Vasuvius and Brock: Episode One (Part Two)

[Vasuvius and Brock follow Rhonda onto the bus.  She pays her fare and starts to walk towards a seat while Brock and Vasuvius stand there.]

Brock:  What are we supposed to do?

Vasuvius [looking down at the machine that took Rhonda's money]:  I think she put those bills in there.

Brock [takes out one of the dollars, stares at it, stares at the machine, then holds the bill out towards the machine]:  Nothing happens.

Rhonda [coming back over]:  Here, you have to put it in the slot like this [guides the bill into the machine's slot]

Brock [jumping back a little]: Woah.  It just disappeared like... [He puts his next bill in the slot and a ticket comes out another slot.  He looks at Rhonda]

Rhonda [smirking a little as she takes the ticket and hands it to him]  Like magic, huh?

Brock [turning back to Vasuvius in surprise]:  You made it sound like they don't have magic here.

Vasuvius:  They don't, not like you know it.  [He takes out his dollar bills, stares at the first one one last time and nods]  I think I can part with this now.  [He slides in his bills and takes a ticket]

Rhonda [as she leads them to the back of the bus]:  So are you two magicians or something?

Brock [glancing back at Vasuvius to see he is staring at a small stack of papers in his hands and not paying any attention]:  You mean like people who do magic?

Rhonda:  Yeah, I guess that's what magicians are.  I'd call it more tricks than magic though.

Brock:  Vasuvius practices magic, but I'm not very good.  [Then in more hushed tones]  He told me we wouldn't be able to find many books of magic here.

Rhonda [sitting in the back and motioning for Brock to sit beside her.  He does and Vasuvius sits beside Brock, though he still isn't paying attention]:  You mean like books on different tricks?  I don't know, I assume those exist, but if your Uncle is already a magician, he probably doesn't need books or knows where to find the ones he does need.  Did he just mean there aren't other magicians here in the city?  Because I know that's not true.

Brock:  Really, you know others like him?

Rhonda:  Well not personally, but I'm sure they exist, at the very lease street performers and such.  I don't understand why you two were acting all strange before, though.  If you're just magicians looking for work, you should really already know what you're doing.  And why did I have to pay you anyway?  And where is your luggage?

Brock:  You gave us that, money, I guess, because we didn't have any and apparently we need it to ride on this carriage.  We don't have luggage because it didn't come with it when we were transported here.

Rhonda:  And see, why do you talk like that, if you don't mind me asking?  You speak English just fine and look like you're from here, but why call the bus a carriage or say things like you were transported here.  You sound foreign.

Brock:  Well, we aren't from here.

Rhonda:  Where are you from then?  Where are you from that you are so unfamiliar with a big city or with any city, apparently.

Brock:  That's the part I don't think I can tell you.  [Glances at Vasuvius, who has a bigger pile of papers now and is still very focused and not paying attention to Brock at all.]

Rhonda:  Of course you can.  Are you a refugee or something?

Brock:  I don't think so.

Rhonda:  A criminal?  Someone who means to do people harm?

Brock:  Certainly not!

Rhonda:  Then it doesn't matter where you're from.

Brock:  I think in this case it might.

Rhonda:  Not to me.

Brock:  Then why do you want to know so badly?

Rhonda [smiling]:  Fair enough.  [pauses]  You're no fool, not stupid, but why don't you seem to understand things?  It's a mystery to me.

Brock:  Perhaps it's better if it stays that way.

Rhonda:  Well perhaps this bus ride was all for nothing then.  I wasted four dollars trying to learn what was so odd about you and now I'll never know.  Maybe magicians and their assistants are just strange.

Brock:  Yes perhaps.

Rhonda:  So where will you stay tonight?  And what will you do without all your luggage?

Brock:  I'm not sure.  I'm sure Vasuvius will figure out something.  [Glancing around]  This is a very strange carriage.  And the others in it are a bit odd.

Rhonda:  Some of them just ride it all day.  They have not much better to do.

Brock [as the bus makes its third stop since they've started talking]:  It stops so often, too.  Don't people have greater distances to go?

Rhonda:  Some do.

Brock:  Why don't the others just walk.

Rhonda [laughing a little]:  People are lazy.  I'm lazy.  I guess I could have walked to my apartment.  It's only three miles.  But that seems like such a long way.

Brock:  Your apartment?

Rhonda:  Yes, where I live?

Brock:  Oh, with your husband or with your father, if you don't mind me asking?

Rhonda [laughing]:  Neither.  I'm not one of those dependents who still lives at home, and you don't see a ring on this finger do you?  [holds up ring finger]

Brock:  No?

Rhonda:  See, that's another example.  That is a strange thing to ask.  It's probably a bit rude of me to point that out so bluntly, but I suspect you won't care.

Brock:  I value honesty.

Rhonda:  And yet you won't be honest with me.

Brock:  I have good reasons for that.  [pauses]  So who is there to protect you if you don't have a husband and your father doesn't live with you?

Rhonda:  Geeze, I can't tell if you're hitting on me or being rude or you're really just that clueless!  I do fine on my own without a man, thank you.  I do have a roommate though.  Sarah.  She's a bit odd.  Not odd like you.  Odd like walking around the apartment without any clothes on.

Brock:  She walks about in the nude?

Rhonda:  See, I knew that would get your attention.  All men think the same way, no matter how strange they are or what far off land they might be from.

Brock [blushing]:  I did not intend to insult you or your sister.

Rhonda:  You didn't insult me.  I expect that kind of reaction.  And she's not my sister.  She's just my roommate.  She lives with me but we're not related.

Brock:  This is a strange world.

Rhonda:  Do women not live apart from their families where you are from?

Brock:  Not often.

Rhonda:  Then I'd say you're world's the strange one, whatever world that may be.  [The bus pulls to a stop]  Well the next one after this is my stop.  It was a pleasure meeting you Brock.  I'm sure we'll never cross paths again, but if we do, I'd like my two dollars back.  [She smiles and stands.]

Vasuvius [jumping up and looking at her]:  Wait!

Rhonda [looking back at him]:  I don't really have more time.  I did what I could to try to help you guys, which isn't much considering how little you can tell me about what you're after.

Vasuvius:  What we need is a place to stay, and it sounded like you are lacking in protection.

Rhonda:  You, too?  I was telling Brock...

Vasuvius:  Perhaps an arrangement can be made.  When can stay with you in your apartment in return for protection.

Rhonda:  I don't need...

Vasuvius [holding out the papers that were in his hands]:  We can pay.

Rhonda [looking at the ream of bills]:  Holy!  [The bus pulls to a stop and they both nearly fall over]  But these are all singles.

Vasuvius:  They are the bills you showed me.  I admit I am not keenly aware of their value, but I trust this is enough.

Rhonda [looking through them]:  For one night maybe, but I don't know you two, and [pauses]  wait, these all have the same serial number.

Brock [standing to look now too]:  The same what.

Rhonda:  The same serial number.  Why would you try [The bus starts moving again.]  Damn.  That was my stop.  I guess I'll have to walk back a few blocks after all.  I have to ask you, though, where did you get all that fake money?  Did someone give it to you or are you really trying to scam me?

Vasuvius:  This isn't fake.  It's as real as what you showed me

Rhonda:  No, it isn't.  See these numbers?  They're all the same.  Each bill should have a different one.

Vasuvius:  Bah.  If I had examined both bills instead of just the one, I would have noticed that.

Rhonda:  So you're counterfeiters now?

Brock:  He's a magician, like you said.

Vasuvius [looking straight at Rhonda]:  You know magicians?

Rhonda:  Not personally.  Who are you guys?

Brock [looking at Vasuvius]:  We really should just tell her.  I think she'll understand.  She understands magicians.

Vasuvius [holding out the money]:  But she doesn't understand this.

[The bus stops again]

Rhonda:  Well if you're going to explain anything, you'd better do it fast because I'm not missing this stop.  [She starts to walk away.  Brock follows after her and Vasuvius follows behind more slowly.  Rhonda and Brock get out of the bus and Vasuvius smiles at the bus driver as he feeds two of his conjured bills into the machine and takes the ticket it spits out before nodding and exiting the bus.]

Brock:  We're not bad people.  We're just not from here.

Vasuvius [holding the ticket up to Rhonda]:  See, my bills are perfectly fine.  I got another ticket from them.

Rhonda:  You fed those into the machine?  Those aren't real.  They're counterfeit!

Vasuvius:  They are real.

Rhonda:  You're crazy!  [Starts to walk away.]

Brock:  Wait!  [She turns back looked frustrated, but still with a hint of curiosity]  [To Vasuvius:]  We have to show her something more dramatic.

Vasuvius [glancing about]:  With all these people around?

Brock [to Rhonda]:  Can we go somewhere more private?

Rhonda:  I don't think so.  I'm not going somewhere private with two crazy men I don't know so they can supposedly prove they aren't crazy.

Vasuvius:  Well, that's that then.  If you won't let us stay with you at your abode...

Brock:  No wait!  What about a Circle of Time?

Vasuvius:  Oh you know, Brock, that might just be what we need here.  Good thought.

Rhonda:  You two have about two seconds to convince me you aren't dangerous or I'm leaving.

Vasuvius:  That's fine.  That's all we need, just come back over here for one minute.

Rhonda [glances around at the other people]:  well, okay [clutching her purse tightly, she walks over to them]  I suppose if you were going to mug me in public, you would have done that by now, and I really don't have much on me anyway, so...  [Vasuvius takes out his wand and starts to spin it in a circle above their heads while he mumbles something]  What the?  Is that part of your act or something?

[Vasuvius finishes speaking and flicks his wand up and instantly the world around them freezes.]

Rhonda [looking around in shock]:  What the crap did you do to me?  [She turns to leave] I'm getting out of -

Brock:  No!  Don't step out of - [she steps out of the circle] the circle.

[Rhonda is frozen in place as she tries to leave.  Brock, with a sigh, pulls her back in.]

Rhonda:  -here.  What just happened?

Brock:  You can't leave a circle of time.  Time only passes inside of it.  If you try to leave, you get frozen in place.

Rhonda [gasping a little]:  This is the kind of magic you guys do?  This is incredible!  Is this for real?  [She sticks her hand outside the circle and freezes again]

Brock [smiling mischeviously, moves to the other side of her and pulls her hand back in]:  It's for real.

Rhonda jumps in fright when she sees he's moved, instantly in her mind.

Rhonda:  How the heck...

Vasuvius [sounding a bit annoyed]:  He told you, it's a circle of time.  Time freezes if you exit it.  [Turning to Brock]  I told you she wouldn't understand.

Brock:  No, Master, she will.  Just give her time.

Vasuvius [throwing his arms up and gesturing around them]:  I have!  I can only do so much!  You know as well as I that casting another spell breaks the circle [looking over at Rhonda] And she made it clear she doesn't trust us enough to go somewhere private where I can show her what I'm really capable of.

Rhonda:  Really capable of?  [Turning back to Brock]  I thought the two of you were just simple magicians, or that he was at least [pointing back as Vasuvius].  I've never been part of a magic trick before, just this just seems so... How can you do this?

Brock:  It's magic, just like you say, but it's not a trick.  I think your world's magic must be very different from our own.

Rhonda:  You keep saying world.  Where are you from?

Brock:  [takes a deep breath]  The realm of Brangardia.

Rhonda:  Where on earth is that?

Brock:  No where.

Rhonda:  What?

Vasuvius:  The boy is just trying to be clever.  [He sighs and looks at Rhonda.]  I must apologize for being so rude and impatient, my lady.  It is frustrating to be trapped in this world and feel so powerless, but I think Brock is right.  I think you are capable of understanding and perhaps even accepting our plight.  Brangardia exists on the planet of Roz in what we call the galaxy of Solaria.  You probably have a different name for it here, if you have a name for it at all.  I do not believe it is the same galaxy as your own.

Rhonda:  So you're trying to say you really are aliens?  Like from another planet aliens?  I'd say you were crazy, but well [Gestures around them.]  You look like people, though, and you speak English.

Vasuvius:  That can be remedied.

Rhonda [glancing about nervously]  The looking like people part or the speaking English part.

[Vasuvius smiles and takes out his wand again.  Rhonda looks to Brock.]

Rhonda [as Vasuvuis casts another spell]:  I don't know how I feel about all of this.  Aliens?  You aren't going to want to probe me or something are you?  I just can't believe... I mean this can't be happening; it can't be real.  You've probably drugged me and I'm actually laying in a ditch somewhere, I mean [Vasuvius finishes his spell; the world around them unfreezes; and Rhonda continues speaking in Vasuvius and Brock's native tongue] this can't possibly be real.  Holy crap what just came out of my mouth?  What did you do!?  This isn't English or French, but I can understand it.  [People look at her funny as they pass by.  She smiles nervously and waves]  Hello there.  [Back to Vasuvius]  What did you do?

Vasuvius [also in his native tongue]:  This is our native language.  I cast a spell earlier so we could speak yours.  I cast it again so we could all speak ours.

Brock:  I understand your shock.  I didn't know he could do this either.  I was telling him he should have used it with the ogre we met.

Rhonda:  Ogre!?

Vasuvius:  Brock, I think the ogre might be a bit too much for her to take in right now.

Rhonda:  Oh no, I think a healthy belief in ogres would be much easier to cultivate right now that whatever is actually happening to me right now.

Brock:  It's okay, trust me.  It's just a harmless spell.  If Vasuvius wanted to kill you, you'd be dead, well, at least if I let him kill you.

Rhonda:  Oh that's reassuring.

Brock:  All I meant was that we don't mean to harm you.  Vasuvius is a good wizard, and I'm sworn to protect not only him but fair damsels such as yourself.

Rhonda:  Geeze your planet is sexist.

Brock:  I'm not quite sure I know what that means, but we look out for women in need if that's what you mean.

Rhonda:  Well I'm not in need, and I'm starting to wonder if my curiosity has finally gotten the best of me.  Whatever this is you did, it's just too weird.  Can we please go back to speaking English.

Vasuvius:  As you wish, but we'll have to be more discrete then if you wish to continue in public.

Rhonda:  Fine, just switch us back.

[Vasuvius waves his wand about discretely and nods.]

Rhonda [in English]:  Are we back now?  Okay good.  I just I really need to go, but how can you just walk away if you've met aliens, and seemingly friendly aliens at that, but if this is a trick.  Arg.  [staring at Brock]  Why did you have to come talk to me anyway?

Brock [pointing at Vasuvius]  It was his idea.

Vasuvius:  Not exactly.  It was Brock here who thought...

Brock:  Okay then!  Well it was nice meeting you Lady Rhonda, I guess we'll be going now then after all.

Rhonda:  No, wait.  [Sighs]  This is such a giant mess.  Just a giant confusing mess.  But if I'm actually dead in a ditch somewhere or up in your flying saucer, I guess what I do here isn't going to change that.  Come on, let me show you my apartment.

Brock [smiling]:  You mean you're going to accept Vasuvius's offer from before?

Rhonda:  Sure, let's go with that.  As long as he can conjure up some money that doesn't have those same serial numbers on it.

Vasuvius [holding out some fresh bills, only about 5 so far]:  Will this do.

Rhonda [laughing nervously]:  About 100 times that many should do nicely [gestures for them to follow her]  Come on, my apartment's this way.  Letting you in is either going to be the best or stupidest thing I do, possibly in my life, but I suppose you only live once and my curiosity really does get the best of me.