Revenge of the Invisible Boy

by R. L. Stine

“Just hold on to the bar,” Ari said. “Grip it tightly. Don’t let go. This is a good trick. You’ll see.”

  My arms were stretched as high as they would go. My head tilted back, I gripped the bar tightly in both hands.

  And Ari tugged my jeans down to my ankles.

  I uttered a startled cry.

  Ari backed away, laughing like a hyena.

  I heard Melody and Eduardo laughing, too.

  And, of course, today I’d worn the SpongeBob boxer shorts my grandmother gave me. Not too embarrassing.

  I quickly pulled my jeans up. But their laughter continued, ringing off the low basement ceiling.

  I knew my face was bright red. But I didn’t care. I had only one thought in mind: How will I pay Ari back?

  Strangely enough, the answer came to me one week later.

  We didn’t have time for complaints or arguments or dumb tricks at our next Magic Club meeting. We were too excited.

  We only wanted to talk about Mystical Marvin.

  Yes. Mystical Marvin. Maybe the most famous, most legendary magician in the entire world was coming to our town. He was performing at the Town Center.

  My dad is on the Barberton town council. And he got us four tickets in the second row of the theater.

  It was the most awesome thing my dad ever did, and he knew it. When he showed us the tickets, the grin wouldn’t leave his face. I think it stayed there for days!

  Melody, Eduardo, and I couldn’t believe we could be so lucky. Of course, Ari acted as if he didn’t know what the fuss was about.

  I was so happy, I let Buster lick my face when we met in Ari’s basement. I didn’t even try to push the big beast away. Just let him slobber all over.

  “Did you read the Wikipedia page about Mystical Marvin?” Melody asked. “It says he has all kinds of powers that scientists have been unable to explain.”

  “He’s a master magician,” Eduardo said. “I’ve read everything about him, and I watched some YouTube videos.”

  “He says he doesn’t do tricks,” I added. “He says everything he does is real.”

  “And you believe that?” Ari said, shaking his head. “Do you believe in the Easter Bunny, too?”

  “Whoa. Hold on, Ari—” I started.

  “Mystical Marvin does tricks like everyone else,” Ari insisted. “Maybe he’s slicker than other dudes. But he still does tricks.”

  “Not true,” I said. “Why do you always have to tear everyone down?”

  Ari shrugged. “I’m not tearing him down. I’m just saying he’s a magician. That’s all. And magicians do tricks.”

  “He’s more like a wizard than a magician,” Eduardo said. “I think a lot of his illusions go back hundreds of years to when there were real sorcerers in Europe.”

  Ari rolled his eyes. “For sure.”

  “Can we stop arguing?” I said. “All I know is, his show is going to be seriously unbelievable. And we’ll be sitting so close, we’ll practically be in his act!”

  And sure enough, that night, there we were. My dad dropped the four of us off at the show. We made our way down the crowded aisle and found our seats in the big auditorium. Second row, right in the center!

  I could barely sit still. No joke. I don’t think I’d ever been this excited. Even when my dad took me to my first baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York.

  I gazed at the red curtain across the stage. A white spotlight darted back and forth over it. Melody poked my shoulder. “Didn’t you hear me? I’ve been calling your name.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “I … was thinking about Mystical Marvin.”

  “Do you think he’ll do the water tank trick?” she asked. “You know. The one where he stays underwater for nearly half an hour without breathing? I want to see that close-up. Maybe we can figure out how he does it.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “But I don’t think so. I think he just taught himself to hold his breath for half an hour.”

  “Yeah. Maybe he had his lungs enlarged,” Ari said. Then he laughed.

  The lights dimmed. I gripped the arms of my seat. My heart was pounding. The audience grew silent. A man’s voice on the loudspeakers told us to silence our cell phones.

  And then, in an explosion of flashing lights brighter than the sun, Mystical Marvin came trotting onto the stage.

  The applause roared down the theater like an ocean wave. Still blinking from the lingering flashes of light in my eyes, I felt as if I was being swept up. Lifted from my seat and carried to the stage on the rise and fall of the wild applause.

  Just my excitement, I guess.

  I gripped the seat back in front of me and leaned forward to get a good look at Mystical Marvin. I was only a few feet away from him!

  Mystical Marvin swept back the satiny red cape he was wearing. He raised both hands, and the crowd began to settle down. The spotlight made his blue eyes sparkle. He had ringlets of blond curls down to his shoulders. Under the shiny red cape, he wore a white tuxedo so bright, it practically glowed.

  “Good evening, friends!” he shouted in a deep voice. “Welcome to my world of sorcery.” He raised his right hand, snapped his fingers—and disappeared in a burst of light.

  I turned to Melody. “How did he do that? Where is he?”

  Melody shrugged. “Maybe there’s a trapdoor in the stage?”

  “We would have seen it,” I said.

  A round yellow spotlight suddenly swept over the balcony high above the stage. I turned and saw Mystical Marvin sitting up there in the first row. He stood up and took a bow.

  “True magic can take you many places,” he called down. “Even from a stage to the balcony.”

  The balcony light went dark. Two seconds later, Mystical Marvin came strutting back across the stage. The audience burst into loud applause.

  Ari leaned over and shouted in my ear. “I know how he does it,” he said. “It’s easy.”

  “How?” I said. “How does he do it?”

  “He’s twins.” Ari slapped my shoulder. “He has a twin brother.”

  I frowned at him. “I don’t think so.”

  I turned back to the stage. The curtain slid open. Behind it stood a wide cave painted on a backdrop. It looked deep and dark. A sign above it read: SORCERER’S CAVE.

  Next to the cave stood a tall glass tank, filled with water.

  “He is doing the water tank trick!” I exclaimed to Melody.

  “Now we’ll see how he breathes when he’s underwater,” Eduardo said.

  Even though the cave was just a painting, somehow Mystical Marvin walked right into the painted opening. When he stepped back out, he announced his levitation trick. “The trick of levitation has been shrouded in secrecy for decades. I was unable to unlock the secret. So I created my own method of floating in midair.”

  He stepped to the front of the stage. I could have leaned over the seat in front of me and touched him. That’s how close I was.

  “I use no ropes or hidden cords,” he announced. “I have nothing attached to me, nothing to pull me up from the floor. But watch my feet. My levitation powers begin with my feet. And then they allow my entire body to float. Watch carefully.”

  He backed up until he stood in front of the painted cave opening. He lowered his hands to his sides and stood very stiff and straight.

  “Concentration is the key,” he said. “Everybody, concentrate. Concentrate …”

  The auditorium fell silent. I think everyone was staring at the shiny black boots on Mystical Marvin’s feet.

  “Concentrate …” he repeated, as if hypnotizing the audience. “Everybody concentrate …”

  And his boots lifted off the stage floor. An inch … two inches … then higher.

  He kept his body stiff and straight. Arms down at his sides. And he floated off the floor, into the air. In seconds, he was at least four or five feet off the floor.

  The waves of applause came down the rows of seats. Mystical Marvin nodded but didn’t change his erect position.

 
; Ari slapped my shoulder again. “Big whoop,” he said, shouting in my ear. “He’s using a harness, too. Do you see it?”

  I shoved him away. “No. I don’t see it. He’s not using a harness. He has no strings attached or anything.”

  “Know what you need? You need glasses,” Ari said.

  Mystical Marvin came floating back down to the stage floor, greeted by another explosion of applause.

  He did the water tank trick next. He changed into a wet suit and started to lower himself into the tank from the top. “I will try to set the world record tonight for staying underwater—and living!” he announced, his head still above the water. “When I am totally underwater, watch my lips carefully. You will see that no air bubbles escape. I will not breathe until I pull myself from the tank.”

  He signaled to his assistant. She stepped out from the wings, a young woman with curly brown hair, wearing a sparkly evening gown.

  She carried a big square panel of glass in front of her. The tank lid. Mystical Marvin signaled again, and she placed the lid over the tank.

  Then she brought out a large, round clock on a pedestal. She set it up beside the tank and started it up. It began counting off the seconds.

  Mystical Marvin sucked in a long, deep breath. He lowered himself, letting himself sink until his feet were on the bottom. Then he stood there, facing the audience.

  My eyes kept going from Mystical Marvin to the clock at the side of the tank. Five minutes … Ten …

  Music played. Lights flashed. The audience didn’t move.

  Mystical Marvin jumped up and down and made swimming motions with his arms. But he didn’t come up for air. And no air bubbles escaped his lips.

  Ari leaned over me again. “I know how he does it.”

  “No, you don’t,” I said. “We couldn’t be any closer, and there’s still no way to figure it out.”

  “He’s not in the tank,” Ari said. “He’s standing behind the tank. He isn’t inside it. It only looks like he’s in there.”

  “Ari, give me a break,” I said. “Look at him. He’s floating and swimming in there. He’s definitely underwater.”

  “Keep watching,” Ari insisted. “He isn’t in the tank.”

  I shoved Ari away. “Stop trying to ruin this for me,” I said angrily. “You’ve tried to ruin every trick. You don’t know anything about magic. So shut up and let me enjoy the show.”

  He stuck out his bottom lip and made a pouty face. Like I hurt his feelings. Then he laughed.

  I don’t think he has any feelings.

  But at least I shut him up for a while.

  Mystical Marvin stayed underwater for exactly twenty-five minutes. Then he signaled to his assistant to remove the lid.

  He burst up from the tank, gasping for air. He choked and wheezed and hoisted himself to the floor, dripping a puddle of water around him.

  “Guess he was in the tank,” I said to Ari. “He sure looks wet.”

  Ari shrugged and didn’t reply.

  When the applause died down, Mystical Marvin said: “That trick was taught to me by a scientist who studied the oceans for many years. He taught himself to swim underwater for longer and longer stretches. Eventually, he became like an aquatic animal, like a seal or a walrus. He could stay underwater as long as he liked.”

  Mystical Marvin wiped water from his long, curly blond hair. “And now I am the only man on earth who can match that scientist. I, too, am an aquatic animal.”

  “See? It’s not a trick,” I whispered to Ari.

  He rolled his eyes. “You’re so dumb.”

  Mystical Marvin trotted off the stage as music came up and the colored spotlights danced over the set again. He returned—in seconds—wearing his white tuxedo and red satin cape.

  He stepped to the front of the stage. “Here’s something I always enjoy,” he said, sweeping the cape back. “I’m going to make one of you disappear tonight.”

  The theater filled with murmurs and some laughter and a few cries of surprise.

  “This is real,” Mystical Marvin said. “It isn’t a trick. It isn’t an illusion. I’m going to choose one of you to really disappear—maybe forever!”

  More murmurs and whispers.

  He stepped to the very edge of the stage. Lights from the stage floor made his face glow red and his blond hair shimmer.

  “Let’s see …” he said, rubbing his chin and staring down at the first few rows of seats. “Who will disappear tonight? Who shall I choose?”

  And then his hand shot out—and he pointed his finger right at me.

  “How about you, young man?”

  I thought my heart was going to leap right through my shirt!

  He isn’t pointing at me. Or is he? Is he really pointing at me?

  “You. Young fella. Get up here!” Mystical Marvin insisted.

  My legs were wobbly. Like rubber bands. But somehow I climbed to my feet. My friends were laughing. I guess they saw how terrified I was.

  I’m going onstage with Mystical Marvin!

  I stumbled over Melody and Eduardo and squeezed down the long row of seats into the aisle. Mystical Marvin pointed to the wooden stairs at the side of the stage. Somehow I made my way up them.

  And there I was, trembling next to him, the stage lights completely blinding me. My heart raced so hard, I could barely breathe.

  Mystical Marvin pulled me close to him. He pointed down to the second row of seats I had just come from.

  “Say good-bye to your friends,” he said. “You’re going on a long journey.”

  His red cape flashed in front of my eyes. His blue eyes appeared even brighter this close to them, as if they were electric. He narrowed them at me as he kept his hand on my shoulder.

  “What’s your name?” I heard his voice, and I heard the echo of his voice as it traveled over the theater.

  I was so nervous, I had to think. My name?

  “Frankie Miller,” I finally managed to say. And then, I blurted out, “I’m a magician, too.”

  That made the audience laugh.

  Mystical Marvin’s eyes flashed. A smile crossed his face. “You’re a magician, too? What kind of magic do you do, Frankie?”

  Again, I had to think. My brain had turned to marshmallow.

  “All kinds,” I said finally.

  He nodded. The blue eyes … the shining waterfall of blond hair … his grinning face … It didn’t seem real. He was like an illusion floating inside the red cape.

  “Frankie, do you ever do disappearing tricks?” he asked.

  “N-no,” I stammered. “Those tricks are hard.”

  The audience laughed again. The laughter seemed miles away.

  “Yes, they are,” Mystical Marvin agreed. “And when other magicians vanish in plain sight, it’s just a trick. Just an illusion. But … when I vanish in plain sight … When I disappear in a flash in front of an audience, it’s real, Frankie.”

  He removed his hand from my shoulder and took a step back. The cape billowed behind him.

  “And tonight, I’m going to show you how to disappear,” he continued. “And it isn’t a trick, Frankie.”

  He raised his voice so the audience could hear every word. “You will really disappear. Later, you will appear again. I hope it’s soon. But I can’t guarantee it. I can’t predict when you will return.”

  I swallowed. “You mean—?”

  “I have performed this many times,” Mystical Marvin said. “On many victims. Most times, the victim returns in less than a week.”

  A week?

  A hard shudder shook my body. “But … my parents—” I choked out.

  Mystical Marvin raised a hand to silence me. “You will go to a world unknown by most humans on earth,” he said. “Another world, a hidden world, Frankie. Maybe you won’t even want to return from there.”

  “B-but—” I stammered.

  He placed a hand over my head. “Prepare yourself.” He leaned toward me. “Do you have any last words?”

  �
�Excuse me?” I cried. “You mean—”

  “Any last words before you disappear?”

  Another shudder shook my body. “Well … uh … good-bye, I guess.”

  The audience didn’t laugh. The theater was silent. I guessed everyone knew they were about to watch a serious moment.

  “When I tap your head twice, you will disappear, Frankie,” Mystical Marvin said. “Ready? One …” He tapped the top of my head.

  I shut my eyes. I gritted my teeth.

  I waited for the second tap. But it didn’t come.

  When I opened my eyes, Mystical Marvin had stepped back. He was grinning at me.

  “Hey, Frankie—I was just messing with you,” he said. “Did I give you a scare?”

  “Yes,” I choked out. “You did.”

  “Well, you had a close call. But I’m not going to make you disappear after all.” Still grinning, he shook my hand. “Nice to meet another magician. Go back and take your seat.” He motioned to the audience. “Give Frankie some love, everyone!”

  I hurried back to my seat on trembling legs as the audience clapped for me. Eduardo slapped me a high five as I sat down. Ari leaned forward and whispered, “I knew he wouldn’t do it.”

  Mystical Marvin stepped to the front of the stage. “Frankie was a good sport,” he said. He walked up to the bright spotlight.

  “I’m not going to make Frankie disappear tonight,” he said. “I’m going to make myself disappear. Good night, everyone. Thank you all, and good-bye.”

  He pulled a small bottle from under his cape. In the bright spotlight, a yellow liquid sparkled inside the bottle. Mystical Marvin tilted the bottle to his lips. He drank from the bottle—

  —and vanished into thin air.

  I stared, blinking at the empty stage. The yellow circle of light against the red curtain. Empty. Gone. Mystical Marvin had disappeared.

  Silence in the theater. No one knew whether to applaud or not.

  Was that it? Was the show over?

  Yes. The stage lights flickered off. The auditorium lights came up. People stood up, grabbed their jackets, and started up the aisles to the exit.

  “How did he disappear like that? With mirrors?”

  “I think something backstage pulled him through the curtain.”