A/N:. Here we go. I'm tentatively updating this again in the hopes that it will be enjoyed. Every bit of feedback, no matter how large or small, really helps.
...my heart hurts from those more recent episodes. Poor *SPOILER* and *SPOILER* not to mention *SPOILER* Not to mention half the community having as a serious ax to grind with *SPOILER* at this point for all *SPOILER* has done this season. No mercyyyyy!
Worry not, Welcome to Heaven will soon reclaim its Tuesday slot next week, swapping in with the Arcane stories every week or so as my time/health allows. Basically, bi-weekly updates for now.
Work has been...busy. Two jobs an' all, remember? Now they're kicking into high gear. No day off last week, none this week either. I MAY have Thanksgiving off (there will be no update that day) but then its back to no days off again.
As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes, or memes. Not a wit or a one! They're tributes to legends far greater than I. I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time. Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that. In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~! Here we go. And yes, obvious references are very obvious.
Also, Isha, apparently, is somewhat mute? Didn't see that coming. Girl hardly talks! We've yet to hear a single sentence from the kiddo!
Had to go back and adjust things on that front.
Silco's a blast to write. Verbatim ahoy~!
"That is why we fight. Have you forgotten?"
~?
Don't Forget Again
"Who is this sassy lost child?"
Naruto frowned. "...I see no such sassy lost child."
"Don't be glib with me, boy. She's standing right over there."
Jinx blinked innocently. "Where?"
"RIGHT THERE."
The duo exchanged a glance.
"No, seriously," Naruto drawled, "I can't see anyone-
As though summoned by those very words, Isha poked her head over Silco's desk and offered them both a merry little wave, clutching red-and-blue crayons in one hand an' a sheaf of paper in the other. The mad mogul dragged a hand across his face and glared at her with his good eye, to no avail. She chirruped happily and went right back to doodling, humming without a care in the world as the three of them looked on.
Well, four, if one counted a thoroughly annoyed Sevika, the latter of whom quirked a dark brow their way. "Do you see the brat now?"
"Yup." Jinx smacked her lips audibly. "That's a kid, alrighty. Where'd she come from?"
Sevika scowled. "Don't play dumb, you little psycho. You brought her here."
"Me?" She scoffed. "Uh, no. Never seen her before."
Naruto raised his hand. "Yeah, that was me."
...I see."
He weathered Silco's silent stare with admirable aplomb and scratched the back of his head, unable to hide his smile. It didn't stop his foster father from staring at him in sheer exasperation. At length, the mad mogul clicked his tongue. "I thought as much. What did I say about that bleeding heart of yours?"
Naruto crossed both arms before his chest. "She bumped into me during the fight, not the other way around. Would you rather I left her for the Scarecrow?"
Silco pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'd rather you send her anywhere else. Surely she has a family."
"Easy enough to find out." he craned his neck back with a cheshire grin. "Oi, kid!"
Isha looked up from her drawing, golden eyes blinking briefly.
"You got parents?" he asked her.
A quick shake of the head nearly knocked her hat askew.
"There you have it." he looked back to Silco as she returned to her drawing. "She's got nobody. Probably doesn't have anywhere to go. Last Drop seemed as good a place for her as any."
"This is no place for a child, least of all an orphan."
Jinx leaned into him. "You took in me and Whiskers, didn'tcha?"
He shrugged her off. "You're hardly children anymore now, are you?"
"But we were," Naruto sidled up to his vacant shoulder. "And look how we turned out~!"
Silco sighed. "You're prepared to die on this hill, are you?"
"Yup."
He knew Silco was a monster, just like Sevika. That was fine. So was he. Jinx, too. But even monsters didn't kill kids. Perhaps Silco had tried once long ago, but he was a changed man, now. Protect the little ones and all that. Besides, Isha was special. He just knew it. He had a feeling about her. She was important.
"More than you know."
Huh. Even the Fox approved. Surely that counted for something.
"My NAME is Kurama. If you're going to keep using my power to protect that woman of yours, the least you can do is address me by my proper title."
Intrigued by such, he shot a quick mental jab back at his somewhat-unwilling ally. "You gonna stop being a jerk to me, then?"
"I am prepared to...negotiate. Besides, you won't be able to fend off that Scarecrow without me.
"Don't I know it...
Someone tugged at his sleeve, distracting him from his maudlin thoughts.
He looked down to find Isha there, holding up her drawing for him to see. She'd drawn a rough picture of him and Jinx with her crayon, each of them holding hands. He was red, while she was blue. And there, between the two of them...
...in purple...
...a blend of both colors...her.
His heart lurched. "Yeesh, tug at my heartstrings why don'tcha...
"Did you go and make a kid when I wasn't looking?" Jinx radiated jealousy as she leaned against him with a petulant frown, braids flopping over one shoulder. "Because she's actin' like your kid."
Naruto looked back to innocent little Isha, mildly bemused by her behavior. "Pretty sure I didn't...
"Pretty sure?!"
He shrugged, only for Isha to round on Jinx, bounce in place, and offer her the drawing.
"Yeah, yeah, kid, I see it." She had no choice but to accept it and praise her handiwork. "Ugh, it really is like having a kid...or a little sister." her pale face flushed prettily as Isha latched onto her leg. "Yeah, definitely a little sister. M'too young to be a mom...
Sevika rolled her eyes at the display. "We're not running an orphanage here."
Naruto chuckled despite himself. "I ain't asking ya to adopt her." he removed Isha's metal cap to briefly tousle her unruly hair, drawing a pleased smile from the smaller girl as he placed it back on her head. "Just to look after her for a bit until she gets back on her feet. Think of her as a little sister."
Silco scoffed. "Amusing, but I have Zaun to run. I haven't the time."
Naruto turned his gaze on Sevika and brought out the big guns. "Please, mom?"
The brawler winced.
"Yeah," Jinx grinned, mimicking him with impish grace. "Pleeaaease, mom?"
"I don't wanna hear that from you!"
Naruto stared.
Isha took off her cap and clutched it tight to her chest with big, watery eyes.
Sevika crumbled and averted her gaze, unable to endure them. "Fine...I'll look after her.
The trio cheered.
"Excellent." he didn't miss Silco's exasperated laugh. "Now that we've settled that, I have a task for you."
Naruto perked up. "Lemme guess, you want us to break into Piltover again?
"Will that be a problem?"
"Nah," he waved a hand with a grin. "It'll be fun. Could always use more of those gemstones, ya know. Just give me and Jinx a day and we'll-
"Just you this time." Silco interjected sternly. "Jinx needs to finish her work on the weapon. We've delayed long enough as is."
"Hey!"
(.0.0.0.)
Silco watched the troublesome trio leave sometime later with a sigh.
The idea of raising another child should've been anathema to him; he'd barely managed with Jinx and Naruto; now this little urchin came along and he was expected to do so again? Absurd. Laughable. Preposterous. Only a few short years ago, he would've scoffed at such a thing, scorned the very concept of taking a third child under his wing...
.
..
...and yet now...
He knew what Vander would say, where he here, what he had already said so long ago.
"C'mon, Silco. What's the point if we can't raise an ankle biter or two...?"
Sometimes he awoke in a cold sweat, remembering that day.
Sometimes, he could almost hear his voice.
He...regretted his death. In truth, he would much rather have his "brother" work with him. But life was cruel, and fate a fickle bitch. They had gone their separate ways after the bridge-after Felicia's death-and now Vander was gone. Vander was dead, just like Felicia. But her spirit still lived on and he would not fail her daughter. Even if he must kill one for the other to survive.
Felicia would never forgive him.
But he'd never forgive himself if something happened to Jinx.
His forehead kissed the desk with a sigh. "Blisters and bedrock, old friend...
Idly, he looked to Sevika and realized she was lingering; she wouldn't unless she had something to say.
"It's not like you to hold your tongue. What is it?"
She grimaced. "The barons want a word."
Of course they did.
(.0.0.0.)
They met in the Greenhouse.
It was a useful place for most meetings; distant and isolated, near the edge of the fissures, one of the few places exposed to direct sunlight on a good day, and as such, considered neutral ground. His fellow Chem Barons grew a great many plants here, not all of them medicinal, some of whose purposes even he had yet to grasp A metal fan spun above them, ensuring fresh air filled the otherwise dank building, the better to keep the fumes away and those within suitably...refreshed, shall they say.
Silco found Finn standing beneath it, looming at the head of the table as he entered, instead of sitting with the others as he should.
"We're not due for an assembly."
"We should be," the upstart rasped, golden jaw clinking with every other word. "Ever since your student topside, profits have been plummeting."
"He's right, Renni seconded, her nasally voice grating on his nerves. "Merchandise is frozen at the border. Topsiders are too afraid to cross."
"We're all wondering, Finn gestured grandly, "What's your plan to fix this?"
Silco set the box he'd been carrying down atop the table, idly running one hand over its gilded lid. "You're all wondering, are you?"
Silence was his reward, stifling as the mines.
So that was how it would be.
Simpering idiots.
Finn was clearly the instigator here, but by their silence, Renni, Smeech, Chross and Margot were all dancing to his tune. Weaklings. Degenerates.
Not for long.
"Way I see it," Finn drawled, golden jaw clicking loudly, "We should cut a deal and give back the gemstone."
"I agree." Magot chimed in. "Surely its better to have some trade than none at all."
The fan ground to a halt overhead, but the fools never noticed.
"The border issue is temporary." Silco forced a smile to his face that he didn't feel as Sevika stepped in behind him and began her work. "Jinx will handle it.
"Will she, now?" Finn scoffed, deriding him once more. "And what's this about that monster of yours tearing through the Lanes?"
"There was a threat to Zaun. He handled it."
"And scared the Lanes half to death." Finn either didn't see the warning or chose to ignore it outright. "Rumor has it your "demon" is off his leash. How are you meant to bring Piltover to heel if you can't handle your own people?"
A murmur of assent passed through the Barons.
Must. Not. Kill.
The little fools controlled a great many gangsters, men that would be crucial in the battles to come.
"Are you suggesting you'd rather take his place, then?"
Finn flinched. "No one's askin' to take the brat's place; just sayin' ya should put him down."
Rage coursed through Silco, white-hot, threatening to strangle sense.
For a single, blinding moment, it did.
Slay his son? Unacceptable.
He'd sooner shoot everyone in this room.
Smeech saw the look in his eye and panicked, flinging a metal arm up with a sputter. "Nope! Not dealin' with that!"
Silco nearly shot them both then and there. It was only ironclad self control that prevented it.
Instead, he took a deep, long breath through his nose, inhaling and stood by as Sevika- now wearing a rebreather- tossed a canister onto the floor.
"What's tha-ack?!"
Renni had time to gasp out a confused question, then she began to choke. Followed by Smeech. Margot, and all the rest. One by one they began to retch and gasp for air. Air that would not reach their lungs. Noxious fumes flowed forth in its place, unobstructed, wrapping invisible hands around their throats.
It barely tickled him; he'd dealt with far worse in the mines.
This? Wholly beneath his notice.
Much like them.
"Oh?" He glanced between the wheezing barons, the ghost of a sinister smile touching his scarred face. "You don't recognize it?
None answered; they kept choking. One of them might've been crying. How pathetic.
"Have you forgotten where we came from? The mines they had us in?"
He plucked rebreathers from the box on the table.
"Air so thick it clogged your throat? Stuck in your eyes?"
Stepped between Renni and Smeech, handing them each a mask, of which they fumbled over. Sevika tossed one between to Chross and Margot, who promptly started fighting over it.
Ignoring the unseemly display, he looked to the ringleader. "I pulled the lot of you up from the depths. Offered you a taste of topside."
He strode to Finn, who still stood stubbornly, though even he had begun wheezing for breath.
"And fresh air." he hummed at him. "I gave you life. Purpose."
Finn stood his ground and kept coughing. Silco could respect that much. He cradled one last rebreather in his hands, just out of reach, knowing he wouldn't take it yet. "But you've grown fat and complacent." he thumbed his prize and shook his head side to side, admonishing him as a father might their son. "Too much time in the sun...
He looked toward the still ceiling fan, forcing the young man's gaze to follow.
He could only dream to be a fourth of what Naruto and Jinx were.
They were perfect. This...oaf, was not.
And so a lesson must be learned.
Finn's pride may have been strong, but his body wasn't when starved of oxygen. He coughed into a fist and crumpled to his knees, losing his golden jacket on the way down, and the trappings of power with it. Silco let him suffer there for a time, watching his body begin to seize and convulse, write and twist, savoring the sight.
"We came from a world where there was never enough to go around, Finn." Having mercy at long last, he planted a boot on his rib and rolled him over, forcing the wretch onto his back. "That is why we fight." he loomed over him, face carved from stone. "Do you remember?"
Finn's pride broke and he reached out for the rebreather with trembling fingers. "I'm sorry...please...!
Silco planted it on his own face, took a deep breath...and dropped it on Finn's chest.
Finn fumbled for it, like the wretch he was, whimpering his thanks as he pressed it to his mouth.
"Don't forget again." Silco growled down at him.
High above them, the fan whirred back to life, and with it, Sevika's cannister was finally spent, allowing the lot of them to breathe.
Silco hummed softly and walked away from the Chem Barons as they gasped for sir.
He paused at the door to look back at them.
Down on them, like the minions they were.
"Good meeting."
With a whirl of his coat, he departed, leaving the fools with that poignant reminder.
They wanted a monster, did they? He would show them.
He would show them all.
(.0.0.0.)
The Beast stirred.
Hanging from countless hooks, it opened an eye.
It had sensed the battle above, felt the tremors as two titans fought.
Its mind was a mess, broken and shattered, but it remembered. Bits and pieces. Shards.
Fire.
The explosion.
Look after Powder.
Sometimes it felt like it was so close to remembering, yet so far, no matter how he strained against its restraints. ...
There was a man. He did things to him. Strange things.
"Fascianting substance, isn't it?" a pale hand patted his arm. "Easy my friend. Soon you will serve your purpose. Soon."
No. Not purpose. Remember.
Don't forget again!
Name!
Very important!
Must remember name...
...remember...
...me...!
A/N: If you don't know who the Beast is, I'll not spoil it.
Silco obviously doesnt know about him, that goes without saying.
Next Time: What Have They Done to Us.
In case it wasn't obvious, Singed has expedited his experiments thanks to Naruto. Result?
We get to see *SPOILER* early.
That's right. You know who's coming and you're not ready...
Well? What say you? Would you like weekly updates again? Do let me know!
As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule for this and other stories. That's no joke. Really, it isn't.
If folks don't like this...well, it will remain, but I'll not be able to continue it. Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule an' bouncing between 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!
As ever, reviews are my lifeblood, my fuel, my sustenance. Without them, I cannot write.
So In the Immortal Words of Atlas... ...Revieeeeew, Would You Kindly?
And enjoy the previews. References are strong here...
(Preview)
...you dyed Isha's hair?!"
Looks pretty good, doesn't it?"
Weapon's ready~!"
"Is that a bloody rocket launcher?
"Yeah?
"It looks like a shark...
There is no more terrifying beast than that of the human heart.
Remember, there's a monster in all of us.
Time to let the monster out.
"What the hell is that thing?!'
"Wait! I think its...
He never heard her; because the Beast barreled into him.
"Don't. Touch. MY DAUGHTER."
Silco ran a hand through his hair, dismayed and horrified. "What have they done to you, brother...?"
Vi doubled over, clutched her skull, and screamed. "Get out of my head!
"Black and white and gray, I don't know what to do with gray...
Jayce dragged himself upright. "Enough! I won't let you get away with this!"
"Get away with what?" His adversary scoffed. "We already have what we needed. Its too late to stop us. All your precious ideals mean nothing!" The blond berserker righted himself with a grunt, set his shoulder and forced it back into place with an awful pop. "Nice hammer, pretty boy. Lets see if you can make a miracle happen TWICE."
He closed the distance in an instant; to which Jayce stepped in and swung.
A clawed hand caught his hammer. "Guess not."
And then there was pain.
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Sorry for the lack of length. Still down with the sickness, as it were.
As ever, the Embers rule remains. If folks don't like this story...well, it will remain, but it won't be continued. With two jobs, and rent to pay, my free time is at an all time low. I'm lucky to have four hours to write a day. I can't afford to pen stories that no one enjoys. So by all means, speak up! Every bit of feedback matters here! Truly, it does! That's no joke!
Looking forward to chatting with you all when I get back from work,
~Nz.
R ~!