Ch 1: The Stranger
Jinx walked down the street, a broad smile lighting up her face. Her confidence was enforced by her mini-gun Pow-Pow and her rocket launcher Fishbones crossed jauntily over her back. She skipped past a fruit cart and plucked an apple from an open crate, her eyes daring the vendor to challenge her. Her chaotic mind flitted between plotting her next caper, wondering what to eat that night, eavesdropping on strangers' conversations, and casually flirting with any boy who crossed her path. She almost unconsciously processed the clips of conversations she passed, filing any useful tidbits and discarding the rest.
"… so then Jane said that my face was too huge for my shirt, so I said to Darcy…"
"…Dude, she totally winked at me! No, not that one, the chick with the blue hair…"
"…No, I think I'll go home early tonight, there's a game that I've really been looking…"
"…almost broke Shen's arm two seconds after stepping off of the train! I can't wait to see him on the rift!"
Jinx stopped, her curiosity piqued by this last bit of gossip. Feigning interest in a storefront display, she edged closer to the two teenagers chatting over coffee. "He seems pretty powerful – he's just got that vibe, you know? I mean, he may be even stronger than Garen – I wonder if they would arm wrestle or something if I asked nicely? He's totally cute, too – I wonder if he fights with his shirt off…" The young girl sounded hopeful.
Before the teen's unfortunate friend could respond, Jinx decided that she was done eavesdropping. Slipping her laser gun from its holster, she casually tagged the second girl from behind, letting her fall unceremoniously to the ground. Then she stepped over the unconscious girl's body, taking her seat across the table from her terrified friend. She casually sipped the poor girl's latte, addressing the first girl conversationally.
"Who is this you're talking about? Some new champion in the city?" The girl nodded uncontrollably, not daring to speak. "Oh relax, she's not dead – she'll be awake in a few hours," Jinx said lightly, nudging the unconscious girl with her foot. The first girl relaxed almost imperceptively, her eyes still wide in shock. "So what's this about Shen? I thought he was almost impossible to catch!"
The girl swallowed nervously, and then spoke, nodding wearily; "I thought so too, but I was there, and I saw the whole thing. Shen snuck up behind him I guess to punch his shoulder in welcome or something, but before Shen's fist even touched the guy he grabbed it out of the air. Then he sort of twisted Shen around in the air, twisting his elbow in a funny angle – it looked like it really hurt. Then, after a couple of second, he just let go and kept walking like nothing had happened. It was the weirdest thing!"
"He sounds like a pretty tough customer," said Jinx, continuing to sip her victim's latte. Her turbulent mind, always in motion, noted that the drink tasted pretty good, and filed the name of the shop for a future visit – most likely with a loaded weapon. "Do you know where he went after he got off the train?"
"He asked a couple of the other champions where to get a good drink, and I think they told him to go to a bar called the Thirst of the Void, or something. But I guess I could be wrong… please don't hurt me if I'm wrong!" she choked, tears welling up in her eyes. Jinx chugged the last of the latte, stood, and smiled warmly at the crying girl.
"Wouldn't dream of it, kid," she said brightly, chucking a couple of coins on the table. "Tell your friend thanks for the drink, and to drink something cold when she wakes up – it'll help the headache." Then she was off to find the bar, all thoughts of dinner and future schemes forgotten.
However, after hours of pounding the streets of Piltover, she was beginning to regret going so easy on the little girl. She had threatened almost every barkeeper in the city, and had yet to get adequate directions to any bar called the Thirst of the Void, or even to find anyone who had heard of the place. Getting more and more frustrated by the minute, she started wandering the streets at random, not thinking about where she was going. Fuming, she turned a corner, and suddenly stopped short. There in front of her was the place, a dimly lit sign displaying the name of the shabby dive. All animosity towards the girl forgotten, she took a moment to regain her cool and shore up her game face. If this new champion was in this bar, she was going to find him and show him that she was truly in charge of the city, no matter what the law said.
Jinx sauntered into the shady pub, her eyes peeled for the new guy in town. Her bones ached for a fight, and her usually manic, fleeting mind was focused and determined on one objective. Looking over the scene before her, she saw several familiar faces. Vi, sitting in a darkened booth with Caitlyn, lunged at her with fury in her eyes, Caitlyn desperately trying to keep her in her seat. The blind monk Lee stood behind the counter mixing drinks for some unknown reason, while Garen and Katarina, battle rivals though they were, held hands at a discreet corner table, glancing around nervously at the prospect of being caught. Annie, the little rascal, was perched on a barstool next to a "21 or older" sign, sipping chocolate milk contentedly with Tibbers, her teddy bear, on the next stool over, also supplied with a glass of the sweet brown liquid. Finally her eyes alighted on an unfamiliar face, and she sauntered over to him, taking special care to spill Vi's drink on the way by. She plonked Pow-Pow on the bar next to him, signaling Lee to bring her a double. When he didn't move, she cursed quietly and repeated the gesture, this time with words. Then she turned to the stranger, with honey in her voice and fire in her eyes.
"I heard you're supposed to be the new stud around here!" she said brightly, putting on her best innocent face. He looked up from his drink and wordlessly looked her over, his eyes moving impassively over her from head to toe. Something his gaze made Jinx strangely self-conscious, an emotion she had never felt before. She carefully looked over herself. Her signature pink miniskirt and stocking were there, backed up by combat boots and supported by a bullet bandolier serving as a belt. Up top, her halter top was secured by yet another bandolier wrapping around her back. Her arms were adorned with gloves and a bracer on her left side, and her bright blue cloud tattoos were as clear as ever on the ivory skin of her right side and arm. Her hair was secured in her traditional two floor-length braids and bright blue, so there was nothing strange there. Completing her once-over, she looked back up at him in time to catch his gaze in her bright red eyes; he held her gaze evenly for a couple of moments, then spoke.
"You're remarkably perceptive," he murmured sarcastically, turning back to his bottle. Once again, Jinx was surprised; once she had captured someone's attention, it generally wasn't relinquished for a few minutes at least. His seeming disinterest in her simply spurred her rebellious spirit, making her want to fight him even more. She had been simply curious before, but now her personal pride was on the line.
"I heard," she continued haughtily, "that you are one of the worst champions to come to this city in a long time." Her taunting words seemed to have no effect on the stranger, who took a long draught from his drink, exhaled softly, and then stood, rolling his shoulders back.
"Only one way to find out," he remarked nonchalantly, indicating the door with his hand. This was exactly the response Jinx had been hoping for, but she didn't want to clue him in to that fact so easily; she wanted to play with him for a bit first.
"But it's so chilly out there," she said playfully, a pout stealing its way across her petite features. "Fishbones gets cold real easily, and I'd hate for him to be uncomfortable."
"No matter," he replied evenly, not bothering to ask who or what Fishbones was; perhaps he already knew, or simply didn't care. "I know of a recently vacated warehouse which should be relatively warm." He continued, a mischievous glint in his eyes; "we wouldn't want the little lady getting cold, now, would we?"
Jinx stiffened, all desire to tease him disappearing. His patronizing tone had struck a nerve. She had always hated being talked down to, especially by people who had never met her. He was just lucky that she wanted to fight him and that there were other champions around – remarks like that had gotten others killed on the spot. With impeccable timing, Lee showed up with a double of the best scotch in the city – one sip had reduced many men to tears from the burning taste. Wordlessly she grabbed the drink and swallowed all of the fiery liquid in one gulp. "Lead the way," she said stiffly, slamming the empty shot glass back down on the bar. If he was surprised at her seeming unconcern for the burning drink, he didn't show it.
He laid a couple of coins on the counter and swept towards the door, holding it open for her. She stomped past him, hefting Pow-Pow over one shoulder and Fishbones over the other. They walked purposefully down the street, not exchanging words or glancing in one another's direction. Strangely, even though the streets were packed with people and vehicles alike, they continued down the middle of the sidewalk unimpeded. People just parted around them like peasants moving from the paths of royalty. However, unlike that shown to royalty, this gesture was not motivated by respect for those whose paths they were crossing; rather, the two champions put out an aura of fear and danger that made it clear to people that staying out of the way would be a very good idea.
They continued through streets and alleys, twisting and turning until they stood in front of a great warehouse in a seemingly abandoned section of the city. Faint light spilled from the dusty windows onto the pavement at their feet, but other than that, there was no indication that anyone was there. The great door was bolted with a massive padlock, which the stranger ripped from the door with no apparent effort or concern. He muscled open the heavy metal door, bowing Jinx inside. She brushed past him, finding herself in a badly lit, airplane hangar-esque room, which was empty save for a few support pillars dotted throughout the structure. She heard the door slam shut behind her, and turned to face her opponent. It occurred to her that she hadn't really paid his appearance any mind previously, and took a moment to study him.
He was a bit taller than her, with deeply tan skin and hard black eyes that seemed to glow strangely in the faint light. He wore a simple, sleeveless black shirt, black leather combat boots, and black cargo pants that sported enough metal chains, rivets, and spikes to armor a small car. His right middle finger sported a sliver ring in the shape of a skull, and his ears were perforated with a strange assortment of silver clamps and spikes through the upper cartilage, with a solitary black ring hanging from the lobe of his left ear. But save for a cursory notice of these details, Jinx's attention was inexorably drawn to the markings on his skin.
His left forearm sported a black scorpion, poised to strike with a heavily spiked tail. Continuing up the same arm, his left shoulder was emblazoned with an unrecognizable symbol, surrounded by spikey, creeping lines that wound up his shoulder and continued, she suspected, onto his chest and back. His right forearm had a simple trio of lines snaking in a spiral from his elbow around his wrist to the back of his hand, tapering to points resting behind his knuckles like daggers poised to strike. His right shoulder showed a menacing fanged skull, whose eyes seemed to stare right back if Jinx looked a bit too long. After registering these black markings, Jinx realized that a second set of marking were set into his skin; a set of ominous white scars that seemed to intrude on every surface of his body. A long thin scar ran over his left eye and eyebrow, and two curving lines meandered down his left cheek. Three short parallel lines sat on each side of his neck, and seemingly random lines and slashes decorated his arms from shoulder to wrist. Jinx had a sneaking suspicion that the scars would continue over his back and chest, should she bother to check. The very thought of a person sustaining such injury and still fighting on sent an involuntary shiver of pleasure running down her spine; finally she had found someone who seemed as unstable, psychotic, and dangerous as she was.
"So, she asked, appearing nonchalant, "what weapons do you use?"
"Blades of various sorts," he replied evasively, though no such weapons were visible on him. Still, Jinx had learned to be cautious with seemingly unarmed opponents.
"Well those won't do you any good," she scoffed, trying to bait a reaction. "You won't be able to get even close to me, 'cause if you try, Fishbones will bite your head off, and Pow-Pow will scatter what's left all over the wall."
"We'll see," he said, not giving any hint of his thoughts away. "But first, I find that I know the names of both of your weapons, but not your own."
"And we're going to keep it that way until I know yours, I think," she said airily.
"…My name is Zukotsu," he said after a moment of indecision. "And you?"
"Jinx," she said, skipping across the warehouse. "And I hate to kill you so soon after we've met, but sometimes these things just happen." With that, she pulled out her laser gun and fired at his chest from twenty paces. He twisted out of the way impossibly fast, the bolt of electricity arcing harmlessly past him and exploding against the wall. Jinx got ready to mow him down with Pow-Pow, but by the time she had gotten the gun out of its holster, he was gone. Uneasily, she shouldered Pow-Pow and got out a biter grenade, backing up against the wall of the warehouse. Suddenly two knives appeared in the wall next to her head, and she saw him running from behind a pillar straight towards her. She threw the biter and went for Pow-Pow, getting ready to finish off what the grenade started. As she brought the mini-gun up to bear, she saw his arm slash through the air, oddly glinting in the low light. The arm connected with the biter, and she heard the unmistakable clink of metal contacting metal. The biter flew inexplicably off into the shadows, exploding a moment later. But by then Jinx had opened fire with Pow-Pow, sending bullets rocketing towards her charging foe. He strafed left and right, dodging a surprising amount of the shots. But then he got hit once, twice, three times. Jinx was sure of it. But he didn't crumble, he didn't slow, he didn't even bleed. He just kept running towards her, arms stretched out behind him. For the first time she could remember, Jinx started to worry that she may be in trouble.
In her panic, Jinx decided that she had better end things. Casting Pow-Pow aside, she grabbed Fishbones from the harness on her back, priming the rocket launcher to fire. As soon as his light turned green, she pulled Fishbones' trigger, sending a deadly rocket careening towards her seemingly unconcerned opponent. The rocket flew true, striking the ground right in front of Zukotsu. Dropping Fishbones on the ground, Jinx once again primed Pow-Pow to fire, waiting for her opponent to re-appear. When the smoke cleared, Jinx's heart rate quickened; he was nowhere to be found, nor was he a smear on the floor. She looked left, right, up, down, everywhere she could think that he would be, but to no avail. She put her back to the wall, her eyes twitching from left to right, searching in vain for the dark figure.
Suddenly, he leapt out of the shadows beside her, his eyes blazing with murderous fire. That is not to say that he was hiding beneath a pillar, disguised by the shadows. He literally leapt out of the darkness, his body materializing from seemingly thin air. His arm, which Jinx could now see had been replaced by a wickedly curved blade, scythed downward and severed all six of Pow-Pow's barrels in half, rendering the poor gun useless. Having disabled her weapon, he rammed his shoulder into her chest, slamming her against the wall. Then, holding her against the wall by her neck with his left hand, he drew back his right to strike a fatal blow. Jinx gasped and recoiled, her eyes closing involuntarily to block out her imminent death. She waited, expecting a sharp pain in her stomach.
After what seemed an eternity later, no such pain had come. Ready for the worst, Jinx cracked an eye open. Zukotsu still had her pinned against the wall, his eyes shimmering with battle fever. His right arm was still poised to strike, the tip of his blade/arm hovering inches above her unprotected skin. Suddenly the fire in his eyes died, being quickly replaced with a mischievous twinkle. A sadistic smirk twisted across his face, and he leaned in close to her ear, his breath hot against her neck.
"You're it," he whispered almost inaudibly, the laughter apparent in his voice. As he spoke, Jinx felt a small, sharp pain in her upper abdomen. She stiffened, thinking this was the final blow, but then relaxed marginally when she realized it was only a surface wound. He pulled away, the smile still on his face and laughter in his eyes, the blade protruding from his elbow melting back into his scarred, tattooed arm, his skull ring glinting in the low light. He backed slowly into the shadows, his eyes locked with hers the whole way. Then, as suddenly as he had appeared only moments ago, he was gone.
Jinx sank to the floor, releasing a breath that her body had been unconsciously holding. She inspected her wound, mildly surprised to see it was only a single, small horizontal line, aligned with the bottom of the left side of her rib cage. She sat still, pondering his last words for several minutes – time that seemed like hours. Suddenly her eyes widened. "You're it," he had said, making a single cut in her side. She had been marked, tallied, checked off as a victory. Her eyes started burning with anger until she remembered his smile, the taunting lure in his voice and eyes as he left. She realized that he wanted her to chase him – he had made the first move in a game of death, tallying the victories in the loser's flesh. The idea was so patently insane that Jinx had to laugh – sitting on the cold warehouse floor, bleeding and beaten, her prized minigun in pieces.
"I'm it?" she said aloud, making sure the words were as crazy out loud as they were in her head. "Fine," she continued, confidence once again welling up in her chest. She picked up the sad pieces of Pow-Pow from various places on the floor and retrieved Fishbones, storing them in their respective holsters. "…I guess I'd better buy a knife, then."
End Chapter One