Arcane: Let's Burn Down Runeterra!

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Chapter 10: Battle of the Cornered Beast

"Finally, she's quiet. Dang, she's a real lunatic." The officer had managed to gag Jinx, but his right hand was still bleeding—she had bitten him earlier. He hoped he hadn't caught anything from her. "Who's this 'Justin' she keeps shouting about? Do you guys know?"

"Beats me."

"She kind of looks like... those shimmer addicts going through withdrawal after being off it for too long? Could this 'Justin' be some new kind of hallucinogen?"

"Who knows? I think she's got mental issues. People from the undercity are never quite right."

"Mentally unstable individuals might have criminal immunity," Caitlyn chimed in. The officers were all dumbfounded, staring at her with odd expressions. One officer replied coldly, "Then she's off the hook."

Back at the station, the officers were exhausted. After a long hours-long chase, they arrived at Stillwater Hold only to find that the prisoners had already broken through. Then they were ambushed by a lunatic. When they finally got back to the upper city, the officers weren't as orderly as when they left. Most had shed their uniforms, staggering along, guns slung over their shoulders, looking sloppy. Only Caitlyn still held her gun properly, though her arms were trembling, and she was drenched in sweat, her uniform perfectly intact, not a button undone.

"Dammit, finally home..."

"Thanks for the hard work. Caitlyn, take the prisoner to the interrogation room. Everyone else, take a break," Chief Marcus said, tossing his belt and gun onto the table as he dragged out a chair to sit and ponder over the Stillwater Hold debacle.

"Break, break, what a miserable day..." Even though it wasn't the end of their shift yet, everyone took off their uniforms and headed home. The mass prison break at Stillwater Hold was a big deal; there was sure to be a lot to do afterward, so they decided to slack off a bit before it all blew up.

Caitlyn escorted Jinx to the interrogation room alone. As the daughter of a council member, she had high status but was often ostracized by other enforcers. It wasn't out of resentment towards wealth or anything—just that they grew up in different environments. No matter how much she tried to fit in or communicate, Caitlyn struggled to join the ordinary enforcers' circles. Moreover, her upright nature unavoidably added to the troubles for colleagues who viewed being an enforcer as just a job and preferred to avoid complications. Initially, they held back criticism out of respect for Caitlyn's background, but eventually realized she was indeed earnest, and they stopped holding back.

Jinx seemed to have calmed down, or perhaps she was just too drained from struggling along the way. Caitlyn didn't let her guard down for a moment, maintaining a standard escort stance, despite the sweat dripping from her face onto the floor.

Wait, why were there droplets in front as well?

Was it sweat? No, it was tears.

This girl was crying.

Caitlyn paused. Truth be told, she despised this lunatic who appeared out of nowhere and attacked them without reason. Yet the quality of her education, or perhaps just her innate kindness, wouldn't allow her to simply drag a vulnerable, crying girl into the interrogation room. Caitlyn stopped, pulled the tape off Jinx's mouth, and Jinx cried even harder, her mascara smudged, tears flowing uncontrollably.

"Are you okay?" Caitlyn gently asked her, looking directly at her. 

"Wooh, wooh... Justin, Justin doesn't want me anymore..." 

"Who is this Justin you keep mentioning? And why did you attack us?" Caitlyn relaxed her grip on the trigger, reaching into her pocket for tissues. If she could get her to talk without using force, it would be much better. 

"Wooh wooh, Justin treated me so well, but he got captured and put in prison by you..." The girl hung her head, tears streaming down her face. 

"If he's in prison, it must be because he broke the law." Caitlyn sighed, setting down her gun to wipe Jinx's tears. But when she looked up, all she saw in those ocean-blue eyes, aside from the mist clouding their surface, was... mockery. 

Running mascara, crazed eyes, and a smiling mouth... This distorted face came closer, yet Caitlyn didn't react. 

Jinx, having been crying, was bent over in a perfect coiled position. Suddenly, she sprang up like a spring, her head colliding with Caitlyn's chin. Caitlyn, caught off guard by the pain, staggered and fell to the ground. Then Jinx kicked her in the head. 

"Take this—wooh!" Jinx had no sense of holding back or showing mercy; each blow aimed for the head. The continuous assault left Caitlyn unable to cry out for help. With no other officers around, by the time the floor was awash with blood, Caitlyn still hadn't received any support. 

Before long, Caitlyn stopped struggling. Jinx shook her head, her eyes terrifyingly cold. Her hands were still cuffed, but luckily Caitlyn had the keys on her belt. Jinx turned her back, squatted down to grab them. Yet... 

Caitlyn suddenly opened her eyes, grabbing the handcuffs with her left hand while pressing Jinx's head with her right. Even though she was dizzy from excessive blood loss, her years of rigorous training allowed her to execute a perfect takedown maneuver at the crucial moment. 

"Huff, huff..." Caitlyn pinned Jinx's head to the ground and looked at this person whose face showed no emotion, feeling a mix of emotions herself. Fortunately, she had feigned unconsciousness earlier, allowing her to counterattack from the brink. But to receive her worst injury as an enforcer right in the police station was indeed... 

"Hmm?" Jinx seemed to still want to resist, stepping on Caitlyn's boot in an attempt to push her off. "Stop struggling! You can't possibly—" 

Before Caitlyn could finish her sentence, she saw Jinx's body twist around. How could that be? I still have her handcuffed! She instinctively checked and found the cuff still in her grasp, but Jinx had freed one arm. 

She had forcefully dislocated her own wrist! 

"Thud!" 

A fierce elbow strike knocked Caitlyn completely unconscious.