Chapter Two: "What Was, What Is, What Shall Be?"
"Although I am no expert on the exact matter in question, the ways of love can indeed be considered one of the most challenging elements in this world. Let us look at it as a duel. If you win the duel, you win one of the greatest rewards possible. If you lose, however… you may be forever ashamed afterwards. Which somewhat explains why most – unlike myself and a few others – are so resistant in accepting that kind of duel in the first place." – Fiora, the Grand Duelist
To the few that knew him well enough like presently troubled, roof traversing Jinx, the young man who was holding the blue haired terrorist's tin monkey hostage and whom she was supposedly going to say her final farewell to tonight, his actual name was "Augus Cousitar".
As he had come to be grandly known by everyone else throughout the City of Progress nowadays though, he was the fabled figure entitled the "Enduring Protector"; a praised vigilante, a mercenary, a hero altogether, who had defeated, routed, intimidated, bullied, and plain humiliated a number of former criminals, gangs, posers, along with plenty of other unfavorable characters of the southern slums for the past months. Of course, heh heh, he couldn't have ever hoped to achieve such a miraculous feat or gained an epic reputation without the aid, input, along with occasional sheer firepower of Jinx on the side.
Together, having taken the meaning of justice to a whole new amusing level during recent months, the Enduring Protector as well as Loose Cannon had been the ones that had made the City of Progress so very peaceful tonight. So very, ugh, boring.
Yes… Um, as awkward if not funny as it was for her to admit, for the last number of months up to this point, the Loose Cannon had somewhat played the part of hero alongside the Enduring Protector. Well, nah, they weren't fully heroes but free roamers, rule breakers, a bod boy as well as girl. Actually, hold on, he could say he was a hero while she couldn't because she didn't want to be because being a hero meant things got harder, tedious, complicated… like this night was proving to be.
Either way, during her earlier days as partner to him, Jinx had indeed – willing or not willing – joined Augus whenever he had fought to free the slums, needed any intelligence gathering, or even when he simply needed someone to talk with about random things. And, boy oh boy, even if she hadn't really participated in the past, he had been quite the enigmatic talker about missions, morals, victories, losses, friends, enemies, plus more.
Truly, while they had worked together to make Piltover so quiet these days, the unexpected partnership between the Enduring Protector and Loose Cannon hadn't exactly been agreed upon then or even now through normal means. At the time, Jinx had only decided to help Augus because the sound of blowing up heists, showing up thugs, and making fun of the City of Progress's most wanted indeed sounded grander than grand for entertainment. It had been a better source of fun than being too elusive for the police, anyway.
Then, as for the real reason for why she'd helped Piltover in the slightest, Augus had surprisingly raided Jinx's own secret home – a random base located in the most remote parts near the docks – and stolen poor little Mojo from her – one of her dearest items for her own reasons – making her have little other choice than join in on his crusade against the crime in the slums when he approached her about it.
Still, even if she was fighting herself about the subject, even if she felt like he had put a leash on her the instant he had revealed he had stolen her favorite tin crank-up monkey toy from her temporary home, Jinx couldn't help but admit… that Augus had proven time and time again to be rather fun by taking the law into his own hands, to be a lethal bad boy himself during any fight he'd been involved in, as well as never seemed to stop being full of surprises.
Indeed, over the course of their odd journey to combat crime together, the Loose Cannon had very well witnessed just how strong, how different, how very entertaining the Enduring Protector could be when on or off the job of watching over everyone he considered his friend; even her.
It had actually been nearly two months back – about a month after Vi, Caitlyn, all of Piltover had been shown up at the hardiest bank vault in Piltover by the cheeky Loose Cannon – that Jinx had met Augus for the first time.
There on the roof of a structure overlooking "Emblem Street" in the city's northwest, after having just blown up a local government garage full of police equipment, gear, vehicles, so on, the Loose Cannon had turned away to leave. With a great grin on her pale face, knowing the important figures of Piltover – especially the loser enforcer with her hextech gauntlets – would not at all like what she had done to their crucial resources, she had only gone several steps though before she realized she wasn't as alone as she'd formerly thought.
"That little performance you just pulled off," A cool voice had chuckled from behind her, making her turn about to see Augus Cousitar – his well-toned figure casually dressed in a long sleeved shirt of brown with a black vest over it, his jeans a bit faded from use, his boots worn yet holding together, his wind swept hair the dirtiest soil shade, and his eyes the deepest sapphire – for the very first time, "it could have been done better. I thought you were the terrifying Loose Cannon. Not a conscious terrorist."
At that point on that day, at having heard him actually mock her on her supposed lack of work on having blown up a portion of Piltover's police resources, Jinx didn't know why she hadn't whipped out Pow-Pow and filled Augus full of lead then and there. Maybe him coming out into the open to lecture her without hiding his face had been such an interesting first for her that she hadn't thought of anything else but to maybe listen to what else he had had to say which, with a bow, he did indeed explain.
"Jinx the Loose Cannon, I presume? Of course you are. Who else would dress like that? None other than the supposed terror of Piltover, the breaker of rules, the bringer of chaos." Augus had said to Jinx, actually stepping towards her with a look of growing interest rather than disdain, "Hm, well, I would very well be impressed… if your methods held true to the stories related to you."
"My methods don't hold true to the stories about me?" Jinxed had giggled back, lazily twirling her braid as Augus had next circled around her like a hawk that had sighted prey, "And when did I start caring about what others think of my games? Why do you, funny man, think my methods have any kind of plan at all?"
"Well, I've always heard that the Loose Cannon truly is a loose cannon. She is uncatchable, undeniable, as well as merciless." Augus had stated, looking Jinx over with humor now, even going as far as to jokingly flick her other braid, "The first of those two things, you being uncatchable along with undeniable, I cannot deny. Even if I wished to do so at this moment – which I don't – I do not think I could apprehend you for the authorities nor deny you from continuing what you're doing. You'd find some way out eventually. However, we both know the rumor about you being merciless is false."
For Jinx, how very odd a thing that had been to hear from another. After she had been running free across Piltover for close to a month, after she had shaken the city to its core, here was a young man saying she was… not merciless? Even though she tried her hardest to seem not so, had he actually hinted then and even believed tonight that she might have a bit of a heart?
"Rules are meant to be broken. I've blown up things all across this boring city." Jinx had answered to Augus's assumption of her not being cold, "I've wrecked special icons, insulted historical idols, demolished balance and replaced it with chaos-"
"Yet, I have yet to see you really aim any harm towards the populace of this fair community, Loose Cannon." Augus had interrupted, now finished in examining the Loose Cannon and stepping back to confidently cross his arms, "Truly, was it not a month or close to a month ago that you showed your face here with much mayhem, catastrophe, discord but no one was seriously hurt? Just startled? Did you not go on to humiliate but not kill Piltover's finest when you sprayed a warning upon this city's heaviest defended bank as well as brought it down?"
At what he had to say next, Augus had glanced down at the burning/shook up Emblem Street that had been quiet until Jinx's bomb had just gone off, "Yet, just like you displayed with your little explosion of that warehouse just now… we both know you've never aimed to intentionally hurt anyone. If you were really merciless like rumored, you would have blown that warehouse up during busy afternoon hours. Not during… well, the slowest morning hours. Duh."
"You're… a funny, funny, funny little man."
"Considering how I've been called worse than that while alive, I suppose I can take that as a compliment." Augus had admitted, nodding his head in thought in the meantime, "Admit it, though. You're aiming to do something else. Perhaps you're crying for help? For a purpose? Tell me, do you go back to whatever home you have and cut your wrists while sobbing in the corners?"
Then, as soon as he had questioned that, in the blink of an eye, Augus had swiftly grabbed one of Jinx's thin wrists as well as released it while saying, "No. There are no cuts, no scratches, nothing that would hint towards you having bottled up emotions, feelings, hatred. Nah, you release it all upon this city. You blow things up… to make a mark in the minds' of the people, eh? How humorous."
This quite astonishing assumption had literally made Jinx raise a humored eyebrow before snickering back, finding it most entertaining to be confronted by someone who was trying to tell her what or whom she was trying to be, "Ha ha, you're something else! You realize who you're talking to, right? You realize that if you weren't proving to be so fun, so entertaining, I would have had Fishbones blast you away long ago, correct?"
"Heh, Fishbones, eh? Look, I know you don't understand me at the moment. Heck, it took me the longest time to figure it out too. Nevertheless, you're lying to yourself about all that you think you know, Loose Cannon." Augus had stated back, truly looking serious about what he had to say, "You don't know what you're doing. You never have and never will. Not unless you hear me out on this."
"Fine. I'll hear you out. You have a minute." Jinx had laughed, preparing Fishbones to open fire after sixty seconds ticked by, "You can talk or begin running. It's your choice but I believe you should pick the latter of the two. It would prove to be more fun for me and Fishbones here. We need the target practice."
"See, that attitude right there is what I'm talking about." Augus had pointed out, not showing any signs of fear nor any hurry to retreat from possibly being blown to pieces, "You say that stuff but do you really mean it? Do you really think through it?"
"Yes, I do." Jinx had stated back, "Fifty seconds left. Then the fun begins."
"Everything that you've blown up here in Piltover, everything that you've supposedly done without a care… has unintentionally spelled something out for you, Jinx. All you have to do is look harder to understand that." Augus had quickly replied, having remained brave at that moment despite the leer he was receiving at his attempts to talk to a terrorist, "Seriously, we're more alike than you think. I've been down a road like yours where I've experienced wanting to take revenge on this world for what I thought was a more than a good reason but got lost along the way-"
"Hah! Me and you alike? I don't even know you! Thirty seconds to go!"
"If you give me the chance, if you hear me out, then we can remedy that. We can get to know each other. We can both do something a lot more fruitful, a lot more satisfying, a lot more fun in this life than just aimlessly targeting random things to watch stone, dust, and fire fly followed by pointless panic-"
"Suddenly, as if I've agreed to something, you're talking WE when there isn't or ever will be." Jinx had giggled, revving up Fishbones with only fifteen seconds to go, "Look, this has been the best fun I've had since forever but your time has run out, bud! Now allow me to introduce you to my friends of various sizes-"
It had been then that Augus, standing right upon the edge of the roof, had whipped out Mojo from his vest's chest pocket and precariously held the item out over a most grim drop. It had been then that Jinx had not shot him up but frozen in place, fretting – for reasons only she could understand – that her tin monkey toy was about to be lost. Naturally, she could get a new one anywhere but Mojo… he was SPECIAL! He was IRREPLACEABLE! He was practically a PART of her!
Yet, most important of all, how had Augus gotten his hands on the toy when it had been hidden better than anything else Jinx possessed! How had the guy known the monkey was so very important to her?
"Ah. And there finally we have it." Augus had breathed not only in relief but also in humor, "Even if it's over this little contraption of yours – quite the smile he has, by the way – you can be reached. As you have shown by not blowing up people but buildings as well as stuff for the past month, you do have some sense, some mercy, after all, Loose Cannon. Now USE it."
"Give me Mojo back." Jinx had immediately growled then, feeling for once that she was not in control of everything nor that she could escape this certain situation without a catch, "How did you even-"
"Is that his name? Mojo? Heh, I like it. I like him. Creative." Augus had complimented, making Jinx actually snicker to herself at the memory while she leapt from roof to roof during the present chilly October night, "As for how I came to possess him, that's my concern as well as secret. Never you mind. However, if he really matters that much to you… I suggest you lower your, um, friends of various sizes and hear me out on what more I have to say."
For a moment, due to stubborn pride, the Loose Cannon hadn't obeyed the voiced suggestion. In immediate turn though, knowing she couldn't have lived as free as she always had if she lost Mojo, she had lowered her friends of various sizes while Augus had remained quite alert for any kind of her, ahem, tricky tricks.
Until that day on that rooftop, never before had Jinx been told what to do or had she imagined being in such a position where someone actually had some kind of control over her. At that instant, at seeing him holding the tin monkey as a bargaining chip, she had hated Augus with a passion. Now, while she traversed the slums by rooftop though, Jinx had actually come to respect his ingenuity, his cunning, his luck for having survived her that day and for even having shown her something since that she'd been blind to for forever until now; her senses, her optimism, her… heart.
"Now that we understand each other a bit more, Jinx, allow me to introduce myself." Augus had explained, gentlemanly bowing slightly next, "I am Augus Cousitar."
"You're not exactly smart… to have told me such a thing, funny man."
"Oh no? Well, regardless, I'm going to be the next best thing that this city dearly needs and you are not only going to help me but-"
"Help you? You're seriously too full of jokes! This getting to be too hilarious-"
"BUT you're going to wake up along the way!" Augus had yelled louder than disinclining Jinx, "And best of all in the coming days, trust me on this, things are going to prove to be very fun for the both of us. Unlike what we've done until now, this will be the most rewarding game either of us have ever played in our, ahem, unique lives."
"I'm going to wake up? I'm going to help you along the way?" Jinx had snickered evilly, really hating that she couldn't do anything but listen then to whom she assumed was a buffoon or risk losing her tin monkey if she didn't, "What are you talking about? What exactly is it that you want from me, little man?"
"I want your help." Augus had admitted, his face remaining quite serious all the while, "I need your know how, your charm, your street smarts, your firepower."
"What for?"
"To make me a hero. To make us both heroes." Augus had explained, raising his voice over Jinx's resulting mad mirth where she fell amid her weapons onto the ground and rolled about while holding her sides, "To help us reach a higher purpose in life than just sitting around blowing up stuff, causing panic, lying to ourselves about what we can't truly achieve if we just put our skills to it – Oh, quit being immature or Mr. Mojo here takes a one way ticket to sudden sky diving!"
"Go ahead. Drop him, party crasher." Jinx had snarled back, suddenly having all of her weapons back on Augus, "You drop him and I'll drop you in an instant!"
"Heh, look at you being so uncomfortable. What makes you so concerned over this little toy?" Augus had laughed, actually very humored by Jinx's threat against him, "What spiritual, emotional, physical link does this object have to you that makes you so obedient, so sensible, so good all of a sudden?"
There had been no answer to that inquiry on that day. Even to tonight on October 19th where she was getting close to where she could finally stop leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Jinx hadn't answered it yet. Although many had requested she share it with them, only she knew the reason why she was so obsessed over Mojo. Only she wanted to understand… or did she really?
Did she want to know Mojo's uniqueness alone anymore or was she lying to herself once again? Did she want to maybe tell Augus about it before she said her final upcoming goodbye to him? Maybe she did… maybe she didn't.
Getting back to the first time they had met each other, Augus had decided to move on from talking about Mojo and onto his reason for why he had approached the Loose Cannon in the first place, "Either way, whether you tell me or not your connection with Mojo here, Jinx, I need your help in making my dream, my higher purpose, a reality. Believe me when I say you'll benefit too. Whether or not you like it, you'll end up discovering like I did long ago that there are different ways to release your anger, your impatience, your insanity upon this world-"
"Quit talking in circles and just state what you want from me!" Jinx had snapped, sick of being lectured about what would be best for her when she knew – or thought she had known then – what she had been doing, "Then give me back my Mojo!"
"Um, give up the one thing that's keeping you in line? No. No, from here on out, until I say otherwise, until we've done what needs doing to Piltover, I'll be holding onto your, heh, Mojo." Augus had stated firmly, tightening his hold on the tin monkey, "And as for what I want you to do, Jinx, I want you to keep being this sensible. I want you to be my ally, not a foe. In time, you will understand. For now though, we will just have to work with what we have, won't we?"
Then, taking a purposeful step towards the rooftop's edge with Mojo in his grasp, Augus had announced one last thing before slowly falling out of sight to vanish to a place unknown, "When the clocks read 7:00pm, Loose Cannon, meet me at the Cobalt Square in the southern parts of the city. Don't waste your energy or ammunition on blowing up anything else in the meantime, either. You'll need all of your weapons and yourself as prepared as possible for what we will be doing which should prove to be most… entertaining as well as be a fine start to our blooming partnership."
"I'm no hero! To be such a thing is too difficult! You're wasting your time with this partnership crap!"
"Nah, I'm wasting nothing. You're the one wasting away by doing pointless bombing runs when you can be achieving so much more." Augus had laughed back, "Hah, you'll come to like being a hero's – my – confidant, Loose Cannon… for Mojo's little sake, you will."
And so, on that day those few months back, even if she had thought then that she wouldn't ever come to appreciate being he who would come to be called the Enduring Protector's confidant, even when she could have given up on precious Mojo to truly be the Loose Cannon again, something had seized all of Jinx and forced her to meet with Augus in Cobalt Square at 7:00pm. There, both she as well as he had interrupted a drug trade, pulverized everyone involved into near oblivion, then left the criminals roped up for the police to collect.
And although they had been brutalized by melee combat, although Jinx insisted she finish them off for the fun of it then, none of the villains or anyone had been killed; not when Augus had stated they would learn a better lesson serving their years in prison rather than having a quick death. Yet, up to this chilly October night where she was jumping here or there over the now content slums, Jinx knew from the start that the interruption of the illegal exchange at Cobalt Square wasn't at all where Augus had intended to stop his acts of vigilante justice.
No, during those days, there had been plenty more to do, to tear down, to liberate, and to have some fun with in the City of Progress. The slums had needed rescuing… and, wow, had it been quite the adventure rescuing them.
With continued help from Jinx during the days up to tonight, the victory at Cobalt Square proved to have been the signs of the start to a mighty avalanche that would not only take the slums of Piltover but the entire city by storm. And in the beginning, through everything – through the blowing up of heists, intimidating thugs, putting down organized crime leaders, freeing the unfortunate from the abusive, liberating the poor south from tyrants – the Loose Cannon had not followed the Enduring Protector into every fray because she had been jinxed by her heartstrings but because it really had been, deep down, FUN.
Against the many targets or during the tasks Augus had ever named off to her before everything had become so peaceful nowadays, Jinx had been mostly free to do as she pleased. For Mojo's sake, just so long as she really didn't kill on purpose, she'd been allowed – even encouraged – to tease, toy, humiliate, along with capture her prey. Of course, it was quite boring that she hadn't been allowed to be as free as she would've liked on her missions. Nevertheless, it became plain with the passing of time that the Enduring Protector wasn't as merciful nor simple nor gentle as she'd guessed. He had his own firm reasons, his bad boy motives, for not wanting to kill the bad guys.
Back in Cobalt Square, when the traders had been just about to be ripped apart by Pow-Pow, Augus had not stated for Jinx to stand down because he was showing mercy to them. He hadn't told her to back off because he believed that there was justice in letting them live on. No, he had insisted that the criminals live… so that they could be confined, trapped, limited, be bullied by the authorities as they had bullied the people of the slums for too long. In short, soon enough, the drug traders in question would be getting a taste of their own medicine.
In that belief, standing bold in Cobalt Square, that was why the Enduring Protector had stopped the Loose Cannon then and had always stopped her from killing convicts whenever possible during their partnership. He wanted the bad guys to live, to suffer at the hands of the law. Not because it was somewhat the right thing to do but because it showed all supposedly smart rule breakers just how mortal he or she really was; that no one was or could truly be above others.
Augus believed in justice, yes, but he also believed it had to be delivered correctly, swiftly, psychologically even, in his own harsh way which had not only resulted in thugs fearing him today but it had also worked its way into Jinx's own thinking. Indeed, no longer was she so eager in destroying things, in firing out in public, in being chaos itself when around him. Through the Enduring Protector, she understood his unique way of fighting, of investigating, of believing, of even being friendly to the weak as well as being ferocious against those who took advantage of those same weak.
During their partnership, even though she was still arguing with herself over it, Jinx had gone on to eventually… wake up, find a lost part of herself in a sense, where she was still something of an outlaw but also a good girl too. Yet, that couldn't be.
Jinx wasn't the one who should have been jinxed into being a hero! She wasn't the one to be trapped in place for too long, to have somebody controlling her, to be responsible for something, to be told what to do or think about things!... Right?
In this world, the section that was in between the white and black – that hazy gray section – was something most souls never could say they'd ever seen through.
Such as this: if someone actually had the opportunity to shoot a long hated public villain, a murderer, a kidnapper, would they really do it? Or would they forever be stuck between what was right and what was wrong? Would they really be willing to stoop to the level of killer, destroyer, yet crusader to achieve something like feeling better about themselves? Like getting rid of all organized crime?
To know right from wrong, good from bad, light from dark, justice from revenge, just to know your way through the gray area between that bright white and vast black, wasn't an easily understood thing in the slightest. It was within that grayish place that many a soul found confident him or herself no longer so confident but lost. Sometimes, they even were more than lost; they ended up dead.
Whether or not he honestly knew what he had been doing the entire time until this night on October 19th where the slums had been fully won from crime, where the people were not scared by the idea of coming outside, where he was secretly celebrated by the citizens of Piltover's south while kept hidden away from the searching police, Augus – to the best if not moral of his abilities – really had done what needed doing; both the bright as well as ugly business.
Therefore, where others hadn't dared, where the law had discouraged such ideas, even though there was much unintended blood on his hands, Augus Cousitar – the Enduring Protector – had done plenty of good for Piltover since his coming. And as he had wanted from her those few months ago upon that rooftop above Emblem Street, formerly resistant Jinx had given him her support, her wit, her charm, as well as her firepower occasionally in exchange for Mojo someday.
Thus, with the City of Progress finally settled down, with Augus praised both by the south as well as northern parts of the community as something of a hero, the time had come for the Loose Cannon to be loose once more, hadn't it? It was about time she was given back her prized possession and be allowed to do what she pleased before Mr. Higher Purpose came along, wasn't it?
No longer was Jinx going to be jinxed. No longer was Mojo going to be kept away from her. No longer was Augus going to restrain her in one place, especially this place that was now so very lacking in anything to do. Of course, everything that had been done beforehand, everything that had involved the overthrowing of the organized crime of these slums, had been very fun. And for all of that fun, Jinx might even thank Augus before leaving him behind.
Yet, as she finally got around to rapidly descending from the roofs of the buildings via sliding down a collection of ladders, Jinx was only lying to herself some more about leaving Piltover because it was so very boring. Truly, she just couldn't stop this particular brand of lying to save her own double sided life, could she? UGH!
Deep, deep, deep down in her rushing heartbeats, even if she was trying to ignore the signs, she was shockingly hoping for something to occur tonight that would... keep her under Augus's control, keep her at his side, keep her trying to get Mojo back from him.
Yes, much like how he had shown up out of thin air as well as taken her tin monkey from her back in the day, Jinx was secretly yearning that the Enduring Protector would be as equally crafty with her tonight. And did she want him to keep her under his control because she saw it some kind of fun she'd never experienced before? Or did she want him to do so because she had somehow become reliant on him during their time together filled with memories of fighting thugs, investigating places, and even… bonding meanwhile?
There were so many questions that raced through the Loose Cannon's troubled mind as she finished climbing down the ladders onto the firm ground that was the alleyway off of "Evening Road". So, so, so many of them! Too many!
Since she had begun to work with the Enduring Protector, as one half of her had wanted and still wanted to stubbornly resist him, the other half of her had unknowingly started to open up, to awaken, to be jinxed by him. On the battlefield, he had proven time and time again to be quite the promising if not strong fighter that could not only keep up with her but even outmatch her. Nevertheless, it hadn't been during the fighting against brutes, the searching for baddies to bring down, nor any of the mayhem that the Loose Cannon had suddenly found herself feeling differently about how her world worked.
No, it had been during the earlier days she'd watched from a distance while Augus came to be eventually accepted by the slums, that the people here gradually came to praise him, that he valued everyone who honored him, that she abruptly found herself thinking of what it could indeed be like to settle down, to wash the dishes, to pay bills, to have a family, to be… like everyone else?
Yet, to be normal wasn't something Jinx had ever thought of nor could it possibly be done. Even if there was a growing part of her that maybe wanted that on this October night – that wanted Augus to continue bringing it out of her – she couldn't turn back on this certain psycho lifestyle she'd decided upon. She had been involved with it for far too long.
Jinx hadn't started this whole chaotic campaign of destruction against the world to just stop now, had she? She jinxed others, not the other way around. Rules were made to be broken. Being normal had never benefitted anyone, especially her.
Regardless of her stubborn beliefs though, while the days had passed and the popularity about the Enduring Protector's feats had bolstered, Augus never changed. He remained fierce on the battleground against his foes as well as gentle/all-knowing off of it with his friends; even to Jinx.
And his gentle words towards the Loose Cannon, him having always considered her a kind of friend from the very moment he'd approached her, had definitely fallen about deaf ears in the earlier days… but tonight, for the last week or so also, those same deaf ears had become keener to hear his friendship, to catch every word he spoke, to notice the occasional joke he'd throw around every so often. In order to maybe find what she was seriously looking for in him, not only did she try to catch everything he had to say to her these days, she paid attention to his everything. She took delight in seeing his every move, in being in his presence, in being included on things.
So, was it that easy for Jinx to say goodbye to what seemed to be the rarest of opportunities to, as Fishbones had quoted numerous times, "Settle down, wash the dishes, and pay the bills"? Not only that but if she really wanted to go on being the Loose Cannon, did she have the motives, the reasons, the spark to go on doing it while knowing the Augus perhaps now expected better of her?
Ugh, why did all of her thoughts keep coming back to him?! Not only that, why did it work her up this much?! The Enduring Protector may have been a respectable role model, the kind of guy that she'd needed for the longest time. However, he was a hero, right? And she… well, she was his opposite. She had always been and was a Loose Cannon; an obstacle.
While she made her way along through the alleys, why could Jinx not just come up with an answer that would put her aching mind at ease?! Why couldn't she just face the truth of the matter and accept the fact that she'd been possibly changed for the better, that she no longer had the energy to go on being a supposed terrorist psychopath, that she wanted Augus to include her into the balanced world he was now enjoying?! That she wanted him to – to – to – AGH!
Thanks to the Enduring protector, the Loose Cannon was obviously no longer and wouldn't ever be as loose as she had formerly been. When she was actually where she knew she would find him – when she stood outside of the comfy little if not merry inn entitled "The Elusive Pike", gazing up at an illuminated window on the second floor – she couldn't decide whether to curse or thank Augus for that.
Maybe she would do both by the end of tonight? Maybe things – the most tedious of things – would finally come out into the open also? And maybe, just maybe, things would work out between a hero as well as terrorist? Well, here was most definitely to hoping.
One way or the other, smiling a small smile to herself, hoping Augus's own feelings towards her would be the same during the difficult moment to come, Jinx crossed the dark street with a running start. In turn, no one just outside of the Cunning Pike's front entrance noticed her expertly scale the nearby structure, leap to the inn's surrounding wall of stone, slink to the tavern's eastern side, then unlock a certain one of the many rooms' glass windows' latches to steal inside where Augus Cousitar had been sheltered by the good innkeeper for the past few months.
During their career to win back the slums, when they had stopped the Cunning Pike's storages of numerous items from being the constant target of thieves through a cunning usage of wit, intimidation, along with Jinx's hectic traps, the reward was that Augus had been given a free room at the inn close to the docks.
So, while the Loose Cannon had remained in her own secretive hideout as well as kept it as secret as possible during her days as his partner, the majority of her having ever met up with the Enduring Protector had been in his comfy inn room; the very room she was now entering into through the window to leave the night's darkness and chill behind her.
Due to the fact that the oil lights were indeed ablaze in his organized den, it was a bit surprising for Jinx to find that Augus was nowhere to be found.
Like she had usually found him doing whenever dropping by in the past, he wasn't reading any of the prearranged collections of books stocked in the many shelves all around. It was a rather fortunate thing he wasn't asleep on his goose feather filled, heavily animal skin blanketed bed either or the Loose Cannon might have been tempted to… do a naughty thing or two to him before he even realized what was happening.
And as for him being at his elm desk writing out something, reading a parcel, going over information he'd gathered about the City of Progress since he'd arrived, he wasn't there either. No, instead, there actually happened to be, um, Mojo?
Yes, to her utmost shock of all shocks while she excitedly handled it, Jinx's prized tin monkey – the one item Augus had gone out of his way to always keep out of her sight or mind since he'd borrowed it – was set out on the desk. Yet why was that? The Enduring Protector had always kept the little crank up monkey on his person or elsewhere of which he would never breathe. So why was Mojo suddenly just out in the open like this? Was this some kind of trick? A test?
Nervously, knowing how very random the Enduring Protector could be himself, Jinx carefully looked around at her surroundings. With her crimson eyes narrowed, her heart rapidly beating in her chest, she closely glanced at the corners, the floor, the walls, and especially the ceiling. All the while, at every second that ticked by on the yordle made clock nearby, she half expected Augus to appear from behind her, grab her around her small waist, spin her around like it was some game and then throw her onto the bed to – wait… wait a moment.
If the tin monkey was now in her possession, why was the Loose Cannon standing around like some empty headed cat burglar caught in action? This was her chance, her moment of truth, to depart and never look back at all that had happened to bring her to this! Yes, the Loose Cannon could finally be loose again! No matter how nippy it was outside, no matter how comfortable this room was, with the opening of the nearby window she'd gained entry with, she could vanish into the nighttime's darkness in the next blink of an eye!
Nevertheless, even though the urge to flee Augus's room had been very strong, it couldn't overpower the abrupt feeling of surprise Jinx experienced when she next noticed a piece of parchment that had been held under Mojo's weight; a detailed black/white sketch of herself walking along, complete with holding Fishbones and Pow-Pow, spinning one of her longer than long braids along with a wide smile across her face.
Beneath the picture though – the well done if not realistic sketch that Jinx knew Augus had done himself at some point in time for he was indeed a notable artist – was a small note neatly written out underneath it. And it was what that message said that made the Loose Cannon give up on ever being loose, that made her gut flip over itself, that made her just flop on the comfortable bed as well as numbly await the return of the Enduring Protector so she could have a most serious discussion with him.
"Mojo has missed you, Jinx. It's about time he was given back to you, isn't it? Forgive me for my insistence for having held onto him for so very long but I hope you understand by now that it was necessary… and through him, we have both changed not only things around this city but also things about ourselves. To this moment onward, I hope we have sighted our true motives in living, in fighting, in having fun with whatever comes our way. Without you, Loose Cannon, I could not have become the Enduring Protector I have always needed to be. But of course, you already knew that without it needing to be said. So as you take Mojo, as you go where you go and do as you feel is appropriate, don't be a stranger anymore. Take this little gift of a portrait from me to you and always know that you have a friend here. A friend who will be most eager to listen to and discuss whatever you have on your mind." – Augus Cousitar, Your Humble and Very Grateful Confidant in Fun
How very like Augus Cousitar the Enduring Protector. How very like him to first meet Jinx as something of a riddle, work in his mysteriously successful way, and now say his own goodbyes before her own in the same puzzling fashion.
Nonetheless, as she remained laid out upon his bed, as she wrapped her mind around the subtle yet obvious meaning hidden in the neatly wrote out message she'd just read, the Loose Cannon felt she had had gained a newer reason than ever to want to have Augus keep Mojo, to have him keep her under his control, to not depart the City of Progress but continue following him into what could be more fun, entertainment, and even more rule breaking.
Indeed, there was no denying the obvious now. Just how she had jinxed many a man into chasing after her in the past, the Loose Cannon had been somehow jinxed along the way into chasing after the Enduring Protector. Heh, how did the saying go? Opposites always attracted? Or was that really what was happening? Maybe Jinx was jumping to conclusions about the meaning behind Augus's goodbye note? Riddles… that needed answers.
As of now, as insane as it was for her to begin comprehending, the Loose Cannon was getting ready to embrace the fact that she wanted more than just friendship from he who had been holding her leash, he who had been using her, he who had woken up a part of her she had thought as long lost. From what she had gleaned while reading his farewell to her, just by looking at the skill he had put into his sketch – his freehand sketch, mind – of her, it appeared Augus had put some very serious thought… into what needed to be made clear between the two of them before she just up and disappeared.
And as for Jinx disappearing tonight, as for her having found Mojo just sitting on the desk, that had indeed been a test in itself meant for her to see something in herself.
After all they had done together for Piltover, whether it had been fun or not, was the Loose Cannon really willing to leave behind the Enduring Protector? Not only that, was the Enduring Protector really as okay with seeing the Loose Cannon depart as he seemed to say in his message?
No. No, after having argued with herself for what felt like eternity but had only been the recent weeks, Jinx wouldn't be okay departing the City of Progress without saying anything or at least seeing Augus himself one last time. And as for Augus, well, he had said himself in the note that he would like it if she would stop being a stranger. He would always be there to listen to whatever she had to say or discuss from this night onward.
Did that not say something else for him though? Did that not say that he was opening up more than he ever had to the Loose Cannon? That he was taking the first possible step towards becoming more than friends/partners and giving her a chance to follow his example?
"So many questions without answers." Fishbones suddenly chuckled from the floor beside the bed, "Is it really worth all of this headache? You have Mojo. Let's get out of here."
"Shut up, Fishbones." Jinx grumbled back, taking to looking at the golden illuminated ceiling while twiddling her fingers together over her fast paced heart, "I've made my choice and that choice will get us our answers. When Augus shows up, we're going to talk about some things. Like he always is, good or bad, he'll be more than eager to listen to what I have to say to him."
"So you're going to talk about some things with him… and I'll have to put up with you while you get some more headaches in the meantime – OUCH!"
With a firm kick at the part of herself trying to discourage her from sticking around to find out things from Augus, booting Fishbones across the floor and over onto his other side, Jinx took to looking back up at the ceiling.
How many times had she been in this room without ever imagining what was happening here could actually happen? How was she going to overcome this coming moment? What was she going to say to Augus when he appeared to her? And if they really were going to be done dancing around the tender subject and admit they hadn't been looking at each other as partners or the best of friends for the longest time but more than that… how were they going to make that work? How was a hero as well as psychopath of Piltover going to start a relationship and remain true?
Well, duh. Just like how they had cleaned up the streets of the slums of the City of Progress, this ordeal about a bad girl and good guys would somehow work out. And if tonight was going to be anything like their efforts had been in putting down organized crime in Piltover's south earlier, then Augus would take the lead… and all Jinx had to do was follow his examples until, well, who knew what fun or mayhem came along. If she could stay awake long enough to see that fun come, that was.
From out of nowhere, the Loose Cannon's eyelids felt very heavy. Next instant, as she seemed to very well fall into the warmth of the animal pelt blanket underneath her, her quiet world as well as conflicted conscious had been overwhelmed by sleepy darkness.
End of "What Was, What Is, What Shall Be?"…
