Magic Misfits 1
Neil Patrick Harris
1. Carter Locke is running through a murky train yard at night trying to get away from the man that is chasing him. He finds a train that is heading out of town and finds a car that he can jump onto. The different colored cars remind him of his father pulling a handkerchief from his ear and all the subsequent ones that were attached. Carter checks his bag to make sure the box is still in it. The man catches up with him and pulls him to the ground by his satchel. Carter is able to get away and makes a jump for the last car on the train. He climbs up and goes to the top of the car. He waves as the made fades into nothing. After a while he goes into the car and uses his bag as a pillow to sleep among the stacks of boxes thinking about magic.
2. Carter had wonderful parents, but one night, they disappeared. After several days of them not returning, Carter was sent to live with a distant relative he called Uncle Sly. Uncle Sly taught Carter all sorts of tricks and Carter was very talented at performing them. He would later realize that Uncle Sly was using him to steal from others while they were distracted. Sometimes Uncle Sly would leave Carter alone for days and come back from a con bruised up. They were always in the move. Carter refused to steal anything, so Uncle Sly would use him as a lookout. One day, Uncle Slybwqs using a pea to have people play the shell game. He would put the pea under one, shuffle them around and have them guess which shell the pea is under. Meanwhile, Uncle Slybwoukd be hiding the pea in his knuckle. Carter was fed up with him scamming people and came out to help the man that just lost the game. The man lifts up the other two shells and sees there isnmt a pea. He calls for the police to go after Sly. Carter runs the opposite direction. By the time he returns to the halfway house, Uncle Sly is already there. He looks at Carter in Disappiintment and goes inside. Carter goes in and cleans up the muddy tracks his uncle left behind. The volunteer cook, Ms. Zalewski makes him a grilled cheese and radish sandwich and tells him about coming to America from Russia and Poland. She tells him about the heirloom diamond on her necklace she hid in a nesting doll to bring to America with her. Uncle sly comes in and sweetly asks for soup and coffee. When Ms. Zalewski goes to get the ingredients, Uncle Sly tells Carter he has to steal her necklace. Carter refuses. They might, Carter hears Uncle Sly sneaking back into their room. Carter yells at him for stealing from Ms. Zalewski when she has been so nice to them. He runs out and gives the old lady her necklace back. He tells her to watch out for his uncle’s sticky fingers before he takes off for the train yard in search of a better life and a home.
3. After wakes up in the train car as the sun is starting to go down. He looks out and sees there are mountains and a town not too far off. There is also a carnival. A small red car pulls up and a dozen frown clowns get out. They haul bags over to a black train car sitting by itself and labeled Bosso’s. After they leave, he decides to head down to the carnival to see about finding food. A man with a hammer asks him to test his strength. Carter offers to help him out in exchange for the man buying him a corn dog, but the worker calls security over. Carter notices the security guard is also painted like a frown clown and takes off. He goes into a freak show tent that doesn’t seem to have an admission price. He can see that all the exhibits are fake. He figures he is probably safe from security and ready to leave the tent when he meets Mr. Dante Vernon.
4. Carter’s interest is peaked at how Mr. Vernon runs a coin across his knuckles and then it disappears and reappears back where it started. Carter confronts him to ask how he does the trick. When Mr. Vernon says magic, Carter says he doesn’t believe in it. He asks what Mr. Vernon is selling because he doesn’t look like he is trying to steal from people. Mr. Vernon can tell he has had a rough start to life and isn’t from their town of Mineral Wells. He asks Carter to show him a trick. Carter holds out his empty hands and when he flips them over, Mr. Vernon’s pocket watch appears in them. Mr. Vernon shows Carter he has his satchel. When they exchange items, Carter checks to see if his box is still in the bag and is relieved for find it is. Mr. Vernon shows him one last trick where he shoots a deck of cards at Carter and disappears leaving the ace of spades with “V” in the middle in Carter’s hand.
5. Watching the families come out of the last show of the night makes Carter feel lonely. He is able to find some wrapped up left overs in the trash and eats most of it saving some for the morning. The Walrus strongman grabs him and takes him to Bosso’s trailer. Inside he can see through the other actors’ tricks. The tattooed baby is accounting the money including that from stolen wallets. When Bosso asks why Carter is there, Walrus tells him he was watching him and thinks Carter has talent they can use. Bosso offers him a job. He finds it tempting, but they all remind him of his Uncle Sly. He decides to take Mr. Vernon’s advice and listen to his instincts. He tells Bosso he needs to think about it. Bosso agrees and lets him go. As soon as the trailer’s door is closed, Carter runs away as fast as he can and throws up.
6. Carter sleeps on a bench and wakes up with a blanket over him. He stashes the blanket under the bench knowing he might need it again. He decides to find Mr. Vernon and pulls out his card. He sees there is a seam in it and opens it to find an address. The address is of a magic store. He goes inside and finds a girl, Leila, working her way out of a straight jacket. She explains she is an escape artist. When Mr. Ernie comes out, he tells her to go to school. She complains that. None of the other students like her. The Other Mr. Vernon, a cook, arrives and Leila explains she has two dad that adopted her. Mr. Vernon gives Carter a book on Magic and sends him on his way telling him to come back at four.
7. Carter goes to the park and reads the book in the sunny weather. He reads the whole thing and starts to memorize the tricks until he hears the clock tower chime four times. A barbershops quartet comes to the gazebo to sing and promote Bosso’s circus. Carter watches as they make their way through the crowd stealing things from people. A boy, Theo, stops them from taking off and starts playing a violin he seems to pull out of nowhere. He makes the money bags dance up to the victims, but the first one doesn’t realize anything is missing and there is only the singers’ tips in the bag. Carter tells him to keep playing and dances through the crowd. He gets all the stolen items out of the singers’ pockets and returns them to the victims without them noticing. After the singers leave upset, Carter and Theo laugh about it. A woman dressed in black with a veiled hat watches them.
8. Leila and a girl in a wheelchair named Ridley join Carter and Theo. Theo tells them about how he and Carter thwarted the singing thieves plans to rob the crowd. They walk back to the magic shop and all tell Carter how they Donny got in at their different schools. At the magic shop, the parrot, Presto, tells them to “run the yellow piranha for the Magician’s Club.” Ridley asks about her Top Hat and Theo hands her the rabbit that has been hoping around the shop. Her parents are allergic, so the Vernon’s have been taking care of him for her. They all explain their specialties. Leila is an escape artist, Theo makes things levitate, and Ridley likes to transfigure things. Carter says he makes things disappear. Mr. Vernon explains the trio meets every Friday after school to practice their own tricks. They take a vote and it is decided that Carter will be allowed in their secret headquarters. Leila leads them to the back bookshelf and a “secret passage” book that opens the shelf into a secret room. They go inside and to Carter it feels more like home than anything he can remember. He almost feels like it is magic.
9. After spending hour in their secret hideaway, the kids tell Carter it is time to go to the Carnival because they have been waiting to go all week. Carter is reluctant, but eventually agrees. While Leila and Theo go to get tickets, Ridley asks Carter a bunch of questions. He lies and says he is staying at the Great Oak Lodge with his parents. She tells him Theo and Leila accept people easily, but she doesn’t. She wants to know what he wants out of them. He admits he wants to belong. She tells him he wouldn’t know real magic if it ran over his toes. She runs over his toe with her wheelchair and he sees his shoe has the words “real magic” taped to it. Theo and Leila come back saying they have enough tickets for everyone. They go on the rides and Carter is distracted by how much fun they are having. They the. Decide to win the biggest prize at the carnival. They buy 3 rings for the ring toss. Ridley makes the first one with physics. Leila leans over the rail to get close enough to make the second one. Theo uses his bo to levitate his ring onto the bottle, but he says he isn’t willing to explain it yet. They walk away laughing with a giant stuffed flamingo.
10. When the group wants to go through the hall of mirrors, Carter tells them to go ahead while he goes to the bathroom. He is afraid Bosso’s goons will find him there again. The group goes on the Ferris wheel and Leila shakes the cage trying to think of how to escape. Theo tells them they have time for one more activity before the Big Top Show. Carter mentions getting back to his parents, but this confuses Leila. When she tries to say something, he interrupts her hoping not to get caught in his lie and make them mad at him. Carter drags them to the psychic’s tent and puts down a coin. She looks into her crystal ball. Says one of them is a traveler, one has had hardship, one has had advantage, and the last is full of love. She tells them they will be find if they stick together. Carter tries to get away, but they insist they all go to the big top show. During the act, he thinks the spider woman looks right at him.
11. When they leave the show, Carter tries to act normal and laugh at Leila’s jokes. Theo notices his bow is gone. Leila’s lock picking set and Ridley’s notebook are also missing. Carter checks his satchel to find his little wooden box is missing as well. They each have torn piece of paper. Together they make a lot from the Pock Pickets. It says Carter should have joined them instead of the misfits. Ridley thinks it was all a scheme Carter had from the beginning. Ridley wants to call the police, but Carter is against it. He admits he is a runaway. He explains his uncle wanted him to steal, so he hoped a train and ended up in Mineral Wells. He doesn’t want to go into an orphanage or foster care and never see them again. Theo says they can figure out what to do in the morning and Carter will stay with him.
12. Theo told his parents that Carter was a prospective student at the academy he attends and the school asked him to take care of him while he is in town. In the morning, Carter wakes up having slept great in a bed. He has a brief memory of the room he had in his parent’s house. He showers and Theo comes to get him for breakfast after playing some violin piece for his father. While Carter is talking to Theo’s mom, Theo swaps his soft boiled egg for a golf ball and his mother tells him Jo magic at the table. After breakfast, they head to Mr. Vernon’s magic shop. Leila hangs from the ceiling trying to get free in under a minute, but admits she is having trouble without her lucky lock picks. Mr. Vernon asks why she doesn’t have them and Theo explains what happened the previous night . Mr. Vernon suggest they replace the stolen items. Carter admits his was a one of a kind piece. They decide they will sneak into the carnies’ rooms at the resort and see if they can find their things. Vernon gives them tips and knocks over a box of items to help disguise them.
13. There isn’t a chapter 13 as it’s unlucky.
14. When the kids arrive at the Grand Oak Resort, Carter is in awe. Since in of Leila’s dads is a cook there, she knows the place and people well. She leads them to the concierge, Quinn, to ask where Bosso is. She tells them his troupe is relaxing at the pool. The kids don their disguises and Carter is embarrassed that his is a speedo. He is hesitant to make his way into the indoor pool room when Bosso comes up to him.
15. Bosso didn’t recognize Carter in his disguise and goes off to join his group over by the sunny bar. Carter jumps into he pool. He and Leila watch Bosso and his men for a little while. They see Bosso give the Sheriff an envelope of money and realize calling the cops isn’t going to help them. They get out of the pool and meet Ridley and Theo behind the towel cabana. They decide Ridley and Theo will stay behind to cause a distraction while Carter and Leila go check Bosso’s rooms. Izzy and Ozzy overhear that they need a distraction and decide to announce a short show they wish to perform in Bosso’s honor. Carter changes into his regular clothes and then they make their way up to the penthouse where Bosso’s main crew is staying. The Pock Pickets are guarding the door. They sneak around to the service elevator and Leila picks the lock on it to for them into the rooms. They start searching and find a bathroom full of stolen things, but not their belongings. They find a locked room with a sign saying not to enter. Leila picks the lock and they find a replica of the giant Diamond Bosso is planning to use in his show. They realize Bosso is going to switch them out during the show.
16. The four kids run all the way back to the magic shop with Izzy and Ozzy following. Once they are inside they tell Mr. Vernon about Bosso’s plans to steal the Heart of Africa diamond. He says he is going to work on the problem in his own way and tells them they are free to use anything in the shop for their plans to stop Bosso. He takes off to have dinner with the other Mr. Vernon. The kids are disheartened, but Leila points out that their being misfits is their strength. They each start coming up with ideas on how to thwart Bosso’s plans and decide to talk through them and write down what they are going to need.
17. The twins help the misfits sneak around the hotel. They go in the back doors and to the area behind the stage in the theater. Theo and Ridley head down into the pit while the twins lead the way up to the cat walk. They stop over the stage to set something up. Leila and Carter keep going. They stop when they overhear Mr. Vernon trying to talk Bobby Bosso out of trying to steal the diamon. They were friends when they were kids and Mr. Vernon still considers him one. Bosso is not interested in what he has to say. He calls his minions forth and they knock out Mr. Vernon. They put a sack over his head and plan to set him up to take the fall for the stolen diamond.
18. Carter and Leila rush to tell the others what they overheard. Carter convinces them they have time stick to their plan to stop Bosso and clear Mr. Vernon. They watch the show from their hiding place. Bosso has the diamond rough to him by four guards. He puts a sheet over it and it disappears. Sparkles fall from the ceiling and he says it is diamond dust. He then makes it reappear, but instead it is the fake diamond in its place. The lights go out. There is a struggle and Bosso tells out that someone is stealing the diamond. He says they have apprehended the thief and the lights come back on to reveal they have caught Mr. Vernon. The crowd claps and Mr. Vernon is taken away in handcuffs. Carter tells them this is where the real show starts.
19. Izzy and Olly go out on stage and announce the showing over yet. They go through their bit and drop breakfast food on Bosso and his goons. Theo escorts Ridley and Leila out onto the stage and starts playing his violin. Leila dances over to the curtain and wraps herself up in it. When it unwinds, Carter comes out. Bosso is surprised to see him there. He goes onto the glass podium and Ridley throws a sheet over him. He goes down the chute inside the podium to under the stage. The tattooed baby and Pock Pickets are there. Bye is able to tangle up the quartet with handcuffs. The baby rushes him, but Carter moves out of the way last second and they baby knocks himself out against the wall. Carter gets the real diamond and puts it in his top hat. He goes back to the lift for the podium and onto the stage. He shows Bosso he has the diamond. He starts running and Bosso demands they all follow him. Carter leads them through the catwalks and other back stage obstacles. Eventually, he ends up in a dead end inside the props room.
20. Carter grabs a bat and hits the gramophone home in the process. Bosso, the Walrus, and the Spider Lady come in after him. He tells them how he knows about all the horrible things he did. Bosso admits to it all and says he will be long gone before anyone can do anything about it. Carter grins and the walls of the fake prop room drop to reveal they are actually on stage. The entire audience kept silent thanks to Ridley’s sign and heard the whole thing. Carter plays back the recording of his confession on the gramophone. The others wheel out carts of stolen possessions and tells the audience to come look for their missing things. Leila rushes over to Mr. Vernon to make sure he is alright. He easily gets out of his handcuffs and says he knew they would succeed. The police take the sheriff and Bosso away.
21. Carter looks out over the train tracks and wonders what he is going to do next. He doesn't necessarily want to levae Mineral Wells, but it won't be long before everyone finds out his parents aren't really there. He doesn't want to go to an orphanage or back to Uncle Sly. He goes to join the others at the Magic shope. Mr. Vernon reveals that he had already stolen back the children's belongings and Carter is relieved to have his wooden box back. Mr. Vernon shows them a picutre of his group of friends from when he was a kid. Included in the picture are Bobby Bosso and Lyle Lock, Carter's dad and Mr. Vernon's cousin. Mr. Vernon asks if Carter would like to come live with them. Carter is extatic and accepts the offer.