If I had telekinesis...I'd throw that black marker out of the class. Wait, scratch that. I'd throw HER out of the classroom. Be rid of the fucking waste of time. Once and for all.
A piece of paper brushed against my forearm. "Here, Jack." My classmate passed me from the front, snapping me out of my daydream. Great, more logarithms. Old hag printed yet another set of mind-bending Maths that'll keep you busy for hours on end. Fuck it. I stuffed the homework into my bag. More equations flowed from the marker as the pathetic excuse for a teacher continued attempting to teach us some more Maths that'll probably have no use for our future. Like, seriously. How on Earth does learning Alpha and Beta have to do with life? And even then, most of us failed our last exams on A Maths.
A finger tapped lightly on my right shoulder. "Jackie. Can help me with this question?" I turned to see the light brown face of my spectacles-wearing friend, Damian. Unlike me, he is more studious and cares a great deal more for his grades. It's a shame that he ended up with slightly worse grades than me, despite having made stacks of notes daily before the exams. Not that mine were too bad. Mainly Bs and some Cs. Sweat dripped down his face in the Singapore heat and soaking his uniform, just like everyone else. "Erm, sure." I replied uneasily. Why ask me? I'm bad at this shit. I stared at the mysterious language of numbers in dismay, hoping to somehow see the connection that will tell you how fast the disease will travel amongst 213 patients.
And then I felt it. Subtle at first. A ripple in the paper. I thought I imagined it. I need to sleep earlier. But suddenly the entire classroom started shaking uncontrollably. An earthquake in Singapore? That's impossible.(Just so you know, Singapore is surrounded by other larger countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. So we would have been notified if any natural disaster were to hit us.) The LED lights on the ceiling flickered ominously. I clutched my desk desperately to get some leverage. But instead of gripping the hard, plastic surface, my hands flailed wildly at nothing and my entire body fell forward. Darkness enveloped my surroundings. It was like falling into a hole. Except this hole is so damn wide. And deep. Perhaps I was screaming, but I heard nothing. Just silence. All alone in an ever-falling sensation to a possible painful end.
"Extraction complete. Subject #154 has successfully come through without a hitch. But are you absolutely sure that he is the one?" A voice. Deep yet soft. It was still dark. I couldn't move. What's going on?
"Yes, I am sure. His file shows that they are compatible together. A loner. Impulsive. And clever. A perfect candidate." Another voice. Slightly higher-pitched. I couldn't help but smile at that compliment of my intelligence. Not the first time I've heard that. "He's awake! Proceed to relocation now." "Yes sir. Relocating now." An object collided with another. A cool breeze blew over me. And I was falling once again.
I didn't know how long I was going. A few minutes. Or a few hours. Eventually, I felt a cold, hard surface at my fingertips. "Are you okay, Jackie Chan?" Someone spoke my name. I opened my eyes to come face-to-face with a robed figure. I was feeling far from okay as a burning feeling came from the back of my throat, and before I knew it, I lurched over and sickly green vomit hurled out of my mouth. This seemed to undeter the person, as he raised a cloth to my puking being. "Once again, the process appears to be shaky." I accepted the cloth to wipe off as much puke as I could, all the while trying to figure out where I was. My eyes scanned this new surroundings of dazzling neon-blue signs on the ground. Darkness covered the rest of the room like a veil, preventing me from seeing beyond this person in front of me. Even then, the robe successfully covered his face, only letting me see even more blackness. "I knew that you would be perfect here. You don't even show the slightest bit of fear." Brilliant white teeth sparkled in his smile. Well, I never even thought of that. My mouth opened slightly to ask a question before he cut me off.
"We will talk later. Just come with me." His warm, smooth hand grabbed mine and pulled me into the darkness ahead. His free hand raised to push a part of it, opening a doorway. "Here." I stepped through it to see a room that looked...a bit like a child's. My hair brushed against the ceiling. A red, leather couch sat at one side of the rectangular room. The closet just reached my shoulders. There was even a small bed near the tiny glass window, but what really caught my attention was the blue being on it. It somewhat reminded of my dog, the canine-like face but other than that feature, it was unlike anything I've seen before. Sky-blue fur. Developed arms and legs like a human. Trapezoidal ears sticking at the sides of its head. Wearing clothes. And its height...no wonder the room is so small. But its eyes were off. They did not acknowledge our presence. Glazed over. Just staring off into space. Those tiny, thin lips bent downwards. Similar to those romantic movies when the protagonist breaks up and feels lost without 'that special someone'.
"Is he high on something?" I asked confusedly. He seemed like a drug addict. This drew a short giggle from the robed figure before he spoke.
"No no no. Let me explain everything from the start. Then you will understand." He sat down on the couch and patted the other end. "Do sit down." I obliged, laying back in its comfort. "Now where do I begin...hmm...ok."
"Have you heard of a computer game called 'League of Legends'?" Of course I have. Who hasn't? It's so popular now that it may become a sport. "Yeah."
"Well then, it isn't just a game. In fact, the League of Legends is real. Runeterra. Summoner's Rift. Champions. They all exist. The Fields of Justice is always used to settle the disputes between Runeterra's many sectors. Many years ago, someone made a connection with Earth and thought it will be fun to use the idea of Runeterra as a game, and now it is a great success. We ended up creating a branch there to continue the game, under the code name 'Runeterra Integration Ordered Tipper', aka RIOT."
"For a long time, us, summoners, didn't really care about this branch. A small team of summoners would update the game as to our current Fields of Justice, especially when upsets occur when they found certain champions overly or underly powered, or when they want a new look to it. But now, something is happening to the champions." His hands clasped tightly together, whitening the knuckles.
"We don't know why, but they are becoming more reclusive. Of course, some were already like that, like Rumble here." He glanced at the being on the bed. Oh. That's his name.
"But they are slowly disappearing. This 'infliction' starts off slow. They mess up on the Fields. Mishear you. Sleepless nights. It may even go unnoticed."
"Then it becomes worse. They stop making contacts with their closest friends. Refuse to leave their living quarters. Complete loss of appetite. Poor Rumble is at this stage. Alas, their bodies just go up in smoke. We couldn't catch the wisp of Ao Shin as he simply blew away into the air."
"Without Champions, the peace in Runeterra would be lost and the sectors would begin their bloody, constant wars that'll ultimately lead to utter destruction. We can't stop this strange 'infliction' unless we know what is causing it. The Void is the main suspect and we got Kassadin looking into that." I didn't need to tell him my bemusement. My face showed all. "Nevermind. The fact is this. We absolutely need to maintain the sanity of all our champions before the next stage kicks in. Our magic isn't strong enough to prevent the progression. So there was a thought that if we could at least pretend that our champions are still fine, we could possibly maintain the peace here until we find a cure."
"And that is when RIOT and you come in." He relaxed a bit and laid back into the couch. "To make this plan work, we have to use someone who is closest to the personality of the champion. RIOT will search for potential candidates to suit each and every champion. Luckily for me, Rumble's isn't too hard to define and not too dangerous either, and yours fits perfectly with his. Before he became like this, he was very introverted and enjoyed spending time by himself. Just like you." True. Sad, but true. "Would you accept this role? It is entirely up to you. I cannot force you into this role." I wanted to pinch myself. This felt like a dream. Perhaps I'm asleep in class again. I gathered some skin under my nails on my forearm and twisted it. My eyes shut tightly. This is just a dream. Just a dream. You're gonna wake up in A Maths class again. Come on. I opened up to see the robed figure in front of me still. That blue guy...Rumble...still breathing silently on the bed, his arms outstretched to rest on each thigh.
"This isn't a dream. Like I said, Runeterra is real. And it needs your help. Please." He reached out his hand. "Do help us. It'd be hell trying to search for someone like you again." Err...oh what the heck. "Alright." I shook his hand firmly. "Splendid! Thank you. Now I'm gonna move you into his body right away. Just close your eyes and focus on your breathing. It will be quick." I braced myself for some kind of painful experience, but instead I felt his hands resting on the sides of my head, hearing muttering of unheard of words, and weightlessness of being out of my own body.
Author notes: I got this idea while listening to 'Best of both worlds' from Miley Cyrus before she 'changed'. I don't know whether you would like this story or not, so do review if you can and have a great day/night!