Thank you to Sam-Spirit-Of-The-Forest for your review again! ^_^ As his request, I will not do the back and forth script way of talking for the characters anymore. I did not like it either, but I did not know how to write a descriptive talk between two women in a small box with hardly any room to move and a short ride up. Please leave me a review if you like the chapter, let me know what you liked about it, I always look forward to seeing a new review. Even if it is just "Keep it up". Enjoy your read!
The two of them, the Enforcer and Defender, continued to drive as the story of Vi's origins into Piltover came to an end. Jayce spoke up. "Well that was quite a story, a lot of emphasis on the sheer brutality of it I might add.." Vi chuckled, "You know me. Sometimes I love destruction more than Jinx. I just don't give into my urge to wreck as much as she does, or to the extent she does. Sometimes squeezing a can with my bare hands into a flat piece is good enough."
Jayce chuckled, "That's..a weird complex." Or fetish.., he thought. Vi responded, "Yea, well, we all have something to wind down with. I have my can crushing, Cupcake has her hat and rifle, you have your hammer and your egotistical and superiority complex.." Jayce interrupted her, "It is not my fault most of the Houses in our city are full of idiots. They like to think they're so high and mighty, but they are so brain dead and act like simpletons with their creations that it is baffling to me. So yea, I look down on them. I know I am smarter than those morons who just live it off of the House name. You're not much better than them either-." Jayce's eyes went wide and he quickly brought his hand to his mouth.
Vi burst out laughing, "EVERY time you get going on this, you end up insulting whoever brought it up. Damn, I remember when you did that shit to Caitlyn and she kicked you so hard in the ankle you couldn't walk right for the whole work week. People called you the LIMPER OF TOMORROW!" Vi kept laughing out loud, to the point her voice was high pitch and girly instead of the hoarse and low laugh she usually does. That is how you knew she was REALLY enjoying herself. Jayce got red in the face, either from embarrassment or anger.
"Yes, well. Anyway, we're pulling..up to the spot here." Jayce quickly remembering the whole reason for the drive out here, and getting incredibly nervous and anxious now. They had turned off the road and , after about a mile drive, into a lightly wooded area that had a dirt road. It was mainly used for hiking, at least that is what people wanted you to believe. It was really a common intersection for trafficking of all kinds; drugs, hextech, money drops. Jayce, through all his research and paperwork and tracking of Viktor's trails, knew the ins and outs and schedules of such transactions. He knew there was no major ones taking place today, and if an incident were to happen where...well there was a crater and trees thrown about like twigs..nobody would question it more than just a transaction gone wrong. Nobody kept tabs on this area anyway because it laid outside any cities jurisdiction and it would be a waste and risk of resources and manpower to monitor it. It was safer and easier to just track it coming into the city and stopping it there. Today, it was going to serve its intended purpose for one more transaction. One of trust. And possibly a few thrown punches…
After they had parked the car, they both got out and Jayce surveyed the area. It was off the main road enough to not be able to see from either side, but open enough to where if you so happen to come onto the dirty road to get here, you would see someone here from half a mile away and have time to turn around and immediately leave so you did not stumble into something you should not have or did not want too. Vi had already gotten her gauntlets from the back of the car, and primed her blast shield. She walked over and stood next to Jayce, and looked around. "Ok, so..where's this weapon. Underground?" She walked over to one of the trees and knocked on it with a gauntlet, visibly shaking the tree. The trees were no more than 2 feet thick, but easily 12 feet high and heavily wooded. Also helped with not being seen from the sky. Unfortunately, there was a woman expertised in tracking who basically used this area as her personal hunting on off days when she was bored and felt like doing some overtime, closing in on them. "Is it one of the trees? Because honestly, I've seen the little bitch use an empty bag of chips as one of her bombs before, so I'd believe anything at this point.."
Jayce spoke up, "Uh, no. Actually, there is no weapon out here." Vi turned around and gave a small smile. "Uh, what do you mean there is no weapon out here." Jayce responded, "It is about Jinx." Vi turned full attention, and leaned against a tree. Smile now gone from her face, replaced with a dead glare, her toned changed a much more sinister one. Jayce was not sure if this was because the thought of Jinx did this to her, or she was targeting it at him…"There is something about her I don't think you have noticed yet. She's-" The Defender was not able to finish his statement as a bullet whizzed past his injured her, in the exact spot where it was shot before, re-injuring it and blowing the bandage right off. Jayce fell forward and got down to both his knees, yelling out a cuss word in pain as he picked the bandage off the forest floor, brushing it off as best as he could,and holding it to his ear. He did not even bother turning around because he already knew the cause of it. When he looked up, Vi had raised her gauntlets to shield her face and body at once, but the bullet never went near her. It had hit the tree she was leaning on.
"What the FUCK was that?!" Vi inquired. Jayce sighed and replied with gritted teeth, "That was Caitlyn." Vi gave a confused look, "Why the fuck is she firing on us, and she hit you in the ear again too!? The hell.." She walked forward, past Jayce, and stood between him and the bullet's direction. She knew Caitlyn could see her somehow, even though the road twisted and winded around trees, she knew Caitlyn was somewhere far back, and had found an angle she could fire between the trees from. Vi raised her hands and waved them back and forth. She knew if it was Cupcake, she'd be fine. If not..well she opened herself up wide for a fatal shot. A shot rang out, and Vi trusted it was her, and stood still. Jayce covered his head on instinct of the sound of the shot.
"The hell are you doing, get down Vi, she has lost it." Vi chuckled, "Nah, she was just giving me the OK signal." Jayce raised his head and turned to look at her, still on his knees. Vi turned and showed her right gauntlet to him. The shot had impacted the palm of her gauntlet, leaving a gunpowder mark, but no damage. "When she uses a powder round, and hits my gauntlet, that's the sign it's her. Otherwise, anyone else would have just shot me dead." This was one of those times Jayce deeply questions why he ever decided not to be alone, because people like this were dangerous for his health, and was impossible to understand. "What the fuck, why wouldn't you guys just use a whistle or a flare shot or something?!" Vi gave him a cheeky smile, "Because this is more fun for me." Jayce sat there for a moment and recollected his thoughts.
"Sounds like someone else we know, don't we?" He said with a simple realization, but saying it low under his breath. "Huh, what'd you say Jayce?" Jayce got to his feet, still holding the bandage to his ear. The shot had gone through the exact hole it made before, but it was a smaller round. What hurt was the bandage being ripped off by the force and the sheer heat of the bullet as it whizzed by. Caitlyn was a deadly accurate sniper, and this only reminded him of that. "Nothing, but it seems you were right, here she comes around the bend." Jayce pointed past her. They both saw it now, a car coming around, and quickly parking down the road. The Sheriff got out, her rifle still held. As she walked up, she stared past the Enforcer, and looked dead into the Defender's eyes with a look of calm anger. She recocked her rifle, letting the round she fired expel from the chamber as she looked dead into his eyes, just to bury the message deeper into his brain. Vi put a smile on her face, but also raised an eyebrow..
"Cupcake! Nice to..see you out here, I guess. I did not know all three of us were coming out this way, but I guess Jayce told you the same malarkey he told me about a weapon out here." Caitlyn's expression changed to one of slight surprise. "Wait..so you're not mad?" Vi responded, "Mad? Why would I be mad, I don't know why we're out here still dammit. You shot Jayce for some reason before he finished his sentence.." Caitlyn gave a visible sigh, I made it in time.
It was Vi's turn to get serious, "Enough of this. We drove all this way, for what? Something I would be mad over? Well I'm starting to get pretty fucking annoyed right now. Why the hell are we out here.." She turned to Jayce. "What the hell changed about Jinx now, you were talking about?" Jayce looked at the Sheriff, then back to Vi. Vi noticed this. Vi noticed a lot when she was interrogating. Every facial flinch, every twitch of the eyes or muscles. From her time in Zaun, she knew sometimes brute force would not be enough. She had to learn how to interrogate, even if it was with vocal threats. She had to learn the slight differences between someone telling the truth with confidence or fear, or someone lying with doubt in their voice and face that the lie would work. Anyone who lied with confidence was a curveball for her, but usually she fact checked beforehand and knew they were lying. This helped her figure out when something was not right with how someone spoke to her. She was not a pro at it, but she could easily tell with the ones she was closest with, friends or not.
"Hey, Jayce, you look at me, not her!" Caitlyn spoke up, "Vi that is enough, we're leaving-" Vi turned and pointed a gauntlet finger at her, "With all due respect Cupcake, shut up. He dragged me out here telling me something about Jinx, now I'm learning that was a lie, you FIRING on us.." Vi was getting visibly and audibly angrier by the second. "So I want some goddamn answers of what my so called partners that I am supposed to trust with my life, who I willingly turn my back too and leave myself OPEN too." Vi raised her shot gauntlet with the gunpowder mark to the Sheriff, showing her. The Enforcer put it down and gritted her teeth, looking away from the both of them, and giving a slight chuckle. "Or I'm gonna say forget the both of you, and find out MYSELF!" She raised a gauntlet, not even charging it,and smashed it into the tree, completely splintering the impact zone and sending the tree tumbling to the ground.
Jayce used this chance to look at Caitlyn, who also turned and looked at him. A silent agreement was made. Jayce had to agree with Caitlyn, or else this would not end well for either of them. Vi might honestly become so enraged, she would even attack her Cupcake in a fit of of a blind tantrum. Vi was scary when mad, terrifying when pissed off, and catastrophic when enraged. It was like a child's temper tantrum really, but which much more blind fury and destroyed structures. Jayce spoke up, it was the only playing card he could think of, the sight of Vi destroying the tree giving him the plan. "What you just did is why we're out here, actually!" Every synpase in his brain was firing off, doing his best to even convince himself of what he was going to say so Vi could not tell he was lying. Caitlyn knew how to prevent this as well, in a much better way than Jayce stressing himself out.
Vi turned, "What?" Caitlyn responded, "Something did change about Jinx, her methods of getting her hextech and ammunition." Jayce responded, "Recently she has run out of ammunition, and is having a hard time simply making her own. Whatever supply she came into Piltover with, has dried up, or is starting too. During my paperwork of Viktor's shipments, I have noticed other shipments of explosives and military grade rounds being found more and more in Zaun and Piltover." Caitlyn responded, "We believed the only way she could be procuring so much in such a little amount of time is by using this well known trafficking location. It is quick, efficient, and well respected by the criminal underground to where nobody who knows a transaction is going down here, interrupts it."
Jayce caught on to what Caitlyn was doing by adding onto his story. Vi can read the face of someone she is interrogating very well, and figure out holes in stories and when they suddenly seem to shift their eyes or movements. Everyone has a tell. Vi's problem is that she usually tunnel visions in almost everything she does. Even out in the field, Vi focuses on one thing, and keeps at it until it's done, or Caitlyn directly stops her. It is why she goes so far with Jinx, she does not stop until Caitlyn eventually catches up and convinces her to stop the chase. Interrogation was no different, she studies every inch of the person as they speak, whether that be across a table from her, or against a wall in her metal fingers. Caitlyn knew the way to stop it, was too keep her attention diverted. As the two came up with a fake story on the spot, Vi turned her gaze to Jayce and Caitlyn each time they spoke, Caitlyn was banking on the chance that this did not give Vi enough time to read Jayce and accuse him of lying still. With anyone else, Vi would continue staring at Jayce, but as before, with Caitlyn there, Vi turns her attention to her Sheriff, her Cupcake, when she spoke after Jayce. Caitlyn could easily keep a serious face on, no matter what. This made it almost impossible for Vi to read her, and Vi trusted her enough to where she would not have too. This is what made it hurt for Caitlyn to have to lie to her Enforcer about something so serious to her. It was for the safety of one of her own, someone she considers a friend even. Caitlyn decided to wrap the story up.
"All 3 of us know about this area, and ignored it for too long. If Jinx has used it before, if she ever gets out, she'll use it again. We can stop her supply her supply here possibly. So..think of it as a vacation day, Vi." She said with a smile. Vi kept her gaze on Caitlyn, but her gaze softened. She believed Caitlyn immediately. Caitlyn couldn't keep the gaze with those trusting eyes, and simply turned to a tree, and placed her hand on it. "We're going to level this place."
Vi's eyes went wide with excitement and a childlike smile grew on her face. Jayce's eyes calmed, and he let out a sigh and sat back down on his rear. " REALLY? FUCKING SWEET. Been wanting to FLATTEN this place ever since I saw it!" Vi let her gauntlets hum to life, slowly but steadily increasing the hum till the bolts on the knuckles glowed red hot. Caitlyn looked at the Defender, "On your feet, Defender, you're going to help. Slap that bandage back on, and go get your hammer from the car, and get to work." Jayce looked at her in disbelief, but accepted that Caitlyn just dug him out of the grave he dug for himself. Jayce wanted to tell Vi the truth more than anything; to reach out further to someone who considered him a close acquaintance, even a friend perhaps. The feeling he had once with someone else, that he recently has grown to want again after the fear of being alone haunted him at night after the events with Viktor. He knew he was hard to work with, arrogant, cocky, belittled people constantly. He was trying his best with those who could tolerate him long enough. So far, it has only been with those in Piltover. A group of people, smart in their own right, a smart that Jayce could not match, and respected them for it.
A tracking master like Caitlyn, a fearless loyal bruiser and companion like Vi, yordles who chose to make the most of their brains and put them to great use like Heimer, and he supposed Ziggs since he knows Ziggs can make more than just bombs. Though most of his other inventions catches fire or includes a way to self destruct it for some...odd reason...A famous and life risking explorer like Ezreal was someone he respected too. And a few more. These were people Jayce respected because they excelled in an area that he could not compete with. Out of respect for Caitlyn, he will stay quiet for as long as he can to Vi about Jinx until they figure out what to do, and how to tell her. Vi's emotions were unstable a lot of the time. She could be destructive while being mad, happy, probably even sad though they've never seen her that way. His thoughts were interrupted by a disgustingly loud BOOM, and looked to see that Vi had launched herself into the trees with a fully charged gauntlet, leveling a dozen trees instantly with the sheer force of the trees taking each other out on impact. Vi caught her momentum, stopped, and quickly heel turned and swung her other arm into a tree next to her, ripping it straight from the ground and sending it away. She was like a kid in a candy store. Jayce got up, and went to get his hammer.
This is going to cost us about two hours of work and more for the ride home. Hopefully everyone else can handle until we get back. Leveling this place is going to cause anger in the underground, and they might start to try and directly do business in the city, or in Zaun below. This was starting to be a boring month anyway.., thought the Sheriff. She watched Jayce and Vi level a good five acres of land before she stopped them. IF anything, this did help keep surveillance of this place from the sky now. She stopped the two of them, Vi walking back over with a pep in her step, and Jayce tiringly throwing his hammer over his shoulder and huffing over, easily out of breath and patience.
"Explain to me why you were here again, Cupcake? Could have just told me over the radio or Jayce that we were gonna do this." Caitlyn pointed to the tree that Vi was leaning on earlier, the one that caught her first bullet earlier. She then directed her finger downward to the ground where they could notice something laying there, twitching. It was a centipede, but a huge one. About two feet long, it could easily wrap itself around the tree and nobody would notice. It blended in with the trees, having a body of brown and dark green. "They are indigenous to the forest here. A lot of transactions that come here usually make sure to spray the trees around them with a pesticide to not worry about them. Caitlyn raised her rifle precariously into a hip firing position. Vi did not think much of it and continued her questioning, "And? What threat do they p-" The centipede squealed to life and launched itself at Vi's ankle. It was quickly shot again, and again, and again, and finally a fourth time. Vi had lunged herself away from it the moment she heard the squeal, but was not fast enough. It would have caught her, and tore a chunk into Vi's ankle before trying to burrow into the wound. "They like to make a home out of creatures it gets a hold of. And they like to be very aggressive about it." The centipede was visibly dead, blown into bits and pieces, especially the head. Caitlyn made sure to destroy the head. Never know with these damn exotic bugs outside the city.
Vi responded, "Holy fuck." She realized she was holding onto something, and turned to see herself cowering next to Jayce, who was straining to hold himself up at Vi trying to pull her down to use as a shield. She got up, embarrassed and turned to say something, but Jayce was a step ahead. "Yea, I get it, don't say a word, or I'm mince meat. I'm going home now to attempt to sleep on my good side.." With that, they all started the journey home. Unfortunately, the city had other plans. They would not get the chance to sleep.