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

Bandle City, Lower Passage

Towering trees supported the teleportation gates connecting Bandle City with Runeterra. Between the dense canopy and thick branches hung clusters of ripened fruit, and vibrant, exotic plants painted a kaleidoscope of color throughout the underbrush. Shafts of golden sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering dappled light across the bark. The cerulean-petaled Cerun Flowers, which only bloomed at night, now drooped in daylight, their buds sluggish and closed.

"You're all a bunch of jerks! Seriously, every last one of you!"

"If I can't conduct my experiments here, then I'll just go somewhere else!"

"Since when did Bandle City become a place where you're not even allowed to blow things up in peace?!"

A stubby, fuzzy Yordle barely a meter tall stomped along a massive tree trunk leading to the teleportation gate, cursing with every step. Slung over his back was all his worldly baggage, and every time he opened his mouth, his oversized buck teeth flashed brightly.

His pointed ears twitched with agitation, and a pair of tea-tinted goggles flopped on his forehead.

"I'll show them! I'll prove my inventions are useful! I'm not just some lunatic with a flair for explosives!"

His sharp voice echoed through the forest as Ziggs approached the honeycomb-shaped portal. Gazing at the amber-hued rings layered before him, he clutched his backpack tighter.

"Where should I go?"

"Bilgewater?" Ziggs scratched his chin. "Nah, too damp. The stench of fish would kill me."

"Demacia?"

"Too uptight."

"Noxus?"

"Too insane!"

"Ionia?"

"Basically Bandle City 2.0."

"Shurima?"

"Sand, sand, and more sand. Ever try picking sand out of fur? Nightmare."

One by one, Ziggs scanned the teleportation gates until he noticed strange ripples from the Piltover gate. Amber waves shimmered, revealing a broad-shouldered figure approaching.

"Someone from Piltover? Now?" Ziggs scratched again, fingering a bouncing bomb in his palm. "Is it Corki, off to test some new flying contraption? Or Rumble, rummaging through the junkyards again?"

"Or maybe..." Ziggs's ears perked up as he grinned devilishly. "Intruders?"

"If they are, maybe this is my chance!"

"I'll blast them to bits with my bombs! Then everyone will have to admit I'm a genius! Maybe I'll even blow up that stuffy old museum while I'm at it!"

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, bouncing his bomb like a ball.

At that moment, the portal shimmered again, and the tall figure stepped through.

"So this is Bandle City?" said Jayce, stepping out first.

Right behind him, Duke emerged. "Definitely not Piltover."

Duke smacked his lips. The magic in the air hit him like a wave, his mouth felt like it had been filled with spoiled milk.

Tonk, tonk, tonk...

A strange bouncing sound drew their attention. They turned just in time to see a round, sizzling bomb hopping toward them.

"Is that..." Jayce squinted at it. "A bomb?"

"Obviously, genius."

Duke shoved Jayce aside, flipping his hand to draw his Death Knell sidearm. Before the bomb reached them, he squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

The heavy gunshot rang out. The bullet punctured the bomb dead center. For a moment, it expanded like a balloon, then,

BOOM!!

A fiery blast erupted, smoke and sound echoing all the way up to Bandle City.

Back in the city, a violet-furred Yordle girl on patrol flinched as her ears perked.

"That explosion came from the lower passage!"

She reached for her weapon and broke into a sprint.

"Tristana! Wait for me!"

A second Yordle, wearing a witch's hat and trailing magical wings, huffed and puffed behind her.

"Slow down!!"

Back at the passage, the smoke from the explosion hung thick. Duke flipped out his second pistol, eyes narrowing.

"A bouncing bomb? Ziggs, maybe?"

"But why attack us?"

Even the rancid milk taste in his mouth was now ignored. Arcane energy surged through Duke's veins, quickening his magic awakening.

"So close..."

Ziggs peered from behind cover, eyeing the scorched crater beside him. With a wince, he pulled two more bombs from his pack, then hesitated and grabbed one special device.

This one looked like a cluster of grapes, except each orb was a mini bomb glowing faintly.

"Taste the big one!"

His shrill laughter echoed through the smoke.

Duke smirked. "Yup, definitely Ziggs."

"Stay back, Jayce!"

Before Jayce could reply, Duke had already darted through the haze. One hand crossed his chest, the other behind his back, finger brushing the trigger.

The special bomb broke apart midair. The grape-like cluster scattered across the ground, each mini-bomb gluing itself to surfaces, tree trunks, floor, roots, all flashing and primed.

Duke dashed through, observing everything in an instant.

"Already using his E-skill? Not bad, Explosives Maniac."

With practiced ease, he swung his right arm and fired. The bullet arced midair.

Arc Shot Technique!

The bullet whizzed past Ziggs's nose, startling him, then vanished into the trees. A nearby branch exploded.

Bang!

As the sound rang out, Viktor and Heimerdinger stepped through the portal. Just as Heimerdinger set foot in his homeland for the first time in two centuries,

"By my gears! What in the world?!"

"I've been gone 200 years, and now Bandle City greets visitors with bullets?!"

"Professor, it's a misunderstanding!" Jayce quickly explained, words tumbling out.

Heimerdinger's expression shifted as he listened, and upon realizing the cause, he rushed forward.

"It's a misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding!"

"I'm Heimerdinger, and these people are my..." He paused, seeing Duke aiming a pistol at Ziggs. "...guests."

"You're telling me now?!" Ziggs shrieked, wide-eyed as Duke held him at gunpoint. "Couldn't you have said that before I got shot?!"