Arcane: Reincarnated as Powder/Jinx

The next day, I was awoken by a giant of a man picking me up and carrying me in his embrace.

 "Release me at once! I didn't consent to being so warm and comfortable and… Just put me down."

 "Morning, Powder." The comforting voice of Vander shook me out of my halfway-asleep state.

 "Vander! Good morning." Powder's instincts screamed at me to throw myself around his neck, but I resisted the impulse. I had to learn to really overcome Powder's feelings and instincts. If not, I'd lose my own identity.

 "So, I heard you won a decisive victory last night." He had a hint of reproach in his tone.

 "Yeah, my drone did everything! You should have seen it. It cut through them like they were paper." I couldn't help the growing excitement in my tone.

 "Hmm, but you weren't supposed to fight. You were supposed to create your weapon and give it to those who could use it on the frontlines."

 "But…"

 He interrupted me, "No buts… You could have died, Powder. And so could a lot of other people. VI, even."

 "But…"

 "No, listen here. We managed to slow down their advance, but they're still occupying the howlers. We need your weapons to be in top shape, but you've just made one. Based on how fast you made the last one, you could at least have made a few by now."

 I grabbed his face and forced him to look into my eyes. "Vander! You listen to me right now. We were never in battle, nor any real danger. My drone is works at a distance. I controlled it while being perfectly safe. No one died. No one were even hurt! And that drone is far better than my previous weapon. It can tear apart a squad of 50 in a few minutes, and do it again in half an hour. Just get me to a safe position close to their forces, and I can deal with them all."

 He looked shocked for a moment. His face froze, and his eyes widened as he listened to my statement. Then he gently patted my hands. "You can let go now, Powder."

 I let go, but continued watching him.

 "You've grown so much, so fast, Powder. Your parents would have been proud. However, you shouldn't be the one that does it. Let me do it." His voice grew thick as his regret was clearly displayed on his face.

 "Ab-so-lutely not! I made the drone and I'm damn well going to use it myself." Vander looked like he was about to protest again, but I raised my voice, "Also! I made sure to make it impossible for anyone but myself to use it as a weapon. It can't be turned against us, and I'm now an invaluable part of the undercity's defenses." I huffed in childish delight as I saw Vander's helpless look. Being a kid was sometimes an advantage. I could act as willful as I wanted and get away with it.

 He cleared his throat. "Fine. But you're having the best protection we can get you"

 "Before we go on the offensive, I think I should make some more drones. I think I should at least have 3 drones. We don't have too many hex crystals, so we can't squander them, but the drones are great both for defense and offense - as well as information gathering. We'll keep one on the defense in reserve while the other two can either work in succession or simultaneously. I still need some of the other crystals for some more serious inventions later, so I want them available and safe."

 He pondered for a moment while carrying me into a small meeting room where VI, Claggor, and Littleman were playing cards. "Hmm, that would have been a good idea if the enforcers weren't cutting off vital supplies."

 He put me down next to VI, who wrapped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me into the nook of her neck. I relaxed and enjoyed her playing with my hair for a while. Both parts of me enjoyed her attention.

 "So…" VI started.

 Vander sat down across from us and sighed, "I'm sorry to pull you four into this, children. My heart's still aching for Mylo and the pain you've been through. However, I'll have to ask for more of your help. You especially, Powder. You've done a great job so far, but don't think that you're off the hook for escalating the conflict at the beginning. We'll have a long talk about that once all of this is over, little miss."

 I resisted Powder's instinct to shrink back, "I'm not sorry and I never will be. They escalated the situation by coming down here, stomping on our backs, ruining business, hurting people, torturing, groping, and I'm sure they did worse as well."

 He just looked at me with intensity for a few seconds. "They did, but you're just a little girl Powder. You shouldn't kill anyone, much less use that amount of force. If you hadn't been able to make some leaps in your inventions, all of the undercity would have suffered for your actions. Is that something you can stand by?"

 I nodded. "Absolutely. I already knew I could do it long before they came down here. When I first saw the research in that lab, and the hex crystals, I knew I could change the world. I saw injustice, and I did something about it. I have the capability to back up by actions with more actions. What's wrong with that?"

 Vander sighed. "Despite your intentions, a lot of people have died. Many more suffer. We lack medication, food, clean water, and our economy practically stopped because of the lack of trade. This is war."

 "A war we're winning. Sure, some people might have died or suffered, but the numbers will be incomparable to a future for an independent Zaun that doesn't have to beg on its knees to get the scraps from above, and I am sure that everyone's future children and their children after that will praise my actions as the first shots that started the great revolution that eventually led us to our freedom. Beyond just freedom, we could even go so far as to occupy the docks, take over the sun-gate, and even the council. As long as we continue fighting, we can become a new superpower. Think about it!"

My excitement seemed infectious. VI and Ekko seemed completely on board, but Claggor and Vander were hesitating. Especially Claggor. I added another line, "This is our chance, Vander."

He raised his hands, helplessly, "I know, I know. I just want you to be aware that your actions also have negative consequences, and that they are serious. I'm not saying that you are completely in the wrong at all. I just want you to live a good life, after all, and that means I'm hoping you won't get yourself in serious trouble in future situations."

I giggled. I definitely intended to get myself into many more serious situations, but hopefully I could do those at an even safer distance while sipping coffee. Oh how I missed coffee. I would have to create my own kind of coffee eventually. I could potentially use chemtech to do it. Just add some sort of magic caffeine and some good taste and I'll have a marketable energy drink that I can ship throughout the entirety of Runeterra. The conversation continued to pass me by as I imagined that future. I might want absolute power, but direct conquest was hard, required a lot of sacrifices, and would cost a lot of time, money, and resources. What if I instead used my genius to create a global corporation that did all of the hard lifting for me?

"Good idea. I'll do that." I muttered.

"What's a good idea, Powpow?"

I looked up, noticing VI's attention on me. "Oh, I'll just make a global corporation as a way to take over the world. With all the world's resources in my lap, I could do anything I want to."

VI laughed, her eyes closed and she put her fist to her forehead as she vibrated with laughter. "That's, phhaha, so funny! I can just see you talking down to the council in a far too large chair and having them scramble to do get you another glass of milk."

"Don't laugh, VI! I'm serious."

"I know, but I still can't help it! Pahwha! You're too adorable to be a ruthless business-leader, Powpow."

"Am not! I'm scary and menacing. You remember those enforcers we cleaned up just yesterday?"

Her expression lost some color before her laughter died out and she back to normal. "I remember, but you're still too cute Powder. They'll just treat you as a mascot if you don't make some serious changes to your image."

"What's wrong with my image?"

Vander interrupted, "That's enough, you two. We have serious business to take care of. Look here."

Vander put a partial map of the undercity on a board. The map was marked with a lot of critical positions, enemies, allies, and neutrals.

"See here? This is the location of the enforcers we know of. They've mostly grouped up around the howlers, but after you dealt with a squadron of them they've been spooked. We don't have exact words, but their movements suggests that they're losing their morale and that they might just crack after one more attack. Most of them signed up to deal with simple thieves and to act as a deterrent – not as soldiers in a war. They might have thought they got a cushy mission going down here to push us around and find the stolen goods, but that's where they were wrong. From what we know, the Piltover council pushed for the enforcer response after learning that you had stolen the hex crystals. They viewed them as very dangerous and are probably worried about the exact situation that is happening now. As long as we maintain our advantage and push, then we'll have them fleeing in no time."

He took a deep breath before he continued – pointing to a different area. "This is where most of our forces are located. However, despite our desire to let Powder's drone go in alone, we need to also have a show of force. If you're our only deterrent, then they'll turn to assassinations, sabotage, and more unscrupulous ways of dealing with us. However, if we push them back together by showing the power of Shimmer and your drone then we can sit down at the negotiating table with the Piltover council as equals – or even superiors."

VI got to her feet hearing that last line, "Sit down at the negotiating table!? Are you serious? When was the last time they sat down at the negotiating table with us, huh? Or did you forget what happened on the bridge that day? If we push them out, then why not keep pushing until we got control of all of Piltover as well? That's the only way we can make a true change. Otherwise we'll just eventually return to the status-quo. They'll find a new way to screw us over, assassinate Powder, and then get us right back under their boots again. No! I'm not accepting that plan! What do you say, guys?"

I stood and held her hand. "I'm in, VI. I think that no amount of negotiations will cause a real change unless we control the critical infrastructure in Piltover. It's lifeblood is trade and technology. As long as we control the trade and technology, we'll be the new rulers of our two cities. Perhaps they might even really become one city after we fix the undercity and invest in safer infrastructure."

Claggor cleared his throat before adding, "I'm in as well. They killed Milo…"

Ekko, however, shrank back a bit, "I don't know guys, I don't like all the fighting and stuff. Couldn't we just, you know, push them out? We don't need them…"

"But we do," I interrupted, "we need them for food, resources, clean water, high-end technology, reputation, trade-routes, money, clean water, and as a way to stop them from taking advantage of us. That's the most important part. If we were actually given a fair price for our work and fear treatment in business, then we wouldn't be in such a horrible situation. It's exactly because they've always had the upper hand that they can take advantage of us. It needs to stop, and it can only stop when it's we that has the upper hand. Otherwise we'll always be negotiating from a place of weakness."

 VI looked at me with raised brows, "Wow, where did that come from Powpow? I know you're smart – a genius really – but you've really changed your vocabulary."

I blushed, and looked down. Shit. I'd gotten too comfortable with speaking my mind to the point that I didn't sound like a kid at all. "I guess…" I didn't know what else to answer to not have her question me even more.

"Where did my sweet little sister that loves shouting, making sound-effects, and who has the cutest laugh ever go?" VI chuckled.

"I'm still here! Blah! I've just matured is all." I tried to act a bit childishly coquettish to sell it by crossing my arms across my chest and closing my eyes. "Your lil sis has become the hope of the undercity, so she's got to fit the role. I'm critical to the war efforts, you know?"

 Another voice, one none of them had heard before, sounded from above, "Oh, I know." It was husky and carried a hint of danger that made me instinctively duck and roll, but the blade wasn't meant for me.

 The blade struck down towards Vander from above, and as it struck, it struck me that it was actually a leg. The blade pierced Vander's bracer with ease and seemed to slice clean through the arm altogether.

 I felt myself scream for Vander's sake, but I also activated the charging drone that was just beside us. As the woman was about to strike Vander again, he jumped back and grabbed his knuckle-dusters on the way.

The moment I activated the drone, it spun around, locked in on the person who could be none other than Camille Ferros – The Grey Lady – and launched a laser at her, but a shimmering blue barrier blocked the attack.

No matter how much power I allocated to the drone, the shield held on without disruption. Shit. Of course. She had the original brackern crystal implanted in her. It was far more powerful than the synthetic stuff I had. Had they just started production? It was rare to see the crystals, so they had to be a relatively new product.

 "Nice toy, honey. I've got something more powerful. You think something you scum-suckers come up with in a few days can match up to the years of research we've put into the brackern crystals? Think again."

 The woman launched herself forward, dodged Vander's fist, and kicked off his chest with her bladed legs – barely avoiding his arm trying to wrap around her waist – and backflipped in a way that made her blades strike at my precious drone.

 The drone put up its own shield before it dodged out of the way of the blade, but the moment it tried to circle around her to attack from a different angle it got stuck by a hidden weapon – a sharp grapple-hook in a wrist launcher.

 Despite its attempt to block the attack, the humming bolt broke through the barrier and got stuck inside of the drone's guts. Camille pulled the barely struggling drone towards her and cut it in two as though she was slicing a tomato.

 It screeched and span, but failed to defend itself from the attack. It was obvious that her attacks were enhanced by hextech, but I couldn't calculate how powerful her attacks were without more data.

 VI seemed to want to rush up to punch her, but Vander stopped her with his one good arm. "You'll die if you go against her. Let me do it."

 Camille ignored them. "Now, little girl," she sauntered over to me, "are you coming with me willingly or not?"