The man begged for his life, "Please! Don't kill me! I have a wife! Kids!" A shadow loomed overhead. "Please! I'll do anything!" The shadow spit on the man, "Coward. If you truly value your life, then fight for it. I will not tolerate cowardice." The man trembled, "We can't win! There is at least 1000 of them and only 200 of us!" The shadow placed a heavily armored boot on the man's chest and spoke grimly, "Correction, there are 199 of us..." The man screamed as Darius swiftly lifted his axe overhead. A clean decapitation. Darius scowled at his horrified troops, "Don't lose your head men, or you'll end up like him!" The sound of men gulping could be heard from all around. Truthfully, they feared this man far more than they feared the enemies numbers. The men roared, ready to fight. Darius grinned.

Those were good times. Back in the days before the League was established. Darius sighed as he walked through the hallways of the NHC (Noxian High Command) building. The hallways had been decorated with armor and weapon racks, as well as portraits of former Grand Generals. The hardened expression on these men exemplified what every Noxian soldier should strive to be. Swain's portrait awaited at the end of the hall next to the conference room. Swain's portrait was no disgrace to the NHC. Though his body was crippled, his piercing eyes seemed to penetrate your very soul. His tactical genius was revered by everyone in Noxus, and feared by anyone else. Now, Darius would be graced by such a presence as he was called to talk to this very man.

Darius stood at attention and and placed his right fist in front of his chest, as though he were holding a dagger to his heart, "General Darius reports as ordered!" He said is a low, but load voice. Swain nodded, "At ease, general. I need to talk to you." Darius lowered his fist and stood in a rested position, "Yes sir."

Swain laughed, "You don't need to waste time on pleasantries while we are alone general. The runts aren't watching."

Darius nodded and sat at the conference table, his expression still stone, "Alright then Swain, what did you call me here for."

Swain sat across from Darius, "As you know, we have a total of 14 champions who participate in the League in the name of Noxus. As you know, Zaun has begun to develop a type of independence from us. Though Singed and Warwick remain loyal to us, it seems that Mundo goes where he pleases. Not to mention, we have gained many enemies. Demacia is using this against us in league matches. If you combine the champions from Ionia, Bandle City, Demacia, and Piltover who have grudges against us, then you have 31 champions, and that's even counting the neutral parties."

Darius smirked, "Quality over quantity, right?"

Swain shook his head in disagreement, "For the sake of our growth and survival as a nation, we must abandon that way of thinking. Demacia has proven time and time again that their warriors are evenly matched with ours. Now, they are taking large tactical advantages over us with the sheer diversity of their team compositions. Even the yordle girl, Tristana, has taken victories against your brother."

Darius looked a bit confused, "What do suggest we do about it?"

Swain placed his fingers together, "We need to recruit some of the more neutral champions... However, I hate to admit it, but our entire way of life seems to cause them to refuse us. Therefore, we must adapt and change our public image."

Darius frowned, "So why did you call me of all people? Le Blanc seems better suited for this job."

Swain's eyes narrowed, "You, Darius, are an incredible general. You are widely feared and respected by your men, but now, you must be more than that..."

Darius scowled, "I'm not sure I like where this is going..."

Swain continued, "You must be to Noxus what Garen is to Demacia. You must become the symbol of our might and glory!"

Darius shook his head, "I'm not the one you want for this job. This is a job for Draven."

Swain sighed, "I would agree if my decision were based solely on personality. However... Your brother is a dumbass..."

Darius frowned, "True."

Swain laughed, "Fear not, I may have found something to aid you in your mission."

Darius sighed and put his head on the table, "You know, I may just end up beheading people instead of recruiting them."

Swain ignored Darius's complaints, "There is a prophesy... One created by the Dark Undertakers of Neverlost Kiln... That a powerful object will fall from the heavens near Shurima two days from now. An object said to increases one's charisma and skill by tenfold!"

Darius was skeptical, "I've never known you to be one to look into ridiculous rumors."

Swain laughed, "Consider it a first step toward a new image!"

Not much compared to the chill of the Shurima Desert at night. The moon loomed over the mountains of sand, projecting its blue light across the vast salt plain. Darius sojourned with a couple of soldiers in tow. "This is the area. According to D.U.N.K., our prize should be arriving anytime now."

The whiz of an object could be heard as it sliced through the air. One of Darius's guards collapsed beside him. Darius quickly examined the body... Toxic Darts... "Take cover in the dunes!" Daruis shouted, "It's an ambush!"

Darius looked into the distance to find Teemo in a panda suit climbing out of the sand. "Yordles..." Darius cursed.

Teemo was accompanied by Tristana, who just rocketed into view. Corki, who flew high above the sands, and Rumble, whose metal walker had been equipped with specialized wheels to move in the sand.

Tristana lauched a cannonball towards Darius and his comrade. Darius quickly rolled aside, but his partner was not so quick and was blown to pieces. Darius quickly got to his feet, but was completely surrounded. Rumble had his flamespitter pointed straight at Darius, "I bet you've never looked up to a yordle before." He said cockily. Darius spit, "After I cut you down, I wont have to." Rumble simply laughed, "I'm not about to take you on myself. You'll be down before you can touch me. So stand back and let us have this so called object of power." As if right on cue, an orange meteorite split the clouds, allowing the moonlight to fill the desert unhindered. Rumble prepared a large, steel net to capture the object. Right before the object hit the net, however, Darius had used his axe to apprehend the orange sphere and caught it in his palm. As the meteorite collided with Darius's hand, his armor was ripped from his body, and his axe flew off into the distance. His armor had been replaced with light clothing and Darius found himself holding a glowing, orange ball with black lines in strange patterns all over the ball. Rumble started up his flamespitter, "Drop the ball! Now!"

Normally, Darius would feel pressured in this situation. No armor, no weapon, and surrounded by 4 enemies. Darius felt no such pressure, however. Instead, he felt an overwhelming confidence and urge to win. Darius smiled at Rumble, "You want it? Then let's play ball!" As Darius taunted Rumble, he quickly launched the ball with both hands toward to yordle inside the suit. Rumble couldn't react and the ball rebounded sharply off of the yordle's skull. Rumble tumbled roughly out of his machine and lay dizzy on the ground. Corki quickly zoomed towards the ball, "I'm on it, Blackshoe!" However, Darius had used Rumble's robot as leverage for a mighty leap and he caught the ball midair before slamming Corki's contraption. "Mayday! Mayday!" Corki screamed as his machine barreled down to the ground below. Tristana took no time going on the offensive, she launched herself towards Darius with her rocket launcher and took aim. However, Darius held his hand out to the side and a large white goal post shot up from the sands. He ripped it from the ground and started dribbling the ball on the sand, having no issues with the terrain. Tristana's eyes lit up with fear as Darius dribbled in her direction. She had to gain distance, so she launched a buster shot. Darius managed to swipe once before he was blown back. The goal post connected with Tristana's shoulder and it began to release a strange orange and black liquid. "What the hell?!" Tristana panicked. She wasn't bleeding, but she was clearly losing something. She looked up to find Darius holding an unconscious Teemo in the palm of his hand. She couldn't move, she was literally frozen with fear. The orange liquid was literally her confidence being drained from her body. Darius threw the goal post behind Tristana and began to dribble Teemo like a basketball. He sprung into the air and slammed Teemo into the net, crushing Tristana who was directly underneath. "Nothing but net..."

Swain sifted through his paperwork... Creating a new image for Noxus was proving difficult... Why was the original design so evil-looking? Noxus isn't evil, it just holds very firmly to its values. How do spikes on everything represent strength? It needed to be changed. Swain heard a strange squeaking sound approaching from the hallway, "What the hell?"

Darius slammed the door open, "The DUNK prophesies were true... Darius has arrived!"

Darius cracked open a strange energy drink and chugged it.

Swain stared wide-eyed at Darius's new character, "What happened to you?"

"I just 4v1'ed a yordle expedition force... And to think you though Bandle City was a threat. You must be losing your touch Swain." Darius laughed.

Swain couldn't help but be irritated at the blatant lack of respect he was getting. Katarina walked in with some paperwork meant for Swain, she groaned as she spoke, "I'm not your damned secretary Swain, don't expect me to carry your shi..." Katarina's words faded as she saw Darius, "Darius? Is that you?"

Darius calmly walked towards Kat and took the paperwork from her causing her to blush intensely, "I'm all right here babe, so are you sneaking off to Demacia to sleep with the enemy?" He put the papers in front of Swain and walked back to her, "Or will you ditch Garen and play for Noxus tonight?" Darius cooed in a low, seductive voice. Swain put his face into his palm. 'What have I done' He thought to himself.

"Garen? Who's Garen? I'm all alone tonight," Katarina tried to sound confident, but for whatever reason, Darius's mere presence was overwhelming her. She was trying as hard as she could not to let her instincts take over and pounce on him.

Swain observed this small exchange and laughed, "Here's the list of people to recruit Darius! I'm sure you can handle the job."

Darius put his arm around Katarina's waist and grinned, "You can count on it sir."

Swain dismissed Darius and Katarina. This was going even better than expected. With his newfound power Darius could single-handedly make Noxus the most powerful nation in the world. However, his expectations were lowered as he heard voices in the hallway.

"Please, let's just do it right here!"

"Patience kitty. I'll take you to my personal quarters."

Swain sighed... Or he could piss off every male on Runeterra...