Soooooo…it's been a hot minute. About a month since the last chapter. Let me tell you guys, the holidays were pretty busy for me. Also, it was the first week of my second semester of college so there's that. This is my longest chapter by far and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.
Without further ado, here's the fifth chapter!
Chapter 5: Duty 1
Jayce Tallis was a smart man. Some have called him a genius. Even in the Academy in Piltover, a host of intellectuals, he was exceptional. 'Bright-minded', 'unequivocally talented', 'destined for success'. He had heard no shortage of platitudes and compliments. However, he hadn't heard anything resembling those good woods for the past few days.
Recently, he had a few more titles to add to his name. 'Disgrace', 'mad-man', 'prideful'. And these titles weren't just the whispers of some jealous classmates or some envious citizens. If it was just that, he wouldn't mind it. However, these titles were bestowed upon him by the Council. By his mentor.
It hurt Jayce, it hurt him enough to almost die. Not the name calling. You didn't get to where he was without some serious amount of thick skin. No, it was the fact that his research was denounced. His work with magic would have been revolutionary-was revolutionary. It would change the world for the better, he just knew it.
Ever since those thieves broke into his apartment and destroyed his apartment, his life had been on a downward spiral. Expulsion from the academy, his research rescinded, his inventions confiscated, his reputation and life in tatters.
However, it was all secondary. Probably the farthest thing on his mind. Those things weren't what hurt. It was that nobody believed him. That nobody trusted him and his work. Not the Council, not his best friend, not his benefactor, not his mentor. Not even his own mother, the very person whose life magic had saved. There was, in fact, only one person who believed in him, who stopped him from almost ending it all. The man next to him, his literal partner in crime.
Many years before, when he saw that mage waving around his staff to the sky and bending the world to his will and sending Jayce and his mother to safety, Jayce knew that magic was the future. He knew that magic would help save lives, help improve lives, and help build lives, just as it did for him and his mother.
But… the Council didn't know the things that he did. Heimerdinger supposedly did. The yordle predated the city of Piltover itself so he would have seen many things in his long, long life. However, Heimerdinger just saw destruction where Jayce saw creation. Heimerdinger saw a step back where Jayce saw a step forward.
He supposed, then, that it was incredibly ironic that he was testing the future of magic within the office of a yordle who would have absolutely abhorred it.
Jayce steeled his features. It was all or nothing. He would be exiled, executed, or worse if he failed. If his invention was anything less than exemplary. However, if his invention did work…
He looked at the contraption in front of him. He didn't know exactly why the yordle took it. Maybe it was to break it apart and put the materials that he used on a watch list. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that it was there.
It fit the environment surprisingly well, considering how much it clashed with Heimerdinger's ideals. There were many mechanisms and devices scattered all throughout the old man's office. Some half complete, some maybe too complete, some just barely started. Heimerdinger was an inventor so a messy office wasn't to be unexpected. What was unexpected was just how many bookshelves and neatly stacked books there were. The first time that Jayce walked into his mentor's office, all those years ago, he thought he had accidentally walked into the school's library instead. He supposed that a yordle, with their exceptionally long lived lives, would have plenty of free time to read books.
He spotted a well worn book in the corner of his eye. The binding read Piltover's Finest: The Magical Dream Girl Squad Volume 13. Jayce looked at Viktor and saw him inspecting the book as well. They both looked at each other and shrugged.
He turned his attention back to the mechanism. Luckily, no one had broken it down yet. The slot in the middle of its base that would hold the magic crystal was still in place. The thin, metal frame and arms of the device were still aloft and sturdy. He flicked one of the arms and it rang with a crystal clear sound without any hint of unsteady movement. He tested the dials and notches and buttons on it; it was all still functional.
Jayce gave Viktor a nod and he pulled out a blue crystal from his pocket and eyed it. It hummed with unfathomable power. Blue arcs of something similar to electricity were trapped within the angular confines of the crystal and Jayce could see the potential of it clearly within his mind's eye.
Levitation, enhanced durability, even teleportation. They could apply the energy from the crystal to make hovercrafts energy-viable. They could use the crystals to provide an energy field. If they could just manage to nail the exact frequency, then even magic crystals from leagues away could be linked and they would be able to transport objects that they would be attached to, be they man or machine. The possibilities were almost limitless.
He smiled slightly to himself, for how could a man not smile when he saw the future?
Powder screamed to herself. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair! She was ready! Vi said it. Mercury said it. Vander said it. Did they not believe it? Were they lying to her?
Powder thrashed around on her bed, the springy mattress creaking and squeaking under her weight. She grabbed her head and hit it to lock thoughts back into place. If she didn't keep a hold of her thoughts, they would fly away from her. But, if she held her head and hit thoughts into place then they would stay forever, like little drawings nailed to walls.
Powder hated liars. Ever since her birth parents lied about them being together forever, she couldn't stand liars. They made her uncomfortable. No… Powder grabbed her toy monkey from the bed and tore off its head. No, they made her angry. She tossed the monkey away from her and it bounced a few times off the wooden boards with soft thuds before settling into place. Its corpse clapped its cymbals together uselessly.
Clang…clang…clang…
Powder snarled. She needed to throw something else, something bigger. Her blood felt like it was boiling under her skin. She had never felt this way before. Not when Mouser failed. Not when Ruffles failed. Not when she failed. Her stomach felt small and her blood pumped in her ears. Her teeth grinded against each other and her eyes widened even further with tears streaming down her cheeks.
She tore her bag off the bed next to her and lifted it high above her head with both hands. Her chest heaved up and down as her arms tensed with anticipation.
Clang…clang…clang…
She just…
Clang…clang…clang…
She just needed…
Clang…clang…clang…
Her knees buckled underneath her and she fell to the floor. Her bag fell in front of her, its contents escaping through the open zipper. Powder sobbed quietly to herself. Away from the world. Away from everyone. It was just her in a wooden box.
Powder tried to get her breathing under check. She failed.
She looked up to the decapitated monkey. It stopped moving. It was silent, unlike her. The stupid thing even breathed better than her. Maybe Mercury and Vi would have taken the monkey instead of her if they saw it.
Stupid monkey and its stupid clanging. Its stupid missing head. Its stupid…glow?
Powder tilted her head. The monkey was enshrouded in a blue glow. Wait, no, it wasn't the monkey that was glowing blue. It was the crystals that were behind it. The crystals that crackled with explosive energy.
Her mind flashed to that day in Piltover, in that apartment. When it exploded, there was a big crack of thunder, blue thunder. There were blue fairies floating around her that disappeared after a few moments amidst the smoke and debris. The same blue of those gems.
She looked at her cymbal monkey. The brown fur and circuitry and mechanisms that she knew inside and out and she looked at the gems again. Maybe…
She rubbed her eyes and wiped away stray tears.
"I can help them."
Mercury sprinted as fast as he could. Space seemed to elongate before him and the Lanes conspired to slow him down. Each turn took too long, each step felt too soft, each stride too short. But at the same time, every time he blinked, the world narrowed before his eyes and he could see his destination before anything else. Everything faded away, his exhaustion, the sound of his own footsteps, the light of the moon and the darkness of the streets. There was only him and movement.
Before he knew it, he was at the cannery. He thought he caught a glimpse of something blue scaling the walls but the echoing sounds of steel against flesh and bone took his attention. It was faint but still recognizable.
Mercury holstered his staff on his back and climbed up a thick pipe that ran up the height of the building. He heard the creaking of the metal and it felt perilous to climb and shift his weight on it. He reached the top and heaved himself over the ledge of the balcony and faced the window to the inside.
Through the cracked and dusty window, he spied a fight. On a bridge between the two sections of the top floor of the cannery were Vi and a couple of thugs slugging it out. Vander's gauntlets that Vi was wearing were stained in fresh blood and he saw a couple of guys behind her that were unconscious. He looked to the other side of the cannery that Vi was advancing toward and saw… Silco.
Mercury narrowed his eyes. He hadn't seen Silco in years. Not since…
He opened the window and jumped through, landing on the metal grating with a clang. Everyone stopped.
Mercury felt everyone's eyes on him. He felt the cautious glances of the thugs, the desperate look of Vi, the calculating look of Silco. He felt it all.
Mercury stood still for a moment, sharing in their silence. His mind whirred. He didn't just need to grab their attention, he had to seize it.
Mercury put on a smirk and put his staff back in his right hand. He whistled and twirled his staff. He wasn't a fighter at that moment, he was a performer and he had to kill time for his audience. Mercury pointedly didn't look at any of them. No, he stared straight ahead, perpendicular to the bridge. If he looked at them then it would break their immersion. They absolutely had to disconnect from their current circumstance.
His whistle pierced through the tension. It sang a melody which everyone in Zaun recognized. It was a common lullaby. Every mother worth her salt would have sung it to their child. It was like a secret that they all shared.
Mercury saw, out of the corner of his eye, the shoulders of everyone ever so slightly relaxed. Their foreheads smoothened just a tiny bit and their grips loosened on whatever they were holding.
One step, four step, ten steps. His act lasted about ten steps and ended when he reached the front of the bridge.
He stopped whistling. "Vi, help out Mylo and Claggor."
Vi was breathing heavily and she was bent low with her fists held to her chest. Her body was still faced toward the people in front of her but she turned her face slightly to look at him.
He looked at her eyes and gave her a nod. She nodded back and turned to run back at him. The man she was clashing with snapped out of his reverie and reached out to grab onto her shirt.
Mercury slammed the butt of his staff on the ground with a loud thud. The metallic sound echoed through the room and the man reaching his hand froze.
Vi ran forward until she reached his side. "Are you going to be okay by yourself?"
He kept his eyes forward on the bridge but replied with a grin. "Yeah, Vi! I'll be just fine." He advanced further onto the platform a few steps, twirling his staff between his hands all the while. "They didn't call me the Wings of Zaun for nothing, y'know?"
"The Wings of Zaun?"
"That's a story for another day."
Mercury didn't look but he heard Vi rush back into the room and slide the giant metal door closed. The wheels of the door made an ugly screeching sound and he heard the door lock behind him.
"She just locked you out, man!" The man in front of him gave a crazed smile, with crooked teeth and a hanging tongue.
Mercury noted the man. The mook had long black hair swept to one side which was greasy as all hell. Clearly he hadn't showered. Piercing adorned his nose, lips, ears, even his damn eyebrows. He was covered in ink paintings of skulls and crossbones, flames, dying animals, and targets. It was all so… edgy to Mercury. He couldn't help but snort.
"Huh?" The man looked confused, as if he was wondering why Mercury wasn't afraid of him. The goon waved his spiked bat, because of course it was, at Mercury. "Why are you laughing, man? You're about to get fucked up, man! You locked in here with us, man!"
Mercury actually burst into laughter this time. The man in front of him grew increasingly frustrated, baring his teeth.
Mercury wiped a fake tear away from his right eye. "Sorry, it's just that… you really thought that I could be scared of your goofy ass. Did you ever grow out of your rebellious phase, man?"
Edgy Goon let out a cry and rushed at Mercury, raising his bat high in preparation for a swing. Two other people followed him, one short man (Short Goon) and one tall woman (Tall Goon), each wielding a crowbar.
Mercury ducked under the swing of Edgy Goon and let him fumble behind the teen. The swivel of rubber soles on metal pierced his ears as the tattooed man aligning his footing on the bridge, preparing to swing back at him.
Mercury took note of the two in front of him. Short Goon was rushing at him with a swing coming from the right and Tall Goon was just behind the shorter man. It took Mercury half a second to come up with a plan of attack, during which time the two in front of him advanced halfway across the bridge and Edgy Goon was preparing to hit him again.
Without looking behind him, Mercury raised his staff and stabbed the butt of the caduceus into the stomach of Edgy Goon behind him. He heard a groan as the man keeled over and fell to his knees. Mercury jumped off the ground to his right, kicked off of the railing and almost cleared the entire height of Short Goon.
In the air, he kicked Short Goon on the back, right below the base of the neck, propelling Mercury toward Tall Goon and causing Short Goon to stumble onto the kneeling Edgy Goon. Tall Goon looked at him with wide eyes and he gave her a quick wink before bringing the orb of staff down on her head. She collapsed to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut.
Mercury landed on the bridge and the echoing sounds of falling bodies resonated within the cannery. He looked in front of him at the remaining crowd. There looked to be a dozen more of Silco's fighters and there was also… Sevika. He sighed. That was disappointing to him. Mercury had gotten along rather well with Sevika.
"And here I thought you were a pacifist, Mercury," Silco said. He had not moved from his position throughout Mercury's encounter with the three. Silco had been leaning forward on the railing, observing them, with his arms on the metal as if he had just been watching a mildly entertaining sports game.
Mercury was barely winded and responded, "Eh, they're all right. Just a little love tap was all."
"Indeed." Silco nodded to the rest of the mob besides Sevika and… was that Deckard next to him? The boy was looking worse for wear, hunched over and sickly.
The rest of the mob began to advance onto the bridge, filing in one or two at a time because of the limited space on the bridge. It was a good position for Mercury, a narrow passage negated their normally overwhelming numbers. It was a battle of attrition and he was a marathon runner as well as a sprinter.
Mercury stood silently on the bridge whilst Silco's retinue moved on him. He inhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes. He took in everything around him. He heard the three that he had defeated groaning quietly behind him. He smelled the dust and age of the building that they were in. He felt the slight shifting of the air from the movement of the people in front of him. He let out a breath through his mouth. He had forgotten what battle had truly felt like.
He snapped his eyes open and charged.
For the next minute, it was just the sounds of metal against flesh. He ducked underneath attacks and let his opponents hit each other. He used his staff to redirect crowbars and bats to the railings instead and he would trip his opponents up and put them on the ground. They had a tough time trying to stand back up with their fellows running on top of them to get to Mercury.
Bang! Boom! Clang!
He knocked one out and slid past another, leaving them confused as he disappeared within the crowd.
Crash! Mercury! Tap!
Spittle flew out of the mouths of his opponents and the cracking of bones reverberated in the air. There was no grandeur nor glory to be found in the fighting. There was just pain and struggle.
Wait… did he hear something?
Slam! Bam! Boom!
He managed to flip another goon over the railing and they fell into the purple glow below. He heard wood break and glass shatter but it wasn't a fall that would kill them.
Mercury furrowed his eyebrows. Partially from exertion, partially from a distraction. He was sure that he had heard something strange.
Bang! Clang! Mercury!
What the hell? Mercury stumbled in his attack and an attacker got a punch in. He quickly retreated behind some unconscious bodies with a wince. The rest of the mob were wary to follow him. There was a healthy berth between them.
Mercury took the opportunity to catch his breath, which was good because he was freaking out a little bit on the inside.
There was no doubt about it. Mercury wasn't just making up those sounds in his mind. It was his tap code. But, that should have been impossible. The kids were behind the metal door helping Vander get out, they wouldn't have time to tap out their message and the only one who was good at their tap code who wasn't there was…
It's Powder! Here to help.
Fuck. He almost visibly panicked. He looked at Silco and the rest to see if they had noticed Powder. Their demeanors were no different than before. He steeled his features. He couldn't let the gang in front of him get any ideas that he was slipping in any way. They probably assumed that Powder's tapping was something metal hitting the building repeatedly due to the wind and that Mercury was trying to catch his breath, which he was.
Shit! he thought.
It was the worst case scenario. Powder was there and he couldn't afford to be distracted. He had specifically instructed Powder to stay behind for precisely that reason. If Silco had even a whiff of Powder's presence, they were fucked. Beyond fucked.
Mercury knew Silco. He knew that the man was one of extremes and if he put his mind to kidnapping Vander of all people, then Silco was ready to square off with the entirety of the world, damn the consequences. Anyone who got in his way would quickly find themselves removed-one way or another. And it was damn unlucky for Powder to insist on putting herself in Silco's way as well.
Unlucky? Mercury blinked. Unlucky…unlucky?
What were his words to Powder, a couple of nights prior?
While Mercury was thinking to himself, Silco motioned for his goons to come back to his side. Mercury saw the man give a purple vial to Deckard next to him. The teen greedily supped from it.
Deckard spasmed and crushed the glass within his hand, the shards digging deep into the flesh and drawing blood. Then, the blond began to balloon in size and his muscles stretched beyond the confines of his already tattered shirt. Mercury recognized the shape. It was the shape of the shadow that he saw through Benzo's window. The shadow of the monster.
It was the thing that had killed Benzo and a whole squad of enforcers. Mercury was no slouch but he really doubted that he could beat Deckard in a one on one fight. His situation got even worse.
However, just what did he say to Powder on the rooftop? What did he say to her to make her smile? What did he say to lift her spirits?
Mercury sighed and rolled his shoulders. "I thrive in unlucky situations," he muttered to himself. Those were the words that he said to her. Was he going to allow his words to be just hot air? Was he going to make himself a liar? No, he would rather die before he let that happen. He wouldn't, couldn't, show such a shameful side to Powder. So, Mercury was going to do what he did best. Improvise.
The Deckard Monster lumbered to the mouth of the bridge and stepped slowly across it. Mercury could see the bright, purple something slowly creep across his veins and shine through his skin.
Did Silco think that he was going to cave just because of something that killed a group of enforcers?
Nope.
If there was no way that he could beat the monster in front of him, then Mercury would do something else. He would outlast the beast. His objective wasn't to beat Silco's side entirely. That's right. He didn't have to do that at all. His real goal was to make sure that everyone got out safely.
The monster gnashed his teeth and stomped forward toward him.
Mercury's response? It was crucial. He had to seem as confident as possible whilst at the same time appearing to look like he was bluffing. Slightly confusing but he could do it.
Mercury straightened his spine. He stood taller than he ever had before. He gave the other side a winning smile, a rather cocky one.
Step one. He started whistling. The notes sounded pleasant enough but the rhythm was irregular. He saw the confusion in Silco's eyes. He could practically hear the question on Silco's tongue. What song is that? It wasn't something that anyone would recognize. It was because he wasn't whistling to them.
What do you have? he whistled. Each note was either short or long and there were occasional breaks between them. To Silco's side, it would just seem like Mercury just forgot any concept of musical cohesion. To Mercury it was practically a second language.
Step two. He began backing up. Not too fast or he would appear actually desperate and get the monster to push its advantage. Not too slow either or the monster would just reach across and grab him. A steady pace was the answer.
A bomb. Goes in 10 seconds.
A bomb that took ten seconds to detonate. That was… a long time for him to walk across the bridge. But he could do it. He had to.
Her bomb would be a good distraction. Powder typically built smaller scale devices so it could shake up the place a little bit but it would ultimately allow the kids and him and Vander to escape under cover of chaos.
The monster roared and stepped on the fallen bodies of his comrades. He heard groaning and the creaking of bones. He winced internally, it sounded like it hurt.
Deckard trod slowly, causing the bridge to rumble underneath his massive weight. And then, Deckard moved.
The monster was upon him and it was inhumanly fast. The thing's huge arm whistled past his head as he barely managed to move his head out of the way. Deckard yelled again and began a barrage of punches. His stomps shook the bridge that they were on.
Mercury's eyes were wide as he was entirely focused on the monster's attacks. A dodge that way, a duck down, a feint left, and throughout it all he barely managed to escape Deckard's arms and fists.
Mercury fell into an uneasy rhythm with Deckard with a steadily increasing tempo. Deckard was fairly predictable. When one becomes enraged, they start falling into patterns and the monster in front of him was definitely not the happiest camper. But just because Deckard was predictable, it didn't mean that the white haired teen was free from danger. He knew that if he lost focus for even a moment, he would be in a world of hurt.
Once he got a fair understanding of how Deckard moved, Mercury began retaliating with sharp jabs with the staff.
Even sooner, he began tapping out a message to Powder using the monster's flesh as a sort of drum.
Set it off now and go!
Ok!
He barely heard clanging behind him over his own struggle with Deckard. It sounded like the cymbals of Powder's toy monkey.
Clang. One. Clang. Two.
Oh shit, he got distracted.
In Mercury's moment of inattention, Deckard let out a yell of fury and when Mercury went to jab at the chest of the monster, Deckard grabbed it with one of his hands. Before Mercury could react, Deckard yanked the pole toward himself, bringing Mercury along with it, and lifted a powerful leg and kicked him away.
Clang. Three. Clang. Four.
Mercury felt his chest almost cave in as he was launched across the air and felt his back hit the metal door with a loud crash.
He blacked out for half a second. When he regained his bearings, he groggily looked up from his sitting position across to the half giant in front of him. His opponent was snarling and held Mercury's staff in front of him with both hands.
Clang. Five. Clang. Six.
The beast grunted as he slowly bent the staff in half. Mercury could see the worn paint chipping and flaking off at the point where it was bending. The caduceus made a creaking sound as it was rendered into just a lump of useless metal.
Clang. Seven. Clang. Eight.
Mercury didn't have time to wallow in sentimentality. He looked to his left and saw the monkey steadily advancing toward him. Ignoring his certainly broken or fractured ribs, he made use of Deckard's distraction and crawled quickly to the monkey. It had a blue crystal in between its cymbals, the same crystal that Powder had given to him. He gripped the monkey in one hand and tossed it in the air.
Clang. Nine.
It made an arc in the air and almost seemed to crawl along its trajectory. The toy soared high above the bridge and reached the zenith far above Deckard. Then, gravity took control again and it began its descent.
Clang… Ten
Whilst in the air, the monkey clapped together its cymbals one last time and it glowed. And then the world erupted into blue flame.
Claggor had just managed to break through the brick wall. The pipe that he used to pry each brick away from its mortar clattered to the ground when he let go. The wall sported a hole that would be big enough for even Vander to step through.
Claggor looked behind. Vi was with Mylo, helping Vander release his restraints. The chair's arms and legs sported metal cuffs that held even the giant Vander down.
They were lucky that Mercury had given Mylo that new lockpick. Without it, Mylo would have taken much longer to open each lock. They were on the last cuff and they would have been done already had Mylo been given more time to practice with the pick.
Click.
The last lock opened and Vander ripped his hand out of the restraint. He quickly stood up and promptly held his side. The bruises on Vander's face were fresh and Claggor imagined that whoever did that to him didn't just stop at his face.
Vander looked at the rest of the kids and nodded. "Let's get out of here."
Claggor almost couldn't believe it. Their plan went off with barely a hitch and-
Boom!
The metal door exploded inward. The body of the door was ripped off the frame and knocked all of the away. It trapped Vi underneath it. The shockwave of the explosion hurtled Mylo and Claggor at the wall adjacent to the wall with the new hole. Rubble and debris fell from the ceiling and nearly crushed Claggor and Mylo. A sharp metal shard, from the door, glanced off of Claggor's goggles. A pole from the other side of the room whipped between them, narrowly avoiding Mylo by mere inches.
When Claggor's head impacted the wall he saw stars for a couple of seconds. All at once, everything became too distant and too close at the same time. He didn't even feel himself hitting the floor. It was like the collision had happened to a different person.
It took Claggor a couple of seconds to regain consciousness and when he awoke, he gasped.
The room was crumbling around them. Claggor looked to his right. Mylo was still conscious but held the back of his head. Mylo pulled his hand away from it and looked at his palm. Claggor saw reflected in Mylo's hand the dull redness of blood. Mylo groaned and made an almost pitiful noise.
Claggor looked back at the rest of the room. Vi and Vander were trapped under some rubble. He almost cried out in despair before he noticed slight movement from both of them. He breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody had died.
It took him a few seconds to notice something about his vision. There was a slight deviation in the sight in his right eye. Like one half of it was slightly slanted off the other. He put his finger to the lens of the right goggle. There was a scratch that dug slightly into the glass. It was incredibly clean, no roughness or jaggedness. Claggor shuddered to imagine what would have happened if he didn't have Mercury's goggles.
Claggor heard a groaning from in front of him, past the obliterated frame of the door. It was Mercury. Their older brother lay in a collapsed heap on the floor.
Claggor nudged Mylo with his shoulder and the other boy nodded. Claggor got up from his position at the wall and limped toward Mercury. Mylo followed behind him, his left foot dragging a little bit as well.
"Merc!" he yelled. "Merc! We gotta get out of here!"
Mercury groaned some more.
Claggor made it past the entrance and kneeled to Mercury's right side. The moment that Claggor rolled Mercury onto his back on the floor, Claggor's eyes widened. The right side of Mercury's face was charred. The burn stretched from the top of his forehead, past his eye, and down to his neck and it bordered on the edge of his lip and his nose.
Claggor had seen similar scars before. Walking around the Lanes, there were plenty of people with burns and marks that showed off their rough lives. Without fail, the larger the scars were, the more haunted the eyes. And Mercury had one of the biggest burns that Claggor had ever seen.
Claggor whispered lowly, "We're gonna get you out of here. Mylo!"
"On it."
Mylo got on the other side and they began to hook their arms under Mercury's to lift and drag him.
But then Claggor heard it. A beastly snarl. He looked up with wide eyes at the bridge in front of him.
The bridge was teetering precariously and some of the railings were blasted away. However, the bridge itself still held, owing to its support below. But Claggor had no time to admire the structural integrity of the path; there was a monster on the bridge that was somehow still alive. Everyone else behind it was flat on their ass. Some of them even sported missing limbs and burns for their trouble but the monster in front of him was still alive and looked pissed. Claggor had no idea how it looked like there was barely even a scratch on it.
The beast hauled itself up with its two arms and the bridge screeched in response.
Claggor shook Mercury's shoulder desperately while keeping an eye on the steadily approaching thing. "Merc. Merc! Wake up!"
"C-Claggor?" Mercury's eyes fluttered open. "W-What's-?"
"Raghhhhh!" Deckard screamed and marched toward them at a faster pace.
Claggor felt his breathing quicken. His heartbeat was like a pounding underneath his skin. Sweat dripped out from his forehead and he could feel its excruciating trail on his skin.
Claggor thought that he knew fear. When he was starving in the streets, wondering where his next meal would be, he thought he feared that sharp pain in his stomach. When he was beaten by the bigger kids on the streets when he was a beggar, he thought that he feared walking alone in the dark. But, Claggor now understood. That wasn't true fear. True fear was that of looking at an angry monster.
Claggor and Mylo both hastened to move Mercury back with them but the older teen was deceptively heavy. And since he wasn't able to help with their movement, Mercury was more akin to a sack of bricks than an actual person.
"Merc! Merc!"
Mercury groaned some more and finally managed to open both eyes, even the one that was under the burn. "Oh, shit."
Mercury attempted to stand up but the moment he rose above his knees, he hacked and fell back down to the ground. Mylo cursed and Claggor felt his desperation rising. They both reached down to grab Mercury again. He threw another look at Deckard and the towering monster only seemed to be getting bigger and bigger in his vision.
Claggor's heart was beating like it was trying to burst right out of his chest. If they didn't get Mercury out, they would die. They were going to die. Holy shit, they were going to die. Those thoughts ran within Claggor's mind like racehorses on a circular track. They were beating around, making an ungodly ruckus, and all he could focus on was the fact that they were going to die.
Death. Dying. Not living. I'm going to die. I'm going to be killed. I'm…
And then…it was like a calmness washed over Claggor. His heart still beat at the same speed but it was muted to him. His thoughts cleared. It was quiet. Even amongst the roar of the flame, the rumbling of the building, the breaking of glass, it was all silent to Claggor. His shallow breaths were replaced by one long, deep breath. In…out…
The world came into focus again.
Claggor heard Vander struggling underneath the fallen stones of the ceiling. There was a shifting, a low rumbling that resulted when stones slid off from each other. But… There was no time.
Even if they could bring Mercury back into the room, they simply couldn't pry all of the rubble off of Vander and Vi in time to get them out as well. And he was sure that the monster wouldn't give them that chance anyway. All they had for themselves was the hope for a miracle.
He looked at Mylo and they both stared at each other. Claggor knew that Mylo had come to the same conclusion that he did. They were the closest with each other out of all the siblings, after all.
They nodded and looked across the bridge to the monster approaching.
Claggor wasn't much of a fighter. He could take a punch and deal them but Vi was always the real fighter of their group. Even still, he raised his arms in front of him and slowly advanced. Mylo took a pipe that was dropped on the ground next to a goon near Mercury and walked with Claggor.
Claggor was halted by a grip on his leg. He looked down. It was Mercury's hand.
"Don't… He'll kill you…" Mercury whispered hoarsely.
The grip was weak and Claggor easily stepped out of it. "Maybe so, but we'll die fighting for you guys."
"No!"
Both Mylo and Claggor rushed at Deckard. They stepped onto the bridge and Claggor struck first, burying his fist into Deckard's chest. The impact felt exactly like when he was breaking down that wall in the room; that is to say, it felt more like stone than flesh. His bones rattled and Deckard looked down at them, almost amused.
Mylo came up behind Claggor and swung as hard as he could against the monster's face. Instead of the blonde's face caving in, it was Mylo's pipe that bent.
Deckard shook his head like a dog and swung his fist. It was faster than Claggor could even react to and when Deckard's fist hit his arm, it was as though every single agony that he had ever experienced was just a love tap compared to the absolute shattering of his left arm. He was knocked against the railing and fought desperately to keep his mind clear of the excruciating pain.
Claggor peeled himself away from the side and brought his good arm up in front of his chest. He was going to die anyway, might as well die swinging. Deckard looked at him with something resembling respect in his eyes. Then it disappeared under a veil of green rage as Deckard punched with his other hand, hitting Claggor in the right arm and launching him into the air.
Claggor flew back and landed next to where Mercury was. Both of his arms were on a cold fire and every single movement seemed both dull and sharp at the same time. His mind felt too clear but he couldn't even move. It was like he was trapped behind his eyes, just watching the outside world as a spectator.
Claggor saw Mylo attempt to hit the giant in front of him with the bent pipe again. It crashed against Deckard's warped face but instead of flinching, his eyes flared and he gripped Mylo by the throat.
Mylo immediately dropped the pipe and it clattered to the ground. He clawed desperately at the hulking arm. It was to no avail, the arm was like an immovable pole. Claggor saw Deckard snarl and begin to close his fingers around Mylo's neck. Mylo's struggling became more desperate and Claggor heard Mylo's wheezing become more and more hoarse. However, just before Deckard could fully close his fist, he became distracted by the sound of boots hitting metal.
Mercury had somehow summoned some inhuman strength and ran straight at Deckard. The monster's eye snapped to the white haired teen and threw Mylo at him, the boy's body soared at Mercury and he half caught Mylo. The younger teen found himself in Mercury's arms and glanced off of him and onto the floor. His momentum had Mylo rolling on the ground until he stopped next to Claggor.
His brother brought his hands to his ruined throat slowly, just holding it. Claggor could see the indent that Deckard left on Mylo's neck, like a purple tattoo.
Mercury continued his run at Deckard and the hulking thing ran at him as well. Deckard struck first, letting loose another right hook at Mercury. It was wide and choreographed too easily, probably due to Deckard's lack of familiarity with his bulky form. However, the sheer speed and power that punch contained would be enough to cave in Mercury's skull.
Mercury dodged to the side and tried kicking Deckard. He didn't budge. Deckard howled and tried hitting Mercury again. For a little bit, it was just Mercury dodging around Deckard and Deckard just swinging mindlessly.
But… there was something wrong. Mercury didn't dodge the blows cleanly. He was tilting slightly, there was a jaggedness to his movements that Claggor had never seen before. Claggor looked at Mercury's eyes as he zipped around Deckard. They were focused but… they were also slightly cloudy, as if they couldn't exactly follow what it was they were focusing on. If it continued like that…
Mercury tried for a right kick again but Deckard caught his leg. It was like the world went into slow motion. The monster used his leg to pull Mercury into the air like a ragdoll. And once in the air, he brought Mercury down like a hammer against an anvil.
"No!" Vander cried from behind them. He was almost out of the rubble.
Claggor tried to get up again but his arms were useless and he couldn't manage to muster even an ounce of strength. Mylo beside him held his throat in his hands and looked catatonic.
Mercury barely moved on the ground. Claggor could still see his chest moving and his head trying to lift from the bridge. Deckard kept his hold on the leg he used to lift Mercury and then grabbed Mercury's other leg. With one leg in each hand, Deckard roared and began to squeeze.
"Argggggggh!" Mercury screamed. Claggor had never heard such a noise coming from Mercury's mouth before.
Creak... Crack… Squelch…
Deckard threw Mercury at Claggor and Mylor and he rolled on the floor before settling between them. Mercury moaned in agony and Claggor hesitantly laid his eyes on Mercury's legs. He couldn't see much, not in the deep shadows that fires cast, but he could see by the shape of his slacks that Mercury's legs were ruined.
Vander burst out from under the rubble behind them and charged at Deckard with feux knuckle dusters in hand. Deckard, worn out and weary from the explosion and constant battle with Mercury, tried to go for a straight punch at Vander.
The Hound of the Underground caught it in his arm and twisted, keeping Deckard in a lock and raising his own fist. Vander yelled and launched several brutal punches against Deckard's stomach. With Vander's strength and the metal knuckle dusters, he actually managed to inflict some damage on Deckard. Claggor could see Deckard wincing with pain and saw bruising developing behind the tears of the tattered shirts.
The drugged up monster roared and slammed his free hand down into Vander's shoulder, causing the older man to yell in pain. Deckard used that moment to bring Vander into a headbutt, the crack traveling even to where the boys were laying, putting Vander into a daze.
Deckard heaved Vander over his shoulder and then tossed him behind, towards Silco's side of the bridge. Claggor thought he saw a thin shadow in the smoke of the bridge, advancing. The monster hunched over, grabbing his stomach. Vander unsteadily stood back up, using the railing as support, before standing straight and roaring at Deckard, ready to go again.
The shadow that Claggor saw gained definition, the blurry edges became sharper and he was able to distinguish physical features, like the slicked hair and the well tailored suit. It was Silco! Claggor tried to shout a warning but it was too late.
Shik.
Vander's eyes went wide and his mouth opened to scream. He stumbled forward drunkenly a few steps.
Claggor's head became engulfed in a dull roar. The puncture had somehow managed to silence everything that was passing into Claggor's ear. There was a pregnant pause in the cannery. Nobody moved as Vander yelled in pain.
And then, Vander turned around to grip Silco by his neck. With just one hand, Vander managed to lift up the other man by his throat. They held a look between themselves for a few seconds and for just a moment, Claggor allowed himself the belief that Vander would somehow pull through. But, reality proved to be much more harsh.
Shik.
Silco stabbed Vander once more in the stomach.
Claggor saw Vander's wide back, his proud back, the one that held together the Lanes, slacken. Vander leaned against Silco before the other man pushed him off and Vander fell into the fiery pit below.
"No!" Claggor screamed. He was the only one coherent enough to have seen what happened.
The building shook with more explosions.
Claggor heard Vi moaning behind them, trapped underneath the metal door.
Deckard looked to Silco for more instructions. Silco stared at the bottom floor where Vander fell for a few moments before looking back at Deckard. Silco's eyes fell onto them, his red and malicious eye pierced past Claggor's goggles and straight into his soul.
"Kill them," he said.
Deckard nodded slowly and turned back to look at the four of them. Claggor still on the ground, Mylo still clutching his throat, Mercury writhing on the floor with useless legs, and Vi trapped under a metal door.
Deckard lumbered toward them slowly, looking at them. Claggor looked at his glowing green eyes. Was there something there? Anything? Some hint of humanity left? He couldn't tell.
Claggor didn't know what to feel. Fear? You typically only fear the unknown but Claggor knew exactly what was going to happen. They were all going to die. So, no he didn't feel fear. Maybe regret? Regret for what? He didn't know. All of Claggor's quick thinking swiftly brought him to the conclusion that he just didn't know anymore.
Boom.
The ground they were on shuddered and Deckard stumbled in his pace. He looked around confusedly before suddenly being tackled by something much bigger. It almost looked like… it looked like Vander. Except, it was enormous, way bigger than Vander ever was. He looked as built as a tower, with a grotesque musculature that definitely exceeded human limits.
Vander lifted Deckard up by the neck with just one hand. The blonde teen desperately thrashed against it but he stood no chance. With a sharp crack, Vander's hand twisted and Deckard's neck broke. His arms went limp and fell to the side and his legs slackened. Vander tossed away his corpse like a sack of potatoes before looking back across the bridge at the man who stabbed him.
"SILCO!" he bellowed. It was a guttural sound, deeper than normal and it sounded unnatural.
The building shook once more with the sound of explosions. The bridge rumbled violently and Vander looked back and forth between the kids and Silco. He snarled and picked up the three of them off the ground with one arm and threw the metal door off of Vi and picked her up with the other. Vander's arms felt like they were made of boulders.
Claggor saw Silco disappearing back into the smoke, becoming a blurry shadow once more.
A gas line whistled and the fire surrounding them roared louder and louder as Vander sprinted at the wall with all of them in tow.
They crashed through the wall with a boom. Bricks and cement glue blew apart into shards around them and they fell into an alley adjacent to the building with a thunderous thud. Vander opened his arms and Mylo, Claggor, Mercury, and Vi all tumbled off of him.
There was fire all around them. Just like that night long ago.
Mercury felt like everything in his body was broken. His chest was tight, his arms were torn, his legs were shattered, his face was burnt. He could taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth and he felt his strength slipping away with each passing moment.
Mercury heard a soft wheezing beside him and he turned his head to look at Vander.
"Merc…" Vander said. Mercury had never heard his voice sound so weak. "You have to… take care of the family for me, okay?"
Mercury looked down at his legs. They were mangled beyond all recognition and he could feel the blood loss steadily increasing. There wasn't any pain anymore, adrenaline had taken care of that. It was just an empty coldness where he felt his legs. He wasn't going to make it, especially not as a cripple in Zaun. But Mercury could see the fading in Vander's eyes. He had to make sure Vander went peacefully. He deserved that.
Mercury nodded slowly. "Yeah, old man. For as long as I breathe, I'm gonna protect them."
Vander nodded and looked at the night sky. "Thank… you… son…"
The light in Vander's eyes dulled. The spark in them died. His muscles relaxed, the big arms that held together the Lanes went limp.
Mercury felt tears flowing down his eyes. Vander was dead. The man who raised him. The man who understood him the most. That man, his father, was gone forever.
Never again would he hear his booming laughter. Never again would they have friendly banter. Never again would they share quiet moments in the after hours, just content to be in each other's company. Never again.
His mission was a failure. The only thing that he had managed to do was get his family hurt. He was a failure.
The heat of the inferno washed over his body. His burn roared across his face.
Mercury almost roared in despair before he heard Vi groaning beside him. In that instance, a sharp lucidity gripped him. "Vi. Vi! I need you."
He heard her shifting beside him and he took a look at her. She was disheveled and beaten up but a damn sight better than him. "Merc! Oh thank god, you're alive!" She hugged him and he hissed in pain.
She pulled back immediately, apologizing profusely before he stopped her. "Vi, we don't have much time. That explosion was huge, enforcers are going to be swarming en masse. I need you to find them and bring them here." He coughed and it felt like his lungs were threatening to burst out of his chest.
He saw Mylo help Claggor get up shakily on the other side of Vander, regarding their fallen father figure with disbelief.
"They'll distract Silco and give you guys cover to slip away. The enforcers haven't seen your face yet so you'll be okay." Mercury moved up into a sitting position using his arms. "After that, go to Benzo's and meet up with the rest and lay low. If you can't find enforcers, just go to Benzo's anyway and I'll figure it out."
"What about you?" she asked.
Mercury chuckled without humor. "I'm not really in any condition to go anywhere. Just think of this as… your last errand for me. Eh?"
"But-"
"Please."
Vi clenched her teeth and Mercury saw a few tears springing to the corners of her eyes but she turned her head before he could see.
She ran off out of the alley.
"Mylo, Claggor, c'mere." Mercury wheezed.
The boys moved to stand in front of him and Mercury had to crane his neck to look up at them. Were they always that tall? Mercury was once again struck by the effects of the passage of time. They were silent and their faces were still. They just stared at Mercury's legs and his burnt face. Not blinking.
"You guys are good kids," he laughed. He meant it. He could see them being big, important people when they grew up. "When Powder gets here, get to Benzo's. Meet up with Ekko and Vi. Can you do that for me?"
They nodded to him but said nothing still. Mercury looked at Mylo's eyes and saw that even though Mylo was meeting his gaze, Mylo wasn't looking at him. He wasn't looking at all. It was haunted, the spirit behind those eyes. Claggor's eyes looked much the same.
Mercury frowned and hung his head. Mercury couldn't help but feel as though he failed in the most important aspect of being a big brother. It was just a night for failing, wasn't it?
They heard the small clattering footfalls of a young girl approaching. The girl they belonged to came into their view and Mercury could see her wide smile and triumphant face. She didn't know.
"Did you see that! That was awesome! My bomb finally worked and I helped! It was…" she trailed off when she finally saw them. She saw Mercury propped up against rubble on the floor, his legs mangled beyond repair and the horrible burn on the side of his face. She saw Vander's corpse laying on the ground, still. Her eyes widened in horror and her breaths came in short bursts.
"W-what? This… this wasn't… I didn't mean…" Tears sprang to her eyes. "I didn't… I didn't."
"I know, Pow. I know," Mercury said. "You did everything right, Pow. It's not your fault."
It was his fault. He miscalculated. And now, his family was never going to be whole again.
"Come here, Powder. Quickly now." Mercury motioned for her to come closer.
She reluctantly did. She wasn't able to look at him and she stumbled on stray pieces of rubble and debris before she stood in front of him. The girl was openly sobbing, streaks of tears clashing against her face. It was an ugly sound, the wailing of a young girl.
"Hey, Pow-Pow. Look at me, please?"
Powder turned her face to look at him very slowly, as if seeing him would make whatever happened real. Her eyes were red and blurry with tears. She rubbed and wiped her face to no avail. She hiccuped and hiccuped.
It was quieter now. There wasn't as much wind. There was no pain. The fire, though large, seemed muted around them. It was as if the world was allowing for the two of them to share words between themselves, tenderly.
Mercury smiled at her and pulled two things out from his left pocket. It was two small boxes, one pink, and one blue. It was an honest to god miracle that they were broken in the fighting. Perhaps he subconsciously kept them out of the way of any damage.
Her face shifted to confusion. She blinked quickly through her tears. "W-what?"
"Here, Pow." He put both boxes in her hands. "Hold on to these for me, okay?"
She looked in her hands. Her eyes were uncomprehending of what she was holding. "Why? Why are you giving these to me right now?
Her eyes snapped to Mercury's. They were filled with panic and incredulity.
"Because…"
Because I'll never see you again.
Mercury coughed. He was losing his voice. It was getting more faint.
"It's because…I don't wanna break them. Y'know? I'm pretty clumsy lately." He gave a lopsided, bloody smile to her.
"You said it was a set! You were going to give it to me and Vi together! But… but Vi isn't here. So…don't give it to me now! Later! Give it to me later!" Powder sobbed. She pressed the boxes to his chest desperately. The corners ground against his ribcage and he coughed some more. She pulled them back abruptly, hugging them to her chest.
Mercury breathed, "Oh? Did I say that? Sorry, I'm a pretty forgetful guy sometimes."
I won't get to make new memories with you.
Powder shouted, "You only say that when it's convenient!"
Mylo held a hand to his eyes and his shoulders trembled. Claggor looked down solemnly to the ground.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's a habit of mine. Gonna have to break that…soon. Get on out of here you guys."
Powder screamed, "No! We can't leave you! We're going to save you. Help me, you guys!"
She set the boxes to the side and grabbed both of his shoulders. She attempted to lift Mercury but he was too heavy for her scrawny arms to manage any movement. She tried again but lost her grip, her momentum landing her on the ground with a rough thud. She wailed and brought her knees to her chest.
"Pow." He tried to get her attention. "Hey, Powder. My little jinx."
She looked at him. And he gave her a smile. The most gentle, most kind smile that he had ever produced in his life. It pulled slightly at his cheeks, giving them a soft roundness. It didn't reveal any teeth. It contained everything that he had left. His love. It wasn't happiness. It wasn't joy. It wasn't giddiness or expectation. It was just… understanding. Complete and total understanding.
He recalled a similar smile that he received once. It was long ago, long before he even met Vander or knew the name of the Hound. Who was it? It was a woman. His mother? A grandmother? Did he have one of those? Oh, it didn't matter where it came from. The only thing that mattered in that moment was who it was directed at.
Powder uncurled herself and crawled to him. Her hair was a mess. Mercury chuckled and patted her hair down, straightening some of it.
"You already saved me," he said to her. He gently pulled her head towards him and pressed their foreheads together. "I love you guys so much. I love you, Powder. No matter what. No matter where."
He cupped her face in his hands and just… looked.
This will be the last time I get to look at you.
He absorbed as much detail as he could from her face. Her button nose that he poked whenever he got stressed from work. Her eyes that would sparkle and shine with intelligence and emotion. Her round cheeks that would puff up in annoyance whenever he teased her. Her thin lips that would widen into a smirk whenever she proved somebody wrong. All of those features together created something unique amongst everyone in the entire world.
If only they had more time. There was never enough time was there? There weren't enough of a lot of things in Zaun. There was never enough space. Never enough food. Never enough shoes. Never enough joy. Never enough kindness.
But most of all, there was never enough time. Time for the people he loved. Time for the people who cherished him. Time with his parents. Time with his siblings.
It wasn't fair.
He tried to peer into the future and steal some of the time that he would never have. Tried to see how she would look in five years. She would be a late teenager then. Her face would be slimmed down. Her eyes would be sharper. Maybe she would grow out her hair. Hopefully not too long or she might step on them and trip and that would be no good. He could see it then, she would be fighting guys off with a stick. He could only hope that she would find a decent guy or gal to settle down with. Maybe someone like… Oh… Mercury chuckled slightly. That's what that was about.
He kissed her on the forehead before grabbing the boxes off the ground and putting them in her hand again. "Get on out of here, Pow."
She didn't budge. Mylo shook her shoulder.
She still didn't move.
Mercury sighed and grinned at her. He had to show a strong face for her. Strong enough that the tears streaming down his face didn't matter.
"I'll catch up with you, okay?" He held up a pinkie. "Pinkie promise."
Powder looked at his pinkie with hesitation. Her teary eyes flitted back and forth between his digit and his eyes. She intertwined her pinkie with his and shook slightly.
"Pinkie promise," she whispered.
Mercury nodded. "I'll be okay. Go."
Mylo grabbed Powder and hoisted her on his back. Mercury laughed slightly. He never thought he would see the day where Mylo would give Powder a piggy-back ride.
The three kids turned their heads to look at him. He nodded to Mylo who nodded back. He turned back and they ran out of the alley, cutting across the rubble and the flames.
Mercury leaned his head back against the slab of broken stone he was on. Another tear escaped the corner of his eye and trickled down his burn. It felt nice and horrible at the same time.
He sighed. Oh gee, he never gave Mylo and Claggor his list of brotherly duties. And there was no time to tell them all to them. They had to run before Silco caught up.
Maybe… he had time for one. Just one. He took a deep breath.
"Mylo! Claggor!" Mercury shouted. His lungs burned and his throat felt like it would collapse at any moment but he shouldered on even louder. He wasn't sure if Mylo could hear him, he hoped Mylo would, but Mercury definitely knew that Silco could hear him. He tried again. "MYLO! CLAGGOR! BROTHERLY DUTY NUMBER ONE!"
The flames licked and burned at him. They cast dark and deep shadows against the wall. Each breath he took was filled with dust and dirt. It was a familiar taste in his mouth and a familiar scent.
Mercury coughed and wheezed. He put his hand to his mouth and coughed so hard he almost retched. He pulled his hand back. It was covered in blood.
He tried to adjust himself against the brick walls using his hands. Even with him just using his arms to move, his mangled legs screamed at him to stop as they dragged against the concrete and gravel. He bit his lip and almost shed a few tears at the pain. He gritted his teeth and tried again, this time succeeding at propping himself against the roughly set bricks.
He took a couple of deep breaths and screamed his last words to the boys. "PROTECT YOUR FAMILY! NO MATTER WHAT!"
His words echoed against the walls of the alley and into empty streets. The only response was the dull roar of the flames around him.
Mercury slumped. His energy was spent. He could feel it. He was going to die. He chuckled to himself. He never thought that he would die like this. Actually, he had never given his death that much thought. Much of Zaun was depressing enough as it was.
He leaned his head back and sighed. Vi wasn't back yet. Even if she couldn't find any enforcers, she should have been out of range at that point for Silco to find. He would have to figure out what to do on his own. Speaking of, where the hell was Silco?
A smattering of footsteps greeted his ears. Mercury turned his head to the entrance of the alley. Long shadows passed through the corners. The shadows limped or held their limbs carefully. Some were even missing limbs entirely. Finally, their owners rounded the corner and he saw the man at the front. Silco.
Silco walked slowly up to Mercury before stopping a few yards away from him. Their eyes locked, his electric blue against Silco's mismatched pale blue and dark red. Mercury gave him a withering glare.
Silco had known that as soon as he captured Vander, he would have to contend with Mercury. The Wings of Zaun. Once upon a time, Silco and he were close. Silco would dare say that Mercury and he used to share similar ideals, more so than Vander and Silco. They both believed in a feared Zaun and a crushed Piltover.
However, Mercury ultimately chose to stick with Vander. And for what? Some notion of family? Silco saw the bigger picture. Shimmer was the way of the future, the newest in weaponry. Just having it was good enough as a threat to cow the topsiders into submission. Vander wanted equality and was willing to march for it but he wasn't willing to crush them. Silco was. That was the difference between them.
Silco said, "You're better than this, Mercury."
"What? Better than killing children? Yeah, I guess I am." Mercury gave Silco a short, venomous laugh before he descended into a fit of coughing.
Silco didn't react. He didn't revel in killing children. He took no pleasure at all in the act of killing and he made sure that his people knew it. But he also made sure that they knew that he wasn't at all afraid of taking another life. When you lived as long as he did and saw the things that he had seen, it was just par for the course. Life wasn't fair to any of them, man or woman, elderly or young. Death was the only thing that was fair. And if there was anyone or anything in his way, then he would remove them fairly.
"We all used to stand for something. You, me, Vander. We used to stand for a greater Zaun."
Mercury looked down at his legs, mangled and disfigured, and looked back at Silco. He shrugged, "Well… I don't know about you but it looks to me that I won't be doing much standing at all."
Silco shook his head. His eyes were murky and his lips were curved down. He waved down a couple of his goons and turned away from Mercury. The boy would die in time. He would allow him the dignity of cherishing his last moments alone with Vander.
"Find them."
"Uh uh uh," Mercury said.
The goons that moved to obey Silco stopped in their tracks, as did Silco himself. Mercury pulled out a crystal from his pocket. It glowed with a sinister blue light in his palm, pulsating with unknowable power.
Mercury smirked. "No one's going anywhere."
Silco furrowed his eyebrows. He crossed his hands behind his back. "And just what is… that?"
"My leverage," Mercury said. He held the blue gem even higher, making sure that everyone before him could see it. "If any of you move, any of you, then I'll blow this place sky high. What happened in the building? Yeah, that was this thing right here."
The mooks behind Silco all shifted unsteadily. They whispered to each other, slightly panicked, and none of them dared to move. Silco for his part remained still, no weakness on his face at all. Never any weakness.
"So, you've been holding us hostage the moment we came into sight. But why haven't you used it yet?" Silco asked. "You're about to die. We both know that there is no place in all of Zaun that could treat your wounds even if you could manage to get there. We both know that you want to kill me. Break your oath in the process but that's a small price to pay for your 'family' isn't it?"
Mercury said nothing.
"Your best option is to end it all right here. Right now." Silco stepped closer. His gang behind all looked panicked and some reached out to motion him to come back. None of them dared to touch him, however.
Silco crouched in front of Mercury, never once breaking eye contact. "So why don't you just… do it? What do you want? What is your goal?"
Mercury chuckled. "What do I want? I wanted a lot of things. I wanted to find a nice girl to settle down with. I wanted to watch Mylo, Vi, Powder…and Claggor… all grow up. I wanted to stop having nightmares. I wanted to strike it rich and never worry about money in my life. I wanted to eat at Bravi's one more time. But… obviously I can't have what I want anymore."
Want was a luxury of the living. Desire belonged to those with a future. Mercury was a dead man. Silco just needed to figure out if he himself was about to die.
Mercury smiled. "No, Silco, it isn't a question of what I want. It's what I need."
"And what do you need, Mercury?"
Mercury didn't need to think about his answer. There was only one thing that he required. "What I need… Silco… is to buy time."
Silco's eyes widened in understanding. Mercury's smile morphed into a sharp grin, all teeth.
"See you in hell, Silco!"
Mercury crushed the crystal in his hand and the world flashed blue.
Sadness. Despair. Death. Destruction.
And boom! Canon divergence. People are in different places. Some people are alive when they're not supposed to be. Others are dead? Yep, we're talking about some new events, new character arcs, new plot points, new devices, all that stuff.
Mylo and Claggor are alive! What! Yeah, it's crazy I know. But I feel like there is so much potential to be had with two new characters in the mix.
So, my posts are going to be less frequent now. I'm aiming for a new chapter every two weeks but as you know, life uh finds a way to screw us over so there may or may not be some delays.
I have the next few chapters planned out and I hope they deliver!
Till next time.