The top hat spun top over bottom in her hands. Every eye in the room was focused on it. All of them saw the same thing: the hat was totally empty.
And so it was a bit of a surprise when she turned it upside down and a white rabbit stuck its head out of the hat. "Not bad, huh?" Kamen Rider Presto asked with a giggle.
One of the kids watching waved a hand dismissively. "That's a really old trick!" the boy said. "I be there's a secret compartment in it or something."
Presto looked over at him, her eyes seeming to widen in surprise, the oblivious rabbit hopping out onto the floor of the Corrupture Ward. "Really?" she asked, turning the hat the other way around with the hole in the bottom. She gave the hat a shake and another rabbit fell out, its coat dark brown. "Gosh, look at that!" Presto said as the second rabbit hopped away, and a black rabbit fell out onto the floor. And a fourth rabbit, coat white with black spots. "This must be the best secret compartment ever, don't you guys think?"
She pressed her fingertips to her mouthplate and somehow whistled. The quartet of rabbits hopped through the surprised crowd of kids and then back to where Presto was kneeling. She flipped open the top of her hat, showing the hole went all the way through. Taking a jump, the black and white rabbit bounced into Presto's hat. Then the rabbit that was all black, the one that was all brown, and lastly the one was all white.
And Presto turned her hat to the kids to show the hole was empty before spinning it in her hands and putting it back on top of her head.
"WOW."
The Rider leaned forward to a chorus of applause from the young patients. "If you think that was good," she said gravely, and the kids fell silent. "…then wait til you see this!" Presto giggled. She doffed her hat again, tapped the edge with her wand, and a playing card came floating up.
A gasp of amazement rose out of the crowd too. All the young viewers twisted their heads to watch the flow of playing cards coming out of Kamen Rider Presto's shiny black top hat. They snaked out, flowed around in a circle, and twirled up to form the shape of a heart.
"But wait, there's more!" she announced and twirled the long black wand in her hand. It gave a chiming sound and the serpent of cards twisted around into the shape of a diamond. Another twirl, another chime, and they looped into the shape of a spade.
"For the grand finale…!" One last twirl, one last chime. The cards looped into a circle once, twice, three times, and wrapped around the bottom to form a spade. The kids in the Corrupture ward she was performing for clapped at the sight. "Was this your card?" the Rider giggled, and the outline of cards erupted all over the room. Each card flipped into the waiting hands of one of the patients, and in a soft flash changed to show Kamen Rider Presto winking at them. "Your very own souvenir of the show!"
Most of the kids split up, tucking their cards away in pockets or in bags or backpacks. A few started trying to bargain with other kids for their cards.
A young boy and girl approached the Rider slowly, their eyes glistening with nervousness, and they looked away when she turned her head and looked right at them. "Everything okay, kids?" she asked calmly.
"Well,…Miss Presto," the girl said, and bit her lip. Presto nodded and bent down to get closer to their eye level. "Do you have time to just do tricks for us kids like this?" the girl finally asked.
Presto cocked her head slightly. "What do you mean, honey?"
The girl retreated a step at the question, but the boy gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She managed to say, "I don't know…don't you need to be out there, fighting monsters?"
"Aaaah, I see. I was kind of expecting a question like that sometime," Kamen Rider Presto sighed. "Let me ask you guys a question too. Do you think fighting is the only way to help people?"
An uncomfortable look contorted the girl's face for a second, and Presto reached out and touched her cheek. "Sweetie, there are lots of ways to help people. Like you can show scared kids the world's an amazing place, and they should work hard to get well so they can go see it someday."
She stood up again, and the boy blanched at what she'd said. "The world sounds boring when we hear about it in school!" he protested.
"Oh kids, I know!" Presto giggled. "Believe it or not, I was a kid once too. School isn't the only way to learn about things. Besides, if the world isn't amazing, why are so many people willing to fight for it?" She spun her wand in her hand, then reached out and touched the two kids' cards, giving them gold borders. "Think about it, kiddo." She looked around and announced, "Okay everybody, time for the last trick of the day! Watch closely!"
She lifted her wand high and a spray of confetti shot out of the top and cascaded down.
When the kids followed the falling shower of paper, it took them a few seconds to notice Kamen Rider Presto wasn't there anymore.
Only her message remained.