From: Roberto Perez-Vila <RobfromVoid@prodigy.net> Subject: Re: [PW!] The Performance in Cerulean City Date: Sunday, June 20, 1999 9:40 PM Spawn wrote: > "Magic has lost it's touch ever since all those FOX specials came on the air," > Steve explained. "Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if Jack the Ripper was > inspired by the sawing a woman in half bit." > Karen glared at him. > "Okay," he said as he began to break down, "we're going." > He began to park his car. Marvin looks around the slowly growing audience. He kicks the ground and mutters under his breath, "None of the Sensational Sisters are here! I could've done a Quadruple Sawing and incorrect reattachment bit... Though I'm sure the sister who would get stuck with Misty's legs would be very angry!" The magician looks up at the audience and then kicks the ground again, "And look who DOES show up... Ash Ketchum. Of all the people in the Pokeverse, why did he have to show up? Oh well... Stay cool. Here goes. Marvin starts to speak audibly, addressing the audience, "Welcome, everyone! Before I attempt one of my most grand illusions, I will dazzle you all with my deck of cards!" He fumbles to get a sealed deck from his coat and opens it up. He starts to shuffle the cards, then sprinkles them onto the audience! "You there!" He points to an old man, "Check your back pocket, I'm sure you'll be surprised at what's there!" The old man reaches in there and pulls out a young woman's brassiere. The old man sweatdrops and throws it on the ground, "That's not mine!" Marvin chuckles, "That's very astute of you... it belongs to that young lady there!" He points to a teenage girl far away from where the old man is standing, "You, miss, check inside you shirt!" She looks inside, only to gasp, reach inside, and pull out the Ace of Hearts. Marvin scratches his head, "The point of this? Uhhh... I'm not sure what the point is... but... uhhh..." There is some angry murmuring in the ground. Ash Ketchum designates himself the heckler for this particular performance, "Hey, you suck! I did a magic show with a Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, and it was ten times better than your lame little trick! We want to see you saw a person into bits, like you said!" "Of course..." Marvin answers, before mumbling something under his breath about sawing him into little bits and pieces, "Now, Alicia, my lovely assistant, will bring me my box! Alicia, come forth!" A tall young woman with purple hair, who is wearing a not-too-revealing white gown walks out of the nearby caravan, hauling a large box. The box is vertical, and large enough for a young woman to step inside. It is visibly divided into four equal sized portions, and there is an small open door on each of the four portions, so if someone were to step in, you would be able to see them. The young woman waves her hands in front of the box. Marvin takes his blue magic wand with the yellow star on the tip and taps it on his assistant's head! Blue smoke is released, and within seconds it clears, and the assistant is missing. Marvin looks out towards the audience, "It seems that my assistant had to go take care of something else... I need two volunteers, one male and one female!" Ash yells out, "If Misty was here, I'd volunteer, just to find out how you do the trick!" Steve Fugues nudges Karen Oak, "Hey, I'm a male and you're a female. Last time I checked, at least. Why don't we go up there?" "What?" Karen answers, shaking her head, "There's no way I'm going to go up there and make a fool of myself in front of everyone in Cerulean City. Besides that, I don't trust *that* man, or any man, to be working with blades around me!" Steve rolls his eyes, "Blades? They're all made of cheap plastic. Then the 'magicians' use ropes and mirrors, thus the term "trick." None of it's real. It's just props and whatnot. If you're not volunteering, I'm going to do it for us." "Oh no you don't... I..." Karen starts, but Steve interrupts by saying, "We'll volunteer!" Marvin looks down at them, "Excellent! Quite a perfect pair, come up to the square! Hey, that rhymed! I'm a poet over here!" Marvin shakes Steve's hand and tries to kiss Karen's hand, but she retracts it. Marvin looks slightly disappointed, "What are your names?" "Steve Fugues!" The male member of the duo answers. He has to nudge his female companion before she answers, "Karen... just Karen. That's it." Marvin grins at both of them and motions to the crowd, "Let's give a big round of applause to our volunteers, Steve Fugues and Karen Justkarenthatsit!" Some people in the audience applaud and others let out what might be considered a chuckle. "Now Karen..." Marvin begins, circling her, "You're going to be put inside this box over here in just a moment. But, as you must already know, for a woman to get sawed, she has to be barefoot! It's an unspoken rule!" "I'm *not* taking my shoes off." Karen indignantly replies, not able to believe what the magician is requesting of her. Steve looks down at her shoes, then back up at her, "What's wrong, Karen? Can't you *bare* to be without shoes?" He chuckles slightly, "Would you be 'toe'tally embarrassed? Are you trying to save your... 'sole'?" Karen sighs and looks at Steve, "If I take off my shoes, will you stop saying those horrible jokes?" "Maybe." Steve replies. Karen crouches down and removes her shoes. Once she is barefoot, she looks at Marvin, "Now what?" "Into the box!" Marvin escorts her towards the long vertical box. He opens up the entire side of the box with the four doors on it, and waves for her to step inside. Karen cautiously walks into the box and Marvin shuts the main side. He then proceeds to close each of the smaller doors, starting with the one where Karen's head is showing and ending at the one where Karen's feet are. Steve simply watches in mild amusement, since he hasn't been asked to do anything. Marvin the magician reaches behind the box where Karen is currently trapped and pulls out three wide and flat blades. He extends one over towards Steve, "Is this sharp?" Steve smiles while he runs his finger down one of the blades. His smile suddenly disappears when he realizes that it's an actual blade and not made out of plastic. He then shrugs, "Yeah it's sharp... but there's got to be a gimmick somewhere." Marvin chuckles, "There's no gimmick! It's magic!" He grabs one of the three blades and shoves it into the long box, right where Karen's knees should be, separating the lowest compartment from the second to lowest. He then inserts another blade where Karen's waist should be, separating the second to lowest compartment from the one above it. He pauses for effect and says, "This one's always the most painful..." He then jams the last blade where Karen's neck should be, separating the highest compartment from the one below it. "Okay, Steve, help me remove the boxes!" Steve reaches to the top and removes the box that Karen's head should be inside and pulls it off. It is surprisingly heavy, as if something is in there. He knows it's a trick, but it afraid to check what's inside. He places it on the floor. Marvin grabs the next box where Karen's torso should be and places it next to Karen's head. Steve takes the box that supposedly houses Karen's femurs and places it with the rest of the pile. Marvin takes the box that contains Karen's feet and places in front of the crowd. Marvin bows towards the crowd, and Steve joins in. "Now... to re-assemble her!" He looks at the pile of boxes, "I believe this box was her feet..." He picks it up. Steve Fugues interrupts, "I'm sorry, Marvin, was it? But I believe that's her head." Marvin shakes his head, "Now listen here, I'm a professional magician, and I know which box contains her head and which box contains her feet!" He places the box on the foundation of the original vertical box's base. Steve looks down at the three remaining boxes, and is now disoriented. Was that the box with her legs? Or was it the other one? He reaches for one of the boxes and places it back on top of the one Marvin set down. Marvin grabs one of the remaining boxes and places it above the one Steve set down. Steve grabs the last box, almost sure that it isn't her head, and places it on top anyway, since it's the last box. Marvin looks at the tall box with the four smal doors which has been re-assembled, "I'm not sure... but I think I might have made a mistake. Let me check the bottom compartment for her feet." He opens up the door on the lowest box, and instead of Karen's feet, Karen's head is there. She looks around, "Why haven't you let me out yet?" Steve is then curious to find out what's in the box above the lowest box which houses her head. He opens up the door to the second lowest box, and Karen's feet are there. Surprisingly, they are moving around a little. "What's going on?" Karen asks. She stretches her head out of the box as far as it can go, to see that the box above her contains her feet. She doesn't believe it. "Those can't be my feet!" Just to test it out, she starts moving her left foot, and the left foot above her moves, exactly as she commands it to. The right foot does the same. "Oh my..." Steve laughs at the trick, "Hey Karen, you seem to be head *under* heels for me!" "I thought you said the crummy jokes were going to end!" Karen's head protests, from her place at the foundation of the box. Marvin is laughing out loud, "Hey! That wasn't crummy..." He looks at Steve, "Ever think of becoming a magician?" He opens up the remaining two doors. The highest compartment contains her legs and the one below contains her torso. Steve walks up to the second to highest box, which contains Karen's torso. He admires it, "My, this foam rubber torso looks just like Karen's... and it looks like it's breathing..." Out of curiosity, he pokes it. Karen protests from her place in the lowest compartment, "Hey, Steve! Don't touch my stomach like that! I'm helpless!" Steve jumps back, surprised. He's heard of motorized fake feet, but a breathing torso that looks just like Karen's and that Karen can feel what's happening to it? He slowly backs away, starting to think that Marvin is for real, "But that's preposterous... It's all mirrors and such." "It's all MAGIC!" Marvin answers, "Now unless you want your friend here to stay this way, I suggest you help me re-arrange her properly and remove the blades! Being the excellent assistant that you are Steve, I'm sure you can do it all by yourself. I'll just sit here and watch, and I'll tell you if you do anything wrong..." -Marvin