11 Her Final Applause

The Club One Week Later . . .

Two-Tone Jack had the day at the club going pretty easily, but he was surprised when Jinx herself walked in. She’d been on special assignment for weeks. She was even dressed differently today. Usually she eagerly made her appearance toward him, like the club was a breath of fresh air. She herself, didn’t look well today. He went over toward her. “Are you okay, Jinx? You don’t look well.” Her eyes were odd. It wasn’t Jinx, or her calmer side he’d seen a couple of times, Powder. 

“So I’m going to die soon,” Jinx said to him. “So, I just want to work on some private inventions, and I wanted to do an upbeat goodbye number.”

Nooo! Oh, no! “Is there anything I can do?” Why? “But, you are so rare, Jinx!”

“I’m not rare anymore. Two people can use the Wayback machine without pain. They are way better.” She shrugged. “It’s better this way. I’m going on a two month vacation soon.”

Two-Tone Jack just stared at her face. How could anyone do this to someone so full of spirit? Then again, at least it would be all over for her. If she was going on vacation, but said she was going to die, they were going to make a spare and get rid of her. “I can pre-emptively buy, I will ask my owner to be a master, to watch for it.” He could only do that once. It would essentially be his own child. 

“Hey, that’d be great.” Jinx was trying to cheer up. “If I end up having anything, we’ll get it in writing. So I don’t have much time, so let’s see what I can make for a bit.” 

Two-Tone gestured to the invention table. She wanted her time and her last performance. Usually she had upbeat numbers, something to bring her back into some kind of positive state. Sometimes the words weren’t positive, but the words were still upbeat. It was a rule, to try and keep things upbeat. What would she pick for her last song?

Jinx worked tirelessly to finish her work. Her special work. She’d been dragging it out for months, but she knew how to speed it all up when she was ready. No one minded that she created weapons, they knew she was owned, and that Meddler would have the rights to everything either way. She was property why would she do anything ever? 

Because it was one week letter, and no sanctioned letter for a vacation, so it was time to turn up the heat. She tried not to cut herself as she took a couple special pieces and shoved them on the sides of her cloak. The cloak she had the day she was taken. She moved to the art area and started stitching them in. Once again, nobody cared. “Hey, let me see the book of songs.” She had to get her piece approved by the singer managing guy. She could just use Two-Tone Jack’s permission, but that might get the big lug killed after what she was about to do. 

She could bear to let the singing manager get killed for her actions, screw that guy. She brought her weapons to the top of her table, adding the finishing touches. She almost always had them finished, but when they were, they’d be taken away and collected. She had a decent collection of ‘almost finished’ to finish today. They would be collected this time at the end of the day since she was leaving them on top.

Meanwhile? She went to the singing manager. She had to pick songs that were already written, an original piece never got approved by him. She had months to decide what song she wanted to use for this day. Of course, he didn’t like it.

“No way,” he said. “That’s a negative song. I’m not going to be responsible for a negative song.”

“It’s not negative,” Jinx lied to him. “Look at the lines.” She wrapped her arm around him and leaned against him. “It’s a sexy song. Attitude driven. I’m wooing someone to be mine through my sense of destruction. Pllllllease? Please, please, please? Pllllllease?” 

“Okay, okay,” he decided. “You’ve got permission to do it.” He wrote down his name along the song. “Your always really good with your songs.” That smile was definitely creepy. “Can’t wait to see what you do with this one.”

“Oh, trust me. It’s gonna be a huge surprise.” 

Jinx took the magic mike he gave her. Her eyes were so unreadable as she looked around the room. “Oh, you want a villain, lemme show you how I evil. Oh, you think I’m difficult, I’ll show you I’m a devil.” 

Jinx danced across the whole stage, looking at every dirty villain, every dirty owner, and every dirty master. People who got away with anything, and would continue to do so forever! Because no one could stop them. No one. No one even called them out.

Until now. “(Sharpshooter lethal, top of food chain like an eagle)” She approached Madame Pompous. “(Whack-a-mole your weasels, I’m a machine, diesel.) “Not enough perfume in the world to cover up that stench!” “(Gotta crush, gotta crush. Crush you all beneath me.)” She sat between two terrible owners who abused their slaves all the time. “(You bitches are my pups. You’re droolin’ for a squeaky.) “So damn ugly you have to buy girls to ever get one to touch you.” 

She moved back toward the stage. “(I squash you like a bug, battle-fueled, greasy
Dig my nails into your peach, dead and deceased like.)” She cackled. (Wow
Paint the town blue, riots all around you!)” Come on, one of you. Be stupid enough to shoot me. “(Paint the town blue, riots all around you
R-I-I-I-I-I-I-IOT
R-I-I-I-I-I-I-IOT
R-I-I-I-I-I-I-IOT
Paint the town blue, riots all around you.) “Oh boy, if you guys knew how much Aurelion Sol is laughing at your asses everyday for being sooo stupid with that sundial!”

She ran across more tables, causing more disruption. “(I go rogue, thorns on a rose
Switch my mind up like I want it, then I don’t
Heads explode, my little blue clones
I blow this place up, now these ashes fall like snow)*” She moved to her invention table. “(I’m no good, I’m rotten to the core
Simulate, play with me, please, I’m bored.)” Come on one of you assholes, smack me! Shoot me! I am disrupting your everything, breaking every rule! “I had no idea that Baccai were just sheep! No wonder you are just rejects!”

“It’s not worth the money we could win in our bet!” One of them called her out.

And that? “Then I’ve got nothing to lose? Loud and clear!” She used one of her new weapons. Not a Baccai, easy to kill. A few gasps, but still no one shot toward her. They tried to grab her, but that would do no good, they just got added to her list of the dead. She just started singing again as she ran around and took out some of the lower class owners out who had hit, abused, and killed others in front of her. People didn’t even know where she would strike next, and some were getting smart enough to leave as she kept belting out her song.

Meddler said she couldn’t tell them about the runes, he never said anything about killing or making them want to smack her. And making people want to smack her? That was Jinx’s specialty!

“Trigger warning, yeah, blood and gore
Jump for your life, there’s lava on the floor.” Dead. “(Wow. Paint the town blue, riots all around you! Wow, Paint the town blue, riots all around you!)” She took a knife and pulled it out of another person. “(R-I-I-I-I-I-I- IOT!
R-I-I-I-I-I-I- IOT! R-I-I-I-I-I-I- IOT!)” She gave her most maniacal unhinged laugh. “(Paint the town blue, riots all around you!)” She threw the mike on the ground. “Thanks singing manager, hope ya don’t die because of me today, but thems the brakes for everybody around here! At least the ones still around breathing.”

“Jinx!”

“That’s my-!” She didn’t get the chance to say name as she was lifted by her new world destroying necklace by Meddler. The real Meddler. “Smart guy, aren’t you? Keep yanking! I didn’t break your rule. I didn’t ruin your fun. Yet, so you better give me what you promised.”

“You just killed over twenty people!”

“It’ll be 32 when it’s counted right. Not my fault they stayed when someone was shooting at them.” Oh, he wanted to choke her with that chain, she knew he wanted to. That death thing around her neck though? If it went off, that place and probably way more miles just wouldn’t exist anymore.

“You are not protected just because you have that,” he warned her.

“Duh. I’m gonna die,” she stated plainly. “With or without it.”

“The official papers for your vacation are coming today. Your fight with Meat Claw will happen after your next appointment,” Meddler warned her. “Be good, and don’t kill anyone else but Meat Claw here. I don’t have to bother the necklace to turn you into nothing but an object.”

“You better.” She wanted her vacation. If he didn’t get it to her soon, there was no reason to play nice. Just ending herself. Just killing off others who deserved it. At least 32 of the worst bastards were dead now.

---

Aha! Jinx spotted him. She caught him once, before in Madame Jeb’s couples garden. Now with no more of her, it looks like he was stuck with Madame Durham now too. She went over the fence, her time there shouldn’t be much more now. She was going to gather what last information she could. “Poor guy, no pretty necklace for you?” She teased him.

He looked right back at her. He looked really different without any of his biocomponents. The look was still just as ugly. “Well, well, well? You are the very last person I thought I’d see again.”

“Smeech. How do you even have a body yet?” She had to ask. “Sevika sacked you less than a year ago.”

“Tsh. When did you crack open a book on my species?” He asked right back.

“About the same time I took out Delulu.” Jinx moved fast as he tried to swat. “Two idiots trapped in cuffs fighting. Pretty funny, isn’t it?”

“The fuck you mean you killed Delulu?!” Oh he was ultra pissed.

“I said I took her out, I didn’t say I killed her,” Jinx corrected him. “You aren’t playing with her mind anymore. Lenny.”

“Aw, shit.” He rolled his eyes. “You took the baby with her too, didn’t you? Do you know how long it took to get it back to her?”

Mmm. He wasn’t reacting in a way she suspected. “You are an asshole, why do you care?”

“Well for one, certain achievements equal physical body faster. For two, Zaun is ripe for the taking, I could get in there and start my own dynasty. For three? Delulu isn’t just bullshit like average yordle morons!”

Wow. He was actually talking/yelling nice about her? “She didn’t even know she had a baby.”

“Not my doing. I can’t yank her or me or anyone until I have a full powered body again,” he said. “So bring her back. I am not gonna get with another person.”

“Loyal. Sweet. Must love her considering your such a sack of shit.”

“Still a grade A bitch yourself. An accomplishment considering I know the life your leading here too.” He held up his own arm cuffs. “I am not tricking Delulu on purpose. I am not in charge of anything. These people, they got their hands in an official yordle jar that is illegal to touch.”

“In what way?”

“Fuck you, that’s what way. You wanna give me details about the shit you’re dealing with here? Then don’t ask.”

Touche. “Stingy. I just want to know if making that baby was mutual.”

“Yeah, we were fine. Following rules. Can’t have my infamous name, people would know I shouldn’t be here. But I guess they got antsy when I had my little Knives.”

“You really named your daughter Knives?”

“Yeah. No one fucks with Knives. Gotta think about impressions for a future.”

Hmm. Jinx could really feel something between. Even though they were both talking tough, it was just that. Talk that made them feel better. As for Delulu? Smeech liked her because she wasn’t like a typical yordle. That baby wasn’t just an accident. Smeech worked on getting it back to Delulu because he probably couldn’t have it with his history. He wanted to stay honorable to her too, which is why he was upset she was gone. He would have to get paired with someone else.

So? The guy did try to take her eyes so one more poke before being nice. “Captain Teemo took her home to Bandle City. Hopefully it doesn’t change her too much.”

“Bandle City? What the fuck, she will hate it there! Ugh.” He rolled his eyes. “Either that, or you are gonna change her. That’s even worse.”

She’d be too sweet without his evil influence. Would that be good or bad? “Captain Teemo is free now, and he keeps up with us.” Yeah, she saw those eyes. Smeech wanted his freedom too. “You want me to hook you up with a way back to the place you hate?”

He didn’t say anything, just gave a nod. Then? “Don’t get too close to that other Ekko around here.”

Other Ekko? “You know about him?”

“Don’t get too close. It’ll end bad.”

“He’s my owner, but I pretty much run the show with him,” Jinx insisted.

“Nah, not that one. The one all chained up now with the other guy.”

Oooh. “You’ve heard of that one.” The one that pretty much made her useless to Meddler. “No idea where he’s at.”

“Good. Don’t get too close to him. Yeah, and uh, the other one too. Just, don’t get real close to any of those,” Smeech said. “You humans tend to be horny creatures, and gettin’ with anyone from a different universe won’t end well.”

Horny creatures. “Not everyone is.” Still. “How come I shouldn’t hang out with other versions of that dork?”

“Common sense, Baby Blue. You make a baby of with a mom and dad from one universe, then it belongs to one universe. You have a mom from one, a dad from another, and boom. Nobody can belong to two timelines.”

Oh. He was giving her a tip for the help. Good tip. “Don’t plan on nothing, but good to know. Biggest kaboom ever if I screw up?”

“Nah just death, probably to the mom too. Your eyes aren’t worth nothing anymore, just the rest of ya.”

She didn’t yank anything else out either of him, just walked away. Bad guys being nice to each other. How far they had fallen from their . . .

“Whoah. Hey, you. You aren’t dead, are you?” Smeech poked at Jinx. She just fell. “Hey, someone collapsed over here and it wasn’t my fault!” Basics covered. Not that he cared, but he needed Jinx to live, to be able to reach that annoying idiot Teemo, to get him the hell out of there! As annoying as Bandle City had been, it was a hell of a lot better than that hell! He even gave her that warning bonus too, just to sweeten the pot.

He heard a groan. Good enough. Some guards picked her up and she threw up on them. Even better, they all deserved it. “Hey, what a day for you.” Best day ever. She was sick. Normally, something to cuss at. Out there?

A little blessing. Hopefully she could pass that shit onto him too.