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"Shit! Shit shit shit shit" Sarah yelled to herself, somehow having the breath to do so despite spending the last twenty minutes at a run. "Fuck!" She yelled as she collided into a brick wall. She quickly picked herself up from the wall. "Left or right? Left or right!?" She all but cried to herself whipping her head from the two ways out of the alleyway, hoping to God that her powers would give her something.

Sounds of a large group of people from the left. Was all her power told her. "Left it is!" She shouted hysterically as she bolted for it. Sprinting down the alley the sounds of a small crowd grew louder and louder. Sarah quickly barged into it, gaining a few rude looks that she ignored. After a few seconds of shoving people she managed to reach the front of the crowd. Sarah blinked when she saw why the crowd existed in the first place.

The first thing she noticed was the sign. "The Magical Rose! Mistress of Magic!" was written in an old fashioned font and style. Sarah glanced to the right of the sign. 'That would be the Magical Rose then.' She idly thought to herself. Next to the sign, nervously tucking her dark, wavy hair back into a top hat, was girl wearing something way too skimpy for this weather. Fishnet stockings and black, three inch heels were not exactly ideal fall weather clothing. The sleeveless black and white corset/one piece ensemble she had on as well didn't help either. The Formal Tuxedo jacket she was wearing looked a little warm but Sarah could imagine how cold she was while trying to look the part of a professional.

Not cold. Somehow perfectly warm despite the outfit and weather. "Wait, what?" Was all she said to herself. Which was the wrong thing to say as one of the Boardwalk Enforcers looked at her and started to make his way towards her.

Not an Enforcer. Working for the man who wants to kidnap you. Will just say you're a shoplifter. Sarah was so preoccupied with her rising panic that she nearly missed what ‘The Magical Rose’ said next.

"For my next trick I need a volunteer from the audience! Anyone! Of any age! Or gender! Don’t be shy..... Please?" She said rather weakly. Sarah quickly stepped up.

"I volunteer!" Sarah said, maybe a little too quickly. She quickly walked over to The Magical Rose, making sure to keep at least a few people between her and the fake enforcer. In a matter of seconds that felt like minutes she was in front of the female magician. Sarah hadn’t realized just how much taller the girl was compared to her before now, something the heels certainly weren't helping with. Rose blinked a bit in surprise.

Didn't expect anyone to actually volunteer. 'Thanks power. I never would have figured that out.' Sarah thought to herself. Rose, while not exactly recovering quickly, managed to get into the swing of things just quick enough to keep people from losing interest.

"Okay!" Rose said, trying to get her momentum back, smiling a wide smile. She pulled a folded handkerchief out of the pocket of her tuxedo jacket and unfolded it.... And unfolded it.... And unfolded it. After 20 seconds of stunned silence from the crowd and Sarah, Rose now had a piece of red silk cloth the size of a rather large tarp. Rose smiled at the reactions of the crowd, and spread the cloth out. She let it linger in the air for a few seconds before whipping it quickly and dramatically to the side. In it's place were now two boxes on two wheeled tables. Next to the box were two long, thin blades with wooden handles and a large carpenter’s saw on top. As everything clicked together Sarah took an uncontrolled step back from Rose and the table. However as she did so she caught sight of the Enforcer still waiting in the crowd, staring very intently at her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped back forward. If Rose noticed Sarah’s hesitation she didn't say anything. Or show any sign that she had noticed.

"Now, miss. What's your name?" Rose said while holding her hand out to Sarah.

"Lisa!" She squeaked out. When later asked Sarah would say she did it to at least not give the people chasing her something to make their job easier. However in reality she just panicked and thought of the first name that came to mind.

"Let's give a round of applause for Lisa!" Rose shouted out to the crowd. The crowd, despite the frosty attitude they’d possessed at the start, did give a round of, somewhat underwhelming, applause. While they were applauding Rose leaned in and softly spoke to Sarah.

“Thanks a lot for this. It means a lot to me.”

Is being honest. First thing someone has helped her with in a long time. Sarah’s powers told her. Sarah snorted to herself. ‘That makes two of us then.’ Right after thinking that the applause died down. Not quite on cue Rose clapped her hand together.

“Right! Now if you could…..” Rose drifted off as she realized she forgot something. “Right! One second!” Rose strutted over to the table.

‘She moves faster than anyone has a right to in those heels. And I would kill for those legs.’ Sarah idly thought to herself as Rose quickly set up the illusion, opening the doors; setting the saw and blades to the side, and unlatching the stocks.

“Alright! Now if you could please step up to the table!” Rose said, a bit out of breath. Sarah made her way to the table slightly slower than she should of. The handful of steps seemed a lot longer than they actually were to her. As she made her way over, her eyes moved rapidly all over the table and the objects on it, trying to see the trick involved. However after a few seconds she had nothing. Not even her powers had anything to say.

‘What’s the trick? There has to be a trick.’

Not a trick. There is no trick. She really is going to saw you in half.

‘What’ Was all Sarah thought to herself. ‘What.’ Was what she thought again. ‘WHAT!’ Sarah started to hyperventilate. ‘Nope. Nope nope nope. Nopenopenopenopenopenope! I’ll take my chances with-’

It will not harm you. ‘What.’ Sarah’s brain slipped out of gear yet again at what her power was telling her.

Will not harm you. First real positive social interaction in a long time. Rose will not harm you. Rose is going to saw you in half. She will not harm you. Her powers were telling her contradictory things. This threw her off so much that when Rose tapped her on the shoulder Sarah nearly punched her in surprise.

“Look if you’re getting cold feet you can go back into the audience.” Rose quietly said to her with a look of concern on her face. Genuine concern. Will not force you. Was all Sarah’s power said to her. She glanced at the Enforcer in the audience. Genuine anger. Will force you. Was all she got back. Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat and let out the breath she didn’t realize that she was holding. And took a leap of faith.

“No I’m okay. Just rather nervous.” Sarah said. ‘Understatement of the year’ She snarked to herself. Rose yells over her own shoulder “Sorry folks. Just a bit of nerves. She’s better now!’ Rose explained to the now a bit antsy crowd. Rose took a step back and raised her voice.

“Now Lisa. If I could have your coat! I’m afraid you won’t quite fit in there with it on.” Sarah glanced at the open box. Even with her build she could barely fit in there with her shirt. Let alone a fall coat. Sarah sighed and took off her coat, bracing herself for the chilly weather of a North Eastern Fall. It was to her surprise that she felt exactly the same as she handed it to Rose. Rose just smiled mischievously at the look of surprise on her face; folding the jacket carefully with a whisper of “Trade secret.”

Rose then carefully set it on the sign advertising her show, then raised her hand. Sarah took that as he cue and carefully stepped onto the table, using the surprisingly strong arm of the Magician to steady herself and, almost as if she had done this a million times before, easily slipped into position, putting her feet into the bottom stocks and resting her head in the grove in the front. She had to cross her arms across her chest as, even without the coat, there wasn't quite enough room for her arms at the sides. Rose quickly nudged and moved Sarah into position, ending with pulling her hair out from behind her head and letting it hang down over the edge of the table. A cushion was quickly added when it became obvious that Sarah’s head wasn’t going to quite touch the table. Rose then turned towards the audience.

“Normally the assistant would take off or would not be wearing shoes. This is for a variety of reasons. It's a lot harder to fake a pair of feet than shoes, shoes don't fit into the stocks nearly as well, some audience members like the sight of bare feet, the deviants,” That got a chuckle from some of the crowd, “ And most importantly it keeps the scuff marks off of the props.” At that the rest of the crowd laughed.

“However with Lisa here I won't, due to the weather and the fact that her shoes will fit into the stocks.” Sarah glanced her feet. ‘Made the right call with the thin leather boots than the Uggs today then.’ Rose keeping the momentum of the crowd going quickly slid on the top of the stocks for Sarah's feet.

“Normally I would also lock the stocks with padlocks but Lisa is nervous enough as it is.” The crowd laughed again and Sarah nervously laughed as well. Rose then slowly slid down the stock on Sarah's head neck.

“You still okay?” Rose said quietly. Sarah didn't trust her voice so she only weakly nodded, trying not to hit her chin on the wooden stock. Rose gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before finally closing the doors on the box. She than went around to where the groove was in between the two halves of the box… and then picked up the saw. Rose made a big show of showing it off to the crowd, showing them that it wasn't fake

Not fake. ‘Thanks Power.’ Sarah sighed. ‘I thought she was going to saw me in half with a fake saw’ After a few more seconds of showboating Rose finally stopped.

“And now Ladies and Gentlemen. I will now saw the lovely Sarah in half!” Rose exclaimed.

‘Really hope that isn’t the last compliment I ever get.’ Sarah thought darkly to herself. And at that Rose started to saw her way through the box. The sounds of sawing wood and the smell of sawdust filled the air.

Added in wood blocks to heighten the dramat- ‘THANKS I GET THAT!’ Sarah yelled at her power. After an eternity of a few seconds the sawing of wood stop. Another eternity of half a second and the saw had reached Sarah.

“GASP!” Sarah’s head suddenly jerked back as she let out a huge gasp. The crowd started to murmur in concern, worried about the poor girl inside. Their worries were (mostly) unfounded.

“COLD!’ Was all Sarah thought to herself. As it was, a carpenter's saw being outside in the fall would be rather cold. And when said saw is currently touching parts of you that generally should never be touched? Well that really amplifies the effects. As the saw quickly warmed up Sarah came to a conclusion.

‘It’s not exactly unpleasant’ was she thought as she felt the saw work it’s way through her. She felt the saw, well, saw her in half but without the pain that should be accompanying such a thing. This just left a somewhat soothing rhythm going through her body. ‘And it’s really knocking loose the crap in my lungs.’ Sarah thought to herself as the last few months of living on the streets hadn’t been the healthiest for her. At that she coughed a bit harshly, causing more murmurs of concern from the audience. After a while the sawing stopped and Sarah felt a cool winter’s breeze on bare skin…… On two different patches of bare skin.

She sawed you in half. ‘Holy shit she sawed me in half!’ This obvious and startling conclusion made Sarah miss the fact Rose had picked up the two blades. And the grand show that Rose made of showing that they were solid. She did notice when she slotted them into place. ‘REALLY FUCKING COLD!’ She grit her teeth, mentally screaming in an attempt not to make a spectacle of herself..

“And now to prove that there are no fake limbs or anything of the sort!” Rose declared suddenly. She then leaned over from where she was standing, over the boxes containing Sarah, and unlatched the front covers. From where the Audience was they could clearly see that there was in fact something in the box wearing exactly what Sarah was wearing. Most of the more jaded members thought that Rose had used some really clever sleight of hand to swap the pieces and that Sarah was just crammed into the front box. Though the exact details they were still working out.

The more naive, as rare as they were in such a place as Brockton Bay, honestly thought Sarah had been cut in half. And unlike most cases the naive audience members were right. To further show off Rose then grasped the two boxes by the blades and pulled them apart. Sarah felt the very confusing sensation of having one half of her body move one way, and the other move in the opposite direction.

‘I think I’m going to be ill’ Sarah thought to herself as it played hell with her inner ear….. The timed out burger from Fugly Bob’s she managed to sweet talk the cashier into giving her probably didn’t help either. Also not helping matters was Rose then spinning the two boxes ninety degrees so that Sarah’s feet and head were parallel to each other. Sarah then looked over to her feet. She did a few experimental wiggles, and her feet responded in kind. She clenched and unclenched her toes, and while she didn’t see them, she felt them respond.

‘Huh.’ Was all Sarah thought to herself. Even with her powers that was all she could really say. Her powers were uncharacteristically silent. The audience was not and started to applaud rather enthusiastically. Rose was obviously startled by such enthusiastic applause. After getting over her shock she started to soak it in and bowed, taking off her top hat to do so.

“You’re going to put me back together right?” Sarah quietly said to Rose as the applause slowly died down.

“Of course.” Rose said as if offended. Actually somewhat offended that you’d think she would do such a thing as leave you like this.’ Sarah sighed. As the applause died down Rose quickly rotated the tables back, not helping Sarah’s nausea, and moved them back together. She then removed the blades separating the two halves of Sarah. Sarah let out a smaller gasp as she felt her two halves shift incrementally towards each other and connect. Rose then quickly undid all the latches and then moved to the front of the box and opened the top door; removing the stocks holding Sarah in the box. However before Sarah could begin to extract herself, Rose had already scooped her up in her arms.

“What are you doing!?” Sarah squeaked out, her face glowing bright red now. Rose blinked and then her face flushed as well.

“Sorry!” Rose squeaked out as well. “When I did this on myself I had some trouble standing afterwards…. Mainly because I got stuck in it for a couple of hours.” Rose muttered to herself.

“Can you just put me down?” Sarah's face was not getting any less red.

“Yeah. Sorry!” Rose quickly muttered out as she put Sarah down a little too fast. Sarah nearly stumbled when set on the ground. Other than some minor cursing, her main focus was checking her waist to see if anything was, well different. Her probing hands and eyes found nothing out of place. No seam or cut. Not a thread out of place. In fact Sarah was pretty sure that her clothes were in slightly better condition than before she got in the box.

While this was going on Rose took off her hat and did a collection round. This time she was much more successful. She then made a point to step around the Enforcer. So did the rest of the crowd, seeing as everyone was at least a step or two away from him. Taylor did a small bow and then placed the top hat back on her head. Most of the crowd assumed that she had a well designed pocket as she had done that three times already with no sign of the money. Only Rose and Sarah knew the truth.

Sarah was brought out of her thoughts when Rose clapped her right hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s have a round of applause for Lisa!” Rose shouted and dramatically threw her left hand out. The crowd was more than willing to comply, bursting into applause once more. While this was going on Sarah took the opportunity to lean into Rose’s ear.

“I need your help.” Sarah quickly whispered. Rose look a bit startled. Before she could say anything Sarah continued.

“You see that Enforcer? He’s not an Enforcer. He’s been stalking me for the last few hours. He nearly caught me already.” She desperately whimpered. Rose glanced at the Enforcer. She would admit, even if only to herself, that he seemed to set off all sorts of warning bells. Then she took a look at his eyes. And sucked in a breath.

His eyes were full of nothing but hate. Just from looking into them for a moment she knew this man could kill her. Would kill her without the slightest bit of hesitation. She managed to suppress the shudder from the crawling sensation going down her spine.

“Please.” Sarah quietly begged as the applause died down. Rose nodded. She couldn’t let her assistant face whatever the man had in mind for her.

“ I do have something.” Rose continued, trying to act casual about the conversation. “I haven’t had a chance to practice it, and I’m not sure how to restore you. So if you’re willing-” She was cut off by Sarah.

“I already took a chance with you literally sawing me in half. I think I’ll take a chance with you again over him.” Sarah said with finality. Rose nodded again, and turned back to the crowd.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Rose boomed to the audience. “Lisa here has volunteered for another illusion!” She said in her best showmans voice. Sarah noted that the Enforcer’s eyes hardened at that but he did nothing as the audience applauded again.

This line of thought was stopped by Rose gracefully picking up the red silk cloth from where she dropped it. A flourish for dramatic effect, a few seconds of the cloth floating, and a rapid pull to the side. In the place of the two boxes was instead what looked like a industrial hopper with a crank on the side and two giant rollers on the front. All of which was on a solid industrial steel table with wheels. Sarah gulped.

‘In for a penny. In for a pound.’ Sarah thought to herself as she steeled her resolve.

“Here’s hoping.” Rose said as she lead Sarah. Sarah could only nod, hoping that this wouldn’t end how she feared. With a little boost from Rose, Sarah found herself sitting on the edge of the Hopper, her feet touching the two rollers.

“Now!” Rose went from concerned back to the tone of a practice showman. “Some of you may be wondering what this is! Well don’t feel ashamed or anything of the sort! This little number is a more obscure magic trick! It’s called ‘The Wringer’!” Lisa gulped again at the name

“With this, the lovely assistant is placed into the illusion like so. Every Magician has their own style of the Wringer, as well as the method in which the assistant is placed into position but they all follow the same general rule. The Magician must make a big show of showing the audience that there was no room for the assistant to hide. Some lesser magicians don’t, as their prop is far too large or fragile to move around too much or they just aren’t all that good. But I like to think of myself as a high quality magician, with high quality props, so I have no such issue!” Rose exclaimed with a wink, briskly walking to the table to the laughter of the crowd. She made a big show of rotating the table to show that there were, in fact, no secret compartments. Sarah attempted to wave to the audience, playing up her role as the assistant. She felt that she at least added something to the presentation… it felt nice.

“Now!” Rose continued again, “that the Magician has proven that there is no place for the lovely assistant to hide!” Sarah actually felt herself blushing a little. Rose then went over to the crank on the side. And continued

“The Magician would then start to turn the crank, or wheel depending on the prop. This would cause the rollers to turn, which would cause the assistant to be forced through and flattened!” Rose exclaimed, emphasizing the crank with her hand. She then looked up at Sarah.

“Any pain whatsoever you scream okay?” Rose whispered. Sarah nodded and bit her lip. Rose then, with some hesitation, turned the crank.

“Whoof.” Sarah rapidly let out a breath at the sensation. She glanced down and saw that her feet had now slipped between the rollers. She couldn’t move her feet and seemed to have muted sensation in them. But she still felt them.

Sarah looked at Rose, gave a subtle nod, and mouthed ‘Keep going.’. Rose nodded back and turned the crank again, dragging Sarah down into the rollers.

‘This is perhaps the oddest experience of my life.’ Sarah thought to herself as she watched herself slowly, and quite literally, be put through the wringer. Once it had gone up to her knees she experienced the very unique sensation of feeling herself waving in the sea breeze. Next she felt the air get forced out of her lungs as her Solar Plexus had been fed through the rollers. Not that it mattered much as her chest, and therefore lungs, entered into the rollers next. With a few more cranks Lisa felt the rollers touch her chin.

‘This is it.’ Was her final thought before two more cranks pushed her entirely through.

‘Huh.’ Was all Sarah could think. The state she found herself was a unique one. She was both aware and yet not. To say that she was in a dream like haze would be inaccurate but close enough. She stared unblinkingly into the Afternoon sky. Then she felt an upwards sensation and found herself staring unblinking to a somewhat stunned mass of people.

“The Audience’ Sarah corrected herself mentally. Her tenuous grasp on that thought was interrupted by a loud sound.

“Another round of Applause for Lisa!” Rose shouted as she held up the now flattened form of Sarah, facing the crowd. The crowd snapped out of their stunned silence and started to applaud harder than they had before. Whistles and shouts came from the audience.

‘I feel that I should take a bow.’ Sarah thought to herself. And then mentally kicked herself for that. Not that she could do so physically. Any other admonishments of herself, by herself, were interrupted by the also unique sensation of being folded.

“Don’t worry folks!” Rose cried out over the crowd. “Lisa is in good hands!” She said as she continued to fold Sarah like she was a piece of paper. Which she effectively was at this point.

“I just forgot my bicycle pump at home!” She claimed, much to the enjoyment and laughter on the crowd.

“I’ll restore her back to normal later! So don’t think that she’ll be like this forever!” She said, invoking even more laughter from the crowd.

‘I hope.’ Both Sarah and Rose thought to themselves.

Rose removed her top hat once more and held Sarah in front of it.

“I’m not sure how it will affect you but I’ve put a rabbit in there for awhile and it was fine. Confused but fine.” Rose quietly said. Sarah wasn’t in any condition to object and was quickly placed into the hat. Rose then flashed a hopefully convincing smile to the crowd and held out her hat for collections. This time the donations were much larger. Eventually the donations grew smaller and so too did the crowd. Rose quickly made her way back to the table and the Wringer. She grabbed the sign and Lisa’s coat and placed them on the table. Before she could get any further in packing up a hand roughly landed on her shoulder.

“Miss. I’m going to have to ask you tell me where your volunteer is.” A voice filled with barely contained anger and violence said behind her. Rose tried not to shudder at the sound. She broke contact and sat down on her table. Rather bit too quickly, but she really really wanted to but some distance between herself and him.

“I’m sorry but a Magician never reveals her secrets.” She said confidently. Or at least tried to. The slight quiver in her voice gave her away. She actually did cringe when she saw the man smirk.

“Too bad.” The man said. Rose glanced around for something, anything that she could use to get away, or stop him, or something! Thankfully she did see something. She subtly shifted her hand to grab it. Just in time too as the man stepped closer.

“So are we going to do this the easy way or the hard-” Anymore cliche threats were interrupted by a flutter of red cloth filling his vision. Once it subsided the man rolled his eyes.

“You really think that playing pillow fort is going to stop me?” He snarled at the sheet now covering Rose and the table. He angrily grabbed the cloth and ripped it aside.

“What. The. Fuck.” Was all he could say. The girl was gone. The table was gone. Everything was fucking gone! He wiped his head to the left and right. No sign whatsoever. He was the only person in that area of the Boardwalk. He made sure before he went up to the bitch!

“What the fuck!” He yelled stomping on the cloth in anger. The fucking boss was never going to believe this!

“WHAT THE FUCK!” He screamed into the sky

-----------------------------------------------

*CRASH* *BANG* *THUD* “Ow.” The clatter and noise of various props and one very lucky Magician crashing to the floor filled the room. Rose slowly picked herself off the floor, cringing when a few parts of her moved the wrong way. She sucked in a breath when she put too much weight on her ankle but that quickly went away.

“Okay. For my first attempt at teleporting someone, that went rather well. And rushed even.” Rose laughed, glad that she was alive, in one piece, and not at the tender mercies of some thug. She was so relieved that she got away that she nearly forgot something very important. Or someone.

“LISA!” Rose yelled out. She looked around desperately for her top hat that held her. And her money but that was a very distant secondary concern. Her eyes lit up as she saw it next to a toppled over sawing in half prop. She quickly walked over to the hat, and then winced as her foot collided with the Wringer prop.

“Shouldn’t have made it out of solid steel.” She hissed as she then hobbled over to the hat. And nearly tripped as the heel to her left shoe broke off.

“Stupid shoe!” She yelled as she kicked off the now broken shoe. She then hopped in place as she tried to remove the other one. She succeed in both removing it and not smashing into any of the other items strewn about the room in the process. After a brief moment to celebrate her small victory, Rose then lunged for the hat. Snatching it from the ground, she headed to the bed in the room and, after a few more dangerous steps, managed to reach it. With the arm not holding the top hat, she threw off the crumpled blanket and sheets. She then held the hat upside down and shake it vigorously. Various coins and dollar bills spilled out and went everywhere. A handful or two of rose petals spilled out and spread out across the room. A hairbrush fell on top of the pile of money.

“I wondered where that went.” Rose muttered as she set it aside. More shaking resulted in nothing. Right as Rose was about to scream in terror and frustration, ‘Lisa’ unceremoniously fell out of the hat and laid crumbled up on the bed.

“Lisa!” Rose yelled, flinging the money off the bed, coins and bills scattering across the room. With a quick few hand motions, ‘Lisa’ was more or less straightened out on the bed. Her head was on the pillows and her feet were more or less pointed towards the end of the bed.

“Okay Lisa.” Rose said, trying to get the girl’s attention. While there was no change in on her face, Rose felt that she had “Lisa’s’ attention.

“Okay.” She said, mostly to herself, as she grabbed the bedsheet off the floor.

“I don’t actually need to get a bicycle pump. At least I hope not.” She muttered. She then snapped back to attention.

“As I said I’ve never actually done this before and I’m not confident that I can restore you properly. But it’s never let me down before. On the count of three I’m going to cover you and hopefully everything will work out fine.” She explained rapidly, almost forgetting to breathe.

“One.” She said as she took the bed sheet in both hands.

“Two.” She raise the bedsheet up, sweat dripping down her back.

“Three!” She flung the sheet over ‘Lisa’. She closed her eyes tight and ripped the sheet away from ‘Lisa’. A loud, horrid, tearing sound filled the air.

“Oh no.” Rose whimpered out. She kept her eyes screwed tight, not brave enough to see what nightmare had happened. So it was to her great surprise that she felt the sheet be tugged out of her hand and a familiar voice fill the room.

“B, B Plus I would say Rose.” ‘Lisa’ said. “Presentation was good. You restored me perfectly. But my clothes….. Not so much.” At that Rose peeked one eye open. Lisa was sitting on the edge of the bed, with a relieved smile on her face, and with the sheet wrapped around her. Lying around her in a rough circle were various scraps of fabric that Rose recognized as her clothes. “You should pay more attention in class.”

“You’re alive!” Rose exclaimed, finally opening her eyes fully. ‘Lisa’ smiled even wider.

“Yes. Thanks to you. I had no idea what exactly that fake Enforcer was going to do to me when he caught up... but it would not have been pretty.” ‘Lisa’ said with a large amount of gratitude. Rose said nothing but collapse onto the bed next to ‘Lisa’. They sat in silence like that for a few minutes.

“Holy Shit.” Rose eventually said. “That actually happened.” She continued, flopping backwards onto the bed. ‘Lisa’ joined her.

“Yeah. That happened.” She added in herself, still trying to comprehend everything. Not helping the matter was that her power had been uncharacteristically silent the entire time.

“Soooo…..” Rose awkwardly said. “What was it like?” She asked.

“Being flattened or being in the hat?” ‘Lisa’ asked back.

“Both?” Rose awkwardly said.

“I don’t remember being in the hat. At all. I was about to be put into the hat and then I was in a heap on your bed. As for being flattened…. The best I could describe is that I felt two dimensional. That’s the best I can say.” ‘Lisa’ explained.

“Huh.” Rose said. They stared at the ceiling for a little while longer.

“Taylor” Rose eventually said.

“What?” ‘Lisa’ asked.

“My name. I’m not Rose. I’m just Taylor.” Taylor explained.

“Well I’m not actually Lisa. I’m Sarah. I just gave you the first name that popped into my head. Being chased and all that.” Sarah explained. Taylor just made a noncommittal sound of acknowledgement. They once more laid there in silence. Their minds trying to process the last few minutes.

“Where are we anyway?” Sarah eventually asked, looking around.

“My bedroom. It’s uh… It’s normally not nearly this messy but with everything that happened and all that.” Taylor awkwardly trailed off. Sarah shrugged.

“You saved my life. I’m not going to judge you for that.” She said simply. And then sat up, making sure to keep one hand on the bedsheet to protect her modesty.

“So where do we go from here?” Sarah asked simply. “I have no idea who that guy was and why he wanted me.” She explained. She had a very likely idea why... but one thing at a time.

“Well you could stay here for awhile. I’ll ask my dad. I mean with your help I made a lot more than I usually do. Not that I’ve done all that many shows... So money’s not an issue ” Taylor said, sitting up on the bed as well.

“Maybe you can buy me some clothes with that.” Sarah said, playfully poking Taylor in the shoulder. Taylor laughed.

“Sure. I can buy some clothes. I did wreck yours.” She said with a giggle.

“Maybe we could make this a thing. Rose and Lisa! Boardwalk Magicians! I would have to wear a mask to hide my identity.” Taylor poked Sarah back.

“It’s usually the Magician that wears the mask. Not the Assistant.” She said with a giggle. The two of them started to giggle together. And the giggles then turned into full blown laughter as the stress of everything caught up with them. The laughter continued for a minute or two. However once the two of them had finished laughing they found themselves in a slightly compromising position.

Sarah’s face was only inches away from Taylor’s. The two of them felt each other’s breath on their face. Almost simultaneously their faces started to turn red. They looked each other in the eyes. Neither one of them sure what the other wanted. Or even what they wanted.

Before the situation could go any further a knock at the door interrupted them.

“Hey Taylor. I didn’t hear you come in. I thought you were still at the Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo...” Danny trailed off as he walked in. He quickly glanced from what his daughter was wearing, to the naked except for a bedsheet girl next to his daughter on the bed, to the rose petals scattered everywhere, to the various props scattered around the room, to how close their faces were.

“OKAY SORRY TO BOTHER YOU!” Danny quickly said and left, slamming the door behind him.

“DAD, NO! COME BACK! IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! SARAH! STOP LAUGHING!” Taylor continued to scream for a while after that, all to the backdrop of Sarah’s mad cackling.

Description
"Shit! Shit shit shit shit" Sarah yelled to herself, somehow having the breath to do so despite spending the last twenty minutes at a run. "Fuck!" She yelled as she collided into a brick wall. She quickly picked herself up from the wall. "Left or right? Left or right!?" She all but cried to herself whipping her head from the two ways out of the alleyway, hoping to God that her powers would give her something.

Sounds of a large group of people from the left. Was all her power told her. "Left it is!" She shouted hysterically as she bolted for it. Sprinting down the alley the sounds of a small crowd grew louder and louder. Sarah quickly barged into it, gaining a few rude looks that she ignored. After a few seconds of shoving people she managed to reach the front of the crowd. Sarah blinked when she saw why the crowd existed in the first place.

The first thing she noticed was the sign. "The Magical Rose! Mistress of Magic!" was written in an old fashioned font and style. Sarah glanced to the right of the sign. 'That would be the Magical Rose then.' She idly thought to herself. Next to the sign, nervously tucking her dark, wavy hair back into a top hat, was girl wearing something way too skimpy for this weather. Fishnet stockings and black, three inch heels were not exactly ideal fall weather clothing. The sleeveless black and white corset/one piece ensemble she had on as well didn't help either. The Formal Tuxedo jacket she was wearing looked a little warm but Sarah could imagine how cold she was while trying to look the part of a professional.

Not cold. Somehow perfectly warm despite the outfit and weather. "Wait, what?" Was all she said to herself. Which was the wrong thing to say as one of the Boardwalk Enforcers looked at her and started to make his way towards her.

Not an Enforcer. Working for the man who wants to kidnap you. Will just say you're a shoplifter. Sarah was so preoccupied with her rising panic that she nearly missed what ‘The Magical Rose’ said next.

"For my next trick I need a volunteer from the audience! Anyone! Of any age! Or gender! Don’t be shy..... Please?" She said rather weakly. Sarah quickly stepped up.

"I volunteer!" Sarah said, maybe a little too quickly. She quickly walked over to The Magical Rose, making sure to keep at least a few people between her and the fake enforcer. In a matter of seconds that felt like minutes she was in front of the female magician. Sarah hadn’t realized just how much taller the girl was compared to her before now, something the heels certainly weren't helping with. Rose blinked a bit in surprise.

Didn't expect anyone to actually volunteer. 'Thanks power. I never would have figured that out.' Sarah thought to herself. Rose, while not exactly recovering quickly, managed to get into the swing of things just quick enough to keep people from losing interest.

"Okay!" Rose said, trying to get her momentum back, smiling a wide smile. She pulled a folded handkerchief out of the pocket of her tuxedo jacket and unfolded it.... And unfolded it.... And unfolded it. After 20 seconds of stunned silence from the crowd and Sarah, Rose now had a piece of red silk cloth the size of a rather large tarp. Rose smiled at the reactions of the crowd, and spread the cloth out. She let it linger in the air for a few seconds before whipping it quickly and dramatically to the side. In it's place were now two boxes on two wheeled tables. Next to the box were two long, thin blades with wooden handles and a large carpenter’s saw on top. As everything clicked together Sarah took an uncontrolled step back from Rose and the table. However as she did so she caught sight of the Enforcer still waiting in the crowd, staring very intently at her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped back forward. If Rose noticed Sarah’s hesitation she didn't say anything. Or show any sign that she had noticed.

"Now, miss. What's your name?" Rose said while holding her hand out to Sarah.

"Lisa!" She squeaked out. When later asked Sarah would say she did it to at least not give the people chasing her something to make their job easier. However in reality she just panicked and thought of the first name that came to mind.

"Let's give a round of applause for Lisa!" Rose shouted out to the crowd. The crowd, despite the frosty attitude they’d possessed at the start, did give a round of, somewhat underwhelming, applause. While they were applauding Rose leaned in and softly spoke to Sarah.

“Thanks a lot for this. It means a lot to me.”

Is being honest. First thing someone has helped her with in a long time. Sarah’s powers told her. Sarah snorted to herself. ‘That makes two of us then.’ Right after thinking that the applause died down. Not quite on cue Rose clapped her hand together.

“Right! Now if you could…..” Rose drifted off as she realized she forgot something. “Right! One second!” Rose strutted over to the table.

‘She moves faster than anyone has a right to in those heels. And I would kill for those legs.’ Sarah idly thought to herself as Rose quickly set up the illusion, opening the doors; setting the saw and blades to the side, and unlatching the stocks.

“Alright! Now if you could please step up to the table!” Rose said, a bit out of breath. Sarah made her way to the table slightly slower than she should of. The handful of steps seemed a lot longer than they actually were to her. As she made her way over, her eyes moved rapidly all over the table and the objects on it, trying to see the trick involved. However after a few seconds she had nothing. Not even her powers had anything to say.

‘What’s the trick? There has to be a trick.’

Not a trick. There is no trick. She really is going to saw you in half.

‘What’ Was all Sarah thought to herself. ‘What.’ Was what she thought again. ‘WHAT!’ Sarah started to hyperventilate. ‘Nope. Nope nope nope. Nopenopenopenopenopenope! I’ll take my chances with-’

It will not harm you. ‘What.’ Sarah’s brain slipped out of gear yet again at what her power was telling her.

Will not harm you. First real positive social interaction in a long time. Rose will not harm you. Rose is going to saw you in half. She will not harm you. Her powers were telling her contradictory things. This threw her off so much that when Rose tapped her on the shoulder Sarah nearly punched her in surprise.

“Look if you’re getting cold feet you can go back into the audience.” Rose quietly said to her with a look of concern on her face. Genuine concern. Will not force you. Was all Sarah’s power said to her. She glanced at the Enforcer in the audience. Genuine anger. Will force you. Was all she got back. Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat and let out the breath she didn’t realize that she was holding. And took a leap of faith.

“No I’m okay. Just rather nervous.” Sarah said. ‘Understatement of the year’ She snarked to herself. Rose yells over her own shoulder “Sorry folks. Just a bit of nerves. She’s better now!’ Rose explained to the now a bit antsy crowd. Rose took a step back and raised her voice.

“Now Lisa. If I could have your coat! I’m afraid you won’t quite fit in there with it on.” Sarah glanced at the open box. Even with her build she could barely fit in there with her shirt. Let alone a fall coat. Sarah sighed and took off her coat, bracing herself for the chilly weather of a North Eastern Fall. It was to her surprise that she felt exactly the same as she handed it to Rose. Rose just smiled mischievously at the look of surprise on her face; folding the jacket carefully with a whisper of “Trade secret.”

Rose then carefully set it on the sign advertising her show, then raised her hand. Sarah took that as he cue and carefully stepped onto the table, using the surprisingly strong arm of the Magician to steady herself and, almost as if she had done this a million times before, easily slipped into position, putting her feet into the bottom stocks and resting her head in the grove in the front. She had to cross her arms across her chest as, even without the coat, there wasn't quite enough room for her arms at the sides. Rose quickly nudged and moved Sarah into position, ending with pulling her hair out from behind her head and letting it hang down over the edge of the table. A cushion was quickly added when it became obvious that Sarah’s head wasn’t going to quite touch the table. Rose then turned towards the audience.

“Normally the assistant would take off or would not be wearing shoes. This is for a variety of reasons. It's a lot harder to fake a pair of feet than shoes, shoes don't fit into the stocks nearly as well, some audience members like the sight of bare feet, the deviants,” That got a chuckle from some of the crowd, “ And most importantly it keeps the scuff marks off of the props.” At that the rest of the crowd laughed.

“However with Lisa here I won't, due to the weather and the fact that her shoes will fit into the stocks.” Sarah glanced her feet. ‘Made the right call with the thin leather boots than the Uggs today then.’ Rose keeping the momentum of the crowd going quickly slid on the top of the stocks for Sarah's feet.

“Normally I would also lock the stocks with padlocks but Lisa is nervous enough as it is.” The crowd laughed again and Sarah nervously laughed as well. Rose then slowly slid down the stock on Sarah's head neck.

“You still okay?” Rose said quietly. Sarah didn't trust her voice so she only weakly nodded, trying not to hit her chin on the wooden stock. Rose gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before finally closing the doors on the box. She than went around to where the groove was in between the two halves of the box… and then picked up the saw. Rose made a big show of showing it off to the crowd, showing them that it wasn't fake

Not fake. ‘Thanks Power.’ Sarah sighed. ‘I thought she was going to saw me in half with a fake saw’ After a few more seconds of showboating Rose finally stopped.

“And now Ladies and Gentlemen. I will now saw the lovely Sarah in half!” Rose exclaimed.

‘Really hope that isn’t the last compliment I ever get.’ Sarah thought darkly to herself. And at that Rose started to saw her way through the box. The sounds of sawing wood and the smell of sawdust filled the air.

Added in wood blocks to heighten the dramat- ‘THANKS I GET THAT!’ Sarah yelled at her power. After an eternity of a few seconds the sawing of wood stop. Another eternity of half a second and the saw had reached Sarah.

“GASP!” Sarah’s head suddenly jerked back as she let out a huge gasp. The crowd started to murmur in concern, worried about the poor girl inside. Their worries were (mostly) unfounded.

“COLD!’ Was all Sarah thought to herself. As it was, a carpenter's saw being outside in the fall would be rather cold. And when said saw is currently touching parts of you that generally should never be touched? Well that really amplifies the effects. As the saw quickly warmed up Sarah came to a conclusion.

‘It’s not exactly unpleasant’ was she thought as she felt the saw work it’s way through her. She felt the saw, well, saw her in half but without the pain that should be accompanying such a thing. This just left a somewhat soothing rhythm going through her body. ‘And it’s really knocking loose the crap in my lungs.’ Sarah thought to herself as the last few months of living on the streets hadn’t been the healthiest for her. At that she coughed a bit harshly, causing more murmurs of concern from the audience. After a while the sawing stopped and Sarah felt a cool winter’s breeze on bare skin…… On two different patches of bare skin.

She sawed you in half. ‘Holy shit she sawed me in half!’ This obvious and startling conclusion made Sarah miss the fact Rose had picked up the two blades. And the grand show that Rose made of showing that they were solid. She did notice when she slotted them into place. ‘REALLY FUCKING COLD!’ She grit her teeth, mentally screaming in an attempt not to make a spectacle of herself..

“And now to prove that there are no fake limbs or anything of the sort!” Rose declared suddenly. She then leaned over from where she was standing, over the boxes containing Sarah, and unlatched the front covers. From where the Audience was they could clearly see that there was in fact something in the box wearing exactly what Sarah was wearing. Most of the more jaded members thought that Rose had used some really clever sleight of hand to swap the pieces and that Sarah was just crammed into the front box. Though the exact details they were still working out.

The more naive, as rare as they were in such a place as Brockton Bay, honestly thought Sarah had been cut in half. And unlike most cases the naive audience members were right. To further show off Rose then grasped the two boxes by the blades and pulled them apart. Sarah felt the very confusing sensation of having one half of her body move one way, and the other move in the opposite direction.

‘I think I’m going to be ill’ Sarah thought to herself as it played hell with her inner ear….. The timed out burger from Fugly Bob’s she managed to sweet talk the cashier into giving her probably didn’t help either. Also not helping matters was Rose then spinning the two boxes ninety degrees so that Sarah’s feet and head were parallel to each other. Sarah then looked over to her feet. She did a few experimental wiggles, and her feet responded in kind. She clenched and unclenched her toes, and while she didn’t see them, she felt them respond.

‘Huh.’ Was all Sarah thought to herself. Even with her powers that was all she could really say. Her powers were uncharacteristically silent. The audience was not and started to applaud rather enthusiastically. Rose was obviously startled by such enthusiastic applause. After getting over her shock she started to soak it in and bowed, taking off her top hat to do so.

“You’re going to put me back together right?” Sarah quietly said to Rose as the applause slowly died down.

“Of course.” Rose said as if offended. Actually somewhat offended that you’d think she would do such a thing as leave you like this.’ Sarah sighed. As the applause died down Rose quickly rotated the tables back, not helping Sarah’s nausea, and moved them back together. She then removed the blades separating the two halves of Sarah. Sarah let out a smaller gasp as she felt her two halves shift incrementally towards each other and connect. Rose then quickly undid all the latches and then moved to the front of the box and opened the top door; removing the stocks holding Sarah in the box. However before Sarah could begin to extract herself, Rose had already scooped her up in her arms.

“What are you doing!?” Sarah squeaked out, her face glowing bright red now. Rose blinked and then her face flushed as well.

“Sorry!” Rose squeaked out as well. “When I did this on myself I had some trouble standing afterwards…. Mainly because I got stuck in it for a couple of hours.” Rose muttered to herself.

“Can you just put me down?” Sarah's face was not getting any less red.

“Yeah. Sorry!” Rose quickly muttered out as she put Sarah down a little too fast. Sarah nearly stumbled when set on the ground. Other than some minor cursing, her main focus was checking her waist to see if anything was, well different. Her probing hands and eyes found nothing out of place. No seam or cut. Not a thread out of place. In fact Sarah was pretty sure that her clothes were in slightly better condition than before she got in the box.

While this was going on Rose took off her hat and did a collection round. This time she was much more successful. She then made a point to step around the Enforcer. So did the rest of the crowd, seeing as everyone was at least a step or two away from him. Taylor did a small bow and then placed the top hat back on her head. Most of the crowd assumed that she had a well designed pocket as she had done that three times already with no sign of the money. Only Rose and Sarah knew the truth.

Sarah was brought out of her thoughts when Rose clapped her right hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s have a round of applause for Lisa!” Rose shouted and dramatically threw her left hand out. The crowd was more than willing to comply, bursting into applause once more. While this was going on Sarah took the opportunity to lean into Rose’s ear.

“I need your help.” Sarah quickly whispered. Rose look a bit startled. Before she could say anything Sarah continued.

“You see that Enforcer? He’s not an Enforcer. He’s been stalking me for the last few hours. He nearly caught me already.” She desperately whimpered. Rose glanced at the Enforcer. She would admit, even if only to herself, that he seemed to set off all sorts of warning bells. Then she took a look at his eyes. And sucked in a breath.

His eyes were full of nothing but hate. Just from looking into them for a moment she knew this man could kill her. Would kill her without the slightest bit of hesitation. She managed to suppress the shudder from the crawling sensation going down her spine.

“Please.” Sarah quietly begged as the applause died down. Rose nodded. She couldn’t let her assistant face whatever the man had in mind for her.

“ I do have something.” Rose continued, trying to act casual about the conversation. “I haven’t had a chance to practice it, and I’m not sure how to restore you. So if you’re willing-” She was cut off by Sarah.

“I already took a chance with you literally sawing me in half. I think I’ll take a chance with you again over him.” Sarah said with finality. Rose nodded again, and turned back to the crowd.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Rose boomed to the audience. “Lisa here has volunteered for another illusion!” She said in her best showmans voice. Sarah noted that the Enforcer’s eyes hardened at that but he did nothing as the audience applauded again.

This line of thought was stopped by Rose gracefully picking up the red silk cloth from where she dropped it. A flourish for dramatic effect, a few seconds of the cloth floating, and a rapid pull to the side. In the place of the two boxes was instead what looked like a industrial hopper with a crank on the side and two giant rollers on the front. All of which was on a solid industrial steel table with wheels. Sarah gulped.

‘In for a penny. In for a pound.’ Sarah thought to herself as she steeled her resolve.

“Here’s hoping.” Rose said as she lead Sarah. Sarah could only nod, hoping that this wouldn’t end how she feared. With a little boost from Rose, Sarah found herself sitting on the edge of the Hopper, her feet touching the two rollers.

“Now!” Rose went from concerned back to the tone of a practice showman. “Some of you may be wondering what this is! Well don’t feel ashamed or anything of the sort! This little number is a more obscure magic trick! It’s called ‘The Wringer’!” Lisa gulped again at the name

“With this, the lovely assistant is placed into the illusion like so. Every Magician has their own style of the Wringer, as well as the method in which the assistant is placed into position but they all follow the same general rule. The Magician must make a big show of showing the audience that there was no room for the assistant to hide. Some lesser magicians don’t, as their prop is far too large or fragile to move around too much or they just aren’t all that good. But I like to think of myself as a high quality magician, with high quality props, so I have no such issue!” Rose exclaimed with a wink, briskly walking to the table to the laughter of the crowd. She made a big show of rotating the table to show that there were, in fact, no secret compartments. Sarah attempted to wave to the audience, playing up her role as the assistant. She felt that she at least added something to the presentation… it felt nice.

“Now!” Rose continued again, “that the Magician has proven that there is no place for the lovely assistant to hide!” Sarah actually felt herself blushing a little. Rose then went over to the crank on the side. And continued

“The Magician would then start to turn the crank, or wheel depending on the prop. This would cause the rollers to turn, which would cause the assistant to be forced through and flattened!” Rose exclaimed, emphasizing the crank with her hand. She then looked up at Sarah.

“Any pain whatsoever you scream okay?” Rose whispered. Sarah nodded and bit her lip. Rose then, with some hesitation, turned the crank.

“Whoof.” Sarah rapidly let out a breath at the sensation. She glanced down and saw that her feet had now slipped between the rollers. She couldn’t move her feet and seemed to have muted sensation in them. But she still felt them.

Sarah looked at Rose, gave a subtle nod, and mouthed ‘Keep going.’. Rose nodded back and turned the crank again, dragging Sarah down into the rollers.

‘This is perhaps the oddest experience of my life.’ Sarah thought to herself as she watched herself slowly, and quite literally, be put through the wringer. Once it had gone up to her knees she experienced the very unique sensation of feeling herself waving in the sea breeze. Next she felt the air get forced out of her lungs as her Solar Plexus had been fed through the rollers. Not that it mattered much as her chest, and therefore lungs, entered into the rollers next. With a few more cranks Lisa felt the rollers touch her chin.

‘This is it.’ Was her final thought before two more cranks pushed her entirely through.

‘Huh.’ Was all Sarah could think. The state she found herself was a unique one. She was both aware and yet not. To say that she was in a dream like haze would be inaccurate but close enough. She stared unblinkingly into the Afternoon sky. Then she felt an upwards sensation and found herself staring unblinking to a somewhat stunned mass of people.

“The Audience’ Sarah corrected herself mentally. Her tenuous grasp on that thought was interrupted by a loud sound.

“Another round of Applause for Lisa!” Rose shouted as she held up the now flattened form of Sarah, facing the crowd. The crowd snapped out of their stunned silence and started to applaud harder than they had before. Whistles and shouts came from the audience.

‘I feel that I should take a bow.’ Sarah thought to herself. And then mentally kicked herself for that. Not that she could do so physically. Any other admonishments of herself, by herself, were interrupted by the also unique sensation of being folded.

“Don’t worry folks!” Rose cried out over the crowd. “Lisa is in good hands!” She said as she continued to fold Sarah like she was a piece of paper. Which she effectively was at this point.

“I just forgot my bicycle pump at home!” She claimed, much to the enjoyment and laughter on the crowd.

“I’ll restore her back to normal later! So don’t think that she’ll be like this forever!” She said, invoking even more laughter from the crowd.

‘I hope.’ Both Sarah and Rose thought to themselves.

Rose removed her top hat once more and held Sarah in front of it.

“I’m not sure how it will affect you but I’ve put a rabbit in there for awhile and it was fine. Confused but fine.” Rose quietly said. Sarah wasn’t in any condition to object and was quickly placed into the hat. Rose then flashed a hopefully convincing smile to the crowd and held out her hat for collections. This time the donations were much larger. Eventually the donations grew smaller and so too did the crowd. Rose quickly made her way back to the table and the Wringer. She grabbed the sign and Lisa’s coat and placed them on the table. Before she could get any further in packing up a hand roughly landed on her shoulder.

“Miss. I’m going to have to ask you tell me where your volunteer is.” A voice filled with barely contained anger and violence said behind her. Rose tried not to shudder at the sound. She broke contact and sat down on her table. Rather bit too quickly, but she really really wanted to but some distance between herself and him.

“I’m sorry but a Magician never reveals her secrets.” She said confidently. Or at least tried to. The slight quiver in her voice gave her away. She actually did cringe when she saw the man smirk.

“Too bad.” The man said. Rose glanced around for something, anything that she could use to get away, or stop him, or something! Thankfully she did see something. She subtly shifted her hand to grab it. Just in time too as the man stepped closer.

“So are we going to do this the easy way or the hard-” Anymore cliche threats were interrupted by a flutter of red cloth filling his vision. Once it subsided the man rolled his eyes.

“You really think that playing pillow fort is going to stop me?” He snarled at the sheet now covering Rose and the table. He angrily grabbed the cloth and ripped it aside.

“What. The. Fuck.” Was all he could say. The girl was gone. The table was gone. Everything was fucking gone! He wiped his head to the left and right. No sign whatsoever. He was the only person in that area of the Boardwalk. He made sure before he went up to the bitch!

“What the fuck!” He yelled stomping on the cloth in anger. The fucking boss was never going to believe this!

“WHAT THE FUCK!” He screamed into the sky

-----------------------------------------------

*CRASH* *BANG* *THUD* “Ow.” The clatter and noise of various props and one very lucky Magician crashing to the floor filled the room. Rose slowly picked herself off the floor, cringing when a few parts of her moved the wrong way. She sucked in a breath when she put too much weight on her ankle but that quickly went away.

“Okay. For my first attempt at teleporting someone, that went rather well. And rushed even.” Rose laughed, glad that she was alive, in one piece, and not at the tender mercies of some thug. She was so relieved that she got away that she nearly forgot something very important. Or someone.

“LISA!” Rose yelled out. She looked around desperately for her top hat that held her. And her money but that was a very distant secondary concern. Her eyes lit up as she saw it next to a toppled over sawing in half prop. She quickly walked over to the hat, and then winced as her foot collided with the Wringer prop.

“Shouldn’t have made it out of solid steel.” She hissed as she then hobbled over to the hat. And nearly tripped as the heel to her left shoe broke off.

“Stupid shoe!” She yelled as she kicked off the now broken shoe. She then hopped in place as she tried to remove the other one. She succeed in both removing it and not smashing into any of the other items strewn about the room in the process. After a brief moment to celebrate her small victory, Rose then lunged for the hat. Snatching it from the ground, she headed to the bed in the room and, after a few more dangerous steps, managed to reach it. With the arm not holding the top hat, she threw off the crumpled blanket and sheets. She then held the hat upside down and shake it vigorously. Various coins and dollar bills spilled out and went everywhere. A handful or two of rose petals spilled out and spread out across the room. A hairbrush fell on top of the pile of money.

“I wondered where that went.” Rose muttered as she set it aside. More shaking resulted in nothing. Right as Rose was about to scream in terror and frustration, ‘Lisa’ unceremoniously fell out of the hat and laid crumbled up on the bed.

“Lisa!” Rose yelled, flinging the money off the bed, coins and bills scattering across the room. With a quick few hand motions, ‘Lisa’ was more or less straightened out on the bed. Her head was on the pillows and her feet were more or less pointed towards the end of the bed.

“Okay Lisa.” Rose said, trying to get the girl’s attention. While there was no change in on her face, Rose felt that she had “Lisa’s’ attention.

“Okay.” She said, mostly to herself, as she grabbed the bedsheet off the floor.

“I don’t actually need to get a bicycle pump. At least I hope not.” She muttered. She then snapped back to attention.

“As I said I’ve never actually done this before and I’m not confident that I can restore you properly. But it’s never let me down before. On the count of three I’m going to cover you and hopefully everything will work out fine.” She explained rapidly, almost forgetting to breathe.

“One.” She said as she took the bed sheet in both hands.

“Two.” She raise the bedsheet up, sweat dripping down her back.

“Three!” She flung the sheet over ‘Lisa’. She closed her eyes tight and ripped the sheet away from ‘Lisa’. A loud, horrid, tearing sound filled the air.

“Oh no.” Rose whimpered out. She kept her eyes screwed tight, not brave enough to see what nightmare had happened. So it was to her great surprise that she felt the sheet be tugged out of her hand and a familiar voice fill the room.

“B, B Plus I would say Rose.” ‘Lisa’ said. “Presentation was good. You restored me perfectly. But my clothes….. Not so much.” At that Rose peeked one eye open. Lisa was sitting on the edge of the bed, with a relieved smile on her face, and with the sheet wrapped around her. Lying around her in a rough circle were various scraps of fabric that Rose recognized as her clothes. “You should pay more attention in class.”

“You’re alive!” Rose exclaimed, finally opening her eyes fully. ‘Lisa’ smiled even wider.

“Yes. Thanks to you. I had no idea what exactly that fake Enforcer was going to do to me when he caught up... but it would not have been pretty.” ‘Lisa’ said with a large amount of gratitude. Rose said nothing but collapse onto the bed next to ‘Lisa’. They sat in silence like that for a few minutes.

“Holy Shit.” Rose eventually said. “That actually happened.” She continued, flopping backwards onto the bed. ‘Lisa’ joined her.

“Yeah. That happened.” She added in herself, still trying to comprehend everything. Not helping the matter was that her power had been uncharacteristically silent the entire time.

“Soooo…..” Rose awkwardly said. “What was it like?” She asked.

“Being flattened or being in the hat?” ‘Lisa’ asked back.

“Both?” Rose awkwardly said.

“I don’t remember being in the hat. At all. I was about to be put into the hat and then I was in a heap on your bed. As for being flattened…. The best I could describe is that I felt two dimensional. That’s the best I can say.” ‘Lisa’ explained.

“Huh.” Rose said. They stared at the ceiling for a little while longer.

“Taylor” Rose eventually said.

“What?” ‘Lisa’ asked.

“My name. I’m not Rose. I’m just Taylor.” Taylor explained.

“Well I’m not actually Lisa. I’m Sarah. I just gave you the first name that popped into my head. Being chased and all that.” Sarah explained. Taylor just made a noncommittal sound of acknowledgement. They once more laid there in silence. Their minds trying to process the last few minutes.

“Where are we anyway?” Sarah eventually asked, looking around.

“My bedroom. It’s uh… It’s normally not nearly this messy but with everything that happened and all that.” Taylor awkwardly trailed off. Sarah shrugged.

“You saved my life. I’m not going to judge you for that.” She said simply. And then sat up, making sure to keep one hand on the bedsheet to protect her modesty.

“So where do we go from here?” Sarah asked simply. “I have no idea who that guy was and why he wanted me.” She explained. She had a very likely idea why... but one thing at a time.

“Well you could stay here for awhile. I’ll ask my dad. I mean with your help I made a lot more than I usually do. Not that I’ve done all that many shows... So money’s not an issue ” Taylor said, sitting up on the bed as well.

“Maybe you can buy me some clothes with that.” Sarah said, playfully poking Taylor in the shoulder. Taylor laughed.

“Sure. I can buy some clothes. I did wreck yours.” She said with a giggle.

“Maybe we could make this a thing. Rose and Lisa! Boardwalk Magicians! I would have to wear a mask to hide my identity.” Taylor poked Sarah back.

“It’s usually the Magician that wears the mask. Not the Assistant.” She said with a giggle. The two of them started to giggle together. And the giggles then turned into full blown laughter as the stress of everything caught up with them. The laughter continued for a minute or two. However once the two of them had finished laughing they found themselves in a slightly compromising position.

Sarah’s face was only inches away from Taylor’s. The two of them felt each other’s breath on their face. Almost simultaneously their faces started to turn red. They looked each other in the eyes. Neither one of them sure what the other wanted. Or even what they wanted.

Before the situation could go any further a knock at the door interrupted them.

“Hey Taylor. I didn’t hear you come in. I thought you were still at the Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo...” Danny trailed off as he walked in. He quickly glanced from what his daughter was wearing, to the naked except for a bedsheet girl next to his daughter on the bed, to the rose petals scattered everywhere, to the various props scattered around the room, to how close their faces were.

“OKAY SORRY TO BOTHER YOU!” Danny quickly said and left, slamming the door behind him.

“DAD, NO! COME BACK! IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! SARAH! STOP LAUGHING!” Taylor continued to scream for a while after that, all to the backdrop of Sarah’s mad cackling.