddle. The woman with the mini-gun was smart, even though that easily went unnoticed, due to her insanity. Her madness. Her random behavior usually led to people missing the genius that the loose cannon was. In fact, most people even missed that Vi was genius in herself. Maybe not so much in the area of common knowledge, but when it came to mechanics, both Jinx and Vi could easily keep up with Jayce. Even outshine him in certain parts of it, Caitlyn found herself assured of that ever so often.

Even Jayce himself had admitted that Vi and Jinx had, at times, beat him when it came to creativity and use of resources. The man with the hammer, the inventor and self-proclaimed defender of Piltover, had begrudgingly admitted to the sheriff that he wouldn't have been able to do what Vi had done. To change the fists of a mining rig into wearable gauntlets, with practically no resource at hand. When he invented something, it was well planned and with new and unused resources. When Vi and Jinx invented something, they used spare or already used parts, sometimes changing something into something completely different, something unlikely with a completely new purpose.

And these things were just as durable as the inventions of Jayce.

So, in a sense, it was hard to compare Jayce's inventions with the creations of the madwoman or her brawler of a sister. One couldn't compare them. Jayce was an inventor. Used new parts to create something. Jinx and Vi were mechanics. Used spare parts to repair or create.

All three of them were smart, and excelled at what they did. In their own unique ways. And it was that what Caitlyn feared. Jinx's own unique way. Her certain way of handling things. Her ability to think laterally. Her mindset that differed so much from anyone that Caitlyn knew. When Jinx created something, it often was chaotic and had a destructive purpose, and if not, worked in the weirdest ways to achieve even weirder things. She thought like that, too. Chaotic. Her mind was a mess, and where one person thought about the sun and the summer when hearing heat, Jinx thought of explosions, disasters and of a volcano.

To understand a riddle that Jinx would make, one would have to change his mindset. Would have to try and think like Jinx did. The insane way.

"And what if we don't want to play this game of yours?" called Vi up, let her anger get the better of her, "If we're not interested in some kind of challenge, eh, Jay?"

"You mean, aside from the fact that you never back down from a challenge, Vi?" snorted the madwoman, raising an eyebrow, "You don't seem to get it, Vi. You don't have a choice in this. The challenge is prepared and already in full swing."

"Oh, and to make this more interesting..." Jinx wriggled her eyebrows, rolled her shoulders, and continued way too casual for what she was saying, "You have a limited time. I planted a bomb somewhere in this city. A big bomb. Probably the biggest I've ever build! And when this one goes off, there'll be hell to pay for Piltover. And if it blows up, I'll have a front seat, and watch as this lame city finally becomes interesting. For the last time."

Vi felt her muscles tensing up. The mysterious, cryptic meaning didn't go past her unnoticed. She knew what this meant. Knew how big the normal explosions were that Jinx caused. So, for her to say that she had a 'big bomb' planted somewhere in Piltover meant something terrible.

Piltover would not be the same anymore. That was the meaning behind the words of the loose cannon.

Jinx let the message sink in. Licked her lips in anticipation. The thought of finally succeeding in what she had been after for so long, to make the lame city finally interesting in the way that she saw it, send her into a state of euphoria. Of sick glee.

"Catching me now will not help you at all. The bomb has been planted and it is primed already. In a few hours, it'll blow up, and this city will finally see the world as I see it. From the deepest depths of madness. As the sick joke that it really is. The blackest joke of all time. No one will be able to escape this time."

"This is insane, even for you! You'll die as well!" bellowed Vi, no longer in control of her emotions. But just as much as she lacked the control of emotions, so did Jinx lack the control of her sanity. Could only enjoy what she felt at the moment, and that was the lack of regret. Of the thoughts of what would be. No repercussions. No strings attached. Just madness.

"Want to waste more time trying to change me, fat hands? You know you can't. We tried before. We tried during these last months! But if these days assured me of anything, then it is that I do not belong into the sane side of the world. On your side. I can only be me, and mad is what I am. I only find satisfaction in destruction. And, if to experience the ultimate kick means to kill myself in the process... I don't care."

"Dang it, Jay..."

"Now, every second you waste here is one less you'll have to solve the riddle." sniggered the loose cannon, rose an eyebrow, "So, I don't mind if you're up for a chat, but if I were you, I'd ask for the riddle now."

"Fine. Tell us the riddle." growled Caitlyn, pushing past the enforcer to glare up at Jinx, "Let's hear it."

Unable to hold back the madness any longer, Jinx let it take control of her. Let it twist her face into a mocking smirk, the insanity sparkling within her eyes. This wasn't the same kind of absolute satisfaction that she felt when a bomb went off, but for Caitlyn to be irritated to this point was close to it. Meant for her that she was on the right track.

She let this irritation of both the sheriff and the enforcer amuse her. Took in the sight of their frustration with the utmost glee. And finally, after a few seconds, tilted her head a little, and opened her mouth to take in a deep breath.

"Let's celebrate our game with light,

with Copper, Potassium and Rubidium so bright.

The stage is set, so is the time,

the clock is ticking, better make sense of this rhyme.

For if you don't find the stage before the fireworks start,

Piltover will be torn apart.

From sixty stories up to six feet under,

all in just the sound of one loud thunder.

The spotlight of the world shines upon the place in endless strife,

every peak of the cycle's short-lived life.

You will meet me twice more in our chase,

next is the time, as I just told you the place."

"What?" escaped the enforcer, her hands balling into fists inside her gauntlets, only to relax again. She sent a glance into the direction of her partner to see if Caitlyn was making any sense of the rhyme, but only found that the sheriff was staring in irritation at the loose cannon, her mind obviously already working on the riddle.

"That's not the entire riddle." growled Caitlyn eventually, baring her teeth in a way that Vi deemed out of character. But the situation was nagging even on the sheriff. Even the sheriff felt the result of Jinx changing sides again.

"No." admitted Jinx, amusement clear in her voice, "But it was the part that contained the location of the bomb. In itself, it is enough to find it. But I wonder how much time you'll have left..."

"Let me guess." snorted Caitlyn, adjusted the position of her head and narrowed her eyes, "Based on the last two lines of the riddle, I suppose you'll make a run for it now, show up again in a while, and give us the chance to catch you for the second part, which will tell us how much time we have left to figure out where the bomb is located."

"You're so smart, hat lady, I admire that about you. Really do." giggled the maniac and slowly began to back away. The catwalk shook gently with each of her steps towards the same door she had entered the room through. Her flare fell from her hand and hit the catwalk, rolled over the edge and fell down into the story below, where Caitlyn and Vi were, watching helplessly as Jinx escaped them. "But I kinda phrased it so that even someone like fat hands would understand. So if you wanna prove your intelligence..."

The madwoman reached behind her, searched for the handle without looking the other way, almost as if she was fearing to turn her back to Piltover's finest. Justified, seeing as Caitlyn was a sniper. But neither of the cops made any attempt to stop her. Neither of them would be able to. Jinx was out of reach for them. And even if they were to catch her – what benefit would that give them? Jinx was not going to tell them the second part of the riddle if they had her in custody.

"...solve the riddle. Stop the bomb from blowing up. Stop me."

Begrudgingly, Vi watched as her sister found the handle of the door during these words and pulled it open, and without a second glance, slipped through the gap. Vanished form their sight. Gone.

Only then did Vi realize that she had been holding her breath. That her muscles had been tensed. That her eyelids had been twitching.

She turned away from the catwalk, tore her gaze away and cursed aloud. No, she had been right to begin with. This had not been supposed to happen. Jinx should not have turned her back to the right side. Should not have turned against them and have gone back to her criminal ways.

Should not have planned their end.

"Vi..."

The enforcer twirled around and stared at her girlfriend. She expected Caitlyn to try and calm her down, to stand there as a pillar of confidence, calm and collected as she was. But Caitlyn wasn't calm and collected.

Instead, she had narrowed her eyes and stared at the enforcer with just the same amount of irritation that Vi was feeling. It was getting to her as well, Jinx getting under the skin of the sheriff just as much as she was going under the skin of the enforcer.

It was the same hard gaze that Caitlyn used when she was working on any hard case, and not the Harlequin Case.

This time, even Caitlyn was not going go easy on Jinx. Would be treating her just like any other criminal. Would hunt her down just like any other criminal.

They couldn't close their eyes to the truth. Couldn't repeat the mistakes of the past.

"Vi, let's leave this place. We won't get the answers we are looking for if we remain here." sighed the sheriff after a moment of silence, uncomfortable silence. Slowly, she pulled her hat off. Lowered it until she held it in front of her face.

She swallowed the knot that formed in her throat at the thought of Jinx. Of the last months. What they had been through together. The 'game' at the station. The day of the police governor's party. The bad day. After that, everything had changed for the better when Jinx finally seemed to see a light. When she finally tried to reach for what little sanity was left in her and held onto it with an iron grip. Christmas Eve. The work together at the station. The night at the bar where they met the other team of four girls. Everything had seemed so well. Jinx had slowly changed into what Caitlyn was sure to be Jay.

And now, it all seemed like a distant memory. A fading dream, escaping one's grasp. Waking up and realizing that the scenario was not real felt horrible. To know that these better days might as well have been nothing but wishful thinking.

"We have a riddle to solve. A bomb to find." she tightened her right hand around her rifle, swallowed again, "And a criminal to hunt down."

---

The clock on the wall was ticking. A noise that, while not even loud, became unbearable relatively fast. That nagged away at their minds. Their nerves were strained, but Caitlyn didn't dare to look up and see how many hours had passed. How many hours the two of them had been cowering over the riddle that now was written down on a piece of paper on the sheriff's desk.

Caitlyn herself was sitting in her chair, leaned forward, elbows propped up on the desk. One hand reached for her hat and pulled it off, gently placed it on the desk aside the riddle, allowing her to brush the other hand through her hair. The riddle was driving her insane.

Behind her, Vi stood unmoving, eyes glued to the riddle as well. Leaned over the sheriff, one of the enforcer's hands rested on the desk. Her hair was a mess. Her eyes felt dry from the lack of regular blinking. But she couldn't tear herself away. She barely understood what her sister meant with any of the words in the riddle. Had tried different approaches, ones that Caitlyn – who was trying to make literal sense – currently wasn't even thinking of. Had tried to find hidden words. Only used every first letter of a sentence or of the words. Had tried rearranging the words or letters. Had even tried to find a hidden message by reading it backwards.

Aside from one time, when she thought she had found the word 'trap', there was nothing else. Well, she did find the word 'fart', but that had just turned out to be her vision going blurry in the aftermath of her eyes being too dry. Blinking once, the word was gone. No joke of Jinx.

There wasn't any hidden words or messages. The message rested within the riddle as it was. And Vi couldn't make any sense of it.

For the first time in hours, aside from blinking and breathing, the enforcer moved. With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself off the table and took a step back, closing her eyes and rubbing them. They hurt. Were dry. A headache was slowly arising, she felt it.

Knowing that Jinx always had a bottle of painkillers in the upper drawer of her desk, remains of her time recovering from the fight in the chemical plant, the younger sister rose her gaze and glanced over to the now vacant desk.

After all the trouble they went through, it was empty. Not only the trouble of chasing Jinx and showing her the right path, but also the days they spent arranging things. Of thinking where to put the desk. Of showing Jinx around the station. Of moving the loose cannon's things into the enforcer's apartment.

All for naught.

Rising her gaze even further, the enforcer glanced over to the clock on the wall. 7:30 PM. Almost two hours had passed since they had left the warehouse. Almost two hours that they had spent trying to decipher the riddle. Both in absolute silence, never exchanging a single word. And no progress yet. Not a single line was making sense!

"I give up. Sorry cupcake." sighed the enforcer with a hint of finality, lowering her gaze again and closing her eyes to gently rub them again, "I can't figure out what she means with that for my life. I fear it is up to you."

"It's alright." replied the sheriff slowly, narrowing her eyes a bit at a certain section that she had been eying for a while now – the recital of the three elements she knew to be used in fireworks – and trying to make sense of, "This is hard, even for me. Jinx didn't lie when she said it would be a challenge."

"Yeah, she didn't." agreed the brawler silently, "Look, you try to make sense of this, and I see if anyone has seen Jay since then. It's not like she can vanish into thin air, someone must've seen her. And if she has been seen, there's no way that is not going through the police radio in some way."

"Good idea. She did say she'd show up eventually and give us the chance of learning the second part of the riddle." Caitlyn sat up as she spoke, massaged the bridge of her nose and let out a groan, "Don't just wait for her name, I doubt she'll show her face unless she knows we're missing her hints. Take heed to anything that sounds like it is her work. Small explosions, vandalism that sounds like her, overly bright pink graffiti in public places."

"Don't forget unauthorized property recoloration, public indecency, unprovoked assault, unflattering impersonation, inducing mass hysteria, hexplosive detonations, aggravated jaywalking and forging of official wanted posters." snorted the enforcer as she approached the vacant desk, thinking back to the time when Jinx had, only shortly after arriving in Piltover, listed her own crimes on fake wanted posters of herself, which she had spread across the entire city.

"You forgot murder, murder again and really petty larceny." commented Caitlyn in a stoic tone, turned back to the riddle before her, "And it was unflattering impersonation of an officer. To be more accurate, of you."

"Don't sweat the details." grumbled Vi under her breath. Finally reaching the desk, she let herself fall into the chair that her sister usually sat in – barely holding back a gasp as she realized how much lower the chair was compared to hers due to Jinx's smaller size – and reached for the upper drawer. It opened without a problem – Jinx wasn't locking her drawers, didn't like boundaries she had to overcome just to get something she had stored in the drawers – and allowed the enforcer to reach inside in search of the bottle of painkillers.

The drawer was empty.

"Uh, cupcake? Didn't Jay usually keep a bottle of pills in here? Painkiller?"

Looking up, Caitlyn frowned at her partner and girlfriend. It wasn't hard to tell that she had understood the reason why Vi was asking, and was just as confused about what Vi was insinuating.

"She did. A few of them, actually." replied the sheriff, raising an eyebrow, "Though I believe she mentioned that she filled a few of them with bubble gum. At least one was containing actual painkiller, though."

"That's weird. There aren't any bottles in here." muttered Vi quietly, before reaching down to open another drawer.

"Check the other drawers." she heard Caitlyn suggest, but did neither look up, nor reply. In the middle of doing that, the enforcer's frown kept increasing, as the pill bottles remained missing. Instead, all she found was that which should be in the drawers to begin with. Reports that Jinx had been working on, some candy, pens, Jinx's radio, scissors, several books, some change, duct tape and a pencil sharpener.

No pill bottle.

"Nothing. Why the hell would she take that with her, and leave everything else?" mused the enforcer. Pushing herself away from the desk on the chair, she rose her gaze and sent a glance to her partner. Caitlyn shortly looked up from the riddle and met the gaze of the enforcer, but merely shrugged.

Jinx did work in weird ways, neither of them could deny that. For her to take painkiller with her, but nothing else, going as far as leaving her beloved candy behind, was just as weird as Jinx could be. It made no sense.

With a groan, Vi rose out of the chair, a whole new level of confusion added to the one that already bothered her. First, Jinx turned against them, back to being a criminal, and now she took along painkillers, but left everything else.

Something weird was going on with Jinx, that was out of the question. And it was bothering the brawler, was the primary question on her mind, even as she rounded the gauntlets aside her desk, flopped down into her own chair behind her own desk and reached for the radio. One hand began to play with the wheel, adjusting the frequency, while the other hand picked up the headphones attached the radio and rose them to her right ear.

She barely even registered the static in her ear, the sharp noise of tuning, searching for the right frequency. By the time that familiar voices resounded from the headphone closer to her ear, the enforcer was long lost in her own world again, where questions reigned. Where the questions drowned out anything else. The first thing she heard, a burglary, wasn't even registered by her.

It became silent for a moment, both members of Piltover's finest lost in their own little world, left to their own task. Caitlyn had copied the riddle onto another piece of paper and had picked up a pencil, scribbling down possible meanings for each single line. Vi, on the other hand, sat motionless in her chair, elbows resting on the desk, listening silently to whatever passed through the radio.

For a moment, it remained like that. Barely any movement could be registered by looking into the office of Piltover's finest. If anything, it looked like a frozen image. Mannequins, arranged to deliver a certain image.

The image was broken when Vi flinched upon hearing about graffiti. She cranked the volume up, listened as an officer began to ramble about discovering a set of dark green graffiti in an old abandoned apartment building in the lawless district of Piltover.

Disappointment sunk in. Dark green graffiti. Jinx didn't use green. Not alone that was. Sticking primarily to neon pink, Jinx only used other neon colors to go with it. To make bigger pictures. Mock more people. Leave hints what she had planned next.

Jinx didn't use dark colors. Too unspectacular for the maniac's taste, too normal, and oblivious to the naked eye. The same applied to the abandoned building in the lawless districts. Graffiti wasn't exactly uncommon there. And that aside, Jinx wanted her graffiti to be noticed. Wanted everyone, and especially Vi and Caitlyn, to see it. So, to put it hidden from the world into a building was unlike her.

This wasn't her graffiti. And the disappointment about it made Vi sink back into her chair. Tense muscles relaxed. A breath escaped the younger Inks. A sigh. It would've been too easy if Jinx would've appeared just as she started listening to the radio.

Caitlyn looked up at this. Couldn't help but feel sympathy for the enforcer. After so long, she had been reunited with her sister. Had brought her sister to justice and had shown her that there was a path other than the one that Jinx had chosen.

And then, Jinx just left again. Turned her back to everything. She was in need of someone to pick up the pieces that her world threatened to fall into – this time not as bad as the time before the chemical plant, thankfully, as that had shown them how to deal with it – and give her some new hope.

Caitlyn couldn't quite do that now. Barely had anything. But anything was better than nothing, was it?

"So, I figured something out." she began, immediately catching the enforcer's attention, "It isn't much, though. Nothing that gives us a real hint as to where the bomb is located. But Jinx left something in here that I can't help but wonder about."

"At least something." sighed Vi, relaxing once more, one hand going for her forehead, "What's it, cupcake?"

"The second line mentions some elements used to build fireworks." mused the sheriff, before reaching for an open book at the edge of her desk, which Vi wasn't sure about when the sheriff had fetched it, "So I went ahead and picked this encyclopedia from my collection. I knew I read something about fireworks and what element is used to achieve the desired color."

With a frown, Vi glanced past the sheriff at the four bookcases on the wall behind her, filled to the brim with different books and encyclopedias of varying colors and size. Vi had occasionally picked one of the books and had glanced inside, mainly into the ones that contained information about mechanical stuff, so she knew that the encyclopedias contained common knowledge. That fireworks were part of that, she didn't know.

"So these three elements are corresponding to color then?" inquired the brawler, "What was it again? Copper...?"

"Copper, Potassium and Rubidium." replied Caitlyn, sending a short glance down at the riddle, "And that's where it gets interesting. I figured she didn't use these randomly for her riddle. I knew they had to mean something."

"Some kind of code then? Maybe a hint where we can find her?"

"No, I don't think so. The colors are actually way more... peculiar." sighed the sheriff, let her index finger gently shove the piece of paper back and forth, watching it with interest, "I know you'll see what I see now."

Caitlyn looked up, searched for Vi's gaze. Met it.

"Copper, Potassium and Rubidium." she repeated, "Or, translated into colors of fireworks: Blue, pink and violet. Rubidium is actually more violet-red, but we both know she chose it because of the violet. Because these three colors are referring to..."

"Us." translated Vi in surprise, baffled. Of all the things she had expected, this was not one. Blue, the color of Jinx's hair. Pink, the color of her own hair. Violet, the color that Caitlyn dressed in. This was no coincidence. Jinx hadn't chosen these colors randomly.

But the question was, was there more to it? More to the colors she mentioned in the riddle, a meaning other than that it referred to the three of them? She didn't know. It wasn't a hint to the location of the bomb or the criminal, but it was at least something. A first step to the solution of the riddle.

"Anything else?" muttered the enforcer, hoping that there would be an actual hint. She trusted Caitlyn to find the solution in time. Caitlyn was smart and more level-headed than she was. She could work under personal psychological pressure, which Vi barely could, too distracted. It was a good thing that the only thing that actually got to Vi was Jinx. Nobody and nothing else could trigger this psychological pressure in the enforcer.

So when Caitlyn looked down at the riddle and shook her head, it came as a big disappointment for the brawler.

"Nothing much, sadly. The first six lines are pretty clear, the only thing there that was hidden were these three colors in the second line. Everything else is literal. The game of light is the bomb, the stage is the place where the bomb is planted, the ticking clock means it is a time bomb."

A snort escaped Vi at the mention of a time bomb. A time bomb was what had started it all. A time bomb that Jinx had planted to lure them away from the station so she could prepare her little game of 'truth or dare'.

Caitlyn saw the flash of amusement on the enforcer's face. Couldn't help but chuckle at the irony herself. Jinx never used time bombs, that much they knew, as a time bomb was used to be somewhere completely different at the time of the explosion. And Jinx wanted to be close. Wanted to experience the satisfaction of hitting the trigger and being close to the fire and the smoke. So when she did use a time bomb, it had ulterior goals. This game they were forced to play, it marked only the second time that Jinx had ever used a time bomb.

"I don't think she will be somewhere else but where the bomb is, even though it is a time bomb." added Caitlyn quickly, "I think it's more of a precaution. She did mention she would appear some time again during the evening to give us the chance and get the second part of the riddle, which will tell us when the bomb will go off. So if we were to catch her then, the bomb would still go off."

"The game wouldn't end, even if the black king were checkmated." muttered Vi in realization.

"More like the white king. She did make the first move."

"Doesn't matter." huffed the brawler, "So the first six lines are pretty clear. The true riddle starts after that, then?"

"Kind of." sighed Caitlyn, moved a hand through her hair, lowering her gaze to stare at the lines in question, "It's more like the complicated part begins then. Undoubtedly the part where the location is hidden. But of that part, I only understand one thing, and that is way too easy to figure out. The loud thunder is referring to the bomb going off."

Letting out a sigh, the sheriff fell back in her chair. A groan escaped her as she reached for her face, covering it with both hands. She needed a break, staring at lines for hours didn't make them much easier to understand. Trying to get into the head of a maniac wasn't either.

"I have no clue what the rest is trying to tell us, though. Where the bomb is placed." sighed the sheriff into her hands, "Sixty stories to six feet under? Whatever is that supposed to mean? I know six feet under is how deep a coffin is placed under the earth, but what is up with the sixty stories before that?"

"No clue. I'd say she wants us dead."

"Knowing Jinx, this could be one meaning, but I don't think that it's the one she's after. The sixty stories are somehow related to that. They are meant to change the meaning of the six feet under in some way." grumbled the sheriff, feeling a headache act up herself, "And then there's this other line that I don't understand. The spotlight of the world. Whatever it is, it shines down on the place that the bomb is hidden at, and that in regular instances. But these seem to be short if we can trust the riddle."

"Short is a relative term. Short can be a second, and it can be hours. We don't know what Jay is comparing it to." offered the enforcer, and received a nod of agreement in return, "Whatever it is, I think we will learn it when we next meet her."

Trailing off, Vi tore her gaze away from her girlfriend, and shifted it over to the end of the room opposite to herself. To the vacant desk that had once been occupied by the woman in question. By Jay. Jinx.

Caitlyn saw it from the corner of her eye. Rose her gaze, tore it away from the riddle, to watch as the enforcer stared straight ahead at the empty desk. Longing lay in her eyes. The desire for this all to be but a nightmare. To see her sister again.

To be honest to herself, Caitlyn wanted that, too. Sure, it wasn't always easy with Jinx. Complications arose whenever the woman was around, and randomness and awkwardness were her constant companions, as when she had admitted her attractions towards the sheriff. But especially these things made Jinx such a unique person. It was never boring with her around. One always had to be prepared for the most random event to take place. But that didn't mean that there weren't slow days. Calm afternoons of peace. Of relaxation.

It was hard to believe it, but Caitlyn had gotten used to it as well already. Jinx had become part of her life in the weirdest of ways, and could not be just removed from it anymore. Not the way it was now.

"We'll find her." spoke the sheriff silently, catching the attention of the brawler, a reassuring smile on her lips as she faced the pink-haired woman, "We'll beat her at her own game. We'll catch her. And then we'll make things right again."

Caitlyn rose from her chair, the riddle in hand, and rounded her desk. Approached the other woman in the room with calm and cautious steps, almost as if she were to approach a cornered panicked animal. Vi wasn't anything like that at the moment, but the doubts were there in the brawler, the doubts of them making it in time.

The sheriff had those, too. But that was no option. They wouldn't fail. Of that, she assured herself as she leaned down to embrace the sitting brawler. To share that sense of false security. To calm her down. To calm them both down.

"I promise that, Vi. We will make it in time." whispered the sheriff gently into the ear of her girlfriend.

Even though she knew better than to make promises she wasn't sure she could keep.

---

"You should know better than to make promises you're not going to keep, hat lady."

Letting out a snort, Jinx leaned back in her chair and threw her hands into the air as she began to laugh like the madwoman she was, almost throwing her hamburger across the room. It was dark, no window in the room she was in, only a desk lamp illuminating the small room, barely big enough to be called one.

Lowering her arms and taking a big bite from her hamburger, the loose cannon kept snickering to herself as she chewed and listened to the radio that lay on the metal desk in front of her. How stupid of Piltover's finest! She had even heard how Vi had pulled the drawer open that the radio was in, but the enforcer hadn't even realized that the radio was on and transmitting their entire conversation to the criminal in her little dark hidey-hole, the hideout that neither Vi, nor Caitlyn were aware of.

She swallowed. Licked the ketchup off her lips, before placing the fast food down in its wrapper next to the tablet in front of her. Shoving the radio to the side and pulling the touchscreen tablet closer, she quickly typed a few things into the interface, to which the four screens mounted onto the wall in front of her reacted accordingly. Confirming her input, she let a smirk cross her lips as a song began to play at low volume.

She leaned back again. Pushed the tablet away. Other than to play music and to keep tabs on her creations as well as keeping a general view of blueprints, plans and resources, she barely used it. Well, since she wasn't the most orderly person, why not let technology handle it for her? She had so many ideas, plans, blueprints and stuff she had to keep a general view of, that she couldn't have it all on paper.

Then again, she still preferred to write things down. To draw blueprints and plans herself, and merely keep them listed on her tablet. The sound of rustling and the feeling of paper in her hands was too exciting for her to just give up on. Too satisfying for her insanity.

A sudden wave of pain washed through her, the source her head. With a groan, she leaned forward and reached for her forehead, thumb and middle finger immediately finding her temples. The headache was back at full power. The headache that she had been having for days on end. The headache that was threatening to split her skull apart. That kept her awake at night, and woke her in others.

She took a deep breath and lowered her left hand to her eyes to massage them, while blindly searching for her pill bottle with the other. Finding it, she quickly pulled it to her and unscrewed the lid, threw it carelessly onto the desk in front of her. Throwing her head back, she shook the bottle over her mouth until she felt three pills fall into her mouth. One too much, but she didn't care anymore.

The pain was killing her and two pills rarely ever managed to numb the pain anymore, she might need the additional pill. She knew she was on the path of getting addicted to the painkiller, might as well already be, with how many she had to swallow on a daily basis after her stay at the hospital after the chemical plant disaster. It would explain why her body couldn't keep the headache at bay anymore without the pills. Her body had gotten used to the medication.

She knew she had to slowly reduce the dose. But she couldn't anymore. Couldn't stand the pain without it. Even now, the pain in her skull was unbearable. But it would soon be alright. Just a few more minutes, now that she had swallowed the pills, and everything would be alright again for the moment.

Well, alright for her.

The question bugging her, though, was whether or not everything would be alright for Piltover's finest, and in extension, Piltover. For the fate of Piltover lay now in the hands of Vi and Caitlyn. In their ability to solve the riddle in time.

"I wonder..." she began in a hushed voice, talking to herself as she reached for her hamburger and rose it to her lips, the smell invading her nostrils, her hunger flaring up again, "I wonder if they can make it in time. It's not too hard, but not easy, either. Just enough to be a challenge for Caitlyn. She just has to realize that she shouldn't think too complicated."

Taking a bite, the loose cannon glanced over to where a small alarm clock rested near a neatly arranged array of fireworks on another metal desk. Well, actual fireworks weren't included in her plan, but they were what had given her the idea for the game in the first place. A single rocket of each type was cut open and its contents spilled into a small pile onto the desk. Copper. Potassium. Rubidium.

The clock read 7:43 PM. Time was running out for them, but they didn't know that. Almost half of the time left was over. Only a few more hours until the bomb would go off, and Piltover would fall into chaos once and for all. Buried in darkness and mayhem.

It would be her victory once and for all. There was no way that Piltover's finest would be able to make things right again after that. To turn the city back into the boring way. The way of its everyday life.

The bomb would go off in a few hours, and its loud thunder would mark the new era of Piltover. The more exciting one, with no path back.

This time, she had gathered enough explosives to throw Piltover into chaos for the rest of its existence. An existence that would be short-lived, were the bomb to indeed go off. There was no way that it would last long once the new era was initiated. She would make sure of that.

It was entirely up to Caitlyn and Vi, but they weren't aware of how dire the situation really was. For them, it was just a game with the goal of getting to her. They didn't know about the new era she was going to create. Didn't know about the countless explosives, all strapped to one timer. Didn't know that she had been gathering the resources for months.

A sick excitement spread through her. Once again, the madness numbed the pain in her head, which she was thankful for. It would be what eased the pain until the actual painkiller kicked in. Until it liberated her of the pain. Of the feeling that her skull was just another bomb that needed to explode. Explode so bad.

She sent another glance to the clock. There was not any time to be wasted. Not anymore. Nearly half of the game was over, and Vi and Caitlyn were nowhere close to the solving the riddle. They needed a new incentive, a new hint.

In other words, it was time for her to show up again.

The loose cannon rose from her chair. Pushed it out of the way and reached for her burger. She wolfed down the remains of it, stuffed the quarter of it that had remained into her mouth in its entirety.

Maybe a bit too much, as it was hard to begin chewing, but the madwoman didn't regret it. She had other things to worry about. The monitors were turned off in one swift motion, the music stopped with one touch of the tablet.

Picking up the wrapper and throwing it into the office trash can – a 'souvenir' from the police station – Jinx turned to leave her hideout. Everything was prepared for this second phase of the game. She just had to go out and cause a little bit of chaos. Piece of a cake, she could do that. It was natural for her to do that.

The second phase would be fun. Messing with Piltover's finest again, like she used to in her more criminal days. She would appear, cause some mayhem, get chased by them. If they did good, they'd receive the second half of the riddle, which in return, would initiate the third phase.

And then, there would be only one thing left to do. The third phase was a tradeoff of boredom and excitement. The third and final phase meant to wait. Wait and see if Piltover's finest would make it in time, if they understood the riddle and would show up to stop her. If they would, it was her turn to stop them from interrupting her plan. If they didn't show up, the first excitement she would get was the bomb going off.

But that was the final phase. They were hours away from that. The game wasn't even half over. There was so much fun to be had before.

Jinx reached the end of the room – which was less of a room, there were no doors and no door frame, the room ended in two corridors in the north-west and the south-east corner. She had never bothered to turn the whole thing into separate rooms. Had no need to. Doors were too loud and gave the position of her hideout away.

Standing in the corridor, though, the loose cannon came to a stop. Felt nauseous. Sick. Something didn't feel right. Her balance was off. Her legs felt weak. And the source of that feeling was her head.

She rose her hand to her right temple, growled. There was no pain, but the consequences were there. Or were those the side-effects of the pills? She couldn't tell. Wasn't even sure anymore. But she knew one thing.

She turned back to her desk, sprinted over to it. Before she left to initiate phase two, she grabbed the pill bottle.

---

A soft breeze hit the face of the loose cannon when she stood at a window in the third story of an abandoned residence not half an hour later. The breeze was cold but refreshing, partly because of her skimpy clothing, which the addition of goggles on her forehead did little to change. Now after 8 PM, the sun was starting to set on the horizon, tinting the city of progress into a stunning orange of twilight, a sight to behold, even for the madwoman. Calming even.

And if it weren't for the slight hint of sulfur in the air, everything would've been alright. Something she'd think of as a moment that one would want to share with those close to him. She wanted to share this moment with Caitlyn and Vi, too. Like she did with Fishbones, Pow-Pow, Zap and Saltsticks that moment.

And not in the way that she was sharing it with Vi and Caitlyn at that moment.

It was the sound of powerful knocks on the door two stories below that shattered the illusion of peace. And all the loose cannon could do was to smirk. To enjoy it as the knocks got louder and more intense. As the person outside the door was clearly getting irritated.

And then, the sound of a door being knocked in. No, not kicked in, knocked in. By a huge gauntlet.

"Freeze!"

The loose cannon snorted aloud before she broke down in laughter. Turning to look over her shoulder at the door to the corridor, the madwoman couldn't hold back at the thought that Vi had just kicked the entrance door in and had screamed into the corridor without even knowing where the loose cannon was.

Jinx chuckled as she leaned out of the window and glanced down to the driveway of the house, or at least what little she could see over canopy of the building. She could still see Caitlyn, standing there. Staring up at her. Staring her into the eye.

The door behind the loose cannon was kicked open, this one with an actual kick. Winking at Caitlyn, knowing it would trigger the memory of Jinx admitting her attraction towards the sheriff, the loose cannon turned around to face her younger sister in the doorway, wearing her gauntlets. Already charged all the way for a Vault Breaker.

"Freeze!" barked the enforcer again, eyes narrowing in irritation. Jinx, though, took it with humor. The same insane humor that always changed her perception of things just a little.

"But I'm not cold, Fat Ha..."

"Stuff it, Jay." interrupted Vi in her anger, open gauntlets curling into fists. The threat had no effect on the loose cannon, though. Instead, it only served to amuse her even further. Because it was an empty threat. Not so much in Vi's eyes, maybe, who thought that she had the criminal cornered. For Jinx, though, the room was no dead end. Just the beginning of phase two.

"Well, it seems you followed my hints." chuckled the madwoman lowly and slowly lowered Fishbones, who she had heaved onto her shoulder and pointed out of the window before.

"Not funny." growled Vi, narrowed her eyes at her older sister, "What do you think you're doing? Was this just to get our attention or has this something to do with this bomb you're spewing things about that you call a riddle?"

Jinx rose an eyebrow at the enraged enforcer, but the smirk remained. Grew a bit. Slowly, she rose Fishbones – making sure not to point it at Vi, as to not make her think she was aiming at her – and offered it for Vi to examine.

"What I think I was doing?" Jinx repeated eventually, the hint of amusement obvious in her voice as she gestured to a small pile of firework rockets that lay next to her on the ground, "Well, I guess I was shooting these amazing firework rockets into the night sky. Because, ya know, they are beautiful and this city needs something amazing to happen every once in a while."

The anger of the enforcer faded and she relaxed a bit, her overall posture relaxing and rising a bit. The brawler rose an eyebrow at her older sister, almost as if to try and understand what Jinx had just told her.

When she had heard over the radio that some maniac was shooting rockets into the early night sky – obviously Jinx trying to catch their attention, as she had promised to reappear before the time was up and the bomb would blow up to give them a chance to learn the second half of the riddle – she hadn't assumed that the officer on the radio had been referring to firework rockets.

"You're kidding me, right? You're shooting firework rockets into the sky... With your rocket launcher? One that you built, and that could be easily classified as military equipment?" muttered Vi. But the smirk on her sister's lips told her that Jinx was actually being honest. Outright serious. And somehow, she didn't even doubt it. It fitting for Jinx.

Just when had Fishbones turned into a firework rocket launcher, though?

"With Fishbones, yes." confirmed the lunatic, almost as if nothing was wrong with it, "You wanna try it, too? It's actually quite fun, might help you to blow off some steam. You're actually quite tensed and all. You don't look too healthy, lil' sis. Have you been eating enough? Getting enough sleep?"

"What is this, some kind of joke? Or are you trying your psychological evaluation stuff on me?"

"No, actually, it's neither of those. Have you ever considered that I might be worried about you? Like, for real? After all, you are my little sister, Vi, no matter what side we are on. No matter what happened. I do care about you."

"Then come back." snarled the enforcer and rose her gauntlets in front of her body, "Stop this shit before it goes down the wrong path again."

"Ain't no wrong path where I'm heading to." snickered the loose cannon, but something mysterious lay in her voice, something enigmatic with a deeper meaning that Vi could not grasp, "There's just one path for me. It goes up tonight onto my stage in the heavens..." Jinx made a dramatic motion with her finger, a spiral upwards, "...and then, there's just down."

The motion was violent and erratic. After the motion of the spiral upwards, Jinx let her finger fall into the direction of the enforcer, first slow, but increasing in speed, before violently yanking it down, almost slapping her own leg.

"What?" murmured Vi quietly, the mysterious statement making little to no sense. Unless Jinx meant to tell her something. Unless there was a bigger meaning behind it. A message, hidden in these cryptic descriptions of up and down.

"Well, don't get me wrong now, Vi. I really enjoy these moments that we have here, these little chats." chuckled Jinx as she slowly turned Fishbones to face towards the wall to the left, more to gently stroke its side rather than to aim at something, "But, you see, it's not my time we're wasting here. It's that of Piltover."

"Right." muttered Vi, remembering the situation that had brought them to that point, "Thanks for reminding me. Now spew it, this second part of your riddle. We found you, so I think we deserve to hear it."

"And I think..." Jinx trailed off, chuckled, examined her rocket launcher closer, "And I think, you need to earn it first by catching me."

The sinister tone was the warning that Vi had waited for. While she hadn't been prepared for it to happen without a warning, countless encounters with the bipolar maniac that her sister was had steeled her for something like this, and had sharpened her reflexes.

Her gauntlet-covered fists were already in front of her chest by the time that Jinx had turned Fishbones to her, and only then, over the top of her gauntlets, could Vi see the firework rocket still loaded into the jaws of the mechanical shark.

Jinx pulled the trigger, and a fire erupted deep within the belly of the beast, a spark that triggered the firework rocket. Vi pulled her hands up further, shifted in her stance, lowered her body until her head and most of her body were shielded by the gauntlets. With a sharp howl, the firework rocket shot forward, out of the jaw of the beast, and right at the enforcer.

The damage was nonexistent, even as the rocket slammed into the gauntlets and exploded, the explosive power of the firework rocket nothing compared to what the gauntlets and Vi's blast shield had taken before in shape of Fishbone's actual ammunition.

It wasn't damage that Jinx was after, though, it was the moment of disorientation as the rocket burst apart into a dense cloud of sparkles that were of varying shades in between blue and green, enveloping the enforcer in them, momentarily blinding her.

In the moment that the rocket was fired, the loose cannon reached for the goggles on her forehead and pulled them down, the dark shade of the lenses shielding her eyes from the bright flash. Not disoriented that way despite how close she was to the explosion – the only thing that she felt of it was the small pain of the sparks burning on her bare arms, midriff and legs, which only served to fuel her madness and give her the boost she needed as she got excited – the loose cannon twirled around, grabbed as many firework rockets as she could fit into her arms, and went the way she had planned to go ever since she had started firing rockets into the sky to get the attention of the cops.

Out of the window.

For a moment, she was in free fall, accelerated by the weight of her mini-gun, rocket launcher and other weapons. One story below, she hit the canopy over the front entrance. Of course, she already had Caitlyn's attention long by then, as the sheriff had watched the whole exchange through her magnifying lenses. If she hadn't, then the sound of the criminal landing on the canopy and catching herself in a roll would've alerted her.

The sheriff pulled the rifle up, but Jinx had been prepared for that. During the roll, she pulled one of the rockets from the small amount she held in her arms, held it in her left hand that way as she ended her roll on her feet right at the edge of the canopy.

Before Caitlyn could aim at one of her legs and make the decision whether or not to pull the trigger, Jinx reached over her shoulder with the hand that held the rocket and, just as she had trained countless times, held the firework rocket so that the fuse touched the hot barrel just behind the jaws of Fishbones.

Being fireworks that Jinx had crafted herself, the fuse had just the right length – meaning it was way too short to be considered safe – for the rocket's propulsion to start within her hand. She let go, threw it into Caitlyn's direction, and the propulsion of the rocket did the rest.

She saw how Caitlyn's eyes widened in shock. She obviously had not expected Jinx to pull of something that crazy, and yet threw her body to the side just in time to avoid being hit by the firework, hitting the front lawn in a roll that was nowhere as gracious as the sheriff herself was.

The rocket exploded upon slamming into the driveway, erupting into a volley of reddish to violet sparkles. It crackled as the sparks rained down on the driveway, distracting the sheriff on the lawn, which stared at it in disbelief. Giving Jinx more time than she needed, she twirled on her heels and made a dash along the edge of the canopy. The roof tiles cracked and groaned under the weight of her – well, more her weapons – but she didn't exactly care. So far, phase two was going well.

Just as she had planned, she heard the sound of a wall breaking behind her. She didn't need to cast a glance over her shoulder to know that Vi had just burst through the wall just beside the window she had escaped from. The silent yelp as the enforcer fell one story deep, not having expected there to be no ground since Jinx had dove through the window without hesitation, was kind of an indication, especially when she heard the sound of Vi hitting the canopy and rolling down on it.

Jinx reached the edge of the canopy, but didn't slow down as she approached it. Used her entire momentum as she leaped off the canopy, catapulting herself towards the other residence right next to the one she had been in. Action movies tended to overexaggerate, she knew that, and as such, wasn't surprised as she fell towards the earth – or rather, a window in the first floor - rather than the other canopy that was way further than a single jump away. In the movies, one could jump over the gap. A woman wielding a mini-gun and a rocket launcher did not.

Abandoned as well, no one cared or got scared as a scantily clad and heavily armed woman from Zaun burst through the window in the first floor and hit the tiled floor of an old kitchen that had seen better days.

She barely cared that she got countless cuts all over her body from the dive through the window and the landing in the shards. Instead, fueling her insanity and sending her into another rush of excitement, Jinx came to a stop after a somersault that absorbed the impact, one foot planted firmly on the ground while she rested on the knee of her other leg, not quite unlike the kneeling position that Caitlyn often sniped in.

Knowing that she didn't have much time, Jinx let go of the firework rockets in her arm, scattered them over the black and white tiled floor of the kitchen. She grabbed one, didn't care what color it would be, even though she knew it would be pink when she spotted the small pink stripe near the tip, which she had placed there to tell the colors of the rockets apart without setting them off.

Shifting the rocket to her left hand, Jinx reached over her left shoulder with her now empty hand and pulled the heavy metal beast that Fishbones was over it. The rocket launcher hit the tiled floor in front of her, jaws wide open, allowing her to pull it up and shove the rocket inside, tip pointing towards her.

With a smirk, Jinx lifted her weapon and pushed it back over her shoulder, where it found its place on the hook on her back.

Locked and loaded.

"She jumped through the window! She's in the other building!" she heard Caitlyn call out outside. Turning her head, Jinx, still in the kneeling position on the floor, spotted her sister on the canopy of the other building, seemingly having recovered from the shock and the short fall. But Vi spotted her, too, Jinx knew that when Vi pointed one gauntlet-covered finger right at her.

"She's there! I can see her! She's on the ground in the kitchen!"

The maniac chuckled at how well this was going. Despite some factors she could've not foreseen, things were working just like she wanted them to do. One pale wrist came up to her forehead and rubbed the sweat off it, though the cuts on her forearm left a scarlet line in its place. Her body was a mess, covered in cuts, but she didn't care. Never cared about herself as long as she got a kick out of it.

Vi's heavy steps on the other canopy came closer, urging Jinx grab the firework rockets and make a run for it again. With Fishbones in place and the firework rockets in her arm, she dashed towards the doorway, just as Vi jumped off the canopy in an attempt to follow her older sister.

And then, the maniac made a mistake. She stumbled, cut a corner too sharp, her waist hitting the countertop and sent her off balance, and while she didn't fall, she had to flail her arms around in an attempt to regain her balance.

And thus, sent a whole lot of the rockets she was carrying skittering across the floor.

"Crap!"

She stopped momentarily, debated with herself whether or not to pick the rockets up. She didn't really need them, but they were helpful, and the only kind of ammunition she had for Fishbones. She had left the rest at the hideout, as even she had a limit of what she could carry, and what not.

Her gaze rose a bit, a flash of pink just outside the window catching her attention. Vi, coming towards the broken window at full speed. And the maniac growled. Snarled. There was no time to pick the rockets up.

"Cupcake, you go through the front door! I'll make myself one!"

In frustration, Jinx glared down at the single rocket in her right hand. It was the only one aside from the one in Fishbones that she had now. Rose her gaze again, saw Vi just outside the window, ready to leap inside.

And decided to make the best of the situation.

Her left hand went for her utility belt and opened one of the pouches, slipped inside and pulled the small rectangular box out that she stored inside. Well, one of the many. The box was flipped open in the trained shake of her wrist, a whole lot of the matches inside falling to the ground, but Jinx didn't care, had grabbed one, and hastily sled it along the box.

With a hiss, the match was set ablaze, and Jinx let go of the match-box to make some space in her hands.

She had no idea if this would work or not. It was a risky and insane idea, but if it would work, Vi was going to be slowed down quite a bit. Vi, who just jumped into the room through the window. With the burning match in hand, Jinx stormed towards her younger sister, confusing her, catching her off guard.

Vi slowed down and rose her gauntlets to defend herself, only to change her mind and, following the popular saying, swung her right gauntlet forward true to the fashion of 'offense being the best defense'.

But Jinx ducked. Dove to the side, and slipped past Vi towards the window again, burning match still in hand. With a gasp, Vi twirled around and frowned, but immediately swung her gauntlet in an attempt to get a hold on the elusive criminal. Missed, and stumbled into the countertop.

And Jinx fell onto her needs just in front of the cabinet under the sink, which she yanked open. She found what she had searched for. A flammable cleaner.

With the white bottle in hand, she pushed herself off the closet and rose to her full height. She didn't have the time to open the bottle, so she slammed it with its lid first into the countertop. Once. Twice. Vi was back, jumped at her. Jinx made a pirouette out of the way and around Vi, resulting in the other woman hitting the floor in a roll, and Jinx to return towards the countertop with more momentum.

And this time, the lid broke off as Jinx slammed it down on the countertop. She wasn't even sure if it would work, or how it would work, a dumb idea fueled by madness. And yet, she rushed through the kitchen towards the doorway to the corridor, made sure to spill as much of the flammable substance, especially close to the rockets that lay scattered across the entire floor of the kitchen, creating thin lines that connected them. She cast a glance towards the match in her hand.

The flame was but a few centimeter away from her finger. It was time.

Just in the doorway, she twirled around threw the bottle back into the room. This had to be a stupid idea – and yet she finally lit the fuse of the rocket in her hand. Threw it into the room that Vi was in. A distraction. Nothing but a distraction.

Vi would escape this, she knew it. This wouldn't hurt Vi, it would merely slow her down. Like, a lot. And if Vi did get hurt, it was only karma. Vi had burnt her arm first, after all.

The rocket went off, colorful sparks of blue spreading through the room. And, this being her sign, Jinx threw the burning match into the room. Didn't wait for it to hit the ground. Instead turned and charged up the stairs.

But all the way up, she listened. Waited for the sound of fire. Of more rockets going off. Sent a glance over her shoulder, down the stairs she was ascending.

There was no fire. No smoke coming from the kitchen. No fireworks going off. Instead, Vi came barreling out of the kitchen door, and immediately spotted her at the top of the stairs.

Little did Jinx know that the whole cleaner thing was just another ruse of the movie industry. Just like jumping over wide gaps and not falling, and gas being set ablaze by being shot at.

The excitement was gone. Her madness unsatisfied by the lack of a result. Even a little disappointed. Her list of committed crimes was long, but did neither include arson, nor any charge of ultimate badassery. And as it seemed, it was not going to include that any time soon.

And she really wanted that charge of ultimate badassery to brag about!

Well, there were other chances.

And other ways to stop Vi. It was hard to stop a train, but not impossible, and the same applied to Vi. You just needed to know how.

The upper end of the stairs was near and Vi was catching up, and that quite fast. So Jinx went for her last resort.

She pulled Fishbones, twirled around just as she reached the top of the stairs. She took one second to aim down the narrow stairs. And fired. Laughed hysterically.

The rocket let out a hiss as it was propelled forward, leaving the maw of the mechanical shark just in the moment that Jinx twirled away, resulting in the jaws slamming into the rear of the rocket, and thus sending it off course.

Instead of flying straight at Vi, it hit the wall over the stairs, bounced off, hit the ceiling, bounced off, came down, hit the ground in front of Vi, and exploded. Jinx didn't have time to look back, but if she would have, she would've spotted Vi, rushing through the pink sparks. Her own goggles pulled down as well.

Without ammunition for Fishbones, but definitely not unarmed, Jinx dove through the next doorway, slammed the door inside open with her shoulder. It was a long but narrow corridor, with the only other door being at the far end. Light fell into the room through two windows on the right side, leading out to the backyard of the abandoned residence. The garden was in a horrible state, not having been tended to in years, but the madwoman had little time to mourn over this picture of sadness.

She had to escape. Had to win her own game. Knowing she had made mistakes, and that she was closer to being captured than she had initially planned, her only instinct was to escape now. She didn't want to be caught. She had to be there, at the stage, the place where her bomb was at. She had to be there when it exploded, had to experience her victory from up close! Needed the absolute kick!

But the chances were dwindling with each second that she didn't escape Piltover's finest. With each step that Vi got closer, with each step that she caught up.

And plummeted to near nonexistence when the door at the far end of the corridor opened up before Jinx got anywhere near close it.

She froze, came to a complete halt, and stared in absolute shock at the woman in the other door. Couldn't believe that it had really happened, the one thing that was bound to eventually happen one of these days, during one of their games of cat and mouse.

She had been outsmarted.

Standing in the door on the far end, rifle pointed at her, was Caitlyn. And behind herself, Jinx heard Vi closing in, steps slowing down until they stopped just a few steps behind her.

The chase was over. The hunt had come to an end.

And Jinx had lost.

"Well, look at that." mocked Vi from just a few steps behind the loose cannon, "Looks like we caught us a madwoman, cupcake!"

Jinx let out a huff, blowing a strand of electric-blue hair out of her face in irritation. Craning her neck first to the right, then the left, the loose cannon then rolled her shoulders in hope to ease the tensed muscles in her shoulders, upper arms and neck.

"At least you can catch something with those hands." she taunted back, not too impressed by Vi, "Rockets weren't your thing, we kinda proved that."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" bellowed the younger sister right back, but was swiftly ignored by Jinx as the criminal opened another pouch on her utility belt and reached inside. An action that was quickly rewarded by Caitlyn pulling her rifle up and releasing the safety catch. The loose cannon frowned at the brunette.

"Relax. I've got a headache." huffed Jinx, before she presented the pill bottle to the sheriff, shook it, "It's just pills. Pills here! You want one, too?"

"No, thanks. If I want to get rid of a headache..." Caitlyn aimed at the loose cannon, aligned her eye with the lenses, "...I usually get rid of the source of my headache."

With a deadpan, Jinx stared at the sheriff. Unimpressed and not intimidated in the slightest by the threat – she knew that Caitlyn would only shoot a net at her, and the worst thing that she would do was to shoot her in the leg – Jinx opened the bottle in her hand without even looking away from Caitlyn, shook a pill into her hand, and put it into her mouth.

Both cops watched as Jinx swallowed the pill dry and closed the bottle again, slipped it back into her pouch. Way too calm for someone who had a gun pointed at them, and was within the reach of huge gauntlets.

Casually, Jinx pulled another bottle out, one that looked nearly the same but had its label removed, and shook a bubble gum out of it. She put it into her mouth as well, bit down on it and tasted its flavor. Shuddered as the powerful taste spread through her mouth.

"Want one, too?" she inquired, offering the bottle first to Caitlyn, then into the direction of Vi, but neither of the cops did as much as react. Instead stared at her like she was crazy. Well, she was.

"Ugh, I see no one is up for candy and fun times, hm?" scoffed Jinx, disappointment and uneasiness in her voice. She had any reason to be uneasy – she was running out of options. Both in how to escape, and how to delay the moment until Piltover's finest would pounce at her.

"Not really, no." confirmed Caitlyn in a serious tone, "You have two options now, Jinx, and I prefer the first one, which would be to simply tell us where the bomb is. No one gets hurt, and we can negotiate your fate."

"And where would be the fun in that, hat lady?"

"Then it seems it's option two." retorted the sheriff, "The second part of the riddle."

Jinx rose an eyebrow at her, especially at how serious Caitlyn was. How cold her voice was. And how Caitlyn refused to move her eye away from the lenses of the rifle. Caitlyn was serious, dead serious. And Vi was too.

"Well, I guess I can work with that." sniggered Jinx and brushed a hand through her hair. A few seconds passed in which she recalled the second part of the riddle and chewed on her bubble gum, its sweet flavor of strawberry flaring up with each bite.

In reality, though, she was buying herself a few more seconds. Seconds in which she stared out of the window into the dead garden below and the paved patio below. Dropping down on it would hurt a lot, and probably more than she could take at the moment. That aside, she was an easy target for the sniping sheriff if she took that route.

But was there any other route? Any other way to escape? She wouldn't get past Caitlyn, the sheriff was blocking the door. And getting into Vi's range would be the biggest mistake she could make at that moment.

She pulled another bottle with bubble gum out, well aware that it was another flavor. Neither the sheriff, nor the enforcer seemed to tolerate that further delay, but Jinx didn't care. Never did. Simply shook a bubble gum out of the misused pill bottle.

It wasn't until she had put it into her mouth that she knew for sure what flavor it was. Strawberry and mint mixed unpleasantly in her mouth.

"Alright, fine." muttered the loose cannon and slipped the pill bottle full of mint bubble gum back into its pouch on her utility belt, "Here's the second part of the riddle. You should figure this one out fast, though, cause it's supposed to tell you how much time you have left. Would be irony if you solved it, only too learn that you took too long, eh? Well, then again, you'd know when you failed to make it in time. Piltover's downfall, literal as it will be, will be loud and clear."

"I'm not even going to ask what that means." growled Vi, "The riddle. Now."

"I was about to tell you." complained Jinx with a huff, clearly not as amused anymore now that she was in a bit of a predicament. But fair was fair, she had promised the second part of the riddle were they to be successful in catching her.

Only had she interpreted the term 'catching' a little more loosely. As in, she would make fun of them, be chased around by them, eventually get out of their reach, and then tell them the second part of the riddle before she made a run for it and waited at the 'stage'.

To literally get caught was not planned.

"Congrats, congrats, you've got me again,

but in a few hours alone, this might be in vain.

Soon, we'll meet upon my stage from which I see them all,

be too late, and upon them I fall.

The bomb is set and ticking aloud,

if it goes off, I will be so proud.

So, as a hint this is meant,

your anger you should vent.

As you know as to where, it is time for the when,

so you best have figured the riddle out long by then.

For how long you have left there's one thing, just so small,

the firework won't start until the curtains fall..."

"That is everything?!" bellowed Vi, not quite believing her ears. She had hoped to understand the second part more than the first one, which she had been struggling to understand at all, but not only did the second part of the riddle make even less sense, she didn't even see what the hint in it was, the hint that, according to Jinx herself, would tell them when the bomb would explode.

If anything, next to none of the lines were referring to the time at all.

She cast a glance past the lunatic to her partner, but if Caitlyn was just as confused as she was, the sheriff didn't show it. Her expression was still the same, hadn't even changed in the slightest. Still cold and serious. And her rifle was still pointing at Jinx.

"Well, that's all I have to say, the rest is up to you!" snorted Jinx around her bubble gum, before bursting into laughter. This turned Vi's attention back to the lunatic, who had, for some reason, relaxed. Seconds ago, she had been tense and looking around in what was clearly discomfort.

And now, she was standing almost too casually in between them. In the trap.

"Why are you so calm?" growled the enforcer. She slowly felt the euphoria of trapping Jinx fade away, the usual doubt of really having done so arising. Jinx had been in tighter spots before, had been chased into dead ends and on top of buildings. Heck, she had even escaped by jumping through a closed window in the fourth story and had landed on a much smaller building on the other side of a road!

So did they truly have her trapped this time?

The answer was surprisingly simple, and provided by Jinx in reply to Vi's question in actions instead of words.

The loose cannon reached into the same pouch as before, the one in which she carried the pill bottle with mint bubble gum. Neither cop saw any threat in that, and both knew the loose cannon's sweet tooth.

So neither of them was prepared for when Jinx opened the lid of the misused pill bottle, and instead of taking one bubble gum out, threw the open bottle at Vi.

Reacting quickly, Vi pulled her arms up, less because she was in any danger, but more to shield herself from the bubble gum. A reflex, more than anything. And exactly the thing Jinx had aimed for.

With Vi shortly distracted, the loose cannon turned the other way, unhooking one of her Flame Chompers from her waist in the process. She triggered it, her thumb pushing a button just behind the jaws on it, which immediately began to clatter and bite violently at everything within reach. Which was nothing, considering that Jinx threw it towards the sheriff.

How magnificent Jinx's aim with Flame Chompers was proved again the moment that Caitlyn pulled her trigger. Instead of hitting the left arm of the loose cannon as intended, the bullet hit the flying Flame Chomper and was deflected by it into the wall, but not without setting it off.

An explosion rocked the corridor, a wall of fire unleashed that forced Caitlyn to duck out of the way. Vi lowered her arms that moment to see what the sound had been about, only to be hit by Fishbones into the face, the loose cannon swinging her rocket launcher by the tailfin.

Stumbling backwards, a sound echoing through her skull, Vi let out a groan of pain and lost her balance.

And with both cops shortly distracted, Jinx didn't waste her chance. Fishbones was swung once again, this time slamming into the next window, sending shards flying outside, and leaving a large dent in the wooden frame.

With the window damaged, Jinx threw herself against it and broke through the remaining glass. This resulted in a few new cuts and even more pain as she hit the canopy under the window, rolled down on it without control, only to bounce off the edge, and fall again, this time onto the paved patio she had seen before. And just as she had suspected, it hurt like hell.

Hurt so much that she found herself throwing her body around, convulsing in pain, everything throbbing and aching. But with the pain came a new rush of adrenaline, of excitement. The madness was sparked anew, and it numbed the pain. At least long enough for her to make an escape, swallow more painkiller, and then initiate the final phase.

Or rather, wait until Piltover's finest would either solve the riddle and find her, or until the bomb went off.

Still in pain, the loose cannon rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up onto all fours. She slipped when she pushed herself up onto her feet, had to use her hands to get up onto her feet. Holding onto Pow-Pow and Fishbones, checking to see if Zap and Saltsticks were still in their positions on her belt, the criminal took off running towards the next bush.

She cast a short glance over her shoulder, only to spot the setting sun reflecting off something in the window she had just escaped through. That this 'something' were the lenses on Caitlyn's scope wasn't hard for her to figure out, but she didn't worry about it.

She didn't have to.

The moment that Caitlyn finally managed to align her right eye to the lenses, Jinx jumped through a hedge. And was gone.

Slowly, realization dawning on her that they had been played badly by the madwoman even when Jinx had been trapped, the sheriff opened her left eye and lowered her rifle, pulled it back into the corridor.

Jinx had escaped. And even though the bitter taste of defeat lingered in the mouth of the sheriff, it wasn't that they had failed completely. They had learned the second half of the riddle. They could find Jinx. Could stop this madness.

Could potentially even bring Jinx to reason.

Turning her head, Caitlyn sent a glance to her partner and girlfriend. The enforcer still seemed dizzy, held her forehead with her right hand, but reciprocated the stare.

Caitlyn nodded. Confirmed it. The hunt wasn't over, and it was all up to their minds now. Their ability to solve the riddle in time. To analyze the second half and find out how much time they had to find the bomb. There wasn't much time left, that much they did know, and both of them were well aware that it would possibly lead to them pulling an all-nighter. But like Jinx had said at the very beginning - they didn't have a choice in this.

If anything, though, it was a risky game. A risky decision they had to make. The question whether to solve the first part first, or the second. Learn when the bomb would blow up, but risk being too late to understand where the bomb was, or learn where the bomb was and head there, without knowing when it would blow up. Risking that it would explode in their faces.

But the decision didn't end there. The risk. If they were to solve the first part of the riddle and learn where the bomb was, the next decision was whether to go there, or to solve the second part to learn when the bomb would explode. Of course, the same worked vice versa. Solve the second part, and then, if enough time was left, solve the first part.

It all was based on their next step.

Smiles passed over their lips. There was hope. The sheriff adjusted the lenses on her hat, pushed the hat itself into place, then slung her rifle over her shoulder. Seeing this, Vi chuckled and nodded a bit herself, though her smile was askew. And that for a good reason.

"I think I need that painkiller now, after all..."

---

"I think I've finally got something."

Hearing Caitlyn say this, Vi perked up. She tore her own gaze away from her copies of the halves of the riddle, placed neatly side-by-side on her desk, and glanced over to where her girlfriend sat behind her own desk.

For a short moment, Vi frowned towards the window, took in the darkness outside. She was tempted to take a glance toward the clock, but dreaded what she would find. How many hours they had spent trying to solve the riddle.

So, pushing away from her desk and picking up her copies of the riddle, the enforcer made her way over to where her girlfriend sat. She threw her copies down on the desk and reclaimed her spot behind the sheriff, one hand on the backrest of the chair, and one on the desk aside the halves of the riddle.

"What's it?" inquired Vi, leaned over Caitlyn's shoulder and frowned at the notes scribbled all over the two pieces of paper, "Do we have her? Do we know where she and her bomb are?"

"I'm not sure." muttered Caitlyn quietly, "I've took a different approach, seeing as we don't have much time left."

"I know." agreed Vi, "Still, didn't she say she'd appear one more time during this game? I mean, it was the second-to-last line in the first half of the riddle, right?"

"You mean the part about appearing twice more during the game?" inquired the sheriff, waited for Vi to confirm this with a nod, to which she shook her head, "I think she was actually referring to when we find her bomb. She will be there to stop us, I'm sure of it."

"Makes sense." agreed Vi with a heavy sigh, lowering her head, the headache acting up despite the painkiller she had swallowed when they had returned to the station (whenever that was), "So, whadda'ya have?"

With a sigh on her own, Caitlyn pushed the second half of the riddle to the side and pulled the first part closer, eyes scanning over it until she found what she had been searching for. The line in particular that she had pondered about the most in the first half. Her finger came to a rest on it, showing Vi where she was.

"Here. This line has been bugging me all along, and I think I know why that is now." began the brunette, pointed at the line that read 'the spotlight of the world', "There's no line in the first half of the riddle that actually refers to a place. Or rather, not directly. This line though, I think that it is the really important part of the first half. I think the location of the bomb is hidden in the last paragraph of the first half."

"The part about the spotlight of the world shining down on it?" inquired Vi, one pink eyebrow slowly rising as she read through the paragraph, "Well the last two lines were actually just telling us that we'd meet her again, and that she'd give us the second half, which supposedly tells us when the bomb will blow up. So it's the first two lines then? Just this about the spotlight of the world?"

"Exactly. I've been struggling to understand this line for a while now, but when I saw Jinx running away earlier, I figured out what this spotlight of the world is." continued the sheriff, nervously licked her upper lip, which felt dry, "She was being literal. She was referring to the one big light that shines down on us. The sun."

"Wait, the sun is this spotlight of the..." Vi trailed, thought about it, "Shit, cupcake, I think you're right. I didn't think Jay would be that literal. You think she did that on purpose?"

The sheriff sent her girlfriend a glare. A glare that Vi knew the reason for.

"You could've agreed without swearing. Seriously, you and Jinx, you two curse way too much."

"Sorry, cupcake. Force of habit." chuckled the pinkette uneasily, one hand rubbing the back of her neck nervously, "And I think it runs in the family."

Rolling her eyes and letting out a sigh, Caitlyn couldn't help but smile good-naturedly as she turned back to the riddle. Really, Vi and Jinx were too similar in certain points. And they seldom were good.

"Anyways, if the spotlight of the world is the sun, then this would make the 'endless strife' and the 'short-lived cycle' a single day." mused the Caitlyn silently, more to herself then to Vi, "But what does it shine down at the peak of a day?"

"Can't say for sure, cupcake, but if the peak of a day is midday, wouldn't the sun be at its highest point in the sky? "

"It actually would be, but that isn't any kind of direction, it doesn't shine down on a certain location. So no clue as to where the bomb is." continued the sheriff, "Unless, of course, she's referring to the figurative sense of the sun being in the middle of the sky at midday. Then, the sun would shine right down on the center of Piltover..."

"Most likely. So it's somewhere in the center of Piltover?" inquired Vi, turning her gaze from the sheriff to the riddle in front of her. Or the first half, at least.

"I'm sure that's what she's trying to tell us, Vi. But the thing is, the center of the city is still a huge area. There's no way she has gathered that many explosives." pondered Caitlyn aloud, "I know we're talking about Jinx, and I know that she has done some other things that could be considered impossible, some of them even on accident and without purpose, but this is too much, even for Jinx."

"I know. But then it has to be a certain location in the center of Piltover. And she has left no other hint as to where that would be, right? Nothing specific." sighed the enforcer, sinking down and resting her chin on her hand, "Where would that be, anyways? There's nothing in the center of Piltover but those huge skyscrapers..."

Caitlyn froze, fingers clenching down on her pencil. Turning her head to stare at Vi, the sheriff connected the dots. Couldn't believe what image slowly created itself in her mind.

"Vi, repeat that. Think about what you just said."

"What? The skyscraper thing?" muttered Vi, only to then bite down on her tongue as she saw it too, "Oh shit. Don't tell me..."

"I think you just solved it. And something else."

The finger of the sheriff sled over the first half of the riddle again, rose a few lines until it came to a stop on the very line that Caitlyn had been struggling to understand before.

"From sixty stories to six feet under." read the sheriff, turning to stare at Vi with a scowl, "Vi, I think she meant this line more literal than we thought. The bomb is in the sixtieth story of a skyscraper in the center of Piltover. And there's only one that tall that it would make sense to plant a bomb in to cause huge damage to Piltover."

"Shit, I think I know what you mean. You mean the real big one, right? The hundred story one?" snarled Vi in realization, felt her fingers curl up into fists in anger, "She even said something like that! She said there's only one path for her, and that's up onto her stage in the heavens – which would fit the sixty stories and this spiraling motion she made, staircases – and then down. Down like..."

"Down like the upper forty stories of the building would go if the sixtieth story blows up in it's entirety. And the damage that would do would be disastrous. Imagine it if a building of forty stories would come crashing down on the city!" Caitlyn trailed off, bit down on her lower lip, began to nag on it, "This time, she's going too far. This isn't even madness anymore."

"Well, we can still prevent it! That skyscraper is only ten minutes away from here!" countered Vi quickly, even though she felt the same sense of dread in the back of her mind. The feeling that Jinx was indeed going way too far this time. This wasn't just a game anymore. It wasn't a game if innocent people got involved and hurt!

"We still don't know when it will blow up." murmured the sheriff, eyes scanning the riddle in its entirety again, "And we still don't know if there is any deeper reason for mentioning the specific colors of fireworks."

"I don't think so. What about the second half of the riddle, cupcake? When will the bomb blow up?"

"I don't know, give me a second." hissed the sheriff through clenched teeth, pushed the first part of the riddle aside and pulled the second closer, muttered as she went through the riddle, "So we figured out that the 'stage from which she will see them all' is the sixtieth story of that skyscraper. That she will be proud if she wins is obviously because it's her most dangerous plan yet. The biggest one she ever had, maybe..."

"Well, the treasury thing at the beginning of the Harlequin case came close..." commented Vi silently, though Caitlyn didn't hear, too focused on the riddle before her.

"I don't have any clue why we should vent our anger, it makes no sense in this context, but..." Caitlyn froze up, stopped mid-sentence. This earned her a frown from Vi, who didn't understand the reason for the sheriff's sudden reaction. But she had a bad feeling about it.

"Vi." Caitlyn's voice was low, shock evident in it. Her hand was quivering, and only increased to do as she sent a glance towards the clock on the far wall. Vi followed her gaze. 23:28 PM. It was nearing midnight, something the enforcer found herself groaning about. She really didn't want to pull that all-nighter.

Without a warning, Caitlyn burst out of her chair, sent it almost falling over, almost into Vi. The enforcer stared in confusion as Caitlyn reached over her desk, picked up her hat and put it on, only to then reach for her rifle.

"Vi, grab your stuff!" commanded the sheriff, and though Vi didn't understand, she did follow. Charged through the room to grab her gauntlets.

"Vi, it's the last line! The last line tells us how much time we have left!" bellowed Caitlyn by the door, so much out of character for her that Vi found herself just as much scared as confused, "The fireworks won't start until the curtain falls! That refers to the end of the show, when all the lights go out and the audience leaves!"

The sheriff pushed the door open and Vi followed her through the station that was mostly empty by then, only a few last officers sitting on their desks to finish reports. Some of them looked up as the sheriff and the enforcer rushed through the office and out of the door, but no one asked. Knew better than to ask.

Just out of the station, Caitlyn twirled around and stared at the enforcer again, blind panic in her eyes.

"Vi, the end of the show, when all the lights go out..." muttered the sheriff, hands curling into fists, "Jinx is referring to midnight. And that is little more than twenty minutes away."

Vi understood the reason for Caitlyn's panic immediately. The sense of dread that had been bugging her all along grew intense all of a sudden.

Twenty minutes away from the end of the game. Twenty minutes away from loss. From the bomb blowing up. From Piltover falling into chaos, and that quite literally. Crushed underneath its own progress, its own creations.

Jinx wasn't dumb at all.

"Crap, we've gotta go then, cupcake!"

"I figured that out myself, that's why we take the squad car and..." Caitlyn trailed off when Vi reached out and laid a hand onto her shoulder. When she saw the seriousness in Vi's eyes. There was something there. A beacon of hope. A ray of light. Vi had an idea.

"Cupcake, do you trust me? Cause, if you do, I could get us there a bit faster."

The sheriff knew immediately what the enforcer was suggesting. The dangerous part of what Vi was suggesting.

But time was everything.

---

"There it is!"

The sheriff could barely make the excited cry of the enforcer out, drowned out by the airflow and the sheriff having to hold onto Vi with her left hand, and her hat with he right hand. Glaring over the right shoulder of the enforcer that she sat behind, Caitlyn did not only feel the wind blowing even harder into her face and had to hard onto her hat even harder, but also did indeed spot the skyscraper in question.

And promptly found herself assured that they had been right. Something was off about the skyscraper, and it was easy to tell what it was – Only three stories were actually illuminated. The lobby, the fortieth story, and the sixtieth story.

Feeling Vi accelerate all of sudden, Caitlyn let out a sharp yelp and leaned forward, holding even harder onto the enforcer as the motorbike beneath them sped up even further than it already had, going to its very limits.

Her doubts had been justified after all. The deathtrap that Vi had begun to construct after the night at the bar, the night in which they met the team of four girls, wasn't completely safe, of that, she was assured. But Vi had fallen in love with the idea of possessing her own motorbike after she had seen the one that the blonde member of the other team had owned. And, being a mechanic, Vi had built it herself. Had modified it greatly.

It was still from finished, and that was actually the biggest risk. It was lacking a chassis, was just a metal skeleton with a light mounted at the front driving through the city with the enforcer and the sheriff on top, just like it had left Vi's workshop at the station only a few minutes earlier.

But it was the fastest thing they had. Could avoid most of the traffic, and easily slip through smaller gaps. And that was what they had to believe in. What they were believing in. Exploiting.

"Hey, cupcake!" bellowed Vi over her shoulder, goggles pulled down over her eyes, "Say, the front doors of the skyscraper have a motion sensor, right?"

"I think they have, why do you...?"

"Hold on tight, cupcake, I'm gonna do something dangerous!"

Without any further warning, Vi suddenly pulled to the right and into the driveway of the skyscraper. The deathtrap beneath them groaned and complained loudly as it climbed the walkway and, without slowing down, went straight for the front entrance.

Caitlyn screamed as she realized what Vi was up to, but couldn't do anything but pull her head lower and wait for it to be over as the bike climbed the stairs in front of the glass sliding doors that were the entrance into the lobby of the skyscraper.

The doors opened as soon as the bike entered the area of the motion sensor above the door, but even though it did, it was just a bit too slow – the front of the bike sled along the still opening doors, sending sparks flying every where as metal scratched on metal.

And then, suddenly, Vi yanked the bike around, hit the brakes.

By the time that the motorbike came to a stop in the middle of the lobby, right between the two curved stairs that led up into the upper story of it, Caitlyn's heart had first stopped, and then went a hundred miles a second.

Vi and Jay were definitely related. They both were mad.

"That went better than expected." huffed Vi as she pulled her goggles up and shook her head, voice full of pride, "Didn't think the test drive would work that way."

"I'm never gonna sit down on this deathtrap again, you can be sure of that." whispered the sheriff quietly, but quickly let go of the enforcer and climbed off the bike, something that Vi quickly imitated.

"Well, if we don't get to that bomb fast, you may not get that chance again." reminded her Vi, though neither of the two was sure whether or not this was a joke, or complete seriousness. But they were sure about one thing, and they agreed with a nod when they shared a glance.

They had to be fast.

Vi was the first one to move. She twirled around, pulled her gauntlets off the hook at the side of the bike that they were attached to and made a dash for the stairs while putting them on, with Caitlyn following her hot on her heels all the way up.

"How do we get to the sixtieth story as fast as possible, anyways?" inquired Vi the moment she could see the upper end of the stairs, "Do we take the elevator?"

"Actually two elevators." replied Caitlyn, catching up, reaching the top of the stairs just one second after Vi, "The first one will only take you up to the fortieth story. They build it like that for safety reasons. In the fortieth story, you just have to take the other elevator and ride it up to the sixtieth. The bomb should be up there somewhere."

"I see, so that's why Jinx turned the lights on in here, in the sixtieth story and the four..." Vi stopped, trailed off mid-sentence. Her jog slowed to steps, then came to a complete halt. Caitlyn did the same.

They had reached the upper story of the lobby, the upper end of the stairs. From there, it was mere meters to the elevator, which was already open and waiting for them.

As was the loose cannon that stood in front of it. Right in between them and the elevator up to the bomb.

With Fishbones peeking over her shoulder, Zap and Saltsticks strapped to her utility belt, and Pow-Pow in her right hand, Jinx stood in her usual attire right in front of the elevator. A smirk was on her lips, a knowing smirk. She knew she had absolute control of the situation. Piltover's finest had to go through her to get to the bomb.

The bomb that wasn't even fifteen minutes away anymore from blowing up, and laying waste to Piltover once and for all.

"Well, if that ain't my two favorite cops, hat lady and fat hands! You know, we really ought to stop meeting like this. People are gonna talk, ya know? Oh, and it seems you figured my little riddle out just in time, eh?" snickered the loose cannon and tilted her head a little to the side, a grin of absolute sadism slowly spreading over her lips, "Well, too bad that the riddle is only part of it. The challenge ain't over yet. But it will be soon. Very soon."

"It will be Jay, you're right with that. I'll beat your face in now and we will defuse your bomb before midnight!" snarled the enforcer, bared her teeth.

"You gotta hurry up then, time is running out, isn't it?" chuckled the madwoman, rose an eyebrow in a mocking way, "But I know one thing that I won't run out of before that, or any time soon! And for this riddle, I will even provide you the answer!"

Without any prior warning, Jinx reached over her shoulder and pulled the rocket launcher she was famous for over it. The light shone down Fishbones' maw as Jinx pulled it, and for the second before the loose cannon had it pointed at them, Vi already saw that it was loaded with its actual ammunition this time.

Realizing what danger they were in, Vi reacted as fast as she could. She twirled around and threw herself at Caitlyn, put her gauntlets-covered hands around the sheriff to shield her, braced herself for what was to come. Holding Caitlyn close to her chest, the enforcer let out a snarl as her body slammed into the glass fence meant to prevent people from falling down into the lobby below, heard it shatter.

For a moment, they were in free fall. Weightless. Vi could hear the explosion as the rocket Jinx had fired hit the ground where they had stood, saw the rubble, dust and shards being blasted over the edge and falling down after them.

And then, the impact. A sharp pain spread through the enforcer when her body impacted with the ground of the lobby below. And yet, she held onto Caitlyn as she arched her back and writhed in pain.

Caitlyn moved, and the enforcer allowed her to roll off her. Immediately, Caitlyn claimed her place next to Vi, reached for her face and cupped it. A smile spread across Vi's lips as she felt the gentle hands stroke her cheeks.

"I'm fine, no problem." growled the enforcer through clenched teeth, though the smile never left, forced herself up onto her feet, "We have something else to worry about."

"Whatever would that be, fat hands?"

Hearing Jinx right above them, followed by the familiar noise of a mini-gun winding up, Vi cursed under her breath, grabbed Caitlyn by the waist and picked her up, pushed herself off the ground in the same movement and made a run for the front desk, over which she leaped just in time to avoid being riddled with bullets.

And just like that, it was just like only a few hours prior, during their first encounter with the loose cannon that day. It was awfully reminding of that – Vi and Caitlyn taking cover behind something as Jinx shot at them from above, this time from the very same spot where Vi had just broken through the glass fence.

"Shit." cursed the enforcer, not caring that Caitlyn was hearing it. Caitlyn didn't care if she was cursing in the heat of the moment. The sheriff even did it herself sometimes when she was really frustrated.

"Let me solve that riddle for you! I never run out of bullets!" echoed the voice of the madwoman through the lobby, followed by Pow-Pow immediately firing again, and that nonstop. Both enforcer and sheriff heard how the bullets impacted on the other side of the front desk, a mug that had remained on top of the desk exploded into shards, rained down on them, the cops pulling their heads in and shielding themselves with their hands.

"By the way - geez, fat hands! What was that jump just now about?" Jinx burst into her mad giggling, body shaking in laughter, the mini-gun stopping shortly, "You've got hands bigger than your ego, and you still can't catch a rocket?"

This was what Caitlyn had waited for, the mini-gun stopping so that Jinx could taunt them. She dove out of their hiding spot, rolled away from the front desk, and ended in her kneeling sniper position.

Jinx saw her, froze in horror and quickly swung the mini-gun around. Pulling the trigger, she heard how the mini-gun began to wind-up. Begged it mentally to be faster.

It wasn't in time. Caitlyn had aligned her eye with the lenses, didn't even need the additional lenses on her hat. Just one pull of the trigger of her rifle, and the shot was fired. The net.

The loose cannon could only let out a shriek as the net slammed into her and pulled her over, the mini-gun escaping her grip and hitting the ground aside her, rolling away as she hit the ground as well, trapped in the net.

"Vi, now!" roared Caitlyn and pushed herself up onto her feet as well, made a dash for the stairs, the enforcer surfacing from behind the front desk to follow her. Both knew Jinx wouldn't be trapped in the net for too long. The loose cannon had escaped the sheriff's net often enough, and that at incredible speed, and would this time as well.

Time was still their enemy.

Vi reached the top of the stairs first, immediately saw her crazy sister struggling in the net. But there was no time to relax, no time to laugh at Jinx's misfortune. There was still a bomb ninety-five stories above them.

As much as Vi loathed the thought – they would have to let Jinx escape. Would have to let her lying there on the ground in order to go for the bomb.

With a snarl into the direction of her lunatic sister, Vi charged towards the still open elevator, with Caitlyn only two steps behind her. Not even slowing down as she approached it, Vi jumped into the elevator, turned to the keypad, scanned the buttons for the big black forty on it and found it.

And just then, the sharp sound of electricity echoed through the lobby. And Caitlyn cried out in pain.

Shock. Shock spread through Vi as she turned to stare out of the elevator and saw Caitlyn stumbling, her muscles convulsing under the effect of electricity. No longer able to control her legs, they gave in under her, and the sheriff hit the ground in an ungraceful roll, face slamming into the tiled floor first.

Standing by the broken glass fence, free of the net that now lay to her feet, stood Jinx, arm extended into the direction of Caitlyn, Zap still cracking with electricity.

"Cait!" it escaped the enforcer, mind no longer set on going up into the sixtieth story and stopping the bomb. The bomb was no longer on her mind.

Until Caitlyn suddenly rolled onto her back, pulled her rifle closer and pointed it at Jinx, immediately pulling the trigger and sending another net at the loose cannon, sending her to the ground again.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine! I'll keep her distracted, so go!" bellowed the sheriff right back, turning her head slightly so she could see Vi.

"No, I'll take Jay on, and you go!"

"Vi, I can't! I can't feel my legs! I can barely move! You have to go!" roared Caitlyn over her shoulder, hands messing with the side of the rifle, reloading the next net should Jinx get up, "So go!"

As much as she hated it, Vi saw the logic behind it. She twisted on her ankles, cursed to herself, but returned to the position in front of the keypad, slammed a fist into it in anger. The elevator responded with a small chime and the doors closed, trapping Vi within as it began to move.

The enforcer's eyes were glued to the digital sign above the door, watched as the numbers grew with each story that the elevator rose in the building. Her hands balled into fists. Relaxed. Balled into fists again. Mixed emotions went through her head. Everything from anger to panic. From anticipation to confusion.

And then, the doors opened.

They were barely open when Vi already pushed herself through, the gauntlets barely fitting through the small gap. Just outside, she turned to the left, made a sharp turn, reached for the button of the next elevator.

And stared in confusion at the missing button. No, not only was it missing, it had been replaced with a playing card. A Joker playing card, pink permanent marker scribbled onto it so that the 'J' in the upper corner read 'Jinx'.

Rage flooded the enforcer's mind. Anger. She had been played again, the last thing that she needed. Time was running out, and there was no elevator she could call.

She didn't bother to try it, knew it was pointless. Jinx had messed with the controls, that much was obvious, forcing her to reach the sixtieth story the only other way possible. The staircase just behind the elevators.

The door was almost ripped out of its hinges when she slammed into it and made her way through. Twenty stories. She had to climb twenty stories using the staircase. Jinx wasn't just playing with them. She was torturing them. Especially her.

She rushed the stairs. Put all energy that she had into climbing them. The seconds passed by. Turned to minutes. She was losing the time that she needed so badly. After all, even if she made it to the sixtieth story in time, she didn't know where the bomb was. Didn't know how to diffuse it. Had to do that all before the final minute was over.

Just before climbing the final staircase to the sixtieth story, she dared to cast a glance out of the window. Searched for the large illuminated tower in the distance that she knew to belong to the station. She knew there was a clock in it.

23:57 PM. Three minutes. She had but three minutes.

The final door slammed open and the enforcer stumbled shoulder-first into the corridor of the sixtieth story. She caught her balance. Glanced left. Glanced right. Scanned the corridor on each side for something suspicious. Something out of place.

She could hear it. Could hear it loud and clear. The ticking. It echoed along the walls. Filled the corridor. Echoed in her skull. Mocked her. Just like Jinx had wanted.

It was here. The riddle had told them. The ticking told her that it was there.

But she couldn't see it.

It had to be close. Real close.

The panic turned into hysteria. She took off into one direction, listened. Realized that the sound faded the further she went into that direction. This meant it was in the other direction – or so she thought. Only a few steps past the elevator into the other direction and the sound was fading again.

The bomb was somewhere near the elevator. Near the steps. The elevator shaft seemed like the most likely spot to hide it, but it was open, and the elevator cab was in the story just below. She cast a glance down, scanned the roof of the elevator cab. The bomb wasn't there either.

With a cry of frustration, Vi dove backwards, let one gauntlet fall off her fist, and threw it at the closest wall in her anger.

And for one second, the noise that hollered down the entire corridor was louder than the ticking.

Confusion struck the enforcer and she turned to stare at the wall that she had thrown the gauntlet at. The question as to how that could've caused the sound to echo was in her mind.

Until she saw the vent grate just above the ground that now had a big dent.

And as she saw it, the one line in the riddle that neither Caitlyn or her had understood suddenly made sense. 'Your anger you should vent'. It had been less about the anger, but the vent. Vent, as in ventilation shaft.

"Damn you, Jay." whispered the enforcer under her breath, but fell onto her knees in front of the vent grate. She pushed her gauntlet aside and reached for the horribly bent grate, which wasn't even screwed onto the wall. With her bare hand, the enforcer could rip it off and throw it aside.

And as she leaned her head in, the ticking noise grew even louder. But not only that. Just in front of her head was the exact thing she had been looking for. A small black box, cables protruding from its sides, going down the vents, spreading through the story that way. That was how the loose cannon had hidden the explosives.

She looked at the black box, her main problem. There was a red timer on it, slowly counting down. Showing one minute and thirty-seven seconds.

She had found the bomb.

But that was only part of the problem. She had found it, but now she had to defuse it. And that was not what she excelled at. She was good when it came to mechanics, but handled them roughly. This one required precision. Something that Caitlyn was better at, and Jinx was doing way better when it came to mechanics.

This one, she wouldn't even be able to handle roughly. Her first idea was to yank the timer with the main charge out of the vent and throw it out the next window, but the main unit was chained to the wall, and the vent was too narrow as that she could reach inside with one, let alone both gauntlets. Also, she didn't know what the removal of the main unit would do. It could as well just set the other charges off and make them explode earlier than they were set to do. And the whole bomb in itself, with all the smaller charges attached to the long cables, was too big to be moved.

That left her with only one choice. To defuse the bomb, after all.

The other gauntlet came off quickly, was pushed aside to make room for her to crawl into the vent. How long had it been since she had done that? The last time must've been when she was but a teenager. A criminal, crawling through the vents to get into a building. Not so much stealth, as it was to get inside and beat someone up.

Up close now, she could see that the timer was simply placed onto the main charge. It didn't even take any kind of tool – she had those with her, in her gauntlet – to remove it, she simply had to grab it and pull it to the side. Only a single cable connected the timer and the main charge.

And with the timer pulled to the side, she could see the next and last problem. The defusing.

Of course, Jinx had surpassed herself to create it. The final challenge. A challenge of wits.

Four wires. There were four colorful wires in front of the enforcer. Bright colors like she had seen them countless times when it came to Jinx. This time, though, in the meanest of all games. Only that this was no game anymore.

Blue. Dark-Blue. Pink. Violet.

"Shit. Shit! Damn it!"

Vi wanted to reach out and slam a fist into the device after all, but that was no option. No choice. Unlike what Jinx had said in the beginning of the game, they did have a choice to make. A terrible choice.

Her gaze wandered toward the timer. One minute and ten seconds.

"Alright then." muttered the enforcer to herself, took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She knew Jinx. Jay. Her older sister found no satisfaction in random victory. For her, to feel satisfaction in the defeat of another, she had to mock her opponent. Had to make sure he lost when the victory was within reach.

Vi didn't know what it was, but something told her what to do. Just a spontaneous intuition. But as she turned the timer over, she found what she had been looking for. Engraved into the back of the timer was a short text. Another riddle.

And this time, there was no Caitlyn to help her solve it.

"Three women in a deadly game,

one bad day and they never were the same.

For the sheriff in the final night,

the death of one was a terrible sight.

For little sister who couldn't stand,

guilt got ten years earlier out of hand.

For older sister who died in rain,

struggle was not in complete vain.

For monster who was born by death,

first was also final breath.

So who does not exist?

Who is truly dead?"

The enforcer felt her upper lip curl up in disgust. The riddle was macabre. Black humor to the fullest. But it was just like Jinx to use something like this. Even in the final moment, Jinx was all about her nihilistic view on life.

Instinct drove Vi to reach for the dark-blue cable. It wasn't hard to identify who the riddle was talking about, and how it was reflected within the bomb. It were the colors. Their colors. Blue for Jay. Dark-Blue, or also tainted blue, for Jinx, who was born from Jay. Pink, representing Vi herself. And violet for the sheriff, for Caitlyn.

The question was which of the four was the dead one. It obviously wasn't Caitlyn, she wasn't involved into it like Jinx, Jay and Vi were. The enforcer could tell that the violet cable was not the solution.

But the longer she thought about it, the less did Jinx sound like the answer. Her hand began to shake, no longer holding the dark-blue cable as tight anymore. She had meant to pull in the first second, but hesitated. For a good reason.

Jinx had died in the chemical plant months ago. She sounded like the solution. But had they not spent all day chasing Jinx? That wasn't Jay they had been chasing, Jay wasn't that unpredictable and violent. So Jinx was alive. Was she?

Was Jay the dead one then? Nothing more but a name, a role that Jinx could slip into? Jay had died ten years ago, on that one bad day that had started it all. But Jinx was Jay. Jay couldn't be dead as long as Jinx was alive. Could she?

Her fingers moved to Jay's cable, but her gaze wandered to the timer. Forty seconds.

She gently sled her index finger along the cable that represented Jay. Let one second pass. Two. Three. Moved her hand back to Jinx's cable.

The riddle was from Jinx's view, and that was what made it unnecessarily hard. For everyone else, Jay was alive, and Jinx only part of her. For Jinx though, she was alive, and Jay had died ten years earlier. But had that view changed after the incident at the chemical plant? They had never talked about it.

Vi blinked. Swallowed. Had her eyes always been that dry? Her throat? And had it always been that hot in the vent? She was sweating.

It were the nerves, weren't they? What made her crazy? What made her experience everything so different all of sudden?

Thirty seconds.

The problem was that she didn't know what Jinx meant with 'truly dead'. Truly in the physical sense? Then no one. But that meant that Jinx was referring to dead on the inside, and that left Vi with three choices. Jay had died ten years earlier and had turned into Jinx. Jinx had died months ago and had turned back into Jay. Now into Jinx again.

And she herself was a possibility, too. Vi had changed as well. Had died on the inside ten years ago, when Jay had died. Had begun to become another person. The woman that was the enforcer now wasn't Violet Inks. Was just 'Vi'.

Violet had seen no interest in violence. Hadn't been a brawler. Hadn't been a delinquent. Had only started to become that after the death of Jay.

Her sweaty fingers no longer held a cable. Instead moved from cable to cable, from Jay to Jinx to Vi, and back. From blue to dark-blue, to pink, and back.

Twenty seconds. It was now or never. She had to make a choice, and could only hope that it was the right one. Jinx wouldn't make something when she wasn't sure about the solution of the riddle. Vi, and with that pink, was not the solution.

That left Jinx and Jay. And fifteen seconds.

"Shit..." whispered Vi to herself. She couldn't bear it any longer. The pressure. The sight. She closed her eyes, swallowed one last time. Reached for the cable she deemed most likely, Jay. Blue.

"I'm sorry if this is the wrong cable, Piltover."

With this in mind, echoing all the time in different voices, her own being the loudest, Vi pulled. Felt the cable rip out of the main unit.

For a second, nothing happened. A second passed. An eternity, in the most smallest of moments. The moment that Vi accepted her fate. A choice made with justice in mind, but doubt in heart.

The doubt won.

A thunder echoed through sixtieth story of a skyscraper in the center of Piltover, nine seconds away from midnight. Lights flashed and disrupted the black night sky for one second alone, the blackest of Piltover's nights. The night that people remember to be that day that Piltover's finest failed. The one night that Jinx won in her final game.

Light encompassed Vi. Warmth, no heat, embraced her face. The explosion of the bomb enveloped her body, made it vanish from sight. The strongest woman Piltover had ever seen, gone in a moment of weakness. Her only frailty exploited – her sister. And what made it even more horrible, by her sister.

And the last thought that crossed the enforcer's mind as heat enveloped her, as light and then darkness claimed her, it was surprisingly simple.

"Damn you, Jay."

Mad giggling echoed through the corridor, accompanied by a sigh. The enforcer snarled as she cringed and hit her head on the roof of the ventilation shaft, only to then pull back and roll onto her back on the ground right next to the vent, holding her head, groaning and cursing in pain.

Forcing her eyes open nonetheless, she glared over to the vent, scowled as she spotted the colorful confetti that lay in and all around it. More confetti rained down from the vents on the ceiling, giving the whole corridor the weird image of colorful snow falling from the roof.

The burnt piece of paper that had been pushed into the enforcer's face when the bomb had exploded now lay next to her. Read the mocking line she should've expected.

You lost, fat handz.

The hysteric giggling came closer, and glaring to the other side, Vi bared her teeth as Jinx came running down the corridor towards her, arms extended as she bounced about like she was having the time of her life, the best day ever.

In a sense, she had.

"Oh my god, this was glorious! You should've seen your face, Vi, when you came bursting out of that vent in that explosion of confetti!" laughed the madwoman, though it was hard to understand with how hysteric she was.

"Are you fu..." the enforcer trailed off as something went down her throat, her eyes widened in shock and she rolled over onto all fours. Coughed. Spat the colorful confetti onto the ground. "You're kidding me, right? Confetti? You filled that bomb with confetti?!"

Jinx didn't listen. She bounced around the enforcer, pointed at her in malicious glee, let her madness fuel her amusement to the brim. So it was Caitlyn that eventually had mercy with the enforcer and helped her up onto her feet.

"We can't do anything, Vi. She won the game fair and square." sighed Caitlyn, a crooked smile on her lips, "Let her have her moment of victory."

The enforcer coughed again, unleashed a new cloud of colorful confetti into the air, much to the further amusement of her mad sister. She sent Jinx a glare, but Jinx didn't care at all, she just continued her little dance.

"I know that she won fair and square." scoffed Vi, made no attempt to hide how displeased she was, "Still, we shouldn't have made that bet with her, Cait. I told you she has always won whatever bet she has made!"

"Then let me remind you that you proposed to turn this idea Jay had into a bet to begin with! It was your bet that we could stop her if she were to be a criminal for one day again! And you know what the only reason was that I even agreed to this in the first place?" huffed the sheriff in irritation, brushed away some confetti that had ended up on the shoulder of the enforcer, "Because the scenario was likely. Because we all know that Jinx is our greatest enemy. That she is still somewhere in Jay, and could always resurface one day."

The enforcer growled again, but didn't say anything. She knew this had just been a 'game' even if a twisted one. A game that had escalated into a bet, which had escalated into a morbid training of a scenario that wasn't that unlikely. Well, for each of them, it had been something different.

A game for Jinx. A bet for Vi. Training for Caitlyn.

"Damn straight!" announced Jinx, happily bouncing towards her two partners, "And I won the bet! The game! So you know what we're gonna do now on our way home – rent some movies that I chose, get me the biggest bucket of icecream that we can find, and I get the best place on the couch!"

"Fair is fair..." sighed Caitlyn, the crooked smile returning. She sent Vi a glance, and the enforcer let out another groan, but nodded. She grabbed the hand of both sheriff and loose cannon and let herself be pulled up onto her feet. While Caitlyn let go and gestured them to follow, Jinx laid a hand onto the shoulder of her younger sister and smirked mockingly, much to Vi's further displeasure.

"How did you two even get up here so fast, anyways? I thought the second elevator is out of order?" inquired Vi with a deep sigh, following her girlfriend down the corridor.

"By the way, that was not my doing!" exclaimed Jinx before Caitlyn could reply, "I tried to cause as little damage as possible during the whole game! It was already out of order when I chose that this place would be where I want the bomb to be!"

"There's another elevator around that corner up ahead." revealed Caitlyn eventually, "Before you ask, I didn't know either. Jay told me that after you left with the first elevator."

The enforcer sent a glare into the direction of the sheriff, but Caitlyn didn't care. If anything, she felt a little bit of the malicious glee of Jinx rub off on her.

Rounding the corner, Vi did indeed find the elevator that her girlfriend and her sister were talking about waiting for them. Caitlyn let Vi step in first, then Jinx, before stepping inside herself, and hitting the button for the first story.

The doors closed, sealed the three women inside as it began to descent.

"So, wanna know why the bomb blew up?" chuckled Jinx after only few stories down, but didn't wait for a reply, "You chose the blue one, Jay. Thing is, Jinx was the solution to the riddle. I know what you've been thinking, and you weren't that wrong actually. On the right track, I'd say. Only assures me I chose the right kind of riddle."

Vi sent her a frown, rose an eyebrow in confusion. Seeing Jinx smile back, Vi rolled her eyes and sighed, felt herself relax a bit. The loss was bitter, but Jinx had won fair and square. Even if the fake bomb had to be the biggest taunt ever. So, finally putting her gauntlets into their place on the back of her armor, Vi let herself relax entirely.

Couldn't wait to end the day by slumping down on the couch with her sister, her girlfriend in her arms, and watch a good movie while Jinx would be munching down the bucket of icecream she had won.

"Well, I know what I said during my... episode." Jinx chuckled at the thought of referring of the time between the game at the station and the incident at the chemical plant as an 'episode', "But even I can't deny that the person known as 'Jinx' is something less natural. She wasn't born in the correct sense of the term. So, in a sense, she was never actually 'alive'. Just another personality of Jay."

Both Caitlyn and Vi sent her a questioning frown at that, but neither of them decided to ask any further as to what Jinx meant with that. Some things were better left unasked.

"Speaking of that game of yours..." huffed the enforcer, just as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened back up, "Jay, that was goddamn creepy. If I didn't know you weren't exactly right in the head and bipolar, I'd say you were into this game a little too much at times. It was like you weren't just playing it."

Vi was the first one to leave the elevator, followed by Caitlyn only a second later. But when no answer came, not even a comment, Vi stopped and frowned over her shoulder to see why Jinx wasn't replying.

The loose cannon was still standing in the elevator. Stared straight ahead into the nothingness.

At this, the two cops exchanged a confused glance.

"Uh, Jay?"

At this, the loose cannon cringed madly, pulled back into reality by the voice of the sheriff. She shook her head, seemed disoriented for a second, as she glanced around without seeming to realize where she was. And then, chuckled uneasily.

"Uh yeah, all just a game. I'm good at acting, ain't I?" mused the ex-criminal with a crooked smile, but then turned her gaze to the side, lowered her voice, "Well, I'm actually bad at it. I just really forgot at times..."

"What are you whispering about, Jay? Don't you want that icecream bucket, or what?"

"Argh, shut up!" called Jinx after the enforcer and the sheriff, before falling into a jog to catch up with them. Gone was the short moment of absent-mindedness, and back was the amused and gleeful maniac.

She caught up with them just as they reached the door outside, Vi walking her deathtrap of a creation. Jinx smirked as she saw that. Smirked as she felt the cool breeze of the night wash over them, cleansing them of all their tension and hardships of the day.

The game was over. The bet was won. All would go back now to what it had been after the night at the chemical plant.

"Well, I've decided what movie we're gonna watch tonight!" declared Jinx as they walked out into the night, "Or should I say, movies?"

"Why do I have the feeling that I'm not gonna like it?" groaned Vi silently and watched as Jinx jogged past them and walked in front of them.

"Oh, but you will, dear sister of mine! We're gonna watch all four Alien movies in a row! This will be a night of sci-fi-horror like no night will ever be, and has ever been!"

Vi perked up at that, glanced over to her sister in surprise. And felt herself getting excited. Felt a smile appear on her lips. She loved horror movies. As did Jinx.

"Well, it could be worse." sighed the sheriff as she heard this, a crooked smile on her lips, "There's worse choices out there, and I can enjoy a good horror movie."

"Then it's settled! I get that big bucket of Neopolitan Icecream, get the best spot on the couch, and we're gonna watch these four movies!" exclaimed the maniac in excitement, pumped a fist into the air.

Both cops smiled at that. Enjoyed the sight of Jinx being back to the childish and random maniac that they knew her for. To see her being the maniacal mastermind that she could be was frightening. To know what potential threat she was. So, in a sense, it had always been better that she was the childish maniac that she had always been, only seeking for satisfaction through destruction and attention, never after the absolute chaos.

They were better off with Jinx being either on their side, or the childish maniac. Not the mastermind.

"Oh, hey, before we go home now for that movie night of ours...!" Jinx stopped and turned around, faced the two cops. Both Vi and Caitlyn stopped as well, frowned in confusion at the loose cannon in front of them.

But in reply, Jinx merely smiled at them. Slowly began to nod to herself, almost as if to confirm something.

And finally turned her right hand around, revealed the detonator she was holding.

Before either cop could ask, the loose cannon slammed her thumb down on the detonator. Vi's mouth fell open, confusion spreading through her. Caitlyn didn't feel much different.

But Jinx didn't answer with words. Instead, she answered by pointing up into the night sky. The darkness above. And just as both Caitlyn and Vi turned to the night sky, the first of many shot up from the roof of the skyscraper they had just been in.

Howled as it cut through the darkness.

And finally exploded into vibrant blue sparks that rained down upon the world. Another followed, exploded into pink sparks. A third. Violet.

And as Piltover's finest watched the firework display of blue, pink and violet in amazement, Jinx merely stood there behind them. Watched the show as well. The end of an eventful day.

Lowering her gaze for a second, Jinx cast a glance to her right. Smiled at the woman that had found her way to their side. Despite how late - and thus cold - it was, the lady was only dressed in a fancy red dress, and didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest by the cold or time of night. The woman smiled, and Jinx smiled back, before both of them turned to watch the firework display above anew.

The woman wouldn't remain long, anyway. As the hours of morning would come, she would leave again.

All in all, it was the end of a glorious game. A reenactment of the past, when they had still been cops, and she still a criminal. And while not their most glorious of games or the most memorable, it was definitely a good change in pace.

After all, they didn't want things to get boring, would they?

---

JUUUUST KIDDING! Happy April Fools' day!

Probably gave you quite a scare, did I? Well, let me assure you that with how much I enjoy this series, it's highly unlikely that it will end any time before next year, and even that end is questionable. For as long as I still have ideas – and trust me, I do have a lot, the next installment (the 7th joke in total and the 4th additional joke after the main series) is already planned and should be coming in June or July at latest – the series won't end. It's just too fun to write these.

Now, this one is quite a change in pace, is it? Well, it was supposed to feel more like the three main installments to the series, so less random jokes and references, and Jinx behaving less random in the funny sense, but more random in the mad sense. Featuring Jinx as – what at least appeared to be that way – antagonist again, the loose cannon is once again a criminal trying to destroy Piltover.

How good that it was just appearing that way, right? It's fun how the whole situation can seem a lot different if you jump right into the middle of it, rather than knowing the beginning, right? Just by omitting the scene in which Piltover's Finest and Jinx agreed on this 'game', it did seem a lot like Jinx was really back to being a criminal, didn't it?

Now, I've been playing with this topic for an installment for quite a while, as teased in 'A RWBY Joke', where Jinx has been having doubts about who she is and if switching sides to work with Piltover's Finest was the right thing to do. Fun thing is, while used as April Fool, I didn't intend for it to become one until I realized that April was coming up.

The real reason I wanted to write this was to show that Jinx hasn't suddenly become a whole different person at the end of the third installment, and the end of the main series. She's still who she is, even though her madness has been shown through rather random actions and decisions instead of her thoughts, doubts and bipolar behavior. Which I plan to involve a bit more again.

While a 'game' in this one, a scenario that the three wanted to see how it would turn out (and also proving that Jinx hasn't lost her edge in tricking Vi and Caitlyn), even the three are very aware that it can still become frighteningly real at any given moment – One whim of Jinx, and she is back to being a criminal. Back to destroying Piltover. Even she herself knows that, as she admits that she has been into the game a bit too much. Heck, she even forgot that it was a game for a moment!

Thing is: The threat of Jinx turning back to who she was is frighteningly real. Whether or not this will happen eventually, though, is still a thing of the future. Even I cannot say for sure right now, as I do not have the eventual end for the continued series (every installment after 'A Final Joke') and the course it will take planned out quite yet. I may end it in a way similar to this installment here, may end it completely different, or just leave it open and for you to decide – I'll eventually will decide on that as we continue along.

For now, we will continue as we did – Another installment every few months, basically every time I get another idea for the series that I deem interesting, and the time to write it.

But yeah, this has been another installment to the continued series, and I hope you enjoyed it as you did with the other ones, even if this one was a little on the mean side, misleading you like that.

Anyways! Big thanks to Time96, who, once again has been my beta-reader for this. He has been sick and unable to do so before I uploaded this, but went to work on this as soon as he was feeling somewhat better. So, thank you a lot for being the beta-reader, even though you weren't feeling that well. For a change, I didn't play a joke on him or anything with this one. Still had to put up with my shenanigans, so, as always, I also want to apologize here.

I'm sorry that I'm not sorry.

But yeah, this has been another installment to the continued series, and I hope you enjoyed it as you did with the other ones, even if this one was a little on the mean side, misleading you like that.Excited for the next one? 'A Joke of (Mis)fortune', which will be back to the more lighthearted and humorous
theme like the other installments after 'A Final Joke', is currently set to appear in June, or July at latest. More information as we approach that, though.

Now then, this has been SorrowfulReincarnation with another installment of the series, and I'll see you again next time, when we'll be moving on the border between fortunate and unfortunate. For whom, though? You'll see then!

So long~