Ginger wasn't about to let a party pass her by. She made a beeline for the Bleepka, leaving Alloy surrounded by people.

Alloy looked around at the crowds of agents, and promptly followed Ginger towards the food setup.

When Alloy had maneuvered her way through the crowd, Ginger was already attempting to engage anyone around her in conversation.



((OOC: There's a setup for anyone who wants to talk to the newbie agents... ^_^))

Coughing softly, a man wearing a set of olive-green uniform entered the room. If not for his clothes and cleanshaven face, he would have looked identical to a certain beleaguered Floater — and his Time Lord partner.
Fortunately, his ‘alternates’ — he guessed he’d call them that? — were nowhere to be seen, so he headed toward the table, intent on getting himself a cup of something alcoholic.

((...EVER! *sigh* Wish me luck!))

A blue-eyed girl, with neck-long auburn hair, in a Supergirl costume, enters the party. She was nervously shaking and was scrunching her arms against her chest, while dissimulatedly covered her right wrist with her left hand, slowly walking and eyeing the place. She was thinking:
"Oh dear, why I did ever agree to come here? I know no one!"

((Technician-In-Training Shui-Hua Liu is a little "undisposed" if someone is wondering about her.))

Xericka signed. "Gremlin, do not make a fuss."

Gremlin gave no indication that she heard her partner. Rather, her attention was glued to the two spies talking to the shaken-looking girl. "The nerve of some people," she muttered through clenched teeth. "I mean, where do they friggin' get off? 'Blue hair? Is she a Sue or something?' That's... that's hair-cist."

The Nobody rolled her eyes. "Hair-cist. Really?"

"I'm gonna go give them a piece of my mind."

Xericka quickly reached out and grabbed Gremlin by the collar of her blue tank top. "You said that you would not cause a fuss before we came here," she said. "You said that this was an exercise in relaxing and self-enjoyment. I am holding you to that. Leave the spies alone."

"But they said—”

"I neither need nor want you to get offended on my behalf. Their words are irrelevant to me."

"Is Aunt Gremlin gonna beat those guys up?" a new voice added from around knee level.

The two agents looked down. Aiden was clutching onto Xericka's boot with one hand and a half-eaten hamantaschen with the other. He stared up at Gremlin, his face all curiosity and innocence underneath the paper scar tied around his head like an eye patch.

Gremlin sighed. "No," she said, slouching slightly. "Auntie Gremlin will not go beat those guys up. She will instead stay here by the snack table and drink, 'cause your mom asked nicely."

"Thank you," Xericka replied. She smoothed down her red and black jacket before taking a sip from her own wine glass.

Gremlin merely mumbled in response.

...but it certainly wasn't going to be her last. Iximaz checked at the threshold to make sure her costume was in order: blue pinstriped suit, brown longcoat, red Converse. She ran a hand through her hair to make sure it was standing up properly. She pushed a pair of square glasses up her nose.

Satisfied that her Tenth Doctor costume wasn't crooked, she headed in, almost immediately heading to the other side of the room when she spotted Agent Rina talking to Kala Jeng, Zeb padding away toward the buffet table. Even if it was almost impossible at the moment to tell she was a girl, it wouldn't do for her agent persona to run into her real self.

I don't know why I didn't do this last year, she thought, grinning as she looked around at all the agents. Wonder how many other Boarders are going to show up?

(A/N: Rather than have any of my existing agents take part in this, I might as well take the opportunity to introduce a new one. Basically, remember this fic? Well, let's just say that the Mary Sue of the fic escaped after I left dA and discontinued it two years ago, and ended up in the PPC by mistake with nowhere else to go. Enjoy!)

It's funny how the Ironic Overpower drops you in the strangest of places.
The air seemed to shimmer for a few brief moments, and then, like something out of a cartoon, it spat out an anime-style pre-teen girl, who landed on her butt with a dull thumping noise. She sat there, momentarily confused, and then realized that there were a lot of strange people surrounding her.
The girl's large blue eyes swiveled around wildly in their sockets as she tried to find a hiding spot, though she was quite sure her royal blue hair with baby blue (or was that blunde?) streaks certainly wouldn't have gone unnoticed even if she hid under the snack table.
Which was exactly what she did a few seconds later.
How frustrating it was that even after two years at the Nursery, the blue-haired girl still had to struggle to get anywhere via plot hole. Granted, she had improved quite a lot since she'd first ended up the PPC (by complete accident, of course), but plot holes are fickle things, and with the obvious exception of portals, they tend to drop you off in the most inconvenient of places. In this case, this particular one had landed her smack in the middle of a huge costume party - and parties weren't exactly her idea of fun.
Quivering anxiously and trying not to hyperventilate, the girl curled up into a fetal position under the table and, in complete and utter disregard of the Ironic Overpower, she silently prayed to all of the legendaries that nobody would notice her...

Purim... that's a celebration of the events of the Biblical book of Esther, right? Growing up Christian taught me things.

Anyway, I've got a new agent joining Valon and Kala.

---

Three more agents entered the room. One was in costume as a skeleton with a trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat, one was a seven-foot scorpion below the waist, and one was inside the RA hanging from the scorpion-woman's belt.

"So Valon, I notice that you were a lot more willing to come here than to Rudi's bar."

"Call me not Valon, for I am Charon, Horseman of Death. And when ever do I get to cosplay?"

A gentlemanly voice issued from the RA. *I do hope there's a computer here. It has been a dreadfully long time since I've seen another NetNavi.*

The scorpion-woman unhooked the RA and held it up to her face; a pair of scarred blue eyes could be seen in the screen. "I'm sure I can jack you into something, Sigma. Just as soon as I ask what that girl's dressed up as."

Sigma's eyes blinked in the RA screen. *That is Rina Dives of the Department of Mary Sues, but I'm not certain of her costume.*

"Have you been hacking into Personnel's files again?"

*No, Kala. They've increased their security; they have military-grade NetNavis on patrol there. Now where did our partner go?*

Kala Jeng looked around. "He always disappears when you take your eyes off him." Forgetting Valon for the moment, she scuttled up to the girl dressed as an electric lion. "Hi there! I'm Kala Jeng, DF. And you are?"

---

Yep, meet Sigma.EXE. Valon will be off somewhere doing strange things; unless someone brings attention to the super-tall dude dressed in black, I'll be focusing on Kala and Sigma.

((It'll give me something to do until things die down enough for me to post the Shipfest. ^_^))

There had never been any question as to what costume Agent Kaitlyn would wear. She'd been practically bouncing in her Galactic Tyrant-brand Executive Pivoting Helium-Cushioned Mobile Throne of Glory as she read the invitation, and Selene had seen the (metaphorical) fire in her eyes when she swung the chair around.

"We're going to a party!"

"Do we have too?"

Kaitlyn glared at her partner. "We're going to a party. Aaaaand it's a costume party, and I'm-"

"You can't use the disguise generator."

"Wasn't gonna. I'm dressing up as a hobbit - and you can't stop me."

Selene shook her head. "I wouldn't dream of trying."

"As for you..." Kaitlyn tipped her head to the side and studied her partner. "You could be a Borg, that'd work. Or you could go as Aule, keep it in the continuum?"

"If I were going, I'd be perfectly capable of choosing my own disguise."

Kaitlyn's eyes narrowed, and her voice turned dangerous. "'If'?"

~

"MUSHROOMS!"

Selene sighed and followed Kaitlyn across the floor. The younger woman had ended up in a copy of Pippin's costume from the movies, a decision which came as no real surprise. Selene herself had considered several costumes, but Kaitlyn had delivered scathing rebuttals to each proposal. Finally, the vampire had given in and let her partner make the decision.

She plucked at the ragged fabric draped between her arms and sides, doing her best not to let her claws tear it up too much. She'd argued against the idea, but Kaitlyn had been adamant, and ultimately Selene had lacked the will to resist. That didn't mean she wasn't constantly remembering Dafydd's reaction to finding out she was a vampire: You don't look like one... you know, bat wings, iron claws, that sort of thing. And they smell.

"If only you could see me now," she murmured, shaking her head slightly and feeling her deliberately matted hair shift against her back. At least she'd managed to keep Kaitlyn from making her stink.

((Yep, Selene's dressed as Thuringwethil. Good thing she's mellowed since the old days, or Kaitlyn would probably be on fire about now))

hS