Have you ever been followed, Your Honor?
I don't mean like to the store by your wife.
I mean like followed home.
Watched as you sleep by eyes unknown to you.
Stalked relentlessly through life by death itself?
I'm not going to try and appeal to you or your system.
You're free make your own judicially empower choice.
I just want you to understand that the only way to escape me; like death...
Is to die.
~Celene on trial for war crimes.
Chapter 2
Ghosts.
8.8.23CLE
The tap of footsteps descending the theater's illuminated stairs escaped into the night as the double doors were thrown ajar. Jayce blinked startled. The pudgy from of the mayor rushed passed him as night air filled the theaters airlock. "WAIT! Ms. Vayne, Please reconsider." he huffed after her with some effort as she pulled Samantha behind her by her sleeve. The Nighthunter scowled behind her glasses. "Think of the future! Think of all the advances this money will fund."
Vayne pauses, now on the sidewalk. The clicks and flashes of camera's now pelting her and Samantha's persons. The Mayor slide to a halt behind her, his weight carried him an extra foot or so. Panting from fatly jogging after her he straightened himself up and removed his monocle. "Look I know you're not a resident of Piltover. But as a favor. Please allow his company for a week. Any expenses that Jayce himself cannot cover will be reimbursed with interested." he sniffed. "In other words we'll be paying you."
Vayne decided looking at him would be more respectful then she wished to be so she instead glared at the nearest camera man; whom withered. "Look, I have no need for money. My job is to protect those who cannot protect themselves, not whore myself out to some corporate exploitation of fame. What's the point of even sending him anyways?"
Jayce grinned. He had already been paid. This Vayne might just get him off the hook. The mayor groaned. "It's a requirement of the contract that he go, they're basically paying him to go."
"Just pick some other name." Vayne said flatly. She glanced at Samantha. "I told you this was a bad idea. You already got what you came for, we should have just left."
Samantha pulled her hood back and hissed. "Hey! I'm not going to just sit around in my home town because you hate fun." she crossed her arms. "I haven't seen my nerd in years; I say we bring him along."
"No."
"No? Vayne you're a bodyguard, not my boss. You're doing the Leagues business by escorting me, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy if you ditched me over something like this." Samantha growled.
"Are you threatening me?" Vayne asked flatly.
Samantha turned away from her, looking the mayor in the eyes. "Will there be cameras? We're on sensitive Institute business."
"No. It's a sponsorship, all that needs to happen be Jayce leaves for around a week, nothing more." Samantha looked over her shoulder at Vayne and scowled. A soul sucking sigh escaped the Nighthunter.
"Fine. Pack you're shit, we leave in ten minutes."
- - - 12.21.21
Jayce couldn't believe what had just happened. He knew that Zaunit couldn't be trusted. His head was a swirl of emotion. The mercury crystals, easily renewable energy; HIS work. What started with a simple but violent reaction over four months had turned into a prototype, a ground breaking one. Through some careful shaping of the crystals and harnessing Jayce had normalized the explosive energy output into a simple generator. Eight pyramid shaped crystals rigged into a rotating assembly. The flat base was exposed with the rest of the crystals seals in fluid tight holders. With a pair of electromagnets on each end the harness would spin when submerged in mercury. With the simple flip of a switch flaps would seal the crystals completely off and halt the reaction. It was simple but very effective at converting the uncontrolled energy release into a self-powering turbine. But none of that mattered now.
The fire alarm and whine of sirens filled his ears. His chest was pounding hard. A he didn't even knew the man. Viktor was rumored to be involved in the steam golem project. The power source wasn't just something that Piltover could use. Zaun, its less ethical counterpart could probably put self-generating energy to some horrible end. Jayce shook his head. The melters came to mind, the single use fuse canisters that had to be moved behind them. He could remember the newspaper article detailing ships full of them heading to Ionia all those years back. Viktor likely wasn't involved, from what Jayce had gathered he wanted the crystals for some experiments in trans-humanism.
"Room clear!" shouting could be heard from outside. Jayce groan, a pain in his chest announcing itself. He looked down, his front was covered in blood. Viktor had shot him in the chest with a handheld melter. A civilian sidearm really but he was beginning to feel light headed. I need medical attention... his brain drowsily told him. He wanted to go after him.
The thumping of boots could be heard. With a crash the door to the next lab over swung open. The metallic click of rounds being chambered echoed down the hall and there was a pause. "Room clear." the rattle of equipment pressing against the wall. With a bang the door to his lab flew open. The soldier in the doorway took a step back soldiers fanned into the room, covering every possible angle. The first to see him snapped his weapon downward, pointing it at Jayce's face. He made a hand signal. The man next to him holstered his weapon and with a quick step slid to Jayce's side. He knelt down. Jayce saw his lips move but heard nothing, come to think of it he couldn't hear the soldiers as they left the room, nor the fire. He was deaf. He blinked. My work. He lay his head back, staring at the ceiling. The military wouldn't do anything to recover it, it would be an act of war. But if the technology was adapted Piltover would be under serious military threat. Not all was lost. Viktor had set fire to his blueprints and stolen the crystals but he hadn't taken the original. The one that had burned him a year before.
The room began fading. He grinned, a plan formulating in his head. Science was about breaking boundaries, discovery. Once he was healed Jayce knew he would need to do something he'd never done before; hopefully he had enough time.
- - - 8.9.23 CLE
Jayce blinked. He couldn't sleep, not with the bumpy road thumping away at the carriage wheels. Not with the Institute of War looming less than a day away. Caitlyn had insisted on a police escort for their little group. Jayce being a Piltover VIP warranted this for reasons he didn't totally understand. Either way, a second horse drawn carriage was closely behinds there's along with three officers. Jayce blinked. With a grunt he pushed the folded up Mercury hammer along the carriage floor. It had tipped over and was cutting off blood flow to his left foot. He had a hard time not smiling when he looked at it. Even if it did create whole situation it was in. micro folding technology just made him happy. The whole hammer could fold up into roughly the size of a suitcase.
Vayne was a staring at him. He looked at her, awkwardness pungent in the carriage. He glanced at Samantha, wanting her to say something. She was sleeping. Shit Jayce sighed.
"So what brought you to Piltover?" he asked. A fake smile adorned his face.
"Its classified institute business." Vayne said.
Jayce glance out the window. It had been nighttime when they left, now it was pitch black. He leaned forward, pulled the Mercury hammer onto his lap and retorted. "Do the authorities know what your business is?"
Vayne peaked at him over the top of her glasses like an annoyed librarian but didn't replay. Jayce was unsure why he began his next topic. "You know. I heard you're a vigilantly. Hunting Evil doers In Demaica outside of the law."
Vayne glanced out the window and snorted. "The Law doesn't do what's right for the people, it doesn't understand the real threats. It's too enraptured in politics to protect its people."
"So you do it." Jayce interrupted.
Vayne shut her mouth, looking at him perplexed before replaying, "Yes." as curtly as she could.
"Can you define evildoers for me?" Jayce asked. Vayne gave him a look. The investigative look you're acting different. Maybe he was. Maybe he was just tired. Maybe Jayce just didn't seem appropriate here. This woman had shown no interest in his suave alter-ego. No interested when everyone else displayed extreme interest, it was fascinating.
She then did something that surprised him. She removed her glasses. Her eyes were striking blue but shallow. Dead pits of color. A blank emotionless stare punched through him, the wall behind him and out into the darkness. The glasses somewhat disguised this expression, the thousand yard stare. She looked at him for a few seconds before glancing at Samantha. "That... is a very difficult question." she blinked. "To define an evildoer you'd need to define evil. Evil is something that is considered subjective by most. Its ideals differing based on the culture you appeal it to. In some cultures it doesn't exist at all; in their eyes."
Jayce nodded to show he was listening. She didn't seem to care if he was and kept talking. "- to put it into words, Evil is an act at the extreme expense of others." She looked up staring him square in the eyes. "Everyone has done it at least once."
"So how do you tell if someone is an evildoer, it's just sounds like a value judgment." Jayce asked.
Vayne smirked at him coldly and looked down at her knees. "If I catch them." she looked at him again. Her eyes betraying an alarming amount about her character in those short seconds until she turned to look out the window. I see evil in everyone, and I dispose of it ruthlessly. It clicked. Jayce stared at her.
They were the same. Something had tipped him off before. Vayne had suppressed herself just like him; but for different reasons. She wasn't a person, she was something else. The shell of a human without everything quiet there. It was clear as day now that he thought about it. The way she moved, how she acted. Her actions, her temper, her eyes. She had buried herself to become something else. Jayce for a moment was overcome but acute fascination. The gears in his head turning over the new question. Vayne noticed he was staring now. He eyes narrowed as the two examined each other silently. "You know... I've done some vigilantism myself."
Vayne didn't say anything. Jayce cleared his throat and went on. "I met this scientist from Zaun in a cross state project. He was studying trans-humanism. He wanted to make people better using cybernetics. At the time I was working on the mercury project." Jayce motioned to the hammer. "We talked, shared some details and he wanted to join forces. But the more I talked to him the more uncomfortable I got. He was... fanatical. He talked about how cybernetics was the key to the next step of human evolution and he made some good points. But..."
"Viktor."
Jayce blinked. "...yes. You know him?"
"He's at the league."
"Fucking wonderful... he stole my work, I refused as politely as I could. I just didn't feel like what he was doing was... well... ethical and didn't want to be involved. The next day he walked into the building at the university where I worked and confronted me. He insisted and I said no. he shot me in the chest. I remember him grabbing me by my hair and spitting in my face You're what's wrong, you're what's in the way. He set fire to my lab, stole the crystals and took off. By the time the police arrived he was gone."
Vayne stared at him flatly for a long moment. He could see her brain working. "What did you do, how did you feel?"
"I was pissed. When I could move again I... well..." he looked at Samantha. "I built the rig for the mercury hammer. The Police and Piltover armed forces didn't listen to me, it would mean a war to reclaim my research, but I couldn't justify Zaun having access to it either; what with their involvement with Noxus and all. It could kill a lot of people. I designed the hammer specifically to pacify him, and I stole the original crystal from Samantha to power it... I got on a ship, tracked him down and we fought."
Jayce swallowed. "It got messy, he was just as passionate about his work as I am about mine. After it was done I doubted if I had done the right thing. I smashed his lab, shattered the crystals before fleeing the city limits." Jayce decided to stop.
"I wouldn't say that's the same type of Vigilantism. But I can understand your logic."
"If you don't mind me asking... what happened to you?" Jayce blinked, the words had jumped from his brain, onto his tongue and out before he could stop them.
Vayne narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Why... do you hunt evildoers like this? Haven't you ever wanted to be normal?" Jayce was surprised at himself.
Vayne let out a short laugh. "There is no such thing as normal. As for why, well." she smiled, not the cold smile from before but warmly. "That's none of your business." she then blinked, surprised with herself as well. Jayce pushed the smile off his face. He had touched her somehow. He opened his mouth to say more but quickly became distracted. The carriage was filled with a faint electric humming. Jayce blinked attempting to identify its source. He looked at the hammer at his feet. It was inactive like he thought.
Vayne felt her eyes narrow, her expression became hard again. She reached across the carriage onto Samantha's lap and pulled her back to herself. With a click the clasp was undone and the flap of the backpack flipped open. A white light jumped out past Samantha's belonging. Jayce blinked. "The fuck is that?" he muttered and moved so he could see into the bag. He peered, inside was a crystal, not like the ones he had worked with. It was larger, carved into a rectangle and milky white. Light escaped from it as it hummed softly. Jayce jumped as Vayne suddenly loaded her weapon. She opened the carriage door and leaned out. "Trouble" She called to the driver. "Pick it up!"
"HYAA!" the reins snapped and the carriage jolted enough to wake Samantha.
"Huh. What's wrong?" she asked tiredly.
"The air is fowl... and your experiment seems to agree with me." Vayne said calmly. She tossed the bag into Samantha's chest. The summoner fumbled with it startled before looking inside.
"Oh shit!" she whispered. Jayce looked at her confused.
Confused shouts came from the carriage behind them. Jayce looked from the summoner to Vayne. "What's going on, what is that?" neither answered him.
"See I told you they would follow you." Vayne said calmly.
"Well what the fuck do we do?!" Samantha retorted softly.
"Who's they?!" Jayce interjected. Both of them looked at him, suddenly remembering he was there.
"The policemen." Samantha gasped. She scrambled to the carriage door and pushed it open. The wind caught her hood and shoved it in her face as she leaned out, looking behind them. "RUN!" she shouted. Jayce felt the pricks of fear in his chest at the unknown situation. His body responding to the implied danger he knew nothing about. Vayne grabbed Samantha's cloak and pulled her back inside.
"Stay out of sight." she hissed before looking at Jayce coldly. Her eyes flicked to his hammer then back to him. It was then that he heard it. Something like a cross between a lion and a bear, howling into the night. Shouting came from the carriage behind them. Jayce pulled the hammer onto his lap.
"...what's following us...?" he asked weakly.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?" The sudden rattles of automatic gunfire echoed into the night behind them. Shouting turned to fearful screaming. Jayce stiffened at the sounds.
Vayne looked at him flatly. "Evildoers." she replied. Jayce swallowed, color leaving his face. Samantha was a ghost already. Vayne looked out the window. Then with one swift motion slipped from her seat onto the floor of the carriage, making herself as small as possible. Her hands shot up and pulled both Jayce and Samantha down with her. Jayce cocked an eyebrow but the situation was quickly made clear to him. A fleshy clawed hand tore through the back of the carriage with a swift motion it ripped forward and up through the roof. Blood splattered down onto the trio as the driver shrieked in pain and surprise.
The doors on the left side and half of the ceiling was pulled into the night by the hand. Jayce didn't get a good look at it but whatever it was it was keeping up with the carriage in full sprint as it ripped the driver off somewhere into the darkness. Vayne shot upright the second it was gone, she vaulted through the damaged wall and into the drivers position where she stood looking back on the scene behind them. Jayce wiped the blood from his face, grabbed the hammer and leaned out to see. The police carriage behind them twisted as one of the horses was tackled to the ground and mauled. The carriage overtook it and tipped onto its side. Spilling the men within out into the darkness. The remaining horse shook free of its harness and bolted. The orange glimmer of gunshots chased them down as the scene shrank away into the darkness. In the flutters of muzzle flash Jayce made out some odd shapes overtaking the remaining police whom where scattering. The gunshots subsided and moments later; as did the screaming. The brief quiet allowed Jayce to hear Samantha whimpering.
A lumbering shape was approaching behind them. Two red dots punch through the darkness. Jayce in those moment learned that his mind was very adept at giving the creature all manner of horrifying faces. The whine of a hextech motor cut through his thoughts. With a rapid array of twangs a stream of glinting silver bolts rocketed over his head into the lumbering creature. It howled so loud Jayce felt his eardrums shake, stumbled and fell over itself. Vayne lowered her weapon and turned. She sat and whipped the reins. The horses appeared to be running as fast as possible already.
"If they catch us we're dead." she said calmly. Jayce blinked, trying to force his mind to recover from the blue screen the sudden events had put him in. he clambered up next to Vayne. "Samantha stay low." he ordered. Once in the open air he pulled the level on the hammers handle. With a flurry of metallic clatters it unfolded into its six foot self. The reactor filled with an audible sucking and the whole device lit up blue. The whirling of the generator was somewhat comforting as he flipped the switch on the handle. More where coming. He could see shapes in the darkness behind them; pressuring. The hammer transformed, its weighted head splitting to allow the delicate machinery of its cannon components out.
"This is an ionic powder I'm going to spray over us." Jayce said loud enough for both Vayne and Samantha to hear him. "It's a catalyst for the hammer accelerator technology. With a puff, glistening white powder was sprayed from the hammers tip over the horses. He raised the weapon so the powder also landed on Vayne, himself and the damage carriage. "Okay brace yourselves." he pointed the weapon forward past Vayne's shoulder. With a trigger pull two bolts of blue light shot from it sides at odd angles. They flew for a moment before halting midair. In between them arc a faint blue light. Vayne recognized this from the Fields of Justice. With a crack of the reins she forced the horses onward through it. The world stretched briefly as the carriage shot off into the night. Jayce turned around to face the dark shapes. With another trigger pull a crackling ball of electricity rocketed from his weapon. It's hit the gate of light and accelerated erratically. With a flash of blue light and a crash it hit the shapes behind them and exploded. Jayce shielded his eyes. There was a silence.
Vayne looked over her shoulder as the carriage returned to its normal speed. "Lost them?" Jayce asked.
Vayne shook her head. Her eyes flicked off to her left. She gasped, jumping from her seat and diving onto her stomach. She grabbed Samantha by her hood and with surprising strength pulled the summoner onto her lap, bag and all. Jayce traced her gaze. A beast, fur less and covered in gray stretched skin slammed into the carriage. It toppled throwing its occupants off into the darkness. Jayce felt his head slap against the dirt. Stars flattered against the cloudy night sky. Vayne rolled perfectly onto her feet. With a rattle of bolts leaving her weapon the creature scream and reared back. Jayce shook his head and forced himself dazed onto his feet. He scooped up his weapon. Vayne dove to the right as the beast charged, reloading mid dive. Jayce had no idea what was happening as the woman managed to stay inches ahead of the creature. She fired another spray of bolts. It reared back again. Its skin appeared to be boiling. She howled, scratching at the bolts imbedded in its arm. With a crash it hit the ground face down.
More howling, punctuated by motor? The whine of a hextech motor was fast approaching, much bigger than the one Vayne had. "I think they're three of them. I've killed two." Vayne said calmly. Over the approaching vehicle he heard it, a rustle off to Vayne's left. He saw it before she did. The creature was smaller than to two before, but much faster. It dove out of the darkness, not at Jayce or Vayne but at Samantha. Vayne dove to the right so it didn't bisect her with hits outstretched claws. Jayce's body acted before his mind did. The switch was flipped and the cannon transformed mid swing into its blunt counterpart. With a metallic clang the head slapped the creature in the face. It tumbled backward over itself and landed on its feet. Jayce slipped into stance, trying to push the fear off his face as his thumping heart filled his ears. It buckled down and screamed at him. An unearthly sound, oddly human but also very inhuman. Jayce bit his lip. The third switch down was flipped. Bolts of crackling electricity jumped from the hammers handle to the ground, lighting small fires in the grass as he buckled down and shouted back at it. Vayne scoffed at him, raised her weapon and fired.
The creature jumped backward before to her surprise her crossbow jammed. "Shit." she muttered. The creature charged her. Jayce acted, he took two step, weights shifting up through the hammers handle to make the head as heavy as possible. He swung. The Creature brought its arms up. With a shattering crack of bone its arms buckled. The hammerhead slammed into its face and sent it flying backward into Vayne. Jayce bite his lip as the pair tumbled. It landed on top of her, though it took a second for it to regain its bearings and notice. Vayne didn't have time to glare. Its jaw split open into a mouth of alarming size for its eerily human features. The boom of a single gunshot caused Jayce to spin on his heel's the creatures rolled off her, a neat three inch hole through the side of its head; though it didn't seem to care. Caitlyn hopped out of the police car that had just skidded up, raised her rifle and fired again. The creature screamed at her as Vayne scrambled backward and upholstered the large crossbow on her back. Caitlyn cycled the weapon and fired a third time. The creature charged her, the sheriffs eyes widened as she noted her shots did nothing to stop it. Vi ducked past her. The creature tumbled backward again as she hit it with a swift uppercut that landed with a satisfying thump. The enforcer snarled and dove on it. Jayce just watched in shocked awe as the pink haired enforcer wrestled the creature into a full nelson.
"SHOT THE FUCKING THING VAYNE!" she shouted as it tore at the air in front of itself but was unable to escape her gauntlets. Vayne took two steps to her right and discharged the heavy crossbow such that it didn't punch through and hurt Vi. It howled and attempted to rip the bolt free "Oh no you don't ugly." Vi taunted, pushing it to the ground and pinning it. The creature thrashed for a moment as the area around the bolt of silver caught fire. Finally it lay still. Vayne reloaded her weapon, walked up to it and fired again for good measure. The Nighthunter looked up, lowering her weapon.
Caitlyn looked at her expressionlessly. "Was that the last one?" Vayne nodded. "Where are my officers?"
"Dead." Vayne said flatly. Caitlyn tilted her head. She stepped forward, past Vi whom looked ready to explode. The sheriff paused in front of Vayne.
"Dead?" she repeated, her accent strongly showing itself. Jayce felt his expression fall off as the sheriff grabbed Vayne by the collar and picked her up, stepped forward and slammed her into a tree. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!? I JUST LOST THREE GOOD MEN WITH FAMILIES, AND FOR WHAT!?" Caitlyn shouted, Vayne looked just as surprised as Jayce and Vi were. "WHAT THE FUCK IS FOLLOWING YOU!?"
"I told you we had been followed." Vayne said calmly. "I told you sending them wouldn't matter."
"YOU DIDNT TELL ME THAT WHAT WAS FOLLOWING YOU WERENT HUMAN! OR THAT OUR WEAPONS WOULD DO NOTHING TO THEM!" Caitlyn shouted, her face was turning purple. She sucked in a breath. "All you said was that you had to recover an artifact for a League." she set the woman down, composing herself.
"It's a keening stone, used it summoning portals to other worlds." Samantha interjected. "As we've seen the League isn't the only thing that wants it."
"Why the fuck was something like that in Piltover?" Vi asked.
Caitlyn groaned. "Fucking Ezreal I bet."
"What now?" Jayce asked, somewhat stupidly, everyone looked at him.
"Get to the Institute, We'll drive you." Caitlyn said. "I expect them to share their files with us."
"These things aren't going to be around the City are they?" Vi asked
Vayne shook her head. "No, they'll be where the crystal is. You might want to supply yourselves with some silver bullets just encase." the whine of Siren was fast approaching.
"Vi can you drive?" Caitlyn asked, jogging to the police car. She scooped up the radio as everyone else followed at varying speeds. Jayce shook his head, wrapping his mind around how drastically his night had just changed. With a rev of the engine they were off. Jayce admittedly was intrigued, motor vehicles were something unique to the Piltover police and military, nowhere else in the world had them. It still wasn't enough to distract him from the shocking ordeal. Either way, he know in the back of his mind that what had started as a simple sponsorship was now much more complex.