"Fuck!"
Xander groaned in pain as Powder gingerly changed the bandages around his wounds and tended to them.
"Too much excitement for one day, huh?" Vi asked, her legs dangling from the boxing ring while she sat.
"Yeah, I guess," Xander grunted, his skin coated in a cold sweat. The skin around the wounds was inflamed and sensitive as Powder used a cotton swab to apply a solution.
As she worked, Vi yawned and stood up, stretching out.
"Fuck. I've never been so tired in my life. I guess that's what happens when you spend all day kicking ass instead of sitting in a cell."
"What are we waiting for?" Vander gruffly asked, flexing his hands as he studied his scarred body. "Why aren't we taking care of Silco?"
"We're waiting on Caitlyn."
"Waiting on a Piltover girl? A Kiramman…" Vander sniffed, disgust evident on his face. Powder snorted too, her discontent voice rising up. "You can say that again. Why do we need to wait for a Pilty when we got our new kickass powers?"
"Kickass powers?" Vander blinked, narrowing his eyes at them. "What did you do?"
"Nothing!" Vi beamed, suddenly growing excited. "Literally, nothing! We followed Xander and~"
While Powder finished up, Vi rattled off their journey like an excited kid and when she finished, she turned around to the boxing robot still in the ring.
"Watch this," Vi said, cocking her arm back before a dramatic punch.
BANG!
Her punch rang out, but unlike in Tristram where wood and bodies exploded, it was a much less showy display. Vi winced, shaking her hand from the pain before tilting her head.
The metal target placed on the boxing robot was indeed dented and bent inward, something not possible with normal human strength and displaying her unnatural strength, but compared to what she was capable of in Diablo, it was only a fraction of her new power.
Powder and Xander both frowned, exchanging a look. He was about to warn Powder not to shoot her gun, but she spoke first saying, "Yeah, I know. I don't have magic bullets anymore." Her voice ended sullenly.
That works. I was going to say don't shoot at all, but that works too.
He sighed before struggling to slide on his heavy dark tunic, wincing a few times as it caught on the bandages.
While the banter this morning was light and enjoyable, he remained somewhat distracted.
What the fuck was that this morning? That was scary as shit and it felt so... real.
He frowned, staring down at his hands and turning them as if they'd reveal something, when Powder suddenly grabbed his face, forcibly turning it and looking into his eyes.
She refused to blink, tilting her head and staring straight into his eyes.
"Are you alright?" Powder asked.
"Uh... I think so?"
"Hmph. You've been acting weird ever since you woke up."
"Yeah," Xander sighed. "I had a strange hallucination when I woke up. There was a little girl... It was a night terror. That's why I've been a little off. I figured it's because of my wounds."
"That can do it," Vander said, and all their heads turned toward him. He flinched reactively before his gaze fell, and his voice became a little bitter.
"I know from experience. Pain, it can make you hallucinate. Especially if it gets infected or worse, into your blood."
His head turned toward Xander.
"You need to stay on top of it, or you will die."
The room fell silent before Powder flatly said, "And... there goes the mood."
Everyone's heads turned as the faint crunch of glass echoed across the floor. Caitlyn stood in the shattered doorway, rifle in hand, her wide eyes locked on Xander.
She looked shaken. Pale and trembling as she took a step forward. Her voice cracked when she finally spoke, barely above a whisper but sharp enough to be heard.
"Is it your doing?"
------------------------
~Earlier~
Heavy metal screeched to a halt as Caitlyn stepped off the elevator, back into the disguise Vi had given her when they first descended. She knew the path back to the Arcade and she should've already been there.
But...
Her eyebrow arched as she eyed the surrounding citizens. There were fewer than there were yesterday and about a third looked tired. It was the same situation up in Piltover.
Something's in the air... or maybe it's just one of those days? But I don't believe in coincidences.
She slowed down, watching a man rub the bags under his eyes tiredly. Before heading down, she stopped a passing Enforcer to ask why everyone was so tired.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "There's been an unusual uptick in violence overnight as well. The top-down story is a chemical leak into the ventilation system. The smog's wafting over Piltover, unfortunately, so additional engineers were sent down to investigate."
Whomever messed up... they'll be in jail for a long time. Perhaps life, Caitlyn thought grimly before glancing down an alley.
Standing against the wall of a building, a man was banging his head against it. There was a blood mark where he struck, his hands were bloodied, and his lips moved erratically as if he was chanting.
"Hey," Caitlyn said slowly, stepping into the alley with a raised hand. "Are you alright?"
The banging stopped. His head pressed against the mark before he turned, looking at Caitlyn with bloodshot eyes. His fingers curled against the metal, one of his fingernails snapping off.
"Can you hear it too?" he rasped. "It calls to us... it asks us to make it whole again..."
"There are no voices," Caitlyn said calmly, taking another step forward as she observed his condition with concern. "Come with me. I can get you some help..."
"NNN!"
The man shrieked angrily, swinging his arm wildly at her. Nimble, Caitlyn ducked under and pivoted around him.
"Stop! I'm only trying to—"
"AAA!" The man shrieked again, sending a wild haymaker back around.
That's enough, Caitlyn thought bitterly as she ducked again and pivoted to his blind spot before grabbing his arm, sweeping his leg, and pinning him to the ground.
He began thrashing violently, shouting and screaming.
"Calm down!" Caitlyn shouted, struggling to keep hold of him. "You're not in a sane state of mind! I can get you help if—"
Crack.
A sickening bone sound echoed as he dislocated his own arm, scrambling from her grasp and into a crowd that had gathered. The people parted in a wave of confusion and fear before he tripped, his skull cracking against the ground.
"AAAAA!"
A woman screamed as his lifeless eyes stared up at her, blood pooling beneath his head.
Caitlyn froze, her breath catching as her vision tunneled.
W-what just happened? Why did he go crazy?!
She blinked rapidly, forcing herself to focus on the horrified faces around her as the heavy stomp of Enforcer boots thundered toward the scene. As they drew closer, her gaze lingered on the blood-stained wall, unease clawing at her chest.
A cold, dreadful feeling began to twist in the pit of her stomach as she slowly backed away into the dark recesses of the alley.
Something terrible is happening.
Xander's demonic face flashed through her mind. Caitlyn gritted her teeth, fists tightening.
Is it because of him or is it related? Ever since he emerged from Dredge Prison...