“A Piercing Arrow for you!” Lin Feng shouted over the team’s voice chat, laughing. He pressed on the Q key and held it, charging up the skill for increased range. When he let go, the arrow shot across a large distance and struck Team Beijing’s Lucian!
“And a Piercing Arrow for you!” Lin Feng continued after the skill came back off cooldown. He pressed the button again, held it to charge it up, and then let go. Another arrow shot through the air, this time piercing Team Beijing’s Gragas.
“And a Pier—”
“Yeah, yeah. We get it,” An Xin interrupted. She glanced at Lin Feng and continued, “You want to pierce everyone on Team Beijing with your love arrow. Right?”
Lin Feng nodded, grinning. “I just don’t get it,” he said. “Why would they try to fight us at Dragon? We’ve got Rumble and I just got the Blue Buff, so I’ve got unlimited fire power!”
“They don’t know you’ve got blue. Well, they didn’t anyway,” An Xin replied. She then looked at her screen which showed the Dragon Pit and paused for a brief moment. She then added, “They know they won’t beat us late game. This is their final act of desperation. Either they win this fight and get back into the game. Or they lose it and it’s game. From their perspective, it’s better to do it like that than to sit back and wait for minute 40 when they’ll eventually lose.”
Zeng Rui pinged on the Dragon Pit and interjected, “Let’s focus on the fight. BunBun is right. This is their do or die attempt. We’re going to make sure they die.”
“Not to worry!” Zhang Hao exclaimed. He looked next to him at his teammates and continued, “You’ve got my Rumble ult! I’m coming right away!”
Tang Bingyao looked at the items in her inventory. Her Jinx was starting to become a real threat. I can show them how good I am now! Mhm! She nodded and said, “I’m coming too!”
✹
Yu Ping ground his teeth in frustration. Every time an arrow came, it found a target. He lost a bit of the control he usually had over himself and ordered louder than usual, “Find those damn wards! They’ve got them somewhere! We need to kill his vision or he’s going to kill us!”
Zhang Hongyi threw his hands up in frustration and replied, “I am searching! But there are no wards here! He’s hitting those arrows blind! I’m telling you. NO WARDS HERE!”
Another Piercing Arrow whizzed out from the fog of war. Yu Ping flicked his mouse and had his Ahri sidestep the attack. But his ad-carry wasn’t as fast. The arrow struck Lucian and claimed a third of his health bar.
“FUCK!” Zhang Hongyi cursed. He pinged on his ad-carry and continued, “Jesus, what’s wrong with you today? You’re playing like shit! Start dodging those damn arrows! It’s not that hard! Click your stupid mouse and dodge!”
“I’m trying!” Team Beijing’s ad-carry replied through gritted teeth. His screen was flashing red. One more arrow would kill him. I’m trying to dodge! But there’s no time to react! I can’t see him or where he’s shooting from! The arrows jump out of the fog of war! What do you want? Have me go all the way to the back and sit there waiting for Evelynn to flank us and kill me? I’m not doing that!
“Guys, stop,” Yu Ping said. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Where is their Rumble…?”
Team Beijing’s Toplaner grimaced and replied, “I couldn’t stop him. He’s teaming up with the—”
“Why didn’t you fucking say so!?” Yu Ping cursed. “Shit, okay. So all five of them are presumably below us. We don’t have vision on any of them. They can run right around the corner at the bottom of the river and charge at us. We need to run…” He shook his head and corrected, “We need to fight. Get down here Darius.”
“Almost there!” Team Beijing’s Toplaner responded.
✹
The Dragon Pit was located in the bottom half of the river. It was an alcove carved into Blue Team’s Jungle, with the only entrance being in the river. All five Champions from Team Beijing stood there, indecisive. They couldn’t see Team Shanghai anywhere, even with the extended vision from their wards. They had a decent idea of where Team Shanghai was hiding, but they couldn’t see them.
A bit further down the river was an entrance into Blue team’s Jungle. It was a sharp corner, which created a good spot to hide behind. All five Champions from Team Shanghai were waiting there, closely packed together.
Lin Feng looked at the fog of war clouding the Dragon pit. Team Beijing had destroyed all wards from Team Shanghai. He glanced at Zeng Rui and said, “ZengZeng, what are you waiting for? Let’s go in!”
“I’m the shotcaller,” Zeng Rui replied. He briefly paused, his eyelid twitching, and then added, “Let’s go in!” He flashed across the wall and arrived right in front of Team Beijing. He followed up with Braum’s ultimate skill. Braum jumped up into the sky, raised his shield above his head, and then came down with the power of a thousand ice moons! A Glacial Fissure spread out in front of him, and a burst of cold air knocked Team Beijing’s Lucian and Leona up into the air!
“HaoBro, you next!” Lin Feng shouted over the team’s voice chat.
“HaoBro’s on the job!” Zhang Hao replied, laughing. Rumble’s ultimate skill was an area of effect skill, similar to Braum’s Glacial Fissure. The big difference was that where Braum’s skill went more in the direction of crowd control, Rumble’s skill also dealt a lot of damage. His Rumble cast The Equalizer! Six missiles fired from his contraption and exploded over the Glacial Fissure! A fire started burning!
Team Beijing’s Lucian was already at low health and was now also knocked up and receiving burn damage. His health bar was almost empty. He smashed on his D key repeatedly, trying to Flash away the moment his feet hit the ground again. But Varus’ Chains of Corruption rooted him before that could happen. Team Beijing’s ad-carry stared at his screen, despondant, as it turned to grey.
《You have been slain.》
Yu Ping fought two battles. One was versus Team Shanghai and the other against the frustration he felt towards his ad-carry. Idiot! How many times do we need to remind you to watch your damn positioning!? We’re fucked. Fucked! All I can do… He looked at Team Shanghai and narrowed his eyes. If I can dash in, kill Varus and dash back out… He said over the team’s voice chat, “We’re going in. Support me. Varus first!” He then dashed at Lin Feng’s Varus with Spirit Dash and threw all Ahri’s abilities at him!
“WOOOOO!” Cherry screamed into her microphone at the caster desk. “Yu Ping is gonna kill Varus!”
FourEyesChan chimed in, “Finally!”
The large pink heart kissed Lin Feng’s Varus. He became enamored with Ahri, even while the Orb of Deception and Fox-Fires tore through his health bar. In the distance, Team Beijing’s Leona raised her sword up to the sky and called down a Solar Flare on Varus. And through all of this, Lin Feng smiled. He remained calm, patiently baiting Team Beijing into using their most powerful crowd control skills. When the Solar Flare was about to hit him, he pressed F into D. A cleansing light helped him see Ahri for the devilish fox she really was and the veil of radiant light that followed carried him away from the Solar Flare!
Yu Ping ordered through gritted teeth, “Stick to him.” He then cast Spirit Rush for a second time, dashing after Lin Feng’s Varus.
Zeng Rui had stuck close to Tang Bingyao to protect her. But when Yu Ping dashed at Lin Feng for a second time, leaving his team far behind him, Zeng Rui saw the opening. He dashed at Lin Feng’s Varus with Stand Behind Me and followed up with Winter’s Bite! A chunk of freezing air slammed into Yu Ping’s Ahri and slowed her! He then cast Exhaust on Ahri! The red, debilitating energy wrapped around her and made her all but useless.
Yu Ping smiled. His Ahri had used her abilities. She wasn’t going to deal a lot of damage with or without Exhaust. He pinged on Tang Bingyao’s Jinx, who was left undefended, and ordered, “Take her out! FAST!”
“On it!” Team Beijing’s Jungler replied over the team’s voice chat. He Body Slammed towards Tang Bingyao’s Jinx and then tossed his Explosive Cask at her!
✹
Su Xue was streaming the Winter Collegiate Cup Finals from her apartment in Shanghai. When she and her hundred thousand viewers saw Team Beijing shift their focus towards Tang Bingyao, she screamed, “NoNoNONONONOOOOOO! TANG TANG!”
「TANG TANG NOOOOOO」
「how dare they slay our goddesss! LETS KILL EM ALL!!!! CRUSADDEE TANGTANGGANG!」
「why did braum run away? what a shit support….」
「plsplspslplss someone save tang tang!!!」
「i cant watch this. i just cant. someone tell me what happens」
「SHE HAS FLASH! SHE HAS FLASH! FLASH IT! FLLLAAAASSSSHHHHHHHHH」
✹
Tang Bingyao was laser focused on the fight. ZengZeng is gone and— The Explosive Cask flew through the air, about to burst. It was going to land behind and knock her into Team Beijing. The world ground to a halt. She finally got a glimpse into how Lin Feng played the game. Several different options played out before her eyes.
If I get hit, the force will knock me at the Darius and I’m dead. Can’t do that.
If I Flash forward, I Flash on top of Darius. Can’t do that either.
If I Flash sideways, I won’t clear the range because of the wall next to me. That won’t work.
But if I Flash back, I’m so far away from the fight that I can’t hel— Unless… What if I fire my Super Mega Death Rocket and kill Ahri? That would activate my passive skill and boost my movement speed. Then I can… Mhm! That’s it! That’s it!
Time resumed for Tang Bingyao. She went against all her instincts and Flashed away from the fight. Her Jinx disappeared with a mottled flash of light and reappeared on the other side of the Explosive Cask. The pink liquid burst and sent her flying away! She pressed on the F3 button to center her camera over Lin Feng’s Varus. It didn’t matter where she landed; she just had to know where Ahri was. Still Exhausted. 2… 1! MHM! She pressed the R key and the SUPER MEGA DEATH ROCKET shot across the river straight at Ahri where it went up in a fiery explosion!
《You have slain an enemy!》
“Did she just…?” Cherry mumbled into her microphone at the caster desk.
FourEyesChan pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose and said, “Yeah, yeah… Yeah, she just did that.” He briefly paused and then added, “Wow! That’s the trademark of any LPL ad-carry! Stunned me right into silence! WOW!”
“Wow indeed! Crazy…”
“Those reflexes… How in the world…?”
“MOST BADASS BITCH IF YOU EVER SEEN ONE!”
“Jinx is a crazy bitch… Player matches Champion! WOOOOOOO!”
“SIIIIKE! BEST PLAY BY AN AD-CARRY 2016!”
Lin Feng turned his head to look at Tang Bingyao and grinned.
Tang Bingyao glanced at Lin Feng and mumbled, “Hmm?”
Lin Feng grinned brighter and said, “You know how nice that was, right? That was so nice! Reminds me of Silent! You channelled your inner Silent there! I knew you had it in you! I’m lovin’ it!”
Tang Bingyao forgot about her Jinx running towards Team Beijing. She turned her head to look at Lin Feng, suddenly feeling very warm. D-did… Uhm… I did good? Mhm! I did! Like Silent! He’s comparing me with the best ad-carry to have ever played! He’s… He is… She smiled and mumbled barely audibly, “Thanks.”
“He’s right, you know?” An Xin said. She winked at Tang Bingyao and added, “That was a great play. I was really confused when you Flashed away from the fight. That’s so not like you. But then you hit that rocket and… Lin Feng is right. That was reminiscent of Silent. That was a fantastic play and an even better sho—”
“WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A TEAMFIGHT! DAMMIT!” Zeng Rui screamed over the team’s voice chat. His eyes were bloodshot as he clicked on his mouse with increasing fury. “WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A TEAMFIGHT!”
“ZengZeng!” Lin Feng exclaimed. “My ears! Jeesh! We’ve already got two and look…” He charged up a Piercing Arrow and released it, piercing Gragas and Darius. “I’ve got them both! We’ll kill them!”
“Just focus,” Zeng Rui said, staring at his screen.
Team Shanghai stopped chatting and channelled their attention towards the teamfight. There were still three Champions from Team Beijing alive, but they’d used their strongest crowd control abilities and didn’t have the damage to kill anyone from Team Shanghai. Tang Bingyao’s Jinx fired at Gragas with her minigun while Lin Feng’s Varus fired arrows from his bow. An Xin lashed out with her sharp nails and Rumble activated his Flamespitter. All the while, Zeng Rui had his Braum running between Gragas and Darius and slowing them both.
Zhang Hongyi looked at the fight, the corner of his lips twitching. He focused his camera on Zeng Rui and narrowed his eyes. You. Little. Chickenshit! If my ad-carry wasn’t such a braintard this game, we would’ve won this fight! It’s all because of that stupid ass Varus and his longshots… FUCK! He clicked away from the fight. No one cared about his Leona. She was irrelevant in this game. He was irrelevant. “FUCK! WE LOST! FUCK!”
Zhang Hao’s Rumble got the last hit on Gragas and claimed the double kill, after which Team Shanghai turned their attention on Darius. They chased him down and killed him. Leona got away, but she wasn’t worth chasing. Not with a Dragon ready to be taken, anyway. Team Shanghai took the Dragon and then recalled back to base to spend all the gold they’d just earned.
FourEyesChan adjusted his glasses and said into the microphone, “That’s game. The Nexus is still standing, but Team Beijing has basically lost this game.”
Cherry nodded and added, “I don’t see them coming back from this one. It would take something truly special.”
Sun Ruinian looked up at the speakers from which the casters’ voices boomed and shook his head. He mumbled, “Something phenomenally terrible would have to happen. Like a meteor or an EMF wave. Or Team Shanghai suddenly getting sick…”
Sietse Thought: I like it when it’s quiet at night. Where I live, there is no traffic and there is no noise of people walking on the street at night. It’s quiet. The perfect way to sleep. But it also makes sounds so much louder when they do happen. I was fast asleep last night, having good dreams about walking some random dog (don’t know why). And then I woke up. Something fell. Something made a lot of noise. That doesn’t make sense. So I listen and following the sound of something falling I hear the soft taps of something or someone trying to sneak away from the scene of the crime.
Boy was I awake. I shot up from my bed and ran down the stairs to see what the fuck was going on. I like to leave some windows open when I sleep, which probably isn’t the smartest thing to do. But it always goes fine, until last night I figured. The wind is blowing and it makes it sound like a door is open somewhere. So I get downstairs and I find a basket with laundry on the floor. Adrenaline is making me on edge to every little sound.
And then I realise I’m a fucking idiot. The cat tried to jump to her food and knocked the cloth basket to the ground. There was no burglar. I went back to bed and slept through the rest of the night. But that odd feeling remained at the back of my mind. The smallest worry that keeps you on edge. This morning I’m sitting here, editing the chapter. I’m maybe two pages in when I hear this knocking sound.
I’m certain. This time it can’t be the cat! AND I WAS RIGHT! IT WASN’T THE CAT! It was the window washer -.-
I want to blame the alcohol from last night for this embarrassing display from myself. I was so ready to find a burglar last night, like holy shit. It never happens that I wake up that quickly and that fully. I knew something fell and that that wasn’t right. And the sound of someone trying to sneak away from the scene of the crime was so loud in the otherwise quiet night. It isn’t until writing this right now that I realise I had a phone next to my bed and probably should’ve grabbed that instead of running downstairs in my underwear…
Shanks Thought: I lived in Sietise’s house for like a week. It’s a big ol’ creepy house with a lot of wooden flooring. Even the lightest steps make the loudest ass creaks. It would literally be impossible for any burglar to break in unnoticed. The fact that he keeps hearing all these unexplainable noises at night just confirms my suspicion that it’s haunted. I didn’t feel anything strange while I was there, but my sixth sense could tell that there was some paranormal entity lingering around in the corridors! You see, your boy Shanks has some experience with the supernatural.
One day, I think the Rise crew should gather up and do a Ghosthunters-style sweep through of Sietse’s house. We’ll gear up with thermal imaging cameras, night vision goggles, the ghost hunting van, and the whole shabang. I’ll be the guy at the back of the van monitoring the situation, and Devshard and Sietse can go in the house and investigate. It’ll be great!
Dev Thought: Sietse, bud, you didn’t need your phone or a weapon to confront a robber or a supernatural enemy. You are a weapon. There is no being on this plane of reality that can stand up to a direct blow from the Thundercock.
Also, we need to get Shanks to tell us about these “experiences” with the supernatural he’s had. I’ve known the dude for years, and I don’t remember any stories of Shanks confronting supernatural entities. The only conversation I remember with him about the “supernatural” was the show Supernatural. Sietse and I love that show, and Shanks claimed not to see the charm. But both Sietse and I think Shanks is lying. He secretly loves Supernatural. He just doesn’t like admitting that he likes things that are mainstream. Shanks is the original weeb hipster.