In the murky waters and rising bubbles, deep within Vander and Silco's established base, Sevika sat sprawled across a chair. A cheap, self-rolled cigarette was clenched between her teeth.
Her eyes were bloodshot from smoke, and exhaustion.
A law enforcer approached, bringing bandages and medicine, carefully tending to the wounds on her right arm.
"This isn't over. Count our people, grab the weapons, we're storming the bridge."
"Sevika, with all due respect, we're down by half," the enforcer said, dabbing antiseptic on her wounds. "Silco is—"
"Dead?" Sevika cut him off. "You saw his body? No? Then he's missing in action until proven otherwise."
"The attacker—"
"Is one woman," Sevika growled. "We are Zaun. We don't bend. We don't break. And we sure as hell don't wait for Piltover to finish what they started."
With a swig of hard liquor, she slammed the glass onto the table. She knew this was the moment to act, to strike with an iron fist and seize control through force. If they hesitated, The Last Drop would soon lose its grip on Zaun.
Her eyes scanned the room, finding uncertainty in the faces around her. "Every minute we wait is another minute for those vultures to circle. You think they aren't watching? You think they aren't waiting for the perfect moment to reclaim what we took from them?"
"We built something here, something worth defending. I won't watch it crumble because we were too afraid to act."
The Chem-Barons they had once purged would resurface, and Zaun would once again sink into chaos, a festering dump ruled by corruption. This was something she would never allow. Better to fight and die on their feet than rot away in slow defeat.
"I don't support starting a war. We barely have the strength to hold our own." Viktor's voice was calm but firm as he spoke from across the table.
"So we just hide? Is that your solution?" Sevika challenged.
"That modified enforcer, there's no stopping her. If she wants to take us down, she can do it in one clean strike."
"She shrugged off Vander's shimmer-enhanced attacks like they were nothing. Our explosive rounds might as well have been raindrops."
Viktor rejected Sevika's proposal. To him, survival meant staying hidden, retreating underground, and quietly amassing power. The territory didn't matter, what mattered was preserving their people and their ideals.
Once he developed a weapon capable of countering Camille's Hextech enhancements, then, and only then, would they sound the horns of war.
"What matters is preserving our people, our knowledge, our capacity to rebuild."
"Viktor, Zaun is in turmoil. Vander and both Silco are dead. We have to act! If we hesitate, those filthy Chem-Barons will crawl back out of the shadows. Everything we fought for, gone, just like that! I can't accept that."
Sevika's fist crashed onto the table. As much as she hated to admit it, Viktor was right. Camille was beyond their current capabilities. But the thought of standing by and watching as Zaun was once again plunged into filth and disorder made her blood boil.
"I've made progress on a way to counter her core. She generates an energy shield that renders conventional attacks useless."
Viktor used a pencil to sketch a quick diagram on the table. "But with low-frequency resonance, we can bypass the shield entirely, disrupt her internal energy circuits. Give me some time. Hextech can make this possible."
"Do you understand what you're proposing?" Heimerdinger asked. "Once Hextech is weaponized, there's no returning to innocence."
"Was there ever innocence, Professor?" Viktor asked quietly.
"Viktor..."
Camille had gone too far. She had to be judged. But as he looked at his former student, Heimerdinger couldn't shake his worry. He knew how smart Viktor was, and he was afraid that all that hatred would eat him up inside and send him down a path he couldn't come back from.
Once Hextech was weaponized, there would be no turning back.
"Professor, don't you see? Zaun needs the power to defend itself."
Viktor gestured around the room, to the wounded enforcers, to the children huddled in corners. "We did nothing but try to build a future for the Undercity. And just as we secured a peace agreement with Councilor Medarda, the woman you called Camille tore it apart, because we lacked the strength to enforce it."
"How many more must die before we put an end to this?"
He knew Heimerdinger had always been against weaponizing Hextech. But they were far past the point of debating ethics. Without the means to resist Piltover's military might, Zaun's rise was nothing but a fantasy.
"I know. That's why I'm not stopping you. I only hope you understand the dangers of turning Hextech into a weapon and that you set limits."
"Promise me you'll remember what Hextech was meant to be, a tool for creation, not destruction."
Heimerdinger lowered his gaze. His expression was sorrowful, almost as if he felt betrayed.
"I will, Professor. Jayce and I developed Hextech to better humanity, not to wage war. This is about justice."
"Camille has spilled too much blood. She must be judged by Zaun. And when justice is done, we return to building, not destroying. That was always Cipher's vision."
Viktor took a deep breath. He hated seeing Heimerdinger like this, but there was no turning back. Zaun needed to stand on its own, and for that, it needed power.
The development of Hextech weaponry was inevitable.
Besides, he had his doubts, even if he chose not to pursue it, Jayce would likely be manipulated or coerced into doing so. His instincts told him Camille would make sure of it.
"I trust you. Your idea of low-frequency resonance is ingenious. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Heimerdinger nodded. Viktor had always been a sensible one, far more reliable than Jayce, who was nothing but a headache.
"There is, actually. The challenge lies in synchronizing the resonance device with her energy core."
"Hmm, yes," Heimerdinger mused. "We'd need to establish the precise frequency of her core. Perhaps if we..."
Excitement flickered in Viktor's eyes. With Heimerdinger's help, the time required to develop the device would be significantly reduced.
The two of them immediately dove into their research, shutting out everything around them.
A law enforcer hesitated before stepping up to Sevika. "Everyone's ready… are we still storming the bridge?"
Sevika's gaze shifted between the excited scientists and her battle-ready enforcers. After a long pause, she made her decision.
After countless speeches from Cipher and Silco, Zaun's government had come to prioritize scientific minds. What Viktor said had sunk in, not just for Sevika, but also for these former gangsters turned enforcers.
"Not yet. Get the men settled first. When Viktor finishes that weapon, then we take our revenge. That woman will be judged and executed in Zaun, publicly."
She thought it through and decided to trust Viktor. She knew she wasn't the brains of the operation, and she had always listened to those who were.
The enforcer nodded, relief visible in his posture. He agreed, if they had a weapon that could take Camille down, then Piltover was nothing to fear.
With that settled, Sevika turned her gaze toward Vi, who was cradling Powder in her arms. A headache immediately set in.
Goddamn it. I'm not cut out for this part of the job.
Vi seemed fine. But Powder… she had no idea what to do about Powder.
Why do I always have to clean up after you idiots?
Taking another shot of liquor and rising from her chair, Sevika winced at the pain in her arm.
All of you, so obsessed with your daughters, your sisters. If you loved them so much, then why the hell didn't you stay alive for them?!
Cipher, you bastard. You had all these contingency plans but didn't think to leave instructions for handling kids?
Sevika cursed under her breath, downed another shot of liquor, and was about to head out to check on the enforcers.
The door creaked open, drawing all eyes as conversations fell silent.
She turned around and saw something impossible.
Standing there, leaning against the doorframe, was Cipher, that bastard who was supposed to have gone down with a "glorious" explosion. And next to him, bare-chested and battle-worn, was Vander.
"Missed me?"
Sevika rubbed her eyes, convinced it was a hallucination. But when she looked again, they were still there.
Cipher even had a bluebird perched on his shoulder. And to make it worse, he was smiling.
That son of a bitch dared to smile?
In an instant, she was on her feet, storming toward him like a raging wind. Before Cipher could say another word, she raised her arm and smacked him across the face.
A sharp crack rang through the room.
Cipher didn't dodge.
He took it.
He deserved it.
He hadn't done enough to prevent this mess.
"You goddamn idiot! Who the hell told you to go and blow yourself up? Are you stupid?!"
The words left her mouth before she could stop them. Then she grabbed him by the collar, pulling him into a rough embrace.
"You're alive. That's all that matters. I can't… I can't hold this shit together on my own."
The bluebird squawked indignantly as it was nearly crushed between them.
The sound of the slap had drawn everyone's attention. Even Powder turned toward the door.
Her lifeless eyes, dull and empty for so long, suddenly lit up.