14822/One Night Only

One Night Only
Date of Scene:	18 March 2023
Location:	Radio City Music Hall
Synopsis:	Zatanna does a magic show. People are ... entertained?
Cast of Characters:	Zatanna Zatara, Ivory, Cannonball, Deadpool

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The sign outside the Radio City Music Hall says it all. ZATANNA ZATARA, ONE NIGHT ONLY!'The line is, honestly, a little less long than you'd think. Possibly because it's a surprise show.

Or maybe people just don't believe in magic anymore.

Inside, seats are filling, as backstage, Zatanna finishes the last touches of her makeup. It's a little sparkly for the lights to catch, and she gives herself a once over in the mirror before she starts making her way to the wings to meet with her special assistant that earned their spot through gambling.

Ivory has posed:
Right next to Zee is a white persian cat, looking somewhat dignified in the black vest with all the glitter. How you get a cat to wear that? A lot of convincing. The dress hook with the *other* costume is empty. For now? It's waiting for a little more.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie was given the tickets from a friend who could not make it. Berto is a fan of magic, attractive ladies and big events so his company got the tickets on automatic. Since he is out of town and knew Sam was in NYC, he sent them to the other man. This brings Sam coming into the theater looking about. He is wearing black dress pants and a purple dress shirt, trying to clean up a bit for the event.

Deadpool has posed:
Deadpool is well, he's dressed well. He's decked out in a stylish black tuxedo, well, almost black, it was in fact a very dark blue. He and the tailor had gotten into a big argument about it. But hopefully nobody else would notice. He still had on his mask, and by the looks of it, may have been wearing his regular costume, save for the pouches and belts that would protrude, and oh yeah, the weapons, under the tuxedo.

Sitting in the 47th row, but an aisle seat, so there was that, he had a pair of octogenarians next to him, George and Gracie Burrows, as he had come to understand. He had even had to help George to the bathroom with his walker while waiting for the show to start. Ordinarily, he'd have demanded hazard pay for that.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The crowd fills in a bit more, people filtering into their seats. Zee looks down at the cat and smiles. "You know what to do."

The crowd chatters among itself for a bit before a recorded sting bursts through the sound system and the lights drop. An announcer comes over the PA. "Honored guests, the Radio City Music Hall is pleased to present to you, for tonight only, a feast for the eyes! A show that will make you feel like a child again. The one, the only, \Z\</span\>\a\</span\>\t\</span\>\a\</span\>\n\</span\>\n\</span\>\a\</span\> \Z\</span\>\a\</span\>\t\</span\>\a\</span\>\r\</span\>\a\</span\>\!\</span\>"

The curtain rises and Zee stands in the middle of the stage, arms raised to the sky. The applause is, well, expected, and she bows deeply. As it quiets, she speaks.

"I want to thank you all for coming tonight! I'm glad to be here in the city and I just happened to have some free time, so here I am, sharing it with you. I don't know how many of you have seen my show before, but I hope by the end of the night, I have wowed you and maybe made you believe in magic a litle."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is sitting in his seat, and nods to those who may look down their nose at him, as he is a bit under dressed for these expensive seats. He is somewhat used to it from hanging out with some of the folks he does, so he ignores them. He sits up and leans in a bit as the lady comes out to watch her.

Ivory has posed:
Meanwhile, in the back, the cat is making the best out of waiting in front of that mirror. Waiting for the moment to be... well, on display of sorts.

Deadpool has posed:
Deadpool almost missed the start of the show because of George was camera shy in public. He was still trying to help the old man back to his seat in the 47th row, but he did get to hear and see Zatanna appear as the curtain rises, and could hear her over the speakers. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out opera style binoculars, and looked at her with one hand holding that, and the other helping the old codger.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna regards the audience, turning on her heel and heading towards the side of the stage and retreiving a stool emblazoned with stars. She places it dead center of the stage and whistles. The whistle being the signal for Ivory to head out.

While she waits, she talks. "Most magicians start their shows with a small trick. Some sleight of hand, a little misdirection. Something small and flashy to get the crowd invested. I," she says, taking her top hat off and reaching inside, like, up to her shoulder inside, and pulling out a folded violet cloth. "I prefer to start big."

Ivory has posed:
With a slow stroll, Ivory appears on the other side of the stagem a small bundle of fluffy white fur in a vest, stretching before even giving the audience a glance. One or two, heartbeats, the floofball tilts the head, and then... From the seating it jumps to the chair. So far, so normal but the vest, sitting there and looking to Zatanna, then the Audience and back. "Meow?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie 's brow raises a bit, he thought more magicians used rabbits not cats, but hey the girl he knows who does magic is more using demons than anything else, so who is he to judge. He does look back over to Zatanna, seeing if he can spot her trying to hide something with the distraction of the cat.

Deadpool has posed:
Deadpool was by now back in his aisle seat, so far away, watching with his opera binoculars. He really could have used a better seat. And of course, George and Gracie had eye trouble. One of them even had the nerve to ask to borrow his binoculars, which an exasperated Deadpool obliged, "sure," and rolled his eyes inside his mask.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zee smiles when Ivory jumps into the chair. The charade is kept up when she just ruffles their head and gives a scratch behind the ears. As far as anyone watching can tell, Zatanna hasn't engaged in any misdirection or any tricks beyond reaching into her hat.

"So a while ago, I was having a couple of drinks and engaged in a little bet. Somehow, I lost, and the winner decided that they wished to be my assistant for a show." She gestures at the cat. "The winner."

She pauses for laughs.

She shakes out the cloth, looking at Ivory. "A cat can't really assist me, so I'm going to give them a little help." She looks at the audience, then to Ivory, swinging the cloth once, twice and then holds it in front, blocking Ivory from view. Both of her hands are completely visible on the cloth that drapes to the floor, and she's silent, just looking intently.

Ivory has posed:
The cloth dropping in front of the cat does hide it, but then, some white mist expands out larger then the blocked area before balling back together into a suit clad, slender figure. Black suit, white shirt, lots of shiny bling tacked to the fabric... Only pants instead of fishnets. Like someone made a copy of Zachary Zatara's suit but for a person shorter, more slender and with more bling. "Tada?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie claps, but he maybe a bit more doubting on that one, but then again one of his best friends turns into a wolf after all. He does like the show though and will continue watching and listening

Deadpool has posed:
Deadpool barely got to see it from the cheap seats, and even worse, no opera binoculars, so he couldn't even ogle Zatanna Zatara. But when the crowd clapped, he did so too. Right now, if there were ay telepaths in the audience, he was giving semi-serious contemplation to killing a few dozen people so he could get a better view.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna flourishes the cloth and tosses it aside to reveal Ivory. She takes a bow, then straightens. "This is Ivory, and they will be assisting me tonight, won't you give them a warm welcome?"

Zee can't read minds now, so it's probably a good thing. Hopefully Wade stays good.

She looks at Ivory, considering. "Should I cut you in half now, or save that for later?" She smiles, quipping. She makes a shorter pause for a laugh. "I'll save it for later. Do you have anything you'd like to say, or show off?"

Ivory has posed:
Getting up from the chair, and bowing a moment, Ivory ponders the question, then uses the fingers to count it out. "Well... I am Ivory, won my chance of being the one and only Zatanna Zatara's Assistent tonight, fly the rainbow flag, make cat-T-shirts and..." Eying the fourth finger not yet extended a few moments, before looking to the people with a wide grin. "And if I was that cat, shouldn't I be wearing some cat ears?"

The harsh lighting on the stage might make the ripple running over their face harder noticeable, but what was quite so was when the hair repositioned and a pair of fuzzy cat ears flick up, as if they had been folded down. But they don't just sit idle, they flick left and right, catching sounds.

Deadpool has posed:
At least Deadpool could hear it clearly. Just like Prince Humperdinck in the Princess Bride, his pristine and perfect ears could pick up everything. His eyes, well, he had a view, but it was a distance one. At least he had paid for the backstage pass at the end of the show. Though he did feel cheated that he didn't get a better seat. Come to think of it, the backstage pass was printed in another font. Was it even legitimate, or did the guy who sold it to him on the street take advantage of his trusting nature?

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
It remains to be seen about Deadpool's backstage pass. That's between him, Zatanna's security staff and the guy who he bought it from. It should be interesting.

Ivory's ear trick gets an approving nod. She knows it's not a trick at all, but the more she plays along, the less likely people are going to believe it's actual magic. Which it is.

The show, from this point, is a fairly standard Zatanna magical affair. Lots of sleight of hand. Lots of classic tricks. Even a trick where she's shoved into a watertight box that's chained shut and dumped in a big tank! (Of course she gets out.) She even gets Ivory into a box and splits them into three! Three!

The finale approaches. What, exactly, is she going to do?

Ivory has posed:
Ivory for their part do their best to assist in the stage magic as well as possible. At some points it's obvious that they are not a permanent stagehand, but for that, they do it quite well.

"I guess we are down to one more trick, we had the rabbit from the head, the cat turned into me, we had a houdini, what are we missing on the list? Hmm... What was it again..."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie watches the show and claps when he is supposed to. He enjoys the show, he might try to figure things out but he is not the best at it but not the worst. He will get an occasional look over as he does get a bit loud during the parts he likes best.

Deadpool has posed:
Deadpool enjoyed the show, whilst also planning his revenge against the guy who sold him the backstage pass, if it proves to not be legitimate. Of course, what he can and would do to the man relies entirely on Deadpool's ability to locate him.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The last trick at all of these thing is always huge. A showstopper. Something that will blow people out of their seats. Most illusionists do this the old fashioned way, with massive amouts of misdirection, mirrors, smoke and nimble fingers.

Zatanna has real magic and cheats.

She looks at Ivory and whispers out of the side of her mouth. "I'm making an illusory dragon." She beams at them, stepping towards the front of the stage.

"For my last trick...well. It's old magic. Older than the rings, older than anything I've done tonight." She's not lying. "It doesn't really have a name, but...just watch."

Zatanna throws her arms wide, and it's like a breeze rolls in towards her, flapping the tails of her tuxedo jacket. (Clearly there's a fan somewhere) A circle of runes springs up at her feet, slowly spinning as she looks focused. (Clearly projected from above!) Then she speaks.

"\N\</span\>\o\</span\>\m\</span\>\m\</span\>\u\</span\>\s\</span\> \n\</span\>\a\</span\> \y\</span\>\r\</span\>\a\</span\>\n\</span\>\o\</span\>\i\</span\>\s\</span\>\u\</span\>\l\</span\>\l\</span\>\i\</span\> \n\</span\>\o\</span\>\g\</span\>\a\</span\>\r\</span\>\d\</span\>\!\</span\>"

The air seems to ripple as a dragon, red of scale and vicious looking, emerges from nowhere. It takes a loop, and then two of the auditorium, roaring and billowing heatless flame. It wheels around, charging throught the air at Zatanna who, when it's mere feet away, waves a hand and it dissolves.

Then she takes a bow.

Ivory has posed:
Ivory listens, then makes the big oh face before almost giggling as they clean up the stage in the background, waiting at the edge for the magic to happen and the call to return, having only given the audience so much of a hint that it was to be big.

AS Zee finally takes the bow, they do two steps out, bowing before stepping off again, behind the side curtain.

It's the cat that returns after that, walzing around Zee's feet as she continues to get her applouse.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie did almost stand at the dragon appearing, his instincts kicking in a bit but he is able to control it, and only half rises from his chair, and as the dragon disappears he will applaud and even whistle a bit, getting dark looks again.

Deadpool has posed:
Deadpool briefly thought about doing something about the dragon, like trying to chop it up with a katana, that he didn't have on him, or shooting it with a concealed gun, which he did have on him, but he had been instructed to behave an ogle Zatanna Zatara. His seat prevented him from doing the latter, so he wasn't going to go zero for two by misbehaving. Instead, he sat, watched the end of the show, like a good little Merc.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna rises from the bow, and leans down to plant a little kiss atop Ivory's head. "You were a wonderful assistant. Thank you," she murmurs into one of the cat ears before she straightens again.

The curtain drops. It's dark in the hall for a moment.

Then the lights come up. The show is over.

14822/One Night Only

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