Today is the day. Today is THE day.
Today is the big day and Ziggs was so excited he could barely sleep.
Today is his day.
Waking up an hour earlier than the alarm clock, the hyped yordle decided to start the day. After taking a quick shower and donning his bomber suit, Ziggs ate whatever was left in the fridge and chugged it all down with a ludicrous amounts of coffee.
"YEAH! Just try to stop me now!"
Throwing the cup into the sink, Ziggs went to the living room. With a sad sigh he scanned the flat from which he's going to move out soon. It was pretty small, but Ziggs managed to find space to store all his bombs and other work related junk and still have some room for other activities.
Ziggs walked up to the drawing board that took up most of the wall and erased the remaining schematics of some unfinished projects.
"No point in leaving these. I wonder how those ice bombs are doin'."
The dean started to put away the remainder of his personal belongings into the empty boxes. When he was done putting away all the small hexplosives and sealing the box, Ziggs came up to what he calls the 'Inspiration Board'. The board was filled with photos, the very first being of Ziggs as a small runt, holding a self made fire cracker and smiling as if he won the lottery. Many other pictures were of him holding some of his various inventions up until the present day. Of course not all the pictures were of him - there were his mom and dad, friends from Bandle, Heimer and other well known inventors. This board was for times when Ziggs felt home sick or depressed. He would look at it, see from where he started and where he is now, all his friends that helped along the way - all of his depressive thoughts went away in no time.
Ziggs' eyes stopped on one particular photo that brought back so many good memories. It was a photo of him, Rumble, Tristana, Teemo, and Poppy - all smiling in triumph and holding a big trophy. It was during the annual 'Build, Search, Race' event in Bandle. They all participated in it because their group was slowly drifting apart due to all the duties they had. Teemo and Tristana were almost always in the League that officially started, if not they had loads of other work back at the military. Poppy had to take over her father's blacksmithing business because of his tragic death. Rumble finally opened his garage so he always had something to fix or build for yordles. Ziggs was busy creating as much hexplosives as possible and getting ready to send some applications to the Yordle Academy.
The event was sort of a 'get together', and wow did it work. As soon as they met up it's as if they never stopped hanging out. They were bantering and joking like before while building the machine they were going to race with. Rumble with Ziggs' and Tristanas help, built a fully functional quad bike made out of junk in about four hours, meanwhile Teemo and Poppy were decrypting all the clues and drawing up a map with all the locations.
As soon as they all got on the sturdy quad bike, the race was pretty much won. Finding all the hidden trinkets and leaving all the opponents in the dust, the five friends tore down the competition with ease while having a blast like they used to. After the event they all promised to hang out more often, but...
With a sigh Ziggs turned to check the clock. Even though it was still early he decided to head to the Academy. Putting on the helmet and adjusting the goggles, he went out of the flat, locking the door behind him.
It was a bright and sunny morning with no visible clouds on the horizon, meaning that it will most likely be scorching hot later on. Ziggs walked through the parking lot to get to the bus stop faster, occasionally checking out some of the vehicles. The dean stopped in his tracks when he noticed a familiar custom built police cruiser.
"No way. What's she's doin' here?"
Running up closer to the vehicle he noticed Matilda, leaning on the car, arms crossed and looking at the passing traffic. Ziggs was surprised, but still overjoyed seeing her here. Still, there was something off. Firstly - she was wearing a combat ready uniform complete with a bullet proof vest, heavy boots, camo suit a knee protectors. Ziggs had seen that kind of uniform a couple of times on the elite squads that handled some serious situations. Secondly - the usual calm and stern look was absent, instead she looked - sad?
Matilda didn't even see Ziggs who was slowly coming closer to her. Her vision was fixed on a pack of crows that were sitting on a nearby lamppost. Glaring at the birds she extended her arm and aimed. Mimicking a gun with her hand, she 'shot' at the crows, and as if on cue they all flew away.
"Whoa! Nice trick."
Coming to her senses, the woman straightened herself and looked down at the smiling yordle.
"You came earlier than expected."
"First time for everythin'." Smirking, Ziggs examined Matilda one more time, "Ya know, you look much better in this uniform."
It was Matildas' turn to smirk, as she walked up to the driver's seat. "I am glad that you feel that way Ziggs. I cannot stand that business suit attire."
With a snort, the Dean ran up to the other side of the car and jumped on the front seat, waiting for Matilda to get it. "So why ya here? Please don't tell me I messed something up again..."
The woman sat behind the wheel, closing the door. "No need to worry Ziggs. You haven't messed up anything. I am here to drive you to the Academy. After all - it is your big day today. The least I can do is to give you a lift."
Ziggs was surprised at her extra friendly attitude today. Something was up, he just knew it.
Starting the engine, Matilda slowly drove off to the streets. Since it was still early there was virtually no traffic except for the busses. During the drive to the Academy Ziggs didn't say a word which was pretty unusual for him.
Driving through a special entrance that was specifically made for those who worked in the Academy, Matilda parked her car on the parking lot that was located on the other side of the building. Turning off the engine the two looked at the passing scientist who just came to work.
"Well, here we are." The woman finally broke the prolonged silence.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ziggs unbuckled his seat belt and stretched. "Well then what are we waitn' for? Let's go and blows peoples' minds off!"
With a sigh Matilda slowly took off her glasses and looked in Ziggs' direction. "You will have to forgive me Ziggs, but I won't be able to witness your show."
"Aaaawwww c'mon..." The deans ears dropped after hearing that. "What's more important than today's expo and my show?"
Matilda briefly smiled to herself listening to the deans reasons, but quickly got back to her serious persona. "There was a break out at one of the high security jails in Ascension District. So far nobody knows how it happened or who did it, but right now there is a hole in one of the city's jails and some criminals managed to escape."
"W-what? How come I didn't hear about any of that?" The dumbfounded yordle scratched his helmet.
"It was decided that the news about the breakout were kept a secret so that people would not panic and enjoy the expo. If anything happens - the Academy is the safest place to be." Matilda took out some papers and scanned them. "So now majority of the police force are there to capture all the escapees. With officers like Caitlyn and her pink haired lackey, the threat should be minized very soon."
The whole thing puzzled Ziggs. "So yer goin' there to help them out?"
The woman nodded, taking out some more papers and looking them over.
With a sigh, Ziggs scratched behind his ear. "Well that's a bummer, but I can't stop ya when duty calls."
Letting out a low smirk, Matilda handed over a bunch of papers, which Ziggs reluctantly took.
"What are these?"
"As of today, I am no longer your 'watch dog', 'babysitter', or other colorful names you call me."
It was funny seeing Ziggs mouth agape, looking either at the papers or at Matilda with a dumbfounded look on his face. After a long pause the dean lit up with excitement. "AW YEAH! I'm free to do whatever I want again! HaHA!"
Matilda chuckled lightly at the deans reaction.
"I guess it will take me something big to take down if I'd want to see ya again, huh?" Joked Ziggs.
"Why in the world would you want to see me again Ziggs?"
The yordle gave Matilda an honest smile. "Well why not? We're friends aren't we?"
The response left Matilda quite surprised. Ziggs was the first and only person so far to say something like this, even going as far as calling her a friend. Any other would be just glad that the ever serious watch dog is off their backs, and leave with a half hearted 'Goodbye'.
"Yordles are very strange creatures."
Looking at the smiling yordle, Matilda gave a smile of her own and extended her arm. Ziggs getting the hint, extended his own arm and the two locked their hands in a firm handshake.
"Thank you Ziggs. Out of all the people that I watched over, you were... The most interesting. "
"Yer not bad yourself when ya drop the 'Serious Matilda' act from time to time. Heh, ya remind me of a friend."
Letting go their hands, Matilda raised her eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah, she's also always super serious, but in reality she's a very interestin' woman with a big heart, and is a very friendly individual."
Matilda recalled the girl she saw back at the Academy. "Is it the one that came to visit you with two other friends?"
Ziggs lightly shook his head. "No, no. That's Tristana, also a cool gal by the way. The one I was talkin' about is somewhere in Demacia right now. I think..."
The woman gave Ziggs a confused look. "You think?"
The dean quickly waved his hand. "Aah.. Never mind. Anyway, I better get goin'."
Matilda decided to drop the subject as she observed Ziggs gathering the documents. Turning to the woman, Ziggs gave her a cheeky grin. "Alright, since yer not gona see my awesome fireworks, ya better come to the 'after party' after the expo which is gona be up until tomorrow."
Smirking, Matilda started the engine. "No promises, but I will do my best."
It seems it was a good enough answer for Ziggs, since his signature smile was back and he was brimming with energy. "Alright! Go show those baddies who's boss!"
"Only if you will 'blow people away' with your show that you worked on so hard."
"Deal!" Giving her a thumbs up, the dean jumped out of the car and started running towards the entrance, occasionally waving back at Matilda.
The woman slowly waved back and waited until he ran through the doors. Matilda stayed a bit longer, just looking at the passing scientists thinking about her upcoming task. It's not going to be easy, but she was glad that she had some proper work to do. Looking at the Academy one more time, Matilda wished Ziggs good luck and slowly drove off to her destination.
Ziggs ran to the elevator like crazy, saying 'Hi' to anybody he bumped into. Arriving on the third floor, the dean came up to his lab and punched in a ten digit code to open the doors. Getting inside, Ziggs came up to his desk and quickly signed up the papers. His lab was still a complete mess after the earlier explosion, but he didn't really mind it. To him it was an 'organized chaos' with schematics, spare parts, bombs, and tools littered everywhere - everything was visible and in reach.
Putting away the papers, he came up to his locker and took out a customized detonator.
"Oh yeah! Time to get the show on the road!"
Taking the detonator he also grabbed a walkie-talkie, and even a couple of bombs just in case, Ziggs walked straight to the exit. Right as he was about to exit his lab he bumped right into his friend and mentor - Heimerdinger.
"Heimy! What's up?"
The older yordle adjusted his goggles and lightly cleared his throat, making his huge, yellow afro bump up and down in the process. "Ah, Ziggs! Funny running into you. You showed up," Heimer glanced at his wrist watch, "Exceptionally early today!"
Ziggs chuckled and shrugged. "Too excited to sleep."
Heimer stroked his bushy mustache letting out a chuckle of his own. "Mmm, that is indeed a very good reason, yes."
"So is everythin' prepped and ready?"
"The staff is making final preparations as we speak." Replied Heimerdinger looking over some of Ziggs' schematics that were hung up on the wall, but soon turned to Ziggs clasping his hands together. "I am very eager to see your show Dean of Demolition!"
"Pff! I bet it's gona be notn' compared to your super secret project."
Slightly puffing his chest, Heimerdinger confidently stroked his mustache once more. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but my team surely outdid themselves this time. Oh, I can't wait!"
Ziggs haven't seen his mentor this hyped in a long time, and that alone boosted the deans mood even more.
"By the way, Ms. Armstrong already informed me that she will no longer be watching you over - congratulations!" As he finished his sentence, a mechanical arm popped out of Heimers afro and handed him a clip board that he quickly scanned over and crossed some things out.
Ziggs lightly tossed the detonator in the air and caught it. "Thank ya. I can finally do things the way I used to."
Heimer looked away from the clipboard with a concerned look on his face. "But your work efficiency went up to 38.8%! I sincerely hope your chaotic ways of 'making things' will not affect it." Even though Heimerdinger knew what Ziggs is capable of and respected the way he created his hexplosives, sometimes he hoped that the deans' methods were a little less noisy and destructive.
The dean grinned smugly in return. "Heimy, are ya doubting me? My efficiency is gona go up full 100%! Hah! Now come on," The upbeat yordle pushed his mentor out of the lab and towards the elevator, "We gotta prepare for the big show today!"
"Yes. Yes, that is a wise decision, so many things are still needed to be checked. Are all the new prototype weapons are displayed, is the tank on the display already? What about..." Heimerdinger proceeded to mumble endlessly to himself, going on autopilot. As soon as they went into the elevator, Ziggs pressed the button to the twenty eight floor and watched as Heimer went up without even noticing that Ziggs was no longer with him.
Ziggs walked up to the doors that led to the hangar area. The hangar was a separate building that was solely built as testing grounds for all the inventions. Today though, it was the place where the expo will be held.
Ziggs quickly found his podium and started working on his rockets, recalibrating them one more time.
Three hours went by in a blink of an eye and soon the hangar was full of curious people, both young and old; human and yordle - all were here to see the inventions that will shape the future and make it a better place.
The dean was done with all his tasks and was hoping to meet up with Teemo, Tristana, and Bixby before his show, but it will take forever to find them in this crowd. Luckily, the hangar had these nifty catwalks that were hanging over the expo. The scientists could freely walk around without the hassle of going through all the people. Ziggs got up on the catwalk and slowly walked around searching for his friends and at the same time looking at his various colleagues, who were eagerly talking and showing all the new equipment.
The first place that he checked was the section that was showcasing all the new vehicles. Various models were displayed and people could even get inside most of them. The vehicle variety ranged from civilian to military so everybody could find what they liked. Ziggs even spotted a couple of those new police cruisers that he crushed by accident and got himself into heaps of trouble.
"Well, well - so we meet again. I could spit on ya, but hey - I'm not that kind of guy. I'd use an updated version of my Super Mega Inferno Bomb instead, hehe!"
Letting out an evil laugh, Ziggs continued on his trek over the vehicle section now crossing over to the military area. Amidst the advanced military trucks, APC's, and mobile turrets stood a massive tank destroyer. It was still a prototype, but it was fully functional. The mighty H.G.T.D. OX3 Mk.V, or like many scientists dubbed it 'Future Tank' for short, looked nothing like your ordinary armored fighting vehicle with its slick, almost alien design. The tank destroyer was turretless so it had a low silhouette for its size, but on the downside the tank was very wide. Supported by powerful threads on each side, with two separate threads on the front that if need be could also turn like the front wheels of a car to give it more mobility. The heavy cannon that was installed on the behemoth, like Ziggs heard, was some kind of plasma rail gun cannon which supposedly could pierce through any armor there was. To top it all off, the Future Tank had two, high powered jet boosters on its rear. Why you may ask? Because the Future Tank has a second 'Jet Mode' that it can easily switch to. The idea of a flying cannon on threads was bonkers even for Ziggs, but the scientists are hell bent on making the idea a reality. So far the 'Jet Mode' hasn't been tested yet, but thanks to the jet booster the Future Tank could accelerate to incredible speeds, although there was the problem of stopping after that.
After marveling at the H.G.T.D. for some time, Ziggs decided to cut the chase and go to the place where his friends surely were. At least two of them. Ziggs ran past the 'Armor', 'Household Items', 'Defensive Mechanisms', and a couple of other sections finally stopping on the 'Weapons' corner. It took Ziggs all but two minutes to find Tristana and Bixby. They looked like little kids on a Snowdown morning who got all the presents they've ever wanted and didn't know which one to play with first, because they were all awesome.
Eventually Bixby went over to see some of the prototype sniper rifles, while Tristana got lured in by one of Ziggs' colleague to see the experimental 'Viper Cannon.' As the scientist went on about how the weapon works, the keen Megling picked up the heavy gun to study it closer. The Viper cannon looked like a futuristic rifle, with a pale gray coloration. The design was a bit clunky, but it was still a work in progress. The weapon fires a green blast of some sort of corrosive energy which obliterates the target and burns away at the surrounding areas for several minutes. There was also a gimmick where you could press and hold the trigger for a more powerful blast, but for now it's considered too dangerous to try. The scientist was tight lipped about what the actual energy source was, but Ziggs knew that one of the 'ingredients' was the same energy that powered up the Academy. Tristana was eager to shoot something judging by her wicked smile, but to her disappointment the scientist denied her that pleasure.
Ziggs watched as the girl slowly went away from the podium where the Viper Cannon was shown and proceeded to walk past Bixby who was, quite literally, drooling over some of the latest gun models. To the deans surprise, she went to the area where they were showing all sorts of crossbow weapons. Not long after, she snuck up to a certain scout and surprised him with a hug from behind. The two shared a laugh and said something to each other which made Teemo appear slightly flustered. Ziggs leaned on the railing and observed how Tristana proceeded to point at various crossbows and talk about each one, with Teemo nodding and listening with genuine interest.
Ziggs was honestly happy for the two. He didn't know what was going on between them, but the dean was glad to know that at least they still shared a very close bond out of their old group.
Inadvertently Ziggs' thoughts went back to the old days and a certain blue furred mechanic. At some point in their lives, Ziggs and Rumble strived to achieve greatness with their inventions, and even go to the Academy together to perfect their skills there. Sure Rumble had a slight distrust for the humans and a different opinion about Heimerdinger, but he decided to swallow it all down for his 'brothers' sake. Yet that all changed one fateful day when a group of human graduates from the Academy sailed to Bandle to visit the place where their mentor was born and raised. Rumble couldn't resist the temptation to see the humans and went to see them. He only wanted to get a good look at the humans, but a couple of hours and several choice words later, he returned to his garage bruised and bloodied with an earful about how he was an embarrassment to somebody like Heimerdinger. The next morning he left without a word and Ziggs didn't see him for over a month. When he returned he almost didn't recognize his best friend.
Rumble always had a bad temper and anger issues due to his rough childhood, but Ziggs never seen so much fury in Rumbles tired, blood shot eyes. Piloting a menacing, half finished mech, the crazed mechanic boldly marched to the center of Bandle City and after gathering a small crowd of dumbfounded onlookers, proclaimed that he alone will show the world what yordle-tech is really capable of, without hiding behind a foreign banner.
Of course many yordles brushed off Rumble's speech, some even laughed before going back to whatever they were doing. That didn't sit well with the mechanic, but at that moment he was too tired to care and slowly returned to the garage with Ziggs following close behind.
After that day Ziggs did all he could to somehow bring back his brothers good spirit. It took some time, but with the help of Tristana, Poppy, and Teemo - Rumble was back to his old self again. Still, Ziggs noticed that Rumble became less interested in hanging out with everybody and most of the time spent tinkering in his garage. It was during that time their group started slowly drifting apart. Everybody focused on their own goals and work, only seeing each other on rare occasions. After Poppy's sudden departure to Demacia, Rumble became even more closed off and visibly more irritated. Whenever Ziggs tried to talk to him about Poppy, Rumble angrily told him to drop the subject. After Ziggs was accepted to the Academy and was set to leave there, his parents and friends threw him a huge surprise 'Farewell' party, and it was a blast.
Despite having fond memories of the surprise event, in the end it was his and Rumbles final confrontation which made the dean want to forget about that party altogether.
"ZIGGS!"
The dean snapped back to reality, noticing that Teemo and Tristana were long gone. Ziggs grabbed the walkie-talkie that was hanging on his belt and pressed the button to reply.
"Yeah, I'm here! What's up?"
"Oh thank goodness!" It was one of Heimers assistants. "Professor Heimerdinger is about to give his speech so you better get to your post and get ready Ziggs!"
"Oh man, my bad. Kinda lost track of time for a moment. Be right there!" Putting away the walkie-talkie, the energetic yordle ran to the main stage where Heimerdinger is going to give his speech and reveal his secret project.
The stage was close to the Weapons section so Ziggs got there relatively fast. Descending down from the catwalk, Ziggs went behind the stage where lots of scientists were happily chatting with one another. The dean had to do a double take when he saw a couple of well known and highly regarded scientists in the crowd. Amongst them were: Professor Samuel Ravencroft - lead researcher in various new energy sources; highly esteemed Count Von Sabrewulf who specialized in genetic research; even Doctor Gilbert Zan - Piltovers head researcher in robocy, cybernetics, and creator of highly advanced prosthetic limbs. Ziggs was five seconds away from pissing himself out of excitement, but with sheer willpower managed to contain himself.
"Allllrighty, Ok! Calm down. Deep breaths. Deeeeep breaths. Let's not start fanboying my underwear just yet. We cool? We cool. I'm so flippin' cool with that. Yes'sir!"
As Ziggs was trying to calm his racing nerves by doing a random dance, he didn't see an exceptionally happy Heimerdinger, who was rapidly approaching him.
"Ziggs, my boy!" The scientist greeted the distracted dean, who in turn let out a small yelp and turned to his mentor.
"Heimy! Don't sneak up on me like that! I'm already freakin' out here."
The older yordle glanced behind Ziggs and let out a laugh. "Aaah, I see you have noticed my colleagues, yes? I wanted that their appearance was a surprise, but what the heck!" Heimer gleefully laughed and opened his arms with joy, making himself sway a little from side to side. This made Ziggs smile and cross his arms.
"I see ya already had a few with your colleagues, eh?"
Heimer chuckled lightly and made a 'hush' motion with his finger. "Oh my student - one day I will teach you how to appear professional when you are a quite intoxicated."
Stroking his chin, the dean mused. "That... Might actually come in handy one day."
After a prolonged silence, both mentor and his student shared a heartfelt laugh. Wiping away a tear from under his goggles, Heimerdinger straightened himself and looked directly at Ziggs.
"Today is our day Ziggs. You should be proud of yourself and everything you have ever created up until this point. Be it an advanced Super Mega Inferno Bomb or a failed fire cracker." Heimer put his hand on Ziggs' shoulder and, even though it was barely visible behind his bushy mustache, gave the dean a genuine smile. "I am very proud of you Ziggs. Your methods might not always be safe nor sane, but I know that's what makes your inventions so special! I hope that one day your brilliant, yet destructive mind will teach and lead a new generation of young pupils and inspire countless others to join the Academy."
Hearing all that from somebody that he admired since childhood left Ziggs speechless. Try as he might, the dean couldn't keep his emotions under control and, as comically as it sounded, his goggles were soon overflowing with tears. Turning away from his mentor, Ziggs lifted the goggles and wiped away his eyes.
"Heimer... I.. Wow, heh... I mean-Ah.. Oh jeez, ya got me good there."
Heimerdinger retracted his arm and now was just waiting for his student to get his wits together.
Taking a deep breath, Ziggs put back on the goggles and looked back at his mentor with a smile. "I can only say 'Thank you'. For giving me a shot at this even after my, ah 'not so well received' first impression."
Smirking, Heimerdinger opened his mouth to reply only to be interrupted by his assistant. "Gentlemen, gentlemen! It's time, it's time!" Not taking away his eyes from the clipboard, the small yordle hurried away talking into his walkie-talkie, and warning everybody else to get ready.
Lightly patting Ziggs on the back, Heimerdinger hurried to his slightly higher positioned podium and looked through some papers, most probably reciting his speech.
Ziggs only had to walk forward a couple of steps to get to his spot and once there, mentally prepared himself. Minutes later, only few scientists were left standing on the stage and they all waited for the big, red curtain to come apart.
And then it happened.
As the curtains opened, Ziggs was met with bright lights, loud clapping, and happy cheers from the crowd. Ziggs smiled his signature grin and waved back. Thousands, if not more onlookers were present, both young and old - all eager to see the creators of all these marvels.
As the dean was waving and looking around he spotted Bixby standing in the front row almost near the stage, and as soon as Ziggs looked at him the sniper started dramatically waving his arms like an overhyped fangirl. The dean had to look away because the more he looked at it the funnier it got. As he did he spotted Tristana on one of the raised floors, specifically made for yordles who couldn't make it to the front row. The Megling Commando was whistling as loud as she could and occasionally shouting something that Ziggs couldn't make out because of all the noise. Strangely Teemo wasn't with her, Ziggs spotted him on the far right of the crowd. His guess was that the scout went to the bathroom or something and didn't make it back in time. Still, after finding all this friends, Ziggs was twice as happy.
The clapping and cheering slowly died down and Heimerdinger lightly cleared his throat before talking into the microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, yordles and our human friends - we welcome you all today on our 'Future Exposition'!" There was another short round of applause."Now before we begin, I would like to say a few personal words-"
As Heimerdinger carried on with his speech, Ziggs slowly blocked out all the talking as he slipped into his own mind. He couldn't believe after all his hard work he was standing here, amongst all these famous scientists and an adoring crowd that was partially cheering for him. How he wished his mom and dad were here, but due to their tight work schedule they weren't able to make it. His parents reassured that they will watch the live broadcast on TV so at least that's good. He wished that Poppy was here as well, where ever she is. Despite everything said and done, he wished that Rumble was standing here beside him and receiving as much praise for his work as Ziggs. Maybe someday...
Ziggs lightly shook his head to clear his thoughts.
No, today nothing will bum him out.
The Hexplosive Expert was brought back to reality when another row of applause penetrated his thoughts indicating that Heimers speech was over and it was the dean's queue to get into position.
"Time to shine!"
The second Ziggs said that, the part of the floor he was standing on started sliding back. Nearly losing his footing, the confused yordle jumped to the side, off the panel.
"What the-? This ain't right. This is supposed to be after my light show." Ziggs turned to Heimerdinger for some answers, but to his surprise he found his mentor looking as confused as himself.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no...!" The assistant that was informing scientists earlier came in running to the stage. His fur was damp from excessive sweating, and he looked terrified as all hell. Rushing past Ziggs and other scientists, he ran towards Heimerdinger. Before the visibly frustrated Heimer could say anything, the panic stricken assistant whispered. "I don't know what's going on! The team is not answering!"
While the assistant spoke the floor fully opened and now a towering statue completely covered in a white cloth slowly, and due to its weight, with some difficulties rose up to it full intimidating height. Ziggs looked at the behemoth in awe, the thing was almost 20ft tall, not to mention bulky. The crowd cheered and clapped thinking it was all part of the show and waited for the reveal.
"I will have a word with my team later on, but for now it seems we will have a little change of plans." Thanking the assistant, Heimer turned to the crowd. The assistant skittered away still trying to radio the team.
"As you all may know, crime is a huge problem here in Piltover. Our loyal officers do their best to keep criminals at bay, but at times it is not enough. Three years ago we developed small, but efficient drones that greatly helped our officers maintain peace in our wonderful city. But..." Heimer jumped off the podium and slowly walked towards his creation, "...like technology, people evolve. They find ways how to easily defeat or disable the drones, and sometimes threats are so great that the said drones simply cannot handle them!"
Heimer finally came up to the towering statue and looked it over. "Hm... It looked smaller on the diagram and the last time I saw it in person. It must the alcohol playing tricks on my mind." Turning to the crowd once more the scientist continued. "So here, at the Academy we thought it's time for an upgrade! A mech that can be piloted by either human or yordle, which is capable far more than a simple drone, and in good hands it will save countless lives! We present to you -!" Grabbing the white fabric, Heimer yanked it and it gracefully started sliding off the metal construction.
The crowd started clapping in excitement, but as soon as the mechanical creation was fully revealed, the people almost instantly stopped their cheering, replacing it with loud gasps and whispering.
"What... the hell?" Was the only thing Ziggs could muster as he took a couple of steps back in shock.
Before him stood a menacing looking robot. It had a strange, hunchback posture which resembled Malphite, with its misshapen head sticking out forward. Its body was completely covered in thick, faded dark green colored armor of unknown material. Its arms were uneven - the right arm was visibly less armored and looked normal in proportion, and having a clawed hand. An oversized Gatling gun was installed on the arm with what looked like blades tucked neatly under it. The left arm was noticeably bigger and instead of a hand, it had a large spiked battering ram. On the battering ram-hand was a heavy anti-armor quad cannon. Finally the robot had rocket launcher pods on each shoulder, and much bigger - three rockets sitting on its back. The top heavy body was on powerful hydraulics, that made up most of its waist. Like everything else, the legs units were coated in thick armor, with wide feet to support all the heavy mass. One interesting thing about the feet was that there were tires installed instead of heels. The aggressive looking robot loomed over the scientists and struck fear and confusion to the audience.
"S-Sabotage!"
The second Heimerdinger mustered that, the robots optics lit up with a red flash, awakening the beast. Opening its steel jaw and revealing surprisingly razor sharp set if metal 'teeth', it let out an inhuman, metal roar. The metal monstrosity extended both of its arm, aiming its enormous guns at the terrified people, and without wasting any second opened fire.
The next few moments blurred into one horrifying event for Ziggs. He hears loud gunfire, blood curling screams, Heimerdinger shouting to his colleagues to run and take cover meantime typing furiously on the terminal positioned near the podium. The alarm started blaring seconds later indicating that Heimer is planning to call down the drones and turrets to fight the threat.
Ziggs' body refused to act from the shock as he stood and watched in horror how the robot was mowing down people. For a brief moment he swore that amidst all the screams, loud gunfire, alarm, and the sound of empty shells raining down on the floor nearby - he heard how bullets tore through flesh and bone. The shocked dean snapped out of his stupor when a kids head was blown off by the heavy cannon, silencing his mortified screams.
Letting out and enraged yell, the furious yordle grabbed the bombs that he took with him earlier, and started chucking them in blind fury at the robot. The bombs did little to no damage, but at least the metal beast ceased fire and turned to the pest. Gritting his teeth, Ziggs glared into the robots piercing red optics. Breathing heavily, with adrenaline and fury running through the enraged yordle, he clutched his two remaining bombs as hard as he could in anticipation.
Ziggs mind was clouded with rage, and any sane thoughts were thrown out of the window. He could faintly hear Heimerdinger shouting something to him, but he ignored it completely.
After a brief staredown, the robot let out another distorted roar and revved up its weapons, taking aim at the yordle. Yelling back at the machine, Ziggs threw his last bombs at it as it opened fire.
Today was supposed to be his day...