"What did you two buy?"
This was Liz's question as she decided to stop by before her shift began. Next to her was Lala who was snacking on popcorn as she rubbed her tired eyes. She just stayed up most of the night watching television.
As for why she was asking this question, the two were watching Jason and James carrying a couple large wooden crates. For what was inside, Liz was almost scared to ask.
"A restoration project. One of Dad's friends gave him a call if he wanted this car. Apparently the driver led police on a high speed chase before getting t-bone by a large truck. Now that they are done with the vehicle, they were planning on throwing it into the junkyard." Jason responded as he lowered the crates in his hands. Before he added, "We also picked up the needed parts to repair it."
"How much did it cost you guys?" Lala asked curiously. Recently she has been hanging out with Liz who has been teaching her about Earth's customs. This naturally included how to manage money to some degree.
Doing some quick mental calculations in their heads, both father and son replied in sync. "About twelve thousand in total."
Jason decided to add an explanation, "We got some good discounts due to taking the car and buying parts in bulk."
"Did you guys buy second hand and faulty parts? How can it all be so cheap?" Liz asked.
While she didn't know a whole lot about restoring a car. She felt it wasn't normally so cheap as this.
"The car model isn't that old since it's a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The whole passenger side is smashed in. Which most view it more as scrapped metal than an actual car." James answered.
"Besides, most fees at garages are more for the manpower and time of the employees than the actual prices of parts." Jason added on with a finishing shrug.
"Well whatever. It's not like you guys are short on money." Liz sighed mostly to herself.
Truthfully, they can't be considered rich, but they were really well off mainly due to a few well placed investments over the years. James himself had around half a million in investments that will just continue to reinvest into more. While Jason doesn't have investments yet, his online cosplay business however pays him fairly well. He was nearing fifty thousand due to not really spending much besides restocking his materials.
--
"Can I help you guys?" Lala asked. It was a few hours later and Liz was off to work while Lala just got up from her nap.
In front of her was a car frame that was mostly stripped with the entire left side badly dented. Currently Jason was bending the frame back into place, sometimes cutting or welding the metal with his heat vision. James on the other hand was working on fixing the engine compartment.
"If you want? We basically got this part. So you can work on fixing the car shell if you want." Jason pointed off to the side.
While Jason had no problems with her wanting to help. He didn't really want her to touch the engine without supervision. Mainly because he was afraid she would do something else that could cause an issue.
Since she moved in Jason has been adamant of looking over her inventions before she either tested or used them. He knew she was a gifted inventor, but her inventions had a tendency of running out of control. Such as her Pyon-Pyon Warp-Kun which only warped living beings and not clothes or her Go-Go Vacuum-Kun which she forgot how to turn off.
"Ok." Lala cheered as she pulled out her Almighty Tool.
It is her tool that allows her to quickly build or change existing inventions wherever she is. Truthfully it was a very convenient tool as its devilish wings on the top can also be used to light a campfire or combine into a sword blade.
--
After a while of fixing the sides, Lala looked over to see the two still working. Neither of them looked tired as they went about things at normal speed. Which made her curious and soon it won out.
"Couldn't you guys just speed through this?"
"Lala, it isn't always about the final product but the journey." James answered.
"Besides, it is like if we type on a computer. While we could type novels in seconds, we would have to wait for the computer to catch up or crash from the massive input. Only in this case, the frame might break." Jason answered as his eyes glowed red.
Satisfied with the answer given, Lala went back to work. She was nearly done thanks to her tool and past experiences with her inventions that broke down.
--
In a flash a week went by and soon the driveway had a fully restored 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. It needed a new paint job as most of the left side was scratched. Other than that it ran perfectly as when neither Jason and James were looking, Lala got a hold of the engine. Luckily they caught her in time and stopped her from changing anything dramatically.
"What color should we paint it?" Jason asked either of the two.
"I sort of like the red." Lala answered.
"I won't say no to black. It reminds me of a friend who drove tons of vehicles in that color." James answered.
"Why not both?" Liz asked from behind. In her hand was a chocolate chip cookie. "Maybe add some lights to it like they do in show cars and movies while you're at it."
"I can get behind that idea." Jason agreed.
"Then it's decided."
A day later sitting in the driveway was a black camaro with red trims and small neon lights attached. Overall it was a cool looking car and neat little project.
"Now what should we do with it?" Jason asked.
In the end, since he was seventeen and already had his license. It became Jason's first car.