Chapter Text
The door slammed behind Vi as she and her brothers headed out of the Last Drop, Powder standing rigid as she processed her sister’s request. Her sister leaving her. Her sister choosing Vander and Claggor and Mylo over her.
She dropped her bag as her hands clenched tighter, her eyes shimmering with tears of rage. How could she? How dare she?
The tears she was fighting back broke past her eyes, dripping steadily onto her shirt as she slowly curled in on herself. The bag in her hand made a dull thunk as it hit the floor, the explosive contents hardly a second thought compared to the explosive thoughts in her brain.
Did she really think Powder couldn’t handle another job just because of what happened in that stupid apartment? That was hardly her fault. Hell, for all they knew, it was Mylo’s fault the damn thing exploded.
Her sobs gradually got louder, the bag fully kicked away as she staggered backwards towards her (and Vi’s, everything is Vi why is nothing in here Vi’s-) bed, thumping against the lower bunk before letting her legs give out just as violently as her sobs.
The empty bomb casing hanging from the upper bunk (vi’s bunk vi’s bed it’s all-) rattled as she grabbed her pillow roughly, squeezing it between her hands to stop her wandering fingers from ripping all of her lovingly styled (by vi of course it’s vi) hair out of her scalp. Janna knows how long that would work for, but she was hardly in a problem solving mood.
How could they just leave her, she could help them she knew she could help them she was going to help them she could do it-
“What if we just- I don’t know, isn’t there any way to do this that doesn’t end in us all getting beat up-” Mylo shrugged his bag further up his shoulders, slowing his pace as Vi stopped in front of him, jutting her arm out and hitting him straight in the stomach before he could fully stop.
“Ow! What was that-”
“Shh!” Vi grabbed her arm back, pulling her own bag slowly up her back, “Or do you want me to send you back to babysit Powder while me and Claggor do all the big-boy jobs.”
He scowled down at her, shooting a pointed look at Claggor where he was standing, looking pointedly away from the other two.
“It’s that building, the messed up one. We can probably find a break in the roof if we climb it,” Vi half whispered, half barked. Claggor’s eyes dragged up the rough walls of the old building, considering.
Mylo nodded slowly. Knowing how to climb a building was essentially part of ‘being a trencher 101’, it was to be expected when they decide to head out and get Vander back. Hell, they had climbed over plenty of buildings just making it to the docks from the Last Drop. Which means that chances are, the plan will just get the harder the second they make it to the roof.
“From there, we’ve just gotta find Vander,” Vi turned to face the building fully, regarding it as her brothers fell in step behind her. “We can figure something out from there.”
Because that’s how all great, well thought out plans sound, Mylo thought. There was definitely very little left up to fate, and if they followed the plan then they would definitely succeed in getting Vander out. Nothing left up to chance. Nothing at all.
The rough walls of the broken down factory were easy enough to scale, chips in the building making easy hand holds and foot rests.
Claggor pulled him the final reach from the perch on the roof he’d made just before it turned to fragile glass, Mylo shaking his hands out from the uncomfort the sharp rocks had caused.
Vi was just a bit further than them, peering down into the seemingly empty building to the few spots the light managed to spill onto. They had no way of telling if anyone was hiding out further down in the broken down shithole, just hope that whoever had brought Vander there had thought their own plan through only as far as Vi had thought hers.
She glanced further across the roof, spotting a wide hole in the already mostly cracked glass.
“Over there, c’mon,” she motioned to her brothers, jumping across the weakened glass to the slightly thicker support beams lining it. She resisted the urge to look down into the building, knowing that the scene down there hadn’t changed any more than the night sky had.
Mylo and Claggor followed quickly behind her, their own resolves visible as they, too, resisted the urge to look into the building again.
“From here,” She whispered, crouching closer to the opening in the roof, “We can probably make it onto the bridge-thing. Then we look for Vander. No more noise than we have to once we’re in there, alright?”
The boys nodded their agreement, Mylo nervously checking around the building to make sure no one had, at least conspicuously, followed the three clearly stressed teenagers through the lanes to their destination.
She slipped her legs slowly through the crack in the roof, the rest of the glass staying steady underneath her. As she felt it stay firm under her weight, she nodded to her brothers before jumping fully into the dark building, hitting the grated floor of the bridge with a thud.
Mylo and Claggor followed behind her with varying levels of success on their own landings.
“Over there!” Vi’s words came quick and harsh as soon as she noticed Vander’s form at the end of the bridge, strapped into a chair in a seemingly empty room.
The three raced down towards their father, Vanders eyes sluggishly moving between the three of them as they got closer. He attempted to raise his hand, motion them to not come closer, this was all a trap, they needed to leave, but his arms were strapped down to the chair he was stuck in and his brain was moving slower than the oil that trickled into their water from topside.
“You three… you need to,” Vanders attempts to warn his kids were stopped short as he coughed, a cut in his mouth taking over the rest of his senses.
“Shush. It’s my- our fault you’re here. I’m not just gonna leave you here,” Vi dropped the bag she had been carrying next to Vander, a metallic clang sounding out from it. She motioned to Mylo where he stood, and he quickly took the hint to start freeing their father. Attempting to free their father, at least.
“Violet, listen to me,” Vander made his voice louder, squeezing his eyes shut to try and ignore his pounding headache. “The man who brought me here- he wants you to be here. You need to-”
“I’m not abandoning you, Vander,” Vi turned away from him, looking pointedly out of the door as she noticed, slowly but surely, the shapes of people in the darkness. “I can’t just leave you here.”
“Yeah, like hell we’d do that,” Claggor affirmed, following Vi’s eyes to the increasingly visible mass of people on the other side of the bridge, hoping that whoever was over there hadn’t noticed them yet. Knowing that they were never that lucky.
“Isn’t this touching,” A rough voice from across the bridge sounded as loud as an explosion in the quiet of the run-down building, “A family reunion, in a place such as this.”
Vander’s eyes, groggy as his head was, were sharp as ever, and managed to lock quickly on to the figure speaking, eyes widening ever so slightly as he noticed just how many people hidden in the shadows Silco had managed to convince that this was the right thing to do.
“Shame it’ll have to be cut short, but what can you do?” Silco smiled, his teeth on display as the three children glared daggers at him.
“Claggor, try and find another way out of here,” Vi didn’t break eye contact with the man across the bridge, trying to remember if she had ever seen him before. Vander sure as hell had, given his sharp intake of breath when the man had started speaking. “Mylo, hurry up.”
Claggor nodded as Mylo sent an offended look her way, both of which were negated due to the fact that Vi wasn’t looking at either of them or even vaguely in their direction.
“Violet. Don’t do something stupid,” Vander’s voice was growing stronger the longer Mylo worked on his restraints, simultaneously gaining more hope and desperation.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Vi turned briefly to offer him a smile, before turning her full attention back to the now visible mob slowly shifting towards them from the other side of the bridge. Silco’s eye, formerly locked on his old friend, had drifted to regard Vi. Not much a difference there, really.
A different man to Silco’s right slowly shifted up and closer to the bridge itself, walking tiredly towards the opening that connected both sides of the building. He held a bottle of… something in his hand, and it sloshed from side to side as his steps landed.
Vi’s eyes locked on the man, recognizing the way he was attempting to block off their way out of the factory. Knowing that of the people in the room right now, it’d be her that’d have to go and fight him.
Powder’s head hurt.
She glared at the head of the broken monkey alarm on the floor, the equally broken body laying discarded at her feet. Her tears had dripped onto its metal cymbal, and they reflected the humming blue glow of the crystals now carefully held in her hand.
She knew if she could figure out what had caused the crystals to explode- she knew she could help her family. Wherever Vander had been taken, they could just blow the damn place up.
But she was sitting on her ass in her room. Not helping her family by coming up with a genius plan to bomb the building holding their kidnapped father, just daydreaming about how to be a real hero.
She glared across the room, out the open door, across the dark hallway to the even darker common room. The conversation her sister and Mylo had been having earlier played again in her mind, her sisters echoing in the dark expanse that was her mind.
The crystals in her hand shined a bright blue, glowing brighter the longer she looked at them. The explosion at the piltie penthouse was also bright blue.
Powder considered if it was even worth trying to follow them, she knew Vi would be mad if she left the Last Drop but she could go and save them and she needed to show her that she was more than just a stupid jinx that would mess up all their missions.
She set the crystals back in the small bag she’d been keeping them in, before slowly raising her arm and wiping the dried tears coating her cheeks and standing on shaky legs. She looked across the room to where she’d dropped her bag of bombs, (stupid, failure, unworking bombs) and considered if she’d actually need them.
Better safe than sorry, she supposed as she quickly scooped up the bag and slung it across her body.
I just need to show them I can help, she thought. Then they’ll have no chance but to accept that I’m more than just a jinx. I’m useful. I can help.
The back door to the Last Drop closed quietly behind her as she walked out of the dark hallway. The sign on the front door had been turned to tell possible patrons that the bar was closed for the night. This was the first time in a while that no one had been home at all at night.
Vi’s gloved hand slammed into another man’s jaw, sending his head flying upwards.
Her breaths came fast and heavy, but so far she’d yet to take a serious hit. The mob was approaching quickly, but not as fast as Vi was knocking them on their asses. The metal gauntlets shielding her hands were the icing on the cake, showing not only was she beating grown adults as a teenager, but as the direct heir to the person they were all trying to overthrow.
She was proud. She knew Vander was too.
Back in the room she’d left Vander in, Mylo’s lockpicking skills were finally showing themselves as the second to last lock holding Vander in place popped loose. Vander was holding his wrist in his opposite hand, cradling where the metal had rubbed his skin red.
Behind the two, Claggor had to set to work on breaking a wall with his bare hands, much to Vander’s displeasure.
“You’re doin’ good, Mylo. Just stay calm. Keep your hands steady,” Vander offered his younger son a small smile before turning his attention back to Vi and her steady stream of assailants. He grimaced as he saw her take a hit to the stomach, resisted the urge to smile as she knocked her attacker over the edge of the bridge.
There were only a few people left on the other side of the bridge, Vi noted through her fighting. Two of them look weak, so they probably won’t even try to attack. The other few I can deal with, she assured herself. And then Vander would be free to go.
Mylo bit his lip in frustration as the lockpick jammed in the final lock again, the long device refusing to budge from wherever it had gotten lodged within the padlock.
“C’mon, stupid thing. Just a little…” he whispered to himself, willing himself not to turn around as the sound of another body hitting the floor of the factory resounded from behind him. The factory was empty enough that every sound from the currently ongoing fight echoed ten times louder in the small room the three boys were trapped in.
The final lock clicked free.
“Yes!” Mylo half screamed as Vanders smile finally broke past his lips. He stood quickly, shaking the loose chains from his limbs as he surveyed the fight in front of him.
Silco’s companions had dwindled down to five. Himself, another seemingly frail man, Sevika, and two others who didn’t seem as though they’d be terribly difficult for Vi to take down. Even knowing that, Vander didn’t want his daughter to suffer for something that he caused.
“Violet!” Vander yelled as he walked quickly onto the bridge, Silco’s eyes tracking his every step. “Stop. We can find a way out of here, let me deal-”
A man from the opposite side of the bridge had downed a vial of the glowing purple drug that the entire building was being used as a stockpile for. Said man was now barreling at Vander and his daughter at an inhuman speed, evidently intent on throwing the two over the railing.
Vander shoved the man to the side at the same time as he threw a punch that connected with Vanders stomach, pushing him to the opposite side of the bridge. Vi managed to step backwards as the two men locked into their fight, shoving and punching and attempting to throw each other over the ledge.
She took a slow step backwards, glancing between the fight in front of her and her brothers behind her, both of whom seemed to be on the verge of breaking through the back wall of the building.
Vi knew how this would go. She was already injured, and Vander didn’t want to be fighting. The man he was fighting clearly had done something to himself, and Vi wasn’t sure she wanted to figure out exactly what it was he had ingested.
“Vander!” She called, stepping further away from her father and the man interlocked in a fight with him. “Vander, c’mon! Back this way!”
Powder skipped through the lanes, carefully switching sides in the street to get as far from the clearly intoxicated. She was near giddy as she made her way to the docks, knowing if she managed to pull this off she’d finally once and for all show her family she was actually useful.
She carefully kept a hand covering the small pouch around her waist she was holding the blue gems in, making sure not to jostle them around too much as she jogged.
The docks were about as pretty at night as they were during the day, which is to say pretty hideous, actually. Powder glanced around the open area, hoping to all the gods no enforcers were patrolling the area.
The gods had never much favored her.
A small group of enforcers was making their way around the exact building she was headed towards. She froze behind the closest building, taking in the group's pointed aversion to actually looking into the building, even though she could clearly hear the sounds of a brawl happening inside.
They were probably paid off by someone, she realized. And given that that’s the building someone took Vander to, chances are whoever paid them off is the same person who stole Vander, she scowled.
It wouldn’t hurt to have a little detour before helping Vander, she could get rid of the enforcers and then go save the day inside the trashed factory. It would probably help everyone out, in the long run, if she got rid of the enforcers now.
She looked down at the bag slung around her torso, attempting to rummage quietly from her perch.
Moving around lots of metal in a small space while near a group of people paid to pay special attention to their surroundings is never a good idea.
Two of the enforcers turned to where she was hiding, squinting at the spot they could hear the jingling of metal from. A small tuft of Powder’s blue hair was visible from where she was sitting.
The enforcers were meant to be looking for a child or teenager with blue hair, concerning the days earlier explosion. They knew this. They nodded to each other, slowly stepping closer to the source of the noise.
Powder, oblivious to her impending misfortune, continued ruffling through her bag.
“Hey kid,” The enforcer turned the corner on the broken down building, looming over Powder's small frame as she stared up with wide eyes, “You know anything about that explosion earlier today?”
Vander dragged the metal door shut behind him even as the shimmer-drunk man pounded on it, making indents in the side it had been pulled from. His back hit the door as he slowly slid down, clutching his own torso in his hand.
Vi turned to him from where she’d dropped to catch her breath, smiling giddily as she watched him.
His eyes raised to meet hers, offering a small smile before shiting his attention to his older son and the crumbling wall in front of him.
Vi turned her eyes towards Claggor too, shifting her head as she watched a small stream of light from outside leak in through the cracks. Mylo stood to Claggors side, watching his progress and holding back from offering small words of encouragement.
“You’re doing great, Claggor,” Vander breathed out, wincing as a sharp sting from his side drew his attention back to the warping door at his back. “Just keep it up.”
“Hell yeah, Claggor.” Vi smiled, her own injuries near forgotten as the hope of getting out of this stupid building welled up further in her chest. “That wall doesn’t stand a chance against you.”
Claggor huffed a laugh as his fists continued pummeling the wall, the cracks leaking through more and more light and it crumbled underneath his fists.
Finally a large enough chunk fell out under his fist, hitting the stone pier far underneath it. Claggor stood at the opening, admiring how much he’d managed to do. Mylo stood to his side, attempting to gauge the drop down from where they were.
The door warped further underneath Vander’s back as he slowly lifted to his feet, dragging Vi up with him as she groaned.
“Come on then, let's get out of here.”
None of them could hold back their smiles as they leapt onto the hard ground, each absorbing the fall in a different way and each equally as ready to start sprinting their way back home.
Powder shook and attempted to scream as she was dragged further away from the lanes, the enforcers who’d apprehended her ignoring the screams coming from behind the gag they’d shoved in her mouth as soon as they’d realized transporting her topside could cause a problem.
“What’d Marcus say again?” One of her captors muttered to one of the others, tightening their grip on Powder’s arm.
“Anybody involved’s supposed’ta head to Stillwater. He’d deal with the paperwork,” The other answered, not needing to adjust their iron tight grip on her arm.
The other enforcer's eyes flitted to Powder's small face, considering her wide, wet eyes.
“She doesn’t seem a bit young for that?”
“I’m not getting paid to care for terrorists, young or not.”
The first enforcer shook their eyes away from Powder's begging eyes, steeling their own expression as they headed to the awaiting ship headed to Stillwater.
Powder’s pleas were drowned out by the gag, for a while. Eventually the waves were loud enough she didn’t bother trying to make any noise.