PROJECT: Resurrection (A fan story. Take Two.)

Okay, so before I get into this, let me say something: I am not a professional writer, nor am I doing anything else but SPECULATING and adding my own headcanon thoughts here. But let's get started. This is my thoughts on the PROJECT series of skins, and how they fit into League.

Valoran in the distant future. Conventional warfare is a thing of the past. The nations of Valoran, those that still exist, are at an uneasy peace. The Institute of War is long forgotten, as are the magics that made it possible. Noxus and Zaun have formed an alliance, providing each other with resources, soldiers, technology, and the like. Demacia, Ionia, and the other more 'peaceful' nations of the continent are equally allied.

A theory came to one of the many Demacian scientists. He would resurrect the most influential personalities and bodies of the fabled League of Legends. Those lost to the ages shall be resurrected to lead Valoran to a true peace with their experiences and ideals. This started with Yasuo, someone who knew first-hand of how to overcome adversity in the face of insurmountable odds.

Funding was unfortunately cut halfway though the project. Demacia just didn't have the resources to offer the labs working on re-creating the personalities and bodies of those that were mere legend. The idea was scrapped and left to gather dust. That is, until a Zaun infiltrator to the Demacian labs got his hands on the plans to re-create the champions of old. What was once a noble project was then twisted and malformed into a plan to create soldiers, fighters, capable of doing far more than any modern-day battlefield grunt.

They went through with the plan to re-create Yasuo. It eventually succeeded, though they found several flaws in the plans of the Demacians. They wanted to use these soldiers as thinkers. Scholars. Politicians. Zaun wished to do the opposite: They wanted only a brutal warrior, effective at killing anything that got in their path. Yasuo was reborn, with his mind intact. Zed was next to come, his legendary thirst for power driving the Zaunite researchers to produce the first of their army. When he awoke, he gladly committed to aiding Zaun in their battle. He was no slave... But they were certainly the best way to become stronger than Shen ever could have been. The next four found much less savory fates.

Fiora was the first, tormented by visions of creatures unlike anything she had faced in the League. Forced to fight over and over again, to the brink of exhaustion and beyond. Her mind warped and molded to be hostile and violent to all who came near. A wild animal to be unleashed in the battlefield.

Lucien was the second. His wife was the vision used to torment him. Fighting to get close, but never able to reunite with her. No matter how hard he fought, she was just out of reach. No matter how well he did, he never received his prize.

Yi was the third. He was haunted by visions of his precious Ionia, destroyed time and time again by dark, shadowy visages. Every time he'd strike one down, another would appear. Over and over, watching his lands burn under torch and cannon.

The final was Leona. Her visions were akin to Yi. Watching everything she loved burn and crumble around her, unable to protect, unable to defend.

The minds were forged with science, the body with metal. These were not people, they were things. Zaun intended to use these copies as soldiers. Sell them to Noxus, use them in gladiatorial combat. Zed was their enforcer. Yasuo hadn't been seen since he was labeled a 'failure' and kicked out. But, with a stroke of luck, Fiora managed to slip her bonds. Plagued by the visions implanted within her brain, visions that flickered in and out of existence, she somehow managed to escape the Zaun laboratory where she was being kept. Struggling to come about to her new reality, she knew what her mission would be: To rescue the others from their own labs, and escape this nightmare city. The images of her darkest fears couldn't be true.

Lucien was the closest. After slaughtering her way through the halls of the laboratory, Fiora gathered him and his belongings up. It was weird, this new body. Faster. Stronger. She had abilities that she could never dream of. Lucien found that he was the same, and that their weapons had been re-created as even more powerful tools. There was no time to delay, they must go find the others.

Yi was next. Having broken free of his own power, but still locked in the laboratory, he was at the mercy of the Zaun security forces. That is, until Fiora and Lucien came to save him. They were finding one thing in common: their grip on reality was faltering. Was this a strange city? Or was it their home, changed by fear and whatever these scientists had done to them?

Upon their escape from Yi's facility, Zed came upon the escapees. He was not to let them go free, even if he had to kill them. The battle that followed is well known. Zed was forced to retreat, and the group of three managed to find their way to Leona's cell. After helping her escape, they made their way to the outskirts of Zaun, fighting for every block and mile. Upon reaching their freedom, they were stopped by one thing: The tug of a being about to be pulled through a portal.

It would be found out later that they were the unintended subjects of a Summoning. Yasuo was there, as well. As was the battered body of Zed, still recovering from the beating they'd given him. They had been brought 'home'. This was the place they had memories of. These people were familiar. But yet, how could it be their home if they already exist? In time, the truth would be revealed: They were from the future of Valoran, and their time here could only be fated for one thing. They were to fight in the League, to keep their future from happening. To prevent any more monstrosities to come from the city of Zaun, and to prevent the eventual army that would overtake Demacia and Ionia, their homes, if Zaun manages to make any more copies.

Alright, so it's a rough draft... But tell me what you all think! I'll be prowling around the comments section every now and then.

Edit: Let's try this again, since I apparently had the wrong category. My bad.

Edit 2: I you like it, upvote it! The more people who get to see stuff like this, the better. I enjoy writing headcanon that people enjoy!