Piltover is... Mmmyyyy Kinda town!
Undercity: Arcade: Early Morning
So far, the morning was going well.
Steve Rogers had gotten up at the time he had planned, based on the travel schedule of the Bathysphere that Ekko had gotten for him. He left his body armor and shield in the place the kids had requested and cleared the pistol and slid it back into the holster, removing it from his belt and placing it and the magazines with the rest of the gear. There were only two rounds left, so he tucked them into his belt pouch for safe keeping. He had used more rounds taking control of the Valkyrie than thought, knowing that now he’d have to account for every round since they’d have to be made by hand. Steve held a hope that the kids were wrong about no rounds were available for his pistol, but if they were right then he would deal with it.
Satisfied that he had everything in the back room, he closed the door and grabbed his harness belt. He had found a green scarf in the back that he had seen used in some of the books that Ekko and Powder had made available about the world in general and wrapped it around his neck. He had used scarves before of course, in winter and during his brief time during the Africa campaign and knew it would come in handy. It had been on the prize shelves, emblazoned with the image of a character that he’d learned was called Teemo, but he turned It inside out so hide the cartoon character. It would be hard to be taken seriously if Mickey Mouse was on your shirt, he thought to himself.
Satisfied, Steve closed and latched the access to the arcade, and checked the map that Ekko had drawn up for him. The Bathysphere was at the end of the main street of the commercial district, where the basic bazaar and shops were, along with the food stalls and mobile vendors. He started off walking along the main street, sightseeing along the way. He had seen a lot of this area from the second floor of the Arcade, but not in the midst of it. He was now walking in a place that wasn’t on Earth. If he thought on it too long, it was going to drive him to distraction. He could imagine all of this being in a serial he’d watched in the matinees, The Secret Empire at once come to mind.
Of course, his life was a science fiction story, considering Project Rebirth. A procedure that took him from a 5’6” 100 lbs. sickly adult to a 6’1” Super Soldier was something the HG Wells could have come up with.
Or maybe it was Mary Shelley. Frankenstein may have been more fitting.
It was the time in the morning that Ekko referred to fourth shift changeover, with people quickly populating the lanes heading to the various food carts and open restaurants and stores. He walked by a crowded Jericho’s stall, who he was glad to put a face to the name and thought it ironic that a fish man sold fish. Of course, who would know the best fish to sell other than a Vastaya fish man. He continued his way towards the Bathysphere. It was beginning to lighten as it was getting closer to sunrise, so everything took on the greenish hue of the pollution that everyone was breathing down here, humid and thick in the enclosed environment of the lanes.
Steve stopped at a fruit seller and bought a couple of large smooth skinned fruits; felt around the small bag of coins he’d gotten and found one he thought would be enough to pay. He gave the man a silver cog, and got a small handful of washers back. Nodding, he bit into the fruit, and was pretty pleased that it was in fact, a pear. He ate it as he walked towards the subterranean conveyance, passing by people either heading for their homes or work at the many factories that populated the undercity.
From the maps he had looked over, most of the Factories would be closer to the spill off and the ocean, as in most cases the factories would need access to water to facilitate either the manufacturing process or to generate enough steam to run the massive machinery. It still amazed him the majority of the Undercity and Piltover was power by stream,
Steve could see the Bathysphere now, and it was far larger than he had thought and not what he expected. They were about the size of a double decker train car, and moved steadily along tracks that were at a steep angle. This station had four cars running at this time, with a clock over each port of entry and a turnstile that needed a washer. There were a few people waiting around, wearing domestic uniforms with house patches on their sleeves, or overalls and hard hats who were probably dock workers he thought to himself as he moved closer to the group. He listened into their conversations, talking about their day ahead, or gossiping about the goings on inside the estates they worked. The dockworkers were hoping they’d get finished up earlier today, so they could go to the day labor and pick up some extra cogs before the curfew topside. A few were talking about how their employers were going to accuse them of stealing and send them to Stillwater if they asked for a raise, but they needed the extra coin to cover their rents.
Day labor and curfew, good to know.
One thing they all shared in common was a dislike for Piltover, but it was a necessary evil having to bow and scrape to feed their families.
The assembled suddenly shut down, as six fully armored Enforcers moved up to the Bathyspheres, standing off to the side near where he was standing. Steve had to admit they were intimidating, especially since not even a hint of skin could be seen. He could hear their voices and was able to discern two women and four men under the blue metal armor, and were coming off the overnight patrol. He heard them mention Sump hunts, and one of them made a slashing motion across their necks and changing the subjects. Steve had a feeling that had he heard more, his dim view of the armored soldiers would drop lower. He was beginning to wonder if the Enforcers were going to be a problem.
The two Cars on the end were nearing load capacity, as was the one next to it. It was starting to look like he was going to be sharing the next car with the enforcers. He hoped it didn’t get ugly on the way up, but if it did, he’d deal with it with as little violence as possible.
A kid around Ekko’s age wearing an oversized set of domestic clothing was looking intently at him from the back of the other line, getting ready to board the bathysphere car. What got her attention about him, he had no idea. Maybe the scarf? It was a pretty bright green...
No, it was the Fruit. He held it up, and her eyes widened. With a smile, he motioned that he was going to toss it to her, and when she nodded vigorously, he gave it an underhand toss. She caught it and it was instantly in her mouth as she bustled on board the train car, and the doors closing behind her. He looked at the car in front of him as the six enforcers entered. If he didn’t take it, he’d be waiting another hour.
Steve got inside the bathysphere, and got a good look at the interior, a blending of steel and brass decorations the interior was surprisingly beautiful. Metal lattice work across the front of the car glass window allowed the rider to watch the ascent or descent while relaxing in one of the comfortable looking seats along each tier. There were five tiers, with stairs along each side going all the way up to the top tier with ten seats per area. Standing rails lined the sections, though he doubted it would go fast enough to warrant it. He picked a tier at the top of the conveyance, and leaned on the rail as the Bathysphere began to move slowly, ascending the climb to Piltover. Two of the enforcers joined him at the top level, apparently enjoying the scenery as well. Hopefully, the pair will mind their business during the ride.
Steve watched as the undercity began to disappear into the green miasma, which also started to lighten as the sun must have risen at this point. The miasma cleared and he could see a couple of people running along the buildings and pipes that made up the upper walls of the undercity, descending out of Piltover, which he had to admit looked like a lot of fun. He didn’t even consider it as a possibility, but now that it's on the table, it a good alternate route other than the twenty or so minutes in the Bathyspheres.
But then again, these were pretty comfortable.
“Those Trenchers must be out of their mind.” One of the Enforcers, a young blond man, said, pointing at the person he had just seen descending. “How many times do you think he fell off a pipe?” The other, a red head about the same age shrugged. “I wouldn’t lose any sleep if he did, probably wouldn’t even be paperwork if we had to scoop him up off the bottom.”
The blond man smirked. “So, once then? Twice?”
“Twice what?” Red asked, looking at the other man. “What are you talking about?”
“How many times he fell off the pipes.” The other enforcer said, clearly annoyed at his partner and waved him off. “It was a dumb joke.” The red head nodded, and tried to see where the descending person had gone, but was no longer in sight. The amusement clearly gone; the red headed enforcer’s eyes glazed over leaving the blond man just looking out the latticed window. Steve wondered if his young friends moved along between the two worlds the same way. He could imagine them jumping and scrambling around the piping and iron support structures to keep out of sight, moving in undetected in whatever shenanigans they were planning.
“Good hunt last night?” Steve heard the blond man say, and realized he was talking to him. He looked over at the younger man. “Excuse me?”
“I asked if you had a good hunt last night.” The enforcer said. “Especially after what happened.” Still watching out the window.
“Unproductive.” Steve said simply, going with it and if he kept it vague, the enforcer would give him information. He had no idea who the enforcer thought he was, but he could play it for at least the length of this ride. The man nodded, “We usually get a brief about a Clan Troubleshooter in the Lanes, but a building gets bombed I’m not surprised its more covert.”
A building got bombed. “So, you're saying it’s confirmed a bomb went off.” Steve glanced at the man. He shook his head, “Not yet, the oncoming shift got a brief before they came out this morning. Sherriff Greyson herself is heading the investigation and when she gets her teeth into something, she doesn’t let go.” The blond enforcer said, a hint of pride in his voice when speaking of the Sherriff. He shrugged as the first signs of the sun was becoming evident. The green miasma was shifting to a golden hue. “It could still end up being a gas leak, or a chem-line burst but C’mon, the place was owned by the Kirammans.” He spoke. “That House has enemies.”
Steve nodded, and committed the name to memory. House Kiramman.
“Nash, leave the man alone.” The red headed Enforcer said with an edge of frustration, looking down at the worn carpet. “You’re prattling on like a Sump Snipe on chaff.”
“Aren’t you curious, Arn?” Now the pair have names to go with the faces, Steve thought.
“Nope, not my business unless Ayres tells us it is.” He said, shifting his weight to lean on his elbow. “Otherwise, it’s busting Trencher heads.” Arn said, a dull smile on his face. Whether he meant what he said or just putting on airs, the enforcer went down several pegs in his opinion. He knew the type, as there were a lot of them in the Army. Guys who just wanted to shoot something, cause pain to make themselves feel just a little bit better. The same guys he had to contend with before Project Rebirth. The guy that picked on the little sick boy, or beating the small weak man who refused to give up.
The one that could do this all day...
“You’re with Kiramman? Medarda?” and after a moment’s thought wags his finger at the Soldier, “Ferros” Nash asked, unable to hold back his curiosity. Steve gave them an amused look. “C’mon guys, you know I can’t divulge that.” As the Bathysphere broke through the humidity clouds and into the clear morning. If the two enforcers were continuing the conversation, he didn’t know
Piltover was, in a few words, one of the most beautiful cities he’d ever seen. The skyline wasn’t dissimilar to Manhattan Island, except the buildings were far more colorful, and this was on another world. The largest a complex blue roofed multitiered castle skyscraper that he saw in one of the books that had been made available. It was the Academy Complex which was the seat of power as well.
His eyes drew to the tallest buildings surrounding it, no two similar other than being made of white stone, glass and steel in a colorful neoclassical architectural style. Each seemed to have a dirigible port on the upper floors and roof areas, and near the seaport and docks area was a sprawling structure, with several of the large airships attached in the distance. Below the skyscrapers were buildings of smaller stature but had the same design aesthetic, most that wouldn’t be out of place in Italy or France. The entire city was bathed in gold light from the sunrise and the blue sky above quickly brightening populated with multiple airships.
Airships moved though the sky above, the design of each unique but similar but familiar. Giant airships with two Envelope chambers and a massive gondola underneath with six propulsion engines along the hull.
The Bathysphere pulled into a station at the top of the track, the chem-lamp brightening the stairways which was the cue to leave. The two enforcers put their helmets back on and walked past him wordlessly and descended the stairs. Steve waited for the bulk of the passengers to disembark to join them, and was one of the last to exit the conveyance.
It was cooler and far less humid in Piltover as he moved through and down the stairs into the courtyard of the station. The passengers of the bathyspheres moved though the station, a clamor of voices chattering as the people moved past the multiple food stands and carts towards their respective employers. The little girl who he had given the fruit caught his eye, and gave him a wave before disappearing into the city.
The smell of coffee assaulted his senses, and his eyes followed the smell to the cart where a Vastaya goat man was making drinks for a small crowd of people in domestic uniforms. Steve looked at the price chart, and deciding it was a fair value for it based on his small bag of coins, approached Seles Coffee And Tea cart. The proprietor stood a little straighter as he saw Steve approach, ignoring the other two patrons who were about to order.
“Good Morning, Friend, how may I help you.” The Vastayan said, his goat face beaming.
“They were first.” Steve told him, motioning for them to go and looking at the menu. The pair looked confused for a scant moment before turning back to the Vastayan, who happily took their order and within a couple minutes were heading off towards their destinations, both giving him a slight nod as they passed by. Steve turned to the vendor, who happily greeted the soldier.
“A coffee please.” The Vastaya got to work, ground some beans and poured water over the grind. Within a short time, he turned and handed a thick paper cone filled with coffee, and a paper straw. The menu price was ten washers, to with Steve handed him twelve. The Vastayan grinned, his goat face showing large front teeth and a wave, and shifting to the next patron. Steve took the straw and shook it, and realizing it was filled with fluid, opened it and poured it into the cup. It lightened the coffee and he stirred it with the empty straw. It was pretty ingenious, he had to admit.
Coffee in hand, he walked out of the bathysphere’s courtyard and into the city of Piltover...
Undercity: The Last Drop: Lunch.
Powder walked into the Last Drop, her new shoulder bag over her shoulder as she made a beeline to the bar top. Clientele was pretty sparce at this time of the day, only a few people who were playing a game of billiards or having an ale, or both. Vander perked up as she approached, pulling her cup from under the bar and pouring the fruit juice he kept for the kids. Hopping up on one of the barstools, she placed the shoulder bag on the bar and took her cup and sipped. “Lunch will be ready in a bit” and saw the shoulder bag.
“It’s in there?” Vander said, his brow raised and touching the bag and feeling the pistol. Powder nodded, resting her head on her palm. “Yep, and I got the stuff stowed away too AND made some progress taking apart the busted game.” She yawned, laying her head on her arm. “I’ve been busy.”
“Sounds like it.” Vander said, looking inside the bag, and glanced up at her. “what are the papers? They are going in with it?”
She shook her head, sitting up. “Those are some notes for me and Ekko.” Leaning back, she looked at her father figure. “Do you like guns?” Powder never saw him with one, or even speak about them. His cast iron gauntlets hung over the bar, but there wasn’t a firearm in the bar, or at least one she had seen.
He shook his head and pulled the pistol out of the bag. “I’ve used them, but I never liked them.” Looking at the leather holster, he held up one of the metal magazines. “for bullets?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it fits seven bullets each.” And finished her drink. “Steve was out of bullets, though. We might have to make some.” Vander nodded, and took the pistol out of the holster, and flipped it over in his large palms. “Definitely not one I’ve seen before.” sliding it back into the holster, he grabbed a dry bar towel and wrapped the whole thing up. “Do you want to watch me put it away? See where I put it?”
Powder grinned. “Yeah!” and hopped off the barstool, following Vander through the kitchen to the bar’s office space. A large safe sat next to the junk covered desk, with piles of paper on the verge of collapsing. The large man spun the combination, and the safe popped open. Inside was jars cogs, envelopes and some objects that she had no idea what they were but would love to find out. He put the pistol on the top shelf of the safe. Vander looked at his youngest, who nodded at approval, and he shut the heavy door and spun the combo lock. “All safe.”
“Thanks Vander.” She said, giving him a hug. He returned it and stood up.
“Just let me know if you want it out, and I’ll grab it, Kiddo.” Vander said, motioning her towards the door.
The two walk out of the office, and Vander ruffled her hair before he went back out front to the bar. Powder straightened her hair as she headed downstairs to the kid’s room. Mylo was laying on one of the couches, tossing a ball into the air and catching it. He looked back and quirked a lip. “Hey. Did your buddy take off?”
“Yeah, He was gone by the time I went over there.” She said, putting the shoulder bag on her bed. “He said he’d be back in a couple days of looking around.
Mylo nodded and tossed the ball again. “He’s Ok.” He caught the ball, and tossed it to Powder, who barely caught it. “It might be nice to have a soldier around, I just hope he’s not some Pilty in disguise or decides to stay up there and be a Pilty.” And motioned for her to toss it back. She tossed it underhand, which earned her a look. He motioned an overhand throw, and Powder nodded that she was ready to catch it.
She did!
“He’s not going to be a Pilty.” Powder sneered, offended. “He’s one of us!” She tossed it overhand back at him, slower than his toss but it got to him. With a grin and a nod of approval, he telegraphed his throw, and let fly a little harder this time. She caught it with a little “ow.” Shaking her hand, she looked at her palm for a bruise. There wasn’t one. She tossed it back harder, and a little too much muscle on it for it to go a bit wild.
“I don’t know...” He said, stretching to catch her wild overhand throw. “We don’t know where he’s from, or anything about him.” Mylo sat up, “He stands a little too straight, a little too composed. Something about him isn’t right and I think you know more than you let on.” her brother said. “Try to keep your elbow controlled when you throw, ok?” and tossed it above her head. Powder had to jump to catch it, but she did and stuck her tongue out at him. She couldn’t answer him since she knew for a fact where he came from, but she didn’t want to tell Mylo the entire truth. Not yet maybe not ever.
She stared at the ball, rolling it in her hands and feeling the rough texture of the cloth and the hardness of the tight rolled-up string inside. Powder knew she wasn’t wrong about him; she just knew it. Everything was better since Steve appeared. Her getting the arcade up and running, her talk with Vander and even her ball playing with Mylo. They didn’t get shot by enforcers.
“He saved us from Enforcers...”
Mylo stood up, his attention on what she said. “What?” His ample eyebrows furrowed.
“They were going to shoot us for flipping them off, and he knocked them out before he collapsed, and we took him to the arcade.” She said with a slight quiver in her voice, not mentioning the whole Magic Portal Wish bit. She shrugged. “So, I trust him.”
Mylo stood there stunned. He’d heard rumors that the Enforcers had a new way to fuck with the Lanes by hunting trenchers, but now it happened to Powder, and no one messes with her except him. Anger rose like bile, and with a snarl punched the wall several times before he felt he could talk again. He turned to his little sister.
“Did you tell anyone else?” He asked, looking at his bleeding knuckles before wiping it off on his pants. “You told Vi at least?”
“You and Vi. Ekko was there with me.” She said, plopping down on the couch and bringing her knees to her chest. “I didn’t tell anyone else because I..” she snuffled. “...felt stupid for getting myself into it in the first place.” Mylo plopped down next to her, and draped an arm around her. “You’re not stupid, so get that out of your head. Wrong place at the wrong time? Sure, that’s just luck. Your Jinx got counter jinxed by a drunk lost Demacian soldier and it pulled your butt out of the fire.” And before she could say anything. “Of course, he’s from Demacia. Just look at him, like one of those Crownguards or something… Anyway, I just don’t get why you didn’t tell Vander.”
“Because he’d probably go out and pound them, and I don’t want to lose him.” She buried her face behind her knees. “I don’t want to lose anyone, not even you...” Mylo nodded, a smile crossing his face and he touched the back of her head. “I get it.”
“You can tell Claggor if you want to.” Powder looked up at him, her eyes watery. Mylo shook his head “Not my secret to tell, and Vi probably told him already as being the two oldest and responsible.” And gave her a light shove and stood up. “We youngest got to stick together, right?” and added “Unless I’m razzing you.”
“Maybe don’t?” Powder said, quietly.
Mylo turned back “Don’t what?”
“Razz me so much...”
Mylo went quiet, and looked at the girl. She was weaker than him, and easy to pick on since she was a little kid. Whenever she went with them on a job, something would go wrong, things would break down or get lost. He called her a Jinx, but her main problem was she was a little kid that wasn’t ready to do the big scores. Hell, maybe he wasn’t ready to do the big scores, he couldn’t even get his lockpicks to work right. Razzing her made him feel just a little better, like he wasn’t a problem. Why couldn’t she be like Ekko, and stick to tinkering and not in the way of the big kids.
“I can try.” He said, giving her a off center smile, “You gotta do something for me though.” And pulled out his custom lockpick. “Think you can make this work better?” and handed it to her. Wiping her face on her pant leg, she took the variable lock pick and played with the dials and screw actuators on the base. “Did you make this?” she asked looking up at him.
“Nah, my Dad did, or at least that’s what Old Lady Crabbe told me at the orphanage.” He shrugged. Mylo was one of the kids that wasn’t an orphan from the Day of Ashes. He tried to break in the Last Drop a couple weeks after she and Vi got taken in by Vander. Instead of sending the boy back to the orphanage Vander gave him some food and adopted him.
Powder took a closer look at the tool, turning the actuator on the handle and watched the teeth alter as she turned it. It wasn’t very well tuned, and had a wide margin of error. She could make it work way better. “I think so, it doesn’t look super hard. The tricky bit is getting the variable teeth to work better. Yeah, I can make it better, I’ll probably have to use Benzo’s workbench.” Plus, Ekko has tools that are better for fine work, she thought. She handed it back to him. “I’ll have to mess with it, maybe take it apart to see how it put together, or maybe make you a new one. I’ll have to talk to Ekko about it for some bench time.”
“Well, Alright!” he said, putting the tool back in his pouch with a grin. “Only slight, gentle razzing from now on.”
As Powder was about to retort, the door to the Room burst open, and Ekko and Claggor rushed in, with the older boy closing the door behind him after checking the hallway. Powder stood up; something was wrong. She couldn’t decide if the pair were worries, relieved or both.
Claggor was shaking his head with an offside grin. “You guys aren’t going to believe this one.” He said, and Ekko interrupted. “I was going on a pickup run in Piltover this morning near the university, and I thought I’d swing by the Weirdo’s apartment...”
Mylo shook his head. “Weirdo?”
“The place we were gonna hit yesterday.” Claggor said. “Let him finish.”
“So, I swung by, and noticed the street was closed off, so using all the charm I had at my disposal, I found out that the place BLEW UP last night...” Ekko said, emphasizing the blew up part. He began hopping from foot to foot. “Some high up family that owned the place according to my contact. Like, super high, council high. I got to see it from a distance, it looked like the whole balcony area was dropped into the street.” He sat next to Powder, who had sat back on the couch. “I wouldn’t have mentioned that place if I knew it was that highly connected. I just thought he was a weirdo.”
“We dodged a bullet, guys.” Claggor said, “If we’d gone up there, we could have gotten blamed for the explosion, or been there when it blew.” He flopped down on the couch across from them, and put his feet up on the table. “Next time we do the research, right everyone?” who all nodded in agreement.
Mylo crossed his arms. “Still sucks though, we would have taken that place for all it was worth!” He flopped back down on the couch next to Claggor. “Now we have to start from scratch.” Powder looked around. “Hey, anyone seen Vi this morning? She was still asleep when I went to the arcade.” She said to Claggor, leaning on the armrest. “We should tell her about the explosion.”
Claggor shrugged “Dunno, she was gone when I got up this morning. We were up pretty late.” Her big brother said, “Whoever sees her first lets her know.” And again, everyone agreed.
A bell rang from outside the rumpus room, which meant one thing. Stews on!
Undercity: Market Street: Lunch
Vi stood on one of the many crossways that connected the different layers and sections of the lanes, and watched as a pair of Enforcers strode along the avenue. These two were collecting money from the shops and stalls along Market St and stuffing it in the taller asshole’s side pouch as people made way for them, moving quickly out of their way to even jumping into the street to avoid them. The pair didn’t care that they were disrupting the day of the people they were supposed to be protecting, they were just being giant assholes. Giant dirty Enforcer assholes. They were nearly out of sight as she leaned out to see if they kept along Market St. or did, they turn on Puerility Ln.
Market!
She hopped up on the crossway rail, ran along it and jumped onto the ledge of the next tier running along the thin ledge until the next crossway was hopping distance and stopped there, checking for the pair. They were still walking.
Vi jumped off the crossway railing again and onto the steam pipe network, then ran past several people getting to a dead end, and used her momentum to jump to the next building and continued following. The two Enforcers stopped in an alley, and were talking with an officer, one not wearing the full Enforcer armor and a lot more gold. Definitely the head asshole. Relying on the dark to conceal her, She squatted down and listened above them, not too close of course but close enough to hear them and stay out of sight. The fact that Enforcers were hunting people was nothing new, but it had happened to Powder. That won’t stand.
“We picked up the tributes, Captain Ayres.” The Enforcer said, and taking his glove off and exposing his wrist. The captain named Ayres pulled a smooth blue crystal from his pouch glowing brightly, and held it up to the man’s wrist. The tattoo of a black flower appeared under the stones glow, disappearing once the stone was away from the man, and on the other Enforcer. The officer shown his own wrist, who had the mark as well. What the hell?
“What’s this all about, Sir.” The taller enforcer asked, pulling his glove back on. “We’re not supposed to be down here in this rotation, someone’s going to notice especially after the explosion topside. We took tribute to make it look like we had a reason to be here.”
“Relax, Holland, We have a meeting.” The captain stated and motioned behind him. A tall man with a wild head of black hair and basic trencher clothing joined them from farther down the alley. The two Enforcers bowed their heads to him, this trencher. Enforcers don’t defer to Trenchers, what the hell was going on? The man’s black eyes scanned around the alleyway, and out into the street. He motioned to the shorter of the two. “Watch the alley. Your compatriots will keep you informed.”
The shorter Enforcer nodded, and moved to the mouth of the alley and took post there as the wild haired man brought out some kind of glowing arrowhead shaped crystal, and placed it in the center of his hand. It began to spin, and moments later a bubble formed and expanded around them, all the way to the end of the alley. The bubble also enveloped around her, over her head where she had perched. Magic wasn’t something that just gets flung around in the lanes, she thought as she crunched her body more to stay away from the Arcane bubble inches above her head.
“We are secluded, any who pass though my spell I will know.” The wild hair man stated. The three remaining began speaking, low enough to still be heard. Vi breathed shallow, unsure of what she got herself into. Her plan was to follow them, get one of them alone and beat the shit out of him. That was it, not some back-alley meeting with a trencher and crooked enforcers. That was a fucking mageborne. She should run out of here, never look back, but she was frozen in the moment, transfixed.
“I will need you to keep control of an area of the Lanes later today, I have business here and I’d rather not be disturbed.”
The Enforcer nodded, and looked at the captain. After a few moments, the captain agreed. “We can do this for you, Magus.” The officer said. “We will need bring in some other enforcers, but...”
“Roland Ayres...” the man said, using his full name. Power move, maybe? “We can’t have interlopers involved in this. It must be kept within the society.” What society she thought. What was all this? “We must know how that little Sump Snipe got that rune, and what kind of rune it was.”
Vi froze, were they talking about Powder?
“We could just bring her to you, Magus.” The Enforcer said, but the wild haired man shook his head. “No Holland, a good thought but it must be done as I have planned. The place she frequents has a residual energy to it. That funhouse is secluded and will serve my needs well.” He said.” I will find the name of the author of the rune, and the power she stole must be added to our own, as the Maestro insists. All the Arcane must belong to the society, just as our agents are in every aspect of Piltover and Zaun.”
Vi clenched her jaw, trying to keep from making noise, to control her breathing. Funhouse? Sump Snipe with a Rune? They were talking about Powder. They were going to hurt her. Kill her? No no no… Not going to happen. She started looking around for a way to leave, to get to her as quick as possible. Tell Vander and Benzo. Fight! She shifted her weight to be ready to move back, and inadvertently dislodged a bit of stone from the shoddily built structure, which rained down into the alley. It wasn’t a lot of noise, but it was enough. She realized her head had touched the magic bubble.
Shit!
The Enforcer pulled his rifle from his back holster and unfolded it in one fell swoop as the captain pulled his revolver. The mage’s eyes shot around the alley, and settled on the area Vi had been hiding. If she moved fast enough, she could get to the opposite roof and make her way away from them before they can hit her.
“THERE!” the Mage shouted and released a purple bolt of energy from his hand, the bolt hitting the wall and chipping out a large gouge a foot away from her. The enforcers fired where he had hit, their bullets impacting around her as she jumped across the alley to the other ledge. All she had to do was get a foot hold and she was clear!
More energy hit around her as she made her landing on the opposite side, and tensed to commit the jump to the roof as the wall exploded with purple energy blowing her off her handhold as enforcer bullets impacted around her. She was falling, flailing to grab purchase on the windowsill as her world turned into purple explosions and pain!
The three watched the pink haired trencher fall and disappear into the piled trash, and rushed over to where the body had crashed. Urnst turned back to the captain. “You two should go, I will confirm the body.” And with that the Enforcers left the alley, grabbing the one keeping watch and departed the area. The mage watched them leave before he turned back to the trash pile. It was taller than him, and it would be a dirty climb into the pile. He may be dressed as one of the wastrels of the undercity, but he was a high-born mage. With a sigh, he released another bolt into the trash pile, and hearing no sounds of pain or exhalation of breath, decided the Trencher was dead. Straightening his clothing, he exited the alleyway.
On to the business at hand as he began his journey to the arcade, and what was under the floorboards.