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"No, it's always just been . Just an old man and his gears."
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Halde's forehead. He tried to keep his voice steady, but the air in the shop had turned freezing. The woman who had burst in wasn't just any thug—it was Sevika, Silco's right hand. She stood there, leaning on her heavy Chem-tech arm, her eyes scanning the room like a hawk looking for a field mouse.
Sevika was a predator. She'd heard whispers in the Sump about a clockwork shop that had recently taken in two "strays," one with hair the color of a sumr sky. She didn't believe in coincidences.
"Then we'll search," Sevika said, her voice like grinding gravel. She pointed a finger at Halde's nose. "If I find out you're lying, old man, you won't live long enough to regret it."
Chen, huddled in the back room with Powder, heard everything. He hadn't realized Silco's web had expanded this far, this fast. He looked at the window, then at the terrified girl beside him.
"Powder, out. Now."
They slipped through the window with the practiced silence of street urchins just as Sevika kicked in the bedroom door.
"Nothing?" Sevika growled, looking around the empty room.
Halde stood in the doorway, trembling but holding his ground. "You see? Nothing. I'm just an honest craftsman, trying to make a living."
Sevika glared at him, ready to leave, but then her eyes caught sothing on the bed. A patched-up rabbit doll. The one Vi had given Powder. Sevika's brow arched.
"Hey, old man... where did the doll co from?"
Halde's heart plumted. His hand slipped into his pocket, his fingers closing around a heavy screwdriver.
"Search the house!" Sevika barked to her n. "Find anything that belongs to a kid!"
Minutes later, a thug erged carrying a crate. Inside were Powder's prototypes—small, erratic gadgets covered in neon doodles and monkey drawings. Sevika pulled the pistol they'd found at the junkyard from her belt and compared the markings. It was a perfect match.
Sevika's hand shot out, grabbing Halde by the throat and pinning him against the wall. "Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Tell where they went, and I might let you keep your head."
Halde struggled for air. In that mont, between the gasps, his life flashed before him. He rembered the cowardice that had driven him from Demacia while his family died. He rembered the months spent with Chen, the smiles of the blue-haired girl, and the warmth of a ho he thought he'd lost forever.
"When Noxus ca... I ran," Halde choked out, his eyes widening with a fierce, final resolve. "I've regretted that every day of my life."
He mustered every ounce of strength left in his aging body. "This ti... I'm not running."
His hand whipped out of his pocket. He drove the screwdriver straight toward Sevika's throat.
Sevika was a veteran of a hundred bar fights and warzones. She reacted instantly, raising her Chem-tech arm to block the strike. The screwdriver buried itself into the chanical plating with a screech of tal on tal.
"You old fool," Sevika hissed.
Halde didn't back down. A mocking grin touched his lips. "Did I say I was a hero? I'm a chanic!"
He found the primary pressure valve on her Chem-tech prosthetic, plunged the tool deeper, and twisted with the precision of a master. With a violent snap and a hiss of green vapor, the arm's coupling shattered, and the heavy prosthetic fell uselessly to the floor.
Sevika's face contorted with rage. Her organic hand tightened around Halde's throat, her knuckles turning white. Halde's face went purple, his eyes rolling back as his limbs went limp.
She tossed his body aside like trash. "Throwing your life away for two brats. Pathetic."
The aning of a Na
From the shadows of a neighboring rooftop, Chen watched it all through a haze of tears. He wanted to scream. He wanted to activate Predator and tear Sevika apart. But he looked at Powder, who he was shielding behind a chimney.
He understood Silco now. He understood why a man as cold as Silco would have a weakness. When you have soone you love in a place as cruel as Zaun, you aren't just a person anymore—you're a target.
He also understood the na. "Jinx" wasn't just a nickna. In English, a Jinx is a curse. A person who brings misfortune to everyone they touch. Vander, Mylo, Claggor... and now Halde.
"I won't let it be true," Chen whispered, his voice trembling. He picked up Powder and ran, his 320 Movent Speed feeling like a crawl through molasses.
Once they were safely tucked away in a deep, lightless alley, Powder looked up at him. "Why were you covering my eyes, Chen?"
Chen wiped his face, hiding the tear tracks. "The shop is compromised. We have to leave."
"But Halde... he's still there."
Chen felt his heart break, but he forced a smile. "He's fine. Those people were just looking for us. He'll be safer if we aren't around to implicate him."
It was a "benevolent lie," the kind you tell to keep a flickering candle from going out.
"Where do we go?" Powder asked.
The system pinged, answering for him.
Main Quest: The Twin Cities War. Objective: Find Ekko and help him establish the Firelights. Reward: One random basic champion skill.
Chen's eyes lit up. He'd forgotten about the "Little Man." Right now, Ekko and Powder weren't enemies yet. They were just two kids who missed the sa family.
"We're going to find Ekko," Chen said.
"Yay! Little Man!" Powder cheered, the darkness in her eyes receding for a fleeting mont.
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sp4treon/roaverse
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