Chapter Text
Agitated. Confused. Unreal.
Ekko's return home was tumultuous. The spiral of time within the anomaly distorted his visions so much that he could no longer differentiate fantasy from reality, until suddenly the impact on the cold floor woke him up.
The luminous blue of the Hexgates basement room was unmistakable. Ekko found himself alone. Heimerdinger had sacrificed himself and he also didn't know Jayce whereabouts.
There was no time to waste. Ekko looked for the exit, remembering the door they entered through, which was closed, implying that someone else had been guarding the hexgates, perhaps looking for Jayce. When Ekko left, Viktor did not detect him – not even his possession of a tiny wild rune inside his ZDrive that he carried slung over his shoulder.
He ran to the elevator, as if he was in a hurry. Without Heimerdinger, he could only meet up with Jayce and find out what happened. However, the lab was empty. As he moved through the corridors in stealth mode, he heard some enforcers talking about a threat.
Ekko stopped, hiding in a corner, separated by a cautious distance from those enforcers who were on a custody walk while discussing a new measure taken by the Piltover council. Apparently, Jayce had returned and warned along with Mel Medarda about an attack that Ambessa was about to stage with Viktor, who created soldiers of a glorious evolution.
He managed to hear one of them say clearly:
“The suburban district will not join us.”
As an excuse, Jayce mentioned that an invasion of Noxus was coming, asking Zaun to cooperate with Piltover in the war. Needless to say, they officially refused, but as Ekko made his way to the bridge to cross it, he discovered a curious change: the prosperous and progressive city had opened its doors to the citizens of the undercity, inviting them to volunteer for the battle, even if only individually.
On his way to the Firelights' hideout, Ekko caught up on the latest events by simply watching the people walking by. Some sort of uprising arose while he was missing, thanks to Jinx, the girl who had once worked for Silco, who incredibly became a symbol of revolution. With wanted posters posted on every street and alley, some zaunites had dyed their hair blue in protest, in order to confuse the enforcers who did not hesitate to repress them. Caitlyn had joined Ambessa while searching for Jinx, and had apparently betrayed her in the meantime, but after all, it was House Kiramman that led the enforcement groups in Zaun.
Two wide eyes greeted him with a hug as he stepped through the entrance to the hideout. Scar believed he died, given the length of time he had spent vanished, so as a tribute they added a painting of him to the mural that served as the base of the tree. In the short time that he spent around there, Scar brought him up to date on everything that had happened: the city painted in blue, the leader of a cult – Viktor, in effect – who changed from peaceful to an ally of Noxus, and the disappearance of Jinx, who had escaped from prison without leaving a trace of her behind.
That afternoon, up high, Ekko sat reflecting on his experience in the alternate reality. After firsthand living through the dreamlike vision that Zaun could have been, he returned with a different conviction. The Firelights had refused to collaborate with Piltover, which was obvious given the continued disdain that those from above had shown them. For so many years they had elevated the city as an innovator in science and technology, at the expense of the health and harmony of their district, subjecting it to constant police repression and misery, and now they pretended to receive help from the zaunites in a fight for humanity. Bullshit.
However, Ekko realized that if they didn't join them in the city's defense, Piltover would be replaced by a much worse dictator. And as the saying goes, better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
In order for Zaun to prosper, Piltover inevitably had to remain stable.
After an extended talk with Scar, Ekko realized that he had to put some things aside, perhaps for just a moment, to stand up for the daily fight for a better Zaun, as a means to achieve its recognition, or at least, to be allowed its independence. So after a long meeting that lasted until close to midnight, the Firelights decided that they were going to intervene. Perhaps Zaun would come along in the end, although Sevika was still reluctant. However, there was one person in particular who could change the zaunites' resolve.
That night, Ekko set out to find Jinx. His first attempt was The Last Drop but found the bar in flames. As people ran desperately to stop the fire, helping each other, Ekko reflected in what caused it. What else, or who else could have been?
It had to be her, and certainly, there was one more place where he could find her. If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that the Powder of both worlds shared many things in common, and one of those things was a workshop where she spent her free time creating new weapons.
Without Silco, there was only one person who knew how to get there.
It was late at night, before the morning. The lair was completely silent, and Jinx was standing near the center of the airship, working on a grenade. Ekko entered unheard by her, which caused him to hesitate at first, but as soon as he saw her lamenting with her eyes fixed on the ground, he understood what was happening.
Ekko held his breath when he saw her activate the grenade, inserting a hextech gem into it. An explosion of blue was unleashed as a result, in which Jinx wanted to abandon her life to that fate. Immediately Ekko's hand pulled on the ZDrive to rewind time and shouted: "Wait!"
Jinx was startled and gasped. He discovered Ekko by spying on him from the corner of her eye.
“I just wanna talk–”
“Get out of here, Ekko.”
Jinx again activated the grenade, and Ekko repeated the rewind.
“I just wanna talk to you Pow… Jinx.”
Jinx looked at him dryly and untied the grenade, once again undone by the jump back in time. Ekko grunted with the effort. A few drops of blood fell on the ground.
“You're too late, Ekko.”
“Wait!”
Ekko leaned on the railing and exhaled air.
“Always a dance with you.”
Sitting on the floor, he added:
“I think I'm just gonna sit here for a minute. You know, to catch my breath. See if I can talk an old friend out of blowing us up.”
Jinx listened attentively. She looked at the grenade. Ekko would rewind it again with that strange device he had holding close to his right hip. If she managed to unleash the explosion without interruptions, they would both die together.
“I'm tired of talking,” Jinx replied then, and threw herself into the void.
“NO!” Ekko shouted.
It was useless for Ekko to continue insisting, Jinx thought. But, with his mind ready on what to do, the boy savior said:
“You know, I've learned from someone… very special, that no matter what happened in the past, it's never too late to build something new.”
Ekko checked his ZDrive as he saw Jinx looking at the pink monkeys with cymbals incorporated into the design, little figures she always loved. Looking back at her, he finished:
“Someone worth building it for.”