Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
May 17th, one year before entering UA - Jinx POV
Stupid Firelights, I'd kill them all if I had the chance! Fuck, fuck, fuck! I kept shooting with Pow-Pow, trying to hit one of those annoying Firelights with their Aero boards.
Everything had gone well during the transport of the merchandise Mom had ordered. The boxes around me were filled with unprocessed Dust, making them extremely volatile. Extreme care had to be taken during shipping.
We had to get the Dust to the processing factories so it could be refined and used. But the stupid Firelights had gotten it into their heads that the factories were a cancer that needed to be eradicated or something.
Yes, working with dust was extremely dangerous. The raw dust was extremely volatile and could explode at any moment, posing significant risks of dust illness.
Like dust pneumoconiosis, dust was able to quickly accumulate in the lungs and begin to cause serious respiratory problems. Add to that the fact that it was almost poisonous to the digestive system, so yes.
Dust factories had a significantly higher death rate than average, but this wasn't due to forced labor; instead, they were paid well, and the facilities were equipped with protective gear and staffed by specialized doctors.
But the damn Firelights wouldn't listen to reason. They believed they were fighting for something good and wouldn't stop until they triumphed in their crusade. A damn bunch of idiots, that's what they were.
Or, well, I mean, I wasn't going to pretend that Mom was some kind of angel. She utilized some of the Dust produced for her… more nefarious operations, showing no qualms about eliminating those who opposed her and her leadership. So, I mean, in a small, tiny way, they were right. Still, they were annoying.
In recent months, the Firelights' attacks had become more frequent, more acute, more direct, as if they knew most of our shipments, our missions, everything. It was more than evident that someone was leaking everything, but the damn mole was impossible to find.
Just as we expected, the shipment was also targeted by the group of nuisances. Mom's employees and I began defending it, but the Firelights proved annoying, thanks to their aerial mobility, which made them difficult to attack.
The cowards wore masks and voice modulators, making it hard for us to figure out who was behind it. But that didn't matter; I started to fight back. The fight was exactly the same as always. We were losing until one of the flying idiots used her thunder quirk and hit the damn Dust box.
My eyes opened wide, and without hesitation, I jumped as far away from the box as possible. Just as I expected, the dust inside reacted immediately, and an explosion erupted from within.
I pressed myself as close to the ground as I could while covering my head, waiting for the explosion to end. I could feel the fire and the shockwave hitting my aura, which held up just enough.
The explosion was massive, a chain reaction, one box of active Dust after another. It was so big that it engulfed Mom's employees, killing them instantly. But apparently, it was the same for the Firelights.
Several of them were within the blast radius. I smiled widely as the explosion ended and saw a Firelight lose her mask as her aura shattered at that moment. She had pink hair and looked about my age, but it didn't matter. I raised a pow-pow in her direction.
" Powder no!" I froze at that. Not at the command, but at the voice I easily recognized. I turned as if I'd heard a ghost and saw him.
"Ekko?" I murmured incredulously, trembling. There was Ekko, my childhood friend, someone I grew up with, someone I'd known my entire life, someone I knew, or thought I knew, like the back of my hand… my boyfriend.
My boyfriend, dressed as a Firelight, dressed as the fucking leader of that group of idiots.
Ekko seemed startled by my voice. His hand went up to his face, and I could see his face turning pale. He apparently hadn't realized he'd lost his mask. He looked around and saw his mask a few feet away.
"Retreat!" Ekko shouted as he launched himself at his mask, looking at me once more with a conflicted look before putting the mask back on and beginning his escape. The other Firelights grabbed the fallen and quickly flew away.
My gaze was still fixed on Ekko, even as he disappeared into the streets of Zaun. As if I still couldn't register what had just happened. As if I couldn't believe it.
"...Ekko?" I muttered one last time, surrounded by fire, as I released Pow. Pow.
------
I waited calmly as anger, hatred, and betrayal continued to build up inside me. I made no move, I stood utterly still, silent in the darkness.
Once the disbelief and bewilderment passed, my mind finally understood what was happening. A plethora of feelings began screaming in my mind as I moved like a person possessed.
I moved through the streets of Zaun, which I knew better than anyone. In a few minutes, I was in Piltover once more and entered our apartment, Ekko's apartment. I lived in Kiramman Manor. And here I was now, waiting. Waiting for the exact moment. He would come; that was him. So—
Clink
I heard the door open slowly. I waited. There in the darkness, I saw him, Ekko. The damn traitor. He was alone, the idiot. He entered slowly, carefully, looking around slowly as if trying not to make a sound. I waited until the moment he turned on the light, and I jumped in.
" Gah!" I ignored the strangled noise that came from Ekko as his body thudded against the ground. I got on top of him, my Quirk working at full force. He tried to struggle, but I was pinning him down too hard. One of my arms grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. With my other hand, I placed my pistol, my zap, and my zap blaster, under his chin.
"Hello, savior boy." I growled with hatred.
" Powder!" Ekko tried to say.
"Jinx for you, savior child." I hissed viciously.
" Pow- " I drove my pistol deeper into Ekko's neck, making him hiss. "Jinx! Please calm down, we can talk!" Ekko said quickly, I loosened my grip but didn't let go.
"Talk? Do you want to talk? Do you want to talk now?" I growled as my hand tightened on his shoulder.
"Please, let's talk, just... let me up, let's talk, please." Ekko pleaded, my eyes narrowing slightly. I stood up slowly, my zap zap I kept aiming at him almost lazily, my gaze never straying from him, watching for any sudden reaction he might want to make, I approached the slightly open door, closed it with my foot, and then blindly closed the latch.
"Very well, let's talk, traitor. Let's talk about how you lied to me for over a year. Let's talk about how you used me to get information about my mother out of me. Let's talk. I'm really curious to know what bullshit excuse you'll come up with, savior boy." I said mockingly. Ekko stood up and backed away slightly, I followed him.
"Please put the weapon away, Po-Jinx. I know you wouldn't hurt me. That's why I came alone." Ekko said, trying to remain calm. I didn't even hesitate. I picked Zap up. Zap Blaster and pulled the trigger. Ekko's aura had been broken during the fight, and it seems it hadn't regenerated yet, so my bullet grazed his arm and left a scratch where it began to bleed.
Ekko gasped in pain and stared at the wound in complete disbelief, as if he didn't understand what had just happened.
"I thought, 'Ekko wouldn't lie to me, Ekko wouldn't betray me, we grew up together, he's my boyfriend.' I thought 'he wouldn't hurt you.' I guess we were both wrong, and here we are." I said mockingly with a satisfied smirk, ignoring the pang of pain inside me. Ekko gasped and grabbed his arm.
"You-" Ekko tried to say, finally realizing what he had gotten himself into, the consequences of his actions, how he had no control. He looked at me determinedly while gulping audibly. "Silvia is a monster; she has to be stopped," Ekko said immediately.
"Silvia is a monster; she has to be stopped," I repeated mockingly. "Find a better excuse, savior boy, you won't convince anyone of that," I mocked.
"Jinx, don't you see, you're too attached to Silvia, but she's bad for Zaun, she's bad for everyone. Bad for you! You have to change! " Ekko said without wavering. "She's not the way."
"And the way is to lie to me!" I yelled, unable to stop myself. "Your stupid group has been interfering with my mother's operations for over a year! That's over a year, Ekko! A year of going behind my back! A year of using me! The times I spoke to you about my mother, thinking I was sharing a part of my life with you, and you were just using me! You used everything I told you against my mother!"
I couldn't help my outburst. Finally, everything made sense. The Firelights always appreciate knowing everything and being one step ahead of us. I don't even know when I shot him again, but unfortunately, this time, Ekko dodged it to the side.
"I didn't want you to find out like this!" said Ekko, almost desperate.
"That I wouldn't find out like this?! When were you going to tell me?! What was the damn plan?! That we got married!? That we had children?! Wait until my mother died to tell me that all this time you were the one who was ruining my mother's business?!" I growled furiously.
"No, I swear that-"
"Go away." I interrupted him. I didn't shout, I didn't yell, I didn't raise my voice. I said it as neutrally as I could. No, I hadn't calmed down in the slightest. The hatred, the anger, the betrayal, and the fury were still there under my skin.
" Powder …" Ekko said softly as he tried to step forward. I lifted the Zap Zap Blaster in his direction. I glared at him before moving around the room and plopping down into one of the swivel chairs we had in our apartment.
I lazily sank down and leaned back in the chair, still aiming my gun at Ekko.
"Go away, go away, you damn traitor. Go back to the hole where the rest of your group is and pray we never meet again in Zaun, because I will show no mercy." I said furiously. Ekko almost looked like he was about to cry, but I didn't care. Ekko stood there in silence for a few seconds, a few seconds that felt like an eternity, before he sighed.
"I'm sorry... for everything. This really wasn't how I meant for this to happen." Ekko said tiredly. Without a word, he turned around and headed for the door. My gaze was fixed on his back the entire time.
Ekko looked at me one last time over his shoulder, but my gaze didn't waver, nor did my gun; I simply kept pointing at him.
"I'm sorry." he repeated softly, but I ignored him. Ekko opened the door and left the apartment. Once the door closed, my hand fell heavily, and I dropped the gun to the floor. I stood silently in an empty apartment.
I don't know how long I was there, or when I started crying, but I didn't move in any way.
It must have been hours before I heard the door open again. I didn't even look up.
" Powder!" I flinched slightly at Vi's voice, and looked up. "I just spoke to Ekko, he-"
"Did you talk to that bastard?" I growled hoarsely, my throat dry.
"First, language, that's no way to talk about a man, much less your boyfriend," Vi scolded me. My eye twitched slightly.
"That idiot isn't my boyfriend," I said hatefully. Vi sighed, almost disappointed, as she looked at me. It made my hair stand on end.
" Pow, you know Ekko wants the best for you. We all do," Vi said carefully.
"Ekko betrayed me!!" I spat violently as I stood up. "He used me behind my back!! He used me against my mother!!" Vi didn't even flinch and stood still, I could feel myself turning pale as my mind worked overtime. "'We all do', tell me who is 'We', do you agree with Ekko?! Did you know what he did behind my back!?" I exclaimed, raising my voice finally with a voice full of betrayal. I could feel the world spin once more.
" Powd -"
"Jinx!" I spat out as I interrupted her. Vi's face trembled slightly but still remained impassive.
"Silvia isn't a good person. She's a murderer. I don't want you spending time with her. She's leading you down a bad path." Vi said determinedly, lifting her chin slightly. My eyes widened slightly.
"All this time you were on his side?! Or was he on yours!? How long have you known that Ekko was using me?! When did you plan this?!" I started to scream.
"Lower your voice, Pow -""Jinx!!""-and it's not mine, nor his, it's ours, we're worried, Silvia is not a role model. I don't want you to see her again," Vi said unfazed.
I could feel the betrayal seeping into my very core. She's my sister, one of the people closest to me, and she was telling me I couldn't go back to my mom? Who did she think she was? I gritted my teeth and ignored the huge pang of pain in my chest, focusing on the anger. It was easier. It had always been easier.
"Fuck you! Fuck you, fuck Ekko, and fuck YOUR side! " I yelled at her as I pushed her, or tried to. Vi barely moved from her spot; she didn't even take a step back, which only made me growl louder. "You can't force me not to see my mother! You can't lock me up! So I'll do whatever I want!" I spat in her direction.
" Powder, Silvia is not a good person-"
"Stop saying that!" I interrupted her with a growl. "Mom was the only one who did anything for Zaun! Mom is good to me! Whether you want to admit it or not, it's your damn problem! " I exclaimed.
"and let hundreds of people die!" VI snapped, and I sneered.
"Since when do you care more about Pilty blood being shed than the blood of the Zaunites?" I asked mockingly.
"It's not that easy," Vi replied through gritted teeth.
"Isn't it? It seems it is for you." I mocked. "We're on the map because of her! Zaun is recognized as its own nation because of her! You're talking about the hundreds of people Mom let die, but it was for a good cause! They killed thousands of our people just because they could, and I don't see you complaining to them!"
"It's not that easy," Vi repeated with her eyes closed.
"You're not mad at Mom for what she did, you're angry at what she accomplished, and that she didn't need your help to do it! You weren't involved in the change, like you always thought would happen! "
" Powder!" I growled at Vi in warning, but ignored her.
"As a child, you were always on Zaun's side! And now what? Do you work with them? You work for them?! I guess it was worth it, huh? You got a pretty face and a pussy ready to fuck whenever you want -" I felt the fist impact my cheek interrupting my rant, I was thrown backwards.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm so sorry. Pow-pow! I didn't mean to do it, please, for- " My fist planted itself right in the middle of Vi's face, stupid tough nose. I couldn't even hear it crunch under my fist. Vi gasped back.
"Go away!" I grabbed my gun off the ground and threw it at her. "Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away!" I screamed, completely desperate, as I continued grabbing things and throwing them at her.
" Powder, I'm sorry, let me-!" Her words were cut off as she had to duck to avoid the chair that flew over her head.
"Go away!" I growled hoarsely once more as I glared at her. Vi looked conflicted once more before taking a step back. She put on a pained look.
"I'm really sorry," Vi said before turning around and quickly running away. Once I heard the door close, I started screaming. I screamed until my throat hurt. I grabbed everything I could find and threw it against the walls. I punched, kicked, and smashed everything I could find. All to try and ease the pain of being betrayed by two of the people closest to me.