"Time to shred." –Mordekaiser
The Summoner's Rift; the most known and used battlefield in the League of Legends. With a vast landscape and the overall strategic layout, the Rift pitted teams of five champions against each other. Both citizens and summoners alike cheered at the sidelines, looking through large orbs that broadcasted the battles in the Battle Quarters. As the names of the champions and their respective summoners came up, people roared, giddy with the notion that all-stars are contesting among each other.
The champions' summoners were brought into two empty rooms, one for each team. This allowed the summoners to make plans amongst themselves.
Clementine took a deep breath as she gazed into her orb of vision. She would do her best and not let her personality get in both her and Mordekaiser's way. The girl wanted, at the very least, an acceptably successful game. Mordekaiser needed to trust her if she wanted to cooperate with him effectively in more League matches.
In the Battle Quarters, Mordekaiser's appearance brought mixed reactions. Some of the audience went silent before questioning his presence, while others obliviously cheered for him, unaware that he had been absent from League matches for six whole months.
Inside the Summoner's Rift, the Master of Metal cracked his neck, exercised his shoulders, and stretched his arms. His team consisted of some Freljordian archer, Garen, Sona, himself, and-
"Hecarim?"
"'Sup."
"Don't 'Sup' me, what're you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm on your team."
The two stared at each other for a few good seconds. They then suddenly burst into laughter as Hecarim shook Mordekaiser's hand violently- the traditional Shadow Isles way of shaking hands.
"Let's give them suffering, Mordekaiser," The Shadow of War cackled, his flaming body amping up the strength of its heat.
"Yes! That's one thing you and I can always agree on." The Iron Revenant laughed like a madman. "Endless suffering for those who oppose us."
The two Shadow Isles officers cackled gleefully at the idea of carnage. Ashe, the Frost Archer, shivered at the mere presence of Mordekaiser; the fact that he was laughing did not help a single bit. She was a princess of Freljord, a feared leader, and yet, his existence always threatened to break her composure. Why he was present in a League match after a long absence did not make much sense to her, but she decided not to let it get to her head. Taking a deep breath, she focused on buying her items, following the advice her summoner gave her. The summoners and their champions had their minds linked together during the League matches, so quick communication was possible.
"Umm… S-Sir Mordekaiser?"
As they stopped laughing, Mordekaiser froze. "What the- oh, yeah, right. We have the telekinetic thing going on here. Also, add a 'lord' next to my name, will you?"
Hecarim grinned. As one of Mordekaiser's oldest acquaintances, the horseman found it amusing that even after months of absence, the iron man had immediately returned to demanding the usual things he demanded for. He never changed that easily.
"Y-Yes, Lord… Mordekaiser."
"Anyway, what is it… summoner?"
Clementine told him with a careful tone, "For sustain, I'd like you to buy… a Doran's Shield, and some potions. Also, the Ward Totem will be useful for ganks…"
"…Ward Totem?"
"T-The Ward.. T-Totem…"
The lord of undead blinked.
"What Ward Totem?" He asked. "Actually, what the hell is a Ward Totem in the first place?!"
Hecarim stared at the Iron Revenant incredulously. Again, even after months of absence, the iron man never changed that easily.
Even if it was for the worse.
After Clementine meekly answered Mordekaiser's question, the armored warlord of Shadow Isles clutched his head with wide eyes. "Dammit! How much did the League change?! I don't remember buying stupid Indian totems, even if I did buy a cheap knockoff at a pawn shop before!"
"What's an Indian totem?"
"I don't know, shut up, Hecarim."
Sighing, the lord of undead decided to just listen to Clementine. He wanted to feel like he was in control of the match, but never did he consider the League actually changing outside elements of the matches. It seemed that he would need to adapt and rely on his wit more than his usual brainless approaches.
"Anyway," the lord of undead told Hecarim, "you're better off having getting some monsters before roaming around the place or something. Want the golem buff?"
"Do you think I don't want one?"
"…You actually have a good point there."
Hecarim rolled his neck as he uttered, "Aight, les' go go s'more, m'kay?"
With their items ready, the lord of undead and the halberd-wielding horseman stormed off to the golem buff's direction.
A moment later, Garen, the Might of Demacia, found himself standing between the two terrifying beings in a bush. Garen felt sweat trickle down his skin as the Shadow Isles warlords casually talked about the kills they managed to land in the League of Legends, with Mordekaiser reminiscing upon his golden age and Hecarim throwing out random bits of maximum disrespect he pulled off in his more recent League matches. As the two generals bickered amongst themselves, the Demacian warrior stiffened as he heard some interesting information from his summoner.
"Invasion," he whispered to his shadowy comrades as they turned to the Might of Demacia.
Invasions; Mordekaiser had been involved with far too many of them in the past. Stealing the enemy's objectives happened to be a common tactic, though how the team initiated an invasion rested solely upon their own skill to outmaneuver the defending team.
And in this case, Mordekaiser stood in the defending team's side. At the moment, the other team was composed of Akali, Riven, Darius, Soraka, and Pantheon.
It was a pretty powerful team composition on its own right. To be fair, however, Mordekaiser, Garen, and Hecarim were far from champions who were to be easily dismissed. The Might of Demacia and the Shadow of War boasted good "burst ranges-" the minimal distance between them and their enemies in which they could both force a reaction or react to an attack. While Mordekaiser himself moved a bit sluggishly in the League of Legends, thus resulting in him having a subpar burst range without summoner spells, he dealt a terrifying amount of damage on his own, molding him to be a high-priority target.
Riven, Darius, and Akali emerged from the other side of the jungle. Darius raised his weapon as he checked a nearby bush, only to lower it when nothing reacted to him.
"Morde," Hecarim asked the armored warlord of undead as they waited for the three opponents to get closer, "remember that time when we went bowling back at the Shadow Isles?"
"…Yeah?"
"Yeah, I really miss those days sometimes."
"Now that you mention it, I kind of miss it as well."
"And there we'd bowl until Karthus got mad at us like the scripted NPC he is while we dug our faces into sweet, sweet apple pie with fried chicken legs sticking out of it like a dynamite of Willy Wonka's chocolate."
"Hey, Hecarim."
"Yeah?"
"They're here."
"Oh."
"Wanna attack them?"
"…I mean, technically that's what we're here for, but we could always put aside our weapons and just-"
Immediately cutting himself off, Hecarim raised his halberd and charged out of the bush he had been hiding in, twirling his weapon as if it were the rod of death itself. Garen roared as he charged out of the grass, and Mordekaiser marched forward, ready to cast metallic magic.
Taken by surprise, Riven ducked as she backed off from the three musketeers (of brawn), Darius swinging out his axe at the charging horseman and Demacian. Unfazed by the damage they received the Garen sent his sword crashing down, slashing at Darius' shoulder as Hecarim wildly slashed at the Hand of Noxus. Gritting his teeth, the Noxian retreated, having received more damage than he expected on receiving. Akali threw one of her kamas at the Shadow of War before retreating, knowing that she did not have enough abilities to take them on yet.
Realizing that they had been caught by a surprisingly dangerous group if champions, the opposing team returned to where they came from.
"And there they go."
Laughing with glee, Mordekaiser clenched a fist as he felt something wake up inside him. The distant, yet familiar feeling of despair among his enemies excited him, despite his thoughts on the inconsistencies the League of Legends had. Soon, they would fall before him, slain by his hands, and he would claim their souls to satisfy his hunger for carnage, chaos, and domination-
Wait a minute, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
After helping Hecarim get the golem buff, Mordekaiser left the jungle and headed to the middle lane, mace in hand. While he was not exactly the most optimal of picks for the middle lane, situationally, he was godlike there. The lord of undead was a bit rusty, but he was completely confident that he could drive Akali out of her lane and hate him for it.
Though the ninja was faster than him, none of her ranged attacks were quick enough to prevent him from empowering his armor through the use of his abilities. A Mace of Spades and a Siphon of Destruction constantly disrupted the flow of her usual minion farming in the lane. And his Harvesters of Sorrow turned out to be more than effective against her. It practically prevented her from attacking him and minions without throwing her kamas, which inevitably drained energy out of her in the early laning phase.
Raising his hand, he cast yet another Siphon of Destruction, erupting the ground beneath Akali as soon as she went in to farm. The ninja made a split second reaction and charged towards Mordekaiser with a Shadow Dance and slashed at him with her kamas.
Her eyes widened as she realized her weapons did not leave a single scratch on his armor. Grinning maniacally, Mordekaiser slammed his mace across her face, sending her whirling away a bit.
"One," the Master of Metal growled to himself.
Akali coughed as she turned and retreated. Mordekaiser cast his Harvester of Sorrows at a minion near her, letting the minion's metal attract his armor's to give himself a boost of speed.
"Summoner!" Mordekaiser boomed telepathically. "Turn on Ghost!"
"Got… it!"
Casting a spell of her own, Clementine enhanced Mordekaiser's movement speed. Akali turned to see how far Mordekaiser was from her.
The lord of undead looked as if he were a motorcycle ready to tear apart anyone in its way.
…I'm dead, aren't I? She thought in disbelief as the iron man slammed his mace against her side.
"Two…"
Raising his mace over his head with one hand, the armored warlord of Shadow Isles channeled dark magic with the other as he roared a terrifying battlecry. The best nightmare he could provide, Children of the Grave, plagued Akali's breathing as she opened her mouth for air, her movements slowing ever-so-slightly.
Without any hesitation, the Shadow Isles warlord leapt over to her, screaming maniacally,
"THREE! DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
To sum up what he did in the least detailed description, he left Akali's corpse smashed against one of the rocks standing in the Summoner's Rift.
"Hm ha ha ha hue ha!" Mordekaiser laughed in joy, as the ghost of Akali emerged and walked over to him. "That was so refreshing! Stomping noobs and fighting at the middle lane… Strange days have certainly come. HA HA HA- Hm?"
The ninja's glowing soul simply stared at him, waiting for orders.
"…Oh right, you." The Shadow Isles warlord muttered before giving her an order. "Go tear down that turret over there."
Nodding, the ghost ran up to Mordekaiser's opposing turret and slashed at it alongside several minions. The Iron Revenant chuckled as he returned to his base.
"That was decent," the Master of Metal told his summoner. She managed to squeak out both an awed and terrified "Thank you" as he disappeared in a flash to his base, Akali's soul destroying his enemy's turret as soon as he vanished.
"I can't believe I just made the fabled E.Z. money," he said to himself with a sh#%-eating grin. "Oh wait; they're not fabled to me."
As he let out the clearly terrifying and intimidating warcry, "Hue hue hue," the Master of Metal practically skipped his way over to the middle lane with stupidly powerful recipe items for his ability power and armor. Right when he got back to the lane, however, he met a different opponent.
Wha- That's… Raven! Or was it Riven? I don't give a f- wait, then does that mean the ninja wussed out into another lane?!
Riven was one of the few champions he never got to fight all that much before his isolation. Heck, he didn't even know what she was supposed to be. All he knew was that she had one of the most annoying set of abilities ever.
…To be fair, though, she's wielding a sword that's almost as big as her. I should've expected as much.
Then again, he only knew of her abilities because of Thresh. There was (unsurprisingly) a chance that the Chain Warden was wrong.
"Summoner," Mordekaiser asked Clementine with an annoyed look. "Is this girl glaring at me? Because she's already getting on my nerves."
Clementine wondered if she should tell the truth or not. Then again, Mordekaiser had probably asked a rhetorical question, considering how he began to mumble silently to himself about "spoiled brats" and the like.
"Go back to your lane!" The iron man shouted at the white-haired Noxian exile. "Like, seriously, just go back to your lane. I wanna fight Akali."
Riven did not say anything.
"Dammiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Mordekaiser seethed as he clutched his helmet, shaking his head as he screamed, "Just freakin' leave already! I don't wanna fight you! Get out! There are three lanes in this game and this one isn't for you, you motherf#$%er!"
The Exile blinked, watching Mordekaiser's anger continue to rise rapidly as both of their team's minions clashed.
"SERIOUSLY! Do you speak German or something? Because I bet you can't understand Brazilian! Hasta la vista means GET THE F#$% OUT! OR SO I'VE HEARD!"
First things first, when Riven saw Mordekaiser for the first time face-to-face, she expected him to be snarky and cocky. After all, he always did seem to have a prideful attitude.
Here he was, cursing her repeatedly to make her go back to her lane.
I don't get it.
Raising her broken blade, the swordswoman pointed it at the lord of undead as she muttered, "I'm not leaving this lane any sooner. Fight me."
Smashing his face with his iron hands, Mordekaiser screamed in annoyance. First, the girl chose not to listen to him. Now she tells him to fight her? And for some reason, the girl's broken blade triggered Mordekaiser's love for neat weapon designs.
The stupid little girl thought she was top crap? He'd show her the crap she belonged to.
And that's in the TRASH!
As he charged forward, Riven prepared her blade, her heart pounding at the sight of a huge armored warlock of death going towards her. She readied the most efficient combination of attacks she could pull out against such a tanky opponent.
Much to her surprise, however, he just stopped charging and stood still, falling deep into thought.
Wait, Mordekaiser realized as he stood in the midst of busy minions attacking each other. Why was I angry at her again?
…
…
…
Oh yeah, her crappy weapon.
"How dare you show up to fight me with that garbage!" Mordekaiser shouted as he pointed his own mace at her, not noticing the way Riven froze deathly still. "I will destroy you and show you your place, puny non-Brazilian!"
"G-Garbage…?"
"That's right. What good is a broken blade, anyway? That's like fighting with a pen against a sword. By the way, the pen isn't mightier than the sword. I tried it and it never worked out."
Before the Master of Metal continued on, however, he noticed the extremely dark and angered frown the Noxian exile held. Her eyes pierced into his, her anger almost emanating from an aura.
"Are you calling me garbage?" She seethed.
…
…
…
"…Uh, I said your sword is not ideal for combat, not you-"
Riven instantly dashed forward and slashed at the iron man rapidly, catching him off guard as she let out a burst of energy to stop his movements entirely for a brief moment. Leaping into the air, she slammed her blade against the ground, actually managing to make the iron man bounce into the air.
Of course, Mordekaiser did not simply let her go after dealing a fair amount of damage to him. Casting his Harvester of Sorrow on himself and a Siphon of Destruction at her, he activated his Mace of Spades and attacked her three times, dealing a great amount of damage on the swordswoman. They traded blows and backed off simultaneously.
The lord of undead was surprised by the sheer amount of damage the woman dealt. The blade was not just any blade; it had rune magic on them that let her cleave through things that normal weapons would not simply overpower.
Something about the weapon was ancient- as if it had been passed down to a worthy wielder.
And Mordekaiser had just called it garbage right in front of her.
Well, at least I know it's not garbage anymore, Mordekaiser thought grumpily to himself as he continued to maintain a distance from Riven. Seriously, I never saw anyone use a broken blade so effectively.
Glaring at each other, the two maintained their distance before Mordekaiser decided to back off. "Summoner," he told Clementine. "I lost a good amount of health that makes me susceptible to her burst damage. Is there any enemy missing on the map?"
"Um… Darius is missing."
"Then I'm heading off to base."
"A-Alright!"
Giving Riven an evil eye, he turned and walked out of the center of the lane. The white-haired fighter lowered her sword as she watched him depart.
Before he left, however, he gave her one last look. A look of both interest and bloodlust.
"I stand corrected," he grumbled before leaving the lane.
Riven blinked as she watched the armored warlord move behind his turret. She did not expect him to suddenly change his opinion of her- no, her weapon and her swordsmanship- so quickly. Far away, she saw Hecarim prance out of the jungle and circle around Mordekaiser before getting punched in the face right before the Master of Metal teleported to his base.
He was… strange.
A few more minutes passed, and Mordekaiser began to just run around for kills. Since the boot enchantment he originally thought about buying had vanished, he decided to go for a Ninja Tabi enchanted with the Captain effect. That way, allies close to him would be able to get a short boost of speed, and that seemed like the top thing Hecarim needed to initiate a teamfight. So far, none of his teammates were doing badly.
The Iron Revenant eventually sealed the deal when he slayed a dragon all by himself. With a fire-breathing monster by his side, the Shadow Isles warlord led the charge into the heart of the enemy base.
"We can soak up most of the attacks they'll be throwing at us," Garen had explained to his teammates. "Hecarim and I will take the front line, Mordekaiser will stay behind us, and Sona and Ashe will let him tank whatever ranged attacks are sent to their way. We'll also have Mordekaiser's dragon charge in front of us because of the splash damage it can deal to multiple enemies.
"Sounds like a plan?"
The iron man had growled, "Don't tell me what to do, Demacian."
Despite what he said, the Iron Revenant ended up doing exactly what Garen told him to do. They tore through the inhibitor and the Nexus turrets…
And only the enemy Nexus stood in the base. Darius pulled Mordekaiser towards him as he attempted to dice the iron man apart, but the magic armor that protected the lord of undead made the Noxian's attacks almost ineffective. The Master of Metal pimp-slapped him as he relentlessly struck the Nexus over and over again. He raised his mace above his head, his eyes glowing deathly red as he swung it down mercilessly.
With a final blow, the Nexus finally crumbled apart.
The Iron Revenant let his mace vanish as he crossed his arms and snickered, watching Darius chuck his axe into the ground out of anger as the remains of the Nexus fell on the stone grounds of the Summoner's Rift.
After winning the match, Mordekaiser reappeared in the Battle Quarters and went to the room he first met his summoner in, only to be greeted by a piece of paper sitting on a fragile chair.
Dear Lord Mordekaiser,
You were so awesome! I hope I did well, even if I was lacking in some ways. If you do not mind, then I will look forward to summoning you again!
Clementine
"…Well, that was a disgustingly optimistic letter," the Shadow Isles warlord grumbled to himself. "What a foolish girl, making trash like this."
Despite what he said, he folded the paper and put it in his pocket.
Rather than celebrate his victory with others, Mordekaiser believed that celebrating with a new Dark Souls game was just right for him. He went down to a game store closest to the Champions' Break, considering that a prolonged presence out in the open could scare people off. Not that he minded scaring people with his awesomeness, but the high summoners would get in a hissy fit if they heard that he- directly or not- caused a ruckus in the Institute again right after his League match.
With a plastic bag containing a bunch of new video games, the Iron Revenant left the game store with a wide grin plastered on his overshadowed face. He always wanted to grab some new video games, but staying shut inside for so long warranted a delay in getting them.
"Ha! With this, I'm set for doing a five-day marathon," he said giddily, free of the tension he felt in the League of Legends. "As expected, being unable to recreate a 360 no-scope in the League of Legends made the entire thing a bit disappointing.
"It was pretty decent, at the very most…"
The Master of Metal laughed loudly to himself as he marched to the Champions' Break.
Before he was able to walk in freely, however, he noticed someone standing in front of the Break. It was the white-haired swordswoman who-
Immediately turning around, Mordekaiser attempted to run away from the Break. His effort in doing so was futile.
"Mordekaiser."
Freakin' DAMMIT! The Iron Revenant screamed internally as he slowly turned around. Why was this woman waiting for me? Is it because she's salty about the thing I said about her weapon?!
Putting up his evilest face ever, the Shadow Isles warlord pointed at Riven's face with the hand that carried his plastic bag. "What do you want?" The metallic bruiser growled.
Standing still, the swordswoman stared at the armored being. He stared back, though even Riven was able to tell that he looked nervous.
She looked at the plastic bag, and then at Mordekaiser. She looked at the bag again.
The woman saw the title "Dark Souls III" on a game cover sticking out of the bag. Though she was unfamiliar with video games, she had seen them in action several times. Xin Zhao once showed a hack-and-slash game in a party before. Most of them required button inputs more than actual movement from the body.
And Mordekaiser apparently played with such things…
A strange… thing.
The more she observed him, the stranger he seemed. He had terrifying powers, yet hosted the tantrum of a child's. But what caught her attention was how contrasting his personality was to his appearance. She expected a warlord of death who found pleasure in endlessly torturing all people, not an armored champion who enjoyed playing video games and was picky on who he fought with.
She could not tell if it was just her mind playing tricks with her, but he felt very human for someone who hailed from the Shadow Isles as a general of an undead army.
"I'd like to apologize for my attitude in our match," she finally spoke up. At the Master of Metal's confusion, she added in, "I misunderstood your comment on my weapon. It is a part of my life, so I believe I was too sensitive to your words."
The Iron Revenant let out a dragged out "Pshhhhhhhhhh" as he rolled his eyes, hoping that the swordswoman would just buzz off. "I don't care," he responded simply. "Your weapon just looked useless; I never thought it'd be stupidly strong."
Whether or not Mordekaiser tried to compliment her weapon was unclear to Riven, but she decided to let him go about his business. "That was all I wanted to say," she clarified. "I'll let you go."
"Hmph. A wise decision," the Iron Revenant chuckled as he glanced at his bag of games. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to shove myself in my room for five days straight and do nothing but whatever I actually want to do: nothing. Ha ha ha!"
And with that, the armored warlord of the Shadow Isles marched into the Champions' Break, slinging the bag over his shoulder as he quickened his pace. Riven simply watched him scramble into the Break.
A strange… man.
He seemed a lot more different than the rumors made him out to be.
Author's Notes:
Next chapter – "Vladimism!" It's a brand new one and will drive you insane.