While not the largest school in Runeterra, the University of Piltover certainly was the most prestigious. If people from Piltover wanted to be officers in the military, they usually went to Demacia. If they wanted to be successful businessmen and women, Bandel City had a pretty stellar program, if you could find it. For anyone else, engineering, architecture, medicine and biology, there was no better choice than the UoP. The eight building campus stood on a hill near the outskirts of the city, overlooking a greater part of the countryside. Catilyn had seen many incredible officers come out of the criminal justice program there, and all of her best detectives had at least one degree from the school.
Which is precisely why she was there now. The dean of the school, a close personal friend of hers, had asked her and Vi to come give a lecture and answer questions about the Piltover Police Department. What better way to recruit new officers? She hadn't exactly expected the turnout though. Half the campus had shown up to the packed auditorium, cramming nearly every seat, and the half that hadn't shown up was probably at Vi's lecture next door.
A voice boomed over the PA system. "All students take your seats" the voice said "The lectures will be starting soon. All students, please take your seats." Caitlyn adjusted the microphone pinned to her collar and shifted her hat. The crowd settled a bit, an eery silence falling over the massive crowd.
"Let's say you're the sheriff of Piltover" she began. "Crime is on the decline, but not because of you. Theres a vigilante, a self proclaimed superhero, hunting down and punishing criminals. How would you handle them?" No one spoke. No one raised their hands. "Oh come now" she said "loosen up a little. What do you do?"
A burly looking young man somewhere in the middle of the audience raised his hand, and Caitlyn pointed to him eagerly. "I would arrest her" he said simply. "Vigilantism is a crime, last I checked. Throw him in jail."
Caitlyn smiled. "I never said it was a man" she replied. "By the book, yes, but the book isn't always right. Now crime is back on the rise and you just locked up your greatest resource. Someone else? How do you handle this vigilante?"
A few other students piped in, mostly skirting around the issue; lock the vigilante up and deal with crime in a different way, change what counts as crime, hire more officers. Finally, a sheepish looking young girl raised her hand tentatively. "I think I would hire the vigilante." she said simply. A few of the older students snickered, but Caitlyn just smiled.
"Correct" she said simply. The crowd went silent. "Eight months ago, crime was falling fast, but not because of me. It was because of Vi. A vigilante, running from the police just as easily as she caught the criminals we struggled with. Criminals were afraid of her, not of us. So I tracked her down and I hired her."
The same young man that raised his hand the first time raised it again. "But if she's a vigilante" he said "how do you keep her in check? She's never been to school, she doesn't know how to be a police officer. You've got to keep her on a pretty short leash I assume."
"Perhaps at one point" she said "but not really anymore. The core of any partnership in this business is trust, and we've built that. That's not my point though. My point is when you're doing something as important as catching criminals, you can't afford to think linearly. The book" she said, picking up her copy of the old police textbook that she had brought with her "goes a long way, but there comes a time when you have to use this thing up here" she tapped her forehead. "Nothing works better than this. It's your most important tool in this business."
The crowd murmured approvingly, causing Caitlyn to smile. 'I wonder how Vi's doing?' she thought to herself.
Vi stared at the students awkwardly. They stared back, silently. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it wouldn't go down. How had Caitlyn talked her into this? This was quite possibly the worst idea the sheriff had ever had. Talk about her job and her work to a bunch of engineering students? In what crazy world had Vi ever thought this sounded like a good thing to do. She coughed, trying to break the silence. "Hi" she finally said. "My name's Vi. I'm a police officer, engineer, face puncher, whatever..." no one said anything. "So I don't really have anything prepared" she admitted, trying not to make eye contact with the audience. "so you can just like...ask me questions or something I guess. I'm not exactly sure how this is supposed to work..."
She leaned against the table they had set up for her. Caitlyn had told her to bring some stuff she thought was interesting, but since that was the only guidance the enforcer had received, she ended up brining virtually everything from her workshop. Tools, inventions, bits and pieces of scrap, half finished projects, and of course, her gauntlets. "Shit I suck at this" she muttered into her mic. A few students laughed, but most of them remained eerily silent. "Come on you've gotta have some questions. Help me out here."
After what felt like hours, a nerdy looking kid in the fourth row raised his hand. "Yes, thanks the gods, you have a question" Vi said, a little too excitedly. The kid shrunk back in his seat, clearly terrified. "Y-your gauntlets l-look like they need a lot of p-p-power. What do you use?"
Vi smiled a bit. "So I used to use these" she said, picking up a foot long cylinder that rested on the table. "Big massive lithium Ion batteries. They're light, but they run out of power really quickly. I had to replace them almost every day. Nice for short term, garbage for what I needed." The students began writing furiously on pads of paper, taking notes as Vi spoke. "Now I just use this" she turned around and pointed to the small pack on the upper portion of her back. The backpack was small, reaching from shoulder to shoulder and about six inches down her back. The center held a glowing sphere behind a thick pane of glass, pulsing purple slowly and warmly. The whole thing was nestled in a little harness, attached to her exosuit.
"It's a tiny cold fusion generator" she continued, causing ooo's and aaah's to erupt form the audience. "I haven't had to replace the fuel yet, which is nice, because it's hella expensive."
"I thought cold fusion was theoretically impossible" someone called out. Vi let out a small laugh.
"That's something you've all gotta learn before you graduate" she said, turning back to face them. "Nothing's impossible if you put your mind to it."
The same student piped up again. "But there are things that are impossible" he insisted. "The laws of physics and engineering clearly state-"
"Look kid" she interrupted him. "The more you think like that, the more you'll be stuck in the dark ages. The more you challenge the things you know, the more you learn." The students scribbled furiously, causing Vi to smile. "Alright, questions, keep 'em coming."
A few hours later, Vi and Caitlyn sat together on the big stage. Vi had had her fun with her group, and Caitlyn had entertained hers, but now it was time for the main course. The dean of the school had wanted the two of them to give a duel presentation and talk about their partnership, answer questions about working together, and and discuss the recent decline in crime. Vi smiled at the sheriff as the students took their seats. "Why don't you take charge on this one?" Vi said. "You should have seen the start of mine. Gods that shit was awkward." Caitlyn giggled.
"I'm sure you did fine" she said happily. "You didn't punch anyone did you?"
"Only this one kid, but he was seriously asking for it" Vi replied. Caitlyn looked horrified. "I'm kidding Cupcake. Fuck, lighten up a bit." She chuckled. Caitlyn kicked her playfully.
"Alright everyone" she said over the microphone. "Let's get this under way. We'll just start this off by introducing ourselves for those that don't know. My name is Caitlyn Chapman, and I've been the sheriff of Piltover for four years now." she gestured to Vi. Vi cleared her throat.
"Hi" she said. "I'm Vi. I've been working for the Piltover Police Department for nine months..." she looked at Caitlyn, shanking her head slowly. "and I'm Caitlyns partner." Caitlyn tired not to laugh at how awkward Vi was.
"Let's just go right into questions, I think that will work best." Caitlyn said, looking out at the crowd. "So anyone that has questions for the two of us, now's the time to ask."
The questions came surprisingly quickly compared to Vi's lecture. Twenty or so hands shot into the air, causing Vi's eyebrows to raise. Caitlyn pointed to someone Vi couldn't see. "How did you two meet" a deep male voice said. "like what happened for you to recruit her?"
Vi laughed, thinking back to the moment. "It was the bell tower wasn't it?" Caitlyn asked with a smile.
"Ya ya, the bell tower" Vi confirmed. "I had a safe house in some old bell tower. I came home one day and she was waiting up there. Told me I was coming back to the station either in the front seat, or in the back in handcuffs." A few people in the audience chuckled.
More hands shot up, and Caitlyn called on another, this time a girl, skinny as a twig, with huge long blue pigtails. "Are you two like a thing or something?" she asked happily.
Caitlyn blushed, but Vi didn't pause. "That's not exactly your buisness, kid." she said, narrowing her eyes as she did.
"Aaaaw man!" the girl exclaimed. "I really wanted to know before I killed you two. You would make a SUUUUUUPER cute couple."
Vi paused, mouth agape. "Killed...?" she said, confused. She looked at Caitlyn and saw the same expression on her face.
The girl jumped up on her seat, smilling madly. "Oh well" she said, producing a massive looking pink chaingun from under her seat. The barrels began to whir and click, spinning faster and faster in circles. Vi's eyes widened.
Vi didn't think. She just acted. She grabbed the table that sat in between the two of them and flipped it on it's side, sending her gauntlets, Caitlyns rifle, and all the other books papers and gizmos that were on it flying. She grabbed the sheriff and pulled her hard behind the makeshift wall, sending her chair toppling away.
And then the bullets started flying. The loud cracks followed one after another, sending flashes by the two officers as they cowered behind the thick wooden table. Students began to scream and run, tripping over one another in their haste to escape the madwoman. Over the roar of the gun, the screams of the students, and the thumping as bullet after bullet was stopped by the table, Vi heard the insane laughter of the girl; giddy, psychotic laughter. "Fucking shit!" Vi screamed, unable to do anything but cower behind the table.
"Come on you scaredy cats!" The girl screamed "come out of there so I can kill you!" she laughed again, unrelenting in her onslaught.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Caityn yelled to Vi. She didn't quite realize what had happened yet.
"Crazy bitch with a gun" Vi shouted back. "Can you see where your rifle is?"
Caitlyn tried to peak out, and was met by an hail of lead on her side of the table. She swore loudly. "Yeah" she said "It's upstage a bit. I can't get to it."
Vi looked around, trying to see anything she could use as a weapon; something to throw, a gadget that might have fallen this way, anything at all.
The gunfire stopped with a series of clicks. "Darn it Pow Pow!" the girl said irritably. "I told you to let me know if you needed to be fed today!"
"She's out of bullets" Caitlyn whispered, crouching down. "Now's our chance!"
The two officers stood in unison, running round the front of the table for their gear. Vi scooped up one of her gauntlets and was in the process of grabbing the other when she heard the girl shout. "Oh well! Good thing I brought Fish Bones!"
Vi looked up. The madwoman had discarded her machine-gun in exchange for something far worse. The whole thing looked like a huge metal shark, teeth and all, and the woman could barely hold it over her shoulder. Her left hand was wrapped around the base, while her right hand held a small handle that pertruded from beneath it. Vi could see the rocket lodged in it's mouth. "Shit" she said simply, leaving her second gauntlet where it lay and making a beeline off the stage. She was just in time. The stage where she had just been standing exploded in massive burst of flames as the womans rocket collied with it. Vi was thrown off her feet, sending her tumbling head over heals into the empty seats.
She landed in a crumpled heap, trying to disentangle her limbs from each other as the woman laughed. "Stop moving so fast so I can shoot you!" she screamed happily, taking aim at Vi's fallen form. Before she could fire off another shot, a rifles crack echoed through the auditorium, and her weapon fell in two. The woman stumbled back off of her seat, falling backwards into the row behind her. She stared at the broken pieces of her weapon, shock and disbelief filling her face. "You broke fishbones" she said simply, looking up at Caitlyn, who was crouching on the side of the stage.
"I don't know who you are, nor do I particularly care," the sheriff said coldly "so give up now and the next one doesn't go through your skull."
The woman smilled evily. "Oh come on Hat Lady!" she said exasperatedly. "You're ruining all the fun! Here, maybe this will help you lighten up!" Quicker than Vi had ever seen anyone move, the blue haired psycho stood and drew a pulsing blue weapon from her hip. Caitlyn fired a shot, but she had been anticipating it, spinning her head around to an awful contorted position, dodging the sheriffs expert shot. The sheriffs eyes widened for an instant and she hesitated. She had just dodged a bullet, literally. She pointed the weapon at Catilyn and fired, sending a bolt of electricity arcing through the air. Caitlyn fired again, but it was too late; the woman's shot struck the sheriff and sent her bullet wide. Caitlyn fell to the floor, her body convulsing in pain as electricity arced through it.
She laughed again. "That's for breaking fish bones, mean old hat lady!" she shouted, turning to face Vi. She looked just in time to see the pinket fly across the room, shouting in anger. Her one attached gauntlet propelled her through the auditorium chairs, sending them tumbling through the air. Once again though, the bitch was too fast. She gracefully hoped into the air, landing in a sitting position on Vi's shoulders. She wrapped her legs tightly around the enforcers throat and began to choke her, covering her eyes as she did. "Guess who!" she said, laughing even harder as Vi fought to throw her loose.
Her legs were like iron around her neck, squeezing the life out of Vi with each passing second. She reached around with her gauntlet, trying in vain to grab the psycho and dislodge her. The girl just laughed, and squeezed harder. Vi's vision began to blacken from lack of oxygen. She spun this way and that, trying to fling the girl into a position that Vi could grab her from. Vi was getting desperate when finally she caught something with her ungauntleted hand. She gripped it as hard as she could and pulled, flinging the girl across the room. Her laughter turned instantly to a cry of pain as Vi tugged one of her long blue braids with the force of a small truck.
Vi fell to her knees, gasping as sweet air filled her lungs. She gulped mouthful after mouthful of oxygen down, trying to fill her empty lungs. She looked up at the woman, who was still trying to stand after the crippling throw. "That wasn't very nice" she said, her voice full of pain. "I was just trying to have some fun, theres no need to-" She was cut off with a vicious punch to the jaw. Vi's knuckles split as her fist buried itself into the girls teeth, sending little droplets of blood cascading through the air. She grabbed the woman by the hair with her gauntleted left hand, lifted her a few feet into the air, and hit her again, this time in the stomach. The woman let out an oof as her lungs were once again emptied of air.
"Fuck you!" Vi shouted, punching her across the face again. The girl spat blood all over the pinket, but through her bloodlust, she didn't seem to notice. "Fucking" she hit her again "Crazy" again "BITCH" She screamed the last word, releasing her hold on the psycho and sending her tumbling to the floor, unconcious. Vi stumbled back, breathing heavily. She began to feel pain in her leg, her hand, her side, her head. "Vi" She heard Caitlyn croak from behind her. Vi spun to see her partner, leaning against the wall wide eyed, staring at her.
Vi didn't speak imediatly, still trying to catch her breath as Caitlyn slowly approached her, hands slightly outstretched. "She was asking for it" Vi said simply, leaning against the wall as the pain began to overtake her. Caitlyn caught her before she could fall all the way to the floor, and lowered her tenderly. "God's Vi" She whispered, looking the pinket up and down. A trickle of blood ran into her eye.
"I'm fine" Vi said, trying to keep her voice as even as possible. "Get that bitch restrained."
Caitlyn moved away from the pinket, and vi could hear the familiar clicking of handcuffs closing. She whipped the blood from her face, trying to staunch the cut on her skull. She looked wearily to where the unconcious girl lay. Her blue hair reminded Vi of the past. Of someone she used to know. She narrowed her eyes. Who was this psycho?
I'm finally back! Thank you all so much for putting up with my little leave of absence, I wanted to make sure this chapter was really good, and I hope I nailed it. I spent many days staring at a blank word document, willing it to exist. Chapter 12 should be on the way fairly soon, there shouldn't be another gap like the last one until part three! So ya, if you couldn't tell from this chapter, part 2 is going to focus more on action, Vi's past, and really strain Caitlyn and Vi's relationship. Will Jinx tear apart what the two have built? Can Vi discover the dark secrets of her past? Will Jinx just murder everyone? Find out next time on Love and Crime!
As always, thank you so much for reading, and if you want to support the story more, please leave a review!
Abe