Part 1- A Hidden Evil
Chapter 1 – Piltover, City of Progress
"I presume the extraction went well, General?" Exavier asked, stepping off the craft to peer around them.
"Better than I expected it to, at least," the General replied gruffly.
"And you got the precious cargo?"
"That would be correct."
"You know, you're five minutes late," Exavier said, tapping a sequence into the console on his arm. The bay doors to the craft opened.
"Rivel has never been too concerned with time anyway. Are we running hot?"
"Five minutes ago, those engines were steaming, but yes, they're still hot," Exavier replied coolly.
"Just get us in the air and give me an ETA to Piltover."
Exavier's sense of humor was never lost on the General, but duty was his foremost priority at the moment. Stepping into the exterior of the large gunship Exavier proudly named the Phoenix, Losfar set Lux and Aiden down on two of the benches lining the sides. There was very little cargo on the ship, as Exavier wasn't making any trade runs or shipments. Losfar quickly strapped them down and made his way to the cockpit. Doors on either side of the single hallway led to the other areas of the ship, including a lavatory and quarters for sleeping.
Arriving in the spacious cockpit, Losfar could tell that the ship was already powered on.
"All systems are a go, General. ETA is half an hour. Strap in, 'cause I doubt this will be a smooth ride!" Exavier reported, his visor and helmet down.
"Good. Let's hope Rivel is done with whatever he's been cooking when we get there," Losfar said, taking the co-pilot's seat.
. . .
Lyle sprinted across the pavement, his breathing already ragged.
"Stop running, punk! No way are you getting away now!" a very familiar voice yelled from not far behind him.
"Yeah I *huff* am Vi! I'm from a different *huff* continent, remember?" he yelled back.
"Cupcake's got you in her sights!"
"*huff* I don't doubt it!"
At first, it had been strange when Lyle had found himself in this strange land. He was wrenched from his own kingdom, and for that matter, continent. A summoning spell gone awry pulled his being to the continent of Valoran. Luckily, most people spoke English, Lyle's native language. Unluckily, no one knew which continent he originated from, and nothing he could tell them would help. However, it was part of his training to be able to adapt to any environment, and he did just that.
He first made his living by wandering around to small towns and helping with what he could there. It was in these towns that Lyle learned of other, larger towns and the city-states that dotted Valoran. It took him a week of travel, but he finally made it to the City of Progress, Piltover. Three months after arriving, he was left with his current situation: running from the Sheriff and the Enforcer. And the situation was quickly going from bad to worse.
It deescalated quickly once he got cornered by the duo in a side street. Some fancy wall-climbing had saved him, but by the time he reached the top, Vi was halfway to him and Caitlyn had positioned herself to watch the rooftop.
It had seemed as though his time was up, but some more fancy footwork allowed him to successfully move across the rooftop and into the neighboring alleyway. This time, he truly was done for. The wall of the opposing building loomed in front of him, stark and featureless as opposed to the rest of that particular neighborhood. He stopped dead in his tracks, turning around and bending over to rest.
"So it looks *huff* like you got me after *huff* all," he admitted to a very smug Enforcer.
"Told you we would," Vi replied, not sounding the least bit tired.
Lyle whistled aloud, straightening himself and looking Vi directly in her eyes.
"When do you think they'll be getting back?"
. . .
The skyline zoomed past at blurring speeds. Even Losfar was impressed with how fast the craft was going.
"What's our ETA now?" he asked briskly.
"Around another two minutes or so. We have a little bit of a problem, though," Exavier said the last part as if he wasn't the least bit worried.
"Which would be?"
"Well," he said, swiveling to face Losfar, "the Phoenix's computers are picking up two signals that have been tailing us for at least the last fifteen minutes. They're quite a ways away from us, but somehow they've got a lock on our position."
"Don't we have any weapons on this ship?"
"Yes, but our current munitions supply is low."
"How low, exactly?"
"Uhh," Exavier mumbled, "one shot left."
"WHAT?!" Losfar practically exploded. The General did not like to be told bad news.
"I have one suggestion though. There's one sharpshooter in Piltover that could snipe the both of our trailers before they ever discovered our location."
. . .
Lyle had his head bowed as he was led to the waiting police cruiser. Neither he nor Vi noticed the large craft zoom overhead until the sound caught up to them. Both stopped mid-stride and turned to look at each other.
"Took them long enough," Lyle said, grinning.
. . .
Caitlyn had taken up a post on the roof to look for any nearby signs of danger. When she saw the supersonic aircraft zip overhead, she was relieved and overjoyed at the same time. Maybe with Exavier and the General back, the crime rates would diminish again. They had been gone for over a week. The one day that she and Vi had off, they were practicing techniques with Lyle. While Lyle was a good cop, he was too blunt and rushed headfirst into danger. In many ways, he resembled Vi.
As she stood up to adjust one of her scopes, an unearthly howl emanated from somewhere close. She whipped her gun into a ready position, scanning the nearby rooftops for the source of it. It sounded corrupted and hellish, and made Caitlyn shiver. Had another Zaunite experiment escaped and came to Piltover? Was someone experimenting with chemicals, and created a monster? The very ideas frightened her, but she needed to know what had howled. If she could only do that, it would be easier to hunt and capture or kill whatever it was.
Caitlyn's scope came to rest on a pile of shadow that was moving steadily across the rooftops about three buildings away. Her finger tightened on the trigger, but when she blinked, the mass of shadow had drawn much closer and moved to a different spot. It was closing in at two rooftops, and something about it emanated darkness and fear. The feeling was certainly taking its toll on Cait's psyche; she could see writhing masses constantly moving throughout the inky blackness, whispering to her.
Give up. My master will destroy you.
Her rifle nearly fell from her grasp. The voice was darkness itself, invading her thoughts with nothing but the urge to run away and hide. Something told her that the creature, whatever it was, would find her.
Give up. Your life is meaningless. Give up.
Caitlyn fell back, dropping her rifle and clutching her head. Every syllable caused a pain to echo in her skull that resembled having multiple needles forcefully shoved inside of her head. The mass of shadow was now only one rooftop away and now moved at a much faster pace. A voice called out from somewhere, but the chorus of voices in her head blocked it out.
My master will have his dominion of this world. You will be one of the first to feed his conquest.
Her vision swam as he head lolled backwards and her body followed, knocking herself unconscious.
. . .
Exavier swore to himself, pushing himself to run even faster. The high speed drop out of the Phoenix had gone according to plan, but he himself had landed more than twenty feet off of his mark. He wouldn't have had to make the jump if the two targets that his ship's computer picked up hadn't suddenly been so close. Even going as fast as they were, the howl pierced the inside of the cockpit and made Exavier shiver. A fraction of a second went by before he noticed that one of the trailers was closing in on Caitlyn's position.
His decision to make the jump was instantaneous. Losfar had seized control of the ship without a word. He knew of Exavier's devotion to Cait. The impact of the fall had jarred him slightly, but his body pumped with adrenaline. His visor down, he had begun to sprint and leap across the rooftops, drawing ever closer to Caitlyn. Exavier tried calling out to her, but she hadn't heard him. Drawing to a stop at the third rooftop from Caitlyn, he unhooked his sniper rifle from its back holster and brought its sights to bear on the shadow beast.
It was standing only feet away from her limp form, but for once Exavier had a clear shot. Quickly pressing a button on the side of the scope, he engaged its X-ray capabilities.
"What the-?!" was his proclamation. No organs or skeletal structures of any kind were appearing on the scope, even though his aim was spot-on.
Nonetheless, Exavier switched back to his regular scope and focused in on what appeared to be the beast's head. A resounding crack emanated through the air as he squeezed the trigger.
. . .
Losfar had no trouble in guiding the craft towards the warehouse that had been dubbed their official base of operations. Guiding his hands over the console, Losfar reduced the Phoenix's speed to a fraction of what it had been. Despite all of the risk associated with the jump that Exavier decided to attempt, the General had let him go. Each of the men had their own priorities to deal with, and it was decidedly easier to just allow them each to accomplish said priorities. Besides, Exavier was more than capable of handling whatever beast that had followed them from the Institute.
Losfar flipped a few choice switches on the console, locating the correct warehouse immediately after its roof began to fold in on itself. He skillfully guided the craft over the expanding entryway, bringing it to a hover while he waited patiently for the bay doors to fully open. As the mechanical grinding sound ceased, he proceeded to activate the Phoenix's autopilot systems. Almost immediately the craft began to descend into the black interior of the warehouse.
The General allowed himself a moment of silence before standing up, his back cracking audibly. A loud groan emanated from the old man as he stretched. It seemed that his age was finally catching up with him. Pushing these thoughts from his head, Losfar turned and began the trek to the cargo bay. When he was only about eight feet away from the sliding door, a loud clang and the absence of the engine's constant thrum informed him that the landing process had ended.
Palming the door's command console, Losfar reminded himself that only a short amount of time remained before he'd have Aiden under Rivel's care. As he entered the cargo bay, lights blinked to life on either wall. The girl was still soundly asleep, it seemed, while Aiden had the slump of one recovering from a bad hangover. He wasted no time in undoing the straps that kept them stationary and again hoisting them over his shoulders. Lux stirred slightly before settling down again.
A high-pitched whir signaled the clamps releasing their hold on the cargo bay doors and allowing them to fall open. Losfar made his way slowly down the ramp, careful not to jostle his two passengers around. A soft hiss followed by a series of clicks echoed from nearby.
"So you made it back, eh General?" a raspy, soft voice said from the shadows.
"No time for pleasantries, Rivel. Aiden's condition is critical," the General replied without hesitation.
"Always business with you…at least you don't have Sypher's personality. You do realize I've been in this lab alone with him for over three days?"
"I'll have you know that I'm excellent company. You just prefer to skulk and play with your precious blood samples," a slightly pouty voice declared from above.
Both men angled their heads to peer at the needlessly well-dressed figure sitting absentmindedly on the top of a stack of crates. Rivel simply sighed, stepping further into the light and re-adjusting his respirator.
"I was wondering when you'd show up to annoy me further."
"Hasn't it been the same for you the last three days?"
"Can't say it hasn't been."
"Well then why-?"
"Both of you shut up! Aiden's condition is critical, and I don't know what long-term effects this Hemo-Virus will have on his body!" Losfar exploded at them.
A silence stretched out between them. True, the General was clearly the superior force in the group and had no problem reminding each of them that fact by getting in their faces, but he had never, never, lost his cool. Even when situations looked grim, it was the General that kept a level head and his wits about him.
"Aiden's been infected with a Hemo-Virus?" Rivel asked hesitantly.
"Yes, and you two need to expulse it from him before something long-term happens!"
"To be fair, General," Sypher piped in, jumping from above to land on his feet, "Rivel can simply suck out the infected blood samples and just temporarily increase Aiden's blood production."
"Then let's get it on already! We can assess the damage after Aiden's been cured."
"Just set him down and have him facing me. This should take a relatively short time, so don't fret. Aiden will be unharmed, I promise you."
. . .
The darkness of his mind was all-consuming. Aiden had wandered for hours in the confines of himself, but found seldom but a few floating memories. It was strange, to say the least. What wasn't surprising was that many of the memories were related to Lux in some way. What was surprising was the almost constant and unintelligible whispering that had nagged him from the beginning of his unconsciousness. If he focused, some of it began to form vague words, but it was hard to tell what exactly was being said.
Aiden was in the middle of peering into a nearby floating memory when molten pain arched through his consciousness. The feeling was intense, almost as if he had tried to swim through a river of lava, and each passing second only served to worsen the feeling. Several seconds passed before he was hit with an entirely new sensation. A cold feeling spread slowly throughout his body, soothing his nerves and calming his mind. Then a thought occurred to him.
If he could feel…
Then he was clearly aware of his own body…
Meaning that he wasn't unconscious anymore.