Disclaimer: I do not own League of Legends in any way, shape, or form.

Alright, chapter 2 is here! I'm glad people seem to be liking the characters, the way they're fleshed out is definitely one of my main focuses! We can only get so much personality from them in-game; you can expect a lot of character development in this story!


Chapter 2: This is how we say hello in Zaun

There was the panting noise of someone breathing harshly. Footsteps crashed down against an assortment of trash that lay on the floor as a figure ran through an alleyway. He turned a corner and continued running, his breathing still harsh. After a few seconds, two more figures followed behind him, each of them with a gun of some sort raised.

"Stop right there, you lowly thief!" They began shooting at him, but he managed to evade every bullet before jumping off the wall of a building, creating more distance between them.

I'm the thief, huh…? Is that how things work? I'm simply taking things...and returning them where they belong.


"...how...how, how, how…" Ezreal had his head down as he trailed behind Lux, who giggled a bit.

"Well, it's quite a simple explanation, actually. Trueshot Barrage gathers countless particles of energy to fire a massive bolt, demolishing everything in it's path. Final Spark, on the other hand, materializes particles of light in a single line, then ignites, or sparks, the large line of particles all at once to incinerate everything in a line simultaneously. Basically, Trueshot Barrage has to travel to the opponent; Final Spark doesn't." Ezreal continued moping as Lux laughed.

"Come on, Ez, did you really think that I didn't remember how your signature move works?"

"It's not that...I just...still can't believe I…argh! If I had fired sooner! If my Trueshot Barrage hit you before you finished charging your damn laser, I wouldn't be in this predicament!" Lux narrowed her eyes.

"Ezreal, I don't like the way you're speaking to me." He sighed in defeat.

"I should just accept this, shouldn't I…?" Lux's face brightened.

"That's much better!"

"You're a sadist, you know." Ezreal complained while Lux continued to revel at his lamenting.

"Come on now, Ez! It's not that bad! At least it's a team with me, right?" He sighed.

"I suppose if I was ever to form a team, this is the best case scenario."

"See? Not so bad. Now come on, we're going to the 'form a team' desk in the Institute!" Ezreal sighed as he followed her obediently. They left the Lounge of Legends, finding themselves in a hallway.

"This way!" Lux began skipping in a direction, and again, Ezreal simply followed her obediently. When he paid attention to his surroundings again, they had already arrived at the desk.

"Stop slouching! It looks unprofessional!" Lux scolded as she walked up to the desk.

"Who said I wanted to look professional?" Ezreal grunted, but straightened his back anyways as he walked up right behind her.

"Hello!" Lux greeted the man at the desk. He had flat brown hair that was combed way too well to the side, his eyes were droopy and he wore the plainest pair of glasses Ezreal had ever seen.

"Hello." He returned the greeting boredly. It was the most boring voice Ezreal had ever heard. A nametag on his suit read, 'Celio'.

"Soooo, Celio is it?" Lux said in an upbeat manner.

"Don't act too familiar with me." Celio replied. She laughed as if what he had said was a joke.

"Well, I'd like to form a team!" There was a pause.

"...alright." Celio replied. There was another awkward pause.

"Alright!" Lux echoed. Ezreal scratched the back of his head.

"This clearly isn't getting anywhere." He said from behind her. Lux cast him a look of annoyance before turning back to Celio.

"May we get the form that we need to fill out in order to make our team official?" Celio sighed as he leaned to the side to look behind her.

"Where is your team? Did they send just you two to come talk to the desk?" Lux laughed.

"Oh, no, of course not! The two of us are the only ones on the team!" There was silence.

"S-so far! The only ones on the team so far! You see, we're going to recruit team members once we've formed the team and all, with a fancy team name!" She quickly explained. Celio seemed unimpressed.

"Listen, girl." Lux's eyebrows twitched.

"Girl? Shouldn't you know a champion's name just by the look of their face?" Celio seemed to ignore her.

"You can't form a team with just two people."

"I said there won't be just two people after we've made the team and recruited team members!" Celio sighed.

"You don't seem to understand. You can't form the team before recruiting those team members. Get a full team of 5 or more champions and then come talk to me again." Lux's eyebrow twitched some more.

"Well why not?"

"Because, it's the rules, girl." Lux was about to blow up at this point from being called girl and Ezreal could see it.

"Hehe, sorry about all this trouble…" Ezreal stepped forward slowly and put his hand on Lux's shoulder, pulling her back a bit. Celio rolled his eyes, not even trying to hide his action, making Lux steam in anger even more. Ezreal cringed.

"Listen, boy." Lux stepped forward, taking Ezreal by surprise.

"I can already sense a headache from what you're about to say so please don't say it." Celio said. With a sigh, he pushed up his glasses.

"If you're so keen on making a team with only two members, you'll have to talk to a certain higher up. His name is Toren." Lux huffed, as if to say 'that's better'.

"Well, where is this Toren so I may speak to him instead?" Celio seemed to smirk a bit.

"He had a project come up in Zaun. Have fun finding him. Heh. Looks like you'll have to wait until he returns." With that, Celio waved them goodbye.

"Well, what'd you want to do now? Quit, perhaps?" Ezreal said as he followed Lux. She whipped around on him.

"No we are not quitting! We are going to Zaun and finding this Toren!" There was a pause.

"We're...going to...Zaun…" The words seemed to take their time to sink into Ezreal as Lux dragged him.

"To the nearest train!" She announced. With a bit of struggling, Ezreal managed to escape her grasp on him.

"Lux! Lux stop, this is insane! Luxanna Crownguard, stop! We can't travel all the way to Zaun for something stupid like this!" Lux pouted.

"Come on Ez! That Celio jerk was flaunting around like he won, thinking he could make me wait. I'll prove him wrong! Besides, I don't want to give you more time and thus more chances to run away."

"I won't! I won't run away! Just, it's insane for us to go all the way to Zaun just for something like this…" Lux huffed.

"Then I'll be insane!"

"Lux!" Ezreal tried reasoning, but she pouted again, and he signed, arms drooping at his sides in defeat.

"Honestly…" Her face lit up in success and she began dragging him once more to the nearest train. After they had walked quite a distance, the figure of Shyvana appeared.

"A train to Zaun, hm." She muttered to herself. She proceeded to walk in the direction Lux and Ezreal had gone.


"Two tickets to Zaun, please!" Lux said, smiling. She received their tickets before she boarded the train, still pulling Ezreal along. Finally, he decided he could walk on his own.

"I still can't believe we're doing this…" He muttered. Lux laughed.

"Well you better start believing it. Now come on!" They walked along the train, peering in box to box, looking for open seats. But each one seemed to be full.

"Wha...this is unbelievable!" Lux exclaimed as they began nearing the back of the train.

"Maybe we should just leave now since there are no seats?" Ezreal suggested hopefully. Lux whipped around at him.

"You never used to give up on things so easily!" She accused. Ezreal shrugged.

"What can I say, it's because I don't want to be doing this."

"Oh nonsense, of course you do! Now come on!" Lux encouraged, walking back further. Ezreal sighed as he followed her.

"Ah! Here, here!" She called to him. The two of them entered a cart. There was one other person sitting in there, and since there was room for two people on either side of the cart, there were three open seats. Lux and Ezreal filed in and sat next to each other, with Ezreal opposite to the other person.

"You don't mind us sitting here, do you?" Ezreal asked. The woman simply shook her head to show that she didn't mind. The three of them sat in silence for a while before Lux slowly leaned forward.

"You're...you're Karma, right?" Karma looked up to make eye contact with Lux.

"Yes. Yes I am."

"You're a champion too." Ezreal recognized. She nodded.

"I also recognize you two. Ezreal and Lux." She indicated with a slight movement of her hand at the ticket Ezreal held.
"What brings the two of you to take a train to Zaun, too?" Ezreal and Lux looked at each other briefly before Lux answered.

"Well, we're trying to form a team. But this stupid guy named Celio won't let us and apparently we need to talk to some higher up and this 'higher up' guy is in Zaun for Gods know what!" Lux's voice had gotten louder and louder until she was shouting and breathing hard at the end of her rant. Karma simply raised an eyebrow.

"I see." She took that pretty well. Ezreal thought to himself as Karma turned to look out the window.

"...wh-what brings you here? You asked what brought us to buy tickets to Zaun, too, so that means you're also headed there, right?" Lux asked after a delay, bringing Karma's attention back to them.

"I'm sponsoring relief programs over in Zaun, specifically for the children on the streets of Zaun. I must go in order to personally help set up the relief programs and get it started. There are a number of volunteers who are willing to head the programs full time; and Janna is also helping me to sponsor it. She's planned to have a very proactive role; I'm simply going for a day to help them get off their feet."

"That's far more important than what we're doing, it's honestly impressive." Ezreal commented. Karma nodded to him in thanks. There was another small silence before Karma chose to break it this time, speaking up once more.

"I'm sorry that I appeared so uninterested in your woes before, I shouldn't have answered so simply. You're forming a team, you said?" Lux laughed nervously, putting her hands up.

"Ahaha, no, no, you don't need to apologize! I was just ranting anyways, I wouldn't call it a woe or anything! But yes, Ez and I are forming a team!" Karma tilted her head slightly.

"But you said they wouldn't let you? Are the magus at the Institute allowed to deny champions the right to form their own team? I know some teams have a magus at the Institute as their 'Team Manager', but it isn't required, is it?" Lux laughed nervously again.

"Well, that's because…" She looked at Ezreal, so he continued on for her with a sigh.

"It's because the team only consists of the two of us." Lux seemed to rub her feet together embarrassedly as there was a silence. Then, Karma erupted into a laughter that Ezreal never would've guessed the silent woman had. Lux also seemed taken aback as she looked at Ezreal.

"I-I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it, do forgive me!" Karma said between laughs. She rubbed at her eye before looking back at them.

"You two certainly are something else, trying to form a team with only two members. I think it shows the resolve you have to being on a team together. I like it." Lux's eyes lit up beside Ezreal, and he also couldn't help but smile at Karma's compliment.

"Yeah?" He said. Karma nodded.

"What's more, you're sticking to what you want to do. You were told you couldn't form a team with only two members, but you're doing everything in your power to make it happen. You said you were impressed with my efforts to aid in the Zaun Relief Programs, but I'm far more impressed with the tenacity I've discovered the two of you to possess. Stay steadfast; I'm sure at the end of your journey, you shall achieve what you seek." Ezreal and Lux both smiled, and Karma returned the smile.

"You have a way with words, you know, Karma. I can see why Janna would want your help in sponsoring relief programs; you're very inspirational." Lux said. Karma gave a light-hearted laugh.

"I wouldn't know about that, rather, I think the two of you fighting for what you want is the inspirational thing here."

"I'm grateful for your kind words! When we begin to recruit our teammates, I hope we have someone like you whose words inspire actions." Ezreal said. Lux's eyes widened as she turned to look at Ezreal, and he turned to meet her eyes, a smile on his face.

"Ezreal…" She muttered. His grin widened as he gave Lux a thumbs up.

"Let's make this team great, shall we, Lux?" Her surprised face slowly turned into a determined one as she returned his grin.

"Yes! Let's!" Karma watched the two of them with a look of sincerity and joy.

"So tell us more about the relief programs in Zaun!" Lux urged, leaning forward enthusiastically. Karma couldn't help but laugh at her energy, and Ezreal smiled. She's adorable when she's all excited like this. His eyes widened at his own thoughts. Wait, did I just call Lux adorable? He began mentally slapping himself as he looked at her. She was leaning her chin on her hands, which were resting on her lap, as she listened intently to Karma, smiling and nodding. Cut it out, Ezreal. You two have been friends for a long time.

Deciding not to dwell on it further, his gaze shifted to Karma, who was sitting up in a straight, tall, noble posture. She moved her hands as she spoke to Lux about the relief programs, putting emphasis on her words. Ezreal couldn't help but smile once again. And this woman. I didn't want to dedicate myself to a team, but she makes it sound like such a great thing, I can't help but feel inspired now. Lux and I were lucky to meet her on our way to form our team. I'm sure this woman will do great things. He sat back, leaning on his seat, as he listened along with Lux to Karma's explanation of the orphanages that would be set up.


The train began slowing to a stop as Lux, Ezreal, and Karma all began to try getting their laughter under control.

"A-and then what?" Lux asked, afraid that the answer would only make her laugh harder. Karma smirked.

"He asked me why I did it." Ezreal also began slowly calming down from his laughter.

"A-and what'd you say?"
"I told him; Karma." Ezreal and Lux both started laughing, and Karma chuckled a bit too, pleased with their reaction.

"I-it seems we've arrived at Zaun!" Ezreal said, calming himself down from his laughing once again. Lux beside him did the same, letting out a loud sigh.

"This was fun." She stated, standing up. Karma and Ezreal did the same, agreeing with her. The three champions filed out of the train and stepped foot into Zaun. Ezreal looked around him with a smile, still feeling inspired by Karma to finish the formation of his and Lux's team.

"So...where do we start looking for this guy?" Ezreal asked. Lux shrugged.

"If you'd like, you could come with me to the relief program's headquarters here in Zaun. I'll be connected to some higher ups; one of them may know where to find your man." Karma suggested. Ezreal and Lux's eyes lit up. By now, they had already begun to see Karma as a godsend.

"Let's go!" Lux shouted, running ahead, then quickly stopping to run back to them.

"Wait, I don't know where to go! Karma, you lead!" Karma and Ezreal chuckled to each other at Lux's antics before Karma began walking and the two of them followed. They didn't get very far before there was a nearby explosion.

"What?" Ezreal said, turning his head to where the noise came from. Karma and Lux did the same. They saw a shadowed figure burst out of a store, knocking crates over as he did so. Two men with guns raised followed him, and behind them was the storekeeper, who shouted vulgar insults at them.

"What's going on?" Ezreal said as he began moving in that direction.

"Ezreal, wait!" Lux shouted, going after him. Karma blinked in confusion, but followed.


"Heh, if you think you'll catch me, you've clearly been in training too long! Who taught you to shoot a gun anyways? I don't use guns, but I bet even I would've hit my target by now!" The pursuers gave grunts of annoyance as they continued shooting.

"Mad now, are ya? That's okay, keep shooting at this lowly thief! I assure you, you'll run outta bullets before I run outta gas! Haha!" He jumped over some trash when suddenly, a zapping bullet hit his left leg.

"Ah!" He yelled out in surprise as he fell on his landing. "Ouch…" He murmured as the pursuers stopped quite a distance away, pointing their guns at him. He looked up to see them aiming at him.

"You've been caught. Surrender yourself this instant, thief." He rubbed his nose, still smirking.

"And what if I don't?" One of his pursuers stepped forward angrily.

"I've had it with him. I'll take your provoking as a refusal to cooperate. I'll apprehend the criminal now." He pulled the trigger of his gun.

"Wait!" A golden, almost white bolt flew through the air and collided with the bullet, making a very small explosion and a large noise. A crowd had already gathered nearby as Ezreal arcane shifted right in front of the 'criminal'. The man who shot cursed.

"Hey blondie! What do you think you're doing? That's a criminal you're defending!" Ezreal looked behind him at the boy, who gave him a confused look, before turning back around to look at what he assumed to be the Zaun police officials.

"Look, you can't just go around shooting people to death! You're officers; your job isn't to kill criminals, it's to kill crime. There's a difference."

"Ezreal!" Lux ran over to him. She took note of the situation and stood right behind Ezreal's shoulder, her hand clutched over her chest.

"What do you think you know about being an officer, eh, blondie?!" The officer roared. Ezreal stood his ground, his gaze strong.

"I'm good friends with the most successful sheriff in all of Valoran. I know how a good officer goes about their business." The officer with his gun raised began cursing.

"Tch, this situation just keeps pissing me off! We'll think of an excuse for the situation later! Right now, I'm going to handle the case and apprehend all three of these pests!" He shouted, raising his gun more.

"Stop this. Put your gun down. No more violence." Karma's voice rang out suddenly as she calmly stepped in front of Ezreal.

"Karma?" Ezreal said slowly. She flashed him a confident look before returning her gaze to the two officers. The officer who hadn't shot turned to the officer who was ready to shoot at all four of them.

"That's Karma. She's an important figure right now for Zaun and the relief corps; you can't shoot at her." The officer with his gun raised began shaking angrily before he lowered his arms.

"Fine. I won't shoot you down just because you're some important person. Just hand over the criminal. Surely someone like you can't be caught protecting a criminal, right?" He grinned in victory but Karma simply looked behind her.

"As far as I can see, sir, there is no criminal." Everyone's eyes widened, and Ezreal turned to see that the 'criminal' had indeed fled the scene. The officers cursed before they turned away.

"Come on, let's report the situation back." They began walking away. Ezreal's eyes were focused behind him, looking around.

"Huh?" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the 'criminal' sneaking past a nearby building. Eyes narrowing in determination, Ezreal quickly arcane shifted, leaving Lux blinking.

"Where'd he go? Argh, that stupid Ezreal!"


Ezreal stopped running, panting slightly, as he found himself approaching some form of makeshift shelter. Quickly catching his breath, he walked towards the entrance and peered in to see numerous kids of different ages all sitting around.

"Ekko's back!" One of them exclaimed. They began standing up as Ezreal saw Ekko taking some of them by the hand and raising some of them into the air. He smiled and chuckled as they tugged at his arms and clothing playfully.

"Hey, Ekko, did you find them? Did you, did you?"

"Yeah, tell us Ekko! Did you kick some officer butt while at it?" Ekko rubbed the back of his head as he was barraged with questions.

"Well uh...I...didn't get them." The noise began dying down in disappointment, so Ekko quickly spoke up again. "But I will! I will! I promise! I'll go back and get them! I'll sneak back in tomorrow morning, just at the break of dawn." Ekko squatted until he was the same height as the kids in the room. They all leaned in, listening to his description of things imaginatively.

"And then, when they're aaaaaall asleep...BAM!" Ekko yelled suddenly, and all the kids jumped up, running all over the place screaming and laughing. Ekko smiled at their reaction. Ezreal also smiled at the scene, and decided to make his presence known. He was curious as to what was going on. Slowly, he rose his fist before knocking against the cold, hard wall of the makeshift shelter.

"Hey." He said. All the noise died down as every pair of eyes turned to him. Ekko didn't hesitate for a second as he whipped out what seemed to be some sort of green, blunt sword.

"Woah! Relax, I-" Ezreal was cut off as Ekko shot forward, swinging. Ezreal was forced to arcane shift to another part of the room, and all the kids began backing up into a corner behind Ekko.

"Stop! What're you doing? Is this how you say hello in Zaun or something?" Ezreal yelled, putting his hands up. Ekko's eyes only got more aggressive as his grip on his weapon tightened.

"Get out. Now." Ezreal gave him a confused look.

"What? Why? I helped you earlier, I saved you earlier, you know." Ekko's glare full of hatred only burned more as he got in a stance.

"I said, get out. Now. You filthy Pilty." Ezreal's eyes widened.

"'Pilty'..." He repeated, but he still made no move to leave. Ekko gave a small sigh as he looked back at the children behind him. He muttered an apology to them before turning back to glare at Ezreal.

"Fine." He said "You want to know how we say hello in Zaun?"

"Tch." Ezreal grit his teeth, quickly getting in a stance. In the blink of an eye, Ekko disappeared, causing Ezreal's eyes to widen in surprise.

"What?" He exclaimed, looking all around him. Ekko suddenly appeared behind him.

"This is how we say hello in Zaun!" Ekko yelled, his blunt sword slamming into Ezreal's back.

"Ah!" Ezreal was sent flying across the room, and immediately all the kids ran to some other corner. Ezreal slowly began using his arms to help himself sit up, gasping for air.

"Awww, come on, I only hit you once! Don't tell me this is all a Pilty's got!" Ekko said, his face taunting. He jumped from one foot to the other foot, waiting for Ezreal to get up. Ezreal glared at him, coughing up saliva before managing to stand.

"Look, I don't want to fight you! I-" Ezreal didn't get to finish speaking as Ekko lunged for him again. Letting out a loud sigh of frustration, Ezreal's bow materialized from his gauntlet before he began shooting bolts and arrows at Ekko.

"Hah!" Ekko cried out as he hit the bolts away with his blunt sword, closing the distance between them. Ezreal waited until the last second before he arcane shifted behind Ekko, shooting him.

"Ah!" Ekko yelled as an explosion hit him against the wall. Ezreal then leaped backwards, putting more distance between him and Ekko before shooting some more. Ekko ran out of the explosion angrily, ducking and weaving past the energy bolts. His blunt sword dragged against the ground, making sparks as he ran straight for Ezreal.

Ezreal narrowed his eyes, standing his ground and aiming his bow with one eye shut, trying to get the right angle.

"Got it." Ezreal said to himself as a bolt materialized in the center of his bow.

"Hah!" Ekko yelled, leaping up into the air with his hands raised over his head, ready to swing his blunt sword down on Ezreal.

"Yah!" Ezreal's arms flew up, pointing his bow at Ezreal as his hands pulled back.

"LA THREYA NON VI!" A voice boomed out of nowhere. Ezreal and Ekko immediately backed up from each other as a blast of green fire in the form of two dragon heads came in between them, leaving green flames burning in it's wake to keep them split up.

"What the?" They both said. Ezreal turned to where the blast of fire had come from to see Karma at the entrance of the shelter with Lux behind her. Green energy slowly faded from Karma's hands, showing that she had been the attacker. Slowly, she took more steps into the shelter with Lux following, surveying the area. The green fire was still raging on between Ezreal and Ekko, lighting up everyone and everything in the room with a neon green illumination.

"Stop this at once." Karma commanded.

"Karma…" Ezreal muttered. However, before he could say more, Ekko stomped his foot forward.

"Put it out! Put that fire out right now! You're scaring them!" Karma's gaze fell upon the children cowering in a corner. She then shifted to looking at Ezreal and Ekko before her arm outstretched towards the flames, making them die out. The area the burst of flames had hit was completely unscathed, making Ezreal stare hard at the floor in front of him in confusion. He had expected burns everywhere.

"Spirit Fire." Karma explained. "I had no intention of hurting anyone or anything." Lux took this moment to run forward.

"Ezreal you idiot!" She scolded, grabbing a hold of his ear.

"Ow, god, ouch! Lux, stop that!" Ezreal begged, swatting at her hand to no avail. She scolded him some more before letting go.

"Are we more calm now? We can settle this the diplomatic way." Karma said. Ezreal's gaze fell on Ekko, who was standing in front of the children, looking at all of them with distrust and distaste. Ezreal stepped forward, making Ekko's stance in front of the kids become even more defensive.

"Relax, I won't try anything unless you come at me first, like before." Ekko grunted. Ezreal looked back at Lux and Karma before turning back to Ekko.

"We're all champions of the League here. You can trust us."

"Frankly I'd prefer not to trust any of you, thank you very much." Ekko said. Ezreal seemed to contemplate his words for a bit before speaking up again.

"What happened earlier? Why were they chasing you?" Ekko opened his mouth to speak, but one of the kids answered instead.

"Ekko was just getting our stuff back! Those mean officers bullied us and took them from us! Ekko was just taking it back! S-so, don't hurt Ekko!"

"Shh, be quiet!" Ekko hushed the child before turning back to Ezreal. "What happened earlier is none of your business, so you can get out now. You aren't your friend, you aren't the Sheriff. So you can stop poking your nose into this situation now." Ezreal rolled his eyes.

"I heard you earlier. You didn't get whatever you were trying to get, did you? Here, I'll help-" Ezreal was cut off as Ekko slammed his blunt sword onto the floor.

"I'm not looking for the help of some Pilty. Now," The blunt sword began glowing neon green. Everybody's eyes widened as an hourglass Ekko wore on his back began to resonate light as well.

"I will say this one. Last. Time. Get out of here...before I make you."


Preview

Chapter 3: The Boy who Shattered Time

Ekko panted hard as he struggled to get to his feet. 'I have to stand up...' he thought, gritting his teeth together as his legs shook. 'I have to keep going...' There was a loud noise as countless guns went off. Ekko's eyes widened as a rain of bullets soared over him. The hourglass on his back began to illuminate as time slowed down; but the hundreds of bullets were still coming towards Ekko. 'Think...think...!' However, even with time slowed down, Ekko was out of luck. Out of time. There were too many bullets for him to possibly dodge given the state his body was in.

"Guh!" Ekko yelled as he fell to one knee, looking up at the bullets that were beginning to regain their speed as he lost power. The result was inevitable.

'Is this how I...go out?'


Hehe, I hope you like that little teaser I left for chapter 3! I'll have it out ASAP, I really enjoy writing this story and I hope you enjoy reading it! Please feel free to leave a review, or if not, just make sure to keep reading! You don't want to miss all the action that will be coming up! Stay tuned for Team Ezreal: The Legends Rising, Chapter 3: The Boy who Shattered Time!