Marvel: Playing Iron Man, Falling In and Out of Love with Jinx

Three days later.

Ferros Family Cemetery.

Duke stood silently before the still-unfilled grave, watching the coffin slowly lower into the earth. There wasn't the slightest trace of sorrow in his eyes. That so-called "uncle" of his had brought this upon himself, he played with fire and got burned. Who else could he blame?

What Duke truly worried about was Camille's mental state.

At this point, the Ferros family had already bound themselves to him by interests. They provided him with the funding and resources he needed for his research. In return, all Duke had to do was show up at key moments, or toss a few of his inventions into the market and let the money roll in.

But within this web of benefits, personal emotion had started to mix in.

That made everything more dangerous.

Now that he was thoroughly tied to the Ferros family, Camille's recent act of strangling her own brother could very well push her from one extreme to another, and that wouldn't be good for anyone. Not for him, and certainly not for the family.

After the funeral, Duke glanced at Dakora, surrounded by concerned guests. She was trying to keep up appearances, but anyone could see she was forcing a smile.

After all, she'd personally witnessed her great-aunt strangle her own grandfather to death. The trauma it left on her psyche was unimaginable.

Duke could sense it: Dakora was now genuinely terrified of Camille.

Afraid that one day, if she ever failed her expectations, she'd end up just like her grandfather.

"What a tangled mess…"

Duke mounted Pride, his transforming motorcycle, popped a malt candy into his mouth, and pushed off with a sharp kick. The engine roared to life on its own, and he sped off toward the academy.

His mood was foul.

He figured he'd go see Jinx, maybe pick her up after class, grab a nice dinner, and spend some time bonding with Colin and his daughter.

Change the mood, change the day.

If the mood's good, everything's good.

But if not...

Academy Gates.

Pride pulled up smoothly and parked at the gate. The kickstand hit the ground, propping up the bike. Duke sat sideways on the seat, malt candy between his teeth, eyes dazed as he stared at the academy's front gate.

He was lost in thought, mapping out his next steps.

His short-term goals were all complete.

The Clockwork Armor 273 was finished.

His latent magical aptitude had awakened.

Even his Iron Man role quest had been cleared, earning him 20% fusion and a pair of EDITH smart glasses.

The glasses were surprisingly useful, even without a satellite connection, their functionality was impressive, helping him analyze and manage a lot of tasks.

As for fusion rate, he'd unlocked a quarter of all module capabilities.

Wealth? No longer an issue. With the Ferros family backing him, money was within reach whenever he needed it. He hadn't wasted any on random gacha draws either.

Sometimes, gambling your luck too soon only leads to ruin.

He preferred to bide his time.

And then strike hard, one pull to end them all.

Ding-dong, ding-ling…

The melodious sound of the school bell echoed across campus. Class was over. Students in uniform streamed out from classrooms, labs, and the library, books in hand or bags slung over their shoulders.

Duke pushed up the bridge of his sunglasses and ignored the curious stares of the passing students, scanning the crowd for a certain blue-haired gremlin.

But no matter how long he waited, Jinx never showed up. Not even a glimpse.

The crowds thinned out, and still, no Jinx.

"Weird… where'd she go?"

Duke frowned, pushing up his glasses again, deciding to wait a little longer.

Meanwhile, in a certain laboratory inside the Science Hall…

A tall and short pair huddled together at the lab bench, whispering over some questionable-looking equipment.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

Jinx held a test tube between two fingers, eyeing it with suspicion.

"Absolutely!"

Ziggs, the fuzzball of chaos, waved her on enthusiastically.

"Trust me, 100% safe!"

"You said that last time too… when we blew up the school restroom!"

"This time is different, really!"

"And the time before that? When we turned the courtyard flower bed into a crater?"

"Come onnn, believe me!"

Ziggs rubbed his hands together, eyes sparkling.

"If this works, it'll be the biggest surprise yet!"

Jinx rolled her eyes and finally tilted the test tube toward the glass beaker in front of them.

"Fine. One more chance."

"Don't worry! This is my latest formula, totally stable! With your creativity? It's foolproof!"

Jinx squinted one eye shut and bit her lip, pouring the solution slowly and carefully.

But just then, her long hair brushed too close to Ziggs' nose.

Sniff sniff,

"AH-CHOO!!!"

Ziggs' head jerked back violently. The stool under him wobbled, and he flailed for balance. His wild grab startled Jinx, causing her hand to jerk, and half the contents of the test tube sloshed into the beaker.

"Crap! That was too much!"

Jinx screamed, glaring daggers at Ziggs.

"This is all your fault, Fuzzball!"

"Not my fault your hair's a weapon, AH-CHOO!"

Another sneeze.

Inside the beaker, the mixture began to bubble violently. Gas hissed out as pressure built, foam climbing the sides, and the triangle-shaped glass bottle hissed with a high-pitched squeal.

Both of them froze mid-argument and stared at the bubbling beaker.

"Uh-oh."

Ziggs jumped off the stool.

"Time to run!!"

Jinx didn't argue, she dropped the test tube and dashed out with him.

BOOM!!

The moment they shut the lab door behind them, a deafening explosion rocked the hallway. Glass shattered, smoke billowed out of the now-windowless room, and a chunk of the wall collapsed outward.

At the front gate.

Duke, chewing his candy, suddenly straightened at the sound of the explosion. The sugar stick snapped between his teeth. He stood and turned toward the source: the Science Hall.

"What the hell…?"

"Detecting a high-energy reaction," EDITH reported, zooming in to show the lab belching smoke. Cracked walls. Blown windows.

"No way…"

A bad feeling welled up in Duke's gut.

He slapped the side of Pride, and the bike launched forward like an arrow.

"They've done it now…!"

Ziggs stared at the ruined lab in horror.

"Oh no… we're so screwed!"

He spun in panicked circles. Jinx grabbed his shoulder and steadied him.

"Calm down!"

"Did anyone see us use that lab?"

"N-no!"

"Anyone see us enter the building?"

"Nope!"

"Then who knows we were even there?"

Ziggs' eyes lit up.

"No one! No one saw us! We're totally in the clear!"

"Correction, fuzzball," Jinx poked his nose.

"We were never here. We didn't do anything dangerous. We were in Zaun, at the Frogen Tavern."

"Right!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

A shadow loomed behind them.

Duke stood with arms crossed, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at the two wannabe escapees.

"Really? No one knows?"

Jinx and Ziggs turned like rusty gears, necks creaking.

"Hehe… hey, Duke."

"What a coincidence, huh?"

"Yeah. Totally."

Duke's smile didn't reach his eyes.

"What a coincidence indeed."

"If I hadn't come to take you out for a nice dinner, I'd never have known just how talented you are at causing mayhem!"

"Ahaha… just a little mishap…"

"I wasn't complimenting you."

Thud!

Duke smacked Jinx on the head, his face darker than a burnt pot bottom.

Thirty minutes later. Assistant Dean's Office.

"I apologize, Viktor. Really sorry my kid caused so much trouble…"

Duke sat on the sofa with a helpless expression. At the wall, Jinx and Ziggs stood in the corner, facing it like two schoolkids.

A paw clunked onto the wall beside Jinx. Pride leaned in and hissed steam.

"Behave."

"Yes yes yes!"

Jinx nodded like a pecking bird, legs still shaking.

"It's fine," said Viktor, waving it off.

"As Headmaster Heimerdinger once said: 'You haven't truly experimented until you've broken a few wrenches.'"

He handed Duke a folder. As Duke flipped through it, his face darkened with every page.

Graffiti on the campus statue.

Blowing up the restroom.

Scattering library books across the quad.

Hanging a kid from a flagpole.

Blowing up the other restroom...

"This girl is a walking calamity…"

Still, it was Jinx. What else could you expect?

"I'll cover all the damages," Duke sighed, "and send some compensation to the affected students."

Viktor, meanwhile, limped over with his cane, eyeing Pride curiously. Pride stared back. Their standoff ended with a puff of steam that made Viktor cough.

"Ahem… where did you even make this thing?"

His eyes sparkled with awe.

"Artificial mechanical life… this should be impossible. That's the work of gods!"

"When humans master knowledge," Duke replied casually,

"even gods are just powerful beings."

Viktor turned to him.

"Then… would you consider joining our Hextech Development Project?"

"Would Jayce even let me in?"

Duke slid the folder back onto the table.

Viktor kept staring at Pride, mesmerized.

"You're already far ahead of us. With your help, we could build a better future."

Jinx peeked over her shoulder and made a funny face.

"Blehhhh!"

"Jinx!!"

Duke's roar echoed through the office.

"Your allowance next month, and the month after that, is gone!!"

End of chapter...

To be continued...

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