Chapter Text
Vi left Powder. She was there. All alone.
He saw it. He saw it when it happened. Vi walked away from her. But why?
He couldn't think about it right know. The only thing he truly knew for sure was that Powder had been left behind by her. She was there. Crying, shattered.
After Vi stormed out of Benzo’s shop, Ekko made a choice. He believed Vi had simply left Powder at home—too dangerous a mission, after all. But something felt wrong. So he went looking for Powder. Just in case.
When he arrived, the place was empty. No sign of her.
He started to panic.
“Powder? Where are you?”
Silence.
“Powder… this isn’t funny. Where are you?”
Still nothing.
His chest tightened with dread. Then, a faint sound—a shuffle. Powder, sneaking out from her hiding place. He followed her, but she was quicker than he expected, and he lost her in the shadows. He kept running. Trying to catch her.
Minutes later, an explosion tore through the air. He saw the smoke, that weird blue smoke—and ran.
He arrived just to find Powder collapsed at Vi’s feet, sobbing, clinging. And then Vi… hit her.
"Because you're a jinx! Did you hear me? Mylo was right!"
Ekko froze. He had never seen Vi like this. He'd never imagined she could turn on Powder like that. Then he saw Vander—only, it wasn't Vander. His body was still. Was he dead? And Mylo? Claggor? Nowhere. He couldn't see them. Just dust, fire…
The explosion. Did Powder cause it?
"Violet, please!" Powder screamed as Vi turned her back and walked away.
Ekko stood there, stunned. Why was Vi so angry? Why did she leave Powder behind?
He wanted to chase after her, demand answers—but then a voice rang out. A male voice.
“I’ll find the girl, and I’ll kill her.”
His blood ran cold.
He looked around—Powder was still there, in the floor, crying.
“Powder, get up. We need to go,” he said firmly.
She looked up. “Ekko?”
“No time. We can’t stay here.”
“But… Vi, she—”
Then the man appeared, knife in hand, and froze. He hadn’t expected neither of them. He was looking for Vi.
“If she’s not here, then you’ll take her place instead,” the man growled.
Ekko’s instincts flared. Powder’s eyes widened, her mind still spinning.
Why was this happening? Why did Vi leave? Why did Ekko come for her?
He didn’t wait. He grabbed her hand.
“Run!”
They sprinted through the alleys, boots slapping against the broken ground. Behind them, Silco’s voice rang out:
“Find them. I want them dead.”
The chase burned on, but somehow, they escaped.
Breathless, shaking, they collapsed into the shadows. For a while, there was only silence—the kind that follows horror. Their chests rose and fell in jagged rhythms, their hearts pounding like war drums.
Then Powder broke. Quiet tears slipped down her cheeks.
Ekko turned to her. “Hey. It’s okay. We’re safe now.”
“No… no, it’s not okay,” she whispered.
“I killed them. All of them. It’s my fault. Vi was right. Even Mylo was right.”
Her words stabbed into him like glass.
“Powder… what are you saying?”
“I did it! The explosion—it was me. I made the device. I thought I could help... But I ruined everything… Again."
She sobbed uncontrollably, and Ekko’s heart ached. He couldn't stand to see her like this—buried under the weight of guilt.
“You… killed them?” he asked, barely able to breathe.
It couldn’t be. But it was. Now he understood Vi’s rage. And still…
This wasn’t the time for him to be angry. They had to survive.
He stood, shaking off the thoughts clawing at his mind, and extended his hand.
“Here. Take it.”
Powder hesitated, eyes swimming in tears. “Why are you helping me? I’m a monster.”
“A monster?” Ekko knelt in front of her. “You’re my friend, Powder! You’re all I have left. I want to stay with you.” His voice cracked, just a little.
“But I’ll only cause more trouble. I don’t want to jinx you too.”
He looked straight into her eyes. “You’ll never jinx me. Powder. Never.”
She didn’t move. Still unsure. Still searching his face for a sign of doubt. But she found none.
“Please,” he begged. “Come with me. You’re my best friend. I could never leave you behind like that.”
Powder opened her mouth to speak—to argue, maybe—but Ekko spoke again.
“I need you. More than ever. You’re the only family I have now. I won’t leave you behind.”
His voice cracked. Tears clouded his vision, but he fought them back. He couldn’t let her see. He had to be strong. For her.
Powder fell silent.
Ekko’s chest ached. Was she going to refuse?
Then, softly:
“I… I don’t want you to be alone.”
She hesitated again, but her heart had already decided. She needed him too. How could he still want her after what she’d done? She didn’t know. But he did. And she couldn't let him face this world alone.
She took his hand.
“I’ll come with you.”
Ekko smiled, tears finally slipping free as Powder collapsed into him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her like the world might shatter if he let her go.
They didn’t know what would come next. They didn’t know where to go. But they had each other.
And that was enough.
“We’ll make Silco regret this,” Ekko whispered, still holding her tight.
“We won’t let him destroy our home.”
Powder nodded, buried in his arms.
They will show them all.
-----
Vi was broken. Her whole world was shattered.
Her family was gone, all of them, and it was her little sister’s fault.
But was it really?
She didn’t listen. She should have listened. And now, the people she loved most were dead.
She didn't mean to hurt Powder. But in her anger, in her grief, she had lashed out—and now the image of her sister’s terrified face haunted her.
Vi had seen the fear in her eyes.
Of course she was afraid. She had just been struck by the one person she trusted most.
Vi couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. She had to get away—from that place, and from her.
She walked, not too far, but far enough to be out of sight.
She could still hear Powder’s cries as she left.
But she couldn’t go back. Not now. It was too dangerous… for both of them.
Then she heard it. A voice.
Ekko's voice.
What the hell was he doing here?
He shouldn’t be here.
And then—another voice.
Silco.
Threatening them.
Vi’s heart dropped. She got up as fast as she could, sprinted back—but the kids were gone.
She looked at Silco.
“What did you do!?” she screamed.
Silco turned to her with a smirk.
“Oh, intelligence was never your strong suit, was it?”
“Where. Are. They?”
He only shrugged.
“Who knows? Maybe they’re already dead.”
She felt someone behind her. Silco smiled. “Like you should be.”
She ducked instinctively—just in time.
A knife slashed the air where her head had been. She pivoted, slamming her fist into the attacker’s jaw. But more men were closing in, circling like wolves. And she was the prey.
“It’s been lovely catching up, Vi,” Silco called lazily.
She didn’t answer. Her focus narrowed—every move, every breath, calculated in survival. Hitting those men who were trying to hurt her.
Silco’s voice taunted her again, cruel and calm:
“Maybe, in another life, your mother would still be alive.
Maybe we could’ve been a family.
What a shame.”
That did it.
Rage boiled inside her, white-hot and unrelenting. Her eyes burning on fire. She wrenched a blade from one of the men and hurled it with perfect aim to Silco.
The knife struck Silco straight in the forehead.
Everyone went silent.
His body crumpled, lifeless, into a pool of blood.
He was... Dead?
Then—a gunfire.
Two men dropped.
Vi turned—but too slow. A sharp pain stabbed through her stomach.
She staggered, gasping. She tried to move. Another body fell nearby. The man who stabbed her was dead too.
Everything blurred. Colors bled into each other. The world spun. She couldn't think.
Voices swirled around her like ghosts. One, low and garbled, barely reached her ears.
“...st...y w...th...e...al...gh...?”
What?
It didn’t matter.
Someone was lifting her up—strong arms. Her mind was too foggy to panic, too drained to resist.
She caught one last glimpse before darkness swallowed her whole:
A man.
Black hair.
An enforcer.
Shit.
That wasn’t good.