Chapter Text
Her hands were shaking.
Vi paced back and forth on the cracked cement of her side of the cage, rhythmically clenching and unclenching her fists. Her nails had grown longer, more uneven and sharp; they dug into her dry and calloused palms and drew fresh blood. For once, the uncontrollable tremors that kicked her into overdrive weren’t from alcohol or injury.
They were from rage.
She stalked the length of the arena, feeling unreasonably– unexplainably pissed. Her heart was racing, her blood was boiling, her vision was blurred. The choice to avoid looking at Jinx was conscious, but when had her body ever obeyed her? No, they kept flicking to blue pink eyes and a sardonic smile, seeking nonsensical approval from the metaphorical tyrant. She didn’t understand anything about that girl, and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to.
But maybe, the most annoying part of it all, was that she couldn’t even understand herself.
She couldn’t understand the odd feeling of envy, the voice in her head that screamed at the thought of Jinx choosing someone else to be the main puppet of her stupid games, couldn’t understand the overlapping, feverish whispers in her head repeating ‘mine’ over and over again. They shouldn’t be here, they didn’t belong here. They carved their own damn spaces into her body without her permission and she couldn’t risk throwing them out unless she wanted to feel empty again. Unless she wanted to go back to cold floors and fragmented memories and chasing an early death.
But it wasn’t her fault, was it?
Before she knew it, her fist darted out to hit the metal bars, pain flaring up her knuckles. Good, a bit more clarity. Her ears rang. Someone was saying something.
No, it was Jinx’s.
From the moment she laid eyes on her sister – after seven, painfully long years blurred into each other, – and saw someone else, someone far more sinister intertwined with her soul, she knew something was wrong. Still, Vi had hoped. She had hoped with every fibre of her being that Powder could change, that she’d choose Vi over the person the world had disfigured her into. That maybe, all that suffering had been worth it, if they ended up together in the end.
But Jinx, Jinx ruined her so thoroughly that she wouldn’t be able to forget it if she tried. Jinx hadn’t killed her sister; she had done the painstaking job of disassembling her piece by piece and putting her back together in a grotesque imitation of a grown-up Powder, keeping and discarding whatever she saw fit. For better or for worse, she had chosen to keep the fragment of Vi’s soul that belonged to Powder. And not for a moment had she allowed Vi to forget it. They were stitched together through the shared caricatures of their memories, the grief, the loss, pain; so intimately that loosening a single strand would cause their entire beings to unravel.
And now, she thought she could just- replace Vi with some common bitch?
Hell no.
Who did she think she was?
Her gaze snapped up to the snake on the other side, slithering around the arena and eyeing her with a single-minded focus.
Too bad it won’t be enough to win.
Five…
Vi herself hadn’t been having the best winning streak. Her kills had been borderline and most of her efforts had been focused on pulling herself out of a slump and figuring out what the hell Jinx was planning. She wasn’t a fool to assume that she could keep doing this forever, nothing came without a price in their world.
They each squared up and discarded their jackets, with the buzz growing louder and louder until Vi realised they were chanting a name.
Four…
Viper.
Figures.
The surrounding lights dimmed and thrust them into momentary darkness, through which the only thing she registered was a piercing violet pink gaze.
Three…
Sharp, blinding fluorescent lights flickered on overhead, and her eyes zeroed in on the target. The cheers faded into background noise, her own shallow breaths echoing in her ears.
Two…
But if Jinx wanted a show, then that’s what she’d goddamn get.
…One.
The bell rang out.
Her body moved on instinct, reflexes trained and lightning fast. They had to be, when they were the difference between life and death. Her fist collided with a hard planed abdomen, catching sight of the briefest widening of eyes before she went for a sharp uppercut. Blood splattered across her face and she blocked the counter hit with ease, frowning at the weak response.
Oh. That’s right. She hadn’t gone offensive in this ring.
Oh well.
She turned around sharply when Viper escaped from beneath, coughing as she shoved her against the cage with a single, harsh kick to her back before retreating to the opposing edge. Vi scoffed, rolling her shoulders. Weak. No wonder she’d never made it to the big leagues.
They circled each other slowly, each one thinking the other prey. She could see her opponent recalculating, eyeing Vi cautiously as she wiped across her split lip. She was still arrogant, just…subdued. Vi tracked her movements, crouching carefully and planning her own approach. Viper and her were mostly matched in size and build – cornering her wouldn’t do much or even guarantee a win. On a good day, Vi would simply hang back and wait for an opening. The timer showed her plenty of seconds. Pit fights weren’t personal.
She leapt forward and revelled in the sickening crunch as her fist met Viper’s stupid fucking face, kicking a leg out from underneath her and kneeing her jaw back into the bars of the cage.
It just so happened that today was a very, very bad day and this fight happened to be very personal.
Vi forced out a hiss when she was kicked in the groin, stumbling backwards and grunting as Viper slammed her against the cage, repeatedly punching her in the ribs. She struggled to breathe, black spots beginning to pop up in her vision.
Strategized.
Vi had been nursing bruised ribs for days now.
Of course she had noticed.
“Did ya really think you could turn things ‘round in a single match, kid?” She spat blood into Vi’s ear, spinning her by the shoulders and pushing her face into the bars. Her left hand was crushed beneath a boot, dirt and grime stinging the open cuts. “You’re easy on the eyes, I’ll give you that. But if your mistress wanted a whore, she should’ve paid for one. Not thrown you into the ring to humiliate yourself.”
A hoarse cry escaped her throat when a heavy metal foot dug into the back of her calf, reopening the stitches on a fairly recent wound.
“She’s a smart woman– must’ve noticed it herself.” She remarked idly, tugging Vi back by the hair and slamming a fist into her cheek. Vi coughed up blood, feeling around for a loose tooth with her tongue and failing to hold back a whimper when her arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. Low blow, but she figured Viper wouldn’t care. “Probably hasn’t been getting her money’s worth for a while now. No matter-”
She grit her teeth, elbow twisted outwards and shoulder pulled in, winding her body into a tight spring and pushing herself as hard as she could against the metal cage for leverage.
“-I’ll be able to make her happier than you ever did.”
Vi saw red.
In an instant, her shoulder made contact with the woman’s jaw, breaking the arm lock and sending her staggering backwards. Vi delivered a sharp kick to her kneecap, swinging her newly freed hand in a harsh punch to the throat. Viper sputtered on one knee, dropping to the ground when Vi swept her other leg out and stomped on her ribs until she heard a crack.
We’ll see how the fuck you’ll be able to do anything when I’m done with you.
The distant sound of a bell rang in her ears, but she was already dropping to her knees and choking the bitch by the throat, bringing her fist down again and again into loose flesh until the scent of iron was nauseating- until she didn’t have to see Viper’s face anymore and the disgusting squealing had stopped and her hand was aching and Jinx was hers no one could ever replace her-
“HOUND- SCARLET! QUIT IT!”
The supervisor yelled somewhere behind her, barely heard over the blood rushing in her ears and the crowd’s screams. Vi didn’t give a fuck, that pathetic little man only thought he had any kind of authority over her, he wanted her to give his audience a fucking show, didn’t he? She would finish what she started.
Hands grabbed her by her arms and shoulders, many strange disgusting hands, making Vi snarl, incensed. She tried to fight it but her shoulder hurt so much that the agony threatened to make her vision white out. Still, she thrashed around, tried to throw herself back at Viper, intent on finishing the job she started to make sure the bitch would never dare to try and take hers again. Once there were a few inches between her and Viper, the men from security put themselves between them as they kept pushing and dragging her back, blocking sight of her target but not even that was enough to break her from the single-minded focus.
“Hound. Stop it.”
But her voice was more than enough.
She had not yelled but her voice was clearer than anything else in the arena, than the collective yell of the audience. As if she’d said it right beside Vi’s ear, as if they were alone. Vi’s head snapped in the direction her voice came from and there she was, pink eyes shining, a small satisfied smile on her painted purple lips.
Without noticing, Vi stopped fighting the men trying to keep her away from Viper. Her fury receded like the tides, enough for her to recuperate some clarity. Her job was already done. She’d won the fight, she’d proved no common bitch would replace her.
She watched Jinx walk up her, incapable of tearing her eyes off the woman.
“Let her go.” She commanded, to the security goons holding onto Vi and making her shoulder scream with the manhandling.
They followed the order, no protest. Of course, even if she took the opportunity to attack Viper again, being fired would be better than whatever Jinx might do if they disobeyed her so publicly.
The look in Jinx’s eyes was something Vi couldn’t begin deciphering. Jinx seemed satisfied, content. Had she gotten what she wanted? Her eyes still had the same shape, round and big, and they shined the same way as when she was a kid and good things happened, still crinkled in the corners. Except now they shined literally too, like glow in the dark bracelets, like little pink suns.
Jinx raised her hands up until they hovered an inch away from her face and Vi tensed up, thinking if she should grab her wrists or stepping back or run away. But she remained in the exact same place as small calloused hands covered in the blood of countless people settled on her cheeks and cradled her face, exactly like she used to do with Powder.
Her thumb caressed her skin, nice and soft and Vi’s mind dissolved, her thoughts and feelings became fuzzy and warm. A quiet chant started at the very back of her mind that sounded vaguely like the name of her tormentor, her legal owner, her Sister. And Vi was helpless to stop any of it, couldn’t come up with a single reason why she should, when she’d already played their game and lost, or she’d won, she wasn’t sure, but shouldn’t she get something nice out of it? Feeling nice was rare these days. So, she did something unthinkable, unforgivable, she leaned into the touch, eyes falling closed. The air held in her lungs since she heard Jinx say her moniker escaped at once, together with some of the tension from the night. Vi leaned closer to her unconsciously, brought her own hands up and held onto Jinx’s wrists lightly, as if to stop her from pulling away.
“Good job, Hound. You won.” Her sister whispered. Hers.
The thought broke Vi out of this second trance she’d fallen into, hypnotized by Jinx. Her eyes flied open and she stumbled back until Jinx’s hands left her face, until they were more than arm’s length away. Jinx stayed in the same place, and her smile remained but it turned dull.
Vi needed out of here. Now!
She caught sight of the door to the cage, open wide for her escaping convenience.
She fled.
In the way, she passed by Jinx, standing right in the way, and Sevika standing guard by the entrance.
Vi kept going, weaving through the crowd of people, out of the building and down the street until she reached an empty alley and felt like she could, finally, stop.
Thunder rolled in the distance, announcing it would rain soon, and the night was chilly enough to make her shiver at the breeze hitting her hot sweaty skin.
She sat by the sidewalk, exhaling heavily, and held onto her injured arm. It needed looking over but she didn’t want to face anyone right at that moment. She took deep breaths through her mouth, but couldn’t relax with the smell of Viper’s blood still clinging to her. Her hands were completely stained red. At least the silence helped clear her mind the rest of the way.
What the fuck had happened back there?
The last time she’d lost control like that was her first time against Sevika, when she thought she could extract out of her some kind of information about Powder. When Vi had earnestly believed they were keeping her sister somewhere and forcing her to make them weapons and Vi would sweep in like a big hero and rescue Powder, who’d be exactly as Vi remembered her except taller. The time before that was in Stillwater, when she saw the goon she fought the night her family died. These had something in common: they mattered; she’d been fighting for something, for justice and for her sister, she’d lost her head but it was for her family, not- not...
Not over the implied threat that Jinx was giving up on her.
“Now, I’m someone who appreciates theatrics myself...” Jinx voice rang out in the alley, leaning on the wall a few steps of distance from her. “But that exit was a little dramatic.”
Vi didn’t bother looking up. It didn’t surprise her she hadn’t heard Jinx coming, considering the number of times Vi had been caught in traps set up by her. The bridge, the tea party, Jana’s temple... This girl really was a ghost until she didn’t want to be, wasn’t she?
Vi decided she might as get some answers. What was the worst Jinx could do, lie to her?
“Did you plan this?” Vi asked, accusatory.
“Me?” Jinx repeated, a mocking quality to her voice, raising one dark eyebrow. “I’m flattered that you think I’m sooo powerful but I haven’t reached omniscience yet, Vi. How was I supposed to know you made a little rival, and she was going to challenge you like that?”
It was true, or at least, it sounded true enough. Viper had acted exactly as she always did, and Vi reacted accordingly. Maybe Jinx had feed the flame but they’d started it by themselves. But she didn’t like this answer, she didn’t like the notion that this was all her. If it was all her then so was the anger, so was the possessiveness, if it was all her then Vi was someone who lost her head and beat others to a bloody pulp for her own selfish gain rather than any reason worth it.
“Viper... Is she going to survive?”
“Remorseful, are we? Yes, she will. I told the supervisor to give her a shimmer injection, and take her to the clinic so they can salvage her nose into something she can breathe through. I even gave up my winnings, as one of the very few people who betted on you, to finance that and her recuperating period. Ain’t I nice?”
Vi snorted. “Right. You’re a fucking saint. And her becoming another shimmer addict who’s going to put all her money into buying your drugs was nothing to do with it.”
“Oh, for Jana’s merciless and fucked up love...” Jinx said, exasperated. It sounded like she’d continue, but instead she took a deep breath and let it out forcefully.
The silence stretched between them, heavy with expectation of a fight that Vi had no energy for but was dying to pick. When they were fighting, she knew where she stood, where her place was. She hadn’t been sure anymore ever since she became aware of this strange situation where Jinx was keeping her like a stray, fed and watered but out of sight and out of mind.
Finally, Jinx broke the silence.
“I saved her because I know you have weird ideas of who deserves or doesn’t deserve to die, and I didn’t want you feeling guilt about it. I came here because I wanted to see you. Everything else was all you.”
Everything else was all her.
It was the answer that made the most sense and the one she hated the most.
“Did you get the show you wanted?” The questions spilled out of Vi’s lips before she could stop it. She faced at Jinx finally, before she could think better of it.
Jinx hadn’t worn her fancy dress to come see Vi fight. Instead, she was wearing thick black pants with hip-windows and that same heavy jacket with her signature drawings that Vi had seen that day. Her hair was braided in a single braid and throw over her shoulder like their mother used to wear it. She looked more and more like a proper adult every time Vi saw her. Vi wished that meant she was losing resemblance to Powder but that didn’t happen, she looked more like herself every day. Like an artist sharpening their skills over years kept coming back to improve the same painting.
Jinx smiled and rocked on her feet like a kid, hands behind her back. Her eyes crinkled in the corner just like earlier. In the darkness of the alley, the pink shined all the brighter, like a cat’s eyes.
“Meh, it was alright.” She shrugged.
“You said you betted on me.”
“I always do.”
Vi frowned in confusion.
“What do you mean, always?”
Jinx chuckled.
“That wasn’t the first of your fights I watch, you know. This time I thought, well, since the sponsor is out of the bag, I didn’t need to be so secretive about it.”
Vi quietly digested that. Jinx had watched her fights since she was from the main pit, probably watched her get knocked out and stomped on, pathetically drunk. She winced, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her. It had already been hard to drown the shame in alcohol when the only people watching her fall that low were strangers she didn’t give a fuck about but fucking Jinx was seeing that too? For how long? How many of her matches had she seen? How had she even hidden in the crowd without anyone recognizing her?
And if Jinx saw that, and probably lost money on her at some point, why the fuck would she take the risk again?
“If you saw me like that, why bet on me? What if I lost?”
Jinx frowned deeply and cocked her head to the side like a crow, like she didn’t quite understand the question.
“So what?”
“So what?” Vi repeated, incredulous. “You’d lose money, you’d turn into a public joke if the fighter you sponsored and bet on lost with you in the fucking audience. How were you so sure I was going to win?”
“I wasn’t. I don’t have a crystal ball.” Jinx replied dryly. “But I do know you, and I know you turn into a beast when you get doubted. Even then, it didn’t matter if you won or lost. I wasn’t going to put that blonde bitch in your place, of course.”
Vi stood and took two long strides to put herself in front of Jinx, facing her from less than an arm’s length away. Jinx became a little tense, and Vi ignored her hand casually positioned to take her gun out at any sign of a threat. Knowing Jinx saw her as a threat should make Vi happy, smug, vindicated, something like that, but it displeased her instead and she didn’t know why.
“But why take the risk when you had something to lose?” Vi pressed on.
Jinx had to tilt her head back to meet Vi’s gaze. She still seemed confused, like she was trying to read Vi’s soul and figure out what she wanted to hear. Vi didn’t know why Jinx was acting like this, like she was so hard to comprehend, and it frustrated her to no end. She always said exactly what was on her mind. Jinx was the one that played some kind of puppet game Vi didn’t know the rules to in every one of their interactions.
Jinx pursed her lips, seemingly thinking hard about whether or not to give Vi a sincere reply.
“I always have something to lose when you’re in the equation.”
Silence.
Lighting flashed overhead, painting Jinx in an otherworldly glow; her unnatural pink eyes shone with a startling genuity.
The skies opened the same as her decade’s long wound, ripped apart and drowning her in a storm she didn’t know how to navigate. Vi drew in a sharp, pained breath, but Jinx remained as still as ever, looking small and cold and like- she reached out in a sudden moment, with the same hands Vi had nuzzled into not ten minutes ago, painted nails brushing against the bruised skin of her cheek.
It knocked the breath out of her as effectively as a blow to the chest, to her heart, to the wound in the shape of Powder’s name she carried around and Jana, it hurt, it fucking hurt, it made her eyes sting and fill with water because Jinx was lying! She had to be fucking lying!
“Why are you doing all of this?” Vi asked in a low hiss, coming forward, forcing Jinx to retreat towards the end of the alley. “Do you think this is going to make up for what you did? That you can just pretend to care about me and I’ll fall for it?”
Finally, finally Jinx couldn’t keep up the innocent veneer anymore, her face contorted into a pained, angry sneer. And although all the blood drained from her face and her bottom lip trembled like she too would start crying and Vi felt it like a hand wringing her heart out, she didn’t back down.
“This isn’t- it has nothing to do with... I’m not trying-!” Jinx sputtered, the farthest thing from composed and arrogant, her shoulders pulled in and hands wringing nervously in front of her. She looked pathetically small and defenceless like this and Vi couldn’t believe she had the courage to come here alone, without her guard dog, like she could do anything to protect herself if Vi- if Vi...
“I’m not pretending! I do fucking love y-”
“Shut up!” Vi yelled, raised her fist to hit the wall beside them-
Jinx flinched back, eyes wide and hands half raised to protect her face.
Vi froze with her first in the air and the sound of rain and fire and her little sister’s cries in her ear that didn’t come from this night, but from one many, many years ago.
For a long moment, they stood there facing each other, mirroring each other, wide eyed and pale, shocked and deeply hurt.
Jinx blinked as if coming awake.
She stepped out of the alley hurriedly, putting distance between them.
Vi tried to find words to say over the blood rushing in her ears that would undo the last two minutes. Jinx was gone before she could, leaving Vi alone.