With her options of retaliatory attacks limited, Rek'Sai needs to find someone who could overwhelm the Guardians in one shot. Not an easy task.
Chapter 12 - A Real Alley of a Problem
Rek'Sai silently patrolled the city looking for someone who could do what she wanted, which was completely an utterly destroy those pesky guardians in one shot. But finding someone like that is rare. So she carefully looked around, but knew that while there were plenty of good marks, looking specifically for someone who matched her requirements was going to be difficult. With dawn approaching, she had to give up for this night, and return to explore a few leads tomorrow.
The crisp morning air was at odds with the air in the workshop. Poppy was taking advantage of the weekend to help her father in his workshop. Looking around, she took stock of the work they were doing. Making custom orders like this was rare, and her father was sparing no expense in the quality, or the craftsmanship. For the most part Poppy was just making sure things were hot enough, or working on a few small things. After an almost all night secession, he finally put his hammer down.
"Poppy, please be sure to close the door when you leave. I'll clean this up later. If you mother protests, I'll deal with it. Just put that away." And with that he left.
"Finally." Poppy made sure to check to make sure that he was really gone, before she closed the door and pulled her pendent from the necklace she was wearing. "Star Guardian Power Up." Poppy's transformation almost caused her hammer to crash on a workbench but she managed to grab it in time. "Now just a few things." Poppy took the strongest hammer her father had and tried to make a few dents in her own hammer, but it failed. Then throwing caution to the winds, took it and slammed it into her leg armor. It hurt a bit, but the armor itself was undamaged. "Well that answers a few things. Now to make sure I didn't real damage."
She carefully checked over the hammer for damage or stress, and seeing none, carefully returned it, powered down, put away the things her father asked, and left. While she wasn't up all night like him, she was still up early enough to be somewhat tired. Deciding to take a nap, she went back to her room and fell back asleep.
Janna was still up when Poppy got up to help her father, and the fact it was late morning didn't seem to faze her as she finally got up. Shaking the tired feeling from her eyes and in general, Janna turned to the homework she put off yesterday, and after a sigh, she decided to start working on it. Knowing that eventually she could be able to just blow the weekend away would be worth it, especially with her parents away for it. They did say she could invite a few friends over if she wished, but that was still a few hours away.
Lux for her part was up much earlier than she wanted due to her brother almost crashing through her bedroom door as he struggled to leave with his equipment. Being woken up early was never a good way to get on her good side, but as he rushed out, all Lux could do was try and fall back asleep, but she quickly sensed that wasn't going to happen. So instead of fighting with it, she just went on her computer for an hour before heading down to grab something to eat. For once she thought she could get a quiet weekend, but if her gut told her anything, it wouldn't stay quiet for long.
Both Lux and Poppy were planning to spend part of the long weekend at Janna's since her parents were out and their parents didn't know that, or at least not the whole story. This would give them an opportunity to connect more with each other. Lux turned to the clock again and groaned. It was still hours before she could go and staying at home today wasn't an option she wanted to deal with, but she also had little choice because if she left before her parents returned, she wouldn't hear the end of it. Groaning again, she put her head back down and grabbed the nearest book and started her homework.
Dorcha and Solas meanwhile had left to see if they could track down a seeker but so far they hadn't had much luck. They also were looking for Rek'Sai's nest, as she always made one, but struck out on that as well. Growing frustrated, they both just decided to settle in the park and wait until Lux had to leave for Janna's. At least they could probably get some free food from the people in the park.
Meanwhile, Rek'Sai was searching for that specific someone, and again wasn't having much luck. She knew venturing out of her nest during the daylight was an extremely bad idea for many reasons, so she stayed put. Still, eventually she would have to make a move and find someone. She decided to sweep the areas of the city she missed the other day. Until then however, she decided to get some sleep. Roaring with a huge yawn, she curled up and went to sleep.
Her nap was not lost on Cho'Gath or Malzahar who were watching. "I told you she wouldn't. She knows better." Cho'Gath said to Malzahar.
"Indeed, but the fact her nest is so close to the city is still worrying. If she makes just a few small mistakes, it will be found. Is there no way to prevent it?" Malzahar asked.
"No Prophet. The nature of the surrounding rock makes anything like that hard to impossible. We risk damaging the portal if we try." Cho'Gath replied.
"Very well then. We can at least hope she keeps it secret." Malzahar said.
The rest of the day dragged on for Lux as she kept trying to do homework, but kept getting distracted. Finally giving up all together, she threw her books onto her bed, grabbed her headset and decided to waste the rest of the time playing games. After just a few games, the clock seemed to have picked up as it was close enough to where she could leave without her parents feeling she was leaving too early. Bragging the bag she had packed hours ago, Lux headed downstairs only to see Garen waiting.
"They told me to drive you." Garen said.
"Hope I haven't keep you waiting long." Lux replied.
"Not really. I've just been watching movies." Garen indicated the tablet on the table. Lux just nodded.
"Well let's go then. I'm assuming you are also going somewhere?" Lux asked walking to the door.
"Spending the night at Jayce's." Lux grabbed her things while Garen grabbed his bag and they headed out to his car. The drive to Janna's was both short and uneventful as they didn't talk much since the only real topic anyone wanted to talk about today is the recent void attacks. For two people who, at least publically, been in a few of them, it wasn't something they wanted to talk about. Lux of course had actually been part of every attack but it still wasn't something she wanted to talk about.
"So picked anything up recently?" Garen suddenly, jolting Lux out of her thoughts.
"What?" Lux asked, caught off guard.
"Sorry should be a bit more specific. Picked up any new games lately?" Garen clarified.
"Not really. There hasn't been anything for a while. The next thing I'm looking forward too is next month. There just isn't a lot out right now." Lux replied, her voice a bit down.
"Well you would know better. Anyway I hope that you do enjoy your weekend. I'm sure it will be nice for mom and dad to get us out of their hair for a few days." Garen said.
"I'm sure." Lux unbuckled as Garen pulled to the side so she could get out. "See you." Garen just nodded in reply as Lux headed up the walk to Janna's house. She opened the door before Lux could even ring the bell.
"Welcome. Hopefully Poppy won't be too long but you never know. Dorcha and Solas have already arrived." Janna said, pointing to the two of them.
"Good I was looking for them." Lux said as she entered to see the two poros laying down, clearly having picked up more than a few snacks from the park. Zephyr picked up his head and just rolled his eyes at the two. "What did I tell you two about handouts and a limit?"
"We can't help that we are so cute." Solas said. Lux and Janna couldn't take that one and burst out laughing, a laugh from behind them made them turn to see Poppy had just arrived and caught the tail end of it. "We just get things handed to us."
"If any of them knew you two were pets, I'm sure that would change." Lux said, still thinking about the collars.
"I'm sure, but so much good food." Dorcha said. Lux, still laughing, put her head in her hands as Janna moved to help Poppy with her bag.
"So my parents said we could use the living room if we wanted, but I figured we'd sleep in my room." Janna said.
"Sounds good." Poppy quickly made herself comfortable on a chair, while Lux put her bag down near the couch. Janna had already made a few snacks, and the three of them decided to just waste time watching movies, until Dorcha and Solas recovered enough for them to actually talk about what they needed to. Which might be the next night as two movies failed to get them out of the food comas they were in.
"Oh come on you two." Lux finally burst out, but even with Zephyr pecking at them both with his paws, they didn't wake up.
"We could always go while we wait for them to come around." Janna said as she just gave up.
"Good idea. I'm ready." Poppy hopped down, and after grabbing her pendant and putting it around her neck, headed over to the door. Janna followed while Lux grabbed her locket and joined them a minute later. Zephyr decided that it would be more enjoyable to sleep rather than go where they were so he just curled up on the couch which Lux just vacated and settled down. The three left and after Janna made sure the door was locked, they headed to the local Alley.
Since it was the end of the week, it was rather crowded, but there were still lanes open. While the three of them hadn't really been bowling in a while, it was still a nice thing they enjoyed enough to do together. After getting their shoes and paying the fee for unlimited, they grabbed the balls they would use and decided to spend the night at least trying to pretend they were normal. As hard as that might be.
After two games, Poppy was clearly hiding some ability as she was beating Lux and Janna hands down. It was when Lux decided to sit out a game that she noticed a large crowd near one of the lanes. Deciding to take a look, she turned to see Poppy and Janna still going at it. Walking over, Lux noticed a guy there who was just throwing strike after strike. Lux carefully listened to those around him.
"He's been doing this for a few days now." One of the women said.
"Is he pro?" A guy asked.
"How does he keep doing it?" Yet another asked. Lux watched carefully as he threw yet another strike. He turned to acknowledge the crowd that had gathered with just a simple wave. Clearly he didn't care and was just more interested in the game. Lux smiled as she went back where Poppy and Janna had gotten into an argument about a pin. Lux rolled her eyes and put her hands on their shoulders.
"Oh stop arguing and take a break it's one pin. Just give it to her." Janna looked a bit beat, but knew Lux was right.
"Fine. What about that guy?" Janna asked turning to see what Lux was looking at.
"He's either a secret pro, or he's just really good." Lux replied. Janna decided to take a look while Poppy decided to grab something to eat. Once they both returned, the three did one more game before leaving. Lux took one last look as the guy as he continued to throw strikes before they left.
Once they arrived back at Janna's place, Dorcha and Solas had recovered enough to talk about what they needed to. "So recovered enough?" Lux said as they entered the door.
"Yes. Now can we talk or are you all tired?" Dorcha asked.
"Just sore." Janna said as she closed the door.
"Ok then. Now we know Rek'Sai will find another target soon and hopefully we can identify then before they go crazy. Obviously we can't be everywhere at once, but hopefully we can identify these individuals before they turn into monsters again."
"Another thing from Vel'Koz is that these enemies will take on some kind of persona of the thing the person they grew from was passionate about. Hence the paperwork missiles from the last fight. We have to be careful as if they are passionate about something heavy"
"We could end up getting squished by something?" Janna said trying to break the tension.
"Yes. Hopefully we can avoid that but who knows. Anyway were there any other questions?"
"Is there any progress on the front of finding our other two team members? I like a good fight, but still it would be nice to have some help."
Dorcha just sighed. "Sorry Poppy there isn't. Something seems to be either suppressing their magics, or they are just not showing up. I wish I had better news on that front. I'm sorry."
"Oh well. More things for me to hit then." Poppy didn't look remotely unhappy.
"You sound like Vi you know that right?" Lux said. That got another round of laughter from everyone present. Poppy just laughed it off, rolling off the chair in the process. It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down enough to continue talking.
"Well at least I take inspiration from someone." Poppy finally managed to say after catching her breath. "That was a good comeback. Anyway, I'm more than happy to do my job which is hitting things, taking names, and kicking some butt. Now I think we should go to sleep because it is late, and I can tell Janna is still sore from the bowling."
"Yeah for the best." Lux said, looking to their teammate. And with that the three of them went up to bed. Dorcha and Solas curled up at the foot of Lux's sleeping bag while Zephyr curled up in his usual spot on Janna's bed. The six of them all fell into an uneasy sleep.
Rek'Sai was patrolling the part of the city that she hadn't patrolled the night before, and she sensed something. Something powerful. Following her instincts, she made her way to the house. Reaching it, her excitement almost vanished. She carefully used her senses to probe looking for the target and found things she didn't like. Not only was the target on the second floor, he was sharing his bed. Suppressing her rage, Rek'Sia focused instead on concentrating because this shot was going to be difficult and dangerous.
While she could remain intangible while burrowed, her seekers couldn't for longer than a few seconds. Rek'Sai didn't know if she could push it much further than that. The last thing she wanted was to either miss, or cause the seeker to get lodged somewhere. The problems were that not only were her options limited but her time was also running out. Knowing being out of her nest during the day was a major risk for many reasons. Shaking her head, Rek'Sai cleared her thoughts and focused. Reburrowing, she moved into position. She carefully lined up her shot and then had to wait for just the right moment.
It was good that she didn't have to wait long. The target turned in his sleep and she fired. The seeker remained intangible just long enough to attach. Rek'Sai quickly sped out of there and after finding a secluded location, she unburrowed and took a few minutes to recover. Once she had, she reburrowed and headed back to her nest, waiting for the seeker to signal her.
The morning came and with it a sense of dread. Lux was the first to wake up and she felt something and it didn't take her long to put the pieces together. Rek'Sai had found her target. Deciding to not wake the others just yet, Lux carefully put her head back down and decided to try and get a little more sleep for the fight that while always inevitable, now was much closer than she thought it would be. But her tiredness overtook her sense of foreboding, and Lux fell back into her uneasy sleep.
In what seemed like just a few minutes, Lux woke up again, and noticing that Poppy was also awake, Lux turned and she just nodded. A small noise caused them both to turn to Janna and all three new without saying that a fight was soon. Lux poked Dorcha and Solas awake, while Janna got Zephyr up. The three of them, unlike their companions, were slow to wake.
"Let me guess, she found something." Solas finally said as he shook himself awake.
"Yes. I can't tell where, but it is obvious." Lux said.
"Well then, I guess we have some hunting to do." Solas turned to see Dorcha just giving him a look, while Zephyr was giving him the same one. "Right after breakfast." That got everyone laughing as they made their way downstairs. Janna grabbed Zephyr's favorite breakfast while Lux pulled something out of her bag for Dorcha and Solas. With the three of them eating, Lux turned to the others and without saying anything, they all agreed to just have something simple, which in this case, was just cereal.
After breakfast, Dorcha, Solas, and Zephyr headed out to search the city, while Lux, Janna, and Poppy also made plans to search, but do so in a way that they wouldn't get noticed. It was much harder for them to get around and search areas without being noticed so their plan for the day was to walk around the city and make it look normal, which meant shopping. The three of them quickly changed and after grabbing their bags, the smaller ones they could shop with, headed out.
To say they were finding a needle in a haystack was a bit of an understatement. Unlike the last one, Rek'Sai was more careful with her choice this time. Picking someone who wasn't, or didn't, go around very much. While they could all sense the presence of a seeker, trying to find it was a bit difficult. Normally they could at least get a general idea of where it might be but the seeker was elusive. Everywhere that they went all day was warm and they couldn't even tell if they were at least going in the right direction.
Growing frustrated, the three Guardians decided to head to the Library to see if Vel'Koz had any ideas on how to track it. But first, they would stop for lunch. While they were eating, Zephyr, who always seemed to know when Janna was eating, showed up looking for a few handouts. Janna just giggled a bit and slipped him a bit to keep him happy. Just as they were finishing, they all suddenly felt a wave of cold nearby. It was either the seeker or someone who had been in extremely close contact to it. Zephyr immediately jumped to find out who it was while Janna, Poppy, and Lux split up to cover more ground.
After 10 minutes of search, Poppy and Lux's phones buzzed with a message from Janna who said that Zephyr had found who it was and he'd keep an eye on them. Breathing a sigh of relief, they all met back up and headed to the Library. Making their way through one of the secret entrances, they found themselves in the tower with Vel'Koz arriving just a few seconds later.
"Good to see you three again. I hope you have had more luck." Vel'Koz said as he came to a halt in front of them.
"Zephyr either found someone who had been in extremely close contact with it, or the person it latched onto directly. He's following them as they left in a hurry from where we were eating lunch." Janna said.
"That's good. Hopefully we can find whoever this is before they cause a lot of damage. Rek'Sai is usually good at picking targets. What happened previously I think was nothing more or less than a test run. She won't make the same mistake twice." Vel'Koz said.
"Do you have any way of tracking these seekers?" Lux asked.
"Unfortunately no. Until they awaken, so to speak, they are almost invisible. You will have a better time trying to find out who they are than I can. I wish I could make this easier, but…" Vel'Koz fell silent as he put a tentacle to his eye and started float pacing back and forth. Lux, Janna, and Poppy stayed silent while he was clearly in though. Finally stopping, he turned back to the three. "There might be a way. There is one thing void energy does as I'm sure you've noticed."
"It is cold?" Poppy asked.
"Well it makes anything that it touches cold but yes. To you, it is cold, but to us it is comforting, which as I'm sure you've noticed, is why the library is usually colder than the rest of the city. Why can't winter arrive quickly? But back on point. I could use a network of thermometers throughout the city to track isolated pockets of cold. It is much more noticeable to the three of you than anyone else. What others feel is like a chill down their spines. You three actually feel cold. This will be an issue once winter comes, I think, but then I haven't tested that yet." As Vel'Koz finished, he looked up to see odd looks from the team.
"What? I'd rather be honest. Back to the point though. You need to find this individual before they cause more damage. With Zephyr following them hopefully this person will lead him to the individual in question." Just as Vel'Koz finished talking, Solas came down the slide.
"We found them. Remember that bowling alley you all went to last night? Well there is something coming from there. Man I need to rest. Dorcha and Zephyr are there now. Talk to them." Solas quickly darted for some water as the Guardians headed out. Vel'Koz nodded as they left and he grabbed Solas to help him. Nasus watched as the Guardians raced out and knew that there would be trouble this night.
It took them almost a hour to get to the alley, and seeing Dorcha sitting in a tree, they moved over to her. She hopped down to fill them in. "Whoever it is, they are inside and the crowd inside is growing. I'm not sure what is happening but Zephyr went inside to get a better view. Hopefully you can still get inside and I'd do so soon."
"Right. Stay out here in case something shows up."Lux told her.
"Ok." Dorcha hopped out of Lux's hands and back into the tree. Meanwhile Lux, Janna, and Poppy made their way back inside. One thing they all noticed was the large crowd around one lane, while many of them were still open. Approaching the counter, it seemed like the manager was annoyed.
"You here to watch or play?" He asked.
"Play actually. What's going on?" The manger's mood seemed to change when Lux said play.
"Good. Many of these people are just watching that guy. He has been bowling all day. Throwing mostly perfect or perfect games. The crowd is at least buying food and drinks but no one seems to be bowling. There are a few, but nothing seems to bother this guy. I'd kick him out but it's been business. But if he keeps it up, especially tonight, I will kick them all out or force them to pay. So what are your sizes?"
The three gave over their shoe sizes and they picked a lane. Janna made up the excuse to get a ball while taking a look at the guy at the center of attention. Janna couldn't really see very well, but it looked like the guy from last night. On her way back, she confirmed it. He was also the likely source of their seeker. Janna checked her watch and saw that the manager charged them for the unlimited bowling that starts in 15 minutes.
Returning to Poppy and Lux, Janna put the ball down and turned to them. "I'm almost certain that it's the guy from last night. The crowd is surrounding him and I'm sure that manger is going to kick him out. The amount of void energy coming from him is enormous."
"Seems right. We'll just have to see what happens. Look." Poppy nodded to the manger who was going over to the crowd. Lux moved her hand to her locket, while Poppy and Janna grabbed their pendants.
"OK all of you. Shows over. You either pay or leave. Same for you." He pointed to the bowler causing the show. He turned to the manager.
"So you want more. I've given you all this business and you still want more." The bowler almost yelled.
"Look buddy I don't care. You either pay or leave." The void energy pulsing from the man was overwhelming but somehow it lessened.
"Fine then. Everyone, the show will continue, but the man needs his dues. So you want to continue to watch pay up." As they handed over their money, Lux noticed that everyone seemed to be in a trace or were just too focused to do anything about it. Once everyone had paid, the manager went back to the counter, but Lux continued to watch him as picked up a phone. Lux knew that the police would be here quickly. As Janna came back from picking up a 7 spare, Lux grabbed and pulled her into a seat.
"What's going on? You could have just asked." Janna said she rubbed her arm.
"I definitely think that is the guy. He seemed to have put everyone in a trance when they handed their money over. And I'm almost certain he just called the police. I hope we can avoid a fight here, but it might be impossible. Keep a eye out. Ouch!" Lux exclaimed as she finished. Janna gave her a pinch on the arm.
"Payback. Your turn." Lux rubbed her arm while Poppy snickered. Lux grabbed the ball and showed Janna up with a strike. Sticking her tongue out she returned to her seat where Poppy was now struggling to keep from laughing. Janna just shot Lux a nasty look before both of them started snickering.
The next hour passed by relatively slowly as more people showed up, more people just watched. Lux was now extremely nervous especially after Zephyr somehow managed to sneak in and tell them that everyone there is like in a trance. It was then Poppy tapped Lux and pointed to the door. Walking in was Vi, her father, and two other police officers. Lux quickly hid her face not wanting another incident, but looked back. Without her hextech gauntlets, Vi's arms looked extremely small, but with the backpack she wore, told all three of them they weren't far away.
They all talked with the manager a bit before taking up two lanes on the far side from them. Lux breathed a sigh of relief as he didn't appear to notice her, but he also could have been keeping with his undercover status. If he was, he would text in a few minutes, and Lux made an effort to not look at her phone. Which was difficult right now. Seeing Janna come back, Lux went up again only to throw another strike in her frustration.
The scene however further down was starting to get out of control. The guy at the center of it all was getting the crowd spirited and it was to the point of almost being out of control. Janna, looking around, saw where this was going, and after turning to Lux and Poppy, they all quickly packed up and moved towards the back and out of sight. Before they could get there however, a loud noise caused them to stop and turn. Apparently the guy had thrown a ball into the lane with such force, that it dented the wood. Now the manager was clearly done.
He walked over the to the crowd while Vi pulled her hextech gauntlets out of her pack and put them on. "Ok buddy that's enough. Get out. You are disturbing my place of business and disturbing my customers."
"But I can't leave. The party has only just begun." The seeker was clearly ready for a fight.
"No you are leaving. Commander Vi, Deputy Commander and as a police officer I hereby order you to vacate this premises. Immediately!" Vi flared her gauntlets for good measure while the rest of the officers moved to surround the guy.
"Oh the police. I'm so scared. But I guess the time is now then." With that Lux, Janna, and Poppy dove out of sight. Lux pulled her locket while the other two pulled their pendants.
"Star Guardian Power Up." The three of them, transformed, ran back out to the main area. The sight that greeted them was rather disturbing. The man, and most of the crowd was on the ground. The rest, along with other patrons were scrambling for the exits. The monster that was standing over the man was hideous. It was all black, save for some green lines on its torso. One arm looked like a cannon while the other looked like the bottom end of a pin. His legs were extremely thick and he was just smiling.
"Seems like you are outclassed officers. Now how about you just give me your energy and we call it even? Sound like a deal?" He reached out with his pin arm, which exploded fingers and he reached for one of the officers. Lux threw a shield and binding, preventing the officer from being harmed while rooting the monster.
"Attacking people while they are trying to enjoy themselves just gets me angry, and you don't want me angry." Poppy circled around to come up behind the monster while it was focused on Lux. "We are the Star Guardians. Sworn to defend the universe against all those who would throw it into chaos. And that means you."
"Pretty speech guardian. Have anything else to back it up with?" Lux noticed Vi and her father had clearly moved out of the way while Poppy was spinning her hammer.
"Well not me, but…"
"I do." Poppy brought the hammer down, which sent the monster through the ceiling and into a nearby empty lot. Lux, Janna, and Poppy sprinted out there to meet it while Vi was clearly on the radio. Outside, the monster was clearly furious at having been denied its rewards.
"You will pay for that little one." It charged at Poppy who braced herself only to have the monster hit back a few seconds later by another hammer. Debonair had jumped between them and clearly let some frustration go in that swing.
"Frustrated?" Janna asked.
"Just something not relevant to this. A friend keeps kicking my butt at video games." A look shot across Lux's face but for now dismissed it. The four of them took positions around the monster, who now clearly didn't like the odds.
"How is four on one fair? Well I guess I'll have to narrow the odds." He pulled his cannon arm, aimed it at Janna and fired a bowling ball. Janna barely managed to dodge it, and it hit the wall behind her. Janna turned to see it then disintegrate the wall in a pool of acid. The look on Janna's face was one of both impressed and disgust. Janna pulled her staff and with Zephyr hovering behind her, they all went after the monster, who was quite content to throw more acid balls their way. Lux and Janna moved into more of a support role with barriers and shields while Poppy and Debonair did most of the damage, from melee and range respectively. And a few hammer blows from Debonair as well.
Lux was just casting a barrier over them, when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone approaching the area they were fighting in. It was Garen. Lux looked at him again before turning back to root the monster so Poppy could score a massive hit. When Lux turned back, he was gone. Breathing another sigh of relief, something else came over her mind. Where was Vi? She wasn't one to sit out of a fight. Lux turned her head to Janna, and gave a quick punch and she got it. Janna floated inside to check.
Once she got inside, Janna's anger took over when she saw Rek'Sai tossing orbs through a portal. Zephyr leaped at Rek'Sai while Janna casted a perfect crafted tornado that knocked the burrower up and shattered the remaining orbs while avoiding collateral damage. It was then Vi decided to make her presence known as she charged in and landed one, then both fists onto Rek'Sai who then flew through the hole in the wall that several acid bowling balls created. Vi charged after while Janna followed after briefly looking around to see Lux's father come back in to help try and get people outside and away from the evolving battle.
Poppy for her part barely managed to dodge Rek'Sai as she came flying through the hole, and Debonair also barely managed to get out of the way as Rek'Sai collided with the monster and almost him. With them cornered, Lux threw a binding that rooted them in place while Poppy knocked them both with her hammer, and Debonair fired an energy blast. That got both of them roaring in rage, but when they untangled themselves, they found themselves outnumbered almost 3 to 1.
Rek'Sai looked around and knew that her time in this battle was done, but it wasn't like she could get away easily. Looking from one target to another, it was only a matter of time before the Guardians got their breath back and attacked again. And that moment was sooner than she expected as Poppy, Debonair, and Vi charged at them while Janna and Lux moved in behind them. All of them connected which sent both of the voidlings through a fence and into a courtyard.
Rek'Sai used the opportunity to try and escape but a binding from Lux stopped her from burrowing and getting away. Rek'Sai roared again and charged towards Lux before she realized her mistake. A large hammer came and smashed her full in the face, knocking her back into a tree. The monster for its part also wasn't going down without a fight, but being surrounded by Debonair, Vi, and Janna, all of whom were taking shots at it didn't make it easy to get in a shot, let alone make one land. One particular hard hit from Debonair sent it into the side of a building. Shaking itself of, the monster charged forward and fired at the team attacking it, only to miss every shot because of how disorientated it was from the repeated blows.
Lux threw yet another binding at Rek'Sai to prevent her from burrowing, and by now she was beyond infuriated. With the fight lost, it was only a matter of time until she lost everything. Better to run while she still could. Dodging yet another attack from Poppy, Rek'Sai leaped clear, dodged a singularity from Lux, then ripped open a portal, and disappeared through it.
"Well, I guess we know that when the tough gets going, they will always run. Make this job a bit easier." Poppy said.
"I guess so. Look out." Lux pushed Poppy back as one of the shots from the monster flew right at them. Probably another misfire but it would have done damage if it hit. Lux and Poppy ran over to rejoin the other fight just as Vi landed a sharp uppercut to its jaw, sending it into the air. Lux seeing her opportunity, threw a binding, while Debonair, Poppy, and Janna all moved out of the way. Vi, seeing that, also moved, or rather dived. Lux charged her powers, and after focusing them, threw her baton out in front of her. "Final Spark!" The beam shot from her hands, through her baton, and vaporized the monster.
"They just doesn't know when to stop do they?" Vi asked as she picked herself up off the ground.
"No they don't. You would think that a series of defeats would tell them that, but I guess not. Points for persistence though." Lux replied.
"Well persistence to you means more paperwork for me. But even I'm going to have a hard time explaining this. Either way, you four get out of here before, oh boy." Vi turned to see a swarm of police cars approaching, and noticing the Chief's car, she knew this wouldn't be good. Lux turned to the other three and they all just nodded. As Vi approached Caitlyn, Lux wasn't far behind. "Hey boss. So um I can explain."
"Was anyone hurt apart from you or them?" Caitlyn asked, pointing to the Guardians and Debonair.
"Not that I could tell. I think we managed to prevent that. Once we got that giant burrowing thing out here, most of the damage was collateral."
"Collateral property damage I can deal with. Personal collateral damage is another matter. If you are the only one hurt, then go see the medics while I try and figure this out. As for you 4. Thank you. I just wish they wouldn't cause so much damage in the process. Or you all."
"Well if they would just stand still, it would make the process easier." Poppy said with a grin. That actually did get Caitlyn to smile.
"But then they never stand still. Ok get out of here while I clean this up." Caitlyn was holding back her laughter.
"Just a minute." Janna moved over to Vi and after grabbing her staff, made it rain with her monsoon.
"Thanks. Now to the paperwork." Vi said dejectedly as she followed her boss. Lux, Janna, Poppy, and Debonair made a hasty retreat and then parted. Debonair going to wherever he normally went, while the others went back to Janna's place. Powering down in a park close by, they made their way back inside to still find it empty. As they all settled down and Janna threw on a movie, Lux grabbed her phone and saw two messages from Garen.
'Going to the bowling alley tonight. You girls going as well?' Lux just rolled her eyes but the second was more interesting.
'At the alley. Under attack. Don't come. Can't find Jayce. Stay AWAY!' That got Lux thinking back to what Debonair said earlier and she asked herself if Jayce was perhaps Debonair but she had little proof for the moment and asking pointed questions to either Garen or Jayce would possibly giver herself away in the process. Putting the matter in the back of her mind for now, Lux returned to watching the movie while Poppy was nodding off, and Janna was more focused on eating the popcorn she had than watching it. Occasionally popping one over to Zephyr who was next to her on the couch.
Dorcha and Solas appeared about 10 minutes after they got back to Janna's place and seeing the Guardians weren't interested in talking, just hopped up to Lux and she settled in for the movie while absentmindedly petting them both.
'Tomorrow is another day, and probably another fight. But we can't give up. Nor will we.'
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this and continue to follow along as this story continues to unfold. I have quite a few plans for this and will try to keep posting about once a week. Thanks again for reading.