A White Christmas Ball {Invitation Only}

[Little John]

Little John honestly never thought that he would receive an invitation to any party, but as he received one to a party, especially one hosted by someone he last saw on the day he last saw Basil and first met Alice, he got a chance to attend one. So, because this party seemed to be a special one, he decided to go to the party in his Duke of Chutney outfit, complete with wig and fake mustache, so that was exactly what he did.

As the obese brown bear made his way to the party, he kept in mind that it would take place outdoors, and on a day in winter, as well. His Duke of Chutney outfit was the most appropriate thing to wear to that kind of party, and it was as warmly and formally-dressed as he could ever get, even with his big belly fully-exposed due to the shirt he was wearing being too small for him. He would buy a warm and formal outfit to wear to this kind of party that would fit him perfectly, but with the amount of money he had been making from the fish shop since he started working there and him having to spend all that money on paying for the hotel room that he was staying in with Patch and Penny and buying food for the three of them every night, affording a warm and formal outfit that would fit him perfectly wasn’t easy for him at the moment. It wasn’t like it mattered to him, though, for he was a bear, and he was largely fat, and those were all enough to keep him warm at an outdoor party on a winter day anyway, especially with him in the outfit that he was wearing for it. He also lived with Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, where the two were outdoors all day and all night for many years, so he was used to being out in cold weather, regardless of what he was wearing during the years he lived there.

Little John made it to the party, walking to the hostess in a jolly manner, his exposed large belly jiggling as he twirled his cane happily in his left hand.

“Ah, milady!” the bear said proudly to Cinderella, the one who was hosting the party, as he removed his monocle and held it up in his right hand before letting it hang from his shirt, and he bowed at her to show her some courtesy. “It is an honor to be invited.”

When Little John got back straight up after presenting himself to the hostess of the party, he looked at the castle and the stage in the area which the party was taking place in. All this immediately got him to think about some of the attractions that he had been to in the park, which were the Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party, Be Our Guest Restaurant, and Cinderella Castle. He was hoping, however, that he would have a much better time here than he had in those other places, not that he thought that the time he had in those places were bad, but they could’ve been better.

The brown bear walked around the place, seeing the many attendees at the party, most of whom he never met, and some of whom caught his interest.

(OOC: I have been struggling with making this post, as so much seems to happen from so many of those at the party, so it was hard for me to keep up with everything that’s going on here.)

[Deleted]

Darkwing followed the princess' gaze over to the guests sitting down eating and nodded in agreement that her guests seemed to be enjoying themselves. "Indeed they do Your Highness. Let's just hope it stays that way. Remember, guest safety is our utmost concern at this point and of course we want everybody to have fun as well," he reminded. Suddenly, his own communicator chimed just as Cinderella informed him that hers had as well. Smiling he nodded. "Yeah, mine also just chimed. They're all nice and synced up and ready to go," he replied. The princess then informed him that she was going to get the party moving some more by encouraging her guests to dance. "It could just be that your guests are a bit...on the shy side. Perhaps they'll start dancing if somebody else dances first. Ya know kind of like the bystander effect. But that is a good idea. After all, what's a party without some dancing and music, eh?" the hero pointed out. "Oh sure thing, Your Highness. No no problem. That's why I'm here. To guard and to watch..." he again reassured her.

"Oh just one more thing though. I don't usually like to advertise when I'm on the job if you know what I mean. Don't want to make your guests all paranoid and nervous around me nor do I want to tip off those who may be up to no good. The way I see it, Princess, as long as nobody knows I'm working for you tonight, we have the advantage," the cunning crimefighter informed her letting her know he didn't exactly want her to tell anybody that he was the security guard she hired. The last thing he wanted was for some unruly guest or evil doer like Negaduck to use that information to his advantage. The hero hoped Cinderella understood why he was asking her to keep quiet about it. "Thank you, by the way, for taking the time to speak to me about this. I feel much better now like a great weight's been lifted from my shoulders. Anyways, while you try to encourage everybody to dance I'm going to go...mingle and try my best to blend in with your other guests," Darkwing truthfully informed her. He really did feel better after sharing his concerns with her.

Just as he was about to wander away from their kind hostess, a large bear wearing fancy clothing waltzed in. When the bear greeted Cinderella thanking her for the invite, the masked mallard saw this as his cue to excuse himself from the princess. After all, he already felt like he had taken up more than enough of her time. "Now if you'll kindly excuse me Princess, but I'm going to go and see if all is well and it seems you have some more late arrivals walking in. Let me know if you need anything. I'll be around," he told her politely excusing himself with a small bow before walking away.

Feeling a bit hungry, Darkwing headed for the food table and on his way there a server holding a large tray of drinks approached him. "Evening sir. Would you by chance like a drink?" the server asked offering him one. The hero felt conflicted. On the one hand, he was a professional and on the job, so he knew he really shouldn't. While on the other hand, a small alcoholic drink could help relax him and calm his nerves; which he really needed to do since he was currently a nervous wreck. He supposed as long as he didn't over indulge there would be no harm in him taking just one or two or just one for now. So after just a few more moments of inner conflict and hesitation, Darkwing snatched up a glass of champagne right off the tray. "Yes! Don't mind if I do! Thank you!" "Sure...weirdo," the server muttered under his breath flashing the purple masked duck a funny look before walking away. Ignoring the server's weird look and insult, the hero took a much needed swig of the champagne. Thinking it tasted good, the hero continued taking small sips of it.


ooc: Just going to wait for Morgana to respond to all of these suitors before having Darkwing go over there and see them. He for sure going to lose it upon seeing Negaduck making a move on Morgana. 

[Negaduck]

Negaduck was having a miserable enough time of it when somebody sat down next to him.

Good evening. Lovely ball, isn't it? Everything is so elegant.

Oh, great, polite conversation. Just the thing to make a guy gag.

"Yeah. Elegant. Fine," was the best the malevolent mallard could come up with. But this guy couldn't take a hint.

My name is Wiggins. Nice to meet you, Mr.--?

"Negaduck." He was about to add something not very in keeping with the season when his masked eye fell on Darkwing. Mr. Hero was schmoozing up a storm with the hostess, but Negs was reminded to keep up the nice routine, just to bug his counterpart.

So, Negaduck wasn't the only villain invited; in walked Scar and sat down nearby. At least you could have an intelligent conversation with somebody that evil. Maybe he could even be persuaded to eat this Cheerful Charlie at the duck's elbow.

Before anything could be accomplished along those lines, in waltzed Morgana, of all people. That gave Negaduck an idea of how to get Dipwing's goat by doing a little schmoozing of his own. Only somebody else thought of it first. Well, that wouldn't be a problem.

Without excusing himself, Negaduck elbowed his way to the dance floor and said, "Morgana! You're looking radiant tonight. Care to trip the light fantastic?"

[Edna Mode]

So Far Edna was pondering what to do for the time being as she looked around to see what was going on, some of the guests seemed to look like ducks than human with one that looked so much like being a hero though the cape of course she shook a bit knowing the one thing she never really felt made a superhero. The Fashionista was however a bit bored trying to decide what to do next as she then noticed a server coming by with a few drinks as she motioned for the person to come here so she can grab one for the time being. Moments later she heard from the hostess of the party that it was time to dance as she was a bit intrigued by most of the people dancing and interacting but in all honesty she felt a bit shy around the dance floor, while she loved to attend parties and such she never really felt more like the dancing type though it never hurts to try.

While she took another sip she noticed more guests were coming and as if there were already mouses, birds and lions and such she noticed a large looking bear dressed in an odd fancy way but she shrugged it off with a smile as she took another sip. As she turned around she noticed another duck that looked like the one she just saw earlier but the mask and hat and cape looked a bit different as she was now curious to know what is going on.

(OOC-sorry to keep my next post waiting, everyone is doing so wonderful with there posts that i tried to make it good, also holiday shopping distractions and getting the house clean for relatives post christmas was also a factor)

[Panchito]

Panchito had barely started trying to get a favorable reaction from the lovely Morgana when someone else tried to cut in on his action. Negaduck! He remembered this guy from that little foray in the Haunted Mansion.

To Morgana, Panchito said, "This is your boyfriend? Querida, he is a bandito!" Okay, so some girls liked the excitement that came from dating a less-than-honest man. But Negaduck... "He is a very evil hombre." If she liked masked men, he could go get his macho libre mask.

Panchito faced the caped villain without the slightest show of fear. He'd better know how to treat a lady, or this rooster would have something to say about it.

[Deleted]

"Being close friends with a lot of fish, can't say I'm a cat person either, but, depends on the cat I guess"

"I met a cat-bird before. More bird than cat, and actually was friendly. Well, after he tried to shoo me off thinking I was attacking Moana," Sisu shrugged. Varian would explain his reasonings, and the dragoness would blink in surprise, "Waaah? They tried to kill you? I mean, animals can be mean or friendly I know. But, they do seem more like us. Being able to think and talk. And enjoy good food." She soon thought a bit, "Maybe that's why Darkwing was yelling at his twin? I guess the other one might be a little bit of the sour type. But, I am sure they are good people deep down. I mean, why else would they be invited?"

Though Darkwing was talking to the hostess, Sisu looked around at everyone. There was one guy who looked like Tuk Tuk, minus the armor. And the fact he was walking on his hind legs. Darkwing's twin was interacting with the other bird who was more female looking, who was also by Jumba, what looked like a lizard with extra limbs, and another bird with red feathers. There were more people too. Sisu would then look to her friends, "Wow, this place is getting crowded. So many people of different shapes and sizes. Kumandra didn't have such things. Only two species who could talk were humans and dragons. Not, talking animals, lizards with multiple limbs wearing glasses, and...what Jumba is I guess."

[Namaari]

Namaari bowed stiffly to the hostess. She appeared to be of rank, anyway. Namaari yearned to ask this girl how she knew her, why she'd invited her at all. But those were questions to be asked in private, if at all, certainly not in the midst of all these other...guests.

There certainly were a lot of strange creatures at this ball, many species Namaari coudn't even begin to identify. The warrior princess made note of each one, trying to burn it into her memory for future use.

Then she spied a pair of large felines. They were magnificent! Not as large as a Serlot, but perhaps a fit steed for a youth in training. The female could use some grooming, Namaari observed.

Seeing them gave her hart a pang; she missed her own Serlot terribly. Hungry for companionship, Namaari moved over to the male cat, admiring his sleek fur.

<<I'd hoped to learn the name of Namaari's Serlot by now, but no go. I'll have to make up something.>>

[Andrina]

Varian was allowed to answer, at least a bit, towards what he had been helping Yzma with and Andrina listened intrigued as he went on. The portals were always a topic of interest and this Mickey Mouse seemed to have some answers.

"Hmm, interesting", she answered, "I'll keep an ear out for anything I hear on this Mickey Mouse too, and report back". All of them were invested, or should be probably, in any answers to be found there.

The mermaid princess' eyes widened as Varian told how he had met the lion before. So avoid that one at all costs! She nodded, "Don't go near the skinny lion, got it".

She nodded again to Sisu's point on animals. "Yeah, even the ones you can't communicate with and who would try to eat you have their...systems they work in, like sharks in the ocean". That was the one she was most familiar with.

Speaking of which she chuckled as the dragon's next point on a variety of people here, "It's starting to look like home only land based, actually, we have all sorts of sea creatures show up to any balls thrown in Atlantica".

Sisu pointed out Jumba, so Andrina went with the example, "Looks like a land based whale to me". She didn't mean it as an insult. She didn't think.

[Yzma]

Yzma also kept an eye on all of the guests as they arrived, and yet the crowded state aided her in missing Jumba's entrance for the moment. Not for long, probably, that mass couldn't hide in even a crowd forever, but for the moment she wasn't as annoyed as she otherwise would have been.

Just bored and contemplating leaving, though she also had to keep aware of anything Varian was saying or doing, at least in a general way. Part of a good minion was not having to watch them 24/7 but she was still making sure about how far she could trust the boy and give him free reign.

Still, around witnessing everything, she should find something to do.

Their hostess mentioned dancing. Yzma would not be doing that!

Now with a double reason for seeking amusement, the sorceress' gaze scanned the room and fell on a drinks table. Ah! Speaking, or more thinking, of that girl Varian was talking to and how she had once put things in Yzma's drink, maybe that prank wasn't actually so bad, just making sure she was the one witnessing not the one affected!

A Grinch-worthy smile spread across Yzma's face before she controlled it a bit and stood, trying to look casual as she walked over to the drinks table, as if she were selecting something before starting the proposed dancing. Discreetly slipping a vial from her bag she dumped it into the nearest drink and then sauntered on down the line.

{ooc: Clarification on the potion, she's dropped one in one drink so far and it is an animal change potion, if anyone actually ends up getting it I'll let you pick the animal }

[Deleted]

(sorry my family kidnapped me during the holidays x.x this is what happens in hispanic families LOL)

"A scientist? Oh how marvelous! Empirical science and mathematics is the very basis of my magic! It's not often that I meet someone as enlightening as you, Jumba." Morgana smiled with intrigue in her tone of voice. It truly was rare to have a conversation with someone that knew an equal amount if not more on the subjects of science and mathematics.

Randy's statement of being a student was far more meek in nature, which led to her smile forming into a reassuring one to the young monster as well, causing her to fold her hands together by her chest. She couldn't help it, monsters were so cute at that age! She remembered when she was in that position long ago. "Oh Randy, being a student is always so very interesting. I do love learning knew things, especially when it comes to slime and molds." Her green eyes almost lit up with enthusiasm as she spoke about what she loved to learn about. "I'm afraid my major was more magic-based than scaring at the Eldritch Academy. My father did try to persuade me into taking scaring as a minor, but I insisted on business. No offense, of course.." A sheepish smile upturned the ends of her beak at Randall, hoping that the monster wouldn't take offense to her picking another minor over his scaring one as a major. Her father was more of a traditional sort when it came to monsters and scaring, but she was always fascinated with having her own business.

"Why, Panchito," Morgana serenely greeted her familiar friend that popped into the group, "I'm so very glad that we meet again." She lowered her smokey purple eyelids half-mast over her green eyes with a pleased smile at his charming invitation to sit with him. "Yes, dear Panchito, I wouldn't mind at all if we all sat next to each other." She, of course, was inferring to Jumba and Randall joining them. "You will join us, won't you?" She asked them, hoping not to lose touch of the only monsters that made her feel at home for once. A sigh escaped her lips when Panchito asked if she was still in love with another, longingly thinking of her beloved boyfriend who was probably so worried about her in the other realm. "As it stands, I'm still in love with - "

"Negaduck?!" The reformed villain blinked her eyes wide in surprise. "No!" She rejected Negaduck's offer for a dance and turned her attention to Panchito to correct this obvious misunderstanding, "He's not my boyfriend!" Panchito's description of Negaduck was nothing short of the truth, but that still made her wonder what Panchito would have thought of her as a friend if only he knew that she was once a villain like Negaduck himself.

"I know very well who he is, Panchito.." The magical businesswoman stated with a huff as she planted her hands on her curvy hips and narrowed her eyebrows at Negaduck at his invitation to dance. Surely he was up to something. "Negaduck, you know very well that Darkwing is my boyfriend!" She paused for a moment with a relenting sigh that escaped her beak, not believing herself that she was asking this. "You wouldn't happen to have seen Darkwing... have you?" It was perhaps a wasted effort to ask Darkwing's nemesis, of course, although perhaps it would be worth a dance if that would get him to give her the information she needed to find her boyfriend. Then again, what information could he possibly have? More than likely Darkwing wasn't here. Surely Darkwing would be worriedly looking for her if he were here, wouldn't he?

[Deleted]

While Darkwing continued to enjoy his alcoholic beverage in peace he thought he heard an all too familiar sultry voice call out his name. "Morgana?" he whispered aloud mainly to himself. 'Oh Morg could it really be you here in this place after all of this time? Oh if only it was really you. I really don't wish to get tricked. My heart just can't take anymore disappointment. But, perhaps I should still go check it out anyway. Just in case. Besides, it really did sound like her this time,' he advised himself unsure if he really did hear her or if he was merely hallucinating. Sighing he turned to the champagne glass in his hand. It was nearly empty. "Maybe drinking you wasn't one of my better ideas, but it sure was fun," he admitted to himself out loud with a small chuckle. "I suppose I really should dump the rest of you, but meh what's one more swallow? Might as well finish the rest of you off," he mused as he quickly gulped down the glass' final swallow. 'Now to go investigate that voice to see if I really am hallucinating or if it really is her somehow,' he told himself as he set the glass down somewhere.

As he walked towards Morgana's distinctive voice, the purple masked mallard took the time to come up with the just the right first words to say to her should this voice turn out to be the real deal this time around. This was Morgana, after all, and not just any ole joe he knew. His first meeting with her here had to be perfect and that meant no speaking gibberish. As he walked murmuring under his breath practicing what to say to his honey wumpus he passed by a small gathered group of people talking excitedly together about something. The group had that water dragon he had previously met at Gadget's Thanksgiving feast, but he did not pay them too much mind. He, after all was on a mission and he needed to concentrate. He couldn't afford any distractions. And there he heard it again: the sultry sound of that seductive sorceress' voice! He was so close now he could feel it! Too close.

And then just a few steps later he saw her with his own eyes standing there chatting it up with two other guys and one of them just had to be his most hated rival, Negaduck himself! In case he was dreaming he rubbed both of his eyes! But no it really was her. She was here trapped in this world! He couldn't believe it! Suddenly his mouth went dry and his heart skipped a beat at the very sight of her!

He slowly approached the small group from Morgana's back. "Mo-Morgana are my eyes deceiving me or is it...is it really you? Just how...how long have you been...stuck here in this strange place?" he asked her, smiling lovingly at her. "While I am certainly happy to see you again I am also saddened by the fact that you too are stuck in this world. But don't worry we'll figure a way out of here together, I am sure of it," he lovingly promised her. He then sent Negaduck a sharp, warning glare. "And I see you've found...Negaduck," he stated simply unable to hide how annoyed he was by that fact. "Negaduck, I really hope for your sake that you didn't just ask my girlfriend to dance with you because that would be a very bad idea," he warned him in a threatening tone. "After all, if she's going to dance with anybody it's going to be me. Uh right Morg?" he quickly added hoping his magical girlfriend would back him up on this. The hero really didn't want to put words in his girlfriend's mouth, but he seriously doubted she would ever dance willingly with his archnemesis anyway. Besides, in this moment there was nothing else he wanted to do more than take his girlfriend by the hand, lead her onto the dance floor and show her a good time. Okay, so maybe the other thing he wanted to do was throw Negaduck out of the party before his archnemesis had the chance to ruin the party, but that would have to wait. If he kicked him out now people would likely think he only did so out of pure spitefulness and jealousy.

[Jumba Jookiba]

Jumba was used to saying that he was a scientist and either receiving lack of enthusiasm or wrong assumptions over all of it. This duck woman didn't do that, though! She not only asked follow up questions, but used the word Empirical! Not a bad starting point and proved she knew what she was talking about, or could follow if Jumba spoke of it, no doubt!

From looking mildly proud at his own title, but still sort of not engaged in the talk, Jumba turned his full attention on Morgana and his four eyes widened. "Yes! Exactly!", he said. She may not have known about his specific concentration within the field, and she did use the word magic, but it was better than Jumba usually got!

"Was Lead Scientist for Galaxy Defense Industries back on Planet Turo and quickly realized that bio-engineering was way more effective than just producing another machine. Machines can be being hacked, but something that will chew the hand or antennae off a hacker before it tries is most effective way to go!".

Morgana was fair and also asked the purple teenager beside him about his studies, something Jumba listened to but quickly realized wasn't very useful to him personally. Scaring was all well and good as a byproduct of one of his Experiments, but the kid wasn't studying science himself and so Jumba had little to offer that Morgan herself couldn't also.

He was pulled from these thoughts by Morgana mentioning him in the invite...somewhere. For the sake of being able to talk further science, the alien nodded. "Sure, would be being fine".

The love talk the two ducks next incited he could certainly do without! In fact, Jumba realized that he had been a bit unwise in immediately being drawn in by Morgana's flattering talk of science without even trying to figure out if she had another angle. That was how he had gotten into trouble before both with an ex-wife and here with that annoying Yzma!

He still didn't think Morgana was anything but genuine in her questions, though, and was actually relieved to hear and next see that she wasn't in the boyfriend market. Said boyfriend and the perhaps brewing fight between the two ducks (only one was being antagonistic currently) proved to perhaps be good for a laugh, though Jumba also took note of the similarities between the two. Hmm...clones? He longed to get a feather sample and see, but would have to be smart about attempting that, perhaps, or just gather his information by Observation.

[Negaduck]

Negaduck hadn't really been sure if Morgana would dance with him or not, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Aw, come on, Morgana, it's just one dance. Isn't this the season of forgiveness?" Nothing was quite as satisfying as using that goody-goody stuff against a good guy. But he really didn't need this wetback rooster gumming up the works. In fact, Negs was just about this close to clocking the cowboy right in the beak. Until Morgana asked:

You wouldn't happen to have seen Darkwing... have you?

"Why, yes, now that you mention it. I saw ol' Darkwing over there, getting chummy with that princess. She's not bad looking, for a beakless mutant." That was a lie; he thought those weird humans were mostly hideous.

But then Darkwing himself made his appearance. Jerk! If only Negaduck had had five more minutes, he might've worn down Morgana's resistance.

"Good evening, Darkwing," said Negaduck in his smarmiest tones. "What were you and Cinderella talking about over in that dark corner?"

[Pleakley]

Pleakley looked out on the group of party-goers and thought with anticipation what a great research opportunity this would be. Oh, it would also be fun, no doubt, but his study of Earth creatures and customs was never far from his mind.

And then Jumba walked in. Pleakley desperately hoped the semi-reformed evil scientist could control himself and behave in a fitting manner. Pleakley also noted with satisfaction that no one else at the party was dressed in a red suit with fur trim quite like his. It was a terrible faux pas to wear the same outfit as another guest. Apparently those two beaked aliens didn't know that. Pity.

Just as the Earth expert was about to make some witty remark to the hostess, a large feline guest vanished before his eye. Just vanished! Was there a molecular teleportation device somewhere in the room? Or maybe that species could turn invisible.

"Uh, lovely party," he began, lamely trying to cover up his surprise. "So many...comings and goings."

<<I thought somebody should acknowledge Zira's departure>>

[Jumba Jookiba]

{ooc: Jumba just went, but...almost on cue of Pleakley's wish...}

It was perhaps just a 'sense', or boredom turned timely, but around observing for a feather snatching opportunity, Jumba scanned the room once more. There was Pleakley, thankfully still distracted by Party Etiquette and not coming over to tell Jumba how to behave...one of the lions disappeared and...wait!

Jumba's gaze snapped back. That one spot of floor, it had been occupied he was sure of it.

It would have gained his scientific curiosity either-way but...recalling the small advantage Yzma had gotten, though her own try at barrier breaking hadn't worked, when she had transported him and countless others, Jumba took to this opportunity to one up her! There had to be something and he was loosing time.

"Nobody be moving!", the alien scientist stood and shouted, "Are in presence of temporal displacement answers!". He needed to keep that spot clear! There had to be residual energy or...something. Jumba made his way over, barreling through guests left and right and knelt before the spot, quickly whipping out one of the test tubes he always kept on him.

"One eyed-noodle! Quick, come over here, be helping me, we must bottle air for answers!". Jumba gestured and shouted loudly to Pleakley, already gathering one sample, waving the test tube and quickly capping it over the spot.

[Wiggins]

Well, the duck gentleman didn't seem particularly talkative. Still, there were plenty of other people, some quite interesting-looking, for Wiggins to interact with

In fact, he soon felt that indefinable feeling one has when someone steps up close behind. Wiggins turned to greet the newcomer, but the words stuck in his throat. It was a lion! Not in a zoo or a gentleman's trophy room, but right there, sitting beside him.

Wiggins gulped audibly, too frightened even to run. He had enough presence of mind to recall that some animals talked here in this newest of new worlds, so the young Englishman ventured a polite remark:

"H-hello. Good to see you. Are you having a nice time?" He did not add 'please don't eat me,' judging it unwise to bring up the subject.

[Scar]

Scar didn't really care that the duck left when he did. Though they had worked together successfully, they were not friends or anything of that ilk. Kings were above such petty needs.

H-hello. Good to see you. Are you having a nice time?

Scar grinned wickedly and was about to answer with some terribly witty remark, when his eye chanced to fall upon Zira. Apparently she had also been invited, which would suit Scar fine. But then, in an instant, she was gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Even her scent was gone, except for the faintest trace that still lingered in the air.

Scar gasped in horror. What had just happened? And worse, was it about to happen to him? The lion slunk away, as far away as possible from the spot where Zira had been, and cowered, searching the room for who, or what, was responsible.

[Wart]

To say Wart was having a good time would be stretching a point. He found the party entertaining, and enjoyed watching the other guests, all of whom were so beautifully dressed that it made quite a spectacle. But nobody had bothered to talk to him yet, and he was too shy to start up a conversation with a stranger, or even with someone he knew only slightly. Fred had moved off to talk with other people. He seemed completely at his ease with strangers, and Wart envied him for it.

He even hesitated to sit down, not sure what the protocol was. It was a terrible insult to sit higher than someone when you should go lower. If only there were place cards so he could be sure of not making a mistake.

But then the commotion started.

First the lioness disappeared like magic. That wasn't so bad; Wart had been a little afraid of her. But then the princess vanished, the one who had invited him.

"Jumping hoptoads!" whispered the boy king. If he hadn't had many encounters with magic in his young life, he wouldn't have believed it. "Is there an evil sorcerer nearby?" Maybe they were all about to disappear!

[Fred]

Fred had been flitting here and there, greeting just about anybody he came across and pretty much enjoying himself, so that he completely missed Zira's disappearance. But not Cinderella's.

Is there an evil sorcerer nearby?

"More likely a disintegration beam," was Fred's response. Personally, he thought that would be kinda cool. But magic or science, this looked like a job for...Fredzilla!

"Uh, excuse me, I hafta go...to the men's room." That was the excuse he made as he raced outside while summoning his hero uniform via his phone. Though it's questionable whether anyone was paying attention to him at the time.

The capsule containing his battlesuit arrived pretty quickly, thanks to G and her tech, and it was the work of but a moment for mild-mannered Fred to be replaced by that guardian of justice, Fredzilla!

Fredzilla leaped back into the party, crying, "Fear not, citizens, Fredzilla will handle this. Oh. Uh, I was just passing by. Can somebody tell me what's been going on? Any, y'know...unusual possibly-villainous stuff?" Couldn't tip anybody off to his secret. After all, how would Fredzilla know there was trouble at the party?

[Yzma]

Amidst her attempt to amuse herself a bit with Potion Dispersion, Yzma noted the chaos, starting with Zira’s disappearance.

That was fine. One less villain to keep tabs on. That buffoon, Jumba, rushed over to crawl on the floor! Ugh!

Yzma ignored her rival, but then their Hostess disappeared!

Wait…Cinderella…the castle! She was the one who had owned that!

Quickly stowing her other vial, Yzma went in search of the drink she had spiked already, only to find it had already been taken! Drat, she had meant to dispose of questions she didn’t want to answer right then, but on to the important matters! She switched her focus from Amusement to Goals.

She thought of calling Varian over, but didn't actually need him just at that moment, and in her experience asking as little as one could of minions in such crucial times was the best way to have them work the best for you.

Since the event was outside, Yzma darted over to a corner just at the 'entrance' where she had stowed a bag of Just In Case things, including more potions as well as her black cape and fan-piece that would complete her Empress attire. Putting these and her head piece on in a flash, Yzma then darted back to the party, shoving past some sort of giant lizard, and walked up the steps to the platform, tripping a bit along the way but hopefully none saw.

"Fear not, citizens..."

She heard the lizard's own shouts and decided to use them to her own end.

Stepping up on the platform, she cleared her throat to help regain composure from her running about before clapping her hands, “What the giant lizard said, don't fear, Ladies and Gentlemen, your new Hostess is here!”, Yzma announced, and next struck the proper dramatic pose.

First this party formerly of Cinderella’s…then, after the night was done, Cinderella’s castle! It was so brilliantly easy!

Realizing the moment was slightly ruined by the gold and silver accents about her, Yzma grimaced and yanked down one of the nearest ones, "First order of business, Varian!", she called over to her minion, spotting him out in the crowd again, "Take down all of the hideous decorations, put up something a bit more purple".

[Gadget]

When Basil whisked her away, Gadget never realized she was in the lion's radar, so to speak. She just thought Basil was being nice. A little too pushy, but nice.

They'd hardly gotten settled at a table when the detective asked her:

Miss Gadget, would you care to dance?

"Um, okay." She hated to say no to people and rarely did. But, again, he sure was rushing things. Then when they danced, he seemed extra forceful about moving her around to different parts of the dance floor. It was actually kind of tiring, and Gadget hoped they'd sit the next one out.

And then that princess who invited them all disappeared.

"Golly! What happened to her?" It was a pretty amazing sight. Apparently the others thought so, too, because they were all very excited about it, running around in every direction.

don't fear, Ladies and Gentlemen, your new Hostess is here!

Gadget broke away from the dance at that point and made her way to Yzma, though not up on the stage. "I'm not sure you can just take over somebody else's party like that. We should be figuring out what happened to Cinderella, not taking down her decorations."

Almost as puzzling as the sudden disappearance was the fact that Yzma called on Varian to help her. "Varian...is she your boss or something?"

[Edna Mode]

There was so much commotion going on at the party that Edna was planning on trying to at least interact with someone so that she wouldn't have gotten bored of being all by herself and she wasn't aware of. It was strange enough that she noticed the two duck looking people that almost looked identical to each other speaking to the other mystical looking duck figure as she wanted to get a closer look at the situation, however the fashionista noticed something really odd that happened just like that out of nowhere that was oddly familiar.

It seemed that the hostess of the party just suddenly vanished out of nowhere and that suddenly caused her to perk up in shock as she recognized it from before when her favorite superhero client also vanished a long time ago and now everyone was panicking. Not only that but suddenly someone who looked very fiendish like out of a magazine cover for villians stood up and made a sudden annoucement.

"don't fear, Ladies and Gentlemen, your new Hostess is here!”

"New Hostess? That's Absurd!! What is going on!!!?" Edna exclaimed in a bit of anger as she noticed all the nice decorations being taken down which was making the fashionista quite furious right now.

[Deleted]

While he waited for Morgana to hopefully agree with him on the subject of dancing, his archnemesis continued to get under his skin by continuing on with his whole nice guy act. Oh how he hated that! It was just so frustrating! Much more annoying than when Negaduck was his usual wicked self. Darkwing couldn't explain why he felt that way only that he did. Suspicious of his nemesis, Darkwing glared at him. "What are you up to?" he asked in much the same tone he used on Gosalyn whenever he suspected her of any wrongdoing. "Oh no you don't! Don't you play dumb and innocent with me Negaduck! I know that look and tone of voice all too well. You're up to something evil and sinister, aren't you? Admit it!" he questioned further in an accusing tone. When the devious desperado had dared question him about his very professional meeting with their hostess, the hero just sighed at him. He merely thought the vile villain nosy and wasn't really thinking that Negaduck was also attempting to use his meeting with Cinderella in an effort to make Morgana jealous for if he had he would have chosen his next words a bit more carefully. "Well if you must know the princess and I were merely discussing ways to really liven up her party some. Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he sneered in reply. While certainly not the worst thing he could have said around an easily made jealous girlfriend it was still pretty poorly thought out since the implications were still there.

A server walked by offering the small group drinks while they...talked. Yeah this making casual small talk with his most hated enemy was starting to feel really weird. In fact, this was probably the longest he recalled ever speaking to him about well anything due to Negaduck always trying to kill him or other people. One of the drinks that the server had on his tray happened to be the one Yzma had spiked. Obviously, the hero didn't know about the spiked drink and thanking the served plucked it right off the tray. He wondered if Morgana or Negaduck were also going to take one. Regardless, he was about to take a swig when all of a sudden the lioness guest had vanished into thin air. Not just leave, but she quite literally disappeared right from where she had been standing. Darkwing's eyes just widened as he began to mentally freak out. Casually looking at the spiked drink in his hand he wondered if he may have already had a bit too much to drink and was now hallucinating because of it. And so with a shake of his head and a tired sigh he very quickly dumped the contents of his wine glass out. Little did he or anybody else for that matter know that he had just inadvertently saved someone from suffering from potential public humiliation.

The violet vigilante started to relax some once the others around him also started to react. The large alien, Jumba he remembered from the Thanksgiving feast seemed particularly protective of the spot where the lioness once stood was asking everybody to keep away from it. Darkwing remained rooted to his spot for the moment anyway. After all he was a detective and this was beginning to look like a case; which was right up his alley. He was beginning to wonder when he could show off his amazing detective skills and this did appear to be the perfect opportunity for him to do so. Sighing in relief he sent Jumba a small smile. "Oh wait you mean...you mean to tell me you all saw that? So the lioness really did just vanish from sight as though magically teleported or sucked into some sort of invisible worm hole?" he asked the large alien and those around him. "Oh thank goodness I'm not the only one that witnessed that. For a moment I thought I might have hallucinated the whole thing," he revealed with a sheepish laugh. "But not to worry everybody relax and stay calm," the duck detective advised everybody. "My girlfriend here happens to be an expert in magical goingsons and in all things otherworldly while I myself happen to be a master of deduction. Together we make one heck of a crime busting team or in this a case mystery solving team," he proudly informed everybody as he unintentionally put his girlfriend on the spot.

Turning to her he smiled and offered her his hand. "Come Morgana my love there will be plenty of time to dance later, I promise. But right now we have a mystery on our hands to help solve." The eagle eyed duck detective eyed the very spot that the vanished lioness had once stood; the very spot that Jumba was now trying his best to protect. He then shot the large alien a reassuring smile. "Hey, Jumba you wouldn't mind if we take a closer look at that spot, do you? Just so we can sweep the area for any important clues that might tell us more of what might have occurred here," he asked the mad scientist. Darkwing then glanced back at his girlfriend. "Say Morg, do you sense anything?" he asked wondering if she could sense any magical happenings.

It was at that moment that their own generous hostess, Cinderella also all but vanished from sight. It was so sudden and unexpected it caused the duck detective to jump. "Ack the...the princess! She...she's gone too!" he gasped, startled. Not wanting to cause an unnecessary panic, the hero quickly recomposed himself and cleared his throat. "Uh I mean...I mean there's no reason to panic because...because it's becoming increasingly obvious of what has occurred here tonight. I assume you've all heard the same rumors I have about people suddenly disappearing from this world due to being transported safely back to their respected home dimensions? That is likely what has occurred here tonight to our fellow guests. And while there is no hard evidence to back this theory up there is also nothing to disprove it and it's better to think of this than the alternative. One person vanishing is a coincidence, but two in the same evening at the same party? Definitely not a coincidence! They must have been returned home. And the same thing could happen to any one of us at any given time. Nothing to be afraid of," he reassured his fellow guests still taking his job as security for his party very seriously.

Lucky for Fred, Darkwing was much too busy trying to deduce why their hostess and a fellow guest just suddenly vanished into thin air while preventing a panic amongst the other guests to notice Fred's sudden absence. But he did spot Fredzilla come running over to them asking the group what had just happened. Having just finished explaining to everybody the cause of the sudden vanishings, Darkwing just groaned. Still he would try his best to re-explain everything as quickly and clearly as possible since Fred was a fellow hero and as such needed to know these things. Besides, the hero realized he needed all the allies he could get and who knows Fredzilla could prove to be a useful asset someday. Still, Darkwing expressed some irritation at having to explain the same thing twice. "Ugh I just got finished explaining all of this, but for a fellow hero I will reiterate. Basically our hostess and a lioness guest just suddenly vanished into thin air. But as I had just said, I believe they were merely transported back to their respected home dimensions. I'm sure they're both safe wherever they are..." he re-explained in an annoyed tone. At the very mentioning of any possibly evil villainy, the violet vigilante just sighed. "So yeah I don't think there's any evil villainy just yet..." Glancing over at Negaduck he just sort of casually added, "Not that there won't be any. So might want to stick around just in case." Yeah with Negaduck still there, Darkwing fully expected something bad to happen to the party. So while agitated that he had to re-explain what had just occurred to Fredzilla he was certainly grateful to have some backup in case something bad did happen.

And then as though on cue, the elderly human woman that looked terrifying beyond all reason rushed past Fredzilla and placed herself in front of Cinderella's castle and did something he did not exactly expect since well he had fully expected his arch rival to have been the one to have done it. And Negaduck probably would have had the old bag not have beaten him to it! She basically made an announcement declaring herself the party's new hostess. Darkwing's eyes widened in disbelief and his hands curled into tight fists as the elderly human woman began ripping off Cinderella's beautiful decorations calling them ugly. How dare she? He may not have known Cinderella all that well since he had just met her, but she was so nice and friendly to everyone. No way could he let this ugly old bag get away with this even if she did happen to share his love for purple!

Daring to challenge her for control he sent her a cold glare. "Hey now who died and made you queen of the party, huh?" he growled. "Hey even if our hostess isn't returning anytime soon you can't just take over even if you do happen to have good taste in color schemes. I won’t let you! Just who do you think you are anyway?" he angrily demanded. Looking around, he saw that he was not the only one standing up to her. 'Good. Maybe if we all work together we can expel her from the party,' he thought eagerly to himself. He supposed it really was true what they say; ask and you shall receive! Fredzilla had asked for evil villainy and there it was in the form of a terrifying old human woman!

[Deleted]

Varian noticed the chaos around him when the hostess disappeared from the party. He didn't like it one bit and began to panic. So much that he didn't even hear Yzma tell him to take down the decorations or Gadget ask him a question. He felt his anxiety grow as he tried to calm himself. He saw that everyone was either in panic mode or trying to take over the party. This didn't make him feel any better and got up from his seat.

Varian soon decided to leave in fear that people would think that he had something to do with the disappearance of the hostess. He didn't want to be around when that happened. He whispered to Sisu, "I'm gonna head back to the room. I don't feel comfortable with all of this. I probably shouldn't have come." He started to leave the party as he tried to ignore anyone who tried to speak to him.

{{To be honest, I would have done the same thing}}

[Negaduck]

Negaduck hated being all nicey-nice, but he loved the way it bugged his arch-enemy. So he just smiled ever so benignly at Darkwing's exasperation.

But when Blondie disappeared--

First he rubbed his eyes behind the mask and took a second look. No, he really saw what he thought he saw. And the rubes did, too. They were freaking out, some of them, but Negaduck had a more controlled response.

Dropping the nice-guy act, he shoved his way past Darkwing on one side and a waiter on the other, not even bothering to watch the guy spill drinks on himself, as much fun as that would've been. Negaduck strode over to the spot where Princess Perfect had been standing, examining the ground, the air, everything for a clue as to what had just happened. There were so many possibilities: alien invasion, super powers, diabolical weapon of destruction...each one with significant ramifications for the crime boss.

Of course, Darkwing Drone had to give the world's longest explanation. But now Negaduck had seen the phenomenon himself. If only there was a way to make it happen, he'd be able to leave this sappy happy-land for good.

Negaduck barely acknowledged Yzma's bid for Prom Queen, favoring her with a brief scowl. Let her play princess; he had bigger fish to fry. Instead he headed over to that fat alien who was almost as ugly as the humans. At least he seemed to have scientific know-how. "Any leads as to how the disappearing works?" asked the duck, civilly, for once.