Click— That was the sound of the gun's hammer being cocked.
The smile vanished. The girl's expression turned cold. She held the gun in one hand and, with the other, reached over and pushed the mechanism down with a sharp clack.
Seeing this, Leo quickly shouted, "Wait, it's me, Leo! Powder, it's me, Leo from the Black Lanes!" "Don't you remember?"
"Leo? Don't know him," Powder's smile suddenly returned, her blue eyes dazzlingly bright. "Let me think... whose lackey could you be? Not that it matters." She looked at Leo, and her finger, painted with pink nail polish, pressed deeper into the trigger mechanism.
"Wait! Look, I still have the pocket watch you gave me," Leo said, speechless. Even before being altered by Shimmer, she's already a complete psycho? What kind of normal person points a gun at a stranger?
Reaching into his chest, Leo pulled out a pocket watch and held it out toward Powder, shaking it twice.
In the next second, the gun disappeared from his face. A pale white arm shot out and snatched the watch. Leo caught a scent that wasn't exactly pleasant, but not unpleasant either. It was the smell of Powder's hair. Her small head leaned in close to Leo's chest, and the scent wafted into his nostrils. Motor oil and a faint hint of lemon combined into a less-than-wonderful aroma that washed over him.
"This... I remember now!" Powder clapped her hands and looked up at Leo. Standing on her tiptoes, she leaned in, her pert little nose twitching. A joyful look spread across her face as she said, "Leo! The Leo who fought with Vi when we were kids, right? I remember you were one of Malsen's crew!" "Mylo really hated you guys!"
Suddenly, she became very talkative. She circled Leo twice, then excitedly pushed him, shouting, "Get inside, let's have a proper talk." "But... this is my house," Leo said. "It's fine, that's not important," Powder replied.
She shoved Leo into his own home and kicked the door shut with her foot. Then she walked up to him and sat down naturally on his wooden plank bed. With a snap of her fingers, a small graffiti-covered lamp on the nearby table lit up. She curled her body up, wrapping her arms around her legs. Looking at Leo, her expression was incredibly animated as she said, "I can't believe you're still alive."
Looking at Powder—or rather, Jinx—Leo felt a wave of emotion. In his memory, he and Malsen had also grown up in the Black Lanes. Their parents had also participated in the rebellion led by Vander and died on that bridge. Because of this, Leo and Malsen were also Vander's "children," just not in the same way as Vi and Powder, who Vander took into his home. But in the Black Lanes, they were still kids who grew up under Vander's protection. This was the biggest reason why the original Leo had been unwilling to join a gang with Malsen and bring harm to the Lanes. In his heart, he always remembered that tall, gentle man. Vander was the spiritual leader of Zaun. Now, Silco had taken his place. In the original Leo's mind, it was a usurpation. Everything that belonged to Vander... had been stolen by Silco.
And now, looking at Powder, Leo's heart was even more conflicted. On one hand, his childhood memories were influencing him. On the other, his perception was colored by having watched Arcane. Jinx was a menace—a pitiable and detestable character. But it was undeniable that she was a charismatic one. Many say that Powder became Jinx because of the environment of the undercity, yet, there is only one Jinx in all of Zaun. Leo, Malsen, Vi, Ekko—which of them didn't have a childhood like Jinx's? Who among them could say they grew up in a good environment? It wasn't the environment that turned Powder into Jinx, but... love.
Whether in Zaun or Piltover, many of the people in the twin cities had grievances with the world, an obsession to change it: Vi, Caitlyn, Vander, Silco, Jayce, Viktor, Heimerdinger, Mel, Sevika, even the chem-barons of Zaun. They had all, to some extent, condemned the world and wanted to change it. But what about Jinx? She hadn't. From beginning to end, she never complained about the world or condemned it.
Leo's understanding of Jinx was that she held no dissatisfaction with the world itself. As a child, she lived a carefree life, with Vander and Vi shielding her from all external dangers, like great knights guarding a princess. The young Powder never had to worry about her life. She was protected so well by Vander and Vi that, despite growing up in the undercity, she had a soft and simple personality. She didn't care what was right or wrong. She didn't care who suffered, who was exploited, who was oppressed, who was persecuted, or who died in some back alley. She only wanted the people around her to never, ever leave her, to protect her for her entire life. What she wanted was to live her own little life happily. Even if it meant harming everything around her, she only cared about herself. It was very selfish, and in Leo's eyes, it was truly hard to put into words. Because it's the kind of thing that can't be clearly explained or reasoned. Leo could understand it with an analogy. Jinx's behavior was just like that of children who cling to their parents, refusing to let them out of their sight, believing their parents should be with them every single moment. But parents must temporarily step away from their children. They need to work; they have responsibilities to their friends, their relatives, and even their community. The child, however, cannot understand this. In their selfishness, they only blame their parents for not being with them all the time. From this perspective, Leo could understand Jinx's way of acting. She was a spoiled, selfish, single-minded "lunatic." Therefore, Leo had no expectation of reasoning with Jinx. It was useless to reason with a paranoid lunatic, just as the logic of an adult and the logic of a child are not the same.
"Yes, I'm still alive," Leo said, his thoughts returning to the present as he nodded at Powder. "It's so good to see you. What about Malsen? And Noka? Are they still alive too?" Powder swayed her body, rocking back and forth as her two long blue braids shifted slightly on Leo's bed. When she was quiet, when she wasn't being crazy, Leo had to admit she was incredibly cute. The smoky makeup on her pale face, along with the dark circles and bloodshot eyes, gave her an air of maturity and brokenness. But her small, doll-like face preserved a sense of childlike innocence. The contrast was pushed to the absolute limit. "They're alive." "Where are they? What are they doing?" "They joined a gang." "Haha, that's strange. I remember Malsen was a total coward. Why would he join a gang?" Powder asked curiously, burying her face in her knees.
Leo replied, "To survive."