Joey had asked Brad to stay on stage while everyone else returned to their seats with their cakes. "Now Brad, it's your birthday so is there anything else you want?"
Brad's eyes looked out to the audience and landed on the girl in the mermaid costume Joey had seen earlier. "Well, my favorite food has always been sushi."
Joey noticed where Brad was looking, though the girl hadn't yet. Several people around her started to and a few snickered and elbowed each other. "Well," Joey began. "It's a strange choice for after cake, but it's your birthday."
Joey went out into the crowd and made his way to the mermaid. She was eating the red solo cup he turned into a cake happily, and didn't notice his approach. More and more of the crowd caught on to where this was heading, and her ignorance to the situation almost caused a few to laugh out loud. The audience stifled their amusement as he approached her.
Finally, Joey stopped right in front of her. She looked up from her cake and saw everyone staring expectedly. "What?" She asked slightly confused.
"Our birthday boy requested sushi, so I was wondering if you could be kind enough to join me on stage."
Her eyes widened at the implication. She glanced down at her lower body, which was encased in one of those very realistic and expensive mermaid fins. With her legs inside, she couldn't really stand or walk. "I'm afraid that will be a little difficult."
Joey smiled. "I can help with that." Using the ring, Joey increased his strength to make sure he could pick her up with ease. He put one arm under where her knees were, and the other around her waist and then picked up. The mermaid yelped, and threw her arms around his neck to help her balance. Standing there, Joey gave his best dazzling smile. "What do you say, want to help out with the next trick."
Holding her close, he could feel her heartbeat quickly, as she blushed slightly. "Okay."
Joey carried her back to the stage. He willed the props into existence and someone on Brad's staff pushed them on the stage. There was another table, since the remains of Monique were on the other, and a crate. On top of the table was a long dinning plate, that he placed his volunteer on. "Now, before we begin, please introduce yourself to the audience in case anyone doesn't know you."
She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. Her other arm waved awkwardly. "Hi, I'm Sasha."
"Well Sasha, how do you feel about becoming Sashimi?" He asked, feeling lucky he knew one type of sushi that sounded like her name.
At first Sasha looked a bit uncomfortable, but Joey used the ring to influence her answer. "I'm looking forward to it!" She said a lot more confidently. She used her free hand to gesture to herself. "It's what a mermaid dreams of, right?"
"Then let's get started." Joey told her. He gestured for Sasha to lay back down. She rolled onto her back. Joey went to the crate and removed a large dome that looked like what you might see at a five star restaurant as they bring your food out. It was large enough to cover Sasha. "Say bye to Sasha everyone!" There were cries of bye from the crowd. "Anything you want to say to the crowd?" He asked her.
Sasha leaned back up and waved. "Bon apatite!" She cried before laying back down.
Joey lowered the dome, and hid Sasha from view. The edge of the plate poked out, but Sasha herself was secured inside. He then returned to the crate and pulled out a blade. The blade itself was a half circle, with the curve being the handle. Joey approached the center of the dinning dome.
"The key part of how to prepare sushi is how you slice it." He then pushed the blade into the dome down hard, until it hit the plate at the bottom with a loud click. Those on the front few rows swore they could hear Sasha groan from within.
Returning to the crate, Joey retrieved another blade that was somewhat smaller and he placed it into the blade just a little way down. Again and again, he placed blades along the length of the dome. While some claimed Sasha made sounds with the first few, she fell silent after the third of fourth blade.
Someone in the audience started keeping track of the blades, calling out twelve as Joey placed the final blade. Joey looked out at the audience. "Now, let's see how much of a dish she is now." A few chuckled at his bad pun.
He grabbed the top of the dome and lifted it and the blades off of the plate. Within was a beautifully arranged assortment of sushi. "No Sasha, but there is plenty of sashimi, nigiri, maki, oshizushi, and much more. Anyone wanting to try a bite needs to line up, remember don't take too much, mermaid meat is a delicacy."
There were plenty of takers, and Joey heard a few comment about how lucky Monique and Sasha had been. He wondered if he should do another food related trick or move on to a new gimic.