[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]
===
Jinx's screams were like jagged glass, filling every corner of Benso's ruined shop.
The masked boy, still gripping the wooden pipe he'd used to floor Chen, froze. The voice was hauntingly familiar, but through the haze of the Sump and the shadows of the room, he couldn't see the girl's face. Instinct took over as she leveled her pistol at him.
He dove behind the heavy oak counter just as the air was punctuated by three sharp cracks.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets tore into the wood above his head, showering him in splinters. He counted the heartbeats. The moment the firing stopped, he knew she was in the middle of a reload—the classic amateur mistake. He bolted from cover.
With a desperate lunge, he tackled her, swinging his pipe to knock the weapon from her hand. They tumbled to the floor, and her hood slipped back, revealing a shock of blue hair. He didn't hesitate, pinning her down and pulling a left hook that knocked her mask clean off.
"Powder?"
His hand stayed mid-swing. He stared down at her, his voice cracking with a mix of disbelief and pure joy. "Powder! You're alive! You're actually okay!"
But the girl beneath him wasn't the Powder he remembered. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, fixed in a terrifying expression that flickered between a sob and a manic grin. She didn't seem to hear him; she was a whirlwind of tiny, frantic fists, striking him anywhere she could reach. Her mind was a broken record: Destroy the man in the mask. Protect Chen. Destroy the man in the mask.
"Stop hitting me! It's me! It's Ekko!"
He ripped his own mask away, revealing the white-haired, dark-skinned face of the boy she'd grown up with.
"Ekko... no... not Ekko..."
The manic energy drained out of her as quickly as it had arrived. She let out a laugh that sounded more like a choked sob, clutching her head and swaying on her feet. "No... can't kill him... I can't..."
She collapsed, sitting on the cold floor, looking utterly spent. Ekko watched her, a flicker of fear crossing his face. This wasn't the timid girl who followed Vi everywhere.
"Powder? What happened to you?"
She didn't answer. She ignored him entirely, crawling on her hands and knees back to Chen's side, checking his pulse with trembling fingers.
The Third Awakening
Chen woke up to the now-familiar rhythm of a throbbing skull. He was becoming a professional at getting knocked out. His vision cleared, and the first thing he saw was Powder, safe and hovering over him. He let out a long, ragged sigh of relief.
"Powder... you're okay?"
When she saw his eyes open, a radiant smile broke through her trauma. Then—Clang!—she head-butted his forehead in an over-eager display of affection.
"Ow! Dammit, Powder! Easy on the CC!" Chen winced, rubbing his forehead.
Behind them, Ekko stood in the doorway, looking dejected. Seeing his childhood best friend acting so intimate with a complete stranger made his stomach twist with a jealousy he didn't quite understand.
"What happened?" Chen asked, sitting up and petting Powder's head like a kitten. "Who's the guy with the stick? Where are we?"
Powder scratched her head, looking a bit sheepish. "Ask him. He's the one with the bad aim." She looked toward the door, her tone dripping with disdain. "Little Man, I know you're hiding. Get in here."
Ekko walked in, his head hanging low. "It's Ekko..."
He walked up to Chen, looking genuinely pained. "I'm so sorry! Seriously! I thought you were Silco's scouts. You were both wearing hoods and masks—you can't blame me for being cautious."
Chen put the pieces together. Ekko had come back to Benso's for supplies and found two masked intruders. "It's fine, Ekko. No harm, no foul. Mostly."
Powder wasn't as forgiving. She reached out and flicked Ekko's forehead. "Still making excuses! You hit him!"
"And you almost blew my brains out!" Ekko retorted, covering his head.
"Rua! You hit my Chen! You're lucky I didn't turn your head into a sunroof!"
"You—!!"
Chen watched them bicker, a strange warmth spreading through him. In the original timeline, these two would eventually try to kill each other on a bridge in the middle of a war. Here, they were just two kids fighting over a misunderstanding.
"Alright, break it up," Chen waved his hand.
Ekko sighed, looking at Powder. "Fine. He forgave me. Now, Powder... will you tell me? What happened that day at the cannery?"
Powder froze. The light in her eyes began to dim. Chen saw the "Jinx" persona hovering just behind her pupils. He knew if Ekko kept digging, she'd spiral.
"My turtle shell is filthy," Chen interrupted, holding out the Heart of Gold. "Powder, go wash it for me. It's a lucky charm; it needs to be pristine."
Powder, always eager to be useful to him, snatched the shell and ran out toward the back sink.
Ekko started to follow her, but Chen grabbed his arm. "What are you doing? That's her scar, Ekko. Her lifelong trauma. Are you really going to keep picking at the wound?"
"I just want to know—"
"I'll tell you," Chen snapped. "That day, Vander was taken. They went to save him. Vander, Mylo, and Claggor... they didn't make it. Vi vanished. Silco did it. I barely got Powder out."
Chen left out the part about the monkey bomb. He wanted that memory buried under a mountain of new ones. He wanted to rewrite her story.
Powder returned, trotting over and handing the sparkling green shell back to Chen. "Look! Good as new!"
Ekko was smart. He looked at Chen, then at Powder, and gave a slow, solemn nod. He understood. "You're right. The past is the past. We have the same people to protect now. And the same monster to stop."
Ekko extended his hand. "Help me out, Chen."
Chen took it. "Count on it."
Suddenly, a younger kid burst into the room, his face pale with terror. "Ekko! They've turned! They're Shimmer monsters!"
Ekko's face twisted. "How? We were tapering them off! The dosage wasn't high enough for a mutation!"
He grabbed his steel pipe and bolted for the door. Chen felt a cold dread sink in. Silco shouldn't have found this place yet.
A roar echoed from the hallway, followed by the sound of splintering wood. Ekko, who had just charged out, came flying back through the air—hit so hard he spat blood as he crashed into the back wall.
"Run!" Ekko wheezed, his eyes wide. "Get her out of here!"
===
Note: This story is currently available up to chapter 25 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
Power Stones==Bonus Chapter
every three 5-star reviews == Bonus Chapter