True to his word that this was an entertainment stream, Phian hunched over a drawing tablet, completing the six character fan art challenge with characters called out by chat. The drawing filled most of the viewers’ screens, with a view of the magician tucked in the top-right corner, a figure just over $1800 in the top-left. In the abstract style that appeared on many of his props, colored swishes suggested the shapes of Mario, Isabelle from Animal Crossing, Sans from Undertale, Jessica Rabbit, and Disney’s animated Genie. For the sixth character, with the chat being spammed with dozens of superheroes, he had “compromised” and now worked on Zatanna between responding to chat.

“She’s fine. She does all her own stunts!” “I’m not allowed to go outside. More than half my assistants have a problem with being blinded.” “Heh. I know, right?” “If any of them get sick, I actually have the perfect treatment: vanish their body for two weeks. No lungs, no damage!” “I have to restore them eventually. It’s in their contracts. Well, the ones who have contracts.”

“Now that that’s done, let’s get this out of the way. Don’t worry, I’ll leave it up where you can all see it.” Phian laid a hand flat over the bottom edge of the camera’s view, and the drawing sucked to his hand, leaving behind a clean, white screen, and a ball in his hand with barely visible swishes of color.

A click of the mouse returned the screen to showing only the camera view. While chat freaked out, Phian strolled casually to the window, bouncing the ball off the floor as he went. He lifted the curtain, tossed the ball up behind it, then ripped the curtain down, revealing a white one behind, printed with the image he’d just drawn, the sun shining through it in imitation of a stained glass window.

With an aggressive grin, the magician balled up the black curtain, threw it violently into the hall, then threw his arms up. “What?!” he challenged, clearly through a microphone that must have been hidden under his shirt. “You know who I am!”

With a laugh, he swung an arm, beckoning someone from off-screen to the right. “Jane, get in frame! The internet wants me to crush you.”

A new song started as, with a bright smile, a wave, and a cheery “Heeeey!” at the camera, Jane strode in pushing a table on wheels. She wore a cyan thong bikini with a small, magenta symbol over the left breast, blonde hair tied back in a short ponytail.

While she struck a pose with her hand placed on her hip, swung to the left, Phian stepped up and retrieved the little white box from the desk, placing it near one end of the table. He unfolded it upward, while his assistant joined him by unfolding it back, turning it into a larger box more than two feet tall and around four feet long.

Phian offered her a hand, and taking it, Jane stepped up onto the table, then into the box.

It took some wiggling of her hips - the box was already a bit too narrow - but she managed to slide down into it sideways, flashing another smile and continuing to wave as she vanished from view.

Phian folded the back of the box forward, then the top down, eliciting a squeak from its occupant. “Something wrong, Jane?”

“Nothing!” came the muffled reply. “I always wanted to be a contortionist.”

Another assistant appeared from the hallway, in a black swim dress and glasses, with long, curly hair, two-toned dirty blonde and copper. She paused for a moment to stare at the folding box, then slipped quietly by in the background.

Not showing any sign of noticing this visitor, Phian chuckled. “Well, you’re in for a real treat.” Smoothly, with no regard for the minimum space a human body should take up, he folded the back of the box forward two more times.

Finally, he folded the top down, restoring the box to its original size and shape, but with Jane’s red-faced head protruding from the top. “Presto!” Phian exclaimed. “Any contortionist would envy you, now!”

Jane arched her neck back, then rolled her head around the side. “Oof, I needed that.” She paused as her ponytail pulled taut, tip still stuck in the hole, against the back of her neck, then bobbed her head forward to tug it loose, letting it fall down behind the box. “Ng! It’s weird that that was the part that felt the weirdest.”

The magician scooped up the box and returned it to its place on the desk, giving the audience a closer look with Jane’s face on the right edge of the camera’s view. “Jane, ladies and gentlemen!”

“All wrapped up for your viewing pleasure,” she joked, ending with her tongue out.

“Yes, when it comes to decorating your desk, there’s nothing better,” Phian advertised, slipping back into his chair and placing a kiss on Jane’s temple.

“Oh!” Jane’s expression turned to surprise, caught off-guard by the kiss. Her face flooded red as she stumbled out “Well, yeah. Decor, that’s what it is.” She did her best to return to her glamorous assistant smile, not exactly making eye contact with the camera.

“Well, it looks like there’s no time to get comfortable as while that was going on, we crossed our two thousand dollar threshold, which means Andrea gets to join you in there!” At this, he reached up and nudged the camera slightly to the right, catching the woman almost choking on a cocktail in surprise.

Andrea pointed at herself sheepishly. “Can I finish my drink first?” She took another gulp to help steady her throat.

An idea seemed to dawn on Phian, and he cast a side-eyed glance at the camera with a smirk. He hopped from his chair and stepped up to the woman, and waved a hand before her eyes. Her eyes honed in on it, then became distant as it reached for her. Her head started to droop, and he tapped her forehead to keep it up, then drew away, closing his hand as he did as if pulling something. “No questions,” he instructed, and plucked the glass from her hands. “Set up the next box.”

As Andrea turned to do as instructed, Phian took the glass and set it on the desk in front of Jane. Andrea returned to view carrying a box, and set it on the table. It looked just like the last one had when unfolded, save that it was emerald green.

Jane winked at the camera as the magician scooped her up and brought her back to the table. He handed her to Andrea, who hugged the box to her stomach.

“Climb in,” he instructed, and scooped her thigh up with one hand, placing the other against the small of her back to give her a boost onto the table.

Andrea stepped into the box, then flashed a quick, distant-eyed smile and waved as she lowered herself in place, taking Jane with her.

The folding went more quickly and quietly this time, until the box was two segments tall, two long. When the magician folded this down, Jane re-emerged. She swung her head around, relieved to be able to again, and took a deep breath. “Whew! Is it getting hot in here?” Jane remarked with a smirk.

“Don’t relax just yet,” Phian chuckled, and turned the box 90 degrees, so the rather surprised Jane was facing up, the other box segment now on top. He folded this segment away, revealing Andrea’s head protruding from the top of what had again become a one foot cube, white on the faces the audience could see. Jane’s face and neck tightened, feeling some strain, then relaxed again once it was finished.

“And here I thought it couldn’t get any tighter!” Jane laughed.

Meanwhile, though Andrea was still staring distantly ahead, her face was bright red.

The magician scooped up the box, and returned it to its spot on the desk, still with Andrea in the top orientation, her glass right in front of her. Several beads of sweat had started to trail down her face.

He swiped his hand in front of the glass, leaving a straw behind in it, the end of which he brought to her lips. Taking the suggestion, she took the straw, and sipped. As she did, the coloration faded, and sweat stopped forming.

“Oh, wow,” Jane sighed. “That feels nice.”

Phian chuckled as he watched his relieved assistants. “All right, Andrea. Come back to us.” He held a hand in front of her face, thumb and middle finger pressed together. “Rising… rising… rising…” he intoned softly, then snapped his fingers. “Wake.”

Andrea’s focus drifted slowly back. She twisted and looked around, examining the box as best she could, taking a moment to process her situation with astonished disbelief, then looked up to the magician with a blush and giggle. "Oh damn, you got me!" she managed to say now that the initial shock had faded, still smiling. "May I have my cocktail now?"

Phian couldn’t help but snicker. “You already finished it! Don’t worry - I’ll get you another.”