Ace [TF-Centric Fan-Fiction]
Figured it was about time I transferred Ace over to this board too. Please pardon the dust and debris while I try to get this thread properly set up. Actually looking at the character limit on the replies I can put in this thread, I guess it would be most efficient for people to just go to FF.net and read it, then discuss it here if they wish.
This fic will center around Twisted Fate, but we'll be seeing interactions with many more champions before the end. Graves will be the main and most visible antagonist for at least the first half of the story.
As always, helpful critique and comments in general are welcome. This is as much an experiment with technique and practice with writing as it is a pleasure activity for me, so I do appreciate feedback.
Fanfiction.net link for Ace: Starts at Chapter 1 Ao3 link for Ace: Starts at Chapter 1
My Other Stories: The Weight of Responsibility(About Caitlyn and Vi); WoR on Ao3 Old Wounds(About TF and Graves); OW on Ao3 League of Crack(Silly stories about various champions, also by Grand Viper); LoC on Ao3 Will add the forum links for these as well once I get the topics made.
Chapter 1: Ruin
The hideaway was damp and filled with the musty smell of mold, the relic of a time when Piltover was outright hostile to gypsies, back before Caitlyn became the city's sheriff. It was an underground chamber built beneath a large forest, using the massive roots of its trees as support columns, a place where a band of gypsies could easily hide their women and children if bandits, crime lords, or even Piltovan law enforcement came looking for trouble. The chamber had not been used or even opened in many years, but it suited Twisted Fate's needs for the moment. Light from a small lantern illuminated the corner of the chamber that he'd seated himself in, throwing areas behind the tree roots into masses of confusing shadow.
Twisted Fate wrapped a clean length of bandage around the knuckles of his right hand, taking one loose end in his still-bleeding left hand and the other in his teeth to tie it off. He winced when the bandages slipped painfully as he pulled them tight. In his anger he'd repeatedly bashed his fists against one of the larger tree roots that made up the support columns of the hideaway, and unfortunately they had proved to be just as rough and covered in bark as the actual trunks were. With the bleeding staunched on his right hand, Twisted Fate did the same to his left, working a bit more carefully this time to avoid making the bandages slip.
Once his knuckles had been seen to, Fate leaned back against the root he was sitting in front of with a long sigh. He was dressed in a blue denim shirt, black vest, and blue jeans with brown cowboy boots, casual wear since he'd been on leave from his duty to the League for two more days. Weary gloom haunted his pale blue eyes; it had been hard, having to remember the living hell he'd experienced in the wake of the massacre, but being blamed for the very event that ruined his life twenty years ago was far worse.
The League would be looking for him, as well as Graves and probably Caitlyn too, now that he'd disappeared. Graves was a guarantee for sure, as well as that dark mage... He couldn't let any of them find him, especially the League. The cards had told him the League would cause his death if they found out about his connection to the massacre, and he wasn't going to let them catch him now that they knew so much about it.
One week prior to his current predicament, a chance encounter had led to Caitlyn getting a confession out of him with a truth potion, and then she'd wanted to help solve his case... He'd been a fool to believe Caitlyn could help. The entire contents of that same case file—new information and all—somehow ended up in the hands of the Zaunite press just a week after she found out, but it was worse than just a leak. Somewhere along the line between the Archives and the Zaunite press, his eyewitness report had been changed to a confession of guilt for being involved in carrying out the massacre. It was a blow that made him burn with fury whenever he thought about it, and he would gladly kill whoever was responsible. Twisted Fate didn't know whether Caitlyn was involved with that leak or not, but wasn't taking any chances with her. He should have known better than to trust a sheriff of Piltover, even if she wasn't like her crooked predecessor at all. Maybe the city as a whole was just bad luck for him.
They would be searching the Piltovan countryside soon, if they hadn't started already. He'd made only one jump with Gate, so he wasn't beyond where they would be looking just yet. He had to be in or beyond the Ironspine Mountains to stay out of Piltover's reach. Luckily this hideaway had not caved in and revealed itself in its long years of disuse, and the thick foliage that had grown around its entrances made it even harder to find now than ever before. Twisted Fate would be safely hidden as long as he stayed here, and even if it was somehow found he could easily leave in a hurry.
Twisted Fate's injured knuckles throbbed as he sat there and planned his next move. The lands beyond the Great Barrier were not as densely populated as those to its north, there would be less people to look for him down there. That seemed like his best bet for the time being. He could easily get there within a few days if he paced himself and didn't waste magic. And after that...
The lack of a better, more permanent plan bothered Twisted Fate, but he would have to make due until he came up with something. None of his pursuers would give up the hunt anytime soon, that was for sure, but he could survive on what he had packed in his bag of holding for quite a while if he was smart. It had everything he needed in case anything unexpected happened, and it was something he brought with him everywhere—you never knew what problems life might throw your way.
After checking his bandages again, Twisted Fate retrieved a small rune stone that produced a soft red glow from his bag and placed it beside him before extinguishing the lantern and putting it away. He didn't know if he would be able to get any sleep at all, but it was worth a try. Rest was needed in order to get to the Ironspike Mountains in the morning. Twisted Fate lowered himself to the dusty floor, pulled his hat down over his eyes, and did his best to make himself relax.
Anyone who said that holding the station of sheriff in Piltover didn't pay well was either lying or kidding himself. Caitlyn's study was finely furnished in shades of deep brown and red, giving it a warm, cozy feel even on the coldest of winter's nights. Shelves of dark hardwood stocked with books on law and other similar subjects lined the walls, interrupted only by the two large windows that looked out over the City of Progress, which now gleamed in the darkness of late evening. A lamp set on the large mahogany desk that ruled the study, along with two fine chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, provided light for Caitlyn to pace by.
Caitlyn herself was about ready to kick a table over. They had been making such progress with the case, they had even identified who the culprit was, and now everything was ruined thanks to the rats over in Zaun getting their greedy mitts on the case files. Just the fact that it was Zaun's press reporting the information from the leak first was an extra slap in the face, but that wasn't the worst of the situation. The fact that someone had changed the files to make Twisted Fate directly involved with the massacre made Caitlyn herself look bad as well, and the League had already succeeded in getting her suspended from her duties as sheriff so they could investigate the matter themselves. She had lost a lot of credibility because of this, and the Piltovan government had even gone so far as to confiscate her rifle and equipment and place her under house arrest until further notice.
It wasn't just the leak and the outright lie that the press had taken as the truth that galled her, though. Before the events of the past week, Caitlyn had always thought of Twisted Fate as nothing more than a shallow, petty crook and nothing more. It was the way a lot of people thought of him, especially after hearing that he'd sold out Graves in exchange for his magical abilities. What Caitlyn had learned in the past week had forced her to re-evaluate her view of Twisted Fate—the crook was a mask that Fate wore to hide himself. Like his signature hat, it was the first thing you expected to see and the last you would ever think to look past, a well-made cover that Caitlyn had unintentionally torn clean off during the course of her investigations. It was the fact that she had developed feelings for the man behind the mask that made her heart jump whenever she thought about it, and Fate's disappearance had only served to put her further on edge, both from worry and from anger over his having so little faith in her.
With a deep frown and a slight blush, Caitlyn leaned against the front of her desk and did her best to shove the thought of her new-found feelings for Twisted Fate away. It was a distraction she didn't want to deal with, especially with the mess she had to clean up. The citizens of Piltover were calling for blood, but not Caitlyn's—they had already gotten it into their heads that Twisted Fate was responsible for corrupting their beloved sheriff, and she had come upon the terrible realization that they would likely try to kill him if he ever showed himself in the city again. Really, she couldn't blame him for leaving with how Piltover had become so ugly with hate practically overnight.
Caitlyn pushed off her desk and began pacing again. She would have to escape, since she was under house arrest. True justice required a bit of rule breaking this time, though she hated the thought of further destroying her credibility by disobeying the government of Piltover and the League. Graves was first on her list of suspects when it came to the leak and drastic change in the case files, but she had to have solid proof of his guilt before trying to make a case against him.
Unnoticed in the darkness just beyond Caitlyn's window, a shadow shifted and began to glide away. Pale moonlight glinted off red-tinted glass as the Night Hunter went on her way, having finished her observation of the former Sheriff of Piltover.
An upstate coffee shop in Piltover was one of the last places most would expect to see Graves. The place bustled even at this late hour, with most of the patrons discussing the main news of the day in barely-restrained whispers. A caffeinated drink was just fine with Graves for now, he wanted to savor these moments in complete sobriety. He took a big gulp of his coffee and grinned as he set the newspaper down on the table, casually eavesdropping on the conversations around him.
“—can you believe the League never knew about this?”
“—knew the guy was rotten, but I never thought he'd be capable of something so evil.”
“I can't believe he got Miss Caitlyn into so much trouble. He'd better not show his face around these parts ever again!”
“—always knew those gypsies were trouble, don't know why the League let trash like him join in the first place.”
It was like music to his ears. Piltover had been in an uproar ever since news broke about Twisted Fate having a direct hand in the murder of his own family, and the subsequent scandal surrounding Sheriff Caitlyn as a result had only served to make the public even angrier. The story would have drummed up sympathy for Twisted Fate if released in its unaltered form, so Graves had gone through and made a few choice modifications before anonymously sending it to the Zaunite press. He'd read the whole file cover to cover before changing anything and Twisted Fate's all-consuming desire for magic made sense now, but he still had to pay for what he had done to Graves. Loyalty, even among criminals, wasn't something to simply toss away like a piece of trash in the face of a tempting prize.
Twisted Fate would be laying low for a while, given his completely ruined reputation and his reported wariness of the League should information on his past ever get out. Graves wondered if the Card Master had fallen out of practice with the disguises the two once used while still working as conmen, and his grin widened as he anticipated finding him again. It wouldn't be as easy as finding Twisted Fate at the League had been, but his ex-partner's habits had not changed all that much over the years, which meant he would find the Card Master again sooner or later. He already had a few good ideas lined up for making Twisted Fate suffer even more, and he was eager to set his plans in motion. Having a chat with Dr. Xavier Rath over in Zaun would have to be the first item on his list. He had to find out whether the rumors about the scientist's tendency toward inhumane experimentation were true.
“Well. You look happy tonight, Malcom Graves.”
Graves looked up to find Jayce standing over him, the famous Mercury Hammer strapped securely to the inventor's back. Jayce's face held a barely-contained anger that was doubtless a result of the news of the day.
“Well it ain't every day you get to see someone you hate suffer,” Graves replied with a smirk, raising his coffee in a toast to Twisted Fate's misfortune and future demise. “I s'pose you're real angry about all this just like everyone else, right?”
Jayce looked away with a scowl. “I should've known something was wrong when they started spending so much time together,” his voice was gruff as he spoke. He was angry over Caitlyn supposedly being duped or bewitched, sure, but it wasn't that alone that made him so angry—Vi was also held under suspicion and had been detained after she protested Caitlyn's temporary removal from service.
“But you were too gentlemanly to say anything about it, weren't ya?” Graves said smoothly. He knew an easily-played fool when he saw one, and Jayce could make a valuable ally somewhere down the road. The Outlaw took another gulp of coffee and set his cup back down on the table. It tasted wonderfully vibrant tonight, a product of his good mood.
Jayce affirmed Graves's statement with his silence, though the Outlaw knew it wasn't just a “gentlemanly” attitude that kept the inventor from speaking up. It was a good bet that Jayce had respected Caitlyn too much to say anything, and had therefore been unwilling to take such a risk despite his suspicions.
Graves allowed a few moments to pass before he spoke again. “You gonna go hunt him down?” he asked, sounding like he was only half-interested.
“I would if he were easier to find. I'm afraid it would be a waste of time if I were to go after him,” Jayce replied, taking a seat across from Graves when the Outlaw gave the invitation with a nod of his head. “And I assume you'll start looking for him soon?”
“That's right,” Graves leaned back in his chair, undaunted by the amount of work it would take to find Twisted Fate again. “He can't hide from me forever. His teleportation might be a new trick, but otherwise he hasn't changed all that much from when I knew him.”
Jayce appeared to be thinking something over, and Graves could almost hear the wheels turning inside the inventor's head. It would be nice if he could persuade the man to provide him with a few new gadgets to use on his hunt. “If I were to come up with a few gadgets to help neutralize his abilities, would you care to use them?”
“Of course,” Graves replied graciously. Inwardly, he grinned like a wolf stalking an unattended flock of sheep. He wouldn't put it past Jayce to make those gadgets more painful for Twisted Fate than they needed to be. It looked like this hunt would turn out to be even more fun than Graves had anticipated.
“Come by my lab tomorrow,” Jayce already had a small leather notebook and a pen out. He jotted down the address to his lab, tore the page from the book, and passed the paper to to Graves. “I'll see what I can do.”
Chapter 1 continued in This Post.