Arcane - Male Reader

Chapter 4 - Always Watching

For you, things always seemed to work out. It was as if lady luck had decided to take a liking to you. At least, that's how it felt since Vander took you in. Sure, you'd lost the stolen valuables that night, but you had walked away from the mess in one piece. Maybe it was destiny, or maybe fate was just guiding you from her chair in the heavens, keeping you on course.

But for others...

Things didn't always work out.

While you and the others were in the process of stealing from that consequential apartment, the universe had other plans for a man and a woman walking down the hallway, carrying boxes.

The girl had long, straight blue hair, and the man beside her was an academy student—evident by the crisp uniform he wore.

"You really went to the undercity to get these?" the girl asked, glancing at him with a raised brow. "Weren't you afraid?"

The man smiled with a confident chuckle, a touch of mischief in his eyes. "A little danger is worth the risk, don't you think?" He flashed a smile at the daughter of his sponsor. She smiled back, but as she shifted the box in her hands, a piece of scrap metal slid off the top. It clattered to the floor.

She bent down to pick it up, but the man spoke first, his voice low but urgent.

"Uh, careful. That's your parent's money you're dropping."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk, a playfully dismissive gesture before grabbing the object. The man then stepped forward, inserting his key into the door lock, only to find it stuck. Something was blocking the entrance.

He paused, a frown crossing his face. "Hello? Is someone in there?"

His voice cracked slightly with concern as he realized something wasn't right. His life's work—the blueprints, the research, the crystals—were all inside that apartment.

The crystals...

Panic slowly began to creep in as the man's mind raced.

He shouldered the door once, then again, the wood groaning against his efforts. When suddenly, a shadow passed in front of the door, followed by the sharp sound of footsteps.

"Hey! Open up!" he shouted, stepping back and slamming his palm against the door. His voice was rising, alarm creeping in as he realized what was happening.

The girl, standing further down the hall, finally registered what was going on. Her face twisted in confusion, then alarm, as she started to understand the danger of the situation.

But before she could say anything, before anyone could react...

The crystal—still in the man's possession—touched the wall.

An explosion ripped through the air, the force of it sending the man flying backward like a ragdoll. The girl covered her eyes instinctively, ducking to shield herself from the debris that rained down in the hall.

In the brief moment before his consciousness slipped away, the man—Jayce—caught a fleeting glimpse of Vi through the smoke and rubble. She was checking through the shattered doorframe, making sure he was still alive. But the world around him faded, and the darkness closed in.

"Jayce? Jayce!" The girl's frantic voice echoed, but it was too late.

Jayce's head rolled to the side as he succumbed to unconsciousness, his vision fading into the quiet abyss.

---

Vi grunted as she sent her fist crashing into the machine, each punch landing with a satisfying thud, racking up more and more points. You watched from across the room, spinning a toy pistol in your hand, a smirk on your face. Mylo stood nearby, waiting for Powder to fix the shooting range machine, looking bored.