EKKO

The light flickered sometimes within Ekko's office as he re-assembled the Z-Drive frame. Practically the THIRD time on that week alone, and he barely had discovered it. Already quite the fame, clearly - almost pilfered by the Ironhands, almost stolen by Heimerdinger even if justifiably, almost destroyed by Jinx...

The critical part, and perhaps the one that did make his heart race, was now *having* to test it. Especially because of the overload caused by that exploding Chomper, when it detonated the recharger. The recharger itself could be rebuilt later, and he'd have to test it but once, as well.

He did the basic test of letting pushing off some things clumsily from the nearby table, make a mess.

And then Ekko triggered the Z-Drive. The time did rewind, the once messed up stuff now back on it's place. It did seem everything normal.

"Thank Janna...", Ekko whispered to himself in relief, even as he saw the depleted gemstone by the device's socket, that'd slowly recharge all over again. It seemed to be everything normal, in spite of that detonation. At least now that left only the recharger to start worrying about.

Setting the Z-Drive aside in a safe corner and bringing up the recharger to the center of the working table, he proceeded to pickup a wrench from the toolbox by the bed to start dismounting the cumbersome device.

As he turned around, however, he felt and saw something pass by him while he was focused on the wrench, that immediately put a stop to him.

It seemed... green, somewhat, and he felt it, and felt it *wrong*. Ekko looked around, at the office, noticing it was indeed empty, save for him solely at the room.

And still the uneasy feeling that he wasn't alone crept up his spine. The same feeling that forebode what Jinx was going to do to his group at that night, the same feeling that forebode the terrible cataclysm that befell Piltover...

The same feeling he wouldn't ignore *this* time.

He took a couple of slow steps forward, before he then dashed and turned around.

And then he saw it.

A very ghostly image, glowing in an ethereal blue-ish green as the energy that flowed from the Z-Drive.

Of himself. Staring at him.

Ekko's instincts spoke first as he rushed to grab his Clockhand bat lying by the table, staring at the ghostly image of himself as that one raised it's hands.

"Guess you did get me.", the image said, almost mockingly, letting out a small snicker a second later.

"The hell?", Ekko asked.

"'The hell?' You're the one whom takes the Drive for the spin and you ask 'The hell'?", the image asked back, chuckling. "To think you... I... we called Jinx crazy..."

"Jinx...", Ekko mumbled the name, starting to recall the events of that fight, especially the overcharge that did push the gemstone to it's limit, before resuming his watchful gaze at the image. "You're the product of whatever happened to the gemstone, ain't you?"

"Hey, smarts, you're the detective here.", the image shrugged. "I'm just along for the ride."

"C'mon, even *I* couldn't think something like that-", Ekko said, gesturing at the image.

"Could be possible?", the image finalized, picking up one of the other wrenches from the toolbox, and spinning it around on it's right hand. "Guess you just didn't *actually* tap into the gem's power, you going all baby steps, Piltie-style... Honest, it doesn't suit you, for what you been through. But her, shattering them barriers out, by accident? She really *is* something, you should've given her more value, even if she's manic mass murder and everything..."

"What even the hell are you?", Ekko asked, a couple of seconds later.

The image laughed. "That serious?", it asked. "The look really don't tell you enough?", it gazed at Ekko, whom was getting a bit triggered by it, and then raised it's arms. "No sweat, Little Man, I'll indulge you this one time. I'm what you'd call an... 'after-image', what you get from really cruising with time. Don't even look at me, I just know what the little stone knows, and it has been around, you see... Like, been over centuries around.", he pointed at the gemstone by the Z-Drive.

Ekko took a glance at the gemstone for a while before then glancing at the image. "Okay, so I kinda got you out of there...", he said.

"Yeah, you kinda- oh, of course, and you now wanna put me back in, huh!?", the after-image asked, becoming hostile, making Ekko take a couple of steps back, the grip Clockhand growing tight.

"Hey, I don't want any trouble!", Ekko exclaimed, in self-defense.

"*You* don't want any trouble.", the after-image repeated. "You take the stone, you mess with it and you don't want any trouble? And what about what I want, Boy Savior?"

"Hey, I don't know what you can do!", Ekko exclaimed. "Can't risk that!"

The after-image suddenly produced, out of nowhere, what looked like an small energy ball and immediately threw it to the ground close to him before Ekko could even react, at the same time it threw the wrench up. The energy ball impacted causing it to erupt into a bubble that about enveloped half of the room, Ekko being almost at the edge of it, as the wrench fell into the bubble and then about stopped, freezing mid-air in place. All as the after-image walked into, casually, and, with a single finger, flipped the floating, inert wrench the other way.

Ekko simply saw the whole thing, incredulous.

"That's about a fraction of what I can do.", the after-image said, with an all-knowing smile. "Plus a hundred others you never even dreamed about."

The bubble dissipated as the wrench fell down to the ground.

"So, you interested, now?", the after-image said. "Or you're still in the 'stick in the mud' mode?"

THE MAN

The Smell always dreaded him. Always the Smell. Because where it did lead the vessel towards, and that meant having to wrestle the Beast once again, if at times unsuccessful.

It wasn't like that, at first. At first he was too weak to stop it. He was unaware and unfamiliar with the smell until the Wail came and then the Taste. The Taste the Beast savored. But not him.

The innocent, scavenging boy, apparently no less than fifteen years old. He didn't know what was getting into when he got there. Much less of the Beast whom was resting there after being set loose and running from that place.

The place where he indeed had as little a memory as the Beast. He could only remember being hanged in chains, suspended in the air, as a slim frame was before him. Sitting before him.

Injecting things. A frame almost as slim as... him. The bane of all he loved. The bane that started all that...

From there, there wasn't much but try and climb to the top, to where he could take it over. And wrestle the beast when it mattered the most. Some indeed were just too innocent for the Beast to lunge on.

Others were indeed more deserving and he could thus let the Beast have it's day. Those murderous enforcers, for an instance, were one that did placate the wrath of the beast, weren't for the smallest of all to draw it away. Clearly was something repentant to protect those the enforcers were hell-bent on doing harm. He *had* to believe that...

From there, nothing much changed, and that did frighten him as well. Nothing lasted forever.

And if biology did trump ideology all the time, he was on a borrowed time.

The Beast would prevail. And would have to be put down.

The Smell always dreaded him.

Notes:

Yes, the idea of Ekko and an independant after-image, introduced in LoR, was too good to pass and to help Ekko move forward with his time tech where Heimerdinger cannot.