POWDER III
In a forgotten scrapyard of the old undercity, a girl with blue hair waited. "He'll come. He always does," she said to herself as she drew caricatures of various people in the dirt with her finger. Unbeknownst to her, a predator had heard her earlier scream and smelled her fear. From the shadows, he approached her stealthy on four legs, saliva dripping from his maw from the promise of blood. But then something happened. The predator stopped and instead of pouncing on his prey, he simply watched her with an emotion that was foreign to him. A name surfaced in his mind but the only thing he could produce was a deep growl, alerting the girl to his presence.
"Are you real?" the girl asked as she tilted her head. The wolf answered by baring his fangs at her but despite his long claws and sharp teeth, the girl was not afraid of him. There was something familiar within the beast's eyes and at that moment, any semblance of companionship, real or otherwise, was better than the solitude of her mind. She reached out and beckoned him to come closer, "Can I touch your fur? It looks really fluffy and comfortable." She was wrong, his fur was coarse and matted with patches of dried blood that belonged to both him and his victims. But for some inexplicable reason, he could not find it within himself to deny her request.
Just as the wolf was about to approach her, his ears perked up from the sound of loud footsteps coming closer and he darted away. An explosion sounded behind him but he did not turn back for fear of remembering the man he was and ran to the safety of the feral instincts he has grown used to. Meanwhile, the girl led the chemtanks away for fear that they would hurt the wolf more than they already had. The chemical chamber on his back and the tubes running through his body looked miserable to carry so the girl promised herself that if she ever saw him again (and that he wasn't imaginary), she would pull them out and patch him up.
She enjoyed their little game of cat and mouse but she knew that eventually, the drug-enhanced fiends would catch up to her. That's when she heard a whistle from above and saw the boy savior swoop in on his hoverboard. With clever use of their environment, they flipped the roles like in that one arcade game when Pac-Man picks up the cherry and turned the table on the chemtanks. Away from the problems, the exercise helped clear her a little of all the noise in her head, and at that moment, looking at the boy's smiling face, she felt like everything would work out in the end.
"Alright, let's go ho-" The words died on his lips as a blade pierced through his stomach, and like a cruel joke, the happiness she was just feeling faded away. Her mind spiraled out of control, unsure of what was real or not again, while her body stood frozen in place. Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of her lungs as the juggernaut slammed into her. That was real so that must mean this was all real. She scrambled to get up but the chemtank crushed her underfoot. She reached out her hand and called out to him but he did not answer. His eyes were empty like the ones her mother had that day on the bridge.
The will to fight left her body but just as the metal monstrosity reared its arm to finish the job, a voice screamed in her head to do one last thing. She pushed her face into the dirty ground and sucked up the Shimmer that had been spilled around her. A burst of strength coursed through her veins and with that zap of newfound power, she was able to push the chemtank off. The girl climbed on top of the juggernaut while it was still on its back and smashed open its glass helmet. Her world was a haze of purple and all she wanted to do was to get revenge on this man that had taken the last good thing remaining in her life.
Her hand peeled away a shard of glass, cutting herself in the process, and she stabbed him again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Blood splattered all over her face and body, coating her arm until there was no white skin left. She screamed, cried, and laughed as she let all of her dark emotions consume her. All the pain and anguish she's had to go through, she wanted to carve it all into this body and display it to the rest of the world. The horrific violence was a cathartic release and as she looked down on her work of art, within the pool of blood, the reflection of Jinx's eyes was purple.
I woke up with a small gasp and reached for the comfort of the person beside me. My heart calmed down as I felt the gentle rise and fall of Ekko's chest. After what happened that day, I would have the same dream from time to time which made me seek him out in the middle night like a little kid in a thunderstorm. Eventually, we decided to combine our rooms since I was sneaking into his bed more often than I was in my own. I knew we were getting a little old to be sleeping together like this but waking up beside him just made me so inexplicably happy that I couldn't find it within myself to go back to sleeping on my own.
My stirring seemed to have woken him up as well as he drew in a deep breath and rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Bad dream?" I nodded and nuzzled myself closer to him. His fingers gently brushed through my long locks and I sighed contently. I felt like a spoiled cat that just wanted to monopolize all of his attention but as our home grew bigger, our time alone has grown sparser. Nowadays, only the brief moments before sunrise were ours while the rest was filled with new responsibilities that neither of us expected to take on a few years ago. Wengo and Kaya were the first the join us but they were far from the only people that needed a home.
Over time, our numbers grew and the sanctuary underwent many changes but there was one thing that remained constant, the firelights, and that's what we decided to name ourselves after. With the added manpower, we carved out the old undercity as our turf and expanded our tech business. Although it was by no means the luxurious life the Pilties lived, with everyone doing their part, the people here felt safe and their needs were provided for. Children could laugh and play freely instead of slaving away at a Shimmer factory and that gave people hope for a better future.
"Alright, time to get up," said Ekko as he tried to get up.
"Five more minutes," I begged as I held onto him.
"Wengo is going to kick our door down if we don't meet him at the exit at sunrise and we still have your hair to do." I wanted to whine but I knew he was right. My hair was so long now that it almost touched the ground when I'm standing up which made it impossible to braid alone. It would save us both a lot of time if I didn't loosen it every night but then I wouldn't get the euphoric feeling of his hand running through my hair.
"Fine," I said as I release him from my clutches.
"By the way, have you seen my favorite shir-" he asked as he looked around the room before I sat up on the bed. "Why are you wearing my shirt? You have the exact same one in your size."
"I don't know," I shrugged, "it's just more comfortable for some reason."
"Don't just go stealing my stuff like that."
"If you insist," I said as I reached for the hem and began lifting it.
"Whoa, hey, w-what are you doing?!" he yelled as he looked away and put up his hand.
"I'm giving you your shirt back. Do you want it or not?"
"You can't just take off your clothes like that in front of me!"
"But you walk around me shirtless all the time."
"Well, I'm a guy, I don't have – you know!"
"Boobs?" I smirked as his face reddened. "Does that make you feel uncomfortable? Is the big bad leader of the Firelights intimidated by the female anatomy?"
"Forget it, just keep the stupid shirt," he said as he walked for the door. "Hurry up and get dressed, I'll come back with some breakfast."
"No, my gallant knight! Whatever shall I do without a big strong man protecting my exposed bosom!"
"Shut up!"
I giggled as I dropped his shirt on the bed and took out my outfit from the dresser. As I passed by the body mirror, I stopped and looked at my reflection. "I think I got taller, what do you guys think?"
Ugly.
Too skinny.
Not enough curves.
I rolled my eyes, "Typical."
I think you're pretty.
I paused and looked up as if the voice was there, "Really?"
He looked.
"No, he didn't," I dropped to the floor and quickly pulled my knees to my chest in embarrassment, "did he?" I mused about it as I flipped flopped back and forth before finally giving up. "Ugh, what's the big deal anyway? Pretty. Ugly. Looked. Didn't look. Why should I care?" Before turning away, I got in front of the mirror one last time and leaned forward until my face was an inch away from the glass. Satisfied with the result, I proceeded with the rest of my morning with a smile. I just had to make sure that the eyes that stared back were still Powder's blue.
"Do I really have to come today?" I asked Ekko as we walked toward the exit. "I don't think I'll work in a group very well."
"We've been over this already, it'll be good for you to get to know the others a bit better. You barely talk to anyone except for me," he then paused and turned to me with a serious expression. "Did someone say something again? Is that why you don't want to come?"
"No, I – I just miss the time when it was just us."
He smiled as he ruffled up my hair, "I do too, Blue."
"Thank you for doing this," said Wengo as we greeted him.
"Don't mention it," said Ekko as he clapped him on the shoulder, "and cheer up. You are going to be a father soon. Both Kaya and the baby are going to be okay." I quietly watched their exchange from the sideline as a couple more Firelights showed up for today's run to the abandoned hospital. Medication and supplies would be nice but we were mainly going for any equipment that would help with the birth of Wengo and Kaya's baby. Once we were all assembled, Ekko addressed the whole group, "Y'all know the drill. Keep your masks up, stay vigilant and watch each other's backs. Let's go!"
For all the infamy the Firelights got for our use of the hoverboards, none would have guessed that we did most of our traveling underground. Most of the major sewage lines dumped into the fissures and with our home's proximity, we had easy access to all of them. Ekko surfaced first to scope out the surrounding area and after clearing it, the rest of us climbed up behind him. We were greeted by the faded sign that hung over the rusted gates of this once-elegant building. It was the first and only of its kind in all of the undercity but now, it was just a home for ghosts and rodents.
The story goes that one day a young boy with poor lungs gained the sympathy of the matron of a wealthy house and although she was too late to save him, she vowed to elevate the undercity's health care to the level a citizen of Piltover deserved. Together with her rich friends, they sponsored the construction of this hospital so that no child would ever die again just for where they were born. She opened her heart to us trenchers and an open heart is what she got. Shortly after its opening, the matron was murdered in cold blood before these very doors and from that day on, the upper class of Piltover never set foot on our street again.
I still vaguely recalled how these white halls looked before they were filled with dust and cobwebs. Before it shut down, my mother once took me here to see a head doctor. Apparently, after having me lie down on this long chair and talking with me for just three short minutes, he was able to deduce everything that was wrong with me. He sprouted one term after another that I didn't understand and after that day, my mother never looked at me the same way again. I hated that doctor for putting those labels on me and I hated my mother for believing them. When I got older and learned what those words meant, I hated myself for fitting them.
I kept myself on autopilot as we scavenged the same-looking rooms one after another. Most of the stuff was picked clean by looters but we were able to recover some manuals that were left behind by those who couldn't read.
Psst.
I paused at the door of the room I had just finished searching as one of the voices called me back. Normally, I would have ignored it since I was around so many people but I was partial to the nice things it said about me this morning so I whispered back, "What?"
Behind the wall.
"This better not be a trick," I muttered to myself as I stepped back into the room. There didn't seem to be anything special about the wall from a glance but when I put my ear against it, I could hear strange noises coming from behind. The eerie sound of a leaking pipe and a sort of low mechanical whirring. I knocked on the wall and when it sounded hollow I knew there was more to this than meets the eye. I snapped the legs off of the wooden chair nearby and used it as a sledgehammer to break down the wall. Somebody came in to check on the noise and asked me what I was doing but once the first piece of plaster fell off, it was evident.
The whole group was called over and we all stood in front of the staircase that led to a lower level that didn't exist on the hospital's floor plan. "I don't like the looks of this," said one of the Firelights.
"Two of you stay up here and watch the exit. The rest of you with me," Ekko ordered as he took the first steps down. I followed closely behind, excited for what we would find. "How did you find this place?"
"The voices told me," I said in a low voice so that only he could hear me.
He paused in his tracks and turned to face me, "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry, it's one of the nice ones."
A surprise.
"It says we're gonna find a nice surprise." I couldn't see his expression due to the owl mask but I could tell from his body language that he was hesitant. "Have you been reading one too many stories of the Shadow Isles? Don't tell me you're scared of ghosts."
Scared of you.
He didn't say that. "What did you say?"
"I didn't say anything." His tone worried. "Maybe we should do this ano-"
"Is something wrong, Owl?" asked Wengo.
"No, nothing's wrong," I answered for him. I looked past his shoulder and saw a source of light spilling into the corridor. "I think there's something up ahead." Now it was too late to turn the party around. They were hooked by the mystery and I would get my surprise. But as I turned the corner, it was no surprise at all. It was a horrible sight. Several children were strapped to beds and hooked up to big ugly machinery. Syringes at the arms, legs, and neck injected a greyish-green liquid into their still bodies. The sheets they slept on were dyed in red and a black hood was placed over their faces to hide their anguished expression.
Ekko approached one of the kids and checked for a pulse but after a silent moment, he shook his head, "They're dead."
"He's a sick fucking bastard!"
"Calm down, Worm."
"Nah, fuck that! He isn't satisfied with just turning the adults into addicts, now he wants to experiment on little kids with his drugs too! How far are you going to let this go, Ekko?!"
"How is any of this his fault?" Wengo asked.
Kids die all the time.
"We have the firepower and the numbers to take the fight to him but we just sit back and do nothing. Why aren't we going to his factories and bombing them one by one? We can flush all of his Shimmer down the gutter within a month and leave him bleeding out there while we're at it."
"That's not who we are," said Ekko.
But that's who you are.
"Maybe that's what we need to be to create some real change around here."
The air grew tense as the silence dragged on. "Take a walk, you're done for today." Worm clicked his tongue and stomped out, leaving the rest of us awkwardly standing around the morgue of dead children. "Let's at least bury them. They deserve better than mice and crows."
COUGH!
Suddenly, one of the kids stirred awake and scared all of us half to death. But once the shock wore off, Wengo rushed to her side, "She's alive." As soon as he said that, the rest of the crew quickly got to work on her restraints without ever considering what was put into her.
"Wai-" Before I was able to get my warning off, the girl's hand snapped up to one of the guys' necks and flung him back with the strength of a man thrice her size. "Shit! Restrain her!" But it was too late at that point. The straps were already off and the drugged-up girl was on her feet before they could be put back on. Another Firelight tried to grapple her but was thrown against the wall like an abandoned doll and that's when all thoughts of saving this person left my mind. I pulled out my gun and aimed it at her head but right as I was about to pull the trigger, the frenzied girl pulled off her hood.
Pink hair and blue eyes.
I froze.
"Vi?"
walpurgisplay: Another reader actually had the same question as you. Since it caused so much confusion, I decided to write the scene from Powder's perspective in this chapter so hopefully, that clarified some things.
Voraces Lector: I love these characters too much to do anything truly awful to them but Vi will definitely be affected by her time in the prison. Both sisters will have gone through a lot when they reunite and it won't just be Powder leaning on Vi but a little bit of the other way around as well.
Le055Li0n: Nooo, don't call out my mainstream media references :P
DashBoy47: Ayy glad to see that my first-ever reviewer is still around! I'm happy you called out the Vander scene because that was something I really enjoyed writing. As for Marcus, I imagine he originally paid the warden to keep Vi off the books and locked up in Level 1 (where it's relatively safer) but being the firecracker she is, Vi had to go poke the bear to make her time in prison a lot more difficult XD
Warlocktoungue: I was worried that since most of my readers are here for the Ekko/Jinx ship that they wouldn't enjoy the Vi chapter but I'm glad it is being so well received. There'll definitely be one more chapter of Vi in prison but I'll probably keep it at that since I'm just so excited to get to the meat of this story – their reunion is going to be a joy to write!
Victorules: Thanks for the advice, was there a chapter in particular that you felt was boring in comparison to the other ones?
Cadmus8: Thanks for the support, glad you found what you were looking for in my story!
dreadnod244: Glad you caught on to the callback to episode 1, that scene was a blast to write as well just for the sheer fact that I knew all the readers could just picture her tone and expression without me saying it. I'm just as excited for their reunion and although it is still a ways away, I promise it will be worth the wait!
Archangel Writings: I promise I tried my best to come up with an original name XD
Luke5921: Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, it means a lot!
EJHowell: Appreciate the encouragement, hope you enjoyed this week's chapter as well!