Episode 36: Talk (1)

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...

Jinx's maniacal laughter echoed through the air as she stood over the carnage, her eyes wild, gleaming with an insane mix of triumph and madness. She turned slowly to Bael, her lips curling into a twisted grin.

"Hehehe~" she purred, her voice dripping with madness. "Saw that, babe? I killed the one who hurt you~" Her words were filled with an eerie sweetness, yet they cut through the air like a blade.

Bael's heart slammed in his chest as he saw Vi's limp form. The poison was already coursing through her veins, the brutal sting of the bullets having ripped through her flesh. But it was the Shimmer-infused venom that terrified him. It would break her. Slowly. Painfully. And he wouldn't let that happen.

Without a second thought, he rushed to Vi's side, scooping her into his arms. His mind was focused only on getting her to safety, to the lair, where he could fix her, heal her, before it was too late.

But as he moved, he heard the unmistakable sound of Jinx's voice again, this time laced with something darker, something possessive.

"Where do you think you're going?" she called out, her voice dripping with an unsettling glee. Her body trembled with excitement as she watched him. "You know I can't let you take her, right? You and I—" she let out a low giggle, "—we're not done yet, Bael."

The words sliced through him, but he didn't have the luxury of stopping. Vi's life was hanging by a thread.

Her laughter spiraled again, the Shimmer twisting in her mind, making her words sharper, more venomous.

She stepped forward, blocking Bael's path. Her breath was erratic, wild, her hands twitching as she held Pow-Pow Eta like it was an extension of herself. "She's not your problem anymore," Jinx sneered, eyes wide and manic, that predatory look flashing across her face. "She's nothing compared to what you and I could have, Bael. We could burn the world down together, you and me. Why do you want to fix her?"

"Jinx…" he whispered, voice pained. "

"I understand that what Vi did was inhuman. She left us when we needed her most, and just for that she deserves to die..." Bael starts.

"However, back then, she always protected the two of us. Heck, I wouldn't have met you in the first place if it weren't for her. She would've never hurt us, or let anyone hurt us, and just for that... I think we owe her, life." Bael explained.

Jinx didn't understand shit of what he was saying. "You're mine." She simply said, holding tightly Pow-Pow Eta.

"... Alright, Jinx... You win. Let her die, I'm all yours." His words were heavy, filled with an undercurrent of surrender.

Without a second thought, Jinx dropped the weapon, her face lighting up with manic joy. She pounced on him, her lips crashing into his in a desperate, frantic kiss that burned with all the passion she had bottled up. She kissed him as though she might suffocate without him, her hands guiding his around body, arriving at her breasts.

Bael, still reeling from the intensity of it, glanced down at the two women lying on the floor. Jinx was slowly going numb, even while passing out she still kissed her lover and made out with him like there's no tomorrow, until she fainted, dropping to the ground next to Vi.

Without hesitation, Bael turned to his inventory, grabbing the cotton and bandages he grabbed from the prison kitchen. His hands shaking slightly as he worked on Vi's wounds. She wouldn't die on him-not like this.

When he was done, he lifted all three of them, using everything he had left, to get them back to the lair.

...

Bael successfully extracted the bullets out of Vi's indestructible body. He treated her correctly and used the anti-shimmer, which curdd her.

Jinx was the first to wake up, rubbing her head and shaking her thoughts.

Then she saw him.

Bael sat slouched in a chair nearby, his head tilted to the side, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. He looked like he had barely slept, still gripping a cloth stained with dried blood. He had stayed. For her.

Her heart swelled, a manic grin creeping across her lips-until her gaze shifted.

Vi.

She lay beside her, barely conscious, still breathing. Alive.

Jinx's grin vanished in an instant. The weight of betrayal crashed over her like a tidal wave. She had shot Vi. She had won. So why was she still here, clinging to life like some pathetic roach?

Her fingers twitched. Rage bubbled up inside her, drowning out everything else. She moved before she even thought, her hands wrapping around Vi's throat, squeezing with all the fury pent up inside her. Vi gasped, her swollen, barely open eyes darting in alarm. Weak, helpless. Jinx relished it.

Until Bael's hand caught her wrist.

The grip wasn't rough, but it was firm-unmovable. She turned, her teeth clenched, her breath ragged. "What the hell are you doing?" she spat.

Bael's gaze was sharp despite his exhaustion. "Let go, Jinx."

Jinx's fingers twitched, tightening for a second before loosening against her will. Her stomach churned. He wasn't stopping her out of pity for Vi-he had chosen her, hadn't he? He was hers.

"No…" Her voice cracked, her lips trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. "You said it was us… Forever. You—" A sob tore through her, raw and broken. "You promised, Bael! Against the world! Together beyond death! You chose me!"

Her knees buckled, and she gripped her own hair, tugging at it as if trying to tear out the doubt, the pain. "So why? Why are you saving her?!"

Jinx bit her lip, the weight of his words pressing down on her. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair.

But deep inside, a tiny, fractured part of her whispered—he wasn't wrong.

Jinx's grin lingered as she stared down at Vi, but then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the other body sprawled nearby.

Her expression twisted in confusion. "What the fuck?"

She stomped over to Beca's unconscious form, prodding her roughly with her foot. "Why is she still here?!" Her voice shot up in disbelief, looking back at Bael like he'd just grown a second head.

Bael let out a slow breath, running a hand through his hair. "Just escort her out, Jinx. We don't owe each other anything now." His voice was low, indifferent, like he had already made peace with it.

Jinx blinked. Then she barked out a laugh. "Escort her out? Like I'm some kinda doorman? Pfft—yeah, no." She crouched next to Beca, tilting her head, watching the slow rise and fall of the girl's chest. "Why let her go, Bael? She was there. She saw everything. She knows too much."

Bael's gaze darkened. "She's not our problem anymore."

Jinx pouted dramatically, tapping her fingers against Beca's cheek. "Hmm… Nah. I don't like that answer."

"We're keeping her for now... I just had the best idea of my life." Jinx said.

Vi stirred, a low groan escaping her lips as the world slowly came into focus. Her body felt like it had been through a grinder—every muscle sore, her head pounding like a drum. The taste of iron lingered in her mouth.

Then, as her vision cleared, she saw her.

Jinx.

Perched on the chair beside her, legs lazily kicked up, chin resting on her palm. And those eyes—deep, glowing purple, unnatural and sharp, like they were boring straight into her soul.

Vi's breath hitched.

"Rise and shine, two-bucks," Jinx sang, flashing a grin that was all teeth. "Miss me?"

A chill ran down Vi's spine. There was something… off. This wasn't the Jinx she remembered—wild, unpredictable, sure, but there was something new lurking behind her gaze. Something worse.

"Jinx…" Vi croaked, her throat raw. She tried to move, but her body barely responded.

Jinx gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. "Whoa, whoa! No 'Powder'? No teary reunion? C'mon, Vi, you're breakin' my heart here!" She pouted, then suddenly burst into a giggle, tilting her head. "Oh, right… You don't get to call me that anymore."

Vi swallowed hard, trying to push herself up. "Where—" She glanced around, then froze

Jinx was playing with her. But beneath it—beneath the giggles, the sharp grins, the glowing purple eyes—was something fragile. Something shattered.

And it was her fault.

Vi swallowed hard. Her voice cracked when she spoke. "Powder… I—I'm sorry."

Jinx's grin twitched.

Vi pushed through the pain, forcing herself to sit up even as her body screamed in protest. "I didn't leave you. It wasn't my choice." Her throat tightened, and she clenched her fists. "They took me. Locked me up. I—I fought to get back to you, I swear." Her eyes were glassy now, desperate. "I never stopped thinking about you."

Jinx's expression didn't change. She just blinked, slowly, as if processing the words. Then she leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands.

"Ohhhh, so now you care?" Her voice was sweet, mocking. "Now you wanna be big sis again?"

Vi felt like she was standing on a crumbling bridge. "I never stopped being your sister." Her voice broke at the edges. "Please, Powder… I—"

Jinx's eye twitched.

Click.

Before Vi could react, Jinx had drawn a gun and pressed the barrel right against her forehead.

The world went still.

Vi froze. Her pulse pounded against her skull, but she didn't move. She just stared at Jinx—into those glowing, haunting eyes.

Jinx's smile didn't fade, but something in her gaze was unreadable. Her finger hovered over the trigger, her grip steady.

"You keep calling me that," she whispered, her voice softer now, almost eerily so. "Like it means something." Her head tilted. "Like I'm still her."

Vi's heart clenched.

"You are," she whispered back. "No matter what they did to you. No matter what you did."

Jinx didn't blink. Didn't move.

Then, after what felt like an eternity—

She burst into giggles and yanked the gun away, twirling it in her hand.

"Gods, Vi, you're so dramatic!" She wiped a fake tear from her eye. "This is why I missed ya, y'know? You always know how to make things fun!"

Jinx's smile remained twisted, her eyes glinting with something darker. She stood slowly, circling Vi like a predator sizing up its prey. The air in the room felt heavier, charged with tension.

"You want to prove you still love me?" Jinx purred, her voice a sweet, dangerous melody. "Then I've got something for you to do." She stopped in front of Vi, leaning down so that their faces were mere inches apart.

"I'll do whatever it takes," Vi whispered, her voice tight with uncertainty.

Jinx kicks Beca's unconscious body into sight and passes Vi the steam gun, "Kill her." She ordered.

Vi couldn't do it, it was partially thanks to her that they managed to evade the prison, she helped them a lot. Bael was neutral and didn't say anything. Vi says she can't kill a comrade of weapon.

"You're too soft Vi, that's not how I used to remember you back in the day... Y'know, back when you weren't just a two-bucks." Jinx says.

Jinx's eyes flicked to the steam gun in Vi's hands, and with a sneer, she snatched it from her, passing it off to Bael with a simple flick of her wrist.

"A simple dementia potion should do the trick," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Jinx's eyes never left Vi. The silence between them was thick, charged with unspoken words and seething emotions. Finally, Jinx spoke, her voice dripping with venom. "You're pathetic," she hissed, her eyes narrowing in disgust. "You couldn't even do something as simple as that. You failed me."

Vi winced at the sharpness of her words, but she didn't back down. Her jaw clenched as Jinx continued.

"If killing one soul, to prove to me you still care, no matter what... wasn't possible for you, then I don't know what the hell you think you're doing here." Jinx's smile was twisted, full of dark satisfaction. "I don't want to see your face again. You're dead to me."

Bael paused, glancing back at Vi for a brief moment, but then returned to his task without a word. His indifference was almost worse than Jinx's anger.

Vi stood frozen, every part of her screaming with a mix of heartbreak and rage. She couldn't find the words to fix this. She couldn't undo the damage done.

Vi breaks down to tears, somehow it moved Jinx, she almost frowned, but she didn't care, it's not tears that're gonna fix anything, she already emptied her reserve when her sister abandoned them...