Disclaimer: I don't own the plot or characters. Anything you don't recognize is mine!
A/N: i normally don't like to post Author notes but I have realized I do need to explain some things.
First off: Henley is not in my version of Now You See ME. Do to plot points and character relationships, her character interfere with logic and placement. Olivia is replacing Henley in a way. Also I did not like the idea of making it "The Five Horsemen". I am trying to keep as close to the original plot as possible.
Second: Thank you to everyone who follows, favorites and reviews. There amazing. I do have to say, the reviews help me a lot and as much as I love seeing people Favorite and follow the story, review is also a nice sign of appreciation. Reviews do help me to keep up inspiration a determination. After I post a chapter, I constantly check my emails for reviews and reading them helps me want to write more chapters fast. So ya.
As promised, there is a scene that is not in the original film. I know right now I haven't posted anything beside scene from the actual movie but I promise they will be popping up more. It just is the first couple of scene that its strictly Movie scenes. Once the story gets rolling then more "original" scenes will come into play.
One Year Later. Las Vegas Stage.
Las Vegas was buzzing with anticipation at the MGM Grammy's . The elegance of rich businessmen and celebrities flaunting the red carpet, the flash of paparazzi camera and the sounds of excited audience members who travelled miles for a night of entertainment and royalty treatment made the Las Vegas scene even more glamourous than normal.
Inside the stage, which was funded by Mr. Arthur Tressler of Tressler Insurance, the lights dimmed down, quieting the audience for the opening act. The announce deep voice boomed inside the theater.
"Merritt McKinney...Daniel Atlas, Jack Wilder, Olivia Wilder." He called out each member and an image of them popped up on the big screen in front of the audience. "Arthur Tressler and the MGM Grammy's proudly present...The Four Horsemen."
The Four Horsemen appeared on stage, all dressed in black and ready for a magical evening. The began walking around the stage, saying hi to the floor audience member.
"Thank you. Tonight we would like to try something that will...well.. Set us a bit apart." Merritt announced, walking around.
"For our final trick, we're going to do something never before seen on a las Vegas Stage." She announced, doing a front walkover, making the crowd go crazy.
"Or any stage for that matter!" Jack pointed out, walking up the flight that led to the stage. Many of the girls in the audience went nuts at the male Wilder.
"Ladies and Gentlemen." Danny pulled their attention to him. "Tonight." He held for anticipation. He jogged up the flight of stairs to the center platform and turned to the other side of the audience. "We are going to rob a bank."
The crowd went wild as they heard Danny announce their attempt to rob a bank. Many were wondering if they could actually pull it off, some of the believers in the audience were ready to watch them pull off such of feat of magic. The Horsemen lapped in the audiences buzz. Merritt shook a couple of audience members hands while Jack and Olivia high fived, making the crowd's energy hype up more when they saw Olivia high five her twin as she flipped.
"That's a lot of excitement for a crime." Danny jestered.
In one of the nosebleed section of the theater, a african american male and a young women sat filming the show in front of them. The man was Thaddeus Bradley, a magician turned debunker who made millions debunking magicians and exposing their tricks. No magician was safe if he was around. He'd tell anyone how to do their tricks and practically ruined a magician's life at one point or another. A usher in a green suit came over to them.
"Sorry, sir but there's absolutely no recording allowed during the performance." The usher informed him, pointing the camera he was holding.
"Oh yeah, yeah, sure. Of course. Let me just put this away." He turned off the camera and went to go put it in his bag when the usher interrupted him.
"Actually, I need to take that, but after the show I can come and give it back to you." Reluctantly, Bradley handed over the usher. Once the usher was out of sight, Bradley chucked as he pulled out a smaller camera and held it by his side.
Daniel shushed the crowd. "Okay, now please, please settle down." He turned around to the other side of the audience. "Now, who here has a bank they would like us to rob?"Audience members screamed as they raised their hand.
"Wow, that's a lot of people with a vendetta." Olivia whispered to Jack as they grabbed the fishbowls filled with ping pong balls.
"We'll just chose one at random then. My associates will make sure it's random. Right?" Daniel asked the group.
Everyone cheered as the other Horsemen came around to ask someone to chose a 'random' ping pong ball. Jack walked over and immediately let the man dresses as Elvis in his Blue Hawaiian Movie outfit pick the ball.
"Jack can I have a random section number." Daniel asked and Jack tossed the ball in his direction. Daniel read out the number. "We are looking at section B." Daniel read and then turned around. "Where is section B." The crowd in section B screamed wildly to show where they were. "Okay, you're over there. Get ready it's gonna be one of you guys."
Merritt had a young lady who flirtatiously smiled at him pick a ball from the bowl. He tossed the ball towards Daniel and the crowd silenced as Danny read the ball number.
"Row number 5." He said and watched as the row stood up and screamed in anticipation. The Horsemen smiled at their enthusiasm.
"And finally, Olivia can I have a random seat number." Olivia walked over to a small group on the floor, turned her back from them and dramatically bent backwards and placed one hand down on the floor, the other holding the fishbowl to a young looking guy who winked at her as she pulled herself up to grab the ball from him and bounced it over to Danny.
"Oh ha!"Danny chucked at the irony. "Lucky number 13. B-5-13! Where are you?" A middle age man in a white tux stood up and took the microphone from an usher close by. "Ah there you are. Hi. Could you just confirm for me that this is in fact, your seat? B-5-13?"
"Yes." The man said in a heavy french accent.
"Okay. Wonderful." Danny threw the balls away, causing a chuckle to wave over the audience.
"Now could you please tell us your name and the name of your bank?" Danny asked the man.
"Well, my name is Etienne Forcier and my bank, it's Credit Republicain de Paris." The crowd 'ooo' as Etienne stated his bank was in France.
"Right okay." Danny feigned surprise and shock. "French. Okay uh...we were hoping for something a little more local, a kind of mom and pop credit union with no security." The crowd laughed at Danny's poke at the local banks in Vegas. "But that's fine. A promise is a promise. COuld you please come up to the stage and will, uh, rob your bank." Danny led the crowd into an applause as the other Horseman gestured the frenchman to come down.
When the man stepped onto the stage, he was met by Merritt who slapped him on the back before grabbing hold of his neck, a light tap to the stomach and began utter words in his ear. Of course no one saw this encounter because they were too focused on Danny and Olivia giving praises to their benefactor, Arthur Tressler, who greedily took their praises in. It filled his ego up to the brim. Merritt snapped his fingers together and the two stood up straight.
"And of course, once again, the Cardinal of Clairvoyance, Merritt McKinney." Danny introduced and waved an arm towards the two, who stood slightly off center. Jack paraded around with a futuristic helmet with mini circles and wires attached to the siding.
"Now Etienne, what Jack is bringing to the stage now is what we in the magic world call a teleportation helmet." Jack placed the headpiece onto Etienne head and turned it on. It glowed bright blue and the light caused the frenchman to jump back in shock.
"This helmet will allow you to literally fold through space and time to your bank in the...8th" Etienne shook his head. "9th arrondissement" Etienne shook his head in understanding.
Once Etienne had the helmet strapped on, Merritt stood back in mocking awe. "Oh, my god that's beautiful. It had the added attraction of being very stylish, about time the French learned from the Americans on that subject."
They stepped back once more to show off Etienne and he bowed graciously and accepted the crowd's enthusiastic energy.
Danny stepped forward and held out a deck of cards. "Now before you go anywhere, could you please pick a card, any card." As Etienne went for one, Danny pulled the deck away. "Not that card." He joked and placed the deck back in front of him, seeing that Etienne wasn't getting his little joke.
"Old american joke. You can take that one." He said as Etienne pulled out the 2 of hearts. "Now show it to your friends in Section B but not to us." The four horsemen shielded their eyes away from him so he could show the card to everyone. Once they had gotten a good look the four horsemen came back.
"Now, if you could just sign your name on the card." Olivia produced a black pen to Etienne.
"In English, if possible." Danny tried again and Olivia jabbed his arm.
"Okay now you can put that in your pocket." Danny instructed.
Olivia stepped forward towards the crowd. "And now for one tiny detail." She pulled from her pocket a long, raven black, silky curtain and it danced on the stage, moving elegantly and mysterious like black swans. Underneath revealed a large metal structure that held a futuristic look to it. The audience gasped and looked in awe at the curtain's dance.
Olivia helped Etienne into the machine while Merritt instructed him.
"Now, Etienne, step into this cockamamie contraption. Bonne chance. It's 11:50 pm in Vegas, that's 8:50 am in Paris. Your bank opens in less than 10 minutes."
The Four Horseman stepped back from the machine, ready to enact the second part of their act.
"One….two...three…"
In a flash of bright light, the structure folded shut with a loud bang. Everyone, including the Horseman jumped back in shock and covered their eyes from the light. Etienne let out a quick burst of noise as he traveled down a narrow metal tube and landed crouching in a bright,silver room. When He stood, he was in amazement. He was in his bank, staring at a large stack of bills.
Back in Vegas, everyone looked around, seeing that Etienne was nowhere in sight. The Four Horsemen looked around the stage, feigning ignorance at the reaction of the device.
"Wow! Etienne?" Merritt called out.
"Where did he go?" Jack asked some of the members in the audience.
"I liked that little French guy." Olivia joked.
Static noise filled the stadium and the magicians turned to the big screen in the front of the theater. They watched as the static screen began to form shapes and colors of the French man and the vault in which he was located. The audience clapped when Etienne, who was unharmed, appeared on the screen in front of them. Danny held out his hands to silence the crowd.
"No no, no, no, please. This is Daniel Atlas. Can you hear me? Etienne?"
Daniel's voice rang through his ear and he felt around the helmet for the speaker that was attached to the side of it. "Yes?" he called out, hoping he was heard.
"Perfect." Danny exclaimed. "What do you see?" He asked.
Etienne walked forward and stared at the large stack of bills. "Money." He stated. He picked up a few bills, rolling it between his fingers to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, or dreaming. "Is this real?"
"Yes it looks like three millions or so Euros' worth. Okay, now here's what your going to do. I want you to take the card you signed out of your pocket and I want you to put the ticket stub from tonight's show and put it right there in the middle of the money."
Etienne fished around from both the ticket stud and the card, stared at it for a brief moment and then, without thinking, dropped it in between the stack of money.
"Now, on the side of your helmet you should feel a button." Etienne reached to the right side of his face and felt a smooth large button. "Don't press it!" Danny warned and his hand retreated.
"That button activates an air duct, that connects Paris to Las Vegas." Danny informed him before instructing him to push the button, enacting the air duct.
"Now Etienne, hold on tight." Jack started. "There's a bit of a vacuum." Olivia finished the warning.
Beneath them, they could feel a slight rumble and at first, many believe that an earthquake was occurring but a rush of air ceased all suspicion as a sudden burst of color filled the ceiling and floated down. Millions of bills floated into audience member's lap and littered the floor. A burst of joy and amazement washed over the audience members for the money floating down like children reaching for a cookie. The Horsemen watched as the audience members eye's lit up at the gift they had received. They formed a line in the center of the stage.
"Thank you, Etienne. Thank you everyone!" Danny applauded.
"We are The Four Horsemen. Goodnight!" They cheered taking hands and bowing together.
After the show, the Horsemen retreated back to their hotel at the Aria, a pristine and expensive hotel where big kingpins, millionaires and heiresses took leave from the busy Vegas scene. Merritt retreated to his room for a nice long nap while Danny had perched himself in the kitchen area with a laptop, reading over the instructions they were given a year ago. He loved to scan and scan over the blueprints, making sure every detail, every second was perfectly calculated. Olivia had changed into pajamas and was currently sitting in one of the couches, overlooking the large city view below them. Jack, who had been going to bed, noticed his sister.
"Admiring the view?" He asked as he took a seat next to her. She looked over at him and smirked.
"Remember when mom use to dream of a view like this?" She reminded Jack and he chuckled. "And that Penthouse on South Street."
"Ya, every time we walked by that place dad use to say 'One day I'll buy an apartment, right on the top floor. And we'll get all white furniture and have fancy parties….but of course you kids will be in bed before the party ends." Jack used his particular set of impression skills to mimic his father's voice. A deep, scratchy and husky voice. Olivia broke into a giggle fit at her brother's impression of her father. Soon the laughter died and was replaced by a somber, melancholy smile.
"We're a long way from Brooklyn, aren't we?" Olivia asked, casting her gaze onto the city view. Jack wrapped his arm around his sister and allowed her to lean on his shoulder.
"Ya. One year ago we were just two orphans magicians working the street, trying to make it and now…"
They had sat there in silence for moments that seemed to go on forever. Since they had taken the leap of faith and followed the Eye's set of instruction they had been so busy practicing tricks, analyzing data, planning out every detail of the large set of instructions they were given one year ago that they hadn't gotten much down time to reflect and spend time with each other. Family meant a lot to the Wilder twins.
After a couple of moments, Jack sat up, kissed his sister on the forehead goodnight and went to bed. She had sat there, watching many lights in the city die down as everyone was closing for the evening to go home for a good night's rest. She glanced at the clock above the Flat screen. 2:50 am. She glanced over to the kitchen area, where Danny was still at the Island counter, looking at the laptop that brightly lit the silhouette around him. Sighing, she pushed herself off the couch and walked towards him.
Danny was known for two things, his controlling nature and smugness. Of course, alongside the many traits one could put in the negative column next to Danny's name, another that was a big one was obsession. Danny was the Horseman that spent hours and hours perfecting each detail, even if they had went over it a hundred times and everything was perfect; Danny would find the flaw in everything.
Olivia walked to the other side of the counter, leaned onto the counter and stared at him, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence. His hair was disheveled, one hand latched into his hair as his other hand obsessively clicked on the mouse on the laptop. Dark circles plaques his eyes and he looked exhausted but of course, Danny would never admit it.
"Danny?" Olivia asked. He didn't even move. "Danny?" She said a little louder. Still, Danny did not even bat an eye. "Danny?" Olivia tapped the countertop next to him and he blinked a couple of times, looking up at her. "Hmm?"
Olivia smiled sweetly and gently closed the laptop. He pulled back offended.
"It's almost 3 am." She stated, jutting her head to the clock. "I think that's enough."
Danny removed her hands from the laptop and reopened it, shaking his head. "No, there's still a lot to be done before tomorrow."
Olivia closed the laptop again, this time a little faster. "You can do it in the morning."
He pulled back the laptop. "No by that point we have to pack and the FBI probably will be making their visit by the time were done."
Olivia sighed and grabbed the laptop away from him, ignoring his groans of protest. She held it away from him when he attempted to reach for it. "Danny, it's 3 am. You're gonna be exhausted by tomorrow."
"That's what coffee for." He quipped. Olivia rolled her eyes and moved away.
"That's bad for you."
Danny pulled himself up from the counter stool and moved around the countertop towards Olivia, who stepped back when he tried to grab the laptop in a last feat attempt.
"Look we were given instruction, we have a plan. Everything needs to be executed precisely." Danny explained, getting closer to Olivia. "And we have to make sure every detail, every step they make, we are five steps ahead of them." By this point, Danny had gotten extremely close to Olivia, his mint breath fanned over hers. "So while you, your brother and Merritt sleep away, I have to stay up and make sure we don't end up in jail."
"Can't stay out of jail if you're half asleep." She whispered, placing the laptop down and brushed her fingertips gently against hers. "Go lie down on the couch, even if it's for an hour. I can make your favorite tea." She offered, pulling herself closer. He looked down at their hands. Her fingertips on top of his. They were chilled, probably from the AC vent. "English Breakfast." She whispered in a sing song tone. He gave her a sweet, mocking smile and chuckled.
"I'll sleep when this is all over." He whispered roughly before grabbing the laptop and walking towards his bedroom on the bottom floor of the two level suit. Olivia huffed in frustration before retreating back to her own room.