A/N – Thank you to all those who have reviewed my fic, but there is one such review (well, reviews done by the same reader) that I wanted to address.

In his reviews (or rants as he called it), Average reader127652 pointed out that this fic uses a some of the old lore, such as the Institute of War and the League of Legends as an entity. It appears to have caused some level of misunderstanding for him (or her) and I'm pretty sure I can safely guess, it has caused misunderstandings for others as well.

Just as a reminder, this is because I started writing this story back when all that was canon, and I didn't want to have to carry out extensive rewrites and take a lot of the plot back to the drawing board.

I want to thank Average reader127652 for pointing this out so extensively for me since it made me painfully aware of the fact that I don't actually address this issue in the LOL canon until chapter 13. As a result, I've removed the AN from that chapter and posted a disclaimer at the very beginning of the story so people can understand this from the get-go and not have to be confused for 13 chapters before coming to an understanding.

Thank you again for that, and I encourage my readers to point out such things in the future so I can clarify them for you all. Now, enjoy the new chapter.

Evo-leg, June 26th, 2017

Northern Freljord, near the Gelid Vortex

Enzo Lefèvre took a small sip from his drink. "Hmm… this is some good scotch…" He quietly sighed to himself before looking back up at the armored man present in his office. "My apologizes. Please, continue with your report." He inclined to a small table off to the side of his office, where assorted glasses and liquor awaited. "Why not enjoy a drink? It is a rare occasion that you are here in the flesh, is it not?"

At his request, his only visitor jaunted over to the table and poured himself a small glass of whiskey. "As I was saying… it took some convincing, but our Ionian friend agreed to cut loose the mage." Albrecht Wolfgang, better known by his meta human name Flammenschwert, continued updating Enzo on the progress of his assignment.

Enzo nodded, pleased. "Good, good. I'll have a squad briefed and sent out within the week." Enzo tapped a button on his desk and a holo-screen appeared, outlining the details on Flammenschwert's objective. "They will have to be well equipped and prepared. She is an incredibly powerful mage. She is not to be underestimated."

Flammenschwert nodded and took a sip from his glass, wincing slightly. "Don't worry, don't worry. I'll let them know. She better be worth it though. Negotiating with Zed has not been easy, he trusts us no farther then he throws us."

"As he should." Enzo placed a cigar between his lips and took a puff. "However, after our display of power at Bilgewater he will think twice about double crossing us."

Albrecht shook his head. "Oh, I'm not worried about him putting a knife in my back. He likes our technology too much and wants more of it. He's just an ass to deal with. He's getting ambitious too. It won't be long before the Ionians will be forced to deal with him."

"And while the world is grasping at straws and shooting at shadows, we shall continue with our goals across the globe." Enzo nodded. "Besides, Zed has been a useful tool so far. He recently roped us a group of TRANS-Ops gammas and we didn't have to sacrifice a soul." He took another sip of his scotch, leaning back in his chair. "Was there anything else?"

Albrecht stared into his whiskey and swirled the drink around a bit, something clearly on his mind. "Yeah, there was something…" He looked up at Enzo, a few strands of his black hair covering one of his cold dead eyes. "I would to request that we push the date for Operation Attila ahead."

Enzo raised an eyebrow. "Oh…? Go on."

"We have the world shitting their pants right now. Sure, we lost an Avenger at Bilgewater. Julius got way ahead of himself and that old geezer paid the price. The only real loss we suffered there was Altar, but if he can't even take on a single beta like himself in a one on one fight even with that prototype we gave him, then he's hardly a significant loss himself." Albrecht's dead look turned deadly. "But those two gave us the perfect opening. They got the world running scared. So, I say, why wait until next month when we should strike while the iron's hot!"

Enzo paused. He ran the numbers over in his head. He had thought of something similar after all.

"Hmm… I'll run it by the others and see if they see things your way." He shrugged. "I doubt they would see an issue, but I keep a council for a reason. They would be quite upset if I started pushing all our dates forward on a whim."

Albrecht nodded. "Fair enough, fair enough." He grinned. "Maybe I'll go swing by the holding cell where they're keeping that British boy. He's a fighter. But he'll break, they all do." He swirled the drink around again. "How goes… THAT project?"

Enzo smiled. "Why… I do believe we are getting underway with that operation tonight."

Albrecht's smile had a hint of sadism in it. "I can't wait." Then, he suddenly brought the half full glass of whisky to his mouth and tipped his head back, downing the entire contents in a pair of seconds. He pulled the glass away with an "Ahhhh" and set it down on back on the table.

"I'll be on my way then. Duty calls." Albrecht placed his helmet over his head and sealed his suit, becoming the dreaded Ascension beta Flammenschwert once again.

Enzo inclined him towards the door, and he saw him out.

Now then… Enzo tapped a few buttons on his desk, the dossier of Syndra, the Dark Sovereign disappearing. In it's place, several different dossiers appeared, all with different names but shared a common title.

Enzo scratched his chin as he pondered his options, eyes running over each name on the dossiers. Hmm… Shadow Team… they are sure finding ways to be a thorn in our side… aren't they…

His gaze came to a stop on one of them.

Aren't you… Isaac Miller?

Enzo knew that taking him out of the picture sooner was better then later. He could send Siren after him, she was all too eager to face him again. But that had its own risks. One being that he ran the risk of turning the so-called League of Legends champion Archangel into some kind of martyr.

And people, no matter what world or where they were from, love martyrs.

He would have to reach out into his contacts and have him dealt with in a more… discreet matter.

Enzo smiled. He wondered how it would look if the League assassinated one of its own?

Ionia (city, Ionia)

The lounge of the Blooming Lotus appeared more or less the way it did when Isaac had left it. The part of the wall where he had been thrown through had a pair of staff members attending to it and for the most part appeared to be fixed.

Oops…

The three Demacian champions were no longer present, but he quickly spotted Blitzkrieg up at the bar counter by himself sitting on a stool, with his helmet off and resting on the counter next to him.

Bingo.

Isaac made his way across the lounge, ignoring the looks he was getting from the staff and the accusing looks from the two repairmen. He really couldn't blame them, he was technically his fault that they had more work to do now.

Isaac walked up next to Blitzkrieg just as the man was downing the contents of his drink and pulled out the stool next to him.

"How'd it go?" Blitzkrieg asked without even looking over at Isaac. "You get a court date?"

"Very funny…" Isaac rolled his eyes. Before he could continue the bartender approached him from the other side of the counter.

"Your order sir?" The bartender asked, but then his eyes narrowed. "And I must respectfully request that you do not-"

Isaac waved his hand in the air. "Not break anything, cause any fights, yah, yah your receptionist gave me the warning already."

The bartended nodded and then started looking at Isaac with an expecting looking.

Isaac groaned as he realized he was facing one of the toughest enemies he had come to face yet again in Runeterra.

… Fuck, what do they serve for drinks in the world again?

Thankfully, Blitzkrieg threw Isaac a gaze and shook his head. "He'll have what I'm having." He told the bartender, who then nodded and walked away.

Isaac removed his visor and glanced at Blitzkrieg. "And you're having…?"

"The closest thing they have here to beer."

"… and?"

"It tastes like piss, so I'd say pretty close."

Isaac sighed and turned his attention to the glass in front of him that the bartender put down.

He grasped it and took a drink. Sure enough, it tasted like beer alright.

Isaac took a quick glance around the lounge. "Where's Ezreal?"

"He said he had some business to attend to, some letters to write, that sort of thing." Blitzkrieg turned his head to look at Archangel. "But in all seriousness, how'd it go?"

Isaac finished taking his drink and set the glass back down on the counter. "Met with Karma, and they're planning to take on some ninja lord named Zed. It seems like he's getting Ascension assistance and since they can prove it now, they want to march on him."

Blitzkrieg raised an eyebrow, taking a moment to glance at new recently refilled glass in front of him. "Oh? Last time they chatted with me they were still struggling to come up with some kind of proof."

Isaac raised his glass to his mouth again. "They found an Ascension COM unit on the body of one of Zed's ninjas."

Blitzkrieg took a drink from his own, larger, glass. "They did huh? Well, that's good news in a way. Gives us a starting point." He let out an "ahh" sound as he took a rather large swig from his glass. "So… what are we going to do?"

"In three days, Irelia will be leading an army to the northwestern island." Isaac set his drink down and looked at Blitzkrieg. "I volunteered us to with her."

Blitzkrieg nodded. "Not a bad idea. We can take out a potential Ascension supporter, get some new intel, and maybe start working on that alliance network we're going to need."

"Yeah… but that reminds me…" Isaac gave his superior a confused look. "Why DID you leave the decision up to me? You're the second in command."

Blitzkrieg sighed, setting his own drink down too look Isaac back in the eye. Isaac could see the world weariness in his squadmate's eyes.

"Look kid, I'm an enforcer, a fighter, and an advice giver. Taking command and calling the shots, that's Orcale's job and she's MIA. This whole thing is bigger then the two of us, and I'm not cut out for this kind of leading the rallying of the world kind of Scheiße." He shook his head slightly. "Like it or not, you're the one out of the two of us that people here recognize. You're in with the League of Legends or whatever the Hölle it's called, you're the one the people at the top want to see. Not me. Even those Demacians that came with us are more interested in you then me. I'm just in the package deal."

Blitzkrieg took another sip from his drink.

"So… what? You want me to call the shots because I'm famous?" Isaac asked. That didn't make any sense. Blitzkrieg had way more experience then Isaac did.

"Its more then that." Blitzkrieg sighed, looking at Isaac again. "Look… I'll make this simple for us both. Goth?"

Goth's avatar appeared over Blitzkrieg's helmet, turned his digital head to look at Blitzkrieg.

"Très bien mon ami." Goth said before turning to face Isaac. "Congratulations Archangel."

… What the hell are they talking about?

Goth must have noticed Isaac's confusion, because the AI started chuckling.

"You, mon ami, just got promoted." He laughed and nodded. "Félicitations à vous!" And with that, he vanished back into Blitzkrieg's helmet.

…. What?!

"Umm…" Mute's voice popped into Isaac's head. "Isaac…?"

"What?"

"You just became a Lieutenant…"

Isaac's eyes went wide. He threw a look at Blitzkrieg, who simply nodded to him in response before reverting his attention to his drink.

… Wait, what!?

Isaac tapped the side of his helmet and his visor resealed itself over his face. His HUD lit up and a ping appeared in the bottom left corner of his HUD. Isaac activated it and a message appeared, showing the relative ranks of his squad mates.

And sure enough, where his rank once said sergeant, it now said lieutenant.

"Um…" Mute started to chuckle. "Congrats?"

Isaac stared at the word for a good few seconds before unsealing his visor. He looked back at Blitzkrieg. Only one question on his mind.

"Why?"

Blitzkrieg shook his head. "Kid, like it or not this world has its eyes on you. Wouldn't do us any good if YOU were the one following orders."

Isaac bit his lower lip. He didn't agree with this.

"I'm not a leader."

Blitzkrieg shrugged. "Contrary to popular belief, no one is born a leader. Its like any other skill, you have to groom it." He took another sip of his beer-like drink. "And this is where we're going to start."

"We have a world at the mercy of the Ascension, and you want to start teaching ME about leadership?"

"Best time to start, trail by fire and all that." Blitzkrieg gave Isaac a small grin, and Isaac noticed how some of the world weariness in his now former superior's eyes had been replaced by amusement. "Glückwünsche kid."

Isaac blinked. He really wasn't sure what to think. This was all so sudden. A promotion? How did he feel about climbing the ranks of TRANS-Ops?

Did he feel anything at all for it?

I doubt the promotion would last once we got back to Earth, it'll probably just be a temporary field promotion.

"Ok…" Isaac tried to find the words in his mind. "What… what does this change?"

"When… if we get back to Earth, quite a few things actually. But for now…" Blitzkrieg waved the bartender over for a refill, "Not much. If you need to make a call, make it. If I need to make a call, I'll run it by you first if I can. If not, then I'll make the call. This way, if you need to make a decision, you don't have to wait for my approval since I'm your ranking officer. Now, you can make that call on your own without having worry about it."

Blitzkrieg rolled his neck around. "On top of all that, if you're hogging the spotlight I can remain the muscle in the background. No one here seems to have really clued in yet, but we both know I'm the stronger one. Sure, you've got your tricks with dark matter and all, but I'm built like a tank. A very fast tank." He gave Isaac a small grin. "They won't realize it until its too late."

Isaac went over all the information in his head. He's got a point there. As much as I hate being in the limelight, I kind of already am…

Isaac sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is giving me a headache…" He muttered to himself.

Blitzkrieg simply shrugged and turned his attention back to his beer substitute.

The two drank in silence for a few minutes, the only noise around them being the quiet murmur of the lounge.

It was at this time Isaac was starting to understand that he had taken a lot of stuff back on Earth for granted. Like sports bars. Sure, he didn't party hard, but whenever he had been at a bar either alone or with his squadmates, there were at least TVs to watch. Even at the TRANS-Ops base's lounges there were screens lined up everywhere for soldiers to lose themselves in the world of sports.

Here, there were some gadgets on the walls, but otherwise, nothing.

"What are those for?" Isaac asked, pointing at the objects in question.

"They use them to broadcast those League matches you keep hearing about." Blitzkrieg answered. "At least, that's what they told me. Given recent events, all matches are on hold so they're just fancy decorations now. Speaking of which, I heard you had to take part in one of those."

Isaac sighed. "Yeah, it wasn't that bad. But by taking part in one I got my name and image spread all across the world. Threw subtlety right out the window."

Blitzkrieg shrugged. "Subtlety is great and all, but right now having a known face and name will help us get attention drawn to the real enemy. Although, they seem to be doing a good job on that front on their own."

Isaac nodded, his mind flashing back to Bilgewater where he and Altar had clashed. The burning city. Vega…

"… You did fail to protect the summoner assigned to you, did you not?"

… Damn it…

Isaac shook his head. He was thinking too much… he always was.

As he glanced around the lounge, he saw the door open, and he immediately groaned.

Forget speak of the devil… just THINKING of the damn devil and she shall appear….

Isaac turned his head away from the door as quickly as he could, hoping that they wouldn't have seen him.

Not that he could be inconspicuous, his armor made him stand out like a sore them. Even more so when he was sitting next to the only other person in Ionia with the matching suit.

After a few seconds, he heard footsteps behind him, which he continued to hear until they were right behind him.

"Excuse us, Archangel?" He heard Galio's deep voice address him. "May we have a word?"

"You just can't catch a break today, can you?" Isaac heard Mute chuckle in his helmet's earpiece.

Sighing in agreement, Isaac shifted on his stool so that he was facing the speaker. Galio and Sona stood before him, with a noticeably less energetic Shyvana behind them. Only Galio and Sona were facing him, the dragon lady had her shoulder to Isaac, seemingly dejected.

Wow, they must have given her an earful. Isaac wanted to throw fuel on the fire and taunt the dragon-human hybrid, but he knew how that would end.

I'd also look like a complete douchebag…

"Yes…? What do you want?" He asked, noticing that Blitzkrieg either hadn't clued into who he was talking to, or (and more likely) didn't care.

Galio addressed him first, seeing how Sona was a mute and Shyvana was off in her own little world, Isaac kind of expected him to do all the talking.

"I would like to apologize on behalf of my companion for her…" He looked over his shoulder at the she-dragon. "… Poor taste in words." He looked back to Isaac. "Our intent was not to cause such a disturbance that it would jeopardize any potential relationship between us."

Sona nodded in agreement and had an apologetic face. Shyvana on the other hand held one of her arms and threw Isaac a side glance. While it wasn't outright hostility, Isaac caught the dangerous gleam in her eyes. And, of course, her snarl.

…. Yeah, I don't think we have any chance of working together…

Isaac motioned his head to Shyvana. "That snarl on her face doesn't seem sorry at all."

Both Galio and Sona's heads spun around so fast, that Isaac was certain he was going to hear neck muscles popping. Shyvana's eyes went slightly wide as she glanced from one of her companions to the other, and then she promptly looked away from them both. The she-dragon gave a huff and Isaac could almost see the energy drain from her body.

With her shoulders slumped, Shyvana turned around and walked out of the lounge, waving her companions off with clear iteration as both of them followed her out with their eyes.

After the cause of the prementioned disturbance left, the remaining Demacian champions returned their attention to Isaac. Galio's stone face appeared even more apologetic and Sona was shaking her head.

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Ok, seriously, what the hell is her problem?" He asked. He could not for the life of him figure out why Shyvana was so hostile towards him, even before they had their fight.

"Shyvana… has difficulties fighting with her inner dragon sometimes." Galio shook his head. "This means her anger can get the better of her, especially when she is in a fight. We were just as surprised as you were when she started to provoke you at lunch, and I believe I share some of the blame for that. I should've intervened before it escalated to the point it did."

"Yeah… ok but… you didn't answer my question."

Galio remained slight for a moment, before turning to Sona as if he was asking for help. The two shared a questioning look and the silence remained.

Isaac felt irritation growing. Oh for fuck sakes, what is SHE going to do you damn magical gargoyle?! She can't talk! I haven't seen her use anything that remotely resembles sign language either!

After a few seconds, Isaac rolled his eyes again and turned around so that he was leaning over the bar counter again with his back turned to the two champions. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Blitzkrieg shake his head.

Waste of my time…

He had to resist the urge to turn around and lose it on the two when he felt a tap on his back. He looked over his shoulder, doing his best not to let his irritation show. "… What?"

"Forgive me, but I am perhaps not the best suited to explaining things to you." Galio shook his head. "Would you come sit with us, so that Sona can speak with you properly without having to stand here?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow in confusion. Wait… speak? I thought they said she was a mute? Isaac glanced at the blue haired woman, who returned his confused look with a determined one and a nod.

"… Ok… how?" Isaac couldn't stop himself from asking. "I thought they said you were a mute?"

Sona responded with a nod, further confusing Isaac. Then, she raised a hand and tapped the side of her head, and pointed at Isaac.

Was that sign language?

"Sona cannot speak with her mouth, this is true." Galio interrupted for him. "She can, however, speak using a form of telepathy. It is how she is able to communicate with Shyvana and myself."

Isaac's eyes drifted slowly from Galio's to Sona's, where she met his look with one of her own. Isaac heard Blitzkrieg shift in his stool .

"Seriously?" The German meta human entered the conversation. "You've been a bloody telepath this whole time?"

Isaac ignored him, instead, focusing on Sona.

"No."

Sona looked at him with a confused look.

"No?" Galio repeated.

"No." Isaac blinked and returned his attention to Galio. "No. No way."

Through his peripherals, Isaac noticed that Sona seemed to deflate, but he paid her no mind.

"I…" Galio paused before shaking his head. "I am sorry. I do not understand. Why do you refuse?"

Isaac's eyes narrowed. "No one goes inside my head. It was bad enough that Soraka did it but the circumstances surrounding that is the only reason I'm not hung up on it."

"We are aware of your adherence towards people reading you mind, but what Sona would be doing would not allow her to read your thoughts."

"What guarantee do I have of that?"

Isaac could see that Sona was starting to look dejected. Part of him felt bad, but another part of him didn't really care. Galio on the other hand, seemed to appear more determined.

"It would be the same form of telepathy that Sona uses to communicate with summoners on the fields of justice. She was unable to read any of their minds, you can ask them to confirm this."

Isaac was about to tell Galio that he was avoiding the League, but he realized that giving the Demacians potential blackmail material on himself would be the equivalent of shooting himself in the foot.

Instead, Isaac turned the conversation on it's end.

"You seem REALLY eager to get Sona into my mind…" Isaac tilted his head to the side, giving Galio an accusing look. "Why is it again that you can't just tell me this information yourself?"

Galio looked to Sona for an answer. Now that Isaac knew Sona's trick, he understood that the two were actually communicating.

"And now that I think about it…" Isaac continued, his accusing look turning into a full-on glare. "If she can't read minds… how have the two of you been communicating this whole time?"

Both Demacians whirled their heads around to look at Isaac. Both suddenly had really good poker faces.

"Are you accusing us of lying to you?!" Galio glared right back at Isaac.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Isaac growled. Now he was pissed. He jumped off the stool and tapped the side of his helmet, his visor sliding over his face. By the time he had closed the gap between him and Galio, and their faces a mere foot apart, his face was once again hidden from the world.

To Galio's credit, he didn't even flinch so much as blink when being face to face with a killer like Isaac.

"Your friend insulted me and my deceased comrade, threw me through a fucking wall, and then turned into a fucking dragon who tried to cook me alive!" Isaac spat at the gargoyle. "Then, you refuse to answer any questions as to WHY she picked a fight with me, you try to get me to open a telepathic link with someone even while aware of how much I'm against the very concept, and on top of all of that, you have the BALLS to get pissed at ME when I CALL YOU OUT ON YOUR BULLSHIT?!" Isaac shouted at the non-human.

Galio responded to Isaac's outburst by glaring right back at him. Isaac could see the iron resolve in his eyes, and Isaac could immediately tell.

Galio, did indeed have balls. And man, did it piss him off!

After an intense stare down that felt like it lasted longer then it did, Galio gave a huff and shook his head.

"I see we've wasted our time here." He sighed and took a step away from Isaac. "Come along Sona, we shall find no cooperation here from these outworlders."

Isaac followed the gargoyle with his eyes as he turned and walked away from him, scowling as he walked the creature head for the exit. After a few seconds, Isaac turned his attention to Sona, who was looking at him with a passive face.

"… What?" Isaac growled.

Sona made no reaction at first, but after a few seconds she shook her head with a sad expression and gave Isaac a bow before turning on her heels and following after her companion.

After they both left the lounge, Isaac shook his head and collected himself. It was then he realized that the entire room was silent, with all eyes on him. It likely didn't help that at some point in time, Isaac had gripped the hilt of one of the bottom swords on his back.

… Oops…

Isaac sighed and loosed up. He sat back down at his stool and unsealed his visor. As he grasped the beer in front of him, he looked at Blitzkrieg, who was looking back at him with a raised eyebrow.

Isaac closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm not doing too good with this gaining allies thing… am I?"

"You'll get it eventually."

"… Still want me leading this op?"

Blitzkrieg scoffed. "And have ME clean up the mess you got us all in? Mission's yours kid. I'm good playing second fiddle."

Isaac could only sigh and down the remainder of his drink.

"Reaaaaaaal smooth back there, Lieutenant!" Mute chuckled, putting extra emphasis on his new rank.

"Shut up Mute…"

It was dawn, the sun rising with all its joy. A perfect orange backdrop behind a skyline.

It was a sign of a new day, and a new day for possibilities.

For Isaac, it was a sign of his coming of age.

"Target just turned left… eta two minutes."

"Beta two-eight-two, statues report."

Isaac tapped the side of his head, pressing a button. "In position." He calmly replied.

"Affirmative, stand by." And the COM went dead.

Isaac adjusted his prone position, getting comfortable so that he would not be distracted at the moment of truth.

As comfortable as he could get lying on the rooftop of an apartment complex with a sniper rifle shouldered.

Isaac double checked his scope's zoom function, as well as making sure he was aiming down the right street. His target would be moving fast, cars tended to do that on freeways.

He had only one shot. He could not afford to miss. Additional shots ran the risk of collateral damage and that was not something his owners could afford.

If he failed, more torture and experiments awaited him. If he didn't prove that he wasn't some kind of defective meta-human here and today, he would be in for a world of pain.

"Eta one minute."

Isaac took a deep breath and peered through the scope, looking down the freeway that was sixty minutes before the morning rush hour. His target would be moving in a four-door car, brand new, and it would be moving just a mile or so over the speed limit. His target liked to speed.

Who was his target? Isaac didn't know. They didn't tell him who he was, only what he would be driving and that it would be tagged so that it would appear on the sniper's scope with a ping.

All he had to do was aim and shoot the driver.

Any sniper could make the shot, if the circumstances were right.

But this was anything but the right circumstances. The circumstances were incredibly difficult. Isaac had a while one third of a second to make the shot between two buildings.

A fast-moving car, on a freeway, one shot, between two buildings in a third of a second.

"Eta ten seconds."

Isaac took aim between two apartment complexes in the distance, granting him sight of a freeway bridge. A ping appeared on his sniper, showing him how far the target was. It zoomed closer and closer to the point of interest. When it was less then one second away, Isaac activated his powers.

The zooming cars on the freeway slowed down, and Isaac could hear his heart beat in his ear. It was something he had gotten used to.

The car's front end poked into his sight. Isaac waited a fraction of a moment until it was just a little farther ahead.

And he squeezed the trigger.

Isaac deactivated his slowing power and the world returned to its normal sense of time. He didn't even bother waiting to see if the bullet would strike home.

He knew it would. He had timed it perfectly.

As if God had heard his thoughts, his COM came alive again.

"Target confirmed hit. Beta two-eight-two has eliminated the target."

Isaac looked away from the sniper's scope and quickly began dissembling the weapon. He put all the pieces into the backpack next to him and threw it over his shoulder.

He rushed for the roof access and climbed down. Once inside the sleepy apartment, he put a baseball cap over his head and finished out the tablet from a smaller satchel on his waist.

He turned the tablet on as he passed some older man. He didn't even spare the man a look, but he could tell the man had eyed him with a disapproving look.

"Damn kids and their technology…" Isaac heard the man mutter, thanks to his enhanced hearing.

Isaac had to refrain himself from smiling. The older man had no idea that the fourteen-year-old he had just passed had just murdered someone from over a kilometer away moments ago.

As he descended the stairs from the multi-story complex, Isaac was fixated on the tablet's screen. Someone had set up a camera at a certain juncture so that Isaac and his superiors could watch the result of his shot.

Setting the feed's playback, Isaac watched as the target's car passed the target point. Sure enough, a second later the car jerked to the side violently and flipped, causing nearby drivers to panic.

The target's car rolled over several times, thanks to the speed it was going, and flew over the bridge's railing.

Perfect. Isaac thought with a grin.

"Sir we have a potential issue." A voice spoke over the COM.

Isaac paused the feedback and pressed a finger to his ear to listen in.

"What is it?" A second voice said over the COM.

"I just received word, the target was not alone in the car."

"… so?"

"So?! So, this may get way more news then we wanted it to!"

"Why? Who was in the car with him? Why should it matter?"

"Sir, it was…"

Static kicked in, drowning out the COM chatter.

Isaac frowned. What was up with that.

Then he was assaulted by a world splitting headache. Isaac dropped the tablet and fell to his knees, screaming. A couple walking past him leapt away from the teenager with shock.

Against all odds, Isaac heard the COM unit crack back to life, and his sister's voice shot out.

"YOU KILLED THEM!"

Isaac's eyes bolted open. He scanned the room for a moment before letting out a lengthy exhale. He was in his room at the Blooming Lotus, and it was late into the night.

Another nightmare…. He sighed. Who would've thought.

He should have noticed it was a nightmare… really. The entire thing, the assassination he carried out at the age of fourteen… it was his first op.

And he remembered it perfectly. The COM did NOT burst in to static at the end.

… I don't want to think about it…

"Isaac?" Mute's avatar appeared over his helmet, which was resting on the nightstand next to him.

Isaac waved his AI companion off. "Another one, don't worry about it." He said and rolled over onto his side.

He heard Mute sigh. "If you say so." And the light emitting from her avatar vanished along with her.

Isaac closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep again… something that remained his most mentally tiring task of all time.

Demacia

Fiora sighed and placed a bookmark to the page of the book she was reading. She closed the book and set it down on her lap and leaned back into her chair, her gaze shifting from its cover to the window next to her. The moon was at it's highest point and with it the confront of darkness.

As she gazed up at the moon Fiora couldn't help be worried. Recent events, from the worries of people going missing, to the attack on Bilgewater, to the scene at that guard house, it was starting to weigh down on her mind.

She was supposed to be occupied with restoring her house's honor and glory, but with the recent string of terrible events, it was getting more and more difficult to focus on her task.

What do I do? She shook her head. Should she stay focused on her original goal, or should she shift her attention to current events?

The reveal of the Ascension was still shaking the foundations of the upper class of Demacia. At first it was whispers at how they would never come to threaten Demacia and its glory…

Then people started drawing conclusions on the connection between the Ascension and the missing people. As much as the royal family and the military was trying to keep that under the rug, it was only a matter of time before it came to light. So many people outside the city had vanished, it was impossible for people to start asking questions.

And to top it off, there was the slaughter at the guard house…

Now it was all the nobles talked about, Ascension this, Ascension that… ugh!

Fiora couldn't really blame them though, and after seeing the inside of the guardhouse first hand, well… even she could admit it made her feel anxious.

She shook her head and turned away from the window, getting to her feet and leaving the study.

The mansion of House Laurent was massive, although today it was somewhat less occupied. Fiora had her father and his dishonor to thank for that. Still, she had a general staff on hand. Some home guards, maids, and butlers.

She hardly conversed with them though, she was always too busy to spend time with idle talk.

Perhaps I'll practice some, I'm too awake to go to bed.

As she made her way to the practicing room she passed the foyer, where she heard a knock on the door. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the fancy doors at the entrance to her family's mansion. Who could it be at this time?

On instinct, she felt her hand slow make its way to her rapier, when one of the butlers entered the room from upstairs.

"Do not worry yourself madam. I'll let them know you are in bed." He said as he descended the stair case and made his way to the door.

Fiora removed her hand from the hilt of her weapon. "Alright, but be careful, bad things have happened lately."

The butler smiled and lifted up one end of his suit, revealing a knife. "Oh, do not worry madam. I'll make sure they get the hint that they are not welcome."

Fiora nodded to him and went on her way. She climbed the same set of stairs the butler had come down from a moment ago, and left the room.

Perhaps I'm too on edge… She thought as she made her way down the hall. Maybe I should just go to bed…

He thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud bang coming from behind her.

Fiora did a complete 180, eyes narrowing as she stared down the hall behind her, and her hand went to her blade.

That came from…. No! Fiora bolted back down the hall and slammed the door open, re-entering the foyer. She ran to the railing of the second floor and looked down towards the entrance.

Only to see her fears come to life in front of her.

Her butler was lying face down on the floor in a pool of blood, unmoving. Standing over his body was an armored figure of the like Fiora failed to recognize. It was clad head to toe in a navy-blue suit of armor of the like that Fiora had never seen before. The suit looked much lighter then those that Demacian knights outfitted themselves in, but Fiora had a sneaking suspicion that this armor was much more durable.

She noticed the weapon in said armored figure's hands. It looked like a gun, but it was far sleeker then anything she had ever seen come out of hextech.

She also noticed that the armored figure wasn't alone. She counted five of them, the last of which was just entering her mansion and was closing the door behind her. As the door shut, she saw the armored man's head tilt upwards to look at her, a faint blue glow emitting from where the eyes should be.

Fiora drew her blade. "You! Who are you!" She demanded.

The one who was already looking at her took a few steps into the foyer, stepping up to the body of her butler and lazily hosted his rifle over his shoulder, as if he had no intention of using it. The other four trespassers slowly fanned out across the room.

None of them had their weapons aimed at her.

Fiora scowled. "I said, who are you!"

The lead one shrugged. "Oh, don't mind us." He laughed in a rather high pitch voice that betrayed the dark appearance of his armor. "We're just doing…. A house call. We're the new home inspection team, and I must say…" The man nudged the dead body of her butler with an armored boot. "We found that you have too many staff members here for a place this size."

Fiora felt her anger rising. "You MURDERED him in cold blood! He was just a butler."

"An armed butler! When we asked to enter, he refused us with a weapon." The man shrugged again. "So, my mate here showed him what we thought of that."

Fiora examined the men more carefully, and then sucked in her breath when she saw it.

On one of the shoulders of each man was a symbol, she had seen it before.

It was the Ascension.

The Ascension were in her home!

The doors on either side of Fiora slammed open, and a pair of armed guards with the signal of House Laurent present on each guard. They had their weapons drawn and took up positions next to Fiora.

"My lady! Are you hurt?!" One of the guards shouted before he looked down at the five intruders. "Who goes there!?"

"See!" The lead Ascension soldier pointed at Fiora's guards. "That's what I'm talking about. A total violation of home safety standards!"

Fiora ignored him, she leaned her head to the side to speak with her guards, eyes never leading the five men below. "They work for the Ascension, be ready."

Her guard nodded, weapon out and ready. Fiora made ready to leap off the second floor and attack.

The Ascension soldier's leader shook his head. "What? You guys worried about us?" He shrugged. "Lady, I think you've got waaaaay more pressing concerns then us Shock Troopers."

Fiora raised an eyebrow in question. Then the door behind the Ascension soldiers opened and a small girl with a very odd mask walked in.

Fiora felt a pang of realization dawn on her when the newcomer began to sing...

"… A storm is loosed upon the sea…"

Zaun

Zaun, the dark undercity of Piltover.

Even though the sun rarely touched the city, to Ekko, the city was alight.

Running from roof top to roof top, Ekko took in the sight of the city he was proud to be part of. Sure, it had its pitfalls, but Ekko believed that one day, Zaun would be great.

But even a city like Zaun wasn't immune to the workings of the world.

Ekko's mind went back to all the stuff he'd heard recently, ever since shit hit the fan on the surface.

"Have you heard? Bilgewater was attacked!"

"People from Piltover are going missing. Some are blaming us."

"Has anyone from Zaun gone missing?"

"I heard that other cities have got it bad too right now."

"Bilgewater was attacked by some kind of flying ship!"

"No! I heard it was an invading army of angels sent to punish them!"

"No you idiot! They're called the Ascension. They're some kind of aliens."

"I heard they're from the same world as that new League champion is."

"Who?"

"Archangel's his name. Some weirdo hiding behind a mask."

Ekko shook his head. Shit's been going down up top…

He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, trying to beat his old record. Without using the Zero-Drive. That was cheating.

While he did so, he tried to think of what to make of all the weird stuff that had been happening in the world. Sadly, Zaun was pretty disconnected from it all, being under Piltover and all that.

Out of all of the city-states in Valoran, Zaun had the least pull.

He leapt across another gap between rooftops, falling into a roll and kept on running. He actually enjoyed running. Helped him clear his mind every now and then.

"Did you hear? Jinx was seen at Bilgewater too!"

Ekko furrowed his brow. When he had heard that he thought it was bullshit. But he heard it from several people… there were even pictures of it in the news.

Other League champions had mentioned it as well when Ekko had asked in passing.

Even Jinx got herself tied up in that Ascension mess…

Ekko wasn't sure what to think about it all. In all his time down in Zaun's streets, he had never seen anything or heard about the Ascension until recently. Hell, he still had no idea what they looked like, the pictures in the news didn't do them a lot of justice. The only thing he knew about them was that they had advanced technology. Everything else was just a bunch of unreliable rumors.

Everything seemed to center around that guy named Archangel too. When Ekko had first heard that he was also a League champion, he had hoped to meet him on the Fields of Justice. Sadly, that never happened. No one had seen Archangel in awhile.

He apparently had visited Piltover very briefly, but other then that. Nothing.

Ekko scowled at that. Visits Piltover, doesn't bother looking down. I doubt he's any better then those smug assholes up top.

As he leapt over to another rooftop, Ekko came up on a strange rooftop building. As he ran past it, he almost didn't even bother giving it a glance. But when he did on a whim, he casually looked through the window. His mouth dropped when he realized what he saw.

Then he realized that he had also been seen.

The door next to the window slammed open, and several men ran out.

"HEY!" Someone shouted.

"Get him!" Another followed.

Ekko twirled around, completely surprised. Three men were already charging at him, dressed in Zaun fashion, with two more aiming at him with cheap Piltover rifles.

Oh shit!

"NOOOOOOPE!" Ekko shouted and triggered the Zero-Device on instinct.

He saw the world around him shatter and himself get wrenched across time. A split second later, Ekko found himself no longer being attacked by a group of shady individuals. Instead, he was just leaping across the gap towards the building where the sudden and completely random fiasco had taken place.

Having just jumped back in time to before he had been spotted, Ekko creeped up to the small shack that had been built on the rooftop. He snuck up next to the door and peered into the window, to confirm that what he saw last time wasn't some kind of joke.

Sure enough, to Ekko's surprise and shock, he saw the dreaded and completely infamous Evelynn inside. She had her back turned to the window, her body shrouded in shadow. Surrounding her were several men, all of whom were making an effort to keep as far away from her as possible.

Standing directly across from the infamous assassin, were three men in odd suits of armor. Two of them had odd looking helmets on while the third did not, revealing the face of a young man with a very odd tattoo on his check. Unlike the other men in the room, these three didn't seem fazed by Evelynn at all.

Ekko tiled his head to the side as he noticed the tattoo. I've seen that before… where….?

"Did you hear? Bilgewater got attacked!"

Ekko's eyes shot wide open. Oh snap!

As realization dawned on him, he was seen yet again. One of the three armored figures shot a finger out at Ekko and everyone in the room turned around to look at him.

"Nice try!" Ekko leapt back from the window and triggered the Zero-Drive again. The world shattered around him, and Ekko found himself back where he was several seconds ago.

I need to find out what the hell is going on in there! Ekko thought, now suddenly determined. If the Ascension were just as bad as he had heard, and they were in Zaun, he had to know what was happening.

If they can sack Bilgewater on a whim, then they sure as hell can't be good for Zaun! Ekko studied the building from a distance. He had to eavesdrop on that conversation somehow, but… how?

I could crack open the door slightly, but someone would notice. Every time I get by that window they've seen me.

Ekko ran up to the side of the building without a window or door. He studied it more closely, trying to figure out a weakness. He then spotted a small hole in the side of the building, likely a rathole. He pushed his ear up to it and sure enough, he could listen.

Bingo!

"And what would you offer me in return?" He heard Evelynn's evil voice.

"What is it that you want in return?" A male voice asked.

There was a pause, before he heard Evelynn laugh, the very sound of it making Ekko's hair stand on end. "Can you afford it? I'm not sure you outworlders have what I want."

This time, it was the man's turn to laugh. "Please, we did our homework. We know you have no use for money. We can be anywhere we want whenever we want. If you want something, we can get it."

"Hmmm….." Evelynn gave a dark chuckle. "Tempting… but if that's the case, why hire me?"

"Circumstances are keeping us busy." He heard the man give a huff. "Do you accept the job or not, Widowmaker?"

"As long as you can afford my… incredibly expensive price, then we have a deal. Do you have his location or do I need to do that myself?"

"Somewhat. Archangel is in Ionia. Where exactly, we don't know."

Ekko's eyes went wide for the second time tonight. Archangel…? Evelynn is going to assassinate Archangel? Why?

He's part of the League. She can't just do that!

But with how crazy the world's been lately Ekko wasn't even sure that mattered anymore.

"Very well. Consider him mine." He heard Evelynn's footsteps for a moment. "I'll be in touch."

"One more thing. Archangel isn't alone. He has several League champions with him, from Piltover and Demacia. It should also be same to assume that the Ionian champions will be on his side as well."

"I wouldn't worry about them… unless you want me to avoid them?"

"Kill them too if you want, but we only want Archangel. WE won't pay you for the others."

Ekko was starting to get worried… like, really worried, after he heard that.

"Very well… I'll be on my way then."

"You said you would be in touch, how…" There was a gasp. "Where did she go?"

Ekko took that as his cue to leave, but as he pushed himself away from the door, he felt a pair of hands fall on each shoulder.

In a brief moment of panic, Ekko froze. His eyes ventured down to the hands on his shoulders and he saw the sharp pink jagged claws on each shoulder.

"Heh, heh, heh…." He heard Evelynn's laugh in his ear. "Didn't your parents teach you that eavesdropping is bad manners… little Ekko?"

Ekko did his best to not panic. How did Eve get right behind him?!

Ekko focused on what he had just listened to. Could he get more information?

"They didn't live that long!" He growled, very much aware of the danger he was in. He slowly turned his head to look behind him and to his surprise, Eve let him. He was met with Evelynn's red demonic eyes and her sadistic smile that showed off her fangs, inches away from his face. "Why are you going to kill Archangel?"

Evelynn chuckled. "Why do you care? He's not from Zaun… you don't care about anything that isn't from around here. Why the change of heart?"

Ekko looked her face up and down. It didn't matter how many times he saw it… Evelynn scared the shit out of him.

She pretty much scared everyone.

"A care a bit… world's going crazy anyways. So, why?"

Evelynn rolled her eyes. "Like I would tell you…" She snarled. "You're just going to rewind time and get out of this anyways."

Ekko blinked. "How'd you know?"

And he pressed down on the Zero-Drive for a third time.

AN: A little shorter this time but still, 8.5k plus words isn't too bad I guess.

In case you're confused about the part with Ekko, from what I've been able to put together via LOL wiki, Ekko's powers basically allow him to loop back in time, allowing him to do things over and over again until he gets it right. In this case, he accidentally stumbled upon that meeting by mistake the first time, the second time he got caught, and the third time he got caught again but he discovered what it was about so he looped back in time a third time to avoid Eve catching him at all.

If its still confusing, don't worry about it. It was confusing for me to write it too and I had to re-write that last scene at least twice. Time travel sucks for a writer when the time traveler isn't the main character. Also, in the story's original draft Ekko wasn't present at all, but I liked his lore and character too much to NOT want to include him to at least some degree. We likely won't see him much more this act, but Ekko will play a more important role later on.

Next chapter will be posted July 3rd. It will likely be the last of these weekly chapters for the time being. Instead, I will be posting on a bi-weekly schedule for foreseeable future. As much as I would like to remain a weekly updating story, with work and real life, I don't want to make any more promises and deadlines I don't know I can keep. Writing while stressed out does not work well.

Also, still looking for any anyone/info on beta-readers as I posted a few chapters back.