Jinx stood atop the platform, her eyes full of confusion.
"You're a jinx!" Vi grabbed her cheek with one hand, then vanished into the darkness.
She never came back.
All these years, nightmares had clung to her. The faces of Mylo and Claggor often appeared before her eyes as well.
What had kept her going through all those years was Silco.
But even so, she still constantly sank into self-doubt.
The condemning words and the mockery of others refused to fade.
Because of that, she suffered endlessly. Neither unleashing a storm of gunfire nor detonating grenades could drive that pain away.
At that moment, she held the Hextech gemstone in one hand and the flare Vi had given her long ago in the other.
Silco had sent her beneath the water and wanted her to kill off Powder. He had told her, "Jinx is perfect."
"No matter where you are, light it, and I'll find you. I promise." Vi's gentle voice rang out once more.
Jinx pulled the pin and raised the object high overhead.
Blue smoke shot into the sky above the ruins as Jinx closed her eyes.
Mylo seemed to be crying out in pain. Claggor's eyes were hollow, as if he were waiting for something.
Jinx opened her eyes. Beneath the thick smoke, she stood there alone.
A few blue sparks drifted down onto her skin, stinging faintly.
Would her sister come?
…
Viktor limped into the cave he knew so well.
When he was a child, he had once accidentally wandered in here while chasing after a little mechanical boat he had made.
There, he met his first teacher, along with a cute creature named Rio.
One day, when he came to the cave, Rio's body was covered in tubes, and a fluorescent glow shone from its vacant eyes. It looked to be in terrible pain.
"Rio can still be saved." Singed, his teacher, stood nearby. "I thought you would understand."
"This mutated specimen has to live."
Back then, Viktor had simply grabbed his cane and run out of the cave, never returning.
It was only now, with his own life nearing its end, that he finally understood those words and set foot here again.
…
"Fascinating." Singed peered through the microscope at the cells from the test sample Viktor had brought him.
"I would very much like to see this Hexcore."
"That… might be difficult to arrange for you." Viktor looked at Rio in the dish, but after only a few words, he broke into another violent coughing fit.
"I've tried every possible rune combination, but it always fails." Viktor looked up at Rio's face.
It looked as though it were asleep, calm and peaceful, except for the few glowing lines now running across it.
"I've tried every rune. But it always fails," Viktor continued.
"All the test subjects withered away. Rot set in." His eyes were full of disappointment.
"Perhaps the problem is not that your calculations are wrong, but that you chose the wrong test subjects." Singed began fiddling with the test tubes on the table.
"It is in nature's character to reject mutation, but fortunately, we possess the ability to alter our own nature."
He raised the vial of solution he had just prepared. Bubbles rose inside the liquid, which gave off a faint lavender glow.
"This is…" Viktor hesitated, then asked anyway, "Shimmer?"
"A modified strain of Shimmer. In theory, it can help the user endure the pain of mutation."
"For plants?"
"You didn't come here for plants, did you?" Singed walked over to stand in front of Viktor.
"I know the state of a dying man. I have to warn you." His one remaining eye stared at the Shimmer in his hand.
"If you choose this path, you will be despised."
"To achieve evolution, you must abandon the admiration of others, along with the good name you leave behind."
"That is also why Heimerdinger and I parted ways." Singed held out the Shimmer.
"Jayce will understand me." Viktor took the glass vial and looked at his teacher.
"Perhaps." Singed, wrapped all over in bandages, let out a long breath.
…
"Powder!" The moment Vi saw the smoke signal, she broke into a full sprint, leaving Caitlyn and Caleb far behind.
"She can really move." Even with the physical boost from the system, Caleb still got left behind.
If his current physique and fighting ability meant he could handle three or four street thugs at Lv. 1,
then Vi barehanded was at least somewhere between Lv. 3 and Lv. 4.
"Powder." Vi was the first to reach the platform and called out softly.
The burned-out flare tube dropped to the ground, and the girl standing at the edge of the platform turned around, her face full of disbelief.
"Vi." She had waited so long to say that name, and finally managed to force it out.
"Powder!" Vi rushed forward and wrapped her sister in a hug.
Tears welled up in Jinx's eyes, and she hugged Vi back, feeling the warmth of her body.
"I'm sorry, Powder. I was going to come back for you." Vi cupped the girl's face, stumbling over her words as she tried to explain.
"I swear, I really was, but I… I got taken."
"By Marcus," Jinx said softly.
"I don't know him. And it doesn't matter. I just never thought I'd get to see you again."
Vi held Jinx tightly, her voice thick with emotion.
"Is it really you?" Jinx still looked like she couldn't believe it, even as tears ran down her face.
"After you left, everything changed. I changed too." For a moment, she seemed to become that little girl from years ago again.
"I know. I understand, Powder. Whatever you did, you did to survive." Vi let out a sigh and comforted her. "Same here. It's okay."
"The important thing is that we found each other again."
Caitlyn and Caleb finally caught up, and Caleb pointed at the woman in Vi's arms.
"That's Jinx. The Hextech gemstone is on her."
And the moment Jinx saw the two of them, she violently tore herself free from Vi's embrace.
She pulled the machine gun from her back, and its three barrels had already started spinning.
"Who's she?" There was a vicious edge in Jinx's eyes, and then she turned to Caleb. "And why are you here too?"
Caitlyn had her folding rifle in hand. At this distance, she would never miss, unless…
"Easy. We're all on the same side." Vi stepped between them.
"So Silco was telling the truth. You really did team up with an Enforcer!" Jinx's face was full of fury.
In an instant, she changed from a little girl into a queen of chaos in Zaun's underworld.
"Your sister is Jinx?" Caitlyn's hands were steady, the barrel of her gun not trembling in the slightest. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"We can talk this through…" Vi was still trying to smooth things over when a harsh male voice cut in.
"Don't even think about it!"
Silco slowly stepped out of the shadows. Several burly men holding chemtech weapons moved behind Jinx, ready to strike.
At the sight of this, Vi instinctively stepped back twice. She reached for Jinx, but Jinx did not move.
"As agreed, I won't kill you," Silco said. His red eye stood out sharply in the night as he continued,
"But as for Jinx and the gemstone, you're taking neither."
Caitlyn looked at Caleb with a deep frown. "You made a deal with Silco?"
"Yes. And next, we need to get the Hextech gemstone." Caleb narrowed his eyes as he studied the situation.