#jaycevik

What if Jayce was able to get Viktor to stay in the lab in episode 2?

You can tell from their body language that Jayce respects Viktor’s boundaries and autonomy, especially seen when Jayce lets Viktor walk after the latter has said his piece. I don’t think he would try to force/trap Viktor.

Instead he manages to argue that Viktor should wait and let Jayce run some tests on Viktor’s new body, to confirm that Viktor really has recovered and there’s no adverse side effects.

“I know that this is just an excuse Jayce.”

“But am I wrong? Please, I know I was reckless to use the Hexcore on you. But it would be even more reckless now to let you walk out without making sure you’re okay.”

“…”

“Stay for now, give me a few days to examine you, and if after all that everything turns out fine and you still want to leave… I won’t stop you.”

“…Very well.”

The quick ending to this story would be Viktor sees the ghost of Sky telling him to heal Jayce’s back, and then Jayce is lost to the Hivemind and Viktor becomes free to start his commune. But that kind of sucks so let’s say things are too tense for our almost-divorced lab partners.

Ekko and Heimerdinger still come to the lab because the tree was getting sick anyway, and they encounter Jayce and Viktor amidst their testing and awkward silences.

Heimerdinger is understandably alarmed seeing Viktor’s new body and Ekko’s probably shocked too, just cuz Viktor is purple and glowing.

Jayce would explain the merging of the Hexcore with Viktor in order to save the latter’s life, with Viktor being quick to inform the two guests that he had asked Jayce to destroy it, and accepted the fact that he may very well die over it.

(It definitely comes off as Jayvik being a couple who are passively-aggressively fighting in front of their awkward guests. Even better if Jayce has made everyone cups of tea like he did in the show.)

Heimerdinger is of course heavily conflicted over this. Maybe Heimerdinger had become more open minded with the Hex Gates but he always warned about the dangers of magic and ordered his former students to get rid of the Hex Core. And now Viktor has changed physically and it appears mentally as well. But the yordle isn’t so cold hearted to be able to say to his former students’ faces that Viktor should have been left to die.

I’m not sure about Ekko’s reaction to all this. He might just try to steer the conversation towards his tree’s illness. He’s got his own people to worry about.

I’m not sure what Jayce’s tests on Viktor would prove, but I like to think Viktor would be able to sense the magic on the leaf even before Jayce gets it under a microscope and sees the Hextech effects.

(Maybe it’s around here that someone, maybe Ekko, suggests Viktor gets some pants. Viktor puts on some spare pants from somewhere in the lab, but still keeps the blanket.)

This leads to the discovery that the arcana seems to be “leaking” into the Undercity. Jayce and Ekko have a similar confrontation as they do in canon. Viktor is deeply remorseful… well as remorseful as he can be in his emotionally numbed state. I’m not sure how well Ekko knew about Viktor, if he already knew Viktor was from the Undercity. Either way, Ekko definitely wouldn’t go easy on the older man for letting this slip past him.

This stresses Jayce out more, and he might even get a little defensive, at least for Viktor’s sake. He argues that Viktor was fighting to improve lives in the Undercity from the beginning, but to get permission in funding they had to take care of things that the council wanted like the Hexgates. That’s part of why they had to work so hard. Jayce describes how Viktor would pull all-nighters, working himself sick to get everything done faster so that they could eventually have the freedom to the things they want to do, like looking after Zaun.

It’s here that Viktor steps in and says that while all that is true that doesn’t make the him blameless. Viktor overestimated his own abilities about being able to accomplish things like the Hexgate and his other goals in a reasonable time. He underestimated just how much politics get in the way. Viktor contemplates how if he spoke up more, or joined Jayce in being the “Face” of Hextech he could have raised more awareness of the plight of Zaun. It only hit him all the poor decisions he made when he found out he was dying. And now the future is more uncertain than ever.

Maybe at the end of his monologue Viktor tries to leave for the Undercity again, but I imagine it would be Ekko who stops him here. Ekko points out that if Viktor is upset about the way he wasted his power as “the other inventor of Hextech” then going back to the Undercity now with nothing but a blanket in his back isn’t going to help. Ekko suggests the two come down with him to the underground of the Hexgate (can’t remember the exact name) to fix the problem there first. Viktor is a little startled but agrees with Ekko, and compliments the young man for having such a sensible head on his shoulders, unlike Heimerdinger’s other students.

(The professor is offended but Jayce is just happy to hear Viktor crack a joke again. Although Viktor argues it wasn’t a joke just an observation.)

Now what would be interesting is if they all still went to alternate universes, and if Viktor and Jayce ended up in the same post-apocalyptic reality.

Now if the Mage is the one who arranged this, then I believe he would put them in separate parts of the world, Jayce at the very bottom of the Undercity, and Viktor somewhere else, but somewhere he could still see the fields of nothingness.

Why? Well if Jayce and Viktor are together and Jayce still gets injured, then it’s the same problem as before; Jayce joins the hivemind, which would be directly against the Mage’s plans. And if Jayce manages to avoid injury, then Jayce doesn’t get his poetic journey through Piltover that mirrors Viktor’s journey, and we can’t have that.

So the two are separated for a long while. Viktor walks through fields of corpses and can sense the magic and beauty in the silence, but the parts that are still human since the lonely nothing-ness that occurs in an empty world. Viktor can move as much as he wants, he can run, leap, but none of that erases the quiet. The satisfaction of movement can only provide so much comfort. While Viktor wanders he is also mentally wrestling with the Sky Young in the Hexcore, and this Viktor is far less open to Sky’s words, cuz the Hexcore is perfectly happy in this world where the arcane has conquered everything. He moves towards where he senses magic at its strongest, to the Mage. Because it is the only point of interest in the beautiful wasteland.

Jayce does the same as before. He crawls himself from the bottom of the deepest pits, after taking apart his hammer to try and mend himself. The solitude is loud for Jayce. The pain and regret weigh heavy on him.

When they reunite, in sight of the hill but not quite there yet, they stare at each other for what feels like forever. They both thought they came here alone. When they weren’t fighting for their sanities they were worried sick about the kid, the professor, and each other. And now there stands not too far away, their partner.

They run to each other. For the first time ever Viktor is faster than Jayce. They hold each other in a similar way to how Viktor first woke up in the lab which might as well have been eons ago. Only this time Viktor doesn’t just hold out of politeness but nestles into Jayce just like the other man buried himself into Viktor’s shoulder. Even if Viktor’s emotions have weakened, the months of solitude and the suspicion towards the visions of his own mind have ignited an instinctual desperation for his partner that the learned man thought no longer possible.

Jayce nearly falls into his smaller friend as the adrenaline starts to leave him. He had a faced a constant fight to survive for months so the moment he felt an ounce of safety in his partner’s arms he nearly collapsed. Now Viktor is not just an emotional support, but stands as a physical support for Jayce and his newly braced leg. They continue to finish the journey they started, to reach that mysterious point that draws them both.

And they finally encounter the Mage, the alternate Viktor.

It’s there the two learn some incredible truths. That the two meeting is essential to the survival of the world. That Viktor’s wishes for perfection have slowly become warped underneath his skin, and if he cannot resist the wants of the Hexcore then he will doom his planet to the same fate as the one they currently stand on. That Viktor, countless versions of him, have done just that, and may continue to do that indefinitely if the Mage hadn’t altered the odds by pushing Jayce into the path.

It’s afterwards they are sent home where Noxan invasion is imminent and the war between Piltover and Zaun is delayed but still hangs heavy in the air. And now Viktor stands in the centre of all that feeling like there’s a ticking time bomb in his chest.

The memory of Jayce’s corpse holding the hammer haunts Viktor. The deep sorrow and regret of the other Viktor haunts Jayce.

Viktor suggests that he must die once again. Not just that but absolutely vapourised to get rid of any risk of the Hexcore coming to life and taking over the world. Jayce refuses. Yes Viktor has changed but it’s still the same man deep down. If the Hexcore could really control him, would it not have done so by now? As long Viktor doesn’t give in to the voices, they still have a chance to make things right.

Viktor realises now that Jayce won’t drop this. All he can do is make Jayce promise that if the Hexcore takes over, then Jayce will kill him then. And if he still thinks he can’t do it, then he won’t stop the people who are brave enough to do it. Jayce reluctantly agrees.