Chapter 6

The bridge Petunia knew Vander was on is currently burning a deep crimson red.

"Oh no," she stifles under her breath as she continued running her way to it.

She looked down the river to one of the other bridges and all she saw was the other revolutionists either fighting a battle they could never win, what with Enforcers having better weaponry and an advantage of being in a fortified blockade. While the rest of the revolutionists were running away.

She tried to suppress a choked cry at the terrible views that were meeting her, but she couldn't.

People she had grown to care for after being with for just under a year were currently being laid to slaughter.

She finally arrives at the inflamed bridge and found Vander fighting with a scruffy non-helmeted Enforcer with a golden badge on his chest.

She watches as Vander's trained fists lay the man on the ground and end his life with a heavy downwards punch to the head.

"Vander…" She chokes.

He looks up towards her, his face showing clear signs of a storm of emotion threatening to show at any moment.

"They knew we were coming," he wheezes out.

They stand there in the smoke for what felt like minutes, slowly accepting the reality of today. The peaceful fight for what they believed in; their united, safe nation of Zaun ended before it even truly began.

Petunia finally coming to terms that they lost moves her thoughts onto the future and the kids.

"Wait, where is she?" Petunia quickly yells out.

Vander, knowing who 'she' was. Slowly looked down into a small mound hard to make out in the dark smoke.

Petunia starts shaking as she walks towards the mound, only to see the set of blue-purplish hair she was dreading and hoping against seeing with all her might.

She slowly sinks to her knees and mourns with a barely audible stream of words being heard.

"What do I tell them, what do I tell Vi and Powder. Please, don't let this be real. Please don't take my friend away from me like this."

As this was happening, two Enforcers started coming out from the smoke. One far closer than the other.

Vander, wanting something to take his grief struck anger out on, runs up to fight the closer one. The further one, barely visible in the smoke starts executing any moving non-Enforcer bodies.

As Vander ends his opponent, he turns around to find four kids.

He looks down at them with a heavy heart.

Vi being the oldest, and most aware one there. Looks up at Vander with a hopeful expression.

Vander looks towards Petunia, who is currently out of it collapsed right in front of two corpses.

Vi, seeing her mother's body lay unmoving, breaks down into tears.

Powder, not fully understanding the concept of death, just hugs Vi's arm.

Dudley, scared of seeing his mother in such a miserable state, runs up and hugs her back.

Harry, staring at the sight of the burning bridge littered with corpses with misty eyes, slowly looks up towards Vander.

Vander, looks down at his gauntlets currently baked in blood and viscera, lets them fall off his hands.

He walks up to the still distraught Petunia and grasps her shoulder.

"We have to go; the Enforcers will be here soon, and we need to get the kids out of here."

Petunia stares up at Vander, quickly coming to. She yells, "No, we need to bring her body back."

He looks up towards the Piltovan side of the bridge and sees figures slowly approaching through the fog.

"We don't have enough time; we have to go now."

Dudley starts pulling at her hand, which finally gets her to truly know he was there. nods sullenly.

Harry and Dudley carried by Petunia, followed by Vander holding Vi and Powder run off the bridge leaving the hell on Runeterra there.

(\!W!/) {I cry…}

Silco is currently running.

After his groups massacre at the hands of the Enforcers, he only barely got out after managing to get a younger sounding Enforcer at knife point and slowly walked out of there.

Piltover is stronger than he thought. He honestly thought that the peace desiring ways of the Council might have allowed the fight to go in his favour, but it didn't.

Now after surviving by using the Enforcer's own compassion against them gave him an epiphany.

'If they see us as less then human, then we will act less then human. Become what they fear, and that fear will control them.'

All the nation of Zaun needs is to control the Enforcers and the rest will come naturally.

With Vander's slick tongue and unrivaled skill in fighting, and my connections and plans, along with a bit of fear and we will be able to build up Zaun to a height that will make Piltover tremble.

With his newly thought-out plan ready, he runs down into the ravine called 'the fissure.'

(\UmU/)

A few hours after the bridge, a headcount was made, and it was found out that at least 23 kids were orphaned from the happenings of today. Majority of the orphaned were from those apart of the mining labor group. Most of which had friends and remaining family to fall to.

Out of the 23, 5 of the kids were still left in the pub after everyone of the still living, dissolved revolutionist movement left. a dark-skinned, white-haired 4-year-old boy called Ekko who was son to two of the head miners.

A chubby 10-year-old called Claggor who's dad, Hubert, died sacrificing himself so that tens of people could survive and escape his group, leaving him without any parents due to his mother dying awhile back from fissure toxins. Interestingly he was nephew to Vander.

A skinny kid, the same age as Vi, called Mylo. Whose uncle and only remaining relative died on the same bridge as Silco.

And the remaining 2 kids were obviously Vi and Powder.

It was decided that Benzo would take in Ekko, Vander would take in Claggor and Mylo, with Petunia taking in Vi and Powder.

The kids along with Petunia moved into the back room where they were all trying to distract themselves with games and rest.

Vander, however, was drowning the feeling of crushing failure along with Benzo.

This quickly changed when the door to the pub opened.

"we're closed," Benzo yelled out.

They both didn't bother looking up until they heard a uniquely gravely, yet feminine voice sounds out, "that's a shame."

The ones who entered the bar were three enforcers, one without a mask and a shiny golden badge on her lapel.

"You better have a good reason for coming down here today," Vander growls.

The woman gives out a long sigh, "all I came down here for was to return these," as she pulls up her arm holding the two gauntlets Vander had used earlier that day but cleaned.

"I also came down here to thank you for my promotion, as well as try and make a deal,"

"A deal?"

"I'm pretty sure none of us want what happened today to ever happen again,"

Vander pauses for a moment, then nods along. "Mhm, but how would we do that?" he says.

"How about a deal? If you keep your people off my streets and we'll stay out of undercity's business,"

Vander, quickly seeing that this was the best he would ever be able to do for keeping his people safe from anything like today ever happening again looks up to Benzo with a raised eyebrow.

Benzo's small nod is all the support he needs, "Okay, I'll keep us Fissurefolk out of anything to do with Piltover if you keep away from the Lanes."

"Then it's a deal," with that, the deal was made and the three started drinking together.

As they got acquainted, the Enforcer introduced herself. "My names Grayson and I'm the new Enforcer sheriff after you killed off the last one on the bridge."

"Why was the previous Sheriff so against us? And how did you guys know we were coming?" Vander doesn't hit around the bush and quickly asks.

She stops for a bit, "It's not that he hated you Fissurefolk, it was the Councillor he worked under with all the hate."

Benzo quickly motions for her to go on.

"The Councillor apparently has some not so pleasant dealings with down here, and according to rumor, doesn't like it down here due to it," She summaries.

"Wait, so this Councillor was the one who had the information on our walk into Piltover?"

"Yes, it came out when he was held accountable for what happened on the bridge today. Got stripped of his Councillor status and everything, apparently got replaced with an older man with a passion for puzzles." She casually spouts off.

"The weirder thing is, that as he was dragged off. He started spouting off about how he shouldn't have trusted some fissure-trash called Silco," She cuts herself off at the sudden change of the two presents.

"Are you sure it was Silco?" Benzo asks looking both angry and skeptical.

Grayson nods with a bemused expression' "Yes, do you know him?"

"Yeah, we know him." Vander growls out and proceeds to get up stiffly and walk out the door.

"Stay here Benzo and look out for the kids, you know they don't need anymore going wrong today," he yells out.

Vander sets off towards Silco's lake sided hideout with a look on his face that could make hardened criminals scream.

[Sorry about not getting to the Silco, Vander confrontation. Got too pulled into the a few things during the chapter and liked how it turned out. Sorry again.]

(I feel like I was writing for the terrifying 'bitch' from The Expanse instead of Grayson. I mean they have the same voice due to sharing the same actor, but one is a cop while the other was a manipulative woman who terrifies everyone to the point, that they tried to kill her and failed.)