"What happened to the portal!?" Gabriel exclaimed, looking in shock as the machine holding the mirror shards was trashed.

"Sorry, but my kids got curious and broke it," Oswald apologized.

"Oh boy, Silver told me about how much of a handful your kids can be," Gabriel said. "He babysat for them one time and said he could handle it, but when I came to check on him everything was either broken, on fire, or both."

"I mean, they are children, I'm sure they can't be that bad," Aline said.

"There are 420 of them," Gabriel added.

"WHAT!?" Aline shouted in disbelief. "How do you have that many? Why do you have that many?"

"Well, you know what they say about us rabbits: we are good at multiplying," Oswald said sheepishly.

"So I'm guessing that your kids took the mirror shards and are hiding around Mean Street," Belos stated. "In that case, we should round them up so we can easily retrieve the shards and get back on track."

"But they're kids, so they probably won't listen if we ask them nicely," Toren pointed out. "What we need is a distraction to get them all in one place."

Double D gave a chuckle before stepping forward. "Allow me to do the honors! My sick moves will dazzle the crowd and get those kids' attention!" The crow went to the town square and pointed to Gabriel. "Give me a beat, G!"
The raven nodded, summoning Fantasia and starting a funky beat as Double D and Ben started dancing together. Citizens of Mean Street stopped to watch the impromptus performance.

Faceless glances keep on passing me by

The void in my heart being my only guide

There's no limit to what we can find on the path ahead

Oh yeah!

As the two danced, little blue rabbits began to pop their heads out to see what was going on. "Looks like we're getting their attention," Gabriel noted.

Another morning passes

But we just keep on smiling!

Double D gave a thumbs-up and smiled brightly.

Our victory's undecided

We'll uncover the mystery!

Ben pointed upward with his sword confidently.

The beginning's unexpected

I know that it's somewhere, hiding in this town…

The looked around the area, circling each other before nodding.

As time goes by, we're flying free

Shout in the day, and keep dancing

There's so much left that's to be found

Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town!

As the dancing duo went on, the other Dream Students started sneaking up on the emerging bunny children, using their magic to capture any that they could find. "Move them over to the police station. Mayor Pete has a system for collecting these little guys," Gabriel instructed.

Our fortunes unfold, just like a drawn-back bow

Let your arrow soar, testing what's possible

If you don't understand, just trust the talents that you behold

Oh yeah!

"Huh, everyone is really distracted by this," Beth noted. "I guess Dee is just that good."

These cowardly convictions

We'll break on through the silence!

Ben did a spin before taking a striking pose.

So selfishly decided

I know it's our destiny!

Double D did his own spin and pose.

Lurking around the corner

So sharpen up your senses, it's somewhere in this town…

The two high-fived before pointing out to the crowd with confidence.

As time goes by, we're flying free

Laugh through the night, dance your cares away

There's so much left that's to be found

Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town!

"Okay, I think that's all of them," Gabriel sighed in relief.

"But where are the mirror shards?" Aline asked. "I didn't see any of them with the kids."

"Um, guys?" Toren said, pointing to where Double D and Ben were dancing. Underneath their feet were the mirror shards, which started glowing and reacting to their performance.

As time goes by, we're flying free

Shout in the day, and keep dancing

There's so much left that's to be found

Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town!

As the magic built up, Ben started to notice the glow, while Double D was too engrossed in his dance moves to notice. "Uh, Sir Dee, might I suggest we move this to another place?" Ben said.

As time goes by, we're flying free

Laugh through the night, dance your cares away

There's so much left that's to be found

Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town!

As Double D took his final pose, the mirror shards suddenly opened a portal, dropping the crow through the floor into parts unknown. "Oh dear, that isn't good," Ben sighed.

"What do you mean 'that isn't good?' Double D just fell into who knows where!" Mittens exclaimed.

"Now, now, we mustn't panic," Belos stated. "Let's follow where he went. With luck it'll be at the location of the next mirror shard."

"That makes sense to me," Gabriel nodded. "The shards are all connected, so if they were to open a portal in their broken state, it would lead to the others."

"Then I'll just get these shards back to the device once you all go through," Oswald said, giving a salute. "I'll even find the last shards while you're gone!"

"Thanks Oswald," Gabriel smiled, before he and the others hopped through the portal.

[***]

One the other side of the portal, Gabriel and Belos found themselves alone, standing in an oddly familiar foyer. "This looks like the Haunted Mansion… or if we're still in the Wasteland, Lonesome Manor," Gabriel pointed out.

"Welcome, esteemed guests, to the Museum of the Weird," said a voice. Up on the staircase stood a woman in seance clothing, indicating that she was a fortune teller of some kind. "I am Madame Z, and it is unusual for us to have so many guests at once."

"Museum of the Weird, of course!" Gabriel exclaimed, turning to Belos. "This is the original concept of the Haunted Mansion, a walkthrough attraction with a bunch of weird and wacky exhibits for the guests to look at. But what happened to our friends."

Belos held up his staff. "They all seem to be within the walls of this museum, but the aura of this place is making my magic fuzzy. Not a good sign."

"You are free to roam our exhibits, but please be reminded that not all of them are as friendly as others," Madame Z said. "Oh, and if things seem weirder than usual, that would be because of our newest resident in the West Wing and his unusual magic that he brought with him."

"Newest resident?" Gabriel repeated, only for Madame Z to smile and disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Well we won't find the others just standing around here," Belos said. "Let's be off."

As the two left in search of the Dream Students, though, a figure shambled behind them, a ghostly blue flame alight on their body. "In…Tru…Ders…" said the voice.


Author's Note

A short chapter, but a fun showcase of Double D's dance magic. Though he can get carried away, the crow does have a knack for drawing in a crowd, or a group of rambunctious kids in this case!

Yes, Oswald does have that many kids. There's even a side quest in Epic Mickey where you have to help round them up as well. The song that Double D and Ben danced to is "Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town" which is the Part 4 opening of the anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

And for our next shard piece, welcome to the Museum of the Weird! While less focused on ghosts than the Haunted Mansion, this place has just as many laughs and haunts, especially seeing as our gang of heroes has been split up. Madame Z was the original Madame Leota, who later became Madame Zarkov of the Adventurers Club and the official mystic advisor to SEA. If you want an idea of what a modern Museum of the Weird would be like, check out Mystic Manor in Hong Kong Disneyland!

Next Time: Double D has to come up with a plan to get the mirror shard from its captor…