TEMPERANCE | jack wilder

xv. the fool

(note: some of the dialogue may be inaccurate. the audio wasn't the best so I wasn't able to make out some of the words)

When they pushed her out she fell down to the floor. "Ugh," she groaned underneath her breath. "Would it kill them to push me out lighter? My face could've gotten damaged." She got up and walked over to the ladder. The ladder lead to the wing of the place, she went to it and got on it, peeking to see what was happening. Merritt wasn't there anymore so he got pushed out, and they were now pushing Lula out. Merritt came up behind her and both of them shared a fist-bumped. 

"Did you say it?" she asked him.

"Down to the exclamation point. That was a compelling struggle."

"Why thank you, yelling out 'no' and 'stop' seems to be a common occurrence women have to go through."

"I acknowledge the sexism, but leave your feminist rants for another time. God forbid, I've heard enough to treat all women with respect," Merritt sighed out.

"Hey, guys!" Lula greeted them. "Good stuff back their Merritt. I shed a tear, I really did."

Evelynn laughed at Lula's exaggeration. "Hey, Evelynn. You might be expecting something pretty cool at midnight."

"Cool?" she chuckled out. "I gotta tell you, I hate surprises so you should tell me right now."

Lula merely shook her head, smiling, and looked into the window. "Okay, I'm mildly concerned now."

The others went up and joined them on the wing. Evelynn smiled at them and looked back inside the plane. All of them already put on their microphones and earpieces. 

Everything in the plane started turning off and Evelynn saw Arthur and Walter look around, very confused. The Horsemen then started to pop their heads in front of the windows waving at them. Mocking them would be a better phrase. Evelynn laughed at their dumbfounded expressions. 

"Come on out," they all told Arthur and Walter. The frame walls dropped and, then showed the Thames and a huge audience. They all went into a group hug. Evelynn looked around amazed at the amount of people who showed up. She also saw a huge screen recording them and laughed in delight that they pulled it off.

They all got off of the wing and saw Walter stick his head out.

"Yeah man, you can feel pretty good about yourself. Yeah, you predicted it correctly," Daniel told him. "The Thames, at the stroke of midnight, New Year's Eve. Happy New Year."

That's why it's so crowded, Evelynn thought. New Years. "Hey, Merritt," she called out to him with her microphone covered so only he would hear her. "Fifty bucks, you kiss Daniel when they countdown."

He also covered his mic. "Nothing you can do can bribe me into putting my mouth on that man."

"Damnit Merritt," she joked. "What use are you for then?"

"Thank you very much! Lovely, I would like to just acknowledge our old friend Arthur Tressler and his young and very brilliant son, Walter Mabry. Who has performed one of the greatest feats of all time, that even we have ever seen, he has amazingly brought himself back from the dead!" Evelynn announced to everyone holding a hand in their direction.

"But before we do that, we'll reveal someone who we think it's the only right to give him a proper introduction," Merritt told the people of London.

"He is our friend and he is our leader, Dylan Shrike!" Daniel announced. The Horsemen clapped for him, Evelynn even cheered.

"Normally, only the magician, his assistant, and few a few trusted stage hands know the secret of a trick. But tonight, however, in this effect all of you people around the Thames here and since we're streaming live, everyone around the world, already knows everything. Only, these fellows there, are left in the dark. So, let's see how closely you were watching our show."