The Prank
By Lorie & Shannon

Bruce stepped out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair. "I 
can't believe I fell for that." Lorie looked up from her 
paperwork, "I can't either. You knew something was going to 
happen when you walked in the room."

He threw the towel back into the bathroom, "But I was 
expecting something like water falling on me, not green 
jello slime! YUCK!"  He threw himself onto the bed, "This 
calls for revenge but I have no idea what."  She giggled at 
his expression that bordered on anger. He looked so cute 
when he pouted. She got up from the desk and walked over to 
the bed, "Well, if you're interested, I have an idea. I 
would be willing to help too." He smiled up at her, "I'm 
interested. What's the plan?" After she explained her idea, 
he agreed and they started to set up the joke.


Eric stepped off the elevator and walked toward his room. 
He was puzzled that Bruce had not retaliated after the 
bucket over the door joke he pulled on him this afternoon. 
Usually Bruce would pull something at the show but he 
seemed more concerned about Lorie not feeling well. She 
came back to the hotel before the show with a migraine and 
was going to go to bed. Those two are getting serious, he 
thought. Maybe it's time to handcuff them together for a 
night. His thoughts were interrupted when Bruce stepped off 
the other elevator and made a beeline to Lorie's room. He 
muttered, "G'nite," to Eric and went in to the room. That's 
strange, Eric thought. Is he still mad about this 
afternoon? 

Bruce made it in to Lorie's room before he burst out 
laughing. 

Lorie was waiting with the phone to her ear and her hand 
over the mouthpiece. "Shh, he'll hear," she whispered. He 
walked around the bed and sat down next to her. "Were you 
able to get done?" She nodded, "All set. Just listen and 
enjoy." The two of them listened intently to the phone that 
was dialed into Eric's room. 

Eric walked into his room and sighed. It had been a long 
day and all he wanted to do was go to sleep. He looked at 
the comfortable king sized bed and smiled. Too bad Carrie, 
the girl he met in Memphis, wasn't there to share it with 
him. He was too tired tonight to enjoy her anyway. He 
stripped, pulled on his favorite sweatpants and pulled back 
the covers. With great flourish, he threw himself into the 
bed, pulling the sheet over him. He quickly sat up and 
looked at the pillow. White shaving foam pushed through the 
fabric of the pillowcase where his head had landed. The 
foam was also seeping through the fitted sheet and clinging 
to his body. "What the..." He stood up and pulled back the 
covers and saw someone had sprayed shaving foam under the 
fitted sheet and in all the pillowcases.
 
He decided to clean up and find the culprit. It couldn't 
have been Bruce because he was at the concert. When he 
stepped into the bathroom and turned on the light, he 
discovered the bulb had been replace with a black lightbulb 
casting an eerie glow over everything. "What the hell is 
going on?" he wondered out loud. He grabbed a towel and 
discovered it too had been coated in shaving foam. He 
tossed it in the tub and went to the sink to wash off the 
foam. The minute he touched the faucet, water sprayed all 
over him and the bathroom from the loose knob. He was able 
to stop the water and stumbled out of the bathroom. 

Eric walked over to the window to open the drapes and let 
some light in because he was afraid to turn on any lamps 
for fear of what would happen. When he pulled the cord, a 
latticework of women's bras that were strung across the 
window between the drapes were revealed. He couldn't help 
but get upset, "Who the hell did this?" He walked over to 
his suitcase to get some clean clothes and found it stuffed 
with styrofoam packing peanuts that spilled onto the floor 
when he opened the case. 

He shook his head and reach for his sneakers. He was just 
going to find who did this and trade rooms. He was too 
tired to... His thoughts were interrupted when he discovered 
his shoes had all received the same shaving foam treatment 
the bed had. All that was missing was a cherry to make them 
look like sneaker sundaes. "AARGH! What the hell!" he 
yelled in frustration. 

Suddenly, he heard a laughing sound coming from the phone. 
He walked over and saw the handset was resting on a pencil, 
holding it off the hook. He picked up the handset and 
listened. As soon as he recognized the laughter on the 
other end, he slammed the phone and bolted out the door. 


"Here he comes!" Lorie hung up the phone and walked to the 
door. Bruce climbed off the bed and followed, chuckling all 
the way. When she opened the door, they both fell to the 
floor in laughter. 

"What the hell is going on out here?" Paul burst out of his 
room, not happy that his sleep was disturbed. When he saw 
Eric standing in the hall, partially soaked and bits of 
shaving foam clinging to his hair, he couldn't help but 
start laughing. After he was able to talk, Paul laughed 
"What happened to you?" Eric pointed to Bruce and Lorie, 
"Those two sabotaged my room." Paul shook his head, "You 
were asking for it. Come on. I'll get Andre to get you a 
different room for tonight." He looked at the giggling 
couple and applauded, "Good one, you two. Worthy of the 
master. Go get some sleep." Bruce helped Lorie up off the 
floor, "Thanks. I owe you." Lorie was still giggling, "We 
are in trouble but it was worth it. Let's go to bed." 
Despite how tired they were, they laid next to each other 
occasionally bursting into laughter until they fell asleep 
in each other's arms. 

The next day, Eric found the two tricksters before sound 
check and exacted his revenge. While they were holding each 
other off stage, he snuck up and snapped handcuffs on their 
wrists, locking them in their embrace. He walked away 
quickly, dangling the keys from his fingers. Bruce looked 
down and sighed, "Well, it could have been worse." Lorie 
gave him a kiss and laughed, "Let's make the most of it." 
He smiled and kissed her passionately.

Gene walked into the dressing room chuckling to himself.  
Lorie and Bruce had been handcuffed together for over an 
hour before sound check making Bruce late...not that he 
seemed to mind.  Bruce and Lorie spent so much time 
together anymore, they might as well be joined at the 
hip...or perhaps the pelvis, he thought with a grin.  Paul 
was in front of his mirror wearing nothing but a towel, 
checking to make sure he got the rest of his stage makeup 
off before he dressed.  

"I think Eric's a bit miffed that Bruce didn't get more 
upset about being handcuffed to Lorie," said Gene as he 
walked over to his brief case.

"Bruce and Lorie always have their hands on each other 
anyway, this just gives them another excuse," said Paul.

Gene opened his briefcase to put some paperwork in it and 
jumped, dropping the case to the floor and letting out a 
rather undignified shriek.  Paul turned to Gene and saw at 
least a dozen mice running from Gene's briefcase scurrying 
under the door and under the furniture.

"I'm gonna kill him!" snarled Gene.  "Aw shit!  Look at 
this mess," he said pulling papers from his briefcase, some 
covered in mouse tracks (shit) and some chewed at the 
corners.  "I'm gonna have to get him back for this," said 
Gene.

"Eric?" asked Paul as he watched the last few mice scurry 
under a chair.  

"Who else?" asked Gene slamming the case shut.  

"What are you gonna do?" asked Paul.

Gene sat down to think for a minute before an evil smile 
spread across his face.  He had the perfect way to get back 
at Eric.  Fortunately Carrie wasn't with them right now.  
He would hate to get her caught in the middle.  He 
explained his plan to Paul and decided he would wait a 
night before carrying it out because he knew Eric would be 
expecting something tonight.

"Are you sure it was Eric?" asked Paul as he grabbed the 
rest of his stuff before walking out with Gene to the limo.

"Of course!  Who else would do it?  Bruce was handcuffed to 
Lorie so it HAD to be Eric," said Gene with a smile.  "I'm 
gonna have fun getting him back."

It had been a long day and Eric was exhausted.  He unlocked 
the door to his hotel room and went in, not even bothering 
to switch on the lights.  He undressed and climbed into 
bed, sighing contentedly as he snuggled down in the 
blankets wishing Carrie was there with him.  

Eric had just started to drift off to sleep when he felt 
something brush his leg.  He readjusted his position and 
closed his eyes again.  It brushed his leg again…  It had 
to be his tired mind playing tricks on him so he ignored 
it…until it grabbed his leg.  Whatever it was, it was COLD 
and it moved!  He flew out of bed, yelping when it didn't 
let go of his leg.  He brushed it off and went running out 
into the hallway…naked.  Bruce, Gene and Paul came out of 
their rooms at the sound of Eric's shout. 

"What the hell is going on?" asked a sleepy Bruce.

"Something grabbed me," said Eric rubbing at his leg.  A 
robe hit Eric in the face, startling him.

"And people say I'm an exhibitionist," said Paul with a 
smirk before ducking back into his room.

Eric went back into his room and flipped on the lights 
before throwing back the sheets.  The mechanical arm was 
laying under the blankets on the floor, still moving.  Eric 
picked it up and turned to Gene who was standing in the 
doorway with a smug smile on his face.

"Gene, I'm gonna kick your ASS," said Eric.

"Paybacks dude…paybacks," said Gene with a laugh.

"Payback for what?" he asked shutting the arm off.  

"Oh come on!  I'm not stupid," said Gene angrily.  Eric 
didn't usually deny playing jokes on Gene so he was a bit 
confused.

"I never said you were, but I'd like to know what I'm being 
blamed for," he said handing the arm back to Gene.

"The mice…you messed up a bunch of my paperwork," said 
Gene.

"What mice?" asked Eric, more confused than before.

"The mice in my briefcase," said Gene gesturing with the 
mechanical arm.

"I didn't put mice in your briefcase.  I wouldn't do 
something like that…especially when I know you keep a lot 
of important stuff in there," said Eric.  Gene stared at 
him for a moment.  He was right.  Eric's jokes tended to be 
non-destructive…at least with Gene's business things…

"Well, if you didn't do it, then who did?" asked Gene.

"Bruce and Lorie were handcuffed together…and Bruce and I 
are already even.  That leaves…" said Eric.

"Paul," they said together.  

"That little shit," said Gene.  "He sat there in the 
dressing room while I told him how I was gonna get back at 
you," said Gene.

"This calls for serious revenge," said Eric with a wicked 
smile.

"You got that right," said Gene.  "And I know just the 
thing," he said.  "Let me go get Shannon because we're 
gonna need her help," said Gene walking out of Eric's room 
to get Shannon and bring her back to Eric's room.  He woke 
Bruce and Lorie too, knowing they would want to help get 
back at Paul.

"You want me to do what???" asked Shannon incredulously.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun," said Eric.

"No!  Absolutely NOT!" she said.

"Please," begged Gene.

"But…I don't know…" she hesitated.

"Please babe…we gotta get him back," said Gene.  "Family 
honor," he said.  Shannon sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, but you owe me BIG TIME for this," she said. 

"Now we gotta figure out how to get him to pass out.  Paul 
drinks, but not that much," said Eric.

"Soju," said Lorie.

"Huh?" asked Gene.

"Korean Soju.  It's odorless, colorless and tasteless but 
it will knock him on his butt pretty quickly," she said 
with a grin.

"I like the way you think little girl," said Gene giving 
Lorie an approving smile.  "Now we have to figure out how 
we're gonna slip it to him."

"How about at the after show party tomorrow night?  I'll 
keep him busy while Lorie puts it in his drink," said 
Bruce.

"Good, and Shannon will help keep him occupied too," said 
Gene, ignoring the vicious glare from Shannon.  

"Then it's set," said Eric.  "There's just one thing I 
gotta know Gene…how the hell did you get that thing to 
start up on its own," he said pointing to the mechanical 
arm.  Gene smiled.

"When batteries are cold, they stop working…until they warm 
up.  I put it in the freezer and had Shannon slip it into 
your room just before you came up," he said.

"You scared the shit out of me man," he said.  Gene 
laughed.

"No worse than having a dozen mice jump out at you," he 
said.  Eric laughed.

"I was wondering what made you shriek like that!  Now, if 
you don't mind, I'd like to get some uninterrupted sleep," 
he said glaring at Gene.

Gene laughed and led Shannon out of the room followed by 
Bruce and Lorie.  Eric laughed when he heard Shannon's 
comment to Gene.

"It's gonna take a LOT to make this up to me," she said.

"Then let's start now," he said with a grin.

The concert had gone well and Paul had been amused when 
Gene told him that Eric had gotten him back for the 
mechanical arm prank.  

Shannon walked over to Paul, hoping she could pull his off.  
She had a drink in her hand, half empty.  She stopped in 
front of him and stared up at him smiling.

"Hi Shannon…having fun?" he asked, perplexed at her 
actions.  She didn't drink often, mainly because Gene 
didn't drink, but it wasn't unheard of for her to have a 
drink or two.  It appeared that she had passed that 
limit…by quite a bit.

"I'm having a blast," said Shannon, wavering on unsteady 
legs.  "You were great tonight," she said stepping back to 
eye him.

"Thanks…" he said, not quite sure how to take her flirting.  

"You have such a nice ass and it looks great in leather," 
she said turning him around so she could look at his ass.

"Where's Gene?" he asked, knowing his friend would be upset 
if he were caught flirting with Shannon.

"He's with some blonde bimbo in his 'office'," she said 
indignantly.  "I'm all alone," she said pouting.

"You can hang out with me then," he said putting his arm 
around her.  She wrapped her arm around his waist, hanging 
on to him for balance.  "How many have you had to drink?" 
he asked.

"Oh…three or four…or more," she said with a grin.  "I kinda 
lost count," she said.  Just then Lorie came up to Paul and 
Shannon.

"You want another drink Paul?" she asked nodding toward his 
empty glass.

"Uh, yeah, sure…thanks," he said handing her his glass.

"I'll take another one too," said Shannon.

"Oh no!  You've had enough," said Paul taking the glass 
from her hands.  

"Yes sir," she said standing at attention and saluting him 
before breaking out laughing.

Lorie shook her head and took Paul's glass over to where 
Bruce was standing by the bar.  She filled it half way and 
then Bruce added the Soju, making sure Paul was busy with 
Shannon.  

Lorie handed Paul his drink and winked at Shannon, letting 
her know that she had added the Soju.  It would only be a 
matter of a half an hour before he was out cold.  

Paul sipped his drink, thinking it tasted a bit watered 
down but not feeling like going back over to the bar.  He 
was surprised when he felt Shannon's hand in his shirt.  
She had unbuttoned a few of the buttons and was busy 
running her fingers through his chest hair.  He had to 
admit, he wasn't too upset about it…as long as Gene didn't 
catch him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her.

"I'm doing just fine," she said continuing to run her 
fingers over his chest. 
 
Paul continued to sip his drink as Shannon continued her 
exploration of his person, her hands occasionally wandering 
down over his tight leather pants.  Even though the drink 
was watered down, he was feeling the effects of the alcohol 
more acutely than he thought he would.  

He led Shannon over to a corner where there was a couch and 
he sat down, Shannon sitting down on his lap and wrapping 
herself around him.  She nibbled on his ear and he wanted 
to stop her, but he couldn't.  His head was spinning…as was 
the room.  A moment later he sank into oblivion.

"Thank god," said Shannon getting up off his lap.  She 
motioned for Bruce and Eric to come over and take Paul to 
his room.  "Where's Gene?" she asked Lorie.

"Uh, last time I saw him he was heading that way with a 
tall blonde," she said pointing toward the ladies' room.  
Shannon growled.  He owed her BIG TIME!

The banging on the hotel door woke Paul.  He slowly opened 
his eyes, groaning before getting up to open the door.  The 
person continued to pound on the door as he stumbled to the 
door.  He saw flowers, clothes and rice strewn around the 
room and wondered what had happened.  He looked back and 
saw the sleeping figure of a woman in his bed and scratched 
his head, not even remembering her…  The banging continued.

"Hold on a fucking second," he shouted and then regretted 
it when his head began to throb.  He opened the door and 
came face to face with a livid Gene.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

"Where's is who?" asked Paul rubbing his eyes.  By this 
time, Bruce, Lorie and Eric had come out into the hallway 
to see what Gene was yelling about.

"Where is Shannon?" demanded Gene.

"Gene, I said I don't know…I don't even know how I got up 
to my room last night," said Paul wishing that Gene would 
stop shouting.  Suddenly he heard a voice from inside his 
room.

"Paul honey, who is making all that noise?" she asked.  
Paul turned around to see Shannon laying in his bed…naked.  

"How could you do this to me?" Gene demanded of Paul, 
shoving him back into the room.

"Do what?  I don't know how she got there," he said.

"Oh yeah, right.  And I suppose you weren't flirting with 
her last night either," said Gene, seething with anger.

"I wasn't!  She was flirting with me," said Paul.  

"Put a sock in it Gene," said Shannon getting out of bed, 
not bothering to hide her nudity.  Gene stared at her in 
disbelief.

"What?  Why are you doing this to me?" asked Gene.  Shannon 
felt her heart stop at the heartbroken expression on Gene's 
face.  Oh he was good.

"I got tired of no commitment from you Gene.  I got tired 
of the other women and…well…Paul told me I was the only 
one, so when he asked me to marry him, I said yes," she 
said showing the gold band on her left hand.  Paul looked 
down at his hand and panicked.

"WHAT?!!" demanded Gene.  "You dump me for this prissy 
little playboy?!" he shouted pointing at Paul.  Shannon 
walked over to Paul and wrapped her arms around him 
protectively.

"He's more man that you could ever hope to be," she said 
glaring at Gene.  Paul pulled away from Shannon.

"We're married?" he asked.

"Yes, you said you didn't want to wait so we went down on 
the Strip to one of the chapels and got married…you said 
you loved me," she said.  Paul looked around the room at 
the flowers laying on the floor where they had been tossed 
the night before.  The rice and the clothing…some pieces 
torn from hasty removal also strewn about the room made his 
face go white. 

"This can't be," he said.  Gene grabbed Paul by the throat 
and pinned him to the wall.

"You stole my woman…the only woman I ever loved," said 
Gene.

"If you loved me so much, who was the blonde you were with 
last night," said Shannon, pinning Gene with a fierce 
glare.

"Uh, she was a friend," he said.

"Yeah, just like Paul and I were friends…" she said putting 
a robe on.  Gene continued to pin Paul against the wall.

"Gene, don't do something you're going to regret," said 
Eric, cautiously keeping his distance.

"I won't regret killing him," snarled Gene.

"Gene, don't do this," said Bruce.  Gene sighed and 
loosened his grip but didn't let Paul go.  

"I have a wedding present for you," he snarled handing Paul 
a box.  Paul took the box and opened it, startled when a 
small white mouse stared back at him.  Gene let him go and 
walked over to Eric and Shannon who were unable to contain 
their laughter any longer.  Paul stood there in silent 
stupefaction for a few moments. 

"Gotcha," said Eric.  Paul looked at them, his face a 
mixture of disbelief and relief.

"You mean Shannon and I aren't married?" he asked.

"That's right," said Shannon with a laugh.  

"And we didn't…" 

"Nope, you were out cold before you were ever brought up 
here," said Bruce.  

"Paybacks are a bitch, aren't they," said Gene with a smug 
smile.  Paul started to laugh.

"Never try to beat the masters at their own game," said 
Eric.  They turned to walk out and Shannon turned back to 
Paul.

"You might want to put some clothes on," she said.  Paul 
looked down and realized that he was naked…it didn't really 
matter now.  Everyone had seen him.  Gene put his arm 
around Shannon and began to lead her out of the room.

"He didn't try anything, did he?" he asked.

"No, but you OWE me," she said.  Suddenly she punched him 
in the arm.

"Ouch!  What was that for?" he asked.

"The blonde," he said walking out.  

"Oh shit…Shannon, I can explain," he said going after her.

Shannon and Lorie sat by the pool sunning themselves.  It 
was rare that they had time to enjoy the themselves like 
this during the tour so they were taking every opportunity 
while they had it.  A shadow fell over Shannon and she 
sighed.

"You're blocking my sun," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Eric.  She could hear the smile in 
his voice and knew that he wasn't sorry.

"What do you want Eric?" asked Lorie, opening her eyes to 
stare up at the handsome drummer.  God he looked good in 
white!!

"What does any man want?" he asked with a grin.

"Now you sound like Gene," said Shannon opening her eyes.  
She saw the expression on Eric's face and knew he was up to 
something.  "What's on your mind?" she asked.  He sat down 
on the end of the lounge chair as both girls sat up.

"How would you two like to play a prank on Bruce and Gene?" 
he asked.

"Haven't you guys played enough pranks?" asked Lorie.

"Never!  Besides, I have to get Gene back for the 
mechanical arm and Bruce…well, it's just fun to play pranks 
on Bruce.  I have a great idea but I'll need help from both 
of you," he said conspiratorially.

"What do you need us to do?" asked Shannon, knowing it 
would be an honor to be included in on an Eric Carr prank.  
Gene was good, but Eric was truly the master when it came 
to practical jokes.

Eric began laying out the idea for the prank and Shannon 
looked at the expression on Lorie's face.  She knew it 
would take some serious ass kissing on Eric's part to get 
her to agree.  

"No way in HELL," said Lorie.

"Please," begged Eric.  "Think of his reaction!  He'll love 
it!" said Eric.

"Yeah, and so will the others," said Shannon with a giggle.  
Lorie shot her a murderous glare before turning back to 
Eric.

"I CAN'T!  I've never done that before," said Lorie.

"Neither have I," said Shannon.  "But I'm willing to try 
it," she said with a wicked smile.

"But you've talked about it before…I don't know…I," she 
said.  Eric gave her his best sad puppy-dog look, his lower 
lip stuck out in a pout.  How could she resist?  Lorie 
sighed.  "Alright, but Shannon, you gotta help me get ready 
for this," she said fixing her friend with a stern look.

"No problem," said Shannon eagerly.

"Great!  Thanks ladies…I owe you," he said getting up.

"YES, you do.  When are we doing this?" asked Lorie.

"We're heading to New York tomorrow and I have a friend 
that owns a place we can use there," he said.  "Tomorrow 
night," he said with a smile.

"We'll be ready," said Shannon enthusiastically.

"Speak for yourself," Lorie shot back.

"We'll be ready," assured Shannon.  Eric smiled and walked 
away leaving the two girls alone.

"I can't believe you got me to agree to this," said Lorie, 
no longer interested in enjoying the sun.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun," said Shannon.

"Fun?  You call that fun?" asked Lorie.

"Just think of how eager he'll be to get you alone," said 
Shannon.  Lorie stopped to think for a second before 
breaking into a huge grin.

"I never thought about it that way," she said.

"Now, we need to go shopping!" said Shannon getting up from 
her lounge chair.  "And I know just the place," she added.

After completing their shopping trip, Shannon and Lorie 
carefully packed their things away so they wouldn't be 
discovered by Bruce or Gene.  They would arrive in New York 
tomorrow morning…not much time to get things together, but 
it could be done.

Gene sat reading a script he had brought with him and was 
startled when someone knocked on his door.  He sighed, got 
up and opened the door.  Eric smiled and let himself in.

"Bruce, Paul and I are going to a club tonight, wanna 
come?" he asked sitting down and picking up the script Gene 
had been reading.  Gene took it from him.

"I'm not really in the mood for a club tonight," he said 
sitting down.

"There'll be lots of women there," said Eric, knowing Gene 
wouldn't be able to resist.

"Women?" asked Gene with a smile, his curiosity piqued.

"Naked women," said Eric.  Gene smiled.

"When do we leave?" he asked.

"As soon as you're ready," said Eric.

"Let me find Shannon and make up something to tell her," he 
said.

"She and Lorie are out which is why we're going," he said 
with a grin.  Gene smiled a wicked grin.

"Let me just change into something more presentable and 
I'll meet you at your room," he said.

Eric left Gene's room and gave Shannon and Lorie the thumbs 
up sign.  They giggled and hurried out to the limo that was 
waiting to take them to the club.  

It had been a long time since Bruce had been to a strip 
club.  The tour didn't leave him much time for extra 
curricular activities like that, even though Gene always 
seemed to find the time.  The four climbed into the limo 
and headed toward Manhattan.

After a short drive, they arrived at the club and followed 
Eric in.  They found seats near the front and sat down to 
wait for the next stripper.  They all agreed it was going 
to be a good night.

Lorie paced back and forth across the floor of the small 
room.  She couldn't believe she had actually agreed to 
this.  Eric had assured her that everything would go fine 
and Shannon had helped her pick out her music and help her 
with her routine…but could she go through with it?

"Girl, you're gonna wear a path in the tile if you don't 
stop pacing," said Shannon putting the finishing touches on 
her makeup.

"I can't help it," said Lorie.  "What if I mess up?" she 
asked.

"Just keep going, don't stop and make eye contact…lots of 
eye contact," said Shannon with a grin.  

"I think I'm gonna throw up," she said.

"You'll do fine.  Trust me.  Have I ever steered you wrong 
before?" asked Shannon.

"You never had help from Eric before," she grumbled and 
Shannon laughed.

"He wouldn't have asked us to do this if he thought 
something would go wrong," she said.

"I know…I just…I've never done this before," she said.

"Just forget the others are in the room.  Play to Bruce.  
Trust me, he'll enjoy it," she said, hugging Lorie.  
"You'll do fine.  Have fun with it," she said.

Gene smiled at the girl on the stage as she flirted with 
him.  She was beautiful…all of her.  She had just shed her 
red lace thong and tossed it to him and now she was showing 
him everything she had.  Gene was thoroughly enjoying 
himself, as were the others.  The song ended and the dancer 
left the stage and the guys patiently waited for the next 
woman.

"Our next dancer is Domino," said the announcer.  She had 
her back to the audience as she waited for her first song 
to start.  Gene was pleasantly surprised when he heard the 
beginning of Good Girl Gone Bad.  Paul nudged him.

"How much did you pay her to use your song?" he asked.  
Gene glared at him.

"She's just got good taste," he replied.  

The music began and the lights came on and Gene was shocked 
to see Shannon on the stage wearing nothing but a black 
leather thong and black leather bra.  While she had joked 
about doing something like this, he didn't think she'd 
actually do it.

"Holy shit, that's Shannon," said Paul to Gene, as if he 
hadn't recognized her.

She began to dance, deliberately paying attention to 
everyone BUT Gene.  She flirted shamelessly with Bruce, 
much to Gene's dismay.  She glanced over at Gene out of the 
corner of eye and bit her lip to keep from laughing.  He 
was glaring at Bruce who seemed to be enjoying himself.

She slowly shed her bra and continued to move to the music, 
using every move she had ever seen a dancer use.  She ran 
her hands over her breasts and smiled at Bruce, licking her 
lips seductively.  Gene was getting angrier by the minute.  
Good Girl Gone Bad ended and Shannon waited for her next 
song to start.  

Gene was surprised when Murder in High Heels started to 
play as Shannon continued her routine.  She turned her back 
to the audience and bent over to remove her thong, catching 
a glimpse of Gene between her legs.  His eyes shamelessly 
roamed her body and she smiled at him briefly before 
removing her thong the rest of the way and tossing it to 
Bruce.

Paul and Bruce were laughing, mainly because Gene was 
getting so angry when Bruce felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, so I'm not good enough for you now.  You have to watch 
my friend strip," said Lorie, her face red with anger.  
Bruce stared up at her, dumbfounded for a moment.

"Uh, Lorie, I didn't think you'd be here," he said still 
holding Shannon's thong.  He quickly handed it to Gene and 
stood up.

"That's obvious," she snarled.

"We didn't even know Shannon would be here," said Paul.  
"We're as surprised as you are," he said trying to help 
calm Lorie down.

"I'm not enough woman for you?" asked Lorie.

"Baby, you know I love you," said Bruce trying to pull her 
to him.

"You want a stripper?  FINE!  You'll get one," she said 
walking up onto the stage where Shannon had stopped dancing 
to watch Lorie's performance.

Uh, All Night started up and Bruce stared at Lorie in 
disbelief.  She shed her blouse and skirt and stood on the 
stage in a black lace thong and bra.  

Lorie started dancing to the music and Shannon watched the 
expression on Bruce's face go from surprise to anger.  
Lorie unhooked her bra with shaking fingers and dropped it 
to the floor.  Bruce's eyes widened and his mouth fell 
open.

"She's pretty good," said Gene, nudging Bruce.  Bruce 
glared at Gene and got up, walked up on the stage, put his 
jacket around Lorie's shoulders, picked her up and put her 
over his shoulder before carrying her off the stage and out 
the door.  

Eric sat there laughing and Shannon walked up to Gene and 
smiled, retrieving her thong from his pocket.  Gene took a 
moment to eye her as she put her thong back on.  She leaned 
up and kissed him before walking into the back room.  Gene 
turned to Eric who was wiping tears from his eyes.

"You should have seen the look on your face," he said 
pointing at Gene.  Gene turned to Paul.

"I think you've been had," said Paul with a grin.  A slow 
smile spread across Gene's face.

"Not yet," he said walking into the back room where Shannon 
had gone.

Bruce didn't set Lorie down until they were outside the 
club.  He opened the door to the limo and motioned for her 
to get in and the driver to get out.  Once she was in, he 
climbed in after her and shut the door.  From the look on 
his face, Lorie was sure he was angry.  She started to 
explain that it was all a joke but he pulled her to him and 
kissed her passionately.  He pushed the jacket off her 
shoulders and began running his hands over her body.  When 
his lips finally released hers, she began to unbutton his 
shirt.  She pulled it off and ran her fingers through his 
chest hair as he pulled her to him again for another 
fiercely passionately kiss.  

Her ears faintly registered the sound of tearing fabric as 
he pulled her thong off and she quickly removed his pants 
before he lay her down across the back seat of the limo.  
Lorie couldn't believe Bruce's reaction.  She had thought 
he was angry…but obviously he wasn't.  

"Next time you decide to do that, I want a private 
performance," he said in her ear.  Lorie grinned up at him.  
She hadn't expected him to react like this but she 
certainly wasn't complaining.  

Shannon started to dress when she heard the door open 
behind her.  She bent over to zip up her boot and felt 
hands on her hips.  Gene pulled her against him.

"That was a very dirty trick you pulled on me little girl," 
he said.

"You don't seem too upset," she said.  Gene chuckled.

"Oh, I am.  And now I'm wondering how you're gonna make it 
up to me," he said with a devilish grin.

"I'll give you a private show when we get back to the 
hotel," she said with a grin.  

Shannon grabbed Lorie's bag containing her clothes and 
came out of the back room to find Paul and Eric patiently 
waiting.  

"Looks like the joke is on you," Paul said to Eric.  Gene 
grinned and led Shannon out to the limo.  Shannon noticed 
the driver standing away from the limo and smiled.  Gene 
knocked on the window and it opened.

"Is it safe to come in?" he asked.  Bruce smiled.

"Yeah," he said.  The four climbed in and Bruce smiled at 
Eric.

"Thanks dude," he said.  "Best joke I've had in a while," 
he said laughing at a miffed Eric.  

"Where's Carrie?" asked Gene.  "Is she meeting us here?" he 
asked knowing full well what the answer was.  Eric glared 
at Gene and Bruce.

"No, she won't be meeting up with us until Arizona," he 
said.  Gene laughed.

"Well, I still have that mechanical hand if you get 
lonely," he said causing everyone to burst out 
laughing…everyone but Eric Carr.

Eric sat by the pool chuckling to himself about how his 
prank on Gene and Bruce had backfired.  It hadn't been a 
total bust.  He had gotten to see Shannon and Lorie naked…

The only one who really hadn't had a big joke pulled on him 
was Gene.  The mice that Paul put in his brief case were 
more a nuisance than anything and the strip club…well…Gene 
got the better end of that one.  He sat there, sunning 
himself and thinking about how to get Gene.  

Gene didn't get embarrassed…ever!  Not much scared him 
other than heights so that was out.  He continued to ponder 
what he could do to get back at Gene for the mechanical 
arm.  How could he top that?  Of course Gene would be 
suspecting something now…  A smile spread across Eric's 
face when he thought of what to do to Gene.  It was 
perfect!

The loud shriek from Shannon woke Gene out of a sound 
sleep.  He sat up quickly and switched on the light to find 
Shannon huddled up on her pillow, knees pulled up under her 
chin.

"What's wrong?" he asked as Shannon pointed a shaky finger 
at something on the bed spread.

"That was on me," she said pointing to the large spider.  
Gene knew Shannon hated spiders and had on more than one 
occasion had to kill one for her.  Even little ones scared 
her and this one was by no means little!

Gene leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed his boot 
and was about to kill it when he noticed it was dead.

"It's dead," he said picking up the offending arachnid.  
Shannon cringed away from it.

"It was on me!" she yelled.  She shivered and Gene got out 
of bed and went into the bathroom to flush it.  "I'm gonna 
kill him," she said as he came back out.

"Who?" asked Gene.

"Eric!  He KNOWS I hate spiders and that's not a local…they 
don't get that big here," she said shivering again.  Gene 
climbed back in bed next to her and pulled her to him.

"He's getting annoying with his pranks," said Gene 
wondering who would be next.  He pulled Shannon tighter 
against him and kissed her forehead, holding her close, 
trying to calm her.  She was shaking terribly.  He knew it 
would be a while before she fell asleep.

Gene and Shannon met up with everyone except Paul down in 
the hotel restaurant.  Gene glared at Eric when he said a 
chipper good morning.

"Did you sleep well Shannon?" he asked with a knowing grin.

"Eric, that wasn't funny!" she said.  "You know I hate 
spiders," she said angrily.  Eric just smiled.

"I figured that since you sleep with a Demon, you wouldn't 
mind a spider," he said with a laugh.

"It was HUGE!" she said.

"I wanted to make sure you saw it," he said.

"Saw it?  I felt it!" she said shivering again.

"And that shriek woke half the hotel," said Bruce.

"Where's Paul?" asked Gene, noticing his friend's absence.

"He isn't down yet," said Bruce.  A moment later Paul 
appeared and sat down at the table.  

"Long night last night Gene?" he asked with a grin.

"Eric decided to play a joke on Shannon AND me.  He put a 
big spider on her," Gene said.

"Man Eric, you know she hates spiders," said Paul.  "That 
was NOT cool man," he said.  Eric just smiled.  Paul picked 
up his cup of tea and took a big drink before setting it 
down.  His eyes began to water and he frantically grabbed 
for a glass of water, downing it quickly.  A moment later 
he got up and ran from the table and to the bathroom.  The 
five watched him run from the table before Bruce, Lorie, 
Shannon and Gene turned back to Eric.  

"What?" he asked innocently.  A moment later Paul came 
back, his eyes red and still watering.

"Who put hot sauce in my tea??" he demanded.  Everyone 
turned to Eric who continued to smile but didn't respond.  

The waitress came and took their orders and when the food 
came, Gene cautiously picked at his meal, wanting to make 
sure there were no booby traps.  He cautiously sipped his 
coffee, hoping it hadn't been tampered with.

"Gene, they just brought it from the kitchen and I haven't 
moved," said Eric.

"I don't trust you," said Gene poking experimentally at his 
bagel.  Eric laughed and dug into his breakfast.

The limo ride to the arena was achieved in silence.  Gene 
never took his eyes off Eric, trying to figure out when 
Eric would get him.  Eric would occasionally look over at 
Gene and smile innocently.  

They arrived at the arena and carried their stuff into the 
dressing room before heading out to the stage for sound 
check.  Gene strapped on his Punisher and continued to 
watch Eric until he was safely behind his drum kit.  Bruce 
strapped on his guitar and they got ready to start the 
sound check.

"What the hell!" exclaimed Bruce.  He looked down at his 
guitar to find that there were no strings on it.  A 
technician hurried over with another and Bruce strapped it 
on.  "Awwww!  Dammit Eric!" said Bruce walking over to 
where his guitars sat.  

"What's wrong?" asked Gene and Paul walking over to Bruce 
who was examining his guitars.

"The strings have been taken off every one of my damn 
guitars!  ERIC!!" yelled Bruce.  Eric ignored them and 
began warming up, a sly smile on his face.  Bruce ran to 
the dressing room and pulled out a few of his other 
guitars, sighing with relief when he saw they all had their 
strings.

While Bruce was getting his other guitars, Gene discreetly 
went over to where his basses were kept and checked to make 
sure they all had strings and were in tune.  Satisfied that 
his equipment hadn't been tampered with, he came back out 
on stage just as Bruce pulled another guitar from its case.  
Gene was getting more and more paranoid about when Eric 
would get him…he knew it was coming…soon.

The concert went off without a hitch or any pranks and Gene 
was relieved!  They went back to the hotel and after taking 
some time to read through some more of a script, he climbed 
into bed next to Shannon.  It had been a long day and he 
hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night and wondered 
how much he would get tonight.  

A sound in the room woke Gene at about 3:30 and he sat up 
in bed, trying to see into the darkness.  He couldn't see 
anything and his ears told him there was no one else in the 
room but him and Shannon.  He lay back down and pulled 
Shannon against him and closed his eyes but couldn't fall 
asleep.  Every time he heard a noise, he was sure it was 
Eric coming to play a prank on him…and he would be damned 
if he would let that little twerp get the better of him.

Gene looked at his reflection in the mirror the next 
morning and frowned at the circles under his eyes.  He had 
barely slept a wink, waiting for Eric to pull something.

"You look tired," said Shannon as she wrapped her arms 
around his waist.  "Didn't you sleep well?" she asked 
leaning up to kiss him.

"No, I didn't," he said returning her kiss.

"What's wrong?  Is something bothering you?" she asked.

"It's stupid," he said.

"You know you can tell me anything," she said, worry 
creasing her brow.

"I keep waiting for Eric to pull a prank…and every time I 
hear a noise, I think it's him," said Gene.  Shannon rested 
her head against his chest.

"You know it's going to happen.  Worrying about it won't 
stop that," she said.

"I know…but he hasn't been able to get me really good for a 
long time…and I'd like to keep it that way," he said.  Gene 
looked at his watch.  "We have to go.  We're supposed to 
meet Doc down in the lobby," said Gene kissing her again.

Shannon followed Gene out of the room and down to the lobby 
where Doc, the band's manager was waiting with Eric and 
Paul.  Bruce and Lorie were nowhere to be found.

"Where's Bruce?" asked Doc.

"I don't know," said Gene.  Just then the elevator doors 
opened and Bruce came out followed by a very angry Lorie.  
She stormed straight over to the group waiting for them.

"Late night Lorie?" asked Paul with a smirk.

"Put a sock in it Stanley," she snarled as she marched 
right up to Eric.

"Where are they?" she demanded.

"Where are what?" he asked innocently.

"My bras and my panties!  Where are they?" she demanded 
again.

"I don't have them…you aren't my size," he said with a 
grin.

"What's going on?" asked Shannon.

"He took every bra and every pair of panties that I have 
out of my luggage," she said angrily jabbing a finger into 
Eric's chest.  Gene looked at him incredulously.  This was 
getting out of hand and someone needed to put Eric in his 
place.

"Eric, you can't just go into a woman's luggage and take 
her underwear!" said Gene.  

"Why does everyone think when something comes up missing 
that it was me?" asked Eric.  

"Uh, gee, I don't know…maybe because it usually IS you," 
said Bruce angrily.

"Guys, I'm going to leave it up to you to straighten this 
out," said Doc shaking his head.  

"Where are they?" demanded Lorie.  Eric sighed.

"I'll go get them…come on," he said taking Lorie's hand and 
leading her to the elevator.  

"Gee Gene, you're the only one he hasn't gotten yet," said 
Paul.  Gene laughed.

"And he WON'T get me," he said smugly.  

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," said Paul.  "He's 
gonna be more determined than ever to get you." 

Gene stood there thinking about what Paul had said.  He was 
right.  Eric would try even harder now…but he wouldn't do 
it right away because he knew Gene would be ready…or would 
he?  Locks on hotel room doors didn't seem to make a 
difference to Eric.  He'd find a way into the room…somehow.  

"Are you ready to go?" Paul asked, shaking Gene from his 
thoughts.

"Huh?  Yeah, let's go," he said as they walked out to the 
limo.

Gene continued to get more and more paranoid, waiting for 
the prank he KNEW was coming.  While walking down the 
hallway, Gene made sure Eric was in front of him…  If he 
wasn't, he would stop and wait for Eric to pass him before 
he continued.  This made Eric smile.  If Eric got into an 
elevator with him, Gene would get off and wait for the next 
one.  He was cautious every time he went into a room he 
knew Eric had been in.

It had been a week since the underwear prank and Gene was 
ready to start ripping his hair out.  Lack of sleep was 
making him grumpy and he felt bad because he had snapped at 
Shannon more than once for something that would normally 
not have bothered him.  The dark circles under his eyes 
were becoming more noticeable and he felt like hell.  He 
wished that Eric would just do whatever it was that he was 
going to do and get it over with.  He wasn't even in the 
mood for sex he was so tired.

They had decided to get together in Paul's room to go over 
details of the tour.  Gene came in and sat down on one of 
the small couches, leaning his head back against the wall 
and closing his eyes.

"Gene, you look like death warmed over," said Paul.  He had 
become more and more concerned about Gene's apparent lack 
of sleep.

"I feel like shit," he grumbled.  "I wish you would just 
get the damn joke over with so I can get some sleep," he 
said to Eric.  He opened his eyes when everyone began to 
laugh…including Shannon and Lorie.  "You wanna tell me 
what's so fucking funny?" he asked, not in the mood for any 
more jokes.

"He already got you," said Paul trying to control his 
laughter.  Gene sat up.

"You wanna run that by me again?" asked Gene.

"Did you ever actually see the spider on me?" asked Shannon 
with a grin.

"Did you taste my tea?" asked Paul.

"Did you ever see who actually took the strings off my 
guitars?" asked Bruce.

"Did you ever check to see if my underwear was really 
missing?" asked Lorie.  Gene sat there staring at the five 
of them, wondering what the hell they were talking about.

"The best prank was the one that never happened," said 
Paul.  "You were so sure he was going to do something and 
your reaction to that was better than your reaction to any 
joke!" said Paul laughing at his friend.

"Why don't I find this funny?" asked Gene, glaring at each 
one in turn.

"I thought you were going to booby trap the hotel room door 
and put barbed wire around the bed," said Shannon.  Gene 
glared at her.

"I can't believe you helped him," he said.

"Oh, come on, it was funny!  Admit it!  If it had happened 
to anyone else, you'd be sitting here laughing your ass 
off," she said.  Gene thought for a moment and realized 
that if it had happened to someone else, he WOULD be 
laughing.  Eric got him good and he didn't even realize it.  
He started to chuckle and it soon turned into a relieved 
laugh. 

"I bow to the master," said Gene standing and bowing before 
Eric.  "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some 
sleep," he said grabbing Shannon's hand and pulling her 
behind him and out the door ignoring the laughter that 
followed.

THE END