Author's Note:
Wow, this chapter is a bit longer than my previous one.
Thank you to everyone who followed this story. I'm truly honored that you guys enjoyed my previous chapter. I'm in college and just beginning my break so I'll try to crank out chapters as quickly as I can without sacrificing quality. Once the next semester starts, I may not be able to update as quickly but rest assured I will be continuing and finishing this story. I hate it when a fic that I like ends without any warning or closure so I don't want to disappoint anyone by doing the same.
Mad King Qrow: Thanks for the review! Greatly appreciate the feedback and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Who would I choose as a voice actor for Mercury? Great question. I would say Josh Keaton or Michael Rosenbaum. I feel like either of them would be able to fit the playful big brother tone while also bringing seriousness and somberness when they need to.
Without further ado, enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter 2: Undercity Trash
It was after hours and that meant that all of the stores and bars were closed down. The streets that were normally filled with bustling crowds and obnoxious neon advertisements were empty and dark. If there wasn't anything to buy or occupy their time on the streets, the Children of Zaun typically spent their time indoors. Well, most of them, anyway.
Ekko adored the after-hours. It was his favorite time of day. He could spend a few hours outside on the streets with plenty of room to practice his moves and kick imaginary enforcers in their padded behinds.
He had a recurring fantasy wherein he was a champion of the people, they cheered him on from behind, and he rushed toward an entire host of the blue uniformed police force by himself. They would stand no chance against him. Boom! Bam! Pow! Waves of them were blown away with every kick and fields of them were knocked down with every punch. Wow, Ekko! his supporters would scream. You're so dreamy, a certain blue haired girl would say.
He would be the leader of his own resistance group as well. Resisting what? Who could say. Maybe they would be resisting the topsiders or even a dark society within Zaun. Regardless, he would definitely be a person that people looked up to and admired. He could already hear his name being shouted on the streets. Ekko! The leader of the… something. He needed to think of a snappy name.
Of course, it was all in his head. A daydream which would end once Benzo called him inside.
One time, Benzo had caught him enacting his fantasies and the portly man never let him live it down. Ekko had to threaten to unveil some of his own blackmail to the older man to make the man keep mum about his little crush to Vander's kids. Especially Mercury.
How did he manage to blackmail Benzo? Well, Ekko found out about Benzo's collection of… literature… and he was sure that Benzo would be quite humiliated if it was revealed that he was an avid collector of Piltover's Finest: The Magical Dream Girl Force. He had dozens of limited edition volumes collected over the years and he once spotted one of the editions trading hands between Benzo and Vander. The old guys were… weird but Ekko supposed that they had to get their kicks somewhere.
Ekko loved it when Mercury came by Benzo's. The older teen was practically his older brother. Mercury always gave Ekko tips on how to pick up girls whenever the taller teen visited. And he visited often. He typically accompanied Vander wherever the Hound went and Vander usually went to Benzo's after hours to share a drink with the owner.
They were outside of Benzo's store. Mercury and Vander visited their store to fence some goods and Mercury stayed outside to keep Ekko company while Vander and Benzo had an "adult conversation", whatever that meant. Ekko wasn't complaining though, Mercury was once again bestowing upon Ekko invaluable wisdom.
"Listen, Ekko," Mercury said. "Confidence is key. You don't just walk. You have to swagger. You feel me?"
Ekko nodded vigorously and hurriedly jotted down the older teen's words on his notepad. Ekko always had his notepad out whenever he heard words come out of Mercury's mouth. The man was a treasure trove of dating advice. (Ekko didn't know that Mercury had never dated a single girl in his life and was talking out of his ass)
"What about strutting? Or striding?" the dark skinned boy asked. "I don't know what those really mean but I heard about them when I was passing by Auntie's." Auntie was the owner of the largest brothel in Zaun. The yordle was a regular customer at Benzo's. Most of the minor and major businesses in the Lanes were pretty tight knit.
Mercury made a so-so gesture. "Yeah, I suppose they're pretty good too. Strutting's more for making yourself feel good and striding's more for when you need to get places quick." Mercury made a serious face and adopted a teaching pose: one finger in the air with glasses adorned that he had somehow produced out of nowhere. "But you gotta swagger, alright? Swagger means confidence and strength. Chicks dig that."
Ekko jotted down in his notes, Swagger means confidence and strength. Chicks dig that. He circled that last sentence and underlined it for good measure.
Mercury chuckled and put his finger down. "But enough about that stuff." Mercury removed his magically appearing glasses. "Earlier today, the Fearsome Four went on a job. I'm guessing you gave them the tip. Where did you hear about it?"
Ekko took half a second to recognize what Mercury was talking about. Ah, yes, the topsider that came by. He was remarkably out of place in the Lanes and was way out of his depth when it came to serious business. The man jumped anytime he bumped into anyone, which was a good way to get people to go out of their way to bump into him. A Piltie in Zaun? People were itching for a good reason to get into a fight.
"Oh, yeah," he said. He tucked his notebook and pen away. "There was a topsider who came by. He bought the stuff that Benzo usually only has on display. The guy paid in gold and he didn't even haggle. I charged double price. Heh, sucker." Ekko practiced his punching form while he was telling Mercury. He observed with his hand to his chin, nodding appreciatively.
"You followed him home?" -Mercury lightly punched him on the shoulder- "How brave of you, Little Man. Oh! Did you see any cute girls topside?" Mercury waggled his eyebrows at Ekko.
Ekko paused his routine. He thought to himself for a moment. "Eh, not really."
Mercury made a shocked noise. "Oh? Now that surprises me 'cause I've seen topsider gals and I know for certain that they aren't slouching in the looks department." Mercury leaned down to Ekko's face. There was a knowing look in the fair-skinned teen's eyes."Tell me straight, Little Man. You've got your eyes on someone down here?"
Powder flashed through Ekko's mind for a brief instant. His cheeks flushed and he laughed nervously, "Haha, uh… no! I mean, no. Nope, none, nada." Damn, he couldn't keep his cool for shit!
The smirk on Mercury's face evolved into a grin. "Really?" he drawled. "Nobody at all, huh? Are you sure that's your final answer?"
"Uh huh! Yep." He sounded like a damn squirrel.
He knew that if Mercury found out about his crush, it would make Benzo seem like he was downright supportive and defensive of Ekko. The bartender's teasing of kids was legendary and a crush on his adopted younger sister? Forget about it. Mercury would make his life filled with endless pestering and jokes at Ekko's expense.
Mercury didn't let up his closeness for a couple of moments, staring him in the eyes, searching for any signs of weakness or any hints on his face. Ekko got the image of a cat that was playing with their food. Finally, he straightened up again and stepped back.
"Okay, Ekko. I believe you." Whoof, looked like the coast was clear. No food this time, cat.
"Looks like you have a crush on 'nobody'." Mercury put quotation marks around 'nobody' with his fingers. Never mind, it looked like Mercury wasn't going to let up anytime soon. The coast was the opposite of clear.
Kill me now. Ekko's face burned scarlet. He wished for something to get him out of the situation, anything! Maybe Benzo needed his help inside. Ekko looked inside his home and saw Benzo and Vander having the time of their damn lives, laughing and drinking. No need for poor Ekko. Maybe there was someone else outside that he could distract Merc with. Ekko looked around quickly before he spotted them down the street. The enforcers.
Their footsteps echoed through the streets, hard and heavyset from the boots that made the echoes. Ekko heard the hard breathing and hissing from the gas masks that were wrapped around the faces of two enforcers. Mercury immediately set his face to stone, staring dead at them, his teasing quickly forgotten. Ekko was almost glad for the interruption but enforcers made it hard for him to be glad about anything.
There were two of them, a man and a woman. They were a bit aways down the street but their destination was clear: Benzo's. Their crisp, blue uniforms set them apart from the rest of the Lanes around them, like a composite of a terrible painting that some desperate artists have tried to pawn off at Benzo's.
Ekko noted the woman leading the man. She walked briskly and yet was relaxed, like she knew that the city couldn't touch her. Like it wasn't allowed to touch her. Unlike other enforcers who came down to their side of the river, she didn't wear goggles so he could see her eyes. They were sharp and powerful. He could almost see the nobility of being a member of the police force within the woman if it wasn't for the man behind her.
The taller enforcer looked around the streets of Zaun like it had somehow offended his sense of sight. He marched stiffly and within rank of the woman, giving no clear signs of disrespect but Ekko knew the man's look. He could see it without even seeing the whole of the man's face, covered as it was by a mask. It was the same look that Ekko received from some of the citizens topside when he was following that inventor guy. It was the look of contempt and disgust. "Just another piece of Undercity trash," it told him.
"Ekko," Mercury said to him. Ekko looked at him but Mercury was still keeping his eyes on the approaching enforcers. "Get on out of here. Vander and I will take care of this."
Without any input from the boy, Mercury opened the door to the store. Ekko heard Mercury say, "Old man, we got company," before the door shut behind him.
Ekko was left alone outside and the two enforcers were quickly upon him. He leaned against his bike. He built it himself. It had taken him a while to scrounge up the parts for it but it was totally worth it. There was nothing quite like the feeling of flying down the streets of the Lanes. He often took joyrides on it with Powder and she agreed with him.
He took a quick breath. Just like Mercury said: confidence was key. He just had to play it cool. He relaxed and saluted them because he was a law-abiding and proud citizen of the city. "Well, hello," he smiled.
The female enforcer gave him a curt nod and entered Benzo's while the male enforcer gave him a cold look before quickly pretending he didn't exist and roughly opened the door to the store and entered. Rude.
Ekko took a quick peek into the window to Benzo's store. The glass was stained and colored and the figures in the store became slightly warped to Ekko's vision. The two wavy enforcers took seats to either side of a brown looking Vander. Mercury stood still behind Vander, leaning against the wall with arms crossed. There was no trace of a smile anywhere on his face. Benzo was behind the counter, fixing Vander a drink. Benzo didn't offer the enforcers anything.
He saw their mouths open and move but Ekko couldn't hear anything past the glass. Benzo had made sure that deals on the inside couldn't be heard on the outside and for once Ekko regretted that fact. His curiosity was peaked and he desperately wanted to sate it.
There seemed to be arguing, mostly from the male enforcer. Ekko decided that he would name the male enforcer Dick. If he were to guess, Dick would have been arguing about the explosion topside. Everyone on their side of the Undercity had heard of it. Ekko saw Mercury's lips moving and a smirk graced his face. It was the first time his lips quirked up since the enforcers arrived. However, it had none of the friendliness it normally did; it only had coldness and frost.
Dick's reaction to Mercury's inaudible words was quite spectacular. He jumped out of his seat and gripped Mercury by his collar. Mercury looked unimpressed. Dick was almost frothing at the mouth. Like a dog, Ekko thought to himself.
He saw Mam (Ekko got the impression her name was Mam) say something to Dick and he let Mercury down. He turned to face Mam and Ekko saw his face. His jaw was clenched and he had a dark look to his eyes. The same type of look that customers gave Benzo when he refused them service. Dick shot everyone in the room beside his fellow enforcer glares and straightened his uniform. Uh oh, Dick was on the way out the door.
Ekko scrambled out of the way and made his way up to the floor above Benzo's before Dick could have opened the door and spotted him. He entered the alley next to the store and clambered up some boxes to the space above Benzo's. It used to be a part of the building but nobody used it anymore so Benzo just remodeled it into a skylight for the store. "To let some natural light in here. It's damn depressing without it," Benzo said. The skylight was heavily stained glass so there wasn't any risk to him being spotted by a wayward glance up.
To the right of the skylight, there was a tube. Ekko put his right eye to the glass on top of the tube and adjusted some knobs and switches. He had created this tube system a while back. He made it when Benzo wouldn't allow him to stay in the store while he was dealing with some "sensitive" clients. It was connected to the eyehole of one of the display masks that Benzo had in the corner of the store and was conveniently positioned so that it was able to view all of the room at once. It was how Ekko had found out about Benzo and Vander's "literature".
From what he could see, Vander offered Mam a drink. That was weird, nobody offered enforcers anything in the Lanes. What would enforcers accept from the fleas in the slums? What was weirder still was the fact that Mam accepted the drink. Ekko put the speaker of the tube system to his ear and listened in on their conversation.
"-crossed a line upstairs," Mam said.
Vander furrowed his eyebrows and massaged his temple. "Was anyone hurt?"
Uh, Vander, a building was blown to bits. What do you think? Ekko thought.
"A building was blown to bits. What do you think?" Mam echoed his thoughts. What the hell? Did the words that he thought of really just come out of an enforcer's mouth?
While Ekko was undergoing an existential crisis because of his enforcer-like thought process, Mercury interjected, "How many people?"
Mam responded without looking at him, "Luckily there were no deaths or I would have already come in here full force."
Mercury snorted. "Yeah, I would like to see how that would go down."
Vander put his drink down and gave a withering look to Mercury. The white-haired teen sighed and looked away. "Sorry, Grayson. We're just as worried as you about this incident."
The day couldn't get weirder. Mercury often played as the enforcer in Enforcers and Street Rats with Ekko and the rest of the gang. Whenever he lost, he made sure to make himself look as humiliating as possible. Why would Mercury apologize to an enforcer?
Vander continued where Mercury left off. "We'll deal with whoever did this. This is our business just as much as it is yours."
"I don't think you understand the exact gravity of our business," she said. "That workshop? The one that one of your people blew up? It belonged to the Kiramanns."
Kiramann? Ekko wracked his brain for any sort of familiarity. It sounded like a name he should have known. It definitely sounded like it was important and, judging by the looks of the faces of Mercury, Vander, and Benzo, it certainly was.
Grayson continued, "The things in that workshop?" She looked around the room. "Makes this place look like a candy shop. The council needs someone to make an example of. People need to feel safe."
Vander shot back, "Yeah, topside people."
"Look, we had a deal. Mercury, you were there too. You keep your people off my streets and I stay out of your business," she said. "We both know what happened last time you stepped across the river. Give me a name and I can put this issue to bed."
Ekko blinked. It had to be some kind of joke, right? Vander had a deal with the enforcers? Vander? The Hound of the Underground? That Vander? And Mercury was there too?
Mercury spoke, "That's the problem, isn't it? 'Your people'. 'My people'. I thought we were supposed to be one city. We're supposed to be 'your people' too."
Grayson finally looked at him, "Kid, we both know that's not how it is. I don't like it either but that's the way things are. There's a 'we' and there's a 'you'."
Mercury nodded and took in a breath, "Well, then I know I can speak for Vander when I say that we can't give up our own people."
Grayson shifted her attention to Vander. "Is that true? Does he speak for you? You know that if you say yes, there are going to be consequences. I will have to return and the next time I will have to bring an army of enforcers down with me."
Vander was quiet for a moment and took a sip of his drink. He returned her look. "Like you said, there's a 'we' and there's a 'you'. And you know that we can't offer anyone up."
There was a resigned silence between everyone in the room. The enforcer sighed heavily and pulled something from her pocket. Ekko thought that they must have really trusted her because nobody flinched or moved when she did so. She placed something in front of Vander on the counter. Ekko recognized it as a pneumatic canister.
"If you change your mind, this will reach me," she pointed to the canister. As Grayson moved to leave Benzo's, she said, "And only me." She opened the door and left.
Vander held the canister in his hand and considered it. He let out a breath and placed it in his pocket. "Merc, keep the kids out of trouble. Take them somewhere out of the way tomorrow. I'll take care of the bar."
"You got it, boss." Mercury took a seat next to him. Benzo poured the teen a glass of apple cider. "We know how this goes. This will all blow over in a bit. The Council will forget about this and just go back to make bills to make themselves richer or something."
Ekko saw from the look on Mercury's face that he didn't really believe his own words.
Vander chuckled humorlessly. The two of them clinked glasses. He took a swig of his drink and lit up his pipe. "I hope so, Merc. I hope so."
The Next Day
The Arcade was the first place that Mercury thought of when Vander told them to lay low. He and the kids were pretty much the only people who knew about it so it was the perfect place for them to hunker down.
He found the place abandoned and in disrepair when he was living alone with Vander. The machines were broken apart and ransacked for parts. There had been a layer of dust across the whole of the space so he knew that it hadn't been touched in years. He hadn't been too involved with helping manage the bar at the time so he spruced it up.
He rebuilt the punching machine and added a scoreboard. He carved out the targets for the shooting range and cleaned up the mechanism which allowed them to move. He even chipped in some of his own money to buy some new arcade machines like Wac-Man and Sea Invaders. For a few years, it was his hobby to renovate the building. For a while, it felt like a home away from home. A place where he could relax and put his mind to things other than… something he would rather not think about.
After he became a mostly full time bartender and definite full time older brother, Mercury simply didn't have the time to visit the Arcade with any of the kids. However, one day the kids were extra bored and he had to watch the bar. He couldn't stick with them the whole day so he showed them the Arcade. They fell in love with it instantly. If they weren't on a small heist or at the Last Drop, they were at the Arcade enjoying the fruits of his labor.
It was for the first time in about four years that Mercury stepped into his Arcade with Vi, Mylo, Claggor, and Powder. He looked around appreciatively. They had done some renovations of their own. They added their own lighting rig; it looked like black lights. He supposed that they made it to serve as their own personal party lights or as a distraction in case they were ever caught. Smart. There were also many more targets in the shooting range and it looked like they painted his carvings as well. Instead of being just blank silhouettes, they were goofy enforcers and topsiders. There was the occasional faux Mercury and Mylo as well.
"Wow, love what you guys have done with the place," Mercury said.
Vi flipped on a switch and the shadowed establishment became filled with electric light. Machines flickered on and blinked with ringing noises of arcade games. The hanging lights above them stuttered to life.
She took her place at the punching machine and got to work. Mercury took a look at the scoreboard. The top score to the bottom was mostly just Vi, with Claggor thrown in a few times. Wow, her scores were way higher than Mercury's when he set up the machines. Vander had taught her well.
Claggor took a seat at Lane Fighters. He started up the game, selected his character, and began mashing buttons furiously to beat his artificial opponent.
Older brother instincts kicked in. "Don't lean too close. It'll hurt your eyes, Claggor. You have goggles, not glasses!" Mercury said to him.
Claggor waved him off quickly. "Shh. I'm trying to beat my record. I'll worry about my eyes later."
"Don't say I didn't warn you!"
Powder grabbed Mercury by the hand and excitedly dragged him to the counter of the shooting range. "Come on, come on! You haven't played here with us before and I need to see how you do!"
The girl let go of his hand and vaulted over the counter. She ducked beneath and began fiddling with some wires and tubes. He chuckled mirthfully. Her attitude was a far cry from the day before.
Mylo stepped behind Mercury. "You gotta watch her close," Mylo whispered in his ear. "She could be fixing the games. I swear I'm not that bad."
Mercury peered at the scoreboard for the shooting range above them. Sure enough, Mylo was dead last. What was surprising to him was Powder's position on the leaderboard. She was number one and she was close to maxing out the score. Mercury knew she was a good shot, he saw her hit a can with a slingshot three stores down from the Last Drop before, but he didn't know that she was a great shot.
The blue haired girl called out from under the counter, "I heard that!"
"Oh, I don't know, Powder. It's kind of hard for me to believe that an itty bitty girl like you could be way better at this game than I am, y'know? Plus I haven't been here in a few years so I don't know what you guys have been doing to my games," Mercury teased.
Mylo nodded along to his words.
Powder popped up from under the counter and connected one final tube. The targets immediately began shifting from one end of the range to the other, sliding slowly and weaving in between each other. The shooting range lit up under a black light and luminescent paint became visible. There were skulls and animals painted in Powder's signature style.
Mercury was proud of her budding artistry. Maybe one day he could take her out for some light graffiting. Some quality siblings one on one time.
Powder pouted at him and he grinned back. She jumped back over the counter and grabbed a toy gun. The guns were all loaded with rubber balls. She took aim and drew in a short breath before she started firing in rapid succession. The rubber balls impacted the targets on the cut outs. All of her shots hit the mark. She scored head shots, body shots, and even some of the bomb shots. Mercury looked at the scoreboard again. Powder was quickly overtaking many of the positions on the board. Ninth, seventh, fourth, second. She became first place, beating her previous record in practically no time at all.
The game ended, the targets all slowed to a stop, and the lights dimmed. The blue haired girl lowered her firing arm. She gave him a sideways glance and a triumphant grin. "Hah! Beat that!"
Mercury matched her grin and grabbed a toy gun of his own. "Foolish Powder! You know nothing of aim and accuracy. Observe and weep at my mastery of the firearm!" It was time for Older Brother Duty 4! Show off to your younger siblings whenever you have the chance!
Vi finished her own game, beating her previous record as well. She rolled her shoulders and shook her arms until they were sufficiently stretched. Man, the sisters were really fired up that day, huh? She stood next to her sister and wrapped her arm around Powder's shoulders. The younger girl leaned into Vi.
"Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen you use a gun. Or even a pipe. Do you even know how to fight?" she asked.
Mercury looked at both of them from the corner of his eye. Mylo was off to the side and he looked interested in his response as well. Claggor was buried in his game, still intently focused on demolishing his previous digital record.
"Well, I haven't fought in a few years. I try to talk or run away mostly. If that doesn't work, then I'll just wait until they break their hands punching my perfect bod."
Vi rolled her eyes at his words. Clearly she didn't respect the work that he put in to sculpt his bodice into a lean, mean, drink serving machine.
He frowned briefly. Fighting brought bad memories to the fore of his mind. It was all screaming, fire and smoke. A bloody bridge. Then, a haunting silence and a sad song. No… he didn't want to remember those things.
Mercury shook his head and gave them all a cocky grin. "Never mind that. Witness me!" Mercury took a stance and aimed his sights at the targets. Then, he pulled the trigger and everyone was promptly amazed… at how terrible he was.
The rubber bullets missed their intended destinations by leagues. His cutouts had nothing to fear from their creator. His aim was so spectacularly awful that he even somehow managed to hit Claggor on the back of his head. Even though Claggor was behind him on the other side of the room and Mercury was "aiming" down the shooting range in the opposite direction. Oh, that's right. He was never any good with a gun. How did he forget that?
Vi whistled, "Yeah, we're witnessing alright. And I have to be honest, I'm not sure if I can believe my eyes. How is anyone that bad with a pistol?"
"Yeah, you suck!" Powder giggled.
Mylo rested his elbow on top of Powder's head. "And I thought I was bad." Powder pinched him on his side and Mylo retreated with a wince.
"I thought you said 'I'm not that bad'?" Powder said. She squinted her eyes at Mylo. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before they both nodded their heads in agreement. It seemed that they reached an understanding of one another. They both pointed their fingers at Mercury and laughed at him.
Mercury cried to himself on the inside. It was good that the two were bonding but did it have to be at his debasement?
Claggor shouted from the other side of the room. "Damn! I was just about to beat my high score too! Merc!"
Vi nodded to herself. She made a decision. "We're never letting you touch anything that even looks like a gun again, Merc. You could get us all killed," she laughed. Mercury drooped his head.
"Yep, I'll just take that, thank you very much!" Powder snatched the pistol from the shocked Mercury's hands.
Mercury fell to his knees and gripped his heart. "Ugh, critical damage! Respect from everyone, rapidly falling. Self-esteem, quickly fading." He wheezed and crawled toward the window. "Must… escape… to recuperate… pride."
He cracked a smile when he heard them laughing. He looked out of the dirty windows and pawed at them. "Help! Please, someone help me!" They laughed harder. He pawed more desperately. "The younglings aren't… respecting… me…" He dropped his smile.
Through a crack in the window, he spotted enforcers clearing through the streets, questioning anyone that was brave enough to look at them. At their head, he spotted Marcus, Sheriff Grayson's second. Shit, they were combing through the area for the kids. He addressed the still laughing kids, keeping his eye trained on Marcus interrogating a Zaunite in broad daylight, "Do you guys have any contraband on you from the job?"
They immediately lost their humor and they each shook their heads. All except for Powder. She looked sheepish and pointed to her satchel, which was filled with glowing blue crystals. They shone with an eerie light. Damn. Of all the times to…
"You guys get out of here, quick. I'll buy some time," he whispered. He was the only one of them who wasn't associated with the job so he wouldn't give anything away. "Head to the Last Drop and hide. Go!"
Powder asked, "But what about you?"
Mercury turned his head back to face them. He saw that the others had the same question on their face.
Mercury gave them a soft smile. He reassured them, "They're after you guys. They won't care about me so don't worry."
Vi and the boys nodded and ran to the back door. Powder stayed behind with a worried look on her face. Mercury kneeled down to her and put his hands on her shoulders. With the same smile on his face, he said, "I'll catch up with you guys soon, okay?" He squeezed her shoulders.
Powder held out a pinkie. "Pinkie promise?"
Mercury laughed and clasped his pinkie with hers and shook. "Pinkie promise. Now go."
Powder nodded hesitantly and turned to catch up with the rest who were waiting for her. Vi grabbed hold of Powder's arm and they took off out of the back door of the Arcade.
As soon as the door closed behind them, a body crashed through the windows of the Arcade. Shattered glass flew and littered the floor. It was the same man that he saw Marcus interrogating just a moment before.
Mercury stood and locked eyes with the deputy through the much bigger crack in the window that the enforcer had so generously provided for them. The man's eyes narrowed coldly and the hiss of his mask gave his voice an inhuman quality. He pointed his baton at Mercury. "Search him."
Mercury didn't release his eye contact with the deputy even as the enforcers who flanked him stalked toward the teen. Mercury kept his arms up because he was a law-abiding and proud citizen of the city. The two enforcers began patting him down and he couldn't help but give some snide remarks. Just because he was willing to cooperate, that didn't mean that he was going to be a push-over. "Hey, getting a bit handsy there huh? At least buy me a meal first, big guys."
The enforcer to his left ignored him and the one patting down his right glowered at him. It seemed that they didn't share his humor. Oh well, Mercury would be surprised if they even had a sense of humor at all. Their masks and goggles seemed to strip them of any humanity they normally would have. It was part of their image problem down in the Lanes as well; it made them much easier to hate if they didn't show their face. They finished frisking him and stepped away. The only things that he had in his pockets were lint.
The deputy stepped across the broken glass right up to Mercury's face, looking down on him. "What are you doing here, Mercury? I don't think this is a place you come to alone. Do you?"
Mercury replied, "Well, I don't think I am alone. I've got you guys right here? I think that's plenty of company, don't you?" He smiled at him, all teeth. "Want to play something here? Oh, sorry. I think the punching machine is broken so if you want to play, one of you guys will have to… volunteer." He brushed the left shoulder of one of the enforcers.
Quick as a flash, Marcus gripped his batton and whipped Mercury across his left cheek. His head snapped to the side. He staggered for a second and almost fell but he caught himself. His right hand instinctively reached back for a staff that wasn't there. Mercury glared at Marcus for a moment before standing straight again. He let his hand relax at his side.
Mercury weighed his options. He could run. He was the fastest person in Zaun by a mile. In a foot race, he was unbeatable. He knew the streets and would be out of the enforcers' sights within seconds; they would never be able to keep up. He could do that, it would distract the enforcers longer, keep their attention on him. It would guarantee that the kids would get to the Last Drop without any problems from Marcus. It would be easy, flip the black light switch, confuse them for a bit. Wait for them to get their bearings and chase after him for a while before he leaves them in the dust.
If Mercury ran, however, then that would implicate him. Marcus would know that the teen knew something. And Mercury wasn't exactly unknown in the Lanes. The deputy would find him at the Last Drop and find the kids by extension. Mercury couldn't allow that to happen. He had to play it cool.
The white-haired teen laughed and rubbed his cheek gingerly. "Wow, that's gonna leave a mark. Gonna have to get some ice for that."
"I'm not in the mood for games, Mercury," Marcus growled.
"Well, if you're not in the mood for games, Marcus, then you sure have come to a bad place for it." Mercury motioned at the surrounding Arcade.
Marcus ignored him. "Tell me where they are," he said.
Mercury had no intention of giving Marcus an easy time."Oh, I'm quite certain I have no idea who you're talking about." Mercury walked slowly away from them, taking a seat on the counter of the shooting range. "Chill out, take a breather, play some games. I know you're not in the mood but stress does terrible things to your eyes. If you relax some, maybe you'll be able to find who you're looking for faster." He shrugged his shoulders. "Just a suggestion."
The two of them locked eyes in silence for a moment. Marcus searched Mercury's face for something.
"He's stalling. Check the back," the deputy snarled. The two enforcers snapped to attention at the deputy's orders and dashed toward the back entrance of the Arcade. Marcus gave Mercury a glare and rushed toward the back after his cronies.
Marcus laid across the counter, put his arms under his head, crossed his feet, and sighed. "You're not gonna find anything there, my guy."
He had already done his job; they were sufficiently distracted. He trusted the kids to escape quickly. He had it on good authority that the Fearsome Four had recent practice with quick getaways.
Vi, Mylo, Claggor, Ekko and Powder arrived at the Last Drop and opened the doors. They had picked up Ekko along the way when he offered them a shortcut above the buildings on the streets after they were cornered by passing enforcers on the way to the pub. Luckily, they weren't spotted but it was a close call.
There was a crowd forming within the confines of the bar. From the murmuring that they heard as they weaved through the mob, they had gathered because of the enforcers moving in on the streets. They were agitated and Vi could tell that they were itching for a fight. To be honest, so was she. Mercury may have bid them to run but she was more than willing to tussle with the enforcers.
Vander was leaning against the counter of the pub with Benzo standing to his right. They looked tired.
She ushered the rest of her company with her to an empty corner to watch the proceedings. She had a feeling that it was going to be a very important conversation.
She heard Claggor whisper to Powder, "What'd he say to you?"
"He promised he would catch up with us," she said.
Vi knew how serious promises were to Mercury. He never broke a promise with them. She chuckled to herself. One time, she had gotten Mercury into a bet where if he lost, he would have to wear a skirt and dress for a day. It was an arm wrestling contest and she had won handily.
Sure enough, the next day, he was a barmaid and even had makeup applied by herself and Powder. Mylo and Claggor took endless pictures. Even Vander was amused. The moment that he saw Mercury, he almost choked on his pipe and let out uproarious laughter. It was the busiest day that the Last Drop had ever seen. The whole of the Lanes had heard about the bet and had come to see Mercury as a barmaid. The best part was that Mercury was laughing right along with the rest of them.
They stood there for a couple more minutes. More people filed in and filled the seats steadily. Everyone of all ages and races came. The young and the old, the human and the yordle. All of them looked just as ticked off.
The crowd in front of them hit critical mass and someone slammed their fist into a table. "We need to hit them back! We have the numbers!" she yelled. Vi recognized her as Sevika, a regular at the Last Drop.
"Yeah!" another person cried. "We should teach them what it means to mess with the Lanes!" The crowd around him shouted their approval.
Vi couldn't help but agree. The enforcers were invading their territory and intimidating her people. She didn't understand how Vander could stand it when she knew for a fact that he loved the Lanes with all of his heart and was practically their leader. There wasn't any official leadership in Zaun, it was barely a part of Piltover but it was still technically under the government of the Council so there was no one to represent them in an official capacity. All of the Council members were part of the nobility; there was nobody from the Lanes at their table. Vi and the rest of the Undercity were just the parts of the city that the Council forgot about until it was convenient for them.
Vander took a moment to light his pipe. He drew in a breath of smoke and released it with a weary look. He asked the crowd, "Are you sure that's what you want? Because we've been down that bridge before. We all know how that ended."
"Yeah," another voice called out. "With us beat like shit." The doors squeaked open and the bell jingled. Mercury walked in and the crowd hushed. He had a massive, welting bruise on his cheek. "Can I get some ice?"
Vander's face grew concerned and he immediately grabbed a small bag of ice behind the counter and threw it at Mercury. He caught it and pressed it to his face. He sighed in relief and said, "Man, that feels great."
"What happened?" one of the crowd asked. Vi didn't need to ask to know; it was the enforcers.
For as long as Vi and Powder knew him, no matter what anyone did to him, Mercury never fought back. He wasn't defenseless and he didn't allow himself to get beat up but he still never lifted his hand against another person. At least not in any manner more violent than his usual play-wrestling with one of them. If he stayed behind to deal with the enforcers, then he stayed behind to take a punch for them.
Mercury waved his hand dismissively and replied, "Don't worry, Duncan. Nothing really happened." He walked to his rickety stool on the right of Vander and sat straight, nursing his cheek with the bag of ice.
Vi felt a stab of guilt and a flash of anger; it was their fault that this happened to him. If they hadn't taken the job and Powder didn't get those crystals, they wouldn't have had to run and he wouldn't have been alone with the enforcers on their behalf.
Sevika shouted, "Bullshit, nothing happened! It was the enforcers. Look, Vander!" She pointed at Mercury. "Will you really do nothing? Merc's practically your son and you still won't lift a finger when they do this?"
Vander clenched his fists in response. He was trembling. Vi knew the way his shoulders shook and his fingers twitched. Vander was furious. And from the way his eyes darkened, Vi knew it was fury toward the Enforcers and Piltover.
Vander cared about each of them, sure, and he raised the four of them with equal care and attention but Mercury was the one who had been with him the longest. Vander trusted Mercury with all of the things that he felt Vi wasn't old enough for and he was the closest thing that Vander had to an actual, biological son. If the enforcers had touched Merc, then Vi was sure Vander was prepared to raise hell.
Sevika continued, "The Vander I knew, the one who built the Underground? He wouldn't be afraid to fight."
Vander glanced at the knuckle dusters he had above his wall. Vi saw a longing in his eyes and she saw the way his hands flexed in anticipation at wearing them again. Sevika's words were getting to him. Yes, yes! Vi thought. She stood straighter and swelled with anticipation. She saw that the kids beside her were also getting ready.
Then, Mercury rested his hand on Vander's shoulder. Vander blinked. He looked at Mercury who shook his head. Vi saw that there was an understanding between them. She thought that their bond was similar to hers and Powder's; they seemed to know what they wanted to say without even speaking at times.
Vander let out a breath and relaxed his shoulders and let his hands go limp. "No… No, this is another storm that will blow over. We just need to stand together, like we always have."
"This isn't 'standing together', Vander. This is being weak," Sevika scoffed. "I thought you were the Hound of the Underground. I was wrong." She moved to leave and the crowd moved with her. She said, "You're just a whipped dog now."
Vander stood quietly for a moment, then hung his head and sighed. He took a seat next to Mercury, who rubbed his shoulder.
As the mob cleared out, the kids began to make their way downstairs as well. They were shaking their heads in disappointment. They really thought that they would finally retaliate.
Powder said, "We should fight! One of our own got hurt. Topside is just trying to bully us. We fought them once already, let's do it again!"
"Geez, even Powder wants to fight," Mylo said.
"So why aren't we?" Vi asked. It was infuriating to her. Zaun was just Piltover's punching bag and Vander looked like he was content to just let it stay that way.
Before she went down the stairs, she spotted out of the corner of her eye Ekko standing stock still. The kid's hour glass marked face was trying to maintain a nonchalant look and was horribly failing. Vi knew never to bring him to any card games; he had a terrible poker face.
Vi raised her eyebrow. His eyes darted away from her and was resolutely determined to not make contact. She was sure of it; Ekko knew something. Vi said, "Spill it, Ekko."
Ekko stuttered, "W-well, uh… Vander's sort of got a deal with the enforcers?" He made it sound more like a question. "And uh… Merc's in on it too."
What? Vander and Mercury had a deal with the enforcers?
"What deal?" she asked.
Ekko waved his hands around. "Well, it's kinda like this: Vander promised the sheriff that we would stay out of Topside so the sheriff would stay out of our business," he explained.
Vi widened her eyes. What the hell? She looked at Mercury and Vander speaking quietly to each other. She thought that she knew them the best out of anyone in the Undercity.
What else were they hiding from them?
Silco looked outside the glass window of his fish market, standing next to Deckard. He always made sure he knew the names and details of all the agents under his employ. It fostered loyalty between them and him, if not in spirit then in fear. Nobody wanted to cross the man who knew every detail of their lives.
It was dark in the room. The only light that illuminated the space was the glow of the tubes and vials containing their experimental potions and drugs. Dark lighting in the room afforded him a better view of the sea outside of his window. Large industrial lights, the kind they used for lighting the bridges, lit the outside sea for his viewing pleasure.
There were enormous sea creatures floating along the seafloor. Just past the light emanating through the window and the industrial rigging, Silco could see the dark silhouette of an monstrously sized beast with innumerable tentacles grappling an equally sized shark. The rule of nature: the stronger will devour the weaker. It applied just as much to the civilized world as it did any untamed wild. He sympathized with the struggles of the shark. He recalled a feeling of desperation, the splashing of water and the burning of river toxins on his face.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" he mused. It wasn't a question. The teen next to him was silent, unsure if he was allowed to speak. "And yet, up there, no one knows they exist."
Deckard turned and said, "They're monsters."
Of course they were monsters. Monsters lived in the depths and in the dark, out of the way of everyone's sight. They were the things that no one wanted to look at because it reminded them of the fear that they had. His brother had called him a monster once, too afraid to see things the way Silco saw them, the way things were.
"There are monsters inside of each of us." And now, he had a way to bring out the monster each person had hidden away. Silco revealed the purple vial he had in his hand to Deckard. It emitted a sinister light.
Deckard flinched and took a step back. "W-what? No. No, that'll kill me!"
Refusal? The boy had suddenly grown brave. That was alright. It was a completely reasonable reaction and Silco was nothing if not a reasonable man. After all, death was highly likely and he could understand the fear of death. He brushed with it many times in his day. However, no matter how reasonable the boy's concerns were, Silco didn't take no for an answer. The boy just needed a little… nudge.
Silco drew the shiv that Deckard had strapped to his belt before the boy could react and inspected it. The knife was chipped and dulled in some spots. The handle only had a tattered wrap around it to serve as a grip. He supposed that the boy could be excused for his lack of attention on the blade. He didn't have the resources to even buy food regularly. However, Deckard should know to at least maintain his weapon. In Silco's time, an improperly maintained weapon was sure to get the person who used it killed. That was a lesson that he learned when he killed a man who was trying to break his arm with a brittle pipe. He stabbed the man in the neck with the sharp end of the half of the pipe that had broken off against his arm.
He tossed the knife away. It was a tool that was ultimately useless. He would teach Deckard a different lesson. "I'd like to let you in on a very important secret I learned when I was your age, boy." He walked past the boy, sure that his attention was focused solely on Silco. After all, it would be quite rude to ignore him while he was educating the boy. "You see, power, real power, doesn't come to those born the strongest, fastest, or smartest." His brother came to his mind.
"No, it comes to those who are willing to do anything to achieve it." Moral character gave power? Silco would have laughed if he hadn't lost his humor in the river. Those who were willing to lie, cheat, bribe and make the darkest deals were the ones who would come out on top. He was no stranger to dark deals and neither were the topsiders he wanted nothing more than to be rid of. In fact, one of them had made a deal with him not too long before. A certain deputy.
Silco offered Deckard the vial once more. "Now, it's time to let the monster out."
The boy looked at the vial again, eyes wide in fear, hesitance, and something else. Silco knew what it was; it was a desire. The desire to be powerful. The boy snatched the glass out of his hand, uncorked it, and before he could falter, downed it all.
He immediately doubled over. He let out a shout of pain and crumpled to the ground. He shouted again but it sounded more like a beastly scream. The boy's muscles grew rapidly, threatening to tear open his skin. His limbs contorted and stretched painfully and he thrashed against the floor. The Shimmer that he had ingested glowed within his body, spread quickly, and shined against his skin along the veins it was travelling. A ripping sound filled the room as his clothes shredded apart seam by seam. His scleras blackened and his irises turned a vibrant violet.
All of a sudden, he was still. All Silco could hear was the hum of the industrial lights shining outside the window toward the ocean. For just a moment, he was concerned that his experiment had failed. It would have been quite inconvenient if he had Singed continue his research for longer; he had a timeline to maintain, after all. However, Deckard the Monster slowly arose from the ground. He slammed both of his grotesque hands down on the ground, almost cracking the floor, and pushed himself up.
Once he stood tall, he was almost twice his original height and bulging with muscle mass. His clothes were torn and stretched thinly against his new bulk. His face was a rictus of rage and he snarled. Silco knew then that Deckard tasted, for the first time in his short life, true power. The monster let out a roar that shook the room and tested the strength of the glass that made up the window to the sea.
Silco smiled, how could a man not smile when he saw the future? He looked at the discarded vial on the floor. It was a new tool that would change the city forever. Silco thought about the topsiders, the Council, sitting in their ivory towers and cushy thrones. With Shimmer, they would know fear. With Shimmer, Zaun could be a nation, like he and his brother had dreamed. The dream they once shared.
He looked outside the window once more. Outside, the marine battle had been decided. The shark had managed to devour the tentacled beast and was swimming away from its victory, no doubt with its stomach sated. The monster's many appendages that were torn from the body in the battle were slowly floating to the surface of the water, certain to soon be another oddity that fishermen would gawk and wonder at.
Silco didn't have to wonder. He saw the murky blood of dying beasts every day.
Author's Note:
Man, I loved writing Silco. In the show, he's a wonderful character. Super nuanced and complex and a fantastic antagonist.
So, some more fleshing out of the relationships between characters, some more plot beats, and some more perspectives from different characters. This chapter hasn't diverged too much from the canon story but don't worry, things will spiral eventually.
I have a good portion of the story planned out, from Act 1 to mid Act 2. When I wrote Chapter 1, I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants and throwing together whatever worked. Now, I'm really excited about the upcoming events because they will be super rad to write and I hope super rad for you guys to read. It'll even link up with dialogue and jokes from the first chapter which as I've said wasn't really made with any sort of plan in mind.
I've had a few questions about pairings and things of a romantic nature. As of now, I don't have concrete plans for romantic relationships between any of the characters. There are some budding in my head and I can definitely see it happening but as I've said, this is my first fic so I will need some time to try to flesh out a believable romantic arc. There may be some things in the works but you guys will have to wait and see. I will add relationship tags once I find an appropriate way to slot it into the story.
This chapter covered the last Zaun scene of Episode 1 and half of Episode 2 and I will finish the next half of the episode in the next chapter.
Once again, review and comment! I need to know what to work on!
Till next time!