Finally! I thought I'd never get another chapter done. I hate writer's block. Of course I've been busy drawing too so that doesn't help.
The usual disclaimers apply. I don't own anything.
Thunderhawk hummed to himself as he walked down the halls towards the kitchen. It was early in the morning and he was the only one awake at the moment, the way he liked it. He was an early riser by nature and he enjoyed the peace and quiet that came with being the only one awake in the early morning. He could get some breakfast, catch up on the news and get some of his morning routine taken care of before anyone else stirred. In fact, it was a recurrent joke in the Brotherhood that this time in the morning was the only time Thunderhawk was ever in a good mood.
Unfortunately, the good mood wasn't about to last for very long this morning. A mess greeted Thunderhawk as he entered the kitchen. Flour was thrown about all over the floor, the table, and the countertops. Eggs were broken against the far wall and some eggshells were scattered about, with eyes and mouths drawn on them. Orange juice filled a bowl in the middle of the table and little paper boats were floating in it. A river of orange juice ran across the floor and eggshell animals were drinking from it. Thunderhawk stared at the scene in shock, his mind trying to register what he was seeing. He had to be dreaming, he had to be.
Something wet fell on top of his head with plop, forcing the echidna to recognize that he wasn't dreaming, much to his dismay. The lavender furred male growled and yanked the soft object from his head. A pancake? Ignoring the stickiness on his fur, he looked up towards the ceiling and gawked. The ceiling was covered in pancakes, all stuck to the ceiling with syrup, which was slowly dripping in some places. What in the name of Edmund happened here?
He racked his brain furiously, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for the whole scenario. If Athair lived in Haven he would have attributed the mess to him. The possibility that he snuck in existed but they had alarms set up to let them know whenever anyone entered Haven without use of an entrance code, something Athair didn't have since the colorful echidna preferred to teleport in whenever he wanted.
There was always the Dark Legion but the alarms would have sounded if any of them managed to break in and making a mess of the kitchen wasn't something they could have been bothered with. The only suspects left were the ones currently residing in Haven. Spectre wouldn't bother with such silliness. Thunderhawk knew his father would have a coronary at the sight of the mess. Sabre was also too serious for such a thing. Besides, he wasn't that artistic. Sojourner was quite creative and while it was possible that he could be the one responsible, Thunderhawk shrugged it off. This sort of thing wasn't quite his son's style. That only left Locke.
This sort of thing wasn't exactly Locke's style either but then again he tended to be quite… unique in how he dealt with his problems. Everyone knew Locke wasn't always happy and tended to let his anger out through rather creative outlets. Images of a certain transport vehicle that would short circuit every time someone put it on auto-pilot came to mind. A member of the Brotherhood had been left stranded one time too many because of that mechanical flaw. In fact, machines always tended to malfunction more often whenever Locke was in one of his bad moods. To Thunderhawk's mind, this wasn't a far stretch for his grandson. He went from machines to just making a general mess is all. Believing he found the answer to the problem, he released a furious mental cry that echoed off of Haven's walls, startling the supposedly guilty party from his sleep.
Locke fell from his bed with a scream. He wasn't used to being awakened by telepathic shouts of fury. He rubbed his eyes and sent a telepathic message to his grandfather as he untangled himself from his sheets.
What's wrong Grandfather Thunderhawk?
What's wrong? What's wrong? Get down here and see for yourself boy!
All right, all right. I'm coming. Where are you?
The kitchen boy. You have some explaining to do!
Locke grimaced. Early in the morning and Thunderhawk was already in a pissy mood. The young male knew that this was going to be a long day. He was confused though. What was wrong with the kitchen that Thunderhawk had to awaken him so rudely? He hurried down the corridors, wanting to get this over and done with and was greeted by a furious echidna and a messy kitchen. Locke froze, blinking stupidly at the scene, his jaw hanging open in shock while Thunderhawk glared at him.
"What the hell happened here?" Locke asked after getting his wits about him.
"Don't play dumb with me boy," Thunderhawk growled.
Locke sputtered for a couple seconds as he registered what it was Thunderhawk meant. "You think I did this?" Thunderhawk narrowed his eyes, saying nothing and Locke continued. "I can't believe this! Why on Mobius would you think I would do something so… so insane?"
"Do you know of anyone else who could have done such a thing?" Thunderhawk said. He stepped forward until he and Locke were only inches apart.
Locke leaned back slightly but held his ground. "Yeah, how about Athair. This is right up his alley."
"The alarms would have gone off if he had entered Haven. The same goes for anyone else save for the five of us who live here."
"And you honestly believe I'm responsible," Locke replied, struggling to control his temper. How dare his grandfather accuse him of such a thing. Thunderhawk should know him better than that.
"Who else could have done it?" Thunderhawk responded.
"Have you any proof Grandfather?" Locke challenged. "Or are you just picking on me because you have nothing better to do this morning."
Thunderhawk growled and seized Locke by his coat, pulling the younger male closer. "Don't mock me boy. It isn't good for you health."
"Holding on to my son like that isn't good for yours grandfather."
Both men turned their heads towards the owner of the voice. Sabre was standing in the doorway with Sojourner and Spectre on either side of them. Sabre was glaring at Thunderhawk sternly as was Spectre while Sojourner's expression was unreadable.
"Really now Thunderhawk, this is beneath you," Spectre said coolly. "Release Locke now." Thunderhawk grumbled and released his hold on Locke. He knew better than to disobey one of Spectre's commands, especially in a situation like this.
"So, what exactly happened here?" Sojourner asked.
"It's kind of obvious, isn't it," Locke snarled. Sojourner frowned and opened his mouth to retort but Spectre cut him short.
"Enough. I won't tolerate this kind of behavior this early in the morning. Bad enough Thunderhawk had to awaken us so rudely-" He cast a disgusted look in his son's direction. "-but now we have a rather nasty mess on our hands at that."
"Why would someone do this?" Sabre asked. He had positioned himself between Locke and Thunderhawk in hopes of preventing any further conflict between the two.
"I just want to know who," Spectre replied as he continued to look around. Who ever took their time to do this not only had an artistic streak but also had way too much time on their hands.
"Look, considering the alarm didn't go off, the list of suspects-" Thunderhawk stopped a wave of Spectre's hand.
"We heard you," Spectre said, repressing a long suffering sigh. "We saw the whole confrontation between you and Locke. You were just too caught up in your little superiority act to notice us." Thunderhawk snorted indignantly but said nothing.
"Really now, what proof do you have that my son did this?" Sabre queried, still giving his grandfather a hateful look. Thunderhawk was tempted to give Sabre a long list of reasons but he respected Sabre too much to give him a hard time, even if it did involve Locke.
"He just seemed like the most likely suspect," Thunderhawk said quietly, as he slowly began to realize just how much he had overreacted.
"Of course he did," Spectre muttered, rolling his eyes. "I thought I raised you better then that Thunderhawk. You should know better than to jump to conclusions."
'Thank you Grandfather," Locke said, giving Thunderhawk a triumphant smile. Locke was hoping Spectre would really lay into Thunderhawk but he could see from the look on the lavender one's face that he got the message just the same.
Sojourner, meanwhile, was busy looking around himself, admiring the creativity displayed all over the kitchen. He wasn't happy about the mess either but it was obvious someone was having fun and besides, listening to his father get chewed out, even mildly, was always something that put him in a good mood. Spectre looked around again and sighed. Whoever the guilty party was would pay later. Right now all he wanted was a clean kitchen and a dozen cappuccinos.
"If we're done casting false accusations about, I suggest we get this mess cleaned up."
Sabre sat quietly in the surveillance room pondering the days earlier events. Once the kitchen was cleaned up, the Brotherhood tried to figure out who was responsible but the only option was someone who knew an access code. As Thunderhawk screamed earlier, anyone else would have set off the alarm. Sojourner was the one who brought up that Knuckles also had a code now. Suspicions switched to the youngest member but everyone had trouble believing Knuckles would waste his time on something so childish. Besides, everyone knew he had spent the night with Remington chasing down straggling Dark Legionnaires in the city. Thunderhawk insisted that they look into the boy's whereabouts afterward which resulted in another argument between him and Locke. Spectre finally put that to rest by having them check the surveillance system to verify Knuckles's actions and a quick check proved that he had indeed remained in the city. With no other outlets to turn to, Spectre insisted they just keep their eyes open for possible trouble and go about their daily routines.
This time around Sabre demanded that Locke find something else to occupy his attention and all but physically forced his son out of the room. Locke spent far too much time in surveillance as far as Sabre was concerned and he was going to see to it that that particular habit came to an end. He preformed the cursory check of the island and everything looked normal to him as he scanned the various zones.
"Rainbow Valley looks good," Sabre mused. "So does the swamp. City normal. Lava Reef looks normal. Angel Forest looks nicely decorated."
Sabre clicked to the next screen before pausing. Angel Forest, decorated? He clicked back instantly to be sure he wasn't seeing things but the screen proved otherwise. Angel Forest was lush and green as always, but this time the trees were adorned. With toilet paper no less.
Sabre gaped at the screen for a good five minutes, not quite sure he could believe what it was he was seeing. What in the Emerald happened here? Sabre closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers in concentration. Perhaps some delinquents from the city had gotten out and caused some trouble in the forest. That had to be it. Spectre's going to have a fit, that's all Sabre could think as he sent out a mental message to the elder echidna. Spectre sent word back that he was coming and a few minutes later the elder entered the surveillance room.
"What exactly seems to be the problem?" Spectre asked as he approached his grandson. Sabre said nothing and pointed at the screen. Spectre followed with his eyes, which widened considerably when he saw the screen. He blinked a couple times, before raising an eyebrow in a mix of confusion and amusement. At least that's what it looked like to Sabre, who watched his grandfather quietly.
"Well, this is interesting," Spectre said. Sabre expected something more reactive from the dark one but then again, how could one be expected to react to something like this. Spectre spoke again. "I suppose we have no idea who's behind this juvenile display either."
'No grandfather, we don't," Sabre replied. "Personally, I think it's probably some punk kids out causing trouble for lack of anything better to do."
Spectre nodded. "I suppose that's as good a guess as any. At least nothing is damaged. Send word to Knuckles that the forest needs some tending to and tell him to bring the Chaotix with him. He'll need help cleaning that up."
Sabre nodded and began messaging Constable Remington. He'd be able to get word to Knuckles quickly and perhaps the Constable and his underlings could keep their eyes open for any possible offenders. A sigh from behind him forced Sabre to turn around quickly. Spectre had his eyes closed, his face pinched in aggravation.
"What's wrong Grandfather Spectre?"
"Locke just contacted me. Apparently there's something else I need to see." He sighed and hung his head. Given the way the day has been going so far, he could only imagine what he was about to see next.
"What the hell is this!" Spectre screamed.
Locke and Sabre stood by nervously, neither one knowing what to say. They were in the flight deck standing next to one of their shuttles which had been given a new paint job. It was painted boldly in red and gold and picture of a naked echidna female in a sexy pose was painted on the side. Locke had entered the flight deck to do a check up on all the shuttles and almost fell over from shock from what he saw. The paintjob was something else and it took Locke a few moments to realize that he'd been staring a little too intently at the female painted on the side.
"Look at it this way, at least only one of our shuttlecrafts was painted," Sabre said in effort to calm Spectre down.
Spectre sighed heavily. "I suppose I should be thankful for small miracles. What else can possibly happen?"
"Don't say things like grandfather," Locke hissed. "You probably just jinxed us."
"I think we were jinxed from this very morning," Sabre replied.
"You two clean up the shuttle," Spectre said, sounding a little weary. "I'm going to do a quick check around Haven to see if anything else has been vandalized."
Both males nodded and Spectre turned and left the room. The elder swore by Aurora herself that if he ever found the person or persons responsible, he was going to dip them in a bath of hot oil.
"I have to admit that it is a rather, um, interesting paint job," Locke commented.
"That's putting it mildly son."
Sojourner cursed violently to himself as he threw the last of his books from the shelf. His prized magazines were missing and he wasn't happy. Ever since his father almost caught him with them a week ago, he was careful to not take them out of the room lest someone else discover them. Aurora knows he'd never hear the end of it from his father or Spectre. He had just received a new issue that proved to be very interesting and it was no where to be found. Sojourner searched high and low through out his room and came up empty handed and he was ready to tear his spines out in frustration.
"I finally have some time to myself and my magazines are missing. How wonderful," he muttered darkly.
He kicked some of the mess away and sat on the edge of his bed, racking his brains furiously. He could have sworn that he kept everything in his room. They had to have been taken by someone but members of the Brotherhood didn't invade each other's personal space like this. He'd just have to go and reorder every issue again. Sojourner exited his room, still grumbling, not even paying attention to where he was going and walked right into a warm body.
"Watch where you're going," an angry voice snapped at him.
Sojourner looked up and groaned. He just walked right into Spectre. "I'm sorry Grandfather," Sojourner said, trying to keep his voice pleasant as he got off up the ground. "I was busy thinking about, um, something and wasn't looking where I was going."
"I can see that," Spectre replied, looking less than pleased with his grandson.
"Go easy Grandfather," Sojourner pleaded, waving his hands in front of him. "I didn't mean to run in to you."
"I'm sorry Sojourner. I'm not having a very good day so far and I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"What's wrong?" Sojourner raised an eyebrow curiously. It was obvious that Spectre wasn't completely himself if he kept switching moods. Once he was angry, he usually stayed angry for long while.
"Someone around here has taking a liking to decorating Haven and Angel Island." Sojourner continued to stare at Spectre blankly and the elder continued. "Someone decided that toilet paper would make a wonderful addition to Angel Forest and now one of our hovercrafts has been painted in a very interesting fashion."
Sojourner blinked for a couple seconds before responding. "You're jiving me, right?"
"I don't 'jive', child." Spectre gave his grandson a look that said not to mess with him right now.
"All right then. Who's doing this?"
"If I knew I'd be out there strangling them right now." Spectre eyes glowed coldly and it made Sojourner uneasy. He knew Spectre was going to be impossible to live with if this continued.
"I'll scan the island, Maybe I'll get lucky and catch someone in the act of defacing something." As much as Sojourner wanted to hunt for his magazines, he knew the wiser course of action would be to find the guilty party and put an end to this or he wasn't going any peace and quiet for a long time. It wouldn't be unlike Spectre to have everyone out on some crazy manhunt for several weeks straight.
Spectre nodded gratefully. He was impressed with Sojourner's initiative. Usually the younger male wasn't keen on volunteering for any work.
"Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious," Spectre said. "I'll continue to search Haven."
Sojourner gave Spectre a mock salute before walking off towards the surveillance room. Spectre sighed and rubbed his temples with his fingers. The morning started out bad enough but things were just getting worse. He was going to have a serious headache by the end of the day.
Thunderhawk grumbled to himself as he headed down the corridors to his room. After the mess in the kitchen earlier that morning, he made a beeline for the computer room. He wanted to check up on the continent of Downunda, which was left in his care, and he didn't feel like being around any of his sons or his father. He was so frustrated that it wasn't until he was rubbing his hands through his hair later on that he remembered a syrupy pancake had fallen on his head. His hair was sticky mess, sticking up like a punk rocker's. He swore he was going to kill whoever was responsible.
Thinking of suspects, his thoughts returned to Locke. Now that he had a chance to calm down and think rationally, Thunderhawk realized just how absurdly he acted earlier. He did know better than to jump to wild conclusions and such behavior was far too childish even for Locke. He was just so desperate to make sense of the situation as well as find a scapegoat that he immediately lashed out at his grandson. That was getting to be a bad habit. Locke tended to think a little differently than the rest of the Brotherhood and all the years of going along with ideas he never cared for to begin with were weighing down on the younger male's psyche. Sometimes it seemed like he hated the Brotherhood and everything it stood for and other times he defended the ancient traditions his family had lived by for the past four hundred years. Thunderhawk on the other hand always supported tradition and it's brought him and Locke close to blows at times. Besides, Locke was still only in his thirties while Thunderhawk was about one hundred forty years of age. He had experience on his side.
Thunderhawk shook his head to relieve himself of his current train of thought. None of that mattered now. All that mattered was that he had behaved like a child and he did owe Locke an apology. Eating crow wasn't something any member of the Brotherhood enjoyed doing and most of the time the men silently acknowledged that any hard feelings were forgiven and things moved on as they always did. However, this was one situation Thunderhawk felt that deserved a verbal response.
Perhaps my father was right. All the times we assume that one of us is apologetic for something has lead to some degree of dissent among us. After all, just because forgiveness isn't spoken doesn't always mean it is given. I wonder how much pent up anger is being withheld in each of us?
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed the brightly decorated room to his left. A flash of color forced his eyes to focus to his left momentarily but he moved on. It was after a few more paces that he stopped short, and ran over the previous steps in his mind before backing up quickly to take a look at the room again. The room in question was the library and it was a total mess. Books were thrown about everywhere in a haphazard manner, the recliners turned upside down, and rainbows were painted all over the walls.
The artist strikes again. Thunderhawk ran his hand through his hair, remembering it's sticky condition only when his hand pulled out a few hairs. He growled again. The sooner he washed that out the better. The condition of the library demanded that it receive first priority but Thunderhawk decided that it was just going to have to wait until after he washed his hair. Spectre rounded the corner as Thunderhawk exited the library and winced at the incredulous expression on his father's face, whose eyes were focused on the top of his head.
"Bad hair day?" Spectre asked with a grin.
"I forgot I had syrup in my hair," Thunderhawk rumbled.
"A fastidious person such as you would forget something like that?" Spectre teased. Thunderhawk narrowed his eyes and growled lightly. Spectre's suddenly flippant attitude was not helping his mood one bit.
"I was busy doing my work," Thunderhawk replied. "What have you been doing?"
Spectre dropped his light heartedattitude and turned serious. "I've been running all over Haven checking to see if anything has been vandalized. Someone toilet papered Angel Forest and painted a very interesting design on one of our hovercrafts."
"What!" Thunderhawk's anger melted away instantly and his hair was forgotten.
"I think someone is desperate for our attention. Either that or someone is hell bent on driving us insane."
"And we have no idea as to who?" Thunderhawk was sure that a suspect would have been found by now.
"Not a clue," Spectre replied. He lifted his head up towards the ceiling. Someone was wreaking havoc throughout Haven, and perhaps the island itself, and it had to stop.
"You might not want to see the library then," Thunderhawk mumbled.
Spectre's frown deepened and he ran past his son to the door to the library. Thunderhawk expected his father's jaw to drop in shock or for him to scream bloody murder but he did neither. The dark one only stared at the mess before, his eyes slightly wide, his expression unreadable. He remained that way for several minutes and Thunderhawk watched, his apprehension growing with each passing moment. Spectre was unpredictable when in these kinds of moods. Even though it went against his better judgment, Thunderhawk reached out and touched his father lightly on the shoulder. Instead of flying off the handle as he expected, Spectre simply turned to face him quietly. They looked at one another for several seconds before Spectre spoke.
"Son, slap me."
Thunderhawk choked. Did his father just ask him to do what he thought he did?
"Father, are you feeling all right?" Thunderhawk asked nervously.
"Just do it." Spectre sounded and looked serious.
Thunderhawk took a deep breath and prayed he'd still be alive afterward before drawing his hand back. Spectre remained still and Thunderhawk, with his eyes closed, brought his hand down across his father's cheek,taking carenot to strike him too forcefully. Under any other circumstances this might have been something to look forward to but not after the way the day had been going thus far. Thunderhawk kept his eyes shut, expecting a return slap, but nothing came.
"Thank you son," Spectre said calmly. Thunderhawk opened his eyes and Spectre looked a little better than he previously did. Perhaps the slap was what he needed to come to his senses.
"Glad to be of help Father," Thunderhawk replied. What else was there for him to say?
Spectre turned and looked back at the mess that was the library and sighed.
"I think it's time all of us had a serious discussion about this. Go clean yourself up. I'll call you all to the conference room later, after I've had some time to meditate about this."
Thunderhawk nodded and the two echidnas parted ways. The lavender male was still in shock over what just happened. Father must be having issues if he just allowed me to get away with that!
"A naked female? Are you sure about that?" Sojourner gave his grandsons a puzzled look. The idea was almost too ludicrous for him to accept, enticing as it was.
"We wouldn't make something like that up Grandfather," Sabre replied with a sigh. His body ached from the amount of scrubbing he and Locke had to do to get the hovercraft clean.
"Don't bother father," Said Locke. He was busy stretching out his aching limbs. "I bet Grandfather Sojourner's just upset he didn't get to see the paint job before we washed it away."
"I was just curious," Sojourner replied, trying his best to sound as innocent as possible.
"Can we please forget about the shuttle," Sabre insisted. "What I'm more concerned about is whether or not you found any more damage done to the floating island."
Sojourner shook his head, glad for the sudden change in topics. "Everything else on the island looks just fine. Knuckles and his friend managed to clean up the forest pretty well and Constable Remington is keeping his eyes open for any possible trouble makers."
"I still don't understand why someone would toilet paper an entire forest," Locke said. Between the kitchen, the forest, and the shuttle, it was proving to be an interesting day. He could only help but wonder what else suffered from the perpetrator's imagination.
"Why would someone ruin the kitchen and paint one of our shuttles for that matter?" Sabre responded.
"Because someone wants to drive us crazy," Locke offered.
"Because someone has way too much time on their hands?" Sojourner added.
"Because someone has nothing better to do?" Locke said.
"All right, already. I get the picture." Sabre groaned and sat down on the floor.
"I sure hope you haven't used up all of your energy Sabre because the library needs attention," Thunderhawk said. A three echidnas moaned and hung their heads.
"Haven't we done enough cleaning for one day?" Sojourner whined.
"Apparently our unknown vandal feels otherwise," Thunderhawk replied.
"I swear in the name of Edmund I'm going to kill him or her," Locke said, hand to his head. His fathers all shared the sentiment. A sudden mental scream startled all four men to attention.
Sons, get to the conference room, now!
They all shared nervous glances before bee-lining it for the conference room.
Spectre sat at the head of the table, rubbing his temples again. In the center of the table lied a large pile of pornography magazines. Things in Haven were bad without him finding this pile of sin. He had nothing against it himself and he didn't care if any of his sons liked it but he felt such things were better to kept to oneself.
He looked up at the door the second he heard it open and frowned at each male as he entered. They gathered around the table, Spectre watching each one closely for various reactions. Locke stared at the magazines in disbelief and Sabre looked equally surprised. Thunderhawk was caught off guard as well and seemed uncomfortable. Sojourner appeared to be struggling to keep a neutral face. The green vested male swallowed nervously as he looked at the pile on the table. Some of those magazines were his.
"Um Grandfather," Sabre began, not sure exactly what to make of the situation.
"Does someone mind telling me what these are doing here?" Spectre inquired, pointing to the pile in front of him. All four males exchanged glances, not sure exactly how to explain this find. Spectre watched each one closely, paying special attention to Sojourner, who did his best to avoid his Grandfather's gaze.
"Perhaps it has something to do with our brazen artist," Locke said. It was the only explanation that made sense.
"Possibly," Spectre said. He brought his fingers together in front of his face in contemplation. "Or perhaps these belong to one of you."
All four men protested, including Sojourner, who was determined to keep the attention focused off of him.
"We're too old for this!" Thunderhawk insisted. He looked at his father as though he had just gone insane.
"What kind of perverts do you think we are?" Locke added.
"What he said," Sojourner responded, his voice quavering slightly.
"I think the stress of day's events are getting to you Grandfather," Sabre said gently. "Perhaps if you were to lie down for a while-"
"I'm fine Sabre," Spectre replied, keeping a dignified look upon his face. "Now I don't have anything against any of you looking at this, but it doesn't belong out here. How do you think I feel wandering in upon something like this?" As Spectre spoke he reached out for a magazine and flipped it to a page with an attractive young female lying out on a beach. "Or this?" He opened another magazine with another naked female lying out in a sexual position.
The rest of the Brotherhood looked at the pages, each one showing just a little too much interest in what was displayed on the pages. Spectre watched them all momentarily before reaching for another magazine.
"And don't get me started on what kind of reaction I'd have if I ran across something like this." Spectre opened another magazine that had another female playing some interesting toys.
In effort to make a point Spectre overlooked the fact that it was obvious he knew exactly what it was he wanted to show his sons and where to find what he was looking for. Sojourner picked up on this quickly and decided to turn it to his advantage before he got into any trouble.
"You know Grandfather," Sojourner said, a devious smirk forming. "For someone who doesn't want to see this kind of thing, I find it interesting that you know what pages you want to show us. I mean, it's not like you're just opening them randomly here."
"I, uh," Spectre sputtered, now realizing what he had just given away. "They happened to be opened to those pages when I came in here," he finished quickly, nervousness obvious in his voice. Everyone was looking at him now, the confusion giving way to amusement. "Well, I couldn't exactly yell at any of you unless I knew what I was yelling about," Spectre insisted, trying to maintain a lofty expression. "It was for research purposes I assure you."
The looks on his son's faces all turned from piqued curiosity to full blown amusement. Spectre fought furiously against the blush he felt rising on his cheeks as knowing smiles spread across his son's faces.
"Of course father," Thunderhawk said with a twisted smile. "You were just reading them for the articles." Spectre's face was completely red now.
"Don't feel bad Grandfather," Sojourner said. A chance to embarrass Spectre wasn't one he was about to pass up. "After all, you're a hot blooded male just like the rest of us, even if you are an old prune."
Spectre shot Sojourner a furious glance but it didn't have the same kind of frightening power it usually did, not with the blush present. Sojourner grinned widely as Spectre continued to stare at him. Neither paid much attention to Locke, who was chuckling to himself, trying to resist the urge to laugh out loud. Sabre, amused as he was, decided that he might as well take advantage to the situation. He began to gather up the magazines, garnering him looks of astonishment from his family. Sojourner looked at him nervously, wondering what his grandson was planning to do with his magazines. Sabre didn't strike anyone as the type to take an interest in such things. His intentions turned out to be different than what anyone expected when two seconds later he placed the newly organized stack in front of Locke.
"Here you go Locke. Enjoy." Sabre smiled at his son who only gaped at the magazines in front of him before turning widened eyes towards his father.
"Why are you giving them to me?" Locke squeaked.
"Because I think they could do you some good. I'd like to see you take an interest in the female form again. I'm beginning to worry about you."
Locke almost fell out of his chair. "What is that supposed to mean father?"
"Relax Locke," Sabre said kindly. "All I mean is that I'd like to see you take more of an interest in women again. You haven't shown much since the divorce."
"Maybe because I haven't been interested," Locke scowled. Thunderhawk, who was struggling to hold back his laughter let it out in loud guffaws now. Locke turned to glare at his grandfather, not knowing what so humorous about the current discussion.
"Come now Sabre," Thunderhawk gasped between laughs. "I don't think Locke knows how to make proper use of those magazines."
"I have a better idea than you think," Locke replied. He couldn't decide if he should be angry with his grandfather or feel humiliated.
"I bet you do," Thunderhawk replied, wiping a tear from his eye. "You wouldn't know pleasure if it came up and-"
"Let's not finish that line of thought son," Spectre said firmly.
"Oh come on, we all know Locke's dead from the waist down," Sojourner piped in. Locke kicked Sojourner furiously under the table, causing the older male to jump in pain. Sojourner reached down to rub his shin, glaring at Locke.
"And I suppose you know everything about pleasure Grandfather," Locke spat. "Especially when it comes to yourself." Now it was Sojourner's turn to blush. He racked his brains for a retort but came up with nothing.
"All I'm saying is that I'll make good use of those magazines if Locke won't," Sojourner said, still rubbing his shin. He regretted the words the second they escaped his mouth as everyone's attention now focused upon him.
"I have no doubt that you will son," Thunderhawk said.
Spectre smirked. He saw Sojourner's reactions and he always had a feeling his grandson was a little bit lascivious. His most recent comment proved his suspicions correct and now it was time for a little bit of revenge.
"You know Sojourner," Spectre said, running his finger along the table in front of him. "Seeing as how your libido is always in high gear, I figure you can always use a little bit help getting it all out of your system." Sojourner's blush increased and Spectre continued. "And seeing as how Locke could use a little work in that field himself, perhaps you can help Locke bring out his inner desires." Both Sojourner and Locke flushed furiously.
"Are you suggesting that Sojourner give my son lessons in self pleasure?" Sabre asked with a wry smile. Locke stiffened and then turned and punched his father in the arm. Sojourner looked like he was ready to sink into the floor and disappear.
"Maybe not quite like that," Spectre said, wincing. He never thought he'd hear something like that from Sabre of all echidnas.
"At the very least I say he could give Locke some tips," Thunderhawk said, still grinning. He always enjoyed harassing his son.
"Don't look so put out Sojourner," Spectre said, perverse amusement in his voice. "After all, you are a hot blooded male and I guess a healthy libido is only natural, even at your old age." Sojourner sunk further into his chair and Spectre continued. "Take the magazines if you so wish. Just don't chafe yourself in the process."
Thunderhawk chokedback another laugh. Sabre pursed his lips together; he was holding in his laughter but the huge grin on his face couldn't be missed. Spectre watched with satisfaction as Sojourner sank under the table. Locke, who had been silent the whole time, was still blushing himself and praying Aurora would strike him dead on the spot.
"Don't worry son," Sabre said, patting Locke on the shoulders. "Maybe I can find a few good porn movies for you to watch."
Thunderhawk was howling with laughter now and Spectre could no longer contain himself at this point. Locke put his hood up over his head before burying his head in his arms on the table. Sabre chuckled as he rubbed his son's back. Part of him felt guilty for embarrassing Locke like this but a larger part of him couldn't resist the opportunity to tease his son. The sound of a new voice laughing caught everyone's attention, save for Locke and Sojourner who were too busy dying of humiliation. Athair was standing in the doorway, tears running down his face from laughter.
"I didn't think you guys could be so… interesting," he said as he tried to catch his breath.
"Father? How did you get in here without the alarms going off?" Sabre asked.
"Oh, I found Locke's entrance code." Athair smiled, looking quite proud of himself.
"I see," Spectre replied, red flags going up in his head. "So what brings you here?"
"I just wanted to spend time with my family," Athair said innocently. Spectre, Thunderhawk, and Sabre continued to stare at him and then his face twisted into an evil smirk. "I was also wondering if you had a fun day today." Three pairs of eyes narrowed at what Athair's words insinuated.
"Why do you ask?" Thunderhawk queried though he had a feeling he already knew what the answer was.
"Well, considering you've done nothing but clean all day," Athair said. He didn't bother to finish his sentence, there was no need to. By now Sojourner and Locke took an interest in the conversation and Athair's final words set everyone off.
"You did all of this!" Spectre screeched. Athair smiled and nodded.
"Why?" Sabre shouted. "Why in the name of Edmund would you do all of this?"
"I was bored and I wanted a little revenge," Athair said. He looked at his gloved hand nonchalantly.
"Revenge?" Spectre replied.
"Yes, for keeping me out of Haven."
"You choose to leave Haven and the Brotherhood to help the tribe boy!" Thunderhawk growled. "Maybe the Ancient Walkers felt you were needed there but we had greater need for you here, despite what Janelle-Li believed. It's not like we forced you out of here!"
"You still think I was selfish," Athair replied. He still couldn't understand why his relatives insisted on making such a big deal out of this. The Brotherhood was about helping fellow echidnas and considering the situation the Lost Tribe was in, they should have been eager to help.
"You should have stayed with us," Spectre said. "We're your family and we had greater need of you."
"Did you now?" Athair replied, raising an eyebrow. "You all seemed to function quite well without me if I may say so."
"We managed because we had to," Sabre said firmly. "We had duties to do while you were busy gallivanting around on the Mobian surface."
"You know, I think all of you are jealous," Athair said. All of them looked like they were ready to disagree vehemently but Athair spoke again before any of them could open their mouths. "You're all stuck here with your Guardian duties with no freedom what-so-ever while I'm free on the Mobius surface to do as I wanted. Let me assure you that taking care of the tribe has been no easier than anything any of you have had to do on this island."
"All right, you made your point." Spectre stood up and approached Athair. "Are you happy now?"
"Not completely," Athair replied. "I want to move back into Haven. The tribe has been taken home to Albion thanks to Knuckles and now I no longer have a purpose. Allow me to come home."
"Now you want to come help us," Sabre muttered.
"What will you do if we decide we're better off without you?" Thunderhawk asked, frowning.
"Well, seeing as how I have nothing better to do, I'll just run amuck on the island. Maybe cause a few more problems here in Haven. After all, you are my family and tormenting you is part of the fun," Athair grinned at the frowns on his family's faces. "I get to spend so little time with you and all I want is attention. Perhaps another camping trip is in order?"
Furious protests filled the room. None of them wanted to go through two more weeks in the wilderness again. Chaos reigned for several minutes until Spectre screamed for order. Once things quieted down he focused on his grandson again.
"We're not jealous," Spectre insisted. "If anything, we were hurt. We felt like the tribe had greater priority to you than you own family. You didn't even come back for Janelle-Li." Athair hung his head sadly at the mention of his mother. He always regretted not seeing her one last time. Spectre understood however and didn't push the issue. "If we truly hated you, we wouldn't even bother associating with you. I even agreed to the camping trip, remember."
Athair nodded in understanding. The rest of the Brotherhood remained silent. Thunderhawk and Sabre both wanted to speak but knew better than to interrupt Spectre at the current moment.
"I have one question though," Spectre said. "How do we know you're not going to continue to cause problems like you did today? And don't forget about the crazy antics of yours whenever you're in one of your moods."
"Why on Mobius would I want to wreck my own home? If I live here, making a mess of things only results in my having to clean up. However, if I don't have to live here, than I don't have to worry about dealing with any messes I make."
Spectre opened his mouth and closed it right away. Athair's logic was simplistic and yet it made perfect sense. Athair wasn't going to make a total mess of any place he inhabited. Things might a little disorganized but not to the degree the Brotherhood had to deal with today. And now that he thought about it, having Athair around might make life in Haven just a little more interesting if nothing else. Besides, he wanted all of the Brotherhood together again. Athair was family, regardless of what happened in the past and if there was one thing Spectre wanted more than anything it was to keep his family together. The camping trip taught him that.
"All right then, welcome home Athair." Spectre said. Athair cried out in joy and embraced his grandfather in a massive bear hug. Everyone else gasped. It wasn't that they didn't want their relative with them, it was just amazing at how quickly Spectre agreed to welcome Athair back.
"Fine, he can come back," Sabre said, trying to sound as though he didn't care. "He has to clean the library though." Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Done!" Athair cried out, still squeezing Spectre.
"Can't… breathe," Spectre gasped out. Athair released him after a few more squeezes. Spectre panted for breathe and arranged his robes. Athair then focused his attention on the rest of his relatives.
"Son!" Athair cried out as he tackled Sabre. Both men fell to the ground with Sabre giving out a groan of pain. Athair planted two giant kisses on either cheek, causing Sabre to flail about.
"Get off of me!" Sabre screamed. With all his strength he managed to get Athair off of him but he had a smile on his face. "I'm happy to see you too, mostly."
That was good enough for Athair who now turned his attentions to Locke. The younger male yelped and turned tail but Athair was quicker and pounced on his grandson before he had a chance to get very far. Thunderhawk approached Spectre while Athair smothered Locke in kisses.
"Are you sure this is a wise idea?" Thunderhawk asked as he watched Locke struggle to evade Athair's lips.
"Probably not but what else can we do? He is family and we should be together despite any problems in the past." Spectre watched as Athair now devoted his affections upon Sojourner. "Life in Haven is about to get a lot more interesting."
Thunderhawk groaned. "I can only begin to imagine."
