The planning took weeks, but the night had finally come. The building alone was outrageously expensive, the size of at least two or three of the big warehouses at the docks by the lake. Thick skylights were built in the roof, casting moonlight down over the decadently-decorated party. A stage sat in the middle of the room with dozens of instruments, already set up, and a microphone in the very middle of the stage. Large speakers hang from the rafters, to help spread the voice of the band and the speaker. Waiters loitered all over the building, bearing trays laden with all kinds of alcohol in expensive crystal glasses.  Prae stands behind the microphone, his face covered by an old Italian Medicus mask. A black tuxedo covers his body, but the dainty pink gloves on his hands gave him away.

Welcome, one and all, to the first-ever Great American Masquerade Ball. My co-host, the lovely Kari, and I, are glad to see everyone here. We hope that tonight can be a night where people from cities all over America can come together and drink, dance, and make merry. Remember the rules of the masquerade ball, that only your date is allowed to know your identity. If you came alone, well...

Prae gives a slight smile.

I'm sure you can find a stranger to go home with. Now, without further adieu, maestro!

Prae steps off the stage, walking over to where Kari stood, offering her a glass of rum from a passing waiter.

KarmenKayne was busy getting ready when she remembered that she needed to give JoeyC a call and let him know when to show up to the Masquerade Ball. She ran downstairs as quick as she could, and dialed Joey's number.

"Hey, Joey, it's Karmen," she said. "You have to be at the ball in an hour, just so you know. I'm a little late letting you know, but yeah, so be there!"

After hanging up the phone with Joey, she went back upstairs to her room to finish getting ready. She put some kohl eyeliner around her eyes and a little bit of mascara on her lashes, some bright red lipstick on her lips and a little bit of blush on her cheeks, then she put her hair up in a bun with some curls hanging down. The final touch was the pretty, sparkly purple masque over her eyes, so no one would know who she was. 

When she had only twenty-five minutes to spare before she needed to arrive at the ball, she called up her bodyguard Cash to ask him to please drive her there. When he was ready to go, she got in the backseat of the car, and he drove her to the ball.

"Thank you, Cash," she said to her bodyguard. "I will call you when I'm ready to be picked up. Be prepared to have to drag my drunken butt into the car!"

Upon arrival at the destination, she noticed that Joey wasn't there yet, so she decided she would stand outside and wait for him so she didn't look like a total loser walking in alone.

..."I'm a little late letting you know, but yeah, so be there!" 

"Not a problem Ms. Karmen! I will be there."

Joey hangs up the phone and is excited to hear the news. He quickly showers and shaves and gets dressed. 

While parking in his Dodge pickup in the lot across the street, he notices a well-dressed, pretty lady wearing a purple masque and looking around for someone. Joey thinks to himself, that must be Karmen...I hope I look decent enough to be seen with her! She looks absolutely gorgeous! As Joey walks up, he places a Navy Blue masque on himself and taps Karmen on the shoulder lightly and says, "Excuse me ma'am, are you the lovely Miss Karmen?" 

She giggles cutely and responds with "Yes I am! You must be Joey!"

Joey picks her up and spins in a few circles and hugs her.

Joey motions towards the door, "Shall we...?"

Takes the glass of rum from Praefect with a knowing smile playing on her lips and sips it gingerly. "I really hope this party is a smash Prae; I can't wait to see everyone all dressed up, and I must say you look quite dashing in your black tux. It goes quite well with my royal blue evening gown and glittering silver mask. 

I spin around gracefully in front Prae making sure one of the skylights shines down on me brightly. "How do I look?"  

Setting my glass of rum down on a nearby table I look deeply into Prae's eyes as I gauge his response. I bite my bottom lip hard to keep from smirking at his 'deer caught in the headlights look.' 

"What do you say we kick this party off right Prae, and you ask me to dance," I ask him as I hold out my hand.

Prae smiles, hoping his surprise wasn't as obvious as he knows it appeared.

You look quite lovely, Kari, I should throw masquerade parties more often.

He takes a sip from his own glass, before sitting it down on the table and taking her hand. He leads her out into the dance floor as the orchestra plays and starts to lead, inwardly cursing the size of the beak on his mask.

Giggles at Praefect 's silly mask choice and shakes her head. 

"This is definitely a problem mask choice Prae, but lucky for you, you have me, and I happen to have brought a back-up mask for you, cause I know how silly you can be. Come with me!" 

Clasping Prae's hand tightly in mine, I lead him over to the side of the stage and pick up a worn brown bag. Inside the bag is a shiny black mask. It's handsome enough to put Zorro's masks to shame and fits perfectly around Prae's face.

"Much better," I tell Prae as I nod in approval. "Now, lets try this dancing thing again. They say the third time is a charm, but we're ahead of the curve so two should work fine for us."

As I tug Prae back out onto the dance floor I put my other hand on his shoulder and wait for him to take the lead.   

Prae puts one hand on Kari's waist, taking her other hand in his, and starts to guide her to the mid-tempo music, already thankful that his beak is gone; he'd been afraid that the mask would fall off and hit her in the top of the head, which would be a terrible way to start off any party, let alone one so grand as this one.

I have to ask, Kari, how did you know what size mask to buy?

KarmenKayne turned around quickly when someone tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned around she realized it was JoeyC. He asked her if she was the lovely Miss Karmen, and she giggled, which she didn't do often, as she said, "Yes I am! You must be Joey!"

He nodded, and she noticed that he looked rather handsome in the black tuxedo with the blue tie and the navy blue mask, which made his blue eyes stand out. She knew he looked good before, but he looked even better all cleaned up!

Joey picked her up and spun her around a few times, and she laughed, and he put her down and gave her a hug. She linked her arm with Joey's as he motioned towards the door and said, "Shall we?"

"We shall!" she replied. "This is going to be great. I have a good feeling about it!"

When they walked in together and took a look around the inside of the room, they were both equally in awe. She knew what the place looked like before, but now it appeared to be a completely different building altogether. There were large skylights built into the ceiling that were allowing in the late-evening light that would soon turn into moonlight, there were elegantly-dressed servers with their own masks on, walking around carrying trays of what she could only assume was alcohol, there were lights everywhere adding a soft glow to the space, and the band that was playing on the stage was the final touch to the night. She then noticed Kari and Praefect dancing on the dance floor, and they looked lovely together. 

"I don't know about you but I am a pretty average dancer," she said jokingly to Joey. "Wanna' dance with me?

Wild entered the big hall with all the glasses, tables, chairs and Kari. He wanted to party up tonight, but honestly he did not know what he is supposed to do in order to get an invitation..So he decided to mask himself as someone they will never recognise. Wild got a little surprise for the organisers. A big double sized mask of his own face. He said to himself '' No one will ever suspect this person being me, cmon isn't it genious''

So Wild entered the hall like a boss feeling great being masked as himself.

Kale was running late as usual. She was looking forward to this all day and had taken special care getting her costume together. She had taken far too much time adjusting her hair around the crown that was on top of it. She didn't want it to fall when she tipped her head so she had someone take the time to make sure it was secure with bobby pins. Her hair was curled special for this occasion.

Turning to the full length mirror she saw that her black full length dress fell beautifully on her. The bottom poofed out a little bit but it wasn't poorly done. The top was corset fit with tints of red in it. She loved how the dark colors complimented her pale skin. Doing a half turn, Kale couldn't help but smile. This was more for her than anything else. Every girl should feel pretty and she did not need a date to feel that way.

Feeling done she attached her masque. The pure black material covered from just above her nose to her forehead. She had it decorated with small red gems. As the masque was pulled over her face, she got her black 2 inch heels on. Finally convinced she was ready to go to the ball, she headed to the limo that was awaiting her.

The drive wasn't too long and she was glad to make it without being too terribly late. Trying to avoid anyone that would announce her entrance, she glided into the ball.

She made her way to the side so she could see all the well dressed costumes in some form of isolation. Kale wasn't used to big groups but it was a wonderful evening to be out.

I look up at Praefect through my eyelashes and shrug a shoulder evasively,  "guess I just have an eye for those sorts of things Prae."

​I'm secretly impressed at how Prae effortlessly leads us around the dance floor and as I look around I notice a man and a woman entering the building. Immediately I recognize KarmenKayne  as I secretly snooped and found her dress and mask before the party. The gentleman next to her can only be the date she mentioned Mr. JoeyC.  I'm just about to catch their eye when a man walks past me in a Wild-Boy mask and makes me laugh out loud. Prae looks down at me like I've gone crazy until I nod over at the character. 

"I'm thinking only Wild would wear a mask of himself and think no one would guess it's him, shall we pretend we think it's HudsonHawk or perhaps Kalebear dressed as a man? You know how she likes to try and confuse people with her gender. Either way the night is young and this is turning into quite a party already Prae, good job!" 

I almost lose my balance as Prae dips me down but his strong arms hold me firmly in place, and he reclaims my full attention. "You're such a lady killer Prae," I say as I smile up at him.  

Prae smiles as he guides his partner into the dip.

"Its almost like I've been practicing," he mutters under his breath, as the song draws to an end. "But KarmenKayne and JoeyC do look like they're having a nice time together. I'm glad the party's off to such a full swing. Can I get you something to drink, Kari?"

Karmen and JoeyC were dancing around the floor, having a good time, when she noticed someone walk in wearing a mask that looked like Wild-Boy. 

"Look at that," she told Joey, as he looked in the direction she was pointing. He let out a laugh at the sight. "That has to be Wild, thinking he can fool everyone. Then again I could be wrong!"

She laughed at the thought of herself being wrong, and then looked towards the door as she saw a woman walking through in a gorgeous black dress. The lights reflected off of the red in the corset top, and she thought she kind of had an idea who that could be, but she didn't want to say anything in case she didn't guess correctly. There were a lot of women in this world of hers, so she kept her mouth shut and watched her as she walked to the side of the room. 

"Well, the new lady that just walked in sure likes the isolation over there," she whispered to Joey. "Think that could be Kalebear, maybe? I'm pretty positive it is, but, of course, if I ask it's not like she will say exactly who she is!"

Karmen and Joey were drifting closer to Kari and Praefect, so she pulled them over the rest of the way, and said to Kari, "Hey pretty lady! Love the dress! You and Prae look great together! And, just so you know, I saw the note you left me on my desk in my bedroom, saying that you liked my dress. You're not very sneaky when you leave little notes like that!"

Mave had just heard about the little shindig the Left Hand of her crew was putting together. Though she's not one for dresses, she could do with a bit of time out of the house. With a sigh, she searches through her closet, trying to find something appropriate for such a party. Pants (most of them baggy with straps and chains hanging from them), tight shirts, loose shirts, a couple pairs of shoes... Not much that would be fitting for such a grand event. She shrugs, never really being one to fit in anyway, and grabs one of the few skirts she has, made of a light black fabric and adorned with lime green streaks (don't judge her!). For the shirt she finds a plain black tight fitting cotton shirt. It might not be the best matching outfit, but it would have to do. She slips on a pair of black ankle socks and her worn out pair of black Chucks before heading to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.

Mave searches the cabinets and drawers in the bathroom, looking for any kind of makeup even though she is almost positive that she does not own any. With a sigh she grabs a brush and quickly feathers her hair before heading out the door to catch the bus. This is supposed to be a masquerade party and she has no mask. She makes a quick stop at the dollar store, finds a cheap plastic mask with fake feathers glued around the eyes, and buys it before hurrying off to the dance, sure that she must be late by now.

The bus drops her off about a block away from the dance, which is fine because it's a nice night and no rain for her to walk through. She makes her way there, taking a deep breath before donning her plastic mask and going in through the doors. After allowing her eyes to adjust to the interior lighting, she looks around, spotting a small group of people, two men and two women, chatting on the dance floor, and two other people, each off by themselves, and one with an unnecessarily large head. Her nerves quiet down when she spots a waiter holding a platter of what could only be alcoholic beverages. Putting on a smile, she makes a beeline for the man, smiling as she grabs two glasses from his platter and nodding her thanks as she walks away to her own isolated spot in the room, watching the others.

Secretly laughs at Praefect 's attempts to get her intoxicated and is saved having to answer by KarmenKayne and JoeyC 's timely appearance.

Pulling Karmy into a big hug I tell her she looks equally lovely and then I turn to give JoeyC a big hug of his own.

"Thank you so much for coming guys, I really hope you enjoy yourselves and that you both have a lovely evening," I say as I am squished between Joey's big arms.

As I let go of Joey I notice a woman walking over to the corner with two drinks in her hand. Smiling knowingly I pull Prae by one hand and Karmy by the other as she grasps into Joey. 

"Come on guys, over here. There is only one woman who could pull off an outfit like that and still look great, it has to be Mave, lets get her butt out of that corner!" 

As Kari give me a hug, I whisper into her ear, "You look quite beautiful tonight, hun. Thank you for having the party and inviting me!" He also says as he turns to give Mr. Prae a firm handshake.

Still somewhat laughing at the ''Wildboy'' costume, he is quickly shown across the room over to another lovely looking lady, Mave. Mave looks confused by the groups appearance and wonders who they are. After a few moments Joey looks at Mave with his piercing blue eyes. She instantly recognizes Joey and gives him a big hug. It doesn't take long for Mave to find out who the other three individuals and gives them all a hug. 

Mave isn't big on other people deciding what she does, but she ignores it this time as the small group of people come over to her. Recognizing Joey, she gives him a hug, and in turn the other three receive friendly hugs as well. Knowing she doesn't quite fit in, Mave apologizes for her appearance.

Sorry, this was the best costume I could find...

"Thank you, Kari, but you look more lovely tonight," she said happily to Kari. 

Kari then grabbed her hand and Praefect's hand, so she grabbed JoeyC's, and they were quickly drug over to where Mave was standing, or at least she THOUGHT it was her.

"Hello!" She said to Mave, who had a look of annoyance on her face. "I'm happy to see that you came here tonight! I love your outfit! It's very fitting for you! Makes you look really slim! And I like the feathery mask. Makes your eyes stand out!"

She smiled around at the group of people that were all gathered around Mave, and she thought to herself, Tonight is going to be really fun with this wonderful group of people.

Mave blushes and rolls her eyes, knowing that her cheap outfit, thrown together within minutes, did not compare to the marvelous works of art standing before her. Regardless, she smiles and nods, thanking Karmen (because who else could that be?).

Thank you dear, but I think you look amazing! You all do!

She takes a sip from one of the glasses in her hand, happy to discover that it was filled with rum.