The Elemental Adventures

Gravis Glues His Hand to the Counter

Gravis was visiting Jacob at his home, which was in a town roughly three miles south of Ninjago City.  Jacob lived by himself in a very open one-story home.  Gravis had been meaning to visit Jacob for awhile now, but with everything going on in Ninjago he hadn't had time.

Knocking rapidly on the door, Gravis shivered.  It was currently downpouring and has been for several days.  He didn't want to be out in this weather longer than he had to be.  He really didn't want to get sick.

Jacob opened the door a couple minutes later.  "Who's there?" he asked, shouldering his sitar.

"Just me, Jacob," Gravis replied, shoving his hands in his pockets.  Jacob muttered an 'oh' before moving aside and letting the Gravity Master in.

The was a fire burning in the fireplace located in the living room.  Jacob used his powers to help him get back to the couch so he could resume listening to audiobooks.  Gravis shut the door behind him.  Taking off his coat, he hung his coat on the coat hooks on the wall left to the door.  He slipped his shoes off and placed them next to Jacob's underneath his coat.

"Hey, Gravis! Can you check the pastries I have cooking in the oven? I can never tell when they're done," Jacob called from the couch. 

"Yeah!" Gravis called back and made his way to the kitchen.  It was to the right of the door.  He looked around, trying to find the oven.  Locating it near the far end of the kitchen, Gravis opened the oven door.  The pastries were golden-brown and the filling was oozing out the sides.  Grabbing an oven mitt, he pulled them out.  

"Are they done?" Jacob yelled, "I can smelling the raspberries from here!"

"Yeah! They're done! Do you want me to bring them?" Gravis called back.

"Yes!" Jacob called back.

Gravis plated the pastries.  However, his right hand knocked against an open container.  The contents spilled all over his hand and the counter.  Gravis tried to lift his hand up, only to realize it won't budge.

"What spilled?" Jacob asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Um, this container on the counter.  It got over my hand and the counter," Gravis explained, "and now I can't move my hand."

"Please don't tell me that you knocked over the cement glue," Jacob pleaded.

Gravis used his powers to lift up the bottle.  Cement Glue: The Strongest Glue Ever Invented! glared at him from the front of the label.  "Um, I'm afraid so.  Any idea on how to get it off?"

Jacob rubbed his face with his hands. "No.  As far as I know, there is no way of getting it off."

Gravis groaned.  "Oh.  Well then...." he mumbled.

"I'll call the store I bought it from, see if they have any idea on how to get it off," Jacob said, disappearing into the living room.  "Hey, Tech Assistant!  Call R-Mart!"

Calling R-Mart, the Tech Assistant responded.

Gravis sighed, looking at his right hand.  He could not believe he managed to land himself in this situation.  This was the kind of situation Turner or Jay landed themselves in, not someone with basic common sense.  He tried to free his hand again, but it wouldn't budge.

Jacob came back into the room a few minutes later.  "Good news and bad news.  What would you like to hear first?" 

"Bad first.  Get it over with," Gravis sighed.

"Bad news is, the store has no idea how to help you.  Good news is they got a hold of the company who made it and the company is sending someone out to help.  The company is also not charging us anything, since they admit they are somewhat to blame on not having an easy way to remove the glue," Jacob answered, sitting down at the table, resting his sitar against the wall.

"Okay, how long do I have to stay like this?" Gravis asked, inwardly begging not to be stuck there for longer than a few hours.

"They should be here in about an hour," Jacob answered.  Gravis sighed in relief.

"Can we try to keep this between us? I don't think Turner will ever let me live it down," he pleaded.  Jacob laughed a bit at Gravis's plea.

"Hmmm maybe," Jacob teasingly replied.  Gravis flushed with embarrassment.

The person the company sent arrived a little over an hour later.  He brought a kit full off different chemicals and utensils and a bucket.

"Alright, where is the person whose stuck?" he asked.  

"In the kitchen," Jacob replied, "Can I get your name?"

"Mr. Farris," he replied, going into the kitchen.  He pulled out a bottle of glue remover, a bottle of acid, and a spatula. "The acid won't hurt you.  It'll help the glue remover break down the glue particles."

"Couldn't we have done this ourselves?" Gravis asked, confused.  Mr. Farris shook his head.

"The acid is specially made and not available to the public.  The glue remover is of a much higher quality, too, difficult to get.  So, no, you guys couldn't of done this yourselves," Mr. Farris replied, mixing the glue remover and acid together.  Once mixed, he poured it over Gravis's hand.  "I'll let it sit for about five minutes, then I'll try to pry your hand up with the spatula."

The five minutes seemed to last forever.  Once they were up, Mr. Farris placed the spatula near the edge of Gravis's hand.  Slowly, he slid the spatula underneath his hand and began to lift it up, trying to remove Gravis's hand from the counter.

"Is it working?" Jacob asked, sitting at the table.  Mr. Farris frowned.

"I'll pour some more of the mix on your friend's hand, try to loosen the glue up a bit more," Mr. Farris replied, pouring more of the mix onto Gravis's hand as he continued working on prying it up with the spatula.

It took almost 30 minutes before Gravis's hand was freed.  Mr. Farris made Gravis put his hand into the bucket.  Mr. Farris removed a scrub brush from his kit and began scrubbing the glue off of Gravis's hand as he poured the rest of the solution onto his hand.

Gravis kept his eyes on his hand as Mr. Farris scrubbed the rest of the glue off.  After another 15 minutes, the glue was off.

"Thank you!" Gravis said as he dried off his hand.  Mr. Farris smiled at him and began cleaning the glue off the counter.

"You're very welcome, Gravis," Mr. Farris replied.  He cleaned up the glue mess and packed up his kit.  "Now, if you excuse me, I have to be going.  Try not to spill the glue again." he said as he slipped out the door.

Jacob laughed as Gravis's face burned.  "Oh, come on, Gravis, cheer up! One day, you'll look back on this and laugh!" Jacob told Gravis, grinning.

"Maybe," Gravis sighed.

Jacob shook his head. "Do you want to join me in the living room to listen to audiobooks?" he asked.  Gravis sighed again.

"Sure," he mumbled.

They both settled down onto the couch.  Jacob restarted the audiobook and nestled himself against Gravis.

After a few moments, Jacob realized something.  "Hey, Gravis?"

"Yeah?"

"We forgot the pastries in the kitchen."

"They're probably cold to be honest."

"I guess," Jacob grinned and laid back down.

Gravis smiled at him and laid his head against the back of the couch.

He seriously hoped the other Masters never find out about tonight.