Boba's Vode

Bloody Claws - BlackFoy - Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) [Archive of Our Own]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62257153

Tags and sneak peek below the cut

Asteria Diamond: Yellow Pearl (Part 6)

Yellow Diamond's Pearl stood primly where her Diamond had left her, doing some organizing for some far off colony as she waited for her Diamond to return. Hopefully her owner would burn her anger out while she was here and Yellow Pearl wouldn't have to deal with it herself. She did not envy Pink Diamond, even if she was a Diamond and would therefore be fine. Her Diamond's current levels of anger made her shiver just by proximity. The air around her Diamond had a tendency to become charged in her anger, and when it got bad enough it would hurt Pearl's gem. Not that she would ever complain, that was not a pearl's place, but she could silently wish for the air to be calm and still. Not long after her Diamond had left Pink Diamond's Pearl entered the ship. Despite there being nothing different about her form Yellow couldn't help but think that something was wrong with the other gem. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what, and that made her afraid. She knew what hiding pain of all kinds looked like, why couldn't she recognize this?

"My Diamond had instructed me to give a message to the gems abord this ship." The other Pearl said. It was clear what that statement meant, but Yellow couldn't help but worry as she handed Pink a ship communicator.

"Of course." Was all she said aloud, but with her body she signed the question, 'are you well sister?'

As she fiddled with the communicator the other Pearl responded, 'I am well. I have been given to a new owner. I am still adjusting.'

Whatever Yellow had been expecting, it hasn't been that. What had happened that she had been given to another? Who had she been given too? If she had displeased her Diamond, why hadn't she been shattered? Before she could voice or sign any of these questions, the communicator went live.

"This is a message from Asteria Diamond to all the gems abord this ship. Every gem who's job is not absolutely necessary to the ships continued functioning are to report to room 8x3 in the conjoined ship. Wait there for further commands. That will be all."

Yellow stared in shock signing, 'what happened?!' the moment she could.

"Come, I'll escort you to the other ship." Pink said, signing, 'to much to share in this moment. Find hiding spot first.'

Yellow considered this, mind racing. "My Diamond may not pleased if she does not find me where she left me."

"If necessary she will be notified of your whereabouts." 'Owner will not be here for some time. (Comforting)'

"Understood." Yellow said, following Pink out of the room and to the other ship.

'I will show you.' Pink signed. Yellow waited, but got no further explanation.

What could Pink want to show her? Hopefully it would explain this horribly concerning situation. She didn't know what was going on, and she didn't like it. She became more and more unnerved as they started to hear a sound. It was the yelling and screaming of some gem, muffled by the walls of the ship. It was always a horrible sound to hear, but Yellow tried to ignore it. As they got closer and the sound got louder, she realized that the gem must be pretty loud for them to hear them from so far away. She refused to acknowledge the pull in her gut until the wailing became horribly loud and painfully clear. She froze, feeling like she had just been dropped into a bucket of icy water. That was her Diamond. That was Yellow Diamond, screaming and wailing like... like...-

Pink put her hand in hers and pulled them along, putting up no fuss at having to practically drag her along. Her vison blurred, time seeming to warp as she was pulled through the spinning fuchsia halls. Pink pulled her into a small room, pushing her down into the corner on top of something soft and tapping her hands in a steady rhythm of comforting sign. (Asteria tried to give Pearl a bigger room, but Pearl wanted somewhere small so she could "hide", so her room is a repurposed closet.) It took a long time to calm down from her panic, and by then she didn't even try to speak. Not for something like this.

'Explain. (pleading)' She signed, staring at Pink (was her name even Pink anymore?) with wide teary terrified eyes. Pink had lost most of the strangeness in her form, and both her signs and eyes were gentle with unspoken pity.

'Me or you first? (Where do I start?)'

She stopped and thought for a moment, trying to decide which choice was better. It was like choosing between the bad news and the worse news, but she needed to know both. 'Beginning, need it all anyway.'

Pink started to explain, sometimes with Pearlsign and sometimes with words. There were parts where she gave the signed 'Redacted.' (I cannot speak of it.) But thankfully the story still made sense without the parts Pink skipped. And what a story it was. A Diamond dead, the rebellion over, the Crystal Gems tamed and a part of the new Pink Diamond's court, and a new order born through the fallout of Asteria Diamond's creation. It was all so much, especially since Yellow now had an idea of why her Diamond was screaming. The new Diamond was apparently not all that thrilled with the current state of the Diamond Authority, and seemingly had the power to do something about it. Pink was just Pearl now. She had asked if she was to call her fellow pearl Asteria Pearl or something similar, but Pearl had said it would probably be better if she didn't. Pearl had said that her Diamond would be alright, but Yellow had her doubts.

(Yellow both loves and fears her Diamond. She was made to serve her, and doing so makes her happy in turn, but sometimes her master had a temper that she will take out on the objects and gems around her. Unfortunately for her, Yellow Pearl counts as both. This did not mean she wanted something bad to befall her Diamond, or otherwise be separated from her. Unfortunately it seemed unlikely that she would be able to see, let alone help, her Diamond in the coming cycles. The uncertainty of it all made her itch with anxiety, but Pearl promised to help her adjust.

Pearl calms Yellow down, before going and helping to sort the new gems. Some upper crust gem kicks up a fuss at Pearl, who gets to show off her renegade side and Jasper's submission to Yellow Diamond's gems. At some point Asteria "tames" Yellow Pearl, and somehow ends up changing her ownership to Asteria even though Yellow Diamond is still around and alive. Yellow Pearl isn't happy about this change, so to ease her into it and to make her feel better she is assigned to help Yellow Diamond when she is awake and needs it. This does not disclude her from the order bomb Pearl got, but Asteria is a bit slower and gentler with it since she knows Yellow Pearl isn't used to the idea of freedom of any kind unlike Pearl.)

When Pearl is summoned to her duties, Yellow goes with her. She didn't know exactly what work they would be doing, but Pearl assured her that she could follow her around and serve Asteria Diamond with her for the time being. Yellow was glad for this despite her fear of the new terrifying Diamond. She didn't want to know what might happen to her with her Diamond unable to have a say in her fate.

They arrived in the room where the rest of Yellow Diamond's gems had been sent too, where several ex-crystal gems and Quartz soldiers were milling about interrogating the new gems. Pearl walked through the crowd with the grace of a pearl and the confidence of a Diamond's belonging. Yellow had to puff out her chest just to try and portray the confidence she had. Pearl headed straight for the Bismuth, and Yellow had to bury her fear from being in the room with Crystal Gems. But her sister made no signs of warning to her, and spoke without fear, so there shouldn't be much immediate danger.

"Bismuth. Are we ready to start sorting?"

"Hey Pearl! Yeah, we should be good to go! There's some we're going to have to play by ear, but things have been going pretty well so far!"

Pearl nodded to the smiling Bismuth, seeming unaffected by the gem's strangely jovial mannerisms. Yellow didn't want to turn her back on the strange gem, but Pearl did it without a second thought so she tried to follow her lead. This time they stopped before what must be Pink Diamond's Champion Jasper. Yellow puffed up on instinct being next to such a large warrior gem, but Pearl seemed just as unflappable as before. She saw no signs of fear in her as she spoke to the much larger gem. How could her sister be so fearless in a room full of gems like this? Did it have something to do with the strangeness she had first seen in her? The pain that wasn't?

"Jasper, round up your squads that are assigned to this and prepare them to start escorting gems to their proper places."

"Yes my Pearl."

Yellow, along with all the new gems nearby, gaped in shock. Yellow stood frozen for a long moment, trying to register what she just heard and fit it into her view of how the world worked.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Here it is, the first instalment! Possibly the only instalment, but hopefully one day there will be more! Enjoy Jayvik fans!

The King's Soulmate

Jayce is royalty, or close enough to it. Viktor is a prisoner from the neighboring kingdom of Zaun. Several Zaunites are brought before them, intended to be slaves to the highest in Piltover. The slavemaster doesn’t think Viktor is all that important, and with his disability, is prepared to kill him once he is not chosen. Much to everyone's surprise, Jayce chooses Viktor and will hear no other argument. He has visions of other worlds due to him messing with the Arcane, so he knows that this man will be the most important man in his life. Viktor has no clue why the King of Piltover calls him Perfect, and he is both flattered and terrified.

Nobody from Piltover knows that Viktor and Violet are the eldest Prince and Princess of Zaun. Zaun royalty does not dress like royalty, so they were assumed to be just another couple of citizens. Tensions rise even further between the two countries, war on the horizon, and Piltover doesn't even know what they've done. Zaun has no proof that they are the ones who took their Prince and Princess, so things build slowly over time. Viktor and Violet assume that Jayce and Caitlyn know what they have done, the statement they are making by keeping them.

Viktor finds out how oblivious Jayce is when Jinx/Powder breaks in to rescue them and kill their captors. Viktor is in the middle of trying to convince the youngest Princess not to assassinate the King of Piltover when Jayce wakes up, sees the armed intruded fighting with Viktor, and immediately puts himself between them, shielding Viktor with his body. This makes the younger girl very confused since she had been expecting a gaudy and snooty man who didn't care for their lives. Viktor manages to talk them both down, and their conversation leads him to figure out how little Jayce knows. Jayce finds out that the assassin was there to rescue the slaves, and while he's actually a little relieved and will make no move to stop her, he really doesn't want Viktor to leave, and makes this clear in his body language and hesitant words. In the end, Viktor stays while Jinx/Powder goes to find the other slaves and bring news back to the Kings of Zaun.

In the end, after some sneaking around of Vi and Viktor's parts, Zaun proposes a peace treaty to Piltover. It is a bunch of normal politics stuff, along with a double-arranged marriage. The King and the Head Guard of Piltover would marry the eldest Prince and Princess of Zaun. Both Jayce and Caitlyn protest, both wishing to be with their partners, but in the end they agree to the terms.

Part of the treaty was also to free all Zaunite slaves, and while Vi and Viktor had been practically free already, this just made it official. They hadn't been expecting the two to actually leave, and both become even more stressed without them. But then the wedding day comes, and the Zaunite royalty arrives, and everyone puts everything together. The main characters are overjoyed and in shock, and they all get married and one day unite the kingdoms through their adopted children.

(Currently working on a fic for this au. I have no clue when or if it will get posted, or how long it will be. Once it is posted I will link it here. Wish me luck!)

Silco's Pet Scientist

(Please note that this was written without having actually watched Arcane and before season 2 started.)

Time traveling Silco does a lot of things to change the state of the world. He didn't come back far enough to save Vander and his boys, (and he felt somewhat guilty about the fact that he wasn't too upset about that seeing as if he had saved them he wouldn't have Jinx and he's not sure he would have been able to make the choice between his daughter and her old family) but he can still do a lot of things to help Jinx and to make a better world for her.

One of the things he wants to get for her is someone who is both a good influence, trustworthy not to hurt her, and can keep up with her mind. He remembers Viktor and realizes that he has access to the perfect thing to blackmail the man into helping him raise his daughter. He has been experimenting with Shimmer to make it safer and better for medical use in case Jinx ever nearly dies again, and he realizes he can use that to help heal Viktor's limp. In order to keep it working he will have to take small diluted doses regularly, meaning he will have to do what Silco wants if he wants his medication.

Of course first he has to actually make the deal with the man. When he proposes the deal he mentions nothing of Jinx, meaning Viktor believes he will have to do some crazy, possibly immoral, experiments for the man if he agrees. In the end the lure of a cure makes him decide to agree to do what Silco wants.

decide to agree to do what Silco wants. So Silco brings him back to his lair, undresses him, removes his brace, and puts the prepared back and leg brace with Shimmer and future technology embedded in it on him. The leg brace is mostly there just in case and will be removed later, but the back brace will have to be permanent. It's got flat circular vials of modified shimmer all down the spine, and at the very top is a part that goes around the base of his neck. A needle inserts itself from the collar in between two of his vertebrae, and slowly and steadily pumps the modified shimmer into him. It hurts going in, but once the shimmer has settled in the properties that allow it to heal also help numb the pain of the injection site. 

Viktor passes out from the pain of the initial insertion, and Silco brings him somewhere more comfortable so that he can lie in a bed until he wakes up. By the time he is conscious again, the shimmer has fully integrated into his body and when he stands he finds himself able to stand straight and firm without aid. He is delighted by this, but also uncertain of what Silco might make him do. This fear is made worse when Silco threatens him about keeping his mouth shut and acting appropriately about what he is about to see. Then Silco brings him to a small blue-haired girl and introduces them with the softest voice he's ever heard from the man. He realizes that this is his daughter and that he will absolutely be dead if he says anything to anyone or does anything to harm the child. At first, he is hesitant around Jinx, but they quickly bond with their love of inventing and engineering. He helps Jinx improve her bombs, but he also helps her make other things less inclined toward destruction.

After some time Silco gets an idea based on how things are going and his future knowledge. He convinces Viktor to act as his pet, his guard dog, in front of his people. Only those who know about Jinx know that Viktor isn't just Silco's favorite pet. Viktor is brought on board by the idea of being able to have public sway with Silco without tarnishing Silco's reputation. He also gets to act as a defender for Jinx as she gets older and starts venturing further from the nest. It also garners him some protection, as anyone who messes with him is messing with Silco. He has to debase himself and put up with Silco acting possessive over him, but he doesn't mind all that much with how many benefits he gets from the situation.

He's never both hated and loved his position more when Jayce and some other topsiders get brought to Silco, obviously to be tortured for information. Viktor is immediately begging Silco not to kill Jayce, to Jayce's utter horror, which disrupts things from the norm enough for Silco to not kill them, imprisoning them instead.

After a few hours Viktor has worked himself into a panic and goes to break the prisoners out himself instead of waiting for Silco to come up with a plan. This of course backfires when one of the guards catches him. The people with Jayce are killed, and Viktor is slammed into a wall so hard his brace cracks. His screaming alerts Silco, who comes to see what is going on. He comments on how Jayce was a bigger deal to his pet then he first thought and how he could use that before having Jayce moved to a more secure cell and Viktor dragged off to the lab for punishment.

Silco talks with Viktor, admonishing him for his impatience and getting caught. After removing the broken brace it was decided that it would take some time to fix, and Silco gave Viktor a choice. He could either set him up with an IV to supplement his brace until it was fixed, or he could be put in the same cell as Jayce, allowing him to spend time with him but leaving him weak and in pain until the brace was done. After confirming that it wouldn’t kill him Viktor chose Jayce. Silco is pleased as Jayce having to watch Viktor start to wither away with give them man some perspective as to why Viktor is working for him.

Arcane Vampire au

Zaunites are vampires and Piltes are hunters. So Jayce is a human and Viktor is a vampire, Caitlyn is a human and Violet is a vampire, ect. The two cities are much more insular which changes politics and such.

Universe A)

Viktor never left Zaun, but somehow him and Jayce still end up meeting. In the end Jayce sets up a secret lab in the undercity where him and Viktor can work. Viktor struggles to feed himself since hunting in the state he is in is almost impossible, so Jayce allows him to feed on him in return for help with his work. They become very close over time, even with the huge amount of stigma a relationship like theirs has. Jayce maneged to keep Viktor a secret, but then one day Caitlyn is at his door and he knows he needs to figure something out quick. Thankfully he had thought of something like this happening and has a semblance of a plan he can throw together. He asks Viktor if he trusts him, which of course the man does, and he gives him a quick apology before shoving a gag in his mouth and attaching him to the wall by his brace. Viktor is trying to trust, trying not to panic, but he hates being helpless, and this is basically his worst nightmare. Jayce makes sure he isn't hurting in the position he's in (it's actually pretty comfortable, it stretches and decompresses his spine in a way he didn't know he needed), before going to let Caitlyn in. Except Caitlyn isn't alone. Caitlyn has fallen into a secret affair with Vi, but now the girl is injured and she doesn't know where else to take her. She's hoping that if she covers her mouth then she can get away with making sure Jayce won't ask questions by promising not to tell about his secret lab to her parents. And for a while it seems like it might work, but then they see the gaged vamp hanging from the wall. And like hell is Vi leaving one of her people here to be experimented on by a Piltie, and Caitlyn understands that this is a person Jayce is doing experiments on. Vi wants to do a jailbreak immediately, but Cait manages to talk her out of it. 1, she's injured and the whole reason they are here is for medical attention. 2, Caitlyn knows Jayce, the man is practically her brother, and she knows that if she can convince him that vampires are people, he won't keep experimenting on them. She wants to try and do this without a fight, but it's also a huge risk. He could tell her parents; he could try to hurt Vi if he finds out what she is; there are so many things that could go wrong. But even if they free this vamp Jayce could just capture another, so she has to at least try. All of these plans would have gone better had they not discussed them in Viktor's presence. Viktor waits until Vi has gotten medical care to take out his gag since his hands aren't tied up and interjects into the conversation. There are a few minutes of confusion and panic from both sides, but eventually, they all figure out that they are all on the same side.

Universe B)

Viktor was a part of the Hounds pack up until his death. He ran away to avoid being killed by Silco's goons, and somehow meets Jayce. Jayce, of course, wants to help, but if he is seen doing so, it will cause all kinds of scandal. So he ends up pretending to keep Viktor for research purposes. The lab is locked, and anytime anyone wants to enter, they have to let him know so that he can "secure anything hazardous." So he has time to help Viktor put on his gag and situate him in his restraints. And nobody can try and say having the vamp doesn't do anything, because Jayce and Viktor work so well together that "Jayce's work" jumps in productivity and such. Of course everyone assumes that it is because he is experimenting on Viktor, not because Viktor is also a brilliant scientist. Several people see Viktor over the years. Both Himerdinger and Mel are unnerved by him. Himerdinger has tried to convince people before that Vampires are people, and hasn't made much progress. He hates seeing Viktor because he knows that his student is experimenting on a man, and there isn't anything he can do about it. Noxus also has much more lax ideals about Vampires, and while Mel knows better than to try and speak out in that area, it still unnerves her to see Viktor. She can imagine the pain that Jayce puts him through, and she doesn't like thinking Jayce capable of such things. Caitlyn has of course seen Viktor before, but she was never sure how to take him. Of course, then she meets Vi and understands that Vampires are people, and then she feels sick thinking of the poor, thin, sick-looking vamp that Jayce has kept locked in his lab for years. She wasn't planning on saying anything to Vi; she knew she would just get mad about it, and there wasn't anything they could do about it, but then, for their plans, they realized they needed something from Jayce's lab. And Caitlyn tries to warn her, tries to infuse that Jayce is a scientist and not a vamp-friendly one, but Vi doesn't really understand until she sees the man that was practically her brother gaged and hanging in a laboratory. At this point she's ready to fuck the plan, but before she can Viktor has tapped some instructions to Jayce. Jayce locks the doors at Viktor's command, not that the girls know that, and tries to ask Caitlyn what she's hiding from him. Caitlyn is trying to doge, scared that he knows Vi is a vamp, and keep Vi from pouncing on him as he goes over to mess with Viktor's restraints.

Baby Viktor

Due to a magical mishap in the lab Viktor ends up de-aged. Little Viktor comes to himself in a place he doesn't recognize, with no clothes and no cane. He is very obviously in Piltover, and there is a very large man calling his name and asking him if he's ok and what he remembers. The poor boy is very frightened, and it doesn't help that they are not speaking in his first language, so he is still having some trouble with words at this age. Jayce, of course, helps the little one up and puts his own shirt on him, which hangs down like a dress, but little Viktor is even more terrified because of the strength in Jayce's arms and the fact that his hand practically covers his entire torso.

Of course, the poor child tries his best to put together how he got here. He understands that he is missing memories, but he doesn't know he's been de-aged, so he is trying to figure out how a crippled child from the undercity ended up in the rich part of Piltover. The feeling of being out of place gets even worse when he finds out that Jayce is a councilor and when he meets Mel, who looks extremely extravagant and is also a councilor. Any and all ideas he can come up with are, of course, bad ones, but there is little good he can figure from his situation. He had never thought of himself as one of the ones to sell their body for food and shelter, much less to big, strong, rich pilties, but he assumes his past self must have had a reason and tries to be good and not make himself sick with his own thoughts.

Asteria Diamond: Jasper and Pearl (part 4)

Jasper takes her place under Asteria Diamond fairly well, especially when the Diamond's power is used on her, but she does not adjust to the Crystal Gems and their ideas so easily. There are a few skirmishes here and there, just enough to have Jasper get a taste for Asteria's brand of punishment, but things really kick off when Jasper insults Pearl. Pearl, having just gotten concrete confirmation that she was allowed to defend herself, waits her out for a moment before summoning a sword and proofing Jasper with a single swipe. She goes to her Diamond to make sure she isn't in trouble and to ask what to do next, and Asteria decides it would be best to beat out the more violent prejudice sooner rather than later.

Asteria, with pearls permission, tests something that they think Rose had done on accident a few times. Pearl is given an order to go along with her fight, which means any time she might have slipped her coding automatically corrects her, keeping her from getting as hurt in the fight. The advantage is slight, but enough to beat Jasper. So Jasper reforms in an arena with Pearl at the other end, waiting for her. They spar three times, Jasper losing all three times. The first time Pearl just poofs her again, the second time they spar for a bit longer so that Pearl can get a good grasp of her fighting style, and the third one is just Pearl making an example of the buff gem. Seeing as Jasper is one of the most powerful gems on the ship everyone learns that day not to mess with Asteria Diamond's Pearl. Jasper admits that Pearl is a strong warrior, but that is as far as she goes. She still has many negative beliefs about others.

Next time Jasper acts up, horribly insulting one of the Crystal Gems which quickly gets physical, she is told by her Diamond that her punishment would be handled by her Pearl. Jasper isn't thrilled, but she's not as insulted as she would have been before Pearl defeated her. Pearl was waiting for her in a sparring room. She was told that she was allowed to move around and be defensive, but she couldn't fight back or summon her weapon. She isn't happy about this but doesn't have time to complain as Pearl immediately attacked. She was using a rounded blade so her strikes hurt, but wouldn't slice through Jasper's form. She took the beating for a while, but eventually she got fed up and fought back. Pearl immediately stopped the fight and chastised her, instructing her to put her hands through the holes in one of the walls. Chains fastened themselves around Jasper's wrists, diamond hard, and Pearl gave her a few good wacks before leaving. After a while she came back, and they did it again. Eventually Jasper stopped trying to fight back, and was worked until she dropped. Just barely not poofed, but exhausted enough that she laid down on the ground and gave up. She half expected Pearl to keep hitting her, but after a few fairly soft thwacks her surrender was accepted. Pearl sat on her back and started to talk to her as she messed with her hair. The action made her want to growl and puff up, but by this point she had learned her place. Pearl talked about her lack of respect for others, and how it all came from a lack of respect for herself. Jasper wanted to deny it, but she was too tired to fight even a verbal battle at this point. Pearl talks her through some big thoughts, before just staying silent. Most of Jasper's hair is braided by the time she is strong enough to lift herself, and Pearl instructs her to leave her form how it is and rest for a few cycles before returning to her for the last of her punishment. Jasper knows better than to fight it, and does as she is told, returning to her bunk room. She settles into her cubby, ignoring the stares of the other gems around her. One of the other Jaspers bothers her, i.e., is worried about her, and Jasper, practically the gem equivalent of half asleep, gives a concise version of events of what happened to her. To the much smaller and weaker Jaspers it sounds like absolute torture, and even more rumors spread about the ex-renegade Pearl. Seeing such a huge gem, a Jasper warrior no less, return from her punishment with a bruised form and an elaborate design weaved into her hair is terrifying. No one has seen Jasper look this beaten before, not even after huge battles. And everyone knows you don't mess with a Quartz's hair unless you want your hands to get cut.

After taking a few cycles to recover, Jasper goes back to complete her punishment. The Pearl exsplains that she will poof her, and gives her specific instructions on how she should regenerate her form. After she was poofed she could smooth over the damage, but she must make some change to her form to show Pearl that she understood her punishment. If Pearl approved of the changes her punishment would be over and her new form would be shown to their Diamond. Pearl told her to take her time, and then poofed her. When Jasper returned she looked fairly similar to before, the main change being the pink diamond symbol on the front. It was still pink and still a diamond, but instead of straight edges between the points each side swooped in, giving it a concave look. It took a moment, but Pearl quickly realized what it represented and found herself pleased. It was a diamond star. Pearl praised her for her choice, and told her to go show their Diamond for final approval. Jasper wasn't sure how to feel at the Pearl's praise, frustrated about how much she liked it. She pushed off the nagging thoughts of Pearl's words and went to show her Diamond her form.

(Something like this for Jasper's new symbol)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Powder's Jinxers

A bunch of Jinxers travel back in time. All of them are very confused, and it is causing chaos. Sevika manages to calm everything down by corralling them into the Last Drop and dropping Powder on the counter with some trinkets. She encourages her to talk about her inventions, and with a captive audience, she really gets going. After a while, Vander sends her to bed, and they have a meeting of time travelers plus Vander, since he’s one of the original revolutionaries and everything directly involves him and his family.

Baby Blue Protocols

(Please note that this was written without having actually watched Arcane and before season 2 started.)

Becoming a father changes Silco in ways no one could have anticipated, certainly not himself. But it had changed him, and with that, it changed the underground. Silco by no means stopped being a dangerous man, but he focused more on making the world better for Jink than he did on his own goals. From there comes the Baby Blue Protocols. Silco comes to rule the underground even more than he did before, and with that comes the strict rule that nobody touches his daughter. Even those not directly under Silco's rule come to respect this. Things change as Jinx gets older and is able to defend herself; if she starts a fight, then of course, the other party can retaliate, but everyone still understands exactly who they are dealing with and who stands behind her.

Things get messy when time travel becomes involved.

Vander and Powder wake up in a version of the Lanes they don't recognize, and anyone who sees them coming immediately runs away. Even if they weren't faced with Vander back from the dead, nobody wants to deal with getting too close to Zaun's princess while she's so small and fragile. Eventually, Sevika shows up all grumpy about having to deal with this mess, grumbling about them scaring the shit out of half the Lanes and bringing them to Silco. Vader is, of course, on high alert, trying to be prepared for anything through his old heartbreak, but Silco is kind with Powder and cordial with him, if not a bit cold still, and Vander allows himself to relax slightly.

And then Jinx jumps down from the rafters, and things go to shit again.

The Tamed Hound

Silco knows that he has to do something about Vander, but he can't bring himself to kill the man. Not when he still holds affection for him, even after what he did. Plus, the man had children, two of whom were her children, which made things ten times more complicated. In the end, he decided on a plan that would bring the Hound to heel, boost his own reputation, and allow Vader the chance to stay by his side.

Silco kidnaps Powder first, as she's the smallest and easiest to grab without hurting her. He gives her a light sleeping drug and puts a shock collar on her before using her to force Vander and the other children to surrender themselves. They are all collared, and the children are put in a comfortable but locked room under guard. Vader is taken away by Silco for some much-needed conversation and... persuasion. By the time Silco is done with him, the Hound knows his position and is at least somewhat willing to cooperate. Silco knows this man almost better than he knows himself, and once Vader understands that he will be loved as Silco's pet and his children will be cared for, then he will work to keep himself here. That kind of loyalty is exactly what Silco needs to combat the Chem-barons.

Of course, first, he is going to have to deal with the early stages of fear and lashing out, especially from the children. None of the children are pleased to get their father back, bruised and limping and submissive in a way none of them had seen before. Violet is the first one to lash out, as expected, although Vander's warnings did keep her back for a few days. Unfortunately, she could only take so much watching Vader get humiliated before she snapped. He could see the fear in Vader's eyes when the girl was shocked. It was a light shock, just enough to stop her from punching his lights out like she had intended, but he knew that her cries affected the others nonetheless. He takes her away, ignoring the sting of Vander's fear. Normally, it was a balm on his traumatized soul, but right now, he could read Vader's fear like a book, and he did not like what he read. He made no move to soothe him, not while his followers surrounded them, but for once, he really wanted to. Part of him scoffed at the idea he knew was running through Vader's head that he would punish his daughter like he had punished him. He wanted to believe that Vander would never think that of him, but apparently, he had changed more than he had realized. Because while he could still read Vander like a book, Vander could no longer do the same with him. No matter, when the girl came back, untraumatized and in one piece, he would relax, and hopefully, his loyalty would further strengthen.