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Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of The Super Age
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Published:
2023-03-12
Updated:
2024-03-06
Words:
16,263
Chapters:
13/20
Comments:
96
Kudos:
4
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345

Mistress of Magic meets City of Angels

Chapter 9: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!

Chapter Text

Zatanna and Gisella were lying in bed, cuddling together naked. Their eyes were closed and they were smiling as they rubbed their faces against each other and felt their bodies together, and the warm California sun shining through the window onto their skin.

“Oh, I almost forgot.”, Zatanna said playfully, rubbing her cheek against her wife’s.

“Yeah, honey?”, Gisella asked, drawing out the words seductively.

“What time is it?”, Zatanna asked.

Gisella glanced at the clock on the wall. “One minute to 6, darling.”, she said.

“Oh, we should probably get ready for the Forum.”, Zatanna said.

Gisella playfully placed herself on top of Zatanna, preventing her from moving, and put her finger on Zatanna’s lips. “Shhh, honey, leave it all to me.”, Gisella said, giving her a seductive wink.

Zatanna raised an eyebrow playfully.

When Gisella saw the clock display exactly 18:00, she snapped her fingers. Zatanna and Gisella vanished from their room.

Zatanna and Gisella appeared directly at the Forum, dressed in their typical outfits, make-up applied perfectly, and fresh and clean and smelling like roses.

Zatanna chuckled as she took a second to acclimate to the surroundings. “Well well well, if it isn’t the fabulous Forum.”, she said, adjusting her hat.

“You’re welcome, honeydew.”, Gisella said with a proud expression.

Touched, Zatanna kissed Gisella on the cheek, while Gisella’s face reached dangerously high levels of smug serenity. Part of Gisella wished Zatanna would go on and insist, just so Gisella’s face could be stuck that way for eternity.

One of the stagehands walked by and excused himself. “Oh, Miss Zatanna, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you come in.”, he said.

Zatanna smiled and put her hand around Gisella. “Don’t worry, doll, I didn’t want to interrupt you all.”, she quipped.

“Be ready to go on in 5.”, he replied, holding up 5 fingers.

Zatanna held up an OK sign and said “You got it!” in the sweetest and most bouncy chirp she could muster.

It was a packed house at the fabulous Forum, and the Lakers weren’t even playing. The stage had a colourful circus-like backdrop of curtains and a large sign reading “ZATANNA” at the top, somewhat like Elvis’ comeback special.

After the announcer hyped the crowd up, a flash of smoke appeared on stage, and it dissipated to reveal Zatanna and her lovely assistant, her wife. They were greeted with applause.

For the next 2 hours, Zatanna had the crowd eating out of her hand, delivering quips and banter she’d said millions of times before like it was the first time, infusing the hoariest stage magic routines with fresh breath and a sense of discovery, and generally owning the stage like it was her birthright, as an entertainer with a lifetime of experience (and incredibly powerful magic) behind her.

At one point, Zatanna’s attention fell on a particular person in the audience. She smiled sweetly as she pointed her wand and said, “And I am honoured to announce tonight’s special guest – Carolina Miranda, from the Los Angeles Times! I love reading your articles.”

Even with all her razzle-dazzle and expertise in working a crowd, Zatanna never felt like she was somehow above the most obvious gestures, because those resonated best with most people. The show was going perfectly, like a well-oiled machine doing its job. She didn’t technically have to flatter the journalists in attendance, but she still did it.

Zatanna had long ago transcended reading reviews of her stage show, and couldn’t even remember the last time she’d suffered from stage fright. Between her magic and Gisella’s reality-warping, they could make anything perfect, just like that. They technically didn’t even need to do stage shows at all. But Zatanna still did them now and then for several reasons.

For fun.

For helping below-the-line workers get a nice payday.

For the joy of being on stage and holding a crowd in the palm of your hand.

But most of all, for the pure thrill of making people happy.

Zatanna hadn’t received a bad review of any of her magic shows since she’d hit her stride. And the common thing among the reviews she didn’t read was the observation that, on stage, she radiated sincerity. She came across like she wanted nothing more than to entertain people, to make them laugh, to make them smile, and to make their lives a bit brighter.

There was no irony or sarcasm, and only the mildest touches of playful self-referential humour in Zatanna’s show. She was a proudly old-fashioned stage magician, always paying homage to the classics and those who paved the way before her. Any decent stage magician could do the same tricks, but it was Zatanna’s sincerity that made those tricks feel like the first time.

Being the Mistress of Magic was a big responsibility. Zatanna’d sure endured enough lifetimes’ worth of battles, challenges, and so forth. But that was all in the past. Before the last gleaming. Before this Earth.

Now, she contented herself with everyday magic.

Going up on stage, an attractive dame in a tuxedo, top hat, and fishnets, with an equally attractive dame of a wife as her lovely assistant, using every single cliché in the book, and making audiences feel good. No, more than that, by the gods – making them feel.

Zatanna and Gisella stayed after the show ended to sign autographs, take photos, and so on. Zatanna’s enthusiasm never wavered. Gisella happily stayed in a supporting role.

Zatanna forewent her payment for the show and instead divided it equally to everyone who had worked on the show.

She was preparing to cast a spell for that when Gisella smirked and simply snapped her fingers.

Zatanna shot her wife a playful glance, waved her magic wand, and said “emoh su tropeleT”.

The stagehands and crew were baffled that nobody could find Zatanna and Gisella anywhere afterwards. It was like they vanished, just like that.