Chereads / Arcane: Road To Perfection / Chapter 10 - Part 7 - When You Look Back

Chapter 10 - Part 7 - When You Look Back

~7 years ago, months before Vanders death~

"I doubt it, it's Powder of all people, I don't think she'll land a single shot!" Mylo suggested in a promising way to the others while Powder stood in front of some wooden dummies covered in pink and green neon splash.

"Yeah yeah, she's a better shot than you I guarantee." Vi promised with a chuckle as she practiced her punching on a punching bag.

With all the commotion in the background, Powder aimed her gun towards the wooden dummies straight in front of her as everyone watched. She slowly shut her right eye and focused on the targets before shooting all of the targets in the middle. She didn't miss a single shot.

"Haha! Vi was right!" Silver exclaimed while clapping and cheering Powder on from the sidelines.

Mylo slouched over the couch with his chin resting on his palm in a disappointed way. "Yeah whatever, not like she can do that on the field." He muttered to himself while Powder chuckled and went over to Silver who kept cheering.

Claggor laughed along with Vi before scanning around the room with his eyes. "Hey, we're all here but where is Ekko and Lucy? It's gonna start getting late soon." Claggor questioned.

Silver and Powder had sat on the couch across from Mylo while Vi continued practicing on the punching bag. She had glands of sweat dripping down her forehead and chin with a focused look in her eyes. "I'm not sure, but I know they'll be back soon. They've been hanging out with each other a lot recently." Vi responded with a slight smile.

The entire time Vi was practicing on the punching bag, Powder was watching closely at all the moves that she was making, and Silver noticed.

Vi began speeding up on the punching bag, using quick combos and combinations with everyone in the room being able to hear her powerful grunts and attacks. She let out one last attack with a big yell before stopping.

"That's Vi for ya'" Claggor said with a smile. "It's possible that I could do that too ya' know" Mylo said with a nonchalant expression.

Vi chuckled with a smile before grabbing her bag and heading to the door. "I'm gonna go look for Lucy and Ekko. How about you go practice some Silver, you're pretty good at close combat." She suggested while visibly panting.

Silver jumped up in excitement as he ran over to the punching bag, jumping back and forth around it. "Ooo, oooo can I use my bat?! It's

My best weapon ya' know!" Silver asked while happily punching the bag with a smile.

"Nope, that's not its intended purpose." Vi chuckled. "Anyways I'll see you guys later!" She said with her hand up as she walked out of the room.

"Aw man..." Silver wailed in a dramatically slouched position, causing Powder to laugh.

After Vi walked out of the room, she began making her way to through the Undercity to find Lucy and Ekko. "Hey Lucy! Ekko!" She yelled out with her hands cupped around her mouth.

After a bit of searching, Vi finally found Lucy behind a dumpster around the restaurant they hung out at a lot. Lucy was sitting down with her knees tucked up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them.

Vi slowly walked up to Lucy with a concerned face. "Hey, you okay?" She questioned before Lucy immediately shushed her. "You have to be quiet, and sit down too or he'll find me!" Lucy whisper-yelled at Vi.

Vi became immediately offended and slightly confused. "Who's gonna find you? What's going on?" She asked while looking down at Lucy but that's when loud stomping came from around the corner.

Vi turned her head over her shoulder to see who it was but she could only see the shadow of a large man. The footsteps eventually grew closer and louder before the man jumped from behind the shadows.

"Found you!!" Ekko yelled from around the corner while screaming in laughter.

Vi had her guard still up from the sudden jump and Lucy sighed while moving from behind the dumpster. "Whatever, you got me!" Lucy sighed. "That's why I told you to sit down!" Lucy told Vi while Ekko just continued to laugh in the background.

Vi was shocked before laughing a bit as well. "Ah, sorry about that then Lucy, sometimes I forget you two are still eight and Silver and Powder are ten." She responded to Lucy with a carefree smile.

Ekko rubbed the tears away from all the laughing he was doing. He then sighed from the laughter and began running away while waving goodbye to them. "See ya' guys later! I'm gonna go to Benzos!" Ekko yelled in a cheerful tone while Lucy waved back happily.

"Be careful on your way back Little man!" Vi yelled out to him before shoving her hands in her pockets and slowly walking back to Silver and the others.

Lucy followed behind her while staring down at the ground. She looked as if she was in deep thought.

While walking, Vi ended up picking up on the face Lucy was making. "What you thinkin' about?" She questioned Lucy in a positive tone.

The question caused Lucy to snap out of it and look straight ahead rather than at the ground. "It's nothing, don't worry." She responded softly.

"Lies.." Vi immediately blurted out, causing Lucy to stare up at her in slight shock. "Trust me, we've been together since the beginning. I know you well enough to know when you're lying and when you're not...so, what's up?" Vi asked again but this time while looking at Lucy.

Lucy looked at her for a bit before looking down at the ground as if she was immersed in thought. "What do you know about boys?" She asked softly.

Vi was pretty confused with a raised eyebrow. "Well I know they can be loud, obnoxious, dirtier, hmmm let's see.." Vi rambled but Lucy cut her off.

"That's not what I mean..I mean like boyfriend and girlfriend stuff.." Lucy stuttered.

Vi then looked down at Lucy with her hands on her hips and squinted eyes, as if she was on to her about something. "Hmmmm..." She hummed while staring at Lucy.

"W-what?!" Lucy blurted out in response.

Vi chuckled then stopped with the teasing. "Well to be honest not much..I'm only into girls actually so I never really cared much for guys in that way." Vi said in response.

"Ahhh..I understand." Responded Lucy.

"Either way I can tell you to just be yourself..if there's someone you like and they like you back, usually things will come naturally. You can bet on it. But until then just remember that you're still a child, you have your entire life ahead of you so don't focus too much on that, okay?" Vi reassured with a smile, causing Lucy to cheer up.

"Thank you Vi." Lucy said before Vi wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"That's what big sisters are for." Vi responded with a smile.

~Later that night Silver and Lucy were still inside of the room with the wooden dummies and punching bag~

"Hey, can I have a try?" Powder asked while looking at Silver who was still punching on the punching bag. Despite it being dark out, the room was lit with a lamp along with the neon graffiti that was on the dummies and walls.

At this point Silver was drenched in sweat. His face was covered in it, his shirt was darker from it, and he was panting very dramatically. "Yes please!" Silver panted out before moving out of the way for Powder.

Powder put her stance up while staring at the punching bag. She then grunted squeakily as she let out a weak punch that didn't move it much at all.

Silver chuckled a bit before walking over to her and standing beside her. "Let me show you.." Silver said softly with a smile.

"Put your left leg out like this, and put your arms up like this..when you punch, you sort of want to extend your entire arm and shoulder to get more power." Silver explained while doing it. Powder watched Silver closely and mimicked his movements.

"Like this?" Powder asked and Silver responded with a nod and smile.

Powder then did exactly as Silver said, letting out a grunt again and punching the punching bag. It was a lot stronger considering it pushed back more.

Powder stared at the punching bag almost as if she couldn't believe it. She had a proud smile before letting her guard down and looking at Silver. "Thanks for that. I owe you one." She said.

"Nah it's fine, we're a team after all. All for one and one for all." Silver responded with a friendly punch on Powders shoulder before walking over to the couch and flopping down on it from exhaustion.

"Hmph..." Powder said as her smile slowly went down and her eyes moved down to the floor. "Sometimes it doesn't feel like that when Mylo says the things he does. It also doesn't help when a lot of the time, he's right. Even Lucy is so much better than me. Makes me wonder if one day I'll just be abandoned by you all because all I do is jinx you." Powder explained while holding onto her arm. In that same state, she made her way over to the couch and sat next to Silver.

Silver watched Lucy the entire time with deep focus. When she finished, he noticed how down she seemed. He then closed his eyes and rested his hands on the back of his head. "Well it's not like he doesn't do any bad. Plus you try pretty hard so in my book, you're no Jinx...Trust me little one." Silver said in such a positive way that all Powder could do is smile. Not to mention the "little one" that Silver said, causing her to laugh some.

Powder kept the smile and looked down at the floor. She processed the words that Silver said and nodded slightly as a result. "Maybe..yeah, you're right. Thanks." She said softly.

Silver smiled wide with his eyes still closed and arms resting on the back of his head. "Anytime.." he responded.

"Little one." Silver said again, causing the both of them to laugh together.