//------------------------------//
// From the Fields of Justice... 
// Story: Pantheon, the Artisan of Baking 
// by Hawattie 
//------------------------------//

	Water splashed around the feet of the running figures. Moving as one the group of five champions surrounded their quarry: the lone midlaner, Ryze.
"Damn," Ryze said as he backed into an enclosed pit off the side of the river. A quick check showed that flash was down for another fifteen seconds, so the only way out was through the five enemy champions.
"I've gone and got myself caught out," Ryze lamented. "I'll never hear the end of it from Thresh." The blue-skinned man came to a halt when he backed into the still-warm corpse of the dragon who had, until recently, resided in the pit Ryze found himself trapped within. "I can almost hear him now, 'You should have grabbed the lantern, noob. You shouldn't have fed, noob.' Oh how I hate being called a noob when it's not my fault."
The enemy ADC, Caitlyn, stepped forward. "I think that's enough talking." The woman smirked, "Time to die."

~~~

Meanwhile, in one of the various summoning chambers in the Institute of War, a summoner was panicking. The robed man pulled at his hair chanting, "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" repeatedly. What had seemed like a good idea, a quick nip into the enemy's jungle to steal their blue buff, had turned into a nightmare.
The summoner's comrades weren't helping either. One in particular, the one who just happened to be attuned to Thresh at the moment, was shooting the frantic man a glare which could curdle milk. The summoner was so distraught that he almost missed it when one of his fellows calmly stated, "Don't worry, I've got this."
Ryze's summoner had all but given up hope when, out of the blue, a large circle appeared around the dragon pit. The champions themselves couldn't see it, but the summoners quickly relayed the information to their respective partners.

~~~

Ryze had given up hope that he'd survive this encounter and resigned himself to his fate when he recieved a mental message from his summoner. "Help is on the way."
"Help?" Ryze thought back angrily. "What sort of 'help' could save me from this!?" He noticed a perturbed look cross Caitlyn's face. She raised her rifle with much more haste than the lazy motions she'd been using earlier, apparently she'd gotten the news as well.
"You'll see." If Ryze could touch his summoner right now, he'd definitely slap him for being too cryptic.
Ryze didn't have to wait long to find out who his savior was. A sharp whistling preceded an almighty crash as a man-sized meteor fell out of the sky directly in front of him. The impact struck everyone on the enemy team, miraculously leaving Ryze unscathed. Caitlyn's shot went wide, her hasty aiming combined with the massive impact to turn a one-shot-kill into an embarrassing miss.
The dust cleared and an impressive figure emerged from the crater. Clad in ancient armor and wielding the powerful relic-weapons of his people, was Pantheon. Without wasting time the legendary warrior turned to chase the fleeing enemy team.
With a roar Pantheon leapt towards Ryze's laning opponent, Cassiopia. The impact stunned the snake-woman long enough for Pantheon to drive his spear through her torso. Hardly pausing to even draw his weapon from the body, the Artisan of War turned to face two more enemies who had been fleeing alongside of Cass. A swift flurry of jabs ensured that those two enemies were once again right by the snake's side.
"Voli's getting away!" Ryze shouted, pointing to the bear fleeing in the opposite direction.
Pantheon calmly watched the bear run, gauging the distance. "No he isn't." With a grunt the man hurled his spear towards the ursine. His aim was true, Volibear fell with a thud.
"Now then." Pantheon's spear re-materialized in his hand as he calmly approached the cowering Caitlyn. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
Caitlyn's reply was fired from her gun at high velocity. Pantheon's hoplon shield swatted the bullet out of the air with contemptuous ease. "Hard way it is, then." The man grinned, he liked it when they went out fighting.
A mighty bellow escaped the warrior's lips as he charged the woman. Several more shots streaked towards him as he ran. Most were deflected off his shield, but one or two managed to slip past his defenses, embedding themselves in his flesh. Pantheon paid the stinging pain in his side no heed. 
He raised his spear high as he closed into melee range, preparing to plunge the weapon down with all the strength he could muster. When he was just a few feet away the weapon fell, it's tip spelling certain doom for--
And then a ball of arcane energy flew between Pantheon's legs to steal the kill.

~~~

Pantheon's summoner couldn't believe his eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly, the robed man turned to face Ryze's summoner. To his credit, Ryze's summoner at least had the integrity to look guilty. "You stole my penta," Pantheon's summoner whispered.
"It was an accident," Ryze's summoner stammered, "you see-"
A blast of arcane energy, not dissimilar to the one Ryze himself had just used, cut him off. Ryze's summoner dropped to the floor with a yelp, covering his head with his arms. "Please don't kill me!" he pleaded.
Pantheon's summoner grinned evilly. "I'm not going to kill you," he said. "That would lead to legal troubles."
"Oh thank goodness," Ryze's summoner sighed with relief.
"But!" Pantheon's summoner continued, "I am going to get my penta."
"What do you-" Ryze's summoner's eyes widened in comprehension. "Is that even allowed?"
Pantheon's summoner was beyond caring. "I don't know," he said. "Let's find out."

~~~

Pantheon himself, while righteously indignant that he was unable to land the killing blow, was not nearly as upset as his summoner. "Are you certain?" he asked, unsure if he'd heard correctly.
"Of course I'm certain!" came the angry mental reply. "I want you to kill Ryze to get back at his summoner for that kill steal!"
"It would be my pleasure," the warrior said. With the finality of death itself Pantheon turned to face the sheepish looking mage.
"I assume you are aware of the situation?" Pantheon asked his teammate. "You should be honored to die by my hand."
Ryze took a step back, away from the pointy end of Pantheon's weapon. "I'd prefer it if I didn't have to die at all." The mage began summoning the mana to cast a spell.
Pantheon noticed the spell being prepared and let out a hearty laugh. "You cannot hope to face me in single combat, Ryze. You are far too underfed."
The mana drained from the mage's hands dejectedly. "You're right," Ryze admitted. Then in an action that surprised not only Pantheon, but every soul watching the battle on Runeterra, Ryze pulled the massive scroll from his back. "Which is why I intend to cheat."
No one but Ryze knew what the scroll contained, not even his summoner, but Pantheon could tell that it was not going to be good for him. With a shout he leapt towards the blue-skinned man but a spectral prison caught him mid-flight, arresting his momentum. "Ah, ah, ah," Ryze said. "You're not allowed to interrupt this masterpiece of a spell."
Pantheon raised his spear to throw it, but an orb of energy knocked it from his hand. "You just don't want to hold still, do you?" Ryze shook his head. "But no matter, I'm nearly done."
The spectral prison holding Pantheon in place broke. The warrior tried to charge, but found his legs to be unresponsive. To his shock and horror, Pantheon discovered that his form seemed to be dissolving into mist. "What have you done to me!?" he cried, looking to Ryze just as the man replaced the scroll upon his back.
"It's an experimental dimension-hopping spell," the mage stated. "Its designed to send you to another universe and I've been dying to try it out on someone." The spell had reached Pantheon's chest. He struggled against the effect, but his actions were futile. "Could you do me a favor and document what this other universe is like for me?"
Pantheon fixed the mage with a glare as the spell overtook his head, stripping his consciousness away from him.