DEEP ON THE WELL
Jinx knew she couldn't count on any elevators or stairs, hence she *had* to take the scenic route she and Vi used at times for practice, years ago. It was just a matter of jumping to the closest rooftop, but the Loose Cannon knew it was too risky and too little time as well. Hence, as she landed, she propped Vi's frame on her left shoulder and used the right gauntlet to bust open a hole into the rooftop and widened it to allow herself and Vi to drop within an old attic, where Jinx pushed down the access stair.
From there, it was a matter of descending across the empty building, busting open the front door leading to a stone catwalk, still meters above, but it was already a way down, all the stairs and alleys down to the surface of the Lanes. Most of it was indeed deserted, no doubt the majority of Urgot's wackos were upstairs, and the remainder likely grouped up in the Dredge or in very few patrols Jinx couldn't care much about, now, as long as they didn't stay in her way...
Eventually, she came down across one of the streets, checking constantly on Vi, seeing ahead a lone pharmacy at an intersection, which had seen better days. Jinx rushed towards it at full speed, noticing it was closed. Without even thinking, Jinx busted the door open with the left gauntlet and immediately barged in.
The innards of the pharmacy front were indeed messy, the counter's products spread about as those on the shelves. The lights were still on in the place, the walls looked seedy and the floor was stained with bloody dragging marks as well, something Jinx didn't notice immediately.
"MEDIC!", Jinx roared, in desperation, receiving nothing but the silence within the building. "ANYONE!", she again wailed, and again there was no answer.
Clearly Jinx would have to do it on her own, and it indeed terrified her.
She took Vi to the innards of the pharmacy, where she came across a broad room, with a central table and some standard medical equipment, surrounded by cabinets with drawers in every room, plus a small sink and faucet on one particular cabinet. She immediately swept clean the central table, all equipment falling unceremoniously into the ground and making the according decibels of disorder, as she rested Vi at the table and immediately got to start looking the drawers for whatever she could find. Realizing, on the first drawer, she was still wearing the gauntlets, she let go of them and resumed searching the drawers. She did find a long pincer, which definitely would be useful for finding, grabbing and removing the bullet. In addition, she found cotton chunks, bandage rolls, all spread about in several drawers.
She even found... *that*. But still, of all things...
"No anesthetic...", Jinx shook her head, tense. "There's no anesthetic, shit!"
"Pow... Powder.", Vi called, fighting the pain as best as she could to call her, as Jinx immediately went to her. "It's... it's okay."
"How you call that okay!?", Jinx asked, desperate. "I'm supposed to- SHUT UP! NOT NOW!", she suddenly snapped, before returning her attention to Vi. "I shoulda be the crazy one, here!"
"I-I understand...", Vi nodded, using her strength to talk. "They all called me that too. They all said I'd never bring you ba- UGH!", she felt the sting of the lodged bullet, deep within, prompting Jinx to readily pick up the pincer and run to Vi's back, pulling off her red jacket to expose the bloodstain surrounding the hole by the back of her white shirt.
The Loose Cannon's heart raced, adrenaline high as never before, as she looked across the room for something, finding it and running to get it before returning to her sister.
"Bite.", Jinx said, the bandage rolls on her hand, as Vi stared at her. "Bite, dammit, gotta pull it off!", she ordered in desperation, pushing the bandages into her mouth as Vi bit them, clumsily. Jinx returned to Vi's bloodied back, taking a deep breath, the pincer in hand.
"Brace up, all you got...", was Jinx's only warning as she then plunged the pincer deep into Vi's bullet wound all at once, making the brawler's body recoil and react as she cried in agony, barely muffled by the shoved bandages in her mouth. Jinx had to hold the body firm as she struggled to plunge the pincer deeper and find the bullet. She could feel the pincer's edge scraping something hard, so Jinx had to work harder for the pincer to clench it, and then start to pull it out, which she did, revealing the metal arrowhead covered in blood, which she let fall into her hand as she pocketed it.
Jinx then proceeded to get the cotton balls and opening the faucet to water them.
"It's just cleanin' up, now...", Jinx said, silently, to herself. "Now you just clean up..."
Vi, lying down and taken by pain, took her breath and spit away the bandage rolls as they fell down to the ground. "Powder.", she called.
"It's out, bullet's out, now.", Jinx replied, taking the soaked cotton balls to the table. "Now I just gotta clean up and-"
"No, Pow, no.", Vi said, clearly wanting to get it off while she had the chance. "It's on you, now."
"What?", Jinx asked, incredulous. "Sis, I gotta- you're gonna-"
"It's okay, Powder.", Vi cut her off. "You gotta take care of yourself, now. You've gotta get outta here."
"No, no, no, no, no.", Jinx shook her head. "I-I won't leave, you can't leave-"
"You've *got to, sis, you've got to let me go.", Vi shook her head. "If me going means you get to be back, you get to be safe... I pay it gladly."
"No, don't say that, don't say that!", Jinx shut her eyes, neon-purple tears trickling down her face.
"I know.", Vi said, between pained breaths. "I also wanted more time together, to make up for all that. But if that's gotta be that, then...", she then noticed her sister's gaze of despair. "Don't look at me like that, I'd do it all over again. Just swear me this: that you're gonna live, for us both. I'm gonna be with you, even if it's in your head, I'm gonna be with you. But it's on you, now. Live, for *both* of us."
Vi's weakened state could see Jinx's tears trickling down, and could empathize with that.
Jinx just couldn't understand her sister's willingness to let go.
But Vi knew, as she did realize, by both the fight on the bridge and that moment, the shot from Caitlyn.
How it *moved* her sister. It did bring her back to that day, on the tea party.
How his death helped cement Jinx, after all that.
She closed her eyes. So close, now...
But then opened them back up again, to see her sister again. That blue hair. Her purple eyes.
And something else, also purple. A pair of vials, of the color she knew. And feared.
The same vials Jinx was looking at and back at her sister.
Vi's heart raced, as if she jolted from what her sister was clearly intending on doing. "No.", the brawler's tone rose, as Jinx got on her feet and headed clearly to Vi's bloodied back. "No! No, Powder, no! NO!"
"You don't get a say on that.", Jinx shook her head, as she readied the syringe, the vial filled up with the purple, vicious liquid.
"POWDER!", Vi shouted, feeling pain from the wound, once again.
"You ain't leaving me again, sis!", Jinx shouted back shoving the syringe's needle on the wound all the way, pushing the lid - and liquid - all the way within as Vi's body whom literally arched over as she felt the Shimmer *immediately* getting in, on droves, and it immediately started to take effect.
The brawler' body shook as Vi felt her body as if it was set ablaze, all muscles suddenly hurting in addition to the bullet wound. Tissue, arteries, veins, organs, brain matter... all expanding as cracks of the namesake violet pulsed across the visible parts of her body. Expanding, growing, and definitely hurting, to the point Vi couldn't control her screams amidst the shakes. Screams so inhuman, almost akin to an animal wounded, whose wound was being incessantly poked by a branding iron.
Jinx backed away from all this, realizing in dread Vi indeed was growing up to something *larger* and *out of control, from the Shimmer quantity she took. She couldn't even see if the wound had closed up, as the Doc once explained it did indeed force an almost immediate tissue regeneration at a rapid pace. Jinx could only see the sister she injected mutating, to the point her wailing became thicker in pitch. Thus, the Loose Cannon immediately ran to the gauntlets she had let down and rapidly wore them up as she went to a corner, watching the transformation take place.
As Vi rolled over, falling from the table and getting up, clenching her body, Jinx could see her sister almost doubled her original size, her white shirt practically ripped off from the overgrowth, as it did her pants almost, as well. Bulbous tumors could be seen on her arms, glowing purple as well as the neon pulsed veins running across. The previous bullet wound, once visible, seemed to have been scarred, but the trade-off clearly wasn't any pretty.
It was when Vi turned around, however, and Jinx could see her sister's face, that she knew the horror of her deeds - only the pink hair remained as her face was riddled with running neon-purple veins, pulsing. A trio of those pulsing tumors was on her forehead as well and her once blue eyes shone in a terrifying cerulean. The terrifying cerulean eyes that came into contact with Jinx's face, the Loose Cannon's heart and breath racing like never before.
The new, monstrous Vi roared in pain and anguish, the tones of betrayal clearly evident, and charged the Loose Cannon, attempting to grab her.
Jinx dodged the grabbing and delivered a couple of blows with the gauntlets, aware Vi could take it, in that form, before she dashed to another corner, past Vi, whom turned around. "Come on. Come on!", the Loose Cannon taunted, as Vi charged again attempting a punch on which Jinx was able to grab the fist, holding it firm for a couple of seconds as Vi tried pushing it, but Jinx broke free and took the chance for a blow to her monster-sister's face and two in the diaphragm before Vi got lucky, grabbing Jinx, spinning around and throwing her in the direction of a cabinet, the impact hitting her stomach and rebounding, making her fall to the ground.
The Loose Cannon heard the noises of her sister charging, roaring in pain and rage, and out of instinct tried to shield herself, although this also triggered the gauntlet's shielding on which Vi had impacted into and tumbled backwards, flipping over the central table and lamp, stained with blood. The audible sound of impact on energy caught Jinx's attention as she broke the shielding and rapidly got on her feet, waiting for Vi to get up and charge the blue-haired sister again. Jinx blocked the forward straight punch with the gauntlets raised and dealt a quick blow to the monster-sister's stomach, following with two more blows as the monster recoiled and a punch to her sister's face before disengaging and fleeing to another corner, preparing for her sister to charge.
However, what Jinx saw - and she *indeed* saw her share of crazy things even before ever meeting Urgot down in the Dredge - was Vi punch something in mid-air, which turned out to be nothing, and then back off in recoil as she saw something that Jinx couldn't see, and then another, which she tried to punch, but it evidently seemed to be in vain, as the monstrous Vi backed away, cornered herself almost on her knees to one of the cabinets.
"No!", Vi said, the voice barely audible nervousness showing in spite of the heavy pitch. "No, no, no, no, no, it wasn't my fault, GET OFF ME! I DIDN'T DO IT! NO!"
Jinx, after a couple of seconds, felt the dread of realization getting into her, her heart racing more than it was, adrenaline on it's heights.
She couldn't see what Vi could. But she did see one too many times her own, for her sake.
And that was more than enough to put two plus two together.
She immediately took off the gauntlets and went to approaching her, having to dodge an arm swipe by a Vi whom was trying to protect herself, as the Shimmer-fueled monster sister clenched her big hands into her skull, the little sister approaching fast, ducking by her side, aware anything could happen, her sidearm on hand, as she breathed fast.
Vi could see them, no thanks to this accursed poison her SISTER of all people had injected on her. The once beacons of light she drew hope from.
Vander. Mylo. Cleggor.
Except they weren't anything like she saw before. Not beacons of light.
Creatures of horror instead. Deformed. Malignant.
Spewing accusations on her as they approached, and acted ferociously.
'yOu DiDn'T lOcK HeR!'
'wHeRe wErE yOu, Vi?'
'I tOlD yOu, pRoTeCt yOuR fAmIlY!'
Vi couldn't take it. It was just *too much, and they were closing.
To take her, anyway.
As demons, for all her sins.
'yOu sHoUlD'vE lOcKeD hEr!'
'yOu cOuLd'Ve hElPeD wItH tHaT wAlL!'
'aNd YoU pUt tHeM iN dAnGeR!'
It was if she were a powerless child.
Which in the end, she always was, despite effort otherwise.
And *they* knew it.
'iF yOu lOcKeD hEr, sHe wOuLdN't hAvE bLoWn iT!'
'wE wOuLd'Ve mAdE iT oUt EaRlIeR!'
'tHiS iS aLl yOuR fAuLt! AlL yOuR fAuLt!'
All that was left, was scream in anguish.
So much so she didn't hear the sidearm's click.
"Get. THE FUCK! AWAY FROM HER!", Jinx wailed to nowhere, as ferocious and anguished as a war cry could get.
She fired her sidearm on midair, a couple of times, in random directions. Hitting nothing but walls. Like if she even cared about them. All she knew was that she had to shoot. These shots had jumpscared Vi, as well, snapping out of the mental torment.
"POINT'EM!", Jinx roared, amidst the chaos. "POINT'EM!"
Scared into obeying, Vi did point the directions on which Jinx opened fire with the sidearm, regardless if it was hitting something or not. As long as they were hitting 'them'.
Pretty much like she did shoot *them, way back, for annoying her.
Eventually, the sidearm only let out clicks, but by then Vi's arm had lowered, now only writing in pain and shaking, all as Jinx could see the overextended muscles now degrading away, as if air was let out by a balloon, at the same time Vi coughed and then threw up, barely managing to reach the floor, the evacuated liquid shining neon-purple as well, before she then collapsed, the muscles now growing as smaller as did her size as well.
"What...", Vi started, too weak a voice, returning to her natural tone, struggling to breathe, as tears trickled down as well from her eyes. "What were..."
Jinx took breaths as well, taking advantage of the now calmed down environment to calm down as well before answering.
"My everyday.", she said, looking around at the messed up room as her eyes fell upon a large rectangle by one of the corners.
A refrigerator unit, no doubt to store some liquids that wouldn't fare well in warmer air. It was closed, shut by a hatch door and connected on it's roof on a large tube leading to after the roof, no doubt the tanks for refrigeration being on the upper floor. She got on her feet, walking to the refrigerator and turning the hatch, opening the refrigerator which was filled with vials and bottles filled with their own liquids and even some closed boxes, all over the grated platforms.
The size was clearly large enough for a person, so she set on emptying it. Of course, emptying it as anyone named Jinx would - tossing away the vials, bottles and boxes, no matter how they fell or if they broke, as well as taking the grates out. She just needed the *space, not any of what was occupying it. All as Vi was lying down, feeling too weary and weak to put up any fight.
As she finished emptying it, she proceeded to pick up Vi, whom saw the empty refrigerator and connected the dots.
"That too...", the pink-haired sister said.
"Can't have you running off...", Jinx replied, propping Vi towards the refrigerator, only for Vi to try resisting, pushing Jinx away as the pink-haired one tumbled down to the ground, unable to keep balance due to the strained muscles.
"Of course.", Vi said, down on the ground, staring back at Jinx whom recovered, venomous bitterness starting to spew out of her voice. "Because that's *all I've left* for you to take, ain't it!?"
The Loose Cannon, after a second and a tone of guilt on her face, proceeded to pick up Vi again, whom tried fighting back, but the body wouldn't collaborate. Jinx this time propped her from her back, taking her to the refrigerator.
"You've took everything, already!", shouted Vi, in grief. "You took my family! You took my life, you took my home! And now even my choice! You and this damned purple shit!"
"Saved your life, didn't it?", Jinx said, *too weary, as well, to put up with it, as she put Vi inside the refrigerator and released her, Vi falling to her knees as the legs were too weak, still. "You're welcome, sis."
"No. NO!", Vi pointed a finger at Jinx. "Don't you call me that, *you* don't get to! My REAL sister would've listened to me! She would've obeyed me!"
Jinx's eyes darted aside for a second before getting one last look into the ruined Vi, before she walked off and shut the refrigerator door, turning the hatch, locking it.
"I DON'T HAVE A SISTER!", Vi roared, from within, as Jinx turned around to walk to outside the pharmacy, more like sleepwalking, as a child without a way to go. "MY SISTER IS GONE! SHE'S GONE! MY SISTER'S GONE!"
"I know...", Jinx whispered as she crossed the pharmacy's front door, heart full of pain, a second later, before she heard it.
That noise.
Even with all the gunshots, the bridge was still deserted. No enforcers came up to check it out. At least not yet. It took several minutes for Caitlyn to get out of cover, even as the gunfire of the rotary cannon had ceased, her mind assimilating it all.
What she did. What it caused. And what it did amount up to.
As she got on her feet, she did notice the weapons spread out on the ground. Both the rotary cannon and that accursed rocket launcher that led the three of them to this point, simply dropped down and evidently left behind.
But they weren't. And neither were Vi's Gauntlets. It was clear what Jinx had put the higher priority, and this pretty much explained where she took Vi to, next.
Downstairs, to heal her. It had to be obvious. It wasn't like Jinx would suddenly show up into Piltover's hospital and deliver Vi to them, in spite of the explicit emergency. And even with that, the doctors would put more priority in their own citizenry than the fissurefolk...
It seemed obvious all there was left was to follow her, whatever trail of destruction - recent, that is - being the only leads she had.
The image was still fresh in her mind and it seemed like it'd haunt her, forever. As well as it should. All the trauma related to mother seemed all drowned now, and that's what made Caitlyn *curse* herself for all that. Because she thought she was prepared to lose Vi. Even trying to forget her face, trying to steel herself.
In the end it proved as useful as a dandelion battling a hurricane. She wasn't ready for the loss, at all. Especially not like *this, the least likely, and yet the most probable of all scenarios.
'I'll shoot you if I have to!'
'You're gonna have to!'
That exchange now played, time and again on the enforcer's head as she walked all the way to the southern isthmus end of the bridge. Tormenting her, as much as the wrong actions that led to that rocket being fired did, since that day. It would haunt her, indeed, even more with the fact it was, if one would name so, a tragic symmetry.
That Caitlyn was robbed of one she loved. So she had robbed Jinx of one she loved, as well.
Except that one was whom Caitlyn *learned* to love, as much as her sister had. And now she hurt her.
And, in this act, she also hurt Jinx. And hurt herself, when she shouldn't have. And didn't need to.
This wasn't it. It wasn't what she expected. It wasn't what she wanted.
She wanted *justice* done. For all whom were lost, all whom were taken.
Was that how justice, in it's primordial, was? Done regardless of pain incurred onto others, as callous, cold-hearted and as cruel?
Was it really THAT what she blindly went after, and thought she could take the price? Was the price *really* this high?
If so, how dare she pretend she was ready to pay it...
Caitlyn approached close to where she first saw Vi do those insane maneuvers on rooftops, rather than take the safest way below, calling it 'too risky'. Nostalgia aside, she could see the hole in one of the rooftops, one of brute strength. Of course Jinx wouldn't take any chances with the descent, hence the gauntlets taken. More likely there'd be more signs alike, all the way down to the Lanes.
And so she followed. Into the rooftop hole. The pushed down access. All the way down to the entrance, where she saw the deserted stone catwalks and stairs, those leading right to the surface all demolished, the Warden-Marshall's masterwork to isolate the issue, all in vain. She could see some stray, distant cultists outside, no doubt on patrol. The trail of destructions did stop there, as it was clear Jinx had an open way, likely to downwards, which Caitlyn followed, looking in every corner, fully aware she was alone.
As she always was, and felt, before she went to Stilwater that day. To that cell. To meet *her, rather than the subject of the investigation, that was injured by her.
It was to be professional. Just help her get her sister, get the criminal behind the attack and the gemstone, and then move on with recognition finally given. No attachments.
How did it get to so complicated, and so fast...
Maybe because she was, as well? Maybe that explained all her decisions...
Being together with Jayce and his crazy experiments... wanting to become an enforcer and proficient with a gun...
Getting together with Vi.
She tried to descend as quietly as she could, across the stone staircases that weren't torn down, without drawing attention, something that was definitely not needed, not this time. However, a cultist of all people came across and tried charging her, on which she had to kick back and move in to shove the rifle on his belly and shoot him, in an effort to avoid the typical noise of a gun.
And of course, it was in vain, as the flesh made for a terrible noise suppressor.
This forced her to rush fast downwards before more would come to investigate. She did manage to find an alleyway with pipes on a building that allowed her to climb down into the street level. Having descended, she peeked into both sides of the street, seeing it was empty - though not for long, thanks to the gunshot noise. Regardless, Caitlyn stepped into the deserted street, rifle in hand, walking slowly. She *had* to find Vi. If she could only identify the closest place to a... crib... she could find her, maybe try and get her out, lest the gunshot injury was too severe.
"You looking for something, top-cop?"
The hurt, girly voice right behind made Caitlyn stop on her tracks, not even turning around, as her heart immediately raced, shivers going up in her, the natural reaction of the body to an evident sign of danger.
"Looking for someone, Jinx.", Caitlyn answered, a couple of seconds later, trying to keep her control, when it was evident this was as futile as trying to suppress that gunshot.
"And what makes ya think I'd *ever* let you find her?", Jinx asked, bitter.
Caitlyn groaned. "That shot was for you!", she said bluntly, not in the mood to put up with any of that.
The enforcer felt the hand push her shoulder, turning her around forcefully to come face-to-face with the blue-braided demon, pointing her sidearm at her.
"As if I didn't know!", Jinx shouted, her face drowning in pain and grief. "You forget what I told'cha, before?"
"Crazy ain't stupid.", Caitlyn answered, a second later, recalling that moment prior to the party.
"Yeah, and here you're here, tryin' to justify!", the Loose Cannon pushed on, before she then noticed the weapon in Caitlyn's hands. "You still with the smokin' gun... Come on, ready it up!", the sudden order barking got the enforcer off-guard. "Ready it up and take aim, be what you are, don't be what you ain't!"
Caitlyn, jumpscared, got the rifle in both hands before she then took pause, looking at the very thing that... did that deed.
She stared at Jinx and then at the rifle, before she then did something she never *thought* she'd do.
She casted her rifle aside, letting it drop down to the ground, before the blue-braided girl, whom became surprised, dumbstruck... and then triggered by the act.
"What the...", Jinx started, before she then grabbed Caitlyn's uniform, pressing the sidearm on her forehead. "Are you that dumb!? You think this makes a difference!? It's way past the fissure!", she shouted, furiously, the hand holding the gun shaking as much as Caitlyn's body was, heavy breaths being exchanged between both, eyes deadlocked between each other.
"Poor little Cupcake, the sweet little girl from above... lost mommy to the wacky evil broad from below's rocket...", Jinx mocked, seconds later. "But then, she was from the top, where *everyone* notices... She's not like all those other mommies, all shot dead way below here, as if they were nothing! *All* those mommies dead, no one shed a tear about! But I kill one from the top...", she shook her head, as she then noticed Caitlyn's silence, listening to the words, paralyzed by them. "What? Poro got your tongue? Not even a yap? No last wishes, no 'give her my regards'? What, you feel you don't have the right!?"
Still nothing from Caitlyn.
"Shit... For once we both agree on something, why you-", the Loose Cannon proceeded to release Caitlyn and get into firing position, ready to point and fire the sidearm.
"I'm a demon!"
Caitlyn's sudden words gave pause to the blue-braided one.
"I'm a demon.", Caitlyn repeated, breathing heavily. "You were right, Jinx. You were right from the start. *I* didn't want to see it, *I* didn't want to accept it. I got Vi out of jail, just to help with my case. I got between you and her to bring you in, just so I could prove I was an enforcer, not some... spoiled rich girl whom thinks she knows the world. I tried shooting you, to avenge the one I loved and you killed, but didn't took to account what it'd cost me. Let alone all that's led up to it. All I did was for myself. I thought I was helping, I wanted to help. But in the end, now I see was... all I accomplished was pitting two sisters against one another, and one of them gone by my hands. I *am* a demon!"
The enforcer's admission, that grew in intensity, had Jinx listening every word, the sudden honesty that came with each one.
Something Jinx wasn't prepared for, hence it froze her as much as she froze Caitlyn, but seconds ago.
And then, Caitlyn did a second thing as unexpected and unthinkable.
She allowed herself to slowly fall to her knees, before Jinx.
"I once told Vi...", Caitlyn took a breath, trying to contain all that. "I once told Vi that if I were ever to face you alone, one of us would be back in a box. But now, after all this... I now know who's it got to be. It's *my* fault Vi ended up where she did. It's *I* whom's got to let her go. So please, just do it. Just finish it. For us both."
Those words, to not mention the allowance, all of that made Jinx conflicted.
Even more at the sight of the very one whom caused all that pain now standing there, all powerless before her, begging to finish it.
The hold on the sidearm did shake heavily.
'She's there.', the Silco whispered. 'She's said it herself. Finish it!'
'Vi will never forgive you.', the Vander interjected.
'Vi already hates you.', the Mylo teased. 'What's one more, at this point?'
'It can't be that simple, it can't be that simple.', the Cleggor repeated, unsure.
'She's caused all this, Jinx!', the Silco tried instigating.
'You started it, with that rocket!', the Vander pressed as well. 'You hurt her first!'
'She's right there!', the Mylo teased. 'What, you suddenly forgot how to *squeeze*?'
'It's too easy, it doesn't make sense!', the Cleggor exclaimed.
Jinx shook her head, groaning. "Shut up, shut-", she stuttered. "It- it doesn't make- doesn't make any..."
"Jinx.", Caitlyn called, a second later, getting the Loose Cannon's attention. "It's okay."
'There, you heard it.', the Silco said. 'Now, do it!'
'Don't do it.', the Vander got in the way. 'You'll regret this.'
'Anytime, now...', the Mylo teased.
'There's something else, there is something else!', the Cleggor exclaimed.
'Finish it, Jinx!', the Silco ordered. 'Finish it!'
'She's all Vi's got left!', the Vander protested.
'Of course you can't do that right.', the Mylo provoked. 'Even something as simple.'
'After all this, it can't be that simple!', the Cleggor protested. 'She'd never make it that easy!'
Jinx raised the gun to Caitlyn's face, the hold still shaking, as Caitlyn shut her eyes, trying to control her breath in vain, in preparation for what was to come.
"Just do me one thing.", the enforcer said. "Tell her *I* wanted this. Tell her I'm letting her have Powder back."
Jinx's eyes raised, the irises glowing in an intense purple upon hearing these words, the face getting triggered. She readied the hammer, as Caitlyn squeezed her eyes shut, and the shaking on the gun stopped.
And then Jinx pulled the trigger.
...
...
...
Caitlyn could only hear the resounding, thundering gunshot noise, as crashing as the lightning out of the sky, the supreme divine decision being laid down, once and for all.
The thundering sound that made her open her eyes, shellshocked.
Her heart stopped, as she stopped breathing as if she had come anew into the world.
Except she felt... nothing. No pain.
Only the ringing reverb on her right ear, as a result of the gunfire.
"Spoiled rich girl...", Jinx whispered, between breaths, the tone so low that Caitlyn couldn't hear it. "Thinks she knows the world... You wanted this... Let her have Powder back..."
The Loose Cannon lowered her sidearm as she approached Caitlyn's left ear, bending over, clearly to whisper.
"No... easy... way out for you...", Jinx whispered, full of disgust, hatred oozing out of each word, before she got back up, staring at Caitlyn, completely despised, and slowly turning around.
"She *ain't* having that...", she said it out loud, walking away slowly. "She don't deserve it..."
Caitlyn remained there, as she looked down, heart resuming to beat as she resumed to breathe as well, still trying to *assimilate* all that just occurred.
This sudden brush with death, right before her, even as she was ready to give it all...
"YOU'RE COMING OR YOU AIN'T, CUPCAKE!?"
Jinx's sudden roaring bark made Caitlyn jump and breathe faster, as she saw the Loose Cannon stopped with her back still turned to the enforcer. Caitlyn immediately picked herself up on her feet and walked towards Jinx as the Loose Cannon started walking slowly ahead, Caitlyn matching the speed and not saying a single word. She couldn't, and *wouldn't* dare.
Jinx reached the front door of the pharmacy, opening it up and walking in as Caitlyn followed suit, the enforcer understanding that this had to be where Vi was. Jinx walked slowly, almost as if she were undead, into the back of the pharmarcy, where Caitlyn could see the mess around - the flipped table, the stains of blood, bullet holes everywhere.
But no sign of Vi.
Caitlyn heard Jinx touching and holding firm the hatch to what looked like was the pharmacy's refrigerator, and saw Jinx turn her head right, to try and face behind her for a second, before she turned the hatch completely, unlocking the refrigerator and opening the door, before she walked off to sit by the edge of the downed table.
Caitlyn approached the refrigerator door, expecting the worst. As she opened up further, she could see, within the emptied box, beneath her, the pink-haired figure, sitting down, simply staring at her, with a look of resignation.
However, Vi was *clearly* far more scarred.
The white shirt seemed ripped open, the shoulder and forearm muscles clearly strained. The pants seemed ripped as well, only about the thigh level being preserved. Her face was worse, with white scars for veins going over her face as well as a dark rash on her forehead and what looked like former inhumanly overgrown blisters. About every sign of Shimmer usage.
The look of it horrified Caitlyn to the core. She definitely expected about the wrong kind of worst.
She was face-to-face with her consequences.
Vi looked down. She could relate to it. In spite of what Caitlyn did... she could relate.
"Get her.", Jinx said, wearied and looking down. "Get outta Zaun. Don't come back. Both of you."
Caitlyn glanced at Jinx for a second, knowing there was nothing to say that'd change her mind, before she noticed the gauntlets, down on the floor. Vi's gauntlets, still with the graffiti of her sister from all those days. Caitlyn proceeded to pick them up and wear them, knowing it'd be a long way up and she could carry Vi about as easily as Jinx did. She got into the refrigerator, helping pick Vi up, bringing her outside before she then stopped.
She glanced at Vi and then at Jinx's direction, hoping her sister could get one last look at her.
Vi, however, kept staring on ahead. "Let's go, Cait.", she said, in a weak but still a final decision tone.
Caitlyn, seeing there was no use trying to convince Vi either, resumed her track, carrying her to outside the pharmacy and into the street, where Vi insisted that Caitlyn carried her as to not slow down, and thus Cait did that as she walked towards one of the alleys where there was a staircase access leading to the upper levels.
...
...
...
It took several minutes since both left before Jinx got on her feet. The voices were but whispers now, but she couldn't care anymore. It was done. It was past the point of no return, now. There was only the hope Vi could *finally* move on. Just as Jinx tried to do, before the whole Dredge deal started.
She slowly walked out of the pharmacy, her head looking down on the ground, silence filling the fissures, as much as her world was.
And then, a noise was heard. A couple of footsteps. Heavy ones. Clearly mechanical, of the like she indeed had before.
Jinx didn't even bother to look, or react. Of course there was also that. At least, if anything, it was fitting.
"Get on with it.", were her last words as Urgot charged.
He charged ahead, grabbing Jinx, smashing her against the pharmacy's window and then throwing her as like a ragdoll into the main street, where she flew some meters before she fell, in complete pain, all as the heavy spider legs all approached her.
As Jinx tried turning around, suddenly something heavy fell hard on her left forearm - one of Urgot's legs. A pain unlike any other, that made Jinx roar in honesty and suffering, all as she witnessed the humongous, god-like figure before her, ready to dole out the final punishment as any divinity would.
"And I considered you my equal...", Urgot said, coldly, shaking his head, before he pointed the cannon, straight to her face. "What a waste..."
Jinx closed her eyes. To imagine it'd end it like that, it was so beyond anything she'd imagined.
...
...
...
And then, the thundering blast.
Final Notes:
(Conclusion in May 26th, 2024)
Before people get started on it, I want to be clear that the length on this, for once, is *intentional*. The Quartering of Piltover (as I call the battle) by itself was self-explanatory to justify at least a 1-hour special, which this chapter pretty much is. About at least some 60 to 70 minutes long, for the quantity of action scenes provided, plus the needed closures for, at long last, Act VI.
This was finished pretty much on time (a few days, at least) for the upcoming 2024 Annecy festival which a preview of Season 2 was announced. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll get to stop on this. As Genghis Khan once put it on his campaign in Age of Empires II - a deed is not glorious until it is finished.
And indeed there was a *lot* on this one plate, even if we consider there was, on paper, not many arcs going on - the preparation of our folks, per say, prior to the battle, the pre-battle moments which were Jayce and Camille's meeting with Urgot plus Jinx getting 'Baby Powder' in position, the battle itself, and of course the aftermath which was the anticipated - and most sad since Captain America: Civil War - duel between our beloved sisters, which I definitely wrote as something that *none* of us wanted it to happen, as much as it was supposed to.
The same philosophy was applied to the attack on Piltover and it's consequences and thus hit the main theme of this chapter, which is the real price of 'justice' - of how this violence does bring up consequences of it. A large deal was inspired from the city sacks of medieval times as well as the bronze age (you guessed it, Carthage and Troy). But, obviously, I didn't want to get THAT graphic on it, and the revelation of the true nature of Urgot's ideals to Jinx was the most testing out of it. It WAS difficult, getting to show the gruesomeness of it without taking any sympathy for our blue-braided character, in spite of what she just did. As it was difficult to get her realization of her mistake sound convincing, in which *massive props* have to be given to her 'ghosties' for this, in assisting with her breakdown.
The one thing that was definitely planned far before was how this duel would proceed, in which there wouldn't be a winner. At least a certified one. And no, I won't get into the technicality. And of course, the fallout after that, on which the conclusion to Caitlyn's character arc would pick up, now that the climax of the arc was reached. This is the chapter which I revised the most and even got a writer's block out of it, but I got satisfied with it, and I'm thankful I could finish it. I can guess now how J.K. Rowling pretty much felt when she finished Goblet of Fire. It indeed is that relief.
As it was also a relief to FINALLY put Jayce and Ambessa to work on this one, as well. xD And, as a treat, I got the most fun out of writing the fight between Ambessa and Sevika, the cameo and even origin story of you-know-who and, why else, Camille's supposed comeuppance. Now that most difficult section of the path was trekked, I can now state I'm prepared to brave the remainder, chin high.
Until the next chapter.
P.S. - To see how well in advance this was planned, check the prologue again and then the pharmacy here.