Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I made her a snack!” Powder grinned widely, her teeth showing as she moved her hand above the cloche.

Vi clenched her fists as she widened her eyes in fear, she wanted to look away, to close her eyes just so she could avoid seeing something like this. Powder wouldn’t do that, would she? Her little sister would never do that! Caitlyn’s face flashed into her mind as Power suddenly lifted up the cloche.

“No!” Vi screamed as she quickly turned away with her eyes closed while Silco, who was still tied up and gagged, flinched back with widened eyes, and nearly looked away, but still kept his eyes on his adopted daughter as well as the ‘snack’ she made.

“What are you so afraid of, sis? Look at it!” Power giggled as she threw the cloche away, the sound of it hitting the floor multiple times vibrating in the room. Vi already saw a glimpse of it, and that was why she couldn’t bring her eyes back on it anymore, but still, she had to. Because she did this. She created this.

So she looked, and she couldn’t keep herself from wimpering as she saw it. Caitlyn’s smile was gone, and it wouldn’t come back. Her eyes were cold and lifeless, and they would never blink again. Her beautiful hair was a mess, and it would never go straight again. All of that was normal… for a severed head after all. She had seen so much since she grew up in the undercity. But Vi nearly puked at the sight. Maybe because it was gruesome or because it was Caitlyn, she wasn’t sure. But it hurt. It hurt as much as it did that time…

“Powder! H-How could you?! W-Why?!” She shouted as tears finally streamed down her cheeks as she trashed in her seat, against her bindings while Powder stared at her, her smile gone only to be replaced with a blank stare followed by scowl.

“Did you like your girlfriend that much? She-She would have killed me with no hesitation if she had her weapon at that time, would you have let her do that?!” Powder slammed her fist on the table, making it shake. “At least she got her gemstone back!” She added as she pointed at the blue gemstone stuck between Caitlyn’s head’s lips. “I-I did this for us! She was keeping you away from me! B-Because you cared about her! Now we can be together again! As sisters! She wouldn’t do that” Powder explained desperately before snapping at someone that wasn’t even there as Vi let out a guttural scream as she tried to snap the ropes with her strength alone, making Powder step back in surprise.

Vi’s mind was in shambles. She knew Powder had already killed several times while she was in prison, and even after getting out. She even saw some of those people dying to her, but this… this was something else. All those deaths were from bombs or bullets. This time… this time, she actually killed someone Vi cared about specifically because she cared about her, then severed her head! Powder wouldn’t do that. Powder wouldn’t. Her sister wouldn’t. However, was this really surprising? First Mylo and Claggor, then Vander, and now Caitlyn. She didn’t even know if Ekko was alive either… It was too much!

“Why? She’s just a topside bitch! So why are you so heartbroken!?” Powder screamed as she suddenly started hitting the side of her head while Silco looked at her in worry, Vi still unable to stop her tears. Powder suddenly shot at the Claggor doll with her gun, sending it flying across the room. “Stop crying already! Stop it!” Powder grabbed Vi’s head, shouting at her, tightening her grip around her skull before suddenly letting go and kicking a chair into a wall.

She couldn’t understand. Was she that attached to that girl? Was-Was she really a replacement? Her replacement? Did she even cry that much when she left Powder? No not Powder! Jinx! And of course she didn’t! Because she made the choice to leave! And Jinx was the one to make the choice to take her little girlfriend away! And she didn’t regret it. One. Bit. But still… her sister’s cry hurt her ears. And she wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t like seeing her hurt or because she was crying for someone that wasn’t Jinx. But that was the issue wasn’t it? She didn’t love Jinx. She never did. She only cared about Powder… until she left her.

“No, no, no! I-It wasn’t supposed to happen like that! It wasn’t supposed to-!” Jinx stopped herself with a scream as she grabbed her head, tears going down her face as she pushed her forehead against the floor. “Shut up! I’m not in the mood to listen to you!” She shouted while growing voices invaded her mind, plaguing her the visions of her past friends. Suddenly, she heard a muffled voice, breaking her out of her trance as she looked behind her and remembered Silco was still here. She stood up, nearly tripping and falling down again in the process before walking up to him, and removing the gag. “What?”

“She… She won’t accept you, Jinx. She can’t even accept your new name! You and I, we’re all we have! We can only trust each other! I won’t reject you like she did, and certainly not for someone from the topside!” Silco tried to calm her down as she sniffled back her tears, then glared at him.

“You wanted to abandon me, too! I heard you, you know?!” She shouted at him as his eyes softened at her.

“Then you heard wrong. They offered me everything I’ve ever wanted. My nation of Zaun, my dream. All they wanted was you. And I would have refused. They can all burn for all I care! I’m not like Vander, and I won’t give up on you! You’re perfect. You’re Jinx. You’re my daughter. And you are the only person I can trust. Without you, I would feel there would be no point of even having Zaun,” Silko retorted as Jinx cried again, before looking away.

“I… I… need to think… I-I” Jinx stuttered as she glanced at Vi, who had her head down. “If you didn’t leave… none of this would have even happened!”

“Jinx. Finish this, and let’s go home. Let’s do this… together,” Silco said in a calm tone.

“Powder…You…” Vi muttered in a hoarse voice as Jinx walked up to her.

“I. am. NOT POWDER! Just… please… say that you love me… That you love Jinx… And forget about that enforcer bitch. Stay in Zaun with us,” Jinx tried to convince her as she leaned towards her.

Vi clenched her teeth in anger, then threw a glance at Caitlyn’s head as her vision suddenly got blurry. Right now, she completely forgot who was in front of her, she forgot this was her sister as the only thing she felt was pure rage. Because of what happened to Caitlyn and because of what Jinx said about her. She was one of the rare people from topside that actually felt like a good person. The first person she cared about after years of being alone! And all she wanted to know now was… why?

Eventually, she finally managed to snap her restraints. Jinx didn’t even see it coming as a blur suddenly flew into her left cheek and striked her so hard across the face that she stumbled back while her gun flew away across the table. The blue haired girl grabbed her cheek in pain as Vi let out a war cry while running towards her little sister.

“Why? Why? Why did you do this?!” Vi asked her continuously as she punched Jinx repeatedly across the face, but also in the belly. The blue haired girl eventually let go of her surprise and threw some punches and kicks back in a panic.

“Jinx!” Silco cried out as he was still tied down while his daughter was taking punches, sometimes managing to kick her a few times and the hurt in her face was easily noticeable. Still she threw punches with no stopping.

Vi was just filled with anger and wanted to let it out against the girl in front of her.

Jinx wanted to say something, to talk to her, but doing so during a fight against a crazed Vi was harder than she thought. She had a hard time fighting, not just because Vi was that strong, but also because she was her sister, and she was hurting her. Her sister was attacking her because of a stupid enforcer! Jinx’s eyes wavered while multiple flashes filled her vision, illusions of her former friends’ bodies surrounding her, berating her, hating her for what she had done.

And all of them were screaming ‘Powder’ as if she was still named like this! She only heard a few faint ‘Jinx’ from SIlco at the end of the table. She had enough… She was tired… Tired of it all…

Finally, she fell on the floor as Vi sat on her and wrapped her hands around her neck. Jinx’s breath was unable to escape her throat as she looked at her sister’s face. It was rageful, the same look she used to give to their enemies, and now she was giving it to her. Jinx cried. Tears moved down her cheeks as she wimpered. It was over, this was how it would end. Her sister abandoned her, and now she was going to kill her, too.

Vi didn’t lower the pressure on the girl’s neck as she strangled her. However, as her eyes locked with her sister’s, she finally snapped out of her anger. She looked into Jinx’s scared eyes. Powder was afraid of her, she was scared she would die.

The pink haired girl blinked as Jinx was replaced with a small Powder happily smilling at her. Vi’s lips quivered as she relaxed her grip over the younger girl’s neck. Just as she was about to open her mouth and talk, a shot rang out. Vi widened her eyes as she looked at the blood coming out of her chest. She let out multiple breaths, spat some blood before falling on her side.

Silco breathed out as he lowered Jinx’s gun, having managed to free himself from the ropes as Jinx quickly crawled towards him and wrapped her arms around him.

“I-I’m sorry! You were right,” Jinx said through her choked sobs as Silco dropped her gun, then put his arms around her head in a reassuring manner. “I shouldn’t have doubted you… I… She tried to…”

“I know. It’s okay,” He told her as he looked at Vi, who was still alive, but choking her blood. The earlier scene rbought back some bad memories. The way she strangled her sister. The way Vander attempted to drown him.

Vi was crying as she kept her hand over her wound, struggling to stay conscious while her little sister was sobbing in Silco’s arms.

“Didn’t I tell you already? Don’t cry… You’re perfect,” Silco said to Jinx as he moved her hair out of the way of her eyes while she looked up at him. “And I won’t leave you… ever,”

“Pow… der…” Vi managed to choke out as Jinx turned to look at her.

“She… She isn’t my sister anymore…” Jinx said in a bitter tone as she let go of Silco, then walked towards the table. For a second, Vi thought she would shoot her and kill her own sister, but instead, she grabbed the gemstone between Caitlyn’s lips. “You said they could all burn, right?” Jinx inquired as Silco raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“Yes, I did. I would never give you to them,” He assured her a second time.

“Then let’s do it together, let’s show them all,” Jinx said as she also grabebd her new weapon, Fishbones, and loaded the gemstone in.

“The weapon… You completed it,” Silco pointed out in surprise as Jinx walked out of the room, climbing up before placing Fishbones on her shoulder and targetting the council’s building.

Silco widened his eyes in realization. Was she actually going to do what he thought she would? Jinx pressed the trigger, the weapon charging up more and more until it fired a big rocket, travelling the night sky as it left a blue trail behind. Jinx and Silco watched in silence as he approached his daughter and put a hand on her shoulder.

The rocket finally connected with the window leading into the council chamber. And Silco knew this would be the start of their new nation, Zaun.