The Sixth | Ekko x Fem!OC

Chapter Two

CHAPTER HEADER ART IN PROGRESS

Ekko was not okay when he made it back to the Firelight hideout. Though he had no physical injuries (which was surprising since she'd jabbed him in the back of his neck and sent him crumbling to the ground), he was royally pissed off.

His feet clunked against the floor as he stormed to his bedroom with an angry frown on his face. It was late now, and very few Firelights were awake to witness his sour mood.

As soon as he entered his room, he cleared everything off his desk. He grabbed a pencil and began making a sloppy sketch of the woman he had the unfortune of meeting tonight. He drew her long, bushy hair, goggles, mask, scarf—any detail that he was able to recall about her. As he traced the outlines of her goggles, his pressure on his pencil strokes softened slightly. He recognized these goggles from someone from the past. He was quick to dismiss the similarity though. The person who had those goggles was dead, and this particular design was common throughout Zaun.

He finished the sketch and then glared down at it as if it were actually her. Whoever this woman was, he wouldn't stop until he took her and her group down. Now that he knew how they managed to paralyze their victims, he planned on using this new intel to ensure they were unable to do it to him or the other Firelights.

He moved to his workbench and grabbed an old piece of scrap metal that was resting against the wall. He'd finally found a use for it. He needed to make something to protect their napes so that they couldn't be paralyzed.

He worked throughout the night and into the morning. By noon, he finally finished. Metal plate pieces that could be attached to the back straps of their masks. Not only would it protect their napes, it would also send a surge or electricity through anyone who tried to paralyze them. And it was one-sided, meaning the inside of the plate was safe to rest against the flesh of the wearer's neck without the risk of be electrocuted themselves. The plate was split in multiple sections, ensuring it was flexible enough to allow them to maintain range of motion when looking upwards.

During lunch, Scar watched silently as his leader glared down at his bowl of soup in deep contemplation.

By now, the other Firelights were aware of Ekko's encounter with the mysterious leader of their unknown 'enemy' group. He'd caught them up on it and then showed them his new invention. Each word that Ekko uttered while describing the situation sounded like he was in agony. Everyone could see how tense he was, and how lost in thought he remained.

"Not hungry?" the chirean asked, scooping up some of his own soup at the same time.

Ekko peered over at Scar from across the table and shrugged.

Scar couldn't help but roll his eyes. Always so stubborn.

Ekko and Scar were good friends, and he knew that Ekko trusted him more than anyone. If Ekko was going to open up, it would be with him and no one else. And so, he pushed further for a proper response.

"You're thinkin' about that girl, aren't you?"

He noticed how Ekko's grip on his spoon tightened ever so slightly.

"She knew who I was, but I didn't recognize her. Not her hair. Not her voice. Nothing."

Scar emptied the contents of his spoon into his bowl and placed it down on the table.

"We'll figure it out. We're bound to run into 'em again."

Ekko shook his head. "She won't let any of us get that close. She's too quick. Would probably backflip over our heads as soon as we got close enough."

Scar was a little sceptical on how agile Ekko described this woman. He and the other Firelights were trained well and moved with their own kind of speed and precision. But the way Ekko recounted her was as if she was beyond precision. Like she was some kind of gravity defying creature from folklore.