Caitlyn Kiramman had a lot of reasons to be proud.
An accomplished marksman, top of her class in the Enforcer Academy and daughter of a renowned Councilwoman, Caitlyn had a lot of good reasons indeed. Unfortunately, two of those conflicted with the latter and it was a source of eternal tension for the young woman that marred the pride she should have been riding high on.
Well, not that she would have ridden on such a thing anyway. Caitlyn would never fault anyone for feeling rightfully proud but she despised arrogance, especially when it was underserved.
It was ever a thin line to walk between the two sides but having grown up among Piltover's 'High Society' she had become practiced in distinguishing the subtle differences. The 'well-to-do' of Piltover were ever in a competition for reputation and wealth, with the most avid social climbers clashing with the lowest of those in the highest rung in a social play that had never closed its curtains since the very foundation of the city itself.
Caitlyn was lucky in many ways that she was a Kiramman, her esteemed ancestors had done the work for her and what work indeed; they had been refugees from the Rune Wars, arriving before the first fissures would open up to reveal the bounty of wealth that lay beneath the city's feet. In the subsequent scramble they would be one of the many who would reap a fortune and one of the few who would keep ahold of it in the following years, establishing a solid foundation of wealth and a connection to what would become the Undercity. Subsequent Kirammans would solidify this foundation, elevating the status of her house with granite and bedrock until they stood as one of the esteemed Grand Families, the rare few who were unassailable by even the most ambitious and resourceful of the newly minted.
Saying all this, Caitlyn was also lucky to avoid most such social duelling. Unfortunately, such a benefit came at the cost of straining her relationship with her mother who was very much an avid social duellist and current maintainer of House Kiramman's illustrious position.
What a truly shattering argument that had been between them, when Caitlyn had announced her intention to heft a rifle for justice and public good and not fully dedicate herself to being the Heir of the Kiramman House.
Cassandra and Caitlyn had mended bridges since then for there was and forever would be a deep love between mother and daughter, but Caitlyn had truly felt the sting of consequence for the first time that night.
For the first time, her conviction had been challenged, by a person she held most dear no less.
Not an easy thing for anyone to face.
Yet, she stuck with it.
Caitlyn Kiramman would become an Enforcer. She would go through the full process, no fast tracks, no special attention, no hand holding.
The whole nine yards.
When newspapers asked her why, she had answered it was because she believed in the purpose behind the Enforcers, that she believed in justice and safeguarding the innocent.
When Jayce had once asked her why she did it, she had answered it was because she had to prove that she was worthy of the name she was born with and that she was sick of life being handed to her on a silver platter.
When she asked herself, Caitlyn could only picture her mother -whom she loved despite it all- and telling her that she had grown up and for her to please see it.
All of them were true. All of them were important in their own way.
Yet, after all of that work, all the tears and the trials and the struggle, actually being an Enforcer was…less than she had anticipated.
Perhaps it was due to her overinflated ideas of infiltrating gang meetings, busting complex smuggling rings and duelling against hardened killers but even then, Caitlyn did not expect how much her job involved public relations and other more mundane work.
It was all important of course, but still, it was hard to prove herself when the daily grind was filing reports on her interactions with the Academy staff and student body.
Which was where she had been assigned; in the Founder's Academy, otherwise known as Piltover University. (It actually had several names, at least one of which was in long-dead Ancient Shuriman, but Piltover University was the colloquial term.)
It was not a bad posting per se, she did get to hang out with Jayce a lot and she had developed a cordial friendship with Professor Viktor and Councilman Heimerdinger, but it was not the place to be to cover herself in decorations.
She suspected the hand of her mother in this, or else the sentiments of her old mentor Sheriff Grayson, because this was not where she should have been posted.
Perhaps it was arrogant but Caitlyn Kiramman, top her class and labelled the most promising Cadet, was likely better utilized somewhere else.
She had at first tried to make something of it, tried to uphold the high standards of procedure which she had learned in training but, well, there was only so much one could do in the face of mild amusement, polite scorn or general apathy.
Kiramman she may have been and an Enforcer beside, few were under any illusion that the well-to-do gaggle of young adults that formed the majority of the University's population were of any real danger.
Well, aside from the occasional drunken disorder after a sporting event.
Thus, any Enforcer presence was seen as largely ceremonial at best and burdensome at worst.
Small mercies however, she had found much more success getting along with the students after she gave up trying, with some of them even starting talking to her.
It was how she became interested in the competitive side of things, at least the athletic competitiveness, not the inventive competitiveness. The former she could understand, the latter she left for Jayce to bumble an explanation through if she was interested enough to ask.
Thus was Caitlyn's introduction into the world of the League of Legends, the premier fighting tournament of seemingly the entirety of Runeterra.
She wasn't surprised she never learned about it until then, it was exactly the kind of thing her parents (her mother in particular) found utterly distasteful.
But in lieu of literally anything else to do, Caitlyn was roped in.
She was glad she had been.
Partly because she had learned about the meteoric rise of a certain Violet Marrani, how the Champion from Zaun had taken the local League by storm generating a rather impressive following on both sides of the river. (Also generating quite an impressive array of posters, some of which may or may not have ended up in Caitlyn's bedroom.)
But mostly Caitlyn was glad because she had chanced upon some very interesting information:
Rumours of a new wonder drug, one purported to enhance your physical capabilities by an order of magnitude near magical in capacity.
Shimmer.
Unsurprisingly it had been among the Academy's athletes that such rumors began circulating in and, at first out of sheer boredom, Caitlyn decided she would go all out in her investigation just to dust off skills left near-moribund after months of a (mostly) miserable posting.
She was glad to have done so, for she ended up rooting out the potential location of a drug dealer, in a warehouse down by the Lower Market District.
Standard Operating Procedure would have had Caitlyn, the Junior Officer, report her findings to her superior and await further orders or else continue her investigations in her designated post.
S.O.P however, could go shove itself.
This was Caitlyn's chance.
After so long rotting in place, she would not let it go.
It had been an exciting change but sadly it amounted to little; the warehouse was little used outside of the sailing season when whole fleets of foreign ships would dock in Piltover's shores, by which point goods and people would come and go with such frequency it was folly to keep track of them all by herself (plus the Customs Officers would be on duty to do the very same job in any case). Even many evenings and nights of stake-outs only resulted in many tired days afterwards with nothing to show for it.
If there had been anything, Caitlyn had not caught it.
Defeated, she slumped back into the posting that was slowly withering her and indulged in a level of brain-rot she did not know she was capable of.
Mostly it involved getting really into the League of Legends; analysing Champion statistics, origins, past Legends and future prospects and joining in on the Fantasy Champion League.
Inevitably she was drawn back towards Violet Marani, the 'Vault Breaker' of Zaun, pupil of the famed Vander 'The Hound of the Underground', who himself had once been a Champion of great renown and also a noted agitator with a still extant (but long dust-covered) profile in the Enforcer Archives.
It wasn't hard to explain the draw; the young woman was around her age, stunningly attractive and was seemingly just as accomplished in her field as Caitlyn was in hers, only difference being that Violet seemingly enjoyed what she was doing while Caitlyn languished in frustration, her pleas and requests to transfer continually deferred. It was a kind of catharsis watching Violet fight, Caitlyn treating the experience as the closest thing she would get to being undercover as she disguised herself with different clothes and applied fake tattoos, letting her cheer as one among a crowd of hundreds or thousands.
With the fights being mostly in Zaun and Caitlyn being who she was, such measures were sadly necessary. Peace may have reigned between the Sister Cities but no one was under any illusion as to who (or indeed where) the Enforcers pointed most of their guns.
Violet's fights became Caitlyn's moments of freedom in a sense, where she discarded every burden she wore around her and simply let go to enjoy the moment.
It helped a lot that Violet was a spectacle fighter, she was skilled yes and wildly strong, but she also knew how to charge a crowd.
That Vi herself was a spectacle was only cherry on the cake.
Of course, like with seemingly all good things in Caitlyn's life, even that avenue of joy had a roadblock:
Powder Marrani.
Violet's younger sister and seemingly a prodigy all of her own (their parents must have been proud), Caitlyn had hoped the young woman would be an ally in…well, Caitlyn's efforts to introduce herself.
Powder however had other ideas.
More precisely, violent and explodey ones (her words), if Caitlyn pushed any harder.
It was incredibly rude and irritating, did Powder know who Caitlyn was!?
Caitlyn had stewed far more than perhaps appropriate afterwards.
That such a roadblock turned from irritating to potentially serious was a rather unexpected turn though, for while Caitlyn had attended the fights being hosted in Zaun rumors of shimmer never stopped cropping up to the point that Caitlyn once more took them seriously and decided to investigate during one of Violet's non-standard exhibition matches.
I.E, one of Violet's fights in the rule-less Pit rather than the ranked Arena. (The less said about Caitlyn's presence in those the better, if the crowds of the Arena's would give her mother conniptions the mobs of the Pits would have her combust.)
She was sad to be missing the fight, it was supposedly a good one (not that Vi ever had a bad fight), but it had been worth it when her sleuthing had turned critical information:
Lock, Vi's meatsack of an opponent, was under the influence of shimmer.
When she had discovered that little terrifying fact she had bolted to go stop the match and arrived just in time to see Vi, more beaten and bloodied than she had ever seen her, stand with her fist in the air over a muscle-mound that had probably been a man at one point.
Tellingly, the mound had faintly glowing purple veins.
It was probably then that Caitlyn's fascination with Violet Marrani turned into something of a crush.
Under the Pit's too-bright light, drenched in sweat and blood, covered in bruises with a snarling wolf-like grin on her face, Vi looked like a Champion.
She had been tempted to introduce herself then and there, simply jump in the pit and announce herself, but the moment went. Vi demanded answers as to what had just happened and in the ensuing stillness of the victors wrath someone let off a smoke bomb and all hell broke loose.
Afterwards, Caitlyn was more motivated than ever to uncover this shimmer issue, especially now that it was directly affecting someone she was (by several degrees admittedly) connected to.
And if she could get Violet on side and get the pair of them to have a grand ol'e adventure where she could show off her well-earned skills?
Well, wouldn't that just be the sweetest cherry?
"Vi you are an absolute bum."
"Hello my dearest sister who I love and can crush with one hand."
Powder stuck her tongue out and scooted back when Vi made to pinch it.
"What do you want now?" The older sister groaned, covering her eyes with her arm as she lay on the couch at the very appropriate time of three in the afternoon.
"Ekko and I are gonna go to the Scrapyard."
Vi grunted.
"It's at the Entresol level. You know, that place in Zaun where it's constantly busy and packed with people of dubious legality?"
Vi turned over and made content sounding noises.
"Where it's very dangerous to leave your dearest sister and her boyfriend on their own without suuuper duuuper strong adult escort?" Powder knelt to Vi's level and put her arms on her sister's stomach, adding a cutesy tone to her voice.
"You have a gun." Vi grunted.
Powder wrapped her arms around Vi's midsection and squeezed. "Pweeeeaaaaassseeee." She pleaded, "It's a single shot conductive energy device, not really a gun."
Vi grunted again. "You have another, bigger gun."
"But that one's a prototype and it's an industrial tool for shooting lots of big nails, not an actual gun! You know this!"
Vi grunted.
"Mwah! Mwah!" Changing tact, Powder laid kisses on Vi's arms, "These are soooo much stronger than anything I could come up with!
Vi turned over so she was facing her sister, pulling Powder into a one arm embrace as she did so.
"Mhmm Hmmm," Vi murmured, eyes closed, "So strong, so capable of carrying all your shit huh Pow Pow…"
Powder nodded sagely, "Yes yes my lovely amazing big sister who totally loves me so much she's gonna get up riiiiight..now!"
She tried to stand whilst pulling Vi's arm along with her.
Vi pulled her back down.
"You are an absolute bum Vi." Powder deadpanned.
Chuckling, Vi pulled Powder in for a kiss to her cheek and then threw her across the living room floor.
"Get out of my face you twig-armed leech," Vi said as she turned over once more and put a pillow over her head.
"Ugh! You suck!" Powder complained as she got up and left the living room.
"Remember to bring your stun gun when you go!" Vi called out after her.
She heard the door slam and took it as an affirmative.
Perhaps an hour later as Vi was drifting contentedly across a cloudy, nap fueled sky someone rudely decided to knock on her door.
She ignored it, because who in their right mind would choose to leave cloudy nap heaven to deal with the real world.
There was another knock, the same fast and steady three hits.
Vi steadfastly refused to be moved from her cloudy bed.
Another three knocks.
Another three.
Knock Knock Knock
"Fucking really!?" Vi nearly pulled the door off its hinges with how forcefully she opened it.
The woman on the other side jumped back a little.
Vi gave her an incredulous look.
"...Kiramman?"
The woman's pale face lit up like a red flare and Vi found it incredibly hilarious and kinda hot that she could see the red as it creeped up Caitlyn's slender neck, passing under fake tattoos and painting her cheeks an adorable cherry.
"Ack!...You…Can see through…my disguise?!" Caitlyn Kiramman stuttered out, acting like she had just touched a live wire.
Vi snorted, then snickered, then chortled and every manner of trying to hold in her laughter.
Caitlyn crossed her arms and huffed.
Her regular Enforcer patrol uniform had been discarded for heavy denim overalls, a plain and cheap looking red shirt, plain brown heavy boots and a plain brown cap.
It was quite an image to go with the tattoos of rather salacious women on her arms and blocky, pickaxe designs on her neck.
"You look like…" Vi really did try to settle her laughing fit, but it was a trying time. "Like a…like a museum piece. Oh Janna, not even my dad wore that hahaha!"
Caitlyn took her cap off and covered her face. "Please stop." She said through an ocean of embarrassment. "I thought I did my research…"
Vi wiped a tear, "Oh you suuuure did, holy shit, you really, really did some digging-" The brawler burst into another round of barely suppressed laughter.
"Violet!" Caitlyn squeaked, "Please!"
Vi took a moment, grabbing the doorframe to steady herself as she drew a few breaths and let them out in an even and controlled manner.
"I am so sorry," Vi said with some genuine regret in her voice, "I just…Girl, you are about three generations out of date." Vi summoned another, final breath as she wiped the last of the tears on her face. "But…why are you here?"
It took a minute for Caitlyn to speak again, face still tomato red. "I came in search of help for a very important mission that-" She cleared her throat, tried to meet Vi's eyes, couldn't and looked at the ground. "-involves a very dangerous substance used in fighting-"
"Shimmer. You're looking into Shimmer?"
Caitlyn's eyes widened, "You know about it?!"
"Shh!" Vi mimed for her to be quiet, "Not too loud! Look, my trainer and my un- uh, my other…trainer are looking into it. We don't want that stuff around. You telling me it's gotten into Piltover?"
Caitlyn blinked owlishly at her for a moment, then let out a breath. "That…That's good, whew. For a moment I was afraid I would have to…" Her eyes roved up and down Vi's form, "...take you in for questioning."
Vi rolled her eyes, "Sure you could. Anyway, you're what, Enforcer Agent #1? Why do you need my help? What's with the museum piece getup?"
Caitlyn looked at her again, looked away again, then groaned. "This is…not how I expected things to go, I have to be honest." She took a second to massage her head with slender fingers, "I apologise, I must seem quite mad."
Vi scrutinised her for a moment, then let out a small laugh, "Kinda, but everyones got a bit of crazy in them. You saying you want help with looking into Shimmer?"
"Yes," Caitlyn nodded, finding confidence on more familiar footing. "I know we are not really acquainted with each other, but I am…aware of your capabilities and your connections. I…" She gulped, but the waver only lasted for a flash, "...propose a partnership, for this mission. I have some critical information that there is a Shimmer deal that is set to happen soon, but as you can see I am…really quite desperate for local expertise."
Vi's brows rose, "Whoa, that sound's heavy. Shouldn't there be more than just…you?"
Caitlyn cleared her throat and avoided Vi's gaze, "This is not…officially sanctioned…"
Vi stared at her.
Caitlyn stared at the plant pot in front of Vi's townhouse.
She jumped a little when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder.
Vi watched as sky-blue eyes traced the trail of scars up her arm until they landed on her face.
"So…" Vi said quietly as she leaned in.
Caitlyn parted her lips, eyes widening in shock.
"Where'd you say that deal was going down?" Vi whispered next to her ear.
Caitlyn shut her mouth and shrugged Vi's arm off as she jumped back, fanning her face.
Vi chuckled.
"It's…It's on the Entresol level…" Caitlyn grumbled as she glared at the brawler with red cheeks.
Vi's cheeky chuckling turned to an ugly choking. "Of fucking course it is…" Vi groaned. "Alright, give me a sec to grab something and…" She looked Caitlyn up and down, "...you know what, let's see if any of my spares fit you."
Caitlyn's eyes widened again.
"Know how to run copper?"
Caitlyn looked down at the roof Vi was pointing at, perhaps two storey's beneath them. She followed the brawler's finger as it traced a path down, down and down into the First Fissure, that hundreds of years old hole in the ground which had fueled Piltover's First Industrial Revolution.
As the Undercity -Zaun- grew the residents established their homes and businesses in the edges of the fissure as they mined down and into the depths. Over the years they expanded the crack in the earth and filled in the empty spaces where precious minerals and fuels had been, creating a veritable spider web of buildings and bridges that went down and down and down.
Normally one would take the cable-cars, or lifts, or the many stairs (if you knew the paths) to eventually get you to the right level.
For speed though?
Well, few things were faster than gravity.
"I did a bit of climbing in the Academy." She replied and she heard Vi scoff in response.
"Look, I don't want you falling and breaking that pretty neck. We'll take-"
Caitlyn stood and faced the redhead, her back to the railing they had been looking over. "I also did acrobatics." She said casually.
Vi gave her a confused look, "Okay…?"
She smirked, gripped the railing and vaulted backwards with a perfect pirouette.
"Cait!?" Vi leapt and tried to reach over the railing.
Caitlyn closed her eyes and felt the rush of wind, felt her heart beat with excitement. In her mind's eye she found the stone guttering she needed to slide down on, at the end of which she made a switchback and landed on a balcony railing which she used to once more leap backwards and catch on to an edge of a roof down below.
With a quick drop, Caitlyn landed on someone's balcony.
She looked up with a smile and a wave.
She heard Vi's boisterous laugh.
The rest of the way was just as exhilarating a journey, flexing muscles Caitlyn had not used since she had left the Academy.
It was not simply a physical exercise either for one needed to make sense of the seemingly bizarre array of Zaunite buildings to establish a path to follow, along with quickly figuring out the strength of construction of the thing you were going to land on, the distances between jumps, any obstacles in the way and an array of other considerations.
All while you put your arms and legs, hell your entire body, to work.
Caitlyn loved it.
She was thankful for the change in wardrobe too. In her previously baggy attire, made to disguise her form, the moves she needed to pull would have been…difficult, to put it lightly.
She had replaced her overalls with Vi's spare black leather jacket and dark jeans. Both were a little short on her, coming up to her elbows and halfway up her shins respectively, but that was no problem for the arms and an old pair of Vi's mother's long boots covered the rest of her legs.
On her back, secured by leather straps, was an unassuming black leather case containing her Enforcer issued Henry-Jill compact carbine.
At the brawler's insistence, she had also scrubbed her tattoos clean.
Apparently you 'couldn't just whack on whatever tatt you think looks good.'
Residents of the Undercity -Zaunites- held tattoos with a special cultural reverence that was little understood in Piltover. Where outsiders saw curious, quirky or scary designs Zaunites saw badges of pride, great deeds, family names, declarations of intent and all manner of meanings contained in black ink.
As they had been changing in Vi's room, Caitlyn had managed to sneak a peek and spotted a bit of Vi's wonderful back and the tattoo that covered it.
Steam pumps, struts and gears.
Vi landed in front of her making her jump.
The redhead was grinning, a laugh on her red lips. "Keep up copper!" She said as she leapt down over a railing into the fall below.
Caitlyn laughed with her and gave chase.
"An engine. It suits you."
Vi looked down at her as they were traversing the peak and guttering of a roof respectively. "Hm?"
Caitlyn smirked and on the next leap she used her momentum to flip and twist, blowing a kiss as she spun upside down, nailing the landing on the other side.
Vi laughed again. "Show off! Do it again!"
That's right, keep your eyes on this behind…
Heart racing and body straining, Caitlyn and Vi eventually reached the topmost Entresol level, where the Promenade level bled into what was really the Undercity proper.
Zaun was a mirror of Piltover, only where Piltover built up with white marble and brass, Zaun built down with wrought-iron and glass.
Like Piltover and its many layers and streets, Zaun too had its levels with each one having their own sub-levels. The Entresol was the middle level, sandwiched between the sunny Promenade which was the highest level (and thus only the most successful of Zaunites could live there) and was mostly above the earth and the utter darkness of the Sump, the deepest the fissures reached and where it is said only the most desperate dare venture.
The Entresol then was the beating heart of the Undercity containing the majority of its industry and commerce, where the products of the mines that branched out like a million tendrils all over would be brought and manufactured into a vast array of goods.
Caitlyn sniffed the air.
Her face scrunched as she covered her nose.
Vi laughed, "First time this deep?"
Caitlyn wiggled her hand, taking in the sight of iron and industry and chem-lights behind tinted green glass. "First time standing above it all."
Vi seemed impressed, given the look she gave her. "You'll get used to it. Used to be worse back in my parents' day, the way they talked about it. There was a lot less…consideration of where the chem-barons stuck their dirt-pipes and runoffs."
Caitlyn thought that was a horrible image considering she could already see smoke coming out of a myriad of chimneys.
"Oh, those," Vi spotted what she was looking at, "Yeah, they could be worse. At least these ones have filters in them."
Caitlyn huffed, then breathed in again, smelling that uniquely Zaunite air that always left a little worrying tingle in her lungs.
"So, where was this deal going down?"
Caitlyn fished through her borrowed jacket's inner pocket and produced her notebook.
"The suspect is a man named Finn and he is said to be in the business of purchasing large amounts of chemicals, except for the previous two weeks where he has eschewed his regular suppliers for an unknown provider. More suspiciously, instead of standard delivery, it seems the purchases are done face to face in a place called the Scrapyard. I do not know who these suppliers are, but my source describes them as 'smelling like the devil's own as-behind.'"
She heard a meaty slap and found Vi covering her face with one hand.
"One," Vi raised a finger, "That's some impressive investigating for someone who cant seem to dress the part, two," She raised another finger, "Your source is a damned snitch and three," She raised a third, "Please fucking tell me you know who Finn is and what smelling like demon ass means?"
Caitlyn crossed her arms, "Finn is likely some sort of supplier for the chem-barons considering his occupation and I do know what that saying means thank-you-very-much!"
Vi sighed, "Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a bitch. Just…your 'source' failed to mention that Finn is not a supplier, he's a Janna-damned Chem-Baron and smelling like demon ass is a way of describing people from a particular area in the Sump, where the sulphur pools are."
Caitlyn noted it all down in her notebook. She wanted to correct Vi and say that her 'source' had in fact been several people which she had either bribed or tailed, but felt it was rather irrelevant at the moment in the face of this new development.
"Well, that sounds a lot more troublesome than I initially thought." Caitlyn tapped her bottom lip with her pencil in thought, "Would you have any suggestions as to how to proceed?"
Vi seemed surprised, "Me? I thought you were the brains here. I'm just the sexy muscle." The brawler flexed an arm with a grin.
Caitlyn gave her a curious look while also taking a moment to appreciate the gesture, "I did ask for your local expertise specifically Vi, I would need time here to build up an information network if I were to do it on my own. Besides, you are hardly lacking any 'brains' yourself."
Vi's look was…complicated.
For a moment her playful bravado melted away and it seemed as if she was being regarded by the Vi behind the jokes.
It was…unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome.
"That so." Vi said casually, keeping eye contact with her.
Caitlyn met her gaze with a sure nod, "Ignorant I may be, but even I am aware that our descent here required in-depth knowledge of the terrain and the strength of materials and structures. Plus, I have seen you fight. You do not get as far as you have if you do not think very hard about what exactly you are doing."
Vi continued to hold her gaze for a moment that seemed to last, before she eventually turned away, scratching the back of her head.
"Ye-yeah. Sure…" Vi looked over her shoulder at her, "I…I got a few ideas. Just…don't get yourself hurt on my behalf, alright?"
Caitlyn smirked at her. "Why Violet, what is the sexy muscle for but to keep a girl safe?"
As soon as the words left her mouth Caitlyn felt quite a bit embarrassed, but she maintained her composure and prepared for the laugh that she expected.
Laughter that she did not receive, for Vi turned away with a start and even in the glow of green-tinted chem-lights Catilyn could make out the redness on the brawler's pale cheeks.
"Ye-yeah, sure." Vi said quietly.
Nervously even, if Caitlyn's people senses were not off-kilter.
Oh.
"Powder, is this another hair-brained scheme?" Claggor asked as they sifted through piles of scrap metal, cast-offs and rubbish from all the factories on Entresol.
It was a messy job, but if anyone were experts, it would have been her and her adoptive brothers plus her boyfriend.
Minus Vi though, the bum.
"Why Claggor, is it simply not enough that I would ask for my dear best-brother's time?" Powder said and she fluttered her lashes at the much larger boy.
Claggor laughed and patted her head, "Hear that Mylo? I'm the best-brother now!"
There was a clang and a swear from a shifting junk pile that Mylo had somehow gotten himself into. "Ha! She only calls us that when she needs something!" A voice called from beneath the mound of metal.
"I think he's salty he lost the title," Claggor stage-whispered to her and Powder giggled.
"Am not!"
"Pow! Catch!" Ekko called out.
Powder caught the piece of metal and turned it over.
It was thick, about as long as her forearm and a little heavy. On the surface it was wrought iron like the vast majority of the scrap metal around them, but trusting that Ekko wouldn't fool around without it at least being funny, Powder brought out a tool and ran it over the metal.
"Ahhhh…" Powder made a satisfied sound as the magnet in her device reacted the way she wanted it to.
"Does that fit the bill?" Ekko asked as he slid down the metal mountain Mylo was burrowing in.
Powder nodded and stuffed it into her pack, something growing heavier as the hours ticked by. "It does! Just need a couple more," She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Really, thank you guys. I'll get dinner tonight."
Claggor patted her back, "No problem Pow, anytime. I actually needed a break and it's been a while since we've all hung out."
Ekko nodded and Powder found herself smiling.
My boys…
Mylo suddenly burst out of the scrap pile he had burrowed into, a small brass-coloured piece of metal clutched in his hand.
"Ah ha!" He declared, waving it at her.
Powder could contain her gasp of excitement, nor the scream of glee and hug when her device went haywire. "Mylo! It's perfect!"
"Heh he he…" Mylo chuckled proudly, "Now who's the best bro huh?"
Powder laughed and gave him another squeeze, "You of course my dearest best-brother!"
Claggor put a hand over his heart and mock fainted on Ekko, "Oh, to have gained so much and lost it all in so short a time…"
Ekko suppressed his snicker and he held him up, "Stick to engineering Clag, theatre doesn't suit you."
They laughed some more, easily sliding into the kind of goofing off they used to do when they were much younger.
Claggor was right, Powder reflected. It had been a while since they all hung out.
If only Vi was here. It would have been the perfect evening!
The thought of her bum of a sister made her pout, something which Ekko noticed.
"You alright Pow?"
She scrunched her face, "Just thinking of big dumb dumb."
Ekko suppressed his laughter but he still grinned, which made her smile. "She's enjoying her break. We can tell her all about it later tonight though, I'm sure she's all napped up."
She laughed, "Ekko my dear, are you telling me to bother my sister until an inappropriate time into the night?"
He shrugged, looking not the least bit guilty. "I said what I said."
"Hey guys," Claggor waved a finger in the air, "You smell that?"
They sniffed, smelling nothing but the usual scent of metal, rust and chemicals.
(No one said this was a healthy activity.)
"Nah Clag, you got the best nose out of all of us." Mylo shook his head.
Claggor sniffed the air again, "It smells…sulphur?"
Pwoder's brows furrowed, "Why would…"
"THIS AINT THE DEAL!"
The shout made them all jump and almost by instinct they dived for cover and strained their hearing.
It was a man, speaking with a peculiar accent and with an odd tingle of metal.
"The deal's been reworked."
A different voice now, coming through a rebreather so it was hard to tell who it belonged to.
"Reworked? Do you have any idea what that means up here you piss-stained cunt?"
Rebreather laughed, the sound grating and deep. "It means we reworked the deal and you fucking deal with it, metal mouth. Who the fuck else are you gonna go to?"
There was a smash like someone had thrown something very hard into a pile of metal. "Sulphurs gone through your brain piss-stain! You. Do. Not. Change. The. Fucking. Deal."
Powder looked to Ekko, then to Mylo and to Claggor.
She motioned, communicating not with words but with hand gestures, with eyes and head tilts.
Like they had done so long ago, when one of their parents had come to collect them after a day of play time.
Powder realised it had probably been a special kind of hell for any of their hapless guardians when they played "hide and keep playing."
But it was ever so fun.
With nods her boys scattered, scurrying around, over or through the mounds of metal.
"Who. Else. You. Gonna. Go. To." Rebreather mocked.
They should have just left. They had no business getting involved in what was clearly some sort of drug deal that smelled all sorts of wrong and dangerous.
But then they wouldn't be the children of the Big Four now, would they?
Besides, this kind of thing was for an old Zaun and she knew none of them wanted this kind of trash going on in their Zaun.
Powder pulled out her stun gun and hunkered on her belly on the back slope of a metal pile, looking down at the meeting below. Next to her was Ekko with a piece of heavy metal in hand and she could see Claggor on the ground, huge wrench at the ready.
She trusted that Mylo knew what he was doing, that wily weasel.
On one side of the clearing below her she saw a group of henchmen, all augmented with metal limbs of one sort or another, hanging behind their flashy looking leader who wore yellow and black and studded leather. Notably, he had a metal lower jaw.
On the other side were two individuals who smelled strongly of sulphur and wore what looked like makeshift hazmat suits, heavily stained to an unappealing grey.
Powder's eyes narrowed, a low hum coming from her throat.
"You see it too?" Ekko asked.
She nodded. "They're way too calm for being outnumbered."
Whenever an outnumbered party was confident, it meant one of two things; they were bluffing they had something up their sleeve or they actually had something up their sleeve.
It was a dangerous gamble and one that only worked once.
"Ragh!" Metal-mouth threw a strut and it cleared a path through the scrap pile she and Ekko were hiding on.
Thankfully, it did not collapse in on itself.
Phew.
Unfortunately, it was where Mylo had been hiding.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Metal-mouth pointed at the pile.
"Uh…Syke?"
From below Powder heard a hiss of air, then a loud pop.
Metal mouth got a mouth full of metal courtesy of a souped-up airgun.
A Powder-Mylo special, so instead of just plinking off metal-mouth's metal mouth, nails and sharp shards shredded his face and embedded into his jaw.
"AHHHHHHH!" Metal mouth screamed.
His goons moved to cover their boss.
Wow. This escalated quickly.
Powder rose from her cover, turned a dial on her pistol as she did so, then aimed at the center of the goon mass with two hands on the gun.
After a breath, she pressed the safety off and firmly pulled on the trigger.
Project: Zap-Zap had been designed with non-lethality in mind, something with enough power to ward off would-be evil-doers without blowing holes through them.
But of course, this was a prototype and as a proper scientist, Powder endeavored to account for all situations.
Like, for when one needed an overcharged shot to make the phrase 'less-than-lethal' a (rather weak) legal defence, or when one needed to incapacitate a bunch of charging goons.
This was Zaun, after all.
The charge shot had the power of a small cannon and the recoil to match, Ekko had to catch her to stop her tumbling backwards.
But the blue streak of lighting hit home, or close enough; at the foot of the goon in the middle of the pack.
Energy arced, spreading across a ready surface of metal and finding more fleshy targets.
After a blinding crack, where once there had been five goons, now there were five twitching bodies in an unenviable amount of pain.
"Whooo! It works!" Powder cheered, holding her smoking gun.
Metal-mouth threw off his jacket and shot a flare towards her.
"Oh shit."
"POWDER!"
The yell came not from Ekko, who pulled her down onto him as the red flare zipped by so close she could feel the heat.
Instead it came from Rebreather, who threw off their breathing apparatus and removed their hood as they charged metal-mouth.
Powder's eyes bulged.
"VI?!"
Her sister landed a solid strike on a metal arm pushing metal-mouth back but was prevented from following up as more groups of goons suddenly appeared from behind piles of scrap and mounds of metal.
A lot of them had knuckle-dusters, spiked bats or augmented arms.
A lot of them also had guns.
Vi was pushed back, diving for cover as bullets started pinging off to her side and Powder had a heart attack, fearing that one would hit its mark.
Unnoticed till now, the other would-be sump rat had also discarded her disguise and began firing back with a repeating carbine, aiming at the shooters and forcing them to take cover or else nailing them straight out.
"POWDER!" Vi yelled out again.
"VI!" Powder shouted back in reply.
Vi looked up at them and Powder met her sister's eyes.
Vi nodded. "Keep her safe Little Man!" she said before she did the really stupid thing of running out of cover and charging headlong into the mass of bad guys.
"VI YOU FUCKING MORON!" Powder screamed, voice propelled by heart-gripping fear.
"Vi on your left!" Claggor yelled as he joined in the charge, coming in unseen and messing up the closest goon with strong swings from his wrench.
Powder felt a firm pull on her arm.
"We can cover them! Your fireworks!" Ekko shouted.
Powder used his voice to ground her, to keep the clawing fear at bay, to let her think clearly.
She rifled through her pockets and handed Ekko a bag, because of course Powder kept fireworks on her, who didnt why why were they lying?
"We move up top, shoot down. Focus on the gunners."
Trusting in Ekko, she followed her boyfriend as they ran across the tops of the scrap piles, shooting off fireworks towards the goons as they did so.
Unfortunately these were only regular fireworks, Zaunite Candles to be exact, so they weren't lethal but when a piece of red-hot pyrotechnic star was coming at your face you tended to move regardless.
This gave her and Ekko a chance to close in and brain them with bits of metal.
The Ol'e Classic, that one.
Unfortunately for the pair of them, they were not the only ones moving at the top of the piles.
A goon came up from an unexpected angle as they were closing to finish a woman she had hit in the face with burning metal.
"Ekko watch out!"
The goon raised his pistol and Powder could see the moment when he pulled the trigged.
There was a shot.
The goon tumbled down a metal slope.
Behind them, atop her own scrap pile, Caitlyn Kiramman waved.
Powder had no idea how to feel.
So instead of dealing with that, she turned to beat on a goon.
The fight had not gone the way any of them had expected.
Finn was a crafty bastard and his group were known augmentation enthusiasts, but in the end surprise and ingenuity overcame whatever advantages he had.
It probably didn't help that she had crashed into the chem-baron like a freight train, keeping his attention on her and not on coordinating his goons.
Caitlyn turned the barely moaning man over and handcuffed him.
"For illegal purchase with intent to distribute, for illicit dealings with known criminal groups, for smuggling of lethal arms and for attempted murder of an enforcer and her partner-"
"-Say what?!" Powder glared up at her and tightened her hold. "When the fuck did you partner up!?"
Vi rolled her eyes but didn't make a move to break out of her sister's arms.
She knew Powder had worse ways of keeping her still.
"She just asked for help-" She tried to explain.
"-Vi kindly accepted my request for aid." Caitlyn cut in, earning a glare from a blue-haired limpet.
The enforcer only smiled, "Like the upstanding citizen that she is."
Behind her she could hear Ekko, Mylo and Claggor all break out into snickering.
"Cait, please…" Vi groaned, "We got the bad guy, we trashed his suppliers. Why are you throwing my street cred into lockup too!"
Caitlyn giggled.
Actually giggled.
Vi was thankful she was three shades too embarrassed to call it cute.
Because it was darn cute.
"But you are!" Caitlyn insisted with a smile, "I was in such a terrible bind, unable to stop what I knew was happening. But then you came, my sexy muscle to help me out of a tight-"
"Enough!" Powder shouted between them, turning around and grabbing Vi's arms to wrap around her like a blanket. "Thank. You. For. Your. Service." She said to Cait with a barely hidden sneer, "You can leave now."
Both blue-haired women glared at each other.
With an internal groan, Vi covered Powder's mouth and shifted her so she could hold her sister with one arm.
"Powder, enough." She said sternly, her tone making the younger sibling still.
That patched over, she turned to Caitlyn. "Sorry for her, she gets…"
Vi felt a bite.
"...feral, apparently."
Powder grumbled around Vi's hand.
"It's quite alright, it is understandable after all, to be so protective of your sibling." Caitlyn couldn't quite get the grin out of her mouth as she watched Powder squirm under Vi's ironclad grip, but Vi could see she also meant her words.
"And thanks, for looking into all this." Vi pushed on, "I'll have to talk to my mom, the whole deal was that the chem-barons don't stir shit up and mom won't get in their face and mess with their workforce. This is…"
"Something to be discussed over dinner?"
Vi blinked, not quite believing what she just heard.
Powder struggled harder under her grip, looking for all the world like she was ready to tear Caitlyn in two.
"...What?"
Caitlyn smiled, looking far too innocent to be anything but guilty, "I'm sorry, I should elaborate. I mean my mother would also have an interest in this issue, she and your mother meet up to discuss business and topics concerning Zaun, no? I am simply proposing this be done over a family dinner."
Vi stared at her, incredulous.
Caitlyn looked back, all smiles.
Powder started digging her nails into Vi's arm.
"It's merely a proposal, of course." Caitlyn gave a short bow after Vi couldn't think of anything to say, "But, I do hope we can work together again in the future. Today was…fun." Caitlyn smiled, a true cheek-to-cheek expression of joy. "Very fun."
Vi looked away and smiled too, trying to use laughter to cover up her heating cheeks. "Ye-yeah. Yeah, it was. I'll…I'm here, if you need any more help."
Caitlyn looked elated by that and Vi's stomach did interesting things in response.
Powder started to draw blood.
"Well, I'll take Mr Finn here up for questioning." Caitlyn tapped the man with her boot (Vi's mother's boot, specifically), "I trust that you can deal with his…employees?"
Vi nodded, "I'll give Vander and my uncle a message. Ekko?" She called back.
"On it!" The younger man responded and took off.
"Thank you." Caitlyn said softly, stepping closer, "Really. For trusting me. It meant quite a lot."
Again, butterflies in her stomach.
"No problem…" Vi said, unable to meet the enforcer's eyes for reasons she did not want to get into.
They stayed like that for a moment, a snapshot in time where it felt there was only them.
"ALRIGHT YOU CAN FUCK OFF NOW!"
Of course, where there was a Vi, there was a Powder.
Caitlyn though only rolled her eyes at her sister, then gave her one last complicated look before she hefted Finn up to his feet and pushed him forward.
Vi watched her go.
Until her vision was filled with a different shade of blue.
A very angry blue.
Vi looked down at her sister with arms crossed and face unimpressed.
Powder looked up at her with a truly impressive scowl.
"So-" Vi started.
"-Im telling Mom." Powder finished.