Ekko and Jinx faced each other across the bridge.
A smile bordering on madness spread across Jinx's face.
"Oh! Well, look who it is! The Boy Savior!"
The lucidity in her eyes was gone. She had turned back into that lunatic who sprayed bullets without caring who was in front of her.
Undercity people and Enforcers alike were deeply wary of her.
There was nothing she wouldn't do. The only question was how far beyond your expectations it would go.
Ekko lowered his head with a faint smile and pulled out a fist-sized stopwatch from inside his jacket.
It was well made. It had stayed with him all these years without breaking.
Of course, his repair work was pretty damn good too. Ever since he was little, his talent for mechanics had never been any worse than Powder's.
The stopwatch hung from a chain, swaying back and forth, slightly blocking the light behind him.
Jinx lifted a hand beside her face and flashed a V sign.
For a moment, it felt like the two of them had gone back years into the past.
Ekko was that little flat-topped kid again, his face painted with white hourglass-shaped markings.
Back then, Jinx had still been Powder, with a pot sitting on top of her short bobbed hair.
Ekko held a wooden sword in his hand, with a wooden badge hanging from his chest.
Powder turned sideways and raised her gun to aim.
The second Ekko pressed the button on the stopwatch, they both moved at once.
Ekko charged forward, and Powder's first shot came straight at him.
Ready for it, Ekko ducked low, dodged the bullet, and kept advancing.
The next two shots came right after, sealing off both sides. Ekko leaped high with the wooden sword raised overhead.
Then the last shot struck him cleanly.
"Got you!" Powder clenched one fist, her face full of smug delight.
Ekko, annoyed, flung the stopwatch aside.
Time snapped back to the present.
As the button on the stopwatch clicked, the two of them moved again.
Unlike the roughhousing of their childhood, this time they were fighting to kill.
The first shot went straight for his heart.
Ekko dropped low, and a spray of blood flew up beneath his advancing steps.
The second and third shots followed right on schedule, aimed at both sides of his body.
Ekko jumped, twisting in midair.
The final shot came screaming in for his heart once again.
But using the momentum of his spin, Ekko had already slipped to the side.
He raised the pipe high with both hands.
One blow smashed Jinx to the ground, followed by a second, then a third.
Pinned down by the pipe across her arms, Jinx couldn't fight back and could only struggle desperately.
Looking at the grief on Jinx's face, Ekko slowly lowered the fist clutching the stopwatch.
And in that instant, Jinx's hands moved.
A blue rune flared to life.
When Ekko opened his eyes again, Jinx was already dozens of yards away, grinning as she blew him a kiss.
Meanwhile, one of her infamous Flame Chompers had clamped onto his leg.
Ekko had no time to think. He could only swing the pipe—
Boom!
As the explosion sounded from the far side of the bridge, Vi looked that way with worry in her eyes.
"Move! Keep moving!"
The masked Enforcers, rifles in hand, were heading toward the source of the blast.
Caleb and the others could only duck into a corner first, then slowly make their way toward Caitlyn's house.
Over the railing, through the window, and then helping the injured Caitlyn inside.
Vi handled all of it by herself. Caleb only had to keep up with her.
"Whose place is this? Yours? Another councilor friend?"
Supporting Caitlyn, Vi helped her toward the bed in her room.
Bang!
With a dull crash, the front door was kicked open.
A gun was trained on the three of them, held by a woman with streaks of gray in her hair.
"Caitlyn?" she said, clearly stunned.
"Mom."
Both Caitlyn and Vi widened their eyes, but Caitlyn still answered.
A man came hurrying upstairs, breathing hard. He had the same blue hair as Caitlyn.
"We were worried sick."
Caitlyn rushed over and threw her arms around him too.
"Thank God you're okay."
"Why are there two more with you?" Caitlyn's mother asked, puzzled.
"This is Vi, from the Undercity. And that's Caleb."
Caitlyn introduced them to her mother with complete seriousness.
"I could tell." The woman smiled politely, then tilted her head toward downstairs. "How about we talk, Caitlyn?"
"Just the three of us."
Downstairs.
A portrait of Caitlyn's parents hung in the lavish sitting room.
Caitlyn sat on a soft couch while her father used tweezers and scissors to pull fragments out of her leg.
Her mother, a councilor herself, stirred the coffee in her cup and blew on it.
Cassandra Kiramman, the current head of Clan Kiramman.
She was also the one who had funded Jayce, Caitlyn's childhood friend. It could be said that the foundation for Jayce's Hexgates had been provided by the Kiramman family.
"You have to report this to the Council!" Caitlyn said righteously.
"Report it to the Council? Do you have any idea how many laws and regulations you've broken?" Cassandra asked, her long brows knitting together.
She had taken very good care of herself. Even with gray threaded through her hair, there were hardly any wrinkles on her face.
She couldn't understand why, instead of inheriting the family business, her daughter insisted on becoming an Enforcer.
And not just any Enforcer, but one working on the front lines, putting her life at risk whenever she pleased. It was maddeningly reckless.
"She was only doing what she believed was right."
Sensing the tension turning ugly, Caitlyn's father hurried to smooth things over.
His standing in the household wasn't very high, but he could at least say a few words.
Pain flashed across Caitlyn's face as a barbed shard was pulled from her leg.
Then she continued, "If I broke the law, I'll accept the punishment!"
"You're the daughter of a councilor. Your actions reflect on the image of the entire Council."
Cassandra sounded helpless too. She had used her connections to get her daughter suspended.
Even if Caitlyn had just gone to work under Jayce in some desk job, that would have been better than going into the dangerous Undercity to investigate.
But her daughter was so stubborn that Cassandra had no choice but to worry about her safety day and night.
"Do you know what really reflects the image of the Council? Ngh—"
Caitlyn forced herself through the pain shooting through her thigh, her voice rising without meaning to.
"Do you know what actually reflects the Council's image?"
"The people living on the streets!"
"They're being poisoned!"
"They have only two choices: criminal gangs that want to exploit them, or politicians who couldn't care less whether they live or die! Ah—"
The moment she finished, another fragment was pulled out, and Caitlyn arched back in agony.
"Caitlyn..." Cassandra started to say something.
Her disobedient daughter had just insulted the Council right in front of her.
But when she thought of the Undercity's current state, she fell silent and simply stirred her coffee again.
"Our daughter's been through enough tonight. She needs rest."
Once again, it was her father trying to calm things down.
Honestly, Caitlyn could have lived as a proper socialite, enjoying all the comforts of Piltover's beautiful technology.
Instead, she had insisted on becoming an Enforcer and then thrown herself straight at the most dangerous cases, which had worn both her parents to the bone with worry.
After a long moment of thought, Cassandra blinked a few times and let out a slow breath.
"I'll arrange a meeting."
"Thank you."
Caitlyn looked stunned, while her father watched her with relief.
Their daughter had grown up in the blink of an eye. She was handling something this big now.
How could that not make a father proud?
"You and your... friends can speak to the Council directly."
"I suggest you prepare accordingly." Cassandra's gaze softened as well.
She continued stirring her coffee and took a small sip.