This chapter is set post-series and follows the timeline set by my oneshots outside of the "Come Together" universe (this does not include "The Return").

Also, Valon's a little mastermind in terror and God help us if we're ever around during this most harrowing of holidays.

April Fool's Day.

If it was one thing that he hated about April, it was the very first day of the month. When one accounted the fact that he had a younger friend who reveled in mischief, Alister overly despised the date. There was a fine line between "fun" and "downright dangerous" pranks, and most of the time Valon tended to straddle that line.

And unfortunately for him, today was that day.

Alister lay in his bed that Saturday morning, reluctant to move. The Australian was unafraid of setting up pranks, in spite of the unspoken rule to never trespass in the lanky man's bedroom; one of his pranks that had occurred in DOOM had entailed turning all of Alister's furniture upside down and bolting them to the ceiling (Alister still had no idea how the teenager had been able to pull that off).

Another notable bedroom prank had been one executed on Gurimo—the boy had liberally strewn marbles on the man's bedroom floor before spreading at least thirty mousetraps on the surface. Then he had set an air horn off in the man's ear, causing Gurimo to roll off his bed and onto the floor.

Cautiously Alister sat up on his mattress, his gray eyes scanning for any discrepancies in his bedroom. He pitied Raphael—though the older man was better liked by Valon it did nothing to protect him from April Fool's pranks (then again almost nothing was sacred on this day). It also did not help that the older man was a perfect target, since he was usually so sleepy in the morning that he never noticed anything until it was far too late.

Raphael usually had simple pranks sprung on him: tripwires strung in the door, water balloons rigged to fall when a door opened, having his keys hidden, that sort of thing. Alister got Valon's more creative pranks pulled on him, and he was certain that this year was not different from all the others. Not even Dartz had been spared from Valon's mischievousness.

Alister was pleasantly surprised when he got out of bed and nothing happened. He was pleased even further when, upon entering the bathroom for his morning shower, he noticed that nothing had been messed with. Valon had once rigged a package of Kool-Aid to the showerhead, and Dartz had come out with bright blue skin; the color hadn't faded for a week and a half afterward.

He began to (hope) wonder if Valon had forgotten as he cautiously stepped out of the shower and still nothing happened to him; judging by the fact he had not heard any noise from the hallway, it was safe to assume that Raphael had not set off anything yet. After making certain that there was nothing in the clothing, Alister then swiftly dressed himself.

He eyed the tube of toothpaste with a wary gaze, inspecting it thoroughly before placing some on his toothbrush and experimentally poking at it. One time the teenager had gone so far one year as to replace all of their toothpaste with glue, and Alister cared not to repeat the experience.

After waiting for five minutes to be certain the toothpaste wasn't booby trapped Alister decided it was alright to brush his teeth. Feeling emboldened, he brushed out his hair and picked up the hair-dryer to turn it on.

WHOOSH!

Alister's vision was filled with white, and a powdery substance flew up his nose and into his mouth. Sputtering and coughing wildly Alister stumbled forward, rubbing at his eyes frantically and feeling for the doorknob with his other hand. Feeling the round object beneath his palm, he turned it and opened the door, hurrying forward to escape the powder—

—only to find that his head met with what seemed to be Saran-Wrap and he ended up getting clothes-lined and tumbling to the floor. The back of his head contacted the doorframe, and he let out a shout of pain, clutching his head.

From above him, he could hear Valon laughing, and he opened one of his watering eyes to look up at his young friend. There were times—rare times—where he wondered just why he held back and did not outright murder the other biker. Even now he was seconds away from finding a dictionary and bludgeoning him with it.

When his vision focused it was to find the brunet doubled over in laughter, trying desperately to catch his breath as he looked down at Alister. "Your face…oh, your face!" he gasped out, falling to his knees.

Alister growled, rising to his feet and wiping his face clear of the substance—it smelled like baby powder—before glowering at Valon. "Five seconds," he said at last, an angry tremor in his voice. "You. Not in my sight. Five seconds and counting."

Still laughing, Valon scrambled to his feet and disappeared downstairs. The redhead counted to ten in his head slowly, and by the time he finished he was not in such a murderous rage (well okay, he was still contemplating the pros behind taking a cement block to Valon's head). He calmed down enough to realize that he had not seen or heard from Raphael in spite of all the commotion.

As if on cue a very pained yell came from Raphael's bedroom. This was followed by a rather loud crash, and it was enough to make Alister more than a little concerned about his taller friend's well-being. Hurrying down the hallway, he arrived at the door to Raphael's bedroom and reached out to open it.

Raphael seemed to have temporarily gained Alister's supposed gift of mind reading. "Don't touch the doorknob," came the older man's muffled voice through the door. "Valon did something to it."

Alister frowned and bent down to inspect the knob. Tentatively, he held his open palm out over the surface and felt the heat coming off from it. At the same moment, he finally noticed the small blow torch that had been discarded on the hallway table.

Valon you miserable little psycho, when did you get one of those?

"I'll say he did something to it—he heated up the doorknob. How's your hand?"

"I'll put it this way. If I wasn't awake before, I am now."

Alister went back to the bathroom to retrieve a hand towel and some aloe vera before he padded back down the hall. Grasping the doorknob with the towel, he opened the door and walked into the room to help his fallen friend.

Or at least he tried to.

Valon had covered the inside of Raphael's doorway in Saran-Wrap, which meant that Alister—who hadn't been paying attention—fell backward and onto the floor once again. He repressed an agitated groan before getting back to his feet and tearing down the plastic.

Raphael was watching Alister from where his current spot on the floor with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. "What happened to you?" he asked, holding his burned hand.

"Baby powder in the hair dryer," replied Alister curtly, handing the bottle of aloe vera.

The blond took it in his uninjured hand as he looked in the direction of the stairs. The two of them could hear Valon roaring in laughter from wherever he was hiding beneath them. Raphael then looked over at Alister.

"Revenge?" he asked.

Alister nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Revenge," he confirmed.