Another Friday, another MagiKal tale. I hope you'll enjoy this. Thanks to my wonderful beta Lynn S.M..The Limits Of MagicIn the faint light of dusk, Lois saw MagiKal stand on a small ledge that surrounded one of the older brickstone buildings on the fringes of the Southside. The sight of him was a welcome distraction after a busy news week, filled with a series of arsons. Lois felt a bit uneasy being so close to the targeted area, especially since the arsonist had not yet been caught or even identified.
But she wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see MagiKal again. Lois still couldn't help but wonder how he managed to get up there. As always, his precarious stand caused her to hold her breath. She wasn't the only one. Every single person in the crowd around her craned their necks in breathless anticipation.
Suddenly, a burst of flames erupted seemingly out of nowhere. Lois had seen fire breathers before, but usually they carried a torch. Another burst of flames erupted, this time from a spot on the building several feet higher up. How had he even got there so quickly? A third eruption followed, even more impressive than the last one and from yet another spot.
The crowd cheered as several balls of flames appeared in mid-air, juggled by the barely visible shape of MagiKal.
Mesmerized, Lois stared at him, hoping that tonight would finally be the night he approached her. Something special was going to happen, she felt it in every bone.
More and more flame balls appeared in the air, faintly illuminating the man who caught them. There seemed to be no limit to how many he could handle, because each time he performed he set new records.
Bang!
A deafening explosion rocked the building on the other side of the street. Shards of glass rained down on the crowd below. Excited cheers turned to startled cries as flames burst through the broken windows.
MagiKal was forgotten.
Lois glanced up to the building that was on fire. Thick clouds of smoke billowed from the lower levels, while the upper floors were still intact. Her throat tightened as she took in the damage. She could only hope the building was abandoned, like so many in the Southside. There was no guarantee, though.
She turned her attention back to MagiKal, who was now standing on the uppermost ledge of the opposite building. He'd killed the flames of the balls he'd been juggling and was now barely a shadow.
"Someone call the firefighters," a man to Lois' right shouted.
A startled shriek made Lois jump. "Look, there's someone up there."
The woman who'd cried out stood a few feet away from Lois and pointed up. When Lois looked in the direction the woman was indicating, she saw a group of people standing at a window on the uppermost floor.
Lois clapped her hand to her mouth as she spotted the fire exit. There was a huge gap, which made it impossible to climb down the ladders.
When Lois looked back to MagiKal, he was gone. For some reason she couldn't quite understand, Lois felt a prickling in the back of her neck. Her gaze drifted back to the people who were still standing at the window and shouting.
"Has someone called the firefighters?" A man asked the question before Lois could.
She strained her ears, praying that she would hear sirens. But other than the desperate shouts of the people trapped by the fire, all she could hear was a barking dog.
Lois gasped in surprise as she spotted MagiKal again. This time he was standing on the roof of the burning building. He held a platform similar to ones used to clean the skyscraper windows.
Lois blinked. *He carried it?*
Again, Lois heard a dog barking, a lot closer this time. Then she felt something wet against her hand. She looked down.
There was a dog standing next to her, tail between his legs. He whimpered. The dog looked strangely familiar.
"Houdini?" Lois whispered. "Is Clark here, too?"
She glanced around but didn't see him anywhere. And she didn't want to search for him for long, because there was something incredible going on on that roof.
MagiKal stepped closer to the window and climbed down, the platform still inexplicably floating beside him. Only one of his hands rested on the metal bars surrounding the platform. But that couldn't be, could it?
"Climb onto the platform," she heard MagiKal's voice in the distance. "Quickly."
Houdini whimpered again, but remained beside Lois.
A man climbed out. Tentatively, he stepped onto the platform. It didn't waver at all.
"Okay. Everyone please hurry," MagiKal encouraged.
The next person climbed onto the platform and it kept floating in midair, completely stable. One after another, the people climbed to safety. They were holding each other, eyes wide, warily staring over the edge. But the platform remained steady, as if held up by some invisible pedestal.
When everyone was out of the building, MagiKal climbed down the wall.
Lois watched him, not sure if she was hallucinating. She held her breath, unable to remember when she'd drawn the last gasp and unable to take another one.
Slowly, MagiKal lowered the platform to the ground.
The crowd broke into frenetic cheers. MagiKal took a few steps back, looking decidedly uncomfortable. His head was hunched between his shoulders. Then he did his famous somersault and was gone.
Houdini whimpered and dashed away from Lois.
Feeling slightly dazed, Lois craned her neck, hoping that she'd see Clark somewhere. But there was no sign of him. She was desperate to talk to someone about what she'd just witnessed.
She could only describe it as a miracle.
"Did you see that?" Someone next to her grumbled, outraged. "He put people in danger for a magic trick."
"But he saved them." Lois protested.
"Oh, did he?"
All around Lois, people started to argue. Right at this moment, Lois wished that someone would be at her side to help her sort through all the frenzy. Clark Kent would be a good choice.
She'd seen his dog, so where the heck was he?
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