Widening Rift
After the enforcer escorted Jayce to where Marcus was receiving first aid, he felt his panic rise, feeding his anger and anxiety.
After the visit his mind spun with everything the sheriff had told him about the unprovoked attack on the bridge. The details were vague, and the ambiguity only made it worse.
Jayce had started to realize, painfully and belatedly, that he might have underestimated the complexities of the problems he was trying to fix. When he first uncovered the corruption in Piltover, he’d believed rooting it out would solve everything. Then Mel had warned him he’d put a target on his back, and his approach had shifted. The promise of funding and prestige—things he’d been denied for so long—had made the transition easier than it should have been. And, of course, Mel’s support and company hadn’t hurt.
Now, though, everything was unraveling. The undercity situation had grown worse. The gemstone was still missing. The people of Piltover were growing restless. The undercity, in his eyes, was becoming an insurmountable problem—one that had to be dealt with swiftly before more lives were lost. He had to protect Piltover. Protect people. That was what mattered most.
Marcus’s account of the attack echoed in Jayce’s mind as he approached the bridge. The aftermath was like nothing he had seen before.The explosions had left scorched marks on the bridge, though the structure itself appeared mostly intact.
Enforcers moved methodically, retrieving the bodies of the few victims. The sight struck Jayce like a physical blow, his chest tightening as the weight of it all pressed down on him.
He turned away sharply, bile rising in his throat. Gripping the railing for support, he vomited, his body rejecting the sight and the weight of his mounting failures. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. This wasn’t progress.
Straightening up and wiping his mouth, Jayce forced himself to take a shaky breath. The bile in his throat was gone, but the sick feeling in his stomach lingered. He couldn’t afford to dwell on it. The only thing left to do now was act. If no one else was going to fix this, then he had to.
He left the bridge and returned to the Academy building, his resolve hardening with every step. As he turned the corner toward the lab, he nearly ran into Mel. She stopped him in his tracks, her expression uncharacteristically tense.
“There you are,” she said, her tone sharper than usual. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Jayce ran a hand through his hair, trying to compose himself. “I don’t have time, Mel. The situation—”
“The situation is exactly why we need to talk,” Mel interrupted. Jayce stopped mid-step, her words rooting him in place. She exhaled, steadying herself.
Mel steered him toward a quieter spot, her hand gripping his arm with a firmness that stopped any protest before it started.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, Jayce,” she continued, her voice quieter but no less firm. “But look at what’s happening. If they’ve managed to get their hands on the gemstone and weaponize it—”
He shook his head, the words tumbling out before she could finish. “We don’t know that for sure. We can’t assume—”
“We can’t afford not to,” she said, cutting him off again, her words as sharp as the edge of a blade. Her eyes locked onto his, unwavering and resolute. “If we don’t prepare for the possibility… if we hesitate… more lives could be lost. I’m telling you this to protect your people, Jayce.”
He hadn’t mentioned meeting her mother, but now Mel’s words echoed disturbingly close to Ambessa’s. Jayce opened his mouth to respond, but no words came.
Mel took a step back. “The decision is yours,” she said simply. She held his gaze for a moment longer before turning and walking away, her footsteps fading into the distance.
Jayce swallowed hard, his mind spinning. Her words mingled with the images from the bridge that were still fresh in his mind. A part of him wanted to reject the idea. But the weight of her reasoning pressed against him, impossible to ignore.
By the time Jayce returned to the lab, his mind was a storm of conflicting emotions. His frustration had morphed into a restless energy, one that needed an outlet.
Just as he arrived the lab door opened as Sky hurried out, practically glowing with excitement.
“Jayce!” she exclaimed, grabbing his arm. “You’re right on time! I was just about to go look for you.”
“Sky?” he said, taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm. Her recent demeanor had been anything but lively. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Viktor,” she said, her face lighting up with joy. “He’s back.”
Jayce’s heart stumbled in his chest. “What do you—”
Before Jayce could finish his thought, he crossed the threshold, and there he was. Viktor, sitting in his usual spot, pale under the harsh, artificial lighting of the lab but unmistakably there and alive. For a moment, Jayce couldn’t move. He stood frozen in place, staring as if Viktor were a ghost.
Viktor noticed him almost immediately. He shifted, grabbing the crutch propped beside him, and stood. “Jayce,” he said, his voice carrying a note of relief that tugged at something deep inside Jayce.
Jayce remained rooted to the spot, his mind struggling to reconcile what he was seeing. Relief surged through him, mingled with confusion and a lingering frustration that had been festering for days.
Sky glancing between them, broke the silence. “I’ll go get them while you two catch up, okay?” she said gently. Viktor nodded at her, gratitude evident in his amber eyes. Sky excused herself, though Jayce barely registered her words.
When they were finally alone, Viktor hesitated. His lips parted slightly as if he were searching for the right words but something in his posture betrayed his own tension. He leaned heavily on the crutch, his free hand flexing slightly as though unsure what to do with it.
Jayce broke the silence first. “You’re okay,” he said, his voice cracking slightly.
“Yes,” Viktor replied. “I had… an accident on my way to visit the person I told you about—”
“An accident?” Jayce’s gaze swept over Viktor, finally taking in the unfamiliar clothes that clearly weren’t his own and the scrapes on his skin.
“Yes, but I’m okay,” Viktor assured him quickly, his tone steady as he eased himself back into his chair. “Someone helped me—they treated my injuries and gave me a place to recover. That’s why I couldn’t return sooner.” His expression softened, a faint trace of regret in his eyes. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Jayce’s concern twisted into something sharper, the relief he felt giving way to irritation as his anxiety over the past few days surged back to the forefront. “I ordered a blockade today,” he said, his voice carrying a hard edge. “Thankfully, you returned before—” He stopped himself. “Why were you even there in the first place?”
Viktor looked at him, taken aback. His fingers tightened around the crutch as he stared at Jayce with something between confusion and disbelief. “You ordered… why?” he asked, his voice laced with shock.
Jayce felt the pressure inside him building again, an uncomfortable mix of anger and frustration tightening his chest.
He stepped closer, his frame towering over Viktor’s seated figure. “What were you doing over there?” he demanded, each word edged with tension.
Viktor’s brow furrowed, confusion flickering across his face. “I told you—I was consulting someone I knew.”
“You didn’t say they were from the undercity,” Jayce shot back, his tone slipping into condescension as though reprimanding a child rather than speaking to his partner.
“What difference does that make?” Viktor asked, his voice quieter now.
“What diff—” Jayce’s patience snapped, his words rushing out like a dam breaking. “They’re dangerous!”
“I’m from the undercity,” Viktor snapped back, cutting him off. His voice was sharp, but beneath it was a deep hurt.
Jayce fell silent, the weight of Viktor’s words hitting him. Guilt pricked at the edges of his anger, but before he could respond, the lab door opened again.
Sky returned, accompanied by Caitlyn and a pink-haired woman Jayce didn’t recognize.
Viktor took a steadying breath and gripped his crutch, slowly rising to his feet. His movements were labored but determined. Jayce instinctively reached out to steady him, but Viktor slapped his hand away with a dismissive motion. The rejection stung, more than Jayce wanted to admit.
Sky’s worried gaze darted between them, lingering on Viktor’s tense frame. Caitlyn exchanged a glance with the pink-haired woman, who shrugged her shoulders in response.
Jayce stood there, frustration and guilt warring inside him. He felt cornered, confused, and now hurt by Viktor’s sudden coldness. Finally, he turned to Caitlyn. “Cait, what’s going on? Were you with Viktor this whole time and didn’t tell me?” The accusation in his tone made Caitlyn’s brows knit together in displeasure, but before she could respond, Viktor spoke first.
“No,” Viktor said, his tone measured. “We just met. I chose to come with them to discuss things with you… and the council.”
“The council? Discuss what?”
Caitlyn stepped in, folding her arms. “We found the gemstone,” she said evenly. “Or rather, I did. Vi’s been helping me track it down.”
Vi leaned casually against the doorframe, her arms crossed and a smirk tugging at her lips. “Helping?” she said, her voice carrying a playful edge. “I did most of the heavy lifting. Cait’s great and all, but let’s be real—she doesn’t know the first thing about the undercity.”
Sky, standing nearby, broke in with a relieved smile. “I’m just glad Viktor was somewhere safe.” Her eyes flicked between them, clearly picking up on the tension but unwilling to address it directly.
Jayce’s mind reeled as he tried to process everything at once. His gaze shifted between Caitlyn and Viktor. “I’ll do whatever I can to help,” he said at last, though his voice carried more exhaustion than conviction. “But I can’t get you an audience with the council. That’s beyond me.”
Caitlyn straightened, her posture firm. “My mother can handle that,” she said, after a brief pause. “Vi and I just came from home. She listened and agreed to arrange an audience.”
Jayce frowned, his attention shifting to Viktor, who stood slightly apart from the group, his expression distant. Viktor hadn’t said a word in a while, and Jayce couldn’t ignore the way he avoided meeting his eyes. Guilt flared in Jayce’s chest as the memory of their earlier exchange replayed in his mind. He needed to apologize, but not now. There were more pressing matters to address.
The tension in the room was palpable. The council meeting had been intense but ultimately it had yielded little more than hollow platitudes. Caitlyn and Vi had tried to explain the reality of the undercity’s struggles—the chem-barons’ iron grip on its people, the rampant spread of shimmer, and the relentless cycle of violence caused mainly by Piltover and its enforcers. Despite their efforts, the council had remained frustratingly unmoved, their expressions not even masking their unwillingness to act.
Now, in the quietness of a room near the lab, the group gathered. The silence stretched uncomfortably, each person lost in their own thoughts.
“We should fight back,” Vi said, breaking the silence. Her voice was taut, barely containing her anger. “We should attack one of the shimmer factories, hit them where it hurts”
Caitlyn immediately turned to her, her brows furrowing. “That would solve nothing,” she said firmly.
“Easy for you to say,” Vi snapped back, her tone rising. “You haven’t lived it. They won’t stop unless you make them stop.” She began pacing, her hands on her hips, her every movement radiating pent-up energy.
Jayce, standing near a window, folded his arms. “Vi’s right,” he said suddenly, his gaze intense. “If we don’t act, this will just keep escalating.” He paused, and then added, “Maybe we should consider building hextech weaponry.”
The room went still. Viktor’s head snapped toward him, disbelief etched across his face. “Absolutely not,” Viktor said, his voice firm and resolute.
Jayce met his gaze, his frustration bubbling to the surface. “We need to be able to defend ourselves.”
“Innocents could get caught in the crossfire,” Caitlyn interjected.
Viktor’s tone sharpened, his words cutting through the room. “We are scientists, not soldiers,” he said, his amber eyes locked onto Jayce. “You cannot seriously be considering this.”
The room fell into another heavy silence. Vi let out a frustrated groan. “We can’t just sit here and argue all day!” she shouted as she resumed her pacing, her agitation clear.
Caitlyn reached out, placing a hand on Vi’s shoulder. “We need to think this through,” she said gently. “Rushing into this without a plan will only make things worse—for everyone.”
Vi huffed, looking away, but Caitlyn continued. “Before making any rash decisions, we should consult someone who knows the undercity better.”
Vi turned to her, a flicker of curiosity in her expression.
“Ekko,” Caitlyn continued, her tone gentle but resolute. “He knows more about what’s happening than anyone else here. We should hear from him first.”
At the mention of Ekko, Vi’s expression shifted. She seemed to perk up slightly, as if the name had reminded her of something.
“Powder,” Vi murmured.
Viktor, who had been locked in a tense exchange with Jayce, turned after hearing her. His voice softened as he said, “I saw Ekko with her after the attack,” he said cautiously. “He probably took her to safety.”
Vi’s eyes widened, her entire demeanor shifting. “I need to go,” she said, heading for the door.
“Vi, wait!” Caitlyn called after her. She glanced back at the other two, then hurried to follow. “I’m coming with you.”
The room fell into an uneasy silence, the sound of Vi and Caitlyn’s footsteps fading down the hall. Viktor turned to Jayce, his tone weighted with disappointment. “We agreed hextech was to improve lives,” Viktor said, continuing the conversation they were having before. “Not take them.”
Jayce hesitated, searching for words that didn’t come. “I need to think,” he said finally, his voice faltering.
But when Jayce glanced back, Viktor was already rising from his chair. Without a word, he turned and headed toward the door, his steps slow and deliberate. The quiet click of the door closing behind him left Jayce standing alone with his thoughts.
Viktor tried to contain the anger threatening to spill over. He hadn’t expected his reunion with Jayce to unravel like this. Not only had Jayce called Viktor’s people—and by extension, him—dangerous, but he had also gone back on his word. He had suggested building weapons, despite knowing how much it meant to Viktor that their research remained a force for good. Hextech was supposed to be a tool to uplift those in need, to bridge the gap between Piltover and the undercity, not another mechanism to widen the divide.
Maybe his hurt was clouding his judgment, but he felt foolish for having practiced what he’d say to Jayce when they met again. He’d wanted to apologize for keeping his distance, to mend the rift between them. He truly believed that, even with everything that had happened, they could still be close—partners. But after hearing Jayce speak so dismissively, and worse, hearing him suggest weaponizing hextech… Viktor felt a kind of hurt he’d never experienced before.
Deep down, he knew Jayce wasn’t a bad person and that his intentions weren’t truly malicious. But as the saying went, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. The sting of Jayce’s condescension, and the ease with which he had dismissed everything they had built together, burned deep within Viktor.
Viktor decided to channel his emotions into something productive. If nothing else, it would keep his mind occupied. He began gathering a few things he wanted to take to Heimerdinger. Among the shelves, he selected some books he thought Ekko might find interesting, a small gesture to express his gratitude.
As he moved through the lab, a familiar sensation prickled at the edge of his awareness. He paused, his breath hitching. There it was again—the faint pulse of the Hexcore.
It had been a while since he’d been near it, long enough that he had almost forgotten the way its hum felt—a soft whisper that seemed to go straight to his mind. It called to him, a siren song of endless discovery and untapped potential. Without realizing it, he found himself standing in front of the device, its glowing, spinning form as mesmerizing as ever.
Viktor hesitated. He remembered Heimerdinger’s warnings about its dangerous nature and felt a shiver of unease. The pull it had on him was undeniable, almost alive, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if Jayce had ever felt it too.
But today, after everything, the idea of approaching Jayce felt like trying to cross a chasm too wide to bridge. Viktor swallowed hard, his chest tight with unspoken frustration. Not today.
Viktor shook his head, forcing himself to focus. He needed to return to the Firelights’ hideout and explain the situation, especially if Ekko wasn’t there. With Vi and Caitlyn so focused on searching for Jinx, someone had to report back. They were probably worried after hearing about the explosions on the bridge, and Viktor couldn’t leave them in the dark.
Just as Viktor was deciding his next steps, the door to the lab creaked open. He quickly turned, half-expecting Jayce. Instead, he found himself face-to-face with Mel Medarda.
She looked as surprised as he felt.
“Viktor,” she said, her tone caught between greeting and disbelief. “I… thought it was Jayce.”
“Councilor Medarda,” Viktor replied, his shoulders stiffening. “Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s just me.”
Mel shifted, clearly uncomfortable—strange for her. “I couldn’t speak to you after the council audience, but I’m glad to see you back. Truly.”
Viktor didn’t respond, unsure whether her words were genuine.
“Both Jayce and Sky were really worried about you,” she added, trying to soften the tension.
“I heard,” Viktor said flatly. “It seems that in my absence, some changes have been made.”
Mel blinked at his tone but quickly regained her composure. “Ah. I take it Jayce mentioned my suggestion to you.”
“So it really was your suggestion,” Viktor said, his voice rising. “I am one of the creators of hextech, and I have always opposed its use for weapons. Yet you used my absence to push Jayce toward something we both swore against. How could you?”
Mel’s expression hardened. “This might surprise you, Viktor, but I don’t like war either,” she said, her tone laced with condescension. “I simply told Jayce how to protect his people. And it seems like he agrees.”
“Of course,” Viktor murmured with a humorless laugh. “His people.”
Mel’s jaw tightened, but Viktor couldn’t stomach any more of her justifications. Before she could speak again, he pointed toward the door.
“Please leave,” he said, not even looking at her. “Jayce is in one of the rooms down the other corridor. You were looking for him, weren’t you?”
For a moment, Mel seemed ready to argue, but then she closed her mouth. Without another word, she turned and left, her heels clicking sharply against the floor, leaving Viktor feeling worse than before.
If he hadn’t decided what to do earlier, he was certain now. His movements were precise, almost mechanical, as he reached for the pliers and carefully placed the Hexcore into a bag. He adjusted its strap over his shoulder, testing its weight, before sliding the books he’d selected for Ekko into another bag. With a steadying breath, he gripped his crutch tightly and began his slow, deliberate exit.
Each step required effort, the bags swaying slightly as he moved. He carried the lighter one in his free hand, balanced on the opposite side of his crutch. Its weight shifted with each careful movement. The rhythm of his steps and the tap of his crutch echoed softly in the empty halls, a steady beat against the quiet.
As Viktor exited the lab, the faint hum of the Hexcore emanated from the bag on his shoulder, a persistent reminder of what he carried. He couldn’t help but notice how easily he passed through the building, no one stopped him, no one even looked his way. He was invisible here. Perhaps he always had been.
The door closed behind him. Viktor paused for a moment at the top of the steps, his gaze lingering for a brief moment before tightening his grip on the crutch. Slowly, he began his descent.
The night air was cool against his face, carrying with it a silence that felt almost welcome. Step by step, Viktor made his way into the darkened streets, leaving behind the place he had once believed would help him achieve his dreams.