[Arcane] TimeBomb - Deleted Scenes S2

Blueprints of War

Context: Ekko and Jinx strategize their next move in this brewing war.

—

In the days that followed their reunion, something shifted between them. It wasn't dramatic—no sudden transformations or miraculous healings—but Ekko noticed the subtle changes in Jinx. The way her shoulders gradually lifted from their perpetual slump, how her eyes began to spark with fragments of their old fire. She wasn't back to her old self, might never be, but there was life in her again. Purpose.

While Ekko coordinated with the others in Piltover—Jayce organizing the city's defenses, Vi and Caitlyn rallying whatever forces they could muster—he and Jinx spent their nights planning. At first, she was quiet, hesitant, as if testing whether her mind could still create without destroying. But slowly, surely, her brilliant chaos began to emerge again.

It started with small things: her fingers drumming restlessly against tables, her eyes darting around her workshop with growing interest. Then came the muttering—fragments of calculations and half-formed ideas spilling from her lips as she paced. And finally, one night, she grabbed a piece of paper and began to draw.

Jinx's fingers moved frantically across the paper, her other hand gesturing wildly as she spoke. "See, if we come from above—" she scratched another line across her sketch, "—they won't expect it. Ambessa and Viktor will have their army all spread out here, here, and here," she jabbed at different points on the crude map. "But up? Nobody looks up."

Ekko leaned over her shoulder, studying the chaotic mess of diagrams and calculations that covered the workspace. Her handwriting was a jumble of different sizes and angles, equations spilling into drawings that somehow made perfect sense in her mind. "And you really think you can turn this place into something that flies?"

"Please," Jinx rolled her eyes, but there was a spark of excitement in them. "I could make this whole thing fly with my eyes closed. I just need..." She grabbed another piece of paper, scribbling furiously. "These. Get me these parts, and I'll give you a miracle."

Ekko took the list, raising an eyebrow at some of the items. "A stabilizer coil? Three parachutes? Where am I supposed to—"

"You've got your Firelight buddies, don't you?" Jinx didn't look up from her sketching. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be, like, the king of scavenging or whatever?"

"And while I'm gathering your shopping list?"

Now she did look up, her expression serious despite the manic energy radiating from her. "I'll be here. Building. Planning. Making sure we have something that can carry your whole crew up there." She paused, tapping her pencil against her chin. "How many Firelights can you get?"

"Enough," Ekko said, folding the list and tucking it into his pocket. "But they'll need training. They've never fought anything like what Viktor's created."

"None of us have," Jinx muttered, her voice dropping slightly. But then she shook her head, the moment of darkness passing. "Doesn't matter. We'll figure it out. We always do."

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Each day, Jinx worked tirelessly to transform her hideout, using every scrap of material she could find to create the impossible. Ekko, meanwhile, took charge of the Firelights, organizing their ragtag group into something resembling a coherent force.

The hideout had become a hive of activity, filled with the sounds of whirring machinery and the sharp scent of oil and metal. Jinx, hands stained with soot and grease, could often be found hunched over a workbench, her face illuminated by the dim glow of lanterns as she welded parts together. It was chaotic, reckless even, but it was a method she understood. Each new idea was a spark, a small fire that could ignite into something larger. She'd scribble plans, toss them aside, and start again. The sketches, at first incomprehensible to Ekko, had slowly started to form into something tangible.