Chapter 3 - Podcast Barrage

"That ends this day's podcast. Tune in tomorrow for another chance to our prize and get your story read live on the air."

Lux reached over to her mouse and ended the cast and brought up another. Bent over her desk, one could easily mistake her for sleeping, but she was nursing a slight back injury that was officially from gym class. It was in fact it was from her training where she landed funny. It wasn't bad, but this was the only way it didn't cause a slight irritation that drove her crazy.

"I warned you didn't I?"

"Solas. Just leave it already." Dorcha cut her partner off as he attempted to remind Lux again about his advice. Lux rolled her eyes and shook her head. Getting up she again tried to stretch it out, but it was futile. Some things just were an issue and needed a night of sleep before they worked themselves out.

"I'm going to bed. This is just annoying and I'm not getting work done here." Lux changed quickly and climbed into bed. Dorcha settled down next to her, while eyeing Solas who wisely stayed near the foot of the bed tonight.

"Kha'Zix, your defeat the other day was a product of the unexpected and incompetence. You not only underestimated the Guardian, you underestimated the planet again. Your failures will start adding up. Take care that stack doesn't get too high. Now what is your new plan?"

"Oh great prophet. I admit I made a mistake so I have changed my strategy. Humans waste so much energy it is hilarious. Especially on the emotion of love."

"Yes that is a powerful emotion. Don't underestimate it. People can do crazy things when love is involved."

"That I have become aware of. Black Widow show yourself."

"You called." A large hybrid of a spider and human emerged. "I have already selected tomorrow's victim master."

"Victim? As in one?"

"Yes oh great prophet. I have moved to attacking a single target at a time. Hopefully no one will be able to link the dots before I get the energy that I want."

"Take care Kha'Zix. People will notice sooner or later, and given everything, sooner. Don't overdo it."

"Of course." Kha'Zix left the main hall followed by his new minion.

"Why do I have a bad feeling this will end in failure. Love is one of the most powerful emotions. A good source of energy, but a horror to deal with." A shiver ran down Malzahar's spine as he thought about it. Kha'Zix carefully selected a hole to slip back through. A hole that was left there on purpose.

Lux sat bolt upright in bed. The pain her back gone, but she was aware of something. A dark feeling that she couldn't shake. Carefully eyeing Solas and Dorcha, who were both still fast asleep, she turned to the window and looked out it. Feeling a sense of dread, she knew her next fight would be sooner rather than later. Lux carefully lay back down after grabbing Solas and placing him closer and away from her feet.

The following morning, Lux actually got to school early and now were waiting for their teacher Ms. Teller to show up. "Where is she? She's normally never late, and if she is it isn't by this much."

Lux and Amy both turned towards the door and it still didn't open. "So did you see that new video game at the arcade?"

Lux nodded. She was just waiting for the day to end in order to play it. Amy started going on about it when the door finally opened. Ms. Teller almost fell over herself as she stumbled into the room. A few students in the front row got to their feet as they attempted to help her into her desk. Amy quickly got up and headed out of the room, presumably to get the principal. Ms. Teller just stumbled to her desk with help, and then collapsed.

Lux carefully moved to the window to keep an eye outside and out of the corner of her eye noticed a flicker of light and immediately felt a sense of dread. 'Great here we go again.' The door opened again jolting Lux from her thoughts and in rushed the principal along with the school nurse. After checking to see if Ms. Teller was ok, they quickly called for an ambulance. Lux snuck close enough to hear what was being said.

"She isn't drunk, and for that level of exhaustion it would be evident for a few days. People just don't drop off like that. Even with no sleep the night before."

"Agreed. Is it something that could pass to the students?"

"I don't think so. But then I don't know what this is." Lux already was running through her thoughts and she didn't like where they were going.

'People can drop off like that if they have their energy drained.' Lux made a quick escape from the class when the ambulance arrived and she made her way to the roof where Dorcha and Solas were getting their usual morning nap. Lux quickly poked them both awake.

"I need you two to see something quickly." They both nodded and hopped onto her shoulders. Lux made her way back down quickly to the room where Ms. Teller was finally about to be wheeled out. It was only then did she notice the bracelet on Ms. Teller's wrist. She normally didn't wear jewelry so it was a surprise to see, especially when it did look so expensive. Dorcha got a quick look at it and after turning her body to Lux and Solas they all knew that is what was responsible. The real question is where it was coming from.

Lux's class was put into sub mode, which meant nothing got done and everyone just did homework. Lux made quick work of her homework and then just sat and talked to Amy about the new podcast that had grabbed everyone's attention.

"I know it is so amazing. Just a short story based on a few things and submit it by midnight. I've already written for today so hopefully I'll win. I don't know what the prize is but they don't ask anything apart from where the prize can be sent. Well I guess I'll see." The rest of the class was discussing what they prizes could possibly be. Despite the show being new, it seemed to have a lot of funding because the prizes were being given out daily.

Lux just sat back in her chair after a while, noting that the conversation had turned to something completely irrelevant and she was just in thought. She kept getting that feeling that the Void was involved in this somehow, but she couldn't immediately think of a reason why they switch tactics so quickly. "Hey Lux."

Amy's voice knocked her out of her thoughts. "Yeah what?"

"Want to go shopping with us today or not?"

"Sure." With that the final bell rang and they all headed over to the mall. The trip was both short and uneventful as they all quickly were reminded of the homework they neglected to do during the sub. Lux made like she didn't do it either but made a detour to the Library. Using the secret entrance, she made her way to the tower and once inside, found Vel hovering over a table with a bracelet.

"Ah Guardian, I trust your day was productive?"

"Well our teacher just collapsed and with a sub, not much got done. What is that? Hey that looks like the bracelet that my teacher was wearing."

"Because it probably is similar. This was taken from someone who yesterday collapsed on the job. It has traces of void energy, but not much. At least not anymore. It seemed like this was a once use item. Intended to gather a large amount of energy quickly and then become ordinary. A very different tactic, but a familiar one."

"Black Widow. She is like the Spider God of legend, which is actually where I got the idea for her creation. Please do me a favor, when you find her, please do make sure she meets a fitting end."

"I will. I'm going upstairs for a bit." Vel nodded and went back to his research. Upstairs Lux looked around and then just sat down. She didn't feel like training but instead went to the third floor and decided to take a brief nap before going back home. Awaking an hour later, Lux came back down to find Vel still fawning over the bracelet.

"Enjoy your nap?"

"Yes. How did you…"

"I didn't hear any crashes from the second floor. So I hypothesized you either went back into the Library through the entrance on the third floor, or you took a nap. I decided to go with nap based on your walk in here. You were clearly tired."

"Good guess."

"No a guess Lux, just an educated…well I guess a guess nonetheless. Anyway I've learned a few things. I know who you are facing. He looked different a century ago so that is why I didn't recognize him at first. His name is Kha'Zix. He seeks perfect through evolution, even to an extreme. He is an assassin and as such is cunning, patient, and rarely underestimates his foes. It is curious why he has been defeated by you twice. Especially considering your inexperience. Perhaps I have overestimated his abilities or there is another possibility."

"He's under pressure to produce results and as such is making mistakes?"

"Yes actually. Nice deduction. Clearly the void needs energy and maybe I've underestimated how much they need and how quickly. Since we are cut off from a large part of the galaxy, we can't determine how bad they are and how much they have won or lost. But if they are doing this, then perhaps we have more hope than I originally thought."

"I don't understand."

"If Malzahar is as desperate as I think he is, he will get angry quickly and will make mistakes. It is those mistakes we have to capitalize on. Hopefully we can trust that one who helped you a few days ago. However I do believe you need to get home."

Lux looked at her watch and quickly bolted out the door. Vel laughed to himself and turned back to the bracelet. It had no void energy left. Clearly a onetime use item, he still knew that leaving it in the tower was a bad idea. He quickly placed it in the container it came in and returned it to the officer at the front desk. He then went back to his office and pondered what was happening.

Lux for her part carefully made her way back home and managed to sneak in and past her mother until her brother stood at the top of the stairs. "Late again."

"And mom didn't notice?"

"Nope. She's cooking a special dinner so you know how she gets. Lux as much as you annoy me to death, there is something different about you and I don't like it. If you continue doing this I'm going to have keep going out to find you."

"Great. Glad I know I'm still annoying you." Lux forced her way past her brother and into her room. Dorcha and Solas jumped off her pack and onto her bed. Lux sat at her desk and after checking her computer, found a new podcast up from that new channel. Immediately starting it, she placed her headphones down and just turned it to her speakers.

"Good day people. It is that time again. We continue to get letters every hour and after readying them, we chose this one. Today's author is Amy." Lux immediately turned to her computer and listened intently. She noticed immediately that it was Amy's writing style and something fell into the pit of her stomach. Dorcha seemed to take notice of Lux's attention and hopped onto her desk to listen too.

"This podcast is still new right?" Lux nodded in reply while still listening. "Curious that it has this kind of following already isn't it?"

"It's love Dorcha. People will always be drawn to love. Especially when it is a story. They can put themselves into it. It doesn't have to make sense. It just has to just be there."

"Still I'm worried. Something seems off."

"I agree." Solas hopped up to join them. "This is just a little too popular for something so new. I know it happens, especially with free stuff, but still I've never seen an ad on their cast or anything else."

"Good point." Lux turned her head in thought and it was a few minutes before she noticed that the cast had ended.

"If Amy has something tomorrow then I guess we will know and we'll do something about it then. But for now, there really isn't much we can do right? We can't even figure out where they are uploading it from."

"True. I'll work on that." Dorcha hopped over the keyboard and Lux was amazed on how she worked the keys. For her part, Lux went back to her work and couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

After eating dinner, Lux came back up only to find Dorcha still working, but she seemed determined. Solas was sitting on top of her textbook just watching. "She still at it?"

"Yes. This isn't good. She gets like this she won't stop. I've seen her pass out like this before." Lux just looked concerned, but knew enough about Dorcha already to not get in her way. Instead, she changed into her pajamas and went to bed which was surprising with the amount of typing that Dorcha was still doing. Lux and Solas quickly drifted off to sleep while Dorcha kept searching. Finally she found her answer, and quickly turning back saw Lux and Solas asleep.

'Well perhaps waiting until morning wouldn't hurt, especially since there is little than can be done on it tonight.' Dorcha leaped from the desk onto Lux's bed and finally went to sleep.

The following morning saw Lux in another panic as she forgot to set the alarm and was running trying to get out. Garen just rolled his eyes at his sister as she ran out the door. She was just not late enough where she could still run it. Dorcha and Solas meanwhile were having a nice time this morning because as soon as they realized Lux was late, they both hopped into her backpack rather than trying to ride on her shoulders. Lux didn't know, but she knew that either way, she'd see them at school so she didn't worry about it much.

Sprinting through the front door, Lux quickly sprinted into her seat before the bell rang. Collapsing at her desk, she managed to catch her breath before the sub walked in. Except it wasn't an ordinary sub. Headmistress Fiora walked through the door and quickly turned to the class. There was a collective gulp.

"Now Ms. Teller is still out and will be for the rest of the day. So I'm going to be your sub. Mainly because I couldn't find one on short notice. Ms. Teller is doing well and will be back tomorrow. So attendance."

The headmistress quickly ran through the list pausing to see that each student was raising their hand. Lux barely got her hand up before drifting off.

"Well now that everyone is here, for the day you will have a self study class. The homework is on this sheet so it is due tomorrow. Because I have other duties to attend to, mainly finding you a sub, will have to trust you all that you can behave and not destroy the school. I'll return at random intervals to see if you are keeping to that."

And with that, Fiora walked out, closing the door behind her. With a free study day, the class quickly forgot about the homework, save for a few who decided to do it and then talk. Everyone however was gathered around Amy as she opened the box she got for getting her story on the podcast yesterday. Lux was just finishing her work when Amy got it open. Pulling out a bracelet very similar to Ms. Teller's from the other day, Lux took notice immediately. Before she could stop Amy however, she put it on and after a few seconds, passed out. A few of the others who tried to help her also passed out, which caused everyone to move away and a classmate to run and get Fiora.

In just a few minutes, Lux was riding in the back of an Ambulance to the hospital with Amy. The headmistress had given her permission and had notified her parents. Her father would be meeting her at the hospital along with Amy's mother. When they arrived, Vel'Koz was also there and quickly took the bracelet off Amy's wrist. He examined it quickly and then put it in a special container.

'Your friend will be ok. This got more energy than they were expecting however. Stay on watch Guardian.' Vel was moving away as he spoke to Lux but she quickly got the message and nodded ever so slightly so Vel would see. She followed Amy's mother inside and into a ward where everyone who was affected by the recent attacks was being treated. At most, they were here for a few days while they recovered and then were sent home. Lux took note and saw there were still a few from days ago.

"Thank you again Lux for coming, but please go home. I'm sure Amy will be fine. I don't want you to get in trouble." Lux turned to Amy's mom and just nodded. Grabbing her bag, she left the room while she noticed Solas slip out and hurry under the bed to keep an eye on Amy and listen to any conversations that may come up. Lux nodded and hugged her father on her way out, but instead of hurrying home, she detoured to the Library and entering the tower, saw it empty save for a note telling Lux to come to the main labs underneath the Library. Lux reentered the Library and after flagging down Nasus, who got her into the tunnel, entered the main labs where Vel did most of his work.

"I see you got the message. How is your friend doing?"

"Energy drained. She'll be out of it for at least a day they said. What is causing this?"

"These bracelets. They are infused with Void energy to collect energy from those around it and once it is full, or drained everything in the immediate vicinity, they transmit and go dead. At that point they are nothing more or less than cheap, knock off jewelry."

Dorcha quickly hopped out of Lux's bag to the counter. "Last night I managed to find where those transmissions were coming from. They are being uploaded from a local radio station using its internet connection. Likely someone there knows what is going on."

"Then you have to get into the station and find out Guardian. And do so quickly. Least we rn out of time." Lux nodded but then her face fell.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that? I can't exactly go walking in like this. Someone is going to notice me."

"I think I might have an answer to that question." Dorcha ran into the other room and came back with what looked like a bracelet. Lux looked at it carefully and it was different. It had stars on it like on her Star Guardian outfit. "This will allow you to disguise yourself temporarily. But it does have limitations, time. It will only work for a short time but hopefully it should be long enough for you to accomplish what you need to. It always seems to have a somewhat random time frame."

"Great so go into a building with hostile aliens and hope the power that keeps me from being recognized doesn't give out before I find what I'm looking for?"

"Pretty much." Dorcha smiled while Lux let her head fall into the table in front of her, rolling her eyes while doing it. "Oh don't worry about it that much. I'm sure there will be enough time. And anyway, there will be an indicator when it is about to give out." Lux just hit her head again on the table. Vel was silently watching and laughing to himself.

'She means well.'

"It doesn't mean it helps" was all Lux could get out as Dorcha laughed a bit. "You two are coming with me so wipe those looks off your faces." Dorcha stopped laughing immediately and her face fell. Now it was Vel's turn to laugh and he went into the other room. Lux was sure if he was human or a yordle, he would be rolling on the floor. She grabbed the two poros and headed out.

Lux quickly made her way across town and made her way to the radio station. Once there she noticed the security around and while it would have been easy to slip in to a degree, she decided to test her new gadget. Running her finger across the bracelet, she said "Masking Bracelet, transform me into a radio executive." With a flash, Lux truly looked the part, and noticing Dorcha trying to slip away, she grabbed the poro and Lux placed her on her shoulder. "You're not getting away that easily." The look on Dorcha's face gave Lux all the satisfaction she needed.

Making her way into the station, no one seemed to question her and Lux took that as the power was doing its job. She quickly asked the receptionist about the podcast and she directed Lux to the fourth floor. Lux hopped into the elevator and upon arriving at the right floor, she made her way quietly off the elevator. She looked around and after entering a somewhat large room, she saw something that sent a shiver up her spine. The entire crew seemed to be asleep, their energy drained. In the middle of the room, was Kha'Zix and a half spider half human…thing.

Lux quickly dived behind a desk, and listened. "Excellent Widow. This is going well. Hopefully this next victim will bring in the same amount of energy that the last did."

"Master, the previous one got more people than the single. So it is likely that someone took notice of it. Hopefully not the Guardians."

"I doubt it." Lux grabbed for the locket to transform but then the TV came on as she pressed the remote by accident. Kha and Widow turned to it. Lux quickly ducked back down as they both looked around, but Lux taking a quick peek, noticed them both turned to the TV, assuming correct that one of them had pressed the remote or something by accident.

"And keeping up with our report earlier today, there are now 19 victims of the so called 'fainting spell'. These people don't seem to share much in common that investigators can find, but with two more victims at a local middle school today, efforts have been doubled. Police Chief Caitlyn has reassured the public that if it were a biological or chemical agent, the effects would be more widespread. She hasn't ruled out some kind of magic yet though, but wasn't saying more. Next up…" the TV cut out as Kha put his blade arm through it.

"So much for stealth. I've managed to deliver the energy we've collected to Malzahar, but we should probably cease operations for now as that no doubt got the Guardians attention. Lux just grabbed the locket again.

"Your right it got my attention. Star Guardian Power Up." Lux's transformation was lost on the two voidlings. Lux stood up from her position, and repeated what she just said. "Your right. It did get my attention."

Kha'Zix expressed his rage in the form of a groan and turned to see Lux standing there with her baton already in position to counter anything the two of them threw at her. "Why are you always causing trouble. I'm getting sick and tired of it. I am a Star Guardian, sworn to protect the universe against all those who wish to throw it into chaos. And that means you."

"Well Guardian, just try it." Kha and Widow both launched their attacks against Lux at the same time, but with a well placed barrier and singularity she not only shielded herself, but struck back as well. Lux quickly sprinted out the room, eager to get away from innocent bystanders, she made her way to the roof, where she was joined quickly by both of Voidlings. "Well, you know how to move fast, but you won't get away."

"Wasn't trying to." Kha's face was puzzled but then alarm as he quickly dived out of the way. Black Widow however didn't put the pieces together and was hit by a binding, and then a blast of light, and Lux really hit her point. Diving across the roof, throwing more bolts as she ducked behind a structure to quickly catch her breath. After a brief second, she bolted out again throwing a singularity, but Widow was ready for this one. Lux threw a singularity, which while still hitting, Widow threw some web and caught Lux causing her to hit the roof. Hard.

Trying to quickly shake off the daze she was in, Lux turned and threw a binding at Widow, while Kha was also trying to shake off his self inflicted injury. He has apparently dived straight into another large metal object on the roof. Lux tired to get the webbing off, but it was no use. Widow carefully approached her prey.

"Well Guardian, it seems that you are caught in my web. And now I will end you." Lux grabbed her baton to try for a Spark, but before she could even move, another large spider showed up out of nowhere and tacked Widow. Lux and Kha had the exact same face that said 'what is going on.' Widow, blindsided was knocked into a wall. Also very hard. When she looked up to see her attacker, the wasn't a spider, but rather a woman, who also had spider parts, but it certainly was more graceful.

"There is only one spider god and only one who gets to look like me. Now be gone from here or you will have problems." The woman stepped over to Lux and quickly severed her bindings.

"I think you can handle this from here. Espeically now that more help has arrived." She said to Lux. Turning to Kha'Zix. "As for you, insult the spider god again, and you will face my full wrath." Transforming back into a spider, she hopped off the roof as an energy blast hit Widow again. Lux looked up and saw Debonair standing on at the door to the stairs.

"My my what to we have here. It seems an infestation. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Now were we?" Lux threw her baton and sent out another singularity and binding. Hitting Widow and Kha'Zix respectively. Debonair threw a pulse as well at Widow now she was reeling from the hits she had taken. Angry she lashed out again with the web, but Debonair deployed some kind of energy gate and sped up dodging it. Widow closed the distance and he then used an energy field to force her back. Debonair then transformed his weapon into its hammer mode and knocked Widow back into a wall.

Lux meanwhile threw more bolts at Kha'Zix who while he missed most and threw his spikes at Lux who while dodging most of them, also took a few hits. She staggers back to her feet with some difficulty turning her body to block Kha'Zix from learning how much damage he'd done. Ignoring the pain from her leg, Lux again threw a series of bolts and another singularity, and Kha again threw more spikes and tried to leap out of the way, but Lux caught him where he landed with a binding that also hit Widow after Debonair jumped out of the way.

"Do it!" Lux charged her baton quickly and Kha'Zix knowing what was coming managed to escape into a void portal, but Widow wasn't as lucky. Beaten down and severely injured, she couldn't move when the binding wore off. She managed to look up to see a giant blast of light, and no more. "Final Spark." Lux threw her power through her baton. Widow was finished and Lux collapsed onto the ground. As much as she was getting used to that, it was still draining. Her leg also refused to support her weight anymore as the adrenaline wore off.

Debonair looked at Lux, who just turned to him and nodded. He took off leaving Lux to her own as she collapsed against a wall after making sure he was truly gone. Dorcha finally managed to make her way up to the roof, or at least it was the first time Lux noticed her.

"Good job Guardian. I'm unsure who that was that came to help, but for now, I say let bygones be bygones."

"No argument here. I'm not in any condition however to follow her. Whatever she was. Either way, I'm not sure if she'll be back or not. I'm happy with not though." Lux got to her feet and after making sure her leg would support her weight, she jumped down and walked off the campus of the radio station before powering down. Her leg hurt less, but it was still a bit painful. Eventually she knew this would catch up to her.

Lux made her way back home and thankfully there was no one home. She carefully made her way to her room and after putting her leg up under her desk, set about just writing and just browsing the internet. Her abilities were getting better, but she still needed to learn when to use her shield and when to dodge. Dorcha just sat on her desk, and Lux knew she was faking sleep but her presence was still appreciated.

Lux was thinking about just taking a nap when Solas jumped through the window. "You do know the door is probably easier?"

"Yes but that is fun. Amy is fine, as are all the others. Mostly the doctors noticed they were tired so really bed rest is the best solution for them. Most will probably be discharged in the next few days. So what did I miss?" Lux retold the battle story, and noticed they were becoming more protracted. "Well we need to build up your stamina then. You can't keep collapsing after the battle or it will be something that the Void will take notice of sooner or later."

"Exactly. Hopefully that is something we can work on in the next few days, but I think you've earned a few days rest. Hopefully." Lux just nodded. Silently hoping as well that she could survive the next fight, and get through a few days of peace allowing her to train and recover.