章節 5: Life in the Lanes
[The Undercity(Zaun), A few years Later]
A bike bulled towards a destination as pedestrains jumped back from the sheer speed of it. Two people are riding it. One had a head whiter than your grandmother and another's uniquely blue.
Two children rode the bike at top-speed, laughing. At a particular turn they drifted due to the excess speed but it was intentional for the most part. Both make funny faces to a group of people sitting around a store. The boy going as far as to gave them the finger with the girl sticking her tongue out.
It was just for a moment but the group of misfits saw it clearly. Anger on their faces as they stood up but the children were already speeding away. The girl laughter was uncontrollable and contaigous as she hanged on for dear life, the bike going faster than it had any right to be.
It was Ekko new power: [Reinforcement] Ironically he made this power the same as it's namesake. It can double any attribute for 10 minutes before needing a refresh. It consumes stamina to use but he had plenty of it.
He had enhanced the bike's speed and it's durability before this joyride. Which in actually, belive it or not is a gig. The guys back there made fun some kids in the lanes, roughed them up and shook down some money.
Vander put them to the job to provoke them. When they either follow them back or just went straight to the Last Drop to find them, Vander's guys are gonna rough them up back even harder.
Vander took the peace in the lanes seriously, he had an agreement with the Chem-Barons. Stay out of the lanes and he let them carve their own pieces of land in the Undercity. Chem-Barons were a recent thing in Zaun. Only popping up a few years ago.
This particular group belonged to one of the barons. Which one? They had no clue. But Ekko was willing to bet a charge that it's Silco. Testing the waters. Not soon after he could see the Last Drop coming to view and slowed down.
"Hey why are you slowimg down?" Powder asked before she noticed where she was.
"Awww. It's already over?" Ekko just chuckled.
"We can ride again tomorrow if you want?" She gasped in joy
"We Can!?" He nodded with a smile on his fCe as she glomped him.
"Alright, alright. Settle down. Why don't you go on ahead and tell Vander that the job's done. While I put this somewhere safe." He gestured to the bike as she nodded excitedly and ran off. Tripping all the way.
'Still as clumsy as ever.' Ekko ruefully thought as he store the bike somewhere out of sight. On his way back he bumped into someone ir rather someones.
"Hey Littleman!" "Hey Ekko!" "Whatcha doing Ekko?" It was Claggor, Mylo and Vi in that order.
Vander took the other two in two year after the rebellion. They've been living with Vander for a year now. Claggor a heavy set kid like in the show. Mylo was a wiry kid with a face Ekko secretly thought looked like a monkey.
Vi was with that cyberpunk haircut that she somehow convinced Vander to cut.
She look more and more like her canon counterpart each passing year. Now at thirteen,
'Only three more years to go before shit hits the fan'
Ekko greeted each of them back.
"Come on, we want to talk to Vander about a gig. Wanna come with?" Vi beckons him as she went inside.
"Powder and I just finished a job actually." He admitted as he followed them.
"Really? Which one? Not getting her to mess up everything for five minutes?" Mylo sarcastically said as both Ekko and Vi gave him a hard stare.
"Joking. Joking" He weakly said as he put his hands up in surrender.
"You know I don't like it when you talk about her like that. Or did last week not enough for you?" Ekko asked Mylo as the thief winced. Rubbing his face where Ekko hit him hard enough to knock him out for the whole day.
"Hey man, I said I was joking. No need for violence." Mylo said before quietly continuing "Animals"
Ekko shook his head. His enhanced hearing picking it up but chose not to comment on it. They reached Vander and Powder with the latter telling him about her and Ekko's adventure with the former nodding along with a indulgent smile.
When she saw the group she waved them over.
"Vi! Ekko!" Vi looked amused before going along with her.
"Whatcha talking about Pow-Pow." She ruffled Powder's hair as she asked. Making her giggle at the feeling before she animatedly explained today's gig again.
Over the years Vi has fell into the role of a maternal figure for Powder as naturally as she breathe. Protective and caring.
'Shame she still broke Powder's heart in canon even with all that' Ekko who was observing nearby, thought. His eyes met Vander and the bear of a man gave him a nod beckons him over.
He was slid a handful of bronze coins(full ones too) as soon as he reach the counter.
"Here. For a job well done." The man's gravelly voice sounded out. He pocketed them and thanked the man.
"Does it include Powder's share?"
"Relax kid, let me worry about my daughter. And for the record, she got a silver." Vander chuckled as he take a drag out of his pipe and exhaled.
"Sorry, just want her to know she did well too, ya know." Ekko admitted it guiltily. His tone may have sounded a little unfriendly when he asked Vander. He did not want Powder to feel unappreciated like in the other timeline. Due to his interference, Powder has been going on Jobs much earlier. Granted it's been a week but he still remember the other's jeers and poorly concealed mocking when he proposed Vander to take Powder out on a job.
Vander just let out an another chuckle before telling him it's fine. By the time he turned back Vi and her siblings were coming over to him.
'Looks like they're ready for whatever gig they found.' Ekko pushed off the stool before meeting them half way.
"Sooooo what's the job?" Ekko asked as Powder ran past him and yelled something about getting something. Before her head poke back out from behind the door
"Don't leave without me!"
"We won't. We won't" Ekko reassures her. Before turning back to Vi.
"So the Job?" He asked again.
"It's a commision by Jericho." Ekko searched his memory before a spark went off.
"Oh! The chef down the harbor?" He guessed.
"Yeah that one. Someone has been hitting his supplies. And he want us to look into it." Vi said as Ekko looked at her strangely.
"What?" She demanded. Ekko shook his head.
"Nothing it's still strange that you could understand the guy." He admitted. Vi punched his arm as Mylo and Claggor laughed.
"You're just jealous." Vi huffed as Powder came back rushing.
"*huff* *huff* what did I miss?" She huffed as she tried to catch her breath.
'Have to take her out for more roof hopping. She needs Cardio' Ekko thought as Vi lead them out of the Last Drop. As Powder catch up to her sister, he assumed to talk about something, Ekko noticed what she had on her belt.
"Is that Smiley?" He blurted out as Powder glanced back at him in questioning before understanding fills her mind.
"Yep! I filled him with Nails. It's gonna work this time. You'll see" She cheerfully replied as she shaked the bomb dubbed 'Smiley'. Vi looked at the Bomb worriedly.
"Careful sis, don't shake it too hard."
"Vi, I know what I'm doing." She petulantly said but thankfully stopped shaking it.
Ekko quietly let of as sigh to not discourage Powder. But his hearts were beating wildly in his chest. He knew the chemicals that went in that bomb and most of those are not meant to shaken so thoroughly like she did.
After calming down his beating hearts, yes you didn't misheard it the first time, he got hearts and in plural. And three lungs. He decided to take some inspiratons from Space Marines. But he's still limited to the Human DNA but he got new powers now...
[Time Skip] (Mover/Shaker):3
He can skip Foward 0.4 seconds in time. There is no cooldown but it scales with his stamina.
[Rewind] (Mover/Shaker):2
He can rewind time 2 seconds maximum. He cannot go further back than when he first use the ability.
He couldn't resist the time theme. [Rewind] let's him rewind farther back then skipping for less charges but it has a limit.
[Time Skip] doesn't have one and just rely on his stamina. They were good investments.
Over the years he managed to scrapped about 60 points. Killing mutated animals also gave him charges he found. But only if the animal in question is dangerous enough that the average Zaunite would die to it. So far he managed to kill 6 of those things. One of them gave him three charges. Tho he already used most of them.
Why didn't he went on ham on every mutant beast he could find you ask? Well for one thing, they might be common but only at the lower levels. The sumps were mostly where Chemical plants and their waste are disposed off.
They are the Lowest level of Zaun. You see, Zaun is divided into three layers, The First Layer: The Promenade Level. This is where most of the markets and trades are and most of the small business members made their home there. It is also where Piltover Businesses in Zaun reside.
The next it the Entresol Level where most of the Zaunites live. Vander's Bar, Benzo's shop and every good restaurants and brothels are located in this layer.
And the Last and certainly the least is the Sumps. The sumps are what every Pilties think Zaunites. Addicts, Hobos, Hobo Addicts, every low life imaginable, Mutants and Of course, Chemical Plants and the Mines.
Ekko parents died there. The reason he encountered the beasts is because of his yearly visit to the mine that his parent died. It didn't use to be like this. But after Chem-tech made it way to the market and the Chem-Barons estabilished their power, things were not so great down there from then on.
He followed the group with his head in the clouds and almost bowled over Mylo with how distracted he was. Powder was sniggering quietly beside him. She knew that look he gets whenever he was thinking hard enough to disconnect from the real world.
He gave her a tongue and she stuck it back at him playfully.
"Alright, settle down lovebirds. This is our first gig for Jericho so I need you to focus." Vi said with a teasing smirk as Powder sputtered denials while Ekko looked uncomfortable.
He might not remember all the details of his previous personal life but he knew enough from various pieces of knowledge he had about media that he was an adult when he died.
But life as a kid sometimes made him forgot. He suppose that's what the memory wipe is for, to really fit in with his new life. God he hope puberty is kind to him when he decide to jumpstart it. He's been holding it for when Act 1 truely starts or at least when he was 12 so around three years give or take a few weeks.
Jericho finish bubbling in that unique way of his that Ekko has never seen on any other fish person that Vi ACTUALLY understood.
"Okay gang, Jericho said his shipment is coming in this evening, let's head down to the Harbor and catch the culprits. Failing that, we can always bring the goods back directly to him. Both is the best so we're gonna catch the theives and bring home the supplies. Any question?" Mylo piped up
"Just one. How in the HECK you got THAT from THAT!" at the last 'that' he pointed at Jericho who was still bubbling cheerfully.
Vi just rolled her eyes and smacked in on the head.
"C'mon we're wasting sunlight." Vi said as she lead them to the docks. Despite her words she did not hurry. After all, it's a long walk and she needs to conserve her energy for when she actually catch the thieves.
Mylo just hoped that they're actually thieves and not people under a Baron's payroll. He didn't want to come back broken and bruised again like the last time when they decided to be tough guys. Survival of the Fittest, such was the life in the Undercity.
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A/N: The Aux has been updated after this chapter. Go check it out.
I'm gonna try to update it after every new power or upgrade so you guys can check if you ever forget about Ekko's Powers
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