So I'm back. Sorry this chapter took so long, but quite a few things happened since the last one. Since then, I've finished all my coursework for this year of uni and I passed my driving exam, so in that sense life is going well. Gonna be able to go back to the gym in a week or two as well, when me and my brother's exams are done, since we go together.
Life is good.
Still, writer's block is a bitch and it slowed this chapter's production down by a lot, but I'm genuinely proud of this chapter. Just as much as the last one, to be honest, and that one might be my favourite one I've done so far, besides chapter 8.
Anyways, hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you at the end.
The midday sun shone down into the Firelight's base, bathing their home in warm sunlight. The only tree in the Undercity was practically glowing, standing tall and basking in the light, its golden hue only accentuating the bright green leaves and deep brown bark. The sounds of conversation and laughter filled Ekko's ears, a general buzz of activity filling the air as the Firelights went about their day, working or chatting or, in the case of the children, playing. Ekko knelt on the grass at the back of the compound, letting the sounds of everything they'd worked so hard to build fade into the back of his mind, becoming nothing more than background noise as he finished his preparations.
Three separate machines sat in a line before him, each with large gray clothes draped over them, hiding them from view. The two on the end were both less than a foot in size but the one in the middle, the one Ekko was looking over, was nearly as tall as he was, and about two feet wide. It was also the most mechanically complex of the lot, owing both to its size and function, and he didn't want it to develop a fault sitting out here on the grass. These had to be perfect, or as close to it as possible.
These machines were the result of four weeks of grueling work; a testament to Ekko's intelligence and skill, and proof that the Undercity didn't stand in Piltover's shadow. They were just as capable when it came to scientific progress, the thing that Piltover prided itself on, and today was all about showing that. It was why Ekko had asked Heimerdinger, Viktor and Talis to come down to their base in a little while. They'd given him the Hextech because they believed he could make something worthwhile with it - it was about time he proved them right.
He thought about inviting Vi as well, but in the end he decided against it: science had never been her thing, after all. Ekko knew that if he asked her to come down and see what he'd built, she'd do so in a heartbeat, and would give him all the praise in the world for it, but it wouldn't be because she understood what she was seeing. Vi would congratulate him because he was basically family, and that was what was expected of her. He'd seen it time and time again as a child, back before everything went to hell, where he'd excitedly show her the latest gizmo he'd cobbled together, and she'd give him the same fake smile she always did. Like he was a child showing off his favorite toy.
Maybe Ekko was being unfair - maybe Vi had been impressed, in her own way. But she hadn't understood it, and she never really tried to, either. Not for him and certainly not for Powder. He'd lost count of the times he'd listened to her go on about Vi, back when they were kids tinkering in Benzo's attic. She'd go on about how she never listened, and how she was always so focused on training and the jobs they went on. Ekko knew now that she was just trying to look out for them, trying to get as strong as she could for them, but sometimes he couldn't help but wonder what might've happened if she'd just tried a little harder. Those were the thoughts he'd never admit to having, in the dead of night when the loneliness was getting too much to bear.
Would Powder still be around? Would she be happy? Would she be his?
Maybe she never would've become Jinx, never lost her mind and started working for a monster like Silco. Maybe he'd be able to look at her without wanting to scream, or cry.
That was probably why Ekko had invited the three Pilties down today, because he missed having someone to talk shop with - missed having someone to share ideas with, and talk about how they'd use what they built to help people.
He missed Powder; missed the girl she used to be - the girl he fell in love with.
An old rage began to well up within Ekko's chest, moving up through his throat and threatening to choke him. The pain burned hot and raw inside him, the all-too-familiar sting of betrayal and heartbreak, and his hands clenched into fists at his side, nails biting into his palms.
Why did she do it? Any of it! I would've been there for her, if she'd just come to me! Whatever she was going through, so why…
Ekko looked down to the grass at his feet, feeling the cool air on his skin, and drew in a sharp breath. His arms trembled as he forced his fists open, planting them on the ground and tugging, tearing blades of grass from the dirt in his frustration. Releasing his anger like this wasn't healthy, but sometimes it felt like that was the only way he could get rid of the regret he felt, the guilt.
Ekko bit down on the inside of his cheek and fought down a growl, breathing deeply through his nose as he counted the seconds. It took twenty seven painful, drawn out seconds for the rage to subside, and the only thing Ekko felt then was disappointment. He thought he'd gotten over the anger, had shoved down the hate and betrayal so that he didn't get like this anymore, but now it felt like he was back in that fucking Shimmer factory in the lower levels of the Undercity, two years ago. He'd revealed himself to Jinx and begged her to come back with them, told her that it wasn't too late, and she'd fucking shot him. Ekko thought she was dead, and he'd lived with that regret for six long years, only to find out that she'd turned into… into that!
Let's just say that getting shot was the second worst thing to happen to Ekko that day. It had taken him a while to get over it all, at least enough to get back into the fight, but Ekko knew he would never truly get over Jinx's betrayal. What would it say about him if he could? That he'd finally managed to move on, or that he stopped caring at all?
Ekko didn't know the answer, and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask anyone about it. He didn't have the heart to put that on Vi, and the other people he trusted enough to ask, like Scar and Heimerdinger - they wouldn't understand.
In the end, the only thing Ekko could do was lie, telling everyone that he'd gotten over Jinx, and that he'd do what he needed to. He wasn't sure which was worse; the fact that he was lying to the people around him, or that he was lying to himself.
Letting out a huff as he relaxed his hands, Ekko let go of the grass in his fists and rose to his feet, dusting off his palms before shoving them into his pockets. He toyed with the idea of going over the other two Hextech devices, but that would be just as unnecessary as it was with the first. His work was good, and any issues he'd missed in his tests wouldn't be fixed like this, sitting in the grass without a single tool to hand. He was just distracting himself, shaking off his nervous energy before the three Pilties arrived.
He'd be better off just sitting down and closing his eyes, instead of obsessing over his work and potentially messing something up…
Ekko heard footsteps coming from behind him just as he was about to sit down, and he turned around to face them a moment later, forcing a smile to his face that he didn't really feel. There was a brief instant where he'd hoped the Pilties had arrived, so he wouldn't have to wait any longer, but his hopes were soon dashed when he saw the lone Firelight approaching him. She was a young woman with somewhat pale skin and short brown hair, tied into a ponytail at the back, and was clad in a green tank top and black trousers. She smiled when she saw him, a bright expression on her face, her dark eyes shining as she held up her right hand and waved. In her other hand was a white mask, one that Ekko knew was styled to look like a fox. That was how she'd asked him to build it, after all.
"Hey Klara!" Ekko called, taking a few steps forward and meeting her halfway, shooting her a more honest smile as he relaxed. He was getting worked up over nothing. Maybe actually talking to someone would help, instead of stewing in his thoughts for hours on end. "What's up? Just get back from patrol?" He asked, running a hand through his pale hair, making sure it was in place as a different type of nerves made themselves known. She was pretty, sue him.
Klara clutched her mask in both hands, pressing it to her stomach as she met his eyes. "Yeah, but I had to come back early. Scar and the others are still out there." She explained and Ekko nodded, a question forming on his tongue.
"Everything okay?" He asked, looking her up and down and checking for any injuries. The nerves had disappeared entirely, then, replaced with a concern that gnawed at him. Klara seemed okay, but it was his job to look out for her, and every other Firelight at that. Seeming okay wasn't good enough. Ekko's gaze roved up her chest before locking eyes with her once more, and he didn't miss the way her cheeks darkened.
She must be embarrassed about having to come back early. Ekko thought, giving her what he hoped was a comforting smile. They weren't some military or group like the Enforcers, he wouldn't punish her for not finishing her patrol. Not if it was necessary.
"I'm not hurt or anything." Klara said as she glanced down to the grass for a second, fingers tapping on the edges of her mask. She drew in a quick breath before continuing. "I saw someone getting mugged near the edge of the Lanes, so I went down to help them out, you know, and…" Klara trailed off for a moment. "Remember the green lightning from a week back? I wasn't there, but I heard you were looking into it?"
"Yeah." Ekko confirmed. "What about it?" She must've had some information about it, otherwise she wouldn't have brought it up in the first place-
"It happened again." She said, interrupting Ekko's train of thought, and he sucked in a sharp breath, bringing a hand up and rubbing his brow.
"Mind starting from the top?" He requested in a clipped voice, closing his eyes for a brief moment.
"Right. So we're all on our own patrol routes, making the usual rounds and grouping up every now and again to call in any disturbances, and other than a few issues, things are pretty chill." Klara began, and Ekko could tell she was forcing herself to speak slower, something he was more than thankful for. She could get pretty excitable, and while that sometimes made talking to her a bit of a challenge, it was mostly endearing. But with something as serious as this… "But a little bit after our latest group-up, I saw a bunch of people mugging some girl in an alley behind a store. I was going pretty fast so I nearly missed it, but by the time I flew back around one of the women had drawn a gun."
"Was that when you got involved?" Ekko asked, folding his arms across his chest while his thoughts ran at a mile a minute, picturing the scenario as best he could.
"I was going to." Klara answered. "There were five of them but I had my board and a few capture grenades, so I figured I could handle it. No big deal right? But as I'm getting ready to swoop down, all heroic like, the person getting mugged says something that I can't hear. This chick and the other thugs start laughing their asses off, and I…" Her words faded, looking at Ekko with uncertainty. "I think she might've been warning them."
"I'm not sure if that's concerning or not." Ekko spoke up, and at any other time his words might've been a joke.
"Well, I think the girl was warning them 'cause she didn't wanna hurt them, which is a good thing." She went on, summing up his thoughts perfectly. "What is concerning is that she warned them while looking down the barrel of a gun, with four other guys surrounding her. Anyone else, I'd say they were cocky or suicidal, but with what I saw…"
"You think she wasn't worried? Like she didn't think they could hurt her, even if they tried?" Ekko finished for her, Klara nodding after a moment as worry filled her dark eyes.
"Something like that. I mean I didn't take my eyes off them for a second, and just as I was about to jump in, this girl moved." She said, speaking faster and faster before taking a gasping breath. "I don't mean like how you or I move. There was no A to B, no crossing of distance, nothing." Klara carried on after a moment, speaking slower than before. "One moment this girl's standing with her back to the wall, hands in her pockets, and the next she's behind them. The only sign that she'd even moved at all was the blur of green electricity that I think was moving with her, but I couldn't tell you because of how fast it happened. Then her hands are on two of the guys' shoulders and all five of them just drop."
"Drop?" Ekko asked, though he was almost dreading the answer.
Klara let out a nervous little laugh, bringing up her left hand and rubbing the back of her neck. "I wish I was joking when I say she made a daisy chain out of fucking lightning, but I'm not, and she did. I've never seen anything like it, Ekko. Fuck, I was just stood there on my board, watching from above like an idiot. I could barely believe what happened, you know? And this girl's just standing there, electricity running all over her, like she hadn't… hadn't just done that!" She cried out, voice raising for a second before she visibly forced herself to calm, clenching her eyes shut and breathing deeply for a moment.
"What happened next?" He urged her to continue, trying to draw Klara out of her momentary stupor. She looked scared, and Ekko couldn't blame her. He'd only worked with Hextech for a month and while he wasn't afraid of magic, per se, his healthy respect for the arcane only grew with his recent studies. The things Hextech could already do would be terrifying in the wrong hands, let alone whatever potential applications were yet to be discovered. How this girl had gotten her hands on Hextech wasn't the question, or at least it wasn't the most important one. It was what she could do with the technology that mattered, and what she planned to do with it.
"I was gonna head down there, right? Speak to her and maybe ask what the hell all that was, but then she raised her hand and I, I just froze." Klara stuttered, sounding honestly ashamed, and Ekko stepped forward after a second, placing his hand on her arm with a small smile.
"Hey, don't worry about it. You did the right thing. Situation like that, it's better to stay back and get information. Rushing in blind might've gotten you killed." Ekko reassured her, watching as some of the tension left her body. Then her eyes dropped down to where he was touching her, just above the elbow, and her cheeks darkened as she bit the corner of her lip. "S-sorry." Ekko apologized. Some people didn't like to be touched, and Ekko quickly took his hand off her, feeling a rush of guilt for invading her personal space like that. "What did she do after that?" He asked, valiantly trying to get the conversation back on track.
"I don't know what she did, but strands of electricity started shooting from her arm and hitting the people who tried to mug her." She explained, meeting his gaze once more as she took her mask in both hands again, spinning the headpiece absently as she spoke.
"You think she was trying to finish them off?"
Klara shook her head with a hum. "They were still alive when I left; trust me, we checked. No, she wasn't hurting them. I think she was taking their money." She finished, and Ekko felt his eye twitch.
"You think?" He specified, patience draining from him like water in a sieve. It wasn't Klara's fault they were in this ridiculous situation, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. Well, he'd asked for a distraction - beggars couldn't be choosers.
Klara just shrugged, looking down at the grass. "Their coins and purses literally floated from their pockets and straight into hers. I can't think of any other way to describe it. I mean, there were little lines of electricity going from her and to whatever she was moving. I guess that might have something to do with it?" Klara went on, turning to Ekko with a question in her eyes.
Ekko nodded, running one hand through his hair and placing the other on his hip, mulling over the information for a moment. "Well, this girl's tech gives her power over electricity; that much is clear." He explained, letting out a huff as the implications of his words set in. Still, he didn't miss how she looked away when he mentioned technology. "It isn't that much of a stretch for her to have power over the electromagnetic spectrum as well." Ekko continued, looking at Klara when he finished speaking and meeting her confused eyes.
"I'm not really sure what any of that means. Is it bad?" She asked, sounding a little embarrassed, and Ekko couldn't help but chuckle.
"Bad?" He repeated, rubbing his fist anxiously. "We live in a city made of metal. I don't even want to think about what she could do if she gets pissed off. Like, what if she gets bored one day and decides to bring the roof of the Undercity down on everybody's heads?"
Klara started to go pale as he spoke, the grip on her mask tightening. "Isn't that a little much? I mean, why would they even…"
"I don't know." Ekko interrupted her. "All you've done is give me more questions than answers. What can her tech do? How did she build it, and how did she get her hands on Hextech in the first place? Things like that." He carried on, and once again Klara flinched at the mention of technology, as well as Hextech. What was up with that? She was obviously upset about this whole encounter, so maybe asking her outright was a bad idea. He'd have to be careful. "So she took their money. Maybe she saw it as compensation, or she decided taking thieves' money was some form of justice? What happened next?" He asked.
"I went down." Klara spoke, putting her left hand in her pocket as she glanced down at the mask in her right. "I made sure to take my mask off and everything, you - be more approachable and all that. She took one look at me and ran, before I'd even had a chance to get off my board and say hi."
"When you say 'ran'…"
"I mean she was gone, like that." Klara clarified with a snap of her fingers. "One moment she's looking at me and the next she's disappeared in a flurry of green lightning. I think I saw her, like a green blur or something moving away from the Lanes, but I might've just imagined it." She rambled, a wry smile on her face.
"So let me see if I've got this right." Ekko began, a frustrated grimace forming on his face. "She can generate enough electricity to shut down the Lanes, manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum somehow, and move fast enough to seem like a blur." He listed, counting each point on a finger and watching as Klara nodded to each, and Ekko let out a heavy sigh. "How fast do you think she was going? Nothing specific, just your best guess."
"Fuck knows." Klara answered, rather eloquently if Ekko said himself. "Much faster than our boards can go, that's for damn sure."
"Great. Okay." Ekko grunted, rolling his neck as he processed that information. The good news was that this girl, whoever she was, seemed like the type to stay out of trouble. They only knew she existed because of the shootout in the Lanes a week back, and chances were she was just going about her business in the Lanes, and only intervened when it looked like the gangbangers were going to get away. And just like before, she only attacked the muggers Klara mentioned when it was clear they wouldn't leave them alone. Even then, from the sounds of things she gave them a fair warning before putting them on their asses, leaving them with nothing more than bruised egos and empty pockets. Well, that and some hopefully non-life threatening electrical burns.
This girl sounded like someone who wanted to be left alone for the most part, but also wasn't afraid to step into danger to protect people. Ekko normally wouldn't make an assumption like that, but it was the only thing that made sense. If she really was as fast as Klara claimed, then she could've gotten away from the shootout without issue. But instead she stuck around, ending the battle in one fell swoop and disappearing before anyone could see her. It was either that or she went towards the fight, instead of simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just to put a stop to it. Both options painted a good picture, and as Ekko considered what he knew, he figured that this girl probably didn't have bad intentions. Just a bunch of unknown tech that gave her a hell of a lot of power.
That wasn't as much of a comfort as he'd hoped, but there was something to be said about silver linings.
"I don't think we need to worry too much about her." Ekko began carefully, Paying rapt attention to Klara's expression. "I doubt this chick's with one of the Chembarons, or any of the small-time gangs we get down here. We'd know if she was, and whatever she'd do to take down the competition would not be pretty. The best we can do is tell the guys on patrol to keep an eye out for someone fitting her description, and I'll speak to the Deputy next time I see her." He decided, Klara letting out an affirming hum, before mumbling under his breath. "Maybe she'll finally stop being a pain in my ass about all this. If she asks me about green lightning one more time-" Ekko cut himself on when Klara fixed him with a confused stare, and he felt a flush of embarrassment creep up his neck. "Never mind. Can you tell me what she looks like? As much detail as you can, yeah?" He requested, and Klara nodded, reaching up and scratching her cheek with a finger.
"She was taller than the two of us, but not by much, and she was pretty built if I'm being honest." Klara began, quickly beginning to ramble, but for once Ekko didn't try to stop her. "She was wearing some kind of hooded brown tank top with a large coat over it." Klara paused for a moment, looking deep in thought. "It was dark blue, though that might've just been the lighting. Oh!" She cried, snapping her fingers and pointing at Ekko. "It had a huge open collar with, like, metal piping lining the front. There were metal buttons or something, too, around the waist and collar. Other than that she had some red trousers, I think, with some weird open-toed brown boots. The coat's what you're gonna wanna look for!" She exclaimed with a smile, eyes shining as Ekko found himself smiling in turn. Klara hadn't been able to do much in this whole situation, so being able to help would probably raise her spirits, even in small ways like this.
Ekko grinned as he committed the details to memory. "Now we're getting somewhere." He said absently, before realizing he was missing a key part of the picture. "Did you get a good look at her face?"
"Sorry, it all happened so fast." Klara apologized, shaking her head, but Ekko waved it off. It was what it was, and while he would've liked more information, he certainly wasn't gonna complain about what Klara had given him. He'd learned ten times more from this conversation alone than the hours of research he'd done. "She was wearing her hood up so I couldn't see her hair, and by the time I got a chance to see her face, she'd already zoomed off."
"How could you tell she was a girl, then?"
Klara let out a laugh, holding her hands up to her chest and cupping the air, like she was grabbing- oh. "She had tits, Ekko. I could see that much." She giggled, especially when Ekko began to blush.
"Yeah, okay. Whatever." He grumbled, scrambling to get the conversation back on track. "She's a girl in weird shoes and a big coat. It's not much to go on but I'll spread the word." Ekko announced, lifting his arms and linking his fingers behind his head, eying Klara curiously. "What about the tech she was using? Anything you can tell me about that will be more than useful, seriously."
Once again, Klara's expression fell, fear entering her eyes as she looked away. A moment passed in tense silence and, just as Ekko was about to ask what was wrong, she took a quick look around them. He realized she was searching for eavesdroppers right as she reached up and grabbed his right arm, dragging it out from behind his head and taking his hand in hers. Then Klara led him past his three covered devices and towards the far wall of the Firelights' base, turning to him once they reached it with a serious expression on her face. She must've forgotten how she got him there because she kept a hold of his hand, tracing her thumb along the back of his gloved hand, and Ekko gently tugged his hand with a small smirk. "R-right, sorry." Klara said, red-faced with embarrassment, yet for a moment Ekko thought he saw disappointment in her eyes.
"It's cool." He said, putting his hands in his pocket rolling his shoulders. "So, what's with the secrecy?"
Klara looked down at her hands, biting her lap as she toyed with the edges of her mask. "I'm not really sure how to go about this." She admitted, her words slow. "But there… she didn't have any tech on her. She opened up her coat when she was being mugged by those guys, trying to show them she had nothing worth taking or, I don't know, that she was unarmed? It doesn't matter, because there was nothing there. No machines or weapons, no glowy Hextech or anything even remotely capable of what she did." She stressed, meeting his eyes with a fear and urgency that Ekko had never seen from her, all while his mind ran amok trying to figure things out.
None of this adds up. Ekko thought, thinking back to what Klara had told him and what he'd seen himself, at the end of the fight seven days ago. One of them was missing something. Any one of the things this girl did required Hextech, or some form of Chemtech that he'd never heard of, but for there to be nothing at all? It could've been a small exosuit, hidden under the girl's clothes that was activated when she- no. He was over-complicating things. Wearing something like that to just wander around the Lanes made no sense, not when this girl seemed happy to stay away from fights for the most part, and that didn't answer how she got her hands on Hextech in the first place.
It was magic, he was sure of it!
What else could it possibly be?
Then it hit him, and Ekko felt the breath leave his body. Klara kept her eyes on him the whole time, and something in his expression must've given it away because the moment he figured it out her face contorted into a tight frown, nodding at him and answering a question he would've been too afraid to ask.
"She's a-" Klara began, but Ekko's hand shot out of his pocket and clamped over her mouth.
"Don't say it!" He hissed, teeth clenched. She nodded underneath his palm, eyes flitting down to his hand as her cheeks darkened, and Ekko drew his limb back.
Mage.
The word burned like fire in Ekko's mind, making his hair stand on end as he fought down a shudder.
Mages were people born with the power of the Spirit Realm within them, wielding fire and ice and who knows what else, changing the world around them with nothing more than a snap of their fingers. Their kind had nearly destroyed the world once before, in the Cataclysmic Rune Wars that ended mere centuries ago. Heimerdinger and his old partners had built Piltover to escape the arcane, and now there was a Mage in the Undercity? Whether they were a stranger from some far off land or, stars forbid, from the Undercity itself, this was some pretty fucking scary news.
Ekko thought back to everything he knew about Magicborn, as they were officially known, because whatever information he could scrounge up might mean the difference between life and death, for Topside and the Undercity!
He knew that the closer someone was born to a Leyline, the higher the chance they were born a Mage, but he remembered reading about there being some weird logic to it all. Scholars figured that the entire world was saturated with arcane energy, whether that be because of how the planet was created or any number of other world-changing events, and that meant that, technically, nowhere was truly free of magic. That meant that Piltover, built as far from any known leyline as possible, was statistically unlikely to produce Mages, but that didn't mean it was impossible.
But there was something interesting about the studies he'd read, old texts preserved from a time where the study of the arcane wasn't so frowned upon. Being close to a Leyline meant that people were more likely to be born with magical abilities, but that didn't mean they'd be particularly powerful. Apparently, whatever studies had been conducted showed that the odds of a powerful Mage being born were the same across the entire world. From Piltover and the Undercity, all the way to Ionia and the Freljord, genuinely powerful Mages were one-in-a-million, or close enough that the numbers didn't matter. Statistically speaking, in places like Piltover and the Undercity, a Mage was more likely to be born powerful than not.
And considering what Ekko and Klara had seen, this girl was living up to that expectation.
"Fuck me running…" Ekko huffed, rubbing his face and hoping he'd wake up from what could only be a bad dream. For fuck's sake, he still had to meet with Talis after this.
"That's what I was thinking." Klara echoed uselessly, her expression severe. "I didn't tell anyone else about it; I didn't want to scare them, right? 'Cause this is pretty bloody terrifying."
"And we're not going to tell anyone." Ekko ordered, watching as Klara's eyes widened. "Think about it. This Mage's been around in the Undercity for fuck knows how long, and we only learned about her last week. That's twice she's shown her magic off, and both times her hands were forced. She's hiding."
"And if we start spreading the word that there's a Mage in the Undercity…" Klara whispered, voicing Ekko's thoughts perfectly.
"Who knows what she'll do." Ekko finished her sentence, shaking his head gravely. "At best, she leaves the Undercity and goes to fuckin' Bilgewater or something like that, but then all we've done is drive an innocent girl out of her home. And don't get me started on the literal fucking witch-hunt that'll happen down here. Whatever happens with something like that, people will get hurt." He explained, watching as Klara grew paler by the second. "And that's just what'll happen if we say there's a Mage down in the Undercity, without even beginning to talk about what PIltover and its reactionary Council might do. But what about if we somehow find this girl, and she thinks we're gonna try and hurt her?"
Klara shivered, holding her arms across her chest and grabbing at her biceps, looking down at the grass beneath their feet. "You don't have to tell me what'll happen then. It's obvious enough."
"Yep. Which means we keep the whole Mage thing to ourselves." Ekko said, whispering the word that was causing this whole shitshow in the first place, glancing around to see if anyone was watching them. It didn't feel right to be doing that here, in the home he'd helped build, but it was a little more than necessary right then. "We'll do what we said; tell the guys to keep an eye out, and if anyone runs into her, be very fucking careful. They'll buy that she has Hextech without nearly as much worry as if we tell them this girl's a Mage. No matter what happens, though, we want her to like us." He said, drawing in a deep breath when he finished speaking.
"Then…" Klara began hesitantly. "I guess that's it, then? Nothing else to do but wait and see what happens."
"Something like that." Ekko said, walking away from the wall after a moment and back towards his hidden machines. Klara followed behind, stopping just beside him as he flopped to the ground, leaning back and planting his hands on the grass behind him. "And today was going to be a good day." He moaned, somewhat to Klara but mostly to himself. "Was gonna brag right to Golden Boy's face and tinker until the sun came up. Now I'm gonna spend my night tinkering and going over every book about magic that I have, which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't done it a dozen times already, for one reason or another." Ekko groaned with a rueful laugh, glancing to his left as Klara sat down next to him. Like, right next to him, with scant inches between them.
He saw her turn to him out of the corner of his eyes, cheeks rosy as she reached up and brushed her hair behind her ears. "Would you like some help with that?" She asked after a long moment, voice low with a hazy look in her eyes that Ekko didn't understand. Klara's words were like cold ice on his skin, her closeness or the way she looked at him making him shiver, and Ekko wasn't sure if he liked the feel of it.
"I'm… what?" He asked, the epitome of keeping cool under pressure, and a blush erupted on his cheeks when she smirked at him.
"Earlier, when I came over to talk to you, you looked pretty stressed out. Girl trouble?" Klara asked, hitting the nail on the head but not for the reasons she thought.
"You have no idea." He said, the words far quieter than he intended, but with how shallow his breathing had become he was lucky he could get a sentence out at all.
Gods, she was pretty, and Ekko felt something stirring within him, hot and needy and lonely. There was a danger in her gaze that Ekko couldn't help but be drawn to, a fierceness that he'd seen in only one other person, and it set him on fire. The eyes and hair were wrong, too dark and too short, but she looked so much like her.
Was he being seduced? Was this what being seduced was like?
"I'm pretty stressed out too. I ran into the Undercity's only Mage, you know. I was terrified; I need someone to hold me after something like that." She whispered, her voice husky with unmistakable need. "So, if you're gonna be up all night working and reading", she teased with a smile, her tongue darting across her lips as she spoke, doing things to Ekko below the pants, "then you might as well have some company, right?"
"I don't- I don't understand." Ekko stuttered, choking on his words as, for the first time in his life, he wished he was Jayce Talis. That fucker would've known what to say in a situation like this - fuck knows he had groupies up in Piltover throwing themselves all over him. But Ekko wasn't like that. He was the boy who spent his nights thinking about the girl who tried to kill him every time they saw each other; imagining what it would be like just to hold her, to stare down at her with something other than rage, fist raised right as she pulled the pin on the grenade that should've killed them both.
"Sure you don't." Klara drawled with a heavy breath and a heady smirk, drawing Ekko out of his thoughts and back into the present. The present that involved a very attractive woman maybe-probably trying to get into his pants. "You're a smart man, Ekko - smartest man I've ever met, and I've seen the way you look at me. Today and all the days I've been a Firelight. You notice these things when you work for three years as a hooker."
Ekko's heart pounded in his chest, the primal part of his brain screaming for him to drag her up to his room and make her scream, because she wanted him. But as beautiful as she was, Ekko didn't want her. He snuck glances when he'd thought she wasn't looking, fucking sue him, but it wasn't her he thought about in the dark. He should've told her that, told her he wasn't ready, he wasn't right, but- "I've never done… that before."
Oh gods, why were they talking about this in the open? They weren't touching or anything, but couldn't people see his face? Ekko wanted to look around and check, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. "Really? Eighteen and looking like that, and you've never gone for a tumble in the hay?" She asked, looking him up and down in a way that made Ekko's pulse hammer in his ears. "I had my first go when I was seventeen, and I've learned a few tricks in the last five years. Why don't you take me up to your place tonight, teach me everything you want about magic, and then I'll give you a whole other kind of lesson?"
Ekko's mouth dropped, eyes bulging for a second before he caught himself. "You aren't normally this assertive." He said, changing the subject even though he wasn't sure he wanted to.
Klara's eyes locked onto his, her lips curling with something akin to amusement. "I like to think I'm good at getting what I want, and I've wanted you for a little while now. And if being loud and bubbly isn't going to work, then I'll just have to try something else, won't I?" She explained, and Ekko thought back to the talks they'd had in the past few months, where she'd just happen to catch him alone, and he'd thought she was just being friendly.
She was wrong, though. Bubbly and loud worked on him, an infectious excitement that kept him awake at night and haunted his dreams, reminding him of everything he'd lost - the friend he'd failed. This version of Klara, smug and confident with a dangerous gleam of cunning in her eyes, it reminded him of the thing Powder had become, and the fact that he wasn't disgusted confused him beyond recognition. "And you want me to…" He trailed off, scared and excited all at once.
Klara leaned in towards his shoulder, moving just close enough to angle her lips towards his ears. "I want you to fuck me until I can't walk straight." She breathed, a lilt in her voice that Ekko had never heard before, from her or from anyone. "I want to make you cum. Hard. And I want to see if you can do the same to me."
Ekko just stared at her, eyes trailing down her neck and across ample chest with heavy breaths, and he knew he should've said yes. He should've taken her up to his room, now or in the night, and released his worries with her. Let go of his pain and loneliness with her. There was no reason not to. She was willing and attractive, he genuinely liked her, and, hell, she could probably do things to him that he'd never even dreamed of.
But she wasn't Powder.
"I can't." Ekko confessed, words barely a whisper, and he watched as some of the smile left Klara's face. "I'm sorry. It's not you - I just can't."
Klara's eyes became a little less hungry, expression softening as she bumped shoulders with him, drawing her knees up to her chest with a tiny laugh. "Don't apologize. If you can't, you can't." She accepted his rejection with a wry smile, before speaking once more. "Has this got something to do with the girl troubles we talked about earlier?"
"Yeah." Ekko said, not willing to give up more than that. There was no good way to tell someone you couldn't sleep with them because you were too busy pining after a murderer. Even in his head, it sounded like a load of shit.
"That's okay. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. If I, you know, came on too strong or anything." Klara hurried out, guilt weighing heavy on her voice, and Ekko shook his head with a small smile.
"No, no, you're fine. I just can't." Ekko said once more, though he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.
Klara nodded as a sly smirk grew on her face. "Well, if you ever feel like you can, I'm pretty sure I could find you a space in my bed. No promises, though." She said with a wink, and Ekko couldn't help but laugh. Klara stood then, reaching down with a hand and offering it to Ekko, and he clasped it with a raised brow. She hauled him to his feet right as she spoke. "I'm gonna go get some lunch. You have fun with your magic toys, or whatever you've got hidden under those sheets."
"I'll do that." Ekko chuckled, waving her off as she turned away from him. "You look after yourself, yeah? Later!" He called out as she walked away, but she didn't say anything in return. She just held her hand up in a two finger salute, leaving him to his thoughts once more, and Ekko turned back to his machines, the last remnants of his good mood evaporating like water on a sunny day.
First, it turned out there's a Mage running around the Undercity at the speed of lightning, and then there's whatever the fuck that was. Now he just had to show off his work to Talis, proving that Ekko was the better inventor, and then he had a long night of work and research to look forward to.
It may not rain in the Undercity, but it sure as hell poured.
…
It took most of an hour for Heimerdinger, Viktor and Talis to arrive, and by then Ekko had managed most of the things he'd set out to do. He'd met up with Scar and the other Firelights when they got back from patrol, filling them in on his discussion with Klara, save for the parts about their mystery girl being a Mage. They accepted the Hextech explanation easily enough, and Ekko stressed the importance of being as nice as physically fucking possible to her, should one of them run into her like Klara had. With gang-violence on the rise in the Undercity, the growing effect of Silco's death and the break out at the Dredge, chances were this Mage would get dragged into another conflict in the coming weeks, and unless the Firelight's wanted to get on this chick's shit-list they'd need to be as unthreatening to her as they could.
Ekko also kept Klara's… proposition to himself, but that went without saying.
He had Scar and his lot then spread the word among anyone set to go out on patrol in the near future, because even one of them getting too gung-ho with her could spell disaster.
Then he laid down in the grass, one hand on his chest and the other resting on the watch in his pocket, shutting his eyes and letting the time go by. Ekko normally wasn't one for lazing about when he could be working, but it had been a long morning and he doubted things were going to get better, so he'd take whatever rest he could. When he put it like that, he wasn't wasting time at all; merely changing the schedule a little bit.
It was weird but, ever since he'd created his green Hextech Gemstone, imbued with the energy of time, he'd felt a little more connected to everything. Like he understood, even if it was only in some small new way. Maybe that was the wrong way to put it, after all, Ekko had never been good with words, but ever since then it felt like his perception had changed. The way he viewed the world had shifted, in a way that he didn't quite understand.
He was probably just imagining things, but, Ekko didn't know, he felt a little more at ease about things. Don't get him wrong, the Undercity was still in the shit with everything going on, yet he felt a little more relaxed about it all for some reason.
He'd seen the expanse of infinity within the emerald gemstone, history and all the possibilities of the future unraveling within him and, even if it had only been for a second, Ekko thought he might've seen the unbound stretch of time. What were any of his problems compared to the history of their world, and the problems it would face and overcome? Vi might've said he was downplaying their problems, comparing suffering and all that, but that wasn't what he was getting at.
When he thought about everything the world had seen, and would see in the centuries to come, his own battles didn't feel so insurmountable.
For the first time in his life, he thought they might just win one day.
That was the last thought that went through Ekko's mind as he fell asleep, the warm hand of the midday sun resting on his cheeks as he lay in the grass. Then Ekko woke to the sound of people calling his name, saying his guests had arrived, and the next thing he knew he was leading Piltover's leading scientists through his home. It may have taken a minute, Heimerdinger stopping to talk to the kids for a moment as Viktor beheld the tree they'd built their home around, genuine tears in his eyes as Talis rested his hand on his shoulder. Any other time, Ekko might've mocked Talis, called him a pussy or something like that, but he wasn't Piltover's Golden Boy then - he was a man standing beside his best friend as he witnessed something people like him thought impossible.
Ekko decided to let it go, trying his best to ignore the proud look Heimerdinger sent him.
Then the four of them stood before Ekko's covered machines, a bunch of Firelights watching from the outskirts and up in the tree, and trying to pretend that they weren't. He wasn't sure why, this wasn't supposed to be private or anything like that, otherwise he'd have set everything up in his lab or one of the spare rooms they had.
"Trust me, you guys are gonna love this." Ekko said with a bright smile, gesturing to the machines as he rolled his neck before turning to the three scientists behind him. Heimerdinger looked nervous, but was clearly trying to appear excited for him. Ekko appreciated the effort, but he knew his friend had issues with Hextech and magic as a whole, so it was a bit redundant. Still, Ekko was glad he'd found it in himself to come down. He'd invited Heimerdinger because he valued his friendship and knowledge, but he'd known that he'd probably not want anything to do with this. He hadn't said anything about Ekko's newfound interest in the arcane, but it was clear it made him uncomfortable. If anything, that meant the only reason Heimerdinger was here was to see Ekko's achievements in person, which honestly made him happy - not that he'd ever admit it. As cool as Heimerdinger was, he was still a Piltie after all.
Jayce and Viktor stood to his left, the latter in the middle, and Ekko didn't think that was an accident. His Hextech leg was serving him well, as far as he was aware, but it was clear the man wasn't doing too well. While he looked strong on his feet, the rest of him looked fit to bow under a light breeze, and Ekko wondered if he'd be offended if he got him a chair. Talis stood just beside him, a patient smile on his face that did little to hide his excitement, and something bitter formed in Ekko's chest at the sight. Sure, he'd invited him down, but this wasn't a friendly visit, not like it was with Heimerdinger and Viktor. This was about showing Piltover what the Undercity was made of, but Topside's leading man watched him with nothing more than honest anticipation in his eyes. This had nothing to do with the disparity between their two homes; to Jayce Talis, this visit was a chance to see what new miracles Ekko had made with Hextech.
He wasn't sure why that stung.
Ekko turned around, hiding a grimace as he squatted down and reached for the hidden machine on the far left, before swiping the cover off and tossing it to the side. Underneath was a simple brown wooden box, no bigger than his splayed hand, with a Chemtech pistol laying next to it. It wasn't all that special as far as Chemtech went, it wasn't even special as a weapon, being nothing more than a common pistol with gunpowder enhanced by some orange chemical cocktail, funneled into the weapon through small tubes connected to a small tank on the underside of the barrel. He'd taken it after a skirmish with some Chembaron's goons a few days ago, and while it wasn't all that incredible as a weapon, it was the perfect tool for the first demonstration.
He plucked the wooden box from the floor and stood, spinning it so the lid opened away from him, before walking over to where Talis stood. The Councillor's brow rose, his eyes widening a little, and Ekko understood why. The two rarely talked as it was, sometimes exchanging notes when Ekko went up to the factory each night. Other than that, the only time they really interacted was when Vi had the two of them spar, and he was more than happy with that arrangement. Sure, it was more for the Piltie's benefit than anything, but Ekko wouldn't pass up the chance to knock him on his ass. "You wanna help with the demonstration?" He asked, holding the box out to the taller man with a smirk, tilting his head as if he was challenging him. In a way, he was.
Talis met his eyes, probably wondering what trick he had up his sleeve, but he relented a second later with a small smile. "I'd be happy too." He said in a quiet voice, like he was speaking with just Ekko - not showing off Hextech in front of nearly all the Firelights. Did he somehow just not notice the people watching them, or was he just that good at hiding it? Ekko could feel Klara's gaze on him, from the walkway halfway up the tree, and that alone was nearly enough to throw him off. The guy probably spent hours schmoozing it up with the elite of Piltover, something like this might not be anything to him, and god did Ekko hate him for it.
Then he took the box from him, holding it with gentle hands and looking it over with a curious glint in his eyes, before unlatching the lid and flipping it open. Talis' eyes widened before narrowing slightly, reaching inside and pulling out a steel wristband with a Hextech Gemstone embedded into the metal. It glowed with arcane light, its power flowing through clear cables within the device and runes etched into its surface, along with three horizontal lines just underneath the crystal, and its near-hypnotic pattern was only broken by the adjustable latch on the underside of the bangle. "Put it on." Ekko told him, fighting down a grin as he took the wooden box back. He saw Viktor and Heimerdinger turn to Jayce with clear questions on their lips, but the two scientists remained silent as he buckled the Hextech band to his wrist.
"What's it do?" Talis asked as Ekko turned and walked back toward his three machines, stooping down and placing the box back on the grass.
"See those three glowing lines under the Gemstone?" He responded, taking the Chemtech pistol in his hand and turning it over in his hand, flicking the safety switch he'd installed after taking it. "Those are the shield charges."
"Shield charges?" He asked, sounding just a little uncertain, and Ekko grinned at the sound of it. Talis' eyes widened as he spun round, raising the pistol and aiming straight at his chest, the quiet chatter from the Firelights around them dying the instant they saw the weapon in his hand. There were even a few shocked gasps. Viktor and Heimerdinger jerked back, the former's movement stilted with his cane and prosthetic leg, but they stilled when Ekko tilted the barrel of the pistol up, pointing at the blue sky above.
"You said you'd help." Ekko explained, watching as the few Firelight's who stood behind Talis wisely found other places to be. He wouldn't have fired until they were gone anyways, but it saved him asking.
Talis' eyes darted down to the band on his wrist, to the glowing Gemstone that captivated them both, and understanding dawned on his expression. "That I did." He agreed, speaking louder than before as he glanced around the base. Then he looked over his shoulder and, seeing that there was no one behind him, he nodded at Ekko. "Don't miss." He said, and Ekko huffed out a not-unfriendly laugh, rolling his neck and hearing the pop as he stretched.
"Wait a moment." Viktor called, but he wasn't listening.
"Who do you think I am?" Ekko asked, right as he pulled the trigger. Orange light and flame flashed at the end of the pistol barrel, the recoil making the gun jerk in his hand even as he winced at the thunderous crack, and the Chemtech-tracer round lashed out through the air and straight into Golden Boy's stomach. He saw Heimerdinger reach out with his arms, stepping forward with his mouth open as if to try and stop them but his eyes widened as the bullet struck true, and he jumped back a step to get out of the way, covering his ears with a grimace. Ekko pulled the trigger once, twice more, fighting to keep his eyes open as orange light flashed from the end of the pistol and straight into Talis' torso, the sound of gunfire echoing through his home and up into the open air.
Then, as the sound of the detonations faded away, and smoke began to drift from the gun's barrel, Ekko flicked the safety back on and placed the gun down beside him, before looking back towards Talis.
The Councillor stood with eyes clenched shut, his arms tense at his sides, before he opened them and looked down at his chest with a shocked look on his face. He reached up and patted his chest, feeling for any bullet wounds or blood and, rather unsurprisingly, finding none there. If there were, he sure as hell wouldn't still be standing. Then his eyes fell to the grass at his feet, spotting the glowing, crumpled bullets in the dirt and his eyes widened comically. And only then did he notice the layer of translucent light blue energy covering his body, rapidly fading into sparks and smoke before dissipating entirely.
"Pretty cool, right?" Ekko asked with a wide grin, folding his arms across his chest.
"That's an understatement…" Talis responded, sounding just a little breathless. He took a big gulp of air a moment later, standing up straight once more and looking back towards the Hextech band on his wrist. "The three lights are gone." He stated, looking back towards Ekko, right as Viktor stepped towards his partner and grabbed his arm, rapidly looking over the machine himself. Heimerdinger just stared for a long moment, before turning to Ekko with an unreadable expression.
"That right there is the Hextech Portable-Shield, patent-pending." He announced in lieu of responding to Talis or Heimerdinger, shoving his hands in his pockets and meeting the Councillor's eyes. "When you put it on your wrist, the band produces an invisible aura that detects incoming attacks, for a lack of a better explanation. Bullets, punches, falling debris - you name it, the Hextech senses it and puts up a shield capable of blocking anything. Well, anything I could throw at it." He added, just in case someone got the wrong idea and decided to jump on a bomb after putting it on. Maybe it would save them, but he'd rather be safe than sorry when it came to the Firelights.
"And I'm guessing the little bars tell you how many times they can do that before failing?" He asked, holding his arm up and pointing the top of the band towards Ekko, so he could watch the three bars quickly fill back up with arcane light, one by one.
"The size of the bands mean their shield generator isn't as large as it could be", Ekko began, "so I had to add in some limiters to make sure they didn't blow themselves apart after taking too much damage. Three hits is the most I could manage, and you've gotta wait a few seconds for each charge to come back, but considering how small and easy it is to make, it's pretty fucking impressive."
"You're right about that much." Viktor spoke up, turning Jayce's arm over and inspecting the underside of the Portable-Shield. "I assume you wish for these to be made in bulk, and distributed among the Firelight's and Enforcers?"
"Pretty much, yeah." Ekko nodded, seeing Heimerdinger smile out of the corner of his eye. "It won't make anyone invincible, but it'll help keep our guys safe with all the shit going on right now. Gotta count for something, right?"
"I think it's an incredible accomplishment!" Heimerdinger called, stepping forward and looking up at Ekko, and he couldn't help but look away as he saw the pride in the Yordle's eyes. "A device like this deserves celebration! I can scarcely imagine all the good our people will do with this, the lives they'll save!"
"I wouldn't go that far." Ekko shook his head with an easy laugh, meeting the Professor's gaze. "It's only good for tanking stray shots, or a few quick ones while getting to cover. It's not something you wanna rely on, because you'll get hit one too many times and it'll be like you never had the shield in the first place." He heard a few mumbles from the Firelights surrounding him as he spoke, and Ekko could tell he'd be getting a lot of questions about this particular device. He'd take them though, if it meant he could keep his people, his friends, safe. "Oi, Talis." He called, drawing the taller man's attention away from Viktor, the two of them discussing something in hushed tones. "I'll give you the schematics before you leave. With the resources you guys have Topside, you could probably get a few dozen of these down by lunch tomorrow. Set up a small factory line - the works, you know?"
Talis nodded with a genuinely impressed glint in his eyes. "I'll see to it personally. Really, Ekko, you've made something incredible here." He explained, and Ekko hated the sincerity in his voice. "I know Viktor and I have struggled for ages to make a self-activating shield like this, so for you to make one so easily… It's amazing."
The naked praise caused something uncomfortable to worm its way into Ekko's gut, and for a moment he wondered if he wasn't being unfair when it came to Talis. Then he looked at his clean Councillor's robes and into eyes that hadn't seen nearly half as much pain as his, and that fleeting feeling of guilt passed. "I'm not doing this for praise, Piltie." He cracked, voice harsh as he turned and moved towards the second device - the tall, tower-like structure that stood around his height. "I'm doing this to help people. Nothing more." Ekko explained as he reached up and took the black cover in one hand, pulling it off the machine before Talis could respond. "This one isn't as easy to explain as the Portable-Shield, it isn't even really finished, but it's more a proof of concept. The machine works and that's what matters." He finished speaking, stepping to the side and letting them take a look.
It was a simple metal frame, made up of twelve steel rods welded together to act as a makeshift case for the machinery within. What that machinery was, was… a bit hard to describe. Pieces of Hextech lined the steel steel frame and filled it's interior, wires and cogs and fans, along with a whole host of other magically-imbued parts, forming an amalgamation of technology that, if Ekko hadn't painstakingly documented every part and its place in the machine, would've confused even him. As it was, he glanced towards the three Topsiders and saw their eyes narrow in confusion, looking over the device as they did their best to work out its function. Whispers broke out from the Firelights around them and Ekko couldn't help but glance up towards Klara, but she was staring at him instead of the machine, breaking out into a smile as their eyes met. They stared at each other for a short moment before she winked at him, and Ekko finally managed to look away.
"I'll be honest - it looks like a pile of dogshit." Ekko admitted, smiling as the Firelights' whispers turned into quiet laughs. "Like I said, it's a prototype, one that I can't really show you right now."
"Why is that, my boy?" Heimerdinger asked, turning away from the glowing machine and up towards him.
Ekko ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, wishing for a moment that he'd thought to rehearse this whole demonstration. It would have prevented the awkward pauses, at the very least. "It's an air filter." He surmised. "Long story short, I figured if Hextech can be used to transport materials through space, turning it into energy and back, it shouldn't be impossible to take one material, transform it into energy and then back into something else. I tried taking raw energy and converting that into matter first, but I didn't have much luck with that if it's even possible, so I went with the next best thing."
"So it's a transmutation machine? Equivalent exchange and all that?" Talis asked, one hand in his pocket as he approached the machine. His eyes roamed over its different parts, walking around as he tried to get a better look at the inside.
"Pretty much." Ekko shrugged, watching the Councillor with narrowed eyes. "Take a sample of what you want to remove, like, say, the toxic air you find in parts of the Undercity and then a sample of what you want to produce."
"Clean air…" Viktor whispered, hobbling towards the machine just after Talis.
"Got it in one." He said, stepping beside him. "Take this and put it wherever there's bad air. As long as you set it up properly, you should be able to clear the air in a few weeks, depending on how much you wanna change and how many machines you set up."
"A few weeks?" Viktor asked under his breath, turning to Ekko with baggy eyes.
"Transmutation is a new way of using Hextech, at least as far as I'm aware." He explained, seeing Talis stop and turn to him with a question clearly on his lips. "There's limitations on what can be done with the technology right now. Maybe it'll get better with time, but I have no idea."
The dying man nodded, bringing his hand up to his chin as he thought something over. Talis looked ready to speak up, then, but when he opened his mouth Viktor raised his hand, and the face of Piltover kept silent. "Would it be possible for me to take charge of this? The creation and implementation of this machine in the Undercity, as well as the research pertaining to this new transmutation technology of yours." He asked, and Ekko let out a huff of air, honestly not expecting that from him. Maybe he should have; the man was from the Undercity, just like him, and it was the very air this machine was designed to fix that was now slowly killing him - Heimerdinger had told him as much. If it was anyone else, Ekko doubted he'd say yes, but he could see the desperation in his eyes - along with the all-consuming determination that had led to the creation of the Firelights.
He could see several dozen eyes boring into him, the Firelights and the Pilties eagerly awaiting his answer. The thing about a choice like this, though, was any answer he gave would upset someone. Viktor and Talis clearly wanted his permission, and Heimerdinger was sending him an all-too-familiar look, telling him to let go of his pride. The Firelights were a different story because, while he couldn't exactly see them at that moment, he knew they wouldn't be happy about him giving something he'd worked so hard on away, just like that. Not to a Topsider, even if it was someone like Viktor - a scientist, instead of a politician and a businessman. They didn't know he was from the Undercity, and that he had likely suffered just as much as the rest of them.
It would've been easy to tell Viktor no, to put his foot down and keep what he had built for himself, and the people of the Undercity. After all, their deal meant Piltover would give them things - not the other way around. But there was a part Ekko, burdened by the innocence of youth and a kindness that he thought he'd lost, that told him he wouldn't forgive himself if he denied Viktor's request.
For all his reasons to keep the technology to himself, none of them compared to the question weighing down on his chest.
What kind of guy said no to a dying man like that?
Ekko couldn't meet Viktor's gaze as he gave his answer, the shame of even considering saying no twisting in his gut. "Yeah, sure… I'll give you the notes and blueprints before you leave." He acquiesced before remembering something important, looking to Viktor and Talis in turn. "But we should probably wait for the situation with the Chembarons to calm down before setting any of these up in the Undercity, at least a little."
"Shouldn't we get these out there as soon as possible? There are people who need something like this, Ekko." Viktor stressed, a barely restrained anger seeping into his voice.
"Because we don't have the manpower to properly protect a filter once we've set it up." Ekko explained as calmly as he could, fighting down the frustration rising in his chest. Viktor didn't deserve it. "Look, we've got enough trouble keeping the Chembarons out of the Lanes as it is, even with the Firelights and your Enforcers working together. We're just lucky the Chembarons are too busy fighting each other to gang up on us, because then we'd have a real problem. We'd have a fighting chance with Hextech, but with their numbers and Shimmer backing them up, we'd lose a lot of people even if we won. But imagine if we put a piece of Hextech in the middle of a Chembaron's territory, far away from our usual patrol routes in the Lanes. I don't care how many Enforcers you could spare - it won't be enough. Blood in the water, you know what I mean? They'd send as many people as they could to try and take it. They couldn't afford not to, with the kind of money and power it would get them." He finished, taking a breath and letting the information sink it. "I know you want to help. Trust me, I get it, but if there's one thing I learned down here, it's that you need to pick your battles."
Something ugly flashed across Viktor's face, frustration and contempt morphing into an expression wholly unlike the stoic man he knew, even if Ekko could tell it wasn't aimed at him. "You're telling me to give it time?" He said in a low voice, eyes fixed on the cane in his hand.
Ekko could only nod, feeling like a real piece of shit because he was telling a dying man to wait. Viktor was running out of time, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
Even if his relationship with time had changed a whole lot in the past week.
A moment passed in drawn out silence, everyone there waiting with bated breath to hear Viktor's response, but he just remained silent. In the end, he just looked at Ekko with hard yet understanding eyes, before nodding and stepping back in line with Heimerdinger. Talis waited a moment before joining them, and Ekko pretended not to see the grateful look the man sent him for it. Then, drawing a deep breath, Ekko prepared to unveil his masterpiece. "And for my next trick!" He called out with a dramatic flourish, gesturing behind him as he tried his best to channel the performers and tricksters he'd read about in his youth. Then he spun and strode towards the final hidden machine, dropping to one knee as he removed the cover and revealed another wooden box, not unlike the first though it was a fair bit bigger. "This is my finest work, if I do say so myself, so I hope you're all prepared." He said with a genuinely excited smile as he opened the box, because he'd been working on this for what felt like an age and now the time was finally here.
Then Ekko reached inside the box, retrieving what might very well be his life's work and holding it out for all to see, and Talis and Viktor's eyes went wide. It was a copper cylinder with pointed steel caps on each end, with what amounted to a leather belt attached to them. It was a modified version of the container Ekko had housed the Hextech Gemstone in when he'd tried to get it back to Piltover, with black leather handle on one end of the case, attached to a rolled up bit of chain. On the other end, almost directly opposite of the handle, was a gray knob just a little smaller than his palm, with little dashes painted on that grew larger along its circumference. The entire copper midsection had been replaced with two panes of retractable green-tinted glass, exposing the two steel, anchor-like devices pointing inwards, though they had four protruding pieces of steel instead of two. And, floating in between them, was the pinnacle of Ekko's work with Hextech.
A single, green gemstone - cracked, yet glowing with arcane power.
The gemstone's energy shone out into the world, bathing Ekko's chest in emerald light as Talis' jaw fell, and he couldn't help but laugh. "This right here is the Z-Drive." He announced, giving the name that represented everything he'd been working towards for weeks now; a name that had taken him far too long to choose. But from the look on their three faces, it had been so worth it. "It's why it took me so long to get these three projects done, but trust me when I say I've saved the best for last." Ekko said, knowing how cocky he sounded then and really not caring. Not when he was unbuckling the belt attached to the Z-Drive and winding it around his waist, the Hextech device sitting comfortably on his lower back, and he strapped it tight so it wouldn't fall off.
"What does it do?" Talis breathed, eyes fixed on the green gemstone that had taken so much work.
"It's a time machine - take a guess." He said, more than a little glib. There was a surge of hushed conversation from the Firelights, none loud enough for him to hear, but he could see their shock clear as day. Talis, Viktor and Heimerdinger had been stunned into silence by the looks of things, and he took the chance to carry on speaking before they interrupted. "Now, I know what you're thinking: doesn't time travel break, like, every law of nature? And the answer to that is no, but only some of the time." He explained, secretly enjoying the perplexed look everyone sent him, Firelights and scientists alike. "Think of time as a river, and with every second we travel just a little further downstream. For the most part, though, time, much like a river, only flows in one direction. What the Z-Drive does is reverse the flow of that river, so that time moves backwards instead of forward, if only for a few moments. When it's done, time continues on flowing like nothing happened, except for whatever the person with the Z-Drive changes. As far as time's concerned - no harm, no foul."
At least that was what Ekko's experiments had found, and there wasn't any reason to believe otherwise just yet, but he didn't need to tell everyone that. Maybe just Heimerdinger and the other two. Ekko watched as Viktor clearly fought for whatever words he wanted to say, so he carried on speaking. "What happens from the user's perspective is the world will effectively start moving backwards, including them, but the Z-Drive partially separates the user from the flow of time itself, preventing them from losing the memories of things that technically never happened. This also means you keep any injuries you get in the time you've undone, but that's the only way the magic can function properly. There are probably other, more far reaching methods of traveling through time, both into the past and future, but this rewind is the best I could do with what I had. Everything else I tried took too much power to be useful, at least for now."
Then Ekko clapped his hands, visibly startling a few of the Firelights who'd gotten a little too caught up in his mini lecture.
"Now, who wants a demonstration?" He asked, but he didn't bother waiting for an answer. Ekko simply reached back with his left hand, grabbing the black leather handle and pulling, and the chain built into the Z-Drive unraveled as the machine came to life. The sound of whirring gears filled his ears as the two anchor-like parts in the Z-Drive began to spin, and emerald lightning flashed through the air and around his body for a second before dissipating. He let go of the handle and rolled his neck, suppressing a shudder as power surged through his body and into his heart, new yet oh so familiar. Then he looked over the three scientists before him with a smirk, before calling out to them. "Think of a number, as big or small as you want, but don't tell me just yet." Ekko requested, and he waited a few seconds before continuing. "You guys got them?" He asked, watching as Talis, Heimerdinger and Viktor nodded. "Cool. Tell me now." He said after another moment passed.
"Seventeen." Heimerdinger said, though it sounded more like a question than anything.
"Ninety four." Viktor said next.
"Ten thousand, seven hundred and fifty two." Jayce said after a second, failing to hide his excited smile.
"Thanks." Ekko said in a cheerful voice, reaching down with his right hand towards the knob on the end of the Z-Drive. "Now I'm just gonna travel back in time and tell you guys your numbers before you told me." He elaborated, before pausing as he considered something. "Well, it doesn't really matter if I tell you now, since these last few seconds will be erased and everything. Still, it's more fun this way."
Ekko saw Heimerdinger open his mouth to say something, but by then he'd already activated the Z-Drive, and time shattered for what felt like the first time, now that other people were there to see it. Green lightning flashed through the air around him as emerald energy pulsed out, freezing the world in place as the light hit the walls of their base and surged through it, traveling from here to the ends of the universe, as far Ekko could tell. The Firelights' home and everyone in it stopped entirely, some looking like they were already standing still, while others appeared to have been frozen as they were moving or talking. Ekko's eyes fell to a single green leaf, having fallen from the tree and now hanging frozen in the air a ways before him. His gaze shifted up, though he was sure his eyes didn't actually move, and he saw Klara's face, eyes wide with awe as her mouth hung open. Her hands were gripping the railing tight, her tank top riding up just a little and exposing the barest bit of her toned stomach, and if Ekko wasn't currently stuck in time, he probably would have blushed.
Then that moment of frozen time passed and everything began to shift, the world moving once more as streaks of jade electricity flashed all around him, but time wasn't moving forwards.
It was reversing.
Ekko watched as the three scientist's mouths moved in reverse, the leaf from the tree starting to fall towards the sky, and after what felt like a long moment he was back when he started, even though literally less than zero seconds had passed.
Then the Z-Drive deactivated, letting time flow as normal and Ekko saw Heimerdinger open his mouth, but he beat the Yordle to the punch. "Seventeen." He said quickly, pointing a finger towards Heimerdinger. "Ninety four. Ten thousand, seven hundred and fifty two." Ekko counted off, pointing to Viktor and Talis in turn. The three of them rocked back like they'd been struck, and Heimerdinger began to stammer, though no actual words escaped his lips. "Now, say it nice and loud for our audience, were those your numbers?"
Talis looked genuinely dumbstruck as he glanced to his right, towards Viktor and Heimerdinger and, seeing them nod, turned back to Ekko. "You're right… How the hell did you do that?" He asked, sounding as confused as Ekko had ever heard him, and he knew he'd treasure this moment forever.
"Like I said, time travel." Ekko laughed, stretching his arms out at his side before folding them across his chest. "Now, does anyone have any questions?"
The world exploded into noise, and Ekko didn't bother to hide his smile.
He was sure he had a long chat with the three scientists in the near future, and as much as he normally loathed any interaction with Piltover's Golden Boy, he couldn't find it in himself to care.
For the first time since meeting Jinx, Ekko didn't feel like a failure.
Well, there isn't really much to say here. Ekko's got a bit more info on the green lightning in the Undercity, even if he wasn't exactly pleased to hear it was coming from a Mage, but it do be like that sometimes. Then he gets to show off his new toys, and that was honestly so fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it.
And with regards to Klara and her talk with Ekko, if that's what you wanna call it, I wanted to show more of Ekko's relationships with the other Firelights. Not just this chapter, but in general, since I feel like we didn't get enough of that in season one. And in case I didn't make it super clear in the chapter, the way Ekko feels about Jinx/Powder is much more complicated than even he realises. That was why I wrote that scene in that way, to show how he'd respond to something like that, even if he doesn't entirely understand why. And maybe I wanted to try a bit more at smutty stuff, so if you think I did alright and would like to see more of it in the future of this story, let me know in the comments - I have some chapters down the line where that might just come into play.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you next time!