If this is the first time you've read a littlegirlwarrior fanfiction, ignore the following paragraph:

And she's alive! Hey everybody! It's little me, back from...like I'm gonna tell you where I go to college! Let's just say I'm still in Tennessee and I'm at a college that seriously makes me miss my high school (at least there I was the second smartest kid in my class and still had time to write fanfiction). Oh well. C'est la vie. I'm writing now and that's all that matters! In fact, the only reason I'm writing now is because I hurt my knee a couple weeks ago when I was out running (that's what I get for trying to stay healthy in college) so I couldn't go to my dance classes plus I didn't have a big lab report due the next day for my chemistry lab that would otherwise eat up my time. I just made little tweaks here and there until I was finally free for Thanksgiving break. Since I've started college, I only write four things: papers, speeches, notecards, and lab reports. I have more time left in the day yet I still feel like I don't have any creative writing time. Go figure.

Okay now here is a message that applies to ALL readers. I've been thinking about writing a Now You See Me story for about a year and a half but I didn't actually formulate it until about two months ago. I didn't want to just do the expected "make an OC, toss her into the movie, pair her up with one of the Horsemen, and change none of the main plot" thing. However, sometimes the best way to do it is to take what everybody else does/expects, do it yourself, and just do it better.

Disclaimer: I don't own any pop culture references made in this story

*Sunday, Las Vegas, Nevada*

"AND NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITIN' FOR! SHE'LL PUT YOU UNDER HER TRANCE, SHE'LL MYSTIFY YOUR MINDS-"

"Don't you mean she'll steal your money so her boss will let her eat tonight?" Ember Jinx mentally corrected as she let out a groan and tugged at her lacy white gloves.

Another night, another eight hours of selling herself out for a crowd of drunk and lecherous men. One would think that after six years of working at Three Rings, Ember's job wouldn't bother her anymore. In reality, it still bothered her, but Ember learned to grow numb to the humiliation of parading around and seducing men into practically throwing their money at her.

"PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE SEXIEST MAGICIAN IN ALL OF VEGAS, DEMITRIA!"

Ross Lynch's "Illusion" blasted on the speakers. Ember released a deep breath, straightened her tuxedo jacket, and put on her fakest smile before strutting out from behind the curtains. Hopefully her new trick would get her some extra tips tonight...as long as it didn't burn anybody.

I'll be your entertainer

Ember put one hand on the pole in the center of the stage and used the other one to tip her hat as she dipped into a low curtsy.

I'm puttin on a show
I'm gonna levitate ya

Ember swung her leg around the pole before lifting herself off the ground and leaning back like she was floating off the ground.

Leave ya
Wa- Wa- Wantin more

Ember slowly slid down the pole, tilting her head back for dramatic effect.

I see you fascinated
I've got you hypnotized

Ember strutted up to the front of the stage, knelt in front of a boy (who clearly used a fake ID to get in because he looked no older than seventeen), pulled her red handkerchief out of her jacket pocket, wrapped it around the back of the giddy boy's neck, winked at the hormonal teenager, and stood back up to face the audience, leaving the boy with her pocket hankie.

White gloves, what you dream of
A fantasy before your eyes

Ember dragged her gloved hands across her collarbone before hooking her fingers on the collar of her ankle-length tuxedo jacket and slowly pulling it off, showing off her strapless leotard that was lacy white and ruffled at the top, like a mixture of a corset and a normal blouse, but sleek and black from the waist down. She also had a white collar that was separate from the leotard but held a red sequin bow tie to match the red band around her tilted top hat.

Step right up on the stage
Free yourself from the cage

Ember dropped her jacket to the floor and bobbed her hips from side to side.

Pick a card and guess it girl
Here's a lesson girl

Ember produced cards out of thin air, much to the amazement of the audience, and fanned herself with them.

It's just an illusion

Ember's cards suddenly lit into flames, earning quite a few gasps from the crowd, but Ember just smirked...because she was about to do something much more impressive than basic flashpaper tricks.

1-2-3... I disappear
I'm coming right back, so stay right here

Ember began spinning around in a circle.

Ain't no second guessing girl
I'm impressing girl
But I'm just an illusion

Ember vanished from the stage in a burst of fire. The lights pulsed with the beats of the music as the audience members looked around in confusion for their entertainer.

Ohoh...uh
Listen

The spotlights snapped to attention at one of the raised platforms on the opposite side of the club, where Ember just happened to be dancing around like nothing happened.

I ain't no fake houdini
I put a spell on you
I'm somethin like a genie

Ember clapped her hands together over her head, like a genie.

Girl I make your wish come true

Ember gyrated her body like a belly dancer as she slowly lowered to the ground.

And now our time is runnin
With every grain of sand
So here's the grand finale
Watch me do my sleight of hand

Ember seemed to conjure up handfuls of sparkling dust and blew the glitter at the audience right before the repeat of the chorus started, giving her enough time to strut through crowd until she found a perfect target: a trust fund brat. He reeked of overpriced cologne; was wearing designer everything; and was just a little younger than she was, meaning he was old enough to carry around Mummy and Daddy's cash and smart enough to choose one of the few clubs in Vegas that didn't have constant paparazzi outside the front door waiting for dirt on the rich and famous. However, his ego proved to be his downfall... meaning he was so conceited that he had his wallet overflowing with hundred-dollar-bills purposefully bulging from his pocket. He wouldn't notice if a few went missing...

Somewhere in a dream

Ember sashayed toward the man, swaying her hips from side to side as she locked eyes with him. That stuck-up jerk actually had the nerve to smirk at his "irresistible charms".

We'll meet again my baby
And I promise that I won't disappear

Ember traced her hands down the man's face and over his upper body before she turned around and seductively circled her hips as she lowered herself along his body, making sure not to actually touch him, but rather just graze over him while her free hand reached behind her to grab a few bills.

I'll be right here
And I won't be won't be won't be
Just an illusion (yeah, baby)

Ember grinned victoriously, swatted Richie Rich's hands away from her corset, whipped around, and winked at him before strutting back to the main stage for her final dance sequence.

Step right up on the stage
Free yourself from the cage
Pick a card and guess it girl
Here's a lesson girl
It's just an illusion
1-2-3... I disappear
I'm coming right back, so stay right here
Ain't no second guessing girl
I'm impressing girl
But I'm just an illusion

Ember took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for her big finale.

Step right up on the stage
Free yourself from the cage
Pick a card and guess it girl
Here's a lesson girl
It's just an illusion
1-2-3... I disappear

On the count of three, Ember snapped her fingers and the lights on the stage blacked out. Suddenly, a small flame flickered to life on the stage. Before the audience knew it, that flame danced across the stage in the shape of a flower.

I'm coming right back, so stay right here
Ain't no second guessing girl
I'm impressing girl
But I'm just an illusion

That blossom-shaped fire exploded in a burst of sparks, lighting up the silhouette of a girl wearing a long tuxedo coat and holding the rim of her top hat. The embers floated to the ground almost lyrically.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET'S HEAR IT ONE MORE TIME FOR DEMITRIA!"

The crowd howled in appreciation, especially the men who snagged a spot close enough to catch a whiff of "Demitria's" spicy perfume. Ember forced a flirtatious smile as she curtsied once again, blew a kiss, and strutted off the stage with an elegant wave of the hand.

*{o}*

From behind the curtain, Ember smirked weakly at the roaring applause for her fourth show of the night. She was thrilled that her flower flame finale was a success, but was this really what she would be doing for the rest of her life? Was this as far as her magic career would take her? Ember sighed and shuffled over to her vanity so she could get ready to go home. The second the young magician sat down in her chair, a middle-aged woman with a spray tan, clunky costume jewelry, and a gray pixie cut scurried over. Camille, affectionately known as Madonna because of her 1980's style wardrobe, was the hair/makeup/wardrobe specialist for Three Rings and was also the closest thing Ember had to a maternal figure.

"Em, I will never know how you can play with fire so much and still come out without a single burnt hair!" Camille commented in her New Jersey accent.

"Fire, I can handle. If anything, all the damage comes from the blokes trying to break the 'no unpurchased contact' rules out there," Ember replied in a bittersweet tone.

"Oh don't I know it!" Camille agreed. She used to work in Atlantic City when she was Ember's age, so the casino life was nothing new to Camille.

Ember winced as Camille tried to pull off Ember's top hat.

"What'd I do, weld this to ya head or somethin'?!" Camille exclaimed as she got to work digging through Ember's pale tresses for bobby pins.

"Pretty much," Ember responded. "I kept losing the hat before the first round of the chorus so you decided to take 'desperate measures'."

Camille cursed under her breath about the real meaning of desperate measures until she finished her task.

"Got the lil sucker!" Camille proclaimed victoriously as she pulled out the final bobby pin. "Whaddya want me to do about those streaks, Em?"

Ember looked at herself in the mirror. Her costume, makeup, dance, all determined by her boss. Her hair was the only thing Ember had some control over with regard to her boss's rules. That day, she had decided to add some bright red streaks to her platinum blonde, shoulder-length curls, which Camille had styled to be bigger and wilder.

"Can you just keep them in for now? It'll take the dye a few days to wash out anyway."

Camille nodded obediently and proceeded to untangle the curls from each other and remove Ember's stage makeup.

"Okay ladies! You know the drill! Empty your costumes!" a man shouted suddenly.

Ember sighed and looked up at the mirror on her vanity to see the boss storm in. He was a short man, wearing a blinding gold silk shirt with a deep V cut to show off his disgustingly hairy chest and growing potbelly, excessively tight leather pants, and fake alligator skin boots. His unnaturally shiny black hair was slicked back and he looked every bit the part of the sleazy strip club owner that he was.

Ember cast a look at Camille, who completely understood and slid out of the dressing room without protest. The girls from Ember's shift immediately stood up and began pulling the bills out of their "uniforms".

"All the way, ladies," the boss chirped with a wicked smirk. "You too, Ember!"

The strippers began to whine. Ember growled under her breath as she stood up from her chair and, as slowly as possible, began to remove her costume. Being trapped in a job as eye candy for a Vegas club was bad enough, but stripping herself down in front of this man was absolutely dehumanizing.

"Don't blame me," the boss snapped when he saw the loathing looks from his employees. "Blame Krista."

At the mention of her friend's name, Ember looked around for the woman's caramel-colored skin and signature mane. Since Krista played the lioness in the animal-tamer act (even though technically a female lion wouldn't have a mane), she always had her thick chocolate brown hair teased into a wavy mass. Krista had been working at Three Rings for about two years, right after her dealer/boyfriend dumped her, stole all her money, and left her to recover from her addiction and take care of their newborn daughter all on her own. Krista subjected herself to the stigma of being a stripper just so her beautiful Baylee could grow up with a roof over her head, food on her plate, and a drug-free parent.

"I canned her last night. Turns out our little kitty cat was pawin' some of my money to feed that fix o' hers," the boss reported

"It wasn't to feed her fix! It was to feed her baby!" Ember exclaimed as she flung her red stilettos to the ground. "Unlike some people, Krista wanted to be a good guardian! But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Uncle Dick? Oops, I mean Uncle Rick?"

The girls gasped at Ember's nerve.

Rick Moran visibly twitched as his hair slid to the side, revealing his gray fuzz underneath his toupee. "That mouth o' yours just cost you another night without pay! At this rate, you'll be my age by the time you pay off your parents' debt!"

"But I've already worked off more than half!" Ember argued.

"It's called interest, love," Rick taunted. "Now, if you're a good little girl and follow directions, I may even give you enough to buy yourself an ice cream on your way home."

Ember scowled as she stormed off to her corner. She was twenty two years old, an adult, and yet she was still under her uncle's thumb. Every year, Rick came up with a new excuse to keep her chained to the club. Funeral costs, travel expenses from Ireland, textbook funds from sending her to the local public high school, interest rates, the list went on and on.

"Remember ladies, money goes in the box or it's stolen property!" Rick announced as he and his bouncers eagerly watched the free show.

Ember seethed. She began emptying the money from her costume when she felt something much larger and stiffer than cash stuffed into the side of her corset. Angling her body away from her uncle and the other security cameras, Ember pulled out what looked like a tarot card. On one side, there was an illustration of the sun along with the Roman numerals XIX. Ember flipped the card over and nearly dropped it when she saw what was on the other side. Underneath a drawing of an eye, there was a time and a place.

MARCH 29

4:44 PM

45 EAST EVAN St

NY, NY

Ember snatched up her phone. It was currently 4:07 am on March 25 (AN technically she got the card Sunday night because she did her first dance around 8 pm, but she didn't find the card until it was technically Monday morning). She had four and a half days to get from Sin City to the Big Apple. But how? Rick would never let her skip work to go chasing after what so many thought was just a myth. Ember looked at the card one last time and it finally dawned on her. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If she didn't snatch it now, it would never come again. Ember hid the card in her bag; finished cleaning out her costume for her tips; put all the money in the box, casting an innocent grin at her uncle and his meatheads; and hung up her uniform for what would hopefully be the last time. As Ember walked through the seedy alleys to get to her uncle's dingy apartment, she formulated a plan. Once that sun came up, Ember's life would finally turn around.

*{o}*

A few announcements before you pass any judgment about this story:

1. I have NEVER been to a strip club (the closest I've come to that is seeing a drag show sponsored by some sexual orientation equality organization at my college and I only went because I had a friend performing in it and I promised him I would go support him), nor do I have a dirty mind. In fact, I hate the media's sexualization of women (the only times I went to Victoria's Secret were when a friend dragged me) and I'm probably the most innocent college freshman you'll ever meet. I've only been to Vegas once (for my parents' 25th wedding anniversary) and I was only sixteen years old. Therefore I could not, would not, and did not participate in any of the seedier activities of Vegas. I scowled every time we passed an advertisement for a peep show or anything related to sex and I hid behind my parents or older brother every time we walked down the street so people would stop trying to pass me cards with pictures of naked/half-naked women on them.

2. The reason I put Ember to work in a strip club was because I wanted her to be found in a way different from the other Horsemen. Also, I was originally planning to have Ember be recruited about two years after the events of the movie. She was going to be a magician/stripper that Danny, Merritt, and Jack would be sent to recruit under the guise of going to the club as a bachelor party for his wedding to Henley (the bachelor party would be their cover but the wedding would be real) and Ember would pickpocket them, passing her initial test and getting herself a card. Then, after about a year and a half of occasionally pondering that story, I remembered that The Eye only recruited only twice every century. This would be a problem for three reasons:

A. The Eye wouldn't want to use up all its recruitments within the first fifteen years of the century

B. If Ember was recruited separately from the Four Horsemen, I would have to create an entirely new team of magicians for her to bond with that would somehow measure up to the standards of the Four Horsemen

C. Ember would have to follow the directions from The Eye "with blind obedience", so if Jack tried to make any contact with her (especially if he secretly tried to help her), she would be rejected and he would probably get kicked out

3. If Danny can find his card right as he is about to have sex with that girl, if Merritt can make that many sex jokes, I'm pretty sure I can have Ember be hired from a strip club.

4. My brother gave me this long-winded speech about how having another Horseman would ruin the entire mythology upon which The Eye was built (something about the four visible Horsemen of the apocalypse and the fifth being invisible) and yada yada yada but I decided to run with it nevertheless. (No offense bro! I still love ya!)

Well know that my PSA's are out of the way, leave a review if you like it (which I sincerely hope you do) and hopefully I'll reenter the world of fandoms before second semester. As for now, it's time for this not-a-littlegirl-anymore warrior to get back into the trenches! *pulls down goggles, snaps on gloves, and arms self with pipettes* General Chemistry, that C- is only temporary! I'm coming for you!