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Chapter Text

1. Piltover vs. Science

The first time Viktor was kidnapped he didn't realize what was happening.

“You are to sit here and tell me the process of Hextech,” demanded the Piltovian clan leader with gears all around his collar, peering over his gemstone bedazzled glasses.

“Of course!” said Viktor, happy to tell someone about Hextech, and the latest discoveries he had come across. Unfortunately for the ambitious clan leader, Viktor had been fixated on a specific issue, and used this time to share his latest troubleshooting issues.

For three hours.

“—now that we have talked about the coagulation buildup of energy in the second rune tier, we can now talk about the third time tier,” said Viktor, chalk staccato-ing on the multiple chalkboards that were rolled out for his impromptu lecture.

“Please, make him stop, I have a headache,” said a thin man in a labcoat, furiously trying to write down notes but not being able to keep up.

The aristocratic man flared his nostrils. “We went through a lot to get him, you simply have to take his research and remake it.”

The clan’s head scientist sobbed, not being able to understand the intricate nature of the work. It was miles beyond anything he had ever worked on before! Cutting edge technology involving heretical magic!

“This man is the key to the future of Piltover, and I must have the key. So get me Hextech or I will send you straight to Stillwater!” threatened the clan leader.

Meanwhile, Viktor was still babbling on about the issue, ignoring the fact that the men who were in the room with him were actively talking about stealing his work.

“...and then if you look at this runic configuration here you can see that the tripled square of this radical makes it so that– Excuse me sirs, are you still listening?”

The clan leader looked expectantly at his scientist.

“Yes,” said the beleaguered man despondent, scribbling down more notes.

This is why I have to talk to Jayce about these things, thought Viktor. All these advisors appointed by the academy are simply not of any use!

There was a knock on the door.

“I wasn’t expecting any visitors,” said the snooty aristocrat. “Open the door, Smythe.”

The scientist walked quickly, glad to have any chance away from the non-stop headache monster that was Viktor. Sometimes it felt like the strange undercity man was trying to put his fingers on your brain at times with how much he foisted information upon people!

Opening the door just a crack, a large hand pushed it all the way open, sending the already exhausted researcher to the floor.

“Am I interrupting?” said Jayce grimly, who had come to save his partner from the clutches of greedy Piltovian elites.

“I say!” said the clan leader, “This is clearly a violation of the law! Leave my man alone!” As it was with the elites, the man spoke of hypocrisy with not even a twinge of guilt or remorse in his voice.

“And you,” said Jayce, coming through the doorway to get right in the face of the merchant head, “Should leave my partner alone.”

When Jayce found out his partner was missing, he was at first confused, then furious.

“Oh, hello Jayce,” said Viktor with a smile. “Are you here to pick me up?”

“Vik, are you okay?” said Jayce, emanating worry, eyes searching up and down his partner’s body, looking for damage. Phew, only the regular amount of damage, thought Jayce.

“Yes, well I could be better. I was telling these men about the coagulation buildup–”

“Oh in the second runic tier?” responded Jayce.

“Exactly!” exclaimed Viktor, happy to finally have someone with a working brain around him.

“I was thinking about that actually, see on my way here I was thinking about adding a domination rune somewhere… oh great, you drew out the tiers,” said Jayce, grabbing some extra chalk and circled five places on the board.

“Oh I see, the five most resonant ones in–”

“--the fourth frequency, yes! But I didn’t know which one would fit best, so I was hoping that maybe you had some ideas.”

“Hmm, I see. Very brilliant, Jayce. Exactly so!” Viktor flashed a wide smile at Jayce, who beamed back, basking in the praise. “Let me work out some of the triangulations on these areas…”

It took four more hours before Councilwoman Medarda came in, wondering where her two investments went. She had previously tipped off Jayce about Viktor’s disappearance, knowing that Jayce had enough clout now to get his way into a noble’s house. All in an effort to train another councilmember to back her up at meetings.

What she did not calculate was that her investments were, as some of the people of the undercity would say, giant nerds.

“Boys, please pack up the equations and go home.”

“What? Oh Councilwoman Medarda, when did you get here?” said Viktor scribbling in a notebook, completely ignoring how she had come into the room with enforcers who were handcuffing the rich aristocrat and his scientific crony.

“Oh, right!” said Jayce, who was inscribing runes on a large metal shell.

“Viktor, you were kidnapped by these guys. I came to uh,” Jayce looked at the mess around him. The two had kept going with science and the greedy merchant had just kept giving them supplies, hoping that they would make Hextech of some sort for him. Both of them got in the zone, as it was simply another lab, and they really were on a roll.

“To rescue you,” said Jayce lamely, putting down his soldering tool.

“Oh, I see,” said Viktor, blinking. “Thank you, Jayce.”

“No problem, Viktor.”

They stared at each other in complete understanding.

Mel looked at them both and closed her eyes.

“Elora,” she called out, and her ever present assistant stepped forward bowing her head.

“Yes, Mel?”

“I need an aspirin.”

“Yes, Mel.”

2. Caitlyn vs Gauntlets

The second time Viktor was kidnapped, it was for a good reason, and this was something Caitlyn insisted over and over again when the story was brought up.

“It wasn’t a kidnapping!” said Caitlyn. “Merely a misunderstanding!”

“Right,” said Vi, as she wrapped her hands in bandages. “So why does it sound like you were keeping him in a room and not letting him out, despite him wanting to leave?”

Caitlyn sighed as she started to wrap her legs in white bandages, leaning down on the bench.

“It was because he wanted to give a speech.”

“Oh? I’ve never heard Viktor give a speech. He’s a rather shy guy, isn’t he?” asked Vi, while she used her teeth to really pull and tighten on the bandage, before ripping it off the roll.

Caitlyn shuddered. “No, you don’t understand.”

Vi found herself being turned around with Caitlyn’s hands on her shoulders, the blue eyes revealing the dark horror within.

“And that is what I call a “Viktor-E” for science!” said Viktor, practicing his speech for the Inventor’s Biennial ‘Flash of Brilliance’ awards. “The ‘E’, of course, is for the electricity used to power your inventions.”

Caitlyn looked in horror through the gap in her bedroom at the man practicing in her mirror. Jayce had come by to talk to her parents before the big show, but wanted to have some tea first with Caitlyn.

Of course, Jayce was there with his partner. It was not Caitlyn’s first time meeting the man, since he was Jayce’s best friend. The man seemed a bit reserved, but intelligent, and could hold a conversation. Not exactly Caitlyn’s cup of tea, but she had socialized with worse.

Things went smoothly even when Jayce went off to talk to her parents, and Caitlyn had a pleasant conversation about the preparation for the speech.

“How lovely that you’re getting a chance to say something to all those young aspiring inventors,” said Caitlyn, as she sipped her tea.

“Yes, I am quite excited to get to do this with Jayce,” said Viktor. “Public speaking is not my strong suit, but I think if I said a few words to go along with Jayce’s, that should suffice.”

“My mother has always said that being able to carry your words across is one of the most important things to do in this city.”

“Your mother seems very wise,” said Viktor.

“She is,” replied Caitlyn, smiling at the man. Viktor seemed nice enough, she thought. The speech he makes will go fine, as long as he keeps this pleasant attitude about him, people won’t mind.

Speeches, as her mother said, were about the image you display, not necessarily the words you say.

“Oh, it seems like we’ve run out of sugar. Please enjoy the cookies and treats, I will be back soon with more,” said Caitlyn, politely excusing herself, taking the sugar bowl with her.

“Of course, Miss Kiramman. Do take your time,” said Viktor, sipping at his tea flavoured sugar water.

Then, when Caitlyn came back with a fresh sugar bowl, she was faced with this horrible, horrible display of absolute mockery of the Valorian language coming out of Jayce’s partner.

“Sometimes you go to the polluted rivers of the undercity to get an answer, but all it does… is ‘wave’!” said Viktor, before laughing, using his hand to proudly smack at his written speech.

Polluted rivers? That’s so dark and inappropriate for an official speech in Piltover, thought Caitlyn. It must be because he’s from the undercity…

Then she grimaced. Also, rivers don’t have waves, that’s the ocean! The joke doesn’t make sense!

“And with all the explosions happening in the labs, you can say that business is… ‘booming’! Oh Viktor,” the man said to his reflection. “You’re going to give the best speech ever.”

This was going to be the worst speech ever, thought Caitlyn. Why would he mention the explosions in the labs? Doesn’t he know that’s the greatest point of contention in the council right now with the cost of repairs increasing tuition at the academy?

She had to stop this. Caitlyn quickly stepped inside before anybody else had to hear this, and locked the door behind her.

Viktor jumped when the door clicked, and turned around. “Oh Miss Kiramman! Back so soon? I was just practicing my speech. If you have some time now perhaps you can give me some feedback?”

He straightened up, and cleared his throat. “The dictionary defines the word ‘invention’ as–”

“You have to stop!” interrupted Caitlyn, shocked at her own voice. She didn’t think she would have to raise her voice.

She took a deep breath, and put down the sugar bowl on the table. “You have to listen to me, Viktor.”

“Yes?” said the clueless man, head tilted to the side.

She could do this. She was a Kiramman. She could break the heart of her friend’s partner, for the sake of the greater good. “Your speech… needs help.”

“Oh, I know,” bemoaned Viktor.

Caitlyn sighed in relief. Thank goodness he knew it wasn’t good!

“It needs more jokes!” The man sat down and started scribbling down things in the margins of his speech. “If I said that my partner was the ‘J-ace’ up our sleeves, do you think it would pair well with a joke about being an ace in the hole– the hole of ignorance that we all must climb out of?”

Caitlyn’s jaw dropped. She couldn't have the man talking about her friend and… holes! Her family would be the laughingstock of the city for backing these two men! She couldn’t let this man out of her room. Not until the event was over.

There was a knock at the door, and behind it the muffled voice of Jayce came through. “Hey, are you two ready?”

“The door’s stuck!” lied Caitlyn. “It simply won’t open at all! I can probably get it open after the award ceremony is over though! You’ll have to give the speech by yourself!”

Caitlyn wasn’t great at lying. She was brought up to be truthful and forthright and perfect.

“Is the door broken, Miss Kiramman? Perhaps if I took a look–” started Viktor, always willing to help make people’s lives easier.

“No! No, please just sit down there as we simply wait for the door to be fixed by…” Caitlyn scrambled for an answer. “By nobody.”

“Nobody?” said Viktor, confused.

“Yes! Nobody! See, this is a very, very old and sentimental door passed down the generations in the Kiramman family. So we can’t fix it. We need to get a special artisan, and that’ll take hours. His name is Mr. Nobody.” Caitlyn was surprised at how good she was at lying.

From outside there was the sound of a sharper rap on the door. Caitlyn’s mother’s voice cut through clearly, even through the thick wood. “Young miss, you will open this door immediately! Viktor and Jayce must attend the award ceremony and they cannot be late.”

“I am so sorry mother!” said Caitlyn desperately. “Viktor is sick and–and he’s in the bathroom!” Caitlyn ran over to Viktor and pulled on his wrist, dragging the man with her.

“I mean, I do have a chronic illness, but I do not need to use the bathroom. Caitlyn, please let me go!”

“You just seem so ill!” said Caitlyn before pushing the protesting man inside.

“And oh no the door is locked! From being broken!” said Caitlyn as she turned the bathroom key to keep Viktor in.

Perfect.

Caitlyn dodged Vi’s punch, but couldn’t avoid the follow-up.

“Oof,” came out Caitlyn’s breath, as she fell to her knees. “Nice one, Vi.”

Her partner gave her a hand up and they leaned by the ropes of the ring. “Thanks, Cupcake.”

They both rested, catching their breath.

“So you trapped Viktor in your bathroom, huh? A real bonafide kidnapper, and back when you were still a kid! So a kid kidnapper.” Vi gave out a bark of laughter.

Oh no, thought Caitlyn. I really shouldn’t think prejudiced thoughts for the people who grew up in the undercity… but do they all have this sense of humour?

“It wasn’t a kidnapping! I wasn’t asking for a ransom, I was just… detaining him. For the greater good!”

“You could have just let him make the speech, not a big deal,” shrugged Vi.

“You don’t understand, Vi,” said Caitlyn, eyes drifting out of focus. “It was terrible.”

Caitlyn did not realize that staying in the room with the man would mean having to listen to the man.

“Well, since the door is locked, perhaps you could keep me company? I know I don't have the speech on me but I do know what I was going to say. I was thinking of this opening…” the man in the bathroom cleared his voice while Caitlyn braced herself mentally.

“Hi everybody, or should I say… ‘Hi-merdinger’ everybody…”

Caitlyn shuddered as the speech went on.

“...and then when we look at coagulation of rune systems, there are 5 coefficients to consider…”

Oh no. Super complicated math?! It wasn't a lecture, it was an awards speech! It was supposed to be inspiring!

“... And it seems like there are Kiram-many reasons to thank our patrons—”

“Please stop!” said Caitlyn frantically.

“Caitlyn, is everything alright?” came the worried tones of her attentive father. “We're going to get you out.”

“I'm alright father!” shouted Caitlyn.

“Jayce is going to get you out! So stay away from the door.”

“What?!” said Caitlyn, before a giant blast destroyed her bedroom door into splinters, wood flying everywhere.

Caitlyn coughed and looked up at the dust and saw Jayce with two heavy metal gauntlets in his hand, way too heavy for a regular person to hold up, but perhaps it had to do with the blue light shimmering inside, powering up to defy gravity.

“Am I interrupting?” said Jayce, as her parents stood behind him, frozen in shock.

“Jayce!” Cassandra exclaimed. “This is not what I meant when I said you could use your invention to open the door!”

“Is he in there?” said Jayce, ignoring everyone, coming up to Caitlyn with his terrifying gauntlets.

Caitlyn scrambled up. “Oh, look at that, I found the key!”

She was not going to lose her bathroom door, no thank you.

Viktor came out of the bathroom and saw Jayce standing in front of him, inside a destroyed bedroom filled with door rubble.

“Jayce,” Viktor said softly.

“Viktor!” cried out Jayce, letting the gloves deactivate and drop to the ground, going to his partner to hug him. “You’re alright!”

“He was just trapped in the bathroom! There wasn’t anything going on!”

“Trapped?” said Tobias Kiramman, stepping delicately over the splintered wood. “Didn’t you say that Viktor was sick?”

“Yes, father, he was sick, and then the door locked all by itself, and he was trapped inside.”

Caitlyn’s mother though, had gone further into her room and picked up a piece of paper off the floor, her eyes widening in horror.

She looked at her daughter.

Caitlyn looked back.

Through the mother-daughter bond of the Kiramman family, it was clear to them both. Caitlyn was certainly in the right to stop Viktor from making his speech.

“My dear inventors! Seems like there was quite a bit of trouble today. Seems like you both must be rattled. How’s this then, let’s all go to the event together and I’ll make the speech for you two,” said Councilwoman Kiramman with a picture perfect smile.

“Oh, no need Mrs. Kiramman!” said Viktor, wanting to assure the woman that there was no issue. “Explosions happen all the time! Just part of the process. Don’t worry, I’m sure Jayce and I will still be fine.”

Jayce smiled down at his partner, his arm wrapped across thin shoulders.

“Oh, wonderful,” said Mrs. Kiramman brittly.

“So Viktor did the speech then?” said Vi as they walked out of the training centre, their bags hanging casually behind her shoulder.

“Yes,” said Caitlyn glumly. She hated to lose, and she didn’t get a single round in during their practice.

“I guess it wasn’t that bad then!”

Caitlyn gave a rueful smile. “Well, the contingent from the undercity liked it. It actually was a success because it brought both of the sides together. People actually said that it was a major turn for the creation of Zaun as an independent city-state from Piltover, to see Viktor up on stage.”

“Wow,” said Vi, whistling. “And you almost stopped that, huh?”

“How was I supposed to know?”

“I guess you really wanted to make sure no scuttle rats like me got into the enforcer academy to beat you up then,” said Vi grinning.

“I’m going to get you next time,” said Caitlyn, huffing.

“Sure you will, Cupcake,” laughed Vi.

They walked for a bit in friendly silence as the sunset glowed over the city.

“So,” said Vi casually. “Do you think you’re down for another kidnapping?”
“What do you mean, Vi?” said Caitlyn, annoyed.

“Well I’m thinking maybe you didn’t get what you wanted because you didn’t have enough practice locking undercity folk in your bedroom. Think you wanna try again?”

Caitlyn turned around, ready to fight. “Try again? Do you think I’m going to just pick up some random person from Zaun and just throw them into my bedroo–” She stopped, finally getting it.

“Shut up Vi,” said Caitlyn, blushing and speeding up her walk.

“Maybe you should gag me when you kidnap me tonight,” said Vi with a devious grin, catching up to Caitlyn and grabbing her hand.

“Shut up!” said Caitlyn, speeding up again, but making sure that her hand never let her partner go.

3. Zaun vs Hammer

The third time Viktor was kidnapped, it was a lot more obvious.

While walking outside, making a visit to his uncle in the undercity, a bunch of thugs popped out of the shadows and hoisted him up and ran away.

“You will put me down!”

“We can’t, we’re kidnapping you!” said the red mohawked ruffian with too many piercings to count, and chemtech tubes coming out of his head.

“Yeah, the boss said so!” said the large bald man who was holding their package on their shoulders.

“This is very inconvenient,” said the package. “Could you at least hold my crutch then since I’m up here?”

“Sure,” said the shorter of the pair, reaching for the crutch.

Viktor swung it to knock the man’s head, right on the chemtech.

“Ouch! Hey! I was trying to help!”

“That’s on you,” said the larger henchman, before giving a rough laugh that filled the alleyway.

Viktor sat in the damp cell and frowned. How was he supposed to get out of this one?

After his first kidnapping, Mel had sat him and Jayce down and made Elora give a ‘What Happens When You Get Kidnapped 101’ lecture.

Step number one was to be compliant and not be aggressive to the kidnappers. Viktor thought he had been quite pleasant with them, so that was good.

Step two was to activate the tracking locator that Viktor was to carry at all times. The invention was called a “Life-Alerter”, since it alerted people where lifeforms were– if they were kidnapped. Viktor sighed and pressed the button on the necklace. There.

Step three, and this was something that Mel had pressed quite a lot of emphasis on: Do not discuss hextech with the kidnappers.

So there Viktor was. Sitting. Bored. His kidnappers were very aggressive, but he stayed passive. Calm. Emotionless.

“You will tell us the secrets of Hextech, you scrawny little underdweller!” said the leader of the crew, grabbing Viktor from his chair.

“Get him, boss!” said the red-haired one, whooping, the liquid in his chemtech swishing.

The bigger one was taking a nap in the corner, snoring soundly, drool coming out of the corner of his mouth.

Viktor looked past the sneering man grabbing him, past the greasy hair and bad teeth, the dirty suit and the ugly tophat to try to emulate rich topsiders, and took a second look at the punk who had taken him to this dank building in a very seedy part of town. Something was so familiar…

“Slavomír?!” exclaimed Viktor.

“What?” said the man, startled, his piercings jangling on his face.

“What?” said the boss, confused.

“You’re Slavomír! The boy down the road who lived on my street! You came to my house for Snowdown!”

“Wait… Viktor?” said Slavomír, jaw dropping open.

“I didn’t recognize you with all your augments. How’s your mother?”

“She’s good! Wow, Viktor! You’re looking good!” said Slavomír, smiling as he saw his childhood neighbour for the first time in years. “I can’t believe I kidnapped you!”

Viktor and his old neighbour laughed at this. Life was crazy sometimes, especially for people living in the undercity.

“So then, I guess you can let me go now?” said Viktor, laughing.

“Oh, come on boss, you gotta let my ol’ pal Viktor outta here,” said the red haired punk, putting his arm over the man with the twitching eye.

The boss knocked over both of them, sending both of them to the floor. “What are you talking about? We need to get this man to make us Hextech! Hex! Tech!”

The bigger man woke up with all the commotion. “Say boss, why do we even need Hextech?”

The greasy man spun around. “You idiot! It's so we can get weapons! Weapons to take over this whole city!”

Viktor frowned up at him from the dirty floor. “Jayce and I did not make Hextech to make weapons. That isn't its purpose.”

Just then, a blast of blue energy burst into the room, the door splintering apart. Somehow Viktor had a deep sense of deja vu.

A foot came in to kick out the remaining splinters and the silhouette of a giant hammer wielding hero filled the frame.

“Am I interrupting?” said Jayce grinning, tossing his hair out of his face as the dust settled.

Viktor rolled his eyes. “Took you long enough, Jayce.”

Viktor clambered up, picking his crutch off the table. “Is that a weapon, Jayce?”

“Er,” said Jayce, sweating lightly. “No? It's a hammer… to knock down doors. It's for uh, firefighters.”

Viktor blinked. Then, “Brilliant, Jayce!” Viktor went over to his partner, crutch clicking merrily across the floor.

Enforcers flooded the room through the door, arresting the kidnappers, but Viktor stopped one of them as he came up to his old neighbor.

“Oh hey, Viktor. No hard feelings?” said the undercity thug with a grin.

“If you're out in time for Snowdown then please stop by,” said Viktor warmly.

Later as Viktor and Jayce walked home, talking about the use of the hammer Jayce made— for peaceful life saving purposes only— Jayce finally made a comment on the kidnappers.

“So, did you know him?” asked Jayce mildly.

“Hmm? Who?” said Viktor still thinking about how to add more thrust to the hammer so that one could possibly use it to lift themselves to the top of burning buildings, in order to save those trapped in the upper levels

“The man you were talking to, the one who got arrested.”

“Oh? That was my old neighbour, Slavomír.”

“Alright, sounds great,” said Jayce curtly.

They walked silently for a while.

“Jayce, what’s wrong?” asked Viktor, not understanding why his partner was in a mood. “Are you… angry I got kidnapped?”

“What? No!” said Jayce, astonished. “I’m just… I just overheard you telling him you would invite him for Snowdown.”

Viktor waited for more. “And?”

Jayce stopped and held Viktor by his shoulders. “Why not me!”

They stood like that for a moment, Jayce breathing heavily. Viktor put a hand on Jayce’s arm and tugged it down. Viktor’s slender fingers slotted between Jayce’s, and their hands were held lightly.

“You can come too,” said Viktor softly. “If you wish.”
“You never invited me before,” said Jayce, looking down at their interlaced hands.

“Well, I always thought… my home would be quite shabby. It’s not like the large Snowdown party the Kirammans throw that we go to. Or even to your lovely home with Ximena.”

“I’d never think your home was shabby, Viktor.”

“I know,” said Viktor with a rueful grin, lifting Jayce’s hand to turn it over with the other, looking at Jayce’s palm. A slender finger traced some of the lines on Jayce’s hand. “It’s just that my home is from the undercity, Jayce. The people there are different. You saw. People from the uppercity may not understand why I would forgive my kidnapper, but we are from the same street, and that means a lot down there. There are things you’d never do up here.”

“Like talk about how ‘Pilt-over the top the councilmembers are with their statues’?”, said Jayce with a laugh, referencing Viktor’s ‘Flash of Brilliance’ speech.

“Yes, we do love to make jokes,” said Viktor, letting go of Jayce’s hand, and starting to walk off again, his crutch tapping slowly.

Jayce came up and held Viktor’s hand again. “I still remember you trying to make me laugh, back in the apartment.”

“Oh? Which time?”

“When you said that I was an egotistical wannabe who signed his notebook pages.”

“I did not say you were a wannabe.”

“Oh, so you do remember?”

“I remember everything about you,” said Viktor, eyes straight ahead to the street home.

Jayce turned to Viktor and swallowed. “Thanks Vik. For being there. I don’t think I’ve ever said it before, but you saved me.”

They walked for a bit, letting those words settle.

“Thank you, Jayce,” said Viktor finally, and if his voice seemed a little rough, neither of them commented on it. “You also saved me too. A few times now, I believe. So maybe we can call it even?”

“I’ll always come save you, V,” said Jayce, seriously.

“Promise?” said Viktor, his accent somehow thicker with emotion.

“Promise.”

Chapter Text

Sevika wasn't paid enough for this. Silco no longer was into the really dirty crimes after Zaun was founded, but he still dabbled in certain unsavoury businesses. Except now he was in the business of shutting that business down. And he still had the bad habit of keeping his hands clean. Luckily for him, and unluckily for her, he still had Sevika there to help out.

“Hush hush of course, Sevika. Wouldn't want to cause any trouble,” said Silco, in the alley behind The Last Drop.

“Of course not, we wouldn't want to have the girls to have a clue that their uncle was still sending their auntie off to beat up scum for him. Say, does Vander have a clue about all this?”

Silco didn't react to that, but Sevika knew she got a hit in.

“How is your debt, my dear Sevika? Still have the deed to your house, I hope?”

Damn. Sevika felt that. Well you give and you get.

“So what's the job, Silco?”

“It's an old friend of ours. That little Yordle. He seems to want to cause some trouble in our neck of the woods.”

Sevika slammed her metal arm into the wall, some brick crumbling off. “Smeech”

“Tut, tut, Sevika. That's my favourite bar you're beating up. Save some of that energy for your mission.”

“Oh, it will be my pleasure.”

Kidnap me once, shame on you. Kidnap me twice, shame on me. Kidnap me three times, well now it's just another Tuesday.

Viktor didn't feel like it was fair. He was just out there, finally able to grab lunch with Sky in a lovely park with purple flowers fluttering off the tree behind them, when out of nowhere the grate in front of them burst open and some strangers scrambled out and grabbed them.

“What's happening?!” yelped Sky in fear.

Viktor sighed. “We're being kidnapped, Sky.” He beeped his Life-Alerter. This was getting to be a lot. It was absolutely interfering with his life. Luckily he had a plan this time.

He was not going to be sitting around like some kind of… Demacian princess on a tower waiting for a prince with a hammer. He was an inventor! He could innovate a solution.

“Don't worry Sky, I'm sure things will be fine.”

Sky looked at the man incredulously as she was handcuffed by some goons. “If you're sure then, Viktor.”

“Oi, you two, shut up!” said the gruff criminal as he tossed them over his shoulder.

“Can you at least take my crutch? I'll be needing that.”

“Fine,” grumbled the goon as he nodded his head at his accomplices.

“And could you bring the sandwiches?” added Viktor.

“No.”

It was Sky’s first kidnapping. She was thrilled! It meant she was finally being taken seriously as a scientist. Kidnapping was so common in Piltover and Zaun between all the moving parts of the social web that Arvino Insurance offered coverage. Sky was ready to cash that in finally, as part of her benefits package with the Academy.

“Where do you think they're taking us?” whispered Sky on the left shoulder of the goon.

“I suppose to a dark hole in the ground where we'll end up working till the end of our lives,” said Viktor mildly, on the right shoulder of the goon, holding his crutch.

Sky breathed in deep. She could do this. She was strong, capable, and was ready to do what she needed to in order to escape.

She was ready for anything. Any terrible horrible smelly dungeon was going to be no match for her resolve!

She and Viktor sat on the lumpy orange sofa drinking nearly as lumpy orange juice. They were not ready for the cage they were put in.

It was comfortable lounge, aptly called ‘The Cage’ with a bright neon sign shining over the pool table and stocked self-serve bar.

“Nobody goes in and nobody goes out,” said the grunt.

“That's patently untrue, you literally brought us inside and you're about to go out,” pointed out Viktor.

“...and stay there!” said the big man before closing the door.

It took a while to get used to it but the pair got the gist. It was designed to look like a bar, a study room, a laboratory, and a dorm.

Inside there were already about five inventors milling about, drinking and playing darts, or writing notes. They actually seemed to be quite calm about the whole ordeal.

“Better digs than I had where I was in the Entresol,” said one shrugging as he doodled down some fancy knots. Hyper-dimensional diagrams, noted Viktor.

It made a lot of sense. If you want good work, why wouldn't you want to give good equipment for their kidnapped scholars? A lot of the kidnappers could take a few notes.

Still, this was nowhere close to Viktor's lab. Plus, Jayce wasn't here so it wasn't like the work was going to go as efficiently as it could. No, Viktor was getting out.

“Not to worry, Sky. I have everything in hand,” he smiled conspiratorially and pressed a button in his crutch, that released a chamber revealing…

“Oh dear,” sighed Viktor.

“What? What is it? Oh… that's… interesting. Instant coffee mix? Shall… I make some for us?” said Sky helpfully.

Viktor smacked his forehead. Their escape plan! He must have mixed it up during a sleepless night. Oh well.

“Yes, please if you wouldn't mind, Miss Young.”

“Do you have one that isn't extra sweetened?” asked Sky as she took them out of the crutch capsule chamber.

“I think I have a regular one there for Jayce.”

“Aw, that's sweet Viktor,” said Sky.

“No, it literally is not sweet, it's regular. Are you alright, Sky?” asked Viktor, worried his friend was rattled by the sudden kidnapping.

She rolled her eyes and went to get some hot water. It was going to be a long bout of waiting for the both of them.

Jayce couldn't wait. He opened up his modified compass that pointed to Viktor’s activated alarm. Then he grabbed his gemstone powered gauntlets and went hunting.

Down into the sewers after vaguely informing the enforcers, Jayce was determined to get his partner back as soon as possible.

The hiss of the gloves and the clank of them falling off echoed in the pipes as he took out the compass.

“Alright, now where are you Vikt—”

Clang! The sound of the bar hitting Jayce on the head also echoed down the pipes.

“Nice shot!” said a hideous yordle coming out of the shadows. His sinister grin reflected the greedy heart inside as he spun his prosthetic hands round and round.

“Thank you boss,” said the grunt, taking the bar off the ground.

“Now what do we have here?”

“Looks like some fancy tech, Smeech.”

“Our fancy tech. Time to haul it back to our little think tank.” The yordle sneered as he looked at his new goods. Perfect. Soon he'd be able to take over the entire undercity and become Baron of the entire place. Soon everybody would be on their knees, including those previous miscreants who left the game. Silco and his little friends would soon—

Blam! The scheming yordle was knocked far into the sewer pipes by a blue and pink painted arm.

“Phew, that felt good,” said Sevika, rolling her shoulders. “Who's next? Come on, I brought out my favourite arm for this.”

She pulled a lever on it, and a little slot machine played on the side. It stopped on three disks and music played out of the speakers on the side.

“‘Paint the Town Blue’? Not my favourite, Powder,” complained Sevika as she rushed forward to punch a goon in the face, her steps splashing in the dank tunnel.

After knocking out one though, she found herself with a handful of vengeful yordle.

“I'm gonna kill you, you, class betrayer!” screeched out Smeech, knife hands whirling wildly. The yordle turned to his muscle. “Take the loot back! I'm going to clean up some garbage.”

“Garbage? Now that's mean,” said Sevika, pulling her gambling lever. She loved the thrill of the pull, although sometimes it would do stuff like—

Smeech found himself smacked in the face by a Teemo plushie that popped out of Sevika’s arm.

Suddenly, the yordle was thrust back to his childhood. He used to be a kind yordle, a good scout. What happened? What changed? Maybe it wasn't too late to turn a new—

The plushie exploded into noxious fumes and the yordle was knocked out, sent into a purgatorial dream.

“Yikes, that was a bit much. Hate these mushroom bombs,” said Sevika covering her nose and lightly kicking the unconscious yordle with her foot. “Alright… now where did they go?”

Viktor and Sky were chatting with one of the scientists on soil porosity, when the door opened and a panting goon threw his goods on the floor.

“You lot take care of ‘im! Gotta go and save the boss from this scary lady with a slot machine for an arm.”

“Erm, good luck?” said Viktor as he went towards the unconscious man, but not before checking out the very familiar backside in those clinging pants. Two large gauntlets were thrown into the room for good measure and Viktor was then secure in his hypothesis. It was his partner!

“Viktor, is that Jayce?” asked Sky from behind Viktor's back. “Oh it is! Wow, he really got knocked around.” She leaned down to check on her other employer. Still breathing. She sighed in relief. Her paycheck was still secure.

Viktor on the other hand went to the gauntlet and tapped a certain button with the bottom of his crutch. A blue gemstone came out, iridescent and glorious.

“Sky, can you take that gemstone? I'll need it for our escape plan.”

Sky picked it up but then pointed to the gauntlets. “Can't we just use the gauntlets and smash the door open?”

“Sky!” said Viktor. “How inelegant. Plus it gives the impression of being a weapon, which is not what we want to do with our inventions. I have a solution that will prove to be peaceful, but effective.”

Sky nodded, following Viktor’s logic. It wouldn't do to make weapons in this city already teeming with danger.

“Alright then, what did you have in mind?”

Viktor then gave a friendly laugh, that definitely was not maniacal in any way.

Sky laughed nervously back. Maybe it was the atmosphere of Zaun and this room that was making Viktor seem a bit more… wild than usual.

Well no matter, she could trust the man and whatever he would end up making.

Jayce woke up with a low moan. His head was reeling, and he turned away from the light to the back of a sofa he didn't recognize.

Behind him he heard familiar voices.

“Are you sure it'll be safe?” came Sky’s voice, one of his lab assistants.

“Perfectly safe, Miss Young, do not fret,” came Viktor’s calming voice, which somehow helped with Jayce’s headache.

“Hey guys, can you get me some medicine, my head is really—”

“You're back, Jayce!” said Viktor, rushing over from the table.

Jayce looked blearily up to see Viktor leaning over, but the rest of the scene was unfamiliar. It was some kind of neon lit study lounge. “Er, did the academy get a new building?”

Viktor chuckled. “No, no, you were kidnapped, Jayce.”

It all came rushing back. “No, you got kidnapped!” Jayce stammered out. How embarrassing! His first kidnapping and he was caught sleeping like this. “I had the gauntlets with me, let's take them and get out of here.”

“No, you're in no state to wield them, please, sit down,” said Viktor soothingly as he helped Jayce sit up.

Then an angel appeared in the form of a bespectacled woman, providing some headache medicine and a cup of water.

“Thanks, Sky,” said Jayce gratefully as he swallowed the pill and followed it with a sorely needed blast of hydration.

“As you enjoy your pharmaceutical reprieve, let me demonstrate our more sophisticated means of escape. Behold, the hexclaw!”

Viktor waved his hand, and coming from his back came a three pronged claw, spinning and whirling. “Thank you for providing the gemstone. I was thinking of carrying one with me but I, uh, misplaced it.”

Sky looked at the pile of instant coffee packages. Viktor had prioritized this over the power of portable science activated magic?

“Wow, that's amazing Viktor,” said Jayce, impressed as always by his partner. “But what does it do exactly?”

“Well, it does this!” said Viktor before demonstrating, using his hand to direct the claw to the door. He pointed, and a high powered laser came out and started to cut into the thick steel door.

“It will revolutionize welding, and will let artisans be able to—Oh!”

The door had opened, and Viktor looked on in shock as the laser cut the arm off the woman who opened it.

“What the— my arm!!”

Everybody looked in shock at the silhouette of a broad shouldered woman and seeing her arm fall off at the elbow.

Everybody, Sky, Jayce, Viktor, and all the scientists screamed at the sight.

The woman came closer, and they closed their eyes, not wanting to look at the sight of a woman who had just lost her arm.

“Alright stolen goods. I'm Sevika and you're paying for a replacement,” said Sevika flatly.

“Oh, the woman with the slot machine arm. I was wondering what that man meant,” said Viktor, now understanding.

Sevika leaned down and picked up the rest of her metal arm. “This was my favourite arm you know. You all better be worth the trouble. Come on, time's a-wasting.”

Sky, Jayce, and Viktor looked at each other and shrugged. A win was a win!

“This work is quite incredible, who made this arm?” asked Viktor, coming up to their saviour.

“Some blue haired twerp that's going to make me play another gig for her to fix. I can't be a drummer again, it cuts into my me-time,” grumbled the woman, as she walked to the door.

“Oh, but you must let me look at this work, the design is—”

Viktor’s hexclaw decided to have a sudden failure and grabbed the handle on the arm and pull with force. The wheels spun and everybody's eyes widened.

“You have to stop that arm of yours, and make it stop messing with mine!” said the woman roughly grabbing Viktor, and then suddenly found herself with Jayce pushing them apart.

“Hey, hands off my partner,” said Jayce sternly, as the slot machine finished spinning.

“Just a little bit of energy!” blared the speakers on the shoulder.

Sevika sighed. “I just got it to stop. At least it wasn't more bombs this time.”

“Bombs?” said Sky hollowly. They could have been blown up?

“Alright let's go guys,” said Sky, pushing her two bosses out the door. This is why she left Zaun in the first place. No safety regulations! She was not going to be blown up by some random experiment.

The group of scientists followed their loud boombox slash saviour through the unnavigable tunnels.

Jayce and Viktor chattered away about the functionality of Viktor's new project and design, while Sevika gave the whirling claw suspicious stairs and holding her fallen forearm tighter.

“So then we used some galvanized steel and welded it, but we found that using it only on the tensor side gave us about fifty percent more lift!” said Viktor excitedly, waving his arms, and his claw following the motion.

“Fifty? Really?” said Jayce, impressed. “You'll have to show me the math.”

Viktor put his hexclaw on his partner's shoulder. “Of course, Jayce, always.”

“Can you two stop flirting for a second? I hear something,” said Sevika, stopping the group, as her arm played more songs. This time? It was country. “Go spin the wheel, and see where it lands” twanged out of her shoulder. Sevika hit her shoulder trying to turn it off.

“We were not flirting!” said Viktor, while Jayce blushed.

Sevika turned to them and sneered, “You scientists always get so horny when you talk about math it’s frankly obscene. So you need to cut it ou—”

She suddenly fell forward onto Jayce, knocking them both down. On top of the small pile was a small, but vicious looking yordle, who seemed deranged and had horrifying spinning arms that opened up into blades.

Sky looked at Viktor in horror. “Um, I think it's time for that self defence mode, Viktor?”

“Yes, of course Sky,” said Viktor, suddenly feeling a cold sweat in the face of the murderous yordle. Nothing like testing out in the field, he supposed.

He fiddled with his hand controller, but it was all the time he had before the yordle jumped at him, only to be swatted away by the arm.

The rest of the scientists and Sky had moved away as a crowd to a more well lit alcove behind them, and all they could see was a dark tunnel and lasers coming out of it, as a muffled twangy country song played under the sound of screams.

“Please don't let them take me…”

A yordle jumped out at the scientists out of the tunnel, before a long claw came out and grabbed it and threw it back in the shadows.

“I can feel the light shine down on my face…”

Then tapping into the light, came Viktor and his cane, with the hexclaw spinning behind his head, making a strange metal halo.

“Did I disappoint you…”

The crowd looked on, horrified as the yordle came screeching back, ready to tear Viktor apart, but the claw simply turned around and the laser cut through the yordle’s left arm like a knife through water.

“Will they still let me over…”

“Mercy, please! Don't—Argh!!” cried the yordle as the hexclaw cut off the right arm just as easily.

“If I cross the line…”

“Hello, Sky, I believe I solved the problem of our kidnapper,” Viktor said with a sincere smile, as his claw spun around and seemed to … look at the crowd. “A roaring success for our first try, don't you think?”

Suddenly a light went out, and Viktor’s face was cast in shadow, but in such a way that his eyes caught a spark of the sputtering bulb, making them glow in a strange and horrible way.

The crowd of scientists looked on in shock and fear, and one even fainted into another’s arms.

“If I cross the line…” The song warbled off and faded away, and the scientists were frozen at the violent display, contrasted by an almost beatific smile, of a scientist finding that perfect three percent success on the first try.

Wow. Terrifying! “Yeah, let's get out of here,” said Sky, stepping over the yordle. She wasn't going to overthink this. Simple missions. Clear thoughts. Don't think about your boss possibly turning evil. It's going to be fine, Sky!

“So you see, the hexclaw actually adapted and only targeted prosthetics and avoided flesh. That way we did not have any casualties! The laser is perfectly calibrated to find metal, thus letting production be perfectly safe.”

“Wonderful, my boy! Simply wonderful!” Heimerdinger clapped at the perfectly safe invention.

“Metal is perfection,” said the Hexclaw.

Viktor smiled.

“Oh… it talks?” said Heimerdinger, slightly disturbed.

“Just to make sure we know what calibration it's on,” replied Viktor.

“I… see,” said Heimerdinger, who looked at the other people in the lab, all who were suspiciously looking away.

“Flesh was weak, but look at me now,” said the Hexclaw.

“...” said Heimerdinger.

“That one indicates a safety measure to let people know it's a product that won't damage flesh.”

“Why does it say it like that?” asked Heimerdinger, walking away slowly towards the door.

“Fact: I am superior lifeform.”

“...” said Viktor.

Heimerdinger narrowed his eyes and slowly backed away to the door. “Please remove that voice system.”

“But—” started Viktor.

“Witness perfection, Meatbags,” said the Hexclaw, snootily.

“Yes professor,” said Viktor, glumly.

Heimerdinger nodded once and left the lab, his steps tapping down the hall.

Viktor sighed and sat down in his chair, his arms around his crutch. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and looked up. Jayce looked down at him warmly.

“Well I thought it was great,” smiled Jayce.

Viktor smiled back. “Thanks for that, Jayce.”

He got up and put his hand on his partner's shoulder in return, using the Hexclaw. “And thanks again for rescuing us. If you didn't come—”

“Then Sevika would have calmly led us through the tunnel,” interrupted Sky.

“—we would not have this fantastic and completely safe invention,” said Viktor, pointedly ignoring Sky.

“You’re fantastic, Viktor,” said Jayce, looking at the Hexclaw and his partner in admiration.

“What about ‘completely safe’?” said Sky, looking at the Hexclaw warily.

“Well, Sky,” said Viktor, smiling oddly. “We're from the undercity. Everybody knows we're dangerous.”

Sky felt something was odd with Viktor. Something was changing inside the man. She used her scientist’s eye and observed.

Then she caught it, right in the shadow of Viktor's collar.

“Oh, I realized, I have… tea! I left a mug of tea on my counter and it's probably gotten cold so I better… heat it up! See you two tomorrow!”

Sky quickly gathered her stuff and left the lab, leaving the two geniuses flabbergasted at the sudden departure of their assistant.

“Want to see what else this can do?” said Viktor with a sly grin.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Jayce suspiciously.

“Well let's see what happens when we crank it,” said Viktor, his eyes glowing a slight dark red.

Outside Sky was rushing out, flying through the halls until she was out of the university, gasping as she leaned in the shadows next to university.

She had to trust her eyes. She was a scientist. She had to believe what she saw. And what she saw on Viktor's neck…

“Black Rose,” she whispered softly to herself. The dark cabal of Noxus. Here in Piltover of all places. She had to inform the council!

She took a step out towards the light, but her foot was caught. Sky looked down and screamed, as her shadow exploded, becoming a rose shape, the darkness rising up to swallow her, her eyes wide in fear, pulling her back into the fabric of the wall, leaving behind only her glasses, cracking on the floor.

The last thing she thought before plunging into the abyss was about how unfair it was that she had to get kidnapped so soon after her first kidnapping. It was really going to wreck her social life!

She rolled her eyes and with the last bit of her will, pressed her tracking beacon and hoped that someone would get her out before Saturday— she really wanted to see Gert and the Jinxers perform.