Chapter Text
After the Golden Masquerade, the masqueraders, their plus ones, and the Show & Ball attendees head to the Mask City Museum for the post-competition ball. Everyone heads down to the ballroom, taking their seats. The masqueraders take their seats on their special table. Kitty and Fox sit in the middle, with four of the masqueraders sitting to the left and four sitting to the right. The attendees chat among themselves about the events of the Golden Masquerade, learning about each other in the process.
Finally, 8:00 arrives and the ceremony begins. Amara a.k.a. Night Angel, dressed in a layered empire ballgown, heads to the podium and begins. “Welcome to the Post-Competition Ball of the 65th annual Golden Masquerade. This year, our competition was strong. Although 5 of our masqueraders were arrested for committing crimes, the remaining 10 remained loyal and true. The winner, Kitty, has won the Golden Mask Trophy, and she will now unmask and give a speech. Kitty, would you come up here?”
Kitty comes up on the stage, stands behind the podium, and removes her mask. The attendees cheer for Kitty, especially the Dreamers. Kitty begins, “Thank you, everybody. When I first moved to Mask City, I wasn’t sure if I would fit in.” She briefly tears up before continuing, “Throughout the year, I’ve loved, lost, and explored. After the Golden Masquerade, I feel right at home. Thank you, again.”
The attendees clap as Kitty puts her mask back on and gets off the stage. Night Angel stands behind the podium again and resumes, “Thank you, Kitty, for your short but heartfelt speech. Finally, we have medals for second and third place.” A museum staff member presents the silver and bronze metals, both with the Mask City Mask logo on it. “These will go to Fox and Sherlock, respectively. Would you two come up here?”
Fox and Sherlock get up from their seats and head to the stage. They bow their heads and Night Angel places the medals on their necks. They then head back to the masquerader’s table. Night Angel resumes, “To the rest of the masqueraders, thank you for your participation. To the museum staff and show producers, despite the last-minute changes, you gave it your all to make sure that the event runs smoothly. Cheers to another 5 years of The Golden Masquerade!”
The attendees clap and cheer for the last time. For the formal dinner, everyone is served Golden Beet Carpaccio as the appetizer, followed by the Quinoa & Vegetable Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with grape cider as the entrée. Finally, the attendees are served different desserts of their choice. These include Masquerade Mask Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Mousse Cups with Gold Leaf, Berry Pavlova with Lemon Whipped Cream, Classic Almond Petit Fours, and Passionfruit Sorbet.
After everyone has had their fill, it’s time to dance and explore the museum. The Mask City Museum is open in late hours so that the attendees can view the exhibits and not get bored. It was overall a great night and a great Golden Masquerade.
Saturday night gives way to Sunday morning. Mask City starts returning to normal to clean up and recycle their decorations. Most of the attendees, save for those going to church or just wanting to turn in early, sleep in late. The excitement of the Golden Masquerade is dying down, giving way to everyday life again.
Cluedle-Doo wakes up at 9:00 AM, feeling slightly exhausted but refreshed. He gets up from his bed, puts his bathrobe over his pajamas, and heads downstairs to make breakfast. To his surprise, M.A.S.C. and his children are waiting for him in the dining room, while his wife is making breakfast for everyone.
Lion looks at Cluedle-Doo, smiles warmly and softly greets, “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Well, I slept as well as I did after spending all that time at the museum,” Cluedle-Doo mutters. “After breakfast, we’ll hold our monthly meeting, okay?” And so, everyone has breakfast, which consists of berry and sunflower seed porridge. Once breakfast is done, M.A.S.C. heads to Cluedle-Doo’s Coop while he gets dressed. Afterwards, he shows up at the Coop to start the meeting.
Cluedle-Doo begins, “I know this isn’t the time we usually meet, but we’re all still exhausted from the Golden Masquerade, so why don’t we get this over with?”
Elephant reveals, “Last night, as I was looking out the balcony from my apartment, I saw a meteor fall from the sky and land somewhere in Chevron Heights. If we can investigate the meteorite, then we can figure out its secrets and we can strike it rich.”
Cluedle-Doo is not convinced. “First, we’re activists, not scientists. Second of all, what use do we have for a meteorite? Finally, by the time you’ve told us this, other people would have gotten to it. I don’t know if it’s our business to mess with space rocks. Anyone else?”
Suddenly, Cluedle-Doo’s screens glitch out and reveal an image of a mysterious figure peeking through the static. “He-llo?” The mysterious voice calls in a pitched voice.
Cluedle-Doo puts on his mask and heads to his screens, wasting no time answering the call. He takes the microphone and answers, “This is Cluedle-Doo. Who am I speaking to?”
The mysterious voice responds, “I…I can’t answer that question. All I can say…is that I need your help.”
“Let us help you with whatever you need,” Cluedle-Doo empathizes. “Just tell me where you are and we’ll get to you as soon as you can.”
“It’s…not easy to get to,” the mysterious voice reveals. “I’ve got to go. My time is up.” The screens go back to normal, and M.A.S.C. is left more confused than before.
Deer breaks the silence with, “So, are we going to help this mysterious person?”
Cluedle-Doo sighs and responds, “I don’t know, Deer. Anybody obscuring their identity is immediately suspicious. Instead of helping them, we need to investigate.” Suddenly, his phone rings. He takes it out and sees that Chimera is calling him. He answers, “Hello?”
“Cluedle-Doo! You’ve got to help us!” Lioness panics.
“Nobody in the inn is waking up!” Goat adds.
“Probably because they’re exhausted from all the excitement of the Golden Masquerade,” Cluedle-Doo theorizes.
“That’s what we thought, too,” Lioness continues. “We all went home after the Golden Masquerade to rest up. After dinner, we went back to our rooms to sleep. We woke up just fine, but everyone else was still asleep.”
“It’s almost 10 and they still haven’t woken up!” Goat worries. “What if they never wake up at all?”
“We’ll figure out what’s causing Coverton’s eternal slumber before it kills them,” Cluedle-Doo reassures Chimera.
“Thank you, Cluedle-Doo,” Chimera says before hanging up.
Cluedle-Doo turns to the rest of M.A.S.C. and reveals, “Chimera has asked us to solve the mystery of the eternally sleeping citizens of Coverton.”
“But what about the mysterious person?” Deer asks.
“And the meteorite?!” Elephant interjects.
Before Cluedle-Doo can answer, Lion confesses, “Cluedle-Doo, I have something to show you.” She holds up her right hand and takes off her glove, revealing a golden ring on her real middle finger.
Cluedle-Doo realizes what’s going on, but to avoid confusion, he asks, “Is this ring from your previous marriage?”
“The ring from my previous marriage was pawned off after my flesh suit was removed,” Lion reveals. “This ring…is from my boyfriend.”
“But you’ve only known him since October,” Cluedle-Doo points out.
“Which is way longer than David, who married me within a month of knowing me before I even had a say.” Lion remembers.
Cluedle-Doo continues, “It sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“I don’t have any female friends, so I was hoping that you all would be my bridesmen?” Lion asks her acquaintances.
“We’d be more than glad to become your bridesmen,” Cluedle-Doo accepts. “Once we solved everything else, we can help you set up your wedding.”
“How are you going to solve everything?” Deer questions.
Cluedle-Doo has a plan. “Lion and I will work together with Chimera to solve the eternal slumber problem, while you and Deer will check out the meteorite. Once those problems are solved, we’ll meet back here to figure out who the mysterious person is. Afterwards, we can focus on Lion’s wedding. Does that sound like an okay plan?” Everyone agrees. “Then let’s do this.”
And so, M.A.S.C. goes in different directions. Cluedle-Doo and Lion head to Coverton, while Deer and Elephant head to Chevron Heights. Although M.A.S.C. is a group of activists, they have also become problem solvers. Whether or not they’ll take up vigilante heroism is another matter entirely.
Kitty is rotting on the couch, watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” when she hears the doorbell ring. “Who is it?~” Kitty calls as she gets off the couch. She opens the front door, revealing a pizza delivery person.
“I have a pizza delivery for Kitty on Unit 2002,” The pizza delivery person says.
“But I ordered sushi,” Kitty responds. “Can you tell me what’s in the pizza?”
The pizza delivery person reveals, “There’s anchovies, pepperoni, catnip-“
“Catnip?!” Kitty interrupts. “Who would put catnip in pizza?!”
“Apparently, Diva Suprema would order pizza with catnip on it,” the pizza delivery guy continues. “She also told our place to deliver it to you. She already paid for it, so don’t worry about it.”
Then, the DoorDash delivery person shows up with sushi in her pack and makes her way over to Kitty’s door. “Sushi!” She calls. She takes off her pack and opens it, pulling out a bag of food.
“Thank you.” Kitty grabs the bag of food. She also grabs the pizza, saying “Thank you” to the delivery person as well. She closes the door with her foot, heads to the kitchen counter to place the bag of food on it, and opens her trash bin drawer to dump the pizza in. “No living being with a mouth should have to eat pizza laced with catnip,” Kitty mutters.