Jinx looks into his eyes and sees his trembling hands reaching for the alien device strapped to his torso. The world around her seems empty and voiceless, a blurred mess. Her body is cold, numb, and heavy. He doesn't understand... there's nothing left to fight for. All little that was left she had managed to successfully destroy and ruin. She shifts her gaze away from Ekko, staring blankly into the abyss below. It looks vast, dark, and bottomless—without a glimmer of hope—just like her eyes.
The invisible, crushing weight on her shoulders, which had been dragging her down since that explosion, finally pushes her to her knees. The air grows thick; her vision darkens, and her body sways. But then, there's a sudden grip—a strong arm wraps around her shoulder, cutting through the numbing veil that cloaked her mind. Ekko. He's panting heavily but resolute, his heart pounding after all those mental rollercoasters.
He kneels beside her, half-bent across her, unwilling to let her slip away this time. The room falls into a bitter silence, broken only by his labored breathing.
"Listen… please, can you just step away from the ed—"
"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" Her voice trembles, feeble, like a wounded bird.
"What—what are you…" Ekko stammers, worry etched across his face as he watches the pale silhouette of his old friend, his first companion, his first love, sitting hunched on the ground, her head buried in her hands, her joy and happiness long gone.
He lowers himself to the floor beside her, his arm still firmly around her shoulders. The panic and dread that gripped him moments ago begin to morph into sorrow and regret. Memories flood back—of carefree days spent sketching their next invention out of scraps and garbage. They didn't worry about anything back then.
It hurts to remember, like acid eating through his chest. His throat tightens, and his eyes sting with unshed tears. But he forces himself to exhale deeply, steadying his voice. He has to hold it together. He isn't the one who needs comforting, not now.
"Well, you're not alone…" Ekko says softly, his voice laced with quiet understanding. He doesn't look at her, his lips quivering as he fights to stay calm.
Jinx remains silent, absently tossing the glowing grenade in her hands. The light from it flickers against her pale face, her expression unreadable. Ekko watches her carefully before finally reaching out.
"…Can you hand me that, please?" he asks gently.
Her grip tightens on the device, and she pulls it away from his reach, casting a sharp side-eye in his direction. "Why do you even bother with me?" she snaps weakly, her voice tinged with genuine confusion and faint irritation. "I killed your people. My death would be a pleasant gift for everyone."
That's right, he isn't speaking to Powder right now, the person sitting beside him has once been his mortal enemy, the source of his anger, grief, and misery. But somehow all those feelings were gone, he couldn't comprehend why he was willing to forget all of that, - or was he? He lowers his arm, his gaze dropping to the abyss as he tries to sort through his tangled emotions.
" Since that day at the factory, hundreds of lives have been taken away " , - he begins quietly, " some of them were results of my orders... All those innocent kids, parents, digilent workers and complete strangers were dragged into fighting for their homes; they were forced to relive the pain, suffering, and sacrifice, they were never meant to pick up guns and shoot each other , they should've been enjoying regular, normal lives." He exhales shakily. " I really hated you for all you'd done. But most of all, I hated myself - for not being able to save them, to save you..."
The weight of his words leaves a profound silence between them. Jinx looks at him, her expression softening, perturbed. Something about him is different. He's not the same boy she fought on the bridge.
"But grieving forever won't bring them back," Ekko continues, his voice firm yet gentle. "What they'd want, what they deserve, is for their sacrifices not to be in vain. They wouldn't want us drowning in the shadows of the past. They'd want us to fight—to build a future where no one has to go through what they did. Where no kid has to pick up a weapon again."
Jinx stares at him, his words sinking in. Flashes of a memory surface—a warm, radiant smile. Isha. That little girl, so full of fight and rebellion. Jinx remembers her laughter, her touch, her happiness. Isha wouldn't want her to be like this, so broken, so lost. She'd want her to keep fighting.
He shifts closer, his voice growing more urgent, more heartfelt. "And I can't do that alone, Jinx. I need you. Your ingenuity, your creativity… the way your mind works—it's like no one else I've ever known. You see solutions no one else can, possibilities no one else even imagines. That unpredictability, that explosiveness—it's not a weakness. It's a gift. You are perfect for this. For me."
Her gaze falls onto the device again . The tiny metal monkeys, spiraling inside seem familiar now, like a whisper from her past.
Ekko shifts closer, his voice breaking through her reverie. "Jinx… are you in?"
She hesitates, her grip loosening. For a moment, the only sound is the distant hum of the abyss below. Then, almost imperceptibly, she nods.
"Yeah… I s'pose," she murmurs, her voice barely audible.
Before she can say anything else, Ekko pulls her into a tight embrace. The warmth of it, the sudden rush of emotion, overwhelms her. ...Her chest heaves, and tears spill forth—of relief, of release, of long-buried grief.
Two wandering souls, finally reconciling with each other.