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"It was my sincere desire" Viktor's distorted, wailing voice whispered in his ears, almost genuine. "to avoid this."
Anger flared in Jayce worse than a match in gasoline, and with all the strength he could muster, he threw his entire body against the Council table to loosen the grip of Viktor's horrible puppet.
He had slight hopes that perhaps a future encounter had been avoided after having killed what was left of Viktor in that chilling commune, but no , the Hexcore was still manipulating the corpse of his friend, his former and kind self turned into this , this machine that foretold the future apocalypse he had already experienced.
Had that thing really been a human? Cold to the touch, expressionless...
No, Jayce wouldn't let that happen. Not again.
Relief fills him for a moment as he feels the robotic limbs partially release him, and he thrusts his entire body forward to escape them, clinging to his hammer, but worse than a snake, the puppet's legs snapped back around his hips, the thing's torso slammed into his back, and furious panic washed over him as the robotic hand came back to rest on his head, because the Viktor of the future was clear.
Don't let it touch you, or you'll never have a chance.
He screams, and pulls the hammer handle towards the robot to hit it on the head, but-
He feels an electrifying heat run through him from his forehead to his feet when the puppet digs its fingers into his skull and pulls him back, and it's like reliving his fall to the bottom of that fissure, the same ephemeral weightlessness, the light becomes a distant point in the middle of the darkness, the cold, the hard bottom that will crash into his back when he hits bottom again, oh please no-
He opens his eyes. He doesn't remember closing them, or covering his face with his arms, and-and what's happening to his forearms ?
His hands are normal, but his arms… He looks at them in confusion; they are a bluish white, with no apparent defined edge, just a source of light, though Jayce feels them there, but he doesn’t feel the fever of his flesh, or the adrenaline of the impulse, or any kind of pain, not even in his leg. He looks down, and the rest of his body looks like that too, bluish light that seems to float in a black space. His clothes are gone, neither is his hammer, and he looks up, hoping to understand where he is, where Viktor dragged him and…
Oh .
Jayce had always been a great admirer of the night skies, as a child he used to tape constellations to his bedroom ceiling, and he could recognize a variety of them at a glance, but he couldn’t see any obvious connection in the vast expanse of celestial blackness surrounding him, with brightly flashing stars scattered about and blue nebulas undulating in the distance. In this immaterial body he shouldn’t be breathing, but he finds himself taking a deep breath at the vastness of this almost dreamlike space.
It was such a sublime sight, on a body that didn't hurt, that all thought evaporated from his head as he stared in wonder. Weightless in this majestic space, he almost felt as if he were one of them too.
Jayce was brought out of his reverie by a painless but pleasant electric shock in the form of fingers on his lower back.
"A breathtaking sight, isn't it, Jayce?"
It was a voice he knew all too well, in what seems like a lifetime away, or rather a distant dream, rewound several times to the point of distortion, and his body reacts on its own, turning to look, in fearful desperation, at the all-too-genuine source of that sound.
He almost completely turned away when he saw him.
"Viktor."
But not the Viktor he'd murdered with his bare hands, with kaleidoscopic eyes and blond locks and a purple metal body, nor the terrifying puppet that was attacking him, but a Viktor he knew all too well, the one who spoke of science and magic as if they were fine arts, the one with bright, almost yellow eyes, but this one with hair, originally brown and soft, the color of their ethereal bodies, illuminating Viktor's chiseled features. The Viktor he'd lived with for seven years of constant wonder.
It almost feels like a traitorous illusion from his broken mind, and he tries to move away a little, to reconcile himself with that sight after not having seen it for so long, but Viktor grips his forearm firmly, and the slight electricity runs through his body again.
"You want to get away from me so fast?" Viktor pulled him closer with a strength Jayce had never known from him, almost pushing him against his blue body, and up close, Jayce's heart turns at the sight of how full Viktor's face looks, how alive his eyes are. "Now we can talk, without interruptions. Like we couldn't last time."
Jayce felt an imaginary chill as the memory of Viktor's corpse suddenly flooded him. He pulled his arm to get some distance from those eyes, but Viktor held him steady, as if he wanted to be a comforting presence.
"I do not blame you. I understand that your unique experience in the Arcane was painful, and that your will was surely manipulated into doing so. Here, in this zone that the Hexcore created for me, I believed would be a peaceful place to speak more clearly."
"Bring me back to reality." Jayce orders immediately.
Viktor's smile died slightly, but did not disappear. He reluctantly let go of Jayce's arm and let him float into nothingness. "I see that you are still in a hostile mindset, but I understand. Still, I insist on proving my conclusions to you, for I know that your love for reason is as great as mine, and your love for magic, even greater."
Jayce tried to steady himself in the empty space, and watched in surprise as Viktor walked around him, a hand's length away, on an invisible and intangible walkway to himself. He almost seemed to expect this to provoke Jayce's need to seek support from him, but Jayce preferred the cold distance.
"My obsession with magic," Jayce corrected forcefully, not without shame and guilt, turning his head to follow Viktor. "The one that blinded me to its evil ways, from my true intentions. You too have been its victim, Viktor-"
“If you had given me the chance to speak at the Commune, I could have shown you what Hextech is truly capable of.” Viktor twisted his lips in frustration. “I made people lost in vice functional again, made people suffering from disabilities able to work like everyone else again, made sick children, like I once was, able to play with their peers in peace. Hextech was the backbone for all of that, for the common good, and now, with my encounter with General Medarda’s violent ambitions, with the… force someone used to turn you against me, you will see that the human mind, while full of wonders, has its Achilles’ heel.” Viktor approached Jayce again, reaching out to grab him, his expression intense, and Jayce immediately backed away, not bearing what he was hearing, let alone who was listening to him. "It is the emotions, fickle and so violence-oriented. The feelings that provoke a blind and eternal rage that push human action to intelligent destruction instead of coherent collaboration. The Glorious Evolution will save all from the constant affliction that is the impulsive nature of the human and the weak flesh that has condemned so many to a life of uselessness, ostracism and pain . Now you know better than anyone; I have noticed your limp and your fragmented mind that drives you to these actions, to this... senseless resistance."
“Senseless?” Jayce nearly spat, feeling insulted that the Hexcore is so blatantly using his friend, his benevolence and humanitarian nature for such an aberrant plan. “Viktor, what you are proposing is to castrate all beings on Earth of their emotions, of what makes them, of what makes us ! I am not being manipulated by any force, not like you are. How can you come to such a conclusion, if not by an outside influence? If it is emotions, feelings that drive us to collaborate, to seek a better future, to be better people, to be happy-”
"Your experience with the Arcane has disturbed your mental faculties, Jayce." Viktor interrupts him, coldly. "You still don't understand. Did you even see the being I used to get close to you?"
Jayce felt another shiver run through him, memories of the entire population of Runeterra in those metallic bodies from when he walked into the corrupted Hexgates, simple machines without a shred of consciousness or humanity, flooded through him with turbulence, and he turned his face away from Viktor, feeling pain at the proud expression on Viktor's face.
"It's impossible for anyone to ignore it. To ignore... to ignore those things ."
"Those things, which you refer to with such contempt, are my Evolved Beings. Incredibly perfect, fine engineering that I know that, in your normality, you would have loved."
Jayce shook his head in horror. "Those robots aren't beings, they're just machines without agency, puppets of corpses that you manipulate at your whim. I would never- I-"
“Not corpses,” Viktor cut him off firmly. “People who sought me out. People in suffering who saw what I always saw, that a life without pain is a life the flesh cannot conceive. My Evolved Beings do not suffer, they seek only harmony, the perfection of society, and their bodies are absolutely perfect, immaculate. They are faster, stronger, more adaptable than any non-mechanical being in existence, and best of all, unlike the human psyche, they are incorruptible , they would never take advantage of these abilities for evil.”
"Of course not." Jayce scoffed. "They're not even aware of their surroundings, of their own individual existence. They're sterile, unable to act on their own, they don't even have eyes to see, or a mouth to speak, but then again, why would they need them? If they just have to obey you. If they just have to be your toys ."
Viktor stopped circling him like a predator, and suddenly closed the distance that Jayce had been quietly increasing. Jayce flinched, then stepped back in fear as his former friend reached out a hand toward his body, his expression almost pained, contemplative.
"Since when did you become so cynical, Jayce? Who killed your enthusiasm for innovation?"
You and me, Viktor. Jayce wanted to blurt out venomously.
And the mess we have made because of our arrogance.
"I've had... a futuristic experience," Jayce begins, and it's hard, it's so painful to have to describe what's happened, but he forces himself to do it.
How can he tell Viktor what he’s seen? How can he put into words all that he’s suffered? The days in that fissure, the putrid world he’d crawled through to reach the top of Piltover, the vast solitude he’d been condemned to. The agony and shame and pure guilt that ate at his soul to the core, that made him want to curl up and die in that world covered in his failures, and so many times he’d come close to doing so, but the very idea that the Anomaly could return him to his timeline to fix everything kept him moving, despite the broken leg, despite the contamination his body suffered. All the optimism he’d once possessed, all the will and tenacity he’d once used to continue marveling at his creation, he used his entire being to climb to the base of the Anomaly and to take up his mission to make sure that world never happens.
“…The world you seek to build is unsustainable, Viktor. Destined for ruin, destined for the extermination of all life.” Jayce manages to say, and looks desperately at Viktor. “And you will be alone, alone at the top, for you will have finished with everyone in pursuit of a hard and eternal perfection, unmovable and static. Please, Viktor, you have to listen to me, I beg you. As your friend, as your partner in our creation, I beg you; do not let the world end because of our recklessness.”
He felt a flicker of hope fill him as compassion, a soft anguish and understanding washed over Viktor's face, and he let him come closer, and didn't react to the slight currents of electricity that flooded through him where Viktor's loving hand held his. He found himself timidly squeezing it back, allowing himself to feel comfort in the touch, even if it was in this unfamiliar corporeal form, the relief blowing away all his old anxieties.
"Oh, Jayce," Viktor said finally, full of tenderness. "I understand. Your fear of this partial future you've flashed across is blinding you."
Jayce's hopes cooled.
"Believe me when I tell you that I would never let such a cruel future come true, and with your cooperation, I know I never will. You have your reservations now, and I finally understand them, but I guarantee you that whatever you've seen, I will not let it happen."
"You will not." Jayce can't help but growl, and forcefully pushes himself away from Viktor's body. "You won't, fuck! How can you be so stuck in your mind? Don't-, don't come near me. Bring me back to reality!"
"Jayce, calm down." Viktor walks over to him easily, condescending but still kind, even though Jayce finds himself struggling to get as far away from him as possible.
Despite Jayce's best efforts, it doesn't take long for Viktor to get close enough to pull him towards him by the arms. He pushes furiously against the luminescent body of this bastard copy of Viktor, but in this space, created for the other man's mind, Jayce is helpless and unable to escape the grip.
“Right now you’ll think what you saw will pass, but it won’t. I promise, Jayce. Calm down. ” Viktor orders, squeezing his forearms, trying unsuccessfully to placate him. Without thinking, Jayce drives a knee into Viktor’s abdomen for leverage and to free himself, and apparently his urgency has unnerved Viktor enough that his grip loosens and he can float away.
But where could he go, if he was in a space that Viktor controlled completely? Honestly, Jayce didn't care that much about those logistics compared to the anger that repelled him from wanting to see or feel this Viktor near him; the desperation that caused him to see him so blind, so oblivious to anything other than his awful progress where he shouldn't go was driving him crazy, totally panicking at the idea that there was no way to reason with him.
He let out a cry as Viktor yanked his ankle down, imprisoning him in a surface invisible to himself. Quickly and practically, he grabbed his wrists with one hand and pinned them above his head, positioning himself between his legs and leaning over Jayce to prevent him from kicking out at him again, trying to keep him under control, even though Jayce was thrashing wildly.
"Please, Jayce." Viktor begged again, and reached out a hand to touch Jayce's forehead again, seeking entry into Jayce's psyche.
"Let me go!" Jayce roared, and slammed his head into Viktor's; he didn't have to despair at the predictable fact that Viktor wouldn't feel the impact and would simply stare him straight in the eyes, his bright amber eyes, just as captivating as he remembered, staring at him with pure frustration and anguish.
"Jayce..." With his free hand, Viktor gently pushed Jayce's torso down, and when Jayce continued to try to break his hold, he dug his fingers into his chest hard enough to sink into the strange corporeal form, eliciting a surprised yelp from Jayce.
Shaken, Jayce looked at the source of the sudden jolt of electricity that had rendered him speechless, and gasped as Viktor experimentally caressed where his rib bones should be. But it wasn't pain that the touch, the invasion, caused, but a sensation that was more like the opposite of that.
It felt... good, disturbingly good to have Viktor's fingers digging into his chest to where his heart should be.
"I've never seen this reaction before," Viktor comments lightly, as if it were a commentary on a part of a Hexgates blueprint. "Your astral body shouldn't have any sensation. It could be that, not being completely disconnected from your earthly body," Jayce gasped again as Viktor slid his hand down to where his stomach should be, and squirmed hard, "it will try, in vain, to translate sensations you would have."
"Get away..." Jayce asked, weakly. "Viktor-"
“You’ve finally calmed down.” Viktor smiled happily at him, but didn’t pull away. “I shouldn’t be surprised, you’ve always found comfort in touch. Though…” To prove a point, Viktor slid his still-sunken fingers a few inches into Jayce until they were resting on his pelvis, noting that the intensity of the gasp and trembling in Jayce’s body was even greater. “This seems to be very pleasurable for you. I’m glad I could… cause it for you—”
“Stop it! Vik- hng!” Jayce whimpered, desperate as Viktor deepened his touch, now in the space between his legs. He tried to hook his ankles around Viktor’s hips to push him away, but he couldn’t quite reach. He looked into his eyes, searching, begging. “Viktor- ”
Viktor was staring back at him with such intensity, as if he were enraptured and addicted to the sight, and he mimicked a thrust with his hand, and Jayce's pleasure-filled reaction made him let out a soft gasp. He did it again, speechless at Jayce's torn expressions, at sounds he'd never heard from his friend before, at his own name in such an absolutely erotic tone.
It was excruciating.
Enraptured, he brought his face close to Jayce's and hovered his mouth over the panting man beneath him, and no one should blame him when he finally knew what it was like to claim those lips on his own. No, no one could, because no one could resist such a sight, least of all him, who had waited so long for such an opportunity.
Viktor’s lips had a strange texture, dry and soft, like the surface of a bubble would be; Jayce’s mind seemed to acknowledge that technically there was nothing there, but Jayce could still feel the force behind the kiss, and he ended up softening his jaw to allow for a closer connection between their mouths. Jayce felt terribly high, subjected to the strange sensations he was receiving from Viktor’s hand and mouth, so much so that he didn’t recognize the moment when Viktor released his wrists to better support his jaw. He barely noticed, weakly trying to push at Viktor’s shoulder and the hand that was causing such sensations, but Viktor only glanced briefly downward before following his movements, reveling in the other man’s expressions.
The tickling pleasure Jayce felt seemed to have no climax, there was no release from the constant stimulation, why would there be? He had no organs to end it, no air in his lungs to force him to stop. He could do nothing but feel , move beneath Viktor's hold and simply try to connect some thought other than ViktorViktorViktor-
Jayce gasped in relief as the sensations faded as Viktor pulled away, a turbulent expression on his face.
"I forgot about her." Viktor said absentmindedly, pulling a hand away from Jayce to try and grab or stop something out of nowhere, but his attempts seemed to prove fruitless as he was suddenly yanked away from Jayce.
And Jayce-
He screamed in pain as his body suddenly crashed to the floor, and looked down to find the source of his pain, his leg with the brace.
"Jayce!"
Mel.
With all the willpower he could muster, he pushed himself up through the pleasant haze that still plagued his mind, and reached for his hammer, finding it a few feet to his right. He glanced briefly at Mel, who was pushing a gold field at Viktor's mannequin, that was trying to break it to get to Jayce, and this made him take two urgent strides to grab his hammer.
"Mel, get out of the way!" he shouted, grabbing the reloading handle and aiming it straight at the robot.
Immediately, Mel turned off her force field and collapsed to her knees. The puppet had no chance to do anything but take the energy blow from Jayce's hammer. It fell hard to the ground, and Jayce tensed, waiting for it to get up, but it only let out a few small gasps before going limp on the ground, beginning to drip what looked like oil.
With the enemy neutralized, Jayce dropped the hammer and with a groan of pain moved to kneel beside Mel, needing to know if she was okay.
"I'm sorry I couldn't free you sooner," Mel muttered, her breath still ragged and her expression gloomy, as if she had failed.
Jayce shook his head, feeling shivers all over his body, but he gently grabbed Mel's fist anyway. "You did so well, Mel. Thank you."
Mel gave him a tired but relieved look, and Jayce returned it before looking up to see Viktor's puppet, his nerves still on edge.
What the hell had that been?