Half hour ago.
Zaun's Lanes, in the brightly lit tavern of The Last Drop.
Violet was lying down at the bar, head on her folded arms. Next to her, Powder was holding her head up with one hand and sulkily playing with the cup of juice in front of her with the other.
Biting the straw, slurping the last bit of juice from the cup, Powder looked at Vander, who had just returned from serving a few pints to a table of guests, still holding a tray.
"Vander, when can we go out?"
Vander grabbed the towel off his shoulders and wiped his hands, "Oy Powder, I already told you. We're waiting for things to die down."
"Staying at home is really boring!" Powder pouted, "Ask Violet."
Vander walked to the back of the bar and turned around to look at the two.
Hearing her sister mentioning her, Violet turned her head to give a glance, and met Vander's eyes.
She opened her mouth wanting to say something but swallowed her words. Covered with bruises on her face, she turned away in guilty conscience.
"Which reminds me, I haven't said anything about your adventure last time that ended up with Powder's sprained foot, have I?"
Vander took a wooden mug and started cleaning. "Then this new … incident? I remember it was the day before yesterday? What did you guys do in Deka's neighborhood? You had a fight with those gangsters?"
As soon as she heard the name, Violet's anger flared, "We were just passing by!"
"Passing by... Passing by or picking a fight with those punks?"
Still wiping the cup, "Also, the kid's block is on the edge of the Lanes. There's nothing there. I don't see how you got in a fight … especially when the word that I got on the street was that the kid was going into hiding."
"I..." When he said this, Violet's confidence dropped, "He sent people to bully us first..."
"Yeah, that was months ago! And I've said it before, as long as you're in the Lanes, they won't screw with you. Why do you keep going..."
"Yes of course Vander! When you were young, you were one to keep your head down right?" Violet glared back.
"Violet! …this is different."
He sighed, and he mind drifted to something from a few years ago.
…
Red smoke and smog in the sky, rivers that flowed with blood, and limbs scattered on the ground...
Familiar faces fell under the muzzle of the gun. Fell, in front of him with their eyes bulging.
Vander shook his head, leaving the scene in the back of his mind, hidden but not forgotten.
"You're still young, you don't understand..."
"I don't!" Violet's tone became more and more aggressive, "I don't remember you to be a submissive coward!"
Hearing her say this about himself, Vander slammed wooden mug on the table, "Enough!"
The noisy tavern suddenly quieted down, and everyone's heads turned.
For a second or two, silence.
Then the conversations resumed.
The boss's family business is not their business.
"It's getting late. Go to bed." Vander concluded, swept the cups in front of him into a bin in one swing of an arm.
Violet grunted, got up and walked towards the stairs leading to the underground on the side of the bar.
Powder looked at Vander, who was in a fit of anger, and then looked at her sister who left without saying a word.
She couldn't understand why they would argue over such a small thing.
Dingling.
The chimes at the entrance of sounded.
"May the Gray never raise to your door, welcome to the Last Drop, what do you want to ... drink …"
Vander, who had just turned around, stopped abruptly.
It was a very familiar figure, not seen for several years.
"Silco..." Vander's face changed, "Powder, go find your sister, don't come out."
"But..."
"GO."
Vander's tone scared Powder.
She glanced at the "guest" who had just entered the room with a pout, and then ran down the stairs.
All the eyes of everyone in the tavern focused on the thin man with a demonic eye and the henchmen who followed him.
There were even a few drunks who drew out weapons and put them on the table.
Silko unfazed, walked slowly to the bar, and took a seat at the bar stool.
He propped his arms on the table, then crossed his fingers one by one, "Are old friends not welcome Vander?"
" I told you not to set foot in the Lanes." Vander gritted his teeth, "GET. OUT. OF. MY TAVERN. Or…"
"It seems that your temper has softened over the years, brother."
Silko interrupted Vander's words, ignoring his warning, and teased.
"Years ago, you would have given me iron fist and beat me out."
He glanced at the pair of metal gloves hanging above the bar to the right.
"It's your lucky day. Get out before I change my mind."
Vander clenched his fist and banged the table.
It wasn't loud but everyone in the tavern got the message. Vander's people stared at Silco and his lackeys, everyone pulled out their weapons.
A stare down between their men. But no one dared to act rashly.
Because both sides know, once started, the confrontation will end in blood.
Waiting on their boss's word, since no one wants to bare the responsibility of accidentally putting their crews life at risk.
"For the sake of the safety of you and your men, go back to where you came from and I forget that you came here tonight."
"Hah!" Silco shook his head and sneered, "That's not the Vander I remember. Did the people from topside tame you to be their hound?"
"You don't need to worry about me, Silco."
Seeing that Vander was about to reach the limit, Silco stopped beating around the bush, "Actually, I have a very important thing to discuss with you today."
"I don't care." Vander had taken the iron glove off the shelf and put it on, "My patience is waning."
Disappointment flashed in Silco's eyes, "I just wanted to talk, Vander... It's a pity…"
A right hook responded.
Silco leaned back, avoiding the punch, without any fear at all, "Unfortunate for it to come to this..."
The people in the tavern stood up when they saw their boss make a move, and rushed to surround Silco and his men.
Silco's crew formed a circle to protect him.
Getting off the tall stool in a swift motion, turning around to face the front door. Holding his cane and knocking the floor twice.
Knock.
Knock.
"Aaaaagh!"
With a roar that sounded inhuman, the door was smashed into pieces by a behemoth with purple liquid flowing from its bulging blood vessels.
Vander's men were startled by the sudden sound.
Before they could react, this monster, which was at least two meters high, was rampaging through the crowd at an incomprehensible speed.
More than 20 of Vander's men were all brought down by this monster.
There was blood everywhere, and shattered tables and chairs.
People were thrown all over the place, all unconscious.
The victim with the lightest injury had a dozen fractures, and the heavily injured had more breaths going out than coming in. Even if he was treated quickly now, he would not be able to live for long.
"—No!" Vander's pupils were full of shock and grief, "You bastard, what did you do?!"
Looking at the tragedy in front of him, an old rage burned, he took down Silco's guards and winded a punch, aiming at Silco's temple.
But the next second, his metal fist was stopped by a purple hand.
How!? It was across the room just now.
Vander's pupils shrank, "Impossible."
"Nothing is impossible Vander." Silco said coldly.
The voice faded, and he signalled to the monster.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
The monster let out a cry and punched Vander in the face.
Vander fell back to the ground with a thud.
Silko kneeled down and looked at the unconscious Vander.
"That … is the power… of the people of Zaun."