"Hah! Look at you, acting all cocky now!"
Duke rolled his eyes as Vi slung an arm around his neck, pressing into him without a shred of reserve.
Same old Vi—no sense of personal space.
"Speaking of which… how's Jinx doing lately?"
Brushing Vi off a little awkwardly and fixing his hair, Duke casually threw out the question. But the moment he mentioned her sister, Vi's face twisted into a scowl.
"You just had to bring her up, huh? I swear, I could punch you right now!"
"Huh?"
Duke blinked. Why was he catching strays?
Vi was already clenching her fists, a vein visibly pulsing on her forehead.
"Alright, Vi," Caitlyn stepped in quickly, draping an arm over her shoulder. "I actually think she's… changed a little for the better lately."
Caitlyn hesitated, her mind flashing back to the last time they bailed Jinx out of detention. The girl had made faces at her through the cell bars. Whatever words of comfort she meant to say… just died in her throat.
"...Sigh."
Watching the two women's expressions, Duke scratched his chin. He'd only been gone from Piltover for a little over a month—certainly not a year. Why did it feel like he'd been away forever?
"Duke, I think you should go see Jinx for yourself," Caitlyn said carefully. "She's… different now."
"Different?" Duke raised a brow. "What, she blew up another lab?"
"Worse than that," Caitlyn said, pulling Vi along. "Anyway, don't dwell on it. Come to my place. My mom baked cookies—you'll feel better."
Before she disappeared inside with Caitlyn, Vi threw a sharp look over her shoulder. "You know Vander and I left Powder in your care, right? So take some real responsibility."
"Yeah, yeah… I'll go check in at the academy."
Duke rubbed his temples. What had that blue-haired menace done this time to get Vi so riled up?
He sighed. "Might as well go see that little maniac… and maybe check on Orianna and Neeko while I'm at it."
He gave a respectful nod to Lady Gillamain at the manor's gate, then turned and left.
On his way to the academy, Duke fished a cigar out of his coat and lit it using the Fate Echo lighter he'd won from a recent draw. The flame flared orange, and the surface of the lighter shimmered faintly with an arcane glow.
As energy coursed through him, Duke raised an eyebrow at the device, pocketed it again without a word, and continued walking.
But just as he reached the academy gates—BOOM!
A firework exploded in the sky, bright and loud. Bits of paper fluttered down from the sky like confetti. One of them landed right in Duke's hand.
It was a colorful piece of graffiti art. But before he could study it further, it suddenly combusted, throwing sparks in his face.
All around, others picking up similar scraps had the same reaction—confusion, followed by surprise as the papers flared up. A few even yelped out loud.
Duke rubbed the ash off his fingers, caught another floating strip, and tested its texture. His brow furrowed slightly.
"Special paper that self-ignites on contact with body heat?"
"And infused with materials designed to throw out harmless—but startling—sparks?"
"Now that's interesting."
He tossed the second paper away just before it combusted and looked up. A silhouette had just slipped away from the rooftop, but not before he glimpsed the faint flash of braided hair.
"Wait… didn't she used to keep her hair short?"
Sensing the mischief afoot, Duke made a beeline for Viktor's office. But even before knocking, he heard… unmistakable rustling inside.
Knock knock knock.
He gave the door a few polite taps, letting them prepare. After a minute or two:
"Come in!"
"Yo, Viktor."
Duke stepped in, catching Viktor standing stiffly behind his desk, looking a little too composed. A young woman—Skye—was hastily adjusting her slightly wrinkled clothes before slipping out the door.
"Looks like you've been doing pretty well for yourself."
"It's... fine," Viktor said, failing to suppress a self-satisfied smirk.
"You're here for Jinx, I assume?"
Duke shrugged. "I'm her guardian. It comes with the job."
"Perfect. Then you can pay for the damages."
Duke caught the file Viktor tossed his way. Flipping through it, his expression grew darker by the page.
"She did all this?"
"These are just the confirmed incidents," Viktor said, raising his hands. "As for the unconfirmed ones… well, you get the idea."
"Two weeks ago, a noble's private zoo had its walls blown out. Animals flooded the streets. Luckily, none of the dangerous ones got loose."
"Eyewitnesses claim to have seen her, but she swears she was at the Temple of Janna for prayer."
"Then there's that Zaun factory that went up in smoke. No casualties, but…"
Viktor dropped a photograph on the desk—a graffiti-scorched wall, cracked from an explosion. Spray-painted across it was a grinning monkey face.
"That factory belonged to an alchemist baron who, coincidentally, caused trouble at the Fogen Pub not long ago."
"I'll cover all the expenses—repairs, medical, lost wages. You'll get everything this afternoon."
Duke tucked the file under his arm and turned to leave—he had a blue-haired menace to track down.
But Viktor stopped him.
"You should really talk to her. Better yet, take her out somewhere new. The academy's tolerance for her antics is… wearing thin."
"I know."
With a sigh, Duke stepped out, donned Edith, and released a fleet of drones.
"Find that little rascal, Jinx."
"Right away, boss!"
Elsewhere in the academy, a girl with cloud-patterned tattoos and oversized twin braids was chattering excitedly with a short companion.
"We did it! The explosive paper works!"
"I still think we might've gone overboard…"
Ziggs couldn't help but imagine what would happen if a breeze blew one of those charges onto a person. The outcome would be...
Well, he didn't want to think about it.
"Don't worry!" Jinx wrapped an arm around Ziggs, ruffling his hair. "Nobody's gonna get hurt! And even if something goes wrong, we've got Janna!"
"Besides, didn't we blow up that alchemy baron's factory last time? Nothing bad happened!"
"You worry too much—it's like you're my guilty conscience whispering nonsense all day!"
She grinned. "And admit it, wasn't it fun?"
Ziggs blinked… and smiled. "Okay, yeah. It was pretty exciting."
"There you go!"
"We can go wherever we want, do whatever we want! Who's gonna stop us?"
"Really now?"
A voice cut through the moment. Duke, dressed in a lab coat, removed his Edith visor. His drones hovered menacingly around him.
Jinx froze. She awkwardly let go of Ziggs and stood up.
"Aha… Duke! You're back!"
"You could've warned me—you know, so I could throw you a welcome party?"
"No need," Duke said flatly, pulling out a colorful Rainbow Unicorn Pickaxe from his inventory. "We need to talk."
The emphasis on "talk" made Jinx gulp.
"I heard a certain noble's zoo got leveled. Any idea who did that?"
"Nope! I was at Janna's temple with Neeko and Orianna. They can vouch!"
"And the Zaun factory incident?"
"Home with the girls. Playing games! Neeko can confirm!"
"Oh?" Duke raised an eyebrow. "So you got Neeko to be your alibi?"
Jinx had been crashing at Orianna's, and Neeko—capable of shapeshifting—could easily impersonate her.
"Whatever are you talking about? I'm so confused!"
As Jinx subtly inched backward, Duke pulled out Viktor's file.
"If you don't get it, let's discuss something you will understand."
He raised the document.
"I was gone a little over a month. You racked up over 8,000 G-Seas in damages. Care to explain?"
Seeing his expression darken, Jinx tossed a smoke bomb. "Ziggs, run!"
Duke caught the canister midair. A painted monkey grinned back at him.
"Please. I was blowing things up before you were even born."
Two minutes later, Jinx was tied up with her own braids, lying helplessly on the ground. Ziggs had already confessed everything.
Especially after Duke's seemingly harmless unicorn pickaxe smashed a boulder larger than Ziggs into dust.
"So you're telling me her hair grew like that… because you invented a new explosive hair tonic?"
"Yeah! We were testing a new volatile compound, and it exploded all over her. By morning, her hair had grown like… that!"
"Hand over the formula. Then go explain to Heimerdinger."
Duke took the notes, then glanced at Jinx, who was wriggling away like a caterpillar.
"And where do you think you're going?"
(End of chapter)
We're still in the early chapters fam! and to everyone who's joined the Patreon, thank you so much! 🙏Your support truly means the world. You're the reason this story keeps growing, chapter by chapter, world by world. I promise to give it my all! more content, more depth, more epic moments, to make sure your support is always worth it. You're part of the foundation that keeps this universe alive.
🔹 Hexcore Initiate – 15 chapters ahead
🔸 Arc Reactor Elite – 35 chapters
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