THE DREADNOUGHT
The very few lights of distant furnaces and machines of deep Dredge were all that kept the shadows from fully taking over the chaotic mash of rock and structure.
Not that he would mind. He minded nothing at that point. When one became such as him, time became nothing. Pain became nothing.
One would see those depths as one of total misery, condemnation. With any bare of food or water, or even air for any whom could stand it. Where people are just thrown away, left to shrivel and die. Where cruelty reigned and the disregard for life was absolute.
Because time became nothing, and thus pain became nothing, these depths were not what he saw. He saw grounds of growth, instead. Grounds where only those worthy had the permission to thrive. Where 'cruelty' was but a fancy worth to discard the primoridal law of Nature, the only law that ever mattered, all for the sake of 'civilization'. All in the name of Nurture.
He learned better at the deep Dredge. Nurture only fed dependency further and further. Civilization was a fancy word of 'hierarchy' defined by material possessions, political status and a known name.
All of this only served to breed weakness. And in the Dredge, weakness was death.
Not much different from... then.
"Mighty one."
A voice calls his attention, as he remains at the shadows, in contemplation. One of the Mouths. An apparent frail, smaller being, in comparison to him.
"Speak.", the Dreadnought commanded.
"Eyes have seen and ears have heard, and at first even I did not believe them.", the Mouth spoke, stopping to await the Dreadnought's permission.
"You believe I will not believe, as well.", the Dreadnought concluded, and the Mouth nodded.
One of the Dreadnought's devices, one of the Six, is locked, loaded and pointed at The Mouth whom stares at him, nervous.
"A lesson to be taught once and learned as much the same.", the Dreadnought uttered. "A Mouth does not believe. Just as an Eye doesn't smell and a Hand beholds nothing. A Mouth does solely what it does. Now, again... speak."
The Mouth lowered his head as the one of the Six is retracted. "The very topside burns.", he said. "The Council of Piltover, all in ruins. Panic and fear grips both cities."
The Dreadnought remained silent.
"The Undercity chokes under the Chem-Barons, and you bring us news of the fleas above their heads...", a new voice, a female one, spoke as it walked forward, revealing herself from the shadows. The feminine frame under a makeshift black dress of stitched rags, adorned with metal shoulder pads and a torso armor, with skin as pale as the Dreadnought's was and a bald head. She raised her arm, revealing the overextended metal nails she always adored for weapons. "I would cut your cords..."
"And the Mouth would have no use, Rhott.", the Dreadnought raised his voice, giving the female one pause. "The words are said. Leave."
The Mouth nodded and turned to leave both master and faithful Hand.
"Good as they be, Mighty Dreadnought, these news change nothing.", Rhott said.
The Dreadnought stared at Rhott. "An animal loses it's head.", he said, musing of... then. "Nothing more to give pause to it's body. To keep it from aimlessly wandering, trampling, and clawing. Itself, it's own, those around it. And you dare call this nothing."
Rhott nodded, reluctantly.
"I call this a sign.", the Dreadnought concluded, starting to look upwards. "The time is nigh. At long last..."
Final Notes
(Circa early 2022, when it was concluded):
So, here we are. I confess, I'm one of the ones whom were amongst those whom didn't give a crap about the League of Legends' universe. That is, even if there were no reasoning behind it, like, being a MOBA inspired by WarCraft III, the gameplay was just not being that appealing to me (I'm more of the RTS type), the lore is the usual fantasy world galore, etcetera, I just couldn't get behind this one bandwagon. Of course, that was so until Arcane came up. And pretty much like Kenneth Brannagh's Thor did for a Marvel hero, it made me pique my interest in something I didn't think I'd ever get behind, it was this good enough for me, both for it's immersion, scale and narrative weight. So, I felt an obligation to write some tribute to it, even though this is admittedly a hypothetic scenario and not whatever the Riot/Netflix partnership is cooking up for (possibly) 2023-24.
The prologue is pretty straightforward, introducing the characters involved (plus a new one) while bringing readers up to speed, regardless if the memories of Acts I-III are still fresh on their minds or the readers are newcomers or aliens to this, while the story post-title sets the stage for each character to explore their arcs across this Fanfic while also dishing out some action that sets out events in motion and breaks the pace of dialogue. We also get an intro both the political status of Piltover and Zaun and their reactions to the cataclysmic event good dearly Jinx dished out in Act III, and yes, even Zaun isn't keen about that, because it's pretty much 'what if Al Capone detonated a nuke', it did screw up everybody's business, it became Piltover's 9/11. Finally, it introduces the new primary villain who'll serve to motion the wheels of the story and conflict (while still keeping the supposed 'introduction' in the Season 2 announcement vid, though as an antagonist monster rather than a villain - there is a difference between the terms).
The idea was forming slowly in my head prior to writing this Fanfic that was brewing on my head (What a good universe introduction won't do to you...), and I admit I may have dived in with a minimum of research done, especially when considering writing the characters involved, especially new and secondary (By this, read: the characters whose timeline and narrative divergencies may clash, but, fanfic, of course). Those whom will want to correct on reviews, I won't mind, of course. And yes, the writing style I took in this pretty much mirrors how a supposed episode would play out, changing perspectives between characters, establishing as a minimum of dialogue as possible and letting the scenery and situations speak for themselves. The one slight complication, though it was fun too, was with Jinx on this regard, in explaining her POV and motivations, which is why the writing regarding her was different, as it's meant to subtly communicate with her. The 4th wall on reverse, if you will.
Until the next chapter.
P.S. Yes, the scene with 'We-All-Know-Who' is meant to be taken as first-person. Adds a lot to the horror element related to it.
