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One day. All he's asking for is one day to himself. It's the one thing Ziggs has been craving for months now that he feels he'll never receive.

The yordle sips the coffee he ordered, the cup he was given was quite large relative to what he's used to. The one perk he's noticed about living in Zaun is that the quality of everything seems to be like what he'd find in Piltover except far cheaper, his drink no exception. He swirled the ebony liquid around in the cup, mulling over how he got here in the first place.

It was the night he met Jinx, colloquially known as 'The Loose Cannon', and known to him as the woman responsible for his current position. He was working at the workshop of his colleague, Heimerdinger, when she offered him something he hadn't had in a good long while: a night of pure, unadulterated freedom. He was hesitant at first, but the mischief he caused felt too good to stop.

His frustrations melted as he retaliated against the elites of Piltover who ostracized him based on things beyond his control. The last laugh would finally belong to him. It would've been a night he'd fondly remember, had his accomplice not planned a finale he was wholly unprepared for.

Jinx had thought it'd be a swell idea to annihilate not only the warden station, but all those inside as well. As the sole member of party capable of feeling guilt Ziggs took it upon himself to evacuate everyone inside. He succeeded in doing so and imagined he'd be praised for his efforts, only to receive scorn instead. He then had one last offer thrown his way by Jinx: join her in terrorizing the people of Piltover and Zaun. He ecstatically accepted.

This would prove to be his undoing, though he wouldn't realize it at first.

Ziggs was in his element as he and Jinx acted as twin agents of chaos, wreaking havoc over both city-states without a care in the world. Their shared love of destruction couldn't be stopped as they were always too slippery for the wardens to deal with. Their reign of terror knew no bounds as they never considered anything too culturally or politically significant to be blown up. It was the ethical ramifications of their actions, however, that finally got the yordle to reflect on his newfound partnership and whether or not this was such a good idea in the first place.

He found the succeeding months to be way less awesome. Jinx never shared his belief about deeming people to be unacceptable targets, something that made him increasingly anxious as they were out and about. Eventually he found their outings to be less of the two of them planning their next explosions and more of her dragging him along to see what she's cooked up. He grew irritated with how she always seemed to ignore his concerns about aiming her sights at densely populated areas like residential blocks or the always busy hospital.

On more than one occasion he had to physically stop her from firing her weapons at civilians, who probably had no idea that he even existed. She hadn't a clue why he'd put a stop to her fun and he posited that she likely never will.

It quickly grew exhausting trying to foil her plans, from doing his best to evacuate people to defusing the traps Jinx had laid out for the unsuspecting populace. His regrets about leaving the comfort and safety of Piltover kept piling up by the day and the manic, zealous energy his peers had known him for turned into a jaded cynicism he'd never experienced before in his life.

Now, several months later, he was desperate for any respite he could find. He learned that he simply couldn't hide from Jinx as she'd scour the city to look for him, though he never understood why. She had terrified people with her antics before the two of them had ever met, yet it felt like she was incapable of doing that now. Today was no different as the yordle knew it was just a matter of time before she found him. It was the reason he was always clad in his gear.

As if on cue he heard people screaming and running from a taser pistol that had been shot. He went an hour and a half before being located today; he figured that was probably the record to beat now.

"Hey, there you are! I've been looking all over for you." The blue-haired lunatic sauntered over to the table he was sitting at. The rocket launcher, minigun, and multiple ammunition belts she wore never seemed to weigh her down in the slightest.

It was at this point that Ziggs' eyes scanned the rest of the café and saw that the staff and other patrons either vacated the premises or were doing their best to hide behind whatever they thought provided the most safety. "Come on, we've got a whole day of destruction ahead of us!"

"Can I finish my coffee first?" He regretted not getting anything to eat when he had the chance.

"I don't know. Can you?" She grinned maniacally. Ziggs just stared at her unblinking. "Hurry up," she huffed.

Finally, he thought, taking a long sip. It was then that he noticed a quick, staccato rhythm appear out of nothing. If he knew Jinx well enough, then the source of the sound was the tattooed menace tapping her foot; she was getting impatient. He quickened his pace slightly, but it was of no use.

"Okay, you've had enough." He barely got his goggles on before she grabbed his hand and yanked him out of his seat. The coffee mug went flying and he cringed when he heard it smash against the tiled floor. He'll have to come back and pay for the damages later.

~~~

Ziggs had totally tuned out Jinx explaining her daily itinerary for the umpteenth time. He was tired from not only being forced to stay awake most of the day but also from the repetition of their daily activities. The destruction they caused felt less like a symphony and more like flavourless elevator music. How she managed to make explosions boring was beyond him.

His mind wandered to ways that he could escape the tedium. Perhaps he'd volunteer at the orphanage and help take care of the brats. The only problem is that, on top of the kids maybe not listening to him, they might be physically larger than the yordle. He tried to remember whether he was legally allowed to hit children or not. The answer was probably 'yes'.

He thought back to his time at Heimerdinger's workshop. Yeah, the stuff he did there wasn't exactly exciting by any means, but he craved the job security it gave him. He doubted Cecil would want anything to do with him, seeing as how the other yordle snubbed Ziggs once already. His shoulders dropped slightly when he remembered just how much technology they built that is now going untested.

The only other option he had considered that he might be even remotely qualified for is a position at the College of Techmaturgy. Despite his mastery of chemistry, he thought that the milquetoast life of a professor wouldn't be his cup of tea. Now, however, he'd gladly trade his current position in exchange for some peace and quiet. Hell, he'd even become a custodian if it meant he could escape.

The main issue with pursuing any of these options was that somehow, someway, Jinx would find him again. It was almost as if she was oblivious to the fact that the yordle wanted to get far away from her. If there was a way to guarantee his freedom, he'd need to get it through her thick skull that he'd be happier on his own.

"So, what'd ya think?" Jinx gleefully queried.

Shit, he mentally gasped. He hadn't heard a thing she babbled on about.

"S-sounds alright, but, uh, do you mind... going over everything again in case I missed anything?" He couldn't help himself; he was sweating bullets.

"Hmm, I could..." She rubbed her chin as if she was thinking. "Or better yet, I could show you! Come on!" She, once again, led him by the wrist, this time through a back-alley staircase to the roofs of the nearby buildings. He was tempted to remind her that he was in possession of two fully functioning legs.

He sharply inhaled as he saw what she had in store for them: a rocket, primed and ready to go. It was her primary mode of transportation when she wanted to cover large distances, meaning that she felt like terrorizing Piltover today. For the record he didn't mind the high-speed air travel at all, it was just the landing he hated. One hundred percent of the time they crashed into something, usually forcing him to gain a purchase on a neighbouring building at an unfavourable velocity for doing so.

Ziggs' breathing slowed as he straddled the rocket behind his cohort, who had only just lit the fuse. He tried counting down their takeoff in his head, but his estimations weren't always accurate. Without any warning the two of them were sent flying through dense, Zaunite fog that surrounded the district.

~~~

It wasn't much later that they had made it to the other city-state. Ziggs had tried jumping off early this time to find a roof he could land on, but nearly missed entirely. He managed to grab an eavestrough at the last minute, though, preventing him from becoming a street pancake. He had to chuckle at his luck, somehow, he keeps managing to make it through these outings in one piece, though he can't say the same for the library the rocket hit.

Jinx, unlike her yordle compatriot, reveled in the mayhem caused by the explosion. Coughing through the dust, she clambered over the broken pieces of brick that used to be the outer wall of the building. "Oh man,'' she exclaimed while pumping her hands in the air, "I think that was our best one yet!" He sighed, at least no one got hurt this time.

Ziggs shimmied himself to a place he could find his footing and carefully made his way down to street level. He thought about jumping onto an awning below him, only then remembering that the last time he tried that maneuver he ended up ripping through the fabric and painfully landing on a crate beneath it. He cracked one of his ribs in the process, rendering him unable to go anywhere for a week or so. Wait, maybe that's how he should get out of this!

He barely had any time to collect himself before she, once again, pulled him off his feet. He wondered if it was a game to her to see how little he was able to walk when she was around. It was times like this when he questioned whether moving to Piltover was such a hot idea in the first place. He loved being able to experiment with his hexplosives to his heart's content, but maybe he should've settled down with someone nice in Bandle City like his parents wanted him to.

He yelped when his forward momentum was abruptly halted. Looking up he saw what caused Jinx to stop: a row of apartment buildings. This wasn't good. "Hey, uh, weren't we here not to long ago?" He tried to deflect her attention away from the sheer amount of people crammed into one little area.

"Well, I wanted to hit up the zoo again since I felt the animals have gone untagged for far too long, buuuuuut I just happened to see these and..." She whipped her hands around to where her weapons were hanging off her body and pulled the rocket launcher forward. "...I think it's time for Fishbones to come out and play!" The yordle's eyes bugged wide when he heard that. He had to act fast.

"Say, I have a swell idea. How about we aim your rockets over here instead!" He guided her towards an abandoned warehouse at the end of the street. "It's ugly, it's an eyesore, and no one will miss it when it's gone!" It just crossed his mind that demolition might be someplace he could apply himself to. Or, it would be if they didn't singlehandedly cause the company to go out of business. Oops.

"Hmm, the wanton destruction does sound good..." Against his best wishes she positioned herself facing the apartment block again. "...But I like this better!" Hardly a second flew by before she fired right at the foot of one of the structures. Time seemed to stop for Ziggs as he eyed the projectile making a beeline for one of the ground floor dwellings. He had just made the decision to do something before the two of them witnessed the rocket impacting something well before its intended target. When the smoke cleared, they were both astounded to see that the buildings were left virtually unscathed, with nary a resident particularly caring to see what the commotion was.

"Holy shit." Ziggs breathed a sigh of relief.

Jinx, however, felt quite the opposite. "I-I... I..." Words had failed her. "When the hell did they get a forcefield installed?! Ugh..." She slapped her head in frustration. "This wasn't here the last time... This HAS to be new hextech." The rapid tapping of her foot meant the gears in her head were turning. "This means that it's still incredibly experimental. Hmm, what if it's only capable of handling one blast in a small period of time? Maybe if I shoot several rockets in a quick succession, I could overwhelm it and break through it." Inspiration must've struck her as she snapped her fingers with manic glee, startling the poor yordle. "Better yet, I'll just destroy the generator. There's no way they'll have that up and running any time soon!" As much as he hated admitting it, she was capable of being cunning when she wanted to be.

Ziggs was about to speak up, but his protest died in his throat when he heard shouting coming from down the street: wardens. Perfect timing! "We're not doing anything until we lose them." She couldn't see it but his grin stretched from ear to ear.

"Wait... Three, four, five... Ah, we're outnumbered pretty bad. Alright, let's split." Annoyed, she oriented her rocket launcher behind her for a faster getaway. The yordle's legs moved him as fast as his physiology would allow them to, but even then, they were no match for the strides the long-braided criminal was able to achieve.

Ziggs was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to give the police the slip until they stumbled across an alley they could duck into. It was the first opportunity he could catch a full breath since they started running. Situations like this made him feel like it was high time to finally get in shape like he promised himself. Later, of course.

"Trying to catch us always seems to blow up in their face, eh?" Jinx wheezily chuckled at her own joke. Raspy panting was all she heard in response. "Come on, laugh. I'm hilarious." A half-hearted guffaw was all the yordle could muster.

"Ya know, I get that it's still early and everything, but I think we should call it today." Reasoning with Jinx was like trying to convince someone to stop breathing, but it was still worth a try. "The wardens already know we're here and they aren't gonna stop unless they're sure they've lost our tracks."

"Aw, you're done already? I still think the zoo needs a makeover." She grumbled. "I guess if you wanna go you can. I'm sticking around for a bit."

"You sure?" He didn't want to make his intentions obvious.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. The wardens are too incompetent, so I'll never get caught." She didn't have to tell him twice.

Ziggs hightailed it out of the alley like a speeding bullet. Any time he got to himself was precious and limited so he wanted to get as much out of it as he could. He was feeling pretty good about himself until he happened upon people passing by him. They never saw him, but it instantly made him realize that he didn't have his glamour with him. He hadn't used the charm in some time, but it never hurt to have on his person, specifically for times like this. He hoped he was stealthy enough to get around without it.

Looking around, he was able to pick out enough landmarks to plot a way back home, now the only challenge was to get there. His small stature came in handy for hiding behind the various crates and signs the stores used to advertise their business but gave him trouble when he had to dart across the street to the next alcove.

It wasn't long before he happened across a vacant lot, nothing noteworthy to the average person but it symbolized a deep shame for Ziggs that he wouldn't soon forget. It was the end of a long day of mischief for him and Jinx, back when he still enjoyed hanging out with her. Night was starting to rear its head when she saw a building she didn't recognize and, like a moth to flame, she wanted to investigate.

The establishment in question turned out to be a newly built nursery. The allure of the finished construction project taunted the Loose Cannon with its very presence. The yordle didn't particularly care until he noticed that there were still people inside. He brought it to her attention, but she paid it no mind. He pleaded with her, the rockets she fired at the daycare responded in her stead. In an instant he saw the freshly painted exterior crumbling beneath the weight of its now unsupported roof, smoke billowing out of several of the rooms. People were scrambling to safety, dragging whoever they were able to grab with them.

Ziggs then eyed Jinx switching over to her minigun and knew he had to act fast. He stood in front of her to try and grab her attention away from the fleeing civilians, only for her to think it was a game where she had to try and aim around him. It took him grabbing hold of her weapon before she realized he was being serious. To his knowledge, everyone made it out alright, but the screams of the children he heard that night kept him up for weeks.

~~~

What little of the midafternoon sun Zaun tended to get shone through the thick, industrial fog by the time Ziggs made it back to the district. He had passed by his old place of work and considered going inside but decided against it. As much as his old life called to him, he just couldn't be a detriment to anyone else's life with his current connection to Jinx.

The yordle strolled up to the café he started the day at. The barista behind the counter froze when he made eye contact with the small, furry creature.

"Uh, you haven't brought your friend with you, right?" His professional tone faltered, betrayed by the panic set in from remembering this morning's events.

"No, I'm alone." The yordle replied. He reached into his pockets, feeling around for any loose change. "How much was the mug?"