Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Vi! Violet! Please! Don’t leave me! VIOLET!”

Powder screamed her voice raw as her rain drenched hair clung to her face. Powder wasn’t able to register the sound of a man approaching her through her senses being bombarded by the smell of rain filled sewers, the sound of cackling fire, and the pain of loss ripping at her heart.

“Hello little girl. Where is your sister?” The man with a scar says gently as he leans down to crouch by Powder.

Before Powder has the chance to glance up and react a tall lanky woman in a red tracksuit shoves the man out of the way.

“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY YOU FUGLY PEDO”

For a moment time stops — a typical occurrence when one is blessed with the presence of this mysterious middle aged woman with a karen-cut.

Silco — the previously lurking man is sat flat on his butt looking up at the woman in confusion.

Similarly his goons behind him quizzically scratch their head and sneak unsure glances at each other. After all the occurrence was rather unprecedented.

Powder feels her heart beating in her chest, overwhelmed by the entire situation. Using the palm of her hand she wipes away tears and loose hair out of her eyes as she gets a better look at the woman.

Red tracksuit, megaphone in hand, and the face of a warrior. No not just a warrior… a legend.

The woman looks down at Powder with a look of mild disgust and unsolicited pity.

“Hey kid. You’re lucky I got to you before this critic from Ratatouille looking creep did. He reeks of incompetence and I seriously doubt he has any idea how to deal with children.” The woman says.

“You-you! Who are you? Men grab her!!!” Silco yells.

Before his little goons could even get close to her the woman takes her over sized megaphone and whacks it smack across Silco’s good eye. It was unfortunately bound to leave a matching scar on the only part of his face that looked socially acceptable.

Sue felt no remorse as per usual. The skinny little twink deserved it

“What the hell! Ugh let’s get out of here!” Silco says as he stands up and stomps his feet. With a scurry his minions follow him as they make their way back to the shadowy alleyways all villains come from.

“Yeah we’ll deal with that closeted homosexual, vengeful, wannabe underground crime overlord later,” the woman says. “Anyways the names Sue. Sue Sylvester. Remember that like your life depends on it kid.”

Powder, still sitting on the ground looks up at her with fear. Fear — yeah Sue could work with a kid that feared her. From her experience, those were the only kids that found success.

“Well are you just gonna sit there? GET UP! Nothing ever is going to solve itself if you’re sitting crying in the DIRT!”

At that moment Powder burst our in another heap of sobs as she crushes Sue with a forceful hug that knocks them both to the ground.

“V-Vander, Mylo, Claggor… they’re all dead because of me,” she cries out. “And Vi…my sister. She left me. I’m a jinx.”

Sue stiffens as the child snuggles closer to her. Oh ew. It was almost like this kid had no family to hug her! Absolutely fatherless behavior right there.

The kid smelt like poverty and years of social oppression. This was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

“Listen nerd. I personally would never understand what it’s like to make mistakes but hear me out,” Sue begins. “Things will get better. If you’re a jinx then I’m the beautiful ray of heroism and hope that cancels you out. NOW DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?”

“Yes ma’am,” Powder says wiping away her tears.

“Thats Coach Sylvester to you young lady.” Sue says with a snap of her fingers. “And while we’re on the topic of names — don’t EVER call yourself a jinx again. Sounds like the name of a schizophrenic maniac from a show with a three dollar budget.”

Sue knew what it was like to be the fearless leader of an ungodly amount of ugly and mentally ill children — but this kid right here might need some serious work.

In fact the whole city needed some serious work. Sue knew what she needed to do. She needed to uproot the systematic evils herself.

She needed to run this place herself and get the job done.

Chapter Text

Sure. Sue had been a Cheer Coach some time ago in some alternate universe. But that was a long time and one anomaly ago.

Now Sue had to face reality and the reality was that the Under City is in shambles and there isn’t a single morally correct person sitting on the council that is supposed to represent them.

Sue was going to change that.

But before that, she had to address the current issue.

“GET LOST YOU MALNOURISHED BLUE RASSBERRY FLAVORED JOLLY RANCHER!” Sue yells as she turns around to find Powder still trailing behind her like some lost puppy.

Powder looks down with guilt before quietly whispering, “Please Coach…I got no where else to go.”

Sue groans. Great just another eye sore to slow her plans down. This was like having to deal with those treacherous high schoolers all over again.

Sue continued walking through the dark alleyways of the lanes. They needed a place to stay. Pronto.

“Well kid, if you’re going to follow me around you’re going to have to make yourself useful.” Sue says not slowing down her pace for the blue haired child running after her. “You got any useful skills?”

Powder’s face darkens with guilt.

“Bombs…I’ve tried to make bombs but they never work,” Powder says avoiding eye contact. “Except for…that night at the Cannery.”

Sue stops in her tracks.

“Wait. That explosion was you?” Sue exclaims in shock. This changes everything. A child who could manufacture deadly weapons for her political revolution? This was a goldmine hidden in Will’s underwear drawer.

“Listen here Petunia-“

“Its actually Powder”

“Shut up Patricia I wasn’t done talking,” Sue says as she stops Powder with the presence of an angry index finger pointing at her face.

“If I take you in you have to work. And by work I mean build me weapons of mass destruction. You’re like what six? That’s plenty old enough to be working.”

Powder gleams. Ugh children and their ugly smiles.

“Oh Coach you’re not going to regret this! I’ll work so hard and I’ll make you proud and-“

“Yeah yeah keep your overbearing sappy attitude to yourself fattie.” Sue says.

Sue was aware the child wasn’t fat. In fact she was quite the opposite. Sue just liked calling people fatties. She got a kick out of it.

Thats when Sue realized she needed a place to stay and help feed the kid so it — sorry —she would labor away to create weapons.

If only there was some sort of tree based sanctuary to hide away from the horrors of the gross ugly Under City and start a sort of resistance group…

“POWDER!” An unfamiliar voice shouts from the distance.

Sue and Powder turn their head to see a small white haired child around Powder’s age running towards them.

“Oh Powder you’re okay! I thought you were gone too!” The boy exclaims as he crashes into Powder with a hug.

Sue could almost feel the barf coming up from the sight of the jubilant reunion.

“Ekko! You’re here! Coach Sue here just promised to take care of me!” Powder says jumping up and down. “Maybe she’ll take you too!!!”

Oh hell NO

“WOAH WOAH WOAH BACK THE FUCK UP COOKIE MONSTER!” Sue says giving Powder a look of utmost betrayal.

“Ain’t NOBODY said they were taking in Edward here”

“It’s Ekko.” The boy says with an unamused look.

“Ekko?” Sue asks in disgust. “What crackhead has been naming you poor children? Where are your parents I need a Parent-Teacher conference pronto!”

Powder and Ekko glance at each other before Powder replies, “Um Coach…they’re dead. Killed by enforcers.”

“And Silco.” Ekko adds on.

Okay this was NOT going to fly in Sue’s world.

“Listen here you dirty gremlins. There’s only one person in the world who gets to orphan children. Do you know who that is?” Sue asks leaning down to stare the two in the face.

“Umm…I don’t think anyone should orphan — “ Ekko starts.

“Me. Sue Sylvester.” Sue interrupts. “And unless I killed them myself, that is INJUSTICE.”

Powder looks like she was about it make an objection but Sue interrupts again.

“Now, I mentioned to this girl with the badly cut bangs earlier that she could only stay with me if she was helpful. You got anything helpful to offer us little baldy?”

Ekko touched his buzzed white hair as a new insecurity blossomed in his young malleable heart.

Sue was good at bringing up new insecurities.

“Oh well I was going to mention earlier that I found this hidden spot with a tree and clean air,” Ekko says as he internally considers growing his hair out for dreads.

“Well what are we waiting for let’s get moving!” Sue says as she lifts her megaphone into the air with victory.

~~~

By the time they make it into their newfound base Ekko and Powder were panting. After all Sue forced them to carry her 200 pound suitcase filled with spare tracksuits and an extra megaphone.

“Wow! There’s firelights everywhere!” Powder exclaims pointing at the little fucks flying around Sue’s face.

“That’s it!” Ekko says. “Firelights! We’ll call ourselves the Firelights!”

Ekko and Powders’ excitement is thrown off with the sound of a sharp clap.

As Sue wipes the remains of the firelight she just killed on her pants she says, “Absolutely NOT! That’s the kind of dumb shit the started back on my home turf and it CANNOT happen again! ”

Ekko and Powder look at her in horror as they watch the wing of the dead firelight twitch on its deathbed. (Sue’s pants)

“What kind of wannabe Glee Club bullshit is this? That’s going to be a hard NO from me. Especially if you little fucks start singing” Sue seethes.

~Two Weeks Later~

Things were looking good.

Sue had not one but TWO young and moldable children that could be coerced into doing her will.

Sue lay down on a beach chair resting against the tree as she watched the two little demons work on building up the base.

“EDWARD YOU DAMN UNEMPLOYED ARTIST GET MY GOOD SIDE!” Sue yells into her megaphone before taking a sip of her lemonade.

“It’s Ekko!” He yells back dropping the paintbrush from his hand.

Sue had commissioned (forced) Ekko to paint a mural of her glorious self to remind the people who was going to be the face of the revolution.

“THE ONLY EKKO I WANT TO HEAR ARE THE ECHOS OF YOU SAYING ‘SORRY COACH I’LL GET BACK TO WORK’”

Yeah. Things were looking good.

Slowly but surely Sue Sylvester was building up an army of willing children who could aid her in taking over Piltover.

So far she had her magnificent self that was clearly the brains of the operation and two young inventors who would build her whatever she needed to take seat at the council.

Sue knew she was missing something though. Her army needed some fighting spirit in them. She needed someone who shared her violent and unapologetic tendencies. She needed someone good with their fists.

“Here Coach Sylvester! A refill for your lemonade!” Powder says pouring her glass.

Sue takes one look at the not-yet -healed bruise on her face. The one her sister gave her.

Sue knew who she needed to recruit next.

Chapter Text

It had been almost a month since Violet’s life turned upside down. Almost a month since Vander and her brothers had been dead. Almost a month since she had been in jail.

Almost a month since she left her baby sister in the hands of that monster.

With nothing to do but breathe in stale air and punch things in her cell, Vi was perpetually overwhelmed by the guilt gnawing at her chest.

I never should have hurt Powder, I never should have left her, She’s alone — or worse being tortured by Silco.

Vi imagined poor innocent Powder being twisted into some unrecognizable monster at the hands of Silco.

There was only one fate worse than that…and it rhymed with Blue Blyvester…

There had been talk in the Lanes about a mysterious woman with lethal combat ability rivaling Vander in his prime.

Rumors said that the sound of her voice could be heard from all across Runeterra and that her commands could never be disobeyed.

Vi prayed that Powder never ran into that authoritarian witch. That was impossible though. Right?

Vi decided she needed to pray to Janna the wind goddess. After all, in times of darkness one needed hope and light.

“Dear Janna,” Vi began. “Please…if you’re listening send me a sign. Send me an angel of protection that can guide Powder and I back to each other. The nicest angel you got—“

Before Vi could finish that thought, the sound of a blaring siren assaulted her eardrums.

Enforcers came running in at all directions towards the unknown threat.

“CODE BLUE CODE BLUE!” An enforcer shouted over the alarms ringing and the sound of heavy footsteps stomping through the halls.

“Wait what’s code blue again? I low-key cheated my way into enforcer school.” Another enforcer asked.

“Cadet are you crazy?!? Code blue means code SUE. THAT DEMENTED HELION OF A WOMAN SUE SYLVESTER BROKE IN… AGAIN!!!”

All Vi heard was “Sue” and she already began to find peace with the idea of her inevitable death.

She returned back to her earnest prayers:
Dear heavenly Janna…fuck you. You’re a bitch for this one. This is just about as funny as the time I prayed for Powder not to snitch on me for breaking a vase…and the next day my parents died.

Vi clamped her eyes shut and prayed that by some lucky miracle the demon outside would passover her cell.

That’s when all the jail cells opened up all at once.

Oh neat! Catch me later assholes! Vi thought as she began to make a run for it.

Before she managed to make it 3.746 inches out of her cell, her eyes were visually assaulted by the sudden appearance of mucus - sorry- Marcus.

“Not so fast! I got paid good money to keep you in jail lassie!” Marcus says putting his arms in a T-Pose to thwart Vi’s journey to freedom.

“Oh man…put your arms DOWN! Do you Pilties ever use deodorant?” Vi says covering her nose with one hand and waving the other in front of her face.

“Of course not! Us educated and sophisticated Topsiders only use all natural organic products. Like crystals! I personally have mine imported from —“

Before Marcus could finish his Declaration of Inhalation a bright light filled the cell.

In the same way one looks away from the powerful rays of the sun itself, Vi and Marcus turn their heads.

A loud booming voice declares, “STOP THE NERD FEST! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER UGLY WORD FROM YOUR HORIZONALLY CHALLENGED SELVES.”

As the light dims down Vi makes out the figure of an angry looking lady who she assumes is the infamous Sue Sylvester.

“Horizontally challenged?” Marcus begins. “I’ll have you know I’m at the gym two times a day and if anything you’re the fat one seeing how I never catch you at the gym.”

“Well if I’m fat. You my friend…are OBESE. And I legitimately sympathize with everyone who has to smell your smelly ass after the gym,”

Sue says taking in an offended whiff of the cell. “I mean you seriously stink buddy.”

Marcus begins turning red and Vi swears she could see smoke coming out of his ears.

“YOU BETTER COUNT YOUR DAYS SUE SYLVESTER BECAUSE I’M GOING TO —“

“And you better count those calories! I mean is your gym the McDonalds playground or something?” Sue says giving Marcus a judgmental up and down look.

Marcus would not have made it as a cheerleader during Sue’s cheer coaching days.

Sue assumed he must have been too fat to be cheerleader and that was why he was a depressed enforcer who took his anger out on children.

Just before Marcus was about to burst into tears, Sue took her weapon of choice (her megaphone) and whacked it straight across his oversized head.

Violet watched in frozen horror as the former enforcer crumbled to the ground with little resolve.

Oh Janna…this really is the end. Goodbye world…and hello heaven-

“Honey, I know your trifling ass does NOT think that you would seriously make it into heaven.” Sue says rolling her eyes.

Vi looks at her in shock.

“Wait you can read my thoughts?” Vi asks.

“I spent longer than your sorry excuse for a life coaching at a high school kid. I can practically smell adolescent attitude yet alone tell what you twerps are thinking.”

Vi was confused. She had no idea what a school was and she didn’t even want to know what that had to do with being high. The Undercity had tons of high people but definitely none of that school stuff Sue was talking about.

“Wait- sorry did you just say I’m not good enough to go to heaven? What would you know about heaven?” Vi asks suddenly offended.

“Look you better be joking or blind,” Sue starts. “Because I OBVIOUSLY was dropped from heaven. I mean look at me! Doesn’t get much better than this kid.”

Vi wondered if Janna was playing tricks on her.

“Hey look kid,” Sue says. “I didn’t break into this sorry excuse of a prison just to chat. If you want a good way to ensure you make it to the pearly gates, you best help me overthrow the council.”

Vi liked the idea of getting rid of the corrupt council members that were complacent towards the suffering of the Under City.

But…she wasn’t sure.

“Also I have your Linen and Sky scented Febreeze looking sister and her early signs of aging haired friend”

“Okay I’m in!” Vi exclaims.

Together Sue Sylvester, Violet, and the rest of her fellow inmates make their way to the firelight base or as Sue likes to call it — the Sue Sanctuary.

Two child inventors and an army of angry people with a criminal history later, Sue was one step closer to revolution.

Chapter Text

Flashback to chapter one:

“What the hell! Ugh let’s get out of here!” Silco says as he stands up and stomps his feet. With a scurry his minions follow him as they make their way back to the shadowy alleyways all villains come from.

“Yeah we’ll deal with that closeted homosexual, vengeful, wannabe underground crime overlord later,” the woman says.

~~~

The time had come.

Sue was training her army through some classic cheerleading conditioning when Ekko came running into the base with a concerning amount of injuries.

“Coach! We’ve got to do something. Silco’s flooding the lanes with shimmer and people are going berserk!” Ekko says as a Powder runs over to help him stand straight.

“Ekko’s right Coach Sylvester. I mean we can’t just have people with a dangerous drug in their bodies,”

Powder adds. “I mean what if one of those crazies were to kidnap someone into their twisted tea party with unsettling recreational dolls of their dead family! Not that I would personally do that but you never know.”

Sue makes a mental note to put that Powder girl on some serious meds or throw her into a psych ward or whatever.

“Don’t be silly Pow Pow!” Vi laughs. “That would never happen in ANY universe!”

Thanks to some Sue Sylvester coercion, Violet and Powder made up and decided that no dead brothers or father figure could get in the way of true sisterhood!

“Yay sisters!” Is what Sue would have said if she gave a fuck.

Sue glances at the assortment of scratches and bruises littering Ekko’s body. A drug that could hurt people couldn’t be safe for the Undercity

More importantly: a drug that hurt people couldn’t be safe for those nefarious money sucking fatties up in Piltover.

Sue knew what she needed to do. It was time to finally deal with the closeted homosexual, vengeful, wannabe underground crime overlord — otherwise known as Silco.

First things first.

Where the hell is that sneaky little scumbag hiding himself?

Sue had a couple of different options to where she figured Silco could be.

Number one: A gay bar

Number two: An underground secret liar that acted as a HQ of evil

Number three: The Last Drop which was arguably all of the above

With that conclusion made, Sue and her entourage of child laborers made their way towards The Last Drop…or what used to be The Last Drop.

“It’s just been a couple of months! How could this have happened!” Vi says punching a hole into a nearby wall.

Sue and the kids were tucked into an ally observing the people walking in and out of the newly renovated Last Drop.

“Vander spent his whole life perfecting the ‘we do things differently around here’ aesthetic that really just means the food is over priced with fun quirky names!” Violet says punching another hole into the wall.

What was wrong with that kid?

“Save that anger for Silco kid. You’re gonna need it.” Sue says. “Anyways everyone listen up!”

Powder, Vi, Ekko, and some other side characters Sue didn’t know the names of huddled around Sue to hear the plan.

“I’m only going to say this once so listen up…” Sue says.

Sue proceeded to give an hour long lecture.

“Okay team everybody got that?” Sue says whipping her head around to gauge everyone’s reaction.

To her shock, the only thing left to applaud her  monologue was a tumbleweed sadly tumbling past the alley and the sound of crickets.

“Where the hell did everyone — Silco. That sneaky bastard kidnapped my entire field team right under my nose!!” Sue yelled into the alley.

With a flip of her hair and a stomp in her feet, Sue made her way over to The Last Drop to get her employees back.

~~~

Silco paced back in forth in front of his desk in his office he recently stole from his ex-situationship Vander.

By situationship Silco meant like best bros to mortal enemies kind of situation. Nothing more.

“Are you positive you saw these children just lingering in a random alley way? No one else was there?” Silco says lighting himself a cigar.

“AbsoLUTELY positive sir!” Chuck, Silco’s minion, says with an enthusiastic nod.

Tied up with Vi and Ekko in the corner of the room, Powder whispers, “This Chuck guy is not doing great at his job…”

“Yeah I have no idea how he missed Coach Sylvester. She was literally right there.” Ekko agrees as his eyes follows the back and forth between Silco and Chuck.

Chuck nervously began to scratch his head. “Well I did sense some sort of sinister aura but I don’t quite remember—“

At that moment a bone rattling boom exploded  shaking the skeletal structure of everyone and their mom.

“Oh hell NO.” Silco may have two bad eyes (courtesy of Sue) but he had enough foresight to understand that only one creature could create such a noise.

“COACH!” Ekko, Vi, and Powder all exclaim in excitement.

The explosion came without warning. Just as Sue preferred.

One second Silco was probably plotting evil D-tier villain shenanigans the next the deafening boom of Sue’s heroic aura chocking the room’s inhabitants with a thick cloud of smoke.

It was the grey.

Papers fluttered. Lights flickered and died. Air turner sour with the acrid smell of grey and scorched metal.

Emerging from the ash and smoke was the fearsome silhouette that could probably make a grown man pee his pants in fear.

Sue Sylvester.

“Shiver me timbers!” Silco said as he probably peed his pants in fear.

Or at least that was the reaction Sue was hoping to procure as she stepped into the room.

Silco wouldn’t let this blonde, lanky woman get the upper hand.

“Well. Well. Well. Look who we have here” Silco says, clapping slowly at every syllable.

Back in their corner of imprisonment, the three children side eye each other.

“What in the cliche cartoon villain is the man on about” Violet says with an eye roll.

“I wouldn’t know we never were able to afford cable so we never watched cartoons” Powder replies with confusement.

“Oh yeah I forgot we’re victims of a political and economically oppressive government that thrives off the backs of enslaved children working long hours with no break and little humane treatment…”  Vi shrugs.

Typical Under-city shenanigans.

Meanwhile, Silco stands across from Sue.

Neither moved. Neither blinked. Only the sound of papers rustling and the grey whooshing through the ventilation.

As well as the distant sound of Ekko sniffling. Despite liking trees so much he actually has pretty bad allergies in the spring. Too bad he can’t afford nasal spray. Let alone food.

Silco and Sues’ eyes locked. As locked as eyes could get when Silco had double scars on his eyes.

Silco’s “eyes” were steady-unreadable while Sue’s were burning with something deeper than rage. It was a hunger for justice and unsolicited violence.

“It’s been a while since we met you evil homosexual.” Sue begins, voice low and steady.

Silco didn’t reply. Words would only get in the way of their moment. This was about vengeance not a petty exchange of words. He also didn’t have a good comeback for that.

Instead Silco says, “All this grey you’re releasing? You really thought this would hurt me?” Silco scoffs. “It just smells like up dawg in here.”

Sue’s muscles twitch as she reaches for her megaphone of doom and despair.

“What’s up dawg?” Sue says slowly.

“BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The room erupts in Silco’s laughter and a couple chuckles coming from the tied up kids in the back.

“Nothing much homeboy whats up with you?” Silco says tears pouring down his eyes as he attempts to hide his laughter.

“Oh that does it. BOYS LET EM LOOSE!”

Sue points her finger forward and right on cue a withering swarm of firelights come flooding in while Fireflies by Owl City starts blasting through Sue’s speaker that she had attached to her hip.

The entire room is then filled with a suffocating  cloud of military grade firelights that Sue told Ekko to genetically modify/breed into obedient killing machines.

“Wait these little guys don’t seem that bad” Silco says as a firelight makes it way onto his nose.

“Yeah!” Chuck adds emerging from his hiding spot under Silco’s desk. “They’re kind of cute!”

Sue chuckles to herself as she watches the room continue to light up with the glowing firelights.

3

2

1

BOOM.

Before anyone has time to blink the entire room is heated by the firelights each individually self destructing into an explosion.

Before everyone knew it Sue had overtaken the Last Drop and the entirety of Silco’s gang was tied up.

“What the hell man I only wanted to make Zaun independent!” Silco says struggling against the ropes.

“Well why didn’t you say so earlier tiger!”

By the time Sue dragged Silco’s entire gang back to the tree, she had successfully convinced them to join her cause.