Sierra braced herself for whatever was about to happen. It'd be a big disappointment if nothing ever did. She'd likely just give the egg back to the professor. She didn't need a paperweight, and she really didn't feel like always wondering if the egg would start freezing, sweating, etc. all over again.

...but it would hatch. Wouldn't it?

Suddenly the egg began to quiver, and Sierra sat straight up and looked at the silver metal with wide eyes. What was happening?! The egg was either burning up again, or it was--could it be? Was it hatching?! Sierra's brown eyes remained fixed on the egg. If it was going to do something major, she didn't want to miss a thing.

Then the quivering stopped, and slowly, a little hole formed in the top of the egg. The hole grew bigger and bigger until Sierra was sure the egg was cracking. Finally, the egg cracked straight down the middle, and Sierra scooted back out of surprise alone. When the cracking was done, a shiny, metal porcupine popped out. A little message did, too, so Sierra scooped it up and read:

A darling little metal porcupine. He's not as he seems however, since quite obligingly the little thing will shoot teeny tiny sharp quills at anyone that tries to take something belonging to you. Thats right, he's just perfect to place in your trunk or bag, to be sure that nobody steals away the things that belong to you. And after all, little tiny sharp spikey things aren't any real harm, but it'll make any thief think twice before putting a hand in your things!

Ooooh! This was actually really cool! A wicked grin spread across Sierra's face. Oh, the things she could do with a quill-shooting porcupine! Maybe she could put something in her trunk that would surely lure Tori Bunbury straight to it. Then if the porcupine was in there, too... Heh heh. She gathered everything belonging to her, gave the professor a smile and a little wave, and then left the room.

This had turned out to be one really cool ending!