[Check Out My P4treon For +50 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/roaverse]
===
For a month, life had been stable. Powder was happy, her mind quiet, her focus entirely on her inventions. In the sunlit halls of the Academy, the "Jinx" persona had been buried under piles of blueprints and gears. Chen was confident—he thought he had won. He thought he could outrun the plot and fix her before Vi ever saw the light of day.
But the butterfly effect is a cruel mechanic. He hadn't accounted for a bored Caitlyn forging a pardon years ahead of schedule.
"Jinx, calm down!"
Chen moved slowly, palms out, approaching the blue-haired girl as if she were a live explosive.
"I'm very calm~" Jinx chirped. She pulled her pistol from thin air, twirling it on her trigger finger with a practiced, lethargic grace. "It's you, Chen. Why the high heart rate? You're going to trigger your own passive."
Chen didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the gun.
"Why did you lie to me?" Jinx suddenly snapped the barrel up, pressing the cold steel directly against Chen's forehead. Her voice dropped to a jagged whisper. "You said she was dead. You told me Vi was gone."
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Chen's temple. "I... I didn't know, Powder. I swear. I thought she was dead. How was I supposed to know she'd just respawn in the middle of Piltover?"
It was a desperate lie. If he admitted he'd known Vi was in Stillwater, Jinx would paint the walls with him.
Jinx's wide, manic grin returned. "Hehe. I know you wouldn't lie to me. You're my favorite stat-stick." She didn't pull the trigger. Instead, she swung the gun toward Ekko, who was backed against a workbench. "What about you, Little Man? You wouldn't lie to me, right?"
Ekko's face was pale, his voice trembling. "I'd never lie to you, Powder. I saw her. She's with the Cops. She even has a nickname for that Enforcer—called her 'Little Cupcake' like they were best friends."
"What!"
Jinx's face contorted, her mind fracturing.
Inside the void of her consciousness, little Powder—the one with the single braid—shrunk into a corner of Vander's old tavern. She screamed into the darkness, but only the graffiti-ghost of Jinx answered.
"She abandoned us," Jinx whispered, slapping the younger girl across the face. "Stop running from the truth. You're not even as good as a Piltie Enforcer to her. She'd rather save a Cop than come find you."
"No! She loves me! She must!"
"Does she?" Jinx laughed, handing the younger girl a metal flare. "Don't say I didn't give you a chance to see for yourself. Light it up. Let's see who shows up first."
The Flare
Chen and Ekko lay unconscious on the lab floor—Jinx had "deactivated" them the moment they stopped being useful. Powder, back in control but driven by a desperate, fragile hope, grabbed the blue flare Vi had given her years ago.
She climbed to the rooftop of the Academy, the wind whipping her single braid. She pulled the trigger.
SHHHHH—
A thick, brilliant pillar of blue smoke billowed into the Piltie sky.
Not far away, Vi's heart nearly stopped. "It's the signal! Powder's calling!" She didn't think; she didn't plan. She just sprinted across the rooftops toward the source.
Caitlyn, watching through her binoculars from a nearby balcony, saw the smoke too. "The blue hair. The Firelight suspect. And Vi's running straight for her." She gripped her rifle and took off. She had a duty to the law, but her curiosity about Vi's "secret" was burning even hotter.
The flare burned out, leaving nothing but a lingering blue haze. Powder stood alone on the roof, the ghosts of Mylo and Claggor whispering in her ear. She looked at the empty stairwell, her eyes filling with a crushing, hollow despair. She isn't coming, the voices hissed. She chose the Cupcake.
"Powder! Powder!"
Vi scrambled over the ledge, breathless and frantic. She didn't hesitate; she threw her arms around her sister, pulling her into a crushing, desperate hug. "Powder! Oh, thank the Sump, I found you!"
Tears spilled from Powder's eyes. The violet tint faded, her gaze softening into the gentle, lonely girl she had been. For a second, it was as if the cannery had never happened.
"I'm sorry," Vi choked out, holding Powder's face between her calloused hands. "I swear, I wanted to come back. I was captured. I thought I'd lost you forever."
"Is it really you?" Powder sobbed, clutching Vi's vest.
"It's me. It's Vi. Your sister. I'm back, baby. I'm right here."
"Everything changed," Powder whispered. "I... I changed too."
"It's okay," Vi promised, pulling her close again. "I've changed too. None of that matters now. We're together."
But the reunion was cut short by the click of boots on stone. Caitlyn climbed onto the roof, her rifle slung over her shoulder, her expression a mix of confusion and professional steel.
In Powder's eyes, the "Little Cupcake" didn't look like a woman. She looked like a monster from her childhood drawings—a looming, gold-and-blue shadow coming to take her sister away.
"I told you," the voices whispered. "She's the one Vi loves now."
Powder's face hardened. She shoved Vi away, her hands blurring as she reached for the heavy, three-barreled Gatling gun—Pow-Pow—resting against the parapet. She leveled the massive weapon at Caitlyn's heart.
"Who is she?" Powder hissed, her voice trembling with a new, dangerous edge.
Caitlyn stared at the girl. "You're Powder?"
Vi stepped between them, her hands raised in a frantic plea. "Wait! Stop! Everyone just breathe! We're all on the same side!"
Powder's finger hovered over the trigger of the Gatling gun. She looked at Vi, her teeth bared in a snarl of pure betrayal. "Ekko was right. You're a Cop-lover now. You're working for them."
===
Note: This story is currently available up to chapter 60 on my Patreon, go check it out.
exclusive 18+ character images, and early chapters, please visit my Patreon. Thanks for your support!
https://p4treon.com/roaverse
if you want more updates == supports with power stones
Every 40 Power Stones==Bonus Chapter
every three 5-star reviews == Bonus Chapter