"I did what!?"
Quick note: Everything in italics and bold are thoughts and can be heard by those present. Isha's dialogues are all in sign language. :)
The adult Vi felt a pressure in her chest, her niece had hit her with the force of a little girl but still, Isha had looked at her with so much anger and fear that it scared her. What had happened? What had she done to her niece to make her react like that? And not just to her, but to Caitlyn as well.
She wanted to ask Ekko who seemed to know the reason but she didn't, he was too focused on Isha and it was understandable she was an adorable girl. Isha looked a lot like Powder/Jinx, with her little blue curls, she wanted to hug her but she didn't want to be hit again.
"Isha do you remember where you were before coming here?" Ekko asked the little girl on his lap.
Isha nodded with a smile. "I was with Mommy and with..." She stopped and didn't continue the sentence, she simply shrugged.
The adults in the room looked at her in confusion, especially Ekko.
"Who was the other person?" Ekko asked trying to look her in the eyes but just like Jinx when she was little she looked away, she was going to lie.
"With Aunt Sevika," Isha replied with a smile without looking at her father.
Ekko noticed that she lied but why did she have to lie? Who was she with? Was that person someone dangerous and that's why she couldn't tell him? He gulped before nodding, accepting his daughter's answer for now. He briefly glanced at Vander and adult Vi who had noticed that Isha had lied, both of them equally filled with questions.
Before they could continue talking the projector turned on again scaring Isha.
"What's that?" Isha asked, clinging to her father's chest who held her gently.
"That's a projector, until now it was showing us your mommy." Ekko said in a soft voice, he just hoped that they wouldn't show any strong scenes so Isha wouldn't get distressed but that seemed impossible.
"Are we going to see Mommy?" Isha asked with shining eyes.
Ekko smiled, he was captivated by his daughter, she was so sweet, she was better than he had imagined. She was truly the unbroken version of him and Jinx, he wanted it to stay that way. "Yes, we will see her."
Isha gasped excitedly, her little hands squeezing her bunny and she looked at the projector with bright eyes.
The scene began with an empty, dirty alley, green smoke completely covering the place.
"What's that?" Powder asked confused.
Vander looked at that alley with a pressure in his chest. "It looks like it's the grey but that can't be."
"The grey?" Ekko said worriedly. That toxic smoke that only rested in the depths of Zaun, which had long since receded from the higher parts of the city.
A door in the alley swung open and out came Jinx with what looked like a gift in her arms, she was coughing and gasping for breath.
Isha looked at the projection scared, that strange smoke had made her cough but she didn't know that it had also made her mommy cough.
Ekko pulled Isha to his chest seeing that she was scared, he was a little too, Jinx's eyes were pink now and were irritated by the smoke, she looked like she was suffocating.
"The smoke is choking her." The teenage Vi said quietly, she didn't know what grey felt like but it looked horrible.
"I don't like this." Powder whispered, hugging the teenage Vi.
Jinx coughed uncontrollably, her arms hugging the gift, she fell to her knees weakly and tears began to fall from her eyes. No, it can't be, she can't... No...
She began to shake her head, her crying increasing now screams were coming out of her mouth and more coughs.
"No! No! No!" Jinx screamed, trying to get up from the ground.
"What's wrong with mommy?" Isha asked with tears in her eyes, she wanted to hug her.
Ekko looked at her, not knowing what to say other than trying to comfort his daughter. "I don't know, but everything will be okay, okay?"
He was very worried, Jinx's crying was digging into his chest, she didn't seem to be crying because of the grey, it seemed like it was something else.
Jinx got up from the ground on shaky legs still crying, she started running to the end of the alley she could only think about getting home to Isha, she could only wonder if her bunny was okay. That simple thought kept her on her feet and gave her strength to keep running, she had to make sure the grey hadn't affected her baby.
Vander smiled slightly, his daughter loved Isha so much, Jinx's change was noticeable between the first scene and this one, she looked more vulnerable, softer.
Jinx in her desperation and anguish did not notice the man around the corner of the alley. The man was eating a skewer of what looked like seafood, he threw his food down and quickly punched Jinx in the face, knocking her down.
Everyone was startled.
Isha hid her face in Ekko's chest who hugged her tightly trying to comfort her.
"Who the fuck is that guy?" Mylo asked out loud.
Jinx fell hard to the ground, dropping the gift in her arms. Angry, she tried to shoot the man, but he kicked her gun away. Another man wearing a hat approached her, grabbed her two pigtails roughly and cornered her against the alley wall.
"Baby blue." Smeech said from one of the low roofs in the alley, he crawled down the pipes like a spider. "Right through their fingers. You must be part eel."
"Smeech." Ekko said in disgust. He hated that rat bastard, if he could he would give him a few good beatings.
"Who is he?" Claggor asked.
"He's one of Zaun's chem-barons, working with Silco." Ekko replied, gently rocking Isha.
"What's a chem-baron?" Vander asked worriedly.
Ekko sighed. "They're basically crime lords who control different parts of the city. Silco is their leader."
Isha pulled away from her father's chest upon hearing her grandfather's name. "Do you know grandpa?"
Ekko looked at her confused until he realized that she wasn't talking about Vander but about Silco and it was like a punch in his stomach, Silco was really his daughter's grandfather. "Yeah, something like that."
Isha looked at him with bright eyes and smiled. "I miss him so much but mommy says we'll see him again someday."
Ekko looked at her in surprise at her words, it almost sounded like Silco had died.
Smeech's thugs held Jinx down as she tried to break free.
Smeech made a noise with his mouth. "They want you alive." He said expanding the robotic part of his arm to take out what looked like a needle and brought it close to almost touching Jinx's pink eye. "But don't think I won't skewer out those peepers. Drawback of you long-range types. Me? I'm the kind of guy who likes to get in close."
"That's too close to her eye." Adult Vi said, looking away for a moment. She had seen worse things, but that was her little sister.
"Never thought I'd catch you blubbering." He said with a mocking laugh. "Wonder if Silco even saw that."
Jinx opened her eyes fearlessly, bringing her face close enough for the needle to almost touch her eye. "Twice. When he met me and when I killed him."
Gasps of surprise quickly filled the room.
Adult Vi felt an almost euphoric joy, Silco was dead, he was finally dead and not only that, Jinx had killed him. That made her happier than anything.
Vander looked at the projection, unable to believe what he had heard. Despite everything that had happened, Silco was still his brother, and his death, whether he wanted to admit it or not, hurt him. But there was one detail that bothered him: Jinx had killed him... That didn't sound right, he had seen how much she loved Silco, what had happened?
Ekko tried his best to stop himself from smiling when he heard that Silco died even a little at the sight of his daughter's teary brown eyes and he felt like an idiot. His daughter was obviously grieving the death of that horrible man, she loved him, she grew up with him and he was her grandfather, and here was Ekko about to smile at his death. And apparently Jinx had killed him, after everything that had happened between them in the past he never thought she would do that.
"You?" Smeech asked, retracting the needle in surprise.
"It's always me. Whether I'm pulling the pin or not, everyone who gets close to me dies. Wanna know the real kicker?" Jinx asked, leaning close to his ear, Her pink eyes began to sparkle. "You're the kind of guy who likes to get in close."
"What's wrong with her eyes?" little Ekko asked curiously.
"Maybe it's the shimmer," Caitlyn said, feeling uneasy about Jinx's pink eyes.
Smeech suddenly stepped back in fear, looking at his thugs who prepared to knock out Jinx but before they could do so one of their hats was shot off. Sevika emerged from the smoke, pointing Jinx's gun at them.
"I never thought I'd be grateful to see Sevika," the adult Vi said with a laugh.
The blades on Smeech's robotic arm began to spin rapidly, thus avoiding Sevika's next shot. None of Sevika's shots hit their target, causing Smeech to laugh mockingly.
"I take it back, the idiot doesn't know how to shoot." Said the adult Vi, looking annoyed at Sevika in the projection.
"You don't know either." Powder said, teenage Vi had poor aim and she had no doubt that adult Vi was the same.
"And how do you know I didn't change that?" Adult Vi asked, playing along, seeing Powder still warming her heart.
"You did it?" Powder asked arrogantly knowing the answer.
The adult Vi looked at her with a frown and did not answer, she still did not know.
Jinx took advantage of the distraction, slipped past the thugs to the gift lying on the ground and threw it to Sevika, who gave her her gun and took the gift. Sevika looked at the gift in surprise, it was a new arm. Jinx grabbed her gun and without looking she shot three times at the thug who was going to attack her.
"She did it without looking at him," Caitlyn said in surprise. She never missed a shot, but she couldn't do it without looking at her target. She wished she could.
Powder looked with shining eyes at Jinx in the projection, she no longer cared that she was killing people, she looked so strong and powerful, Powder wanted that.
Sevika put on her new arm which lit up giving off lights, fire and pink and blue smoke, where the hand was supposed to be was a shark maw with sharp teeth made of metal. Sevika looked at her arm and then looked at Jinx, already tired of her, the blue-haired girl just shrugged, disinterested in her opinion.
"Now that's a big arm." Little Ekko said, impressed with what Jinx had built.
Despite everything, Ekko couldn't help but think how pretty Jinx looked with her two low pigtails that almost dragged along the ground, she was wearing a leather crop top with slits on the sides of her breasts, paint-stained short with torn black fishnet stockings.
Jinx quickly turned around dodging the thug's attacks, her eyes leaving a pink electric trail. Her gun was out of bullets so she dodged until her boot stepped on the food on the floor causing her to trip and crash into the wall, she quickly dodged the punch and prepared to hit him but then a grenade with a colorful smiley face on it crashed into the head of Smeech's thug. The grenade exploded into a pink and blue glitter powder.
Jinx took advantage of that distraction to reload her gun and pointed it at the back of his neck, she took off the safety and the man barely had time to react before she shot him in the head.
"Did Sevika throw that grenade?" the teenage Vi asked confused.
The man fell dead, revealing a little Isha wearing a colorful vest, her mining helmet, colorful leggings and her shoes with lights. She looked shyly at her mom, who looked at her a little annoyed but Jinx was glad to see that she was okay.
"Oh." The teenage Vi said, seeing her question answered.
Ekko looked worriedly at Isha. "What were you doing there? It's dangerous."
Isha looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. "I went with Aunt Sevika to help Mommy."
Ekko sighed, nodding his head, Jinx and Isha would give him a heart attack. He could only be thankful that his hair was white so the gray hairs that the two girls would pull out of him wouldn't be noticeable.
Jinx made a playful hand gesture. "Pow." Making Isha laugh as she saw that her mommy wasn't that upset with her.
Isha smiled big and made the same playful gesture as her mommy. "Pew."
Smeech savagely attacked Sevika who barely dodged him, panting she looked at Jinx who waved to her and she looked at her arm and realized, it was a slot machine. She quickly activated the machine, causing the shark maw to fly out of the arm trying to bite but it came back with nothing and when it collided with Sevika's arm a song came out. The older woman sighed and looked fed up at Jinx who danced a little, smiling mockingly at her.
"I want to meet Jinx." Powder whispered, her adult counterpart was so cool.
The adult Vi let out a small laugh as she watched her sister playfully dance.
Sevika pulled the slot machine but it seemed stuck which made Smeech take advantage to attack her, she defended herself and pulled the slot machine again. A boxing glove flew out from between the shark's jaws, hitting Smeech squarely.
He growled furiously and lunged at Sevika who was trying to control the arm that didn't seem to stop wanting to bite. She decided to take advantage of that, with her robotic arm she took Smeech's blades and gave him a strong punch with her other hand in the face.
Smeech said desperately: "Wait! Wait! There's a deal to be settled here."
"You forget, Smeech? You've already made your last offer."
Smeech growled angrily and charged into the fight, Sevika pulled out the slot machine throwing ninja stars at him who dodged them. She pulled the machine again, a thick blue smoke came out of the shark jaw, Smeech tried to clear the smoke but Sevika punched him. He lunged at her in fury but Sevika pinned him to the ground.
"How many things did Jinx add to that arm?" Mylo asked, genuinely surprised.
"I want it," said little Ekko with shining eyes.
"Tell me, who's the funny looking rat now?" Sevika asked mockingly before pulling the slot machine again.
A smile seemed to be forming on the slot machine which made Jinx smirk, Isha opened her eyes expectantly but before she could see anything Jinx covered her eyes. Isha was too young to see something like that but Jinx? Oh she enjoyed it, she felt that twisted glee as she watched Smeech die brutally in front of her, parts of him flying all over the alley.
Smeech's death wasn't shown but Jinx's thoughts had told them what they needed to know.
Ekko felt a strange pleasure seeing that Smeech had died, he expected to feel some guilt for feeling that way but he didn't.
"Well, he got what he deserved at least," Claggor said with a shrug.
"I don't know if he deserved to explode like that," Caitlyn said.
Ekko looked at her sideways, she didn't know what Smeech had done in Zaun but still Caitlyn should stop talking about things she doesn't know.
Sevika's arm set off fireworks so Jinx uncovered Isha's eyes who looked at them with joy. Jinx approached Sevika watching as she wiped Smeech's green blood from her face.
Jinx looked at Isha who was poking the corpses of the thugs on the ground with a stick.
"The grey," she said in a bitter voice. "Have you heard the news yet?"
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you," Sevika said, watching Jinx's expression intently.
"Tell her what? About the grey?" the teenage Vi wondered out loud.
"You don't need to tell me anything, I saw it." The blue-haired girl replied, swallowing, she could feel a lump forming in her throat. "That... bastard and her fucking imbecile girlfriend."
Adult Vi glanced at Caitlyn, Jinx had been crying her eyes out at the beginning of the scene... Are... Are they talking about her and Caitlyn?
"She and her team were attacking many Zaunites," Sevika said angrily. "But I never thought she would do this, she's poisoning all of Zaun."
Jinx shook her head feeling like crying again, she didn't understand how her sister was capable of that... After everything they went through, that idiot did this.
"I did what!?" Adult Vi screamed, looking at the projection in surprise.
Ekko felt a rage building inside him and dots were connecting in his head, Isha had said that they had tried to kill Jinx and now this... Vi had poisoned all of Zaun with Caitlyn to trap Jinx? How dare she do something so horrible?
Powder and little Ekko looked at each other, they were right to distrust the piltie and the adult Vi.
The teenagers looked at the adult Vi in shock and anger.
"I hope you don't make any excuses." Ekko said, his eyes dark with fury. "There is no excuse worth poisoning your entire city."
The adult Vi looked at him angrily and surprised. "I haven't done it yet and I never will. I-I couldn't do something like that."
Ekko just looked at her and completely understood the fear in Isha's eyes when she saw Vi.
"My sister a blue belly, who would have thought?" Jinx asked bitterly and sadly as she approached Isha.
Surprised gasps echoed through the room.
"N-no I would never do that." Adult Vi said shaking her head, her eyes starting to fill with tears.
Powder looked at the adult Vi with fear and sadness, her sister had grown up to become what killed her biological parents. Oh, that made her want to throw up.
Ekko had to close his eyes for a moment to keep the fury he felt from taking over him, now he had his daughter in his arms and he had to hold back for her.
Sevika looked at her and approached the two girls, Jinx gently wiped Isha's face and smiled lovingly at her, her pink eyes were soft and sweet.
"I miss mommy." Isha looked sadly and longed at the projection, hugging her bunny that had her mommy's scent on it.
Ekko looked into Jinx's now pink eyes, they were no longer filled with uncontrolled madness, no, they were now filled with love for Isha. In fact, Jinx seemed more stable with Isha, maybe she only went haywire when Isha wasn't around. It made him feel warm inside, Jinx was trying to be the best mother to their daughter and he was going to try to be the best father.
"Brat." Jinx told her leaving a kiss on Isha's forehead who smiled at her before stretching her arms out towards her and Jinx picked her up.
"What are you planning?" Sevika asked, she knew Jinx well enough to know she already had a plan in mind.
Jinx cradledIsha in her arms and started walking towards the exit of the alley with Sevika following her and without looking at her she replied, "Let's go to the bar, we'll talk there."