Arcane: Become Light

Lile glanced over to LM, he was frozen in fear, 'Damn, why did they have to sneak up on us? We would've at least had a chance to run if we saw them.'

The Enforcer's grip tightened on his soldier as they continued to stand there in silence, "Answer, you fucking undercity rats."

Such a response shocked Lile, but LM spoke up with an angry voice, "And just what the hell makes you so sure we're from the undercity, huh?!"

His yelling made Lile think, 'Why is that the part that offended him?'

The Enforcers shared a glance before they started cackling, "You think it's hard to discern you people from a citizen of Piltover? You reek of filth, and don't look much better than you smell. We knew you were up to something as soon as we saw you."

Lile couldn't help but ponder their words, '"You people"? Really? I've been to Piltover dozens of times before with almost no problem. Why did we have to run into extremists now of all times?'

It was true, running into this particular pair of goons was merely their bad luck. They were truly the scum of the earth, a disgrace to the whole of the Piltover Guard.

Blinded by prejudice and hate, they teach a "lesson" to any Zaunite that crosses their path, even the children—especially the children. After leaving permanent scars on people both innocent and not, they just go about their lives with a satisfied smile.

After all, they were just doing their job and keeping the streets clean, right?

Back to their current victims, the Enforcer continued speaking, "After tailing you for a bit, we realized you've been following that man," he pointed across the street, "Now, mind telling us just what you were planning to do?"

Lile turned to where he pointed as LM began speaking with a stutter, "W-well, we just uhh-"

Lile kicked LM's leg and flicked his head in a certain direction, signaling his friend to look.

LM looked over with a confused expression until his eyes widened, the man in question was one with amphibian features leaving a tea shop, not Jayce.

He was about to lash out when Lile nudged his shoulder and moved his eyes in a weird way toward his hand, which was out of the sight of the Enforcers. He was making hand signs for "follow my lead" in their language.

LM almost nodded but stopped himself, knowing it would get them caught.

Just as a hint of resolution entered the eyes of the boys, a knee hit Lile's stomach. Once again, he was distracted and didn't see the string—not that it would've helped much considering the Enforcer's vice grip on his shoulder.

"Tell us now, you little criminals!" The Enforcer's loud tone finally caught the attention of those around as whispers filled the space.

Little Man could only stand there frozen as he watched Lile heave on the ground. He gagged repeatedly as massive amounts of spit dripped from his mouth.

Before the other Enforcer could get ready to do the same to LM, Lile was able to spit out the words, "We weren't following him. . ."

Under his mask, the face of the Enforcer holding him twisted in anger, "What the hell did you just say?"

He was getting ready to kick the kid when Lile raised his finger and pointed behind the Enforcer, "We were following that one, with the funny hat!"

Both Enforcers turned their heads around to the man in question, but there was no one matching the description.

Before they could turn back, the purple-haired boy yelled, "Now!"

Lile jumped from the ground using all the strength in his legs and straightened his arm, hitting the man's testicles dead on.

But he didn't stop there, not at all.

You see, his older sister Vi frequently passed on to him the boxing techniques Vander taught her. So, using her teachings, he began wailing on the man.

It must be said that these Enforcers were dressed quite oddly given their status. They wore the light clothing of those merely on patrol duty, but—whether to hide their identities, or to intimidate their victims—they used the heavy-duty masks commonly seen on large-scale missions.

After the initial punch to the groin, the man was on his knees, so hitting him wasn't hard. Lile could see that LM had his officer in the same position, but it wouldn't be long before they recovered.

However, unable to control the growing rage, Lile kept going. Any time the man would try to move his hand from protecting his groin, Lile would hit it again.

You might expect a boy his age to scream insults and curses in such a situation, but no, Lile was eerily silent. He stared intently at the man he wished he could beat to a pulp—which he sadly couldn't, due to his weak twelve year-old body.

On the other end, LM tried his best to keep his opponent subdued, but he had his limits. Quickly realizing he couldn't keep this up forever, he ran over to Lile and grabbed his arm.

"Let's go, before someone else jumps in!" He referred to the crowd that had now doubled in size.

Lile looked back and forth between the Enforcer and his friend then sighed, "Okay."

They pushed their way through the crowd and were about to round a corner into an alley when Lile saw something.

Looking back at the corrupt officers, he saw the one that hit him taking his mask off. It only took a second for an idea to form.

He shook his arm free of LM's grasp and began running back to the scene of their scuffle, yelling, "Hang there for a sec." LM was shocked at first but could only throw his arms up in exasperation at this point.

What the hell was going on with his friend? 

Back to Lile, with a full speed sprint, he kicked the man in the jaw, knocking him out. There was no need for boxing techniques as his street fighting instincts kicked in.

He then picked up the mask—because what else could he use as proof that he was the one who did this(?)— and began running again. 

He turned around as he ran and flipped the unconscious man off, along with his friend, who sat there in shock. So much for that police academy training, huh?

Just before he rounded the corner again, a smile wiped away his serious expression as he looked to all the people staring at him in shock. His foot stumbled a bit as he tried to stop himself, "Hope you enjoyed the show, everyone. Courtesy of the Twin Ghosts!"

Many in the crowd gasped and some whispered, but in the end, they turned back to the two officers who lay in a slump on the ground.

As he finally ran back into the alley, Lile thought to himself. 'So much for the, 'me never getting hit', part of the name,' he sighed, 'Oh well, it wasn't technically true anyways.'

He was broken from his thoughts as his collar was grabbed and he was pinned against a wall. The culprit, LM, had a furious expression adorning his face.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

"What? I just wanted the mask so we would have proof of our badassery. Think I'll give it to Powder, she needs something to draw on," the insufferable smile on his face had LM ready to punch him.

"You know that's not what I mean! Why did you say that? They'll be looking for us now, and any kid in the undercity would be happy to turn us in!" The fear in his eyes almost seemed to overshadow the immense rage.

The smile plastered on Lile's face disappeared quickly as he said, "Are you dumb?"

LM was so confused that his grip on Lile's collar loosened, "What?"

"Just take a look, the after-party should be starting soon," the smile returned to Lile's face as he raised a hand towards the end of the alleyway.

LM looked at him, confused by the way he worded his sentence. Nonetheless, he let go and made his way.

Peering out and to the left, he saw the crowd once again, "What am I supposed to be-"

He was cut off by a shout from a manly voice, "What the fuck are you all looking at? Don't look at me with those pitiful expressions!"

Another shout came from a voice that seemed semi-muffled, "Put that camera down, you fucker!" He slapped the massive brown camera out of a woman's hand.

"Oh wow, it turned out even better than I could've imagined, haha." Lile also watched from behind.

"What the hell is happening?" LM almost wanted to cry, he was so confused.

Lile pulled him back into the alley, "Well, after that stupid sack of dogshit hit me in my stomach, I got really mad. I figured that someone willing to do that to a kid would also lash out if he was made a fool of.

If those two freak out long enough, we'll be at the back of people's minds and they'll be at the forefront." Though his thought process was much more detailed and formed by going down multiple different rabbit holes, this was the gist of it.

His expression changed to a questioning one as he put his hand on his chin, "Though I thought we'd still at least end up in the news, which would cause the Enforcers to send some search parties out.

Even if they did that, they would be half-hearted searches as I doubt they're liked very much among their peers." He was about to continue, but LM interjected.

"What makes you say that?" He seemed genuinely confused.

"You realize not all Enforcers are like that, right? Those guys probably joined thinking they would be heroes for beating up random people from the undercity, only to realize barely anyone shared that sentiment." Lile said, confused by LM's confusion.

LM just made an "O" face, leaving room for Lile to continue, "Anyways, the lady that guy just hit? I can tell from her outfit—and the massive camera— that she's a reporter."

LM, and his ever-expanding repertoire of facial expressions, now made a face of realization.

"That being said, I think we'll at most be a subheading if we're put in the news at all. Can you imagine it?" Lile put both hands up open-palmed.

"Crazy Enforcers Attack Crowd! What Could This Imply For The Safety Of Piltover?" Has a nice ring to it, huh?" He nudged LM's shoulder then turned around and started walking to the other end of the Alley.

He was tired of explaining and thought it would be better they leave now rather than later. But he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

He said, "Bit early for deja vu, huh?" Referring to the beginning of their earlier altercation.

He turned to see LM with shadows covering his eyes. Dead serious, he said, "Don't ever gamble with our lives like that again, please." His hand trembled as he squeezed his friend's shoulder.

Fully turning his body around, Lile stepped closer to him, "I can't promise that." His face was dead serious as well.

Before LM could yell his slander at him, Lile continued, "If anyone treats me," he paused, ". . . or you or—heaven forbid, Powder or Vi—the way those men did, I'll pay them back a thousand-fold.

I'll make them suffer, and they won't get off as easy as those two. Whether I ruin their lives or take them, regret will be all that they know in their final moments."

His words sent a chill down LM's spine, he thought back on the day once again. He thought about every interaction they had, every word they shared.

He just stood there in silence.

Lile didn't press, he understood the weight of his words. But, after a few minutes, something he didn't expect happened, LM smiled.

A relieved smile of all things, Lile was confused but couldn't speak his mind as LM said, "You know, you talk all proper when you're analytical. You just did the same thing with that scary expression."

It was Lile's turn to be the only confused one, "Wazzat mean?"

"It means you're still my friend." LM put all of his negative thoughts from throughout the day to rest with that one sentence.

"No shit?" He tilted his head in confusion.

It was only his nature, after all. It was always there, it just didn't need to see the light of day until now. Because of this, he was completely unaware of how scared his friend had felt, and how scared those close to him would be when they heard it as well.

Not scared of him, but for him.

LM began walking past, "Yeah, I feel kinda stupid for thinking otherwise." His tone had a hint of mockery mixed in.

Lile ran after him, "Hey! What the hell does that mean."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

[Author Notes]

-12 a lil racist but they (not)chill

-I've been removing words from the dialogue to make it more realistic, if it messes with the flow at all, please tell me!

-In case you haven't noticed(or were wondering), Lile is a psychopath, like literally. Little buddy's brain ain't wired right. He's also something a little more, but we'll get into that later.

-Another look into LM's head this chapter, yay. Lats time, he tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind, but now they were forcefully brought back up through the power of *conflict*!

Was this resolution to his internal dilemma too rushed? Should it have dragged on? Will it come back? Let me know!

-I know some parts a little corny(trust me, I wrote them, I know), please tell me any way I could redo the dialogue to better fit a modern aesthetic(less corny) along with notifying me of any grammatical errors.

-Have a great day!