Jhin laid on his stomach, looking through Whisper's scope at the clearing below. Jinx only had a few more minutes before the new set of guards arrived, and she seemed to be dawdling. Through the shadows beneath the door, he could tell she was dancing. Or whatever she called her chaotic gesticulating of limbs. Perhaps I should not have let her enter the room full of explosives. He thought. The final seconds starting ticking down in his mind before Jinx hopped out the window. She made a beeline for the trees, diving and tumbling past Jhin and down the shallow hill he was stationed. After some grunts and groans in pain, Jinx climbed back up the hill, pulling leaves and straw out of her hair.
"Whoops, that's a lot harder than it looks." She said, barely stifling a giggle.
"It is time." He said as a pair of guards emerged from the main building. They wore ceremonial armor, little more than metal shoulder plates above exquisite garments of thick cloth. Verdant green was the dominant color scheme, and it mixed with royal purples to surround the capital guards. Jade capes flowed from the shoulder guards, large and unwieldy lances made steady taps as they were used as walking canes.
A remnant from begone days of emperors, the uniform of the royal guards hardly changed. Only their roles did. They were only there for show, to intimidate and not to actually fight. As Ionia had not been in war for what felt like centuries, the lax attitude with security almost made sense. Perhaps they were a little too dependent on Shen's order of ninja, despite the fact that the Kinkou Order was almost completely wiped out.
Jhin looked at Jinx, and lifted a finger to the lips of his mask, making a soft shushing sound as he turned back to the guards. Jinx shushed him back, but louder. The Virtuoso rested his finger on Whisper's trigger as the guards closed the door behind them and walked along the capital building's wall towards the storage building. He wouldn't let them clear the wall, he needed the canvas. He aimed for the guard in the lead, and held his breath to steady his aim. The man was not to be his masterpiece, but Khada Jhin never took half-measures with his work. From the lowliest slave to a king, he would lovingly craft his artwork from all sources.
He pulled the trigger, and Whisper sang. The world seemed to slow as the guard's skull exploded to give birth to a crimson carnation. The flower grew hearty and strong from its calcium and viscera seed, its color only amplified by the Blood Moon. It sprouted from the wall, and scarlet vines grew from its bottom to cradle the guard's body as a child did a dying parent.
Jhin came back to himself upon hearing the other guard's screams of panic and horror. It was a lovely song to complement the piece. "And now we wait." He whispered. "Jinx, get into position. Karma will soon step onto the stage."
Caitlyn tensed every time a firework exploded in the town square. Her heartrate spiked. She scanned the festival from her vantage point once again, but she couldn't see Jinx's bright blue hair anywhere. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to relax.
"I don't like this." Vi muttered. "Fireworks are the perfect cover for those two." She looked to Karma, who had stopped her restful meditation. "Any news from Shen?" When she shook her head in the negative, Vi leaned against the wall and tapped her fingers impatiently on the window sill. Her gloves were resting on the floor beside her to give her hands a chance to rest. "Do you think they're going to wait until after the festivities are over?"
Caitlyn sighed as the placed the binoculars down. "I can't get a read on Jhin's plan. If he aims for one of the councilors, it would make the most sense to make his move on a path to or from the square, to allow for people to notice his murders and give him space to retreat if need be. So our best bet would be to wait for things to wind down. However, with Jinx present I cannot put down a specific motivation for her to strike beyond something that excites her."
"That explains why you jump at every firework." Vi remarked. "I can't lie, I'm always expecting the next boom to come from a rocket."
"I've given it more thought and attacking the shrines would be something that Jhin would definitely do, but not when he's under the Cabal's employ. They'd certainly use him for his assassination skills to remove a problematic member of the council. Assuming he and Jinx are working together and not split up of course." She worried her lower lip as she thought. "I can't help but wonder if whoever's pulling the strings knows that I'll come to these conclusions and will then purposely attack a different target."
Vi grunted irritably. "I hate shadowy organizations. They're all a bunch of blasted cowards."
Caitlyn opened her mouth to reply, when a sharp retort sounded off the far wall. Her gaze snapped to the other window, in the direction where a horrified scream soon came. "Jhin." She said, her eyes narrowing as she picked up her rifle and ran to the window.
Karma's eyes flew open with a gasp. "I felt a horrible death. He's here, but why would he attack from that direction?"
"What's in that direction?" Vi asked as Caitlyn approached the window carefully and from the side to minimize her profile to anybody below.
"Just the storage building." Karma supplied as she got to her feet. "I need to get down there. Our guards are defenseless against somebody like Jhin."
"That's not a good idea." Caitlyn replied. "For all you know, he's baiting you out specifically."
"I can take care of myself." Karma assured. "If he thinks he can ambush me, he is mistaken. Regardless, I am not going to leave that other guard to die. If he is expecting me, then failing to show up will lead to the man dying unnecessarily."
"If you're that determined, I'm joining you." Vi said as she picked up her gauntlets. "If he is down there, he's going to get that mask of his smashed into pieces. Preferably while he's still wearing it."
"I'll stay up here for covering fire." Caitlyn replied as her companions hurried out of the room and down the hall. Even as she spoke, she was deftly working a scope onto her rifle. After a quick check for ammunition, she fished in her travel bag for one of her small mirrors. Pulling out her lipstick, she muddled the surface until a small circular patch remained clear. Satisfied, she slowly slid it onto the window sill from the safety of the wall, then crawled under the window to stand up on the other side. Keeping as small a profile as possible, she edged to the window and kept an eye on the forest below, with her rifle in hand. "Where are you?" She murmured as she held her weapon close to her chest.
Jhin kept Whisper trained on the final guard, but he didn't pull the trigger. This man was a minor character, but his role in the leading star's demise would be vital. The door leading back into the main building exploded in a shower of splinters as Vi ran into the clearing, with Karma close behind. He responded by swinging his aim towards Karma's head, but waiting. Without any distractions, Karma would know it was coming. He considered using a bullet to paint a beautiful picture with Vi, but his sharp eye noted some crackles around her body. A hextech shield generator. He thought. Part of him wanted to know if it would be strong enough to stop one of his bullets, but that question could be answered at a later time.
"What happened here?" Karma asked, her hands over her mouth in abject horror at the crimson flower that now decorated the wall.
Vi only gritted her teeth. The pattern of the brains and blood splattered on the wall resembled a flower far too much to be a coincidence. "Where did the shot come from?" She asked the remaining guard pointedly. When she only got fearful stammering in response, she shoved him aside and marched up to the wall. "How did Caitlyn do this again?" She muttered as she scanned the wall looking for clues, doing her best to ignore the mess of gore just beneath her feet. Movement in the corner of her eye caused her to turn her gaze sharply in its direction, but her hackles lowered when she saw it was just more guards.
"Councilwoman Karma!" The captain of the guard said. "What happened here? Are you under attack?"
"No, captain. Our assailants are attempting to steal from the supply depot." She replied.
"Right. Men, inspect the building for intruders and then fan out into the nearby forest. They can't have gone far." He replied, scanning the nearby forest for any sign of movement.
Jhin looked to Jinx as the soldiers moved closer to the storage building, and held up a single finger.
Jinx could barely contain her excitement, Fishbones was primed and ready to fire, her twitching finger on the trigger. A shimmer caught Jhin's eye. He glanced upwards and noticed the reflection of a scope in the upper window. Beneath the mask, he smiled faintly. "Clever." He whispered. "Waiting for me to expose myself with a shot."
Vi noticed a hole in the mess of blood, "Right, Cait would look for bullet holes and then follow it back." She murmured as she tried to position herself to look in the exact direction the bullet came from.
Now Karma, sing your final song. Jhin thought as he lowered his finger, giving Jinx the signal.
Jinx squeezed the trigger hard enough to cause the mechanism to squeak from the strain. Fishbones shrieked, a clarion call for the extras to play their parts just right. As Fishbones shrieked, Whisper took aim and hissed in comparison. The reflective surface in the window shattered into pieces, and Jhin couldn't help but chuckle as his brief exposure was vastly overshadowed by the massive explosion that took place just to the Ionian's left.
A massive fireball bloomed from the building, completely annihilating it. The soldiers scarcely had time to react as the fire roared towards them. They fell back but were spared the worst of the explosion.
As the rocket had traveled from the forest towards the building, Karma used what little time she had to conjure a shield powerful enough to protect her companions from the blast. The distance the soldiers were from her necessitated her to focus her power on them, leaving herself exposed.
Jhin swung Whisper around and attained perfect aim on Karma's head just moments after pulling the trigger on the sniper in the window. And now, you ascend. His blood rushed with excitement as he moved to pull the trigger.
A shot rang out from above him, and a searing pain tore through Whisper's trigger and his hand. He cried out in pain, cradling his hand as he scrambled backwards and deeper into the trees. His shout caught Vi's attention, and for a brief moment they locked eyes as he got to his feet and ran. He had enough awareness of his surroundings to remember to grab Whisper as he fled.
He heard Vi's enraged shouts and pounding footsteps slowly gaining ground as he ran as fast as he could. Not a thought was spared towards Jinx as his mangled right hand trailed uselessly behind him. Trees whizzed past him in a blur, and he couldn't brace himself on any of them as his only good hand was occupied holding Whisper.
As she began to get closer, he could audibly make out her threats. He looked back, and saw a very angry woman launching a fist at his head. He dropped to his knees, and a massive metal fist whizzed over his head and shattered the tree beside him into splinters. He stuck out his left leg, and Vi's momentum carried her over his leg and down a small hill. She let out an enraged roar as she tumbled head over heels for around two feet of an incline.
Out of habit, Jhin raised Whisper to fire at the back of her head, but the ruined weapon no longer had a voice. Fully aware of how helpless he was, he turned to keep running. Vi recovered faster than he expected, and was hot on his heels again.
The tree line broke for a brief moment, showing off a tranquil pool of water. A miscalculation caused him to trip and stumble, slamming his face into the ground and soaking his eye in fresh dew. As he gingerly got to his feet, he crawled forward to snatch Whisper from plunging into the depths of the water. Vi stepped out of the trees as he stood up, her face a promise of barely restrained violence. "Are you going to kill me?" He asked, his voice measured yet slightly strained from the pain.
"Probably." Vi answered curtly. "Are you about to philosophize at me until I let you live?"
"No." Jhin replied. "It is only natural to want to kill your enemy."
"Good, because I'm not in a listening mood." She said as she approached him. "Your little escape from prison was all the excuse I needed to not bother trying to arrest you."
"I only have one request." Jhin whispered as Vi approached. "You leave my body here, with only a hint of my blood splashing into the pool. I always envisioned my death as being a spectacle, where a suitable audience can see. I can make do with this location, however. It is almost perfect, missing naught but a touch of crimson."
Vi's face twisted in disgust. "Congrats, I almost don't want to kill you now."
"Are you that squeamish?" Jhin asked with a hint of amusement.
"No, I just don't want to give you the pleasure." Her fists clenched. "But I'll make sure you end up in a shallow grave, far from any recognition."
"If that's what will bring you peace." Jhin replied. "I would want nothing else than for my death to inspire another artist."
"Artist." Vi spat. "You're a murderer, and I'm going to put you down like a dog."
"Said the officer who is about to splatter my blood across this grass." Jhin said quietly.
"I am fully aware of what I'm going to do, and I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight." Her next step into some rather tall grass caused a violet flower to suddenly bloom beneath her, mechanical ticking sounded in her ears as the trap prepared to explode. She had time to raise her hands to shield her face before it exploded beneath her. Her blast shield protected her from most of the force, but it was enough to knock her to the ground and ring her ears. Pure adrenaline pushed her to her feet, and she rushed Jhin. Each step triggered more of the traps, and Vi dove to the ground as far as she could from the explosives, using her gauntlets to shield herself as much as she could, as her blast shield was starting to fail.
Jhin averted his eyes as the traps exploded, causing him to stumble. A mass of smoke veiled Vi, and he had no interest in sticking around to see if she survived. He turned to stumble-run away from the battle, satisfied that she fell into his trap. He looked down to his mangled hand again, and felt a pit of despair and emptiness threaten to fill him. Soraka was his only hope.
Upon hearing a smaller secondary explosion and the pop of electronics, he paused. That was the unmistakable sound of failed hextech. He thought, feeling a murderous urge rise up within him. Gripping his ruined weapon tightly in his good hand, he turned then stepped into the smoke. Metal crunched under his feet as he got closer, and he could see a dark shape as the smoke cleared up. He raised Whisper as a club, normally aghast at using it in such a crude way. But an individual as crude as this woman deserved little else.
Vi's fist shot out from the darkness and caught Jhin's jaw, sending him stumbling backwards. She materialized from the veil, knuckles bare and bloody. The rest of her equipment was on the ground, fizzling and sparking. She didn't say a word as she ran the back of her hand over her bleeding mouth, smearing dirt over her lips.
Jhin recovered, snarling as he swung again at Vi, adrenaline fueling him as it did a wounded animal facing certain death.
Vi raised an arm to block the strike, but it came up short, shooting pain climbing the left side of her chest. The gun struck her in the face, the heavy mass of metal nearly knocking a tooth out of her mouth. She was dazed by the blow, but dodged the follow up attack just in time. Iron filled her mouth, and the taste filled her with a sort of bloodlust she hadn't felt in a long time. She smiled grimly at him, her teeth stained crimson with her own blood. "Lucky shot."
"You will play your part, one way or another." Jhin replied, panting with exertion as he advanced on her.
Whoever Jhin really was, it was clear that he was only a trained assassin from range. His moves at close combat were sloppy and predictable, without any trained form. She feinted, a move that Jhin fell for. He attempted to strike her in the face again from her weak side. She ducked low and lashed out with a kick that knocked his weapon out of his hand, and when he tried to punch her, she grabbed his fist and twisted it backwards, forcing Jhin to drop to his knees in anguish lest his wrist get broken.
As Jhin descended, Vi propelled him back upwards with a knee to the face, cracking his mask. As the assassin fell to the ground, Vi landed a harsh kick to the man's ribs, feeling a satisfying crunch beneath her boot as a few of his ribs gave way. As Jhin tried to crawl away, Vi grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him to the lake, spitting out a bit of blood. Tossing him to the shoreline, she kicked him over so that he faced the sky. "Tell me about the guys that hired you." Vi demanded.
"An artist doesn't reveal his benefactors." Jhin said from behind ragged breaths. "It wouldn't be—"
"Shut up!" Vi snapped, kicking him in the face. "The next words out of your mouth had better be the answers I'm looking for."
"I thought you only meant to kill me." Jhin whispered.
"I can make do with that promise." Vi growled, dragging him close to the water. She dropped to her knees and pulled him partially into the lake, holding his head just above water. "Tell me what I want to know, or you're going to die slowly and painfully."
"Even if I gave up the information." Jhin coughed. "You would kill me anyway. There is no motive for me to speak."
"Wrong." Vi replied, pulling the mask off his face. He wore a black bodysuit beneath his garb, and a cloth hood that hid everything but a single eye. She tore that off next, revealing the face of a man she had never seen in her life. Vi hesitated, and felt a hint of fear. The man that called himself Khada Jhin was entirely unassuming in appearance. Had she passed him on the street, she'd never suspect him of any wrongdoing. His face seemed so ordinary, so forgettable. The fact that a face like that belonged to such a deranged monster gave her pause. She had expected him to at least have Jinx's manic expression, pale skin, scarring, something to mark him as someone that preyed on his fellow race. His bruised and black eyes were as indecipherable as his mask. She couldn't get a read on his emotions or his thoughts. She gritted her teeth. "If you tell me what I want to know, it'll be quick and painless."