"So, Blitzcrank," Ren casually asked, "the Doc made you, so that kinda makes him like your dad, right?"

"I am a golem," Blitzcrank responded, "I have no biological parents. But you are correct. Viktor did create and program me and still aides in my upkeep at times. In that sense, he behaves much how a human father would towards their offspring. It is an unusual comparison but not an inappropriate one."

"Crystal. So, hear me out. Doc also made my leg. Would that kinda sorta make you my-"

A sudden shout from ahead cut their conversation short.

"You can't do this!" a woman shouted.

Ren didn't wait another moment. He dashed forward towards the sound of the commotion. He turned the corner by Whitecap Factory and saw two groups of people standing before a bridge. A young woman wearing a berry-stained apron stood before one group, while a man, lanky as a scarecrow and covered with glowing piercings stood before the opposite group. The people behind him were a group of individuals far more deserving of the term 'goon' than Ren could ever be. Each gripped a weapon and leered down at the others with a threatening gaze.

Adrenaline pumped through Ren's body, and he began equipping himself with his gauntlets as fast as his now trembling fingers would allow him.

"This is absurd," the woman continued, "we've already paid for the month. Now you want more? This is daylight robbery!"

The people behind her nodded in agreement. Unlike those who obstructed them, this group was made of exhausted looking Zaunites; factory workers, lift conductors, and merchants, all wanting to get home. Only one among that group looked reluctant to support the young woman. He was an older gentleman who appeared to be a relative of the angry woman and he had to lean on the handles of his push cart jam stall for support.

"Dinah, please," he pleaded

"No way, Uncle," she said as she shook her head and stood defiantly before the thugs, "we're not paying twice."

"I'm sorry, Miss," the spindly man feigned concern as he took a step forward, "but with the other bridge damaged, more people are coming this way and this poor bridge is taking more wear and tear. It costs more to upkeep it and keep everyone crossing safe."

Dinah scoffed.

"It's your gang's fault that the other bridge is broken in the first place."

"I don't make the rules, Miss," the man said with a shrug, "just enforce 'em. You could always take things up with the boss if ya' got a complaint though."

He pointed back to the largest of the gang members gathered behind him. The man identified as the boss was a bulky man. But what was most intimidating wasn't his size, but the massive augmentation attached to his arm. The design of it was clearly one worn by Baron Spindlaw's men, who were infamous for using their oversized arms to smash through brick with ease and tear the limbs off of those who wronged their employer. But where the Baron's sigil should have been, the image of a whump smoking a cigar was painted over. The boss raised his weaponized limb and flexed the fingers on it. Instantly, the crowd of workers grew silent. Even Dinah looked nervous.

"Ah," continued the lackey as he smirked at the woman, "no words needed. So I suggest you all shut up and pay up."

"Lowlifes," she growled.

"Aww, now that was hurtful," he joked in response, "but not as hurtful as this."

He motioned to one of the other gang members behind him. With a malicious smirk, she stepped forward. Tubes attached to a tank on her back plunged into her chem-scarred arms. An oily colored liquid flowed through the tubes, suddenly empowering her with an abnormal speed. Before anyone could react, she had leapt to the side of the cart and swung a lead pipe at it. Its wooden wheel splintered under the force of the blow, causing the cart to lurch sideways, sending several jars of jams smashing to the ground.

"Uncle!" Dinah cried as she rushed to help keep the cart from completely tipping.

"So, I'm only asking this one more time," the thug threatened, "pay."

"Hey!" Ren shouted.

His voice echoed off the buildings, commanding the attention of both groups. He couldn't wait anymore. He began to walking, trying to steady his breathing and finish strapping on the gauntlets. Blitzcrank followed a few paces behind. The golem was ready to provide aid if needed, but wanted to allow Ren an opportunity to deal with a situation himself.

"Keep you cool, Ren," he thought, "heroes keep their cool."

Despite this though, he stumbled over his next few words.

"You! You leave them alone, you. Crystal?"

The thug blinked.

"What?"

"You heard me," Ren said, "back off and let these people pass. Got it, please?"

The gang members looked between themselves in disbelief. Then they laughed.

"Is this a joke?" the pierced punk mocked.

"This is not a joke," Ren answered.

"I am not a joke," he reassured himself, "stand firm."

"This is your second warning," Ren commanded, "let these people pass. You don't want me to have to ask a third time."

The look of disbelief deepened on both the workers and gangsters. The boss of the Plump Whumps peered down his nose at Ren. He pointed at the boy's gauntlets and then nodded to his lackeys. The lanky thug nodded in understanding.

"Alright," he smirked, "it's your lucky day, kid. The boss says he's willing to make a deal. Hand over your nice gauntlets and we will accept them as payment for everyone's toll. You're all shinny and spirited. Let's keep you that way. We'd hate to break your toys, nose, and all that, so just hand em' over like a good boy and we can all go on our merry way."

The thought of Viktor's creations being used to bully the innocent had Ren's blood boiling.

"Absolutely not," Ren stated, "these were made by one of Zaun's greatest inventors and I know his skin would crawl if he saw his work being used by the likes of you. In other words, the only way you'll get to experience these is by having them used on you. Final warning."

"Damn it," Ren chastised himself, "that sounded a little villainous. Was that too much?"

"Belligerent citizen," Blitzcrank spoke up, "I advise that you heed Subject Renatus's warning and vacate the premises."

"And what the hell are you supposed to be," the thug demanded, "some Piltie cop bot? Get outta here," he whipped his attention back to Ren, who was still overthinking his choice of words, "and as for you-"

But before he could finish his threat, Blitzcrank's massive hand clenched around him. Without a moment's hesitation, Blitzcrank yanked the man back to him and into his waiting fist. The uppercut sent the thug flying. He crashed down on the pavement, knocked out cold. The thug's knife, dislodged from its hiding placed, clattered into plain view. There was stunned silence and then, chaos.

"I'll turn you to scrap!"

The woman with the pipe was first to move. She snarled as she turned towards Blitzcrank. Ren saw the oily substance begin to fill the tubes again and rushed to action. As she focused on the golem, Ren attacked from the side. His gauntlet slashed the tubes going into her arms, tearing them open and spilling their contents onto the pavement. The woman screamed and her weapon clattered to the ground. Her arm convulsed in a series of spasms as the strange liquid oozed from the tubes as she retreated.

"No more warnings," Ren snapped, "get out!"

The boss looked between his remaining two goons and nodded to them.

"Alright, boy," he said with a voice as harsh as rusted gears forced to move, "if you want to do this by force, be my guest, but know this, once we're done beating you, I'm going to make it even. I'll be taking your weapons and your leg."

"You can try," Ren postured, "I've beaten worse than you. You don't scare me."

"Though last time I fought someone like this, Ekko was with me, ready to rewind if things went wrong" Ren thoughts panicked, "no redoes this time. But hey, you have the Great Steam Golem with you, that's got to count for something. Ren you idiot, you better not screw this up."

Blitzcrank moved forward to stand by Ren as the workers hurried away. The two other thugs spread out and circled around to either side of Ren and Blitzcrank. The face of one was completely obscured by a bulky gasmask, though his heavy wheezing could still be heard from underneath it. Just like the thug with the tubes, he wielded a lead pipe. The other wore dark makeup around her eyes that resembled the markings on a whump and clutched a staff entwined with wires.

At the same time, they charged in from either side. Ren chambered his leg, letting his augmentation absorb the brunt of the blow from his assailant. Both he and the gas mask man stumbled back from the clash of metal on metal. Ren was the first to recover.

"His blows aren't nearly as strong as Ekko's," Ren thought as confidence built, "I've got this."

With a squeeze of the levers, Ren charged his gauntlets and began his counterattack. He swung at the man's arms. The bladed gears tore into the thick fabric of the thug's trench coat, but the bulky apparel had done its job, and his skin received little more than a surface wound. However, the electric shock that came with the strike had a much greater effect.

A raspy growl came from beneath the mask as the man recoiled in pain. Ren thought he had an opening and moved to follow up with another strike on the already injured limb. The masked man anticipated this though. He pivoted out of the way and raised his arm, pulling back the sleeve and revealing a set of canisters strapped to them. He pulled a cord and a sickly looking gas spewed forth. Ren didn't know what this gas was and he didn't want to find out.

"Wanna trade?" he asked Blitzcrank as he backed off from his opponent.

"When an opportunity presents itself, I will accept," the golem responded.

Blitzcrank had his own hands full with the woman facing him. She was quick on her feet, and now that the surprise of how far his arms could extend was spent, she knew what to watch out for. Twice, he had gone to grab her and twice she nimbly jumped away before striking back. When Blitzcrank missed, his arm was vulnerable for a brief moment, during which she would strike it with her staff. The wires around it all connected back to a chem-powered battery pack, and they crackled with electricity as they struck the golem. Though his metal did not dent, Blitzcrank did not enjoy the tingling sensation that skittered through his circuits with each strike. It was becoming difficult for him to sense his fingers.

"Let's not wait," Ren called out, "we'll make our own opportunity."

As the masked man made another charge at Ren, the boy crossed the blades on his gauntlets and switched them on. Sparks showered from the weapons, driving the man back. Ren hastily pivoted to move to Blitzcrank's position, but the boss had other plans. Joining the fray, the boss charged in, swinging at Ren with his fearsome augmentation. Blitzcrank was faster though.

He caught the augmentation, shielding Ren with his outstretched hand. The air around Blitzcrank appeared to warp for a few seconds. A blue aura radiated from his frame, stopping the blow before it could connect. The boss stared in disbelief for a moment, but that brief second was all Blitzcrank needed. He closed his fist around the augmentation and tossed the man aside. The boss crashed into the side of the factory, smashing the window he had collided with.

Ren leapt at the opening. He dashed past Blitzcrank, ready to engage the woman with the staff. She swung downwards in an attempt to keep up her assault on the golem's arms. Ren was the one who received the blow though. He moved between them and blocked the strike with his augmentation. The two staggered back. Ren felt his hairs stand on end as the electricity tingled through his augmentation and pricked at the nerves joining it to his flesh. His skin around the connection itched as though it was crawling with ants.

Ren pushed the sensation from his mind as he focused on his new opponent. The wires wrapped around her weapon were similar, if not more crude, to the ones on Viktor's staff. Ren smirked. He remembered how easily his old knuckledusters had cut through Viktor's wires. Now with better weapons, he knew that severing the power to her staff would be even easier.

He charged in and jabbed with his left. She blocked the attack with ease, just as Ren anticipated he would. He followed through with a right hook aimed at the wires. The gangster moved to counterattack, kicking out with her steel plated boots to keep him at a distance. Ren had to pivot to avoid her attack, causing his blow to miss and only graze the wires. This strike was not without effect though, and the more powerful hextech battery overloaded the weaker chem-battery circuit, disrupting it. Electricity arced between the wires, even snapping one with a loud popping noise.

Both jumped back in surprise. Catching her breath, the woman looked down at her damaged weapon and felt anger well within her. With renewed fury, she continued her assault, thrusting out rapidly. With the aid of his augmentation, Ren leapt back out of range. He took a breath. She was fast, and Ren knew that he was going to have to slow her down if he were to disarm her. He began to tap his foot as an idea came to mind.

"Ren, what did I say about being an idiot," he chastised himself, "that's a terrible idea. No redoes. Are you sure you want to do this?"

His opponent didn't give the opportunity to rethink his plan. She charged in and Ren steeled himself for what he was about to do. He raised his arms up to guard, but deliberately left his right side exposed for a kick. She took the bait and delivered a roundhouse kick right into Ren's side. Knowing the blow was coming, Ren exhaled on impact so that the air couldn't be forcibly knocked from him. Ren retained his balance, but the pain still blossomed under her boot, and he knew he was going to bruise badly for this. He fought through the pain, and wrapped his right arm around her leg, pinning her to him.

"Gottcha'," he smirked, "and now sorry. Kinda."

Ren activated his right gauntlet and let the charged tips of his weapon contact the metal on her boot. She cried out in pain as the current forced her muscles to contract against each other. With desperation, she made a wild swing at Ren's head with the staff. He turned inward, letting his left pauldron absorb the blow. Though the force of the strike was weak, the jolt it sent through the metal plating caused Ren's shoulder to seize up. With a groan, he commanded his left hand to move and shove against her trapped thigh. The force threw her off balance and he released her leg as she tumbled to the ground. The staff fell from her grip and began to roll away.

Determined not to let this opening go to waste, Ren lunged for the weapon. He snatched it up and brought his blades to the wires without hesitation. A quick twist of his wrist and the wires were severed. Ren didn't allow himself a moment to bask in victory and let his guard down, and so he turned back to the thug. She was moving again, despite the pain in her leg, and was trying to get back on her feet. With a sigh, Ren went back and swept her legs out from under her with a swift, sweeping kick.

"Stay down, please," Ren asked, "I'd rather not have to break any bones."

"I refuse to lose to some brat," she growled back.

Again, she attempted to rise. Ren grit his teeth and began to charge his leg for one final decisive kick. But he never needed to. From out of view, Dinah rushed in and punched the thug square in the cheek. Ren stared in confusion for a moment.

"Well," jam seller shot back to Ren, "go help your big friend. I'll finish up here."

"Oh, yeah. Crystal," Ren responded.

He hastily took of his pouch and tossed it at her before turning for Blitzcrank.

"There should be some rope or something in there. Thanks."

As Ren had been fighting the woman with the staff, Blitzcrank had his own hands full. The fight with the masked man was the easy part of Blitzcrank's brawl. The golem had waded through the mysterious gas, unbothered by it. He had been designed to clean hazardous material, and this gas was far weaker than many of the substances he had handled before.

The masked man, alarmed by the unrelenting approach of his enemy, reached into the deep pockets of his trench coat and pulled out a fistful of small glass vials. He threw them at Blitzcrank. The glass shattered against the golem's body, covering him in the various chemicals. They slid off the metal, sizzling as they hit the pavement. However, there was no effect on the Blitzcrank. Desperate, he pulled out his last resort, a canister of chem-lamp oil. He spilled it before himself, struck a match, and ignited it.

The oil ignited in a brilliant flash. Blitzcrank paused for a moment as he felt the flames lick up his legs. There was no pain; one of the perks of a robotic body. However, he couldn't let these flames spread without control. The flames would eventually begin to interfere with his functions. Drawing on his stored power, Blitzcrank, released a large plume of steam. The water doused the flames on his form and diminished, but not completely extinguishing the oil fire around him.

"Belligerent citizen," Blitzcrank said, "you have caused unnecessary damage to the city and have endangered other civilians. I will now put an end to your destructiveness."

And end the fight Blitzcrank did. His hand launched out and apprehended the masked man. He gave the human a calculated squeeze; enough to be uncomfortable and for the man to know he was powerless to escape, but not so much that he crushed the oh so fragile bones.

"Surrender. You have been – "

CRASH!

A large chunk of a machine slammed into Blitzcrank, staggering him. From the factory, the gang's boss was pulling himself back out through the window. Gripped in his augmentation was the other half of the machine he had torn from the factory. Before Blitzcrank could recover, he lobbed the metal at the golem. This time, Blitzcrank saw it coming though, and reached out with his other hand to catch it. However, injuring the golem was never the true attention of the attack. Now that Blitzcrank's hands were full, the boss closed the distance between them in seconds. The machinery inside the augmentation whirled as he pulled back the massive limb and punched Blitzcrank right in the chest. Backwards Blitzcrank fell.

In a moment, the boss was standing on Blitzcrank's chest. Blitzcrank swung the arm holding the metal in an attempt to knock his aggressor off. Unfortunately for the golem, he arms were not ideally designed for this type of motion. His arms were designed to extend and retract in a predominately linear fashion. Abduction and adduction of his arms was possible, but it was never as strong.

The boss knocked aside Blitzcrank's arm aside without much difficulty. Capitalizing on the opening, he then followed up with another punch to the golem's chest. Blitzcrank searched himself for energy, but his core still hadn't recharged enough to generate another barrier. He briefly considered opening his chest and exposing his core, but the resulting outpouring of electricity would likely electrocute very people he and Ren were trying to protect. Metal groaned as the plating on Blitzcrank dented.

"Next one goes for your head," the boss sneered as he raised his augmentation high above his head.

"And this one goes for yours," Ren screamed as he charged in.

Wielding the staff, Ren swung it with all his might at the head of the boss. He let the tips of his gauntlets touch the metal of the staff, coating the whole thing in an electric charge. At the sound, the thug turned and only had a moment to react and block Ren's attack his augmentation.

"I've got this Blitz," Ren said, "take care of yourself and help the nice jelly lady catch the others."

His words were equally to reassure himself as they were Blitzcrank.

"Good," the boss chuckled as he leered down at Ren, "I was worried I wouldn't get to snap your leg off myself."

"You aren't the first person to threaten this leg," Ren shot back, "and the last guy who tried to destroy it was a way better fighter than you. And look, I'm still here. What chance do you think you've got?"

"A damn good one."

Ren was immediately alarmed by how fast the man was for his size. He had to jump back as the boss swung his augmentation at him. The boss pressed his assault, forcing Ren backwards to where the oil fire still burned. Ren saw the glow of the flames in the corner of his eyes and made a quick decision. Though he hated sacrificing the reach it offered, Ren rolled the staff at the feet of the larger man.

His plan worked, and Ren breathed a quick sigh of relief as he watched the boss trip over the staff. The man caught himself on his oversized arm, which kept him from completely toppling to the pavement, but he was still vulnerable as he tried to regain balance. Ren was ready to exploit this opening.

One quick jab and another fast hook, both charged, connected with the boss, striking him in both the chest and arm. The man roared in pain and lashed out with his arm. His ability to move through the pain caught Ren off guard and the boy was struck in gut by an uppercut. Ren coughed as he stumbled back. He swallowed his bile.

"Thank the Gray that that wasn't his augmented arm," he groaned internally, "Damn it. He's got to be hyped up on something. All right, so it's going to be taking out that augmentation or nothing. Gotta find the weak spot. All right moggle, time to shine. Just need a moment to set you up."

As the boss finished righting himself, Ren leapt through the broken window and into the factory. He looked around the empty factory for a place to hide. He only needed to buy a few minutes, just enough time to figure out which configuration of lenses reveal electrical currents. Ducking behind a pallet of oil drums, he began to switch through the moggle's lenses at a frantic pace. Behind him, there was a great cracking sound. The brick wall by the window had been crumbled and now the footsteps of the boss could be heard stepping over the rubble and shattered glass.

"Where are you?" he challenged, "you rotten little coward! You have one minute to show yourself before I go back out there and start taking your robot apart. And you know what, just for good measure, I'll take that girl apart too. Come out, little hero! Don't you want to be their champion?"

"Desperately," Ren thought to himself, "damn it, damn it, damn it. I'm going to have make a cheat sheet for this if I get out. No, not if. When. When damn it."

The boy could feel his fingers trembling as he ran them along the gears on the moggle. He stared at the back of his hand, hoping that one combination would make the wiring on his gauntlet glow faintly. With each second that passed, he felt his heart rise higher and higher in his throat. The screech of each piece of the factory that snapped under the boss's rampage seemed to echo from all around. And then, a light!

"Lady Science be praised!"

"I'm right here!" Ren shouted.

Ren peaked over the edge of his hiding place, and saw the boss tearing up a conveyer belt, looking for him under it. The debris he created had formed a corner that would be difficult to maneuver out of. This was as good a shot as Ren could have hoped for.

He charged his augmentation and as he stood, he kicked the barrel that had been his hiding place at his enemy. The projectile flew through the air and collided with the boss's augmentation. The man snarled and turned to Ren. As Ren stared down the larger man, he began to see a path to victory. The lines of the wires were revealed by the moggle and appeared to Ren's eye as glowing paths below the augmentation. The lines glowed brightest where the augmentation met the flesh, the joints, and along the inside of the limb. With a target selected, Ren charged.

He cleared the distance between them in seconds. The boss raised his arm and brought it smashing straight downwards. Ren pivoted, narrowly dodging the blow. He followed up with an attack of his own, making a stab at the wires near the elbow. Electricity sparked over the surface of the augmentation. The effect was dazzling under the moggle's enhanced vision. Unfortunately for Ren, he hadn't anticipated this, and the sudden flash threw off his aim and his claws narrowly missed the vital wires.

The boss was quick to follow up on his first attack, and he swung his massive limb outwards. Ren went to dodge, but just as the debris made it impossible for the boss to dodge the barrel, so too was Ren blocked in. He made to jump over the destroyed belt, but as he was clearing it, the boss's augmentation slammed into him. Ren was knocked to the ground. Before he could get back on his feet, he felt the massive fingers of the augmentation clench around his hip. The boss held the boy before him and showed a menacing grin.

"I'm going to squeeze those brave words from your lungs, boy," he growled.

Ren gasped in pain as the machinery began to crush him. Horrid memories of twisted limbs and grinding metal flashed through his mind. The area around his augmentation throbbed wildly as his mind burned his nerves with the phantom memory of his fall. Ren screamed in a panic. His vision blurred and all he could see was the glow of the wires. In a final attempt, he drove the blades of both his gauntlets into the wrist of the augmentation that held him. There was a crackling noise and the inside of the building was illuminated by a flashing light. And suddenly, the pressure was gone. The fingers of the augmentation went limp and Ren was dropped.

The boss blinked in disbelief at his augmentation refused to respond to his will. Ren didn't wait, he ran, bolting out of the factory and back to where his agility could be fully utilized. From behind him, he could hear the thug howl with rage and give chase. Once more in the open, Ren turned to face his enemy once more. This time though, the boss was the first one to move.

He charged at Ren, swinging in a blind rage. His moves were sloppier and Ren was able to evade with ease. He ducked under a high swing and delivered a punch to the thug's inner thigh. Before his enemy could retaliate, he then rolled behind him and struck again at the back of the knee. The boss fell upon that knee, giving Ren a clear shot at his shoulder. The boy let his blades tearing into the boundary between machine and flesh. The reaction form the augmentation was instantaneous. The sickly mixture of lubricants and blood began to drip from the wound and the damaged wires began to crackle angrily. Still this wasn't enough to stop the boss. Fury filled him with a second wind; even though his augmentation hung mostly limp.

"Just give up already," Ren ordered between exhausted breaths.

"Not until you lay broken," his enemy growled in a barely intelligible voice.

The fingers of the augmentation dragged across the pavement as the thug turned to face Ren. His expression was beyond deranged. Considering his own fatigue, Ren didn't expect his opponent to be capable of one last burst of speed. He was wrong. If the man felt any pain, he didn't show it. His augmentation swung wildly, its owner pushing himself onward despite the blood that continued to trickle from his wounds. The prolonged brawl had begun to wear on Ren and he was slowing down. Reflexively, he jumped, not to either side, but directly up. He charged his augmentation, building pressure to launch himself backwards. Just as the monstrous arm was about to connect with his leg, Ren released the pressure and flew back several feet.

He landed with a thud on the ground. He gasped, trying to return the air to his lungs. He could feel heat. Wearily, he opened his eyes and noticed that he had landed mere inches away from the oil fire. Across from him, Ren watched as the thug struggled to bring himself to his feet. The heat of the nearby fire grew uncomfortable. His vision was growing blurry, but he could still make out the expressions on the faces of the onlookers: fear and concern. The heat was becoming painful. Ren forced himself to his hands and knees. The heat was unbearable. He had to move.

"Get up," Ren repeated in his mind, "get up, get up, get up. One more shot. One more kick. Come on you damn idiot champion. GET. UP."

Despite the protest of every muscle in his body, Ren rose. His augmentation was the only part of his body that wasn't in pain. Ren focused on it and the cool, numbness of the machinery. His breathing steadied, his eyes locked on his target, and his mind pushed all thoughts of pain, failure, and panic from it. He focused on the steel. Ren dragged his augmentation through the fire. The oil clung to the limb. He could feel the heat at his joint, but he didn't care. His augmentation didn't feel a thing. He focused on charging his augmentation longer than ever before.

Suddenly, he let out a battle cry.

"Inferior augmentation," he shouted, "yours will break before mine!"

He released the overwhelming pressure and went flying with a kick. The heat that spewed from his augmentation fueled the flames that already wrapped around the limb, wreathing his foot with a brilliant blaze.

"Neo-Mega-Leg: Flame Strike!"

The fiery kick crashed into the shoulder of the boss. The sound of the collision filled the area. There was the clang of metal on metal, the groan of it bending, a sharp snap of wires, and an applause of sparks. But the loudest sound was the resounded bang, the arm made as it fell, torn asunder, to the ground. The thud of the thug falling next was silent by comparison.

Ren's chest heaved and his eyes watered, but the wave of relief that washed over him gave him the strength for just a few more words.

"Behold the glorious work of Zaun's greatest genius! This is the strength of Viktor and his N-12 project! Change is coming!"

He then collapsed backwards, unconscious and victorious.