Chapter 282: Fizbo (3-F) (Patreon)

[Edward POV]

“For my next trick, I need a flashlight, just to be clear, a phone flashlight.” I said as I took out my phone.

The next trick showed the audiences how the card changes underneath the light, and the performances continued for a little while.

“Now, for my finale. I’m going to need a helper–” Before I could finish, Gloria and Phil raised their arms and yelled, “Me!”

I looked at them in confusion and said carefully, “I mean. It’s Luke’s birthday party, so I was thinking of getting him to help me.”

Both of them became dejected and looked incredibly pitiful. I chuckled and turned to Luke,“Alright, I feel bad. So not a finale then. My pre-finale. Luke, pick a number from 1 t0 1000.” 

“661.” Luke replied with excitement. I uncapped a marker and wrote the number on the card, 3 of diamonds. “Alright, 661. Wait, did you just pick the first three numbers of your phone number?”

Luke smiled and said, “My mom’s.”

I shrugged and said, “Should I get all the digits then? I’ll keep that card and we can start anew with a new number.”

Everyone chuckled except for Claire who looked at me with disbelief.

“Give me a color too.” I asked Luke.

“Yellow.” He replied.

“Alright, so yellow, 661.” I wrote it on the 3 of diamonds card, and I turned to the audience, “Now, you guys all saw that this card with the exact marking on it is unique. I couldn’t possibly know what kind of answer Luke was going to give me.”

“What I’m going to do, is I’m going to throw this card back into the deck, and I’m going to use this joker card to try and find him.” There were 2 Joker cards set aside from the previous trick, laid outside of the deck.

As my hand slid on the Joker card, the Joker image on the card vanished. Pinching my fingers together as if I was holding the image, I said,  “I’m going to throw this guy into the deck, and he’s going to find the marked cards for all of us.”

“Wow!” Luke and the other kids exclaimed as they saw the Joker was gone. 

I made a throwing motion into the deck of cards. “Now, the joker is going to work on finding the card, and if he did find it, he’s going to signal us on it pretty soon.”

As I laid down all the cards on their back on the table, I searched for the Joker marked card, and found it. “Here it is. Now, did it work? Did he actually find the Yellow 661 card?”

As I flipped the card, it was the 3 of diamond with the unique marking on it. The kids burst into cheers while the adults gasped in amazement. 

“Now that he has finished his work, it's time for him to rest.” I said as I shook the card, and the joker ink vanished. It returned to the empty joker card before, making the kids burst into cheers of amazement again.

As a magician, I shouldn’t take too long to change in between the sets, so I continued even amidst the cheers, “Now, that’s supposed to be my finale, but as you guys were all so amazing, I will show you guys another sign of magic is real. This time, I also need a volunteer. The first one who came to the stage is it–”

Before I could even finish, Phil had already come to the stage. His actions made a lot of kids groan in discontent, but he ignored them all. I shuffled through the cards and said, “Tell me to stop.”

“STOP!” Phil said hurriedly, and the shuffled stopped at the 8 of spades card. “Good choice. Now, what I need Phil to do, is to take this marker, pick a random card. And draw a friend that would help us find the 8 spades cards.”

He picked the top card on the deck. I instructed him, “Make a simple face, with eyes, nose, beard, maybe a little bit of hair, and also, a frown. Now, you guys might only see that Phil is drawing a cartoon, but what he doesn’t know is that, with magic, the drawing is going to have a few of  his characteristics, also it’ll symbolize Phil’s desire.”

As Phil was finished, he handed the card back to me. “We need a name for this cute guy…Um, he’s a little hairy, so…Oleg?”

Everyone agreed with my suggestions. “Alright, so Oleg is going to find the 8 of spades cards inside the deck. Is it here?”

As I cut through the deck, Oleg would appear on the top of it, making the illusion that he was travelling through the deck. “Wait, Oleg is smiling.” I exclaimed as I cut the deck for the 4th time. “He must’ve found the card.”

I grabbed the card and showed it back to the audience. “This must be it.” I said excitedly before dramatically flipped the card. However, everyone exclaimed disappointment as they saw it was the 8 of diamond card instead of the 8 of spades.

“Oh damn, did Oleg fail?” I said as I flipped the card back. “Wait, Oleg is gone!”

Everyone became excited again. “Hmm, I can’t find where Oleg is now.” I said as I searched through the deck. “Unless.” I acted like I thought of something, and glanced at the ripped out card underneath the transparent glass on the table. (Previous episode set up)

Manny suddenly remembered something, “Ah! 8 of the diamonds were ripped at the beginning!”

Everyone had the same realization as they heard Manny’s words. 

“Could it be?” I said as I slowly took off the glass cup, and grabbed the card from inside of it. As I unfolded the card, it became the 8 of spades card, which made everyone burst into applause.

“Good Job Oleg.” I said to the smiling cartoon. Then, I pretended to hear something from him, “Hmm, you said that you had done a good job, so you want a reward? Well then, what do you want?”

“Hmm? A day off to take a vacation? Where are you going to go? Grand Canyon?” The kids were amused by the conversation I had with Oleg. Then, with a flick of my hand, Oleg and the card disappeared, “Alright then. Day off request approved.”

Everyone was curious to see where the card had gone. I raised my arms up to the crowd and said, “Everyone. Although Oleg is having a vacation, he’s on the back of a card, so he cannot go far. He must still be here inside the party.”

The kids looked around excitedly, trying to find where the card had gone. “No one can find him? I need to go home now, so I need him to be back.” I said with some difficulty, which made the kids sympathetic to my plight.

Gloria was so excited that her chest bounced, but then, she felt a sensation inside her undergarment. Confused, she peeked underneath her shirt.

I told the kids, “Wait, can you guys sense that? That’s Oleg calling for help. Phil’s desire had overtaken him, and he had made a wrong choice.”

Gloria took out the card angrily and shouted, “Phil! How dare you!”

“What?” Phil turned to her in confusion. Everyone turned to Gloria, and saw that she pulled out the card from her breast. Phil widened his eyes in alarm, “Hey! I didn’t put that there!”

I patted Phil’s shoulder and said, “But he’s your desire. You created him.”

Phil looked at me with disbelief as I dug a deeper hole for him. Suddenly, I interrupted the clamoring and said, “Everyone! Do you believe in magic now?!”

The kids responded, “Yeah!”

“Now, it’s time for me to leave.” I said pitifully, which made the kids exclaim in unwillingness. “Don’t worry about it kids, we’re sure to meet again, as long as you guys believe…”

I threw the card deck into the air, making a card shower and everyone looked upward. However, when they turned to the stage again, they realized that I was already gone.

Amy went to the stage and said, “Everyone, there’s a party favor given by Edward Newgate set up on the art and craft table outside. All of the kids should go there to take it now.”

Every kid cheered and rushed to the front lawn, together with some of  the adults. Outside, the table was filled with inflatable dinosaur costumes. I couldn’t buy only one of those, and the minimum order for a custom design was 100.

So I bought 100 of them in multiple colors. The Rubie Costume Company bought the design afterward as it was a very fun costume, so I have no loss in that, only profits.

Luke was the first one to get his costume. “Put this on.” Amy said. Then, she shook her head in realization, “Wait. W-why am I working so hard as his assistant?”

Enid was blowing one of the inflatable balloons and heard it. She replied, “Cause Edward asked you too. Duh! I wish he would ask me instead.”

Amy rolled her eyes at Enid, “You can do it if you want. I can give you all the credit.”

Enid’s eyes lit up, “Really?!”

Amy scoffed in disbelief and looked at Enid weirdly, “NO!”

Luke equipped his dinosaur costume, and he began roaring and running around the lawn, dinosaur style. Claire smiled widely and asked him, “You love it huh?”

“It’s the best present ever! I always wanted to be a red t-rex!” Luke said before he bellowed out a roar again. Soon, the lawn was filled with dinosaurs who were bumping with each other.

Manny, also in a dinosaur costume, had none of the excitement the other kids had as his ‘girlfriend’ hugged his arm and said, “You got the purple T-rex! This must be fate!”

“Fate is being a bit stressful right now.” Manny sighed.

All of the kids were running around in costumes, creating havoc on the streets. Their inner animals were released, and no one cared about anything else other than destruction. 

Phil finally went out after explaining to Gloria and Jay that he had nothing to do with the trick, however, he still felt the need to grab me and explain. 

Claire looked at Phil with disappointment as she saw him coming outside, slightly shaking her head. 

He was helpless about it and defended himself, “I didn’t do that! Atlas did! But, despite that last trick, he’s actually quite great. I should give him some money– and make him explain. W-where did he go?”

He looked around, and I was nowhere to be seen. Claire also looked around and asked with a shaky voice, “Phil, where are our daughters?” 

Claire remembered what Haley said about slipping away to the bedroom to make out with her boyfriends while the party was on, and immediately rushed inside the house. Phil wanted to follow along, but he was soon ambushed by a group of 3 T-rexs.

“Hey!” He flinched as he tried to avoid them, which put him right in the zipline zone. Another dinosaur kid went down the zip line, and crashed into him.

“Ow!-- Oh no, the dinosaurs are taking back the apex predator title by learning to use tools.” He exclaimed with a horrified expression. 

While he was down on the ground, Cam – Fizbo, peeked at his line of sight.

The clown makeup looked horrid underneath the sun. With a huge grin, Cam asked Phil, “Are you okay Phil? Something get you, a little down–”

“AHHHHHH!” Phil let out a blood curdling scream before he punched Cam in the face instinctively. Cam was thrown to the back, staggered a few steps before he bumped into Jay who was holding the crossbow–his birthday present for Luke.

The crossbow misfired, and it penetrated the bouncy castle. The kids inside screamed in horror as the castle deflated itself. Everyone inside had to evacuate quickly.

10 minutes before, I was hiding in Haley’s room after I disappeared from the crowd. 

“No one is following us. We’re safe.” Haley said as she closed the door to her room. 

Despite seeming like there was only the two of us there, I could hear some rustling coming from inside the closet, and smirked knowingly. 

I sat down on the edge of Haley’s bed and sighed, “That was really tiring.”

Haley giggled and asked, “How long did you practice for that? That was awesome, although it’s lame.”

“Lame?” I looked at her with disbelief, however, I didn’t lose my smile. “You’re the only one who thought it was lame.”

She crossed her arms together and teased, “No! All magicians are lame.”

“Like your dad?”

“Especially my dad!” She replied assertively before she burst into laughter. I joined in and then, I teased, “And here I thought performing that will do something to you. Trigger your daddy issues maybe.”

“You’re the only one with parental issues here.” She rolled her eyes and sat next to me. I nodded in agreement, “That’s true.”

Haley chuckled for a bit and asked, “Did you learn any more tricks?”

“I do. Like this for example.” With a flick of my hand, a pretty pink underwear appeared from out of thin air. Haley’s eyes widened and she grabbed it immediately, “This is mine– from my closet– How in the world did you get it? I literally just saw you came in!”

“Really? Think again. Did you see seconds of me being here?” I asked with a chuckle.

She thought about it for a while and guessed, “While I was looking for anyone following us? So in that split second, you decided to rummage my closet and take my panties with you?”

“Exactly.” I replied shamelessly.

She smirked and said, “And what if I didn’t ask you to show me a magic trick. Will you bring my panties home?”

“Probably.” I nodded easily, which irked her a little bit. I turned to her and teased, “Want me to show you the magic my fingers can do?”

A loud thudding sound resounded from the closet, as if someone who was eavesdropping became agitated from my words.

Haley stammered for a little bit and replied, “N-No!” Her cheek reddened and she avoided looking at me directly. I chuckled and whispered to her, “You realized I was talking about showing more magic tricks, right?”

“Shut up! There’s no way I'm ever going to make out with a magician. Unless they are really really famous!” Haley suddenly announced. I smirked and said, “No one said anything about making out.”

Haley was speechless for a second, and her embarrassment slowly turned into irritation. “Are you here to tease me? You can’t even show your face here.” She got up and stood in front of me before taking off my mask.

“Oh, your eyes are very beautiful today. Are you wearing contact lenses?” She asked.

I shook my head and said, “No. My eyes just decided to finally catch up with my other facial features, trying to get to the same standard.”

She rolled her eyes again before thinking about it and said, “That could happen.”

I looked at her with disbelief, “I was joking.”

“Still~” She teased jokingly. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer. She chuckled and commented, “By the way, you look good in blonde.”

“I look good in every color.”

While we were having a good time, Haley became irritated as she remembered something and asked, “Hey! Did you grope Gloria’s boobs while placing the cards there?”

Incredulous, I answered, “What? No! I didn’t even get near her.”

“Then how did you place the card there?” She demanded an answer.

“A magician never reveals–”

“OH! So You DID put your hand in her clothes!”

“W– NO! I didn’t.”

“Then, show me how you do it! Or else I’m telling grandpa!” She threatened me with a sly smirk. I chuckled with disbelief and said, “Alright, I’m going to show you once. But, I’m going to need more cleavage from you.”

Haley pulled down her shirt obediently and said, “Like this.”

I scrutinized it and hummed, “Hmm, I don’t think it can fit, but I can try.”

“Why won’t it fit?” She asked in confusion. Then, she realized it herself, “Oh, right. It’s Gloria. The cards probably have a lot of space in there.”

I nodded in agreement with her. Haley pulled down her shirt more, showing half of her chest, bending over slightly and showcasing it to me. “Is this enough?” She asked with a playful smirk as she tried to tempt me, vying for me to be embarrassed or lose my concentration. 

However, our moment was interrupted by her mother. Claire opened the door abruptly, and her mind stopped working when she saw the sight of Haley ‘peacocking’ her breast to me.

Haley immediately pulled back and covered her shirt again, “M–MOM! Can’t you knock!?”

“What in the world are you doing HALEY!?” Claire started to freak out and yell at the both of us. “With a magician?!” She asked with a tone of disbelief mixed with disgust.

Haley stammered and said, “At least he’s not a clown! Dad’s a magician too–”

“HE’S NOT! I MADE HIM GAVE UP THAT DREAM!” Claire shouted and grabbed my hand, “Also you! No one gave you permission to come to my daughter’s room!”  She pulled me up from the bed and tried to push me out of the room.

However, Haley grabbed Claire’s hand with a horrified expression, “MOM! What are you doing?!”

“I’m chasing him out of here! Sweetheart, I know you got your heartbroken but you should NEVER date a magician!” Claire scolded.

I was laughing internally and agreed with Claire, “Yeah Haley. No matter how much you want me and showing your body to me, pushing me down on your bed, I told you, I already have a girlfriend and I can’t be with you.”

“HALEY!?” Claire looked at Haley in horror. Haley was flabbergasted, but her mind was focusing on another matter, “YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!?”

“Not only that, she made her sister watch from the closet.” I added, again. Claire was stupefied and she stopped pushing me. She went to the closet and opened it, revealing Alex and Finneas who hid there when Haley and I came to the room.

“Is the world getting sick?! What kind of games are you kids playing?!” Claire panicked and became quite weak in the knee. I laughed out loud, which made everyone turn their attention to me. 

“Oh, this is too cruel.” I took off my blonde hair and said to Claire, “Also, you really can’t recognize me when I’m blond? I didn’t even have a mask on.”

Claire was stunned, and she scrutinized my face for a few seconds. “Edward?!” She called out with disbelief.

Haley groaned, “Yeah mom! Do you really think that I was really going to make out with just a magician?!”

I turned to her and said, “Oh, so you did bring me up here to steal my kiss.”

She blushed for a bit, “Shut up, that’s not what I meant. Besides, MOM! Look! Alex is way worse than I am. She’s already here for god knows how long!”

“Noo- No! We didn’t come here to make out!” Alex stammered while Finneas was white as paper. 

“Hi Finneas.” I greeted him with a slight wave. He smiled wryly and did the same, “Hi Ed.”

“Good day?” I asked.

“Not really.” He replied.

“Sucks.” I nodded in understanding. Haley, Claire and Alex looked at the both of us with disbelief. Then, I heard commotions coming from the front lawn.

“Alright, I guess it’s my cue to go. I have to return to the filming set today. Haley, can you take care of Amy? Show her around? My dad will come pick her up later.”

Haley nodded and said, “Of course. I already talked to Tara.”

“Thanks cutie pie.” I said before I grabbed her hand and kissed its back. Then, I turned to Claire, shoving Haley’s hand away and speaking with dejection, “Oh sorry. You probably don’t want her to get magicians' saliva on her hand.”

Claire was feeling very guilty about the matter. “No–No, you can kiss her if you want.” She said without thinking.

“Really?” I widened my eyes for a bit, wrapped my arms around Haley, and pulled her closer to me before giving her a kiss on the lips. Haley widened her eyes, while everyone was stunned.

After I released her, I turned to Claire and said, “Thank you for giving me permission. Bye~”

“Edward!” Haley grumbled as she knew I was teasing her mother and her. Finneas slyly gave me a thumbs up, and I walked out of the room in a hurry. 

Haley grumbled as I left, “Great! Now I won’t know if he touched Gloria’s boobs or not.” She touched her lips for a second before she giggled, but forced herself to be angry again. “I’ll make sure to see how he did it later.” She vowed.

Outside on the front lawn, as the chaos ensued, someone knocked over the beads on the art and crafts table, scattering it all over the cement. Luke was running around, and was slipping on one of the beads.

Luckily, I passed by at the perfect time, and grabbed his dinosaur head before he fell badly. He still fell though, but this time, not enough to break his arm. 

“Edward?” He looked at me excitedly. “You came.”

“What are you talking about? I was here the whole time.” I put on the masquerade mask, which made Luke realize it…or probably not.

“What?” He was confused.

“Atlas…I was Atlas…” I explained with a wry smile. 

“Ahhh.” Luke finally understood it and nodded his head. As I got him up, I said, “I disguised myself to not interfere with the party. I have to go back to work now. Did you have fun watching my show?”

“YEAH!” He replied enthusiastically. “I love it.”

I smiled and said, “Happy Birthday Luke.”

“Thank you Edward.” He replied with an innocent smile and hugged me with his dinosaur arms. “I’m really glad you came.”

“That’s what your sister said– Sorry about that. Tell your uncle Cam that you hate clowns. Goodbye.”

“BYE!” He waved at me with his dinosaur hand before he turned and slipped on one of the beads again. I grimaced as I looked at him, but he quickly got up, fixed his dino  head  and said, “I’m okay!”

I smiled as I left the party, waving at Luke from afar. “A lot has changed,” I mumbled to myself before I checked my watch. “Damn, I’m going to be late for the film set,” I rushed to my car and drove back to the company building.