Piltover - Across the Council Building

"I thought... maybe you could love me like you used to," Jinx murmured, her voice barely more than a whisper, tinged with a raw vulnerability that she rarely showed. The words trembled in the air, bittersweet, tinged with a lost hope that cut deeper than any weapon. Her gaze drifted away, the silence between them expanding, heavy with things left unsaid.

"Even though I'm... different," she continued, a flicker of regret crossing her face as her eyelids fluttered closed, blocking out the sight of her sister's bound and helpless form. "But you changed too." Her voice held no accusation, only a quiet resignation.

The room was dim, heavy with silence and the echo of fractured memories. Dust floated in the sparse light streaming through the cracked window, settling over the ruins of a life long past. Jinx sat in a chair, her usual manic energy replaced by something colder, darker—a kind of stillness that seemed wrong, almost unnatural for her. She leaned back, her fingers wrapped around her zapper pistol, glancing over at Vi, who was bound tightly to a chair, her eyes pleading and pained.

Across the room, the unmoving form of Silco who was also tied up on the chair, slumped over, lifeless, and Caitlyn lay unconscious on the ground, her breaths shallow but steady. The tableau felt like the end of a nightmare, the end of something—and yet, it was only the beginning.

Her eyes glinted with something wild, something shattered, as she spoke softly, "So, here's to the new us." Her words were less a toast than a death sentence, sealing the fate of everything they'd once been.

Jinx forced herself to stand, releasing the tight grip on her pistol as she reached down to pick up her beloved weapon, Pow-Pow.

A shadow stirred in the corner of the room, an uninvited presence lurking in the darkness. The figure leaned forward, arms resting on his knees, head tilted, watching with a smirk that carried no warmth, only anticipation. Alex Mercer. He observed the scene with a dark amusement, a spectator to the birth of chaos, and as Jinx moved past him, he added, "And here's to a new world." He rose, shadowing her step, a silent promise of devastation in his wake.

Jinx's gaze fell on the table in the center of the room, where a cupcake sat like a grotesque joke, crowned by the gleaming hextech gemstone. She reached out, plucking it from its place, her fingers curling around the cool, brilliant blue as if it held the answer to everything she'd ever wanted. Her eyes flicked back to Vi, just once, her face a fractured mask of defiance and heartbreak.

"Powder... please!" Vi's voice cut through the tension, raw and desperate, the nickname a plea reaching through years of pain and betrayal. "You don't have to do this," she said, her voice cracking. "I still love you. You're still my sister."

Jinx stopped, her back to Vi, every muscle tense as the words seeped into her mind. There was a long, unbearable pause. She seemed to waver, her grip on the gemstone tightening as her shoulders shuddered, caught between the person she was and the person she could have been.

Mercer stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder, his voice low, filled with a dark conviction that left no room for hesitation. Whatever he said was lost in the silence, but his words seemed to fortify her resolve, pulling her back into the shadows that beckoned her.

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Without another word, Jinx walked away, the gemstone pulsing in her hand like a promise of power and destruction. Vi slumped against her bonds, a broken sob tearing from her throat as she watched her sister disappear, the final remnant of "Powder" vanishing into the darkness.

Outside on the shattered bridge, Jinx paused, the world a silent void around her. The night air was thick, tinged with the scent of burnt metal and dust, and below her, the city sprawled out in fractured beauty, a mix of darkened slums and glistening towers. Mercer strode ahead, his steps precise, purposeful, a man driven by something deeper than destruction alone. But Jinx lingered, turning the hextech gemstone over in her hand, feeling its pulse resonate through her palm. She could still hear Vi's words, soft and raw, tugging at a part of her she'd long buried.

You don't have to do this... I still love you.

Jinx clenched her jaw, shoving the thoughts down as she slid the gemstone into her weapon. It thrummed to life, a quiet hum that sent a thrill through her veins. With each step she took toward Mercer, the hum grew louder, matching the pounding of her heart.

They reached the edge of the broken bridge, where the fractured metal jutted out over the dizzying drop below. Jinx's eyes narrowed as she stared at the towering structure in the distance: the Council building, gleaming and pristine, a monument to all the promises it had failed to keep. The glass windows shone, reflecting a city that looked orderly, peaceful, even as its underbelly rotted with neglect.

Mercer's gaze was fixed on the building, his mouth twisted in a half-smile that held neither mirth nor kindness. "And there it is," he muttered, his voice dripping with disdain. "The heart of their so-called peace." His tone was laced with contempt, and he tilted his head as if sizing up the building, daring it to respond. "This... is where it ends."

He turned, his intense gaze locking onto Jinx as she drifted closer to him, her weapon glowing in her hands, its energy vibrating through her fingers. For a fleeting moment, she thought of Vi again, of that final plea, and her grip wavered. But then she looked back at the building—a symbol of everything she despised, everything that had betrayed them both.

Mercer's eyes flickered with something unreadable as he studied her, as if gauging the fire inside her, the flame that danced between loyalty and vengeance. He saw the conflict in her eyes, the hesitation, and he stepped closer, his voice low, cutting through her thoughts.

"This isn't just about you, Jinx," he said, his tone almost gentle, though it held an edge of ruthless conviction. "It's about changing everything. No more suffering, no more hoping for things to get better. We take our world back. We make it ours."

Jinx swallowed, nodding slowly. Her eyes drifted back to the Council building, and this time, the vision blurred, her imagination painting it in flames, the pristine walls crumbling into chaos. For the first time in a long time, she felt something close to clarity—a fierce, unbreakable purpose.

Mercer stepped beside her, his voice low, coaxing. "Just imagine, Jinx. Do this, and you'll be the daughter of the twin cities. Nothing will stand before you. Piltover and Zaun's true destiny will finally be realized."

The words sank into her like a slow poison, twisting through her thoughts, entwining with her anger and pain. Her grip tightened on Fishbones, and she lifted it, the weapon's massive barrel trained on the distant building. Her finger drifted to the trigger, just a light press away from unleashing everything she held back, everything she'd buried. It would be so easy. Just one squeeze, and she'd carve her name into history, something the world could never forget.

Behind her, Mercer's presence was a dark shadow, his words an insistent whisper in her ear. "Go on," he encouraged, his tone smooth, his gaze locked on her. "Let them know your power. Let them fear your name."

But as her finger hovered over the trigger, an image flickered in her mind—Vi's face, desperate, pleading, her voice echoing through the emptiness inside her.

Her heart clenched, and in that instant, the rage and pain that had fueled her seemed to lose their edge. The fire dimmed, replaced by a pang of something raw, something dangerously close to regret. Her hand trembled on Fishbones, her aim wavering as the weight of Vi's words bore down on her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block it out, to sever that last, frayed connection.