Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pulling herself out of the rubble, Laura saw through blurry eyes. Her head was in pain, memories a bit lost in the haze. Around her the warehouse was a wreck. A wreck almost beyond anything that she had seen before.

While her eyes adjusted, her other senses were practically in overdrive. Sounds were clearer and louder. Smells from far, far away reached her nose. Even touch was in high gear. She could feel the vibrations of the surroundings and the pain from what had fallen and tore into her body. More importantly however, she felt the body still underneath hers. Acting quickly, she dug out Molly. The younger girl was barely breathing, debris having pierced much of her torso. With earlier events flooding, she vaguely remembered a woman, and then a familiar voice screamed in her head.

“What’s going on?! Why is my body in your arms?! Laura! Please tell me this is a dream!”

Turning her head slightly, she saw a shimmering purple form. A ghost or apparition. One of Molly Hayes.

“Molly...I don't know. I wish I did but I don’t.” Laura said.

“I’m dead aren't I?” Molly inquired.

Laura took a moment to judge whether the truth would be better or worse. It was difficult, the female clone of Wolverine not really having much experience in the supernatural. Quickly figuring it better to rip off the bandage so to speak, Laura told Molly what seemed to be the truth of the moment.

“It seems so.” Laura answered.

“...Let's see if anyone else survived.” Molly replied, pain and sadness in her voice.

Getting up, Laura trekked through the ruins. Following her nose, she tracked a familiar scent. Powder’s scent. Seeing a figure carrying the blue-haired girl, Laura ran, screaming her name.

“POWDER!”

The blue-haired girl shuddered at that, fearing that the ghosts had already come to haunt her. The man carrying her had heard the screams as well, even feeling the fear rolling off the child. Holding each other tighter, one was ready to start weeping while the other was mentally preparing to fight.

Laura stepped out into the alleyway, Molly beside her, a faint smile on her face. Which promptly dropped once she saw who was carrying her baby sister. Silco. The man who had been a huge part of this whole disaster. Her claws popped out, a sharp and audible “snikt” heard by all. Stepping forward she was ready to pry Powder from his hands, then she saw the fear in the blue-haired girl’s eyes. Retracting her claws, she decided that maybe the best course of action at this point would be to talk rather than fight. All fighting had done this night was cause death and destruction anyway.

Silco and Powder had noticed the fast change in demeanor. For the former, it was a surprise, he had been ready to order Sevika to fight with the girl. For the latter, it gave her some hope that maybe this was actually Laura and not just a ghost here to terrorize her.

“Who might you be?” Silco asked Laura.

“My name is Laura. And that's my baby sister you got in your arms.” Laura replied, voice tinged with anger.

“Laura! What are you doing? Beat his ass, grab Powder and get out of here!” Molly exclaimed, ready to kick ass, if she still could.

Laura just turned and shushed Molly. An action that once again caught attention.

“Who are you shushing?” Silco inquired.

“Someone only I can see, apparently.” Laura replied, annoyed at how this is likely to get old quickly.

Silco hummed at that. Ghosts were mostly just a folktale, but today he had seen more than his fair share of new, strange occurrences. Even had been part of the cause of one with Deckard and the Shimmer. A low, almost eerily quiet voice snapped him from his musing.

“Laura. Is that really you?” inquired the blue-haired youngling.

“Yeah, Pow. It's me.” Laura said, tentatively taking a step forward.

The young girl jumped out of Silco’s arms, barreling into Laura. Just to feel that she was real. The emotions of both went high at that, particularly relief and sadness. Relieved that the other was okay. Sad at what they had lost in just a short amount of time. Silco was ready to head off by himself when the blue-haired girl ran back over to him, clutching his hand. Not wanting him to go without her. Laura had seen this, and carefully considered her next actions and words.

“Silco. Would you take us both in?” Laura hesitantly asked the man.

“Your sister, yes. You? Why should I?” Silco questioned.

“I can do anything you want. Need a deadly fighter? Someone killed? A spy to make sure no one gets the better of you? I can do all that. Just don’t take my family away from me. Please.” Laura said, the last part practically begging.

Silco considered. He painfully took his time, mulling over her words. Then he turned to the youngest living person there, deciding that it should be her choice. Laura was not shocked by that. Making a child do that kind of decision making. He was a bastard, and he knew it. The young girl had to take a bit longer to consider. Eventually, it was decided that yes, Laura could go with them, but that she had to call the blue-haired girl by her new name. Jinx.

Molly had not been happy about any part of this arrangement. She even refused to talk to Laura for a while. Considering the older girl was the only person who could see and hear her however, that quickly fell through. Sometime later, Laura had gone back for Molly’s body, the pulse that was there earlier now gone. Finding out she truly was dead had been devastating for the young Earthling. Only one person could hear her sobs and screams.

If there was one upside to being a ghost stuck with Laura, it was that Molly could still interact with the world in some way. One was lending Laura her strength, the two becoming a bit of a dynamic duo in the Undercity. Another was that while she made no sound, she could still nudge things under the right conditions. Molly absolutely loved screwing with the more superstitious patrons of The Last Drop when she got the chance. It was so fun!

When questioned on what had happened to the others, it was only confirmed that Jinx and Laura likely survived. Mylo, Claggor, and Molly are all dead. Vi and Skaar were unaccounted for. Knowing Skaar, he was still alive, just holed up somewhere licking his wounds. While the whereabouts of Vi are a mystery. All Jinx knew was that she had run away the night of the explosion and never turned back. Hearing that had hurt both Laura and Molly.

“Laura, to my office please.” Silco said over the small communicator she had on her.

Silently walking up the stairs, she made her way to the office of her “uncle.” She was never going to consider him a father, even if Jinx did. Jinx was more than happy to try making this work. Silco and Laura were her only family after all. Her baby sister was definitely still dealing with some things mentally, but Laura’s presence had given her peace on some parts of it.

Entering into the office, Laura saw that Silco sat by himself in his fancy chair. He is the Big Man in charge of the Undercity after all. Taking a seat on this side of the desk, Laura quietly knocked on it once to give him notice she was here.

“Punctual this time. Good. Now then, I need you to tell me of the latest scrap you got into. Was Marcus not holding up part of his end?” Silco inquired, the last sentence almost a threat to the man that was not here.

“He was. His subordinates? Not so much. They tried getting a favor from me.” Laura replied monotone.

“What kind of favor?”

“Pretty girl in the Undercity. Shitty cops looking for power. Take a wild guess.”

“Hmmmmm. Is that all?”

“Yeah. That's all.” Laura half-lied. She may hate the pigs but even after all these years, she had no love for Silco.

“Then you may leave.” Silco said, adding one more thing before Laura left his office. “Pay your sister a visit. She's been itching to show you one of her latest inventions.”

Silently nodding, Laura made her way out of The Last Drop and over to Jinx’s favorite hiding place. It was not too far away and just the right kind of place for her sister to do what she does best. The blue-haired girl mostly stayed there by herself despite Silco saying she could stay at The Last Drop at any time. Laura was there more often, usually to try getting wasted. It hardly ever happened. Thanks mutant powers, she sarcastically thought to herself.

Making her way to her sister’s, she was curious about just what Jinx was making. So was Molly for that matter. Appearing in Laura’s peripheral vision, the ghost girl floated alongside her adoptive older sister. Small talk was not something they did often, at least not in public. Even the people of the Undercity looked at you funny when nobody else could see the ghost you were talking to. Or when you were dealing with voices in your head, as Jinx herself had learned. None of them had even imagined years ago that this is where they would be today. All thought it would be them and their other siblings living a relatively peaceful life here in the Undercity.

The inside of Jinx’s hideout was spacious, looking like a huge fan lying on its side. If it was a massive fan, it must have stopped working years ago. Currently she was jamming out to what she liked to call her “theme song.” Not that Laura would disagree. It fit the blue-haired girl perfectly.

Once her baby sister finally spun around did Jinx notice her presence. The blue-haired girl was not startled one bit, actually jumping in glee at Laura being here. Holding out her arms wide for a hug, the young mutant woman nearly had the wind knocked out of her by Jinx practically crashing into her. They stood and held each other in the embrace for a minute or so, Jinx being the one to end it so she could show her older sister some of what she had built. It would go on for hours, Laura and Molly smiling at the blue-haired girl’s excitement and enthusiasm. Eventually however, the time would come for them all to rest. Staying here at Jinx’s for the night, Laura took the floor while her baby sister flopped onto the couch. Sleep would sadly elude Laura for some time, her thoughts keeping her up, and when she did fall asleep, it would be dreams of lives not lived.

Within days after her and Jinx’s impromptu sleepover, the younger girl would come to Laura about news, about rumors, that she had heard. Vi is alive. Heading to a high enough location in the Undercity, Jinx lit the torch that Vi had given her years ago, Laura squatting not too far away. Even Laura and Molly wanted to see if this rumor was true or not. They all would get their answer soon enough

Chapter Text

Miles sometimes almost regrets letting himself get hooked on the idea of the multiverse, if only just barely. Sure, Spider-Society is no longer what it once was, now being more of a casual meet and greet type of deal than a full-blown organization with the idea of guarding the whole Spider-Verse. Did not mean that sometimes things still got crazy because of it. Miguel had unknowingly made separate holes in the multiverse trying to protect “canon,” giving other people more trouble than they needed. That included essentially other multiverses starting to pop in and take part in this chaos.

He got to meet some crazy cool people because of it however. Definitely hanging out with Virgil and Richie next time things calmed down for them all. Maybe Danny, Ben, and Mark could join them. Scratch that, maybe just Danny or Ben. Mark is too busy dealing with his own shit most of the time and has honestly grown to be a bit of a shut-in at points.

The multiverse was so cool and so strange. Take for example where he just ended up after chasing a crazy blue-haired girl with a rocket launcher. It was a lot like Nueva York, just more divided by class and power it seems. Technology was about the same, give or take depending on which part of this place he was in.

Falling, he launched his webs and caught himself, swinging around to stick to a wall. Landing on the side of a building, he clung to it and took another look around. Been here for well over a month and still can’t fully wrap his head around being here. He missed his home, missed his parents, missed Gwen and the other Spiders. Yet he was not giving up. He didn’t give up when Spot threatened him and everyone else, he was not giving up now either. Even if the severity of the situation was a bit lesser than a villain looking to destroy everything Miles held near and dear.

The grinding of metal against metal was heard, craning his neck up just slightly, Miles saw one of the saner minds in this universe using her huge gauntlets to slide down the side safely. Vi, one of Piltover’s Finest. She honestly reminded him of Gwen in a way. While in many other ways she did not.

“Hey Spidey. How's it hanging?” Vi asked, voice full of mirth, quietly laughing at her own joke.

“It’s been good.” replied Miles, adding. “Terrible joke, by the way.”

“Like you could do any better.”

“I can, and I have. You're just never there to see and hear it.”

Vi snorted at that, not believing the wall-crawler one bit. Not like she should, he was still an unknown variable in this situation, having popped in out of nowhere to do vigilante stuff. She had no problem with vigilantes, Ekko is one after all, but this guy was someone to be cautious with. He was superhuman without the need of Hextech OR Shimmer.

An explosion nearby alerted them to an altercation happening. Jumping off the side and running from building to building, they would not find Jinx but some random people aping her style. They like to call themselves the Inx. How creative. Acting quickly, they dealt with the wannabes easily, the leader making threats that Jinx would avenge them or something to that effect. Yeah right. Jinx would never care about them, no matter how much the Inx worshipped her.

Tying them up with the webs, Miles suspended the copycat gang in the air while he and Vi waited for Caitlyn and others. Sighing as he stood there, his thoughts once again on those he missed. Shaking his head, he pushed those to the side for now. He got home once, he can do it again. Maybe he could meet Jayce and Viktor, the creators of Hextech, and get a plan sorted for a portal. Maybe he could let them study the tech in his wristband and see if they could reverse engineer what allowed him to stay here and make a portal or some such that way.

As he paced and considered ways to get back home, he also thought of what brought him here. Jinx hadn’t just gone through a tear, had she? It almost seemed like she had made her own way to jump through the multiverse. There was no glitching, no pain, no spasms when she was jumping around Nueva York. Miles also swore he saw something fall out of her grasp and crash to the ground when he tackled her. At the very least he knew it was a random tear that led them back to the Twin Cities.

His thoughts would be interrupted by Vi placing a hand on his shoulder, a look of concern on her face. She had seen him pacing, nothing unusual, but once he started sparking while doing it was when her concern started. Then he started walking up and down the surroundings while pacing and she just felt the need to stop him. He may have been making headlines but even he needed to not freak everyone out just yet.

“You good?” Vi asked Miles.

“Yeah. Just overthinking a bit.”

“Understandable. Need someone to bounce ideas off of?”

“Only if you can understand the basics of the multiverse and theoretical physics.”

“That may be something to talk to Cupcake about.”

“Nah. I doubt even Caitlyn could understand half of my words most of the time in the field anyway.”

“Can’t say I didn’t make a suggestion.”

“Yeah.”

“You'll make it home. I know you will.”

“How?”

“You'll find a way. Everybody, and I mean everybody, finds their way home at some point.”

Chapter Text

Ending up in a town filled with pirates was not on Va Nee Gast’s or Skaar’s list of things to do. Never had been, but that’s where they ended up. Bilgewater was a city of outlaws, and many were unsurprisingly pretty nasty. Both have met some people more than willing to be diplomatic than any others however. Miss Sarah Fortune and Illaoi.

Sarah had taken control from a despot named Gangplank, also known as the Reaver-King. She was aiming to make Bilgewater a better place, not just for herself and her crew, but for all, and she meant ALL. Gangplank had ruled with an iron fist through fear and death. Miss Fortune is trying to be diplomatic, yet all some see is someone soft looking to take control of a system built on power. Thankfully, she had some help from the Kraken Priestess.

Illaoi is well-known among the populace, especially her people, the Buhru. Known as the Truth Bearer, she is a follower of the goddess Nagakabouros. Using the power granted to her, she judges the worthiness of all who come before her.

Both of them are some of the more amicable people of the Serpent Isles. Sarah had found an unconscious Voyager half-clinging to a boulder poking out of the sea when out on the water with her crew. Once close, Sarah saw that the daughter of the Grandmaster was still breathing, and not wanting to be cruel, pulled the young woman up onto her boat. Ordering her crew to clear a cot and get together some medical supplies, Sarah had Va treated. All the injuries were some mild bruising. They did however need to get the water out of her lungs, which would not be difficult once the right point on the body was found.

While the Fortune crew were sailing back to land, two of the Buhru would see someone walking out of the water and onto the sands. He is a young boy with gray skin and black tattoos. Eyes with grayish-green irises and black sclera. The boy seemed almost non-human with how he so easily trudged out of the water. That illusion would be broken once the boy collapsed upon setting foot on the stone and wood surroundings.

Apprehensive at first, the two Buhru would take the boy and bring him to the temple to be healed and maybe even judged. Illaoi would be somewhat taken aback by the unconscious one's appearance. Not one to leave a child in need helpless, she ordered healers to take a look at the boy. Nothing serious would be found, beyond this strange energy almost reminiscent of the power Nagakabouros gave her chosen people.

He would wake up some time later. Looking around the strange new place he found himself in, he got up intending to take a secretly wander, only to be greeted by the Kraken Priestess herself.

“Good to see you are awake. May I inquire as to your name child?” Illaoi said.

“My name is Skaar. Where am I?” introduced the boy, now known as Skaar.

“You currently reside in the Buhru Temple.” replied Illaoi.

“Buhru?”

“Do you not know of my people?”

“That I do not know.”

“What of Bilgewater?”

“Don’t know that either.”

“Then follow me, Skaar. Let me show you the island.”

“May I get your name first?”

“You may. My name is Illaoi.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Illaoi only nodded at that. Leading the way, she showed Skaar around the pirate city and around other parts of the island that she could. Not everything is stable and/or habitable by the living people here. Harrowings have changed certain towns and locations, making the dead rule and the corrupted run about. One town nearby had even been blocked off so none could get in or out.

Skaar was pretty nonplussed by it all. While a city of outlaws would be surprising to any other person, the Gamma Mutate grew up on a planet where there were many slave traders and other such criminal activity. Nothing about this town was going to wow him. Illaoi mentally noted his disenchantment.

Seeing Miss Fortune’s ship returning to port, Illaoi went to greet her friend, Skaar following. Shaking hands, Illaoi and Sarah talked quietly after the latter questioned why the boy was following the former around. Explaining the strange circumstances of his arrival, Sarah would bring up the stranger that she and her crew had found in the waters.

“Seems we both have met someone new.” Illaoi said.

“Think your goddess is testing us or something?” Sarah asked sarcastically.

“No. I do not know what to think.”

Voyager would awaken soon enough. She would be asked of her attire and how she wound up in the seas. Answering sheepishly, she explained everything. It was a story that would seem unbelievable if not for the Harrowings and what they brought to the Serpent Isles. Or even the stories of the Shadow Isles and the horrors that lie there.

Voyager and Skaar would acclimate to their new surroundings eventually. It would take longer for the daughter of the Grandmaster than the son of the Hulk. Skaar lived for the moment, let the past lay there, all while Va tried looking to the future while reminiscing on the past. Both had also taken a keen interest the Buhru. While going about studying Buhru tradition one day, Voyager would see that Nagakabouros could judge those who went before the Truth Bearer. Intent on seeing this for herself and wishing to be judged for her mistakes, Va asked to be judged.

Giving the young woman her wish, Illaoi called upon the power of Nagakabouros, only for nothing to happen. That confused the Kraken Priestess and all others present. Calling on her goddess again, Illaoi would see nothing happen. Others would whisper, wondering why the Goddess would not cast judgment. Did she find the outsider completely unworthy and did nothing because of it?

Va had an idea of just what it could be however. Her father is an Elder of the Universe. Practically a cosmic god. He held infinite cosmic power, yet all he did with it is host his Contest of Champions every so often. Maybe Nagakabouros understood just what Voyager is and felt that judging her was not necessary.

While Voyager and others wondered, Skaar heard the faint doubt of the Buhru people. Knowing what power a god could hold just through belief, Skaar internally smirked a bit. Remembering that this kind of stuff could be sacred to others, he would step up to be judged. While he may not be a believer of Nagakabouros, he did not wish his saviors to lose their way. Illaoi called upon her goddess once again, and this time she would answer. Nagakabouros’ spectral arms and tentacles shot out of the ether, wrapping around the boy. He struggles at first, his instincts kicking in, then he calms and lets the goddess cast her judgment. Visions would pass through the minds of the Kraken Priestess and Sakaarson, visions of both past and future. Visions of a Ruination.

Chapter Text

In one universe, Jinx launched a rocket at the Piltover City Council building, destroying it and leaving chaos in its wake. That is not what happened in this universe.

Long before Galactus’ consumption of the planet Earth but during the middle stages of Thanos’ zombie apocalypse, one young man had tried to fight the now-zombified Incredible Hulk. Santo Vaccarro, better known to many as Rockslide, was launched by an unrestrained hit from the Hulk. Launched high into the air, through the whole atmosphere and into the vastness of space. Long did Rockslide fly through, his momentum barely ceasing. Passing by stars and planets, in his loneliness a deep sadness grew. He wished that one day he could see someone real once again.

Eventually, his wishes would be made true. As he awoke, he saw an unknown planet before, coming up fast. Falling through the atmosphere, the kinetic energy grew into heat, burning bright blue. And as he fell, the city of Piltover grew more in his vision. A building with a large glass window would be his destination. Once he landed he would fall unconscious once more.

When he awoke again, Rockslide saw the destruction he had caused. He had not just destroyed the window, he had destroyed the entire building. Pulling himself together, he saw the bodies of the broken and bruised around him, the nearby city eerily still.

A cough sounded nearby. Jogging over to where it came from, he pulled the rubble off of whoever was under. It was a woman wearing a white dress with gold accents, golden make-up barely showing through the dirt and grime now covering her face. Having no real idea of what to do, especially with his big stone hands, he only sat on his knees and watched as the woman continued coughing and tried pulling herself up.

“Please…help… the others…” wheezed the woman, doing her best to gesture to whoever else she could make out in the rubble.

Rockslide nodded, getting up and doing his best to move it all and save who he could. It was what he should be doing. He needed to be the hero. He wants to be a hero. Those were what he thought as he ran around and pulled out whoever he could.

One of the people he did pull out was much more conscious than any other. A robotic man, coughing as he got up like the others did, his vision clearer than theirs. He saw the huge young golem man, and first thought he had been if he was hallucinating. Second had been the thought that this was a monster that was acting good to get something out of them. Pulling himself up, he saw that the others also saw Rockslide, and were having thoughts of their own.

Enforcers would soon be on the scene. First they would think themselves hallucinating upon seeing Rockslide. After a minute or two of staring, they pulled out their weapons and started firing. Santo felt the bullets bounce off his stone body. Aiming to help the people trapped first, he was stopped by a rope sharing his right wrist. It was pulled back and off his body, surprising the Piltovans. That gave them a minor pause before their aim became to pull this supposed monster limb from limb. Once apart and without a body, Rockslide’s Astral form floated, watching the people who tore him apart. He thought of pulling together a new body again but decided to watch and wait. See how all of this would turn out.

Time would pass and Rockslide would make his new body. It would be a bit slimmer and more compact than any other before while still large, not wishing to cause more chaos than he already had. Moving through the streets of the Undercity, he wandered.

Getting roped into the chaos that was sisterly rivalry between Vi and Jinx was never on his plan of things to do. However, once he noticed a familiar face of Laura and how she tied into it, that’s when he decided to step into the ring. She was fighting Vi on a pretty even playing field, the magenta-haired girl giving her adoptive sister no quarter, when Santo stepped in. His cloak flapped in the wind, he readied a gut punch as the battling duo got close, then wham! Right into Vi’s stomach the hit landed, knocking her back a couple feet. Knowing his own strength and not wishing to utterly crush someone, Rockslide had heavily held back. When Vi got back up, ready to continue this fight, he thought of how he maybe should have packed more power into that hit. Throwing off his cloak, he now stood at eight feet tall, all stone skin and muscle, ready to fight.

Chapter Text

The explosion had rocked the entire building, turning it to rubble and ruins. Molly had activated her powers at the last second, giving herself heightened durability alongside her super-strength. Knocked to lower ground, she would be stuck under the rubble. Pushing up on the rubble trapping her, with great strain the aura would start forming into a bubble. Pushing upwards, she would essentially dig herself out of the ruins.

From Molly’s perspective, nobody else seems to be around. Wandering off on her own, she would walk the streets of the Undercity hoping to find Vi or Laura, hoping to find either of her big sisters. Unknown to her, both were nowhere near. Vi was kidnapped and taken to a Piltovan prison by Enforcer Marcus, while Laura had been left behind and had been taken by Singed.

Despite the heightened durability, Molly was by no means invulnerable. She had taken on a number of injuries. Cuts, bruises, some internal bleeding and a mild concussion. Collapsing in an alley nearest her home, she would be left there by many, only Madame Babette would help the young girl. Taking Molly to somewhere safe, she had some of her people treat the girl's wounds. Having heard rumors of Vander’s kidnapping by Silco, all Babette could do was wait.

Waking up a week or two later, Molly would find herself in unfamiliar surroundings though thankfully meeting a somewhat familiar face. Babette is a friend of Vander's, and had even become a family friend to the seven younglings. The two would sit in silence for a bit, Babette even asking if a plate of food could be made for Molly.

“What happened, child?” Babette inquired.

“So, so much. Too much to properly explain quickly.” Molly replied, still a bit shaken by the experience.

“Then explain it slowly. We have the time.”

And so, Molly did just that. It all had taken long to explain, Molly having to stop at many points. Sometimes to eat or drink, oftentimes to regain herself, nearly breaking down when recalling some of the more terrifying aspects.

Babette could not blame the girl. She kept an ear to the ground, listening for what may have happened at the old factory. What she had heard was disheartening to say the least. There was no doubt however that what Molly had experienced would shape the girl going forward.

Both knew that the young girl could stay with the old Yordle woman. Mostly due to Babette’s business. While many knew of it, younglings were meant to stay away, and hoping to find a familiar face, Molly went searching for Ekko. Babette had told her the news of Benzo’s death, but the young girl was by no means looking for the dead man. Molly would break down the door to Benzo’s shop, having found it locked. Ekko would spring out of the shadows inside holding a makeshift weapon. Stopping himself once he saw who it was, Ekko would drop the bat and hug his friend.

The two would stick together through thick and thin throughout the years, even founding the Firelights together. However, one day things would finally cause them to break. Ekko found that the timing based maneuvers and hit-and-run tactics worked perfectly and that no change was needed while Molly was getting antsy, feeling the need to bring the fight against both Silco and Piltover to the forefront. This argument would get heated and intense, ending with Molly quitting the Firelights and going her own way. No news of any attack by a reckless teenage girl with super-strength would be reported, leaving Ekko to think that maybe she had reconsidered and would return. Staying up all night, Molly would not return.

Molly had stormed out with the intent of wreaking havoc, getting close to the front door of The Last Drop. She would make it a few feet in front of the doors when out walked a somewhat familiar masked figure. Black Tarantula. Running up with the intent to punch him right in the face, the supervillain would catch the punch easily. Trying to pull her fist out of his grasp was no use for Molly.

Black Tarantula would gently push the girl backwards, Molly landing on her behind. She would get back up and try attacking again, only for Black Tarantula to dodge. Molly would continue lashing out and swinging wildly, attempting to take her frustrations out on the man. All Black Tarantula did was block or dodge, only grabbing Molly in a bear hug when he got tired of it all and once the girl had gotten sluggish.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Molly belted out, her anger slowly waning.

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.” Black Tarantula replied.

“Nothing’s wrong!”

“Bullshit. I have many enemies but they aren’t this angry and wild when attacking unless something is wrong“

“Yeah! Well…”

“Well what?”

At that Molly started breaking down fully. Her tears fell onto the man’s jacket as he slowly let her down. He comforted her, knowing what it was like to go so long holding in his emotions. It was Molly’s next words that surprised him.

“Help me. Teach me. Please?” she half-whispered.

“Why should I?” replied the supervillain.

There was no reply to that question. The silence would continue on for a bit, with Black Tarantula eventually sighing and agreeing to teach her. Molly followed him through the back alleys and up to the secret entrance to the supervillain’s lair. Telling her she could stay here and sleep on the bunk, he told her to rest and that training would start in twenty-four hours time. Sleep would not elude Molly to her surprise, yet the dreams of what could have been were not so sweet.

Upon waking up she would remember nothing of her dreams. Taking a look around the pretty sparse lair, she saw a training dummy, other training gear, and a workbench filled with tools.

Black Tarantula would return to the lair and start Molly on her training. There would be many, many hurdles and bumps in the road, however Molly would persevere and learn. Eventually, Molly would be given one of the supervillain’s spare masks, telling her that she is now an official Black Tarantula. Staring for a second, the teenage girl would then hug the man, thanking him. He would stand still in surprise before slowly bringing his arms around the girl to return the gesture. Sometime later Molly would scrounge up some similar enough clothes to the one Black Tarantula wore and the two would become a vigilante duo, going around fighting what the could of Silco and Piltover had in store for the Undercity.

A couple years would pass and the two would become an almost urban legend, covering their tracks and making sparse public appearances. They had some encounters with the Firelights, rarely ever groups where Ekko was leading. One night however, Molly would be out on her own, and see in the distance a blue smoke rising into the air. Investigating, she would find two of her sisters along with some stranger. Watching from the shadows, Molly would only step in once the Firelights showed up. An all out scuffle would ensue. Jinx would take her gatling gun and start shooting at the people on the hoverboards while they swarmed around, eventually destroying one’s means of transportation by strapping a bomb to it. All this was happening as Vi, Molly and one of the Firelights were duking it out. Eventually the vigilantes would escape through use of cover smoke, Molly escaping in that moment as well, intent on making it to the base in time. That left Jinx alone with just the voices in her head, her scream ringing out.

Chapter Text

In one universe, it was the villain Black Tarantula that got sent to Runeterra alongside the six heroic figures. This is not that universe. Here it was the clone of Spider-Man, Kaine, also known as Scarlet Spider, that would go through Voyager’s unstable portal.

As he swung through the Undercity, Kaine thought back on just what has been going on in his time here. He showed up three years ago, doing his best to emulate his “brother,” but he could never live up to Peter’s ideals despite his best efforts. Now the whole place is going crazy because of Silco’s death. The man was found tied to a chair, bullets riddling his body. Now a woman named Sevika has taken control and is looking to create her own circle of trusted individuals. Kaine was one of those people, having been a regular patron at The Last Drop and frequent drinking buddy of the woman.

He had told her that he needed to think about it, taking a quick leave to go swing around. Maybe he should take the position of Chembaron, take control of part of this city, all in a bid to do some good. Or maybe he could have all the power, none of the responsibility, take the position for only his own gain. It was these two warring sides of himself that caused his need to fully consider the offer.

It would not take long for his thoughts to get interrupted, his Spider-Sense going off. Releasing his webs, he now free fell, turning to look at his assailant. The large gauntlets were a dead giveaway. Vi. What would she want with him?

Vi’s punch missed by a long ways, causing her to growl. An insider told her of the news of Sevika’s drinking buddy getting offered the position of Chembaron, and there was now way she was letting a man that was friends with that traitor take on a position of control in the Undercity. What she had not expected was his costume and quick reflexes. The suit is very reminiscent of her buddy Miles who had long since returned to his home. Same went for the reflexes. Grabbing onto the side of the building she was heading towards, she slip downwards, eventually leaping off in another attempt to take a swing at the potential Chembaron.

The two would somewhat have a game of cat-and-mouse as they fell, Vi jumping back, forth, and around from the buildings as Scarlet Spider dodged. Eventually, the ground would start coming up quickly, leading the latter to launch a web and change his momentum, grabbing Vi so that she would not go splat against the pavement, even if he doubted it could end her permanently.

Vi would be surprised at Kaine’s more heroic side showing up, her thoughts at punching the man lost for a second after they landed. Rolling across the rooftop, the magenta-haired young woman would stand up as quickly as she could, then take another swing at Scarlet Spider, who dodged like it was nothing, grabbing the gauntlet and ripping it off Vi’s arm and throwing it to the side. Taking another swing, the same things would repeat with the other gauntlet, followed up by a kick to the gut, knocking the wind out of the daughter of Vander and tying her arms together using webbing.

“Alright. Now that you’re down, I got questions. Why attack me?” Kaine inquired.

“Why? I’m pretty sure you know why.” Vi hissed out as she tried to stand up.

“Let’s say I don’t and just humor me.”

“You’re friends with that traitor Sevika! Why would I let someone like you run around freely?”

“Traitor? As far as I know, Sevika was loyal to Silco until the end.”

“NOT a traitor to Silco. A traitor to Vander.”

“The former Big Man?”

“Is that what people called him?" Vi said, snorting before adding Yeah.”

“Traitor how?”

“Didn’t like that Vander took the diplomatic approach with Piltover, went to Silco. Both wanted force. Who better to go to?”

Scarlet Spider was silent at that. This was news to him. From his point of view, Silco had been in charge by a passing of the torch and Sevika ever loyal. But this? It got him thinking that maybe he should do something good with that Chembaron position.

The magenta-haired young woman could tell that Kaine was thinking just by silence. That this was all new information. Did he not live here all his life and see the changing, see the explosion of the old factory seven years ago? Did he live under a rock? Or was he just not from around here?

Looking back on her thoughts from earlier and her own experiences with people from other worlds, just maybe this guy was from a whole nother world. Her thoughts would be interrupted by Kaine speaking up again.

“How about we make a deal?” asked the superhero clone.

“What kind of deal?” Vi suspiciously inquired

“Sevika offered me position of Chembaron. And I doubt I’m gonna like how she runs things. So, how about I take the job and act as your inside man?”

Squinting her eyes in suspicion, Vi considered. She had little reason to trust this man, and any friend of Sevika’s is an enemy of hers. BUT, keep your friends close and your enemies closer was always a saying, and she doubted it was for no reason. Nodding her head, she would be in for more of a surprise when a talon would pop out from the underside of Kaine’s arm, allowing him to easily cut the webbing holding her arms together. When he held his hand out, Vi took it and shook. Just maybe she could trust this man. Handing Kaine a small communications device, the two would nod at each other before parting ways.

Launching a webline and swinging off, Kaine would make his way to the office in The Last Drop. Finding Sevika, he would take her offer. Once everything was all figured out and which part of the Undercity he would run. He would be given his office and all the amenities he could need for this gig. Now it was just time to get this information to Vi and start being a spy. Maybe he could play both sides and come out on top? Just maybe.

Chapter Text

“Hiii! You smell nice!” were Briar’s words to a complete stranger.

“Thank you?” was the only response that came to Laura’s mind as she looked at this strange girl standing before her.

Claws coated in blood after killing the man who had initiated the street fight she had been in beforehand, Laura was in a bad mood. She had ended up here in an unknown place after going through Voyager’s portal. Surviving on the streets for the time being, she would end up in many, many street fights, coming out on top. This being the first time she had taken a life in one of these things however, she was a bit shaken. Unknowingly, she had caught the eyes of some of the higher ups in the Noxian government. Her strength was something that caught their eye.

Many people had praised her many times, had even praised her ability to kill after this latest one. So some stranger just saying she smelled nice was not something she had been expecting. Getting up, she was intending to walk away and just leave Briar behind. Briar had seemingly taken a liking to Laura however.

“Want to be my friend?” Briar asked Laura, catching the mutant girl off guard again.

“Be your… friend?” Laura said, voice full of bafflement.

“Yeah. You seem nice. Seems like you could use a friend too.” answered Briar.

That got Laura to squint her eyes. Was this person new to meeting people and overly trusting, or was this some kind of ploy to get Laura’s guard down? Taking a full look at the strange girl, Laura noticed the pillory, binding Briar’s hands and the odd stone in the middle. A hemolith from what little Laura has been able to read.

Briar just stood and waited for Laura’s answer. She did not have many friends, her escape buddy having not continued on with her despite her best efforts to convince him. Going around the city, she had bumped into many who were not very interested in connecting with this strange girl. It was a bit disheartening to say the least. It was as she watched one of the latest street fights did she notice Laura, especially once the blood coated the blades protruding from the mutant girl’s hands.

“If you want to follow me, go right ahead. Just don’t do anything to get in my way.” Laura said, putting up a guarded front and aiming to seem unpleasant.

That would not shake Briar however, the living weapon chipperly replying “Okay!”

Staring for but a couple seconds in shock, Laura shook her head lightly and started walking off, Briar following. The vampiric girl would follow Laura through many trials and tribulations, and through all this the Noxian higher ups would still keep an eye on the mutant girl. The escaped living weapon trusted the girl, which gave them more reason to keep an eye on Laura.

Laura would eventually come to find out about the eyes and ears following her and Briar, the same face showing up near every place she went. Whether it be every vendor or every fight, there was the same face.

Getting curious, at her next fight she would ask if anybody wished to step up to the plate and fight her. While Briar was all too willing to give it a try, Laura shot down the attempt, pointing at the face of the person she had seen the other day. He would step up, mumbling to himself that this was not part of the plan, only to nod affirmatively at something not there with them. Taking a fighting stance, Laura would motion for her opponent to make the first move. He moved fast for someone of his size. Not faster than Laura, however. Jumping out of the way, she decided that instead of putting on a show, she would rather end this quickly. Bringing a fist to the back of the man’s head, she would leave the man face down on the ground, having put a bit more force into her hit than intended.

At that, everybody but Laura and Briar would run, leaving the two living weapons confused. What the two of them did not know was that the man Laura just knocked unconscious is the right-hand man of Jericho Swain. For anybody else, this would be cause for concern. For the duo, it would be nothing spectacular. Laura has been running from authorities for a long time and Briar may be trusting but even she followed Laura’s lead.

Noxian guards would swarm the area, aiming to surround the two. The duo would be off as soon as they heard the pounding of footsteps. Multiple guards had expected this however and aimed to cut off the route. This is what gave Briar the idea to finally lose some control, along with the hunger growing. Her pillory would fall apart, and her power would be released, shocking Laura, for this is the first time she had seen this side of the vampire-like girl. Not an unwanted surprise, however. Briar tore through the guards, slicing them up and consuming what she could, all while Laura led the way out of this part of the city.

Almost unfortunately, when Briar was like this, friends and foe were almost indistinguishable. Keyword being “almost.” All the guards were either dead or left behind with a whole lot of wounds, so when the only target for the blood-loving living weapon was Laura, you can guess who was tackled to the ground. Thankfully, Laura has become a familiar face in Briar’s mind, allowing her to call the pillory back into formation, leaving the vampiric girl under control again. The two made off silently after that, going through the night and getting out of Noxus. Both had grown tired of the place and there was a whole world to see.

Chapter Text

Zoe is a mischievous little girl. Always flying through the cosmos, looking for something fun and interesting. It was often that there was something like that. Whether it be a large purple humanoid searching for the Infinity Stones, a ragtag bunch of misfits doing their best to be heroes for a whole galaxy, or even a silver-skinned man contemplating life and helping those in need, there was always something fun and interesting.

There were a few times when following any of those people that they would make their ways to a pale blue dot of a planet. She had little reason to think of much of it and wondered why the place seemed so special. It was once when looking closer that would give her the answer.

The planet was full of so many colorful people. So many that looked fun and interesting. It was one boy however that took her biggest interest. A blonde-haired boy who looked to be coming up on his pre-teens. It was not his appearance that held her attention, but what he held in his hands. A miniature galaxy! NO, a miniature universe! That was incredible! She had to see more!

Creating a portal to get closer, she would float behind the boy and try staring into the universe held in his hands, thinking maybe she could see this happening as it was right now, only to be noticed quickly by the boy, who looked at her with interest.

“Hi. Cool right?” said the boy holding the miniature universe.

“So cool! Are there mini us in there?”

“There could be. There are many mini-people in this universe, just not mini-everyone.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know everyone yet.”

“Well, I’m Zoe! Could there be a mini-Zoe in that universe?”

“NIce to meet you. I’m Franklin. And sure! Just gotta do some adjustments here and change a couple things there and BOOM!” said Franklin, muttering to himself as he got to work, eyes glowing with cosmic power.

Zoe floated closer, squinting her eyes, hoping that maybe she could see the miniature her floating around. To her sadness, she saw nothing. Franklin had noticed this and gave a small chuckle.

“You won’t see just by moving closer, silly! Here, let me show you it better.” said Franklin as he moved his arms away from the miniature universe, expanding it to fill the whole room, giving them both a better look at what they could.

Then Zoe looked around. Had Franklin expanded the miniature universe or had he pulled them inside? Her answer would be given when another her passed zoomed by them, moving through her own portals and having her own amusement. Zoe was ecstatic at seeing all this! Most days she was fine having her own fun and hanging out with the space doggy, there were always times when she wished she could have fun with a friend like her. Now she could. She was about to go talk with the other her when Franklin started getting ready to bring them back home, him sensing that lunch was about ready.

“Zoe, would you like to have lunch with us?” Franklin asked his acquaintance.

“Lunch with you and other me?” Zoe asked, befuddled.

“Lunch with me, my sister, mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins.” Franklin informed her.

“Sure!” was Zoe’s reply, wanting to meet more people like Franklin.

With that, Franklin moved his hands closer together, zooming the two of them out of the universe he created. Setting it to the side, he got up and quietly asked Zoe to hang behind as he wanted to tell his family of her first. Waving as he took a seat at the table, he would announce that he made a new friend today.

“That’s good, champ!” replied the man made of rock, Franklin’s uncle and his dad's best friends, Ben Grimm, better known as the blue-eyed, ever-loving Thing.

“Who is this new friend?” asked Franklin’s mother, Sue Storm, also known as the Invisible Woman.

“Come on in, Zoe.”

Zoe would pop in above the table using her powers, floating upside down to have some fun. To her surprise none of the people would be all that shocked at her sudden appearance. It was like this was normal for them, and judging by their appearances, this probably was.

Mister Fantastic would stretch his neck to get a closer look at his son’s new friend. She looked to be about the same age as Franklin or Valeria, give or take a couple years, but there was just something about her that seemed off. Getting this feeling that she was far older than any of them, he would file it away in his head to ask some of their more space-faring friends and allies if they knew of a girl like Zoe. Not wanting to appear rude with silence however, Reed would greet the girl and welcome her to his home, saying that it was always nice when Franklin made a new friend.

It would be Johnny that would offer to go grab an extra chair, just so that Zoe could sit at the table alongside the rest of them. Unsurprisingly, Zoe would take him up on the offer, only to zip into his chair and take it for herself. Johnny would laugh it off, it having been a thing Franklin and Valeria used to also do all the time. Heck, he even used to do it to his and Sue’s own extended family. Must have been something all fun-lovers liked to do.

Lunch would be filled with all kinds of voices, everyone talking with and over each other, hopping between conversations. Everybody could do that like it was nothing, having been with each other as a family. Did not matter how long they were part of it or if they had left and returned. Zoe honestly wished it could be like this with the other Aspects, that they could be like a family sometimes. It seemed like so much fun!

Zoe, Franklin, Valeria, Jo-Venn, and N’Kalla would all play some board games together, the Aspect of Twilight surprisingly dominating in a game of Monopoly despite having never played before while all the adults would discuss Franklin’s new friend and whether they should be worried or not. The energy she gave off was cosmic-like, and there have been plenty of cosmic beings that went after Franklin to get at that. Thankfully in their view, Zoe was one of the more friendly and benign so far. Eventually, night would fall and everyone would split ways, going to their own parts of the tower, save for Zoe. Sue had offered her a chance to stay the night, only for it to be shot down, as while Zoe had fun here today and intended to return at some point, there was still so much fun to be had. Making a portal to the stars, she would give all her new friends a hug before leaving, wishing them all well.

The Aspect of Twilight would return more than a handful of times, having fun with her Earth friends. Even went on adventures with them, whether it be a Fantastic Four adventure or a Power Pack adventure. However sadly, she would eventually be unable to visit, her duty as a celestial messenger limiting her powers until the job was done. Maybe one day they could all meet again.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing that really annoyed the man once known as Atreus, it was the gods that acted all high and mighty, only seeing the mortals as toys. While these gods he has encountered seem alright so far, he still got a feeling that something was off with them all. How correct he had been. Now he stands, shield and spear in hand, as the one who called himself Ikaris floated before him, eyes glowing with power.

Things had started all good between the man known as Pantheon and the Eternals. He had fallen from the heavens, flung across space by one of the Aspect of Twilight’s portals. Zoe had no idea where it led to, having grown used to her portals not exactly working for her, and the former Aspect of War knew this. The girl hadn’t thought she would send him to another planet, if anywhere but a couple feet away.

Falling from the sky, Pantheon flung his spear, aiming to target it and crash safely using his power. Tearing through the surroundings, he would soon find it regrowing quickly thanks to one of the Eternals. A beautiful woman with black hair and fair skin, wearing an odd green outfit that hugged her figure was walking closer, a light green aura leaving her and spreading to the area, giving it life once more.

“Interesting power. What is your name?” inquired the once god-possessed man.

“I am Sersi. And your name, mister starfaller?” Sersi asked.

“Once I was called Atreus, now I know no other name but Pantheon.”

Sersi was only somewhat baffled. She had known more than a handful of people that preferred an alias over their real name, but this? This was something else. Pantheon spoke as if he had lost himself, almost as if he had been possessed by something beyond him. It was not something unheard of but there was a centuries old weariness in the man's voice.

They would be interrupted by a beeping sound, coming from the communicator that Sersi held onto for quick contact with the other Eternals. It was likely someone asking if she had seen what looked like a star falling from the sky. Leaving it be, Sersi would take in Pantheon’s form. There was little left to the imagination, all rippling muscle and scarred skin. It was honestly a sight to behold in her opinion. Could put even Thor and Hercules to shame if she dare make a comparison.

Her thoughts would be interrupted by a hexagonal portal appearing to her left, out stepping Sprite, the youngest of the Eternals, and the one who wished to no longer be immortal so long ago.

“Heya Sersi! This the guy that fell like a shooting star?” Sprite asked chipperly.

“How do you know that?” asked Sersi.

Sprite just raised an eyebrow at the woman, her face saying that what Sersi just said is a dumb question. The black-haired woman just looked to the side ashamedly, remembering that they had advanced sensors that let them make out lifeforms.

Pantheon regarded Sprite with caution and curiosity, them reminding him somewhat of the girl who had accidentally sent him here. Just a bit older and more worn out.

Sprite would open another of the portals using a device, allowing all three to head closer to Olympia, the hidden home and base of the Earth-based Eternals. Them and Sersi would talk quietly of Pantheon as the man followed them, admiring the work of the advanced pseudo-city. It was as he looked around that he saw a blonde-haired man floating in the distance, watching them. Pantheon could tell that whoever that is was eyeing him with suspicion. Upon getting to the central area of Olympia, Pantheon’s eyes would make their way to the door before the trio as it rose slowly.

Stepping inside sat a slightly chubby red-haired man wearing an odd bodysuit, who looked at them all tiredly. Seems this man has not slept in a long while.

“What is it this time, you two?” asked the red-haired man.

“We found the crash-landed lifeform, big guy!” exclaimed Sprite.

“More like I found the crash-landed lifeform. Sprite showed up later, Zuras.” Sersi said, correcting the young Eternal.

“Guessing that is who is behind you.” said the man now known as Zuras.

Both nodded affirmatively at that. Zuras regarded Pantheon with curiosity, the man seeming so much like them yet also not. His power was definitely something else. While the Eternals could be specialists with certain powers, like Makkari being the one for super-speed, it was often better with them having a basic powerset for all. His thoughts would be interrupted by a new voice. The voice of Ikaris.

“Why have we not yet thrown out the outsider?” asked Ikaris

The blonde-haired man from earlier stepped out of the shadows, wearing a similarly odd jumpsuit to the other Eternals, this one colored red and blue. He looked at Pantheon with contempt, angry that this intruder got into Olympia without him there to keep an eye on things. It was something Ikaris hated happening. While intruders were not an often occurrence, it was always that annoyed him and made him toss them out without prejudice.

“Leave now, outsider. Return to where you came from.” Ikaris demanded of Pantheon.

Pantheon knew the voice of a prideful and contemptuous god just by the sound of their voice. Aurelion Sol had unwittingly made sure of that. Reaching for his shield and spear, the man once known as Atreus felt like a fight was coming on if he did not meet those demands at Ikaris’ preferred speed. He would be proven right as beams shot from the Eternal’s eyes, heating hitting the celestial shield and causing it to heat up slightly.

Pushed backwards from the force of the blast, Pantheon looked over his shield, seeing Ikaris flying towards him. Readying himself, he would bash the flying one’s face with the protective weapon. Knocked to the side, Ikaris would stop himself midair, freezing his momentum.

Their fight would continue on further. Clashes of celestial power would create shockwaves all throughout Olympia, causing windstorms with each blow. For what Ikaris had in overall powerset, Pantheon could match with skill and weaponry, leaving them evenly matched. It could have caused total destruction to the pseudo-city if not more the two of them being fatigued from earlier battles. Pantheon and Ikaris now stood and floated respectively, watching each other, daring the other to make the next move.

Before either could move however, Sersi and Sprite appeared between them, holding their hands up for both to stop. While the two were fighting, others were investigating looking over the footage of Pantheon’s arrival, the portal he had appeared from being what really stood out. Analyzing the energy, they did their best to trace the origin of it. No luck.

“Both of you! STOP!” Sersi demanded, her voice saying there was no discussion on this matter.

Knowing that this was going nowhere if they continued, Pantheon put away his weapons. Ikaris however was not so willing to stop. He flew forward, aiming to land another hit on the former Aspect of War. Sprite saw this coming however, opening a portal to Titan and closing it before Ikaris could fly back through.

Once everything calmed down without Ikaris’ presence, all parties would go back to discussing Pantheon and his unintended presence in Olympia. They would discuss ideas on how to get the once god, now man back to his home. Looking through his mind, Sersi would find out more about Runeterra and using that combined with the advanced technology that the Eternals had, they all would do their best to build a working portal to the man’s home planet.

It all would take some time however, leaving Pantheon stranded on Earth for some time. It would however not be all bad. He could be a hero, fight the gods and monsters that would do their damnedest to use mortals as their playthings, as well as form friendships with the mortals that did the same.

Spider-Man would be one person he would bond with easily, the wall-crawler reminding him of himself somewhat. Of his younger years, back when he went by Atreus. Another would be the Hulk, the transforming mortal reminding him of the years when he was possessed. Only that Bruce Banner was not possessed, just that he seemed to have multiple souls, at least from what Pantheon could understand of the explanation.

Eventually, the time would come for Pantheon to return to Runeterra. The portal’s warping of time and space made it so that it was like he never even left. Moving forward, he went back to doing what he did best. Fighting gods, monsters, and men alike.

Chapter Text

In one universe, Laura Kinney was alongside the group that would end up on Runeterra because of Voyager’s unstable portal. This is not that universe. Here she would be among the last few escaping Galactus’ consumption of Earth, barely making it to the shuttle when a bright flash would appear and take her somewhere safe.

The Uni-Power had gone to save her heir, using the cosmic power she was to teleport Laura to one place she wished her father Eternity had not said to. Mount Targon. Eternity felt it best that his daughter’s chosen heir learn of the cosmic power she would wield in the next life as the Uni-Power became the next universe. Now all three stand among the heavens of Runeterra’s highest peak, surrounded by cosmic beings, from Celestial and Abstract alike, to the more powerful gods.

“Laura Kinney. You now stand among the highest of powers. Do you know why?” Eternity inquired, his voice coming from all around.

Laura would have no answer, too dumbstruck by all this sudden transportation and the quite literally massive audience. If Galactus was colossal then these guys were a step above. It was almost terrifying.

Eternity would take Laura’s silence well. He has seen many become awestruck at not just him but other godly and cosmic beings but would inquire as to if she was alright anyways. That would get Laura to respond that she was fine, only taking all their presences in. Before he could ask his question again however, one of the Aspects would step forward, her four wings glowing yellow and magenta.

“This mortal is the Heir of the Uni-Power? She looks barely old enough for the inheritance.” sneered the woman.

“Believe me when I say she’s seen and done a whole lot in her short time, Mihira.” said the Uni-Power in reply.

“You will address me as Judicator, God of Light!” said Mihira.

“Then you will address my heir as Laura.”

“May I inquire as to what is so special about Laura?” asked a surprising voice, the voice belonging to the bird-skulled Khonsu.

There was no tangible answer, no way to easily explain why the Enigma Force had chosen Laura and Khonsu knew that. It’s not like he has never done something similar. Instead of an heir however he has vessels to represent him in the mortal realm. Same went for Ra at many points, the two gods having a millennia-running rivalry. Did not mean there was no way Eternity’s daughter would not try her damnedest to try explaining. While the discussion went on about her, Laura would notice two beings in particular regarding her with curiosity.

Aurelion Sol is one of Eternity’s children, and he was by no means impressed by his sister’s choice in heir. She always had an interest in the mortals from that pale blue dot of a planet, and here she was already with an heir without even thinking of looking for another couple centuries. Yet even he could tell there was something special about this girl. He had no doubt that Zoe did either. The Aspect of Twilight sat upon his head, kicking her feet back and forth in the air as she rubbed her chin in thought. Zoe swears she has seen Laura before, right now she just can’t exactly put her finger on where.

“Uh, hi.” Laura said to the two, giving a light wave in their direction.

“Hi!” was Zoe’s only reply, deciding to float down closer to Laura to see if getting a better look at the mutant girl would give her a clue on where she might have seen Laura before.

“You’re my sister's heir, correct?” Aurelion Sol questioned.

“Apparently. I don’t get it, in all honesty. Franklin, maybe I could understand, but me?”

The mention of a “Franklin” would get Zoe’s mind buzzing, the pieces finally falling into place as to where she had seen Laura before. This was Franklin and Valeria’s babysitter! The one who had risked her life to save them during that one crazy time they nearly got abducted. Ecstatic that she could hear about her Earth friends, the Aspect of Twilight was ready to pester Laura when Eternity finally called attention back to him.

“ENOUGH! EVERYONE, ENOUGH!” were the words yelled by the universe itself, before continuing with “We are here to discuss Laura Kinney. Not argue about whether you think she should be the heir to my daughter.”

That got almost everyone to shut up, only for Zoe to barge in quickly and start asking questions. Who is Laura? What is her connection to Franklin and Valeria? When did she become the Enigma Force’s heir? Where did this get decided? Why is she here on Targon instead of somewhere else?

Before any more questions could be asked, Aurelion Sol would reach and grab the Trickster, trapping her in his hand for the time being. People could still hear the questions somewhat, Zoe’s voice being only muffled.

“Go on, father, sister.” were the Celestial Dragon’s only words.

Eternity clearing his throat, the meeting would continue, eventually coming to the topic of whether Laura should Ascend or not. There was always some kind of cost, so an Ascension could change her body just enough that more cosmic power could last within her without burning her up. Especially since while Laura may be the Heir to the Uni-Power, it did not mean she and the Enigma Force would become one soon. It would be the God of Light that would suggest letting Laura choose that for herself.

Laura would try deciding quickly, becoming agitated and anxious. While used to having to make on-the-fly decisions, this was something else. It was essentially deciding whether she wanted godhood or not. It would be Zoe who would see this and convince all to let the mutant girl come to a decision another time. Eternity would find this idea best. He knew Laura would be long-lived and they could all wait, they all had the time.

With the meeting coming close to adjourn, one last idea would be passed out, this time by Mihira. Send a message to the Aspects in the mortal world and have them train her. Her vote for a mentor would be her own daughters, while Khonsu and Ra would suggest the representative of the Moon and the Sun respectively. All this while Zoe nominated herself. In the end, it would come down to only one choice, or really no choice. Many would come to the conclusion that Laura should learn on her own in the mortal realms, with some help from the Aspects already there. Given a portion of cosmic power, Laura would be left in the mortal realm, cast down from the top of Mount Targon to the world below.

Chapter Text

“You sure about this Miles?” asked Gwen.

“Yeah. Been wanting to show you these guys for a while, and what better way than going to a concert.” Miles responded.

“Alright.” Gwen replied.

The two of them now stood in line, the whole thing circling around Madison Square Garden. Gwen has never been much of a fan of the types of hip-hop Miles loves, with a few exceptions here and there. She grew for a love of “Sunflower,” but with what she has heard of True Damage’s output, it’s not exactly her thing. She loved some of Riot Records’ artists and bands, but it tends to split. Pentakill is definitely her jam though.

That was something she wished to show Miles one day. The two of them had loved showing off the music they each love, but metal was not exactly Miles’ speed. If there was one group they had little to no interest in however, it was Heartsteel. Neither were exactly the biggest fans of boy bands like that. K/DA was fine, they guessed. Never really listened to that group either despite the popularity. Which reminded them, K/DA’s Akali was part of True Damage. Maybe her performance could get them invested? Eh, who knows.

As the line started moving and allowed them to make their way up, both started chatting a bit about what it’s been like in their respective universe doing their thing as Spider-People. Miles has been enjoying his time back, being his own Spider-Man for the whole city, even if sometimes he wondered how others were doing. Gwen had been a bit protective of him once he got back, his disappearance into the weird almost steampunk looking universe being what got her so ready to just strand him in her universe for a while. Both had come to an agreement that they should meet up every once in a while when things calmed down, maybe even get some of their other multiversal friends together for it.

Hobie and Pavitr had no interest, while Peni, Margo, Ham and Peter were busy. When looking into whoever else, they had talked with Vergil and Richie, the two more than willing to come and hang. Those two had gotten here earlier and were farther up in line, likely waiting for them near the doors. Imagine their surprise when it was not just those two but also Ben, Danny, and Mark as well.

They all greeted each other jovially, finding their spots on the floor. All of them had gotten tickets on the crowd floor. Took a bit of time for everything to get set up but soon the concert would start. All through it, they would vibe and even dance to the music, Gwen especially enjoying herself once things beyond “GIANTS” got played. No hate on the song, but that chorus was almost annoyingly repetitive to her ears. Overall, an enjoyable day with the people she cared about.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing Victor Mancha was not expecting today, it was the appearance of a strange young woman from beyond the planet to crash land in front of him. She had light blue hair and wore an odd uniform colored primarily white. Moving closer to get a better look, he noticed it was very reminiscent of a ballet dancer’s outfit. Close by was an animal in the shape of an orb. Cautiously getting close, Victor would crouch and nudge the girl. No response. Checking her pulse, he noticed it was very slow, almost fading. Thinking quickly, he summoned a bit of his electrical power and used it as a defibrillator. One shock, a minorly of a better pulse. Second shock, a much better pulse. Third shock and he was jolting the stranger awake.

“Aaaah!” screamed the girl, huffing heavily afterwards.

“Sorry! Guess I put a bit more power than I should have into that last one!” quickly apologized Victor, getting up and taking a few steps back.

“No, I apologize for scaring you. Seems I’m still unused to being human.” said the stranger, the last sentence confusing Victor a bit.

“May I get your name?” Victor asked.

“I am Orianna Revack. May I get your name?” she said while curtsying politely.

“My name is Victor, Victor Mancha.” replied Victor, nervously bowing in turn.

Orianna would gain an odd look on her face, the same face she always gets when she checks her memories for if she knows someone by their name. Why was she checking her memory? Still a bit out of it, she had not yet noticed she had crash landed on a planet other than Runeterra. She was so used to fighting monsters above her home planet that her mind was not yet ready to remember she and her friends were previously fighting above another planet.

About to interrupt her thoughts, Victor was ready to ask where she was from when Orianna finally took a look around her surroundings and noticed the more drab and colorless parts of the warehouses. Victor had some time ago been gifted a warehouse, by his “brother” The Vision, to house the projects he created. It had become something of a home for Victor, being where he often spent his time since the Runaways had split up. Molly and Nico had gone to live with Laura and Gabby. Chase and Gert had settled down at their own little place, Old Lace alongside them. Karolina and her girlfriend Julie Power had gone off into space in hopes of rescuing Xavin. Klara had been put into the child care system, eventually getting adopted by a nice and loving gay couple. That just Victor, who was alone. At least somewhat. He had their vehicle and its A.I, the Leapfrog.

“Victor, are you alright?” asked Orianna, noticing the glum expression growing on his face, the tears close to welling up in his eyes.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. Just reminiscing.” Victor replied, bringing his arm up to dry his eyes with his jacket sleeve. “Come on, follow me.”

The two would walk over to Victor’s warehouse, him putting the inputting the passcode to let them inside. Inside would be so much more colorful than the outside. Walls and canvas covered in graffiti. Armors of different shapes and sizes strewn about. All kinds of creative projects all around. They all left Orianna awestruck. Seeing Victor walk over to a lounge area, she saw him turn on a radio or some such, it started to play music she had never heard before. At first it almost sounded like something one could hear on the streets of the Twin Cities, the almost metallic hum being interesting.

“Guessing you never heard this song?” Victor inquired.

“I never have. What song is it?” Orianna asked.

“What A Day by Nonpoint.”

“...That is quite the name.”

“Yeah. Don’t know where some of these people come up with this stuff.”

That left Orianna still confused. She may have gathered she was somewhere unfamiliar, that did not mean she was going to react like all this was normal to her. She saw Victor go over to one of his workbenches and start working on something. Moving closer, she saw that it was a music box.

“You know you could just take a seat if you’re still not one-hundred percent, right?” Victor said.

“I know that. I’m just curious, that's all.” Orianna responded defensively.

“I figured. Just informing you.”

Nodding at that, Orianna would stroll around, only looking, no touching, her familiar following. Tocker kept looking back at Victor, more curious of the young man than he was of any of the inventions left about. To the familiar, there was something strange about the ex-Runaway, something that almost reminded him of Orianna.

A rumbling would rock the area, nearly messing up Victor’s work and breaking his concentration. Walking to the door, he expected it to just be Skaar coming to talk again, only to see it was anyone but. It was Terrax the Tamer.

Closing the door quickly, he would look over and see that Orianna had done her best to make sure his smaller and more delicate inventions had not fallen and broken. Sending her a thankful look, she nodded her head in welcome. Then another rumbling would rock the area once again, nearly causing a bunch of stuff to fall on the light blue-haired girl. Using his electromagnetic powers, he caught them all, stopping the things from crushing his guest.

Closing her eyes, Orianna had expected pain to come quickly. Only for nothing to happen. Opening one eye to look up, she saw electric power suspending the objects in mid-air. Following the trail, she saw Victor, his eyes glowing the same color and the energy coming from his hands. She was about to ask him of his powers when a challenge came from outside.

“STAR GUARDIAN! SHOW YOURSELF! GIVE ME A FIGHT!” shouted Terrax.

“Star Guardian?” Victor questioned aloud.

“Me. He wants me, Victor.” Orianna admitted.

“Oh. Guessing you’re some kind of intergalactic superhero?”

“I guess that’s one way to put it.”

“Well, you’re still recovering. You can’t go out there.”

“And let innocents get hurt?”

“There’s nobody else here. Only us.”

“Exactly.” said Orianna, pushing past Victor and going to fight the ex-Herald, shouting “Terrax! I am here!”

Terrax would turn and look at Orianna, a smirk growing on his face. Finally, a Star Guardian. Just an opponent he was looking for. Rushing forward, he would be somewhat surprised that she would catch his ax as he swung it forward. No blood but still plenty of pain. Tocker would fly in, slamming against Terrax’s head in hopes of dazing him. It would only cause a minor annoyance, a flick on his fingers sending the familiar a bit away. Kicking Orianna in the shin, Terrax would bring the Star Guardian to her knees, slowly overpowering her.

It was when a much more powerful force would blast him that Terrax would be sent a distance away. Orianna looked back, seeing Victor once again using his powers. Victor had focused his electromagnetism into essentially a repulsor ray, one powerful enough to send the ex-Herald backwards. Helping Orianna up, the two would nod at each other, now planning to team up against Terrax.

Tocker would return to Orianna’s side, and the three of them would charge Terrax. Their combined powers would be enough to frustrate the large and imposing man, him swinging his ax at them all. Victor would catch it with his powers, holding it in his hands despite it being larger than him. That was exactly what gave Tocker an idea.

“Orianna, Victor. Together, we can take him down.”

“How?”

“Our powers combined.”

Orianna and Victor got his idea quickly. Combining the attack that Tocker could by launching himself and Victor’s electromagnetism and Orianna swinging the ax, the could hit the ex-Herald with a devastating blow. Doing just that, it would be as Terrax was charging at them a small enough explosion would rock the area, the clashing energies the cause. All would be blown back.

Terrax knew at this point he would not win. Summoning his ax back to him, he would then teleport away before any more Earth heroes could arrive and send him packing, painfully. It was at that Orianna and Victor, seeing they caused a threat to pull back, they would celebrate somewhat, before finding themselves in pain. They may have won but that did not mean they got out of all this without bruises.

While returning to Victor’s warehouse seemed like a good idea, it was upon getting inside they saw the whole mess the explosion made. Too tired to actually do anything about it, the heroes would go for a walk, not wanting to be there when S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived. Thankfully for Orianna, the small explosion of cosmic energy got her friends' attention, allowing them to find her and get ready to bring her home.

It was as Orianna was flying upwards and ready to leave she would quickly turn back around, giving Victor a hug, Tocker nuzzling himself against the young man’s face. It was honestly cute to see in the opinions of the other Star Guardians. One last goodbye and things would quiet down. Victor sighed, not expecting such and eventful time today.

“What a day, what a day.”

Chapter Text

Just what kind of day would this be if things did not go wrong?

That was the thought going through Peter Quill’s head as he did his best to land his falling spaceship without it crashing destructively. Thankfully, he is who is and could do a lot without too much collateral. That meaning: without destroying everything by accident. With Gamora as his co-pilot, they would go fully manual steering, taking control and hitting the forest. Sure, some trees got destroyed but no fatalities.

Leaving the ship, Peter Quill would see in the distance a series of warehouses. Going the direction that led to them, he had a vague idea of just who it was he was in contact with over the interspace comms. What person beyond Earth hasn’t heard of Iron Man taking up residence in warehouses from time to time. Imagine his surprise when he saw the destruction and some strange kid with electromagnetism trying to do his best to survey it.

“HEY, kid! What happened here?!” Peter yelled out.

“A battle with Terrax the Tamer.” replied the boy.

“How long ago?”

“About a month at this point.”

“That long ago?!”

“Mmhmm.”

“Why hasn’t this been fixed yet?”

“Bottom of the list of collateral.”

Of course it was. Destroyed New York City? Damage Control right away. Random set of warehouses? That can wait.

He was getting a bit off track. Had to find who assumes is Tony Stark. Time to knock on all the doors to the warehouses until he finds the right one. Or he was about to when the boy stopped him with a question.

“Are you the one who calls himself Star-Lord?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Was talking with the guy over interspace comms and noticed spaceship land a few miles off from here.”

“Were you the person on the other end?”

“Presumably. I’m Victor by the way.”

“And here I was thinking it was Tony Stark.”

Going over to Victor’s warehouse, the two would discuss what brought Peter and Gamora to Earth. It would be explained that the two of them had taken on a task much more difficult than anticipated. They were contracted by an anonymous party to take on the space warrior known as Rakan. What they had not anticipated was just how powerful the chaos-driven man had been.

Rakan had borderline cosmic power, tearing apart all the plans and ideas he and Gamora tried. The only plan that had really worked was the plan to flee, and even then they suspected Rakan let them run away. What kind of fun would it be able to have if its play things were broken after the first fight? At least, that was Peter’s view on it.

Now some may be asking where the other Guardians of the Galaxy are, and it was easy to tell. Drax had died, him and Thanos killing each other in one final battle. Rocket had settled down with a love of his own, now the two of them have kids and are enjoying an easy life. Groot had been allowed to return to his home, but spend time living on his own near his best pal. Any other members were either busy with other teams, retired, or dead. That left only Peter and Gamora.

“So, you need help getting your ship back in order?” Victor inquired.

“Sure do. Know someone who can fix spaceships.” Peter asked in response.

“I’m getting close to making my own, so I could probably do something.”

“Yeeeaaaahhh. No.”

“Building is a different beast than fixing, just let me give it a shot.”

“Still no.”

“Do I need to bribe you?”

“Sure, sure. Like you could briiiii…” Peter started saying, before seeing the collection of some of the highest collectible records he has been looking all over for. Only other person with those was probably the collector. “HOW?”

“Plenty of money and lots of haggling.” Victor replied, adding “Still wish I could have gotten Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Shkreli, that sick fuck.”

It was with that bribe that Peter Quill let Victor Mancha fix up the Milano. It would just be improvements, no unnecessary upgrades. All of this within a pretty mild time frame. Only one month.

That did make Peter and Gamora wonder if Victor was human. Sure the young man may live on Earth but not every Earthling was “human.” Some were mutants, others Inhumans, many other types of superhumans or enhanced individuals. The electromagnetic powers were heavily reminiscent of Magento and his family, but the “tech-lines” going up his arms and around his eyes were what gave them the idea that Victor may be a cyborg or enhanced by nanites. One of the two.

“Alright. Everything’s done. Now time for payment.” Victor said.

“Woah, woah, woah. You never said anything about payment!” Peter replied.

“This isn’t monetary payment. You gotta let me go on this adventure with you.”

“And why would we do that?” Gamora asked.

“I fixed your ship free of monetary charge and with all my own parts.”

“I’ll admit he’s got us there.” Gamora admitted quietly.

“Alright. Hop in. Just leave a note of some kind for anybody important.”

“On it!” excitedly said Victor as he boarded the spaceship.

Off they went. While searching for Fiddlesticks would be harder than anticipated, they did run into someone who also needed to be brought in. Zoe, the Dark Star. Unfortunately, it would also be a hard fought battle, one they barely made it out of if not for unexpected assistance. Assistance that would come from somewhat familiar faces for Victor, but one especially familiar face. The Star Guardians. Once they had gotten Zoe to retreat, all would meet up on board the Milano.

“Victor!” excitedly said Orianna, floating close to her friend from Earth, unsure of whether a hug would be appropriate or not.

Thankfully for her, it would be Victor who would initiate a hug. One that lasted a bit longer than the last one had. Letting go quickly after seeing Orianna’s friends staring, he would take a step back.

Peter and Gamora had noticed as well but decided for the time being to leave that to the wayside. Asking who was the leader of the little group of Star Guardians, a pink-haired young woman with what looked like a cape made of feathers. She introduced herself as Xayah and got down to business real quick. Rakan in her words was not a monster but just a man on the wrong path and who could be redeemed. Where had they heard this kind of thing before? And how often has this proven true? Answers: many places and many times. Looks like they were all going on an adventure, and who knows, this may be fun.

Going forward, they would do their best to follow Rakan’ trail in hope of saving him. It would have hoops and hurdles, all of them even encountering other enemies of either group. Ranging from Terrax and Zoe once again to Ronan the Accuser and Morgana the Star Nemesis. All this to save one man? Definitely.

While all of this was going on, Xayah’s hopes would grow and wane, always changing in waves. It would go on like this, her friends comforting her through it all. An alarm on the ship would go off, breaking her from her thoughts. While she and her friends rushed to see what it could be, Peter and Gamora knew what it was right away. They were low on fuel. Finding the nearest space-faring planet would be somewhat difficult, but they made it there. Telling all the younger ones to go have some fun while they dealt with this, all going off in a group, with exception to Victor, who stayed behind to run diagnostics on the Milano.

What none of them expected to see after some time here was a portal appearing above the main city of the part of the planet they landed on. It was massive but was not drawing anything, only letting things out. Chaos creatures. The Star Guardians jumped into action, especially Xayah, hoping that this would be just the place where she could find and save her beloved.

Chapter Text

“Ah, Shurima. How I have missed you so.” came a voice from a well-dressed humanoid with a bird skull for a head.

Just a bird skull for a head. No eyes. No ears. No mouth. Yet the humanoid spoke as if nothing was missing. Looked around as if nothing was missing. Likely heard like nothing was missing.

To the mortals he would look almost out of place. Except there were little to no mortals for miles and miles. All that stood in the expanse of desert during this night was Khonsu. After the meeting upon Targon he had gained a want to explore this planet once again. It has been a long time since he has set foot here, having once been worshipped here just as he had been worshipped on Earth.

Now here he stood, enjoying the breeze, contemplating if he should find a new champion. On one hand, it would be good to have a follower here. On the other, it could break his pact with the gods of this planet. Khonsu could really only visit this planet in the millenia since he last had a follower here, but with Earth gone and Shurima not what it once was, could he?

Deciding to file that thought away for later, Khonsu decided it was time to visit some old friends. Specifically, Nasus and Renekton. They reminded him so much of Anubis and Sobek respectively, it was something even he found weird, but maybe Eternity and/or Infinity just had preferences. Or just that certain animals held certain power in many places across the universe. It was all he could think of despite being one of the oldest gods. Some of the only beings older than him that weren’t exactly Celestials or Abstracts were Eternity’s children, the Aspects, Ra, Knull, the Watchers, the Elders of the Universe, and a couple more he could not name right now.

As he sat and thought, night would slowly turn to day. Day. Ra's time. Even if the leader of the Egyptian pantheon was not here, his presence could still be felt in some way. Deciding that resting in his own abode would do him good, Khonsu teleported away.

Unknown to him was that he had been watched. Watched from a distance by a human girl, she had noticed a godly presence unknown to her. Investigating, she would see the relaxing Khonsu with curiosity, having never seen what she assumed was an Ascended before her very eyes. He was very eye-catching. She was a nomad, living day by day best she could, moving mostly by night despite the cold. Praying to the universe for a calling, a way to make a difference in the world, she suspects the bird-skulled being was just what she was looking for.

Setting up camp, she would do her best to pass time until nightfall, when Khonsu hopefully returned. To her delight, he would. Khonsu took a seat on the same rock he had the night before, enjoying Shurima. While the night before he had noticed the girl’s presence, this time he did. She had been quiet, once again visually enamored by him, but once she saw him turn his head to her is when she felt a tinge of fear. Who wouldn't in the presence of someone who could probably kill you with no issue. But Khonsu only stared at her, then asked.

“Can you see me?”

“Y-y-yes! Yes I can!” the girl responded.

“Curious.” Khonsu replied, rubbing his almost non-existent chin in thought, before snapping his fingers.

She must be attuned to magic. Lunar magic in particular. This may just be his chance to have another champion.

Motioning her to come closer, she would move apprehensively at first, but gain some confidence with each step. That confidence wavered a smidgen when she got closest but stood tall anyway.

“Tell me girl. Would like a grand purpose?” Khonsu asked

“More than anything.” replied the girl.

“Then tell me your name and invoke my power! Invoke the power of Khonsu!”

“My name is Kymura! And I invoke the power of Khonsu!” said Kymura, her raggedy clothes transforming into a variation of the Moon Knight outfit.

She stood there for a second, admiring just what she now wore. Then she felt the power she now wielded, and her first thought was to go do some good. Beckoned by Khonsu, she ran off into the night, intent on being a hero.

Chapter Text

Having escaped Noxus and intent on exploring the world, Laura and Briar’s first stop would be Ionia. Not exactly their choice at the moment, the ship they had stowed away on having gone there and not anywhere else. It was not all that bad, it was just that they stood out pretty heavily. Not many were willing to help these strangers, the people having grown wary of outsiders over the years.

Laura understood why. If this place was in any way similar to Earth, it was how outsiders were not always the most trusted. Too bad that lack of trust also made it so they could not really get food or drink. With slight exception. Noxian run establishments were willing to provide food, the biggest hurdle being that the prices were pretty high. Well, there was one person more than willing to provide food. A Vastayan woman with purplish-white hair, floppy ears sticking out from it, wearing clothes that looked like handmade mix of different cultures from Earth.

The woman is an outcast. Outcast by other Vastaya, outcast by the people her son’s father came from. Her only family left being her son, who was currently out doing work. What kind of work exactly? According to him, good work. Work for the people. To help the people. This left her to tend to their little garden by herself. Most days this was by means difficult work, but lately she had not been feeling so well, needing rest more often, thus leaving the garden untended. She had forced herself out of bed, out of the house to get done what she could. She had nearly fallen over when a stranger passing by had stopped her from hitting the ground.

“Thank you kindly, stranger.” said the woman.

“It’s no problem. Would you like some help with this?” Laura asked, gesturing to the basket and spilled vegetables.

“You don’t need to help.”

“Well then, I insist. I would love to help you.”

“Alright then. What about your friend?”

“Briar’s arms are currently bound.”

“Ah.”

“But I think she could pick some things from the trees.” Laura said, before turning to Briar and asking if she COULD do that.

“I think so!” Briar replied.

Trusting her with some apprehension, Laura and the woman would make their way over to the nearby house, making small talk all along the way. Once inside, the woman directed Laura on where it is preferred to store the vegetables, the mutant girl finding the spots with no issue. The two of them would continue their small talk, Briar picking fruits from the trees, all this going on as time passed.

“I can’t thank you two enough. Please, stay for dinner.” the woman said

“You sure?” Laura asked.

“Yes. I am.”

“Briar, your thoughts?”

“Why not?” Briar replied jovially.

And so, Laura and Briar stayed for dinner. It would be a delicious stew, one that the woman had been preparing much earlier. As they all took seats around the small table, it was here that the woman finally got a good look at her guests. Laura was fairly normal looking, and could probably blend in as a normal Ionian. Briar however was different. She was almost completely a whitish-pinkish color, her teeth sharp, eyes pupiless, facial features very Noxian. It was easy to see how she would not be trusted by the people of the villages.

The sound of a door opening and closing would interrupt the woman’s observations and all three’s dinner. In walked a tall, buff young man with red hair, ears pointing upwards, dressed interestingly. While the woman had grown used to her son’s outfits, her guests were not so much. Laura and Briar stared with suspicion and curiosity respectively, eyes fully on the new face.

Sett had not expected his mother to have guests this day. Or really any day for that matter, but life could be full of surprises. Clearing his throat, he introduced himself to the girls. His name is Settrigh and it is nice to make their acquaintance.

“Great meeting you too! You smell nice!” Briar said jovially.

“Briar, you think everyone smells nice.” Laura said with a chuckle while shaking her head.

“Is there something wrong with that?” Briar replied, with curiosity.

“No.” Laura replied, chuckling more. “Nothing wrong with that.”

Sett and his mother watched this exchange, the latter gaining a smile as it went on. It has been so long since she had company and just seeing and hearing these two brought some joy to her. It has been long since she had seen anybody but her son with this kind of positivity and it honestly warmed her heart.

For her son however, it brought up more negative emotions. At how they could be so happy when the world was terrible, but he decided to suppress them, as he guessed just like how he and his mother only have each other, those two only have each other. His mother and him had long been outcast and treated like dirt, and judging on appearance alone, these two had as well. It was their clothes primarily, but also the dirt covering them. Looking to his mother’s happy face as she saw the jovial exchange, he decided to make an offer.

“Why don’t the two of you stay the night? As long as it’s also good with you, mother?” spoke Sett, adding the last part just in case.

“Oh, no. We can’t do that. You already fed us, we don’t want to become a burden.” Laura replied.

“We insist. I insist. You two helped me when you did not need to, and I feel that just feeding you would be a disservice to your kindness.” said Sett’s mother.

“I don’t think it would be a bad idea, Laura.” added Briar.

That pretty much left Laura with little choice but to take the offer, all while giving Sett a small glare. She was always a bit wary of sudden hospitality but with the owners and Briar giving her little room, stayed the night the two girls did. They would help out around the garden some more and even around the home, their kindness repaid. It would continue on like this, Laura and Briar pretty much living there at this point. But that itch to explore did grip them soon enough. They wanted to see more of this world, or at the very least more of Ionia

What Laura had noticed however was Sett’s comings and goings. She had seen him do a lot of good around the home and even some of the small surrounding towns, but there was also something else. Something he kept secret. Following him one afternoon, she found him making his way to the fabled fighting pits.

Going inside, she used her super-hearing, listening for Sett’s voice. It would come from a blocked off area, leading to a balcony overlooking the pit itself.

“Keep eyes on the till. All of you.” Sett said with authority, a meek “yes sir” coming from an unknown party in response.

After that he would quiet down, laughs and hollers, even some quick but innocuous speeches were all that left Sett’s mouth the rest of the time here. All fights would be done and over eventually and people would start filing out. Except Sett, his followers, and Laura. Sett’s appearances at the fight pits would continue, usually going from evening to early morning. The best time to get drunk and watch people brawl. Every time, Laura followed, even bringing Briar along at some point.

The two of them would be pretty much unseen until one night, when Sett decided to go around and make a show of being in the crowds. He had noticed the familiar pinkish-whitish hues of Briar’s hair and when moving closer and having the crowd disperse a bit, the two were revealed to him.To say he was upset would be an understatement, and unfortunately when he grabbed the two by their arms and dragged them to his office, it would start rumors of just what he was so upset with them about. Sett has had many girls fawn over him, had even gained quite the liking of a few and brought them along to his office many times, so one can guess what exactly people thought when he dragged the two girls along. Slamming the doors shut after throwing them into chairs, he would turn and glare at them over his shoulder.

“Okay. OW. That really hurt.” Briar whined, attempting to rub her arm against the chair.

“Guess you don’t like that we followed you, huh?” said Laura, intentionally asking the obvious question.

That only got Sett to glare harder, more intensely. He did not appreciate his house guests snooping into his private activities, and was currently more than willing to beat them to a pulp as a way to keep them quiet. But that would not be the best idea, judging by some of the not so quiet voices on the other side of the door. Taking a big, deep breath, Sett calmed down, looking over at Laura and Briar.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked in a low voice.

“Got curious. Only me that followed initially, eventually Briar tagging along.” Laura replied informally.

“I LOVE seeing the fights, especially once the blood starts.” Briar said, an almost manic cackle escaping her lips at the last part.

“It’s true. She does.” Laura added, getting an odd look from Sett.

Just what was up with these two? They were so strange. Sure, they are likely outcasts but these reactions. Those were Sett’s thoughts as he processed what little they had actually given him. He would come to a conclusion soon, convincing them to keep quiet about this. His mother knows nothing of it and he wishes to keep it that way. So they did, and things continued on like normal, until one night, Laura decided to get into the ring, and who else be her opponent but the Boss himself.

Chapter Text

Becoming the Big Man of Zaun was not an easy task. May have been easier for him than it had been for Vander or Silco, but by no means was it EASY. Defeating Sevika had been a walk in the park compared to convincing anybody else to follow him. Good thing strength could rein in the crowd. Taking control of the Shimmer was another hurdle, especially since the Firelights and the Enforcers were on the move in taking down any operation.

It was during one review of the factories that Vi and the Enforcers decided to make an appearance. Unfortunately for them, their appearance was somewhat expected by the man himself. Vi had tried to hit him with a Hextech-powered punch, only for him to dodge easily. It was his next action that shocked everyone. His vision blast. Blasting Vi in the back, he sent her right into the wall, nearly knocking the wind out of her.

“What the fuck was that?” Vi quietly said to herself.

Nobody would give an answer at Black Tarantula jumped down, landing on one knee with his fist hitting the ground, all leaving a dent in the metal flooring. Vi would get back up and aim a punch, getting easily caught. The supervillain’s strength was comparable to his old nemesis’ own. Spider-Man always held back, so imagine what it was like for someone comparable and who barely held back.

Caitlyn would see all of this, absolutely gobsmacked at this turn of events. Nobody had been able to do something like that. Was it Shimmer related? Stolen Hextech? No, it was probably something else, something related to all the odd, new occurrences happening in the Twin Cities.

Taking aim at the supervillain, she fired right for his shoulder, the bullet barely grazing. It was a sight of shock. Enforcer rifles were some of the highest caliber and fastest shots, so anybody dodging like it was no issue was cause for concern, especially in this crazy, ever-changing world. Just what kind of superhuman was Black Tarantula?

It was as Black Tarantula was about to continue his beatdown of Vi that something went off in his ear. The voice of his partner in crime.

“Carlos. Stop with the beatings and just get them all out of there. Chemtech can be remade.” said the voice on the other side.

Bringing his hand down from his ear, Black Tarantula readied another vision blast, firing all over, destroying the upper level of the facility. To some, he was destroying his own base of operations, but that was not truly it. A REAL crime lord never has just one base of operations, and sometimes you have to destroy one to make sure those looking to stop your operation don’t get back up. Jumping upwards and making his way to the hole in the ceiling, he watched as the Enforcers were too caught up trying to detain that they ignored their own lives.

It was as he made his ways through the back alleys that he considered just going to his crime partner and getting him to call it quits. Black Tarantula always felt that this life would not be for his friend, but the man insisted, especially once he went through his “evolution.” That evolution was also just what made his friend now able to do just what he could do now, unrestrained by the normal human form.

“Good. You’re back. Let’s get started on this new batch of Chemtech.” said the man in what looked like gunmetal gray armor.

“Yeah. Let’s.” Black Tarantula said return.

“Do you need some more fear-suppressors?” responded the man.

“No, Viktor. Just tired from the fight.” replied Black Tarantula.

“Then rest would do you some good. Even if I think it would do you best to evolve and not need it anymore.”

“Not everyone wants to be just like you yet.”

“That is true, Carlos.” said Viktor mournfully.

Going to rest, Black Tarantula would go recline in his favorite chair, thinking about all the craziness this world and Earth have held. Not just the more “normal” things like crime but also the more abnormal, such as Tahm Kench, the demon who children know as “Two-Coats.” Once the Hexgates opened up trade between Piltover and Bilgewater, it allowed the monster to sneak through and start his black market deals and trades in the City of Iron and Glass.

Sometimes Carlos LaMureto really wished for some more normalcy in this place. That is exactly which led him to start up his own version of the Bar With No Name here. He can be someone normal and just interact with people.

As he sat in his chair, and reclined, Black Tarantula would slowly drift off into sleep. He dreamed grand dreams of the Twin Cities at peace. The cause of peace shifted often, no dream ever having the same reason. Tonight’s dreams were of how Jayce and Viktor brought peace, using their combined abilities. Combined powers. Together with their friends.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing Kaine and Spider-Man had in common it seems, it was a love of redheads. The woman, named Sarah Fortune, had snuck her way through the Hexgate, her crew alongside her. She had gone looking for allies in other regions, ones who had no qualms about killing monsters. Monsters such as Gangplank.

Kaine had been sitting in his office, running the numbers and playing both sides of the conflict between the Twin Cities when his doors had burst open. Apparently, one of his people had sent Miss Fortune and her crew his way in an attempt to make themselves seem like bigger stuff than they actually were. He couldn’t blame the fool, one has to make themselves seem big in order to get big. At least, that was how it seemed from Kaine’s perspective. Talk big and you could walk big.

“Charlie sent us here. Said you could help us out.” said Sarah.

“That depends. What is it you need?” Kaine replied.

Smirking at that, Sarah would explain succinctly just what she was here for. She needed allies, lots of them. While she could go to the fable Big Man, the Chembarons were easier to get a hold of.

“I’d say we’re a lot harder to find than you think.”

“We found you didn’t we?”

Snorting at that, Kaine replied that he’s deliberately open. That he lets his underlings go to him without issue, give away his location without issue. People have problems, then they can bring it straight to him. He said it all with such gravitas it shocked Miss Fortune for only a second or two, just enough for him to notice. Sarah would reply that a strong man doesn’t hide behind a mask.

“Who says I’m hiding behind a mask but you?” he responded, adding “Even then, what makes you think a monster needs a face? Isn’t the creature hiding in the dark scarier when no one can see it?”

Miss Fortune would be quiet before replying “Fair enough.”

Telling Sarah’s crew to take a seat, it was finally time for Kaine and the Bounty Hunter to get down to business. They would have a continuous back and forth over a long hour, their negotiations almost a game of who would give in first.

Miss Fortune would be the first to give. She may be good at talking circles but clearly Kaine was better. Almost like he’s been a major talker for most of his life and been talking with people who could talk around almost anything. What she did not know is that most of this is at least somewhat true. Can’t really be a Spider-Person, or a clone of Peter Parker, without gaining the ability to talk like no one else. Well, almost no one else. The Merc With a Mouth was about as chatty if not more so. It was fun for them all, getting people angry with just their words.

Making a deal with Sarah, he could supply the Bounty Hunter and her crew some. Only some. He still had to control his part of the Undercity, after all. Sending them on their way, it would not be long until he saw the Bounty Hunter again. She would show up a month later, looking for some fun in Zaun. While she may have a vendetta against Gangplank and wish to kill him with her own two hands, that did not mean fun and games weren’t something to indulge in every now and then. They would run into each other at a small club, the two sharing more than just a drink with each other.

It would be more than a couple months after that for them to see each other again. Sevika had learned of his double dealings, as well as his help of outsiders, and decided to dispose of him. She would say that it was all too easy, beating him down no issue. What really happened however is that they cut a deal. He should give up the position of Chembaron and he could walk free. Any resistance and she will take his life. He didn’t take that one. She couldn’t even take his life.

Winning their little fight, Kaine made a deal himself. He’ll give up the position of Chembaron, but he chooses his successor. Choosing nobody, he told her that it’s his position, and he’s going nowhere. That if she wants to take control of this part of the Undercity, she’s gotta win it.

Keeping his place, Kaine essentially became a rival to Sevika, yet he also stopped deferring to Topside. He only barely considered Vi and Caitlyn’s offer to explore and join the side of Piltover. As if he was really on their side. Making his own allies around, Kaine would start his more anti-heroic operations.

After all that and the continuing conflict, Miss Fortune and her crew would return, this time taking their time around the Undercity, looking for two thieves in particular. Twisted Fate and Graves. Having heard of those two but never seen them, he could give no information. It was after that when Sarah would drop the bomb.

“Oh yeah. How much for your head?” she said as she pointed a gun at the back of his neck.

“Depends. How much any of them paying you?” Kaine replied.

“That depends. Dead or alive?” responded Miss Fortune, confident in her ability.

Kaine would make sure that confidence gets shaken. Dodging a shot, he quickly turned and slammed one of her crew to the wall, then dragging another across the table and throwing him into another member of the crew. Taking each and every member out one by one, Kaine was not surprised by how easy this was. He is superhuman while these are just normal people. It was once all her crew was down that Kaine finally turned his full attention towards Miss Sarah Fortune. She was sitting on the edge of his desk, smirking, hiding her shaken confidence. She had never seen someone move like that before, but that did not mean he was impossible to land an attack on. Hopefully.

“So, what was that about dead or alive?” Kaine sarcastically asked Sarah.

“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” she replied, an idea suddenly popping into her head. “Say, why not join my crew?”

“What?” responded the ex-Chembaron.

“People are likely going after you all the time, especially in this city. Why not join my crew, take a life on the seas?”

“Yeah, right.” Kaine snorted. “Just so you could backstab me and turn me in for profit, right?”

“Nope. I got eyes on bigger fish, and I could use some superhuman help. You could even train my men, since you easily wiped them.”

Rubbing his chin, Kaine considered the idea. It was tantalizing, but he knew where he stood in this city and did not want to seem a coward. Turning down her offer, he took a seat behind his desk, telling her to get lost before he wiped the floor with her. Questioned about whether her men could follow, he asked if she could drag all of them. If not, he would let them wake up and run when conscious. If they tried attacking again, he would literally toss them out at that point.

Leaving with some of her confidence back, Miss Fortune would take one more look back, admiring the handiwork of the building. It was nothing fancy, but definitely some place that she expected Kaine could call home. As she walked and thought, she considered still coming back every now and then.

Just that she would do, running around the Twin Cities, claiming what bounties she could while maybe partaking in some heists of her own here and there, running into Kaine often. The two would slowly become friendlier, having their own game cat-and-mouse. It would be one night during a conflict between his people, the Fortune crew, the Chembarons and the Enforcers that the two of them would team up and make a break for it once sides. Hiding out in one of his safehouses, the two would share some wine and make a plan of how to get their friends and followers out their enemies clutches. Maybe even share something more once the two made their wild plan work, getting everyone out and putting a dent in the Chembaron's forcers and the Enforcers.

Chapter Text

It has been some time since Laura had been on Mount Targon, quite some time. She had ventured across the world and helped some people here and there, even encountered some familiar faces. Now, she stood at the base of the great mountain, aiming to climb to the top and see just what it was like to be in the presence of gods again. Popping her claws, she pushed them into the side of the mountain and started climbing.

It was as she reached a portion of the mountain that Laura would stumble across a small settlement, people clad in white and gold, bearing the symbol of the sun. The Solari. Leading the guards was a woman with golden orange hair, wielding a sword and carrying a shield, the blade of the former pointed right at Laura as she made her way to the gates.

“Halt. State your name, outsider.” Demanded the young woman.

“My name is Laura, and I am climbing the mountain.” Laura said bluntly, her arms up in a gesture of non-violence.

“Laura…” said the lead of the guards, saying the name with some thought, her eyes flicking to one of Laura’s open palms. To the small brand left by the Uni-Power.

Her face lit up, as if something just clicked. The young woman told the other guards to stand down, that Laura may just be the one that their latest reading of the stars spoke of. Someone who bore a strange marking that could become the next great bearer of power. The power of the sky itself. Brought before the leaders of the Solari, Laura was questioned more of her intentions, the star reader staring at the mutant before nodding, seemingly satisfied that she is who they think she may be.

Locked in a room for the night, it would be as they she lay there on the bed she was given that Laura really just considered cutting her way out of here and continuing her climb. Getting up, she heard a fight down the hall, then another, then another, then another, then it was all quiet. Four guardians were in the hall, two on either side of the door and two making their way through for their rounds. That is four bodies and four fights, so that left one person making their way through that was not meant to be here. Who could that be?

The door was unlocked from the outside as a silver-haired young woman let herself into the room. She stood about Laura’s height, carrying a crescent moon blade and wearing dark silver armor.

“Come with me, please.” said the young woman, Laura’s seeming savior.

Rolling her eyes and following, the two snuck out, the light of the moon illuminating their path. The silver-haired one explained that her name is Diana, she is the Aspect of the Moon and that she is here to save Laura from the Solari. Diana was ready to explain more when her ex and eternal rival would be found in the two’s path.

“Leona.” Diana sneered, brandishing her crescent moon blade.

“Diana.” Leona said with a sigh, summoning her sword and shield.

Both young women were about ready to start fighting when Laura interrupted them by kicking Diana in the back of the leg and then quickly decking Leona in the face, making a run for it on her own. The exes would recover fast enough, Leona going to run after Laura, only to be stopped by Diana, the two fighting on the side of the mountain as Laura decided to continue her climb.

Climbing as fast as she could, Laura would make it up farther, eventually making it to the peak of Mount Targon. Unfortunately, both Diana and Leona had been able to follow her, now standing on either side of the mutant, their gaze now upon the massive Celestial Dragon that has been essentially kept here at the peak of the mountain

“We meet again, Laura Kinney. Care to join us?” said Aurelion Sol, his hand sweeping across the peak as Zoe suddenly appeared, as did the Enigma Force and Eternity.

Laura’s eyes swept over the gathered entities of cosmic power, eventually returning to the Enigma Force herself. Walking towards her, Laura put a hand out, the Uni-Power flying forward and into Laura’s hand, asking if her heir is ready. It was as she thought about it again, about ascending to a higher state of being, that Laura thought back on something she had seen in her time on the ground.

An old flame of hers, one Julian Keller, better known as Hellion, had been bonded to a Darkin weapon, specifically a pair of gauntlets. He and the Darkin had been at war with each other physically and mentally, eventually the two working together to take out a threat that was beyond the normal scope of things and essentially ascending, the spirit of Nolaar burned away to finally rest after centuries. Seeing that happen had got her thinking, especially once Julian had gained a golden glow due to his newfound power.

Returning her mind to the present, Laura turned toward Eternity and looked at him, now unsure if she was ready. Julian had inspired her to consider it again but there was a fear to it all. That she may become something she will regret. Already hard to kill, Death’s grip on her was about as loose as it could be for someone related to Logan. As she and the universe himself stood and stared, Laura finally nodded, hoping that Eternity got the idea. He did. Turning towards his children, the universe only needed to look towards Aurelion Sol and the Enigma Force for them to start Laura’s Ascension.

As all of this went on, Diana and Leona could only stare in awe of Eternity. He radiated a power far beyond them, beyond even Aurelion Sol, and here they stood as someone new was about to Ascend. Then they saw the orb of light take on a different yet still draconic form, resembling one you would likely see closer to Noxus or Demacia compared to Aurelion Sol’s more Ionian draconic form. Two masses of great cosmic power now had their tails wrapped around the mountain, their heads reared back, building power before shooting it at Laura, her form now something different.

She stood, skin and hair now sky blue, the latter almost wispy-like and floating. Her eyes are pure white, radiating their own power. Clothes now a similar color to her eyes, she stood barefoot. Flexing her fingers and toes, Laura popped her claws. They all felt similar yet different, especially the adamantium. Turning towards Diana and Leona, the two young women would suddenly take a knee and bow to her. Laura had become just what they star-reader had predicted. A being of stars and sky.

Chapter Text

Walking through the vast desert, Hellion wished he had ended up somewhere with more people and more things to do. His escape pod’s course had been set to this planet, just not exactly this part of the planet. Him ending up in the desert had been a complete accident.

Taking a seat, Hellion would think more about the people he had seen back in the Grandmaster’s arena, particularly Sofia and Laura. His two ex-girlfriends. He misses them, and really wondered what they are up to right now. As he decided to lay back and relax for the time being, he felt a wave of pain wash over him mentally. It was… strange. His powers have been a bit strange since he got here, his very minor telepathic abilities having grown a bit, just allowing him to catch onto emotions more than thoughts.

Feeling pain however was just a tiny bit new. Hellion was about to ignore it when the feeling washed over him again, causing his curiosity to grow. Getting up, he focused and followed the feelings, eventually finding a little hideaway between some rocks. Looking through, he saw it was a bit of a drop once stepping inside. Floating down, Hellion felt the waves of pain now were much harsher, telling him he is in the right place.

Using his telekinetic aura as something of a flashlight, Hellion swept it over the area, eventually focusing on what looked almost like a coffin. That seemed to be where the waves of pain were originating from. Opening it, he saw a pair of gauntlets. The gauntlets reacted to his presence, an eye snapping open on each, a bright red light and an intense wave of pressure knocking the mutant out.

Waking up on the ground some time later, Hellion noticed that the gauntlets were now attached to him. He was thinking to himself when a voice suddenly spoke in his head.

“You’re strong, even when unconscious. Don’t expect to keep your body however.” said an ominous voice.

“Who?” Hellion said out loud, looking around.

“Who do you think?” said the voice, his left hand suddenly clenching itself and aiming for the mutant’s face.

The hit landed, the pain dulled only by Hellion’s own telekinetic force field. He was in shock of what had just happened, about how he attacked himself. Then he saw the eye on the right gauntlet, it having a look of what seemed to be glee, as if it was enjoying seeing Hellion attack himself. That’s when he finally got the idea. A possessed weapon, one where the soul needed a body to truly do anything. Focusing his power, the mutant was able to stop the repeated attack, stopping his own arm in a green aura. Watching as the red coloring receded back to the gauntlet, Hellion felt his own arm was his to use again.

Leaving the little hideaway, Hellion found himself in the night air of the desert. Deciding to fly instead of walk this time, Hellion went looking for civilization, and maybe someone who could explain just what he had gotten himself into.

Chapter Text

Skaar rowed the ship across the dark and still waters, his canister of oil secured so as to not spill all over. Going towards the Shadow Isles, his job is to refill the beacons of light that helps keep the Black Mist at bay.

Docking his boat and grabbing the canister, Skaar stepped out and went about the route he had memorized. Beacon after beacon, the Gamma mutate poured the oil, the magic lighting up as he filled them. Eventually, he would be interrupted by an, at this point, old annoyance. Thresh.

“Why do you still do this, child?” Thresh said, already knowing the answer.

“Why do you still seek my soul?” Skaar responded in question “You can’t take it.”

“Oh, I will take it. Mark my words, I will.” Replied Thresh, disappearing into the shadows.

Making his way to the next beacon, Skaar would be attacked many times. Again and again the creatures of the Shadow Isles would get in the Sakaarson’s path, all in an attempt to add his soul to their number. All except one. Yorick Mori is a kind soul, able to control the souls of others should he so wish. It was as Skaar made his way to one last beacon, not too far off from where Yorick stayed that the two would meet up once again, the monk living a peaceful yet painful unlife that gave him little friendly faces to encounter. Skaar has been the only person to not run in fear of the monk when encountered, knowing the sorrow of a bulky form and the fear one could exude.

“It is good to see you are still doing well, my friend.” Spoke Yorick, a ghost of a smile barely evident on his face.

“You as well, my friend.” Skaar replied “Still in control of the mist, or need me to help with it some?”

“Heh. How would you even destroy it? Sniff it up in your hulking form and hope it burns itself up?” Jokingly asked Yorick.

“Maybe, just maybe.” Jovially responded Skaar.

Sharing another laugh, the two would soon split ways, Skaar filling the last beacon and heading back to port. Taking a detour, Skaar would head through the ruins, encountering plenty of enemies that look to add his soul to the Black Mist. Fighting through them all, Skaar made it back to port and set off back to the Serpent Isles, taking a quick moment once far enough out to sea that he partially transformed and did a thunderclap, sending whatever bits of the mist that had tried following back to the Shadow Isles.

Chapter Text

In one universe, Robbie Reyes, the Ghost Rider, had ended up in Piltover. This is not that universe. Here, Voyager’s portal had messed up and instead of either of the The Twin Cities, he would end up far away. Near Demacia.

Getting flung through time and space was not the most fun experience for anyone, especially for someone like Robbie, who prefers to keep his feet on the ground, or as close to it as possible. Getting shot out of the portal, Robbie landed hard. Nearly breaking his neck from the landing, his supernatural powers making him really damn hard to kill made death practically a non-issue. Did not mean he was immune to being knocked unconscious from a strong enough force. Laying in the forest, the young man would later be found by a group of Demacian soldiers out on investigation, the magic of Robbie's power having been sensed by a Mageseeker. The soldiers would take Robbie back to the city, taken in by the Crownguard family as a way to keep an eye on the stranger.

Awakening a day later, Robbie would look out the window, finding the bright whites and golds, the grand blues a bit off-putting. As he took in all he could see, the youngest Crownguard, one Luxanna, would quietly open the door to the guest room. Seeing that Robbie was awake, she knocked as a way to get the young man’s attention, a welcoming smile on her face.

“The city is beautiful, huh?” Lux asked him.

“Too beautiful, there's something off.” Robbie replied, suspicious of such a place.

“How can something be too beautiful?” Lux inquired, confused.

Robbie was silent at the question, lost in his thoughts. It sure was interesting, how this place looked and felt. The entire area was something beautiful, but that beauty felt like it hid an inner ugliness. That and the whole place felt strange, like magic was locked away.

A hand on his shoulder would alert Robbie to Lux’s continued presence, her eyes full of questions and… was it understanding? Did she also understand that this entire place had a hidden ugliness as well? Maybe she did but preferred looking on the bright side of life.

“Are you a mage too?” Lux asked in a hushed tone, as quiet as she possibly could.

“A mage?” Robbie asked in turn, a bit confused as to why that would be a secret.

“A user of magic?”

“I use magic, yeah. Why is this so hush-hush?”

“Do you not know?”

“Let’s just say I don’t.”

Well…” Lux started, but was stopped by a sudden knocking on the door. Opening the door, it revealed Lux’s older brother Garen.

“Luxanna, there you are!” Garen stated, then took notice of Robbie being awake. “Good to see you’re awake, acquaintance. Sorry to intrude on your conversation with my sister.”

“It’s no issue.” Robbie replied, adding that they were only talking about the city, him being a newcomer and all.

“Ah, yes. That reminds me, the king wishes to speak with you, if you would be so inclined.” Garen said.

Nodding, Robbie replied that he just wanted to take a shower first, then they could go see the king. Only that they would never get to see the king that day, for Sylas’ escape from execution would start soon enough.

Running through the city, Robbie aimed to help as many people as possible. It was as he helped an elderly person that Sylas and he would run into each other. Their battle would be short and simple, the chained man winning in the end due to having the upper hand in his powers and abilities being unknown to the man from Earth.

It was as Sylas readied to bash Robbie’s skull that the latter’s powers would activate. The hellfire would burst out, his skull would transform and the chains would launch out and help him up from his position on the ground. Roaring, the Ghost Rider emerged.

The demon charged Sylas, the two crashing through the walls of the surrounding buildings. Sylas was intrigued by the magic he now witnessed. The flames were intriguing. One whip of his chain was all it could take to steal some magic and use it for himself, but that would not work for Sylas today. The Ghost Rider would whip his own chain forward, the two now in a tug of war of sorts. Winning out in the end, Ghost Rider would whip Sylas around, eventually ready to use his Penance Stare on the man when someone else would step, trapping the demon in a shield and using a spell to pull him somewhere else.

Chapter Text

Kymura was on the hunt. The sands have not felt the same lately, and she aims to figure out why. Her first thought of a place to look was the city that had risen from under. Moving through the ancient city, all streets illuminated only by the moon. Making her way to the palace, the vigilante of the sands climbed the column and through a window, finding a room that had not been used in a long time. Looking around the room, every nook and cranny, all in silence. Finding nothing but some ancient scribbling that not even she could translate without a guide, Kymura would move on.

Running through the palace and quickly searching every room she could, the latest Moon Knight would be in for a shock when something, someone, appeared from around the corner. An unfamiliar face for sure, the most notable things about her being the huge sword sitting on her back, the guns hanging on the sides of her thighs, and of course the eyepatch. Both of them stared at the other. Both were ready to start asking questions when a third party would make themselves. A small group of guards had suddenly appeared, the staff of one sending Kymura down the hallway as the stranger dodged the swing.

Tucking and rolling, landing on her hands and knees, Kymura saw that the unknown face was handling herself well enough. Seeing that as a fine distraction for the guards that she now knew were around, the vigilante of the sands would run off.

Running may not be the most heroic thing Kymura has ever done, but sometimes when doing an investigation, running was not a bad idea. Only problem? The guards seemed to have seen her run and decided to inform others. Dodging under a swing from one guard and flipping over another’s strike, Kymura swung a fist at a third guard, only for that guard’s face to explode apart from the force and the body to subsequently crumple away, leaving a pile of sand. If she had noticed this, the vigilante of the sands may have decided to fight back instead of continuing her sprint. Jumping out a window, the Moon Knight thought she was made it out scot free, only for her to be knocked unconscious as she finished gliding down to the city streets.

Waking up, head throbbing with pain, Kymura was in the dark of a room. Seeing nothing and attempting to physically get up, the vigilante of the sands would be nearly blinded as many braziers would light up suddenly. Her eyes adjusted slowly, letting her see the room through blurry eyes, and the people who were before her. Human, animal, maybe something more, the figure who sat before Kymura was golden, the fires reflecting off of the seeming armor of this figure. The other was a tall, imposing figure with the head of a jackal, a weapon of some kind gripped in one hand, standing as still as can be.

“Hello, child. Sleep well?” Said the figure.

“Slept fine, could have been more comfortable but… wait, why am I telling you this?” Kymura half-replied, quietly speaking to herself for the last bit.

“Well, it is polite to reply to a question. Now, another question, what brings you here?” Inquired the figure.

“Not telling you. You can’t make me.” Responded the vigilante of the sands, sounding almost like a bratty kid.

The golden figure could only raise an eyebrow. This person who had nearly escaped his palace and could destroy one of his sand soldiers with a single swing, acting like a child who was being asked if they stole the last dessert? Color him surprised. Rising from the throne, the figure tapped his staff to the ground, the sand bindings holding Kymura dissipating. Deciding to introduce himself, the golden figure said his name is Azir, Emperor of the Sands. With him stood, the greatest mind in all of Shurima, the Curator of the Sands, Nasus.

Kymura knew not what to do with this information. She had no idea who these two were, but if she had to hazard a guess, they were like Khonshu. Gods of some kind. Yet why were they here in the mortal realm?

Bombarded with questions, Azir would quirk an eyebrow upward, baffled as to how people today did not remember them. Shurima had once been the greatest empire the world had ever seen, yet now? Now it was but a far off, distant memory to all but a few.

Azir stewed on this train of thought. The world would still know the glory of Shurima if not for the betrayal. If not for the person he had once called “brother.” Even now, he can feel Xerath’s betrayal, the wound he left behind. A whistle turned his attention back to the young woman who had invaded his palace last night. NO. Not the young woman, the figure that now stood behind her.

“Who… are you?” Azir asked the sudden new guest.

“I said I’m not gonna tell you.” Kymura replied, still sounding like a child.

“Not you. The one that stands behind you.” Nasus responded, intrigued as to how someone could just appear in the throne room.

Kymura looked behind her, now seeing Khonshu, who stood in a fine tailored suit, his head an avian skull. To say she was still a bit weirded out by his appearance was a bit of an understatement. Getting up quickly, she was unsure of if she should bow or introduce the deity to Azir and Nasus. She had so many questions.

Chapter Text

Standing off to the side, barely within the shadows, Laura watched as her sister held the torch high, the blue plumes of smoke rising high. It would be some time until the torch would fizzle out, the blue-haired young girl’s muscles filled with disappointment. She understood that Jinx wanted to see if Vi is truly back, some part of Laura wanted that too, but life sometimes did not give you what you wanted. Letting breath out of her nose, the mutant pushed herself up and was ready to direct her sister back home.

“POWDER!” Yelled out a familiar voice.

“... damn.” Laura whispered to herself.

Running to the platform was an all too familiar face. Vi had returned, and brought someone with her. Three of the daughters of Vander reunited. All that was left was Molly. Laura stood back however, keeping an eye on everything, keeping an eye on the new face while Vi and Jinx talked.

“Powder… are we the only ones that made it?” Vi asked her blue-haired sister.

Jinx shook her head, motioning over to Laura’s general location on the platform. The magenta-haired young woman turned her head, eyes taking a minute to see the outline of her adoptive sister as the mutant barely slinked out of the shadows. Vi’s face showed some hope for a second, then dropped as she slowly walked over.

“Who’s your friend?” Laura inquired of her adoptive sister, eyes snapping over to the person who had come here with Vi for a fraction of a second.

“That’s… Cait. She’s cool.” Vi replied, her voice a bit uneven.

Laura was ready to continue her questioning when a mechanical hum started. Then came the swarm of vigilantes on their hoverboards. All three daughters of Vander were in fight mode. To say they were working together like a well oiled machine would be incorrect. It was more like three engines being barely in-sync with each other. While initially having the upper hand, the vigilantes were not just fast, they were smart too. Smarter than any of the girls have given credit for. Eventually, Laura would be knocked off the platform to the ground below as the Firelights took Vi and Caitlyn. All that left was Jinx, alone to deal with the voices and visions until her sister could get back up

Chapter Text

In one universe, seven children had gone to save their father. There, they had been unable to save him, and a few had even lost their lives. This is not that universe. Here, the children had been able to save Vander, but sadly, the man would still lose his life. The kids are alright, but not everything is stable.

Vi stared over the now destroyed old factory, the rubble and ruin apparent to not just here, but to all her siblings. They may have been able to rescue Vander from Silco, but the man still stood and defended his children to the end, and unfortunately for all of them, the madman did not die in the explosion.

Silco held Molly, a blade close to the young girl’s throat. He had seen all their ambition to save the man he once called brother, and even he will admit that Vander’s death saddened him somewhat, but seven children are not allowed to get away in upending his plans. It is time to make an example out of one of them. Or, he would have, had the little brat not stomped on his foot and bit his hand. Molly fled from his reach quickly, standing beside her brothers and sisters.

“Well, Silco, it’s your choice.” Vi spoke, adjusting her stance to appear more confident.

“It’s your choice as well, child.” Silco replied ominously.

That confused Vi. Her choice as well? Laura seemed to have gotten what he meant quickly, judging just by her face. A silent question from Vi was shot her adoptive sister’s way. A couple small gestures and her eyes shifting to Vander quickly told Vi as much as she could quickly understand.

A silence would hang around them all. With Vander dead, the whole Undercity will be in a new state, an unstable state. No leader means no order. They are still young, still inexperienced, but Silco’s plans probably would not be for the best of everyone.

“We’ll need to think about it.” Vi said hurriedly, hoping that they would not need to pass Vander's mantle to one of his enemies. To the man that intended to torture their father, who had killed their father.

“Clock’s ticking.” Silco responded, knowing that children would not be able to properly run the Undercity.

They all had been ready to return to The Last Drop, but someone had been ready to try striking from the shadows. He would have taken Vi by surprise and dragged her off to a Piltover prison had someone else not been also lurking in the shadows. Black Tarantula had been watching this whole ordeal, keeping an eye on Silco the best he could. Especially once the madman started making his moves.

Grabbing the Enforcer from behind, seconds before the man could make his move and ruin a victory for a bunch of stressed out kids, Black Tarantula chokes out the man just enough to get him unconscious. Laying him down gently, the supervillain walked over to Silco, meeting up with the man who had introduced him to the darker parts of the Undercity.

“Silco.” Black Tarantula spoke, his intentions known to the madman just by saying his name.

“Ah, Carlos, a pleasure as usual.” Silco replied noncommittally. “Take over if you so wish, just know that things will not be easy, especially for an outsider like you.

“Believe me when I say I know more about running things than you would think.”

Taking over and running things in the Undercity is just what Black Tarantula did. At least half of it. The other half would be taken over by Silco. A civil war between two leaders, each with their own visions for the future. All this while the relationships between the kids would grow a bit more unstable. Vi wanted to take over, run things the way Vander would have, Molly agreeing with her, all while her baby sister was at the opposite end, Powder wanting to get back at Piltover, snuff them all out, with Skaar on her side. Laura and Claggor could not pick between the two, loving their siblings with all their hearts. Mylo however would take a different road, taking a spot on Black Tarantula’s team.

Several years later, a conflict between the family would almost devolve into pseudo-civil war. Vi and Molly would eventually end up on Piltover’s side, even if somewhat reluctantly, seeing the chaos of the Undercity and how it needed order. Jinx and Skaar would become agents of chaos, taking jobs from Silco, to get paid and do something with their abilities. All the meanwhile, Claggor and Laura would team up with Ekko, the three of them helping form the Firelights, vigilantes who fought the powers of Piltover while trying to keep the peace in the Undercity.

Chapter Text

“Log 2814: This is the nth time I have gone back to the past, all in the hopes of changing the timeline, and I think I’ve figured out just what to do. Hopefully. I just need to run a few more calculations and then it will all hopefully be for the best.” A man with a white mohawk said into the recorder. “There are so many variables and only one me, but I’ve done this so many times before I feel it’s too late to back out now. But! I can do this… I know I can. Ekko, signing out.”

Setting the recorder back into one of his pouches, Ekko pulled out his blueprints and notes, running a few more numbers and variables before activating his Z-Drive, rewinding. Back in the past, he heard the clangs and thuds of bodies and metal colliding, a nearby hiss of pain indicating just when he landed. Flipping up his hood, the white-haired man set off on his self appointed mission. All this while a large-headed being stood in the plane between realities, watching the One Who Shattered Time.

Ekko watched much of the events, only stepping in and changing some things when his calculations showed it would be best. Saving Vander the boys from a creature in the Sump here, loosening up the old gears for a doorway to the Undercity there, even slowing down Enforcers that wanted to meet a quota for the month by distracting them with afterimages. Finally, it came to the day when everything went wrong. The day four kids went Topside looking for a haul, only to inadvertently bring the Twin Cities closer to conflict. Only this time, it was all seven of Vander’s children.

Using his powers to stop time and subtly influence an Enforcers bola, he got Laura caught. She is one of the biggest factors, so she needs to be off the board until the next match. Watching the kids make their way home, he would steal their haul, stopping time when Powder threw it to the water, dropping something else into it to give the illusion of it being lost.

Elsewhere that day, Va Nee Gast saw from her apartment window that the Enforcers were hauling someone in cuffs off to one of their vehicles. The black hair and tanned skin especially caught her eye, looking like someone she had not seen since the end of Earth.

Days later, the kids were at their little hangout, all were stewing in their thoughts on losing one of their own to the Enforcers. All they could do right now was hope there would be no excruciating torture. Eventually, they all would start talking, Mylo kicking off the conversation by looking to place blame. Running off from Enforcers who were still looking for them, they all made it off The Last Drop, almost a bit too easily one could say.

Future Ekko sat back in one of the booths, making it The Last Drop before any of the kids could. Seeing them enter, he watched as Vi got a quick look at the messaging canister that Grayson had given Vander, knowing she is considering taking responsibility for all that has been going on the past couple days. That is a good sign. That meant soon more changes could go down. Influencing a fight to happen, to get Vander distracted so that Vi could get the chance to take the canister. Unfortunately for him, she would quickly head downstairs instead of taking it. Annoyance rose for a second, then Future Ekko took a breath. Things would go down soon, he just had to wait.

Eventually, Silco would make his move and capture Vander, and in all honesty to himself, it took Future Ekko so much of his own willpower to not run out there himself and stop Benzo from being killed by a Shimmer-mutated Deckard. Letting Vi out and leaving a clue as to where Silco and took Vander, he watched as the six children went to the old factory to save their father. Vi and Molly stood guard, taking on any physical opposition to their rescue operation as Mylo picked the locks to the chair holding Vander while Skaar and Claggor broke down the wall for an escape route. Only issue is that Silco still had Deckard, and the young man was more than ready to let the monster inside loose.

Soon enough, all while Vi and Skaar were getting beat, Powder would show up, setting her wind-up monkey to blow up in the hopes that it would save her loved ones. This was another instance where it took so much of his own willpower to not stop this all from happening, but he was too far to stop now.

Eventually, all things would be set in motion. The bomb went off. Mylo, Claggor and Molly die. Vi and Powder fight and split. Skaar becomes petrified, only this time, with some help, does Skaar quickly unpetrify himself.

Skaar barely pulled himself out of the rubble, feeling weak, his mind barely working. He was somewhere underground, but that’s all he could tell. Whatever caused the explosion had something to it, something that interacted with The Old Power and caused him to turn to stone. Pulling himself out more and more, little by little, what the Sakaarson would not see was that the man who had been working in the underground lab had seen his little trick and was more than intrigued.

Future Ekko would subtly work behind the scenes in the coming years, making it so that Powder would slowly become Jinx, that Vi would become Piltover’s Enforcer, that Skaar would be kept as a new experiment for Singed. Only snag that he ran into was Laura. It was always Laura. Someone that was at least familiar with the mutant had taken residence in Piltover and they had decided to see just who it was that the Enforcers had captured that day when everything went wrong. That person had even been able to talk with anybody in charge to get her sentence lightened, arguing that just because Laura was on the scene that maybe she may have not been all that bad. That sometimes a troubled youth needs a steady guiding hand rather than a harsh one.

Future Ekko was not looking forward to what these unforeseen changes would do to his plan, but maybe he could work with this. If needed, he figured all he had to do was go back in time once again. All this, and still the large headed being standing in-between the realities watched, ever considering stepping in, of breaking his oath once again.

Chapter Text

On Earth, there existed a mutant that believed himself a GOD. En Sahab Nur, known to many as Apocalypse. His power could rival that of the mighty Thor when at his peak of power. Yet he was not infallible. He could be stopped, especially by a united force of mutants, the X-Men. They have had many battles, some of them even drawing the empowered blood of the mutant. Enough blood that Weapon Plus could create a clone. A clone that aimed to be unlike his predecessor, that wished to be a hero. Only bad things seemed to follow Evan everywhere he went.

He had been along with Voyager, Stature, Molly Hayes, Daken, Toad, and a Ghost Rider, trying to save civilians from the oncoming end of Earth when things had gone so wrong. A zombified Hulk had made his presence known, his not all there mind only looking to add more to Thanos’ horde. Evan knew that his predecessor had at one point been able to subdue the Hulk, so the young clone figured why not try to do the same thing. Becoming bigger and bulkier, he was more than ready to die a heroic death, only as the world rumbled did he lose balance and the Hulk was able to get a lucky punch on him, sending Evan flying backwards, right into Voyager and her unstable portal. Evan had lost consciousness from the force of the Hulk’s punch, only waking up later as a man with a half-scarred face stared at him with questions apparent on his face.

Silco had seen the boy fall from the heights of the Undercity, only going to give the body essentially his Last Rites when he noticed that the young mutant was still breathing. Breathing shallowly, yes, but still breathing nonetheless. Taking a closer look, he noticed the boy’s odd complexion, and that whatever bones that had broken during the fall were snapping back into place, his wounds healing to look as if nothing had happened. That intrigued him. Picking up the boy, Silco set off.

It would be a couple months, but Evan would see that he has a new chance at life here in this new location. A new chance at life here in the Undercity. He was more than willing to live life on the streets like many of the kids without parents did, but Silco was feeling generous it seems, offering the boy a place at his side. What Evan did not know was that Silco not only felt sympathy for the boy’s plight but also felt that such power wielded by a mere child should not go unchecked. Best to keep a powerful piece on his side of the board. His greatest ally, the man who had overseen the production of Shimmer, spoke caution of taking in this child, but would admit that the boy’s powers intrigued him, agreeing that keeping the boy on Silco’s side was best for the future.

Eventually, Silco would start making his moves to take control of the Undercity, starting with taking out the man he once called “brother.” Vander’s four children had made a ruckus Topside, getting the attention of everyone. Deckard had attempted to steal what those children had stolen, only to fail because the youngest threw away everything. Then it was time to take down Vander. With a bit of encouragement from Silco, Evan had attempted to become Hulk-like, only to fail, which meant Deckard took the Shimmer. Sadly, this use of it would kill the young man. The next couple days things would slow down before the madman would get the four children to come to the old factory to save their father.

Evan had initially sat back and watched as a magenta-haired girl did her damnedest to stall anybody that would attempt to stop their operation. However, once things started to look to be going their way, did the clone of Apocalypse step in, with some encouragement from Silco. Concentrating, he transformed, Evan became comparable to a small Hulk in terms of build. He would move forward, practically slamming the magenta-haired girl around with no effort. As he banged on the door after his opponent had locked it to buy her and her family some time, a small toy, a wind-up monkey would catch his attention, stalling his mind for a second. Just enough time for the thing to explode.

Evan would be knocked unconscious from the force of the explosion and wake up some time later, his body tingling, feeling both drained and rejuvenated. Pulling himself from the ruin and rubble, he made his way out, eventually finding Silco. Taking his spot at the man’s side, he saw soon enough that the fourth of Vander’s children was nearby, the youngest one with blue hair, screaming and sobbing to herself. The man who had taken the clone of Apocalypse in was ready to kill the child, only for her to tackle him into a hug. Disarmed in more ways than one, Evan saw a change in Silco right then and there.

Years would go by and Silco would take control of the Undercity, becoming the new Big Man. Over these years, the blue-haired girl, Jinx, and Evan would become something of a duo, helping out the man who had taken them in when at their lowest with his operations. Even if some of the things they did were more negative than positive in the short term.

Jinx had been given the job to protect a shipment of Shimmer going to Topside, there to help stop anybody who may uncover it. The big issue came about when the Firelights, a group of vigilantes, went to destroy that shipment. Another big issue would be that after unmasking one of the Firelights during the fight, Jinx would start having one of her episodes, her mind seeing and hearing things that likely were not actually there. Later, when Silco had Jinx and Evan in his office, the latter would try taking the blame, saying that he should have taken that mission over the one he had taken, only for Silco to have none of it.

“You were out collecting the debts, something that needs to be done. Jinx may have had an episode, but you both were chosen for your missions for a reason. Especially you, Evan. You don’t only have the physical strength to collect the debts, but the mind to walk your way through it all if needed.” Silco said, adding while looking to his daughter “And Jinx, dear, I gave you that mission because I know you could handle it, we just had an unforeseen variable take their shot when we least expected.”

Unfortunately for them, more unforeseen variables would slowly make themselves known. Whether it be the unexpected return of Vi or the council of Piltover gaining more proactive members who were willing to try putting an end to Shimmer. Eventually, things would slowly come to a head on the bridge. Jinx and a white-haired young man would face off, the former barely making it out alive after letting loose one of her explosives so close to herself and her opponent.

Evan had seen Silco carry his friend off, to the one man in all the Undercity that unsettled him. To Singed, all in the hopes that he could save the blue-haired young woman’s life. Singed used a new experimental batch of Shimmer, one that would hopefully have not as many negative side effects as many of the previous batches.

Things got worse before they got better. Jinx’s mind broke, and she brought everyone who she saw as family back to the old factory. For one last dinner together. For one last choice of her life going forward.

Chapter Text

It had been a year since Silco had taken in Vander’s youngest daughter as his own. A handful of months than a year since the man had taken in Evan. In that short time frame, both kids had become friends, or at the very least acquaintances. Vander’s youngest still had much of her guard up when it came to others her age or close to it. Understandable, if you asked Evan. Her own sibling turned on her when she needed them most.

It was the start of the year’s second month when Vander’s youngest started calling herself Jinx, alternating between that and Powder. During the middle of that month is when Evan started going through some unforeseen changes. His powers he already had were getting stronger, his body changing to be bigger and stronger. He was more muscular than Silco but barely anything like his predecessor or even Deckard when hopped up on Shimmer. At the end of that month is when Silco finally let Evan go on a mission.

Out on the town with Sevika of all people, the woman would point out where to go looking for the Chembaron that was looking to usurp control. Evan needed to go in and either take them out or, preferably, get them to bow down to Silco. Walking right in, the teen was taking the information that Sevika had given him at face value. That was his first mistake. His second was trying to play things civilly. His third and final was not breaking Sevika’s only arm left when he had the chance. On the upside, his growing powers were a benefit. He had easily beaten all the guards of this particular Chembaron without as much of a scratch, only for Sevika to slip by and torture the Chembaron into following Silco.

Halfway through the year is when Jinx finally opened up to Evan fully. All he had known was that things were going down a bad road when it came to her relationships with her siblings. To find out she had inadvertently killed two and and her only sister, the one she looked up to most, had turned on her was heartbreaking to the clone of Apocalypse.

Next time that Evan went on a mission, he was to bring Jinx along, and this was meant to be an easy one. All that had to do was make sure a batch of Shimmer was securely shipped. Jinx was more than willing to go about it all with just her explosives, only to be given a gun just a bit bigger than herself, one that could shoot fast and hit hard. Things were almost too quiet going forward, a quiet before the storm in Evan’s opinion. Something he would not be too far off on. A bunch of rowdy addicts who were looking for their next hit, barely fended off due their numbers being higher. It was also where Evan had first seen the manic glee in Jinx’s eyes when firing a weapon.

Next mission Evan got was over a year later, and it was to deal with a bunch of rowdy upstarts looking to make a name for themselves. They called themselves The Firelights. Evan had to kill a few just to get them off his back. His next mission after that was to negotiate a trade of goods with a Chembaron. This would be Evan’s first chance to actually use more of his mind than his muscles, which he was more than happy to do. After all this, it would slowly become routine for him to alternate between solo missions and one where he teamed up with Jinx, the two becoming a dynamic duo. Things were stable for the next few years, then things started going downhill once it was revealed the one who betrayed Jinx’s trust all those years ago was not dead, but alive. She was looking to make up for that incident all those years ago, but Evan could tell that the magenta-haired young woman could not let go of the past and still saw her sister as that same little girl she broke the trust of all those years ago. All this leading up to “family dinner,” one where death was assured. Silco’s death would be the one to happen.

Now, Evan sat back in a booth in The Last Drop, watching with one of his unique types of vision as Sevika leaned back in Silco’s chair, lighting a cigar with a smug look on her face. She thinks she can take control of the Undercity, only issue is that with the death of the Big Man, that will lead to infighting. Everybody is going to be gunning for the leadership position. Maybe he could use that to his advantage and take over as the next Big Man?

Using his ties throughout Zaun, Evan slowly built up his base of power, all the while keeping an eye out for his friend. He knows that by this point she is not the same Jinx he knew, but at this point he is not the same Evan she knew. He was more than ready to end her if needed, the same going for her sister and anybody else that got in his way.

That is why now he stood before a squad of Enforcers, having just helped them take down Sevika, and was now ready to strike them all down. Jinx’s sister, who he now knew as Vi, had made the first move, striking forward with a fist. Evan dodged the first strike with no issue, turning and slamming both his hands into her back, knocking her to the ground. Anybody else that stepped up to the plate was knocked down just the same, and Evan was more than sure he was going to kill them all when he temporarily died himself. A headshot from the leader of this little squad of Enforcers. A headshot from Caitlyn. Two Enforcers that showed up to the scene later for clean up duty were attempting to drag his body away when his hand shot up and grabbed one of the poor men by the throat, squeezing tight. Once that man lost his life, he took the second poor soul and did the same, eventually using his power to transmute their dead bodies into a copy of his own.

His appearance throughout the Undercity would be sparse to the public going forward, all the while keeping control of Zaun in the shadows. No Chembaron, Enforcer, vigilante or anything else would touch him. He would become a ghost story.

Chapter Text

Tony Stark is dead. Or, at least that is what the people of Earth believe. Unknown to many is that as he fell through the tear in space-time was that he had been thrown to the far distant past of Runeterra. To eight hundred years ago, before the founding of the Twin Cities.

A man of science, it did not take long for the armored superhero to find a kindred spirit in the field. One Cecil B. Heimerdinger, a Yordle who had already been alive for about a couple hundred years and had been looking to help progress the world forward. Meeting one Anthony Edward Stark had been pure happenstance. Together, they would look towards building a better future, especially after Tony had been informed of the Rune Wars and the chaos that followed after. People needed civilization, needed a safe place to live, and what better place than a City of Progress. They along with some others, such as Stanwick Pididly, would form the first Piltover council, building the earliest known ways to excavate and slowly build what over the centuries would become the Undercity.

“Cecil, please, take this seriously.” Tony said to his friend, noticing the chuckling as he cleaned up the mess their latest experiment left.

“Hahaha, sorry, Anthony. It’s just my Yordleness seeing the humor in the situation.” Heimerdinger responded, still chuckling.

“Hmph. I guess I should have expected that.” Tony replied, smirking at the Yordle’s mirth while handing him a broom to help with the cleaning.

The two would stand still with little conversation between them as they continued their work, both cleaning up the mess and what they were working on beforehand. Tony’s armor that he landed on Runeterra in. It had been damaged and made practically unusable after a handful of battles, the inherent magic of this planet being different from that of the magic of Earth. The beings that could wield it were something else than any magic the Armored Avenger had faced back home.

Forging the future was harder than it seems. Running an entire society, even if it is a group effort, was much harder than it ever looked. Now Tony felt like he understood what it was like for Magneto and other mutants that would go on to forge their own nations. This sympathy would help in making Piltover a place for everyone. Did not matter where you came from, how you looked, the way you lived before, as long as you came to live civilly within the City of Progress.

Yordle, Vastaya, Human, all people lived together. Unfortunately for Tony as he would grow old was that division would grow and grow between the classes, especially the people that worked in the underground and the people that worked above. Heimerdinger saw the issues at first, but had grown too overworked with helping run the city and working to progress it that he would become a bit absentminded when it came to its people.

Within the first century of founding the City of Progress, there would be upheaval within as well as attempts by empires to add Piltover and its people to it by force. It seemed the city needed a hero. Going forward, Iron Man lived again. At least for a time. Eventually, the hero dies in the end, and Tony had his best friend on this entire planet by his side.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, it did feel like this was all for nothing. That these cities were too far gone for any chance of a better future. Yet Ekko knew that with enough time and effort, things could change. He formed the Firelights as a force for good, and they have done much. Both good & bad. Being a leader was not the easiest thing in the world, but they chose him for a reason, and he was not going to let them down.

Right now, they were on a small run to destroy a shipment of Shimmer. The timing was the most crucial part of it all. They had been about to take their shot when something went awry. One of their own had been shot out of the sky, and it was a shot that was too precise. As he flew to grab Cam, something, someone, caught his eye for a second. A tall, broad man with a cybernetic eye, the rest of his face barely visible from under the cloak hood's shadow. Their sights met and something strange happened. A flash, a vision. He saw himself move the bola that got one of his friends all those years ago. Ekko was about ready to question why he saw it, then shook his head, needing to save Cam. Speeding up to his falling friend, he reached his hand out. Pulled onto the hoverboard, they then changed trajectory upward. One look to where the stranger stood before and now nobody was there.

Landing on the Piltovan ship, Ekko saw that all things were not going exactly as planned, but nothing said they were stopped. Taking a look around, another person caught his eye. Someone he had not seen in years. Laura.

Trapped in the synthetic crystalline, she looked to be none too surprised by all this. Then again, she always had a hard to read face. Everyone from Molly to Claggor knew that.

Taking the lead, all the Firelights set out about the ship, looking to find the Shimmer and destroy it, only to find nothing. Usually, their intel was spot on, but it looked to be false info. Having Cam grab a copy of the paperwork, Ekko squatted down in front of Laura, who was sniffing the air.

“Where was this ship headed for?” Ekko inquired.

“Noxus, unsurprisingly. Now nothing is going there. Ain't that right, Little Man?” Laura replied almost mockingly, her tone showing she knows who is behind the mask.

Ekko was stunned for a second, before ordering that they gather whatever copies they could while also taking Laura with them. He half-lied, saying she knew something and best that they take one with the knowledge for interrogation. Only thing they needed to do was knock her out.

Making it back to the hideout was about as easy as usual. Nobody tracked them. Nobody could track them. Having Scar tie Laura up, Ekko had a feeling it would be for naught. That she would escape. So, while she recovered, he took his seat and waited.

“I can guess what you want to hear. I ain't saying it.” Laura moaned, her head still feeling the pain.

“Then let me ask this: Did you set us up?” Ekko asked, hoping that this was not true.

Laura snorted at the question. Ekko got both an answer and not one. Seems she was looking to get him out of hiding, not the Firelights. Which meant more questions.

“Why?”

“You’re the one who’s been doing things he shouldn’t.”

“Like what exactly?”

“Your scent was at the location of my near death in the waters a month ago, almost right before the sea ship blew.”

“What ship exactly?”

“The Santo Sharlo.”

“How could you get my scent there though? I was nowhere near it anytime that day. The Firelights were on route to stop a Shimmer shipment! How could I have been anywhere
near there?!”

That left Laura silent. Then it clicked for her.

“Have you ever heard of time travel?”

“Don’t change the subject to hypotheticals.”

“I’m going to. Because guess what, I think you figure it out.”

Ekko was confused. Then his mind went to the vision he had. Hypothetically time travel is possible, and there are more than hundreds of guesses as to what could happen once two variants cross paths in some way. Visions are one of them. Now it was a case of figuring things out. If a version of himself is not only trying to kill Laura but also ruining the plans of the Firelights, then Ekko felt it to be his duty to stop the variant. Who knows what kinds of plans he has going on. Only issue being, Future Ekko decided to make another jump in the timeline, creating another split.

Chapter Text

“Sometimes I would wish I could see everything here. Now… Now, I feel like I can.” Said magenta and black suited individual, mask with eight lenses covering his face, reminiscent of that of an arachnid, his whole attire torn, four unconscious bodies behind him.

Standing at the edge of reality, before a dark place that existed beyond, stood the one once known to some as “Spider-Boy.” Better known to others simply by his birth name, Bailey Briggs. Right now, he stood before The Void, and it was calling to him. Ready to step through, he was then pulled back by a hard-light webline.

Right as Spider-Boy was pulled back, the portal to The Void was suddenly closed, the ominous magenta light gone from the room. Bailey only watched in dull surprise, some part of him having expected this outcome. He almost didn’t notice the hand wrapped around his neck, full attention to the other current occupant of the room as that individual slammed him into the wall. Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of the year two-thousand ninety-nine.

The middle-aged man was snarling, his breath heavy with anger. He knew he should have not let the kid join Spider-Society, but as someone else pointed out, Bailey Briggs was a perfect recruit. He had no home, no place to be, so he was an operative that would not only be a massive missed opportunity, but if left to his own devices could potentially become a problem.

Dropping Bailey, Miguel let the passive boy fall limp and be dragged away. This gave him time to inspect just what it was Spider-Boy was trying to unleash. …These coordinates make no sense. But that power was unnatural. Unholy. Better try to nip this in the bud.

Chapter Text

In one universe, it is Laura Kinney who landed in the Undercity with Molly Hayes and Skaar. This is not that universe. Here, she would land Topside. In Piltover, the City of Progress.

Spat out of Voyager’s unstable portal, the mutant girl would land in an alleyway. Skidding across the ground, she would stop near the edge, landing in a little nook, barely able to be seen by anybody who passed by. Keyword being “barely.”

A teenage Caitlyn Kiramman would be on her way to meet with her friend and the co-inventor of Hextech, Jayce Talis. Then something caught her vision, out of the corner of her eye. What looked like the tip of a shoe poking out from the side of a building. She had investigated further and had quickly called on paramedics, as the girl she found looked pretty banged up. Keeping an eye on the stranger and even watching as the professionals looked over her, Caitlyn worried. Did not matter if this stranger was from here or the Undercity, she felt it best to do the right thing.

Laura would wake up some time soon, her insides healed faster than her outerself. To say she was not the slightest bit worried once she saw a number of people in medical outfits surrounding her would be incorrect. She panicked and tried to run, but it seemed that these people have their fair share of experience with runners and stop her before she can even make it away. Still disoriented from the travel across time and space despite her powers, Laura would eventually slump over from exhaustion and a bit of sedative.

Waking again later at a hospital, Laura would first see a nurse checking her vitals. Male, face like that of a deer with antlers poking above his head. He would see that she was awake and after jotting down what he gathered, left quickly. Not too soon after would a different stranger peek in and enter. Navy blue hair down to her shoulder with sky blue eyes, she looked about Laura’s age, maybe a bit younger.

“Good to see you’re awake.” Said the stranger, before clearing her throat, straightening her back and introducing herself, eventually asking “And you are?”

“I’m… Laura. It’s nice to meet you.” Spoke Laura, voice guarded.

Both were almost staring at each other, their eye contact broken by the appearance of two other new faces. Caitlyn’s mother and father, Cassandra and Tobias Kiramman. They had come to the hospital after getting a call from their daughter that she was here with someone who needed medical help. The head of House Kiramman and her husband had come as soon as they could, more out of curiosity as to who it was that Caitlyn had helped. To say that Cassandra was thankful it was not once again Jayce Talis would be an outright lie. Their daughter helping a stranger was nothing new, she had always been a bit more helpful than most her age, but the matriarch had her curiosity piqued once it was found that this person had no identification. Both in Piltover and even potentially the Undercity. Noticing enough of a similarity in appearance between her daughter and the unknown girl, especially after the seeing how almost nearly identical they looked from behind, and some prodding from her daughter, the head of House Kiramman took pity on the stranger and she was taken in.

Chapter Text

Being taken in by strangers was definitely not on Laura’s bingo card for whatever the time frame is here. She would not look a gift horse in the mouth however. Taking up residence in a spare bedroom and getting acquainted with her new place of living, Laura found that it was almost quaint and had a number of staff.

A week in and she already wanted to leave. She had her own wardrobe but nothing that did not feel overly stuffy, and she couldn’t sleep properly with this new bed. Almost no comfort and with nothing to do, she really wanted to leave this place. Thankfully, she would eventually be brought along by Caitlyn to visit the co-creators of Hextech.

Jayce and Viktor were not unused to these little visits from Caitlyn, as the former considers the girl a friend and maybe even like a sort of little sister. The appearance of a new face alongside Caitlyn was something new however. A quick explanation after some raised eyebrows and everyone was caught up to speed.

“Why exactly bring her here?” Jayce quietly inquired, eyes quickly flicking over to Laura as she stood and watched over Viktor’s shoulder.

“She needed to get out of the house. And she seems like the inquisitive type, so I figured why not bring her to the best with some answers.” Caitlyn replied, an innocent enough smile on her face.

Eyes leaving his best friend and their new acquaintance, Jayce and Caitlyn would quietly chat about how things have been progressing for each of them in the field of Hextech and becoming an Enforcer, respectively. Both would be politely interrupted by Viktor, asking his fellow inventor to hand him their runes and schematics. Doing just that, the handicapped co-creator would point out some of the potential flaws in some of their designs.

Looking it over, Jayce was skeptical, but after some more thought was put in as he read it over again and again, he saw it too. Shock was written entirely on his face, visible for all to see. He nearly demanded they start working on this right away, then a question spilled out

“How did this come about? How did we just notice this now?”

“You can thank Laura. I don’t know how she saw it, but she did.” Viktor responded, eyes flicking over to the girl who was still jotting down some suggestions on his notepad.

“How could she tell?” Jayce asked, almost bewildered.

“I don’t know.” Viktor replied, that question now swimming through his mind.

After reworking some of their schematics and notes, both young men got to work, quickly working through these now seen flaws. Caitlyn watched them both, smiling a little bit at seeing her friend determined to do his best. The questions that Laura had some knowledge of how to help did not ever really cross her mind the same way it did Jayce’s however.
It did however give her an idea to suggest to not only the co-creators of Hextech later, but to her parents as well.

Inviting Jayce, his mother, and Viktor back to their Kiramman mansion for dinner after a quick chat with parents on the idea, things would go along smoothly, Caitlyn waiting to suggest her idea until the food was prepared. Before that, it would be the usual questions of how everyone’s day went.

Eventually, despite her plans, Jayce would himself bring up Laura’s suggestions on how to potentially improve Hextech. That got the attention of every adult in the room. Looks ranged from incredulous to intrigue, and eyes eventually went to the girl who was quietly enjoying her stew.

“Is this true?” Cassandra Kiramman asked, hands folded before her chin.

“Yes.” Laura said between bites.

“Can you elaborate?” Tobias inquired, wishing to know more.

“I saw that some of the runes needed a change. As well as how some of the parts and smaller systems needed to change up a bit.” Laura said after another bit of her stew.

“Interesting.” Cassandra replied.

The silence after that was almost unbearable. Caitlyn would be first to speak, trying to ease into her suggestion of having Laura join Jayce and Viktor as an assistant at the very least. Her attempts were not great, eventually spitting out the idea to everyone. After another bit of silence, everyone would almost unanimously agree

The next day, Laura would wake up bright and early and head to the lab, starting her new job for this latest chapter in her life. Things would be smooth sailing from there, and eventually a new face would make its appearance alongside Viktor. A young girl with light blue hair, holding a stuffed animal and looking so frightened.

Chapter Text

It had been almost a month since Laura and Briar had been left in Ionia. In that same amount of time they have grown accustomed to the land, but sometimes the wind calls and beckons one to wander. And so, after one last night spent with Sett and his mother, the two would start looking for a boat to a new land. Their next place of adventure? The Serpent Isles.

The boat ride was a long one, and one that had many twists and turns, for rough seas and harsh storms were a common enough occurrence, but the biggest obstacles would show once they got closer to the Serpent Isles. Pirates. For the port city of Bilgewater was what many called home. Laura and Briar had even been taken by a crew that themselves deserved of women, Laura taking control of the ship by force once the smarmy captain felt fear for his family jewels. Taking some of the stolen coin, Laura paid the captain of the Ionian ship for the travel, giving a bit extra once she heard he still had much to bring to Bilgewater for selling.

“Soooooo, what’s first on the list once we get to our destination, ol’ buddy?” Briar chipperly inquired.

Laura snickered to herself, answering “Don’t know just yet, ol’ buddy. But from what the funky smelling captain has told, Bilgewater isn’t hard to find something to do in.”

“I still think you should have at least let some blood flow. Maybe just like a little slash on the bicep.” Briar replied, her tone denoting some hunger.

Laura mentally sighed, her head hanging a bit. Right, Briar may enjoy everyday food like Laura herself, but the taste for blood was still something for the vampiric girl. The mutant was about to offer up some of her own blood when the largest man of the crew walked up the steps, taking a blade on his hip and cutting just enough into his arm to offer up his blood. He was tall, brown skin, hair and eyes a shade of green, almost bat-like ears protruding from his head. Maybe half-vastaya at least, so there's a chance he would heal better than others.

Briar jumped at it right away, but Laura grabbed the back of her collar, eying the large man, a silent question apparent. The look in his eyes said much, one being how thankful he is that the former captain has been locked in the brig. Letting go of her friend's collar, the man himself was stone-faced as Briar drank what she could, settling for not taking too much so as to not kill anyone.

Night fell above the waters not too long after they came within range of the pirate port city. What happened next however was something new. A Black Mist would roll in, and restless spirits would make their attack. All the crew would do their damnedest to fight off the horde, doing their best to not become part of it. Laura and Briar would survive the longest before help arrived.

“Snip, Snip!” Half-sang a girly voice.

“Hyaagh!” Roared a masculine voice.

Two people, one a girl about Briar’s height with blue hair, and a man with white hair and fair skin, fought the horde. They would tear through it easily, their spectral weapons doing more damage than anything Laura or Briar could have done with just their own power. Soon enough the horde would become still, eventually retreating once they saw that these souls were not theirs to add.

“Thank you!” Briar excitedly hollered.

“Oh, it was no issue.” Said the blue haired girl, seemingly brushing some dust off her dress.

“Are you alright?” Spoke the white haired man, offering a hand to help Laura up from the floor.

“I'm fine.” Laura said, grabbing the man’s hand.

“That’s so good to hear.” Spoke the blue haired girl. “Sorry we could not arrive sooner. Your ship was behind much of the mist.”

“It’s fine!” Said Briar, then turned to Laura and asked “We handled things pretty well, didn’t we?”

“I think so.” Laura replied, then asked “Who are you two, anyways?”

“OH! How could we forget to introduce ourselves?” Said the blue haired girl, who then curtseyed “My name is Gwen.”

“And I am…” The white haired man started saying, face full of apprehension, then he bowed. “I am Veigo.”

Laura was curious as to what would cause this apprehension, but decided not to pry. She would however offer the two saviors a chance to dine with her, Briar, and the other survivors. Gwen would take the offer with no issue, but Viego would decline, saying he has other matters to attend to. That’s when Gwen got an idea. Instead of Bilgewater, why don’t they all go to Camavor? Viego’s face was full of apprehension again, only for one look at Gwen to seemingly get him to agree. New destination set, the course plotted, Laura, Briar, and company were off to the homeland of the Ruined King.

Chapter Text

Shunted across time and space, long away from Earth, two individuals would land not in the Twin Cities, but in the region of Noxus. Skaar had woken up to the light at the end of the unstable portal, grabbing Molly Hayes to shield her from what he expected to be a harsh fall. Only it was not a harsh fall. The two were quickly spat out of the portal, Skaar landing in a pile of trash just barely within distance of any witnesses. Letting the girl gently roll off his hulking frame, the gamma mutate felt his power fade as his mind slipped into a dreamless unconsciousness.

Molly would wake some time later, mind foggy. Sitting up, she found Skaar in his smaller form atop the pile. He looked to be fine, his body healing itself, though unknown to her, a bit slower than usual. Walking out of the back alley, she would find that they were in a city, the early dawn peaking over the horizon, over the city walls. Looking upward, as she turned, the young mutant saw the grand tower, The Immortal Bastion.

“Where… are we?” Molly whispered to herself.

With no one to ask, and scared of the answer, Molly went back to the back alley she left Skaar in. He was still asleep, snoring like nothing was happening. What Molly did notice as she got closer to the gamma mutate is that his body seemed to be leaking energy and swapping between flesh and stone. Skaar’s powers seemed to be acting up. No knowledge of what to do or how to handle all this, Molly, still being a child, just took a seat and put her head to her knees.

Elsewhere, hidden within the city, two people, one woman and one man, were chatting. About their plans for Noxus, for the world. As the two spoke, from the corner of her eye, the woman saw the mystic markings upon the wall shifting. The man noticed this, and as both turned their heads, they saw the ancient inscriptions telling of new pieces on the board.

“That is curious.” Said the man, following the woman as she got up to inspect closer. “Isn’t it, LeBlanc?”

“Very much so, Vladimir.” Replied LeBlanc. “Very much so.”

Last time they had stood and witnessed this event, Mel Medarda had started on her way back to the fortress city. While still telling of the young woman, it now also spoke of two children of otherworldly power who could be a big boon to their cause. The Black Rose had no shortage of members, no shortage of plans, but every game needed a few pawns. LeBlanc and Vladimir sent out scouts to find these two new pieces before Swain could. Only, it would be nearly too late.

The Grand General of Noxus, the Trifari of Vision, Jericho Swain, had been on an early morning walk through the fortress city, and one of his ravens noticed something peculiar. Two children in a back alley, with one leaking intriguing energy as he was unconscious. That and his raven's sight showing him a curious, faint aura of the other. Taking a turn from his usual route, he would find the two.

“Dear child, what has you so down?” Swain inquired, voice even, intrigue hidden.

Molly would squeak and her head whip upwards, seeing the white haired man. The two would stare at the other for a moment, one in curiosity, one in fear. Then that fear changed to sadness, and solemnly the mutant girl would put her head back down.

Swain would raise an eyebrow, but before long he would be ready to snap his fingers and through his demonic magic bring him and the two children to the Immortal Bastion. Intercepted by one of LeBlanc's henchmen, a dagger was thrown his way, easily dodged by Swain tipping his head to the side. Turning around quickly, Swain grabbed the would-be assassin by the face with his demonic arm, sapping the life force out of the henchman. Turning his head back, he saw the children gone from their spots, the girl carrying the boy down the other way of the back alley, the faint aura now visible.

“Curious indeed.” Swain said to himself.

Molly had been running, using her powers to give her more strength, more speed than she hoped the white haired stranger could keep up with. She stopped and looked back, half-expecting the man to attempt to follow, only to see no one there. Slowly turning her head, she expected the man to be behind her, only to see nobody. She would breathe a sigh of relief, only for her next sensation to be a sudden spike in pain, so much so that she fell unconscious.

Next the two awoke, they were still laying in the alley, all from the cheers by the people of this city. Walking through the crowded streets, they saw many of the people gathering towards a massive arena. All to see the Reckoners.

Chapter Text

Oshra Va'Zaun. Or what had once been it. This city had once been home to the great temples of a people who seemingly has fallen to myth. Home to great temples dedicated to Janna, and many other Ascended. Oh, the days of what had once been.

Those were the thoughts of a cloaked figure so tall, one that could easily see above the crowds of the City of Iron & Glass. Each and every one of those in the crowd moved at a snail's pace, and with that pace easily blocked many paths about. Not that this would be a nuisance to the almost-giant, for he could appreciate a stroll among the people, especially after so long with nobody but the beasts he aimed to help grow. He had missed this.

“Excuse me! Coming through!” Squawked a nasally, almost aristocratic voice.

Looking down, the almost-giant saw a tiny figure, one that barely reached his shins. Covered in blonde fur and wearing attire decorated with a few patches marked with symbols, goggles atop the tiny one’s brow and carrying a box filled with various things, the tiny figure looked to be in a hurry. The almost-giant raised a hidden eyebrow, eyes and ears trained on the small being. A thought to follow, to see what would make this being so quick to get to their destination, flitted through the cloaked one’s mind. A thought that was quickly batted away, as he had come here to find something else.

Moving onward through the crowds, the almost-giant would duck into an alleyway. Taking a stroll through the twists and turns, going deeper into the pits of Zaun, eventually the cloaked figure would find one thing he was looking for. A temple that had seen better days. Clearing some rubble, the figure lit a small flaw above their palm and walked through the dusty and cracked halls.

Moving from hall to hall, room to room, the figure scoured through them all. He came here to find something, anything to document. His sanity has been kept in check with his love of all things knowledge, filling a library to the brim with much of what once had been part of the Shuriman Empire. Now he looked for a way to potentially bring the sanity of others back, and rumor has it that once Janna and her followers had been healers and protectors, able to do things that he himself could not. His pace grew and grew, and so did his annoyance at how well hidden things seemed here.

“. . . Nasus…” A phantom voice whispered in the wind.

Nasus whipped his head around, however he saw nobody. The voice. Janna’s voice. He had not heard her voice in a long, long, long time. It brought back memories of the many Ascended he had known in the past. Those who had lived, those who had died, those who had disappeared, and those who had become something… darker. The memories brought small tears to his eyes. Then the voice spoke again.

“. . . What you seek is not here… Was never here…” She said, voice still a whisper in the wind.

“Then where is it?” Nasus whispered back.

Janna would not reply, for Nasus already knew the answer. What magic he came here for never existed. He came here looking for something he knew was unreal, having given in to conspiracy, all because he was anxious. The world kept turning after the Empire’s fall, and would keep turning, and Nasus had seen this with his own eyes, even if from a pocket of the world only few could get to.

Retreading his path in reverse, Nasus left the temple, and would be on his way to leaving the City of Iron & Glass. What had once been filled with crowds moving at a snail’s pace, many bodies were now strewn about. Magically checking the vitality of the crowd, he saw they are all still alive, some even just barely. Taking careful steps, Nasus practically danced around the unconscious. His mind did wonder what could have caused this all, but a sense of trouble that he did not want to associate with was louder in his mind.

Unfortunately, some of that trouble would attempt to find him. Humans in uniforms he had never seen before rushed through the crowds, many not taking care to not step upon the unconscious. Hidden as the enforcers rushed through the Undercity, Nasus found his passage out. He almost dared to look behind him, but did not because he knew that the trouble he avoided would find him.