It was a few minutes into a game on the Summoner's Rift. Minions were bashing each other to death, turrets were shooting down enemies, and the monsters in the jungle rustled nervously. Then all of a sudden, Ezreal came running out of bush. Out of breath, he stumbled towards the safety of his turret.
But it wasn't even a second later that Zed, the Master of Shadows, burst out in pursuit, immediately surrounding Ezreal with two of his shadow clones. Dashing in, Zed marked Ezreal for death, slicing gaping wounds through his ligaments.
But as Zed thrust his arm blades towards Ezreal's heart for the kill, his blade was met by a purple shield of energy that deflected his blow.
Leaping backwards, Zed studied Ezreal, who nearly collapsed in relief as Shen's ult, Stand United, bathed Ezreal in a blue light. Shen materialized in front of Ezreal, his hands in a tiger form to power his chi.
Lowering his hands into a fighting position as Ezreal scrambled away, Shen narrowed his glowing golden eyes at Zed.
"Shen." Zed said in monotone voice.
"Zed." Shen replied in a similar tone.
Suddenly lunging forward, Zed shot out his arm blades as he reached behind his back for a shuriken. Shen called his spirit blade to himself, surrounding himself in a pure energy shield which deflected Zed's arm blade. However, the moment the shield dissipated, Zed hurled his shuriken at point blank range directly at Shen's chest while summoning a shadow behind Shen. Activating his chi, Shen conjured a small Ki Barrier around his chest just before Zed's shuriken made contact with it. Shen spun around, drawing his blade in a smooth movement as he sliced a thin cut into Zed's shoulder as Zed vaulted gracefully away.
Seeing the blood drip from Zed's wound, Shen allowed a small smirk. "Not as fast as you used to be, brother."
To which Zed chuckled darkly, "Who is the slow one?"
Caught off guard, Shen raised his eyebrow just as the shadow Zed had planted behind Shen hurled its shadow shuriken directly at Shen's exposed back.
Grunting in pain and surprise as the shuriken buried itself into his back, Shen threw a blade directly at the shadow's chest, causing it to disappear.
Flinching slightly from the deep wound, Shen turned back around to see Zed's fist a second before it delivered a devastating blow that connected with Shen's jaw. Zed then launched a flurry of punches, kicks, and jabs which rocked Shen back and forth. Battered and bruised, Shen fell to his knees and looked up as Zed walked up to him, grabbing his head and forcing him to look into Zed's blood red eyes, glowing with power. "Perhaps now Shen, you realize the difference between our powers are." Zed whispered, his arm blades extending outwards. Just as Zed was about to deal the killing blow, a karma came flying out of the darkness, knocking Zed's gauntlets off his arm.
Seething, Zed turned around to the direction in which the weapon came from just in time to receive a devastating kick in the face from Akali, the Fist of Shadows, as she burst out of stealth.
Smashing into a nearby wall, Zed stood his ground as the pain racked throughout his whole body.
Landing with the grace of a cat, Akali dropped in front of Shen, raising her remaining karma in a defensive stance as she caught her other karma as it flew back to her like a boomerang.
Narrowing his eyes, Zed darted forward, hurling multiple shurikens which Alkali easily deflected off her karma. Summoning a shadow to his left and right, Zed launched a volley of blows as Akali as she tried to counter and block them all. However, even the Fist of Shadows couldn't withstand Zed's fists, let alone three of them all at once. Landing a fist into her stomach, Zed flexed and focused all his momentum into knocking Akali off her feet and sent her smashing into the ground as Shen looked on in horror and rage.
Appearing in front of Akali, Zed raised his arm to deal the killing blow. Akali looked up helplessly, bracing herself.
Smack.
Akali's vision suddenly went black as Zed's fist connected to the side of her head, saving her from the pain of death and instead incapacitating her.
"Zed has slain an enemy" the announcer's voice said across the map.
Not a moment later, Zed's team broke into the enemy's base and broke the Nexus, ending the game.
Confused and bewildered, Shen stared at the glowing red eyes that belonged to his brother, bound by power and darkness. As Zed turned his back to him and began walking away, Shen resisted the urge to call out to him.
But inside, Zed's mind was a storm of confusion and emotion, something that was rare with the Master of Shadows.
He felt the pain that he had inflicted on Akali, even if he had spared her the pain of death. He felt…
...Pain.