"Grab the girl" Vi heard Silco speak from her spot under the rubble, redoubling her efforts to get unpinned. She pulled hard to try to free her pinned arm, only to feel a sickening pop as she tore her own shoulder from its socket. Vi screamed out in pain, even if she knew there was no one left to care.
Vi felt the tremors in the floor as Silco's simmer enhanced minion marched over and reached out to grab the rubble to pull it off of Vi, only to be grabbed and pulled back by a larger hand and thrown onto the bridge. The pink haired girl groaned as the weight was dropped back on her once again.
The pink haired girl could feel the floor shaking under her as the two shimmer-enhanced fighters went at each other, the sounds of fists striking flesh rang in Vi's ears, but she couldn't hear them anymore. All she could see was the little monkey's face sitting among the rubble, the same monkey that rang an alarm anytime someone tried to enter the room under The last Drop. It was Powder's monkey. Was she here? Did she get caught in the explosion? Was she okay? Vi renewed her struggles to get out from under the door, an action that her dislocated shoulder definitely did not appreciate.
The fight came to an end out on the catwalk, Vi couldn't see who won, but she could feel them stomping their way over to her. The pink haired girl craned her neck to try to catch a glimpse of which monster was coming towards her only to find Silco leaning over her.
"Poor girl. Your family left you all alone." Vi tried to pull away as Silco ran his fingers through her hair in what he probably thought was a comforting manner.
"You did this… you… son of a…" Vi was shocked at how hard it was for her to talk with the weight of the door, and now Silco, sitting on top of her. The darkness starting to invade her vision wasn't helping.
"Shhhh. It's okay little one, I'm here to help you now." Vi could swear she felt a pinch on the back of her neck just before the blackness overtook her vision, Silco still petting her head.
Powder was ecstatic. Her monkey bomb worked! Sure, the explosion threw her from the building, but soon Vi would come out with Vander, Mylo, and Clogger and tell her how much the bomb helped! Vi would never leave her out of a mission again and Mylo would have to stop calling her a jinx. Finally, everything could go back to normal.
So, Powder waited. And waited. And waited. She stayed hidden behind some rubble in a nearby alleyway (just like Vi always taught her to do when waiting for her) and kept her eye on the door. Maybe some of Silco's goon survived the blast so Vi had to fight them off? Yes, that had to be it. They were just finishing off the last of the bad guys.
All of Powder's hopes were soon crushed to pieces as, instead of her family, Silco immerged from the smoke. What was Even worse, he was followed by Sevika and a Shimmer monster who was carrying something out of the building. The young girl hoped and prayed to whatever god might listen that the thing the creature was carrying wasn't who she thought it was. Unfortunately, in the undercity, no gods could hear you.
Powder sat there, frozen, as Silco's monster carried her sister away. The moment Powder shook off her shock and fear, Silco (and Vi) was long gone, so the girl made her way into the formerly burning building (when had the fire been put out?) to look for the rest of her family, only to find a bloodbath.
Vander's body was the first one Powder found; his muscles expanded to gross levels in a way only shimmer could cause. He must have been really desperate to take shimmer. It looked like the strain of shimmer and his injuries on Vander's body killed him. Powder ran away from the body of her adopted father only to find an even more gruesome sight.
Mylo and Clogger were buried in rubble, crushed and bloody. Powder's body moved before she could think, digging at the rocks and dirt, trying to uncover her family. The blue haired girl could barely hold her lunch as she uncovered the boys' bodies. They were dead. Her family was dead.
Powder's spiraling thoughts stopped dead when she saw the little monkey head sitting innocently by the fallen door. The monkey Powder used to make her bomb, the one she set off… right… in front of… this door.
The scream that tore its way from Powder's throat echoed through the entire undercity, making everyone aware of the little girl's grief. Maybe one of them would have tried to help, if only it wasn't so common in the undercity to hear such a sound.
Powder tore herself away from the remains of her family, intent on getting away from the people she killed. She killed them. All she wanted to do was help, but she killed them. she got her sister captured. No, she was probably dead too. Powder ran as far as her legs would carry her, to the most distant place from that cursed warehouse.
That place turned out to be a familiar apartment complex, one with a hole still blown in its side. She did that too. Exhausted, Powder lowered herself to the ground, finally letting lose the tears that had been threatening to spill all night. The blue haired girl stayed like that for a long time, until the sun started to peak over the horizon, bringing the early birds out of their homes.
"Excuse me, are you okay?" Powder heard the lady speak in an annoying British accent, but she didn't care about what she wanted.
"Go away! I don't need your fancy ass trying to help me." Powder hoped the lady would leave, but even her limited swearing didn't get her to go away. instead, the lady sat down next to Powder, most likely ruining her fancy outfit. "I said go away! I don't want your help!" Powder tried again.
"But you need it." She was probably right, But Powder wasn't going to admit that.
"You don't want anything to do with me Piltie, unless you end up like that apartment." Powder gestured up to the hole in the building and the damaged apartment beyond it.
"Is that a threat?" She didn't sound very threatened, she even laughed. Powder would have taken her down a peg, but she just didn't have the energy.
"Not a threat if it happens to everything I interact with." The girl seemed curious about her statement but didn't seem to want to ask about it.
"Are you here alone? Where are your parents?" this girl was really starting to get on Powder's last nerve. If she had another bomb that girl would be screwed.
"Dead. Everyone is dead!" Powder couldn't help remembering all the faces of the people she lost. Her parents on the bridge, Mylo and Clogger under the rubble, Vander surrounded by shimmer, and Vi being carted off to be killed by Silco. The little girl started banging her fists into her head, only hoping to drive away all the gruesome sights.
However, this technique didn't get Powder very far, as the other girl grabbed her hands and held them so she couldn't move them.
"Stop that, you are hurting yourself." The British accent came again, thought this time it was softer. "Well, this won't do. Come on, we are going to get you cleaned up and find someone who can help." The girl pulled powder to her feet, dragging her down the street and attracting stares from the few people on the street.
Powder didn't have the energy to fight the girl's pulling. Might as well just see what happens. Not like anything worse could happen at this point.
"I'm Caitlyn Kiramman. What is your name?"
"Powder."
Consciousness came back to Vi very slowly. The first thing she was aware of was the soft cushion she was laying on top of. At first the girl thought it was her own bed, but it was much softer than her aged mattress that she often shared with Powder.
Upon realizing this, Vi shot up into a sitting position, wincing at the pain in her shoulder and chasing away her dizziness. Once her vision cleared, Vi also noticed that her left arm was strapped to her chest in a sling, making it so that she couldn't move it. She immediately tried to tear off the binding but stopped as pain shot through her shoulder again.
"You dislocated your shoulder. We popped it back into place while you are out, but you still shouldn't move it." Silco's voice rang out in the room, sitting at a desk she hadn't noticed before. Finally Looking around, Vi saw that she was currently sitting on a couch in Silco's office with Silco behind his desk and Sevika standing next to him.
"You son of a-" Vi tried to get up to charge at Silco, but felt her knees buckle underneath her, dropping her back onto the couch.
"Violet, please, take it easy. Your body was just put through an intense ordeal." Vi could feel her breath coming out in deep puffs. She was really winded. And why was everything so blurry?
"Where is my Family?" Vi needed to know. She saw the explosion, but everything after that was a but fuzzy.
"Gone I'm afraid." Gone? Nonono they couldn't be gone. "The explosion that trapped you under that door and incinerated Sevika's arms took most of their lives I'm sad to say." Most?
"Most?" Vi voiced her thoughts even though it felt like she was forcing the words out through a throat filled with molasses. "Is Powder Okay?"
Silco frowned at her question. "She survived her own explosion if that is what you are asking." Vi's mind went blank. Her… explosion? Vi did see her sister's monkey head there but that had to be a coincidence. Right?
"No. No, I told her to stay home. Her bombs didn't even work yet. She would never have-" Vi was cut off by a large hand on her shoulder. Sevika must have kneeled in front of her while she was talking.
"But she did. And then she ran." No. NO! Sevika was lying. She had betrayed Vander. She was a liar.
"You're lying." The argument came out a lot weaker than it sounded in her head.
"She's not." Silco came out from behind his desk with a single piece of paper in his hand to give to Vi. It was a picture… of Powder. She was walking somewhere topside (the streets were far to clean to be anywhere in the undercity) next to an older girl who also had blue hair. The two seemed to be talking and… smiling.
Vi crumpled the picture in her hand. Powder went topside. Something they both swore they would never do!
"She replaced you, Violet. After she killed your family." Silco spoke again, causing the raging inferno iside of Vi to rise.
"No, she didn't! you did!" vi cried out with all the grief and pain she felt for her family, trying to force her way forward but her legs just wouldn't listen!
Silco didn't even seem worried about Vi lashing out, he simply motioned to Sevika who put a firm hand on vi's uninjured shoulder, not to hurt her, just to keep her from moving. "I Just wanted my brother back. I thought I could gain a family. I wasn't the one who set off the bomb and ruined everything."
Vi heard him, but got stuck on something. "Your brother?"
"Yes." Silco sat down next to Vi on the large couch. "Vander and I were once brothers, before he did this." He gestured to the scarred side of his face. "We were much like you and your sister, inseparable, trying to better our lives. We tried to start a revolution to gain independence for the undercity, it didn't go well. It was where your parents died, and Vander betrayed me. He left me. Just like your sister left you." Silco's words snapped Vi out of her building rage, something that gave 'way to despair. Powder… didn't need her. Didn't want her. She left at the first opportunity. She left Vi… with Silco. She had no one. "We're not so different you and I."
"She… left me." Vi's voice sounded hollow, even to her own ears. "Everyone else is dead, and she left me." Vi had known pain her whole life, from a blow to the face or the hunger pains that came in the nights when there wasn't enough food for everyone, but none of it compared to heart-wrenching sensation that filled her chest now. Vi had never felt this heartbreak before.
"I could still have part of the family I hoped for. We could be a family, if you want." Silco said to her, and she wanted it. Vi wanted it so bad. Someone… wanted her. And not just for a job, but as her. She wanted it more than she had ever wanted the payoff of any job.
Maybe that's why, when Silco ran his hand through her hair again, she let him. She would let this man comfort her… be his family…just for just a moment.
Topside was huge. That was the conclusion Powder can come to after following this Caitlyn around for about half an hour. She had been about ready to snap and just go back to the undercity when Caitlyn seemed to find the place she was looking for. It was a building taller than anything she had seen in the underground, with a big fancy dome that rich topsiders probably spent all day looking out of.
"Sheriff." Cailin called out to an enforcer carrying a stack of papers. Powder snarled a little bit at the idea of talking to an enforcer. "I found this girl all alone, she said she is from the undercity-"
"I don't deal with petty crime in the undercity. I've got enough on my plate with the robbery of your friend's apartment and taking over for Garison. Go get a beat cop to handle it or something." The enforcer cut Caitlyn off and dismissed them, but Caitlyn continued to follow him. A trencher could never get away with backtalking an enforcer like this.
"She is a little girl and she needs your help! You have a duty to protect all residents of Piltover and that included the undercity-" the enforcer cut her off again with a wave of his hand as a message came in through the tube system in his office. He took his time reading it before he sighed.
"Reports of a massive explosion just came up from the undercity." Powder paled at the mention of the explosion she caused. "Now I really don't have time for-"
"Time for what, Sheriff?" finally someone cut him off. The quelled look of rage that painted the sheriff's face was enough to tell Powder that whoever this lady was, she's important.
"I found her wandering around alone, I thought Marcus could help find her family." Caitlyn addressed the new lady. She was kind of old.
"Well did you ask her?" Oh, Powder liked this lady. She then ignored Caitlyn's sputtering to kneel in front of Powder. "Where are you from sweetie? Do you know where your parents are?" Sweetie? No one had ever called her that. Scum and street trash sure, but never sweetie.
"Umm…" what does she say? Should she tell the truth about the explosion? "They were…" Powder couldn't force the words out. She couldn't confess that she killed her family, so she just pointed to the message the sheriff was still holding and hopped that would get the point across. Topsiders always assumed the worst about people from the undercity anyway.
Everyone one in the room gasped as they pieced together what Powder meant. The sheriff seemed to pale while both Caitlyn and the new lady were both covering their mouths in shock. Powder might have found the mirrored expressions funny if they weren't about the explosion.
"Oh my…" were they going to arrest her now? "Do you have any other family?" Powder blinked twice. What? Why was she asking?
"No… I don't" Powder's hesitant reply seemed to make the woman even more sad. Shouldn't she be happy Powder had no family? After all, that left less people to fight her sentencing or tell people about it.
"How awful…" she heard Caitlyn talk again, the pity in her voice evident to Powder. "Mom what is she going to do?" Caitlyn addressed the old lady, apparently her mother, again.
"I'll take her to social services. They'll send her back down." Marcus interjected again, causing both Caitlyn and her mother to make a sour face.
"Send her back down? Marcus, her family just died, and you don't know how or why. What if someone was trying to kill them? What happens to her?" Caitlyn's questions had Powder blinking in surprise. They didn't know… maybe she wouldn't get arrested after all. She just needed to stay quiet.
"I agree. She should remain topside until this case is closed." Caitlyn's mother agreed, causing the sheriff to make a pained expression.
"No topside orphanage or foster family will take in an… undercity girl." He spat out the last words as though they disgusted him. Powder examined the sheriff's face, seeing more than the usual topsider hatred for undercity residents. He knew something. What had Caitlyn called him? 'Marcus'? Powder knew that name, she had heard it before. Vi had mentioned the name… right after she came back from almost being arrested and attacked by Silco.
Marcus was the name of the enforcer Vi saw with the last sheriff before Silco killed her.
Powder fought to keep her face blank as her panic rose. Marcus works for Silco. He probably knew more about the explosion then he was letting on. He would tell them and send her to-
"Then we'll take her in." the words cut off Powder's thoughts and also short circuited her brain. She's a topsider, and a rich one judging by her attire. What could she possible want with Powder?
"Really?" Caitlyn… didn't look disgusted. However, the same could not be said for the sheriff. Powder almost laughed out loud at his face. She needed to stay quiet. It was working out so far.
"Look, Ma'am, you can't just-" He tried again but Caitlyn's mother didn't seem to want his input.
"Sheriff Marcus, I suggest you remember just who it is who funds this city, and who has a vote on weather or not you get to keep your newfound position." Funds the city? Geez, how rich was this lady?
The sheriff and the rich lady stared at each other for a few moments longer, the sheriff clearly more tense than his opponent. "Fine. I'll go through all the necessary paperwork and get permission from all required parties." Marcus stared Powder directly in the eyes as he said the last part. She wasn't off the hook yet.
Caitlyn and her mother both failed to notice the tension between Powder and the sheriff, and they guided her out of the building and toward a limo that looked like it cost more than The Last Drop would make in a year, all while telling her about topsider stuff Powder honestly couldn't care less about. She just needed to hide out for a while, then she could get back to the undercity and find whoever survived.
The lavish shower was very difficult to figure out, it hade too many nobs for too many functions. In the undercity, there was one nob for water that you just had to hope was clean. But no, this shower had warm water, cold water, bubbly water, it was all just too much. Luckily, Powder was able to figure it out without asking Caitlyn. That girl was getting on her nerves, fussing over her and asking if she was okay every 5 seconds. if powder didn't know better, she would have thought it was Caitlyn's family that got caught in an explosion.
At least she was clean. Now she just needed to find a way out of this fancy-ass mansion and back to the undercity. Powder scanned the room for any tools she could use to get out or anything small enough to steal that was worth anything when an envelope on the dresser caught her attention.
Powder picked it up and opened it, expecting something from Caitlyn, but was shocked to see a picture of Vi. Her sister was sleeping on a couch with her arm in a sling. She was a little burnt up and dirty, but she was alive! Her sister was alive! But what about Mylo, Vander, and Clogger?
She dug farther into the envelope and pulled out a dirty piece of paper.
Powder,
Your sister survived you explosion, but she was the only one. Because of your incompetence, the rest of your "family" is now dead. If you want proof, their bodies are still buried in the rubble of the building you destroyed. You can check if you so desire, but I wouldn't recommend it. As of now, you are banned from the undercity. Violet will stay here with me, and I will care for her as my own daughter. You are dead to her, and you will stay that way. For Violet's sake as well as your own.
Best regards,
Silco
Powder gapped at the letter. She was banned form the undercity? From her home? Where was she supposed to go?! She needed to get to her sister!
But what if Vi really didn't want her around anymore? She did set off the explosion that killed everyone else. But Vi would forgive her. Right? Powder just needed to think. She couldn't get caught in the undercity of Silco might hurt Vi, so she couldn't go down there at all. So, what could she do?
Powder was still panicking as a nock sounded at the door. "Umm, Powder. It's dinner time, are you ready?" It was Caitlyn who opened her door, looking like she was approaching a wild animal. Powder would have laughed it she wasn't so scared for her sister.
"Ya. Ya, I'm ready." Powder quickly hid the note and picture in one of her pockets and walked with Caitlyn down to the huge dinning room. Maybe she would stick around a little while, just until she came up with a plan.
A moment turned into a day. Then a day turned into a month. Then a month turned into years. 6 years to be exact.
It had been 6 years since Vi's family died in the explosion. She had gone topside a few times to try to find her sister, but the way she looked with her replacement family drove her back to Silco and Sevika every time. If Powder wanted to pretend to be a fancy topsider, then Vi wasn't going to drag her back down into the depths. She could have her replacement family and Vi would have hers.
Vi sill missed Mylo and Clogger of course, but she knew that was Powder's fault, even if it was an accident. She sometimes still daydreamed about the four of them doing jobs and causing havoc under Silco's watch, they could have done so much more than they ever could have with Vander. But the fantasy remained just that, a fantasy. And Vi tried not to give it too much thought, they were gone and she would make the best of her situation with Silco.
After all, Silco had taught her more about the undercity than she ever thought possible, the business deals that came from its depths stretched all across the world in an incredible way. The influence the undercity had was far more than Vi could have imagined when she was with Vander, one just needed to know how to look for it.
The man had treated her so well after Vi found herself in his care. He taught her, looked out for her, even stuck his neck out to help her when she needed it. Vi found herself viewing Silco as a father figure more and more as the years went on. He always commanded the respect of any room, even one that held topsiders and enforcers. That was something Vander could never do, and exactly how Vi wanted to be.
So, the pink haired girl picked up some of his mannerisms. She started dressing in a dress shirt, suit vest, and tie as well as her hand wraps to keep prepared in case of a fight. Silco had always said "looks are your first impression, so everyone you encounter should see exactly what you want them to see", and Vi wanted them to be scared, just like they were scared of Silco.
Plus, it didn't hurt that Silco let her go on missions. Vi got to accompany Silco to a lot of business deals as not only as protection, but also as a second opinion. Silco trusted her enough to make decisions! It really was a far cry from her days when Vander didn't even trust her to go on a simple job.
Speaking of jobs, Vi was getting late to hers. She had agreed to meet with the firelights that night as part of their "peace treaty". Truth be told, it wasn't so much of "peace" as a cease fire. The firelights had demanded that Silco make his shimmer less deadly, and Vi convinced him to do so as long term customers were better than one that bought a lot then died quickly. Unfortunately for Silco's peace of mind, the firelights refused to meet with anyone who wasn't Vi. Sure they were mad and confused about why she joined Silco after Vander, but since Vi was able to explain everything to Ekko, the firelights came to understand her position and they all came to a kind of "agree to disagree" stance with the other side.
This stance served both sides well when various gang uprises were attempted. The two biggest gangs in the undercity having a tentative allyship was a great deterrent against any ambitious trencher who thought they could just take some shimmer, wave around a gun, and take control of the undercity.
Although Silco would never admit it, Vi knew he was proud of her for forging the allyship with the firelights. Without her level head, Silco would be forced to fight the firelights at every turn, making deliveries torturous, negotiations hard, and travel dangerous. Even if the scarred man didn't say anything, Vi knew he was proud by the slight smile he wore whenever she reported back to him after meeting any firelights.
Vi forcibly pulled herself from her thoughts as she clambered into the designated meeting tunnel, a place deemed neutral ground for her and the firelights to meet. Supposedly it was close to there hideout but Vi never bothered to confirm that.
"Vi!" Ekko called out in greeting, his chosen firelights standing nearby.
"Any news?" Vi never had been one for small talk.
"None really. The firelights are good, most of us are excited for progress day. What about you, I hear Silco is sending out some huge shipment of shimmer." Vi could still hear the thinly vailed disgust that lased Ekko's voice when he asked about Silco, but she had learned long ago that some battles were not worth fighting.
"Ya, we have a shipment going out to some topsider businessman. He thinks he can adjust the shimmer to treat some diseases topside, so he ordered tons of it. Not sure if he can pull it off, but it should be interesting to see him try. Plus, we get paid ether way." What some sleezy topsider did with his shimmer was of little interest to Vi, but Ekko always wanted to know to make sure it wasn't going to some terrible war effort or something.
"Oh ya? That'll be good. If he pulls it off you and SIlco might be able to get the formula and sell the medicine here." Ekko suggested, and Vi was inclined to agree. Most trenchers couldn't afford fancy topside medicine, but Silco could make it in the undercity for cheaper and sell it at an affordable price while still making a tremendous profit. Vi knew Ekko only suggested it because the undercity's citizen were always in need of medicine and the firelights couldn't keep up by stealing supplies from topside.
"I'll suggest it." Ekko seemed satisfied with that response and decided to move on to a different topic.
"Are you going to go to progress day?" Vi rolled her eyes at Ekko's question.
"Will you stop trying to get me to go topside, little man? I told you I don't want to see her." Powder was always a sore subject between the two old friends, Ekko was always trying to convince Vi to talk to her sister and Vi was content to just let sleeping dogs lie. Eventually the two got to their normal "agree to disagree" sentiment, but Ekko liked to bring it up every now and again, just to see if he could convince her by asking one more time.
"Fine, fine." Ekko put his hands up in surrender, laughing as he did so, which prompted Vi to try shove him away. The two soon devolved into a wrestling match, as they often did during their "Peace meetings".
"Uncle! Uncle!" Ekko laughed out as Vi pinned him, both of the huffing and puffing. The white haired boy had gotten better over the years as he's grown, but Vi still beat him every time. The fighter quickly got off her friend, offering him a hand and helping him to his feet, both still laughing.
"Boss, I don't mean to interrupt you, But the mid-day patrol called in an attack by that new gang on the east side. We are closest to their location, so we should get going." Ekko's second in command, Scar, called out, tossing his boss his hover board.
"Sorry Vi. I'll beat you next time." Ekko called as he ran with his team to the tunnel entrance.
"Just go be a hero, little man." The wicked grin Ekko flashed back at Vi told her that he heard her, and would likely tease her for calling him a hero. Vi figured it was worth it.
But for now, it was time to go home. Silco wanted a report about the firelights and Sevika promised her a sparing match. Then tomorrow was progress day and the massive shipment of shimmer.
Powder made her way through the huge house, determined to find Caitlyn. Even after six years the house still felt like a maze. A maze with really expensive objects that Powder was no longer allowed to touch.
"Hey, Cait, your mom said you got unlucky enough to have to work on progress day…" powder trailed off upon seeing the disarray of the room. "What the hell?"
"Powder! You are here!" Caitlyn's head popped up from around her dresser where she was connecting red sting to random pictures. "Come 'ere come 'ere come 'ere." She then dashed to the door and dragged Powder by her wrist to the area she had just been standing in.
"Did you break into your mom's alcohol or something?" Powder and Caitlyn had raided Mrs. Kiramman's alcohol stash a few times, but she had never seen Caitlyn like this.
"What? No. just look!" Powder rolled her eyes and took a look at the photos lining the floor, only to freeze in horror. They were pictures of her family and Silco. Caitlyn had connected them, as well as the firelights, and… Vi.
"Caitlyn, what the hell is this?" Powder chose her words carefully. She had told the Kirammans about her family, but she didn't exactly tell them everything about the explosion. The one she caused. She also didn't tell them that her sister had survived and was living with the top gang leader of the undercity. And here was Caitlyn… connecting them.
"Okay so I know you said I shouldn't go looking into you family and how they… you know." Powder narrowed her eyes. She did, in fact, know. "But I thought it sounded a little too suspicious for them all to be in the area that blew up with no other casualties. The warehouse wasn't even recorded to house explosive materials" because Undercity gangs always tell topside where they store their drugs.
"And I found out the building is owned by a man named Silco. He is an industrialist that works with a lot of businessmen in Piltover, even a few council members. So, he would have the means to pull off something like this and bribe some low-level enforcers to label it an accident in the report." Well, she was half right, but it was the sheriff he bribed, not a low-level enforcer. "But I don't know why. The old sheriff's reports show that Vander held power in the undercity before Silco, maybe it was a power grab?" she then points at a picture of Vi. "I also found out that Silco has a daughter, and she might be more willing to talk-"
"No." Powder needed to get Caitlyn's focus off of Vi. Not only might she realize that Vi fit Powder's description of her 'dead' sister, but she also couldn't let Caitlyn get anywhere near her. For both their sakes. "No, Caitlyn. I told you I didn't want to look into this. I especially don't want to drag anyone else into it." Not only did Powder not want to drag everything back up for Vi, but she also didn't want her new family to get tangled up in the mess that was her past.
"But… don't you want justice?" and the terrible thing was, she did. Powder wanted justice for what Silco did more than almost anything. She dreamed about it every day. But she cared about Vi and the Kirammans more.
"No Cait. It's not worth it." Powder knew she misspoke when Caitlyn examined her with narrow eyes. Sometimes she was too smart for her own good.
"You're afraid." It wasn't a question. "Why? I can get the evidence to prove it! If Silco did this to you, he might have done it to someone else." But he couldn't because he didn't do it. Powder did.
"Caitlyn, I just… don't want to drag up everything." Caitlyn's eyes softened as she moved forward and hugged Powder.
"Powder, you are so much stronger than that little girl I found in an alleyway. You've grown so much since coming here. I know we can do this. I know exactly what I need to find to prove it, all I need is a guide." Powder felt so conflicted. She could take down Silco, finally avenge her family, and free Vi from him all in one move? It was just too good an offer to pass up.
"When do we leave?"
The shipment went off without a hitch. No mechanical difficulties, no unexpected 'complications', and no more trouble than a few wind currents. Now if only the damn topsider would accept the shipment!
He currently stood there, counting the barrels and insisting on checking every single one to make sure they didn't 'short him his monies worth', then he tried to renegotiate the price with Sevika. Frankly, Vi was frustrated with the whole thing. Don't buy a shipment of shimmer if you don't want to pay for it!
Vi watched the man as he rambled on about 'value' and 'market price', and she noticed the man was sweating more than he should be for the cool night. Vi could see some of Silco's hired men shivering, but this guy was sweating like it was high noon in summer. Vi scanned her surroundings, not moving her head, and listening for anything off.
Sure enough, she heard a twig snap in the bushes behind the airship, then another further down, and another behind Sevika.
It was an ambush.
"Sevika!" Vi called and the metal armed woman turned around to look at her. "No deal." It was a code she, Silco, and Sevika used when something was off about a deal. If they thought the person was a scammer or an enforcer. Or if they thought an ambush was coming.
Sevika immediately shoved the man off the ship and called to the crew; "Cut it loose! We are leaving." Vi inwardly felt a glow of pride that Sevika believed her immediately about the potential danger, cutting short their biggest shipment on her word alone. However, the feeling didn't last long as a bullet ripped through the air a few feet from Vi's head.
Vi ducked behind cover, knowing she didn't have a weapon to fire back with and that the crew would have the ship in the air in less than 30 seconds. And if some did make it on board… well Vi was always more of a hand to hand fighter anyway.
True to her suspensions, one of the ambushers jumped the railing onto the airship just before it got off the ground. Vi immediately grabbed the barrel of the man's riffle, directing it away from her, her crew, and the shimmer. The weapon discharged a couple of times before it ran out of ammo, causing Vi to smile.
"Guess now you'll have to fight your own battles instead of hiding behind a gun." Vi hated coward who hid behind their guns, most of whom were enforcers who just wanted an easy way to get out of a fight and kill whoever they wanted. Vi shook away those thoughts and headbutted the man she was fighting, causing him to lose a hold of his rifle and fall to the deck.
Smiling broadly, Vi held the gun in both hands and bent it in half right in front of the man. Truthfully, it was just a parlor trick Vi picked up a few years back, grab the gun at specific points and you can expose a design flaw in order to bend it. But, parlor trick or not, it never failed to scare any opponent, just like the man in front of Vi who paled to a sheet white, before jumping over the edge of the air ship, apparently deciding that a 20 foot drop was safer than continuing to fight Vi.
Sevika and Vi watched the man hit the ground then hobble away to his comrades. The metal armed woman then clapped Vi on the shoulder in a silent 'good job', then started barking orders to the crew to get the airship back to the undercity warehouse, leaving Vi alone.
Not many people were stupid enough to cross Silco. Not when he had the 'support' of the firelights and especially not after people learned what happened to Vander. So, who was trying to screw over her father?
Powder insisted on taking Caitlyn shopping at one of the undercity shops that sits on the boundary between topside and the trenches. It was rather high end as it was on the better side of town, but it still carried undercity fashion so the two could blend in better than they would in their regular clothes. Caitlyn had even tried to wear her enforcer uniform! It's like she was asking to get mugged.
As the two approached the bridge, Powder saw several of her old memories flash through her head. Her Parents dead bodies that day on the bridge with Vi, meeting Mylo and Clogger for the first time, Vi chasing away all the monsters that roamed in the night, playing with Ekko in the junk yard, Vander patching up Vi after she beat up some boys that cornered Powder, Vi leading them to the apartment topside, Vi and her running from enforcers, Vi telling her to say home, the explosion, and finally settling on the card Silco continued to leave for her everyday on the anniversary of her family's death.
The notes stung, they were proof she had not only failed to be a good sister, but she also killed her family in her haste to help. She was the reason they were dead, and the reason Vi now lived with Silco.
Powder just couldn't understand why Vi would stay with Silco. He ambushed and kidnapped Vander right in front of her! Maybe she had just been forced to follow him? Yes. That was it, silgo had gotten some kind of leverage over Vi and that was why she was with him. That was why she didn't come back.
Powder shook her head, she would help Caitlyn get Silco arrested then her sister would be free from his influence and they could figure everything else out together. Maybe she would even move topside with her! But first they needed to get through the undercity without getting caught.
Jarrico's was the place to go for information in the undercity when she was a kid and Powder was sure that was still the case. The food shack was almost in sight when a sound had Powder freezing in her tracks.
"Well look who came crawling back into the trenches." The familiar voice had Powder paling before turning around to see a face she had once known better than her own. Vi stood behind her, leaning casually against the wall, but Powder wasn't fooled, Vi's eyes betrayed her anger.
"This isn't what it looks like," Powder tried to explain, but Vi clearly wasn't in a listening mood as she immediately pushed off the wall and stalked over toward Powder and Caitlyn. Powder Gapped at her clothes. Vi was dressed in a dress shirt, suit vest, and tie as well as having her hands wrapped in her usual brawler style.
"Oh really? Because it looks like you came back somewhere you are not wanted!" the words cut Powder deeper than she had ever imagined. For years she had held on to the vain hope that Vi would accept and love her just as she had when they were little, but her sister clearly didn't have the same hopes. "Get out."
"Excuse me but we are here on official enforcer business!" Powder could almost face palm at Caitlyn's stupidity. She had told her not to tell anyone that she was an enforcer, but clearly her sister didn't understand the importance of being subtle in the undercity.
To her credit, Vi didn't lash out immediately as Powder would have expected, but she did raise an eyebrow and sneer at Caitlyn. "Oh look, if it isn't the replacement. Stay out of this cupcake." Caitlyn opened her mouth to retort, but Vi simply shoved her away, causing the enforcer to stumble into the nearest wall as Vi walked passed her.
"Seriously Pow, you can't be down here. Its not a place for topsiders." Powder almost didn't hear the second sentence. Vi called her 'Pow'. Not 'a jinx' or even 'Powder', she said 'Pow'. Maybe Vi still cared. Maybe she could still reach her sister and get her out from under Silco's influence.
"Vi, I'm sorry I left. I didn't have a choice-" Powder reached for her sister's hand, but Vi ripped the appendage away from her, frustration and anger painting her features.
"Didn't have a choice?! You did what you did, and then you just left! You left me to pick up the pieces!" Vi's voice was steadily rising as she got angrier. "I had nothing! And you are SORRY!?" Powder shrank in on herself as Vi towered over her. "You have no idea-"
"Umm, Powder? Who is this?" Caitlyn's soft voice managed to be just loud enough to get both Vi and Powder's attention. The former of which blinked in confusion for a couple seconds before doubling over in a full-bellied, hysterical laughter.
"Oh, that's fucking great! You go off and get a new family and you don't even tell them about your old one?! What you did to them?!" Powder flinched as Vi suddenly turned around and stalked toward Caitlyn, only to grab the enforcer's jacket lapel and lift her up into the air, Caitlyn's back hitting the ally wall again and her feet dangling in the air.
"You want to know who I am?!" Vi all-but-snarled in to Caitlyn's face, her laugher still sounding through her words. "Do you want to tell her Pow?" Vi suddenly turned back to her, the fighter's eyes blazing with anger. "No? well then, I guess I'll do it." She then threw Caitlyn to the ground at Powder's feet, seemingly relishing in the pained sounds she made as she rolled on the hard ground.
"Vi, don't." Powder begged, but Vi ignored her.
"I'm Powder's sister. And the only survivor of the explosion she set off that killed the rest of our family." The silence that followed Vi's statement was the loudest of Powder's life. She had no idea how Caitlyn would react. Powder really wished she had fought harder to keep Caitlyn out of the undercity.
"But… You work for Silco, and he was the one who Killed Powder's family." Vi remained still for a moment, as though to let Caitlyn's words process, but once they had, she let go of any semblance of composure she had as she stare hard at Powder.
"You told her, WHAT?!" Powder had never heard Vi so angry, not even when Vander had been taken. "That man saved me from the explosion YOU created, from the fire YOU started, and you are trying to blame HIM?!"
Powder sputtered; her mouth open in shock. Vi was siding with Silco? But he had taken Vander, she had seen it! "Vi, I don't know what he told you but-"
"I don't want to hear it!" Vi barked out, cutting off Powder's attempt to calm her sister down. "I tried to be nice, I tried to ask you to leave politely, and you accuse my father of something YOU DID?!"
Her… father?
Powder's mind blanked out, leaving her with no way to defend against the strong arms that grabbed her by the shirt and slammed her into the wall. With her head spinning from the impact, Powder almost missed what Vi said next.
"Haven't you done enough? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Vi's soft words broke Powder's heart. She sounded so wounded and confused. She really believed whatever lies Silco had told her.
"Vi, I-" whatever Powder had been about to say was cut off by a loud gun shot and a splatter of blood.
"Get off her." Caitlyn's voice sounded off, far too loudly in the quiet alleyway as she aimed her signature rifle at Vi. She sounded every bit the enforcer she had trained for so long to be, and normally Powder would have been proud of her adopted sister, but now she was just scared of what Vi would do.
Vi growled lowly at the challenge, letting go of Powder and backing up to assess the damage. It seemed as though the bullet had hit her in the tricep and was stopped by the muscle in her arm, lodging the bullet in place. Vi didn't even bother to wrap the still bleeding wound as she rolled out her arm, clearly uncaring of the pain it caused.
"Tch. Guess she really is your sister, Pow." With that Vi charged at the still stunned Caitlyn, ripping her gun from her grip, then bending it with her bare hands. Powder had never seen such a display of strength from anyone in the undercity. Was her sister on shimmer? Had Silco drugged her?
Vi didn't hesitate to throw Caitlyn's gun away and strike her across the face, causing her to fall. Powder watched for a moment in horror as Vi kicked her adopted sister in the ribs before jumping up and trying to pull Vi off of Caitlyn.
"Vi, stop! She didn't mean it! Don't hurt her-" Powder was cut off as Vi's elbow collided with her head and knocked her down. The girl looked up to see Vi looming over her, her face twisted in a snarl.
The two locked eyes for a few moments before Vi's eyes suddenly widened and she reared back as though she'd been slapped. Vi seemingly scrambled back, kicking Caitlyn's gun toward her and making her way to the mouth of the alleyway.
"Just get out. You don't belong down here… not anymore." Powder had to reach her, she had to do it before she went back to Silco and he poisoned her mind.
"Vi, If you let me just-" powder had no idea what she planned to say, but she never got the chance as Vi wheeled around and faced her from just inches away.
"What do you want to jinx this too?! You're bad luck! You're a jinx!" Powder froze at Vi's words and could do nothing but watch as her sister turned around and strode away, gone in mere moments.
Powder stayed frozen at the entrance to that alleyway for a few moments more, holding back tears as her sister's words tore through any hope, she had left that they might be a family again. The young girl had no idea how much comfort that hope had been until it was ripped away.
The sound of movement behind her snapped Powder out of her depressive state, and she turned around to see Caitlyn pick up her gun and struggle to her feet. Her adopted sister limped a total of two steps before Powder made it to her side and wrapped Caitlyn's arm over her own shoulder to help her walk.
The two said nothing as Powder lead them back to the bridge, then to their house. But the look on caitlyn's face told Powder she hadn't forgotten what Vi had told her and that she was going to have to explain everything before the night was out.
Powder really wished she had fought harder to keep Caitlyn out of the undercity.
"How dare she come back?! She killed them, then left, and she had the nerve to blame Silco for her mistakes?!" Vi stalked through the streets of the undercity, paying no attention to the people around her as she ranted to herself, completely uncaring if she looked unhinged.
"And she brings her new sister! It's like she was trying to throw it in my face! She gets some fancy topside family with their expensive clothes and expensive food and their expensive… expressiveness and she still comes down here like she is welcome?!" Vi's arm was really starting to hurt where powder's new sister had shot her, and the extra movement really wasn't helping, but Vi didn't care enough to treat it.
"I just don't get it! She refused to even take responsibility for the accident! And why would she blame Silco?! Is she trying to ruin everything again?!" Sooner than she realized Vi found herself back at headquarter, opening the door to Silco's office.
"Violet, what are you on about? Who is trying to ruin what?" Silco looked up from his paperwork to his daughter, who was pacing the room like a caged tiger. A voice in the back of Vi's head was grateful Silco was always willing to help her work through her thoughts as they could sometimes get jumbled up when she was angry.
"Powder. She came back down into the undercity, toting around her new, enforcer sister." Silco's eyes widened at Vi's confession, his face the picture of surprise. "Oh and that's not it, she is trying to blame you for the factory explosion!" Vi went on, uncaring of how her voice was reaching a hysterical level.
"But I was just trying to reach my old family. I realize I didn't go about it right, but I didn't mean to hurt any of you." Silco had admitted fault almost immediately after the explosion. He told Vi about how he had let his anger about the past cloud his judgment and that caused him to make mistakes. It was something he and Vi had in common.
"I know that but she just came in her and tried to blame you and-" Vi plopped onto the couch in Silco's office and buried her head in her hands, muffling her words.
Upon seeing his daughter's distress, Silco put down his paperwork and made his way in front of Vi, kneeling down to be closer to her. "Violet, sweetie. I need you to tell me what is wrong." Vi just groaned something unintelligible into her hands, prompting Silco to take a hold of her hands and move them away from her face. "One more time?"
"I attacked them." Vi curled in on herself, ashamed. "I tried asking Powder and her new sister to leave, but she wouldn't listen! Then she just kept pushing me to talk and blaming you for what happened… and I just lost it." Silco then noticed Vi's arm, which was still beading.
"Did she do this?" he asked, already reaching for the first aid kit.
"No, her new, enforcer sister did it. At least I made it so she would have to buy a new gun. That thing looked expensive." Vi chuckled as Silco began to clean the bullet wound.
"Looks like the bullet is still in there. I'm going to have to did it out, you need any painkillers?" Silco offered, but Vi just shook her head. The pain was a welcome change from the numbness that had spread through her body after leaving Powder.
The two sat in silence for a few moments as Silco focused on digging the bullet out of Vi's arm, then dressing the wound. "Something else happened. What is it?" Vi should have known Silco would guess she had been holding something back. He had been able to read her like a book ever since she came to be his daughter.
"I called her a jinx." Vi stared at the wall, though her eyes were un-seeing. "It was something Mylo always called her when we were kids. She hated it so much, it always made her cry. I swore I would never hurt her like that and call her something so horrible, but I did. I didn't even think about it, it just kind of… slipped out." Vi could hear that she sounded just a miserable as she felt, which must have prompted Silco to put a comforting hand on her cheek."
"Violet, sometimes we all do things in anger. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Hell, we both know I'm guilty of doing the same thing, but what you need to ask yourself is; was it deserved?" Vi thought about that for a second. Was her anger justified?
"I think it was." Silco hummed in agreement. "I still feel bad though." Vi confessed, finally looking at her father, who smiled back at her.
"That is what makes us human, Violet. Now, I don't think you should do your evening spar with Selvika for the next few days to let your arm heal, but how would you feel about helping me with some negotiations for a new shimmer research lab closer to topside?" Vi Smiled widely at the suggestion and hugged Silco.
"I would love that." Silco patted Vi's back before she let go and they both walked to his desk, back to the paperwork he had abandoned a few minutes before.
"So, they are asking this much for it, but the electrical wiring is faulty, so what do you think?" Silco gestured to the papers.
"Try taking the cost of repairing the wiring out of the buying cost and offer them what along with the reason why. Then they might be more willing to sell at a lower price because they know that money will go into repairing the building." Silco smiled at Vi's suggestion and made a note of it next to the price.
Vi reveled in the comfort that came from working with Silco, enjoying the mundane work that took her mind off her sister and her accusations. However, one question negged at the back of her mind; what was so important that Powder came back after so many years?
Silco might have kept his head while Violet was with him, but once they had come to a conclusion on the new property and Vi had elected to go to bed, Silco had been left alone with only his anger to keep him compony. That girl accusing him of killing her and Vi's family was a little too close to the truth for him to be comfortable.
Sure, Violet was his beloved daughter now, but it wasn't exactly his original plan to adopt and love her. he had been trying to take revenge on Vander (and his family by association), but when his old friend had died in the explosion and following shimmer enhanced battle, Silco decided the next best thing was to take his protege and mold her into something he would hate. Once final revenge from beyond the grave.
But in the days following the explosion, Silco started to see more than just 'Vander's daughter' in Violet. She was strong and stubborn as well and smart and quick witted. The girl could hold her own against any opponent or test that Silco threw at her, facing down the challenge with a tenacity that Silco hadn't seen in years.
And her will. The girl was unmovable when she wanted to be, and that included her opinions. When she and Silco talked, she spoke of a better undercity, one Silco had once tried to build with… Vander.
Violet had also given him many things. Like an allyship with the firelight gang, something that would have proven impossible without her connections and compassion. she also convinced him to do more medical research into shimmer, which not only proved to be a far more lucrative business than just selling the original version on the street, but also help change the disease-ridden streets of the undercity for the better and the heathier.
Violet had changed Silco's business and his heart; something Silco had long thought cold and dead, brought back for his one and only daughter. The one who had been betrayed by her family, just like him.
He couldn't let that little demon convince his daughter that he was responsible for their family's death. She would never forgive him, and Silco couldn't go back to living without his family. She was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him, and he would never let her go.
Silco thought about the yearly reminder he sent to that topside mansion to warn away the only thing that threatened his perfect family. Perhaps it wasn't enough anymore. Maybe it was time for a new reminder for this jinx that she wasn't welcome in his undercity or near his daughter.