Sorry for long delay, this is just a short chapter to build up. One of the key moments, the key battles of the story is coming up soon. I've been having car problems, transitioning jobs, personal issues with friends and family, so I've been in no mood to try and write myself out of a corner I realized I wrote myself into. So if you go "Wait, what happened with-" as you read this, don't worry, I have a workaround. Might not make sense to some, or seem like "shoehorning" to others, it is better than having a big ass plot hole in the story. I usually think about the moments between all the huge action and emotional parts, as I"m writing it. So it's improvised from my head directly to the page as I'm writing. Leave me a review to tell me about how you liked the chapter and how you're feeling about upcoming events, and any theories you have about what might happen ;)
The ride back to Piltover was a relaxing one. Vi drove with Jayce, who was too tired to drive himself, with Caitlyn close behind them, watching them like a hawk. Jayce had already fallen asleep in the passenger side. Vi had turned the radio on lightly, and adjusted it to only come out from her side of the vehicle, as not to disturb Jayce's sleep. Caitlyn was slowly starting to get anxious herself while driving.
Vi is going to go back and notice Jinx is free without blowing up the cell. First thing she will do is blame Heimer and Ezreal, harshly. Then Heimer will show her backups of the security footage that I request he keeps in a sever of his own security just in case the Wardens' dedicated servers goes down. Or if someone erases footage from a hack attempt. Ezreal does not know that Jinx has been let free either, although I'm sure Heimer has already been watching the cameras since my departure. At least he knows to talk to me about this in private before telling anyone else, so I'll contact him immediately when I g-, Caitlyn's thoughts were cut short, as her mobile device started ringing. The specific tone it rang indicated that Heimer was calling. Speak of the Gray, I guess I can handle this now then.
Caitlyn accepted the call, "Yes, you've reached Sheriff Caitlyn, state your business." An explosion was heard from the other end, and Caitlyn panicked immediately. "Hello?! Heimer?! Are you there, what was that?!" The quality of the call was shaky, like someone was trying to intercept or cut it off, but Heimer always has a backup. Jayce and he were the cyber security of the City, nothing happened through logs of any kind without those two knowing.
"Sheriff?! Oh dear, yes. Hello?!" Heimer sounded frantic. "Something is terribly amiss here, your precinct is under siege at the moment I am afraid to say!" The Sheriff could only stutter a response, "W-, uh, t-the hell do you mean 'under siege', Heimer?!" Heimer continued, "My apologies Sheriff, let me be more clear. There are a group of simple minded individuals that are part of a criminal organization currently bombarding Piltover's 7th precinct of public police officials with some sort of incendiary devices. Primitive in nature, I suspect simple molotovs and improvised explosive devices of a low grade quality!"
Heimer spoke in big terms and phrases. It was in his nature, telling him to say it simpler just made him use more words and phrases, albeit being simpler to understand. Caitlyn got right to the point, "Where is Ezreal? Is Jinx among them? What are they after? Are my subordinates ok?!" Heimer responded, "Oh yes, no worries Sheriff. The other public officials have already left the building and are currently trying to fend off the attack from the other side of the parking lot. Jinx is not among them, tho I did see on the security footage...Well, I saw, and I assume you have already taken appropriate measures and punishment for the Defender and will keep it a secret between the three of us until you have told the Enforcer. Ezreal is currently on the roof tops nearby, scouting the situation. That phase shift of his comes in handy I might say. I wonder if I can reverse engineer that glove now that I think about it.."
"HEIMERDINGER, FOCUS PLEASE. WHAT ARE THEY AFTER?!" Heimer sputtered, "MY APOLOGIES SHERIFF! I do not know. They first blew out the back of all the cells, so I surmise that they were trying to break Jinx out!" Caitlyn gritted her teeth, She was planning on breaking out anyway! At least something good came out of this, we can blame these criminals trying to have their five minutes in the spotlight with me and Vi gone, on Jinx escaping. That amount of anger from Vi should get this siege stomped in a few minutes."
What Heimer said next made this theory of hers much less believable. "I sent images of what we could recover from the explosions in the cells before the assailants frontal assault to Ziggs. He says the degree of damage and charred substances in each cell is not safe enough for a prison break. They purposely made the cells a confined execution chamber; my new theory is that they were trying to kill The Loose Cannon, not save her!" Caitlyn responded, "That is not something new, although that is troubling. Jinx has made many enemies in the criminal underground, but none of them have been stupid enough to attack her directly after the last few groups who originally had the same idea when she first arrived." A thought took over Caitlyn's mind for just a moment as she remembered back then, It was the first time the public has scene a truly gory crime scene in this city since I even dipped a toe into law enforcement, the day the city become deeply afraid of what Jinx would do if they tried to fight against her…
Caitlyn returned to the conversation, "Are they stationed behind other vehicles?" Heimer responded, "Yes, indeed they are. They ceased the assault on the building and are now focusing on the public officials." Caitlyn's eyes went wide, and annoyance filled her throat, "Damn them, attacking my people. Heimer, you and Ziggs have my permission to do whatever it takes to contain the damage until I am back. Let Ezreal know to keep an eye up there, if they try to run, let them,and have your drones and Ezreal track them back, understood?"...Silence from the other end. "Heimer?!"..."HEIMER?!"...The device crackled back, "Yes, I'm sorry Sheriff. I heard you, but we have another...interesting development now. There's a little girl here asking for you." Caitlyn yelled at the top of her lungs, "WHY THE HELL DID YOU LET A LITTLE GIRL THAT CLOSE, GET HER AWAY FROM THERE!" Heimer could not respond as the device was taken from him by the girl, and she responded into it..
"Caitlyn! Caitlyn, it's me, Lass!" Caitlyn was taken aghast for a moment, "Lass? What are you doing there sweetie, it's not safe, you need to leave that area immediately, go back to your, uh, family, and wait!" Lass giggled from the other end, "No, I don't want too. I'm fine! Really! I want to help, my family wants to help!" The Sheriff responded, "What?! How?! Just..please stay out of it, we have it under control, I do not want civilians involved in this, I want you to be safe, these men are dangerous and have…" She tried to think of a way to make it sound how a child would find it scary, "...big boomy booms...and you could get caught in one!"
Caitlyn heard a laugh from the other end, but it was not Lass. It was not Heimer either, it was the sound of a young male. One that sounded familiar, but Caitlyn could not remember clearly. "Big..boomy..booms? Really Sheriff? Good Gray, is that what you people say up here? AT least you are all good for a laugh most of the time!" Caitlyn's voice got stern, "Who is this?" The voice responded, "Someone who has a grudge against you, against your whole city, but only the ones who deserve it. For now, I am your savior. Not a smart idea to leave your city for so long and have...a yordle, a guy who's only useful with one hand, and a bunch of inexperienced cops take charge of security. What kind of Sheriff does that? Not the one I've heard so much about, that's for sure.." Caitlyn felt anger rising inside of her, "You bloody twit, make some fucking sense!"
The voice responded, "Do not worry, I didn't take all the fun. I know about Jinx, I know about what you did out there, and I know about what your plans are for everything. I approve of them, and I remember back at the hospital when you mistook our signal for a sniper, and immediately shielded Lass as you pulled her to safety. You are not like the other Pilties in this city, you seem to give a damn about the little people. So when you arrive, you will find everything handed to you on a silver platter. Everybody gets one, consider this one yours! We'll be in touch with you soon." The call disconnected. Caitlyn called Vi and Jayce from the car ahead. "Yea, what's up Cupcake?" Caitlyn sternly responded, "Do not ask questions, we need to get back to the precinct immediately, it's being bombarded by a group of criminals. Speed up, watch for people, I'm letting the Wardens know to clear a path for us. And wake Jayce up, he's slept long enough." The line ended. "What the fuck Cupcake?!" Vi threw her communicator to the back and shook Jayce, "HEY! Wake up! There's hot shit happening back at the station!" Jayce stirred to life, and groggily looked around, "W-wait, what, what's going on at the station?.." Vi gripped the wheel harder, and slammed on the gas, causing the Defender to lurch back in his chair. "VI, WHAT THE HELL, SLOW DOWN!" Anger rose in Vi's voice as her glare got wide and she gritted her teeth, "Some punk ass shits think they're hot shit. They're trying to free Jinx for one, and then bombarding my fucking work place, along with all the other cops there! LIke HELL, if I'm going to let them ruin us finally capturing that little psycho!" Vi sped up, and Jayce did not argue with her.
As Piltover's Finest sped towards the precinct, the gears of the future had already begun. Shadows were starting to come into the light, as others were retreating to the shadows. With the League Championship Series closely coming up on everyone, others put plans into motion for the absence of champions from their respective locations, and the chance to see them face to face on the rift. Whether this be to fight for glory, settle old and recent grudges..or seek answers.