Lance's urge to prank Keith and Allura again nagged at him like a tiny tack pricking him lightly at the back of his neck. The whoopie cushion was just a tad bit childish, but he still had the laugh of his life watching Keith redden and tense up in the dining room. After lunch, Keith had just gone into the restroom to shower in the open shower stall and Lance knew Allura wasn't far behind to wait for him. Staring at the two restroom doors, a mischievous smile curved his lips as he pulled out a screwdriver from his jacket pocket In no time at all, he had removed the bolts on the bathroom signs and had them switched. Now, the women's bathroom was the men's and the men's the women's.
A few moments later, he could hear the soft pitter patter of Allura's feet approaching around the corner and Lance snuck behind an adjacent wall to hide. Hoping she would have to use the restroom, he closed his eyes and tapped his foot vigourously in anticipation until he saw her go in to what she thought was the women's restroom. Lance snickered as he put his hand to his mouth. Soon, his snickering gave way to a hardy belly laugh as Allura rushed out of the bathroom several seconds later.
"Ooh!" she exclaimed as her cheeks bore a rosy hue and her emerald eyes popping out as she slammed the bathroom door behind her while Lance jumped out of his hiding place. "Oh Gods!" she added, her blush deepening as she spotted Lance and pointed back to the bathroom door. "I, I saw Keith, Keith," she managed to stammer out before placing her hand over her mouth.
"Oh, I bet you did!" Lance doubled over in hysterical laughter. "Ha! Ha! Hoo! Hoo! Just like dejavu! You have me to thank, my lady!," he stated as he bowed perfunctorily before her.
"You, You! What?" she asked, her face still crimsoned.
"I switched the signs," he admitted pointing to the doors before bursting back into laughter.
"You!" She gave him a slap on the chest, but he only continued to laugh until the door burst open and there was Keith, his hair dripped wet as he gripped at a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Dammit Lance! I heard everything! I'm going to kick your a.." but Lance was already on the run and his laughter was heard echoing in the hallway.
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Pidge, Hunk, Daniel, Vince and Larmina stood around in the hunkyard as Hunk worked on one of the lion parts. The group was solemn and silent feeling defeated with tired, worn expressions.
"Okay. Lance has managed to get us how many times?" Larmina asked, her voice raised as she stomped back and forth. "And what have we done? Nothing! Our pranks have backfired! What makes you think this is going to work?" she demanded turning to Pidge.
"Just trust me. Third time is a charm," Pidge replied calmly before he made a perturbed face while glancing at Hunk's backside. "Hunk, is that a diaper you're wearing?" he asked increduously.
"Yeah. Don't laugh. I just couldn't take a chance in having another blowout in my pants," he replied, his face a shade of pink indicating his humiliation. Daniel and Vince turned away supressing their laughs.
"Come on Hunk! Don't you wanna clobber him? He totally turned that trick against you!" Daniel stated facing Hunk and then shaking his head when Hunk only shrugged.
"Well, I should've watched my coffee," Hunk replied.
The door to Hunk's shop flung open and in a very casual, yet conspicuous manner, Lance strode in. He grinned at all of them amid their scowls in return, but he couldn't help but feel proud that every one of his pranks had gone according to plan and that he would be the champ today. "Hey guys! I gotta tell you about the ones I played on Keith and Allura," he started to say.
"Shut up! We don't want to hear about your stupid pranks!" Larmina sneered. She crossed her arms, glaring at him with her face an angry flaming red, almost as red as her hair.
"Yeah Lance! We've had enough! I hope you get what's coming to you!" Daniel yelled as he ran up to challenge Lance.
"Yeah Dan-man? Bring it on," Lance warned, his voice starting to sound serious as he took a few steps closer to Daniel until they were only inches apart.
"Alright guys, that's enough," Pidge said as he broke between them, his hands pushing them back. "Lance, we've had enough jokes, seriously. Hunk's working on your lion right now doing some upgrades."
"Yeah Lance. I just need you to go to the storage shed and bring me back a new diffuser to put in Red," Hunk confirmed as he continued to work with his tools before turning his grease-smeared face towards Lance.
"Me? Go there? Why can't you Hunk?" Lance whined. Hunk's answer was to hold up his hands and wiggling his grease-saturated fingers.
"You expect me to go to that old shed, that dusty, dirty, dark joint and expect me to find that for my lion?"
"Fine, I'll do it," Pidge piped in. Hunk's mouth gaped open a perfect No! Pidge, standing behind Lance's back, gave Hunk a wink of his eye that Lance didn't see. Then turning to Lance, Pidge stated, "Too bad Lance you won't get to see Coran's scantily-clad pin-up girls on the walls." Lance crossed his arms and raised a suspicious eyebrow at what Pidge said.
"Really," he replied. "Coran has provacative pictures in there?" I don't believe you," Lance scoffed as he turned his back.
"I wish I was Lance. The guards told me once that Coran even has vintage girlie magazines from Earth that he stashed in that shed." Hunk and the others played along with what Pidge was saying, but still displayed looks of skepticism.
Silent for a moment, Lance put a finger to his lips as though contemplating. "Well, Okay, I'm going. I need to find out for sure if this is true! I'll be back gang." And with that, he headed out of Hunk's shop to the storage shed.
"Dang little buddy! You're a genius!" Hunk squealed as he clapped Pidge on the back.
"Okay Team, let's get ready for some revenge," Pidge gave a comical grin as he turned on a monitor which showed different live shots of the storage shed.
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Lance jotted to the storage shed and as he opened its creaking door, he took a deep breath. It was pitched black inside, so he turned on his voltcom for light that could help navigate him through the shed that was full of equipment and pieces of machinery. His curiosity was getting the better of him as he wanted to see if Coran did indeed have nude photos of girls stored somewhere. He strolled over to a set of cabinets and a work table, but cursed when he banged his knee against the table. It was still quite dark inside. Then, he saw movement and gasping aloud realized it was a spider scurrying across the table. "Eew!" he stated and began pushing back cobwebs from the cabinets and table. Opening the doors, he found no vintage Earth magazine or holopics of anything feminine. Slightly disappointed, he decided to search for the lion part to take back to Hunk and then get out.
"Okay, show time," Pidge stated as he turned on the first camera in the shed. The rest of the team had a perfect view of Lance as he stumbled about in the shed. Within seconds, an eerie, but real-looking image of a ghostly figure of a man with chains binding his wrists appeared. A frightening moan emanated from the figure causing Lance's hair on the back of his neck and his arms to stand up. He could feel his heart starting to pound in his chest and panic gripped his throat as the light went out on his volcom throwing him into blinding darkness.
"What the?" he exclaimed backing away from the figure before another appeared again. This time, it was that of a woman with hollowed-out eyes and a ragged gown on her thin, bony frame. Moans and screams from filled the shed. Lance's heart rate and blood pressure continued to rise and he stumbled as he backed away from the apparitions.
"It's working! It's working!" Hunk shouted with glee. "He's scared of the ghosts!" Daniel, Vince and Larmina jumped and high-fived each other.
"Yes! Finally! Payback time!" Daniel shouted pounding his fist in the air, his amethyst eyes filled with joy and Pidge sat back at the computer, a smug smile plastered on his face.
But only a short time later, the team's joyous revenge soured as they watched Lance sigh and cross his arms. "Hmmm..this is all fake!" he shouted out loud. "Come on guys! I got it figured out! You think I'm afraid of ghosts! Boooooo!" he laughed and hollered as his head whipped around as though trying to spot something, anything that would indicate he was being set up. Pidge refusing to give up, tapped a few keys on his keyboard and soon the door to the shop bolted shut.
"How'd you do that Pidge?" Vince asked, his mouth open in astonishment as Daniel, Larmina and Hunk leaned closer to peer over Pidge's shoulders.
"I have my ways to hack into this shed's security systems. I'm not giving up until we've got our revenge. I'll do anything to keep him scared," Pidge said, his breathing heavy.
"Seriously?" Lance groaned blinded and holding his arms out. He had found his way towards the door and began kicking at it hoping he could bust it open. Finding another light source near the entrance, he had the shop lit up and was able to find the diffuser Hunk asked him to retrieve. Placing the heavy object under his arm, he continued kicking at the door. Tapping away at the keyboard, Pidge was able to turn out the lights. This only elevated Lance's frustration. "Give it up!" he shouted. His banging and kicking at the door finally caused the door to finally burst open, but not before several items on the shelf above the door began to fall including the large clown doll. Lance never saw it coming and as he was blindsided, he tripped dropping the diffuser and it rolled down a small incline. Lance falling forward, tried to catch himself, but he fell arms splayed outside the shed, the large clown doll falling too onto him with the posable arms wrapped around Lance's neck and its velcro hands stuck together.
Pidge and the others viewing the whole scene in disbelief, laughed and rushing out of the shop, headed down the hill to outside of the shed. Lance, stunned for several moments stared at them wide-eyed and then slowly turning his head ever so slightly, screamed out when his face met the face of the grinning clown and opened its mouth to speak.
I need a hug, it stated in a cheerful animated voice.
"Aaahhh!" he screamed in panic, his heart racing while he tried to pull the clown off of himself. Keith and Allura, who happened to be nearby on a walking path, had heard all of the banging and commotion and went to investigate. Upon seeing Lance on the ground fighting to get the clown doll off of himself, Keith burst into laughter falling to the ground in a fetal position. Allura had let go of Keith's hand and sprinted towards Lance.
Continuing to fight off the clown doll, Lance struggled while hollering and shouting in fear, disgust and agitation. Grabbing a hold of his shoulders and shaking him, Allura stared right into Lance's eyes, "It's just a doll! It's a toy clown! It's not real!"
Keith continued laughing as he was doubled over with tears in his eyes. "Lance, you know, you shouldn't be boxing the clown in front of all of us!" he cried out before finally rising to his feet.
Daniel, Hunk, Pidge, Larmina and Vince were all hooting and laughing, their faces turning red as they laughed.
"This explains so much!" Hunk stated laughing before adding, "No wonder you didn't want me to dress as a clown at the castle carnival!"
"He's afraid of clowns! Ha! What a wimp!" Daniel yelled pointing and laughing at Lance who sat on the ground. The clown doll lay beside him on its side, one leg bent over its body and resting near its head. The creepy smile still permanent on its face as though it too had been laughing and was satisfied of terrifying the Red lion pilot. But, soon the laughter and mocking of Lance faded as heads turned to catch a glimpse of Coran ambling down the hill, his brown coat swishing at his legs.
"Well, well, are your practical jokes finally over Lance?" Coran asked him while looking down at Lance, whose eyes bore humiliation. Not bothering to wait for an answer, he turned from Lance and bent down over the clown doll as though studying it. "Giggles? Where have you been all this time my old friend?" Coran asked picking up the clown doll and examining it.
"Giggles?! That thing has a name?" Lance asked still sitting on the ground, his face now white horror as he repositioned himself into a crouching position.
"Yes. My father bought him for me from an antique store on my first trip to Earth. I was just a boy," Coran responded as his thumb rubbed over one of the clown's shiney, red shoes. "I never knew what happened to him all these years, but I'm glad he's found. I'll have to take him back to the castle and put him in a safe place." Coran nodded to Lance before smiling at the others as he carried the clown doll over his shoulder back to the castle, its creepy smiling face grinning back at all of them.
Best friends, they heard it say. Hunk, Pidge, Daniel, Larmina and Vince each stared at each other collectively wondering what had just happened.
"Ugghh!" Lance choked out, his hazel eyes bulging with fear and revulsion. Keith smiled and releasing his arm from Allura's waist, walked over to Lance and offered him his hand to help him rise.
"It's all over now Lance. I think we're all even," he said softly as he helped a mortified Lance to his feet.
Daniel, Pidge, Hunk and Larmina all breathed deeply as they followed Keith, Allura and Lance back to the castle. They finally had their payback, but each of them secretly worried if "Giggles" had it in for them.
Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. This story is intended to poke fun at Lance and not anyone reading who's afraid of clowns. I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review.