At last, the day of the party had come. The minions were prepared. Nastasia had arranged for the Count's old friend, Cornelius Bitterwater (another evil nobleman) to take the Count into town as a "birthday treat". At first the Count seemed suspicious—he hadn't heard from Cornelius in years—but he soon decided that it would be nice to spend the afternoon with his old comrade.
"We'll tidy up the castle for you while you're out, Count," said Nastasia as they stood in the foyer, waiting.
"Good, good. Is my monocle on straight?"
"Yes."
Suddenly the doorbell rang. The Count opened the front door and cried, "Cornelius! What a pleasure it is to see you again!"
There in the doorway stood a tall, dapper, and frightening man. His skin was snowy white and his eyes were deep blue. He had a sharp nose and long, skeletal fingers, and he wore an ebony-black suit and cape with a matching stovepipe hat.
Cornelius cackled. "Same to you, Bleck, my good man! Now let's be on our way; there's so much to do in so little time."
"Bleh-heh-heh. You haven't changed a bit!" The Count turned to Nastasia and said, "Take care of the castle for me, please. I will see you in a few hours. Goodbye!"
As the two masterminds walked off, Cornelius winked at the secretary.
Once the door was shut, Nastasia scurried upstairs to the chambers. "All right, everyone, let's get started! We've got so much to do…"
Obediently, the three minions came out of their rooms and followed Nastasia back downstairs. Dimentio carried a bag of balloons, while Mimi had her stereo in hand.
"Shall I get th' ingredients?" O'Chunks asked.
"Soon, but right now I want all three of you to help me clean this place up."
Mimi groaned. "Does it have to be perfect?"
"Not perfect, Mimi, but clean enough for a party. You guys realize that this party needs to be great. Our mission here is to make the Count feel happy just for once on his own birthday."
"True," O'Chunks agreed.
"This whole thing was my idea, anyway," Mimi grumbled as she pulled out the broom and began sweeping the kitchen floor.
"Oh, step aside," Dimentio sighed as he raised his arms. With two white flashes, the whole first floor of the castle became spotless.
Nastasia laughed embarrassedly. "Oh…heh, heh, I forgot you could do that."
"Yay! Now for the fun part!" Mimi cheered, running to the bag of balloons. She extracted a bright pink one and began blowing into it. Unfortunately, it barely inflated, and Mimi kept puffing until her green cheeks were a scary shade of red.
"Maybe you should let O'Chunks do it," Nastasia suggested.
Mimi handed the bag over to O'Chunks, who puffed out his chest and brought the balloon to his mouth. With a mighty huff and puff, the balloon swelled…but only a little. With a sad whoosh, it fluttered to the ground, limp.
"Aye," remarked the brute, "this is 'arder than ah thought it'd be."
"Let me see it," Dimentio sighed. He simply pressed his hand to the opening of the balloon, and it slowly filled with air. It even magically closed off once it was completely inflated. Inside, thousands of tiny golden sparkles swirled around.
"Thank you, Dimentio, that looks very nice," Nastasia said.
"My pleasure," the jester replied.
"Now can we make the cake?" Mimi pleaded.
Nastasia nodded. "Yes. Come on, you can help me. Dimentio, keep blowing up those balloons. O'Chunks, you can hang them up wherever you like."
The girls made their way to the massive kitchen. Nastasia reached inside a sort of hidden cabinet—her secret hiding place—and pulled out the grocery bag. She set aside the soda and chips and took out the batter and frosting.
Mimi selected a large pan from the pantry and set it down on the counter. Nastasia poured the batter into it.
"I think that's all we have to do," Mimi said. "Now we just need to put it in the oven."
"Are you sure, Mimi?" Nastasia asked.
"I'm pretty sure. Check the box."
The secretary inspected the box closely. "It doesn't say anything."
"Well, the batter's already made, so I think we just need to bake it."
"Alright," Nastasia said. She opened the oven door and slid the pan inside. "What temperature should I set it at?"
"Mmm…I'd say around 600 degrees. That's nice and hot."
"That's awfully hot, Mimi…"
The green girl sighed. "I could've sworn that's what I remember."
Nastasia set the temperature to 600 degrees.
"That's done," she said. "Here, let's find some cups and plates for the food."
A loud bang sounded from down the hallway.
"BLARGH! They keep poppin' like crazy!"
"I swear, O'Chunks, it's those enormous hands of yours. If you'd just let me do it…"
"'Ey, you stick to blowin' 'em up. I can do this."
"Must I? This would go a lot faster if I could hang up the balloons myself. Why don't you just—"
"Quit arguing, guys, we don't have much time," Nastasia called to them.
Mimi giggled.
"We'll never get anything done around here…" Nastasia's voice trailed off as a burning smell filled her nostrils.
"NYAAH!" Mimi screamed. She smelled it, too.
Frantically, Nastasia dashed to the oven. She threw open the door, and chokey smoke came billowing out. Once it cleared, Nastasia donned her oven mitt and yanked out the pan.
The cake had been charred completely black. Small pieces flaked off of it and onto the kitchen floor.
"Oh, it's ruined!" Nastasia wailed. "600 degrees? How could I have been so stupid?"
She grabbed a knife and sliced into the cake, causing it to explode. Yellow gooey batter sprayed everywhere.
"NYAAH!" Mimi screamed again.
"My clothes, my hair, the floor!" Nastasia lamented. "Everything is ruined."
"Grambi's sake!" Dimentio shouted, shoving past the others. With a few mumbled words and a bit of swishing motions, the charred cake was completely transformed. It now stood three layers tall, perfectly symmetrical. Dimentio had even added the frosting, which swirled in gorgeous patterns and spelled the words, "Happy Birthday, Count!" The floors became squeaky clean, as did Nastasia's and Mimi's clothes and hair.
"Oh, Dimentio…it's beautiful!" Nastasia gasped, staring up at the cake. "He'll love it!"
"Yes, thank you," the magician replied. "But please, consort me the next time you wish to bake a cake without knowledge on how to actually do it."
"Yes, Mimi," Nastasia scolded. "You were lying to me, weren't you?"
"I…I thought I knew!" Mimi protested.
"Nevermind. The cake's finished, and we're almost done. Let's set out the food."
Dimentio returned to O'Chunks and the balloons. Mimi found a large bowl and poured in the Crackle Chips. Nastasia searched the cupboard for something to pour the Bubblefizz in, but there were no paper cups or even juice glasses.
"Hmm," she muttered. "All we have are the less expensive goblets. I guess these will have to do."
With that, the Count's fancy wine goblets held sparkly pink soda.
The men entered the kitchen. "We're done with the balloons," O'Chunks announced.
"Great. Could you help me put out the cake?"
Dimentio magically lifted the cake and set it down onto the platter that O'Chunks was holding. O'Chunks then carried the platter to the kitchen table, followed by Mimi with the bowl of chips, Nastasia with the goblets on a tray, and Dimentio with a stack of plates.
"Whew," Nastasia exhaled, relieved. "Thank you, guys. I'm sorry I snapped at you before. I'm really proud of you all."
"Aww, thanks, Nassy!" Mimi said, smiling.
"Yeah, you did a good job, too, Nastasia," O'Chunks added.
"Yes, you were the one that kept us going," Dimentio agreed.
Nastasia smiled softly. "Now, let's all get freshened up. We still have some time before the Count gets home."
After a while, everyone came back downstairs looking much neater. Mimi had chosen a dark blue dress, the color of the Count.
"I'll turn on the music!" Mimi cried, rushing over to her stereo. She selected a particularly peppy pop song and began shaking her hips to the beat.
Nastasia looked around. The castle was clean, the decorations were hung—O'Chunks had actually picked very nice spots—and the food was ready. She had never felt more proud in her life.
Suddenly, the door handle rattled. Quickly, the minions crouched down to hide. Dimentio turned off the lights.
"Ohoho, I had a wonderful time, Bleck," Cornelius chortled.
"Wouldn't you like to stay awhile?" the Count asked as he stepped inside.
"Oh no, I really must be heading home now. My pets don't like being left alone for too long. Farewell, and happy birthday, my good friend!"
"Farewell, Cornelius! Goodbye, called Count Bleck! Bleh-heh-heh." The Count closed the door behind him. "Nastasia?" he called. "Minions? Where is everybody, wondered Count Ble—!"
"SURPRISE!" the minions cried, jumping up.
