In the chaotic docks of Bilgewater, a small burst of wind blew across the wooden road before increasing enough to make a man fly off the docks into the frothing waters below, much to the amusement of his peers.

Keeping at it, the gust blew further inwards across the side of a building with opened windows, increasing a harried clerk's anxiety to unhealthy levels as his carefully stacked papers were ripped away from his hands into an erratic mess across his office floor. Going onwards and upwards, the gust swirled past several birds that chirped playfully in it's presence before coalescing into the form of a blonde female clad in white silk.

"Oh! Now, that was fun!" Janna chuckled ethereally as she gazed down at her handiwork, invisible to all below. Nothing like Ionia where everyone had seen her. Standing upwards, Janna felt the wind of the dawn pick up just as the first rays of dawn peeked over the ocean. "Hey, wind! Take me home!"

At her call, the spirit laughed as she was launched off the roof, letting herself be one with the sky as she flew swiftly across the seas between her and Zaun and beat the sunrise before it reached either Zaun or Piltover.

Letting herself land right atop the highest building in Zaun, Janna breathed in deeply and beamed at how much clearer the air was with almost half of the Zaun Grey now gone. But even then, it didn't matter.

If Shirou's plan went through, it wouldn't matter anymore.

Having her attention drawn by one of Piltover's 'Hexgates', Janna smiled at the sight of spacetime magic being so well integrated into technology as it sent an airship far away into the distance in a literal blink. To think they'd come so far in just seven years... "Today's going to be one hell of a Progress Day..."

Janna closed her eyes and sent her senses deep into Zaun's depths, searching amongst the ruins until she found what she sought. "It's practically reached completion now, after all."


"Happy Progress Day!"


Progress Day was now in full swing and it showed especially within the academy. All around the fairgrounds, there were many inventions being showcased to the visitors.

From a speaking robot, to a child-sized automobile, to even remote-controlled metal butterflies that flew about with one nearly got stuck in Enforcer Artoria Pendragon's hat. "To think I took a break for this."

"It's not like we were doing much that the others couldn't handle, ma'am." Bedivere answered, her lieutenant offering her one of the crepes he just bought. "Besides, I wanted to see some of Talis's inventions up-close, and you promised."

"Fine, fine." Artoria huffed. "At least, I'll be saving Cait from a bit of boredom."

Things had been great when both of them had ended up in the same division, then Cait's mom had been a total worrywart by restraining her daughter's promotions. It even showed in their ranks, with Artoria now a Division Chief after two years of service while Caitlyn had been stuck as a Private ever since their Swearing.

"Too bad Councilor Kiramman took Caitlyn away from our division and dumped Tristan with us." Bedivere sighed. "That guy's too dramatic and gloomy."

"Easy, Bedivere." Artoria jokingly warned. "Sergeant Tristan does good work and is a decent Enforcer."

"I didn't say anything about his work ethics." Bedivere gave her an incredulous look. "I just have a problem with his harp playing and him always going 'so sad' with his eyes closed more often than open. How has he not stumbled into somebody by now?"

...yeah, even Artoria couldn't defend something as weird as that. Thankfully, Cait came into sight with her utterly bored face as a good distraction. "Cait!"

"Tori!" Cait's face burst into a relieved smile. "Have you come to save me from distressing boredom, my brave knight?"

"Oh, fair maiden... I was unable to bribe my sister to distract your mother today." Artoria replied, making her best friend huff in disappointment. "But I do bring offerings."

"A crepe?" Despite her raised brow, Cait still took the crepe while Bedivere went on inside. "So... Anything interesting?"

"Beyond the celebrations? Not really." Artoria stepped to her side. "Even the undercity's been quiet recently."

"Really?" Cait frowned at the idea. In her defense, the undercity had undergone a period of great upheaval before quieting down. There were still bursts of activity here and there, but both Artoria and Cait found it suspicious, especially when a couple of the citizens from there would be found sneaking into the uppercity's 'black spots' usually in search of something or someone.

None of the arrested ones ever even gave a hint of their motives, either to bribes or punishment.

Hearing someone approach, Artoria pretended to be ignorant of Jayce Talis sneaking up to flick Cait's hat only to giggle when his wrist was immediately caught. "You need better reflexes, Jayce."

"Still serves him right." Cait locked eyes with her mother at that moment before releasing Jayce's arm and turning back around.

"Still avoiding her?" Jayce rubbed his sore wrist as he looked between the two nobles.

"I'm working." Cait replied with a huff.

"And I'm on break." Artoria said, making Jayce to properly acknowledge her as well.

"Tori!" He approached her for a hug, only to be kept back by her gloved hands. "Huh?"

"Not while I'm in uniform." Artoria gestured at the couple of female students badly spying on them. "The last thing I need are floods of girls applying only because the closest women to Jayce Talis just happen to be Enforcers."

"Now, that's just mean." Jayce chuckled. "I mean it's true, but still mean."

"You want mean? Go call up Ekko and tell him to disassemble any one of your gadgets again."

At Artoria's jab, Jayce's smile disappeared as he no doubt remembered that month in which he'd challenged Ekko to take apart anything he made without actually breaking or damaging it. "Why'd you make me remember that?"

"You sound as if you didn't benefit from the experience." Cait hummed. "A lot of your stuff are way less fragile now."

Despite himself, Jayce at least had the admittance to nod in agreement. "Well, it could've been worse. Imagine if Councilor Pendragon had indeed adopted him instead of Viktor."

Now, it was Artoria's turn to grimace at the thought, remembering the one time Ekko had met her sister in a private setting.


"Stop that!" Ekko yelled. Morgana looked at him questioningly. "Stop playing mind games with me all the time!"

"Alright, but only if you beat me at rock paper scissors." Morgana announced, practically beaming at the little boy while ignoring her worried sister at the side.

"Fine." Ekko relented, hiding his hand behind his back while Morgana did the same.

It was a game of chance, right? There was no way she could mess with him this badly. At least, Artoria hoped so.

"I'm…" Morgana started, giving Ekko a delighted smile as their eyes met. "... going to play rock."

"...you bi-"


"...sometimes I wonder if she wants Ekko to try and murder her." Artoria sighed. "Then I remember that she's just projecting my younger self onto him without my usual self-control."

There was a beat as both Cait and Jayce stared at her, before the former rubbed her brows in fond frustration. "Tori, have you already forgotten the last time you ditched your self-control?"

"That ballroom is still wrecked from you and your sister's 'duel'." Jayce chuckled.

"That's what happens when two daughters of a family descended from Targon try to kill- Sorry, 'play aggressively' with each other." Cait made actual air quotes.

Artoria pouted. "Why am I friends with you two again?"


Mylo nervously tapped about, which annoyed Violet to an insane degree as their airship finally made port. "Stop fidgeting, Mylo."

"H-Hey, can you blame me?" Mylo hissed. "I mean, today's the day!"

Luckily, Violet did understand where he was coming from. While it was something her past self probably wouldn't have comprehended, the Lanes had really changed during the past six years.

Then again, change is something that would definitely happen if in his wild search for Ekko, Shirou ended up taking out all of the Chem-Barons who didn't like the mage running around and stirring things up.

By the time Shirou had calmed down enough to look back at the chaos he'd wrought, every single person who wasn't clamoring to replace or avenge their lost bosses had been vying for him to take charge.

With Vander still missing, Violet had come to realize just how many relied on him as an authority figure beyond just the deceased Sheriff Grayson. Even that asshole Marcus had been begging for Shirou to take the reins, no doubt feeling the damned weight of the job he'd inherited.

Now, Shirou was Magnate Supreme over all of the Lanes and the Chem-Barons who hadn't been idiots to challenge a pissed off Zaunite mage on the warpath, with even the plan of Zaun becoming a proper state of it's own. A plan that would work if Mylo would just cool it!

Why did Claggor have to be the one manning the bar? Why not Powd- Oh, wait. That would be a bad idea. An explosive using girl surrounded by lots of flammable liquid? All it would take was one slip-up and-

Swoosh-BOOM!

Hello, smoking pile of ash that used to be their home.

...damn. Now that Violet thought about it, Claggor really was the best and only choice to be running the bar, as she herself would be too impatient many times, and Mylo would be too finicky... and careless against the usual strangers that would show up.

"We're here." One of the punks spoke up, alerting Violet and Mylo as their airship reached one of Piltover's docks. Just as promised, the crates they'd purchased were already nearby ready for them.

The dockmaster himself looked rather nervous to be around the rough-looking Zaunites while they loaded up.

"A-Ahem." The dockmaster coughed nervously. "Shipping manifest?"

His answer was Violet dropping a pouch of coins over his clipboard. "What do you say to a hundred Silver Cogs... and we forget all about that?"

The dockmaster eyed the pouch warily before pocketing it and stamping an approval into the papers before handing it over. Vi concluded that he was one of the smart Pilties who knew when not to argue. "Everything's in order, Miss Caliber. Enjoy your cargo."

"Oh, we will." Violet said back as the dockmaster walked off, before turning an eye to one of the other punks. "Well?"

"Powder's gotten off."

"Good." Violet sighed, still wary of her little sister going on solo missions into Piltover. But this was an order from Shirou. She had no place in complaining when she had her own job to do. "Let get this all back to Oshra Va'Zaun."


Hidden in one of the many sewage tunnels entering into the City of Progress, Powder hummed as she properly fitted her mask and checked her babies.

Now, time to go steal and explode something!


"You think he will approve?" Viktor asked as he made some final adjustments to his device.

"Heimerdinger believes science should be used to improve lives as we do." Jayce replied. "We just need to show him that it's safe."

"And what about the Council?" Viktor finished screwing in the large bolt and grabbed his offered crutch from Ekko. "Thank you."

"We stabilized the crystal like they asked." Jayce tilted back on his seat, using a magnifying glass on the Hex Gemstone in his hand. "Built the Hexgates like they asked. It's our turn to decide the future of Hextech."

"Until they decide that they want something again." Ekko set down his own devices, before giving a few more checks to the wiring. He didn't want this to overheat now of all times. "Those guys are greedy as fuck."

"We are not that different, Ekko." Viktor hummed as he took a seat. "Our kind of greed just doesn't lean towards the materialistic."

"I know I'm amnesiac and was practically brought up Piltovan, but I'm pretty sure the Zaunite in me strongly disagrees." Ekko slapped the panel close. "Always have money set aside for stuff, if you wanna go get resources to help with your tinkering."

"Who told you that?" Jayce raised a brow.

There was a painful flash of a large stout man behind a table filled with mechanical junk, while an older boy helped with heavier things while sparkling with the same energy of the arcane. "I think it was someone important..."

"Nonetheless, that is a good piece of advice, my boy." Professor Heimerdinger chirped as he waddled into the workshop, his pet poro leading the way. "Lack of funds can get frustrating sometimes."

"Every time." Ekko mildly corrected.

"Professor." Jayce greeted as he stood up from his chair. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Wouldn't miss for the world." Heimerdinger greeted back eagerly. "What do we have on the docket?"

"It all began with these." Viktor and Jayce gestured to the large chest filled with eight hex crystals carefully fastened within. "Crystals of accumulated magical energy too volatile to be handled outside our workshops. Hextech was supposed to bring magic into the life of the common man."

Reaching down to the box he'd placed on a stool right before Heimerdinger, he opened it up to reveal the three Gemstones within and picked one out. "And now, it finally can. From Hex Crystals, to Hextech Gemstones. Ekko, if you'd please?"

Nodding at the cue, Ekko retrieved the nearby hammer while Jayce placed it on the anvil. Then he ignored Heimerdinger's panicked yelp and slammed the hammer down upon it as hard as he could. Upon impact, there was a swell of magical energy - "M*na, Ekko. It's called *ana." - but nothing more but little sparks of azure were released, with even the poro chasing after some.

"Holy sprockets." Heimerdinger gasped as he stood up from his instinctual crouch as he stared at the completely undamaged Gemstone.

"We've found a means to fortify the crystals. These new versions are stable and absolutely safe." Viktor explained before signaling his fellow Hextech experts to bring out their inventions. "We present to you the next chapter of Hextech."

"We can now design portable devices, each pertaining to a particular field unassociated with combat as you've probably worried about." Ekko explained, which was honestly a damned lie. Anything could be used to kill somebody. Any Zaunite (or person with common sense) knew that Hextech wasn't really necessary for that.

"Oh..." Heimerdinger hummed in acknowledgement as he put on his dark goggles. "Fire away, my boys."

Jayce started off and equipped the massive and heavy mining gauntlet he'd made, clicking open the slot for the Gemstone. "The Gemstone can power virtually anything."

The moment the Gemstone was clicked into place, the gauntlet lit up and thrummed powerfully as it magically synched up with Jayce's muscles and nerves, nullifying it's weight. Turning towards a small boulder they'd brought up for the demonstration, Jayce grabbed it singlehandedly and proceeded to crush it in seconds after lifting up the stone that was half his size and quadruple his bodyweight.

"The Atlas Gauntlets." Jayce blew off the dust on it. "The mining colonies in the Fissures can work faster and without fatigue."

'V* would love those for different reasons, though. Maybe V*nde*, too.' Ekko rubbed his brow as his head throbbed painfully again. He hated how his lost memories would frequently tease at things that were supposedly familiar to his former self.

Loading his own Gemstone in, Viktor put on the glove that remote controlled the mechanical arm at his side. "The Hex Claw. A mechanical arm, equipped with a powerful ray of light."

At his gesture, the arm fired it's laser beam at a fastened slab of rock, drawing in the yordle's face. Albeit, it proved a bit too powerful as it soon sliced through the slab's top left corner. "Imagine what our artificers could do with such a device."

"And last but not least, the Propulsor Hoverboard or Proboard for short." Ekko strapped himself to it and clicked it on. "You know how all work and no play ain't good for everybody. This here transforms the Gemstone's energy into propulsive force through it's graviton emitters."

At his command, the Proboard hovered up into the air with him on it. With ridiculous ease, Ekko flew about the room, scooping up the poro at one point and high-fiving both Viktor and Jayce upside-down. "Using transportation in a recreational manner, the Proboard can carry up to a limit of 500 pounds, reach a maximum speed of 60MPH and is capable of operating at full throttle for eight hours maximum at a constant rate before overheating. 'cause who likes their fun times to be so short?"

Jayce nodded and stepped forward as Ekko landed and dropped the poro. "I want Hextech to be a tool to build a new world. And now, it's finally possible."

"This is our presentation, Professor." Viktor stepped forward as well, with Ekko at Jayce's other side. "What are your thoughts?"

"Quite amazing, gentlemen." Heimerdinger got off the stool he'd been sitting on and took off his goggles, his words drawing pleased grins from the scientists. "You should be very proud. Obviously, there are a few kinks to iron out and screws to be tightened, but give it a decade of careful research and it will be ready."

That wiped their grins right off.

"A-A decade?" Viktor stammered in confusion.

"Oh, don't worry, my boy." Heimerdinger assured. "It zips past you in the blink of an eye."

"Sorry if this offends you, sir." Ekko stepped forward himself, clutching his Proboard tight. "But a decade won't be zipping past from the perspectives of people who weren't here when the sister city-states got built."

"Ekko's right, Professor." Viktor stressed. "We can be improving lives with Hextech now."

"A breakthrough like this takes time, my boys." Heimerdinger replied. "Putting that kind of power into everyone's hands is dangerous, especially when trying to commodify a force of nature."

"It's not these will actually be going into everyone's hands." Ekko resisted the urge to flail his hands in frustration. "Just like with any other technology, Hextech with specific functions will only be granted to those specific training for it, along with standard warnings. As good as my Proboard is, even I had to actually improve both my boarding skills and sense of inner equilibrium in order to properly utilize it. Hextech may be amazing in it's functions, but it should still follow the same rules as all other technology do. Proper use, proper results. In fact, aren't we already doing that with the Hexgates?"

"And there's the problem, Ekko." Heimerdinger shook his head regretfully. "As long as the arcane remains it's energy source, Hextech will never follow the same rules as all other technology do. You three should understand that you're invoking the life energy of the World. You think the World will accept it's misuse?"

"On the contrary, I believe that the arcane wants to be used." Ekko countered as he dropped his Proboard in frustration, it's descent coming to a floating halt above the ground. "Even without Hextech, the arcane always finds a way to express itself, even if in manners beyond understanding. The generation of waves in the seas. The uplift of clouds in the skies. We may know how these occur, but not the why. That what's Shi-"

"Acc*rdi*g to what I think my m*m said, ev*ry s*ng*e thi*g t*at is un*xplaina*le in the World is *aus*d b* it's Mana." S*i*ou sighed. "N*w *hat I'm *lder, I r**lly w*nna k*ck my y*ung*r s*lf f*r not l*st*n*ng as m*ch."

"That's wh- That's..." Ekko clutched his head in pain, even as the others looked at him in worry. "What... was I saying...?"

"Your headaches have been getting more frequent recently." Viktor fretted as he placed a hand on his shoulder in worry. "Are you-"

"It'll pass, as usual." Ekko cut him off. "At least I keep getting glimpses and bits instead of completely losing the first twelve years of my life. Anyways, about the Hextech, it's frankly impossible to guard against misuse, because there's absolutely nothing in existence that can't be misused. You might say that we should be prudent in belaying any evil Hextech might cause, but going by that logic, you'd be denying all of the good Hextech would cause, too."

"...you've made an excellent point, Ekko." Heimerdinger hummed before walking out with his poro. "Very well, I shall give it some thought and get back to you later."

"...to be honest, that went quite a bit better than I was expecting." Viktor finally spoke.

"No kidding." Jayce sighed before clapping a hand on Ekko's other shoulder. "And you thought that you'd be a bad fit for the academy's debate club."

"Haha." Ekko took a step back from them before accidentally stepping on the still floating Proboard and yelping as it flew off from his misbalanced weight to make him land heavily on the back of his head with his knees on either side and his ass pointed up. "...ow."


Violet hummed in tune with the loud music blasting through the Lanes' streets as she headed towards The Last Drop, nodding in beat to the wild party going on everywhere. As it was Progress Day for them too, every single Zaunite in sight was in the midst of celebration.

Albeit for a whole other reason than the Pilties were doing their own for.

"Hey, Vi." Claggor greeted her with a fist bump, the other hand setting down a tray of beer-filled mugs. "Drop go good?"

"Mylo's sending it over now." Vi replied. "Shirou up?"

"Yeah. He's on his last batch now. You can go see him." Claggor gestured up before turning to the others. "On behalf of Oshra Va'Zaun's Progress Day, half-off drinks for everybody till midnight!"

A roar of approving cheers followed Violet as she made her way upstairs. Entering into the hallway before the office that used to be Vander's before Shirou took it over, Violet cast a look at the woman working at a desk before it. "Hey, Sakura."

"Hello, Vi." Sakura softly replied with a somewhat tired yawn. Having followed him back from one of Shirou's various trips out of Zaun, Sakura was basically and unofficially Shirou's Number Three, right her and Shirou in the undercity's authority ranks.

If you wanted to meet Shirou for anything but neither he nor Violet were around, everyone usually turned to Sakura. As far most people knew, she was an Ionian mage like Shirou and whatever had happened when they met had made her loyal and incredibly thirsty for Violet's pseudo big brother and boss.

Of course, none of the above stopped her from being terrifying to those who thought her softness to be weakness. Mylo was still unable to ever be alone in the same room with her and had never shared the reason, even when drunk off his ass. "Hey, Sakura."

"Hmm?" Sakura looked up from her scribbling to regard Violet's presence. "Oh, hello, Vi. Do you want to see Senpai?"

"I really gotta read up on Ionian and find out why you keep calling Shirou that." Violet chucked. "Also, Shirou's free, right?"

"Back home, 'senpai' roughly translates 'senior who is slightly older than me while also practicing in the same craft' but for me means 'person who is slightly older than me that I deeply respect and attracted to in a nearly fanatical way'." Sakura replied with a serene smile. "Also, Senpai's still inside. I'm not sure if he's free, but he should give you time."

"...thanks, Sakura. Also, good luck with that... whole thing." Violet quickly made her way inside, ignoring the thanks she got from the purple-haired woman. Entering inside, Violet nearly dived into the couch at the side before turning to see the office's owner. "Drop's gone well, Shirou. Powder's in the uppercity. All that's left is to wait until later."

"Good." Shirou yawned as he slid a folder into a box before closing it, rubbing his wrists while leaning into his chair. "I think that's all for now. Progress on the levels?"

"The sump levels and everything below is now completely done with, mainly thanks to Janna. As for the Entresol and Promenade levels..." Violet made a so-so motion with her hand. "We'll still make it though. You've been planning this for years and... We've never had a chance or choice for stuff like this. You're literally going to be in history books for this."

"We're going to be history books." Shirou corrected. "I couldn't have pulled this off without everyone's support."

"Yeah, but nobody would've thought of..." Violet chuckled. "I'm just good at fighting. You need a good puncher, I'm your gal. But if while I'm sure that while nobody in Zaun is going to forget me for at least two generations, nobody in the entire fucking world is going to forget you for centuries if we pull this off."

"After we pull this off." Shirou corrected her again. "We've come too far for 'if's."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Violet huffed before getting up. "Well, I'm going down for a drink before checking out if we've forgotten anybody below."

"You do that." Shirou waved her off. "Happy Progress Day."

"Happy Progress Day." Vi closed the door behind her.


Shirou rubbed his brows after Vi left, letting himself rest a bit. There were still quite a few important things to be done today, but it was looking like he could afford a bit of rest. One again, he wondered how Benzo, Vander and Silco would react at the sight of him taking over Zaun.

'We still haven't found Vander...' Shirou sighed in depression of his missing foster uncle. Shirou, along with Vi and her siblings, had scoured the entirety of Zaun searching for both him and Ekko. They were both alive somewhere, Shirou knew and believed.

If only he knew where, he'd search through all of Runeterra to get to them-

"Senpai?"

Sakura gently grabbed his hand, alerting him both to her sudden presence and the fact that the room was shaking from his unintentional and rising release of his prana. Taking a deep breath, Shirou regained control and the room stopped shaking. "Sorry for troubling you like this. I hope I didn't spoil the party below."

"I don't think they'd notice." Sakura sat down on his lap, laying against his chest and letting him breathe in her natural scent. Maybe it was her supportive nature or just the feel of a willing and trustworthy woman so nearby, but a different kind of stress soon took over Shirou.

And it seemed she'd noticed, given how Sakura shifted her hips. "Ah~ Do you require a little release again, Senpai~?"

A few minutes later, Shirou sighed in some relief while he had his hand gently resting on Sakura's hair, watching in amazement as she took his cock into her throat like it was her oxygen.

Knowing how many people were betting on the status and details of their relationship, he wondered how Vi and the others would react to Powder winning the pool.

"I bet Shirou's the Dom in their relationship and they're already doing it."

"C'mon, Pow-Pow. You think she'd be pining like that she was getting some? Plus, you saw how she got when that white shirt of his got sweaty in the sun. That was a look that'd raise serious eyebrows if their genders were reversed."

"Sorry about interrupting you like this, Sakura." Shirou didn't get an immediate response as she took her time sucking up his shaft before pulling away to gaze up at him. If he were a lesser man, he'd have painted her face white already from just that look alone.

"I was already finished, anyways. Besides, you're making it sound like I hate this." Pausing her slow kissing to give the cock a sharp tug, she glared up at him. "That's just mean."

Mean? That was just him being concerned.

Pushing his chair back(and being grateful that it was the spinning type with wheels and swivels), Shirou easily rid her of her pants and panties before shoving her down by the shoulder and having her bent over his table with her pale booty pointed at him with lines of arousal leaking down her thighs.

*SMACK!*

Now this was mean, watching the slow reddening of her pale flesh as Shirou's palm repeatedly clapped down on both cheeks. By the time he was satisfied with their redness, Sakura's face was just as red, her butt twitching and inviting. Leaning over, Shirou yanked on her hair just as he impaled her upon his stiff member, the two groaning at their carnal connection. "How mean am I now?"

"Very mean." Sakura pushed back against his thrusts as she grasped at the table. "You might have to discipline me a bit."

"You asked for it." Reaching under her top and grabbing on to her full breasts, Shirou began to really pound Sakura into his table, making sure it was Reinforced so that it didn't suddenly break apart from the strain as his every thrust earned a throaty moan from her. Thank Janna he'd already soundproofed the walls.

"Ah~!" Sakura suddenly shuddered as she came hard on Shirou's cock just as he peaked as well, both unable to withstand the sudden surge of energy as his prana levels rose up dramatically before being drained away into her.

"Greedy little thing." Shirou growled into her ear. Flipping her about, Shirou ignored her yelp as she lifted up by her ass, allowing her wrap her limbs around him. "You'll be lucky to be conscious by the time I'm done with you."

"Go ahead and try, senpai."

His next thrust punched right into her cervix.


Morgana Pendragon hummed as she took a sip of her wine during Mel Medarda's fundraiser/cocktail party. It was amazing how despite almost all of the Councilors present, Morgana was bored out of her mind.

She could only 'discuss' with Mel so many times.

"Gana." Artoria called out as she came into view, looking as lovely as she normally did even in an Enforcer uniform. Or maybe because...? She wondered if Artoria would still look so divine-like with some of her clothes off-

'No, stop it. That's... no good.' Morgana huffed as she gently tapped her forehead to rid away those taboo thoughts. Those could be enjoyed later in the privacy of her chambers as usual. "Enjoying yourself, Tori?"

"I'm working." Artoria smiled as she stood at her side, the Pendragon sisters taking in the sunset. "Gana, do you ever think of coming out with the truth?"

*PFFFFFFF!*

Wiping her lips, Morgana hissed as she dragged her sister close enough to hiss into the golden blonde's ear. "Who told you and who do I need to fire?!"

"What?" Artoria blinked in confused surprise. "Someone has to be fired over you revealing your status as a mage?"

Okay, Morgana had a different reason to panic other than what she'd thought.

(Just to be safe, she'd have to check on the secret visual recording spell she'd planted in Artoria's bathroom.)

"Are you insane?" Morgana hissed again while gesturing at a few of the other Councilors. "You want me... to stick out my neck... for these people?! Anybody finds out that either Ekko or I are mages, it's 'off with their heads' thanks to their magic phobia."

"...Ekko's a mage?"

Morgana bravely fought the urge to roll her eyes. "What brought this up anyways?"

Artoria placed a gloved hand over her chest. "Vogel spoke to me earlier today. The person who he's been waiting here is finally nearby."

Morgan's eyes widened. The dragon, that had saved her sister's life and rarely spoke to her in her dreams, had actually had a conversation with Artoria lucid? "Do you know who it is?"

"Janna." Artoria whispered. "He said Janna was nearby, but Janna hasn't been sighted for millennia."

"In Piltover, you mean. Some of my few subordinates who have business in the undercity have often reported in various periods of winds recently clearing away the toxic air down there." Morgana pointed out. "Janna was originally supposed to be a guardian spirit for us, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't approve of how the two cities have been treating each other. Plus, Piltover's disregard for magic doesn't really help our case."

Taking a moment to sip her wine again, Morgana had to inquire into why her sister had asked such a dangerous question. "What did Vogel say?"

"Along with noting Janna's nearby presence, he also said to watch for the burning abominations from below." Artoria frowned. "According to him, 'They'll burn even your soul', and I don't think he meant that to be a hyperbole."


Jayce swallowed nervously as he stood before all of the crowd, but before he could start on his speech-

Blah blah blablah.

Jayce wasn't the only one to look around in confusion when unfamiliar music blasted out of the speakers.

Wanna join me, come and play.

But I might shoot you, in your face.

The guests screamed and gasped in surprise when all of the doors locked themselves with their security features hacked before a figure smashed through the windows from above and dropped down onto the stage.

Bombs and bullets will, do the trick.

What we need here, is a little bit of panic!

Nodding in tune with the music, the person seemed to be a young female with very long blue hair tied into two braided ponytails that hung down her back wildly while wearing a blue Kindred the Lamb mask. "Hey, everybody! It's just your friendly neighborhood Jinx today!"

Do you ever wanna catch me?

Right now I'm feeling ignored!

Sighing heavily as the Enforcers converged on her, 'Jinx' exaggeratedly flailed her arms. "To think I bothered introducing myself before I started blastin'."

So can you try a little harder?

I'm really getting bored!

Grabbing two strangely shaped grenades hanging from her waist and yanking out their pins with the 'horns' of her mask, Jinx slid past the first two Enforcers before shooting at the rest with a machine gun that fired bullets that literally froze them in place with icy restraints.

Come on, shoot faster,

Just a little bit of energy!

*BOOMKAKRACK!*

As for the first two Enforcers, Jayce came to a shocked(and slightly intrigued) discovery that there had been a function for why the grenades had been modified to have 'biting parts', as the two initial Enforcers had failed to remove them from their uniforms quick enough, leaving them trapped in icy prisons.

I wanna try something fun right now,

I guess some people call it anarchy!

Let's blow this city to ashes,

And see what Pow-Pow thinks.

Apparently satisfied with her work, Jinx hummed in satisfaction before suddenly dodging to the side and making Artoria's sneak attack useless. "Hey, I know you... I think!"

It's such pathetic neatness,

But not for long 'cause it'll get Jinxed!

Jinx clapped her hand against a device on her hips, which stopped the music, and raised her hands in a timeout manner. "Okay, hold on a bit. I think I might have set off the wrong mood here."

"Then what kind of mood did you intend to set off?" Artoria shot back, with Bedivere slowly moving to cover her from a different side. "Did you come here for the Hextech?"

Jinx gave a slow look around at the defeated Enforcers, before returning to stare at Artoria. "...do I look like I need your Hextech?"

Well, now Jayce felt a tiny bit offended despite the situation.

"Anyways, I've got a little message for all of you!" Jinx twirled about to face the still panicked guests. "Don't worry, don't be shy. It's not like I'll be robbing or killing anybody tonight. Just a little message from us down below. Then we'll be really out of your hair."

Jinx raised a hand to her ear, making Jayce finally notice the comms in her ear. "Okay, stage is set for you, Boss!"

Immediately, Jayce froze for an entire different reason as a familiar energy filled the air. It felt like being next to a Hexgate, but far more... primal. Almost as if a real...!

The atmosphere hummed loudly before the space beside Jinx crackled wildly as a surge of azure lightning and crimson flames appeared before fading away to reveal a man with white streaks in his red hair.

Unlike Jinx, he wasn't masked at all, revealing fair skin and golden eyes that surveyed the crowd before widening as they landed on Artoria. "Well, look who got hotter in the last seven years."

"...Shirou of Zaun." Artoria stoically replied. "What is your business here?"

Shirou turned back to the crowd. "It's a privilege to meet you all, ladies and gentlemen of the world. I am the Magnate Supreme of the Oshra Va'Zaun Nation. For those of you who don't get it, that is what we of the undercity will now be referring to ourselves as."

Bedivere's grip on his rifle tightened. "What are your demands? What did you come here for?"

"I am here to simply alert you of our enfranchisement." Shirou's words caused a huge wave of shock from them all, especially the Piltovans. "We have grown tired of living off nothing but your runoff, getting discriminated against and having our children die from just breathing the toxic fumes caused by your factories and mines that you've repeatedly refused to do anything about. We are done being your sumprats. So now, we're leaving. We've already been making our preparations for a long while now and to make it really poetic, we just about finished it... today."

"That's right! While we've been talking to you guys, we just finished up with the transports." Slapping an arm around Shirou's shoulders, Jinx swung around him like he was a fixed pole. "Good luck finding any Zaunite down there~!"

"...what?" Jayce and Artoria looked to see Viktor's staggering form as he approached them. "Th-There isn't anybody in the Lanes again? The Fissures are... They're empty?!"

"Yup!" Jinx hummed. "All cleared out!"

"Viktor, even as you are, you're still a Zaunite like us." Shirou gave Viktor a soft smile. "You can always come join us in Oshra Va'Zaun, our new home."

"I..." Viktor reluctantly stood where he was.

Despite the mask on her face, it wasn't hard to notice Jinx's obvious anger at Viktor's hesitance. "Hey-"

"It's fine, Jinx." Shirou cut her off. "Take your time, Viktor. Eventually, you will come join us in the dawn. Completely of your own free will. Oh, and one more thing..."

Crackles of colorful arcane surged off his form as he grabbed Jinx closer. "There is something extremely important that you all must know... My name is Shirou Emiya... and I am a Magician... So Happy Progress Day!"

With a flashing crackle of magical energy, Shirou and Jinx vanished leaving a silent hall... until Artoria suddenly started.

"Ah." Her eyes widened. "I forgot to tell him about Ekko..."


"Just as Magnate Supreme Emiya said..." Enforcer Sherriff Marcus swallowed as he reported to the Council with Artoria, Viktor and Ekko present. "We're still conducting searches, but so far, the undercity is completely empty... They're all gone, even the factory workers that lived as closely upwards as possible. There isn't a single person from the Underground anywhere for miles except these two."

"Of all times to sleep my headache off..." Ekko bemoaned.

Heimerdinger sighed as Marcus gestured at Viktor and Ekko behind him. "How did it come to this?"

"With all due respect, sir. This has been coming for years." Marcus spoke up before he could stop himself. "I admit that before I took over this job from Sheriff Grayson, I was also... discriminatory against those of the undercity. Even she thought that the Day of the Bleeding Bridge was her greatest shame for her participation and nothing more than a sign of things to come... This... I honestly thought that before they'd either leave or die trying to kill us all, we'd get an actual bloody civil war far worse than the Bleeding Bridge instead of... this."

"Hmm." Pendragon the Elder crossed her arms under her impressive bust in worry. "Oshra Va'Zaun... A name we used to own before we split into two. Just how long have we been out of touch?"

"Too long." Councilor Shoola said. "They may not be your preferred constituents, but they were still our people. Unfortunately, it seems that we've stopped being the same people for a long while."

"The under- Oshra Va'Zaun have clearly decided that they refuse to be controlled by us any longer." Councilor Kiramman added somberly. "And have displayed it in a way that all of Runeterra knows it."

"So where does that leave us?" Councilor Salo asked in a worried fashion.

"Sheriff-Marcus." Councilor Bolbok spoke up. "What-is-your-recommendation-to-this-scenario?"

"Officially? Give a statement that we will be handling things and Piltover is still standing strong." Marcus gulped as he thought it over. "Unofficially? Panic as quietly as I can in my bed at home while hugging my daughter. I'm not sure if you all remember this, but at least 70% of Piltover's industrial workings were performed by Zaunites, who are usually ignored by Piltovans. At best."

Marcus swallowed as he grimaced. "Oh god, there's going be an industrial crash soon enough. We just won't have enough people to keep everything running as it normally does."

The prominent workers were one thing, but the average orderlies? The laborers? The miners? The technicians? The uppercity may have been more affluent than the undercity, but they were severely underpopulated compared to the Underground. It could be roughly asserted that were five Zaunites for every Piltovan, and he may have taken up law enforcement, but Marcus could easily see the incoming economic bombs heading Piltover's way. And if even he could see it...

Pendragon the Younger sighed. "Pardon my language, but we're so fucked."

Pendragon the Elder chuckled humorlessly. "Your language is pardoned."

"War is a failure of statecraft..." Everybody in the chamber turned to Councilor Medarda after her words. "It seems that we're at an impasse. If we do not act soon and sensibly, the city will suffer and we will have left ourselves vulnerable to malefactors. Even though the people of the undercity left us in a completely bloodless manner compared to the travesty of seven years ago, there is no denying that this is a far more tremendous impact than they've ever made. It absolutely won't be bloodless if we try to drag any of them back here. Perhaps the time has come to reexamine our relationship with the people of... Oshra Va'Zaun."

"That is exactly why I have come before you all with a possible solution." Pendragon the Younger stepped past Marcus, surprising the Sheriff as she dragged Viktor and Ekko by their shoulders. "Along with being Zaunites, Magnate Shirou showed no animosity with Viktor when he hesitated to follow him and Ekko was close to him before he lost his memories. With these three, I believe that I can lead a diplomatic team to reignite a new alliance with Oshra Va'Zaun as we did centuries ago."


"Hey, Damian!" A Stillwater guard ran towards his friend and fellow guard hastily. "Did you hear the news about the undercity?"

"Don't be daft, Jon." The other guard scoffed. "It's all the others are talking about. Every Zaunite in here's going crazy about it! Leaving to form their own country!"

Jon frowned. "Do you think they'll pull it off?"

Damian scoffed. "Didn't you hear? The guy in charge of them all is a fucking mage! Of course a freak like that's gonna pull it off. They're still searching, but they still haven't found a person in the Fissures. Even most of the usually abandoned corpses are gone, seeming as they now have the chance to actually bury them somewhere under the clear sky. Osra-whatchamacallit."

"Oshra Va'Zaun." Jon clarified.

"Well, whatever."

As the two kept walking and talking about other matters, they ignored the cell of a particular Zaunite.

This Zaunite had been brought in to Stillwater Hold and had been imprisoned for seven long years. When he'd been brought in with a mangled and cauterized jaw, horrifically burned arms and brutalized legs, the doctor at the time had declared that he'd be dead of his injuries soon enough.

The Zaunite fondly remembered the memory of spitting in that doctor's face, even if it had gotten him a beating, heavy solitude and many missed meals.

He also got lots of 'chats'.

But at that moment, whether in a fit of rage, shock or excitement, nothing had brought back life to the man with the orange-in-black eye as much as the mention of 'Oshra Va'Zaun' had.

"Oh, Shirou... And here I thought I'd failed to make you chase after the Dawn..."


KingVessel: Hey, Piltover... GET FUCKED. Anybody getting the Old Testament Exodus vibes? Also, I'm baaaaaack! ...for now.