Get Jinxed: A Tale of Mental Instability and Poor Decisions (Arcane/League of Legends)

Luck Roll: 2d6: (2+6) = 8
Jinx and Sevika make it to Benzo's.

My Name Is Jinx End​

I poked Sevika in the back with P-thwip. "Keep moving, Cyclops. Just 'cause I've decided to let Benzo figure out what to do with you doesn't mean dumping your body in the Pilt is completely off the table if you start causing trouble. So can it with whining about how your feet hurt."

I was being pretty nice just by letting her live, but I guess Caitlyn and Seraphine made me go a little easy on her. I guess maybe that last question Seraphine asked got under my skin a bit. If she'd tried to talk about how murder was wrong and there had to be a better way to handle Sevika I could've pointed out all the practical reasons she needed to die. There wasn't any kind of justice in Zaun besides what came out of the barrel of a gun, and if we let Sevika walk she'd definitely want payback for her eye and everything else. Plus she knew some stuff I didn't want getting back to Silco, like me being alive, Caitlyn being involved, and might even guess Seraphine's little secret.

But there hadn't been any of that. No arguments about how I shouldn't kill Sevika, just a question. 'Is this really what you want?' That was a much messier question than whether it was smart to kill Sevika.

What did I want? I wanted Vander, Vi, and the boys back. Even Mylo, despite him sometimes being a giant butt. That wasn't on the table, so now I wanted to protect everyone else. Did killing Sevika make me safer? Maybe it would, but that didn't mean I needed to personally put a nail into her skull. Besides, if I left her in Benzo's tender care he could probably squeeze her for info about Silco's operations before he decided what to do with her.

Plus Seraphine and Caitlyn were still a bit too nice. They weren't okay with me executing someone, no matter how much they had it coming. If handing Sevika over to Benzo was close enough to justice to make them feel better I could live with that. I didn't wanna risk scaring away some of the only friends I had left. Seraphine was a nice girl, and with her empathy powers she probably would have a rough time of it if I killed someone where she could feel it.

Everyone else was waiting for us by the time I got to Benzo's. None of Silco's goons had tried to jump me on the way, so I guess the rain had done its job of making everyone keep their heads down and muffling the gunfire. Or everyone nearby followed the proud Zaunite tradition of not sticking their heads outside in the middle of what they probably assumed was another gang fight. At least all the rain would wash away a lot of inconvenient evidence, like the line of bloody footprints leading straight to Benzo's front door.

Benzo's shop was a mess. Not a surprise, considering Sevika and her goons had trashed the place, then I'd thrown a bomb in through the front door. What mattered was that Ekko was okay. Benzo … well he was pretty roughed up, but he'd never been all that pretty to start with. I kicked Sevika in through the front door, then closed it behind me. Or at least I tried to, for some reason the door didn't quite fit right in its frame now. Almost like it had gotten warped by an explosion or something.

"Hello ladies, gentlemen, and that wonderful rainbow of things in between and outside, your big fat hero has returned!" I grinned and took a bow. Seraphine ran up and hugged me, while Caitlyn looked down at Sevika, then nodded approvingly.

Ekko, meanwhile, was gawking at me. "Powd—Jinx, you've, uh, you changed a lot since the last time I saw you."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, a lot's happened since then." Powder had always been afraid of showing people who she really was. She'd been small and weak and scared, and when she'd shown her sister too much of what she was really like they got into a fight. Jinx didn't have to be afraid, she could be strong and wild and fearless, do all the things Powder had been afraid of. It was funny, Powder had been a jinx, but now Jinx was a hero?

Speaking of heroing… "Heya Benzo, I brought you a little something." I nodded at Sevika, who had collapsed onto the floor with a pained groan. "One Sevika, slightly damaged. Figured I should let you decide what to do with her."

"I've got a few ideas," Benzo announced with a nasty grin.

Sevika let out a resigned sigh. "If you're gonna kill me, just get it over with. I don't need you people talking my ear off about justice, mercy, and all that crap. Just do what you're gonna do." She reached into her jacket with her uninjured hand and pulled out a squashed and wet cigar, scoffing and tossing it aside. "Can't even have one last smoke. No sense dragging it out anyway, this hurts like hell."

Benzo chuckled. "Oh, you don't get to run off to meet the choir invisible just yet. You were one of Silco's attack dogs. Means you know stuff. Stuff I'd like to know."

"I bet you would." She groaned and lay flat on her back. "Good luck beating anything outta me, I'll die before I talk." She scoffed and waved a hand over her body. "That's not me being a badass, I'm probably one good hit away from bleeding out, and even without that some of this shit'll get infected and kill me slower and worse than anything you can come up with, old man."

Benzo frowned, but didn't disagree with her. I'd messed her up pretty bad, and those holes in her feet were probably full of Zaunite street mud after the walk back to Benzo's. Maybe the merciful thing to do would've been to just pop her back there and be done with it.

After thinking it over a bit Benzo shrugged. "We'll see what happens. Maybe I'll come up with something, maybe you'll die."

I shrugged. "I leave her in your hands." With the matter of the cyclops settled, I turned to Ekko. "So, what do you say we bust this popsicle stand? Can't imagine Benzo's gonna have a shop for you to work at for much longer."

Benzo grimaced. "Once Silco doesn't hear back from his goons he'll send more of them." He looked around his shop and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm gonna miss this place, but no way in hell I'm letting Silco get his hands on it the way he did with The Last Drop. Makes me sick, knowing he took over Vander's old bar and has been strutting around like he owns the place. Using it as more proof he's carrying on Vander's legacy while spitting on everything Vander fought for and believed in."

"Need some help burning the place down?" I offered. "Fire's good at destroying evidence, and with all the rain you won't have to worry about it spreading."

Caitlyn cleared her throat. "Do the two of you have anywhere to stay? I can't imagine it will be safe for you in the undercity after this. Perhaps if I talked to my parents I could arrange—"

"Thanks, but no," Benzo cut her off. "No way I'll let Silco chase me out of Zaun. I'll have to go into hiding, but I know some good places to go if I need to lay low. Places Silco's never heard of. You can take Ekko with you, though."

Ekko frowned and shook his head. "I'm sticking with you, Benzo."

"But it's not safe for you," I had to point out.

"Zaun's never been safe for anyone," Ekko shot back. "Besides, someone's gotta stick around to keep an eye on old Benzo. He's always complaining about how he's too old for half the things he needs to do."

Benzo grumbled and shook his head. "When I was your age, I respected my…" he chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, nobody's gonna buy that. And knowing my luck, you'll run across someone who remembers what a little shit I was when I was a kid. But thanks, Ekko. I'll probably need the help."

Ekko smiled at me. "At least I know where to find you now. I'll let you know once we're settled in somewhere safe, or if things get worse and we need to bail on Zaun after all."

I pulled him into a tight hug. "You better. And you stay safe, you got it? I don't have a lot of friends left, I can't afford to lose you too."

"I will." Ekko squeezed back but slowly broke the hug. "Though don't sell yourself short, it looks like you've made some pretty good friends topside. Not many Pilties would come down to Zaun and get into a gang fight with people who were bigger and stronger than them just to back up a friend."

"Yeah, I guess they're okay." I threw a teasing grin over my shoulder at Caitlyn and Seraphine. "You know, for Pilties."

"My parents were from Zaun," Seraphine pouted. "I think that's enough for me to count as a citizen of both cities, even if I was born and raised in Piltover."

Caitlyn chuckled. "I'll just take the compliment. I can't imagine many people from the under—from Zaun have much nice to say about us."

After a second she pointedly cleared her throat and looked at me. "Speaking of Piltover, we should probably start heading back. There's a slim chance Mother and Father haven't noticed we're missing, and I'd like to hope we can make it home and clean up before they realize anything is amiss. Seraphine, if you'd care to join us for supper that would give you a chance to do the same before going home."

Seraphine nodded. "I told Daddy I'd be visiting Jinx, so he shouldn't be too worried."

"Excellent. Mister Benzo, Ekko, it's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, or at least as much of a pleasure as the circumstances allowed." Caitlyn smiled at both of us. "Let's go home."

"Yeah, home," I repeated, pondering exactly how I should feel about calling the other side of the Pilt home now.

---

Current Stability: 0
Willpower: 0

Issue Updates

Self-Worth:
Resolved!

Trauma
Severity: -4 -> -3
"Losing people hurts, but I can take control and stop it from happening again."

Abandonment
Severity: -4 -> -3
"I've lost too many people who matter to me. Never again."

Contacts Updates:

Sevika
Silco's Former Right Hand, the Angry Cyclops
Relationship with Jinx: Hated Enemy
Jinx's Opinion: Not sure what Benzo has planned for her, but I don't care as long as I never see her again.

Benzo
Vader's Last Friend, Unofficial Head of Zaunite Resistance
Relationship with Jinx: Ally
Jinx's Opinion: He's a cool guy, and Vander always trusted him.

Ekko
Benzo's Assistant, Powder's Tinkering Buddy
Relationship with Jinx: Friend
Jinx's Opinion: He's fun to hang out with, and the only other person in Zaun who really gets me when I talk tech.

Seraphine
The Starry-Eyed Songstress, Definitely Not a Secret Mage.
Relationship with Jinx: Friend
Jinx's Opinion: She's a good person. Not sure why people think she's got magic, those flashing lights were obviously aurora borealis.

Caitlyn Kiramman
Councilor's Daughter, Rich Privileged Believer in Justice
Relationship with Jinx: Friend
Jinx's Opinion: We're practically family.

Cassandra and Tobias Kiramman
Caitlyn's Parents, Jinx's Guardians, Sponsors of Hextech Research
Relationship with Jinx: Guardians
Jinx's Opinion: They took me in when things were looking rough and I felt completely alone. That counts for a lot.

Timeskip Options​

The next chapter of this quest is going to pick up several years down the line. That doesn't mean Jinx is going to be sitting around doing nothing for all those years. A few things like attending classes at the Academy are locked in, but I want to give the players some options for what else Jinx gets done in all that downtime.

Choose Six (6) options from the list of choices below. Plans must include at least one choice from each category: Jinx needs a little variety in life to not get bored.

Please use Plan Format to keep things clean.

Depending on how the winning plan comes together thematically, Jinx might pick up a positive trait or some other bonus. I always enjoy a fun thematic plan over folks just trying to figure out the best numbers (not that this quest and system have many of those).

Weapons Tech​

Pow-Pow
Jinx builds a minigun. Because sometimes you just need more dakka

Chompers
How do you make grenades better? Make them capable of biting people!

Firelight Bombs
Another way to make grenades better? Teach them to fly!

Cluster Bombs
Do you want more ways to make grenades better? Of course you do. How about a big bomb that blows up into a bunch of smaller bombs?!

Crystal Goop Grenades
No such thing as too many grenades ... so lets have some that put out fast-hardening crystalline goop we can use to pin people in place.

P-Thwip Mk II
It doesn't have the raw firepower of some of her other weapons, but it's a lot quieter.

Zapper
Locked Behind Refined Hexgems

Fishbones
Locked Behind Refined Hexgems

Friendship is Experimental Magitech Weaponry
Locked Behind Refined Hexgems

Civilian Tech​

Refined Hexgem Assistance
These perfectly smooth spheres are far more stable than the early jagged-edged hexgems, allowing for safer and portable Hextech. This is something Jayce and Viktor are already working on, but Jinx can help out with it.

Magic Flow Regulator
Hypothetically, this could help a mage who's struggling to control their powers manage them more easily. Not that Jinx knows any mages…

Hexgate Assistance
Jayce and Viktor's big project for the Council, establishing magical slingshots that can propel trade ships across huge distances near-instantly. They would welcome Jinx's assistance.

Hoverboards
It's like a skateboard, except it flies. Ekko's working on this over the timeskip, but Jinx could lend a hand to help make them better (and get one for herself).

Ventilation System Improvements
Zaun's Ventilation System made by the Kirammans does a lot to help keep the air breathable, but adding some Hextech could give it an extra punch. Or at least make the air in Zaun a little less stinky.

Water Filtration Improvements
Everyone knows the Pilt is less of a freshwater river and more of a river-shaped collection of toxic sludge and industrial runoff. If Hextech could fix that, Zaun might actually have clean water.

Atlas Gauntlets (aka Over-designed Bitch Mittens aka Fat Hands)
Locked Behind Refined Hexgems

Non-Tech​

Jinx Tries to be a Good Student
Jinx is smart enough to pass all her classes at the Academy, but doing homework is so boring, some of the lessons are just dull, group projects are the worst, and maybe sometimes during class she zones out and thinks about how Professor Morley's head looks like a giant butt. If she tries really hard, she can probably get over that. This doesn't mean she'll be completely boring: Who spray-painted "Jinx Was Here!" on the front walls of the Academy? Must've been someone else named Jinx…

Jinx ... Kiramman?
Being taken in by high society types is a big adjustment for Jinx. She's not naturally going to fit in with a world of fancy parties and political hobnobbing. That doesn't mean she can't try to figure out how to navigate all the politics, and that the Kirammans won't notice and appreciate her efforts.

Mage Law Reform
While pushing to revise the laws against mages in the immediate aftermath of everything Hextech probably would've been too ambitious, with years of people getting used to having some kind of magic around in the form of Hextech, there should be time to make a little noise about updating the law. Not that Jinx knows any mages she'd want to help shield from legal consequences. That's crazy talk.

Hanging with the Firelights
Ekko and Benzo are up to something down in Zaun. Something Jinx could help out with, even if she's not living in Zaun full time. Plus she could use the opportunity to bring Ekko up to speed on what Hextech is and how it works, and see if he has any ideas of his own.

Zaun's Dark Knight
Silco's not going to spend the years just being quiet and doing nothing. While Jinx can't crush his vast criminal and industrial empire all by herself, she can definitely throw a wrench into a few of his plans. Every once in a while some of Silco's goons get found thoroughly dealt with, and the only explanation is graffiti proudly declaring "Jinx Was Here!"

Zaun's Dark Knight - and her Sidekick, Cupcake
Because why not drag Caitlyn along for some vigilante justice?

Seraphine Starts a Band - Jinx Plays Guitar
Seraphine has discovered a love of music and singing, but she needs some instrumentals to back up her voice. As one of her designated best friends, Jinx would naturally get an invitation to join in on this. Jinx plays the guitar, because everyone knows lead guitar is the coolest position.

Seraphine Starts a Band - Jinx Plays Drums
Or Jinx could play the drums, because everyone knows the drummer is supposed to be the craziest member of the band.