As soon everyone was finished doing The Time Warp, Eddie's father had stepped up to the karaoke stage, his son at his side. Each of them took a microphone from the DJ and gave the audience their best smiles.
"Did everyone have fun this evening?" Eddie asked and the partygoers burst into rousing, affirmative cheers.
"NOPE!" Except for Dastardos.
"Glad to hear it!" Eddie's father picked up where his son left off, ignoring Dastardos' comment. "We're going to wrap things up with costume awards!"
"All of you look absolutely amazing, but we've chosen those who went above and beyond our costume standards!" Eddie grinned, his eyes scanning the crowd.
"The invitation didn't say anything about a contest…!" Yoto had never felt so excited over something Eddie said. He always loved a good competition, plus if he won something Storkos would be impressed! He glanced over at Avalon when he heard her loud laughter. She looked more than a bit tipsy, leaning on a buffet table in convulsive hysterics at something Bart said. "Avvie loves to compete; I bet she would have dressed up if she knew about this!"
"…I think it's best that Avalon doesn't go up to the stage…" Storkos sounded worried. "She looks a little…"
"Sloshed?" Yoto laughed. "I bet that it'd be funny, though!"
"First up!" Eddie waved a small, folded card around. "Is 'Most Appropriate Costume!' This award goes to the person whose outfit most fits who they are as a person!" Eddie handed the card to his father and he unfolded it.
"The winner is…" Eddie's father read off the card. "Seedos…huh, the last name seems to be smudged!"
"That's you!" Leena whispered to Seedos excitedly, elbowing him gently in the ribs.
"Huh, so it is!" Seedos rose from his seat and headed for the stage, surprised by the amount of applause that greeted him.
"Congratulations!" Eddie said, handing Seedos a small bag of candy and a certificate.
"Thank you…?" Seedos said as he took them.
"And how do you feel about earning this award?" Eddie shoved his microphone under Seedos' chin.
"Honestly, I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted…" Seedos confessed, actually earning a few chuckles from the audience.
"Be flattered, it's all in good fun!" Eddie's dad gave Seedos a hearty clap on the back, nearly knocking him over.
As Seedos headed back to his seat, Eddie's dad pulled another card from his pocket. "Next up is 'Most Original Costume,' which is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin!" He unfolded the card and chuckled at what he saw. "Avalon Pendragonache, get up here!"
"Damn it, no fair!" Pester slammed his fist into the table. "I was sure I had that award in the bag! That bitch isn't even wearing a costume!"
"Don't worry, Priscilla…" Jeffe stroked Pester's hand with one of his little stub arms affectionately. "You win all of the awards in my book!"
Pester giggled and patted Jeffe on the head. "Oh, you flatterer!"
Avalon stumbled up to the stage, using Doc Patchingo as a support. Eddie's eyes widened when he saw the state Avalon was in, but Eddie's father just looked amused.
"Here you are, Avalon," Eddie's father held out the bag of candy and certificate and Patch took them, a concerned frown on his face. "Mind telling the audience what exactly you're dressed as?" He held his microphone up to Avalon.
"I'm –HIC- a 'omicidal maniac," Avalon slurred into the microphone.
"A…homicidal maniac…" Eddie repeated.
"Yes, they look –HIC!- just like everyone else," Avalon nodded, using a sweeping gesture to indicate the crowd. Everyone in the audience laughed nervously, except for Dastardos, who burst into full-blown hysterics. His mood was really lifting now that the party was coming to a close!
"Well, congrats!" Eddie's dad grinned at her and leaned a little closer to Patch. "Be careful with her when you lead her back, please…" he whispered.
"I'm a doctor, I've done this before," Patch nodded. "Come on, Avalon…" He shifted her around so she wasn't quite so slumped over before heading back to a table.
"Next we have 'Cutest Couple Costumes!'" Eddie opened yet another card and his face fell for a moment before he plastered a broken smile on his face. "Um, Yoto Yoa and Storkos…argh, this card's smudged too, sorry about that!"
"What, really?" Yoto gasped joyously, his face flushing.
"But we're not a-" Storkos shook her head. "Oh well, I bet we must have fooled everyone, what with our matching costumes! I'm just glad we won; come on, Yoto!" She grabbed onto Yoto's wrist and he practically floated along behind her.
"Hey, thanks, Eddie!" Yoto laughed as he stepped onto the stage, snatching both bags of candy and certificates from him and handing one of each to Storkos. "Didn't expect to get an award from you!" Yoto laughed and gave Eddie an athletic slap on the butt.
Eddie scoffed, his face reddening. He leaned in to hiss a whisper: "It was my father's idea; I still don't like you or anything."
"If you say so!" Yoto grabbed the microphone from Eddie and grinned at the crowd. "You guys have no idea how honored I am to be up here with Storkos right now! I really appreciate the award, Eddie and…Eddie's dad!" Yoto turned to smile at them. Eddie's dad winked at him and Eddie just crossed his arms.
Storkos was a bit confused. She had no idea that she was so much of a celebrity that a person would be honored to spend time with her when they had just met that evening…oh well, it made her a bit happy to be recognized!
"Please let us move on, Yoa," Eddie squinted at the redhead and Yoto made a big show of blowing him a kiss before taking off, Storkos in following close behind.
Eddie and Eddie's father awarded a bunch more partygoers. Bart won 'Most Hilariously Ironic Costume' for his Santa Claus outfit, Maxime won 'Most Flattering Costume' for her Belle dress (almost glaring a hole through Eddie when she realized just what her costume flattered), Arfur won 'Most Bizarre' for his full Moozipan suit, Petula won 'Least Amount of Fabric Used' (and actually took the award as a compliment), and Eddie's dad had turned to his son at the end and declared his elaborate Peckanmix costume the 'Most Outrageous.'
Once the awards were done, everyone filed out the door. Dastardos floated behind Pester, who was carrying an ecstatic Jeffe under one arm. Yoto was sulking, disappointed with the fact that he probably wouldn't get to speak with Storkos again for a very, very long time. Seedos was yawning, looking forward to getting home and passing out in bed without bothering to wash off his face paint. Leena was pattering along behind him. Avalon was laughing hysterically at nothing, being held up by both Doc Patchingo and Bart. Sparcticus and Sahari left hand-in-hand, which did not go unnoticed by both Leafos and Petula. Maxime gave Eddie a little wave goodbye before she left and Eddie, not used to displays of affection from the girl of his dreams, had to make an honest effort to make sure his wobbly knees didn't give out. Ivor remained in the corner of the room. He didn't like to move his well when there were people around…
"Thanks so much for letting me throw this party, Dad!" Eddie gave his father an enormous hug once the room cleared out. "It was the most fun I've ever had!"
"Glad to hear it, Eddie!" His father ruffled his hair. "You almost never slow down and enjoy yourself, so it made me happy to see you finally do that." Eddie's father fished in a pocket for his Alert System. "I'm going to call our cleaning ladies. You can head on home if you like."
"Okay, Dad, see you later!" Eddie nodded before heading outside.
As soon as Eddie stepped outside, he heard an extremely loud scream in the distance.
"Eugh…" Eddie shuddered. "M-must have been a man getting scared by a trick or something... It is Halloween, after all!" Eddie paid it no mind and continued on his trek home.
What Eddie had heard was Pester standing on one of the many decks of his lair that overlooked the Island, still dressed in his Priscilla garb and holding Jeffe in a death grip.
"What do you MEAN you don't have any candy?" Pester screamed right into Jeffe's face, his sharp fake nails digging into Jeffe's papery sides.
"I-I-I'm not a candy advocate! Candy's the reason I-I'm like t-this, you know…!" Jeffe was shaking, his glassy eyes wide.
"I CANNOT LOVE A MAN THAT DOESN'T LOVE CANDY!" Pester shook Jeffe a bit and tears pricked the corners of Jeffe's eyes.
"I-I still love you even if you love candy! We can make this work! I want to make this work!" Jeffe sobbed pathetically and Pester's glare just became even more intense.
"Sorry, Charlie," Pester growled, completely dropping his Priscilla voice. He threw Jeffe up into the air and kicked him as hard as he could into the jungle below.
"I LOVE YOU, !" Jeffe yelled as he fell to the ground.
Pester spat after him and crossed his arms. Dastardos came out of the lair, dressed in his still vomit-stained scarf and sweater.
"I told you that party was a waste of time. Ah well. Easy come, easy go, boss!" Dastardos shrugged with a smirk as Pester crumpled to the ground, crying hysterically.