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That creature. That goddamn creature. It was almost three meters tall and sported a distorted, patched-up face resembling a scarecrow. Under it? Who knew. Not anything Jinx wanted to see, for sure. Its voice was even worse; like it came out of a demented, broken radio, it shouted words that didn’t make any sense to her but seemed to paralyze her teammates.
And so, here she was. Under one of the turrets, switching between Pow-Pow and Fishbone at an impressive speed, watching as Seraphine fell to the ground (couldn’t she stay down for once? Her voice was grating to hear and that pinkish, bubblegum hair didn’t help. And the girl’s personality? Ew.) when that thing approached her.
‘’Aaaaalll yourr faulttt, JINX! Aaaaal, youur fault.’’
…
Pow-Pow almost fell from her hands as it spoke.
And then she almost fell. It was still watching her she ran back to base, breath uneven, vision obscured, and her heart exploding in her chest.
Was she even going in the right direction? Maybe she was so confused she went the complete opposite way, right into the enemies’ clasp. Maybe it’d be better. Maybe Seraphine, or Darius, or god, even Annie, could end her, make her forget everything for those forty seconds it would take her to regenerate. And then they could do it over and over again.
It was all her fault. All her fault. ALL HER FAULT.
‘’Are you alright?’’ Asked Lux, furrowing her blonde eyebrows and ruining her pretty face.
'Yeah, yeah, it’s all fine firefly! Pow-Pow just wanted a little rest.’ Was what Jinx wanted to say. Instead, all she could do was make a weird noise from the back of her throat, one that she would be ashamed of if she would be coherent right now. Maybe Lux could blast her with that huge ray of light she saw her killing left and right with, maybe that would shut her up.
Fire. Smoke. The indescribable smell of burning flesh. It was all around her, permeating her skin and seeping into her hair forever.
‘’Jinx.’’ A hand on her wet (?) cheek. ‘’Jinx, what’s wrong?’’
‘’Leave me alone.’’ Is what she hoped she said, instead of some other embarrassing noise.
‘’I can’t really do that, I can’t take down those two alone.’’ She chuckled, trying to lighten up the situation.
Vi screaming her new name. The colour of charred bones.
‘’I’m-’’ She choked on her own tears (really, when did she start crying?). ‘’I’m…a monster.’’
‘’You were a kid.’’ The weight against her is comforting, the cold armor cooling her now overheated face.
‘’I ruined everything.’’
‘’No, you didn’t.’’
‘’They’re dead, firefly. I killed them. I killed them all.’’
‘’You should’ve been protected.’’ Lux whispered in her ears. ‘’Can you open your eyes for me?’’ She closed them? When? ‘’Okay, great. You’re doing so well. Can you name five things you can see?’’
‘’Uhh… You, the shop, the grass, our nexus and… my shoes?’’ They were pretty tattered, she realised just now.
‘’Good. Five things you can hear?’’ Jinx looked around as the shapes around her started forming back into actual objects, and the thrum of her heartbeat started being replaced by the swish of the wind.
‘’The wind? And then footsteps, the roar of the bear that kid summons for some reason…’’
‘’It’s okay, three is enough. Don’t exert yourself.’’
‘’I’m sorry, I was being stupid.’’ She muttered, hiding herself behind one of her braids. ‘’I’m going back to fighting now, I just… had a moment.’’
‘’A panic attack. That was a panic attack.’’
‘’Still stupid, ahah.’’ That laugh was humorless. ‘’Nothing Fisbones can’t fix.’’ As she got up, Lux bit her lip. Worriedly, she looked over at the blue-haired girl.
Gunpowder. Vi’s continuous screams, her new name now seared on her like a curse. A jinx.
‘’You can take a break, I can distract them for some time.’’
‘’No, no. I’m…going to go blow that ugly, stuffed monster up.’’ She chuckled, pulling her raygun out of her belt. ‘’It’s going to have a very friendly, very close meeting with my rockets.’’
‘’If you say so, Jinx.’’
Under the same turret, as Seraphine fell dead again (and with her fell that stupid platforms she travelled on), that thing dared to open its mouth.
‘’Aaa-’’ It shrieked as the huge rocket (don’t ask her where it comes from when she shoots it) hit the scarecrow right in the sternum, spluttering out some hay as it died.
‘’All your fault for not dodging sooner!’’
‘’An enemy has been slain.’’ Where did that ominous voice even come from? No, seriously, was she imagining it or did this battle thing come with sports commentary built in?