Deals With Shadows
Ionia
This was where the exchange was going to occur.
Zed looked up at the moon, and using its position, determined that his… benefactors, would be arriving soon.
And they better be on time, Zed hated it when people weren't punctual. Thankfully, his so-called trading partners hadn't been late before.
He heard a grunt behind him. Glancing back over his shoulder, Zed saw the three outworlders who had survived his ambush all blindfolded, gagged, and bound. One of them was still unconscious, another was lying down, and the third had managed to get to his knees. Standing over each one of them was a trio of Zed's disciples with their weapons out, ready to cut them down should they attempt an escape.
The one on his knees gnawed and grunted at the piece of cloth in his mouth, trying to tear it out so he could speak.
Pitiful outworlders… Zed snarled at his prisoners. Outworlders had no place on Ionia, no place on Runeterra.
Which made dealing with his benefactors rather difficult. It was a severe blow to Zed's pride, but it was a blow he must endure for the good of his Order. For the good of Ionia.
Zed glanced up at the moon, and frowned.
They're late…
He heard another grunt behind him, followed by a spit.
"Fuck! Argh! My teeth!" He heard one of the prisoner's shout. A male.
Zed glanced behind him again, just in time to see Kari grab the back of the prisoner's head and smash it into the dirt. The prisoner shouted out in pain, followed by some cursing.
"Silence! Outworlder." Kari barked as a pair of ninjas flanked the prisoner and prepared to re-gag him.
"The fuck is wrong with you guys?! Are you those nin-" The prisoner growled and grunted loudly as another gag was forced around his mouth.
"Tie it tighter this time." Kari ordered the other two, backhanding the prisoner across the face hard as they tied the gag around the back of his head.
Zed looked away and back up at the moon as a breeze picked up and rustled the tree branches around them.
What's taking those fools so long? Zed was getting irritated. Not only did he have to suffer dealing with outworlders, but now they were making him wait!
It wasn't until another five minutes later that the other party in his trade arrived, heralded by a humming noise. A bright light appeared in the sky near Zed and his disciples, shinning down on the earth before him as if scouting out the landscape.
The humming became louder as the light got closer and closer, and before long Zed could make out the outline of an aircraft not of this world. The alien aircraft descended to the ground carefully, and as it neared the dirt, various objected emerged from the underside of the craft. Given the way they helped the aircraft touch down, Zed assumed they were some form of landing gear.
After the aircraft came to a stop a few meters away from Zed with the back of it facing him, the lights turned off and the humming died down. The back of the craft opened up, going outwards and downwards, forming a ramp of sorts. A single figure covered in alien armor that was similar in style to the ones that Zed's prisoners were encased in emerged from the back of the craft and stepped out onto the ramp, his boots making a clanking noise as he walked down at a leisure pace.
Zed heard the soft movements of his shinobi behind him, grasping their weapons tightly. They were clearly put off by the figure.
Well, to be more exact, by the series of floating blades behind the figure.
"You're late." Zed growled at the figure.
The dark blue armored figure shrugged. As he approached Zed, it was clear that he was the same height as Zed, but of a slightly slenderer build. "Sorry, sorry. We had to make a pit stop. Something came up." He waved off Zed's comment on his tardiness as if it was nothing.
This individual's attitude always pissed Zed off. He was the kind of individual who seemed to never take anything seriously, far too lax.
"That something, better have been very important if it involving making me wait." Zed growled.
The dark armored figure shrugged again, further annoying Zed. "It was, well… to us it was quite important. To you? Who knows?"
Zed almost had to bite his tongue to keep his anger from hitting the boiling point.
"Now then, shall we move onto business? I know you're a very busy man, with little time to be dealing with us outworlders. I trust our little ambush plan went off without a hitch?" The armored man said as he turned his attention from Zed and to the prisoners behind him.
Zed closed his eyes for a second to let his rage simmer down so he could focus on the trying task at hand. "Yes." He confirmed, opening his eyes.
It was a difficult conversation, to say the least. Both men had their face's hidden behind helmets, making it impossible to read each other's faces. But, being a man who knows how to read another, Zed could pick up all he needed to from his so-called partner's body language.
The man lazily walked around Zed and towards the prisoners. "If that's the case, then why are there only three? Where is the rest of the squad?"
"Dead. They fought until the end instead of being captured." Zed said in a cold tone. It was the truth, but he had twisted it a bit, leaving out the part where had somewhat hinted to his shinobi prior to the ambush that it was ok to kill a few of them.
Zed himself had killed three of them.
They were weak, they deserved to die. Zed scoffed in his mind. For all their talk and technology, these outworlders are far weaker then they let off.
He did, however, need to be in somewhat good graces with this one group of outworlders, the Ascension. He wanted, no, he needed their technology.
The man, who Zed knew to be the Ascension's… liaison… to his ninja order, stopped walking and glanced at Zed. His body language hinted at the fact that he suspected that Zed wasn't telling him everything.
OF course, he wouldn't be wrong in that assumption.
Because he also wasn't telling them that one of the outworlders had managed to escape.
Or, at least it was a very likely possibility that one had escaped, since some of the shinobi that Zed had sent with Kari had never returned.
The simple thought of that failure made Zed's blood boil.
But the outworlder, Flammenschwert, just shrugged. "I can see that." He said calmly, with no tension in his voice. He resumed walking towards the prisoners, the blades floating in the air behind him following him as he went. "Well, three is better then none I suppose."
Zed watched cautiously as Flammenschwert approached one of the prisoners, the one who had managed to get his gag off earlier. He leaned down towards the man who so that they were closer in eyelevel. Zed's shinobi stood by unmoving, but Zed could tell their there still in-training disciple that their posture gave away that they were uneasy with this dark blue armored figure being so close to them.
The only one who was unfazed was Kari.
Flammenschwert reached down to the prisoner and tugged on his blindfold, bringing it down.
"Hello there, little Gamma." Flammenschwert said in a taunting tone. The prisoner blinked several times, getting used to the dark, but his attention quickly went up to the outworlder leaning over him. Zed noticed how his expression went from confused, to quickly one of realization and fear.
And then to anger.
"Mmmph! Mmmmmmph!" The prisoner tried to speak through the gag in his mouth, but failed. Judging by the furiousness of his tone and the rage on his expression, he was just as happy to see Flammenschwert as Zed was.
Which, suffice to say, was not happy at all.
"Ah, let me get that for you." Flammenschwert taunted as he proceeded to remove the prisoner's mouth gag as well, much to the obvious annoyance of Zed and his followers.
As soon as Flammenschwert removed the gag, the prisoner went off.
"Ascension! You motherfucking twats!" The prisoner barked at Flammenschwert. "I knew you had something to do with all this shit!"
Flammenschwert made an amused noise. "A brit? Oh, you people always have something clever to say, don't you?" He taunted the prisoner, giving him a few light slaps with an armored gauntlet on the prisoner's cheek. "Well come on then! Lets here it. What does the witty British boy have to say?"
"Bite me, you cunt!" The so-called British boy cursed. And promptly spat in Flammenschwert's face.
Well, his helmet's visor.
Flammenschwert let out a sigh and stood back up straight, taking a moment to wipe the spittle from his visor. "Spitting… the exact opposite of witty." He mumbled as he wiped his visor with a hand, shaking his hand afterwards to get the liquid off. "I'm disappointed, my new British friend. I was looking forward to hearing some of those Englishman quips."
The prisoner opened his mouth to say something again, but was stopped when Flammenschwert brought his backhand down hard across the boy's face, causing blood and teeth to fly out of the boy's mouth as he was knocked to the ground.
"You'll learn your place, in time." Flammenschwert chuckled, dropping the mouth-gag on the boy's head as he moaned in pain on the ground.
Zed found the exchange to be mildly amusing, especially the part where the boy had spat in Flammenschwert's face like he himself had been tempted to many times.
As for their talk, Zed had no idea what a brit, or British, or whatever else he said meant.
He must be referring to lands where they are from. It matters not to me, they're all outworlders.
Flammenschwert wandered back to Zed as the ninja guarding the prisoners blindfolded the young prisoner again and gaged him.
"They'll do." Flammenschwert said. "Now, for your payment…"
The outworlder motioned towards the aircraft he had arrived on. Out from the back entrance Zed had seen Flammenschwert had emerge from, two pairs of armored outworlders with rifles slung over their backs carried out a pair of crates, one between each pair. The crates were clearly made of a metal of sorts, and had the insignia of the Ascension centered on the top of each crate.
Behind the four soldiers, was a fifth, carrying what looked like a briefcase similar to those that Zed had seen Piltover businessmen carry.
Finally… Zed felt a strange sense of eagerness as the five soldiers approached with their cases. Soon, he would have what he wanted, what he needed to destroy the Kinkou Order once and for all.
And to ensure his own order's survival.
The soldiers carrying the crates brought them directly to Zed and Flammenschwert, who had come to stand next to him. The soldiers (who Zed could tell where well disciplined by the way they held themselves) placed the crates on the ground and stood at attention behind them.
Zed stared at the crates, eager to see what technology they had brought him. He knew he would be satisfied with the contents of these crates. He had to.
Because if he wasn't, he was going to remove that blasted bastard Flammenschwert's head from his shoulders before he could do anything with those floating blades of his.
"Open them." Zed ordered in a cold voice. The Ascension soldiers obeyed, with one man behind each crate moving to the front and removed the latches keeping them closed. With a few thuds of the latches coming off, the soldiers opened the crates, allowing Zed to see what was inside.
In the first, guns. Rifles of various shapes and sizes. Each one was sleek in it's design, and even Zed could appreciate that they looked nothing like the crude weapons of Piltover.
In the second, smaller boxes lined up the inside of the crate, with several smaller devices lining up the inside of the crate's lid.
Both soldiers took a step back, allowing Zed to approach and inspect his payment.
Even though Zed had his gripes about guns, preferring his own weaponry over such crude technology that the people of Piltover utilized, he could not deny he was intrigued by the outworlder's weaponry.
He reached into the first crate and picked up what looked like part of a rifle, turning it over in his hands, inspecting it.
"Press the button on the side." He heard Flammenschwert say, the man had come up behind him.
Zed located the button, and carefully pushed it. The weapon in his hand suddenly expanded, the rifle's barrel suddenly shot out and extended a good three feet outwards. The grip appeared at the bottom, a scope appeared at the top, and the rifle's stock emerged out the rear.
… Intriguing… The rifle reminded Zed of Caitlyn's own weapon, only with a much more advanced and less bulky appearance.
"That, is a MARKS rifle. A sniper utilized by our Ghost units. It can pick a target off from miles away thanks to it's sub-sonic rounds. Its capable of penetrating all known forms of personal armor in your world. You can even shoot someone with several structures in the way, with the exception of thick concrete." Flammenschwert pointed to the scope. "We've modified the scope to give you readings on distance and such in your own language. It's also capable of seeing in the night and pitch dark, as well as detecting people by the heat their bodies give off." He reached into the second crate and pulled out one of the smaller boxes. He held it in front of Zed. "These are its ammunition clips. Holds seven rounds before it will need to be reloaded. We've included a book in this crate with instructions and details on all the weapons, all translated into Ionian, of course."
Zed listened to Flammenschwert's lecture as he raised the sniper's scope to his eye. His helmet made it a bit awkward to use the sniper, but he could still see out the scope. The scope illumined the night, making it possible for him to see a long distance even in the dark.
This will be useful…
"There are other rifles and such in that crate designed for a variety of roles. Each weapon has different ammunition, all easily identified in this crate by the color of the strip on the bottom of each clip." Flammenschwert raised the sniper ammo and pointed to the dark green line at the bottom.
Zed lowered the sniper and pressed the button he did before that made the rifle expand. As he suspected, the rifle's parts retracted themselves inwards, making it smaller and easier to carry. He placed the sniper back in the box, and noticed a device in the second crate that looked like a shuriken. He picked it up, and as he held it up to his face to inspect it. It was slightly bulker then the shuriken his ninja employed, but smaller then his own personal ones. He also noticed another button in the center of the shuriken.
"I wouldn't push that button if I were you." Flammenschwert warned him. "After pushed, there is a three second delay before it emits a sonic pulse that will give everyone within fifteen feet the worst headache they've ever had, along with a loud pinging noise that will make everyone go temporary deaf." The outworlder explained. He pointed to a pair of small objects next to where Zed had picked up the shrunken. "Put those one of those things in one of your ears, it will block the signal, so you will be unaffected. The device is shaped like a shuriken to make it easier to throw. Also to kill people if needed."
Zed placed the shuriken back in the crate. So far, he was satisfied with what they had brought him. These weapons were perfect.
Then he noticed the fifth soldier was still holding the briefcase, unopened.
"What's in that?" He asked.
Flammenschwert gave a chuckle, one that sounded of a sick and twisted sense of glee. He motioned for the soldier to come forward. "This… is my favorite."
The soldier stopped just out of arm's reach of the two, raised the briefcase, and opened it. Inside was another rifle, but this one was different in appearance from the rest of them, the most obvious was that it's barrel appeared to be split down the center, just wide enough that Zed could put his hand through it.
"This… is a railgun. The pinnacle of weapon's technology at the moment. Only the Ascension has been able to make a portable version of the weapons, small and light enough for infantry to carry." Flammenschwert took a step forward and took the rifle out of the briefcase, handing it to Zed.
The shadow ninja held it in both hands, before grasping it and aiming it down the small sight at the top.
"It's heavier, and bulky compared to the rest of your weapons." Zed stated. "Less subtle too."
"That, is because a single shot from that would rip a human being apart. Several people actually. Its rounds are powerful to even breach some magic barriers through sheer force and could rip a hole through a castle wall." Flammenschwert lowered his head slightly, his tone dropping noticeably. "Even Archangel's armor wouldn't be able to stop a round from it."
That got Zed's attention.
"Archangel?" He asked. He knew who he meant, but what did that other outworlder have to do with this?
"Archangel is on Ionia. And he works for the same people they do." Flammenschwert motioned behind Zed. Zed turned his head to see what he meant. His eyes fell on the prisoners.
Of course… their armor is similar…
"Should he get wind of this, Archangel will do whatever it takes to keep technology such as this out of your hands. Since part of your League of Legends such as yourself, he could easily take action against you by himself, or with the help of others now that he's convinced everyone that the Ascension are the world's greatest threat."
Zed scoffed. "You did that yourselves. Even out here we've heard of what happened at Bilgewater."
The events at Bilgewater were part of the reason he knew he had to be careful around Flammenschwert. No outworlder could be trusted.
Flammenschwert shrugged again. "Just warning you. If he comes around, use this. The rounds from a railgun will make his armor a moot point."
Zed felt his anger rising again. He knew what Flammenschwert meant by giving him this particular weapon, and bringing up Archangel's name.
You want me to deal with him…
Zed wanted to use that railgun on Flammenschwert himself. If it was a powerful as he was claiming it was, Zed was sure it would be just as effective against his armor as well. He wasn't going to get roped into the Ascension schemes. Whatever issue they had with Archangel, they could handle it on their own.
It wasn't his problem.
His problem, was the Kinkou Order.
And Irelia.
That damn woman has been listening to whatever lies the Kinkou have been feeding her. Her and the damn elders. They'll resist my order's rise.
Zed knew that conflict with Irelia and perhaps the rest of Ionia was coming. They would try to stop him.
With the Ascension's weapons in his hands though, along with his order's methods of the Way of the Shadow, he would be victorious.
"Well, anyways." Flammenschwert spoke up, grabbing Zed's attention. "Do we have a deal?"
"…." Zed paused, before begrudgingly sticking his hand out for a handshake. "Deal."
Flammenschwert grasped his hand, and the two shook. Zed was sick for the whole two seconds they shook.
I hate outworlders…
"Load the prisoners onto the ship." Flammenschwert ordered the soldiers who stood by the crate. The soldier who held the briefcase stepped up to Zed and held it out. Zed got the hint and placed the railgun back in the briefcase and the soldier closed it, handing it to him by the handle.
Zed looked down at the briefcase, knowing he now held what was likely the most powerful weapon in all of Ionia in his hand that was not powered by magic.
He heard the grunting and struggling of one of the prisoners as he saw the Ascension soldiers carry two of them onboard their aircraft, while the one who had been slapped by Flammenschwert struggle as he was forced onto the ship as well.
A part of Zed wondered what was going to happen to them, but he didn't care. Just mild curiosity.
As he wondered that, he watched the outworlders get forced onto the aircraft. His eye was caught when he noticed another figure onboard the aircraft, but he couldn't see very well due to the night and low light.
The figure hiding inside the aircraft was partly concealed by the aircraft itself, because the figure was sitting inside the aircraft out of his sight. But he noticed a set a pale skinned bare legs, and a pair of blue braided hair that was touching the floor of the aircraft.
Hmm… familiar… Zed thought, but before he could further examine the figure, his line of sight was blocked by the Ascension soldiers boarding the aircraft.
Flammenschwert made to leave as well, but after taking a few steps he stopped and faced Zed. "We might have something else for you… if you're interested.
Zed scoffed. He knew it. "If you think I'm going to waste my time going after Archangel…"
Flammenschwert chuckled and shook his head. "Well, there is THAT, but I was talking about someone else."
Zed raised an eyebrow. He didn't want to deal with this bastard any longer, but if he was going to get more of their technology…
"You see, if there is one thing we are having issues with…" Flammenschwert began, "It's our studies into magic. We could use a… specimen with extraordinarily magical capabilities to boost our research. I hear there's a girl in the League who would do just fine."
A girl…
A single face appeared in Zed's mind.
Never before, had Zed felt so insulted. "I am a NINJA!" He growled. He was ready to rage at this son of a bitch for suggesting what he thought he was suggesting. "If you want someone to kidnap some little girl, go find a damn bandit."
Zed was willing to kill any mark, assassinate any target.
Kidnapping a little girl for a group as vile as these outworlders? Zed would rather disembowel himself. Even he had standards. If they wanted someone to kidnap Annie, then they would have to look elsewhere.
I feel more tempted to warn the League about this then to take this accursed deal.
Flammenschwert raised his hands defensively. "Ah, ah! I didn't mean that little girl. Sure, she would be perfect, but I was talking about someone a little more… local. And no, I don't mean kidnapping. You wouldn't have to do a thing actually."
Zed raised an eyebrow. "… Go on…"
"We'll take care of this on our own." Flammenschwert lowered his hands as he spoke. "We just wanted to make sure it was ok with you, seeing how you're her ally."
Zed paused again. This time, a different face appeared in his mind.
"And why would I agree to this?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"Because we would be willing to give you more, just for your blessing on the matter." Flammenschwert shrugged. "If you refuse, we'll leave her alone. I wouldn't want to jeopardise our relationship. It's hard to keep good business partnerships if our relationships fall through by crossing our friends."
Zed thought long and hard. What he was being asked was if he was willing to cut someone loose, an ally of his, for more technology.
If anything, remaining her ally puts me even farther at odds with the elders and the rest of Ionia… it might buy me some more time if anything…
He weighed his options.
In the end though… I trust her about as far as I can throw her… She's no ninja. She never will be.
Zed answered in his usual cold voice.
"What is it that you have for me?"
Getting Back To It
Ionia (City), Ionia
Isaac… Isaac…
WHY?!
Isaac's eyes bolted open as he immediately woke up, adrenaline already beginning to pump through his veins. His eyes darted around the room, checking every nook and cranny in his field of vision for a potential threat.
After a second, he let out a sigh as he remembered that he was in a hospital bed, and not in the burning building where his nightmare had been taking place.
With a slight groan, Isaac sat up straight and stretched himself out. It felt amazing as he felt his muscles finally remember how to move again after having been inactive for so long.
Lets just hope I haven't forgotten how to walk thanks to my coma.
Isaac rubbed the remaining sleep out of his eyes, and took another look around.
Sure enough, same room, same hospital bed. The room was pretty boring, with the only objects worth noting being his armor in a pile on the floor by the door and the letters on his nightstand. There was some sunlight making its way through the cracks in the blinds covering the room's sole window, letting Isaac know that it was at least daytime.
Isaac glanced down to his armor again. I don't remember seeing that there…
But then again, he had been talking to Mute's hologram earlier. She couldn't project herself very far, so it only made sense that his helmet had to be nearby for him to be able to speak with her.
"Mute?" Isaac asked as he tossed the sheets off himself, and realized that he was only wearing some kind of hospital gown.
No wonder it felt rather… breezy, in here.
"Yes?" Mute's avatar appeared off to the side of his bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Awake… I guess." Isaac mumbled as slowly moved his legs to the side of the bed and began to stretch them out. The limbs groaned from the sudden actively after being inactive for so long. "What time is it?"
"Local time is nine-eighteen." Mute informed him, but paused as Isaac let out a slight sigh as he felt his calves stretch out. "Feels good to move again?"
"Not used to being inactive for so long." Isaac muttered as he wiggled his toes. And now for the fun part…
He slowly rose out of bed and stood up straight, feeling his muscles remember how to function normally.
Oh boy… Isaac thought with a tint of annoyance. This is going to take some work…
Isaac spent the next ten minutes stretching himself out, followed by another minute of simply pacing around the room to make sure he wasn't going to suddenly fall over.
After he was satisfied with being able to move again, Isaac wandered over to his armor and gave it a quick inspection.
"Before you ask…" Mute began, "Yes, your armor is back at full functionality."
Isaac looked in Mute's direction and raised an eyebrow. "Full functionality?"
Mute gave a loop-sided grin. "Well, by full functionality, I mean the way it was BEFORE you almost got killed. Most of your suit's systems are still fried."
Great…
"There is one, major problem though." Mute sighed. "Your armor's self-repairing unit has seen better days."
Isaac lifted up his suit's helmet and checked it over. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"Nope." Mute shook her head. "Since you've taken so much damage over the course of our time here in Runeterra, unless we get your suit in for some proper maintenance, your armor's self-repair unit is now operating at a measly forty percent efficiency rating."
"Great…" Isaac groaned. This is just what he needed! His main ace-in-the-hole here on this world is his armor. And it was starting to shit the bed.
"To make up for the lost efficiency, I've disabled the auto-repair functionality. I'll be manually controlling it now and save it's uses for repairing only vital systems and sub-systems." Mute's avatar vanished and reappeared inches from Isaac's face, almost making him jump back in surprise. Almost.
She thrust out an accusing finger at him and gave a glare. "So DON'T GO DOING ANYTHING STUPID! I mean it this time!" She half-shouted at him.
"Alright, alright…" Isaac waved his AI companion off. "So in a nutshell, my armor is only going to repair really important systems and vital damage, but ignore things such as external scratches and the like. Right?"
Mute nodded and lowered her arm. "Yep. Everything else though is good to go."
Isaac stood up straight and removed his hospital gown, letting it drop to the floor. He took a second to glance down at his nude body.
More specifically, to inspect the new scars on his body.
Wow… they really did do a good job… Isaac was surprised, even as he ran a finger along his slender but muscular and toned chest. He was expecting to find another massive scar on his body from where Altar had gotten him with his mana-blade, but to his surprise, there was only a faint line.
In fact, even though it was a near-fatal wound, the scar left behind by Altar's attack was less prominent then some of scars on Isaac's chest from lesser injuries.
Next, Isaac raised his left arm. Sure enough, there was a faint line that went around his entire left arm from where it had been reattached. Again, Isaac was expecting to fine something a little more… defining.
"Magic sure is nice isn't it?" Mute asked as her Avatar floated over to his chest. Her hologram form "poked" his newest scar. "Even I was surprised to find such a faint remainder of your damage."
Isaac hummed in agreement. After he was done checking his skin over, reached down for his undersuit and began the long and familiar process of putting his armor on.
At times like this, he really missed the technicians at TRANS-Ops who could have him fully suited up in a manner of minutes.
However, he had just finished putting his first leg into the undersuit when his door suddenly opened.
Mind racing, Isaac bend down and reached for one of his knives located on his armor as Mute's avatar quickly vanished. However, he grasped at nothing.
Shit! They must've taken all my weapons away when they striped me down!
Bad, bad, bad. Here he was, fully commando minus the one leg halfway into his armor's undersuit, and someone was about to enter the room.
If it's a threat, then I'll have to use my powers. But without my armor's systems to regulate my ability, this is going to hurt…
Thankfully, he was off to the side of the room. Whoever was entering, likely wouldn't see him from the doorway. They would have to walk into the room, allowing him to get the drop on them.
He narrowed his eyes as someone entered his room, but he couldn't see since the door opened inwards and whoever it was who was entering the room, was on the other side of the wooden door.
Take another step… come on… Isaac thought as he slowly began to channel dark matter around his right hand in preparation of having to fire something off. As he did though, he felt his hand begin to burn.
To be honest, Isaac wasn't sure what or who he was expecting the intruder to be. But who he saw was NOT something he was going to guess.
In walked a stunning woman who Isaac had never seen before. She had light blue hair with various tints of yellow at the ends, which branched out into a pair of pigtails that extended down to her waist. She wore a dress of various shades of blue that was nothing shy of extravagant and looked like it should've cost a fortune. Various gold trimming was also present on the dress, further enforcing Isaac's assumption that it was a very expensive dress and fabric. The dress widened at the lower body, completely concealing her lower body. It not, however, cover her upper body from the top half of her ample breasts and up, showing off skin that practically glowed.
Isaac had to blink for a moment after looking the intruder over.
Wow… she's… gorgeous…
Isaac mentally shook his head as he remembered that he was potentially looking at a possible assassin.
Steadying his power, Isaac opened his mouth to confront the woman, but before he could, the woman perked up and turned to look at him. Her mouth opened slightly and her blue eyes widened in surprise at seeing Isaac, even more so when she glanced at his hand where Isaac was preparing to attack from.
Isaac grinned slightly. "Ever heard of knocking?" His expression went cold after making the quip. "Who are you?"
The woman made to take a step back, clearly cautious of him. Isaac watched carefully as her eyes darted around him, looking his body over but paying extra careful attention to his hand which was now beginning to glow a sick purple color.
Then Isaac noticed her eyes venture lower… and freeze. Well, not just her eyes, but her whole body froze.
Isaac was about to say something when he noticed the woman's face change expressions from surprise to shocked. That, and he noticed the blush that was rapidly appearing on her face.
What?
Isaac thought and was about to voice that thought when he followed her eyes, and realized the reason for her sudden change in demeanour.
The woman had only just realized he was completely nude with only a single leg in his undersuit, and she had noticed his manhood out and going commando.
…. Oh…. Right…
Isaac noticed how the woman was starting to tremble, the blush on her face becoming more and more apparent.
Isaac furrowed his brow and let out a sigh.
Well… this just got awkward…
"Uh…" Isaac began, "Do you… mind?" He was starting to get a little unnerved with this exotic beauty staring at him.
More specifically, a certain PART of him…
Isaac's voice must've brought the woman out of whatever thoughts she was having as her body suddenly lurched upright, both hands coming up to cover her face.
Curiously though, she did not cover her eyes.
Before Isaac could get another word in, the woman bolted out of his room, slamming the door behind her.
Isaac blankly stared at the spot where she was for a moment, before letting out a sigh and releasing his powers.
Well… ok…?
"What was that?" Isaac asked out loud.
He was answered by Mute's avatar reappearing, which subsequently burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Oh! That was good!" Mute laughed, holding her self as she did. "Nice once Archangel! I think you just scared that poor girl for life!"
"What?!" Isaac looked at Mute with a questioning face. "How is that my fault?!"
Mute didn't answer. Maybe it was because she was too busy laughing to be able to form an audible sentence.
Isaac rolled his eyes and resumed getting his undersuit on.
This time, he managed to get both legs in his suit before the door burst open again.
"What happened?!" Ezreal shouted as he bolted into the room, concern on his face.
"FOR FUCK SAKES!" Isaac shouted in irritation, throwing both his hands up in the air. Can't these people let him get AT LEAST DRESSED?!
Ezreal's head spun around until he spotted Isaac in the corner of the room. He opened his mouth to say something, but unlike the woman from before, he noticed Isaac's situation immediately.
"Oops!" Ezreal jumped, quickly becoming embarrassed. "Sorry!" He managed to get out before he too bolted out the room, slamming the door behind him.
Isaac could only sigh again as Mute's Avatar floated to the floor as she doubled over in laughter.
This… is not a good way to begin my first day out of a coma…
Nearly twenty minutes later and thankfully, without any disturbances, Isaac was fully clad in his armor again.
He let out a mental sigh of relief as Isaac scooped up his helmet and gave it a quick look over. Without his armor, he felt completely vulnerable, exposed, naked… well, in terms of that last one, it was actually literal this time.
He lifted his helmet up over his head and brought it down, hearing the slight sound it made as his body became fully encased in his suit once again. The sound made him feel safe and he let out a sigh of relief, a real one.
"Mute?" Isaac asked the unneeded question to his companion. A split second later, his vision lit up as his helmet's HUD came to life.
After a few seconds, with his HUD fully online, Isaac rolled his neck and stretched out his shoulders one more time.
Finally…
Mute's face appeared in the top right corner of his HUD. "Feels good to be back in the skin?" She asked, thankfully over her laughing fit.
You have no idea…
"Very." Isaac simply responded. Now feeling much less vulnerable, Isaac made his way over to the nightstand and picked up the letters that were left out for him. He flipped through them all quickly, counting them
There were five letters for him in total. Two were from Piltover, one from Caitlyn and Firewall each, one from Miss Fortune, one from his unofficial boss Kasubel, and one from someone named Karma.
"Hmm…" Isaac looked them over again. He really was not used to getting mail. Physical mail in actual envelopes on top of that.
He could kind of guess what each one was about, with the exception of the one named Karma, since he had never heard of the name.
Unless you were referring to actual karma. If that was the case, he was sure he was lacking any of the good variety of it.
Kind of hard to build up good karma when you kill people for a living…
"Hey Isaac?" Mute asked with a snarky grin. "You kind of have to OPEN the letters to read them."
Isaac rolled his eyes. "No shit."
"Well, you're just staring at them. Unless it really does take you that long to read the to and from on each one. Might explain a lot of things."
"Shut up Mute…" Isaac shook his head slightly at her verbal jab. He looked around for something to use as a letter opener, since in his armored hand he was just as likely to ripe the entire letter apart rather then opening it.
Sure enough, someone had left a letter opener on the nightstand. He grabbed it and opened the letter from Caitlyn first.
Isaac made to sit down, but he decided against it since he wasn't sure of the hospital bed could withhold the added weight from his armor. So instead, he simply stood up and began to read…
Archangel,
I see that it didn't take long for you to get in over your head. Not even two weeks go by and you've managed to nearly get yourself killed and half a city gets wiped off the map. I sincerely hope that isn't how all your "operations" end, it doesn't paint a good picture on how an actual war with the Ascension could play out here in Runeterra.
I must say, even after you and your friends, explained to us about just how dangerous the Ascension is, I never fathomed they had such firepower ready to be unleashed on a whim like that. From what we've been able to gather from all the reports (and filter through all the false claims) there was no clear reason for the attack that befell Bilgewater. Aside from causing widespread death and destruction, does the Ascension have any other motives? Plans? Or are they just here to destroy everything in sight? I find myself wondering this, and honestly, it has kept me up a night or two.
But enough of that. When word reached us of your injuries, we couldn't help but worry. Your friend Firewall believed you would pull through, and I hope that is the case. He has been most helpful to us here in Piltover, within his first week he solved one of our cold cases and managed to impress both myself and Vi. Based off his recommendations, Piltover is making an effort to ensure we will not be caught off guard like Bilgewater.
I hope the others with you are well. I heard about Vega, and I offer my condolences. I didn't know him very well, but he seemed an honest summoner, sadly a trait many summoners lack in this day and age.
I do, however, find it very odd as to how Jinx managed to make an appearance at Bilgewater. I wonder how she got there? But, as long as she is using her criminal and destructive tendencies against the Ascension (and is as far away from Piltover as possible), I suppose I'll have to shelf her case for the time being as opposed to having to chase her down. Curious though, it almost looks as if she followed you there somehow. I guess I'll never know.
I hope you recover soon, and remember, you are always welcome in Piltover.
Caitlyn, Shreiff of Piltover
Isaac finished reading and set the letter down on the nightstand.
"Well, that was rather nice of her." Mute exclaimed. "Good to see we'll at least always have her as an ally."
Isaac couldn't help but grin a little. Looks like I one-upped Blitzkrieg with the choice to let Firewall go to Piltover.
Speaking of which…
Isaac opened Firewall's letter next, which wasn't that much different the Caitlyn's letter. It was basically a status report, letting Isaac know what he had been up to.
There was also an entire paragraph on how much Firewall disliked this method of communication. Too many chances for interception, takes too long to get to the recipient, the chance of it never making it to the recipient… etc.
In fact, Firewall stated that he was working on a new method of communications, something he was planning on speaking to some guy named Heimerdinger about it.
Isaac bit his lower lip at that. If what Firewall wrote to him means what he thought it meant, then Firewall was going to be potentially sharing Earth technology with the people of Runeterra. Something he had been trying to avoid happening since day one.
Hmm… suddenly, I'm not so sure about that one-upping Blitzkrieg thing…
But, now that he thought about it, didn't the League confiscate most of his weapons when he first arrived?
Doesn't look like we'll be able to avoid it… it was only a matter of time…
Isaac sighed. He didn't like the possibilities of the people of Runeterra having a major technological jump, especially in a military sense. Down that road lay disaster. If the technology boosted ahead before the society did…
Well… no sense dwelling on it right now. Still, I don't like it…
Maybe if he was lucky, Firewall would show some restraint when sharing technology. He was always a cautious guy.
Kasubel's letter was pretty straightforward. While it DID express some level of concern for his well being, it was basically just an order: Return to the Institute of War.
"Should we?" Mute asked.
"I don't know… You're the AI. What do you think?" Isaac countered.
"Hmm…" Mute paused for a moment. "Given our current situation, we shouldn't return. But we also shouldn't throw them out the window. We might need their help again someday."
"Well, doesn't it kind of seem like most people hate the League anyways?"
"That's what I'm saying. Since public opinion on them isn't very good, and I doubt what happened at Bilgewater helped that opinion at all." Mute sighed. "And according to Blitzkrieg, public opinion on us isn't very good either, so maybe we should minimize our assoassation with them. On the other hand, being a League Champion has its perks, it can get us places and see people that normally we would need to do some networking to get to speak with."
"Hmmm…" Isaac nodded in agreement. Mute had nothing short of good points there.
Regardless, given their current situation, he could put those thoughts on the back burner for now. There were more pressing matters at hand. On top of that, their main link to the League was Vega… and he was… well…
… God damn it…
Isaac pushed the thoughts out of his mind and opened the next letter, which was from Miss Fortune.
The letter from Miss Fortune was by far the hardest thing to read. Her handwriting made Isaac request Mute translate for him, only for her to make a quip about how she can't translate alien languages.
The initial problem aside, Isaac managed to get enough out of her letter to guess what else she was saying.
Long story short, Bilgewater is trying to recover. They're trying to follow my suggestion on how to build a better army and fleet to counter the Ascension. And they're REALLY pissed at the Ascension.
In other words, the Ascension's attack on Bilgewater essentially put them in his back pocket when it came to needing someone to fight the Ascension. The problem was, was that Bilgewater had suffered so much damage during the attack it would be some time before they would be able to recover to the point of being able to wage a war with the Ascension.
In other words, if we were to build an army, then Bilgewater would only be able to provide some naval forces… other then that, they've been pretty much knocked out of the picture.
Fuck!
On the other hand, his own actions at Bilgewater, in particular the part where he took down the Avenger, put him in the good graces of Bilgewater's leadership. Even more so when it came to Miss Fortune and Gangplank, both of whom (if Miss Fortune's letter was to be believed) we're very impressed.
There was some distrust and dislike of Isaac among some of the members of their council, but Miss Fortune had waved it off as idiots being idiots.
Mute chuckled. "You know, aside from the part where the city was almost wiped off the map and you nearly dying, it seems our trip to Bilgewater was worth it."
"Sure seems that way…" Isaac muttered as made to open the letter from the name he had failed to recognise.
A knock on the door made him stop immediately though.
"Yes?" Isaac called out in the direction of the door. At least they knocked this time.
"Its me." Blitzkrieg called from the other side. "Can I come in, or are you still exposing yourself to strangers?"
Isaac rolled his eyes as Mute let out another laugh. "Come in."
The door opened and in walked his much larger squad mate with Ezreal in tow.
"Good to see you up and at them." Blitzkrieg said, nodding at Isaac. "Armor all good?"
Isaac put the unopened letter down on the nightstand, but folded the other four up and stuck them in one of his suit's storage slots. "For the most part." He responded before looking over to Ezreal. "Good to see you're alive and well Ez."
The blonde explorer gave him a smile. "Good to see you back on your feet. You had us worried for awhile there." He said, before rubbing the back of his head. "And, sorry about earlier."
Isaac rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Bad timing, that's all."
And I'm eager for us to all forget about it…
Ezreal let out a nervous chuckle as he looked away. "Yeah… now if we could get that point across to Sona…"
"Who?"
"Err, nevermind."
Blitzkrieg gave a snort. "Not even an hour out of bed and you've already caused a scene. Christ…" Blitzkrieg shook his head. "Have you finished reading all the letters?"
"All but one." Isaac picked the one off the nightstand and waved it around.
"Is it the one from Karma?"
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "You know who that is?"
Blitzkrieg nodded. "Yeah, and she's actually important. In fact, she wants to meet you. Today."
… Oh…
Isaac raised an eyebrow as looked over the letter again. "I… see."
Blitzkrieg shrugged. "No point in reading that then, since that's the whole point of that letter was to request a meeting with you. Someone mentioned that you had woken up, so she wants to see you today this afternoon. Around two or something."
Isaac glanced at the two of them, noticing the massive difference in height. Ezreal was about the same size as Isaac, so Blitzkrieg towered over the blonde. The size difference was made even more apparent by Blitzkrieg's armor, which made him look like he could simply pick Ezreal up with one and hand throw him like a football.
"So… who is she?" Isaac asked. He wanted to get a bit of an idea of who this woman was before he met her.
"Like your pal said, she's important. She's a hero!" Ezreal explained. "Duchess Karma is one of the Ionian Elders. She usually resides in the Placidium, but she's here in the capital to meet with the rest of the Elders. She's also a League champion like me and you."
So she's a big deal here in Ionia… like Irelia.
"She's also on the same page as that Irelia girl." Blitzkrieg added. "So expect her to know everything Irelia knows."
"So… Am I meeting just Karma or do I have to convince another group of politicians about something?" Isaac asked, suddenly not look forward to this. He was hoping that meeting the Ionian Elders would be easier then meeting with the Bilgewater's unstable political figures.
"From what I know, the Ionian Elders aren't really politicians. They have to go through so serious trials to become an Elder, one of which tests their humility." Ezreal explained. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much. Karma's a good person. I've met her a few times off the Fields of Justice."
We'll… I'll be the judge of that. Irelia's alright, so maybe Karma won't be an issue either.
"Either way." Blitzkrieg rolled his neck. "You ready to check out? It's probably been awhile so you managed to get something that remotely resembled food."
Food doesn't seem like a bad idea… and now that I think about it, I am kind of hungry…
Not eating anything for weeks tends to do that to a person…
"Just one question." Isaac began, "Where's all my weapons?"
Ezreal motioned towards the door, "They're holding all your stuff at the entrance. We can get it when we leave."
"Alright, lets go then." Isaac folded up Karma's letter into the same storage slot he was keeping the others and followed the two of them out.
As they made their way through the hospital, Ezreal stepped in line beside Isaac. "Hey uh… you heard about Jinx and… Vega… right?" He asked, with a sorrowful expression on his face.
Isaac sighed. "Yeah… yeah I did…"
"I… see…" Ezreal muttered.
"You ok?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah… I've seen people die before, but it sucks when you lose a friend." Ezreal closed his eyes for a moment. It was clear to Isaac that he had been mourning the loss of the summoner. "No idea what the hell's up with Jinx though, but no one ever does."
"…. Yeah…" Isaac replied, remaining silent for a moment before speaking again. "Don't worry, we'll deal with Jinx later, and we'll avenge Vega."
Ezreal let out a light cynical chuckle that seemed rather unlike him. "You know, I've always said that revenge never brings anything good. But I wouldn't mind getting back at those Ascension bastards for Vega's sake."
You're not alone on that front… but revenge or not, we'll be fighting them anyways.
"Oh, right!" Ezreal snapped his fingers. "The others want to meet you."
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Who?" Who are "others"? When did I get so damn popular?
… I don't like this…
"The others champions that helped us out. The ones that you pal here came with." Ezreal pointed at Blitzkrieg, who was in front of them.
"Look who's mister popular…." Mute's voice taunted him through his helmet's speakers.
Ignoring Mute, Isaac spared a glance to his squadmate in front of them, and he noticed how all the hospital staff parted for them as they walked through the halls. Nearly every one of them had a tense look on their faces that showed signs of fear as the eyed Blitzkrieg carefully.
Looks like what Blitzkrieg was talking about earlier is true… of the people fearing us.
Then again… Blitzkrieg was a very intimidating individual. He towered over everyone he passed.
Soon enough though, they reached the lobby. Isaac stepped up to the clerk who had to take a double take at Isaac when she saw him.
"Oh! A-archangel! I'm sorry. I wasn't aware you had awoken!" The young woman with glasses said nervously.
Oh boy… now everyone is getting the jumps around me…
"Just here to check out." Isaac nodded. "I believe you have my things?"
The clerk nodded quickly. "Y-yes we do! I'm sorry! I'll go get them for you." She stammered and quickly left to gather his equipment.
Isaac shook his head at the clerk's very obvious fear of him and looked to Blitzkrieg and Ezreal behind him, both of whom were having similar reactions.
"Just like home?" Blitzkrieg shrugged.
Isaac sighed. "Yeah… just like home..."
Ezreal raised a confused eyebrow. "Huh? This kind of thing happen on your guy's world too?"
"Well, when there are no talking goat-ladies, dragon-girls, and magic. Yeah, people tend to be a little afraid of someone who they know can potentially kill them with a thought." Blitzkrieg shrugged. "Just another perk of being a meta-human I guess."
Isaac was about to agree, when he thought a little more about what Blitzkrieg said. "Wait… dragon-girls?"
"You'll meet her soon enough. She's one of those champions that came with me here. You know, the ones that want to meet you, like shorty here said." Blitzkrieg pointed a thumb at Ezreal, who gave a slight huff to inform the world that he didn't approve of being called shorty.
The clerk returned with a small chest soon thereafter.
"E-excuse me! M-mister Archangel?" The clerk said while placing the chest on the counter that separated her from Isaac. "H-here it is. All of what you carried w-when you were brought to us, I-I mean."
"Don't worry about it." Isaac waved off, pulling the chest closer to himself noticing it was locked. "Key?"
The clerk let out an "eep!" before hastily handing over the key. "S-sorry! Here!"
Isaac could only sigh as he took the key, making an effort to do so slowly and carefully so he didn't give the poor girl a heart attack, and opened the chest.
Inside, was his four swords and the X shaped sheath.
But that was all.
Uh… where is the rest?
"Where is the rest of my stuff?" Isaac asked. He quickly realized his mistake when he saw the clerk go white at his question.
"T-that was all we have! I-I swear!" The clerk nearly shouted before lowering her head in a bow. "P-please sir! D-don't hurt me."
Isaac blinked. Ok, he had seen people give him a wide berth before, hell, he had seen the outright fear in eyes of some of the staff back at TRANS-Ops bases. But he had NEVER seen someone this scared of him.
Unsure as to what to do, Isaac looked back to Blitzkrieg and Ezreal, the former crossing his arms and sighing while the latter only put his arms out to his sides with his palms up, shaking his head in a very clear "I don't know" expression.
To make matters worse, everyone else in the lobby was now watching them. From other patients to staff members, to a pair of guards who stood at the side with accusing glares.
Ok… we're making a scene here… not good.
"Oh boy…" Mute's Avatar appeared in his HUD. "If THIS is how things are going to be on Ionia, then screw everything I said earlier. We're better off returning to the Institute of War."
Isaac looked back to the clerk, who was still bowing to him and was now shivering.
Oh for fucks sakes…
Isaac reached into the chest and took what remained of his equipment out. "Look, don't worry about it. It wasn't that important anyways." He tried to reassure the girl. "I'll be going then."
Without waiting for a response, Isaac turned on his heel and made to leave. As soon as he made to do so, both Blitzkrieg and Ezreal followed suit, both seemingly just as eager to leave the hospital as he was.
As soon as pushed the doors open and left, did Ezreal open his mouth.
"Ooookaaay…." Ezreal began. "Is it always THAT bad where you guys are from."
"Not… really." Isaac grumbled as he fastened his X shaped sheath over his back, and checking all four blades.
"I've seen people go white around some League champions, but that's usually around people like Mordekasier. Not people like us!" Ezreal stated as he shook his head. "Maybe it's because of recent events?"
That… would make a lot of sense. Isaac furrowed his brow. If people were scared of him since he was a so-called outworlder, and now that everyone knew about the Ascension and what kind of destruction they could bring, all they would have to do is make the connection between the two and people would be frightened.
Still… that was something else… suddenly I'm glad I'm below average height and not Blitzkrieg's size.
"Forget about it." Blitzkrieg spoke up. "Lets go grab something to eat. From what I've seen, not everyone here is that gutless."
Isaac felt Blitzkrieg give him a rough slap on the back, earning a slight growl from Isaac. "And you, you've got a few meet and greets. So come on. I know a place where at the least the chiefs won't shit themselves at the sight of us."
"And the food is pretty good too!" Ezreal chirped in.
God I hope not… or else this is going to be a rough next few hours until we meet with Karma…
And Isaac was sure as hell hoping that this time, the old proverb was wrong. And that Karma wasn't going to be a bitch.
To: General Edward Alcatraz
From: CONTROL
Subject: Recent Loses
To General Edward Alcatraz,
In light of recent casualties involving meta-humans, I've placed all TRANS-Ops bases on alert. Since the end of the Ascension War, we have yet to take any major loses until this past month. All future deployments must be doubled up, and no chances can afford to be taken. We CANNOT afford to lose any more meta-humans.
Professor Olsen has checked over your report regarding the sudden loss of contact with Gaia squad, and he has a few theories on what might have occurred. He personally believes that Gaia has likely met a fate similar to that of Shadow Team.
General Alcatraz, this is the second squad you have lost under your command in under two months. There will not be a third.
CONTROL, Commander of Meta-Human Warfare and TRANS-Ops.
AN: So, I was planning on having this chapter to be longer, but I didn't want to run the risk of making everyone wait another "who knows how long" for an update to the story. So, I pushed it back to next chapter.
Then again, this chapter alone is 10k words... which is actually pretty long for a fanfic chapter, now that I think about it.
Not much happening here, but hey, it can't always be guns blazing and heads rolling action. Its time for ol' Archangel to meet some new friends! Or rivals...
In hindsight though, I kind of regret making Flammenschwert so damn important. I kind of wish I picked an shorter/easier to type name... hindsight 20/20.