''Wonderful,'' Jhin mused, his heart pounding with the familiar mixture that was equal parts nerves and excitement.
This was a show of wondrous proportions, almost finished to perfection. He continued his stride down lane, his guns in tow, as two enemies limped away. They were perfect targets. His eyes narrowed, watching as one of their feet neared a trap he had placed.
Aha.
He tugged his longer gun free, one arm gracefully extending towards his foe who was now alone. A retreating deer caught out by the hunters trap. He pressed his finger down on the trigger, a single bullet flying out towards it's target. He pulled his arm back towards himself, spinning around just as flash of light floated past his head. A second sooner it'd have immobilized him. Jhin's dance continued, his nimble legs forming a signature pose as he assembled his mega-rifle, undeterred by the light wielding mage who was now retreating. His heart thudded, excitement coursing through him.
"Prepare,'' He whispered. ''for your finale.''
He braced himself for the pain that would come with each shot. It was perfect. His excitement was at it's peak.
One.
He fired, the first bullet striking strong and true. The recoil forced the gun to aim towards the sky momentarily and Jhin grunted, pain shooting through his shoulder and across his entire body. It hurt wonderfully. His bliss was both short lived and enhanced when the bullet slammed into the back of a meaty minatour like creature instead of it's target.
Two.
He squinted, firing again just past the beast towards his near-dead target. There was a scream, but not one of defeat or pain like expected. It was one of panic, the bullet had shot just past them, almost nicking their arm. In their retreat, they stepped on another trap. He could see them.
Three.
He fired again, grunting at the increasing power of the shots. He was too excited, he realized as he missed again. He loved watching them dance away from the inevitable. He enjoyed needing the fourth shot. His finger hovered, trembling over the trigger. His body all but shook from the ecstasy that was to come. Physical relief had found him many a time in the past during times like these. It wasn't fully his fault; the bliss that the moment before firing held simply proved too much for the virtuoso's sensitive body. Gods, he would need to take care to not dirty this outfit like so many others. Even still, despite the promises he made to himself to keep it together, he could feel the excitement flowing, brinking, and preparing to burst along with his rifle. It's never good for an artist to lose himself while performing, but what coursed through him felt too sinfully amazing to stop. He licked his lips.
Four.
Jhin inhaled sharply and prepared to fire, bliss filling his every orifice. His target would meet such a sweet and beautiful end.
"Wave!'' came a shout.
He froze, the roaring of water off to his left forcing him to look at it. Surely enough, a wave of water twice his size was crashing towards him. With a sigh, he dissembled his rifle and tossed down a trap, his body smoothly avoiding the arc of water. He glared at it's source, a giggling fish woman holding what was a trident at first glance.
Damn her. He swore. All that momentum...gone.
His heart thudded and he gave a hefty swallow. The crowd within his head murmured their displeasure. He raised his hands to them. A mere setback in tempo, he assured. The show never truly ends. Momentum can be built back up very swiftly, and with the virtuoso it did just that. It was minutes, but seemed mere seconds before he was in that pose again aiming at a retreating target. He would achieve a perfect execution yet.
One.
He fired, and there was an annoyingly familiar shout.
''Wave!''
You're kidding me.
As if pulling away from his first taste of candy, Jhin once again disassembled his rifle. What a nuisance, he thought, his eyes rolling up as he jogged away from the cascade of water that would have drowned him where he stood. Though frustrated, he knew there was still time. At the sound of giggling, he grit his teeth and fired blindly towards it, his bullet whizzing to collide with nothing in particular. Silently, he made his retreat. More murmurs followed.
Damn her.
One cannot be seen within the fog of war. The Virtuoso mused over this thought, his mega-gun empty of two shells. This was it. He needed the release of a kill; yearned for it. He would settle for using shot three as of now. Too many time he'd been interrupted when right there at the moment of release. This would be different. He aimed and fired, already knowing he'd missed as an unfamiliar growling sent his alight nerves into a frenzy. How could he be expected to work with these constant interruptions? A flash of gray fur on the edge of his vision sent his temper to a heated spike.
''Keep this BEAST off of me!'' He screamed in fury to one who was already tackling it to the ground.
A red haired woman wielding blades gave a loud cry as she jumped on the creature that looked her male, beast counterpart. He growled, grabbed her by the wrists and threw her from his back to the ground. She tumbled, rolled, and with a smirk gave a blow to the piece of hair hanging in her face. Rengar roared and lunged forward, the resulting tumble of flesh and fur disappearing deeper into the jungle. Jhin sighed, refocusing and preparing the fourth shot as the third shell clanked and rolled, smoking, harmlessly away into the grass. He narrowed his eyes, forcing them to focus on his target. He would have his damn show. His finger pressed into the trigger and he smirked; dying people often were most beautiful when given a warm farewell. He felt a shiver of excitement and then there was the feel of ice cold as his gun slipped out of his hands.
No.
Jhin gasped, all air gone as what felt like two tubs of water were dumped over him. His guns skidded away through the grass into the mud. Water rushed through and under his legs, before dropping over his head with a mighty swoosh. He released a panicked yell just before he lost his footing.
No! No! No!
Salty, dirty water filled his mouth causing him to choke on his own scream. The pressure of it faded as quickly as it'd come, leaving him sitting in a kneeling position, his hands on the ground in front of him as water dripped. Jhin leaned forward and coughed harshly into the side of his fist, certain some small fish had gotten lodged alongside that mouthful of water. One, two, three hard coughs. His eyes then widened and his fist became a palm that rested on his throat as whatever it was instead decided to slither straight down. He froze in disgusted horror, the loud swallowing sound playing over in his head. This was not happening.
He tried to rise from his knees, one foot sinking deeper into the soft mud before co-operating. The enemy could obviously see him, or at least had a rough idea about his location. With resolve to live, he pushed himself up using his thigh, the tidal wave washing over the terrain behind him before disappearing. He looked down at himself. His now soaked clothing stuck to him and made him feel heavy. His right thigh was covered in mud and his hands were filthy. His eyes met something on the ground and for a moment he feared it was the green pendant usually adorning his clothes. Thankfully, it was not.
He looked up, fire in his eyes as he glared at where he thought the wave had come. He saw nothing, not even his target. His hand clenched into a fist. They'd gotten away. Not only was his outfit ruined, but his production had been a humiliating failure. Every time...every time today he had tried to properly end a performance she'd been right there to stop him. Right there to deny him that bliss he got so damn little of. And now there he stood, sopping wet, without his guns, fighting the urge to gag at the idea of what it was he'd just swallowed. His fist tightened so much he broke skin. He would make that fish woman pay he decided, eyes filling with tears of anger as he collected himself and snatched his guns from the ground. He held them gingerly, for they were covered in mud and grass stems.
Shes ruined my performance.
That thought bounced around in his head like a mantra as he jogged away, the enemy hot on his heels. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He needed to kill. He was stuck, however, unable to bask in the relief of anything that wasn't one running for their own life. Jhin did not have a dancer's legs, but his body swayed to the rhythm of retreat all the same. His cloak gave a light, wet, slap with each step he took. How humiliating. How disastrous. He could hear the crowd laughing, could feel their fingers pointing towards him as he sprinted away from his failure. He lowered his head. The giggles followed him, their invisible audience taking great delight in his mistake. He wished, on rare occasions like these, that he was not always in the spotlight. Productions are always better when the conductor doesn't look the part of a pathetically drowned rat. What a goddamn mess. This was nothing like him. His name held the highest standards when it came to performance. They should have been cheering, crying, and begging for more.
''I'll have my revenge.'' He swore to the laughing crowd. ''I'll make her beautiful, make no mistake about that.''
They giggled on even still, their marionette masks each hiding the face of someone in the throes of blissful hysteria.
A/N: I literally typed this up after having my ults interrupted ten too many times. It's how I pictured a day on the rift as Jhin when a production just doesn't go his way. Bard and Nami mains, thank you for being wonderful contributions to your teams and annoying banes to my existence. Though your team may flame you, know you'll always have a special place in line of my fourth shot. I mean heart. Sincerely, A totally not pissed off Jhin main.
PS: Yes, the title is ironic.