COALESCE
unite, or fuse

Another explosive, Lux guesses, maybe a rocket, possibly a gun, a weapon of mass destruction, definitely. All the better to kill people with, she thinks wryly.

It's long past the witching hour. Surely even Vayne has gone to bed. And yet, here Lux sits, perched on the dilipidated couch, watching the hunched form of Jinx scribble away. She's at her desk at least, with a proper pad of paper and a pen. It's not like last time - thank god - when Lux woke to find Jinx writing on the walls with her bleeding thumb. I ran out of ink, she said. There was no paper, she said.

Lux grimaces at the memory. Ever since then, she kept Jinx well supplied with the required materials. In hindsight, it was probably not the best of ideas. She was enabling an infamous mass murderer to invent bigger, badder weapons. But, that's not a first either, she thinks bitterly, remembering her days as a spell thief. And it's not as if she really thought depriving Jinx of stationary could stop her. It's Jinx. Lux would have better luck stopping the sun from rising.

There was no denying Jinx's intellect. Her creative prowess was only matched by Lulu and her engineering skill tied with Vi's. She was capable of producing a new blueprint every week, every day if she was particularly inspired. Yet it was all for the service of her personal entertainment - death and destruction for shits and giggles. A true pity, Lux muses, tracing the curve of Jinx's shoulders. Such brilliance could have better use and she can't help but wonder.

"Why do you make weapons?"

"Uh, for fun, duh."

"Yes, but can't you... make something else? Invent something less... destructive?"

Jinx starts. The soft scratching of her pen stops. She turns in her seat, facing Lux.

"Are you asking me why I don't use my powers for good?"

"...I suppose so."

There's a moment of complete, absolute stillness. Then a mad grin cracks open Jinx's face as she laughs, loud and breathless. She goes so far as to slap her knee.

"Oh, Flashlight, are you trying to turn me good? Wave your little baton and magick the monster into a maiden?"

"Well, why not?" Lux snaps, hackles rising. "You can do so much good, you know. You're so smart and you're so inventive. Look at all this!" She waves her hand at the equations etched on the walls, the designs plastered on posters. "You could help people! You could save them from harm and not, you know, cause it?"

Jinx lets Lux finish her tirade with a look of bemusement, as if she was only humoring the crazy lady. She straddles the seat and rests her chin on her palm, allowing silence to settle before speaking.

"Do you have a hero complex? Is that it?"

"What?"

"Thanks for the compliments though. Nice to know my genius does not go unnoticed. But here's the deal, Flashlight." Jinx rocks forward then, almost to the point of tipping over. "I don't wanna be good."

"I don't understand."

"I noticed. But it's simple really. I don't care that I kill people. En masse. On a regular basis. It's fun. I'm having fun. That's all that matters to me. I like who I am, Flashlight. I am finally the person I can live with myself to be. And I will fight you aaaaaaaaall the way down before you take that from me. Do you get it now?" Jinx grins, something small and tight and broken about the edges. "I'm not the kind of person you save. I'm the kind of person you stop."

"Is that who you want me to be then?" Lux whispers, looking right at Jinx. "Do you want me to stop you?"

There's a pause, a moment like a held breath. They stare at each other, Jinx in her chair - about to fall over, and Lux on the couch - bright eyes wide open. Lux sees Jinx, sees the hollow of her throat, the thinness of her wrists, the scars about her arms like the aftermath of needles.

Then, all too soon, Jinx breaks out giggling. She giggles high strung and hysterical. Straightening her seat, she turns around and pointedly breaks eye contact.

"Oh, Flashlight. You're so smart. So very, very smart. It's what I like about you."