Caitlyn stood outside the prisoners' train car, wishing for what was probably the seventh time that Vi was there with her. She'd feel a lot better. No use delaying it much longer. The train rattled beneath her, and she jumped slightly. Cursing her fragile nerves she placed a hand on the door's handle and unlocked it. She tried telling herself that they were safely secured and couldn't escape. But you know they can. You know at least that Jinx can if given the chance. But those ninja caught them on their own. Surely they could foil escape attempts.

She opened the door into the dark room. Two lightbulbs dangled from the roof, bobbing and shaking with the train. They casted Jinx in an eerie light. Jhin was seated on the ground, his head tilted downwards. He made no motion when Caitlyn approached, but she could see the heavy chains bolting him to the floor.

Jinx was facing her as she approached. However the light cast her face in shadow. The train turned, the momentum shifted the light.

Jinx's face was suddenly shown, a manic grin nearly splitting her face. Violet eyes transfixed on her prey. The shuddering light reflected off the metal cuffs on her wrists and ankles. "Hey! Long time no see!" The maniac giggled. "How has your day been?"

"I'm not in the mood," Caitlyn's voice was tight but professional. "I have some questions for you and your accomplice."

"My wha?"

"She means partner." Jhin's voice floated into the conversation.

"Yes." Caitlyn took a step forward. "I want to know why."

"Well…" Jinx thought for a moment. "Fishbones wanted a baby but I told him I wasn't ready."

Caitlyn's eyes narrowed. "Why did you leave Piltover."

"Oh that." She waved her off and lay on the floor as best she could with her shackles. "I thought you and pink hair wanted me out of your stinkin' city."

"I want you behind bars. Where you can't hurt anybody else."

"You're wasting your time." Akali said behind her.

Caitlyn jumped back with a noise between a scream and a shriek. "Don't do that." She gasped as Jinx giggled incessantly.

Akali ignored her. "Shen had already questioned them both before you got on the train. They won't talk."

"Hey! I can talk." Jinx pouted. "Even Zap can talk. Even if nobody believes me." Her face brightened as she looked at Jhin. "You believe me right?"

"Don't bring me into this." Jhin replied.

"What did he question them on?" Caitlyn asked, ignoring the two criminals. "He doesn't know Jinx like I do. He wouldn't know how to question her."

Akali looked at her intently. "Have you ever gotten Jinx to talk?"

Caitlyn's lips compressed. "Fair enough." She looked at Jinx and Jhin and continued. "How long is the trip back to the capital?"

"A few days." Akali confirmed. "We will be on the most direct route."

"A pity." Jhin whispered. "You'll never get us there in time."

A rush of movement, and Akali was holding a knife to Jhin's throat. "Explain." Her voice was a glacier, as sharp as the kunai she held.

Jhin chuckled. "You have the skills and resolve of a killer." He turned his head and looked her in the eye. "If you were there when Kusho captured me, I have no doubt you would have slit my throat. Saved all of the lives I have claimed since."

Caitlyn armed her rifle with stun pellets. "Make a sudden move and you will wake up six hours later with a killer headache."

Jhin went on as if Caitlyn had never spoken a word. "You have strived your entire life to be a match for your master, training to become a living weapon. But do you know how weapons break?"

A sudden chill swept through Caitlyn's bones as Jhin chuckled darkly. It was such a sinister sound. Full of malice and an intelligence behind it. She regretted the thought as soon as she had it, but she was grateful that Jinx was only crazy.

"Speak another word and watch what happens." Akali hissed.

"But you'll want to hea—" Jhin's speech broke off in a hiss as Akali pressed her kunai to his throat hard enough to draw blood.

"Akali, that's enough." Caitlyn warned. "Shen wants them alive."

"He isn't here to decide that." Akali replied distantly, but she moved the kunai away an inch.

Jhin coughed, a dry rattle that echoed through the car. "You wanted to know who I worked for."

Caitlyn's eyes drifted to Jinx, who was oddly quiet. Jinx's eyes were staring at the empty wall behind her. She's probably talking to the wall in her mind, the lunatic. She thought. Something compelled her to turn her head to follow Jinx's gaze however.

In the murky darkness of the car, it was impossible to see the wall. But as the train turned once again, the lights swung. They illuminated the crates stacked against the wall. And the gleaming shadows hidden behind them.

Caitlyn's eyes widened as the realization crashed on her. She pulled her rifle up and fired in a blinding motion as she shouted, "Ambush! Akali behind you!" The shadow of the crate grew and split apart from the box as the pellet hit the wall. It leapt to the darkness above, and Caitlyn saw that the shadows around them were shifting unnaturally.

Akali twisted on her heel and jumped clear as a blade hit the ground where she was standing. She landed catlike and produced several knives of her own. "It was a distraction." She snarled, her expression clearly visible beneath her mask. "This will only take a moment. Make yourself useful and ensure the prisoners aren't freed." Without waiting for a reply she dove into the shadows and disappeared.

Caitlyn stumbled back as she fumbled in her utility belt for some equipment. She tore open a peacemaker cartridge with her teeth and jammed the specialized bullet into her rifle. She lifted the gun and fired at the window of the car. It shattered with an impressively loud crash. That should alert the others. She then jumped behind a sturdy bench to protect herself from a stray kunai.

The sounds of battle clanged in the darkness; whenever the light shifted for the briefest of moments Caitlyn could see Akali fight like a mystical creature. Every step was to dodge an attack and every twist of her body was to prepare for an assault of her own. She flowed seamlessly from defense to attack then back to defense as she fought three masses of shadows on her own.

Caitlyn didn't dare fire into the group, to avoid hitting Akali. Instead she stood vanguard over the prisoners.

"This is so cool!" Jinx shouted over the mayhem. "Ninjas are awesome, I wish fishbones were here to see this! That way I can rub it in his smug face! Ninjas are real!"

"The plural of ninja, is ninja." Jhin chimed in.

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Thanks, professor. If I wanted a know-it-all I'd stick to Fishbones, thank you very much."

A gasp in pain sounded in the shrouded melee, then a body rolled into view. The ninja wore black, with a metal faceplate covering his face. Caitlyn moved to cuff the ninja, but she stopped when she saw the gash in the assassin's throat oozing blood.

Where are they? Caitlyn thought as the fighting continued. I shot that blasted window at least a few minutes ago, didn't I? Truth was she had no idea how long it had been since she signaled the other ninja. A few minutes or a few seconds, time itself was slowed and stretched by her hammering heart.

Another gasp, another body rolled out of the shadows. The third one followed soon after. Caitlyn sighed in relief. "Wow Akali, that was certainly impressive."

No answer.

The light shifted again and revealed Akali struggling futilely to remove a hand from around her neck. The light shifted further, and a figure clad in black and red was barely visible. Caitlyn could only describe the ninja's outfit as a complete upgrade over the previous ones. At a glance she could identify him as male, seemingly far too muscular to be as stealthy as he was. She could not see the face, but she could see the eyes. They glowed like fiery rubies.

When the light swung away from him, the eyes remained visible.

He remained motionless when Shen finally burst through the door. Caitlyn understood his delay now. He looked like they fought through an army.

"Where's Kennen?" Caitlyn asked as she kept an eye on the dark ninja.

"Still fighting up front." Shen said briefly.

"It has been a long time, Shen." The dark ninja said. "You have something that belongs to me."

Shen's expression did not change, but Caitlyn could feel the anger boiling off of him. "You have someone that belongs to my order. Return her, Zed."

Zed tilted his head. "A prisoner's trade would be in order, then." He clenched his fist harder, and Akali's struggles slowed as she started to lose consciousness. Her eyes darted to Shen, then to Caitlyn before they rolled back.

"One person for two prisoners that could slaughter thousands." Shen said quietly, as if in thought.

Caitlyn turned to him, something in her stomach heating up. "Shen, you aren't thinking—"

Shen held up a hand. "Akali is more than willing to lay down her life if needed to complete our mission."

Caitlyn was infuriated. She would never sacrifice her partner, she knew she wouldn't. "You can't just—"

"If you won't return them by your own volition." Zed interrupted. "Then I will kill all of you, then take them by force. I'm doing you a favor, old friend. A chance to run away and live to experience your failure for as long as possible."

"I've beaten you once." Shen drew his sword. "I can do it again. You and what remains of your clan."

Zed shrugged. "If you insist." He extended his left arm as if stretching. "If you are willing to put your clan's life on the line instead of taking my offer." The blades attached to his free arm glinted in the light. A swift motion tore through the walls of the train car and left a gaping window to the plains rushing past.

"I will do what I must." Shen's steely gaze never wavered.

Zed nodded slowly. "Then I will take you up on that offer." He ran the blades through Akali's abdomen. He kept his eyes on Shen as he threw her out of the hole he created.

Shen moved in an instant, surrounding Akali and catching her before they struck the ground.

Caitlyn's heart hammered as she was now alone with the master of shadows.

He turned slowly in her direction, sizing her up. "What you do in the next five seconds will determine whether you live or die."

Her grip tightened on her rifle so hard her knuckles turned white. "Don't come any closer!" She barked, her voice quavering. She began to raise her weapon.

Zed was suddenly right in front of her, and single strike sent her to oblivion.

The sound of a door creaking jolted Vi awake. She groaned as she sat up, beyond sick of lying in bed for days. But at least the councilman's crony wasn't watching her anymore. She winced as her back flared again.

"I see you're up early." Karma smiled as she walked into the room. "How is your back feeling today?"

"Thanks to you I'm up." Vi muttered. Out loud she said, "My back's better than it was yesterday. "I think I can remove this blasted brace and actually do something."

Karma shook her head. "I'm not that gifted a healer, I'm afraid. What other healers can do in days, it will take me a week at least."

Vi sighed. "Let's just get this over with." She shifted around and showed Karma her back, bandaged with a brace beneath.

Karma sat on the bed next to Vi and prepared her magic. Her hands started to glow, and she placed them on Vi's back. "How has your vacation been going?" Karma asked amiably.

Vi grunted. "I hate it. Cait's out there busting Jinx and her boyfriend and I'm stuck here counting the fibers in the carpet."

Karma feigned surprise. "Wow, you actually answered me this time."

"It was getting irritating getting asked the same question every day." Vi shrugged.

"Well I'm glad we made it past the first question." Karma said cheerily. "Now we get get to the good parts. So, besides being stuck in bed, how have you been enjoying Ionia?"

Karma didn't have to see Vi's face to know she rolled her eyes. "It's fine I guess. Good food more than anything."

"That's nice. When you got off the boat did you see the art museum? We have collections from the finest lands of Ionia."

Vi shook her head. "Haven't had the time."

"I should take you to one." Karma decided. "With me supporting you, we should be able to go and see them no problem."

"Let's do it." She tossed the covers off and winced as she placed her bare feet on the carpet. "Normally I'd rather do anything else but look at art, but it beats sitting here all day." She stretched and remarked, "That healing session really helped, it hardly hurts now."

"That's the spirit." Karma smiled as she stood up. "I'll wait outside for you to get dressed, and then we'll get going."

"This one is called Journey through a Thousand Dreams." Karma motioned towards a painting that Vi was certain was created by a Zaunite gassed on fumes.

"Uh huh. Looks like a journey through a thousand gas trips. Why would the guy paint something so realistic looking only to distort it like that." Vi's gaze began to wander around the museum, that she personally found more interesting than the art. The architecture was sleek green marble, with swirls of white and cream. The windows were stained glass, adorning the windows with famous figures.

"Well, we speculate that the artist just saw the world in a different way. What some of us may find nonsensical, others find art. And we can't take that away from them."

Vi's lip curved downwards. "I've heard that kind of talk before."

"Where?"

"The first time Jinx was arrested." Vi narrowed her eyes. "She was able to get an attorney, and he said those same words. 'Jinx sees the world in a different way. She needs help, not prison.'"

"You don't think she needs help?"

"I'll help her get to prison." Vi said bluntly. "She's done too much to ever be forgiven, or to be given anything less than life in prison."

"If she is as insane as I've been led to believe, then don't you think she should be put in a hospital? Prisons alone are not the answer. We put Jhin in rehabilitation since his capture."

"A lot of good that did him." Vi grunted. "If you ask me, I would have reinstated the death penalty." Her eyes defocused for a moment. "I've lost friends. People like Jinx deserve no mercy."

Karma moved a bit closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Vi. I really am. They were victims. But, Jinx is a victim as well. A poisoned mind creates a victim out of its own—"

Vi slapped her hand away. "Don't you dare tell me to forgive that scrawny little freak." She hissed. "When I can wear my gauntlets again I will find her and splatter her brains." She turned on Karma and stomped away.

Sadness clouded Karma's face. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it.

Vi took a few steps, then turned on a wall, slamming her fist into it. But without her gauntlets she dealt no visible damage. She then continued on her way, towards the museum's exit.