The Ooops Effect
by Birgit Staebler
He could do this.
No problem.
Actually, it was very easy -- if you knew how. Cosmo thought he knew
the how part of the whole endeavor. He had done it often enough.
Under adult supervision, a small voice whispered.
Yeah, well, he was an adult as well. Legally. And he had mastered magic
by a degree by now.
Barely, the voice sneered.
Oh, shut up!
Cosmo concentrated on the fork lying on the table. Not very heavy,
easy to manipulate... he had done heavier levitation already.
In the training room, the obnoxious voice reminded him.
But it worked! he snarled.
Except that the hard plastic, football-sized object had gone off like
a rocket, bounced off the ceiling and had nearly smacked him over the head.
So much for that. Not to mention almost clipping Ace's shoulder in the
process. Thank god the older man was rather adept at whipping up shields.
Cosmo sighed. Levitation was supposed to be so easy. Here he was, apprentice
magician, able to access the Magic Force to a degree, and he couldn't manage
a decent levitation spell. Softballs, yeah. Easy. As long as he didn't
lose his concentration -- which happened with sickening regularity. But
softballs didn't leave major bruises. Assorted small stuff with a high
density did.
He rubbed a fading bruise on his left shoulder. Man, that had hurt.
Ace had just told him to balance himself better, that it was all a matter
of the mind. That was why Ace insisted on the meditation, on learning how
to center. Right. His mind was balanced, for crying out loud!
Not if you take a look at the magical outcome, the annoying voice told
him, almost laughing.
Oh, shut up!
A snicker followed.
Great. He was talking to himself and his other self was laughing at
him! Next step was basket case. He simply had to train, Ace told him again
and again. There was no rushing magic. If rushed, it lashed back, and Cosmo
knew backlashes intimately. They hurt like hell and were definitely in
the No Fun category of magic. He had trained for barely a year now and
Ace had repeated again and again that he was doing just fine.
Cosmo sighed. Not in his opinion.
Maybe because he subconsciously expected himself to live up to an ideal
only he could see. Maybe because he had always been told he was worth nothing
by his father. Maybe because Ace was so good at what he did and Cosmo sucked
so badly. Maybe all, maybe none of it, maybe one or the other. He didn't
know and the old insecurities rose with glaring emotional pain now and
then. He wanted to be good, he needed to be good, but he was failing in
that regard. Reassurances that it didn't matter failed to erase all the
dark thoughts.
He could do magic. Small amounts. Little spells. So he could do this
little levitation spell! There!
Cosmo gathered the magic around him, concentrating on the fork, then
pointed a finger at it. He didn't need a lot of magic and he had learned
to siphon what was inside of him, to actually lever just enough of it at
an object to make it float. And seconds later the magic would tear free
of his control and strike out. It sucked. Badly. He was really good at
some other stuff, but levitation? Hopeless!
Ace wasn't home at the moment and due to the sickening amount of boredom
culminating, Cosmo had gone to the kitchen to get himself a sandwich, and
then continue being bored with a sandwich in his hand. He had done his
chores, had even tried to get some sense of order in his room -- which
had succeeded more or less. Then he had flopped down and decided that he
didn't feel like TV, a game or even roller blading. He wanted to practice,
work on his magic, get better. He wanted to make Ace proud of him, even
if a part of him repeatedly reminded the insecure part that Ace was already
proud of him. He told him so again and again.
And Ace also told you not to do it alone.
He glared at the little voice.
I can do it! This isn't a new or dangerous spell!
Anger seeped into his mind balance and the fork quivered. Oooops.....
Cosmo reamed in the anger and inhaled deeply, then exhaled. Calm. Inner
balance. Reach out..... feel the magic... guide it.....
The fork rose off the table.
He allowed himself a grin.
See? Works!
We'll see, the voice answered.
The fork levitated in front of him, perfectly balanced, and Cosmo felt
pride blossom inside of him. Hah!
He tilted his hand a bit, the fork copying the motion and rolling around
once. Perfect! He let it rise, almost laughing at how easy it was.
And then he felt the magic ripple.
Oh no, you won't! he thought angrily, smoothing it out, keeping it
steady.
But it rippled again and Cosmo frowned. He felt something at the edge
of his perception and fear lanced through him as he realized what it was.
The shove spell. Oh darn! That one came very close in its form to levitating,
though it was much more violent. Ace was still trying to figure out why
he always slipped from one to the other, but without success.
And then the shove got out of control. Cosmo gasped as the magic snapped
free. The fork quivered for a second, then shot off like fired from a bow.
But it wasn't the only piece of cutlery. Cosmo gave a cry of alarm and
ducked as three knives followed on its heel. They had been lying on the
counter, completely out of his line of sight or his magical concentration.
There was a loud, metal tearing sound and Cosmo whirled around, almost
losing his physical balance as the first signs of backlash made themselves
known. It was another downside to magic. Whenever he overdid it, his body
not only complained, it screamed. This time the backlash was mediocre,
but it was still hurting.
When he saw the result of the shove, Cosmo forgot the pain.
"Shit! I'm dead," he whispered.
Man, he was so dead.
The fork and the three knives stuck in the kitchen wall. The metal
kitchen wall. One knife was buried almost up to half the hilt, another
looked...melted?... and the fork.... Cosmo swallowed, feeling so sick.
It had been driven into the wall handle first!
Choose your grave, because you are going to die, the inner voice sing-songed.
When Ace came home and saw the mess..... He groaned silently.
Cosmo walked over to the strange sight and carefully touched the metal.
It was completely cool to the touch, but it was also stuck tight. He could
try removing it with magic, but he better not, he thought. Whatever he
tried, it would most likely result in even worse.....
He sat down heavily on his chair, staring at the cutlery. It looked
like modern art..... A small smile stole over his features, then was wiped
by the thought of Ace. He had practiced outside the lab. Without supervision.
And he knew he was not supposed to. There were few rules in his life, but
that was one that Ace had beaten into his stubborn skull.
Almost.
Damn, damn, damn!!!
He had to tell Ace. Ace would see it anyway. And then..... He cringed,
thinking of what Ace would tell him. He wouldn't yell. That wasn't Ace's
style, but the look alone....
Man....!
Cosmo glared at the cutlery.
It glared back.
It had to happen to him.
Why me? he wailed silently
You didn't listen, the little voice mocked.
He ignored it, though that was hard to do. But it was right. He hadn't
listened. Story of his life.
And on top of it, Vega would be here tonight. He and Ace were planning
to watch the hockey game. Cosmo sighed deeply. He'd get an earful from
the cop as well.
So not looking forward to it, he sighed silently.
Well, he'd pay for the damage, Cosmo vowed. No chance he'd let Ace
come up with the cash for the repairs. No chance in hell he'd let him use
magic on it either. Cosmo had done it, he would pay for it. His savings
might suffer a bit from the withdrawal, but that was only justice.
He sighed.
Stupid stunt, he ranted on in his mind, the little voice happily joining
in. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
And just the Cosmo thing to do.
Major bummer.
* * *
Ace came home in a pretty good mood, whistling to himself. Zina greeted
him with a rumble, rubbing herself against his legs, and he obediently
scratched the broad head. She ambled off, flopping down in front of the
couch of the living room, watching him curiously. Ace smiled, draping the
cape over the armchair. Cosmo entered from the other side and Ace looked
up, still smiling. The smile died abruptly as he took in the teenager's
expression.
Something had happened.
Uh-oh.
Something not good, judging from the fidgeting.
Really not good.
"Hi, Cosmo," he greeted the teenager.
Cosmo shuffled closer. "Uh, hi, Ace," he answered. "How'd the prep
go?"
"Better than I thought," he answered.
Ace had been off this morning to talk to his promotions agent and put
the finishing touches to the promotion of his new show. It had been quicker
and easier than expected. Ever since changing to another company, Ace had
had less and less trouble. While his old manager had been competent and
trustworthy, he had also been rather slow and not very open for new stuff.
Ace had had to fight for each and every change. The new company was working
efficiently and was also able to quickly adapt to new concepts.
Cosmo fidgeted more. "Uh.... Ace... dude.... I...." He inhaled deeply.
"I practiced a bit this morning and..... one spell kinda got out of control....."
Ace quickly glanced around the living room. Everything was in its place
and there was no indication that anything was broken. All looked normal.
"Which one?" he asked calmly.
Cosmo looked up, then evaded his eyes. "Levitation," he mumbled.
Okay, so levitation had never been Cosmo's forte. It would change in
time and with a lot more concentrated work, but right now, he was rather
unable to levitate anything for any time. No one was born a master.
"What happened?"
Cosmo winced a bit. He was looking almost afraid.
Ace couldn't think of anything really serious happening that would
bring his anger down on the teenager. Cosmo was his apprentice and as a
student, he made mistakes. Some bigger and more stupid than others, but
that was the good part of being an apprentice: you could mess up. And if
he had practiced in the lab...
Something clicked.
Oh no..... not again! He had told Cosmo a hundred times not to practice
anywhere but in the safe confines of the training room! It was for his
safety and for the safety of whatever could break outside. Rogue spells
didn't care about expensive statues or old books, Ace himself had been
shown clearly in his own teenage years. And again when Cosmo had hurled
a spell around the living room and killed a statue.
Cosmo seemed to read the dawning realization in his eyes because he
hunched his shoulders and chewed on his lower lip.
"Where?" Ace only asked.
The teenager shrugged. "Kitchen," he finally sighed.
The kitchen?!
Ace blinked. Okay..... kitchen.... Whatever.
"Okay, what exactly happened?"
Another sigh and Cosmo shrugged uncomfortably. "I think you better
look at it yourself," he mumbled. "Kinda hard to explain."
Ace walked toward the kitchen, a small curl of dread in his stomach.
He was expecting everything, from a burned out toaster to collateral damage
to the whole inventory. As he stepped into the small kitchen, he felt his
spirits lift as he discovered that there were no major holes anywhere,
nothing smelled burned and all was where it was supposed to be.
All but....
Ace blinked, perplexed. His gray eyes fixed on the kitchen wall where
four pieces of cutlery stuck, a beacon of magic gone wrong. Cosmo had shuffled
in behind him, now ducking as Ace looked at him in surprise.
"What did you do?" he heard himself ask, still too stunned to think
clearly.
"I kinda tried to float a fork....."
Fork. Yup, there was a fork in the wall. Handle first. The force alone
necessary to push a handle into a metal wall was incredible. The fork had
positively fused with the wall after it had slid in. The magical field
around it had probably disturbed the molecular structure of the wall, which
had settled back after the contact of one object with another.
And the knives.
"And three knives," Ace commented.
"Uh, no. They came after the levitation went completely off and turned
into a shove..... I think they got caught in the spell." Cosmo raised his
eyes again, wincing at Ace's expression. He looked like wanted to sink
into the floor. "Listen, I'll pay for it. I've enough money saved to pay
for the repairs. I know I shouldn't have done it. I know you told me often
enough, but I didn't think it to be such a biggie. I didn't think it would
fuse! It should have bounced off and all.... I...." He stumbled and fell
silent. "Sorry, Ace," he mumbled. "Was stupid. I know."
Ace had to smile. Despite the serious disregard for the rules, Cosmo
had not tried to wriggle out of the punishment. Not that he actually would
have had a chance, but Ace was proud that he hadn't tried to come up with
lame excuses.
"Yes, it was stupid. Yes, I told you again and again to use the training
room. Yes, I should make you pay for the repairs." Ace smiled more as he
watched Cosmo wince with every sentence. "But how do I explain this to
the repair man?"
That got him a confused look.
"I can take care of this bit of damage myself, Cosmo, and I will take
care of it." He raised one hand to still the protest. "You have to replace
the fork and knives, though."
"But, Ace.....!"
"And I won't remove the damage till tomorrow."
Ace watched Cosmo take that in, saw realization hit him, and the teenager
groaned. Vega. Vega would get to see what had happened.
"Man....." he lamented. "He's never gonna let me live it down......"
"Exactly. Don't worry, Cosmo. I'll get an earful as well." Ace looked
at the artful display of magic gone haywire and chuckled. "You know, wouldn't
make such a bad cup holder. Or to hang up the dish towels....." he mused.
Cosmo groaned. "You wouldn't!"
Ace gave the impression of taking it into serious consideration. "Why
not?"
"Ace!"
He laughed. "Don't worry. I like my kitchen as it was, not redecorated.
Which also means, no more practicing anywhere but the assigned areas."
He gave Cosmo a dead-serious look. "It's not just because I want my furniture
in one piece, it's also for your own safety. Furniture can be replaced.
A human life, your life, can't."
Cosmo sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know. I'm
really sorry, Ace. Really. Won't happen ever again."
"Cutlery in the wall or practicing outside the training room?" Ace
teased.
The teenager looked up, took in his amused expression, and a slight
smile stole over his lips. "Cutlery's safe from me," he said lightly.
Ace laughed. "And the rest of my inventory as well, I hope!"
Cosmo grinned. "Promise."
The magician walked over to the fridge and got himself a soda, briefly
checking on his stock of beer and more soda for tonight. Looked good enough.
"Uh, I wanna head over to the arcade and see if Ulene's around...."
Cosmo said hesitantly.
Cosmo asking him if he could go? Hm, he must have taken the incident
quite seriously, Ace thought. Not that it wasn't, but Cosmo usually only
fell back to the old habits of carefully asking for approval when he believed
he had seriously screwed up. He hadn't, in Ace's eyes. He had simply made
a mistake.
"You don't have to ask me, Cosmo," he now chided gently. "You are eighteen.
You can make your own decisions."
Cosmo ducked his head. "I just...."
"I know," Ace told him as he stopped. "What happened, happened. As
long as you promise to mind the rules next time, I'm okay with it."
"Cool." A quick grin.
Ace chuckled as Cosmo slipped past, then he looked at the 'accident'
again. If Cosmo only knew what Ace had done in his apprentice years.....
it made this look quite harmless.