A/N. EDIT: Well, that's a lot of flames. Seems this one isn't as popular as "Enemy" and all
So much for trying something new.
Read this note, Would You Kindly?
First and foremeost we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't.
Second, this takes place some time before ACT II but AFTER Act I. If folks don't like this, it'll be deleted. Poof! Gone! Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule, I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!
*Still sees a distinct lack of Arcane crossovers*
Alright.
IMMA DO IT AGAIN.
Seriously though, this is the last one for the foreseeable future. This one flips the script. Unlike "Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy" which focuses more on Powder and a possible iteration fo Jinx, this one...well...this one's Pure!Jinx. Chaos, plain and simple.
As a result, this story's far more...visceral than what I usually write. There. You've been warned.
As ever, I own no references quotes, themes or memes.
So in lieu of a long authors note...here...we...go!
"Monster, am I? Perhaps you should speak more softly to me, then.
Monsters...are dangerous. Teeth gone sharp, eyes glowing red.
Monsters feel neither guilt nor remorse. No. They simply kill.
What's that? This is wrong? I shouldn't be this way?
Well! Who's to blame for that, then?! You know.
Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes, again. YOU KNOW.
This is what I could have been...
~?
What Could Have Been
The boy had a hole in his chest.
It was a rather large crater Silco considered; just off center where the lad's lungs and heart ought to be. Now there was nothing but charred skin. A clean strike, through and through, whatever struck him had torn through his orange-on-black jacket, burning and cutting as it went. His clothes hadn't stood a chance; what little remained of that blue-on-orange jumpsuit barely clung to his frame, burnt and singed. There was some irony to be had there given who found, he supposed.
The youth lay there on the table, silent as the grave.
His eyes were closed, almost as if he were sleeping. Another mystery. He didn't know who he was, where he'd come from, much less where he'd been before Singed dragged him here. But he'd seen enough to make his own assumptions. Another life ikely lost in the gutters of the under-city. Lost to the violence. A small distant part of him pitied the youth. The death of a child was never something to be celebrated, unknown or otherwise.
But his presence here begged the question.
Dragging himself away from such maudlin thoughts, he turned from the crimson cadaver and favored Singed with a cross look. The man looked entirely too proud of himself.
"Why show me this?" he flicked a hand at the corpse upon the operating table. "I've no interest in a dead body."
The maimed madman tittered a little. "But that's where you're wrong. He's not dead at all."
Those words hing between them, a guillotine ready to drop.
.
..
...
Silco blinked once. "...what? Have you lost your mind?"
"See for yourself." his personal scientist gestured to the unmoving, unfeeling form. "Look at him."
Mismatching eyes swung to the pale, lifeless body. What of it? Nothing special there. "I see a corpse. Nothing more."
"Yes you do, but this corpse has a pulse." There could be no mistaking the note of glee in his voice. "I found him an alley, heart still beating."
Silco felt his neck creak, such was the force with which he rounded on him. On a whim he reached down and touched a hand to the boy's wrist, pressing his thumb to the vein there. Sure enough, he felt a reedy thump in response. His hand snapped back as if he'd been burned.
That was...that shouldn't be...!
"Impossible." he hissed the word like a curse. "He's dead as dirt with that hole in him. Even a blind man could see that. He can't have a pulse."
"But he does!" Behind that mask, he couldn't see Singed's face, but his good eye crinkled as his smiled. "He may appear dead, but he's quite alive. He just needs a little...kick."
Silco didn't much like the sound of that.
Before he could think to ask what the devil Singed was on about, the masked man reached past him and snatched up a large syringe. A familiar violet fluid lay within. Shimmer. In a single seamless movement the scientist slotted it into the blond's arm. His thumb came down on the stopper and pressed it. The fluid slithered down the injector and into his bloodstream.
"What are you doing?" he snatched his wrist, hauling him away. "We don't have enough Shimmer to waste on the dead!"
Singed only smiled." Wait and see."
Silco released him and reluctantly complied.
Sure enough, his curiosity was reward in due time.
As he looked on aghast, vicious violet veins scrawled across the boy's body. His eyes burst open with a grasp, giving him a glimpse of wild blue eyes. Then then were lost to him rolling in the youth's head as he thrashed furiously upon the table. His restraints snapped like so much rotten rope, sending metal buckles flying in every direction.
One of them grazed Silco's cheek as it hurtled past and slammed into a nearby wall.
From there, the chemical must have awoken something in the boy, stirred it at the very least; because his incredible injury began to mend. Time spun backwards as red light crept up from the strange tattoo etched into his stomach and crawled over the hole in his chest. The boy'd body spasmed on the table anew with a wordless cry. White bone grew over the gap in his chest, followed by organs and muscle, then finally healthy pink skin. Silco wanted to look away, but he couldn't. He saw every moment of it. A bloody mortal wound, gone in no time at all.
Without warning the boy slumped. His eyes glided shut on a groan, head lolling to one side in his slumber. "Hurts...
Definitely alive, then. The dead didn't speak.
Singed smiled. "Marvelous, isn't it?"
Silco swallowed once and wiped a beat of sweat from his head. Not quite the word he'd use. Madness. Witchcraft. Inhuman. Those words flitted through his mind in a storm of mad moths, devouring the carefully ordered tapestry of his thoughts. In their wake, he found himself unable to think, much less speak.
This...he'd never seen the like before. Where to begin?
"He was missing an arm and a leg when I found him." Singed remarked casually, sparing him the indignity of stumbling over his words. "The dogs had gotten to his body, you see." a pause now, as he waited for the words to sink it. "He grew those limbs back overnight."
Silco's gaze snapped back to the boy, more a teen really, and considered him anew.
...what is he?"
"I do not know." the madman confessed. "That's what makes him so interesting."
His body clearly reacted differently to Shimmer than most. Already he could see those purple veins receding as his body metabolized the drug. No excess muscle mass or gray skin. Who was he? He couldn't be much older than Jinx. Maybe a year at a stretch. And yet for all his stillness he'd done the unthinkable.
"The boy woke briefly before you came," Singed prattled on, ignorant to his inner musings. "He babbled some strange things. Chakra, ninja and the like." he pulled forth a diagram from a nearby desk and began to sketch on an adjacent table. I'm afraid the terminology is rather unknown to me."
They were lost on Silco as well. How did a man rise from the grave...?
As though called forth by that very thought, the battered blond sucked in a ragged breath.
"Oh, dear." Singed was already stepping back, seeking the safety of a shelf. "I wouldn't stand too close, were I you. He can be rather volatile at times-
"SASUKE!"
Too late. The boy's back arched with a tortured scream as he bolted upright. Wild blue eyes roved about. A clawed hand shot out, caught Silco by the arm and yanked him down. In an instant, he found himself face to face with a frightful visage. A low growl pierced the air.
"Where am I?"
Silco arched an eyebrow. "You're safe."
"Safe? No, not safe. He killed me." the dazed youth released him and touched touched a hand to his chest, then frowned when he didn't find a hole there. "I died. It was cold. Dark." a shudder passed through him and he hugged both arms to himself. "So cold."
Curiosity reared its head. "Who killed you?"
"Sasuke," the boy choked once, swallowed, then recovered. "He stabbed me." a trembling hand gestured. "Chidori through the chest." He touched a hand to his head. Blue eyes boiled red through the cracks in his fingers. "I though he understood. Everything was going to be alright. How could he?"
There was something about his voice just then, a growl as the red light bubbled about him.
Singed scooted forward and jotted some notes down. "Fascinating...
On that, they were in complete agreement. Zaun could use this. Whatever this "chakra" substance was, it had proven powerful. If weaponized, it could prove even more useful still. Beyond useful. Essential. And even should they fail, they'd already succeeded. Anyone capable of healing like that was more than an asset. They were a prize; one to be protected at all costs.
And yet a thorn of guild pricked his black heart and held him back.
Had he not been betrayed by a man he once called brother? He'd thought of Vander as his own flesh and blood. They were going to change Zaun together. Until he turned on him. Choked him. Drowned him. With time his hatred for the man had dulled; but for this boy the betrayal was all too fresh. More than that. It was raw.
A small sliver of his cold, cold soul empathized with him.
Silco was not a good man. He hadn't been for some time now. But neither could he bring himself to do this. He couldn't chain that boy back to the table. Something told him that any such attempt would render him a red stain on the floor.
Singed made to speak, but a quick wave of the hand silenced him.
"I don't understand." the youth looked up at them with those wide red eyes of his, voice a high warble of confusion. "Why did he kill me?"
Silco's heart twisted painfully in his chest. He had no answers to such a question. Why indeed? He knew not this "Sasuke" fellow; frankly he had no desire to ever meet him.
Then the boy struck the final blow.
"What did I do wrong?"
Urk.
Well, that tore it now, didn't it? Silco knelt slowly, careful not to draw undue attention to himself. The boy watched him like a hawk; ready to bolt at the slightest provocation. He would, too. That eerie red light was still in full flow about him, ready to lash out if he did anything untoward. Unbidden, he found himself reminded of another broken child, one he'd found in a similar situation not so long ago. Well, Jinx might get along with him if nothing else. One could hope...
...what's your name, son.
"Na...Naruto." the boy murmured. "My name's Naruto."
His body betrayed him and moved before he even realized it, hauling the bereft boy into his arms. The youngster stiffened at once, no doubt expecting a knife to the gut. None came. He tucked the little lad into his chest and gave his back an awkward pat. He heard him whimper once before the floodgates opened. Red light sputtered and died as felt the tears soak his coat. Thin arms tightened around him. Yes, he decided. Jinx might well like this one, if only because he was just as broken as she.
"You didn't do anything wrong. Its okay." he murmured over his shoulder. "We'll show them. We will show them all."
The boy sniffled and clung on tight. "Tired...wanna sleep...
"Rest, then. You're home now. I'll take care of you."
A red-rimmed blue eye looked up at him.
Silco patted the boy's head once.
Nothing would be the same.
A/N: To clarify once more! This takes place shortly before ACT II of Arcane, but after ACT I.
As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't.
If folks don't like this, it'll be deleted. Poof! Gone! Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule, I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!
As ever, reviews are my lifeblood. Without them, I cannot write.
So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Revieeeeew, Would You Kindly?
They keeps an old man alive.
And enjoy the previews.
As ever:
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
PLOT DETAILS AHOY!
YE BE WARNED!
Get ready to smile~!
Obvious references are obvious~!
(POTENTIAL!) Previews! What can I say? I've been busy.
"We will show them all."
Her grin was madness itself. "You're broken, too. Like me."
He offered his hand. "Wanna be friends?"
She seized it. "YES!"
Silco considered the scarlet vial, and the searing light within.
This would change verything.
Jinx snorted, blew a strand of blue hair out of her eyes and held up a finger. "Pinky promise?"
Naruto rolled his eyes and hooked his finger with hers. "Yeah, yeah...you're fine just the way you are."
"Liar, liar, pants on fire...hey!" she giggled when yanked her forward and gave her a crushing hug. "Okay, okay! I'll stop! Lemme go!"
"Sister, sister, thought I missed her!"
"Oh, I know all about ya!" a roundhouse caught his chin. He took it, turned, and headbutted her. "You left her! YOU! LEFT! You're not her sister! So piss off! Leave! You'll ruin everything!"
He ducked a punch. A fist swung up, sheathed in crimson. It struck her square in the chin, hurtling her away.
"Leave! Before I sent you back in a bag!"
R&R~!
