Chapter Text
"Together."
Spinning and floating, tearing and falling, plummeting down, but no air rushed over his skin, he felt no pull of gravity, no breath in his lungs, all he felt was the warmth on his hands, a pressure against this forehead. He tried to open his eyes...to see...
To see...
...Who?
A sharp inhale and a mouth full of still saliva, greeted Jayce to an early morning coughing fit. Groaning as he rolled over, wiping his mouth against his forearm, the coughing doing nothing for the headache he's woken up with.
The world felt like it was out of focus. His vision shifting, repeating and then...stopping. Realigning itself.
He regretted pushing himself up to sit, his head lurching like his brain was trying to push itself out of his skull. He swore he'd never felt anything like this but at the same time it felt familiar. Some deep subconscious part of himself said "not again" before it was buried under his surface thoughts.
"Ugh...jeez..." Clamping a hand over his eyes, Jayce took some deep breaths, blindly reaching over to his bedside table for his water.
He felt a bit better after the cool liquid poured down his throat. For a moment, he considered trying to go back to sleep but figures it's a futile effort given the throbbing between his temples. So he chucked on something halfway decent to wear incase he's seen by anyone important, and made his way out of the Academy.
He had intended to give himself a break from the streak of sleepless nights working in his lab...but since he wasn't going to fall back asleep anyway, he may as well get some work done. He scooped up the box of tech he'd bought in the Undercity and tucked it under his arm. He was gonna bring Caitlyn around tomorrow and show her what he found but maybe that can wait for later.
Yawning, making his way downtown to his lab, he looked up at the night sky. The sun would probably rise in a few hours. He can get in some research before he's needed at the academy tomorrow.
The crystal from that day felt heavy in his pocket. A flash of memories made his head hurt again. Snow rippling painfully over his face that stopped, all of a sudden. Staring up at the mage responsible for saving his and his mother's life. He could just barely see his face, shrouded by a hood, but the memory was already foggy enough to discern any features.
It was hard to think about. The moment that sent his life on it's current trajectory. The moment he realised how much good magic can do. How much good it has to do.
He chewed on that same part of the inside of his cheek that's used to the treatment. Frustration bubbling in his chest.
If he had some open support. Hell, just someone to help out. He's certain he could change thousands of lives for the better. He's grateful for the Kirammen's sponsorship, but he can only ask them for so much. More specifically, he can only ask for things that won't raise suspicion about what he's up to. The mental gymnastics he has to do to justify all the pieces of tech he needs for simple engineering, as he tries to subtlety figure out something that can harness those crystals safely.
Which is why his recent... excursion... the Undercity is something he'd rather not have to repeat anytime soon. But it's the only place he can get what he needs. Even though he's pretty sure the kid that sold them to him hiked up the prices.
He sighed, tiredly trotting down some steps. "An extra pair of hands would make a world of difference." He found himself muttering, quieting his footsteps and hurrying past a pair of enforcers patrolling the streets. He didn't have anything to fear from them and he could explain away the contents of his box easily enough, but he didn't feel like being interrogated.
He entered his office building and made his way down the hall, entering his lab. He propped the box down on the first clear-ish surface he could see and immediately fell into his usual routine. Stare at his equations, consider that trying to create artificial magic was the ravings of a crazy man, write down his newest hypothesis'. Eventually the numbers and letters got blurry and he nodded off in his back room, face down on the desk.
~
A crystal drops into his palm
He passes the same crystal into the same palm, years later
"You should go, Jayce"
"We finish this together."
~
The sound of something clattering to the floor woke him from his slumber. He raised his head with a start, still half asleep and was forced to process a list of things very, very quickly, despite the way his head was spinning.
First of all. There was a blue-haired child standing five feet from him, hands in his crystal chest, wide eyed in shock, having woken him up. He's pretty sure he heard more voice in the other room but the soft clinking of one of the crystals rolling across the floor, shot his brain into overdrive.
"Oh shit-"
Scrambling to his feet, stumbling across the room and with dexterity that surprised him, scooped up the now, pulsating crystal. "Not good, not good."
To be honest, he had no idea what it was doing, but unstable, illegal magic, pulsing like a bomb? He needs it out of his lab, now. Jayce ran over to the balcony, right past three stunned teenagers, slamming the door open and pitching the crystal as hard as he could, directly up.
It burst in a shower of blue, that thankfully, only had air to combat with. Even so, a wave of energy was strong enough to sting Jayce's eyes, quickly shielding his face with his forearm. Shrieks came from below that turned to concerned murmmers as the blue seemed to blow away in the wind. He let out a gasping sigh of relief, putting his hands on his knees, his head spinning again
something is different this time.
Like a shift in the universe, something being erased and written over.
It took a few moments for his brain to catch up and he whipped around to see three kids. Couldn't be any older than Caitlyn.
All three were looking up at the blue mist dissipating in the air. And all at once, their eyes dropped, met Jayce's, and they scattered.
"Powder why didn't you tell us there was a guy here?!" A boys voice yelled in a panic.
"He was asleep!" The blue haired girl sped past, clutching a small bag to her chest.
"It doesn't matter! Go, go!" An older girl ordered, tossing a hefty bag over her shoulder as the three teens and the blue haired girl ran for the balcony window, jumping out with circus performer levels of grace.
"Hey!" Jayce called after them but to no avail. Shouting came from below as the enforcers caught wind of the ruckus and Jayce watched a growing force of soldiers chase after the four kids.
He stared down the street until they were out of his sight, bewildered, his brain still trying to wake up. Who the hell were those kids?
The shouts echoed down the street. Enforcers lobbing bolases at the kids.
An uncomfortable feeling crept up on him. He wondered if it was odd that he hoped they got away? He knows they just robbed him but he certainly doesn't want the enforcers to catch them. He can't trust them to simply give him his stuff back without hurting them or throwing them in a dark cell to be forgotten.
As the minutes passed, everything that just happened finally started to sink in. Jayce rummaged around for his most vital pieces. Luckily, most of his equipment was too big or bulky to stash in that one backpack they brought with them. Not only that, it didn't exactly surprise him that they took the shiny, expensive-looking stuff, assuming it was valuable. Sure, some of it definitely was. But others just had fancy, designs. Easily replaceable.
No, the only truly irreplaceable things are-
Every nerve, muscle and organ in Jayce's body felt like they halted all at once, a sickening nausea overtook him.
Darting into the back room where he had been sleeping, his eyes landed with a heart wrenching heaviness on the open, empty chest where his crystals once were.
He couldn't help it, his body gave way and he fell to his knees. "She took all of them..." He barely whispered to himself, staring at the ground. "Damnit!" His forehead hit the floor with a thump that he would probably start feeling later but as for right now, he was just devastated.
He couldn't care less about the rest of it but those crystals were the centre of his research, he couldn't do anything without them.
He's not sure how long he lay there for. Crushing defeat sinking into every pore on his body. How was he ever going to find crystals like that again? He couldn't even think of anything that could come close to being a substitute. Either they'll end up sold in the Undercity or they'll get destroyed by the council like every other piece of illegal magic. It's over.
There was a loud banging knock at his door, followed by the call of the enforcers, asking for entry.
"Shit..." He muttered, scrambling up and scanning the room for anything illegal. Luckily for him, a lot of it had been stolen! So there was less to hide.
"Coming!" He hurriedly stashed everything he could get into trouble for owning, in a trapdoor under his desk, moving a box of scrap on top of it and answered the door.
"Excuse us Sir, there's been an incident, we were informed there were Undercity thugs seen coming from this floor." They got right to the point and Jayce saw no real reason to lie.
He rubbed the back of his neck, four young faces flashing by mind. "Well, 'thugs' is a stretch. Just a bunch of kids. Broke in and stole some of my stuff." He glanced over his shoulder where his papers and anything not deemed valuable were tossed all over the floor.
"Do you mind if we enter to further investigate?"
A part of Jayce desperately wanted to say no but with Undercity involvement, they'd likely force the issue with a warrant anyway. That would be a bad look for the Kirammen's.
Reluctantly, he stepped back, opening the door wide for the two enforcers to do a sweep. One walked further into the lab while the other stayed by Jayce.
"Can we ask you some questions?"
Jayce put on his best 'cooperative citizen smile' and nodded. "Go ahead." He perched on the edge of a nearby table as the other enforcer scanned the room.
"Were the thugs armed?"
Shaking his head, Jayce could tell this was gonna be a long talk. "No. Like I said, they were kids. The oldest one was maybe sixteen, fourteen? I dunno." Teenagers all look the same to him between the ages of twelve and seventeen.
"There were reports of an explosion? What can you tell us about it?"
His body tensed at the question as he hastily forged a lie. "Uh, to me it looked like some kind of crazy smoke bomb? Again, they were kids. Super clumsy and disorganized. Probably the first time they've stolen anything."
The inventor couldn't help but notice that this enforcer wasn't writing anything down, not keeping notes and would just ask another question as soon as Jayce answered. "Have you been targeted by any Undercity gangs before?"
Jayce held in a frustrated groan. He wasn't listening. He was just waiting for his turn to ask more questions. This guy has his biases and he wasn't gonna listen to Jayce say anything that didn't line up with what he already believed. That dangerous Underground thugs ransacked a Piltover citizens property.
They'd probably go with the story that it's serial robberies just to add some good ol' fear mongering to the town. Confirm the fear the general public has of the Undercity dwellers.
He hoped that once he let the enforcers do their thing, he'd be left alone. But the news of the robbery had already reached the Academy and the council. It wasn't long before he was receiving messages asking what happened. Most were just reaching out in concern. Like the Kirammen's and his mother. But the rest were officials clearly trying to get this up-and-coming inventor with the support of Heimerdinger and the Kirammen's, to say something incriminating about the Undercity.
Just when we thought he could be alone, someone else popped up. He didn't mind when it was Caitlyn, who showed up a few minutes after the original pair of enforcers left. She wanted to do some investigating of her own but Jayce managed to convince her to go home and assure her parents that everything was fine.
When Jayce had some time to decompress after his morning from hell. All he wanted to do was mourn the loss of his life's work but he heard one last knock at his door. The last man he answered the door for, was not what he was expecting at all.
Jayce had no idea who he was, for starters. Floppy brown hair, a somewhat uninterested expression on a tired, pale face. He looked up at Jayce, blinking once.
"Good afternoon. May I come in?"
That's a thick accent. It caught him by surprise. He wondered where he was from.
Apparently taking the silence as an invitation, Jayce was a little taken back by how the man hadn't waited for a response before slowly walking inside, immediately starting to peruse the lab. Jayce didn't even think to stop him, scanning down his body towards the cane in his grip, clicking along the floor as he walked. Judging by his uniform, he's with the academy. But Jayce doesn't recognize him.
"Uh." Jayce began, watching the man pick up one of Jayce's research papers and begin casually flipping through the pages. "Who are you?"
Without looking up from the book, he flipped another page. "Heimerdingers assistant." He propped his cane against the desk and gave the book his full attention, reading with what could be mistaken for interest. "He apologizes he could not be here himself, he hopes you come by when he has time to spare." He repeated the headmasters words in a tone just shy of monotonous.
Eventually, he looked up and met Jayce's eyes again. "He asked me to come and ensure your 'special research' was unharmed, and offer any assistance I could."
That pit in Jayce's stomach only got deeper at the man's words. The man who clearly took notice of the shift in Jayce's demeanour.
There was a pause before he spoke again. "I take it that your research was harmed then? Given the uh, sour look." Adding emphasis to a word he wasn't sure if he was using in the correct context.
Jayce snapped back to the reality that he absolutely could not tell anyone why he was so upset. He doesn't have enough sway with the council to get any level of discretion while returning his stolen property. So there's no way he could report it stolen. He just had to accept the fact that it was gone.
He cleared his throat and forced a light chuckle. "Well I mean, could have been worse right?" He gestured around his lab. "Most of the important stuff is still here."
"But not all." The man finished for him, direct and no nonsense. Eyes now boreing into the side of Jayce's head, willing the return of eye contact. Jayce couldn't bring himself to look at him again for some reason. Like if he did, he'd immediately know Jayce was lying.
He sighed, making a show of shrugging his shoulders like he was just a confused victim. "Well sure, I lost some expensive stuff. But I suppose it's nothing I can't replace. I just hope the Kirammen's aren't too upset with me." Rubbing the back of his neck in a bashful manner. That part wasn't a lie at least. He'd have to ask them for more money and he already finds it hard to do that.
The other man hummed, placing the book back down and setting his eyes on his next piece of reading material. Jayce followed his gaze to his journal. His journal where he wrote about his research on the crystals. On Hextech. It hadn't made it into the box with the rest of his research.
Without thinking, Jayce darted forward and slammed his hand down on top of the journal just when the assistants fingers brushed the corner. "Oh that- I-...Uh, don't-" The man raised an eyebrow, keeping his eyes on him as Jayce chuckled nervously, scooping up he journal up and tucking it under his arm, close to his chest. "This is uh, it's nothing. Very nothing. I mean. It's... A load of garbage honestly. Just crack theories mostly. Heh."
The silence made Jayce's palms clammy, fingers fidgeting against the book. The man looked at Jayce with a vacant stare for a comically long time before finally speaking. "I don't suppose you've noticed that you are being incredibly suspicious."
Jayce stammered "No, I mean I don't think-"
"This is normal behavior for you then?" The man interrupted. He didn't sound accusatory or judgmental. More like he was just trying to decipher this whole situation.
Jayce tried to laugh it off again, but it appeared that this man had no time to waste on social graces. No putting on a smile for the sake of someone else's comfort. Simply just said what he was thinking at the time and acted accordingly.
"I've had a...long morning." Jayce started as the man seemed to lose interest and keep walking around his lab. "I-...uh... You can tell Heimerdinger, thank you for his concern, but it's really not necessary. He'll be the first to know if there's anything I-" his rambling was cut short by the man walking straight up to his chalk board. Littered with every equation and hypothesis concerning his invention. His Hextech.
Jayce counted on the grunt enforcers who came in here to take one look at his wall of equations and not give it a second thought. But this guy was analyzing it.
He understands it.
Sweat started to prickle at Jayce's temples. This is it. He's gonna figure out what Jayce has been researching and he's gonna tell the council. All Jayce can hope for now is that maybe the language is vague enough that he doesn't figure out what it all means.
"That... Explosion. The burst of energy that appeared about twenty or so feet in the air above your lab." The man slowly reaches a hand out and fingers gently touched the board. "...Twas magic, yes?"
Jayce's strained silence was all the answer he needed. The enforcers were willing to believe it was a smoke bomb at least, some strange discombobulating device at worst. They wouldn't know if it was magic or not.
The man's back to Jayce, his arm fell to his side, slowly pacing along the chalk board to take in a new section.
Jayce's mind was running wild trying to think of an excuse. Any lie that made an iota of sense. But he had nothing.
"Did the thieves bring it?" The assistant turned his head to the side, so his ear was facing the man behind him.
"No!" He answered quicker than he should have. But the last thing he wanted was to accuse four kids of being magic smugglers. Even implying something like that would get them hunted and killed.
The inventor sighed, and exhausted rush of air escaping his lungs from hours of stress with no relief. "No, they were only kids from the Undercity. A little girl with blue hair, an older girl and two boys. They just stole the shiny stuff." He didn't immediately notice the man had partly turned around, looking at Jayce with an intrigued, somewhat surprised expression.
"It's mine. Was mine." It was hard to hide the devastation in his voice. He was really trying to not be openly pathetic but it was getting harder by the minute.
"What was it?" The mans tone was considerably softer. Eyes locked on Jayce like he was hoping for a very specific answer.
Completely giving up the ghost, Jayce flipped open his journal, and handed it to the assistant. He may as well be honest at this point.
"They were power crystals of sorts..." He said as the man took the journal, eyes darting over the words, reading at an impressive speed. "I was researching them to... to fabricate magic. Harness the Arcane. To infuse it's power into technology. No more batteries you have to charge or machinery you need to crank. Just... raw power."
The assistant didn't speak, only moving to look between Jayce and his writings. Jayce stepped forward, feeling a sudden burst of confidence. Or maybe it was just the urge to convince this guy that he wasn't some crazy person making weapons. He gestured to his research.
"Don't you see how this could change lives? They're pure energy. If I can just stabilize them, they could power transportation, more advanced prosthetics, mining and medical equipment. It could make lives in Piltover and in the Undercity better." He flipped the pages himself, bringing the mans attention to his very rough designs on gloves that could increase mining productivity and safety.
"If I could just make something good enough I could show the council it's nothing to be scared of. We're the champions of discovery, why fear it when we can master it?" He took a breath to continue his spiel. "And before you say anything, I know I must sound insane but I've seen for myself what magic can do. It's pure and limitless and if we could just learn to harness it-"
All at once he felt the wind taken out of his sails. Here he is, monologuing. Rambling like an idiot, and for what? It's not like he can even do this anymore. Not without the crystals. The only silver lining here is that there's no proof that the crystals existed besides from his writing. At least he wont get jailed or exiled. Probably.
"I just thought if I could show the good it could do. I could invent things that actually help people. If they'd just give it a chance..." Given Piltovers stance on magic. Heimerdinger himself would simultaneously congratulate him on his ingenuity and chastise him for it involving magic.
His head snapped up when the assistant flipped to the next page. The casual tone breaking Jayce's dramatics. "On the contrary. I agree with you."
Jayce already had his mouth open, ready to rant more, instead his jaw went slack, fearing he misheard the other man.
"I...you..what?" Jayce all but short-circuited.
The man, still holding Jayce's journal, started pacing the floor. "It's all very intriguing, your research. I believe it has merit. It could very well work, given the proper attention. I can think of some experiments that would fill in the gaps in your theories and give a clearer indication of their potential uses and how to further their development..."
He kept speaking. He kept saying just the most wonderful things. But Jayce couldn't even enjoy it because his brain was having a hard time easing itself out of being defensive. How could he have expected this unwavering support?
"...Jayce Talis, I do believe you're onto something quite magnificent."
Finally managing to close his slack jaw, Jayce swallowed, making an attempt to compose himself. "How'd you know my full name?"
The man grinned in a rather amused way. "You mean besides from how you sign every single page of your journal? A little egotistical do you not think?"
Ignoring the jab. Instead focusing on the previous things he said. The inventor felt a rush of hope, spurring on his next question. "Wait so... You... Want to help me? Did I hear that right? Even though this is all...so illegal?"
The man let his head bob from side to side. "Oh we would almost certainly be banished if we were discovered, yes." He said matter-of-factly. He sounded so completely unbothered by the potential consequences.
Jayce bristled at the mans continued bluntness. The assistant let a small pleased smile quirk up the corners of his lips.
"To answer your question. Yes. Even so. If innovators stopped when they reached the unknown, the unexplored, we would have nothing that we have today." He took a few steps towards him, turning to stand beside Jayce, facing the chalkboard.
"The only way to make the unknown, known, is to discover it ourselves." Closing the journal, he handed it back to Jayce. "It's as you said. Why fear it?"
"I..." Jayce paused and let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head. Of all the outcomes of this morning. This wasn't even on the list of possibilities.
"Why...would you risk this?"
The man scoffed lightly. "Do you think it was my life's ambition to be an assistant?
The way he smiled softly as he spoke captivated Jayce completely. "Scientists seek discoveries. Ways to make the world a better place. And when you are going to change the world. You don't ask for permission."
Jayce took in the man beside him. Studying every sharp feature on his face. Framed by that floppy brown hair.
"I'm sorry, what's you name?"
The man turned his head to face him. Amber eyes meeting his. "It's Viktor."
Jayce smiled. "Viktor. Thank you."
The smile was returned, more of a dry grin. "I haven't even done anything impressive yet."
The more they talked, Jayce's growing excitement was undercut by the realization that dawned on him once again. That he and Viktor wouldn't be able to do anything without those crystals. He voiced his concerns to the other man
"She took all of them.."
Viktor tapped his chin. "Ah yes... The blue child."
"Only her hair was blue"
"Why does that matter?" Viktor looked on as they experienced yet another disconnect in their communication. It was gonna take Jayce some time to get used to Viktor's apparently terminal usage of dry, blunt humor.
"Nevermind. I need to get them back. All of this is pointless without them." He gritted his teeth through a troubled expression. "Plus. Those things are insanely unstable. Those kids could easily accidentally kill themselves or someone else."
But how do they find them? The Undercity was huge. How could he find one girl?
"How do you suppose those children found your lab in the first place?" Viktor inquired. "It would be rather a lucky coincidence if the one place they chose to rob was so full of riches."
"Huh..." Jayce hadn't considered that. No one else in the area was robbed, just him. He recalled the boy he purchased the tech from in the Undercity. He didn't even hear him enter the room when Jayce was looking over the wares on sale.
Jayce, purses his lips, crossing his arms. Reluctantly voicing his realization. "It's... Entirely possible I was followed home."
That piqued Viktor's interest further. "You were in the Undercity?"
An uneasy smile crept it's way onto his face, "I had a very specific shopping list." Jayce replied as non-chalantly as he could muster.
Viktor stopped to stare at him for a few moments. "Is there anything you do that is not an outright or borderline crime, or have I simply caught you on a bad day?" He didn't even seem shocked, more just vaguely bemused. Maybe a little entertained.
Jayce felt a knee jerk need to defend his honor but it dissipated when Viktor simply chuckled.
"Well I suppose we know where to start looking." He eased himself down onto a nearby chair, leaving both his hands on his cane, propped up between his legs
Jayce did a double take "...We?"
Viktor shrugged like what he was saying was obvious. "We're partners now, yes? We need to go recover our property."
~
They gave it a few days. Let the attention on Jayce's lab die down and gave the student some time to reassure the people in his life that he was unharmed and un traumatized by the event. He tried to emphasize wherever he could, that it was just a group of harmless children, but he's not sure if it was fruitless or not.
The enforcers hadn't made any head way in finding them. According to Caitlyn's snooping, they had been sending waves of enforcers down into the Undercity to find them. Whenever they were, they'd be lying low.
There was also a steadily growing concern that the kids had already blown themselves up, along with a house or two but he did his best to push down that fear. He just had to hope they were too busy hiding to mess with the stolen goods.
Jayce truly has no idea how he was going to find them, let alone how he was gonna convince them to give the crystals back. Maybe they had parents he could appeal to. Tell them that they were dangerous and someone could get hurt.
He'd cross that bridge when he got to it.
In the meantime. He and Viktor spent a lot of time together. Every day in fact. It was nice having someone to talk to about everything he'd been keeping to himself. He hasn't imagined he would ever be happy with sharing his research with anyone but Viktor just... resonates with him. It certainly helped that Viktor was so easy to talk to. Their work styles just gelled together perfectly. Like they'd been working together for years.
When he next reconvened with Viktor, it was outside of Heimerdinger's office. Jayce waited for him to finish up for the day.
It's funny. Jayce went from not noticing him at all, to noticing him constantly.
Everytime he walks through the halls, enters a classroom or a lecture hall. Sometimes just out of the corner of his eyes, he'll spot Viktor, going about his day. Like Jayce's eyes have trained themselves to seek him out whenever he's within his sight.
It's hard to imagine people walk past him without going for a second glance.
A trip to the Underground of Piltover was risky for a number of reasons. On the other hand, there were benefits to the both of them essentially being recluses who occasionally join the rest of the world when they aren't obsessively working. Their disappearance won't set off any alarm bells if they don't socialize anyway.
The only one who knows where they're going is Caitlyn, since she was eavesdropping in his lab the last time he and Jayce met up. She wanted to come but that was out of the question. He asked her to keep up what she was doing. Keeping tabs on the enforcers going in and out of the Undercity. She begrudgingly agreed.
"This is a sunlight rune? Is it not?" Viktor questioned as he flipped Jayce's crystal from his childhood over between his fingers. Jayce nodded, accepting it back as Viktor handed it out to him. "Quite a miraculous tale."
Jayce had taken the opportunity to tell Viktor the whole story of how he and his mother were saved by that mysterious mage.
"Yeah..." Jayce breathed.
"The obsession with your research makes more sense."
Jayce tried to scoff but he didn't really have a leg to stand on. Hextech is his whole life. "If a man appeared out of nowhere and made a portal, transporting you to a whole different place, I'm pretty sure you would dedicate your life to him as well." Jayce retorted, then tried to backtrack after he heard how that sounded and saw the insufferable look on Viktor's face.
"Dedicate your life to him, you don't say? Why Jayce, I had no idea."
Jayce held up a pointed finger helplessly. "I didn't mean-"
"I've done some elaborate things for a crush in my youth but this is quite something."
"Ok you're hilarious, are you done now?"
Viktor beamed mockingly, putting a palm to his chest. "I'm simply honoured you've chosen me to help impress your muse."
Jayce just groaned, though he tried and failed to resist smiling at the banter regardless.
While they waited for nightfall, Jayce went over some of his older ideas, meaning to collect them show them to Viktor for a second opinion. They didn't work for him, but maybe Viktor can help buff out the rough edges. Occasionally he would peer over at Viktor who appeared to be doing something with a leather strap. He tried to not make it super obvious he was watching him but he was more interested in whatever Viktor was doing than his own work.
Viktors voice snapped him out of his staring and he cleared his throat, getting back to what he was doing. "Do you know many runes or just the one?" Viktor didn't look up from his little side project.
Jayce made a show of putting his papers down like he was actually looking at them. "A few! Others, that I know how to draw but I don't know what they do..." He shrugged and smiled "but hey, when we get the crystals back we can figure out what they do."
Viktor hummed "Let us hope you did not happen upon an 'explode' rune. Or perhap an acid rain rune."
"Do you think those are real?" Jayce tapped his chin with his fingers and somehow he could feel a a stare at the back of his head. He checked the time and stood up. "Oh we should probably get ready. Sun's going down."
Another bright moon night for Piltover. Light shone through the curtains, hitting the side of Victors face. "Where did you find such crystals in the first place?" Viktor asked as he thumbed through the most recent of Jayce's experiments in the journal. Joined by little sketches of the cracked crystal balls.
Jayce called out from the other room as he changed his clothes. "An expedition in Shiruma. There was a dig site and uh, well I can tell you on the way."
"Please do." Viktor called back, raising his head as Jayce walked out, clad in his Undercity outfit. Consisting on an entirely black ensemble, with a hood, gloves and big black boots. Viktor looked him up and down once, face deadpan.
"No."
Jayce gaped, "No? What do you mean 'No'? This is what I wore last time."
Viktor stood up and walked up to him. "Yes, and a small boy over-charged you, then followed you home, leading to your being robbed."
Pressing his lips together in a thin line, Jayce conceded. "Ok, fair."
Viktor stopped in front of him and Jayce got a better look at his own outfit. His pants looked like two halves of two different pairs of trousers than had been sewn together, paired with a poncho-like jacket.
"Don't look so envious Jayce. This is authentic Undercity garb. We cannot all fit in." He teased, breaking Jayce out of his wordless staring.
Raising an eyebrow, Jayce didn't even get a chance to ask the question since Viktor apparently read it on his face.
"Did I not mention that?" Viktor was unashamedly waiting for Jayce to enquire further, like he clearly wanted to.
Jayce wasn't sure where to start. "That you're..." He's not sure why he paused. But Viktor knew where he was going with it anyway.
"...from the Undercity?" Viktor offered and Jayce nodded. How does someone from the Undercity end up as the assistant to the academy headmaster, council member and founder of Piltover? He had assumed Viktor had a similar upbringing to himself. Son of an unimportant lower noble house. Offered the slightest of privileges if they can prove themselves worthy of them.
Jayce managed to string some words together. "No you... didn't mention it." Is that why he keeps to himself?
Viktor shrugged. "My point being, I will be one of many pale, skinny cripples." He gestured to himself, before raising a hand to Jayce. "Tall, handsome, well-fed scholars are harder to come by in the Undercity." He spoke so non-chalantly that Jayce almost didn't catch the compliment. Although Viktor likely didn't even mean it as a compliment, more just stating facts. Those are traits that will get him noticed after all.
Viktor took another look over Jayce. He was suddenly feeling a little nervous under the scrutinizing gaze. Viktor went on
"The key is more...mismatched items of clothing. People in the Undercity do not have the privilege of matching their shirt to their trousers. They must take whatever they can get their hands on, whatever they can make themselves out of scraps." He casually flicked the edge of Jayce's jacket between his fingers. "And it is likely the only clothes they own."
"Right..." Jayce thought about the options he had available on the lab. He could probably cobble something together.
"The jacket works. Nice low hood. Ideally no one will see your honest, easily scammable features." He smiled and turned back to go sit down again. Leaving Jayce to reconsider his outfit.
~
Once his disguise was Viktor approved, they headed out. The moon was bright enough to see pretty clearly. Viktor was leading the way to an entirely different entrance than the one Jayce took last time. Although his last trip did involve a bit of climbing. It makes sense that it wouldn't be Viktor's preferred route.
For starters, they aren't crossing the bridge. If Jayce is spotted crossing the bridge, that could cause problems considering he's involved in an investigation. The enforcers might just decide he's an Undercity contact or something.
Instead they're heading directly down. The lower levels of the city and further down. Every corner, street and alleyway was a new sight for Jayce. It's crazy how you can live somewhere your entire life and still not see all of it.
Viktor lead them into what looked like an old mining workspace. Clearly hadn't been used in a while, dust covered equipment lining the walls.
Without even needing the speak, Viktor responded to Jayce's wide eyed wonder.
"Did you think those children crossed the bridge? Of course that's the most direct route. But there are many more ways into Piltover than you realize." He whispered a 'thank you' as Jayce helped him down a staircase without a handrail, offering his arm to stabilize himself. Once at the bottom, Jayce spotted an old mining elevator, still up and running. On top of that, they weren't alone.
There were a handful of people, from Piltover and the Undercity, making trades, conversing in low voices, giving the two of them distrusting glances over their shoulders as they arrived. They were scanned from all angles for any enforcer qualities, before it was apparently decided upon that they were harmless enough and going about their business
"How would they even find this?" Jayce remarked, still thinking of those four kids. He slowly let his arm fall back to his side once Viktor had no more use for it.
Viktor kept his voice at a hush. "Oh I doubt they did. Given the speed at which they disappeared. It's likely they used the sewers. They run underneath the bridge."
Jayce scrunched up his nose at the thought and Viktor gave the smallest of grins. "I would not make you wade through shit to get your crystals back. Not that I doubt your resoluteness in regards to your lifes work."
Jayce, keeping his voice low, let a chuckle slip. "I'd like to think I wouldn't stoop that low to get them back. But yeah, I absolutely would."
Victors eyes lit up in an unmistakably mocking way. "Oh? We are close by! It would be easy to divert our course." Jayce responded by putting a hand in the middle of Victors back, gently but firmly leading him forward.
"Just keep walking smartass." Jayce hissed. Impossible to keep the smile off his face. Enjoying the sound of Viktor snickering at his own jokes.
Approaching the elevator, a grumpy looking attendant gave them the laziest of once-overs as they stepped on board, along with a couple of others. Victor sighed at the opportunity to stand still for a while. "This will get us part of the way. We have a bit of a walk ahead of us."
Jayce felt a pang of concern "Will you be ok with that?"
"I would not have suggested it if I could not do it." Viktor responded rather curtly.
Jayce had further concerns but he chose to bite his tongue. Viktor's a grown man who knows his limits. "Still. You can lean on me... if you need it."
There was a pause, but his "Thank you." Seemed genuinely appreciative. The doors closed and the elevator loudly clanged as it made it's descent.
~
Jayce wondered if the majority of Undercity residents even knew of these alternatives to the bridge, or if they'd been convinced by the 'topsiders' that there was only one way in and out. Once again, they only walked past a handful of people heading to and from where they had entered.
Also, Viktor was right. An understatement if anything. It took a couple of hours to get to the first populated part of the Undercity.
"Avoid staring." Viktor said simply. Even though he wasn't looking at Jayce, it's like he could sense Jayce's eyes sticking to everything and everyone that wasn't the type of ordinary he was used to.
He was on edge. He couldn't even deny it. He was glad for the hood that covered most of his face.
The last time he was down here he was just a customer. He knew exactly where he was going and he could be in and out with minimal stress. Now he's following a little girl. Something that would absolutely and rightfully get him murdered by someone without context.
A single finger prodded his side, startling his already frayed nerves. Twitching, Jayce's eyes darted to his companion, who was giving him a rather lazily narrowed side eye.
"What?!" Jayce hissed in a panic
Viktors face remained unchanged, his pace never slowing. "Your fidgeting is doing us no favors.." his expression dropped the slightest bit "On second thought. Perhaps passersby's will believe you are some drug-addled miscreant." He looked as though he was figuring out how to work that into a lie in case they needed it.
Choosing to ignore another example of Viktor's strange sense of humor, Jayce took a calming breath. "Do you... know where we are?" Adjusting his hood, trying and failing to be inconspicuous.
"Coming up on the Lanes. Keep your head down Twitchy."
Jayce furrowed his eyebrows. "Twitchy? Really?"
Viktor's face remained vacant despite the absurdity of his words. "Yes, it's what I will call you if anyone dangerous takes notice of us. My mentally inept cousin with a love of sniffing chemicals."
He shook his head, changing the subject. "How do you know we're in the right place?" None of this looked familiar to Jayce.
His question was answered for him as the increased enforcer presence made themselves known. Marching down the busy street, antagonizing anyone who stared for too long. They were clearly looking for someone in the area and it was undoubtedly Jayce's thieves.
Jayce hadn't even noticed he'd unconsciously pulled Viktor closer to him as the enforcers marched a bit too close for comfort. Arm stretched over his back and hand firmly grasping Viktors upper arm, pulling him against his side.
The soldiers moved off to the end of the street and after a beat, Viktor spoke up, glancing up at Jayce, making no real effort to move out of his arms. "As endearing as this is, perhaps we should keep moving?"
Jayce all but hopped backwards like Viktor was on fire, which only made the shorter man grin. He chuckled, just for a second.
"The shop you mentioned. Ran by a man named Benzo?" Viktor simply watched while Jayce composed himself.
Clearing his throat and nodding, he made a point to not make eye contact with Viktor again. "Yeah, but he wasn't there. Only the kid."
It didn't make much difference though. Jayce could hear the smile in the other mans voice. "Let's hope for the same scenario this time."
They walked in silence for a bit, a few too many people within earshot to continue their conversation about powerful crystals. But not talking was making Jayce antsy. "Why are we heading there again?"
"The child must know the children who stole from you."
Jayce made a face. "There's no way he'd tell us though."
Viktor slowed his pace slightly as he turned to looked up at Jayce. "Depends. Are you skilled at speaking to children?"
"Considering the last one I interacted with scammed me and we're gonna talk to the same kid? Hopes aren't high."
Turning a corner, the topsider hadn't realised the area around him getting significantly quieter. Fewer and fewer people walking the streets until it was only them. What he did notice, was Viktor's footsteps halting.
Jayce quirked up an eyebrow. "Are you-"
"Shh. "
Jayce shut up, eyes pinned on Victor. He had stopped in his tracks, trained eyes scanning the shadows. A hand raised in front of Jayce to stop him from walking further.
Jayce felt utterly out of his depth in this new sinister atmosphere that sprang out of nowhere. He's been in danger a total of two times, neither in his adult life, and never in this way. Unknown people lurking in the darkness.
It occurred to him that Viktor might be used to this. He couldn't imagine being used to this feeling. Dread and paranoia. Or maybe he's desensitized to it completely.
He couldn't hold his tongue any longer, since he couldn't read Viktor's mind, his only choice was to ask what was going on. "What? What is it?" He whispered, eyes that were not used to the level of darkness in the Undercity, looking around to no avail.
Viktor didn't respond right away, taking a few careful steps forward. Pausing again to listen. Keyes into the sounds coming from every dark, musty corner.
"Do you hear that?"
No Jayces thoughts were far too loud to actually listen to his surroundings. He took the cue to focus and heard a quiet...whimper. Mixed with the sound of shoes scraping against the ground.
"A kid?" Jayce guessed and Victor stepped forward, casting his eyes down the next street. Jayce followed in suit and his heart dropped into his stomach.
There, he immediately recognised the child from the other day, trying to stifle his own sobs while he desperately tried to move the body of an adult man. Not far away was the body of an enforcer. An officer. The blood splatters and trails painting half the street had Jayce pale, his mouth going dry.
Jayce tried to will his mouth or his body to do something. "Who...what did this?" He breathed. The man's body has been practically torn open. His eyes and mouth were open which means it must have happened while he was still alive.
When Viktor continued to walk forward, the clicking of his cane caught the child's attention.
He gasped and scrambled to hide behind the man's body. Jayce was reminded of how lambs and foals would hide against the bodies of their parents in the wild.
"Hey now, don't be afraid." Viktor spoke in a softer voice than Jayce had ever heard on the man. "We will not hurt you. Are you alright?"
The terrified boys trembling was evident even in the dark. Viktor didn't rush to get closer, taking a moment to simply lean on his cane. "Can you tell us what happened?"
The boy sniffled, wiping his eyes, trying his best to put on a brave face. Jayce stepped closer, trying to quell the nausea rising in his stomach when he approached the splatters of blood. This had just happened. The massive amounts of blood were still dripping in places.
"Silco." Was all the boy said before another whimper escaped him. Both men froze in their tracks. Everyone knew of Silco. "He...he killed Benzo. There was a monster."
Jayce gulped. There were stories of Silco's experiments but Jayce, along with many others topside, assumed they were exaggerations. Or maybe he hoped they were exaggerations
"Ah...I am very sorry to hear that." Viktor's mournful voice sounded quiet, even on the eerily silent street.
The boy rubbed his eyes with more determination. "It's ok. Because Vi is gonna get him. She's gonna make him pay."
Viktor tilted his head inquisitively. "Is Vi your... Mother? A parental figure?"
The child shook his head. "No she's just super cool, she's tougher than any adult."
Oh god it's a child. A child has gone to face off against a madman. When Jayce stepped up beside Viktor and pulled off his hood, the boys eyes widened in recognition.
He let out a little yelp. "Weird guy! Are you here to get back at Vi for stealing? She'll kick your ass! Don't try it!" He put his shaky fists up in front of him.
Jayce was startled by the change in energy. Viktor had done such a good job placating him. "Weird g- What? No- Wait, which one is Vi? The pink haired one?" She definitely seemed like the leader of the pack.
The boy pressed his lips into a line. "...No..." He murmured unconvincingly.
Viktor held up a hand. "Don't worry. Jayce is a nice man. He's just worried about your friends. We both are."
The child was looking at the two of them suspiciously. "Why would you be worried?" He narrowed his eyes at Jayce in particular.
Jayce took the attention as an opportunity to hopefully get through to this kid. He crouched down so he was at eye level with the boy. "Because some of the things they stole are very, very dangerous. It's not stable and your friends could all get seriously injured if they mess around with them."
The boy looked scared for a second before he steeled himself. "Y-yeah right! You just want me to tell you where they are!"
"Well you're not wrong about that part." Jayce tried a gentle smile. "Look. We really do just wanna help. If you know where those shiny blue crystal balls are. It's really important that you give them back."
There was another clear sign of recognition in his eyes when Jayce mentioned the crystals. But the boy wasn't budging. He just averted his eyes, pursing his lips shut tight.
Jayce sighed and looked to Viktor, who gave him a shrug in return. "I'm not good with kids either." He said out of the corner of his mouth.
Jayce had been avoiding looking at him, but soon turned his gaze to Benzo, eyes still open, a look of horror plastered on his blood-covered face.
Taking a deep breath, he looked to the boy again. "Were you trying to move him? I can help you." Jayce offered, gingerly reaching forward to close his eyes. The boys demeanor changed almost instantly, wide, sad eyes looking down at the man.
The men stayed silent while the boy made his decision. Eventually, he nodded slowly.
Jayce pushed himself to his feet. "Alright. I'll do my best, but I'm gonna need your help. Can you do that?"
The boy gave a fierce nod, blinking back any tears that dared to peek out. Jayce hooked his arms under Benzo's arm pits, lifting his upper body enough to drag him. The boy wrapped both his arms under Benzo's ankles, straining with effort. As long as he thought he was being helpful, that's all that mattered to Jayce.
He threw a glance at the enforcers body and Viktor followed his gaze. "We shouldn't touch the enforcer. Someone will be back for her." Viktor said grimly and Jayce looked away.
Viktor opened the door to the shop for them, holding it while they shuffled in. Gently depositing the body towards the back of the room. Viktor took what was maybe a tapestry or a flag and draped it over Benzo's upper half, covering his face.
Jayce really didn't want to press the issue, but if there was a little girl with dangerous contraband running around, they needed to find her sooner rather than later.
He knelt down and placed a hand on the boys shoulder. "I really wish we could do more..." Realising he didn't know the kids name. Thankfully, the kid understood the silence.
"...Ekko."
He switched his grasp to Ekko's other shoulder. "Ekko. I'm...so sorry. Me and Viktor are gonna make sure you're not left alone." He didn't mean to offer up Viktor's assistance but he didn't need to worry about that, as Viktor immediately agreed with a nod.
"Really?" Ekko's big eyes were two shimmering pools focused on Jayce. How could anyone say no to that face? Jayce gently turned the boy by the shoulders to face him.
"Or course. We're helping each other out, that means we're a team. And a team has gotta look out for each other."
Ekko didn't speak, he just sniffled again, fidgeting with the front of his shirt. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Viktor smiling down at Jayce fondly from where he stood.
Momentarily captivated by the smile, his eyes snapped back to Ekko when he decided to talk again.
"Powder has them." Ekko sniffled. "...The glowy balls. I can show you where she is. Vi said she wasn't gonna let her go with to save Vander."
He felt more than a little bad about being so relieved when Ekko was devastated but if he can prevent more death, he will. "And she's ok? No one's gotten hurt by them?"
Ekko shook his head. "She showed 'em to me but I don't think anybody else knows she took 'em."
Nodding, Jayce stood back up. "Can you take us there now?"
Ekko gave a longing look to the man on the ground and Viktor took a step forward.
"Time is of the essence young man, but we promise we will return and help you give Benzo a proper burial. We will not let his body be disrespected further."
Ekko hesitated, averting his eyes and wiping his arm over his face. "C'mon." Was all he said before darting to the door.
"Wait!" Jayce called after him. "Where are we going?" He watched the kid speed off and looked back at Viktor who absolutely would not be able to keep up with them.
"The Last Drop!" Ekko gave them an impatient look, nodding his head out the door and disappearing.
"I know where that is. It's not far." Viktor got moving and Jayce followed. He asked Viktor what The Last Drop was and Viktor explained it was a bar, and also somewhat of a hub for loyal Undercity residents. People who weren't stooping to attacking each other or joining Silco. People who wanted to make the Undercity liveable. Thanks to Vander uniting The Lanes. It was a sizeable force.
"There's that name again, Vander. Do you know him?"
Bringing a curled finger to his chin, Viktor nodded his head to the side. "Know of him. The uh-... 'Hound of the Underground', as it were..." Making finger quotes with his free hand not on his cane. "Somewhat of a figurehead in the Undercity."
"So Silco kidnapped the Lanes defacto leader?"
"Seems like it."
Every corner they turned, Ekko was at the end of the street or alley like a cat making sure they were still following, before disappearing again around the next corner.
A cold chill crept up Jayce's spine as they delved deeper into the Underground. "Is this the part where I express concern that we're willingly getting closer to this Silco guy?"
"You want your crystals back, no?"
"I thought they were our crystals, partner."
Viktor's lips seemed to form a tight-lipped smile against his will. "They are. I just wanted to hear you say it."
The atmosphere around The Last Drop was a big difference from what Jayce had experienced in the Underground thus far. Crowds of people and music, people drinking and playing pool, darts and cards. They received more than a few glares just standing outside looking in. Luckily, they didn't have to enter because Ekko reemerged, holding a little bag. He held it up to Jayce and he did his best to not look insanely eager when he took it. He could see the blue glow peeking out of the top.
Words couldn't describe how good it felt to have them back. He beamed at Viktor, handing him the bag like a proud father showing off his first born. He turned back to the boy, putting his hands on his tiny shoulders, giving them a grateful pat. "Thank you Ekko. Is Powder ok?"
He shrugged "She wasn't down there. Apparently she ran out a couple minutes ago."
Viktor opened the bag and peered inside. Jayce felt a poke in the middle of his back. Viktor had prodded him with his cane. "Just checking. Not including the one that exploded. How many were there?"
Jayce took the bag back and looked inside. He swore he felt something in his brain twitch. "This isn't all of them." The relief he felt deflated instantly. He whipped back around to Ekko. "Do you know where she might have gone?"
Ekko nodded enthusiastically. "That old creepy building by the docks! The cannery, that's where Silco took Vander! Mylo and Claggor probably went too!"
"I don't suppose any of them are adults." Viktor mused and Ekko shrugged.
"Vander is."
Jayce sighed. That must be the two boys from the robbery. Bringing a hand to his forehead, the beginnings of a headache have been teetering around his skull ever since they entered the Undercity. The air down here must be messing with him. "We have to go now."
Ekko balled his hands into fists. "Yeah! Let's go!"
Jayce tucked the remaining crystals into his jacket. "No, no, Ekko, it's not safe. If Powder has them, she's in danger and you need to be far away."
The boy openly pouted. "But what about you guys?"
Viktor waved a hand flippantly. "We're scientists, we're very good at dealing with this sort of thing, trust us." He smiled down at Ekko then immediately gave Jayce a wide-eyed look of uncertainty.
Putting a hand on Ekko's head, Jayce mustered up as much of a comforting smile as he could. "Just, stay here. We'll make sure Powder's okay. You stay here in case she comes back. Alright?"
Ekko looked reluctant but agreed. It was easy to see the kid was more scared than he was willing to admit in the moment.
"Come. It's not too far, but she got a decent head start." Viktor directed them to the docks. Hopefully they weren't too far behind. There was only so fast they could run though. Jayce put a hand on Viktor's back.
"You doing okay?"
Viktor let out a heavy sigh. "After all this running around, you may have to carry me to the elevator."
"If we get those crystals back, I'll do literally anything you want."
Victor couldn't stop himself from retorting. "You might regret saying that."
Spotting the building in a clearing ahead, they slowed their pace, scanning for guards, any type of security that would cause them problems. The massive rundown factory was covered in broken windows and mold, the faintest hints of moonlight piercing down to illuminate the top of the building.
Jayce poked his head out from around the corner of a stack of old crates that looked like they were fused to the ground they had been sitting there so long. "Do you think she went in through the front door?"
"I doubt it. There is likely to be a back entrance. Come." Viktor got moving without another word.
Jayce was about to object to Viktor going first, he felt the need to act like a human shield. But Viktor was not on the same page, moving down the side of the building.
And there she was. The blue-haired girl. She had a large case over her shoulder and was pacing the side of the building, looking for a way inside.
Now the question of, how to get to her without scaring her. He can't just approach a little girl out of nowhere like some weirdo. He looked to Viktor. "Any ideas?"
Viktor looked past him. "No but you should probably think quickly unless you want to scale the side of the building with her."
Jayce clocked Powder beginning to climb planks of wood running up the side of the building. A panicked noise leaving him as he broke into a sprint reaching the building just in time to pluck the girl off the wall.
"Hey!!" She squealed, kicking her leg back and barely missing Jayce's face, digging her heels into his collarbone.
"Ow! Hey kid just wait a minute." Her struggling combined with the pulsing in his brain starting up again, made it impossible to focus. Adjusting his grip as she half wriggled free, he really hoped no one was watching this.
"A little help?" He looked over his shoulder. Victor had his thumb and fingers stretched across his face, holding his temples like he was also suffering from a headache. Maybe the air is messing with him too. It makes sense since he hasn't lived down here for a long time.
"What do you expect me to do?" He said so indolently, Jayce's eye twitched in irritation.
"Get OFF me! Vander needs me! Vi needs me!"
"First- ow- I need you to give me back those crystals- ow! They're very important and very dangerous!" He tried to keep his voice as non threatening as possible all the while he's being swatted at by a surprisingly strong child.
"No! I need them to save my family! Leggo!" She angled herself to line up a flat footed kick right to Jayce's jaw. He panicked, half dropping her, then instinctively tried to catch her again. It was enough for her to miss her kick.
Viktor hummed thoughtfully while Jayce wrangled the child doing her very best to kick him in the dick.
He turned his attention to the wriggling youth. As Jayce narrowly avoided his fingers being bitten, hastily changing his grip as Victor took a step closer, his cane making one single click on the concrete below. "Vander is your father?"
"Yeah and he can kick your ass!"
"I do not doubt that. However you did say he was in danger, did you not? Perhaps we can help?"
She wasn't listening, instead she started growling like a dog, swatting at Jayce's face, she swung back her arm holding the case and fully intended to beat Jayce over the head with it. That's when Viktor stepped in and grabbed the strap, managing to pull it out of her grasp. "Ok, don't do that."
Her eyes went wide. "That's MINE! give it BACK"
Viktor took a step back and opened the case and thank whatever fate or creator, the rest of the crystals were inside. As well as a series of strange tech, scrap and one of those cymbal playing monkeys. Viktor picked up the monkey with a curiosity. It was handmade, the head tipped off and had a space inside it's body.
Viktor raised an eyebrow at the contraption. "What were you going to do with this?"
"I made it! It was gonna work! It HAS to work! Let me GO! Let me GO, let me go-"
It was then when they started to hear fighting coming from inside. Loud clanging noises, heavy things falling from great heights, down onto the ground.
Jayce sighed exasperatedly, feeling like time was running faster. "Look, you can keep the rest of my stuff, I don't care about it. But those crystals are really important."
Something about Jayce's words triggered a reaction in Powder. Like something in her brain snapped.
"No! I need them! I wanna help! I'm not useless!!" She was steadily growing frantic. Her voice growing hoarse from screaming. Eyes wide and blank of any reason.
"Woah, hey, hey hey-" Jayce felt awful as he tried to gently restrain her so she didn't hurt herself as she flailed around like she was possessed. Screaming and sobbing.
"I need to save Vander!!" The girl was screaming like a lunatic, practically hyperventilating. "Let me GO! I WANNA HELP! I HAVE TO HELP!"
"Jayce, put her down."
Viktor looked alarmed, brows knitted together, a deep concern written all over his face. Jayce didn't argue, He slowly eased down onto the ground himself, bringing her with him as she fought him every second of it. He carefully released his hold on her and she threw herself to the ground. Not intentionally. Every part of her was shaking with rage and sadness. She crumpled to the ground, twitching eyes locked on the monkey toy in Viktor's hand.
"Powder." Viktor began, speaking clearly, making no effort to quiet his voice or make it more comforting for a child. "You made this yourself, yes?"
"Yes it's mine!" She lunged at Viktor and swiftly tackled him to the ground. It wasn't exactly hard to knock Viktor off balance and she made quick work of scrambling over his chest to grab at the toy.
Viktor outstretched his arm out of her reach. "You created something, with the purpose of helping someone else. Do you see how wonderful that is?"
Powder was whimpering and pathetically reaching for the toy, exhaustion catching up with her in an instant. The way she collapsed onto Viktor's chest, like the idea of giving up was physically hurting her.
Viktor let out a sigh of relief and have Jayce a cautious nod.
"Jayce, could you...?" He gestured to his current position, uncomfortably leaning on his arm on the awkward angle he fell, while trying to keep what Viktor is pretty certain was going to be some kind of bomb, from the child with his other arm.
"Oh, of course!" He thinks he said, but it probably sounded like gibberish with all the adrenaline. Jayce hurried to help Viktor sit up, slowly, to not bother the child crying into his jacket. Jayce made the decision to just kneel behind Viktor so he had something sturdy to lean back on.
Patting the top of her head, Viktor lowered his hand gripping the cymbal playing monkey.
"As inventors, we must have integrity. We must be self aware of the impact our inventions have on those around us." While he was speaking softly, it was firm. It took a few minutes to realise he was speaking to Powder like a colleague rather than a child. She let out one final soft whimper before quieting completely.
"We cannot succumb to taking the easy route out of desperation, choosing whatever path will get us what we want the quickest. How can we truly create something good if we didn't try every option? How can we be sure we made the right choices?" He put a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to sit up a little bit. She looked up at Viktor through tear soaked eyelashes.
"When the people we love are at risk, we cannot afford to take shortcuts. They are the reason we create."
Powder stared up at him, lips quivering "I-...I...I ju-...just wanna help."
He tightened the grip on her shoulder. "And you can. You will. You're capable of it. Everyone is." He lowered the toy further, tucking it into her arm.
"But a brilliant mind should never create recklessly."
That seemed to be the pebble that broke the dam because the poor girl collapsed in a puddle, wrapping her arms around Viktor, so fragile she was looking anywhere for comfort.
She hugged him so hard Jayce nearly lost his balance. He slammed one hand down behind him and instinctively grabbed for Viktor, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and chest. Earning him a tired side-eye, all Jayce could do was whisper a 'sorry', before both men got thoroughly distracted by the sobbing child, making a significant wet patch in the middle of Viktor's torso.
Jayce felt his skin itch. That same tension headache pushing against his skull. Like the air, the space around him was shifting abruptly.
If the pain wasn't so blinding, he might have noticed Viktor reach up to pinch the bridge of his nose, trying to lessen the pain between his temples.
different again
Viktor sighed and leaned back, resting his head on Jayce's shoulder, his hair tickling the other man's jaw. Jayce tensed up but pretty quickly relaxed when the pain subsided and he took in their current situation. Viktor chuckled quietly, arms gently wrapped around the girl.
"You know? I think we're actually quite good with children."
Jayce opened his mouth to respond right as shouting came from above. It was hard to see in the dark but two figures appeared at the upper building edge, two move voices behind them.
"Kids. Run!" The gruff voice they deduced must be Vander, echoed from above. Once they caught a glimpse of him hobbling to the edge, it looked like he could barely stand. He kept blinking like he was struggling to stay conscious.
"We're not leaving you!" The older girl Vi, determined in her proclamation but eyes darting around, unsure of where to go from there. The two boys, Mylo and Claggor were either picking up something they could fight with, or trying to find something to help Vander get down.
Powder gasped and shot upright, calling out to her sister, Vi's face fell into a look of pure horror. "Powder get out of here!"
Jayce eased himself up and reached a hand down for Viktor, who took it and Jayce helped him to his feet. He knelt down and handed Viktor his cane. "Powder I think you listen to your sister." Jayce, now incredibly weary of whatever they were so desperate to get away from, said while keeping his eyes on the upper landing.
She ignored him obviously and instead ran forward, clutching her dud bomb.
"Kids goddamn it, GO." Vander seethed, half being held up by the girl who looked so small in comparison. The larger boy got onto his other side, hoisting Vander up when he started to stumble.
"The only way we go is if you do." The boy nodded towards the ledge where the makeshift ladder began and Vander cursed.
"God- fine. You all better be right behind me." Vander let the kids ease him towards the ladder and he groaned in pain as he crouched down, his huge body grasping the edge as he began to climb down. As the bashing sounds got louder, followed by a warped, gut-wrenching scream, the boy with the pronounced eyebrows called out to the others.
"Guys we gotta go. Like now."
"Working on it." Vi was watching Vander climb down and helped Claggor get a leg hold as he went next. Vi hopped down and waved to the last boy. "Mylo get your ass over here!"
The boy was stunned, staring behind them. Jayce and Viktor who had just been standing there in a stupor of their own, finally saw what all the fuss was about. With a final crash, a metal door being ripped off it's hinges or perhaps torn clean through.
From the wreckage, A horrifying beast with purple veins emerged. A mass of discoloured flesh, wild eyes popping out of its skull. This must be the monster Ekko mentioned.
It stormed through the same hole the others made their way out of, grunting and heaving, like moving it's own body was a chore.
"What in the-"
The creature roared. Sounding more like a blood curdling scream.
"Mylo!!" Vi screamed, near pulling herself back up as the creation charged at the boy. They swore the building shook with every step as it swung a giant misshapen arm at the boy, hitting him square in the chest, flinging him off the building. At the same time, it's feet slammed down barely missing VI's hands, causing her to let go and fall backwards off the ladder.
Watching the boy sail through the air, another noise of panic escaped Jayce and he sprinted to get between the boy and the hard ground. He planted his feet, swiveled in place, right as the kid came flying into his chest. The force from the impact knocked him backwards, crashing to the ground.
A sharp pain flooded from the back of his head through his skull as he impacted with whatever was behind him. His senses blurred all at once, but he could feel the kid moving on top of him.
"Jayce!?"
Viktor's voice was just about the only sound he could make out clearly. The rest was just noise thundering in his ears making his brain sting. He felt his eyes close, a tiredness sweeping over him.
It was then when a pair of arms did their best to hoist him up. He forced himself into consciousness to see Victor and the kid trying to pull him to his feet. The two of there were only using one arm each. Viktor because of his cane and the kid, Mylo, was holding his hand close to his chest. It was pretty severely bent the wrong way.
Jayce put in the effort to get himself the rest of the way upright and refocused in on the events around him, adrenaline fueling his actions. The creature was still standing atop the building, screaming and raving, like a wolf howling at the moon.
Vi had luckily fallen directly onto Claggor and Vander, Powder now sticking close to her side.
Well what now? There's a horrifying, violent beast in a rampage and half the people present were going to have trouble moving quickly. A thought occured to him as his arm brushed against the bag in his jacket.
It hurt Jayce's soul to do what popped into his mind. Physically and emotionally. But he really didn't see another option. They couldn't run from that thing, they needed to take it down.
Pulling the bag out of his jacket he gritted his teeth, going against everything inside him to bring himself to do what he knew he needed to do. He plucked out a crystal and clenched it in his fist, locking onto the creature. He was about to reel back when Viktor stopped him with a hand on his bicep.
"Jayce, wait!" Viktor said urgently, reaching out and taking Jayce's hand, unfurling his fingers. "Hold still." Victor lined the length of his cane up with the crystal sitting in the middle of Jayce's palm, and gave it one firm, calculated smack. The crystal flashed with energy and immediately begin pulsing.
Viktor nodded to himself. "Ok. Now throw it." At least they were on the same page.
Just like before on his lab, Jayce reeled back and threw the crystal, sending it flying towards the creature.
"Everybody down!" Viktor yelled out.
Vander and his kids had gotten as far away from the building as they could in the time it took Jayce to decide his next move, running to check on Mylo. Everyone dropped to the ground, Jayce throwing an arm over Viktor and tucking the other man against his chest, putting himself in-between his partner and the explosion. Vander doing the same to his kids.
For a second, it simply bounced off the creatures enormous forearm. It's superhuman reflexes blocking the projectile. But before it was even a foot away, the crystal burst with that same wave of raw power.
A shockwave blew out. Much bigger than the last one, engulfing half the upper floor. Unlike other explosions that seem to hang around for a bit, bursting into fire and ash. These magic explosions disappear as quickly as they appear. Fading into nothing but mist, before vanishing completely.
Tentatively, they started to raise their heads to check on each other and the state of the scene behind them.
The creature was gone. There was nothing left of it. Meanwhile the cannery looked like a giant had taken a bite out of it. Bits of debris falling to the ground.
Jayce sighed, a warmth creeping over his body. "Oh...that worked pree' good huh?"
Viktor wrapped his arms around Jayce's torso. Is he hugging him? Wait no, Jayce has toppled over and Viktor is trying to hold him upright.
"Jayce sit down, you're bleeding." Viktor had taken off his jacket, balled it up, holding it to the back of Jayce's head.
"Am I?" He reached up to touch his head and Viktor grabbed his wrist, putting it back at his side.
"Just. Sit." Victor ordered, applying more pressure to the wound dripping blood down Jayce's back.The injured man clumsily lowered himself, no hint of grace to be seen.
"Is he okay??" The desperate voice came from Mylo, closely flanked by Claggor and Vi who were trying to check on his arm.
Is he talking to me? My toes hurt. These boots don't fit right.
...Viktors hands are warm.
"Dammit Mylo, I'm sorry, you should have gone first." Vi gripped the material on his arm and Mylo gave her an exhausted look.
Surprisingly enough it wasn't the monster that did that. He'll have some bruised, maybe cracked ribs from the hit. But when he impacted with Jayce, the inventor had landed on the kids hand when he flew backwards, snapping his wrist.
Large eyebrows furrowed, Mylo scoffed. "Then it just woulda been you like this. And your delicate lady arms could never survive- Ow! I'm kidding! See? I'm fine." Mylo rubbed the spot on his arm that got swiftly punched.
Jayce did his best to focus on the broken wrist. "Ooch...sorry kiddo." He slurred, he started tipping to the side again and a series of hands pulled and pushed to keep him upright.
"Dude, I'd be a smear on the concrete of it wasn't for you. I can deal with this." The kid was shaking but he seemed sincere, cradling his arm to his chest.
Viktors voice piped up with an air of irritation hiding under his urgency. "I hate to be an unwelcome guest but I don't suppose anyone knows of anyone who can stop him from bleeding out?" he didn't bother concealing his annoyance by the end of his sentence. Hands gripping into Jayce as he threatened to toppled over again.
"My thoughts exactly." Vander stepped forward. Either shrugging off his dizziness, or forcing it down from pure strength of will. "Alright kids, outta the way. Give the man some space."
Vander, with all the strength build up in that huge body, hoisted Jayce up like he weighed nothing. "C'mere mate. We'll get ya sorted."
The minute his body no longer had to put effort into standing, the moment he was hanging weightlessly against Vander. His eyes fell closed.
Swirls of colour, metal and flesh, pulsating, radiating magic, again, and again...and again.