Chapter Text
Ekko yawned, leaning back and rubbing his jaw before looking at the short yordle next to him. Doctor Heimerdinger was standing atop 3 stacked stools as he leaned forwards across the table, both arms working quickly through the large cylindrical device before them. “How we lookin, Doc?” Ekko leaned forward as well, propping his head up on his elbow, eyes flicking between the yordle and the device he was working on. It was a slow and quiet night in the firelight sanctuary, most of Ekkos people had already turned in and Ekko himself was about ready to do the same. Heimerdinger and Ekko had spent the day working on a particularly exciting new piece of technology.
“Just..one..more-” There was a soft click before different parts of the machine whirred to life, glowing a bright blue for a moment before calming down and going dark once again. “Eureka!” Heimer leaned back, smiling. “It should now be ready for our first ever test run!” He looked at Ekko, putting his stubby little arms on his hips. “Can you believe it lad? We may have just cracked the scientific discovery of the millennium!”
Ekko wanted to scoff, he didn’t think this would actually work. It was probably just going to blow up like a few of the other more risky and failed experiments the two had scrapped over the past few months. “I know it’s pretty cool Doc, but we should be careful. I mean, time travel? This is the riskiest deal we’ve ever tried.” Ekko reached out, lifting the device up to briefly examine his partner's work on it. Little did he know, his words reached ears they weren’t supposed to. A pair of bright, pink eyes watched from the shadows of the rafters above them.
“Aye lad, you are very much correct about that.” Heimerdinger held up a finger and nodded in agreement. “That’s why we’re going to get some much needed sleep and tackle this business first thing in the morning!” The Yordle pushed his goggles up over his eyes as he spoke. “A mind is like a fine blade my boy, rest and relaxation act as the whetstone to keep it sharp. A good book or two don’t hurt either.” Heimer chuckled.
Ekko set the device down with a firm thud, looking at Heimerdinger with a tired smile. “I can get behind that, but how about some dinner first, eh Doc?” Heimerdinger nodded and turned, hopping down from his spot.
“We can discuss what to name this project, I've had a few ideas myself!” He watched as Ekko slid his chair backwards, the wood scraping across the floor as he stood up.
“Oh yeah?” Ekko tilted his head at Heimer as the two made their way towards the workshop's exit.
“Indeed lad-” The yordle scientist nodded, stepping through the door and moving aside to let Ekko through. “How does Z-Drive sound? Hm?”
Ekko turned, swinging the workshop door shut. “Z-drive huh? Not bad.” The door locked with a quiet click, leaving the workshop quiet and empty, at least for now.
A pair of bright blue braids would flop down, hanging there for a moment before a young girl dropped down onto the floor, her boots thudding with the landing. Her eyes darted about to make sure that she was truly alone for now. After a moment, she rubbed her hands together and giggled to herself. “Too easy!” She turned, humming a tune to herself as she stepped over to the table that Ekko and Heimerdinger were sitting at just moments before. “So time travel huh? Fancy shmancy!” She lifted the device off the table, holding it up to her face to examine it closer. Then she shook it a few times, hearing some slight clinking inside. That’s when she felt it, an all too familiar buzzing slowly edging it's way up through her brain. She winced, dropping the device back to the table and taking a step back as she gripped her head with both hands. The sudden impact “S-shut up! This isn’t the time or place guys!” A subtle click brought her crashing back to reality.
“Yeah give me a sec doc, i forgot my goggles!” Ekko called out as he pushed the door open, allowing a shaft of pale light to shine into the seemingly empty workshop. He stepped inside, making no delay as he walked up to the workshop table and grabbed his goggles. With that, he glanced at the device and turned back towards the entrance. “Huh?” He perked up and turned back around, looking at the device once again. “What the hell-” The device was a bit damaged, parts that were attached just moments ago now laying scattered across the table. “Hey doc-!?” Ekko grunted as the grip of a pistol-like weapon slammed across his jaw, knocking him to the floor. He groaned quietly, seemingly dispatched for the moment.
Jinx stood over him, still holding her pistol by the barrel. “Sorry little man-” She stepped over Ekko, grabbing the device off the table. “Oh who am I kidding, no I'm not!” She shrugged, examining the device one more time. “Hm?” She looked down as she felt a hand wrap around her ankle. “Ok so maybe I should have hit you a little harder.”
Heimerdinger's little feet tapped quietly across the wooden floor of the walkway as he made his way back towards the workshop. “What in the devil's name is taking him so long?” He asked himself as he approached the door. He would jump back as 3 bullets pierced the wooden door before the door suddenly flew open, Ekko and Jinx tangled up in a flurry of punches, kicks and sometimes even bites (those were just from Jinx though). “Ekko! What is the meaning of this?!” Heimer barked, watching them brawl with confusion.
“Doc, stop her!” Ekko shouted as Jinx pulled herself free from Ekko, the Z-Drive under one arm. “She’s got the drive!”
Heimer stepped in Jinx’s way as she made a break for it. “You stop right there young lady!” Jinx just stuck her tongue out at him and knocked Heimerdinger aside, the yordle grunted as he fell against the walkway railing. He looked up just in time to see Ekko getting to his feet and chasing after Jinx, but she had gained quite the lead. “Be careful Ekko! It’s still quite unstable!” Heimerdinger attempted to warn his partner, but Ekko was too focused on bringing down Jinx.
The gunshots had alerted the entire compound, and many of Ekkos firelights were on their way to assist. “EKKO!!” Fang shouted from a separate catwalk. Ekko turned to see Fang throw Ekkos hoverboard out across the gap. Ekko locked eyes on the board, jumping up on the railing before flipping forwards up through the air and landing both feet on the board firmly. The board's turbines flared to life and glowed green as Ekko took off, now quickly gaining on Jinx.
“Oh no you don’t.” The blue haired thief turned, whipping out her pistol and firing 4 shots. Ekko narrowly dodged each shot, whipping back and forth before reaching out and using both hands to break a pipe off the wall. He reeled back with the pipe, ready to clock Jinx across the face. However, he didn’t anticipate Jinx to turn around again as he swung out, the pipe colliding with the Z-drive. A shockwave of blue energy blasted both of them back, knocking Ekko off his board and sending Jinx sailing over the railing to the dirt floor down below. Ekkos board sputtered without it's rider, spinning out of control before clattering to the floor. Jinx coughed and groaned as she pushed herself up, blowing the long blue hair out of her face. Her eyes were caught by the glowing blue Z-Drive laying just a short distance away. The drive was starting to shake, the bolts and plates rattling.
Ekko rushed to the railing, looking down at where Jinx landed. Several firelights had begun to surround Jinx, confident they had her cornered. Ekkos eyes focused on the shaking Z-drive, his eyes going wide. “Oh no-” He waved a hand to get the attention of his Firelights. “Get back! It’s gonna blow! Get out of there!” They quickly heeded their leader's warning, turning to scramble away as the Z-drive only glowed brighter. Jinx gave a greedy laugh, beginning to crawl over the stolen device. “What the hell is she doing? It could kill her..” Ekko furrowed his brow, watching as Jinx clutched the Z-drive to her chest.
“What do you think guys? Ready to see if there’s an after?” She looked down at the device as the blue glow overtook the pink in her eyes. Ekko covered his eyes and Heimer took cover behind a crate as the Z-drive finally went critical, a blinding blue flash and a deafening boom knocked the senses out of anyone in the compound, the resulting shockwave also knocked Ekko off his feet and away from the railing.
Heimerdinger had covered his ears and closed his eyes to shield himself just in case the box he was using for cover wasn’t enough. When the blast faded, Heimer poked his head out from behind the crate, looking down at the blast site. A massive cloud of dust had been kicked up by the explosion, the tree at the center of the compound reaching up and out of the cloud. Bolts of static blue energy zapped around the cloud, but that was all anyone could see from this side. “Oh dear..” Heimerdinger quickly stood up and hurried across the catwalk towards the nearest pathway down to the ground level. He clambered down one of the many ladders as fast as his tiny limbs would let him before hopping onto the dirt and scampering towards the wall of dust. He held a hand up to shield his eyes as he approached the cloud, squinting and furrowing his brow. Then, he heard it. Soft, high pitched coughing. “Hello? Who’s there? Are you ok?” He leaned forwards as he walked, seeing a short silhouette forming in the smoke. He picked up his pace, whoever it was, they might have been injured. The silhouette got clearer and clearer as he got closer. However, it was clear they were moving closer to him too. The cloud of smoke and dust was so thick that he wasn’t able to stop in time when they reached each other, the two smacking into one another.
“Oof!” The small figure grunted as they fell back onto their butt before coughing once again, raising a hand to cover their mouth. Judging from the voice, Heimer deduced it was a girl.
“Oh my, I'm so sorry.” Heimer reached into his coat, pulling out a small device and twisting the end. It glowed a bright yellow, like a neon glow stick. He held out his free hand as he approached her. “Are you ok, young miss?” He knelt down next to the coughing girl and held the light out to reveal her face and her short, blue hair which had been braided a bit down the back. She wore a combination of scraggly blue and pink clothing that had clearly seen better days. She winced a bit at the sudden light before adjusting her grey eyes and looking at Heimerdinger.
“Have...have you seen my sister?”