The stage was lit up, the props were in position, and the star of the show was centre-stage. The seated crowd gave its thunderous applause to the famous Spanish Magician, Fernandes Strato. He bowed low and greeted the crowd with a few starter tricks. It was a full house, like usual.

Adrien was a dear friend of Fernandes. Although he met the Spaniard through a humour convention, he hit it off quite quickly with the Magician. Adrien had promised the man a 'one hundred percent attendance rate' to every single one of his shows as a sign of respect to the fellow comedian. In Adrien's eyes, it was a small favour to the main performer of one of the best comedy-magic acts of Europe. The man agreed to the teenager's promise and held up his side of the bargain by providing a steady flow of jokes to the young blonde.

But merely being the audience wasn't enough for Adrien. So he helped around backstage, simple jobs like pushing on props or running out with the knives set. All small tasks that anyone could do, but helped out nonetheless.

After every performance, it would be the same deal. Fernandes would clap Adrien on the shoulder, give him a burly laugh then say the exact same thing. "One of these days, you will make these people laugh like I do." It was a silly little promise, but it gave Adrien hope.

Except, on one night, that promise came true.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE HAVE ALL HEARD OF THE INFAMOUS DISAPPEARING ACT HAVE WE NOT?" Fernandes called from the stage.

The crowd applauded in agreement. Once the noise died down, the magician paced the stage, whipping his cloak around in a magnificent show of class.

"I HAVE WITH ME THIS CLOAK. A MAGIC CLOAK THAT WILL ENABLE ME TO DISAPPEAR IN AN INSTANT!"

Offstage and with a clear view of the stage, Adrien sweated nervously. He had been training for the past week in preparation for this magic trick. He was the final blow, the punch line of the entire act. He couldn't muck up the steps or forget his lines, he had promised Fernandes too much to fail him now.

"ARE YOU ALL READY? BECAUSE I WILL MAKE MYSELF, NOT ONLY DISAPPEAR... BUT HAVE MYSELF TRANSPORTED THROUGH TIME AND BECOME YOUNGER!"

The crowd was in an uproar. Adrien felt another pang of distress shoot through his gut. The moment was coming up, all he had to do was wait for the cue and be prepared for the trick to happen.

"BECAUSE TIME TRAVEL IS A SILLY THING AND MOSTLY RELIES ON TIME, I WILL COUNT TO THREE, THEN THE MAGIC WILL BE DONE."

Adrien took a gulp. The Spanish Magician held up a finger.

"UNO!"

Adrien shook his hands out and quickly dashed to the appropriate hiding spot.

"DOS!"

The Magician swung his arm down and in-between his legs, jumping while his momentum made his body flip through the air and curl into a ball. The cloak seemed to wrap around the Spaniard, enveloping him in the heavy red cloth. That was Adrien's cue to dash out under the cloak as discretely as possible.

Once the cloak had completed one full revolution, Adrien had to stand up immediately. Upon doing that, the cloak clipped itself to his shoulder pads and fell behind him.

This was his big moment; the Magician was gone and he was left standing in front of the massive crowd, dressed as the man who disappeared mere moments ago. All he had to do was say the line then run off.

He took a short breath and smiled a brilliant Cheshire cat grin, splaying his hands in a showy display of magic.

"AND HE DISAPPEARED... WITHOUT A TRES!"