"Prank-stice Makes Perfect" by Adrian Tymes [Legal disclaimer: This story is based on characters created by SEGA and Archie Comic Publications, Inc., Sandra Nightweaver by David Pistone, and "Postcards From Mobius" #2 by Richard Ray Roberts. Permission is granted by the author to freely distribute this story, so long as: a: no recompense of financial value is received or given by the person who distributes the story, and b: the distributed copy is identical to the story as originally authored. In other words, don't sell it, and don't alter it. The griffins in this story are my own creations. If you wish to write a story including or referring to the griffins as presented below, or the events in this story, please contact me in advance - I would like to know who uses them. Copyright (c) 1996, all rights reserved, et cetera.] ****** Time: One month after Doomsday (Sally still has Sonic's speed) ****** "Sonic may be wrong about a great many things," Antoine thought, "but on this we agree: guard duty ees boring." Even Antoine had run out of ways to pass time on guard duty years ago; he could only shine his boots, clean his uniform, and dust the lookout post so many times. Sleeping on duty was unthinkable, as one had to constantly be alert. In fact, Antoine prided himself on the fact that no one had yet snuck by while he was watching. The few occasions when someone had tried had provided the only relief from his boredom. Antoine smiled as he recalled the times that a SWATbot patrol had approached on foot. Each time, he'd pretended to sell out his comrades, giving the patrol directions that lead right over a cliff, but warning the 'bots that their radios were being monitored. Each time, the 'bots had marched off the cliff to their doom without telling Robotnik about Antoine's "betrayal". After losing several patrols this way, Robotnik had stopped all random foot patrols of SWATbots until he could find out how they were lost, which he never did figure out. Antoine's nostalgia trip continued to when Bunny had relieved Antoine of duty just after he'd relieved Rotor. Being a gentlefox, Antoine pretended not to see Rotor hiding nearby, but instead just assented and left the two alone. When questioned by Sally, Antoine merely told her that Bunny had taken his shift, but Sally guessed why he had been relieved. She invited Antoine to play a trick on Rotor and Bunny. Sally and Antoine had painted themselves gray, picked up two fake rifles, and snuck up on the lookout post. The "lookouts" were so preoccupied with each other that they didn't even notice until they were at riflepoint. After pretending, for a few minutes, to have been roboticized and to be waiting for a hoverbot to pick up their "prisoners", Sally let the two in on the joke. Neither Bunny nor Rotor ever took a double shift again. Antoine spent most of the rest of the week getting every last fleck of paint out of his fur. But now, Antoine was puzzled. He'd heard voices nearby, yet despite the view that the lookout post had been constructed to provide, Antoine couldn't see anything moving. The voices stopped, and Antoine thought he saw a blade of grass bend by itself despite the lack of wind. A sudden flapping of wings caught his attention, but still Antoine saw no one. Suddenly, he felt a slight pressure on his back. Antoine whirled around in response. He was still looking for whatever had caused the pressure when a voice spoke up from behind him. "Greetings." Antoine whirled again, but saw no one. The voice sounded again from behind. "You are known as Antoine, right?" Antoine turned again, but caught himself on the post's rail as he started to get dizzy. "Oui. Who am I having the pleasure of speaking with?" Unsurprisingly, the voice was still behind him. "King Skyer. I would like to speak with Princess Sally. Do you know where she is?" "She ees - how to say - juicing?" "I thought only Sonic did that. Nevermind...do you know when she'll return?" "She ees nearby. I could call her, but why do you wish to speak with her?" "It's about my brother, Kenal..." "Sacrebleucheese! I thought your name sounded familiar." "Don't worry, I just want your help in pulling a prank on Sally, to let her know how Kenal felt." "How Kenal felt?" "Yeah, I just want to scare her a bit, that's all." "Ha! You can not scare ze Princess, she ees fearless. I shall call her over, just to see you fail." "Right, whatever. I'm ready when you are." "Princess Sally! Oh, Princess Sally!" Sally zipped up, leaving a trail of dust that nearly rose to Antoine's post. "You called?" "Someone wanting to speak with you is being here." "Where? I don't see any..." Something large dropped behind Sally. The impact knocked her into the post's tree directly below Antoine. Unharmed, Sally righted herself, sat up, turned around, and found herself staring directly into the eyes of the fourth biggest living creature she had ever seen. It was a griffin with a very similar color scheme to the only other griffin she'd seen, Kenal. On all fours, he was taller than Sally was when she stood. If he'd stood on his rear legs, the griffin's head would be level with the lookout post. Aside from his size, the only noticable differences between this griffin and Kenal were his voice, a band of golden feathers around the top of his head that resembled a crown, and a very angry look on his face. "Who are you?" "King Skyer..." "Skyer? I've heard that name before..." "...brother of Kenal Skyer, the one you ordered killed a while ago." "...oh, yeah." Sally quickly realized why King was angry. "Uh-oh." "I want..." King paused for dramatic effect "...an apology!" "I'm sorry?" "Not to me, you fool. To him!" King swiveled his head. Sally followed his gaze, and stopped at a translucent Kenal. "Kenal? But you're..." "Dead? A ghost? And who do I have to thank for that, hmm?" Kenal advanced and put a hand on Sally's shoulder. "You were about to reveal Knothole's location. I couldn't let Robotnik..." "I WASN'T SPYING FOR ROBOTNIK! I was trying to tell the other griffins where you were so they could come and help. But nooo...you had to order that Wyrm to kill me." "I'm sorry. I couldn't..." "My brother may settle for your words, Princess, but I can not." Kenal hissed as his hand sunk through Sally's shoulder. Sally could no longer feel his hand, but she felt her heart grow tight as Kenal's voice turned to ice. "I'll just have to sink to your level." "No...NOOOOO!" Sally leapt to her feet and ran for her life. Kenal snickered. "I have nevar seen ze Princess so scared of anything." Antoine watched Sally speed off, silently hoping that she'd be alright. "Yeah, we knew she was brave. That's why we brought this." Kenal solidified, except for a paw that was still where Sally had been. That paw faded, replaced with a solid paw just above where her shoulder had been, holding a compressed-air syringe that could inject without breaking the skin. "Ees zat being what I think it ees being?" "Chemical Fear. It's got no side effects, so she'll be fine in half an hour." "What?!? Zat substance has been banned for ze past hundred years! No civilized person still uses it. Even Robotneek nevar stooped so low. You...you barbarians!" "Hey, chill out," Kenal's voice sounded from behind Antoine. Antoine leapt backwards in an effort to pin whoever was behind him, but since there was no one there, he just landed flat on his back. Before he got up, Antoine felt an irregularity on the back of his jacket. He reached back and pulled off the miniature radio receiver that Kenal had planted there. Sensing that it was no longer attached to Antoine's jacket, the receiver disintegrated. Antoine rushed back to the post's railing, but the griffins had already faded into the forest. "Where deed zey go?" ****** Somewhere in the forest between the lookout post and Knothole, the Skyers conversed unseen, hidden by the hologram projectors that both wore. "He's right, you know. They don't like chemical weapons. When Antoine tells the others what you just pulled, we are going to be personas non gratia." King's voice was a mixture of fatigue and amusement. Kenal's voice was merely amused. "What, they can't take a joke?" "Chemicals are no joke to them, bro. Nor should they be to you. C'mon, let's take care of our business quickly, before Antoine guesses what we're up to." ****** Dulcy was all alone on the target range. She'd already wrecked three SWATbot shells, but wreckage wasn't the point of her exercise. She was trying to precisely control her flame, preferably to concentrate her entire blast into a cylinder less than a centimeter wide. Dulcy sucked in another breath... "Greetings, Dulcy." ..turned, and lost all thoughts of control as she faced a griffin slightly larger than she was. Her instinctive hatred of all griffins took control, flooding her mind with panic, fear, and rage. Before she conciously knew what was happening, Dulcy had launched an all-out attack on King's image. Fortunately for King, Dulcy's instincts didn't process that they were dealing with a hologram even after her fire, ice, and claws passed through it. ****** Kenal had seen Bunnie working in the garden, but as he flew towards her, Bunnie had run off into the forest and dissapeared from sight. Kenal landed, looked around, and walked to where he'd last seen her. He did not expect Bunnie to spring from cover and grab him with her roboticized hand. "Alright, spy, how did you survive, and what are you doing back here?" Bunnie's voice was firm, but not angry. Her grip was slightly tighter than needed, and that showed Bunny's feelings for her. "Spy? What are you talking about?" Kenal struggled briefly, but gave up as his efforts only brought a tighter grip. "You know exactly what ah mean. You tried to give our location to Snively. Good thing you decided to play hero so we could find out." "I wasn't working for Snively. I was trying to summon the other griffins. If you need proof, feel my neck." "I'll wring your neck, you little..." Bunnie stopped as her other hand closed around Kenal's neck. "...what the..." She opened her hand, keeping only a finger on the spot where she'd felt a pulse. "...but you're a robot. No robot has a pulse." "I've been deroboticized. Snively can't do that, can he?" "No one can do that." "The griffins can. I don't suppose you'd like to get your real limbs back?" Bunnie's robot hand mechanically set Kenal down, and the rest of her body froze as she considered Kenal's offer. Kenal stood on all fours and smiled. Had Bunnie been more cognizant, she might have wondered how he did it since all the beaks she'd ever seen were too inflexible to allow expressions. Unlike the birds that Bunnie had seen, however, griffins' beaks had evolved to be slightly flexible, and thus more adaptable. "I thought so. I've got something for Rotor that'll help him build a deroboticizer, and I'd like you to help me deliver it." Kenal produced a small disk from under his wing. "What is it?" "It's the designs for our deroboticizer. Ours only works on two species, but with a little tinkering, you should get it to work on anyone, just like the roboticizer that did that." Kenal pointed to Bunny's legs. Bunnie took Kenal's disk and blinked. "Why only two species?" "It's a reversal of the roboticizer that Snively used on us. He had to borrow Robotnik's dragon roboticizer since it was the only one that could fit some of the larger griffins. Snively got lazy and just used the same one on all of us." "So why do you need my help? Rotor's the one you want to get this to." Kenal giggled, then whispered into Bunnie's ear. ****** Dulcy finally collapsed from exhaustion. Nothing that she'd done had even scratched the hologram. As her instincts surrendered control, Dulcy tried to think of a way to keep herself from killing someone that she'd never even seen before. "Done yet?" King was slightly bored, but he'd known what would happen. Somewhere out of sight, the real King stood in the same pose as his image, which his hologram projector recorded, enlarged, and sent to the field in front of Dulcy. As out of breath as she was, Dulcy could barely make eye contact with the image. A spoken reply was out of the question. "Good. I am here to thank you for saving Kenal Skyer's life. Our reward will have been delivered to Rotor by the time you can get to his hut." King's image dissapeared, but Dulcy just stayed down. As tired as she was, Dulcy knew that she had to get to Rotor's hut ASAP, but she had to get her breath back first. ****** Rotor's hut was its usual mess. The only movement was a walrus staring at a computer screen. He was, to put it mildly, depressed. Rotor had tried every idea that he could think of, but the prototype deroboticizer just wouldn't work. He'd almost given up when he thought about breaking the news to Bunnie that she couldn't have her limbs back. That thought, along with the heartbreak that he knew Bunny would suffer, were about to drive him back to work when someone knocked on his door. Rotor pushed a button. The door opened automatically as he turned his chair to face it. "Hello?" Kenal was in the doorway. "Hi Rotor. I'd just like to say, next time you find a roboticized person doing something you don't like, just shut it off and store it, would ya? They're people with lives, not SWATbots." "Ok." Rotor turned back to his work, then slowly turned back to the door. "Kenal?" Rotor was now surprised. Kenal was no longer in the doorway. Rotor stood up just in time to see Bunnie walk in. "Heya, sugar-rus." "Uh, Bunnie..." "You look like you've just seen a ghost." "...did you just see..." Rotor stopped in mid-sentence, for the Bunnie he saw was not the Bunny he knew. This Bunnie had her natural legs and arm back. Rotor was now very surprised. Bunnie spun in place to show off, then walked towards Rotor. "What d'y'all think? I've got the plans for a deroboticizer." Bunnie pulled out Kenal's disk and set it on a corner of Rotor's desk. Mere surprise failed Rotor, who now had to resort to shock. "But first, now that I've got mah body back..." Bunnie's voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned towards Rotor's ear. Kenal was slightly irritated that he couldn't hear what was going on. He peeked in the window just in time to see Rotor faint. Kenal had doubted Bunnie when she claimed to be able to make Rotor pass out from surprise, but his doubts were now gone. "What did you say to him?" "That's between Rotor and mahself." "Aww, c'mon. Krkaw!" Recognizing Kenal's caw, the hologram projector pendant around Bunnie's neck faded into view as the hologrammed illusion of Bunnie's natural legs and arm faded into the cold reminders of Robotnik's evil. "I'll let you keep it if you tell me." "Just how old did you say you were?" "Eleven." Bunnie took off the pendant and tossed it at Kenal. "Ask your family." Kenal easily caught the pendant and put it on. "They've been roboticized, except for my brother. I told you that last time I was here." "Your brother's King of the griffins, right? He'll know how to put it." Bunnie's mechanical arm easily lifted Rotor back to his chair. "I wish I could see the look on Rotor's face when he..." "AAAAAAAA!" "What the..." Bunnie ran to the doorway, then looked to Kenal. "Did you just hear Sally scream?" "I think I'll be going now...Kckca!" Kenal's pendant turned itself invisible, then did the same to Kenal. Bunnie hurried to Sally's hut, only to find Sally hiding under the table just like Tails sometimes did. "Sally-girl, what is wrong with you? You're shaking like a leaf." Antoine cleared his throat from the doorway. "I think zat I can explain zat." ****** Sandra Nightweaver watched unseen from a tree. She'd been tracking Kenal since she saw him approach Bunnie, partly out of curiosity. Sandra had not seen a griffin since before the coup, and wondered why one had come out of hiding. "Greetings, old friend." "Make that two," she thought, as she felt her back for the familiar shape of the griffins' receiver. "Try the branch." Sandra felt along the branch behind her, but stopped when her hand felt something furry. She turned around, and saw a face that she had never expected to see again. "Kishar Skyer?" "King Skyer, now. It has been too long since we last met face to face." Sandra remembered as if it were only yesterday. Years before the coup, she'd already developed a bad streak that lead her to use anyone for anything she wanted. Sandra had noticed a group of cats acting strangely, and had investigated. She'd snuck aboard their transport, hidden nearby when it landed in the Great Unknown, and followed them on foot for a few minutes. Her efforts were rewarded after the transport left when she saw them take off their disguises, for they were actually griffins. Startled, she forgot to duck behind a rock when the griffins looked her way. After some harsh words, they made her promise never to reveal their existence. In exchange, they had taught her everything they knew about stealth, and had helped her build a secret hideaway in the Great Swamp. The one time that Acorn's guards had caught her, Kishar distracted the guards long enough for her to escape. The guards never even knew that they'd been distracted. Over the years, she kept trading information for various chemicals, technological gadgets, and, after the coup, even basic necessities when no one else wanted her services. Then the coup occured. The griffins thought that King Acorn had betrayed them, although it looked to Sandra like they just escaped Robotnik like everyone else. They stopped trusting any non-griffin except for Sandra, and they wouldn't even show their faces to her anymore. She still traded with them, conversing with her via short-range radio transmitters to avoid detection, although there were a few devices that they wouldn't trade even to her. In exchange, they seemed interested mainly in information about how they could strike at those who drew too near, and did not seem to care who was in control of what. Even so, they had been dependable customers, so she had never mentioned them to anyone else. "You haven't been at your base for quite a while, Sandra. I was starting to get worried." "I've been...gathering information." "Really? On what?" "Not what," Sandra smiled, "who." "Ok, then on who?" King's query fell on deaf ears as Sandra stared off into space, the smile frozen on her lips and in her eyes. "Sandra? Sandra...oh, I see. You've found someone?" "Huh?" "Do you love him?" Sandra's face changed to mixture of confusion and suspicion. "Love who?" "Your expression betrayed your feelings, Sandra. Do you love him?" "Umm...that is, I..." Sandra did not know how to answer. "Never mind. You know where Home is, and you're always welcome there. If you ever do stop by, bring him. Kckca!" King faded away. Sandra was still trying to answer King's question even after he left, for she had asked the same question of herself. ****** A few minutes later, Dulcy stumbled into Rotor's hut, still out of breath. Rotor was just waking up as she approached. *huff* "Hi, Rotor." *puff* "Ohh, Dulcy. I just had the strangest dream...what's this?" Rotor noticed the disk on his desk's corner. "What's" *pant* "what?" Realization flashed across Rotor's face. "Dulcy! Have you seen Bunnie lately?" *pant* "Yeah, something's" *pant* "happening at Sally's hut. Bunnie looked" *wheeze* "ready to go on a rampage, and she'd" *gasp* "just punched a hole in the wall with her robot arm when I saw her. Why?" *huff* Realization gave way to dissapointment. "Nothing..." Rotor looked at the disk, hrmed, and popped it in his computer. His eyes widened significantly as wireframes played across its screen. "What's" *puff* "on that disk?" "Dulcy...these are the designs for a dragon deroboticizer!" Dulcy forgot to breathe. "The griffins' reward..." "Hmm?" Rotor turned towards Dulcy, who was starting to turn blue under her scales. "Dulcy, you might want to..." With a thump, Dulcy fell unconcious from her lack of oxygen, but resumed breathing. Rotor had heard an old saying: "Let sleeping dragons lie." It seemed like good advice in this case. ****** Well outside of Knothole, two griffins seen only by each other glided towards the Great Unknown together. "So, what next, King?" "We get out of here. As of now, I don't think we can consider them friends. In time, their anger will fade, but I'd just as soon we never come back." "B-but I was gonna visit them again." "That would not be a good idea." Kenal flew ahead of his brother, then looked back. King knew what was coming. "No...you wouldn't..." Kenal's face contorted into the wide-eyed, pouting, just-short-of-tears look that was a classic among children everywhere. "Pleeease?" "Alright, ok already!" Kenal's face was normal in an instant. "Yippee!" "But not for two weeks." "Aww, King..." Kenal prepared to make the face again. This time, King just stared into Kenal's eyes. "Two weeks. We must give their anger time to simmer down." Kenal sighed. "Ok, if you say so..." "I just did. Now, let's go Home." The two soared onwards, both making plans for the future.