Chapter 1: Restock
An eerie quiet fills the Zaun gray sky. Darkness threatens to envelope the pipes and factories of the city-state. At this time of day, the usual dark and twisted business down in the streets tends to die down and citizens return to their homes. It is during this hour when a new type of business takes hold, when gangs and criminals alike make their presence known. When no one can do anything about it, because if you try, than you never know who might come out of the pipes. And where. It is in the darkness when one can't tell apart the innocent from the guilty, or the mad from the sane. Not until it is too late.
Zap! A rat scurries across one of the pipes in wild strides, high pitched squeals escaping its lungs. Zap! The pipe in front of it burns bright white for a split second. Another loud squeak leaves its lungs as it attempts to escape its impending doom. The sound of its claws skittering across the pipes ring through the streets below. A giggle is heard from the assailant above.
"Seriously, screaming helps… not at all." Zap! The rat stops moving as it is hit head-on by another ray of light. The carcass explodes in a brilliant light show of sewer chemicals the rat digested. Brilliant blues and greens cover the pipes in an unnatural glow. A crazed laugh echoes through the city as the gore slowly slides off the pipes onto the city below, where it makes itself at home with the scenery. A young woman sits on the edge of one of the buildings still laughing, still caressing Zap against her chest like a mother would a newborn baby, on the bare skin of her stomach. Her combat boots are kicking in the air with each laugh, her body shaking from the force of her laughter. The cool air seems to have no effect on her, even as she wears shorts barely long enough and a bikini top lined with bullets. She seems at home with Zap, and even more so surrounded by Fishbones, pow-pow and a lone flame-chompers.
A cold green metal hits her throat, glowing slightly. The laughing stops and her face grows somber. The woman moves her other hand toward her hip and pulls a pin from her last flame-chompers. Her hand is the only thing keeping it from going off.
A smile begins to spread across her face.
"Won this fight already – doing it again for fun." A man of 17 reveals his face from the shadows, his dark skin in sharp contrast to his white hair and paint creating an image of an hourglass on his face. Small and thin, he exhibits a build like that of a runner or an acrobat, but that visual prowess is only enhanced by what he brought with him: the clockhand on her throat, and the Z-Drive by his side. The time-winder is probably hidden in his back pocket. He only uses it when he has to.
"Well, you know I can just make us go BOOM whenever I want though," the woman smirks through a dark smile. Her hand loosens slightly on flame-chompers.
"But I know you won't," and he moves the clock-hand away from her neck, "Jinx." Once again, Jinx's laughter fills the air. She holds up her hand and looks at flame-chompers. She kisses the grenade quickly than throws it into a pipe below. A couple seconds later, they hear it plop in a pool of muck within the sewers. A couple seconds after that, a loud explosion rings through the air and fire of different greens, blues, and pinks spout out of the pipe from which it entered. Jinx's laughter renews louder than before. Gore rains down on the streets as the remains of the rats who made the sewers their homes saw their resting places in the streets of Zaun.
"You know, Ekko. That was my last flame-chompers. You know what I am like if I don't have enough flame-chompers." A chuckle is heard from Ekko as he goes around her and takes a seat on the building's edge. Behind him he drags a dirty gray bag, its color similar to the Zaun sky. He reaches inside and pulls out a flame-chomper. Jinx instantly grabs it from his hands as a wide smile spreads across her face. Like a giddy girl with a new toy, she hugs flame-chompers and clips it onto her belt.
"There is more. Everything you asked for." Ekko gestures to the bag in his hand. Jinx squeals and grabs the bag ruthlessly from Ekko. She jumps up and dumps the contents on the roof behind her. She begins to russle through what she claimed now as hers. A dozen new flame-chompers. Four more bands of ammunition for Pow-pow. Wait, are those the new heat-guided bullets? Jinx takes a closer look at the back of one of them. Sure enough, there it was: small, but barely visible circuitry. No one could escape her rain of bullets now. All it needed at this point were explosives inside them to go off in whoever she shoots. She wraps two of the belts across her waste and the last two across her chest. She picks up several packets of ammo for Fishbones which she tucks on her back beside it. Then she picks up the last item sitting on the ground. On first glance, it looks like more ammo for Fishbones, another rocket to be used. But it is slightly larger, slightly different.
"Did you manage to increase the blast radius like I asked?" Jinx asks, as she picks up the rocket and begins to look into its exhaust pipe.
"Even better, I increased the blast radius AND the initial power. It does take some time to rank up though, so it is better to use it from a distance."
"Hah," Jinx smirks, "this is perfect. Exactly what I needed."
"What exactly do you need this for?" Ekko gets up and starts to make his way toward Jinx cautiously. An uneasy tension fills the atmosphere between them for a second. Jinx finishes her inspection of the improved mega rocket, and straps it on her back, facing away from him.
Ekko takes another step forward toward her and Jinx freezes, gazing behind her slightly. She takes a deep breath.
"You know why. I have unfinished business there." Ekko takes one more step and starts to play with her braid. A couple seconds pass, then a couple more. The night takes on a fainter tone and all that can be seen is the two figures in the darkness.
"Jinx, you know you can stay here. You always loved the colors those rats made when you hit them with Zap. And your ideas for what to make have always been endless. Your place is here, in Zaun, with your friends," Ekko hesitates and stops playing with the braid, "with me."
"Ekko..." Jinx breaks away from him and begins to walk across the rooftop.
"Wait, please!" Ekko takes one step in her direction, and once again she stops. "Please, if you could at least let…"
"Hey Fishbones," Jinx interrupts, "will he ever listen?" She turns around and looks straight at him. "You stay here, with your lost children. You protect them. I have work to do, and I am not gonna let you risk it just so you can stay by me." She lets out a menacing laugh for a second and throws her hands up in the air. "Oh god! How many times have you tried to convince me in the last few minutes? How many times have your tried? Twenty? Thirty? I'll replace your time winder with an active flame-chompers if you even try. HAH. You were always something Ekko. You can't protect everyone. We both know that," Ekko looks at his feet, his face hidden in the darkness, "so just let it go! Let me blow some stuff up for once without you adding a safety in everything I use…" Her eyes twinkle as she mentions blowing stuff up. Ekko always loved how passionate she could get. Especially since it was his inventions that made her so satisfied. Although her passion used to be for things other than what it has turned into. He kept his face hidden and turned his back to her. There is no way he can make her stay, not without blowing both of them up.
"I'll miss you, Jinx."
"I know." Jinx turns away from him and disappears among the pipes. But not until a small smile crosses her face. The only genuine one she may ever give, but hidden in the shadows.
And Ekko just sits at the edge of the building again looking down at the remains of the rats below. Alone, his expression somber and unwavered, with one small tear gliding down his cheek to the pipes below.