This was it.

Every molecule on her second skin quivered in fear as the titan smiled dangerously, a single step shaking the entirety of Shurima. The fate of the world hung in the balance, for there was no doubt the Firstborn would devour it all if left unchecked. Kai'Sa had to stop it here or die trying. Beside her, Yuumi whimpered in fear: hiding behind Book's covers like a child hiding beneath blankets.

"Ok, so what do we do now?" Ezreal chuckled, looking to her for reassurance. "You have a plan?"

"Survive."

"Huh."

The Firstborn charged with a howling bellow, throat aglow with a plasma unlike any she had ever seen. Their bullets plinked uselessly across its skin, doing little to slow down the titanic beast. Kai'Sa shot off to the side, barely strafing down a gargantuan claw crashing down where she once stood.

"Woah! Slow down!"

She ducked under a sweeping tail, meeting Cho'Gath's unnerving eyes for a split second. The titan screeched as Ezreal landed a golden barrage on one side of its face: claw impaling the sand uselessly as the explorer disappeared into a yellow cloud.

Changing tactics, spikes began to shoot out from the beast's entire body: Cho'Gath flailing in an attempt to hit its more agil enemies. While Ezreal and Yuumi had to dodge in the air, Kai'Sa rushed forward unhindered: shattering the chitin on the obsidian scale of her second skin. Her cannons charged with plasma, unleashing a pair of seeker missiles that scored a critical hit on the titan's relatively soft face.

"AGH!"

The titan staggers, allowing Kai'Sa to attack uncontested for a moment longer. She leaps from the ground as dozens of small golden orbs are scattered along the sand, before a Mystic Shot detonates them all at once. Cho'Gath is given not a second to recover as the follow-up Trueshot Barrage cut one of its piercing limbs off at the socket, Ezreal wincing as his weapon visibly glowed with heat.

The limb fell to the ground, bloody stump wriggling as another grew to take its place.

"Cover me."

"Can do!" The explorer takes a second to tighten his gauntlet on his arm, blowing his bangs from his goggles. "Hey! Asshole! Check this out!"

Another Trueshot Barrage leaves a scar on its side. The furious Cho'Gath takes the bait: lunging outward and falling flat as Ezreal blinks away to safety. Her heart beats a little faster as she watched her friend act as a human-sized lure, Kai'Sa redoubling her efforts to find any weakness in the Firstborn's armor. All Voidborn have them, there has to be a-

"There!"

Yuumi seemed to have read her mind, paw pointed towards a little blackened spot on the inside of the beast's pillar-like knee. Plasma trickled from the wound, Cho'Gath clearly avoiding putting too much weight on its injured leg.

It would have to do.

With another blitz of speed, the huntress concentrated a tremendous volley of plasma onto the wound: coating it in the deadly purple liquid while dislodging the nearby armor with her attacks. Like all Voidborn, Cho'Gath had plasma for blood: and plasma did not take kindly to being surrounded by too much other plasma.

Critical mass was reached in record time, the violet lump exploding outwards in a gory firework of flesh. Caught off guard, the beast was forced to a kneel - falling forward into yet another blade of golden energy from the cunning explorer.

"Slippery bastards!"

Stomping back onto its feet, Cho'Gath's throat glowed a brilliant blue: before an earth-shattering roar pushed them all backwards. Kai'Sa's keen instincts backfired as the girl clutched at her delicate ears, second skin writhing in discomfort. Her plasma began to darken, energy siphoned out into thin air.

"Uh what was that?" Yuumi panicked. "Should we be worried? Why do I feel lightheaded all of a sudden?"

"Ok shit, now is not the time!"

Ezreal fumbles with his gauntlet, the metal unresponsive to his commands. They were sitting ducks: helpless to resist as Cho'Gath bore its teeth in a sadistic grin. Its wounds were disappearing as Book fell from the air, Kai'Sa catching it and Yuumi in the nick of time.

"B-book? W-what happened? Will she be-"

The ground shakes. Every breath pushed at her ribs, sweat breaking out across her forehead. Cho'Gath's bellows and shrieks motivated the huntress to run even faster. Perhaps, if she made it out of here alive, Kai'Sa would have to learn how to run without relying on her second skin.

"Look out!"

A Void rift appears beneath them, opening like the mouth of an unholy monster. The ground beneath them dissolved into the abyss, leaving her and her passengers trapped.

"Go."

With a throw, Yuumi and Book are sent out of the circle's area: saving them from the eruption of spikes rising from below. Kai'Sa grunts as her second skin dulled most of the impact, though it did not change the fact that she was now suspended in the air without her rockets.

"SKREEONK!"

The titan's throat broke in multiple places, unhinged like the jaws of an abyssal fish. Kai'Sa braced for the inevitable impact of grinding teeth, the wind rushing past her falling body. Her last attempts to reignite her plasma only result in a slight discomfort, Cho'Gath's excited howls increasing in volume as she closed the gap into its cavernous throat.

If anything, it would be a fast death.

But when the huntress is close enough to feel the titan's hot humid breath, she feels the rush of plasma in her veins.

Cho'Gath's open maw was assaulted by a barrage of plasma missiles, targeting his soft and squishy insides. The damage was markedly more severe, leading to howls of anguished pain from the once invincible foe. Her revived rockets pushed her out of reach, jaws snapping shut on empty air.

"DIE!"

A pair of scythes swings upwards in a blur, Kai'Sa unable to rotate her rockets in time.

Thankfully, she did not have to.

A yellow blur catches and pushes her out of the way, the two landing on the desert. The huntress helped Ezreal back onto his feet, the boy rubbing the back of his head to push out the nausea.

"Are you ok?"

"You know - that doesn't sound a lot like a 'thank you'."

Ezreal had the audacity to joke considering their situation, but the girl was quick to remind him of the severity of it with a glare.

"OHMYGOSHTHATWASSOCOOLAND-"

The huntress is taken aback as a familiar blue kitten swings back into her orbit, Book slowing their flapping at the duo settled just above her shoulder. Their magic wove into a lattice over her second skin, her parasite burning through Yuumi and Book's reserves with an eager gluttony.

A stomp.

Cho'Gath lowered to the ground, covered in calluses and scars. Purple flecks of plasma-blood coated its pale white teeth, gnashing viciously.

"Ok, seriously though - I have an idea." The explorer shares hurriedly, wringing his relit gauntlet. "Can you three keep him busy for a bit?"

Kai'Sa did not give him an answer: rushing forward at blinding speeds.

A barrage of spikes flies her way, but a translucent shield prevents them from even leaving a scratch. Along with her missiles, a golden paw-shaped missile joined into the fray: fizzling uselessly on Cho'Gath's armored sides. Cho'Gath's stomp missed yet again, the titan's throat glowing with another disabling roar.

Just what she needed.

Her cannons burned brighter than the stars: with Yuumi providing the extra power needed to push her missiles through Cho'Gath's armor.

Instead of screaming, the titan could only splutter: whatever Icathian spell it had used cut short by its own blood. Kai'Sa quickly swept underneath its swinging claws, continuing to expand the gaping wound in its throat. She was a drill digging into stone, carving out a large gash within the rocky armor.

"Yeah!" Yuumi cheered on. "Get that big cockroach!"

"Stupid little -"

Beneath their feet, a Void rift opens: but Kai'Sa is too fast to be caught a second time. She escapes just as the spikes erupt from the ground - this wave seemingly more powerful than the first. It does not take long for the beast's entire body to be hidden beneath a tumor of shrapnel and spike, pulsing disgustingly.

The huntress pauses for a moment too long.

"Wait - it's healing!"

Cursing the beast's intelligence, Kai'Sa soared to and fro in an attempt to look for a gap in its cocoon of thorns, and one did come.

Just not the way she intended.

With a crack, Cho'Gath's head erupted from the bone wall: sharp teeth barely missing the huntress as she darted out of reach. Any damage her attacks were doing was outpaced by the sheer speed at which its armor grew back, cancerous masses bulging out beneath the plating. The giant Voidborn had grown an additional pair of muscular claws, along with a hundred or so scythe-like limbs to swing with.

"DIE!"

As the now-misshapen monster erupted fully out of its shield, staggering forward on two hulking legs, Kai'Sa was beginning to run out of steam. Even with Yuumi's miraculous magic and her second skin's minor help, she was just so tired from all the fighting.

Still, her plasma missiles kept coming: adorning Cho'Gath's hide with patches of black and burnt skin. Kai'Sa was no longer flying, using her rockets to fire seeker missiles that did little to hinder the titan as it lumbered forward.

"Hey Fatass!"

Ezreal popped into existence astride none other than his pet Voidborn. For a split second, Cho'Gath falters at the sight of its fellow monster: before Kog'Maw fires a sizzling gout of acid into its eyes. The liquid ate through any amount of flesh the beast had grown.

"Well?" The explorer quips, Kai'Sa realizing that she had been standing instead of shooting. "What are you waiting for? Shoot!"

His golden storm ignites any plasma left behind by her attacks, the resulting explosions blasting chunks of dark blue flesh and blood onto the ground. The beast's spikes are either dodged or blocked by magical shields, with Kog'Maw providing a constant supply of acid to whittle away at its defenses.

"BASTARDS!"

Blinded and deprived of its greatest weapon, Cho'Gath continued to fight on regardless. Its thousands of limbs were nearly impossible to avoid, with Ezreal straying further than his Voidborn allies - their armor allowing them to take one or two hits. One by one, chunks of scale began to drop to the ground; smothered by acid and unable to heal.

The feral scream pushes everyone away: Kog'Maw rolling over a dune due to the momentum.

Cho'Gath was more like a walking corpse than a living creature, but even with the half-melted skull its body continued to grow. Kai'Sa quickly helped Ezreal back onto his feet, but kept her cold gaze solely on the recovering titan.

"I'll kill you, you little shits I'll-"

A gaping void opens beneath its feet - rimmed in black soil.

Dozens of Xer'Sai move out of the way as Cho'Gath sinks into the ground. The First Born's arms and limbs flailed for purchase on the shifting sand, but its sheer weight prevented it from making any headway. She had never seen anything like this before; since when did the Void know to run away instead of fight?

"Do not let it get away!"

Kai'Sa and Ezreal worked in tandem to fire at the beast, but their attacks might as well have been raindrops on rocks. Kog'Maw's acid only increased the speed of the titan's escape, but for some odd reason - Cho'Gath's attention was not on its enemies.

"I can beat them! I just need a little more time -"

With a crash and rumble, it disappears into the underground: leaving only a wide tunnel. Kai'Sa took a step forward to pursue, but a gentle hand landed on her shoulder.

"Y-You should probably save it for next time."

The huntress considered brushing him off, but her temper softened upon noticing the weariness in his usually lively eyes. Kai'Sa takes a deep breath, unmasking herself to better breathe Shurima's fresh air.

"Thank you." She sighed. "I-I-"

"Don't worry, I've got your back."

Suddenly, something hisses. Her second skin pulses with the presence of another Voidborn.

Kog'Maw regarded her with both fear and anger, crest flaring outwards. The huntress was frankly too exhausted to put up a good fight, but her claws began to crackle as her second skin pushed her forward. Ezreal, however, was quick to get between the two - blinking into their paths as if he had not learnt from the first time he had done this.

"Hey, hey." The explorer spoke with the air of a parent consoling a child, holding up his hands placatingly. "Easy bud. She's not here to hurt anyone."

Another hiss. The boy remained firm, stepping closer to the Voidborn even as it shot Kai'Sa with a venomous spiteful stare. She did not give it even a centimeter of ground, her second skin egging her to indulge her basal instincts.

"Come on, come on." He reaches out, putting a hand on Kog'Maw's chitinous skull. "Easy boy, just trust me. You can trust me."

Kai'Sa would have shot it dead in any other circumstance, but to her surprise - it works. Kog'Maw's veins slowly began to dull: tail beginning to wag in contentment as Ezreal continued to rub its head comfortingly. She breathes a sigh of relief, with a flicker of envy hidden within.

On cue, Book hovered a little closer, the kitten atop of it patting at one of her cannons curiously. Kai'Sa did not know if Yuumi was trying to comfort her or to annoy her.

"What are you doing?"

"O-oh." Yuumi chirped, recoiling at her scrutiny. "Y-you're warm, and it's so cold that-"

"Fine. Come."

With a huff, Kai'Sa cradled the little creature in her arms. Yuumi purred in contentment as she curled into a little ball, Book hovering over her side as if watching. She shifted uncomfortably in place at the added weight, not knowing what to do in response to the cat's affection. Kai'Sa felt her face warm as the kitten smiled in her sleep, a little ball of joy that was somehow warning her heart.

"Pfft."

Ezreal was glared into silence as the huntress huffed, making sure to keep Yuumi close to her chest for warmth.

"So." He starts, pressing his lips shut with nervousness. "A-are you going to go now? As in, back to the Void?"

"Let us return to Zuretta first. Then we will see."