Ekko hated the anxious feeling that filled him. It wasn't like how he felt when one of his friends attempted another reckless stunt. That was nervousness. If they failed, he could always rewind time and fix it. No, this feeling was far worse because if something was wrong, he couldn't go back and fix it. This past was set in steel, and he hated how the certainty of that fact spelled uncertainty for his future.

The draining pang of dread tugged on Ekko's stomach as he waved 'good-bye' to Ren. The three of them had had a pleasant afternoon. Curly had left a note at one of their usual hangouts, summoning them to his little apartment. There, he had proudly displayed how his first strand of facial hair was growing in. His 'beard,' as he called it, was in reality little more than a single stiff hair growing from a mole on his cheek, but Ren gave it the upmost pomp and ceremony. The two of them had spent the next whole hour teaching him how to shave. But despite this appearing to be Ren acting his usual merry self, Ekko could sense his friend changing.

They were subtle changes. Ren had always been a show-off, but more and more, he shifted the praise from his own, earned skills to the craftsmanship of his leg. The subjects of his illustrations began to include humans with augmentations. His eyes would pass appraisingly over the augmentations of others. But most alarming of all, Ekko feared that he overheard Ren advocating for replacing a limb to another young boy.

Others had told Ekko that he shouldn't worry and that this was all just a phase Ren was going through. These words did little to comfort him. Ekko knew that once Ren had decided that he liked something, that was it. He still had the same favorite food since he was eight, and he still stubbornly insisted that sour lemon candy was better than spicy cinnamon.

When Ren had disappeared from sight, Ekko began to pace.

"What's wrong," Curly asked.

Ekko sighed and looked down at the pale kid beside him.

"He really looks up to Ren," Ekko thought, "damn. I can't let him know."

"It's nothing," he lied.

Curly cocked an eyebrow and gave his friend a suspicious look.

"He's too old to buy that crap anymore," Ekko reminded himself, "be honest with him. You would want the same."

"I've got a lot on my mind," he confessed.

"Do you want to talk about it," Curly asked.

"Not really."

Ekko smiled. It was not because the thought of a kid nearly half his age giving him advice was amusing, but rather the ready kindness of the kid. There was an innocence about him that made Ekko comfortable. He knew that he would never have to reverse time to take back what he had said. Not that Ekko would do that anyways. It was one thing to turn back time on a girl he just met to get his opening line just right, but another thing entirely to do that to a friend. Such a dishonest action was more despicable than lying.

"Ok, crystal," Curly said, "but you always can if you need to."

Ekko reached into his pocket and grabbed a few cogs.

"Here," he said, "why don't you go find Freckles and grab a shaved ice?"

Curly took them but still wore a concerned look.

"Yeah," he said as he mustered a smile, "I can do that. Thanks, Ekko."

Without further delay, Curly was off. When he was gone, Ekko took a deep breath and held it for several seconds.

"Absolutely none of me wants to do this," he thought, "but I need answers. I won't be able to think straight until I know."

He released the breath. With a running start, Ekko leapt and grabbed onto the bottom rung of a nearby fire escape. In moments he had scaled it to the top of the building where he could scan the jagged profile of Zaun.

"Where are you Ren?"

A flash from the direction Ren was headed caught Ekko's eye.

"There you are."

Ekko moved from building to building with little more effort than if he were walking on the street. He had climbed these pipes and jumped these alleys dozens of times before, sometimes within a single second. In very little time, he had caught up to Ren as he was on the Entresol Level. As always, this level was filled with commotion and crowds. Ekko hid himself among the colorful throng of people and watched.

"Buying paper, lemon sours, and paint. You were always lousy at saving money. Nothing out of the ordinary though. See Ekko, you're overreacting."

Ren gave a quick check to his surroundings and secured his purse away from pickpockets before turning to a path towards the Sump Level.

"But just to be sure…"

Ekko descended into the Sump Level. Here, being in the crowd made him nervous, so he returned to the rooftops, pipes, service ladders, and makeshift bridges that turned this level into a clustered jigsaw of metal. He followed Ren as closely as he dared, though he appeared to be going in no particular direction.

"Come on, we've been at this for an hour. No stops to drop off your art or pick up something else, so what's up, Ren?"

He kept following. Every few minutes Ren stopped and checked over his shoulder.

"Doubling back again? This goes beyond normal commonsense Sump caution. You don't want to be followed. So what are you hiding?"

At long last, Ren climbed up onto a large pipe, one that only went to one place.

"You're going to the Yawn."

The Yawn was one of Zaun's widest gorges and home to its two (formerly three) zeppelin factories. The pipe Ren was walking along was the safest was to cross that gap, but not the only way. Ekko bit back a groan. It was one of these less safe options he would have to take it he wanted to follow unseen.

"Looks like it's the bridge for me."

Winds blew up and down the Yawn, proving the area with a gentle breeze and much needed relief from the Grey. The downside of this though was that the assorted fragrances of the city would be blown in from all of its levels.

"Ugh, chem runoff from below, sticky sweet from that candle factory above. One or the other please."

Ekko climbed his way past dozen of bluebird charms swaying softly in the breeze until he reached the remains of an old lift. Years ago, a gang had cut the cables to the lift, sending the car careening to the bottom of the chasm it had previously ferried people across. Fearing retaliation if they tried to rebuild it, the owners of the lift fled back to the upper levels of Zaun, leaving what was left of their cables and car behind. Then the people who lived in this district moved in. They took what was abandoned and built a bridge across the Yawn from the scraps similar to how a rope bridge might be made. The planks were made from tarp, scraps of metal, chain-link fence, and whatever else the locals could find.

The whole structure rattled as Ekko put his first foot onto it. Unlike the pipes, which were tended to by the companies that owned them, this bridge was maintained by the civilians who used it, so its condition was always questionable at best.

"Nothing to worry about. There's what, only one fatality on this thing a year? Those aren't bad odds."

The chain-link plank bent under his weight but didn't fall out. The next step onto a metal plate was more secure, as was the one after it.

"No problems. Now I've got to move. I can't lose Ren."

Ekko's steps became more assured as his pace quickened. The bridge creaked and groaned, but everything held together, until Ekko came to the first tarp plank. His foot hit the side of the tarp at an odd angle and swung out from under him. Ekko collapsed as his foot fell through the bridge. He grabbed the cables to steady himself before more of him could slip between the planks.

"Whoops."

Ekko reached behind himself and switched on the Z-Drive. Time splintered around him like twinkling bits of glass as he was pulled back up and away from the tarp plank.

Ekko's steps became more assured as his pace quickened. The bridge creaked and groaned, but everything held together. As he approached the first tarp plank though, he slowed himself just enough to safely pass over it.

"Not this time. Going to need to watch out for those."

His leg still throbbed from where he had fell on it, but otherwise, Ekko reached the other side of the Yawn without a scratch. Without leaving time to catch his breath, he descended to where the pipe Ren walked on arrived.

"Found you again. There's not much on this side; copper foundry, that creep Viktor's lair, a fancy bakery, that lady with the three legged cat, and a shimmer den. Oh, it's the shimmer. You were clean for so long. Damn."

Ekko edged through the shadows behind Ren. He could feel that he was close to learning the truth and he didn't want to let Ren out of his sight, but he had to pick his steps carefully. It was quieter on this side of the Yawn and there were fewer buildings.

"Once we get down lower, there will be more for me to hide behind. Then I spot you at the door to the den and everything will be alright."

But Ren did not move lower into the Sump. He moved upwards towards the abandoned factory. The feeling of dread again rippled through Ekko.

"Why are you going up there?"

The image of the maker's mark on Ren's augmentation flashed through his mind.

"That gear. No."

Ekko's eyes darted desperately around for some way to keep following unnoticed. And there it was, an old fire escape from the factory. It was coated in rust from years of disrepair and several of the spikes that kept it attached to the chasm wall had fallen out, but Ekko didn't care. Fear made him desperate. He let Ren out of sight for just this moment to climb up onto the fire escape. It groaned beneath his weight more than the bridge did.

"Shhhh…"

He followed the staircase up. The whistling sound of machinery came from ahead. Ekko moved as fast as he dared. He rounded the corner that brought him in view of the factory and saw Ren about to step onto the lift. His eyes were so focused on Ren that he didn't notice that the platform before him had lost most of its anchoring spikes. With his next step, the last spike gave way and they both crashed to the landing below.

Ren whipped his head around at the noise and starred dumbstruck as the dust cleared.

"Ekko," Ren asked, "what are you doing here?"

Ekko picked himself up and looked at his friend. Ren's eyes were a mix of concern, confusion, and accusation.

"I'm all right," Ekko stammered, "I was just, umm."

"You were what?"

"Umm, nothing."

He panicked, and before he could think, Ekko found his fingers switching on the Z-Drive. Time rearranged itself back on the fire escape, but Ekko wasn't paying attention to that.

"I turned back time. I couldn't face him. No, I'll do it right this time."

He followed the staircase up. The whistling sound of machinery came from ahead. Ekko moved as fast as he dared. He rounded the corner that brought him in view of the factory and saw Ren about to step onto the lift. He didn't move, but watched silently.

"Move. Go."

But he didn't, and he silently watched as his friend took the elevator up towards the scientist who embodied the corruption of Zaun.

Ekko bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and forced himself back with the Z-Drive.

He followed the staircase up. The whistling sound of machinery came from ahead. Ekko moved as fast as he dared. He rounded the corner that brought him in view of the factory and saw Ren about to step onto the lift. He didn't move, but watched silently.

"You need to stop him."

But he didn't, and he silently watched as his friend took the elevator up towards the scientist who embodied the corruption of Zaun.

Again he went back.

He followed the staircase up. The whistling sound of machinery came from ahead. Ekko moved as fast as he dared. He rounded the corner that brought him in view of the factory and saw Ren about to step onto the lift. He didn't move, but watched silently.

"Please, Ekko. Say something. Do something."

But he didn't, and he silently watched as his friend took the elevator up towards the scientist who embodied the corruption of Zaun.

Again.

He followed the staircase up. The whistling sound of machinery came from ahead. Ekko moved as fast as he dared. He rounded the corner that brought him in view of the factory and saw Ren about to step onto the lift. He didn't move, but watched silently.

"I don't believe this."

But he did, and he silently watched as his friend took the elevator up towards the scientist who embodied the corruption of Zaun.

"I can't change this."

Greetings Summoners,

Thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter. This was a difficult one for me to properly convey the mood I wanted. I rewrote it twice before setting on this version. But, more than that I was thinking of how we could celebrate this fanfic's 1 year anniversary. I can't believe that it's been a year since I've started sharing this story with you, all my wonderful readers. To thank you for your support over the year, I wanted to do something special, so I have opened up a forum for a Q&A session. This forum will be open for three days, during which I will be more than happy to answer questions about myself, the story, and the character of League of Legends. You will fin the link to this forum below.

Good luck on the Rift,

-Gwoo

Forum Link: forum/Project-N-Unexpected-Results-1-Year-Anniversary-Q-A/217158/