Try harder

The scene has changed.

The dusty shadows of the magic factory now glow with theatrical lighting—stage lamps, spotlights, and drifting fog lit violet and gold. And at the very center of it all?

Velvet Vixen, restored to her full, statuesque self… and once again strapped spread-eagle to something far too dramatic to be practical.

A massive, upright roulette wheel, rimmed in gold and painted with glittering symbols.

Each wedge of the wheel is decorated with hand-painted text in curling script:

Levitation

Sawed in Half

Vanishing Cabinet

Box of Blades

Quick Change

Mirror Maze

Rabbit Trick

Floating Chains

The Great Escape

She’s secured tightly—wrists and ankles bound to the rotating wheel, her sheer cape fluttering as a soft breeze kicks up from an unseen fan. Velvet Vixen lifts her head, breathing heavily, cheeks flushed from the spin of the night.

Madame Mirage stands before her in full showgirl magician glory: crimson-lined cape billowing, wand twirling, and a smile like she already knows the punchline.

“You wanted me to try harder, darling,” she purrs, pacing slowly around the wheel. “So here’s your challenge. A game of chance. Illusion with a twist.”

“What kind of twist?” Velvet Vixen asks, straining against her binds, trying to appear unimpressed. “This isn’t your usual dinner-theater trick.”

“No spoilers!” Mirage sing-songs. “Where’s the drama in that?”

She steps forward, heels clicking.

“Let’s spin the wheel…”

She raises her wand with a flourish and taps the base.

The wheel creaks, then spins—hard.

Velvet Vixen is sent twirling, her cape and hair fanning outward as the wheel rotates, the segments whirling past like a rainbow of glamor and menace. The air hums with enchantment. Every eye—well, Mirage’s—is glued to where the wheel will stop.

Then—

Click. Click. Click… CLACK.

The arrow stops.

Mirage leans in to read the result.