Chapter Text
Preface:
Seventy years ago, Piltover was a city of soaring ambition and progress, a glittering jewel perched proudly beside the sea. Its skyline, a testament to human ingenuity, pierced the clouds, each skyscraper a monument to progress. But the earth, in its ancient and unpredictable fury, had other plans. A cataclysmic earthquake, a raw tear in the planet's crust, ripped through the coastal shelf upon which the city stood. In a matter of terrifying minutes, the lower half of Piltover was swallowed by the relentless ocean, its vibrant streets plunged into an alien, watery abyss.
Yet, the spirit of innovation, as tenacious as the city's foundations, refused to drown. Instead of abandoning their submerged districts, the people of Piltover adapted, their ingenuity blossoming in the face of disaster. Pressurized habitats were constructed within the skeletal remains of the drowned skyscrapers, illuminated by the ethereal glow of engineered bioluminescence. A new society emerged in these depths, Zaun, the undercity, carved out a life in the perpetual twilight, their existence a stark contrast to the sun-drenched world above.
Topside, those who remained in the elevated districts, continued to thrive, their lives largely untouched by the watery upheaval below. This geographical divide, however, soon hardened into a social one. Resources became stratified, opportunities unequal, and a subtle yet pervasive tension grew between the two halves of the same city. The Zaunites, living in the cramped and dimly lit depths, often felt like a forgotten underclass, their needs secondary to the concerns of those breathing the fresh air above. They worked to provide Piltover with raw materials mined from the ocean’s depths.
Bridging this divide, both physically and metaphorically, was a marvel of engineering: the Glidecar. These sleek vehicles, ubiquitous in Piltover, possessed a remarkable versatility. With a hum of anti-gravity coils, they could glide effortlessly through the air. On the surface of the sea, hydrofoils allowed them to skim across the waves with grace. And when the need arose, with a seamless shift in propulsion, they could submerge beneath the surface, navigating the submerged avenues and hydro-tunnels that connected Zaun’s districts.
It is within this extraordinary city, a place of breathtaking technological advancement and stark social division, that our story begins. The echoes of the Great Quake still resonate, a constant reminder of the fragility of their world. And in the midst of this unique urban landscape, where the sky meets the sea and the privileged overlook the submerged, a chase is about to unfold – a chase that will pull back the shimmering veil of Piltover and reveal the currents of intrigue that flow beneath its surface.
ΔΔΔ
Introduction:
It’s always fire. As the months, then years, pass, it’s also beatings, torture, starvation, and just plain abuse in her dreams. But there is always fire. She knows why.
After a particularly bad one, she would wake up sweating and then run to vomit in the corner of her cell after. Most nights however, the dreams were only disturbing. Tonight was no exception. She sat on her cot, catching her breath and ran her hand through her sweaty dark pink hair. She closes her eyes, the fuzzy images of Powder’s betrayed, tear-stained face, and Vander’s disappointed stare played across her mind’s eye. It always comes back to them.
Vi’s memories are still vague from that night, but she will always have Powder’s face etched into her memory. Vander, Mylo, Claggor. All dead because she couldn’t stop Powder. Didn’t realize Powder would follow them. She should have known that she would. Vander and Silco’s rivalry bonded the unlikely siblings together in a way that blood never could. They were loyal to a fault.
That night, Vander had asked them, finally , to come with him and settle this once and for all. Vi, Claggor, and Mylo had all jumped at the chance. They were an official part of the crew now.
Vi had stopped Powder from celebrating and pulled her into a corner. “Calm down, Pow. You’re not going.” Powder’s face had fallen so much that Vi felt it like a punch to the gut. “It’s too dangerous. Besides, we need you here to help patch us up when we get home.”
Powder’s face was all protest. “Vi, I can help! Those blue stones we found in that Piltie’s office are the key to Mouser! You’ll see! Just let me come, please!” She pleaded.
But Vi was already holding up her hand. “Powder, you know I believe in your skills, but let’s test them out first. Maybe, somewhere like that abandoned warehouse by the docks. Next week?” Vi’s voice sounded hopeful.
But Powder was determined. “No, Vi. I can help now, today!”
Vi grabbed Powder’s shoulders gently, getting Powder to look her in the eyes. “Pow, I can’t do this if I feel like I gotta watch out for you.” She knew it was a mistake the moment she said it.
Powder wrenched herself away from Vi. “Violet, I’m old enough to take care of myself. You even said so!”
But Vi was already turning to go. “I’m sorry, Powder. Next time, after we test Mouser, you can come. I promise.” She closed the door with one last look at her sister before she joined the others in the tunnel that led to the surface. She hoped Powder would just get it, and wait like she asked. Vander eyed her, their past conversation replaying in her head. Whatever happens, it’s on you.
Vi couldn’t let Powder get hurt. She would do everything in her power to keep her safe.
After Vander was knocked out, it was up to Vi, Mylo and Claggor to save their asses. Silco’s goons kept coming at them, but Vi kept holding them off with Vander’s gauntlets while Claggor and Mylo found an escape route for them.
They were losing this fight. Vander was wholly unprepared for the level of muscle Silco had brought to their showdown, and now he was down and it was left to them to get him out.
Vi was on the walkway, pummeling into anyone who was dumb enough to come at her. She was on a roll and she couldn’t be prouder of herself for holding her ground while she bought time for Claggor and Mylo to get Vander to safety in the small room behind her.
The big man with the tattoos was getting up again to rush her. She stood in her fighting stance, just like Vander had taught her, wiping her bloody nose on her sleeve, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw it. Mouser. Her heart leapt into her throat and she barely had time to duck behind the big man who tried to snatch at her when everything went white.
When Vi woke up, she was sweatier than usual and she couldn’t breathe. She opened her eyes in a panic and all she could see was a wall of flames surrounding her. The reason she couldn’t breathe became apparent when she tried to move. The big, tattooed man from earlier was lying on top of her, which probably saved her life considering he looked pretty dead.
She scrambled out from under him as quickly as she could, and started to run back to where Vander, Claggor, and Mylo had been last, only to stop in her tracks. The little room was gone. Like, completely gone. Like, there was a hole now where the room used to be, gone. She just stood there, dumbfounded. Her brain was unable to process what she was seeing.
Did that mean… No. Please, no. Vander. Her brothers. How could they just be… gone? Something wet was on her face and she pawed at it with her fist. Tears. Was she crying for them? Or was it from the… smoke! As if on cue, she started choking and on instinct, dropped to her knees. Being from the undercity, she knew how dangerous fire was in these underwater tunnels.
Vi couldn’t see anything through the smoke. She crawled past the body of the big, tattooed man and made it to the end of the walkway. But from here, she had no clue which way to the surface. The flames were closing around her and her boot caught fire. Fuck! Vi tried to slow her breathing, stay in control and think, but she had to choose a path! At the end of one path was certain death, and the other… who knows. Silco, waiting to snatch her up? She stamped out the fire on her boot and chose a path.
Then her eyes were temporarily blinded by a flash from what appeared to be a small mirror. The owner? Sevika. Anger rose in Vi’s gut from the sight of her, but she couldn’t think about that now. The path she chose had been the wrong way! She crawled in the direction the flash had come from until she could finally stand upright in a new corridor and run up a ladder to the surface.
As soon as she popped out of the access hatch, she grabbed her knees to catch her breath. She picked her head up and looked around for any sign of immediate threat. When she found none, she ran as fast as she could to the large pillar of smoke coming out from the building in front of her. The blast had been big enough to take out an entire section of a high rise building. If Vander and the boys were alive, they’d be there somewhere.
She searched tirelessly through the rubble, turning over every scrap of metal and coming up empty every time she thought she found something, anything that might be one of them. She had no idea how long she’d been searching when a small voice called out to her from behind.
“Vi?”
Vi whirled around in her fighting stance, ready to kill. Her instincts on high alert. “Powder?” Oh, right. Mouser. She had completely forgotten that Powder’s explosive was there, by the small room. The room that was gone now. Vi’s voice was low, dark. “What did you do?” She rounded on Powder, still in her fighting stance, and yelled, “WHAT DID YOU DO?” She couldn’t stop the crack in her voice.
Powder looked taken aback. “V-Vi… I… Mouser worked! He finally worked. I knew he would this time. Did you see? I helped.” She took in Vi’s posture and furrowed her brows. “You… you have to let me come next time. You said. Right?”
Vi’s eyes widened and her voice broke. “Next time?” She grabbed Powder by the arm. “There won’t be a next time! They’re dead! They’re all dead!”
Powder’s lower lip trembles. “I don’t… what do you mean? Dead?”
“What do you think ‘dead’ means?” Vi snarled. Her chest hurts. A sharp pain. But her anger casts a shadow over any pain. “You’re nothing but a jinx!” She slapped Powder across the face.
Vi immediately let go of her and staggered back at the look on Powder’s face. Betrayal. Vi turns and runs to the nearest alley between the buildings and collapses. Hot tears run down her face. She breathes in gasps, her chest heaving. The pain in her chest is almost unbearable.
She looks back toward Powder, thinking she should go to her, apologize, but sees a tall, thin silhouette outlined against the fire in the building. It walks over to Powder who had collapsed on the dock where Vi had left her. Silco. Vi jumps up, ignoring her pain and starts to run toward Powder. “Powd…” Someone grabs Vi from behind and puts a handkerchief over her mouth. The last thing she sees is the face of an enforcer. Marcus.
That night was the first time her heart had hurt. It was not the last. In fact, it hurt right now, eight years later, along with fresh bruises and cuts from her last brawl that landed her in solitary.
Forty-below, the inmates called it. But Vi thought it maybe wouldn’t be too bad… if they still gave her enough meals and water. Oh, and also if every loud sound didn’t make her think the warden was coming down the elevator to have a ‘chat’ with her. Other than that, it was downright peaceful. There was no one around to jeer at her after she woke up screaming from yet another nightmare.
That’s why, when she heard the clank of the elevator machinery running, her whole body tensed up and she backed away into the corner of the cell, ready for a fight. But it wasn’t the fish-like eyes of the warden that searched for her gaze, it was the Ionian eyes of a man she thought she’d never see again. The man whose face was the last face she saw as a free person. Marcus.
In a white-hot rage, she rushed the bars snarling and grabbing for him, but he was just out of reach behind the red line.
“Now now, Vi. Is that any way to treat your rescuer?” Marcus chuckled. Actually laughed. The keys jingled as he pulled them out of his pocket, breaking Vi out of her daze.
Her voice was hoarse from disuse. “What the fuck are you talking about?” She backed away from the bars once again, if only to give herself more room to maneuver should it become necessary.
Marcus gave her a discerning look, like he was trying to ascertain if she were going to kill him or not. “The big man!” His voice boomed in the hall, the noise assaulted Vi’s ears. “He wants you out. Although I have to say, I don’t see how you can be of any use other than some extra muscle. But he’s already got plenty of that.”
Vi couldn’t help her confused look. “Who…?”
Marcus looked incredulous. “You know, Vander. He finally wants you outta here.”
Vi took the news like a boot to the gut. Vander, alive? How? “Wait, what? That can’t be true!” Nothing he said made any sense. Vander was dead. He had nothing to do with her incarceration. She had trouble drawing a breath.
“Kid, I ain’t here to answer your questions. Save it for the Hound.” He eyed her. “Now, are you gonna come quietly, or do I need to grab the warden to help you come quietly?”
Part of her would have smirked at Marcus’ inability to take her down himself, but she was too focused on the ‘too good to be true’ freedom he was offering her. If this was some sort of trick… She was honest with herself. I’d fall for it every time. She gave him a nod and held out her wrists to him on instinct.
Marcus scoffed at her as he opened the door. A bit naively if he asked her. She could beat him with one hand tied behind her back. She was sure of it. “No, kid. Don’t you get it? You’re getting out. No need for all that.” He gestured at her hands.
She lowered them and followed him out. Ready for the ruse to be up at any moment. Only when she walked past the warden, who eyed her like he wanted to murder her, and was standing on the boat in the sunlight as it steered for the mainland, did she maybe, maybe , start to believe she was free. The wind on her face felt like heaven.
ΔΔΔ
Chapter 1: The Chase
“Fuck, Vi! Watch out!” Mylo grabbed the wheel and gave it a quick spin, narrowly avoiding the dock that jutted out past the high rise building. “Where did you learn to drive?”
Vi stared at Mylo incredulously. “Hello! Prison. 8 years. Me. Ring a bell? They didn’t exactly give glidecar lessons.”
Mylo unceremoniously shoved Vi out of the driver’s seat as no less than five blue enforcer glidecars were on their tail. “Janna, where did they all come from?!” He sped up to a rather unsafe speed and barely made the turn between the two buildings ahead of them, shooting a wave of water up and over the docks and knocking the people standing on the docks into the sea.
Vi scrambled up to look out the back window. She stared wide-eyed at their pursuers, running a hand through her short, pink hair. “Janna, we are so fucked!” She absentmindedly rubbed at the slight pain in her chest. She couldn’t go back to Stillwater… No, she would not go, no matter what happened , she promised herself.
Claggor was busy at the computer terminal, trying to upload the data chip they just stole out from the city’s archives, under the noses of the entire council. “Dammit! The data chip won’t upload. There is some security measure in place.”
Vi huffed out a sigh. “Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.” Suddenly another glidecar joined the chase. This one was an unmarked black glidecar. “Mylo! We got one more on us!”
Mylo swerves again between two buildings, making the three of them barely keep their seats.
Vi holds onto the door handle and watches for the enforcers. She can’t believe this is happening to her after everything she’s been through. She runs her hand through her hair again and closes her eyes briefly. What the hell am I even doing? So much has happened in the last two weeks. She had to keep her mind on her goal: find Powder . Nothing else mattered.
She needs to stay grounded, so Vi’s mind quickly runs through everything that led her to this point. She had been in Stillwater prison for eight years. She thought she would never get out after multiple escape attempts. Then, that same enforcer shows up. Marcus, not a great communicator. Vi happens to be in solitary once again, and he just appears without much to say, and takes her out of the prison for the first time in eight fucking years. When she finally feels the sun on her face, she can’t help but be at least a little grateful to the guy.
Then he drops her on Vander’s doorstep and she is beyond happy that she is reunited with her family whom she long thought to be dead: Vander, Claggor, Mylo, and… but no, Powder is not with them. Vander says she went out on her own and promises to reunite the two sisters at the earliest opportunity.
But that was two weeks ago now, and Vi has not seen or heard anything about Powder since then. They won’t talk about her, or what happened back then no matter how often Vi asks. Not only that, Vi has trouble acclimating to being on the outside of the prison walls. She is jumpy and can’t breathe right half the time, her heart ached. Or was it just pain?
She watches the pattern of the glidecars chasing them. The lone black car hangs back and lets the other cars track them. Interesting . Her chest pain has started to bother her even more. Nothing she can’t handle but it’s really annoying, especially when she is in a glidecar chase, trying to stay out of prison.
Her other problem is something she can’t really think about or it will drive her insane. Truly insane . Vander changed. Vi thought everything would be great and familiar and just… home. But no, he is different. Not only that, he brought Claggor and Mylo down with him. It seems like Vander just gave up. He isn’t this great leader anymore like Vi remembers. He might actually be… producing fucking shimmer. She didn’t believe it when she saw the barrels… she hoped they were filled with something else, anything else. She couldn’t just ignore it though. The longer she thought about it, she wondered if maybe in her memories, she idolized Vander. And maybe, he had always been on the wrong side of the law. But those were just thoughts in the back of her mind that she desperately tried not to think.
Vi has seen firsthand what shimmer does to people, how it ruined lives and families. How it ruined Zaun. How could Vander do this? It was a huge blow to Vi’s sense of where she came from to find out what Vander had become. What had it all been for? But no, she couldn’t think of that now. Right now the only thing that mattered was finding Powder. Making sure she was alright. Then what? Leaving Zaun together? Laying low? She’d cover that later, she’d decided.
Vander had promised to help Vi find Powder… but he kept making excuses. Like, they needed Vi’s help to get these last jobs done. That Vi owed him that much for taking her and Powder in all those years ago.
At first, Vi had reluctantly agreed. She had hung around in the background as the extra muscle while Claggor and Mylo intimidated their suppliers and bullied distributors. Vi was smart enough not to let it show on her face, but she was absolutely disgusted. This was not the honorable way that Vander used to do business in her memory. Was her memory off? Had he always been this way? No. She remembers being proud of Vander and proud to be called Vander’s kid.
When she just woke up one day in Stillwater prison, she was never exactly clear on how she got there, or what her charges were. No one ever told her, and when she asked, they laughed in her face, saying, “Sure kid, I don’t know why I’m here either.” Vi’s memories of the events right before she woke up in prison were fuzzy. She remembers an explosion and fire…everywhere. She had been dazed. Powder’s bomb had… killed people. Lots of people. Vi didn’t know how Powder even got there, or even who the people were. She couldn’t remember. But the thing she remembered clearly, was smacking Powder and calling her a Jinx for being there and interfering… ruining something, but what? That’s what Vi couldn’t stand all those years in prison: what she did to Powder. But then, she was behind bars and never even got to apologize. She had to find Powder. She was Vi’s responsibility. Always had been since their parents died. Now, instead of making things right with Powder and finally protecting her, Vander had her doing jobs that might get her sent back to Stillwater.
The jobs got dangerous and unsavory. Vi didn’t like what Vander was making her do. She had been there as backup when Claggor beat an unpaying customer to a pulp. She helped Claggor and Mylo steal crates of something (Claggor wouldn’t say what exactly) from a newly arrived cargo airship, only to find out later that they had belonged to Silco of all people.
She didn’t want to do any of it. She only endured it for information about Powder. But the last straw, the thing she couldn’t live with, was when Vander had demanded that the three of them burn down the home of a family whose relative couldn’t pay their shimmer debt. Vander had said to leave the family to die in the home, but Vi had defied his orders, even challenging Mylo and Claggor over getting them out. In the end, they had set fire to the home and left Vi to get them out on her own, which she did.
That’s when Vi saw her opportunity and went to Grayson, Vander’s old ally. Vander, Mylo, and Claggor had kept a close eye on Vi, never allowing her to go anywhere on her own. They were always with her, she’d noticed, watching her closely. Vi had been smart enough to act ignorant of it and not ask why. But now, her two brothers had left her alone to get this family out of their burning house. It was now or never if she was going to act. She had quickly gotten the family to safety and fled the scene.
Now that she was free of watchful eyes, she made a quick decision. Vander was using her, or hiding her… or some other agenda that Vi didn’t know about. Whatever the reason, she had to admit to herself that Vander wasn’t going to help her get to Powder, or maybe he didn’t even know where Powder was. Claggor and Mylo were for sure being tight lipped about Powder as well.
So, with that in mind, she took the opportunity and fled to Piltover to the one place she thought she would never voluntarily go: the enforcer headquarters. Vi had told the Vastayan at the front desk that she needed to speak with the enforcer commander about sensitive information related to shimmer, specifically to do with Vander.
At first the Vastayan had balked, but when Vi dropped Vander’s name, he had made a quick call. Vi was escorted up the elevator to meet directly with Grayson. Grayson’s eyes had bulged in surprise upon seeing Vi alive. That was when they’d made their deal. Vi would inform on Vander and help Grayson take him and his operation down, in exchange for Grayson helping Vi to find Powder, not to mention Vi’s continued freedom from Stillwater. Vi had agreed and officially betrayed Vander. Something in all her years that she thought she’d never do. She had felt sick as she detailed Vander’s operation to Grayson and agreed to work for her secretly.
That had been two nights ago. And now Vi was on her first job as a traitor to Vander, and a confidential informant for Grayson. What a shit show .
Vi was shaken from her thoughts as their glidecar suddenly dived underwater. Vi held onto the seat in front of her, trying to keep her body from flying into the door. “Janna, Mylo! What the fuck?” Vi’s gaze shot to the front window in awe as the glidecar sped under a dock and around a building as Mylo tried to throw the enforcers off their tail. “I didn’t know glidecars could do this!”
Claggor laughed and clapped Vi on the back. “I think there’s a lot you don’t know, Vi. We are gonna get you up to speed.”
Vi smiled back at Claggor like old times before remembering how she is actively betraying him. She quickly turned back to watch for the enforcers’ glidecars as the smile fell from her face.
Mylo kept the glidecar going under the water as they dived even deeper and steered around tunnels and buildings, the artificial bioluminescence lighting their way.
Vi stared all around the windows in awe. She hadn’t been under the surface of the sea in over eight years. “It’s changed so much.” She said with a soft voice, mostly to herself.
But Claggor spoke up. “Yeah, we just keep building more and more tunnels to avoid topside as much as possible. We wrapped all the tunnels with the artificial bioluminescent plants to keep the lights on. Looks eerie if you ask me.”
But Vi said in a whisper, “It’s beautiful.”
Just then Mylo swore, “Shit! I thought we lost them. There’s still one on our tail.” He took another turn and flew under a couple tunnels. “This one is harder to shake!”
Vi and Claggor held on tight as Mylo maneuvered around pylons. Claggor huffs out a breath, “we can’t shake this one. We should split up.” He hands the stolen data chip to Mylo.
“No way,” Mylo says, “I’m not getting in the water! You know I hate it. Besides, I’m driving.” He tosses the chip back to Claggor.
Claggor gives Mylo a stern look. “Man, come on! You know I can’t swim!”
They both look at Vi, who is still watching the black enforcer glidecar chasing them. “Vi?” Claggor says.
Vi looks up at Claggor and Mylo. “What the hell do you want me to do?” She says incredulously.
Claggor says, “Vi. You were the best swimmer out of all of us growing up.”
Vi’s eyes widened. “So? What does that have to do with anything? I’ve been in prison for awhile, bro. Not a lot of pools there. None, in fact”
Claggor tosses the chip to Vi. “It’ll come back to you. Look, just dive in far enough to evade the enforcer. He’ll either keep on us or follow you. But, I’m guessing there’s no way he’ll believe a diver took the data chip.”
Vi just stared. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” She stuffed the data chip in the pouch at her waist and removed her red leather jacket, thinking how crazy it is to try and slide out of a moving underwater glidecar, then hold your breath long enough to get to an airlock for one of the tunnels. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She says under her breath, but the guys still heard her.
“Look,” Claggor explains. “We’ll either circle around and look for you, or you can just find your own way back to the Last Drop if we get separated.” He paused. “You got this Vi. You’ve done crazier shit.”
Claggor had a point. He moved the seat to the side and opened the hatch on the floor of the glidecar, revealing the ocean beneath them. A pass-through barrier shield prevented the glidecar from being flooded with water. Vi took a series of deep breaths, trying to prepare her lungs. She looked up at her estranged brothers. “Ok. find a tunnel. Get back to the Last Drop. Got it.” Without hesitation, Vi slid into the hatch, letting go of the edges and let her body get carried into the sea as the glidecar sped away.
As soon as she was free of the current from the glidecar’s wash, she started diving toward the bottom to look for a tunnel. She had no idea how long she could hold her breath, but she was about to find out.
Swimming deeper and deeper into blue nothingness made her stare at the beauty around her in wonder. It was so peaceful down here. Nothing to give her anxiety. Nothing she had to do, except swim. There were many times in prison she had wished to be free of everything, to let it all go and fade away into nothingness. It was always a nice thought in her mind, especially when she got thrown into solitary, which was pretty often. Her mind would bring her what others called, ‘intrusive thoughts’ but to Vi, they were most welcome. An escape that was always there, waiting for her. An old friend that came to visit her now, in the sea. Her lungs started to burn a little. She needed air soon.
Vi headed for the airlock of the closest tunnel to her. She saw a shadow pass directly above her position and looked up. What the hell? Seriously?! The enforcer had actually followed her into the sea. Shit! There was no way she could go into the first tunnel without immediately getting caught.
Vi swirled around, looking for another option. She saw another tunnel barely visible past the first tunnel. She wasn’t sure if she could hold her breath that long, but one look at the enforcer had her swimming double-time. The enforcer had a non-rebreather mask, and was closing in fast on her position. Vi kept swimming as fast as she could. No way was she getting caught and sent back to prison!
Vi was getting slower as she made her way toward the tunnel in the distance. What had she been thinking? No way could she make it! Her lungs were burning and she started to panic. Then suddenly, she stopped. Stopped swimming. Stopped panicking. Everything is just so heavy. She closed her eyes briefly and then turned to look at the enforcer who was getting closer and closer. This is it. She gazed into the deep of the sea and made her peace. I don’t want to be here anyway, and this place… the sea, it is a beautiful place to just let go. So she did.
Vi let her arms fall slowly to her sides and smiled sadly. Then she opened her mouth and breathed in the seawater. She didn’t struggle. She just let it happen.
The enforcer, so close now, faltered at the sight of Vi drowning, not even struggling. The enforcer reached out to try and save Vi.
Then, something happened that shocked them both. Pain shot through the sides of Vi’s ribs and she grabbed at them in a sort of hug, screaming. Except she couldn’t scream. The water in her lungs prevented her. Blood muddied the water around Vi’s torso.
The enforcer stopped short of grabbing Vi and looked on helplessly, confused about what was happening.
Then, just as fast as the pain started, it stopped. Vi looked at the enforcer in wonder. She was breathing. No… she wasn’t breathing exactly. She didn’t need to. She looked down at her blood stained shirt, tentatively touching her side. What in all hells? What was she feeling? Gills? How in the fuck… She took a deep breath. No, an… expansion? It felt… muffled a bit. My shirt is covering the gills. Gills! Fuck!
Vi lifted her shirt and instantly could ‘breathe’ easier. She was mesmerized as she inspected the three slits of gills on each side of her torso. She touched one and flinched a bit. It tickled slightly and she smiled.
Vi looked back at the enforcer, a rather tall woman, Vi noticed, realizing that she saw everything Vi just went through. She dropped her smile. At the same time, Vi remembered why they were both there in the first place. Shit! She swam back away from the enforcer just as the enforcer reached out to grab Vi.
Vi looked back at the tunnel and started swimming with renewed strength. The enforcer got over her shock and swam quickly after Vi again.
Miraculously, Vi had more stamina than ever with the gills oxygenating her blood faster and easier. She made the swim to the tunnel in record time. She twisted open the wheel for the airlock and opened the door. She quickly closed it behind her, effectively locking out the enforcer, and flipped the switch to drain the water out of the airlock.
As the water drains away, Vi watches out the small window in the door as the enforcer tries to open the airlock, only to realize it’s impossible because the water is now draining out. She bangs her fist against the window in frustration. Vi smiles and waves at her, winking.
The enforcer narrows her eyes at Vi through her mask, but she doesn’t swim away. Why does she look so familiar? Vi locks eyes with the enforcer as the water drains quickly past her head and chest. The enforcer’s cerulean eyes hold Vi captive and as the water drips down her face, she forgets that she is not breathing through her mouth until the water recedes further, past her torso. Vi’s eyes widen as she realizes her gills aren’t working anymore. She tries to breathe through her mouth, but panics when she can’t. Her lungs are still full of seawater. She backs away from the window and grabs her throat. Her vision gets dark at the edges from lack of oxygen and she falls to her hands and knees, choking and vomiting out water.
The enforcer’s eyes widen and she slams her hand to the window, wanting in, wanting to help.
Vi falls the rest of the way to the floor, her head bouncing against the grated drain and cutting a gash into her forehead just below her hairline. I’m not meant to find peace. Pain envelops her as everything goes black.
ΔΔΔ
Caitlyn Kiramman always followed her instincts. She trusted them. They never steered her wrong. She followed them when in college, she changed her major from pre-med to criminal justice against her parents wishes. She followed them when she joined the enforcers and became a detective. It was her instincts that led her to document the crimes of, and ultimately expose Smeech, the Chembaron, and his entire organization. She went undercover in the undercity inside his organization for an entire year for that one. She did things that year she would never tell anyone about, not even Jayce. However, the things she learned and uncovered only made her more dedicated to her task of rooting out crime, even after she had taken down Smeech.
She trusted her instincts again today when they told her to follow the pink-haired woman into the sea instead of continuing her pursuit of the glidecar she had been tracking. Her instincts told her that the criminals in the glidecar would expect her to keep following them, so she didn’t. She stopped her glidecar and took off her blue enforcer jacket. She put on her rebreather mask so she could breathe underwater and opened the glidecar hatch, following the pink-haired criminal quickly before she could lose sight of her.
Caitlyn quickly clocked the tunnel that the pink-haired woman was swimming for. She knew without a doubt she would reach the woman before she got into the tunnel airlock. The woman wasn’t even wearing a rebreather mask. Caitlyn had her in her sights, confident she wouldn’t get away.
The pink-haired woman looked back at Caitlyn and widened her eyes, knowing she couldn’t out-swim her to the tunnel. Caitlyn was a bit shocked when the pink-haired woman bypassed the first tunnel to swim to yet a deeper tunnel. Was she insane? No one could breath hold this long. Just as Caitlyn thought this pink-haired (and very muscular, Caitlyn noticed) woman had a death wish, she just stopped swimming. She turned in the water and looked at Caitlyn with the most despairing look Caitlyn had ever seen in her life. It struck Caitlyn deep in her heart for some reason. Where have I seen her before? The depth of feeling in the woman’s silver gray eyes was something Caitlyn had never encountered in another person, ever.
Then the pink-haired, deep feeling woman took in a breath… no, water, into her lungs. She didn’t even struggle. Her hands came down to rest at her sides in acceptance of her fate. Caitlyn was so taken aback, she just floated there in shock, eyes locked with the woman. Something about this was so wrong on such a deep level within Caitlyn’s soul. She couldn’t catch her breath as she watched the woman take in water. Caitlyn felt her heart break and wondered at it. What the hell?
Caitlyn reached out her hand to try and grab her, save her, but… it all happened so fast. One second the woman’s body was jerked as she actively drowned. The next second, she was bleeding from the sides of her torso, her face twisted in pain. Caitlyn couldn’t believe her own eyes. She didn’t understand what was happening, and from the look the woman was giving her, neither did she.
Just as suddenly, she stopped writhing in pain. The pink-haired woman looked down at her bloodstained shirt and tentatively touched her side. She twitched, not in pain, but in… a newness. She lifted her shirt and Caitlyn could tell the relief on the woman's face as she breathed… (no, expanded?) easier. However, she was mesmerized by what she saw. The woman had… gills? Again she touched one of them and flinched, a small smile on her face. She looked up at Caitlyn, as though sharing this vulnerable moment with her. But then the woman’s smile fell, and the both of them suddenly remembered why they were there. Before Caitlyn could register what was happening, the woman swam away from her toward the tunnel with renewed speed and energy.
Caitlyn only hesitated a second before chasing after the pink-haired woman once again. The woman entered the tunnel’s airlock and shut Caitlyn out before she could reach it. Caitlyn tried to twist the handle and realized the pressurization lock was already activated. She slammed her fist against the window in frustration.
The pink-haired woman smiles and waves at Caitlyn. Then she winks. She winked… at me! Caitlyn’s gaze was incredulous, even as her stomach did a flip. The gall! All she could do was float there and watch as her prey got away. Caitlyn fumed as her eyes locked on to the most silvery eyes she’d ever seen in her life.
The pink-haired woman’s silver eyes hold Caitlyn captive even as the water recedes quickly. She feels a strange connection to this woman… almost, comfortable. Suddenly the woman’s eyes grow wide in panic and she grips her throat like she can’t breathe. She watches in fascination and then horror as the woman falls to her knees and chokes out water. Her gills! She still has water in her lungs! Caitlyn slams her hand against the window. No! The woman hits the floor and doesn’t move again.
Caitlyn feels her own breathing catch in her throat. She looks around for options and spots another airlock a few segments down. Without a second thought, she swims as fast as she can toward it.
The airlock opens stubbornly as she twists the handle, making a screeching sound in the water. She tries to slow her breathing as she slams the compression button, allowing the water to drain away from the chamber. She checks her dive watch. I’ve been under too long. She will have to make stops in the water on her way up to unload her nitrogen build up.
As soon as the compression light turned green, she ripped open the door and ran down the deserted tunnel. She took off her face mask as she ran, breathing in the stale air. Many of the tunnel’s overhead lights were out, making it difficult to see where she was going, but she managed to find the airlock she was looking for.
It was empty. Her heart skipped a beat. Where the hell is she? She looked back towards the doorway and saw a trail of water and blood drops leading the opposite way of how she had come. She quickly followed it, taking out the knife at her side. She ran more carefully this time, knowing the woman could be anywhere in the dimly lit tunnel.
ΔΔΔ
Vi’s sides hurt. She held them. They stung where the gills had torn open her skin. Blood actively made its way down her body, dripping off her clothes and onto the grated floor as she moved down the tunnel. The enforcer was gone. Hopefully back up to the surface.
She was still dizzy and put out a hand to steady herself and left a bloody handprint on the tunnel wall on top of decades old grime. Her lungs still felt the echo of suffocation from the water that had drowned them. It had been all she could do to expel it before passing out, but she made it. Always surviving. For Powder.
Vi makes her way to the end of the tunnel segment and comes to a branch that spits five ways. I have no idea where I am. Her time in Stillwater only let her remember so much of her past, plus the Zaunites were constantly building new tunnels. She picks a tunnel at random and walks quickly toward it. The sound of quick footsteps behind her makes her stop and move into a shadow between the flickering overhead lights.
It’s that damn, insistent enforcer! Never one to run from a fight, Vi wipes her forehead with the back of her hand to keep the blood from her head wound out of her eyes and steps into the light. The look on the enforcer’s face alone is worth it. Shock with a bit of respect.
They stare at each other, neither backing down, or making the first move. Vi’s fists clench at her sides. The enforcer’s eyes are calculating, studying, analyzing. Vi doesn’t need all that. She runs diagonally up the side of the tunnel and kicks off, meeting the enforcer with a full body slam. The enforcer holds up her hands to protect herself, and Vi sees the shine of the knifeblade, narrowly avoiding it as the enforcer drives it near Vi’s thigh. The force of the impact has their hands meeting each other. The enforcer going in with the knife and Vi grabbing her wrist. The resulting shock that comes from their first skin to skin contact creates an electric jolt that drives them apart, both slamming into the tunnel walls on opposite sides.
They each recover quickly and stare at the other in shock, each thinking the other had some sort of weapon or strange power. When neither one flinches, they lunge at each other at the same moment, rolling around on the grimy tunnel floor. The enforcer pushes Vi’s face toward the grated floor, but Vi pushes her off and they both get to their feet, rounding on each other.
Vi leverages her strength and weight to shoulder the enforcer hard into the wall. However, the enforcer is too quick for Vi, twisting out of the way and throwing out a kick behind her to Vi’s knee. Vi catches her foot and pulls the enforcer toward her fist.
The enforcer tilts her head at just the right angle to narrowly avoid the full force of Vi’s fist, only the knuckles graze her cheek, leaving a small cut at the bone. Though actively bleeding herself from hitting her head on the floor earlier, Vi is happy to draw first blood in this fight. The grin on her face is quickly wiped away when the enforcer uses her height to attempt a quick elbow strike to Vi’s jaw. Vi pulls her head back enough to only come away with a bloody lip. This time it’s the enforcer’s turn to smirk.
Vi wipes her mouth on her sleeve and huffs a laugh. She puts up her guard, keeping an eye on the knife in the enforcer’s hand. They size each other up now that they’ve traded blows, each knowing they have a formidable opponent.
Vi’s dizziness from her head wound returns. She shakes her head to clear it and the enforcer seizes the opportunity to advance on her, faking a knife strike to Vi’s eye and instead meeting Vi’s bloody side with her knee. Vi doubles over with a grunt, but instinct finds Vi using the enforcer’s momentum to her advantage. She pulls the enforcer’s leg toward her, letting them both stumble backward onto the floor and sending the enforcer flying over her head with her legs.
Vi immediately flips over to stand and go after her, but the blue-haired enforcer is quicker. Vi sees the flash of the knife, already knowing it’s too late. The knife edge grazes Vi’s shoulder, creating a shallow cut, but also effectively pinning the fabric of Vi’s shirt to the wall. Almost as soon as the knife embeds itself into the wall, the enforcer bodies her and puts an arm across Vi’s throat.
Vi’s eyes are wide and she swallows. “You got an alright aim.” She croaks out.
The enforcer narrows her eyes at her. “I have an excellent aim.”
Her Ionian accent catches Vi off guard. Gods this woman is hot.
Vi’s face must’ve betrayed her thoughts because the enforcer furrows her brow, but she only says, “Give me the data chip you stole.”
The enforcer’s face is only inches from Vi’s, but even if that wasn’t the case, she couldn’t look away from those sky blue eyes. With a smirk, Vi says, “You chased the wrong criminal. It’s still in the glidecar with the others.”
Confidently, the enforcer replies, “No, it’s not. You have it in the bag at your waist.” A corner of her mouth lifts. “You gave it away by moving your hand to protect it when you saw my knife coming at you.”
Vi drops her smirk and just stares at the enforcer. “I’m impressed. The enforcement office must’ve increased their recruitment standards.” Vi says, trying to buy time.
The enforcer pulls the knife from the wall and presses it to Vi’s throat. “Give. Me. The. Chip.” Her breath ghosts against Vi’s lips, she is so close. “I won’t ask again.”
Vi starts to open her mouth to make a snarky comment when a loud bang sounds from the tunnel hatch across from them. They both whip their heads toward the sound.
The hatch bursts open. “Vi!” Claggor pokes his head through the door, reaching out his hand.
Momentarily distracted, the enforcer’s grip on the knife loosens a bit and Vi winks at her, pushing her shoulders back with a smirk.
The enforcer’s back hits the opposite side of the tunnel and Vi scrambles to the hatch to grab Claggor’s hand like a lifeline.
Just as Vi grips Claggor’s hand she feels a tug and a sharp sting at her waist and she turns her head just in time to see the enforcer smirk from where she stood against the wall before Claggor pulled her through the hatch, slammed the door shut, and starts the decompression sequence so the enforcer can’t enter.
Vi lands unceremoniously on the grated floor and feels for the pouch at her waistline. It’s gone. “Dammit, Claggor! She got the chip! Fuck!” Her fingers come away with a small amount of blood from where the thrown knife had sliced her skin.
ΔΔΔ
Caitlyn smiles to herself as she lazily walks up to the place in the wall where her knife held the pouch in place against it and yanked it free. She even found herself giving a small chuckle at the cute look on the pink-haired woman’s face when she realized that Caitlyn had the chip. Cute?! Her smile dropped. No. No, she would not let her mind go there. She was a professional after all.
She checked her knife and smiled again when she saw the blood.
Now, I will find out who you are.
She pulled out a bag and carefully sealed the knife inside.