O’Hara smiled, her carrot earrings swinging from her long ears while she was looking through the audience for their next entertainer-to-be. So many children from different walks of life. All soon to join the troupe, just as she had. Still, even if everyone would be enjoying their new lives before the evening was over, there were some that would be happier putting aside their past sooner rather than later; those without homes return to, and those who feared their inevitable return home. And, whether it be due to magic, women’s intuition, or simply having two lucky rabbit’s feet on her legs at all times, O’Hara had always had a knack for finding them. Or just now gained that knack. Reality itself changing the way it did at their performances could make things a little confusing at times. But either way, she had a hunch about who would be their next volunteer.
“Would anyone like to volunteer to help us with our next trick?” O’Hara asked. Several hands went up, and O’hara pointed to a seat next to Katie. “Would the young boy in the hoodie please come to the stage?”
The boy in question stood up, and when he saw that nobody else near him was wearing a hoodie, went up onto the stage quietly, his gray hood still over his head. He looked to be about ten, and under the stage lights, his face looked a little dirty.
“Hello there, young man,” Spectra said, “What’s your name?”
“Wesley.” The boy muttered.
“Nice to meet you, Wesley,” O’Hara said. “Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself? Things you like, or any special talents you have?”
The boy looked like he wasn’t sure if he should say anything. “I guess I’m good at getting out of places without anyone noticing.”
“Ah, so we have an aspiring escape artist on our hands!” Spectra smiled. “I think we have just the trick for you! O’Hara, if you please?”
“Right away, Sorcerer!” O’Hara crossed the stage to the left, and pulled on a rope, causing a large booth to lower onto the center of the stage from the ceiling. Like Spectra’s robe, it was a deep blue, and covered in glitter and glued-on star and moon symbols. It also had several thin slits carved in each side.
Spectra produced a red handkerchief from his robe, and waved it around a few times, each motion he made with it making it appear larger than before. He then held the red cloth to the side for a moment, as if readying for a bullfight. When he drew the cloth back, a comically tall top hat was resting upside-down behind it, several sword hilts visibly poking out the “top.”
“Now, Wesley, have you ever seen this trick done before?” Spectra asked.
Wesley shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Well then, you’ll be in for quite a surprise,” Spectra said. “We’re going to put you in the box here, lock it up, stick the swords into it, and then, you’ll find a way to escape.”
The boy looked quite worried.
“It may be a little frightening, but I believe you can do it! You have my word that you will be safe.”
“O-okay…” Wesley nodded.
“First things first though,” O’Hara said, crossing back to center stage, “we’ve gotta make sure it’s not TOO easy to get out.” She opened the door to the booth, letting Wesley step inside, then took the oversized handkerchief from Spectra, and waved it in front of Wesley.
Both Wesley and the audience's eyes went wide when they saw his hands had been tied together in an instant, as had his feet. “How’d you do that?” The boy stammered.
“A good magician doesn’t reveal his secrets with just anybody,” Spectra said. “But I think you’ll understand how it’s done soon enough.” The magician waved his wand, and the booth’s door closed, leaving Wesley in the dark, save for the little slits of light on each side. With another wave of the wand, a series of chains wrapped around the booth multiple directions, each tied together by a large lock. “Now, O’Hara, the swords!”
“Of course, Sorcerer!” The woman plucked a sword from the top hat, and spun it around in her hand once. “And to show that these are no joke…” She handed the sword to Spectra, and reached into the hat again, this time, pulling out a watermelon. She set it on a table beside Spectra, who proceeded to swing the sword through the melon in one clean swing. The top half of the melon slid off to the side, and Spectra handed the sword back to O’Hara, who then dramatically thrust it into one of the slits on the side of the booth. The children gasped as the saw the other end of the blade poke through the opposite side of the box.
Meanwhile, inside the box, Wesly ducked out of the way. He was pretty scared to see they were apparently using real swords, but he knew screaming wouldn’t help anything. He had snuck out of his foster parent’s house to get to the carnival, he had snuck in to see this show without paying, and he was sure he could make his way out of this. He hadn’t known the wizard before, but something about the way Spectra spoke made Wesley trust him.
Another sword came in from behind. Wesley moved to the side, his clothes feeling a little loose. Weird, they fit just fine this morning.
A third sword entered from his left. He arched back slightly, to fit his chest between the two blades. It was a little easier to do than he had imagined. Speaking of, his chest felt a little itchy, too. Not that he could easily scratch it in this position, even if his hands weren’t tied.
Another sword came from right in front of him, toward his neck. He couldn’t move his body quickly, enough, so he did the only thing he could: he moved his neck out of the way instead! His neck grew longer and longer, becoming nearly four times its original length, and displaying quite a bit of flexibility. The movement felt very natural to Wesley, whose concerned expression was gradually fading. Soft fur began to sprout over Wesley’s chest and neck, a light brown shade on the back, and white on the front. It felt a little off, rubbing against his clothes, even if they were loose against his thin figure. He didn’t really like wearing the things over fur, but there was some reason he wasn’t allowed to take them off, wasn’t there?
Another sword from the right, this one aimed a little lower. Wesley managed to twist his legs into a position where the sword went straight through the rope. Easy as pie, even if his legs were a little on the short side. He shook his comparatively stubby limbs, getting the last of the rope off. Might as well get the other stuff restricting his movement off while he had a moment, he thought. He deliberately let the next sword cut his jeans, causing them to start fading away as white fur spread down his body. He didn’t miss ‘em at all. His fur did a good enough job at covering him up, anyway. His shoes slipped off his longer, thinner feet, vanishing the moment he took his mind off them. His toes curled up slightly, each growing a short claw, as white fur covered his feet.
Blade after blade slid through the booth, Wesley’s ever longer, ever more limber body weaving effortlessly between them. Wesley got one sword to travel between his wrists, cutting the rope binding them, as white fur grew all over his shorter arms. His fingers became a little shorter as well, little pads forming on the palms and fingertips, while claws replaced his nails. The boy’s spine stretched out above his rear a foot and a half, brown fur growing thickly over it, turning to black at the tip. His balance improved significantly with the sensation returning to his previously numb tail.
He yawned as the last few holes were filled with blades, his teeth sharpening dramatically, becoming fangs. This act was getting far too easy for him. He had asked Spectra to throw in some extra danger, wow the audiences a little bit more, and give him a bit more time to show off, but Spectra said he had to think about the safety of his performers. Still, the wizard had told Wesley he would see what he might be able to do for him.
As brown and white fur spread over his head, his ears began to grow larger, just touching the top of his head as they became rounder. His nose became wet, twitching slightly as his jaw stretched out into a short, pointed snout, little whiskers growing from the sides. His hair turned the same brown color as the rest of his fur, and shrank to the same length, giving him a “bald” look, but as far as he remembered, he had always looked this way, so why would he be bothered?
Finally, that gray hoodie of his began to unravel. The hood itself remained intact, but the sleeves and torso undid themselves, weaving together behind him into a cape of the same color, long enough to pass his tail. It draped across several swords behind him, the smooth silk not getting snagged on a thing. This was the one piece of clothing he LIKED wearing. Sure, capes might get in the way if you’re a superhero, according to some, but for someone taking part in a magic act, it had its uses.
Outside the Booth, O’Hara had just finished inserting the final sword. Spectra took out his wand, and spoke again. “Now, I’m sure this trick is familiar to a number of you, which is why I’m putting a little twist on it this time.” With another wave of his wand, the rope holding the booth was cut. After O’Hara waved a metal hoop above the box to prove that nothing else was was still attached to anything in the rafters, Spectra made an upward motion with his wand, and the booth, chains, swords, and all, began to gradually rise off the ground. The audience watched with baited breath. When it lifted above his and O’Hara’s heads, a word of “Abracadabra” the front panel turned transparent, revealing the weasel boy weaved between the blades, completely unharmed, if his fanged grin was anything to go by.
The audience let out a soft “Ooh!”
“Now, as impressive as our Wesley’s flexibility may be,” Spectra said, “I don’t think it quite counts as ‘magic’ here. Which is where the next part of his act comes in.”
The front panel became opaque again, as O’Hara wheeled out a massive water tank, large enough to hold the booth, with a glass panel in the front, for the audience to look through, and placed it under the levitating box. There was a visible gap between the bottom of said tank and the floor, which O’Hara took a moment to draw the audience's attention to, making it clear that Wesley would not be escaping through a hypothetical trap door in the floor without the audience seeing it.
“Wesley may be flexible, but with that may swords, even he doesn’t have a lot of room to work with in there. Plus, there’s still the locks and chains… Think he’ll be able to get out of this one, underwater?” The booth suddenly dropped into the water with a splash. The children gasped and waited eagerly.
And waited.
A few bubbles slipped out of the slots the swords had been inserted into. The audience gasped, wondering if Wesley had just taken his last breath.
“Man, this is a boring act! Just watching a guy drop a box in some water? Is that what passes for magic these days?”
Katie turned to the seat next to her to tell the heckler to shut up, only for a spotlight to shine on them, revealing the caped weasel boy sitting there, smiling wide, even if his fur was a bit wet. The children gasped again, and the weasel stood up, pulling his hood over his face, and dramatically twisting his cape in around him. Katie stared as the cape fell to the floor, empty. The audience looked around wondering where the boy had gone again.
A puff of smoke on the stage caught their attention again, Wesley appearing in another cape in front of the tank, shaking the water out of his fur. The chains began to show signs of rust after a few moments, deteriorating away into nothing. The box unfolded underwater, swords still sticking out of of the falling sides, revealing the the empty interior.
“How about a round of applause for Wesley, the world’s wiliest weasel, and escape-artist extraordinaire!” Spectra said. The audience clapped as Wesley took another bow, before dropping another smoke bomb, reappearing alongside the rest of the troupe off-stage.
“How’d you like that?” Wesley smiled, as he wrung out his cape. “Pretty cool, as usual?”
Chelly rolled her eyes, while Rosewood and the Totem Triad remained as stoic as ever. “As flashy as ever, Wesley.” Wesley loved to put on a show, and could end up a little full of himself from time to time, that much was certain, but still she couldn’t deny that he had a talent for misdirection, and getting into and out of places without being seen.
“Thank you!” He took a little bow, and took a seat next to Penny’s basket. He thought spending a lot of time around the two would help with the image of him not being afraid of anything, even if Copper had been de-fanged. “But hey, you guys all did good too! Maybe next time, I can have you or Penny work with me in one of my escapes!”
Meanwhile, back on the stage, all eyes turned to the wizard, as Spectra got ready for the next trick.