The Good Life: Deals with the Devil (ch. 94)

“Feeling better?” I asked Jinx, looking down at where she was curled up in my lap like a cat with her head pressed into my chest. It had been an hour since she made the declaration that she belonged to me, and in the time since she’d alternated between choking on tears, clutching at me for comfort, and riding my cock until her hips gave out. And sometimes she managed to do all three. I let it happen, for the most part. As much as I could temper the harsh spikes of her emotions when they were running high, it was part of the healing process to get all the poison out. 

Jinx hesitated to answer before she slowly nodded her head, “A little bit. Just… a teeny-tiny bit,” she elaborated, her pussy clenching around my softening cock that was still half buried inside her. 

“That's good… because now that you're mine, there's a secret I can trust you with,” I said, and a shiver raced down her spine at the emphasis I put on the word ‘mine’. It was because it was affirmation that I wouldn't leave her behind, that I trusted her, rather than any inherent submissiveness on her part. She lifted her head up to look at me, and there was an eagerness to please shining in her eyes. “Can you stand?” 

“...Yeah,” she confirmed, lifting her hips up and gasping when my cock slid out of her. She crawled off of me, cum flowing down her legs and soaking into her torn pants. She didn't try to hide her nudity, pushing out her small breasts as much as she could while she was gazing at my cock with a sense of disbelief. I stood and draped an arm over her shoulders to pull her in close, and she leaned heavily into me in response. I barely needed to play up the radiant enjoyment she felt at the contact. 

Guiding her to a bookcase, I pulled one back to reveal a secret passageway. Jinx snorted, “Always a classic. But a buncha’ stairs leading into the darkness can't be what you wanted to show me, right?” 

“Not in the slightest,” I said, leading Jinx down the spiraling staircase that led into the hidden bowls of the city. “This is where I've been keeping a special project of mine. It's one that I've been wanting to get your expertise on, but… well…” I trailed off, and Jinx clung to me that much tighter.

“I'll help,” she yelped, and there was a manic need in her voice. I’d had more experience than most with her mood swings, but that one caught even me a bit by surprise at the severity of it. And I had to suppress a smile, because I knew I had her. 

“I know you will,” I said before we reached the bottom of the stairs to reach an elevator. Stepping inside, I could sense Jinx's curiosity growing by the second, especially when she realized just how fast we were moving and how far down we were going. But she held her questions until we reached the bottom and the doors slid open to reveal the project I had been working on for the past month and a half. 

The Dias. My Dias.

It was about sixty percent done, the construction hurried along thanks to my Room. The shape was a bit different from Asami's, largely due to a more efficient design. From what I understood, Asami had taken tech from her world that had been meant to breach a place called the ‘spirit world’ and reconfigured it to breach through reality to find other worlds to create the first Dias. In the time since, she had smoothed out and improved the design with the data she got with every use of the Dias.

The number of rings had been cut in half on my Dias, the design was a bit slimmer, and it used about twenty percent less power than the previous version. It was still an absolute glutton in power consumption, though, and the energy cost increased exponentially the further from the current World Line you went. 

“This is the Dias. It's a portal between worlds… and how I arrived in yours,” I informed her, standing behind her as I rested my hands on her shoulders. Her emotions were a curious thing -- there was the ripple of surprise I'd expected, but it wasn't intense enough to be shock. And it was swiftly followed by amusement. 

“Another world, huh? And you had… had S-Silco convinced you were from the darkest pit of the Sump,” she stuttered, but only a little. 

“Not the Sump, and not this city, but I did crawl out of a pit,” I confirmed for her. “You're handling the news well,” I noted, a bit curious. 

“I don't care,” Jinx admitted, turning to face me. “I don't care where you're from. Just where you're going… where we're going.” 

Damn. I’m a real bastard. The thought came suddenly, and with no small amount of satisfaction. With Taylor, the whole thing had been an accident. Taylor had twisted herself into a pretzel with her own internal justifications and willful blindness -- I couldn't rightfully claim credit for what she became. Jinx was a different story. I’d set up the dominoes and tipped them over, all the pieces clicking into place, and now she was mine. In mind, body, and soul. 

“Our next stop is a world that a friend of mine got dropped into,” I said, inclining my head to the sensor equipment. Jinx's eyes brightened as she wandered over to it. The sensors were the part that I built first, as they let me judge the distance to the coordinates that Asami had given me. She’d dumped Yoruichi pretty far out, another World Line away, and pretty far down it to boot. 

Building more fusion reactors in Zaun and Piltover would take the bite out of the cost. As would whatever reactors Nora and Taylor had built on their end of things. But, even with the most generous estimates… The numbers I had given them to maintain the portals hadn't budged much. They could be compensated for, just a little bit, but I also intended to expand to other worlds and World Lines. Meaning that unless something changed, we would always be playing catch up with power consumption. And we would have to cover the shortfall with sacrifices -- but that wasn't exactly sustainable either. Eventually, we'd run out of people. 

“They get sent there during that scrap that wrecked the city?” Jinx questioned, and I could sense her mind racing as she connected the dots. Despite the heavy cloud of grief that still clung to her, she was pushing it away in favor of focusing on me and the task at hand. When I raised an eyebrow, she offered a forced smirk, “Not that hard to figure out. You and the Cannibal are buddy buddy. Asami was your ‘business partner’ and there's no way that you got blindsided by her like you told the Council.” 

So much faith. “Well, you're right that I helped wreck the city. Less right about me getting blindsided. Asami had been preparing for that fight for years, and she opened with a kick straight to the dick.” I still had to give her props for that. Jinx seemed interested, but there was time for that story later. “But, the result is this -- I need to get there,” I said, pointing at a blip that was the world Yoruichi was stranded on, “And that is the cost in power to get there.”

Jinx saw the number expressed in terawatts and her eyes widened while her eyebrows shot up. 

“What I need your help with is two fold,” I continued, standing behind her and draping my arms around her lithe body, pulling her close as she once again melted into me at the contact. “I need your help completing the design,” I started, pulling up the blueprints. 

The incomplete blueprints. 

Annie had damaged the data when she was beating the shit out of Cinder, and it was that loss of data that led to the punishment that she was unknowingly sinking into. The data on the disk was ninety-five percent okay. But that last five percent had been some of the most important parts, like how to actually punch a hole through the fabric of reality. I had most of what I needed to figure it out, but with me alone it would be a case of trial and error. Which meant burning through the power reserves that I had built up for the trip to rescue Yoruichi, which meant delaying the actual rescue operation. 

“And I need a way to slim down the power consumption,” I continued. Jinx was brilliant in a way that I couldn't yet match. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I could accomplish the same task eventually -- it was only a question of how much brain juice and knowledge I had to absorb. But, even with the ability, I lacked the time. The project needed to be completed within my timeline without sacrificing some of my other projects. “The latter is a lesser priority. The first is the most important, and I have this as a reference.”

The reference in question was the Dias that Asami had left behind, but I didn't trust it. Asami had been caught flatfooted, forcing her to spring a trap before it was ready, but she also would have prepared for the possibility of failure. That Dias reeked of a failsafe -- of what kind, I wasn't sure yet, but using it… I felt in my bones that it could be the thing that killed me. 

“I can do it,” Jinx said, her voice full to the brim with confidence. Real confidence. I could feel that there wasn’t a doubt in her mind. “I can complete the designs -- it's just interdimensional travel. Easy peasy,” she insisted, and I chuckled. 

“I believe you, Jinx. If anyone in this city can do it, then you can,” I reassured that I had faith in her, and I could sense her resolve solidify, refusing to not meet my expectations. “But if it's too much right now -- with Silco, and Vi…” I trailed off, and her emotions spiked.

“I'm… I don't want to… I don't know what I feel or… want to feel about Vi,” Jinx confessed, and I nodded. That had been by my design. “Do you think…” 

“There's nothing wrong with waiting and sorting your feelings out before you rush into the deep end,” I answered. “Take your time. Vi can wait a few weeks. Even a few months. If you want, I can talk to her and tell her that you need time and space.” I offered, and for a moment Jinx was at war with herself, but I already knew what her answer would be. 

In the end, Jinx was an emotional coward. Entirely because she felt too much and too strongly. She would throw herself into her work, forever delaying the emotional resolution out of fear of rejection. Which gave me the time I needed to prepare the grounds for their reunion. I didn't make any specific plans for Vi initially, but it seemed like such a shame to write her off. She had potential. 

Predictably, Jinx nodded and I smiled. 

Things were going exactly as planned. 

…

Things continued to move according to my plans and predictions in the days following Silco’s assassination, largely because I was the unseen hand guiding the players into place. Tensions between Zaun and Piltover hit a boiling point -- there were riots in the streets, and Enforcers attacked, with Zaun threatening to shut off the lights to Piltover. 

Zaun… to put it simply -- children didn’t cry about having their candy stolen if they never had any to begin with. For the first time in years, if not decades, Zaun felt like things were looking up for them. One of their own, gangster or not, had managed to climb his way to the top of the ivory towers in Piltover. It gave them hope that things were going to get better. 

Then that hope was snuffed out with Silco. They saw it as Piltover trying to keep its heel on their throats, making sure that they stayed in the shadows and the gutters. It didn’t matter to them that the Firelights had been the ones to kill him -- most didn’t care, or they thought it was lies fed to them to cover Piltover’s tracks. So they were lashing out, and Noxus was silently fanning the flames, making sure that sparks caught fire and ignited every powder keg that they could find. 

Ambessa was good at this, I could acknowledge that much. Almost to the point of being too good. She knew the chaos would serve her well as she could point at the dumpster fire that was Zaun as an example of why they were better off surrendering to her before the main force arrived. 

As for the Council? They were paralyzed, which was also by my design. The synths that I’d implanted ensured that there was a gridlock on what their response should be -- ranging from surrendering to Noxus, to making examples of Zaun to show their strength, to a preemptive attack on the field armies, or even blowing up the Hexgate because without it, there would be no reason to conquer Piltover. 

For my part?

I did nothing. 

“They want to put you on the Council, you know,” Viktor said, lying in the hospital bed that he had been confined to for weeks now. He looked frailer than normal, and the almost characteristic dark bags under his eyes had intensified. He had been on the thin side before, but now he was almost skeletal. Asami had nearly killed him -- would have killed him, if it wasn’t for a liberal amount of stimpacks, and it had been entirely by accident. 

I sat next to him, a notepad in my hands as I doodled a design. “I’m aware,” I said, well aware of that fact. I was the one who had Salo put forth the idea that I replace Silco after all. “Sounds like a real pain in the ass. Not sure if it's worth the hassle.” There was no real benefit to it at this stage. I pretty much controlled the Council at this point, and there wasn’t the bet to propel me to accept a position in any official capacity. 

Viktor chuckled, but it was a hollow sound. “They also want to put Jayce on the Council,” he continued, his tone whimsical as he laid on his hospital bed. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s to counter me. Jayce isn’t exactly my biggest fan these days,” I acknowledged. 

“You created weapons,” Viktor provided the reason why, turning his gaze to me. There was a bone-deep exhaustion in them. I didn’t need my Room to tell me that he was dying. Neither did he. “He doesn’t understand it. Nor do I, if I must confess. All of your designs, your creations… they have been to make life easier… then you proceed to create things that shall take them with such ease.”

I chuckled, “I’m a realist. Once you put something out in the world, it’s not yours anymore. Fusion technology or Hextech… it was only a matter of time before they were weaponized,” I replied, scribbling some calculations on the graph paper before going back to the design itself. “So, there was two ways to approach the issue. My route, where I supply the weapons and the designs… or the Hextech route, where some random asshole gets their hands on it and they’re smart enough to rework it to their own ends.” 

Jayce had taken it particularly hard that Vi had killed Silco with Hextech. Ekko had done wonders with the Atlas Gauntlets, turning them into full-length arm armor… but they were undoubtedly still Hextech. 

“In the end, we aren’t the only geniuses in the city, much less the world. It was only a matter of time. This way, I at least have a degree of control for a time.” I continued, adding a few details to the design. 

Viktor hummed, pondering that before he exhaled a sigh, “I suppose we were quite arrogant,” he reflected with the tone of someone who was on his deathbed, looking back on the life he lived. “We had such hope for the future. Hextech has such potential… but we blinded ourselves to the nature of that potential. That it could be used for ill just as easily as for good.”

Then he sighed again, louder this time. It was the kind of sigh that left you deflated and he sank into his hospital bed with the belief that he would never rise from it again. “I thought… I would accomplish more with my life,” he admitted. “Hextech was meant to be that legacy, but so far…”

“There’s still time,” I said, ripping the page off my notebook and sliding it to him when he began to protest. His gaze landed on it, his eyes narrowing, and the words of denial that he had been about to speak were swallowed down. On the page was a design for a prosthetic. One that was a step above the ones that Zaun offered. One that would be linked directly to his brain. 

The Robo-Brains from Fallout had been a point of inspiration -- organic brains that controlled entirely mechanical bodies. What I did was work backwards from that design and repurposed it. 

One day, I fully intended to have a robot army controlled by synth-cloned brains to prevent the hacking issue that Asami had hit me with. This wasn't that, but it would be a good step towards it. All the better, I saw hope ignite in Viktor’s eyes. 

“Is… such a thing truly possible?” He asked, a fragile hope in his voice. 

“The Undercity already figured out how to deal with rejection and connection to the nervous system,” I answered. “This is just the next step. I read your medical records-- not sorry, by the way -- and at this stage… We're just delaying the inevitable. Your immune system had the structural integrity of a wet paper bag to begin with, but you spent your childhood playing in puddles of toxic run off. Not exactly a winning combination. Organ failure is only a matter of when. So, I say we toss the suckers in the trash. Same with your spine. And might as well toss your legs in the pile too.” 

Viktor gave me a rather unimpressed look, “Anything else?” 

“I could go on, but I wouldn't want you to feel self-conscious,” I replied with a grin as I glanced at my own designs. Viktor was the reason why I was reworking the Brain-Bots from Fallout. As he was, he was a great potential asset, but he was dying. 

I could give him Compound V. I could Personality Surgery him into a Synth body, or failing that, create synth-organs to replace his failing ones. I had options. But, they were held back because of two factors -- firstly, Viktor was a prospect rather than a recruit for my bidding science division. I couldn't let him peek behind the curtain too early, or he'd pull a runner. 

Secondly, I was looking into alternative means of progression. I loved me some robots, but I’d been burned by my robot army betraying me. So, I was looking for a way to circumvent that issue by putting Synth brains into the machines. That thought experiment, while promising, brought my attention to the idea of cyborgs. While not as cool as robots, the idea had some potential. And Viktor, with his frail body and weak constitution, seemed like the perfect candidate to crave the certainty of steel. 

“How… when…” Viktor started, trying to find the words, and I shrugged. 

“When I found out that you were dying,” I told him and his eyes closed for a second. “You don't have to make a decision now. You have about eight months left as it is.” 

“Eight months in a bed,” Viktor interjected, his mind already made up. “I shall have the surgery. My body has betrayed me from the moment I was born, and I will not allow it to kill me if I can stop it. If you are confident that this will save my life… then I shall put my faith in you, Law.” 

He really shouldn't, but no take-backs. “Alright. It'll take me a few months to get everything ready, but once it is… I'll let you know," I told him and he offered a grateful nod. 

“Since it shall become my body, I think I'll draw up some designs,” he mused with a smirk and a quick laugh. His condition visibly improved now that he saw a way out. With that, I left him my notebook and pretended I didn't see his trembling hand as I left the hospital room. He knew what he was getting into. 

The body that he would be given was essentially a life support system on legs. It'd replace almost all of his organs, including his heart. Roughly sixty percent of him would become machine, and I imagine once he’d settled into his new body… Viktor was the type to carve away the rest of his flesh until he was just a jar in a mech. All the while, he'd upgrade and improve, which was exactly what I wanted. 

I hummed in contentment, satisfied with my progress today, yet today wasn't over quite yet. “One of them finally took me up on my invitation, huh?” I mused to myself, sensing someone arrive at the spot I mentioned in one of the letters I delivered in the aftermath of Silco’s assassination. It had been a few days without an answer, but it seemed that someone had finally decided to take the bait. 

I waited until I was out of eyeshot before Shambling over towards the edge of the city, appearing on a beach overlooking a toxic bay. Pollution had turned the sand black, and it stank of chemicals. Which made it the perfect spot for this little meeting. 

I arrived behind the guest of the hour, who looked out into the ocean with an air of distaste. “So, we finally meet, huh?” I spoke up, announcing my presence, and to her credit, she didn’t flinch. 

Ambessa simply turned around to look at me, her expression set into an uneasy scowl that was partly fueled by the fact that I had evidently dodged the guards that she had laid out to warn her of my approach. Or to kidnap me. Either or. However, she was quick to force a smile onto her face, inclining her head to me ever so slightly. “So we do, Law Trafalgar. Or is it Kiramman-Trafalgar yet?” 

“Just Trafalgar. She hasn’t put a ring on it yet, so I’m still a free man,” I replied easily, striding forward with a confident swagger. In the rough weather-beaten cliffs that lead up to Piltover, her men were scrambling as the ones on overwatch took notice of me. I saw a cunning gleam in her eyes as she processed that comment, but I was quick to continue. “Thanks for showing up, though I am curious what made you decide to take the risk. Assassins are at large, after all.”

“There is no gain without risk. Without sacrifice,” Ambessa answered easily and with conviction. “I would like to return that question to you -- what possessed you to extend that invitation? What is it that you seek to gain here?” She asked, and that was fair enough. 

In response, I started kicking the sand to reveal that there was only a thin layer of it, and beneath that layer, there was a bag. Ambessa said nothing, simply watching me pull the bag out and reach within it to pull out a weapon. Her gaze drank it in hungrily, not knowing what it was, only that she wanted it. She was a pretty simple person, to be honest -- she was ambitious, liked gaining power and enjoyed simply feeling powerful. 

She was like an older and, hopefully wiser, Cinder. 

“Catch,” I said, tossing her a pair of sunglasses that she caught deftly. She glanced at them and only put them on when I did. “I wanted to show you something,” I said, not admitting that I would have just been willing to show this off to Mel. But, she had always been a bit of a long shot. After all, a Councilor had just been assassinated.

With that, I shouldered the Fatman, and the mini-nuke slid into place. Pulling the trigger saw it lobbed towards the ocean, sailing forth until- light. A loud explosion rang out, but I made sure to kill it off before it spread too far. All the while, I dispersed the ensuing radiation, the little of it there was. Though, given how toxic the bay was, it’d hardly matter. 

“Impressive,” Ambessa acknowledged, her tone flat. She wasn’t that impressed. “I hope you didn’t call me out here merely for that?” She asked, and I chuckled, dropping the Fatman launcher into the sand. 

“Hardly,” I answered before gesturing for her to follow. “I just wanted to put things in perspective. That explosion right there was worth about one ton of modern explosives -- packs a punch, absolutely. But, I guess it’s not that impressive compared to the light show that you saw the other day.”

“Both before and after,” Ambessa mused, following along, though ever muscle of her powerful frame was taunt -- ready for either an ambush or to flee. “I am most curious why you would be extending the invitation at all, but now… why are you showing me this? Why not include this in the light show, as you put it?” She asked the pointed questions as I approached an alcove. Then, with Shambles, I brought the prize into the cave behind a false wall. “Do you intend to betray Piltover?”

“Betrayal is such a strong word. It implies that we were on the same side of things in the first place,” I pointed out, my tone amiable. “But, I asked you to come here to discuss the topic of betrayal. Just not mine,” I added, kicking the false wall and tearing through papier-mache. Her breathing hitched as the false wall gave way, revealing a little something that I had grabbed from Fallout. 

I approached the warhead that was the size of me, giving the side of it a heavy pat as Ambessa stared at it. “This here is what I call a nuclear warhead. It delivers the force of about ten megatons of explosives, so roughly ten million times bigger than the firecracker I just showed you.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Ambessa breathed harshly, realizing the implications instantly. “What do you intend to do with these weapons?”

“Imagine what one of these bad boys could do to an army? Or a city?” I continued, and anger flashed over her expression at being ignored before she stilled. “I imagine I could just… put one in one of the ships and drop it over the field armies. Might even be able to use the Hexgate to send it over to Noxus Prime.”

Her eyes narrowed into slits, and my smile grew in proportion to her anger. “You want to know what I intend to do with them?” I echoed before I shook my head, “No, Ambessa. That’s the wrong question. The right question is… what do you intend to do with them?”

I could sense her shock and uncertainty even as she kept both from outwardly showing, “Why?”

“You and the Council are under the impression that Piltover can’t win the little spat between us and Noxus. I’m here to tell you that it’s the other way around,” I said, leaning on the nuke with a salesman's smile on my face. “Noxus can’t win. You could send an army a million strong, and I’ll make sure that it never even reaches our doorstep. And if you really piss me off, I’ll reduce every city in Noxus into a wasteland where nothing will ever grow. There won’t be a Noxus by the time I’m done with you.”

There was a cold fear that started to fill her as she realized that I was serious, but she didn’t show it, and I was satisfied to know that I was right in my measure of her character. “And instead of using these weapons on us… You’re showing them to me. My betrayal, was it?” She remarked, her tone dry as her mind raced. 

“Your daughter got her smarts from you, I’m guessing. And you’re smart enough to pick the winning side,” I continued. “So, throw your lot in with us. Do that, and I’ll make sure that the big seat in Noxus is yours.”

Greed. Desire. I sensed it flash intensely within her, but she knew there was no such thing as a free meal. “I see. And what would such a thing cost me?” She questioned, pretending like she hadn’t already made her decision. She would agree, though she would always keep a foot in the door in case things looked bad and she needed to betray me later. 

I answered her, and for the first time, a flicker of emotion crossed Ambessa’s face before she scowled. 

“You… are far more ambitious than anyone suspected of you, Law,” Ambessa acknowledged before she tilted her head to me. 

I could only laugh at that. She was right after all.