TWITCH
Even though Twitch knew the long way forward and down from the surface, close to the prison gates, to the sumps and the Dreadnought and his followers, even the giant man-sized rat was awed by the *enormous* innards of the Dredge complex, by the time he arrived in disguise with the 'crate' to the floor the diagonal elevator from above could take.
It was a chamber as vast as to envy whole cavern networks, sustained by broad distributed pillars, a long line of catwalks that connected to each other along side a broad platform extending further, branching out to some directions where either voids or makeshift guard positions and towers kept on watch on the sides of the lanes, lanterns and spotlights spread across. Ahead of him was what looked to be a large central furnace, no doubt providing heat to the place across the pipelines as well.
Inmates, men and women, both elder and even some teenagers, almost all thin, were escorted by the guards, with rifles and whips, to far below, where it almost seemed endless weren't for a large rock floor below, no doubt for their work shifts in quarrying the rocks of the place. Others were, under watch, cleaning up the dreary steel floors while one or two performed repair duties.
Everywhere along the walls, left and right, as well as the floor, rock mixed with man-made iron at every turn, culminating in some cell blocks which looked more like large beast cages, with a considerable amount of prisoners, clumped up like animals, trying to stick out their heads and arms stretched outside, some roaring out loud. Twitch could see at least three collapsing as the guards attempted to beat them back on their feet with those whips.
Even as the other inmates were dragged away after leaving the nail-riddled crate at a corner, he remained with the crate, at times dragging it at the cart along the prison. Twitch did feel some difficulty in walking further, trying to keep the 'human' posture beneath the disguise. And as much as he wanted, right now, at that moment, to just come out shooting and killing and making a show of it, his new partner made it quite clear she'd shoot him herself if he did that. Besides, the crossbow given to him by Ampare was on one of those barrels which some inmates continued taking on deeper into the chamber, and he did want to try it out, so he kept on moving, though someone never told him that a guard, of all people, doing manual labor was quite the telltale, some guards staring at him but making no questions.
"Hey!", the voice from a nearby guard, by the railings of one of the platform's lanes called, then. "What you're doing? Just leave it there!"
Twitch instead ignored and kept on going, pushing the cart.
The calling guard then left the railing, circling around to then reach Twitch. "Hey, you!", he called, grabbing Twitch, making him turn and almost trip over. "You're new here or what!? Just leave it!"
"Well, look at it, people person!", Twitch said, attempting to not blow the cover, but was hard, as he gestured at the nail-riddled crate, which the guard did notice.
"Whatever, leave it.", the guard retorted. "Not *your* job, let the inmates handle."
"Easy for you to say!", Twitch retorted. "They talked about it up there!"
The guard groaned. "Fine!", he said, then turning around to a pair of guards on the other side. "Hey, get someone in here, already!", he then turned to Twitch. "And you stop letting others see you pushing that. You're a guard, Janna's sake, that's embarrassing!"
Twitch then let go of the cart, groaning, waiting for an inmate, pushed by another arriving guard, as the first one handed Twitch one of those whips. "In case they try something funny...", the guard added.
As the inmate started pushing the cart, however, Twitch decided to try out the whip at the inmate, lashing him at the back and getting the guards attention.
"What you're doing?", the guard asked, annoyed.
"Just to remind him?", Twitch asked, in a cynic tone. Deep inside, he did feel a bit cathartic, almost electric, from the act.
The guard simply groaned, turning around and shaking his head. "Fresh meat...", he muttered in frustration, as Twitch snickered a bit, quietly, and went on following the inmate pushing the cart for him. If that's what it was like, he'd enjoy it much more by the time it'd all unfold.
Eventually, Twitch and the inmate arrived at the storage deposit, with a guard present as well, following the others as they stored the barrels at a corner Twitch could easily recall, mixed with the others. As the inmate pulled off the crate off the cart, he drove away. Twitch remained however, as the guard was left alone, staring at the strange newcomer guard, standing eerily as if he had a hunchback.
"You got nothing else to do?", the storage guard asked. "You're alright?"
"Oh...", Twitch groaned, letting out a small snicker as he could notice there was no one else. "Much better now."
The limping 'guard' then, suddenly, jumped at the new one, catching him off-guard, using the whip before collapsing at the top of him behind a row of crates, taking off the mask and revealing himself.
The guard expected anything but a giant rat, attacking him viciously with an uncommon strength. The screams were cut shortly after. There was no one but him and the rat.
Far above both, in the meanwhile, the Queen of the Dredge had received a telegraph message from the surface, transmitted via code and translated at the Dredge. As she read the news from the other side, she wasted no time in calling Crimson, whom promptly answered.
"Call the guards.", Voss ordered. "We have a guest."
HEIMERDINGER
It was often impressive how too much commotion was also a perfect cover.
Most of the officers running across Piltover were so concerned with finding where Miss Kiramman and young Vi were that, in their runs, they ignored often the small furried creature either in the alleys or close by the vases and trash bins. Most were even running they didn't bother to stop him, then and there.
Only the approach and entry into the Sidereal Precinct was more of a complication, with the guarding enforcers on high alert. This made him have to find an alternative entrance at a lateral street, using one of the wrenches to force a vent off, on which he crawled into, slightly a bit tight, minutes on end right into what was clearly a cleaning storage within the precinct, on which he approached the door, try it the knob to see if it was locked.
To Heimerdinger's surprise, it wasn't. But he could hear voices passing by.
"Dispatch said it's those two girls, again. They escaped Central."
"If they ain't found in the next hour, they'll probably have run back to those tree rats..."
"Yeah, that reminds me, any news on the others?"
"Kerensky, Davion and Steiner are due discharge tomorrow. The others will still take time, the bullet holes and all the other shit..."
As the voices faded away, Heimerdinger turned the knob, opening the door, and stepping out to check for movement at the vicinity. Too few, so far, so he stepped at the hallway, turned right and walked along it, as he passed one of the offices, reading 'MINOR CRIMES', before he stopped at a corner to peek, and turning left as he then headed to one of the entrances at the right which read 'LOCKERS'. As he entered it, he could see the rows upon rows of shut lockers and no one in sight, on which he tried opening a few of them.
As he looked on the corner, though, he saw a lone enforcer changing out of his uniform. A helmet with a gas mask in sight. And it was clear Heimerdinger would be noticed.
After a couple of seconds, the Professor shook his head. Now it wasn't the time for any doubts, he was too deep in the thick of it to back away now, just as when he freed Miss Kiramman and her friend. He stepped forward and already engaged his shocker device, catching the changing enforcer off-guard as he was hit by the electric current and fell to the ground, before Heimerdinger turned it off and rushed to pick the helmet, wearing it on as he then left the lockers in a hurry, starting to walk towards the stairs, leading down the lobby and then to the cells, everyone else walking by barely noticing him or any identifiable features.
As he then reached the entry to the cell block, Heimerdinger took a breath, unholstering one of his wrenches in his hand, and entered the room where the checkpoint desk for the lockup was, an enforcer sit down with his cup of coffee on hand.
"Excuse me.", Heimerdinger called, and the enforcer first looked at Heimerdinger's direction... before looking at the height. "I need the keys, please."
"Keys, what?", the enforcer asked, a bit dumbstruck.
"Cell maintenance.", Heimerdinger flashed his wrench to the enforcer.
"What, wait, there's no maintenance scheduled today!", the enforcer turned around to consult something Heimerdinger couldn't see, perhaps a journal or log.
The Yordle thought, for a moment, he heard something behind him, and could feel the pressure. He felt frustrated. It was already *long* past the point of subtlety. He dropped the helmet.
"Yeah, no maintenance-", the enforcer turned around, to see Heimerdingern helmetless. "Wait, aren't you Counc-"
By then, the shocker device popped up from Heimerdinger's hair and struck the enforcer. Heimerdinger immediately dashed to the enforcer's body, where he couldn't find the set of keys. Then he climbed the chair and searched the desk top where the keys weren't present as well. Heimerdinger's heart started to race at that point.
He opened the first drawer. Nothing.
The second drawer. Nothing as well.
He opened the third one. He found a set of keys, similar to the one he had at the Central Precinct. He immediately picked it up, jumped from the chair and headed to the door, opening it, passing through, and closing it, entering the detention cells corridor, four on each side, on which Heimerdinger searched every cell, looking for Miss Medarda.
He ended up finding her at the third one on the right, staring at the back wall and widow, sitting on the floor, as if strength and hope were long siphoned out of her. The very shadow of the tall, proud, bright, ambitious and shrewd politician she once was.
Heimerdinger felt a bit of pity on that. He then hit the bars with the set of keys, to try and get her attention.
"If it's her again, I'm not in the mood.", Mel said, staring at the wall. "I'm not hungry either."
"Not even starving for freedom?", Heimerdinger asked, which got Mel to turn around and notice the Yordle she clearly recognized.
This got Mel's heart racing again as she got on her feet, rushing to the bars as Heimerdinger started unlocking the cell. "Heimerdinger?", Mel asked. "I-I didn't think..."
"Neither did I, miss Medarda.", Heimerdinger nodded. "But it is nice to see you again, in spite of what happened..."
Those words did bring up those fresh memories on Mel's mind, making her let out a sigh of frustration and shake her head slowly. "It was a mistake, the more I think about it...", she said.
"Never mind that, now.", Heimerdinger said. "We need to focus on getting you out of here and hiding."
"By the time Ferros finds out-", Mel started.
"I know.", Heimerdinger said. "This is why I'll also try and reunite you with Jayce, as quickly as possible, before he does something else foolish."
"Foolish?", Mel asked as Heimerdinger pushed the bars, opening the cell.
"Come, we must make for a wagon.", Heimerdinger said, starting to head to the door, Mel following him.
Passing the lockup doors, Heimerdinger and Mel immediately took a right, heading into the corridor to the right of the staircase leading above, which led to a small set of stairs and a pair of doors, which led to the garage, holding the wagons the enforcers used to transport criminals to the Precinct, as well as themselves in case of an emergency.
As they crossed the doors, they noticed the garage, slightly wide and lit by electric lamps, was empty, the wagons stationed in rows, ahead of the broad columns behind them which sustained the upper level, the lobby and other offices of the Precinct.
The pair walked slightly ahead, Heimerdinger already eyeballing which wagon to take while Mel looked a bit behind at the door. "What did you mean with 'before Jayce does something else foolish'?", she asked.
"I came face to face with him.", Heimerdinger said. "In the Undercity. With enforcers."
"What?", Mel asked before, suddenly, a loud metal clank sound was heard behind them, and suddenly, a large azure energy shockwave surged, on which large, blue energy barriers surged out of nowhere, clearly meant to block trespassers. But the shockwave was enough to catch Mel and Heimerdinger off-guard, turning stunned and instinctively at the source.
They froze at the sight that just appeared, two blade-like legs just pulling the wearer to her feet.
"Leaving without saying goodbye? Tsk, tsk..."