"Napoleon, why are we the only ones wearing masks?" April Dancer whispered.
Solo in a black tux and she in a long pink gown with a white ostrich feather hem line walked arm in arm into the gala, their faces disguised by furry cat masks.
Napoleon's was black of course, and April's white, conveniently matching the feathers on her gown.
"Who knows what this is really all about. It's supposed to be a THRUSH satrapy, and they're putting on a Halloween gala, that's all the intel we have to go on,' he whispered back, "Just keep an eye out for Illya as he's supposed to meet us here."
"They usually like to formulate their hair brained plots at such gatherings,"April said. "Think that's what's up?"
"Who knows. Let's keep the conversation to a minimum."
The two tried to maintain a nonchalant demeanor, smiling as they strolled along together, but then April noticed something odd about the other revelers.
"Look, I think they are wearing masks after all, but human looking ones."
Solo pulled April into a little spin, and while doing so he was able to look at the crowd. "You're right."
"What should we do?"She whispered."We're sort of standing out."
"Just act naturally. No one seems to be paying attention to us, so go with the flow."
Organ music began playing, filling the opulent ballroom, and drawing the guests to the dance floor. They stopped at the edge of the floor, as if waiting for something.
There was no conversation as they just stood there, staring with blank eyes at...nothing.
A very animated man wearing a red mask was at the keyboard, swaying to and fro as he played Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,
The guests, as if on cue, began to move to the floor, twirling mindlessly in a trance like state. Their dancing was out of time with the music as they gyrated to the beat of a different and unheard drum.
Napoleon and April followed suit, trying to blend in while dancing and swaying like the others as best they could.
Suddenly a glass ball rolled to the middle of the floor. Shattering; it filled the air with a thick cloud of white smoke. Someone screamed and Dancer felt hands grabbing her, wrenching her from Solo's arms.
The music continued to play; the organist ignoring what had just happened,. People still danced as they floated in and out of the smoke like spectres, oblivious to it as they whirled themselves into a frenzy.
Napoleon tried waving the cloud away from his eyes as he couldn't see a thing.
"April!" He shouted.
He felt himself being grabbed as well, and went on the defensive, until he heard a familiar voice.
"Napoleon!" Illya hissed."Stop, we need to get out of here. Just stay with me and get rid of that damned mask!"
Kuryakin maintained his grip on his partner's sleeve, while he had hold of April with his other hand as he led them away from the dance floor. They made it to the exit and ran out to the sidewalk; once there Illya told them to keep moving. When they were a block or so away, they finally stopped to catch their breath.
"What the hell was going on in there?"Napoleon demanded."We were supposed to meet you but not like this."
"We received bad intelligence, the gathering was not for THRUSH, it was for a Satanic cult that deals in human sacrifice, and cannibalism. You two were to be their next victims."
"Illya, how's that possible, we just walked in there," Napoleon asked. "How were we targeted...wait, the masks?"
"Yes, you and April were the only ones wearing the cat masks."
"They were given to us at the door, "April said. "Was it because we were agents. Was our cover blown that quickly?"
"Merely a coincidence; you were most likely selected at random. Once the music worked everyone into a frenzy, they were going to plunge their daggers into you both, after which they would have devoured your flesh."
He held out a vicious looking curved dagger with a handle encrusted in sparkling red gems. "Your beating hearts were to be offered to Lucifer."
"Yikes," Napoleon took it from Illya's hand, examining it. The blade was so sharp that it could split a hair.
"Yikes indeed. Mr Waverly is sending a fully armed strike force to take control of the situation." Kuryakin looked at his wristwatch,"And they should be arriving at any minute."
"Why not let local law enforcement take care of it?"Solo asked.
"Because the Chief of Police in this town, the Mayor, deputy Mayor and a number of so-called model citizens are also members of the cult."
"Oh..." Dancer cringed.
"Cannibalism you say?" Solo nodded."That really bites…"
"Napoleon, I will not even dignify that with an eye roll," Illya said