Here's the episode you've all been waiting for! Episode 3, or the episode when everyone cries. I know I did. I just hope that I can deliver!

Also, you guys are fucking awesome you know that? 100+ follows and 90+ favorites? That's incredible and I can't thank you guys enough. Without further ado, on with the depression-I mean story!

Chapter 4: Grow Up Fast

"What?! Why?!" Mercury yelled at Vander.

They were weaving their way through the Lanes, sharp turns and narrow alleys passing by them in a blur. In the nighttime in the Underground, some parts of the city felt more like a corpse to Mercury. After hours meant that the only people outside were the ones who didn't have anything to do in the day.

Mercury was following Vander but his footsteps knew the familiar tracing of their route; they were heading to Benzo's shop. His ragged boots had trotted their current path many times before. The moment he recognized it, he anticipated their turns quicker and followed along more smoothly. Mercury looked behind. Benzo had the same idea.

Vander shouted back again, "She's got it in her head to stop the war by herself!"

"And what? Make herself a martyr?" Benzo bellowed. The older man was breathing unevenly from their run. Evidently it had been a while since the portly man had to use his legs in such a way.

They made another turn, curving around Auntie's. The streets were usually quiet but around a brothel at night, there were always people milling around. Mercury had only ever passed by Auntie's in order to deliver some alcohol from the Last Drop or as a shortcut to Benzo's. Mercury had few interactions with the owner, Auntie, but the yordle was a lovely woman from his experience.

The three had to slow down and push through a crowd which glowed pink under neon lights. People were packed together and jostling into each other, some sipping wine and beer from glass cups.

"What are we gonna do?" Mercury asked. He maneuvered past a drunken group. "Grayson and her enforcers are probably on the way right now."

If Grayson had been waiting for Vander's message, then it was possible that she had a squad ready to head down from Piltover to make an immediate arrest. If that was the case, then they were likely already past the bridge and on the street to Benzo as they spoke. They didn't have any time to lose.

Vander pushed aside a drunken man who was stumbling in place and continued making his way forward. "I'll do it." There was grim determination in his face.

"What?" Mercury furrowed his eyebrows. He shuffled past a passed out man in his way.

"I'll turn myself in. It's the only way."

Mercury blinked. "No! No, Vander, the Lanes need you. The kids need you!"

What the hell was Vander thinking? He was the person who held the Undercity together. Everyone knew the name of the Hound of the Underground; everyone respected the name. Without him, it would all fall apart. Chaos would ensue and unsavory parties would vie to fill in the power vacuum left behind.

And the kids… Vander was their father, not in blood but in bond. They needed someone strong to look up to, someone with an unshakable and unbreakable moral compass. Mercury could manage taking care of the kids well enough on his own but he could never replace Vander's influence.

"The kids need you, Merc. And if the Lanes fell apart without one man, then it was already on its way out."

Mercury set his jaw. "No, no, I'll do it... I'll do it."

If the price that he had to pay to keep them safe was just himself, then Mercury was fine with it. His own years were nothing compared to theirs. Vi's, Powder's, Mylo's, and Claggor's youth and childhood were worth more than his entire existence.

They finally pushed past the crowd and continued into the quiet streets. The further they got from the brothel, the fewer people were scattered around them until they finally reached dark and empty streets again.

Vander sighed. "Merc, I've done some terrible things in my time. Horrible things. And… maybe I'll atone for them this way."

"So have I, old man. I've done… awful things. I'll atone."

Mercury still had nightmares from that night. Blue uniforms and scarlet blood haunted him. Broken masks and the sound of gunfire plagued his mind at the weary hours of the night. He hadn't gotten a full night of sleep ever since that day. He would just wake up in his bed in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling until the sun shone through the window and he had to put on a happy face. It only became genuine when he talked with his siblings.

Vander shook his head. "Merc, you're a kid. A good kid. You can actually help people. People head to the Last Drop to talk to you. To feel better. This… This isn't how you'll atone."

Vander paused to catch his breath. Mercury and Benzo stopped along with him. They had been running non-stop for a few minutes. Vander glanced at Mercury. "Like you said, I'm an old man. My number's come up." Vander clenched his fists. "My life… my life's been regret after regret. I won't let you become one. So please, let me do this. Let me take the fall."

They gazed into each other's eyes for a minute. Vander's eyes looked hazy and spent, not from the run but from the weight of his years. Mercury was reminded that old men in the Underground had a higher density of time in their years of life. They experienced so much, lost so much, that Piltovians could never understand. Even though Sheriff Grayson was technically older than Vander in terms of a few linear years, Vander eclipsed her in terms of experienced life.

Mercury let out a bitter breath and ran ahead of Vander; he already knew the way. He heard the two older men behind him run to catch up to him. There was just the sound of boots and shoes hitting the ground. Pounding. It echoed against the buildings and the ground like the beat of drums. Impact after impact shook Mercury's bones. The moonlight was hidden behind clouds and the only light that Mercury could rely on was the yellow and green of the street lights.

"Damnit, old man. This better not be goodbye, you hear me?!" Mercury didn't look back at Vander.

Vander chuckled behind him, "I would hope not. The bar might actually implode with you running it. I expect everything to look good when I come back."

They continued running.

Vi sat on a chair in the middle of Benzo's. Her head was lowered, contemplating the floor. The wooden planks were old and they hadn't been cleaned in a long time. It was different from the floors of the Last Drop. Mercury cleaned it every night, almost religiously, after closing. By morning, when the sun cast its rays into the Last Drop, the floors almost shined. It was different from Benzo's. The dust and footsteps had worn it down and they almost felt soft underneath her.

It felt strange, knowing that she would be looking at the inside of the store for what would be the last time in probably many years. The items and bobbles on the walls and shelves normally all screamed for her attention. Benzo did a good job at making his trinkets seem as appealing to the average customer. At that moment, however, they were as silent as she was. Waiting alongside her.

She held a hand to her chest. Thump, thump, thump. She felt her heart beating against her hand, past her skin and her clothes. She had never felt this nervous in her life, not when she broke Mylo's arm by accident, not when she knocked over a shelf full of bottles at the bar, not even when she lost Powder in crowded streets when her parents were still alive. No matter how many deep breaths she took, they all seemed too shallow.

It would be her last moments of freedom before she was sent to Piltover. She couldn't stop thinking about it. Feeling each second tick by her. Time was going too fast, the enforcers were approaching all too quickly. Time was going too slow, every moment felt agonizing.

Powder… Vi felt horrible doing this to her. Her younger sister's last blood relative being sent to prison or worse? But it was the only way. Vi could only hope that the young girl drew strength from her last gift and from the rest of the family. She was sure that Mercury could cheer Powder up no problem. It seemed that he made it his personal mission to ensure that Powder would be as happy as possible, that all of them would be as happy as possible.

Mylo and Claggor. The two boys would grow up fine without her. She chuckled to herself. There were far worse role models to have than Mercury and Vander, she thought.

She glanced at the clock. Tick, tick, tick. There was no other sound in the room beside the clock and the beating of her own heart. They didn't seem to sync up. Her heart beat far too fast. She looked at the door. Nothing. There was only the glow of the street lamps outside, blurred by the frosted glass of the shop. The moment that she entered Benzo's shop and closed the doors, the world outside became muffled.

For a moment, she could pretend that she was the only person in the entire universe. The room that she was in, the box, became the entire world. For a moment, she was free. There were no enforcers. There was no Piltover, no Zaun, no topside, no Underground. There was just… Vi.

But Vi knew in the next moment, or the one after that, she would have to stop pretending and put on the weight of chains.

She brought her head down again, and reminisced. She would rather focus on her past than think about her future. She first thought about the younger boys.

They picked up Mylo first, trying to pick Mercury's pockets out on the street. He must have been living under a rock or something because he didn't recognize the older teen from his reputation as the fastest man in Zaun. Mercury caught him, of course, and brought him into the Last Drop for a drink of apple cider. He had lived with them ever since. It took a while for him to trust them, trust was something of a luxury for street rats. But, eventually, he warmed up to them and was soon laughing alongside them at the dinner table.

Claggor they picked up last. He was a beggar on the street outside of Auntie's. He wasn't an orphan but rather was abandoned by his parents. They didn't know why; Claggor didn't like to talk about it. Vander found him on one of his trips to Auntie's and brought him to the Last Drop. There, Mercury immediately insisted that they brought him in and the rest was history. He was quicker to trust than Mylo. The promise of food and warmth for the night was hard to pass up for a beggar.

Together, they made a family. A roughly sewn family but tightly knit. It wasn't perfect but it didn't need to be. They had everything they had ever needed-a whole lot of care and a whole lot of joy. There were rough spots for sure but… that was okay. Vi smiled softly to herself. She was thankful for the chance that she had. She wouldn't have traded it for the world.

The sound of quiet and hurried footsteps shook Vi from her thoughts. She spied shadows quickly approaching the door.

She took a breath. It still felt too shallow. She pushed off the chair and stood up. It was time for her to face the music.

The door slammed open. She blinked in surprise. It wasn't the enforcers.

Vander strided toward her quickly, Mercury at his side. Benzo stood watch at the door, watching the streets.

"V-Vander? Merc? What are you guys doing here?"

"Listen," Vander was quickly upon her and gripped her shoulders with both his hands. His chest was heaving up and down. "We don't have much time."

Mercury made his way past both of them and opened the door to Benzo's sideroom.

Vander cupped her face in her hands. "I'm proud of you, always have been."

"I'm sorry. This… this is the only way to protect the others." It was her fault in the first place. If she just didn't take that job, if she were a little more careful, if… if she didn't bring Powder… then none of it would have spiralled like it did. She would take responsibility, she had to.

Vi heard the sounds of dogs barking in the distance. The enforcers. Benzo looked away from the streets and back at them. "Vander!"

Vander turned her head to meet his eyes. "You've got a good heart. Don't ever lose it." His eyes became cloudy. "No matter how the world tries to break you. Help Merc out. Protect the family."

Vi looked at him in confusion. Protect the family? How was she going to do that on the other side of the river? "What are you-?"

Vander tightened his grip on her and dragged her to the door Mercury held open. Vi grunted and struggled to free herself but Vander's hold on her was too strong. He pushed her down the stairs and she tumbled down the steps. She looked up and saw Mercury and Vander nodding to each other before Mercury went down the stairs after her and Vander closed the door behind her brother. She heard a lock clicking.

"No!" She tried to rush back up the steps but Mercury stood in her path. He pushed her back away from the door. "Merc! Get out of my way!"

"Sorry, Vi. No can do," he shook his head. There was none of his usual humor. "Boss man said so."

Behind him, Vi heard muffled voices, some made even more indistinct by the hiss and reverb of gas masks. The enforcers must have just arrived. They were there for her. But it wouldn't be her that they would be taking, she realized. It would be Vander.

Vi redoubled her efforts to reach the door. "Merc! This isn't right!" She tried to shove him out of the way but he ducked under her arms, slipped behind her and got her in a hold.

"This… this is what Vander wants, Vi. And I'm going to stand by that," he said solemnly. "So, please, let's just stay quiet and then we'll go home to everyone else."

"No! Dammit!"

Vi thrashed against his arms but he stood firm. Whenever Mercury had his mind on holding on to them, he never let go. Ever since Vi and Powder had known him, he often wrestled with them and they were never able to beat him. That wouldn't stop her from trying though.

She kicked him on the shin with her heel a few times. He grunted but didn't loosen his hold in the least. She tried knocking the back of her head against his face but he was too tall and she just managed to hit his collarbone.

Vi stopped struggling when she noticed something. It was quiet outside of the door. She tried keening her ears toward the top of the steps, hoping to hear something, anything!

Nothing.

She hung her head in defeat. They must have left.

Mercury released her and stepped away. He let out a frustrated sigh before looking at her. "Listen. I don't like it either, Vi."

Vi sank to her knees and glared at Mercury. For the first time in a long time, she wanted to curse and scream and yell at him. She wanted to desperately. But, she couldn't muster up the energy to do so. She just felt… exhausted. It was supposed to be her.

Mercury sighed. "I offered myself too. To turn myself in. But he-"

Screaming. There was screaming outside of the window.

A faint shouting managed to pierce past the soundproofing that Benzo had installed. They both turned, startled, to look at the windows. Vi saw the silhouette of an enforcer outside of their window. The shadow that they observed held their arms together in a shooting stance. And then, the enforcer was ripped apart and there was nothing but something red on the glass. Blood. Vi and Mercury stepped back. Vi felt her eyes widen in horror. A roar stabbed through the glass into their room.

It sounded like nothing that Vi had ever heard before. No human or animal could make the sound that they heard. It could have only been from something unnatural. A monster.

They heard Vander yelling. Vi blinked and shook to her senses. They had to help! She ran to the stairs again but this time she was quickly tackled to the ground. She felt a hand close over her mouth and Mercury's weight settled on top of hers.

"Vi!" he whispered. "Stay quiet!"

What the hell was he thinking? Vi shook under Mercury's body and attempted to wrest him off. He didn't budge. There was a monster out there and it was killing everyone! It could have been killing Vander! Why wouldn't he help her?

Vi struggled some more. Mercury had the advantage in their position. He was on top, he was taller and weighed more. The only thing that Vi had over Mercury was… her fists. Whatever spars they had, Vi would win handily. But, she had never considered seriously hurting Mercury.

There was more roaring and Vi looked at Mercury desperately. They had to help! She looked into Mercury's eyes and saw the same resolve that she had. What was he doing? Why was he looking at her like that? Vi glared at him and clenched her fists. She threw a punch onto his chest to throw him off. He grunted but maintained his grip on her. She threw another one. He grunted again. She threw another punch. And another. And another. And another. He still wouldn't move. Why wouldn't he move?

Vi felt tears spring to her eyes. Why wouldn't he move? Why? Vander was dying out there! She screamed into his hand and hit him more.

Thud. Why?

Thud. Move!

Thud. Get off!

Thud. Please!

Drip. Vi stopped. Drip. She felt it before she saw it. Drip. It was sweat. Drip. And tears.

She looked at Mercury again. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were shut tight. There was sweat falling from his forehead and chin onto hers. Tears were falling from his eyes onto her cheeks. They weren't from the pain. Vi knew Mercury never cried from pain. Most Zaunites didn't.

Vi let her hands fall limply to the side. It was quiet outside. She didn't know how long it had been that way. She hadn't noticed. The room was bathed in a red hue from the light streaming past the blood on the window. Mercury's hair and face appeared the color of a fading sun.

Mercury released his hand and fell to her side on the floor, breathing heavily and raspily.

"Why?" she croaked.

Mercury was silent for a moment. "That… thing… ripped apart enforcers in seconds," he choked. "If it heard us… it would have killed us. Killed you. I couldn't let that happen." He coughed.

"Vander…" Vi felt moisture streaming from her eyes. What happened to him? Did she even want to know? If the monster had torn him apart and she saw what was left of him…

They were in the room for a long time. There was no sound. There was just an empty, hollow silence between the two of them. They were locked in. They couldn't leave even if they wanted to. The darkness and the redness almost seemed to swallow them whole.

It was just like before Vander and Merc and Benzo walked in. Time seemed to grate against her very being. But this time, she couldn't pretend she was alone. She couldn't pretend that she was free. She was trapped helplessly in a bloody box.

Creak. The door opened. Light footsteps crept down the stairs. They both tiredly looked at the boy at the foot of the stairs.

It was Ekko. The boy had his eyes wide open; he was shell-shocked. His arms were held loosely at his side and he seemed almost ready to fall over, his knees were so weak.

"I saw everything…" he whispered. It sounded like the voice of a ghost.

Vi immediately got up from the ground and ran toward him and engulfed him in a hug. She felt the boy trembling in her arms.

"Be-Benzo… they…" he cried softly into her chest.

Vi felt the weight of a hundred bricks settle upon her. She hadn't even thought about Benzo. A man who was practically an uncle to them. She didn't even think about him.

The words came out of her lips before she even recognized them consciously. "What about Vander?"

"They took him…" he mumbled.

Vi gripped Ekko's shoulders and looked into his face. The tears streaming down his face left dark lines against the soot and ash on his skin.

Mercury stood up behind them and walked toward them. Vi looked at him. His eyes were dark and his teeth were clenched. He growled, "Where?"

Mercury and Vi ran back to the Last Drop. They didn't stop or slow down once. Mercury didn't have to slow down for Vi either, the bruises forming on his chest from her blows slowed him down enough that she was able to catch up.

They reached the building, opened the doors and dashed across the room to the basement door. Vi went through the door first and trudged down the steps, breathing heavily from their mad dash. Mercury followed her.

The kids looked up at their entrance. Mylo and Claggor were together, looking over some items that they picked up from the bar. Mercury spied Vander's gauntlets and other miscellaneous weapons like a bat and an enforcer's baton. Powder was laying in her bed, cuddling her bunny close to her chest.

Powder immediately sprang out of the bed and dashed over to her sister for a hug. She came in on Vi's side and wrapped her arms around her older sister's waist. "You're back!" Powder nuzzled her cheek into her sister's side. Vi didn't react. The younger girl looked up, confused. "Vi?"

Mercury opened his mouth. "Benzo's dead."

The three kids snapped their heads to look at him with their eyes wide open in shock.

"Dead?" Claggor breathed.

Vi hunched her shoulders and pulled her arms closer to herself. She moved away from Powder. "It… it was like nothing I've seen before. He was… torn apart."

Mercury had never seen anything like it either. In all of his years in Zaun, in all of his trips and exploration of the city, he had never seen such brutality in his life. When they left Benzo's shop, he instinctively tried to cover Vi's eyes but it was already too late. The sight was seared into their minds. The enforcers were ripped apart. Blood washed across the streets like a paint spill. Benzo's corpse… his corpse was mangled. He was sure that scene would haunt his nightmare forever, alongside the bridge.

"Vander was taken," Mercury said. He crossed his arms and looked at the lantern lighting the room. He could feel the attention of everyone in the room, looking at him for direction. "I'm gonna get him." He moved toward the door. "You guys stay here."

Vi shouted at him, "No! We're coming with you."

Mercury shook his head. "No, you're not," he said lowly.

"Yes, we are!" She shouted again.

"No! No you're not!" he shouted back. He turned to face them. "You guys are going to stay here!"

The kids backed away at his tone. Mercury blinked. He had never yelled at the kids like that. He looked at them again. They were scared. Skittish. He breathed out through his teeth and rubbed his temple.

He lowered his tone. "You guys are going to stay here because it's safer here. I can't risk you guys getting hurt. Got it?"

They were silent. He didn't wait for their reply. He had to get Vander before it was too late. He began ascending the stairs once more.

"And we let you get hurt? Again?" Claggor said.

Mercury paused on the stairs, the step creaking under his weight. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay with that."

"Well we're not!" yelled Claggor.

Mercury turned back to them. The kids were all staring at him challengingly. There wasn't any fear. And it wasn't defiance that sparked Claggor's outburst. It was a sort of firm resolution.

Mercury shook his head again. "No, guys, you don't understand. It's too dangerous-"

"It's always dangerous, isn't it?" Mylo said. The boy in front of him folded his arms. "The things that you take on for us? They're always too dangerous. And you always take the hit for us."

Mercury snorted. "Taking a hit for you guys is nothing-"

"It's not nothing!" Vi shouted. She stomped up to him and pulled him away from the stairs. She gripped him by the collar. "Do you know? Do you know how we feel when we see your bruises? When we see your cuts and scars? Because you took them for us? Do you know how much it hurts?"

She pushed him back a bit. He stumbled but caught himself. He stood straight again and opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he saw Vi's face.

She seemed on the verge of breaking down. Her. The strongest and bravest girl he had ever known. Her lips were trembling and her eyes were shaking and welling with tears. He had never seen Vi looking so… vulnerable.

The pink-haired girl held her hand to her heart. "You throw yourself into the fire like it doesn't matter. Like it's okay if you die for our sakes. But it's not!" she cried. "It's not okay! It's like… like what we want you to do, what we feel, doesn't even factor into your decision. Benzo's gone! Vander might die! We can't lose you too! Not if we can help it."

Vi panted heavily. She put her face in her hands and rubbed her face lightly. Mercury saw her shoulders trembling slightly.

Mercury looked at her softly before looking down. "I-I didn't…"

"You're willing to die for us," Mylo said. "But you don't understand that we're willing to die for the family too. For you. Stop trying to stop us from fighting with you. He's our dad too."

"Don't you trust us?" Powder added quietly.

Mercury sighed a little bit and took a seat and looked at them. Mylo and Claggor stood before him, tall and resolute. Powder was next to them, almost half their size and yet her grey eyes burned just as bright as theirs. Vi finished wiping her face, collected once more. She stood tallest out of the four of them. She looked at him, jaw set, and fire in her expression.

Mercury had never seen them like that before. So focused and ready. Or… had they been like that before and he just couldn't see it? Mercury couldn't seem to recall. For the longest time, he had only seen them as they were the day he and Vander picked them up. He saw Vi and Powder covered in soot from the ash of the bridge. He saw Mylo as a starving street urchin with unsteady hands. He saw Claggor as a listless, child beggar stumbling around the streets. Now, they seemed older somehow. When did that happen? He blinked. It seemed almost like a dream.

Before Mercury's eyes, they all seemed to… mature.

The dust seemed to wash away from Powder and Vi. Mylo had proper and clean clothes instead of tattered rags. Claggor was plump and muscled instead of thin and scrawny. And their eyes… When he and Vander adopted them, they were dark and cold. The Lanes seemed to suck the life out of them. And now, there was a light in them. A spark.

He chuckled. Now, he saw them for what they were. They were the children of Zaun. They were hardened by the Lanes, their lives. They were raised by the Hound of the Underground and himself. They weren't little kids anymore, desperately in need of saving. They were… ready. Most of them were, at least.

He smiled tiredly. Damn, had time really flown by that quickly? He laughed. "When did you guys grow up so fast?"

They didn't respond, only continuing to look at him with that same, fierce determination. He nodded, put his hands on his knees and pushed himself out of the chair with a groan.

He looked at them. "Okay then. I trust you guys. Against my better judgement… I trust you guys."

He nodded at them. They nodded back. It looked like they were all on the same page.

He corralled them into a circle. He took a breath, "Okay, so here's the plan. Ekko told me and Vi that Vander was taken to the fish market cannery. Vi, Mylo, and Claggor, you guys will go there first. Vi knows the way. Vi, take Vander's gauntlets, you'll know how to use them best. Scout out the area. I'll be there soon."

"Where are you going?" Mylo asked.

Mercury hung his head slightly and closed his eyes. "Somewhere I swore I'd never go to again."

He hadn't been there since that night. Mercury knew every shop in the Lanes, every alleyway, every nook and cranny. However, that was the one place he would be happy to forget. Unfortunately, it looked like he would be forced to remember again. But… It was for Vander. For the family.

"And what about me?"

Mercury looked at the person who asked that question. It was Powder. Her eyes were eager. Mercury sighed. She was ready to contribute but…

"Powder," Mercury said. "You're going to stay here and guard the Last Drop. Booby trap this place to oblivion and hide in here. We'll call you when we get back."

The blue haired girl scrunched her face in confusion. "But…but I want to come too! I can help!" The girl turned to her sister. "Vi! You said it before. Tell him! I'm ready."

Vi shook her head. "Sorry, Powder. He's right. You need to sit this one out and stay here."

"But… but…I'm not afraid to fight! I can do this too!" The youngest stomped her foot down.

Vi raised her voice, "You're not ready!"

Powder was shocked. She blinked rapidly several times and Mercury could tell that she was trying to keep her breathing steady. It wasn't working too well.

It was silent for a moment. Vi sighed. She grabbed a metal tube with a string attached to its bottom end from the table and put it in Powder's hand. Mercury remembered that flare. Vander had bought it once as a makeshift firework to celebrate the holidays. They never used it.

Powder looked back up at her.

"If they come here, run. Light this up and we'll find you, no matter where you are. We'll get you. Okay?"

While Vi and Powder were talking, the boys were getting ready. Mylo took his Darian Lockpick from the table. Claggor grabbed a pack and began filling it with the things that were on the table. A metal bar, a hammer, Vander's gauntlets for Vi to use later. Mercury just observed the two sisters.

Powder looked down at the flare in her hand. Vi pressed her forehead to Powder's and they leaned against each other for a moment. They separated and stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

Mercury and the other boys started ascending the stairs. He heard Vi quickly follow behind them.

Mercury looked back at Powder. The girl looked almost on the verge of tears. He shook his head to himself. Even if the rest of them were ready, she wasn't. If it had been a year or even a couple of months later, then she would have been ready. But the fact of the matter was that she was just too young for the mission. If the battle were to get as serious as Mercury anticipated, then he couldn't afford to divide his attention between keeping her safe and focusing on the threat in front of him.

He looked forward and exited the backroom.

Mercury went alone. He ran to the place where he started a new life, a life with no violence, a place where he left behind his hatred and his animosity. The Bridge to Piltover.

It was one of many bridges to the topside. It wasn't particular in any way. It was constructed just the same as the other bridges, the same builders and the same materials and the same basic design. It once serviced an average amount of foot traffic like any other bridge between the two halves of the city. The only difference that marked the bridge as the Bridge to Piltover was the battle. A blood soaked battle that ended with the lives of many Zaunites and many topsiders lost.

He slowed his pace. He stood before the entrance. There was a glow to the bridge. Candles to the fallen. He smelled fresh flowers. Flowers were a sign of luxury in Zaun. The atmosphere and pollutants in the air made them extremely hard to come by and even more expensive. The entrance was littered with them. He knew that there was no other place in Zaun with such an abundance of flowers.

Mercury stood still for a moment of silence and bowed his head. He wasn't a praying man so he offered no prayers. He just offered his respects to those who he fought alongside and those that he fought against. The battle felt… pointless to him now. All it did was leave heartache and misery for people on both sides. And now, even the deal that they got from it was under fire. When he stepped out of Benzo's with Vi, he also saw Sheriff Grayson's corpse. She was the one who struck the deal with Vander and was one of the few good enforcers to the Zaunites. She was respectable, upstanding. Now, she was dead. What did it mean for the peace between the two? He didn't know. He just hoped to get the kids through the day.

He looked to the right of the entrance. There, leaning against the railing, was a staff. His staff.

He had gotten it as a gift from Benzo. He had gotten into so many fights as a child because of his quick mouth that the older man gave him the staff as a gift. Only to defend himself, Benzo said. It just got him into more trouble.

Benzo called it a caduceus. From what Mercury had read about caducei, they were supposed to be symbols of healing. Ironic, considering what he mainly used it for. He could still see the tiniest tufts of hair stuck to the top of the staff from when he bashed in skulls.

Mercury walked up to it and stared, hand outstretched and hesitating before it. It had been years since he had even laid eyes upon it. He set it down on the bridge and left with Powder in his arms instead. That night, he promised to himself that he would never again raise his hands against another. Never. He scowled. He hated breaking promises. He just had to hope that he wouldn't have to use it but… that was looking unlikely.

He grabbed it slowly, feeling the grip. He took it off the railing. It settled into his hand far too easily. He should have felt some discomfort at wielding it again, some rustiness should have developed after years of not bearing a weapon. There was barely any.

Mercury twirled it in his hands, the motion was fluid and effortless. He practiced some stances with it. He fell into the forms quickly; whatever little amount of rustiness there may have been was rapidly removed with his light motions. Air whipped past his fast as he maneuvered the caduceus. Light glanced off the shining metal of the staff. He spun faster, moved quicker, hit harder. He slammed the staff against the ground and against poles. The hits rang into the streets and back at him. His jaw clenched and he yelled, the noise echoing across the bridge and into the past. Why? Why was it so easy to pick up?

He stopped. His last motion put his foot at the mouth of the bridge. He looked up and his eyes cut through time.

He just saw smoke and fire. There was screaming and yelling, endless amounts of it. The sky was red and dark, not from the light of the fading sun but from the glow of flames along the bridge. He looked down the middle of the bridge. There he was, standing amidst the bodies of countless people. It was just like his nightmares come to life. Except, there was more. Benzo's corpse, Grayson's corpse. Eviscerated enforcers. Eyes wide open in undisguised horror and despair. They were new. Courtesy of a monster.

He stepped back and blinked.

It was a normal bridge. Not particular to any other. The only thing unique about it was its history and the memorials at the entrance. That made it a landmark. Not sacred but mourned.

Mercury hardened himself and tightened his grip around his staff. He had wasted too much time already. He needed to get to the others before it was too late.

Mercury turned on his heel and ran faster than he had ever run before.

Vi, Mylo, and Claggor sneaked into the open window. The cannery was dark and gloomy. There were no lights from within the building. The only source of lighting that they had was the moonlight streaming in through the skylight and the streetlights from outside the windows of the building. It was quiet, eerily so. It was as if even ghosts left the place alone. Each sound they made seemed a thousand times louder than it was.

They were on the second floor of the building and walked on metal grates. They tread quietly but their flooring below them still clanged against each other softly, echoing in the building. They crouched against the railing to their right. There was an open space in the middle, leading to the first floor.

Vi peered over the metal guards. Below them were wooden crates, containers filled with innumerable vials of some kind. They all glowed a sickly purple. Just what the hell were they? Vi had seen some drugs before but never anything like those. They seemed almost like a lab experiment in those comics that she read.

Vi looked back forward and led the other two boys. In front of them, to their right, there was a small bridge that led across the gap to the other side of the building. Vi glanced around the corner from the railing across the bridge.

There was a room on the other side. It had a large entrance and there was a giant, sliding, metal door at its side. It was the only room in the building with an electric light that was on, a single bulb was lit on top of a chair. Sitting in that chair was Vander, bruised and bloodied. He had a massive bruise on his face from where something had struck him and his left eye was swollen shut and purple. He was affixed to the chair with clamps on both his ankles and wrists. He had his head hung low, almost unconscious.

Vi waved back toward both of the boys and they quickly made their way across the bridge to Vander, breaking into a quiet dash. They stood before the older man. Their footsteps seemed to have garnered his attention and shook him awake slightly.

He spit out blood to the side. "...Vi? What are you doing here? Where's Merc?"

"We're breaking you out of here. Mylo." She nodded to the boy.

"On it," said Mylo. He took out his new lockpick from Mercury and immediately got to work on Vander's right ankle restraint.

Vander shook his head in incredulity. "How did you guys even get in here? There are guards everywhere."

Vi looked out the room, scanning across the rest of the building. They didn't see any guards. In fact, the whole area looked like it had been abandoned for years. "It was easy. We found an open window and…"

Wait. If there were guards everywhere, like Vander said, why were the surroundings abandoned? And not just abandoned, why was it so quiet? There should have been some noise from something, mechanisms running or strays mewling. Instead, there was this… hollowness.

Vi's eyes widened. She turned to look back at Vander whose head shook in horrified understanding.

"Oh no," Vander whispered. "You guys have to get out, right now!"

"Welcome!" A voice echoed throughout the empty building. It bounced across the walls and seeped into them like a deadly venom.

They heard the clacking of shoes across metal. It was slow and measured, beating out a steady and relaxed rhythm. A man emerged into view on the other side of the bridge. Well dressed and tall, he cut a lean figure. However, unlike the topsiders who dressed like him, he seemed all too… menacing. He was obscured under the dark of the building and yet his sheer presence forced their attention on him.

He was clapping all the while. Not at the speed or beat of an applause but rather at the slow pace of a polite gesture.

The man stepped in the moonlight. Vi had never seen anyone that looked like him. Hair slicked back and a sharp face. He wore clothes that would have normally marked him as a topsider and yet he was somehow unmistakably from the Lanes. It was the way he stood, Vi thought. The way he walked. It radiated a coarseness and roughness of the streets even though he stepped smoothly and effortlessly, like he was having a pleasant stroll.

Most of all, the thing about him that stood out were his eyes. His right eye was sharp, calculating. Even across the room, Vi could see him evaluating them. However, it was his left eye that made Vi afraid. His left eye was blackened and red, like a smoldering fire. It seemed to glow with menace. And surrounding it was a scar. It almost looked like a burn, rough and rugged leather that seemed darker than his healthy skin.

"You have my congratulations," he said.

A small procession of people walked past him. They each kept their distance from him respectful. Vi saw Sevika amongst their number. She glared at her. Traitor, she thought.

The man's goons all stood behind him in a line, awaiting his orders like soldiers. They all carried some type of weapon. A club, a flail, a bat, even a sword. There were over a dozen of them and they all seemed eager to get their chomps in.

Vi retreated behind the wall to the side of the entrance to the room. She pulled Vander's gauntlets out of Claggor's bag and began fitting them to her hands. She pulled the straps tightly together with her teeth and gripped them tightly, feeling them settle onto her fists. They were slightly oversized, no surprise since they were designed for Vander, but they would have to do.

She let out a breath. She just had to buy time for them to get Vander out and for Mercury to arrive. She had asked around about Mercury's life before the sisters after the incident at the arcade. According to them, he used to be one of the Lane's best brawlers before he became a pacifist. She just had to make sure that she could delay them enough. She wasn't worried about Mercury arriving; he was never late.

The man spoke to no one in particular, "Have you heard the rumor? Vander the coward fled town with his children. And they were never seen again."

Vi hissed quietly to herself. She should have just waited. It was all too convenient. Of course it was; it was a fucking trap and she walked them right in. Mercury would be so fucking pissed, she thought.

She shook her head. It was too late for regret. There was only time for action.

Vi backed away from the wall and stepped to the bridge. It was time for her to defend her family.

And here we go. Shit has just hit the fan. Let me tell you, this chapter was a real pain to write. I don't know why. It was just tough.

So yep, Vander's kidnapped and the kids have fallen into a trap. Mercury takes up arms for the first time in years. Next chapter, oh you know it'll be some serious shit. I've never written combat before so that'll be interesting.

Happy holidays, my fellows! I'll be travelling a bit to celebrate Christmas with my family so there will be a bit longer of a wait between chapters. And further besides, the next chapter is gonna have some seriously emotional and hard hitting stuff so I need some time to flesh that out as well. So, I will humbly ask you guys to be patient with me. Thank you!

Till next time.