With the appearance of my old (well, technically young) friend Lia, I left the Ginger Girl safely asleep on the sofa. She should be fine here... plenty of kind folks around to keep an eye on her.

I caught sight of Lady A following Lia into the kitchen and... wait, was that firecrackers I saw in the younger woman's arms?!? I hurriedly, though in a nonchalant way, make my way over to the kitchen. Carefully bypassing the dancing Lady Z, I can't help but be taken back to the the summer of '64 as I hear the chorus of "Having the Time of my Life".... Oh yes! The kitchen!!

"Lia! The Favored One!! Splendid to see you here at last!" I happily greet my friend from over Lady A's shoulder. "Umm, why do you have firecrackers... in the kitchen?"

Lady A whirled around and precision slapped Booky--hard.

"Just because you think you're invisible doesn't mean I don't know exactly where you are," she grumped, turning back to Lia. "Lia, New Year's is fast approaching. If you want your fireworks to go off, you might want to start setting them up (outside, of course). Oh, and duck."

Lady A moved down, pulling Lia down with her. Cake flew over their heads and plastered the invisible Overlord (and not his decoy or anything else. His malevolence himself was plastered with cake and icing). Molly giggled.

Erik had been enjoying little Grace Baxter's affection; now she was up on his shoulders as he twirled her about. Her laughter mingled with the caroling and other shenanigans of the party.

Abby watched this with pleasure, knowing that Molly was in good hands with Lady A. Her baby's continued giggles only reassured her this was the case.

When they had the chance, the couple also tried to keep up with everything that was going on, but this proved quite a difficult task. All around them people were speaking in French, turning invisible, breakdancing, blowing things up or dumping cake on the floor or punch outside. It was kind of wild but everyone was having fun, so there was no place they'd rather be.

[OOC]I suspect the punch opened up a wormhole inside of my Ditto Town counterpart's body. Since something got through, I don't think the effects are going to wear off in 10 minutes.[/OOC]

A TARDIS???

The last time I was in Ditto Town, Timelords weren't even on the radar. Has that changed, or is the alien inside me FROM their universe? That would explain a lot... but that also means the critter is almost certainly evil. Seriously, everything in their universe turns out to be an evil alien bent on the destruction of Earth and Humanity (and probably Ditto Town.) All things considered, even if there is a TARDIS in the general vicinity, the last thing I'd want to do is let Mr. Voice-In-My-Head anywhere near it.

You're thinking about trying to resist me? That's a very bad idea since the tiny electric currents in your brain are very easily manipulated. I could wipe your brain clean if I wanted, or at the very least, control you... but I don't want to do that. You wouldn’t last long, and killing your host prematurely never serves very well.

Okay, definitely evil... and also terrifying. I don't know if Mr. Glowy-Voice can make good on his promise, but I distinctly remember how weird I felt when he entered my brain. He probably can manipulate me. Already I can feel a pounding headache starting.

Anyways TARDISes are awesome, surely a talking speck can’t do any real damage? So I need to find a Timelord... Where on earth should I even start looking? I glance through the party hopelessly. That's when I see Cor wave something that looks an awful lot like a sonic screwdriver in front of lady I don't recognize.

It can't be. Seriously! COR??? But then, this Cor isn't anything like the boy prince I remember riding through Ditto Town on a dragon, even though they look similar. This Cor seems older than me. In fact, he seems... bigger on the inside? I can't explain it. Is that what a Timelord is like? I don't want to hurt Cor, but is it really the same person, then maybe Mr. Voice will just reopen a wormhole like he says and leave. Either way, I really don't want to die.

But how on earth do you steal a TARDIS key from a Timelord? It's as likely to happen as Booky not blowing anything up on Christmas. I start to follow Cor towards the kitchen, unsure of what I'm going to do. Just as I reach the door, Lady A slaps the air (the air makes quite a nice smacking noise though,) and a cake falls over onto something invisible that definitely deserves to be doused in cake. In the confusion, I reach into Cor's pocket, turn and run. I look down at what I have. It sure looks like a key of some kind. Not sure if it's the right...

I run right into Lady Z break dancing. Hard. We both spill over onto the floor and the key in my hand goes flying into a group of people.

Lia had just been greeted by her dear friend Cor when she was pulled to the ground in an unceremonious heap by her Overlady. That was going to leave a gorgeous bruise in the morning. "Ouch," she said loudly, feeling around for her firecrackers. If what Lady A had told her was true (and it usually was) the fireworks would detonate soon and if they weren't outside...

Well. Lia didn't like to think about what wold happen then.

She stood up and stifled a giggle at the cake covered and invisible form of the Overlord. He wasn't quite so scary when he was covered in frosting. After retrieving her firecrackers, she turned to Cor, "Want to help me set these up outside? We have to be quick. I think something big is going to happen very soon."

As soon as Lady A had ducked, dragging poor Lia down with her, I quickly surmised that the cake in-front of us was going to blow.... Acting quickly, I hid behind one of the support columns in the kitchen. That's what I love about these old mansions... plenty of hiding spots!

After the explosion and seeing the caked covered form of Booky, I stifled a laugh as picked off a few bits of said dessert that had found their way onto my jacket. "Eh? Sure. Firecrackers are always fun... loud, but fun none the less."

I gather up the last remaining crackers and head for the door, assuming Lia will follow.

Lia followed her friend out the door, pausing for a moment to admire her handiwork on the turkey before crossing the dance floor (which was now absent of all breakdancers and therefore much less dangerous) and opened the front door.

Hanging on the front door was a large wreath. Lia, being in a very Miniony mood, began to think about all the things that she could do with her firecrackers and the wreath. "Hey Cor," she said, grinning wickedly. "What do you think about making the wreath go boom?"

— Lady Z —

I'm still dancing like crazy when I catch sight of Cor, who gave remedies to the others affected by the punch. I can't wait ten minutes! I need a Doctor.

"Cor, wait—" But he's already gone. He disappears into the kitchen, through the same door that that newcomer and my sister went into. Blast it all.

My feet keep moving despite my best efforts to stop. I glare down at them. This is absolute rubbish.

And that's when someone collides into me, knocking me into the ground. I'm flat on my back, my limbs still trying in vain to move. They're not stiff at all and unnervingly resemble limp noodles.

After the shock has cleared, I wonder who and what and why I was just bowled over. "Wha—?" I sit up, struggling a bit.

I vaguely recognize the face staring back at me as someone I saw earlier at the party, but I don't know her name or who she is.

"Sheesh! I'm sorry I didn't see you... I'm just a ... little busy," I say, nodding to my unruly appendages. "You all right?"

Having already set-up a nice array of firecrackers in the street to form a picture of Lia herself, I turn to face my friend at her question. "Eh? Make the wreath go... BOOM! ?" I think this plan over a bit before answering...

"O.K, but not on the door itself." I walk over to the Mansion door and tap it. "Looks like pre-High Ditto Counsel era wood... hard stuff to come by in any age, especially now." I give Lia a smile before removing the wreath from the door.

"If you put the crackers on it, I should be able to kick it in the air..."

Lia stared at the firecracker picture of herself. "Looks good," she said. "But it's missing something." She thought for a moment before adding a cookie to the firecrackers and nodded sagely. "If I can't blow up a cake, cookies are the next best thing."

"If you put the crackers on it, I should be able to kick it in the air," said Cor.

Lia beamed and giggled madly. "BOOM!!!" She distributed the firecrackers over the wreath and lit them and then handed the wreath to Cor. "Okay. You get the honors of throwing it."

Boom was only moments away and Lia couldn't wait for it.

Not fully prepared to be handed a lit wreath just yet, I hesitated for a moment once Lia had handed me the sizzling piece of shrubbery. Acting quickly, I tossed the wreath into the air then kicked it like a soccer ball. Pulling out my sonic pen, I pointed the device in the direction of the airborne decoration.

"There! Now just wait for it...."

A few seconds later, a massive BOOOOMMMMM!! echoed throughout Ditto Town followed by an array of bright, Christmas themed images in the sky.

"The pictures were an added touch of my own." I tell Lia as I cooly put the pen back in my pocket... Wait, where are the TARDIS keys? I start feeling through the array of pockets on my person in a somewhat distraught fashion.

"Boom!!" Lia said, laughing gleefully. "That was completely awesome. Almost as awesome as the cake was going to be!" She grinned at Cor, who was rummaging through his pockets. "Oh. Have you lost something?"

As Anne made her way slowly across the room towards the sound of carols, stopping often to greet friends or taste food, a loud BOOOOMMMMM! shook the party goers as some sort of firework went off outside. Glancing over one shoulder, Anne could see some scary figure covered in cake, with Lady A facing it. She assumed it to be nothing - it being the habit of alchemists to not poke their noses into other's affairs - and she instead went to the window to look at the fireworks.

"I... er.... yes. I think..." Having checked all my pockets once, I begin to check them again. "The key to my TARDIS seems to have gone missing." Finishing my second attempt to locate it, I am now certain it is missing.

"Oh dear... this could be very bad if it falls into the wrong hands, like in Booky's, for instance." I look over at Lia, worry written all over my face despite my best efforts.

"Could I entreat you to help me find it, oh Favored One?"

[OOC: That's fine, Ara. I wanted to save Mountie from being stuck in dance mode all RP long. [/OOC]

Bookwyrm slunk back into the party and shook himself vigorously, spraying cake and icing fragments all over the Christmas tree until he was returned to his former spotless glory. His temporarily low spirits were raised by Lia's and Cor's explosion and he checked his watch again, eager for the launch of his next prank. Just a few minutes more.