When Exposés Attack (The Conclusion!)
When Exposés Attack
The Conclusion: "The Truth Shall Set You Free…"

Angie was unsure of what to do, since there was a hungry homeless man standing at the front door of the Magic Express, which was in lockdown mode after Ace had ordered her to stay home to calm herself from being angry earlier.
"Angel," the young magician called out.
The holographic dodecahedron appeared in front of her. "Yes, Angie?"
"I know I'm still in lockdown here, but…I can't leave someone out there to starve. Is there any way you can just unlock the front door so I can at least tell?"
"Why not use the intercom? It's next to the front door."
"Okay, patch me through by intercom." After the connection was established, Angie spoke to him. "Excuse me, do you need something to eat?"
"Yes, I do," the gentleman said in panting breath. "I haven't been able to get anything to eat in the last few hours, and I'm famished."
Angie looked at Angel. "Um, what do you think?"
"He appears to be truthful."
"Angel, can you please unlock only the front door? I'll feel guilty if I don't at least give him a decent meal."
Angel could understand Angie's integrity. "Very well. I will open the door for him to come in."
"Thanks."
She went to the door and waited for it to open.
As soon as it did so, she saw the hungry man. "You look famished," she said in concern. "Please come in. I should have something good you can eat."
The homeless man, actually on-the-run reporter Duke Paparazzo in disguise, entered the Magic Express for only the second time. Man, I remember how much trouble I caused the first time, but this is gonna take the cake. I'm going to be fed by the person I did the exposé on. This is soooo embarrassing.
They went to the kitchen, where he took a seat at the table while Angie looked in the refrigerator to find the leftovers from the previous night's dinner.
"Give me a couple of minutes to warm it up. It's steamed broccoli with chicken pasta. I cooked it last night, but it should be pretty good still."
After a short time in the microwave, Angie gave the food to the hungry man. "There you go."
He took a few bites and was surprised at how good it really was. "Mmm, this is delicious," he said happily. "Not even the Scorpio Club could serve this up."
She looked at him very strangely. "The Scorpio Club? How could you afford to eat there?"
"Oh, um, I mean, I saw an ad for the club on a TV set in a repair shop." Good grief! I nearly gave myself away! If she ever knew it was me, she'd probably kill me with her magic. He then noticed there was no one else. "Say, you here by yourself?"
"For the time being, yes. I've been a bit angry, and I needed some time alone to cool myself down."
Great, he thought sarcastically, tension really is building up between her and Cooper, and I don't have anything to tape the damn story with!! I'll never get the scoop of the century now!
"Ace was right to keep me out of the game. I let my anger for Duke Paparazzo cloud me completely. I was so blinded by the thought that all I wanted was revenge on him for doing that exposé on me. However, in a way, maybe the exposé has done a little good for me, too."
She thinks there was something good out of this? "What do you mean?"
"The people who do not know me very well have perceived me as some sort of 'sugared sweetheart' magician, a girl who never gets angry or does wrong. It's like I've become more than human in their eyes. Only thing is, I'm just as much a human being as the next person, and I have emotions like anger and sadness. Maybe…maybe I need to let the world know I really am a human being."
The disguised reporter was surprised. "So, most people think you're only a sweetheart, and you don't like that?"
"No, I don't like it. Also, the building lynch mob going after Paparazzo now. They're blinded to get even with him because of what he did to me. I understand now that doing something like that will make them just as bad or even worse than him. I don't like what he did, but I don't want him to get hurt, either. He was trying to do his job, even though what he did was completely unethical. If he concentrated on the yacht situation instead of getting even with me, he'd probably have the best story of the year. Besides, I know how to get even with him without having to resort to violence."
"Really? How?"
"If I find him, all I want is a public apology in front of everyone."
The hell she'll get one from me, he thought. No way I'm going to say I'm sorry for what I did. "You think you can find him?"
"I would like to find him before the lynch mob does first."
He finally felt full from the meal he was given. "Thank you, Miss. That was very thoughtful of you to do this for me."
"Last thing I want to see is somebody starve, especially someone who can't afford to eat a decent meal."
He stood up and asked, "Um, could I stay here for now?"
Angie sadly said, "I'm sorry, but if Ace discovered you here, he wouldn't be too pleased. No offense or anything."
The gentleman smiled and said, "I understand, Miss. I hope things work out all right for you and your friend."
"Thanks. I'll show you to the door."
As he stepped out the door, he said, "I appreciate the meal, Miss. Thanks again."
"You're welcome. Take care of yourself."
The door closed, and Angie felt satisfied with what she did. "Well, another good deed done. I just wish people could understand just how human I am."

Meanwhile, Ace and Cosmo had been captured by a mechanical genius who wanted revenge for being fired from jobs by various people. Helen Michaels was visited by the pair at her home, where they revealed the truth about her sabotaging yachts owned by some of the most prominent people in Electro City.
She had used her know-how to entrap the pair in her specially built recliner and sofa and rendered them unconscious when she put knockout drops in their glasses of water.
At least 30 minutes had passed since the Magician and his longtime partner became imprisoned.
The two were finally awakened by the sound of foghorn from a nearby ship.
"Wha—what happened?" asked Ace. "Where are we?"
"Don't…don't know, dude," Cosmo groggily answered. "I thought we were at somebody's house."
"You were, brat," said the angry voice of their captor, Helen Michaels. "You were at my house, trying to get me to confess to the sabotage of the yachts belonging to all those wealthy jerks. Okay, I admit, I decided to use my job at the boat company to get my revenge. I was soooo pleased when I got the chance to, um, help in putting the specially designed yachts together. Of course, my idea of helping was to make sure the brake lines were singed just enough to make sure slowing down would not be so simple. Also, I made sure the steering mechanism would fail as well.
"Unfortunately, all the people survived their accidents, and that…other stupid magician decided to keep my father's partner's boat intact, which could easily lead the cops to the company, which then would trace back to me. I can't have them finding me with the evidence. That also means I can't let you two get out alive so you can spill me over to the police. Believe me, I have every intention of getting away with this, and neither of you can stop me!"
Ace was unable to concentrate with his magic because the knockout drops were still affecting him. This is serious. If we don't stop her right now, she could go after her own father next. Angie, for your sake and ours, I hope you've cooled off in time. He then closed his eyes and did his best to reach out to his kindred sister.

Back at the Magic Express, Angie enjoyed some television to get her mind off the exposé situation. "Nothing like an episode of Space Goofs to keep me laughing through this mess."
She continued watching in content when she suddenly felt something powerful within herself. "Ahhhh!" she screamed while holding her head in confusion. "What's…going on?"
Kindred sister, Angie heard from Ace inside her heart, we need you. Please help us.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated to see where Ace and Cosmo were, she not knowing her light-blue aura luminated around her body. In a matter of seconds, she could "see" where her friends were in danger. "The Grand Canal…which old building, though?" She then noticed a large painted wolf's face on the inside of one building and was soon able to see Ace. "Wait…I know that place. Cosmo told me about it once. It was the headquarters of Sonny Boy's Company of Wolves group. That must be where they are!" Angie then called out, "Angel!"
"Yes, Angie?" the computer noted in its holographic form.
"This may be a bit much to ask, but I need you to lift the total lockdown. Ace and Cosmo are in trouble, and they need me right now."
"Normally," the AI stated, "only Ace would have the authority to tell me to do so. However, I know you're telling the truth."
"You do? How? For all purposes, I could be lying to you."
"Yes, but your aura was glowing. If you were faking it, your aura would not have shone so brightly. I will lift the lockdown now."
Angie smiled at the dodecahedron. "Thank you, Angel. I'll repay you for this, I promise."
As soon as she reached the garage, she wasted no time changing into her proper attire. "Magic Force, reveal the power within!"
Grabbing the helmet, she jumped onto the Magic Bike and quickly took off to rescue her friends.
On the way, she contacted Vega to let him know what was happening. "I know you're busy trying to stop that Paparazzo lynch mob, but is there any way you can get some units out to the old warehouse where the old Company of Wolves used to meet?"
In his car, Vega became curious about the situation. "I don't get it. What's going on?"
"Ace and Cosmo found the saboteur, but they're prisoners in that warehouse right now. Can you get officers out there ASAP?"
"I'll try, but I can't make any promises."
"I understand. Right now I've got to reach the guys before it's too late for them."
"Angie," Vega said sternly at first before becoming much calmer, "be careful." He then changed frequencies on his radio. "All available units not watching for the lynch mob need to get over to the old Company of Wolves warehouse on the Grand Canal. Possible trouble."
In a matter of minutes, Angie arrived at the old warehouse and could immediately sense the Magician's presence. Hang on, guys. She then levitated herself up to an open window and floated in.
Down below, Helen was completely determined to get her way. "All the changes I had in mind would be perfect, but those stupid idiots wanted tests and an approval process. Once you're out of the way, I'll get back at my father for firing me!"
The female magician stood up and shouted, "Let them go, now!"
Helen looked up and was completely surprised. "You! I didn't think you would dare show your face in public after that exposé on you."
"You think a phoney exposé was going to stop me from helping my friends? You'd better think again, loser!"
Looking up, Ace noticed his kindred sister and smiled. Welcome back, Angie.
Thanks, Ace. I'm back, much calmer, and most definitely battle-ready now.
Helen, though, did not listen to Angie's words. "Ha! You're the loser here. You're no match for my mechanical genius!" She then pressed a button which shot flames out towards the young magician.
Ducking underneath in time, Angie thought to herself, She's a tough one, but she's like what I was a couple of hours ago. I've got to take advantage of her thirst for revenge. A hologram should do the trick. Closing her eyes to concentrate and focus her holographic image of herself, she was able to make one appear near a series of crates, about 45 feet away from where Helen was standing.
"Hey, lady," said the holographic Angie. "I'm over here!"
"Wha—How'd you get down here so fast!?"
"Come and get me, loser!"
"You will not call me loser again!" Helen then ran after the hologram.
Standing back up, the real Angie noticed the saboteur chasing the illusion. "Now's my chance to free them," she whispered.
Making a total of four steel cards appear, she threw them in a crisscross manner, which caused the cards to cut the steel arms and claws to free Ace and Cosmo, who landed safely on the ground below.
Angie made a long jump down to meet up with her friends. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah," said a happy Cosmo. "We're just glad to see you a lot better."
"So am I," added Ace. "You showed up just in time."
Helen tried to grab the holographic Angie when she noticed her hand went right through it. "No…is it?"
"Ha-ha-ha," said the hologram. "You've been tricked! Bye!" She then abruptly vanished without a trace.
The mechanical wizard returned to the main area of action when she noticed the gentlemen free and all three friends together. "How dare you try to escape from me!" She then took another remote from her pocket. "Let's see if you can handle this!"
As the ground shook from underneath them, a giant 15-foot robot emerged.
Cosmo asked, "What the heck is that?"
"This was supposed to be what I would be using in the Lehman Boat Manufacturing plant, and I could have easily become the CEO of the company with this machine. Now I'll use it to kill all of you!" Pressing a few buttons, she yelled, "Get them all, my creation!"
The robot quickly started approaching the threesome.
Angie turned to Cosmo. "Got anything to jam the signal?"
"I dunno." He then turned on his wristwatch radio. "Angel, can you scramble the signal between Helen's remote and the robot?"
"I can try." She then sent a signal through the wristwatch to hopefully foul the controls.
Helen, though, just laughed wickedly. "You think you're going to stop me with your funny little jamming signal? I have a special system in my remote which can jam the jammer! Face it, you're finished!"
As the robot came closer to them, Angie thought, Ace, we need to bring our powers together, but there's not enough time for you to get into your costume.
Don't worry, Angie. With our psychic bond growing stronger, I won't need it this time. Give me your hands, quick.
Clasping hands immediately, they could feel their hearts and minds coming together once more. "Magic Force, unite our powers!"
As Ace's violet aura and Angie's light-blue aura illuminated brightly, their magical powers joined together and created a bright white light.
"Angie, let's give this thing a power surge for the ages."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
Ace put out his right hand; Angie did the same with the opposite hand.
"Ready?" asked the Magician.
"You bet. Ready…set…fire!"
From each hand came an incredible surge of electricity aimed directly at the heart of the robot.
The robot was unable to handle the electrical overload and shorted out in a matter of seconds, causing it to fall to the ground and become completely useless.
As their hands lost the glow, the two magicians smiled at each other.
"Good work, Angie."
"Thanks, Ace, I—"
Helen suddenly grabbed Angie by the throat and viciously put her back against the wall. "You stupid little jerk! You destroyed my best creation! I'll kill you, brat! Revenge will be mine!"
Although she struggled for air, Angie looked at her and said, "You…think you'll get away with this?"
"I know I will get away with this! I will ruin my father for his firing me! I have what it takes to destroy him after he destroyed me!"
"I'm not…so sure of that, Helen. I'm afraid you've made one very big mistake."
"No, I am a genius! Geniuses never make mistakes."
"Oh, no? If you think…you're so smart, then why are you concentrating on my throat…instead of my hands?"
Angie's face grew angry as she quickly threw her hands forward and used her powers not only to get Helen off her throat but also to make her fly a good 20 feet across the room.
The genius landed hard on the ground, but as she tried to take off, Ace threw his cape around her and had her completely tied up as she fell to the floor again.
As Angie coughed a little bit, Ace and Cosmo ran up to check on her.
"You okay, Angie?" Cosmo asked.
"Yeah…a little winded, but I'll live."
"Man, that was a smooth move you did on her."
"Well, she acted the way I did earlier, being blinded with a quest for revenge. I just took advantage of her critical mistake when she tried to strangle me instead of keeping me from using my magic."
Ace smiled at her and said, "Smart call, Angie. You took control of yourself again."
"Yeah, but I couldn't have done that if you hadn't done the lockdown on me earlier. I'm grateful you did, because I realized if I had come with you in my angry state, I could have easily have gotten us all killed."
"Maybe, maybe not." Ace kneeled down to her and held her shoulders. "The important thing to remember is being angry is a normal emotion, but not when you allow it to take control of your life and blind your ability to judge right from wrong."
"Yeah, and I almost let it, too. Thanks for stopping me the way you did."
As the three got into a group hug, Captain Friedrichs and about 15 police officers showed up at the warehouse.
"I didn't think we'd be back here again," he said, "not after what happened last time."
Ace, Cosmo, and Angie all walked up with the tied up Helen Michaels.
"Vega sent a number of units out here, but for what?"
Angie came up and answered, "Captain, meet the saboteur of all the yachts, Helen Michaels."
"She did it all by herself?"
"That's right. Check with the employment agency, and they should tell you the people who fired her all match the intended victims of the yacht sabotage."
"I see. I don't understand why she worked in the Lehman Company, though."
"It's simple," Ace answered. "Since she could get to work on custom-built boats, it was the perfect excuse for her to get revenge on everybody."
"Well, I guess that would be a reasonable MO for her."
"You guess?" said a gentleman who walked up. "I knew my daughter didn't like me for firing her, but I never thought she would try this."
Angie realized who the gentleman was. "Carson Michaels?"
"Yes. I'm now the CEO of the Sawyers Linen Company. My retired partner's yacht—"
"I know. That was the key to unlocking the case. I'm sorry it was your daughter who did all this."
Mr. Michaels then stared angrily at Helen. "How could you do this to me? You graduated from MIT, yet you wanted to get even with everyone who terminated you."
Ace then added, "She had you as her next target."
"Why?"
"Because," begun the angry answer of his daughter, "you didn't want me to do anything without 'trial runs' or the 'approval process,' so I had to do this to make you listen to me."
"Helen, if you were only patient, we would have given you the chance to field test your robot knowledge and then a trial run to see if it were effective to use. You can't force your way anywhere. That's why you lost all your jobs. You thought your mechanical genius would get you wherever you wanted, but now it's going to send you to jail."
Friedrichs said, "Men, take Miss Michaels away and read her rights." As Helen was escorted to the police car, he then looked at Angie. "I'm surprised you came along, Miss Jacobs. I figured you wouldn't come out of the Magic Express because of—"
"Do I have to explain this again?" Angie asked as she became annoyed. "I am not going to let an exposé done on me stop me from doing what matters the most. Can we please stop discussing this?"
"Leave her alone, Friedrichs," Cosmo angrily said. "The truth's gonna come out about her, and you'll be surprised about it."
Just then, someone's police radio was putting out this message: "The lynch mob has apparently changed targets. Instead of Paparazzo, they're after a homeless gentleman with straight black hair and blue eyes."
Angie gasped in fear because she remembered that gentleman. "Oh, no."
"What's wrong, Angie?" Ace asked in worry.
"Ace, there's something I need to tell you. While you were away, a homeless man came to the Express. He was very hungry, and I couldn't leave him outside to starve to death, so I…"
"Let me guess, this is the homeless gentleman, right?"
Angie put her face down in shame. "Yes. I'm sorry, Ace."
Holding her in a calm embrace, he said, "It's okay. If we were in different positions, I would have done the same thing."
Just then, Angel spoke into the radio wristwatches of all three friends. "I have some important information for all of you. Angie, remember that homeless man you assisted?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Take a look at this." She projected an image of the homeless man and Paparazzo. "Do you notice the facial features?"
Angie could not believe her eyes. "Oh, my God…the homeless man I helped was really Duke Paparazzo in disguise! That mob doesn't know they're actually getting closer to Paparazzo than they think! I've got to do something!" She then ran off.
"Wait," Ace yelled, "you shouldn't—"
Don't worry, Ace, she thought to him, I know what to do this time. Just trust me.
Using the psychic bond, he realized Angie was being truthful. I do trust you, kindred sister. Make sure he doesn't get hurt too badly.

The homeless man had gotten closer to being caught by that mob when he ran into an alley. Unfortunately, that alley was nothing more than a dead end, and he soon found himself completely trapped. Oh, no, there's no way out. I'm dead!
The lady leading the group started to approach him. "Okay, pal, you'd better tell us where Paparazzo is right now!"
"I don't know where he is right now," he said in fear.
"Then how did you get his wallet? You do know where he's hiding, so tell us now, or we'll force it out of you! He'll pay for what he's done to Angie!"
"I'm telling you, I don't know!"
"Come on, everybody, let's get him, and then he'll tell the truth!"
As the mob inched closer toward him, a voice from above shouted, "STOP!"
The 300 or so people halted immediately and looked up at the top of the building.
One of the gentlemen in the mob yelled, "It's Angie!"
The female magician, still in her crimefighting costume, levitated down to just in front of the homeless man. "Please, don't do this."
"But, he knows where that maniac Paparazzo is hiding! We're going to take him down!"
"I've got news for all of you. You've already found him. Who has his wallet?"
"I do," the woman answered. "Why?"
"Take out his driver's license and look carefully at the facial features between the photo and this man here."
The lady took out the license and did a close examination. "I don't believe it…he looks just like Paparazzo."
Using her magic, Angie changed the homeless man's hair from straight black into the standard curled blond the reporter would always have. "That's because he is Paparazzo."
The entire group gasped in surprise.
"He had to make the disguise when he realized you were all after him."
"Well, at least now things are easier for us," said the lady angrily.
"What do you mean? Do you intend on harming him?"
"For what he did to you, you bet."
Angie put her arms to the sides as she stood in front of Paparazzo. "No, please. Don't hurt him."
One of the men was very surprised. "Why not? Don't you understand what he's done to you?"
"Of course I do. However, I also understand trying to get revenge would have made just as bad or even worse than Paparazzo himself, and I almost did, too." Tears began to come from her eyes. "The problem is, a lot of people have thought of me as this…sugar-coated sweetie who never gets angry or does anything wrong…like I've become more than human. The fact of the matter: I'm just as human as the next person, and I have a right to feel any emotion, including anger, sadness, everything. You've only seen all the good deeds I've done, not the real me. Only those closest to me know who I really am."
The lady understood the young magician's words. She turned to the crowd and said, "You know…Angie's right. I guess I thought of her as a 'perfect' person, and then when Paparazzo did that exposé, I wanted so badly to get back at him because he wanted desperately to make her imperfect."
"Let's face facts," Angie said, "nobody's perfect. I know I'm not perfect, and I don't expect myself to be perfect. But, please, I beg all of you not to harm him. I mean, I'm angry about what he did to me, but he's a human being, too. Getting revenge for what he did will not make you feel better. All it's going to do is blind your ability to tell what's right from what's wrong."
"I should know about that," said a male voice behind the crowd. "When your blinded by vengeance, it leads to nothing but trouble."
As the gentleman came forward and stood by Angie, he stood about 6'4" tall, with brown hair and brown eyes. "What Paparazzo did to this young woman was wrong, but I know you folks aren't the types who go out and form a lynch mob against him. It's like she just said, not too many people know who she really is."
"Yeah," said one of the men in the mob. "I guess all we've seen is Angie's goodhearted side, not the real person she is."
In the midst of the conversation, Paparazzo tried to slip away from the scene, but Angie's sensitive ears caught onto it immediately.
"Hold it, Paparazzo," said Angie, using her magic to freeze him in place. After she turned him to face her, she angrily said, "Just because I saved your skin does not get you off the hook from me. You almost destroyed my life because of what you did."
"What…what…what do you want from me?" the reporter asked in fear.
"All I want from you…is a public apology. I want you to completely recant your exposé and say you're sorry to me in front of everybody."
Another gentleman yelled, "You're going to get your chance, Miss Jacobs."
"Mr. Wilders?"
He and Kendra Rayler came through the crowd.
"Angie, I'm going to see to it you get your public apology as of tonight." He then looked at the crowd. "Everybody, you're all invited to the Sensa-News Studio, on me, for tonight's show."
The crowd was pleased with the studio head's decision.
"Oh, and Angie, Carrie Jones sent us the video disk of your real story, but we want you to see it first. Is that okay with you?"
"Sure, but let's see it in the Magic Express."
"You got it." He looked at the crowd one more time and said, "Everyone, go home and get ready for tonight. I promise, this is one you will not soon forget."
The crowd quickly dispersed to prepare for an unforgettable evening.
"Um," started a very nervous Paparazzo, "can I go home now?"
Wilders looked at him and said, "Yes, Duke, you can…so you can gather up all the copies of your exposé. I noticed under Schoendorf you had at least 10 copies of exposés, so you can bring them all to the studio tonight. I'm going to your house personally to see you do that. Kendra, I want you to go with Angie to the Express and show her what we did."
"Sure thing."
The other gentleman then asked, "Um, Miss Jacobs, would you mind if I come, too?"
"Well, I don't know…"
"I'm an old friend of Ace's, really."
"Oh, okay. I don't see why not." She then spoke into her wristwatch radio. "Ace, situation's under control. Meet me at the Magic. Real story's arrived, and a friend of yours is coming, too."
"Great, Angie. See you at home."
Before they left, though, Angie had one more thing to say to Paparazzo. She angrily said, "I'm going to warn you right now. If you ever try this on me, or anyone close to me, ever again, you can bet I will get you, and only you, with a libel and slander lawsuit so hard you won't be able to keep your job."
"Ha, you don't even know what libel and slander mean."
"Oh, really? I graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts, specializing in Mass Communications. One of the required courses was Media Law and Ethics. I do know what they mean, since they're concurrent with each other. When used together, you're deliberately out to destroy someone's reputation by printing or broadcasting complete lies." After seeing him gulp in surprise, she added, "I can't wait for tonight."
With that, she left the scene, satisfied she was able to prevent anyone from getting hurt in all the insanity.

A half-an-hour later, Kendra, Angie, and the gentleman all returned to the Express safely.
Ace was happy to see his kindred sister. "Angie, you did it. You were able to prevent the crowd from hurting Paparazzo before it was too late." He then noticed the gentleman. "I don't believe it…Gus?"
"Hi, Ace. It's good to see you again, under more pleasant circumstances this time."
The two gentlemen shook hands in happy greetings.
"Hey, Gus, good to see you again," said Cosmo as he shook hands with the gentleman.
"Wait…you all know each other?" asked a confused Angie.
Ace smiled. "Yes, we do. Angie, this is my friend Gus Moreland. We were in Black Jack's gang in the past."
"Oh, okay. I wasn't sure, but Mr. Moreland—"
"Please, just call me Gus."
"Anyway, Gus, how do you know so much about blind vengeance?"
"It's a long story…"
For the next hour, Ace, Gus, and Cosmo explained the details about the time in the gang, the time Gus was trapped in one of the security systems and left for dead, his coming back to life in the Cryogenic Center and causing all kinds of trouble in Electro City, all for seeking revenge on Ace for abandoning him during a job and Jack Malone for leaving him behind after the botched robbery attempt.
"Wow," said Angie, "I can see why you know about revenge first-hand. I almost went down the same path."
Kendra heard everything between the four, but since she did not carry a hidden microphone or bugging device, she agreed to keep everything off the record. "Now, want to see the story?"
"You bet I do," said Angie excitedly.
After 15 minutes of watching, Angie unquestionably liked what Carrie had done. "It's perfect. This will show people I'm human, too."
"Great. We'll see you at the show tonight, then."
"I'll be there. Thanks, Kendra." She then turned to Gus. "Um, Gus, do you have any dinner plans right now?"
"Nah, I'm just ordering take-out."
"Please, have chicken chow mein with us."
"Take-out?"
Ace shook his head. "Nope, Angie's cooking it."
"She cooks?"
"Yes. And, I need to warn you, Gus. The food she cooks is very addictive."
After thinking it over for a moment, Gus decided to go for it. "Okay, Angie, you've got another dinner guest."
All enjoyed the chicken chow mein before leaving for the studio.

At 7 p.m. that evening, the seats were completely filled up at the Sensa-News Studio, and everybody was ready for an unforgettable evening.
"Good evening, I'm Kendra Rayler, substituting for Duke Paparazzo, who tonight finds himself in a lot of hot water because of a phoney exposé he did on one of Electro City's most well-known citizens. Angela Jacobs has done so much for this city since she got here two-and-a-half years ago, but a lot of us don't really know who she is. We've seen all her good deeds she has done with Ace Cooper, the Magician, but that's it. Tonight, we're finally going to show you the real Angela Jacobs, and we'd like to start with this story done by KMCO reporter Carrie Jones."
As the video disk began, Carrie spoke. "Angela Connie Jacobs was born to Robert and Nancy Jacobs in Mason City Hospital in Mason City, Iowa. From the beginning, most people had known her parents as those who helped the community. However, they did have one run-in with the law. When Angie was just three, her parents joined in a protest of a factory that continually produced polluting chemicals and found themselves behind bars for about three hours. From that point on, Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs were determined to do things for others, no matter what it took and by all legal means. As for little Angie herself, she was only five years old when her parents caught her with a TV Guide without paying for it. It was a moment which set her straight for life."
Then, Angie's best friend Ashley Brighton appeared. "I've been a friend of Angie's since the first grade, and believe me, she's the best friend I've ever had in my life. I come from a very wealthy family, but Angie taught me to feel rich inside my heart, not with money this, money that. Now, there are some things not a lot of people know about her. For instance, do not try to make her eat watermelon. Angie totally hates watermelons. I know when we went to a watermelon festival, she tried one and didn't like it at all. She said the taste was too weird, so she's never eaten one ever since. She also can't stand complete silence because of her sensitive hearing. I can understand that because Mason City is in Tornado Alley, and sometimes complete silence leads to a dangerous tornado.
"I was also the first person she called when her parents…were killed in a terrible automobile accident. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs were innocent victims of a road-rage incident by two other drivers. She was feeling all alone, but I wanted to be there with her every day. She had a lot of grief and pain, and we did get into disagreements on some days, but I was grateful to be with her at this hard time. I remember, when we both graduated as co-valedictorians at Wrigley High School, in a part of her speech, she simply said, 'Believe in yourself, for anything will always be possible when you do.' I've never forgotten that speech, Angie, and I never will."
Later on, her older cousin Jeff Sullers talked about Angie truthfully. "Angie's a character. She always liked to have fun with her parents and other family members. She's really picked up her mother's cooking ability so well. However, we had an awful discovery one day. She tried to eat some fruit salad but soon suffered a severe reaction. Aunt Nancy got her to the hospital in time, and we soon learned she was severely allergic to almonds. It's eating almonds that causes the reaction, not the smell. That's one of the odd things. I've heard people be allergic to both the smell and taste, but in her case, it's a little different. Amazingly, I know she stepped on a bee right on the stinger when she was seven, and boy did it hurt her badly. She also had a wasp land on her right finger, and she unknowingly squeezed that stinger right into her finger. It's incredible to know she didn't have an allergic reaction to those, but bad luck can be with her on some days. Fortunately, bad luck didn't stop her from doing well at Iowa State, since she won that scholarship because of her high grades. Angie, you're still the coolest cousin, magician or not."
Finally, her aunt Rita Wisland had her chance to speak. "When I learned Angie was living in Electro City with Ace Cooper, I was very angry at the time because I thought she had to be here with me to be safe. I tried to take her away from her new home, and needless to say, she was very livid about that. She cared very much about her friends, but I was unable to let go of the guilt I had from the death of my son Eric. She managed to save my life, and well, she really knew what she was doing. I realized she had already grown up, but I couldn't see it before. After what she did, we became a lot closer. She came to my rescue again when she learned of my bad relationship with Craig Rutherford here in Des Moines. I'm grateful to her for what she's done for me, and I know her parents are proud of her. Angie's never been a person who would turn her back on anybody who needed help, but people need to understand she's not perfect, either."
Kendra then picked up from there. "We in the media have to be blamed partially for what's happened as well. We have portrayed her as a sweetheart who can seemingly do no wrong, which has resulted in a lot of people believing she may be somewhat more than human. Angela Jacobs may be a magician fighting alongside Ace Cooper, but in the last day or two we have come to understand she's just as much a human being as the rest of us."
She then sat down next to Angie. "Angie, what have you yourself been able to learn through all this madness?"
"Well, I've learned it's okay to be angry about things, but not to the degree where it takes control of me instead of me controlling it. I, too, actually considered going for revenge against Paparazzo, but if it weren't for Ace, I would have done something regrettable. He had to keep me out for a little while because I allowed the anger to blind me completely. I mean, it's normal for friends to have arguments, but that doesn't always mean there's serious dissension between Cosmo, Ace, and myself. I am human, and I have made mistakes before, but I can learn from them and become better, just never perfect. I don't want to be perfect, and I feel better when I have friends I can talk about my problems with."
"In addition to that, while all this madness was going on, you and your friends were able to crack the case concerning the sabotaged yachts."
"Yes, we did. Vega can explain the details at his press conference in the morning."
"Now, I believe Duke Paparazzo is here, and so is our studio head, Kelly Wilders."
As the two came out, the crowd booed the unethical reporter for what he did.
Wilders made Paparazzo sit next to Angie with the 12 found copies of the video disk containing the false story. He then took the copies and handed them to Angie. "Miss Jacobs, you can do whatever you wish to all of them."
"Thank you, Mr. Wilders." She soon stood up and concentrated with her powers, squeezing all the disks together and emerging as 12 fireballs. "Now, to make them all disappear forever." She then threw all the fireballs into the air, which soon dissolved into nothingness. She took a bough as the audience applauded her impromptu performance.
After taking her seat once more, Wilders looked at Paparazzo. "I think you owe her something, Duke."
The star reporter groaned and looked at her. "Angie…I'm sorry for doing that false exposé on you. I realize how much trouble I had actually caused. I'll make sure I don't do that ever again."
"That's good, Duke," started Wilders in a rather sarcastic tone, "because as of now, you're no longer the star reporter of Sensa-News."
"WHAT!?" he shouted.
"You heard me. You went too far this time, and you are officially stripped of star reporter status. Kendra Rayler is now the star reporter for this network, and I know she'll do a good job."
Kendra was completely surprised by this turn of events. "I promise, Mr. Wilders, I'll do my best to make sure we report the truth and only the truth."
"Good. As for you, Duke, be ready to do the health department restaurant scores for the next year, because that's all you'll be doing."
Paparazzo could not believe what had happened. "But, I know there's serious tension between—"
"Don't even start, Duke. Now, get out of here, go home, and think about everything you've done in the last couple of days."
The reporter stormed out of the studio in anger. "I don't believe it! That story cost me my star status! I'm never doing exposés ever again!"

A short time after the show had ended, Angie and her friends sat at the sofa on the set with glasses of sparkling grape juice.
She stood up and said, "Everybody, I want to thank you for being with me in all this lunacy. I've been able to learn about myself in the last couple of days, and I couldn't have done that without any of you."
Clanging glasses together, she, Kendra, Gus, Cosmo, Wilders, and Ace Cooper, the Magician, celebrated their team victory of truth over deceit.


THE END



Throughout the course of this story, I myself have learned some of the mistakes concerning the development of my character Angela Jacobs. I learned I didn't make her as human as she should be, but I also understand development takes time. Angie herself has trusted me to begin this effort to make her more human but not more than human. I thank those friends who showed me what I had been doing wrong. J

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