While the other Nerds made their way back to the Observatory, Melvin and Jimmette were walking through Bullworth Town, heading for the Dragon’s Wing...Or more specifically, the basement of the Dragon’s Wing. The proprietor, Mr Owens, as he was now known, wasn’t above taking a bribe to be conveniently absent from the store entirely this fine evening. Still, Melvin led Jimmette down the back steps to the basement door, where he produced a key, unlocking the door and leading her inside.
Jimmette had never been to the Dragon’s Wing before. She looked about the room in wonder, at the posters and battle maps on the walls, at the old ConSumo arcade game right by the door, at Fatty working under a spotlight in the far corner.....
Fatty !!! Melvin groaned inwardly. He had forgotten all about Fatty, forgotten he was here, diddling around with some new weapon he’d been working on. Melvin crossed over to where he was at. Fatty was so absorbed in what he was doing, he didn’t even notice Melvin was there until he spoke.
“Eh...Hey, Fatty....How’s the Super Spud Gun coming along ?”, Melvin ventured.
Fatty’s head shot up. The spotlight reflected off his glasses, making him look like a huge Hoot Owl. “Oh....It’s not. Too many problems with the trigger release on the increased velocity spring.”
“Uh, yeah....That’s....Disappointing”, Melvin allowed, trying to figure a way to get Fatty to leave.
“But I got something better. Look.” Fatty held out a strange-looking contraption. It was a slim pipe, rigged with a hand-sized grip stock attached, which contained a small trigger.
“So....What’s this ?”, Melvin asked, his interest peaked.
“It’s a Spud Rifle”, Fatty announced, a look of triumph on his face.
“Well, er....That’s great, Fatty”, Melvin said, wondering if Fatty had finally gone insane. “Except, uhh....A Potato won’t fit in there.”
“These Potatoes will”, Fatty proclaimed, holding up a tiny object. Melvin examined it curiously. It was small and round, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. “What is that ?”, he asked.
“It’s a Baby Potato”, Fatty said. “I got a whole case of them from that Chef guy over at the restaurant. They’re used in Potato Salads or something. They come in cans, too, so it’ll be easier to reload them. I gotta add another pipe underneath for a reloader, and the springs....”
“So, where’d you get the pipes ?”, Melvin asked.
“There was a box of them, under the stairs”, Fatty replied, pointing. “Plumbing Pipes, it looks like. Got about 24 here. More than enough for just us,”
“What do you mean ?”, Melvin asked, but he already knew the answer to that.
“You guys can sell all our weapons”, Fatty said, indicating Melvin and all the other Nerds, “But not this one. This is just for US. That Parity stuff is garbage, we get attacked with our own weapons, we’re gonna lose even if we have weapons. But this will give us the upper hand.”
“What about Thad ?”, Melvin asked. “Won’t he be....”
“Phffft”, Fatty raspberryed, “He’s not the only one who can make weapons. He’ll get over it. I’ll let him invent the trigger springs or something.”
“About the springs”, Melvin asked, “Won’t they have to be stronger ?”
“Naw”, Fatty said, “The same strength tension will velocity these little Spuds five times faster, cause they’re a lot lighter. Anybody that gets hit will feel just like Rubber Bullets hit then. Plus, the range will be a lot farther. We can hit somebody from a hundred yards away.”
Melvin considered for a moment. “That sounds good, real good. But, uhh,....Dont you think you ought to take a break now ? Like, uh, just knock off for the night ?” He cocked his head towards Jimmette, who was still looking around.
Fatty looked at him balefully. “Gee, if you want me to leave, why don’t you just say so ?”, he whined.
Melvin tried a different tact. “Say, aren’t you hungry ? Bet you’ve been down here all day and forgot to eat, didn’t you ?”
Fatty suddenly realized he WAS hungry. Very Hungry. “Umm, Yeah ! I’m Starving !”, he moaned. His stomach suddenly felt like an empty cavern.
“There’s still some food at the dance”, Melvin suggested. “It’s about over, but I’ll bet there’s a bunch still out....”
Melvin didn’t even finish his sentence before Fatty had packed his stuff away and went limping for the door. In a flash, he was gone. Melvin shook his head. He should have mentioned food earlier. But the way was clear now. He had Jimmette alone. He called over, “Hey, Jimmette, I want to show you something !”
Jimmette followed Melvin into the little sleeping room off the basement. She looked around in the dim light, her eyes taking in the spool table, the chairs, and finally lighting on the bed. The dirty mattress where Algie had had his nut blown off had been replaced with a new one, all comfy-looking with fresh sheets and soft blankets.
She turned wordlessly and embraced Melvin, running her tongue over his lips before plunging it through. Gently, she edged him back towards the bed, helping undo his pants before shoving him down. With a graceful motion, she pulled off her dress and dropped her panties before climbing on him.
Over the course of the next few hours, she showed Melvin things that he had only dreamed of.
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