Vi is speeding through the Old Town in a police car left behind by one of the deceased officers in wake of whomever it was that helped Jinx escape. She's still seething with rage but has managed to push it down far enough so that she's be able to concentrate on what is right now the most important thing.
The chase.
The amount of time she wasted along with the other officers at the massacre site was a lapse in judgment, nearly two minutes wasted, two minutes that she could have used to get outside the campus and where the Loose Cannon broke through the siege. Instead she spent it pointlessly raging. They all did. Examining the bodies proved that Jinx has little to do with their deaths but it didn't take a lot of guessing who's fault was the explosion some kilometer away from Vi's whereabouts. If she didn't make the wrong choice maybe she could have had caught the criminal by now. She seemed unfocused, more so than usual anyway and in a bad way too. Not able to shoot properly, seemingly having troubles with putting two thoughts together.
She could have had her already.
What instead happened was that at the moment Jinx broke through the siege Vi was just getting into a car to pursue her. As it is, she only knows the general area where Jinx might be thanks to Ezreal who along with the forces he was assigned to managed to drive the terrorist out of sewers. Good thing he was there, even so, an officer with him has to be hospitalized, along with three others that got caught in an explosion and ensuing bullet storm when Jinx made her escape from the university grounds.
Were it not for a little detail it could almost be called a success, given how she hasn't yet killed anyone tonight and that the bomb she planted must have been defused, seeing that, as of yet, there have been no further explosions lighting up the night sky.
Twenty little details.
No matter how hard the Enforcer scours her mind she can't think of one case when somebody helped Jinx. Not once. Probably because until now, nobody was insane enough to make acquaintance with the crazy girl. Everyone and their dog know how unstable she is, how likely to shoot you as well as sing for you she is. There were attempts at getting her into various gangs just after her arrival in the city. Those ceased pretty quickly when it became clear that she's about as likely to accept their offer as to spontaneously walk up to Piltover City Police Department and demand being included into its ranks.
Normally, Vi would exclude the possibility of her making any kind of deal with criminal elements, it's just not her way but then again. Tonight seems to be a night of firsts.
What the pinkette thinks had actually happened is that one of mafias managed to actually find Jinx's hideout and has her tailed. The chaos that is left in the mad girl's wake makes fertile ground for illegal operations, what with the amount of forces assigned to Jinx. The crime reared its ugly in a matter of days, and the Force just can't deal with everything that is going on, it got marginally better in the last week since the maniac was mostly out of action, only being reported robbing a drug and grocery store. But never have they interfered during an operation against Jinx. Still, they must have figured that it's good for business to keep tabs on her, and to get her out of trouble if she got too close to getting caught so that they can squeeze as much from the mess for as long as possible- and if she gets too troublesome? They can give their information to the police.
Fuckers.
That's why she quit running with gangs. Because of heartless sons of bitches that when looking at people, only see money. She had killed, yes. And it still happens in her new line of work, sometimes. But back then it was always because it was necessary, shoot a rivaling gangster, offing a detective too close to their trail and then getting rid of the body. And now it's not holding back with a punch at a kidnapper holding hostages. It's a risk you agree on or at least should when you decide to join this deadly game of cat and mouse. Blackmail, extortion, theft and killing. But not murder, never murder. The miners didn't deserve death just because her gang fucked up. It was simple then and it still is.
That some bastard chooses to use a destruction hungry psychopath jut to get some more cash is sickening. There are the likes of murderers and killers like Jinx who are just broken and don't even think about the consequences, maybe aren't even capable of doing so. And then there are real monsters. Cold, calculating and level headed beasts in fashionable suits that will let innocents die because it brings them some extra profit, she thought once, so many years ago, that things are different outside Zaun. But such people are everywhere. Those that will order the death of twenty officers because they don't want the chaos to stop just yet.
She might hate Jinx. But if that is what she calls the feeling the bluenette stirs in her then Vi doesn't even know the word to describe what she feels towards whoever helped the maniac get away.
She turns a corner and scowls at the sight that greets her eyes.
In the distance, the Enforcer can see something vaguely resembling a human lying across the road not far from the smoking remains of a car. There is blast damage everywhere around though not all that significant. Must have been done no more than three minutes ago or somebody would have already called the PCPD and the central would have dispatched orders by now, this area is populated and the denizens must have been awoken by the noise, probably some of them are calling emergency number right now.
Damn it, that is the twenty first if there isn't anyone inside or on the other side of the car. This just keeps getting better and better. And it's not a police vehicle either, so the headcount of innocent that Jinx killed has just gone up thanks to some fucker who let her escape. Her hands clench on the wheel at the though that come morning he will hear a report and not give a single thought to any of the people that died tonight ever again. If she ever gets her hands on him...
She forces herself to relax, it won't do to lose concentration right now. Okay, damn. Report first and then she can investigate, she hates wasting time for HQ calls but those couple seconds can potentially help them encircle their target, and that's what matters the most. Getting the job done. She slows to a stop and picks up a radiphone handle.
"HQ, this is Enforcer. I've got a body and a car wreck on Low Academic nineteen. Investigating." she slams the handle back with just a bit too much force, cracking it open. Great, she hopes to find something to beat up tonight. The gym can only take so much abuse and dealing with complaints about broken equipment later on doesn't lift her spirits either.
"Roger that Enforcer, proceed. Sending a cleanup crew."
Vi kills the engine some distance away from the burning wreckage and after rolling up her sleeves, reaches over to the other seat to put on her gauntlets. As much as she hates taking them off during a situation, there is no way to properly drive in them, too little backfeed to avoid ripping the wheel out or wringing it dead. It had happened thrice before she gave up on trying, finding herself unwilling to deal with Cait's berating over the issue. It's not like her boss didn't make a good point, wrecking the wheel halfway there doesn't help in getting on scene faster. Her gauntlets aren't exactly wieldy and it's hard to reach small things in them. Like the keys, just not enough space between the wheel and dashboard. She did prove Caitlyn wrong in that she managed to pull keys out of her pocket without ripping her trousers apart but it wasn't easy either. Manageable at best.
Once the gauntlets are once again where she likest them the most, the pinkette jerks her fingers, hitting the switch that activates them and pushes the door open with her shoulder while her babies snap into proper shape.
She immediately (and somewhat painfully, what with her left arm bitten) raises the armed hands and looks about when out of the vehicle, ready for an attack and on lookout for danger, she doesn't have her armor on and it's better safe than sorry. If she gets into a blast like the last time she fought with Jinx without that extra protection- well she's not a medic but Vi figures she might be up for something a lot worse than a short hospital stay.
When nothing happens, she lowers the guard a bit, still wary but assured enough to walk closer to the wreckage and inspect the body. It is when she's not a meter away that she notices a couple of things, namely the parts of body armor under the jacket that the dead man is wearing and the gun laying beside him. He's not a civy, it makes the woman both sigh in relief and tense up as he's not a plaincloth either. So most likely a criminal, maybe even one of those tasked with assisting Jinx in her escape. But then why would he lay dead here instead of bailing out? The maniac isn't known for caring whom she's shooting but neither for going out of her way to actually kill people, especially during an escape.
Oh- she is still extremely dangerous but more in a force of nature sort of way. Wreaking havoc and creating enough chaos to make an escape. Only planting bombs as a distraction and this isn't it. What the girl does is way more flashy, Cait says it's a way of attracting attention but Vi has a sneaking suspicion that Jinx simply likes bright and colorful explosions and that's all there is to it.
A gust of wind makes her gag as the stench of burnt meat hits her senses. The Enforcer glances at the flame-consumed car from where it must have came from before shaking head and turning away, looking for the most plausible way the terrorist might have used. It isn't her job to extract bodies, Bags will do that. What concerns her is who those people were, not civilians that's for sure. And while that is a good thing it raises the question of how have they winded up dead. Not from driving by, this Vi knows, Jinx wouldn't alert anyone to her location without having to.
That means they must have engaged her first.
They aren't plainclothes, mafia helped Jinx escape from the campus so it would be strange if it wanted to stop her just now after already killing twenty officers. Well it could be a rivaling gang but that still seems unlikely. Big players make such decisions in tandem and the pinkette can't see how killing Jinx would undermine a specific group. Unless those guys are something different altogether.
This is so over her head.
Stepping away from the body, she starts making her way further down the street in search for clues as to where to go from now. She needn't look far as one of the cars parked merely twenty meters away is riddled with bullet holes and upon closer inspection, hides another body on the back seat. A machine pistol lies abandoned on the ground, surrounded by scattered casing under the door behind which the corpse is seated. Vi doesn't pay attention to those. What interests her are the holes on the other side of the vehicle.
She tries to open the door only to have it ripped off the hinges. Well this isn't a specialist car that's for sure, it's not bulletproof nor especially sturdy. She puts the metal hunk back in its place for a moment and after memorizing where the entry holes are, throws it back- at this point uncaring for the clatter made by her actions- and leans into the ruined contraption to compare those to second bullet entries. The woman turns around and looks in direction the shots must have came from, second back alley from where she's standing but there aren't any casings on the ground. There are some leading to it and the closer one but none in places with cover. So it leaves only one option, up.
And indeed, a cornice of an old tenement's roof is battered by bullets. But what is more interesting is that another building down the line is a story higher. Making it impossible to jump onto. It makes Vi realize something.
This wasn't a chase. This was a deliberately set up trap into which Jinx must have been rounded up into. She knows because she had done it too. It takes a lot of effort and coordination to corner the maniac into choosing a specific path. Just who are these guys to have pulled this off?
She shakes head, dispersing the though. It doesn't matter who they are, whatever their game is they're not with Vi, it is all that matters and her mission is still the same. Get Jinx, they help her? Good. They try to stop her? Even better. Vi's itching to punch some faces in.
She blinks as a stray thought intrudes on her mind. Did she take the keys out of station? She didn't did she? Ah screw it! Bags will take care of that, it's their job to clean up other people's mess after all. And even if somebody stole the car, there are more important things to deal with than a one lost vehicle.
She rolls her shoulders and trots after the casings trail.
What a mess.
Twenty dead and for no good reason. Shot from behind as if lined up for death. Most had the time to turn around but not even one to take cover. Nearly all the shots are perfect, either head shots or through the hearts. Jayce is no expert when It comes to conventional weapons but he knows it takes skill to pull such a thing off. Knows enough to realise he couldn't do it and that the perpetrators must be pros.
This is such a load of bull. Just when it had seemed like they've finally done it and got Jinx cornered without a way to run, somebody decides it's high time to help the maniac out. This has to be the highest body count during a single intervention as of yet too. A failure without question. About the only thing that might somewhat even the scale of this disaster is the death of Jinx herself. Or her capture and then an execution after a mock trial. But this seems unlikely, they haven't managed to do that until now and with the assistance provided by some sort of outside factor it looks to be even more implausible.
He chances a look at Caitlyn, who after arriving on scene and giving out immediate orders simply took her time to examine the bodies. Not saying a word, probably figuring out the way this massacre played out.
She finished two minutes ago and has yet to say a word, for now opting to stand beside the radio operator and listen to incoming reports concerning the search for Jinx's trail. Nothing but clear streets till this point. She finally sighs and moves away from the truck where the radio station is installed and stands at the edge of the chalk line, placing her riffle butt down on the ground- holding it upright with her right hand. After a moment starting to trail circles around its muzzle. She's observing the Bags mapping the bodies and preparing the evidence for further examination. She had surely already done all that in her mind and if he knows her as well as he believes he does- that would normally mean that the Sheriff is simply examining her officers' work to give them pointers for the future.
Her empty eyes tell an entirely different story tonight.
It's a coping mechanism of sorts that she has developed well before starting her crime fighting career, that is all she has shared on the topic. The reason for it, she refuses to divulge and Jayce respects her privacy enough not to pry. When things get bad enough that anyone else would break under pressure, she refuses do do so.
For all intents and purposes she becomes a machine not unlike Orianna, running on her programming alone, without any emotion interfering with her thoughts.
It's a product of the way she thinks. To show emotion in a situation like this would be a weakness. And she won't allow such a weakness to show. She's the pillar of The Force and she is to set an example for all her men to follow. Their work here is not yet done and the woman knows how much her officers look up to her. Showing her fears to them is the last thing they need, if she won't remain calm then how can she expect them to? They're shaken as it is by the deaths of so many of their colleagues, what they need the most is not consolation but a sense of stability. The moment she begins doubting herself is the moment she has already lost. Police forces need to know that their leader is ready to forge onward. And forge onward Caitlyn does.
It is not to say that she doesn't care, just that- at the moment- she can't feel a single thing in relation to it. Oh she will later, after returning home where there will be nobody before whom she has to keep her emotions in check.
He doubts his friend will cry. She's not the sort to grieve like that, preferring to suffer in silence, shed a tear or two maybe but not openly cry. The Defender of Tomorrow scowls. His veins will rust before he leaves her to be alone in a time like this.
He walks up to her side and she spares him but a glance before returning to her observation.
The man doesn't offer any words, nor does he offer a comforting touch. She's obviously deep in thought though the inventor can't tell what might she ponder upon. Handling this situation comes as a foremost in Jayce's mind, to replace twenty officers spread thin as The Force is, won't be easy. But that's only the first and- depressing as the thought is- the least important issue, from a practical standpoint men are a resource and attaining or reassigning them is but a matter of logistics. Something Caitlyn's analytical mind must have dealt with when she first heard of the massacre, numbers are easy and it is in point of fact necessary for the woman to first deal with them.
What comes later is less clear cut to deal with.
Media being the first and foremost of the troubles to come. There was bad press a week ago what with the factory fiasco but nobody got killed back then. Massive property damage did not go unnoticed, no. Yet the public has forgiven their protectors that incident as- well. It was a fireworks factory after all, an extremely bad place to protect from a pyromaniac of Jinx's caliber. Some people from the administration (the statesmen mostly) jumped at the opportunity to improve their image by organising aid for those afflicted by the fires while the fireworks plant's owner was hushed with a guarantee of subsidies atop his own insurance. It has mostly blown over by now.
This is something different. A situation in which twenty officers of the law are killed in action makes solid ground for discharging Caitlyn from her position. No matter what happened here, no matter those men were apparently shot in the back. It's her job to make sure things like this don't happen. Piltover's Menace body count has risen twice today, or rather the body count connected to her case. That someone new seems to have joined the game is irrelevant, death of a subordinate is ultimately a responsibility of the commander. And while Cait is well loved by Piltover's people, this will not go over smoothly.
Not that the woman in question would have let herself just ignore the fact she has failed her men.
It's a very real possibility that she might be relieved of her command because of tonight. Not before Jinx is dealt with, there's nobody to fill the Sheriff's shoes at time like this but afterwards? She'd have to make one gears damned good argument to keep her position, if she chooses to keep it at all. The brunette herself might come to conclusion of resigning being the best choice, or suspension perhaps. Actually, suspension sounds as the most likely. There will be an investigation by the administration no doubt and while The Force will have a lot of work, it might be for the best for it to be done by someone else as to avoid accusations of influencing the outcome.
Has she made a mistake today? Possibly, the deaths tonight, while caused by an outside factor might have still been preventable. It depends on whom the new player is. The killers themselves obviously know their salt, no question here. If any of the syndicates has decided to aid Jinx... it would question Caitlyn's competence in gathering intel. If there was a wind to be caught about criminals helping the Loose Cannon then indeed, some measures could have been taken to prevent... this.
Before all this there is something to be done though that Jayce knows the Sheriff takes personal responsibility of.
Letters.
To wives and husbands, to mothers and fathers whose children they will never meet again. Every each letter unique, every each she takes upon herself to write and deliver. Though barely having the time to do the latter ever since Jinx's arrival in Piltover. Men die in service, it happens. Piltover's Sheriff sees it as her duty to make the death seem meaningful. That a widow can find some measure of solace in her husband's sacrifice. That it doesn't seem pointless.
Looking at the bodies, Jayce can't help but think that these will be tough letters to write.
"Sheriff!" They both turn to look at the calling radio operator. "There's a shootout in the Old Town."
It isn't long before Vi begins hearing the gunfire, it's bad, a firefight in a middle of a cramped housing estate has a high chance of becoming real messy real quick. And from the sound and look of it, neither side is holding back if the ripped apart bodies she has found on her way are any tell. The integrity of the buildings is good, the Enforcer knows that much from her own experience but if a rocket were to hit a gas pipe then she shudders to think of the consequences.
While most of the people woken up by the noise have probably left, there always are those either too scared to do so or simply trapped in their houses as Jinx and her adversaries are unlikely to care for an unfortunate civilian in the way of their shots.
Her steps are now careful, not wanting to attract any attention to herself from either of sides in the fight ahead. It's not hard to do as the narrow street could hardly fit a small car and has quite a few door niches on both sides were it necessary to hide and the lights are out, probably the land owners saving on energy. The place is pretty decrepit, a part of the Old Town that has yet to be even taken into consideration for renovating. Occupied mostly by either university students with modest income and elderly people who hadn't had the chance to reap the fruit of Piltover's progressing wealth. Born in wrong times when it was still ruled by mafias.
Vi herself can barely remember those times. She came here sometime around then- yeah but her... career. If one can call it such- started around the time the young deputy Liddell began her war against crime.
Those years she remembers well. It wasn't a problem at first, just another sort of upstart vigilante on her way to getting killed. Nothing special, and honestly, she was but a kid back then, not seeing a damned thing from the tip of her own nose up. But both her mindset and Caitlyn's reputation had changed over years. The pinkette got her ass handled to her too many times not to learn, she would have been a fish fodder had she not learned from her mistakes. Seeing the grand picture is one of those things that a competent thief has to do in order to make it. Which gang has the power in which district, how lenient the different syndicates are, how much of a bother can she make of herself before someone deeming her a nuisance enough to deal with.
It is not at all an exaggeration to say that for years, a war had been waged on Piltover's streets. Bah, martian law had been employed (which first required creating it) at a certain point. It was around that time that the city's military became something more than a band of mercenaries in service to a city state and in its place the well oiled and armed machine that it is now. Chaotic years, glorious for little fish like her as nobody on either side cared about small fries.
In the end the law won and Caitlyn was appointed a sheriff. The criminal world had retreated to the deep underground and it only dared to boldly rear its head recently in the wake of Jinx's arrival. For Vi it meant the end of lone act. She had to find a gang to run with in order to stay afloat without getting caught, she is not proud of what she had done in that time but neither does she regret it. There is blood on her hands but it is not clean, dealing with black market hextech is dirty business in which lives are only worth what they can provide.
And just as she thought. After the mine run fiasco she didn't manage on her own for very long before being captured. Cupcake caught her in less than a month after she got a moderate reputation for her dubious efforts. She couldn't believe how lucky she was for months, and even now she sometimes finds it incredulous in just how outrageously- as a certain acquaintance of her would say- lucky she is for Caitlyn not having her packed into a cell for the next twenty years.
She asked why, of course she did. It's not something that the audacious Enforcer could ever hold in. All the woman said was that she didn't survive her "little" hunt by having a stick up her ass about the people she used. Well, maybe- maybe not exactly her words but the message was fairly straightforward.
Vi is not the only ex-criminal in The Force. Only the most well known one, she did after all get some publicity thanks to her raids on other thieves and smugglers in the city. She knows for sure that Leeroy was working as a drug lord's heavy hitter once. No sob story, no bad circumstances, just unwillingness to stay in the dirt he had came from for the rest of his life as his honest, hard working father had.
How has Piltover changed over the years.
Looking at the pace the rest of the city is developing in, Vi gives this neighborhood about ten years before serious effort is put into remaking landscape. Mostly because the older residents have to first allow it. And they won't.
The Enforcer steps over a pile of bricks that came from a hole punched out by an explosion, strange. If Jinx was aiming at her pursuers then someone must have either been in the building or she had missed by a rather noticeable margin. Come to think of it, the scrawny bluenette did seem out of sorts when they fought earlier. Eyes going in and out of focus all the time, swaying on her feet and suffering from minor shivers that at the time Vi took for adrenaline induced. And she did miss that energy shot she meant as a farewell.
Say what you will about Jinx but she's a spectacular shot. Hitting a freaking pigeon one hundred meters away with a minigun? That's impressive. Took a shitload of bullets but still impressive.
So her aim must be off, good. She won't lament about that. Vi wonders how many people will she actually be fighting against. Two plus at least one dead on the street and another four she found on her way here. At least seven dead. Probably eight or nine. There were three trucks that she saw and there must have been some people on scene that got here otherwise. So twelve from cars if they went for standard fours and she'd guess at least two pairs at the beginning and end of the street plus spotters who herded the criminal into the trap. Twenty or twenty two people at the very least. And at least eleven left. And that's only those she's sure of. Plus of course Jinx.
Great. Well, a shootout like this must have been called in by now and backup is surely on its way. In the meantime- she has to figure out if the guys pursuing the Loose Canon are on her side or not. A group of headhunters this big isn't exactly a common thing but as long as they would cooperate, she couldn't care less. Still, these are more likely mercenaries, fairly good ones at that but who would have hired them? Big timers have their own people and these guys do not wear any insignias as both mercs and gangsters tend to.
They might also be less than thrilled to even have her around. She has no issue with that option, she'd welcome it even. Some skull cracking is long overdue tonight.
Slowly, she approaches the entrance to the tenement courtyard, a gate that must normally be closed at night is now open, no sign of damage done to it. The woman glances at the rooftops to check their height, low enough for Jinx to manage a jump. So it's the place they intended to get Jinx into, seems the plan has worked. From the sound of it though, the maniac isn't making things easy for them.
She can see someone on the other end of the tunnel, she can't see him clearly as he's not standing directly in the light but he hasn't noticed her at all yet, all his attention focused on something on the other side. He's taking pot shots every now and again, nothing more than to gain attention for a moment before jumping back behind cover. A distraction tactic to let somebody else close in on the target's position. Basic. And effective with enough firepower. Given the hailstorm of bullets flying both ways through the open space behind the man she can see why would they decide on using it.
Vi raises her guard and enters the tunnel, wary of the man's intentions, only now does she notice a door beside which the guy stands, open indoors and he's apparently guarding it. She stops some two meters away from him as not to startle him into shooting outright before speaking up.
"Hey." He immediately whips around and aims at her but doesn't shoot. It wasn't a gamble on Vi's part, not really. She has her shields built in for a reason. Maybe he knows that, maybe he's just bright enough not to shoot everyone on sight. She still can't really see his features even this close. "What's up?"
"None of your business." he replies in a bit raspy voice, like he'd been smoking for a good chunk of his life. "Get outta here."
So it's gonna be the hard way eh?
"See buddy that's where you're wrong. You gonna tell me who you guys are or I'm gonna ram your face through a wall. How does that sound?"
They both stand still for a couple of seconds, neither intending to back down. The standoff is broken by a whirling sound of a firing RPG, the man flinches at that, suppressing his instinct to turn around and see which side is shooting. Vi wastes no time in jumping towards him, gauntlets at the ready. His attention snaps back to her quickly enough for him to take a couple of shots at her but nothing even remotely close to break through her shield. Vi punches the man straight in the gut with enough power to slam him into wall hard enough that he coughs up blood after falling to the ground, eh, he'll live. Some things broken, sure, but he did pull a gun on her.
She promptly grabs the dazed man by his jacket and drags him back a couple of steps to make sure nobody notices her arrival. She prefers the opportunity to question him undisturbed. His buddies may decide to rescue or finish him off so he doesn't blunder anything important. Who knows, she wants to question him so she needs to get to relative safety anyway.
She props him on the wall where there is the most light, pulls a pistol from a holster on his belt and throws it away to where he dropped the riffle when hit. Most would've called it a safety precaution but for Vi it's just making sure he won't pointlessly struggle. She was told on her psyche course that disarming an opponent will make him comply faster. Personally, she always liked simply beating people up to a point they can't resist any longer but she sort of had to tone it down a bit after joining The Force.
A bit.
She hopes the guy is a mercenary, they're generally easier to make talk, there is only so much silence that money can buy.
She crouches beside the heavily breathing man and jabs him in stomach with a single metal finger to gain his attention. He gasps in pain and coughs violently, without blood this time, good. Hopefully there isn't too much internal damage. When he finally manages to look at her she smiles cruelly.
"So. How about we talk now huh?" Oh she doesn't expect him to talk just yet, he might either genuinely have some bravado in him or just think she's a proper cop. Protocol and all, hah! Doesn't matter, she has yet to meet someone who won't talk in the end. He only needs some persuasion.
"Go fuck yourself." he groans out, yeah that's about the sort of thing Vi expected he'd say. Really, it's funny how he still think it's up to him what happens next. She none too gently grabs his left forearm and her smile morphs into a shit eating grin.
"You know, I'd really be careful about the next thing you say." She has always liked interrogating people, or maybe it's messing them up during it, same thing really.
The man looks at the gauntlet gripping his limb and tries to move, without much success, managing only to slide down the wall some centimeters, finding his legs hardly responding. He looks at Vi once again with a scowl painted on his face.
"You wouldn't." And he sounds so sure of it too! Oh this is gold.
The woman is only too happy to prove him wrong. She squeezes her fist just a little too strong than she had to in order to move the bones in his arm. She's making a point here after all!
Her victim lets out an incoherent scream as the insides of his forearm move into places they aren't meant to. The Enforcer lets him squirm in her grip for a moment before releasing him. She lets him calm down enough to know he can think over the pain and grabs his jaw to make him look at her.
"So how about it? You gonna be a good boy or do I seriously have to rip your arm off?" Figuratively, she won't do that, that would be permanent and that's where Cupcake's line is drawn.
She could though. She knows that for a fact.
The man looks like he's about to spit her in face before reigning himself in. Good, for him. He must have realized how stupid a thing that would be in his position, but still- like a petulant child he turns his head away, determined not to say anything. One more little push (or two) to break the ice and he should understand she's not bullshitting him about their talk. What to do, what to do... eh, Vi likes straightforward approach and that's how she'll deal with this sod.
The pinkette leans back, drawing his attention back to her and then smashes him in the stomach, not too powerful of a hit but enough for his body to jolt on its own and fall over. None of that, Vi grabs his head and forcefully pulls the man back to sitting position by it, only to press her other gauntlet against his stomach and slowly push it into it. Causing the guy in front of the Enforcer to writhe in pain, sputtering curses and half-formed words all the while. The woman eases the pressure a bit and after a moment, suddenly jabs again. She releases his head and puts her gauntlet over his chest, pushing him into wall, denying full breath.
She should really wrap this up.
Vi takes hold of his hand and with some effort pinches the man's pinky between her metal fingers.
"No, wait, stop. Stop!" he coughs out, struggling to breathe. Finally. He's not used to interrogation is he?
"Did I hear you say stop?" she asks with a nefarious smirk while slightly pulling at his finger.
"Yes. Stop. I- I'm not loosing my- my bones for this." Oh she wasn't going to crush it, just break it out of socket, well. Maybe it would snap but accidents happen right? She pinches the finger a bit tighter but doesn't otherwise threaten to damage it.
"Great!" the Enforcer says with cheer in her voice. She can't help herself, getting someone to cooperate never fails to make her happy. "So again. Who are you guys?"
"Z-Zaun compa- I can't breathe!" Oh, yeah right she should let him so he can talk. She tends to forget herself sometimes in situations like this and no matter how many times Vi reminds herself to not get overly excited she still tends to do exactly that. The man inhales deeply, earning a coughing fit for his effort.
"What company? She looks into his eyes, looking for hesitation.
"Companies. Two. We..." Oh for- He screams as his finger is bent out of the socket. His own fault. If he's going to blab then he should at least tell what he knows and not try to bull his way out. It's not hard to see him thinking of a lie in such a situation. A moment of clarity in the pain clouded eyes.
"Say again?" she encourages him.
"Black contract," he gasps "we were sent. Paid without contract." Vi scowls at the following pause, it's like he's trying to make it hard on himself. She grabs a hold of his ring finger.
"Paid by who, sent for what, why and your groups names." He swallows with some effort.
"Didn't say or-or they did but I don't know."
"You don't?" The woman deadpans, threateningly bending his finger the wrong way.
"Yes! I'm telling you!" Huh, he's not lying. Pity.
And what a pain too. It's either their leader who has that info or it's his higher ups in Zaun. Which wouldn't be surprising given how it's a black contract. Naturally, somebody must know, they don't seem like upstarts and you don't get far without following some fundamental rules. Only assassins don't need names but that's because only idiots cross them. Mercenary companies keep their clients in books.
And it probably won't matter since more than likely the payment was delivered by a proxy. You don't just send one of your own to hire mercs for an illegal op. Leaving a trail like that is a sure way to get killed by the competition.
Regardless of methods, what business does their contractor have with Jinx?
Both the Enforcer's and her captive's heads whip to the doorway the man had been guarding as an explosion goes off somewhere in the building, somewhere deeper in. When Vi is sure it's nothing to worry about right now she turns her attention back to the man in front of her.
"Go on."
"We're told to bring lunatic's, eh, Jinx's head to Zaun. I don't know why I don't ask stuff." Not that he'd be told. Literally bringing a head back... This is wrong, something's wrong. "I'm from Magpies and the others are Herrings." Herrings? Vi heard of them, a small private army for hire if one were to employ all their sections at once. They made a name for themselves in Ionia during the early days of war, though Vi would be surprised if people that partook in that conflict were still in action. They are long past their prime after all.
Jinx's head. Wait.
"Where did you start the chase?" Hesitation, he's thinking about his answer.
His teeth clench this time, stifling the cry when Vi breaks another of his fingers.
"Academy! We- academy!"
Oh this donger fucked piece of shit son of a bitch! It was them. Damn it! She should have figured that out earlier, Zaunite mercenaries in Piltover. The city's mafias haven't changed their stance. It wasn't any of them that ordered the massacre back at the university, it were these cunts here. She knew local gangs wouldn't act so erratic as to first let the maniac escape and then waste men and effort to kill her themselves. The big ones that could pull this off are not managed by idiots, they wouldn't still exist if that was the case.
The Enforcer growls out a string of curses, they're not doing much to calm her but it's probably the only reason why the mercenary pinned under her gauntlet still doesn't have his chest caved in under a resumed pressure from the woman.
A rocket whips through the yard in direction of the Loose Cannon's side. Vi flinches when the explosion reaches her ears.
Jinx's head. Great, some creep back in Zaun wants Jinx's head. It wouldn't be enough for him to simply kill her nooo he has to get her fucking head! Damn it! Twenty of her colleagues dead because someone can't just have the girl killed and be done with it.
Mercs aren't all that creative, not the regulars anyway. Headhunters, while ruthless, avoid killing anyone who's not their target if possible. Those guys though must have figured it'd be easier to get their precious head if they let its owner get out of campus and then deal with her themselves. Headhunters would just sneak into a mortuary and get their head like that but no. Lets let the terrorist loose and even then-no, whatever. They can die all they want in Vi's opinion but to do that they've slaughtered all those people. Rust damned freaks.
Well in that case if they wanna pick a bone with Piltover's Police, Vi is more than happy to ruin their fun. But first.
One little detail.
She picks the now slightly purple mercenary and drags him close to the edge of the tunnel they're in before lifting him up to his feet, she grabs his head again to hold him upright and snarls as she sees his wordless plea for mercy. He should have learned to keep his mouth shut. Or just lie better. This is gonna hurt though honestly, Vi doesn't see him feeling it nearly long enough.
She hits a switch in her gauntlet and punches him as hard ash she can right in the stomach, sending him flying onto courtyard and falling some ten meters away from Vi. The firing stills for a moment as the battered man's presence captures others mercenaries attention. May as well use that while they're disoriented.
She stands with her back to the wall opposite of where the man she beat up stood and takes a look at the whole courtyard, putting her guard up to shield herself from Jinx, as she's not hidden behind anything from the side where the terrorist is apparently pinned down. Beside courtyard, out of four wings, only one is lit, the one where the terrorist was herded into. The state of the fourth floor tells her that this must be where she is. The dust has yet to disperse and Vi can't see through it. She turns head to the other side and chances a peek at where the mercs are. Six riffles stick out from windows on the ground floor, three more on the second floor plus there are probably more she can't see. They're set up close to a staircase if her memory recalls the general layout of these old buildings correctly, they're all built the same. Must be they've sent people up to fourth floor and through the connected wing to trap Jinx in the wing opposite of them to more easily lay suppressive fire. Hm, no matter which side the pinkette would approach them from it would be a little too much of a challenge to take out at least six guns at once without armor. Oh if she were in full gear right now...
She is brought out of her musing by a familiar sound of a certain minigun, its running clearly heard in the silence that fell over the area. She throws herself back into cover, unnecessarily. Jinx's bullets are meant for the man that has only managed to get on his fours till now. Pointless. Even if he wouldn't be killed by the maniac, his internal wounds would have finished him off.
And good riddance.
Screw the consequences. Cait can kiss her ass if she'd expect her to let any of those bitches live once she gets her hands on them.
The officer comes closer to the edge once again, only close enough that she can see the area around where the RPG hit.
Must be real tight in there, Vi too had once chased her onto a fourth floor once, but before she found her, the nutcase had an idea of throwing a bed- sheets and all- down the balcony, and then a second mattress. By the time she found the right apartment (with the help of its temporarily evicted- very much naked residents) and caught up with her, all that remained to be seen was Jinx throwing herself off the balcony's edge after her weapons. Vi was so dumbfounded at the sight that she could only walk to the railing and observe the insane girl slowly get up from the mess she had made down on the street. Obviously, her bones did not take kindly to this sort of abuse, if the way she limped away was any indication, but She was still ready to throw an insult (or two) her way. Something about her "fat ass" splashing on the ground. She must admit it made her think how light (or rather how sickly underweight) Jinx must be to have pulled something like this off.
Anyway. That she won't do something like that again means that she's under serious pressure, enough so that she can't take her eyes off her enemies for long enough that she could escape.
Or maybe she just didn't think of it this time. Vi wouldn't put it past her.
Enough with it. If she's to wreck the Zaunites plan she either has to take them all out, which doesn't seem plausible, even if she still had the element of surprise that she lost by throwing that merc to his death. But she doesn't have to do that does she?
All she has to do, can do really. Is make sure they won't get what they came for. Get Jinx first and hold out long enough for the backup to arrive. They will deal with them then.
So. Taking out a couple of trained mercs that know she's here and coming for them, without her knowing their positions or equipment. Going in blindly like that is just the sort of plan Caitlyn keeps going on about against making.
Plan. Pft- yeah right.
She smiles menacingly, rolls her shoulders and dashes inside the building.
Jinx falls flat on her ass, thrown to the ground by a shock wave of the rocket explosion. It's really getting pretty annoying how those guys seem to have so much more ammo than herself. Just come on! She used her last rocket before getting pinned in this stupid hallway and They said she has to keep an eye on a staircase, lest she wants the game be over tonight. She doesn't so she planted a rigged grenade there. But They say she has to leave! What. It's like They didn't get the memo when she killed two of her tails before getting here and then like a hundred more inside the building. The party is in full swing now and she's not leaving just because somebody says she must. She needn't do zip!
Ugh! They're ruining it! Everything!
She tries to rub sand out of her eyes but it's not really working. Where did it come from the criminal can't say but it's sand alright. All grainy and hurting and making her want to gouge her own eyes out. But Coats said not to, they make her not when she doesn't listen, strap her down so she can't move for a couple of baths, is that long? And how long is long? A shiver goes through her body, they're more frequent now, or maybe more like constant and some are just stronger. She feels both cold and hot at the same time and she doesn't like it one bit.
The girl latches onto the remains of a windowsill and drags herself somewhat upright, stupid ringing. It makes her head swim and she can't hear a caustic thing over it. And stupid lousy leg! Between her dizziness and how she can't stand on her left leg the criminal is having trouble with moving. Ugh, where is Fish... that a new contender down there? He's looking somewhat down if one were to ask her but hey, nobody does. Ever. That's the problem with having a reputation like she does, everyone just EXPECTS you to do stuff certain way... Not that they're wrong, it's totally her thing to shoot stuff up. She'd be disappointed in herself if it wasn't. Like- like seeing sea for the first time and discovering it's not blue at all. She had always thought it would be blue, it wasn't.
"Stupid sea," she creaks out, peeved at how she can't really hear herself over the noise in her ears. Her throat feels as if made of sandpaper, she has to hit a store on the way home. Actually, scratch that. She will endure on water.
She quivers at the thought. Or maybe it's just her body being dumb again.
The maniac grabs a hold of Pow-Pow and pushers herself away from the window, struggling a bit as to not fall over, then steps towards a hole in the wall that her newest acquaintances just made. Alrighty then, lets get back to it!
As the dust from explosion clears up a tiny bit, she trains her sights on the man in the middle of the courtyard. Her hands, though sticky and clumsy, manage go through the motions automatically and she breaks out in a wide smile. The guy tries to stand up but is given no such chance by the girl's friend.
Well that's a let-down, Jinx glances at the place the fire was last coming from and blows her cheeks out in amusement. They're still there, freaking wallflowers. They've been sitting there forever.
What, are they shy? Oh this is priceless, fifty people on her tail and all they go for is a safe kill. That's just sad, there were less than ten here right when she got into the building that were nowhere near as boring and some even without weapons! Though they had a puppy with them so it is kind of granted. And she's not sure what was that cutie fed with but it tore through her boot like it wasn't there. Aw well. Stupid mutt is sniffing flowers from down under so she can deal. It was fun though, she has always known she can count on animals to try their best. Unlike those stinking losers out there.
Ugh, she's gotta teach them how to play.
Heh. Her. A teacher. Fishbones would think it an excellent idea... where is he anyway? She had him right- well he was with her a moment ago and she sure as a clock didn't let him go off alone. Hah! Like she would ever. He's stuck with her forever!
She stumbles back behind cover not caring for the bullets whizzing past her, she spares a moment to look at the cloud of dust coming through the doorway behind which she rigged some grenades so that- because-
She shivers and turns to a doorway on the other side of the hallway she's cooped up in.
"Fishbones?" she calls quietly, she thinks, her throat doesn't hurt. Not without effort she clears it and shouts. "Fishbones?!" Jinx puts a hand to her throat. Yeah she definitely shouted just now. Where in cogs did he go? She doesn't exactly NEED him seeing as she doesn't have rockets for him any longer but if he's being stupid for the sake of messing with her then he's gonna wish he never even thought of doing that. He's supposed to be here, with her and not somewh- oh, he's on her back. Good. For him.
"We need to get out of here." She can't really hear him but somehow knows exactly what he's saying. Oh, so she's worrying for him. Ripping her hair out and the first thing he does when she finds him is being a drag. She's so getting rid of him. One day. Jinx shrinks her minigun and pulls Zap from his holster before answering.
"Fishbones... you're such a bore sometimes." She finds herself smiling in spite of being annoyed at his attitude. And it is hilarious, really! So much fun to be had and all he wants to do is turn his tail and run. It's just so- Fishboney.
Heh, turn tail. Fish. She turns head to look at her friend.
"Hey Fishbones, don't turn your tail now." Her following giggle sounds more like coughing than anything else.
"...really?" Her smile quickly turns into a frown. Aww c'mon, that's hilarious!
"Whatever." She dejectedly murmurs under nose and turns away from him.
Jinx eyes a destroyed passage door with a degree of annoyance painted on her face. Some four guys broke it while trying to encircle her. And retreating into the apartments again is not much of an option now that she has no explosives on her. She didn't even drop one of them for good, only got some of them good enough that they aren't running marathons anywhere in the future, if they pull through. Not much left of their legs but the shreds splattered around. Her rocket went wide. Again. Actually... now that she thinks about it, maybe it's Fishbones' fault! She doesn't miss like that, just doesn't. She's a great shot, oh they're gonna have words once they get to their hideout.
First things first though.
She is sure the chickens are just waiting for her to try and step out of her little corner. The seven she sent packing must have gotten to their buddies by now. Well. This is gonna be fun. She wasn't in a spot like this since she left Zaun and it's exhilarating, a bit painful too yeah, and the constant shivers are slowly getting to her but eh, details.
Overall? What a night!
The maniac pushes herself away from the wall and supports her weight on her left leg, not able to stand on the right one for longer than a couple of seconds before the pain makes it unbearable. She swipes the unruly hair strands back and blows her fringe out of the way. All the excitement has made her hair a mess, more so than usual anyway and it keeps getting in her eyes.
A sound manages to pierce through the ringing in her ears. And only now does she realize that excluding the ringing, it got silent, that's the only reason she even takes notice of this new sound. Somewhere to her right.
A big chunk of concrete falls off the wall. She turns her head lazily and blinks as she sees the shattered remains of a bullet sticking out from the hole. Huh, yeah it's probably a good idea to move someplace less exposed. If this keeps up they're gonna roll out a freaking tank any second and that would be, well, awesome actually- but that's not the point! She's not losing, here nor ever. She survived her tangle with the Zaunite military, these jokers here are nowhere near their level and she's not going to insult her favourite soldiers back home by dying. Hah! Like it's even an option.
The maniac glances towards the ground as the falling piece of wall shatters into smaller chunks. The riffle must be strong enough to rip an arm off if it hit a shoulder at this range. Or pulverize half her guts, nasty. A smirk graces her lips at the thought. Sniper riffles are great and all but just not her thing, she has good aim- well most of the time anyway, but no patience to really have use for them. She experimented a lot in Zaun and her friends are the best she has ever met.
She rubs her slowly recovering ears and starts hobbling towards the battered doorway, making sure to drag herself under windows on the way, they have a sniper so it's a baaad idea to try and just jump from solid wall to another, she'd get her brain blown out for the effort. Not a great way to end the night, dumb, especially with her messed up leg, can't do it, no way. It would have been a fun game if she hasn't gotten her ankle messed up but well. She has. And it still hurts every time she crawls beneath windowsills, as do her palms and knees when she cuts them on the shattered window glass but beggars can't be choosers.
Jinx reaches the door and stops under a last working lamp when she hears a muffled noise. Alright, action! It is somewhat of a new experience to the girl, not being able to run during a fight as she would surely just trip over her slow leg. She broke an arm once but it hardly compares to the bother that a halfway working leg is. Sure, bitten ankle is not as much pain but that's not the point. She can't run! And that's kinda a thing she does like, all the time.
She puts right shoulder to the wall, bites her lip in pain as she readies Zap and grins when she's about to step from behind cover. The girl cranks her friend up to the maximum and jumps (trips really) from behind cover.
Huh. Nobody's there. But she can still hear-
Vi stumbles forward from the momentum her strike carries and she's about to raise her fists again when she notices.
Out like a light.
Vi can't help but think of how anti-climatic this is. After all the trouble she's been put through by the terrorist, she finally got her by surprise and without a fight. And she's fairly sure she wasn't all that quiet, nah no never mind. She was LOUD. Or her gauntlets were to be specific, she power charged half the distance and the girl still didn't notice.
And looking at her sprawled out body she has an idea why.
Nicks all over her body, must be from all the explosion debris, blood oozing from her ears, some of it dried so it's not all Vi's own doing. The Enforcer can't tell how bruised she is from under the dust and bloody filth smeared all over her skin, she's dirtier than at the campus even, though her punch just now will surely leave a giant bruise under all that. The scrapes on her elbows and knees look like they'll scar, there is glass stuck in her... everything- and what the fuck happened to her right leg?
She forces down the bile rising in her throat.
Strange, she imagined this very moment many times, how she would catch Jinx. Beat her to to a bloody pulp in a fight and then stand over her battered body. She imagined wiping that insufferable smirk that she damn near always wears off her face. Permanently. She imagined how good it would feel to stand over her defeated, defenseless nemesis and hold the mad girl's life in her hands just as she does now. And she had full intent of carrying her fantasies out. But now that she finally can... none of that seems so appealing anymore.
Maybe because of the sorry state she's already in. Vi doesn't have any qualms about kicking the lying but this? She looks... miserable is the only word she can come up with. The pinkette just feels- empty, no sense of victory, no joy taken from it. There is some relief deep inside her but the fact this is still not over doesn't let it truly surface. This whole night is one giant mess and it has yet to end. She can't really feel happy about getting the terrorist after everything that happened. Damn. Somehow, she always thought it would come to this one final chase, this one on one when she would have bested Jinx. Honestly? She feels robbed, of that and of the opportunity to mess her up herself.
Vi can't tell if she would go through with killing her, now that she looks at the scrawny, hurt body.
When she's in PCPD's custody it'll be at least a month before she hangs. Or maybe be seated in an electric chair, probably chair. With time for an official trial and all that garbage so that she cleans up and heals enough to look presentable for an open execution as to not cause pity with her looks. And that's what's coming, there is no way she can be offed silently like a simple murderer, no, there will be media, the key members of the administration, basically everybody who's somebody. And she can understand that, logically, it will be a big day for Piltover after all, gears. There may even be a holiday made out of it later on. It's messed up, she should die, yeah but making such a spectacle out of it is simply disgusting.
Regardless, it would be good to know why is her head worth so much effort on the Zaunite mercenaries' part. She's curious how big must the payment be for them to still go at it, traditionally, half the payment is upfront, a reasonable percent of it goes to the company itself and the rest is split between the participating mercs. Must be one giantic sum for them to fight for it like this. Maybe even big enough for the company to send another group for this assignment should the first one fail so that it doesn't have to give the payment back, along with taking a hit to its reputation. It's a worrying thought, something to share with Caitlyn later.
For now she needs to deal with those that are already in the city. She got three on her way up and she wasn't holding back, they're a bloody mess right now. There was a forth one but him Vi found already dead, missing a leg and lying under cracked stairs. Either a mine or grenade from the looks of it. One might call the Enforcer's methods violent but she doesn't care. She might have had some leniency for them had they not killed those twenty officers. Now? There is none left. And there isn't a reason to hold back either. The Sheriff might not like it but it's not like anyone will file a complaint or something. Black contract, they're not here, and besides they're Zaunites. Their laws and papers aren't worth a damn thing in Piltover.
She crouches next to Jinx and-
...fuck she forgot to take cuffs from the car. Ugh, she's so used to having all the stuff she needs in action on her and tends to forget about such nuances when out of "uniform". While she does have a proper PCPD outfit, Vi prefers wearing real armor into action, she can also attach a power pack to it to easier use her babies. It's not necessary but they are heavy and extended combat without it can be tiring. Shouldn't be a problem here though, It won't be longer than five minutes before backup shows up so she only has to worry about staying alive till then. She could try and escape though that probably wouldn't get her very far, not if she wants to deny the mercenaries their prize.
So staying here is the only option. She doesn't like the idea of risking her life for the maniac but if it means messing up those fuckers' plans then she's in.
She rips the two of Jinx's belts off her waist (and there are still two more left), then promptly ties the girl's hands behind her back and then does the same with legs. The officer glances at the long hallway and makes a decision, they have to move off this floor. It may give them some more time before she has to fight who know how many mercs at once, she's not that good on defense. With that in mind the woman picks Jinx up and throws her small frame over left shoulder, wrinkling her nose at the stench coming off of the bluette. She's about to leave for a lower floor when she realizes something.
The Loose Cannon's weapons lay on the ground, with the exception of the shrunken, pink minigun that is still hanging on its strap by the bluenette's side. The rocket launcher she can leave, it requires specific RPGs but the energy pistol?
A memory of writhing on the cold concrete flashes through Vi's mind.
No. No she's not leaving that here, gears, she can use it if she wants to. Though it would require taking off her gauntlets to pull the trigger so there is that. Whatever she does, she's not leaving this here for anyone to pick. The shark-like weapon she can abandon though. No point in carrying stuff she doesn't need to. She delicately picks the weapon up and after moment of consideration, sticks it in a pocket inside her jacket.
With that done, she holds her captive with one hand and after bracing herself, smashes through the floor. She's not using unchecked stairs after seeing the effects of someone doing just that a minute ago.
The woman falls on her right side with a painful grunt but manages not to let Jinx go, she quickly rises to her feet and looks around, the corner connecting two wings of the third floor looks precisely the same as the fourth's with an exception of it not being coated in blood and holes in the walls. The Zaunites shouldn't have seen her making it to the lower floor, heard maybe but she could have as well crashed through a wall. If she wants to remain unnoticed then she has to move and now. Going back to the lit wing isn't an option, she could crawl under windows if she left Jinx but she's not doing that. So she has to get into one of those apartments, both to buy time and force a close quarters fight. The bluenette must have stayed out in the hallways because it was the only way for her to fight. She can't use all her arsenal effectively inside flats. It's the same thing for Vi and open spaces. Enough firepower and she won't even get close to the shooters.
She moves her passenger a bit as her minigun was pinching her in the shoulder and briskly walks over to the second door. Looking out of the windows on her right for any signs of activity, she catches the last of riffles disappearing from the windows. Shit. She better move it before they start looking here.
Not wasting time, the Enforcer smashes the door open and barges inside, she quickly half-closes the ruined door behind herself and takes a look around. Small place, small kitchen and one room on the left plus a bathroom straight ahead, all connected by a narrow anteroom she's in right now. No clothes on a rack. Good, a civy here would be a a disaster waiting to happen.
She passes the kitchen and makes her way into the room, dropping her captive on a couch there. There's a balcony here if they really have to bail it, three floors fall is still a bone shattering one but it's better than death. She'd be sent to Ionia for healing and rehabilitation if she pulled through. While Piltover has made great strives in medicine, the technology, or even hextech that could recreate shattered kneecaps simply doesn't exist and Ionians are the best magical healers there are. Damn, still not a pleasant thought. Better avoid that outcome. She opens the balcony door nonetheless.
Her brain stops for a second when she hears a groan coming from the couch.
In the dim light cast by street lanterns she can see Jinx minutely moving, groggy and uncoordinated after just regaining some measure of consciousness. Wait.
The pinkette jumps over to the girl and quickly snaps the strap that the minigun is hanging on, then throws the weapon to the other side of the room. The maniac has an astounding capacity for escaping. Better not risk it, even if she doesn't look to be in a shape to do as much as stand straight right now. The cop walks over to the doorway and peeks outside, making sure nobody is sneaking up on them.
"Wha... Fathands?" She throws her captive an annoyed look, only after a moment realizing she probably can't see it all that well in the dark.
"Shut up, we're hiding."
"You- hi," she rasps out weakly and as expected, doesn't listen. "I'm gonna puke."
Ugh. The pinkette turns back to watching out for intruders, determined not to look as the sounds Jinx is making fill the silence, followed shortly by a putrid smell of vomit.
"Fishbones? Zap? Where are you?" Oh for...
"They're here," she lies smoothly to shut her up.
"Fishbones! Where are you?!" This fucking idiot.
In a couple of long strides she gets to Jinx's side and takes a folded blanket from under her head to rip out a sizable chunk of it.
"Oh hi, hey. Hey Vi- Vio- pft. Heh, no I- I ca-"She bursts into a fit of high pitched sounds, vaguely reminding Vi of scratching on something." Yo- your name!" What is probably her laugh is cut short when Vi shoves a piece of a blanket into the girl's mouth. It doesn't stop her from trying to speak but at least it's not loud now.
She goes back to the door- and comes face to barrel with a gun when she looks outside, instinct overtakes her without any thought and she throws a quick low punch, knocking the man half a step back. It's instantaneously followed by another punch to the off-balance mercenary's chest, knocking him into his companion behind. She fully steps out of the room and with a third punch, throws them both out of the flat, she squints her eyes when the light from the hallway hits her eyes and steps back into cover. They must have turned the lights back on in the whole building.
Her eyes widen when she hears a telltale click of a removed safety pin.
Without hesitation, Vi jumps to the couch and kicks it over, much to its resident's vocal, if muffled displeasure, and throws herself behind it, her landing "softened" by Jinx's boney body. It's entirely possible it hurts Vi more than if she fell on hard ground. The girl she has landed on looks somewhat green.
Maybe staying in a closed space wasn't such a good idea after all. Wait, are those sirens wailing in the distance?
Not a second after she takes cover, a grenade goes off in the room, the shock wave shattering all the windows and leaving the Enforcer grinding her teeth at the sudden ringing in her ears. But no time for that, she scrambles from the ground and punches the couch aside. She raises her guard while activating a shield on left gauntlet and moments after, the first mercenary steps through the now broken door, riffle raised.
Bullets impact the shield nearly right away and Vi wastes no time in closing the gap between them, a second man shows up in the doorway. She misses the first hit as her target jumps out of way and further inwards the room while the second one fires at the policewoman. He manages to break down her shield before she sweeps his weapon aside with the right gauntlet and hits a power switch inside her left one before punching him back to the anteroom with enough force that a closet he lands on shatters.
She whips around with her right arm raised to protect herself from the other guy and prepares to charge at him, only her shield is not up and the bullets dig into her baby's metal. Oh he's so dead.
Vi charges at the man but just as she's about to rework his insides, a bullet pierces through a weakened layer of her gauntlet and bits into her forearm.
With a shout, Vi lands her punch this time, sending her adversary right out the window, his scream is abruptly cut off after but a couple moments. She turns towards door once again and lets her right arm fall down to her side, although the pink-head tries, she can't raise it up again. Not with just under a dozen kilos of metal weighting it down. With a grunt of pain she flexes fingers inside and lets the gauntlet fall to the ground with a heavy thud. She glances at the wound.
"Aw fuck." It hasn't gone all the way through and gears can she feel it!
Still, she can move it without the additional weight and that's good. A bare fist punch is better than none. The noise outside is stronger now and she can definitely tell it's police sirens. Finally, only a moment longer before the night ends at last.
A movement catches her eye, the man she had punched through the doorway is being dragged away, she jogs to her defensive spot and peeks out of cover, only for a fraction of a second as what she sees are guns trained at her. And dongers, they're going to throw another grenade. Next time they go in she'll be overwhelmed and she can't charge at five people ready for her with just one gauntlet. Through a wall or door, no way she can get to them.
But she doesn't have to.
She whips out Jinx's shock gun and puts her trembling fingers on the handle. It better be as easy to aim with as it looks cause she only has one shot. The Enforcer presses her back to the door-frame and with some pain and effort raises both the gun and gauntlet up, one to act as a shield and second to be ready when the time is right.
Click.
She lunges from her spot and shields herself from the oncoming fire, at the same time training the maniac's weapon on the man with a grenade in hand. A pull of a finger later she jumps back to the ruined room without looking if she hit the mark. The resulting curses and shouts to run are enough to let her know that yes. The stupid gun is in fact as accurate as she has hoped it would be. How ironic.
A wave of compressed air passes over her as the dropped grenade explodes. Vi stands up and warily looks outside her little fortress.
A massacred body of the man she shot greets her eyes.
Vi can hear the police cars parking under the building, orders being shouted and boots hitting the ground. But nothing outside of the little apartment.
She lets the gun and her other fall to the ground and leans her back against wall, sighing tiredly. What a night.
Her thoughts are disturbed by a sound very much like choking coming from somewhere in the room, and looking at the source of it, she sees Jinx struggling not to suffocate on the piece of material in her mouth. Without much though, the officer walks over and tiredly sits beside the girl before taking the offending blanket shred out of her mouth.
The mad girl catches a couple of desperate breaths before she starts puking her guts out all over again.
Yeee, Vi goes in for the rescue bebeeeeeee! Avalanche style!
And Jinx. No, your jokes are just bad.
God damn! Finally done with this segment and fuck me. It was hard to write. I spent whole Christmas break finishing this up. And I had most of it done beforehand. This chapter, see, had great many crossroads on which a road had to be chosen. I finally know how the arc 1 of the story will end and how the 2 will start so I guess it was worth it. And I like it too, character development and all that shit right?
Also. 13. Thousand. Words. Why. Why do I do this to myself?
It took me four hours to revise this piece of work. And the entirety of it took me no less than 40 hours of writing and who knows how many more of hammering out plot.
I need help. Send help. Pls.
And yes. I fucking went there. Caitlyn now has a surname :D Revised on 17.01.2015