Apparently Fusion’s heat scale goes by how hot other things are perceived to be. Mostly explosions, but there are some notable exceptions. The “Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator” comes in just over “Like Gargling Thermite” but a bit behind “Gigaton Naquadria Bomb” but it’s a real step up to “The Sun” which is where Sydney will start looking. Above that, there’s really only “Pulsar” then “Quasar” and finally “The Big Bang” but you have to sign a waiver as soon as the food can be described in terms of astronomical bodies and events.

The comic takes me so long to draw because I spend a lot of time noodling the pencils, and sometimes I’ll draw a whole picture only to cut it entirely, so here’s an alternate version of Sydney’s expression for the last panel. I liked this one but I thought the head tilt was a little more condescending.

BTW the margin text on the bottom middle panel says “falsetto” in case it’s too small for anyone. If you think about it too hard, it’s weird when girls use a falsetto to indicate they’re speaking in a girl’s voice. Obviously it’s usually done in a slightly mocking fashion. Probably not the best thing to do to someone who’s going to be handling your food though.