When I finish writing this chapter in 2177, I hope I remember to put useful information here.
There's no actual useful information to put here, but I guess I can say that nothing's gone horribly wrong to make this so super-duper late, I'm just a bit of a lazy git.
Chapter 65: The Enemy
Morning (28th 11:00):
"Ahri, we're gonna have to get up sometime."
"Nope."
He started to get up while stating: "I wanna build-"
"Stop moving, I'm comfy!"
He sighed and stared down at me: "Oh, comfy, are you? What about if I do this." He started to tickle me all over, making me inadvertently kick the covers off the bed. I was laughing so hard that my eyes were tearing up, while flailing all my limbs about trying to get him to stop. After a couple seconds I managed to shove him off. Zoh fell onto his back as I sat up, breathing heavily.
"Don't tell me… you're gonna… start tickling me now."
"Afraid I can't do that. Not after seeing that titty-jiggle." He smiled with a wink.
"I'm never gonna… feel safe hugging you again."
He got up and sat next to me, asserting: "But you're still gonna do it."
"Obviously, but I won't feel safe about it!"
"If that's the case, I might as well do this." He bear-hugged me and hopped off the bed before dropping me on my feet.
"You're the worst."
"By far. It's kinda my thing, if you haven't noticed."
I let out a deep sigh before asking: "Since I'm up, why don't you tell me what dumb stuff you've got planned for today?"
"Well, I've made a bunch of things that do stuff, but I haven't figured out what yet. I thought we could go out and mess with them until something tries to murder us."
"Or maybe everything will go fine and we'll have a great, uninterrupted day?"
Zoh stared blankly at me for a few seconds before I admitted: "Yeah, I don't believe that either."
A little while later (12:00):
"Okay, the first one is arriving in a couple seconds."
"You've never actually explained why they need to be transported here. We have teleportation, you know."
"I'm fully aware of that fact but having them airlifted in-" He was cut off by a crate slamming into the ground right next to him. He leaned on it then continued: "Is way cooler. Especially when the timing goes oh-so-right."
"I- what- did- did you know that was going to land so close?"
"Nope. Dropping a crate from the upper-stratosphere isn't what you'd call a 'precise art'."
"Are you actually suicidal or just super dumb?"
"Definitely the second one. If it makes you feel any better, these crates are rigged to ping off into the distance if they come too close to a person. I call it the 'Bethesda Physics Protocol'."
"You need to stop referencing things that don't exist here."
"Never! Even if only me and Shen understand them!"
"Why would Shen understand them?"
"Ever since I showed him how to teleport to my little spot outside the universe, he has spent a lot of time on the computer there. I've had to give him some highly uncomfortable explanations."
"Should I ask?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure it's made him give up hope on all sentient life, so you probably shouldn't."
"Whoa, did you feel that?"
"Yeah. It was almost like over a week passed with nothing happening, then suddenly it all started again."
"I wonder why."
Laziness.
Zoh shrugged at me then kicked the crate. The top flew off and the sides collapsed to the ground, revealing its slightly confusing contents. The goat trotted away without a care in the world, leaving me and Zoh alone with the actual device.
"So…"
"I have absolutely no idea."
"Huh. I guess we should be thankful that it seemed okay, at least."
"To be honest with you, Ahri, I'm more concerned that it was not freaking out."
"Maybe the device calms things down?"
"Could be. Only one way to find out!" He exclaimed before slamming the big, red button on the device. Two coils popped out of the top and started to spin, causing electricity to arc between them. Suddenly, a megaphone sprung out of the front and shouted: "Who the cunt-fuck turned me on!? Who fucking did it?! I'm going to find the piece of garbage eventually, and when I do they're getting so many fucking organs removed! I don't even know what a stomach does, but it sounds important, so I'm taking yours!"
Zoh looked at me and sighed: "I think we can both agree that the homicidal AI box should be shut down."
"Wait! I've had a change of heart! Why don't I tell you what I do before you turn me off?"
I knew it wasn't a great idea, but I went ahead and allowed it: "Sure, tell us."
"I can alter a person's perception of reality so that everything appears to be perfect to them. It only works if you stand still, though. For example, you both sound horrifically ugly, so you can feel what it would be like to be hot for a few fleeting moments."
Zoh understood my look, and agreed: "Yeah, we need to see this. Go ahead, robot."
The change was pretty immediately recognisable, but I didn't say anything until Zoh asked: "What are you seeing?"
"Well… you're doing a good job with that barbeque… And your butt looks great from this angle. You?"
"Either the machine doesn't work correctly, or we both have very similar ideas of 'perfect'."
"Every simulation is a tailored experience! I ain't one of them lazy fuckin' cyborgs!"
"Well, there's our answer. You can go away now, machine."
"I'd love to get away from you probably-ugly fucks, but I don't have any legs."
"You do have this big green button, though." Zoh explained before pressing it. The machine, and the remnants of the crate, disappeared.
After stepping over to Zoh, I nudged him and asked: "Do you reckon the goat disappeared too?"
"Heh, I hope not. That thing would not have too great of a time in one of my warehouses."
"'One of'? I thought you only had one."
"I had to buy a few more a couple days ago. I think it's safe to say that I've been building way too much useless shit recently, but I don't want to destroy any of it. You never know when a toaster that can fire toast over a mile will be useful."
"I'm pretty sure I do know, and the answer rhymes with 'tether'."
"Really? That's the one you went with? It doesn't even rhyme that well."
I stared at him blankly for a second before stating: "Zoh, I'm a pop singer. Quality rhyming means nothing to me."
"Eh, fair enough. Anyway, shall we get onto the next crate?"
"I'm up for it. Especially if it makes you nude again."
"I'll have you know that very few of my inventions involve nudity. Although, in all fairness, 'very few' is still over three hundred… anywho, the next crate should be arriving right about….. now. Okay, now! How about now? No? Nothing?"
He looked up into the sky and threw his arms up, shouting: "Hurry up, then, we haven't got all day!"
"Maybe it's just waiting for the right comedic timing. Your inventions have a knack for that."
"Things dropped from space don't have enough control over when they hit the ground to hit at the perfect time… such as now! Come the fuck on, crate!"
Just as I was about to start talking there was a flash of something above Zoh's head. After looked around for a second, I spotted a speck flying off into the distance towards a town. It dropped perfectly into the town and I watched as it pinged off again in a random direction, until it was too far for even me to see.
Zoh hadn't moved until it hit, only reanimating when he grumbled: "I hate that fucking crate."
"How long do you reckon it's gonna keep bouncing?"
"For as long as there is someone in its way. Could go on forever, or it could sink to the bottom of the ocean that covers most of this planet's surface."
"It would probably get eaten by an octoshark or something."
"A what-what in the what?"
"They're like the 'octo' part of an octowhale and the 'shark' part of a lobster shark."
"The ocean here is terrifying."
"They aren't so bad, really. Most of the creatures down there don't want to waste their time with small prey like us. Although, I do admit that romantic cruises aren't so romantic when you get attacked by a swarm of diver eels…"
"Terrifying."
"I guess it's better than when your ship gets stuck in the middle of a goliath manta-ray breeding frenzy…"
"Boy, this would be a great time for the next crate to show up."
"You constantly terrify me with stories of all the shit out there murdering planets in deep space! I'm allowed this one!"
"Yeah, but you have to realise that the more you talk about this shit the more I want to go down there and say hello to some of this crazy shit."
"I'll make sure to let you do that next time the Harrowing comes around. It'll be better than any horror house you could go to."
"And it'll let me avoid getting murdered by ghosts. Which'll be a plus."
"True. Although I think I could keep you safe."
"From ghosts?"
"Soul magic verses ghosts."
"Good point. I guess there are benefits to using an incredibly obscure form of magic."
"Oh yeah, there are tons- whoa, fuck!" I screamed while flailing and falling to the floor.
That crate was considerably bigger than the other ones.
"Finally it gets here! Although I can't say I remember building something this big."
My heart was still racing and I was pretty sure I had a horrified expression on my face, but I managed to stutter out: "Well uh, we better, you know, open it. I guess. Can I get a minute?"
"Go ahead."
I laid my head back and took a few deep breaths, sighing: "Ooh fuck, that really got me. Scared my ass off."
After a couple seconds I put my hand up and shouted: "Help!"
Zoh pulled me up and asked: "Okay now?"
"Mostly. Good enough to find out what's inside, at least."
"Great. Before we do, though, I need to just check something."
I raised an eyebrow at him just before he slapped my ass.
"Thank god, it's still there."
He went over to the crate as I wondered: "What was that- oh. Right. 'Scared my ass off'. Ha."
"I think I'm funny." Zoh lied with that stupid smile on his face as he kicked the crate. It popped open to reveal… something. It was big, metal, and floating.
"What the hell is that thing?"
He looked at me and shrugged before jogging around the machine. When he reached my side again he stopped and pondered for a moment before exclaiming: "Ha! It's a hover-tank! I built a hover-tank at some point! Fuck knows when!"
"I guess it's mine turn to say 'a what-what in the what?'"
"Imagine a car except it has multiple inches of angled, everything-resistant armour all over and a huge turret on top with a main cannon that can fire pure destruction at something miles away with perfect precision! And it hovers!"
"So… we're gonna drive around in it, then?"
"I'm not gonna drive it. The tank commander goes on top with the cannon controls!"
"This can only go well…" I mumbled sarcastically while walking over to the tank.
Once we were both inside, Zoh gave me a brief, emphasis on the 'brief', explanation of the controls before taking his position. I was also pretty certain he started to intentionally emphasise his accent the moment he stepped foot in the tank.
"Enemy sighted, laddy! That tree on the other end of the clearing looks to be some sort of delinquent! What say we go show it what-for, eh!?"
"Uhhh, yes…?"
"That's 'affirmative, commander' to you, lad!"
His legs were the only bits in my part of the tank, so I punched one of them before grabbing the controls. He was yelling something about 'insubordination', but I was too busy trying to figure out what I was doing to listen to Zoh's nonsense. After a little bit, I tentatively pushed forward on the driving-stick-thing. The tank lurched forward, and all I could see from the frontal camera was grass.
"I say, lad, did you learn to drive at the military academy or on a farm with grandpa no-hands?"
"I didn't learn at all!"
"That's rather fortunate for the enemy tree, I must say."
After a moment, Zoh knelt down and said, in his regular voice: "Handbrake is still on."
"Ohhhhhhhh, got it." I gave him a thumbs-up before pulling the lever. The tank corrected itself, so I was able to get right to carefully moving the tank forward. Unfortunately, it wasn't very good at moving slowly. After only a few seconds we were most of the way across the field, at which point Zoh shouted for me to brake. We came to a halt waaaaaay too sharply, shunting me forward. I bashed my nose on one of the screens while Zoh, based on the noise he made, also managed to hurt himself.
"Maybe a bit hard on the brake!"
"Just a little bit! Would've helped if you told me to be careful with it beforehand!"
"That's a possibility. But, moving swiftly onwards, shall we give this gun a test run?"
"I guess. Is there actually a safe direction to shoot it? We'd both feel pretty awful if you blasted some farmer's favourite cow into a few thousand different pieces."
"Do not fear, the targeting system will tell me if I'm gonna hit any little bugger larger than a squirrel!"
"Oh yeah, cause that's definitely going to work just as planned. Like everything you build."
"Exactly! Firing sequence initiated!"
I felt the energy building as soon as it started, all of the tank's systems growing weaker as every ounce of power was diverted. The screens in front of me dimmed and one switched to show a layout of the tank, displaying the progress of all the power being drawn to some device at the back. Something at the back of the tank start to pulse until, only moments after Zoh pulled the trigger, the power went to the main gun.
There was a beep before the cannon fired. A huge blast of energy collided into the treeline, eviscerating the trees and removing the ground around where it hit from existence. A rocky hill behind the blast was reduced to rubble where it was in range of the blast. Oddly enough, the area around the impact was mostly unharmed, save for the damage done by the bits and pieces of tree and rock.
"Holy-fucking-hell! Did you see that shit! That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
I was still just staring at the monitor, wide-eyed with my mouth agape, when Zoh clambered down into the cabin and joked: "Do you want me to go check for any chunks of cow?"
"No… no… I think we're fine…"
"Weren't really expecting that, were ya?"
"No, actually. Can't say I was…"
"Do you want a go firing it?"
I turned and looked him right in the eyes: "More than you could ever imagine."
A few days later (Monday 2nd May 13:00):
Something told me that Zoh was really not looking forward to that lesson. Before we even sat down, he had his face on his desk and the whiteboard covered by some cloth. I managed to get a seat right at the front, next to Lux and Ziggs. It took a while for everyone to get seated and quiet, but when we all were, Zoh let out a deep and long sigh. He pushed himself from his desk and stood up.
"Okay, today's lesson is biology. It was meant to be a physics lesson about waves and wavelengths, but the League has had some… unfortunate reports that confirm a rumour that has been going around recently. So… fucking hell, basically someone, I'm not naming names, was trying to have sex and they failed in just about every way you can. So we're going to be doing a sex education class. Yay for us."
Zoh caught my smile instantly and ordered: "Whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it." Before continuing to address the rest of the class: "So we're going to start with humans then cover Yordles a little bit later. And, in case you were worried, I've stocked up on chairs for anyone who giggles. So then, let's get this shit over with."
A few minutes later:
"Can ANYONE except Ahri actually name more than one type of birth control?"
Only one person put their hand up, Graves, but Zoh quickly shut him down: "Pulling out doesn't fucking count, stop saying it."
He put his hand down as Zoh sighed: "I guess we'll have to add this section to the lesson. Great."
A while later:
"Okay, can anyone, with the usual exception, tell me one of the symptoms of Chlamydia?"
"…. Didn't think so. Buckle in, kids, this one is gonna have some truly disturbing pictures."
Later (19:15):
For once, I stepped into the apartment and Zoh wasn't actually doing horrifically dangerous science. He was actually asleep on the new sofa with a half-made device of some sort resting on his face. My confusion didn't last long when I saw the many, many empty coffee mugs on the table.
I sighed and strolled over, stopping just in front of him. A flick on the forehead did a bit too good of a job at waking him up, as he shouted something I didn't recognise and flailed about, falling face-first onto the floor. The device that he had been working on fell off the sofa just after, hitting him on the back of the head.
"Oooaaaghh… that wasn't fun…" He groaned while pushing himself up. It took him a second to notice me standing opposite him, my arms crossed over my chest: "Uhh, hey. I thought you went for dinner with some classmates?"
"I did. A few hours ago."
He wiped his face then looked perplexed for a moment: "No, that doesn't make any sense. I would've noticed if a few hours passed."
"You were asleep, so I have to disagree."
"Don't be preposterous I was only just-" He paused as it dawned on him: "Oh, nope, that does make a certain kind of sense. I was doing quite a lot."
"Mind explaining what it was that it required all of this?" I asked while motioning to the cups.
"Ah, you see, it didn't require them, but they did help. You see, after you left, I couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom that I sometimes get. The only logical thing to do was to build some sort of superweapon capable of atomising anything that comes within range."
"Right, as if you didn't have enough of those already."
"Exactly! But, anyway, I realised about half way through that I didn't actually know what the weapon was going to do, and I didn't know how to make it work."
"Oh, this is filling me with confidence…"
"Don't fear, I worked out the 'what'. As for the 'how'… fuck knows. I'm pretty sure the laws of physics don't allow for it, but fuck those guys. I listen to their rules as often as the League does a balanced class rework!"
"Oh come on, the Assassin rework has only been out a few weeks. You can't mark it down as a failure already."
"Have you SEEN Kata recently? I haven't! I've sure as hell died to her a lot, though!"
"Okay, maybe they're not the most balanced things right now, but this isn't important. Would you mind telling me where the superweapon is so I know which way I need to start running if it goes wrong?"
"On the moon. If it goes wrong, we'll just have to deal with a bit of debris."
"I don't feel any better, thanks… Anyway, what do you want to do for the rest of the day? There's not a chance in hell you're working on that superweapon again."
"Well… I heard the League started up the competitive season. Could watch that."
"Eh, why not? Let's go."
We got seated and turned on the projection-orb. A match had just ended when we started watching, so we'd have to watch some of the League's new, and slightly controversial, adverts.
A man in a suit stepped up to the camera while beginning: "Hello, Runeterra. I'm here representing the League to talk about a rather… 'touchy' topic. So, serial killers. Aren't they just the worst? These mass-murdering lunatics have collectively robbed the planet of thousands, if not millions of lives over its history. The common opinion on the way to deal with them is to simply kill them. Sure, it sounds fine. An eye for an eye, and all that. But, what if I told you that the League has a better solution?"
Jhin walked into the frame and stood next to the man.
"A lot of you will know this man. He has killed a huge amount of people. Like, seriously, I don't know where he found the time. I am incredible impressed. He is a perfect representative of the League's better solution. Instead of killing the murders, we simply give them an apartment and a huge salary in exchange for killing the right people at the right time. So maybe, next time you see someone killing another sentient being, consider talking to them about the possible benefits of joining the League."
The presenter smiled at the camera before he glanced at Jhin, who was reaching into his poncho. A look of fear spread over his face as he shouted: "Oh shit, you didn't take away his other gun?!" before running off-screen. Jhin blasted away at his surroundings while laughing maniacally.
Shortly after, the add cut to a picture of Kog'Maw in bandages with the caption: 'Looks like one of the Kogs in the machine is broken!'
A short while later, the next game played. Thankfully, neither of us got picked.
Oddly enough, even a world war hadn't been able to stop SKT being the best. Once they were done dominating, the next add played.
A completely different suited man stepped into frame and started: "The Void. It is a truly terrifying place, based on the accounts of those who have been there, and on the monstrosities that crawl out of their realm and into our own. We were going to bring one in to demonstrate but…" He paused while grimacing at something off-screen: "Recent events have led us to believe that would be a mistake. However, the point stands. The Void is not friendly and neither are its denizens. As with many things, a Runeterran's first reaction is violence. While it may seem to be fair enough; if there is a giant bug-monster and you have a sword, slashing at it appears to be the best decision in most situations – we are here to tell you that it is not a good idea. Almost any Void-borne creature is going to be an impressively ruthless and efficient killing machine. In other words, a perfect Champion candidate! Now, we're not saying you should not do anything when coming face-to-face with a creature of the Void. Running is, probably, going to be the best plan, though you should make sure to contact a League representative before warning others to the incredible threat pursuing you."
A frown appeared on the presenters face before he half whispered, half shouted: "What are you doing! We said NOT to bring that thing! Did you not notice the bodies?! That's not even the right one! You were meant to bring Cho!"
"Sorry sir, but you have to admit they look kinda similar."
"What?! They look nothing alike! Plus, Cho is melee, that's Kog, he's… oh SHIT!"
The recording cut and an image of a slightly dodgy Brand cosplay with the caption 'This is what we get for buying off-Brand equipment!'
While the next game was playing, I started to get a bit bored. I couldn't tell if I hornier than I was tired or the other way around, so I just laid my head on his lap and let fate decide. He started to stroke my hair, which just confused my body even more. It felt like I was being guided to sleep, but getting him to stroke my hair was one of the things I usually tried to do before sex.
I was just starting to doze off when he leaned down and kissed me on the head. The way I saw it, I wouldn't get a good night's sleep unless I got something a bit more satisfying than a kiss on the head. If things got out of hand, they got out of hand.
Pushing myself up from his lap, I stared deeply into his eyes, searching for some indication of what he wanted to do. He gave the sweetest smile imaginable, telling me exactly what I needed to know.
Lemon below:
With a single hand, I laid him down on his back. I climbed over him until we were face-to-face, then let our bodies come together as I gave him a tentative kiss. He used one of his hands to pull me further into the kiss while the other rubbed my back. I ran my hands through his hair as he put both his hands on my ass.
Zoh started to stand up, so I wrapped my legs around him. He started to kiss my collar while taking me through to his room. He propped me up next to the door for a moment to slide a hand under my panties. I gasped as he rubbed my pussy, which was getting warmer every second. Shivers ran down my spine as I tried to moan, only for silence to come out. His fingers dived into me, finally pushing a moan out of me.
I didn't notice we were moving again until Zoh dropped me onto the bed. I pulled down my dress to free my tits, letting me play with them as Zoh took off his shirt. He got onto the bed with me and took my lips into a kiss again. His fingers slid back into my pussy, which was slick with juices. His thumb played with my clit, making me moan into the kiss. When he curled his fingers to stroke my g-spot, I gripped his arm and came. My back arched as I screamed, my tunnel squeezing his fingers almost as hard as my hand gripped his arm.
Zoh's fingers slipped out of my tunnel as I started to come back to reality. I felt his lips against mine, so I kissed back. I got a taste of the inside of his mouth before pulling away. The dirtiest of smiles covered my face as I sat him up against the headboard. I crawled over to him and put one last kiss on his lips while undoing his trousers. I traced a few kisses down his body, stopping for a little while to lick and kiss his abs while I pulled his trousers and underwear down.
I took his dick into my hand and started to kiss the head while slowly rubbing it up and down. After flipping my hair out of the way, I licked his shaft all over. One of his hands started to stroke and caress my hair as I licked his head until it was wet all over with my saliva.
I took his entire dick into my mouth in one, the tip bashing into my throat. Pulling back for a moment to give some more love to his tip, I licked all over it again. I took the whole thing again while using my spare hand to fondle his balls. After spending a bit more time making sure the whole thing was covered in my saliva, I got into a slow rhythm. I sped up gradually as I heard Zoh's groaning get stronger. The movements of the hands that were stroking my hair got more staggered, so I got up to the best speed for him.
When his hands stopped moving altogether I took his entire dick in. The first few shots painted the back of my throat and dripped down into my stomach. I made sure to pull back so that I could get the rest in my mouth. I revelled in the taste of his cum, swirling it around in my mouth while keeping the tip of his dick in there too.
After swallowing the rest of his cum, I took all of Zoh's length into my mouth and cleaned it with my tongue. Once there was nothing left to lick off it, I let it out of my mouth and gave it a final few loving kisses.
I didn't want to waste any time, so I sat up and turned myself around. Pulling my panties down, I took his dick between my ass-cheeks slid it between them, rubbing it up and down for a while. After moving my tails to the side, I rose up and lowered myself onto him. Hitting the mark after a couple shots, I slid myself down his pole until my lips were touching the base. I moaned softly and leaned back, getting used to the feeling for a few moments as one of Zoh's hands took one of my tits into its grasp as the other played with my bud.
He had just started to kiss my neck when I started to slowly rise, only stopped when the tip was all that remained inside. Dropping down again, I let out a much louder moan than before. I did a few more slowly before trying to get to a regular speed. It was harder than it should have been. Every time I dropped to the bottom my senses flickered for a moment, a sensation that only got worse when his tip started to bash my cervix.
I couldn't get used to it fast enough, so I grabbed Zoh's hands and put them on my sides. He got the hint and started to guide me up and down, until eventually he was doing all the work. Every time I felt his dick touch my core, I lost control for a moment. Since he got up to a decent speed pretty quickly, I was basically just a rag-doll.
There wasn't anything I could do to stop him, and I wouldn't have if I could, when he pushed me forwards and knelt up. I put my hands on the bed as he slammed into my pussy over and over, each time hitting harder against my inner barrier. A constant stream of screaming and moaning came out my mouth as he shoved his length into me. My arms collapsed and my face fell to the bed. I managed to reach up to my stomach and feel when everything moved for his dick.
His thrusting got harder and faster, getting just slightly deeper each time. I started coming hard as he pulled me up and spun me around. He hugged me close as I felt his dick slam into my cervix, opening it just enough to unload shot after shot into my womb. It felt like I was completely full, but he was still ejaculating into me.
When he finally stopped, he laid back and let me rest on top. His cock was still far in me, dribbling out a little bit more cum. He was still erect, but he wasn't holding it in quite as deep, so my cervix was closed up again, trapping all that cum in there.
If nothing else, we were really putting the birth control to the test.
I wasn't tired though and, guessing from his breathing, neither was Zoh.
"Wanna keep going?"
"I see no reason not to."
"Woo!"
Lemon over
The next day (Tuesday 3rd 08:00):
The whole world was bright and red for a few moments before I realised that my eyes were still closed. I had to shield my face from the sun for a few moments as I adjusted. It took me a while to realise why the sun was in my face. Technically, it was my fault for pulling on the blinds. Really though, Zoh was the one who shoved me against that bit of the wall, so it was more his fault.
Having a bright light in my face just as I woke up wasn't a good feeling, so I turned around. As a bonus, I got to see Zoh's face. From what I could tell, he was having sweet dreams. I was hoping I could inspire them to be just a bit better when I leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. He grumbled before mumbling: "I'll get up later."
"We've gotta get up for school at some point."
He turned over and muttered: "There's no school on Sunday."
"It's Tuesday, honey."
"Tuesday doesn't come after Saturday, mum. Stop trying to get me into a healthy sleep schedule."
I realised what was happening and decided that he deserved to have as much of that dream as he could.
"Yeah, okay, I love you too. And thanks."
That afternoon (17:36):
Zoh put his hand on my side and pulled me close, asking: "So, is this where you met the tree dude?"
"Nah, that was one of the other gardens. I think this is the one we blew up a while back."
"Oh yeah… It seems to have recovered pretty well. With magical assistance, no doubt."
"Mostly. Although seeing the occasional glint in the grass from a bit of shrapnel isn't very comforting."
"Each one is a grim reminder of what happened here. We all made some awful mistakes here. Me more than most."
"You did everything you could. We'd have all been dead if you didn't take the brunt of the blast."
"I know, and it's not that which makes me want to forget this place. It was before. In the middle of the fighting. A Summoner approached me and- I just reacted. I didn't realise who I'd hit until…" He stopped and slumped his head, sighing sadly.
"You can tell me what happened. No-one else is around."
"Not today. Not now." He finished before standing up and stating: "If you wouldn't mind, I'd rather not stay here any longer. We have something to do, and I doubt they'll mind if we get there early."
"True. Go on, then."
He hit the teleporter and we appeared in front of a door. It wasn't difficult to tell that we were still in the League building; the excessive use of marble was a dead giveaway. However, I didn't recognise the room that the doors opened into as Zoh pushed them open. I guessed that it was one of the rooms they repurposed, which was probably a smart move. Those labs were a pretty depressing sight whenever we went past them.
The room itself didn't matter though. It was the people inside who made it special. Veterans from all over Runeterra, most injured during the recent conflicts. We were only one of many, many meetings, with pretty much every Runeterran Champion participating.
Most of them were talking amongst themselves and enjoying the free food. They only noticed we were there when we each turned one around.
"Hey, mind if we step over there?"
The kid, who couldn't have been more than nineteen, nodded and offered his only hand: "H-hey. Nice to- nice to meet you."
I shook his hand and smiled: "There's no need to be anxious. We're just gonna talk."
He nodded again before following me over to one of the tables that were set up around the corners of the room. On the way he stuttered: "Yeah but I mean… it's you! It's really you! And you're just here to talk to us guys?"
We sat down next to a window and I explained: "Hey, we're both just humans, even if I have a few extra parts here and there. You were talking to the other guys just fine."
"But they're not… you know. You know?"
"Women?"
"Yeah."
"Don't worry, we don't bite. Also, stop trying to be sneaky. I consider it a compliment if you stare."
"I'm not- I- I wouldn't… I… have no clue what you're t-talking about."
I smirked at him and mumbled: "Riiiiiight. Anyway, I must have forgotten my manners at home; I haven't even asked your name yet."
"Oh, uhm, it's Jimmy. I'M, I'm Jimmy."
"Well, that throws out my guess at where you're from, so you might as well tell me."
"Noxus. Although I guess I'll have to, you know, start saying my new home now."
"Which is?"
"Oh, right, yeah, forgot that bit. It's Aggrimar- Aggrivar! It's on the coast."
"Ah, that's one of those new cities, right? That the Summoners are helping with."
"Yeah. I guess it shouldn't be uh that surprising, really, that it's already done, I mean. Magic really helps with this stuff, huh?"
"Sure does. Makes you wonder why they didn't do it before."
"Some smart people somewhere invented stuff and then they tell us farm boys 'you're all going to live in a city, we only need a few people here now'. I- I guess it makes sense but finding a new job is gonna be hard. 'Specially with ma and pa still back in the country."
"Luckily for you, we're here to help. There should be a Summoner office somewhere in your city. They'll help you find a job in no time."
"That's a mighty kind thing, but I guess they uh, they got a fair bit of apologising to do."
"Understatement of the century."
"I just hope they don't throw me into one of them factory jobs. I- I don't mind the work, I guess, but it's the money, you know? I got medical bills I still need to pay off."
"Yeah… except you don't. That's one of the things we've sorted for you. Anything healthcare to do with your war injury is free forever."
He was completely lost for words for a few seconds, only able to stare wide-eyed in disbelief. When he finally found his words, he only managed to stutter-out: "I- Oh my god- w-w-w-" He paused before standing up: "Thank you. So much. I don't even know- I don't have the words to-to-"
I put my hand up to stop him before whispering: "Keep your voice down. We don't wanna ruin the surprise for the rest of them."
He lowered his tone a bit before asking: "How can I thank you?"
"Well, technically it was the League that paid for it… but then again, I did put a lot of my own money into the pot for it…" I pondered before standing up and putting my arms out: "How about we just say you owe me a hug?"
Unsurprisingly, for many reasons, he was very eager to give me a hug.
Later (21:20):
Zoh's POV:
"Did you really just teleport us into a cave?"
"All the planet's drop-points are down! We're lucky to have landed on the right side of the planet!"
"Apologies. I'd just like to assess the situation as quickly as possible so that we can form some sort of countermeasure."
"Well, Aezza does have planetary shielding, unlike the last ones. That might help."
"I hope to the stars that you're right."
A few steps later we emerged from the cave and onto the fabled grasslands of Aezza. For such a technologically developed planet to still have such a clear planetary surface was almost unheard of, but it was easy to see why when you looked up. The skies were covered in an incomprehensibly vast network of white tubes, ranging in diameter from mere meters across to multiple kilometres, housing almost the entire population of the planet. Each tube indicated where the magical currents of the planet were, as the natives had vastly empowered thinking skills when they were in the presence of large concentrations of magic.
The most impressive part of it all, though, was 'The Concentration'. An odd name for a capital city, sure, but I didn't feel like I was in any place to criticise such a structure. It was a sphere of such breath-taking size that it put most moons to shame. We were hundreds, if not thousands of miles from it, but it was still clearly in view. It was the epicentre of the weave of tubes, one of the most magical places in the entire galaxy, home to billions, and so much more.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the only superstructure floating above the planet. Turning around, there was a ship. A really, really big ship. It was like a massive religious building in design and just shy of three miles long. The mix of dulled chrome and gold gave it an exceedingly extravagant and almost regal appearance. Of course, the giant yellow ball of energy building up beneath it made the whole thing look a lot less harmless.
Strangely enough, my armour couldn't make heads or tails of the life-readings coming from it. It appeared that everything aboard, and there was a whole lot of things aboard, was alive, but something was noticeably off about it all.
The ship was flanked by two smaller, yet design-wise very similar, ships. The three of them were engaged in a fleet battle the resident space-forces of the planet, yet it was clear that the defenders didn't have the numbers or specialised firepower to take out the shielding on the hostile ships. On the bright side, it seemed that the same was true in the other direction.
"Well, we've found our culprits, detective. And it looks like we're running out of time to stop them."
"Accurate. I would assume that the energy building up below the capital ship is what removes all life from the planet! We need to find a way to contain that energy or dissipate it, and fast!"
"An energy-net won't go up fast enough, we need to shut down the power source and hope it's enough!"
"Okay, locate the largest power source on the ship and-" He was cut off by a guttural, low groan that came from the ship.
I was frozen in horrified anticipation of what that meant, until I saw the energy ball pulse. I screamed: "Detective!" and reached for the teleporter, but I was already too late. The blast was invisible, like a sonic boom, yet without any force. It was more akin to a wave of wind that swept over the land in seconds, utterly scouring it of life.
I stared down where the detective had been. My head was struggling so hard to process what had just happened, I didn't even know what emotion I was supposed to be feeling for the initial few seconds. When the despair hit me, it knocked me down onto a knee. All those lives wiped away in an instant. They were just… gone.
I heard a few short bangs around me and looked up to see them. It was them. The aliens I had encountered with Ahri after just one wiped out a ski resort. Four arms, blazing white eyes, platinum armour.
"Kusári, end this heretic."
One of them stood back as the other two approached me. I stood up and took hold of my axe, spinning it around a few times to get their attention. As the two spearmen got within striking range, I revealed the plot to them. My shield smashed into the face of one as I pulled the other to me by his spear. I threw him into the ground by his head and stomped on it before deflecting the other one's spear and launching my axe into his chest.
I retrieved my axe and shield before looking over to the last remaining alien. He would have met an indescribably painful end if it wasn't for the flashes of light behind him. Thousands more of them were teleporting in. And they didn't stop. Legions upon legions. The rolling hills were painted chrome for miles around. The ships were repositioning to get a firing angle on me. I couldn't win.
Kneeling down, I placed my hand where the detective had stood, muttering: "I couldn't save you, and I am truly sorry for that. But, know this:" I stopped for a moment to look up: "Nothing can save them, either."
I suppose the bright side of clearing all life from a planet is that there won't be any more bugs. I'm not sure if it's entirely worth the price, but it's a positive nonetheless.
Cya all, I hope you liked it.
