Discount Magic [Mirage - Open]

[Howl]

While Howl set about his new found duties of helping to nourish the forest, Markl went about his own tasks, just as he always had back on their home world. The mysterious wizard had rented out an old, run-down building in an obscure location in Epcot City's shopping district. The sort of location where the main population rarely needed to venture into, housing shops which looked run down, and poor in sales. It was in the older portion of the district, and featured an array of Mom and Pop establishments from yesteryear. A good number of the shops had gone out of business, and were boarded up like ancient relics. The corpses of businesses who had lived long, eventful lives and yet, like all things, had met their demise in the end.

The building Howl had chosen was all but condemned, but that didn't matter much, as the interior made little difference. Through the use of magic, the door in Howl's castle now connected directly to the door to the shop. Were anyone to enter through the shop's normal door without consent, they would find the building itself to be quite empty; everything was actually stored in the castle, hidden deep in the woods. The rented-out building was merely a decoy, and only those in the market for dust and cobwebs would find anything of value inside. The leaser had been surprised that Howl had any interest in the shop at all, and had given him a steal of a price.

Markl, taking the guise of an old man in a blue, hooded robe and a large, bushy, gray beard, had set up a couple of stands in front of the shop, which were lined with potions, elixirs, charms, and other magical trinkets. Howl had created some of them, but Markl had used what he had learned training under his master to create a good number of them himself (of which he was rather proud). He stood in front of the door to tend to the shop as, naturally, customers were not permitted to directly enter.

Most people simply walked on by without a second glance. Some looked over, curiously, but made no effort to stop. Apparently they weren't quite curious enough. When people actually did approach the stands, Markl would put on a salesman act, in his best attempt at impersonating the voice of an elderly man. Some ultimately purchased a trinket or two, and some didn't. Though every little bit helped, and they didn't need all that much money, honestly.

[miragedl]

This side of town was not often one that Mirage ventured into, for a wide number of reasons. Though there was sure to be some amount of delicious suffering as there was anywhere in Epcot city, it was all so pitiful and mundane in comparison to where the demonic feline's obsession lay these days- with the heroes and heroines that seemed to be crawling out of some hole in the wall, like an infestation of cockroaches. To the villainess, it seemed like not a week went by before the next one reared their obnoxious, self-righteous head. It wasn't good for the evil end of her business, and if there was one thing Mirage absolutely hated, it was anything that managed to successfully throw a wrench into her numerous schemes.

That was why she was skulking around this part of town- the only reason she would ever bother making the trip down here, regardless of the fact it didn't require all that much effort on her part. She could transport herself easily, after all, though she wasn't about to flex her powers just yet. Mundane and annoying as it was, she had to play at being a normal citizen...at least for the moment. Not counting her outfit, of course. Normalcy in the area of modern fashion was a concept either lost on the ancient being, or one she simply didn't care about putting much stock into. Though her disguise was that of a human, Mediterranean woman today, her outfit was the same, favored Egyptian garment as ever. Perhaps not the best look for fitting in, though she hoped it would work to her advantage regarding what had drug her out here in the first place.

Mirage seethed to herself at the thought of that shoddy little establishment she'd heard about in passing, one that was stealing some of her best, desperate mortal customers away. From what she had been told by reliable associates, there was something inherently special about the wares sold- something that sounded an awfully lot like magic to her. Worst yet, was that they seemed to do some kind of decent job. They were cheaper than what she peddled off as miracles in her casino lair...without the negative repercussions that were secretly woven into what she sold. The customers who had compared the items weren't quite the idiots she thought they were, since they had come to the same conclusion in some respect and stopped giving her their business. Some had even gone so far as to start spreading word not to give her another cent and find this place instead.

That was something Mirage couldn't have. It was already getting difficult to have her sadistic fun and spread misery and suffering with the Dream League watching constantly. She didn't need any competition in the magical trinket and potions department! So, she had resolved to deal with the problem herself. She would check this place out first, and go from there. Whether she would try and intimidate through a show of power soon after arriving, or purchase something, plot in her lair, then come back tonight or some other time...She'd play by ear. Mirage wasn't entirely certain what her direct course of action would be, but she knew that it would be simple enough to figure out as things rolled into place.

She came to a dead halt as she began to sense another form of magic in the area- that had to be it. Her suspicions were only confirmed, when she walked a bit further and turned the corner, only to find a humble display set up in front of a building that had obviously seen better days. Inwardly, Mirage scoffed at the sight. This was her competition? How sad, for them. On the outside, she projected a curious demeanor, allowing her face to show all the signs of innocent interest in what was set up. She observed several things in silence for a moment, before turning to the old man and flashing the warmest smile she could fake.

"I don't suppose you could explain to me what all of this is?" she questioned gently, making sure to look lost as to what these things were. "This is the most interesting shop I've seen all day, I'm very tempted to buy something...but I'd like to know what I'm getting into first."

[Howl]

Markl watched with half-lidded eyes as the woman approached. While her attire would be deemed unusual by most, Markl was still rather unaccustomed to what was, and was not, normal daily wear in this strange new world. The fact that two of the first earthlings he had met were a pair of superheroines in rather unique clothing didn't make his absorption of the cultural fashion any easier. And while his savvy master may have sensed her ominous nature to some degree, Markl the apprentice was none the wiser.

"Hello, young lady." He greeted her in his mock 'old man' voice. In reality he was considerably younger than her (more so were her true age known to him), though he was rather dedicated to his disguise as an elderly man. "Certainly. You see, I am selling various charms, potions, and elixirs containing magical properties. All of these products have a satisfaction guarantee, when used correctly, as directed. Since there are numerous examples available, it would be simpler if you were to tell me just what exactly you're most interested in, and I will gladly tell you if I have anything available to accommodate your specific needs." He explained to her, looking up at the taller woman with a stoic expression. His mouth was not visible through his bushy beard, which simply shifted about his concealed mouth as he spoke.

As the disguised woman and disguised boy exchanged words, a pair of middle-aged, canine men strolled down the sidewalk toward the magic shop. One stopped and pointed a white-gloved hand toward Markl and his wares. "See, here it is!" He announced to the man beside him, who blinked and looked rather unimpressed. "It's a run-down... street vendor?" He replied in a questioning tone. The other man shook his head. "His shop doesn't look like much, but what he sells is legit! And it doesn't have any of those weird side effects like the junk we've been buying from you-know-who. And at a fraction of the prices." He assured his companion. The other canine sighed and rubbed the back. "Yeah, the last potion I got from her turned me into a newt." He admitted. At that confession the other man looked him up and down, then perked an eyebrow. Seeing his friend look at him skeptically, he sheepishly responded "Well, I got better..." With that simple explanation the other man shrugged, and the two of them continued on to investigate what the old (young) man had to offer.

[miragedl]

The second the elderly man had spoken, rattling off the simplest explanation of this establishment as he could, Mirage knew for certain that this was the place she had been looking for. Though admittedly, the conversation from the canine passersby who had also decided to browse through what wares there were to offer, helped to squash any shred of remaining doubt she'd had. As well as tested her severely limited patience. The vindictive witch had to settle for simply scowling at the other men when their backs were turned to her, and the old man selling the assortment of magical items seemed to be similarly distracted.

The fools...How dare any of them think they could get away with such things! She would see to it that these civilians suffered dearly sometime soon as well- oh, she would make certain that the next magic she cast upon them made every last side effect of the items they had bought from her feel like a miracle!

"What sort of things do you sell with uhm...Dealing with...curses?"

Mirage decided to quickly distract herself, before she got so infuriated that she revealed her true, dark nature. They would all see in due time, but for the moment, a little bit more information mining was what she needed to do- she wanted to know exactly how much magical competition she was dealing with here. Since curses typically tended to be powerful, it was her best bet to ask and gauge his reaction. She might need to come up with more information to feed him in order to get what she wanted, but if it led to the destruction of this establishment, so be it. Lying wasn't exactly hard for the enchantress.

In case there was any suspicion about asking such a thing, she made sure to lower her voice fearfully and put on an apprehensive face- like she was the victim of a curse, desperately seeking a way out of it without drawing too much unnecessary attention to herself.