Survival Of The Fittest

Oh, Matt showed up. Matt was fun to prank. He was like a diet Wyatt. But, Matt became boring after a while. So, Zach started easing up on him a bit.

As Matt sat next to Lucas, Zach raised a fry from his plate.

"'Sup Matt," Zach said, "Wanna fry?"

He turned his attention back to Lucas.

"I'm sure I can bring along some extension cords," Zach said, "as long as it's one of those you can plug in. Can we mark down a date to use it?"

He was fine paying for using the fog machine for a couple of days, and maybe some extra fog fluid, but a generator? No thanks.

"What I'd like to do is make preparations a day in advance," Zach explained, "and keep the fog machine overnight at the place we'll execute the prank."

As Matthew proceeded to sit down, he noticed the way that Sean put air quotes around the word 'something.' Zach needing help with something can only mean one thing.

Another poor unfortunate soul is going to be pranked.

After silently shaking his head at Zach when he tried to offer him a fry, the waitress came over and asked what he wanted. After peeking at the menu, he pointed towards Zach's Swiss mushroom burger and diet coke, "I'll have what he's having, as well as some more fries if that's okay."

She nodded and wrote down his order before leaving. Matthew then looked back to Zach, who was talking to Lucas about something. Whatever he said when he was ordering his food, he wasn't paying attention, although the last sentence caught his ear. Preparations? A fog machine? No doubt that they were talking about the details of the prank.

Matthew couldn't help raising an eyebrow before speaking to Zach.

"Pretty elaborate." Matthew said, resisting the urge to say 'for once', "I wonder who your next victim is?"

(Skipping with permission from Ohm)

"Okay you want to hold it over night." Lucas said nodding his head. He didn't exact feel completely comfortable with people keeping a hold of his property without his direct oversight, Zach wasn't even his friend just his client. Now if someone like Ivy - who was his friend - requested his fog machine he'd be more inclined to let them borrow it. But since he is being paid to let Zach borrow it he was going to keep whatever displeasure he had towards the idea on the down-low.

"it's Wyatt Carter." Lucas explained to Matt, index finger tapping against the surface of his smartphone. "Ya know, linebacker on the football team, bunch of muscles, kind of a douche and looks like an egg. That guy."

Lucas returned his attention to Zach, looking to his phone which awaited for his input into the calculator.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked. "If not I really need to be going. I got things to do; films to shoot, costumes to make, girlfriend to make out with. All that."

(Skipping with permission from Malloon and Ryuki)

Ah, so that’s who Zach’s going to-

...

Wait, he’s going to prank Wyatt?

It took a bit in Matthew to not lose his composure over that, but his surprise was still evident on his face. Wyatt is strong as hell! Does Zach have a death wish?

Wyatt is, in Matthew’s eyes, the biggest cunt for miles. He apparently beat somebody up over being insulted, and is known for bullying pretty much anybody who isn’t popular. He fits the picture for pretty much any high school jock in a movie made in the 90’s.

Matthew looked behind him and saw his drink coming, as well as someone holding a newspaper with gravy on one of the corners. Something felt off about him, but he assumed that the guy wasn’t watching where he was putting his paper and turned his thoughts about the prank itself.

A fog machine? Is that it? It can’t be. There has to be more to this. I mean, it’s Wyatt fucking Carter! It’s not like he’s gonna to jumpscare him.

Needless to say, he became a lot more interested than usual.

“Just a fog machine?” Matthew said as the waitress set his drink down and walked away, “I assume that it’s going to only be one part of the prank.”

He paused for a bit before continuing.

“If that’s how far you got, then I have a few ideas in mind.”

The look on Matt's face was priceless. Sometimes seeing the utter shock on the audacity of Zach was worth the pranks. Sometimes. He definitely can see why Matt would be suprised though, if Wyatt ever found out about this he could prbably take all of them on in a fight and win.

He asked about the fog machine. Now, Sean had no clue about that as that was Lucas's dealio with all this. But they didn't need more than that to do what they needed to freak Wyatt out and run away.

Hopefully.

Apparantly Matt had a few ideas of his own. "What? Turned into a pranker Matt?" He said with a smile. Well, if he wanted to contribute that was all fine with Sean, that meant someone else Wyatt could focus down while he ran. "What you got?"

(Skipping with permission from TheLordOfAwesome)

As the future hapless victims of their own making were debating how to sharpen the stick that was to skewer them, Joey was focusing on his own predicaments. His expensive lunch was getting cold, his arms were getting sore and there was gravy on the table and on the newspaper. All in all, he wanted Zach to stop being dramatic and just tell the others what he had in mind so Joey could eat, rest, and clean up. And pee.

Oh shit.

Well, close enough.

He squirmed in his seat, not wanting to show himself and scare Zach (or more probably his coconspiritors) into abandoning their plan. It was a good plan. If all went well Zach would end up upside down in a trash-can and both Zach and Wyatt would get suspended.

He stopped squirming for a moment, then grinned evilly. He didn't have to rely on chance to make the latter happen. There were a couple of ways he could.. expose Zach as the perpetrator to Wyatt, and then all he'd have to do was present evidence of Zach's wrongdoing and Wyatt's retaliation to the proper authorities (anonymously, maybe, depending on how the student body reacted) and they could handle the rest. George Hunter High had no tolerance for violence, and the disruption Zach would cause wouldn't be looked on favourably either. It was just... perfect.

Or almost. He still didn't want Lucas to get caught in the crossfire. They had worked together in the past, and he liked the guy. Even if there was no chance of him finding out about Joey's involvement, Joey didn't want to do that to him.

Which made the prominent inclusion of the smoke machine a problem.

He squirmed again. He needed to go pee now. He glanced at Zach and co.'s table to make sure they were still focused on each other, placed the newspaper down and dove under his seat. He grabbed the rucksack he had stuffed there and walked as quickly as he could to the toilet. "Be back in a mo." he quiped when he passed a waiter. He was sure he looked a bit weird to the waitstaff, but wierd wasn't enough to get you thrown out.

He swung the rucksack onto one shoulder and popped through the door to the men's toilets. There was no use looking back. If they had seen him, they had seen him, and looking back would only raise suspision. He had just placed himself in front of a urinal and was letting nature take its course when a thought occured to him: Zach had not specified that the prank was happening in school. He had just assumed it would be because it was the best way to predict where Wyatt would be.

If it wasn't, well... that both complicated things and gave him more freedom to act. He could forget about suspension, then, unless... hm. There were other things that could be gained here too.

Part of him knew he should let this go, but like a sniffer dog caught on a scent, Joey just couldn't let up easily when he smelled an opportunity.

"Really?," Zach said, giving Matt a side glance, "Do tell."

So, Matt had ideas for the prank. Interesting. Hopefully they don't disappoint, not that Zach had high hopes for Matt anyway.

Just then, in the corner of Zach's eye, he saw someone duck under their table close by. The stranger then rushed past a waitress and dashed straight towards the bathroom. Zach didn't get a good look at the person's face, but he still found the scene funny enough to let out a chuckle. He imagined they had a hilarious expression on their face from the pain of holding it in.

Back to the topic at hand, Zach figured he needed some better suggestion for his prank's execution.

"But first, listen," Zach interupted, "before you say anything, I figure you should hear me out on my original plot. Basically, we lure Wyatt to the track field behind the bleachers. Then, we unleash the fog and pelt him with water balloons. Do you have anything better than that?"

"Not normally." Matthew said to Sean, giving him a slight smile in return, "but considering we're going for, I'd like to think that this case is an exception."

He then turned to Zach as he laid out the outline for how the prank's going to go. It was surprisingly short for someone who's going to piss off the Hulk.

"Just water balloons?" Matthew said to Zack as he put his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his fist, "That's...kind of weak, to be honest."

Matthew then started to eliminate some of his immediate ideas that popped into his head. Joining in on the water pelting? Nope. Blind him with a camera flash and watch him flail around? He doubted that there would be one bright enough to be effective and even then, he didn't want to badly damage his eyes. Tie a bag over his head instead?

Yeah, I prefer not going to a hospital, thank you very much.

Then his thoughts turned to the rumors that have been floating around school. He wasn't really actively listening to them, but there were a few that still managed to catch his ear. Outside of Wyatt's claim that he slept with someone when he was twelve, which is obviously bullshit, Matthew heard that Wyatt loves his parents and dogs in general. While that, on the other hand, is not outside the realm of possibility, Matthew didn't completely believe it until a couple of his friends brought it up.

He looked at Zach again and spoke.

"I've heard that Wyatt loves his family and has a soft spot for dogs," Matthew said, "When the fog is turned on, how about we piss Wyatt off by talking shit about them to get more of a reaction out of him? After you give the signal, assuming there is one, then we will throw the water balloons at him."

As they were getting ready to throw some ideas out for the Wyatt prank, Sean heard something behind almost run to the bathroom, he turned to see the back of someone rushing for it. Probably some bad food or something.

It didn't take long for Sean to forget all that when Zach decided to finally say what his plan was for Wyatt. The very thing they were there for. And if Sean was to be honest, the waterballoons was a bit weak for a special. He expected a bit more... extravagent might be the word? At least more special than something that would qualify as a small time prank.

but then Matt spoke up about his idea. There were many things said about Wyatt at school so one had to be discerning between truth and rumor. He hates this and this person, slept with this and this one, underage or too old.

He'd heard some good things though. At least in regards to his pets he's not an asshole or his family apparantly. So when Matt suggested something about family and his pets. Well, it might go beyond just a prank and legit get him to go after them.

"You sure about that, Matt?" Waterballoons to the face was one thing, but bring someone's family into and their pets... It could open up a shitstorm. He looked over at Zach, gauging his reaction.

As the other occupants at the talked among themselves, Lucas - feeling a little ignored by his client after asking him a question - occupied himself by organizing his pictures on his phone. Right now he was looking at a few pictures of Camilla that he had taken for his own personal enjoyment, especially this one he was currently lingering on where she was dressed up as Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. Like, goddamn... That was a good night when he took that picture. He wondered if Camille had any plans to night. Once his business here was concluded he considered hitting her up to see if he could maybe get a little alone time with his lovely girlfriend...

Despite his focus being on his assortment of pictures of his girlfriend, that didn't mean he wasn't listening to the conversation at hand. Especially Matt's counter proposal for Zach's little prank special.

"Yeah, are you sure about that, Matt?" Lucas asked as he scrolled through his images. "I mean, the original plan was already a ticket to a potential ass-beating. Doing that plan is a guaranteed ass-beating for pretty much all involved."

Setting his phone down for a moment he looked to the trio of prank conspirators. "Now don't take any offense to this guys, but if Wyatt were to confront me about my involvement in this plan if he found out about it, I will most likely throw you guys under the bus. Not because I like the guy or anything, I just don't want to get the shit kicked out of me by a guy who could probably chuck my ass across a football field." He gave them a shrug that more or less conveyed the message of "them's the breaks" before continuing. "Now I'm sure Ivy would try and stop him from hurting me because she likes me, but I'm also sure if properly motivated that won't stop him from kicking my ass."

Lucas stood from his seat, picking up his phone, and looked to Zach and said in a calm but firm manner, "The charge for renting my smoke machine has gone from twenty bucks a day to forty. Consider this a preemptive insurance for potential collateral damage to my property. In addition, if it does end up damaged or otherwise confiscated, I will demand repayment immediately or I will blacklist you."

A tinge of satisfaction welled up inside Lucas as he said that. Finally all those hours of practicing his professional salesman act in front of a mirror was paying off.

"Again, nothing personal, this is purely a matter of business and self-preservation. That said if you need something else commissioned, let me know."

And with that, Lucas's work here had concluded, or at least that's how he saw it. He had a few other things he needed to get done today and it didn't seem like his presence was required anymore.

"Right, I best take my leave! Like I said, things to do!" He said, bringing his hands together in a dramatic clap. "Best of luck on your latest video, Zach. I look forward to the rest of our business later on! And remember, break my machine and YOU! WILL! ATONE!"

The sudden exclamation once again caused a few of the other restaurant patrons to give Lucas odd looks, this time he acknowledged them before focusing back on the table.

"It's Ned Beatty from Network." He explained to the room. Sighing, he turned and headed towards the entrance of the restaurant. "Christ's sake, people..."

((Lucas Abernathy continued in The Final Project...))

Joey washed his hands quickly. He didn't want to miss any details, so he needed to get back to eavesdropping. But first, the contingency plan. He took a faded baseball cap and a jacket from his backpack and put them on. It wasn't much, but they might help disguise him a little. Not much he could do about his obesity, though.

He opened the bathroom door smoothly, while pulling the baseball cap low over his eyes. He held his backpack in front of him, pretending to search around in it. They would have to have anticipated him to recognize him at first glance now.

Lucas was standing.

"Damn.", Joey muttered.

That meant he was finished. Probably satisfied. Which meant Zach had spilled the beans while he was gone.

Was he sure Zach didn't know he was there?

No matter. If the moment was gone, it was gone. If it wasn't, he would miss it unless he was back in his seat. Luckily, at that moment Lucas decided to once again be very loud. Joey started to shuffle back to his seat, again very pleased with Lucas. Had he been an attractive girl around Lucas' age he would have vowed to kiss him. But he wasn't, so he didn't.

"Yeah. Not gonna lie Matt, I'm already risking an ass kicking, no reason to escalate it. But, it does give me another idea to add."

Zach already tormented Wyatt enough on Twitter about his dog once, he didn't need to give him an idea on who was doing the trolling.

Lucas then went on about how if he were to be confronted by Wyatt, he'd throw them under the bus. Well, if Zach were Lucas, he'd probably do the same thing. Who would want a beat down from the biggest mound of muscle in school? And then Lucas increased the price for renting his fog machine. What a dick.

"Fine," Zach grumbled, "take my kidneys too why don't ya?"

And so, after making a fool of himself again, Lucas left. Some team player. Though, to be fair, he's less of a team player and more of a neutral party.

"Well," Zach continued, "fortunately I don't need to empty my wallet for this next piece of equipment."

Zach leaned in towards Matt and Sean.

"My dad has a loud speaker," Zach explained, "it's a momento from his days as a garage band singer. We could use to startle Wyatt and disorient him, that way he'll be more hesitant on chasing us. Sean, you think you can use your guitar?"

"Risking it?" Matthew said, "He beats people up for way less. Though...I see that it's a horrible idea, now that I think about it."

He realized just how horrible it was the second it left his mouth. Nobody's going to care about Wyatt being humiliated for a prank, but as soon as one of them made it personal, every one of his friends are going to want a piece of their asses. Sean and Lucas pretty much confirmed that it was a bust, so he had to think of something else.

As he leaned back and crossed his arms to do so, he listened to Lucas as he explained how he was going to throw him, Zach, and Sean under the bus if Wyatt confronted them. Matthew isn't really surprised by that, considering that Lucas was no doubt seeing this mostly as just business, and Lucas even says as much.

I don't blame him. Fog machines aren't cheap.

Matthew flinched slightly when Lucas suddenly yelled at Zach about how he will atone if he breaks the machine, and-

Wait...

It's Network, isn't i-

"It's Ned Beatty from Network."

Called it!

He waved and said "See ya!" to Lucas as he left the restaurant. The waitress serving Matthew shook her head briefly before walking up to his table with his Swiss mushroom burger, as well as the large stack of fries. As she set it down, he noticed that he indeed had more fries than Zach.

Matthew reached over and grabbed the ketchup as Zach leaned in to say how his dad has a loudspeaker and what he was going to do with it.

"Is there a particular genre that Wyatt hates?" Matthew asked, squeezing the bottle and getting the ketchup in a big pile on top of the fries, "Does he hate....nerdy music, for the lack of a better term?"

Sean almost let out a sigh of relief they weren't going with what Matt was thinking of. He wasn't a bad guy or anything, but he could tell his dislike of Wyatt was not going to help them out in this. Too personal.

Then Lucas stood up, admitting outright he'd throw them under the bus if Wyatt found out about this, jacked the price of his fog machine then walked away after yelling some weird shit from a movie or whatever. He glanced from him to Matt. Did his idea scare hin enough that he didn't feel comfortable anymore? While Sean wouldn't exactly blame him if Wyatt did get a hold of this, dude didn't put it nicely either.

After Lucas waltzed out, Zach put forward that his dad had a loud speaker they could use with a question in regards to his bass. Matt asked what music Wyatt hated they could use.

He looked at Matt, eyebrow raised. "I Have no clue Matt, but..." He looked over at Zach with a slight smile. "I could use the bass. With the right tuning and you can get som real dark sounds from it."

(Skipped Malloon with permission)

"Good," Zach said, "I'll just need some help carrying the loud speaker. Maybe I'll ask my dad to help me out."

As soon as he said that, Zach took a bite of his burger. As he took in the taste of the flame grilled beef patty, he pointed to Sean.

"You think you can meet me at school in the morning? We can rendezvous in the parking lot."

He took another bite and turned to Matt.

"You're welcome to join us," Zach told him in between chews, "We will set up the props at the field, behind the bleachers. We commence the plan at lunch."

Zach swallowed and took a sip of his drink.

"Here's what I'm thinking. We provoke Wyatt into chasing me and whoever else towards the track field." Zach turned to Sean. "Then, Sean, you'll bust out your base and blast a deafening riff at Wyatt. And then, we activate the fog machine as we dose him in ice cold water balloons. Once we're finished, we make our escape."

Zach popped another french fry into his mouth and took another sip of his drink.

"Now, we'll just need a way to provoke Wyatt to lure him out."