Arcane: I have Plasmids F*** YEAAAAAAH!!!

The Chem factory loomed ahead.

A rusted giant, breathing thick plumes of smog into the choking Zaunite air.

---

Lukas adjusted his vest.

His last surviving escort limped beside him, silent.

He hadn't spoken since they left Fontaine Futuristics.

Maybe he was afraid.

Maybe he was in shock.

Maybe he was realizing that Zaun had a new monster now.

Lukas didn't care.

He walked forward.

The gates were waiting.

---

The entrance was guarded.

Two men—heavily armed.

Their eyes snapped up as Lukas approached.

Their grips tightened on their weapons.

One of them—a tall, broad-shouldered enforcer— stepped forward.

"The fuck do you want?"

Lukas stopped just short of the gates.

His hands were casual in his pockets.

His voice?

Smooth. Controlled. Dangerous.

"Business."

The guard scoffed.

His eyes flicked over Lukas's outfit.

Not fancy.

Not Piltover.

But… clean. Sharp. Professional.

Not the kind of thing a nobody wore.

The man grunted.

"Who do you work for?"

Lukas smiled.

It was a terrible smile.

"Who do you think?"

The man hesitated.

He wasn't stupid.

He could tell something was off.

Lukas held his gaze.

A long silence.

Then—

A sharp exhale.

"…Fine. Go in."

The gates groaned as they were pushed open.

Lukas stepped through.

He was in.

---

Inside, Renni's kingdom was alive.

Workers. alchemists. Chem Enforcers.

The walls hummed with activity, machines belching thick clouds into the air.

Even with the civil war settling, Renni's people stayed armed. Ready.

She hadn't survived this long by being careless.

Lukas liked that.

It meant she'd see him coming.

He passed row after row of workstations.

Eyes followed him.

Men and women watched from the corners of the room.

Studying him.

Assessing him.

Some whispered.

Some didn't even bother.

They all knew he didn't belong.

Lukas didn't slow.

He didn't stop.

He didn't even look at them.

This was their kingdom.

---

They led him to her office.

A reinforced room in the heart of the factory.

Inside?

Twelve enforcers.

Armed. Waiting.

And sitting at her desk, cigarette in hand—

Was Renni.

---

She was older than Lukas expected.

Not ancient.

Not frail.

But worn.

A woman who had survived too much.

She was tall pale woman, with two two tubes connected to her nose, filled with some green liquid.

Her eyes were sharp. Calculating.

Even before Lukas spoke, she was already putting pieces together.

Already guessing.

Already seeing something that no one else in this room saw.

Her lips curled slightly.

She took a drag of her cigarette.

"So."

Smoke curled from her lips.

"You're the one causing problems in my territory."

---

Lukas exhaled.

He tilted his head.

"Problems?"

A small smirk.

"I prefer progress."

Renni chuckled.

"That right?"

She tapped her cigarette against a tray.

Her expression darkened slightly.

"What happened to my men?"

Lukas shrugged.

"You sent them to me."

A pause.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Are they dead?"

Lukas smiled.

"What do you think?"

Another pause.

Then—

She nodded.

"Good."

---

Her men shifted uncomfortably.

One of them frowned.

"Boss?"

She waved a hand.

"Shut up."

Her eyes never left Lukas.

"You're not stupid," she muttered. "Not like most of the fuck-ups around here."

Lukas gave a small nod.

"I try."

Renni exhaled.

"You're making moves. Setting up shop. You're gonna be a problem."

She flicked some ash onto the tray.

"And I don't like problems."

Lukas already knew where this was going.

Renni took one last drag—

Then flicked her fingers.

"Kill him."

---

The moment her enforcers raised their weapons—

The room changed.

The air thickened.

The walls seemed to close in.

And then—

They started choking.

---

One by one—

They rose.

Their boots lifted off the ground.

Their bodies hovered. Twisting. Weightless.

Even Renni jerked up from her seat—

Her hands gripping her throat as she, too, was pulled into the air.

Her cigarette dropped.

Her eyes bulged.

She couldn't move.

None of them could move.

---

Lukas exhaled slowly.

The air around him shimmered.

His fingers twitched—and the enforcers dangled higher.

His EVE bar dropping by the second.

Renni's breath hitched.

Lukas took a step forward.

"I had hope..."

His voice was calm.

Steady.

"That if we stayed quiet, if we focused only on my dream, trouble would not come for us."

His fingers twitched—

And Renni choked.

His eyes darkened.

He continued.

"But now I see...that trouble finds you no matter what"

"If my dream of Utopia, my Rapture, must be built on the bones of those who stand against me... so be it."

"I'm tired of Running."

And in a voice as cold as the void of space, he aproached Renni and he whispered —

"A man chooses."

Renni gasped.

Lukas tilted his head.

"A slave obeys."

His grip tightened.

Their bodies jerked.

Their gasps turned to strangled chokes.

And then—

Lukas smiled.

"I am the man here, Renni."

Her face was red.

Her breath hitching.

But even as she struggled against the invisible force holding her—

Her eyes burned with understanding.

Lukas leaned in.

Let her breathe.

Let her understand.

She was not in control anymore.

---

His voice was almost gentle.

"You work for me now."

Renni gasped for air.

Lukas didn't blink.

"You don't talk about what happened here. You don't whisper a word. You don't even think about crossing me."

Renni coughed.

Her nails dug into her palms.

Lukas crouched slightly.

"You have a little boy, don't you?"

Renni's breath stilled.

The room was silent.

Dead.

Still.

Lukas's voice lowered to a whisper.

"If you try anything...if you even think about going after me or my friends."

"I won't come for you first."

Renni's eyes snapped to his.

Lukas smiled.

"I'll come for him."

---

Silence.

Horrible. Suffocating. Silence.

Then—

Lukas let go.

The enforcers collapsed to the floor.

Renni fell back into her chair.

Her breath ragged.

Her hands shaking.

The enforcers were on the ground, gasping, twitching. Trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Lukas straightened his vest.

He turned—walking toward the door.

And as he reached it—

He glanced over his shoulder.

"Now…"

A slow, calm exhale.

"Would you kindly say it for me, Renni."

A long pause.

Then—

Barely above a whisper—

"You're the boss..."

Lukas smiled.

"Good."