Arcane: Bond Beyond Death (R18)

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...

Jinx returned to their lair, she was coughing and vomiting Shimmer just like how Bael used to when he was exposed to primitive shimmer.

She started looking everywhere for one of those syringes Bael was taking, when she found one, she injected herself, the pain was intense at the start, after she injected a second, then a third, the feeling became semblable to a drug, started seeing hallucinations everywhere.

Bael.

She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing her mind to remember—really remember.

The Sheriff. That smug bastard.

He had been talking to some enforcers, boasting about where they'd taken him. Stillwater Hold.

Jinx's eyes snapped open, glowing with an eerie, deranged light.

"Oh-hoho, that's where they put you, huh?" she muttered, grinning ear to ear. "Should've figured. Only place built for the baddest of the bad. And guess what, Bael?" Her hands wrapped around the unfinished Fishbones, pulling it close, her breath shaky with excitement. "I'm comin' for ya."

The prototype was raw, exposed—just the skeletal frame of what it would become. No face, no smart targeting, no fancy regulation system. Just raw, unfiltered destruction.

Her hands trembled, but not from fear. From exhilaration.

She reached for Pow-Pow Eta, fingers sliding along its sleek, humming surface.

And then—

"Don't."

Jinx froze.

The voice.

It wasn't her own.

Her grip on Pow-Pow Eta tightened.

"You—" she swallowed. "You talk now?"

"Not like this."

Jinx flinched, an eerie shiver running down her spine. She could feel it. A presence, alive, woven into the weapon.

A part of her wanted to listen.

The other part? The other part scoffed.

"Oh, relax," she muttered, smirking. "It won't be for too long."

Without another thought, she ripped the Hexcrystal from Pow-Pow Eta, ignoring the faint shudder it gave in response. The hum of power faded instantly, and the weapon fell silent—lifeless.

The lair was filled with nothing but the sound of her own ragged breathing.

Jinx grinned, shoving the Hexcrystal into the unfinished Fishbones.

Then, she pulled back, admiring her work.

The weapon flickered to life, unstable, unhinged—just like her.

Her smile widened.

She threw an arm around it, whispering like a lover's promise, "We're gonna destroy the whole damn world, my friend."

Then she pulled back, licking her lips, pupils blown wide.

"…Or at least die trying."

...

Five minutes. That's all it took for the Stillwater alarm system to flare to life, blaring in angry red.

The Warden's fingers drummed against the steel of his desk as the reports flooded in. Three inmates. Gone.

He exhaled sharply through his nose, rolling his shoulders as he stood. His coat snapped behind him as he reached for his gauntlets—custom-made, polished to perfection. He slid them on, flexing his fingers, feeling the power hum beneath the reinforced plating.

"Three little shits think they can crawl out of my prison?" His voice was low, measured, but filled with that quiet, simmering rage that made men sweat. He reached for his belt, securing the holsters, checking the weight of each weapon with an absent, practiced ease.

He knew exactly what kind of rats he was dealing with.

And rats? They didn't escape.

They got exterminated.

Meanwhile, Bael, Beca, and Vi were deep in the ventilation system, moving with quiet urgency. The metal grates groaned under their weight, but they pressed on, guided by the map Bael had burned into his mind.

"The Vault's ahead," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the distant sirens.

Beca wiped sweat from her brow. "How do you know there's no guards?"

Bael didn't answer immediately. He just smirked, glancing back at her.

Vi put it together first. "The Fangs."

Bael nodded. "Their connections. Their intel. Every enforcer stationed at the Vault? Either reassigned or looking the other way."

The path was open.

For now.

But Bael knew better.

The real problem?

Stillwater's Warden wasn't a man who let problems walk away.

Arriving at the location, they waited for the enforcers to leave the place before getting out from the vents and facing the vault.

With the security code unconfidential to him as Leader, he taped the code and they entered the vault, Bael looked everywhere and found his steam pistol, Beca also got herself her weapon, a fine rifle.

"Where d'you get that?" He asked.

Beca chuckled as she explained simply.

As they prepared on leaving, Vi found something nostalgic, the gauntlets she used to fight the Shimmer monster a decade ago, for some reason they ended up here, all used up and trashy. Too bad they were small and unusable or she would've taken them with her.

"Let's go." Bael shouts.

Now they left the vault, and it was time for Mayhem.

The moment they turned the corner, the first squad of enforcers was already there—armor gleaming under the dim prison lights, weapons raised.

Bael didn't hesitate.

A sharp hiss filled the air as his steam pistol fired, sending a heated shot straight through the first enforcer's skull. The body crumpled before the others even had time to react.

Beca was right behind him, raising her rifle and picking off another before he could call for backup.

Vi, however, froze.

She had seen Bael fight before—back when they were kids, back when fists and scrap weapons were all they had. But this? This was different. There was no hesitation. No warnings. No second chances.

Bael was killing without a shred of doubt.

And he wasn't alone. Beca moved just as fluidly, cutting through the enforcers like she had done this a thousand times before.

The three of them pushed forward, weaving through the halls of Stillwater as more enforcers fell. The alarms blared overhead, the whole prison waking up to the chaos.

Bael reloaded, his movements precise, mechanical.

"Everything in Stillwater is a fight."

The words left his lips naturally, like a mantra, and for a second, he realized where he had heard them before.

Beca smirked. "Now you're getting it."

She laughed, her rifle spitting death as they carved their way forward.

On the outside of Stillwater, Jinx was coming in the metallic carriage the same they use to contain criminals, she was lying in the carriage, moving her feet while a dead enforcer was on the floor bleeding. She looked at the incomplete and dry Fishbones, smiling excitedly.

"Almost time, big guy!" She says, giggling.

"I'll always be by your side, Jinx." The whispers of Fishbones resonates which made Jinx smile even further.

The metallic carriage screeched to a stop just outside the towering walls of Stillwater Hold, the fortress-like prison looming over the churning waters below. The air smelled of rust, salt, and something else—opportunity.

Jinx stood atop the carriage, the wind howling through her wild blue hair as she hoisted Fishbones onto her shoulder. The unfinished prototype rattled slightly in her grip, its exposed wires and skeletal frame barely holding together. But oh, that didn't matter—not when it had this kind of power inside.

The Hexcrystal pulsed, feeding raw energy into the weapon, making it glow like a burning star. It hummed, unstable, the energy inside writhing like a caged beast desperate to be unleashed.

Jinx licked her lips, her breath ragged with excitement. "Oh, babe, you've been immortal all this time… Let's see if one little rocket is enough to kill you."

Lightning crackled through the air. The sky itself seemed to recoil.

And then—

BOOM!

The rocket launched, the sheer force of it nearly throwing Jinx backward. It spiraled through the air like a comet of pure destruction, its body crackling with unstable Hextech energy, leaving behind a trail of sizzling blue fire.

It tore through the sky, past the watchtowers, past the searchlights—before slamming into the heart of Stillwater Hold.

The world exploded.

A massive mushroom cloud of blue flames and debris rose into the sky, illuminating the entire bay like a second sun. The force of the explosion sent a tidal wave crashing against the cliffs, drowning everything in chaos.

And at the center of it all, Jinx stood atop her carriage, arms wide open, basking in the destruction like a goddess of war.

She screamed, tears running down her eyes, the sound of it cutting through the roaring flames.

"BAAAAAELLL!!!"

Inside the crumbling prison, deep within the collapsing ruins, he would hear her.

He had to.

...

In the meantime, Bael, Vi and Beca were making their way through Stillwater, their next objective was the control room, the prison was on lock down so if they wanted to leave, they needed to deactivate the protocol.

Beca was an experienced sharpshooter, Bael took care of the shut doors and reinforced walls thanks to his boom-boom tattoos. Tho breaking just one reinforced wall was a challenge as he'd need atheist 10 tattoos which was draining and time consuming.

"Holding up alright?" Beca asked Bael.

And then—

KRRRRRR—BOOOOOM!

The entire prison shook as an earth-shattering explosion rocked Stillwater to its core. The floor beneath them rumbled violently, sending dust and debris crashing from the ceiling. A massive wave of fire and shrapnel tore through the far end of the hallway, knocking out the emergency lights for a few seconds.

"What the fuck was that?!" Vi shouted, steadying herself.

Beca's eyes widened as she reloaded her rifle. "Not us, that's for sure."

Bael's heart pounded. The timing. The destruction.

He turned towards the source of the explosion, his breath hitching.

There was only one person who could pull off something like that.

He clenched his fists, a slow, dark grin forming on his lips.

"My Jinx..."

Outside Stillwater, Jinx perched atop the stolen enforcer transport, her legs swinging idly as she reloaded Fishbones. The first shot had been glorious—a masterpiece of chaos and destruction. The entire prison had screamed from the impact, lights flickering, structures collapsing, alarms wailing in pure terror. Music to her ears.

She giggled, licking her lips as she slammed another refined Hexcrystal into the launcher. The unstable energy crackled, dancing between her fingers, illuminating her wild, dilated eyes.

"Not done yet, big boy… Stillwater's gotta go down all the way."

Jinx stood, balancing effortlessly on the swaying metal carriage, aiming Fishbones at the heart of the prison. Smoke and fire billowed from the hole she'd already blasted through, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

"I know you're in there, Bael…" she whispered to herself, voice laced with manic excitement. "And I know you're coming for me. So, let's make it easy, huh? I'll turn this dump into dust, and you just… walk out. Easy-peasy!"

Her grip on Fishbones tightened, pupils dilating as she let the sheer anticipation consume her.

Then she laughed—a shrill, unhinged sound that echoed through the chaos.

She braced, the launcher vibrating in her hands as the second rocket powered up—hotter, angrier than the first. The unstable energy surged, the air around her distorting with sheer force.

Then—

"BOOM!"

She fired.

Another monster of a rocket surged forward, slicing through the air with deadly precision. It screeched as it tore toward Stillwater, a meteor of destruction aimed straight for its core.

Jinx threw her arms open, embracing the fiery glow as the night sky ignited in violent orange.

"COME ON, BAEL!" she howled, grinning wildly. "COME BACK TO MEEEEEE!"

The crumbling continued and the Warden immediately declared red alert, which altered Piltover of what's going on here while the prison erupted into chaos.

Meanwhile, Bael was having a PTSD; this scene... it was the exact scene that happened a decade ago, when Powder wanted to help only to destroy everything.

"Please go easy on us this time Jinx... I don't wanna lose another arm or a leg..." He whispers.

"The control room is right at the end of the corridor!" Vi shouted.

They ran towards the control room, Beca shot any Enforcer that showed up while Vi assisted her using the metal debris that fell as shields to protect her.

Bael put his mechanical hand on the reinforced walls to the control room. Beca shot the camera and continued to fend off the enforcers attack.

The boom-boom tattoo grew larger with each passing second which was a challenge for Bael, he coughed as he continued.

Then, Jinx's second rocket came.

...

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