The Boys: Greatest Supervillain (Arcane - Current World) (JJK ✓)

Asami only had so many ways to keep me in check, and she couldn't do so without cost. The bet we made gave some hard rules -- I couldn't get violent and I couldn't steal hearts on my way to the top. Asami, for her part, wielded a lot more soft power than the bet implied.

She was brilliant. The kind of smart that I couldn't even be jealous of. When it came to inventing things -- the Dias, the drones, and everything else, there was no one that could do it better than her as far as I was aware. More than anything else, that was the leverage she had over me.

The company hadn't even been established yet, and we were already wrestling for control over it.

I would be the face -- the one that weaseled his way up the class ladder until I reached the very top. Asami would be the brains -- the one that created everything. The one that made the business decisions. She was good at that. She already proved that much with Future Industries when she essentially took over the business world. But, that was another one of her soft checks on me.

I couldn't force her to tinker. If I wanted to do something, she could refuse by withholding a design or something. For me to succeed, I would have to toe the lines she drew. Just as she had to be wary of pushing me too far because she knew my favorite part of games like these was flipping the board over.

Which is why I found myself approaching a grand building located in the very heart of the city.

I was greeted with a titanic golden statue of an already familiar face -- Hemindiger, who stood at the front of three others. I had no idea who they were, but if I had to guess, they helped found the city or something. The building itself was something else. It inspired that same kind of awe you felt when you saw one of those old cathedrals that took something like six hundred years to complete.

It was a long and tall structure that seemed like it was made of several buildings that slowly grew over time until they all meshed together. All of it made out of white marble, brass highlights, and glass.

The central square that I approached was filled with other people -- some younger than me, some older by a couple of decades.

"Piltover University," I remarked, swallowing a smirk. "I never thought I'd go to college, but here we are. Mom and Dad would be rolling in their graves if they could see me now," I said with a laugh. With a shake of my head, I joined the flow of traffic.

I had adopted the local attire -- tight fitting pants, dress shoes, a white button down, and a vest. The clothes didn't feel like they suited me, but it was a necessary sacrifice if I wanted to blend in. Now I was just another face making use of the universities offered resources for Progress Day.

The entire thing was quite the novelty to me, I thought as I entered the halls, my gaze bouncing around as people carried their inventions to and from wherever they were going. Young and old alike, there was that same jittery nervousness as they clutched their inventions or research to their chests, equally terrified that it would break, that someone would steal it, or that they would see someone that had a better idea than them.

I could see it all within my Room, which expanded across the entire university and beyond.

"Robin is going to love this place," I mused to myself, breaking off from one of the main halls. Asami would too, honestly. The hall that I walked down now was far less crowded than the rest of the university by virtue of what it was centered around.

History.

Paintings and statues lined the walls, each adorned with a name plate and the contributions that person made to Piltover's society. Most were human, but some weren't. And it was never not utterly fascinating that I was now in a world with a completely divorced history from everything I had ever known.

Such as this city. Piltover was founded first as a university, by Heimerdinger and a few others in the aftermath of some war. That university then became a town. Then a city. But, all these years later, it never lost its roots -- Progress. Innovation.

All of it built on the back breaking labor, blood, sweat, tears, and lives of the poor saps stuck in the Undercity.

A younger me would have been furious.

He would be determined to just rip it all down for the sake of it.

Now, more mature and a little wiser, I just appreciate the irony of claiming to be making progress for the sake of everyone when you had people dying in the darkness, choking on poison gas for the sake of that progress.

My target revealed himself once I made my way up a couple of flights of stairs -- walking by more statues and paintings of famous inventors. He was coming down as I stopped in front of one of the statues, looking down at the name plate with feigned interest.

Heimerdinger. Founder of the city, head of the council that led it, and dean of the university. Probably the single most important person in Piltover.

He was about three feet tall, and that was counting the fur that covered every inch of him but flared up on his head like hair. He really did look like a Yorkshire Terrier person, even as he looked up at me with bright blue eyes. He blinked once, then twice, then a third time before a smile brightened up his face.

"Taken an interest in Alexander Veren, have you? One of my lesser known students, but his contributions to gearwork technology was nothing short of revolutionary!"

I adopted an expression as if I was surprised to see the Yordle, "Dean Heimerdinger?" I blurted, blinking at him. "Oh, yes, I was just paying my respects to one of the greats. I didn't expect to meet one on the flesh, though," I remarked.

Heimerdinger seemed pleased with the compliment, twirling his stylized mustache as he continued down the steps.

"You flatter me, young man! Though I don't recognize your face, and I know all of my beloved pupils! I take it you're here for Progress Day?"

Huh. I was actually planning to pass myself off as a student, but I suppose that wouldn't work. It could have been a bluff, but I didn't sense any dishonesty from him.

"I am," I admitted. "Just arrived, really. I always wanted to go to a university, but it never felt like it was in the cards. At least, not until now."

"Ah! A traveler in search of a scholarship!" Heimerdinger remarked, sounding genuinely delighted. That was part of the big deal about Progress Day -- you impressed people, maybe someone would purchase the production rights to your invention. Maybe they'll grant you patronage. Or, maybe, you'll be granted a scholarship to an esteemed university.

"You've come at a remarkable time. Just as dear Alexander paved the way for Gearwork technology, we have once more taken a step further with Hextech. The port is-"

At that, he abruptly cut himself, sending me an alarmed expression.

I offered a small smile, "A port?" I echoed, my gaze flickering to the window above the statue, which was half the reason I stopped in front of it.

The Yordle was pensive, "Well… it's supposed to be a secret…" He muttered and I tilted my head at him. He wasn't really what I expected, if I was being honest.

He was centuries old, had his finger in just about every pie, and established a rather ruthless way of supporting the upper city of Piltover. I was expecting someone a little more… Machiavellian.

Instead, he seemed like a kid that had a secret that he really wanted to share.

"My lips are sealed," I replied, miming the action of zipping my lips shut and throwing away the key. Heimerdinger brightened immediately and the great secret came out in a rush.

"An intercontinental port! Oh, it is simply wonderful!" He blurted with evident excitement. He was practically bouncing in place.

"With hextech and the mana crystals inlaid in the spire, airships can rapidly reach their destination! A trip that would have taken the better part of three months could see the travelers arrive at their destination in as little as three hours! It's a feat of engineering like no other! I think in my lifetime, I could very well see spires like it built in every major city across the world!"

Hmm.

Interesting.

My gaze flickered to the spire once more, looking at it in a new light. It sounded a bit like teleportation, but a lesser version. What was really caught my interest about it were these 'mana crystals'.

"But don't tell anyone that I told you, young man! I'll be in a spot of trouble!" Heimerdinger requested, still sounding excited.

"You have my word," I replied, my smile growing. This world was shaping up to be exactly what I wanted it to be. A strange land with an unknown history and a more uncertain future.

"Though, I have to say, I really did show up at the most interesting of times."

"That you did, my boy," Heimerdinger readily agreed. "It's the start of a new era. But don't be discouraged by this change! This is merely the next big leap towards the future, but between every leap there are a thousand and one steps that need to be taken! Scientists and inventors such as yourself help pave the way for the next leap, if you don't make it yourselves." He swiftly encouraged with a friendly and honest smile.

The words felt genuine to me. I'd have to see him in action, but the whole vibe I was getting from him was a friendly grandfather figure. Just small. Not really what I expected, but that more than worked for me.

This city was how it was for a reason. If it wasn't by Heimerdinger's hand, then it was by someone else's. Maybe many peoples'.

"I think I'll aim for making a leap. Hextech is interesting, but I'm looking to jump down a different branch of the tech tree," I said and Heimerdinger chuckled warmly.

"Excellent! Wonderful! A branch… Yes, that is a wonderful analogy!" He nodded to himself more than me. "Hextech is merely a new budding branch that has grown strongly. There will be more branches that stem from it, but in the end, a branch is only a branch. One of many attached to a tree." He nodded again before there was a loud bell chime coming from somewhere in the school.

"Oh my, where does the time go?" Heimerdinger sighed before he offered an apologetic my way, "I'm afraid I must be off as I have classes to teach. I wish you luck in the days to come!" He said before he started to walk away, only to freeze.

"I just realized I never asked for your name, young man! I hope you can forgive my rudeness."

All around me, I felt the university shift. Students were attending classes or retreating to their lairs to tinker with their projects. Others rushed through the halls in hopes of getting to class on time or securing resources before whatever store ran out.

There was a tension in the air. Thousands of people were here with a singular purpose and were in a competition with everyone around them.

"Trafalgar D. Water Law," I introduced myself with a genuine smile.

I could feel those that were buckling down under the pressure and those that were crumbling under it. The latter were the ones I was looking for just as much as the former. And there were plenty of both.

"But everyone just calls me Law."

"I hope to see what you create, Law. Have a wonderful evening," Heimerdinger said, offering a final smile as he departed with a sense of urgency. When a second bell rang, he yelped and abandoned all pretenses and started running down the stairs.

Asami was brilliant in ways that few people truly were, but this was a place where brilliance gathered. The best, the brightest, the most determined. All gathered up in one place.

"I think it will be," I said, reaching into my pocket and tapping the syringe that was there.

Asami's greatest weakness was that she didn't know what was in my bag of tricks, and my latest trick was the one that was going to undercut any leverage that she thought she had.

I could harvest the knowledge of gifted scientists that were cracking under the pressure and grant it to myself. I could steal away the knowledge of the brilliant and give it to the dull, but potentially loyal, then recruit them to my side of the company and slowly box Asami out, even as she thought she was pulling at my leash.

My smile consumed my face as I took in a deep breath, humming with anticipation.

She really should have been more specific, in the end.

After all, there was more than one way to steal a heart.