Chapter 3: Stage Magic
This chapter contains violence and coarse language, and may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is advised.
"What big eyes you have."
Hunter stared at the girl. She'd blocked a bone-shattering punch with just one hand, and now had the man locked in a hold. He was trying not to panic, but this was overwhelming. He was at his limit, and it was taking everything he had not to lose it. Houdini seemed to slip out of reality, escaping Red's grip and appearing at his Player's side. Alan shook his head.
"Damn, I was hoping we could end this without a fight," he said. "But it looks like your Hero saved you."
"Really?" Asked the girl in the red hoodie. She cracked her knuckles, the sound echoing in Hunter's ears. "I wouldn't have had it any other way."
"Then abandon that disguise and let's settle this like Heroes," Houdini said with a smirk. The hoodie girl smiled, and suddenly, was swallowed by shadow. When she emerged from the shroud, she had undergone an incredible transformation. Gone were the hoodie and strawberry-print backpack. She was now wearing a hooded cape in brilliant red. Her forearms and calves were clad in wolf skin, held in place with string. In her hands, she held a basket, which she dropped at Hunter's feet.
"Stand up," she said flatly. Hunter scrambled to his feet, trying to get his bearings. Just when things couldn't get weirder…
[Fight song: Immortals - Fall Out Boy]
The red-hooded girl raised her hands and bounced on her feet. Hunter froze. He was about to watch a little girl fight a full-grown man. What's more, it seemed like they both expected him to participate. The red girl tapped her foot expectantly.
"Are you gonna give me an order?" She asked, crossing her arms. Hunter raised an eyebrow, fumbling for words.
"Um, attack?" He fumbled. The red girl shrugged and lunged at Houdini. She slammed a punch into his chest, then unleashed a flurry of hits on him. Houdini crossed his arms to block, but seemed unbothered by the hits. Hunter furrowed his brow.
"Try a card next time," Houdini mused. He threw his own attack, swinging at the red girl with a kick. His player touched a card, its image floating in the air in front of him. The girl flew back from the hit, spinning to land on her feet.
"You can block with cards too, Player," she said as she stood. Hunter nodded, scrambling for his backpack. He fished for the cards, but dropped the deck clumsily. His opponent pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You really didn't prepare your hero for this, did you?" He sighed. Hunter stared at the ground, then took a look at his cards.
"Stop calling me Player," he said, clenching his fists. He stood, holding his hand in front of him. "My name is Hunter!"
Little Red smiled at Hunter's declaration. She stepped into a fighting stance and slammed her fists together. Hunter raised his hand, pulling up the image of his cards. He touched one of them, and Red charged with a punch. Alan touched one of his own cards, and Red and Houdini clashed. Red swung her fist, Houdini blocked the punch as best he could. Red spun to swing again, but Houdini had vanished. Hunter looked around, seeing Houdini on top of a house nearby.
"Of course a magician would use misdirection as a battle tactic," Hunter said through grit teeth. He looked at his Hero. "Can you chase him down?"
"I'll see what I can do," she said. She took a sprinter's stance, then took off running. She leapt into the air, her red cape trailing behind her, when Houdini vanished again. He appeared in midair behind Red, slamming her to the ground with a powerful kick. Hunter grimaced as the little girl hit the pavement hard enough to shake the ground. Houdini landed beside her, ready to continue the fight. Red stood up, dusting herself off. Hunter decided that questioning this was just going to drive him crazy - at this point, it was better to roll with the punches.
"Take him down!" He ordered, touching his card. Little Red crouched, knocking Houdini's legs out from under him with a brutal sweep kick. Hunter touched another card, and Red hit him with a devastating punch, leaving a Houdini-shaped crater in the sidewalk. Hunter pumped his fist. He was getting used to this!
"Houdini, quit playing with your food," said the thief. He touched a card, and Houdini appeared behind Red in an instant. He began to weave his hands, drawing together the night in a curtain of darkness. Hunter touched a card to defend his Hero, and Red cut through the veil with her bare hand. Hunter pressed another card. It was time to end this. Red jumped up, blowing a handful of flower petals into Houdini's eyes. Then, while the magician was distracted, she tackled him to the ground. She pulled her fist back and slammed it into Houdini's face with a sickening crunch. Houdini caught the hit with his face, and his body began to dissolve into golden dust. Red smirked as she stood up. It was over.
Or was it? The disappearing Houdini chuckled, and with a flourish, vanished. He appeared on the street, bowing deeply. Hunter groaned.
"Seriously?" He demanded. Houdini laughed.
"All part of the show, dear boy! I'm the world's greatest escape artist, after all," he explained. "I can even escape death."
"He really is a legend," said the thief. He raised his hands to continue the fight, when a car sped through, knocking Houdini over the hood and off the roof. Hunter gasped. Red chuckled. Houdini stood up and brushed himself off.
"I think that wraps up our little game," said the thief. He waved his cards away and walked over to the magician. With a smile, he turned towards Hunter.
"You said your name was Hunter," he said. "I won't forget it. Promise me you won't forget mine - I'm Alan Keyes. I look forward to facing you again, my friend."
With a courteous wave, Houdini and Alan seemed to step out of reality. Hunter finally let out the breath he was holding and dropped to his knees. It was another exhausting night, and he was just done.
"Is it finally over?" He asked. Red crossed her arms.
"For now," she said with a pout.
"Who was even driving that car?" Hunter asked, looking in the direction the car had gone.
"What the hell was that?" Asked Flannigan as he looked through the rear window. Whatever they'd just hit had left no trace!
"I ain't see nothing," said Flaherty as he drove. His car was already a beater - another dent in the hood wouldn't make much difference. In the backseat, Officer Woods was drifting in and out of consciousness. From the rooftops, Robin Hood followed the car as it raced off to the hospital.
Hunter opened the door to his house once more. He wanted nothing more than to fall into bed again, but he had something to deal with first. He turned to face the red-hooded girl, who made herself comfortable on the couch.
"Who are you?" He demanded. The girl looked up at him.
"Is it really that subtle?" She asked, her voice dripping with a dry malice.
"You know what I mean," he said. "Why is Little Red Riding Hood on my couch, and… beating up the actual Harry Houdini?"
"For what it's worth, that wasn't the actual Houdini," she said, withdrawing a cookie from her basket. She took a bite, savoring the treat. "He's moreso the legend of Houdini, given physical form."
"So you're not actually Red Riding Hood?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms. "Just some… story made flesh?"
"We all are," said Little Red. She finished her cookie and wiped her fingers on her cape.
"What does that mean?" Hunter asked. "How many of you are there?"
"It depends," Red said with a shrug. "It's not the same number each time."
"That doesn't inspire a lot of confidence," said Hunter as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"There are ten players this time around," said Red. "Well, were."
"This time around? You mean this has happened before?" Asked Hunter, before he paused. He stared intensely at Red. "What do you mean, 'were?' Past tense?"
"Two of them are dead now," she said bluntly as she took out another cookie. She ate quietly as Hunter rubbed his aching temples.
"Those two guys on the news," he said, staring at the floor. "They're players…"
"They were," said Red between bites. "It looks like we've got a Player-killer."
"Right," Hunter said. He stood in silence as Little Red ate her cookie, when exhaustion finally claimed him.
"Fuck this," he said, breaking the silence. "I'm going to bed."
"Goodnight," said Little Red. She put up her feet and got comfortable on the couch. Hunter looked at her one more time, then headed off to collapse into bed himself. Without bothering to change, he hit the pillow and was out like a light.
Marian opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside. Robin was close behind her, taking his position at the sliding glass door that led out to her balcony. He watched over the city as Marian's phone rang. She hesitated, but picked it up and put it on speakerphone.
"Hello?"
"Did you make it home alright, Woods?" Came the commanding voice of the chief.
"Yes sir," she said. "Flaherty and Flannigan dropped me off after the hospital."
"Good," he said. There was a pregnant pause, which the chief finally broke.
"I'm taking you off shift tomorrow," he said. Marian's heart sank. There was no changing the chief's mind when he said it with such finality.
"Sir, it's not that bad," she protested. The doctor didn't have much to go on, and told her to just get some rest. "There's a killer on the loose, I can't afford to take a day off."
"There's always something happening," replied the chief. "If you don't take care of yourself, you're going to make a mistake. I won't be burying another rookie."
"Yes sir," Marian said simply. She felt the sadness in his voice. "I'll take tomorrow off."
"Leave the investigation to Flaherty and Flannigan," said the chief. "That's their job. You get some rest, and we'll see you in a day."
"Yes sir. Goodnight, sir," Marian said. She hung up the phone, then screamed into her hands. Robin stood up and approached her, laying a gentle hand on her back.
"As much as I loathe to laud the law," he said comfortingly. "Your employer is correct. You need your rest, my lady."
"I know," she said, turning to face him. "But how can I just take a day off when there's a murderer running around? What do I do? Leave it to Flaherty and Flannigan?"
"Our killer would destroy them without a second thought," chuckled Robin. Marian glared at him, and he swallowed nervously. "My lady, you are the only one that can solve this. With my help, of course. But that means I need you at your best. Rest tomorrow. Swear to me."
"... Fine," Marian finally gave in. She sighed deeply and looked up at him. "Damn you and your Cary Elwes voice."
"I don't know who that is, my lady."
"Forget about it," she said with a smile. She turned toward the bedroom and opened the door. "Goodnight, Robin."
"Goodnight, my lady," Robin said. He turned back to the balcony and looked out over the city. He would keep watch through the night, and protect his lady. He would keep her safe.
The next morning, Hunter awoke to a strange smell in the house. It wasn't unpleasant, it made the house smell homey. He rose from his bed, following the aroma to the kitchen. He looked at the table, where a plate of strawberry muffins sat. They smelled heavenly - they must have been fresh. Did Red make those? He turned on the little TV and sat at the table. The familiar face of the news lady filled the screen as Hunter stared at the muffins.
"This morning, our mayor, Mr. Rupert Wicke announced a press conference to address the rising crime in this city. We now go live to our correspondent at the scene. Mina, take it away."
The camera cut to the mayor, a squat toad of a man with aggressively curly hair. He gave the cameras a crooked smile as he stepped onto the podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, voters," he began. "Last night I was given some bad news, some very upsetting news. Two people in this city were killed. Murdered, in their own homes - it feels like nowhere's safe these days. But I assure you, I'm cooperating with the police to get justice for our poor victims, one of whom was my son or whatever. We're gonna get justice - we're gonna chase justice down and corner it in an alley. And to help with this, I've brought in our best - Detectives, uh… these guys."
The camera panned over to Flaherty and Flannigan, who puffed up proudly.
"Arnold, look!" Said Flannigan. "I'm on TV!"
"Hi, ma!" Said Flaherty, waving. The two grinned and waved at the cameras. Hunter sighed and turned away from the television.
"Those two don't inspire much confidence," came Little Red's voice as she sat across from Hunter. Hunter stared at her.
"Did you make these?" He asked, pointing to the plate of muffins. Little Red nodded and plucked one, taking a bite.
"Try one, they're good," she said. Hunter looked suspicious, but he was hungry. He took one from the plate and had a bite.
"Have you ever used an electric oven before?" He asked as he chewed the muffin.
"No," said Red. Hunter furrowed his brow. "It's an oven, Hunter. Their function is one thing. It wasn't hard to figure out."
"Fair enough," he said. The muffin was alright - he couldn't help but notice something. "You used the strawberries."
"There were a lot of them," said Little Red. "I figured I'd get some use out of them before they went bad."
"Fair," said Hunter as he took another bite.
"You don't seem thrilled," said Little Red.
"I… don't like strawberries," Hunter admitted.
"Then why do you buy so many?" Red asked.
"Rudu loved them," Hunter said. He stared at his muffin, gritting his teeth.
"Who's Rudu?" Red asked.
"My sister," Hunter said. "She's… not around."
"So you buy strawberries for when she comes back?" Red asked.
"She's not coming back," Hunter said. Red furrowed her brow.
"I'm sorry," she said softly. Hunter just shook his head and finished his muffin. He turned his attention back to the TV.
"But I promise you, when we find this guy - we're gonna kick him out, we're gonna lock him up," the mayor rambled on. "Or her. I've known a few lady killers in my day. My point is, you vote for me and we're gonna solve crime. We're gonna kick out all the killers. Make me your mayor again and there's gonna be no crime in this city, it'll be a paradise. What the hell, I'll lower your taxes too. I'm super rich, I'll pay all your taxes. If there's two things I hate, it's crime and taxes. And broccoli. I never ate my broccoli as a kid. So three things I hate, it's crime, taxes, and broccoli. Maybe I hate broccoli more than taxes. But not more than crime - I hate crime way more than broccoli. Vote for Wicke and we'll make crime and broccoli illegal in this city. We're gonna make-"
"Does this guy ever shut up?" Hunter asked aloud as he turned off the TV. He took a breath, then looked at the clock on the microwave. It was 8:30. He stood up in a panic and began to scramble for his things.
Red watched, bewildered as Hunter threw his backpack together. He stumbled for the door, and she followed.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"I'm late for class!" He said hurriedly.
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