Chapter Text
POV: JINX
They had told us for years that we were in a place of progress. Of prosperity. Of wealth. Of power.
Turns out, they were all wrong.
Step, step. My footsteps felt more imposing than ever. Each step across the hill, another step closer to getting revenge on those who wronged me. Revenge on the ones who took my salvation. Revenge on those who had turned my sister into someone who I couldn’t even recognize.
All I wanted was for her to love me again. All I wanted was for that hug to be genuine, for us to be me and her again. Vi and Powder. Just us.
He had told me she was dead. He had told me that everything was going to shit, that she had disappeared, away from Zaun, away from the Undercity, away from it all.
Step, step.
He hadn’t told me that he had her arrested, in Stillwater, a prison so dangerous that people die there thanks to the conditions.
Step, step.
He hadn’t told me that she was jailbroken by someone. A girl. A Piltie who would have never understood the fact that our parents were slaughtered by the same people she was brainwashed to believe were saviors. The people she believed were keeping peace, the badge she was wearing. Legacy to her, oppression to us.
Step, step.
He hadn’t told me that that girl, that rich bitch, became my sister’s cupcake. My sister, showing more affection to her than she had shown to me in our childhoods. More snuggles, more kisses, more time spent. My sister - forgetting why we struggled. Forgetting what Zaun represents. Forgetting it all.
Step, step.
Then, he used me. Told me that everything was going to be fine, while stabbing me in the back. Using me as a pawn to make peace with Piltover, and their golden boy, Jayce. I snarl as I think of Jayce, the way they used his story as a humble toolmaker in order to make it seem like in Piltover, you can come from anywhere, everywhere, and then everyone will love you.
Now, he is dead. Now, my sister is gone.
Piltover, the city of progress. Piltover, the city of new beginnings. Piltover, the city of equality.
Piltover, the city where everyone is equal, except if you come from Zaun.
I made it to the top of the hill. The trademark red sky of Zaun covered the night, making everything seem tiny below. Through the haze, I could see my target. The lights shining on the Council meeting, a group of well-dressed elites making small talk that could decide our futures. It seemed so peaceful, so quaint.
Not anymore.
I took a deep breath before grabbing the gemstone. Full of power, full of life. The very thing that ever since I was a mere child, Piltover fought to ensure no one from Zaun would have access to. Magic was only for the elites, the rich, the desirable. Magic wasn’t for a street thief like me, someone who was known to jinx every job and cause mayhem, havoc and chaos. All we got was loads of Shimmer. All we got was a drug to keep us happy, to keep us from thinking anything was bad in our society. Even though my veins were filled with this drug, it was never enough.
I couldn’t be happy. Not when the world was on fire.
I took the gemstone, grabbed the weapon I had been tinkering with for ages now. Massive, looks like a fish. I nicknamed it “Fishbones”, not because it looked like a fish, but because the thought of it being somewhat similar to Silco, who had recounted to me many times how he nearly drowned, but got strength from that experience, comforted me a little.
Maybe I could be as strong as he was. He wronged me in the end, but maybe I could be better.
With the gemstone inside Fishbones, a surge of power coursed through the weapon. A flash came through the city, a blinding blue light, electricity sparking through my hands. And as the Shimmer streaks that kept me alive powered up, as my heart raced uncontrollably, I put my finger on the trigger, aimed Fishbones at the windows of the Council, took a deep breath, and let go, my pain being let out in a visceral scream.
The missile was beautiful. A beaming, blue light, shining across the red sky, moving slowly at first towards the Council headquarters, but coming closer and closer, faster and faster, a burst of energy rushing through towards it. I could hear the city light up at the sight of the missile, both Pilties and Zaunites, unsure what this thing was. Was it a shooting star? Was it a comet? Was it a nuclear bomb that would wipe out both cities, nuking hundreds of years of prosperity at the cost of oppression? As it got closer and closer to its intended target, though, the intent became clearer, and I could hear gasps on the side of the river closest to Piltover, and screams of delight on the side of Zaun.
Finally, the window cracked. The missile made its final transformation. And an explosion could be heard from the Council headquarters, destroying the building in a sea of ash.
After a minute, I perched up my toes, trying to make out what was going on. Seven bodies, on the floor, not breathing. I couldn’t recognize a few, but I did notice that one body on the floor was Mrs. Kirraman, Caitlyn’s mother and one of the most notable people in all of Piltover. Another body belonged to Mel Medarada, a Noxian noble nepotism baby who had come to Piltover so she could be a high-level Piltie instead of a mid-tier Noxian. A few unremarkable Council members that no one cared about or talked about - no one would be talking about that. And finally, at the end of the rubble, was Jayce Talis. Piltover’s golden boy, no longer breathing.
Piltover had no more government. Piltover had no more rulers.
Piltover, as people knew it, was no more. As more people learned the news, devastating to some, liberating to others, I could hear shouts of anger, distrust, and mourning from one side of the river. Their entire world had been shaken up thanks to my act, a ripple effect that would cause Hextech development to stall, and the Piltover money machine to dry up. But then, I turned to the other side of the river. What would they make of this development? No more Council, no more order, no more Enforcers, no more hell.
But also, no more Silco. No more chem-barons. No more Shimmer production. No more child labor.
Their world had been shaken too. But instead of it being the end of the world for them, it was just another Tuesday. No noise came from Zaun, except for the coughing fit Sevika was in from having her ass whooped by my sister.
Piltover would probably want me dead. But Zaun didn’t care.
So before any Enforcers could figure out what had gone on, I hid Fishbones in a place no one could see, put a cloak over my tattoos, and rushed myself to the middle of Zaun.
My home, my lair.
Where no one would bring up what I had just done ever again.