Act III: It's All Under Control

We promised the world we'd tame it (II)

He regrets giving Jinx the additional crystal nearly immediately. She disappears for days, never appears for Council meetings, never participates in any raids. And except for one fever induced glimpse in his convulsions, he doesn't see her at all.

He ignores this at first (she always came back to him after all), focuses on the war efforts. But there was only so much he could spin a stalemate into a victory as winter took hold. Their achievements were to be admired, but he could not hold admiration up against reality. And he could not lose more men, while Piltover could afford to lose thousands.

By day seven, the rumours were swirling again and he is furious. He doesn't know if these were spread by the Topsiders, he only hears that his daughter, his successor, had abandoned him. And always, the pervasive whisper of his parley with the Boy Wonder all those months ago, of why negotiations had collapsed, of the role Jinx had played.

The voices grow louder and louder until they could no longer be ignored. He could only fight so many fires at once.

So, he hobbles into her den (where else could she be?) to scream and shout, and is immediately smacked by loud incoherent music.

He slams the gramophone shut. Because trying to outshout her music is exhausting.

Still, she pretends (she knows he knows she is pretending, and this infuriates him even more) not to hear him.

"JINX!"

She spins around on her stool.

"Yup!"

"Where were you!"

She is tinkering with something as he rants. He doesn't know what it is, only that he is furious, more furious than he has been with her in a long time.

"I was here, relax."

"Here...you...you haven't left?"

"What do you mean! I checked on you at the roof every night! Don't you remember!"

"This is not about me, Jinx! You need food! Sustenance! We talked about this!"

His fury gives way to worry. He can see now that Jinx was in one of her moods, obsessive, excitable, tireless, a phase which would consume her for days. But he had also seen the depths she would crater to after the phase passed, what the lack of food and sleep would do to her.

Jinx reads his mind, shakes a half empty bottle of juice in his face.

"I had juice…"

"Orangeade isn't enough!"

He takes hold of the electricity generator, ready to pull the plug. He is ready to physically haul her out now if he had to, his convulsions be damned.

"Come with me! Now! You can go back to your new gun after you have eaten!"

She is appropriately offended.

"What! I was done with Zap Zap days ago."

She grabs her new gun (he is in no doubt that it is the finest piece of engineering in Zaun right now, he really could not care less) and carefully lines it against a distant switch. One perfect shot, and the travelling bullet flicks the switch upwards.

"See? I got restraint now."

"Restraint is more than a weapon or..."

She grabs his hand tightly, interrupting his little speech. She is trying to calm him, he thinks, and he can feel his anger fading. Still, Jinx was stronger now. She had to understand the intricacies of her role.

So, he pulls away from her. Gentle, but firm.

"I have given you a prominent position beside me, Jinx. You have responsibilities and you cannot abandon..."

Then he is no longer on the floor. He is rising, rising in the air. His mind cannot comprehend this, this is the closest he has felt to a magic trick.

And then he realises that nothing is supporting him. He scrambles for his cane, for Jinx, for anything. Jinx swims towards him (it is the only way he can describe her motions), giggling all the way, and grabs his coat. Pulls him the right side up.

"Relax. You'll get used to it."

"What is...What did you..."

"Hextech! Hexcrystal. Hexsand. Hex...dust. I think I'll call it Hexdust."

Jinx gestures at her contraption (he had long since given up on understanding anything about her devices). Within it, a glowing blue grain, the same blue as the Hextech crystal.

"So I was thinking the other day. I could use the big blue crystal and make another weapon again. But then we would run out. And what if the weapon didn't work like I wanted it to? I wouldn't have another crystal to make another weapon. So I cut the crystal in half. So that I could use it again if the weapon didn't work. Then I thought. Why stop at half? So I cut it again and again and again until it became all sandy."

She reaches into the machine, removes the small grain of Hexdust and drops it into the palm of his hand.

"Hexdust. My new invention."

The magic disappears. He falls towards the ground, Jinx warps forward to catch him. But he doesn't notice it. Doesn't notice anything. The enormity of what she had achieved is slowly sinking in. He looks at the grain in disbelief. No bigger than a grain of sand.

"And each of these are as powerful as a single crystal?"

"Yup!"

Jinx plucks another grain of Hexdust from her worktable and reinserts it into the contraption. It glows blue and Silco feels the now familiar sensation of weightlessness, of being lifted into the air.

"I've been testing them. Over and over. It's aaalll the same."

She dramatically waves her hands at two bottles stuck to her desk, all filled with the same blue dust in the palm of his hand.

"They're all..."

He has to grab hold of Jinx to be sure.

"They're all..."

"Yup!"

"Each grain, as strong as a Hextech weapon powered by a crystal."

"Yup!"

He swims towards the bottles and regards each of them. He can hardly breath.

"This is enough to arm every soldier in Zaun. With Shimmer, we'll be..."

He feels his fingers grow limp at the realisation. The Hexdust in his palm falls away.

"Hey! Will you be careful with that!"

Jinx dives after the grain to retrieve it. But Silco cannot think, his mind is racing, chasing after each thought, each possibility. Until only one conclusion remains.

"Jinx, you've…you've won the war for us."

"I know!"

He bursts out laughing, indulging in something he had kept at bay for so long. Jinx hangs back, stunned. He realises she has never seen him like this before (he cannot remember the last time he has seen himself like this before). So he reaches for her, tries to press his forehead against hers. But he doesn't understand the magic and is soon left spinning in the air.

She starts to laugh, to giggle at how absurd he must look like. And soon, their combined laughter momentarily drowns out the sound of the ticking clock in his mind.

(Breathe Out)

And then for the longest time, nothing but the calm before the storm. As he waits, bides his time until the elements are in his favour. They had stopped infiltrating Piltover, and, except for Jinx's relentless pursuing of the Red Head, what little forces he had sent were instructed to lose every skirmish, yield every battle. He knew what the Topsiders must be thinking, the signal he was sending. He hears the rumblings from the chembarons, the questions being asked.

Still, he waits.

And soon, even Jinx returns to the rafters after weeks of relentlessly pursuing the Red Head across the map, of creating weapons from the Hexdust. The inactivity does not suit her as it did before, she now warps to his desk at the most inopportune moments.

He doesn't mind. He never minds.

"Don't you think it's weird she just disappeared?"

"The Topsiders think we have lost, and so are conserving their forces. Your sister now fights for them. She is bound to their instructions."

She wraps her arms tightly around her knees.

"I just want her voice outta my head."

He smiles. She is taking the initiative now and he is glad.

"Nobody disappears forever. Soon, she will resurface and you can do with her as you like."

She sighs, pokes a finger at the cover of his book to better read the title, he moves to his right, for her to get a better look at it.

"What are you reading?"

"The History of Combat and the Book of War."

"It looks so boring!"

"And yet we must learn from our history."

"Why are you always reading?"

"Because I am not like you, Jinx. I cannot fight. I do not have your skills in gadgetry. What I have is my mind. And my mind is a tool which must be constantly sharpened with books."

"So it's like a hobby?"

"I read because I have to. That is not the same as a hobby."

"Why don't you get a hobby?"

"Hobbies are for the aimless. For people who want to fritter their time away. We are not like that, Jinx. Our time here is limited, and we must make full use of it."

He suddenly wishes he can change the topic. The mention of his limited time has brought his mind's ticking clock to the forefront again.

"Then what do you do for fun?"

"I don't have time for fun..."

Jinx blows a raspberry in response.

"I don't believe you!"

He racks his mind because he knows that Jinx will not relent until he gives her an answer.

"I suppose I draw during some of the more superfluous moments in Council meetings."

She suddenly warps to his face, perched perilously on the handle of his chair. She had been improving on her Shimmer warps lately, so much so that they weren't warps now but teleports. He rolls away before he can stop himself.

"Jinx! Stop doing that!"

"You draw!? Can I see?"

He sifts through his meeting notes, unexpectedly self-conscious. He finds one and shows her from a distance, hoping she would drop the subject.

"I drew this last week."

But distance doesn't stop Jinx now. She warps to his armrest, grabs it for a closer look.

"Is that my Monkey mug? You drew my Monkey mug!"

She takes the Monkey mug from his desk and compares it against his sketch, beaming proudly.

"Yes."

He doesn't understand why she is so proud, but she thinks his sketch hasn't done the mug an injustice, and he slowly relaxes.

She warps to the back of his chair, rests her chin on his shoulder for a closer look, as he flicks through the rest of his meeting notes.

"What's that?"

"A leviathan."

"Like Fishbones!"

"Fishbones is a shark."

"All sea monsters are leviathans."

"That is not strictly true. Only enormous sea creatures are called leviathans."

"Fishbones is ginormous! Wait, what's that? Is that a Yordle?"

He is very indignant at her suggestion.

"That is a cow."

"It looks like a Yordle!"

His drawing of her monkey mug disappears after that day. He later sees it in her den, tacked on the wall in front of her workstation.

Carving lines into you

He is surrounded by darkness for a moment. So he lights his cigar, briefly illuminating the roof of the Last Drop. He can hear the waves, distant as the harbours are. He had not wanted to wait for weeks, to look so weak, but appearances had to be kept, and even he could not control the tides.

And now, as the tides turn, he slows, slows, slows the loud ticking of his mind's clock which has bothered him for more than a year. Slows it until the only clock which matters is the pocket watch in his hand, the only time which matters is the time the second-hand hits 12.

And in his mind's eye, he sees the trap laid before the Topsiders. He hears the rumours that the Zaunites would gather their troops for a last desperate charge on the Bridge. That he would be present himself to call out tactics. That they would all be pumped with Shimmer. The Topsiders would send another battalion. They would not risk Shimmer filled soldiers charging into their precious city.

The initial charge by the Zaunites. They would fail. They were doomed to fail.

Then the faux white flags, Sevika suing for peace. Demanding a duel with their new Sheriff to prevent the loss of more lives. It did not matter if the Sheriff agreed. The Topsiders would stop their charge, drop their weapons to consider.

And their main forces would rise from the wings on those hoverboards pilfered from the Firelights, surround the Topsiders and open fire.

And when the Topsiders scramble, stumble for their weapons, flee, only three options would await them - Zaun, where another force would wait to massacre them, Piltover, where Jinx's bombs would wait, or the waters, where the tides would rip them apart.

He waits. Patiently, calmly. Willing them to win.

And then, explosions in the distance. Smoke so thick and black that even he could see it. Bemused Zaunites on the streets look up, point and stare.

And after that, fireworks. Colourful sparks in the air which light up ever brighter against that dark backdrop of death.

He smiles. He knows he has won.

So here we are reinventing the wheel

He blows smoke rings in the air, watches a battered Sevika light a cigar of her own.

"I hear congratulations are in order."

"This has to be the last time, Silco. We've lost too many to the fighting. We barely have a standing force now."

"This will be the last time. The Topsiders will fall in line. They know they cannot hope to defeat our combination of Shimmer and Hextech."

"They aren't the only ones who need to fall in line. You need to talk to that brat."

He feels his irritation rising. Sevika was growing too accustomed to her power.

"I need to now do I?"

"Someone needs to tell you what's what, Silco. And I rather it be me than another coup by the barons!"

"She executed her part flawlessly."

"She lit the charges too soon and blew us up! I barely got away!"

"And can any of you build better bombs? Design Hextech weapons?"

Sullen silence.

"She won the war for us, Sevika. Do not forget."

A very reluctant nod. Good. She still remembered her place.

"I know what the both of you have done for us, Silco. I can't guarantee that the chem barons will still remember once they take note of the dead."

"See to it that they do."

If it can be touched, then it can be turned (II)

He has maintained a sort of den on the roof of the Last Drop to manage his illness over the past year – blankets, pillow, a monkey thermos (Jinx's repurposed Monkey bombs welded together and presented as a gift) and as he sits on the blankets, as Jinx appears with his assembled syringe, he wonders, for the first time, how long this can possibly last.

"You ready?"

He nods. She plunges the syringes into his arm. He waits. His senses heightened, every twinge, every ache, as they could transform into another convulsion.

Please. Let him celebrate the victory in peace today. Please.

But more than that, he is so tired of bargaining with the world for some rest every night.

Nothing comes. He leans back in relief. As does Jinx.

"I think you're okay."

She prepares to warp away.

"Sit with me for a moment."

She does as she is told (a rarity these days) and sits beside him. They enjoy the small moment, let the chatter on the streets wash over them.

"Is it over, Silco? Did we really win?"

"Yes."

She eases up and leans her head against his shoulder. He takes this opportunity to ask her.

"What happened on the bridge today?"

Jinx instantly warps away, to the furthest corner from him. She crosses her arms and glares at him from a distance.

"Sevika got to you didn't she!"

"Our work will mean nothing if we lose more men, Jinx. The barons will turn against us, victories or not."

"They owe me everything! I won the war for Zaun! You said so!"

"You did. But they will forget that the minute you give them a reason to. It will be your job as leader to remind them never to forget."

"It's not my fault the bombs didn't go off properly."

"Your bombs are too well made to explode on accident."

He gives her the time and space she needs. And when there is still silence, he plunges forward.

"It's your sister, isn't it?"

And the dam bursts.

"She was right there! On the bridge! With my bombs. And she escaped. I don't know why it's so hard to kill her!"

"You must find a way to pursue her without damaging those around you."

"I hear her stupid voice! Every time I see her! And it says...the voice says..."

"Those voices are lies. You know that."

He limps towards her with his cane, kneels with difficulty, and places a hand on her knee. She remains hunched over the ground, sulking, avoiding his gaze. The shadow he casts over the both of them is long, hiding them from the Zaunites below.

"Fight the voices, Jinx. Never let them win."

She warps away, Zap Zap blaster in hand.

If it can be fused, then it can be split (IV)

But it is the Red Head who makes the first move. He had underestimated her desperation, her impudence as she slips into his office, swiftly closing the door behind her.

So very, very much like Vander.

He reaches for the panic button under his desk, for Jinx's monkey to scream and shout at the bar below. The Red Head clocks this. This was Vander's old office and she had likely played on the same desk, as Jinx still did.

"Don't. Don't. I'm just here to talk."

He stops, his finger still on the button. As far as he could tell, the Red Head was unarmed, her Hextech gauntlets were nowhere to be seen.

"Please. Silco, please."

He smiles, he can smell her desperation from his place. Yes, he will hear her out.

"Running errands for the Boy Wonder are you now?"

"I'm not here on behalf of him. I'm here for my sister."

"Why would she go back to you? She is thriving here."

"She's hunting me! Killing innocents everywhere she goes! Cause you told her to!"

"I would never force Jinx to do anything. Everything she does, she does of her own accord."

"Because you guided her down this path! You pulled her into a band of fanatics who kill themselves for you!"

A twinge of annoyance. Was the Red Head trying to get under his skin? Or was she always this slow? So ignorant of his purpose?

"They die in Zaun's name."

"You've already won your damned war, Silco! You don't need to pretend!"

He feels his blood boil. Her words could be from Vander's. His finger lingers over the button.

"Be very careful what you say next, girl."

Her eyes travel to his desk and her shoulders slump. Almost as if she finally remembers the current balance of power.

Good.

"You don't need her anymore. Please. Just let her go."

He decides to humour her, curious as to her plan.

"And what will you do with her?"

She actually straightens before his eyes, as if believing she had a chance.

"There's a ship leaving Piltover tonight. I'll take her away. I...I...I...You'll never see us again. I won't cause any more trouble. I promise."

"She won't survive a day with you."

"I looked out for her when she was little! You think I don't know what it's like!?"

And he snaps. The Red Head knew nothing.

"You did nothing but abandon her! I had to pick up the pieces! I was there when she heard the voices. I was there when she refused to eat. I was there when the night terrors haunted her for weeks! You want Powder. You want to take her home and pretend that everything will be alright. It won't be. She will break and you won't know what to do with her! "

"I'll help her! I'll love her no matter who she is! I'm her sister!"

"Preaching love is not enough! You know nothing about Jinx! You want to force her down a path she despises. And when you see her lost and broken, you will give up and you will discard her like what you did that night!"

And he is suddenly looking down the barrel of a shaking gun, the Red Head's finger on the trigger. All he can do is laugh. Was she so guided by emotion over everything?

"Let her go. You let her go right now."

"I burnt both our cities to the ground to protect her. And you think I am afraid of your little gun?"

"I'll...I'll tell them what you did. I'll tell them you started a war for her. I'll confirm the rumours. I was born here. They'll listen to me. They'll kill you."

"And you know what they will do to her once they find out. What both cities will do to her. A lifetime of being hunted, or of being locked up and observed by the Academy scientists for her Shimmer enhanced capabilities like some freak!"

He slams his hand on the table, ignores the jolt of pain travelling up his arm.

"To use that threat against me! And you dare call yourself her sister!"

The Red Head holds the gun against him a second longer than he expected. He pushes the button slightly.

Perhaps she clocks his movement, or perhaps she finally comes to her senses. But she lowers the gun, defeated. And he relaxes his finger.

"I just want to talk to her. Please. I just want to talk to my sister."

"But does she want to speak to you?"

The Red Head hangs her head, defeated. A long moment, where he considers ending the conversation, considers hitting the button under his desk.

But she notices his ash tray and her expression softens.

"She made this?"

She extends her arm, then remembers herself. A small smile plays on her lips.

"She always loved doing this when we were kids. Crafting. Drawing."

The same smile plays on his lips.

"I have never seen anyone do it better."

He could not help himself. He had not never been able to share his pride of Jinx's art with anyone but Jinx for fear of being regarded as weak.

Her smile grows wider. An infinitesimal connection between both. He sees her eyes land on his Monkey mug, the plush doll beside it.

"These are all hers?"

"Yes."

"And you left them all on your desk..."

"Of course. These were her gifts, naturally she could choose where she wanted me to place them."

And finally, finally she understands.

"You...You really think...You really think you're her father."

And he bursts out, frustrated that he still has to clarify this.

"I don't think I'm her father, I am her father! She's the only family I've got!"

But then, clarity he never expected from the Red Head.

"You're alone. You're alone and you're terrified of losing her."

He is shaken at the truth she brandishes before him, angry at himself for revealing so much. So he twists the knife. Because he would not lose to Vander's daughter.

"Do not talk about things you do not understand, girl. I am a far better father than Vander ever was for Jinx."

This triggers her beyond all measure. She slams her fists on his desk, nearly breaks the ash tray in half.

"Don't say his name!"

He pulls the ash tray away from her.

"Why? Why is he so righteous in your eyes? Jinx built the same bombs under his watch. Jinx stole under him, robbed under him, shot guns under him, kicked and punched and bit and scrapped under him. And you blame me."

Her fists clench themselves, crumpling and tearing the papers under it. He is getting under her skin, and he revels in that, recovers from his moment of weakness.

"Jinx needed you from the start and none of you bothered to even look at her. You were each too preoccupied to see it, too selfish to help her. I stepped in to pick up the pieces. I taught her how to fend off her monsters. I made her strong. So tell me. How am I worse than Vand..."

And she is on him, her hands reaching across his desk, gripping his throat. Lightning fast. No time for the button or Vander's knife.

Just as the door bursts open and Jinx warps in.

"Did like you said, Silco. Trained the babies. Careful. Precise. Boring."

She sees the both of them, frozen in time, her hands around his throat, the absurdity of the situation. One long moment of silence.

Then Red Head leaves him just as quickly as she came for him. She grabs Jinx's arm in one last desperate attempt.

"Powder, please. Let's just go."

Jinx jerks her hand away from the Red Head, pushes her away. She slams into his desk and he is suddenly on the floor. He struggles to stand, but he cannot find his bearings, can hardly hear anything, can only glance at the duelling sisters through the gaps between his desk and the floor. It is impossible to see who is winning, only that Jinx has lost her Zap Zap blaster. But he knows that they are too close for any of Jinx's bombs, that the Red Head has an advantage with her fists. That Jinx was still standing, still weaving on the floor could only mean that the Red Head was pulling her punches.

And he finally manages to lean against his chair to lift his body up. His joints protest at his exertion. And their voices sharpen themselves. He hears the Red Head, pleading, begging. Jinx screaming, fighting to kill. His men trying to break in from the other side of the door.

He scrambles, stumbles, nearly trips over himself as he tries to avoid the flying debris, the wood splinters and remains of his documents. But he manages to make it to one of his bookshelves. He slams his fist on a hidden switch. The shelf swings open to reveal a recess in the wall. Within it, gold coins, counterfeit travelling papers, vats of Shimmer and Pow Pow.

The mini gun was too precious for him to simply discard, yet it had become another monster which plagued Jinx's nightmares. And so it had remained hidden behind his shelf, something he wanted to resolve, but never found the solution for.

"JINX!"

And he could see now that he was never supposed to resolve it, that the only solution was to bide his time, to wait.

There are no nightmares when she hears his voice and sees her old mini gun, only a bloody-minded resolution. She warps towards it, brandishes the mini gun, aims it at the charging Red Head.

Perhaps the Red Head realises the danger she is in, for she finally retaliates, covers the distance and punches Jinx out of the way. Jinx flies one way, Pow Pow, the other. The Red Head bears down, grabs her braids, and drags her on the floor.

"You're coming with me!"

Jinx beats her hands away, the Red Head loses her grip. Jinx scrambles to her feet...

The Red Head grabs Jinx's throat, punches her again and breaks her nose. Blood flows freely, followed, inexplicably, by tears.

The Red Head stops, eyes wide, fist frozen in mid-air.

And he sees the grip of Jinx's Zap Zap blaster in the rubble, so tantalizingly close. Jinx and the Red Head do not notice, they are both stock still, as if locked in time.

So he totters, slips, finally reaches the blaster and swipes it from the ground. He does not have time to think or to aim down the sights. All he can do is swing the gun at the general direction of the Red Head and pull the trigger.

The Red Head turns in slow motion at the sound of the shot, Jinx stops struggling, can only watch.

The bullet sails harmlessly pass the Red Head's shoulder, embeds itself into the wall behind her.

He never expected the bullet to reach the Red Head. His hands were shaking from the exertion, he had not fired a gun in more than a year, he knew he would need a miracle for it to do so. The Red Head rips the gun from him and clenches her fist. He instantly feels his ribs break under her punch, the blood on his lips, his wind knocked out of him. He is no match, why would he be, and is swung across the room for his troubles.

Jinx screams. He has finally given her the opening she needs. She barrels into the Red Head, knocks her to the ground. Then pulls Pow Pow at her head.

The Red Head looks at Jinx, at her cold dead eyes filled with rage, chest heaving with emotion. Then at him. And in that one second, they both understand.

He has won.

"Do it! Jinx, do it!"

She pulls the trigger at point blank range. It should have been enough. The bullets should have ripped the Red Head apart.

But the Red Head slams both fists against the floor. The floor breaks under her and she disappears through the black hole. The bullets sail across her, harmlessly bury themselves in the wall opposite.

She later presses an ice pack against her broken nose, dripping blood and water on his papers. He gingerly dabs at his bloody mouth with a handkerchief. It hurt to lift his arm, even to breath (although he would never admit it). Someone offers him an ice pack; he grits his teeth and shakes his head. He would visit Singed later, but he would not show any weakness now, not in front of so many.

A few workmen are already well on their way to repairing his damaged floor. One of his enforcers shuffles in, head bowed, terrified of them both.

"Sorry, sir. We chased her to the sewers but we couldn't see where she...sorry, sir."

She flies into a rage, drives both fists into one of his bookshelves and sends it flying against the wall as if it were cardboard.

They flee in terror. Except him. He limps towards Pow Pow, he kneels to pick up its handle, then, with immense difficulty starts to drag it back to her. But he overestimates the little physical strength he has left, and soon has to stop to catch his breath. Five steps, he thinks. How could he reach Singed if he could only manage five steps?

Jinx's hand closes over his own, interrupting his thoughts. She lifts him up from the ground, then picks up Pow Pow herself.

"I'll kill her."

Her voice, previously a scream, is now cold. He lifts his arm with difficulty. She knows what he wants to do and so she brings her head close, presses her forehead against his. He closes his eyes.

"I know, Jinx. I know."