Shovel Talk
19 – Shovel Talk
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Luz stood in front of the door after knocking while holding onto two backpacks. Eventually Masha and their dad opened it.
The dad did a double take at Luz. “Sorry, I thought Vee would be here.”
Luz shook her head. “Sorry Mr. DeLisle. I am just here to pick up Masha-“
He then rounded on Masha. “You had better not be cheating on your girlfriend.”
Both Masha and Luz began to shake their heads in unison. “Not even close. I am just going to be giving her a shovel talk.”
That calmed him down. “Ok then. Do you want to borrow my shotgun?”
Luz just rolled her eyes. “No thanks, I already have one back home.”
The dad just chuckled at that. “Ok then. Have fun.”
Masha then went out the door with the dad closing it behind them. The two walked down the street for a while before marsa spoke up.
“So where are we going? I know you want to give me your version of the ‘if you hurt her I will end you’, but why did you have to set up a get together with just the two of us for that?”
Luz just gave them a small smile. “Something came up that we needed to deal with. What better way to make sure you don’t hurt her then a live demonstration of what I am capable of.”
Masha then perked up in interest at that. “Really? What is it and can I help?”
Luz then led them off the sidewalk and onto a dirt path into the woods around the town. “There are a few things you can do. But for now, the best thing you can do right now is to hold on while wearing a backpack.”
Luz then reached into one of the backpacks and brought out Ghost. The Palismen then shifted into staff form for Luz to mount. Masha looked excitedly before leaping into a sitting position behind Luz after putting on the other backpack.
“Where are we going?”
“To a nearby drug den a rival group is trying to set up in our territory.”
“Cool- wait, what?”
Before Masha could question Luz further, Luz was flying between the trees at high speed as Masha held onto Luz’s torso tight in terror.
10 minutes later
The two then set down behind a large tree a little distance from a house with a “sold” sign near the outskirts of town. Masha could only look at it in shock.
“I know this place. It’s a 5-minute walk from my house. Why did you fly us through the woods at break neck speeds for 10 minutes?”
“I wanted to scare you, practice flying on a staff, and to buy time for the rest of the plan.”
Masha just gave Luz a dirty look that she ignored in favor of pulling out a pair of binoculars from her bag before looking through them at the house.
“Ok, it looks like there is one person on guard outside right now. The lunch delegation should be on the move right, about-“
The door to the house suddenly opened and three people walked out. The guard went with them into the car in the driveway and then they drove off into central Gravesfield.
She then handed the binoculars over to Masha. “I’ll go down and leave our gift for them, I need you to stay here on watch in case the truck comes back.”
Masha just grabbed the binoculars shoved into their hand before their brain provided them a response. “What about the guards inside?”
Luz just smiled. “They are relying on a guard dog and security cameras instead of leaving anyone behind.” She then handed over a tamagotchi. “Signal me with this when the truck is on its way back.”
Luz then grabbed the backpack Masha was carrying along with her own and ran towards the house. Once she reached the house, she knelt by the slightly open basement window and threw in something from her backpack.
She then went up to the back door and started fiddling with the door knob for a bit before the door opened and she walked inside.
Masha just looked at the road leading to the house every now and then while primary trying to suddenly develop the ability to look through walls.
What are you doing in their Luz?
Inside the house
Luz couldn’t hep but coo at the sleeping guard dog on the floor, the magically seasoned meat having done its job perfectly.
“Ghost, could you remind me to tell Willow that her Boiling Isles sleeping nettles worked perfectly?”
The cat palismen just nodded it head at her before both went back to their assigned tasks.
Luz gathering setting up the gifts she brought with her.
Ghost searching for documents and money for Luz to leave with.
10 minutes later
It was amazing how boring this trip with Luz had been. Masha thought they were capable of dealing with whatever Luz could throw at them, but siting behind a tree with binoculars to wait for her to come out for 10 minutes straight was not on the list in the slightest.
Eventually, Luz and Ghost left the house carrying a large dog and wearing two much fuller backpacks. Once they reached Masha, they knelt down and place the dog between them.
“Are you done?”
Luz just smiled before pulling out a garage door opener from her backpack and pushing the button.
BOOM!
A large explosion emanated from the basement of the house, leading to the entire building collapsing down into it.
Masha could only look on in shock and horror at the devastation that occurred in front of them.
Luz…
Luz was just sighing in annoyance.
“Really? Did you have to collapse so quickly? This is going to make the police finding the evidence down there next to imposable. All that work to figure out how people counterfeit money without magic gone to waste.”
Masha could only look at her like she grew a second head.
“What was, what are, WHAT!”
Luz just had Ghost turn into a staff again and climbed on. “I’ll explain everything later. For now, let’s get away from a soon to be crime scene. I already called 911 about the explosion before I left, and I don’t think either of us want to be anywhere near here when they show up.”
Masha could only nod before climbing on and SLOWLY flying into the forest.
The Shack
Masha just sat in the chair across from Luz, who had placed down a bag of chips for the two of them to snack on. They were still staring at Luz with shock and a burning desire to know what the heck had just happened. Luz took a drink of her soda before starting.
“As I mentioned, those were some rivel drug dealers that had decided to set up shop here. Me and the others decided to take them out the picture by just blowing up their lab while none of them were in it.”
Masha just nodded slightly before asking one of the dozens of questions in their brain.
“How?”
“Oh, that was easy. Eda taught me how to make bombs on the Isles. Most of it doesn’t work here, but enough did for me to be able of relearning it online with Jacob’s computer.”
“Why?”
Luz shot them a confused look. “Because researching how to make bombs on my computer would put me on a watch list?”
“No, I mean why would you want to relearn how to make a bomb?”
“Oh, that makes more sense. I did that because I was thinking of framing Jacob for bomb making a while ago before we framed him for chopping the head of the statue. Also, I was missing Eda and doing illegal things helps me feel like a little bit of her is with me.”
Luz looked into the distance a bit before Masha brought her focus back.
“Wait, were there bombs in the backpack you had me wear?”
“Well I couldn’t have them in my back pack. I didn’t want my lock picking tools, walkie talky, drugged dog meat, or ghosts around it in case it made it detonate early. Also, mine had the fire proof lock box.”
“What fire proof lock box?”
At that Luz smiled again. “The one filled with counterfeit money done the way people on Earth normally do it. We also left info in it leading to a printing location set up in another location that is owned on paper by the same people that own the house that just blew up. After figuring out how to create IDs from scratch, fiddling with existing property records was much easier.”
Masha could only studder at that moment, which Luz took as a sign to continue. “I thought that the blast would only be enough to catch the building on fire, but I’m guessing the drug making chemicals were more explosive than I thought. That would be why the building collapsed into the basement. Now the police won’t find the case, and maybe the drug lab either.” She then gave a disappointed sigh. “All that work down the drain.”
Masha couldn’t help but give a look of disbelief at the girl sitting in front of her. Luz however didn’t notice due to suddenly perking up at something else and reaching down to her two backpacks.
“On the plus side, I was able of getting a lot of cash they had stashed away. More importantly, they had paper records of their customers, suppliers, and other illegal contacts lying around. We can now co-op them, tell out own mob connections about them, or just report them to the cops. That should prevent these guys from getting involved around here again, and serve as a warning to others as well.”
Masha finaly just gave up and let their head fall into their hands. “How is this whole thing a shovel talk?”
That actually made Luz laugh. “Gee, how is showing you that I know how to make, plant, and detonate bombs without anyone knowing I was there related to scaring you into treating Vee right?”
Masha could only look up in horror as Luz continued. “I probably should have just done what I did with Hunter and kidnaped you from your room while you sleeping and had you wake up in another location instead before reminding you that I was also taught how to dispose of dead bodies.”
“You did what? You know what?”
Luz then got up and walked over to a closet nearby and then opened it. “Or how about I just do this?”
She then pulled out an actual shotgun and began striping and cleaning it in front of them.
“This is actually something I have been getting lessons on from our mob contacts. I have actually gotten good at the range, though I haven’t killed anyone.”
She then gave Masha a pointed look. “YET!”
She then went back to reassembling the shotgun. “Do you think this works better as a shovel talk?”
Masha could only nod slightly as their brain tried to process the girl that they once saw loose a tug-of-war with a puppy over a sandwich expertly load and unload a shot gun before their eyes before returning it to its closet.
“Good.” Her demeaner then shifted back to her usual happy self. “Do you need a ride home?”
Masha just rapidly shook their head. “NoICanGetBackPerfectlyFineOnMyOwnBye!” They then ran out the door as fast as their legs could carry them until they reached, they reached a cross walk, where they collapsed against a lamp post while waiting for the light to change.
“How is it that after all of that, Camilla’s shovel talk was scarier?”