The Sixth Adventure


Disclaimer: I do not own The Three Caballeros or any part of the Walt Disney Company.


Groggily, Donald sat up in bed and stared over at his alarm in confusion. Why was he awake? After giving the clock a firm thump to shut off the noise, Donald settled back on his pillow with a satisfied sigh. A sweet and spicy smell lingered in his nostrils and he remembered that it was Thanksgiving morning. Though he needed to get out of bed in a few minutes, he closed his eyes and allowed his memory to play back the events of the night before. The cleaning had been finished early in the day, and everyone was making last minute preparations when José retrieved a slender baguette from the pantry and began expertly slicing it into inch-thick pieces.

Panchito and Donald sat at the chairs on the other side of the counter and watched their friend work. The bread was rapidly cut and José set it aside before pulling a bowl out of a cupboard and whisked together milk, cream, salt, and vanilla. When it achieved the consistency he had been looking for, the parrot poured the mixture into a glass baking dish and set the baguette slices in, making sure that both sides were coated. He covered the pan with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge. Donald raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

José smiled and said, "Rabanada," with relish. When the others still looked confused, he explained, "It is similar to the American dish of French toast. Rabanada is a very popular breakfast in Brazil, though you mostly see it around Christmas time. I thought it would be nice to offer to our guests who will be here early and may be hungry before dinner is ready. It must soak overnight and then be finished in the morning, but it should not take too long."

Donald looked at Panchito. "Are you going to make something, too?"

Panchito looked thoughtful. "I am hardly a cook, but I suppose I can make horchata. It is almost like," he paused to make a terrible face, "eggnog, but much better. If I put everything in the crock pot tonight, it will be ready in the morning with a few minutes of preparation." He began to move around the kitchen, collecting ingredients. "Are you preparing anything for tomorrow, Donald?"

Sheepishly, the duck held out a package of store-bought chocolate chip cookies. "I can't cook, but I wanted to bring something." He let his arm drop back to his side. "It was stupid."

José grabbed the cookies with a smile. "Pato Donald! How did you know? I was just telling Panchito how concerned I was that we were not going to have any desserts to offer our guests. These are perfect!" Panchito nodded in confirmation of the story and Donald headed off to bed.


By the time Donald took a shower, dressed in his best clothes, and got downstairs, guests were already arriving. He paused for a moment by the door to greet Merlin, who had abruptly appeared just inside the door and was struck when it opened a split second later. Donald shook the wizard's hand and made sure he was okay before opening the door to reveal Pocahontas. Slightly confused, he kissed her hand and wished her a happy Thanksgiving. After an awkward pause, he said, "I hope this isn't rude to ask, but aren't you offended by this holiday?"

Far from looking annoyed by the question, Pocahontas thought for a moment before giving her calm reply. "I can see why you would believe we would dislike this holiday, but it is a time every year when people remember who we are, what we did for them, and that they should be thankful for the land. We cannot hate such a holiday." She looked away, giving Donald her proud profile as a group of people across the room shouted a greeting to her. When the Native American princess looked back at Donald, a smile played across her full lips. "I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving, Donald." She patted him on the head briefly as she walked across the crowded room.

Donald walked off to the kitchen. It was noticeably warmer than the rest of the house, and every inch of the countertops and table were covered in dishes, pots, and pans. As the duck approached the heaps of food, he could literally feel the heat wafting from the assortment of dishes. He turned to ask his friends what was going on, but before he could say anything, a harried José pushed some rabanada on a paper plate at Donald and an apron-wearing Panchito thrust a mug of horchata into his hand. Juggling his food, Donald asked, "Hey, how is all of this food still warm? Shouldn't most of it have cooled down by now?"

A sardonic chuckle came from behind Donald and he turned to see a tall, slender man with dark purple hair standing in the corner. His arm was wrapped around a short woman who wore her white hair woven into a thick braid. "That would be me. Your friends here seemed a little overwhelmed by the idea of having to reheat all of this food, so I performed a simple sustaining spell that will keep all of the food at its optimum temperature until I remove the spell myself."

Shaking his head, Donald said, "Sounds complicated. I'm Donald, by the way," he extended his hand. "I don't think we've met. Who are you?"

One corner of the man's mouth lifted in an amused smirk. "I'm Howl. I'm a wizard who can't abide the idea of eating a cold meal or sitting in the living room while these two gentlemen work their tails off trying to keep up with the meal preparation." The wizard lifted a graceful hand to indicate the woman next to him. "This is my wife, Sophie."

Donald gave a shallow bow and asked, "Are you a wizard, too?"

Behind him, Panchito laughed as he whisked something in a large bowl. "The term is 'witch', Donald!"

Sophie smiled while Donald blushed. "It is very nice to meet you, Donald. I'm afraid I'm not a witch, just an ordinary housewife. But if you ever need a hat or a flower arrangement, feel free to let me know!" She winked and looked lovingly up at her husband. In response, he hugged her to him more closely.

José paused in running back and forth across the kitchen to say, "Sophie was gracious enough to share her talent by creating all of the centerpieces in the living room."

Realizing he hadn't seen the centerpieces, Donald ducked back through the kitchen door, but was tripped by a large group of dogs. With his hands full, the only way Donald could steady himself was to slam his shoulder against the wall and hissed at the sharp pain. The dogs stopped and surrounded him with regretful looks on their faces. Now that they were standing still, the duck could clearly see that Lady and Tramp, Pongo and Perdy, Dodger, Bolt, and Dug made up the crowd. The red light on Dug's collar lit up as he spoke, "We're very sorry, Donald. We just wanted to go outside and got excited and stopped watching where we were going and we're really sorry and will you forgive us?" Donald blinked at the abrupt end to the sentence, but couldn't stay angry with all the pleading eyes looking up at him.

"Well," he quacked. "No harm, no foul. Just watch where you're going next time." The dogs grinned up at him and had turned to go into the kitchen when something struck Donald's back. He started to get angry again, but was brought to a complete stop by the icy sensation where he had been hit. It was followed by a strange pulling sensation through the bottom of his chest and he looked down to see a red-nosed ghost dog drifting through his body. Startled, Donald jerked back and fell against something solid. The ghost dog barked and drifted off, following the other dogs while Donald turned to look at what he had hit.

He found himself staring at a long, pin-striped torso and looked up. And looked up. And looked up some more. Finally, he found himself staring at an extremely white skull with eyes that were made up of only a black emptiness. The face would have been terrifying (well, more terrifying) if its mouth hadn't been stretched in a wide, friendly smile. "Well, hello there!" the skeleton man bellowed down at him, "And how are you today?"

Donald was speechless. Fortunately, the Mad Hatter quickly walked over. "Well, if it isn't Jack Skellington! What a surprise! How are you, my boy?"

The thin man bent his tall frame to look the Mad Hatter in the face. "Hatter! My, it's been a long time. I haven't seen you since…"

The Mad Hatter laughed joyously, "Since you decided to walk straight out of the forest instead of choosing another door? You were so shocked to find Wonderland! But why are you here?"

Jack's grin got even wider. "I was invited here to check out how another holiday works! Givethankings. It is going to be splendid!" He tilted his head back and took a deep breath through-well, through the spot where his nose should have been. "I already like it."

Donald walked away when the Mad Hatter began trying to tactfully correct Jack Skellington on the name of the holiday, but seeing as the Hatter wasn't the most tactful of people, the duck was certain it wouldn't go well. Besides, the variety of new, odd characters was making him feel as though he was going into shock. Despite the crowded living room, Donald's usual seat was empty, so he made his way over there. As he was lowering himself into his seat, Donald heard a shrill voice shout, "Hey!" and he jerked himself back to a standing position.

When he had stood and turned around, he found that the chair wasn't actually empty. Timothy Q. Mouse, Jaq, and Gus stood on the cushion staring accusingly at Donald. He apologized absently, nodded when they politely excused him, and stumbled off. On his way out of the room, Pete patted him on the shoulder. Donald was gratified to see that the cat was surrounded by an eagerly chatting group and wanted to stay to make sure Pete was fully accepted, but he had to find somewhere quiet, somewhere he could be alone for a few minutes to regroup.


Eventually, Donald ended up in the gym, far from the laughter and conversations that filled the living room. He slipped inside the door, closing his eyes as he leaned against the wall. He let out a deep sigh and allowed his body to slide toward the floor. He had forgotten about an uneven patch in the wall where one of Panchito's shots had gone rogue and hadn't quite been patched yet. Donald's head slid off the edge the plaster and bounced off the inner concrete layer of the wall. With his bottom was safely on the floor, he rubbed the back of his feathered head, groaning.

The slight injury to his head was quickly forgotten when he heard a shuffling noise that stopped right in front of him. A pleasantly melodious voice said matter-of-factly, "Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the problem?"

A totally bewildered Donald looked up to find a white, puffy robot in front of him. "What the…" He trailed off and the robot blinked his small black eyes. After a moment of silence, the robot informed Donald, "I will scan you for injuries."

Donald stood up as a frustrated sigh came from his left. "Baymax! I told you not to walk around scanning people." A slender boy with spiky hair walked over, his tennis shoes noiseless on the polished wooden floors. The robot ignored him, stating, "You have some slight irritation and swelling on the back of your head. Does it hurt when I touch it?"

The confused duck dodged the soft white hand reaching for him and circled around to look at both the boy and the robot. "Am I hallucinating? What is going on here?!"

The boy laughed. "I'm Hiro Hamada and this is Baymax. He's a healthcare robot and my sidekick. Earlier today, he diagnosed me with a little claustrophobia, so we left the living room to find some quiet. Sorry for, uh, overstepping our bounds. We've just been hanging out here, I promise. We didn't mess with any of your stuff."

Donald waved off his apologies. "What did you think I was doing?" They laughed briefly before Donald looked around suspiciously. "Are you guys alone in here or are there more people hiding in the shadows?"

A laugh echoed from the corner to their right and a girl with massive amounts of wild orange hair stepped forward. "Nay, jus' me. An' I was nae hidin' in the shadows, jus' hidin' from all the crowd in yer livin' room. Me name's Merida."

Surveying the girl, Donald quickly noted the bow and quiver hanging from her shoulder and motioned to it. "Nice bow you have there. My name is Donald and I hope you're not wearing that because you feel like you're in any danger here. If you want to practice, though, my friend Panchito has a bunch of targets he uses for shooting. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we pulled them out for you to use."

Shaking her head, Merida seemed ready to refuse until Hiro began cajoling, "Oh, come on, Merida! You were just telling me what a good shot you are. Prove it!" She opened her mouth, but Hiro interrupted her with, "Unless you're just scared…"

Merida's mouth snapped closed and her face took on a look of fierce determination. "Go ahead, then. Get yer targets ready an' I'll show ye what kind o' shot I am." Donald scurried around setting the targets, trying to place them in a way that would prove to be a challenge to the (presumably) expert archer. Hiro escorted Baymax out of the door, explaining that he didn't want to risk a ricochet arrow hitting his inflatable friend.

When everything was set up, Merida stood in the middle of the room, took a deep breath, and began firing off arrows so rapidly that Donald's eyes almost couldn't keep up. She turned to face them, breathing quickly, but with a wide smile on her face. Hiro and Donald checked the targets and each one had an arrow in the exact middle of the bullseye. Just outside the door and looking through the glass, Baymax reported, "Twenty-five targets shot in minimal time, accuracy rate: 100%. Conclusion: Expert Archer."

Merida collected the arrows Donald and Hiro had retrieved for her and put them smoothly in the quiver on her back. She slung her bow over her shoulder as Baymax reentered the room. Hiro shook his head with a smirking grin on his face. "That would have been a fantastic shooting job, if you hadn't cheated."

Before Donald could question what had happened, Merida had wrestled the boy down to the ground, wrenched his arm behind his back, and pressed his face to the floor. She was laughingly demanding an apology when the door slammed open. "Hey! There'll be none of that nonsense!" A sharp voice resonated through the large room and everyone turned to look at the door. A short man dressed in a red robe and a brown hat stood in the doorway. His large nose and long white beard didn't quite manage to disguise the fierce scowl on his face.

"Grumpy!" Donald exclaimed. "You scared us all!"

Something close to a smile crept across the dwarf's face. "Yeah, I hear that a lot. Anyway, I was told to come in here and tell you guys to get your sorry butts back to civilization. Everyone wants to eat, but it would be rude to start without you."


When the group finally got back to the living room, all attention was focused on Jane Porter, who was describing the dish she and Tarzan had brought. Tarzan stood behind her, looking incredibly uncomfortable in a dress shirt and dark jeans. Jane looked totally in her element, wearing a burgundy cocktail dress and a string of delicate pearls. "…We found these on the island. They look like bananas, but they aren't sweet. They're called plantains, and we've found that if they are mashed, they can be made into a type of dough, which is quite good when stuffed with cheese and cooked."

Everyone nodded, some skeptically. The doorbell rang and when Donald answered it, he was met with a large, friendly-looking green dragon. "I'm so sorry we're late!" He pushed Donald aside, stooping, and was followed by an older gentleman with white hair and mustache. By the time they reached the main part of the living room, they had the full attention of everyone. When the dragon noticed this, he looked slightly shocked, but smiled brightly. "Well, hello, everyone! We brought-" he leaned down and listened intently as the older man whispered in his ear, then stood back to his full height and trilled, "mashed potatoes!"

"Oh, great! I love mashed potatoes!" A hardy voice came from the back of the room and everyone turned to stare at its owner. An awkward silence descended as Mr. Potato Head became the center of attention. He looked around, shrugged, and said, "What? I'm not a real potato!"

The room erupted in laughter and as it was beginning to fade, a clinking could be heard. When everyone was looking, Mickey stopped tapping his glass with the knife. "Happy Thanksgiving, folks! I know a lot of us aren't from the United States and some of our younger members have been asking why we all celebrate this holiday. I want to tell you of a great man, my creator and best friend: Walter Disney. Walt told us long ago that Thanksgiving is for thinking about and remembering all the good things and people you have to be thankful for. If I could, I would like to ask everyone to close their eyes and think for a while about the things you're thankful for this year." There was a period of silence before Mickey spoke again. "I know I can't speak for everyone, but I find that the people in my life are always far more important to me than the things, and this year, I would like to tell you how thankful I am for these guys!" Mickey gestured to each of the Caballeros, standing in their various places around the room. "They were selflessly willing to open their home and host our Thanksgiving. If you folks don't mind, I would like to give them a round of applause and our solemn oath that we'll clean up after ourselves."

The crowd smiled at the last comment and everyone clapped. Daisy came over and wound her arm through Donald's, kissing him on the cheek as José stood and cleared his throat. The parrot seemed a little choked up as he said, "On behalf of the Three Caballeros, I would like to say that we are very grateful for all of you, our new friends. We hope that you will always think of our home as yours and know that our door is always open." After another brief round of applause, José smiled. "Okay, I know everyone wishes for me to stop talking now. Go eat! Help yourselves to all of the wonderful food and have a very happy Thanksgiving!" He toasted the crowd with his glass as they began to stream through the door into the kitchen.


Author's Note - Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I realize not everyone is from the USA, but I thought this chapter was appropriate since Disney is located in the States and Walt Disney himself was from here. I just feel it would be a good chance for the characters to get together and be thankful for everything they have. Thanks to Three Caballeros Girl for her review on the last chapter. I hope everyone has a fantastic day one way or another and thanks for reading!