Chapter Text
Ekko’s eyes wearily opened as he gazed at the orange sky above him. The purple storm that had formed at the apex of the tower had dispersed. He weakly leaned his head up to view where he had last seen Viktor and Jayce.
They were gone.
Heavy fatigue settled through his body as he let his head fall back on the steel frame of the Hexgate. The day was won, and that was enough. His body ached for rest and he was inclined to let sleep take him right there and now. His senses began to dull as his mind wandered, the pain of his ruined body becoming a distant memory.
Ekko was running down the stairs of the Last Drop Inn, jumping over the last 4 steps and landing with a loud thud. With a boyish giggle he pushed open the door to her room. His heart soared as he saw her on her bed. Paintbrush in hand decorating a new creation. Seeing him come in she flashed him a paint speckled smile.
“Powder! Look what Benzo gave me!”
He looked down at his hands to see a familiar bloodied, lead pipe in hands that were too big to be him. He looked to the floor below and saw her, pinned by him against the floor. Ekko's eyes moved from where his hand held her shoulder down and met her gaze. Her eyes focused on him, she gave him a small smile through blood stained teeth. Grief and wistfulness misted Ekko’s eyes as he looked back at her. Then he heard the click and saw the flashing of her grenade.
“Noooo!”
He ran out to the grenade and grabbed her hand. Prying it away from her grip he looked back at her. They were back in the Last Drop. The other Last Drop. She pulled away from him and he instinctively raised their interlocked hands to spin her. She laughed and twirled into him. He could see the softness of her eyes, the lines that laughter made on her face. He moved his other hand down her body, gently pushing her into him and him into her to the rhythm of the music. The soft feel of her body and the jagged points of her lithe frame. He pushed her away again, reveling in her graceful spin as their hands broke to continue the dance. He blinked away the water that threatened to spill from his eyes.
She was standing before him. Her hands gripping her grenade to her chest. She looked at him with the eyes of a ghost. Her long hair messily cut into a shawl to frame her shattered heart. Luminescent, pink eyes staring at him from a tearstained face. His soul screamed for him to save her before it was too late. But he was too late. His body shot forward to grab her as she began to lean off the edge.
“I’m tired of talking”
“JINX!”
Adrenaline coursed through Ekko, granting him the strength to push his broken body back into motion again. How could he think about resting? She needed him.
He needed her.
Rolling on to his side he felt bones tear at his flesh. A heavy gust blew past him and caused the scorched skin on his face and arms to burn with fresh pain. With great exertion he forced one knee up as he reached into his belt pouch. Sharp pain shot through him as he felt his ribs move independent of each other. His shaking hands fumbled as they wrapped around a vial. Pulling out a dose of shimmer he shakenly brought it to his teeth and removed the safety cap from it.
Fear gripped him as he stared at the pink-purple fluid. Never in his life had he felt the desperation to indulge in shimmer. He had seen what it had done to people, the miracles it could perform on the fortunate. The toll it would take on the unfortunate. Men, stronger and livelier than he would ever be, reduced to withered husks filled only with regret and malice. It was pragmatism that made him carry it today, a last resort for a fight he could not afford to lose. He stared at it, afraid of what it would do to him.
“Vi, you can still make the jump!”
Her voice was all it took to scatter away his fears. If she was still fighting, he needed to fight with her. He had to keep fighting. He lined up the syringe to the area that felt the most painful and stabbed and twisted. He leaned his head back as he winced. The cold fluid sent a shiver down his spine as the pain was washed away by a sense of euphoric relief. No sooner had he become accustomed to the feeling had it withered away, leaving only a gnawing ghost of the sensation.
He forced himself to stand, the pain from his ribs having been dulled to a mere annoyance rather than a gruesome hindrance. He scanned the area, looking for his hoverboard amongst the graveyard of Viktor’s puppets. Worry, heavy in his heart, urged his feet to move faster, his eyes to scan faster. The board had to be here. The Z drive was gone. He had no second chances.
Spotting a line of purple, Ekko made note to thank Jinx for her insistence on marking their joint projects. He shoved a metallic corpse off his hoverboard, only wondering for a moment at how light the creature was in comparison to how hard it hit.
Dread filled Ekko’s heart.
The hoverboard was sparking with misaligned circuits and the chemical reagent it used to facilitate power was leaking as well. Switching the board to activate, Ekko prayed that Janna or whatever gods there were would be merciful in his hour of need.
The hoverboard weakly came to life, the fans that provided thrust, pathetically spinning in motion before stopping intermittently. With a desperate strength Ekko smacked the hoverboard as hard as he could with his hand.
‘ Janna, if you’re real, now’s the time to show it’
Ekko watched the board as it continued to struggle until a large spark forced him to avert his eyes… and then he heard the healthy hum of the fans spinning. Ekko looked up to the sky, placing two fingers on his lips before turning them to the sky. He would have to find time to make an offering when this was all over.
Wasting little time, Ekko ran to the channel of the Hexgate and mounted his hoverboard as he jumped down. The board accelerating his descent he first saw the stark red hair of Vi, looking past her he saw the falling form of Jinx. His blood froze as time felt like it slowed to a crawl. Gripping Jinx’s midsection with it’s massive claws was the creature that was once Vander. When Jinx told him what had happened during his time away, he wanted so desperately to believe it was just some delusion of hers but the tenderness she had when she spoke of him made him believe.
And how could he not when he could see the creature before him. It didn’t look anything like Vander, metal skin reflecting the lights of the channel, a frame that could barely be considered humanoid and a face distorted into a animalistacl sneer. But it was something in the eyes. Something innate to the creature that scared him. This was Vander? That was what became of the man who shielded the undercity?
The creature was falling, taking Jinx with it. It loosened its grip on Jinx as it made its way to claw her face. Vi was screaming words that Ekko could not make out as he raced past her. He saw the bomb in Jinx’s hand and knew what she was going to do. He just had to be faster.
“Jinx!” he screamed. He saw her turn her face to look at him, hand still on the pin of her grenade. A flurry of emotions swept across her face. Fear, relief, happiness… Anger. She pulled the pin. Ekko knew she probably thought this would be a fitting end for her, but Ekko wasn’t ready to surrender her to the darkness yet.
“Ekko! Don’t-”
Ekko ignored her pleas. If nothing else he was stubborn. He was close enough now to grab her by the waist, swinging his board down to both pull her from the beast and push off him. The beast’s claws slashed as they lost their prey and Ekko felt the sharp pain as the beast tore the flesh from his back. Jinx was holding on to him, arm outstretched to the beast.
“Ekko! Take me back! I can’t—”
The explosion silenced Jinx’s plea as Ekko raced back to the top of the channel. He could feel the heat from the shockwave behind him begin to ignite the scraps of his clothes. He took Jinx’s face and forced it into his chest in an attempt to shield her from the blast. No longer resisting, she held on tight to him as they outran the explosion.
Ekko’s vision was beginning to blur but he could still make out Vi. She was shouting something but Ekko couldn’t hear. Decelerating as he approached he brought the hoverboard to a stop. With firm but gentle care, Vi took Jinx from Ekko and the sisters embraced into a bittersweet hug. Tears were freely falling on both their faces as Vi rubbed soothing circles on Jinx. Ekko took one step closer to them, before looking back down at the channel. The beast was dead, right? He looked back at the sisters and couldn't’ help the smile on his face as he saw the sisters reunited at last.
“I– I didn’t want him to go alone– it would have been better if–”
“It’s okay, Jinx… it’s going to be okay. You don’t have to explain. I’ve got you. I’m never going to let them–”
Strange. She was still talking but Ekko couldn’t seem to hear her. He was feeling sleepy. He felt his knees give out as he fell to the floor.
“Ekko?”
“Ekko!”