One Tuesday morning, Todd woke up early in order to cram more studying in a the library before his test. When he attempted to bring the trash cans from the front to the back of his house, per his usual, routine, he found garbage strewn throughout the yard and raccoon gorging itself. In a fit of rage at the time lost due to the clean up, Todd threw an acorn at the animal and scared it away. Now that he stood in front of a seven foot tall, raccoon with two tails, a big belly, thick fur, and obsidian claws, Todd was certain this was cosmic revenge.
Jun remained in between the creature and Todd, hand raised towards it as the Kinuki’s black, beady eyes stared at him. His face was full of determination and Todd felt something akin to relief.
“Listen carefully Todd Stewart.” Jun said, as he continued to stare down the creature. “I want you to retrieve your lunch and gently toss it to me.” Todd unzipped his book bag and pulled out a zip-lock bag. He tossed it with a soft underhand throw, and it landed just behind Jun, who blindly reached to the ground for it.
“Sorry. I short armed it, just like during baseball try outs.” Todd yelled. Jun carefully leaned further back, and after a few more attempts, made contact with the bag.
“What in the name of grandma’s pudding pie is this supposed to be?” Jun shouted. He turned to look at Todd and the Kinuki flinched then bared its teeth.
“Nutrition bar.” Todd replied. “It’s a good pick me up in the afternoon when I start really digging into studying. Actually, a lot of reports-
“Where’s the pb and j? The bologna? Or even actual food?” Jun slowly turned back to the Kinuki
“Eww. I hate bologna.” Todd said, his face scrunched up. “And I told you, I need maximum page turning efficiency when studying, not even finger foods. Plus, we’re not allowed to bring peanut based food items any more due to food allergies. Which, I do support by the way, despite rumors to the contrary.” The Kinuki took a swipe at Jun, who rolled out of the way to dodge. He stood up and shuffled to the side.
“Looks like we’ll have to do this the hard way.” Jun said. A wry smile slowly appeared. “Heh. Time to unleash, Todd.” Todd looked around the roof, then leaned forward.
“Do you mean ‘time to unleash. Period. Todd’?” he asked.
“I mean it’s time to show what you’ve got, no holding back.” Jun said with a laugh. “Show this creature what you do best.”
“Algebra?” Todd asked.
“Powers, Todd Stewart. Use your gifts.” Jun yelled.
“I don’t have any gifts! I was once written an excuse skip gym class, by the teacher.”
“Todd Stewart, thanks to your so lackluster lunch, the Kinuki is hungry and angry. I suggest you discover bust out your skills immediately.”
Before Todd could respond, the Kinuki roared as it lifted its front paws and brought them down hard. Their large size meant extra weight thrown into the force of the Kinuki’s swipe. They fell, one of each side of Jun, and Todd instinctively covered his eyes. He was afraid of what would come next as the blow was struck, but when he heard the sound of something heavy striking metal, Todd was more confused than horrified. He squinted and turned towards Jun. The Kinuki did make contact, but only with a translucent, light red barrier seemingly held up by Jun. It appeared to float in front of his hands and looked like tinted glass.
The Kinuki pressed down harder then yelped and took a step back. Jun adjusted his stance for better balance and Todd noticed the barrier’s color had darkened. The barrier dissolved and the creature watched Jun but didn’t move towards him.
“Use your rope thing!” Todd shouted.
“First of all, it’s more of a chain. Secondly...” Jun looked at his watch. “Not possible.”
“What do you mean not possible?”
“I mean the opposite of possible. Ready to use your abilities yet?”
“I told you I don’t have any!” Todd said. He stomped his foot and the Kinuki looked in his direction. Todd grimaced and looked for something, anything that could help. His mind jumped back to the acorn incident.
“The trash.” Todd whispered. “I have a plan, but I need to run somewhere, how long can you hold it?”
“I’ve seen you run, not nearly long enough.” Jun said. Todd stared at the ground, while he tried to play out how long a trip through the school would take. The wind picked up and the fencing around the roof shook. Todd looked up.
“Got it.” Todd said. “Be right back.” He ran to the edge of the roof and heard the Kinuki move. Todd looked over his shoulder and saw the it charge ahead. Jun clapped his hands together then pushed them forward. As the Kinuki lunged, another barrier appeared and blocked the animal backwards. Todd found what he was looking for: the maintenance door. The very same type of exit Todd needed to use the time he accidentally locked the entire astronomy club on the roof. Todd pulled until it opened and descended the ladder.
He skipped the final rungs and dropped to the ground. He immediately took off running towards the carnival. As he neared the food vendors, Todd started to slow down and he felt as if his conscious mind finally caught up to the events of the last few moments. He’d climbed down a ladder from a roof four floors up, with no safety harness. He was on the roof in the first place. He had been on the roof of his school, four floors up, dealing with a seven foot tall raccoon with two tails. The baffling nature of the situation crashed into his mind. Yet, Todd found himself with the urge to resume his sprint, as if this was all normal.
Todd reached the end of the food trucks and hugged the wall of the school as he turned the corner. His heart leapt as his eyes found the prize: the large dumpster where students disposed of peanut products. Normally it was kept a good distance from the school, but for the first day carnival, it was used as back up instead of buying another dumpster. As a former member of the activity committee, Todd knew nobody would care enough to change the policy and just hoped someone actually packed a lunch.
Todd flung the lid open. He couldn’t see over the edge, so Todd climbed on the hook lift bar and peered inside. “Yes!” Todd shouted as he saw couple of paper bags. He jumped down and grabbed one then pulled himself onto to the ledge.
“Todd?” Sarah asked. The color drained from Todd’s face as he slowly turned and saw Sarah with Ivan as they held large trash can. Ivan’s face lit up and a huge smile appeared.
“Uhhh...hi.” Todd said, his voice small.
“Hey. What’s going on?” Sarah asked slowly. Ivan struggled and failed to contain his laughter.
“Nothing. Nothing’s....nothing.” Todd said.
“Okay...well there’s cotton candy, and corn dogs back at school if your interested.” Sarah said.
“No thank you.” Todd replied in a robotic fashion.
“Okay then...” she said.
“I uh...I have to go.” Todd said. Slowly he swung his legs over the edge and hopped down. He forced a smile. “Okay. Bye.” Todd walked away, stilted, then sprinted towards the school.
By the time Todd reached the top of the ladder, he was almost sure being torn to shreds was preferable to would what just happened. Todd practically threw himself through the gate door as he climbed onto the roof.
“If this doesn’t work, take me instead....oh...ha ha ha.” Todd started to laugh, which turned to a snort, and then further laughter; his own troubles melted into the background.
“There’s nothing funny about this situation.” Jun said. He was laying on the ground, while the Kinuki sat on his back. The creature yawned then scratched its belly.
Todd wiped a tear from his eye. “Okay, today is official a good day.” He opened the bag from the allergy dumpster and pulled out a stale a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As soon as Todd took the sandwich out of the bag, the Kinuki jumped onto all four legs, freeing Jun, and stared at Todd.
“Nice Kinuki.” Todd said slowly. The creature’s eyes were transfixed on the sandwich. Afraid of losing a hand, Todd held the sandwich with the tip of his fingers and flung it across the roof. In an instant, With speed that the Kinuki caught the food in it’s mouth. It turned around to Todd and made a noise that sounded like a contented sigh, then dropped to all four paws again. It lifted its butt into the air slightly and the two tails began to rotate. The Kinuiki hopped a few inches into the air and started to float. Todd watched, eyebrows raised, as the creature flew over the fencing and away from the roof.
“Huh. Bizarre.” Todd said. He turned to Jun. “You okay?”
“Of course I’m okay.” Jun said quickly as dusted off his jacket. “I held back in the hopes you’d return and reveal your true strength. You’re going to need to pick up the pace if you want any hope of surviving the mission.” Jun said.
“I don’t want to be on any kind of mission. With you or the Kinuki or anyone. Frankly, today’s little adventure is enough to try and unravel with my therapist.”
“You’re already part of the mission, Todd Stewart.”
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“What, exactly, is this ‘mission’?”
“In short: save the world.” Jun said. Todd pinched the bridge of his nose.
“For the love of-”
“Todd you’re in this book.” Jun held the codex up. He grabbed the box by the door and took a seat. “Or one of the volumes, I don’t have the Codex Codexium to know, but you’re listed somewhere. You’re just like me. Only a lesser version.” Todd folded his arms and frowned.
“That’s what this is about.” he said. “You’re looking for a friend. Someone to relate to and share in your fantastical world.”
“No.” Jun scoffed. “I have multiple accomplices, and they’re all way more powerful than you. You’re just here to tip the scales in my favor when the time comes.”
“Suit yourself, but I hate to disappoint you, nothing special about me. Other than the extraordinary ability to look stupid in front of my cru...uh Sarah.”
“I thought that might be it too, but I checked, that power is already taken by someone else. You just have a high tendency to be embarrassing. ” Jun stood up. “You’ve gone through an appropriately harrowing situation. That sort of thing changes someone. You may not see it, but that almost doesn’t matter. Others see it, and will see it and will react. The faster you catch up the better for everyone.” He threw open the door to building and disappeared inside the stairwell.
The wind picked up as Todd stared out at the school grounds. Nothing from the last year made him feel powerful or special at all; if anything, the last few days only seemed to continue the streak of misfortune. Todd shook his head and walked to the door. There was no way he was in any way extraordinary.
“What the?” Todd yanked on the door handle, but it wouldn’t open. He pounded on the door. “Jun!”
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“After I got down from the ladder and the firefighters finished yelling at me, I had just enough time to get some funnel cake before the carnival ended.” Todd said. Frissini nodded.
“Yes, and where is this funneled cake now?”
“I ate half of it already...did you catch anything I said?” Todd asked. Frissini brought his bushy brows together and slowly nodded.
“No. You have half left of the powdered sugar treat, you say?”
“You asked me how my day was, and all you got from that was funnel cake?”
“I noticed you did not include ‘Great Frissini I mastered a card trick thanks to your incredible tutelage ’ anywhere.”
“It’s only been one day.” Todd said.
“When I was your age, in one day I had my own show and still made it home in enough time to help loom new stockings.
“Loom? How ol-”
“Okay, okay. Frissini will show you trick.” He pulled out a deck of cards. “It’s no show stopper, but it will impress first time viewers. Pick any card out of the deck.” Todd grabbed the three of spades at random. Frissini shuffled the deck and cut it in half. He pointed at both decks and Todd chose the one on his right. Frissini cut that deck and revealed the top card: three of spades. He put it back on top, snapped his fingers and flipped the top card of the deck on his right to reveal the three of spades.
“Whoa.”
“This is basic. You want ‘whoa’ you learn the book.” Frissini said and nodded to the end of the counter where Todd place it after he arrived at the shop.
“I appreciate your help, but I don’t know if I’m cut out for that.
“Of course you are.”
“I’m cut out for going to school and getting good grades to go to a better school just to try and get more good grades. That’s it. You heard what happened when I did something different: I was embarrassed not once, but twice in front of...Sarah, almost expelled, and locked on the roof of the school.” Todd threw his hands up. He didn’t know where the sudden rush of exasperation came from, but he felt a heaviness in his chest. He decided against mentioning either of the incidents involving Jun. As eccentric as Frissini was, that would probably still be a bridge too far.
“Too much complaining. You lose audience. Listen to Frissini instead.” He took the cards from earlier and spread them across the counter. Frissini pulled out the eights of each suite.
“Really?” Todd asked, but Frissini raised an eyebrow and Todd pointed at the eight of diamonds. Frissini gathered the cards and shuffled the deck. He cleared his throat.
“In the land ruled by a wise old...King,” Frissini flipped over the top card and revealed a joker. “A very funny and benevolent king, lived a young boy.” He flipped over another card and revealed the eight of diamonds. “He dreamed of become the best he could be.” Frissini pulled the ten of diamonds from the top of the deck. “Until one day fate showed him a vision of more.” Frissini revealed another Joker. “And suddenly....the boy’s life got worse.” He lifted up the next card, which was the two of diamonds. “Much worse. So much so the princess and her Jack could no longer associate with the boy.” He revealed a Queen of hearts and a Jack of clubs.
“So the boy brought the wise and handsome old King a delicious powdered offering and asked a very simple question: how can I be the me that I want to be?” Frissini shuffled the cards he’d already revealed and flipped over the top card, which revealed the ten of diamonds. He took the remaining unused deck and cut it, then waved both hands over each pile. “The very successful old King told him the only way was to choose.” He flipped over the top card of the pile on his right and revealed the three of diamonds. “He could take the path he thinks he knows...” Frissini flipped card after card and revealed the four, the five, and the six of diamonds. “and hope it doesn’t cost him too much.” Frissini quickly revealed the two of spades, then two of clubs, then the three of hearts, followed by the three of spades, and so forth until he reached the ten of diamonds. “So he may finally reach his destination and bask in what’s left.” Frissini slid the ten of diamonds to the side. There remained only one card. He used the ten of diamonds to turn it over and revealed the Joker again.
“Or...” Frissini turned to the pile on his left and over flipped card after card. The suites appeared seemingly at random, but always in ascending order and never repeating until he reached the eight of hearts. “He could chase the dream he dare not dream, even alone.” The next card was as seven of a different suit, followed by the eight of clubs, then a seven of a different suit, a six of that same suit, then a seven again until he revealed the nine of diamonds. He took the original piled of discarded cards, shuffled them again and tapped them, then tapped the nine of diamonds. He slid it from the pile and revealed the Queen of hearts. “And find within himself something he never knew was there.” Frissini pointed at the chest pocket of Todd’s apron. Todd reached inside and fished out a King of Diamonds.
“Whoa.” Todd said, as a short laugh escaped. He was amazed, yes, but a heaviness which he felt since school ended was gone.
“There is your whoa. I tell the story because I’ve been the story. You can perform any trick with the right mindset.” Frissini said. Todd slowly nodded. “I will deduct bill from your pay.”
“Bill?”
“Yes, I fixed you. You no longer have problems, I fix you. You pay fancy doctor, Frissini do it faster. Cheaper too. Only eighty-five percent cost.” Todd shook his head. “What? I run a business here.”
“You should get that framed.” Todd said.
“And you should get back to sweeping, a lot to work off. Then I pay you.” Frissini said.
“Wait. Can you teach me how to do that trick?” Todd asked.
“Some tricks are only taught by time.” Frissini said, a slight twinkle in his eye. “Instead, I teach you teleport trick from before.”
Todd shuffled the deck for what felt like the hundredth time when the bell which hung above the front door rang. There was something he was missing in the teleportation trick that cause it to be off every time; he was getting better, closer, but it was still not quite right.
“Excuse me. Where is the owner?” a man said. Todd looked up and saw a man in a suit and overly done pompadour in the doorway, but his heart dropped when a familiar, sweet, fruity smell hit his nostrils. Next to the man in a suit was the girl who chased Todd and put him in a choke hold the other day. He remembered the boy in the beanie had called her Sophia; she did not look thrilled to be at the magic shop.
Sophia noticed Todd and sneered at him, which caused him to take a step back and bump into Frissini.
“Do not be rude, you must greet our guests.” Frissini said. “I’m confident, we can handle anything they need.” He winked and Todd and stepped in front of him. “Forgive my apprentice, he’s new and not very talented but is a good kid who must return to his book work. What can I do for you?” Frissini patted Todd on the arm, who took the hint and walked back behind the counter.
“Yeah, you’re the one who pelted my daughter with eggs?” Sophia’s father asked. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“I admit the price to laugh ratio was dicey, they were organic after all. But seeing this child and her friends, scramble away was worth it.”
“You’d better hope so, I could tie this hovel in so much litigation, I’ll pull money from behind your ear.”
“Perhaps your daughter would be better served to learn not to pick on someone weaker, yes?” Frissini said. Sophia glanced at Todd and he dropped his eyes back to the book of tricks.
“That’s not how I hear it, and each of her friends can attest to your outright assault as they innocently walked through the shopping center.”
“I see. Well it is a hard thing to weigh, the word of your beloved child versus the truth. Not many are qualified to manage such a thing.”
“Excuse me? I’m a lead news anchor.” Sophia’s father said.
“Yes. I considered that.”
“One prime time report from me and I could ruin you. Turn this shack into my personal closet. Or maybe I’ll just bulldoze-” before Sophia’s father could finish, Frissini had a tight grip on his wrist and another on the lapel of his suit. He let go of the suit and pulled a large coin from behind the anchor’s ear.
“Let’s weigh the cost of our words hmm?” Frissini said, his face severe, despite the pun. “Perhaps we can come to an arrangement. Hmm? Frissini will apologize to the girl, the girl apologizes to my apprentice, and you apologize to us all for that mockery of Italian suits.”
“Why you-” Sophia’s father and Frissini went back and forth as Sophia herself walked over to Todd. Once again the fruity smell hit him before she arrived. Todd took a step back.
“Show me a trick.” Sophia demanded.
“No.” Todd said.
“We are in a magic shop. I want to see a magic trick.” Sophia said. Todd wasn’t sure why he felt so defensive about the idea, but he had no desire to give Sophia anything she wanted. “If I’m impressed I’ll leave you alone.”
“Your friends too?” Todd asked. Sophia shrugged.
“Sure. It better be good though.” she said. Todd exhaled. He fanned out the cards and pointed. Sophia touched the Queen of diamonds. Todd shuffled the deck and cut it, then pointed at both. Sophia tapped the one on his left and Todd cut the deck again. He hesitated then flipped over the top card to reveal the Queen of diamonds. Sophia’s face remained haughty as Todd returned the card to the top of the deck. He went to snap his fingers over the second deck but accidentally bumped it. Sophia snickered and Todd hastily put the deck back together. He snapped his fingers and picked up the top card with shaky fingers: it was the Queen of diamonds.
“Bravo.” Sophia said. Her voice was deadpan and her clap slow. “Sloppy, but consider me impressed.” She turned around and walked back to her father and Frissini.
“And I say newspaper is the superior medium.” Frissini said. Sophia cleared her throat.
“I apologize for causing distress to your little apprentice. It won’t happen again.” She said. Her voice sounded sickeningly sweet to Todd after his previous interactions. Frissini and Sophia’s father looked at her, then each other in surprise.
“Are you sure sweetie. You don’t have to apologize to a bully.” her father said.
“I’m sure. I’d like to go home now.”
“Of course dear.” He followed her out the door then turned back to Frissini. “You haven’t seen the last of me.”
“Wonderful. Be sure to stay away from those high definition cameras. They add about ten...wrinkles.” Frissini said. Sophia’s father touched his face, pulled his collar around his neck, and hurried out.
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Todd yawned as he waited for Jun in the safety guard headquarters. School clubs didn’t start until next week, but every semester Todd used the first week back to get ahead of organizing and laying claim to prominent positions in the club; Viltburg loved a good title after all. That wouldn’t be a problem this semester, but old habits died hard. Ordinarily Jun wouldn’t have shown up before, during, or after school, Todd had begun to understand, but Todd gave him a taste of his own medicine with a deceptive email to lure Jun in early and try and reset everything after yesterday.
The main reason Todd was at school early, however, was his lack of sleep. Between his excitement at finally understanding a magic trick, his surprise at actually enjoying magic, and the still unbelievable shenanigans with Jun, Todd’s mind wouldn’t stop racing. It occupied his thoughts so much, he completely forgot his traditional first day cram session.
The door to the room opened and Jun peaked his head inside. “Let’s see these powers, Todd Stewart.” he asked. Todd stood up and ran to the door.
“Well, the email didn’t say powers, per se, but I did learn a new...trick.” Todd said.
“Better hope it comes in handy.” Jun said.
“With what?”
“Detention. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll probably be mostly fine, maybe. The plan will work regardless, so don’t worry about that.” Jun pulled his head back out of the doorway.
“It’s detention. What plan could you possibly have for detention?” Todd asked. He ran out of the room and into the hallway. “I’m serious!” he shouted. “Detention doesn’t need a-” Todd bumped into someone as he stepped into the hall. which was filled with students. “Sorry I-”
“Todd.” It was Ivan, he grabbed Todd by the shirt. “It’s here. And you’re too late.”