Chapter 1: Sunn
Crunch.
"You know, we could probably do it," Jinx said between mouthfuls of chips. "Me an' you. Go in. Guns blazing."
"Into Piltover."
"Yeah." Turning to her side, the small glare of the sun reflected off her eyes. "We can totally do it."
"With the Sheriff and the Enforcer there? Are you sure about that?"
"Oh, what are they gonna do, huh?"
"Besides shoot us?" He answered, his gaze focused on the ceiling.
Crunch.
"Puh-lease! Like that's stopped me before. I practically go there every week and look at me! I'm totally fine!"
"I'm not crazy."
"Maybe you need a little crazy in ya~," She grinned.
"Mhm."
"Ah, c'mon...! You're a pro-thief! This is practically your job criteria!"
"Wanna let all of Zaun know that while you're at it?" He hissed.
"Well, from the looks of what happened last night," She waggled her brows. "I'd say people are starting to catch on~"
He grunted in response to her mockery.
Crunch.
"Besides, I got ol'Fishbones and Zap Zap! I just need to get Pow Pow back and I'll be happy."
"So go get it. What do you need me for?"
"Seriously, you're such a moody monkey. Obviously, I want you to come with me. One is the loneliest number...!"
"I do not want to fight the Sheriff of Piltover."
"So what you're saying is that you'd rather fight the Enforcer~" Another manic grin. "Well, that no problem at all! I can totally take on Hat lady!"
"You honestly give me a headache."
"I'll give you more than that if you don't say 'yes'."
They had been like this since early dawn. Jinx's perpetual ramblings about Piltover had prevented him from returning back to sleep. Secretly, he didn't really mind it. Laying there on his bed, side to side, talking about pretty much anything. It relaxed him really. Even if her constant teasing irritated him. He knew that's just how she was.
He also appreciated how blunt she was.
"I'm not going to fight you. If you can even call it that."
"Aw, scaredy-cat~! Scaredy-cat~!"
Knockknockknockknock!
It was astounding how synergized they were as both criminals sat up, taking one swift glance at each other before silently getting into position. Jinx had taken cover just outside his door; her face barely visible as she peeked around the corner. Meanwhile, the Vastayan had made his way to the door; his piercing gold eyes locking onto where the supposed guest would stand.
Before he had gripped the doorknob, he made sure Jinx had seen his signal - a simple, two-fingered wave. She rolled her eyes before removing herself completely from view from the doorway.
"Sunn? You in there?" The feminine voice behind the door softened his countenance and so he opened the door. "Oh! You are here. Good."
"Scourge... I-"
"How many times do I have to tell you? You don't need to call me that."
"Kaya-" He sighed. "This is probably not a great time."
The yordle blinked at him before turning her attention towards his room. Sunn watched as her bright golden eye focused on where Jinx was supposed to be. "Oh. You have a guest." She said with a frown. "And of all the guests you could have, it's the Loose Cannon."
Sunn didn't know how to respond to such a statement though he did fear that said Loose Cannon might live up to her name at such a jab.
"Why she is here doesn't matter to me anyway..." The yordle shifted her attention back to him. "I have a job for you."
Jinx had already lived such an adventurous life - if you could even call it that - filled to the brim with many characters and actions. She would often use her notoriety to often fuel her pleasure during one of her many bouts of anarchy. She would daresay that she was feared by most if not all the citizens of Zaun and Piltover. Those who did not fear her hated her - or were really stupid.
She loved the stupid ones.
So when a yordle walked through Sunn's door and flat-out insulted her existence like that? Well. let's just say she might've just found her next plaything.
"You do?" Sunn spoke in such a low tone she had to hold her breath just to hear him. Silently, she cursed him for being so secretive when she was nothing but open and honest with him.
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat this, they wanted you specifically for this one. Figured you're the only one cut out for it."
"Hmm..." Jinx could hear the sound of papers being toyed with. She assumed Sunn must've been looking at files or something.
Wait, why was she hiding again?
"This guy lives in Piltover."
"Mhm. Right in the nest. Rich kid too. Probably has the cops right in his pocket."
"They're asking me to do a lot for..." A brief pause in his sentence. Jinx wondered just what was he staring at now. "Whoa. You guys can't be serious..."
"Oh, we're serious."
"You know what kind of hell this will raise if I do this?"
"Which is why we're asking you to do it. You're the only one who can pull this off."
Another brief pause gave Jinx some time to speculate just what they were referring to... During her various sessions of fun in Piltover, she had come across many supposedly important artifacts, each failing to raise her interest above a yawn.
"But a hextech crystal?" Now, this caught Jinx's attention. She was more of a shoot first, never ask questions type of gal but even she knew the potential importance of a Hextech Crystal. Both the cities thrived off of it for heaven's sake. "You know what you're asking me to do, right?"
"We're offering a large reward for the retrieval of this. And trust me when I do say large..." Jinx narrowed her eyes. She felt as though she emphasized that word a little too much.
"I don't know... There are too many ways this could go south. I'd honestly say you're trying to set me up if it was anyone else but you."
Yet another moment of silence followed by the rustling of papers. It took every fiber of willpower inside Jinx to not peek around the corner.
"Just sleep on it then," Kaya said. "The crystal isn't going anywhere. We have the location. All we need is someone good enough for the job. And I know you are fucking good enough for this."
Jinx noted that hearing yordles curse was weird.
"Sleep on it, Sunn. You have my number, alright? Keep the files too. In case you wanna study them." She could hear the yordle's footsteps leave the room.
"No promises..."
"Also... be careful." Was the last thing she said before Jinx heard him shut the door and lock it. Another wave of silence followed suit followed by more rustling of papers. She did not move from her spot.
"You can stop hiding now." He said with an exhausted sigh, keeping his gaze on the files Kaya had left for him.
"Who said I was hiding? I was actually eavesdropping, thank you very much."
"I'm not sure that's how eavesdropping works." He said, running his fingers through his hair with a sigh.
Jinx, noticing he frustration, offered him one of her usual, notorious grins. "Wanna do some drugs?"
"...what?"
"I'm joking! Kinda... Maybe... Maybe not. Definitely not."
"You-" Sunn stared at her with disbelief. "You have drugs..."
"Yes."
"And you brought them here?"
"Also yes."
"And you have said "drugs" on your body right now?"
"What're you, a cop?" Are ya gonna search me, officer~?"
"I'm just wondering why you have drugs IF you even have them, and also just how are you hiding them?" He crossed his arms.
"Like I said, you wanna cavity search me? If you look hard enough you might just find them~" Her grin grew, even more so as his own eyes widened. "I'm kidding~! I keep them under your mattress." She twirled on her heel and skip into his room.
Sunn shook his head. "You cannot be serious..." But with a rather enthusiastic "Hah!, Jinx hauled up a rather large box from under the bed. Sunn could hear the glass contents inside rattle. "And just what drugs do you mean specifically...?" He said while narrowing his eyes.
"Well... er. Not really the drugs drugs..."
"What the hell does that even mean?"
She responded by opening the package, revealing its contents. Several glass bottles stood stacked upon each other, each of a gray, translucent decor.
"Shimmerwine."
"Yep~!" Jinx sang. "Guess where I got these puppies from?"
"A Chem Baron." He groaned. "Goddamn, Jinx, which Chem Baron did-"
"Uhp-uhp-uhp!" Her finger on his lips, a dangerous look flashed in her eyes. One that made Sunn swallow the lump in his throat. Though he didn't necessarily fear Jinx, he certainly was wary of her impulsive decisions. "Don't worry about all that stuff... Here." She snatched a bottle. "Just take a sip of this and let the fireworks happen~"
"Really?" He gave her an incredulous look.
"Shaddap and drink."
There was a slight clink as he grabbed the Shimmerwine. Skepticism began to plague him as his golden eyes traced over the drink, however. "I don't know... this stuff is pretty illegal for a reason."
"Fine! I'll take the first sip." The Loose Cannon wasted no time confiscating the bottle away from Sunn and popping open the cork.
"Uh..." Whirring as Sunn focused his gaze on the drink that was mere inches from her lips and Jinx herself. "I don't think..." It was too late to change her mind as the clear liquid kissed her lips, sending chills down her spine. Sunn didn't shift his gaze, not even when Jinx shivered before shoving the drink in his face.
"Uwah!" She breathed and made a face. "Your turn."
"Uh... I don't really want -"
"Oh, c'mon! Take a load off, will ya? You're always so moody now." Sunn noticed that not only did she shiver in between sentences, her face had begun to flush. "Would it kill ya to do something fun every once and a while?"
Biting his lip, Sunn took one last look at the bottle in his hand, twirling it around in his grip with the same sort of apprehensive attitude that he displayed earlier when amongst the yordle.
"Fine. Aya, lockdown." He sighed in defeat. Around the apartment, several clicks could be heard. "Just one sip."
"Ayo." Scourge drifted from one side of the street to the other. Her short, white hair dancing freely in the light breeze of Zaun smog. "Yeah, I gave him the rundown of our mark. Gave him the copy of the files too."
Though her voice was small, it remained firm despite the lingering scent of pollution in the air. Normally, the faintest smell of the Gray would dissuade the average citizen of Zaun from traveling.
But she was anything but average. "No, he didn't give me a definite answer. He looked like he just pulled an All-Night Bender actually." To anyone that dared to look, she would've appeared to be talking to herself. This was not the case, however, as no one was around. Zaun's lower levels were noticeably barren between night and dawn due to the various gangs and criminal groups that resided there.
But such a thing didn't seem to bother her at all. "It honestly wouldn't surprise me. That... girl... The Loose Cannon, was there when I got there. That gutter rat."
Taking a sharp left turn behind a seemingly abandoned store, she completely ignored the faded scrawling of "VIOLATERS WILL BE REMOVED" on the side of it.
"I just don't see what Sunn fucking see's in... that thing. Then again, it ain't my business to ask... Hmm? The augments are working great. I don't have to wear those damned masks every time I step outside now. Though, I do miss the silence at night."
The air around her had become more fogged the deeper she went into the heart of Zaun, such an atmosphere would be detrimental to the average citizen's health, perhaps even fatal. Yet, the yordle carried on without even a cough. "I'm actually about to be there... Yeah, gimme like... a few minutes and I should have it." Kaya then came to a stop at what seemed to be the end of the alleyway. At the corner of an exit, an incredibly large, and pale man stood guard. Various tubes and wires ran all throughout his bulked out body. A gas mask concealed his face, which also seemed connected to a large tube that he carried on his back.
"Yep... Yep... Mhm... Nah. Sunn ain't stupid." She dusted some ash and soot off her onyx-colored jacket before nonchalantly reaching into her pocket as the man turned towards her. "He'll take a few days to scope out the details but in the end, that's a nice hefty profit for him. He won't ever turn something like that down. Aw, what the-"
The heavily augmented guard grunted.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses... Here." She pulled out a small card out of her jacket pocket. The guard barely gave it a once over before grunting again while returning to his post.
"Alright, I gotta go, but I'll definitely keep you updated on it, okay?" Kaya stepped forward into an entirely different lane, one filled with colorful bazaars on each side of the street. Unlike the other parts of the Slums and Sumps of Zaun, this place was brimming with life...
...There was an air of discord, however, as every being that walked and talked seemed to carry a threatening presence with them wherever they went. It was as if the slightest disagreement would spark a massacre between each consumer and yet, Kaya never felt more at home.
"Oh yeah, yeah. I'll definitely keep a closer eye on him now with the Loose Cannon around, too... Zaun's a pretty rough place... We wouldn't want any of our assets getting hurt now, would we?"
"I can't feel my legs." Sunn lay on his back, a wild gaze affixed to the ceiling. The bottle of Shimmerwine rolled lightly on the floor next to his bed while Jinx mirrored his actions on his left.
Crunch.
"I can't feel my legs." There he lay, mouth agape, eyes as wide as disks, trembling in his voice.
"Aw! You're such a baby!" Jinx giggled in between mouthfuls of chips. He couldn't see but her usual grin must've been twice it's usual size.
"Jinx, please...! I'm... I'm all numb down here...!"
"Ssh, seriously, panicking helps... not at all."
Sunn swallowed. It was alarming, the way he couldn't feel anything below his belt. Well... almost anything.
"That was how it was my first time too. It's like ice, right?" All he did was frantically nod. "Hahaha~! Don't be such a baby, ya big baby. That's just the first part."
"Y-you mean my whole body is gonna go numb...?!"
"Uh-uh." Jinx sat up to slide closer. Something mischevious flashed across her face. "And you aren't completely gone down there..."
He caught that. The way her words rolled off her tongue. Her tone appeared coy, perhaps even sultry. But that was improbable, Jinx was never the type to do such a thing... at least he thought.
"As far as I can remember," she continued, tilting her head as her eyes browsed his body. "Just your legs are gonna feel weird. But that," Her pale finger caught his attention now as it was an inch from his crotch. "You'll definitely feel. Trust me."
Sunn didn't know how to reply. He didn't even understand what she fully meant by that either.
"Give a few. Watch. You're gonna feel everything~!"
"I... I.."
"Ssh, ssh, ssh. Just let Jinxy take care of ya." She purred, snuggling close to him as the Vastayan shivered in his spot.
"Nice." Kaya nodded, staring down the barrel of a shotgun as large as she was. The augmented guard immediately retracted the weapon as Kaya folded her arms in annoyance.
"My mistake. I dint recognize you at first." His gruff, thick voice, barely clear under the gas mask he donned.
"Yeah, I figured as much." Kaya wiped soot and ash off her sleeves. "I mean the last time I was here, I had two regular eyes and flesh all over." The guard inched away as she moved closer. "Now look at me. Look at my eye." Now she extended her arms. "I can tear someone's head off with these babies. I have torn heads off."
"Alright! I get it!" The man practically had his back against the wall.
"Good! Now you better remember that fact there, boyo." Just the sight of her shaking her finger removed any opposition he had left. "Or I might just have to rip your fucking head off too. Now, get the fuck out of my way." Though the last statement was not needed as the guard had already steered clear from her as she marched into the building.
More guardsmen. Each similar when it came to their patterns of armor or augments and yet they differed. A myriad of tubes and reinforced plates decorated each hulking mass of a guard that stood watch over the entrance and yet as soon as she entered, there was an immense shift in the atmosphere.
The mere presence of her sucked the whatever good air was left in the room as all the visible guards watched her make her way towards the front desk at the center of the room.
"Scourge?! You- you're back!?" The receptionist practically fell out her seat even though from her view, only Kaya's ears were visible.
"That's right. It's me. I'm back. And I got stuff to do, so bring his ass up here already."
"I'm already here." The penetrating voiced cause every guard to immediately collapse to one knee, their gaze towards the marble floor. From the second floor, balcony stood a rather average looking man wearing a long, black trench coat. Goggles prevented Kaya from seeing his eyes but it didn't matter to her. "I had you pegged from the moment you stepped foot in Black Lanes. Though I could hardly believe the news. Even when you graced my men with your tactless threats."
Each step he took echoed through the room. Each gravelly word he spoke lingered in the air. The man kept his attentive eyes on the yordle.
And yet... her slouched posture betrayed her feelings of boredom.
"Ah. But you simply must forgive the irritation in my voice. I've just come to learn that two of my men had gone missing. To what do I owe the infamous Scourge?"
She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at the man. "Yeah... so about those two guys."
End of Chapter