Chapter Text
Vi is a firm believer that if you want something in life, you have to fight for it.
But as Vi approached the Kiramman daughter’s bed, she started to wonder if this fight would truly be worth it.
The girl laid peacefully along ornate silk sheets adorned with six fluffy pillows. A trickle of moonlight hit her at the perfect angle to view her face. Her eyes were closed and framed by long, thick eyelashes. The eyelashes were the same dark blue of her hair, which was sprawled out against the pillows. Her lips were slightly parted. She let out a faint whistle sound every time she took a breath.
Vi had formulated the perfect plan. Two weeks of sneaking information, stealing layouts, and trailing behind in the shadows: it had finally led her to this moment. Now she had successfully climbed through the window of Kiramman daughter. But Vi is starting to realize that planning a plan and executing a plan are two very different things.
Vi loomed over her bed. She had never seen the girl’s face this closely before. Seeing the flush in her cheeks was very different to peering at a girl in uniform. Vi’s breath paused. She took a step back and looked down at her fists. Then she closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
Think of Powder. This is for Powder.
Vi narrowed her eyes and lifted her arm, ready for the punch. Just one hit. Scare the girl, get the gem, and go. Besides, she is an enforcer. This is practically the best gift an Undercity gal could ask for.
She stepped back towards the bed and looked down at the girl again. Her eyes were still closed but this time Vi noticed the slight smirk.
“Any day now, love.”
Well shit.
-14 days prior-
Vi wakes up sleepy. It’s a constant in a life that always seems to be changing. Her hands fling towards her bedside light before she pauses.
“Pow Pow?”
She waits for a moment before resolving to flick on the light, defeated. Vi ducks under the top bunk and peers up. The sheets are still folded neatly with Powder’s bunny atop. It’s eyes peer out, empty and sad.
Vi gives it a little pat on the head. “Its ok lil guy,” she whispers. They both know it’s not.
She lets out a sigh and stretches out her back. Vi remembers when Powder would beg Vi for the top bunk. Now that she finally has it, it seems she never uses it. It’s been, what, three days since Powder slept at home? Her outings are becoming more and more frequent, and the stretches of time between her returns are ever-growing.
Vi brushes her teeth, tassels her fingers through her hair and throws on a clean muscle shirt and shorts, or at least as close to clean as Undercity clothes go. The Undercity always has a smell. It lingers in the alleyways. A stench of smoke, urine, and something Vi cannot quite name. No matter how hard anyone cleans anything, it always retains this aroma. The Undercity’s presence finds a way to invade every sense. The basement of the Last Drop is no exception.
Vi makes her way upstairs to the Last Drop bar area to do her morning scan. And to her luck- its Filip! Yay! Just when Vi thinks her mornings cannot get worse, Janna always has a way of delighting her.
Filip is hunched over the bar, eyebrows knotted and bony finger pressed on the call bell. His beady eyes glued to all the drinks locked behind the counter. He sees Vi approaching and gives a big, toothless, gummy grin.
“One g and t for me little lady!” He calls, whisking his finger in the air.
The Last Drop opens at sunset and closes at sunrise. The only issue with this system is that nobody in the Undercity quite knows when either occurs. This makes morning stragglers extremely common. Fortunately, Silco has employed staff to ensure everyone leaves promptly at sunrise. Unfortunately, Jinx has a habit of leaving the back door unlocked during her slip-outs. And thus, Vi is left to deal with the consequences: Filip.
“Actually, make it a double!”
Vi groans and makes her way over to the balding man, clenching her fist.
“Filip we have been over this. You cannot sneak through the back door.” He frowns and looks around, perhaps finally regaining a sense of sobriety. “The bar is closed. You’re gonna have to come back tonight.” Vi speaks slowly but decisively. She can see his brain conducting mental calculations with every word. His eyes lock into hers.
“No,” he replies, giving Vi a nice whiff of his ethanol stenched breath. “I want my g and t.”
Vi presses her fist to her forehead. She swears Filip has no teeth because someone knocked them out before she had the chance. Lucky bastard.
“Filip- please- get. Out.”
Vi is worried this might head into an early morning bash. Nothing like a punch or two to start the day! She bites her lips and cracks her knuckles. She’s ready. She always is.
“Vi…” Filip pauses and lowers his voice. “It’s just, you know how it is out there.” His eyes dart down to his feet, which are dotted in blisters and warts. She realizes now he isn’t wearing shoes.
When Vi was little, she did not understand how quickly things could change for the worse. Even after losing her parents, Vi knew there were still good leaders out there. Those who fight for the best for their people. But after Vander’s death, everyone tried to take their own piece of the Undercity. When someone is left with so little, they try to grab as much as they can for themselves. Vi understands it is survival. But she’s seen how it plays out. Those who cannot fight are left to deal with the worst. The Undercity jungle: a game of take, take and take. Vi’s lucky she has her fists. But not everyone has that. Certainly not Filip.
Vi sighs and makes her way around the bar. “I swear this is the last time…” she groans. Her eyes look back to him and he gives her his signature gummy smile. Vi shakes her head. “You get this, and then you go, ok?” His head bobs up and down widely. She grabs the metal cup and pours an orange liquid into it.
“Hey!” He points. “That’s not my g and t!” Vi smiles and lets out a chuckle.
“You’re gonna learn some new letters today Filip. O and J.” She hands him the cup. “Bottoms up!” Filip lets out a little grumble but then submits himself to sitting on the barstool. He takes a few sips and his annoyance slips away.
Vi’s eyes wander around empty bar. She sees all the places Vander once inhabited. The jukebox, the pool table, his favorite chair. Silco has been slowly replacing and rearranging all of the decor. Now Vi is left wondering where exactly each went in her childhood. If only she could’ve fought for this place; become the owner rather than one of Silco’s Last Drop goons. Maybe then she would remember how it all fits.
“You’re just like him, you know,” Filip mumbles.
Vi can only reply with a small smile.
The front door bashes open.
Vi’s head swings to the entrance. How did somebody get through the lock? Just her luck she gets thing one and thing two breaking in on the same morning.
“We’re clo-” she starts, but then halts.
Her eyes lock with the figure staggering in. Their boots are muddy and their striped, ripped pants are covered in soot and oil. They’re eyelids are heavy and their face is sunken and pale. With them, they drag in a big dingy sack. Their gaze pierces into Vi.
“Hey sis.”
Vi stares blankly for a moment, then rushes to greet her.
“Pow Pow I-” Vi notices the sack leaving a purple trail behind Powder with every step. She puts her hand on Powder’s shoulder. “You’ve been gone awhile.”
Powder huffs and shoves her hand off.
“Not this again.” Powder grumbles. She drags her way towards the staircase leading to their room, and then notices Filip. She gives him a blank stare. He sits up straight and chuckles nervously, his once cloudy eyes now very alert. He leaps from the chair and dashes towards the exit.
“Well I just remembered I have plans that I must attend so goodbye and thank you for the drink and I will see you next time thank you again ok bye!”
Vi is amazed he had the energy to dash away like that, let alone speak a full sentence. She looks back at Powder.
“I’ve been trying to get him to bounce all morning,” she chuckles. Powder’s lips sit in a tight line. Great. Vi is trying not to look down at the sack, which is glowing. And the scent sure is something. Like rotting animal guts.
Vi gags. “That’s not going in the room, right?”
Powder raises an eyebrow, like she hadn’t really thought about it. “It’s a Silco special.” She plops the bag down. “I’ll leave it up here. I’ve gotta run it to the factory soon.”
Oh Janna. Vi is sure she does not want to know what a ‘Silco special’ entails. She also knows if she asks, it’ll only start another Silco bickering match. They used to have them all the time. But Vi understands now this is not a fight she can win. She’s never been good at winning fights without her fists.
The aroma is really starting to get to her. She swears she can see a green mist emanating from it.
“When are you delivering this?” Vi asks, pinching her nose with her fingers.
“Soon,” Powder replies with a yawn. Her hand goes to her forehead. “I might just lie down a sec.” Powder starts to slowly shuffle down the stairs.
Vi frowns. Powder’s hair is spiking out of its twin braids. Her lips are chapped and her brittle fingernails are half decorated in dirt and nail polish. The vibrant flush which once appeared in her cheeks is still gone, but Vi knows it has been for years.
“Wait!” Vi grabs Powder’s hand before she descends. “Let’s get you some Vitamin C and then you hit the hay, alright?” Powder looks down at Vi’s hand and back up at her. Have Powder’s blue eyes always been this gray?
Powder wriggles her fingers out of her sister’s grasp and turns her head to the side. Then she lets out a sigh.
“Yea, maybe just a little bit.” She huffs.
Vi backpedals towards the bar counter, afraid if she takes her eyes off her sister she might vanish again. Luckily, the juice is already out. She pours some into Powder’s signature cup and tops it off with a straw.
“Drink it all.” Vi hands her the cup. Powder takes it and has a small sip.
“Right.”
“And just go to sleep. Don’t worry about the…” Vi looks at the sack and she swears it moved a bit. “That. I’ll… I’ll run it to Silco.”
Powder scoffs. “Sure, yeah. You’re not gonna have another chat with him are you?” She rolls her eyes. “Remember how the last one went?”
Vi does remember. Very well in fact. It was about six months ago, when Powder hadn’t returned to the Last Drop in two days. She came home coughing up blood. It was all Vi needed to see. Vi grabbed Vander’s gauntlets, barged into his upstairs office, and almost beat the shit out of Silco. She would have too, but his ogre, that bitch Sevika, clocked her in the hallway. Vi landed a punch or two, but an unexpected shimmered up Vika is not an easy match. Vi lost a tooth (luckily in the back), and was kept on overnight Last Drop duty for three months.
“I almost had him.”
Now Powder laughs. “Uh huh.” She tilts her cup towards Vi. “Well knock yourself out!” She enters the bedroom and slams the door shut.
Perfect.
...
By the time Vi lugs the sack across town, her white shirt is now dyed purple and can glow in the dark. She’s gonna have to find a change of clothes on her way back.
Silco has two offices. One is on the top floor of the Last Drop, which Vi avoids like the plague. The ogre is always guarding that entrance. She’s not sure when she gets sleep. Silco uses the Last Drop at night for various business transactions from chem barrons enjoying a drink or two. Vi hates her basement, but at least it’s far enough away from the office so that she does not have to hear when negotiations turn sour.
The other office is inside his shimmer factory outpost. He is almost always at that location. The factory is situated under a rock ledge, obscured from any Piltover eyes. This means the smog released by the vents is poured right back into the lanes. Vi isn’t as used to the smog as the others. She goes to cover her mouth but quickly remembers her hands are sticky with purple slime. So in and out she puffs the smog, coughing and lugging the sack towards the side entrance of the factory. There sits a single door with one guard she can’t quite remember the name of.
“Hey,” she coughs. “Delivery for Silco?”
The bald, tatted man with a long black cane glares at her with shimmery eyes.
“You Jinx’s sister?” He asks.
Vi swallows.
“Yea.”
He assesses her again and snaps his finger. Vi drops the sack. He takes the cane and sticks it into the bag. It oozes and hisses. He chuckles.
Vi scoffs and furrows her brow, starting to turn back for her journey home. She noted on her way over some goon with a shiny red jacket she’d like to borrow. But honestly, she will settle for anything. Her current shirt will be uncleanable.
“Hey,” the man yells. “Silco wants a word with you.”
Oh well shit.
“Yea? Well I’m not really in the speaking mood,” she spits.
The man looms over her. Vi evaluates her potential opponent. Sure, he’s got height, but he has a limp in the left leg. She can kick that, get him off balance, and then land a fist to the jaw. It would be quick. But the smog, coupled with the journey over, has Vi unsure if it’ll be as seamless as she thinks. Also, Vi knows that Silco is inescapable. One fight now would only mean delaying the talk until the next time he prominads into the Last Drop.
“Fine,” she sighs. “Make it quick.”
The guard takes his cane and knocks it twice on the side door. It creeps open.
“Down the hall and on the right,” he directs.
Vi shakes her head and marches down the hallway. On her left she views an open pit, packed with shimmer barrels and tanks each with their own unrecognizable pink lizard creature. Pumps run along the animal’s spine, suctioning something from inside its blood. Tubes maze around the ceiling, one of which is leaking shimmer onto the hallway carpet. Vi narrowly avoids a drop, and then sees the wooden door with a crimson frame. That’s gotta be it.
Vi would knock but this is Silco. She kicks the door open instead, entering into a room with neat bookshelves, an impressive desk, and a leather chair. In it sits the man himself. His one human eye pierces into Vi. He lays his pen down beside the paperwork he was conducting.
“Ah, if it isn’t Vander’s prodigy,” he chuckles.
Vi storms up to his desk and slams her fists into it. The paperwork flies up briefly before settling back down. Silco does not flinch. Instead he scoffs and puts his finger on the desk, tapping it impatiently.
“What do you want.” She huffs.
Silco’s black eye stares her down. “Now, we don’t want a repeat of last time, do we?”
Vi catches a shadow emerging from the corner of her eye. It’s tall and built, stomping towards the desk. Sevika. Of course she’s here today.
Vi breathes out once, then twice, and then removes her fists from the desk. She should’ve expected this. Silco’s chats are never private affairs.
“Good. I have a proposal.” He awards her with the attempt at a smile.
“Stop,” Vi spits. “You had Powder working the night for some sack today. And for what? Some shimmer juice? Her sleep isn’t yours to take.”
Silco picks up a cigar from inside his desk drawer and sticks it between his lips. He snaps his fingers and Sevika whisks out a gold lighter, flicking it on. His cigar lights, and he takes a breath in.
“It seems,” he puffs out a cloud of smoke, “we have the same concern.”
This puzzles Vi. As she looks around the room, she starts to notice things she didn’t pick up on her initial barge-in. There’s a chomper sitting on one of the bookshelves with pink jagged lines. On the other end sits a stuffed bunny, dressed as an enforcer with a button lose and eyebrows downturned. Vi knew Powder partially grew up around Silco, but perhaps she didn’t understand the full extent of it.
“Your sister is talented. We both want what is best for her. Down here in the Lanes, we cannot offer her much, don’t you agree?”
Vi folds her arms, but she has no reply. He’s right. Powder has always been gifted in her own way. The issue is that the Undercity exploits this. The Undercity turns what could become a precious flower into thorns. What use is a flower in a city like this anyway? Machines which could be used to help the Undercity prosper are instead used against one another. Vi has seen the consequence of innovation in the Undercity. She remembers the flash of blue, the wave of the flames, and the feeling of her palm after it slapped Powder across her face.
Vi squeezes her eyes shut. Don’t think about that here.
“Get on with it,” she barks.
“I have a contact with the Piltover Academy. With a few bribes, I can surely get her in.”
The Piltover Academy? Only the top scholars are admitted there. Vi has heard of their innovations, even from down in the Lanes. She knows that the woman who designed the ventilation system for the Undercity went there. The work conducted at that academy, no, the work Powder could conduct at that academy. What could she achieve?
“But-” Silco starts.
Of course. No deal with Silco would ever be this sweet. She is sure this one will have a hefty price to pay.
“I’ve had something taken from me. I need it back.” Silco leans into his chair and brings the cigar back up to his lips.
“I’m listening,” Vi replies, turning her head away from the smoke.
“Do you remember that blue little friend of yours?” Silco pauses. His eyes corner her in.
She sees it again, the blue flash, the loud bang.
Forget. Forget!
“Yes,” she whispers.
“I need it back.” He takes the cigar and snuffs out the light. “You get it back for me from their new owners,” Sevika takes the cigar from him and chucks it into a tin container sitting by the side of his desk. “And I’ll put your sister into Piltover Academy.”
A simple break in? Vi could handle that. She used to snatch stuff from Piltonians all the time. Perhaps Silco did just want the best for Powder. Maybe that is why this task did not seem too daunting. But Vi wondered, even here, what use was that gem to Silco? She’s seen the destruction it has caused.
As Vi stares into Silco’s eyes, she tries to assess what Silco could use the gem for. A man like Silco always has his plans. Vi knows, deep down, a gem, with power like that, would not spell anything positive for the Undercity. But then she thinks of Powder, how she used to laugh, how now she doesn’t even cry. In the Undercity when you get an opportunity like this there is only one thing you can do: take. Fuck the consequences.
Vi puts one arm onto the desk. “And who would the owners be?”
“The Kirammans.” Silco smiled. “Specifically, Caitlyn Kiramman.”
Author's Note
Thank you for reading the first chapter! This is the first fic I'm writing so I appreciate any support <3. Please let me know if you would enjoy more. Thank you!