Unstable Matters Chapter 14: We, the Lions (Part 4)
Watching the concrete jungle of Zaun pass by at a steady speed, Zac debated what it would mean be the one to speak out first. The sudden coughing fit Riven had experienced at the train yard had returned with a vengeance, but she was doing her best to keep herself together in front of Katarina. He knew that the crimson-haired assassin had to have noticed, but hadn't voiced any antagonistic questions just yet.
Long ago, there was a stupid girl who didn't know how the world worked.
Zac stopped looking out the window of the hextech carriage, his eyes darting between Riven and Katarina. Riven had stopped coughing for the third time, but he knew she was still in discomfort from the unsteady rise and fall of her chest.
She was ordered by her idols to fight their battles for them, and she thought she could.
Leaning back in his seat so he was barely touching shoulders with Riven, there was something peaceful about the sealed narrow interior of the compartment they were. Only hearing the echoes of the outside world brought him a sense of comfort, for some reason. Maybe it reminded him of his time on the train, where he had silently conquered his ominous sense of foreboding.
That's how it all began. You could call it the prologue of my story.
So even when they learned you survived, they still treated you like a broken blade that had been thrown away. I bet they didn't expect that broken blade to turn on them a few times, huh?
A sword is just a tool. It can symbolize anything the person wielding it wants, even things that they don't believe in. In my case, this broken blade still gets swung around at people I don't know for reasons that I don't understand.
Over the three days they had traveled on the military train, he had talked with Riven about many different things. Some were good, and some were bad. It was hard to imagine that they still had things to talk about between each other after the three months they had spent on Summoner's Rift, and the Secret Weapon believed it was proof of how they had come to understand each other during that time. But whether or not that meant that they would be able to stand against whatever was thrown at them in the world outside of the Institute remained to be seen.
When I first saw you, I thought you were a perfect fit for the League. But now I know you're different. I know what they say your story is, but how did you wind up here? You have a home, but you haven't gone back once.
When I learned my own value, I figured out something important too. The memories I had about my past; the place where I had lived, was just an illusion my parents wanted me to believe. The value I had given it was just the value I wanted it to have. Once I had figured that out, I couldn't go back anymore.
Are you sure? That doesn't sound like you meant it; there must be a way, right?
Well, maybe couldn't wasn't the right word. I just didn't want to.
Even if I burned what few things I have from my time as a soldier as some tribute or effigy, I still don't know where I stand. Was Noxus cold to me, or was I cold to my homeland? It sounds like you have the same problem.
Maybe I do. Until Kolminye raised the curtain up that revealed my aimless life, I didn't know how big the world was. But even if I say that, I don't know when it happened. Maybe it was when I got to know you.
...I'm sorry then.
I think that's the first time you've ever apologized to me for anything. And I don't even know what you're doing it for.
It's the only apology I've owed you. I've caused the world to weigh more heavily on you.
"Ma'am, there's something up ahead."
Riven and Zac looked at Katarina together when the assassin turned and reached around to her side. She flipped open the metal lid covering the mouth of a pipe that lead out to front seat of the driver of their carriage, putting her lips close to it to give a reply.
"...What do you see, driver?"
"There's a roadblock made of trash up ahead, ma'am. And there a large amount of unknowns gathered around it."
"Tch." He heard Katarina mutter something else underneath her breath, as she weighed her responses in her head.
"What do they look like?"
"Most of them are concealing themselves in brown robes, but I can see a couple of Vigilnauts mixed in with them. Wait a second."
Zac felt himself holding his breath for what was coming next. Next to him, Riven was doing the same.
"There's a big Vigilnaut walking out in front now. Looks like their leader, and he's signaling us to stop. Your orders, ma'am?"
"We should find out what they want," Riven advised, long before Katarina was going to ask for her thoughts, Zac figured.
"Figure out what they want? Isn't it obvious?" Katarina said with a disgusted tone in her voice. "Just Zaunite trash trying to get lucky stealing something that doesn't belong to them."
"Zaunite street trash don't have Vigilnauts in their ranks," Riven countered. "This isn't some coincidence, but they didn't set an ambush for us either. That means someone sent them to get something from us, and they don't want to just fight us for it."
Zac watched Katarina's brow furrow in thought, which meant Riven's point had hit its mark. Lifting the lid from the mouth of the communication pipe, Katarina spoke like the words were leaving a bad taste in her mouth.
"Stop the convoy. Keep us a safe distance from that roadblock."
She did not wait to hear an answer, and Zac felt the pull of gravity on his body as the hextech-powered carriage began to slow down. "If I had a single gold for every idiot in Zaun stupid enough to try and hold up a Noxian military convoy, I would destroy Demacia by burying it in gold," Once they had come to a complete stop, Katarina moved to stand up and unlock the side door to step outside. "If they don't get out of our way, we'll kill them. You better be ready to do your part."
"We don't know why they're there, and we don't know what kind of weapons they're carrying," Riven pushed back again. "Don't antagonize them into attacking us. We shouldn't risk damaging the convoy when we can talk to them."
"You sound like you're afraid of these freaks."
"I'm thinking about the mission. Work before play, assassin."
"Hmph. Even as a deserter, you still have a stick up your ass." With that said, Katarina nimbly jumped down and out from their carriage, and started to head toward the roadblock ahead alone.
"I guess you were right," Zac said to Riven, waiting until he thought Katarina was out of earshot. Working to squeeze his body out of the door that was too small for him, he ended up dropping and flopping out onto the street with a nasty splat. Reforming himself back into his normal shape, he heard the Exile climbing down the metal ladder steps before her boots hit the ground behind him.
"I don't know why Katarina is looking for a fight. Fighting Zaunites in Zaun is stupid."
"Isn't fighting and killing her thing?" Zac commented dryly, but Riven shook her head.
"No. She's behaving differently than before. Something must have happened."
"What do you mean?"
"It's complicated, but—"
Riven interrupted herself with a loud cough, blowing the wind out from her lungs with such force that the spit in her mouth flew out and onto the ground. Covering her mouth with one hand, Riven turned around to balance herself on the side of the carriage they had just gotten out of. Her throat burned raw from the coughs that followed, and she struggled to take in what little air she could before the next violent wave of hems and hacks forced it out of her lungs against her will. Even before she became a Champion in the League, the Exile was no stranger to pushing her body to its limits. She had tried to ignore it; force her way past it like everything else. Dizzy from her own lungs convulsing, staring down at the dirty asphalt there was no denying that something was wrong. And it was getting worse.
"Are you going to be alright?" Zac asked, and she could sense the fear in his question.
"Not… Not now," Riven said, barely able to speak. "I'll...later, alright?"
"You promise?"
"ZAC! RIVEN!"
But before she could answer him, she heard the voice of the nine-tailed parasite calling their names.
Looking away from Riven for a second, Zac turned his head to see that Janna, Ekko, and Ahri had gotten out of their carriage behind them and were heading their way.
"Zac! What's going on!?" Ahri asked, when they had gotten closer. "Why did they stop us!? Who are those guys!?"
"The roadblock up ahead? Yeah, there are a lot of goons around it, but we don't know why," Zac explained, pointing a finger out in front of where he had come from. He watched Ekko run past, climbing up the side of the car nimbly and going forward from roof to roof of the convoy's carriages without breaking his stride until he was up at the front.
"Ekko!? What are you doing!?" Janna said, calling after the boy in a worried tone. "Be careful!"
If Ekko had heard Janna, he didn't turn say anything to answer her. From atop the roof of the front carriage car, he was staring straight ahead with his jaw hanging slack from what he was seeing.
No way, Ekko thought, rubbing his eyes quickly to make sure of what he was seeing. Is that…? What the hell is he doing here!?
"Alright, let's just cut to the chase," Katarina said, crossing her arms under her chest and looking up at the Vigilnaut that was standing before her. From under the cloak he wore, she could see that the large man was as much muscle as he was machine. "You know who we are, so why are you blocking our way? What do you want?"
"My name is Brother Cronk, and I represent the Frontline Chapter of the Glorious Evolution."
Shedding his cloak in a dramatic fashion, Katarina frowned at seeing the full picture of what was beneath. The man towering over her was more metal than flesh, with half of his body reminding him of machine parts that made up the mechanized part of Urgot. A right arm that was three times the size of his left, and probably loaded up with hidden weapons just under its metallic surface. The weight of his massive augments was being supported by two metal legs, and his words were coming through some kind of mask over the lower half of his face, with his back was lined with glowing green tubes of some kind of liquid.
"We have come here for one reason," the Vigilnaut continued, staring down at the crimson-haired assassin with a face of courageous contempt. "Hand over the nine-tailed fox to us."
"What? Are you serious?" Katarina asked, a skepticism riddled in her voice that made it seem like she had not heard him correctly. "You did all of this for her? What does your boss want the mutant?"
"It is not our place to question the Machine Herald or his designs," Crank answered, flexing the metal digits on his massive arm in agitation. "We are all followers of the Glorious Evolution. We, the Gloriously Evolved, exist to carry out his designs."
"...Riiight," Katarina said in a slow drawl. "And you expect us to just hand her over?"
"We know you have no loyalties to her. Do not try and pretend that you care."
"Well, at least you have that right." Katarina let out a laugh. "Even if I hate her guts, she's working for Noxus on a contractual deal. Why should I hand her over to you?"
"If you will not surrender her to us, we will take her by force." Cronk raised his steel fist, and the mechanical limb belched clouds of hot steam from vents and ports all along its side. "We are the Frontline Chapter of the Glorious Evolution. We have evolved beyond the weak and fragile limits of flesh. Even our weakest acolytes have the fighting strength of ten men."
Faking a yawn from boredom, Katarina let out an annoyed grunt and shrugged.
"...Fine," she said, after pretending to think for a moment. "I've decided."
"You'll hand her over to us?"
"No." Katarina coolly blew aside bit of her hair that had fallen over her face. "I'm going to kill you all, and have your augments delivered back to your Herald in a scrap bin. How's that sound?"
Turning back to his flock, the vigilnaut raised his voice to a roar.
"FRONTLINE CHAPTER! DESTROY THESE FOOLS THAT DEFY OUR HERALD!"
"IRON LEGION, TO ME!" Katarina shouted just as loudly, jumping back to get some distance from her prey. "YOUR COMMANDER ORDERS YOU: CLEAR THE ROAD OF THESE WEAKLINGS!"
"Whelp. So much for talking things out," Zac said, watching countless amalgamations of flesh and steel rise up for every member of the Gloriously Evolved that were taking off their cloaks and robes in anticipation to fight. He whipped around to Janna, Ahri, and Riven in haste. "I hope everyone here is ready for a fight! And—"
But before he could finish his sentence, a series of simultaneous loud slams cut him off. From all of the cars that made up the convoy the fully armored soldiers that had been accompanying them ever since the train ride into Zaun were pouring out onto the street. Like a tide of living steel the armored knights marched right past them, moving with an inhuman coordination forming a line that began to march forward without a single word spoken.
"That bastard," Ekko mumbled, watching but not caring the chaos unfold in front of him. I bet he has the answers I'm looking for! I'll have to beat them out of him!
"Ekko? What are you doing!?" Zac heard Janna shout, and looked up to see the Zaunite leap from the top of the front carriage and into the melee ahead. "Ekko! EKKO!"
"What is he doing!?" Ahri shouted, seeing the young boy running into the fight that had just started.
"I'll keep an eye on him!" Zac shouted, raising his arms and slamming his fingers down hard enough to tear holes into the asphalt under them. Taking some quick steps back, he positioned himself into his Elastic Slingshot technique. "You two stay back here!"
"Don't treat me like a damsel! I'm not going to hide!" Ahri countered, but was stopped from going forward by a firm hand being placed on her shoulder.
"I know how you feel, but their target is you," Riven said, keeping her grip firm to stop Ahri from running off. "We don't know why, but that doesn't change the facts. Stay back with us, and don't make things worse than they already are. Janna!" Riven turned her head to look at the wind mage, reading what was on her mind like an open book. "I know you want to keep the kid safe, but Zac will look out for him. Until we can find out about the enemy's motivations, we need to keep any stragglers away from their target until this battle is over. They may have reinforcements coming that will engage us from another direction."
Biting her lower lip, Janna looked back and forth between Riven and where Ekko was headed. Gripping her umbrella staff tighter, she then spoke in a deceptively calm voice.
"Fine. Zac! I'm trusting you, alright!?"
"Don't worry about it," Zac said, preparing to throw himself into the fray. "I'll keep him safe!" Hell, he might even teach me a trick or two.
"We don't have time for games." Riven continued, her voice rising with the sound of battle that was starting to break out in front of them. The Exile unsheathed her broken blade from its equally large holster, pointing its end forward toward where Zac was preparing to go. "Do what you need to do to clear them out, and come back so we can get to the harbor on time. Understood!?"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Zac shouted, slingshotting himself into the air right into the middle of the action.
"Riven, tell me the truth," Janna said, doing a quick survey around them as she did. "Is he strong enough to handle himself? I know a lot of us are different on the Rift than we are off of it. What about him?"
"He's more than strong enough to take care of himself and Ekko." Riven did not turn away from watching where the fighting had now begun. "I've told him… No, he already knew what it means to be strong. What it takes to survive in the world outside of the Institute. I didn't have to teach him that."
"Then what did you teach him?" Ahri asked snappily, shaking off Riven's hand from her shoulder as she did.
The Exile did not answer, choosing to wait until she was certain that he would not hear her.
"I taught him to take pride in what he's good at."
Before he had launched himself into the fray, Zac had taken the time to calculate where he was going to land. The battle between the Acolytes and the Iron Legion had already started, forming a maelstrom of clashing iron and steel in the streets. He would have to start somewhere and work fast just to catch up to Ekko that had gotten a head start.
Alright, who's first!?
Dropping out of the sky with a crushing landing on an augmented human, he didn't wait to check on his first opponent before swinging his fist out to strike the next. A man like all of the others: a combination of metal and flesh, who was wielding an electric whip of some sort. He was in the unfortunate position of pulling his own arm back to strike with his weapon, when the fist of the Secret Weapon made contact with his chest, sending him flying into his own comrades in the melee.
"Alright, who's next!?" Zac shouted, turning and swinging his other fist at the next target. His fist struck another acolyte, who had been fighting against locked in sword fight with an iron legionary. Striking the man with enough force to launch him off his feet, his body flew smashing into several loaded garbage cans in a nearby alley.
Another punch, and another knockout. One after another, he was punching his way through the ranks of the Frontline Chapter, sending the acolytes flying about like ragdolls with every strike. His next victim flew into the air, his body smashing through the glass pane of a building. The next went straight into the sky, landing on the roof of a nearby building with a loud thud.
That's five.
Every swing of his fist landed with devastating results. An acolyte send flying into a nearby building wall. A karate chop that smashed its target into the ground. A stretching strike that shattered a unfolding metal shield, and sent the owner rocketing out of the battle. A backhanded swing that slammed into two more, lifting them off the ground and sending them flying over the flaming barricade of debris blocking their path.
That's ten.
Where his fists met metal, it bent.
Where his fists met bone, it broke.
Where his fists met flesh, there was blood.
The brute force spraying humans about on the street was being aimed with calculated precision. A punch that sent another acolyte flying into a nearby streetlamp, that snapped in half from the impact. A fist that came down like a hammer, pounding an acolyte into the pavement like a rusty nail. A kick that rocketed an acolyte into the air, and over the rooftops to a place unseen.
So this is what it feels like, he thought to himself, effortlessly sidestepping an attempt to strike him with some of a large club. He brought his hand down on the arms of his attacker, smashing the metal limbs flat as a crushed can. A follow up kick sent his attacker flying like all of the rest, with the screams of pain and regret rocketing away into the beyond.
This is what she told me about. I can feel their intent. Why did I want to stop feeling this?
Crouching down, several metal bolts whizzed through the air where he had been standing, instead piercing the backside of an Iron Legionnaire like darts on a dartboard. The culprit had no time to reload his weapon, before he was sent flying as a broken heap like many before him.
That's strange. I can't remember. Did I ask Kolminye to do this?
A frigid blast of cold flew to his left, and then to his right. He reached out and crushed the fragile casing of the hexchem ice gun, before driving his fist forward and into the face of its owner. The weapon exploded in a shower of cold mist and vital fluids, and he opened to hand to let the mixed bits of frozen machinery and flesh fall to the ground.
...Am I enjoying this?
"Well, whatever." Zac shook his hand clean, reaching out with his other to grab a passing acolyte by his cloak. Jerked to a stop, the augmented human didn't even get to turn around to see what was happening before he was sent hurdling over the flaming barricade like his comrades before him.
Whether it's me, Riven, or Kat, these guys were dead already.
Throwing a fist by instinct, he struck another acolyte that had several tubular implants sticking out from his body onto the ground. Bringing his foot down hard like a piledriver, the Secret Weapon smashed his unseen foe into the pavement hard enough to break the implanted hexchem machinery under his heel. The acolyte's body spasmed under him, until it stopping after enough of the bright green liquid in the broken tubes pooled out onto the ground.
I hope the kid is holding his own, Zac thought, stopping for only a second to take stock of what was happening ahead of him. The battle between the Frontline Chapter of Viktor's acolytes and the Noxian Iron Legion was still raging, with no clear winner in sight. The clash of metal dominated everything, punctuated only by the sound of Zaunite chemtech weapons being fired. "Oh, wait. There he is," he said to himself, spotting a white mohawk that was running around nimbly between the chaos around it.
I guess he can handle himself after all.
Yelling a warcry, the young Zaunite brought his hextech clock handled down on the head of the acolyte in front of him. Leaving a sizable dent in the metal helmet on his opponent, he didn't wait to see if the augmented human was dead or not before pushing it aside and running to his next target.
He could see them now over the carnage and chaos of the street battle. The large vigilnaut was fighting the dangerous red-haired woman from before, and had created their own place to fight with their underlings in combat surrounding them.
This is my chance to find out the truth! Ekko thought, avoiding a blast from some sort of hextech ice gun that hadn't been aimed at him. I'm not going to let him get away!
Stopped by an acolyte with a wicked curved sword, the young Zaunite didn't hesitate to swing as hard as he could to try and knock his foe off balance. An electric shock from his clock handle club did just that, and he followed it up by bringing up the metal knee guard on his overalls right into the face of the masked man.
"Get out of my way!" Ekko shouted, turning his body to avoid the edge of a concealed blade that was dripping some sort of nasty looking liquid. Gripping his weapon with both hands, he brought it down on the collarbone of his attacker with a loud crack.
"Yo."
Caught in the head of the moment, Ekko turned and swung his weapon at the voice behind him. The clock handle club slammed into the open palm of Zac's hand; the shocking impact of the two making contact reverberating loud enough to overpower the sounds of the fight still going around them for only a second. The sudden stop almost caused the young man to drop his weapon, and the shock absorbers anchored to the handle of the clock hand did little to mitigate the pain that was running down his wrist.
"Cool weapon. Is it a clock handle?" Zac asked, reaching out and picking up the weapon that had struck the open palm of his hand at full force. Holding it by its makeshift blade, he offered it back to Ekko. "Did you make this on your own?"
"Wha? Oh...yeah… It's kind of, ah, complication," Ekko answered slowly, gritting his teeth to bare with the pain running up his arms. Isn't he supposed to be some blob? I hit him hard enough to shatter hexchem ferrite. What the hell is he made of!?
Taking a deep breath to force himself to focus, he took back his weapon from the bigger one. "I don't think we have time to talk! We're in the middle of a fight, right!?"
"Yeah, I agree. But you freaked Janna out, charging into the fray like you did," Zac said, continuing to talk in a passive way that showed little to no care about their dangerous surroundings. "But the way you charged into the fight; you looked like you were possessed. So what's the deal? You've got something against these guys?"
"Yeah, that's another long story." Letting his aching arms down hang at his side for a second, Ekko flexed his hands and felt the fabric of his gloves contract as he did. "But I have some questions for their boss. The big bastard with the giant metal arm."
Looking over the combatants all around them, Zac could see who Ekko was talking about. A large augmented man was on his own, fighting someone much smaller than himself. The other person was performing an endless series of agile jumps and flips to avoid the massive metal appendage being swung. Undoubtedly Katarina, who had probably already thought of ten ways to kill her opponent. For whatever reason she was still drawing out the fight, and he suspected it was to burn off the stress from whatever had riled her up before.
"Right, that guy." Zac frowned, turning back to Ekko. "Just a friendly warning: Katarina doesn't like to be interrupted when she's working."
"I have to get to him," Ekko insisted, looking at Zac with an edge in his eyes. "I'm looking for a lot of kids that are missing, and I think he knows why."
"Huh. That sounds pretty serious." Zac scratched his chin in thought, before he started to look around them quickly for the fastest past through the mayhem. "I guess I can help you out. Stick with me! Let's clear a path!"
"Yeah! Right behind you!" Ekko shouted, ducking as the Secret Weapon grabbed the nearest acolyte ahead of them and threw him into the air behind them.
"Die! Leech! Bloody worm!" roared Cronk, swinging his arm at Katarina. The crimson-haired assassin moved herself out of the vigilnaut's range for the countless time, always wearing a domineering smirk on her face as she did.
"Really? Viktor really put you in charge of his frontline troops?" Without looking, in one smooth motion the assassin in motion threw one of her countless daggers holstered on her sides at the vigilnaut.
Faster than should have been possible, he was able to raise his massive arm to protect his body. The thick metal plate deflected the daggers harmlessly, sending them clattering to the ground as they did. Clicking her tongue in distaste, Katarina held out her empty palm and felt the throwing daggers she had just volleyed off reappear at their sides. She was no mage, but she was not an ignorant stranger to the benefits of enchantments. The snake-like symbol carved into some of her throwing daggers was not just the ancient banner of her heritage. It was another tool in her arsenal that helped her stay as the best.
"Don't tell me all you have is that stupid arm," Katarina continued, throwing another wave of daggers as she did. They were all blocked like the ones before, and were instantly returned to her possession. "Do you just punch all of your enemies to death? Where are all of the flashy augments you Zaunite chem-sniffers are always bragging about? No electric guns? No ice rays? Magic death beams?"
"The glory of the Herald's designs would be wasted on a Noxian dog!" Cronk shouted back, before taking a deep huff of air and hexchems being fed into his lungs through the apparatus covering his mouth. "I have strength beyond your fragile flesh and bone! I have transcended my origins to become what I am!"
Over the sights and sounds of the battle, Katarina's sharpened senses had caught the sound of someone coming from behind her. They were running in a pair of metal boots, but not weighed down by any chemtech augments. Suddenly a small device sailed over her head, on a straight trajectory toward the vigilnaut who was too busy talking to notice. Acting on instinct, Katarina held up her arms defensively while crossing her blades to shield her eyes from what was coming. She winced instinctively as she heard its detonation, and the agonized scream of Cronk that followed, but what she saw when she lowered her arms surprised her.
The bursting explosion of blue energy in the device was frozen in the air. She could see the shattered fragments of its casing slowly spreading outward from the force of the exploding material they had contained. But just as fast as it had suddenly appeared, the bomblet reversed itself back into its original form and flew back on its own right into the palm of its thrower.
"THINK FAST!" Ekko shouted, pocketing his flashbinder before vaulting into the air to land a downward blow right onto the vigilnaut's skull.
But Cronk reacted with the same surprising speed Katarina had been testing, blocking the blow that could have shattered his skull open with his augmented arm. With a chem fueled yell, the vigilnaut swung his arm out to throw Ekko off and back into the air. The young Zaunite twisted himself in the air to land perfectly on the ground right in front of Katarina, readying his weapon to try again.
"YOU!" Cronk roared, thrusting his metal fist at Ekko in rage. The explosion from the flashbinder had hit its mark, and Katarina could see that the side of the vigilnaut's face where it had detonated was a shade toastier. "I remember you! You got lucky last time, but I'll smash you this time you sumpsnipe!"
"Bring it on, you big bastard!" Ekko shouted back, wrapping both his hands around the handle of his club. "I've got question, and I'm gonna' beat the answers out of you!"
"Hey, kid. Didn't your parents ever teach you it's rude to interrupt adults?"
Looking away from the Vigilnaut quickly, the Zaunite youth flinched when he felt the cold steel of a sword was gently resting against the nape of his neck. Turning his head just enough to see its owner, Katarina was behind him and was looking down at him with unamused eyes. The edge of her blade was close enough to him to split the shaved hairs on the back of his head, but the young man didn't falter.
"Look lady, I've got a bone to pick with this asshole," Ekko said, boldly turning back around as if to disregard her threat, and tightening his grip around his improvised weapon. "Let me have a crack at him, okay?"
"I don't care. I just want him dead," Katarina said, removing her blade from the back of his neck. "I don't know who taught you how to fight, but you're out of your league. I'm not here to babysit you for Windforce."
"I won't get in your way. I've fought him before, and I know this guy's weaknesses," Ekko said, lowering his voice to a loud whisper. "See all the steam coming from that metal arm? Under that giant arm and around his elbow are all of the pipes that power it. If you can cut those, that giant arm of his will explode."
"Is that so?" Katarina did not sound impressed. "Alright kid, show me what you're made of. But make it quick."
"You don't need to tell me twice!" Ekko shouted, taking off in a dash right at the Vigilnaut.
Hearing a sound behind her, Katarina reached down to her side and threw one of her knives behind herself at the source. But instead of a metal clank or fleshy thud, she heard a soft thump. Like a dart being thrown into a dartboard. Turning around to see what she had hit, she was met with the sight of her green gelatinous comrade standing over her with his arms crossed sternly. Her throwing dagger had landed perfectly, gently penetrating into his slimy visage right between his eyes.
"Miss Du Couteau," Zac said with a touch of sarcasm, unfolding his arms and handing her back her throwing dagger.
"Jumbo," Katarina returned as curtly, taking it from him.
"Nice throw."
"I know."
"I'm surprised you don't mind a kid fighting your prey," Zac looked at Ekko, holding his breath until he saw the young boy dodge out of the way of the vigilnaut's first swing, and land a sharp counter blow to the arm as it went by.
"Cut the bullshit. The only reason he's still alive is because of you, isn't it? I want to see why you're wasting your time on a sumpsnipe like him." Katarina turned to watch the boy fight, turning just in time to see Ekko dive under the metal arm of the vigilnaut and land a strike at the augmented human's side.
"There's something strange about this freak. If the kid can kill him for me, it just saves me some time."
"Strange?"
"My blades aren't scratching the plate of that arm." Katarina looked down at the throwing dagger given back to her moments ago. "There shouldn't be anything they can't pierce. He has some kind of gimmick that's protecting it."
"I bet I could break it with my fist," Zac said, holding said fist up and clenching his fingers tightly into a ball.
"Keep dreaming, Jumbo," Katarina replied with a disregarding scoff. "Those augments of his are probably made from some kind of hexchem alloy. He's a lot tougher than a slimeball like you."
"Don't talk like you know me," Zac answered back, trying to sound mildly offended. He instinctively flinched when Ekko was nearly hit by the vigilnaut swinging metal leg. "I'm stronger than I look."
"You don't act like it."
Zac was still holding his fist up. "I'm not just a Champion for fun. I bet I could beat him in one punch."
"Don't make me laugh. If you could beat him so easily, why don't you fight him after that street rat gets killed?"
"Ekko won't get killed by a giant thug like him. The kid has too much heart to die like that."
Zac decided to stay silent when Katarina gave him another disregarding scoff. Letting Ekko fight Cronk alone made as much sense as anything else, and the Secret Weapon was willing to give the young Zaunite the benefit of the doubt when it came to his survivability against extreme odds. There was just something in his gut that spoke about the depth of the boy's desperation and conviction, and that alone was enough to go on with Riven's approval.
"Where are they!? What did you do with them!?"
Ekko's clockhandle club struck against the metal arm of vigilnaut, echoing over the chaos of the battlefield around them. He nimbly dodged a passing strike by Cronk's other arm as he circled around for another attack.
"I know what you guys do! You go around telling all of the kids on the streets that your Herald is going to fix this world!" Swinging his weapon down again, it struck the metal arm without so much as even scratching the polished finish on its surface. "Then you tell them that they can be a part of it too! Then you take them back to your lab, and use them as lab rats for your stupid augments!"
"The Herald is fixing the fatal flaws in humans! Sumpsnipes like you should be honored to be chosen!" Cronk shouted back, swinging after Ekko who evaded his strikes every time. "They had no purpose in life, but through the Glorious Evolution they become the stepping stones to the future!"
"That's a crock of shit! He doesn't give a damn about them! I know your Herald sells all of his good designs to chembarons for gold!" Digging back into his pocket quickly, Ekko threw out his flash binder again. The vigilnaut held up his arm to block the spiraling cascade of blue flames, before the device reversed itself and flew back into Ekko's possession.
Without warning the vigilnaut backed off, and leveled his massive metal arm at him. The young Zaunite heard the sound of metal unlocking before he realized what was happening. Without warning, the spikes embedded in the knuckles of the vigilnaut's fist shot out like a spear aimed at skewering him into the pavement. Throwing himself onto the ground to try and get out of the way, Ekko barely avoided the hidden metal javelins that impacted the pavement where he had been only a split second ago.
Shit! What the hell was that!? Ekko forced himself to stand up on the asphalt, suddenly feeling his own blood running hot down his legs. He didn't have that last time. Where the hell—
From where he was watching, Zac flinched as Ekko didn't react in time to the next strike by Cronk. Rushing forward, the vigilnaut had closed the distance between him and the boy with impressive speed, delivering a steel shoulder tackle that knocked Ekko into the air and back down onto the ground again. It was hard to believe that the kid had fought against the hybrid giant of chemtech and flesh before, and won to top it off.
"Hidden launchers in the knuckles of the first. That's clever," he heard Katarina comment offhandedly, seemingly wrapped up in her own cares.
"I think this is the part where you tag in," Zac said, getting ready to intervene if the crimson-haired assassin was going to just let the boy die for her amusement. "Right?"
"I wouldn't mind watching the little shit get put in his place, but if I save him, I'll have one over Windforce for once." Pulling out her curved swords once more, he watched her disappear in a red flash before appearing at Ekko's side.
Damn it! I can't lose to this bastard! Bent over on his hands and knees, the young Zaunite felt parts of his body from head to toe throbbing in agony. The searing hot pain and warm stains of his own blood felt foreign, no matter how many scrapes he got into. There were no second chances with his Zero-Drive out of power, but he had decided to fight regardless. I have to get answers! I KNOW he knows! Come on Ekko, get it together! I HAVE to beat him!
Spitting out a mouthful of spit, stomach acid, and blood out onto the pavement, he tightened the grip on his weapon once more.
This is for them! I can't let it happen again! I have to—
"THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU GET IN MY WAY! DIE!"
Ekko turned from looking at the ground to see his impending death drawing down on him. Bearing down on him from the sky with a quarter ton of hexchem steel in motion, Cronk was a second away from crushing him like a rotten tomato onto the streets of the world he loved and hated every day. Blocking the fist of the vigilnaut was impossible, and the boy felt his body burn in pain as he desperately tried to twist himself into some position to avoid his impending doom.
Am I going to die here!? The thoughts in his mind screamed, as time seemed to slow down around him. Not like this! I can't die like this! I have to—
But the killing blow never happened. Ekko felt himself being lifted off his own mispositioned feet, and hit the ground again shortly after. Someone had grabbed him by his collar, and with enough force to pull him out of harm's way as Cronk's fist to smashed where he had been, sending up a hail of broken asphalt and concrete into the air.
From where Zac was still standing, Katarina had used her Shunpo technique to get behind Ekko as Cronk had ran to finish him off. In one swift motion the assassin had grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck, pulling hard enough to throw him out of the path of the vigilnaut's massive steel fist. Katarina had then casually stepped to the side to avoid being hit herself, before unleashing a small barrage of throwing knives that had forced the vigilnaut into the defensive once more.
Realizing what had happened, Ekko looking up from the ground at his unhappy savior. The woman was looking down over her shoulder at the young Zaunite, and her eyes bore nothing but a loathing on a level he had never seen before. Despite his adventures into the hearts of Piltover and Zaun, he had never seen eyes that vividly displayed such unequated disgust with what they were looking at.
"Stay out of my way, sumpsnipe," was all she said, before disappearing in a red flash to restart her fight.
"No! I can still—!" Ekko raised his weapon, but the rest of his body would not cooperate. He was battered, beaten, and the woman's words had been the finishing blow. "I have to—!"
"I warned you. Katarina doesn't like to be interrupted when she's working."
Ekko saw the shadow of someone behind him, and twisted his head around to see Zac towering over him. More than usual.
"Ugh, give me a break," he groaned, trying to ignore the pain that was spreading throughout his entire body. Giving up and laying down on the hard concrete underneath him, the world was still spinning under the polluted gray skies above. "Why is this all happening at once? What did I do to deserve this?"
"Yeah, she's really hard to work with." Zac looked over Ekko, before removing one of his fingers from his large hands. Whether the kid knew it or not, the red stains coming from the inside of his pants were still spreading to the outside of his clothes. "Stand still for a little. Okay?"
"Huh?" Ekko looked up, just in time to see a large puddle of green slime from being poured onto his pants. "Oh come on! Really?"
"It's going to fix you up. Don't ask how, because I don't really know myself, " Zac explained, but it did little to change the young Zaunite's grossed out reaction. "I heard what you were asking him. So just leave this guy to me."
"I guess I don't have a choice," Ekko grumbled, feeling the pain in his body starting to slowly slip away. It was if all of the fear and frustration were leaving him too. "I'm trusting you okay?"
"Leave it to me." Zac pounded his fist against his own chest once, having already regrown the finger that had been plucked off. "When you can move, try to make your way back to Janna. I can't promise to keep you safe if I'm beating up this big guy too. If you can still fight though, see if they need any help too."
"Yeah, I've got it." Ekko reached out and grabbed the handle of his weapon when it was offered to him by Zac.
Alright, how should I do this? Cracking his nonexistent knuckles in both hands, Zac looked around and did a quick assessment of the battlefield. The initial chaos of the fight had begun to organize itself into pockets of conflict, with the dead and wounded on both sides strewn out over the Zaunite asphalt. The Iron Legion were winning, but it was clear that the surviving Acolytes were a lot stronger than their counterparts that had been defeated.
This could get ugly if they rally together. I should probably beat this guy quick.
Cronk and Katarina were still engaged in mortal combat, just as before. The vigilnaut hadn't landed any meaningful blows against the assassin who was far too cunning for him, but in return she hadn't managed to deal any worthwhile damage against the augmented man. It would only be a matter of time before one of them ran out of energy to keep up with the other, but given the nature of zaunchemical augments and Katarina's own training, there was no time to wait and see who the victor would eventually be.
"Kat! Tagout!" Zac shouted, running up behind her when the assassin landed on the ground again.
"What now!?" she demanded, and though she had not taking her eyes away from her target, he knew that she scowling at him deeper than usual. "First it's that kid, and now you? Can't you just fuck off for a little?"
"No time for that." He held up his clenched first, before thrusting it at Cronk. "Most of the acolytes have been defeated. We need to beat this guy and keep moving, right?" He then jerked a thumb over his shoulder to what he could hear was happening behind him unseen. "Go finish off the rest of the acolytes. I can beat this guy for sure."
"You!? Take on ME!?" Cronk shouted, slamming his metal fist down onto the concrete shattering the pavement into fragmented bits. "I'll show you the power of the Herald! I will destroy you down to the last slimy spec! Your zaunchem body won't save you!"
Katarina stayed silent to the shouting of the vigilnaut, and he knew that she was doing her own appraisal of the situation. "In Noxus, being allowed to kill the enemy commander in single combat is a privilege. Usually granted to a worthy soldier by their superiors," she finally said, after a brief moment of silence. "Don't fuck this up."
"Yeah, yeah," Zac said dismissively, taking a deep breath before pumping himself up. In a red flash Katarina blinked over him and immediately onto a unfortunate fool, judging by the immediate scream of pain and agony behind him. "I'm done being nice."
"Another fool to be destroyed by our Herald's designs!" Cronk raised his massive steel and zaunchem fist up, pointing at the Secret Weapon. "I know all about you! The so-called 'Secret Weapon'! You think that body of yours makes you strong!? When I smash you, it will show all of Zaun that our Herald is better than that mad chemist and his inferior designs!"
"Where are they!?"
"...What!?"
"You heard what I said!" Zac shouted even louder, taking his first step forward. "The kids Ekko is looking for! Where are they!?"
"You think anyone cares about a bunch of sumpsnipes!?" Cronk shook his head furiously, gesturing to the city around them. "Why do you care about those street rats!?"
"Because I'm strong enough to care about anything I want to!" Zac pounded his fist against his own chest again. "Even if it's the concerns of a kid I just met today!"
"You think you can just make demands because you feel like it!? I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Cronk shouted in an angry rage, before raising his steel fist and charging straight at the Secret Weapon.
Only taking a second to ready himself, Zac felt the ground under his feet buckle as he got into a sprinting position. He then mirrored the angry war cry directed at him, before charging forward to meet the vigilnaut's massive fist with his own.
"Death to anyone who opposes the Herald!" screamed another masked acolyte, before being felled by the Exile's broken blade. Cutting his arms off before running the man through, Riven said nothing as she effortlessly lifted the armless body impaled on her blade over her head. She then threw it at another acolyte charging her way, knocking him over before she closed the gap to kill him as well.
Holding her umbrella staff firmly in both hands, Janna kept her eyes focused on the bloody performance unfolding before her. Just as if she were on Summoner's Rift, Riven had cut down every foe that had managed to make their way toward them. One by one no matter what tricks they had or weapons they used, the acolytes of the Frontline chapter were being butchered by someone who was looking like she was forcing herself to care.
"You know, you should have just said something!" Janna shouted, as she continued to focus her magic through the palm of her hands and into her disguised staff. "I could have helped you before this!"
"I didn't know!" Riven shouted back, before bringing the back of her blade down and smashing in the skull of an acolyte whose back was turned to her. She then stabbed him through the back, impaling him to the concrete ground that was becoming more and more stained with blood. The burning pain in her chest was gone, thanks to the purifying powers of the shield around her. The Eye of the Storm was doing more than acting as a form of protection against attacks directed at her; the swirling magical winds were pushing aside the Zaunite Gray in the air, acting as a magical filter for the poisons that lingered all around Zaun's general atmosphere.
"Just keep doing what you're doing, alright!?"
"You don't have to tell me!" Janna took a deep breath to regain her focus, before turning her head to check on Ahri who was fighting as well.
"I don't like pushy men!" Ahri declared, casting another volley of conjured fireballs into the face of an acolyte facing her. Blinding her foe with the searing blue fires, she cast her Orb of Deception out with her other hand running it through the man before pulling it back into her grasp. "You can tell your stupid Herald to fuck off!"
"You dare insult the Herald!?"
Ahri turned around just in time to shift herself out of the way of a swing aimed for her head. But before she could regain her balance, the electric prod being swung at her came around again striking her on her arm. Letting out a cry of pain instinctively, she forced part of it back down her throat so as to not lose a drop of focus on her next opponent.
"Stupid beast! Our Herald is the future! His vision will reform humanity!" shouted the attacking acolyte. Stumbling from the painful shock of the electric club, Ahri did not avoid the third swing which struck her on the same arm, knocking her to the ground.
"I will teach you respect! You will know the glory of—AUGH!"
But before another blow could be struck, on the ground Ahri watched as a blade burst out from the acolyte's chest, spraying her in the face with what it had displaced. The electric prod felt to the floor with a loud clatter, shooting out sparks before dying just like its owner. The nine-tailed fox stared frozen at the masked face of the man killed before her, his body still being held aloft in the air by his killer. Maybe it was better that there was a mask to conceal what had undoubtedly been the surprise and horror of his last moments.
Without warning the dead acolyte shifted aside in the air to reveal Riven. The Exile was standing casually holding onto her blade with a body skewed on it, as if the sight was something she saw every day on and off of Summoner's Rift.
"Be more careful, alright?" Riven said finally, and Ahri felt herself feeling slightly disturbed over just how much blood was now covering the Exile's clothes.
"I'm starting to regret coming with you," Ahri responded flatly, feeling the warm ichor of her attacker drip down her face.
"You're welcome," Riven said sarcastically, before swinging aside the dead acolyte's corpse and letting it land onto the ground with a disgusting splat. "Try not to get separated from us, okay?"
"I don't need to be protected," Ahri repeated, before wincing at the electrical burns on her arm. Forcing herself to look at where the pain was coming from, the shocks from the zaunchem prod had left their marks on her pristine porcelain skin.
"I know you have your pride, but this isn't the Rift. You can't just—"
Before she could finish speaking, Riven watched Ahri cast out her Orb of Deception from her sitting position on the ground. The swirling sphere of magic changed in color, before striking a wounded acolyte on the ground nearby. Appearing to pass through the augmented man harmlessly, the Exile knew otherwise when the body of the man stopped moving on its return pass through. When the green glowing orb of magic returned to its owner, the stolen essence it had collected was immediately consumed by Ahri, causing the burns along the nine-tailed fox's skin to begin to disappear.
"...Nevermind," Riven muttered with disgust, made worse by the smirk of satiated satisfaction on Ahri's face. Though she had been trained to have no pity or mercy for those facing her in combat, something about seeing a life of someone consumed like a cool soothing summer drink unsettled her greatly. "I should have known you would have a technique like that. You're still a parasite under that skin."
"Ah hah hah, the truth comes out. Such cold words while we're spilling warm blood together. And here I thought we were finally going to be friends." Ahri laughed lightly, with each word after spoken with a touch of feigned disappointment. She then licked her lips clean of something unseen, and Riven could see their unnaturally red and luscious appeal return.
"You know I don't trust you."
"Really? We're going to talk about this now?" Ahri stood up, brushing off her dress with a casual disinterest. "First you're protecting me, now you sound like you would rather have me dead."
"I'm being patient because he asked me to be. You have your part to play, and as long as you do, then there won't be any problems." Turning around to inspect the battlefield, it was clear that the sway of battle had shifted their way. The remaining frontline acolytes strewn about the makeshift battlefield were either dead or picking up their own in retreat. But Riven did not let her guard down.
"But when I have questions, and I better get answers. I mean it."
"So demanding, just like a soldier. Shame that isn't up to you." Ahri felt her smirk grow whenever Riven frowned. "And by the way, just because you got to him first doesn't mean you can keep him for yourself."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Riven forced herself to turn around as she felt her ire rising. She was determined not to give the nine-tailed fox the satisfaction of seeing her annoyed by her words alone. "Just keep your guard up. This battle isn't over yet."
"Don't order me around like some sort of—!"
"Now now, let's not fight each other, okay?" Janna said, interrupting Ahri as she touched down on the ground. She reached into her pocket for a handkerchief, handing it to the nine-tailed fox to clean her face with. "We're all on the same team, right? And—"
All three women jerked their heads when a resounding slam reached their ears. It was like a hammer striking an anvil, or the crackle of lightning striking the ground. Two unseen unstoppable forces meeting each other over and over again. The resounding clashes reflected off of the buildings surrounding the street, reverberating loud enough to shatter glass, and radiate far enough for all of Zaun to hear.
"What was that!? What's happening!?" Ahri finally asked, in a voice that seemed afraid to ask. She looked to Riven and Janna for an answer, only to see the Exile's face change in a way that showed her own grim satisfaction from knowing the answer.
"It's begun," she said, before taking off in a sprint toward the front of the battle. "You two stay here and keep out of trouble!"
Janna and Ahri had both said something, but she did not stop to give an answer. There was no resistance in her way as she ran with her massive blade in hand. The impossibly loud sounds of battle had given pause to everything, with both Iron Legionnaires and Frontline Acolytes stopping in surprise. It was if both sides had fallen into a stupor; an overriding awe generated by the imagining the sheer forces involved in something happening unseen to many.
I never thought it would happen this early. The power of Janna's protective magic was fading, and she could feel the burning in her chest coming back. But she forced herself forward, like so many countless times before. Maybe it's better here against a weak enemy.
Slowing herself down, Riven stopped next to Katarina who did not give her any regard when she did. The look on her face spoke volumes; narrowed eyes riddled with scrutiny and curiosity, a frustrated pout with her lips tightly pursed into a frown, and her swords sheathed across her pack with her arms crossed tightly under her chest. The Exile didn't particularly care about why the Sinister Blade seemed to be in another bad mood, but she knew it was over what everyone else was fixated on.
"Kat," Riven said, but got no reply. "Katarina!" she said again, but with more force. The Sinister Blade blinked once, before glancing at her.
"You've been busy," Katarina finally said, glancing with a smirk at how much of the blood staining Riven's clothes was not the Exile's.
Riven would have said something back, but her eyes locked onto the source of the earth shattering noise. Going punch for punch with the vigilnaut, Zac and Cronk were fighting each other with levels of dexterity she didn't imagine either of them to possess. Every time the vigilnaut swung his massive fist, the Secret Weapon countered it with his own. Green goo meeting zaunchem steel alloy, like two sledgehammers meeting each other in the air. Every blow was causing her ears to ring in pain from the reflections off the buildings surrounding them, and the Exile began to realize why the battle behind her was stopping.
Are they in shock? Riven glanced behind her, and realized that the fighters on both sides had completely stopped. Everyone on the makeshift battlefield was focused on Zac and Cronk's fight, even those that couldn't see it. What's happening here? Why are… Why… What am I doing!?
"Why is everyone stopping!? Why aren't you helping him!?" Riven demanded after waking up from her own brief stupor, only to get a disgusted scoff from the Sinister Blade.
"Jumbo said I was playing with my food, so I told him to kill that metal freak in my stead." Katarina gave an exaggerated shrug. "Whether he lives or dies is up to him now."
Zac continued to meet every punch Cronk threw with one of his own. The tanks on the vigilnaut's back released bursts of hot steam, and the liquid inside beginning to boil to keep up with the demands of their owner. The Secret Weapon's own body was doing the same; changing constantly from flexible to solid on an unseen microscale.
"Damn puddle of filth! Die already!" the vigilnaut roared, no closer to smashing his foe than before.
"I'm stronger than I look!" Zac shouted, throwing another punch that was again met with Cronk's own fist. Drawing back to throw a series of rapid fire blows, the vigilnaut raised the protective plate covering his arm to ward off the series of strikes that followed. The Secret Weapon continued to rain blows against the metal guard, each impact ringing like a thousand hammers striking the head of a nail.
"I won't be beaten by a talking pile of sewage!" Cronk swung his gargantuan metal arm out, forcing Zac to break off his attack. Stepping back from his opponent, the Secret Weapon and vigilnaut were almost standing in exactly the same spot before they had begun trading blows. Except for one major difference.
Dents? Katarina forced herself to look harder, not believing herself at first. Sure enough, there were countless pits littering the surface of the metal hexchem alloy plate that had shrugged of the edge her blades. How could he…?
"Alright you ugly freak! Take this!" Cronk shouted, clenching his fist closed and raising it at Zac.
"Look who's talking," Zac said quietly, so only he would hear. It only took him a second to recognize what was coming. Just like before with Ekko, the vigilnaut was preparing to use the hidden launchers in the knuckles of his augmented fist. Any second a steel spike would heading his way, with enough force to explode him into pieces. Or at least that was what Cronk was hoping.
That won't work on me.
Charging at the vigilnaut, he closed the distance between them with a speedy spring in his step. But instead of meeting Cronk's fist with his own like so many times before, Zac threw him hand back before enveloping the metal fist with his own.
"Pop quiz, metal head. You know what happens when you plug the barrel of a cannon?" Zac asked, taking another second to tightening his grip over the whole surface of the vigilnaut's fist. He felt a grim satisfaction from watching Cronk's face slowly change from confusion, right as a large screw in his upper arm blew out of its socket on its own. A dull rattling was starting to come from inside of the machine arm, growing in intensity with every passing moment.
"You slimy bastard!" Cronk shouted, finally realizing what was happening. "You're nothing before the Herald! Even if I die here, he'll destroy you and-and—!"
Smart enough to not stand still to watch a bomb about to go off, Katarina blinked a distance away to make sure that she would not be at risk of getting hit with any shrapnel that was incoming. Steam whistled from the hidden layers of pipes and gages, reaching a screeching pitch before there was a spectacular ear-splitting pop.
When the hidden launchers fired, Zac's fist ballooned outward but did not break. Unable to go forward, the natural forces of the universe exploded inward in a display of true zaunchem chaos. All of the rivets and bolts holding the augmented arm together exploded outward, like a hail of bullets striking buildings, the ground, and flying into the air fast enough to pierce the clouds of smog above. The backfiring did not stop, traveling right up to Cronk's shoulder and releasing an explosion of air, fire, and chemicals. The forces play severed the joints merging metal and man in the vigilnaut's arm, throwing him back into an alley spiraling and tumbling in the air over and over like a ragdoll against piles of trash in his way.
A resounding but dull crash permeated over the battlefield; the sound of Cronk's body coming to rest after being thoroughly tenderized by a liberal application of physics.
Standing up from where she had been crouching for cover, Katarina was the first to break the silence. "Killing him with his own augments. Clever," she said, almost laughing as she did. "Not how I would have done it, but I can't complain."
"Lord Cronk…was defeated? Is he dead!?" This was asked by a faceless member of the Frontline chapter, but that did not matter.
"Impossible! Lord Cronk was beaten!?" demanded another, followed by a rising tide of murmurs from the silent battlefield.
"That's impossible! How could he lose to those weak fleshlings!?"
"What do we do!? He was the strongest out of all of us!"
"Hey! All of you Glorious Evolved, or whatever! I've beaten your leader in combat!" Zac suddenly shouted, raising up the destroyed and smoking arm belonging to Cronk into the air. The massive augment was dripping liquids messily, and sparking as if it were about to burst into flame on its own. Turning around to look at all of the remaining members of the Frontline Chapter, Katarina wished she could see the abject horror blanketing their faces behind the masks many of them wore.
"You've been beaten today! So get out of here, and don't get in our way again! Oh, and clean that flaming mess out of the street too! It's in our way!"
It only took a second after Zac had finished for the streets to break out into a new kind of chaos. The surviving members of the Frontline Chapter began dispersing into the alleyways screaming and shouting as they did. Some carrying their wounded and injured, while others fought each other to get away. Just as fast as the battle had started only minutes ago, the streets were silent with only the dead and mortally wounded remaining littered about like the trash on every inch of Zaunite soil.
"Hey! I said clean up that crap you guys put in the street!" Zac shouted angrily, watching the rest of the Gloriously Evolved flee everywhere they could to get into the deeper parts of Zaun. "Geez… Can't even be bothered to clean up their own messes. What a bunch of..."
"Forget about them! We've spent enough time here!" Katarina shouted, raising one of her curved blades in the air. "This victory is ours! I command you! Load the dead back into their carriages along with the wounded! Then clear the street of this roadblock!"
Well, I guess that's that then, Zac thought, watching the Iron Legion immediately go to work without so much as a single cheer or word of acknowledgement to their commanding officer. There was something strange about them all; things he had noticed since the train ride over. To him, it was almost like the Iron Legion were more robotic in nature than the Gloriously Evolved. I'll have to ask Riven about that later.
Smiling in satisfaction, he then remembered the gorey proof of his victory still firmly clutched in his hands. "So...how did this thing work?" Zac asked himself curiously, looking at the underside of the giant augmented arm for a closer look. Under the protective layers of armor he could see pipes, cables, and wires all intertwined, binding together, and connected to things unknown. "Wow, this looks complicated. I can't believe something like this was made by one man… I guess Viktor really is a genius."
Lifting up a flap here and a tab there, he eventually turned it around to look at the spike launchers in the knuckles.
...Huh. This is kind of cool.
Casually pulling the spikes that had half fired free from his hand with a wet splut, the Secret Weapon lifted up the guard plate above the knuckles to take a look at what was inside. The mechanisms didn't seem to complicated, even though he did not know exactly what he was looking at. The spikes were contained in a special internal magazine, and were loaded into a separate chamber in the top half of the fist through some other kind of gadget. It reminded him of Twitch's crossbow, but with springs and gas pressure as the propellant.
I wonder if I could do this too? He looked at his own clenched fist, and then back to the metal mechanisms of the hand augment.
"Hey."
Tossing the metal arm to the ground, it landed with a massive crash as Zac turned to look at Riven.
"Yo."
"That was some trick you pulled off," Walking up next to him, Riven stabbed the end of her broken blade into the ground before leaning on its handled and looking behind her to survey the carnage. The Iron Legion were working swiftly, picking up the remains of their own that had fallen in combat, as well as any scavenged loot left behind by the routed Frontline Chapter. "You turned his own weapon against him, and convinced the rest of them to flee. They won't come back to harass again, that's for sure. Couldn't have done it a better way myself."
"Thanks, but I'm sure you—" He stopped when he saw it.
"What?" she turned to look at him for why he stopped.
"What happened?" Zac asked, pointing to himself. His finger was directed to right under his right eye, and she knew what he was talking about. A sliver of a scrape above her cheekbone, that stung with a pain she could casually tune out. With how much blood she was covered in that wasn't hers, she was surprised that he had noticed.
"You happened."
"...Me?"
She immediately regretted her choice of words. "One of the bolts in Cronk's arm. When it exploded, it hit the ground and grazed me." If there was one thing Riven knew about the Secret Weapon, it was that he always wore his thoughts on his face. And at that moment, it annoyed her to see so much miserable fear there was. "Don't make a big deal out of it; it's just a scratch."
"I'm sorry. Maybe I should have killed him some other way."
There was something about that sentence she wanted to object to, but was too tired to bother with. "This isn't a Field of Justice. You did what you had to, and it worked out in the end." Riven turned away from him. When she could see him reached out to her out of the corner of her eye, she put a hand out and stopped him. "Don't even think about it. Lets use this as a reminder for the future, okay?"
"...Fine," Zac said, in sullen resignation. "I'll be more careful in the future."
"ZAC!"
The Secret Weapon and Exile turned to look at the source of the angry shout. Janna was charging toward them, riding on the wind with Ekko in her arms and Ahri jogging behind them. He could see the red hot anger on her face coming from a mile away, as well as the Zaunite punk covering his face with both of his hands out of pure embarrassment.
"YOU SAID YOU WOULD PROTECT HIM! WHAT KIND OF TANK ARE YOU!?"
"Yeah. I'll be more careful in the future," Zac muttered, not able to enjoy the rare sound of Riven laughing.
Author's Note 04/30/17: As I wrote last time, I've entered the workforce fulltime over the last couple of months. I'd like to blame that for why this chapter took so long to complete, but I was also fussing over a lot of details as to what I wanted to happen. I think I have a good picture of where the Zaun arc is going to go, so the next chapter should come out sooner? Maybe?
Also, Riot has started working on their new lore post-Institute of War stuff and now Piltover and Zaun are one location. Personally I'm a fan of this change as it wraps up a lot of loose ends, but at the cost of throwing my writing out the window as far as canon is concerned. Unfortunate, but it won't stop me from finishing what I've started. I've just got to decide how I'm going to integrate new content for Champions into what I've got already, since (for example) I have Warwick already written into a part where he behaves like his old personality.