Ekko's Shock

"Oh my God, it really is you!"

Manzu wrapped his arms around Ekko and pounded him on the back.

"You're still alive? Little Man, where have you been all these years? Goddess Janna above, we've been looking for you for ages! We've even started our own organization!"

Manzu let go of Ekko. Seeing the bewildered look on his face, he laughed. "What's with that look? Damn, you're unbelievable, Ekko. Don't tell me you don't recognize me!"

"That's just cruel. I remember your face perfectly, but you've forgotten who I am?"

"You..."

Ekko studied Manzu's familiar face, a bold guess coming to mind. He asked tentatively, "Manzu?"

Manzu nodded with a smile.

"It really is you! My God, Manzu, when did you get so tall?" Ekko exclaimed, delighted.

What was going on?!

It was Manzu!

When they were little, Vi had looked after Ekko, but Milo, who was part of the group, couldn't stand him. Ekko was so young—one year younger than Jinx—and he was short, couldn't fight, and, worst of all, was a coward. So Milo never wanted him around.

Left on his own, Ekko often played with Malson, Manzu, and the other kids.

In Black Alley, he was the only kid who'd spent time with both Malson's and Vi's groups. So naturally, when he saw Manzu now, Ekko was thrilled.

After Vander died, the kids of Black Alley had scattered. Ekko had led a group of them to form the Wildfire Gang, preserving the last spark of Black Alley.

"Yeah, it's me, Ekko. Don't just talk about me—look how much taller you've gotten, too! And those muscles, tsk. How'd you get so buff?" Manzu happily slapped Ekko on the shoulder, then said, "Come on, come with me! I'll take you somewhere!"

"Where? Wait, Manzu, there's something I want to ask you. How'd you end up joining the Lian Hua Gang?"

"Don't ask so many questions. Come with me, and you'll find out when we get there!"

"Trust me, everyone's going to be thrilled to see you! We've got a home of our own again." Manzu laughed.

He grabbed Ekko and set off. Zeri hurried after them.

She wasn't about to get left behind!

Damn, Ekko had said he didn't know the Lian Hua Gang, but the gang's leader knew him!

Had Ekko actually lied to her?!

"Where are we going, anyway?"

"To the Lian Hua Gang. We're going to see our boss."

Our boss?

Ekko started to say something, but Manzu was so excited that he decided to keep quiet.

"Your boss?"

"Is Malson your boss?"

But even as he said it, Ekko wasn't sure.

Malson. Ekko had followed him around when they were little and thought of him as a big brother. But from Ekko's perspective now, Malson was just an ordinary guy. There was no way he could've built such a big gang and driven the Shark District's gangs out.

"Malson? He's not the boss. He was the one who brought me into the Lian Hua Gang, but he's just a squad leader, like me. But Ekko, you know our boss, too. You'd never guess who it is."

"I know him?" It wasn't Malson, but someone he knew?

Wait, was there anyone in Malson's group who'd really stood out when they were kids?

Ekko was even more curious now.

"Ekko, you know the Lian Hua Gang's boss?" Zeri had been listening to their conversation. She moved closer and quietly asked him.

Ekko looked at Zeri, just as confused as she was. "Do I know them?"

Zeri: "?"

"Vi! Look who's here!"

Manzu suddenly shouted.

Ekko shuddered and immediately looked toward the person Manzu was waving at.

The next moment, disbelief filled Ekko's eyes. Beside a wall surrounded by people in the distance stood a red-haired woman in a red jacket, one hand in her pocket, talking to someone. At the sound of Manzu's voice, she turned around—and Ekko saw a face he knew better than any other.

"..."

In the distance, Vi also turned to look and froze. Her pretty face went blank, her red lips parting slightly. Then she pulled her hand from her pocket and hurried toward him, calling out as she ran, "Oh my God, Ekko? Is that you, Ekko?!"

"Goddess Janna above, you're alive!"

She rushed past Manzu and Zeri and threw her arms around Ekko, squeezing him tightly against her. For a moment, Ekko felt a warmth he'd almost forgotten.

"Ekko, I thought something had happened to you, too." Vi's voice caught in her throat.

"..." Ekko didn't answer. His arms hung limply at his sides, his mind clearly elsewhere.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Vi let go and gripped Ekko's shoulders, looking down at him. Anxiously, she continued,

"It's me, Vi. The Vi who washed you with a hose in the Junkyard when you were little. Wait, don't tell me you don't recognize me, either? You used to follow me around naked, calling me Big Sister. How can you not recognize me now?"

Ekko's voice had grown hoarse. He spoke quietly. "Yeah, you're Vi. So where have you been all these years?"

"Me?" Vi froze. Then she looked at Ekko's face and saw the weariness that didn't belong on someone his age, along with the small scars on his body. She understood at once.

She said softly, "I'm sorry, Ekko. It's complicated. I... I can't explain it in a sentence or two."

Then she hugged him again. "But I'm so glad I got to see you again, Ekko."

"I thought something had happened to you, too."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me."

This time, when Vi hugged him, Ekko raised his arms and hugged her back.

"You have no idea what's happened all these years."

"Black Alley is gone. Everyone's gone. Even Jinx..."

Ekko was the leader of the Wildfire Gang. He'd led hundreds of people through life in Zaun, scraping by under the alchemical barons. To give them hope and build them a perfect home, he'd become the group's head of household before he was even an adult.

But now, standing before Vi and hearing what she'd just said, Ekko was suddenly reminded of everything that had happened.

He hadn't always been so strong and capable.

If Vi hadn't disappeared all those years ago, if Black Alley were still there, maybe he would've gone to school in Piltover. Maybe he would've become a mechanic, fixing machines with a wrench, instead of a leader picking up a club to fight the gangs. He really hated violence.

In front of Vi, Ekko became a child again.

Without thinking, he poured out his hurt to her, ready to tell her what had happened to Jinx, too.

But the next moment, a voice sounded beside him.

"Were you calling me?"

At the sound of that voice, Ekko instantly pushed Vi away. The hurt on his face turned to horror as he looked at the girl who'd crept up beside them, tiptoeing with her hands clasped behind her back and her head tilted to one side.

She wore a denim jacket over a cropped top that left her stomach bare, and a long pair of black pants covered in pink designs. Her pretty little face was pale and clean, two long blue braids slanting together as they trailed toward the ground. Her wide eyes were full of curiosity.

"Fuck!"

With a curse, Ekko instantly pulled a metal piece from his belt and hurled it at her with all his strength.

Ekko's sudden movement and his decision to throw something happened so quickly that even Vi, standing closest, couldn't react. She stared in shock, then cried out, "No!"

The thing Ekko had thrown was a chunk of metal. If it hit Jinx in the face—

"Smack—"

A hand shot out and knocked the chunk of metal away from the girl.

Jinx breathed a sigh of relief, looked up, and saw Li Ke's face. Then she immediately got cocky. "What's the matter, little guy? You wanna fight?"

"Bring it on! You think I'm scared of you?!"

Jinx raised her little fists and rocked back and forth.

Li Ke watched the swaggering Jinx with an amused smile, wrapped an arm around her, then looked at Ekko, who was panting and looked as if he'd just seen a ghost.

"Don't be so nervous, Ekko."

"I can explain."

"Explain my ass!"

"You're all Silco's people!"

Ekko shouted.