Chapter Text
A loud explosion, then a quick gold flash. The world has gone quiet for a while. Time in Piltover seemed to have stopped.
"So this is the end?..." Jayce thought. He clutched Mel, scared to open his eyes. The only thing he could hear was an overwhelming, high-pitched ringing. He felt the woman in his arms slightly move. Jayce hugged her tighter and finally opened his eyes. He gasped. What was once the magnificent council room became rubble and dust. He saw enforcers trying to pick up some bigger stones. As his eyesight focused, he realised they're trying to save someone. With fear in his eyes, he looked at Mel.
"Mel... Mel! Are you alright?!" he yelled out, but he could barely even hear his own words. She could barely stand.
"What happened...?" her lips moved. Jayce could only guess what she said.
He noticed someone trapped under the rubble not far away from them both. It was Cassandra Kiramman. He rushed towards her. Her face was devoid of colours. Jayce was shocked.
"No, no, it can't be..." he muttered over and over again. He gently touched her temple. It was as cold as the stones surrounding her. No pulse. The woman who gave him so much and always believed in him was gone just like that. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be able to accomplish even half of what he has now. He had much respect for her, just like she respected him and his work.
Ambessa came storming towards Mel. She was yelling and checking for any injuries. Not even she could hide the look of sheer terror from her face. An ear-piercing scream of pain snapped Jayce back to reality. He looked around for the source. It was Salo. He rushed towards him. A couple of enforcers were trying to lift a big wall fragment off of him that crushed his legs. Jayce put all of his strength into at least helping even a bit. He coughed. The dust from the explosion was getting into his airways. Salo cried out in pain as the soldiers tried to put him on his feet. He fell back on the ground.
The ringing quieted down; now Jayce could partially hear the chaotic conversations around him.
"On three!"
"Hey! Over there!"
"Stay careful! The culprit could be here somewhere!"
His eyes focused on someone.
"Viktor!" he thought and immediately ran to help him. This frail man was all bruised from the power of the eruption. His breathing was shallow; he was still alive. Jayce was never much of a thinker. He often acted on his instincts, and this time was no exception. Completely lost and afraid of losing one more person, he grabbed his work partner's body and bolted towards the lab.
Everything he worked for lately was to try to find a way to cure him. He couldn't just let him die. It was completely selfish, but Jayce was too absorbed in this moment to think about that right now. Someone shouted out to him, trying to get him to stop. He didn't care. Viktor's life was a priority right now. He frantically looked for something to put his partner's body on. As Jayce set him down gently on the desk, he finally noticed something. Viktor's leg and a part of his hand were all purple, with a light glow to them. His body and mechanical components attached to him were adorned with runes.
"How could I not notice he was experimenting with the arcane like that...?" he thought. As his eyes wandered to look at the Hexcore, he was struck both with fear and excitement. It seemed to be alive, pulsing like a heart and somehow... reaching out to Viktor.
"It's... keeping him alive?" Jayce thought "Maybe if I let it connect to Viktor, he won't die."
In a whim he grabbed his blacksmith tongs and reached out to the Hexcore. It started stretching strangely, almost as if trying to escape. As he finally got a hold of it, he heard a strange, whispering-like noise. Getting it to Viktor was a real task. He felt like he was trying to pull something off of an extraordinarily strong magnet. With every step he took towards his work partner, it became easier to transport. He knew that he promised to destroy it, but he would worry about that later.
Suddenly, the Hexcore ripped itself from Jayce's grip and stopped midair. For a second he thought that it was capable of stopping time.
"That's a new one... You're full of wonders, aren't you?" he said sarcastically and turned around to look at Viktor's notes in hopes of finding something explaining this behaviour. He skimmed quickly through the first pages of his notebook and stopped in horror. Where normally he would find some detailed, written with care reports, there was only a headline.
"Destroying the Hexcore. (<-IMPORTANT! I need to find a way)
It's calling out to me."
Terrified, he picked up the tongs again. The Hexcore looked like it inched down towards Viktor's unconscious body. When Jayce got closer to it, a great sonic boom pushed him away, making him fall on the ground. Viktor's purple limbs glowed lighter. His chest lifted from the ground, his body trying to unite with the Hexcore. Jayce stood up and ran towards him. Before he could even react, it happened.
As the Hexcore collided with Viktor's body, a big flash lighted up every corner of the lab. Afterwards, the shrieking began. A terrible, loud sound, mixed with Viktor's screams of pain, echoed throughout the room. Jayce closed his eyes shut and covered his ears, begging for it to be finally over. Instead of letting Viktor pass peacefully, he gave him a painful death.
After what felt like hours, a loud sound, imitating a heartbeat, reached him. He looked up to see that Viktor was alive and well, sitting on the lab desk, carefully investigating his trembling hands. The Hexcore was nowhere to be seen.
"You're alive!" he said, overjoyed.
"What did you do, Jayce?..." Viktor looked at him with hatred. He had never seen him that mad.
"I-I... You were dying..."
"Where is the Hexcore?"
"Viktor, it saved you! Somehow it- it adapted to your injuries, changing and evolving. It was as if it was connected to you! It tried to reach out! I still have so many questions, but I-"
"I was supposed to die." Viktor said. Jayce sensed a change in his voice. It still sounded like him, but there was... something else speaking with him.
"You promised to destroy the Hexcore." he continued.
"No! Don't you see! Heimerdinger was wrong. We were wrong! It's not as bad as we-"
"It killed Sky, Jayce."
"What?..." he looked around in horror.
How could something save one person but kill another? How would that even work? He knew that disobeying Viktor's promise meant he was tampering with something dangerous. After all, Viktor never said anything if he didn't mean it. But he never thought it was capable of killing.
"She had such dreams... as did we once." Viktor whispered, reaching out for a notebook lying on the desk near him. It was Skye's
"I... I'm going to resign from the Council. I understand now. I'm not fit for this kind of job. My place was always here in the lab with you. We'll make this right! Just like we did before." Jayce said frantically.
He was still scared to approach Viktor, especially after what he said about Sky. Oh, how he wished things would just return to what they were before!
"I must say goodbye to this place now. And to you." Viktor said, grabbing his cane. Even though the Hexcore tended to his wounds, he was still weakened.
"Goodbye? Viktor, you're my partner!"
"Our paths diverged long ago. You may create your hex-weapons, or whatever you want now. I won't be part of this."
"You think it's so easy? To turn your back while your city looks to you for salvation? To cling to principle while your best friend bleeds out in your arms? I never asked for this! And to be honest, I still don't know what I'm doing! Do you truly think I wanted to make Hextech a weapon?!"
Jayce was livid. He couldn't understand why this was happening. Why wouldn't Viktor be grateful that he saved his life? Why wasn't he behaving like him? Was it truly Viktor, or just an illusion? Jayce couldn't tell. Viktor turned around and started walking towards the door.
"Where are you going?!"
"Goodbye, Jayce." He said under his breath and left.
Jayce punched the desk in anger. He was left alone and lost. Completely lost.
~~~~
Jinx looked at the explosion she caused. She thought she would feel more relieved. Instead, a hollow feeling remained somewhere in her chest.
"Powder!? Powder!" she heard Vi's voice. "Why...? You can still... We can still fix it! I know we both changed, but..."
Hearing this made Jinx clench her fists harder. She could hear the faint cry of Caitlyn. It filled her with rage.
"LEAVE!" she shrieked. "JUST GET OUT!"
The sound of steps on metal grew fainter.
"I know you're still there, Powder... Just know I'm sorry." Vi said quietly.
Jinx remained in her hiding place until she was sure they were both gone. Her eyes sting because of the tears. She slowly approached her "dinner table".
"Silco?..." She slowly walked towards the chair where he was. "Listen, I'm- I'm sorry! It was just little 'ol me with my stupid jokes again!" She reached her trembling hand to turn the chair around. Silco was still there. Motionless. Her breath became uneven.
"He's gone." Said Mylo. He stood behind Silco's chair. Jinx quickly turned around to avoid looking at them both.
"Shut up..." she whispered.
"Really gone. Because of you." He giggled maliciously. Jinx grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged on it, trying to pull it out.
"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" she cried out. "You're gone too! And still you're always with me! ALWAYS!"
She saw their bodies again. Mylo, Claggor, and Vander. They blinked different colours, first alive, then dead again. They whispered and talked, Jinx couldn't even comprehend one word. All those vibrant colours and shapes began fusing together and returning to normal. She started hyperventilating. She dug her nails into her skin. Mylo, Claggor, and Vander began to circle around her.
"Leave, leave! JUST LEAVE!" Jinx shut her eyes. As she opened them again, no one was there.
"Huh, I wish they would always do that when I ask them to leave..." she sighed, wiping away her tears. "Alright, Silco! Playtime's over! We're gooooing home!"
She started untying the ropes she had tied around him. His head only tilted forwards, unable to support itself.
"I said I'm sorry, alright?" She said with anger and grabbed his head to look at him. Silco's face was pale, disfigured by some kind of grimace that was stuck on his lips. His eyes were wide open; the colour from them seemed to have faded. He wasn't looking at her; no, his gaze seemed to be suspended on something distant. Puzzled, she put her palm over his eyes and closed them.
"Yeah... I know it's my fault again..." she muttered and picked him up. It was eerily quiet. Jinx almost wished for her hallucinations to return, just so she could hear Silco.
"I never would've given you to them. Not for anything. Don't cry. You're perfect." She recalled his last words.
"I'm not a wimp." She sniffled and with her free hand, wiped away the rest of her tears.
At this hour, no one was wandering around the Undercity, which was weird. For the first time in her life, Jinx felt truly alone.
"I wonder how life will go on here now that you're... y'know..." she rambled to Silco's body, which she was still carrying.
"And me? I... I don't know what I'll do. You know there was always someone telling me what to do. Oh, let's go there!" She pointed to the bridge and sprinted towards it.
"You see, usually I would just... blow some stuff up without your permission, but now that I did... It didn't really make me happier." She sighed and gently put Silco's lifeless body on the ground. The sound of the river was annoying her more than ever.
"So I guess this is goodbye?..." Jinx asked, looking down at the water. No one answered again. She picked Silco up and hugged him.
"So... I feel like I should be more angry or sad. Well, thanks for everything. And once again, I'm sorry." She said, and without thinking much, threw the body into the river. She observed as the current carried Silco away from her and how he slowly sank more and more until nothing could be seen.
Jinx, wide-eyed, observed this scene, and finally something hit her. She truly would never see him again. She looked at her hands, stained in blood from carrying the body, and fell to her knees.
"Why does everyone always leave me?..." She thought. Jinx hid her face in her hands and started sobbing, alone on the bridge.