Forest of Magic
"EXPLOSION!"
With her staff raised and the spell chanted, Markle blew a boulder into smithereens.
The other Little Witches, who were watching, clapped their hands in awe of their friend's awesome show.
"I told you there are the proper time and place to show off your explosion magic!" Ako cheered as she raised both her hands up in the air.
Markle lowered her staff, and raised her head up in a proud way.
"Ha! Anytime anyone of you girls need an awesome display, just call on me - Markle the Crimson Wi-"
The explosive little witch's boast is interrupted by a piece of the boulder flying into Ako and knocking her out.
"Look out!" Suza called out...a bit too late.
Markle and the Twins turned toward the violet-haired little witch, and gave her the "What the heck?" stare.
"Sorry, I was a bit too slow..." Suza said awkwardly as pieces of the boulder began to rain down on everyone present.
...
Empty Shack
"Ow, that hurts!"
Ako loudly complained. The klutzy little witch winced for each time Markle touched the medicine-soaked cotton swab to her bruised nose.
"I admit it's my fault that this happened..." Markle said as she went on with her poor first aid work. "So please hold still and keep quiet while I treat you..."
But that wasn't the case. Markle clearly has no experience whatsoever with first aid - something that both humans and Youkai alike in Gensokyo have basic knowledge in - and poor little Ako had to suffer her friend's less-than-stellar handiwork. At least it's still better than nothing...
"There. All done..." Markle said as she put the cotton swab down. She then picked up the medicine bottle to cork it...and noticed something on the bottle that made her widen her eyes.
Ako immediately noticed Markle's change of expression. "What's wrong? Is there someth-"
The klutzy little witch got her answer immediately as her nose suddenly grew an inch.
"Oops!" Markle chirped awkwardly, and scratched the back of her head at the same time. "That was not medicine!" She added as she turned the bottle around.
"Do not touch! -F&R" is scribbled in tiny fading text on the yellowed label of the bottle.
At the same time, Fey and Rey looked away awkwardly, while the ghosts all over the shack bobbed their ethereal bodies up and down, as though laughing.
Ako angrily turned toward the Twins. "Wh-why do you two put your potions in the same kind bottle we put our medicine?!" She chastised them, then pointed at her affected nose as emphasis. "Look what happened! This is so embarrassing!"
The Twins reeled back from the sheer amount of rage Ako is radiating.
"That was two months ago-" Fey began.
"-But we forgot where we put it-" Rey continued.
"-Sorry about that..." The Twins finished in unison.
Ako then stood up. "Ugh, this is so embarrassing!" She then excused herself to a corner of the shack, where she used her magic wand to try to undo the effects of the potion.
Everyone else in the shack - including the ghosts - turned to glance at Markle.
"I, uh, really should've remembered about the healing spell..." The explosive little witch awkwardly chirped.
The Twins and Suza narrowed their eyebrows in disbelief. The ghosts would've done the same if they had eyebrows.
...
Hakurei Shrine
Some time later, the Little Witch Mob arrived at the Hakurei Shrine, landing right in front of the main shrine instead of on the roof.
"Ako, are you sure you want to take up Minni's challenge?" Markle asked worriedly.
Ako pulled a vial of potion out of her witch hat. "Well, I'm going to prove to her that I'm not an idiot!" She said as she stepped onto the shrine's veranda, vial in hand. "And I'll prove it by slipping this potion into Miss Reimu's tea!"
The other Little Witches each put an index finger over their mouth, and reminded the klutzy little witch to keep quiet.
"Right..." Ako whispered in acknowledgement.
With that, Ako stepped into the shrine, while her friends remained outside to stand guard.
It didn't take Ako more than a few seconds to find Reimu's teapot. The teapot, although full, appears to have been left there for a while, since it is cool to the touch. Ako assumed that Reimu must've left for an urgent business, so this is the perfect chance for her to slip in her potion. But if the shrine maiden trainee had left long enough for her tea to cool completely, then it means that she could be back at any time.
With that thought in mind, Ako quickly made her way toward the teapot, and removed the lid as sneakily as possible. She then uncorked the vial and prepared to pour its contents into the teapot...
...Only to pause when she felt something, or someone, radiating an aura of rage right behind her.
Ako didn't even need to turn around to know who it was...
...
Empty Shack
In the end, Ako failed the challenge she took up, and suffered the consequences along with her friends.
"Why didn't you girls *hic* warn me about Miss Reimu's *hic* arrival?" Ako complained. As the result of being force-fed the potion intended for Reimu, by Reimu, she had to endure having a hiccup for the past 10 minutes, with a butterfly flying out of her mouth for each of her hiccups.
"Who knew she *hic* was so good at *hic* being stealthy?" Suza complained, while suffering the same kind of hiccup as Ako.
"How long is *hic* this going to *hic* last?" Markle, also force-fed the same potion, turned to ask Fey and Rey.
"I don't *hic* know..." Fey answered.
"I didn't *hic* make the potion..." Rey added.
"Minni *hic* did..." The Twins finished in unison. Even their hiccups are synchronized.
Ako sulked. Could the day get any worse? She thought.
Meanwhile, the ghosts all over the shack are trying very hard to get rid of all the butterflies that the Little Witch Mob had (literally) coughed up.
...
Too bad for Ako and friends, while the day didn't get any worse, it isn't getting any better either.
They tried to shoplift from an antique shop ran by a half-Youkai man. But the guy was very attentive, and caught them red-handed. They were forced to dust the entire shop clean (with elbow grease) as punishment.
They then went to the Misty Lake because Ako was insistent on having revenge against the ice fairy living there (for attacking her and Fey a while ago). Incredibly embarrassingly, all five of them lost to that ice fairy, and spend half an hour thawing themselves afterwards.
After that, they went to the Garden of the Sun to try and pick a sunflower. They learned the hard way that while Yuuka is a pacifist who hates violence, it doesn't mean she won't give them nonviolent punishments ("It was just one sunflower!" Ako argued). In their case, it was to clean every single window Mugenkan has (good thing that she let them do it with magic).
Lastly, they went to the village to try and play pranks on Chiyuri and Yumemi while the two outside world scientists are setting up...something? They couldn't even begin before they were caught and promptly jailed by the GPF for "the stunt you meddling kids caused that time". They only got released when Mima came and threatened the prison wardens with a curse...and then they get punished anyway for crossing the line with "that stunt".
Needless to say, the Little Witch Mob has had enough of spending the entire day being fate's chew toy...
And so ends the Little Witches' Misadventures.
I admit that this comedy mini-series is sub-par compared to other comedy fics out there. I tried the best I could, since comedy isn't really my forte. But still, I hoped that you had fun reading about Ako and friends being subject to all sorts of hilarious moments.
Next up, I'll be posting Seasonal Fantasy and Exotic Inventory (adaptions of the Windows era 1 games and Curiosity of Lotus Asia respectively). Stay tuned for them while I make the finishing touches on the final parts of either stories' first chapters, which should be done in about 24 hours, give or take a while.
"And that, as they say, is that..."
Afterword ends here.
Mima's Hideout
"Sigh"
Ako slumped on the desk, being tired from an entire day of tough luck and the unneeded efforts that entailed.
"What a rotten day..." The klutzy little witch complained.
A mouse then scurried its way across the desk, and stopped right in front of Ako's face to stare at her.
"What are you looking at, mouse?" Ako glared at the curious rodent. "You want to get jinxed?"
The mouse continued to stare at Ako.
"I'm not joking..." Ako told the mouse.
It still didn't respond.
"That's it..." Ako said, a bit irritated, as she raised her magic wand and pointed it at the mouse. "Zap..."
Unfortunately, the mouse happened to be standing right in front of a flask of volatile raw potions, and the zapping spell caused it to explode in a huge cloud of smoke that enveloped the entire hideout.
"AKO!"
"Sorry!"
The Little Witch Mob will return.
