Ooh, once again I read the whole thing without looking at which challenge it was in. That really tied it together and made for a great story. I think it would have stood up even without that information, just with more mystery and ambiguity. Great moment and very nicely told. I loved the idea of the sidekick having learned what he needed to learn and internalized the magician to some extent, making the loss possible to bear.

Great job!

tragic. I agree, this does make a good stand alone story.

I did really enjoy this story, both as a stand alone, and when contextualized into the challenge parameters.

This was a delight to read. The magician went out in style.

As above, good work here…

Particularly like the possibilities it offers up for a superhero world where only the old sidekicks remain to stand up to evil – intriguing indeed! MH :)

Sidekicks are always better.

Hmmm, you know how at times I am JUST polite about your stories and you hate it? I love this one! I think your dialogue was very powerful. You did an amazing amount of character building for 200 words.
<3

Kat