Jhin and Zed stood at a table which held the map of the Ionian Capital Building. While the ninja poured over the schematics, Jhin let his mind's eye traverse the estate.

He imagined himself walking past the guards, dressed as a simple citizen wishing for an audience with Karma. He saw the councilor walk down the steps to the ground floor, dressed in the flowing robes of the Ionian elite. He raised a hand to gain her attention, and she looks at him, smiling in greeting. A hand extends to shake his, and he meets her waiting grasp with a scream from Whisper. Hidden in his sleeves until the final curtain call, his brush moves too fast for his canvas to see.

A glob of emerald green paint strikes Karma's body, tearing through and flying out the other side, mixed with scarlet red as it creates a chaotic design on the wall behind her. Meanwhile, Karma was as serene as a river. She fell backwards onto a pool of shimmering water the color of her inner flame. Flames drew forth from the pool and spiraled around her but did not consume her. Her arms outstretched, slowly filling the pool with streams of luscious green. The color of life.

She lay, her face a mask of serenity, perfect in its portrayal of death. Death was all the same, no matter how it happened there was a peace in the final breath. And he had captured the image of perfect serenity like he had never done before. He turned, and walked out the door, past the now dead guards. Their heads elegantly removed from their necks by his ninja escort. They added a lively red to compliment the mostly green palette Karam supplied.

"Jhin!" Zed shouted, snapping Jhin from his fantasy.

"I am here, no need to shout." He replied coolly.

"After three times with no response, yelling was my only course of action." Zed crossed his arms.

"You could have drawn a little blood." Jhin's smile was hidden beneath his mask, but it was apparent in his voice.

Zed narrowed his eyes. "I am not a butcher like you. I kill when it suits my purposes."

"I kill when it suits my purposes as well." Jhin pointed out. "My purpose being to create art."

"You're just as insane as I remember." Zed growled. "The Cabal had better compensate me and my order well."

"You're being compensated right now." Jhin's voice lowered to a whisper. "I saw two canvases on my way to this meeting and stayed my hand. You should thank me."

Zed's claws flew towards Jhin's face but stopped at his mask. "If you or your friend injure any of my pupils, I will kill you both myself."

"She is not my friend." Jhin replied, a maniacal gleam to his eye. "She is—"

"What?!" They both turned to see Jinx standing in the doorway. "I'm not your friend? Fishbones was right about you!"

"Hold on Jinx," Jhin raised a hand to placate her. "I was not—"

"From the very start of our adventure Fishbones was all like 'Hey don't trust that mask guy, masks can be tricky. I should know, my third uncle wore a mask and lied to me once.' Then I was like, 'Everyone knew your third uncle was a lying son of a word-I-can't-use-because-Zap's-listening.'"

"Jinx if you would just—"

"And then he was all, 'That's because of the mask, I swear he was a standup guy before the mask.' Then I said, 'What was he born with a mask on? He's been lying ever since I—'"

"Enough!" Zed shouted. "Cease your inane ramblings, honestly."

"Whatever you say, hunk." Jinx blinked rapidly in a poor attempt of batting her lashes.

Zed leaned backwards. "To the matter at hand, I have constructed a plan that will allow us to assassinate Karma, as the Cabal wishes."

"There is no need, while you were looking at the map, I came up with the perfect script."

"I wouldn't have listened to your plan anyway." Jinx added.

Zed growled. "What was your genius plan, then."

"I walk into the building in a disguise, so the guards just let me walk past. Then as Karma descends the steps, I greet her with a shot from Whisper."

"It won't be that simple, she will sense your intentions." Zed glanced back at the map. "But perhaps we can use your idea. She will be in the west wing of the capital building tonight, for a gala. Jinx, your only task will be to completely destroy the east wing."

Jinx tapped her chin. "See I like where you're coming from hot stuff, but it will be much easier if I just destroy the wing she's in so we can all go home."

"It's an ambitious idea, but it will fail." He pulled a piece of rolled up parchment from a pocket. "I've been given information on her beyond her upcoming appearance. Her sense of incoming danger is very acute, send certain death straight at her and she will toss up a shield to defend herself."

"Okay but can the shield take on Fishbone's biggest rocket?"

"I am confident it can. But by destroying the neighboring wing, she will be put under extreme distress because of the sudden loss of life so close to her. In the brief moments of distraction, that is when we attack."

"This script could use a few redrafts." Jhin mused as he pulled a cloth from his cloak and began wiping Whisper. "But it is acceptable. Let the show begin."

"We will only have one attempt." Zed crossed his arms. "So use the time you have to prepare wisely."

"Well duh, of course we only have one try." Jinx scoffed. "I don't think I can blow up a building twice. I mean, I never tried but I'm sure you can't. Unless of course you count blowing something up, and someone fixing it so I can blow it up again."

"I will be briefing my men." Zed grunted in annoyance as he left. "Feel free to train anywhere I am not."

As he walked away Jinx scoffed. "I don't need any training. That's for nerds."

Jhin rolled his eyes and didn't bother pointing out the obvious. "Most of my preparation can be done on my own, but I do need you for one thing."

Jinx shook her head. "No thanks, you're not my type."

Jhin ignored her comment and disassembled Whisper to get access to the stock. He placed it on a table and showed it off as a metronome.

"I thought you were into that art stuff, not music." Jinx said.

"Music is art. The ending of a life can also be art, depending on the execution."

"Ha, execution. I get it."

Jhin narrowed his eyes and slipped her a piece of paper. "Your script is here. Follow it to the letter."

Jinx squinted. "Yeah that's not gonna happen." She glanced down at the paper and read it aloud. "Wait five seconds, shoot rocket. Oh this will be easy."

"Precisely. You are the blunt instrument, and you need only be ready for the signal. After you fire the rocket, you are free to do as you wish."

"I like this plan already."

AN: I found this chapter on my computer unpublished from 2018, which in a way reminded me that this fic exists. So I do plan to finish this off properly.