On a mid-spring day, where the sun brightens a surrounding campground, an indigo-colored wagon occupies the area. Designed like an enclosed carriage with stars painted over the window shutters and roof, the wooden vehicle stands firmly on the grass to the gentle sound of the breeze flowing by.
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꧁POOF!!꧂
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The wagon suddenly rattles with a black cloud forming inside. The wagon's door slams open with smoke bursting out, along with a brown rabbit that's scurrying outside.
"*cough* *cough* *cough*" the rabbit's ears straighten up to the sound of a mare clearing her throat, "ICARUS ANGORA COTTONBALL, GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"
The rabbit dares not to obey and dashes off into the wilderness.
Stepping out of the wagon, waving a path through the smoke with a star pattern mage hat, a brilliant-azure coated mare emerges with a few more coughs leaving her. She darts her violet eyes for the rodent, "Return to Trixie at once, or you'll be in big trouble!" she threatens as she puts her hat over her pale-cornflower mane. Trixie sweeps the cape she wears as she looks under the wagon, rustles through some bushes, and gallops around the area for her bunny assistant, but doesn't find her anywhere. Trixie vents out her frustration, "YOU'RE GETTING NOTHING BUT OATMEAL FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK FOR THIS!!!"
It's understandable for her rabbit to run away with the pressing state of affairs she's in, because tonight, she'll be performing another one of her magic shows to a returning town. She has the stage all set with sparklers and smoke, she's got backstage supplied with props at the ready, but because this is a town that has seen her performance before, all Trixie needs now is a fresh new trick. Every entertainer knows that you need something new to keep the audience's attention on you, yet staying with something familiar can also help keep that nostalgia burning inside them, so placing a new spin on an old classic will keep returning viewers enchanted while it captivates new faces. Pulling a rabbit out of a hat is a familiar one, and Trixie intends to go a step further by making the hat explode to reveal the rabbit instead. Many attempts have been made to get this trick perfect, but it wasn't showing any promise. It's gotten to a point where Trixie's rabbit stole one of her smoke bombs and used it on her to make a successful escape.
Now rabbitless with only half a day left to prepare, Trixie is at wit's end on what her next course of action will be; but in the meantime, she finds that cupping her face in her forehooves to be a reasonable answer.
As she laments in silence, Trixie's ears perk up to a sound that's getting louder by the second. She lowers her hooves and turns her head to find the source. It's a muffled sound, something that comes across as soil being disturbed. Trixie spots a portion of land rising, forming a mound of dirt that's extending in a continuous line. It's going through the campground and is heading for the woods. Trixie's curiosity is getting the better of her and she investigates where this land formation is going.
She doesn't go far until the mound stops, but Trixie keeps her distance by watching from behind the closest tree. The mound gets larger, and to her surprise, a suitcase pops out. The luggage falls over, swinging the tag on the handle that reads, 'Property of Bugs Bunny'.
"Oh boy, what a trip," a voice from the hole speaks. Stretching his arms to the sky, an anthropomorphic gray rabbit appears from the hole. He cracks his glove-covered fingers, making a refreshing sigh from his white muzzle that bares his bucked teeth. "It sure feels great to be back..." the tall ears that stand on his head tilts as he takes a good look of the area, "...home? Gee, they really changed the place up since I left. I don't even recognize it. Am I even in the right place?" Bugs bends into the hole, displaying his short tail for a moment before standing up with a map. He spreads it on the dirt and presses his white belly against the hole's edge to search for his location, "Hmm... maybe I'm in E. R. Eddison's home town or something."
Back over to Trixie, she watches the foreigner intensely from behind one of the trees, "A talking rabbit, and a big one one at that!" she slides her hooves on the treebark, "A rabbit like that would definitely leave a remarkable impression on the crowd. It'll be something that they'll never forget." Trixie slinks back and gallops away with a plan to recruit him.
Bugs scratches his head, "You know, I think I might've just traveled off the map. Probably started at that turning point in Albuquerque." Bugs folds up the map and hops out of the hole, "Whelp, I should at least figure out where I'm at first before plotting out a course back home. Now let's see, what features does this place have that'll give me a clue as to where I am?"
He observes a parasprite buzzing about.
"There's fly balls."
He notices a floating bun holding a carrot.
"There are carrot dogs."
He witnesses a pegasus flying overhead.
"And horse powered airpla-ah! Hey! Wait just a cotton picking minute! A carrot dog?"
Bugs eyes the carrot dog, hypnotized as it's floating there in a pale-magenta aura encasing it. He's completely spellbound by the exotic food, "Darling, you're simply enchanting." Bugs reaches out to snatch the carrot dog, but it begins to pull away from him. "Baby, come back," he begs while crawling on his knees, "we may come from different worlds, but you and I are meant to be."
The carrot dog continues to lure Bugs into the open. It stops in front of a portable stage and Bugs doesn't hesitate at nabbing the treat out of its aura. As he goes for a bite, a blast of smoke and stream of sparklers come bursting out from the stage, catching his attention through spectacle means.
The smoke dissipates, revealing a pony that's covering herself in a star-pattern cape. "Welcome, fellow traveler," Trixie says, pulling the cape around to give a flashy impression about herself, "to the opportunity of a lifetime!"
Bugs isn't taken in by her attempt at being dramatic. He takes a bite into the carrot dog, "Eh," and lays against the stage nonchalantly, "what's up, Llamrei?"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie seeks the need of a rabbit who can aid with her vocation," she continues to showboat with over-exaggerating poses. "Together, they'll perform a show that'll mesmerize the entire land for years to come. Breathtaking acts and riveting sights, donning the honor of being the world's greatest and most powerful duo that has ever existed. Now that she's found her assistant standing before her, the Great and Powerful Trixie extends a hoof, and asks of you to join with her on stage."
"So you're looking for a rabbit that can put on a performance for your show," Bugs nibbles the carrot for a second as he picks his next words carefully, "can't say you didn't find the best rabbit for the job, but I'm afraid you're out of luck. You see, I'm under contract with Warner Brothers, I'm only allowed to put on a performance under their name. If I star in your show without their consent, I could get myself into some big trouble. I might even lose my job over it." Bugs finishes off the carrot dog and offers a shrug as he heads on his way, "Sorry sister, but you're just going to have to find yourself another rabbit for your show."
Trixie is taken out of her world from the refusal. She narrows her brow at the rabbit and stomps the stage to set off a smoke bomb, engulfing herself in a cloud and vanishing from sight.
Another smoke bomb goes off around Bugs, catching him off guard. With zero visibility, he suddenly feels pressure up against his nose, and as the smoke clears, the vision of a brilliant-azure horn appears to be the cause.
Bugs can barely see Trixie glaring at him from her low position, "My... that's a..." he makes a nervous gulp, "lovely horn you got there."
"Now listen here, buster," Trixie pushes her horn a smidge forward, "the Great and Powerful Trixie isn't afraid of anyone's brother. You're going to be part of Trixie's magic show, and she won't take 'no' for an answer."
"Magic?" Bugs' stiffen state swiftly flips to another state full of anticipating excitement, "You know magic!?" he jumps back, "Hey, can I see some magic, come on, let me see some magic, pretty please, I wanna see some magic."
His sudden barrage of pleads comes as a surprise to Trixie. She feels that she's dealing with an excited foal that's eager and invested in her sorcery. This only fuels Trixie's overflowing ego, "Well," she waves at the flattery, "Trixie does love her audience." Trixie caves in and lifts up a forehoof, quickly rotating her wrist for a bouquet of flowers to suddenly appear in her hooves.
"Amazing!" Bugs applauds, "are those really real?"
"Are those really real, ha!" she tosses the bouquet to the rabbit for inspection, "The Great and Powerful Trixie would never rely on imitations for her skills."
Bugs sniffs the flowers, and then expresses a look of confusion, "Never? I um... I don't like to disagree with no one great and powerful, but um... but they're fake."
Trixie outbeats Bugs with a stronger expression of confusion, "What?!"
"There's no scent to them."
Trixie levitates the bouquet over to her. She takes a big whiff inside the bouquet and suddenly gets an impact of water as it sprays into her face.
Trixie shakes the water off and gives a stern look at Bugs, who's already dancing off somewhere while he sings a victory tune for his escape, "That old black magic yat-tat-do-do-doo, that old black magic yat-tat-da-de-doo." Trixie turns to one of her trunks and uses her magic to open it to an assortment of objects.
Bugs makes a twirl, "The same old witchcraft when your eyes mee-" a sack covered in a pale-magenta aura drops over him, bagging the rabbit inside.
The sack seals its opening with a knot and flies over to Trixie, "Just for that stunt, your stage name shall be, 'Stinkerton'."
The bag keeps moving about as Bugs tries to escape by shoving and kicking, making no progress whatsoever.
Trixie taps her chin, "Hmm... you know, most of the rabbits Trixie is familiar with are much smaller. With you being so big, Trixie might be able to get you into an encore act."
Using her horn, Trixie levitates a brown book out from the trunk where she got the sack and commands it to fly over to her. It opens to a series of names for magic tricks.
"Which one would be good?" Trixie ponders aloud. "There's the Chop Teacup."
"Uh-uh, too small."
"True, and it doesn't scream encore material. How about the Zig-Zag Mare?"
"Might be difficult with a rabbit."
"Right, and time is not on our side. Maybe flip things around and have you pull Trixie out of the hat instead."
"Nah, I saw Schlitz doing that last week."
"That's bitter news to swallow."
"How about that trick?"
"Which trick?"
Bugs lays a finger on the page, "This one."
"The Boxed Cat? Well it might be feasible with a rab-"
Trixie pauses. She tilts her head, tracing her vision up Bugs' finger and sees the rabbit standing casually before her.
Bugs lifts his finger, flicking Trixie's horn in the process. She steps back, looking behind her at the bag that's in her aura and sees that something is still moving inside. She switches her gaze between the bunny and sack, raising a brow of what was inside the latter.
Trixie drops the bag, opens it up, looks inside, and a flock of doves come flying in her face.
A snicker comes from Bugs, "Doesn't she remind you of that wacky duck?" he asks of you.
Trixie shoos the doves away and turns to the rabbit with an irritating look on her face, "How did you get out of Trixie's Magic Bag of Trix?"
"Magic?" Bugs questions, yet ironically answered hers, "You know magic!? Show me a magic trick, could ya, huh, could ya let me see one?" Just like before, Bugs begins to egg her in a foalish manner to show him another magic trick.
Trixie makes a stern expression at the rabbit. Though he may be invested in seeing her skills again, she knows better than to fall for the same trick twice, but she can't deny that she's enjoying the attention.
After giving it some thought, Trixie figures out a solution that could place Bugs in his place, "Very well. The Great and Powerful Trixie will perform a trick that'll blow your mind."
Trixie levitates a series of cards out from inside her cape, forming a deck before fanning it out before Bugs, "Pick a card, view it, then place it back in the deck." Bugs does what she asks of him and then Trixie starts to shuffle the cards in a fancy display of aerial magic. The card is well lost from tracking eyes by the time the deck begins to form before Trixie. Already relishing in her success, Trixie makes a coy expression as she sends the top card towards Bugs, "Was this your card?"
Bugs looks, "...no."
Her pupils dilate. Trixie levitates the card to the bottom of the deck and takes the top card, "Was this your card?"
"No."
Trixie repeats her previous action with a cold sweat, "THIS... was THIS your card."
"No."
Trixie becomes desperate and begins to repeat the same action, only to receive the same answer.
"Is this your card?"
"No."
"Then how about this one?"
"No."
"This MUST be your card!"
"No."
"ALRIGHT!" Trixie tosses the cards into the air, letting them rain around her, "Which one? WHICH ONE IS YOUR CARD?"
"None of them, you own the entire deck."
As Trixie stares dumbfound, a mini smoke bomb suddenly bursts inside her hat.
Trixie growls, illuminating her horn up in magenta and proceeds to do the same with Bugs as she catches him in her magic. Bugs hardly has time to question what's happening before his feet leave the ground.
"Trixie has had enough of your shenanigans," the mare swings Bugs closer to her, "so now, she'll be holding on to you in her aura. There's no way you can escape from her hold, no way you can fight off her magic, and there's no way she'll let down her guard again. Trixie is in complete control now, and the way she wants things done, is the way that it will go."
Bugs can't deny that there's little he can do under the circumstances. Magic isn't something he contends with very often, and the fact that Trixie's beginning to wise up to his antics only makes things more difficult. Nevertheless, Bugs maintains an insouciant leisure about himself.
Trixie returns to the book and skims through the listed tricks, "...here's one that Trixie has never performed before, perfect for an assistant with hands, the Levitating Rope." Trixie trots about, getting the act ready, "The process is simple, Trixie will unravel a rope from the floor to the sky with her magic. Your job, Stinkerton, is to climb that rope to the top. Trixie will proceed by releasing her hold on the rope, but instead of it plummeting to the ground, the rope should still stay suspended with you still hanging in the air. You'll wait up there for a while, then you'll come sliding down and take a bow." With everything set after the explanation, Trixie drops her hold on Bugs right next to a pile of rope on stage. The rabbit watches as one end of the rope goes high into the air, "Now, let's begin a practice run."
Bugs covers his eyes from the sun to view the towering challenge, "That's an awfully high climb, must be at least thirty feet."
"Just be happy that Trixie isn't going to use the 'classic' variation of this trick, now get going."
"Alright, alright," he admits in defeat, "just let get warmed up a little." Bugs begins to perform some dynamic stretches, "It's been a while since I was at the gym and I'm sure you wouldn't want your big star to pull something, wouldn't you?"
Trixie leers at him, "If there's anyone here that's the big star, it's Trixie."
"I would have to disagree," he shifts to doing jumping jacks, "I'm sure that you can bring in a crowd, but a talking rabbit like me is sure to bring a lot more attention."
"What rubbish. You're only appearing for one trick, two tops, while the Great and Powerful Trixie is maintaining the whole performance with a spectrum of tricks. Trixie is the sole entourage, and you're only the supporting role."
"Supporting role, huh?" Bugs pulls out a lotion bottle that reads, 'Hare Conditioner - Take control of your hare and style it the way you want it,' and begins rubbing the contents on himself, "Seems like an empty claim, considering that you're waiting on me for this trick of yours."
"Not anymore," Trixie warns, "you should be warmed up by now, so get moving."
"No," Bugs folds his arms and stiffens his stance with a bit of sass in his voice. "As the main star, I should have things my way, and I want to stick to the stage floor. I won't let you control me anymore."
"Are all rabbits this arrogantly spoiled?" growls Trixie, "Then we'll do this the hard way and have Trixie carry you up there."
Trixie encases Bugs in her magic and lifts, but for some odd reason, she's finding it difficult to levitate him off the stage.
Caught in a state of imbroglio, Trixie releases her magical hold on everything, "What? But a moment ago..." Trixie furrows her brow and focuses a magic hold solely on Bugs. She pulls harder and harder with her magic, but Bugs isn't fazed in the slightest, "You were completely under Trixie's whim mere moments ago, it's impossible."
Bugs huffs his knuckles, giving them a shine, "Nothing is impossible for the Great and Powerful Stinkerton."
His statement triggers Trixie with a zealous desire to disprove it. Trixie brightens her horn and stomps her hooves on stage as she readies herself. With her aura gripping tightly around the rabbit, Trixie pulls Bugs straight into the air in one powerful tug, resulting in her toppling to the floor from the sudden motion of the stage that sticks to Bugs. The stage stays airborne for only a few seconds until it begins to plummet and slams into the soil, leaving behind Trixie's hat to fall at its own pace.
Trixie sprawls out to the vibration that shakes her up, but Bugs stays stiff as a board. He views Trixie, "Well, if you're just going to lie there, then I guess it would be pointless to ask for some natural spring water. I guess I'll just have to get it myself." With a hand on his waist, Bugs struts off the stage like a model, swinging his hips and fanning out his free hand, "You wouldn't find this kind of treatment from MGM... but you didn't hear that from me."
A smoke bomb goes off around Bugs, catching him off guard once more. He suddenly feels pressure up against his nose, but unlike before, he's feeling a strong heat as well. The smoke clears, and the vision of a brilliant-azure horn in a pale-magenta aura shows to be the returning culprit. Bugs still can barely see Trixie's eyes glaring at him, yet he's also feeling the weight that they're giving him.
Trixie is utterly seething her anger through heavy huffing, "I've had enough!"
"First-person," Bugs notes in a nervous tone, "that can't be good."
Bugs steps back as Trixie stomps closer, "You are so going to be in the guillotine act!"
"Act?" Bugs questions and ponders aloud, "Act is another way to say performance, a performance is a method to entertain, and one way to entertain is through using magic. You know magic!?"
"Oh no," Trixie fumes, "that's not going to save you this time."
"Then... then how about I show you one of mine?"
Before she can reply, Bugs pulls out a white handkerchief from inside his right glove and covers the hand as it lays flat. He bounces the cloth on his hand a few times. He pinches the white handkerchief with the other hand and flings the fabric into the air to reveal a blackberry pie underneath.
Trixie's fury on Bugs doesn't subside in the slightest from witnessing the trick.
Desperate, Bugs pulls back and throws the pastry at Trixie, but she forms a barrier with her magic and blocks the pie as it splats over the conjured field.
Trixie contributes a smug grin to her threatening glare, proud that she finally foiled one of his attempts at besting her. The mess on the shield falls as Trixie drops her magic, "Leave the misdirection to the 'Great' and 'Powerful', Stinker-" a second blackberry pie splats her head from above. The content of the pastry drips down Trixie's face as a white handkerchief gracefully falls over her head.
The two maintain their stance as the tension gently loosens its grip on their emotions. Bugs eases himself into a calmer state of being, but Trixie... she's scrunching herself up to fight off the quiver in her body. And while the handkerchief is protecting her from seeing eyes, listening ears can pick up the sharp air that slips through her breathing.
"Uh oh," Bugs twiddles his fingers together in worry as the feeling of his conscious begins to gnaw at him, "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's to see a girl crying."
"I'm not crying!" Trixie blatantly lies.
Bugs uses the handkerchief to help clean Trixie up, "Look, if it means that much to ya... then I'll help you out with your show."
"You ...you really mean that?" the offer helps Trixie to regain a little bit of control over her emotions, "But what about those brothers you were talking about earlier. Didn't you have some kind of contract with them?"
Darting his eyes, Bugs starts to ponder, "Well..."
Later that night, as Trixie is doing her performance on stage, the audience focuses on the small cage in her forehooves. A happy, pink parasprite buzzes inside the cage, and as Trixie lifts up the cage in a jerking motion, the cage suddenly vanishes for sight.
The trick leaves the spectators with various impressions, some are amazed, some are skeptic, but many of them look unamused from what they've seen thus far. Nevertheless, Trixie still receives an applause for her effort.
"Thank you, thank you," Trixie takes off her hat and bows, revealing the pink parasprite that vanished nestled in her mane, "Perhaps, one day, Trixie will tell you where she sent the parasprite. But for now," she places the hat on her head, over the parasprite, "Trixie is now ready to unveil her grand finale. An explosive extravaganza that'll revises tradition and surpasses expectation."
Trixie lifts an empty hoof and a puff of smoke bursts for a top hat to appear in that hoof. She presents the hat to the audience, "Gander inside at the vacant space of this headwear."
"Vacant as the head of its owner!"
"Then it was a good thing that Trixie stole this," Trixie tells off the heckler, receiving a few chuckles from the witty remark. She levitates a stand from behind the stage and places the hat on it, "Now, using her amazing powers, the Great and Powerful Trixie will bend the very fabric of time and space to not only bring you a rabbit from this hat, but one that is from another dimension."
The unamused portion of the crowd joins up with the skeptical spectators as they share the same thoughts of this unique pledge.
Trixie stands back with her horn glowing, "Hear the Great and Powerful Trixie, hare, for she is calling you."
The crowd turns their attention to the hat as it begins to vibrate.
"Her terms are simple, she invokes a summoning to which you will answer posthaste."
Onlookers begin to tense up the moment the hat starts to rock.
"Come forth into this world, for the Great and Powerful Trixie shall now open a connection using these four words."
The audience feel their skin tingling at the sight of the hat bouncing.
Trixie gives a cocky smile as she performs the chant, "...shave and a haircut~"
The hat bursts apart with a white rabbit bouncing out, landing with his arms open as he displays himself in his red overalls, "Twooo biiiits!"
The reveal of such an unexpected entrance and surprising sight of this unique rabbit amazes the audience to clap their hooves in appreciation.
Trixie and the substitute rabbit bow to the applause, including the claps being given by Bugs from backstage. Bugs gives a sly look at you, "What with the contest and all, he wasn't very hard to get in contact with. I mean, you did read the story description, right?"