Out of the closet

Zaun, Shurima continent.

In another corner within the city of Zaun, a laboratory was situated underground, hidden from the public eye. The laboratory is extremely huge, bigger than an average football stadium back on earth. Within the lab are a bunch of advanced technologies, they all are connected together with green-like tubes that contain some sort of chemical substances.

One noticeable thing within the lab is a gigantic creature sleeping behind a glass container that is filled with green chemical substances; it sleeps in a fetus position as a futuristic metal cable connected to its body.

In front of the container is a humanoid figure, presumably to be human, but if an onlooker gets to see the appearance of the said figure, they would question whether "it" is human or not. The man has a scarf covering his face, but it could not cover everything as his face has weird purple funguses growing out on it, half of his face looks like it suffered a first-degree burn, but instead of the usual red, it was purple...

The man put his tattered right hand which is filled with wrinkles and deep purple marks, on the glass.

"The mutation will stay alive..." The man's hoarse voice resounds as his lazy eyes contain some unknown thoughts.

*Tap Tap Tap* loud series of footsteps coming from behind the man as it echoes throughout the laboratory.

"How is the plan going, Singed." Another figure made its appearance on the camera! Unlike "Singed", the man this time has a noble appearance, wearing a red and black tuxedo, looking very exquisite, a true noble image! He has combed black hair, chisel chin, looking like a normal human being.... well, not quite. One of the man's eyes is a normal, bright blue pupil with white sclera...but the other one looks very demonic and sinister, a red pupil covered around it is a black sclera.

"Silco, what did I tell you about going inside the laboratory?" A menacing voice spoke out by Singed as he angrily glares at Silco.

In front of his partner's venomous glare, Silco just shrugged in a casual manner.

"You have a visitor."-Silco

"Send them out. I'm busy."-Singed

"Are you...? They are from..." When Silco finishes his sentences, Singed finally put down the weird object that he has been fiddling with and turns around to face Silco. He is extremely tall, at least taller than the person in front of him, so when his hunched back, straighten, his stature towered over Silco.

"So, they have come.... send him in."

"Sure, but I hope you didn't forget our deal, Singed..." Silco chuckles as he turns his body around, heading toward the laboratory's door.

*Kachoo* The lab's door automatically opened triangularly as Silco got near it. Once the door fully open, a figure was revealed on the other side, a familiar figure...

"He's all your, hehehe." Silco with both hands in his pockets, spoke out as he walked past the man.

…

Indari looks at the man walking pass him with no visible expression, just coldly staring at him and then at the laboratory.

"This Kingdom is filled with geniuses indeed," Indari mutters, as he thinks back to his own empire, Noxus. If he were to compare between his empire and the PiltOver/Zaun, it would be that his empire is the brawn, and they are the brain. Each has its own pros and cons.

The Noxus is Barbarin by nature, they love physical and violent activities, like war! That's why the Noxus are notorious as a Warring Empire, they wage wars for a living! That's also where their shortcomings come in. Focusing on military power, they neglect their own technology, which pushed them back behind their competitors in modern technologies.

While PiltOver/Zaun are more reserved, their technologies are far more advanced and modern than the rest of the world, with the help of their brain powers and talented offspring, they were able to stand atop, among the other world powers.

The Noxus's empire is aware of that, that's why they send Indari and Samira on this mission, across the continent. First, the empire wants to stir troubles and create a weakness for the Kingdom, as they will patiently lurk in the dark, waiting for an opening to strike. Second, the empire wants to steal- *ahem*, "gather" the geniuses of PiltOver/Zaun and convert them into their own. This is where Indari comes in.

Indari marvelled at the many advanced technologies before his eye with no visible emotion shown on his face. He slowly but surely walks toward the only man within the room, The mad chemist, Singed!

Before coming here, Indari had gathered a lot of data and personal history about this mad chemist. All he could say after reviewing through his portfolio is that the man is a gem, an unearthed gem!

Singed, ever since he was young, is a genius that had started his life in PiltOver. As a child, he showed advanced intelligence and curiosity to the magnificent world. His intellectual had allowed him to be accepted into one of the most prestigious schools of PiltOver, the university of PiltOver. The school had poured plenty of resources and investment into Singed, allowing him to highlight his geniuses and talent to the world.

However, he would soon fall from his ladder. One day, the PiltOver's genius inventor, Heimerdinger had brought up the topic of creating a fused technology of magic (Arcane) and science together, the concept of Hex-tech technology! This advanced development is a huge breakthrough, everyone loved the idea and was adamant for the concept to be moving forth, well...all but except one person, Singed. He wasn't on the train with the idea as he said, and I quote "A blasphemous to the future generation." He was a vocal critic of the said technology, which resulted in his colleagues' ridicules.

Eventually, the school had given up their investments in Singed, as they all focused on the more popular person, Heimerdinger, and his hex-tech! Singed with the loss of his funds was devastated, he soon moved to Zaun and focused on his research there. Zaun was a perfect place for him to study his inventions ideas! The Chemtech! There, he will be able to gather resources and funds by selling his inventions to the public and the nobles, plus many Guinee pigs are available for him to conduct "Unethical" experiments on.

And here we are...

"Oh, what can this lowly one does for the envoy of the prestigious empire, Noxus!?" Singed spoke out when he sees Indari walking towards him.

"Let's get straight to the point, the Noxus wants to invest in you." Indari with his straightforward personality directly said.

"In exchange, you will help the empire from time to time, giving you the freedom to do your research. What do you say..."

Singed was stunned by the other party's straightforward claim, but he didn't dislike it; as a scientist, wasting time is what he hated the most, so the guy fits with his personality. Taking several moments to contemplate the options.

"I can agree, but I have a few conditions...." Singed then put forth his demands, and as he goes on, the expression of Indari slowly changes, until his face turned darker than the bottom of a pot!

"Ridiculous!" Indari yells, for the first time since the interaction, his cold-stone face turned red in anger. The man was just too much, okay?

'This bastard..." Indari grits his teeth in anger, the damn chemist dared to demand a full cooperation with indefinite freedom, meaning that he won't be tied on a leashed to their empire and they would have to support him unconditionally! What kind of bullshit deal was this!? If the empire didn't value the man, he would have swung his sword already. The man dared to scheme against the empire!? Presumptuous!

"Change your demand, Chemist. The empire won't allow such things!"

"Well, I guess this is it for our meeting, now would you excuse me, I have researches to research about..." Singed shrugs with a smirk. He might not be a businessman, but he isn't clueless either, he knows that the one who has the initiative was him, they were the ones who seeks first, why would he be stupid to suffer any losses?

"I hope you won't regret this...." Indari glared menacingly at Singed, turning around and leaving. His originally bad mood worsened. Today, he had suffered two losses, both of which are critical to the empire's future plans.

Taking out a communication device, he dials a signal as it flashes with green light.

"Hello?" A female voice came from the other side of the device.

"Pack your back, we're leaving." Indari left the sentence as he turned off the device afterwards. His tone was absolute, not taking a no for an answer.

…...

On the other hand,

"tcch, this bastard! *crack*" Samira angrily huffs as she crushes the communication device in her hand in sheer anger.

Caitlyn who was originally sucking the straw within her orange juice cup, got startled. They were currently inside the tavern while the commotions were still going on outside. After all, the civilians just experienced the preview of possibly an Armageddon! It will take a long time to calm the masses.

"Sorry kiddo, I gotta bounce, here take this." Samira made a gesture with her hand as she flings a golden coin to Caitlyn. Caitlyn quickly reacted and caught the coin. It doesn't look like anything special at first glance, just a normal coin engraved on it is the logo of the Noxus empire.

"This is my token, when you visit Noxus in the future, just show it to the guards, they will know what to do. Later!" With that said, she disappeared from the spot as she dashes out of the tavern, heading in a certain direction.

"Ugh...." Caitlyn confusedly looked in the direction of where Samira took off. She still hasn't processed what had just transpired! First, she was running for her life from Samira. Next, she was saved by her. Then they were now drinking happily. Now, she's gone. Many things that had happened in the past 5 minutes made her have mixed feelings about the situation...

"Caitlyn...?" While she was in a stupor, a figure suddenly sneaked to her left side as she leaned her head to take a closer look at Caitlyn, trying to confirm her guesses.

"Powder!?" She was shocked at first when a sudden blue hair entered her peripheral vision, but when a familiar voice rang out, Caitlyn relaxed when she found a familiar acquaintance. With blue hair and pink eyes, a childish but mischievous face, it's the girl that they had met before the incident, Powder!

"What are you doing here?" Caitlyn asked. [AN: She doesn't know that Powder lives in Zaun.]

"Mhm..? This is my home! What are you doing down here...?" Powder has ample respect for Caitlyn and Jayce, they were the only people from the upper class that didn't discriminate against her and Vi, and even willingly take her under Jayce's tutelage.

Powder takes a small jump as she dived into Caitlyn's embrace, rubbing her little face on the "part" of Caitlyn.

Luckily, there is no one else here besides them, otherwise, she wouldn't know how to face Jayce afterwards.

Well....not quite.

"Caitlyn...?" Another surprise gasp came from behind, as the figure of Vi slowly walk out from the door.

"Oh, hey VI! Nice to meet you guys again!" Caitlyn turned around and greeted Vi with a smile, it was just a simple gesture, but unknowingly she sparkled something hidden deep within Vi.

….

Vi's POV

"Powder, wait!" Vi quietly yells out to Powder when she saw the girl running out of the door, heading toward the lobby. Vander told them to stay inside their room, and plus there was that weird sensation she felt a few minutes prior, it was so weird because a familiar but suffocating aura suddenly descended upon them. Her knees buckled and so did Powder as they both knelt on the ground.

Luckily, nothing else bad happened after. Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she saw Powder looking through the binocular device that Ekko invented, it was used for peeking out of the lobby through the eyes of Vander's picture on the wall. She saw the girl suddenly go from a scared expression to an excited one as she bolts out of the room. So, Vi naturally has to follow her sister, without having the time to look through what she saw.

Once she opened the door to the lobby, she saw Powder embracing a black hair figure, nudging her little head from side to side against the marshmallows of the figure.

'Isn't that....' Feeling her memory being dizzy, as she recalls where she had seen the person before... Oh right... She met her when she confronted Jayce back at the restaurant, though she didn't get a clear look at the time. They didn't meet again afterwards, till now.

"Caitlyn...?"

Suddenly...time seemed to have slowed down. The world faded into the background as she and Cait were the only ones who retained their colour. When Caitlyn slowly turned around, her hair flicked back, and her face sparkled.

*THWUMP* An imaginary white angel suddenly appears out of thin air as he knocks an arrow with a heart shape at the front point, straight into Vi's body.

At this moment, she knows...she fucked up...

…

"Vi...?"-Cait

"VI!" -Powder

Two consecutive shouts woke her up from her stupefy. When she heard Caitlyn call out her name, her face burns bright red, hot blood pumping out of her heart at an alarm rate, she feels extreme wetness at a certain place...

"I....I'll be right back!" Turning around, she ran back inside, leaving Caitlyn and Powder looking at each other in confusion.

"What just happened?"

….