I am happy to share the second chapter of this fic with you guys !

I love writing it and I'm so inspired by Arcane (and Jinx) at the moment.

Please comment if you want to share your opinion and tell me what you theorize about the future chapters !

Chapter 2 :

Ekko took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He pictured the tragic scene again, the look in her eyes when she decided she would be happier if she was out of this world. And it would be better for everyone.

And somehow, maybe she survived.

There was also the theory that implied a copycat. Someone so inspired and interested that he or she had decided to recreate similar bombs and to launch some deadly attacks.

But somehow, in his heart, he knew it was Jinx.

"Should we go in case they need help ?"

"Not you my boy, you're in no state to move now. I'm going there to check on my old comrades."

A shadow darkened his face for an instant.

"You focus on taking care of your health. You're a valuable asset for what's to come and your people look up to you. I'll be back."

Ekko nodded and smiled to him.

"Take care."

And with that, he watched as his new friend left, hidden in the silk of a dark hoodie he already wore the first time they met.

The young leader sighed and let himself fall on the bed. He closed his eyes and wrapped his face in his arms while letting out an angry moan.

If Jinx was truly responsible for the explosion he heard moments ago, then she had murdered at least a few people. He didn't know them but he hoped that at least Vi was fine. He had not seen her since that night on the bridge. Knowing her and seeing her determination, he could guess that she had not given up on her sister. But maybe it would change after she literally bombed some part of the city.

Ekko had never truly cared about upsiders, mainly because of everything that happened because of them when he was younger. He had just warmed up a tiny bit to Caitlyn, Vi's friend, who was an enforcer that really seemed to empathize and wished to change things.

But the others ? He couldn't care less.

The only thing that bothered him was that innocent people may have died in that event. And he did not wish this fate on anyone.

A wave of realization suddenly hit him : this attack would look bad, reaaaally bad for Zaun.

And even if he did not associate with the rest of the place as he preferred to save people ravaged by shimmer, he was still a part of the undercity. And knowing enforcers and their sick mind … They would surely seek revenge without taking time to assess the situation clearly. Of course if it was really Jinx's doing, she was from Zaun. So they would be right to assume the attack came from below. And they always linked her to Silco, who used to lead the undercity.

Ekko got worried and started moving his legs in sync to evacuate the stress. The pain was starting to be bearable so he would surely be able to walk soon, even if it was with crutches. He decided he would take the chance to check on things from afar as soon as he could. He would borrow a hoverboard to be able to walk less, and he would just visit the place, up in the air, out of reach.

Just to be sure.

Not because he could not stop thinking about her eyes.

--

Jinx had walked for a while without really minding her surroundings or the pain in her legs. A heavy silence made her loud steps even more noticeable. She was humming a song, without really knowing what lyrics she could add. She just had that melody stuck in her head since forever. A story of river and penny.

She started doing some kind of dance while reproducing a plane flying around her. Her mouth formed a "vrrrrroom" to follow her gesture and then she pretended to crash in a loud "boom !".

"Annnd no more council."

The young girl kept walking, spinning from time to time as her braids were getting tangled up around her arms.

"What an amazing bomb it was. Thank you, Fishbones, you finished them."

She stopped to look at the sky, her expression changing from blissful joy to one of deep sorrow for a second.

"I hope you're proud of me, dad."

And sometimes, when she would say this word, another face would show up far in her mind, brown hair and kind eyes that made her feel warm and guilty at the same time.

Who was he again ?

It did not matter.

She kept humming her song and went a bit further before she came to the conclusion that she was bored.

And that was it : the council was blown up. And then what ? Silco had not told her anything passed this point. She felt the panic creeping around her heart strings again, menacing to strangle the blood lines and leave her out of breath. She stopped and sat down, her eyebrows twitching and the corner of her mouth trembling. Jinx was not prepared for the eventuality of losing her father and even though she had always done what she wanted and followed her instincts, he was a figure she learned to lean on and to help while accepting his guidance from time to time.

She realized she was completely alone. Alone with herself, maybe with the voices that had haunted her for years, if they ever came back. The emotions kept hitting her in the guts, reminding her that once again, she had killed someone from her family.

And what should happen, now that her goal was fulfilled ?

She was crushed with the realization that she did not know what to do, or what objective she could follow. Her sister had abandoned her for that Piltover uppie bratty monster. Silco was gone. Everyone hated her.

Everyone except …

" Oooh look who it is. The boy savior."

This whole scene was a blur. She had watched as a grown-up Ekko had freed a clock from his sleeve. One childhood memory after the other, she had explored a part of her mind she had forgotten for a while. After all, he would surely betray her, so she never accepted to speak with him that much. But he was one of the few people that did not aggravated her visions with some strange voices, and it did not hurt. And this small clock had allowed her to understand what he meant without even saying anything.

Powder knew how to play. She knew his movements and reactions just as he knew hers. It had changed because they were stronger, but the choreography was similar.

Powder knew how to win. She had always won.

But somehow, when he had a clear shot to finish him, she could not pull the trigger. Maybe because he was too fast, or maybe because she was tired. She did not want to think about other options.

She remembered his eyes. At first, they were cold, vicious and clearly had some murderous intent. But then, they had changed. Some bittersweetness lost in the chaos had made its way through the thick cloud of smoke surrounding them at the time. And surely, it had made her feel something. Old memories, old emotions, old happiness even.

And suddenly, she had been tired. Tired of hurting, tired of fighting someone that lighted up some kind of good feeling in her heart. Tired of trying to reach her sister, who clearly did not want her. Tired of thinking.

And that was when the bomb went out.

Everything went black, of course, and she should have been dead with a dismembered body to burry. So how was she still alive, even if she was badly hurt ?

She did not want to think about what, or who could have saved her from exploding and getting the ending she wanted as Powder. And in that blurry mind of hers, she thought she had seen him launch the bomb further away with his weapon.

She was mistaking. She had to be.

She could not handle the thought of…

"Oh, I forgot. I killed him too."

A flash lighted up the sky as a storm suddenly formed. Thunder rumbled and pushed Jinx to the edge as she crawled down on the ground, shielding her face with her hands while laughing at the same time. It seemed that every explosion she had ever caused was back to haunt her, and nature was unleashing its furry at the girl who decided that peace and violence could only exist in chaos.

Maybe tears were mixing with the rain pouring on her face, and her purple eyes were not that empty anymore.

--

"Why the fuck am I out here again ?"

Ekko was traveling on his overboard at a slow pace, so he could correct his movements and adapt to the disability that came with his injured leg. He was thankful he had been able to borrow another board to be able to fly as his ride was not completely repaired yet.

He was prepared to go out and search for whatever had launched an explosion on the council, the person that had the crazy idea to blow up the most important part of the upper city.

"Why the fuck am I searching for a murderer ?"

And the rain started pouring while he was away and he was now trying to find his way back in the best shape possible. He went from being worried for some silly reason to wishing he had stayed in his warm bed.

"Now I'm going to catch a cold in addition of my broken bone. Whatever is up there, please help me."

He sighed and kept flying while shielding his face with one arm and focusing his attention on the landscape. Suddenly, some blurry shape caught his attention. It was difficult to analyze the vision as the rain was so heavy it made his eyes blink furiously. He got close enough to get a clear view of the situation and he realized it was a person. Without really thinking, he changed his trajectory to go help, because clearly, she or he seemed in a bad position. Maybe the stranger got hurt, sick, or worse.

But the colors he was able to see as soon as he got close made his heart miss a beat. Only one girl wore long blue hair and some pink and black attire.

He stopped suddenly, mouth shut, heart clenched in a cage too tight for the air to move freely.

She was alive. Or at least she was breathing.

Ekko would have preferred to feel hatred, resentment, sadness.

The first emotion that nearly brought tears to his eyes was relief.