Chapter Thirteen
"There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment."
-Norman Vincent Peale
"A magic show?" Ruri repeated.
"Un! I got a ticket but it turned out I'm not going to be able to make it so I thought you might like to go see it," Aoko explained, waving around the little slip of purple paper.
"But why me? I would've thought Keiko would be your first choice..."
"Oh, Keiko told me she was busy that day."
Ah. So I wasn't the first choice...
Ruri sighed. "Well, I'm quite flattered you're giving it to me but..."
Aoko tilted her head to the side.
"Just take it! Kaito told me that you enjoy magic and the like, so I thought you'd want to go!" She thrust the ticket into Ruri's hands and smiled.
"I- ...thank you..." Ruri mumbled.
"I wonder when it's going to start..." Ruri mumbled, checking her watch.
The show was supposed to start-
The lights in the auditorium began to dim, making the place pitch black. Suddenly, the lights turned on, making Ruri flinch.
She watched as the curtain rose, revealing flickering torches and a white tiger sitting in a cage. A man dressed like some demon last boss game character came out with a camera and went right up to the cage, filling the screen on the left with the tiger's roaring head. Two women came out from the sides of the stage, dressed in black leotards and fishnet stockings. One had wavy shoulder-length hair, and the other had short straight hair. They covered the cage with a yellow curtain and the one with shoulder-length wavy hair raised her left hand. Slowly, the covered cage began to rise into the air. Eventually it stopped, two ropes dangling from the bottom.
The two women walked to the ropes and tugged. Smoke covered the stage, and the audience cried out in surprise. There, in the cage where the tiger used to be, was a man with long wavy hair, dressed in a slightly eye catching tuxedo, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He stepped out of the cage and took the microphone the short haired woman offered him.
"Welcome, everyone, to Fuyuki Genyou's magic show. Please enjoy tonight's magic with your entire heart."
Ruri watched with slight morbid fascination as Fuyuki revved up the chainsaw and brought it down slowly on the box that held the short haired woman. She knew how the trick worked, but it was still interesting. He placed two reflective plates inside the middle and pulled the two halves apart, showing them off. He placed them together again, pulling out the plates. The box's sides opened, revealing the woman to be completely unharmed.
Throwing knives certainly weren't something Ruri knew much about. So when the short haired woman was strapped to the huge black and red dart board and a tray filled with knives was sent out, she knew this was going to be interesting. The man gently picked up one of the knives with a gloved hand, and threw it at the woman, making the audience gasp. The knife was embedded right next to the woman's head. The man picked up another two, clanging them together just a bit, before throwing both. They dug into the board on either of the woman's sides. She was then given a bright yellow balloon to hold in her mouth. The other woman spun the board gently, so that she was spinning with a constant gentle speed. The man pet the knife before throwing that one as well. It popped the balloon and the audience let out another collectively horrified sound.
The next trick looked very sinister in Ruri's opinion. Two large and thick metal plates were brought out, the top one containing sharp, painful looking spikes. Fuyuki walked over to one of the needles and tapped it so that a metallic clanging sound resounded throughout the auditorium. He was strapped to the bottom plate and the two women began to cover the bottom part of the contraption. But not before Ruri saw the man opening and closing his left hand in a frantic, purposeful movement. Was something wrong?
"WAIT!" a man's voice yelled.
The long haired woman pulled on a rope, and the top plate came crashing down, promising quick bloody deaths to those who didn't manage to get out of the way fast enough. An agonized scream rang in Ruri's ears.
The auditorium was filled with silence as a dark liquid dripped onto the stage from underneath the bottom plate.
"Fuyuki-san!"
A figure of a man came running onto the stage, followed by another smaller boy. The two women opened up the curtain, revealing a still figure. The man, who Ruri now recognized as Mouri Kogorou, stopped at the contraption.
The would-be dead body of Fuyuki rolled over to look at the detective.
"Well, well, you're the Great Detective Mouri Kogorou-san, if I'm not mistaken," Fuyuki smirked, sitting up at the edge of the plate.
He got up to approach the other man.
"And? Is there something wrong?" he asked, all smiles.
"Ah...no..." the detective answered.
"Everyone, it seems that Mouri Kogorou was thinking that I was killed by these two lovely ladies. But don't worry, I'm alive as you all can see," Fuyuki addressed the audience.
Kogorou turned to the crowd and put his hand on his head meekly.
"I-I'm very sorry," he said, smiling apologetically.
The auditorium was filled with laughter.
"However, I can't understand that you think that my magic can go wrong," Fuyuki took a slightly arrogant stance. He turned to Kogorou. "But thanks for your help."
"No, I thank you," Kogorou laughed.
"Everyone, please give Mouri-san a warm welcome!"
"Thank you, thank you," Kogorou looked flustered.
Ruri sat in her seat as the intermission started. Her heart had almost stopped when that plate had come crashing down. This was NOT good for her health. She wondered if Aoko or Kaito would've liked this kind of stereotypical magic show.
Ah, well, Kaito would probably just go into a rant about how he can do much better magic than some cheap rip-off can, or something...
Ruri quietly contemplated different things and before she noticed it, the show had started up again.
A big sealed glass box stood on the stage, filled with water. Fuyuki lay on the ground, hands handcuffed and in the air. The short haired woman made a motion, and the top of the box was lifted by a crane. The top was then moved over to where Fuyuki was, and he lifted his legs up. The top of the box opened a bit, where Ruri could see two holes. Fuyuki slipped his feet in the opened holes, and the top of the box was closed again. The women locked the top of the box with twin satisfying clicks. Fuyuki was lifted up into the air and placed above the water filled box. He nodded to his assistants and the both women raised their hands in a 'go' signal. The man was slowly lowered into the water and the excess all gushed out at the top. The women then locked the box as well.
For some reason, Ruri had a feeling of dread in the bottom of her stomach.
She watched as a black curtain was pulled upwards to surround the box, soon making it impossible to see inside. The curtain was pulled a little more so that Fuyuki's head and hands were visible. A moment later, and the curtain was down again, leaving Ruri with that feeling of dread. Fog filled the bottom of the stage, giving the atmosphere a creepy feeling.
Ruri watched and watched, each moment making the dread more prominent. After what seemed like several eternities, the women were poised to lift the curtain.
The curtain lifted slowly, revealing bit by bit, the tank. With a shock, everyone realized that Fuyuki was still inside. Ruri's hands flew up to cover her mouth. Once again, Mouri Kogorou and Conan were running up onto the stage.
Mouri Kogorou was banging on the tank, yelling Fuyuki's name. The two women went to the tank in an attempt to open it. A long haired man ran onto the stage yelling, "Scatter it! Scatter and take it down!"
"Hasegawa, lift the cover!"
The top of the box was lifted upwards, making more water gush out onto the stage. Frightened talking and slight screams filled the auditorium as the body of Fuyuki was lifted out of the water. The women placed Fuyuki onto the stage gently and began calling his name in worried tones.
The long haired man that had run on stage told Mouri Kogorou to begin the first aid. After calling his name a few times, the detective began to apply CPR.
A man ran onto the stage shouting, "Manager!"
Everyone in the crew was calling Fuyuki's name.
Oh no, Ruri thought, hands still covering her mouth.
AAAAAAAAND that's where it ends. This actually is where the actual episode ended...lol Anyway, I'm sorry I was late with this chapter, and I hope y'all like it! I'm quite proud of it and tentatively calling it, so far, my best work. The chapter's name is the name of the episode (so if you wanted to watch the episode...) And if the name doesn't help, Trick Vs. Magic is episodes 450-51. I wanted to do something that made sense for Ruri to be interested in, and I had to kind of look through the episodes to see which one suited my needs best. So, if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review! I live off reviews. Seriously. Ok, no but still. Also, I'm sorry that the middle got a bit...text heavy.
NEXT EPISODE: TRICK VS. MAGIC 2ND PART