Hey, I'm back!
Liliac (head fangirl): I'm not sure if recruiting fangirls is a good idea . . . aw, hell, she'll moan if I don't. I'm glad you like it.
Hirilnara: Yup, I am that. Well . . . I think it might be a little more dangerous to those in her immediate vicinity (that is, you) if I refuse to let her have the dragon. Not that I think she's a pyro or anything.
Writer From Rivendell: I'm glad you like it. I did *try* not to make it too PPC-esque, but as two actual PPC agents have commented, I guess I failed. Drat. Now I'd just better hope they don't spot the Narnia influences in Pancakes . . . (Which don't actually exist, but hey)
The Noble Platypus: As if we would let anything harm an Agent! We like our Agents . . . well, the non-imprisoned ones.
AarIIe: Thanks. Innocent fangirls? We should capture them, just for the rarity value. Oh, I *see*. Elves give off magical phermones. Right. And does this count for Aragestelessar too?
Bulma Greenleaf: Glad you liked it. Yeah, I think Pointy's happy. I won't drop into anyone else's stories uninvited - I think that's what got the PPC kicked off, though I could be wrong. No, this is all pure me stuff.
PPC : SIELU: Squee! The PPC noticed me! //Faints; Comes round// That sounds like fun, although this isn't *that* similar to the PPC . . . I hope. But I am an avid (or possible rabid) PPC fan.
Pointy Ears Are My Thing: I guessed why you picked it, I just felt like mixing up names. It's fun! Yeah, Platy is a bit of an odd one. Oh, and even if you did ask me to pose, there's a small matter of distance.
Malfoyelf: Oh, yes, it's all true. Ahem. Yup, I've split the poor world a lot. Poor Arda. At some point I'm going to need all the Agents I can get, for a quick fangirl-killing spree. If you like, we can drag you in for that. I'm glad you like it.
Bilbo-san: Evil homework! Evil school! I think we'll need more Agents soon - Pointy, Platy and Hethien can't do all the work. Oh, of course . . . you can be the Techspert if you like.
And now, here goes. Prepare yourselves, it's gonna be rough . . .
Liliac gave Hethien, Kjersti - Pointy - and Platy their briefing in her purple office. As she read through the prepared speech - "You shall not harm elves. You shal not cause elves to come to harm. You sheal not . . ." - her mind wandered. She contemplated the deep purple of the walls, the lighter lilac splodges spaced over them. She ran her gaze along the lines of purple candles covering every surface, noting those which had gone out and needed replacing. She saw the black wooden door, behind which a fixed blue portal lead to her MEAPS ofice, set into the side of the crater of an extinct volcano further down the chain.
She came to the end of the spiel, and looked back at her two new agents and one veteran. "Do you understand?"
"We do," the trio chorused.
"Good." Liliac nodded. "Go and see Rachel down in Supplies for your equipment, then meet me in the Tech department. Ask for Sarah when you get there."
They nodded their understanding and trooped out through the main door. Liliac sighed and got to her feet. She needed to go and find a suitable Meaps operative to accompany the . . . what was that word of Sarah's? Oh, yes. To accompany the Techspert, the Tech expert, to the Long Lake. Perhaps Blizzard . . . well, she'd decide in a minute. For now, she opened the black door and stepped into the Meaps office.
Hethien led her two new Assistants - Two! What a stupid idea! - down the staircase to Supplies. as they passed out of Assignments, the walls faded from deep purple into red. Each section had its own colour, to aid navigation, unlike some of the other Trans-dimensional organisations; the PPC headquarters, for example, was famously impossible to get around if you were paying attention. Hethien's theory was that the all-grey walls introduced some rather strange space/time anomalies. On the one occasion she'd visited there, she had spent hours wandering around looking for the Head Office before giving up and taking a portal back to Merrylyn at Ispace HQ.
They came finally to the black doors of Rachel's office. Knocking, they entered . . . into a room straight out of history. A blazing log fire in a huge stone fireplace lit the chamber. The red walls were covered with all varieties of weapons from all ages and universes. At the cntre, where the other offices had a desk - that was shoved up against one of the side walls - was a staircase down to the storage catacombs below. Against the back wall stood Rachel.
Her red cloak - of course she had a cloak, *everyone* had a cloak - swirled behind her as she stepped forward. The coffee skinned woman looked at them for a second, and then said, "Tho girls in brown cloaks and a platypus. You must be Liliac's Agents."
Hethien stepped forward. "We are indeed. There are Pointy and Platy, and I am -"
Hethien? interrupted the black haired woman. "Yes, it is you. I'm sorry, I hadn't seen you without Merrylyn before. I heard about what she did, of course, but . . . well." Rachel turned to the other two. "And these are your two . . . *Kjersti*?"
Pointy Ears stared in shock at the Head of Supplies. Platy sighed, and mttered, "Do I have to do everything?" Then, in a louder voice, the creature said, "Yes, it is, but she answers to the name Pointy Ears now. Do you know my pet?"
Rachel nodded slowly. "I know *of* her, certainly. But no matter. You came for the standard kit, yes? Where's that brief . . . ah, yes, a battlefield. If you'll just follow me," and she began to descend the stairs to the caverns beneath the mountain, "we can get you sorted in double time."
Pointy Ears looked at the woman, who turned, smiled sweetly at her, and continued down int the depths.
Liliac stepped from her office into the brightly lit crater where the animals currently under Meaps protection lived. Soon, she anticipated, much of this would be filled with the great dragon Smaug. But for that, she needed an operative . . .
Sariah ran up to her. "Liliac," she called, "we got her!"
The girl in the purple cloak frowned. "Got who?" she asked.
"The new recruit you wanted," replied Sariah. "Blizz got Sauron to release her from Detention."
"Well done Blizzard," Liliac nodded. Then she looked up in surprise. "*Sauron* is running *Detention*?"
The blonde girl smiled. "They found him in one of the Fanfic-spawned realities. Apparently, he'd just been outwitted by a girl of fifteen, and was eager to accept the offer of recruitment. He's painted the entire section black, but we can handle that."
Liliac smiled. "In that case, very well done Blizzard. Pass that message on, please. And send our new operative to me. I think I have a job for her . . ."
Hethien, Pointy and Platy entered the blue lab in the Tech department and looked around. Only one person - a golden haired girl in a royal blue cloak - was visible, and as they stood there she looked up from the machine she was working on.
"Hi," she said, "I'm Sarah. Lili told me you'd be coming. She's waiting through here. Come on."
The girl lead the trio through a door into an office. The two figures before the desk turned, revealing themselves to be Liliac and . . . Hethien gasped in shock as her eyes widened in recognition . . .
* * * *
Phew, that was a long chapter. Maybe the next one will be too, but that comes at the price of long waits. Still, I'm sure you'll survive.
The PPC, by the way, is not my own invention (unlike Ispace). It is the property of . . . well, I'm not entirely sure, but I *do* know where it can be found. Look at misssandman.com/PPC/ppc.html for the original series and the spinoffs. While you're there, look around the rest of misssandman.com. I guarantee that everything there is good reading. Well . . . with the possible exception of the guestbook. Although, considering the questions in that . . .
hS
Liliac (head fangirl): I'm not sure if recruiting fangirls is a good idea . . . aw, hell, she'll moan if I don't. I'm glad you like it.
Hirilnara: Yup, I am that. Well . . . I think it might be a little more dangerous to those in her immediate vicinity (that is, you) if I refuse to let her have the dragon. Not that I think she's a pyro or anything.
Writer From Rivendell: I'm glad you like it. I did *try* not to make it too PPC-esque, but as two actual PPC agents have commented, I guess I failed. Drat. Now I'd just better hope they don't spot the Narnia influences in Pancakes . . . (Which don't actually exist, but hey)
The Noble Platypus: As if we would let anything harm an Agent! We like our Agents . . . well, the non-imprisoned ones.
AarIIe: Thanks. Innocent fangirls? We should capture them, just for the rarity value. Oh, I *see*. Elves give off magical phermones. Right. And does this count for Aragestelessar too?
Bulma Greenleaf: Glad you liked it. Yeah, I think Pointy's happy. I won't drop into anyone else's stories uninvited - I think that's what got the PPC kicked off, though I could be wrong. No, this is all pure me stuff.
PPC : SIELU: Squee! The PPC noticed me! //Faints; Comes round// That sounds like fun, although this isn't *that* similar to the PPC . . . I hope. But I am an avid (or possible rabid) PPC fan.
Pointy Ears Are My Thing: I guessed why you picked it, I just felt like mixing up names. It's fun! Yeah, Platy is a bit of an odd one. Oh, and even if you did ask me to pose, there's a small matter of distance.
Malfoyelf: Oh, yes, it's all true. Ahem. Yup, I've split the poor world a lot. Poor Arda. At some point I'm going to need all the Agents I can get, for a quick fangirl-killing spree. If you like, we can drag you in for that. I'm glad you like it.
Bilbo-san: Evil homework! Evil school! I think we'll need more Agents soon - Pointy, Platy and Hethien can't do all the work. Oh, of course . . . you can be the Techspert if you like.
And now, here goes. Prepare yourselves, it's gonna be rough . . .
Liliac gave Hethien, Kjersti - Pointy - and Platy their briefing in her purple office. As she read through the prepared speech - "You shall not harm elves. You shal not cause elves to come to harm. You sheal not . . ." - her mind wandered. She contemplated the deep purple of the walls, the lighter lilac splodges spaced over them. She ran her gaze along the lines of purple candles covering every surface, noting those which had gone out and needed replacing. She saw the black wooden door, behind which a fixed blue portal lead to her MEAPS ofice, set into the side of the crater of an extinct volcano further down the chain.
She came to the end of the spiel, and looked back at her two new agents and one veteran. "Do you understand?"
"We do," the trio chorused.
"Good." Liliac nodded. "Go and see Rachel down in Supplies for your equipment, then meet me in the Tech department. Ask for Sarah when you get there."
They nodded their understanding and trooped out through the main door. Liliac sighed and got to her feet. She needed to go and find a suitable Meaps operative to accompany the . . . what was that word of Sarah's? Oh, yes. To accompany the Techspert, the Tech expert, to the Long Lake. Perhaps Blizzard . . . well, she'd decide in a minute. For now, she opened the black door and stepped into the Meaps office.
Hethien led her two new Assistants - Two! What a stupid idea! - down the staircase to Supplies. as they passed out of Assignments, the walls faded from deep purple into red. Each section had its own colour, to aid navigation, unlike some of the other Trans-dimensional organisations; the PPC headquarters, for example, was famously impossible to get around if you were paying attention. Hethien's theory was that the all-grey walls introduced some rather strange space/time anomalies. On the one occasion she'd visited there, she had spent hours wandering around looking for the Head Office before giving up and taking a portal back to Merrylyn at Ispace HQ.
They came finally to the black doors of Rachel's office. Knocking, they entered . . . into a room straight out of history. A blazing log fire in a huge stone fireplace lit the chamber. The red walls were covered with all varieties of weapons from all ages and universes. At the cntre, where the other offices had a desk - that was shoved up against one of the side walls - was a staircase down to the storage catacombs below. Against the back wall stood Rachel.
Her red cloak - of course she had a cloak, *everyone* had a cloak - swirled behind her as she stepped forward. The coffee skinned woman looked at them for a second, and then said, "Tho girls in brown cloaks and a platypus. You must be Liliac's Agents."
Hethien stepped forward. "We are indeed. There are Pointy and Platy, and I am -"
Hethien? interrupted the black haired woman. "Yes, it is you. I'm sorry, I hadn't seen you without Merrylyn before. I heard about what she did, of course, but . . . well." Rachel turned to the other two. "And these are your two . . . *Kjersti*?"
Pointy Ears stared in shock at the Head of Supplies. Platy sighed, and mttered, "Do I have to do everything?" Then, in a louder voice, the creature said, "Yes, it is, but she answers to the name Pointy Ears now. Do you know my pet?"
Rachel nodded slowly. "I know *of* her, certainly. But no matter. You came for the standard kit, yes? Where's that brief . . . ah, yes, a battlefield. If you'll just follow me," and she began to descend the stairs to the caverns beneath the mountain, "we can get you sorted in double time."
Pointy Ears looked at the woman, who turned, smiled sweetly at her, and continued down int the depths.
Liliac stepped from her office into the brightly lit crater where the animals currently under Meaps protection lived. Soon, she anticipated, much of this would be filled with the great dragon Smaug. But for that, she needed an operative . . .
Sariah ran up to her. "Liliac," she called, "we got her!"
The girl in the purple cloak frowned. "Got who?" she asked.
"The new recruit you wanted," replied Sariah. "Blizz got Sauron to release her from Detention."
"Well done Blizzard," Liliac nodded. Then she looked up in surprise. "*Sauron* is running *Detention*?"
The blonde girl smiled. "They found him in one of the Fanfic-spawned realities. Apparently, he'd just been outwitted by a girl of fifteen, and was eager to accept the offer of recruitment. He's painted the entire section black, but we can handle that."
Liliac smiled. "In that case, very well done Blizzard. Pass that message on, please. And send our new operative to me. I think I have a job for her . . ."
Hethien, Pointy and Platy entered the blue lab in the Tech department and looked around. Only one person - a golden haired girl in a royal blue cloak - was visible, and as they stood there she looked up from the machine she was working on.
"Hi," she said, "I'm Sarah. Lili told me you'd be coming. She's waiting through here. Come on."
The girl lead the trio through a door into an office. The two figures before the desk turned, revealing themselves to be Liliac and . . . Hethien gasped in shock as her eyes widened in recognition . . .
* * * *
Phew, that was a long chapter. Maybe the next one will be too, but that comes at the price of long waits. Still, I'm sure you'll survive.
The PPC, by the way, is not my own invention (unlike Ispace). It is the property of . . . well, I'm not entirely sure, but I *do* know where it can be found. Look at misssandman.com/PPC/ppc.html for the original series and the spinoffs. While you're there, look around the rest of misssandman.com. I guarantee that everything there is good reading. Well . . . with the possible exception of the guestbook. Although, considering the questions in that . . .
hS