Archive of Our Own ^beta

Louise steadied her breath, feeling adrenaline rushing through her as her and Rudy’s names were called. She had spent the past week practicing magic tricks with Rudy, learning all the secrets that he usually kept hidden from anyone else. She just hoped it would be enough to not completely screw things up.

As she stepped out on the stage she could feel her heart beating. She had performed in front of crowds before, but not like this, magic was completely out of her comfort zone, and to make matters worse, if everything went wrong it wasn’t just herself she was making a fool of, but Rudy as well.

As the crowd cheered for the two young magicians, Louise thought back to how she had ended up in this situation in the first place.

It all started last Monday, when Rudy came bolting over to Louise in the halls of Wagstaff.

“Louise! I need…” Rudy sputtered out, his asthma making his breathing difficult.

“Jeez, good to see you too buddy.” Louise said, “What do you need?”

Rudy wheezed as he grabbed his inhaler, taking a few puffs before continuing with what he was saying, “I need your help Louise, it’s super important!” He said urgently.

Louise was immediately alert, it wasn’t often that Rudy directly asked her for help, “Yeah, sure thing Rudes.” She said, “What do you need me to do?”

“I signed up for the Double Trouble Young Magicians’ competition, but I don’t have a partner for it anymore!” Rudy cried.

Louise was confused, “The double what?” She asked.

“The Double Trouble Young Magicians’ competition! It’s a magic contest for elementary aged kids, the winner gets $500.” Rudy explainied.

“Ohhh, so like that thing Tina did a little while back?” Louise said.

“Yes, just like that. Except this is the double trouble contest where you need to have a partner.” Rudy explained, “I was supposed to have Peter Pescadero as my partner, but he had a family emergency and now he’s in Pennsylvania until after the competition is over!”

“Oh… well, what do you want me to do?” Louise asked.

“I need you to take Peter’s place.” Rudy explained.

Louise looked shocked, “Uhh, I’m not sure if-“

“Please Louise!” Rudy begged, “My Grandpa is visiting that day, he was so excited to watch me perform! You can keep the prize money if we win, I promise!”

“Woah woah, I’m happy to help you Rudy.” Louise clarified, “It’s just, I don’t really know anything about magic. Wouldn’t you be better off asking someone who does?”

Now Rudy looked confused, “What do you mean? You’re great at magic Louise! Don’t you remember when you came with me to Plate and Fork?” He said.

“But that was you doing all the work.” Louise replied, “I just sat there talking to keep them distracted while you worked your magic, literally.”

“Louise, banter is half the challenge, and you’re great at that.” Rudy said, “You just need to learn all the tricks and you’ll be perfect! I can teach you how to do it.”

Louise pondered for a moment. On one hand she didn’t want to ruin Rudy’s performance due to her own inexperience, but at the same time she didn’t want to let him down either.

“Ok, I’ll be your partner for the contest.” Louise agreed.

“YES! Thank you so much Louise!” Rudy said excitedly, “Come by my place after school and I'll start your training, we have one week until the contest.”

“Wait, one week?!” Louise asked.

After school finished for the day, Louise followed Rudy home, telling Gene and Tina to tell their parents where she was.

Once they got to Rudy’s house, Rudy immediately took Louise to his room. He then began to rummage through his closet looking for something.

“Aha! Here it is!” He said, pulling out a black and red cape, “You gotta look the part if we’re doing this, luckily I always keep a spare cape in case of emergencies.”

He gave the cape to Louise and told her to put it on, which she complied with. After putting on the cape, Louise was then handed a magicians’ hat.

“I’m sure it will fit over your ears, hey maybe that could be your trick! The rabbit ears out of a hat!” Rudy said, after Louise put the hat on, Rudy assessed her look, “Hmm, do you have any black or red clothes?”

“Yeah, why?” Louise asked.

“Well the green kinda sticks out a bit.” Rudy explained, “You don’t have to change it if you don’t want to. I just think sticking to black and red would work better.”

Louise nodded, she could try and dig that red dress from Halloween out of her closet.

“Ok, now that you have the look, I can start teaching you some tricks!” Rudy said, “Let’s start simple with some card tricks.”

The next seven days consisted of Louise going over to Rudy’s house and learning as much as she possibly could about magic. They tested her skills by doing mini shows for Sylvester, and sometimes even Bob. Before long the day for the contest arrived.

Louise sat in the backseat of Sylvester’s car next to Rudy. Rudy was dressed up in a black suit with a white undershirt, he had a red and black cape with a classic magicians’ hat and was even sporting some white gloves for added flair.

Louise had the same cape and hat as Rudy and was wearing her red dress for the first time since Halloween.

“You two are gonna do great! Trust me.” Sylvester said enthusiastically.

“I just hope a week is enough training…” Louise muttered.

“Hey, win or lose, I’m just thankful you were willing to do this for me Louise.” Rudy said with a smile.

Louise smiled back, “Well, I couldn’t just leave you hanging. Now, let’s go and win that contest!”

Louise looked into the crowd, she could see her parents and siblings in the seats watching. Not far from there sat Sylvester, Holly, Paul and Rudy’s Grandpa. She gulped, she was praying to whatever gods may be listening that she wouldn’t mess this up for Rudy.

Rudy stepped up to the front of the stage and cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am the amazing Rudy! And today I’m joined by my beautiful assistant, Louise the magnificent!”

Louise was initially taken back by Rudy calling her his “beautiful assistant” but just figured it was part of the show. She stepped forward giving a wave to the crowd.

“Sorry folks, but we won’t be pulling any rabbits out of hats. Last time we tried there were some unintended side effects…” Louise said, removing her hat to show off her bunny ears, the joke getting a chuckle out of the audience.

Rudy then pivoted to a simple card trick, with Louise assisting. As Rudy performed many more tricks, Louise either directly helped out, or kept up the banter while Rudy was preparing his tricks to keep the show rolling seamlessly.

“And for our last trick, a classic! I will saw Louise in half!” Rudy announced, “Louise, would you kindly step into the box?”

“Note to self folks, never offer to let a magician cut you in half.” Louise quipped, “They’ll hold you to your word!”

Louise got into the box and Rudy proceeded to cut it with a fake saw, the crowd cheered as he moved the two halves of the box apart, seemingly splitting Louise into two. After a few moments, he put the box back together and opened it, only for Louise to have vanished! He then closed the box again, and with some magic words, Louise seemingly reappeared.

Louise and Rudy stepped to the front of the stage, both taking a bow as the audience cheered their names.

“Thank you!” Louise and Rudy both exclaimed.

The time had come for the winners to be announced, Louise sat there as third place was announced, it wasn’t them, but she didn’t expect to get that far. Second place also came and went, and then the moment of truth came.

“And, in first place.” The announcer boomed, “The Amazing Rudy and Louise the Magnificent!”

Louise was stunned, they had won? But she only practiced for a week!

She was knocked out of her thoughts by Rudy excitedly enveloping her in a hug. “We did it Louise! We won!” He cheered.

Louise smiled and returned the hug, “Yeah, we make a great team huh?” She said.

The two walked back on stage, receiving both a trophy and a cheque for $500. The duo gave one last bow before walking off stage.

“My little girl’s so talented!” Linda cooed, “First place!”

“You did a great job Louise.” Bob said, “What do you think you’ll spend the money on?”

“Well, I’m gonna give half to Rudy obviously.” Louise explained, “But the other $250? Man, I don’t know. I never thought I would be this rich!”

Rudy walked up to the Belcher family with his own family behind him.

“You know, I did promise you that you could keep the whole $500 Louise.” Rudy said.

Louise shook her head, “Nah, I couldn’t do that. This is as much your victory as it is mine.” She said, “In fact, if anything it’s more yours, you did teach me everything I know after all.”

“I knew you guys would crush it! Way to go!” Sylvester praised.

“So, this is your girlfriend then Rudy.” Rudy’s grandfather chuckled.

Louise blushed slightly at the words, but it was nothing compared to the bright red that Rudy’s face became.

“S-she’s not my girlfriend! We’re just best friends!” Rudy insisted.

Rudy’s grandfather laughed, “Ah, I remember when me and your grandmother were ‘just best friends’” he said, “good times.”

“Seriously, it’s not like that!” Rudy said.

“Didn’t you introduce her on stage by calling her beautiful?” Rudy’s grandpa teased.

Shock filled Rudy’s body. He had said that out loud? He did think Louise was kinda pretty, but he never intended to say that out loud, especially not in front of a whole crowd!

“T-that, I- let’s just drop it! ok?” Rudy sputtered out in embarrassment.

“Hah! I’m sorry, I couldn't resist.” Rudy’s grandpa said, “But yeah, it was a great show, a very well deserved win!”

“Come on, let’s get a photo!” Linda called out.

Louise and Rudy stood next to each other, both holding their trophy, giant smiles plastered on their faces.

Linda took the photo, “Alright! Now who wants to get some celebratory ice cream!” She exclaimed.

Everyone immediately agreed with the idea.

Both the Belcher’s and Rudy’s family were at Moo’s Clues to celebrate Louise and Rudy’s win.

Louise sat on the curb, enjoying her ice cream, Rudy came and sat next to her.

“I just wanted to say thank you again Louise.” Rudy said, “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to participate.”

Louise smiled, “Anytime buddy, besides, I had a lot of fun.” She said, “By the way, can I keep the cape? I kinda like it.”

Rudy chuckled, “Of course. You’ve earned it.”