The speed at which Caitlyn had driven was insane. Had they both been paying any sort of attention, they'd be thankful for their lives, for it was most definitely miraculous that they were still alive; in just a matter of minutes, they arrived at the destination: an old, abandoned toy factory.
By the time they had gotten there, the fire had been put out by a humongous team of Zaunite firefighters, the police ready to enter the building to inspect it.
They didn't like what they saw as Vi and Caitlyn entered their sights.
"This is a situation for us to handle, Wright," Zaun's police's Sheriff said, the glimmer of a glare in his eyes as he stared at the approaching women, his eyes always darting away from Vi and landing on Caitlyn. "I'll kindly request that you leave the area, immediately."
"I'm afraid we can't, Marston." She replied, using his last name as well, "The technology used to cause the explosion was Piltovian hextech machinery and it was missing, having been stolen." She looked at him with a no-nonsense look. "So you will find out that this is a situation for us to handle, too."
He hadn't liked her reply. "We won't let you in before we go in."
Caitlyn took a step forward, "And why haven't you gone in, already?"
"Ladies, ladies," Vi intervened, stepping in between them, "You're both pretty. Now, how about both your guys and us go in, Sheriff?" She asked Marston, "The factory is too big for just us or just you. We could comb it in half the time if we go in and we split."
He looked like he was considering her words, a certain awkwardness to his gaze as he looked away—
"Kyle," Vi said, one robotic hand landing on the man's shoulder like a friendly pat, making the embarrassed man turn his head to look at her again, "Come on, for old time's sake?" She nodded her head once, a smile on her lips, "I wouldn't want to have to remind you of—"
"Fine!" He said, his face red, "Fine, you win, Vi, you win." He groaned, "Little shit," He said under a breath, "We will both enter the factory. Since we're the majority in numbers, we'll cover all floors of the factory minus the ground one, which will be yours to comb."
Caitlyn opened her mouth to protest—
"Perfect," Vi said, not letting her speak, "We will let each other know if we find something interesting," She raised a brow.
Caitlyn wanted to speak—
"Sounds fair," Marston said, "We'll use channel five to communicate on the radios."
Vi nodded. "Good." She said, watching as the man turned around and gathered his men to inform them of the plan.
Caitlyn looked at her, no words coming out of her as she stared at Vi.
Vi shrugged, a smile on her lips, "What?" She patted her on the back lightly, though the force of it was enough to make Caitlyn take a whole step forward, "Let's go in."
Caitlyn walked alongside her as they both moved towards the entry, "What was all of that about?"
Vi looked at her, "Let's say you're not the only one who's willing to go beyond the law to do what's right." She smirked, "Kyle and you have more in common than you'd give the guy credit for."
Caitlyn scoffed, "Zaunite police forces are a mess."
"Just like Zaun and yet Kyle manages, so maybe you should think about that a bit before being such a jerk to the poor guy," Vi replied just before looking away, giving the conversation an end.
They met with Marston's team at the entry of the factory, letting them go inside first before they entered the ground level.
For once, they could both agree on one thing; the place looked as if it had been taken out of a horror movie; not only was the factory old and abandoned, it was also wildly unkempt, as if a wild animal had been living there.
The room was dark and they knew there were no light sources inside the building, the broken windows being their only hope for any kind of lighting, allowing the glare of Zaun's power to come in and shine a beacon over the darkness. Nevermind sunlight; it was hard as it was to get any of it in the dark city that Zaun was.
Too much pollution for anything like that.
Caitlyn and Vi set their radios to the channel accorded with Marston, but neither of them turned them off as Caitlyn regarded Vi with a cautious look.
"I'll check the left, you'll check the right," Caitlyn commanded, looking away from Vi only when the woman nodded her head once.
They both walked in complete silence as they strayed away from one another, their steps not making a sound as they moved slowly through the spacious room, their eyes open and on full alert.
Minutes passed as they kept searching the area, but nothing of worth came up; dust covered every surface on the ground level, which was pretty much empty, some trash and broken toys being the only exceptions as they laid scattered around the area. A few bugs ran away from both police officers, earning nothing but an angry scowl from both of them, as they detected movement only to find out it was a cockroach. Vi even had to slap herself on the back as she felt a spider land on her.
"You okay?" Came Caitlyn's inevitable question at the sound of Vi's quiet yelp and strong attack on the insect.
"Yes, yes," She replied, turning her head to Caitlyn, "Just a spider." She explained, before turning back to the area she was investigating.
And maybe it had been the glimmer of the city, entering the room at the right time and on the right angle, maybe it had been sheer luck.
But Vi was certain she had seen stains of pink paint on the ground.
The color made another image flash in her head; she immediately recalled seeing graffiti painted all over the walls of several different buildings in Zaun, as Caitlyn drove them there. Lines all over the place, drawings, and something else that had called her attention, but the adrenaline of the moment hadn't allowed her to stop her speeding mind to think about it, thus she couldn't recall it.
But she could recall one thing; all the imagery had been done with pink paint.
And the one in her mind matched perfectly in shade and hue with the one she was currently looking at.
A smirk placed itself on her face as she scanned the floor for more stains, managing to find a few more a bit further away from her.
And as she moved towards them, Vi saw something she hadn't seen in a while, but that she'd be able to identify everywhere.
Gunpowder.
She saw more paint ahead, a bit more gunpowder on it as well, even some broken toy parts laid nearby, as if they had fallen from the suspect's hands as they rushed around the room.
Then the trail suddenly disappeared.
No.
Vi looked around, her eyes scanning the floor, the walls, even the ceiling and behind the only counter there was on the room, clearly a reception desk once, a lifetime ago, but she found nothing else, nothing more, just those three stains and the bit of gunpowder, the broken toy parts.
She stood on the last of her discoveries and closed her eyes, a frown on her face as she tried to think.
It can't just disappear.
If it were me in here, where would I hide?
It was simply obvious that the police would eventually check the toy factory, considering it was one of the abandoned buildings of Zaun, all of them popular for the same thing: being the prefered hideout of all criminals.
It was evident they'd check it eventually, but even more so if an explosion drew their attention there.
And judging by the lack of paint on the factory's exterior, despite the rest of the buildings in the area having been painted and how the explosion didn't bring the whole building down, like it had seemingly done all the other times, the incident had been accidental, because this had to be the criminal's hideout and they wouldn't want to burn their hideout down.
The radio that was secured on her armor chimed as Marston's voice came in from the other side of the communication, "We found some of the uppercity hextech machinery that had been reported. Piltovian identification tags on it and all, on the fifth floor. The rest of the building is clear. Have you found anything?"
She heard the radio chime once more, then Caitlyn's voice twice as the woman said, "Nothing on my end," She heard the movement as Caitlyn turned to look at her before adding, "Ground level seems to be clear."
"Okay," Came Marston's response, "Then the culprit is gone, but what remains of their goods were left abandoned here. Seems they tried to burn the building down and then they ran." A pause, "You may come to check the stolen goods, confirm if they're part of the ones reported as missing and if they match the ones you're looking for."
Caitlyn pressed on the radio's button to reply—
She heard Vi's voice float towards her in the room, before she heard it coming out of the radio as she pressed the button too and talked first, "I'm not done combing my end of the ground floor yet, so wait for us a couple of minutes."
Marston replied immediately, "You'll make us waste time, Vi?"
"No, I'll take my sweet time doing my job properly. Spend time wisely and re-check the floors, maybe you'll find something of use."
And she turned off her radio at that.
She heard Caitlyn's voice coming from the other end of the room, "What was all of that for, Vi? This floor's clear." A pause, two steps, "Or did you find anything?"
She didn't turn to look at her, "It's evident the culprit was here, yes?" She said, watching as Caitlyn approached, "There's stolen hextech on the fifth floor and there was an explosion somewhere in the building."
"Yes, so the culprit clearly used this place as a hideout, more specifically the fifth floor, up until they decided it was time to blow it up and bring the police here, to move to another place."
"But that's the thing, Cait." She said, her eyes slightly wide, "It doesn't make sense. I can tell you, no criminal would ever give up a good hiding spot, at least not willingly."
Especially one who has been causing so much trouble.
"And they wouldn't leave stolen goods so out in the open for the police to find so easily." And then she waited for Caitlyn to connect the dots, seeing her eyes widen slightly even in the frown her expression was locked on as she finally managed to.
"Unless it was on purpose." Vi nodded, but Caitlyn's frown deepened, "But the explosion doesn't make sense, then."
"They didn't find the origin of the fire, did they?"
"No, they didn't," Caitlyn said.
Vi nodded her head as she thought, "Okay, here's what I think," She started, catching Caitlyn's eyes, "I think that the culprit hides here and that they accidentally set off some explosives. Knowing the police would eventually come, they left some stolen goods on some random floor for the police to find, declare the place as an abandoned hideout that the criminal tried to blow up, then leave thinking they had something, when in reality they had nothing." She finished explaining. "If I'm right, not only does it mean that we're currently in the criminal's active hideout, it could mean—"
"That the culprit is still here, hiding somewhere." Caitlyn said, suddenly aware of the implications, watching as Vi's head bobbed up and down in a nod. "And it makes perfect sense with everything that we know."
"And let's face it; those stolen goods wouldn't be here if they had been on the fifth floor this whole time." Vi reasoned, "Someone else would have taken them."
"Now that you put it that way, it makes more sense than the original story," Caitlyn said, agreeing with Vi.
"It also means we haven't spotted their actual hiding spot, yet." Vi said.
Caitlyn nodded, deep in thought. "Your theory wouldn't stand solid if we had, but I think we haven't." She looked at Vi, "Have you found anything?"
Vi nodded, "Some paint and gunpowder."
"Gunpowder?" Caitlyn reacted, "It's been a while since I've seen a weapon made with anything but hextech projectiles."
Vi nodded, "Actual bullets, like Bilgewater's weaponry?" Vi shook her head, "I've only ever seen your rifle."
Caitlyn frowned, "Then how did you recognize it as gunpowder?"
"Because it's what illegal explosives are made of." Vi replied, "Zaun's black market is stuffed with those and I've had to deal with them more than once."
"So the explosion might have been caused by those…"
"And I believe it was accidental because they're known for being quite fragile and volatile." Vi said, "So I think it adds up with this person just having a really unlucky day."
"If you were a criminal with a flair for explosions and a mansion's worth in the shape of hextech, using a toy factory as a hideout," Caitlyn looked at Vi, "Where in the factory would you hide?"
"Clearly, not in any of the mapped out floors of the factory," Vi responded, "Police would check those, for sure."
"Then where?"
They both looked around, as if trying to look for clues, desperate to connect the dots.
Caitlyn reasoned it would be completely idiotic of the criminal to hide in any of the floors and if there was something this criminal seemed not to be was exactly that so, wherever they were hiding, it had to be somewhere the police wouldn't comb, not because of lack of desire to do so but because of lack of awareness of the spot existing.
The stolen goods placed on the other floor would then serve as a perfect scapegoat, in a way.
Vi's eyes moved from the paint to the gunpowder, her eyes scanning the small trail, before darting around the room as it suddenly vanished.
A trail that suddenly vanishes, no sign of it anywhere else in the room.
They both reached the same conclusion at the same time as they let out the same word in unison, their eyes quickly finding each other.
"Underground."
Their eyes shot to the ground then.
They walked around, searching for some sort of trap door or an indication, at least, of some part of the ground being removable, fake, something, Caitlyn's eyes set on a glare as she froze in the middle of the room and scanned the area, Vi's expression contorted in one of quiet anger as she stomped around, hoping to hear a different sound other than a normal footstep at some point.
The concrete tiles, despite the dust and dirt on them, were perfectly normal to their eyes, though.
"Nothing," Vi said, growing frustrated by the minute. "There's nothing."
"There's something we're not taking into account," Caitlyn said, "Something we have not thought of."
"We thought of everything," Vi said.
Caitlyn shook her head, "Everything points to us being right, so there must be something else we are not considering." She noticed the increasingly angry scowl and tried to contain it, "Let's recap; a criminal who is interested in explosives and hextech machinery is currently hiding somewhere underneath this toy factory." She started pacing around the room at a slow rhythm, still thinking out loud, "Interested in explosives means they must be savvy with inflammable things, aware of what might cause combustion and what might prevent it from happening, thus being able to create both controlled and uncontrolled explosions and fire." She looked at Vi again, "Between us, you're the hextech expert. What could the criminal being into hextech mean?" She thought of a better way to word it, "What does it tell us about them?
Vi nodded, letting herself flow with what the other woman was saying, thinking out loud as well, "Someone being interested in hextech could go from being an aficionado who knows nothing about it to some sort of expert who knows how to manipulate it like a professional craftsman." Vi said, narrowing her eyes as she thought, "If we consider what we know they have stolen, though, I think we could easily deduce this person knows what they're on about and probably understand hextech to a certain level."
"What level?" Caitlyn asked.
"A high one," Vi replied, "The kind of machinery they stole aren't simple trinkets; they are prototypes, engines, motors…" She shook her head, "And it's all of the latest discoveries, so they must be well versed in it, besides being well informed, as well…" She looked away as she thought.
Caitlyn narrowed her eyes, "Machines are known for excelling at their job, when properly built and programmed," She stated, "Hextech is no different from no machine, in that sense."
Vi looked at Caitlyn, "So the entry to the hideout may be a machine, excelling at hiding itself." She announced with a wild grin, using four of those big metallic fingers to pull the goggles she wore on her head down on her eyes, the gear-shaped frames glowing as the glass lit up on a green light.
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, "Night vision?"
Vi shook her head. "Thermal vision, specialized on detecting objects that have changed temperatures in the last twenty-four hours." She didn't have to look for more than a few seconds before her grin widened, "Found it." She announced, quickly moving to a specific tile right on the end of the trail she had found, kneeling as she looked at it, her thermal goggles letting her practically see through concrete. "It's here," She said, charging up her gauntlet—
Caitlyn rushed to her, "Vi, stop!" She let out in a harsh whisper.
The woman turned and looked at Caitlyn, her gauntlet quieting down.
"Is there a way to open it without destroying it?"
She nodded, "Why would we want that, though?"
"To avoid alerting the criminal and Marston." Caitlyn said. "I want us to go in first before we let them know."
Vi raised a brow, "He won't like that."
Caitlyn raised a brow, "Aw, that's sad." She said with a dry tone, making Vi snort.
"Alright, I got that." Vi said, before looking back at the door, examining it a bit. "I think I can figure out how to open it," She quickly took off one of her gauntlets and placed her hand against the door, her fingers carefully searching—
"Found you," She mumbled as she pressed her index and middle finger down on a hidden button, before sliding it to a side, revealing a small steel bar.
She pulled from it and stretched it out of the ground until she reached its maximum length, clear on how it wouldn't move anymore and a flexor became visible. Then she bent it down until it was parallel with the floor, thus forming a lever that worked like a simple door handle.
Vi looked at Caitlyn, letting go of it to put her gauntlet on once more. "Ready?"
Caitlyn nodded once, then Vi turned the handle.
The tile lowered into the ground before sliding to a side, revealing a metallic ladder that took them down to a lower level room.
Vi climbed them down first, signaling for Caitlyn to come down only once she landed and confirmed it was clear.
And as they both got ready to comb the newly discovered area, there was only one thought in Caitlyn's mind.
Vi was perfectly spot on.
The newly discovered room was a bunker of sorts; three feet under the ground, appearing to be at least ten times bigger than the room above it, the walls were made of concrete, steel structures all over the place, holding up the bunker, serving as shelves, even the ladder was made of steel, looking to be as big as the whole floor above them.
And all over the place, a goldmine of evidence.
And the stolen hextech was the minor piece of it in the room.
The room was crammed with explosives and weaponry; from pistols to rifles, the place was an armory with how many different guns and weapons it housed. Paint of different neon colors stained the whole place, pink being the most prevalent of them all.
And, in the distance, quiet yet there; noise, someone moving stuff around.
They both reached the same conclusion, readable on the other one's eyes.
The culprit is still here.
They both readied up, rifle at the ready and gauntlets up in guard as they made their way around the room slowly, so quietly they didn't make a sound, their breathing almost paralyzed with how careful they were about it, afraid the criminal would hear it and run.
The insane amount of hoarded weapons and hextech made the bunker somewhat labyrinthic, with metal and powder forming up makeshift walls that had them turning around corners, approaching the source of the sound.
As the sound grew in volume, so did the chaos around them; the walls turned into hazardous mountains and pink paint took over the place, the small drops having grown in size to splashes.
They could hear a mumbling voice.
They looked at each other, a bit surprised.
A girl?
The voice was high pitched, but the mumbling was so quiet it was hard to distinguish it properly.
Vi's eyes narrowed harder as she frowned, mouthing something to Caitlyn.
A woman.
They kept approaching the sound, turning on another corner, then one more—
The distance was still enough that they couldn't make her out properly, silhouette and colors lost in the dark, but it was still there; leaning over what Vi recognized to be a workbench, the small figure of someone, mumbling to herself and working on something they could not see, the light coming from her desk being enough to leave it all covered in darkness as it worked like a backlight, her general shape being the only thing that stuck out.
Caitlyn switched her rifle's setting so she'd shoot a snaring net and slowly walked closer, if only to get a better aim at her.
Vi would have followed but the moment she had glanced at Caitlyn to her left, her eye caught sight of something that had stolen her attention, something that had been standing idly right behind the Sheriff, positioned against the wall on the far end of the room.
She kept staring at it, her enhanced vision being good enough to see better in the dark, but not good enough to identify what she was looking at properly. Still, she could tell the general shape of it, which had been what had called her attention; taller than her, three times her size in terms of width, composed of circles… She could not see it properly, but one thing she was certain of; whatever it was, it had called her attention because it looked oddly familiar.
She took a few steps towards it, unaware of how Caitlyn had not prepared to shoot because she had noticed the strange behavior on her partner and was staring at her, hoping she'd feel her eyes on her, come back to the task at hand.
Being slightly closer, the object immediately reminded her of an exoskeleton, much like the one she had dismantled to create her gauntlets, so long ago.
But she knew it wasn't that; it looked like a robot.
Whatever this thing was, she knew it reminded her of something else—
It dawned on her she had seen it before.
A few seconds more was all she needed for her memory to work as she recalled exactly when and where she had seen it before, her breath hitching as a consequence.
And it was then that Kyle used the radio to talk to them, his voice breaking the quiet atmosphere as it came through Caitlyn's radio, still on, with a loud;
"Have you found anything else?"
It proved that from the calm before the storm to the storm in itself there's less than a blink of an eye of time.
And they both saw that blink, that shift.
Caitlyn's eyes returned to her objective just in time to see how the figure that had been sitting in deep concentration had immediately turned around, her long hair, styled in two braids, following her motion like a whip as she did so, the light hitting her enough that she could see the glare of the gun she had in her hand.
Readying to shoot faster than anything she had ever witnessed before.
Shit.
Vi's eyes didn't move from the robot in front of her, the adrenaline of fear settling in as she saw its' familiar eyes turn on.
She had expected to see white, as she had long ago.
She saw red and saw steam come off it.
She knew it meant it entered overdrive to move fast.
Can't be good.
The robot's humongous right hand came up to punch Vi's face in an uppercut, the brawler barely managing to dodge it by leaning back, quickly taking a few long steps to put at least some distance between her and the golden robot, but it was approaching her fast, still blowing off steam, still throwing punches, forcing her to keep dodging.
She heard an electric sound behind her and turned in time to see Caitlyn barely manage to duck, unable to dodge a shock blast that hit her radio and fried it up, before the sound of another fist coming to her face forced her to look at the robot again.
Caitlyn quickly realized she wouldn't be able to even attempt to aim at the shooter as she saw her frantically move from side to side, preparing to shoot at her once more.
Well aware that she was in far more danger than expected, eyes still on the culprit and rifle up to at least try to get her even if only by sheer luck, she started to move backwards—
She crashed into Vi as the pugilist dodged another one of the golem's attacks, watching it while it slowed down drastically as if suddenly tired of its spur of attacks.
She recalled the overheating issues the golden golem had whenever it entered overdrive; they were taking their toll on it, offering a brief moment of mercy to the pink haired woman.
The shooter took aim—
Vi sensed the danger and saw the cannon of the electric gun aimed at Caitlyn—
She immediately pivoted on her feet and, as she did so, quickly threw a punch in front of the Sheriff—
The shock blast hit her gauntlet as it shielded Caitlyn, the electric overload heating it up and burning Vi slightly, but not being enough to fry its own circuits or electrocute the pugilist.
It had overpowered her fist, actually.
Quickly making use of the newly found advantage, she charged her gauntlet even more as it turned blue and let out steam, turning as she did so, then taking a few steps towards the robot, turning her body enough to angle herself and then—
She landed a hook on its core, hitting it hard enough that the robot slid backwards with the force of her attack, the electric currents her gauntlet let out passing from her fist to his whole structure.
She then remembered the old robot had been prepared to deal with huge amounts of electricity and that it had been actually a very bad idea to recharge it like she had accidentally just done.
She sensed the shooter was taking aim on Caitlyn once more—
She turned and quickly grabbed Caitlyn, crouching for a brief second to be able to pick her up and throw her over her shoulder, a shock blast barely missing both of them.
The woman barely managed to hold on to her hat as Vi ran, "What are you doing!?"
Vi kept on running through the labyrinthic bunker, dodging sudden walls and artifacts, "We have to get the Hell out of here!"
She heard the familiar sound of the robot entering overdrive again as it let out steam and its steps sounded more like a train on tracks than a robot on two feet.
"The shooter will escape!" Caitlyn said, her eyes on the quickly-approaching machine, "Ask for backup, now!" She barked, before trying to aim at the machine on the awkward position she was in.
Remembering her gun's setting, she had an idea and aimed at the machine's short legs and fired.
The recoil pushed Vi forwards, making both of them fall to the ground, but her eye had been accurate; she had tangled up both of the robot's legs, forcing it to stop at least for a bit.
Vi had rolled forwards and landed on her belly due to the force of Caitlyn's rifle, so she quickly turned on her spot so as to be face up, propping herself up with her elbows as she looked at the robot, then at her boss a few meters away from her and, in a desperately nervous voice, asked, "What did you do!?"
Caitlyn glared, a bit offended at Vi's question, "I immobilized it, that's what I did!" She explained, before getting ready to shoot, changing the setting of her rifle to its normal, deadly projectiles.
Vi saw the robot's eyes focus on Caitlyn and quickly tried to get on her feet, the knowledge of the machine's capabilities coming back to her in a rush, like it was all a flood in her memory.
Then all happened in just a matter of seconds.
Caitlyn took aim.
Vi saw the few, subtle signs of what the robot's next movement was going to be and rushed to her feet. Aware of the lack of time, she jumped towards Caitlyn.
Then time slowed down for the Sheriff.
She first gasped, her eyebrows raising in evident shock as she saw the robot's arm suddenly getting shot off its body, aimed at her.
Then the image she could see immediately changed as she came face to face with Vi, the brawler's wild expression taking over her whole field of view, having the brawler jumped right in front of her.
And then, time sped up once more, with Vi being suddenly snatched from her.
She saw Vi fly backwards at a ridiculously high speed, as if springing away from her, the golem's big, golden fingers wrapped around her like a claw.
The robot then punched the pugilist with a powerful uppercut on the body, making Vi's back hit the ceiling before falling back on the ground.
Its eyes on Vi, it seemed the robot was preparing a fatal blow, as it slowly started to raise both of its fists in the air.
Vi was bruised and battered on the ground, trying to lift herself up with her hands on the ground.
Caitlyn took aim and looked through her scope, her aim locked on where the machine's head would be, but she was waiting to have a clear shot.
I need its fists to finish raising.
She'd have less than half a second to shoot before the robot attacked Vi one final time.
Vi sensed danger and turned her head in the direction of the robot.
The golem's fists were almost above its head.
Caitlyn's index finger was halfway pressed on the trigger. She didn't dare blink.
And then, as an alarm started blaring in the bunker, the lights went out.
It quickly dawned on her that the shooter hadn't run away; she had stayed to protect what was hers.
Startled at the sudden, complete darkness and well aware that she had to do something, Caitlyn still fired.
Her heart raced even faster when she realized she hadn't heard her own rifle going off, for the sound of her bullet being shot had been completely masked by the sound of metal striking metal, like two cars crashing into one another.
Her heart sunk even harder as the metallic impacts kept coming, reverberating through the room.
Then she heard the sound of a firearm being loaded and realized the shooter had finally caught up and was ready to shoot into the darkness.
The criminal couldn't be stupid enough to kill the lights if she couldn't shoot in the dark; she must have a way to aim properly or, at least, be mad enough to shoot at everything and anything.
She quickly moved from her last known location, even as the sound of metal kept resonating in the room, actually grateful for it; it helped her footsteps go unnoticed.
She walked blindly in the darkness, trying to not make a sound, finding cover in between hextech goods.
The alarm couldn't just be a loud siren going off; it must have had a repercussion on what she imagined was the only entry to the bunker she was in.
She was trapped, with Vi probably in more than just a tight situation.
And that was the hopeful way of thinking about it.
She could only hope her call for help would quickly be answered.
She knew there was no point in hoping anymore. She was on her own.
Focus.
The sound of metal against metal stopped. The shooter hadn't started shooting yet.
She guessed Vi was dead or, at least, unconscious.
She could still feel it in the air though; both the robot and the shooter were there with her, looking for her, well aware of her presence in the room.
She couldn't see in the thick darkness of the bunker, but then she remembered Vi's goggles, right before they entered the culprit's den.
Thermal vision.
If she could get them, she'd be able to, at least, see where she was, what she was doing.
She knew the general direction in which Vi's body should at least be.
She tried not to focus on the thought of the phrase Vi's body, as if she were already a corpse.
She steeled herself, got on the ground and slowly moved towards her goal.
She stopped when she heard the robot's footsteps, followed by a pair of boots.
The shooter.
Caitlyn could tell two things, then;
First, that they weren't too close, but they were closer than before and second that maybe the shooter could shoot in the dark, but she couldn't see in the darkness. She'd already be completely filled with bullet holes if that were the case.
It allowed her to let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She kept on sneaking to Vi's last location, crawling quietly towards—
She brushed against a poorly stacked pile of stolen goods, her own movements causing motion within the pile.
It had made a sound. Not too loud, but loud enough to break the pure, deafening silence.
She heard the retreating footsteps suddenly come to a stop.
They had heard her.
She heard a chuckle, then a gun being cocked.
She found the robot's eyes amidst the dark.
Finally, the culprit's first words to her, in a sing-song voice.
"Bye-bye!"
But in that very brief hitch of a breath right before the culprit could shoot, Caitlyn saw red lights to her right, moving fast—
She heard a succession of shots being fired but felt nothing hit her body as those red lights moved right in front of her.
Then Vi's whole gauntlet lit up, letting Caitlyn make out her figure in the dark, her thermal vision goggles on.
She wasn't able to properly make out the culprit and the robot, but the outline of their body heat was enough for her to be able to keep on fighting.
And they were both standing just three meters away from her.
The culprit kept shooting at her, but Vi's gauntlets in front of her shielded both herself and Caitlyn from the rain of bullets as she moved forwards, slowly but steadily.
The shooter quickly let go of her small machine gun, letting it hang from her side as she grabbed her electric gun once more and aimed at Vi—
The brawler hissed as she received a shock blast on the same gauntlet as before, the overheating causing her whole arm to burn.
She saw the shooter's body tense and freeze for less than a second before she moved to tweak something on the gun's cannon.
She was amping up the electric blasts, Vi realized.
She decided it was the moment to act, then.
She charged one of her gauntlets and started running towards the shooter.
She saw her move her head up.
Vi released her attack, using the force of her gauntlet to propel her forwards towards the woman.
She was certain she would land her attack.
She didn't expect the girl to be so swift.
As she was about to find her mark, the criminal dodged to the side, letting Vi's fist connect with the robot that had been standing behind her.
A forcefield formed around it right before the impact landed, shielding it from receiving too much damage from Vi's attack.
Knowing what would happen next, Vi quickly unlocked her other gauntlet and let it fall to the ground, using her free hand to grab her goggles and throw them at Caitlyn, yelling, "Catch!"
The Sheriff heard them hit the ground nearby her and quickly grabbed them, placing them on her eyes and finally being able to see the scene.
Trapped due to her gauntlet being embedded in the golem's metal, Vi couldn't move away as it grabbed her with one of its humongous hands, lifting her in the air.
The shooter aimed at Vi's head with her blaster.
Caitlyn had to act and she had to act quick.
She grabbed her rifle and quickly aimed at the criminal's weapon, shooting without much more delay.
As she watched the electric gun explode on the shooter's hand, she lost sight of the robot's eyes on her for a brief second, thus missing how its other hand got shot out, aimed at her.
It took a hold of her before she could shoot a second time.
Caitlyn got pulled to the robot, completely trapped in its hand.
As Vi saw the Sheriff next to her, the robot's red eyes lighting up her colleague's frame, she started moving around, pressing buttons in the inside of her gauntlet, thinking of something to do to release herself from its grasp—
The robot's core lit up as it charged all its electric currents within itself, before releasing them on a strong shockwave, frying their machinery, electrocuting them as well in the process.
The power of its attack had actually been rather tame, for it didn't have much energy to load before letting it out in that final attack, letting out what little it had to spare. Still, with their muscles spasming and their whole body feeling frozen with a burning energy, Vi and Caitlyn knew they were done for, the robot having immobilized them definitely, having burned their gear's inner cogs.
They heard the shooter's laughter, unable to see what she was doing, but guessing she had once more gone back to her machine gun, as they heard the familiar sound of a round of bullets being loaded and ready to be fired.
"Any last words?" They heard her say before she laughed, "Just kidding, that won't help!" Her squeaky voice angered Caitlyn, but tugged at Vi's heart.
She didn't know why but it remained true; something about her voice tugged at her very core.
But it was futile to think about it; it was futile to think about something she couldn't quite comprehend yet.
So she stuck with what she could comprehend, what she did find familiar.
So she looked at the robot's red eyes and through clenched teeth, her body twitching and turning and being crushed under its deadly grasp, Vi said;
"Blitzcrank?"
The sound of its name didn't only make it freeze completely, its hands halting on their closing motion.
It also made the shooter's aim falter, her trigger-happy finger moving away from the trigger.
But that wasn't something neither Vi nor Caitlyn could see.
Vi tried again,
"Blitz, it's me," She mumbled out, "Six."
The robot blinked, its eyes not red anymore but white as it finished opening them, "User identified; Six." It said on its robotic, monotone voice, the white shrinking and growing once more as if it were pupils while it adjusted its vision to the not-so-strange-anymore face in front of it.
They heard retreating footsteps; someone running away.
The shooter.
They'd have to catch her some other time; neither of them could go on with the fight.
Caitlyn actually considered her escape a display of mercy.
Vi was completely absorbed in her own thoughts to even notice the absence of the shooter though, her expression being one of concern, "Who messed with your code, Blitz?" She asked it, watching it loll its head to the side at her question. "Who made you aggressive?"
A loud booming sound was heard above them.
It made Blitzcrank's eyes focus on the roof.
A second boom was heard, this time louder. Closer.
The third boom actually made a hole on the ceiling, bringing some light into the room, as well as letting someone enter the bunker, but the debris was such that it was hard to make out who they were—
"Intruder, intruder," Blitzcrank's robotic voice warned, eyes turning red once more, his huge hand letting go of Vi, the brawler falling to the ground, but not of Caitlyn yet as it got ready to attack, "Exterminate—"
A shock blast got shot at Blitzcrank, making Vi scream out a loud No!
Still, the ball of electricity hit its core, frying its circuits and turning the golden golem into nothing but a chunk of metal.
The lack of power in its body as it had been burned out made its hand open up, releasing Caitlyn, who fell to the ground.
Both Vi and Caitlyn stood up as they could then, the brawler letting go of her second gauntlet, rendered useless like the robot, her other fist, Caitlyn's rifle.
They both still had a few muscle contractions, but the electric attack Blitzcrank had released on them hadn't been too harmful, being actually not harmful at all, only somewhat annoying; they had enough control to move rather properly once more, no visible burns on their bodies.
It was as if the robot hadn't been designed to kill, after all. Only neutralize.
They looked at the person who had helped them.
Vi's eyes landed on the hextech cannon the man wielded.
Caitlyn's, on his face.
"Jayce."
The man flicked a switch on his cannon's grip, turning it into a hammer, holding it with one hand and letting its hilt rest on the ground. "Good to see you too, Caitlyn." He turned to look at Vi, "And you must be—"
"What have you done!?" She said, approaching him as she could, "He's harmless!"
Jayce's expression turned to a scowl, "That's one of Viktor's inventions. It can't be harmless."
Vi scoffed, "Of course, you come in here thinking you know it all and act out on it." She said, before shaking her head once, "You actually don't know shit," She barked, "That's not Viktor's!"
Jayce was visibly annoyed by her, "It is, trust me."
"Trust you?" Vi said, scoffing again, "You don't know what you're talking about and you want me to trust your judgement!?"
He glared at her, "I could recognize Viktor's handiwork anywhere—"
"It's not Viktor's!" Vi roared—
"Enough! Both of you!" Caitlyn barked out.
Jayce shook his head, "I save her life and this is how she thanks me." He mumbled in between gritted teeth.
"You actually didn't save us," Caitlyn said, having heard him. "The robot had stopped attacking us. All you did was let the shooter escape by not even bothering to follow her."
He shrugged, "How am I supposed to know there's a shooter? I get here and all I see is you both and that piece of junk," He pointed at Blitzcrank, completely ignoring Vi's glare at his words. "I can't do anything but assume that thing is the problem."
"You wouldn't have to assume anything if you stopped interfering with the police's affairs." Caitlyn said, seeing him about to protest, "I will admit you've been somewhat helpful just now, I'm just saying what I'm saying to help you get off your high horse, Jayce." She raised a brow, "You may think you're above the law because we can't do much to stop you from meddling in business' that isn't yours, but it doesn't mean you actually are."
He looked at her, his face red, eyebrows up in worry, "I'm not on a…" He trailed off with how Caitlyn was staring at him, "Fine. I will shut up, now."
Caitlyn smiled, "Thank you. Now, do us both a favor and take us to the hospital." She looked at Vi, who was ready to protest, "Yes, you're also coming, I don't care how well you feel."
Jayce raised a brow at the small interaction, "Alright." Was all he said.
Vi moved to her gear—
"No, Vi," Caitlyn said, "Leave them here. I'll call for reinforcements to come and pick our equipment up."
"That robot fried all of your stuff up," Jayce commented, looking at Caitlyn's rifle on the ground, "I don't know about your colleague's gauntlets, but I'm guessing I could design you a new rifle."
Vi scoffed, "Like she needs something from you." She glared at him, "It's fixable, but you wouldn't know," She smirked, though there was no mirth on the gesture, "After all, you have no clue what Viktor's robot did to our gear."
Jayce glared at her, feeling insulted at the silly voice she used to mock his own words, but Caitlyn's reply still came. "I don't need a new rifle, but thank you anyway for the offer, Jayce."
He scowled, "Right." He sighed, "It's up to you, but I would actually like to keep the robot, at least."
"No!"
He glared at Vi, but heard Caitlyn's voice as she replied, "It's part of the crime scene. It can't be taken away from here."
He looked at her, "I just want to study it—"
"That robot will not be yours!" Vi growled, before looking at Caitlyn, "Please, Cait, don't let him get his hands on Blitzcrank."
Jayce raised his brows. "Blitzcrank?" then he narrowed his eyes, confused even harder by another thing Vi had said, "Cait?"
Since when does Caitlyn allow her to call her Cait?
Caitlyn's eyes were on Vi.
Vi knew the robot. She had spoken to it and it was through recognition that it had stopped its attack.
Caitlyn knew Vi wanted it.
Him.
Blitzcrank is a he.
She knew Vi wanted to keep him, to study him, to analyze him, to track back his last few years, something along the lines or maybe completely away from those alternatives, but Caitlyn was well aware of Vi's real desires.
She just didn't want to ask it out loud, not because of Jayce's presence, but because she knew she wasn't allowed and didn't want to overstep.
Vi had been a criminal and didn't want to break the law.
Jayce thought himself to be above it.
"The robot stays right here," She sentenced, sensing another presence nearby and guessing correctly who it was as she said, "Under Zaun's police department's supervision. Right, Marston?" She asked, looking up through the hole in the ceiling to see the man with all of his squadron looking down at them.
The Sheriff looked tired of her. "Yes, yes" He waved her off, "Now imagine if I had not told you to let me know when you found anything."
"We got caught up," Caitlyn said, then raised her molten radio, "And we didn't have reception down here."
"Sure, sure," He said, "Whatever." He turned to his team, "Let's get these Piltie idiots out of that cave!"
"And our gear," Caitlyn said, a smile on her face.
The man groaned. "Just get them out of my city!"
Caitlyn looked at Jayce and told him something in a voice low enough only Vi and him could hear her, "As soon as we're up there, disappear before they realize you have no immunity to do as you please in their jurisdiction."
The man's somewhat annoyed expression turned to one of nervousness. "Right."
Then Caitlyn's eyes found Vi's.
The brawler looked nervous. The Sheriff looked calm, reassuring even, but full of questions.
And they both knew damn well she wouldn't let them go unanswered.
Sensing Vi's unease, clear on how the brawler looked away, she gently grabbed her forearm, the contact calling her attention.
Caitlyn offered her a very small smirk. "You did well today," She said.
It'll be fine, she implied.
Vi exhaled slowly through her mouth, trying to calm her nerves. "Thanks. You too."
After that small exchange, they both followed their backup up and out of the shooter's den.
author's note:
oh noooo, I wonder who she is! But for real, y'all probably didn't expect BLITZCRANK.
We will see how this all continues!
...After a small break from writing this fic I MUST take, because I NEED to prioritize writing an Akalynn oneshot I promised my dearest french friend... A year ago. Once I'm done with that one and it's posted, I'm back to this one my fellow shippers! Until then, be patient! I promise I will be back though, don't miss me too much.
Also, it's been brought to my attention I made a name mistake in a chapter (confused Dean with Dodge). I fixed this mistake in AO3, but forgot to do so here. I will do it now, thank you guys for letting me know! I always read all of your reviews. May not be able to reply here, but know all of your comments are much appreciated. Specially when they let me improve my fic!