"My sweet, sweet Katarina.. You know.. I'd never thought you were THAT sentimental but I guess I was wrong. You're still a child after all..", LeBlanc taunted the girl. "Coming all the way back here to save your daddy and your little friend".

Her only reply was charging in front, clutching her twin daggers in her pale hands. Her silver blade pierced through the mage's stomach. Blood came gushing from her wound and lips before she suddenly disappeared.

Jayce was looking. He was trying to fight but the pain from the mage's blast was too strong for him. He was crawling on the floor. Sweat was dripping on his forehead as he desperately tried to put his shattered hextech hammer back together. He and Katarina looked at eachother for a split second. Confused. Tension was filling the air like electricity. Where is she?

"It's all smoke and mirrors young ones", LeBlanc lashed out from a dark corner moving incredibly fast.

Jayce saw her golden chain striking Katarina and knocking one of her daggers out of her grasp. Katarina leaped through the air and somehow managed to evade her consecutive attacks. Spells were coming her way from every direction as the pale woman was repositioning and making sneaky attacks. And Katarina.. she just couldn't reach her. She could only try to avoid her various spells. I hope at least Ezreal's doing fine, Jayce thought as he kept dragging his legs.

He could move them but the pain in his guts was close to unbearable. Katarina was growling and letting out soft sounds unwillingly. It was obvious that she was getting tired at this point.

His vision was blurry. He was too busy watching Katarina that he hadn't realized that he was the one who was being targeted this time.

"Watch out!", he thought he heard Ekko's voice. Shortly after, he saw him. Ekko was wielding a glowing sword that he had just used to repel Leblanc's chain away from Jayce's helpless body.

"Tricky, aren't you?", she quipped before her form disappeared once again.

"Guys..?", Ekko was wielding the sword with his brown eyes alert. Expecting an attack from every possible corner.

Ezreal had just come back to the room. He looked disoriented when he saw his three allies. He was narrowing his eyes clearly trying to decipher what had happened to them.

"You're late! Both of you!", Katarina said angrily as she ran to fetch back her lost dagger.

"Not so easy", LeBlanc emerged through nothingness and knocked her down just before her fingertips touched the leather handle of her knife.

Instinctively, the three of them gathered around Jayce to protect him. He felt worthless. Sitting there, unable to do anything not only to help but to also protect himself. He was dead weight.

Out of the blue, a horde of LeBlancs was sieging them. Numerous identical clones of the mage were looking down on them in a circle, laughing at them. Taunting them. Ezreal could hear her voice coming from every direction. It was messing with his brain.

"Ekko?", he asked hoping that the boy could predict which one of them was the real one using whatever his power was.

"I.. I don't..", Ekko whispered. He looked just as baffled as he was.

Which one is it? Ezreal was asking himself, chanting the question in his mind like a mantra. But he could not answer.

He raised his gauntlet and started to fire blasts of energy like a maniac. The moment he hit them they disappeared but quickly a new clone was taking the previous one's place.

Ekko was trying to dispel every attack that came towards Jayce who still hadn't been able to stand back up. So far so good. The boy was really fast.

Meanwhile Katarina was fambling with her clothes revealing lots and lots of small daggers hidden in all kinds of places. Ezreal raised an eyebrow. Jeez. She's got a whole arsenal in there.

Katarina placed all of her knives between her fingers as quickly as she could.

"Everyone stay back!", she shouted. "I have to get to her"!

"Shut the fuck up pink!", Ekko shouted. "This", the boy pointed towards the four of them, "is a team game! Stop acting like you're fuckin' alone".

The four of them looked at eachother knowingly. Jayce was still messing with his hammer and pressed a few buttons.

A blue ball of hextech energy was shot straight upwards destracting the clones momentarily. The had stopped attacking.

"Now!", Ekko shouted loudly.

Katarina's movement was incredibly fast. She started spinning around throwing her daggers straight into every doppelganger's heart until all of them had disappeared. All but one.

Ezreal threw a golden circle towards LeBlanc holding her in place and making her drop her staff to the ground below.

"No", the woman whispered as Katarina walked slowly towards her with a devilish grin on her beautiful face. She kicked LeBlanc's long staff away from the mage's reach.

"I told you. You are mine", she said as she slit the woman's throat in a perfect line. Blood came gushing through her fatal wound as life was being rapidly drained from her. Until the light had left her eyes. Making them look slightly emptier than before.

"Where did you learn to do that?", Ekko asked the girl impressed.

"I thought you said spinning around was a terrible strategy", Ezreal added in a cheeky manner.

"If it works, it works", she chuckled. "I learned that from a.. friend", she let out a shy smile that Ezreal noticed but chose to remain silent. For now at least.

The ground beneath them started to shake. An earthquake?

"What's that sound?", asked Jayce as he tried to pick up the pieces of his hextech hammer.

"Oh I'm so outta here", Ekko screamed as he used another teleport this time to save nobody but himself.

Goddamn you Ekko you coward.. Where is your team work now?!

Not too long after that, a tall wave of red blood drenched the walls and covered every part of the room. They were running but before long they were swimming in a sea of filthy scarlet blood.

Lux.
I have to get to her.


Garen was never that much of a perceptive person. Sure he could come up with strategies and clever ideas when it came to combat theory but he never acted on hunches and premonitions. His heart felt heavy as he paced around the Crownguard mansion wearing his favourite slippers. He just had this feeling all day long. A feeling that irked his stomach and it just wouldn't go away.

He was struggling to remain still on the sofa as Sebastian came along.

"Sir. You have a phonecall", the old butler said.

"Thank you", he answered politely as he picked up the device off of Sebastian's wrinkled hands. The feeling only grew stronger within him as he did so.

"Hello? Mom?", his voice echoed in the room.

It had to be her or his father. He hadn't seen them in two days. Ever since Luxanna had gone missing his parents were gone as well. But he didn't hold it against them. If anything, he knew them too well. Garen's parents had probably already created a team with the most capable people to find his sister and bring her home safe as soon as possible. That was just how things always worked in the Crownguard household.

The only thing he hated was that he couldn't be a part of the search party no matter how he begged them. He wasn't stupid. He knew. They were just too scared of losing him too.

"Garen? It's Jarvan. Jarvan Lightshield", said the caller.

"Jarvan?", the boy was slightly taken aback. "Did they find her? Tell me something good please". Garen was just too upset to think about the formalities. After all, him and Jarvan had practically grown together. And right now his royal status seemed insignificant.

There was a heavy sigh and then silence.

"I wish I had some good news for you..", he paused, "but I'm afraid I don't.. The Great City of Demacia is under siege right now. As we speak. The Noxian Usurper has lead them right at our doorstep Garen".

He hadn't realized but his palm was covering his mouth. Not that he had anything in particular to say. It just.. didn't feel.. real. Nothing that was happening felt real anymore.

"I know you're probably in shock right now but.. there's more. Swain sent diplomats to negotiate and.. they're saying they have Luxanna"..

"Th-They..? They have her?", Garen's eyes were wide. But how.. What about Katarina? Ezreal? He.. I thought he.. He can't have done this. He wouldn't work with Noxus would he..?

Jarvan sighed once again. Garen knew him too well to know that he was feigning calmness. He could tell from his voice that his friend was worried and scared.

"They're threatening to kill her Garen. Unless we open the gates and surrender"..

Garen tried to remain logical and think without his own emotions.

"You can't do that. You can't surrender Jarvan", he said. His voice sounded hoarse and tears stung his eyes.

"I know..", Jarvan agreed. "This isn't my call anyway. I just thought you should know. Your parents are already here but.. I don't know if we can hold them back for long.. They're just too many. We'll need every bit of help we can get".

"Then I'm coming too", Garen replied decisively.

"No! You can't"!

"I am. Let my parents know. I will see you soon. And Jarvan. Hang in there", he said as he hang up the phone.