13

Chapter Thirty-Four

With everyone fed and watered, I sighed, and stood, heading over to grab my 'Justice' coat and weapons, the other two following me, both girls confused. "What are you doing, Jayce?" Piper inquired, as I started making sure all the belts were properly secured over my armored shirt, which the Home had provided extras of after it'd 'learned' the design. That meant I was doubling up on my armor in ways that didn't exactly work well together, but, given what I'd found, I'd take the extra protection, my ring not having the same requirements as Vi's bracers.

"Getting ready to head back out," I told her, looking at a copied gas mask, weighing the pros and cons of using the spider silk balaclava instead, before saying fuck it and wearing both to protect my lower face.

Both girls stiffened at that. "What, why?" Vi demanded. "That place was. . ."

Before I could reply, though, Piper spoke up. "It's the portal. You need to move it."

"Yep," I said, Singing without meaning to, just feeling like I should in-costume. Pushing that instinct down, I noted, "It's about eleven pm on Friday. I have until about eight am on Monday to make it to the surface, or else people are going to start asking questions, which is something I'd rather avoid. And, with how far we fell, we're... deep."

Shaking my head, I'd considered how to do this, and none of my options were good. "Theoretically, the fastest way out would be to just go the way we came in, and if I could rig some kind of hextech anti-grav harness that might actually work instead of blowing me up I'd give it a shot, but I'm nowhere close to that. Worse, I don't remember all the twists and falls we took, and we were falling for minutes which means we went a ways down, but what little I could make out during that trip told me that there were other tunnels that fed into the one we were in, so it'd be a three dimensional maze and..." I shook my head. "Maybe this is dumb, but I think trying to hoof it's giving me a better chance and getting out quickly, and, well, I'm curious," I offered with a grin.

"Curious," Violetta echoed, incredulous.

"Yeah, as far as I was aware, the Sump was the lowest level of the Undercity, right?" I asked in turn, getting a nod from Piper. "Well, in that case, where the fuck are we?"

"Uh, at your house?" the small girl questioned, then glanced at the Gate. "Oh, you mean out there? ... dunno. Somewhere old?"

"Well, yes," I smiled, "But I expected, given the portal opens up a couple miles below the junkyard, that it'd just be caves, not some kind of hidden megastructure." I paused, making connections to things Jayce had learned, but not given much thought to, combined with distant bits of lore I'd picked up. "Though, given that Zaun managed to crack their kingdom in half trying to make the Sun Gates, that suggests a level of industry beyond what The Lanes has to offer."

"Undercity's plenty big," Vi disagreed. "Hell, there's places no ones used in ages. They coulda done it."

I paused, mid-way through strapping on my pistol's holster. There was something... wrong with that statement, but I didn't know why it was wrong. Putting that aside for later consideration, I loaded up the cart with stacks of ammo, not sure how much I'd need, but, thinking ahead, it would better to have something for the girls to do, if they wanted to help, instead of just walking out and leaving them to just wait. They could go to sleep, as I had this, but while Vi probably would, Piper certainly wouldn't.

Thinking about it, I loaded it up the cart with some more Semtex, along with detonators, swinging by the kitchen as Piper followed, Vi having left while I'd been busy. Grabbing a couple bottles of Company-brand Gatorade, which lacked any labels that might cause problems if taken to un-initiated worlds, I headed down to the Gate room, surprised to see Violetta was already there, flexing the fingers of a new pair of combat gloves.

"What's up?" I questioned, confused.

"I'm coming with," she declared, challengingly.

Normally, I'd let that pass, but now? "No," I stated, definitively.

"What'dya mean 'No'?" she echoed scornfully. "You said you don't know what's down there, so you need someone to watch your back."

"I mean No," I reiterated. "I've got protections that you don't. The reason why the oil-beast went for you, and not me, is because of that."

"And what you have works on everything?" she checked, and I started to say yes, but hesitated, as once creatures hit a certain degree of intelligence, no, those protections weren't garunteed. The Trashtapus crossed it, which is why I had to negotiate with it instead of commanding it, my Wild Defense only able to let me get my metaphorical foot in the door and open negotiations, but if it really didn't like me, for whatever reason, then I would've been fucking dead, having been dropped in the center of its territory instead of approaching the edge, and being allowed to escape.

Reading my expression, the white-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm coming with."

"No, you fucking aren't," I growled, the girl's arrogance having gotten us into this problem. "Yeah it's not gonna be a walk in the park for me, but-"

I was cut off by a tug on my coat, looking down to see Piper staring up at me. "Jayce?" she questioned, and I said nothing, waiting. "Please take Vi with you."

My instinct was to tell her no too, but Piper's perspective, while different, I'd found was worth at least viewing. "Not saying I will, but why?"

"It's like the Under- like Zaun down there, right?" she questioned in turn.

I nodded, pulling back on my Song, "Turned up to eleven, but yes."

"Well, she knows Zaun. More than I do, and more than you do, Jayce. At least for now," the small girl argued. "And, you've got instincts and stuff, but you don't know what they mean."

Part of me was annoyed that I'd explained my 'abilities' to the girl, but when I'd grabbed hot metal, temperature no longer a concern, and then had to lunge to stop her from doing the same thing a few minutes later, keeping them a secret was no longer an option. I'd wanted to brush past them, however, when she'd asked, wanting to know if there was something she could do to be able to do what I could, seeming so vulnerable in that moment, I'd told her about my special Defenses, and why they were unique to me. She'd been disappointed, but had accepted it, and, when I'd told her that, when she was older, I'd see what I could do, she'd just nodded and brightened back up.

But that meant that she knew the limits of my abilities, and could use them against me. Well, not against me, but...

I sighed, "That's... a good point."

The blue-haired tween nodded, then turned on her smug looking sister, and commanded, "And you need to listen to Jayce, Vi! If he says to do something, you need to do it!"

Violetta frowned, "I can look after mys-"

"Can you?" her sister demanded, cutting her off, suddenly aggressive. "Or did Jayce have to save you, Violet? Twice?"

"I, he saved you too," the older girl argued, off-balance.

However, whatever kind of impact that point was supposed to make didn't stick, as Piper just shot her sister a dismissive look. "Like, duh," the small girl replied. "I'm a kid, I was in trouble, and he's Jayce!" I lifted a finger, as that didn't make a lot of sense, but she wasn't done. "And he only needed to this time because you didn't listen. Because you don't listen!"

Her sister scowled, "I-"

"No! You DON'T!" the blue-haired girl screamed, both Vi and I taken aback by it. "You-"

"Piper," I interrupted, putting my hand on her shoulder, her meltdown clearly not about what it was about, especially with it coming out of nowhere as it seemed to be. "Take a deep breath, and center yourself. I'm not going anywhere until we have this settled."

The girl blinked rapidly, struggling with herself, before she did what I asked, holding onto my coat tightly. "Now, what's wrong?" I prompted.

She frowned, taking a deep breath to start yelling again, "VI-"

"No," I cut her off. "Why are you scared?"

That caught her off-guard. "I... what?"

Going down on one knee, I looked across at the unstable tween. "You're scared, Piper. Of what? Of Violetta not listening to me, obviously, but why?"

"I... She almost got you killed!" the small girl sniffed.

"What? No I-" the older sister started to argue, and I could see Piper start to get worked up, so lightly squeezed her shoulder, interrupting the brawler myself.

"Yes. You did," I stated without condemnation, while not breaking eye contact with the younger girl. "I understand why, but stop reacting and think. Didn't Vander talk to you about taking responsibility for your actions?"

Without looking, I could see out of the corner of my eye as the white-haired girl flinched, as if slapped, falling silent. Waiting, I watched Piper, patient. The small girl bit her lip, then whispered, fearful, "I'm worried you'll leave me. Like everyone else did. Like Vi did."

Well, shit. I brought the girl in for a hug, and she clung to me. Quietly, I checked, "And am I right in thinking you're not worried about me leaving on purpose, but me dying?" She didn't say anything, but nodded into my collar. Then if she's such a liability, why did you want me to bring Vi at all? I wondered, having assumed it was Piper trying to help her sister 'feel useful', like we'd talked about, and supporting her, but...

But looking at it from another, less pleasant direction, Piper didn't want her sister to come with me to help her, she wanted Violetta to come to help me, even if the white-haired girl got hurt in the process, and the smaller girl expected her sister to go along with it. And when Vi was, well, Vi, then suddenly the brawler wasn't going to help me, but she was someone that might get me killed trying to protect her, like we'd both almost died a bit over an hour ago. And, had we not gotten lucky, and landed on spikes, or were buried and crushed to death under the trash-valanche, or any number of other outcomes, we would have died.

To be fair, I was pretty certain Mind Defense was helping to keep me stable, or maybe it was my own tendency to focus on what I could do, but, again, I was the only one of us three who had such a thing.

And, had we died, Piper would've been left here, waiting for us to come back, forever.

Which triggered the traumatized girl hard.

But she'd tried to hide that.

For our sakes.

"It's okay," I told her, gently patting her on the back. "The fall happened, and it was dangerous, but I'm not going to leave you."

"E-Ever?" she whispered, her broken tone cutting me deep.

"As long as you want me to stay," I settled on. I was pretty sure that, if I died, I'd get another chance, given who I was working for, but I didn't know that, nor would DEATH likely ever tell me, and it would be best to assume I only had the one life, and be pleasantly surprised, rather than count on it, and leave her alone without support. "Life is dangerous, but I'm doing everything I can to get stronger, so I can handle what comes our way."

The girl sniffled a little, but just held on to me, and I waited, knowing I only had so much time, but this was more important. Finally, Piper asked, and I had to strain to hear her, "And, and if that's not good enough?"

"Then I will have done my best, and I'll take comfort in that," I replied softly. "I can't-" I paused, my own memories scraping internally at my soul. "It's not reasonable for me to save the whole world. But I can help who I can. Do what I can. And that's alright. As long as I'm true to myself, as long as I do what I think is right, and as long as I do my best to make sure I am doing what's right, that's all I can ask. Of myself, or others."

A silence stretched between us, Violetta awkwardly standing off to the side, and while she probably couldn't hear her sister, she had heard me. I stayed there for a few minutes, Piper holding onto me, her grip tightening when I started to stand, but, after a couple seconds, she let go. "Do you have to..." she started to ask, but caught herself, and shook her head. "Can I help?" the young girl asked instead.

Smiling I nodded, pointing to the cart I'd loaded up, and she smiled at that, nodding her head, collecting herself once more as she headed over to it.

Turning my attention, I faced her sister. "I appreciate the help, but, if you're coming with me, I am in charge," I declared, my tone hard, with no give to be found, partly for her, and partly for Piper. "There's a good chance you'll notice things I won't, and I will hear out any suggestions you have, but while you have experience, I have other Talents, which you do not possess. If I give you an order, that is not a suggestion, it is not a debate, you will do what I tell you to, just as you would've expected Mylo or Claggor to do what you would've told them to do. You agree to that, we'll head out. You can't, stay here and maybe help your sister. You agree and ignore me, I'll save you if I can, but that won't be an honest mistake, it'll be you trying to get us both killed, no matter what excuse you might think you have, and I'll be well within my rights to let you die. Understood?"

"I... yeah," the teen nodded, clearly not having expected me to go on the offensive, but rolling with the conversational punches. "I understand."

"I hope you do," I noted, my throat starting to burn, but I ignored it. "Do you agree to my terms?"

"You don't have to be such a dick about it," the brawler frowned.

I lifted an eyebrow, pressing into my words, "Given your actions, yes, I do. Now. Do. You. Agree?"

Violetta stared at me challengingly, and I didn't move, completely still, waiting for her response. Eventually, she looked away. "I, uh, yeah. I agree. I'll do what you say while we're out there."

I sighed, relieved, letting up on the Song, "Good. I appreciate the help, Vi. I really do. But just like I don't want your sister hurt, I want to make sure you're not either, at least past your ability to heal. And if I take you out there with me, I'm responsible for you, just like you were responsible for your siblings when you did jobs."

Smiling ruefully, I added, "And I know you're not much for words, but, well, my actions should speak for me, even if they apparently aren't. If I didn't care about your safety enough to risk my own, I could've ridden that board to safety, and you would've met that thing on your own, assuming you survived the fall. Now, gimme a sec to check that the passageway's safe before we head out."

Walking to the Gate, the girl stiffening as I passed her, I ignored the teen, carefully moving to the glowing gateway. Standing to the side of it, I stuck a hand through, and waited a second, before I leaned over, sticking my head through, following standard 'uncertain gate' procedures. I needn't have worried, the passageway was empty, and, unholstering my weapon, I stepped through, at the ready.

However there was truly nothing there, as I moved around the gate, the swirling flat oval obscuring my vision. Someone who lacked the proper 'permissions' wouldn't see the gateway, instead assuming what was there, their brains filling in the blindspot subconsciously, not instantly seeing me as I emerged, a nice little safety feature. Opening a Gate to hide behind, however, wouldn't function similarly, as the 'hiding itself' feature prioritized the Gate over hiding the user, and would transmit to any who saw me step behind it what I was doing right up until the moment I 'vanished' by stepping through. It wouldn't even protect against incoming fire, if the gate was facing me, as they'd pass right through without issue, the Conceptual Screens keeping discrete items from accidentally falling inside unless they naturally entered through environmental factors, or were thrown in by a white-listed user.

Essentially, while it was useful, Company R&D had made sure that the Gates couldn't be easily cheesed, both to try and get us all to buy additional items, and to cut down on the chances of discovery by non-Company assets.

Stepping back Home, I waved Violetta over, turning to Piper, asking, "Want to take a look? You're not coming with, and stay by my side, but it should be safe."

"I, yeah!" the small girl brightened, running over, while her older sister shot me a wary glance, but apparently realized that she had no room to talk, and merely followed, both of us stepping into the corridor. The tiny tinkerer stopped as soon as she passed through, wrinkling her nose at the smell, but allowed me to maneuver her out of the way to prevent Violetta from walking right into her.

The small girl tripped a little over the odd rails that seemed to nonsensically run along the floor, but I was there, catching her and steadying her as she looked back and forth down the hallway in confusion, yellow chemtech tubes up high making the place well lit, but that didn't help the sense of low level danger in the hall. Nothing from my Defenses, just my own uneasiness with the space.

"It stinks," she commented, going to hold her nose, but paused, taking a sniff. "Or, does it?"

I nodded, "Yeah, the air's... heavy, but with what is the question." I didn't have any of the tech know-how to qualify for a mass-spectrometer for my workshop, but I was sure that there were other, less advanced ways of figuring that out, and, when I had some of that know-how, I'd be back to test what was going on here, and what was in the air.

"Smell?" the small girl offered, with a shrug. "Or not-smell?"

Rolling my eyes, I told her, "Yeah, but which? And what's it made of?" Shaking my head, I pointed down one end of the hallway, telling her, "That way is the oil-lake, while the other is where we're going."

The small girl took a half-step towards the way we came, but caught herself before my hand, which had snapped forward, reached her, and I pulled it back as she turned around. "I, uh, I can't see it, can I?"

"No, that'd be a terrible idea. And good on you for asking," I praised, though I did have an idea on how she could myself, in a way. "Actually, stay here with your sister. It's safe for me, and I'll be right back."

Waiting for her to nod, and stand over by Vi, I jogged back down the corridor, to the oil-lake, taking out my phone, and recording a video, the creature inside lifting a questioning tentacle. 'Just taking one last look, have a nice day', I fed into my talent, my throat gurgling oddly, the tentacle waving goodbye before slipping back under the waves. Ending the recording, I jogged back, both girls a little nervous, but relaxing somewhat when they saw me, Piper more than Violetta.

"This is way easier," I told them, setting the video to play. "Watch this."

They stared at the moving image, the tween enraptured, clapping her hands together as the creature waved before disappearing below the surface. "Oh, it's cute!" she declared.

"No, it isn't," Vi shot back.

However, before the younger girl could reply, I backed up Violetta, "Your sister's right. Let me zoom in." moving to one of the frames showing the tentacle, I zoomed in, and in, and in, until you could see the hundreds of gaping, toothed mouths it used as suckers, flexing blade-like teeth. "Each of those is this big," I told her, opening my hand in a fake-mouth. "Which means that tentacle was over a hundred feet long." Zooming back out, I let the video play until it finished. "It likes me, but it would kill you, Piper, in an instant, which is why you're staying Home, and why Violetta is only with me because she will listen to me. Okay?"

The blue-haired girl blinked, processing that, before she nodded cheerfully. "Okay, Jayce. But, when you get tired, come back Home, okay?"

Smiling, I messed up her hair fondly. "That's the plan. We've got a safe-zone on command, and we'd be foolish to ignore it. Now, take my hand, and let's get you there."

It only took a moment to lead her through the Gate, which I closed behind her, warning Piper that when it opened we'd either be running, need a reload, or need a grenade, and she nodded seriously, telling me she'd be ready. Given that it was already kind of late, though Vi and I were keyed up enough that we could get a few hours of travel in before we called it quits, I fully expected to find the young girl asleep at her table when we did so.

"Gate's closed, let's get going," I informed Violetta, who nodded, and fell in step next to me, though at a bit past arms' length away. Her attention was partly on me as we continued down the glowing corridor, the dust and rust-particles thick enough to muffle our steps, like a thin coating of fresh snow, though this was anything but fresh.

Slowly, the hallway curved, before splitting up into three other directions, the path we were on one section of a three-way fork, the main, larger tunnel in front of us, but, as I looked down it, something seemed... wrong. Looking down the other two directions, which would require us to backtrack somewhat, one was fine, with no feeling at all, and the other was... good?

"This way," I said, starting to walk.

After a moment's hesitation that I noted but didn't react to, Vi followed, asking, "Why this way?"

"No clue, but the big passage was a trap," I replied, a bit curious myself, and, hesitantly, putting forward the idea of throwing a rock down the main way, I got... nothing. A grenade? I proposed. That was... better.

Holding up a hand, I stopped walking, opening a Gate, and leaning through, Piper at full attention. "Grenade, small one please. No danger, but I'm testing something."

"Can I see?" she asked, but when I shook my head no, she just nodded, handing me the explosive, going to the raw materials and putting together a replacement as I left, the tech we were using essentially foolproof.

Leaning back out, and closing the portal, I held a finger up to indicate silence, and waved Vi to follow, as we retraced our steps, coming back to the intersection. Priming the grenade with one hand, I set my phone to record, sticking the camera around the corner and nothing else, the vague feeling telling me not to step any further.

Setting the grenade on a five-second timer, I hurled it around the corner, then brought my hand up to cover Vi's mouth and keep her still as I gently pressed her against the wall. The gesture made her frown, but she didn't pull away, the explosion going off, which made her jump a little, but the following unholy SCREECH made her gasp, her "What?" muffled, as whatever it was screamed bloody murder, before a chorus of other screeches joined in, these... hungry, the sound of wet, tearing meat echoing our way, as I pulled my phone back and, gesturing for quiet, and motioned for her to continue onwards, on our chosen path.

It was only when I felt the faint pressure on my mind fade, that I stopped, motioning her over. "Okay, let's see what was there," I commented, queueing up the video.

"You don't know?" Vi asked, and I shook my head.

"All I knew was that going that way was a bad idea," I stated, hitting play.

We watched as the vantage point shook slightly from my throw, and the white sphere, with the small black detonator that was flashing red stuck in the middle, flew down the hall, only for what I'd thought was a tube to lash out, some kind of... well, it was a snake, if a snake had two long, bony arms that ended in a single talon each, and a mouth full of sharp teeth in addition to its fangs. The sixteen-foot long 'snake' pierced the sphere, which is what let me guesstimate its size, bringing the grenade up to its mouth and biting it, but then it paused as it realized its 'prey' wasn't alive, pulling it back, looking at it almost curiously.

Which is when it exploded.

The screaming, quiet through the speakers, started, as it thrashed, missing one arm, its bronze-colored body discolored as some of the scales had been pulverized, dripping dark blood, as it lost itself to the pain.

Then, a moment later, a dozen smaller 'snakes', each the size of a boa, came out from crevices, and fell upon the maimed leader, taloned arms sinking deep into its flesh in a way that suggested hidden blades, which was just all the nope.

Both of us stood there for a moment, looking at the last frame, the creatures frozen, several with mouths full of what, if I had to guess, used to be the alpha's flesh.

"Whelp, glad we're going this way," I commented blandly, dismissing my phone into mist and shadows. "Let's not show Piper that one, unless she gets bratty about wanting to poke around here. Sound good?" Looking over to her, my companion was staring at the space the phone had been in. "Vi?"

She flinched, taking a step back, hands coming up and at the ready, while I didn't move, waiting. "I, uh," the brawler articulated, glancing around the passageway we were in nervously. "Are there more of them?"

"Not here, but... probably?" I shrugged. "Normal ecological rules kinda go out the window when you mix in hyper-tech and magic. But right here is safe, at least right now... You okay?"

Violetta relaxed a little, opening and closer her hands, giving the corridor another searching look, before she nodded, and stood up straighter, coming out of her fighting stance. "I, yeah. Yeah. Let's go."

Okaaaay? I thought, but did not say, as we pressed onwards, through a couple more intersections. At the first one, my companion was so tense that, if I plucked her, she'd probably produce a B-sharp, but none of our choices gave me the 'It's quiet, too quiet' feeling that first one had, leaving us nothing to do but walk for an hour as I tried to feel my way through each intersection, through corridors that were similar, but never identical. Some where well lit, almost cheery if it weren't for the unnatural colors, while others were dark, barely with enough light to see by, though after the first one completely dark one I stopped back home to get us flashlights we could clip onto our shoulders. One even had rusted pipes, that looked like a rat had gnawed on them.

If the rat was my size.

There were also odd noises, with burbles, hisses, and the occasional intermittent shriek of steam that made us both jump, along with the rare sound of small scurrying feet which didn't help, but nothing really made me go 'maybe we should double back'.

"Jayce," Vi said out of nowhere, down one corridor that had glowing blue tubes running its length, the chemtech fluid certainly going somewhere at speed, and, having waved a hand near one, I knew the tubes were electrified, something I'd warned my companion about.

The serious way she said it made me freeze, hand going to my gun, as I looked around, trying to spot what I'd missed. "What is it?" I asked, on edge.

"What?" she questioned in response, having taken a few more steps ahead before she turned around, confused, and confusing me, only then shaking her head. "No, it's not that."

"Oh," I replied, relaxing a little. "What is it then?"

Violetta didn't say anything, struggling with herself, before, with a scowl, stated, "I'm sorry. And thanks."

"For...?" I prompted, when it was clear that was all she was going to say.

"For, for all of it," the teen stated, and when I still clearly had no idea what she referring to, she sighed, turning away, taking a few steps, running gloved fingers through her hair, pausing at the motion, then shaking her head and walking back. "For being there for Powder, when I couldn't. For coming to get Ekko. For coming to get me. And then, and then for putting up with my ass when I've been worse than Mylo ever was."

I shrugged, a little uncomfortable with the praise. "Well, um, you're welcome? You'd been through a lot. And I was just being-"

"Shut up!" the brawler snapped, then winced. "I, sorry. I, you, stop being nice," she ordered, clearly not having an easy time of this. "I've been horrible and you, you've killed people, but..."

Starting to see the edges of the cognitive dissonance that was tearing this traumatized girl's psyche apart, I gently asked, "But I've been nothing but kind towards you?"

"You've been an asshole too," she countered angrily, before instantly trying to walk back her statement, "I mean, you've-"

"Perhaps kind is the wrong word," I agreed, catching her attention. "But... there isn't really a good word for it, or if there is I don't know it. I'm aware that I'm ruthless to my enemies. That behind me is a road made of corpses. I had to make it, to survive. But you aren't my enemy, Vi, and unless you try to willingly hurt myself or my allies, you won't be. And, like the difference between using weapons and not in a brawl in Zaun, I approach you differently than I would someone who truly meant me harm. Because, I don't think you do. Do you?"

"No, of course I... no, I don't," she started to say, catching herself, and correcting. "You pulled me out of... and then you took me in. But, when I fell, you, you hesitated."

"Of course I did," I replied, which took her aback. "By your own words, you've been absolutely horrible, Vi, and your death would've meant I wouldn't need to put up with that any longer, as well as the situation being, karmically, one where I was blameless, as I had just told you not to go any further, and you'd pushed by me. However, your death would hurt Powder, and, despite your... difficulties, you're a good person, Violetta. And-"

"No I'm not!" she interrupted, scowling.

I cocked my head. "Other than being a colossal bitch, and lashing out at me on the regular, what have you done that would make you not a good person?"

"I got everyone killed!" she shot back, angrily. "They trusted me, and now they're dead!"

"I'm fairly certain that was Silc-" I started to point out, as we'd had this discussion, but she wasn't done.

"I was the one who started this ENTIRE THING!" she yelled. "If I hadn-"

"Get off your high horse; you're not that powerful!" I snapped right back, as I realized that she apparently hadn't listened. At all.

She blinked, confused, "I, what?"

"Shit happens, and unless you can see the future, sometimes you fail," I told her, glad my throat had recovered from earlier, because I apparently needed Conceptual Voice Powers to get this girl to understand me, as she'd heard, but apparently not listened. "I get you're used to taking responsibility, and Vander gave you a talk about taking responsibility for what happens to those under your command, but flagellating yourself over what happened, wallowing in that misery, while it feels horribly comfortable, and trust me, I know exactly how that is, doesn't do shit other than keep you in the shit. But being evil takes malice, it takes a willingness to hurt the innocent to get what you want, while being good takes self-sacrifice, a willingness to give up your own time and energy to help those who deserve it."

I took a step her way, and she backed up, before realizing what she was doing and took a step forward, not giving ground, as I continued, "It's more complex than that, but not by much, and there's a whole stretch of 'neither good nor evil' there. But, Violet, the night your old life ended you were willing to go to Stillwater, even if you truly didn't understand what was waiting for you there, to protect your family. Someone who wasn't good would have tried to escape that, while someone who was evil would've tried to get some other pink-haired girl to take your place. Or, hell, would've tried to get Mylo, Claggor, or even Powder to take the fall instead of you."

"I, what!?" she gasped, horrified at even the idea. "No, it was my responsibility-"

"EXACTLY," I stressed, taking another step. "You. Are. Good. And bad shit happens to good people All. The. Time. There's some worlds where fate itself tries to enforce such karmic protections, but Runeterra Isn't. One." Another step brought me right up to her. "While the Gods exist here, they're either assholes, impotent, or have some other reason why the world's so shit, and none of them are operating in Zaun or Piltover, so that leaves it up to people like us to do the right thing."

I shook my head, "Evil's favorite tactic is to blur the lines of what makes Good, Good, to abuse people's better natures to allow their evil actions to go unopposed, to the point that even calling oneself Good will get one attacked not just by Evil, but by the masses who are neither but have been deceived, for a variety of reasons, into assisting Evil. And it's easy, very easy, to just throw one's hands up and go, 'I've done a bad thing, that means I can never be Good, so why bother', but you can't, because then Evil wins." I realized I wasn't really talking about Violet anymore, having had this argument too many times with those in my squadron in Basic, some of the people I'd worked with Evil themselves, hating when I named the problem, but it'd always been personal attacks and sophistry with them, as they'd never been able to explain why I was wrong.

Bringing it back to her problem, though, I lifted a hand, putting it on her shoulder, even as my throat started to burn, and she stared at me, somewhere between hopeful, furious, and terrified, "So, yes, Violet. You are Good. If you weren't, I would've kicked you to the curb, setting you up somewhere out of the way, safe, and not where I live, or at least not risked my own life to save yours. Because no part of being Good means dying to save the unworthy. Ekko is good as well, as is Powder, as is Babette, as is Viktor, my partner at the Academy, and as were Vander, Claggor, and even Mylo, because having a big mouth didn't stop him from being there with you, trying to save your father, even when things looked bad."

"But, then, why?" she questioned desperately. "If we're good people, then why. . ."

"Why did everything go bad?" I questioned, guessing where she was going, and getting a nod of confirmation. I'd said so before, but maybe putting it a different way would help. "Because being good isn't a shield against misfortune, or the acts of Evil, it only means that, when you're hurt, there are those that come to your aid. That's why Silco had to come at Vander in the dead of the night. Because, had they known about it, all of The Lanes would have come to his aid," I told her.

"Then, then why didn't they?" Violet demanded. "From what Babette said, they just rolled over, and turned on each other, and, now everything's getting worse, and, and it's like nothing Vander did mattered!"

Ah, this isn't just about me, I realized. Yes, I'd shaken the girl's worldview pretty hard, like I tended to do to most people I was around, to be honest, but while talking with Babette had been good for her, it'd also created other issues. Issues that her trip, disguised as she was, into the Lanes earlier today had only exacerbated.

"But most people are not Good, Vi, so if they could convince themselves nothing had to be done, or be convinced by Silco, they wouldn't feel pressured to risk anything themselves. You could've possibly roused them, that night before everything went completely wrong, but, while you're almost an adult, Vi, you were never taught how to wield that sort of power, or even that it exists, because Vander didn't want to wield that sort of power. Because being Good, and being wise, are two entirely unrelated things. I'm the first one, to a degree, but not the second. So, as I keep on saying, and as I keep on trying to show you with my actions, I think you're Good, and worth saving." I laughed, "Even if, between the two of us, we've managed to turn you apologizing into yet another fight."

"I... shit, we did, didn't we?" the brawler smiled ruefully. "I, what the hell? Do you have to make everything so, so serious, Jayce?"

"Only the things that matter," I told her, trying not to cough, at my limit, and pulling back on my Song. "I'm a good person, or at least, I try to be, but I can get a bit... thorough. To avoid miscommunications. Too many times I've thought someone understood what I meant, only to find out later..." I realized my hand was still on her shoulder, and let it drop. "Right, that's, that's not important right now. So, you were apologizing?"

Violetta just stared at me for a long moment, before she shook her head. "You're... how can you make being encouraging sound so dickish?"

"Because I'm also calling you an idiot at the same time I'm telling you that I believe in you," I offered easily, getting a surprised laugh out of the teen. "I'm good, and supportive, but I'm not nice, because I think you're worthy of honesty."

That got me a narrow-eyed stare, "That's, that's not how that works."

"Is for me," I shrugged.

"But not for, like, anyone else," she argued.

I shrugged again, replicating the movement exactly, "Maybe it should."

"God, why are you so hard to deal with?" she sighed.

Smirking slightly, I replied, "Because I answer questions instead of dismissing them."

"But do you have to do it all the time?" she demanded, likely rhetorically.

"Only for those I respect," I answered.

"But I haven't done anyth-stop it!" Violetta warned, as I opened my mouth to disagree. "I... fine. You're right. I've done some good things. And you're trying to help. And, and you aren't as full of shit as you sound. Happy?" she challenged.

"Words are cheap, it's actions that matter," I replied, having a bit of fun tossing her own words back at her.

Vi glared at me. "That's not," she started to say, before stopping herself. After a moment's thought, she worked her jaw, and nodded. "So I need to, what, try and be nicer?"

"Eh, 'nice' is nebulous," I offered with a half-shrug. "Maybe just stop assuming I'm 'full of shit', even when I say something that sounds crazy? Because," I opened my arms to indicate the hallway, "my life is kinda bonkers, and yours will be too for being around me, but also far better for it."

"See, it's shit like that!" the brawler shot back. "How do you just say shit like that with a straight face?"

Smirking, I fired in return, "She said, feeling healthier than she ever had before, wearing finer clothes than any she'd worn in her life, including literally magic armor, knowing that wherever she found herself in her journey she had a safe place to sleep and good food waiting for her at any time."

Violetta poked me in the chest, though any impact was lessened by the multiple layers of armor I was wearing. Opening her mouth to respond, she thought better of it, tried again with another poke, stopped again, and finally settled on a punctuated, "You're still a dick!"

"And you're still a bitch, but I'd jump into another trash-valanche to so save you," I replied blithely.

She poked me in the chest again, trying to come up with a response, but grimaced, her hand dropping down. "Yeah. You did, didn't you. Thanks. And sorry."

"You're welcome," I told her. "So, want to keep going for an hour or two, or call it quits here for the night? I'm good for a bit, but I promised your sister I'd let you watch my back, which means we both need to be on our game. And, while we're on a time limit, we're in no rush, so going to bed an hour early and getting started a bit earlier tomorrow is no big deal."

"You're asking me?" she questioned, brows knitting.

"... Yes?" I questioned in turn. "I'm the lead here, but I'd be a shit leader if I didn't look out for the people I was working with."

Something about that took her aback, and I wondered if I was unknowingly echoing Vander, as opposed to the times I'd done so on purpose. The white-haired teen looked introspective for a sec, opening and closing her gloved hands, then nodded. "I'm good for a bit more. And, yeah, in two hours we should stop. And it's weird that we can. You know that, right?"

I exaggeratedly looked around the blue-lit, seemingly burnished brass corridor. "And this place isn't?"

"Yeah, it is. What even is this place?" she questioned, falling into step with me as we continued onwards.

"I don't know, though I'm looking forward to finding out if we can, on our way out," I offered, which Violetta thought about, before nodding in agreement.

This time, the silence that stretched between us wasn't tense, but... almost comfortable, the brawler walking right next to me instead of keeping me at arm's length, and her attention was not partially focused on me, watching what I was doing, but all of it was turned outward, a certain degree of trust there that hadn't been present before.

Well, at least something good's come out of all this, I smiled, wondering what challenges lay ahead of us.

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Ready?" I asked, checking my gear.

We'd called it a few hours later, faced with a large room, the top of which was shrouded in green clouds fifty or so feet above the floor. Something about it had stirred my grafted skills, and, both of us tired, we'd decided to handle that shit tomorrow.

"Ready," Violetta nodded, securing her gauntlets and her own armor, even if most of it was magical instead of material like my setup was. Shooting her a look, she rolled her eyes and secured her facemask, the filtering device more for my peace of mind than hers, lest we run into something with a gas element that she was completely unprepared for.

"Ready!" Piper agreed, at her desk, a selection of filled pistol magazines and pre-made grenades sitting in front of her. We didn't really need her help, but this way she got to feel like she was assisting, and, technically, she was, instead of being 'left behind', as we literally left her behind back Home.

"Okay," I nodded, grabbing the 'Disposable Gate Presence Detection Device', which was really just a branch I'd cut down from one of the trees outside. Poking it through, I waved it a little, not having to use the 'you have no equipment but let's not be an idiot about this' technique they'd taught us in Basic. Pulling it back, while the attached leaves had wilted a little, that was within acceptable parameters.

I'd honestly worried about exposing Vi to toxins, with her coming with me, even with her mask, but, from what little I could tell, as long as she kept training physically, anything that wasn't immediately debilitating she'd shrug off. While I already had plans in the works, I wondered if making Viktor just do regular exercise would help hold off his own not-Leukemia.

Something I'd definitely need to look into.

"Okay, step one seems clear. Gimme a sec," I noted, taking a deep breath and stepping through the active Gate.

And freezing, as my Defenses, which had been quiet when I'd originally set up this portal, started jabbering in my mental ears, pulling on my attention, and I swayed back and forth at its direction, even though I couldn't see why.

Stepping back through the Gate, I held a hand up. "Got a problem, seems like a creature," I told them both. "I'm going to move past it, then reopen the Gate when it's safe."

"But, Jayce-" the younger sister tried to argue, but I shook my head.

"No, Piper. I'm getting some serious 'Trashtapus' vibes out there, and I can handle it," I told her, cutting the bluenette off. "Trust me, as soon as it's safe, I'll bring Violetta with me. But this isn't safe. Okay?" The blue haired girl winced, but nodded, and, looking to her sister, and Vi nodded as well. Smiling comfortingly, I told them, "Hopefully this won't take long," and I exited back to Under the Undercity.

Listening to my Talent, I swayed in an oddly rhythmic pattern, looking across the several-hundred-foot-wide space, pipes and such along the walls, going this way and that, extending up into a placid glowing green cloud, like a completely still, yet utterly opaque, lake across the ceiling, that was just as ominous as when we first came upon it.

Of course it's the same, there's no sun down here, Jayce, I reminded myself, looking around, picking out two different exists. Trying to get a feeling on where to go, one seemed... better? Posing the mental question of which where to go with Vi, meanwhile, gave me a different set of feelings, with reversed indicators.

One is better for getting out, one is safer for bringing another? I had to guess, our training in Basic around the Wild set of Perks having assumed that of course we'd Stamp everyone coming with us, so this kind of issue hadn't come up. Safer it is, I decided.

Starting to make my way towards that exit, trying to stride forward quickly made my Talent do the mental version of 'slow your roll there, cowboy', insisting that for every step forward, I sway all the way back on the balls of my feet before continuing with the next step, keeping that odd rhythm going as I slowly made my way across the large space.

It was actually a bit familiar.

"All the old paintings on the tombs, they do the sand dance, don't you know?" I sang, amused, and keeping an eye out for trouble. "If they move too quick, oh whey oh, they're falling down like a domino."

It didn't quite fit the back and forth movement of my steps, though, and something about it niggled at my memory, as the Talent guided my motions, not moving in a straight line towards my target, like I wanted, but forcing me to take a bit of a circuitous route, passing through the center of the room first, continuing to sway as I absently muttered the song under my breath, catching sight of something on the floor which completely captured my attention.

Were those... runes?

I paused, squatting down and brushing some of the dirt away to reveal... yes.

The patterns were worn, and covered with dirt, grime, and god knows what else, but there were runes inscribed in the floor. An entire array of them, stretching across the space, and I recognized, maybe, half of them.

From high above my head, I heard a skittering, along with a faint hissing, but not like that from a pipe.

'Keep Moving!' my Talent commanded, as I stood and took a swaying step, trying to get back in the rhythm once more, as, looking up, whatever was there was kicking down the clouds that gathered around the ceiling, little bits here or there, but then a deeper hiss exuded through the space, and a single bit of green vapor was thrown downwards sharply, and I caught the barest hint of something green, but a different green then the clouds of what I had to assume was aerosolized chemfluid, moving far faster than I was comfortable with.

Especially as, whatever had moved, it was at least twice as big as myself.

Grabbing my phone, continuing to slowly dance across the floor, I set it to record, getting as much of the chamber as I could, querying the bit of nearly-sentient skill if I could circle around to get a better look, only to get a resounding 'No.'

Fair enough, I thought, trying to both keep an eye on the disturbed, and still being disturbed, clouds above me, as well as the mostly-hidden, and thankfully inactive, array under my feet. It was only when I was a minute away from reaching the exit, and the chittering, hissing, noise from above me finally started to settle down, that I realized what I was doing.

I wasn't walking like an Egyptian, I was moving like a praying mantis.

Which suggested some very... interesting things about whatever I was leaving behind.

Regardless, I reached the exit, swaying through it, and keeping that pattern even as my Talent started to quiet down, until I was able to turn a corner, and was finally safe.

Breaking out into a run, I put a good amount of space between me and them. Stopping a couple minutes later, I paused, not exactly catching my breath, but getting my nerves under control. Mind Defense would stop me from being rendered 'Mission Killed', unable to continue, but there was a lot of room between 'okay' and 'lost your shit, huddling in a corner' or 'blindly running in fear'.

Opening a portal, I walked through it, both girls looking at me concerned.

"You were gone for a while," Vi noted neutrally.

"Remember the clouds at the top of that chamber?" I asked in turn, and she nodded. "Full of murder-bugs. Mantises of some sort, and I had to dance to get them not to kill me."

"Dance?" Piper inquired, laughing at the idea, though her smile faded a little at my serious expression.

"Like them, probably," I supplied. "Didn't get a good look. But we're past the murder-mantises, and they're territorial, I think, so we should be fine."

Violetta lifted an eyebrow, "You think?"

"I won't say it's a sure thing until we're in the ninety-nine plus percentage range," I replied easily, waving the white-haired girl to follow me. "Now let's go and put even more distance between us and them."

Heading back out without waiting for a response, Vi followed me a moment later, looking around as I closed the Gate and we continued to walk down the tunnels, though they were starting to widen here and there, more rooms branching off them, though we ignored them all. While some had the uneasy feeling of danger drifting from them, others were perfectly safe, just were not the way we needed to go to get to the surface.

And, while the purposes of such spaces was indeterminable, none of them had visible runes.

It was easy enough to rig my phone up on my jacket, camera out, using the same setup I'd first used for its light. I set it to record everything, in case I missed some additional key details about this place as we walked, the amount of memory available on the device, as explained to us in Basic, being 'Yes.' Soon enough, though, we had to take a turn off the main path, coming across a large chamber that sank down slightly, glowing green mist a different shade than the 'clouds' swirling in trenches, slightly overfilling them, a single raised walkway around the edge the way we needed to go.

However, Vi started to move forward, towards the clouds, and my arm shot out, barring the way.

"What?" she asked, confused, and a little annoyed. "What's the point in wearin' this if we can't use it?" she inquired, tapping her gas mask.

I didn't know why, but, while I might be fine, my Talent's warning softer than they'd been in the Mantis-room, it was still there, directing me to not enter the mists. No, my instincts were insistent that we take the rickety looking walkway, thick with grime and made up of wire and thin supports, was the proper route. Looking carefully at the room, searching for some sort of creature that'd strike once we entered the glowing green vapor, everything seemed still, only the faint drifting breeze disturbing the emerald fog, but, looking into it. . . there was no grime down there.

When the mist was cleared a little, letting us see the floor, it showed what looked like brightly polished brass, while the walls were dingy, and caked with chemical residue. Opening the portal, I held up a finger to tell Violetta to wait, stepping back home and grabbing one of the smaller bits wood I'd stripped off my 'probing tool'. Returning to Runeterra, I tossed the bit of branch into the mist, only for a sound like the sizzling of bacon to fill the chamber.

The leaves turned black instantly, starting to wilt before practically evaporating, the mist swirling around the small branch agitatedly, bits of the neon-green gas being kicked up higher into the air, the light brown of the wood turning a deep black as it started to melt, losing cohesion as the two of us spent a couple minutes watching it go, until all was left was a puddle, then a stain, and then, eventually, 'polished' brass once more.

And I had my answer.

Acid was finnicky when it came to Wild Defense. If it was a 'natural' part of the environment, then I was immune, but if it was artificial, or part of a creature's attack, then I wasn't. Then again, if it was any kind of propagating poison of the 'get stung and eaten out from the inside' type then Body Defense took care of it instead and... like I said, finnicky.

"Pretty sure that's more than your mask can handle," I noted blandly, and Vi, staring, slowly nodded.

"Uh, yeah. That thing gonna hold up?" she questioned, jerking a thumb to the walkway.

I shrugged, "Should. Now come on," I waved, and she followed, as we climbed the rickety looking stairs up, one of them breaking underfoot as we did so, my reflexes enough to push me onto the next one, Vi jumping it, but that did nothing for my nerves.

Taking smooth, gliding steps, to not hit the walkway with too much weight at once as I passed, it did groan a little, the crosshatched brass wires under our feet not feeling stable at all, giving slightly, but their grime-covered state, if anything, helped, telling me that the acid mist didn't come up this high.

At a third of the way across, the groaning got louder, and while Vi tried to move faster, I held my arm out, knowing that to force her to not hurry would create the very extra pressure on the structure that I was trying to avoid. "Slow and steady," I told her. "If we need to run, I'll know."

"I, okay," the white-haired girl nodded, looking a little pale, trying to stick closer to me, but as the groaning got louder I gently pushed her ahead instead.

"Spread the weight, and I want you to get there first," I explained, at her confused look, but she nodded at that, and started moving with careful steps that I did my best to copy, though not in the exact same spots. Moving so that we were never stressing the same set of supports at any given time, the walkway made more and more noise, starting to sway back and forth by the halfway mark, shuddering under our feet three quarters of the way there, but, other than the occasional worried glance back my way, Vi didn't break stride, and my instincts, while telling me to not stop, were otherwise silent.

Soon enough we'd circumnavigated the football-field sized room, and clambered down the steps, the same one as it's twin on the opposite side of the room breaking under my feet as well, while Vi's weight hadn't been enough to cause it to crack.

"And now we continue," I stated, letting out a slight breath of relief, once more on solid ground.

"Yeah," Violetta nodded, relived herself, smiling as she looked back. "I thought for sure that bridge was-"

With the sound of groaning metal, that turned into a screech, half the walkway gave way, dropping into the acid mists, the sizzling of the grime echoing loudly as it was worn away, showing that the catwalk had, in places, only been held together by the grime, bits of metal clattering down as the connective material was worn away.

"If we'd run, it would've done that with us on it," I noted, shaking my head, instincts telling me to leave, now, before anything came to investigate the clamor we've made. Heading out into a different tunnel, I followed the direction I was given to turn right, which seemed to be the way we'd just came, but I trusted that feeling, striding off as Violetta jogged up to come beside me, the two of us following its path as it curved around, and up, the rails that ran along the passage floor slowly being covered with what seemed like dirt, but, picking up a bit and grinding it between my fingers, the substance felt... wrong, gritty, and more akin to concrete dust mixed with rust than topsoil.

More than that, the two chemtech pipes that ran along the ceiling were hidden behind covers, and glowed prismatically in a way that made me uneasy, though the gaping holes running along one wall weren't helping either.

Stopping to look inside one, shining my shoulder-mounted flashlight down it, it was clearly some kind of pipe, only instead of coming out to go. . . somewhere the end piece that would've entered this passageway had been removed.

With tools.

The marks were clear, if worn. More than that, from those pipes, I could hear the distant clicking of what sounded like talons on metal, so many of them that it was hard to pick out exactly which one it was coming from.

Either way, we both hugged the right wall, on edge, the passageway curving back and forth, until it opened up into a larger room with four exits, where a delegation was waiting for us.

It was a large group of ROUS's, the Rodents Of Unusual Size, twelve of them forming three rows, blocking our way, all of them standing on their hind legs as they stared. One more ROUS, larger than the others, stood in front of them, clearly in charge.

'Intruders?' it squeaked, holding a paw out as it spoke, claws twisted oddly, Wild Talent doing the work of translating the bestial language.

'Travelers,' I replied, throat tightening to squeak back, following my Perk's instructions to cock an arm, fingers curling in turn, the language having a kinetic component.

Staring at them, these... Ratlings were clearly intelligent enough that my Company Perks were opening the door to discussion, but that was all they were doing.

The Ratling, which I noted possessed thumbs in addition to the standard rodentine four fingers, cocked its head. 'No Travelers,' it disagreed, though I couldn't tell if it was telling me that we couldn't travel through their 'territory' or if that travelers didn't exist, the translation process handling the entire 'they don't have words for what you want' issue that often sprung up in these sorts of situations, but I couldn't tell if it was translating wordless concepts into the closest approximation for me to gain insight into the nuances of what was going on.

I'd need Social Talent for that, and, seeing what Wild Talent did, I didn't want a voice in my head constantly, whispering the best way to manipulate everyone around me, friends and enemies alike.

Trying to Sing to compensate just made my throat twist painfully, however, the two skills incompatible, though I didn't know why. Focusing on being persuasive the normal way, my sentences still got butchered by the process, my theoretically eloquent statement instead the ratling equivalent of 'Lost. Seek Home. Go Above. No Harm. Pay Safety?' my hands and fingers twisting this way and that as I squeaked.

Behind me, Violetta shifted. "Jayce?"

"Trying to negotiate for passage," I replied calmly, not looking away, maintaining eye contact with the creature, knowing that breaking it would go badly in this negotiation.

The alpha Ratling peered at me, clearly mulling over the concept. 'Pay How?'

Not smiling, as that would be taken wrong, I opened my hands, replying, 'Food? Tools? What Want?'

Feeling good about this, I watched as the lead Ratling nodded. 'Food Good. Want Food!'

Glad we could get through this, I opened the portal, as I started to tell it, 'Will Gath-'

"Jayce! Duck!"

I hit the ground, trusting Vi, and as such completely dodged the Ratling, covered in a dark patchwork armor of leather, that passed through the back of the portal, and the space I'd been standing in, a second later. The creature hit the ground and twisted about, ready for another attack, holding twin brass daggers, both practically dripping with green fluid, that would've struck me in the neck had Violetta not warned me.

I stood, pulling out my pistol, and, as the assassin Ratling tensed its legs to jump, two shots, both to the head, took it down in a moment. The gathered Ratlings started to charge the moment I rose, small hands that'd been held to their stomachs revealed to be holding malformed daggers.

'Stupid Animal!' I squeaked, my witty one-liner lost to the translation process, as the Alpha leapt for me as well, crossing the ten feet between us rapidly as I tried to bring about my pistol, but Violetta dashed past me, jumping herself, one fist cocked back, which, even as the leader tried to turn to counter her, rocketed forward, the brawler sinking blood-red metal into its verminous skull. Even young as she was, Violetta had far more mass than the ROUS, and, with a wet crunch, she sent the creature flying bonelessly into its brethren, who turned on her instead.

Shoving my hand through the gate, fingers open and ready, Piper pushed a grenade into it, which I primed even as I yelled, "To me!"

Vi, who'd been starting to run and meet the small horde, fists at the ready, instantly backed off, able to run far faster than the rats, moving to the space I pointed at with my pistol, behind the Portal, and I hoped Piper was following my directions to never stand in front of the portal, especially after I just asked for explosives.

Tossing the molded plastique, I ducked behind the Gate as well, the explosion going off a second later, the hole in space eating the force of the blast that would've hit us instead, and, stepping out, unable to see through the portal like my teammate could, I saw that most of the Ratling group was dead, a few struggling to their feet, badly wounded, likely fatally. To be sure I emptied my clip into them, even as the sound of distant squeaking reached my ears, my Talent, having seen the originators, tentatively translating the noises as calls of 'Invaders!'

Popping the empty magazine free, I put my arm into the portal, where it was plucked out of my hand a moment later, a fresh one loaded with rounds pressed into its place. Slotting it back into the gun, then reaching into the portal with a grasping hand, another grenade was passed along. While I'd like to carry a few with me, instead of asking for them piecemeal, they were currently made of unshielded explosive material, and taking those into a place like this was like inviting my boss in for tea in the worst way.

Dropping the grenade in a pocket, I hesitated, then followed my gut and put my hand back through, gesturing with three fingers extended, asking for one of the triple-sized explosives, the football-sized mass of plastique handed to me a moment later. I closed the Gate, turning back the way we came, deciding that we'd take a different path, one that wouldn't lead us through ROUS territory, but that choice was taken from me. No, more Ratlings started leaping from the holes in the wall of the hallway we'd just passed through, gathering together, wearing full armor, polished brass scrap cuirasses gleaming in the multicolored lights, and each was wielding pikes made of twisted cobbled-together brass with wicked looking, serrated heads.

As Vi and I stared, another assassin Ratling leapt down at us from a tunnel that I only now noticed, set thirty feet up, silent compared to the thumping of tiny boots in front of us, but I caught it out of the corner of my eye. My time with the Kirammans let me take a half-second to aim along the attacker's committed ballistic trajectory, snapping off two shots, which knocked the now dead assassin off course, the Ratling hitting the ground with a clattering crunch.

"We're not going back, I suppose," I remarked, trying to run the numbers, as, even if we took out this group, more were still emerging. Why was I led this way by my Talent, if it was a deathtrap? I couldn't help but think, but the Talent got weird with sentient creatures, not able to suppress true will. If they'd been amenable at all to making a deal, the Talent would've let me, but, clearly, they hadn't been.

"Then we keep going," Vi stated, grinning, but I could tell she was a bit nervous herself, though she was hiding it under a thick layer of bravado.

The Ratling phalanx was moving forward now, and, as I moved to start to run, they broke out into a mostly organized charge. Got it, I thought, getting their measure, turning and running in truth, Vi keeping pace with me when I knew the girl was faster. Nodding to her, I agreed, "Then let's get going!"

Reaching the exit we needed, the others still clear of foes, I glanced back, confirming the phalanx's speed, given the distance they'd covered, crunching the numbers and setting the timer on my explosive without breaking stride, noting a cluster of pipes just inside the exit.

Given how hard the metal seemed to be, that should help direct the initial blast.

Pressing the Semtex+ satchel charge into it, I didn't have time to mold it beyond a shove-and-twist, breaking out into a sprint that Vi matched, shifting mental gears as I went from short, rapid steps into long, loping ones that'd reduce my ability to react, but eat up the ground below me, breathing hard before I needed to in order to extend my operational time.

In front of us, three hidden Ratlings leapt out, and I took one down with a few mostly well-placed shots, one round going wide, while Violetta darted forward, slamming the second in the ribs as its dagger skidded harmlessly across her glove, the brawler jumping into an almost acrobatic twirling leap that let her slam her other metal-clad fist down into the third assassin's head so hard it shattered, deforming grotesquely, the lighter armor doing nothing against her hammer-like punches, as she slammed the creature into the ground so hard it bounced. As I ran past her, the girl stopping to stare at what she did, I grabbed her shoulder, Violetta stumbling for a moment, as I kept going, but my teammate caught up to me a moment later.

"Wha-" she started to ask, as the countdown finished in my head.

"Cover your ears!" I commanded, doing as I ordered, and a half second later there was a detonation, right as the middle of the Ratling phalanx that was moving past my bomb. Thankfully, despite the explosives in a tube making the hallway one giant gun, the large, open room behind us vented most of the blast. However, the overpressure, even at this distance, was still enough to shove us forward so that for, a few steps, we practically flew down the passageway.

Seeing a branch coming up ahead of us, I slowed long enough to turn my head back, still running, and, of the fifty or so armored Ratlings, none were still standing, or even recognizable, a mass of metal and pulped flesh pasting the walls of the hallway, streaks of gore lit by the prismatic light of the chemfluid pipes running along the walls. There was a second group, but they had stopped, staring, their distantly tiny rat-faces hard to read, but, by the dropped weapons next to a few of them, I was leaning towards shock/horror.

Good.

Feeling out my instincts, which weren't nearly as comprehensive as I'd thought they were before, my Talent clearly urged me forward and down the branch, but without the vehemence it'd previously possessed. Slowing to a quick walk, which was okayed by Wild Talent, I sighed, shaking my head. "So, that was a thing."

"What the fuck, Jayce?" Vi demanded, though she didn't seem angry at me, just off-guard, her worry more ill-hidden than it was before. "There was a whole kingdom of rat-people under The Lanes this entire time?"

Smiling to try and diffuse the situation, still halfway expecting her to somehow make this my fault, I shrugged. "Apparently. Though the fact that they haven't started sneaking into the Lanes is worrying." At her confused look, I shook my head. "Means we're dealing with a dungeon cap of some kind. If we're lucky, it's mechanical and I can figure it out, or maybe it's even religious, and they've been keeping themselves down here."

"And if it's not?" the white-haired girl demanded, anger almost completely faded, leaving only forceful trepidation.

"Then we'll deal with it as it comes," I promised her. Smirking, I reminded Violetta, "Like I said, my life is bonkers, but better off for it."

The brawler mulled that over as we walked, before she amusedly demanded, with something akin to fond exasperation, "Rat people, though?"

"I was thinking of them as Ratlings," I shot back, trying to banter. "Too bad they're dicks, though. I really wanted calm negotiation to carry the day, at least once. However, from what I hear, they seem to all be behind us now. So, go for another hour or so, and, if we're safe, break for lunch?"

That got a laugh out of my partner, who nodded. "Sounds good," she agreed, the sound of distant squeaking not growing any closer. "Oh, can you make those long sandwiches again? The ones with the dip?"

Chuckling myself, I noted how quickly she'd bounced from 'mass murderous melee' to 'casual banter', coming to the conclusion that the girl was much more comfortable when she wasn't fighting people, even if the Ratlings were close enough that the damage she'd done in her last hit had unnerved her, and I nodded. "Sure thing, Vi. And thanks for the save back there."

The teenager looked away, and stated with a forced casualness. "We're watching each other's backs. You kept me from walking into the acid. I took care of the... ninja Ratling. Fair's fair. Surprised you did it that fast, really."

"You said to duck," I replied, a little confused, "so I ducked. What's the point of this if I don't listen to you?"

She glanced back my way, clearly confused herself, which only confused me more. Reading my puzzled expression, the Zaunite just laughed, and lightly punched my arm, angling her hand to avoid hitting me with her metal knuckles. "Come on, Jayce," she said, jogging ahead of me. "Who knows, maybe we'll meet lizard people or something."