Chapter 2: The Rise
That single word was enough to brighten his mood. Hope. Everyone was talking about hope now. A few days ago people felt hopeless. No one ever thought something like this would happen. The competition was going to start tomorrow, and the opening ceremony would be held today. The ceremony was held in a big arena, just like the arena back in Noxus, but this one wasn't that big. Big enough to let half Zaun's population to watch though. Ray stood on the front line. The lines were filled with all kinds of people. Young, old, black, white, and some even mutated. He himself wore a white shirt and a brown waistcoat. He had spiky black hair himself and was from Ionian origin. He looked around him. There were about a thousand candidates. It wouldn't be easy to win. Everyone focused their gaze at the guests of honor, Viktor, one of the great scientists of Zaun and Swain, the grand general of Noxus. A man made his way to the guests of honor. He patted his microphone. The man was in his early twenties and was wearing a fancy black suit.
''Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Zaun's Competition of Science! Today we will celebrate the opening and talk about it in detail, but before that, I will hand over the microphone to Mister Viktor!''
Viktor stood up and accepted the microphone the man gave to him. He was wearing his usual outfit you always see him in. He had a blue cape and his whole body was made of iron. His eyes were glowing orange. His metallic voice echoed through the crowd.
''Thank you, mister Starrik. I also want to thank everybody that has come here to celebrate with us. Now let us talk about the competition. Our brave candidates will have to survive multiple missions that will be given by the grand general, me, and some other of the lead scientists of Zaun. Those missions will vary from survival to building something. However, we have over a thousand candidates, so we will have a qualification round first. All the candidates will be put into a digital world that can be entered with my newest invention. The world will be random, and no one will know what it will be. The world will be containing various weapons, buildings, caves, tools, cars and way more things. The candidates are free to use any of those. The mission is to survive in the world until only 200 candidates remain. Killing is allowed.''
The voice made the crowd go awfully silent.Ray gaped in horror.
''200? But that's only a total of 5% of the candidates!''
The crowd started to talk. Hundreds of different conversations started. Viktor and Swain showed no sign of pity. The man in the suit had the mic again and started talking.
''Alright then, ladies and gentlemen, the ceremony will start very soon. The candidates will now enter the barracks!''
Two big rusty doors opened. The candidates slowly entered. It was dark in there. There were a few torches lit. The fire showed no sympathy. Suddenly a heavy voice could be heard behind him. ''Hey, hurry up little snob!'' An older man behind Ray pushed him, making him fall to the ground. Ray glared back, making the man smile even more. He snapped his fingers and walked toward Ray. ''There will be no one to help you here, snob!''
''Oh, but you got that wrong.'' A green pool of slime made its way toward the two. It stopped in front of the man. It then transformed into a humanoid form. Almost 2 feet bigger than the man. ''Pick someone your own size.'' The man grumbled and walked further, leaving the two behind.
''Are you okay, pal?''
''Uh, yeah thanks.'' Ray stood up and continued walking with him. ''So, what's your name?''
''The name's Zac. Yours?''
''Ray.''
''Nice to meet you, Ray. What's your reason for joining?''
''I prefer to keep that a secret.'' It would be best not to grow to close to someone. He had to survive, and not think about others.
''I know what you are thinking. You don't want to grow too close, do you? But I think you could use some help out there.''
Ray looked up to him. He was completely green. He had a muscular body and he had yellow eyes. He stared at him for a while. Finally, he decided to say something.
''Sure.''
''Great!'' He looked in front of him. There were a few guards standing by the next door, and giving everyone a bracelet. He got one himself. It was silver, and had a dim blue light coming out of it. Zac simply ate it and had it inside his transparent green body. Looks like he just made a new friend. They entered the barracks. Wooden bunks everywhere. There was a foul smell inside it. It wasn't much worse than his own apartment. Being born in Zaun, he never knew what people meant with fresh air. ''How convenient.''
''What?''
''My bed is under yours.''
''Wait, how do you know?''
''Look at your bracelet'' said Zac as he inspected one of the bunks. He looked at his bracelet. The blue light started to become brighter the closer he got to a certain bed. ''Looks like you figured it out before me, Zac.''
''Hah, I am not as dumb as I look pal.'' He examined his bed. It wasn't much special. It was a normal mattress. The wood, however could use some paint. It was rotting. Not like he had expected something else from Zaun's wood. He looked at his bracelet. Since it told him where his bed was, it should be more useful, right? He pressed his thumb on the light, making a blue hologram appearing. It showed a map.
''Hey, what's that?'' Zac literally lurked behind him. ''It's a map. Look, we are here. The training grounds are over there, the canteen there, and the garage is there.''
''Why would there be a garage here?''
''I don't know. Maybe because this whole competition is based on science?'' He said, skeptically. Zac returned to his humanoid form and marched forward. ''Let's go to the training grounds!'' Ray was more interested in the garage though. Perhaps he could make something to help him to survive.
''Hey, are you coming?'' Ray was knocked out of his thoughts by his friend.
''Uh, yeah sure.''
Once they arrived, he inwardly cursed. ''Why did I even agree on coming here?'' There were all shady looking people here. All fighting each other it seems. ''Okay pal, I think I am going to join in!'' said Zac as he attached his arms to the floor and stretched himself back. Then he launched forward like an elastic. Leaving Ray alone once again. He shook his head and decided to leave. He should go to the garage now. But before he could leave he was patted on the back. He turned around to see a girl about his age and purple hair. She had 'Vi' written on her cheek.
''Are you looking for a sparring partner?''
''Uh, not exactly, I was planning to-''
''Fight for real? Come on!'' The girl punched Ray on the cheek making him fall to the ground. She was a lot stronger than she looked. She went into a boxing stance and looked down at him. ''Come on! Is that all you've got?'' Ray clenched his teeth. He despised violence. He was always bullied at the factory by older kids. But they stopped when he once made a portable flamethrower from some scrap parts and chemicals.
But this time was different. He had no weapons or parts to aid him.
He looked her in the eyes. ''Fine then'' he growled as he stood up. He mimicked to punch her on the left cheek, but instead went for a kick aimed at her knee. She blocked the mimic attack but got kicked to her knee. He hissed and grabbed him by his waist, going for a German suplex. Ray, gritting his teeth in horror, tried to punch her, but she simply evaded the punches since he couldn't move much. Ray, who experienced this move in many ways, couldn't let it happen again.
''Seems like I have no other choice.''
He turned his body around to face her and launched his head forward, kissing her right on the lips. The girl widened her eyes in shock and let go. Ray quickly stopped and went for an uppercut. The girl gritted her teeth and went for a block. He knew she was going to block, and went for a punch in the stomach instead. The girl let out a moan of pain, before throwing Ray away, sending him flying to the wall. He felt pain in his shoulders and back. He fell to the ground. He sat against the wall, looking her into the eye.
''Not bad. I have had many fights, but none of them include your tricks'' said the girl in a playful tone.
She let out a slight smile and offered him a hand. He accepted it and stood up. ''My name is Vi. What's yours?''
''Ray.'' She nodded. ''Do you want another shot?'' Ray quickly shook his head. ''No, rather not!'' He walked closer to the door and looked back at her. ''Perhaps we will see each other again. Oh, and you should work on your throw, it leaves a big opening for someone else to strike you'' said Ray with a slight smile. Vi blushed a little and walked the other way. He shouldn't admit it, but it felt pretty good when she grabbed him by his waist. He shook the perverted thoughts out of his mind. He had work to do.
He entered the garage. It smelled a lot better than the other parts of this place. The walls and floor were both made of old, rusty steel. There wasn't anyone here other than him. He took a seat by the nearest desk and looked around.
''Hm? What's this?'' He felt a piece of paper stuck with scotch tape under the desk. He pulled the paper out with just enough force to not rip it apart. Fortunately, the scotch tape was rather weak. He looked at it. It was a map. It revealed an abandoned city and wastelands all around it. It showed locations of ponds with fresh water, places with supplies, vehicles, and hiding locations like caves.
''This is it! The map for the upcoming event! I'm sure of it! But why would something like this be here? They said the location would be random, right? Or this could be a stupid prank. Oh well, no harm in keeping it.''
He focused his gaze on the map, and started to memorize every single detail showed.
''Is it working?'' Viktor turned his chair around to see the grand general. Swain was wearing a dark green robe with a golden plate on his chest. He had a black bird resting on his shoulder with 6 dark red eyes piercing their raze through Viktor's metal body. ''Yes it is, grand general. Everything is going smoothly, just as you prophesized.'' They both looked at the screen, showing Ray studying the map. ''You think this boy can help us?''
''I am not certain yet. We have to see further.'' Swain nodded. ''I believe in you.'' He turned around and left the room. Viktor looked at the screen once more. ''I will be observing you, Raymond. Don't let me down.''
''Hey pal, wake up!''
Ray opened his eyes, seeing a blurry version of Zac. Not like he wasn't blurry normally, but it only made him look more alien. ''Oh, hi Zac. Please let me sleep more.''
''Pal! Do you have any idea what is going to happen? The competition is going to be held in 20 minutes, and you still didn't have breakfast!''
''So wha- Shit!'' Ray jumped out of bed, quickly changed into his usual attire, not caring if Zac saw him in his boxers or not, and ran toward the canteen. He sighed when he saw there was still plenty of food left, but his mood took a turn for the worse again when he noticed there was nothing more than porridge. ''Don't look so sad pal. Porridge is pretty good for your health.''
''I don't need any life advice from you, Zac.'' He took the porridge that didn't look like shit, the white one and took a seat. Zac quickly joined him. Ray took a glance at his friend's meal, and raised a brow. His meal literally looked like a battlefield. So many colors mixed together.
He took his spoon and took a sip.
Zac picked his plate up, and put it into his mouth.
Ray started to eat faster.
Zac's meal started to digest inside his body.
Ray was now eating with two spoons.
Zac spat the plate out of his body, showing a perfectly clean plate.
''Looks like I've won, pal'' said Zac, and started to laugh after seeing Ray's mouth completely covered in porridge.
''Shut up'' said Ray in an anger tone, which only made Zac laugh more. Ray cleaned his mouth and looked around for other people near them. ''Alright, look at this, Zac.'' Ray put the map he found yesterday on their table. ''What's this?''
''It's most likely the map of the arena.''
''Wait, where did you get this?''
''That's irrelevant. Look, memorize the places where we can hide, and the places which contain supplies. We should to the nearest one right away.'' Zac nodded and looked closely at the map. After a few minutes, a loud metallic voice echoed through the canteen.
''Ladies and gentlemen, good morning! I hope you all have slept well, because the big day is about to start. Please prepare yourself to be sent into another dimension. Please remember that if you die in that world, your bracelet will send an electric pulse into your nerve system, that will interrupt your heart, and eventually stop it. So, please be careful out there!''
The canteen started to become noisy. The bracelet started to tighten its grip. Ray's arm started to shake. He looked up at Zac, who looked at him with a questioned look. ''How come you don't feel thi- oh wait. You ate it.''
''Whoa, wait a second, that bracelet is shaking like hell!'' Zac started to change shape very quickly, and started to become nothing but a pool. The darkness started to surround Ray too. And not long after, that, losing consciousness.
He opened his eyes. The bright sun shining into his eyes. She stood up. Wait a sec, a bright sun? There is no such thing as a 'bright' sun, here in Zaun! Or, was this? Ray looked around him. Green grass reflecting the sun's gaze. An abandoned city not too far away from here could be seen.
Yep. This was it.
The hunt has begun.
As he scanned the area more, but this time closer to him, he noticed there was a sticky pool of slime under his shoes. He quickly stepped away, letting the pool transform into a humanoid form. ''Ah, that feels much better. Thanks pal.''
''What a big coincidence to see spawn right next to each other..'' He felt a heavy pat on his right shoulder. ''Don't think about it too much.'' They looked around. They were in the wastelands. Fortunately for them, the city wasn't too far away from them. ''Okay then, let's go! The last one that reaches the city loses!'' shouted Ray excitingly as he started to run. ''Hey! That's unfair!'' shouted Zac back as he started to run after him. It was a long time since they had this much fun. As they continued running, they didn't know they were being followed.
''They will regret that they didn't look better.''
''Phew, looks like I won again!''
''Unfair! You stretched your arms to grab me, and launched yourself further!'' said Ray as he was panting for air. The city he was in looked like it was deserted a long time ago. Grass started to grow in random corners, there were holes in the roads, and street lamps that had fallen to the ground. ''Ah there it is! The bakery that was illustrated on the map!'' Ray started to run toward the bakery. ''Of course, the door has been locked. If only we had a picklock.''
''Hold on, I think I might be able to do this.''
Zac made his fingers disappear, and instead an object appeared out of it, what seemed to be a picklock. He put his hand into the lock, and rotating it a few times, and the lock opened. ''You are brilliant, Zac.''
''Why thanks, seems like this body helps a lot more than it looks like.''
They entered the bakery. The inside was just like the outside; broken furniture, rusty pipes and rotting food. ''I hope that when they meant supplies, they weren't talking about that.'' Zac pointed his fingers toward the rotten sandwiches that lied around the table. ''I trust even they know that rotten sandwiches is not exactly a supply.'' Ray pointed out as he looked around. The room seemed to be quite normal, and didn't really have anything special to it. ''I don't see anything here, pal.''
''I know, but it still stinks.'' He looked around, observing every single detail. Focusing his mind to what he could hear. If he couldn't see it, he would most likely be able to hear it. That's it! He walked toward the fridge. ''A little help here?'' Zac moved to Ray's side and started pushing the fridge toward the other side, revealing a secret entrance to the basement. ''Damn, that's a good one. How did you know?''
''You see those rats?'' He pointed toward a few grey rats walking around in the secret entrance, looking around for food. ''I heard them.''
''Wait, you heard them?''
''Yep.'' Ray walked past him. Zac looked at him with a face both filled with surprise and amazement. ''Seems like he is much more fun than that he looks like.''
''Hey, Zac! Look at this!'' Zac followed Ray's voice, and arrived at a big room, with wooden crates everywhere. In the middle of the room there was a gyrocopter. ''If you can put some crates with supplies in the copter, I will take a look if the engine is still working. Zac nodded.
''Okay, let's see what we've got.'' Ray opened the gyrocopter's hood. Revealing a small, but seemingly powerful engine. He checked the switch, but quickly noticed it didn't work. He took a better look around. He noticed that the engine was loose. He had to attach it again in order to make it work.
''Of course they had to!'' Ray cursed inside as he looked around. He found a red toolbox, he picked it up and opened it. The tools were in surprisingly good shape. He picked the screwdriver and started to work on the engine. After a few minutes, he finished. ''Okay, I think I am done.'' Zac turned around and walked to Ray's left side. ''You sure this will work?'' Zac used the switch, but it still didn't work. ''How is this possible? It should work right now, unless..'' Ray started to inspect the engine in detail now. ''Hah! I got it! This thing is one of the oldest Zaun engines!''
''Uh, sure thing, but how is that going to help us out?''
''..Point taken.''
''So what are we-''
''Silence'' whispered Ray. He turned around, closing his eyes. He heard footsteps. He opened his eyes again and looked at the rusty door.
''Whoever you are, come out.''
Silence followed. Then the door opened, making a terrible screech. Three men entered the room, all dressed in white shirts. The smallest and thinnest of the three, was wearing a red bandana and was bald. The other one wasn't as small as the other, but was even thinner. He had black hair and had red eyes. The third of them was very big and muscled. He had tattoos of a cross all over his arm.
''Listen up kids, we are the Saints. You better let us take the copter, or we will have to take other measures'' said the smallest man, purposely saying measures with a more sinister tone. The thin man had a crowbar, and the big one a spiked bat. The smaller man a sharp knife, reflecting the light of the dark lamp in the room. Ray shot the man an angry glare. ''You do know that the engine isn't ready yet, right?''
''Doesn't matter. We can take care of it ourselves.''
''I doubt it.'' The man started to get pissed and readied his knife.
''I gave you a chance, but you ruined it. Now, kill them both!'' The other two man readied their bats and charged toward Ray. Zac suddenly jumped in front of him, absorbing the attacks and launching them back.
''Back off, pal!'' said Zac in a slightly angry tone making the two men scuff. ''What are you fools waiting for?'' said the little man angrily. The other two jumped forward, attacking Zac from multiple angles. Zac fought back, making it look like a bar fight. ''Repair the engine, pal!''
Ray nodded and quickly inspected the engine once more. The engine was perfectly fine, however, it still didn't work.
''Think, Ray! Think!''
He pictured an old engine in his mind.
''Alright, the engine is in place, and the wires are connected. Which means there should be enough electricity coming through the wires to the engine. The fuel tanks are fine too, so that means the electricity is somehow not entering the engine. However, the engines should automatically adjust the flow.. or, wait the old models didn't have that, which means it needs a strong blow to make it work!''
''Hey kid, die!'' Ray quickly turned around to see the smaller man jump at him with a knife. Ray quickly jumped away, making the man fall on the ground instead of him and the knife touching the engine. Suddenly, an electric pulse flowed through the engine, reaching the knife and sending multiple waves of electricity through the man, making him scream in terror. After a few seconds he was blown away.
''Hm, never thought those old engines could be this powerful. Meh, guess it did help.'' The propellers started to turn as crazy. Powerful blows of the wind started to appear. Zac seemed to be cornered to the wall as the two closed in on him.
''You guys just don't know when to quit.'' Zac jumped high in the air, and landed on one of the men, punching him in until the man stopped moving. He looked up. The thin man started to back off a little. Sweat started to drop off his forehead. Then he moved his hand behind him, and grabbed a handgun and pointed it toward Zac.
''Die, you piece of shit!''
The man let out a wicked smile and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened.
''What the?'' Slime started to drop out of the gun's barrel, falling to the ground and moving towards Zac's body. Zac approached the man, and stopped right in front of him.
''The pain. I am sorry about the pain.''
Zac launched his arms forward, punching the man, and sending him flying into the wall. The man groaned a little and then slumped over.
''You aren't sorry at all, are you, Zac?''
''…Now I am just mad.''
Ray let out a smile and climbed into the driver's seat. Just big enough for him to fit in. He put on the pilot's goggles and checking if everything was working. Zac climbed into the passenger seat. ''Ready whenever you are, Zac.''
''Let's go then!''
'''Where?''
''We will see.''
Ray pushed a few buttons and put his hand on the big lever next to him. He pulled it, and the gyrocopter started to fly. He rammed through the weak wooden wall, and flew into the sky.
''That boy indeed does show potential.''
''Have I ever been wrong, grand general?'' They both looked at the screen, seeing a boy flying and repairing a gyrocopter just in a second without having to check everything. ''Is the next test ready?'' Viktor looked Swain dead in the eye. ''Of course, grand general.'' Swain turned around and stopped right in front of the door. The bird still piercing its gaze through Viktor.
''I want you to make it more difficult for him.''
''How?''
''I trust you know what to do.'' Swain walked out of the door, closing the door and leaving Viktor in the dark room. Viktor turned around to face the screens once more. The put his index finger on a red button.
''As you wish, grand general. Let it freeze.''
He pressed the button and smiled behind his mask.
''Let's see what you are made of, Ray.''
