"The parameters of my design-"
"Skeets, you know I hate it when you use big words," Booster yawned emphatically. "Now, I'm beat, so let's get this over with. Then I can catch up on my beauty sleep. It takes a full eight hours to look this good, y'know?"
Guy ignored his futuristic companion. They had only been up for an hour, and only that long because Guy hadn't been able to sleep at all. His need for payback was all-consuming at this time of year. He'd even had some close calls with old enemies in recent weeks, distracted as he was with this preoccupation of his. Obsession, Booster called it. It was the same every year now.
It was morning, March 31st - at least by some calendars - and any minute now, Flash would come speeding down the hall in a blur of scarlet and lightning. The speedster was so punctual you could set your watch by him, at least in his superhero garb. And then Guy's master plan would begin.
True to form, a cool breeze ripped through the corridor in the blink of an eye, setting the world flags aflutter in the speedster's wake, with only a few sparks of electricity left crackling in the air to confirm it was the right man. Booster yelped feebly as a leftover charge gave him a small electric shock on the neck. He swatted himself angrily, as if expecting a mosquito.
"Get to work Skeets," Guy ordered, shoving the floating tin can across the hall.
Together, they watched anxiously, always half-expecting the Flash to make an uncharacteristic return. Inside the room, if he was following the plan correctly, Skeets would be making his way to the dresser drawer, scanning constantly for any threats to their undertaking; they couldn't risk Flash having some kind of early-warning system for intrusion into his room, or secret surveillance. Next to Batman himself, Flash was the most likely to have plans in place.
It wasn't as though they could take him by surprise any more. Guy had never heard anything himself but he was pretty sure the whole Watchtower was talking about his pranks the whole of March. Not with the great anticipation and admiration he and Booster had both envisaged when they began this crazy endeavour. It was an eye-rolling, mocking kinda talk.
'What stupid stunt will they pull this year?'
'And how's Flash gonna make Guy look stupid this time?'
The latter had more appreciation in its tone. It normally met with a reply along the lines of, 'Guy does that well enough on his own', or 'can't be any worse than last year, can it?' And from there they relive the past humiliations the Lantern had suffered with glee. Guy was sure he'd heard them whispering. Sure the conversations had fizzled out as he'd entered the room.
The whole prank business was hurting him throughout the year now. Less team-ups with the other heroes, less call-ups for international duty with the League. Even the new recruits on Oa seemed to know about it. Nobody gave him the respect he deserved any more.
"Mission accomplished," Skeets announced, disturbing Guy's reverie.
If all had gone to plan, the speedster's ring - the one in which he kept his costume to be sprung out in a heartbeat if the need arose - will have been taken and replaced with another, containing an altogether different costume. The next time Wally tried to change from his civilian identity into the well known hero of Central City, he'd end up less Flash and more Shebang.
"There is as predicted more than one ring in the drawer."
"So, foiled again?" Booster could barely hold back the yawn.
It wasn't that long ago that Booster had been the one rallying Guy to make this prank happen. Now he was losing interest. Or perhaps more pointedly, losing money. Rumour had it that even corporate sponsors had heard about their failed stitch-ups, and one or two had pulled their backing, and getting new deals was proving harder year on year.
Boohoo, Guy thought bitterly. It was nothing to what he'd been through.
"Using the best data available, and a highly advanced algorithm, I have calculated that the odds of Flash picking our ring tomorrow are 1 in 3. Those are the best possible odds that can be achieved, without removing the other rings. But that would alert him to our machinations."
"He has to get it tomorrow," Guy grumbled, gritting his teeth. "If it's not tomorrow, it's not April Fools. And if it's not April fools, it's just us being clowns for no reason."
"Some might suggest that was the case anyhow," Booster said shrugging.
"We can't let that happen," Guy said, blanking Booster. "If he doesn't get it tomorrow, we have to sneak back in here, and take the ring back."
"The chances of success in that eventuality would be much lower."
"What? Why?"
"The rings are exactly identical. We could never be certain that he hasn't re-arranged the rings. Especially as it would be unlikely for the rings to remain here on the Watchtower. The more probable scenario involves Flash taking the rings with him back to Central City."
Guy's eyes widened. For the first time, Guy reconsidered Question's words. Maybe it was time to give up. He'd taken enough hits, had enough losses. Time to quit while he was only slightly behind.
"Fine, abort mission. Get the ring back n-"
Before the words had left his mouth, they heard the familiar drum of unseen feet, the familiar buzz of static, and the wavering of flags. Guy caught just the briefest hint of a scarlet blur as the bedroom door opened and clicked shut in a nanosecond. The opening was gone.
