Interlude: Go Gently Into the Night
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Interlude: Go Gently Into the Night
Vi
We saw the big blue explosion in Piltover even though we were in Zaun. It was hard to tell from so far away, but it sure as hell looked like it was coming from the same part of town where Powder was working. Plus it was a big weird explosion when I knew Powder was messing around with some kinda weird new tech stuff. More than that, I just knew deep in my gut that Powder was mixed up in it somehow.
My sister was in trouble. I didn't want the last time I talked to her to be us fighting over stupid shit that didn't matter anymore. I had to keep her safe. I kicked the door to our bedroom open, finding Claggor reading an old comic and Mylo picking his nose with one of his lockpicks. "Grab your shit, we're going topside and getting Powder back."
Claggor sat up. "But Vander said—"
"He's gonna change his mind after that big-ass explosion," I cut him off. "And if he hasn't ... we're going anyway." When neither of them got up I glared and slammed a fist into the doorframe. "Move your asses! Or do I have to go alone?"
"We're moving, we're moving!" Mylo wiped a booger off his lockpick and grabbed his bag. "She's our sister too. Well, not as much as she's your sister, but you know what I mean. We're not just gonna leave her stuck in Pilt-town."
"You're damn right we're not." A minute later I was headed up the stairs and into the tavern with the boys trailing behind me. There were plenty of people hanging around The Last Drop despite it still being pretty early in the evening, probably catching up on all the latest gossip about the Enforcer raids. They'd been all over Zaun, trying to find whoever was responsible for the pigs head stunt. Which made the fact that Sevika and her gang were sitting at the bar just a little hilarious to me. Everyone in Zaun knew they'd done it, but nobody was stupid enough to snitch to the Enforcers about it.
Vander was behind the bar, but as soon as he spotted me and the boys he stepped out and planted himself in front of the door. "Vi. Mylo, Claggor. You three going somewhere?"
I wasn't in the mood to play games. It wasn't like he'd buy any lies I tried to come up with anyway. "Yeah, we're gonna go get my sister back."
Vander crossed his arms over his chest and glowered down at me. "Vi, we've already had this conversation. You're not going out. The streets aren't safe for anyone until the Enforcers clear out, and there's no way you could get to Piltover and start looking around without causing trouble. I know you're worried about Powder, I am too, but there's nothing we can do to help her right now." He forced a smile and let out a weak, insincere laugh. "Odds are Jayce or his business partners took her in, and right now she's enjoying a taste of the nice things all the topsiders take for granted."
"You don't know that," I growled back, taking another step forward and daring him to stop me. "But you do know something blew up right around where her workshop was."
"I know we saw a flash of blue and heard a big boom," Vander shot back. "There's a lot of things that could've been that have nothing to do with your sister. We don't even know for sure it was an explosion, never mind whether it happens at the workshop Powder's working at. Besides, the sun was already down when that went off, she wouldn't be there that late."
"So … what?" I clenched my fists at my sides. "Am I supposed to just sit here, do nothing, and wait for her to get back?"
Vander let out a heavy sigh and put one of his hands on my shoulder. "I know it's hard, Vi, but right now there's nothing else we can do. I'm sure Powder's fine. If you want news, your best bet is to stay right here: I've put out the word around Zaun, as soon as anyone knows anything they'll come straight here."
"That's a lot of words to say 'sit and do nothing,'" I shot back, brushing his hand off. "Do you even give a damn about what happens to her? Or are you so scared of offending your Piltie friends you wanna keep your head down even if it means sacrificing her?"
I heard a sharp intake of breath from half the bar after I said that, and it took everything I had not to flinch. I knew I'd just crossed a line, but now that I'd said it, I couldn't take it back. Vander closed his eyes, took a deep breath, slowly let it out, then dropped to one knee to look me in the eye. "Of course I care about your sister, Vi. You think I don't wanna be out there tearing through Piltover to find out what happened to her? The only reason I'm not doing that is because I know it wouldn't work. If I let you go out after her, I'd have four kids to worry about instead of just one. You wouldn't be bringing her back, you'd just be putting yourself in more danger."
I hated him. I hated how he could stand there and try to be so calm and rational and think things through while Powder needed our help. I didn't want to sit on my ass talking and thinking, I wanted to knuckle down and do something! I clenched my fists so hard I felt my knuckles pop.
"Vi." Vander let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "I'm trying to do the right thing for both of you. Maybe I'm wrong, it's not like kids come with an instruction manual, and even if they did it probably wouldn't cover situations like this. I just wanna do right by the two of you, I owe it to your parents after—after what happened."
I glared at him. "You mean after you got them killed." A second after the words left my mouth I regretted them, but that was too late.
Vander bit his lip and closed his eyes, and for the first time in all the time I'd known him I saw Vander flinch. I'd hurt him. I hated myself for it, but at the same time part of me wanted to keep going. To just keep hurting him until he was in as much pain as I was. Piss him off to the point he'd take a swing at me, because even getting my ass kicked sounded better than just sitting around stewing in my own guilt and helplessness. I fucking hated this.
Vander finally looked at me, and I saw something that really broke my heart. His eyes looked watery. Fuck, the biggest, toughest, strongest man in the lanes, the guy who'd took me in and raised me and Powder when we'd lost everything, and I was gonna make him cry. "Yeah," he answered, his voice thick with emotion. "After that."
I couldn't—I couldn't deal with this right now. I ran past him, out the door before he or anyone else could stop me. I got maybe two blocks down the road before I broke too, screaming and punching a hole in the nearest wall as I felt hot tears pouring down my cheeks. "Fuck!" I hit the wall again, then growled and slapped myself across the face. "FUCK!"
I wanted to go back and tell Vander how sorry I was. That I hadn't really meant any of it, I was scared shitless worrying about Powder and so antsy and on-edge waiting for news that I just couldn't help being an asshole. As if that made it okay for me to say any of the shit I'd just spouted out. 'Sorry' didn't make all the nasty shit I'd just said go away.
I couldn't do it. I was scared we'd start arguing again and I'd say something even worse. Or that we'd actually have a real talk, end up crying our eyes out, and that I'd miss my chance to get out and save Powder. It was—I'd just—I'd have to apologize to him and fix everything after I came back with Powder.
I heard footsteps behind me, and a second later Claggor spoke up behind me. "Vi? You okay?"
"No." I angrily wiped my eyes with my vest. "But I don't have time to get okay. We've gotta go get Powder back."
We made the trip to the hidden pathway to get topside in total silence. Well, Mylo and Claggor did a little whispering behind my back, but neither of them talked to me. Probably a smart move, I would've either bite their heads off or started crying again. Maybe both. I just … couldn't deal with that right now. Once Powder was back safe and sound I'd figure something out.
Especially since I still needed to apologize to her too. I was doing a real bang-up job with all my family relationships right now, I bet Mom and Dad were real proud of their girl. It was a miracle Mylo and Claggor were still sticking with me.
We started taking the lift up to topside. I took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "Don't worry, Pow-Pow, we'll be there soon."
I turned around to face the boys. "We'll start at the workshop. See if we were right about it blowing up, or if it really was something totally unrelated." If it really wasn't anything like that, and I'd ripped out Vander's heart over nothing…
"If Powder's not there, we'll try the Kiramman mansion." I knew roughly where it was based on stuff Caitlyn told me, and figured it was big and fancy enough I could find it from there. Caitlyn might be spoiled and stuck-up, but she wasn't an asshole.
Unlike me.
She wouldn't just leave me twisting in the wind if I came to her asking about Powder. She'd either know where Powder was, or be able to point me in the right direction. Plus she'd probably be willing to play escort for us, which would keep the Enforcers from giving us a hard time. I wasn't completely stupid, I'd tried to come up with some kinda plan.
The lift finally clanked to a halt as we arrived in Piltover. "Alright, let's get moving."
We'd only gotten a few steps into the abandoned building when Mylo grabbed my arm. "Vi, wait. Something about this feels off."
I growled and pulled my arm free. "We're not turning around now just because you're getting cold feet."
Mylo shook his head. "It's not cold feet, I think—"
Several bright lights kicked on, blinding me, and a second later someone shouted. "Enforcers! Get down on your knees and put your hands on your head!"
I was too stunned to do anything, and a second later I felt a pair of hands grabbing my arms and trying to kick my legs out from under me. That at least finally spurred me into action, and I stomped down on the Enforcer's foot. That was enough to make him back off for a second, at least.
"Hold!" The same guy who'd shouted at us before said. Nobody else attacked me, so I assumed he was talking to his own people. A few moments later the lights dimmed enough so I could actually see what was going on around me and a single Enforcer with a big bushy mustache approached, his hands held up. "Are you Violet? Powder's sister? Sheriff Grayson's been looking for you."
So miss big boss Enforcer herself had told at least some of her thugs to be on the lookout for me specifically? That could be really good news, or really bad. Normally I wouldn't answer any questions from a pig just on principle, but if this one had answers for me… "I could be. Who the fuck are you?"
The Enforcer smirked and chuckled. "You kiss your mom with that mouth, kid?"
Vi Issues Roll
Issues: Stability (-3), Abandonment (-2), Trauma (-2), Daughter of Zaun (-2), Powder (-2)
Roll 2d6 (3+5) -11 = -3
Failure
Issues: Stability (-3), Abandonment (-2), Trauma (-2), Daughter of Zaun (-2), Powder (-2)
Roll 2d6 (3+5) -11 = -3
Failure
This Enforcer was making cracks about Mom when he and his buddies were the ones who killed her? I did the only thing any reasonable person could in a situation like this.
I broke his goddamn nose.
The pig stumbled back as blood started soaking into his fancy mustache. The rest of his buddies didn't waste any time. "The bitch is rabid, take her down!"
I landed a couple of good hits on the first Enforcer to come at me, until one of his buddies snuck around and smacked me in the ribs with his club, while another rung my bell from behind and knocked me to the floor. Should've known they'd dogpile me instead of fighting fair. I tried getting back up, but that just earned me a kick in the gut that let me know Enforcer boots had steel tips. Ow.
"Get offa her!" Mylo shouted, waving something in the air over his head. It took a second for me to recognize what it was: the Mouser bomb he'd gotten from Powder. Claggor had pulled his bomb out too, and seemed to be in the middle of arming it. "You hit her one more time, and I swear I'll—"
One of the Enforcers jabbed him in the gut with their baton, making the bomb slip out of suddenly nerveless fingers. "Shut it, brat, or you'll get the same treatment she's getting."
I didn't have time to worry about Mylo or getting my ass beaten, though. Not when I realized the monkey bomb's head was moving. I didn't know much about how Powder's bombs worked, but I recognized a countdown when I saw one.
Shit. "Kick it away, it's a bom—"
The world vanished in a flash of heat and light.
I thought dying would hurt more. You'd expect getting blown up to be pretty damn painful. I couldn't figure out how to move enough to check my injuries, but I was pretty sure they were bad. If nothing else, the fact everything was dark, cold, and fuzzy had to be a bad sign.
I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even figure out if anyone else was alive. Were Claggor and Mylo okay?
After what felt like hours but was probably a lot less, I could finally make out voices, even if they were so muffled I could barely make out the words. Or maybe my ears were still ringing after the explosion.
"—Not what I signed up for, Silco! I'm all for revolution, but dead kids?!" Was that Sevika? And who was this Silco she was talking to?
"Perhaps if the person you told to keep an eye on the children had let us know they were in trouble a bit sooner, we might have arrived in time to prevent this." Someone else, I guess Silco, answered.
"He found us as fast as he could," Sevika answered. "It was probably all over before we even knew what was going on."
"Probably," I heard Silco agree.
I felt the ground next to me shake a bit, and when I heard Sevika's voice again it sounded a lot closer and clearer. "I'm sorry, Vi."
I tried to say something back to her, but all that came out of my mouth was a wet, bloody gurgle. That must've been enough, though, because a second later Sevika screamed. "Silco! She's still alive!"
I felt cold fingers press against my wrist for a second before letting go, and Silco spoke again. "I should've known Felicia's daughter would not go gently into the night. You four! Find a stretcher, and get her to The Doctor!"
As a bunch of other people started bustling around me I heard one last exchange between the two of them.
"You really think your pet mad scientist can save her?" Sevika demanded.
"If he values his head? He'll damn well try," Silco answered.
What? He was taking me to a doctor? No! I needed to get to...
Pow... der...
