I do not own League of Legends, or any references made to it in this story. The OC, however, is mine.
o. o. o.
Chapter 16
Champion Insight: Kai'Sa
This place was strange.
The way everything moved. The way it breathed. The way it was alive and for once, not seeking to take her life. The way it was different from what she was used to.
To the merciless sands and the wastelands filled with the fallen. To the monsters constantly hunting anything that moved. To the way that every moment, she had to be ready or else she would become the prey instead of the predator.
And as a predator, she couldn't afford to let her guard down in such a strange and unfamiliar place.
From the trees above, she watched the ones she was traveling with below. The small creatures that used mysterious tools to collect mysterious things. The silent fox whose nine tails sometimes became one. The suspicious woman who was called a traitor by the one who defeated her and almost subjected her to an unknown fate.
With this, they can be unaware and let their guards down. At the same time, she can gather information and be prepared for the moment she may ever have to eliminate them. A situation can change in an instant. From companions to threats.
It happened before, more than once. There is nothing stopping it from happening again.
Movement from the edge of her vision. From below. Close distance.
She turned her head in that direction to find a small creature grabbing a colorful object from a tree. It took a couple bites from it and then scurried off into the bushes. With her abilities, she could still sense it, but she stopped focusing on it once it was clear it would continue running and leave the immediate area.
"…"
Kai'Sa looked at the group ahead. Once they were at the very edge of her enhanced senses, she jumped down from the tree she was on. Not a single sound was made when her feet touched the ground. She approached the tree and the colorful objects it held and took one, looking at it roll around on the palm of her hand.
"…"
"You have been staring awfully long at that peach," a voice said, making Kai'Sa freeze up. "I'm curious to know what is so special about it that it caught your eye."
She did not waste any time turning around to face the threat. Two blades materialized and hovered above her hands, ready to both cut and blast the enemy. Her two wings pulsed and charged up, waiting for her command to unleash the energy they contained.
The enemy was the suspicious woman. Standing. Not in attack position. Calm on the inside yet the pulse she felt was fast and active.
Making sure to keep her within her sight, she looked toward the group. The woman was there as well and even though she was far away, she could tell that there was no difference between her and the one before her.
Somehow, she was able to duplicate herself. Did these duplications have the same abilities? Was there a limit to how many times she can perform this ability? If there was no limit, did she have some other weakness?
The suit attached to her began to get excited. It was hard for it not to when coming across prey with abilities it had never seen before. It was a chance to evolve and become stronger than what it had been before. Because of it, it was screaming at her to attack, inflicting pain all over her body.
But she endured it. She couldn't be rash. Eventually the pain lessened as if the suit was apologizing for getting ahead of itself. But the pain never went away. It never did.
The two of them stared at each other, neither of them moving. Neither of them taking their eyes off the other.
"…Heh." Her eyes followed the woman as she walked towards the tree and took a colorful object from it. No, a peach. That is what she called it. "What a strange and unique situation that we are in."
She was caught off guard when the woman offered the peach to her.
Kai'Sa glanced at her hand that was supposed to be holding her own peach. It was crushed with small remains and a colorful liquid dripping from her hands.
But she didn't take the peach she offered. There was no telling what she will do once she gets too close and lets her guard down.
"You don't trust easily, do you?" the suspicious woman said, still holding out her hand. There was a sharp pain from her suit. Annoyance for making her thoughts and actions obvious to a deadly threat. "Although given your last interaction with people, it's understandable that you would be wary. It is a wise decision well."
"However, I wonder," she continued, "would you react this way if it was the one who saved you making the same offer? Zike?"
At the mere mention of his name, the pain coming from her suit vanished and she did her absolute best to not show relief. It was short lived, however, and once her suit realize he wasn't anywhere nearby, the pain came back. It was worse than before, angry that it was deceived.
"H-He is an unknown and someone to be wary of," Kai'Sa said, struggling to keep her voice neutral. However, it was for naught when she saw the woman's smile widen. It was a tiny movement but for someone like her, it was very noticeable.
"I agree," the suspicious woman said, not calling out her moment of weakness. "There are many questions surrounding him. What is this place is and how it is attached to him? Who is he and what is he planning by helping and enhancing unique individuals? At the moment, he is shrouded in mystery."
The woman looked at the peach in her hand and lightly tossed it up in the air. Only once. "However, what is not a mystery is that were we found by anyone else, we would not be taking this relaxing stroll nor having this pleasant conversation. It is like I said before. This situation is strange and unique. A rarity that should not have happened for people like us and especially for someone as unique as yourself."
The woman shrugged and offered the peach again.
"Yet here we are."
Kai'Sa unsummoned her weapons and hesitantly took it from her. She tensed up as the suspicious woman's body started to shatter.
"Take advice from someone who was in your situation once before," the suspicious woman said as she started to shatter into pieces. "Enjoy it while it lasts. But if you are capable of doing so, put in your best effort to make it last."
With that, the suspicious woman disappeared, leaving Kai'Sa alone with a peach in her hand.
"…"
Although her suit protested, her mask slowly unfolded. It reduced her enhanced senses but in exchange, they became clearer. Less muffled, less purple. More bright. More colorful.
She took a bite out of the peach in her hand.
"It tastes…sweet."
o. o. o.
Zike gasped once he finally got the chance to take in air instead of dirty sewage water. The entire tunnel trembled, and he could still hear explosions going off in the distance, but he ignored that in favor of swimming towards the walkway. It took a lot more effort with Jinx in one arm who was also catching her breath, but he managed to get her on land first and dragged himself along with her soon after.
"Bleh." Much like him, she did her best to rid herself of whatever disgusting sludge ended up in her mouth but there would still be remnants by the end of it. As for getting rid of the smell, that was a lost cause. "Never leaving the escape up to you again."
"Never giving you the detonator again until we get to a safe distance."
Another explosion went off and her expression shifted from disgust to satisfaction. "Worth it."
Zike rolled his eyes. He should have expected her to press the trigger as soon as he gave it to her. In his defense, she was having a bad day and needed something to turn it around. She looked so happy and excitedly laughing when the explosions went off.
Or maybe it was because of the look he had when she pressed the trigger. Hard to tell. He was too busy running for his life with her at the time to give it much thought.
That, and focusing on swimming through the sewage system. It was the only route they could take that wasn't swarmed by cultists or blocked off by the collapsing tunnels. But there was also another reason based on a suspicion he had. A suspicion that ended up being well founded with the message he got from the system while he was swimming.
An enemy has attempted to detect you but has failed due to your current situation.
He didn't know how their detection worked. However, he did know that there were limitations since he wasn't detected before he entered their base. Now he had something to work with in case he ever encountered these cultists again. He doubted this would be his last encounter with them.
"Next time, I will be in charge of the escape," Jinx said after doing her best to clean herself off. "And it'll be much more exciting."
Zike took off his white jacket and wrung it out. "Will there be a lot more explosions as well?"
She gasped. "Are you a mind reader?!"
"No. But I'm getting an idea of the sort of things you like." Once no more water was leaking from his jacket, he put it on and made himself look somewhat presentable. "Just make sure that we live through whatever plan you make up."
"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Probably."
"We'll see," Zike said while opening his map. "We still need to get out of here though. So, what we need to do is…"
He trailed off once he turned towards her, barely conscious and struggling to stand. Even after signing the contract, this was her current state.
"What?" She asked as if nothing was wrong.
Zike sighed. Without a word, he turned around and crouched.
It didn't take Jinx long to figure out what he was doing. The smile on her face disappeared. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped once she saw the look he gave her. She approached hesitantly and he didn't move as she positioned herself for him to carry her. Once she was secure, he slowly stood up and walked.
The only sounds that could be heard was his footsteps, the flowing water, and her weak breathing.
"Is…it over?" Jinx asked after a moment.
It was only after a minute had passed that he finally spoke up.
"I don't know and I don't want to tell you a lie." The grip she had around his neck tightened. "But as long as you have a contract with me, I will watch over you. Get some rest."
It was only when the grip on him loosened that he opened his screens again.
Unable to send Jinx back to Summoner's Rift. Please step away from the champion or wait until the quest's time limit has passed.
He tried to remove Jinx's arms from his neck, but she tightened it in response, refusing to let go. So, the waiting game it is then.
Shaking his head, he looked at his map. Vi was far enough away from the cultists with Evelynn and Sona in tow and Ekko had reached his destination. He had the future time user separate from Seraphine's group as soon as he learned that the man from before was headed for them. There wasn't much he could do in that situation, so he had him do something far more important instead. It looked like things went off without a hitch on his end.
The same couldn't be said for Seraphine. Her health was too low for his liking, and she wasn't moving. But she was still alive. He had a feeling that the same could be said for the friends she was with.
Which was a problem since he had to get them to sign the contract and they wouldn't be pleased that they were used as a distraction. Even if he did manage to save their friend, they would still be pissed and wouldn't listen to any explanation he would give them. It was one of the annoyances that came with dealing with students.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to make this work. Quite the opposite.
"Now, let's see," Zike muttered to himself while sending everyone except Seraphine and Jinx to Summoner's Rift, "Given that they are students and the universe their skins are in, I wonder if a phone has been invented…"
o. o. o.
It didn't take him long to get close to Seraphine's position nor to find the signs of battle. Hard not to notice when he had to start using the light of a control ward to watch his step. From how long the damages to the tunnel stretched, her group tried making a stand but came across an enemy that was too strong or numerous and was forced to retreat.
There were no bodies. Some blood spots on the wall and ground but no bodies. It was a coin toss whether they heeded his advice of not killing anyone or decided to ignore it. However, it did tell him that these cultists either had some regenerative abilities or were more formidable than expected. Best to stick on the safe side and assume it was both. Plus, he doubted that the cultists here were Blood Moon's strongest members. How fun.
"Right about here."
Zike stopped walking. Seraphine and her group were just around the corner. Looking at his map, she was still surrounded by four grey dots and much like her, they weren't moving from their current position despite no enemies being nearby. Traps or magic were the most likely causes, both of which can be dealt with easily thanks to his ward and newly unlocked spell.
Once he shifted in place to make sure Jinx was still secure, he rounded the corner, exposing him to the sight of red electricity dancing across the walls. It was the side of effect of a trap being disabled by oracle lens or a control ward. Even so, it was still surprising how many there were.
He didn't look at them for long. Most of his focus on the five individuals scattered before him. All of them were in bad shape. Their clothes and uniforms had holes in them and there was a disturbingly large amount of blood. Hard to tell if it was their blood or the blood of the cultists but it did tell him that the regeneration theory was very likely.
But thinking about future encounters can come later. He still had to make sure they were still conscious to start making contracts.
"You all dead yet?" Zike asked. No answer. "Groan in pain and misery if you're not." This time, he did receive a response although it was only from a few of them. "Oh good. If you can feel pain, you're still alive."
"Heh, change your mind and here to finish us off?" One of them said. Pinkish hair. Weapon that looked like a grappling hook. Battle Academia Akshan. "And here I thought you were a man of your word."
Zike raised an eyebrow. "Hey, I never break my word. Twisting and bending it though? Fair game."
Akshan blinked as he began to realize that he wasn't speaking to an enemy. "You're not that masked man. How did you get through all the…"
He trailed off as he looked up and noticed the red electricity bouncing off the walls. "Huh, you don't see that every day."
"If you splash a power generator or something with water and add in some video effects, I'm sure you can get the same result. I don't recommend being nearby though."
The champion chuckled but groaned a moment later due to whatever pain he was in. "Here to help us? How do you intend to do that?"
How indeed. Healing them one by one would take too much time due to the cooldown. Even if he could heal them all, it wouldn't matter in the end. That man from before had teleportation abilities and was somehow able to find them easily.
"Depends. You have a phone or something?"
If this was regular Runeterra, phones would not have been invented yet. However, with alterations and the futuristic look of Battle Academia added into the mix, there was a good chance that has changed. He knew what a video was after all.
"Front left pocket my friend."
And turns out, they have been invented. This will make things a lot easier. Zike nodded and approached to take it. "Password?"
"Don't have one. As if anyone can take my pho- easy! Easy!" Akshan suddenly said when he wasn't gentle about taking the phone for no reason at all. Yep, no reason at all. "To be honest, I expected our rescue to be much…flashier and exciting."
"That implies you were expecting a rescue to begin with." Zike said as he began fiddling with the phone. At the same time, he opened a screen showing champion biographies.
"Seraphine did mention that we could trust a mystery friend of hers."
Zike raised an eyebrow and looked at said champion, but she was unconscious. He turned his attention back to the phone. It was simple to work with, but the internet connection was horrible. Stupid lag. "I think she's a bit too trusting if she thinks some stranger she just met is her friend."
"On the contrary, it's hard to gain her trust. But it's not my story to tell. And what of our other friend, Sona?"
Zike tilted his head. "She's alive."
"Is that true? That's-"
"You're the one that used us as a distraction," a voice said, interrupting Akshan. "You're the one that nearly got us killed."
Zike blinked as his map suddenly appeared in front of him, interrupting his work. One enemy, right behind him. He looked in that direction to find a woman struggling to stand. However, she had no trouble giving him a heated and hate-filled glare. It would have been more threatening along with her sword and shield if she could do anything.
But the problem of champions not being where they are supposed to be is getting ridiculous. Battle Academia Leona? The same Leona who is supposed to be miles away from Zaun? Really?
"Yep," Zike said unashamedly, turning his attention back to the phone. "Good job with that by the way. Made my job a lot easier."
"You!"
Even as he heard her weapons scrape against the ground as she attempted to approach him, he didn't turn his attention to her. If she could throw a cheap shot and blast him with magic, she would have already done so.
"Leona, stop. You won't be able to do anything even if you tried," another voice said. Battle Academia Caitlyn. He could recognize that posh accent from anywhere.
"And it's not a good idea to attack the person whose helping you out~" Zike quipped.
"Do you realize what you've done?! Thanks to what you did, we nearly died! And yet here you are acting like it's some sort of joke."
"Well, it's a good thing that you all didn't die." Zike said. Although in some cases, death would have been preferable to staying alive. Like if the person they fought decided to torture them for information instead of just-
His thoughts were cut off when the tunnel filled with light. Instead of looking towards the source of it, he looked at his control ward and the traps on the wall. Thankfully, they were still functioning, and the light was beginning to diminish.
"This is all your fault," Leona panted out from her pathetic attempt to strike him down.
"You sure about that?" He could humor her for a moment. He had only a few minutes left to save them. No pressure. "Let me summarize the situation and correct me if I'm wrong. After finding Seraphine and learning that her friend was kidnapped, you all decided to take matters into your own hands."
"All you are doing is just shifting the-"
"I have yet to hear anyone correct me." Zike said. He didn't hear anything from her, but he could tell her hate towards him was increasing rapidly. "If that's the case, I'll continue. After making the decision, you all learned about my attempt to make a contract with her and made her delay accepting it."
"You were too suspicious." This time it was Caitlyn that spoke up.
"And I am still suspicious now." No point in denying the truth. Although it was good to know there wasn't some other reason Seraphine delayed in accepting the contract. "But what's important is the fact that I was not involved and didn't know what was happening up until you all unknowingly headed into a trap. A trap which you all sprung, placing all of you, including Seraphine who is a civilian and has no fighting experience to my knowledge, in danger. After this, you fought, you lost, and here we are. Explain to me again how this is my fault?"
Zike smirked at Leona who was gripping her sword and shield so tightly that he was wondering why she hasn't drawn blood yet.
"We go to a school where we are supposed to be heroes," a new voice said. Zike looked at him. Ezreal, Battle Academia. "Are you telling us we should've ran away and ignored this?"
"Ignore? No, of course not. Something like this shouldn't be ignored. The problem is that you all think you're invincible and can do everything by yourselves. That everything will turn out okay just like in stories and movies. A shiny medal and a pat on the back for a job well done."
"But are you not doing the same thing we are doing?" Caitlyn argued.
"If we were doing the same thing, why have your actions led to your current state instead of the other way around?" Zike said. She looked at the person on his back and bit her lip. She was the only one that seemed to notice. "Don't beat yourself up too much about it. I don't expect hero wannabes to be able to answer the question."
"We wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for that card wielding freak!" Ezreal said.
"I seem to remember you getting in the way multiple times due to your inexperience Ezreal. Or should I say, freshman," Caitlyn said.
Zike tilted his head. Card wielding freak. Probably Twisted Fate. It explained the teleportation abilities.
"Oh?" Akshan suddenly entered the chat. "But we were all following your great leadership, Caitlyn. And yet, why is it that we are in our predicament?"
He wasn't that special in the game. His poke and that yellow card were a pain in the ass, but he wasn't too difficult to deal with once you caught him off guard. Blood Moon? No. Since Akshan assumed he was Twisted Fate, it was probably his crime city nightmare version of himself.
Leona snorted. "Maybe because you don't know how to use your weapon and got in the way like your fellow classmate."
However, he was worried about his ultimate ability. Yes, it allowed him to teleport anywhere on the map, but the more troublesome part was that it gave him a view of everyone on the map in the game. Here, it would translate to seeing everyone around him with the worst-case scenario being able to see everyone in the world.
Was he detected when he was infiltrating the base and left alone? Nah, he would have already been dead if that happened. That message he got when he was swimming in the sewers must have been him. But just to be safe, it was best to assume he knows.
"I am so sorry. It is just that it is hard to see where I am going when someone chooses to use their weapons as a flashlight to blind me," Akshan shot back.
Oh, right. He still had to wrap things up here and get them to sign the contract. He already finished what he needed to do on the phone so he kind of forgot about it for a moment.
"Hey guys, quick question. Did you tell your teachers that you all were going on this little adventure?" Every single one of them stopped talking and snapped their heads towards him. "I'm guessing that's a no. So, it would be quite a shame if they were to learn where you all are and what you're doing."
"Go ahead and try to tell them," Leona scoffed. "You don't know what schools we go to nor who to contact. Even if you did, they wouldn't believe you."
"Yeah, you're right. It would be hard to believe without any evidence. Hey, say cheese everyone!" Zike said, taking a picture of everyone's shocked faces. "What a nice photo. And…send."
At that moment, a chill went through all the students.
"Who…did you send that photo to?" Caitlyn asked.
"I sent a message before that as well. As for who I sent it to, your friend is right that I don't know your teacher's names. It would take too much time to figure that out." Zike shrugged. "So, I just made things easier and sent it to the headmasters of your schools."
All of them screamed in horror. Ah, music to his ears. Although there was a good chance their screaming would wake Jinx up. No wait, she was smiling. Even when she was unconscious, she took joy in chaos.
"Do you realize what you've done?!" Caitlyn shouted.
"Yep," Zike said.
"But I still have tests to take! Wait, will we get expelled?!" Ezreal shouted.
"Probably. Sucks to be you."
"You scoundrel!" Akshan said, all his friendliness and good cheer towards him evaporating in an instant.
"I'll take that as a compliment. Oh, and what was that about 'as if anyone can take my phone' that you tried saying before? How's that working out for you?"
"If I could, I would kill you right now," Leona said.
"Aw, your horrible attempt to be threatening is adorable."
In the face of so much panic and rage, Zike clapped his hands. "As it is right now, if the best-case scenario occurred where you all are only suspended, it would still put you behind your fellow classmates. But fortunately, I have a solution. You can either be left here to your current fate or accept the same contract I gave Seraphine where you can climb back up from the bottom. With a bit of…hard effort, of course."
He gave them all a savage grin which made them all shudder in place.
"So, what will it be?"
Akshan (Battle Academia Alteration) Bond Score: Level 5
Leona (Battle Academia Alteration) Bond Score: Level 5
Caitlyn (Battle Academia Alteration) Bond Score: Level 5
Ezreal (Battle Academia Alteration) Bond Score: Level 5
Contract with Akshan (Battle Academia Alteration), The Rogue Sentinel, has been established.
Summoner and Contracted Champions Stats and Abilities have increased.
Contract with Leona (Battle Academia Alteration), The Radiant Dawn, has been established.
Summoner and Contracted Champions Stats and Abilities have increased.
Contract with Caitlyn (Battle Academia Alteration), The Sheriff of Piltover, has been established.
Summoner and Contracted Champions Stats and Abilities have increased.
Contract with Ezreal (Battle Academia Alteration), The Prodigal Explorer, has been established.
Summoner and Contracted Champions Stats and Abilities have increased.
Due to making a contract with 20 champions, you have unlocked another summoning slot and the spell: Clarity
Emergency Contracting Quest #1
Make a contract with all the champions you come across within the given time limit.
Warning: You will no longer be given quests or be teleported to them in the future once the final emergency contracting quest has been given.
Quest Complete!
o. o. o.
Author's Note:
Before I start off, I want to apologize for a mistake I made in the last chapter's note.
I wrote, 'By the end of the month' instead of 'within a month of the last posted chapter' which is what I intended when mentioning my personal deadlines. I did not realize this until a few days before posting this chapter. I apologize for those who were expecting a chapter last month and since the end of the month is easier to keep track of, I'll stick with that instead to prevent this from happening again.
So, to be clear, aiming for two updates a month but once a month if I can't do that. I've finally settled on a method of planning and writing my chapters after stumbling around for a bit. Now it's just a matter of fixing bad habits and enforcing discipline to up the quality and speed of pushing out chapters.
Also, thank you for your comments on my worries about the action. I'm glad that this story has been enjoyable so far and I promise that there will be a lot more interesting things to come…when I update the story and get to it.
With that out of the way, let's talk about this chapter.
I was trying to finish this by yesterday but the champion insight on Kai'Sa prevented that. The troublesome part wasn't Kai'Sa, but Leblanc because I was trying to depict her as cunning and mysterious. It's the schemers that are hardest to write since every action must head toward a master plan. But it all became easier when I decided whether to put it at the beginning or the end of this chapter strangely enough.
Nothing much to say about Jinx right now. We'll get to her later.
As for Battle Academia, I had a lot of fun writing the last bit and they are going to be fun to write after this chapter. Although their presence, or to be more specific, their universe, is concerning for a variety of reasons.
And finally, our main character is done with his eventful trip to Zaun, and everything is wrapped up. Yes…everything.
That is all I have to say for now.
Thanks for reading and be sure to comment and review so that I may improve as a writer!