Chapter Text
"Spark, Claw, we have five minutes until they're out of there," Owl Eyes informed as he clicked the button on top of his stopwatch, walking straight past the trapped and glaring right hand of Silco. "We cannot waste even a second."
His lieutenants nodded and the trio walked over to drum barrell. Using the bottom of his weapon, Owl Eyes popped it open and sneered at the sight within it while his two lieutenants gasped.
"Have you seen this much shimmer in one place before?" Spark asked as she turned to him.
"They're expanding," Owl Eyes noted with disgust. "Check for more below. Burn it all."
Two members of the Firelights sped past him and entered the cargo while Owl Eyes turned to Spark and instructed, "Spark, take watch. Scarlet! With me!"
Spark saluted and jumped off the side of the airship and took the skies while Scarlet raced to his side. "I don't like this," Owl Eyes muttered. He suddenly winced and bowled over, only for Claw to halt his fall.
"Owl Eyes, you shouldn't be doing this," Claw admonished, worry lacing his tone. "You still haven't recovered from Jinx's suicide bomb at the warehouse."
Owl Eyes panted as he stared at this masked reflection in the shimmer.
A drop of blood slid from his mouth down his chin until it fell into the shimmer and as the shimmering liquid rippled, he could see her face. Bloody and looking up at him with that sad smile on her face. He shook his head.
No.
He had to stop this.
He had to stop thinking of her.
"He's right," Scarlet agreed. "You have to pull back, Owl Eyes. Before you open your wounds…"
"I'll be fine, he panted. "Start working on the containers. We have…" he looked at his stopwatch. "Three min—" An explosion rocked the airship, prompting the trio to turn to where the cargo door was located. Smoke filled the area and Owl Eyes barely caught that it was the cargo door opening to expel it before the area was covered.
A few seconds later, he heard it.
Footsteps.
Heavy footsteps.
He gripped the pipe in his hands as pink irises glowed within the smoke before she stepped out with her arms crossed.
Jinx.
Looking no worse for wear.
Owl Eyes wished he could sum up the hatred he once had for her at this moment. But since the warehouse, he couldn't even offer up a paltry amount of it. "Work on the shimmer," he whispered to his lieutenants. "I'll work distraction."
"Owl Eyes!" Scarlet gasped.
"Now," Owl Eyes ordered.
Scarlet bowed her head before she and Claw separated from Owl Eyes, allowing him and Jinx the space they would need. "Well, look who it is," Jinx started. "The Boy Savior. You ready for another dance with those two left feet?"
Owl Eyes scoffed but he could help to smirk. "Take your best shot," he challenged.
Jinx smiled.
And then, chaos.
Bullets and grenades flew between them as each moved to close the distance, her glowing pink eyes leaving a trail of light with every movement she made. She was faster than before. More agile. But Ekko had always been the faster between the two of them and despite her apparent upgrade and his current injuries, it only made them equal.
But he still had a slight edge.
But not because of his speed.
But because of his strategic mind.
They've done this dance before.
More times than he could count. He knew every move before she could make it. But he could almost say the same thing about her. Bright purple flames rose around them, setting the stage for the next evolution of their rivalry as they continued their violent choreography, his pipe lashing out versus the scream of her pistol.
But one misstep, one mistake, sent him to his knee, blood spilling from his open wound and when he looked up, the barrel of her pistol was pointed at his face. His eyes focused past the barrel and onto her face and there he saw it.
That look.
The same look she gave him the night she tossed down that grenade that should have killed them both. Despite those strange pink irises, he could still see the girl he once knew behind it. Her hand trembled, her finger inches from the trigger.
Why hasn't she finished it?
"Ekko!" Scarlet's voice screamed, jolting the two of them from their staredown. He barely managed to turn around, to warn her not to advance the trigger was pressed and her body jolted back.
"No!" Owl Eyes screamed as he scrambled to his feet and made it to Scarlet's side. Her mask had fallen from her face, revealing her scared brown eyes and vibrant magenta hair. "Leah, hang on," he said to her as her feet repeatedly slid against the ground, her hands trying to stem the blood.
"Vi…?" he heard Jinx's voice whisper in horror from behind.
"E-Ekko, p-please don't," the magenta-haired girl wheezed out. "I-Isha needs—"
"Hang on, save your strength, Leah!" Owl Eyes instructed as he tried to stem the blood. "Just save your—" he stopped as the girl's movements ceased, the light in her brown eyes fading away. "No…" he breathed. He turned his head to Jinx, whose eyes were locked on Leah's unmoving body. He could see the panic and horror in them.
He looked back down at Leah's body before he heard the crystals that trapped the rest of Silco's men begin to break. He looked at his stopwatch and saw that the five minutes were up. He attempted to stand up, to look at Jinx, but before he knew it, Claw had snatched him into the air and as he and the rest of his team flew down, he could hear the echo of Jinx's Gatling gun.
“It won’t happen again,” Jinx softly promised as sat on Silco’s desk, the side of her forehead leaning against his. She couldn’t help but felt disappointed. She spent years trying to earn his favor and once again, she screwed up.
“He’s going to leave,” Claggor’s remorseful voice whispered.
“They always do,” Mylo’s scornful voice followed.
Jinx could feel the fear creeping up her spine but she successfully forced it back down. Silco wouldn’t leave her. He wouldn’t! He even said that they were trying to build a better Zaun for all of them. That means her! He wouldn’t leave.
She wouldn’t even be dealing with this if it wasn’t for that stupid girl!
Once Silco gained Zaun’s independence, the first rule that she would have him implement would be to ban pink hair everywhere! Punishable by DEATH!
Jinx gingerly aimed the needle of the device at Silco’s black eye as he murmured, “I know,” before she poked it. She moved her hand back and watched as the man heaved and jerked as the shimmer coursed through his veins, keeping the infection that plagued him from causing him serious danger.
She moved her legs off of his lap and tucked them against her chest as she watched him struggle. It was strange. He was such a fearsome person to the other Chem-Barons and yet, they would never see that behind his menacing, cold nature, was an old man who could experience enough pain to weaken and discombobulate him.
Even if it lasted a few seconds.
Silco wiped the trail of shimmer that fell down his cheek, smoothed out his hair, and leaned back into his chair as he said, “Sevika will clean up today’s mess.”
“Sevika?! That orge couldn’t clean dust bunnies with a blowtorch!” Jinx objected.
“She’ll suffice,” Silco told her. “As for you…You have a different assignment. Despite your mistake, The Firelights have been a thorn in my side for too long.”
Jinx froze.
“Oh no…Ekko,” Claggor whimpered. “It’s finally time, isn’t it?”
“Another old friend to be got by Jinx,” Mylo hissed. “About time, really. Why should Little Man live while we toil away in the dirt? It’s his fault all of this happened to us!”
“T-That’s not true,” Claggor whispered. “How was he to know following that Piltie wou—”
“I’ve allowed them to keep up their foolish crusade as they bring hope to Zaun…But after today’s loss, It is time for them to be… expurgated,” Silco continued, unaware of Jinx’s plight. “And I want you to be the one to do it.”
Jinx heard Mylo’s laughter echo in her head.
“This isn’t right,” Claggor said. “The Lanes…They depend on him.”
“What Silco wants, Silco gets! And he wants the Boy Savior’s head on a pike!” Mylo cackled. “And she’s going to give it to him! Because that’s all she does! That’s all she’ll ever do! Murder for the sake of Silco!”
Jinx’s head whipped to the side as if slapped by Mylo’s words.
“I will inform the other Chem-Barons of this decision. Until then, you should focus on your gadgetry,” Silco suggested.
Jinx fell back on the desk, thankful that the hard impact of the back of her head meeting the desk ceased Mylo’s endless cackling. She wanted to refuse his offer. She could make up for her mistake for failing him.
“But maybe this is good,” Claggor whispered. “Give you time to think…Perhaps by…I don’t know, taking the heat of Ekko?”
Jinx huffed, not finding a good reason to deny Claggor’s words.
“Alright,” Jinx agreed.
"The air is so…crisp."
Caitlyn Kiramman, Future Matriarch of House Kiramman, turned her attention to her new…accomplice with a look of confusion on her face. It had been a few days since the attack on Progress Day and Caitlyn had done something far beyond risky.
She had just broken several laws in her pursuit of justice, one of which was freeing the girl behind her. It had taken at least three hours to get from Stillwater Hold to Piltover, turning the bright afternoon into the soft glow of sunset.
Caitlyn noted that the soft glow of the sunset caused the former prisoner's face to take on a softer presence.
She tried not to attach any warm words to the sight.
Outside of that, it was the first words that Prisoner #516, or Vi had said to her since being released from Stillwater. "After sitting in that prison with the lingering smell of hot dogs, you forget how clean air can actually be," Vi continued, her gaze soaking in the sight around her.
"Well, bad air quality aside," Caitlyn said. "It's far too late to go to Zaun."
"Too late?" Vi repeated. "It's only sunset."
"Yes, but after I decided on this course of action, I did my research. It is far easier to navigate within Zaun while the sun is high in the sky versus at night," Caitlyn explained.
"Yes, but it's far easier to sneak into Zaun at night versus when the sun is out," Vi argued.
"I'm sure it is, but unfortunately, as I am head of this investigation, we should prepare for it," Caitlyn told her. "Rushing in head first will only put us at odds in the future. We should prepare tonight and then start in the daytime."
Vi glowered but then she rolled her eyes and then shrugged. "Fine. Whatever. I'll listen to you simply because we're still close to Stillwater. But the second we enter Zaun, you follow my lead, got it?"
Caitlyn scowled but she nodded.
"Now that that's settled, where are we going?" Vi asked.
"There is a hotel nearby," Caitlyn answered. "We can stay a night there."
"Oh, a hotel. Don't think I'm going to put out for you, Piltie," Vi told her with a small glare.
Caitlyn couldn't stop the laughter from leaving her lips. "In your wildest dream. Now come, the sooner we can do this, the sooner I can have a bath."
"Such a pampered statement," Caitlyn heard Vi mutter under her breath, making her roll her eyes.
Was it too late to return her to Stillwater?
"Here's your paperwork."
The young woman's blue-gray eyes glanced at the paperwork and bag of funds that was thrown in front of her by her leader's second-in-command, Rictus. "Your name, identity, the works," Rictus explained as the woman glanced at the paperwork.
"Maddie Nolen?" the woman asked, her eyes flashing up at the imposing man. "Such a weak name."
"Heh, ain't that the truth?" Rictus grinned. "But you know how those prissy Piltover folk get down over there. Weak names for a weak city."
The girl nodded in agreement before she glanced down at the highly detailed forged paperwork before her. "And Lord Merdada is sure this will work?"
"She's sure. That idiot councilman ensured that it would," Rictus confirmed. "Now get out of here and earn your keep, Maddie." The woman, now named Maddie, grabbed the documents and the bag of funds.
"And don't let those fawns get in your head," Rictus advised. "You know what Ambessa says. 'Professional entanglements are not prohibited—'"
"'—but don't allow them to blind you,'" Maddie finished. "Understood."
"Good," Rictus said. "The ship is here. You should get to Piltover by midnight. Once there, connect with Salo. And don't fail her."
Maddie nodded.
"I won't."