The Last Drop.
Two Shimmer thugs stood guard at the entrance, making sure no one tried anything.
Years ago, this place had been a refuge for everyone in the Lanes.
Vander had put away his iron fists, but he had still protected his brothers and sisters.
Now it had been remade into an entertainment spot that belonged solely to Silco's people.
A blond punk strolled into the bar, half-asleep, planning to drop a coin into the jukebox and pick a CD he liked.
Then he turned around and found himself staring straight at a pair of enormous gauntlets.
Startled out of his skin, the punk immediately flattened himself against the wall and let out a strangled yelp.
Everyone in the bar turned to look at the pink-haired girl wearing the gauntlets.
The gauntlets rumbled and vented a burst of steam.
"Everybody," Sevika said, snuffing out the cigarette hanging from her lips and tossing her cards aside.
"Out."
The crowd wisely filed out, leaving only the two women facing each other.
"Round two?" Vi sneered at Sevika.
"Awesome!"
A voice suddenly rang out from above, and the next instant, green smoke swallowed both of them.
Vi had barely started to swing toward the source when all the strength drained out of her body.
The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Sevika, wearing a gas mask, waving at her.
Like she was saying goodbye.
...
By the time Silco arrived at the bridge, Jayce was already there.
Cannons lined the span, though none had been used in a very long time.
Silco approached with his back slightly hunched, while Jayce stood waiting with his hammer in hand.
"This would be a good place for an ambush," Silco said, gazing out at the light of the setting sun.
He turned and smiled. "Do I need to worry about you bringing backup?"
"Don't worry. My hammer is only here to protect Piltover's future." Jayce looked steadily at the man in front of him.
"What, with you and Vander's girl, this should have been over quickly. Take the gemstone and leave."
At that, Jayce let out a sigh.
"I remembered how our two sides came together in the first place."
"To resist a common enemy." Jayce stood straight-backed, and in that moment, he finally seemed to become what he had once only pretended to be—a true leader of Piltover.
"You didn't bring any Shimmer brutes either," he said with a faint smile.
"People in this city have terrible memories," Silco replied, his voice thick with mockery.
"And for progress," Jayce added.
"That was never something I wanted to stop."
With that, Silco reached into his coat and pulled out a written list.
"Free access to trade routes, amnesty for Undercity criminals, unrestricted passage through the Hexgates, self-governance..."
Jayce took the paper and read through it line by line, his brow gradually tightening.
"You really think you're in a position to demand all this?" Jayce lowered the list and stared at Silco in displeasure.
"You really think you can refuse it, boy?" Silco's eyes held something like pity.
"I admire your talent, I do. But you're the one holding the bigger weapon, and you still came to negotiate with me."
"That makes your weakness pretty obvious."
There was a trace of laughter in his final words.
"If it weren't for Caleb, you never would've gotten the Hextech gemstone in the first place, let alone kept it this long."
Jayce narrowed his eyes at Silco. No matter how he looked at him, the man did not seem like someone worth trusting. Why Caleb would choose to work with him was beyond him.
Then again, Jayce himself was standing here negotiating with the same man, so perhaps he should let that thought go.
"If it weren't for Caleb, all those Enforcers of yours would have died on this bridge," Silco said with a smile.
"You should thank him for sparing you that sight."
"You're afraid," Silco said, looking at Jayce as he fell silent in thought.
"I am afraid," Jayce admitted openly. "But only of what happens if war starts."
"That doesn't mean I'm afraid to fight one."
Hextech light flared to life along the Mercury Hammer.
"We can mass-produce Hextech weapons. You can't. That much is certain."
Hextech crystals did not simply appear out of thin air. Jayce barely had to think to understand how Caleb had managed to copy them.
The batch of Hextech cores he had lost years ago.
No matter how extraordinary Caleb was, no matter how far ahead of him he had gone down the Hextech path, once those stockpiles ran dry, he would still be stuck in the same position—unable to cook without ingredients.
Even so, mutual destruction would be a loss for both Piltover and the Undercity.
A pointless loss.
"All right. You stopped being the kind of student who listens to his teachers a long time ago, didn't you?" Silco gave a short laugh.
"You want peace. This is the price."
Jayce nodded, then asked in return, "Are you willing to stop Shimmer production immediately?"
"Half of it's already stopped."
"And the gemstone comes back too?"
"It can stay in your custody until your technology matures enough to use it to improve Zaun's living conditions."
"I also want Jinx. She has to answer for her crimes."
That sentence made Silco's eye flick uneasily before he answered.
"You can't call them her crimes. I'm the one who gave the order."
"Believe me, if I'd followed my own selfish impulses, the one going to Stillwater would've been you."
"No. It can be him."
That same voice cut in again.
"Just finished taking care of a few things. Good thing I made it."
Using the jets on the Atlas Gauntlets, Caleb had leapt straight up from the wasteland below the bridge.
"These gauntlets work great. I brought them back for you."
He casually tossed the gauntlets down at Jayce's feet.
"Getting them was a little annoying, though."
Caleb rubbed the back of his neck and rolled it once, a sharp crackling sound following.
"Where's Vi?" Jayce asked, puzzled. In his eyes, that pink-haired girl was not exactly someone easy to reason with.
And Caleb was not wearing any Hextech gear at all, so how had he gotten the gauntlets off her?
"She's still alive. In Zaun. Uh... probably doing pretty well. At least she's alive."
Caleb thought about it, then waved the matter away with a vague answer.
What he said next, however, was even more shocking, leaving both Silco and Jayce frozen where they stood.
"I can take over Zaun. Everything else is negotiable."
"I believe you just said that if you want peace, all that is the price."
Caleb pointed calmly at the list in Jayce's hand.
"And you want Jinx. That's the price."
"Everything you rule in Zaun—you're giving all of it to me."
What Caleb said sounded outrageous, but strangely enough, it was something both sides could accept.
This man, mysterious as he was, did not seem erratic or bloodthirsty.
If he followed the usual pattern of a new ruler replacing the old guard, then after Caleb took power, the remnants of Silco's faction would inevitably be purged.
And in Silco's eyes, Caleb understood Hextech and could use it to benefit Zaun. He was well-informed, quick-witted, and his thinking was sound.
There was no need to worry that he would simply sell out to Piltover.
After all, he had come out of Stillwater.
"I can agree to that," Silco said slowly. "But I want a daily newspaper. I want to know what's happening in Zaun in real time."
That newspaper, of course, was the one he had read in prison.
"I can agree too," Jayce said, "but you'll need an assistant from Piltover."
"Then when the time comes, can I invite Professor Heimerdinger to join me?" Caleb's words made Jayce's eyes widen slightly. "He's in Zaun."
"Of course!"
With his old mentor there to anchor things, then Zaun separating without war was finally possible.
Just like Piltover's own founding centuries ago.
And with someone like Caleb there, plus support from Piltover, the pace would be far more than twice as fast.
"So," Caleb said with a smile, "shall we call this a successful partnership?"
He extended his left hand to the right and his right hand to the left.
Jayce and Silco each took one of them, and said in unison:
"Pleasure doing business."