8. Three Sides To Burn
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Chapter 8: Ashes in the Powderkeg
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Chains clinked softly beneath the warehouse's rusted rafters. Vander sat slumped, his broad frame bruised but unbowed, wrists bound in reinforced cuffs bolted to a steel pillar in the center of the room. Oil-stained beams stretched high above, and dim lanterns cast long, fractured shadows across the concrete floor. The air was thick—stale with salt and sweat, tension pulsing like a second heartbeat.
Three factions stood, each forming a pointed edge of the triangle that had closed around Vander.
Marcus, upright and cold, his crisp uniform catching what little light the place allowed. Piltover's badge gleamed on his chest like an accusation. The enforcers behind him stood stiff, disciplined, rifles lowered but ready. The disdain in Marcus's eyes was palpable—he didn't see a man in Vander, just a liability with a heartbeat.
Silco, to the left, stood languidly, hands folded behind his back. But his posture betrayed tension, and his lone eye flickered with anticipation. Finn stood at his side, tense. Behind him, shimmer-fueled brutes shifted restlessly—sweating, twitching, leaking faint vapor trails from the corners of their eyes and mouths. Creatures half-broken, half-born.
And finally—Ashryn Virelle.
She strolled in like she owned the place, cloak hanging off her shoulders, lined with ocean-blue trim that rippled faintly as she moved. The exo-bracers on her arms pulsed with silver-blue energy. Vapor Gauntlets clamped snug over her hands. A pair of Pulse Rounds were mag-locked to her thighs, and a few Cling Mines nestled neatly along her belt. Cale and Callum flanked her with lynne in the back with her men.each of ashryn's men are fully equipped and stood in formation. Not quite the discipline of piltover enforces but close.
"Quite the reunion," Ashryn said, voice bright with mock delight. "All this fuss for one man. If I were him, I'd be flattered."
Vander raised his head slowly. One eye swollen, one eyebrow arched.
"So… they sent the bootlicker instead of the boot," he rasped.
Marcus's lip curled. "I'm the one who asks the questions, Vander. You're here to answer them."
Grayson stepped forward from behind him, trying to cool the atmosphere. "That's enough. This isn't a trial."
But Marcus didn't stop. "You think hiding stolen tech and protecting street rats makes you a freedom fighter? You're just a relic playing king in a crumbling sewer."
Vander didn't rise to it. He knew who they were after. And what was at stake.
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Vi and the gang quickly hid behind a set of crates. Vi crouched low, her back to a concrete wall. Sevika knelt beside her, peeking through a thin grate. Behind them, Powder hugged her knees; Claggor scanned the warehouse layout scribbled on his hand, and Mylo muttered curses under his breath.
"They've got him," Vi said under her breath. "We need to do something."
Sevika didn't look away from the scene above. "Not yet. Let the sharks circle."
Vi turned to her, eyes sharp. "We just gonna watch?"
"No," Sevika said coolly. "We're going to wait. They're talking now, but in a second? They'll turn on each other. You've got three powderkegs with one spark between 'em. When it blows, we move."
Vi's jaw tensed. "And when it's too late?"
Sevika finally looked at her. "You want the truth? We're outnumbered. Enforcers, shimmer freaks, and a whole damn tower-girl with tech that glows. We brawl now, we lose. But if we choose the right side…"
She raised three fingers in sequence—pointed toward Marcus, Silco, and then Ashryn.
"Piltover's a default no," she said. "They'll cage us and pat themselves on the back."
A beat.
"Silco?" She nodded toward the shimmer soldiers. "You saw them twitching. I wouldn't trust him with my corpse, let alone my future."
Vi frowned. "So that leaves…"
"Ashryn." Sevika smirked. "She's loud, unpredictable, and smiles too much—but she's not here for blood. You heard her speech. She doesn't want to rule over ashes. She wants to build. That makes her dangerous... but maybe not to us."
Vi hesitated.
"You trust her?"
Sevika met her eyes. "I trust that Piltover will jail us. Silco will twist us. Ashryn?" She looked Vi in the eyes. "She might actually save us. She's our best bet."
Silence.
Then a voice echoed from above.
"You know we can hear you, right?"
Everyone froze.
Vi's blood turned to ice. Sevika cursed.
Vander groaned. "Subtle as always."
Silco twitched at the comment about his men. Marcus simply sneered, whispering an order to one of his subordinates.
Ashryn, of course, just smiled wider.
Marcus drew his sidearm. "You." He said remembering something. But ashryn cut him off.
"Me. Girl with the giant clock. Remember?"
Silco's expression darkened. "I should've known the scent of rebellion would bring you crawling."
Ashryn's eyes gleamed. "Crawling? Please, Silco. I walk upright. Unlike your pets."
Marcus leveled his weapon. "You're interfering with Council business."
Ashryn tilted her head. "Council? You mean the ones who let a bunch of orphans steal your shiny toys? Or is that still my fault too?"
The silence snapped.
Marcus barked, "Move in—!"
The warehouse exploded into chaos.
Enforcers raised rifles—but before they could fire, Ashryn's men launched a pulse round. A ripple tore through the air, bending bullets mid-flight. Ashryn dashed forward, her Exo-Bracers boosting her jump. A vapor-powered punch sent an enforcer flying into stacked crates.
Silco's shimmer troops howled and charged. One reached Ashryn—she planted a Cling Mine on his chest and flipped backward.
Boom.
Vi and her gang burst from their hiding spot.
"Now!" Lynne's voice echoed through Vi's ears. "South corridor is clear—get Vander!"
Vi didn't hesitate. She sprinted. Powder lobbed a flash trap. Claggor rolled a stun pellet into the fray. Mylo shouted distractions.
Sevika hurled a baton—Vi caught it mid-run and brought it down on Vander's cuffs.
Crack. He was free.
Ashryn roared, "Get him out—I've got this dance!"
She turned, ducked a shimmer swipe, and countered with a pressure blast that sent the soldier spinning.
Vi pulled Vander into cover. Sevika led the retreat, shouting, "Move, move, move!"
Enforcers regrouped. Shimmer-soldiers raged. Ashryn's men held the front line, fists glowing, mines sparking, grin never fading.
Silco gave the order to retreat
"Fall back! Reinforce the docks!"
Marcus growled into his comm—too late.
The warehouse buckled under the fight.
Ashryn, panting slightly, slid a new round into her launcher.
"Well," she said to no one in particular, "wasn't that a party."
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