TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS
PART 6.3 - MORE CLASS ON THE GLASS
(Yes, one, soon to be two, levels old now. But I will play catch up now when I have some days off. Co-operation with @Madrias .)
Hoping to get a solution like two years ago, Janne was approaching Jayde of Team Shift happens.
“Uhm, hello Jayde…”, Janne said while slowly approaching him. “Well, you have seen dyre wrecking cars, I guess…and it might have been our fault too, but…when was the last time you saw a car being wrecked by a spider?”
Jayde smirks. “Last time… Rental SUV came in completely wrecked. Insurance company wanted a damage quote so they could justify totaling the car. Turns out, the driver was arachnophobic, and a tarantula had gotten inside. They dropped the sun-visor to check their makeup, spider falls in their lap, SUV becomes a highway pinball off of six other cars before finding a bridge support.”
“That sounds high tech”, Janne said. “70s car, 70s way of doing it, I say. So, do you want a glimpse of…how to do it the old school way?”, he said and pointed towards the IP.
Jayde chuckles. “Do you mean 1970’s old school, or do you really mean 3251 After the War of Magic?” He then motions toward his right arm.
“I’ll need a little help this time. You’ll have to crush the glass if the windshield’s broken. Can’t do that with my right arm in a cast.”
“It might be 1971 years after someone blamed the holy spirit instead of the mailman, or 3251 after that war or…man you should read some of the books I managed to find on my grandfathers attic, they do explain a lot, but will leave you with even more questions, and…”, Janne started to explain to Jayde.
“NONE OF THIS SHIT NOW!”, Andreas said. “DO YOU WANT TO REPAIR THE WINDSHIELD OR DO YOU WANT TO PRETEND YOU ARE IN SOME FREAKING HARRY POTTER WORLD SO EVERYONE THINKS YOU’RE EVEN MORE MAD THAN THEY ALREADY KNOW?”
“…Oh well”, Janne continued and pointed to Marie. “Unfortunately this spider managed to walk on the car when that fat wreck over there was holding an axe and…”, he pointed to the interior, “…we managed to do an almost invisible repair there, except for all the visible duct tape, which honestly speaking is all of the repair, but, well, I can’t repair the windshield with duct tape.”, he said.
“I ALMOST GOT THAT BASTARD!”, Marie said.
“No, you only managed to cut your goddamned fingers so there are also blood stains on the interior”, Andreas sighed.
“Anyway, I think I have a solution”, Janne said and emptied a vodka bottle.
“HEY, THAT WAS MINE!”, Marie said.
“It was probably someone elses to start with”, Janne said. “AND I NEED THIS TO COPE WITH YOUR MOTHERFUCKING MADNESS!”, he continued and drank the last of it. Then he put the empty bottle on a rock, crushed it with a hammer and asked Jayde if it was enough or if he had to empty so many bottles that he would be drunk enough to appreciate Marie’s ideas before there could be a windshield repair done.
Jayde looks over the pile of glass shards, then over the windshield and how much glass was all over the interior.
“I think that might be enough glass. I’ll add to it - I need to take something for the pain anyway…”
Jayde quietly rummages in his bag and grabs a pale green bottle, downing the contents before breaking the green glass along with what Janne had already provided. He crouches down and sets a bowl on the ground, collecting up as much of the glass as he could within reason. After a few seconds, he looks over at the windshield, holding the bowl on his right palm before muttering a quiet incantation. The glass in the bowl begins to glow white-hot, before a flash causes it to vanish, the windshield suddenly becoming one whole sheet of glass again, this time with slight pale green hints throughout the glass where one of Jayde’s supplied glass chips had fused in and left a reminder of his work.
“Need the interior cleaned as well?”
“Thanks. Well, wouldn’t mind it, it will probably take care of the butter residues if nothing else”, Janne grumbled.
“IT WAS THAT STUPID SMURF!”, Marie said.
“If you would not upset that stupid smurf all the time, the stupid smurf would not be smurfing around all the time and smurf all our stuff”, Andreas tried to explain to her.
Jayde laughs.
“And here, I thought you got pranked by the Hooligans. I’ll clean that up, then we can figure out some form of repayment for the energy cost.”
Jayde uses a familiar cleaning spell, last used on the Hillbilly Rollers’ pink van after the mercy bush incident. With a flash, decades of dirt and dust and grime vanish, the butter disappears from the air vents, and some of the other smells are lifted.
“I will sure find out a way”, Janne said, with an air of mystery in his voice. “AND WHATEVER I FIND OUT, MAKE SURE YOU WON’T RUIN IT!”, he said and pointed to Marie.
“I haven’t done anything!”, she said.
“No, but you were probably going to…”
Jayde nods softly. “Food works. I’d request alcohol, but I suspect I know where it’s all gone.”
“So…”, Janne said. “What do you think about our ride this year, spare for the broken windshield then. A show winner a little over 40 years ago”, he said, without trying to hide his pride. “Maybe not so much now…”
“Well,” Jayde admits, “if I thought I’d fit in it, I’d drive it. Granted, at my size… I’d have to turn the poor thing into a convertible.”
“Yeah, the common panel van struggle”, Janne said. “A divider wall where you would like to have your seat. Oh well, having…someone…mid bench does not help with the space either.”
“I HEARD YOU!”, Marie said.
“Happy that you listen to what I say for once”, Janne answered.
“The bus is a lot better than our… First year’s choice. Could still be better, but this is at least good,” Jayde admits. “At least no one’s stuck with a pair of gear-sticks in their crotch.”
“Well, if you can cure seats with saturday night pukes, eh, or even worse things… on them using magic, the choice of a bus all of a sudden makes sense”, Janne said.
Jayde smiles. “It’s a used city bus, so, yeah, it’s something that made a lot more sense here. Lower speeds. Lots of space. Relatively comfortable when it’s not driven by an idiot.”
“Oh well”, Janne said. “Thanks a lot for the repairs, I hope that if I get back to you it will be for a more fun reason…”
“Not a problem. It’s reasonable to ask one of the magic users when someone has decided to axe-murder your car,” Jayde mentions. “Just… When you’ve figured out a form of payment, let me know.”
“No problems”, Janne said. “Because I guess you don’t want an annoying crew member as payment…”
“I HEARD YOU!”, Marie said.
Jayde starts laughing. “We don’t have the room. Rukari volunteered to stay behind so Inaelus could go with us, but we have 11 people and 11 seats. And she wouldn’t want to ride with us - We don’t have any alcohol onboard.”
“Oh well, I guess I will have to check the vehicle through for tomorrow now”, Janne said. “But thanks a lot and see you!”
Jayde nods and heads toward the bus. “You’re welcome. Maybe next time…” Jayde pauses and gives a smirk, pulling his staff out of his bag.
“Next time Marie grabs the axe, maybe it’ll become a snake.”
Jayde taps his staff twice on the dirt, then puts it back away.
TO BE CONTINUED…