"I've always taken the initiative on jobs. Sometimes, however, I tell a couple of lies. This... This was one of those times." Sivir, the Battle Mistress, Demacia.
Chapter Nine:
Lucian stretches in the morning sun, he leads over the side of the stone wall to feel the breeze of Piltover winds upon his face. Galio remains perched on the opposite wall, looking out over the city past Lucian.
"It's been a damn long time since I've been up here." Caitlyn nods, sitting next to Galio. She takes her hat off and places it on top of Galio's head, giggling as he turns his head toward her with a questioning look.
"Can't we just let the interview go? You have me here now and I have Senna's weapon. Let's just let bigons be bigons." Lucian turns back to the two, sitting on one of the stones that holds the champion hall together. Caitlyn shakes her head.
"We have a lot to talk about, for the most part the incident during the field trip of the west summoning school just over four years ago." Lucian and Caitlyn lock eye contact.
"Look I did what I had to do-"
"You became consumed with finding Thresh to the point you aided in the killing of a little girl by the name of Alsia."
"That was not me, she got in the way and that was what happened!"
"She was attempting to save her friend, Scarlet." The silence resumes between the three.
"And she died. Since we can't determine who is to blame as of late we need your help to catch Jinx." He shakes his head with a sigh, turning back to look out over the city.
"Why should I?"
"Because if you do I promise we will aid you in finding Thresh and bringing him to justice." Galio grabs Caitlyn's hat off of his head, ripping himself from the stone ledge.
"Now wait just a minute, sheriff." Caitlyn takes her hat.
"Once we find and apprehend Thresh, you will be able to cast your revenge."
"You can't promise that!"
"Do we have a deal?" Lucian looks down at Senna's gun, his eyes filled with hatred.
"Deal." Suddenly a loud voice spouts through the walky talky attached to Caitlyn's shoulder.
"Sheriff, Vi has asked for back up immediately near the western district. We will be waiting at the bottom of the stairs to escort you to her location. Over." Caitlyn puts her hat back on and grabs her gun from behind Galio.
"We will discuss this matter later. Galio, get Lucian a breakfast then lock him in a cell AWAY from Sivir." Galio stands completely dumbstruck at the deal he had just witnessed. He nods reluctantly as Caitlyn enters the lift, heading down to the entrance.
"Alright big guy. Do you even eat?" Lucian walks ahead towards the lift, spinning his guns as the morning sun rises.
(Piltovian Champion hall, floor one.)
Caitlyn walks through the female dorm towards the reception. She hits several bed posts as she walks past.
"Poppy, I need your help are you up for it?" Poppy sits up on her bed with a grin.
"Always, Cait. What's going on?" She follows Caitlyn out into the reception and into the male dorm.
"Garen, follow me. You too Taric if you aren't busy." Garen is polishing his armour while Taric is rummaging through his draws.
"I apologise, Caitlyn. But I am working with Heimerdinger on Demacian defenses. What is happening?" As Garen hauls his armour onto himself Caitlyn begins to explain.
"Vi has requested back up near to the western district."
"Vi? This the same Vi?" Poppy lets out a chuckle, heading to the closed doors of the champion hall. Garen and Caitlyn follow her as the doors creak open. At the edge of the marble steps stands two interns. They hold clipboards and walkie talkies in either hand as if twins. The boy is rather short while the girl is much taller than him. It makes for an odd pair, but none the less they are soon to be part of Piltover's finest.
"Ah, right. Prompt. Very good you two." She smiles, walking past the girl as she hands her the clipboard. Caitlyn begins to read and sign the papers as they walk down the steps and past the fountain which gleams in the sunlight.
"Do you really have to do all of that paper work just to take a stroll through the city?" Garen questions, waving to a few kids as they play in the streets.
"Yes. We have multiple trainee's during the summer months that need to learn the importance of documenting the crimes witnessed and solved throughout the streets of each district."
"Without these documents Piltover just ceases to function." Poppy butts in. Garen shakes his head.
"If you're going to kill a few bad guys, who's going to miss em'?" They turn down the alley way to see the large pile of rubble. Caitlyn notices a few body parts and items of clothing scattered throughout the rubble.
"The families that needed those 'bad guys' to feed them." Caitlyn carefully steps past the rubble as she hands the clipboard back.
"Be a good dear and get us a cup of tea? Also fetch the crane operators and forensics teams, thank you." Poppy and Garen follow Caitlyn through the tight fit. Garen's newly polished armour scrapes through the gap.
"This is a lot of dead bodies." Poppy mutters as Vi comes into view. She's holding up a very torn up Shyvana who seems to be unconscious.
"Shyvana?!" Garen rushes over.
"What the hell happened?" He looks up at Vi, lifting Shyvana in his arms.
"Found her here. After I managed to wake her enough for her to transform back to her human form I found this card tucked into her armour." She hands a green and black card to Caitlyn who's eyes widen in shock.
"Do you really think that it could be them?" Vi converses with Caitlyn as Poppy examines the purple and blue paint splashed all through the hollowed out ruins of each Piltovian home. She tries to shift some of the debris to pull out a small teddy bear who is missing an arm.
"I'm not sure, but if Twisted Fate left this here then it definitely will be. We need to inform Jarvan and Lux right away." Garen carries Shyvana past the rubble back towards the champion hall.
"We have a bigger problem, cupcake." She points through a crafted hole in one of the houses that shows a series of mirrors that reflect to show images of more explosion debris that seems to be scattered around the city.
"Catching Jinx."
(Piltovian Champion hall, floor two, mess hall.)
Lucian watches as one of the builders on his break plays the platformer on the television. He hands him a piece of toast, leaning back to see the construction men passing tools up through the hole.
"Can't believe he had it in him. Can you?" He looks at Galio who is helping them to lift the heavy bricks and wooden planks.
"Don't talk to me."
"Fine, I wont." Jayce and Scarlet walk past the mess hall towards the elevator. Lucian turns to catch a glimpse of the girls face. He stares for a seconds as their eyes lock. Scarlet? He thinks.
Lux and Ezreal join the two in the elevator. Lux smiles at Scarlet, holding Ezreal's hand. He nervously twitches, standing completely shirtless in the elevator with only a thin layer of bandages to cover him.
"Ah, you two are better now?" Jayce rummages through his bag to pull out the same scanning device that he and Heimerdinger used on everyone to take radiation and mutation readings.
"Much better. We're going to get his suit sorted for the wedding." Lux says in the most excited voice she's had in weeks. Jayce begins to scan Scarlet as the two converse. Ezreal and Scarlet glance at each other for a few seconds before the elevator opens up letting the group out into the hall. Before they can disperse Garen comes jogging toward the elevator carrying Shyvana in his arms.
"Jayce, help me." He pushes past everyone into the elevator. Jayce follows him, leaving Scarlet, Lux and Ezreal in the hall.
"What the hell is happening?" Lux addresses her brother. He shakes his head.
"Later." The elevator doors close before she can say another word. Just as she turns to Scarlet and Ezreal Caitlyn, Poppy and Vi come walking through towards the elevator.
"Did you see Garen by any chance?" Poppy looks up at Scarlet and Ezreal.
"Yes, he just entered the elevator carrying Shyvana, Caitlyn. Report." She lets go of Ezreal's hand to grab Caitlyn's shoulder. Vi enters the elevator motioning Caitlyn in with her. Lux follows as Caitlyn explains the situation. Poppy leads Ezreal and Scarlet back through to the bar.
"I guess you're not getting that suit." Scarlet sits down on one of the seats away from Ezreal who gets handed a scotch. Poppy offers Scarlet one but she turns it down.
"It's only morning and so far I have had at least seven emotions at once." He sits at the other end of the bar taking a mouth full of liquor.
"What the hell is going on?" He says to Poppy who is rummaging through the fridge.
"The large explosion at the South district bridge wasn't the only explosion. Since then Vi has discovered several places of debris left by who you can only guess were created by Jinx." She sits up on the bar between them, taking a drink of beer straight from the bottle.
"We found Shyvana at one of these sites with a green and black card tucked into her armour."
"Twisted Fate?" Ezreal sits up, groaning in pain.
"Yes but from the markings left in Shyvana's flesh and armour-"
"Can't be done by cards." Scarlet interrupts.
"So who is it?"Poppy questions.
"I think I have an idea. There's going to be a meeting soon knowing Lux and Caitlyn."
"Scarlet, you need to stay for the meeting at least." Poppy urges. Scarlet shakes her head, letting out a sigh under her breath.
"Fine." Lux comes walking through the bar towards reception.
"Meeting, two lab. Mandatory." She says as she walks out, ignoring Ezreal entirely. After she leaves he shakes his head.
"There she goes again, working herself to death."
"So what happened with you Scarlet? You've been acting strange since you got your voice back." Poppy moves closer to her, sitting on the stool right next to her. Scarlet shrugs.
"I've been completely oblivious myself. To be honest I just want to go home." She leans over the bar, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. She takes a sip, looking over at Ezreal who is trying to take off his bandages.
"What did I do?" She says with concern. Ezreal turns to look at her.
"You kissed me, it got you back to.. Normal. But the giant hole?" He lifts his gauntlet up.
"Something set this off. It was really fucking weird." He shrugs, causing himself pain. Poppy goes back to him re-applying the bandages.
"You can't take them off yet."
"Wait. So I kissed you? I would think I would remember that..."
"Do you remember anything at all?" He says coarsely. Scarlet stands up, putting the glass down.
"Look, I didn't ask you to fuck up my life. Alright?!" She walks out towards the male dorm. Ezreal lets out a sigh, downing the last of his drink.
"She didn't have a life to begin with." He scowls. Poppy lets out a chuckle.
"You know, ever since she saved you you've been acting like a spoilt kid that hasn't got his way." He pats his leg, looking up at him with a grin.
"While some people need saving, some people don't want saving." She follows the trail of where Scarlet went towards the reception and Heimerdinger's lab.
"Come on. It's always good to be early. Especially after last time." She laughs as Ezreal rolls his eyes, following her out.
(Heimerdingers lab, floor one.)
"What do you mean, this is the only acceptable meeting space? Can't you see Taric and I are working on the defenses that YOU continue to ask for?" Heimerdinger shouts above the confused crowd.
"Yes, why is the meeting down here, general?"
"Where is Jarvan?" Orianna walks past the group, looking around the lab.
"Should I fetch Jayce and Shyvana?" Ezreal walks into the room with a foul look on his face. Caitlyn questions Lux before being pulled away by Vayne who explains the situation.
"Shyvana is injured, we suspect it was by a champion from Noxus."
"Noxus wouldn't dare come near us now. Not with rumor of our defenses being stronger than ever." Quinn butts in.
"But they are not strong. They have not yet been finished." Poppy nods in agreement with Fiora.
"She's right. We're sitting ducks." Argument breaks out between the groups of champions before Garen and Galio enter carrying Shyvana from either side. Lux leans on the table, staring down at the plans for the new and improved crystalline defenses that are to be placed outside of the Demacian farm lands. She surveys the room, resting her eyes on Scarlet who stands alone off to the side, polishing Orianna's ball quietly.
"You." Everyone continues yelling and arguing over Lux. She doesn't notice.
"Scarlet. Yes, you." Scarlet looks up with a blank face. Lux nods towards her.
"When Ezreal bought you here, did he tell you about the process we put crime victims through?" Scarlet continues to polish the ball.
"He just told me that I had to come with him." A few of the champions near here stop talking immediately, turning towards her tentatively.
"Well, we have to discuss with you what you may remember about that night." She speaks over the few champions still talking.
"It's been five years. You didn't even once pursue me or the other children involved, and you want me to relive it?" The rest of the room has now got their attention on her.
"You want me to help you patch up the mess you left behind? After I had to sew up the wound myself? After the years of nightmares, struggling to get work, suffering just to get by?" Scarlet glares her down.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Silence envelops the lab. Lux takes out a piece of paper from her pocket and begins to address the meeting.
"We are all here to discuss the current state of Demacian and Piltovian relations, including our need to address the ever growing rumor of attack on our very cities and homes. As many of you already know, that is Scarlet X'vear. A young victim of a field trip cross fire at this champion hall on the twenty third of March, five years ago in which a young girl by the name of Alsia Tinker was caught and killed." Vi shakes her head as Caitlyn takes off her hat in respect.
"You are her. The girl I saw run away." Orianna approaches Scarlet with a sad expression. Scarlet stares her in the eyes blankly.
"To bring justice to her, and her lost class mate, we need to apprehend and question Jinx, the loose cannon. Although Piltover's finest has not yet confirmed the whereabouts of the criminal responsible-"
"Listen. I don't NEED your pity. Those who made it, made it. Those who didn't, didn't. You can't bring her back. I tried." Lux turns her attention to Scarlet as soon as she opens her mouth.
"Now I'm going to go home. I'm sick of being treated like a bloody victim by the same people who made me one. I do have one thing to add." She turns to walk towards the door.
"If I were you, I would seriously consider keeping an eye on your so called 'king'. He isn't as 'friendly' and 'social' as I have seen and heard before. Goodbye." As Scarlet leaves the room, each champions gaze rests upon each other. They stand bewildered, and each seems slightly nauseous. Heimerdinger approaches Lux's desk holding the same device used to track the levels of radiation after Scarlet received her voice back.
"Are you aware of the effect her speech patterns had just then?" Lux nods, turning to Jayce.
"Come on, we have to go get her back." Heimerdinger throws Jayce his medical packs and the three head out the door, trailing Scarlet.
"We'll be back in just a moment. Entertain yourselves, but please don't leave yet. We have much to discuss." Lux closes the door behind them, following Heimerdinger up the steps. As they exit the front doors, Scarlet is making her way down the second set of marble steps towards the fountain.
"Scarlet, wait!" Lux cries out over the sound of rushing water into the late summer breeze. Scarlet continues walking down the steps, not looking back.
"Don't you want to be a hero for the ones who loved you?" Jayce says.
"Would you not want to honor the one you lost?" She stops at the bottom of the stairs, clenching her fists. She turns around, her face blisteringly angry.
"Honor her? HONOR her?! My HONOR to her is up in the studio of my shitty little Piltovian apartment in which she sold her childhood to get for us. And as for being a hero!" She scowls at Jayce, throwing the jacket that Jayce had lended her.
"The definition of a hero is someone who gets everyone else killed." She turns her back to them, walking back through the main east street towards her home.
"Leave me the FUCK alone!" The three of them stand in awe as she storms away. Heimerdinger and Jayce turn to each other, but Lux follows down the steps.
"We NEED what you have, Scarlet! You can make people LISTEN to you!" Scarlet flips her off as she keeps walking.
"We need you to save us..." Scarlet turns down an alley, out of sight.
"What a shame she didn't join us. We could have used her in the up and coming summoner recruitment."
"A shining example of an every day warrior. What a waste of talent." Heimerdinger shrugs, heading back up the steps as Lux turns back to the hall.
"I'm just sorry we couldn't save you."
