First Blood

Summoner's Rift

"Alright, head to the first tower in the top lane." Vega instructed Isaac.

Before Isaac could respond, he felt something tugging at him. What the hell is with this feeling? He thought. Something was drawing him northward, towards the "top lane". Before Isaac could figure it out, he found himself jogging north.

"The hell?" Isaac muttered. It's like something's influencing my movements...

"Oh, forgot to mention..." Vega began, "You see, the champion is technically supposed to follow the summoner's orders when on the Fields of Justice. That strange feeling you probably have right now, that's your body responding to my orders."

So I'm just a toy soldier now? Isaac snarled. "I don't like this..."

He heard Vega sigh. "Yeah, I didn't think you would. Look, it's not like I have FULL control of your body's movements from back here, just the... direction. Like... I can tell you what abilities to use, who to attack, and where to go... but the actual fighting is still up to you. Like I can't tell you... left hook, kick, rabbit punch! That kind of stuff."

"But you do have... influence over things like location and who I'm... targeting? Am I getting that right?"

"Yes! Bingo!"

"I still don't like it." Isaac muttered, "But I'll roll with it." Only because I really don't have a choice...

"Well... to be perfectly honest Archangel, you really don't have a choice when you're on the Fields of Justice."

Of course I don't... And I was just thinking that... Isaac rolled his eyes, and realized he had reached the outer tower of his lane. Just like Vega had explained, as soon as he jogged up to the tower, the "tugging" feeling vanished and he had his own free will again.

This is going to take some getting used to. "Vega, can you give me another order quick?"

"Uh... yeah? What's up?"

"I want to get a better feel for this... influence thing."

"Alright, how about... there?" As soon as he said that Isaac felt the influence of the summoner, telling him to walk to a spot in the open a few meters from where he stood, where a small blue light was flashing. And just like before, Isaac felt the "need" to obey.

Oh boy... He thought as he walked towards the designated area, this is going to take A LOT of getting used to...

He could hear Mute snickering. "Wow, I didn't take you for being a submissive type Archangel."

"Mute, shut up."

"Not a chance!" She grinned at him through her favorite spot in his HUD.

"Well? How does it feel now?" Vega asked him.

"Still feels strange, but I'll get used to it." Isaac answered him. To be truthful, he wasn't sure he was ever going to get used to it.

Before he could say anything else though, he heard that strange female voice again. "MINIONS HAVE SPAWNED."

"Ok, Archangel, prepare to summon your rifle." Vega ordered.

Isaac nodded in response. "Ok, but why wait?"

"I just want the minions to move up a bit further. We don't know how long you can actually sustain those summoned weapons for."

"He's got a point." Mute agreed with the young summoner.

Yeah, he does... I would rather not test the theory of, "how long can the gun made of dark matter last for", in the middle of a fight.

The wait was only a few seconds. "Ok, summon now."

Isaac felt the influence again, ordering him to do as the summoner had instructed. He complied, summoning his dark matter rifle, and shouldered it. As he did, the minions charged past him.

"Follow those little bastards." Vega ordered him.

"Roger." Isaac fell in behind the minions, cautiously scanning ahead for targets. It didn't take long for them to appear: six purple colored minions moved in a single file line towards his minions. And behind them was a tall woman with almost purple skin. Her black clothing seemed to start and stop at random points on her body, and formed an outline of a helmet around her head, with five spikes rising up behind her red hair.

Isaac didn't waste a second after seeing her. "Mute, scan target!" He ordered.

"Got it." Mute replied, and after a second she reported in. "Confirmed, that's Elise the spider queen. She has the ability to shape-shift to and from a large black spider at will, so watch out."

I should just pick her off here and now... Isaac thought, and prepared to do just that.

"Archangel, target those minions. Take them down." Vega ordered him.

Why? Isaac was conflicted. The enemy champion was RIGHT THERE! She was easily in range, and seeing how she towered over the minions, it wouldn't be difficult at all for Isaac to peg her in a vital spot.

But he felt something tugging at him to obey, something he just couldn't ignore. So instead, he found himself firing at the minions, with Elise doing the same.

The hell is this guy's logic? Isaac questioned as he took a melee minion down. Why am I taking this... cannon fodder down instead of the champion?

"Once we hit level three, we'll try to engage her." Vega advised him.

"Why wait? I can hit her from back-" Isaac stopped talking the moment he saw some form of red acid come flying his way. "Whoa!" He shouted, dropping down, dodging the red liquid.

"The hell was that?!" He shouted, but one look at Elise's amused face told him everything. Oh that bitch... she spat acid at me?

"Not bad, let's see how long you can last..." Elise chuckled, taking a few steps back before focusing her attacks on Isaac's minions yet again.

Correction, she finished off his last minion.

That was quick... there were still two more minions on Elise's side. But something caught Isaac's eye, and that was a brief flash of light that bathed Elise for a moment before vanishing.

Huh? Isaac took aim at another minion, and as he fired his rifle, killing it, he heard Vega's voice in his head again.

"She's level two? How...?" Vega seemed confused. Isaac felt the tugging feeling again, urging him to back pedal towards his tower. He complied, but kept his eyes on the spider woman. Elise followed him back to his turret, smiling.

"The spider I," Isaac heard her say, "And you the FLY!" Elise shouted, spitted another wave of red liquid at him.

Nice try. Isaac grinned, and began to drop to his stomach to dodge it again.

"Archangel don't!" Vega shouted at him, and Isaac felt the urge to continue moving towards the turret even stronger now. To Isaac's surprise, his body seemed more interested in listing to the summoner as opposed to his own will.

The result: instead of dodging Elise's attack or moving towards the turret, Isaac felt himself stumble, his body movements similar to that of a drunken man. It also made it impossible to move out of the way of Elise's acid.

The attack hit him dead on, red liquid splashing onto his helmet, visor, and torso. Warning sounds and lights went off in Isaac's HUD, with the words "HIGH ACIDIC LEVELS DECECTED" on red flashing on the center of his vision.

Shit! Shit! Isaac cursed, dropping his rifle and trying to wipe the acid off his helmet. He could hear it eating away through his armor, making a loud hissing sound.

"Don't just stand there! MOVE!" He heard Vega shout at him again, feeling that urge to obey course through his body again.

Not now you fucking idiot! Isaac grimaced. It's you fucking fault I'm in this situation to begin with!

As Isaac's feet started to move on their own, he looked up to find his attacker, only to see that Elise had vanished. In her place, were two spiders half his height, leaping right at him.

Isaac tried to roll out of the way, but he felt Vega's orders urging him to move backwards even stronger now; the result was him stumbling again, getting nowhere and defiantly not getting off the line of attack.

Oh shit! Isaac braced himself. Both spiders slammed into him, causing him to nearly fall over. One spider grabbed onto his leg, biting at his knee. The other climbed onto his back and began to gnaw at his helmet.

"Get the fuck off me!" Isaac shouted in frustration, twisting his body around and kicking his leg out, trying to fight the things off him.

"Archangel! I said move it! Obey!" Vega shouted at him, his voice likewise filled with anger and frustration. Isaac couldn't fight the spiders and maintain his will at the same time, causing him to start to move backwards again.

However, the pressure from the spiders caused him to lose his footing, and he fell straight onto his back.

Oh fuck me! Isaac cursed, angrily drawing a sword with each hand, and trying to swat the spiders away with his blades.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get up!" Vega screamed at him again.

"I'M BUSY YOU PRICK!" Isaac shouted back, but found himself trying to stand back up. That gave the spiders a perfect chance; they both jumped onto his arms, pinning him to the ground and crippling his movement. Isaac groaned in pain as they pushed him back onto his rear. Little bastards!

Isaac heard a cackling laugh that made his skin tingle. He also felt a chill grow down his spine. Uh oh. He looked up, and caught a glimpse of a much larger black spider leaping onto him from above. Isaac grunted in pain as two of the larger spider's limbs slammed into his shoulders with enough momentum to piece his armor.

"Gah!" Isaac yelped in pain as he felt both his shoulder tear open. This is bad!

"Archangel!" Isaac heard Mute shout, her face appearing in his HUD with a worried expression.

Harden, Mute harden! Isaac tried to open his mouth, but instead of an order, all that came out was a gasp of pain. Harden damn it!

"Is this all you can muster?!" Isaac heard an echoing, evil voice boom in his head. He glared at the larger spider as it drove its limbs further into his shoulder.

That voice... wait... Is that giant spider Elise?! Isaac's eyes went wide. Fuck! Of course it is... she's a bloody shape-shifter!

"Pathetic!" Elise taunted him again, before rearing her head back and driving her fangs forward. Right towards Isaac's now exposed neck.

Can't move! Isaac couldn't do anything; save watch her body drive forwards.

Then he felt her fangs rip out his throat. The pain was immense. But Isaac couldn't shout out, he could only cough, causing blood to splatter all over the spider queen's face. As his vision faded and death took him, Isaac could barely hear one last line of words enter his ears.

"FIRST BLOOD!"

Damn... Isaac's eyes closed, and death took him.

When he opened them again, he was lying on the platform he had first stood on when he arrived at Summoner's Rift.

I'm... alive? Isaac's hand shot to his neck, expecting to feel half of it missing. My... neck is fine... Isaac blinked twice, dumbfounded. He could've sworn Elise had torn out his throat, the entire thing perhaps.

"What you doing? Did you forget that you respawn here?" Mute's voice filled his helmet.

Oh, right. Isaac inhaled, and exhaled.

"How long was I out for?" He asked, getting back up on his feet.

"Fifteen seconds, that's it." Vega replied. "That was pretty sad Archangel. Mind telling me what that was all about?"

Isaac snarled. "I was about to ask you the same question. What the hell were you thinking?!" He was pissed. Not just because the summoner had been barking orders at him the whole time during that struggle, not just because Isaac personally hated the feeling of his free will being taken away, but because that damn kid had been yelling at Isaac as if the whole situation had been his own fault when Isaac knew damn well he would've been fine if Vega had kept his mouth shut in the first place.

Vega however, did not seem to understand. "What do you mean what the hell was I thinking? Elise had a level advantage on you, so the only way to avoid her owning your ass was to move back to the tower. All champions should know-"

"Well I'm not from your god-damn world remember?!" Isaac fired back at the summoner. "Answer this, summoner: how many times have you fought with your life on the line? How many times have you been inches away from death?"

Silence.

"So when I tell you that when I'm fighting... you CUT the CRAP, and let me do what I've been doing since I was A FUCKING TEENAGER!" Isaac vented his anger out on the summoner.

He instantly regretted his outburst. Damn it Isaac, what the hell are you doing?! He doesn't need to know about your past, no one on this side save from you and Mute needs to recall any of that.

"Wow, the sound of a screaming, angry Archangel is a rare sound indeed." Mute gave her two cents in on the matter.

Isaac took a deep breath, calming himself before speaking again. "Look, Vega, I understand this is your show, your field, your turf. I'll follow your orders, as a champion, but my only request, is that you let me do what I've done my whole life, ok?"

It was another three seconds until he heard Vega's voice again. "Alright. Deal. Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself back there. I totally forgot that this is still your first time on the Fields of Justice." To his credit, Vega sounded sincere.

Isaac nodded. "Thanks. Sorry for blowing up, I'm just not a fan having someone barking orders at me like I can't hear them when there's a spider nearly twice my size ripping my insides out."

"Yeah, fair enough. Now then, get moving back up to the turret!"

"Roger." Isaac replied, and found himself obeying the summoner's orders again.

Second Blood

Isaac picked off another minion with ease, keeping an eye on the spider queen's movements as he did. He and Elise had been staring one another down for the last seven minutes, eying each others movements carefully (or at least she seemed like she had been). On the way back to his "lane" The three of them (Isaac, Mute and Vega) had come up with a plan: play it safe, and make it look like Isaac was still a rookie with obedience issues. Every now and then Isaac would stumble, and Elise would try to seize the opportunity, whether it was spitting acid at him, or trying to hit him with some exploding suicide spider. Each time, Isaac would make a last second dodge, and so far it was working; Elise clearly wasn't taking Isaac seriously.

Although some of those dodges we're sheer luck... Isaac shook his head, he did get nicked a few times, barely, but still he had taken a little bit of damage; his armor's black paint had been eroded away from splashes of acid from both Elise's spitting and her exploding spider. He still had a hard time resisting the urge to shoot at her, but Vega had insisted on him not doing so.

"If you shoot at her, you'll piss the minions off and they'll go straight for you. And on top of that you need to conserve your ammo! It's difficult to farm the minions if you're using close range attacks against a champion with long range." He had advised him.

Sure... why not... Isaac had thought. If this was REAL combat, I could've picked her off ages ago and moved on... that's the joy of having a gun.

Isaac's concentration broke when Elise dove into the bushes to the north of Isaac.

"Mute, track her!" Isaac ordered his trusted partner.

"Can't, those bushes have some sort of magic field surrounding them. It's blocking my sensors."

You mean what little of our sensors that still work. "Vega?" Isaac tried asking his other partner.

"Careful, she's likely going to try jumping you."

"Ok, if she does..."

"I know I'll let you do your... job." Vega seemed hesitant about it still, but Isaac didn't really care. As long as he was able to fight properly, the summoner's opinion came second.

A chill flowing down his spine told him that he would put that to the test very soon.

Isaac somersaulted forwards on instinct. As he rolled, he heard Elise's spider-legs hitting the dirt right where he once stood. He finished his movement while spinning around, shouldering his rifle and taking aim.

Got you. Isaac squeezed the trigger as Elise charged at him. The rounds from his DM summoned rifle hit Elise several times in the body, causing her to scream as she vaulted into him. Isaac dropped his rifle intentionally as she slammed into him, using his hands to grab onto her fangs. No neck ripping this time! He grimaced as he slammed into the earth, taking the full on force of her weight. Damn, for someone so slender in human form, she weights a ton as a damn spider!

He heard Elise snarl and howl at him as the two fought in the dirt; her spider limbs clawing at him, trying to pierce his shoulder and neck again. Isaac grunted as he fought her, lifting her fangs and head upwards so she couldn't see, making it increasingly difficult for her to hit him; all the while trying to dodge her increasingly random strikes.

"Spiderlings behind you and closing fast!" Mute warned him.

Now! "Mute now!" Isaac called out to his AI.

"Hardening armor now!" Mute responded, and Isaac's vision flashed yellow. His head jolted forwards as the smaller spiders slammed into his back. At the same time, Isaac brought his left arm back, letting go of the spider queen's mandible.

"Eat this!" Isaac shouted, driving his hardened fist forward with all his might, punching Elise square in the face. The larger spider shrieked in pain as Isaac cracked her skull, her head moving awkwardly from the force. She jumped off him, stumbling as she tried to get away. Isaac jumped up and reached for his rifle, but her spider minions got there first, kicking it away and jumping back at Isaac.

Damn little bastards! Isaac unsheathed two swords, taking one in each hand. With his right hand he made a downwards stabbing motion, catching the first of the two spiderlings at the top of the head. The sharp blade pieced the spider's body with ease, splitting its head and emerging underneath, pinning it to the ground. For the second spider, which was leaping, Isaac slashed horizontally with his left, cutting the spiderling's head in half. Isaac didn't even blink as black blood sprayed his visor, and the spider's corpse flew into his chest before falling into the ground.

Come out, come out, wherever you are... Isaac spun around, wiping the blood from his face and trying to spot Elise. There! He saw her dart out of the bushes on the far side in her human form, stumbling onto her knees before limping towards her tower. She looked back at him and snarled, clearly pissed off at him.

"Archangel!" Vega, who had remained silent the whole time shouted at him. "Don't let her escape."

"I never planned on it." He replied, and waved his right arm forward, channeling his dark power into his arm all while picturing a whip. His dark matter whip flung out from his arm, seeking his target. Elise shrieked as she tried to dodge the incoming attack, but with no avail. Isaac's whip twisted around her neck, and he yanked back. Elise screamed again as she soared through the air towards Isaac.

Overconfidence gets you killed...

Still holding his bloody sword, Isaac drove his left arm forward to meet the fast approaching Elise. She screamed as his sword ripped into her abdomen and out through her back. Her arms grabbed onto his left as he held her there in the air, trying to push him off as she howled in pain. Isaac twisted his left blade in response, causing her to scream even louder.

"Die already you eight-legged bitch!" Isaac shouted at Elise. Her hands gripped his helmet, and she brought her head forwards to meet his, spitting red liquid onto his visor.

Shit... Isaac shook his head, trying to get the acid off as the warnings echoed in his ears. Got to get the acid of quickly... wait... Isaac thought of an idea. He reared his head back, freeing himself of Elise's weakening grasp, and smashing his forehead into Elise's face.

The spider queen wailed even louder this time as Isaac's head butt smashed her teeth, and her own acid ate away at her flesh. But her wailing ceased within a second, and her body went limp.

Finally... Isaac shook his head. Persistent... He pushed the corpse off his blade, Elise's body falling lifelessly onto the ground.

"AN ENEMY HAS BEEN SLAIN." He heard the female voice announce in his head again.

"Wow... that was messy." Mute muttered.

Indeed it was... Isaac shook his head. It was going to be a very long match if every champion took that long to kill.

"Hmm... ok, you've made your point." He heard Vega say. "I'll sit back when the fighting starts, you seem to have it under control." The summoner chuckled.

"Thanks... but now what? The tower?" Isaac looked down the lane, his minions were charging Elise's turret.

"Yeah, but be quick about it! Elise will be back up in-"

Isaac felt another chill, and he ceased listening to the summoner. Where?! Isaac turned around, but saw no one.

He never saw his new opponent come charging over the cliff beside him.

Isaac DID feel a massive force slam into his back, grabbing hold of him.

What the fuck?! Isaac looked down, only to see a pair of massive, metal gauntlets the size of a large child holding him. He quickly turned his head around, and was rewarded with the sight of a grinning pink haired woman with a nasal piercing and a pair of Roman numerals tattooed under her blue eyes.

"Got you!" She shouted, and lifted him right into the air. Isaac struggled with everything he had, but he couldn't get out of her steel grip. The hell is with these gauntlets?!

"Get dunked!" Vi shouted as she brought him back down towards the earth, slamming Isaac into the ground with bone-crushing force.

Even through his advanced body armor, Isaac felt his entire body shake and groan in pain from the impact.

"It's Vi! Shit!" Vega shouted.

Great...

Isaac grunt in pain as he was released from the woman's grasp. He tried to roll away, but the pink haired woman grabbed him again.

"What? Still wanna fight?" She laughed, picking him up and slamming him back to the ground.

Isaac grunted louder in pain as his vision blurred from the blow.

Not good! At this rate I'm going to be killed... AGAIN!

Vi laughed again, slamming him into the ground a third time as she did. "Come on, resist arrest!" She shouted.

Does this crazy bitch think she's a cop of some kind?! Isaac tried to wiggle his way out, but her over-sized gauntlets made it incredibly difficult.

"Hang on Archangel!" He heard Vega in his head. Suddenly, Isaac felt the woman's grip weaken. Seizing the chance, he pushed outwards will all his might, breaking free of his attackers grip, and rolled away to put some distance between them.

"Damn you! Exhausting me!" The woman cursed at him. Her movements looked very sluggish and slowed.

"Archangel! Run back to the turret! You're too injured to fight her right now!" Vega shouted, and Isaac felt him trying to influence him again.

This time, he didn't try to fight it. Isaac grunted as he tried to ignore the pain in his body, scrambling to his feet and running for the tower. He was still shaken up from Vi's attacks, he stumbled twice on the way. Isaac looked back over his shoulder as he ran, only to see that Vi had closed the gap quickly.

How is that woman so fast?

"Her gauntlets seem to allow her to push herself forwards, somehow." Mute answered his unsaid question.

"Why the hell don't I have something like that?!" Isaac half shouted and he raced back towards his turret.

"Keep running, we've got a surprise lined up for Vi!" Vega's voice sounded much more confident now.

What do you mean? Isaac looked behind him again, only to see Vi closing the gap between them much faster now with her one hand out stretched.

"Got you!" She shouted.

"No, I've got YOU!" Isaac heard a strange, but familiar voice. He saw a flash of light to his side that faded as quickly as it appeared. In its place was Skarner.

The brackern's tail arched and a blue bolt of mana fired from its tip. The bolt hit the unsuspecting Vi, and her body suddenly became surrounded by crystal.

"Muahahahaha!" Skarner laughed like a man-man. He quickly backpedaled, his six legs causing him to pick up speed in a flash. He raced past Isaac, who had stopped moving.

What is he doing? Isaac wondered, as Skarner pulled Vi past him towards the turret. He saw a faint line appear from the turret's crystal, linking it with the crystallized woman.

Oh I see...

"Clever..." Mute agreed with him.

A large blast of mana fired from the turret, and hit Vi. The champion exploded in a blue spectacle, pieces of her crystallized body flying everywhere. Isaac found the sight to be somewhat amusing, and couldn't stop himself from chuckling. He heard the mystery woman announce that another enemy had been slain.

Isaac walked up to the turret, and glanced at Skarner. He nodded at the strange creature to show his thanks. Skarner returned the gesture before storming off into the trees again.

"Recalling." Vega announced. "That was close."

"Yeah, it sure was..." Isaac agreed, feeling his body disassemble itself as he was sent back to the spawning point.

The Sheriff of Piltover

Everdeen Mines, near Piltover

Caitlyn watched the exchange go down through her sniper scope, from her hidden location inside one of Piltover's nearby mines. It seemed like an ordinary criminal exchange to her. One party, three figures wearing black coats, handed over a large bag to a group of five men dressed as typical criminals. The lead criminal, the group's boss as Caitlyn suspected, peered inside the bag, seemed satisfied with its contents, and then waved his own men on. Two of his goons grabbed a nearby crate and carried it over to the hooded figures, and opened it. This time, it was the hooded figures to peer inside, and they too nodded after a few seconds. And just like that, the exchange was over and the two groups went their separate ways.

And throughout the whole thing, Caitlyn took pictures with the camera given to her by Jayce.

Perfect, that's all the evidence I'll need. She thought. Now she just had to make the arrest. I'll have to be careful, I'm alone this time. She thought as she stealthily climbed down from her hiding spot. Prefect time for Vi to have a League match... She frowned. Then again, if Vi was here, she wouldn't have likely had a chance to gather evidence of the exchange; Vi would've charged in and smashed all of the criminal's faces first.

Not that Vi's method didn't work from time to time, but for a delicate situation such as the one Caitlyn was trying to handle, it would've backfired. What I need is a break in my case of the missing persons. Caitlyn bit her lip as she thought about it. It was her job, her duty as the sheriff of Piltover to protect the people of her city, and those very same people she was sworn to protect had been vanishing under her very nose.

It had been upsetting her partner too. Vi had been increasingly violent as of late. Maybe it's for the better that she's taking part in that match, she needs to let of some steam... without causing any incidents.

Caitlyn finished her climb, planting her feet firmly into the dirt of the mine. She moved in the dark, quickly and quietly to where the exchange had taken place. They went left... She followed the group of five. The hooded figures were indeed much more curious, but she wanted to know what was in those crates the gang had brought them.

Watching where she stepped, she pursued the group through the mines. It didn't take long before she could see the light from the touches the group was carrying. Too bad they don't have night vision goggles. Caitlyn found herself grinning. When she had received information about strange activity in the mines from the owners (who initially thought it was ghosts haunting the mineshafts, of all things), Caitlyn had contacted the inventor, Jayce, about her planned trip.

These gadgets make the job much easier... but take some of the fun out. She thought, but her grin quickly faded. She had a bad feeling however, that she wasn`t the only stalker in the mines. However, She couldn`t put her finger on the cause. Call it a defective's intuition I suppose.

She could hear the gangsters talking among themselves now...

"Did they give us the promised amount?"

"That and more. These strange fellas, they sure know how to do business!"

"And to think, all we had to do was steal a few crates of mana crystals. Hah!"

Well, this solves that OTHER case... Caitlyn wasn't sure how she felt about that though. Sure the mana crystal thefts were of concern, as all crime was to her, but that also meant that she wasn't going to get anything on the missing people's case.

Well, it matters not. A crime is still a crime, and these boys are about to taste a little Piltover justice. But before she could act, she needed to know the location of their hideout. On a whim, she took a glance over her shoulder and spotted a man-shaped figure duck behind a wall.

Darn, I'm being followed after all! Caitlyn bit her lower lip. What a fine predicament she had gotten herself into. How could I be so careless? She had two options: either continue to follow her targets (and hope whoever was behind her didn't interfere), or face her own stalker and risk losing her intended targets.

Either choice had its issues though. If she followed the gang she ran the risk of being jumped by her own follower. But if she turned and faced her own pursuer, she might never get another chance at finding this group's hideout.

Either way, I'm taking a huge risk. God, when did I become so careless? Caitlyn frowned, and made her choice.

She continued to follow the gang, remaining cautious of the mysterious figure that followed her.

Team Fight

Summoner's Rift

Isaac lied and waited for the one known as Ashe to get closer. These bushes do wonders... He grinned. Behind him, in the so called "middle lane" his teammates were squaring off against the remaining four enemies. Only Ashe was absent, and here she was running to meet her team.

According to Mute, she already used that... hawkshot... whatever, thing, so there's no way she'll know I'm here.

And sure enough, Ashe walked right up to Isaac. TO her credit though, she seemed to be moving very carefully, scanning her surroundings as she made her was down the river.

But she didn't spot Isaac lying in the bushes. Sure Mute had assured him that he didn't need to lie down when in the apparently magical bushes, but he did anyways. Its reflex... it has to be.

That didn't change anything though, and as soon as Ashe was close enough, Isaac jumped out at her, swords in hand. He activated his time-slow just as he moved, allowing him to set himself up perfectly.

The frost archer never stood a chance. With his time-slow active, Isaac preformed a reverse slash with both his swords right at her neck. Sure it was a simple move that he likely didn't NEED his timeslow for, but he damn well wanted to make sure he got her.

And got her he did. As soon as his time slow faded, his movements sped up, and he served the woman's head from the rest of her body.

Quick, painless, and clean. Well, sort of clean, blood still splashed everywhere, but it contained minimal gore.

Isaac didn't take a moment to savor his kill though, as soon as both Ashe's head and body slumped to the ground, he turned around and ran out of the bush, back into the middle lane where his teammates were locked in combat.

Jinx was backpedaling furiously, smiling and laughing away as she fired her minigun at a very frustrated Vi. Jinx however failed to see the spider queen leap onto her from behind, but in return, Elise didn't notice Blitzcrank's massive gold hand shoot out from his arm and close around her. Elise screamed, her tone giving off hints of both surprise and frustration at being yanked away from her prey.

On the far side of the lane, Ezreal and Skarner faced off against Syndra and Taric. Ezreal fired blasts of energy from his gauntlet at Taric, trying to keep the gem knight away from him. Taric however seemed unfazed, and charged at the explorer, only to be turned to crystal by Skarner and pulled away. Skarner on the other hand, enjoyed capturing Taric so much that he wasn't able to see (let alone dodge) a barrage of dark energy from Syndra.

"Who do we help first?" Mute asked. She seemed to be enjoying their time on the Fields of Justice.

I won't admit it, but its nice letting loose without actually killing, or fear of losing a comrade.

Isaac grinned, sheathing his swords. "We help them all." He leapt at Vi, her being the closest, and closed his eyes for a moment.

Unleash!

Kasubel watched the events of the match unfold. Archangel leaped at Vi, and before he reached her, his body became surrounded in a purple shroud. Four large tendrils emerged from his back, each pulsing with dark energy. As he collided with the surprised Vi, Archangel tackled her to the ground. The four tendrils on his back tore into Vi, and she stopped squirming in under a second.

Archangel didn't waste a second, the two tendrils that were sticking out from his shoulder blades pulled out of Vi, and aimed at Elise. Kasubel saw a blast of dark purple energy fire out from the end of each tendril, both aimed right at the spider queen, who had moments before been slowed by a hit from Jinx's energy pistol. The bolts of dark energy, matter, or whatever Archangel referred to it as hit Elise in the side of her spider form, sending her right into the wall next to Blitzcrank. The steam golem smashed his fist into the injured queen, preventing her from getting up. Jinx followed up by firing a rocket at the spider, finishing her off.

Not bad...

On the other side however, Syndra had finished off Skarner, and she and Taric turned on a retreating Ezreal. Taric turned to the side to look at where his allies had fallen, and a Kasubel noticed a look of surprise on the gem knight's face. He jumped in between Syndra and Archangel's clear line of fire at her, and took the next hit from the waves of darkness shot from new champion. While he was recovering from the blow, Jinx followed up with another rocket, a much larger one, and blew the knight to pieces.

Kasubel chuckled at the sight of that, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe he was laughing less at the fight itself, and more so at the look of surprise on Syndra's face. The dark mage leapt backwards, trying to escape from the lost fight. Ezreal and a very excited Jinx took chase.

Jinx unleashed her minigun on the dark sovereign. Before the bullets could reach the dark champion, a barrier of mana materialized around her, blocking each bullet before they could strike her body.

A barrier... good timing.

As she retreated, Syndra summoned up a sphere of dark energy and launched it at the prodigal explorer. Ezreal activated his shift at the last possible second, avoiding the attack, and appearing behind the mage. With a shout, he fired his Trueshot Barrage at Syndra's back. The magical energy slammed into the dark mage's back, and she shrieked in response. Before she could move, she took another hit from Ezreal from behind, and was gunned down from Jinx.

"ACE!" The announcer announced.

Kasubel nodded in response before returning to his work. That match is over...

Isaac grunted as he felt the backlash from using his "ultimate". He couldn't move without groaning in pain as his whole body tensed up from using so much dark matter at once. Had no choice but to take it slow.

That's the trade off for that ability. If I'm not careful, that could land me in a nasty situation if I don't finish everyone off before it ends.

Jinx on the other hand, didn't. From all the way in the back where he was, he could hear the lunatic howling in laughter as she charged up the lane, destroying another turret.

"Hey, looks like that chick is going to take all the glory." Mute grinned.

Isaac exhaled, trying to block out the pain. It was subsiding, slowly, but it still hurt to move. "Let her then. I was never one for the glory anyways."

"Yeah, yeah, you've always been that way."

"That was amazing!" Vega praised Isaac. Whatever tension had been in the atmosphere between him and the summoner at the start was gone now. "Take it easy, Jinx is already inside their base."

"Wow, she works fast."

"Yeah... hard to keep track of, that one."

Isaac nodded in response. "So... now what? Its over?"

"It'll be over... about... now!"

As Vega spoke that last word, Isaac saw the enemy nexus explode in the distance. Up ahead, he saw Ezreal cheer and Blitzcrank hold his "belly" and laugh. He then heard the female voice announce their team's victory

To Isaac on the other hand, it didn't feel like much of a victory to him.

Have we really gotten anywhere? Have we even made it a step farther in finding a way home? To finding my REAL team? No... no this meant nothing.

Mute's avatar appeared before him, with a look of concern on her face. "What's up?"

Isaac shook his head. "Nothing... just, thinking."

Mute remained quiet, something she rarely did, before nodding and her avatar disappeared.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way home. I know it!" He heard her reassure him.

I'm not sure Mute... Isaac closed his eyes as he felt himself being sent back to the Institute. I've got a bad feeling we're going to be here until the end of our days... whenever the end is.