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So that big vault unearthed beneath Loot Lake a few weeks back? Yeah, it's opening tomorrow. Or the volcano is exploding. We're not too sure yet. Either way, unless Epic is preparing the ultimate red herring, Fortnite players will experience the next big in-game event that precedes every new Fortnite season this Saturday at 12 pm PT (3 pm ET).

As is tradition, near the end of every season, Epic teases the next by busting open the space-time continuum with a giant rocket, or summoning a chunky purple cube, or sending players to the digi-verse to witness a cyber butterfly bust out of its 'codecoon'.

After sacrificing enough loot to the volcano to send the final runic vehicle key thing (there were five total) to the vault, a 24-hour countdown appeared right above the mysterious maw, signaling a Saturday opening. One more thing: the volcano might explode, too. With every runic vehicle returned to the vault, the volcano grew more volatile and began spewing more smoke.

View image on Twitter

https://twitter.com/iScenario/status...057987/photo/1

We're not sure what Fortnite Season 9 will look like and based on how surprising previous seasons have been, we've stopped trying to speculate. But chances are that a previously vaulted item or two will be making a comeback.

Five vaulted items have appeared on screens in a pop-up research station overlooking the vault dig site. Those items:

• A grappler
• A Stormwing X-4 plane
• The dreaded Infinity Blade
• A jump pad, an old favorite
• A drum gun (PLEASE, PLEASE NO)
• A Tactical SMG (why?)

Some players have speculated that opening the vault will kick off a vote that reintroduces one of the listed items back into the active item pool. That seems bonkers to me, seeing how terrible some of the items were for casual and professional play, especially with the Fortnite World Cup qualifiers running from now through July.

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The drum gun was a flipping nightmare that cut through buildings like butter. The Infinity Blade was incredibly overpowered at first and even after a nerf it drew too many players away from the rest of the map, making for lopsided matches where half the lobby died right away. I wouldn't be mad if the plane came back, but you bet the pros would. I think everyone tolerated grapplers and jump pads, and I can't even recall what the vibe was around the Tactical SMG. I don't think most players would care or notice one way or the other, given how many weapons have been added since it was removed.

I'll be hanging out near the vault tomorrow, so expect a full report on what's inside as soon as that sucker opens up.