Author's Note
So yeah, assessments have caught up on me and it has delayed my uploads by a week. Sorry about that.
This chapter's not that exciting, but the good news is that the next chapter will!
More good news! Since my assessments are all over and I have to make up for the delay, maybe by this weekend I'll be able to upload the next one!
I've gotten some responses from a few of you and I am very thankful for your comments. I take each and everyone to heart as I type the words of every chapter. I do hope that I still meet your expectations because I write not only for my enjoyment, but to yours as well.
Without further ado, here's a short chapter!
Chapter 4: That 70's 'Fro
~Warehouse~
"And we are live in front of the Piltover Science Ring, which is more commonly known as the PSR, with professor Heimerdinger himself holding what seems to be the generator he spoke of in his last interview." Janna said as the screen broadcasted her figure in front of the PSR.
"He has a small thing," Malphite observed.
"Huh, that's the generator?" Twisted Fate asked, "I expected it to be bigger."
"He's a yordle," Warwick mentioned.
"And what does that have to do with the generator?" Thresh asked the wolf.
"Nothing. I'm just saying that he's a yordle."
"Shush you guys!" Jinx said as she tossed a popcorn into her mouth. "He's talking!"
"Okay," Warwick said, "hey, where did you get-"
"Greetings to all who are watching this," the blonde yordle in the television said, "in my hands is a 3D replica of the generator my colleagues and I have made. We have done some tests and we can conclude that there's only a little more experimentation needed until we can truly say that this generator will be able to power endless supply of energy."
"He's talking," the giant said. "Pass the popcorn."
"He's probably going to brag about the advances in technology since the Summoner's Era." Twisted Fate said as he passed the popcorn.
"Professor Heimerdinger," Janna said, "what was your inspiration for this device?"
"Dear Janna," Heim began, "as you may know, we currently have energy thanks to the wondrous help of the Summoners who have sought to provide what Runeterra needs: a means of livelihood. Thanks to them, cities have grown and began to unleash the hidden potentials of the mind, thus improving innovation and technology."
"Called it," Fate snickered.
"I wanted to continue their pursuit into giving energy to everyone, no matter their status," Heim continued, "I have seen the lives of those who do not have the basic energy necessities, and it is very heartbreaking; they do not even have the capacity to light a lamp to keep them safe at night."
Jinx brought out a hanky and sniffled, "oh this part always makes me cry"
"The hell?" Thresh inched a bit away from the overly-dramatic girl.
"So my goal was to find a way to not only produce efficient energy, but to also distribute it to all corners of the world." Heimerdinger raised the model generator above his head. "Not only have we found a way to increase the efficiency of a generator, but we happened to stumble upon a way to reduce electrical resistance to the point where it almost loses no energy at all. We used the various principles and theories of the great figureheads of-"
"Ugh," Fate sighed, "can we fast forward this thing?"
"Intriguing," Fishbones said, "he used the Varacos Algorithm to find the optimal electrical input on a Runerium mineral to reduce the amount of-"
Jinx motioned Fishbones to face the rest of the gang, and they all just stared at the launcher with mild annoyance.
"Um," Fishbones stuttered, "pass the popcorn?"
"A-and thank you Professor Heimerdinger for that, rich insight on the generator," Janna said as she struggled not to yawn in front of the camera, "I know you don't have a lot of time as usual, but I heard you're planning to hold an exclusive conference?"
"Indeed I am," the professor said, "it will be held tomorrow at the Piltover Needle in the evening."
"Thank you very much Professor Heimerdinger," Janna said, "now it's time for Runeterra News QnA! One lucky phone caller will have a chance to ask the professor himself a question live! So, who ever is the tenth caller, you'll be able to ask the esteemed Heimerdinger one valuable questions! Please note that questions should not be private or-"
"PASS ME A PHONE!" Jinx screamed.
"What? Why?" Twisted Fate asked.
"SHUT UP AND GIMME A PHONE!"
"Got none," Warwick said.
"Never owned one," Thresh said.
"Huh?" Malphite questioned.
"IT'S SO THAT I CAN ASK ON HOW TO BREAK IN HIS LAB!"
"Fine, fine, be quiet!" the Cardmaster said as he gave her his phone, "just don't break it."
"Thanks Fancy Pants!" Jinx said as she pressed the buttons flashed on the screen.
"Are you sure that you can be the tenth caller?" Thresh asked the Loose Cannon.
"Nope!" Jinx smiled.
"Three, two, one... Go!" Janna screamed with glee.
"Go now," Warwick suggested.
"Sorry, you're the first caller. Nope, sorry, you're not the one. Hello? No I'm-" Janna continued.
"I think now's good," Fate said as he heard Janna respond to a fourth caller.
"Nope, you're the fifth caller."
"Use the tiny thing now?" Malphite asked.
"Sixth caller"
"You better start now!" Thresh said with great intent.
To the rest of the gang, they were really stressing out on this little event, but Jinx kept her cool and raised one finger up in the air. "NOOOOOOW!" she screamed as she slammed her finger onto the call button.
"Sorry, you're the seventh caller. Eighth caller. Oh, too bad, you're the ninth caller! Hello?" Janna said to the tenth caller. "Who am I speaking to?"
Everyone's eyes were on Jinx who had the phone on her side.
"Hello?" Jinx said using a voice that sounded like a thirty year old man.
There were small cheers amongst the group as if they won the lottery.
"Yes sir," Janna said not knowing that she was actually talking to Jinx. "Who is this?"
"This is Groovy Greg, admirer of Big H's dance moves," Jinx said in her fake voice.
"What the hell is she doing?" Warwick whispered to Fate.
"I don't know, but I believe she knows what she's doing." Fate replied.
"Thank you Groovy Greg," Janna said, "who's this 'Big H' you speak of?"
"Oh girl," Jinx snickered, "Big H was one of the best disco dancers of all time! He would do all these flashing moves, head spins, and he even schools try-hards who aren't worthy of the dance floor."
"Who?" Malphite asked.
"Friend," Thresh said, "I'm just as clueless as you are."
"Big H, is the handsome gentleman next to you," Jinx said.
Heimerdinger at first didn't move, but then he stuttered, "I don't go by that name anymore."
The entire news broadcast team had their jaws drop. The channel's viewers suddenly doubled in number.
"But Big H man," Jinx continued, "you were a legend! You and your silky smooth afro, your roller-skate turret props, your disco ball stun, and let's not forget the laser show! Man, till this day, people are still trying to be half the dancer you are!"
"Well," Heim blushed, "I was the best."
"Yeah man," Jinx said, "so I wanted to ask ya if you still practice those groovy dance moves of yours! I heard that you even have a private dance room in the PSR!"
The team had mixed reactions. For one, nobody could believe that Heim was this 70's disco dancer with a suave afro and groovy glasses who head spins and throws disco balls to stun people.
"What the hell?!" Warwick whispered to Jinx. "I thought you were going to ask ab-" Jinx interrupted him by shushing him. She placed her hand to cover the receiver of the phone, smiled, and said, "just watch Wolf Boy."
The screen zoomed into Heim's embarrased face. "Well, my private lab can only be accessed by me because I programmed it to only open in my presence, and there are times when I get a little bored from work, b-but that doesn't mean that I spend my time doing such childish things such as dancing!"
"Aw, alright man," Jinx said on the phone, "but one day, I expect to see you on the roller ring busting out your moves ya hear?"
Heim thought for a moment, "maybe when I retire," he said smiling.
"And that's all for this caller event!" Janna said, "remember, you heard it first here that the professor said that he would return to his dancing origins when he retires! I'm sure that many of his fans are excited for his return. That's all for now, see you all tomorrow at the Piltover Needle!"
With that, the screen turned to a commercial about Gragas' bar and the amazing deals available at Happy Hour.
"What did that accomplish?" Malphite asked.
"When you're going to ask about a super secret impenetrable laboratory, you can't just ask about it directly!" Jinx gave back the phone to Twisted Fate, "you might want to get a new phone by the way 'cause they have your number."
She brought Fishbones up to her shoulder and let him do the talking, "the professor is no gullible fool who will just answer anyone, so the best way to get any info from someone is to flatter or embarrass them."
"So what you're saying is," Warwick said, "Heim... was actually a disco dancer?"
Jinx gave off a mischievous snicker, "when I first saw him do a head spin, I thought he was a dancer at first." She then shifted back to Fishbones, "upon researching, it turns out that before his first doctorate, he donned an afro and started to dance. Of course, this was during the days of disco, and he only had a career of about one year. Since then, he slowly became more known for his scientific achievements to the extent that his marvels outdid his old history."
"I... I still have a hard time believing you," Thresh admitted.
"Don't bother then Match Stick!" Jinx replied, "now let's get to the plan of blowing up his lab!"
The others began to listen intently, not only to hear Jinx's outrageous plan, which they might get a good laugh from, but to also listen to Fishbones.
"To blow up his lab," Jinx said as-a-matter-of-fact, "we're going to need a lot of hexplosives. Instead of bringing our own, we can just steal some from Zigg's room in the PSR. Then, we get into Heim's lab, and blow is sky high!"
There was a small applause because the gang wanted to amuse Jinx, but then a question came up.
"Wait," Thresh asked, "don't we need Heim to get into his lab? Why will he agree to let us in?"
"Oh," Jinx said in a softer voice, "right."
She then brought up Fishbones and continued in his voice, "that's a great idea Jinx, but mind if I add a little detail?"
"Sure Fishbones!" Jinx said cheerfully, "make me proud you lovable death machine!"
Now the others listened very carefully because they knew that the real plan was going down.
FIshbones grabbed a white pencil and a blueprint sheet once more and began to draw. On the earlier sheet was an image of the PSR's first floor, but on this new one was a bird's eye view of the facility. It was essentially a big circle with a smaller circle in the center. Once he finished, he put down the pencil and spoke, "the one thing that makes the PSR so impenetrable is that they have the ability to create a forcefield around the inner circle. The Outer Ring is where security is greatest because they have the technology to identify ANY weapon or potential weapon."
"Wow," Malphite said, "nice drawing."
"Thank you," FIshbones said with a bow, but then Jinx slapped him, "focus Fishbones! You gotta make my plan awesome!"
"So wait, how did you get in the center?" Warwick asked.
Jinx smiled, "I rode a rocket!"
The others groaned in disbelief.
"It was a modified rocket," Fishbones said, "Jinx restructured the rocket to disable the forcefield such that she had enough time to get in before it reformed."
"Yeah, good times," Jinx said, pleased with herself, "but I don't think it'll work again. They probably improved it. Bummer."
"Aw, it's okay Jinx," Fishbones tried to comfort her, "that's why we're making a new plan!"
"So what's the new plan?" the Cardmaster asked.
"Alright," FIshbones continued, "this is a two part plan. The first is to get Heim, and the second is to get him and us inside the Center. The forcefield is the major problem, but once we get around it, we will be fine. There are two ways to activate the forcefield, and that's if the security of the Outer Ring activates it, or if anyone with the right authority in the Center's Master Security Rooom activates it. So, here's the plan..."
Thanks again for reading! As always, any feedback is very appreciated! Enjoy your day!
P.S. Yeah, the Heim thing was definitely out of character, but it was a skin concept I thought about before that made me laugh. So yeah...