Arcane Anew

"Shards of glass sprayed across the factory as Orion smoothly rolled onto his feet, launching an archaic blue sphere from his hand toward Zarkon as he rose.

Zarkon's body shimmered orange like an archaic shield, sending him skidding back several feet and tearing up the floor.

'I miss my gun, but damn that was cool,' Orion smirked proudly, imagining himself pulling off a John Wick-style roll and shot.

As the blue mist faded, Zarkon's low, gravelly voice echoed across the factory floor.

"You... I know you," Zarkon snarled, lowering his metallic guard as the orange shimmer faded. His murderous gaze locked onto Orion.

"After I'm done with you, I'll kill Kieran with my own two hands!" Zarkon shouted, raising his arm as the cannon attached to it began to glow ominously.

His body shimmered once again, and Orion quickly switched from offensive to defensive magic, raising his shield confidently as an orange, Syntaxi-infused energy blast shot toward him.

Orion grunted as the shield cracked at its center on impact, sharp pain shooting up his arm.

'Shit! Syntaxi is no joke!'

Glancing around quickly, he acted on instinct as he saw Zarkon's cannon glowing again. Without hesitation, Orion sprinted sideways.

"Little brat," Zarkon spat, though he looked slightly surprised. "Using magic in Piltover? If you didn't cause all of this, I would've hired you for gold!" As he finished speaking, another energy blast shot out from the cannon, followed by a sharp hiss as his cybernetic suit began to lose power.

The blast narrowly missed Orion, shattering the side of his shield and scorching his jacket before colliding with the wall. The resulting explosion sent debris flying outward, shaking the entire building. Orion dove behind a piece of heavy-duty machinery.

Outside, chunks of metal and stone shot out in random directions. Faint screams and painful grunts came from those hit below, as Enforcers scrambled for cover.

Breathing heavily, Orion coughed up blood into his mask and hissed in pain before shouting back.

Crouched low, adrenaline spiking through his body, Orion rolled as he heard violent, metallic footsteps charging toward him.

The machinery exploded into shards as Zarkon slammed into it with his metallic fists, sending shrapnel flying in every direction.

Zarkon scoffed, staring down at him with disdain as Orion's shield flickered, deflecting the flying debris. "This is pathetic! Is this all magic can do?"

Slowly rising, his suit hissing as the Syntaxi energy pulsed through its circuits, Zarkon spoke with bitter disappointment. "With all the hype about magic from the Council and Clan Ferros, I expected more than cheap tricks."

Locking eyes, Zarkon allowed Orion to rise to his feet with a knowing and confident smirk.

"Clan Ferros, the Council- which one did you betray the Undercity for?"

"Neither!" Zarkon snarled, his suit beginning to hum as Orion's eyes narrowed, realization dawning as he watched it surge with renewed activity. "We were using Clan Ferros to create Syntixi prototypes. Those naïve bastards trusted us to create weaker versions to manipulate us and make us think we had power- Hah!"

Slowing his speech, his tone turned darker, more accusatory. "That was until you and that coward ruined it. Now topside knows we betrayed them, and Clan Ferros will send the Gray Lady to kill us."

Looking down at his glowing fist confidently, he clenched it as his expression hardened with resolution. "After I deal with you traitors, we'll eliminate Clan Ferros and become unstoppable. Zaun will be free- under our control!"

"Sorry, but that won't be happening," Orion said in a calm, low tone, switching to offensive magic. Power pulsed through his body, enhancing his muscles and reflexes as a faint red aura intertwined with a darker blue arcane glow around him. "Tell me where the blueprints for Syntixi are and I may let you live."

"Hah! Confident, street urchin? We'll see how long that lasts before I rip out your spine!"

With a sharp hiss of steam, the two burst into incredible speed. Zarkon swung his shimmering orange fist toward Orion's face, but Orion slipped to the side, delivering an arcane-infused punch to Zarkon's metallic arm.

A violent burst of orange and blue mist filled the air as the two continued their deadly dance- Orion focused on evasion and counters, while Zarkon attempted to deliver one-hit killer blows.

Machinery was sent flying into the walls, and the shattered remains of windows and debris were hurled outward from the now-exposed floor to the streets below. The lucky surviving workers huddled in the corner, away from the chaos, praying to any divine force to save them.

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//Caitlyn PoV//

Greyson and Caitlyn, along with the accompanying enforcers, were violently thrown throughout the hallway. Half of their injuries at this point hadn't come from the firefights, but from the violent explosions and deafening noise.

Two enforcers sprinting in front of them cried out as metal shrapnel pierced their bodies, blood spraying across the hallway. Greyson glanced back and motioned for Caitlyn to stay low as they broke out onto the factory floor.

Caitlyn's eyes widened with horror as they locked onto the corpses before whipping back to the front. 

She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the destruction. Machinery lay flattened like pancakes, and blood was splattered across the floor. Her eyes darted around quickly, spotting the factory workers huddled in a corner before she dropped to her stomach when another violent explosion and brilliant light erupted in the room.

From the prone position, she raised her gun as the enforcers spread out along their side of the room, opening fire at the two blurring silhouettes of orange and deep blue, locked in a violent dance across the factory floor. If it wasn't for the bloodshed and the potential to be killed, she may have even called it beautiful.

Her heightened pulse gave her whitened vision, her vision narrowing into a focused tunnel as she struggled to follow the streaks of movement. Recalling Greyson's training, Caitlyn inhaled deeply and steadied her breath, bringing her rifle into alignment for the perfect shot.

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//Orion's PoV//

Panting heavily, Orion's body burned from the prolonged stalemate. He hadn't expected the fight to be this difficult, especially after all the training. Acquiring this technology was now a definite must in his mind- at the very least for his own safety.

He noticed the cowering workers in the corner and tried his best to steer clear of them, though shards occasionally still flew in their direction.

Zarkon didn't look much better. His complexion had grown pale, and his movements were slowing as the prolonged exposure to the Syntixi Crystal took its toll.

Staying calm in this battle of attrition, Orion felt confident he would win- until sharp whistling sounds cut through the air.

Wzzt-Wzzt-Wzzt.

His gaze sharply darted toward the source.

What the fuck? How are enforcers here already? Orion cursed inwardly. Shit, this offensive magic can't stop bullets, and I can't channel both.

In that split second of realization, Orion knew the odds had turned against him, despite the enforcers' arrival. He doubted they could distinguish ally from foe right now, especially with two enforcer corpses littering the entrance.

"Topsider filth- kid, let's put our differences aside and deal with these vermin!" Zarkon panted heavily, but before Orion could respond, a bullet ricocheted off Zarkon's shoulder. Grunting as veins bulged across his forehead, Zarkon grabbed a stray metal panel and hurled it toward two enforcers.

The sheer force of it cleaved them clean in half, splattering fresh blood across the wall. Zarkon laughed maniacally, his confidence reigniting. "Haha! I knew it! They don't stand a chance if-"

Orion didn't hesitate. In that split moment of distraction, he vaulted forward, driving both feet into Zarkon with all his weight and as much arcane energy as he could muster.

Zarkon's head exploded outward, shards of skull whistling through the air with a sickening, fleshy squish echoing through the room.

Breaking into a roll and springing to his feet, Orion sprinted toward the stairs, adrenaline pumping as his muscles and tendons screamed in pain but kept moving.

He glanced back, triumph flooding through him. He had only a few minutes at most to find any blueprints and get the hell out of there.

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//Caitlyn PoV//

Caitlyn's bullet hit its mark. She saw the sparks fly and lifted her head, eager to see the damage she'd done.

Instead, in that split moment, a metal panel whizzed through the air from the chaos of the fight and sheared the two enforcers standing next to her clean in half.

Her eyes remained locked on the gruesome scene- lifeless eyes stared back at her from behind shattered goggles amid the gore and blood pooling around them.

A sharp snapping sound made her flinch, a small squeak escaping her lips as she whipped her gaze back toward the battlefield. Her heart pounded as fear ignited within her. Like a scene from a nightmare, blood sprayed across her face, accompanied by the sting of sharp skull fragments slicing her skin.

"Stay down!" Greyson's voice barked sharply, followed by two gunshots.

Caitlyn's eyes darted back to the fray just in time to see the blurred, blue silhouette of the other figure speeding toward the stairs, bullets raining after him.

Something definitely hit- she could tell by the splatter of blood trailing across the stairs- but she couldn't tell how severe the injury was.