Layla

Vi and I watched from above the factory as the enforcers barged in through all entryways, going straight for Silcos workers. Just like I told them, they rounded up the people as quickly as they could. But one of the enforcers fell to the ground as a kid pushed his arms off of him, he ran and slammed himself against the red button against the wall.

"Motherfucker." I cursed as the alarm sounded loudly, alerting everyone to get in their fighting positions. Minutes later the purple shimmer bots ran around, quickly slaughtering every one of the enforcers nearest to them. "Come on, Shiner."

Vi and I walked over to the metal pole, she held on to it as I got on her back. Wrapping my arms around her neck, I kissed her cheek before we slid down the pole.

"Don't die on me, baby." She said loudly enough for me to hear over the metal scraping as she used her gloves to easily slide down. I laughed in her ear before she pushed off the wall, sending us flying into the air, I let go of her making sure to land behind her as she slammed her fist right into a shimmer bots mask.

The bot flew back to the wall from the force of Vi's punch, I walked over to them so I was positioned between Jayce with his big ass hammer and Vi with her gloves. Jayce stared at her in shock and amusement, Vi winked at him before turning back to the bots. I brought my gun in position, looking through the lens at the bots that faced us on the bridge.

I didn't wait to start shooting at the bots, aiming for their purple masks. The guns bullets were powerful enough to shatter their masks with one shot. I got two of their masks before aiming towards their chests, hoping to deactivate their body suits which it did.

One of them jumped straight for me on the bridge and I ducked, just missing their fist as they slammed it down on the ground. I slid away from them on my knees before shooting one at the end of the bridge and turning to shoot the one behind me in the mask twice. The first time it shattered his mask, the second it went right into the guys face, killing him instantly. I ran to the side Jayce was fighting on, running straight at a bot. I jumped over it, shooting it under me while in the air before landing and smacking the butt of the gun against the mask before shooting the woman in the face.

Jayce started shooting with his hammer and we both shot the last one, disintegrating the bots suit completely. A kid appeared, surrounded by blue electricity rays he was breathing heavily before his body went limp and fell over the side of the railing he stood in front of. I sighed heavily, my heart breaking at the sound of his body smacking against the concrete below us.

I quickly went towards the stairs to go down to the bottom where his shimmer supply was, I jumped off the last bit of stairs before charging towards where I saw the boy land. I looked all around before spotting him on the ground groaning in pain. I never saw his workers in the factory, he let Sevika and the boys handle the employment. I knew the little boy with red hair from somewhere, I just couldn't remember.

I fell to my knees in front of him, gently picking up his head and laying it in my lap. God he was Ekkos age when Silco first took over the Lanes, my heart broke as his body twitched at my touch. I pushed the hair back from his head, "Shh it's okay."

I know I wanted this, it just hurt seeing what needed to be done. That kids like him have to get killed in order for us to have peace.

"I-I'm sorr-y. It w-wasn't m-m-my fau-fault." He gasped as he laid unmoving, I know all his bones probably shattered on impact.

"I know, I know honey. It's over now, you can rest." I whispered my voice cracking, the corner of his mouth lifted before his head fell back into my lap. His eyes stared at the ceiling as his pupils got bigger, the life leaving his body right in front of me. I brushed my hand over his eyes to close them, not wanting him to see anymore than he already has. A tear fell down my cheek as I whispered him an apology before gently resting him on the ground and standing up, god he didn't deserve this.

"Oh god," I turned around to see Jayce standing behind me staring down at the kid in horror. Vi walked up behind him, he dropped his hammer before running his hands down his face in agony.

"We did't have a choice, Jayce. He had no choice but to agree to work for Silco, his Mom works close with Silco herself so he was forced into this. But if we don't do something, things like this will-." I said softly, I could see he was debating whether to continue this or run away from it.

But he interrupted me before I could finish. "No we're done here."

"Jayce we have't even scratched the surface, Silco is still out there." I spoke calmly but my heart was racing, he can't give up yet. I put my hands up in front of me before starting to slowly step towards him.

He sighed before yelling, "Do you not understand, I am part of this now! This boys Mom who gets the message their kid isn't coming home...I don't even know where... Do we just leave him here?"

I understood his frustration, I just know Renni is going to raise hell for what has happened to her son. But fighting the enemy is never an easy battle, we lose people along the way but it's for a better tomorrow. We need him, no matter how stubborn Vi and I are we can't go up against him alone and win. We've been doing that with the Firelights for years, and we've gotten rid of some of his supplies and shipments. But he keeps getting stronger, and he's not gonna back down until he's taken everything from us.

"You've always been apart of this! You just never had to look it in the eye. One dead kid? There's hundreds more where he came from, thanks to Silco, and thanks to people like you who stuck their heads in the dirt." Vi spat angrily at the cowering man, she glared at him as he slowly turned to face her.

"We're done here."

"Not for us." I said calmly as I grabbed my gun and attached it to my back before walking to stand next to V. I'm not giving up, the boys mother is a piece of shit, the kid never deserved to live a life like this so at least he doesn't have to anymore.

Vi clenched her metal fists, making steam blow out of them as Jayce angrily commanded her to take them off and for me to hand over my gun. I cocked my head to the side as he reached for his hammer, she won't go down without a fight so....

"Make me."

See, told ya.

He picked his hammer up, it fizzled with electricity. "I can't let you leave with those."

"You can try to take these," She said arrogantly as she put up her fists, "but if you touch my girl, your bones will shatter after just one punch from these."

They both got into a fighting stance, preparing for whatever kind of fight they were going to attempt. I loved her for protecting me, but she's funny if she thinks I'm just gonna watch. I reached back and powered up my gun, lifting an eyebrow as I pointed it straight at his head. We stood there for a minute before he eventually sighed angrily and walked away with his hammer.

He stopped before talking over his shoulder, "You won't make it alone."

Yeah no shit Sherlock.

We watched his retreating figure before we stared down at the boy, I took a deep breath before reminding myself that we needed to do this. I remembered all the people Ekko and I buried from the Firelights, I thought of how upset Powder was when I first saw her with Silco. I remembered how he made everyone addicted to Shimmer and made them crazy psychos. Anger filled my veins as I picked my head up and turned to the tank of Shimmer, I didn't look at Vi but I knew she was thinking the same thing.

"You know what to do, V." I said trying to stop my voice from shaking as I stared at the purple liquid behind the glass. She didn't hesitate to walk up to the tank and pull her arm back before plunging her fist into the glass window. It only took one punch before the liquid poured out of the tank swiftly, she stepped back to my side as we watched the purple fall onto the floor and into the drains that lined the floor.

"How about we visit an old friend to show her our new toys?" Vi said slyly, a look of mischief decorating her face as she turned to me. The face of our "friend" flashed into my head and I smiled wickedly at her.

"I'll let you have all the fun, I could use a drink." I said before grabbing the pinky finger of her glove and pulling her along with me to head over to The Last Drop.

~~~~~

I shot the two bots guarding the entrance to the bar in their masks and their chests, they went down like a rock.

"Remember you were the one who said I could have all the fun with her," Vi said smugly as we walked up towards the entrance.

"I won't step in unless you're bleeding out on the floor, babe." I smiled as she quietly held the door open for me, I walked in with one of the masks from the bots in my right hand. Our faces turned serious as we stepped in to stare at the room. Besides a guy who was whistling cheerfully from behind us, unaware of our presence yet, the room went dead silent. I smiled as I tossed the mask onto the floor in front of the bar, the last of the purple smoke wafting out from it. Sevika whistled before telling everyone to get out, everyone listened to their command as we watched them leave with hard stares.

Once the door closed, Sevika pulled out three bottles of shimmer to load into her mechanical arm. She smirked at me, "Two to one? I thought you always made it a fair fight, Lay."

I huffed in amusement before walking towards her, she powered up her arm waiting for me to make the first move. I smiled innocently as I walked around her, "Oh I'm just here for a drink. I'll let you two have at it." I walked behind the bar turning my back to them as I said warmly, "Play nice kids."

Apparently they took that as their cue to start bashing each other, I heard the sounds of their grunting and mechanical weapons hitting skin. I hummed to myself as I found my favorite ingredients used for my favorite fruity drink.

Strawberry daiquiri.

I heard a loud crash that sounded close. I looked back to see Sevikas body had been thrown into the front of the bar hard enough to bend it behind me. I turned back to my drink as they continued punching and kicking and stomping each other until they were bruised and battered.

See Vi always wondered why I called her Shiner, this is why. Every chance she gets she has a new bruise or scar across some part of her body.

I heard them both breathing heavily but no more sounds of aggressive fighting. I turned around sipping the straw of my drink as Sevika rested in one of the booths while Vi stood in front of me, downing an abandoned drink before winking at me and turning around to throw the now empty glass at Sevika.

It always made me laugh at how much confidence she has. Like where the hell does she get it? I got mine from all the attention and praise I've received over the years, but she's been in jail. She had a lot when we were teens but now it's doubled.

Yes she's WAY more muscular than she was the last time I've seen her, but so is Sevika. I know Vi will beat her, but I always hate seeing the actual fights she's in.

Sev moved her head to easily dodge it before pushing herself upward, ready to continue their brawl. I turned around to the little fridge to grab the little fruits they put in the cocktails, I grabbed a piece before turning back to the two.

Sevika had a long pink, glowing sword sticking out of her arm and aiming it at Vi's head. My stomach lurched as Sevika threw her arm towards Vi, no where near her but a fiery slash came out after she moved her arm swiftly. It came right next to me, but didn't hit me thank goodness because I was too stunned to move, when the fuck had she made that shit? I ducked before putting down my drink and crawling to the front of the bar, rolling my eyes as I whipped out my gun. When I hear a loud thud my heart stopped, the room went silent and I stood up already aiming at Sevika.

I pulled the trigger, the beam of light going at her fast giving her no time to move. It took a chunk out of her ear and left a nasty line across the side of her face in warning of what my weapon could do.

"If she doesn't get up in 30 seconds I'll rip that arm off your body and shove it up your ass like a dildo." I said calmly as I continued to aim at her, I kept my gaze on her but was screaming at Vi in my head to get the fuck up. There's no way she's leaving this earth because she lost to Sevika, she needs to die from someone who was anyone but the woman with the shimmer arm.

Lucky for Sevika, who was trying to stop the blood from pouring out of her ear, V grunted before standing up to face the woman. She blew some blood out of her nose before holding up her fists, only one glove covering her left hand while the other one laid on the ground.

Sevika grunted angrily as she reloaded her arm with more purple liquid, they screamed before charging at each other. I kept my gun aimed at the pair, wanting to watch the rest of their quarrel. Their weapons hit the other so hard, the power went out and I watched as bits of red and blue illuminated the blood thirsty looks on their faces. Sevika jumped on a table, flying in the air as she pulled out the pink sword and aiming for Vi who glared at her. On instinct Vi put her hands in front of her face, a blue force field surrounded her as Sevika laid on the outside of it.

My eyes widened as she broke her arms apart and Sevika flew back. As if in slow motion I watched as Vi grabbed her mechanical arm, ripped it from her body, punching the woman in the nose before picking her up and throwing her at the jukebox.

Vi stood there a moment staring at her before she fell to the floor screaming in anguish. I put my gun away before hopping over the bar to crouch down next to her. I lifted her chin up towards mine as I checked her for bleeding injuries, I wiped the blood under her nose with my sleeve before pecking her on the lips.

"Do you feel better, love?" I asked lightly as she looked at me through tired eyes, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly as she leaned into my touch.

"I do. I love you." She said, her voice was gruff and I let out a little laugh before wrapping my arms around her to help her up.

"I love you too. Now come on Shiner, I'll pour you a drink." She laughed lightly as she leaned against the counter and watched me go back over to the inside of the bar. I went to the back wall where all the drinks were, I started making her a drink I knew she'd like.

"Bravo, sis." I turned around quickly as I saw J hit Vi over the head with her gun before she turned to me, her eyes strikingly purple.

"J? How are you-" I stared asking the girl but before I could blink she hopped over the counter, standing in my face as she grabbed my chin roughly.

"You're a liar, Firelight. And now you're gonna pay." She said blankly, her voice sounding void of emotion. Before I could say anything she smacked her gun across my temple, just like she did Vi's, sending me down to the ground as my vision turned black.