Goodbye Ceremony

    “Well Ladies and Gentlemen,” Drake said, looking down at his watch, Cammie was staring nearby anxiously looking at the clock on the wall in the wings of the stage, “unfortunately, it appears as if David was not able to get out of the hospital to be here for Cammie’s goodbye ceremony. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a goodbye ceremony, as David has handpicked his replacement to help send Cammie home on a good note. So ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome to the stage for her first televised performance, Alex the Amazing!”
    A large billow of smoke exploded outwards from the center of the stage. As the smoke began to clear, the silhouette of a rather short looking girl appeared. She was wearing a feminized take on David’s traditional tuxedo, and wearing a top hat that helped in adding a few inches to her height. Her waist long hair was tied up under the hat to help keep it out of the way. As soon as the smoke had cleared up, she rushed over and gave Cammie a hug, practically squeezing the life out of her. After her shock had subsided, Cammie reciprocated the action.
    Once she had let go, Alex was straight into performance mode, her voice impressively echoing around the auditorium despite her small stature. “Thank you for the introduction Drake, but David wanted me to spread some of the good news around a bit. Since he couldn’t be here to directly deliver his gift, he wanted to make sure that Cammie heard the good news that David has decided to have his manager pick up me and Cammie as part of his act!” Applause erupted throughout the room, so Alex had to hold up her hands to silence it, “And! That he has decided to do the taping for his special first world tour after ANGA in Wyoming, where he wants us to be the opening act!” More applause and Cammie looked on the edge of tears with joy. “So, let’s get this show on the-“
    “Wait!” Cammie said, bringing Alex’s momentum to a halt, and startling her. “Before we go any further,” Cammie reached into the pocket of her assistant uniform, pulling out a little black box. She got down on one knee, and in front of the entire audience of thousands asked, “Alexandra Marian Parpia. Will you marry me?” She popped open the box, revealing a gold ring with a rather impressive looking blue diamond on it. Even though he was not able to be there to deliver the gifts, David had made sure to deliver Cammie’s ring to her room as soon as he had woken up.
    It was Alex’s turn to look like she was going to be in tears, as she said, “Of course I will!” Much to the cheers of the audience. She pulled off her white glove, accepting the ring upon her finger, and giving Cammie a long, passionate kiss, receiving a few wolf whistles from the crowd.
    “Oh, I just love a happy moment,” Drake commented, walking off the stage.
    After several more seconds of passionate embrace, Cammie and Alex finally broke apart from one another. Alex, half laughing, half crying, said “Well, it looks like we’re going to have to send you home now.”
    “Seems like it,” Cammie responded back, her mood matching Alex’s to a tee.
    “According to David, the way you wanted to go was to perform as classic a magic trick as you could,” Alex said, reaching up and pulling off her top hat, letting her long hair that she had tied up fly down, “so I thought it would be appropriate to do one of our classics.”
    “Alright then,” Cammie said, walking out behind the curtain shouting back, “I’m ready!”
    “So, ladies and gentlemen! Without further ado, I shall pull a bunny out of this hat!” Alex reached her arm in, managing to hit the rim of the hat with her shoulder, and began pulling.
    From the rim of the hat, two white fluffy ears were clearly grasped in the tiny girl’s gloved hand. As she kept puling, the ears managed to pull out an equally fluffy head. The head was clearly Cammie’s although now covered in a layer of white fur. Two ridiculously long back teeth covered her lower lip.
    As Alex kept pulling, more and more of Jill’s transformed body popped out. Her curves were heavily accentuated, making it look difficult for her to stand up straight, and her legs were long and luxurious. Turning around, a cute little rabbit’s tale popped out from the top of her pants. “You know,” Alex bantered, “I think this act is funnier when everyone assumes you’re a guy at first.”
    “Yeah, but I’m sure we’ll be able to make it work when we get home,” Cammie said, hoping over and giving her girlfriend another smooch.
    “And now!” Alex said, having Cammie crouch down so that Alex can actually place the top hat over her ears, “I will put the rabbit back into the hat, and back home!” Alex pushed down on the hat, swallowing Cammie in a single move. She picked the hat up off the floor, and showed that it was completely empty.
    As the audience cheered, Alex took a bow, before placing the hat on her head, and pulling down, her body being sucked up in a similar manner, leaving the top hat sitting on the center of the stage.

~~~
Foyer

    “Now then! Jill! Saffron! Are you two ready for your last, and most difficult challenge on the show to date?”
    “Yeah!” Saffron shouted.
    “Hopefully!” Jill responded back.
    “Excellent. Now, David and I went back and forth on what we felt was the most important thing that a magician’s assistant needed to be able to do, and I find it rather ironic with what has been going on recently that I get to announce what this week’s challenge is.”
    “Last week, we gave you a challenge to show off your acting abilities as well as your magical ones. However, this week we’ll be testing out the whole package. For the trait that David is most concerned about, is that ‘In a pinch, a good assistant must be able to take over the show and act as their own magician’.

    “Of course, what good is a magician without some assistants? So ladies, it is my pleasure to reintroduce your assistants for this challenge!”

    The front entrance of the foyer opened, and standing in the doorway were the four previously eliminated contestants, although all seemed changed from when they had first met one another.
    Cammie had changed the least, seeing as how she had just been removed from the show not ten minutes prior. She looked on top of the world, and who could blame her after her proposal had gone so well.
    Ophelia looked to be a much happier person than she had been when they had first met. For starters, she had her hair styled such that it no longer covered her face, which was practically beaming from ear to ear. Secondly, her black dress that she typically wore, and then later changed to an equally dark purple, was now a much more vibrant violet. In her right hand, she carried a bird carrier with an equally violet Phaedra.
    Leela’s slightly smug attitude had all but dissipated, replaced by a much more welcoming and approachable aura. The Sari that she typically wore was replace by a much more simple looking red kurti and black tights, although the kurti still had a rather pleasant golden flower pattern on it.
    If it was somehow possible, Holli seemed even younger than she had appeared when she first had joined ANGA. She appeared to have a new lease on life, and was clearly the most excited of the four to be given another chance at appearing on the show. her clothes seemed to be similar to what she normally wore, although cut just the slightest bit higher up, showing more skin.

    “Now then. Saffron. Jill. Your challenge this week will be to put on a three trick magic performance. Two of your three tricks will be with a single assistant, where you must perform a different trick on each assistant, with the third and final trick requiring the participation of both of your assistants. I’m gong to flip a coin, and the winner of that will get first selection, with us alternating selections. Jill, as the person with the least amount of votes you get to call it,” Drake pulled a quarter out of his pocket and flipped it in the air.
    As it came down, Jill called, “Heads!”
    Drake looked at it, saying, “It’s tails. Saffron, you get to pick first.”
    “I call Leela!” Saffron said almost too quickly. Leela walked over to stand next to Saffron.
    “Okay… I want… Ophelia!” Jill said. Ophelia’s smile grew wider, as she walked over to Jill, setting Phaedra down so she could give her friend a hug.
    “Hm… Oh gosh. This is a hard decision. Um… I don’t know. Who do you want Jill?”
    “Well, I was going to pick Cammie next.”
    “Okay then. Holli! You’re with me,” Saffron said, Holli giving her a warm smile as she walked over.
    Cammie, as the only contestant left, joined Jill’s team giving Jill a hug as well.
    “Now that that’s settled,” Drake said, “Use today to get resettled and enjoy each others company! Because tomorrow, practices begin. The practice room will be open to both teams throughout the week, and you can schedule them however you like! Oh! And for you audience members at home. Since everyone’s back, questions are once again open to everyone,” Drake, now finished with his explanation for the week, went off back to his trailer, allowing the girls to catch up with each other.

Dining Room

    “Okay, okay, okay!” Saffron said, brining the general chitchat and niceties to an end. Fernando had served them all some tea (non-spiked, despite Saffron’s wishes) “So! Let’s go around the table and get those juicy details on what’s been going on in your lives since you left the show. Cammie, since you just got out, we already know everything.”
    “No you don’t!” Cammie said defensively.
    “Oh yeah?”
    “Yeah! I got to kiss Alex goodbye before she had to fly back home.”
    “Is that it?
    “Yep.”
    “Okay then. Ophelia! How was your week back home?”
    “Well. It was nice. Lucien and I got to catch up on everything. He was so proud of my work. My coven was as well. Apparently I managed to single-handedly bump up interest in the Ancient Magicks by almost two times of what it was last year. They said that when I become a full blown witch, I’ll easily be able to join any coven I wish as an elder, which is apparently unheard of for someone with as young a body as I have.”
    “Wow!” Jill said, “How did Lucien take Phaedra?”
    “Oh, he loves Phaedra! He gets really lonely when I’m not home, and since he can talk to other animals when he’s a wolf, he said that he won’t be lonely anymore. According to him, Phaedra absolutely adores me,” as she was talking she pushed a little bit of raw meat into Phaedra’s cave, which the fire bird gracefully accepting, her tweets sounding slightly like a silenced steam whistle. “Of course, I couldn’t just leave Phaedra alone at home though. Lucien is terrible with pets, even ones as simple to take care of as her-”
    “Great!” Saffron said, interrupting Ophelia, and getting an evil look because of it, “So Leela, what about you?”
    “Oh! The doctor that David recommended for me is wonderful! We’ve have sessions together about every three days. Apparently that’s the most effective amount of time between sessions for cases such as this. He says we’re about a week or two out from me actually being able to be cut up during hypnosis, and then it will only be a couple of months and we should have worked through all the roadblocks to being able to perform it consciously.”
    “Did you guys figure out why it was that you couldn’t be cut up?” Jill asked politely.
    “Yes! He’s apparently a specialist in this sort of field. According to him, the way that those sort of detachment magics work is that its an equal visualization of the person performing the spell and the person actually being cut up. For those who have traumatic experiences with sharp objects, it can become almost impossible to do detachment magic on them. We did some delving through my memories, and according to him, it all originated from a time when I was really young. I had broken my leg, and they had to go in and operate to get something out. Apparently, I woke up in the middle of it, and that memory had been burned into my subconsciousness and was attaching that same pain and hardship to any attempts to get magically cut.”
    “That’s great,” Saffron said, trying to move the conversation along, “And it’s awesome that you’re getting help. But what about you Holli? How are the kids?”
    “Oh! The kids and grandkids were so excited when I got back. Apparently they had told everyone that their awesome mother had came up on TV. I got so many calls, and got to catch up with so many people,” Holli looked up wistfully, remembering the sweet messages she got, “And best of all! It turns out that David’s rolodex wasn’t even needed! I’ve been getting calls from all over the world to have me on as either a guest assistant, or a permanent one! I’ve had to go out and get myself a manager again because I’m so popular!” Holli chuckled.
    “Aww! That’s so sweet!” Saffron said.

    The rest of the evening was spent reminiscing and catching up. Their minds only shifting to the task at hand when they each went off to their separate bedrooms.

    To Cammie: “You're not going to be David's assistant, it seems, but with your appearance here and the reveal of your true nature, I'm sure your performances with Alex will only improve. Not to mention the... *cough* personal stuff. Especially with you becoming a household name for a short while, I'm sure you'll continue to find greater fame in the future, maybe even rivaling David's fame.
    Any thoughts on what you want to do once you get home? Any plans for magic shows, tours, and the such? I hope you do a show in Vancouver sometime, or even Seattle: I'd really love to see Alex and your talents.” -FlexibleAnatomy

    Well, with David signing us up with his manager, and the good publicity this show has been, I’m certain that our act is only going to grow in popularity!
    When I get home, Alex and I have a lot of catching up to do. And then after that, we’re going to have to start planning the wedding! Not to mention getting a whole new act together in time for when David comes to tape! Oh gosh! It’s going to be an absolute nightmare! But I’m certain that Alex and I can work through it, together.
    If we do manage to make it big enough to warrant touring, I’m going to make it a personal mission to make sure you can make it to a show Penny! You’ve always been the best in sending encouraging messages, and that kindness deserves some kindness in return!

    To Saffron: “It's certainly fun being an unrecognizable mess of rearranged body parts, huh? Are there any particular ways to rearrange yourself that you're fond of?” -FlexibleAnatomy

    Oh yeah! One of my favorite things to do if I’m not going to do anything is to see what’s the weirdest possible form I can get my body into.
    There are tons of ways I love to rearrange myself! I love all the standard NBM forms. You know, SWBs, detached head, limbless. The ones that everyone like to do. But I also like the more weird stuff.
    For instance, I really like shifting my legs into arms. Or! Turn my arms and legs into sort of arm-leg hybrids! When I was much younger, me and some of my sisters would do that and go around and pretend to be monkeys! We’d always get strange looks from the other kids at the playgrounds, but we didn’t care because we’d be able to do things like doing the monkey bars upside down, or climb up trees that nobody else could!
    Oh! And if I’m feeling really lazy and need to pick something up, I like to try and connect all of my limbs together to make a sort of super long limb! It can be a little hard to move with all of the weird sensory information, but if it means I don’t have to get up from the couch, I’m willing to do anything.