Lights illuminate the toxic dust settling in the Dredge Prison mines.
The heavy iron door of the elevator slides open and a squad of Enforcers slowly steps off, scanning the cargo bay. The smell of corpses is putrid and two of them start coughing immediately, struggling to keep from vomiting.
After a day of being left in the humid and hot mines, the corpses from Xander's massacre glisten grotesquely under their light and the flickering green Chemlights of the bay. They had already passed several skeletons collapsed on the ground before reaching the bay, their corpses turned inside out with bugs swarming and feasting on them.
A team lead announced, and the team echoed in return.
"Team one, moving."
"Moving!"
"Team two, covering."
"Covering!"
The Enforcers in front moved forward with rifles raised, their breathing steady and controlled, while the ones trailing behind covered their flanks. Between them, two Enforcers hefted a large collapsible barricade. Meanwhile, a squad near the elevator kept their weapons up and on alert.
Once they reached the far mine tunnel exit from the bay, the lead Enforcer shone a light down the bloodied tunnel before nodding. The two set the barricade down, pulled a lever, and the base expanded, locking it in place. They repeated this process with the other two exits.
Later, the elevator gate opened again, and Sheriff Marcus stepped out.
"Have we found any survivors?"
"Negative, sir. Only corpses. We found the origination point which was an experiment chamber."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Experiment chamber?"
The Enforcer handed him a logbook along with a booklet filled with research papers.
"There were bodies in Chemtech stasis chambers," he explained. "We pulled up the schematics—they're designed to keep the experimentees in constant, dull pain. Unable to sleep, unable to die. They inject serums that absorb into the skin to sustain their bodies."
Marcus's face contorted in disgust before snapping the book shut. It depicted deformed humans, promising enhanced physical strength and speed, but the reality was far worse.
"In the end, their experiments unleashed something dangerous upon the city," Sheriff Marcus spat, glancing down at a corpse staring lifelessly up at him. For a moment he found himself staring back, entranced, until the thought of whatever this thing was roaming free and possibly near his daughter, snapped him out of it.
"Arrest Chembaron Voss and his subordinates," he snarled, storming back toward the elevator.
"Let's find out if they'll enjoy the hell they've created."
------------
BANG!
Jinx's gun smoked. Xander rubbed the back of his head before slowly turning toward her with an annoyed expression but she didn't look the slightest bit guilty.
"Wow, you really are bulletproof in that thing!" she grinned. "Can I get one?"
"No. There's only one."
"Aw~ you're just saying that! You've gotta have a second one somewhere just in case, yaknow, the first breaks."
They walked through the darkened alleys on the Undercity side of the city. She had been prancing around with a bored expression before she started messing with him. Tapping his shoulder, twirling around him, and giving him all sorts of looks. It took most of the night to make it back and the sun was already rising.
"You smell like burnt soup and regret in a jar," she hummed musically, "like a corpse trying hard to be a rock star." She reached up and poked the side of his head with a grin.
Xander's expression twitched.
"Freak boy, do you even know where we're going?!" Jinx complained, kicking a random piece of trash across the alley. Xander finally came to a stop.
"No."
"WHAT?! Why the hell have I been following you then?!"
"Because you don't want me behind you?"
"Oh yeah." Jinx giggled to herself, twirling her gun again as she quick-loaded another bullet. "Forgot about that part. But seriously, how do you not know where we're going?! Surely you haven't forgotten everything in Dredge Prison."
"It's been a long time," Xander replied dryly, keeping his lie simple.
"I doubt my sister or anyone would easily forget the layout of their home," Jinx scoffed. "Where are you really from?"
With a sigh, Xander shrugged. He couldn't give a truthful answer. Every version would sound too far-fetched or easily found out to be a lie. But when he was about to respond, two thugs emerged at the end of the alley.
They were confident at first, swaggering with their shoulders, until they saw the two of them together. Then they froze like frightened children.
"Hey, you two knuckle-brained bozos!" Jinx waved her gun in the air with a wild smile. "Whatcha doin' in these dark and terrible parts? Can't you see I'm talking with my very own monster? Don't make me call it!"
Xander finally snapped and karate chopped her head.
"Ow!" Jinx winced and looked back with a pouty expression. "What was that for?!"
A drawn-out silence followed as their gazes returned to the thugs. Only a few meters separated them when one finally found his voice, though he didn't dare step closer.
"Silco's looking for you," he called out. "There was an explosion topside and they've started locking down the city."
She giggled, biting her lower lip like their warning was some kind of compliment.
"Yeah… I know!" she said with an innocent, sing-song lilt.
Their eyes widened and frustration replaced fear.
"It was you?! What were you thinking?!" the one farther back shouted, voice trembling.
"You're putting Silco's plans at risk! You're nothing but a problem!"
Her expression darkened instantly. Her fist clenched her fist so tight that blood beaded from her palm and dripped between her fingers.
"I know you two aren't that bright," Jinx sighed dramatically, tapping her temple with the barrel of her gun before pointing it lazily back at Xander. "But, wow… your noggins really aren't working today. Like seriously, what's going on up there?"
While she spoke, the thugs' eyes drifted to Xander. His ember eyes burned through the dark, and bone spikes erupted from the ground around the thugs. The men froze, terror twisting their faces as the tips grazed their throats and drew thin lines of blood before retracting into the ground.
With terrified shouts, they bolted.
"M–Monsters!"
Jinx blinked, taking an exaggerated step forward before spinning on her heel to face Xander.
"That was way too much," she muttered, crossing her arms. "If you're gonna hang around me, you gotta work on your presentation. Can't just go all-" she gestured wildly, mimicking the bone spikes, "—stabby nightmarey, okay?"
"I'm stuck here for however long," Xander said flatly, stepping forward. "To swim in the filth, the trash, and every damned disaster to come."
Jinx instinctively stepped back, clutching a grenade and hooking her thumb in the pin. Her grin returned and she tilted her head with that familiar, fearless mockery.
"Careful, bone boy. I startle easy."
"Today," Xander continued unfazed, "Silco's going to visit you in your ventilation hideout-"
"How do you know about that?" Jinx interrupted, glaring at him, but he talked right through her.
"The Council will convene, Jayce will be appointed to the Council, and all the while the city will be locked down."
Jinx blinked, tilting her head with an apathetic glance.
"Tomorrow your sister will be free," he said, sparking a fresh twinkle of interest. "Then we'll save Vander. I'd suggest we do it now but he is probably a mangled mess. It will be some time before he's permanently disfigured."
While Xander talked, he recalled that the doctor, or Singed, never reached the wolf until Season 2. So right now, so long as nothing goes terribly awry, they can land the jackpot and save everyone. He thought about mentioning eliminating Silco but didn't want to bring it up until after they saved Vi. All that would happen now is a damaged partnership.
"But then, after all that, we shut down the Hexgates."
A silence fell between them. The alley felt heavier. Jinx didn't have a quip ready for his spew
Finally, she snorted softly, tilting her head with a crooked grin.
"Wow. And here I thought I was the crazy one. But I guess there's always someone willing to lick the frosting off the cake, huh?"
"Takes one to know one," Xander said with a low chuckle, his demonic grin splitting wide on the mask.
Jinx huffed and rolled her eyes, making a noise somewhere between irritation and amusement.
"Ugh. Fine. Just don't start calling me that other name and we'll get along great, freak show."
"Xander."
"Freak."
"Powder."
"Shut up!"