Angst and Maybe Some Fluff

A Show

    20 minutes until the show.

    Marvin was pacing around backstage, trying to keep himself from thinking about what was going to happen. It had been forever since he had done a show. Too many people complained that his tricks were too easy to explain, that they were too obvious. That was going to change. Back then he was too worried about using his real powers. He would do magician’s magic tricks and it just meant failure for him. He would be practising real magic and fake magic and didn’t allot enough time for either to get much better. So, he would do tricks and accidentally show how he did it. He would get hate for being obviously fake. He just wanted to show the world what he could really do, but he was too afraid.

    Now, about half a year later he was trembling backstage trying to keep his cool but failing. All of the others had convinced him that it was a good idea. That he didn’t have to share how he did his tricks.

    10 minutes until the show.

    Marvin could hear the people starting to pile in. They had gotten a good crowd with posters, advertising, and Jackieboy telling everyone he encountered that they should come.

    You’re a failure.

    You could never entertain a crowd, you’re so boring.

    The people here only came out of pity.

    Marvin sat down on a nearby bench and put his head in his hands. Right now wasn’t exactly the best time for intrusive thoughts. He tried to make them go away with the things he had practised, breathing, remembering that people truly are there for him.

    5 minutes until the show.

    Why would anyone care about you?

    You’re just a wanna be with a mask.

    Marvin felt tears start to run down his face and he started to sink into himself. He hugged himself, as if trying to protect himself from his own thoughts.

    You’re going to fail them.

    They all came to see you and they’ll be so disappointed.

    How could you make them think that you were cool? You know you’re not.

    3 minutes before the show.

    Jackie came into the back, hoping to wish Marvin luck before he went out. He looked around a bit and his heart stopped for a second when he saw a sobbing Marvin on the bench. He rushed over there and ran his hand through Marvin’s hair, whispering sweet nothings into his ear in hopes it would calm him down.

“Marv, what happened?”

Marvin whimpered a bit and looked up at the hero. “Nothing much, you know, just an anxiety attack.”

“Do you think you can make it through the show? I can tell everyone it’ll be put off.”

Marvin gave Jackie a horrified look.

They’ll hate you.

You will have wasted their time.

They wouldn’t understand.

“I, I think I can make it.”

Marvin stood up and wiped the tears off of his face.

Jackie gave him a disbelieving look and hugged him tightly.

“Well, the show is about to start. I wish you the best of luck my little magician.”

Marvin gave him a small smile and went out onto the stage with a huge smile on his face.

Everything was going fine. He had been amazing the audience with his amazing colorful magic that made things appear and disappear. He did all things that seemed like a magician might do, card tricks, disappearing coins, changing a flower into a dove. His magic was swirls of color and shimmer that is never seen even on stage and it made the audience look on in awe.

Everything was great. That is, until he felt comfortable to sink into his mind, where thoughts were posed to strike.

Look at them, they’re scared of you.

That was a lame trick.

That’s been done before.

Right in a middle of a spell he lost his concentration. He faltered, a deadly thing in the realm of spells. The pent up magic that was going to be used for the spell no longer had a focus or reason to be there and it lashed out not only on Marvin, but the audience.

Raw magical force emanated from Marvin, causing him excruciating pain. He fell to his knees, just trying to get through the pain of the moment. When the power dissipated, he looked up to see a horror of an audience.

Blood. Blood was everywhere. It was dripping down the walls in a glistening mess. All marvin could see was red. A red that he caused. A red that couldn’t be fixed.

Subconsciously he felt Jackie make him come backstage and explain what happened. Apparently Jackie saw what was happening and told the others to get out, but some of them didn’t get out. The pressure from the magic essentially made their heads explode.

Marvin shook his head in disbelief. The voices were louder than ever telling him that he was a monster. That he should die, that he didn’t deserve to live. He put his hands over his ears, trying to block out what was already in his head. Jackieboy tried to calm him down, but this time it wouldn’t work.

Jackie and Marvin sat on the floor, one crying from what he caused and the other from seeing his friend collapsing on the inside. Neither knew how to fix what damage had been done.