Chapter 3

Aid through Action

The gate behind him creaked shut and Ren stepped out into the dim light of Emberflit Alley. Steam and Gray floated through the air, smothering the neighborhood with damp aromas that seemed to cling to the inside of Ren's throat. He took a deep breath. This air was not filtered like the air in the house, he knew it was not the healthiest air to fill his lungs with, but oh – did it smell like progress, and he loved it. Even as it made his nose itch, it filled him with excitement. He was outside the home again, trusted to his own devices, and ready to get back to helping people.

"Question is, where to begin?" he thought as he walked down the alley.

There was never a shortage of people who needed help in Zaun. The difficult part was finding those people and having their problems be something Ren could deal with. If the trouble was something involving chem-barons or other powerful gangsters, there was only so much he could do.

"For now," he promised himself.

Financial troubles were also beyond him as he and Viktor weren't in the best financial situation themselves. Medical problems were sometimes things he and Viktor could help with, though most of the time that work was now done with the aid of the Glorious Evolved. Most of how Ren could help was with simple mechanical repairs, physical labor, and fighting to protect those who needed help.

"I could easily find one of those three in the Sump, especially people looking to pick fights. Ah, but the Doc said not to overdo it and I said I wouldn't. I'm still recovering."

He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms as he walked.

"But I could go to the lowest parts of Entresol. It's not the Sump but there should still be plenty of good I can do there."

Ren turned his way towards a service ladder the smuggler Moyna had told him about. It was narrow and often too inconvenient for most pedestrians in Zaun, but the ladder systems were kept unlocked for anyone who worked to maintain the dizzying number of tubes, pipes, and ducts that kept the city functional.

"I'll take the scenic route." Ren thought to himself as he opened the door to a ladder. "I can help who I can along the way, stop at the market, hopefully find some apples, head home, impress the Doc that I haven't hurt myself, bake that dessert, and then impress the Doc with that dessert."

Ren gave a small chuckle at the thought of Viktor being impressed at his cooking. Almost always the response to "so how was it?" was "it was competently prepared." Muted compliments were, as Ren had come to learn, Viktor's way of showing appreciation for the effort he put into cooking.

"With his tastes as dulled by canned soup and 'efficient smoothies' as they are, can I really blame him for not getting more excited about cooking?"

The sounds of Ren's feet on the rungs alternated between the metallic clang of his augmentation and the soft thud of his boot. As he descended the ladder, he thought about all the recent meals he had prepared. As tight as money had been, Viktor had been trying to set aside a budget so that Ren could cook something nice once a week.

"It's more than he used to and I appreciate it, especially after last week's incident. Yeah, no more adventures in flambé for a loooong while. Ugh."

He slid down the last bit of the ladder and landed with a thunk. The door at the base opened with a groan of rust that was lost in the bustling noise of the neighborhood Ren emerged into. As with the boundary between Zaun and Piltover, the boundary between Entresol and the Sump was always abuzz with activity.

This far down, light from the surface was only visible for a few days a year. As such, night and day were more suggestions, and the district was lit with a glittering array of chem-lamps at all hours. Many of the business in this market were likewise open at all hours and a bored Zaunite was never far from either a hot meal or a den of vice. It was in a place much like this that Ren had found someone willing to give him his tattoo despite his young age.

"Money changing, bartering, cheap booze, and people who really should sleep. Yup, place this is definitely going to have trouble pop up."

Ren joined the crowd and strolled in whatever way caught his fancy.

"Probably shouldn't hoping for trouble but man, I just want something to do. I'll be content with even mundane stuff. It's just nice to be around people again."

And for the most part, the mundane was all Ren found. He helped to fix an air pump on the side of a shop, adjusted someone's leg augment he could tell was a little off balance, and retrieved a ball for a group of kids that had gotten wedged into between some pipes and the building they were attached to. It was all tasks he was happy to do, though none of it felt particularly heroic. It was just common decency as far as he was concerned.

"Not every day can be stand out." He thought as he watched the kids run off with the ball. "Doc will probably be happy about that though. Didn't over exert myself, no unnecessary risks, just simple stuff as promised."

He sighed and walked towards a lift to ride back up when a flash of blue caught his attention. It was only for a moment, but the rush of air from the opening lift had rustled the coat of a passing man, revealing the clothes he wore underneath. Clean, freshly pressed clothes the color of the deep ocean.

"A Piltie."

Ren stepped out of the flow of traffic and fixed his eyes on the man with Piltovan clothing.

"What are you doing way down here?"

Pilties in Entresol were not an uncommon sight. Pilties this deep in Entresol however were. The man readjusted his coat to once more cover his topside garb and gave what looked like a precautionary glance about him before carrying on.

"And you're hiding yourself. Why?"

Immediately Ren suspected trouble. If this man had come to Zaun to cause trouble, Ren was determined to put a stop to it.

"Let's see what you're really up to."

Keeping his distance, Ren tailed after the man. They moved away from the main market area and, for a quarter of an hour, wandered through the streets. Each turn took them further from the crowds of Zaunites and towards secluded streets. It became difficult for Ren to blend in. He tucked in his orange scarf and kept his augmented arm in the shadows as much as possible to try and help himself blend into the murky backdrop of the city. The man in the Piltovan shirt made no notion of noticing Ren, though it was unclear if this was due to Ren's hiding abilities or the fact that the man didn't make much of an effort to look behind him. In either case, he carried on his way.

Another few minutes of walking and then the man stopped at the end of an alley and surreptitiously pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket. He read what was written on it, checked the street signs attached to the sides of the buildings, looked up and down the little residential street, and took off with a quickened, purposed filled step.

Ren felt his pulse quicken.

"Something's up."

He moved as swiftly and as silently as possible up to the edge of the alley where the man had been standing moments ago. He peered out around the corner and watched his target walk up to a house. The man knocked on the door and an older woman opened it. They embraced and then the woman stepped aside and welcomed the young man in. Even from where he was standing, Ren could see the family resemblance.

Ren felt his heart sink. He turned back into the alley and leaned against the side of the building. A long sigh escaped him as the ramping adrenaline drained from him. Shame took its place.

"Nothing was wrong."

He felt like an idiot. He had just spent the better half of an hour following around some guy for no other reason than he thought that the man was Piltovan. Could he really blame himself for it though? The last Piltie he had dealt with had been some shipping clan's goon who was harassing a kid. The one before that had been someone trying to reclaim a piece of tech she claimed was stolen. And before her, it was another clan enforcer who was none too gently questioning a witness. And before that – Ren reached across his chest and grabbed his augmentation. The metal was cold beneath his fingers. He suppressed a shiver.

"Maybe I should call it today, take it easy like Doc said to. Go get my apples, go home, relax, calm down."

He took a deep breath and turned back in the direction of the lift he passed earlier.

Ren didn't want to linger on this level any longer than necessary so he found the nearest fire escape scaffold, jumped up to it, and scrambled up to the top of the building. From the top he looked over the patchwork of rooftops and glass domes to locate the lift in the distance. A jog across the rooftops was, as many young Zaunites knew, often the fastest way from point A to point B in the Undercity.

Ren tensed his legs, activating the additional propulsion in his augment, and ran to the edge of the roof. In one effortless looking jump, he cleared the distance between the buildings and landed on the neighboring roof without losing balance. Growing up in the Sump meant that you had to know which distances you could safely jump and that you were always pushing yourself to make those distances longer. It was a skill that you learned quickly or you got seriously hurt or worse.

From rooftop to rooftop, Ren kept his momentum up as he headed towards the lift. He was making good time when suddenly, a familiar scent sent a jolt of adrenaline through him.

"Smoke!"

It was not the usual scent of smoke that came from foundries or factories. It lacked the intensity of that particular chemical odor. No, this was the scent of something that definitely shouldn't be burning. Immediately, Ren changed his course and followed his nose towards the source.

He found the ruins of a building at the head of a little dead end street. Though the fire appeared to have been extinguished a day or two ago, the scent of smoke, burnt wood, and chems still hung heavy in the air. Ashes were scatted down the street, the sides of the neighboring buildings were covered in soot and singed a little themselves, and a frothy puddle of extinguisher chems were pooled by a nearby drain. Charred, jagged shapes stuck out of the burnt building at dangerous angles that reminded Ren of broken bones. The sight sent a shiver down his spine.

There were few things more dangerous in Zaun than an out of control fire. Buildings were close together, toxic fumes would have nowhere to go, many buildings contained flammable chems, the streets were often narrow, and everyone fleeing would have no place to go but up. It was a concern every rational mind in Zaun had and so, mercifully, you did not have to look very hard to find a building with a stashed canister of extinguisher chems or a neighborhood maintained hydrant. It was also this concern that drove Ren to practice controlling the exhaust on his augmentation. He would never forgive himself if he was responsible for a devastating fire.

Silently Ren mumbled a prayer to Janna, hoping that those in the building were able to get out safely and that they would be able to recover from this loss. He knew how difficult coming back from nothing was. With his prayer complete, Ren let out a sigh and left. At the end of the street, he spotted a building that looked easy enough to scale. Two people stood on the stair in front of it, but they were too busy with their conversation to notice Ren's approach. Ren however took immediate notice of them and could tell that something was off.

The man standing in the doorway was the older of the two, his posture bent with age. Fear was plainly painted on his face. The person speaking with him appeared to be in his mid-20s, was muscular, and heavily augmented with both of his arms being replaced. It was an augmentation configuration Ren had seen on gangsters before; one smaller arm where the wearer's dominant hand was that allowed for dexterous use, and the other arm much larger and clearly intended to be a weapon. They reminded Ren of crabs with their one big crusher claw.

Ren moved cautiously, doing his best to remain unnoticed as he moved closer. He listened, trying to figure out what was going on. It was not a difficult task. Then augmented man was not doing much to hide his words.

"So unless you want your home to be the next smokin' heap of rubble, I suggest you have the money ready by week's end." He sneered. "They didn't an' look what happened to them, huh." He poked a figure out on the crusher limb and motioned over his shoulder. "They didn't believe that the Matches were back, but we are. So I had to torch the place."

Anger flared within Ren.

"Arsonist."

There were few people Ren had lower opinions of than arsonists. He reached into his pouch, grabbed his gauntlet, and snapped it onto his hand. During his last round of recovery, Ren and Viktor had improved the weapon to be more like his augmented arm. Its blades were now retractable and made of a stronger metal. They were still stylized to look like sharpened gears, a detail that Ren had to argue to keep.

The hex-shards in his augment and gauntlet sparked to life as Ren prepared for a fight. The sound finally alerted the men to his presence. Ren flexed the fingers on his augment.

"Time to put this to good use."

"Hey," Ren called, "did I hear you right? Did you say that you were the one responsible for setting that house on fire?"

The augmented man turned around and leered down at Ren with a smug expression.

"Yeah, I did." He said. "You wanna make something of it?"

"Kinda wanna break your augment about it, yeah." Ren answered.

The goon let out a harsh laugh.

"Please," the older man tried to cut in, "don't-"

The thug moved himself more between the older man and Ren.

"You understand that I'm part of the Matches, right?"

"Crystal."

"So you understand what I'm capable of doing, huh?" He leaned forward to loom over Ren as he had done with the older man. "So why don't you run off or I'm going to find your home an' burn that one down too."

Ren's face pinched in an unkind smile as that flare of anger within him grew.

"You know, for some reason I was considering letting you off with a warning, but no, you ruined it. Now I'm really going to break that augment of yours."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" the goon snarled.

"No, it's a promise." Ren took a step back and raised his hands to a fighting position. "I hope this doesn't take too long. I've got a hot date tonight."

The man barked out a laugh.

"You? A date? An obnoxious kid like you?"

Ren's body tensed for a moment.

"First of all, don't call me 'kid,' understand?" he said. "Secondly, yes, I do have a hot date with an oven and page 157 of Feeding an Empire: Noxian Dishes for Daily Meals and Grand Feasts. It's baked apples and I've been looking forward to them."

"Only thing you'll be lookin' forward to is a broken nose, kid."

Ren gave a quick shrug and a smirk.

The goon flexed his crusher arm, an ineffective attempt at intimidation, and took a step down to meet Ren's challenge. Ren focused all his attention on his opponent and waited. The man took another step and Ren sprang forward, the exhaust at the base of his augmented leg letting him accelerate faster than expected. He swung high with a left uppercut, slamming his augmented arm into the goon's right shoulder where his crusher augment met his body. Sparks cracked over his knuckles as Ren sent a charge of electricity running down his augment's blades. It spread down the crusher limb in an instant.

Ren's foe let out a cry of shock as the electricity bit at the muscles connecting the machinery to the rest of his body. Ren pressed his advantage. With another burst of exhaust, he drove his augmented right knee into the man's unaugmented right knee. Had he not been wearing a kneepad, the goon's knee would have snapped. Even still, the blow had him seeing stars. Ren braced his knee against the man's and followed through with a right hook to the left armpit. He kept the blades of his gauntlet retracted and shoved with all his might.

With his knee locked up and Ren controlling the bulk of his core, the man's balance was thrown before he had time to react. Gracelessly, the goon stumbled down the last stair. He took a swing at Ren as he passed him, but it was such a haphazard attack that it was easy for the younger man to duck out of the way. It only succeeded in forcing him to stagger two more steps in a desperate attempt to regain balance.

However, before he had time to recover, Ren spun around him and positioned himself to the outer side of the crusher limb. Large augments, he knew, could not make lateral movements as quickly as smaller ones could. Those extra moments were used to great effect as Ren rained a series of electrified punches into the joints of the crusher augment; two at the shoulder and three into the elbow. Several wires snapped with pops and flashes of bright light. On the final strike to the elbow there was a sputtering sound and chems began to spatter onto the pavement. Ren didn't know what he had cut, but he knew it was important as, immediately afterwards, three of the fingers on the arm went limp.

"You damn punk!" the man howled.

Finally finding his ability to react, the man pulled his large arm in before snapping out with a wicked backhand. The motion sent the leaking chems fanning out in an arch. It was an obviously telegraphed attack and Ren nimbly leapt back to avoid it. He settled into his fighting stance, augmented arm leading.

"Come on, try again." Ren taunted. "You might actually hit me next time."

With a growl, the goon swung his augment in an upward claw. Ren met the attack, stepping through with a kick from his augmented leg. As his foot connected, Ren charged his limb and vented the exhaust right down below the elbow. The force made the crusher crash back down into the pavement as Ren bounced back into a ready position. Heat from the blow caused the chems leaking from the limb to start smoking with an awful stink, earning a panicked look from the goon.

"Not a fan of fire anymore?" Ren asked.

He didn't wait for a response though, and rushed back in. He chambered his right arm, ready for an uppercut but a flash of metal caught his attention. As he charged in, the man had pulled a small blade from his belt and was ready to stab. Ren reacted, reaching across his body with his augmented arm. He blocked the strike with his palm, the blade bouncing harmlessly off the metal.

As soon as he heard the tink of metal striking metal, Ren snapped his hand shut around the other man's. Then, he pulled that arm back and outward, yanking his foe's upper body forward just enough. He stepped through with an augment propelled step and swung up with the elbow of his chambered arm. The hard bone smashed into the side of the man's cheek.

Staggered by the blow, it did not take Ren much more force to send his opponent toppling backwards. The man hit the ground with a pained grunt. Ren jumped over to the crusher limb and struck downwards into its elbow with his augmented arm. There was another popping sound as Ren pulled the blades of his augment dripping form the joint. In a last ditch attempt to recover, the goon tried to pull his arm away but the limb had lost too many vital chems and sustained too much damage to do little more than be dragged across the pavement. It made it a very easy target for Ren. He brought his foot down on the joint and, this time, there was a snapping sound.

Ren kept his augmented leg firmly on the broken crusher and leered over the man, just the goon had done to him earlier. He put on his cruelest expression, mimicking what he had seen on gangsters and enforcers, and raised his hand in a fist. The blades on it crackled with electricity.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't carve up your face, arsonist!" Ren snarled.

"I- I- I," the downed man stammered.

"You burned down those people's home, threatened to do it to this guy, and threatened to do it to me! Far as I can see, those are three really good reasons to break your nose. Wait, yeah, that was another thing you threatened to do to me. So why shouldn't I do it to you? Answer me!"

"I didn't do it!"

"What?"

That was not a response Ren was expecting to hear.

"I swear I didn't light the fire!"

Ren's eyes narrowed.

"Elaborate." He demanded.

"I didn't light it, I swear." The goon repeated, "I just saw the others do it and watched the blaze and how it scared everyone. Thought I could use that fear to my 'vantage, pay for new augments. Gotta jump on opportunity, you know?"

"You misjudged your jump."

"An' I see that now."

"It's easy to see mistake after they're done. Still not happy with your answer by the way."

Ren shifted more of his weight to his augment and the metal beneath it rasped.

"What- what do you want me to say? I'm innocent."

"Not really."

"At least of setting that fire I am. I'm not even part of the Matches."

"You could always start with a 'sorry,' you know?" Ren said with a shrug.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Not to me. To him." Ren pointed to the older Zaunite. "I'm gonna let you get up now so you can make it nice and sincere."

Ren got off the man and stepped back so he could clumsily pull himself back to his feet. With the crusher having lost most of its mobility, it was an awkward process to rise. Ren made no motion to help.

"Now, apologize." Ren demanded as soon as the man was back on his feet.

The goon bowed his head and spoke.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Ren looked to see if the older man found this half-hearted apology acceptable, but he looked as stunned by the turn of events as the wannabe extortionist. Not wanting to put him on the spot more than he already was, Ren stepped in again.

"That's a start." He said, "And now you're never going to bother this man again. If you do, I won't be so forgiving next time. Understand?"

The man shot Ren a nasty expression now that, back on his feet, he had regained a little of his composure. Ren said nothing but let more sparks jump across his knuckles. The look in his bottle glass green eyes promised that he was ready for round two if need be.

"I understand," the man said as though he was choking on the words.

"Good," Ren answered with a smile. "Now go and, do yourself a favor, sell that big augment for scrap. Get something more modest with the cogs and maybe do some good, honest work."

The man grunted in response but made no other comment. He slumped away, dragging his mostly useless augment behind him.

When he was out of sight, Ren let out a sigh, allowed his shoulders to slump, and retracted the blades on his augment and gauntlet.

"Sorry you had to see me like that." He said, his voice losing all its harshness, "Are you okay?"

"I- I'm good." The older Zaunite said.

"Good."

Ren looked down at the mess the fight had made. Chems were splattered all across the pavement, as was a bit of blood.

"If you've got a rag, I'll try and clean this for you."

"No, that's alright."

"Ah, alright. Anything else I can help you out with?"

"No, you've done more than enough. Thank you."

Ren looked over the man. His eyes were still wide with shock and his hand trembled slightly as he gripped the door of his home. It was obvious he was still shaken by the violence he had just witnessed. And beyond that, Ren imagined he was filled with fears of retaliation and possibly, Ren himself. If he could, Ren wanted to ease his fears.

He removed the gauntlet from his hand and placed it back in his pouch. Then from a side pocket, he pulled out a small card and offered it to the man.

"Take this, please." Ren said.

The man reached out and took the paper.

"If that creep comes round here again and bothers you, take that to the Glorious Evolved."

"The Church?" the man asked as he turned the paper over in his hands and looked at the symbol of a mask framed by a gear printed upon it.

"Yeah," Ren nodded, "give it to them and tell them that you need ReN-12's help."

"Ren-12? What is that?"

"Not 'what is,' the question is 'who is?' And that 'who' is me."

Ren reached up and tapped the hypodermic flask painted onto his shoulder guard.

"I'm gonna do what I can to make Zaun better and it that means punching some arsonists or extortionists, that's what I'll do."

This at least seemed to put the man at ease.

"Thank you. Truly, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Ren gave a nod and then scaled up the building as he had originally intended to.

"Alright, apples, then home." He thought to himself as he once more oriented himself to the lift.

As he moved back towards Emberflit, he wanted to keep his thoughts on baking, but parts of the goon's pleading kept replaying in his mind.

"He didn't do it, but he said he saw others light the fire."

The knowledge that there were actual arsonists still out there troubled him and left his mind wondering.

"Who are the Matches?"