Chapter 1

No Escape

"I love a good chase!"

Well at least Caitlyn seems to be enjoying herself, Vi thought to herself.

Vi, the Piltover Enforcer, had just been summoned to the Rift by the Institute of War for a league match. Summoned away from more pressing matters.

Her home, Piltover, was being threated by the madness of Jinx, her new archenemy, and she was once again stuck partaking in a battle for someone else. At least this time she had her partner Caitlyn to work with.

They had gained the upper hand in combat against the enemy and they were chasing down one of the survivors. If they caught her they could finish this battle and return to their more pressing matters.

Akali, the Fist of Shadow, was a slippery one indeed however.

The kunoichi always proved to be a thorn in the side of her opponents, but Vi and Caitlyn had her this time.

"She's just up ahead!" Vi shouted when she spotted the fleeing woman.

"Get me visual and I'll take her out," Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover, instructed her partner.

With a nod and a smirk Vi picked up her pace and upon rounding a few trees spotted her mark. She pointed her index finger at her target and her gauntlets locked on.

Vi wore two very large hextech gauntlets that packed a powerful punch, housing miniscule rockets to increase power and even propel her in a specific direction.

"Here comes the punchline!" She shouted as the rockets in gloves fired and she flew at the kunoichi. Akali dropped a smoke bomb in an attempt to hide from her pursuers but it was too late for her. Vi's gauntlets had locked and there was no escape.

The Enforcer smashed heavily into an invisible form, knocking the kunoichi out of the smoke and into plain view once more.

She reached and grabbed hold of Akali's hair first, but only so she could maneuver a more solid grip on her head, then leaping into the air with her catch she shouted to her partner.

"She's all yours, cupcake!"

"Nowhere to hide," the Sheriff said as she took aim with her sniper rifle, and fired.

The shot was true and Vi released the now lifeless form of the kunoichi, then landed back on the ground in a triumphant pose.

The excitement was enough to distract them from their more pressing concerns, back home in Piltover, they realized while high fiving, as was their custom.

Maybe they should actually do this more often Vi thought.

Their shared mirth was short lived however.

The hair on the back of Vi's neck stood on end when she heard it, a low growl, from seemingly nowhere and everywhere at once.

Her eyes went wide with horror then as two holes burst open on Caitlyn's chest.

After a brief shimmer the two claws that created the holes uncloaked and came into view, followed by the arm they were attached too, then the full feline form of one of their other opponents.

"Never return empty-handed," the humanoid lion growled with feral excitement.

"Run," Caitlyn, Vi's partner and closest friend muttered to her, before she slide off the claws and slumped to the ground, lifeless.

Never one to run, never one to abandon a friend, never one to leave an evil deed unpunished, Vi lunged forward at the hunter with all her strength.

She threw as many punches as she could with as much force as she could, but to no avail. The cat was too nimble, and she was already tired from previously chasing down Akali, leaving her at a distinct disadvantage.

With a wide left hook she forced the feline to jump back and she came forward in a rush with a strong right jab, but as she did so the hunter reached into a pouch and pulled forth a pair of bolas.

"Not so fast," he taunted her as he sent them spinning her way.

They wrapped themselves around her extended right arm and her neck, and as they tightened her arm was involuntarily raised, causing it to harmlessly pass by her intended target.

She then had to suck in her stomach as much as she could to avoid being skewered on his blood soaked claws just as her friend had been.

The lion came forward in a flurry, stabbing and slicing with those claws, cutting across with his large reverse blade in his right hand, and even kneeing occasionally with the spike on his kneecap.

Vi managed to avoid most of the assault, but with her right arm tied to her neck and raised helplessly out of the way she did take a considerable beating.

She dodged to the side, giving herself some time to reach up and tear off the bolas with her left hand, freeing the other.

But as she spun back around he was gone, the feline hunter had disappeared.

At first she felt relieved, but as realization set in she knew she was done for.

The last thing she heard was her hunter as he plunged his large blade into her spin.

"Easy prey," he growled, and everything went black.