THE BEAST

The Smell always drove it.

The Smell that was always more acute than it's thoughts or even it's reflexes. The walls of stone, iron and glass always acted as the obstacle, always having it have to solve it like a lab rat would a labyrinth. The Smell made it easier to solve.

The Smell of something. Something to devour. Something that simply shouldn't be there.

The Wail meant nothing, when the Smell guided it as easily. The Sight just confirmed what the Something was. It only made the Hunger all the more palpable and welcoming.

The Something was easier to find in an alley, whose shadows and pollution made easier for it to hide. The Something indeed had Someone else along. On Something's grip, clearly struggling to break free.

"Let me go!", she said, in panic. She had that Smell.

That Smell was drawn from her by the Something, when she resisted. That's when it knew she was no fool. The Something was, just as all other things were when they drew that Smell, which made it crave more. Beyond reason. Beyond sanity.

Animal instinct.

"Cry all you want, no one gives a damn to come here.", the Something said, clearly about to savor the moment. Just as It was going to savor the moment as well.

A second was taken between the growl behind the Something and the pull of it's claws to stab and grab the aggressive deviant, throw it against the wall and then let the Teeth finish the job.

The victim, a girl returning home in her twenty-threes, froze at the sight of the thing fulfilling it's savage nature. She should be thankful, but couldn't. She could be thankful to a brave man, but this wasn't clearly the case.

Her 'savior' was anything BUT a man.

"Run.", the Beast growled, clearly enough, something clearly disturbing the beast from within. "RUN!"

The Beast's words were enough. The girl started to run and Wail, in abject panic, towards the street. She feared it. They all feared it. As they should.

The beast simply went backwards and dragged the molester's corpse deeper into the alley.

A howl echoed across the street. An unnatural one.

The Smell always drove it.

JINX

For one whom could know study them well enough, bugs and insects could tell a lot.

In particular where they nest the best.

Of course, Jinx never studied them well, the bombs and machines were her primary passion. But other people did, and there was nothing quite like kind words and a pistol aimed and ready to fire, to provide such a valuable information. The insect species, in this case, flourished the most near tree-life.

And, of course, up until that day, the very bug in Jinx's hand that always skulked around her hideout didn't seem of much use to her. Until now. That bug was mostly seen alongside some of the Firelights she dusted, something supposedly curious. One didn't need to be a genius to connect the dots, but most apparently weren't interesting, but now that the supposed 'hero' of the Firelights was now aspiring for something way out of his league, Jinx felt the time had at last come.

The latest lead led to a particular spot between the industrial sector and an elevator leading topside to where the docks were, a convenient source of water still to cross the pollution of Zaun. Fitting enough. Of course, the insect seemed more lively in Jinx' hand, but she wasn't just going to let it go, yet. It could find the entrance or at best the closest spot, but that'd tip off that she was there, or at least someone which looked like a Firelight - making those awful coats and masks was easy - but truly wasn't.

And of course, both the Mylo and the Claggor were annoying her all the way.

The Silco and the Vander, luckily, usually kept their quiet in these sorts of things.

This spot, if some of the local folks' tales were right, was apparently an old large waterworks facility, meant to collect and process water from above as a public resource for Zaun. Of course, that was before the Chem-Barons decided to open other 'venues', taking the water and processing it themselves to sell it for a price, forcing a shutdown of the plant.

Of course it'd be the ideal hideout for those annoying rapscallions... All Jinx needed was for the bug to confirm it. That was why she was wandering around and maybe waiting for something, or better, someone to lead her way in.

A brief flash of green light in a corner was all it took for her to notice. She bolted towards it's direction to realize a lone Firelight flying off and away from a sewage exit. Probably on patrol or out to get supplies. Made sense, she doubted they were THAT much self-sufficient. That was all what Jinx needed to walk in, full-on disguise and everything, and walk deep into the nigh dark entrance, until she accidentally hit something on the way, in which she fell down. Something like a barrier.

A small noise indicating something or someone on the other side was opening a peephole to check out whom it was made Jinx stay down.

She didn't have to know what was on the other side. She knew she hit the jackpot. That's why she waited until the peephole closed, then just a little bit, and then got up and banged twice on the door.

"Nills?", a voice, a young male one, by the tone of it, asked. "Back already?"

Jinx banged twice again. The peephole opened, but she made sure she wasn't seen. Even though she was disguised, maybe the guard knew this 'Nills' too well to know she wasn't him. Maybe he knew every other stupid Firelight enough to catch a fake member.

"Nills, that ain't funny, you forgot something?", the voice asked again. Jinx banged twice again after a while.

The metal obstacle started rolling to the side. The window, more like a door opened.

"Dammit, what is it you wan-", the guard asked.

And she quickly enough went through it and pinned the guard, definitely a young one in a mask, against the door, first knocking him, than grabbing his throat so he wouldn't scream, and then pinning him to the ground and punching him repeatedly.

'I think that does it.', the Silco in her guided her. 'Remember why you're here.'

He was right, as always. Though she'd love to make a corpse here, that wasn't in the original goal. Too soon.

She immediately rolled the door back closed and dragged the unconscious guard to a corner, making him look like he fell asleep. The reaction would be hilarious to see. Pity she'd be gone after she was done there.

A quick glance of the surroundings, noticing most lights were off and almost no one in patrol made her confident enough to remove that stupid mask, useful as it was, and the coat, letting her body and hair, sidearm, Pow-Pow and Fishbones, all free once again.

She started noticing the Firelight's supposed hideout, which was surprisingly neat. A really huge treehouse in the center, on a legitimate tree, some makeshift housing, some colors that looked pretty in daylight. That did impress her, while not being as badass as her hideout, by a turbine. At least, as much of a self-righteous douche as he became now, Ekko did make some decent living out for himself. Her hand went light, releasing the insect whom was flying towards it.

'What, getting ideas of going Firelame, now?', asked the Mylo, out of the blue.

'We should get going...', the Claggor suggested, right away.

Jinx grunted and brushed them off, but sadly - what she hated the most - they were right. This wasn't the time to admire the scenery, she had to deliver a message to Ekko and his band. Her mind started to working on how to best draw the attention. Perhaps the tree could the key. Set some flames they could put out easily, she could find some inflammable material lying around. Some vandalism in some places would be neat as well. All to be set off with some well-placed Chompers as the wake-up call.

Shooting the place was tempting, scare them up a bit. But then, someone might get hit, and wounding people probably wasn't the best way to draw the little man out, the way she intended. He'd more likely dig in to protect everyone. He was still 'Boy Savior', after all...

Jinx started going clockwise around the tree, exploring the surroundings. Didn't look like much, except for one corner which lied what was apparently their workshop, with a line of those pesky flying boards in a corner. She took a small glance and then moved on. A small storage room was also close by, with some materials she could use. Most of the makeshift houses on the corner seemed to be that, just houses.

No defenses, no armory, no other guards but the one she smacked, not a single trap. While that definitely worked in Jinx' favor, that was disappointing as well. After all this was a group of people which had been a thorn on her side since her days with living Silco. Ekko came close to eighty-sixting her. Compared to this, Piltover as a whole looked like a well-guarded stronghold.

Well, that would be fixed soon enough, after her visit. If anything, Ekko would thank her, she was doing him a favor of all things.

That and a lesson he'd never forget.

Her walking came to a halt as she looked a bit towards the tree, almost close to the entrance she came from, noticing the artwork mural. The mural with all those faces painted in it.

The faces of Vi, some she didn't knew, and even that girl from Progress Day she mistook for Vi before shooting her face.

And the faces that immediately triggered the reaction Jinx definitely didn't want at the time, almost waking those demons hounding her since that tea party at the ruined cannery.

The faces of Vander, Mylo and Claggor, from how they were before that day. Each one awakening her trauma.

Her face of childhood. The face which led her to that state.

"No. No, no, no, no, no...", she muttered, nervous, her heart racing, looking downwards. She could feel them, taking all those monstrous forms again, encroaching on her. Right at the worse possible time.

'How kind of Ekko, he remembers us.'

'He was nice, better than you.'

'All this because of what you did...'

'Should've been him with us instead of you.'

"Shut up, shut up!", Jinx whispered, trying to keep control, ventilating. The monsters kept coming closer. Surrounding her.

'No, we won't, you had it coming and you'll ever will!'

'He cared for you, you never noticed him.'

'He's the same he always was and still you tried to kill him.'

The monsters grew too large, now, blending with each other. She was trying to hold her scream, but it was on her breaking point, the flashes not stopping.

'ENOUGH!'

A final big flash hit her.

Jinx' eyes opened, and there was silence.

His voice. He shut them. The monstrous forms were gone.

She could breathe once again. "Thank you...", she whispered, closing her eyes again in relief. "Thank you so much..."

She tried rising her eyes, but immediately realized that'd mean staring at that mural again. Something she didn't have to. She covered her eyesight as she got on her feet, keeping a frail stance.

It seemed nothing happened for a few seconds. No attention drawn. That was too close for comfort.

'That whelp...', the voice of Silco within her spoke, full of spite. 'Drawing those faces, harkening to a past of failure, of nothing, of pain! Focusing too much on what WAS instead of what COULD HAVE been! Blinding him to what's around him, now!'

"You're right...", Jinx replied, getting on her feet while still blocking the sight of the mural with her hand. "That's sick..."

'The dead must remain dead.', the Silco spoke. 'This is why I bid you to let Powder die, as I've let my past die.'

"Powder fell down a well...", Jinx repeated it, as like a mantra.

'You are Jinx, now. Jinx is perfect. You're perfect. Everyone betrays us. And Ekko just betrayed you, betrayed all you suffered, with this act of enshrining past. Enshrining failure. Enshrining pain. He's no better than Vander.'

Her breath now under control, her pink eyes shined further towards a fierce expression, one of resolve.

'You can do better than he ever will. Just overcome this, Jinx, and you'll show him. We'll show them all.'

Her hand lowered as her sight went up front.

This was it. Here's where she'd start.

"Lemme show ya some REAL art... Boy Savior.", she growled, in spite.

Note:

There is a rule of mine concerning this story - these are *Scenes* being described here, and there'll be a new one everyday. An exception might be made in case one is indeed too small that's better off fit in. The one with 'The Beast' is one such example of exception. Otherwise, the chapters will revolve around a particular character or situation to avoid getting lost.