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"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!"
Chen's head was swimming as he fought through the haze.
Minutes ago, when the "Jinx" persona had fully procced, Chen had tried to de-escalate. He hadn't expected her to pull a specialized stun grenade out of her inventory—one he'd literally watched her build to drop an elephant—and cook it right in his and Ekko's faces.
Chen had instinctively popped Unbreakable Will, the golden bull horns flaring as the "Cleanse" effect purged the stun. He moved to grab her, but Jinx just tilted her head with a maniacal pout. "Why aren't you napping?" she'd asked, before instantly throwing a second one.
Internal cooldowns are a bitch. Chen's ultimate was on a two-minute timer; Jinx's chaos had no such limits.
By the time the second stun wore off and Chen's rune-shields flickered back to life, the rhythmic crack-crack-crack of Enforcer rifles was already echoing from the roof.
"No, no, no!"
He didn't wait for Ekko. He kicked his hoverboard into overdrive, soaring up the Academy's central shaft. When he cleared the ledge, the rooftop was a nightmare of blue smoke and blood. Enforcers were everywhere. Vi was bound and unconscious. And Jinx...
Jinx was a broken doll on the stone floor, her body riddled with entry wounds.
The Enforcers were closing in, rifles leveled to finish the job. Seeing her like that—the girl he'd spent every waking hour trying to save, barely clinging to a flickering health bar—Chen felt a jagged, icy pain pierce his chest. He hated his timing. He hated this world's "Destiny" mechanic. He'd tried to outplay the script, tried to dodge the tragedy, and yet here they were, right back at the "Difficult" mode climax.
He didn't think about the math. He didn't think about his 19 points of resistance. He just charged.
He slammed into the rooftop, swinging his streetlamp with a feral roar that sent the nearest Enforcer flying. Dozens of guns immediately pivoted toward him. Chen stepped off the board, walking toward Jinx with a murderous aura that made the front line of blue-coats flinch.
"Anyone who touches her," Chen growled, his voice a low, vibrating threat, "dies."
"It's him!" Marcus shouted from behind his shield. "The streetlamp! The board! It's the wanted criminal, Jax!"
The name "Jax" carried a lot of weight in the Enforcer barracks, mostly thanks to Silco's bribes and Marcus's propaganda. They saw a monster; Chen only saw a dying girl.
"Powder..." he whispered.
"OPEN FIRE!" Marcus roared.
A dozen rifles barked simultaneously. Caitlyn was among them—she saw a high-value target and her training took over. But as the lead flew, Chen's streetlamp became a blur.
"COUNTER STRIKE!"
The air hummed as every bullet was deflected by the spinning lamp. At that range, the "Miss" notifications were a solid wall of text above his head. Caitlyn's eyes widened behind her iron sights. I missed? From ten yards? Impossible.
Chen didn't give them a second chance. He slammed his Turbo Chemtank active.
The blast of alchemical frost slowed the Enforcers to a crawl. Chen lunged, his lamp a whirlwind of kinetic energy. He wasn't just defending; he was stacking Conqueror. Each hit made him faster, stronger, and more lethal. He carved a path of broken armor and shattered rifles until he reached her.
He scooped Jinx up with one arm. She was cold. Her breathing was a shallow, ragged hitch.
In this world, with these doctors? She's a goner, Chen thought, his mind turning into a cold, tactical processor. There's only one man who can patch a soul back together with chemicals. Singed. I have to find the Alchemist.
The Enforcers were reloading. Chen didn't wait. He stepped onto the board and rocketed off the rooftop, the entire engagement lasting less than three seconds.
As he soared into the rainy sky, Caitlyn was the first to find her lead. She knelt, took a breath, and Drew a Bead.
CRACK.
With Unbreakable Will and Counter Strike on cooldown, Chen was a sitting duck. The bullet tore into his back.
-640 HP
"Gah!" Chen grunted, nearly losing his grip on the board. He ducked behind a clocktower, breaking line of sight. Thank the Rift I stacked those HP items. That shot would have sent me to the fountain.
He ignored his own bleeding wound, using one hand to steer and the other to frantically wrap a bandage around Jinx's torso. The bumpy ride seemed to trigger a final spark of lucidity in her. Jinx opened her eyes, the violet glow fading into a tired, human blue. She knew her HP was at 1%. She could feel the "Execute" coming.
"Powder? Stay with me!" Chen pleaded.
Jinx looked up at him, a faint, ghost of a smile touching her lips. "Didn't expect it to be you again, stat-stick."
"Don't talk! Just breathe. I'm taking you to someone who can fix this. I'm not losing you!"
"Chen," she whispered, her voice a dry rasp. "Powder is gone. You know that. I'm... I'm Jinx."
"I don't care!" Chen roared against the wind. "Powder, Jinx, whatever name you want to use—you're the only person in this godforsaken world who matters to me! I'm not abandoning you. Never!"
Jinx leaned her head against his chest, her eyes looking past him toward the horizon. "Just kidding... I'm both. We're the same." She coughed, a thin trail of blood escaping her mouth. "Remember? You told me your dreams."
Chen's eyes blurred with tears. "Stop it. Save your strength."
"You said... one day we'd leave this place," she continued, her voice drifting. "You said we'd see the magic-nullifying walls of Demacia. You wanted to ask Xin Zhao about his name... I still don't know where 'China' is, Chen. You have to show me."
"I will! I promise!"
"You said... we'd see the Immortal Bastion in Noxus. You wanted to see me out-style Draven in the arena. You wanted to feel the Freljord snow... see the Sun Disc in Shurima..."
Jinx's voice grew quieter, her head feeling heavier in the crook of his arm. "You promised..."
Her hand fell limp. The light in her eyes flickered once and went dark. Chen didn't stop. He pushed the hoverboard to its breaking point, screaming into the rain as he dived toward the dark heart of the Zaun.
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