"Predators become prey, as quickly as night becomes day."~ K'Sante, The Pride of Nazumah
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The night passed with both sides preparing.
As the sun rose, Ambessa walked toward the entrance.
Viktor stood waiting, leaning on his cane, "You have come."
Ambessa looked at him, "And you are not surrendering the weapon to us."
Nodding, Viktor looked past Ambessa, "You have not brought your army."
"The attack will commence once this conversation finishes." Ambessa answered. "Prepare yourselves." She turned and walked away leaving him with a final few parting words, "The blood that will spill today..... it will be on your hands."
"No. They will be on yours." Viktor answered. Solemnly, he walked up to his sphere.
"You are willing to kill?" A voice asked him as he felt himself connect to Arcane. It was almost like another plane of existence, one that let him see and feel more of the natural world around him.
He shook his head, "I am not. They will be incapacitated." He looked behind him, "The people have been evacuated to the ends of the commune."
"Is this the end Viktor?" The voice asked.
He sunk deeper into the magic, feeling the incoming army, "It will not be Sky. We have allies. Those we built all of this with. Mel. And..... Jayce." He pointed in front of him.
And the spectral image of Jayce being led toward him formed and beside it, another image with Mel rushing toward them.
Sky floated close to him.
"Only missing the professor now." She said.
Viktor smiled softly at her.
It was his mistakes that had gotten Sky killed. The reason he had stopped using Hextech. But she never left him, not even in death. His experiments to push Hextechfar beyond what Jayce had imagined hadn't killed Sky. It brought them closer together.
"Only the professor." He affirmed.
He then turned his attention to the army marching forward. Raising his arms, the objects surrounding them moved, changing shape into a flowing mass.
"Ready your runes!" Ambessa yelled as she walked in full armor. Her bladed Drakehound gauntlets, glowing green as the runes inside them came to life in contact with the surrounding magic, "ATTACK!"
The army collided with the flowing magic. Their anti-magic runes and the magic attacking them coming to a stalemate. One pushing forward and the other holding them back.
"They are repelling your attempts." Sky said, the magic tying up their legs and preventing them from advancing were cut through.
Viktor sighed, "Then we cannot let them pass." He said as she waved his hands upward.
The magic receded and formed a wall in front of the army.
The army ran forward, past Ambessa and began hacking at the wall with their weapons, the anti-magic runes reacting and leaving long deep gashes within the walls.
Viktor pushed his hands and the wall began to push into them.
The army folded in on itself as they were being pushed back.
"They might die." Sky noticed the men being pile on top of each other.
Viktor shook his head, "It is moving slow enough for them to slip out. They won't."
Sky looked at him sadly, "Viktor? Is it right to sacrifice everything we built for the life of one person?"
Viktor turned to her, the wall stopped moving, "Sky..... We built this to help people. It is more than just the life of one person. If he is allowed to rampage as a weapon..... then we don't just give up one person but become the reason for the deaths of countless. Saving this one man is tantamount to saving them all. And above all... They came to me for help. I will not betray their trust in me."
He focused his attention back to the wall.
It slowly began to move once again but the little bit of time where it hadn't gave the army enough time to break through a portion of the wall.
He raised the wall and moved it back and repeated his previous actions.
But the entire wall did not move, parts of it stayed behind having been speared by the soldiers weapons.
Reducing the height of the wall, he pushed once more.
"I'm sorry Viktor."
He opened his eyes.
-x-
Jayce walked up to the sphere, his mind in pain from the initial teleportation.
The person leading him stopped for a moment, stared back and then began to run past the sphere and off past parts of the commune.
He turned around and watched the metal and items behind him turn into liquid and fly forward.
"No..." He whispered as he began hurrying toward Viktor.
He entered the sphere and spotted Viktor floating, tubes of magic flowing out from his back and into the ground.
He hefted his hammer and pointed it at Viktor.
ZWOOOM
The top of the hammer split into four parts and revealed a glowing core underneath. The color of the core resembling the color of Viktor's magic but tinged with a stronger pinkish purple.
"I'm sorry Viktor." He said aloud.
Viktor opened his eyes and he pulled the trigger.
BBOOOOOOM
Viktor slumped to the ground, a sad expression on his face as half of his body was blown away.
"Jayce?"
He turned around as Mel walked in.
"Mel?" He asked.
"What happened to you?" She said as she rushed toward him and then her eyes caught sight of Viktor. She looked at him in shock, "D... Di.. Did you kill him?"
"It had to be done. Hextechmust be destroyed." Jayce answered.
Mel looked at the man she loved, "What.... what have you done?" She sprinted out of the sphere watched as the floating metal lost its magic and fell to the ground. A burst of wind erupted form his body and spread out in all directions pushing into the far reaches of Zaun. For a moment, the dense poisonous air of Zaun was completely displaced.
She stumbled from the force of the wind, catching herself against the walls of the sphere, she turned her attention to Jayce anger evident on her face, "He was holding back an army. He was helping people. Why? WHY? How could you do this to him? Weren't you friends? Brothers?"
"I was sent to the future." Jayce cut her off.
Mel stopped, frowning at him, "What?"
"The future." Jayce repeated, "Viktor lost control of it. There was not a single living soul in Piltover and Zaun. Not one. I promised him that I could stop him when I returned to the past."
Mel stumbled back, "I.... I don't understand."
"The Hextech. It broke. I don't know how long ago but the three of us. The professor and this boy from Zaun. We were sent to the future. I don't know where..." He stopped, correcting himself, "When... they were sent to or if they are still alive. But I returned and I stopped the end from happening."
"But... but Viktor...." She began.
Jayce looked at him, tears flowing from his eyes, "His death is my burden to bear Mel. Not yours. Go. I will hold the army back."
"You will die." Mel replied, "No. We are both leaving." She walked toward Viktor's body, "I'm sorry Viktor." She reached forward and closed his eyes.
"I kept my promise brother." Jayce whispered, "I.... I am sorry."
"Run." Mel said as she began running with Jayce behind her.
The two continued to the where the rest of the people were.
-x-
Vi and Jinx sat next to Vander as they tried to keep him calm. Isha stood next to Sevika unsure of what to do. They were holed up in a greenhouse a little away from the rest of the evacuated commune members.
"We need to leave this place." Caitlin said, "We cannot spent any longer putting the rest of their lives in danger. Please."
The four turned to her.
"It will be safer."
They turned away without replying.
BBOOOOOOM
A loud sound echoed through the commune and then a blast of air spread outward, rattling the glass walls of the greenhouse.
The group turned to the source of the sound as a flash of pinkish purple light faded away.
GRRRRRR
GROOOWWWLLLL
Vander clutched at his head as he growled in pain and anger.
The door to the greenhouse opened as a Noxian walked in.
Rictus.
He had come in separately. His eyes closed in on Caitlin and he growled at her. He rushed in swinging his glaive, "Ambessa believed in you." He grunted.
Caitlin raised her sniper up in the air blocking the attack but the glaive cut through it like butter.
"Your death will be a deep cut."
Vi slipped in close and punched Rictus in the chin.
A normal man would have crumpled to the floor instantly but Rictus barely budged.
He turned his eyes on her and swung the glaive sideways.
ROAAARRRR
A clawed hand gripped at his glaive and lifted it up. Not loosening his grip on the weapon, he rose with it.
"Don't... touch.... my..... daughter." Vander's pushed out as he glared at Rictus.
His eyes met with the beast. The weapon that had beaten him before.
Rictus grit his teeth and swung.