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Tick, tock, tick, tock —
The passage of time is unavoidable, like a freight train it doesn't stop for anyone, some would say not even the driver, and others would say only the driver is exempted from this rule. Vi doesn't give a damn, she only knows that the moment Sevika's clock starts running she has five minutes to end the fight.
"The Firelights are here!" One of the workers on the dock cries.
"Damn it, they are surrounding the ship!" That's Lock for sure, Vi has gotten acquainted with his voice the last seven years, Sevika call's it training but it's nothing more than throwing two people into a ring to punch each other until one taps out. More often than not she and Lock end up together, glaring at each other and fighting until one of them passes out.
The punks on hoverboards are a newish gang that formed the last two or three years, they wear animal-themed masks that fully cover their faces and have voice modulators, the part of Vi's mind that isn't muddled by the voice thinks it's a smart move. Something Powder would have done before — Vi frowns, she mentally recoils making a one hundred eighty degrees turn only to bump into another painful memory.
Do you know who else would have thought about disguises? Little Man, the voice in Vi's mind supplies, knowing well it would only bury the blade deeper in her heart.
Vi grits her teeth, feeling the stab in her chest, she has failed every single person she ever cared about. Ekko disappeared from the undercity after that night when everything went wrong, and even though Vi had tried looking for him, no one knew anything, no one wanted to talk to the traitor.
The Firelights might know, we had some good leads until they appeared, but you refuse to take hostages! The voice complains.
Vi's eyes glaze over, Sevika recognizes the signs of her chasing her demons down the rabbit hole and whistles loudly before raising her hand with the pocket watch. When she is made sure Vi is looking her way, she smirks, pushing a lever on the side.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
Get a move already!
"Shut up," The voice is getting on her nerves and nothing good comes when that happens, and both Lock and the nameless knucklehead he brought as backup turn to look in her direction with worry. Will it be her this time losing it?
Vi makes a face, she is aware that sometimes she forgets the voice is only in her head, she also knows everyone thinks she has gone crazy, god knows she feels like that half the time. But that is neither here nor there, there is a job to do so it's time to forget anything else and focus on the here and now.
Raising her fists, her pose has improved but Vander's legacy to her was still present in how she held her head high and her shoulders loose, watching the punks zoom around in their boards she opens and closes her hand to get the gauntlets in place. She is wearing a new version, designed by Jinx, one is completely pink with bunny ears drawn on the top, the other is blue with shark teeth on the knuckles. Jinx calls them Fishbones and Pow-Pow, Vi doesn't call them anything, they are tools, scraps of metal used to hurt people.
Just like us, the voice reminds her, don't lose it and focus on the ugly one.
"They are all ugly.” she says lunging to hit the bat-looking one on the face, but the punch doesn't come through, and she hears Sevika scoff behind her.
Do it yourself then, bitch! The bite in her tone would have earned a beating later had she said that out loud. But Sevika can't read minds so Vi smirks, feeling better just by the thought.
They scatter and start throwing their signature citrine glue bombs around. Vi is ready, has done this dance enough times, and she sides steps, only to be reminded she is supposed to play shield too when Sevika is with them.
Oops, sorry not sorry. She thinks just as Lock and Sevika swear when the bombs slam them against the walls.
Should she help them or keep going? The longer this went on, the greater the possibility of something going wrong because of Jinx. Cold sweat runs down the side of her head as the flashes of a past mission come to mind, a mine collapsing, trapping everyone inside, and the screams echoing in the darkness going up the shaft and into the surface. Jinx laughing, entertained, her gatling gun at the ready and a myriad of bodies around them leaking blood from the dozens of holes she put on them because they — damn it she couldn't even remember. Her gauntlets had been covered in blood, she thought she could end everything before she came — maybe if she had — she should have avoided it but she had been too slow again.
Focus, child! Keep punching, and then Vi is punching on inertia alone, catching one of them right in the middle of the chest and putting him down on his ass. The hoverboard keeps moving forward, and another of the punks grabs it in mid-air before pointing at the trap door on the floor. The one Vi was hoping they would miss.
"I'll take care of her, check down there, everything burns!" They say, Vi has a nagging feeling they might be the leader, they always appear wearing the same owl mask and a pocket watch similar to Sevika's, she uses it to time the duration of Vi's fights, they use theirs to time out how much they have before Jinx shows.
I keep telling you to focus, move or the kids are as good as dead! The voice growls while another part of Vi's mind adds that they don't even know how old these people are. Even if they all bare dressed like teen gangbangers looking for trouble. She would have loved joining them.
Vi turns, trying to stop the two that follow the order, manages to grab one from the shirt before Owl Mask decks her on the side of the head and forces her to the floor.
The other one makes it down the trap door and Vi wants nothing more than to shout: Get them out, now! But the only thing that comes out from her throat is a whine, each time she wants to warn them about Jinx's next crazy move her throat closes as if she had been cursed not to speak against her.
Owl person seems to understand though, because they turn in what Vi imagines is horror when they all hear a click the moment the door closes and the firelight walks inside the cargo area of the ship.
"No, no, no, open damn it — agh!" The deck rumbles, Vi can feel her body jump a few centimeters up and she squeezes her eyes shut.
How many more are we gonna let her kill?
That was the last one!
You said the same last time! And the time before that, and the one before, you always say this is gonna be the last one and then another one dies.
Her thoughts are interrupted by the trapdoor flying open, the deck gets filled with smoke and a flash of blue comes out, guns blazing and finger on the trigger. Her sister is smiling wickedly, this was nothing but a game for her, a twisted one. Where she gets to shoot at metal targets with paint bullets like they used to do when they were children.
She is no longer our sister, she is Jinx.
"Who is ready to play?" Jinx directs the cannon of her gatling gun at Owl Mask, not because they are close to Vi, maybe Powder would have cared about that but Jinx has pending business with them. The last time they managed to disarm her, it was their game, see who comes closer to killing the other. "Get ready to rumble, birdman! Mittens wants some action."
Vi groans, sometimes she feels like she did something in a past life and she is paying for it now, but she stands, moving as fast as she can while using the smoke as cover to get rid of the other firelights. Owl Mask can take care of themselves and probably will buy her time. This was their game too, she saves their sorry asses from near-death and gives them an excuse to run without her looking suspicious, Owl Mask keeps Jinx entertained.
Almost there, just one and —
Her thought is interrupted by Lock's scream of pain, another friendly fire, and Sevika snarls. "End this now, Violet!" Her mechanical arm comes to life and she starts breaking off the crystals.
"I'm on it, damn it!" Vi bites down a different retort, this was going to be her fault again somehow.
The crystals finally explode, rolling around the deck, and Sevika slams her hand on Jinx's cannon. "Stop!"
"Oh, come on! Why? I'm having fun."
The barrage stops and when the smoke settles none of the Firelights remain on the ship, there is a broken mask on the floor though, that of a wolf. The barrels on the deck are now full of holes and leaking shimmer.
Silco won't like it, he will blame Sevika and Sevika will blame us.
At least, this time she only killed one.
None should have died.
That leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, the question: How many more? Echoing in her head without any help from the voice.
"The cargo is damaged and now we will have the enforcers all over here soon, come on, time to move."
"Not fair I wanted to test out my gatling gun more!" Jinx is pouting but she isn't stupid, even if Marcus will take care of it there was so much he could cover. Vi's short stint in Stillwater can attest to this.
"Lock is still trapped." Vi reminds Sevika as she moves towards him.
"Leave him."
The face of her favorite knucklehead turns white, and she only smirks, they are sure Sevika isn't joking. But Vi doesn't have the heart to leave him behind, everyone knows it. She picks up the wolf mask putting it away inside her jacket before throwing two well-placed punches, releasing him and then hauling his ass off the floor and over her shoulder. "Come on big guy, today is your lucky day."
"If it were my lucky day I wouldn't have been shot dumbass."
"I love you too, buddy."
Later, when everyone has been looked over for injuries and Sevika has chewed her out after Silco had done the same to her, Vi would lock herself up in the bathroom to unwrap her hands and put them on ice. There, knowing no one could see her, she nervously takes out the wolf mask from before and puts it on, looking at herself in the mirror. A life that could have been, had she been strong enough to accept Powder was gone.