9 Meeting Other Ekko

“Your receipts.” Mylo handed the proof everything was actually Ekko’s.

Ekko barely held his hand out for it. He looked at the yordle that just got bought under his name. Not a single sign that he thought he was free yet.

“You’ll meet her for an hour in about 45 minutes,” Mylo said. “Be . . . gentle.”

“I will.” Ekko looked at the yordle again. “Hey. You can come with me to see Jinx, okay?”

“Yes, Sir.” The yordle bowed.

“You don’t have to do that, Captain Teemo,” he said. “I’d appreciate help saving Jinx, but I’m not going to ask for anything else from you. You’re free, man, okay?”

He still looked skeptical but he nodded and said, “Thanks for calling me Captain Teemo.”

“Always.” Least he could do. Considering. “I messed up.”

“You came back for Jinx,” Captain Teemo said to him. “Even if you can’t get your friend out, you can see her, which really helps. Especially now. She really needs some confidence, and the version of you here, you helped her.”

He did? “Weren’t they enemies?”

“Toward the end, they made up, and they fought in the war together,” Captain Teemo said.

This world’s Ekko was a friend. Maybe he should think about . . . yeah, right. He can’t do anything for her right now. All it would do was hurt him. Ekko sat down and watched the yordle obediently sit down beside him, standing straight on the ground. “I’ll try and bring you home with me, but if wild runes start growing around you, I gotta keep you here somewhere until I get more research done.”

“Understood,” he answered. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. Sure. Just gonna meet a parallel version of my girlfriend, wrapped in chains and everyone’s will but hers.” Girlfriend? Ex. Mylo didn’t want him seeing Powder until this Jinx version was safe. Claggor didn’t even have that as an option.

Then, she came in. Wrapped in handcuffs and ankle cuffs. Her eye was black too, Mylo didn’t even mention it, but everything else was drawing attention.

“Parallel Ekko,” she said. “Hi. Welcome to my weird world, I guess.” She waved, making her arm cuffs chain jingle. She came over. “So, new rental owner, huh? I- sorry.” She looked down. “You dress different than him, but you definitely look like . . .”

“I-it’s fine,” Ekko answered. “Why don’t we go get you some better clothes?”

“Whatever you want,” she said.

Ekko held her finger. “Just. Don’t. Don’t ever say that phrase to me, got it?” Oh. Dang it, she winced. “Not that it was wrong, I’m not mad. Whatever you want isn’t what I want you to think, that didn’t even make sense.” He hit his head. “Look. Sorry, say whatever you want, whenever you want, any time. I don’t care. Let’s just get you some new clothes, okay? Then, we’ll talk.”

---

Nice clothes. They weren’t her usual clothes before she was taken, but they were way better than the other things she always wore. Just a plain pink warm shirt and warm pants. He also bought a plain cool warm shirt and cool pants.

They returned back to the tent he was at before. “Guessing you don’t live here, what with belonging to another universe,” she tried to tease. “You want this to stay our meeting area?” She looked toward Captain Teemo. He was going to be coming to see her with this other Ekko too each day.

“Yeah, this is fine. I’ll be sure to bring different clothes too each time,” he insisted.

“Eh. Don’t spoil me,” she teased again. “You’ve been real decent. Thanks.”

“Don’t say that to me.” He stopped her and told her an incredible story.

After he was done, Jinx understood how it all happened. “At least I know. It sounded like it was just an accident. You saved all the other versions of me.” That was amazing. She never knew there were so many different good versions of her out there. “Only one rotting fruit out of infinity me, nice odds.”

“I wanted my friend back. I wanted to fix everything. I thought I did, but I guess. Honestly, even when I did figure out that something was wrong. I did try to figure out, but I really didn’t think. It. It was something that was my fault, that maybe there was some actual thing that caused it that wasn’t related to me. So, I’m sorry.”

“Hey. Buy me nice clothes and food every day and we’ll call it even,” she joked. “Seriously, food would be great if you can get some next time.”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Okay. I have to take off to my next rental hour before they come get me. Nevermind.”

Ekko watched as two big men came over, grabbed Jinx, placed her on her knees and strapped something to the sides of her head. “Uh.” They didn’t even say anything, they were just running some kind of machine and it was clear it was hurting Jinx.

One of the men gestured to the outside for Ekko. “Go. This is classified business.”

“You’re giving her a headache.”

“It’s worth it to know what manipulative magic is being used.”

“Worth it for you, you aren’t the one it’s hurting.” Still, Ekko knew he had to get out. His time was up, and he couldn’t lose what little he just got.

---

Day one of messing up.

Day two of messing up.

Day three of messing up.

Day four of messing up.

Day . . .

“Please, please, please.” Jinx had been gone for weeks already for special assignmentdyHe doubted it, she must have gotten really sick. When she had seen him, she had been too close. He even knew it, yet, he just didn’t think about it. He did try to explain wild rune fever, but she couldn’t care less about it at the time. 

“Hey.”

Oh, she was finally there. “Jinx. You’ve been pretty sick.”

“Yeah.” She held her hands out to him. “Can you do that again?”

What? “You’ve been sick for weeks.”

“Yep.”

“I’m guessing vomiting. Dizzy. Too sick to get up. Sorry.”

“Got it. Got better. Can I have a hug?”

All of the things she’d gone through with that sickness. He thought back to the book. She’d rather be sick than go through any of it. “Look, I think it’s just a sickness, but I could be wrong. Clearly, I’m not perfect. You shouldn’t risk your life for this.”

“It’s just wild fever germs, if I die from sickness, that’s not suicide.”

His eyes were glued to her when she said that. He took several steps back. “I know things are hard. I will get you out, I promise.” But I won’t kill you through it. Ever! He rubbed his head. She was still trying to move closer. “Stop right there.”

She stopped. “How’s that Capn of mine?”

“I tried taking him home, but he started to break out with the wild runes. He must exist on my side too,” he told her. “It should eventually fade away as the germs of another universe leave, but for now, I just have him set up in a nice little place, easy to get to. In your real time.”

“My real time.” She hazed for a second. “I never know when they drop me. Could you tell me if it’s not too much?”

Ekko looked at his machine. “About 450 years before you’re born.”

“Oh. I still feel no different,” she said. “It’s all still the same. Oh, hey, there you are, Capn.”

“I’ve been trying to show up. Just, not real close,” Captain Teemo admitted. “Sorry for being invisible on you.”

“No problem. Found Smeech right before I got sick. He was into Delulu, believe it or not. He wants her back.”

“He’s not getting her back,” the Capn answered strongly. “She is free with her baby.”

“Didn’t say you should bring her back to this hell. I just said, ‘he wants her back’. It was really strange, you know? He tried to kill me once. I gave away the weapon to an excellent shooter to kill him. And there we were, bantering like old times.” She held up her arm cuffs. “Both with cuffs. He wanted her to remember. He liked her. They planned that baby, but his master is bending some kind of rules, grabbing him when he didn’t have a full powered body.”

“Oh!” Captain Teemo grabbed his chin. “Of course he’s bound here too. He has to follow his master’s will. Who’s his master?”

“I don’t know, but that’s the skinny. Guy I once tried to help kill? The closest thing I got to a friend here now. Life is strange, huh? Oh, and, he started the conversation to seal you here with the baby as collateral, just so Delulu had it. So yeah, he cares about his kid too. He’s still pissed though, he doesn’t want to take anyone else. Do you have like a one mate kind of thing.”

“No. Although.” Capn wanted to say something. “If it’s not his fault, he has a chance to talk to Delulu about this. If he gets someone else, she’ll never forgive him.”

“He doesn’t want to get anyone else, Sir. Permission to recommend a rescue to him?” 

“Oh, I knew you’d say that,” he groaned. “Permission granted. I’ll fetch him soon. Then he can tell us how they managed to get him.”

She glanced at Ekko. “Taking all your time today from you, sorry. Psyching myself up. It’s a big day this week. Sick all week, I’ve only got a couple days to prepare to make deals and practice fighting outside the cage.”

“Menu Claws.”

“Meat Claws’ challenge,” Jinx corrected him. “Yeah, it’s getting closer.”

“Yeah, it is.” Ekko moved closer and dropped some journal papers. “This is what we could find out about his weaknesses. His first move is usually a sampling of skin.”

“Oh, if I know that, I can hit him fast and make it hurt.” Her nostril flared a moment at her eyes seemed to spin out of focus a moment. “Can’t wait.” She stepp away more herself. “Probably a good idea I stay well now.”

“Yeah, the eggs are on the line,” Capn added.

“Oh, they all hatched. He will straight up eat her babies while they scream.” Her eyes went out of focus again. “But he’s not going to get to. I’ll make sure of it. Boat’s children won’t be his dinner.”

Damn. So Jinx, and yet so different. His Jinx had lost all sense of human lives’ value. She was just the loose cannon, the free-willed spirit nobody asked for. This one? Was risking everything just for someone else. It was a Jinx, with some heart. And, she was amazing. Powder with Jinx. Limited affection. A weapon that could be reasoned with. An emotional woman one minute, a fighter who could kick ass without response the next.

Not perfect, but if this was what Jinx had been like? He wouldn’t have changed every single one. “Captain Teemo told me that your sister, and your Ekko, think you’re dead. I won’t say any details, but do you want me to figure out how to tell them you are alive?”

She almost smiled. “Vi. I want to, but, if she knows. It’s only gonna worry her when she can’t find me. And, my Ekko?” He actually got the full blown smile. “I can’t believe you actually said ‘my Ekko’. He’s. A good Ekko, he is. But. Our texture . . . is different.”

“I think I understand that texture.” Rough. Gritty. “You made up before you were taken away.”

“We were allies for a huge war. Things were sat aside, for truce.”

“I bet he would still like to be friends.”

“I tried to kill him several times.”

“You knew he had the Zero Drive.”

“Tried to kill him once when I knew he didn’t have it.”

“You aimed wrong.” He couldn’t help a sharp chuckle as Jinx turned her attention on Capn.

“You don’t have to blurt out everything I tell you.” Jinx knew Captain Teemo was the one to blame for Ekko knowing things.

“You were friends once. I bet, you still could be. He came to you for a reason, and it wasn’t just to get you to join a war. He was saving your life and butchering himself in the process.” Yeah, that was him. 

“I want to go home,” Jinx agreed. “I want to see Vi again. I want to be back in Zaun, my Zaun, my time and place Zaun. I want to be there in person when they know. At least Vi.”

“Told you,” Captain Teemo told him. 

Shoot. “Look? It’s true that you exist in the other dimension, but eventually the wild runes will leave you. They don’t last forever,” he said. “I’m not your Ekko, and I know it’s not your world. But? This Meddler. He won’t be able to find you in a parallel. You’d be safe, and you could even get to know Mylo and Claggor. They’d really like that.” Especially with everything that happened, even as a parallel, they wanted her to come too. “I’ll explain things to Vander.” More ammo to keep him away from Powder, but it was the right thing to do for her. “You can run away and be safe forever. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Vi, she isn’t there,” she responded. “Vi was lost instead of everyone. It really hit your world’s Powder hard. And? I don’t know. I’m always out of synch in time where I should be. I haven’t been in my Zaun for a long time. I. I just want to go home.”

“Yeah, but it’s not safe. The parallel, you’ll be safe there,” he urged her again. Seriously, if she just agreed. He could grab her, right there and right now. “We could go. Like. Now,” he whispered sharply. “Nothing else has to happen to you, you can be free, if you come with me now.”

“If I come now, those children are gonna get eaten,” she reminded him. “I’ll think about it, but don’t put much hope into it. I really just. Want to get back to my home.”

“Hello, sorry, hello.” A little creature that was a messenger with wings went toward Jinx. “Official disruption to give you this. Carry on.”

“What’s that?” Ekko asked as she tucked it away.

“Nothing. Just like my life. Only thing left in it, is to save a few lives. Then it’s done.”

“Don’t. Don’t say that. I can get you out of here.” He moved closer to her, trying not to touch.

But she hugged him. “I got postponed for the fight, something came up, no fight for two more weeks!” She sounded delighted. “Thanks for the germs again.”

Well? He sighed but tightened the hug. She’d rather go through the sickness than anything else.