Powder’s Desperation

Violet broke down and cried when she saw Benzo, an uncle-like figure to her, was killed. She felt useless. She screamed at herself as she watched Vander being dragged away by the creature, his fate unknown.

After what felt like hours, the basement door opened. Violet wiped her tears with her hands and looked up to see a devastated Ekko limply walking down the steps of the basement. She stood up and walked over to the boy.

Ekko broke down in tears as Violet embraced him in a hug, her hand holding the back of his head to comfort the boy. "I saw everything," he said between sniffles. "Be... Benzo. They..."

He wasn't able to finish his sentence and broke down in tears even more. It was only natural as he had just lost someone, the man he regarded as his second father, before his eyes.

It was something no child should ever witness.

"What about Vander?" Violet asked, her voice quivering as she was holding back her tears. It was definitely not the time for tears, she needed to be the pillar of support for Ekko, to comfort and calm the boy in this situation.

"They took them," Ekko continued to say with great difficulty.

Violet was shocked but it was only for a moment before the rage started to fuel inside of her. "Where?" she asked…

… At the Last Drop, both Mylo and Claggor were standing over the table in the room with all the weapons they could find, including Vander's metal gauntlet. This gauntlet could empower the user punch and were the same pair used during the uprising to fight the Enforcers.

"Well, if the Enforcers hit tonight, we'll be ready..." Mylo said, resting both his hands on his hips. "l think."

"Dibs on the bat," Claggor said quickly.

"No, no, no, no. I found it," Mylo said rejecting the dibs.

"But I called it!"

"But I found it!"

"Respect the dibs!"

"Stop being such a big baby!"

Mylo and Claggor continued to argue while Powder was laying on the bottom part of the bunk bed that she shared with Violet. She was sadly looking at the bunny her big sister gave her earlier. She stroked the bunny's face, looking for soothing and comfort as she does with Violet.

It was at this moment, that the door to the room opened. Powder looked to see who it was, and once she realized who the person was, she lifted her head and got up from her bed.

"Vi?" Claggor said as Violet comes down the steps in a hurry. "Where's the-"

"Oh, you're back." Powder cut Violet off with a strong hug, she looked up at her sister only to see the saddened look on Violet's face. The smile quickly left Powder's face upon seeing this.

Violet was unable to say anything, her breath was shaky and tears were starting to come out of her eyes. She started sniffling and made her way to the table. She reached for the gauntlet before her wrist was grabbed.

"Hey. Those are Vander's. Slow down," Mylo asked while letting go of Violet's wrist. "What's going on?"

Violet recalled what happened earlier and sobbed. "Benzo's dead."

"Dead?" Claggor asked, shocked.

"They took Vander," Violet replied while breaking away from Powder's embrace.

"Who took them?" Mylo asked with concern.

At this, Violet could only shake her head. "I don't know. But I need to help them."

"We're going with you," Mylo added.

"Whatever killed Benzo... was nothing I've ever seen," Violet forced herself to speak. "It tore him apart."

Claggor placed his hand on her back. "You're not doing this alone, Vi," he said.

"He's our father too," Mylo said, placing his hand on her back as well. "Do we know where they took them?"

Violet grabbed a bag and began filling it up with the metal gauntlet and a few other things. At the same time, Powder ran to her bed and started filling up her bag with the bombs she made to fight the Enforcers.

"Ekko followed them. The old cannery next to the docks. He said..." Violet stopped in her tracks just as she was about to leave. She looked at Powder and sighed heavily. "l need you to sit this one out, Powder."

"What?" Powder asked in disbelief.

She wanted to do what everyone else was doing, she wanted to be a contributing member of her family.

This was important to Powder.

She wanted to be helpful, especially for one who was young, always making mistakes and not being as strong or as tough as her big sister that she looked up to, the person she wanted to be like.

But then to be told that she was not good enough to go where everyone else was going, the determined expression on her face was quickly replaced with a mixture of betrayal and disappointment.

Violet could see this but she had no choice. "You're not coming," she sighed while walking over to her sister.

"I'm not afraid," Powder argued back. "It's too dangerous. "But family sticks together. You said it yourself."

"l know what I said..."

"I want to fight. I can help—"

"You're not ready." Violet interrupted, causing Powder's eyes to go wide open. After a short pause, she continued to speak. "You're all I have left. I can't lose you."

Violet rested her hand on Powder's cheek, a tear streamed down her little sister's face. "Here. If they come for you, take this and run," she said while handing her sister a flare. "Where ever you are, light it up, and I'll find you. I promise."

Violet then grabbed the back of Powder's head and made their foreheads meet. She turned her back on Powder and walked up the stairs, but before walking out the door, she turned and looked at her sister one last time before leaving with Mylo and Claggor, closing the door behind her.

Seeing them leave, Powder dejectedly sat down on her bed. She was silent for a few minutes, then she curled up into a ball and started crying. Her tears drip onto the bed, her breathing was erratic as if she was hyperventilating.

Then, the voices came… I'm not good enough. I'm alone. Why did they leave me?!

She was tortured by these voices, she felt pain and wanted to silence them. She took her anger and stress out on her toys.

She grabbed and ripped the head off of the cymbal monkey on her bed before throwing it on the wall, causing the monkey to start clapping the cymbals in its hands.

Powder screamed at the headless monkey. She looked down and grabbed one side of her hair with one hand and the other slight bang it against her head.

She hid her face in her hands, all that could be heard was the clapping of the cymbals. Her body shook in anger and then shrieked as more tears and drool dripped down her cheeks and chin, then to the bed.

She quickly looked at the opened bag right next to her and grabbed it. She stood up from her bed and held the bag above her, getting ready to throw it down.

However, when Powder saw the bombs she made with Art and Ekko, she stopped and sat back down on the bed. Her mind gained clarity, the voices stopped as she remembered what the boy she liked said to her. "Be confident in yourself."

She closed her eyes as these words echoed in her mind, and when she opened them again, there was hope in her eyes. "I can help them," she wiped the tears off her face.

***

At the cannery building next to the docks, Violet, Mylo and Claggor could be seen walking on the roof trying to find a way in. They slid down a part of the roof and walk over to a broken window on the roof, peaking through, she saw no one inside.

"Let's get Vander and get out," said Violet.

The three kids climb throw an opening and climb down one of the metal beams. After making it down safely, the three crouched and walked alongside the railing on the second level. They made it to the corner of the railing, and to the of her right, Violet saw Vander across the metal bridge, strapped to a chair in a small room.

Before making their way to him, Violet looked around one more time to make sure the coast was clear. She then led the two boys over to Vander. As soon as they made it across the bridge, she took the bag off her shoulders and pulled her hoodie down.

Vander spat out blood and upon hearing footsteps, he looked up to see who it was. "Vi?" he said in surprise while Violet quickly gave him a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"We're breaking you out. Mylo." Violet replied before looking around the room,

"On it," Mylo said, taking out the lockpick from his back pocket. He bent down on one knee and started to pick the lock on the metal straps on Vander's arm and legs.

"How... how did you get in here?" Vander said, puzzled. "There are guards everywhere."

"It was easy. We found an open window and..." Violet stopped speaking. She realised that she had fallen into a trap, a very obvious one at that.

"Oh god," Vander said worriedly. "You have to get out. Now."

However, it was far too late.

"Welcome," Silco said, his footsteps and slow clapping could be heard on the other of the bridge, bringing chills to Violet, Mylo and Claggor.

Soon, Silco came into view of the group. "You have my congratulations. But I'm afraid this will be a very short reunion,' he continued to say while a bunch of his men stood behind him, some the gang could recognise.

"Have you heard the rumour? Vander the coward fled town with his children," said Silco menacingly. "And they were never seen again."

Violet hid behind the sliding door, putting the metal gauntlet on. A snapped sound rang in the room after Claggo attempted to pry off the metal strapped with his knife.

"Claggor, see if you can find another way out of here," Violet said after tightening the gauntlet on her hands with her teeth. The only way to escape was to trust in Mylo's lockpicking skills to set Vander free and to do this, she knew she needed to buy some more time.

"Okay," Claggor replied, panicking as he began to look around the room.

Violet came around the corner and walked to the middle of the bridge. She stood in front of a pale-skinned man with a large physique, holding a machete. She raised the gauntlet to her chest and got ready to fight.

The pale-skinned man yelled while thrusting the machete, but was blocked by one of Violet's gauntlets. She then swung the other gauntlet up, hitting the man's jaw and making him fly backwards. Blood sprayed from his mouth before he came crashing down, unconscious.

"Who's next!" Violet shouted taunting, punching the gauntlets together before raising them to her chest again.