Comics by Shaenon II

[SoItBegins]

In the Mad Science-riddled Xyon City, there is one night of the year prized above all others. A night when the extraordinary mixes with the mundane, when technology combines with magic, when ghosts walk abroad and vampires rise. On this night, the city is transformed, remade in a way different from its making every year before it. That night?

Halloween!

This year, autumn had come late, allowing summer to continue on into September. However, the air was beginning to get colder, and many people were accepting the return of winter, much like a slightly annoying relative. None of this mattered, though, for on this night, the city turned upside down, as people of all ages, clad in costumes, went trick-or-treating or attended Halloween parties. So it was, in one small corner of the city, some very special people were having a party of their own....

[chicgeek]

Preparations complete, Chic and Jane lounge at the bar. Giant spiders lurk in corners, webs spun across the ceiling. The occasional oversized bug scuttles about, making the staff shudder. Club Malevois's normal staff is on duty tonight. Two waiters whisper. "Eesh, if we weren't getting well paid for this..."
"Heh. I have a feeling we'll get that combat pay bonus before the night's over."
They've even brought in a barista from the local coffee shop to help out. Desdemona has her own station set up, ready to brew coffee, tea, poisen cider, ect. They've wisely decided to keep her role as judge mum.
Jack o'lanterns abound. Some normal pumpkins, lit by miniature tesla coils. Others glow with radioactivity. Other, mechanical pumpkins grin, sharp toothed as jaegers.
The buffet is well protected from interference. There's hot mulled cider. A chilled green punch, with what appears to be real eyeballs floating in it. On close examination, they're revealed to be ice cubes. There's plenty of other delectable treats, including decorated cookies, and candy. And a tray of mints.
Wally's got kareoke set up for later. "Hey, DC!" Jane calls. "How about a little music, to set the mood?" He still makes Chic grit her teeth, but she has to admit, hiring him to play was a good idea.
Chic sips something bubbling in a flask. She's in classic villian mode tonight. Comic book villain, that is, not mad scientist villain. Black villain boots, a body hugging catsuit in smokey gray. A black belt holds a lethal looking raygun, as well as accentuating her waist. Her glove arm guards have been done up in black instead of brass for the occasion. A black domino mask, and lipstick in a perfect shade of plum complete the look.
Jane is daintily nibbling the legs off a candy spider, indistinguishable from the real thing. Jane's costume is subtle, and hard to figure out at first. She's wearing a figure-hugging dress in black and dull red, and her skin seems to have gotten a shade paler. Her lipstick is red as well-- blood red-- and she has two small, shiny circular patches of skin on her neck, as if from a wound long healed. However, the biggest changes are her eyes, which have darkened almost to black, and her two elongated upper canine teeth. Jane has become a vampire.

The guests started to come in, everyone a different creature or character. Monsters came hand in hand with film characters; heros ran in, slowly followed by zombies (actually, some of them probably were zombies); angels and devils danced around the room. Suddenly, triggered by some surreptitious motion on the part of Chic, or perhaps Jane (it was impossible to tell), one of the decorations (a skeleton in a coffin) came to life, and with a cry, jumped out at a guest; he yelled in his turn and jumped back, cannoning into another person. It was probably Chic; she was smiling the widest. Over in the corner, DC started to play a creepy tune on the organ; from the door, guests began to fan out, looking for conversation (and perhaps the occasional Halloween trick.)

The party had begun.

[Professor_Tinker]

The door to the club slowly swings forward with a creak, revealing a shadowed figure, head lowered. The crowd turns, as one- a Dramatic Creak like that had to be leading to something good.
The figure glanced up, revealing a deranged ruby lipped grin, a pale face, and a weirdly familiar shock of green hair.

"I'm sorry, ghouls and boys do I have the right party? I heard this shindig could use a few laughs! Wahaa ha ha ha!!"
xerox lept forward , still cakling madly. He;d always had a soft spot for holloween- from free candy to traumatizing kids, there had always been something about it. So he'd pulled out all the stops.
The Joker- Animated series style. Perfectly tailored avender suit, yellow flower in the lapel, black shined shoes, and juuust enough of a lowered dose to get that deranged laugh out. The face wasnt makeup, either- he'd payed the R+D boys to whip something up-

[chicgeek]

A figure slips in quietly, scanning the crowd until it spots a familiar green head. People stare as it quietly passes by them, leaving the faint scent of summer peaches in its wake. Skin pale as smoke, eyes a sharp tawny yellow, short dark hair, medium height. And fascinatingly beautiful.
Xerox feels someone tap his arm from behind, and turns. Desire slowly morphs from male to female, loose silk shirt and black slacks complementing both forms. A small red crystal heart glimmers on a chain.
She/He smiles bewitchingly.
"Boo."

[Professor_Tinker]

Xerox swtitches from cheek-spiltting grin to smirk.
"Hiya sweetheart. Sandman, huh? Classic. Good to see a whippersnapper with taste." he snarked, earning himself an elbow to the ribs.

"Ow! Leave it to batman, toots. Seen Andy?" he asked, rubbing his side slightly.

"Sissy. And not yet- we don;t have to drag him over, do we?"

"Like hell. Either he's fretting about his outfit, or he waited so as to make a proper dramatic entrance. Or, you know, both. he tried to explain it once- I think sometimes he doesn't have a choice."

[Wallycaine]

Wally staggered over towards Chic. "Hey, karaoke is all set up. You'll have to start it off, whenever you want to. It's all automated, so have fun." Wally lifted his eye patch, and scanned the crowd. "Have you seen Lagos yet?"

"I think she came in with you, but I haven't seen her since then. Why?"

Wally pulled down his ninja mask to eat some of the snacks before replying. "Because I think she'd like some Strawberry Cordial. Or some Meadowcream."

Lagos came up behind him, chuckling. All her cybernetics are nicely stowed away, or covered up by her green tunic. Standing up on her hind legs, with a bow on her back, she looked angrily at Wally. "Hey, I don't tease you about the brain shaped cookies you're munching on."

"I am... I guess the makeup is rubbing off on me." Tucking the eyeball hanging out from behind the eye patch back, he gives Chic a peck on the mask.

[Professor Zobot]

Caught in a torrent of incoming guests, David Toboz stumbled into Club Malevois. All things considered, he looked pretty weird.

Maybe because it was because he wasn't wearing any stage makeup. And the fact that he was in his street clothing. Or maybe it was the fact that he had his gray hero-ing cloak on, and a green backpack slung over his shoulders. He drew attention quickly, because he wasn't in any sort of odd outfit whatsoever.

A man dressed as a zombie approached him and inquired about it. David blushed. "Ah... you see... I lost my memories, so I didn't even know what Halloween was until a few days ago." He sighed, reaching into his backpack. "So I had trouble finding a good costume, since all the stores were sold out already. But it was ok... my brother's bride-to-be was invited...and recruited me into a theme costume with her and my brother. We're 'icon-ic representations of halloween costumes' or something artsy like that."

He withdrew from his backpack a small, white, plastic mask. It was essentially a plain white, nondescript face with a smile, eye holes, and a nose hole. Along the forehead the word "SCARY" had been scribbled in black permanent marker. David sighed, putting it on his face. "See? This is the costume she provided me with...I'm 'a mask'."

[Professor_Tinker]

Behind David, a figure appeared in the open doorway swathed in darkness, unseen by even the most observant of party guests. He stepped easily into the middle of the room, clouding the mind of anyone who looked his way.

"Who knows what shadows lurk in the minds of Men? Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!" came his voice, seemingly out of nowhere.
With a sweep of a red-lined black cape, suddenly he appeared, starteling those around him

"The Shadow Knows!" he declared, familiar eyes glinting over a red scarf tied over the bottom half of his face, just barely visible from under a wide black slouch hat.
At the hips of his black suit were dual .45s, that shone dimly in the light- as much as Andrew disliked firearms, he was a perfectionist.

[Claire]

I open the door a crack and slip inside, trying not to draw notice to myself. Everyone else has really good costumes. Mistress makes an impressive vampire. I stand next to the wall and hope no one pays me any attention.

No luck. Prim spots me and walks over. Of course, he's wearing an amazing Joker costume.

"Tessy?"

I nod, my face red. He looks at my outfit, raising an eyebrow. "Had some trouble with your costume?" I nod again. I'm wearing a too-big shirt that says "someone else," an ankle-length red skirt, and my hair's blue. His lips twitch.

"You usually had pretty good Halloween costumes. What happened?"

"I didn't have any help this year, so I just kind of- I don't know..." I gesture helplessly.

"And the hair?"

"I don't look like myself. Does that count for anything?"

He rolls his eyes. "Did it ever think of you to *ask* for help?"

"Um..."

"Oh, forget it. Stop hiding over by the wall. It's a party. Have fun." He tugs my arm, leads me into the middle of a group of people, and promptly disappears. Lucky me.

[Professor Zobot]

As Andrew Tinker loudly announces himself to the crowd, he's managed to stand right behind David, who jumps nervously. His body stiffening, he looks around at Andrew. "Saa... Professor, you're kinda scary. Is that supposed to be a villainous costume?" Trembling a bit, he tries to smile. "If it is, it's pretty good. Er...bad. Whichever one you want." He really liked Andrew, but his tendency to always like to make an entrance had managed to come off as slightly creepy this time.

Backing away, David accidently bumps into Claire as she disappears away from Xerox. He turns around and apologizes, then looks over her costume. "Ah...did your brother's girlfriend have to give you a costume too?" He frowns. "We're probably the least dressed people here, aren't we?"

[Claire]

Mister Tinker *would* have such a good costume. Mister Toboz is right- we probably are the least well-dressed.

"I... had some trouble with my costume." I look around, but don't see Prim. Maybe I can make it back to a wall without him noticing.

"Yeah, I didn't even know it was Halloween."

I sigh. "I don't even have that excuse. I just had some issues with the whole costume thing."

"Don't worry about it too much- it's just a Halloween party. Cookie?" He picks one up off a nearby plate, offering it to me.

I nibble on the cookie, looking around. Mmmm. Cyanide, nutmeg, and a touch of some sort of spider venom, I think.

[chicgeek]

Time to be a good hostess and mingle. The place is packed-I'd say we definitlely have some gate crashers. Eh, it's to be expected.

"Lookin' sharp, cuz."
"Hey, Xerox. No, I'm not shaking your hand-I can see that joy buzzer!"
"Uh, sweetie...just who is Lagos supposed to be in her green dress?"
"Hi, David-glad you could make it!"

Hmm, I wonder if Prime will show up separate from SoItBegins?
I smile hearing someone scream as a mechanical pumpkin gnashes its fangs, barely missing his fingers. Heh.
DC starts playing Monster Mash, and a zombie barbershop quartet is singing along. Ah, the classics.
I don't see Thad yet. I'll have to get DC to play something appropriate if he shows up. Hmm...he'd be expecting Werewolves of London. No one will know Rabian, the Fiend-Age Idol, even though it's from the Monster Mash album. Got it! Clap for the Wolfman-perfect.

A tentacled alien accosts me. "Take me to your leader!"
I grin. "Oh, that's perfect! What a great costume!"
It waves around a raygun. "Do not trifle with me, earthling! I will not be hindered in my mission!"
I giggle. I can't help it. "Of course you won't. I have to say, you've got one of the best outfits yet. And if you've come all the way from outer space, you must be thirsty. Let me get you a drink."

Zorg scratches his head with a tentacle, bemused. No one's running in terror? "Do you have anything radioactive, earth female?"
"Of course-try this."
Hmm, not too bad.Nice kick to it. That briefing he was given isn't very accurate-these beings seem quite friendly. Even if they are somewhat bizarre....

[Professor Zobot]

David smiles as she takes the cookie. "Well those of us with no costumes really ought to stick together, you know?" he grins. "Never know who someone is under their mask." he grinned. She was actually pretty cute when she wasn't pouncing on him. "So, you work for Miss Narbon? What's that like?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The front doors burst open as Lady Drezebel, flanked by her boyfriend Richard, stepped inside. The former spun around and looked at the crowds. "Ha HA! We're here! The fun can start now!"

Like David, neither of them were particularly costume'd. Lady Drezebel was holding a plastic scythe, and Richard was wearing a white posterboard on a string, with the words "This is a costume" written on it in blue permanent marker. He sighed. "My brush, we shouldn't draw too much attention to ourselves... remember how you got banned from this club? Besides, these costumes are frankly terrible."

She turned and glared at him. "Hey, it was a last minute thing, and it works. As long as we talk all fancy no one will suspect we didn't do it deliberately. And I highly doubt they'll even remember me here."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "Because it's been so long?"

"No, because I swiped a mindwiper from Dr. Sidereal last week and went on a rampage with it."

Richard sighed. "So THAT'S why I lost about 2 hours last wednesday." His fiancee just grinned and nodded. Richard shrugged. "Let's go get some punch while we wait for more people to show up, ok?"

[Claire]

I grin back at him. He's really nice for a Hero. "Mistress is really wonderful. She's in the Alliance of Villains, and she's a great manipulator, and one of the best femme fatales I've ever seen. I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong. I'm trying really hard to be a good hench..."

"What do you mean?"

"She hasn't even considered experimenting on me yet. I'm not sure, I guess she's been busy, but this is *Jane Narbon.* This is probably the best job I'll ever have, and I'd like to know if I'm messing up somehow." I think for a minute. "But Fredric said he'd hire me if Mistress didn't work out, so I guess it's not that important. What do you do when you aren't Heroing?"

[SoItBegins]

The door opened once more, and SoItBegins walked in. He was wearing jeans, along with a shirt that had the head of a dog and 'Pant Pant' on it. In response to Jane's "And what are you supposed to be?", he replied, "A pair of pants!"

Jane and Chic merely blinked. SiB continued speaking. "I know, I know, but it was kind of a last minute deal-thingie. Better luck next time, eh?"

[chicgeek]

A man wearing a long black robe with a cowled hood is leaning casually against the bar. A small bag of Ruffles is worn on a cord around his neck. Chic looks closely at him.
"Farnsworth? Okay, I give up-who are you tonight?"
He takes a sip of an amber colored beverage, that's boiling and bubbling and smoking dangerously..
"And what *are* you drinking?"
"Oh, a little concoction Larry Niven came up with, called a busted kneecap. Of course, it's too dangerous for humans.... Bourbon over dry ice. The water freezes out of it, and you get concetrated, carbonated bourbon, at about -20 degrees." She looks at him respectfully.
"And the outfit?"
He smirks. "Why, I'm the Chip Monk."
He does have a sense of humor. Sonofagun.

[Jane Narbon]

Well, the party's going great. Time to have a little fun...

I approach a man in a devil costume, appearing slightly interested. We strike up a conversation.

"...so then, he said that it was his death ray, and he would use it however he wanted!!"

I laugh, slowly moving in closer... and closer...

Then I swoop, my mouth moving to his neck in one coordinated motion, and bite him. He goes limp immediately, thanks to tiny amounts of sedative in my fangs, released by pressure on the tips. I carefully drag him over to a closet, then lay him down inside and close the door. When he awoke, he'd remember what had happened, and almost certainly check in a mirror. There, the two puncture marks on his neck would give him the biggest fright anyone would ever receive.

I smile a little, fangs slightly red. When it came to Halloween, scaring people was so much fun...

[JanetTor]

A woman strides purposefully through the door. She is dressed all in white: a cream-colored jacket over a plain T-shirt and khakis. Even her short hair has been bleached for the occasion. She also wears a white, featureless mask that covers everything except her mouth.

She looks absolutely unremarkable.

There are a few exceptions, of course. She is wearing a metal band on her head, which may have once been a shining crown. Now it is so tarnished, it's almost black, ribboned with rust and grease. What's more, newspaper clippings, plastic shopping bags, and candy wrappers move along the floor with her, carefully avoiding the feet of those around them.

Janet Torvalds smiles, surveying the room. It was a nice touch to get some dust mites to come with. Already she can see a few guests horrified, not at her costume, but at the garbage milling protectively around her. Her grin widens. This promises to be an interesting party...

[Dr. Amino]

Amino frowns. "Is that really what you're wearing, Ingrid?"

Ingrid thinks about her costume-a tweed jacket, a long skirt and large reading glasses. "What's wrong with it, ma'am?"

"It's so plain! It's so not scary! You're dressed as my grandma, for crying out loud!"

"I'm dressed as Miss Marple, ma'am, not your grandmother."

"Are you sure? Because she has an outfit exactly like that. Nobody's going to be able to tell who you're supposed to be."

"Miss Marple is an iconic figure, ma'am. They'll be able to guess." Amino looks at her skeptically. "Okay, Professor Tinker will, at least. This was the best costume I could come up with at such short notice, anyways. Speaking of which, who are you supposed to be, ma'am?"

Amino's temporary third eye blinks in surprise, and her black bat wings ruffle themselves in indignation. "Hello? Isn't it obvious? I'm Agrajag!"

"I doubt anyone will get that, ma'am."

Amino snorts. "Of course they will. Agrajag is awesome. Now there was a guy who could hold a grudge."

Ingrid rolls her eyes. "If you say so, ma'am. Now let's go." The two open the door and walk inside.

[Wallycaine]

Wally leans back over towards Chic. "I've already been corrected on this, but it's a tunic. She says she's a member of the Long Patrol, whatever that means. Anyways, I've got to go do my part in greeting guests... and there's a good opportunity." Sliding off into the crowd, Wally stopped in front of Janet.

"'Ello, Pollution. Pity Pestilience couldn't make it, but you know how the old boy can be. Oi'm sure you're new around here, so I'm Pirate Ninja Cyborg Zombie Wally. And your suffix might be?"

"Why are you talking with a bad british accent?"

"Tis wot hold the costume together. Have you ever seen a Pirate Ninja Cyborg Zombie that wasn't British?"

[That Guy]

Thaddeus smiled this year he would finally get to go to a Halloween party as a man of mystery. He had his ultra-dark suit, his sleek and unremarkable briefcase. To top it all off he was wearing his attention repressing sunglasses. He had even gotten his hair to turn black. Finally this year he would be able to go to a costume party as inconspicuous.

Thaddeus got into his new car and started driving to Club Malevois. He was riding along peacefully until he saw a giant tank of mutagen barreling down the hill perpendicular to the road he was on.

"Oh @#%&!"

He knew he couldn't stop the car in time so he flipped himself out onto the roof of the car. Jumping away from the car wouldn't help as the mutagen would still spill out of the tank.

In the second and a half it took him to do all of that the two vehicles barreled even closer. It's a good thing that his outfit was nearly indestructible.

He ripped out of his clothing into his beast-man form. He flipped himself out in front of his car and grabbed onto the front end.

"Eugghh," he moaned as the car slammed into him stopping just short of the intersection. "Whew."

The tank still unable to stop screeched through the intersection-


-only to be hit by a car coming from the other direction.

Crash

The truck full of mutagen spilled over and dumped its contents on Thad.

"I guess it was just too much to ask to have one Halloween without being mutated."

-Hiccup

He turned into a ridiculously curvy blond girl. Worse he was still naked. The driver of the truck, himself completely unharmed got out of the overturned cab.

"Uh uh ugh," said the truck driver as he stared at her.

-Hiccup He became three feet tall and purple. Thad stared derisively at the truck driver. He went and picked up his clothes and got into his car.

-Hiccup He could touch the peddles again but resolved not to look at himself again until he reached the party.

(Just too much to ask.)

[Professor_Tinker]

Andrew appeared next to Ingrid and Amino- his 'invisibility' was a combination of a little something Sayasuke worked out for him and some careful abuse of the Law of Narrative Causality (section 14- if it is important that subject(s) do not notice something, they will not)
"Good heavens, the good Madam Marple! There will be a murder any minute now." he joked, smiling slightly under his scarf. He was still a little hurt by David's assumption- Villain *indeed*. What ever happened to striking fear in the hearts of evil doers? Bah.

Oh, well. he shook it off, glancing around. Funny thing, Fredric hadn't gone with him- and he'd been keeping his costume secret. Funny, now why would he do-
*slam!*
The door banged open.
Fredric stepped inside, hair messy and unkempt. He'd skipped his shave- seventeen or seven, he was jagerkin- and his chin was covered with a five o clock shadow.
He had a a blue pin-stripe suit, tan trench coat, gloves, and a pack of Xerox's candy cigarettes in a carton marked 'Silk Cut'. He looked worn, and had a cynical smirk on his face.

"Good lord in heaven, Jhon Constantine." said Xerox, almost dropping his drink. The resemblance was uncanny- and he should know. He'd *met* the guy once.

[chicgeek]

Chic giggles, watching Wally greet the woman with her own pet garbage. Jess just shakes her head. "What is it exactly you see in him again?"
"Hey, he's what every woman says she wants." Jess lifts an eyebrow when Chic doesn't continue. "Oh?"
Chic smiles. "A man who appreciates her for her brains."
ba dum bish!

Jess heaves a long suffering sigh,sipping something that looks like absinthe.
She slowly morphs back to male. Desire's such a great costume for a shapeshifter. "Hey, babe, check out the buffet-mints!" Oh, the look on his face-maybe it's time to mingle...

A James Dean type strolls in like he owns the place. The hair, the sneer, cigarette dangling from his lip, the leather jacket and jeans-perfect.
His eyes widen when he sees the barista. "Mona, baby!"
She smiles at him, but doesn't stop what she's doing. "What are you doing here? When I went to pick you up from work, they said you'd gone home sick."
"I'm working, 'kay?"
"But you didn't want to work tonight. You were going to dress as a coffee house beatnik, and just hit the party with me. What gives?'
"I'm working for Miss Narbon. I have a job to do. I want to do this." She rattles off.
"Uh...riiight." Women. Go fig. "Okay, babe, I'll catch you on your break."
Chic catches the last part of this conversation, and swoops in, smiling brightly.
"So you know Desdemona? We're lucky she could fill in at the last minute when we were shorthanded. Sorry to steal your date, but we waved a bonus under her nose to change her mind." Turning to the barista, "Right?"
"Right, ma'am."
Chic steers the bemused mad to the buffet. Looks like he's bought it...heh.

Place is starting to fill up. A pair of women against the wall survey the scene cooly. Harley Quinn giggles, and nudges her compainion. In a high pitched voice, "Oh, look. It's Mista J!"
Poisen Ivy smiles tolerantly back at her. "Yes, we will have fun tonight, won't we?"
Heh.

[Professor Zobot]

Along a wall of the club, a bright eyed young girl with long, flowing blue hair smiled to herself. She watched the people bustle and crowd, reaching down with her free hand to wipe some wrinkles out of her green skirt. In her other hand, secured behind her back, there was a small gleam of metal.

The waiting was all. She merely had to wait.

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Early on in the evening there was a brief lull in the waves of oncoming guests, five minutes after the last of the early comers had arrived and five minutes before the fashionably late would even think about leaving. Even as far as halloweens go, it was fairly peaceful.

Then, every door in the club slammed shut and locked themselves. The lights flickered for a few moments, and then all abruptly turned off, plunging the whole club into pitch darkness. Even the external light sources several mad scientists had brought with them seemed to stop functioning. It was almost as if something was preventing them from working...

There were a few moments of murmured surprise, and then a sudden silence fell over the room. Most mad scientists had a knack for sensing drama, and knew when to interfere and when to sit back and watch. A deathly hush feel over the room, disturbed only by the pitter-patter of several sets of feet evidently moving towards the center of the room. Briefly, there was the sound of whispered voices, just barely audible.

(Ok, we're all here. Are you guys ready?)
(What? No! Give us a few minutes, you oaf! It's not easy to change into these costumes at the best of times, and now it's pitch black!)
(Ah... can someone help me with this tie? It's kinda impossible to tie it with only one arm and no light.)
(*Sighs* Couldn't all of you have worn your costumes under your other clothes, like I did?)
(Easy for you to do, Mr. Male! Some of us get hot in too many layers...)
(Help? Please?)
(Anyway... you realize everyone's expecting something. I don't think we can make them wait much longer...)
(Just distract them while everyone else gets finished!)

Then there were footsteps again, briefly. A monotone, disinterested voice spoke up and addressed the crowds. "Ah... I apologize for the delay. You see, we are actually terrible monsters here to horrify you, an-"

Almost as one, nearly every person in the room pulled out something that went "click" ominously from somewhere on their persons, and pointed it towards the direction of the voice. (Actually, this was somewhat untrue. Several of the weapons actually went "Vrrmn" instead of "Click" and one of them even went "Ominous Humm") He sighed and rubbed his head. What could possibly scare mad scientists? Hell if he knew! Suddenly, however, he had a bit of inspiration. "Actually, the truth is that we were supposed to deliver a message. This building is surrounded by agents of the local power company, who have decided to violently extort the outrageous bills you've all accumulated in the past year."

The room fell into chaos. Weapons were dropped, women screamed, and large amounts of people tried collectively to sneak towards the doors and escape, forgetting that they were locked in. The speaker smiled, as he stepped back.

As people started to settle down, A new voice, louder and crisper than the first, pierced the noise of the room, catching everyone's attention.

"How dare you throw a party and not invite us! As Chief I cannot forgive you!"

There was a collective gasp. "Roll call!"

"Skeptic and founding member...Kyon!" A spotlight from the ceiling flickered on, illuminating a young, tall man with floppy brown hair cut short and a exhasperated expression on his face. He sighed and rubbed his head. He was clad in a white shirt with a green coat over it, brown pants, and a red tie running down his chest. He looked out at the crowd.

"Mysterious Transfer Student... Koizumi Itsuki!" Another spotlight burst into life, illuminating a man standing a short distance to the right of "Kyon", dressed in a matching outfit but with a warm smile. His left arm hung lifelessly against his chest as he raised his right arm and waved to the crowd.

"Alluring Mascot... Asahina Mikuru!" A third spotlight revealed a shorter, orange-haired someone standing just to the left of "Itsuki." She seemed to be trying to make herself look as tiny as possible, troublesome because of certain aspects of her figure. She was wearing a white shirt with green linings on the ends of the sleeves and along the collar, with a red ribbon tied in a bow along her stomach. She was also wearing a matching green skirt to complete the outfit. Her eyes were shut as she didn't look out to the crowd.

"Indispensable Silent Character... Nagato Yuki!" Standing immediately to the right of "Kyon" appeared a girl with purple hair, wearing glasses. Like "Mikuru" she was wearing a green skirt, but over her body was draped a black overcoat, hiding whatever shirt she was wearing. She slouched and stared down at a paperback book she was holding in her hands, flipping a page as the crowd gawked at her.

"And finally, the one you've all been waiting for: Founder and Brigade Chief... Suzumiya Haruhi!" A spotlight burst into life between the four other people, illuminating the speaker, a brown-haired woman with a bright yellow ribbon tied in her hair. Her outfit was similar to that of "Mikuru", except for a bright red armband over the top of her right sleeve, with words written in kanji covering it. She waved her finger to the crowd, grinning. "We of the SOS Brigade cannot forgive those that ignore us!" She took a few steps forward. "And as such, have crashed this party. But..." Her eyes narrowed. "We have no interest in ordinary Mad Scientists. However, if there are any any real aliens, espers, or time travelers within the crowd tonight, we would like to invite you to come forward and join us!"

She gave the crowd a devil-may-care grin as she awaited any sort of reply. The lights burst back to life and the doors unlocked, as everything gradually came back to normal...

Except for a certain Batman Villian was now walking around unaware with a thick streak of purple paint down the center of his hair, clashing with the ordinary lime green...

[chicgeek]

Zorg anxiously wrings a few tentacles together. Who are these weird beings? And why do they want aliens like himself to join them?
The rest of the room breaks into a round of applause.
Hmm...perhaps it wouldn't hurt to talk with them?

[JanetTor]

(A bit earlier - before the SOS Brigade entrance. Lo siento.)

Grinning, Janet raises an eyebrow, then remembers that Pirate Ninja Cyborg Zombie Wally can't possibly see her reaction behind her mask. "Actually I've never seen a Pirate Ninja Cyborg Zombie at all," she says, amused. "Congratulations on getting yourself to work together."

"Indeed, 'twas quite a perilous venture to undertake," Wally says with a straight face.

Janet can't help but laugh. "Well, Pirate Ninja Cyborg Zombie Wally, you can call me Janitor. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance." She makes a sweeping bow, snagging a piece of paper from some of the dust mites. She presents the business card to Wally.

"Out of curiosity, who do Pirate Ninja Cyborg Zombies war against besides themselves?"

Just then, the lights go out.

[Professor_Tinker]

Andrew very nearly broke character and squee'd at the reveal of the SOS brigade- he was a big fan of the original novels, and often had had a sugar binge reserved for the show.
He should have realized that they had a plan- as *if* an artist as nutt- er, talented as her wouldn't have a costume. He'd been distracted by his own annoyance... easy mistake.
Davd as Itsuki? Hee! Oh, dear but he was nowhere near as manipulative... er, so far as he knew.

Fredric sidled up to Xerox, a mysteriously dog-ended candy cigarette hanging from his lips.
"Oy, Headcase. Y'got summat in your hair." he said bluntly, gesturing quickly.

Xerox glanced up, putting a hand to his hair and swearing.
"Goddamn son of a- hah! Someone got me, huh?" he said, grinning unexpectedly- it certainly startled Fredric. He'd been expecting fireworks.
Was this what Xerox was like in the Madness place?
...cheerful?

[Dr. Amino]

*earlier*
"Hah! I told you Professor Tinker would get it, ma'am!" Ingrid smiles in triumph.

Amino stares at Tinker as he walks away in disbelief. "I don't believe it. He's read Agatha Christie but not Douglas Adams?! That's so unfair!!" She then mutters under her breath, "Curse you, Red Coated One."

Ingrid grins. "That's unlike you, ma'am."

"What, swearing eternal vengeance on some nemesis for an insignificant wrong they might possibly have done me? I do that all the time."

"Yes, but usually you shout it out to the heavens instead of muttering it, ma'am."

"True, but if I do that now he might hear me, and Tinker looks #@&$ing scary tonight."

*present time*
Ingrid whistles, impressed. "Wow. Now that's an entrance, huh, ma'am? Ma'am?" Looking around, she spots Amino hiding behind a table. "Ma'am, you can come out now. They're not really from the electric company."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, ma'am."

[Claire]

"Um... sir, that wouldn't have worked. Either you have strong enough continuity that you would've remembered him in the first place, or you should still be working on that farm."

The man in a robot costume blinks at me. "But... my sister..."

"Apparently had high enough paradox resistance to survive your grandfather's death, but then disappeared when she met herself? I'm sorry, but I know you made up the whole story just now. You aren't a time traveler."

"Well..."

Fredric walks over. "'ey 'Mikuru,' nice costume."

The non-time traveler turns around, glaring. "Hey, back off..." His voice trails off as he sees Fredric. "Uh... I have to go... get something to eat..." He hurries off.

"What was tha' about?"

"I think you've got a scary costume. It's pretty neat."

"Thanks. Who was that guy?"

I sigh. "All these guys keep coming over to talk to me pretending to be time travelers. You'd think Mad Scientists would know more about the basics of time travel."

Fredric's lips twitch. "Have ya *seen* your costume? I don' think they're too worried about bein' actual time travelers."

Well, that makes sense. "Maybe I can go hide behind Mister Tinker. Most of the people here seem to be afraid of him." For good reason. The Shadow- brrrr...

[Professor_Tinker]

Fredric laughs, glancing over at his Da chattin' with Ingrid about something- looks like a spirited Agatha Christie vrs. Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle debate.

"Heh. He was workin' wi' Sayasuke on that for almost a week, you know. He used ta listen to the old radio recordings when he was little." he said, smirking slightly.
He shot a glare at some party goer who looked like he wanted to try a time travel story out on 'Mikiru', making him scuttle off. Being in character as a man who screwed over the lords of hell tended to give you an edge.

"Well, it worked. He can be kinda spooky when he wants to be, huh?" said Claire, shivering slightly.

" 'E can be terrifying if he wants to be. Trick is, he *dosn't* want to. Blood 'a two of th' most dangerous Mad family's in th' world, tracin' back t' the bloody Storm King himself, an' 'e wants to be nice. Drives Gramma kinda nuts sometimes, I think." he said casually, sipping some of the punch- not bad. 1962 was a good year for plutonium.

Claire does a double take.
"The Storm King?! You're kidding."

"Distantly, via the Viktors. What, you thought th' red hair was a fluke? An' don' look at me like that or I'll make Da read off th' bloody chart."