The trio Jonathan, Jayce, and Viktor stand among cardboard boxes and equipment, unpacking into a brand-new lab.
Jonathan looked around, eyes wide.
"Wow. A lab just for us."
He nodded to himself.
"Nice."
"Nice?" Viktor echoed, slowly nodding as he took in the space.
"I guess it is... nice."
"Well, I think it's perfect," Jayce said, leaning against the wall after setting down a box.
Jonathan turned to him, suddenly frowning.
"Why didn't you just say nice?" he asked, annoyed.
Jayce shrugged and held his hands up.
"I can't say it's perfect?" he said with a grin, glancing at Viktor.
Viktor shrugged again.
"No…" Jonathan shook his head. "It could've been a moment—all of us saying nice." He tapped the side of his head.
"But no. You had to ruin it."
He gestured vaguely, disappointed.
"That would've been such a nice memory."
Jayce looked confused.
"Well, the place you're going to is full of memories," he said. "You like making memories, right?"
Jonathan nodded slowly.
"...I'm going somewhere?"
He glanced at Viktor, then Jayce—before narrowing his eyes.
"It's not prison, right?"
Viktor turned to Jayce.
"Why are you sending him to prison?"
Jayce's hands flew up.
"Whoa! I'm not sending him anywhere. It's Heimerdinger!"
Jonathan put a hand to his face.
"Why does Heimerdinger want me in prison? Is it because I look too perfect to women? I'm setting an unreachable standard, and now birth rates in Piltover are dropping?"
Viktor blinked and looked at Jayce.
Jayce opened his mouth—then hesitated.
"...He wants you in the Academy."
Jonathan paused.
"...Oh."
—————————————
-Piltover Academy.-
Students chatted among themselves, voices buzzing before the teacher arrived.
"I heard a new student is joining," one said, eyes wide as the rumor spread.
"We're already halfway through the semester—no way anyone's joining now," another replied, leaning back in his chair.
"...But if someone does, I hope it's a hot woman."
He glanced around, then leaned in to whisper to his friend.
"The women here might be smart as hell, but damn, are they lacking."
Two girls sitting behind him both turned and glared.
"Ugh, what's his problem?" one muttered to the other.
Her friend scoffed.
"I hope the new student's a man—just so he gets disappointed."
The class buzzed with speculation—everyone wondering who the new student could be.
Then the door opened.
The teacher stepped in, shutting it behind him with a loud click.
"Quiet down!"
The room fell silent, anticipation thick in the air.
"Ahem, listen up. We've got someone new joining us today."
The teacher gestured toward the door.
Jonathan stepped in, waving confidently as he walked to the front of the class.
"My name is Jonathan Krueger," he said, grinning at the attention.
"You might've heard of me from my work with the hospitals," he added, clearly enjoying the spotlight.
"I know you!" a girl blurted out.
Jonathan's grin widened.
"You made the Hexstrap!" she said, eyes shining.
Jonathan sighed softly—but kept smiling. Any attention was good attention.
Murmurs spread across the room.
"I always pictured Jonathan Krueger as more... I don't know. Older," one girl whispered to her friend.
Her friend nodded.
"He looks younger than us. But hey, at least it wasn't a hot girl," she added, eyeing the two disappointed boys in front of them.
"Dude, that is not a hot girl. I repeat—not a hot woman," one of them muttered.
His friend kept staring at Jonathan.
"…It might not be a hot woman," he said slowly, "but… wow. I'mconfused."
Jonathan shivered.
He glanced around, cold, then shrugged.
"So, where do I sit?" he asked the teacher.
The teacher pointed. "Just behind those two girls."
Jonathan gave him a thumbs-up. "Thank you."
He walked off to his seat.
The teacher blinked.
"...Thank me for what?" he muttered under his breath.
—————————————
Jonathan sat down behind the girls.
He placed a single pen on his desk. Just one.
Because pens are superior to pencils.
The pen slowly rolled down the slightly uneven desk.
He caught it. Placed it back at the top.
It rolled down again.
He placed it back.
It rolled.
He placed it.
Again.
The girl in front finally turned to him. "Umm, hey—small question?"
Jonathan caught the pen again. "Hmm? What?"
She hesitated. "...Can I get a Hexstrap? You know. For a friend."
The girl next to her slowly turned back toward them.
"But I'm your only friend."
——————————————
Jonathan barely paid attention to the lesson. He was more interested in the confusedconversation between the two girls in front of him.
"Jonathan," the teacher called.
"Hmm?" He looked up.
"Come down to the board."
Jonathan slid his pen into his pocket and walked to the front of the class.
Every student turned to see what he would say.
"The emotions lifeline. Question one," the teacher said.
"If Millie woke up one day and found out her family went on vacation without her, what emotion would she feel?"
The students murmured, thinking it was obvious. Jealousy, clearly.
"Fear," Jonathan said. "The emotion is fear."
The teacher hesitated, uncertain if he was joking. He moved on.
"Question two. If Johnny almost got shot by a friend, what would he feel?"
"He would feel fear," Jonathan answered again.
The murmurs turned doubtful.
"I thought he was a prodigy. Guess not..."
The teacher frowned. "Wrong. He would feel anger."
Jonathan's voice sharpened. "But I'm not wrong. Why would Johnny feel angry?"
"Because he almost died," the teacher snapped. "You can't just answer 'fear' for every question. We have a whole spectrum of emotion."
Jonathan's tone grew serious.
"Yes, I can," he said.
"Because Johnny feared death. He acted on that fear."
"Millie felt fear—fear of being forgotten. Fear of being alone. Fear of not mattering."
"Everything points to one singular emotion."
"The primal emotion."
"Fear."
———————————————
—Piltover Lab—
Jonathan entered the lab.
Jayce looked up, confused.
"Jonathan? What are you doing here? The academy doesn't end until later."
Viktor glanced over from his table.
"Hello, Jonathan."
"Hello back to you," Jonathan said, before turning to Jayce.
"I got sent home."
Jayce's expression soured.
"What? Why?"
.
.
.
He narrowed his eyes.
"What did you do?"
Jonathan raised his hands defensively.
"Who said I did anything?"
Jayce pointed at himself.
"Me. Knowing you, it had to be you."
"Okay, fine," Jonathan sighed, dropping into a chair.
"Me and the teacher had an argument."
Viktor didn't look up from his work.
"They don't send you home for arguments."
"Yup," Jonathan agreed, "the argument wasn't why I was sent home."
Jayce crossed his arms.
"Then what was the reason?"
Jonathan scratched his cheek.
"I was caught selling a Hexstrap to two classmates."
Jayce's face dropped.
"Didn't I tell you to scrap that idea? We don't want to be known for that."
"Why would I scrap it?" Jonathan said, placing a fist against his chest.
"I love women."
.
.
.
"I also love women who love women."
Jayce rubbed his temples.
"Jonathan—"
"And if you really want me to scrap the Hexstrap," Jonathan leaned forward, his voice daring,
"Just say it."
He brought his hand to Jayce's face like a microphone.
"Say you hate women."
"...I support women," Jayce said.
Jonathan lowered his hand.
"Atta boy."
Then he turned to Viktor.
"What about you?"
"I support everyone," Viktor replied calmly.
"Everyone is deserving of support."
Jonathan nodded, solemn.
"You're the best of us."
Jayce quickly added,
"Can I change my answer to his?"
"No."
——————————————————
Two years had passed since the explosion.
Hextech became increasingly widespread in Piltover.
Jayce's name and face grew more famous, celebrated for his advancements in Hextech—while Jonathan became known only by name.
Eventually, Jonathan stopped attending school, choosing instead to be tutored privately by Viktor.
He also withdrew from social events entirely, meeting only with councilors to discuss Hextech and public health.
The people of Piltover knew of him solely through newspaper reports of a doctor named Jonathan Krueger—and the sweeping changes he brought to Piltover's healthcare system.
Changes so drastic that Piltover became known not only for innovation, but for health itself.
——————————————
—Undercity—
"What to do, what to do…" Scarecrow muttered, pacing along the rooftops.
"I don't want to be an alleyway rumor."
He sighed.
"Silco's expanding his reach with Shimmer." A smile crept across his face.
"Yeah. That's good."
He took off running, leaping across rooftops toward the district where Silco's goons were rumored to be.
After a while, he perched on a rooftop ledge, eyes scanning the street below.
He grinned when he spotted Sevika.
But the grin faltered—
Jinx stood beside her.
His posture lowered.
He began to crawl down the building silently, careful not to make a sound.
Until his boots touched the ground.
——————————