Ten minutes prior…

From her vantage point, Caitlyn waited for a clean shot. She couldn't see Vi or Karma without leaning over the windowsill, and she didn't dare attempt something like that with Jhin somewhere in the trees. She could hear them more or less clearly, however, and quietly waited for Jhin to make a mistake and reveal his position.

After waiting tensely, she heard an all-too familiar sound. Jinx's rockets almost sounded like the fireworks booming in the square behind them, a high-pitched whine of fuel burning as it barreled towards the weapons shed. She was tempted to fire, but hesitated. Karma would take care of that; she was closer and had the tools to do so. She waited, finger on the trigger, heart pounding in her ears but never altering her steady grip. As Karma created a massive shield to save her companions, a shot rang past Caitlyn's ears and shattered the small mirror beside her. There you are. She thought.

As Jhin swung his weapon back around to fire at Karma, Caitlyn took a brief moment to watch it swivel, and quickly calculated where Jhin was most likely to be. She squeezed the trigger, sending a single shot into the trees, towards where the handle of the weapon and where Jhin's hand intersected. Over the roaring flames of the destroyed building, she could hear a sharp cry arise from the trees, and a shot flying wild and missing Karma. Confident in her safety, she stepped closer to the window to have a better view of her surroundings, and could see flashes of white between leaves as Jhin fled the scene. Vi was hot on his heels however, breaking from where she was studying the wall and charging into the forest. That left Jinx as hers to clean up. Smaller rockets started flying out of the trees, reaching towards the guards, Karma, the wall, anywhere their wielder saw fit.

Caitlyn tried her best to track Jinx's movements, but the rockets seemed to fire at random, and even though each one could be traced back to her location, it changed unpredictably every time one flew out of the trees. By now Karma had noticed the assault, and shifted her shield to protect herself and the wall of the capital building, now that the guards had retreated close enough to her.

After thinking she spotted a pattern, Caitlyn fired into the trees where Jinx ought to have been next. The forest fell silent for a moment, and Caitlyn sighed. She didn't want to have to bring a body back, especially if the rumors were true. But this time the madwoman had forced her hand, and she had to be stopped lest she kill more innocent people. Her eyes widened as a rocket flew out of the trees and towards her window. Diving flat to the ground as quickly as she could, she felt the heat and force of the explosion shoving her into the floor, knocking the wind from her lungs. Bricks fell on her, broken up enough from the explosion into small enough pieces to avoid injuring her too severely. Coughing from the acrid smoke, Caitlyn scurried away from the hole in the window and towards the stairs, in case Jinx would follow up the attack with another, but none came.

In fact, everything fell rather silent. She could only hear her ears ringing, and a very faint Karma calling up to her, asking if she was all right. Struggling to stand up, she hissed in pain as her back felt tender to the touch. A cautious hand to the area felt that it was hot, and slick with blood. She grunted as she leaned against the wall and carefully made her way down the stairs. She wasn't about to risk revealing to Jinx that she was still alive. Not until she was in Karma's shield, at least.

Vi shoved Jhin's head in the lake once again, easily overpowering the man's desperate scrabbling at anything within his reach to get free. When his struggles became weaker, she pulled him up for air and growled in his face. "Talk!"

Jhin sputtered and coughed before looking up at Vi with an infuriating calm. "I speak through my art, and the Cabal are my finest patrons."

"Give me names."

"Names? Their name is the Cabal. There are no others."

"Name? You mean there's only one?" Finally, I'm getting somewhere, She thought. "Is it a man or woman who's behind this?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Jhin replied.

Vi dunked his head underwater once again, letting him thrash around for a bit before pulling him up. "Wrong answer."

"And spoil your surprise? No, you will be a fine work of—" His words became strangled as Vi shoved him beneath the surface once again.

"Hey!"

Vi turned to see Jinx standing at the edge of the clearing, pointing Pow-Pow right at her. The young woman had a bullet wound in her side, and Fishbones was nowhere to be found. "There you are."

"Did you finally figure out that killing people is fun? Great, I'll help you drown that poor sap. Oh, hey Jhin!" She leaned past Vi to get a glimpse of the prone man in the lake. "Er, that is Jhin right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Vi asked warily. Something about the way Jinx asked that question was off. She had heard Jinx's irreverent banter more than enough times to know when she was forcing it.

"Let him go. Now." She warned.

"What, are you two buddies now?" Vi said in disbelief. "You never cared about anybody else before, why's he different?"

"Because…" Jinx trailed off. "Because, he's a pretty cool guy. What do you want me to say? You can't kill him because I'll miss his stupid monologues and the whole creepy theater student vibe he's got going on. No offense, Jhin."

"None taken." Jhin muttered from where he lay.

Vi was angry, bloodlust throbbed in her temple. The cold reality of her situation brought her to her senses however. Without her power armor she wasn't going to take a few bullets. "How do I know you won't shoot me the second I step away from Jhin?"

Jinx shrugged. "I dunno. It's honestly not up to me, that's on what Pow-Pow wants to do. Your stupid cop friend killed Fishbones, so he's kinda mad at you."

Vi glanced down at Jhin, then back at Jinx. She gingerly tested her injuries, deciding after a moment that they wouldn't impede her if she needed to run. Her options were dwindling, but stalling was currently her best play. "Why were you trying to kill Karma?"

Jinx shrugged again. "I dunno. That ripped ninja told us to."

"Ripped ninja…" She rattled her memory for a name, and she got one before long. "Zed? Is Zed behind this?" She demanded from Jhin.

Jhin considered his answer. "Zed is the brush, we are the paint, and Karma was the easel."

"Enough riddles." Vi snapped. "Is he or is he not the Cabal?"

"Oh come on, Vi." Jinx rolled her eyes. "Even I understood that one. Obviously if Jhin and I are the paint and Zed is the brush, it means that we are meant to be mixed together in a sort of blood slurry. Karma's who we get splattered on. Duh."

"It means that someone else is holding the brush." A new voice said.

"I guess that makes sense." Jinx agreed. "Though I like the slurry idea be—" She froze as she turned around and saw Caitlyn pointing her rifle at her.

"Drop it." Came the simple command.

"You killed Fishbones." She hissed in reply. "Pow-Pow said he wants his revenge."

"Jinx, don't do anything stupid." Caitlyn warned, placing her finger on the trigger. "This is your only chance; drop your weapon.

"Cait, I have Jhin pinned down. We can finish this right now if you take the shot." Vi called out.

"Vi, you know we can't do that." She said, "I promised both Karma and the Piltover Police Corps that I wouldn't unnecessarily take lives. So long as Jhin and Jinx are willing to comply, we have to take them alive."

"They'll understand." Vi said. "We can't help extenuating circumstances. We can just say they tried to kill us, which isn't wrong by the way."

Caitlyn pressed her lips together. "Vi, you made that vow as well."

"Oh come on!" Vi's grip on Jhin's collar tightened. "We also made a vow to protect and serve, and every second these two breathe is a second we're betraying that vow. It's obvious that they won't change, so why do we have to keep giving them chances?"

"Because we aren't the ones who dispense punishment."

"Maybe we should."

"Vi, I don't want to have to revoke your badge."

"Then don't." She said. "Thank me for taking trash off the streets for good."

"If you kill him, Vi, I'll have to place you under arrest."

"You know what? If it means that these two are dead and gone then I'll go to prison with a clear conscious. Can you say the same?"

"Wait a sec." Jinx mused. "If you can't kill me, then your threat's just empty."

"Jinx, don't—" Caitlyn began, but it was too late.

"This is for Fishbones." Jinx lifted Pow-Pow as she squeezed the trigger.

Caitlyn squeezed the trigger on instinct, the mental safety lock expunged the moment Jinx began to move. A single shot rang from her rifle, striking Jinx in the stomach and knocking her to the ground, causing her shots to miss wildly. The moment she saw that Jinx was incapacitated, she dropped her rifle and quickly moved to restrain her.

Jinx was still conscious, but shock was evident on her face. She looked blankly at Caitlyn as she was cuffed, as if she couldn't believe that she was shot point blank.

"Vi, bring Jhin here so I can cuff him." Caitlyn said after she finished.

After a moment more of deliberation, Vi relented, dragging Jhin to his feet and then bringing him over. "We need to make sure these two are buried under the prison. They cannot be let out under any circumstances, and I'm not convinced they should be in an Ionian prison. Not with the Cabal influencing things here."

"Not to worry, I can take care of that." The sheriff assured. "Jinx is coming to our prison regardless, but we can nab Jhin for several charges in Piltover, including assaulting officers." She offered a tired smile. "Of course, Ionia is going to want to charge Jhin as well, but we have priority. A simple link from his assaults in Piltover to assist Jinx and to being a serial killer. They'll both get a life sentence, I can guarantee that much. Once it's up, then we can turn them over to Ionia."

Despite the ringing in her ears, a slight smile crossed Vi's lips. "I never should have doubted you."

"And yet, you constantly do."

Vi opened her mouth to reply, but shuffling in the undergrowth caught there attention. Karma emerged from the trees, as well as a small entourage of soldiers. "It's about time you guys arrived. We've just about wrapped this up."

"And we thank you immensely." Karma said gratefully. "The night is still young, we implore you to join the festivities once you get cleaned up."

"Festivities?" Caitlyn drew a blank until an explosion of a firework caught her attention. "Oh right, the Blood Moon."

"Screw that, I'm going to bed." Vi grumbled.