A/N: In case you're new to the LoL/LoR scene—Janna is the spirit/deity of Zaun, the wind spirit more precisely. Of course lore now is whatever the Hell it wants to be, but I like using Janna as another "God" even though saying "God" is still a thing in Runeterra. Just thought I'd clarify!

Anyways, hope you enjoy this chap!

Chapter Summary: Trying to recuperate from their recent mugging, Zel and Evi work hard to resupply Zel's undermines. The issue? They need Shimmer and the only place Evi can think to get it is from The Last Drop. Meanwhile, Jinx searches for answers to the best of her abilities and fills an empty stomach.

Word Count: 7,624

—ZEL—

Working on undermines was a real delicate process Zel often found to be a tranquil experience. After a day and a half of scavenging, he concluded they managed to get a decent amount for him to make up the parts and restock the bombs he lost. Sorting through Evi's… very helpful finds and his own haul, he had a good amount of scrap to start making up the frames and wiring. The biggest issue—well, the two biggest issues were that he needed to stock them up with Shimmer again and that building these in a secluded space wasn't easy.

It was crazy to Zel, that in the six years they've been running in Zaun, they still hadn't found a good hideout. A place to call… well, a place to stay at least. The Firelights weren't a sort they wanted to get wrapped up in, especially when Zel learned how much they hated Shimmer. He understood the grievances, but it was something even he and Evi used medicinally in their time running throughout the Undercity.

The topic of actually joining them and seeking refuge came up months ago, after a week of bad hauls, but when Zel started experimenting with some abandoned Shimmer vials in the marketplace? He knew what he discovered wasn't something he could pass up. Chemtech was one of the many facets of Zaun for a reason and Zel was starting to understand why: it was a Godsend for explosives! When he told Evi this she was in complete awe of his first chemtech undermine explosion.

They both agreed this was a useful tool they couldn't not use.

And so building it, with one of the most profitable resources of Zaun, was a difficult task.

Getting a "spare" soldering iron wasn't hard—swiping them from a mechanic shop was as easy as breathing at this point—and so Zel committed himself to building his bombs. They decided to go back to the Northside heap to perform this task, as it had semi secluded surroundings and many nooks they could hide in. But he still felt on edge the entire time. Yes, because he was creating perhaps one of the most useful weapons in Zaun, but also because Evi wouldn't stop breathing down his neck!

"E!" he hissed, throwing his head up. Turning over his shoulder, he pulled his goggles up to his forehead and glared at her. "Do you mind?"

She released a groan as she backed up a couple steps. "I'm so bored!" she whined. "Can't I just watch?"

"Watch from a distance," he muttered as he slipped his goggles back on. He enjoyed making his bombs but she could make it so frustrating with all her hovering. The sizzle from his soldering iron sparking off was like music to his ears! Yet even if it was louder than Evi's breathing, she still managed to trump its noise with her freaking hovering. It sucked that she couldn't exactly leave because he needed her to watch his back, but did she have to be so suffocating like that?

Thankfully, Evi seemed to occupy herself by building a tower with scraps of metal, humming to herself all the while. He stole occasional glances here and there, making sure she kept her distance, but it seemed like she was keeping busy for the most part. It was good too, since he was just about done with all the frames for his undermines. Now all that was left was the wiring.

As he fished through his new brown leather backpack, pulling out the scavenged wires they gathered, Evi hit him with a random question,

"You ever think 'bout the Piltie kids Topside?"

He stopped at that. Turning back, with his goggles lifted again, he replied, "About how they're born lucky? Sure." He shrugged.

She snorted, placing a giant leather boot at the top of her trash tower—it was now half her height. "No, I mean 'bout what they'd be doing," she explained, looking back at him, "on an afternoon like this?"

Zel blinked. "What, like playing?" He looked around them. "We play down here too." There was a touch of defensiveness in his tone.

"Zel, ain't nothin' to play with down here," she mused, chuckling to herself. She turned back to her tower, scanning it no doubt for another piece to add. Wanting to remain productive, Zel decided to return to his wiring. "I mean like they got toy shops up there. Damn Pilties probably going to a park and playin' with a ball." She snorted. "'Member when we played with that ball?"

He laughed, nodding as he began slotting the wires into the detonator charge. "You kicked that ball right into that bar and the bartender stabbed it with their knife."

Evi laughed. "Yup! Gave it back all, 'Freshly pumped, kiddos!' Fuckin' asshole," she muttered.

Zel clicked his teeth at that. She was nine and he was eight then, the day they found that ball. He probably went on for an hour about all the fun things they could do with it when they picked it up. It was just near some old dumpster. Chances it belonged to someone was high but this was also Zaun so it was theirs. It was theirs for about an afternoon until that incident. Because typical Zaun, good things couldn't stay.

"Probably the only day we were normal kids for once, huh?" he solemnly said.

"Yeah," Evi agreed. A moment passed until she spoke again. "But hey, you keep making those mines and I keep pulling my routine? We'll be off these streets in no time."

He stopped what he was doing and looked back at her, meeting her eyes. "You believe that, E?"

She shrugged. "Beats thinkin' we'll just die tomorrow." And then she lightly kicked her tower down, with her left leg, creating a resounding clang as the structure lamely collapsed.

His eyes lingered on her leg before he turned back to his undermine. He'd have to do better than before.

—EVI—

"You sure about this?" Zel quietly asked.

Evi shushed him as they started to near The Last Drop. "Where else can we swipe a decent amount of Shimmer?" she whispered, "Just stick close. And remember: don't do anything stupid—"

"—and don't do anything slow," he finished, sighing to himself.

They walked up to the front doors, side by side. Both straightening up, they walked past the bouncers.

How you carried yourself mattered, confidence was all they needed to walk into the joint. Surviving it was another issue entirely. With the walk done, they pushed open the doors to the bar and were immediately blasted with some of the loudest music they had ever heard. The two had only ever heard The Last Drop's booming bases from running around the building, never from within. Evi was amazed at how it was almost as loud as Zel's undermine explosions. But Zel looked as though he was intimated by the rowdy atmosphere of the whole scene.

Though the two walked in, Evi's instincts screamed at her to grab Zel and bolt back outside. It wasn't too late to leave without arousing suspicion. But they needed to turn up with the chemtech needed to pack Zel's undermines and this was the only way they could. The plan was simple after all: walk up to one of the tables pumping Shimmer masks, swipe an empty slot and pump it into the vials in Zel's backpack. If necessary, Evi was prepared to take a huff to blend in—neither of them were a stranger to doing so before, but she was more adept considering how much she took when she got her leg amputated.

Zel had already profusely protested against her plan, but when she said, "Well, how did you plan on getting Shimmer?" he seemed to reluctantly give up.

Which was good, because it was one thing for her to take charge on a plan, but it was another thing to have Zel second-guessing her and harping her confidence. Confidence was what it took to walk in places like these. So… "Act like you belong," she elbowed Zel.

He audibly gulped—somehow she could still hear it over the music—and nodded as he followed after her. The sight must've looked comical to the patrons of the establishment. Two sumprat pipsqueaks waltzing in and skirting around a bunch of shit-faced adults with cups of booze and mouths of Shimmer spilling all over the joint. But then Evi's eyes locked onto a vacant table seat and she immediately grabbed Zel's arm, pulling him toward the target.

As soon as they arrived, she nodded at the large lanky sleeveless blond man glossily blinking at them, acting as if they were just casual friends. And then she pushed Zel forward. "Go on," she urged him. When Zel shot her a look that screamed, What about this dude! She just rolled her eyes and whispered into his ear, "He's clearly high off his mind, just hurry!"

Zel nodded and then shrugged his pack off, pulling out several empty vials. He spared a quick glance around them but Evi kicked his shin, reminding him to not look so sketchy. It was Evi's job to keep an eye out anyways. She darted her gaze around the room, scanning each and every face that looked like they were glancing their way. She did it as subtly as she could, nodding her head to the rhythm of the music as she leaned up against the table. Though, because of her short height, it looked like she was just bonking her head against the table.

And then she heard a hissing noise, followed by a click. Glancing back, her eyes widened when she caught Zel twisting the mask off! Puffs of Shimmer escaped after the separation, and she immediately leaned over and flicked his left bicep. "The fuck you doing," she lowly chided him.

He winced as he shot her a glare. "Vial can't fit in the mask—this is the best way," he hurriedly explained as he turned back and slotted the tube into the empty vial.

"Hey."

The two froze as they realized the man sitting next to Zel had suddenly spoken up… and was addressing them.

"The Hell are you doin' to the pump?" he groggily asked. "You ain't breaking it, are ya?"

Okay, so he was drunk and high, maybe Evi could work with this. "He—"

"I'm fixing it!" Zel quickly replied. Evi shot him a look but masked her face with a small smile, laughing like it was just a joke. But then Zel just had to go on, "I-It's a bit of a faulty pump so I, uh, I pump it into these vials to test the… potency!" He turned back to his now filled vial and nodded. "Yup! I-It seems to be working so far, but y'know, gotta test it more so…" he grabbed his second vial and started pumping.

The guy blinked at him then looked to Evi, lazily blinking again, before looking back to Zel. "Hmmm," he drawled. "You a knowledgeable kid, eh Kid?"

Evi laughed as she stepped forward and patted her partner's shoulder. "Who isn't these days!" she forcefully giggled. "Zel, would you mind hurrying it up?" she strainingly begged.

The spiky brown haired boy turned back to his work and began pumping his third vial. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the man seemed disinterested and stepped away from the table, taking one last huff of Shimmer before leaving. It was then Evi noticed the patron beside the man, slotted a coin into the machine before pumping another round of Shimmer into their mask.

Her eyes widened as she turned to Zel. "Zel," she asked as she hopped onto the now vacant spot, "How'd you get the pump working without a coin?"

He kept his gaze focused on the filled vial, turning the pump off and grabbing his fourth one.

"Zel."

He slotted the vial in and began pumping.

"Zel!" she growled.

He cast a stern stare at her. "I pulled off the panel and bypassed the air compressor manually—I got the pump to work."

"Without paying?"

"E, why else would I pull off the panel?" he dryly remarked as he topped off the fourth vial and tucked it into his pack.

Before he could slot the fifth one in, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward her. "Zel! He noticed. You fuckin' pulled apart the pump!" She took a quick scan around them, realizing the man had faded into the crowd. "C'mon," she grabbed the rest of the empty vials, "we gotta go—"

"Are you kidding?" he incredulously replied, already pumping the fifth one, "This is barely enough to cover what I lost! Give me a few more seconds!"

"Zel, stop," she made a move to shove the empty vials back into his pack but he freed a hand from the pump and slapped them back onto the table. The fact none of them shattered was a miracle, but she was too blown away by the sudden balls on her friend right now. "What're you doing!"

"Making my mines," he seriously answered, locking eyes with her before grabbing his sixth vial.

But hey, you keep making those mines and I keep pulling my routine? We'll be off these streets in no time.

Evi mentally facepalmed at that. Of fucking course he'd spin what she said into some sort of self-worth equivalent. "Zel, please, we can find another way to get 'em o-or come back another time! Let's go!" she gently pushed his right shoulder, urging him to move.

"Evi, we can't." He shrugged off her hands as he finished off the sixth vial. "You said it yourself, 'where else can we swipe a decent amount of Shimmer?'"

"Fuck me and my words," she cursed, slamming her fist onto the table.

"How about you keep it down," he muttered back at her. She balked bewilderedly at that response. He had the audacity to chuckle at her reaction as he added, "With the way you're acting it's gonna be you giving us away."

Evi scoffed in disbelief. Leaning over, she harshly whispered, "You fuckin' tore apart a Shimmer pump in a bar!"

"And you are the one acting all crazy," he shot back as he switched in his seventh vial.

Only two more vials left.

This was insane.

Taking a deep breath, Evi closed her eyes and started shaking her hands, spinning her wrists about as she began to think. At the end of the day, what was done was done; if they were caught they had to make the most of it regardless. Zel was already so close and that guy might've been too far gone to really process what he was doing—or no one would believe him. She opened her eyes and was met with Zel's pleading stare.

She gave a single nod. "The second you're done we're fuckin' bolting, you hear me?" she sternly said.

Zel eagerly nodded, relief leaking into his smile before turning back to his vial pumping.

Janna, if there was ever a time for more luck, now would be it.

Seventh one was down, and Zel switched in the eighth as speedily as possible. The haste at which he moved reassured Evi a bit: maybe they would get out of here fast enough! Her eyes continue to nervously dart around the bar, concerns about casualness and blending in all forgotten now. Suddenly everyone looked suspicious to her. Drunk eyes and glossy Shimmered up pupils, passing glances that made her hair stand on edge. Her right fingers twitched nonstop, ready to grab her knife from her boot at any moment.

A hiss of air startled her and caused her to look back—the ninth one was now in the pump. Holy shit, they were doing this. Evi turned her attention toward the exit and her mental map began to spin. The navigation of this crowd, in a full sprint, would cause a bit of a commotion but that was only a piece of the puzzle. Her mind flew to two nearest walls they could scale, not The Last Drop's own building, but the shops and buildings surrounding it. The alley they dropped down into and walked out of would be the fastest route but doubling back the way they came from any lingering eyes would create a chase.

And they needed to lose eyes fast.

So going down the right street and ducking into the alleyway there instead would be best, a harder climb because of the loose pipes and small footing for ledges, but it would be an even harder climb for any goons chasing them. They could do it. Her eyes glanced back to Zel's, the determination in them fiery with drive. They would do it. She looked to the vial and it was done: completely filled. Zel immediately twisted the pump off and capped the bottle, shoving it right into his bag as he looked to her with frantic eyes.

A silent order was all she returned with hers:

Run.

He shouldered his backpack and hopped off the stool as Evi grabbed his wrist, ready to lead him through the crowd. Two steps forward she was already shoving and body checking knees and shins, wading through the intoxicated mob. With a crack through the massive shoulders and swaying arms, Evi's eyes locked onto the door. They weren't too far! They could—

"Evi!" Her head whipped around toward Zel's voice, and suddenly he wasn't in her grasp. Her eyes widened at the large bald man picking Zel up by his poncho, plucking him like he weighed nothing. She ducked down and moved to grab her knife, ready to stab the bastard.

But then she felt a hard blow connect to the back of her head.

And all of a sudden everything felt blurry.

The music muffled.

The whole room spun.

Her eyes shut as she fell to the floor, face planting straight into the hardwood flooring.

And then darkness.

—JINX—

So maybe "tracking" down this copycat wasn't as easy as Jinx thought. At least now she was wasting time.

She sighed to herself as she propped her feet on her desk, staring up at her ceiling. Could she really call it a ceiling though? Damn near the whole roof was open! She supposed she had a roof, but it was a small one. But the giant turbine was attached to sections of the cavern walls, so maybe those supports counted as rooves too? Or maybe the entire cavern itself technically counted because it still covered her? She chuckled at the semantics.

It was a home nonetheless.

That was important, because ever since the Split, homes were in such short supply… especially in Zaun. Jinx never realized how little the amount was, the number of homes people had. The Split—

JINX'S FAULT!

JINX'S FAULT!

JINX'S FAULT!

—was the eye opener that she really had… nothing here. She couldn't help but scoff at those thoughts, that reality. She shook her head and looked away from the roof, now sitting up in her chair. Somehow, Zaun was still home to her. She was renowned here, even she could understand that. Though she hated that her reputation meant less fun from people daring to step up to her. But Jinx understood she had respect and titles. She knew that The Loose Cannon was also synonymous with Zaun. Jinx meant something. And she liked that.

But having those affiliations meant keeping that hard earned rep.

"Hard to keep all that when some Zaunite's running 'round and stealin' my show!" she bitterly spat out, lowering her head back to her desk. The array of Chomper parts and chemtech capsules splayed out made her smile. This was her signature, nothing would take that from her. "But all that talk means squat if I don't find whoever's doing this!" She slapped her forehead as she rested her left hand on the table, rapidly drumming her fingers against it.

The thing about chemtech in Zaun, was that it was basically one of the most common resources around. Easy to get? Not really. But well known? Of course! So asking around (read: threatening and brutally interrogating) wasn't very effective reconnaissance for results. Rumours and gossip in the Undercity was no different from its counterpart, it was by all means a very efficient way for information to spread throughout its citizens. So actions were how one generated that kinda talk.

Needless to say, chemtech bombs going off in Piltover wouldn't be news that reached Zaunites who gave a shit.

JEALOUS BECAUSE THEY'RE BETTER?

JEALOUS JINX!

Jinx kicked off her desk, causing her to roll her chair down the third wing of her fan, all the way to her living room area. "Nah, nah, nah," she muttered herself. Once she bumped into the small table before the couch, she spun around and rested her foot on it. Looking at Fishbones and Pow-Pow, she glanced back and forth between them. "Whattya think? There's gotta be some news 'bout this wannabe?"

"Why not the marketplace?"

She looked to Fishbones. "Say that again?" she asked as she hopped over the table and grabbed his mouth.

The puppeteering began like usual, "Well if its chemtech bombs, they must've bought it from someone, right?"

She gasped. "You're right, Fishbones!" With an enthusiastic clap, she launched up to her feet. Jinx eagerly slung on both Fishbones and Pow-Pow as she skipped down the wing. "There oughta be some junkie seller, dealin' them the goodies!" She marched past her workshop table, grabbing a couple finished Chompers and stuffing them into her back satchel. Hopping over to the opposite wing, or the first one, she called out to no one, "Mama's going out to work!"

Right at the end of the wing, was a large circular metal door bolted to the cavern walls. She grinned as she grabbed the latch and spun it, causing the door to crack open and slide to the left, exposing a small cave opening. She stepped into the cave and slid the door shut behind her, listening to the locking mechanism click made her sigh contently.

It was time to hit the streets of Zaun.

Her hideout being attached to one of the lower levels of the Undercity, specifically near the mines, was one of the better finds in her youth. So many of the fissurefolk roaming the streets and the Chem-Barons sitting pretty on their mountain of golden hexes and silver cogs were too in their own asses they forgot about their roots. They've all but forgotten the life before: the suffocating air and the Hellish trash the Topsiders had them mine through. For the title of the Sunken City it seemed its residents forgot about what really laid beneath their feet. Not Jinx. Silco made a point of making her understand that for a portion of her life.

TOO BAD HE'S DEAD, HUH?

Jinx shook off the thoughts as she turned at the next intersection, pressing onward. Navigating the caves and mines was like second nature to Jinx. The tiniest of cracks and crevices that would trip the untrained eye were skips she easily leapt over. The turns and fake dead ends that would definitely confuse a pursuer were like curtains for her to peel out of. It was a labyrinth no doubt. But to Jinx? It was one of the first jokes she'd ever make—the punchline was that it wasn't a maze, just a straight shot to her hideout, one just had to know how to look.

And under seven minutes, she was out of the caves and in the many exposed openings leading into Zaun's streets. Many of the exits/entrances led all over the city, this one was one her favourites, as it had an aerial view right into the market area. She took a good whiff of the polluted air. "Ahh, that's that good shit," she sighed, "pollutant gasses and smoke." She stood near the edge of the cave, her hand gripped onto the rock as her body hung off and swayed back and forth.

She shook her head. "Right, not here to get distracted," she reminded herself, her eyes fixing on the marketplace. The issue with the thread she was trying to follow, was that finding a stallholder selling Shimmer was both rare and common. Made no sense, right? The thing about selling Shimmer was that it brought many hungry and angry (read: addicts and Firelights) eyes toward you. But they were easy to find, especially in the market area, since many knew how to sell it without not really selling it.

Jinx just had to find the right ones.

Easier said than done, for most.

But not her.

With a casual hop, she fell toward the rooves below, landing gracefully on her feet before breaking into a sprint. She scanned the typical shops: trades from other regions and cities, scrapped parts traders, loot buyers, food stalls, poisoned food stalls, food stalls that were really poisoned food stalls, and poisoned food stalls that were really food stalls. Her manic grin slowly began to fall as she looked around the market. This… wasn't right. Something was missing.

None of them were selling Shimmer?

Not even the ones that looked like they sold something else but really sold Shimmer. Those ones were easy to spot, based on just practice. They had crates that were big enough to fit Shimmer barrels and often sold cheap, easy to sell and buy goods for a front. But none of those were around either. Jinx's eyes went wide as she continued to hop around, looking frantically for any shop resembling Shimmer dealings. Did she miss a memo? Was there some sort of Cold Turkey day she missed the announcement of? Did they just completely run out of Shimmer?

She stopped running and dropped her butt on the ledge of the building, letting her legs dangle. "Wait, I'm thinking!" She massaged her temple with her fingers as she groaned. "Urgh… how do people do this?" Jinx needed to be smart if she was going to pursue this further. As fun as it would be to hop down and threaten the life out of a shop owner for details, she couldn't let this copycat know she was onto them. They could be anyone down there. She needed info from a source who wouldn't mind spilling and would keep it lowkey.

A growling buzz from her stomach made her sit up straight. "Oh. Guess I haven't eaten in a bit," she muttered. Her eyes went wide at that. "Oooooh! Stomach," she patted her belly, "you're so smart!" she giggled before stepping down from her ledge. Swinging from a nearby pipe, she threw herself into the crowd below, spinning in the air graciously before landing right on her feet with a straightened spine and hands extended outward. "Ta da!" she exclaimed…

…and the crowd parted.

The funny thing about walking the streets of Zaun versus Piltover was that the fear could somewhat be similar, but the reactions were different. Not many Zaunites up and ran at the sight of her, least not in public places like these. Compared to the Pilties, who'd scream for Janna's mercy and run crying, most averted their gaze and kept out of her way. Still fun, but definitely useful for walking through a busy market. With an eager pep, she casually sauntered down the marketplace, making her way over to her one and only favourite stall.

"Jericho!" she shouted and as she launched herself at the stall, "You ol' fart, whip me up something good?" She quickly sat down and rapped her fingers against the counter, beaming at the giant fish who mirrored a wide grin of his own.

He laughed with excitement as he yanked his cleaver off his cutting board shoulder and turned around.

She hummed to herself as she nodded her head. There were eyes on her, but nothing like a spy or someone out to get her, just the typical, "Oh shit it's Jinx!" Still, Jinx had a cautious awareness of her surroundings. Eating with your back turned in the Undercity was a sign that you knew how to eat with eyes on the back of your head. So she knew not many would dare to try anything.

A couple minutes later, Jericho spun around with an eager smile as he dropped a bowl of fish and squid in front of Jinx, garbling out, "EAT UP!"

She grinned as she pulled out ten silver cogs—and a couple golden hexes—and slid them across the table. "Thanks, Jerry!" she chuckled before digging in.

Jericho blinked, confused for a moment as he grabbed the coins. He garbled out, "OVERPAYING ME, JINX!"

She lifted her head up from her bowl and smirked, causing the tentacle in her mouth to hang off the corner of her mouth. "You schee Derry," she chewed through her mouthful, "I've got thome quesphtions—"

"FOR THE LOVE OF JANNA, SWALLOW!" he bellowed out. She snorted, then obliged her server. As she lifted a finger and opened her mouth, he added, "IF YOU MAKE AN INNUENDO I'LL SPIT IN YOUR BOWL!"

Jinx pouted at that, releasing a disappointed sigh. Jericho merely rolled his eyes. "Anyways," she spoke up, wiping her mouth with her wrist, "I've been in and out of Zaun here and there, so I'm kinda outta the loop." She leaned over and tilted her head, blinking owlishly. "What's the deal with the Shimmer? Why's nobody sellin'?" she asked before popping a couple more squids into her mouth.

He blinked at that. "YOU DIDN'T HEAR?"

She scowled, furiously chewing and swallowing her mouthful. "Buddy, I just said I've been in and out of here."

He chuckled. "CHEMTECH EXPLOSION ON THE ROOF COUPLE DAYS AGO SET EVERYONE OFF!" Jericho nodded his head over Jinx, drawing her eyes to the building just a block down and diagonally from them. "CRAZY BIG TOO! KINDA REMINDED ME OF YOURS WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED!"

That made Jinx's alarms ring like crazy.

TIME TO BE REPLACED!

OBSOLETE!

She shook her head and dug in for another slice of fish, stuffing into her mouth. "Sho what? People get schcared?" she asked. Taking a big gulp, barely swallowing the whole bite—

TRYING TO CHOKE?

—she laughed. "Seems dumb."

He shrugged. "ANOTHER BODY FELL OVER TOO, PEOPLE SAY HE WAS STABBED! TOO MUCH ATTENTION AROUND CHEMTECH AROUND HERE!" Jericho explained, "HEARD BUSINESS AT THE LAST DROP AND THE LIKE HAVE GOTTEN ROWDIER BECAUSE OF ALL THE SHIMMER!"

Jinx hummed at that, cupping her chin. It made sense though. Once the market stalls stopped selling there were few well known places Zaunites could venture to for a reliable and decent supply of Shimmer. But if a chemtech bomb went off here, did that mean the bomber was out of Shimmer? Or were they trying to get attention? Or was that attention supposed to be diverted somewhere else?

She sighed, she hated thinking.

"ARE YOU OUT?" Jericho asked, causing her to snap back to him. An earnest look fell upon him as he added, "I KNOW A GUY IF YOU NEED ONE!"

She chuckled. "No thanks, Jerry." She lifted the bowl and gulped the rest of her meal. "Was just wonderin' was all!" She pushed off the counter and smiled, wiping her mouth again before waving goodbye. "Thanks for the meal!" The laughter of the old fish vendor echoed throughout the marketplace as she walked away.

Asking about the bomber was out of the question, prying ears would've heard. She couldn't discreetly check out the bombsite Jericho pointed out either, because everyone would know she was looking for the bomber. So she had to cut her losses for now. But it didn't matter any of the questions she wanted to ask or had.

Because the most annoying question was,

"What the Hell does this bomber-cat want?"

—ZEL—

When Zel opened his eyes, he expected the stench of trash and the burning sensation of the fissure air to sting his eyes, but instead, he felt… warmth? Like the outside air was nowhere to be found. He blinked the grogginess from his eyes, but felt more pain than sleep in his face. Was… was he hit? What did that mean for Evi? That set enough shock in his system to wake him up. He raised his head and realized he couldn't move his arms. With a quick glance, he noticed he had a rope tied around his body, his arms tied behind his back. He tugged on the restraints, had he not been still dazed he would've realized how pointless such an effort was, but he tried to strain against them nonetheless.

A familiar groan sent a chill down his spine as he looked over to the source. Just a metre away from him, Evi was lying on the floor: cheek bruised and a face smushed up against the carpet, and just like him—restrained. "E," he called out, "E, wake up!" Another groan was all he received as a response. The urgency and danger of their surroundings was starting to come back to Zel.

They tried to rob The Last Drop. He tried to rob them. Evi wanted them to leave but he was being stupid again. He clicked his teeth in annoyance as he pushed his head up from the carpet, forcing himself upright on his knees. His vision's blur started to settle and the horrid realization of where they were was made more clear to him. This was an office. And right across from them, behind the mahogany desk, sat the owner of The Last Drop herself: Sevika.

She was leaning on her infamous left prosthetic, holding a cigar between her fingers while reading a collection of documents in her right. She blew a puff of smoke before saying, "I give her ten more seconds before I have one of my guys wake her up with their boots."

His eyes widened as he looked at the blonde girl stirring on the floor. "Evi! Get up!" he shouted through his gritted teeth.

"Urgh," she moaned, blinking her eyes open as she pushed her forehead against the carpet. "The Hell is going on?"

"Get. Up," he repeated, more slowly.

The edge in his voice seemed to be enough to spur her into a more aware state, as she raised her head and her eyes went wide at the realization of the unfamiliarity of their surroundings. She slowly began to rise up as the vain attempt of struggling free from her ropes occurred. "Zel. What the fuck is happening?"

"Consequences," Sevika spoke up, drawing their eyes toward her. She tossed her documents onto the desk with haphazard care as she blinked at them tiredly. "Gotta admit, takes balls for sumprats your age to try stealing from me. Must mean ya got the pair to take the punishment that comes with it too?" she raised a deadly brow their way, and never before had Zel been more unnerved by someone's mere facial expression.

"L-Listen, Miss Sevika we—"

"Whattya want," Evi spat out, narrowing her eyes. Zel gaped in shock as he shot an admonishing look to his partner, who noticed and merely scoffed at his reaction. "If she wanted us dead she would've killed us before we woke up. Heck, I bet she would've killed us right at the floor of the bar!"

A snort came from one of the goons in the back, but Sevika herself merely shrugged. "Fair reasoning, Blondie," she commended her. "But even brats your age know part of the fun is making you squirm and squeal before we slit your throats."

Zel gulped at that, feeling a need to grip at his own throat for safety but his hands were bound.

Evi, though looking a bit nervous, clicked her teeth in annoyance. "I… I call bull—you want something."

"What if today I want to kill kids who were awake to hear their own screams?" the woman smugly replied. Zel glanced back toward Evi, anticipating a remark but nothing came out of the girl's gritted teeth. In all honesty, had this not been terrifying, he would've found the exchange to be quite comedic with how the two bantered. Maybe if they got out of this, he'd look back and laugh? Nevertheless, Sevika seemed done with all the dancing as she puffed out another smoke and chuckled. "So let's talk business?"

Zel blew out a small relieved sigh. "Wh-What do you need?" he stammered out.

Sevika snorted. "Certainly not fruit," she commented as she lifted Evi's satchel from beneath her desk and dropped all their fruit onto it. "Consider this? Making us even. I know Demacian fruit can be pretty expensive—"

"You bitch, that's ours!" Evi cursed.

"We worked hard for that!" Zel shouted, feeling the rage build within. Though a shred of fear sobered him up as he realized his and Evi's approaches wouldn't get them anywhere.

But it hardly seemed to matter.

If anything, Sevika laughed at the way they responded. "Oh I bet," she nodded, picking one of the fruits up from the desk. She gave it a big bite, dramatically savouring the taste as she moaned. Zel cursed underneath his breath as Evi growled. "'Cause hardly any Zaunites 'round here can scrape together enough cogs to buy one of these, let alone a whole batch!" She smirked at them. "And this is waaay too well grown to be something you just snagged. The market area isn't a place you can just get away with petty theft. So: you used stolen coins to buy these."

"S-So what?" Zel spoke up, ignoring the nerves in his voice. "You gonna turn us into the Pilties?"

She chuckled, shaking her head. "Of course not, Kid. But speaking of the Topsiders…" she leaned back in her seat and took a quick bite of the fruit again, swallowing it immediately before tossing the fruit back on her desk. "I know a good amount of Pilties scrambling around looking for a sumprat using chemtech bombs."

Zel's eyes went at that as he felt his body stiffen.

Thankfully, Evi spoke up first, growling out, "How do ya know they ain't lookin' for The Loose Cannon?"

"'Cause I hear they already know it's not her," Sevika replied, unimpressed, as if it was the worst comeback Evi could come up with. "Blowing up a dumpster? Not her style." She paused, taking another puff before smiling down at them. "But what I am hearing? Something about a new bomber on the rise? Can't imagine how much they'd cough up for a serial bomber."

"Alright, we get it." Evi groaned, dipping her head down to bonk her forehead against the carpet in frustration. Raising it up with anger in her eyes, she asked, "What do you want? 'Cause you took all our fruit."

Sevika smirked as she crouched down and pulled out Zel's backpack this time. She dropped it on her desk and fished out one of his undermine frames, making him narrow his eyes with suspicion. "Chemtech is not too difficult to mess with. Still takes brain though." She inspected the device like it was a piece of candy before sparing a smug look toward him—right at the eyes. "Making bombs with it? Takes skill too. But don't go thinking I figure you scrounge together enough coins just by blowing shit up." She turned her gaze over to Evi, holding her smirk. "Lemme guess, you're the pickpocket? Or the lockbreaker? The muscle? Or the whatever that gets the cogs and hexes?"

Evi's scowling deepened.

"No answer is still an answer, Kid." She snorted, shaking her head again as she put the unfinished undermine on the desk. "I respect the effort, brats, and so I'm employing your expertise." Their eyes widened at that as they exchanged a look of shock with one another. Of all the things they expected her to say… that wasn't it. "Heh, you two really need to step up your fibbing game 'cause your faces sell it all too well."

She kicked her feet up on the desk, notably brushing the fruit aside with the soles of her boots without a care. "So with all the cards on the table, let's play," she quipped, leaning comfortably into her seat. "Recent shipment of Shimmer exports has been rough. Piltie's policies don't exactly approve of its shipment through their gates, so smuggling has always been our go to." She sighed, shaking her head. "But those damn Wardens have been getting too thorough with inspections recently. Makes my guys' jobs harder."

"Whattya want us to do, smuggle it for you?" Evi spat out.

Sevika chuckled. "Like I could trust brats like you to do that. No, I need you to do what you do best—blow shit up." She sat up in her seat and picked up Zel's undermine again, tossing it up in and down in her hand as she smirked. "I heard about that explosion back down in the marketplace a couple days ago. And though I know, and some the Enforcers know, your bombs ain't the Loose Cannon's… plently of people ran for their lives thinking they were."

Zel's eyes widened as he gulped. Was she saying…

"I want you to blow up a plaza near the shipping docks. 'Cause enough panic at just the right time for my goods to slip off Piltover unnoticed," Sevika explained. She dropped the bomb on her desk and looked at Zel, right in his eyes. "And, Hell, I'll supply you with a bit more Shimmer from what you stole to make 'em bigger and better."

"You…" he shakily looked up at her. "Y-You want me to impersonate the Loose Cannon."

Evi released a small gasp before she turned back to Sevika, scowling at her.

"Just enough to make the damn Pilties think Jinx is running around. They'll take the bait and it'll be a homestretch." She shrugged as she leaned back in her seat. "Among all the chaos, the job will be smooth sailing and everything will be shipped off before anyone knows what hit 'em. Or… who hit 'em, rather." She chuckled, bringing her cigar back up to her lips.

Evi met Zel's eyes for one instant, and Sevika must've had a point about his expressions because the look of reluctance on her face only came when she saw his. His fear must've been so obvious. "What's the guarantee we get to walk away from this?" she asked her.

"How the Hell have you been walking away from your other bombings?" Sevika dryly shot back.

Evi clicked her teeth, not satisfied with that. "Say we do this, what do we get?"

"Not sent to Stillwater? I think you misunderstand, brat," Sevika snarked. In a flash, she stood up and slammed her metal fist on the desk, scowling at her, "This ain't a partnership. You stole from me. That should be enough cause for death already, but I'd rather waste bodies for an operation that aren't my own." She scoffed as she picked up the fruit she had bitten before, now inspecting it. "If you live? Well, guess you still owe me. Get the gist?" she asked, raising a brow their way.

Zel looked to Evi and bit his lip at the frustration building on her face. He hadn't seen her this mad since she was still learning to walk on her new leg. The way her fists were clenched behind her back, the tension in her forearms, the gritted scowl—if she managed to slip out of those ropes he knew she'd go straight for the woman's throat. She was too angry to consider the offer. Too angry to realize their lives were on the line right now. It was either die now, or potentially die doing this job and continue owing Sevika.

"We'll do it," the words left his mouth before he even thought them. He could feel Evi's eyes cast upon him in gaze of shock, but he maintained his resolve for Sevika's surprised stare. "When do you want us to do it?"

The woman grinned, almost as if she was impressed, as she sat tapped her knuckles against her desk. "Tomorrow. Shipment's going down at noon. You do it before but definitely not after," she explained as she stuffed his undermines back into his pack, "If you're not there—I'll know." She narrowed her eyes. With the threat clear, she grabbed their bags and tossed them right before their knees, nodding toward the goons behind them. "Boys will take ya downstairs, you can stock up on the Shimmer you need, get the location for which plaza we need ya to bomb, then get out." She sat back down in her seat and began helping herself to the unfinished Demacian fruit. "And uh," she took a bite, "I wouldn't try anything either. Bar's closed and my boys are itching for a reason to scrap. Best not give 'em one."

Zel shot Evi a look, warning her not to provoke the woman, as he felt his arms unbind. She only stared at him in anger as she stayed still. With their hands free, they instinctively grabbed their bags and hugged them close to their chests. Zel looked in his, noting the Shimmer vials were still there, as well as all his undermine frames, then glanced to Evi, who pulled out her knife from hers. His eyes went wide but she scoffed at him, bringing her right leg up as she sheathed the knife. It was as if she was insulted by his reaction. She shook her head as she stood up, then followed the two burly men leading them out.

He couldn't help but sigh as he followed after her.

What had he gotten them into?

A/N: Betcha fair amount of y'all weren't Sevika to come into play so soon, eh? It now seems our duo has got themselves wrapped up in a gang of sorts and are on their way back Topside! Between the two, I hope at this point you've got a good grasp of their characters and personalities. While I wanted them to be distinct, I also wanted to make sure they meshed well and had similar lines of thought in their interactions (with themselves or with others). And to get trivia outta the way, the guy who caught them at the pump station was the same person who licked that Teemo book in Ren's room as well as the guy who was straight up jamming and oblivious to Vi entering the bar in the finale. And Sevika's guards in her office were the same two who accompanied Silco when he found Jinx on the bridge!

And speaking of our loveable Zaunite...

Using Jinx's voices like Mylo and her natural craziness as a form of narrative storytelling was a take I decided to go down when I made the first "Mylo line." I realized (not to imply she's Deadpool) that having her personality leak into her descriptive writing was an interesting way of blurring the line between her perspective and her internal thoughts, all while progressing the story. So if her sections of descriptive writing are a bit confusing, that's kind of the intention? But I make sure to clearly convey how Jinx is TRULY thinking/feeling whenever I feel it may be too confusing. There are many avenues to explore with this kind of writing, and Jinx's personality opens a whole slew of creativity I'm not used to! It's exciting! ( ^‿^)

Apologies for the shorter chapter and the lack of Jinx POV. I promise Jinx's POVs will be much more soon! And even longer! For now? It's a matter of just establishing plot threads here and there. I promise next chapter will be much longer! Though I do hope you enjoyed our Zaunite duo as much as you could! Lemme know if you did!

Review Responses:

Loyal Follower: Glad to have you along for the journey! I'm pleased to see you like it so far! Don't worry about lore and such, I've done a fair amount of digging and reading myself. I probably won't get to lore deep in this fic, but there will be some trivia elements that I'll throw in here and there. Thanks for the advice though! ( ^‿^)

Next chapter update: May 18th!

Stay safe, and stay lovely y'all.

Until next time,

- Bleh