The world around the young Trixie Lulamoon was one of a thousand bright colors, sights, and smells. Walking with her parents, the young girl saw clowns moving about as they juggled or crammed themselves into a car that was ten times too small to hold one let alone seven of them. A few people were swallowing balls of fire before breathing out the flames causing those near to gasp and laugh in surprise. Zebras and elephants and so many other animals were there to ride or being ridden on by the performers.
To most children in this day and age, the circus was nothing special. But to Trixie, on that day, it was something magical. How could it not be when she had seen the Great and Powerful Morboba as he stood in the center doubling as the ring leader? She had gasped as he swallowed a sword as long as himself before burping out a hawk that then circled around the tent once before landing back on his head. She had seen manipulate flames with his hands, circling around him as they changed color. So many tricks, each one of them so impressive that she was out of her seat. She stood there watching in amazement, wanting to see what this impressive magician would do next until he was sadly finished.
Now the show was over and Trixie, along with her family, were heading out to the parking lot to head home. As her parents talked with each other, she pulled away slightly without them noticing. There, standing off to the side of the tent with a few other kids, was Morboba! He was just standing there in his white shirt, red vest, and signature long mustache while signing autographs.
Before Trixie even knew what was happening, her feet were moving towards the man as the last child walked away. Seeing this caused her movements to quicken for she did not want him to leave. It wasn’t just the autograph she wanted, but also there was a question she wanted to ask him. One that had been burning in her head since she had seen his first amazing feat of magic. She had planned to ask her parents about it, but seeing him here made her realize that he was the one to ask about this.
“Well hello there,” said Morboba as Trixie came to a stop. As Trixie paused to catch her breath, she looked at his kind smile but there was also a bit of concern in his eyes. “I take it you want an autograph too. But, where are your parents?”
“Ah,” began Trixie as she looked behind her. To her shock, she didn’t see them in the crowd! Had they continued to move on without noticing that she wasn’t there? As tears threatened to appear in her eyes, Morboba moved to her side and gently took her hand.
“How about I help you find them?” he said in a soft, gentle voice. Feeling her cheeks beginning to redden, it was all Trixie could do to simply nod. And like that, they were off heading in the direction Trixie had come from. As they walked, Trixie noticed Morboba pulling out a phone and pressing a few buttons.
“Ah, Mr. Great and Powerful,” began Trixie shyly. “I wanted to ask you something.”
Morboba laughed as he pocketed his phone. “Just Morboba will do,” he said still chuckling. “Sure, you can ask me whatever you like.”
“I was wondering how I can be as great and powerful as you,” Trixie asked, her words almost causing the man to stumble a bit. “Do I have to buy something super expensive? I have a little bit saved up in my piggy bank back home?”
For a while, Morboba said nothing as they just stood there. She could hear his phone buzzing now but the man made no motion to reach for it. Her tiny hands clutched together while the pounding of her heart filled her ears. Had she said something wrong? Was there some super, secret place that she had to buy this stuff from that he wouldn’t tell her? Or would he tell her she couldn’t because she was a girl? Some of the boys at school were always telling her that there was a ton of stuff she couldn’t do for that same reason. Then, slowly Morboba bent down so that they were eye to eye.
“Well my dear, becoming great and powerful is no easy task,” he began, his eyes locked onto Trixie’s. “It’s not something that can be bought in a store. Otherwise, nobody would be great and powerful. It takes time and, above all, creativity to creature your own tricks. People like have spent years of our lives working hard to make our tricks, so we are not willing to just sell them.”
Trixie stared back at him. “So…if I want to be like you, I have to do it myself?” she asked.
A slight smile appeared on Morboba’s face. “Oh, I am sure there are plenty of books out there that can help get you started,” he said as he patted her on the head. “I think they might still sell those basic magic trick kits. But, those will never make you great or powerful. The only things that can do that are this.” He lightly tapped her head. “This.” He once again lightly tapped her, this time on her heart. “And hard work.”
Trixie stared at him for a moment as understanding filled her. Slowly her blank expression filled with wide eyed understanding. “I’ll do it!” she declared. “I’ll become the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“I’m sure you will,” said the older man as he started to get up. However, he paused very suddenly while his eyes went wide as he looked down at his vest. Trixie noticed something as well. In the space between his vest and shirt came a glowing light. Morboba reached in with the young girl expecting another amazing trick of some kind. But to her surprise, what he pulled out wasn’t something amazing. Instead, it was a duel monsters card that seemed to be giving off the light until it was fully out in the open. Then, very suddenly, the light faded.
“I believe this will help you on your journey,” said Morboba as he handed the card to Trixie. “He may not be the greatest of all magicians, but he has been my partner for many years now. Now it seems he wishes to help you.” Slowly, Trixie took the card and looked at it.
-x-
“Trixie!” came a loud voice. At once, the Great and Powerful Trixie opened her eyes to see that her head was resting on her arms. Which, by the way, were now covered with drool. Jerking up from her resting place from behind a large crate, Trixie saw that it was Snips who had called out her name as he carried a large box in his hands. Next to him was his eternal partner Snails who was also carrying a large box.
“About time you two showed up,” Trixie said as she stood up and quickly brushed herself off. “The Great and Powerful Trixie had been waiting so long she fell asleep! All Trixie needed was for the two of you to grab a few things from Trixie’s house.”
“But these things are heavy,” whined Snips, causing Trixie to roll her eyes in annoyance. Without saying anything, she began to lead them past the main stage of the Canterlot Theater for the main event tomorrow.
The Canterlot Theater was a well known establishment within the area for some time. For almost a hundred years, this location had stood providing the surrounding areas for a place to hold indoor concerts, professional comedians, and all sorts of productions. It was also the home to the annual amateur magician contest. One night a year, ten slots would be open to showcase up and coming talent in the field of the optical illusions, hypnotism, and other such arts to showcase wonder and amazement. There was no cash prize, but there was a chance that a talent scout could be in the audience. More importantly, it was a chance just to show off one's skills and get an idea of how the audience would react..
For the last three years, Trixie had tried to secure one of those slots but had failed each and every time. She could clearly remember the first time she tried, never even being able to show off what she could do. The manager had told her she was simply too young to try something like this. That he wasn’t running a babysitting operation and that people were paying good money to see some talent. It was only last year when she was given a chance to do a mini performance to try and gain one of the slots. Sadly, everything seemed to go wrong for her. All of her props had either malfunctioned or had been forgotten back at home. Being the gifted person that she was, Trixie had done her best to role with the punches, to pretend this was all going according to plan. But even she could tell by the frown the manager had as he watched her that she had failed. Thankfully this year was different. For the first time, she was going to be on a real stage to show the world (or at least the people in attendance) that she was the Great and Powerful Trixie!
-x-
Yet little did she know that the seats were not empty. Watching from the nosebleed section were two figures that she knew very well.
“Still nothing,” muttered Adagio as she held in her hands the magical detection device Cinch had provided.
“Gee, I wonder why?” complained Aria as she looked up from her phone to face the stage. “It’s a magic show, remember? Humans have been pretending to do magic for centuries. Real magic by these morons has been lost for who knows how long.”
“I know that!” snapped Adagio as she turned her head to glare at her sister. “But there is a chance that someone down there might have some skill or some Equestrian magic that they believe will help liven up their act. Like, I don’t know, a mirror or something that can suck people into a different dimension. Or magic that gives life to the lifeless. You know how humans think. Once they see a short-cut they’ll use it to claim easy fame. So it makes sense that they might try something as simple minded as this.”
“Sounds like that minor plot point in that lazy movie,” mumbled Aria. “You know, the one that was based on that mouse and was full of clichés? I think it was called-” Aria found the words had died in her throat as she noticed something. Leaning forward in her chair a bit, she stared at the blue skinned girl she and her sisters had manipulated prior. Or rather, what was behind her. It was only there for a moment, but Aria was sure she saw something directly behind. A ghostly, humanish figure.
“What? Have a brain crash or something?” asked Adagio with a slight sneer.
“Did the device go off?” asked Aria as she ignoring her sister’s words. Adagio blinked in surprise before looking down at the device. Nothing had happened. Nothing that the machine could detect at least.
“Nothing,” said Adagio, her voice growing more serious now. “Did you see something? There is a chance that it was so minor that the machine didn’t pick it up.”
Aria stared at the stage for a moment longer before her face relaxed a bit and she leaned back in her seat. “Maybe. Or maybe it was just my imagination. We’ve been sitting on our asses so long that it's no wonder I’m getting bored. I think this scouting mission has been a complete bust.”
Adagio let out a growl of annoyance. “Only I say when something is a bust,” she said. “We’ll continue to wait a bit longer. Until I’m sure.”
-x-
“Here we are,” announced Trixie as she undid a lock on a gate. Before them, lining up on one side of the building, was a long fenced in area with numerous gates which were properly numbered one through ten. Each gate lead into a further fenced in area with this one holding Trixie’s equipment for the big night. Several rows of long, black boxes laid on the floors as well as regular cardboard ones as well. As she walked in, she could see the more colorful red wooden crates that belong to a rather balding magician who would also be performing.
Trixie stood there, savoring this moment as she pulled out a large locket. Flipping it open, she stared at its two contents. On one side was a picture that meant the world to her while of the other was her favorite card. The one she got on the day she started on this journey to show the world she was Great and Powerful. The one that the magician who had inspired her had given her. The image stared back at her, but not without life that Trixie could feel.
Then the moment was ruined with a sudden slamming noise from behind her that caused her to jump. As she closed the locket, she turned around to see that Snips and Snails had dropped her boxes on the ground without any ceremony at all! The nerve of them! Gritting her teeth, she moved towards the boxes.
“You complete idiots!” she snarled as she opened the top of one of the boxes. Heart pounding, she began to quickly search through it while quickly inspecting each one. Sweat began to form on her face. They all looked fine, but she would need to test each and every one of them to make sure that were not damaged in any way.
“Sorry,” mumbled Snails slowly as Trixie pulled out a black ball at least twice the size of a baseball. Without answering him, she closed her eyes and began to juggle it.
“If anything broke we could spare some money to replace it…maybe,” added in Snips with a nervous shrug.
“You can’t buy these anywhere,” said Trixie without looking at them. “Trixie had to work for years, saving up the money needed to build these with Trixie’s own hands.” She then suddenly stopped her juggling with the orb in both hands. She then pressed on it from both sides, surprisingly flattening it into something the size and shape of an old vinyl record before tossing it into the air. When it came down, Trixie caught it with one hand as it suddenly transformed into a top hat which she then put onto of her head. Both boys awed at this, clapping their hands excitedly as she removed it revealing that she had a pair of bunny ears on her head.
“Still not perfect,” Trixie said with a sigh. “But Trixie supposes it will do for an opening act. If only Trixie could have found a way to put a real rabbit in here without it getting injured.”
As Trixie began the slightly complicated method of turning the hat back into a ball, a door was heard slamming open nearby. Turning her head to look at a small office just somewhat obscured by the fence, Trixie saw that it was the theater manager’s office door that had opened. But the one coming out was not the gruff man that she knew. Instead it was a plump, bald headed man with a long drooping nose who fell backwards. Dressed in a suit and tie that barely fit him, he fell on his back while the sound of clothing ripping filled the air.
“Please, just give me another chance,” he said as he held out his hand to the door. Trixie couldn’t help but cringe at his voice. It was a mixture of nasally and whiny that would give most people the creeps. She wasn’t the only one to think this for Trixie saw several of the other people hard at work getting ready for tomorrow stop what they were doing and cringed a tad when he spoke.
As he looked upwards a woman in a skimpy dress stormed out of the office. She wore a one piece outfit that had a flame motif that started right at her bosom and ended right below her ass so that if she bent the wrong way she would give the audience a flash of panties. Her hair was curled and scarlet with streaks of orange, with a lovely shade of pinkish skin. Trixie had seen her plenty of times before, usually with a fake smile on that was absent today. Instead there was a fury to her face directed at the man.
“I told you Windbag,” said the gruff voice of the manager as he stood in the doorway now. A short, but muscular man with a receding grey hairline and light grey skin that showed no signs of weakness. As always he had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and an unlit cigar in his mouth. “You’re done here! The last ten years you’ve been doing the exact same failed routine! Last time you were the last act of the night and what happened? The place emptied out before you even got on stage. No one wants to see your sorry act anymore.”
“But I paid to have all of my stuff brought here,” whined Windbag as he got on all fours, looking up at the manager in a pathetic way. “It’s not fair. Please give me another chance.”
“WELL THAT’S YOUR FAULT!” screamed the manager as he ripped the cigar out of his mouth. “I told you last year that you were done, to not even bother showing up for a try out. I even called you just to remind you. But here you are!” The manager then threw his cigar down on the ground and stomped on it, his cheeks reddening as he did so. He then pointed a finger at Windbag, but before he had a chance to say anything the woman had grabbed the man and lifted him up roughly.
“You knew about this for a year?!” she screamed. “I wasted another year taking care of your useless hide when I could have been doing anything else! If it wasn’t for those promises I would have left your sorry hide to rot!”
“Please Miss Eye Candy,” whimper Windbag. But Eye Candy didn’t listen to him at all, instead throwing him to the ground in a fit of rage. She then averted her eyes probably doing her best not to look at him. In that moment, for the briefest of moment, her eyes locked onto Trixie’s. Trixie just had enough time to register this before Eye Candy turned around so that her back was facing Windbag.
Sadly, Windbag didn’t take the hint. “Please don’t leave me too,” he moaned as he reach out with his pudgy hands and grabbed her leg. Trixie shared a shiver with the girl as Windbag then pressed his face against the girl’s leg and began to rub against it. Eye Candy let out a shriek of rage as she kicked him lose and then stormed off, people moving out of the way as she did.
Once the girl was out of sight, Trixie turned to look back at the manager who was now shaking his head as he pulled out another cigar from his pocket. “Windbag, leave now before I call the cops,” he said as he put it in his mouth. Slowly he turned around and was about to walk back into his office when Windbag grabbed his leg. Seeing this, Trixie place a hand over her eyes at the sight of something so pathetic.
“Please, you have to give me another chance,” whined the crawling man. “My stuff is better than everyone else’s. I-”
“You’re ‘stuff’ was never the issue,” interrupted the manager who had not even turned around to look at the man. “If after ten years you still haven’t figured that out then you never will.” With that, he shook off Windbag’s hold on him before closing his door.
As soon as it clicked shut, the place was alive with movement again. The backstage workers were hard at work double and triple checking everything to make sure there wouldn’t be a problem. All of the magicians and illusionists went back to checking their props, no longer paying any attention to the man who was still on all fours. Even Trixie took him out of her mind as she returned to rummaging through her things.
Of course, she didn’t bother asking the two idiots she had brought along to help her. Not just because they had dropped them. Well, that was a big part of it. But another reason was because what little brains they had were no longer in the room. Both of them were staring at where Ms. Eye Candy had stormed out, mouths still hanging open as they openly drooled. Eventually the two began to talk to each other with Trixie tuning them out, instead focusing on the work that needed to be done. So focused in fact that she never even noticed that they had left.
-x-
The next night, Trixie stood at the back entrance of the theater with her heart pounding. She was dressed in her purple witch’s hat and cloak, silver stars decorating them both. Underneath she wore a one-piece blue dress with its long-sleeves rolled up. To cover her arms she had on long fingerless gloves that went almost to her elbows. While her skirt was a bit on the short side (still nowhere as short as that woman she had seen yesterday) her shapely legs were covered by thigh high boots of a darker blue material. Hidden within her cloak were several magical surprises, including smoke pellets that had been set to drop when she made a particular motion with her cape.
As her hand touched the door handle, Trixie paused to take a deep breath to calm her quickly beating heart. She could feel the excitement coursing through her like electricity. When she had found out that she would be getting one of the spots for tonight, Trixie had set up posters all throughout the school advertising her performance tonight. She knew for a fact that several of her fellow students, like Sunset Shimmer, would be in attendance. Knowing that there would be people like that out there ready to support her along with her parents brought on a wave of happiness. Soon she would be able to show all of them the results of all her hard work.
When she did open the door the world was that of panic. People were running around in a crazed panic, almost to the point where they were toppling over each other. Slowly and carefully, Trixie did her best to avoid the stampede of people as she made her way towards where her props where stored.
“Trixie!” shouted the voice of the manager over the crowd. As she looked around, she spotted him standing by his office with the other magicians around him. There was a grim look on his face, one that was echoed by those that surrounded him. Seeing this made her feel nervous, even more so when he motioned her to approach. Gulping, Trixie walked over to them while ringing her hands.
With each step she took, a thousand questions seemed to run through Trixie’s head. Had something happened? Had she been booted out for some reason? Trixie hadn’t done anything wrong nor had she lied about anything so she couldn’t see something like that happening. Was someone hurt? All the other magicians were there as far as she could see so that couldn’t be it.
“There’s a problem,” said the manager as he pulled the cigar out of his mouth when Trixie was close enough. “There was a break in. Right now my crew is looking over everything to make sure nothing else is missing or has been tampered with.”
“O-Ok,” began Trixie as she felt her heart beating faster. There was no way she couldn’t have picked up what he said: something had been stolen. Fear began to worm its way into her being, not helped by the way he was looking directly at her.
The manager then let out a long sigh. “There is no easy way to say this,” he said slowly. “But right now it looks like only your props were taken.” Trixie’s eyes widened when she heard that. Turning her head quickly, she looked in the direction of where her locker gate was locked. In was empty, the fence cut open and its metal pieces lying on the ground. The girl tried to take a step forward, but her legs gave out. She would have hit the ground had it not been for the other performers that night quickly gathering around her and grabbing her in the nick of time.
Trixie could hear them offering words of comfort as warm tears began to roll down her face. Looking around herself, she saw that most of them were looking just as hurt as herself. Trixie knew that they knew what she was going through. Any magician worth their salt would know. Their secrets and their props were their life blood. To have them stolen was simply a heart wrenching thing.
“In all my years here, nothing like this has ever happened before,” said the manager. Trixie turned to look at him, seeing that the manager was now shaking his head slowly while his face looked disgusted. “Naturally, I’m going to take full responsibility.”
“You should!” said one of the night’s performers who was holding Trixie. “If this happened to her, how can any of us expect our secrets to remain safe under your care? Why should any of us come back here?!?”
“I know, I know,” said the manager. “I thought our security was good enough, but clearly it wasn’t. I’ll see what I can do about putting more cameras’ in the back and better storage for you guys before next year rolls around. As for Trixie, if she wants she’ll be guaranteed a spot for next year. I know it’s not much, but it’s all I can do right now.”
“So she’s not performing?” came a voice. “Meaning there’s an opening?” Looking up, Trixie saw through blurry eyes that it was that woman from yesterday: Ms Eye Candy. Instead of her skimpy attire, she was now wearing a blouse with red and white stripes along with a white skirt. Trixie could feel the people around her stiffen as they looked at her.
“And here come the sharks,” whispered one of the female magicians.
“Ms. Eye Candy, I have no idea how you got back here,” said the manager slowly through gritted teeth. “But if that oaf Windbag thinks he can take advantage of this, he’s got another thing coming!”
“No, no,” said Eye Candy as she waved both of her hands in the air, slowly approaching the group. “I meant myself.”
“You?!” gasped the manager. “You’re just an assistant.”
“Was an assistant,” said Eye Candy in a corrective manner. “The only reason I stuck around with Windbag for so long was that he promised to help me launch my own career one day once he hit it big. But you can see how well that turned out. I have a few things with me right now. I know it might not be the best compared to everyone else but I think I can still put on a good show.”
“Forget it,” said the manager instantly as he waved her off, Eye Candy gasping as he did. “Do you really think I’m just going to hand over something like that right now? Just like that?”
“What do you have to lose?” asked Eye Candy as she took a step forward while placing a hand on her chest. “The show has to go on. You promised the people in the crowd ten acts tonight and here I am ready to perform.”
Trixie stared at the manager as a finger traced the unlit cigar. She could see his eyes moving between Eye Candy to her, thinking it over. Then, after what felt like forever, he pulled out the cigar. “Fine,” he said.
“What?!?” shouted one of the magicians close to Trixie as he stood up. “Sir, how can you even think about doing something like that?”
“Ms. Eye Candy has a point,” said the manager gruffly. “The show must go on. I told the cops what was stolen so there is a small chance that they might find it before the last act. If they do, Trixie will still go on stage even if there’s a small delay. If they don’t, Ms. Eye Candy will close us out.” He then put the cigar back in his mouth. “But regardless, my promise to Trixie still stands for next year.”
“But,” whispered Trixie, however the rest of her words seemed to die in her throat.
“Then I’ll start getting ready,” said Eye Candy. The manager said nothing, just turning around to head back into his office slamming the door behind him as he did so. After that, Eye Candy turned around and walked away.
Slowly, everyone began to drift away from Trixie. A few lingered longer than others, offering to get her a drink or anything like that. One even offered her a real handkerchief to blow her nose instead of one his trick ones. But soon she was left all alone. Not that Trixie blamed any of them for she knew that they had their own acts to get ready. It was nice that they had tried to comfort her.
Now as she sat on an old wooden crate backstage as the first show began, giving her the best seat in the house, all Trixie could think about was wanting to wake up from this nightmare. The single worst thing that could ever happen to her had happened! Sure, the manager had tried to be nice and promised her a slot for next year but that didn’t change the fact that her stuff was gone. She had saved up for years to make that stuff while studying every book of magic she could get her hands on. How was she supposed to replace it? She could probably remake it if someone else didn’t use it first. How was she suppose to go to everyone who came and-
With a gasp, Trixie suddenly stood up with her eyes wide. Why had someone broken in to steal magician props? There were only two answers she could think of. One was someone really wanted to learn how she did it and post it online. The problem with that was that she was still a mostly unknown save for the people at her school. And none of them had even seen any of the tricks she had brought with her tonight! The other reason was someone wanted to use them for their own gain. Wasn’t it odd that Ms. Eye Candy just so happen to be here right after she had been robbed? That she just happened to have brought with her equipment for her own act?
Trixie felt her heart race as she walked over to the manager’s office, ready to tell him that she knew who had robbed her. Yet she only managed to take three hurried steps before stopping. All she had was a theory, a good one she thought, but a theory nonetheless. The manager might think she was being hysterical or something like that and ask her to leave. She needed proof before anything else.
Groaning to herself, Trixie thought about what she could do. The smartest thing she could do was sit in the crowd, wait to see Ms. Eye Candy’s show, and see if she used any of her tricks. The problem with that was no one might believe her even then. There might be those who think she was trying to steal someone else’s hard work. Besides, she would also miss her chance for tonight! Well then, time to do it the Rainbow Dash way: recklessly endanger herself in a crazy manner!
Quickly Trixie moved backstage towards the doors outside. Carefully she opened it, slipped out into the night, and closed the door behind her. Once outside, it didn’t take her long to find Eye Candy as she was standing next to a large white van whose back doors were open. She wasn’t alone either for Trixie’s eyes narrowed when she saw who were helping her unload.
“Snips! Snails!” she shouted causing all three figures to turn and look at her. At once the two boys dropped what they were holding and made a mad dash for it, screaming as they did so. As they left, Trixie began to see how this happened. Eye Candy has seen her and probably noticed those two idiots with her. She must of asked them about her act and then gotten those two doofs to help her steal them.
“Trixie, what is the meaning of this?” demanded Eye Candy as she back up a bit against the open door of the van.
“Eye Candy, Trixie wants to see what you have in that van!” demanded Trixie. “Because I have a feeling it doesn’t belong to you.”
“Th-That’s insane,” stammered Eye Candy as she gripped the door behind her, Trixie’s eyes narrowing in the process. “Besides, you’re not the cops. You have no right! What’s in this van is mine.”
Trixie gritted her teeth as she stared harder at the girl. Despite how much she wanted to take the items back by force, the woman before her was older and taller. Trixie had no idea how she would fair in a fight. Nor did she want anything in that ran ruined in the process. If she went back for help or was seen calling for help then Eye Candy might decide to make a break for it. Perhaps doing it the Rainbow Dash way wasn’t the smartest idea. There was, however, another way.
“Fine then,” Trixie said as she draped her cape over her arm. When she pulled it back her duel disk was nicely secured to her arm, surprising Eye Candy. “The Great and Powerful Trixie challenges you to a duel. If Trixie wins, then you’ll let Trixie look in your van to see if anything there belongs to Trixie. If not, then Trixie will not bother you any further.”
Eye Candy looked at Trixie with narrowed eyes. “I have to get ready for my big debut,” she said as she reached behind her. Trixie didn’t tense up at all, watching the woman as she pulled out a familiar looking sphere. “But since I’m the last act, I have plenty of time to humor you.” She then threw the orb down with all her might, creating a large cloud of smoke. When it cleared, not only was she wearing her duel disk but also in that skimpy, fiery outfit from before.
“Good,” said Trixie as she reached for her locket, quickly pulling out her card and putting it in her deck.
“Let’s duel!” they said in unison.
“Connecting,” said a female mechanical voice from their duel disks. “Opponents found. Displaying order now.” In the middle of the field appeared a flat holographic image of a portrait, only on one side was Trixie while the other was Eye Candy. The image began to spin round and round, faster and faster as their duel disks shuffled their decks at an equally quick speed. Eventually the portraits stopped spinning, ending on Eye Candy.
“I draw,” said Eye Candy as she draw her six cards, Trixie taking five from her deck. “I’ll start by summoning my Skilled Dark Magician in attack position.” Appearing on Eye Candy’s side of the field was a tall man in dark robes. His face was hidden by a headdress that looked like it was made more from metal as was his shoulder pads. On both shoulders were gems as well as a single one in the middle of his chest. He carried no sword or staff, only a small metallic wand. His attack points were 1900.
“A Dark Magician deck?” questioned Trixie. “A bit cliché and overdone. But then again, Trixie is using a spellcaster deck as well.”
“Front row hecklers,” groaned Eye Candy. “Always the worst to deal with since it’s harder to drown them out. Thankfully, unlike when I’m on stage, I can blast you away.” Eye Candy then plucked two cards from her hand. “I now play the spell cards Magician’s Right Hand!” Trixie could not hide her surprise as a clawed hand appeared above Eye Candy. With several gemmed rings on its long, slender fingers the hand seemed to emit a powerful aura. “I see that got a reaction from you. As long as I control a spellcaster, this spell card will negate and destroy the first spell card you play each turn. Not only does it give me some added protection, but it will also help unlock the power of my Skilled Dark Magician. Whenever a spell card is played, he gets a counter. When he gets a total of three, that’s when the real magic happens!
“But you won’t have to wait long because now I’ll play Shards of Greed! Each time I draw a card during my draw phase, I can add a greed counter to it. When it reaches two, I can send this card to the graveyard in order to draw two more cards. Next it’s time for the spell card Dark Magic Veil! By giving up a total of 1000 of my life points, I can special summon one dark spellcaster from my deck or graveyard. So with no further ado, lets welcome the master of magicians: Dark Magician!” As Eye Candy’s life point’s dropped to 7000, a magical circle appeared on the field. It glowed brightly as a figure rose from it, but it was the classic purple version. No, this one was dressed in red with long white hair as he grinned sinisterly across the field. Its attack points were 2500.
“Now that I’ve played Dark Magic Veil my Skilled Dark Magician gains his third counter,” continued Eye Candy. “So now I can activate his effect, sending him to the graveyard to special summon another Dark Magician from my deck!” Skilled Dark Magician held up his wand as all three of the gems on his robes glowed brightly in the darkness. Around him, a pillar of light sprang up to engulf him with a force so mighty that Trixie had to hold up her arms to shield herself. When it faded, there stood the original purple Dark Magician with a frown on his face.
“With that, the opening act of this performance is over,” said Eye Candy with a small bow. “If you wish to give up, there is no shame in doing so. You are at a serious disadvantage. Two monsters with 2500 attack points each plus the negation of your first spell. It would take a miracle for you to overcome these odds.”
Trixie stood there wide eyed for a moment as she took in everything before her. Then, with a smile she ran a hand through her long hair in a gesture of defiance. “Who needs a miracle when Trixie has magic? I draw,” said Trixie as she drew her sixth card. She then looked at it and smiled. “Just the card Trixie needed.” She then looked up at Eye Candy with complete confidence. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you what it means to be a real magician on the stage. First, Trixie will discard one card from Trixie’s hand in order to special summon Trixie’s favorite monster: The Tricky!” As Trixie discarded her card, a monster with 2000 attack points appeared on her side of the field. It looked more like a jester in its yellow and black outfit, bright blue cape, and red question marks on its masked face and chest. Once on the field, The Tricky turned to look in the direction of Trixie before bowing before her with one of his arms stretched outward while holding on to the tip of his cape.
Eye Candy snorted into her hand. “Oh, this is rich,” she laughed as The Tricky righted itself. “You summoned a clown to help in a battle of magicians! Oh that is so rich!”
“Laugh now while you can,” replied Trixie. “Because this ‘clown’ as you call him, is Trixie’s favorite card. And he will take down both of your Dark Magicians!”
The older woman smirked at Trixie. “With what? My Magician’s Hand is on the field, limiting what you can do.”
“That is why this move will fully showcase the Great and Powerful Trixie’s talents!” declared Trixie. “Because now Trixie will summon Performage Flame Eater in attack mode.” A large, purple orb with eyes, one larger than the other, appeared on Trixie’s side of the field. Somehow it wore a cape and had on a wizard’s hat. Flame Eater opened its mouth, revealing its jagged jaw as a small bit of flames escaped. Its attack points were 1200. “When this card in summoned, we both lose 500 life points.” As she said this, small flames appeared on Trixie’s and Eye Candy’s bodies as their life points lower to 7500 and 6500 respectively.
“Now that Trixie has two spellcasters on the field, Trixie is allowed to special summon Performage Hat Tricker to the field.” As Trixie said this, a new monster appeared next to The Tricky. Hat Tricker was a small monster with only 1100 attack points. It had on something like a pink wizard’s hat with three points on it. A pair of glasses, gloves, and a cape seemed to float below it as if something invisible were wearing them.
“The stage is set,” said Trixie with a grin, holding out her hand. “With my two level four spellcasters, I build the overlay network.” A spiraling vortex now appeared on the field, her two Performage monsters turning into streams of energy as they were sucked into it. “The eater of flames and trick of the hat combine their magic,” chanted Trixie as she kept her eyes on Eye Candy. “Their acts were just to warm up the crowd. The world is now his stage! Xyz summon Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!” The center of the vortex suddenly exploded as a monster with 2500 attack points jumped out. This monster wore mostly white with pink fluff around the bottom of his shirt and black, curled shoes. On the top of his head he wore another wizard’s hat with yellow stars on it and in his hand was a wand containing yellow orbs on both ends, its length long enough for him to grip with both hands. Orbiting around Trapeze Magician were two orbs of light.
“Now, Trixie will use her Trapeze Magician’s effect,” announced Trixie. “By removing one of his overlay units, he can grant one monster on the field the power to attack twice this turn. Well other than himself. That leaves Trixie with The Trick!” One of Trapeze’s orbs was suddenly sucked into its wand right before the magician pointed it at The Tricky. A beam of yellow lit hit the weaker spellcaster.
“He won’t even survive the first attack!” shouted Eye Candy.
“Lets see about that,” said Trixie with a grin so powerful that it caused Eye Candy to take a step back. “I attack your first Dark Magician with The Tricky!” At Trixie’s command, The Tricky wrapped himself in his cape before vanishing from the field only to reappear right behind the red Dark Magician. This, however, did not go unnoticed by the Dark Magician as he gripped his staff tightly and prepared to swing it around to fend off his attacker. “Now, Trixie activates the effect of a monster in Trixie’s hand! Come on out Juragedo!” Trixie slapped a card onto her duel disk, stopping the attack as a new creature appeared on her side of the field. Juragedo was not a spellcaster in the slightest, it was a monster. Purple skinned and horned, it floated without any legs only a top like bottom below its torso. The things eyes seemed to attached to tentacles on the side of its head.
“W-Why bring out something like that?” demanded Eye Candy.
“For its effects,” said Trixie. “See, when it is special summoned this way Trixie gains 1000 life points.” Trixie paused for a moment as her life points went up to 8500. “But that’s not all. Trixie can also tribute it now in order to raise the attack point of one of her monsters by 1000 until the end of this turn. So Trixie will do that right now in order to help The Tricky.” Juragedo suddenly exploded; sending a burst of sparkling energy towards The Tricky whose attack points went up to 3000. “Now let’s get back to the battle. Tricky, take down both of those magicians!” The Tricky wrapped itself in its cape once more and vanished from Trixie’s side of the field. Before either of them could react, a question mark shaped hole appeared in their chests as red energy flowed from them. Both Dark Magicians fell to their knees before exploding while Eye Candy’s life points dropped to 5500.
“Now Performage Trapeze Magician, attack her directly!” shouted Trixie. Eye Candy, shocked by this sudden turn of events, looked up and saw energy beams coming out of Trapeze’s wand as he tossed it into the air. The wand then hung there like a trapeze wire as the magician jumped up to grab a hold of it. Back and forth he swung until finally he let go, his feet making contact with the center of Eye Candy’s stomach. As she fell to her knees her life points fell as well stopping at 3000. “Now I leave the stage to you to try and top that performance.”
“Oh trust me, I will,” growled Eye Candy as she drew a card making the total in her hand two while her Shards of Greed card gained a counter. “I can’t afford to lose this match, not now!”
-Flashback-
“Man, I wish I had your looks,” said a student next to Eye Candy as she looked at herself in the mirror. Everything looked perfect, just like always. Without looking, Eye Candy knew the other girl was looking at her with envy all over her face. It wasn’t hard to predict since she had always done that. Just as much as she had wished to look this good naturally in fact.
“Totally,” said another girl nearby. “With looks like that, I’m sure you’ll have the easy life. Marry some rich hottie who will take care of you for the rest of your life. Meanwhile, the rest of us will have to get jobs.” As the two girls laughed, Eye Candy stared at the mirror as if she had noticed a large pimple growing faster than a water balloon and just as large. Was that all there was to her? Was that all her friends thought she could do with her life? Sure, she wasn’t the most talented in school with barely passable grades, but she was sure she could do better if she tried.
Putting her mirror away, Eye Candy scrambled to pick up her text book. There was still a few minutes left till the class began but perhaps it would be better if she studied during this time.
-
It was late at night, rain pounding against the apartment windows as she herself cried while her face was planted on the surface of the kitchen table. In front of her were the results of her most recent exam, a C+. She had worked so hard, gone to tutoring sessions and had rarely gone out for fun. All semester she had been doing this, trying harder and harder as she tried all sorts of study methods. This was the result, only going up from a C- to a C+. Was this all she was good for? Was this really her best?
But that wasn’t what had hurt her the most. No, that had been her father trying what she believed to be his best attempt to comfort her. He had stood there; look awkward for the longest time as she tried to make sense over her failure.
“Honey, I’m sure there is more that you could do with your life,” he said in a feeble tone. “Maybe, I don’t know, a weather girl job or something? You have the right looks for it and…” His words trailed off as she began to cry, eventually leaving her alone. Not even her own family believed she was anything beyond looking good. The test had proved it.
-
Eye Candy sat in a dinner, a cool cup of coffee laying in front of her untouched. Today had been another failed audition. Much like so many before.
After Eye Candy had come to realize that she would never be book smart, never get into a good college or anything like that, she had decided to try a different path. She didn’t want to be a simple model or anything like that. Instead, she turned her attention towards the stage in the hopes she could become an actress or perhaps a singer. However, auto-tuning could only take her so far as she could barely hold a tune even after spending so much to practice. She thought she was a decent actress, but there were so many out there who were better than she could ever hope to be. Time after time, failure after failure was starting to get to her.
Honestly, she didn’t know how much longer she could keep trying. Even after graduating she was still living with her father as he tried to provide for both of them and she could tell it was starting to get to him. Sooner or later he could tell her to get a real job or kick her out. The few job interviews she had had thus far had ended as soon as she admitted she had no prior experience. How the hell was she supposed to gain any experience if no one out there was willing to teach her?
“Excuse me,” came a slightly nasally voice above her. “Are you Ms. Eye Candy?” The woman looked up to see a slender man with a slightly plump nose standing next to her table dressed in high end fashion. Or at least what she assumed from the magazines she peaked at in shopping marts.
“…Yes,” she said slowly, wondering who this man was.
The man grinned, quickly taking a seat across the table. “Good to meet you,” he said quickly. “Your talent agent said that you sometimes come down here after, er, well he said you are a regular here and let’s leave it at that. I’ve come to offer you a job.”
At the sound of a job, as well as the mention of her agent, Eye Candy straighten up. “A-Are you sure?” she asked, a smile appearing on her face. Quickly she looked around to see if there were any cameras, briefly thinking that this might be one of those reality shows where they prank you. Just to be on the safe side.
“After seeing that smile, I’m more that sure,” said the man as he tried, and failed, to flip a card from his sleeve. “I’m looking for a magician’s assistant. Someone to…captivate the audience while I do my thing. If you take the job then I’ll give you 35% of whatever I make. I think that sounds good.”
Eye Candy’s smile faded as she sank a bit in her seat. Yes, she knew she needed the job desperately. But was she willing to give up after everything she had done over the years? Just survive solely based on her looks? Even if she wanted to do that there were better jobs out there for her. If this guy was a magician then he couldn’t be a very good one if what she had seen was any indication.
“Now I know what you’re thinking,” said the man quickly, clearly reading her face. “I know I’m not the best out there. Heck, I’m just getting started. But get this, my family is loaded. So much so that I was able to sink thousands on some of the best equipment money can buy. I’m sure that once I figure it out we’ll be headlining some of the best casinos in the country. Maybe even get a TV special or something. Look, if this helps sweeten the deal, how about I throw in room and board?”
Eye Candy’s expression didn’t change while the wheels turned in her head. Free room and board did help sweeten the deal. It would at least make her father happy to know she was moving on. Still, she wasn’t sure how far she could go this with man. Was just having the best stuff really all you needed?
Then, an idea struck her. Magicians were kind of like actors, weren’t they? Some even had followings and the like…maybe. Her limited acting might be of use to her. Perhaps she could get something more out of this, even if it did mean carrying this annoying guy for a bit. “How about this,” said Eye Candy as a smile reappeared on her face. “I’ll take 20% in exchange for you teaching me how to use your equipment and helping me set up my own act when you make it big.”
-
With that, the deal was made. At first, things weren’t so bad. The two of them worked together, her picking up how to work all the tricks Windbag, her boss, had bought faster than he did. Soon they were working minor gigs. A club one night then a few nights later a state of the company thing. Mostly birthday parties for unimpressed kids. The few theater jobs they got were always a mess with Windbag messing up the act in some way causing Eye Candy to cover up for him as quickly as she could. People looked at her rather than the bumbling fool she called her boss and that kept them getting jobs. And Eye Candy kept taking the humiliation hoping that soon they would make it at least somewhat big so she could collect on her promise.
That day never came. Eventually the audiences caught on and the jobs became fewer and far more in-between. Windbag began to gain more and more weight, trying hard to keep the secret from her that his family had cut him off. It was only when she suggested that they get some new material that he finally told her. She would have left him right then and there but the only thing that kept her there was that promise. She couldn’t let this go, not after all the work she had put into this. Not again. She needed this and she was willing to do whatever it took.
-End Flashback-
“I’ve given up too much to let it end here!” snarled Eye Candy. “Bet you’re nothing but a spoiled rich girl. Well I won’t lose to you! I place one card face down in defense mode and end my turn.”
Trixie’s eye narrowed as she drew her card, equaling two in her hand. “Spoiled rich girl,” Trixie repeated with a snarl. “Hardly. The Great and Powerful Trixie has worked hard to get where she is. Trixie refuses to allow someone else to steal her moment!” She then pointed at her face down card. “Tricky, attack her monster right now.” Her monster held up his hand as a red question mark began to glow on its palm. It grew brighter quickly before suddenly firing at Eye Candy’s card, creating a dust cloud. But when the dust had settled, the card was still there. Flipped face up, what looked like a wad of chewed gum with eyes was staring back at her.
“Thank you,” replied Eye Candy. “You attacked my Marshmallon. This card can’t be destroyed in battle and when you attack when it was face down, you lose 1000 life points.”
“Trixie was careless,” said the blue magician as her life points dropped to 7500. “Trixie will set two cards face down before ending Trixie’s turn.”
“I figured,” said Eye Candy as she drew her card. “Now, thanks to my Shards of Greed spell card, I can send it to the graveyard to draw two more cards.” As her card vanished from the field, Eye Candy drew her cards so that she now had a total of four in her hand. “Next I tribute my Marshmallow in order to summon my Dark Magician Girl.” Instantly the pile of goo vanished from Eye Candy’s side of the field to be replaced with a well know blond haired girl with 2000 attack points. “I think you know about her effect. For every Dark Magician and Magician of Dark Chaos in the grave she gains 300 attack points. That gives her a total for 2600, more than enough to take down your monsters.
“But I’m not done just yet,” continued Eye Candy as she held up another card. “Because next I’ll play my Sage’s Stone spell card. Since I have a Dark Magician Girl on my field, I can now special summon one Dark Magician from either my hand or deck! And I just so happen to have one more in my deck.” With that, a card was ejected from her deck and with a flourish Eye Candy slapped it onto her duel disk causing the monster to appear once again.
“Now that I have made my Dark Magician appear on stage once again, lets make all of your monsters disappear,” said Eye Candy as she slid another card into her spell/trap slot. “Behold, my greatest spell: Dark Burning Magic! When I have both a Dark Magician and a Dark Magician Girl on my side of the field, I can destroy all cards on your side of the field! Say goodbye to your clowns Trixie!”
“Trixie doesn’t think so!” yelled Trixie as she held out a hand while Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl raised their staff/ wand together. “Trixie activates her trap card: Interdimensional Matter Transporter. With this card I can save The Tricky by sending him to a different dimension until the end phase.”
Eye Candy gapped at that. “You’d waste a card like that to save The Tricky? It’s worthless!”
As The Tricky seemed to slump at that remark, Trixie shook her head. “It’s hardly a waste,” replied Trixie as she looked at her yellow monster. Said monster turned to look back at her. “The Tricky is a card that is important to me. It reminds me of the person who helped Trixie realize how she can become Great and Powerful. He was the one who helped Trixie find her way. With this card, Trixie knows he is always near me. Besides, we’ve been together all this time.”
-Flashback-
A young Trixie walked into her room, her face smeared with the remains of cake frosting. The party had been…less than enjoyable. The blue girl had tried to perform a brand new trick involving her smoke bombs. She had next anticipated that it would cause a massive food fight, not helped by the fact that her trick failed. In the end she had somehow become the target of the children’s aim.
Still, she had gotten paid for her troubles. As she walked over to put the money in her piggy Trixie also took out the card Morboba had given her so long ago from her pocket. Somehow bits of cake and ketchup had gotten on the protective cover that she had placed on it. While she was sure no lasting damage had been done to her prized card, she quickly wiped it off before putting the card on a special stand she had for it.
“Well that trick didn’t work out as well as Trixie hoped,” said Trixie to the card. “But don’t you worry. Trixie has a hundred, no, a thousand ways in order to fix this and make it better. Then they will all see how amazing Trixie is.”
-End Flashback-
Coming out of her thoughts, Trixie saw that The Tricky was staring at her with tears coming through his mask life twin rivers. He raised a hand to wipe away the tears as the wave of magic from her opponents side washed over the field, The Tricky vanishing before he could be hit. Her Topeze Magician however, could not be saved as it and her other face down card were destroyed leaving her wide open. However…
“My Trapeze Magician’s effect activates,” announced Trixie. “When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, Trixie can special summon one Performage monster from the deck. So Trixie chooses to summon her Performage Stilts Launcher in defense mode!” Appearing on Trixie’s side of the field was a monster with 0 defense points. It wore mostly purple on its thin, lengthy body as well as a long red cape.
“Some people just don’t know when their act is over,” said Eye Candy. “Dark Magician, please help that embarrassment exit stage right.” The Dark Magician silently pointed its staff at Trixie’s monster, creating an orb of dark magical power that flew from it and destroyed Stilts Launcher. “Now with that out of the way, its time Trixie got a taste of real power! Dark Magician Girl do your thing!” Dark Magician Girl twirled around a bit before blasting Trixie with another dark orb of magic, bringing her life points down to 4900.
“I end my turn,” said Eye Candy confidently as The Tricky reappeared on the field.
“My draw then,” said Trixie as she drew her card to her empty hand, wincing as she looked at it. “I switch The Tricky to defense mode. That’s all. I’m sorry Tricky.” Trixie’s monster looked at her for a moment, nodding his head in understanding as he took a knee in front of the girl.
“Then I draw,” said Eye Candy as she drew making the total she had two. “Now I think it’s time we ended this. So of us do have a performance tonight after all. I activate the Eye of Timaeus and target my Dark Magician to special summon the Amulet Dragon.” A wild wind swept over the field as a large, blue dragon erupted from the ground. The Dark Magician leapt onto the beast, seemingly unbothered by the wind created as the dragon beat its massive wings. As soon as the spellcaster landed on the creatures back, magical symbols began to crisscross all over the creature’s body while glowing with powerful energy. “Normally, this monster’s attack power is only 2900. But thanks to its effect it can become so much more. I’ll remove my Shards of Greed, Dark Magic Veil, Sage’s Stone, Dark Burning Magic, and the Eye of Timaeus from my graveyard in order to raise its attack points by 100 for each card. That makes its total 3400. Also, since we’re talking about monsters attack points rising, Dark Magician Girl’s goes up to 2900 since there is another Dark Magician in my graveyard.”
“It’ll take more than that to stop Trixie,” said the blue girl while The Tricky nodded.
“It’s a little late in the game to try and act tough,” said Eye Candy. “You put on a good show, but it’s doubtful you’ll be making a comeback performance. With two powerful monsters on my side of the field and the ability to block your first spell card, things are looking just as bad for you as they did when this duel first began. And with only one card in your hand your words lack any real bite to them. Now Dark Magician Girl, be a dear and make that yellow eye sore disappear.” With a quick twirl, Dark Magician Girl sent the attack at The Tricky which destroyed him, bits of his cape remaining as they burned away in the air. Leaving Trixie defenseless.
“Now it’s time for my Amulet Dragon to take a large chunk of your life points!” shouted Eye Candy. Her dragon opened its mouth as energy began to accumulate within its throat. Without any hint of a warning, it suddenly unleashed a stream of sparkling blue energy that would make the Blue Eyes White Dragon jealous and covering up Trixie’s side of the field in a large dust cloud.
“You’re right about one thing Ms. Eye Candy,” said Trixie as the dust slowly began to settle. “I do put on a good show. And I intend to keep on doing so by keeping the audience on the edges of their seats.”
“What do you-” began Eye Candy, but was cut off when she noticed something. Trixie’s life points hadn’t dropped at all. “I…I don’t understand. You should have lost nearly all of your life points with that one attack!”
“True,” said Trixie as the dust now fully cleared. But she wasn’t alone. Standing next to her was creature that looked like an upside-down bowling pin with a face. One of its eyes was a star, its tongue sticking out at Eye Candy as it juggled several balls. “But thanks to the effect of my Performage Damage Juggler, all I had to do was discard it to turn the damage I would have taken to zero.” As she spoke, Damage Juggler vanished from sight leaving Trixie alone while she crossed her arms.
“Fine, so you live for another turn,” snarled Eye Candy. “It makes no difference. When your turn begins you’ll have one card in your hand. What can that do against my deck? Against my magic?”
“You mean your straight forward, brute force tactics?” asked Trixie. “Not much wonder or excitement there I’m afraid.”
“Shut up and go,” Eye Candy spat.
“Very well then. Trixie draws!” An arc for light followed Trixie’s arms. As she drew, she could feel two hands with her. One was the gloved hand of The Tricky while the other was the hand of Morboba. Together, lending their strength to help Trixie in this duel. But it was only for that moment before they faded away. Taking a breath, the blue skinned magician looked at the card she drew and knew what to do with it.
“First off, the Great and Powerful Trixie will activate the effect of her Damage Juggler in the graveyard. By banishing it, Trixie can add one Performage monster from her deck to her hand. Other than Damage Juggler of course. So Trixie chooses another copy of Performage Flame Eater which she will then summon to the field.” Like before, Trixie’s balloon like spellcaster appeared on the field spitting fire as he did. “Now, due to his effect we both take 500 points of damage. But let us spice up this performance with something extra for my adoring opponent. Since you are taking effect damage, Trixie can remove Stilts Launcher from the graveyard as well to deal an additional 2000!”
“WHAT?!?” screamed Eye Candy as Trixie removed her card from the graveyard. As her life points dropped to 2500, the ghostly image of Performage Stilts Launcher appeared in front of her before suddenly exploding like a balloon that had been filled with too much air. Eye Candy was knocked down to the ground while her life points dropped to 500. “I’m still in the game! I’ll destroy that puny fire eater next turn and ship him back to the insane clown posse where he belongs!”
“Trixie doubts that will happen,” said the blue skinned girl as she held up her last card. “Since Trixie controls a spellcaster type monster on her side of the field, she can now special summon her Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness to the field.” Just like that, a small mouse like monster appeared on her side of the field brandishing an attack point total of 1500. Well, if mice had horns and bat wings. And were munching on the horned skulls of their victims.
“Now that Trixie has two level four monsters, she can build the overlay network one more time!” declared Trixie as she raised both hands into the air. At once another spiraling galaxy-like tunnel appeared in the middle of the field to suck up both monsters. “The eater of flames adds his might to the eater of evil. Together they become the best sideshow attraction. Every circus needs a gunman! Xyz summon Rank 4! Gagaga Cowboy in defense mode.” When Trixie had finished her chant, a cloaked cowboy did a back-flip from out of the vortex. He landed on one knee before instantly pointing both green guns at Eye Candy.
“Now Trixie will end this duel,” she said firmly. “By detaching one of Cowboy’s overlay units, you will lose 800 life points.”
“What?!? That’s not fair I-” began Eye Candy but stopped as Cowboy’s gun fired a magical bullet that struck her right in the chest, brining her life points to zero as her body was flung backwards. The impact caused Eye Candy to hit the truck behind her and, as she slid down, all of the holograms vanished.
As her duel disk began to deactivate, Trixie marched towards the van ready to see if indeed her props were there. She only barely noticed Eye Candy who just sat there looking down at the ground with a defeated look on her face. But before Trixie could make it half way there, the sound of clapping was heard startling both women. Together they turned to look in the direction the nose was coming from and found the manager standing there in the shadows along with two police officers.
“That was a fine duel,” he said as he began to walk towards the van.
“I don’t understand,” said Eye Candy weakly as the manager and the police officers reached the van. Once he was close enough, the manager opened one of the crates wordlessly.
“Please give me some credit,” said the manager as he motioned Trixie to approach. “One of my performers for tonight just happens to get robbed and you show up announcing that you can take her spot? That you just so happen to have brought your own stuff? Even if the stars aligned themselves perfectly for all that to happen it would still be suspicious. I decided to play along for the moment to keep you here while I called the police and apprise them of the situation. After that, I went out to keep an eye on you and discovered that Trixie here was thinking along the same lines as me and wanted to duel you to get evidence. Thought it might be an enjoyable way of passing the time.” He then turned to look at Trixie who was now standing next to him looking into the box. “Ms. Lulamoon, are these yours?”
“They are,” said Trixie as she pulled out one of the items which had her label on it. She then showed it to the police who nodded.
“Then that’s that,” said the manager with a sigh. He then turned to look at Eye Candy who was staring at the ground, her limbs looking limp as she did. His eyes held no pity for her as the two officers approached her and stood by her sides. “I have no idea what prompted you to do this nor do I really care. Even if you sing some sob story to a jury or judge to get out of this mess, I never want to see your face around here ever again.”
Trixie watched as the manager turned around, not bothering to look at Eye Candy as she was forced onto her feet. Her body seemed barely able to stand, her head hanging limply as if she were no longer really alive. Trixie even doubted that she could hear the officers as they read her right or felt anything as she was cuffed. She didn’t even try to fight them as she was lead away into the shadows where the police car presumably was. Eye Candy just seemed like she had given up, that all the fire and passion she had during their duel had died. Trixie would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t fell at least a little bit sorry for her.
“Well,” said the manager as a hand clapped her shoulder. “We better start getting all this inside. The show needs its ending act after all.” Trixie nodded. Before she did anything however, the blue skinned magician lifted her duel disk and removed The Tricky from the graveyard. With it in one hand her other went to fetch the locket from around her neck, opening it at once. Staring back at her from the occupied section was a small group picture showing her younger self, her relieved looking parents, and the man who gave her this card. With a smile, Trixie slide her treasured card into the appropriate slot before closing it. Now she was ready to meet her destiny.