A/N: HELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, FANFICTIIIIOOOOOOOONNNNN!
...Hmm, I knew this wasn't going to be a popular fanfic given where it is, but I'm surprised that I got even two reviews!
This story might just have a chance, after all...
I apologize for not posting anything for months, now! My muses...they keep dancing and fleeting juuuuust beyond my reach!
Alas, timeskip to Ep. 1 begins NOW!
SO!
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!
HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER OF:
A PAIR OF LEGENDS!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for OCs and my own imagination.
Chapter Two: A Fox Tale
"One day, I'm gonna ride in one of those things..."
High amidst the roofs of Piltover, four teenagers were gathered as they took in the sights of airships flying over the city. Among them was the speaker herself: Powder.
The blue-haired girl seemed a bit older now, her hair styled in a single braid that fell just below her shoulders, and roughly chopped, chin-length bangs held in place with a collection of small metal hair clips. Her attire consisted of a dark blue shirt over a pink/purple T-shirt with darker vertical stripes, brown shorts over purple leggings and brown ankle boots. Finishing her outfit was a blue skirt with a wide section in the front, a belt and pockets for bombs and extra parts, and dark arm and leg warmers.
Another voice followed, this one being of a young man:
"And one day, I'm gonna shoot one of 'em down."
He looked like a lanky teen of average height for his age with thick scruffy eyebrows, a deep widow's peak, and sloped face, giving him a crow-like appearance. He wears a white sleeveless shirt, leather shoulder pads, baggy pants that cinch above the ankle, and he has bands of twine around his arm.
This was Mylo, one of her adopted brothers...and her least favorite.
Turning to her right, Powder scowled at the older teen. Mylo smirked back at her before he found himself getting smacked upside the back of his head. "OW! The hell was that for?!"
"Just shut up and keep moving, Mylo..." At this the youngest member of the group smiled a little, for she knew her sister secretly enjoyed smacking Mylo around whenever he needed it.
Vi had barely changed much over the years. For starters, her hair was a bit more swept back save for the left side of her head which was kept short in a close shave. Wearing a white short-sleeved shirt underneath a sleeveless leather vest with an attached hood, she had what seemed to be maroon and dark brown pants tucked into beige leg warmers and brown shoes. Her right forearm and hand was covered in white bandage wraps, while a single fingerless glove was worn on her left hand.
"Vi, are-are you sure about this?" This came from the final member of their group: Claggor. He was a stocky, muscular teenager who is quite blocky in appearance, with mouse brown hair that sits atop his head in soft waves parted above his right eye. His outfit consists of a shabby white long-sleeve shirt, with bands of twine holding the fabric in sections to his arms. He has what looked like a greenish archers brace over his right arm, turning into a stirrup that fits over the top of his hand. He has a leather belt that loops through some burlap pants and thick, clunky shoes. He also had a pair of goggles, which were currently worn over his eyes "If we get caught-"
"We won't get caught." The rosette replied, walking along the rooftops as she took the lead. "We'll be in and out before anyone notices." Approaching the edge, she turned to face the others. "Alright, everybody follow me. Just...don't look down." Vi then slides down the roof, maneuvers her way to grab a nearby small balcony, and leaps onto the roof just across the street before looking back at her siblings.
Mylo stretched his arms before maneuvering himself down the same path that Vi had taken. Landing on the roof, the black-haired boy was about to make a comment when he suddenly heard a loud thud on his right. He turned to see Claggor, who had taken the leap seemingly not long after with a cupcake lodged in his mouth.
Swallowing the treat with a push of his finger, the taller boy had barely finished eating before he spoke. "Couldn't we have at least just...walked there?"
"Gotta stay out of sight for this one..." Vi replied before looking to see Powder, who was staring down at the street below in fear.
"Called it!" Mylo commented. "This is on you, Vi."
*sigh* "I'll get her..." Claggor was about to go help Powder when Vi stopped him. Turning back to her sister, she shouted: "Powder, look at me! What did I tell you?"
"That...I'm ready..."
Steeling her nerves at last, the blue-haired girl braced herself before sliding down the slope of the roof, her feet catching on the railing of the balcony window. Carefully spinning around, Powder leapt towards the opposing roof; just barely managing to land with a smile before she started to feel herself losing balance and falling backwards - realizing that she'd gotten up too fast. Before anything serious could happen Vi quickly grabbed her wrist, saving her sister from falling down to the streets below.
It wasn't long before the group of four found themselves at their destination: a large building with a blue roof and an elaborate balcony. Shuffling along the edge of the scaffolding, they slowly but surely made their way just above the balcony entrance. "What if Vander finds out we're all the way up here?!" The stocky young man asked.
"Look around you! You think anyone topside's going hungry?!" Vi exclaimed. "Besides, this is exactly the sort of job Vander would've pulled when he was our age." Finally stopping, she turned to look at the others. "I'm going. Are you with me, or not?" she asked.
"...Vander's gonna kill us." Claggor muttered.
"Yeah, only if we screw up." Vi answered back. And just before she dropped onto the balcony she added: "So don't screw up."
Little did Vi know, just how badly things would "screw up"...
*BOOOOOOM!*
A pair of tired blue eyes opened at hearing a rather loud explosion. "...What the fuck?"
Groaning in frustration, the figure got up from a rather comfortable spot in favor of seeing the last of the fumes coming from Piltover.
"...Well, just another day in paradise. Might as well go for a walk..."
'Shit!' Vi cursed out in her head as she and the others were walking back home in the Lanes. 'Shit, shit, shit!'
It was supposed to be a simple job: Get in, do the job, get out. No fuss, no hiccups. Easy!
The first thing that went wrong was when they heard the door rattle, meaning that the owners of the place they were looting had returned earlier than expected. Though in hindsight, Vi should've had someone - preferably Powder! - be on the lookout. On top of that, they should've asked Little Man about what the owner looked like.
Secondly, there was some kind of explosion that happened during their escape. That DEFINITIVELY shouldn't have happened. After which they must've been seen by over a dozen Enforcers during their escape back to Zaun. 'So much for staying out of sight...' She grumbled to herself before cheering up as she hefted the bag full of loot over her shoulder. Leading her siblings back to Vander's bar, she had thought they were completely out of the woods when she heard:
"Nice haul..." Vi thought nothing of it until Mylo responded.
"You could say that." he said, which earned him a look from the rosette.
"I heard there was some action across the river..." Turning around, the group saw a slim male figure with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Wearing traditional Zaunite clothing and a sleeveless vest, he was sitting down on a bench playing with a coin. "Someone, uh...someone really kicked the nest, huh?"
'Oh, great...'
"Is that so?" The older girl asked as she turned to keep walking...only to stop when two other boys stood in front of them, blocking the way forward.
Chuckling, Deckard got up from the bench and walked towards the middle of the alley. "But, now you're draggin' this mess of yours through my streets-"
"Your streets?!" Vi shot back, "What makes you think-" "W-we don't want any trouble, okay?" Claggor cut his adopted sister off, trying to defuse the situation.
"Hear that, Deckard? They don't want any trouble." One of Deckard's lackeys japed with a smirk.
Chuckling, the blond young man slowed to a stop. "Y'know, in my experience: trouble finds you." He spoke with a foreboding tone. "There's no reason this has to get ugly. How about you...share a little taste of your treasure there, and we'll call it even?"
"No, no, no. We've worked too hard-!" Vi cut off Mylo with a hand on his shoulder before walking up to Deckard with the sack full of loot over her shoulder. Lowering the bag to her side, the rose-haired girl looked at Deckard as she asked. "Just a taste?"
Arrogantly, the blond smirked as he turned to look at his lackeys before facing Vi again. "Just a-!"
*THWACK!*
Vi quickly swung the heavy bag full of loot at Deckard's face, sending him crashing to the ground before tossing the sack to Powder. This alerted Mylo and Claggor, who tensed themselves for the fight that would follow. It wasn't long before Deckard got up and charged at Vi with a haymaker. Mylo found himself tackled to the ground as he desperately blocked the punches of one boy aiming for his face. Claggor faired a little better: fending off two of the thugs by using his own size and strength.
Powder could only stare in shock with her back to the wall as the fighting unfolded in front of her. To the little blunette, everything seemed to move in slow motion as the brawl continued on. It was only until Claggor had thrown one of the boys he was fighting towards her way that Powder realized the precarious danger she was in. Especially after Deckard's free lackey - a rather weaselly brown-haired boy - noticed the bag currently in her hand. Panickingly, the little girl bolted towards one of the alleyways, narrowly avoiding his grasp as she rounded the corner-
*BONK!*
...Until she found herself running into what felt like a wall, knocking her flat on her back. Powder tried scrambling to her feet with her eyes closed from the impact before she heard someone speak:
"Alright down there, squirt?"
Freezing in surprise, the youngest of Vander's children looked up to see a familiar face.
"...Naruto?"
"'Sup, Pow-Pow." The whiskered blond grinned as he helped Powder back on her feet. Standing just a few inches short of Claggor's height, he was nothing to scoff at. Naruto was lean, athletic even with spiky blond hair that seemed to glow in the sunlight. His eyes hardened an icy blue as he glared at the lackey that chased her, his fists tightening with the intent to harm. The Demacian refugee looked so much like an adult then that Powder almost forgot he was only a year older than her sister.
A black sleeveless vest worn over a burnt orange shirt, with black pants tucked into armored leather boots. Fingerless black gloves adorned his hands. With a dark red sash wrapped around his waist, Naruto whistled at the other kids.
"Well now," He spoke up, loud enough to get everyone else's attention. "This looks like fun. Mind if I play?"
The fact that Naruto was here didn't bode well for at least one group, yet would leave the other traumatized. Depends on his mood, really.
Vi gulped because she was about to possibly bear witness to a one-sided brutal beatdown.
Deckard gulped because he was about to be a victim in a one-sided brutal beatdown.
"Hiya, Dick!" The newcomer greeted with a wide smile, filled with teeth. "I thought you boys liked picking on people your own size. Is that true?"
A boy with a shaved head - Deckard's friend - stepped up to him with a snarl. "Fuck off, freak! This don't concern you-!" Immediately he was struck with an uppercut to the jaw that left his teeth cutting into bits of his tongue, causing blood to fill the inside of his mouth; the poor sap was screaming in pain until Naruto kicked him to the wall.
"Wasn't talking to you, punk." Naruto growled out, more out of irritation than anything as the other two lackeys wisely backed off in fear. Humming in appreciation, he then turned back to his fellow blond, who was desperately trying not to show fear. "Now, the way I see it: these are your streets, true. But you tried to fuck with my family. Spill my blood." The whiskered blond reached down to grab Vi's bag by the strap on his way. "And for what?" Here he stopped in front of Deckard. Reaching into the back, he pulled out brand-new Topside silverware. "Pieces of junk? Is that what this is all about?"
The older boy raised his hands in a placating manner. "Hey, hey! You know how it is, Fox. One man's trash-"
*POW!*
"Shut the fuck up, cunt!" Naruto cut him off harshly while slugging Deckard in the face, sending him crashing onto the ground. Furious, Deckard reached for his knife only to freeze as an blue orb of pure magic was held right in front of his face. "Now you listen to me good, you sorry sack of shit!" The former Demacian barked out. "This is the last time you and your boys keep harassing these kids. Got it?!"
"...A-and if we fuckin' don't...!" The older blond knew immediately that he should've kept his mouth shut when the whiskered boy inched his face closer, his lips curled back into an angry snarl.
"Then you'll find out why they call me the Red Fox!"
In Zaun, there was an unwritten rule. Several, in truth, but in this case only one mattered that was relevant: Titles are earned, not given. Vander's was well-known as "The Hound of the Underground", a name the older Zaunite more than earned by merits and actions. In the Undercity, your title was your reputation, and by extension your life. Titles earned in the world can open many doors just as easily as it can elicit fear.
Vi, Mylo, and Claggor had yet to earn their keep, and Powder was too young.
Deckard and his lackeys had no such titles, either. Whatever merits they had weren't noteworthy enough.
But Naruto?
His teeth were cut the day he fought on the Bridge...
"...Fuck this!" Deckard yelped as he scrambled onto his feet, taking off with his posse not far behind him.
Satisfied, Naruto turned to look over his shoulder. "And speaking of family..."
'Ah, crap!' Even Vi - bold and headstrong as she was! - had to flinch at her adopted brother's stare.
Later That Day...
"...How about you just give Huck the rest of what you owe him, and I'll let you walk out of here in one piece?"
It was a rather long day for Vander, what with the usual crowd coming in to wind down after working in the fissures. The only interesting thing being that Huck - a longtime Zaunite - was nearly swindled out of a business deal with two shady traders that tried to scam him: a man and a woman. Luckily he was able to step in, and prevent anything serious from taking place.
"Do we have a deal?" He asked the pair, holding out his favorite smoking pipe to the woman. There was a pause before she huffed and took the pipe from his hand. Taking a deep puff, she immediately started coughing in a fit when the smoke became too much for her to handle.
*cough!* "This is vile!" The woman rasped as she held the pipe away from her face in disgust, only for Vander to take it back.
"You'll learn to love it." Came the reply. Hearing the bar entrance creak open, Vander looked over to see Vi and the others walking in with a heavy sack over Claggor's shoulder. The aged bartender locked eyes with Vi, who immediately turned away and headed straight for the door leading to the basement as the other kids follow. Getting a bad feeling about this, Vander gets up from his seat. "Welcome to the Lanes."
As he got to the door, he could hear their muffled voices over their newfound loot before he made his way down - startling the four teens in their tracks like mice before a cat. Raising an eyebrow at their antics, Vander thought it was best to rip off the bandage. "Everyone alright?" he asked, seeing the scuff marks on their clothes.
"Never better." Mylo sighed as le leaned forward form where he was sitting.
"Good." The older male replied, making his way down the stairs. "That looks like a nice haul. I suppose congrats are in order." Seeing their faces light up, he then chose to dig further. "Although I don't suppose you could explain why it is that I'm hearing about an explosion and a foot chase Topside? Four children fleeing the scene..." And there he had them. The tensing of their shoulders, the hitch of their breath. The way they avoided looking at him. Finally, Vander dropped the nice act and turned to Vi. "What the hell were you thinking?"
The rosette turned to bite back. "That we could handle a real job."
Incrediously, Vander asked: "A real job?"
"We got our own tip, planned a route. Nobody even saw!"
"You blew up a building!"
"That wasn't-"
"Did you even stop to think about what could've happened to you?!" Vi found herself cut off by her father figure as she looked away, knowing he had a point. "Eh?! To them?!" With a tired groan Vander rubbed his forehead. 'God, talk about deja vu...' he thought before a thought occured to him. "Where did you even get this tip?"
There was silence. Then: "We just heard it at Benzo's shop." Powder's voice cut like a knife through butter.
"...From?" The Hound of the Underground pressed further, already having a suspicion but needing to hear it regardless.
"...Little Man." Honestly, he should've known that boy would be involved. But he was Benzo's child to raise, not his.
Vi shot up from her seat at that, eager to take the blame. "I took us there! If you wanna be mad, be mad at me. But you're the one who always says we have to earn our place in this world!"
"I also told you time and time again the Northside's off-limits! We stay out of Piltover's business!"
"Why?! They've got plenty, while we're down here scrapping together coins!" The teen bit back. "When did you get so comfortable living in someone else's shadow?!"
All four kids flinched back at Vi's tone - a bark of defiance coming from the older girl these days. Composing himself, the aged bartender looked into his eldest daughter's eyes.
"Everyone out." He said, gentle yet firm. It wasn't long before Mylo and Claggor made their way out the room, Powder trailing behind them as she swiftly shut the door. Only then did the older man speak. "Sit down."
"I'm fine," Vi argued, but Vander wasn't having it.
"Sit. Down."
The pink-haired girl gave a huff as she plopped back down in the chair; Vander grabbing a rag and a bottle of rubbing alcohol before taking a seat on the table in front of her. "Those kids look up to you." he said.
"Yeah, I know..."
"No, you know, but you don't know." The aged bartender reasoned, the years of experience weighing down his words. "When people look up to you, you don't get to be selfish. You say run, they run. You say swim, they dive in. You say light a fire, they show up with oil. But whatever happens, it's on you. Just like it's on me for whatever happens to us down here. We make ourselves a problem for Piltover, and they will send the Enforcers."
"SO?!" Vi piped up. "Why answer to them?! These are our streets, someone should remind them of that-"
"You're not hearing me. That path? This?" Here he grabbed her right hand, scuffed up from her fight with Deckard. "It's not gonna solve your problems. Just makes more of them. We clear?" Opening up the bottle, he dabbed it on the rag before pressing it gently against Vi's forehead, causing her to hiss in slight pain. "How'd you get this?" Vander asked.
The pink-haired teen scoffed as she answered. "Some idiot was following us."
Vander raised an eyebrow. "On our side? Who?"
"I dunno. He was after the stuff..."
"That you brought here all the way from Piltover." The aged bartender sighed. The way he saw it, their loot was concrete evidence that the Enforcers needed to get ahold of them. "I'll take it over to Benzo's to try and pawn it off." He raised a hand to keep Vi from talking. "Nothing can tie you to what happened up there, and you all need to lay low for a bit. Understand?"
"...Okay." Understandably Vi was a bit frustrated. But she knew that Vander was looking out for them, so she had to bite the urge to lash out.
Nodding to himself, the middle-aged Zaunite grabbed the bag full of loot and made his way up the stairs when he paused. "Oh, you did put that idiot on his ass, though. Right?"
"...No." The young teen admitted. "Naruto was there."
Vander's eyes widened in disbelief at her words. "What?"
"Yeah. Scared 'em off..." Vi looked up briefly before turning her gaze to the floor. "Poor bastards pissed themselves before making a run for it. I would too, if he'd looked at me like that..."
'Oh, thank God he didn't kill anyone. Not in front of Powder...' The bartender took a deep breath as he digested the information. What happened at the Bridge that day started a rift between adoptive father and son, but Vander was glad that Vi and the other kids were still held close in the whiskered blond's heart. "...How is he?"
"He's...well you know how he is. Happy-go-lucky one minute, and a scary sonofabitch the next."
Chuckling, Vander leaned against the nearby wall. "Yeah, that about sums it up."
"I don't get it..." Vi went on. "Naruto's only a year older than me! But he takes on the more serious jobs, the other adults respect him and he's more-"
"Independent? Like he's leaving you and the others behind?"
"YES!" The rosette threw her arms in the air in frustration. The aged bartender merely looked on as his daughter eventually managed to calm down. "Just what did he mean by 'Don't be like me', anyways? It-it doesn't make any sense!"
Flashback...
"Vi, you better have a good reason for all that loot in your bag..." The whiskered blond hissed at his adopted sister. Even when they were only a year apart, he oftentimes felt like he had to be the older of the two. "I thought Vander told you kids to stay outta Topside."
"Guys, do you know what it means to fight?" Naruto raised a hand to stop the arguing before it could start. "No, I mean to REALLY fight. Say you're trapped with no way out, Enforcers cutting off every escape. What then? You'd have no other choice, right?" Seeing their eager nods, the whiskered blond grumbled in frustration. "Wrong. There's always a choice. You could've split up at the beginning, set up a rally point before hand in order to safely get back home. These are things you aren't thinking about."
"Damn right I'm gonna start this! You could've been killed!" Naruto yelled back. "ALL of you could've been killed!"
"Or we could've fought our way though, like you did!"
Naruto paused so that he could register his sister's words. "No." he said, getting a look from the others. "No, you won't."
"And what the hell makes you say that?!" Mylo quipped, feeling frustrated.
"Guys, do you know what it means to fight?" Naruto raised a hand to stop the arguing before it could start. "No, I mean to REALLY fight. Say you're trapped with no way out, Enforcers cutting off every escape. What then? You'd have no other choice, right?" Seeing their eager nods, the whiskered blond grumbled in frustration. "Wrong. There's always a choice. You could've split up at the beginning, set up a rally point before hand in order to safely get back home. These are things you aren't thinking about."
"But why?! You fought on the Bridge, you survived! We just want to be treated equally like adults!"
"And you won't get that chance if you're dead, Vi!" Naruto shot back.
"So what?! That gives them the right to look down on us?!" Vi argued, not seeing the point.
"Think! What happens if one of you gets hurt? Or if you push back too hard? Those Enforcers don't like having to deal with us, sure. But they have families they wanna get back to. So if push comes to shove, they'll do anything in their power to get back home alive and if that means killing you, then so be it. But it goes both ways, too." He grabbed the rosette by both shoulders. "Are you willing to risk putting yourself and the others in that situation? Even Powder?"
"..." This time Vi kept her head down, stubbornly refusing to admit when her brother was right.
Knowing better, the whiskered blond sighed as he turned to walk away. "Mind if I give you some advice, sis?" he said, gaining her attention as she looked at his retreating back.
"...Don't ever be like me."
Vander let his daughter finish her rant before making his way to one of the seats. Folding his hands together, he looked at her as he spoke. "He's just looking out for the rest of you." The aged bartender looked into the rosette's eyes. "What happened on the bridge...it changed him, Vi. He still cares for you, kid. Mylo, Claggor, and especially Powder. That's...probably the only thing he and I have in common, these days."
"How?" She asked, only getting a tired sigh in return. "Vander...how did he change?"
"To be honest...I really don't know."
Deckard found himself being thrown into a beat-up wooden chair, frightened as he was surrounded by some of the older Zaunites in a rather large room.
Looking around, he saw an older man with a balding head carefully handling a table full of chemicals. And that behind him was a window looking out at the vastness of the vibrant underwater life. Jolting at the feeling of something rubbing at his legs, the blond looked down briefly to see a hairless cat passing beneath the chair he was in. With short fearful puffs of air, Deckard felt his breath hitch when one of the thugs braced a metal pipe against the underside of his jaw. Despite knowing what was coming, he knew better; that resisting would only make it worse.
"You were supposed to follow them and not interfere..." A voice broke the tense silence; almost reprimanding even were it not for the circumstances.
*gasp!* "I'm...sorry!" The blond pleaded, "They just...caught us by surprise...!"
In front of Deckard sat a silhouette of a man seemingly assembling a device in his hands. "Now his accomplice is asking questions. About you." As he held the device to his own face, the man seemingly injected something into one of his eyes. "And that's not a risk I'm willing to take."
As the pipe pressed against his neck, Deckard knew that his time was running out. If he didn't tell them what they wanted to know, he was going to die. That's when it hit them. "Th-the kids!" the blond boy croaked as drool escaped from his lips. "It was their fault! The explosion...in the Upper City!"
The man paused as he registered the words spoken. "...That was them?" he asked.
"Yeah! The Topsiders are up in arms looking for 'em!"
Tapping what was revealed to be an eye syringe against his face, the de facto boss of the thugs came to a conclusion. "Vander's in trouble..." Turning to look at the blond, it was revealed that his left eye was glowing orange. Deckard couldn't help but nervously chuckle, hoping that tip was enough to spare his life.
"Smartest thing you ever said, boy..."
His gamble paid off...
As the man got up to walk towards the window, the lighting illuminated his physique: a thin pale-skinned man with black graying hair. His face showcased defined cheekbones, an eagle nose, and thin lips with a large chemical burn scar on his left eye. Wearing an ensemble of a maroon dress shirt with a black and dark red-purple vest with gold accents, white tie, black pants, and black and maroon steel-toed boots. Finally, he was revealed to be heterochromatic: his right eye was blue, whereas the injured left eye was orange with black sclera. For those who knew of him, knew well to stay out of his path. "Get him a meal," he ordered, to which Deckard gasped as he was allowed to breath freely even while being pulled out of the chair and onto his feet. "And keep him off the streets."
Silco, The Eye of Zaun, was presented with an opportunity he'd been waiting for...
As soon as Deckard and the thugs escorting him were well out of earshot, he spoke to the only other person standing in the room. "Our timeline has moved up."
"It's almost ready." The older man rasped as he raised a vial with a purple liquid substance. Turning to look at his employer, he was waiting for the go ahead to start the demonstration, if needed.
The crime boss then spoke to the man, whom he knew as Singed:
"Show me."
Walking past Silco, the chemist stopped in front of a terrarium that contained a single mouse. Grabbing the cat, he pet it briefly before placing it within the tank. "Feeding time." he said, closing the lid and sliding the latches shut, encasing both animals within.
"And the side effects?" The crime boss asked.
"Stabilizing." Singed answered, tapping the glass to get the mouse to move as it started drinking the same unknown substance as found in the vial. It wasn't long before the poor creature writhed in pain, blackened veins growing along its body as its eyes turned a bright purple. Whereas the cat was encroaching slowly, hungry for what it took for an easy meal, now it sensed something was amiss. As Silco looked on, the mouse's form seemed to continuously alter itself. The cat had hissed in warning but by then...
*CRUNCH!*
...It was too late.
As the cycle of prey and predator seemed to spin anew, the pair of men looked on at the gruesome scene impassively. "Do you have a subject in mind?" Singed had asked his employer.
Silco was already thinking of the various ways to market and weaponize the chemist's new creation. Means of which he could utilize to achieve his goal. But for now...
"Someone just volunteered." He spoke with a sinister tone as he looked back at the wooden chair.
Naruto sighed as he took a sip of his flask, relishing the warm spice of whisky within.
To be fair, he wasn't expecting today to turn out the way it did. Although the explosion seen from Topside should've clued him in otherwise, he figured it best to give the benefit of the doubt and see what was going on.
Boy, was he surprised.
'Agh, one of these days Vi and the others are gonna get themselves into something they can't get themselves out of.' The former Demacian thought as he looked up at the night starry sky above. 'I doubt that the Piltovan Council's gonna let this go. The old man's peace is starting to fall apart at the seams - that much I couldn't care about. It was only a matter of time before someone did something stupid.' He then pondered about what this could mean for the future of their family. Feeling the cool breeze hit his face, the whiskered blond sighed in content as he closed his eyes and thought: 'I just hope that they'll learn sooner, while they've still got time. Eventually, things are gonna change. Vander's getting old, and I can't keep protecting them forever...'
Hearing voices, Naruto looked over to see Vi and Powder sitting on one of the nearby rooftops - the older girl pointing out each of their failings over the years to cheer her sister up. 'And then there's times where it's alright to be a kid once in a while...' He thought with a small smile as the scene played out in front of him.
Although his expression hardened as he turned to look at Piltover in the distance: more specifically the Bridge; a somber look in his eye as painful memories played in the back of his mind. Echoes of shouting and screaming and gunfire, the sounds of fighting; the feeling of blood quenching his hands from Enforcers who fell victim to his magic.
And yet one stood fast among the rest: a glowing sword of pure petricite cutting down the people of the Undercity.
'Wouldn't you say the same...my brother?'
-End-Chapter-
A/N: Well, shit...
That ending seems foreboding as hell, don't it?
Anyways, lemme know what you think in the reviews and PM! I'll be working on more of the brother-centric chapters within Act 1 of Arcane. Next chapter, we get to see what Jaune's been up to!
CIAO FOR NOW!