A/N: EDIT: Trolls in the reviews can go sod right off. They think they're being clever saying "Trolololol" over and over again.
Seriously, how immature can they be? Lack of real reviews ain't helping either. Guess folks are busy.
This is...shorter than I'd like, but I'm in a lot of pain. Can barely think straight.
Here we go. Inching toward bigger events. Slowly but surely.
I dearly wish I could have made this longer.
Sorry to let you down T_T
I'm afraid I won't get a lot of feedback, seeing as today's a holiday in the states...but I promised to update this...so here we go!
As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't. If folks don't like this, if people don't enjoy...well, I won't continue it. What's the point in writing something no one likes? Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule -two jobs!- I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!
No questions this time. Only story. Alright then, I've kept you long enough. Lets get back to it.
Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOT! A! THING!
Aviators now-infamous Arcane song, Bad Luck, fits quite well here.
Because Naruto's been pushed to the breaking point...
...and there's no going back now~!
"Luck? Luck has nothing to do with it. People are won not by words, but action.
And what will yours be, I wonder?
What will you do?"
~Silco.
Bad Luck
"We need to strike back!"
Words buzzed at her.
"Eye for an eye!"
Like a cloud of flies, a sea of stinging gnats, and endless animal bleat that just wouldn't shut up, so too did the people of Zaun rage against what they'd lost. Decades of simmering anger had built to this moment. This day. This afternoon. There could be no stopping it now. The bullet was loosed, the genie out the star, the storm unleashed.
"Tooth for a tooth!"
Sevika hated it. Anger was all well and good when focused, channeled toward a goal, but this? This was pure, unfocused wrath. How was anyone supposed to think in this mess?
"Yeah! Evil for evil!"
Naruto must've thought the same; because he pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled in a long, drawn out sigh. He listened to their anger, let it roll over him, wash off his back. Raised a mug. Drank deeply from it as she looked on, draining it down to the last drop. Then...
SLAM!
He brought the pewter mug crashing down on the bar with such force that it actually shattered. An awful crack filled the air. Sharpened shards bit into his hand, bloodying it, but he didn't seem to care for them. Or rather, he did care about things, but not this. Clearly not this. He sat back and leaned against the bar, facing the lot of them, arms propped up against the counter.
It made him seem taller for it somehow, like a king looking upon his people.
And when he spoke? They listened.
"Quiet."
The crowd, nearly a hundred strong, fell silent. He'd rounded them all up, gathered them together, and brought them here for gods knew what.
Even now the Last Drop smoldered around them; wounded, but not dead, despite Piltover's best efforts to make it so. A good portion of it still stood but the building itself had been hollowed out, left scarred and charred. Sevika hoped someone would rebuild it someday, but it wouldn't be her. She'd never been good at buildings things. Only breaking.
And now it looked like she'd be doing it again.
Because the kid had that look in his eye again, the same that had seen her following him that day. Only now he looked older. Colder. Something had hardened in him. Sevika wasn't sure if it was a good thing. She'd seen the enforcer bodies. At least Grayson hadn't been among them. Murdering some mooks was one thing, but offing the Head Enforcer...yeah, that wasn't going to end well.
The crowd grew restless. Naruto raised an arm. They fell silent anew.
She could see Powder looking at him, waiting for him to make his choice. The right choice. She wondered what it might be.
"I feel your pain." his voice echoed throughout the charnel house that the Last Drop had become. "But Vander and our wounded come first. Once we've taken care of them, put our dead to rest, we'll move forward."
An anxious ripple ran through the crowd, no, Sevika amended, the mob. They were all of a spark from going up in frenzied flame.
"To hell with the old man and his brats!" A burly thug with a shaved head bulled forward. Sevika glimpsed an eyepatch. Couldn't remember the name of its owner. "His time is over! We need blood and we need it now!"
Someone kicked his knee, bringing him low. A knife caressed his throat and his words died with a wither of a wheeze. "Say that again."
He didn't. Bastard said something else. "You damn dirty jinx! This was your doing, wasn't it?! Everyone knows you're bad luck!"
Sevika and Naruto winced as one. Powder hated that name. Even after her training, she treated it like a curse.
Powder exhaled slowly. Closed her eyes. Sevika counted to three.
CRUNCH.
The thug toppled backward with a yowl, clutching his bloody nose.
"Everyone keeps calling me that! Jinx! Jinx! JINX!" Powder spat in his face and stomped down on his chest, kicking him away. "I've had enough. C'mon, then!" She spread her arms and walked forward at him. "Come get jinxed."
"Why you little-
Hands grabbed her as he surged to his feet. Her fist flew upward. So did her attacker.
Up he went...then down as gravity reasserted itself with a bloody vengeance. An awful crack filled the air. Ouch. Sounded like a broken collarbone. No one came his aid. Sevika didn't much blame them. Not after a display like that. Powder looked livid. She couldn't even blame the kid. Not with her family in that state.
Naruto sighed. "Powder, enough. I know you're stressed, but he's learned his lesson."
...fine." she disengaged with a scowl.
Blue eyes swung back to the mob.
"Forgive my apprentice." he didn't sound sorry in the least. "She's a bit overeager. He climbed to his feet. Walked to the wounded man. "Aren't we all?"
He laid a hand on the man's arm. Hauled him to his feet now with a golden claw, ignoring the gasp of pain that followed.
"Y-Yeah, sure thing, boss." the bruiser groaned. "Whatever you say. Did mean nothin' by it."
"One more thing."
Naruto slugged him. Fast and hard; so quickly that Sevika didn't even truly realize what he'd done until the bastard pitched backward, spitting teeth and blood. He didn't stop there. Even as he fell the blond caught him by the jacket, reeled him for a second blow, then a third now. Only then did he drop his victim. Poor sod dropped in a quivering, whimpering heap. Naruto pivoted.
"If any of you ever, and I mean EVER call Powder a Jinx again, she'll be the least of your worries."
Blazing red eyes rounded on the rest. They'd been blue a moment before.
"Are we clear?"
Muffled assent answered.
It was then that she understood.
Powder was the dagger in the dark. He was the velvet hammer, the one that spoke softly, but could and would squash you flat. Sevika felt a little thrill shoot through her. This was what a leader looked like. The leader that Vander should've been, yet empathetic in a way Silco yet wasn't. A blend of both, a man balanced on a knife's edge.
Those who might listen were all well and good, but those who didn't, they paid for it.
As it should be.
(.0.0.0.)
Vi wept.
Where had she gone wrong?
It wasn't supposed to be this way...
"You lied! You said no one would get hurt!"
She'd done it now. There could be no taking this back.
"I did." he gazed at her, the man who had drawn her into this, enticed her with his promises; his words of action over Vander and Naruto's inaction. He leaned out the dark, exposing himself behind his desk. "And I kept my word. Marcus and his men acted. I had no part in this."
Despair sparked in her chest. "But even so...! You benefit from it!
A shrug. "I won't deny that."
"Why?!"
He held up a hand, silencing her protest. "You have a choice to make, girl. I can't make it for you. Only you can. What is it you want? Power? Safety? Or family? Well? What will it be...?"
Vi buried her head in her hands to hide her tears. She failed. Just like everything else. "I didn't want this...none of it...
A hand settled on her back. "None of us did, child. We can only avenge them."
She glared at him through her open fingers...
...and made her decision.
(.0.0.0.)
A fool in charge of fools.
Naruto supposed there was some wicked irony to be had in that.
He hadn't wanted to take control of Zaun in Vander's absence, but what choice did he have?
It was either this or let them run wild. Rampage in the streets, try to cross the bridge themselves. They could try. They'd fail. There'd be hundreds dead by dawn. More blood on his hands. So he'd done the only thing he could, made the only choice available to him. Maybe it would restore peace and order. Maybe it wouldn't. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.
"I am. You did the right thing."
"Did I Kurama?" He sighed. "Doesn't feel like it."
In the end he'd taken up residence in Vander's old office. His was something a humble room all things considered; painted in faded shades of brown and green, the colors of life and empathy, a chamber that projected strength as much as humility. Light from a blue-glass window shone through onto a wide desk and chair, followed by a plush red couch beyond it. He didn't much like the latter, but the position projected strength, and that was what he needed right now.
Spartan enough for his needs, given he wouldn't be using it for long.
Vander would wake up. The boys, too. They had to.
Someone knocked at the door.
He sighed. "Come in."
Sevika slipped inside. Closed the door behind her. "The kid ain't with you?"
"Told her to take a nap." He doubted Powder would listen, but she needed a chance to cool her head. So did he. He'd set a poor example back in the last drop. "Well? Out with it."
He could feel her staring at him. Waiting for his words. The words he had to say. The question he needed to ask.
"How many more dead?"
"About half a dozen." each word hurt him. "Could've been worse. The Last Drop wasn't the only place that was hit. Others were, almost simultaneously." she dragged out a chair and sprawled in it before his desk. "Your clones figured something was wrong before most of blasts went off. Also...
More bad news. More bad luck. Would it never end. "Well, out with it?"
Her face screwed up in a grimace. "Mylo and Claggor are missing."
Naruto reared back behind the desk.
He'd not been expecting that. "And Vi?"
"Vanished last night."
...hey, you don't think she...?"
Naruto was beginning to. The thought sickened him. "Was there something else you wanted?"
"Someone, actually." she slapped a piece of paper down on his -Vanders'- desk, all but nailing the photo there with a knife. "I think you know what we need to do."
He considered it. Frowned. "You think Silco's behind this?"
She shrugged. "Could be. He's got the motive."
"No," he shook his head. "I don't think this was him."
Silco didn't seem the sort to bomb his own people just to force them into action. Not like this. No, there was something else at work here. But what? Or who, for that matter? Marcus? Was he truly that reckless? Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. These tactics felt too heavy-handed, even for him. Did an under-sheriff really have that much pull?
"Marcus, then." his second didn't waver. "You've made your fair share of enemies down here."
She wasn't wrong.
"Really, its Vi I'm worried about."
She popped open her flak and drank. "Vander's kid?"
"You said it yourself," he grunted when she offered it to him and drank deeply. The burn helped center him. "She disappeared before the attack. They might have her."
Sevika winced. "The girl hates Piltover."
"I know-
"No." she slapped a hand down on the knife, driving it deeper. "You don't. You think you do, but you haven't heard the full story." five firm fingers curled around it, yanked it free. "Enforcers killed her and Powder's parents years ago. She's been hating them ever since. I'm told Powder was too young to truly remember what happened, but that kid...she saw it all.
Naruto felt a migraine coming on. Sharp, angry, and a ful of pain. Shit. He'd know the city had done something to wrong her, but not this. He knew where a hatred like that could lead. He'd seen it before. So many times, in his world. If Vi felt this was justified, if no one was listening to her, if she wasn't getting her way...to whom would she go? Nevermind that, what lengths would she go to?
Sevika said it before he could. "If she's not here, then there's a good chance she's gone to him."
A sour taste flooded his mouth. "...I'm aware. You don't have to tell me."
She leaned forward. "What are you going to do about it?"
An idea dawned. "...something stupid."
"Define stupid."
He told her.
Sevika scoffed."You're cracked."
"Yup." His head kissed the desk. "Has to be me, huh?"
"Of course." She thumped his back. "Someone else might've gotten it wrong.
"Ha!" He scoffed, the sound hoarse even to his own ears. "Alright. Here's what I need you to do for me...
A/N: Aaaaand scene.
Next time: Has to be Me/Someone Else Might've Gotten It Wrong
As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't. If folks don't like this...well, I'll not continue it. Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule, I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!
Reviews are my lifeblood. Without them, I cannot write.
So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Revieeeeew, Would You Kindly?
They keeps an old man alive.
And enjoy the previews.
As ever:
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Get ready to smile~!
Obvious references are obvious~!
(POTENTIAL!) Previews! What can I say? I've been busy.
There was a gun to his head.
Naruto sighed. "If you think something like that will kill me, you're sorely mistaken."
"Only monsters deal in absolutes. I'll do what I must.
A tired sigh pierced the foggy gloom.
"You will try, my old friend."
...that outfit looks awful."
"Its only temporary, and I need it for what I'm about to do." he tousled her hair. "I'm going to take responsibility for this. For all of it."
She knew what he was going to say next. "I can help! Don't tell me to stay here!"
He winked. "Wouldn't dream of it, kid. You with me?"
...'till the end."
Naruto tugged up his hood.
Together, they vanished into the shadows.
"Hands up!"
Naruto held his up with a smile.
"Hello, hello! Is Grayson in? I'd like...a word."
"I finally found you! You little shit, you made a fool of me! I'll make you pay!"
Powder quirked a brow. "Deckard, right? Scram. I don't have time for-
The boy tipped a vial back and drank.
His muscles bulged. Body twisting.
"DIE."
"You're my sister!"
"Choose, Powder. What will your answer be?"
EDIT: Hey, you made it!
As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't. If folks don't like this, if people don't enjoy...well, I won't continue it. What's the point in writing something no one likes? Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule -two jobs!- I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!
Looking forward to chatting with you all~!
R&R~!