Chapter Text
Powder read the message over and over again. ‘Stay away from Vi.’ It was a command she couldn't obey lightly, not when he was her brother, her family.
But then there was the article she had stumbled upon earlier about Spider-Man's alleged attack on a police officer. She knew it was Vi under the mask, and the realization made her sick to her stomach. How could her brother, her protective, fun-loving brother, have hurt a police officer so brutally? It didn't make sense. With a heavy heart, she began to pack a bag to stay with Ekko until she knew more of what was going on.
Vi arrived at the apartment to see her doing just that, and he furrowed his brow. "Is everything okay?"
Powder forced a smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. Just... Ekko needs me, that's all." She turned away, busying herself with packing a few more items into her bag. She couldn’t look at him, not when his usually warm expression was replaced by a cold, distant look in his eyes.
"You're lying," he stated flatly. It was a tone Powder had never heard from him. He sounded... threatening. "What's really going on?"
Powder's heart pounded in her chest as Vi pointed out her lie. The look in his eyes sent a chill down her spine, and she swallowed hard, summoning her courage to respond with some semblance of calmness.
“Everything is fine," she repeated, her voice a little more steady this time. "I just thought it'd be fun to hang out with him for a bit, you know? Mix things up.”
Vi nodded slowly, in a daze. "Okay, well, just be careful, alright?"
"Always am." Powder offered him a fake reassuring smile before walking out the door. Somehow each step felt heavier than the last.
His sister’s behavior seemed off, and even with her reassurances, he knew there was something going on. But with his head throbbing and every single muscle aching, he couldn’t focus on anything other than his own discomfort.
Slumping down onto the couch, Vi rubbed his temples to try and get rid of the pounding headache that threatened to split his skull in two. Every movement made him nauseous, and his muscles ached like he had just run three marathons without stopping. Even the simple act of breathing felt like a struggle. It was as if his body was trying to shut down on him, as if it knew something that his mind didn’t.
From one second to the other, he jumped from the couch and dropped to his knees in front of the toilet, retching violently, emptying the contents of his stomach into the bowl. When he leaned back, gasping for breath, he noticed that his vomit had a strange, almost purplish hue to it.
What had happened to him? Why does he feel like absolute shit? He remembered confronting Finn, and then... nothing. It was as if his memory had been wiped clean. All he knew for certain was that something had gone terribly wrong.
He leaned against the wall, exhausted, and closed his eyes, trying to recall the last memory he had before everything went blank.
A name. A name. Finn had told him a name. Silo? Silk? It was with an S. A name...
Silco says hi.
Silco! Silco. Who was Silco? What was his role? Was he Finn's boss? Was he the one behind it all?
His thoughts raced as he tried to connect the dots, each piece of the puzzle falling into place too damn slowly for his liking. Silco must have been the mastermind behind whatever had happened to him, the puppeteer pulling the strings from the shadows.
Maybe he should contact the others-
No. No. He can't trust anyone.
Vi's thoughts spiraled into a paranoid frenzy. Who could he trust? Powder had left him, Caitlyn was acting weird, and for all he knew, they were all working with this Silco.
They can’t be trusted. He was alone. He had to handle this on his own.
“Are you sure about this?” Ekko asked.
“Not at all,” Caitlyn admitted honestly.
“I think that’s the best I’m gonna get.”
The two of them stepped into Vi and Powder's apartment. They had decided to check on Vi, but Powder refused to go with them. She didn’t want to see whoever or whatever was replacing her brother.
Either to their luck or misfortune, Vi was clearly not there, but they were greeted by a complete mess. Papers littered the floor, walls adorned with newspaper clippings and hastily scrawled notes, all of it around a singular fixation, a name repeated again and again: Silco.
“The industrialist?” Caitlyn furrowed her brow.
Ekko scoffed. “Sure, if that's what you want to call him. But everyone in Zaun knows Silco is into some deep shit. He's probably connected to half the crime in the Undercity.”
“That still doesn’t explain why Vi is so obsessed with him all of a sudden,” she said, her brow furrowing even more.
While they looked around, Caitlyn's gaze fell upon the bathroom door, and with a hesitant hand, she pushed it open. Vomit stained the porcelain of the toilet bowl, but it had a sickly purple hue that reminded her of Shimmer.
“Does this look like Shimmer to you?”
With a grimace, Ekko stepped closer to inspect the vomit. "It does, but... not quite. It's different. Darker."
"What if it's another variant? Something even more dangerous?"
The gravity of the situation began to sink in. Vi was missing, possibly exposed to a stronger variant of Shimmer, and they had no idea where he could be or what he might do next.
"We need to find him before it's too late,” she declared.
“And how exactly do we find an erratic and unpredictable Spider-Man? One that deactivated the GPS in his suit, I might add.”
Caitlyn gestured towards the mess of papers and clippings that covered the walls. "He left us a trail, Ekko. We just need to follow it. Also, take a sample of the vomit and take it to Viktor, he might be able to analyze it and give us some answers."
“Ew. Why me?”
Caitlyn raised one of her eyebrows. “Because I say so.”
Ekko grumbled something under his breath, pulling out a small sample kit from his bag that Viktor gave them just in case and carefully collecting a portion of the vomit. "Great. Just what I wanted to do today; play detective and handle puke," he muttered, sealing the sample in a vial. "You owe me big time for this."
Caitlyn turned her attention back to the scattered evidence in the living room. Another puzzle waiting to be pieced together. "We'll figure this out," she said, more to reassure herself than Ekko. "We have to."
If only the world knew when to stop giving her things to do. Caitlyn walked faster, eager to drop off the documents her mother requested and get back to her other responsibilities, which now consisted of staying on top of her law classes, trying to stop an apparently rogue Spider-Man, and figure out how to defuse a bomb. If they could find it first, that is.
She stepped inside her mother’s office, only to freeze in her tracks when she noticed the TV on the wall showing footage of Spider-Man in action. It was true that he was still protecting the city, but the methods he was using were becoming increasingly aggressive and brutal.
With the news anchors no longer praising Spider-Man's heroics and the public sentiment turning against him, Caitlyn felt a pang of worry for Vi. Will things continue to escalate? Will Vi be forced to store his suit away? Will he be able to be himself again?
“See? I told you Spider-Man was a hazard,” Cassandra commented as she turned off the TV.
She had always respected her mother's opinions, but this time, she couldn't help but feel frustration. Her mother didn't understand how complicated the situation actually was, she didn't really know the man behind the mask.
"He's not a hazard," Caitlyn insisted defensively.
Cassandra raised an eyebrow at Caitlyn's unexpected defensiveness. "You're usually more sensible than this," she said suspiciously." And you seem particularly invested in this. Is there something you're not telling me?"
What could she say without revealing too much? "I... I just think there's more to the situation than what we see on the news. Spider-Man has always been there for the city, and I don't believe he would intentionally cause harm. There’s always the possibility of external factors influencing his behavior," she ventured cautiously. "Perhaps... something or someone is manipulating him."
Cassandra studied her for a moment longer. "Sometimes it's better to stay out of things that don't concern us."
Caitlyn turned around to leave, but then she stopped and turned towards her mother again. “Then why do you do it? If we should stay out of things that don't concern us, why are you part of the council?"
"It's different," she retorted. "My work as a councilor directly impacts the welfare of Piltover. Addressing matters that affect the city is my responsibility, unlike you and your fixation with a masked criminal."
"It's not that different. If we want to do what is best for the city, doesn't that mean we will have to step into situations that we might otherwise not pay attention to?"
Cassandra clenched her jaw, her patience waning. "Caitlyn, this is foolishness. You're romanticizing the situation. This isn't about some noble duty to the city. It's about a masked man who's lost control and is causing damage. You're letting your emotions cloud your judgement, just like always."
"Spider-Man has constantly protected the city ever since he made an appearance! Shouldn't we be more concerned of why has his behaviour suddenly changed?"
"Maybe he's finally showing his true colors, or maybe he's just losing his mind. Regardless, it's not our job to uncover the reason behind his actions. Our priority should be dealing with the situation at hand, not making excuses for a vigilante gone rogue."
Caitlyn stayed quiet. Oh, how she missed him. How she missed his dumb jokes, that playful smirk on his face, his optimism and his commitment to do what was right, no matter the odds.
"Mom, do you think there's any chance that Spider-Man could... come back from this? Return to being the hero he once was?"
"I don’t have the answer to that, dear,” she replied. "People sometimes find themselves on paths they never intended to follow, but redemption is always possible for those who seek it. There's always hope for Spider-Man to find his way back.”
And that’s what Caitlyn was going to help him do.
Vi's eyes fluttered open, blinking against the sunlight as he groggily sat up. His head had a heartbeat of its own, and he felt like that one time when he mixed all types of alcohol available to get shitfaced drunk. Disoriented, he looked around just to realize he was perched on top of an apartment building with his Spider-Man suit still clinging to his body, the familiar skyline of Piltover stretching out before him.
Fumbling for his phone, alarm bells rang in his head when he checked the date. An entire day had passed and he had no memory of it. No recollection of how he ended up here or what happened on that missing day. All he could manage to remember was a hazy blur of confusion. Something was obviously wrong now, and he had no idea how to fix it.
With his fingering hovering over Caitlyn’s contact, he feels that strange sensation coursing through his veins again. It's like a burning, crawling sensation, and a wave of dizziness took over him before his vision blurred at the edges.
Vi tried to push past the sensations, but as they took hold, they quickly overwhelmed him.
Viktor carefully examined the sample of Vi's vomit under a microscope. He was as still as a statue, completely concentrated while he analyzed the substance. After a few moments, he straightened up and turned to face the rest of the team.
"It's definitely Shimmer," he confirmed. "But it's unlike any variant we've encountered before. The chemical composition is altered. It's a stronger and potentially more dangerous strain."
"What does this mean for Vi?" Powder asked, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.
"The effects of this variant are unpredictable. It could enhance his abilities, but it could also exacerbate his aggression, paranoia, and other negative traits. If we don’t stop him, he will be a significant threat to himself and others."
"So… how do we stop a rogue superhero?" Ekko wondered.
Viktor turned to a cabinet and retrieved a small box with three vials in it. "I'm still working on developing an antidote for Shimmer, but it will take some time. However, these vials are tranquilizers that could help suppress the effects of the drug temporarily. These should help stabilize Vi's condition until we can find a more permanent solution."
“That figures out the ‘how to stop him’ part,” Jayce commented from where he was leaning against a wall. “But how do we find him?”
Caitlyn paced around the lab, trying to come up with a plan. She had gone through most of Vi’s mess at his apartment, but there too many locations, too many leads, and they didn’t have the time to follow them all.
"What if we use ourselves as bait?” she suggested. “We know Vi is fixated on finding Silco. If we pretend to have information about Silco's whereabouts and lead him to a secluded place…”
"Then we could ambush him," Jayce finished for her. "It's risky, but it might be our best chance at catching him off guard."
They were running out of time, but they had a plan. They just needed to put it into action and hope it worked. This was their chance to save Vi from himself, to reclaim the hero he once was before Shimmer tore him apart from the inside out.
The trap is set in an abandoned warehouse rumored to be a former base of operations for a gang connected to Silco. Was the connection more than just a rumor? No clue, but this is the best they could do in such a short notice. Then, the next step was figuring out who would lure Vi into the trap. All eyes turn to Powder, knowing she might have the best chance of convincing him to come. But Powder's expression hardens, and she shakes her head.
"I can't do it," she says firmly. "I won't betray my brother like that, no matter what state he's in."
The others exchange glances.
"Well, I don't think he will listen to me," Ekko murmured. Even with their long history and being almost siblings, Ekko knew Vi was too damn stubborn. The chances of him falling for Ekko's trap seemed slim at best. There was only one person Vi always listened to, and that was Powder.
Powder shifted her eyes to Caitlyn. "He'll listen to you."
Caitlyn's heart skipped a beat. "Me? Vi will listen to me?" she echoed.
"You think I don't know you guys have kissed?" Powder added casually.
"It's... that's... it's not..." Caitlyn stumbled over her words. "What, uh... you knew about that?"
Her cheeks flushed and she glanced around the room, hoping for some support from her teammates, but they all seemed to have suddenly found something extremely fascinating on the floor or the ceiling, anywhere but meeting her gaze.
"Uh, guys?" Jayce calls their attention. "Can we focus on the task at hand, please?"
Ekko coughed awkwardly. "Right, right, sorry. So, Caitlyn, are you gonna text him or what?"
Caitlyn sighed, trying to push aside her embarrassment and focus. "Yes, I'll text him," she said, reaching for her phone. She quickly wrote a message, trying to sound casual despite the nerves eating her alive. Could she really reach Vi in his current state? She was not sure at all, but if there was a chance to help him, she had to try.
As the team got ready to head to the abandoned warehouse, Viktor decided to stay in the lab to continue developing an antidote for Shimmer. He was working both variants: the one that created the Shimmer hulks and the one affecting Vi, and he made the superhero the priority. Without Spider-Man, there were less chances of keeping Piltover safe. Powder also stayed, both to avoid Vi in his current state and to try and decipher the blueprint for the bomb they were racing against the clock to defuse. She hoped the crash course in bomb mechanics from Jayce and Ekko was enough.
With Jayce behind the wheel, Caitlyn rode shotgun and Ekko was in the backseat while they moved away from the streets of Piltover towards their destination. The atmosphere in the car was as tense as you would expect it to be.
When Jayce parked nearby the warehouse, the tension got even worse. They knew they were walking into a potential danger zone, but they also knew that finding Vi and helping him was their top priority. They walked inside and Caitlyn's gut twisted with a growing sense of dread. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and every shadow felt like was hiding a monster.
“They’re just shadows,” she reassured herself quietly. They had a plan, they just needed to stick to it and wait for Vi to-
In a second, the door slammed shut behind them with a deafening clang, trapping them inside the warehouse. Caitlyn's heart pounded in her chest, exchanging worried glances with Jayce and Ekko.
"Who's there?" Jayce called out, but no response came.
They had walked right into a trap, but it wasn't Vi waiting for them in the shadows.
It was Finn.