Ding! The elevator had returned. Jinx slid to the side and had her pistol ready as it opened. Empty, the three got in. "Not going to push back too hard about enforcers, but I'm learning more about shades of gray everyday," Jinx said. "Oh, I killed Marcus, by the by."
"Honestly, Powder, I'm trying to get used to the idea of you murdering anyone."
Jinx breathed deeply and looked to the side muttering. Ekko lightly rubbed her forearm. Are they… together now? That could be good, but it would be another big change. "Vi, don't call me Powder. Okay? We'll go over it later. And lately, I've been trying to cut back on the murder. Just ask the Boy Savior."
What? She's resentful from that night. I can't blame her. And she must have done what she needed to do to survive. Maybe she's saying it's not her name because it isn't safe here?
"P– sorry. What alias would you like?"
Her sister shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Crow. Scorpion. The Loose Cannon. The Mad Bomber. The Girl Savior. Little Woman. X. Jinx."
Is she trying to hurt me or herself? The Mad Bomber?! Jinx?!
"I'm not crazy about any of those," Vi replied quietly.
Her sister's fist slammed into the side of the elevator. "Oh, YOU'RE not crazy, huh?! Glad you fared Stillwater so much better than I worried you were."
"Jinx, it's okay. Have Vi create a placeholder for now," Ekko suggested and moved a little closer to her. She seemed to accept it, but Vi's patience was waning.
"Don't call her Jinx. That is not–"
"Jinx is my name, Vi. Powder is gone. There's no prison to get her out of–she's as dead as the siblings she killed."
Vi felt her fist clenching. No. I know my sister. This is payback for that night . Maybe it's fair enough to hurt me. But she isn't gone. She can't be. Not when I'm finally able to fulfill Vander's dying wish and protect her. "I'm not going to call you that."
Jinx got into Vi's face. With her lips curled, eyes narrowed, and brow furrowed, she looked angrier than anytime she could remember Powder ever being. "Well, maybe you should go back to that cell of yours for another seven years then. Or we can just go our separate ways."
"Hey!" Ekko banged the open doors with his club. "If you two are going to kill each other, do it away from Stillwater and away from me. This is our floor." He pushed gently on Vi's shoulder and took Jinx's hand to move them on. "In the meantime, if she were a Firelight fighter, she'd be called 'X'. Can you two live with that?"
"I already offered it, Boy Savior," she answered curtly, but kept hold of his hand. "Really, I should take the spot of whichever one is 'J' anyway. 'X' sounds like a lame attempt at being cool."
Vi sighed. "I guess whatever the names, I can't beat you two together in a fight anymore. I am sorry, X. Stillwater didn't make me less hot headed."
Jinx smiled at that. "No. You did hit me again immediately, after all. I thought I had stayed away long enough."
Vi felt her mouth go dry and her fists clench again. "I am sorry for how I reacted, then and now. I'll work hard to make it up to you." There are a lot of bodies on this trip. Did Powder and Ekko make most of them?
"Let me know what you think of. I've been flirting with atonement too."
Vi relaxed a little. "Oh. Have you been flirting with people too?"
Vi smiled as she could see her younger sister was still teasable when her unbruised pale cheek reddened and she looked down slightly. "Me? Nah. Little Man, though? Total sex fiend."
"Vi, I regret to tell you your sweet little sister has grown into a liar and a snitch," Ekko countered.
"Hmm. If she's snitching, doesn't that imply she's telling the truth?" Vi challenged.
Sighing, Ekko pinched the bridge of his nose in exaggeration. "Perhaps I should have let you two fight after all."
There were some soft laughs. Long time since I've heard that. "I can't fault him drooling over me," Jinx continued. "I mean, come on." She vamped comically by rolling a shoulder and making a pouty face. "But he was ogling an enforcer too."
"No way," Vi replied, tittering. "When did this happen?"
The rest of the walk back was focused on Ekko and Jinx summarizing the making of the rescue plan, the Firelights, and recent events. Powder is avoiding a real big topic. It doesn't sound like she was with Ekko and these Firelights until recently. What has she been doing? Why is she saying she goes by 'Jinx' now?
They arrived at the main hall. Ever-suspicious, Jinx checked the door with pistol ready and saw only one man standing.
"Chum, did the rest of the repair team make it out? Where's Cap Kiramman?"
"They're out and probably on the ferry or just gone. The captain insisted I knock her out to better sell the 'I was under duress story' to the new Sheriff," he explained. He pointed to her unconscious body propped up against a wall near the other enforcers.
"Hmm. Makes sense. She's the one, Vi."
Vi was feeling overwhelmed. The high walls of the inner yard allowed little direct sunlight and even then, it wasn't the same as being free. I'll be breathing free air. I'll be with Powder again. We can defeat Silco after I help her with her problems.
"I'll check on the rest of the Firelights. They're probably nervous after X launched Dystopian Dynasties. We'll get some hoverboards in here. I'll need to blindfold you two again, but that can wait until we get to the pipes."
"Sex Fiend!" Jinx teased as he left, shaking his head in mock exasperation.
Vi looked at the young captain who had almost prevented her freedom and almost made it bloodless. This Caitlyn Kiramman looked familiar somehow. She had an austere beauty. Even unconscious Vi read her as being considerate and understanding, certainly for an enforcer.
"Ekko was right, P–X."
"Criminently!" Jinx exclaimed. "You too? I can't–"
A gunshot rang through the hall. And then another. Blinking, Vi's hand moved to her side. She felt an all too recognizable liquid there. And then the pain.
"Powder," she gasped. Speaking was agony. She felt her sense of balance failing her. Her sister had pulled her pistol in a blink and was yelling at the gunman behind her. Chum, was it?
"NO! YOU put it down now Nick and I'll just execute you!" Jinx was screaming. Her eyes were already watering but her hand looked as steady as a statue.
"I didn't have a choice, Jinx. Silco has so much pressure on me, on my recovery, on my family. I have to kill your sister so you'd come back to him," Nick answered.
Vi would've been off her feet now if Nick hadn't been holding her up. Besides the conversation she heard a disgusting sucking sound from one of the wounds. Still, she felt more nauseous from the conversation. Come back to Silco? She had been with Silco?!
"I know he loves you like my father loves me," Nick continued.
Silco and Powder… love?!
"Well, I KNOW what you're trying to do, Nick. Think I'll start looking away and chatting with ghosts, huh? Think the poor nutty girl is going to break down and cry so you can easily take off? My years with Silco were a cruel jest, not something I'll cry over. Now. PUT! IT! DOWN!"
"My years with Silco." She chose to be with him for years?
"Sorry Jinx, but there will be one more ghost."
Vi had her eyes on Powder, but she closed them and braced herself for a third and final bullet.
Another gunshot and then the thud of a body hitting the floor.
"Caitlyn!" Jinx exclaimed. Vi opened her eyes. "I was wrong. You are beautiful."
She tumbled on her side and then her back to have gravity work against the bleeding from the exit wounds.
"Um, thank you?" Caitlyn said. "I wish I didn't have to kill him."
Vi saw Jinx was standing over her and soon Caitlyn was too. "It's bad. Stay with me, Vi. Please, Janna, please don't leave me," she begged.
The fighter felt her head was becoming as light as a pillow. She heard Ekko calling in and running to them. Powder is safe, but only for now. Nick said Silco loved Powder. That must be a lie, right? That monster couldn't love anyone.
"Frankly, the Piltover hospitals will be busy with the other injured, Caitlyn. And she'll stay free at the hideout," Ekko argued and set a hoverboard down.
"I was blindfolded for the ride, but I could still count. It is too far away and I doubt you have the resources needed," Caitlyn countered and moved to Vi's knees to help move her when ready.
But Powder said she'd been with him for years. Could Powder… could Powder love Silco?! I must know. Vi lifted her bloody right hand to Powder's cheek as she was applying direct pressure to the wounds. Powder stared into her eyes and saw Vi's lips move.
Jinx glanced at the others. "Quiet! Vi needs to speak." She looked back. "Go ahead, but as little as you can."
Vi nodded. "Do…" the word burned her. She would be out and maybe gone soon. "You…" she saw the tears falling from Powder's eyes. "Love…" she continued so weakly, so exhausted.
Her sister nodded vehemently. "Yes. Yes, with all my heart and soul. Nothing is ever going to change that," she pledged.
NO! That can't be true! How can Powder love Silco? The man who killed their family, imprisoned her, poisoned the Lanes. Vi caught Ekko nodding in agreement. Powder must have understood right if Ekko is agreeing.
Defeated, Vi's hand dropped from her little sister's cheek. She couldn't fight the darkness anymore. As she drifted away, she made out a few final statements from Powder.
"I don't like either choice. I will not let her die. I will not lose my sister."