Chapter Text
“Vander, look!”
Vander gave a long, heaping sigh before turning lovingly towards the little girl he had taken in only a few months ago.
Violet was a true force to be reckoned with, and Vander wasn’t sure exactly why he had spent so much time underestimating the sheer work that went into raising a kid, but he was properly humbled by now.
Violet skidded around the corner, her tiny bare feet clattering on the wooden floor as she nearly tripped over herself. Her hands were carefully cupped around something, which she held aloft to avoid crushing as she rushed towards Vander.
Vander couldn’t help the warm smile that curled on his lips as he crouched down to meet his adopted daughter.
“What is it you have there, Violet?”
The girl was suddenly, uncharacteristically bashful, but she hesitantly held out her cupped hands towards him like a treasure.
Slowly, she uncovered them.
“It’s my baby sister,” she whispered with a childlike sense of awe. “Her name’s Powder.”
In her hands was a tiny, tiny grub.
It took a few days, but Vander couldn’t deny that there really was something about this bug. A sense of personality, a sense of color and life, and when he strained his ears like Violet did, he swore he could hear a little voice.
Maybe it was the years of breathing in the Grey catching up with him. Maybe it’s the stress of raising three kids and running the Lanes. But while Vander was willing to play along with Violet and her little bug sister, the two boys he ended up taking in a few months later were far more confused.
“That’s just a bug!” Mylo was insisting again.
Violet shielded her sister from his prying gaze with her hands. Powder writhed around in the dirt in her container. “She’s my sister!” Violet spat, full of venom.
Mylo gestured helplessly towards her, staring up at Vander.
Vander crossed his arms as he gazed down at the squabbling children. God, parenting was hard. “Mylo, don’t be rude to Powder.”
Mylo gaped at him. “But that's a BUG!”
Vander crouched down, meeting the kids at eye level and glancing at the container Powder was currently in. The tiny grub had grown very little in the time they had had her, but she was wiggling happily and eating an old banana peel, so he assumed she was doing well.
Powder wiggled in a way that convinced him she was very offended by Mylo. Vander didn’t really know how exactly she communicated to him and Violet, but there definitely was something about this weird little bug that felt too… human.
He had heard stories about creatures becoming so exposed to the toxic spill-off of the undercity that they became something… different… than what one might expect. Rats with a bit too much sentience. Dogs who stand on two feet and howl in a way that almost sounded like words.
But… a bug?
Vander sighed again, as he had been doing a lot lately. Stranger things had happened, he supposed.
“Mylo, apologize to your sister, now.”
Mylo gestured helplessly between the container where Powder wiggled around with self-importance, waiting for her apology, and Violet, who stood with an angry pout on her face.
“Now, Mylo.”
Mylo deflated. He rolled his eyes so hard the whites showed, then he stepped forward towards Powder and said, in the most annoyed voice he could muster, “I’m sooo sorry, stupid bug.”
“That’s not her name!” Violet insisted, shoving the container practically under his nose. “Do it right!”
Mylo gritted his teeth. “I am sorry, Powder.”
“Thank you, Mylo. Now, Powder, what do we say?”
Powder wiggled indignantly. She didn’t want to accept the apology.
“Powder…” Vander’s voice contained a subtle warning.
Powder squirmed against the dirt.
“Thank you. Now, please, you three need to get along. Claggor is doin’ fine, and I expect you all to be fine too. We are family, and we have to work together down here, alright?”
“Alright,” Vi kicked her feet on the floor, still a bit steamed.
Powder wiggled towards her banana peel.
Mylo took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then said, “Fine.”
Vander nodded, pleased. His kids might not be his flesh and blood, but those four were his, and that was for sure.
“Thought last time was the last time we were gonna do this…” Mylo grumbled, standing and dusting dirt off himself.
“Well, this time's the last time…” Vi hucked the sack of goods over her back, her other hand clutching Powder in her special to-go container. “Just look at how much we got. We’re gonna be set for years.”
Claggor cut in, still dazed. “Guys, what was that? What the hell even happened back there?”
Everyone turned their eyes to Powder.
The tiny grub wiggled in a way that meant something along the lines of, Don’t look at me! I don’t know! I didn't do anything!
Mylo growled under his breath. “You could fill a damn library with all the things you didn't do.”
Vi fixed him with a tired look, rising to her feet. “Guys, we just emptied a Piltover penthouse right under the Enforcers' noses… so, if you're done beating yourselves up, let's get this home.”
Powder contorted this way and that happily in her dirt. Vi shot her a loving look.
Of course, they were jumped by a bunch of other kids wanting a taste. Powder, like usual, couldn’t fight, so Vi tossed the goods at her and squared up.
The bag crushed Powder’s container, but Powder was a smart kid, and she squirmed out from under it and crawled slowly on top of the bag. Vi trusted her to defend it.
Deckard and his gang fought well, but Vi and her family fought harder. When she slammed the final plank into that stupid thugs face, dropping him right off Mylo, they were finally done.
“Wait!” Deckard cried. Vi turned around, furious, and watched as he pathetically pulled a knife from God knows where, brandishing it like he wasn’t still half-hobbled over and bloody.
Vi walked up to him, leaning down to meet his pathetic eyes.
“Wanna see how that ends?” She murmured, voice deadly.
Deckard’s eyes widened.
She glared harder, a steady stream of blood running down her face.
He huffed out a breath and turned away, off to limp home and lick his wounds. Vi, victorious and bloody, turned towards her family.
“Wait a minute… where’s Powder?”
The bag was lost, but thankfully Powder, who had been taking a joyride on it when the thug tripped over his own shoelaces and dumped it into the Pilt, managed to get off. It was a miracle that Vi had even found the tiny little bug at the docks.
The family of four were now descending back into Zaun, and Mylo just couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut.
Powder tried to wiggle in a way to explain herself, but Mylo didn’t even bother looking at her.
“Who saw that coming?” He huffed, throwing a hand into the air.
Claggor groaned, nursing the bruised jaw he was now sporting. Vi winced sympathetically. “We never should have gone over there…” he grumbled.
Vi curled her hand protectively around Powder. “Doesn't matter. The stuff's gone.” She patted Powder’s back, trying to cheer her up. Powder undulated sadly. “It's all right, Powder. At least you're okay.”
Mylo snarled as they opened the metal door, broken and rusted beyond use, and walked into a decrepit room.
“Okay?! What about us?” He followed Vi and Powder into the elevator, glaring at the worm that Vi kept shielded. Claggor was right behind them, dejected, while Powder peaked out over her sister's fingers. “I get my face bashed in, and she just gets a pass?”
“Yup.”
Mylo threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “Every time! Every time she comes along, something goes wrong.”
He leaned over Vi’s hands, glaring down at the tiny grub. “She jinxes every job!”
Powder turned onto her side, still just a bug.
“When I was a kid, some guy took my favorite toy and threw it up there. I used to come out here at night and stare at it, hoping maybe the wind or a bird might knock it down.”
Vi gazed out at the little bunny, then back down at her sister which lay inert in the palm of her hand. She smiled fondly, and with determination. “We've all had bad days. But we learn. And we stick together.”
Powder squirmed in a way that Vi assumed meant she wanted to be let down, and to her surprise, the second she could, her sister squirmed into Vi’s pocket and withdrew…
“What is it?” Vi gasped in wonder, staring at the little blue crystal her brilliant little sister had somehow stashed away into her pockets.
Powder shimmied on the crystal, which rolled and tipped until it was stopped by her fat little grub body.
“No… we shouldn’t show Vander.” Vi leaned in with a mischievous little smile. “Lets… keep this our little secret, okay?”
She stood, gazing out over the city below them. Powder squirmed a bit too much, and was thusly squished by the crystal she refused to detach from.
“Mylo's wrong, Powder. You're stronger than you think. And one day... this city's gonna respect us.”
“You know, Powder,” Vi gently rubbed a single finger along what served as the grub’s face. “What makes you different makes you strong. Always remember that, okay?”
Vander later found Vi’s old bunny stuffed animal with a tiny larvae crawling on it, gently nipping on the fur with its jaws. He frowned for a moment, before reaching down under the bar to pull up an old piece of a banana peel.
He set it on Powder’s special plate before presenting it before her.
The little grub wormed around, unable to see it. He gently set her down on top of the banana peel, and watched peacefully as she munched away.
His eyes widened. The bunny.
That meant… oh no.
He didn’t have time to explain to Powder. He ran out the door.
Vi screamed to the heavens, the fire blazing next to her a reminder of the hell she was trapped in. Below her, her father’s body lay distorted—twisted beyond recognition, a monster who, in his last dying moments, saved her life.
She turned, tears nearly spilling from her eyes and thunder crashed nearby. The fire licked at her heels, casting distorted shadows across the walls that danced like spirits pulled from hell.
There, at the edge of the alleyway, was Powder. She was crawling very slowly forward, clearly proud of herself.
“You…” Vi felt the horror clawing up her throat. “You did this?”
Powder shimmied even closer.
“Why?” Vi couldn’t believe it. The flames danced at their side, casting horrifying shadows across her sister’s tiny face. “Why did you do this?”
The grub paused its undulations, twisting onto its side and curling up into a tiny ball.
“I told you to stay away.” Vi choked out as she strode forward, fury thrumming in her veins. How could she have done this? Their whole family was dead! They were alone now, and it was all Powder’s fault!
The grub did not react. Vi grabbed her aggressively, gripping her in a nearly too tight of a fist.
“I told you to STAY AWAY!” With that, she threw the grub down hard, where she bounced and rolled briefly across the dirt.
Powder wiggled in horror and sorrow. If she had a face, she might be crying, but Vi could only assume considering Powder was still just a bug.
Vi pinched Powder between her thumb and forefinger, lifting her up so she could see her little grub eyes. “Because you’re a jinx! Do you hear me? Mylo was right!”
Powder contorted helplessly.
Violet stared at her baby sister with the dawning realization of what she had just done. Quickly as she could, like she had just touched a hot stove, Vi dropped Powder to the floor. She stared in silent agony at the palm of her hand that was just a little greasy with what could only be hemolymph.
She needed to calm down. Her sister was so tiny and helpless, and she needed Vi to be calm. After all, she was probably just as terrified and anguished now that she knew what she had done.
With considerable effort, Vi pulled herself away from where her sister lay limp against the dirt and the body of their father was stretched out behind her. She had to ignore Powder's distressed wiggling as she kept on walking. At this moment, she needed just a second to breathe. A second away from the fire and smoke and the realization that her sister had killed their whole family in a terrible misguided effort to save her.
She didn’t have any time to go back. She saw the outline of a man that could only be Silco as he stepped into the alleyway. Vi went to rush forward to stop him from stepping on Powder, only to be stopped by a firm hand on the back of her neck.
“Shhh…” A man’s voice said, a cloth pressed tightly to her mouth as a glass bottle rolled by her feet. She gasped, inhaling the fumes. “He’ll kill you if he hears you…”
That was the last thing Vi remembered before she woke up in Stillwater, where she would spend seven long years of her life, not even knowing if her sister had truly survived.
“Hello, little girl.”
If Sevika wasn’t so delirious with pain, she would point out that in front of Silco was… nothing.
“Where is your sister?”
Nobody else seemed to think anything was amiss, so Sevika tried blearily to hold her eyes open. Her arm was blackened to a crisp but still attached, the few nerves still connected blazed with a pain like she had never felt before. She must've been losing more blood than she originally thought if she was hallucinating this all.
Because Silco suddenly reached down and gently scooped up one of the most disgusting maggots she had ever seen in her entire life. The man holding Sevika’s limp body gasped, holding his breath, and Sevika dully wondered what the hell Silco needed a grub for.
He then… cradled the bug to his chest.
“We’ll show them…” he muttered, voice turning dark as he gazed out on Vander’s Shimmer ravaged corpse. “We will show them all.”
What the fuck?