For My Good Cause {Open}

[Yzma]

Yzma had stood staring at the vial for a long time. Why did she even still have a cat potion? After last time, she thought she had got rid of it. Probably that preparedness of hers. And her lack of throwing things out, even relatively newly acquired things here. Now that preparedness could work for her. Maybe. If she went through with her plan.

She was still weighing pros and cons. There were a lot of cons to being a cat again...but...she'd seen a small child hugging a toy cat. Not that she exactly wanted to deal with small children (she didn't. At all!) but the sight had given her an idea. Cats! Cute Cats could get in anywhere!

For a master plan, she needed a suitably gullible target, but first she should just test out the theory on a load of tourists and such.

Of course, all of this required going back to that detestable cat form...but she could handle it (and the voice!) if it got her prime access to anything and everything!

"For the bigger goal!", Yzma told herself, then took the potion with her and waited until she was at the Tokyo parks so she wouldn't have to travel too far. People liked cats around around here right?

She thought about hiding the antidote nearby, but then that would run the risk of someone finding it, and her not knowing where it was! So she made two, and made sure there was one in her lab (and had a paw access panel for herself) just in case she misplaced the other one. If she had to trek all that way she'd do it, the portals made it not too difficult anyway.

Then Yzma made her way over to Tokyo Disneyland and transformed; walking around and mewing suitably cutely.

[Deleted]

The famous Mexican songwriter was lost.

Very lost.

One minute everything looked familiar, and then the next thing he knew, in a literal blink of his eyes, NOTHING seemed familiar. You know, he kept hearing about these portal thingys from Jake, but it still took him by surprise. Every. Time. Hearing the words from people shouting "Coco" at him when they smiled up at him made Héctor feel like they recognized him at least, "Oh, Coco! Yes, it's so great that you know her.. I'm-!" Just before he'd continue, a broad, sheepish smile promptly formed on his face when they spoke in something that was definitely not English or Spanish.. though one or two people perhaps did try to say a Spanish word or two, or what sounded like Spanish anyways. Unfortunately, this wasn't like some TV channel where one can just put on subtitles. He was literally stuck, not understanding a single thing. Just keep smiling and nod. Pretend to understand.

"Yes! Hi!" Héctor seemed to realize that they understood that word, at least, just by hearing them speak to him. He nodded to them again with a giant smile plastered across his skeletal countenance. Whatever he was signing himself up to, he would have to go along with that. "Yes, Coco, yes.. eh.." He suddenly flickered his eyes off to the side, trying to figure out how he was going to get himself out of this, then spotted a large group of people coming in!  "You know what? I'll be right back!" Instantly, the tall skeleton pulled himself apart once the large crowd came and he disappeared into the large crowd. All of his pieces on the ground were jumping into large open bags or purses, which regrettably were taking him further and further into the park. It was great that this crowd was all together like a big family!

Wait! Wait! The crowd was all suddenly separating!! 

Okay, come on. Come together. Come together. Hurry up. Hurry up! 

A powerful surge suddenly rattled his bones, creating a gravitational pull radiating from his skull. Instantly, all the bone pieces instantly popped out from their respective bags and gravitated back to form his skeletal frame until he stood up again and took off running. Of course, he had no idea which direction he should go! "Okay, seriously! Where is that magic portal thingy?!" At this point, he'd settle for ANY magic portal that would just conveniently show itself. If it was anything like the many flower bridges that lead to the land of the dead, there had to be more than one to different places! "Ey, magic portal! C'mon! It's time to show up now!" He grinned optimistically, hoping a magic portal would just suddenly appear... like it were some kind of dog, maybe. There was a look of desperation that was easily shown on his face as he grabbed the edges of his head on his head. "If Imelda doesn't see me come in time for la cena-!"  Well, there are worst things than being dead, and he was not about to see what would happen if he missed dinner with Imelda. He swore himself that he would NEVER do that again after he died.

After catching some people notice him, the famous skeleton quickly slunk behind a wall to make sure that they didn't, then he slowly slid down to sit behind the wall with a frown tugging at his mouth. The thought of failing his family again by doing the VERY thing he did to them when he was alive was enough to exasperate the desperate skeleton. "Aughh!" Frustrated, Héctor grabbed his straw hat and moved it down to yell into his hat with a shake of his head. Then he lowered it down to his chest, where he held it with one hand before glancing up at the sky with a shake of his skeletal fist. "Tonto portal magico! (Dumb magic portal)" It was dumb for not showing up when he needed it most! 

Though Héctor would consider the sound of his family members being a comforting sound, the next best thing was the sound of a cat. Instantly, the skeletal musician's thoughts turned to the one cat that he knew and loved! His face instantly brightened up. "Aww! Hey-!" Just before he was about to say Pepita, his bright smile faltered just a little bit, "... gatita!" A sigh escaped his mouth that slightly curved into a sad frown before he shook those sad thoughts away and tossed the cat a friendly smile. "Are you here by yourself?" The skeleton tried to reach out his hand to see if it was friendly enough to be pet. All the while, just the cat's presence alone sort of calmed him enough to reconsider trying to find a way out of this place. Besides, if anyone knew Héctor, it was that he didn't give up easily when it came to family. He just had to come up with some kind of plan to get back home. 

[Yzma]

It was mostly children who were noticing her. Yzma tolerated their sticky pats just so she didn't blow her cover. Ugh...it was all in her beautiful fur though! She had no great love of her cat form, but it was still her fur, and even if it wouldn't transfer when she changed back, she would rather not have any part of her beauty at any time soiled.

One not too horrible little girl even gave her a cracker. Yzma had no idea if cats typical ate crackers (like all pets, they probably ate what was give to them for the most part) but she ate it.

Her brother thought she would enjoy chewing his empty corn dog stick!

It took everything Yzma had to remind herself that if she berated them like she wanted to, she was not silent and they would hear her! So she kept it in her thoughts, and sour look.

If the kids noticed, they gave no indication, and soon skipped away. Yzma shook herself, and shook her head at them, at the same time and wandered on. Maybe this whole thing was not wor--

"Ey, magic portal! C'mon! It's time to show up now!"

Yzma glanced over towards the sound of someone shouting, and paused. A walking skeleton! Well that was utterly fascinating. Other people were noticing the skeleton too, and he was noticing them noticing, because he slunk behind a wall.

"Tonto portal magico!"

He spoke Spanish! He didn't look Peruvian though. Even without skin, Yzma had some way of just feeling that this was true. He was also making a fuss, and people who made a fuss were usually not opposed to being turned towards helping her. That brute Gaston was one recent example. At any rate, it was as worthwhile an effort to walk over as anything else.

Her small mew was noticed, and he glanced up almost hopefully.

"Aww! Hey-!... gatita!"

He sounded almost disappointed. She got that he called her a little cat though. There wasn't much else one would call her current form, she supposed, and told herself as she was slightly insulted.

"Are you here by yourself?"

Oh goody! People who asked those kinds of rhetorical questions of cats usually ended up taking them home where all their stuff was! Yzma looked a little more pathetic and lost, widening her eyes, and walking over to rub against him. She almost hobbled over, weak and starving, but that would be pushing the act right now. She had obviously not been lame before.

[Deleted]

The small smile he wore drew a little wider on Héctor's countenance upon seeing that the cat was friendly, not that it could do anything to him if it wasn't, he didn't have skin to scratch and it wouldn't hurt if she bit him; only bludgeoning objects, like hitting him hard with an object, would hurt a skeleton. Still, it was the friendliness of the cat that reminded him of Pepita, when she felt like being nice, that is. Sadly, the skeletal musician couldn't really feel the fluffiness of the cat with his bones, but he imagined it felt as fluffy as it looked judging by how soft Pepita felt when she did that while he was alive. He remembered that, at least. All in all, it was a little bit like home. The hobbling it did made him a little concerned, only because the cat reminded him so much of himself and his terrible limping that he hadn't noticed before Miguel had pointed it out. Did he look that bad when he was in shanty town of the forgotten?

"Ah, I don't know if you want to be with me, gatita..not when I'm so far away from home!" The skeletal musician sighed with a slight frown as he tilted his head to stare up at the sky, just thinking on his current worries again. "They don't even have phone booths here..and I can't even write home, even if I wanted to.." His eyesockets tilted upwards with concern on his skeletal features, thinking of the ideas that he could possibly use in order to get back home. Aside from not even having a pen and paper, he had no idea what the address to his hotel was. Everything was so complicated here. The land of the living was so much more modern than the land of the dead, he still wasn't used to not seeing phone booths everywhere like it was in the land of the dead. Snapping out of his negative thoughts in a half-second, the musician turned back to the cat, feeling a little bit guilty at how hungry it looked. It looked like it was abandoned.  "Ey..what about some food, gatita? You hungry?" He offered the cat with a gentle smile, coaxing the cat to come into his arms though he'd settle on it following him with a pat of his thigh bone when he would stand up. He decided to give it food at least. Héctor may not have a heart anymore, but whatever he had in place of it was one that could never turn down another hungry soul after what he had gone through in the land of the dead anyways. 

Upon arriving to a nearby food stand, Héctor mused on what to get the cat. Thankfully, he had lived with Imelda taking care of Pepita, so he knew what it ate. Nothing here even resembled that though. If only his family were here, they'd be able to help him out with these sorts of questions. Of course, that would be too easy for Héctor Rivera to get lost in the land of the living with his family! The woman at the food stand greeted him in her dialect with a smile, which caused him to smile with a wave in return. "Hola! Eh, I was wondering...what is a sushi?" He asked with a bright smile, hoping the person would be kind enough to explain without making fun of him. Thankfully, the person was so courteous when she went on to explain what it was in English! "Ohhh this sounds so much like ceviche!" That was another big staple in Mexico! They were all about their raw fish drenched in citrus juice and ají. "..But it's covered in rice?! Qué rico!" Well, that settled that, Héctor had bought one and "borrowed" one to try it out, allowing it to disappear magically through his mouth, before giving the rest to the cat on the bench seat next to where he now sat. "There you go, gatita! Buen provecho! (Spanish equivalent of Bon Appetite)" Héctor was no closer to home, but at least he felt better about helping out the stray cat in some way.  

Unfortunately, this meant that the famous musician was now out in the opened again, which made him a perfect target for pictures or autographs. A sheepish smile spread over his mouth again upon being caught with their requests, pointing to the picture phones or their books that they wanted him to sign, "Ah, okay, okay, one at a time.." As soon as the line would disappear, Héctor planned to make his escape to see where he could go to ask for help. 

[Yzma]

She was getting in nearer and nearer to her goal, as she got in nearer to him. and he reached over to pet her. Yzma wondered herself if a bag of bones like him could feel her fur, but it wasn't really important, other than if it made him back off, and thereby her job harder. Her bit of hobbling, before she cut it out, did her good too and added to the whole of her sad package.

"Ah, I don't know if you want to be with me, gatita..not when I'm so far away from home!"

She wasn't sure if he just meant as they all were, and stuck in the parks; but eitherway he might have a point, he looked on the lower end of things and if he didn't even have a home to go to...

Ah well, waiting to see for sure wouldn't cost her anything, and she could always escape as easily as she had Kronk's scouts, in this very form even, if it turned out a bust. She let him ramble on about his problems, not really caring, again, other than what it meant for her.

"Ey..what about some food, gatita? You hungry?"

Oh so he could at least get her food! Ok, that sounded...sort of promising. Hoping he meant better than cat food, but knowing she may have to put up with it, given her guise, Yzma Cat gave a mew as if in answer, reminding herself not to talk and freak him out (and blow her cover).

In the interest of getting in good with him, and possibly being taken back to scout out his house, if he could ever find it, the purple cat leap up into his grasp, settling in as she'd seen cats do.

They walked over towards a stand that seemed to serve local cuisine, the skeleton asking about what Sushi was. While no doubt both of them thought Yzma Cat had no interest in the conversation at all, and was just waiting for food like any normal cat, she listened for how bad this was going to be. She had his relieved thought about it sounding like ceviche, knowing about the raw fish dish also from her slightly updated Peruvian context, but even the less advanced one would have given her that.

Ok, she wouldn't have to choke down cat food, reassuring all in all. Yzma Cat mewed cutely, raising a paw, as if to say Yes Please to that option, though unintentionally, and thereby more cute, hopefully. She peered anxiously, as pets did, as he opened the package, just hiding a scowl as he took one, but going back to Cute Cat Look and ate down the fish, or sushi. It wasn't bad, especially since it was more than just fish to add to the texture and such. She didn't know if normal cats ate all the extra, and hopefully that wouldn't undo her act.

A small crowd started to form, slowly growing. Yzma Cat glanced to them curiously, more and more intrigued as they grew. The skeleton seemed slightly famous, and Yzma had no problems lapping up the residual fame, it was only too bad for all of them they had to have her lesser cat form in their pictures. Still Yzma Cat posed for every one of the pictures, or as many different as she could distinguish.

[Deleted]

As soon as the crowds began to clear, the famous skeleton quickly slipped away. He didn't take the humorously posing cat only because he thought the cat was just hungry for food and seemed plenty entertained by the crowd in appearing for all those pictures. She was kind of like Pepita, with a personality that was larger than life.

Free from the crowd to think again, Héctor's desperation to return to his family was causing him to think more on ideas to seeing them again. "Okay, wait, wait..a ver.." Suddenly a gasp reached his mouth as soon as an idea illuminated him. "I got to get one of those tiny Selfie phones!" That's what he could do! Maybe there were no more phone booths, but if he were to borrow one or even buy one, then he could make the call to Imelda!

"Hey! You know where you can get that tiny Selfie phone thingy? Like the store where they sell them, you know?" The skeletal musician asked person at the booth with a bright, hopeful grin. Unfortunately, the Japanese woman that worked at the icecream booth merely stared at him in confusion. She was selling icecream, not phones. "Eh..No? Okay, wait! Listen, if you let me borrow your tiny phone thingy, then.. I will make it worth your while! What do you want? I could.. get you tickets to the next Familia Rivera concert!" That was a lie. There was no concert. But it sounded good. "C'mon I just really need to borrow a phone! I promise to give it right back!" He pleaded desperately with a smile. The woman continued staring at the skeleton in confusion and shook her head as she said something that he didn't understand. Héctor's bright hopefulness instantly faded and he face palmed his forehead. Ay, this was a nightmare! Imelda was going to hate him forever!

[Yzma]

And her good side, and her better side...

Yzma knew her cat-form was severely lacking, and didn't have the beauty her normal form did, but it was enough for these peasants it seemed, and who was Yzma to deny them? Of course she had no idea they were only interested in her current cat-form and wouldn't give her the time of day otherwise. Well...in some small way she knew, or knew it gave her an immunity due to the cute factor, but she was still blindly convinced of her beauty.

Her half knowledge of the more modern conveniences these people had let her know they were taking multiple portraits of her. Sort of like those odd mini-portraits her roller coaster would spit out back home, where Kronk complained of his eyes being closed nine-times-out-of-ten.

But, wait...the skeleton...she was also letting him get away!

Yzma scanned for him, just seeing him going over to another stall, and debated following. Unless one of these were more useful. Yzma glanced to the assembled throng again, and gave up her silence, for them at least, figuring it would work for her all in all. "Alright you have your pictures, now look, anyone taking me home? Any takers? Because if not I have more profitable leads to follow...", Yzma-Cat paused, raised her paws as if to get everyone's attention, and glanced the crowd over.

And kept her voice down to keep up her ruse with the skeleton.

There were stunned looks and words she didn't understand, and a few more pictures, but none seemed willing. Or they hadn't understood.

Yzma could see clearly what she should do at any rate. "Alright it's been fun". She hopped down and followed after Héctor, trusting her slight secret to be still safe, neither of them seemed to understand majority of this throng anyway if they wanted to rave about the talking cat; and Yzma could always play dumb.

She caught back up to Héctor as he was having trouble about a phone, it seemed.

"C'mon I just really need to borrow a phone! I promise to give it right back!"

A phone seemed the ticket to staying in his good graces and getting taken back with him.

Darn she had just been surrounded by many of those things and not swiped a one...

Yzma scanned for the crowd again, but they had slightly dispersed. Though...yes! That one sitting over on a bench set his down and then turned to get something out of his bag! Yzma darted over like a shot, grabbing it and rushing back over to Héctor before the man, hopefully, noticed exactly where his phone went.

She mewed and dropped the phone at Héctor's feet, looking adorable for extra measure, and keeping one purple ear perked for the sounds of shouting.