Chapter 3: Assault in 'the city of' Progress
"Nami I need you to remain calm and describe her to me."
The sheriff rubbed her temples trying to supress the brewing headache as the Marai hadn't stopped panicking since they had left the dockyards and returned to the precinct; apparently she had made the mistake of separating herself from a friend when she decided to intervene during the raid,
"Uhh she's about five feet tall and has straight shoulder-length hair and she's pale and kinda skinny an-"
"Hold on a moment Nami; it sounds like your describing Luxanna Crownguard."
For the first time in the past twenty minutes the Tidecaller had fallen silent as a look of contemplation splashed across her face;
"I hadn't really noticed it before but she kinda does look like Lux, but with red hair and purple eyes instead."
Caitlyn's brow raised at the mention of this as purple eyes was a fairly common trait among women from Zaun; but before she could further question the distressed Marai, an officer enters the room with an apathetic look that Caitlyn was all to familiar with,
"Don't tell me; VI broke something."
"Not just one thing ma'am; she's destroying half of the city chasing some perp from the dockyard, apparently she looks kinda like Lux."
The colour drained from Nami's scales and she falls to the floor unconscious.
"Freeze! Or don't, I don't care."
Once again the officer nearly crushes my ribs as I barely side-step her attack and she crashes fist first into a fruit stand, cliché but effective and impeding a pursuer.
"Ma'am how many times do I have to tell you; I am not a pirate; this is all just a misunderstanding."
As she shakes off the remains of the produce she just juiced she continues chasing me through the alleys and down the streets occasionally demolishing a small structure or denting a larger one, as we run I can't help but wonder how in the void this woman was ever instated as an officer of the law when she was wreaking more havoc than a Zaun munitions factory; and what's up with the roman numeral on her face?
"Excuse me officer, if you don't mind my asking; what's the meaning of your tattoo?"
"Vi; Stands for violence!"
She lunges toward me with another punch and topples a news stand giving me an opportunity to flee through a storm of loose paper, I climb atop a nearby lamp-post and look down at the somewhat perplexed officer Vi: I noticed that her eyes appear to be purple like mine; father told me that it was relatively common for Zaun girls to have then as it was a side effect from the amount of chemicals lingering in the air of the city.
"Pardon me officer Vi; but I can't help to notice that between your eye colour and affinity for destruction that you seem like someone from Zaun, would I be correct in saying as much?"
For a single second I see Vi freeze in place and her cocky expression disappear, only for her face toturn deep red and brimming with rage: she turns to face me and leaps into the air before plummeting down towards me, I jump away from the post but she was too fast for me to fully dodge and I feel the full force of her fist crash down on my left leg; the sheer force of the hit liquefies my ankle before we even land on the street and I scream out in pain; this ends up working in my favor as Vi actually freaks out when my jaw splits as I scream and she tries to shake the purple goo that was recently my foot off her fist as she stumbles backward in a panic, I can't stop myself from screaming but I do pull myself together both figuratively and literally long enough to limp dawn an alleyway and heave myself up a fire escape and hold my jaw shut long enough to stop screaming; after the pain had gone down from excruciating to blistering I took a moment to look at the gooey stump that was my left leg, something like this had happened once before when I still lived with father; I had been trying to make his favorite sandwich, Sardines and sauerkraut; when I cut my pinkie off with the knife by mistake, that was the first time I had ever felt physical pain and it caused me to go into shock as I had never dealt with anything so intense before but once father had run into the kitchen and calmed me down he told me that I needed to be more careful but I didn't have to worry about my finger because my body had regenerative properties as my body was made of a semi-solid ooze much like another project that mother worked on, the downside was I still had nerve endings and was otherwise human so it still hurt a lot.
"Where are you, you little punk!? Don't you want your foot back?" I heard Vi shout in the alley below me but I was perched in the sill of a window and out of sight as she slowly walked by with the liquid that was my foot cupped in one hand; I ignored her and hoped she would keep walking as she no longer seemed squicked by it and I didn't need the actually ooze to repair myself though it would be a lot faster.
After she leave the alley and continues to walk away I drag myself further up the fire escape to the roof of the building and sit down, I pull out my case and search my mind for the Tidecaller staff once more and summon its 'secrets'; after it forms in my arms I take the pole and use it to stand up and gain my balance, once upright I hold the staff aloof and use the 'ebb and flow' spell because I remember it could heal the user and hoped it might speed up my foots regrowth and thankfully it does; after about four casts my foot had fully re-formed and I could actually stand upright; the downside was that I was feeling fatigued as I still hadn't had much practice using mana and I was now missing a shoe and the metal buildings where quite cold now that the evening was descending into night, I recalled the Tidecaller and climbed down the building and returned to the rubble that was a newsstand and try to see if I could find my shoe; it should still be inta-
"They always return to the scene of the crime."
I try not to flinch or show any signs of panic, I remain as calm as I can as I find my shoe underneath a magazine and put it back on, I fumble with the laces for a few seconds because I'm staring to tremble but I manage to put it on and stand upright, I remain facing away from Vi and steel my voice as best I can;
"I suppose it's too late to say I'll come quietly?"
"You have no idea." I hear her spit on the ground and crack her knuckles, "I'm going to beat you to a pulp; and seeing how your already half slime that shouldn't be too hard."
That catches me off guard; if she was serious and actually intended to beat me until I was fully liquid that would actually kill me because my body wants entirely slime; I do have a skull and a spine that are made out of a flexible hex-tech metal of some sort, father never told me exactly what it was but I knew enough hits would break it and finish me, I hope if I rile her up she may become too rash to be accurate.
"I suppose that is the way of Zaun: can't use it scientifically; destroy it."
"Why you little… Graahh!"
My ruse worked as she takes a stance with one fist behind her and launches forward and allowing me to sidestep and arm myself, literally: as Vi nears me I manage to roll to the side and call upon Vi's 'secrets' and within a blue flash I find myself endowed with Vi's massive gauntlets, as Vi stops her assault and turns back to face me;
"Would you stop dodg- uhh… what the hell?"
"Whats wrong Vi? Never seen a girl with big strong hands?" That… was a weird sentence.
"Uhh no I mean why the hell are you like a foot taller with bugger… cupcakes?"
I was confused by what Vi meant by my cupcakes being bigger but when I looked myself over I did surprise myself as I was actually taller and my muscles felt firmer and… oh that's what she meant by cupcakes. I would have taken time to look over my new form with more detail but I remembered there was an aggravated officer trying to destroy me.
"Yeah uhh, I'm kinda a shape-shifter, cool huh?"
"Yeah kinda, but I gotta question: If you can change what you look like than why didn't you change to look like something else so it would be harder for me to chase you."
"Yeah I'm pretty new at it honestly, the fact that it happed now is kinda beyond my understanding." Why the hell was I explaining all this? Normally I wouldn't let so much information slip, and I try to use more complicated vocabulary words… maybe it had something to do with my transformation; if my body is closer to Vi's than maybe my mind is too, I suppose that would explain why our conversation has preventer her from punching me so far.
"Well now I know; that'll make it a lot easier for Cait to write the report later, now stand still!"
Oh dear.
Once again vi lunges forward but this time I have no room to dodge and have to take it, though thankfully giant metal gauntlets make for a good shield and I prevent having my face smashed in, after Vi lands a few hits I fell some of the metal casing of the gauntlets break off but after this Vi decides to wind up another punch and I manage to thrust my fist forward and get in a hit to her stomach ad she stumbles back;
"Guh a sucker punch?! You fight dirty, I can respect that, piracy; not so much."
"I know it means little at this point but honestly: I am not a pirate."
Vi starts another charge but I notice she doesn't lunge this time and instead stays on the ground; I try to sidestep like usual but as I do she veers in and keeps me directly ahead of me, I try to doge again when she was only a foot away but once again she stays locked onto me and I feel he fist make contact with my gut and she lifts us both off the ground with a powerful leap before slamming us back into the street, after she uses me to make a dent in the road she takes a step back, I manage t pull myself out of the hole but I fall to my knees and cough up some of my goo, I hear Vi revile in disgust again; for such a violent woman she seems a bit squeamish, I took the irony as an advantage and charged at her and caught her off guard and I managed to get in a few more punches before she recovered and started trading hits, blow after blow after blow we kept fighting; the fatigue growing more and more evident on our faces as we continue to pummel each other in a metal flurry of fists, both our weapons gradually taking more and more causing shrapnel to fly in all directions, in a desperate act we each take a step back and attempt one final blow; our fists closing n on each other only to barley miss causing the metal to scrap between them and sparks to fly from the chaos, I feel my fist connect with her jaw the same moment her fist meets my face.
"Nami would you kindly stops panicking; your getting water on my ankles and its distracting me."
Caitlyn and Vi had been following the trail of destruction left by Vi and her target Mora hoping to find them before they damaged something that couldn't be fixed by a few auto mechanic drones, thought the trail was oddly becoming harder to follow the further they went as there were less and less signs of damage.
"I'm sorry Caitlyn but I can't help it; what if Vi catches her? What if she hurts her? What if she- "
"Nami please calm down, Vi may be excessive but she wont do any permanent damage to your friend; she may hot her a few times but unless this Mora become a real threat she wont hurt her too much, on that note what do you know about her abilities?"
"Umm… not much really; she once mentioned she could see people abilities or something like that."
"Abilities as in the ones we use in the summoners war games?"
This causes Nami to stop short, she hadn't thought about it much before now as she had been preoccupied by panicking,
"No… no I don't think so, I forgot about this but before we got to the docks she tried to ask me about what summoners and champions were; I don't think she's even heard of League before."
"But how could that be possible? One would have to live in a box their whole life to never learn of the Institute of war or anything associated with it, even Shurima gets advertisement of the league… hold on a moment."
As Caitlyn held her hand up to stop Nami from speaking after her she leaned down to pick up a scrap of metal with purple paint,
"This is from Vi's gauntlet, they went this way, hurry along now."
With a new trail ready to be followed Caitlyn and Nami rush down the alleyway and find more evidence of Vi and Mora's struggles as more dented buildings and toppled light poles brought them to a small demolished newsstand with the wounded enforcer lying on it.
"Oh my goodness Vi!" Caitlyn runs over to her partner and kneels down to hold her face upright; "Vi speak to me please!" Vi remains silent and Caitlyn's façade of calm quickly sheds as she clutches the enforces in her arms.
"… (cough) cupca(cough)…"
"Vi! Your alive!"
The enforcer coughs a few times and sits upright despite Caitlyn's attempts to hold her still;
"Like that punk had the guts to finish me, nah she just got a lucky shot and ran off like a little pu- "
"Vi don't, just…" Caitlyn felt an odd amalgamation of joy and sadness and anger as her fears off her partner being dead were quickly shed,
"Come on cupcake; save it for the bedroom."
Only to have the emotions quickly replaced with just anger, Caitlyn lets go of Vi and quickly stands up and takes a few steps away quickly regaining her serious composure and hoping Nami didn't hear Vi's comment.
"Umm Vi, you said she ran away; do you know what direction?" Nami asks as uses her water to heal some of Vi's wounds.
"Uhh yeah she took off down that way and ducked inside that building." Vi points off toward an old building in the back of a forlorn alley; the building itself had no identification but the Sheriff knew all to well what that building led to; the underground maze of tunnels below Piltover, they branched off all over the city and some even went as far as the Imperial mountains; if the girl got lost down there…
"Vi can you stand?" The enforcer stands up with a little help from Nami and shakes off some dust before giving a confident thumbs-up to Caitlyn, "Good, we need to get back to the precinct; I have an important call to place if we're going to find Nami's friend."
"Wait… so when she kept telling me she wasn't a pirate; she was telling the truth… oops."
In an almost subconscious action Caitlyn pressed her palm against her forehead and led the trio back to the precinct.
Of all the buildings on this city I could run into why… why did I have to choose this one? After entering the building and throwing open the only door I could see I had just kept running in fear of Vi continuing to peruse me, while I had managed to knock her back onto the small newsstand when we both punched each other the hit nearly cracked my 'skull' open, I could feel the strain of the metal as it nearly snapped open inside my head when she hit me, father told me the metal would slowly re-shape itself because of the techmaturgical properties of the alloy would… ow; thinking too hard actually hurts in this state, I decide to take a few moments and once again call on Nami's 'secrets' and using the tidecaller staff I heal some of my wounds though I am only able to use it a little as I am still exhausted from both the battle and fleeing into this tunnel system… for crying out loud why did it have to be tunnels?!
I was in such a panic I hadn't paid attention to any of the turns I made or looked for any signs and now I was either in the middle of nowhere or a bit to the left of it, this wasn't like back in Zaun when it was just one huge old tube; this was a labyrinth that I could only imagine lead all over Piltover if not further than that, after all of this I basically end up where I started: lost, cold, hurt, and miserable… city of progress... more like… uhh… oh man I'm so sick and tired I can't even make analogies to express my frustration. I tried to keep moving in hopes of finding another exit but the further I wander the more things look the same and I feels as though I'm limping in circles, I very well could be at this point given how many times I got punched in the face but I didn't want this to be the end of my quest; father didn't give me freedom just to squander it in some musty old tunnels. I keep pushing myself forward but with every step I feel my strength draining to the point I need to use the tidecaller as a cane just to stay upright but after hobbling forward a few feet I can tell I'm about ready to collapse; I shuffle over to the wall and lean against it and slowly slide down until I'm sitting on the floor, I realise I need rest but this is the absolute last place I want to let my guard down… Maybe I can close my eyes for a few minutes…
…
*plink*
I heard that, it was only there for a second but I heard it; that same sound from the night before… there was no way that beast could have followed me all the way to Piltover is there? I strain my ears and try to listen for any indication of the direction of the sounds origin but I can barely hear anything over my unsteady breath, I try to pull myself up to run but I don't even get my rear off the ground before collapsing back on myself, another vain attempt and I accept the fact I'm in no condition to stand let alone contest that monster; I close my eyes and let myself drift off again, hoping the beast will remember the last threat it made to me and make it quick.
…
"…ey…"
"…Hey… co..."
"Come on don't give up on me just yet."
I wake up to a voice that didn't belong to cackling rat creature but instead a young man with shaggy blond hair and sharp blue eyes and for some reason little red triangle beneath his eyes.
"Ok your awake; this is a start, here your dehydrated drink this," The man offers me a bottle full of the clearest water I had ever seen but in my attempt to reach for it my arm falls limp.
"I uhh… I'm gonna need some help drinking this I think."
The man smiles warmly and holds the bottle for me allowing me to drink from it, I could feel every drop of the cold liquid as it splashed down my throat and dissipated into the semi-gelatinous mass that was my body and felt as though a fire burning in my lungs had suddenly been swept away in the current of the drink, after finishing all the water I manage to move my head on my own and I ask the man some questions;
"Thank you for the water but; who are you and why did you help me?"
The young man stands up and brushes off his jacket before speaking;
"My name is Ezreal: The Prodigal explorer, but you can just call me 'Ezreal', no seriously; please don't add the explore bit, I only have to say that leaguel reasons. As for why I helped you well; what good Samaritan wouldn't help a poor young maiden like yourself in their time of need?"
I try to muster my regular apathetic look to respond but Ezreal continues before I can do so;
"Did that sound as dumb to hear as it felt to say?" Ezreal asked; the cocky demeanour quickly swept aside, I give a sideward nod in reply,
"Yeah I thought so; anyway truth be told I came looking for you after Caitlyn called and said you got lost down here, these tunnels are vast and spread really far so she knew she wouldn't have time to track you but I know this place like the back of my hand, so are you ready to go."
I nod once more but once again me attempt to stand result only in my sore muscles becoming even sorer,
"I hate to say it but I really don't think I'll be able to stand in this condition… don't suppose you could help?"
Ezreal's cheeks tinge red for a moment but he does pick me up and starts carrying me though his face reddens once more when doing so;
"Ok so if anyone asks there's nothing between us… actually if people think you're my girlfriend then maybe they wouldn't think Lux… but then again you kinda look like her sorta…"
Ezreal continued to ramble in a similar fashion as he carried me through the tunnels, I didn't pay much attention though as my mind was… preoccupied with… with… ZZZ…
