Pranks 38

Anakin knelt on his knees in the bathroom, a deep scowl on his face. "It's not fair…"

"Did you say something, Padawan?" Obi-Wan said from where he stood in the open bathroom doorway, his hands crossed over his chest.

"No, Master…" Anakin quickly said and wearily continued scrubbing the bathroom floor with the toothbrush. His funny bathroom prank had been a total success but unfortunately Obi-Wan didn't think it was funny. In fact, he had been furious!

"Good. Because I don't enjoy being the laughing stock of the entire Temple!" Obi-Wan added as he continued to scrutiny the boy's cleaning. Whipping a printed photograph from under his arm, he waved it about in the air. "Do you know how many of these embarrassing photographs are plastered around the Temple? My reputation is ruined, ruined!"

"Master, I'm sorry! It's not my fault you were caught on the security cameras and someone thought you looked funny wearing those old mops…"

Obi-Wan glared at Anakin. "How do I know you didn't print those pictures?"

"Because I didn't! Honest!"

"Well, I just hope scrubbing the bathroom has taught you a lesson! Because I don't know what to do with you; locking you in your bedroom doesn't do any good at all…" Obi-Wan stated as he glanced once again at the photo. The picture showed him sneaking down the corridor only wearing the string mops… Uggh!

The apartment was silent for a few moments, only the scritch, scritch, scritch of the toothbrush on the floor making sound.

"I don't like being the center of all this attention." Obi-Wan admitted. His blue eyes flickered to his Padawan and an idea started to form in his head. He pondered it and a ting of guilt bit at his insides.

It would be wrong.

It would break the rules…

It would put the attention on someone else…

"Anakin!"

"Yes, Master?" Anakin paused in his punishment and glanced up at the older Jedi. Through the Force he could sense that the man's mood had changed and the slight glimmer of hope blossomed in his heart. If he were lucky, his punishment might be at an end.

"Anakin, I have decided to give you a new assignment, a secret assignment. Do you understand? No one in the Temple must find out about it or we'll both be in trouble!" Obi-Wan helped Anakin to his feet and tossed the toothbrush into the sink. "We are going to use this unique talent of yours to get the attention off me and onto someone else. Think up a really good prank and go set it up somewhere in the Temple, somewhere outside this apartment. Do you understand?"

Thrilled, Anakin eagerly nodded.

"Maybe something flashy that will attract lots of attention…" Obi-Wan said out loud to himself…

"Oh, Master!" Anakin darted forward and hugged Obi-Wan around the waist happily.

Smiling, Obi-Wan tousled the boy's short hair. "Now go think up something good. And whatever you do, don't get caught!"

"I won't!" Anakin promised. An idea was already brimming in his mind and he knew it would be the best prank yet! The Jedi wouldn't know what hit them! Excitement coursed through his body and he dashed to his bedroom. He had blueprints to draw up on his computer….

The night came and Anakin crept silently out of the apartment, a bag of tools hanging from his belt. Several hours later he returned to his bedroom while the Temple continued to snooze unaware. And unlike Obi-Wan, he had been wise enough to tell certain cameras in the hall to shut themselves off, playing and replaying a loop of empty hall while the Padawan worked on his labors.

That morning the Jedi Temple had a distinguished visitor: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. He was scheduled to go meet with the Jedi Council to discuss suspected Sith activity. While he had a pleasant expression pasted to his face, his insides were in slight turmoil. He didn't understand all of these reports of Sith. It was sheer nonsense! First there had been Sith pickles, Sith Bacon and even a piece of Sith carpet! And a while ago there had been that extremely embarrassing Jedi Food Riot. It had gotten onto the news and he had had a devil of a problem explaining the mess! Now Mace wanted to speak to him about the so-called community of Sith he had seen during the food riot. But knowing Master Mace, by now he probably had more 'evidence' to show him as well. Palpatine had put off this meeting as long as he could but had finally run out of excuses. He turned the corner and grimaced slightly. The dreaded moment was almost upon him. He just had to transverse the long corridor in front of him and then the lift would take him to the special Meeting Room…

Taking a deep breath to prepare for the upcoming madness, Palpatine started down the long shiny hallway. The door to the lift was clearly visible way on the other end. All too soon he would reach it…

After walking for a short time, Palpatine began to realize that the door wasn't getting any closer…

Puzzled, Palpatine paused and glanced down at his feet. Slowly he lifted a foot and stepped forward. Yes, his feet were moving under his long and elegant robe. Keeping a sharp eye on his moving feet, he walked boldly forward. After what seemed several minutes, he lifted his gaze to check on his progress.

"Blast! I'm still in the same spot!" Palpatine cried as he tried to grasp the situation. For some unknown reason, he had gotten stuck in the blasted Jedi's hallway! The Sith Master rubbed his chin in thought, a frown on his face. "I had not foreseen this unexpected difficulty. My visions generally do not fail me…"

But not once in the past week had his Force visions showed him trapped in a corridor!

"The Jedi will not trifle with me!" He reassured himself. "They are mindless idiots concerned about pickles and bits of carpet! I will escape and pretend nothing happened."

Determination in his step, Palpatine hurried forward. His boot heels struck the floor hard and he propelled himself forward. He locked his vision on the distant doorway at the other end of the hallway; sure he would reach it soon. His arms pumped up and back and soon a bead of sweat broke out on the old man's brow. He could feel his entire body starting to grow hot and he tugged on the high collar of his expensive embroidered robe. And although he walked quickly for a full ten minutes, the door was no closer!

"Drat! What madness is this?" Palpatine wailed as he wiped the sweat from his high forehead with a hanky from his pocket. "Why am I no closer to the door?"

Agitated and upset, the Supreme Chancellor broke out into a run, his long robes flopping about his ankles. His dignified clothing wasn't made for running and he worried that it might trip him, but escape was more important!

"Escape … I must escape!"

Panic gripped him and he ran faster, yet he stayed in the same spot!

"This is impossible!" he wailed as he desperately put on even more speed. His normally dry and powdered face was shiny with grease and sweat while his hair was plastered to his head. Rivulets of sweat ran down his back and chest, leaving large wet patches on his clothes. His breath came in loud puffs, his breathing raged. If he weren't a Sith Master this forced exercise might have killed him.

"AAHHHhhhhhhh!" Palpatine wailed. "Nowhere! I've gotten nowhere!"

Yes, he was still trapped in the same section of hallway! "What curse is this? Why can't I move forward?"

"Witchcraft! That's what it must be! How dare someone use the Dark Side against me!" Palpatine turned around and decided he would try going back the way he had come…

But that didn't work, either!

"Noooooooo!" He wailed loudly as he collapsed against the nearby hallway wall, his legs trembling from so much use. Clinging to the wall for support, he started to do the only thing he could. "HELP! SOMEONE HELP! I'M TRAPPED!"

Master Mace came around the corner from the same direction Palpatine had come from. "Supreme Chancellor! Are you all right? Are you ill?"

"Oh, this is AWFUL, Master Mace!" Palpatine wailed loudly, distress clear in his voice. "Someone has hexed this section of hallway with the Dark Side. I've been trapped here for a good twenty minutes…"

"I would have gotten here sooner," Mace explained as he suspiciously eyed the hallway before him. "But I had to investigate the disappearance of some equipment from the gym. Someone stole a treadmill during the night…"

"I don't care about your missing gym equipment!" Palpatine wailed angrily. "Get me out of here!"

The connection between his plight and the missing treadmill didn't click…

Of course, Anakin had fitted the treadmill carefully into the hallway floor and had covered the entire walking surface with matching flooring. The whole job was so carefully done that the seams were almost invisible. Luckily, it had been an extra-wide treadmill designed for a much larger species so it easily spanned the entire hallway from one to wall. It was also self-powered. That is, the person's feet made it move…

"Well, don't worry! We'll get you out of that hallway somehow!" Mace promised as he ran back the way he had come. He would go round up as many Jedi as he could. Rescuing the Supreme Chancellor was an important job! He dashed into the Cafeteria where several dozen Jedi were eating breakfast. "Everyone, follow me! An extreme emergency has occurred! The Sith have attacked the Supreme Chancellor right here in the Temple and he needs to be rescued at once!"

The mass of Jedi ran after Mace and followed him to the hexed corridor.

Time passed…

"Ah, get off my foot!" Palpatine wailed as a Jedi stepped on his boot. About two-dozen Jedi were crammed into the cursed section of hallway, trapped. None of them could figure out WHY they were trapped. "You're squishing me!"

"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!"

To be continued…

Hope that was funny!