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Agitated. Confused. Unreal.Ekko's return home was tumultuous. The spiral of time within the anomaly distorted his visions so much that he could no longer differentiate fantasy from reality, until suddenly the impact on the cold floor woke him up.The luminous blue of the Hexgates basement room was unmistakable. Ekko found himself alone. Heimerdinger had sacrificed himself and he also didn't know Jayce whereabouts.There was no time to waste. Ekko looked for the exit, remembering the door they entered through, which was closed, implying that someone else had been guarding the hexgates, perhaps looking for Jayce. When Ekko left, Viktor did not detect him – not even his possession of a tiny wild rune inside his ZDrive that he carried slung over his shoulder. He ran to the elevator, as if he was in a hurry. Without Heimerdinger, he could only meet up with Jayce and find out what happened. However, the lab was empty. As he moved through the corridors in stealth mode, he heard some enforcers talking about a threat.Ekko stopped, hiding in a corner, separated by a cautious distance from those enforcers who were on a custody walk while discussing a new measure taken by the Piltover council. Apparently, Jayce had returned and warned along with Mel Medarda about an attack that Ambessa was about to stage with Viktor, who created soldiers of a glorious evolution. He managed to hear one of them say clearly:“The suburban district will not join us.”As an excuse, Jayce mentioned that an invasion of Noxus was coming, asking Zaun to cooperate with Piltover in the war. Needless to say, they officially refused, but as Ekko made his way to the bridge to cross it, he discovered a curious change: the prosperous and progressive city had opened its doors to the citizens of the undercity, inviting them to volunteer for the battle, even if only individually. On his way to the Firelights' hideout, Ekko caught up on the latest events by simply watching the people walking by. Some sort of uprising arose while he was missing, thanks to Jinx, the girl who had once worked for Silco, who incredibly became a symbol of revolution. With wanted posters posted on every street and alley, some zaunites had dyed their hair blue in protest, in order to confuse the enforcers who did not hesitate to repress them. Caitlyn had joined Ambessa while searching for Jinx, and had apparently betrayed her in the meantime, but after all, it was House Kiramman that led the enforcement groups in Zaun.Two wide eyes greeted him with a hug as he stepped through the entrance to the hideout. Scar believed he died, given the length of time he had spent vanished, so as a tribute they added a painting of him to the mural that served as the base of the tree. In the short time that he spent around there, Scar brought him up to date on everything that had happened: the city painted in blue, the leader of a cult – Viktor, in effect – who changed from peaceful to an ally of Noxus, and the disappearance of Jinx, who had escaped from prison without leaving a trace of her behind.That afternoon, up high, Ekko sat reflecting on his experience in the alternate reality. After firsthand living through the dreamlike vision that Zaun could have been, he returned with a different conviction. The Firelights had refused to collaborate with Piltover, which was obvious given the continued disdain that those from above had shown them. For so many years they had elevated the city as an innovator in science and technology, at the expense of the health and harmony of their district, subjecting it to constant police repression and misery, and now they pretended to receive help from the zaunites in a fight for humanity. Bullshit.However, Ekko realized that if they didn't join them in the city's defense, Piltover would be replaced by a much worse dictator. And as the saying goes, better the devil you know than the devil you don't.In order for Zaun to prosper, Piltover inevitably had to remain stable.After an extended talk with Scar, Ekko realized that he had to put some things aside, perhaps for just a moment, to stand up for the daily fight for a better Zaun, as a means to achieve its recognition, or at least, to be allowed its independence. So after a long meeting that lasted until close to midnight, the Firelights decided that they were going to intervene. Perhaps Zaun would come along in the end, although Sevika was still reluctant. However, there was one person in particular who could change the zaunites' resolve.That night, Ekko set out to find Jinx. His first attempt was The Last Drop but found the bar in flames. As people ran desperately to stop the fire, helping each other, Ekko reflected in what caused it. What else, or who else could have been?It had to be her, and certainly, there was one more place where he could find her. If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that the Powder of both worlds shared many things in common, and one of those things was a workshop where she spent her free time creating new weapons. Without Silco, there was only one person who knew how to get there.It was late at night, before the morning. The lair was completely silent, and Jinx was standing near the center of the airship, working on a grenade. Ekko entered unheard by her, which caused him to hesitate at first, but as soon as he saw her lamenting with her eyes fixed on the ground, he understood what was happening.Ekko held his breath when he saw her activate the grenade, inserting a hextech gem into it. An explosion of blue was unleashed as a result, in which Jinx wanted to abandon her life to that fate. Immediately Ekko's hand pulled on the ZDrive to rewind time and shouted: "Wait!" Jinx was startled and gasped. He discovered Ekko by spying on him from the corner of her eye. “I just wanna talk–”“Get out of here, Ekko.”Jinx again activated the grenade, and Ekko repeated the rewind.“I just wanna talk to you Pow… Jinx.”Jinx looked at him dryly and untied the grenade, once again undone by the jump back in time. Ekko grunted with the effort. A few drops of blood fell on the ground.“You're too late, Ekko.”“Wait!”Ekko leaned on the railing and exhaled air.“Always a dance with you.”Sitting on the floor, he added:“I think I'm just gonna sit here for a minute. You know, to catch my breath. See if I can talk an old friend out of blowing us up.”Jinx listened attentively. She looked at the grenade. Ekko would rewind it again with that strange device he had holding close to his right hip. If she managed to unleash the explosion without interruptions, they would both die together.“I'm tired of talking,” Jinx replied then, and threw herself into the void.“NO!” Ekko shouted. It was useless for Ekko to continue insisting, Jinx thought. But, with his mind ready on what to do, the boy savior said:“You know, I've learned from someone… very special, that no matter what happened in the past, it's never too late to build something new.” Ekko checked his ZDrive as he saw Jinx looking at the pink monkeys with cymbals incorporated into the design, little figures she always loved. Looking back at her, he finished:“Someone worth building it for.”
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In the end, it wasn't a hallucination. He was real. Jinx's steps were led by Ekko, who had placed a band over her eyes and was holding her shoulder to lead her to the Firelights' hideout.In the brief conversation they had when Ekko rewound her suicide attempt, Jinx watched him closely. Her childhood friend looked different from the last time she saw him in that time on the bridge. The things he said made her rethink the way she was going to break the circle. For Ekko, no matter what happened in the past, it was never too late to build something new. He mentioned a friend, who were they? Jinx had no idea, but the decoration of pink monkeys in the structure of the Z-Drive was suggestive.“Who told you to look for me? Sevika?” Jinx asked with a certain disdain coming out of her lips.Ekko glanced at her over his shoulder.“Scar told me that Sevika had a rally at the Vander statue, and that night the noxians attacked them. That it was you who went in their rescue.”Jinx crossed her arms, exasperated.“I didn't do it for them.”“You did it, though,” Ekko replied, stopping before knocking on the circular copper door that separated them from the hideout. “Whether they are jinxers, or firelights, the zaunites see you as their heroine.” Ekko exasperated and rubbed his neck with one hand. “You don't realize the effect you have on people. To unite the suburban district, you are the one who can pull it off,” he finished and knocked on the door following the special code.“You already sound like Sevika,” Jinx mocked him, making her blue bangs swing as she raised her right shoulder. “Anyway, who is that special person you were talking about?”Scar appeared on the other side as he opened the gate. He immediately asked a silent question to Ekko, questioning the company he brought. He shook his head, reluctantly accepting the boy's request. As Jinx was allowed the entry, Ekko took the band and let her see the hideout. Despite being aware of its existence, this was the first time Jinx saw it. The environment was calm, isolated – the rays of the sun that fell through the treetop dazzled her. Built on the sides as if surrounding the slightly inclined tree, the place accumulated wooden and metal houses arranged in a disorderly manner, occupying the shelter as improvisation after receiving new members above what its capacity admitted. Towards the tree, abandoned pipes adhered to its trunk.In one area, children ran around with smiles carved on their faces, holding toys and muddying their shoes covered in rags. In one corner, a group of people worked to build a new house, and soon at a tent, others were cooking food in large pots.Of course, Jinx's presence didn't go unnoticed. Curious eyes are drawn to her, including a brief glimpse of Ekko who dodges her as soon as Jinx notices. The reception was far from hostile, but she follows Scar and Ekko as if she were an intruder. She soon spots a few masked guys who notice her arrival, watching her from above. However, upon seeing her alongside their leader, none of them dared to make a comment.A mural caught her attention as they approached the stairs that surround the spiral construction around the tree. The painting illustrated several familiar faces: Benzo, Vander, Vi, and even her past self, Powder. Higher up is Ekko, beneath the symbol of one of those green insects. At the base of the mural, a series of objects of various shapes are displayed as tribute, including dolls, candles, and picture frames.Years ago, when she had been living with Silco for a while, Ekko sought out Powder in order to invite her to join the community he was assembling, trying to save her from the clutches of her adoptive criminal father. Unfortunately, Jinx drove him away by telling him that “Powder is gone, all is left is Jinx.” She coined him as The Boy Savior and thus cemented the relationship between the two, in which Ekko gave up his mission of rescuing her. Later, he realized that Jinx had sided with Silco and was working for him.Scar made a few signs to Ekko.“Wait for me here,” he indicated to Jinx. Scar and Ekko argued in the Firelights meeting room.“Why did you bring her?”“She is going to help us.”Scar scrunched the side of his nose and shook his head, walking to the other side of the room.“Maybe you thought that because she helped us, the Firelights would accept you bringing her here, but you must remember that she is a murderer, and one of her victims was Eve.”Ekko pursed his lips, looking at the masks that were placed on a display case. Some of them belonged to dead members of the Firelights.“She set fire to The Last Drop yesterday. Even though she is now depressed over the loss of that child, it is no guarantee that she won't start chaos here,” Scar reported.He was surprised by the change in attitude that Ekko had upon returning. The hope burning in his pupils could be seen with naked eye. But perhaps too much faith was blinding his use of reason.“I understand that some zaunites consider her a hero, but she is still dangerous. She even has shimmer injected into her eyes.”“Perhaps we should give her the benefit of the doubt,” Ekko replicated, placing his hands on a table. “You saw it yourself, Jinx inspired a lot of people here in Zaun. Also, she has the knowledge to help us build something for the fight, so you know, maybe we can make something out of it.”Ekko's suspicions led him to approach the door to check that Jinx wasn't spying on them, but he found no one on the other side. “That's fair,” Scar continued as Ekko closed the door. “Yet, we cannot risk this place. I know you said we're not turning people away, but you should leave Jinx out of this.”“No,” Ekko interrupted him dryly. “I'm not giving up on her.”Jinx, who had been spying on their conversation from behind the window, gasped. What was the reason for Ekko's insistence? Just like Vi, he couldn't let her go, but why? After all she's done in the past, especially to his Firelights comrades, Ekko's will about her switched for an unknown reason.“Fine. But while she stays here, you should keep an eye on her.”Ekko nodded and shook fists with Scar. Then he looked out the window and saw a blue streak leaning out close to the frame. He quickly slid the window open and caught a glimpse of her disappearing down the stairs.As he went down to the entry, Ekko found Jinx staring at the painting of Eve on the wall.“What were you doing?” Ekko frowned, but as soon as he saw Jinx's profile, his face relaxed. She looked very different from what she used to be over the past few years. From being filled with anger, craziness, and anguish, Jinx didn't even try to smirk that chance. “I saw you were spying.” She turned around and Ekko looked into Jinx's eyes. The last time he had seen them they were blue, but now the fuchsia of the shimmer shone in their place.“What happened to you?”“I might ask you the same thing,” Jinx wanted to know. In a bittersweet gesture, she crossed her arms, rubbing her skin with her hands. “I messed it up.”Jinx's mood was different. She didn't even protest when Ekko led her into the hideout with her eyes covered up. She barely made any comments. They hadn't talked about what happened to them those weeks either – Jinx hadn't mentioned Isha, neither had Ekko mentioned the anomaly, nor the trip to the alternate universe. “You might need some sleep,” Ekko replied, analyzing the mood of a crestfallen Jinx. “Get some rest. We have a lot of work to do. I will be around here if you need me.”Jinx pressed her lips as she saw him leave.
You're not going to give up on me too, are you?
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A curtain of orange smoke filled Jinx's lungs as she stumbled down the path in her own despair. The arid orange, the smell of smoke, the saffron fire burning around her, and amber eyes faded into a scenery that twisted and exploded into blue. At the blast, Jinx screamed out and woke up, with shortness of breath. Her head groggily spun as distorted frames returned, giving her headache and further agitating her anxiety. She dragged her fingers from her temples to her forehead, trying to mitigate her visions, until the sound of the door creaking interrupted the episode.Ekko, wide-eyed, froze on the door frame. Jinx, clutching a blanket made from tatters, regained her composure, calming her sobbing. As she looked away, she pulled her legs to her chest, securing them by her weakened arms. Silence was allowed for a couple of minutes, until Ekko informed her:“Dinner is ready. If you want to come with us we are next to the lake.” Jinx did not look up from the ground. “This food is really good.”Ekko's thick, marked eyebrows flexed upwards in concern.“'Okay. I'll be there in a minute.” Green light-up scooters, spears, masks and coats were scattered on the cool night grass surrounding a large group of people who were sharing steaming bowls. A boy who had a mask hanging from his neck offered a dish to Jinx when she approached from the shadows. Jinx again perceived the curious, perhaps prejudiced glances, but her belly was growling so much that she could only think about soaking her mouth in that soup of delicious aroma.“Can I get another serving?” a boy raised his plate to the cook.“Stop being greedy!” a girl scolded him, shaking a rag over his head.“Help yourself with as many dishes as you want. We need to eat well before the battle,” Scar told him, lifting his chin towards one of the pots to encourage him to continue. Then he pointed towards the girl of blue locks. “Do you like it, Jinx?”Jinx tilted the bowl to taste a trickle of soup on her lips. With the dark circles under her eyes still visible, she nodded silently.“The hero of Zaun liked it!” celebrated another boy of pointed, hairy ears, iconic of a chirean, a vastayan species of the area. His clothes, like those of other Firelights, revealed the wear and tear of a hard day's work. “Jinx rescued us from Stillwater! I'm sure she can help us defeat the noxians.”“Are we really going to help the pilties?” an incredulous girl asked, who licked her fingers soaked by sauce.“That is not certain yet,” another girl, whose hair was dyed the same color as Jinx's, deduced. “Don't forget that the noxians are warmongers. Maybe they're worse than those haughty pilties.” “Nah, no way!” someone else protested.“Ekko said he's thinking about it,” Scar commented.“Oh, really?! What's wrong, Ekko, did you really like the pilties' luxurious tea?” a Firelight mocked him, gesturing comically as if drinking tea with the pinky out. “Relax. We need to look after our home. If that Viktor guy triumphs, we won't find a cure for the tree's disease,” another member explained. Once again, Jinx raised the bowl vertically above her head, but no more drops of soup fell out.“Do you want more?” asked Ekko, who sat beside her with his arms propped back. There was a certain softness in his voice, as in the way he looked at her. He had been quite attentive lately. He picked up Jinx's dish and walked over to a bowl of bubbling food.Jinx watched him as the Firelights continued to argue. His hair had grown a bit, and his allies spoke with him friendly, but with enormous respect. The esteem he had as a leader was clear from afar. During the dinner, many of the firelights turned to her to talk. Some joked and others asked questions, more out of curiosity than suspicion. Sevika was mentioned occasionally, emphasizing that Zaun had begun to consider her as a possible representative of the district. Scar expressed the desire to get closer to her to talk together with Piltover.The next morning, when she woke up free of nightmares, the closest Firelights to Ekko invited her to breakfast. During the walks she took to get to know the place better, she discovered a cordial and warm community. Not insignificant, the air there was really purer. The green leaves that rained down in the afternoon fell in such a delicate way that they only invoked a feeling of peace.Perhaps, it was difficult to shake off the weight of her pain, but little by little the Firelights made Jinx abandon her most negative thoughts. Ekko went to find her when she was among a group of children who were drawing colorful pictures on cut sheets of paper with her. He tilted his head as he raised an eyebrow, amazed at the way she interacted with them.“So, what plan do you have for the battle? Are you going to fist fight, you know, like Vi?”Ekko was holding his hoverboard in one arm, his other hand in his pockets.“Or do you want to visit your workshop?”The Firelights moved through long tunnels that connected various sectors of the suburban district, many of them former industrial waste dumps and sewage from Piltover, as well as fissures and abandoned mines.“Get on,” Ekko said, and as soon as they walked a few meters past the entrance to the hideout, he positioned his hoverboard to let it levitate an inch above the ground.Jinx positioned herself in the center of the board, but since Ekko jumped on it ahead, she walked a step back. “Why are you the one driving?”“Have you ever ridden one of these?”Jinx rolled her eyes.“It shouldn't be that hard.”Ekko got off the board and switched places with her, staying behind.“Fine, show me.”They were still for a minute, until Jinx dared to move her feet to induce the hoverboard to move around as it sensed the motion. When she thought she had succeeded, she noticed that Ekko was slightly swinging his body from one side to the other, taking control of it.“If you wanna learn, I'll teach you how to ride one later, but if we stay like this now, we'll be at your workshop by the time Noxus and Viktor have taken over the entire city.”Jinx growled and tried to swing her feet too, guided by what she sensed Ekko was doing, whom she couldn't see.“Let's change places,” this time it was Jinx who requested it.Behind Ekko, Jinx slowly rotated her body. When she lost balance she rested her arm on his shoulder blade. Ekko looked at her from the corner of his eye. She then moved one foot to the side, letting the other follow, and managed to make the hoverboard slide around curves like a snake.Ekko snorted with a soft laugh.“Boooring,” Jinx said after advancing only a meter in five minutes.“Do you remember when we rode the circle bike?”The fuchsia in Jinx's eyes sparked, stunned by the mention of a memory they shared. Her childish heart fluttered as before, but this time it wasn't caused by the excitement of setting off a bomb, but from the fun of playing a game.“Let's do it, just like old times,” Ekko replied then, detecting Jinx's sudden joy.The takeoff was immediate. Ekko used the hoverboard as if it were part of his body, but he did it with such speed that Jinx's shoes began to slip off the metal. In a turn, she had no choice but to grab onto the garment on his back. However, that only prompted Ekko to drive faster, believing that Jinx had already managed to maintain stability and that they had both reached their center of gravity on the same point. In the end, Jinx rested her hands on his shoulders and soon had to cross her arms over his abdomen to keep standing straight. The air turned into wind and hit her face, cooling it and drying her eyes, which had to wet themselves to face such speed. The two left behind dark tunnels and passages, as well as intersections with vegetation, some mixed up by the presence of firelights, those bioluminescent insects that gave green bright to the night. Once Ekko noticed that Jinx had already become accustomed to the vertiginous trip, he dared to include pirouettes and ascend or descend to travel through Zaun with a freedom they had never known before.It was strange. Ever since she lost Isha, that was the first time she managed to smile again, even if only for an instant. In addition, Jinx recognized that side of Ekko that he had to bury in his past along with the loss of his loved ones, his childhood, as well as his friendship with her. It was his own madness.
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Ekko and Jinx descended a flight of stairs into the secret workshop. Dust and cobwebs on the floor unveiled the abandonment, and the structure was devoid of color. The iron of the railing was mostly covered in rust. The furniture Jinx had placed there was broken or burnt. A mirror that was split from the center had lost several fragments, though some of the cracks were held together with pink themed bandages. It had a blue handprint, and a drawing attached to one corner, it was probably Jinx's artwork. A headband with white bunny ears hung from it.On a table, Ekko found a semi-spherical hat with bizarre lenses attached to the crown and marked with crayons of various colors. Inside the purple tent at the back, toward the end of one wing, there were several pillows resting on a sofa of orange tapestry. Various eclectic garlands decorated the space. But what caught Ekko's attention the most was a cuddly bunny lying on the ground.“What was her name?” Ekko asked, caressing a fuchsia cross on the top of the hat.“Isha,” Jinx replied. “She was… a kid.”Jinx's memory of Isha slowly began to emerge, until she remembered her blue hair, her short braids, and the amber in her eyes. Despite being silent, her laughter still echoed in her ears.“She reminded me of Powder,” she mentioned, sitting with bent knees on the ground, holding the bunny.Jinx's profile evoked in Ekko the image of someone else. The longer he looked at her, the clearer their resemblance became.“What about your friend?” Jinx changed the subject. While trying to imagine what their physical appearance were, she thought of Ekko's Z-Drive pink monkeys. “What was your friend like?”“Well… she reminded me of Powder, too.”Ekko noticed Jinx's curious gaze, so he turned back. Walking toward the golden gramophone, he looked up, discovering that Jinx's workshop was a hot-air balloon caught in a fissure.“Can you fly this thing?”Jinx blinked.“I guess.” She pursed her lips downward, shrugging.Jinx rummaged through a toy box. After a while, she found her old machine gun stored in another storage box. Ekko returned to her with the bomb she had used to try to kill herself, which was disarmed.At the Firelights' hideout, Ekko asked Jinx to follow him to a room halfway up the tree. His workshop was built in a circular shape; even the windows were round. The roof was a low cone, whose backlit cover had some holes that allowed the sun's rays to enter inside.In the middle there was a working table with a couple of plans, tools like wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, some books and a lamp on. Next to a fireplace there was another desk where Ekko had left a broken hoverboard and a leaf of the tree. Jinx studied the violet stain on it carefully.“This is the effect of hextech. The pilties thought that using the gems was an easy task, but forgot that there are always consequences,” Ekko explained, taking a blue and red mask from the bookshelf. “For every action, there is a reaction.”Ekko explained to Jinx the discovery that he and Heimerdinger made with Jayce about how the arcane poisoned his tree. He didn't need to go into detail for Jinx to understand what he was talking about – Ekko knew that a brief overview would be more than enough. “You're starting to bore me.”“Well, then, I'll leave you to work on your stuff.”And the wait paid off. Jinx showed him her repaired weapon after a few hours. She had attached the machine gun with a casing that resembled a shark's mouth.“Ta-da!” Jinx celebrated, holding the gun over her shoulder. “What do you think of Rhino? The fortune cookie told me that my inventions could be used for creation instead of destruction, and I took his advice!” she exclaimed excitedly. The sparkle in her eyes twinkled as she caressed the cylinders. “You've got a real temper on you, Rhino. There's nothing like the power of invention!” Jinx said, cackling.“Are you really talking to it?” Ekko asked, frightened.“What's the matter, little man? You really jealous of a gun?” Jinx bit her lip, excited to get her gun, or rather, Rhino, to work. Ekko, speechless by Jinx's response, watched her leave to an empty area to test the weapon. Feeling his cheeks blushing, he patted his face. He shook his head to get rid of the embarrassment and watched her practice.Even though Rhino was really an invention created to destroy, Ekko admired Jinx's ingenuity in repairing it. Powder used to show him the progress she made with her devices, especially bombs, every day. Both were well versed in engineering, they shared their knowledge and sometimes collaborated with each other to improve them. In fact, Ekko only trusted Powder with his inventions, since, unlike his friends, he believed that she was the only one capable of taking care of them.A rumble stopped his thoughts and also Jinx's practice, who released Rhino and let it fall on the grass. Jinx began to hyperventilate due to another anxiety attack, caused due to the weapon, which brought back the memory of when she attacked the Firelights on the ship. Her vision was obscured by the flames of the shimmer burning on the floor, and Eve's face came to her mind.“Jinx?” Ekko called her, worried.And that name bounced around in her head. Once again, visions invaded her mind, in which the fight with the Firelights was repeated in dissipated fragments that entangled with the meetings, laughter and warmth that they shared with Jinx during her stay.“No... I did… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to do it.”A hand reached out towards her, but Jinx dodged Ekko with her quick reflexes.“Don't get in my way!” she screamed.Ekko blinked and Jinx was gone.
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The sun was beginning to set, and the city's underground covered in shadows and darkness. After several hours searching for Jinx, Ekko returned to the Firelights' hideout, without success. Following the information a group of children gave him, Ekko walked through the streets of Zaun, visited the carbonized bar The Last Drop, peeked into Jinx's workshop, and even considered talking to Sevika to ask for help.Ekko entered the meeting room, crestfallen. Scar told him that he had gone to a meeting in Piltover, where Jayce asked Zaun and the Firelights to lend them a hand. To do so, the zaunites had to join the enforcers. Although they immediately refused, Sevika told Scar that in case they changed their minds, she would make the effort to get the zaunites to join, but only if the Firelights were also willing to fight.“By the way, Ekko,” one of the Firelights called him out before the meeting ended. He was holding a hoverboard in one arm, its starter system broken. “Did you find Jinx? I wanted to ask her for help to modify my hoverboard. I've seen that her inventions are amazing!”“No, I couldn't find her,” Ekko said.“Are you still looking for her?” another member of the team asked. “I believe she was up in the treetop.”Ekko grabbed his hoverboard and got on it as soon as he left the room.On the way up to the treetop, he reflected about his past. Powder or Jinx, that name triggered sadness in him, as it hid into the void. Ekko naively believed that he had finally left his past behind, until they met again that night on the bridge. The spark of excitement in her eyes as he swung his stopwatch awakened in him a fondness that had been trapped in his childhood.But the game relived feelings. Ekko thought that, perhaps, he would have preferred not to meet her that night, because when it happened, a confusing mix of hate and love flourished within him.In the alternate universe, he reconnected with his long-forgotten dream, as well as with Powder. And although at first he wanted to leave, the memory of that night on the bridge, of Jinx's unconscious body, of his teary eyes afterwards, Ekko couldn't help but stay. A contradiction, it was the words of Silco – the one who took Powder – that cemented his determination. The greatest thing we can do in life is find the power to forgive.And thus, with an open heart, Ekko returned to his best enemy.Sitting on one of the highest branches, swinging her legs, Jinx gazed at the beautiful night. The moon illuminated her blue hair and the wrinkles in top of her flat cheeks.“Go away, Ekko,” she dispatched him when he arrived.Ekko sat to Jinx's right, leaving his hoverboard on his lap.“Some night, don't you think?” Ekko said.Jinx bent her legs up to her chest, and holding them with her arms, she hid her saddened look. Ekko tried to reach her, getting closer to her face, but Jinx moved it even further to the other side. Ekko chuckled in response.“You know… time doesn’t heal all wounds.” Ekko thought of their past fights, those times when he considered her a hopeless case. When he gave up. “But every second matters. Things aren't gonna improve themselves. And some things do get better with time.”From that place, looking down, small figures could be seen. Plenty of people moved around the shelter, working, helping each other, enjoying the time they had to spend together. Green lights mixed with the light of the lamps and the gleam of the moon. The firelights fluttered around them, making a buzzing sound from the flapping of their wings.“I used to say I can fix anything. Before I broke things. It's too late for me, too,” she confessed.Ekko placed a hand on Jinx's right shoulder. “Your ideas change the world," Ekko encouraged her. "The people from the undercity see you as their role model. And they need something to believe in. A hero.”Jinx looked up. Why was he looking at her like that? When did it start?Was it that night on the bridge?“What if we… get back to going forward?” Ekko then proposed.Suddenly, Jinx stretched her arms and threw herself into Ekko's, burying her face in his shoulder. Ekko, shaken, returned her hug, pulling her closer.After a while, Jinx let go of him and let her body fall, hanging only by her legs that were clutched to the branch. At Ekko's shock, Jinx let out a giggle.“What's wrong, boy savior? Did I fool you?”Ekko sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand. He was about to ride his hoverboard, thinking that Jinx was going to fall. Jinx, who victoriously managed to tease Ekko, laughed even more at his worried face.“Hey! Stop it, right now!” Ekko complained, who was desperate at the sight of Jinx swinging her arms.“Oh, help me!! I'm going to fall, please rescue me boy savior!” Jinx mocked him, with a high-pitched voice. Ekko growled.She swung her arms so much that her legs couldn't resist her weight and slipped. Ekko caught her by the ankle, but in the process, his hoverboard fell down the tree.“Good as time as any to act reckless,” Ekko said, snorting.In the following days, the Firelights began to get ready, discussing how they would act. Some zaunites had volunteered, individually, to temporarily join the enforcer corps to fight Noxus and Viktor's soldiers. Jinx spent her time modifying Rhino to perfection, sharing worthwhile moments with the Firelights. Little by little, she began to feel like a member of their family. Friendship, trust, safety and home were some of the words she began to identify them with in her own notebook, where she wrote down memos of her weapon's improvements as well as a list of spare parts she needed to make the hot-air balloon work. The Firelights helped her to get every essential item to fix it.Sometimes she worked in Ekko's workshop, which he had left at her disposal. One afternoon, when the battle was almost imminent, Ekko was changing the blades of one of his hoverboards when one of his books fell. He bent down to retrieve it, and when he picked it up, he discovered some scribbles drawn on the last written pages. Around the weapon design sketches, chaotic lines and onomatopoeias were written in blue. He also read messages like “Jinx was here”, or “Best boy”, but the most special was a cartoonish face that alluded to his, next to the word “dork” which was coupled with a small heart.
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Maybe it's the calm brought by the gentle rustling of the tree's leaves. Or the silence that such a serene space incites. The rays of the sun that touch her skin but don't burn it. Or it's the color of the afternoon and the stillness, which remind her of Isha. The difference is clear, not only because the tree makes the air fresh, but because it can be breathed in the people's spirit, in those who find a second chance, who escape Zaun's darkness. People like Jinx.All the time, Ekko had wished that Powder was there. That she could heal the wounds of their childhood. Of course, in order for the Firelights' shelter to remain in harmony, Ekko had to work hard. As a pioneer in building a place like that, the little man became a real man.But Ekko didn't stop there. As shimmer overran the streets, attracting new addicts or tormenting the neighborhoods with countless street fights, adding to the already established violence of the enforcers, Ekko's determination to tear down the business focused in destroying every barrel of it. However, a direct fight with Silco's followers wasn't an easy task free, sometimes sacrificing Firelights own lives.Now at the unthinkable, something their pasts versions would have seen as heresy, groups of Zaun was going to help the topsiders. Revealing Zaun's strength was risky, since Piltover would thus discover their potential to start a rebellion, but the more it was discussed, the more imperative their participation became.Jinx had become a valuable person for Zaun. Ekko motivated her to carry the flag, as well as to give herself a new opportunity. Ekko knew about her potential, and he was smart smart smart, as her written words said in his notebook, but he was blind to see how Jinx's appreciation for him grew one sunset after another. It was undeniable for her. Jinx knew that the roots of that place's warmth lied in Ekko, and that he was the one who became her true shelter in the middle of a wasteland.Without an expectation for her to change, Ekko taught her about the beauty in changes. That Jinx could fix things. That she could even build new ones.For those reasons, Jinx was rebuilding, repairing, modifying, reusing as many things as she could. She made use of all her genius. Among all of this, she fixed Sevika's mechanical arm, only this time without less gadgets.When, in the morning, Jinx checks her notes, hanging from the guardrail next to the lake, she lets her mind wander to the final design of the hot-air balloon. She wants to attach glasses to it, alluding to the ones Isha used on her helmet. The sole thought of it induces melancholy. Before she pouts, the inverted image of Ekko appears behind her book, erasing her sadness after blinking. “Look who it is!” she exclaimed, with some joy. “Where are you going, smartass?” she added, seeing his hoverboard.“You told me you wanted to give Sevika the arm you fixed for her.”A strap that crosses Ekko's chest holds a cylindrical machine that Jinx heard him name in a conversation as Z-Drive. She also recognizes that it is the device he used to rewind time and prevent her death, but this is the seconds time she seems him carrying it.“What did you bring that for?”Ekko crosses his arms, waiting for Jinx to get ready. After their talk in the treetop, he reconsidered how to handle her. Her mood looks better, but deep-down Ekko admits that he's still unsure about Jinx taking her own life, even if accidentally.Certainly, it's not just a fear, but a strange inclination to protect her.“Enough questions for today. Let's go, we don't have much time left.”Upon exiting the hideout, Ekko pulled the hoverboard from his back and placed it in front of Jinx to be ridden, only this time, she was the one to take the lead.“Fancy a dance?” Jinx suggested, awaiting for Ekko.Ekko climbed onto the hoverboard. The takeoff was immediate, crooked and disruptive, and yet they both remained upright for most of the ride. Jinx navigated the path with confidence, though she was unaware that Ekko was secretly helping the hoverboard to glide predictably through the air.On the streets of Zaun, some people were enlisting for the fight. Years ago, a little Ekko and a little Powder rode their first invention – created thanks to mutual collaboration–, the circle bike, whose adventures ranged from mocking the enforcers to falling into a pool of water. Sevika rolled her eyes when they arrived.“Are you a Firelight now?” Sevika sighed, shrugging her shoulders. To be honest, they were the last zaunites she would've expected to team up with Jinx for a Zaun fight. “What did he do to convince you?” “He begged me on bended knees,” Jinx lied with a smirk.Ekko crossed his arms, about to give Sevika a defiant look, but after paying attention to them, he saw how their body language expressed a friendly, even familiar closeness. Of all the things Scar had observed, Sevika's renewed attitude upon her dead boss and staying close to Jinx had given her a fresh purpose in life. A better one.“You better do a good job. I don't wanna clean up your mess,” Sevika warned them. She received the package and unwrapped it fast, taking a good look at the its modifications. An almost imperceptible smile crept into the corner of her lips. “You really love to fix things.”Jinx gasped. Trying to hide her sudden joy, she replied:“Don't test my patience, you better not break it again!”
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Emulating a rectangle with her fingers, Jinx framed her view of the central structure of the workshop, which was the core of her hot-air balloon. The Firelights gave her the last parts she needed to make it function. They were ready to intervene, waiting for Noxus to attack Piltover, so the group kept an eye on the movements of the topsiders.Ekko dragged a large roll of orange fabric through the entrance.“This is all we were able to get,” he told Jinx, carefully carrying the fabric through the helix that connected the entrance to the desks and work tables.A pile of fabric scraps were accumulated in one corner of the circumference. Jinx raised a violet cape in the air and shook it.“Hold this,” she told him, handing him the cape. The boy complied and Jinx took a pink tape measure from a drawer. Using a marker, she drew lines on the edges of the fabric.“Are you done?” he asked, his arms were almost shaking from exhaustion.“Just the last few details,” Jinx said with the marker in her mouth. She used adhesive tape, pins, and occasionally a few threaded needles, she outlined the construction of a hood. “Done.”Jinx took the cloth from Ekko's and then touched the skin under his elbows.“What are you doing?”“Raise your arms”. Ekko frowned, and Jinx snarled in response. “Raise your arms, I said!” she protested. When Ekko formed a letter T with his body, Jinx stretched out the pink tape to measure his body proportions, taking notes on a booklet at her side.“What are you up to?”“I'm making you an outfit, grumpy.”“For the fight?”“What were you planning to do, jumpy, make a grand entrance in that outfit? You might as well go make hammers with Jayce,” Jinx mimicked blacksmiths' motions when they forge weapons.“Wh-wh-?”“Shut up, shut up, I have to focus!” she exclaimed, covering his mouth. Ekko complained under Jinx's palm, confused. “Trust me,” she assured him, measuring his chest to tailor the suit. Her tongue stuck out of her mouth when her concentration deepened.Once she finished, Jinx went to her desk to sketch out the first concept of the model. Mind full focus on her idea, Jinx hummed a song. Ekko, feet dangling, sat on the wing. As he waited for more instructions, he looked at the decorations of her workshop, among which were some creepy, messily stitched stuffed animals representing their deceased friends, Mylo and Claggor. Without the need to ask any questions, Ekko sensed the reason why she made those dolls.How long did she have to live with the guilt of that event? How long did she remain alone, helpless? Without her greatest support, Vi, her overprotective sister who would do anything to take care of her, Powder found refuge in an austere environment, more toxic than the green, gray air of Zaun. Jinx didn't allow him to meditate any longer, surprising him by shaking his shoulders.“C-careful!” Ekko reacted, aware that he would fall with a single push.Jinx, who was squatting, pulled his leg towards her to examine his boots. She removed his right shoe and made a face of annoyance, apathetic at the simple construction of the footwear. Clicking her tongue, she threw it to the side.Ekko watched as the boot fell into the void and sighed. Then he looked at Jinx, resigned, with nothing to say to her.“Don't worry, I'll get you a better one,” she assured him with a expressionless face. “You can keep the other.”That look again. There was something about it that made Jinx flustered. It was as if Ekko knew something and could only word it with those eyes full of devotion.“I need you to bring me more clothes.”“Even more!?”“Yeap. Even clothes you left in the trash. Anything will do!”Jinx rummaged through her own clothes. She chose from a few used shirts, one of which was an oversized t-shirt with a picture of a skeletal fish. For the rest of the day she worked on the garments' stitches, sewing with needle and thread, or cutting with scissors until she achieved the pictured perfect design – according to Jinx's tastes, clearly.Ekko returned with more remnants of cloths, finding Jinx while she was adjusting a couple of belts that covered her new pants. “What do you think?” she asked, adjusting her hood and making a face to theatricalize her outfit. Her torso was covered in bandages that were held tight to her body with more straps. The hood had diamond-shaped edges that, when closed, referenced a creature's toothed mouth. “The supervillainess, your worst nightmare!! Ready to kick some noxian ass!” Jinx whipped the air with her fists, boxing like she practiced as a child.Ekko snorted with a smile, leaving his coat and a red bandana with the cloths.“What's that?”Jinx grabbed the outfit he asked about, which was hanging on a panel, and handed it to Ekko.“Suit up!” she pointed at him, joining her index and middle finger to aim at him in an imaginary way. “Pew!”The design was messy. A green cloth and black leather sleeve were attached to the right, leaving the left arm bare, and were stitched to a black t-shirt cut by the middle. The crop top seemed to fit tight on him, leaving his abs free for sight. Analyzing how to put it on, he shifted his gaze to Jinx, who had bent down to study the last clothes he brought her. Ekko removed his orange bandana, his work apron, and the sleeveless shirt to try on the crop top.Jinx took Ekko's long brown jacket, which had caught her eye due to the colorful scribbles, drawings, and messages or words written by the Firelights. She tried it on. She pulled down her violet hood and paced back and forth, incorrectly trying to imitate his gait.“Good morning Firelight family, it's the boy savior, I'm here to talk about…huh, my dear tree,” Jinx mocked, making her voice deeper to imitate Ekko. The sleeves were longer than her arms and the jacket reached below her knees. Ekko rolled his eyes at first, but then let out a light laugh. “Pfft.”“There's plenty of room to store ammo,” Jinx observed, opening the jumper as she calculated the amount of bullets, cartridges, bombs, and traps she could store there. “What do you say, Rhino?” Jinx asked her gun. Rhino was attached to a stand which was part of the renewed ship. “I think this coat needs more color!” Rhino replied. “Ha! I agree!”Ekko walked over to the broken mirror, wrapping around his neck a red scarf he had found among the cloths. He looked at Jinx's reflection, who was still checking his jacket. He saw his new looks with the outfit and raised an eyebrow, amused. However, he felt somehow something was missing. He then touched his ear, thinking about his alternate version style. “Do you want piercings?” Jinx read his mind. “I can help with that!”Ekko, startled, turned to look at her, waving his hands.“No, no, actually I-”But it was too late. Jinx had already moved away to look through her belongings for the tools needed to perform the surgery. He imagined she was looking for a pin, probably rusty, probably thick - and definitely, she was certainly not planning on using some kind of anesthesia to numb his ear.Jinx found a new, unused needle and walked over to the workshop's stove to sterilize it.“Here it comes!”Ekko, somewhat terrified, was cornered between Jinx and the mirror.“W-wait!”“Don't be a crybaby, you'll have them done in no time,” she said, slipping a hand under his chin to hold his head as she brought the burning piercing needle to his ear.“Hey, Jinx!”Jinx paused before inserting the needle and put on a poker face. Understanding her reaction, Ekko gulped. Yes, that was a mistake. As if accepting his punishment, Ekko relaxed the tension in his shoulders and let Jinx do the work.The piercing hurt for a few seconds, and his ears burned, but Ekko thought other things hurt him even more. Jinx cleaned the blood with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol and checked to confirm if she made the holes correctly.“Thank you,” Ekko expressed warmly after a silent minute.Jinx walked away, but not before responding with a fleeting smile.Ekko's eyes lingered on her as she went back to work. There was something he didn't acknowledge of the latest days they spent time together. Despite many years of rage and misunderstandings, every minute together felt like the old days. It was worth all of it, the conflict, the sorrow and the struggles to connect back with her. As a result, he received a gift – to reconcile with his enemy, as well as his friend.