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“And now, for my final trick!”
The Great Ivo Robotnik took the four segmented boxes across the stage and put them together again. Once conjoined he opened all of them to reveal his assistant Stone completely unharmed, after having just been sawed in half a minute ago.
Needless to say, the crowd was impressed. Cheers erupted from all over the stadium as Ivo helped Stone out of the box. However there were some spectators that were not as impressed….
“BOOOO! You cheated your way into the Master Emerald residency!”
“Yeah, you stole it from us!”
Ivo glared out at the crowd to find the hecklers. Sure enough he found Team Sonic, the three brother magic act that formerly held the Master Emerald Residency. He groaned.
“Actually folks,” Ivo said, smiling and slipping back into his charismatic stage persona, “I lied. I have one more trick.”
He quickly grabs Stone by the waist, wiping his cape around to conceal both of them. A moment later the cape fell down and Ivo and Stone were nowhere to be found on stage.
“And good night!” The disembodied voice of Ivo called out to the crowd. The audience cheers in awe.
~
“I can’t believe that- that- RAT!” Ivo fumed, while tearing off pieces of his costume. He was ranting the moment they stepped into their shared penthouse suite, one of the many benefits of the new residency.
The Master Emerald Hotel and Casino was the most coveted spot for performers in Las Vegas, and likely the world. Even to stay at the hotel or spend a night in the casino as a civilian was seen as quite the luxury. The Hotel’s main attractions, however, were its live shows.
There were shows every night, and matinees on Tuesday and Thursdays. All the evening show slots, except one for the guest performer, were for the residents of the Master Emerald. For any aspiring magician or circus performer, having a residency at the Master Emerald was the end goal, and the dream of many.
For decades the Master Emerald was owned and operated by the Echidna family and for those decades, at least one member of the Echidna family had been a part of the residency acts. This also applied to the last act to hold the residency, Team Sonic. The three brothers (they weren’t blood brothers actually, adopted instead. There was actually this whole story about how Knuckles was like a long lost descendent of the Echidna family and didn’t even know it but blah blah blah, Robotnik really didn’t care) relied on speed and pyrotechnics and loud punk-ish soundtracks to appear “cool.” Ivo hated them. He thought they were unprofessional and gaudy.
But now that Robotnik has control of the hotel, the magic acts will stay classy and there will be nepotism no longer (at least not until Ivo has kids)! It didn’t matter that they bribed and blackmailed their way into the residency, and further into control of the whole hotel, he was still the best magician in the world; he deserved that spot!
However Team Sonic had become salty about the whole ordeal and had begun sneaking into shows just to heckle him. The audacity!
“I want that rat and his stupid primary-colored brothers, obliterated!” Robotnik declared, tossing his top hat aside to reveal his bald head. He huffed dramatically while plopping down on the edge of the bed.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir but,” Stone spoke while sneakily slipping into Ivo’s lap, “because we have control of the Hotel now, the only thing they can do is heckle us.”
Ivo sighed.
“Of course, you’re right my, darling assistant,” Ivo said, leaning up to kiss Stone; he was very hard to resist sitting directly in his lap. Once they parted Stone spoke up again:
“If you want I could…take care of them?”
Ah, right. His assistant's horrific past as a mercenary. It was kind of funny to think about now as he sat in Ivo’s lap, wearing little more than fishnets and a waistcoat.
“No, no ....Actually, I think I have a better idea to keep them away from us for a while.”
~
Sonic and co walked cautiously in the rafters above the stage; it was especially difficult considering the buckets of slime and bags of feathers they carried.
“Remember, the plan is to pour this all on them and then while they’re distracted I run down there and open all their secret panels and hidden compartments to expose them for the frauds they are, once and for all!”
“But Sonic,” Tails started, nervously tip-toeing along the rafter beams, “aren’t all magicians frauds? I mean except for us cause, ya know, we’re aliens, but-”
“All magicians may be frauds but they are the only ones who deserve to be exposed. They are liars, and cheats!” Knuckles chimed in from behind Tails.
“Yeah! Come on Tails, we know they took control by force–the Echidna family wouldn’t give up on a long lost heir just, out of nowhere! It’s like Knuckle's birth right or something,” Sonic muttered the last part trying not to be so loud.
“I guess you’re right,” Tails conceded.
“Ok, here seems like a good spot,” Sonic stopped on a beam right above the stage. Him and his brothers then knelt down posing. They watched the show, waiting for a good moment to strike. Down on the stage, Ivo was gesturing to an empty glass box that Stone held.
“As you can see, this box is obscenely boring,” Ivo said as Stone spun the box all around to show just how empty it was, “So let’s spice it up, shall we?”
Ivo then briefly waved his hand in front of the glass box. Then, a smaller black box appeared in the center of the previously vacant glass box. The crowd oohed and awwed. Sonic rolled his eyes. He didn’t care for theatrics.
“Ready?” Sonic gestured to his brothers, getting ready to pour his bucket of slime.
“Wait, Sonic look!”
Tails looks points down at the stage to find Robotnik plucking the small black box out of the larger glass box. He then- knelt down one one knee?!
“Is he…purposing??” It was very clear what was happening when Ivo popped open the small black box to reveal a ring.
“Stone,” he took a deep breath, “Since day one you have been my number one supporter. As stubborn and as prideful as I am, it would be simply incorrect to say I could do this without you. And now will you do me the great honor of joining me on the rest of our journey, not as an assistant, but as equals? As partners? Aban Stone…will you marry me?”
The crowd coos. After a couple of anticipatory moments. Stone nods feverishly, seemingly too emotional to speak. The crowd coos and applauds as the happy couple go to embrace each other.
The brothers look between each other.
“We’d look like jerks if we did it now-”
“Perhaps we should allow them this one romantic moment,” Knuckles says, always one for justice and honor. Sonic thinks for a moment before coming to his decision.
“Ugh, I don’t care! They’re still the bad guys no-” He’s cut off by a light shining in his face. He looks down to try to locate the source. He finds the glint of the ring on Stone’s hand reflecting directly into his eyes. Above the ring he sees Stone, still embracing Robotnik, glaring daggers directly at them.
All three of them felt a chill run down their spines.
“Yeah, whatever, let's just go home” Sonic sighs, leading his brothers back across the rafters.
(The truth was Ivo and Stone had already been engaged for 2 months but thought a public proposal would deter the hecklers, at least for a while. And it worked! HAHA in your face Sonic!!!)