Hello everyone, so sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter! (Now cross-posted on AO3).
Thank you for the Follow: Jeremiah6464, JcL107
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Responses to Reviews:
Guest(Jan 16): Here we are! (Totally meant to update sooner, but hey, at least it is here now). And I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!
Guest(Sept 8): Thank you! And here's some more drama for you!
Ezreal POV:
I slammed open the door to the police cruiser and took off running at the pair. Jinx noticed me immediately, her red eyes flashing, "Ekko, that boy that came out of the police car has your stuff!"
I stomped over angrily, "Dude, I left you in the hospital, why in the world are you outside a burning down jail?!"
Ekko looked caught between being surprised and amused. Jinx leaned across his shoulder, and in her hand was her taser. It whirred to life. "You put him in a hospital!" Jinx hissed, bringing up the weapon.
Ekko quickly grabbed the barrel of the sidearm and pointed it at the ground, "Relax, crazy. He brought me to a hospital to repair what some thugs of Singed did."
She reholstered it, cackling, "Oh good. The only friend that can put Ekko in a Med-bed is me."
"Which brings me to owing you." Ekko noted, scrunching his nose up. "You did save my life after I saved yours, but you did bring my equipment back, as broken as it is. I didn't want to raid a police station to get it back." He pulled his sword and the cylinder out of my hands. I let him. "Now, you get one favor Piltie. A small favor."
He sheathed his sword and inspected the damage to the cylinder with a frown on his face. Jinx laughed again, popping the pink bubble gum she was obnoxiously chewing. "Wow, aren't you generous." She reached for Ekko's mohawk, just missing it as he ducked and shoved her away.
"Aren't you running from the cops? I mean, you did just let a criminal loose." Ekko shot back gesturing to himself. They seem to have forgot that I was there. My eye twitched. This guy was supposed to be my soulmate? Fucking dick.
"I asked why you are out here." I ground out.
"Escaping from jail. Thought that would be obvious to even dumb Pilties like you." Oh, I am so going to wipe that smirk off his face. Escaping though…
"You were put in jail?"
He sneered, "What did you expect?"
What did I expect? I expected that Piltover citizens would act better, that they would see someone that needed a hospital and would get to stay in the hospital. I expected that everyone had basic human decency and compassion. I couldn't be wrong about my entire city. We were the City of Progress. We had to be better, and not categorize people by permits. I wanted to say all of that. To explain why I thought he would be safe here. I didn't get the chance.
"Top Hat is here!" Sing-song-ed Jinx as she pulled out her rocket launcher, "Better get moving, times a ticking!"
Ekko dashed into the direction of Zaun, just as Caitlyn yelled, "Ezreal! Stop them!" She pulled out her sniper rifle, aiming at Ekko's fleeing back. She and Jinx fired at the same time. An explosion hit in the middle between the two women, causing me to stumble back. I had to go after Ekko. I needed to see if he knew if I was his soulmate. I turned and dashed after him, following the bright white of his hair. A loud 'ZAP!' sounded and my limbs froze up. White-blue light danced along my body as electricity raced along my frame. I cried out in frustration and pain when I hit the pavement. Jinx had tased me.
There was shouting everywhere. I struggled to my feet, scanning for a mohawk. Nothing. He must have gotten far enough away. I was so going after him. Even if that meant going back into Zaun. Ekko was still injured although he at least got patched up considering how fast he was moving. Another explosion echoed behind me followed by Jinx's insane laughter. I took off.
At least I have my gauntlet on me. I leapt over one of the empty entering stations. I ignored the shouts of protest from the customs agent as I descended into Zaun. I knew they would not chase me into the lower levels of the city. They did not care about who got into the crime city. Apparently, they only cared who escaped.
I activated my gauntlet, jumping down the rest of the way. I landed in an empty street, smog covering up the City of Progress and skyline above. I took a deep breath. My only goal was to find Ekko again. I was not done meeting him yet. Did he know that I was his soulmate? He did not seem to have a reaction to me. Was it possible he wasn't eighteen yet?
A streetlight next to me flickered. I sighed. I was not going to find answers standing around. Wait. Where do I even go? I had no idea where he lived. Can I ask someone? I had no idea if Zaunites had a community like Piltover. If they do, this would be rather easy, but I doubted that. I walked in a random direction, popping up my hood. Every stranger I saw looked either off the hinge, dangerous, or part of some gang. Was it true that every person here was a criminal? I hope not.
I continued to wander around the falling dusk of Zaun, keeping my eyes and hands to myself. No need to be robbed on these streets. I coughed up some more smog as the alleyways got darker. Lights flickered on the side-streets with a sputtering hum, some were glowing steady, and some sparked pathetically before giving up on shedding light on my wandering path.
I finally stopped, as something caught my eye. It was artwork. A section of a street wall was covered by portraits of children. Some were young, some where closer to my age. The pictures were overlapping each other at some places, and definitely painted at different times. There were even some pictures that are on paper, nailed to the wall. It was surrounded by lanterns and candles piled up around the front like flowers. This was a memorial. I lowered my hood to get a better look.
This wall was definitely important to a stranger I will probably never meet. The section of the street was well taken care off, showed by the lack of spider webs, stains, and muck that usually coated the walls of the alleys in Zaun. The concrete in front of the memorial was recently swept off as well. This place was a gravestone for more than one person. I felt I was intruding. An inscription at the top caught my eye. It spelled out: "The Lost Children of Zaun."
I saw that one of the pictures resembled a child's drawing of Jinx. It fluttered slightly in the draft, putting tension on the nail that was holding the crayon drawing up. It had to be Jinx. No one else had bubble-gum blue waist-length braids with red eyes. But why? If this really is a memorial, it wouldn't make sense to have Jinx here. She is healthy enough to be trashing Piltover on a weekly basis. Unless she was lost to Zaun since she left. I tapped my foot, confused. Maybe they thought she was dead because she left. No one really ever gets to leave Zaun, unfair as it is.
Arms grabbed me from behind, and two large hands forced off my gauntlet. A shudder of fear laced from the top of my spine all the way down my back. I would have screamed if not for the hand clamping over my mouth. Was I really that distracted? I twisted in the stranger's grip, struggling to escape.
A rusty laugh sounded next to my ear, "You should have stayed in your shiny city Piltie. Singed is not happy with you."
They both laughed at my misfortune. There was definitely two of them. The thugs started to yank me backwards as I strove to break free. I had to escape somehow. The hand over my mouth was keeping my mouth closed and nose as well. It was gloved and definitely smelled weird as I forced a breath through my teeth. My feet were the only thing that was free. I swung them to try to smack one of them where the sun don't shine. I missed. Several times. My vision started to fade out in black spots. The glove he was wearing, it had drugs on it. The knockout kind. The world tilted up before spinning into depressing darkness. Man, I really can't catch a break.