Back to the wheel

Smoke swirls like stage curtains dropping between acts, and Velvet Vixen gasps as the magic grips her once more. In the blink of a spotlight—

Her shimmering senshi ribbons vanish.

Replaced by the deep plum corset, sheer gloves, flowing cape, and dazzling heels of her formal Velvet Vixen ensemble, complete with the signature mask. She finds herself once again strapped to the roulette wheel, arms and legs splayed in dramatic presentation, the golden-painted segments spinning faintly behind her like a halo of destiny.

“Aww,” Vixen pouts, her voice teasing, “I was really starting to like that skirt…”

Madame Mirage twirls her wand between her fingers, smirking like a fox who just pulled off a double vanishing act.

“Don’t get me wrong, darling—you were adorable,” she says, stepping close to brush a curl from Vixen’s cheek. “But I have a special fondness for the real you.”

She taps her wand against Vixen’s corset.

“Besides, depending on where this lands…” Her smile widens. “That gown of yours might not stay so formal.”

Velvet Vixen arches a brow.

“Is that a promise?”

“Only one way to find out.”

With that, Madame Mirage raises her wand, twirls once, and slams it down onto the wheel’s base.

The wheel begins to spin.

Velvet Vixen goes with it, rotating slowly, her cape fanning behind her, her masked face lifting defiantly toward the ceiling as the segments blur.

Mirage steps back into the shadows like a ringmaster giving the spotlight to fate.

“Round and round she goes…”