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“I can’t believe we have to take this stupid class to graduate.” Grian grumbled to Mumbo and Iskall, shuffling his textbooks in his arms as they walked across Hermitville campus towards the classroom that would dictate their suffering for the next semester.
“I know, right?” Iskall shook his head. “I can’t believe it, just because some dean changed a requirement. Absolutely ridiculous.”
“At least it’s just a semester, and it’ll probably be stuff we already know.” Mumbo pointed out. “I mean, honestly, it’s just a run of the mill architecture class, we’ve taken like half a dozen of those.”
“It’s still dumb though.” Grian huffed.
“Yeah, I agree.” Mumbo shrugged. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
“Which classroom was it again?” Iskall tugged out his phone, swiping through it as they entered the architecture and engineering building.
“104, I think.” Mumbo squinted at the plaques next to the doors as they walked past.
“Nope, it’s 140.” Grian corrected, leading them down a separate hallway. “I had industrial tech there last year.”
“Right, okay.” Iskall put away his phone again, and the three of them made their way to the room.
Stepping inside, the classroom was your standard engineering room, with tables scattered around and power tools and other materials lined up against the wall. At the front of the room was a projector and subsequent screen, as well as a desk hastily shoved in the corner, already stacked with papers, even though it was the first day of the semester. Sitting in the chair behind it was a tired looking adult with curly blond hair and a baggy jacket, presumably their teacher. Grian hated them already, just because they were teaching this stupid class.
It took a few minutes for everyone to file in. It wasn't a huge class, about fifteen or so people, and it wasn't long before everyone picked out tables to sit at. Grian, Iskall, and Mumbo all sat at a table together, and similar sized groups formed around each of the other ones, until everyone was situated.
The teacher glanced at their watch, shrugged, then stood up, leaning up against the desk. “Alright, that should be everyone. My name’s Mx. Smith, I want to be here just as much as you do, so instead of hating me, please join forces with me in hating the deans for making this decision.”
Grian perked up a bit. Maybe this class wouldn’t be so bad after all, if the teacher hated it just as much as they did.
“Because none of us want to be here, I’ve arranged this class to benefit you the best way I know how.” Mx. Smith clapped their hands together. “The first fifteen minutes of class will be a lesson, because I legally have to teach you something, and then the rest of class will be spent on your project of the semester.”
They clicked a few buttons on their computer, and the projector flicked on, revealing a list of instructions. “This looks way more complicated than it actually is, so pay attention so you don’t get confused. Instead of having various projects throughout the semester, you’ll have one big project that will be graded each week. Your table will be tasked with designing a street, each of you will have a house. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the permissions needed for us to build these houses in real scale, so you’ll be making miniatures. Now, in a normal architecture class, you’d be told to make this house like you would see it in real life. You know, build up those life skills. However, I think that’s boring.”
Grian, Iskall, and Mumbo all exchanged looks, grins on all of their faces. This was starting to look up, and in a very exciting way.
“You can design your house however you want.” The teacher continued. “You will be judged off of eight categories. Diversity, complexity, defence, stability, livability, value, amusement, and fear factor. It’s up to you how you interpret these categories, I will not be going into more depth. You also don’t have to strive for these categories if you don’t want to, all the grades that I put in will take the best scores, so you should all pass this class with an A if you put in minimal effort and make something interesting. However, the person with the highest score at their table will receive ten extra points of credit each week. Does that make sense to everyone?”
A chorus of agreement rose up from the individual tables, and Grian could see several people already scheming, scribbling down designs in notebooks. He fished out his own and began to write down a few ideas.
“Alright, there are large scale papers over in that corner, writing utensils in the cabinet, and materials are scattered around the room.” The teacher froze the projector screen so that they could still see the instructions and guidelines, then sat down on the desk. “I’d recommend starting with a design first, rather than trying to build right away, but this is all you. Go crazy. You also don’t have to have any models built by the end of this week, I’ll judge blueprints and floor plans on paper. This is all at your pace, so long as you have a miniature by the end of the semester, you’re good. We’re not going to do a lesson today, none of you will be able to pay attention anyway. Feel free to start designing, if you have any questions, I’m right up here. Break.”
The class exploded into controlled pandemonium. Mx. Smith had just given fifteen or so art and architecture students complete creative control over their own project, with no restrictions and no repercussions, the entire class was practically buzzing with excitement.
“Forget what I said about this class being boring.” Iskall laughed, opening his sketchbook. “I think this is going to be the best class I’ve ever taken!”
“My house is going to make absolutely no sense, just because it can.” Grian stated, already sketching out a design. “It’ll start by looking like a normal house, but it’s not gonna stay like that for long.”
“I’m going to go for something industrial, futuristic maybe.” Mumbo tapped his pencil against the table a few times, thinking. “Iskall?”
“I’m gonna go for something a little bit more modern, maybe like the avengers house from that new movie.” Iskall pulled out his phone, searching up some reference images. “How big are you guys gonna do your foundation, since we’re designing a street, we’ll want something similar in square feet.”
“Hmmm, I’m not thinking anything too big, at least not length or width wise. I might go for something tall though.” Grian leaned back in his chair. “I probably go with…maybe like 500 square feet? Remember, we still have to make this into a model, we don’t want to go too big otherwise it’ll be really tricky to make.”
“Good point.” Mumbo hummed. “I’ll probably aim for something around that.”
“Mine will most likely be bigger, just from what I’ve sketched out so far.” Iskall shrugged. “Probably not too much bigger, and it might still be 500, just stretched out different.”
“Sounds like a plan then.” Mumbo grinned, then pointed to the board with his pencil. “You heard what they said about grades, right? That whoever has the highest score at the end of each week gets ten extra points?”
“Oh I’m going to win all of them.” Iskall didn’t even look up from his sketchbook. “You’re going down.”
“You’re on.” Grian grinned.
-
“Mumbo.” Grian leaned over his shoulder, peering at his floor plan. “I can’t help but notice that you’ve made your house two feet taller than mine.”
“What?” Mumbo turned to him, eyes wide and innocent. “Oh, what a coincidence!”
“And the funny thing is, yesterday, when we were sharing our floor plans, I had the tallest house.” Grian continued, moving over to sit in his seat. “I think you’re up to something, Mr. Jumbo.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Grian.” Mumbo shook his head. “I’m just putting an antenna on my home, nothing fancy, just so that my lovely residents can watch television.”
“Sure, sure.” Grian spread out his floor plan and took out a pencil, drawing the spire of his tower just a little bit taller. “Well then, you won’t mind that my house is now a foot taller than yours now, will you?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that one, Grian.” Mumbo took out his notebook, shielding it from Grian’s prying eyes with his arm. “Maybe I’ve got something up my sleeve.”
“Maybe I do too.” Grian narrowed his eyes at him. “If it’s a build off you want, it’s a build off you’ll get.”
Iskall chuckled softly to himself from his seat and turned a page in his notebook.
“What are you laughing about?” Mumbo gave him an incredulous look. “You’ve got the smallest house out of all of us!”
“Not for long.” Iskall stood, walking over to the stacks of paper in the corner of the room. “Are you guys going to start on your models today?”
“Probably.” Grian nodded. “I think I’m gonna 3D print some parts and use some plywood for other bits. I don’t suppose either of you know if we’ve got paint here?”
“It’s in the cabinet.” Iskall set his paper down on the table, then began to draw out his design on it.
“Great, thank you.” Grian set his laptop down on top of his floor plan, plugging in the numbers into the 3D modeling program. Already, he was proud of how it was coming along. It was a ramshackle stack of houses, each precariously attached together, perfectly balanced so that it wouldn’t fall over, even though it looked like a stiff breeze away from toppling. The hardest part would be fitting it all together in real life. It was all well and good to draw something out on paper or design it on the computer, but the laws of physics would determine whether or not his project would actually work.
-
Grian slotted the final piece of the wooden roof into place, slumping back into his chair once the glue had set. His hands were shaking from the effort of making sure he didn’t accidently knock anything off, and it had paid off. The house looked incredible, or at least, the body of it did. He hadn’t painted it yet, so it was a combination of white plastic and mottled wood that clashed together to create a real eyesore.
“Hey Grian.” Iskall called from his end of the table, and he turned his head to meet his gaze. There was a scheming look in his eyes, one that scared him. “Did you notice there are hooks in the ceiling?”
Grian looked up, and sure enough, there were hooks set into the tiled ceiling, perfectly positioned over their tables. He looked back down, narrowing his eyes at Iskall. “What are you planning?”
“Nothing, nothing.” Iskall put a line of glue along the base of his wooden frame that would start his modern home. “Don’t worry about it, dude.”
“I’m worried.” Mumbo stated, sliding his different 3D pieces into place. “You’re about to do something.”
“Maybe.” Iskall bent down to squint through the long window of his home, adjusting the wooden beam slightly. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
“Well gentlemen, I must say, my home is looking quite a bit taller than yours.” Grian declared, gesturing to his beautiful creation. “Ignore the fact that it isn’t detailed or painted yet, I’m gonna get to that.”
“Mmm, yes, it does look taller, doesn’t it?” Mumbo finished arranging his 3D pieces and pulled out his notebook. “What will I ever do?”
“I’d be more worried about what he’s doing.” Iskall pointed the glue bottle at Mumbo. “He’s got that engineer brain, he’s planning something insane.”
“Who, me?” Mumbo pressed a hand to his heart dramatically. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Grian looked between the two of them, a grin tugging at his lips. “You’re both up to something. I know it.”
-
Sure enough, when Grian came into the classroom after the weekend, both Mumbo and Iskall’s houses had been…upgraded. Mumbo’s house was now connected to his with a full launchpad and tower, his 3D print lined up perfectly with the odd angles of Grian’s chimney. But that wasn’t all, there was also a rocket sitting atop the launchpad, and looking closer, it was clear that it was actually working and that all it needed was to be lit and it would no doubt bury itself in the ceiling.
Iskall’s house was…well, he now had two houses. Hanging from a hook in the ceiling was what looked like a replication of the Up house, complete with marbles bundled together and glued to look like balloons.
“Did you both come in over the weekend?” Grian sputtered, doing a loop around the table to get a full view.
“Listen, sometimes–” Iskall laughed, falling back into his chair. “Sometimes you gotta put in the extra effort, Grian.”
“Oh come on, this can’t count as tallest, it’s not connected!” Grian protested, waving a hand through the space between his modern house and the floating Disney house. “There’s so much space here!”
“What are you going to do about it?” Iskall raised an eyebrow.
“Am I allowed to do something about it?” Grian sat down in his own chair, still marvelling at the latest development of their street. “Actually, we do need to lay down some ground rules, if we’re doing this.”
“I say no rules, tampering with each other’s minis is fine, so long as you aren’t actively trying to destroy it or mess it up completely.” Mumbo shrugged. “As long as the grade doesn’t plummet because of it, I say we go all out.”
“I’m fine with that.” Iskall nodded. “Honestly, I’m interested to see what you do about my balloon house, so long as you don’t destroy it. I did put a lot of time into it.”
“Oh yeah, of course, no destroying each other’s projects, just little tweaks and stuff.” Grian agreed.
“Hey guys.” Mx. Smith knocked on their table twice to get their attention. “Scar doesn’t have any table mates, do you mind letting him join your street?”
Grian looked to his two friends, who both shrugged. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Great, thanks.” Mx. Smith waved to Scar, who immediately stood and rushed over with all of his stuff. All three of them had been in classes with him before, and they knew him pretty well.
“Hello everyone!” Scar set down his backpack and pulled up a chair. “I love this build off you’re doing.”
“Thanks, we were actually just setting down some rules.” Grian grinned at him. “Basically, no destroying each other’s projects or actively harming their grades. Everything else is free game.”
“Sounds great.” Scar reached into his backpack and pulled out a beautifully designed island with a technical building atop it, in a similar style to Mumbo’s. It had a hook in the top of it, and he looped a bit of clear string through it. “I’m a big fan of what you did with the ceiling hooks, Iskall, I think I might borrow that technique, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay, we’ll allow it for now, but by the end of this, your mini has to be touching the table in some way.” Grian folded his arms. “Otherwise it’s not fair. Iskall, don’t worry about yours, I’m going to fix it for you.”
“Oh goodie.” Iskall deadpanned.
Scar climbed up onto his chair and tied his miniature to one of the ceiling hooks. “There we go! And that leaves me at about the same height as Iskall. I’ll connect it to the table though, I just need to design something. Do you guys know if the art classrooms are open during lunch hours?”
“They should be, why?” Mumbo adjusted his rocket on its launchpad. “What are you gonna do?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see, my good friend.” Scar climbed back down and sat, folding his arms on the table.
“Oh boy.” Mumbo shook his head a few times. “I have a feeling we’ve gotten in past our heads on this project.”
Grian grinned. “I love it.”
-
Grian finished adjusting the small anvil he had 3D printed and filled with beads, setting it down atop Iskall’s modern house. Iskall watched as he climbed onto the table and untied his Up house from the ceiling hooks, lowering it until it was only a few inches above the anvil before retying it. Then he fastened two binder clips to the loops in the anvil and the bottom beams of the house, effectively weighing down the “floating” house.
“Honestly, I’m just impressed.” Iskall stated, once he’d scrambled off of the table. “Not only did you make this, but you did your house taller too.”
“Oh I’m not done either.” Grian called over his shoulder as he walked to the laser cutter, laptop in hand. “I’ve got a plan to stop Mumbo’s rocket too.”
“You’ve got a what now?” Mumbo swiveled in his chair, paintbrush in hand. “What are you scheming?”
“Nothing!” Grian plugged his laptop into the cutter, pulling up the files he needed.
“Oh, hey, look who finally showed up!” Iskall cheered, and Grian looked over to see Scar marching proudly into the room, holding something wrapped in a grocery bag in his hands.
“What’ve you got there, Scar?” Mumbo asked, wiping his paintbrush off on a paper towel.
“Oh, just a little something I’ve been working on so that my house touches the table.” Scar moved to his seat but didn’t sit down, instead placing down his grocery bag bundle and unwrapping it. He pulled out several green vines made out of clay, decorated with orange and yellow flowers. They weren’t connected yet, but it looked like they were designed to slot together to form one giant plant.
“Is that a beanstalk?” Grian asked after sending his file to the cutter, the machine whirring to life.
“It sure is!” Scar pulled out a massive base, carefully crafted out of many shades of green clay, twisted together to form a beautiful and lifelike plant stalk. He set it down underneath the island that held his house, then began to slide the different components of his plant together.
“We’re well out of the realistic aspect of this game, aren’t we?” Mumbo laughed, shaking his head incredulously. “We’ve got rocketships and giant beanstalks and massive anvils weighing down floating houses.”
“Hey, Mx. Smith said to go crazy.” Iskall pointed out. “I think it’s great. Now I’ve got to come up with a way to retaliate against that.”
“Oh, Grian, be ready for tomorrow.” Scar commented off-handedly, still piecing together his plant.
Grian glanced at the laser cutter, tapping his foot impatiently. “Well that’s ominous.”
-
Two days later, Grian walked into class early to find that Scar had still somehow arrived before him, and had constructed some kind of turret atop his plant. He was currently fiddling with a piece of red yarn tied to it, trying to get it to line up with Grian’s house, which was missing the top piece of his tower.
“Scar, what are you doing?” Grian folded his arms.
Scar jumped about a foot into the air, whipping around, yarn still tangled in his fingers. “Grian! I, uh, wasn’t expecting to see you here early!”
“What’s the yarn supposed to be?” Grian examined his rickety house, running his fingers along the missing tower spot. “And where’s my tower?”
“Here.” Scar pointed to the foam that all of the houses were glued to as a foundation, the foam that made up their street. Sure enough, his tower was upside down, the tip stuck into it like it had been flung into it. “And this is a laser. It’s just taken off the top of your tower, so now I have the tallest base.”
“You’re insane.” Grian laughed, but he still helped Scar tie the yarn to his mini.
“I liked the crane thing you made by the way.” Scar pointed out the little wooden contraption that he had added the day before. “I don’t know what it does but the little rope pulley is very fun.”
“Thanks.” Grian tapped the platform that the crane was lifting. “See this? It’s in the way of Mumbo’s rocket. It doesn’t look like it, but when Mumbo lights off his rocket, this will catch it and hopefully knock it off course.”
“Oh wow, you’re a genius.” Scar grinned from ear to ear. “I heard Iskall is planning something huge for his next stage.”
“He definitely is.” Grian agreed. “He’s been working with his sketchbook and laptop practically non-stop, he’s got something in his back pocket that he’s about to whip out.”
“Oh wow, you two are in here early.” Mumbo stated from the doorway, then made his way to the table. “What’s going on here?”
“Scar shot a laser at my mini, so now I’m going to have to take him down.” Grian replied simply.
“I’d like to see you try.” Scar challenged.
“Oh, you’re so on.”
-
Iskall had, in fact, been planning something. That something was a giant aquarium over the top of his Up house.
Mumbo, Grian, and Scar all watched as he placed a butchered jar over the top of his design, placed coral and kelp and fancy colored rocks in the bottom, then poured clear resin into it, occasionally pausing to arrange tiny fish made out of clay inside. He then proceeded to take a blow torch to it to get rid of some of the larger bubbles.
“You know what Scar, I take it back, you’re not insane.” Grian stared at the bright blue and orange flames. “Iskall is.”
“Iskall, can you make me a little clay fish?” Scar asked, but Iskall couldn’t hear him over the blow torch.
Grian laughed, shaking his head and laying out his paints. He would wait until Iskall had finished this stage of his mini before retaliating. He already had a plan in mind, but first, he needed to finish detailing his own model and whipping up another several floors to stack on top of what was already finished.
-
“Is that a catapult?” Mumbo asked as Grian rigged up the contraption.
“Yep, it’s gonna flatten one of Scar’s flowers, it’s too tall right now.” He squinted, lining up the rock he had delicately placed in the bucket. “If I don’t get this first try, the flower will live.”
Scar leaned back in his chair, taking a bit of his chocolate bar. “I bet him lunch that he wouldn’t be able to hit it.”
“I’m completely broke, so I’m gonna hit it.” Grian took a step back. “Alright Mumbo, you’re the tech guy, does that look about right?”
Mumbo bent over, squinting at the catapult. “It looks fine to me.”
“Fire in the hole!” Grian cried, pressing down on a tiny lever. The catapult fired, sending the pebble inside of it flying through the air and–
“Score!” Iskall cheered, before bursting into laughter. Scar’s flower, which had been the tallest point out of all of their minis, was now very flat, the pebble sitting neatly on top of it.
“Aw, man!” Scar sighed, taking another bite out of his chocolate bar in despair. “That’s honestly impressive, good job.”
“Thank you very much.” Grian replied smugly, sitting down in his chair.
“Mumbo, come hold this for me.” Iskall instructed, and the moustached man moved to his side. He handed him the lid to his aquarium, now decorated in faux greenery, then very delicately set down a miniature skyscraper on top of it.
“Okay, now I need you to press the skyscraper down while I glue around it.” Iskall pulled out a bottle of blue, and Mumbo did as he said. “Great, thank you!”
He screwed the lid back on top of the aquarium, then proudly folded his arms. “There we go! Now I have the tallest one.”
“Not for long.” Mumbo stated. “I believe it is time.”
“Uh oh.” Scar sat up.
“Uh oh is right.” Grian agreed, grabbing his thickest textbook and holding it in front of him like a shield. “Prepare yourself.”
Mumbo pulled out a lighter and held it underneath his rocket ship. “Alright, give me a countdown.”
“5…4…3…” Grian, Iskall, and Scar chanted in unison, and everyone in the classroom turned around to look. Mx. Smith took a long drink from their thermos, which was strongly rumoured to contain straight vodka.
“2…1…blast off!”
Mumbo lit the rocket, and for two seconds, nothing happened. Then the ship shot skyward, knocking into Grian’s crane. One of its flaps tore off of the side, and a chunk of the crane went with the rest of the ship, straight into the ceiling tiles, buried almost halfway.
The class burst into cheers and laughter, the loudest of all being the build off table.
-
“You see Scar, what I have here is a mirror.” Grian explained, taking the shard of glass and delicately setting it into the opening he’d made in his house. “Your laser will attack my mini no more! Instead, it’s going to hit Iskall, because the man has gotten too cocky. No more skyscraper top for him.”
“Oh, so that’s why you needed more of the red yarn!” Scar held out the string, and he took it, threading it through the tiny wire loop that he’d made and dragging it over Mumbo’s house, now devoid of a rocket. The rocket in question was still buried in the ceiling, though Iskall had said it probably wouldn’t be for long. Mx. Smith had awarded him extra points for the display.
“Alright, and then we just…” Grian popped off the top segment of Iskall’s skyscraper, then turned it upside down and stuck it into the foam. “Perfect.”
“Beautiful.” Scar clapped his hands. “Now I need to work on Scara.”
“What?” Grian turned to look at him.
“What?” Scar blinked at him innocently.
-
“Scar, what is that? ” Mumbo asked over the sound of Iskall dying of laughter.
“Meet Scara!” Scar gestured grandly to the addition of his mini. His beanstalk, which had been a regular giant plant before, had now apparently grown a face. It looked reminiscent of a venus fly trap, but if you gave a venus fly trap two eye stalks out of the top of it and rows of sharp teeth made out of plastic fork tines.
“Oh, she’s also spitting acid, I forgot to mention.” Scar pulled out several balls of yellow and green tissue paper, scrunched up to create projectiles. “I’m gonna hang them up so that they’re headed for your houses. And Mumbo’s rocket.”
“Well, this is perfect, because I just so happen to have a tower that I despise.” Grian took one of the tissue paper orbs, then plucked off one of the towers of his minis. In the gap left behind, he stuffed a few shreds of yellow and green paper. “There we go.”
“Iskall, mate, are you alright?” Mumbo was now laughing as well, while Iskall was completely catatonic, hunched over the table, barely able to breathe between cackles.
“I can’t believe this is happening.” Grian shook his head. “Scara…”
“Isn’t she wonderful?” Scar patted the plant monster’s head a few times. “Dude, I spent like eight hours designing her face, it took forever.”
“Hang on, hang on–” Iskall wheezed. “I’ve got something…I’ve got something to make this even better.”
“No way.” Grian sat back in his chair. “There’s no way you can make this better.”
“Oh yes I can.” Iskall reached into his backpack and pulled out a large horseshoe magnet. “Watch this.”
He fastened it to the top of his skyscraper, then climbed up onto the table, reaching up towards Mumbo’s rocket. It was just out of reach.
“Mumbo?” Iskall asked, climbing back down. “Can you grab your rocket please?”
“I can’t believe you’ve done this.” Mumbo shook his head, but scrambled up onto the table and tugged his rocket out of the ceiling, handing it down to him. “A giant magnet? Really?”
“Yup!” Iskall proudly took the rocket and stuck it to the magnet, pointing it directly at Grian’s house.
“Now hang on a minute.” Grian folded his arms. “You’re pointing that the wrong way.”
“I don’t see any problems here.” Iskall grinned. “This looks fine to me.”
“Ooh, I like where this is going actually.” Mumbo sat down on the table then slid off to the floor. “Though I was hoping the rocket would stay in the ceiling and be the tallest.”
“My rocket now!” Iskall crowed.
-
“Okay, so let me recap really quickly here.” Grian held up his hands. “Iskall redirected the laser using my same method, hitting Scara’s eye and knocking it off. I then made a giant paddle and bounced back some more of Scara’s acid at her, burning off the other eye. And for some reason, Scara has now come back as a wizard.”
“That sounds about right.” Mumbo nodded.
“You forgot, she finally stopped the laser from bouncing around by using magic.” Iskall pointed out, pointing to the ball of purple and blue tissue paper which was looped with the red yarn.
“Oh yes, how could I forget?” Grian ran a hand through his hair. “The magic. From the wand. That Scara the giant wizard plant is holding.”
“Hey, if you’re gonna mention the wand, mention the hat and glasses.” Scar folded his arms. “I spent a long time on those. Especially the hat.”
“This is insane.” Grian shook his head. “Iskall, what are you doing?”
“Hold still.” Iskall replied, plucking the rocket off of the magnet and hurling it at Grian’s mini. It sailed straight and true through the air, smashing its way through windows on either side of the mini, perfectly impaling it.
“Why??” Grian cried, throwing his hands out in faux desperation. “My beautiful house! The rocket hasn’t even made it shorter, it’s still the same height!”
“But it’s funny.” Iskall flashed him a winning smile. “You have to admit that!”
“Okay maybe it is.” Grian fell back in his chair. “I need a defense system against you guys. There’s too much magic and acid and rockets everywhere.”
“What are you proposing?” Mumbo asked. “I might check out of this, we’ve only got three weeks left in the semester, I don’t think I can afford to add any more to my build and still have a good final grade.”
“Coward.” Iskall relaxed in his chair. “I’m working on something absolutely epic right now to add to mine, it’ll be done and here by the end of this week.”
“I’m gonna try and get my defense thing done in the next two weeks, but I’ve also got to add another house extension, so…” Grian tilted his head to one side examining his house. “Yeah, I’ve got an idea.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, he has an idea.” Iskall declared grandly.
“Well, I for one, cannot wait to see it.” Scar pulled out his sketchbook, squinting at his creation before turning back to it. “I’ve got something ambitious to add as well, I’ll have to work pretty hard to get it done by finals.”
“You’re a super hard worker, I’m sure you will.” Grian propped his head up on his chin, then pulled out his phone, taking a few pictures of his house from multiple angles. “Hmm…”
“I’ll be honest, I’m pretty content to watch this play out.” Mumbo rummaged through his backpack. “Though I can’t just end it with the rocket, can I? I’ll have to come up with something.”
“There we go!” Iskall reached into his own backpack, pulling out a wooden sphere and setting it down on the table. “Grian, where did you put those paints?”
-
Private Messages: crazy moon lady
Griba : pearl
Griba : hey pearl
Griba: wake up i need you
crazy moon lady: whattttt
crazy moon lady: i was taking a nap
crazy moon lady: this better be good
Griba: do you wanna make a dragon with me
crazy moon lady: i like your funny words magic man
crazy moon lady: i’ll meet you in the arts center in five minutes
Griba: got it
-
“Okay, so the most important thing is getting the shapes right.” Pearl held up the red clay. “When making something organic, shapes are the key. You’re going for something intimidating, so you need to use sharper ones, ones that look threatening. I think we’ll go for something with an open mouth and teeth. And spikes, that will go perfectly with the red.”
“I don’t make animals and organic things all that much, so uh, sure?” Grian watched her manipulate the clay. “I do still wanna try doing it myself, but could you guide me through how to actually do it?”
“Yep, here.” Pearl handed him the clay. “First things first though, let’s make the frame out of wire, get our main shape in place. Do you want wings?”
“Absolutely.” Grian nodded aggressively. “I would love wings.”
“Great.” Pearl pulled out a mess of tangled wires. “Okay, so this is how we’re going to make the body…”
-
Four hours of hard work later, Grian was holding a beautiful red dragon made out of wire and air dry clay. He had about 24 hours before it hardened, so he needed to get to the engineering classroom as soon as possible so he could arrange its limbs to hold onto the house and adjust its weight so that it wouldn’t unbalance his jenga tower of a miniature.
He practically skipped across campus, holding his new favorite creation in his hands and getting a few strange looks from the other students wandering around. He slipped into the engineering building and down the hallway, then stepped into his classroom, where the lights were turned off for the day. Luckily for him, Mx. Smith didn’t lock the room, that was how they kept getting in to work on their minis.
What Grian hadn’t been expecting to see was Iskall, fiddling with his own house. The wooden sphere that he’d been painting in class was now fully finished with a cream color and dotted with what looked like craters, and he was now gluing it to his magnet with the precision of a rocket scientist.
“Good evening.” Grian said from the doorway, but Iskall didn’t jump. “Oh come on, not even a startle?”
“I heard you open the door.” Iskall replied, looking up at him with a grin. “And also I heard your footsteps. You’re not a quiet man, Grian.”
“Man.” Grian shook his head and made his way over to the table, still cradling his dragon.
“What’s that?” Iskall asked, and he held it up proudly.
“This is my baby boy.” He stated, then began to arrange it around the upper levels of the house, figuring out how it would all line up. “I spent four hours on it.”
“Dang, that’s impressive.” Iskall whistled. “You and Scar are really going to town with these clay things, maybe I should do one of my own.”
“You absolutely should, they’re kinda tricky but so fun.” Grian adjusted the wings so that they wouldn’t unbalance the structure. “My friend helped me make this, since I’m not that good at sculpting, and it turned out amazing.”
“That’s awesome, dude.” Iskall put another line of glue underneath his sphere, which, now that Grian was closer, looked a lot like the moon.
“What are you doing?” He asked, curiosity piqued.
“Ah, you see, because this magnet is so big in scale, it was powerful enough to pull in the moon.” Iskall tapped the sphere. “But not the actual moon, a replica, probably made by the government to fake the moon landing or something.”
“That’s amazing.” Grian laughed. “I can’t wait for the others to see that.”
“Me neither, dude.” Iskall agreed. “What do you think Scar’s up to? He’s working on something big, if what he said earlier is true.”
“I don’t know, I’m not really sure how you top a giant wizard plant.” Grian looked over at Scar’s miniature, which looked rather threatening in the dark. “I think at that point you’ve peaked. But if I know anything about Scar, it’s that he’s gonna find a way to take it further.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” Iskall nodded. “He’s gonna do something crazy, I just know it.”
-
“What is going on??” Iskall ran a hand through his hair, his eyes wide. “Did you all go in over the weekend??”
“I did.” Grian flicked the spring holding his dollar store bought mini boxing glove, now stuck in Iskall’s aquarium.
“I did.” Mumbo repeated, adjusting the white flag atop the massive pillar of scaffolding that he had constructed out of toothpicks, resting on the launchpad.
“I did.” Scar echoed, threading lights through the white and grey cotton balls that he’d stretched out to create the effect of clouds. “I had to sneak past the campus police to get in here with all my stuff. I’m not even done yet.”
“Since we only have two weeks left, I figured I probably shouldn’t add anything too crazy to mine, hence the flag.” Mumbo sat down, crossing his legs and leaning back in his chair. “But you will see that it’s taller than all of yours.”
“Not for long.” Grian hummed. “I’ve already got an extension printing, it’ll be done by the end of class. Then all that’s left is to attach it and paint it.”
“I think I can finish what I want to in the two weeks we have.” Scar examined his storm cloud for a moment before going back to adjusting it the way he wanted. “I’ve got a plastic sheet coming in the mail that’s gonna sit on top of this.”
“Is the cotton going to be able to hold that up?” Iskall asked skeptically.
“Oh don’t worry, I’m going to be adding extra supports.” Scar waved a hand dismissively. “And there are gonna be extra strings from the ceiling as well, just in case.”
“Okay, good.” Mumbo grabbed a handful of paintbrushes and a bottle of grey paint. “We wouldn’t want that to fall down.”
“I care too much to let this fall.” Scar’s voice was probably the most genuine Grian had ever heard it before. “If it falls, I will just start crying.”
“Then we won’t let it fall.” Grian decided. “How can I help fasten it better?”
-
“You really think a cannonball is gonna faze me?” Grian raised an eyebrow at Scar. “I have a dragon.”
“And dragons are defeated by knights in castles!” Scar gestured to the castle that he had built atop the storm he had created, and at the cannon pointed at Grian’s mini. A marble had been carefully hung from the ceiling, on route to the dragon.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Grian shook his head. “Do you have more tissue paper?”
“What colors?” Scar sat down, unzipping his backpack.
“Red, orange, and yellow.”
Scar produced the colors and handed them over. “Are you going to fireball my cannonball?”
“Yes.” Grian bunched up the tissue paper and formed it into a ball. “As soon as I find some string.”
“It’s on the third shelf in the cabinet.”
“Thank you.” Grian tossed the ball in his hand as he walked to the cabinet and fiddled through it. “Your castle is really impressive by the way. How long did you spend on it?”
“Too long, Grian, too long.” Scar admitted. “I was worried I wouldn’t have it done in time, you know, with finals and everything, but here it is!”
“Iskall’s gonna run out of time soon if he doesn’t hurry up.” Grian found the spool of string, bringing it with him back to the table. “I know he’s working on something, but he only has three days to do it, and we still have to study for finals and such.”
“Yep.” Scar folded his arms on the table, leaning forward. “Where is he, by the way? And Mumbo?”
“Mumbo’s sick, some kind of cold I think.” Grian gingerly stepped onto the table, reaching up towards the hooks in the ceiling. He could just barely reach, but he’d done this before with Iskall’s house. It was just a matter of balancing himself on his tiptoes to tie the string. “I don’t know about Iskall, he’s probably working on either this or studying. We all know Mx. Smith isn’t taking attendance anymore, so he’s probably taking advantage of it.”
“That’s a good point.” Scar pulled a few textbooks out of his bag. “I should be studying right now too.”
“That’s what I’m gonna do once I get these last few panels painted.” Grian finished tying the knot in the string, then carefully got off the table again. “I’m almost done, it’s just these last planter boxes that need to be painted.”
“Oh nice.” Scar propped his chin up on his hand, flipping a page in his book. “Do you need help?”
“Nah, I've got it.” Grian grabbed a paint palette and a bunch of colors. “You go ahead and study.”
“Mkay.”
-
“Iskall, why is there a dabbing penguin on top of your space station??” Grian pressed his hands against his face, staring through his fingers at the new and final addition to his house.
“It’s the last day, I gotta go out with a bang!” Iskall spun in his chair a few times. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“I’m scared and delighted.” Grian shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”
“Me neither, to be honest, I barely finished it in time.” Iskall grinned.
“Well boys, no matter what happens, I must say, this was an honor.” Scar declared, a grin of his own on his face. “This was the best required class I’ve ever taken thanks to you guys.”
“Oh, absolutely, this was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in an architecture class.” Grian agreed. “But this isn’t over yet, technically. We’ve gotta wait and see what Mx. Smith gives us. Whoever has the highest score wins.”
“No matter what happens, let’s all agree that mumbo loses.” Scar gestured to Mumbo’s sad little white flag, now complete with a hole in the center from one of Scar’s cannonballs.
“Yep, Mumbo loses.” Iskall nodded. “When are we supposed to get the grade back?”
“Any minute now.” Grian glanced over at the desk, where Mx. Smith was gathering up a bunch of papers.
When Mx. Smith got to their table, they set down their papers with a wry smile. “I’ve seen a lot of competitions in classes like these before, but I’ve never seen one quite like this. It was very fun to see your houses grow, and I’ve given all of you extra points for creativity. I hope you learned something from this, and if you didn’t, I hope you had fun.”
“Thank you.” The three of them chorused back, and they moved onto the next table. They all immediately pounced on the papers, scanning them intently.
“I got full marks and a rating of 55.” Grian announced.
“I also got full marks and a score of…55.” Scar set down his paper, and both he and Grian turned to look at Iskall, who was already laughing.
“I got…I got full marks and a 55.”
“No way.” Grian burst into laughter. “We all got 55?!”
“Oh my gosh.” Scar fell back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this.”
“We tied!” Iskall wheezed, doubling over. “We tied!”
“Well then, it’s true!” Grian said through hysterical laughter. “Mumbo really does lose!”
“GG.” Iskall shook his head, slumping in his chair. “G freaking G, man.”
“What do you say we go over to Mumbo’s place and gloat?” Grian suggested.
“I would want nothing more.” Scar sat up, and Iskall broke back into laughter, the sound filling the classroom that had made their semester the best they’d ever had.