To live or die?
jinx stopped her pacing, a sigh leaving her throat followed by a low chuckle.
standing in front of the mural at Ekko base, she'd made up her mind after thinking about it all day.
Agh. fuck it, you win.
I'll break the cycle, but first—I'll do this.
For vi.
For ekko.
For her parents, all four of them.
For everyone she's ever loved and lost. Silco. Isha.
she'd been breaking her brain apart for a while now, did she have to play the hero? was that her responsibility? did she have to do it?
yes, the answer was yes.
but she wasn't gonna be cought playing a hero, instead—she just thought she'd do the right fucking thing for once.
she decided if anyone cared enough they could think of her as whatever they wanted.
but she was wrong, everyone did care and they saw her as their hero. she was their hero.
jinx had made her decision, because she owed them. owed zaun, and owed herself.
janna, she'd lose count if she actually counted all her debts—it was ridiculous.
so she'd do it, for zaun. because zaun was hers, as it had been Vanders, then silcos.
now it was hers. she didn't quite understand it—the how or why, but the undercity seemed very loyal in the way that they'd follow her. she just had to say the word, give the instructions and lead.
jinx simultaneously decided that the best thing for both cities would be her death.
ekko talked her out of it, gave her a reason to keep on keeping on—but unbeknownst to him, she didn't change her mind. she just wanted to do something good, as her last act. one last fight. one last battle.
then, it's the end for jinx.
with the war approaching, she didn't dwell on it anymore. she'd made her choice, so she'd see it through.
she found ekko, told him her ideas. turning her base into a hot air balloon; give themselves the advantage that way.
he was all but ecstatic. they got to work immediately.
in just a short couple weeks jinx and ekko built weapons, made adjustments to all the hoverboards and built a hot air balloon from what used to be jinx's home.
they spent a lot of time together, but all of it was spent building gadgets and repairing equipment.
ekko wasn't in a hurry to talk to her, he'd always been good with people and he used to know Jinx very well—when she was powder. he believed he had handled her pretty well ever since she walked away from the ledge. he fed and clothed her, kept her distracted with building and tinkering snd they would even make jokes. he thought he knew her, but he didn't.
ekko had all the faith in the world that they had nothing but time, so he didn't worry about it. didn't think about it.
jinx was smart, too smart. that also meant she was stubborn, she would go along with him because her life was shit and she wanted to experience peace once, even if just for a month.
when it was time for action, they prepared everything in advance and set out, blasting music—jinx's idea.
the noxus warmonger came into view and they sprung to action—this was all planned out and everyone had their role to play.
before ekko took off on his hoverboard he was standing next to jinx, who was sitting down with her hood down. nobody had said anything, but sitting in her chair with her name on it, airborne and blading music on a airship she built almost single-handedly and heading to war—jinx looked like she was sitting on a throne, with all of zaun standing behind her.
she'd spoken to him, "don't die."
their eyes met, they both nodded. he wanted to do lots of things, hug her, kiss her, or tell her he loves her.
he wanted to thank her, for being here and for being with him. but he didn't, because he'd have time to later.
then they started.
as jinx was flying the airship, looking over all of piltover and preparing for what was about to go down, she was pumped full of adrenaline and shimmer.
the familiar sound of chaos, of her bullets landing and the joy of winning a fight. she was ready for it.
she was also strangely comforted, something about knowing that this is your last fight made the moment feel...peaceful.
ah, yes. she was at peace.
she felt free.
regardless of the chaos under, jinx appreciated the beautiful view of the skyline. something she'd never done before—she'd always been too busy. too distracted. and if she ever did before she probably cursed at it, cursed that piltover could have a nice view but the undercity couldn't even see the sun most of the time. maybe it was because she knew what came next, that she actually found it freeing to see it now.
she felt...fucking epic.
she raised her gun and started shooting her enemies, careful to not hit Vi who was amongst the fight.
jinx would take all the small wins, every enemy fallen was a win.
her mind was constantly reeling, buzzing.
of course there were some things that she didn't account for, like vander still being alive, cause what the fuck is that about?
when it came down to it, and vi was in danger, she saw it.
the opportunity to do what she'd always wanted to do, for once she'd wanted to protect vi. save vis life, even at the cost of her own. that way maybe vi could forgive her, for everything she'd done.
with that thought, she launched herself once more, the shimmer in her body activating.
she clashed against van—warwick, knocking him down and suddenly they were both falling.
she felt pulling on both ends if her body, Vi gripping her arm and warwick grabbed onto her leg—then he wrapped his claws around her waist.
Jinx and Vi's eyes met, Vi's pleading and so, so sad while Jinx was just happy Vi was the last thing she'd ever see.
Jinx thought for a brief second of what to say, she wanted to say a lot but they didn't have a lot of time. she settled for saying something that would always be true,
"always with you sis."
she removed the hex gem from the gauntlet, her eyes never leaving vi.
she wanted to memorize every detail of her sisters face. jinx was relieved, knowing that her sister would live and be happy.
as she fell to her death, she somehow still had time to think—but not like she usually did. she didn't think of vi or ekko or any other family she'd hurt—or killed. her mind was occupied by nothing of the sort, and she thought of herself. she wasn't sure she had ever, but she thought of all the things she hadn't done.
she'd never eaten a meal in piltover, she'd never had cake, she'd never left zaun or seen any of the outside world.
she'd never had sex, she'd never kissed anyone, she'd never had a crush on anyone.
she'd never be a mother, she'd never be an aunt, she'd never grow old.
what would i be if isha was alive?
or if silco was alive?
can Vi and i truly never be happy in any universe?
am i a curse? or was it hextech?
was i the jinx?
did dying hurt?
pfft, dumb question. even if it did, it couldn't hurt more than living had.
at least in death, the pain would stop.
would vander be proud of me now? would silco?
she looked at warwicks face.
her heart hurt just looking at him, he had been the best parent she knew.
she would put him—and herself out of their misery.
jinx pulled out a bomb and hugged vander with all her strength, she didn't know if vander was even still here but she hoped he could feel her hug.
her tears flew up above them, their weight a lot less than jinx and vander together and her hair whipped in the air.
"i love you dad." she sobbed, and pulled the pin.
before she could think, the bomb went off and she felt warwicks grip tighten around her, then she was flying, but no longer towards the ground. she was going sideways, vander threw her side ways.
she hit the wall, suddenly scrambled for something to grab on to or shield her from the blast.
she grabbed onto a gap in the wall, hurriedly crawling inside before she could burn even more.
as soon as jinx was settled into—a vent?—she damn near lost her fucking mind.
her plans had gone to shit, she was meant to die, but warwick—no, vander?
what the fuck is going on?
did he...save me?
fuck, now i can't even finish the job myself because—
he saved her, vander was dead now and his last act was to save her. how could she possibly die now? that'd be going directly against vanders last wish. he wanted her to live.
fuck. fuck!
jinxs mind was a mess, everything she felt to be true until now had disappeared. she didn't need to make up her mind for a day this time, vander had chosen for her.
she would live.