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Ekko sprinted through the ventilation shafts, the cold iron of his prototype Z-Drive biting into his palm. He didn't have the luxury of gradual discovery anymore; he had seen the ashes of Zaun twice. He was a traveler through the same tragic loop, desperate to find the one loose thread that would unravel the coming disaster.
When he reached the treehouse, the scene was a mirror of the past. Chen was calm, leaning against his lamppost, and Camille was just turning to leave.
"Absolutely impossible!" Camille's words echoed exactly as they had before.
"Chen!" Ekko shouted, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
Chen looked up, a familiar frown of concern on his face. "Ekko, aren't you researching time with Heimerdinger? Why are you here?"
"I've returned from the future," Ekko said, the words spilling out before Chen could even finish his "finger test."
"You have two fingers behind your back," Ekko interrupted, his eyes wide and frantic. "Piltover starts the war in seven hours. Their Hextech Rifles explode on impact, Chen! They have range that covers the entire bridge. They're using the Zeppelins for searchlights. We get slaughtered before we can even see them!"
Chen's expression shifted from skepticism to a dark, calculating gravity. He had always known Ekko was the "variable," but hearing the details of the slaughter made the air in the room feel heavy. "This is the second time?"
"Yes! But we can change it! We have to blow the bridges, Chen! If we cut the path, we force them into the alleys where their range doesn't matter!"
The mobilization was frantic. Under Ekko's direction, the Wildfire Squad and Urgot's survivors abandoned the bridgeheads. They moved into the shadows of the surrounding tenements, preparing for a war of attrition.
Jinx was tasked with the demolition. She packed every ounce of chem-explosives the Sanctuary possessed into the support pillars of the four main bridges.
BOOM.
The smoke cleared, but the bridges remained. Only a few jagged chips of stone had fallen.
"It's no use," Ekko hissed, looking at the pristine structures. "These are built with Ixtal bedrock. It's reinforced by ancient geomancy. Chem-tech isn't enough."
"Unless Powder uses her ultimate missile," Chen suggested, looking at the massive rocket in the corner. "But we only have one, and there are four bridges. We'd stop one column and be flanked by three others."
"Wait," Ekko's mind raced. "There's a guy... a Yordle. Ziggs. He was Heimerdinger's apprentice. If anyone can crack Ixtal stone, it's him."
"I don't know where he is," Chen replied flatly. "In this timeline, he hasn't shown his face yet."
Across the river, Warden Jikegar watched the silence of Zaun with a veteran's suspicion. He noticed the lack of "bridge-rats" immediately.
"They knew we were coming," Jikegar muttered, his mechanical eye whirring. "Bring up the Zeppelins. Shine the lights!"
The searchlights swept the empty bridgeheads. Nothing. Jikegar sneered. "They abandoned the best defensive terrain in the city? Cunning... or desperate."
He reached for a device on his belt—a sleek, brass-and-glass goggles set. "Bring me the Hextech Thermal Scanner."
Originally a medical diagnostic tool designed by Jayce to find inflammation, the Piltover Guard had repurposed it for the hunt. Jikegar looked through the lenses. The cold blue of the stone buildings was suddenly dotted with hundreds of glowing orange silhouettes—human heat signatures huddled behind windows and under floorboards.
"Street-to-street combat," Jikegar laughed, a dry, rattling sound. "They want to play hide-and-seek in the dark. How quaint."
He turned to his lieutenants. "The Seventh and Eighth Platoons... forget the rifles for now. Bring the cannons. If they want to hide in the buildings, we will simply remove the buildings."
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