Luxurious Anarchy (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 15: Welcome to the Party

"Yee-haw!" screamed Jinx, and as they crossed the threshold of the launch room, there were a trio of wet detonations, neon blue paint and shimmering golden dust chasing after them, unable to catch up with their literally explosive speed. Lux was screaming, Jinx was screaming, the various Firelights around the compound were screaming, though Lux suspected they were yelling because of the paint and glitter bombs Jinx had hidden throughout the sanctuary and set off with the same switch that started the rockets.

"JINX YOU ASSHOLE!!" screamed Ekko, which only caused Jinx to laugh uproariously, and Lux found herself laughing right along. It could be that Jinx's amusement at the chaos sans carnage was simply too great for her soul to hold alone, but Lux didn't think so. After all, it was ultimately harmless, and it was funny watching everyone go crazy. She'd taken a moment while packing to make sure Jinx didn't put anything near the tree or the murals, pleasantly surprised that her other half knew that would be a step too far. Jinx's plan to sketch her monkey head symbol over the face of Powder did require a swift thwack upside the head though.

Lux shook her head, reveling in how the wind tugged at her hair. Jinx was doing an admirable job of managing the tight confines of the fissures, spiraling them down ventilation shafts and careening around harshly angled corners.

"Coming up on Wrencher's compound in two minutes Blondie, get my girl spinning!"

Lux could barely sit up against the force of the wind, but soon enough she gripped the drag handle which Jinx usually used to carry Pow-Pow, and settled her other hand on the trigger assembly. Lux pulled back on the surprisingly heavy handle, bringing it upright, careful to not yet squeeze the lever that would add a hail of bullets to the mix. The three barrels began to spin, a buzzing whine that was almost entirely hidden by the roar of the rockets and the hum of the hoverboard's fans.

Passing through one last unused pipe, Lux saw the bastion of Wrencher's power, a monolithic structure as solidly built as anything she'd seen topside as a little girl. Made of dark gray stone quarried from the depths of Zaun, the tower was surrounded by similar stone walls, reinforced with sheet metal to create a courtyard of sorts. Dozens of chem-gangers spilled out of makeshift barracks, many armed with...

"They have Enforcer repeaters!" Lux shouted over the scream of the rockets, having spent a mote of magical power to bend light in such a way that it magnified her vision.

"Sucks to be them, cause we've got Pow-Pow!" Jinx shouted back, piloting the hoverboard in lazy loops around the compound. She cupped her hands around her mouth, and roared "Attention dum-dums! I am Jinx, yes THAT Jinx, and I'm here to claim the title of chem-baroness by shooting Wrencher in the mouth! If you wanna live through this hostile as fuck take over, throw down your guns and run for it!"

Lux wasn't sure how many of the gangers heard Jinx, or how many realized who she was based on the iconic blue braids and bright pink minigun, but a handful of them did indeed throw down their arms and scatter. One was cut down by a supposed ally, but the other four got away cleanly, and just in the nick of time as Jinx pointed the hoverboard at the remaining gangers, coming screaming in on an attack vector.

With another flicker of mana, Lux projected her red bullseye mark sighted down the length of Pow-Pow's frame. Watching the red dot zip across the grounds, she twitched the minigun until she was sure she was aiming in the right location, then pulled the trigger.

Lux had seen Pow-Pow in action before during the battle with Badger's gang. The gun had a blistering rate of fire, each drum magazine only capable of approximately one minute of sustained shooting. Every second, Pow-Pow unleashed ten bullets, and Lux did her best to make sure those seconds were well spent. Before Jinx had even leveled the board out to help make the shooting easier, Lux had already put almost thirty rounds into the mass of gangers, spilling five of them to the ground in eruptions of blood and viscera. The hot brass casings and smell of burnt propellant were whipped away by their breakneck pace, and as Jinx flew them just over the heads of the chem-gangers she threw a pair of her Chompers behind them, causing no small amount of screaming before the bright pink explosives detonated.