Omega Squad

Prologue

The vibrant flames of red and yellow flickered in front of her eyes, moving in elaborate dances, as if to taunt her. Look, they said. It's the destruction of your dreams. But Tristana refused to believe them.

My dreams will live on. I will not be defeated. The words resonated through her mind, her entire being, urging her to stand—

But they fell, empty. And so did she, collapsing back into the heat once more, every final burst of energy exhausted.

With each second, the firey dances became more vivid—they seemed to have been excited by Tristana's momentary failure. Then, as she writhed in humiliation, they moved to overtake her in their wild schemes. Indeed, they wished nothing more than to make Tristana one of them.

"Augh!" Tristana cried out in agony, the flames biting into her flesh, lashing at it with waves of heat. The pain quickly spread through her body, the outer limbs continually flinching in searing pain. The fire laughed, entertained by her suffering; empowered by the destruction of their poor, defenseless victim.

They moved to take out the right eye next. Tristana winced and flailed as the flames reached into her eye socket, burning through her vision so intensely that everything went dark. All her senses dulled—all of them but one: the pain. The flames tore and gnawed at her flesh ravenously, without ceasing, prolonging the endless loop of horrifying physical detriment which Tristana was forced to bear.

Tristana had been reduced to a sobbing, blind pile of burning flesh. What a pity, the flames mocked as they climbed onto her limbs, enhancing the excruciating experience. Poor, poor Tristana.

As the splitting pain jolted through her body, Tristana's mind shocked her awake. She was left clinging to the very last moments of her conscience. No, she thought to herself—no, this isn't how I want to die. I want to die fighting until the very end. Not here, not now. I can't give up. My people need me. Everyone, they all need me. Teemo needs me. Teemo—