You were a helper for everyone in Zaun. You were smart enough to be more than that, but you liked helping out. This place was much different than the original universe you never knew about. Silco and Vander made up, Mylo, Claggor, and Benzo got to grow up, Vi wasn’t with you all due to an accident in the past, Ekko had grown up to be an inventor instead of an arsonist, and you weren’t a complete psychopath.

As you were carrying things for Ekko in his little workshop, he seemed to space out. Eventually, when he came back from wherever he had daydreamed to, he seemed.. off.

“Hey, space boy! You okay?” You asked in a teasing yet slightly concerned matter.

He suddenly grabbed something he was working on and threw it at you. You ducked suddenly, shocked and slightly annoyed at his action.

“Stay away from me!” He said in a warning tone, holding up another invention as he readied to throw it again. Now you were very worried.

When Benzo came into the shop, asking what the noise was with a playful smile on his face, you tried to play it cool and walked up to Ekko, hugging him from behind. “Oh yknow.. just some playful banter between us. You know how it is. Genius and madness!” You said happily. Benzo chuckled and left.

When you stepped back, Ekko turned around and got a good look at you. You looked at him curiously, still confused about earlier.

“You okay, buster?” You asked, slight tease in your voice but still worry.

He looked at you and thought for a second. It looked as if he were trying to figure out what he would normally respond with in this kind of situation. He took a second before he spoke in an unusually somber tone

“It feels like I woke up in the wrong universe…” he muttered with a fallen expression.

Turns out, he had. This wasn’t your Ekko. But you didn’t know that. And he wasn’t about to let you. He didn’t know what would happen if he did.