Chapter Text
Never thought I’d be back here…Jinx stared at the wooden door. It looked nicer than it did in her dimension. No mad wolfman making claw marks through the door for one. She looked around at the mineshaft as the bioluminescence began to fade. The wooden shack in general looked in better shape. Which again provided proof that she really was in a different dimension and not trapped by a cult crazier than her. Not that she needed more proof at this point. Walking through the shockingly clean and bright streets of Zaun already showed her that.
The other thing that added more stock to the interdimensional travel theory was the fact that all of her hiding spots and workshops were occupied by Powder herself. On some level, it amused Jinx that no matter what the dimension, they both knew the best places to escape from it all and focus. Mostly, she felt frustration because instead of useful things like emergency ammo caches or pistols, Powder filled the hidey-holes with boring items like sketchbooks and portraits. At least one had some tools which she took. It’s technically not stealing, right? …wait, why do I care?
So, here she was, hoping that this old dump at least contained some firepower. Shimmer might have given her an advantage compared to her boring artsy counterpart, but that lightshow mage just proved that she needed any type of firearm to truly fight. Jinx cursed her rashness to leave her gun on the platform when she charged in to save Vi. Granted, if things had gone according to plan, that wouldn’t have mattered… Jinx shook her head and kicked opened the door.
The bioluminescence lit the area in response to the noise, showcasing the dusty interior. At least no one’s been around this area in a while. It might work as an emergency base for now. Jinx went to one of the crates with a ‘DANGER!’ stamp on it and pried it open. Jackpot! Inside were a few sticks of dynamite. Rather low grade compared to my usual fare, but it will do. Rummaging through the other crates, she found enough scrap metal to actually workshop something. Jinx took a look at the desk, bare. The books were placed on the dresser in the back and the letter was gone. The coats were missing. Even the empty bottles were cleaned out. It really seems like everything here went right…including me. Just shows how badly you fucked everything up, you Jinx.NO! Jinx violently shook her head and chased away the noise. No…not now…After a few deep breaths, Jinx sat down and lost herself in her work.
Jinx enjoyed the quiet hours workshopping away. She usually had music blaring on all speakers, but she needed to hear anyone approaching. The quiet wasn’t unpleasant. It created a type of focus that helped her ignore how the situation was insane even by her standards. Transported to a world where everything seemed to go right. And yet, Powder was still unhappy. Jinx guessed she could relate, if she lost Vi at that young age, it certainly would make putting her on a pedestal all the easier. Hell, this Powder might even be the sister Vi would want to see. She seemed preppy enough to rejoice at the idea of being in-laws with a cop. She still had no idea what her plan was after she recovered the hex crystal. There really wasn’t any place for her back there, and her backup plan was to fly an airship to who-knows-where. But this Zaun was so…cheerful it was like staring into the sun. Granted she had only been there for less than a day and no city could clean up its act that fast, but it was still so jarring. But…where would she even go? Best to ignore the future and focus on the now. And speaking of…Jinx carefully placed one of the unrefined hex crystals into the energy intaker.
“Highly unstable, prone to explosive outburst, the perfect weapon for yours truly. Taking nails as ammunition, the energy from the hex crystal charges the nails and fires them at high speeds, and, as a one-time added bonus, the nails become so unstable thanks to the charge, they burst into shrapnel upon contact! Introducing the spectacular, newly assembly Nail Blaster 9000!™“ Jinx yelled out loud. She blinked when she remembered that no one was there. No…Isha to…hear her…because a failure like you let her die no…NO!...GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
Jinx shook her head repeatedly and tried to chase away the noise, but it was growing louder. What Why You You A couldn’t even kill a do you disgrace to the can save no one, name Zaun useless little girl fuck everything up! you are cause all you are is a JINX yourself properly is what you are Jinx grabbed her head as the noise grew and grew, until it was a deafening cacophony. So many voices screaming at her, no escape, no comfort. She couldn’t hear herself think, hear herself breathe. No way to make the noise stop. She flailed her arms with her finger on the trigger, nails firing everywhere until the sound of red-hot nails exploding into shrapnel overpowered the cacophony in her mind. She fired until she heard her gun click, signified that she ran out of ammo. The voices had finally stopped.
Panting heavily, Jinx looked at the damage. The wooden walls now showed a series of small holes, illuminated by the fading bioluminescence. The glass from the lantern now laid shattered on the floor. Jinx checked the hex crystal in her new weapon. It was sparkling with arcane energies but stilled. Sighing in disappointment, Jinx reloaded the weapon full of nails and shrapnel before stuffing the rest in a pouch to carry. No point staying here now. That crystal needs to be found. Jinx walked out of the wooden shack.
********
“So…everything alright Powder?”
“Unless something has changed in the last twenty seconds since you asked that, Ekko, yes, everything is fine.” Powder felt bad for snapping at Ekko like that, but it’s like she could actually vocalize her issues with her helicopter cop so near. It was bad enough that she was confined to this bar until she was to meet with the Council which itself was fraying on her nerves, but it was one person that chewed at her sanity: herself, or rather, her alternate self.
Alternate Powder’s appearance was so similar and different to her own, but she expected that. D.H.E. had a more punkish look compared to her Ekko, a bit like the Chem Sisters style. But it was when she said that shook her. How her alternate self casually admitted to killing her own family. It was mirthless and joyless but she still said it with such finality. Was she…am I capable of such cruelty? She could see Vi, once as Powder remembered her as a child, now from the portal and Ekko’s art, staring at her in disappointment. And it ate her from the inside.
Powder shook her head and went back to cleaning the bar. The Last Drop was empty today. No one wanted to stay at a place while there was an on-duty cop around. The Undercity might have cleaned itself up in the last few years but everyone remembered the riots and the police response to them. That plus centuries of police brutality doesn’t erase overnight, if ever. So, Powder just absent-mindedly cleaned the glasses for the gajillionith time, left with nothing but her thoughts and Ekko trying to distract her without being able to bring up their inventions.
Speaking of, Ekko was still staring at her with concern. Powder tried to give a smile of reassurance but given how he frowned, she knew she didn’t do it right.
“So…are you two dating?” her cop babysitter asked. The two looked at the cop. A youngish woman, probably around the age of Mylo or Clagger, with bright red hair and a disarmingly cheerful smile. Powder was told her name but didn’t really file that information as useful. Powder and Ekko kept quiet, not looking at one another. #2 rule when dealing with cops, never give them any information unless absolutely required. #1 was get a lawyer but I’m not being interrogated. Yet.
The copper frowned. “Look, I know in the past the Enforcers had been bad to the Undercity but there has been some real progress in the past few years to change that! We now have quite a few of the good ones in Undercity as rookies now! I know it doesn’t erase what happened in the past, but certainly it wouldn’t hurt to have some small talk? It would make the wait more bearable.”
Ekko and Powder remained silent. The girl seems genuine at least, though it might just be a ploy to let my guard own. Still, you don’t get chummy with the Enforcers. A few like Steb might get a nod of respect but they are not for the Undercity. The copper looked at the two before sighing and doodling on the desk with her finger.
The minutes ticked away agonizingly until Powder heard the front door swing open. Powder smiled as Vander walked in. “Hey, pops.”
“Powder! I didn’t scare away your customers, did I?” Vander said with a wink. “Now, given that this place is dead, how about I take over for the evening and let you rest up for the big day tomorrow?” That got the copper’s attention.
“Tomorrow? How would you…?”
“Now, now, Junior Officer, it’s all right. I went and spoke to Sherrif Grayson myself.” Pops reached in his satchel and pulled on a big roll of paper before unscrolling it. “It says here that one Powder,” Vander looked at his daughter, “is to report to the Council tomorrow morning for questioning on the mysterious ‘Arcanite Explosion’,” Vander used air quotes to emphasize the name, “and, if necessary, receive sentencing. She will be allowed one legal representative on the floor. Everyone else is permitted to watch from the cheap seats, as it were.” Vander gave the scroll to Powder. “You keep on to that now.” Vander turned toward the copper. “Now, for you,” Vander handed her a sealed scroll. “Sealed as proof I didn’t tamper with it. You are to be commended for your work here and are to report back to Sherrif Greyson for your debriefing.”
The copper took the sealed scroll before breaking the seal and reading the contents. She then held the letter into the light. “Hm…standard protocol states that an Enforcer with at least Junior Officer status stays with the suspect until said suspect is escorted to the council’s chambers.”
“Aye, that is the standard protocol. But these are hardly standard, now are they?” Vander’s tone had an edge to it before relenting. “Go on home, Maddie. I know you want to a good record for your new promotion but trust me, sticking to the books on this one will hurt your future ambitions, not help them. She’ll be there tomorrow.”
The copper looked at the orders in the light one last time then at Vander, before nodding. “Alright, it wouldn’t do to disobey such direct orders.” The junior officer nodded at Powder before leaving. “I hope our next meeting isn’t so frosty.” With that, she walked out.
Ekko started to breathe out a sigh of relief before Vander held up a hand. Vander quietly walked to the door and watched the copper leave. Once she was no longer visible did Vander let his hand slack. Ekko resumed his sigh “…MAN was that painful. And so much for the ‘good cop’ act. The second she was dismissed suddenly Powder’s the suspect again.”
Powder chuckled at that. “Yeah, well, what did we expect? Still…” Powder looked at the summons. And, if necessary, receive sentencing. “Do you think I’m going to be exiled?”
“Well, Silco is currently pouring over the law books since yesterday to make sure that doesn’t come to pass. He believes that there is a case for you, even if certain events were to happen.”
“And, if nothing else, I will go with you Powder.” Ekko said. “We’re a team, you and I. In everything.” Powder smiled at that. Ekko was dependable and faithful to a fault with her. Even the thought of exile stung a tiny bit less with the knowledge the Ekko would be by her side.
“Now, now, it won’t come to that, Powder. Have faith in your two pops.” Vander smiled. “Now then, about the ale supplies. I’ve got my friends down in the distillery saying that nothing has been disturbed yet, but they’ll keep a lookout for any spoilage.”
Powder nodded, though Ekko looked at Vander confused. “Ale…?” Powder quietly nudged Ekko’s shoulder and made a shush gesture.
“Why don’t you two lovebirds head on upstairs? It certainly would be more private than down here. I can handle the night shift alone. We probably aren’t getting any customers tonight anyways.”
Powder rolled her eyes at the term “lovebirds” but took the opportunity to kiss Vander on the cheek in thanks before taking Ekko with her upstairs. While in the past, the Powder and boys stayed downstairs in makeshift beds, Silco helped renovate the upstairs so that there were now two bedrooms for the three of them. The boys got one, leaving Powder with the other. Ekko walked in behind her. “So…what is that about ale?”
Powder smiled. “Vander uses ale whenever he wants to talk about something that might be considered…not legal. It’s a code word. He’s basically saying his underground contacts haven’t heard anything but are keeping an eye and ear out for him.”
Ekko nodded, understanding dawning on him. “Oh, you mean about the alt-MMMPH!”
Powder but her hand over Ekko’s mouth, before whispering. “The copper might be gone but you never know who’s listening in.” Powder didn’t believe all the tall tales that happened in the Undercity, about rats with intelligence or sentient piles of ooze that heard and reported secrets, but that didn’t stop her from having a healthy amount of paranoia, especially given her shaky legal ground at the moment. “Vander has Sevika looking into the issue. I trust her.” Sevika and Powder didn’t always see eye to eye, but she was the closest thing she had to a mother figure in her life and helped her with all sorts of issues that couldn’t exactly be discussed with her two Pops.
I hope she still finds time to make it to the trial. It wouldn’t do to not be able to see her if I get…Powder didn’t even realize that Ekko had wrapped his arms around her. “Ekko…” Powder started before she felt Ekko shake his head.
“You’ve had an intense couple of days. And was forced to keep all the emotion bottled up thanks to that Enforcer. And tomorrow you have to go to those topsiders and avoid that minefield. Tonight, it’s just us. It’s ok to let it out.”
Powder was quiet for a while, letting Ekko’s warm embrace surround her. Then she let out a small hiccup that quickly turned into a sob. She let out all out. Her fear, anger, sadness, shock, shame. The intense emotion she had bottled inward finally found release. All the while, Ekko was there, never pushing but being a comforting rock. When that emotionally outburst finally exhaled at last, Powder stayed there. The two stayed in that embrace in a way words would not convey until sleep took them both.
********
Where the fuck is it!?! Jinx swam back up to the surface for some air. Jinx felt like screaming but since she still needed to dive back down, she instead took a deep breath before diving back in. The waters were muddy, but the glowing hex crystal should have made it stand out to anyone who dived deep enough into the waters. Despite searching she saw nothing. Feeling her air run out swam back up to the surface, before moving towards a nearby beach. She eyed all the pipework exhaling the toxic refuse of chemical runoff. Her shiver enhancements meant that she didn’t worry (or honestly particularly cared) about any possible chemical infection, but she supposed such a shiny prize might be worth it to a passerby, even if only to sell.
Still, they would have to swim pretty deep to reach the bottom of the river…Jinx stopped before pointing her nail gun at one of the pipes. “Don’t move, Lightshow.” She didn’t took a look at the pipe hole, noticing a certain blonde mage emerging from the shadows. The mage kept her hand up and far away, though that didn’t mean much for a mage. Jinx sighed, magic users were rare in Piltover but even in the Undercity, most mages kept to themselves. They never made any large moves and preferred to be left alone. Just as importantly, they were strong enough to make sure they were left alone. In either case, this meant the Jinx was at a loss on how this mage’s powers worked. Far better to kill her now to…
“That mysterious orb went through here.” Lightshow interrupted Jinx’s thoughts. The mage pointed behind her. “The orb is visible to those with arcane sight. So is your bag, to be honest, but not as bright as the orb that fell.”
Jinx blinked at that before she asked the obvious. “Why are you telling me this, Lightshow? If you have such an easy way to track the thing, why bother asking me?”
The mage winced at the name Lightshow. “I’m…new to Piltover, and need help acclimating to the city.”
“And…what? You think I will just give you the orb afterwards? Not happening, lady.”
“No! That is, I’m not after the orb myself. I just see that you want it back so badly and…I wanted to help?”
Jinx stared at the mage. She didn’t know what was worse. Her sorry excuse of a motive or the fact that Jinx actually believed her. So, she instead decided to divert the conversation. “Where are you from?”
“…huh?” Lightshow looked confused.
“You just said you aren’t from around here, Lightshow. You don’t look like a Piltie so I’m gonna assume you came from somewhere else in Runeterra.”
“Oh. Um…Demacia.” Lightshow said quietly. If it wasn’t for Jinx’s heightened senses, she wouldn’t have heard it. Demacia huh? Well, I didn’t really care too much about my geography but if I recall correctly that was the city where mages were illegal. Huh, guess it makes sense she would come here. Noxus is no one’s friend and at least here Mages don’t get thrown in prison for existing. Well, at least not publicly at any rate. Jinx saw Lightshow cross her arms. “And don’t call me Lightshow…it’s…Lu…minary.”
Jinx stared at the mage. “Luminary?” The mage blushed but nodded. Well, Jinx couldn’t really point fingers at weird name choices herself. “Alright then, ‘Luminary,’ if you don’t actually want the hex crystal, why are you helping me?”
“Hex Crystal…” Jinx cursed herself from saying that. She seemed to have loose lips around this woman. Luminary looked at Jinx. “Would it be hard to believe that I felt you needed help?”
Jinx didn’t hold back a scoff. “Seriously? How long have you even been in the city?”
Luminary thought about it. “About 18 hours?”
“So, less than two hours after arriving to a city after running away from possible imprisonment, you randomly decide to help a random stranger hunt down a possibly magical artifice? Yeah, and I’m Piltover’s best pastry chef, a real café cutie.”
Luminary shrugged. “I also need a place to stay and lay low, and you seemed like the best person to ask.”
Jinx continued to stare. This mage was somehow both naïve and observant. “Well, I might help with the later but I’m broke and homeless. You’re better off asking the bartender of The Last Drop.” Jinx avoided saying that name again. She couldn’t after what happened. “He’d help settle you in without asking too many questions.”
“Well…once we find this hex crystal, we can ask him together.” Jinx looked almost exasperatedly at Luminary. “Look, you could ask around and interrogate others the old-fashioned way, but that will take time, and the trail might run cold before whatever you’re afraid of this hex crystal might do happens. Or we can work together so whatever you’re fearing doesn’t come to pass and people start looking at the local mage population with pitchforks.” Jinx muddled over the options. Luminary sighed. “Also, something…draws me towards you. I can’t explain it. It’s not those hex crystals but something about your…aura feels…intriguing is the word? It is so similar yet so different than anyone else’s.”
Jinx thought about it. Could she detect I’m from a different dimension? Can magic actually do that? Could still just kill her and be done with it…Something stopped her from following though on it. If nothing else, this could be entertaining. “Alright, ‘Luminary’, show me where the trail leads.”