"We're going to get sucked into this war," she bluntly stated without so much as a greeting.
"We are protected."
"By what? By what army? What people do you even have to protect?"
"The army will come soon enough. I have only just regained control over these people, I will not subject them to conscription and slavery once more. In the meantime, I have my Soldiers."
"They are not real warriors. You have no idea the sort of strain controlling a whole army will have on you."
"If we are invaded, the forces will not be able to get to the city. The desert is a perilous place for just one man. Imagine the type of creatures which would hunt if they sensed invading forces."
"So you're pinning your hopes on beasts and sand men." It was not a question. "You hide yourself behind these city walls, cowering in fear and not wanting to show yourself, while also claiming that the city has risen again and it is the start of the rebirth of the Empire once more."
"That is ENOUGH Sivir," the golden hawk-like figure rose in anger at the tone he was being spoken in, "I allow you to take wealth and goods from me. I allow you to come and go as you please. I do not ask anything from you and that includes your counsel."
Nasus huffed at the routine bickering going on before him and slowly leaned his head back against the sandy coated stone walls of the Throne Room. Back in the day it would have been filled with personal friends, feudal lords, generals, community leaders, foreign diplomats and Shuriman advisors who would all be vying for the attention of the Emperor. Ever since he was reborn, the only people allowed in the room were himself and Sivir. Ever since he was reborn, this was the only room where he did not have to use his powers and could rest… If Sivir ever let him. His trance – or rather daydream – was interrupted by the uncharacteristic roar of anger which came from Azir. He huffed once more and moved away from the back wall; the golden armour on his head and shoulders clinked too much and announced his movements too loudly for his own liking.
"Sivir perhaps," the jackal began cautiously, "Your concerns are valid, however, we must turn our attention first to more pressing matters. My brother, the Shuriman people and Xerath are the ones which require the majority of our efforts. Would you not agree?"
The girl hung her head a little, silky black hair spilling over her shoulders, "There are a lot of caravans making their way to Shurima. Your people are prime targets for raider tribes and for the… creatures you pin so much of your hopes on. While the two of you sit here and worry about punishing a man for crimes he made centuries ago, I'm going to focus of fixing what is happening now."
With that she turned and made her way out of the room, her crossblade already prepared for battle swung with the rhythm of her movements.
"He is no man," Azir muttered as the doors swung shut behind his ancestor.
"You worry about her," Nasus stated.
"I already lost my family once. I cannot lose what little I have left."
"You have no power over her though, she has to decide what she wants to do with her life. We should not force her to stay here."
"I know," he shakily sighed and slumped back in his throne, keeping one clawed hand on his staff and the other slowly drawing circles around his temples. He was weak. Too weak. If somebody was to try and invade now, the Ascended being in front of Nasus would either be killed by the invaders or from the task of defending his people and the toll his magic would take on him.
"If the girl is right..." Nasus began
"Noxus would not be so foolish," Azir's voice quivered. Even he did not believe what he was saying.
Heavy footsteps splattered against the white marble footpath which led up to the Yordle Academy of Science and Progress. The dull sky made the entire city look old and mud-trodden, even with the shining futuristic buildings and the light whirring of machinery and the pale blue lights illuminating the streets.
The group of figures huddled against the rain just a stone's throw away from the Academy, their voices lowered to a whisper.
"So we all understand?" The smallest and slightest of the figures enquired. The sternness of the voice implied that any who did not understand would be promptly executed.
"In and out. Grab as much as possible," snarled one.
"Once the alarms go off, we leave," stated one of the fatter figures.
"I'm shakin' in my boots," another one chuckled loudly before being sharply elbowed in the ribs by one of his co-conspirators.
The figure which spoke first looked hard at the snarling one, "Remember what you are being payed for. If a fight breaks out, you die first."
With that last word the group set off again. Upon getting closer to the Academy, one of the turrets started whirring to life but was quickly silenced by a cleaver slicing through the air and lodging itself into its hextech core. At the doors to the Academy, the small figure signalled and the other four paused as the figure disappeared in a small haze of purple smoke. After a brief moment the doors to the building silently slid open and the figure reappeared before leading the others inside. They made their way into a large lobby which had walls covered in various contraptions made by the city's scientists and researchers. One of the figures stayed in the lobby, grabbing and dismantling as much as possible, while the other four split up and went either into the room labelled 'Artefacts' or into the library.
"Hey, Cait, we've got reports of some of the cameras being down in the Yordle Academy. Should I take a look?" A tall woman spun around in her chair to ask the smaller woman who was casually eating a cupcake behind her.
"I'll come with you," said Caitlyn, her eyebrows suddenly furrowing in confusion. She beckoned towards the door and the two began walking out of the Police Department, the Sheriff stopping to pick her gun from off the floor and swing it over her shoulder. At that time, the streets were characteristically empty of people, but there was still the smell of metal which clung in the air.
"What're you thinking, Cait?" Vi asked as they rounded the corner and strode onto the street which contained Heimerdinger's Academy.
"Those turrets and cameras were built by world-renowned scientists. There's no way they just went out on their own," she mused and swung her Peacemaker around and aimed it towards the Academy, "It looks normal from here though."
"D'you think it could be… her?"
"It's not flashy enough to be Jinx. Plus, she wouldn't attack the academy." The pair got closer and Caitlyn was just able to see a burly figure in the lobby through her gun's lens. "Target spotted."
"I'm going in," Vi called, already bouncing ahead two steps of her partner. She darted forwards and crashed through the glass doors, fists first, and landed gracefully at the front of the lobby as smithereens of glass fell around her like snowflakes. She then seamlessly darted forward once more, raising her gauntlet and bringing it down on the back of the neck which belonged to the cloaked figure in front of her. The person staggered forwards slightly but did nothing more. It was only at this moment did Vi realise just how huge he was. It was like she was frozen in fear. Wait, no, she was actually frozen. A chain had tethered itself to her left arm and was so tight she could not even lift her arm. She ran her eyes over the length of the chain to find it connected to a brilliant purple crystal which floated atop a staff belonging to another, much smaller, cloaked figure. The huge figure in front of her then produced an ugly butcher's knife encrusted with the blood of a previous victim. As the giant purple arm swung the knife down towards her, Vi heard two shots in quick succession. They both, of course, hit their targets. The first shot rung cleanly against the knife and it fluttered to the ground while the second shot had lodged itself into the arm of the other cloaked figure and earned a sharp wince. The pink-haired woman took this opportunity to dash forwards and bring both gauntlets crashing down on the figure who had just been shot, but, before she could bring both fists down, she was blocked by an ungraceful riot shield.
"We go now," she heard the riot shield shout. Vi readied another punch but all her fist hit was something that sounded like a glass bottle. As soon as it smashed, green smoke filled her vision and her head felt fuzzier than it did last weekend when she challenged Ezreal to a drinking game. She was powerless to prevent her head clattering to the floor in a sickening thud.
"Net going out!" She heard Caitlyn say in a muffled voice in some far off land. It probably was not important. The only important thing to Vi at that moment was the pain coursing through the veins, being pumped around to every one of her muscles by the elevated heartbeat from the fight. She could not scream. All the police officer could do was contort her face into a silent scream as her skin peeled and melted and bubbled away from the arm which was still wet from whatever was in the glass bottle.
"VI? VI!" Somebody called at the back of her mind.
"Oh my god, Vi! We need backup right now. I have one criminal I captured, my partner is down, four other criminals are on the run."
They had caught one. At least they did not all get away, was all Vi could think as her entire vision was engulfed in green flames.
"I don't like leavin Warwick," called the figure with the riot shield as the four of them darted down back alleys.
"He knew what he was getting into," said the one with a bullet in her arm who was being carried by the largest figure, "How long until we get to Zaun?"
"Depends," yelled the crab-like figure at the front of the group, "Can you leave a clone here."
The woman nodded, gritting her teeth as she cast the spell.
"Did somebody get the prototype?" The one with the riot shield called.
"Mundo!" Yelled the large one and held up collection of glowing blue orbs wrapped in a sack which had suspicious red splatters on the bottom. That was fine then, as long as they had them it did not matter if Warwick had been captured. It was what he was there for anyway.
"I came as soon as I could," Jayce came bursting into the Police Station, his hammer raised in anticipation but was instead met by the solemn face of Caitlyn as one of the leading doctors in Piltover explained Vi's condition to her.
"She has experienced great psychological trauma from what seems to be inhaling the gases from a hallucinogenic potion. The liquid has also reacted with one of her arms. I'm afraid she will be out of action for quite a while"
Caitlyn thanked the doctor in the politest way she could muster and he bowed out of the station. Jayce spread his hands out wide in a quizzical gesture.
"She's in the Piltover Institution. Ward 3," Caitlyn sighed and slumped down on her chair.
"Is she going to be alright?" Jayce prompted urgently.
"She couldn't stop screaming and she can't move her arm."
"Oh god."
"Jayce… I have one of them locked up in the basement."
The man nodded and moved towards the steps leading down to the holding cells.
"Jayce?"
He looked up again.
"I want you to kill them all."
He nodded, "Once we find out who they are and once I am done with this one. Any idea what the name of this guy you've got locked up is?"
"Not a guy. It's the head-hunter… It's Warwick."
Jayce sighed deeply and adjusted the grip on his hammer. "You think it's Zaun?"
"I know it's Zaun."
A/N: So here marks the start of my first League fic. Now I often write stories which are slow starters or ones which may not make sense at first but I encourage you to stick with me here. This is a story which needs a lot of build up for the main bulk to make sense.