The Magician paced back and forth the backstage as he tried to come up to his problem. He stopped for a moment and peered through the curtains as he watched the last few audience members of the sold out show took their seats. This made him stress out even further as while he was the one that added the magic to his performance it was his assistant, Claudia that everyone came to see. Correction his former assistant, she had just walked out fifteen minutes prior due to a wage dispute.

“I don’t need Claudia,” the Magician spoke to himself. “I’m the one with the magic, all she was was just a pretty face to make me look good. Anyone could….” He gave a devilish grin as formed a plan.

“Ladies and Gentlemen…” The Emcee’s loud voice rang out through the speaker system. “Please put your hands together for Claudia and the Magician....!”

The Magician scoffed, he liked to remain nameless but putting the assistant’s name before his own was simply unacceptable and he was going to make his dissatisfaction known later. Though now it was time for the show to begin and with a simple teleportation technique he was out centre stage with little more than a puff of smoke. Most of the audience members would assume he had used a trap door or they’d tell themselves that later on.

When the magician appeared on stage however he wasn’t greeted with applause as he usually received and instead he was met with glances of confusion and disappointment. He only now understood the true impact Claudia had on his show.

“Folks, I’m sorry to inform you that my lovely assistant couldn’t join us tonight,” the Magician stated honestly causing some of the crowd to boo while others were even prepared to walk out. “Now hold on just a second, I am a magician am I not?” He asked the disgruntled crowd. “I am an expert in the art of magic. An AWOL assistant will not stop me and I promise it will not make your show any less exciting or entertaining,” the Magician said reassuringly and with energetic gestures. This was enough to calm down the hecklers and bring people back to their seats but he had to act fast now. “All in need is a volunteer.”

The Magician looked out at the audience seeking the perfect substitute for Claudia. His intention however wasn’t to find a replacement but to create one and to do so he had to pick someone that was her opposite. Fortunately he found someone in the fifth row sitting at the end seat that matched what he was looking for. “You there, young man, care to join me up on stage?”

The young man in question looked up scared and confused. He didn’t even volunteer and he wasn’t interested going up on to the stage at all yet something compelled him as he got off out of his chair and walked up to the Magician. The Magician then smiled at him, he was almost Claudia’s opposite. While she expressed confidence and charisma, this young man expressed nervousness and a lack of self esteem. Claudia would captivate the audience with her bold choice of wardrobe, this man wore a basic attire consisting of cargo pants, joggers and a t-shirt. Claudia radiated in beauty, this young man, while not ugly, did lack some personal hygiene. He was the perfect replacement as no one would think he was anyone any different.

“What’s your name young man?” The Magician asked.

“Mark,” he muttered so quietly that The Magician barely heard it.

“Mark?” The Magician repeated so the audience now knew it. “Why don’t you stand over there Mark and we’ll start this show off with a…. BANG!”

Mark coughed as smoked surrounded him and once it had cleared he heard the largest cheer he had ever heard in his life. He now felt rather different, as he stood up taller and he could feel the smile on his face. At first he thought that was to do with the cheers he received but the fact he was still standing up tall and proud with that smile as he realised the true extent of what just happened proved that it was just another part of the transformation he just underwent.

He short and shaggy red hair had now become long, golden wavy locks. His hands were now petite and had red nail polish. He was now wearing high heel shoes and his boring shorts and t-shirt had been replaced with a Sparkly Red dress that hugged his body super tight, showing off his new curves quite well and exposing his new and rather large impressive cleavage. He was no longer Mark, he was now the woman he saw on the posters before entering, he was Claudia.

Mark was scared and confused and wanted to run away but his body language expressed none of this. To the audience he appeared as a cheerful, proud and charismatic woman, the one they had paid to see. He bet that none of them even cared that he had vanished only to be replaced by her. One thing he did notice was he was still in charge of his own actions as he instinctively reached up to grope his breasts. But before he could he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“There will be time for that later,” the Magician whispered in his ear. “I know you’re scared but this will all be over before you know it.” He paused for a moment as he looked out into the crowd as he raised Marks arm into the air as he made him take a bow. “If you fight it you’re sure to have a bad time but if you go along with the flow, well you might just end up enjoying yourself, I’ll even give you some private time in that body before I return you to your former self.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen…. Claudia!” The Magician gestured towards her as he took a step back. “See I told you there was nothing to worry about. Now without further delay how about we get on with the show!”

The Magician flicked his wrist making a top hat appear out of nowhere and placed it on Mark’s head. “Remember you don’t need to do much, just smile and look pretty for the audience,” He whispered in Mark’s ear as he walked to the side and scoffed. Why Claudia was the star of his show he’d never know, he was the one with magic she was just there to look pretty. Next he repeated his previous trick spawning a second top hat.

“You’ve all probably seen this one before, ladies and gentlemen. I will now pull a rabbit out of a hat but keep an eye on Claudia as I do,” The Magician instructed as he reached into the hat, a lot further than what he should’ve been able to.

Mark did as instructed, standing there was easy, he was still paralyzed with shock and fear, yet his body language expressed one of excitement and patience. He wasn’t sure what to make of this, whether his mind was his own or not. The Magician seemed to use some magic to coax him up onto stage but Mark had full control of his actions, just not his body language. His body on the other hand was not his and he still wasn’t sure what to make of that either. It felt so different from how he did before and he wanted to examine his new body but a part of him didn’t as well. This body had another owner and to look at it and touch it would be perving on her and that thought made him uncomfortable.

Mark’s thoughts were interrupted as he felt a giant hand grab the top of his head and grabbed his hair. He then began to be pulled upwards as the top hat covered his entire head. He panicked and wanted to pull the hat off but instead his body showed off this new state. While his head was stuck in the hat he felt it begin to change as his mouth and nose grew into a snout and his teeth became 4 long ones, the hair grabbed by the hand became two long ears. His head was now that of a rabbit’s. After the transformation was over, Mark could see light coming from above him and a familiar figure standing over, now a lot bigger than before.

The Magician smiled as he pulled the rabbit out of the hat and the rest of Mark’s body was pulled into the top hat. The audience gasped as Claudia disappeared, no one even considered the fact that the rabbit the Magician held by the ears was the woman that had been standing on stage just a second ago.

Mark was lowered to the ground and he tried to get his bearings as the tiny creature. He didn’t even know how to hop along the ground just yet. The Magician left him there for a moment before adjusting the hat Mark had just been wearing, into a position where he could now hop into it. Mark figured this was what the Magician wanted so he concentrated on hopping across the stage and back into the other hat. The movement came naturally but it still felt a little weird as he made his way across the stage, finding himself in a pocket dimension.

The instant he got inside his body was restored to be that of Claudia’s only now he was completely naked in a black void. He was terrified to where he was but also a bit disappointed it was too dark to see his naked body. Though he soon saw glimpses of it as a round hole of light appeared above him. Mark swam for the light but found it was too small for him to fit through entirely.

The audience was amused as they saw Claudia’s arm reaching out of the hat the Magician held in his arms. The Magician smiled as he placed the hat on the ground and grabbed the arm, pulling it out of the hat. Unfortunately for Mark that was the only thing that came through and now he was missing an arm.

“Let’s try that again,” the Magician said as he went to the other hat and reached in. This time Mark felt the Magician grab his ankle as his left leg was pulled down and came off also.

“Hmm, this doesn’t seem to be working,” the Magician stated as he tried to reach in one more time. This time he grabbed Mark’s hair once again and pulled his detached head out of the hat. “Oops,” the Magician said playfully as he placed Mark next to the detached arm and leg. “Hmm, it looks like I’ll need my restoration box to fix this.”

Mark wasn’t impressed with his current state and was even more annoyed that he couldn’t show it either. He was forced to smiled even though he was currently disassembled with only and arm, a leg and a head. The Magician brought out the box and put the arm and Leg inside it before picking Mark up by the hair again and placing him inside it before shutting the door. He sat there in darkness as his arm and leg disappeared followed by his hair, mouth, nose, eyes.

The Magician looked at the outline of Claudia’s head before erasing it too, temporarily removing Mark from existence. He then drew Claudia’s body out once more, though now he had her completely naked though missing nipples and genitals. He opened the door and revealed his assistant once more.

Mark stepped out of the box, disoriented and confused as to what just happened. However his body acted as if all this was completely normal and stepped out with a smile and grace. He was surprised to find himself naked as walked over to the magician. The Magician smiled at Mark. “Glad to see you back in one piece, more or less. Don’t worry I’ll fix that a little bit later on. Now wait right there a minute while I go get something from the back.”

Mark watched as the Magician walked off stage and re-entered with two large cases. He opened the cases revealing that they had a foam outline for body parts. One Case was for the lower half while the other was for arms, torso and a head. The Magician then walked over to Mark and took off his head once more, grabbing it by the sides this time and placed it in the case. He then followed with his arms and torso as he closed that case. He then placed the lower half in the other case.

“That’s the end of the show, you’ve been a wonderful audience,” the Magician said to the crowed before wheeling the two cases with Mark off to the back stage. He didn’t even bother closing the show properly as he left. “Now where’s that emcee?” The Magician asked himself when he noticed Claudia standing nearby.

“How was the show?” She asked smugly. “I bet the audience wasn’t too thrilled when I didn’t show up. So are you ready to talk about that pay increase?”

“Claudia, I’m glad I ran into you,” the Magician said with earnest. “There’s something you can help me with. Look in the case,” he instructed.

Claudia walked over to one of the cases and opened it up to find an exact copy of herself just missing the nipples. “What’s the meaning of this? What did you do?”

“Found a replacement for you and now I need you to replaced him.”

Claudia turned to face the magician but her body had already been changed into an exact copy of Mark’s.

“Goodbye Claudia, you might want to think twice before you try to negotiate pay with someone who wields magic. As for you Mark, I hope you do enjoy your job as my new assistant.” The Magician closed the case once more and walked off, whistling, leaving Claudia in her new body.