((Picture attached is what Logan McCarthy looks like.))
"Merritt McKinney!"
"Daniel Atlas!"
"Logan McCarthy!"
"Henley Reeves!"
"Jack Wilder!"
"Arthur Tressler and the MGM Grand proudly presents...THE FIVE HORSEMEN!"
The lights of the Las Vegas stage light up, blinding everyone in the huge crowd and when the lights died down, five people stand in their place on the center stage. Five people, with each unique characteristics. They were quite a group, that was for sure.
"Thank you!" Atlas rose his hand as he and his team entered for their First Act. Daniel Atlas was the ringleader and control freak of the small group. He wore dress pants, dress shirt, and a snazzy dress jacket that he left open. His dark brown hair reach a little down past his ears, and it curled and spiked in many small directions, his blue, dark and charming eyes hidden among his bangs, his goatee shortened and groomed properly so he didn't look like a slob. In fact, him being a control freak means he always had to be in control, therefore he was also clean as a whistle. Well, except for his social skills, that wasn't clean. He's a bit of a dick off the stage...okay, he's a total asshole to everyone.
"Hellooooo Las Vegas!" Henley yelled at the top of her lungs, obviously excited and loving how she pumps up the crowd. That was always her thing. She wore a black jacket, black shirt, fingerless gloves, black pants and combat boots. Her long, red hair was straightened and put in a side ponytail, her bangs curled just above her mascara filled eyes. She used to be Atlas' assistant when it was just the two of them, -but they were never a couple as they tell everybody- and she left after she finally had enough of him. Aka, he called her fat that one time and that one dick move made her snap and quit. She went to do her own thing, she became an escape artist and did a lot of sick, twisted acts that left people thinking about her well being. None the less, she was fun to be around and she was so comfortable up on stage. She knew how to make people go wild.
"Thank you for having us!" Merritt, the oldest of the group, rubbed his hands together, looking out at the crowd and thinking about them naked like his usual perverted, mentalist self. He also wore dress pants, shirt, and open jacket, but with a touch of his own as he wore a fedora to cover his nearly bald head. Yes, he was a mentalist, and one hell of a charmer. He uses his gift as an advantage to get around, does a few scams in order to get that green paper, and of course uses it to flirt...immensely. He's taken flirting to a whole new level. He's not a playboy like Atlas, and yes he flirts, but he's respectful, and doesn't like it when men disrespect their girls. He'll intervene, using his skills to make the men think otherwise, and makes sure that the women are treated nicely and more. He's a bit of softy that way. He loves pissing off Atlas, or anyone he doesn't like.
"Have we got a show for you tonight!" Logan announced as she laughed contagiously, making members of the crowd laugh with her. She wore a black leather jacket, also wearing black pants and combat boots. She wore fishnet sleeves that reached her wrists underneath her jacket and had her brownish auburn hair up in a messy bun with her bangs tied in a braid over her right ear. She wore her signature piece of accessory, her dog tags and chain. Logan was Merritt's best friend, partner in crime, flirting buddy, among other things. Besides Henley, she was the only other girl on the team, and that's what makes her and the escape artist very close. They share a room whenever the team travels, and of course they separate themselves from the boys because of course, lady reasons. Logan's the kind of girl to think really hard on something before making a decision, and doesn't make rational moves unless she's super pissed. She is a magician out of hobby, and a small time actress, so she knows a bit of movie magic to make this show really spot on.
"But before we get to the real excitement at the finale! We got one more stunt we'd like you to see!" Jack nodded towards the crowd, his arms out in welcome. He wore a white dress shirt and overalls with black jeans and shoes, as he wore regularly. Jack was the youngest amongst the group, and uses his magician skills as parlor tricks to pickpocket and other stealing techniques. He's been teased a bunch of times by either Logan, Merritt, or Atlas for being the kid and he keeps reminding them that he wants to be treated as an adult, but only Henley does that. He steps up onto the higher platform of the stage and walked a full circle to look at the whole audience surrounding him. He then grins, showing off the widest, childish, perfectly white smile in all the world, extending his arm out to one of the members of his team.
"Logan, if you don't mind." He offered as part of the act.
She smiles and looks towards the audience, stepping up onto the higher platform while Jack stepped down so she had center stage. She puts her hands on her hips, "Now who here always wished they could fly?"
Logan hears cheers, whoops, and hollers of agreement and she nods, her smile not fading away for one second. Part of the show was that the Five Horsemen were supposed to stay smiling at all times, never looking bored, even if they felt that way. She continued,
"Well, tonight...I'm gonna show you how!"
The entire building goes nuts with excitement and Logan elegantly waves her hand towards one of her coworkers, "Mr. Atlas! If you would assist me?"
Daniel looked slightly doubtful, because he wasn't told about this part of the act. He hesitantly walks up onto the stage, not trying to look skeptical and smile towards the crowd. On the inside, he was angry and freaking out.
'This wasn't part of the plan! Why wasn't I informed about this?!' He was freaking out that he wasn't in control of the situation. He didn't even know what to do!
Merritt and Henley exchange the same pathetic grin as they knew what Logan and Jack had planned for their helpless ringleader. His OCD must be kicking in any minute now...
Logan takes both his hands in hers and leads him to center stage, "Now," she addresses the audience, "Today I am going to sprout wings and soar for you."
"And she's not talking about death," Jack had to note for the skeptical ones out in the crowd.
"She's not?" Merritt asked teasingly, making a few people plus Henley laugh.
Logan eyes Merritt playfully, "Yes I am actually, my love. I'm talking about you."
He blows her a kiss then shuts up as people laugh and then Logan looks back at Daniel, taking her hands away from him, extending her arms out to either side of her then turning her back to him, "Atlas, if you would just check me and show everyone that I'm not wearing a harness or rope to preform a hoax or cheat."
"Yeah, Danny! Pat her down." Logan hears from one of her coworkers, one of which is slightly obvious as to who said it.
Danny eyes her with an inward glare but she pretends that she doesn't see it as he walked up behind her, his hands patting her shoulders and hips, showing everyone she wasn't wearing any cheating or hoax equipment underneath her jacket as well. He then continues the show, knowing how the rest of the act works just not knowing he was supposed to be a part of it.
"Now we will be explaining each step as to how we form the wings, as a way of debunking a few myths for you. But how she will be doing the flying is for you to figure out. So, use your imagination!" He explained in that slight, fast stutter he always has and then steps away from Logan to show he won't be helping her.
Logan smirks meticulously, taking off her jacket to show off her fishnet sleeves then snaps her fingers, "LET'S DO THIS!"
Everyone cheers as floor panels of the stage open up and a white fog slowly comes crawling out from the seeps and cracks. It surrounds Logan but Jack turns on more stage lights sitting comfortably at the edge of the stage to enlighten her figure so people could see her. Then, Atlas remembers this as his cue and steps away from her, turning on his touch screen watch,
"We are using this hologram of a pair of wings to show the illusion of Miss McCarthy here flying! The fog illuminates the wings to make them look three-dimensional and move beautifully with her movements!"
People clap, impressed with the technology the Five Horsemen were using and wait for the best part of the act. Logan smiles against the fog as the wings emerge behind her, looking like they're attached to her shoulder blades, and people start to clap again. They all held their breath, including Logan, and she slowly lets it out in a long sigh and lifts herself up. She leaps almost like a ballerina, and everyone gasps when instead of landing back down on the floor of the stage, Logan's up in the air, flapping her wings slowly as they lift her higher and higher towards the high rise of the ceiling.
The crowd goes wild, cheering and clapping along with her teammates as her pure white angel wings take her to float above the sections of the audience's seats. Logan has done some research as how to act when flying. Angels usually have this sort of graceful dance as they fly, with a pure and innocent aura moving around them. Logan had earlier sprinkled herself with silver glitter before the show and now she sparkles in the spotlight as they shine it on her. It was an exquisite site, to see an angel with pure white wings and pitch black clothing.
She learned a few graceful and slow ballerina moves beforehand to do while flying and she slowly moves her arms to flutter gently with her wings, her legs fold together as she spins in slow motion with her wings as support. She slowly spins in circles and backflips in the air, as slow and as graceful as a dolphin dancing in the sea. Then she slowly descends, slowly forming a somersault as she lowers herself back towards the stage. She might've been a few feet still in the air...
Then the wings disappear while she's still in midair, and everyone gasps as she lost the will to fly and starts to fall...
But only to be caught by Merritt, who had a hold of her waist, holding her up into the air above him as she struck a pose. Everyone claps, people started to stand, too, as Logan sighed in relief of her performance and Merritt lowers her onto the ground, giving her a side hug and a kiss on the cheek, making her laugh. Her skin was now shiny from her sweat and glitter and she raised her arms up one more time in victory, making everyone in the audience cheer louder.
Daniel claps as he stood on center stage again, looking around at everyone, "Thank you," he bows slightly, "Thank you. Miss Logan McCarthy everybody!" He extends his arm towards her.
She bows one more time, waving to everyone while Merritt pats her back and the crowd goes silent as they prepare for their final act.
"Thank you!" Merritt thanked, "Tonight, we would like to try something that will, well, set us a bit apart."
"For our final trick, we're gonna be doing something never before seen on a Las Vegas stage!" Henley excites the crowd with her enthusiasm, and Jack continues the act,
"Or any stage for that matter!"
"If you are not a fan of illegal acts, there are exits on every ground level of your sections," Logan joked and earned a few laughs from the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Tonight," Daniel picked up where Logan left off as he circles center stage, "We are going to rob a bank."
The cheering grows, blowing out the eardrums of the five performing magicians and Danny jokes, "That's a lot of excitement for a crime."
"I'm getting excited," Henley commented, raising her voice, "What about you, people?!"
The crowd intensifies their cheering and over by Merritt, Jack was preparing to run at him. The older mentalist obliges and they synchronize their movements, running towards each other at the same time.
"One, two, three!" Then they both jumped up and high five each other, getting a few whoops and hollers from those who watched the little fun they were having.
Logan smiles while staring up at the huge crowd, taking in deep breaths as their most important act of the night slowly creeps up. They've been practicing and have worked hard for this very moment, hoping they don't mess it up.
How did all of this start? It's quite a story, and it all started about a year ago...
~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, you have a website! That's-! That's good! Get the word out-!"
"Come on-!"
"Oh." Daniel and Henley stop their bickering once they round the corner at the top of the stairs. They both noticed how the man in a fedora was coincidentally leaning against the door of their destination. So when Henley flashed the Tarot card she was given, he was equally surprised. And yet, disappointed.
"Oh...kay, so apparently none of us was the only one chosen. Let me be the first one to kick my ego to the curb." Merritt commented, while pushing himself up from the door and walks towards the other two magicians.
"Yeah. Excuse me." Danny replied.
"Door's locked."
"Is it? I'll check." He sassed back.
"You," Merritt points to Henley as Daniel works on the door, "Now, hold it, don't tell me. Uh...Helen? No, no. Henley." He grins widely like a kid on Christmas, but then Daniel looks over his shoulder and just had to point out,
"It's on your coffee cup."
Henley points to her name on her Starbuck's mug just as the sound of shoes stomp up the stairs and when they all turn, Logan meets eyes with all their astonished faces.
"Oh. Excuse me, uh...were we all invited to the same club or what?"
"Club?" Daniel asked her, "Is that what you think this is?"
"I mean, it's a magician thing so I assumed it was like a club of some sort." She shrugs, setting down her heavy purse by the stairs while walking over to the others.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Danny kept questioning the new woman in the hallway.
"Logan." Merritt spoke just as the said girl was about to answer. He winks at her and she squints her eyes up at him with a frown.
"Hey. Smartass," Once she has Merritt's attention, she points to the driver's license in her hand that he had clearly seen to know what her name was, "Don't pull a Professor Marvel on every chick you see."
"You know people can steal information if you're just holding your license like that." Danny muttered.
"I got pulled over down the street!" Logan exclaimed, "I practically had to race over here and I didn't have time to put it away thank you very much."
She huffs then looks over at Henley and she smiles, "Hi. I'm Logan McCarthy, I've seen your website."
"Really? You don't say," Henley smiles out of shock as she darts a bragging look over at Daniel, then back to the girl, "You've seen my page?"
"Yeah! Man, I laughed so hard during the piranha tank video! The look on people's faces!"
"Why, thank you! Actually, I think I have seen you before! On YouTube, right? You have that viral video of you flying?"
"Yeah, that was me."
"That was amazing I absolutely loved it!" Henley swooned, laughing with Logan.
"Thanks!"
Both Merritt and Daniel exchange a weird expression as the two women chat, then the older man snaps his fingers and they both turn to him, silenced.
"Thanks for keeping me honest. That wasn't mentalism, by the way," he looked back to Danny, "It was just an observation. Second observation, you are beautiful." Merritt gazed down at Henley, who slumped from her previous conversation and had the nerve to at least say,
"Thank you-!"
"Okay, good. That's good." Danny walks back around, looking between the two people in the room who didn't know him, "That's very, that's very nice. Very well-polished. Nice bit. Uh, J. Daniel Atlas. Nice to meet you."
Merritt responds by only flipping the other man off, causing Henley and Logan to chuckle and for Danny's sarcastic face to fall.
"Very nice," he then comes off blunt, "I know who you are and I just want to say that I'm not interested in you doing you're uh, you're mentalism thing on us. Especially when we don't know who brought us here or even if it's real."
"Shh," Merritt puts his finger to his lips to silence the other's rambling while the girls just laugh, "Hold on, I'm sensing...I'm sensing you are a control freak?" He comes off sarcastic.
"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Danny smiled.
"It doesn't take a mentalist to figure that out," Henley cut in on their bickering and stood beside Merritt to defend him, "You are a control freak."
"Well, I take that as a compliment." His arrogant smile does not go away.
"Only he would take it as a compliment." Henley explains to Merritt.
"Good! Another compliment."
"So, that's why you're no longer a couple." Merritt simply stated and exchanged a knowing look with his clearly new friend, Logan.
"A couple? No, no."
"No."
"We were never a couple." They both protest at the same time.
"He used to...saw me in half-!"
"She was a very good assistant-!"
"Yep, but I was too fat for Danny-!" Henley's voice dropped an octave with anger clearly dripping from her lips.
"Uh, no," he chuckled nervously, blinking rapidly while staring at the floor, "I said that one time because of the trap door-!" He looks to Merritt in hopes he would understand.
"No one could fit through there. No one!" Henley protested.
"Rebecca fit through." Daniel grinned wickedly.
"Ah..." She huffs, irritated.
"Rebecca fit for years." He slurred back, rubbing it in her face.
"Do you know how hard it is to stay in those tiny little costumes?" Henley was on the verge of exploding, using her hands to emphasize her point.
"Uh, no. I'm the main attraction." Daniel looks back at Merritt, clearly not caring about when to shut up or not.
"Okay, asshole, I suggest we put one on you right now." Logan intervened.
"You have one?" Henley asked with excitement and sarcasm.
"I always have one. It's part of my job-!" She begins to dig into her bag.
"Uh, uh! No, no. That's not...that's not necessary." Daniel let out a breathy laugh while lowering her bag away from him.
"Okay, so he never made you feel special. And, trust me, you deserve to be made to feel special." Merritt informed Henley, making Logan nod in agreement.
Daniel's control freak monitor was off the charts, with him being the odd man out. Feeling like it was three to one here, he turns to leave, "That's a really nice story. Hope you guy's enjoy each other's company-!" He then froze when he noticed another figure walk towards them.
"No way..." The whole room paused as Jack was seen by everyone now, "J. Daniel Atlas?" He clearly doesn't care as he only sees Danny, "Dude, I've seen everything that you have ever done. I mean you're like...I idolize you. Seriously."
"From a true fan. It's so nice to meet you." Danny smiles triumphantly, shaking Jack's hand.
"I'm Jack, by the way." He was rendered to almost speechless.
"Question. Did you get one of these?" Merritt interrupts as he held up his Tarot card.
"Yeah." Jack digs into his pocket and pulls out an almost exact match, "Death."
"The High Priestess." Henley holds out hers.
"I'm the Lover." Daniel holds it out for Jack to see.
The female escape artist coughs, "Three minutes."
Daniel shuts up, looking away a little shamefully and embarrassed as Merritt looked down to read his own card,
"Hermit." He spoke distastefully at his new title, looking down at Logan and squinting his eyes at her, notifying her to show off hers.
"Temperance." She holds hers out.
"Ah, so the Angel." Merritt gives her a seductive smile, looking at no one but her.
"Only in your dreams." She shoots back quickly, smirking.
"I count on it."
She laughs out of amusement while Jack continued,
"So, what are we...Are we waiting for someone? Why, why are we just-!"
Henley and Daniel both state, "The door's locked."
"Oh, no, nothing's ever locked." Jack informed as he passed everyone to make it to the door. Merritt steps out of his way as the youngest male kneels down in front of the lock. Once Jack has his lock-pick kit through the keyhole, it only takes him a second to unlock it, hearing a satisfying click as he stood up.
Everyone crowds around as the door squeaks open, pulling out regular flashlights and lights on their phones. They cautiously step through, going one at a time, flashing their lights in every direction in the deep, dark hallway.
"What is this place?" Henley asked while opening a door in the hallway that apparently led into a bathroom.
"Ugh!" She groans at what was left of the aging bathroom.
"Oh! Wow. Thought my apartment was nasty." Merritt adds to her comment as they pass several other rooms.
"Man, it's freezing in here." Jack comments as they make it to the end of the hallway, Daniel in the front. The hallway ends to a more open, empty room. And in the center of that room was an odd looking symbol engraved into the flooring, with a folded up paper, a vase full of water, and a white rose by its side.
"What's that?" Henley asks.
"I don't know." Daniel mutters as he walks towards it, his messenger bag by his side as he kneels down to grab the note. Henley, Jack, and Logan look over his shoulders as he opens it up, reading the simple font lettering.
"What's it say?" Merritt asked from the back of the group.
"Now you don't." Danny read out loud, just as Henley picks up the flower.
"A rose by any other name..." She trails off as she sets it in the vase. Almost instantly, the water mysteriously starts to drain from the vase, no visible sign of any leakage, as it slowly drifts towards the engraved symbol.
Danny chuckles, shocked and amused while watching the strange mishap occur.
"Guys, what's happening?" Jack asked.
"Whoa." Merritt frowns, cautious, "Look at that."
"Whoa." Daniel drops his bag, smiling slightly as the water starts to fill the engraving in the wood.
"You don't see that every day." Logan breathed, eyes wide as her and the others step away from the symbol.
Suddenly, once the water fills the symbol to the brim, the floor shifts and collapses underneath it, and some sort of white fog fills the air.
"It's gas!" Jack yelped.
"Relax. Just dry ice." Merritt comforted.
"Cool." Henley comments, the room goes quiet for a few seconds.
"Wait, what do you think this is all about?" Daniel asks while looking up and over at Merritt.
"You think it's a trap? An arrest? I swear I paid that parking ticket!" Logan, paranoid as she was, takes another step away from the dry ice.
"Hang on. Hang on." Merritt lifts his two fingers to his temple, closing his eyes in concentration, while Danny just stares at him weirdly and Jack in anticipation.
Merritt moans, squinting his eyes then opening them, "I got nothin'."
"Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the delay." Daniel retorts.
"I'm just trying to create the space for wisdom."
"Okay, so you're like Buddha, if he wasn't so enlightened."
"And you're like Jesus, if he was arrogant and all his miracles were fake."
"Okay, lovebirds. Get a room." Logan growls in irritation.
"Danny, be honest. Did you do this?" Henley snapped in a motherly tone.
"No. Wait, did you?" Daniel asked Jack.
"Well uh, I wish." He admitted.
Henley and Danny look to Logan, and she glares at their looks of accusation,
"No! I didn't do this!"
"Why didn't anyone ask me if I did it?" Merritt questioned, only earning silence and odd stares from the others, "Oh. Oh, great!"
Daniel goes to a nearby light switch, flicking three times in confusion when nothing happens. Then his eyes catch something down the hall, nailed to a door. An odd, black, and looking fairly brand new piece of technology that didn't fit among the rest of the old, battered apartment. Danny flashes his light down the hall to investigate it more, slowly inching himself towards it.
"Electricity's out." Jack noted.
"Well, let's check." Merritt reaches up to a lightbulb plugged into a dusty chandelier, twisting when suddenly light blinds him.
The small movement creates a whirring sound from the device Danny was investigating, and suddenly a strand of light comes shooting out of it, harmlessly going straight through his chest and aims towards the center of the room.
Logan looks up from kneeling down by the foggy symbol only to see lights of blue, purple, white, and pink flash above her head. She gasps quietly as she stood, the light dancing around and through her. She raises her arms up to look at her hands and backs away from what appeared to be a hologram in astonishment.
"Whoa." Danny comments as he and Logan squint at each other through the now bright lights.
Henley lets out a breathy laugh as she moved closer to the new shapes forming and moving through the hologram. Things such as maps and equations arose from the lights and all five adults suddenly step closer to it out of curiosity, "Blueprints."
"They're incredible." Daniel breathed.
"Who do you think did this?" Jack asked.
"I don't know, but I really want to meet them." Henley stated, looking up as beams of light flew past her.
"This is really beautiful," Logan tries to brush her fingers through the shapes of light.
"It's a show." Henley explains suddenly, out of excitement, just as Danny reached out to a specific shape, one that looked oddly similar to the engraving on the floor he stood on.
"Wow." Merritt mumbled as Danny's finger suddenly touches it.
And that is how the Five Horsemen came to be.