"You followed me the whole way?"
"Yes. We saw you taking care of Vi. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing here talking to us right now."
Caitlyn stopped short. Her brows knit as she looked at Marsen. "You'd dare lay hands on an Enforcer?"
Marsen smiled. "Most of the time? We wouldn't. Who would dare touch you people? But right now it's different. The Sump's in chaos. If an Enforcer 'accidentally' goes missing down here… who's to say who did it?"
He bit down hard on the word "accidentally," and it sent a wave of goosebumps up Caitlyn's skin.
She rubbed her arms uncomfortably, muttered a couple of words under her breath, and kept following them.
Then she watched as they carried Vi into a place, and a girl—about 160 cm tall—hurried over. Marsen said something to her, and she anxiously pulled something from her pocket.
Caitlyn immediately stepped forward to stop them. "Wait—Shimmer?"
"You're going to use Shimmer on her?" Caitlyn couldn't understand it.
Wasn't this the thing that turned Zaunites into something that wasn't quite human—and not quite a ghost either?
"What else would we use?" Marsen shot back.
"That's a drug!"
"That's because they used Shimmer wrong." Marsen frowned at Caitlyn. "Shimmer isn't just some addictive toy. Used properly, it can be medicine. Now move. Don't make me say it twice."
If he hadn't seen her taking care of Vi earlier, he really would've been willing to hurt her.
Just like he'd told Caitlyn—when the Sump was this chaotic, if one or two Enforcers disappeared, was that really strange?
Not long ago, Piltover had an explosion that killed six Enforcers. Topside didn't know what happened, but the people in the Undercity weren't idiots. It was probably that crazy woman Jinx again.
And what was the result?
Silco had turned it into an "accident" and smeared it over until everyone swallowed it.
And at a time like this, this cop dared to come into the Lanes alone. Marsen honestly didn't know what she was thinking.
Was she just stupid?
Marsen raised a hand. Willa and Manzu stepped in and blocked Caitlyn.
Then Marsen tipped Shimmer into Vi's mouth—only a little. He didn't dare use more than that.
As soon as Vi inhaled it and the effect kicked in, she started screaming in agony. Her eyes snapped open, her pupils dilating wide… then shrinking tight again.
"Vi?"
"Vi!"
Marsen called to her. As the purple glow faded from Vi's pupils, her focus locked onto Marsen's face—then flicked past him to Caitlyn, still being held back.
In an instant, Vi shot both hands out, grabbed Marsen's arm, yanked him in, and hooked an arm around his throat.
"Wait—!" Marsen slapped at Vi's forearm with all his strength.
He couldn't breathe—and he was shocked.
Even as kids, he'd never been able to beat Vi. But he hadn't expected that after all these years… he'd still be helpless. He'd always assumed that once they were older, the difference between men and women would mean he could at least take her in a fight.
Instead, he got restrained in one move.
Marsen didn't think he was some powerhouse, but he'd spent years in the Blinding Gang, fought plenty of fights. And yet right now, he was being held like a chicken.
If it weren't for the cop who'd come with Vi being restrained by Willa and Manzu—if Vi wasn't wary because of her—then if Vi tightened this arm…
Would she snap his neck?
Marsen swallowed his shock.
What kind of freak strength was this?
These sisters really didn't have a single normal bone between them!
"Let them release her," Vi said.
"Vi, it's me—Marsen!" Marsen rasped out. "Me! Marsen from the Lanes!"
"You—" Marsen choked, furious and miserable all at once.
Vi froze. The pressure eased slightly. Only then did she really look around—and she saw Willa and Manzu.
"Willa?"
"It's me," Willa said, nodding at Vi. "Boss."
"You… how is it you?" Vi released her arm.
Marsen immediately bent over and coughed hard. Once he could breathe again, he turned and sat on the floor, looking up at the Vi who was pushing herself to her feet.
"This is what we should be asking you," he said, deadpan. "How is it you? Vi—weren't you dead?"
"How did you suddenly show up here and cause that huge commotion?"
"That's… a long story," Vi said, rubbing her head. Caitlyn walked over to her side, then stood slightly behind her without speaking.
"But more importantly, Marsen, I need to ask you something." Vi stared at him, frantic now. "My sister. Powder. Where is she? Where is she?"
"Powder?" Marsen thought for a moment. "Uh… yeah. She's with our boss right now."
"Your boss?" Vi blanked—then all the information she'd gathered these past few days, plus what Sevika had told her, slammed together in her head.
Her expression exploded into rage. Her eyes reddened, and she lunged forward, straddling Marsen as she grabbed him by the collar like a cornered predator. She raised her right fist and roared:
"Are you working for Silco?!"
"Fuck—who told you my boss is Silco?!" Marsen yelled back.
"How are you still like this?!" He grimaced. "Let me finish talking, alright?!"
Ten minutes later, Marsen told Vi everything he knew. Vi's reply was a look of pure disbelief.
She grabbed her head with both hands, like her thoughts were tangled into a knot. "Logan? Wasn't he your underling before? How did that flip around?"
Marsen started to explain, but Vi cut him off like she didn't care.
"Whatever. That doesn't matter." Vi leaned closer, urgency burning in her voice. "Marsen, I need your help. Take me to see Logan. I have to find my sister."
Caitlyn, listening beside them, hesitated like she wanted to speak… and couldn't.
She wanted to ask Vi what this whole trip had even been for, because Caitlyn had come down here and accomplished nothing.
She hadn't met Silco—the suspected mastermind.
And she hadn't found the wanted criminal who'd blown up a building in Piltover.
"Right now?" Marsen shook his head. "Vi, do you think you're the only one who's spotted you?"
"Silco's people are searching everywhere for you. You can't go anywhere."
Vi shook her head immediately. "No. I have to find Powder."
"If you go out there right now, you're not just making trouble for yourself—you're making trouble for us, too. Do you understand?" Marsen pressed a hand to Vi's shoulder. "Stay here. I'll pass word to Jin—Powder."
"I'm going up right now to tell the boss and Powder you're here. Don't worry."
"You don't get it." Vi's voice cracked with desperation. "I can't wait even a second. I have to see her with my own eyes. I've been waiting for this day for years. I have to find my sister."
"You've already waited that long—what's half a day, or one more day?" Marsen snapped back. "If Silco finds you right now, everything's finished. Vi, wake up. We're not lying to you."
Willa couldn't hold it in anymore. She stepped up to Vi.
"I understand how you feel," Willa said, steady and serious. "But think about what we're telling you."
Vi slowly calmed down. Marsen finally let out a breath.
He gave Vi's shoulder two firm pats and couldn't help laughing. "Relax. She's safe. The boss is taking good care of her. And you—do you really think we don't know how important she is to you? When we were kids, you beat the hell out of us plenty of times because of her."
"Sorry, Marsen," Vi said, forcing a bitter smile as she nodded. "I lost control."
"Yeah. I'll go pass the message," Marsen said, rising to his feet.
Vi watched him talk to the others for a moment, then leave the hideout alone.
Vi's eyes went empty.
In all those years in prison… she'd truly believed Powder was dead.
——————
The Entresol.
In Logan's home, down in the first-floor living room, Isha sat on the floor with a cap on, holding a blueprint and studying it seriously. On the paper was something shaped like a can—simple-looking, but the design was incredibly clever.
Make the wildest thing possible using the simplest materials—that was Jinx's philosophy.
Right now, Isha looked between the blueprint and the jar beside her. She worked hard at trying to pry it open, but couldn't. Still, with the blueprint in hand, Isha felt like learning how to open it was only a matter of time.
She jammed a screwdriver against the metal jar and worked at it with all her strength. Her little ears twitched—she heard movement upstairs.
Her hearing had always been unusually sharp. That was part of how she'd escaped adults again and again.
"What? Vi's looking for me?"
"Where is she? Where is my sister?!"
"What do you mean calm down—how am I supposed to calm down?! Vi is looking for me! My sister is looking for me! I thought she was dead!"
"No—I'm going to find her right now!"
Jinx's sharp voice made Isha tilt her head up, staring toward the ceiling.
"Don't panic, Jinx."
That was Logan's voice. Isha set the jar down and listened even harder.
"I'm going down with you."
"We have to avoid Silco's eyes."
"Yeah—Silco lied to me! Why would he lie to me? Logan, he told me Vi was dead!"
"Marsen, are you sure you saw Vi? Are you sure?"
"Jinx, it's Vi. I'm sure. But she also had someone with her—"
"Shut it, Marsen."
"Yes, boss."
Isha didn't really understand the conversation. The little kid just tilted her head, still staring up.
But then she heard footsteps.
Then Jinx and Logan came downstairs together—along with that guy Isha didn't really care about one way or another, moving with them.
"Hey—come here. We have to leave," Jinx said the moment she spotted Isha, waving her over.
She wasn't smiling. Her expression was complicated—tight and messy.
But Isha didn't hesitate. The second Jinx called her, she grabbed the blueprint off the floor, clutched the jar, and ran straight to her.
Logan followed behind them, his expression just as complicated.
The story had shifted.
And it wasn't a small shift, either.
Maybe from the moment Logan met Jinx, the events of the Twin Cities had already started changing. And now, Marsen and the Spirit Blossom Gang had run into Vi and Caitlyn.
That part had been outside Logan's expectations.
But it was a good thing.
Because instead of letting Vi and Jinx reunite through a mess of uncertain accidents, Logan could control their reunion himself.
Logan remembered clearly: in the show, after Vi got out of Stillwater Hold, there was only one thing on her mind—finding Jinx. But all the accidents afterward created distance between them.
And that distance… became the fuse that truly lit the war between the two cities.
Logan had cut Marsen off earlier because the moment Jinx heard "Vi," her mental state visibly went wrong.
If she hadn't started trusting Logan these past days—and if Isha wasn't here—Jinx would've already gone tearing down into the Undercity to find Vi, instead of listening to Logan. Even now, she was anxious and shaken, but she was still forcing herself to hold back.
But what if Marsen had finished his sentence?
He'd said Vi had someone with her. Logan knew exactly who that "someone" was.
Caitlyn.
If Jinx found out her sister had brought a Piltover cop to look for her, Jinx would almost certainly start spiraling. She'd just blown up a building, killed six Enforcers, and stolen Hextech crystals and a notebook. And now Vi suddenly showed up with a female Enforcer?
It would be shocking if Jinx didn't misunderstand.
Logan took a deep breath and looked at Marsen.
"Let's go, Marsen. Lead the way."
"Take us to Vi."