Alright, so I managed to get something done early for once :P So here's the Zed arc, it's not going to continue off directly from the Shen arc, but there'll be a bit next chapter for that. Right now, we get to see Zayne's side of the story and I hope you guys brought tissues...
Chapter 1
He dashed through the alley, quick as the shadows that flickered across the wet pavement by the dimly flickering streetlamp. If he was lucky, he'd get away with only a minor beating this time…
The boy quietly grabbed hold of the fire escape, hauling his thin frame up the slick metal up to the landing and quietly sliding through the window and into the dark room Safe.
He quietly took off his shoes and stuffed them under his bed before slipping under the covers and falling asleep…
Only to get rudely awakened what seemed minutes later by getting dragged out of bed and berated by the fosters.
It wasn't his fault that breakfast wasn't cooked. He was only seven after all…much too young to cook on the stovetop, let alone reach it…
By the end of his 'punishment', he now sported a nice looking gash on the bridge of his nose. He grabbed his backpack and sprinted out the door before anyoneelse could get on him.
"Wow, you took a beating, Zayne," a familiar voice hummed.
"Ori!" Zayne Umbero beamed, racing into his big brother's arms and hugging him.
The sixteen year old Ori Umbero ruffled the seven year old's dark hair, smiling.
"Are you gonna take me away from them soon?" Zayne asked, looking at his brother's face, hidden behind reddish tinted sunglasses.
Ori took the glasses off, revealing bright green irises that gleamed in the morning light.
"Soon, lil' bro," Ori promised, "C'mon, let's go have some fun,"
"But what about school?" Zayne asked.
"Eh, y' don't need it," Ori snorted, "C'mon, I'll teach ya everything you need to know, lil' bro,"
"You still part of the gang?" Zayne asked, looking up at his brother as they walked through an alley later that evening.
Since their parents died when Zayne was two, the brothers had been in the system for a while…Ori realized that no one wanted a teenager and it would be easier for Zayne to get a home because he was a cute little toddler. That didn't mean that Ori didn't pop in from time to time to see his little brother…he always had something for the little guy and vowed that when he turned eighteen, he was going to take Zayne from the system and finish raising him on his own.
But to raise a little boy took money, something Ori didn't have…until he had a run in with the Dark Blade gang. Their boss had seen Ori's street sense and his fighting spirit and decided to give the boy a chance in the gang…
Ori was now the boss' right hand man. But Ori had onerule…as soon as he could, he was leaving and taking Zayne to a new life. He'd do anything the boss asked, but that one rule was his exception.
"Yeah, lil' bro," Ori nodded, "But, hey, two more years…and it'll be just you and me, I promise,"
"Why can't I run away now?" Zayne whined, "I wanna be with you!"
"I know you do too, lil' bro," Ori nodded, "But it's a little dangerous for you yet…"
Suddenly, Ori froze, staring like a deer in the headlights down the alleyway as a squad car pulled up.
"Zayne…stay behind me," Ori ordered.
Zayne gave a nod right as the cops got out. One of them pulled out a gun.
"Stay right where you are!" the one with the gun ordered.
"We don't want to hurt you," the other promised, Ori could see his pale gaze from where he stood, "Just come quietly, ok? You and the little guy,"
Ori looked at his brother and then at the cops.
"You're not getting him," Ori told them calmly.
"Then I will," the other cop said.
"Caleb…" the unarmed cop started.
"Conall, they're a bunch of…" Caleb started.
The unarmed cop, Conall, shushed him before turning back to Ori, "Look, I don't want to hurt you, I just want to get you two back to your homes…"
"What homes," Ori laughed bitterly, "You mean the ones where my lil' bro is beaten? Where I can't get one? No thanks,"
There was a loud crack and Zayne squealed, ducking down behind Ori's leg as a brick burst into myriad pieces.
"You…shot…at him…" Ori started, glaring at Caleb.
Caleb shook his head violently, eyes flicking to Conall. Ori didn't care, but Conall was closer, and unarmed…
The young man charged…and Caleb's gun fired as Ori grabbed Conall by the jacket, tearing loose a pendant of sorts. Ori stumbled a few steps, his hands going to his stomach and coming away a dark crimson.
"Ori!" Zayne shrieked, darting forwards and ramming into Caleb, knocking him to the pavement, dazed, while the child ran to his brother as Ori crumpled to the ground, "Ori…please, please don't leave me…"
"Hey…I promised you I'd take you home…didn't I?" Ori whispered faintly, gently stroking his baby brother's cheek, "Hey, don't you dare cry on me lil' bro,"
"Ori…" Zayne cried, hugging his big brother, "I don't want to be alone…"
"Never alone," Ori murmured, eyes fluttering shut as his breathing stuttered, "Always…there…"
He never spoke again.
"No!" Zayne shrieked, "Ori…Ori wake up! Please!"
He gave a choked cry and buried his head in his brother's too still chest, shoulder's heaving with sobs. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and rage burned in his little chest. Zayne struck out, the blade he had received from his big brother ages ago flickering into his little hand…
And right into Detective Conall Korrigan's heart.
Conall gasped, grabbing onto the boy's wrist, his too bright, too pale eyes flickering, turning a darker shade of blue as he too crumpled to his knees.
"Balance…is shifting," Conall murmured as he fell the rest of the way to the ground, "Shane…I'm sorry…"
Zayne blinked rapidly, dropping the blade as he stared at the dying form of the officer before him. A faint gleam of silver caught the boy's eye and he saw the pendant lying on the slowly stilling man's chest. His hand snaked out and he ripped the chain away from Conall's body, scrambling up to his feet as he grabbed Ori's glasses, took a final look at his brother…and ran into the night.
He knew where he was going now. No foster home for him…
The Dark Blade awaited.
Thirteen Years Later
"You planted the note," Zayne asked, reclining back in the chair.
"Just like you said," one of the new recruits nodded, "The cops came runnin' not long after,"
"Good," Zayne nodded, "Anything else?"
"Well, Sparky over there thought it'd be a good idea to try 'n take a shot at the Detective…" the recruit mumbled.
"Did not!" his partner yelped as Zayne's red glasses flashed scarlet in the light, "Y-You said no killing! Not even maiming! That was your prey…"
"You'll do well to remember that," Zayne growled coldly, "Go, find something else to do…but leave Korrigan to me,"
"Yes sir!" the two yelped, running off as Zayne pinched the bridge of his nose.
Since Ori's death, Zayne joined with the Dark Blade, quickly rising through it's ranks as easily as Shane had risen through the police's ranks. Soon, with the death of the boss in a 'tragic accident', Zayne now headed it. Poor fool tried to charge his phone while taking a bath…a slip of the elbow and the Angry Birds turned into KFC.
The new leader got out of his chair, wrapping his scarf around his neck, unlike most people, Zayne didn't like the cold…some of the gang said he looked like a ninja all bundled up. But not to his face. They were afraid that Zayne'd stab them. Not shoot…stab. Zayne hated guns, Ori had been the same, and so his knifework had to improve…and that it did.
Zayne quietly slipped out of the warehouse that the gang had holed up in. They'd made sure that they'd only go to places the Police had searched already…just to keep them all on their toes. The leader of the Dark Blade quickly leaped up onto a fire escape, dashing across the icy metal with a surety that few could match. All those years on the streets made his reaction time flawless.
He finally stopped on the fire escape that overlooked the alley where Ori Umbero and Conall Korrigan died, watching with grim satisfaction as a man dressed in a dark blue, bulletproof vest with 'Police' emblazoned on the back walked into the alleyway. But it wasn't just any policeman, the familiar yellow-tinted shades, the dark blue facemask covering his nose and mouth…this was Shane Korrigan, Conall's son.
"Heh, took ya long enough, orphan," Zayne chuckled
Shane's eyes flashed and he whipped out his gun, pointing it at Zayne's sprawled out form on the fire escape above him. The young gang member nimbly leaped down from the fire escape and stood before Shane. Shane's eyes narrowed as he stood in front of the young man that nearly fourteen years ago killed his father.
Shane had changed a bit, his hair had been longer the last time Zayne had seen him, likely shaved off for police work. Zayne blew the red streak in his hair out of his eyes as he grinned under his own scarf. Shane looked so much like his father it was uncanny.
"I could arrest you right now, you know that," Shane growled, not taking his gun off of Zayne's chest.
"But you won't," Zayne replied, smirking, "You know that,"
"And you say that why," Shane demanded, "You killed my father in cold blood. For what? Just to take his pendant that was in our family for generations,"
"Your father took my family too," Zayne snarled, "I've lived in this gang my whole life and how many of my family have your 'family' taken away? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…balance has to be restored and now look. You and me, always fighting, always trying to best the other, but it won't happen, Shane Korrigan. Because you and I…are the same,"
"We're nothing alike," Shane snarled right as the faint gleam of metal caught Zayne's eye
He lasered in on a lone figure standing behind Shane's right shoulder, holding a gun…only for a blaze of silver to fly out of the darkness and a knife flew through the air, embedding itself in Shane's chest, right above his heart as the loud 'crack!' of a gunshot rang out and Zayne fell to the ground as pain exploded in his shoulder. He was dimly aware of Shane hitting the ground, the knife still sticking out of his chest and someone running down the alleyway at them both.
He felt hands on him and heard sirens in the air…right as everything went dark.
When Zayne awoke, it wasn't in the alley, not the warehouse…not even the hospital that greeted his eyes. Instead, he was in a place that looked like something out of a dream. Or, at least something out of those old kung fu movies that he and Ori would go sneak out to see when he was younger. He could hear the sound of metal clashing on metal outside the window, but before he could go look…he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye.
"You know, Zayne, you're very lucky to be alive," a male voice started.
Zayne turned towards the shadow, blade in hand as a man in a dark suit and tie and a fedora walked towards him.
"Who are you," Zayne growled.
"My name is Andrew Summers," the man, Andrew, started, "You were in a horrible accident. You were shot in the chest, the bullet hit near your heart, but it caused a lot of damage on its way out. They don't expect you to live much longer. You've been in a coma since the accident."
"Then how are you talking to me?" Zayne demanded, "If this is all in my head,"
"You have to love technology and its advancements," Andrew chuckled, "Believe me, we've done this before with another child…her predicament was worse than yours I'd say. But I'm not here to talk about her. I'm here to talk about you…and whether or not you want a second chance. Since you have no family that we know of…the choice is yours,"
"And that is?" Zayne asked warily.
"You're familiar with League of Legends, correct?" he asked.
Zayne shot him a look. He'd played, but not for a while. The laptop he was 'given' decided to break and it had the program on it.
"In order to save your life, there's an experimental process that will…ahem…make you a Champion," Andrew told him, "You've been Chosen by a Champion, they've agreed to let you become them in order to live,"
"And who would be crazy enough to do that?"
"I'm getting déjà vu," Andrew grumbled as he looked at the potential Chosen before turning behind him, "Why don't you tell him,"
"Gladly," another male voice started as a figure seemed to melt from the shadows.
He was tall and dressed in sharp edged armor, his scarlet gaze gleamed from the shadows his mask and headdress cast over his face. Zayne immediately recognized him.
"Zed," he blinked.
"At least you know me," Zed laughed, looking Zayne over, "Andrew…I want time alone with this one,"
Andrew gave an annoyed sigh, but left the Master of Shadows with his Chosen alone.
"You have that look about you," Zed stated, walking around Zayne, "Someone who has lost everything but has one desire that burns so brightly that even their inner shadows cannot touch it."
He suddenly disappeared, reappearing on the other side of Zayne while a shadowy version of the ninja stood where he once did.
"If you accept being my Chosen, I can help you reach that goal," Zed promised, "The other boy lives…I've seen it,"
"Orphan's alive?" Zayne asked.
"And well," Zed nodded, "For now at least. We won't kill him, I promise that, but he has that same sense of 'balance' that Shen has…I wouldn't put it past my old friend, brother, to Choose him…"
"And if I refuse your offer?" Zayne questioned warily.
"Then you will die," Zed stated simply.
Zayne hesitated, if he said no…he'd see his brother, his parents…but then he'd be breaking his promise to Ori. Ori wouldn't want him to give up and die…he'd want him to live,"
"There is something else you must know if you say yes," Zed told him, "But I do not know what it is, Andrew will have to tell you. And he specifically said he wanted to tell you alone,"
"I want to talk to him," Zayne nodded, "Then I'll decide,"
"I will send for him," Zed replied, "But make your choice quickly…"
Zed left and Andrew re-entered the room, looking at Zayne to judge if he'd said yes or no yet.
"Zed said you had something to tell me if you said yes," Zayne started.
"So you've agreed,"
"Not yet…I want to see if I should or not,"
Andrew gave a nod and sighed.
"If you say yes to this," he started, "There's something you should know about Zed. He and six other human Champions are…well…they're not so much human anymore,"
"What do you mean?"
"You've seen the Project skins, right?"
Zayne nodded.
"Haven't played with them…can't afford it and laptop broke," Zayne replied.
"You know the story though,"
"Yeah, alternate future for Runete…" he stopped as Andrew shook his head.
"Not alternate future," Andrew told him, "The Projects were kidnapped and turned into what they are. They're not human anymore…at least not fully. When Yi destroyed the lab, Yasuo and Leona weren't finished yet…hence why they look the most human. Yasuo has little outbursts of rage, Leona suffers from a form of PTSD, Yi can't remember, Fiora feels nothing, Lucian has scars and Zed…"
Andrew gave a sigh.
"Being Zed's Chosen, you have a very hard job if someone chooses to fight with his Project skin," Andrew explained, "He's the least human and completely loses his sense of morality…becoming a psychopath. Your job, Zayne, will be to rein him in if that happens. You'll be his voice of reason because he is not going to let you take control during that time. Any other fight he'll probably let you fight…but with that skin, no. You need to keep a grip on his mind so he doesn't murder everyone on the field. Can you do that?"
"I think so," Zayne nodded.
"One other thing," Andrew told him, "If you choose this path…that will be your form. You will look like his Project form 24/7. We have something that will make you look human, it works…but if you're summoned, get as far away from other humans that don't know as possible,"
"You talk like you know what you're doing…" Zayne stated.
"We've done this five other times," Andrew told him, "And one of them was a Project. I can't tell you who it was…you'll meet her soon enough. The question is…do you accept being the Master of Shadows?"
Zayne looked down at his hands, at the blade in one of them, remembering Ori's dying face all those years ago. He clentched his fists and took a deep breath before looking up at Andrew.
"I accept,"
So we find out that our more 'human' Projects have issues too, Zayne's going to be in charge of keeping a psycho from losing it on the rift, and that Zayne actually had family before. Next Zayne's going to have a handful controlling Zed and vice versa...and then we get to the part where Zayne and Shane are about to kill each other. I've got no question about those two fighting...it's more of...can Cira stop them before they hurt themselves.
Ori means 'Light' so I figured that since when 'Light' died in Zayne's life, the shadows would have a bigger impact.
What Champion
Character's name ( 1st and last)
Family?
Physical Description
Personality
How did they become the Champion(why did the Champion choose them and what were the circumstances that made the Champion choose to bond with the character? *doesn't have to be tragic accident, but I still want to know why they're the new Champion*)
Champions already taken:
Leona: me
Kindred: The Kitsune Girl Ahri
Gragas: RoboticFreeze
Diana: MMiladinova
Jinx: minifox1
Kayle: sop56
Fiora: Oceanbourne
Pantheon: boyfriend
Viktor: ckies
Shen & Zed: HLZB
Tahm Kench: Tourvelix
Wukong: Unbiased Friend
Rek'Sai-TheFallenGeneral
Kog'Maw-Croziff
Nasus & Renekton-Hero LumiEre Luminite (brother characters)
Quinn-TheDecieverOfLumosity
Talon-HyperZEROXL
Bard-amohugz
Lux-Runty Grunty
Varus-Kage Sunaipa
Draven-mooseman3
Riven-Blazingfire5
Udyr-Zoozibble
Ashe-UntimelyDisease
Braum-Hairy
Sona-GrezzWizard
Veigar-sylver9895
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please let me know!
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.