Disclaimer: The Magician and all related characters are copyrighted by Gaumont Multimedia. Angela Jacobs is a character created by Shirley Burton. Shirley and another friend inspired me to write this. I hope you enjoy it.
It started out like any usual day; I went to my workout in the morning, did a few errands, and got home around 1PM. I had lunch, then sat down to do some work on my computer. That's when everything went weird.
I had no sooner sat down in my computer chair, when I found myself in a room I had never seen before. I had no time to take in my surroundings, because I heard a female voice say, "INTRUDER ALERT", and a panther came bounding into the room. I stood up immediately, hoping I could keep it from my throat, but it stopped just a few feet from me and growled.
"Zina, stay." A man came into the room. He was tall (well, when you're only 5'3", just about everyone is tall), not bad looking, but his hair... It was dark, but had a stripe of white around the sides, and a tuft of white in front. He looked at me and said, "Who are you, how did you get in here and what do you want?"
I took a deep breath, raised my arms slightly from my sides, hands spread and replied, "Liz, I haven't any clue and to go back where I belong."
His eyebrows raised. "You don't know how you got here?"
"No. I don't even know where here is."
"You're in the Magic Express, my home in Electro City."
Realization dawned on me. "Electro City..., Zina..., Magic Express..., oh my...." My knees started to buckle, and the man reached out and grabbed my upper arms to prevent me from falling. "This isn't possible! I can't be here!"
Just then I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and saw a redheaded woman watching us. The look on her face....
I regained my balance, stepped back from the man and turned to the woman. "From the look on your face and other things I've learned, you must be Mona Malone. I've got just one thing to say to you at this moment. For crying out loud, I'm old enough to be his mother!"
I turned back to the man and said, "I believe you are Ace Cooper, right?" He nodded, a stunned look on his face from what I had just said to Mona, I presume. "Then I'm in a completely different world. In my world you all are imaginary characters. There is no Electro City in my world, and I think I'm a couple of decades past where I should be."
"Oh, Ace," Mona said. "I'm sorry. It's just that when I saw you holding her..."
"Mona, it's okay. I understand." He turned to her and held his arms out. She walked into them and they held each other close.
I smiled. "I think I'll let you have a little privacy." I turned to the panther. "You don't mind, do you Zina?"
Zina rumbled at me, but the look in her eyes was one of complete agreement. I walked over to the door Mona had come in through. I opened it, went through and found myself outside. I walked a few feet away and turned to look at the Magic Express. It was just as it had been described in the stories I had read. I was gazing at it, wondering how I got here, when I heard a male voice behind me.
"Hoping to get an autograph?" I turned to see an older man coming toward me. He had an air of authority about him. I looked at him with interest (but then, being in another world, everything was bound to interest me.).
"Are you Lieutenant Derek Vega?" I asked.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"My name is Liz. I just came from there," I replied, indicating the Magic Express. "Ace and Mona are making up from a fight that didn't really get started and I thought they should be alone to do so."
Lieutenant Vega smiled. "That was considerate of you. But what brought you here?"
"That's a good question. I wish I knew the answer."
He looked at me with puzzlement in his eyes, but just then four people drove up. "Hey, Lieutenant. What brings you here?"
"Hello Cosmo, Angie. I wanted to talk to Ace. But this lady tells me that he and Mona are otherwise occupied."
Just then the door opened. Ace walked out quickly, stopping suddenly when he saw us. "Oh good, you're here. I was afraid you'd wandered off. You don't know your way around this city and could get hurt," he said to me.
"I know," I replied. "I figured I'd just come outside for some air and a look around here, while you two had some time to yourselves." I smiled. "Don't worry, I've been in dangerous cities before. I know better than to leave a place of safety without preparation."
"I'm glad to hear it. Why don't we all go inside, so we can try to figure out what happened."
"Hey, bro, I'll put the car in the garage, and we'll be right in," said Cosmo. He was about to start off, when another car pulled up in front of it.
Out stepped a man with a nasty look on his face. He walked up to us, looked at me, and said, "Well, well, what do we have here." He smirked, as he continued, "Let's see. Ace Cooper, Mona Malone, Cosmo, Ulene, Angie, Victor, Derek Vega and this little lady, whom I haven't had the pleasure of meeting. What's going on? Are you about to have an orgy?"
"Sikes..." Ace started toward the man, fury on his face.
I stepped in front of Ace. "...you can take that idea, stick it where the sun doesn't shine and sit on it, you poor, pitiful, empty little man." Sikes recoiled from me in shock. "And as you can tell now, I'm not all that little, and I've never thought of myself as a lady. Just as a woman. Butt out and find a real story to write about for a change."
I turned toward Ace. "Shall we go in?"
He looked at me with a smile slowly growing on his face and stepped aside, indicating that I should precede him. As I headed for the door, I heard Sikes' car start up and move off and the other car start up.
Once we were all inside, Cosmo came up to me and said, "I don't know who you are, but, after the way you told Sikes off, you're okay in my book. I'm Cosmo, by the way, and these people are Angie, Ulene and Victor." He indicated his companions.
"Why don't we all sit down." Ace indicated that I should sit on the couch and he sat next to me. "Now, would you please tell us what you know about how you got here?" He looked at the others. "Liz just suddenly appeared in this room." Everyone gasped.
"I live in a town call Apache Junction, in Arizona. It's about 30 miles east of Phoenix. I had just sat down at my computer and the next moment I was here. I have no idea how it happened."
"What's the date where you were?"
"April 3rd, 2003."
Everyone started talking at once. "Wow, she time travelled." "How could she get here?" "Did Angel sense anything before she arrived?"
"Angel?" Ace said.
"Yes Ace," the female voice I first heard after arriving here answered.
"Did you sense anything other than Liz's presence, just as she arrived?"
"No, Ace, I did not."
Ace turned to me. "You are from another reality, yet you know about us. How?"
I sighed. "I have a friend who is a fan of The Magician stories. She even has animated stories on video tape. She and another woman even write stories, separately and together about you all..... Wait a minute. That may be it. Maybe she or the other woman are writing a story with me in it. But how would that bring me here?"
"What are those other women's names?"
"Janet Simmons and Shirley Burton."
"Shirley!" exclaimed Angie. "She created me, in your world. You know her?"
"Only on the Internet. We don't know each other that well - we've only communicated a few times. But I've read several of her stories about you. Why would she write a Magician story with me in it? She doesn't know me that well."
"Let's find out." I saw Angie's eyes lose focus as she tried to communicate with Shirley. After a few minutes, she focused on me again and said, "Shirley is writing a Magician story with you in it, but she said she hasn't been able to write any dialogue for you because it has been automatically appearing on her computer. It's like you are writing the story together, she providing the setting, other characters and situations and you reacting to them."
"Did she say why she is writing this story?" I asked. "And how did she react to the news that I'm really here?"
"She was shocked that you're here. She said she felt a need to write the story; she can't explain it."
"Then that makes it unanimous," I said. "I can't even think of where to begin to try to figure this out."
Ace said,"Well, let's examine what we do know. Apparently you and Shirley are writing this story together, you here and her there. Do you know of anyone in your world who knows about you two and might be able to cause this?"
"The only one I know of who knows about us is Janet, since she introduced us via the Internet. But I don't know of anyone in my world capable of doing anything close to this. Or if this kind of magic even exists in my world. What about here?"
"Only Angie, Cosmo and myself knew about Shirley. We've even met her."
"I know. She wrote about it. Did any of you talk about her to someone else?" All three of them shook their heads. "I guess that means the cause lies in my world. But I am clueless as to what it could be."
Ace reached over and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out somehow. In the meantime, how would you like to see some of Electro City."
"That would be great. But I hope you understand what I mean when I say I hope I'm not here long. I've got responsibilities and commitments in my world that can't wait too long."
Ace smiled. "Of course we understand., Liz. Who would like to go with us?"
"Ace," Lt. Vega interrupted, "I need to talk to you privately for a few minutes right now."
"Ok. Would you all excuse us, please?" Ace and the lieutenant stood and walked out of the room.
I felt an awkward silence about to begin, so I decided to ask Mona something I'm been wondering about. "Mona, I hear you're a terrific singer. What kind of songs do you prefer to sing? Do you sing original material, other's compositions or a combination?"
I felt the tension shatter. Mona got up and came over to sit next to me. " I like ballads best. Do you sing?"
"Yes, but not professionally. I prefer to harmonize and sang baritone parts in a Sweet Adelines barbershop chorus for a few years."
Well, everyone joined the conversation. Music is sure a great topic of conversation. It ended up with me teaching Mona a couple of songs from my world, from the 40s: "Our Love is Here to Stay" - which she is considering singing to Ace on his next birthday (whenever that is) - and a favorite Christmas song, "Santa Baby". The guys, especially, expressed a desire to hear Mona sing that one next Christmas. She reciprocated by teaching me one of her songs, not to be sung to anyone else in my world (sorry, guys.).
Ace and Lt. Vega came back into the room. "All set," Ace said. "Who wants to come?"
Mona & Lt. Vega both had somewhere else they had to be, but the other four said they wanted to show off the town, too. "Besides, bro', we're the ones who know the coolest places."
We set off in two vehicles (six people in one of those vehicles? I Think Not!), and saw several fascinating places (all of which are still jumbled in my mind - it'll probably take a long time to remember what I saw, for the most part), ending up in a place whose name I couldn't forget if I tried - the DNA Mall (yes, they still have shopping malls decades from now). Cosmo and the others dragged me into the game room, but it was so loud it bothered my ears. All of them, except Ace, were engrossed in a game one of their friends was playing, so Ace and I stepped out of the room.
As we did, I glanced up to see what was on the next level. I didn't see anything I was interested in going to, but did notice two men watching us. One was big & dumb looking and the other was slender, with blonde hair. They turned away, just then, so I figured they had recognized Ace and didn't give it another thought. I said to Ace, "I wonder if shopping malls will look like this in my world in 20 years."
"Do you go to the malls often in your world?"
"Not really. There's a few places in the mall nearest to my place I like, Sears, a bookstore, a movie theater, but not much else."
"You like to read."
"Boy, do I! I sometimes am reading three books, one in the living room, one at the table - I live alone, so it's not rude - and one in my bedroom. I like all kinds of books, too."
"What do you do for a living?
"I'm retired. I used to work for the phone company, taking &/or screening repair reports. Then they surplused my department and gave us a buyout package. I was financially ready, and had 34 years of service with them, so I took it. I haven't regretted it, either."
Just them, a group of children came up. "Aren't you Ace Cooper? Can we have your autograph? Please?"
Ace gave me a look of apology, and started to come up with pictures to sign. I backed away a bit, to give the kids room and to get a better view of this.
Suddenly, as Ace was finishing the last of the autographs, I felt a presence behind me. I started to whip around, but was too slow. A cloth was put over my face, and I lost consciousness.
When I came to, I was in the back seat of a car. That big guy I saw was driving, and the blonde guy was sitting next to him. I sat up, and felt very dizzy (darn chloroform! Haven't they come up with something better, yet?). The blonde guy noticed and said, "Why don't you just stay down? You'll feel better and it won't be long before we get where we're goin'."
I lay back down and said, "So where are we going?"
"You'll find out when we get there. The boss wants to meet you."
"Someone wants to meet me? Well, why didn't you just come over and ask me instead of kidnapping me? Don't you know that's a crime? In more ways than one?"
"A crime, you say? Well, Black Jack Malone doesn't care about that," said the big guy.
"Shut up, Spade and just drive," said the blonde guy.
"You're taking me to see Black Jack Malone? I don't believe this. If he thinks what I think he's thinking, he's wrong."
"Huh?" said Spade.
"Just shut up, both of you. We're here."
The car stopped in front of a most imposing building. The blonde guy got out and opened the back door, helping me out. "Well, you're a considerate kidnapper, I must say," I said to him.
"Just come with me."
He took me up an elevator, then down a hall and stopped in front of one of the doors there and knocked. I heard someone inside say, "Enter." The blonde guy opened the door.
"Here she is, Boss."
"Come in, young woman, come in." The man had his back to me, but then turned in his chair. I remembered that weird looking guy from the pictures I'd seen.
I took a deep breath and the remainder of the dizziness cleared. I prayed, "Lord help me do this right," and walked over to his desk. "Hello. I understand you are Black Jack Malone. I met your daughter earlier. She's a lovely girl and has a wonderful singing talent. You must be very proud of her."
I never thought a jaw could drop so far. He stared at me for a full minute. "You are a friend of my daughter's?"
"I hope so. I just met her a few hours ago, and we had fun teaching each other a few songs. Actually I taught her two from the forties and she taught me one of her original compositions. Tell me, does she get her singing talent from your side of the family?"
At that moment, I learned what the word nonplussed really means. "I thought you were a friend of Ace Cooper's."
I laughed. "Actually, I only met Ace Cooper about thirty seconds before I met Mona. They are such a cute couple, don't you think?" I knew I was taking a big risk saying that, but out it came. "They have both been so very nice to me. My stay in Electro City so far has been fascinating. I especially like this building. Do you own it?"
Black Jack was actually getting red in the face. "Yes, I do. As for your question about Mona's talent, both sides of the family contributed. Well, it's been nice to meet you, but I have a lot of work to complete. DIAMOND!"
The door opened and the blonde guy looked in. "Yeah, Boss?"
"Show this lady to the door and let her go." Diamond looked shocked and Black Jack said, "Just do it!"
"Okay, Boss." To me, he said, "If you'll come this way, miss?"
"Good bye Mr. Malone. It's been a pleasure." (for neither of us, I thought). I turned and walked out of the office. Diamond led me down the stairs and out the door, which he shut behind me.
I stood there for a minute, trying to decide which way to go, when Ace and Lt. Vega pulled up. Ace got out of his car and just looked at me. "I don't believe it. I saw Diamond and Spade kidnap you. Now you're just standing here in front of Black Jack's place looking as if nothing happened. What the heck is going on?"
"Listen kid," For the second time, I watched a jaw drop. "I appreciate the fact that you cared enough to come to my rescue, but I've been in big cities before. I was born and raised on Long Island, have been to New York City dozens of times, also Los Angeles and Baltimore, just to name a few. I was able to talk my way out of there - thank you, God - without telling him a thing. I told you I'd been in dangerous cities before. Didn't you believe me?"
I watched as Ace closed his mouth and swallow. I glanced over at Lt. Vega to see him looking at me with his hand over his mouth. His eyes were twinkling, but he didn't say a thing.
"I did believe you, but believing what you said and seeing it for myself, especially when I have had to go in after everyone else he has used to get to me is another thing. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall of his office when you were in there. What did you say to him?
"Not much. I kind of turned it into a social visit, which surprised him. I'm sure, though, when he finally picks his jaw up off the floor, he'll be trying to come up with another way to get you. Shall we go?" I walked over to his car. He hurried around and opened the door for me as I got to it, and I got in.
"I'm glad you're on our side. You'd be a formidable opponent."
"What a nice compliment. Thank you, Ace."
"Thanks, Lt. Vega. I'm sorry I brought you away for nothing."
"That's all right, Ace. I wouldn't have missed this for the world. I'm glad you're okay, Liz. I'll be seeing you." Vega got back into his car and drove off.
