fandomhigh | How to Blow Things Up

Aly was more subdued than she normally would be as she met the students in the Danger Shop.

"Okay, everyone," she said, glancing around at the class. "This is going to be our first practical class here in the Danger Shop to help get you guys used to the feel of explosives before we work with them in a less controlled setting - or before you can actually blow yourself up instead of what you're aiming for."

"We're going to deal with improvised devices today, and two in particular, but first you do need to know a bit about the theory," Aly gave a concise but thorough lecture on explosive materials and the science behind them. The impression she gave off was one of a child dutifully eating his meat so he could get to the pudding. Practicalities were obviously more interesting to her.

"The two explosives we're going to work with today are two improvised explosives. You don't always have access to military material and you definitely don't always need it. One of the most common explosives in this word - and also one of the easiest to make is anfo - fertiliser and fuel oil. It sounds simple, but it's an immensely powerful explosive. A ton or so in a the right place could blow up a cargo ship and the harbor it's sitting in - if you can get it into the cargo ship, of course. The other is less an explosive than a weapon. Molotov cocktails - half gasoline, and half motor oil - you've probably already heard of them if you're from this world. They're easy to make and can do a lot of damage especially against gasoline engines or wood structures."

"What the plan is today is to spend some time discussing tactics with these weapons. When would one of these particular types of explosive devices be useful? Then make the anfo into a bomb, put together a Molotov cocktail, and blow some stuff up."

[OOC: ~~Please wait for the~~ OCD is up. All links in this one go to Wiki so no worries about the Feds. More explanation in the OCD threads. As a side note, the idea of anfo blowing up a ship and the harbour it's in is from an AWESOME series of books that begins with Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden. Go read them. Seriously. *finishes pimping for the day*]

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It's okay. Annette confuses more than half the people she talks to. It's just a thing.

"Well, I don't know. She was kind of bitchy about the whole thing. Telling us we took too long. But, man, you try and pick a lock that's submerged under water when you're way too excited to keep from shaking - it just wasn't going to happen. Poor girl."

She sighed.

"So, Johnny, you ever blow anything up before? And just so you know, I think your name is way cooler than that other Johnny's."

Johnny rolled his eyes at the girl. "Yeah, like somebody who'd been rescued from someplace with explosives an' underwater locks would have enough of a leg to stand on to complain about the way she was rescued in."

He smiled at Annette. "Oh, thanks," he said, flattered at the compliment. "Jus' what I ended up with in life, I guess. It's my real name too." He frowned a bit. "Unless my Dad legally changed his own name to somethin' flashier in his 20s, an' just never bothered to tell me. But I don' think that happened."

~~Random trivia: although they were created by different people, both Johnnys were named by the same guy.~~

"Right," Annette said, nodding her head and ignoring the eye roll.

"Well, your dad must be pretty cool, Johnny Blaze," she said, meeting his eyes. Johnny was goodlooking; she wondered if he had a girlfriend. Not that that mattered to her at all. Just curious. Someone this goodlooking usually did.

~~That I did not know. Thanks!~~

Johnny shrugged. "He's alright. He ran away to join the carnival when he was my age, so he's been doin' stuntwork for ages. He smokes like a chimney stack though, an' I really wish he'd stop 'cause that can't be good for his health." He sighed in the long-suffering way of someone who'd been dealing with that issue for years. "Did teach me how to make cherry bombs, though."

Blaze didn't have a girlfriend. He had a crush on a pretty latina girl named Roxanne Simpson whose Dad owned the carnival he worked for, but that was about it.

"I've never been to a carnival; is it much like a circus or a fair?" She probably shouldn't comment on smoking. She's tried it once or twice but that was enough. She did add, "I hope he stops too, Johnny."

Her eyes lit up, "Cherry bombs? How do you make those?"

"Kinda like both of 'em, stuck together," he said. "There are shows that you can get tickets for, but the main attraction are the midway rides an' games. Most of 'em travel around, to make a buck where they can." He smiled wanly at her comment. "Thanks."

He looked around to make sure the teacher wasn't paying attention. " 'S not that hard. Take a little flash power, mix it with some sawdust, stick in a wick, an' cover it in liquid glass, an' you got yourself a good cherry bomb. They make nice fireworks.

She smiled, "It would be fun if they had something like that around here. I would love to see stunts. What are midway rides?" Annette had been raised a pampered, preppy little socialite. She didn't know about any of this stuff except for what she might have seen on TV or read about.

"Wow. My own fireworks. Can you just buy that stuff at normal shops? I've never heard of liquid glass."

The usual," Johnny said, giving Annette a bit of a funny look. "Tilt-a-whirl, carousel, bounce pit, electronic haunted house, those cars that fling ya backwards. You never been to a carnival before?"

He tried to think of where to get liquid glass from. He'd always swiped some from the maintenance crew. " 'M not sure. I know that cherry bombs tend to be banned in a lotta places, so I think you'd have to go to a specialty place for it."

She shook her head and looked down, "My upbringing was rather...guarded."

"Turtle and Canary might have it or can get it I bet. Not that I'm thinking of making cherry bombs or anything."

"Really?" he asked, honestly curious at how someone could grow up completely guarded. "What they do to ya?"

He smirked at the other statement. "Course not."

"They didn't do anything to me. I was just involved in a lot of other...extracurricular activites and didn't have time for that sort of stuff. I did go to the circus though."

How to Blow Things Up - Period 1, Week 2

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