[ WP ] Somehow , someone managed to teach a group of terrorists magic .

Flashing billboards make for a strange contrast as John Newman steps onto an abandoned Times Square. He can feel by the tingle in his neck that, way back in the distance, the eyes of the world are on him. The news cameras' spotlights make it impossible to estimate how many there are, though, and he would n't prefer it otherwise. 
 
 About a hundreds yards in from of John stands the object that caused all of tonight's chaos: a box, about a three cubic foot in size, wrapped in duct tape, with a small timer on top. Quite obviously a bomb. So far, eye-witness reports are unable to shed light on how the object even made it unseen to the Square in the first place, some people even swore it just appeared out of thin air, but that is not exactly one of John's priorities right now. Right now, he has to make sure that there is still a Square left in the morning. 
 
 Careful not to set anything off, John feels around the timer for a latch of any kind. Though he is slightly perspiring underneath his heavy suit, his gloves are fingerless, and the metal plate feels cold in the November air. `` 00:09:46'' The timer mercilessly ticks away the seconds. After about a minute of careful prying, John manages to separate the timer's top plate from the wiring underneath it. 
 
 `` John, come in John. Can you hear me? Can you tell us what you see? ``, a familiar voice speaks through John's earpiece. 
 
 `` Loud and clear sir. I exposed the wiring, but I ca n't seem to find the detonator from this angle. The timer shows we have seven minutes and thirty-four seconds left. Have you received any more intel?'' 
 
 `` Only that the presumed terrorist group that planted this device is called'Al Houdini', we assume it's a fundamentalist terror cell but we have no proper intel on them. We assume that this is the first explosive device they created, so with a bit of luck, it's not as complex as it looks. Listen John, when that timer reaches the three minute mark, I want you to run away as swiftly as possible, understood?'' 
 
 Slightly hesitant, John replies: `` Negative, sir. We still do n't know what this thing's payload is. It might level half of the city for all we know. I'm staying until the bitter end.'' 
 
 *Sigh* `` I hope you know what you're doing John. The best of luck. I'll keep you updated if we receive any more news... Thank you.'' 
 
 With a small amount of embarrassment, John notices his hands have started to shake. During the conversation with his superior he has not discovered anything new about the device in front of him. And the timer has just gone under the four minute mark. Suddenly, he glimpse a metal object beneath one of the wires. Upon closer inspection, it appears that this might actually be the detonator he has been looking for. Careful not to disturb any of the device's other components, he grips the supposed detonator with a pair of tweezers, pulling it slowly towards him. 
 
 As the timer passes the three minute mark, the supposed detonator has finally been extracted from the device, but to John's dismay it appears to be attached to a string of some sorts, made up of differently coloured wires, knotted together. Hesitant to cut it, John keeps pulling, and pulling, and pulling, but the string just keeps coming. As sweat starts trickling into his eyes, and the timer jumps to `` 00:02:00'', he becomes desperate, and cuts the string. 
 
 The timer switches of, and John holds his breath. A second goes by, then another one, and another on, but nothing happens. Slowly, John lays down the detonator and his tools, and breaths out. 
 
 *Click* A hidden latch is triggered, and a part of the box's top opens up. Trembling quite heavily now, he tries to see into it, but a curvature in the opening makes it impossible for him to shine his flashlight in. Cursing his poor career choice, John sees no other option in the heat of the moment, than to reach in. 
 
 As his hand moves around the bend, John hears weird noises come from the box, repetitive yet irregular. Just as he thinks he almost reached the bottom, a furry piece of fabric touches his hand. Carefully, he tries to extract it, though he could swear that it was softly vibrating, or wiggling, in his hand. 
 
 Piece by piece, floppy ears, a snout, down to the fluffy tail, John pulls a single, white rabbit out of the box. The box suddenly falls apart, and suddenly rabbits start pouring out into Times Square. 
 
 While John is standing in the middle of the empty square, perplexed, the screens go dark. The sound of applause suddenly fills the square, seemingly originating from all sides, yet no one can be seen. One by one, the screens turn on again, all containing the same image. White text on a black background: `` Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. We are Al Houdini, and you'll be seeing us around much more often. Spoiler alert: For our next trick, we're going to saw a Lady in half.'' 
 
 Just as suddenly as it appeared, the message is gone, and the screens shows their flickering ads again. Seemingly unable to move, John is left standing in the middle of an empty Times Square with his mouth dropped open, a fluffy rabbit in his arms, watched by the eyes of the world.
