Part 9: Bombs and Boys, Redux

Video- “Jess 1”

Watch the Explosion

As I headed in this morning I heard that same telltale sound.



Yeah, Jess blew it up again.



You messed up again…?
Don’t say “again”!
Wow, it looks pretty bad this time…
Yeah… How should I cover this up…
I say, just apologize to the teacher, honestly.
N-no, I can’t do that! I can never ever tell a teacher, okay!?
Why not?
Uh, well, that’s, um…
Just tell him. Sooner or later, he’s gonna find out.
Um, well, yeah, but… *sigh * I guess I can tell you.
?
You see, I came to this Academy by invitation.
Invitation… Same as me.

It turned out the circumstances were… slightly different for her.



But someone at school caught me and…
Before you enrolled…? Wait a minute.
Isn’t it illegal for you to be practicing alchemy without a license?
Yeah. And so I was about to get caught. But people from the Academy came…
And they told the cops that they’ll put me in special education here.
Uhm, does that mean…
If she gets kicked out, Jess is gonna go right back to prison.
Don’t just say that all lightheartedly!
Isn’t that pretty bad…? You shouldn’t be doing these dangerous syntheses.
I know, but… Whenever I see the cauldron, I just can’t help it…
Can’t help… *sigh * But if you get kicked out, you’ll lose everything…
But I like it! It’s too fun! I want to do more!
But…
Having a selfish master is so troublesome. Seriously.
Well, it just means we really can’t get caught this time.
Vayne…
Let’s clean up quick. If the Vice Principal sees, we’ll be in more trouble.
Okay! Thank you!

Luckily nothing was broken this time.



Really? Then can we just put it all back in place and it’ll be fine?
But it’s all black, and there’s some strange melty stuff stuck all over…
Uhh… It’ll be fine! We’ll just clean it with Polish Powder, kay?
Polish Powder huh… I wonder how much we’ll need to use…
We’ll make it together. It’ll be quick.
No use in pondering it, I guess. Let’s just do this.
Okay!

We got together five batches of Polish Powder, turned out to be just enough.



Yep. Good work!
Uh, he real work starts next…
Oh…that’s right.
*sigh *

It took a lot of effort, but we got it done.



We finished faster than I thought…
I’m just glad it’s before everyone else came in.
And now… We have to go throw out this huge pile of garbage.
Arrr. I’m so tired…
Come on, this is it. And then we’ll really be done.
Okay fine, I’ll do it…

Unfortunately, we attracted some attention with our big bag of trash.



*gasp * That voice is…
V-vice principal…
What’s with the fear? Do I look like a ghost to you?
Could it possibly be you two are guilty of hiding something from me?
N-no! Of course not, never ever, nothing like that, not at all!
U-um, was there something you wanted with us?
Yes. I hear there’s been loud sounds coming from your workshop recently.
Almost like an explosion, they say…
R-r-r-r-really?
W-w-we haven’t heard anything. No, not us.
Is that so… Then that’s fine, but I thought I’d drop in a warning anyway.
Y-yes, ma’am. We’ll be careful.
W-well, we’re gonna get going now…
Go on.
Excuse us.

Though I think we were worried over nothing.



Y-yes!?
There’s soot on your hand. Be a little more careful.
Huh? Wha? Whe?
Did she just, let us slide…?
I think so…


Since she’s going to keep doing this anyway, there’s really only one thing I can do…



Yup. Thank you so much for helping me!
You’re welcome. …Say, Jess.
Huh, yes?
I’ve been thinking. You might want to stop doing the difficult syntheses.
I think about it, and I try not to too…
But, alchemy is boring if you only get to make what they tell you to make…
And it’s no problem to be locked up in a prison just because you were bored?
Urrr…
Um… Then how about this?
Huh?
When you feel like doing something reckless next time, I’ll do it with you.
If we work on it together, I think there’ll be less a chance of it failing.
You mean… you’d help me?
Your syntheses are… Dangerous, but fun to watch. And intrigiuing.
And the cleanup after the explosion will be quicker and easier, too.
Shh! You didn’t have to say that!
So, how about it…?
Um… Then, I think I’ll take you up on the offer.
Okay, I’ll be looking forward to it then.

There are some rumors going around campus about a ghost sighting.

Video- “Intermission”

A Ghost?

Nemu: It’s true! She’s passed out in the Infirmary right now!
What are you guys talking about?
Riggs: Ahh, don’t waste your time listening to her.
Nemu: Geez! I’m telling you, it’s true!!
Now, now… So, what happened?
Nemu: Umm, you see… Last night… It, you know, appeared…
…What appeared?
Nemu: There’s only one thing that appears at night! A ghost!
A g-ghost? No way.
Nemu: How can you say that!? My friend actually saw it, and she’s still passed out!!
Riggs: But you didn’t see it, right?
So, how did your friend tell you she saw a ghost if she’s still asleep?
Nemu: Uh, well you see…
Riggs: Told you, it’s a waste of time.
Nemu: Arghhh! But it’s true!

I wish potential ghosts were our worst problem, but we’re not so lucky.

Video- “Nikki 2”

Watch us Make Things Worse!

I couldn’t even get in to the workshop this morning thanks to a swarm of downtrodden looking guys.



Tom: P-please, just consider…
Ricky: Please please please!
If you insist, here’s a suggestion. Fight me!
Tom: B-but that’s…
Ricky: Unfair! I’ll sue you!
What’s with this ruckus?
…Who are those people?
Try outs for our workshop, supposedly.
That many? Wow… Uh, but then, were you just kicking them out?
They were just dumped by Nikki! They don’t know when to give up…
I see…
They keep coming back, no matter how many times we tell them no.
Ahh, it sucks to be so popular with the boys, teehee!

Flay was less amused by the situation.



What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to deal with guys like that, either.
Then don’t flirt with them in the first place! Now stop complaining for else!
Fine, okay. But seriously, what should I do? Any good ideas?
I honestly don’t know…
Don’t be so cold hearted. Think with me.
I wonder if there’s any medicine that works for this kind of stuff?
Ooh! There’s a start!
But would there really be something that convenient?
Well, it doesn’t hurt to look it up either way.

We headed down to the Resource Center to look for something.



Nothing here…
Uhh. Well, here’s a love potion…
That’s the complete opposite!
Yeah…
Oh, wait a minute. We might be able to use that!
Use it…? How?
We’ll just use the opposite components.
That way, the medicine should make them hate you instead.
Woohoo! You’re on a roll today!
Can you really make it?
I think so… Probably.
Well then, we’ll just put all our trust into Jess.
That doesn’t help…
Let’s do this!
System Message: You receive the recipe for Mystery Medicine.
Item: Loveless Potion can now be made.

I’m not sure how it was supposed to work exactly, but we got the potion together.



It was pretty nasty stuff honestly.



How is it? Think it’ll work?
Uhm, we won’t know until we actually try it…
Wha-hey! Don’t point it at me!

Luckily, before they could test it on me the guys from earlier returned.



Here I go…
Are you sure it’s safe to use it on people?
Well, I mean, there’s no poison in it…
I guess…
Tahh! Take this!

I don’t know if it was an anti-love potion but it sure worked.



Ricky: Ew! It smells! And it’s kinda sticky, too…
Hassan: What the hell do you think you’re doing!? I demand compensation!
…… So?
Tom: So? What?
Do you feel anything when you stare into my eyes?
Hassan: What are you talking about? Anyway, you’ll see my cleaning bill!
Ricky: Yeah! You better pay, you stupid, funky hair lady!
Hassan: I’ll sue you for sure this time!
Wow! It worked perfectly!
Yay! I’m so amazing!
Uh, but…
It mighta been too strong…
Tom: What the hell are you guys ranting about!?
Ricky: I never liked you, damn meowing furball! Take this!
Wha-owwww! Don’t pull my tail!
We have to help her!
Yeah!

We eventually got everything sorted out, violence always being an option.



It was so horrible… Mewwww…
You brought it upon yourself. And stop it with that cat cry.
But now, they won’t come back right?
Yeah, thanks guys. You really helped me out.
You’re very welcome.
…With that medicine, I can go flirt with however many guys I want again.
You never learn, do you, woman?
If I gave up at something like this, I’d never find me a good hubby.
I would very much love to praise that aggressive attitude, but…
Just remember, all things in moderation…

At least we’re almost done our summer homework. Shame the break is so close to being over, though…