anyastark:

"I'm almost ready," Anya said as she opened the safe where her mother kept all of her jewelry. She picked out a pair of emerald and diamond earrings and a ring she never saw before. She studied it for a moment and then slipped it on her finger. The safe was re-secured and Anya turned to face Toni. "Now I'm ready."

anyastark:

Anya stumbled into the kitchen of the Thunderbolts headquarters and silently prayed there was some coffee made. It was early or late depending on how one looked at it, but she hadn't slept yet tonight. Sleep was a rare commodity lately. Nightmares kept her awake at night, but on the plus side she was getting some work done.

She stared at the coffee maker as if willing the thing to work were possible. Blinking a few times she kicked on the autopilot and started prepping the machine to make a fresh pot.

anyastark:

Anya stood at the corner across from the Thunderbolts HQ waiting for the light to change and the crosswalk signal to come on. She held a paper bag that contained a few containers of Indian food in it since she worked through dinner. A few hours in the lab and Martin's laptop had been modified in order for him to be able to use it. Now it was time to eat and get back to the dozen things she had to read for Ren Tech. After calling her parents and wishing them a happy anniversary and see how they liked her gift. They had been married for three years. Who would have thunk it?

The light changed and Anya crossed Hampshire street. She reached the other side and reached for the door handle of the entrance to the renovated firehouse that served as the TBotls HQ. The blow she didn't see coming hit her on the back of the head and blackness enveloped her.

A large man caught the body before it fell to the ground and picked her up as if she were nothing more than a doll. He put her over his shoulder and walked off into the night.

The next day a picture and a note was delivered to Xavier's Institute For Higher Learning addressed to Misha Romanov.

anyastark:

Anya sat at the small table and focused on the screen on the table in front of her. Just because she was eating lunch it didn't mean she couldn't work. Work was consuming all of her time and energy lately and would probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The burger on the plate had a few bites out of it and only a few fries were missing. Anya's mind was focused on food and not work.

nextgen_holiday:

There's a piece of paper and a pen attached to a bulletin board. Across the top is written:

New Year's Resolutions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Anonymous Entries Accepted

nextgen_holiday:

Christmas. Yule. Saturnalia. Dies Natalis Solis Invicti. Many cultures have celebrated and still celebrate a winter festival. There have been many names for it over the millennia. No matter the name it is a time to come together and celebrate with feasts and gifts with friends and loved ones.

Each culture has a legendary figure who would deliver gifts to children during this time. In Russia and some Slavic cultures he is known as Ded Moroz, Grandfather Frost, and comes not on Christmas but on New Year’s along with his granddaughter Snegurochka, or ‘”Snow Maiden”. In the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe he is known as Father Christmas. In the Netherlands and Belgium he is known as Saint Nicholas or “Sinterklaas” and in France he is known as Père Noël. In the United States we know him as Santa Claus.

No matter the name or who is delivering gifts, it is the season of peace, joy and togetherness. It is the season for thinking about loved ones, friends and those less fortunate. It is a time to witness the goodness and generosity the human race is capable of. It is a time for peace on Earth and goodwill toward man.

nextgen_holiday:

Christmas. Yule. Saturnalia. Dies Natalis Solis Invicti. Many cultures have celebrated and still celebrate a winter festival. There have been many names for it over the millennia. No matter the name it is a time to come together and celebrate with feasts and gifts with friends and loved ones.

Each culture has a legendary figure who would deliver gifts to children during this time. In Russia and some Slavic cultures he is known as Ded Moroz, Grandfather Frost, and comes not on Christmas but on New Year’s along with his granddaughter Snegurochka, or ‘”Snow Maiden”. In the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe he is known as Father Christmas. In the Netherlands and Belgium he is known as Saint Nicholas or “Sinterklaas” and in France he is known as Père Noël. In the United States we know him as Santa Claus.

No matter the name or who is delivering gifts, it is the season of peace, joy and togetherness. It is the season for thinking about loved ones, friends and those less fortunate. It is a time to witness the goodness and generosity the human race is capable of. It is a time for peace on Earth and goodwill toward man.

nextgen_holiday:

Christmas. Yule. Saturnalia. Dies Natalis Solis Invicti. Many cultures have celebrated and still celebrate a winter festival. There have been many names for it over the millennia. No matter the name it is a time to come together and celebrate with feasts and gifts with friends and loved ones.

Each culture has a legendary figure who would deliver gifts to children during this time. In Russia and some Slavic cultures he is known as Ded Moroz, Grandfather Frost, and comes not on Christmas but on New Year’s along with his granddaughter Snegurochka, or ‘”Snow Maiden”. In the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe he is known as Father Christmas. In the Netherlands and Belgium he is known as Saint Nicholas or “Sinterklaas” and in France he is known as Père Noël. In the United States we know him as Santa Claus.

No matter the name or who is delivering gifts, it is the season of peace, joy and togetherness. It is the season for thinking about loved ones, friends and those less fortunate. It is a time to witness the goodness and generosity the human race is capable of. It is a time for peace on Earth and goodwill toward man.

nextgen_holiday:

“We’re here outside the Four Seasons Hotel in New York where the who’s who is gathered tonight. Celebrities, royals and superheroes have all turned out for the annual Maria Stark Foundation Winter Charity event benefiting Toys for Tots.

The stars and celebrities are out tonight to help a good cause.

Donald Trump arrived with his wife and is one of many other famous faces to arrive. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts, Chris Evans, Patrick Stewart, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift are just a few celebrities who have made an appearance here tonight.

Miss Anya Stark, the organizer of this event arrived with Mr. James Rogers and both had arms full of gifts. Other public heroes are out in attendance and supporting a good cause. Members of the Avengers, Defenders, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four and other teams are in attendance.

This party also has royal guests. His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Loganovich is in attendance with a lovely lady on each arm. Princess Nimue of Atlantis is here tonight and is being escorted by Mason Jeffries of Alpha Flight. Prince Mackenzie of Atlantis is also in attendance and is escorting Miss Andrea Denker of the Fantastic Four. Vincent Vernard, heir to Latveria, is also in attendance tonight. We even have otherworld royalty in attendance as the children of Thor are here tonight as well.

It is a night to have fun and help a wonderful charity."

nextgen_deviant:

The subway tunnels and other tunnels underneath to the streets of Boston were home to some homeless people along with other non-human things. Deviants, a race of genetic 'failures' created by the Celestials, also lived in the dark places under the city of Boston. The small group hid from humanity and from their ancient enemies, the Eternals. Once they numbered millions on the surface and subjugated the ancestors of modern man, but the accursed Eternals and Celestials decimated their numbers and drove them into hiding.

Gruck moved about in the almost total darkness. He and his fellow deviants had moved into a new section of abandoned tunnels and were busy exploring. Gruck's foot struck something and he stopped to inspect it. He turned the object over in his hands and used a clawed hand to brush away some of the dirt crust enveloping the object. Light burst forth from the small cleared path and Gruck's yellow reptilian eyes widened. Blue light illuminated the tunnel.

The other deviants around him stopped and started at the object in Gruck's hands. Gruck pulled the gem in closer to his body and glared at each of his fellow deviants. It was his and he had been the one to discover it and he would be the one to keep it. He could feel the power coming from the gem and he wanted it for himself. He could read the thoughts of the deviants around him. This was the gem's doing. With his mind Gruck pushed his thoughts out to the other deviants and for a moment he felt resistance, then submission.

The other deviants dropped to their knees in front of Gruck.

Gruck smiled. The gem gave him power over the other deviants and he knew what he was going to do.

Over the next few weeks the numbers of deviants beneath the streets of Boston grew as those under Gruck's power brought more deviants into the city. Gruck's power grew with each use of the gem and he was able to control more and more deviants. He didn't stop there. He expanded his control to the humans that were also living under the streets.

When Gruck thought he had enough he led them to the surface. It was time to reclaim the surface for the deviants and enslave humanity.

Chaos reigned on the streets of Boston from the Back Bay to Beacon Hill.

anyastark:

Anya was in a bad mood from the argument with Toni about Genosha, but she promised Jimmy she would go to the Giants game with him and do some tailgaiting. The Toni stuff could be pushed back for the evening. Tomorrow she could think about it and deal with it.

The game was in New Orleans which would make it a challenge, but nothing so simple as distance would stop a Stark. This would also be her first Giants game of the year which was a surprise. It was a testament to how busy her life was right now. Usually she didn't miss a game.

She had on a pair of jeans, her favorite boots, a Giants jersey, a matching turtleneck underneath it, and a Giants ballcap. She had a jacket with her as well since it was supposed to be in the mid-40s. It still wouldn't be difficult to recognize her, but maybe it won't be so bad. She was really wearing anything to make her stand out. Blending in was usually a good thing.

She checked herself in the mirror one more time and then headed toward Jimmy's hotel room. Bridget would have made sure everything they needed would be waiting for them downstairs in the rented truck. The woman was a godsend and Anya needed to give her a raise.

She knocked on Jimmy's door.

anyastark:

Anya took advantage of being in New York and the Avengers' Mansion to make a killer sundae. Nothing beat the sundaes one could make in the kitchen of the Avengers' Mansion. They were stuff of legends. Sitting at the breakfast counter in the kitchen with Jarvis putting around brought back many good memories. She had spent many afternoons in the kitchen just like she was now while she was growing up. Dad would be working and Mom would be out on a mission and that usually left her in the mansion with Jarvis after school.

He was like another parent to her. Mom and Dad were in an out all of the time, but Jarvis was always there. He always had treats for her. Whether it was cookies, ice cream or little bits of chocolate there was always a treat for her. While she had her treat Jarvis would tell her stories of the Avengers and of her Dad when he was her age. It was always the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

Today she had made her own sundae, but Jarvis as always was there and she listened to him tell a story as she ate her sundae. She had heard them all a million times and she would never tire of them. There were a million and one things she had on her plate, but this afternoon there would be no work. Even Starks had to take time off once in awhile. Monday was full of meetings in New York and then Tuesday morning she would be on her way to Genosha.

anyastark:

For a lot of people the day after Thanksgiving meant hitting the stores and getting great deals on items that would most likely be Christmas presents. For the female Avengers and others the day after Thanksgiving meant a different tradition. They would gather and rate the hunkiness of the male members of the various teams.

Anya had sent out invitations to the females on the other teams well in advanced and made arrangements for food and refreshments.

Once the day arrived she and the Thunderbolts traveled down to New York and gathered at the Avengers Mansion. Anya readied the slide show and waited for everyone to assemble.

nextgen_holiday:

"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues." - Cicero

In America today is a day for being thankful for the things in people's lives. Today was a day to celebrate family, friends, prosperity and health with food, family and friends. It is a time to reflect on what is important us and to recognize the gratitude we hold for having those things in our lives.

anyastark:

Hurricane Anya breezed into New York after a week of traveling for Ren Tech business. She and Bridget had been to New Mexico, Detroit and Alabama surveying possible sites for production facilities. There was a stop in DC to meet with a few politicians and assure them that she had no plans on weaponizing the tech outside of non-lethal stun weapons.

Anya stopped in New York on her way back to Boston since today was her father's birthday. She had scheduled lunch with him to see him and give him his gift. This year she got him a week's worth of babysitting for Monkey Boy and a trip for him and mom. Lunch was a quiet affair with just she and Dad. They talked about the family, but most of the conversation was about Ren Tech. Anya loved every second of it.

After lunch she met backup with Bridget and together they headed for the Genoshan Embassy. They had a meeting with one Andrew Summers about Zero Point Energy use and manufacture in Genosha. The car arrived at the Embassy and the driver opened the door so Anya and Bridget could step out. Taking a deep breath, Anya approached the door with Bridget next to her.

anyastark:

It had been an extremely busy week for Anya, but she made sure she had Saturday set aside for lunch with Jimmy and going out with Toni at night. Sunday was a special day. It was Monkey Boy's first birthday. Nick had earned his nickname with his zoo escapade into the chimpanzee enclosure. Talented kid. Earned it before he turned one.

Finding gifts hadn't been hard.

Anya got him monkey pajamas, a plush monkey and a Curious George book.

She also donated ten thousand dollars to Save the Chimps in his name.

She arrived at the penthouse with presents in hand. She was greeted with smiles and Monkey Boy happily tore into his presents.

anyastark:

It had been an interesting Halloween and subsequent trip to Germany. She and Jimmy had been almost inseparable for the trip. Germany had been fun and productive. The BMW test had gone extremely well and the contract was being drawn up. Jimmy and she had then driven cars around Nurburgring at ridiculously high speeds. Her car had performed very well and she had sent the collected data to Tesla Motor corp. They would be interested in seeing how one of their cars performed with the zero point energy tech installed. With any luck there would be more contacts coming soon.

The business part of the trip had been straight forward and easy. It was the personal part that had her confused. She had a lot of fun with Jimmy and he had been just what she needed after the run-in with Temujin, but what was going on, or wasn't, between them is what had her off balance a bit. Was there something there or was it just her imagination running away with her?

They had known each other all their lives. The only person she had known longer than Jimmy was Toni. Stark and Rhodes had a long history, but so did Stark and Rogers. Anya had known James for her whole life, but know she was seeing him in a whole new light. It was something she was unfamiliar with.

The first and last time she had taken an interest in someone it had turned out very badly and the bastard was still causing her problems. She hadn't been interested in anyone since then despite what the tabloids said. If she was seen talking to a member of the opposite sex, sometimes the same sex, there were rumors in the tabloids the next day. It was never ending.

Anya need to talk things through with someone and there was only one person on the planet she would talk to. She arrived in New York and headed right to the Avengers Mansion. She climbed the stairs and stopped at a certain room. She knocked on the door.

anyastark:

Anya entered the luxury suite her family always had reserved at the Four Seasons and went straight for the bar. She grabbed a glass and a bottle of vodka. She poured herself some and downed it one gulp. Her hands were shaking and she poured herself another glass and downed that one as well.

nextgen_holiday:

All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween as it has been come to be called, is a popular holiday with children and adults alike. It is a holiday that had its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain or Summer's End. Samhain celebrated the end of the "lighter half" of the year and the beginning of the "darker half".

On this evening the barriers between this world and the Otherworld were believed to be thin and the spirits, good and bad, of the dead could pass through. The spirits of the family's ancestors were welcomed in while evil and bad spirits were warded off by the wearing of masks and costumes. The costumes and masks disguised one as a harmful spirit and avoided harm from others.

It was also a harvest celebration and time to take stock of food stores for the winter. Livestock were slaughtered and the meat prepared for storage. It was the final harvest of the year and the crops were then stored for the winter. Celebrations included bonfires and tales of the family's ancestors.

It was a celebration of the dead and of the harvest.

Today we dress up in scary and not so scary costumes and masks and go door to door for candy or attend costume parties. It is a night for revelry, pranks and fun.

anyastark:

Anya was in the kitchen, not cooking (that was important), sitting at the table. She had come in for a drink, but a shock of static electricity had inspired her. She grabbed parts and tools and sat down at the table and started working. Many hours and a night of missed sleep, she held a small device in her hand. It was in the shape of a gun, but it wasn't your typical gun.

Normally she wasn't the inventing type like her dad, but inspiration had struck.

Now she had one problem. She needed to test the thing. She looked around.

Not the coffeemaker. It was the one appliance Anya could touch and not have it explode into flames. The stove. Her arch nemesis. The thing was begging to be destroyed.

Anya squeezed the trigger and an arc of electricity shot out from the small weapon. The stove was engulfed in white-blue electricity. Wicked. It worked. Unfortunately the stove didn't catch fire or blow up, but the weapon worked. It was a non-lethal way to take out people.

Now she just had to test it on a person.

anyastark:

Anya finally had a long weekend where she didn't have to be traveling somewhere in the world for Renaissance Tech and the Boston area had been quiet and didn't need Thunderbolts intervention. It meant that she had some time to head to New York and spend some time with the family. It felt like forever since she had spent some time with her family.

After a few days it was quite clear that Mom and Dad had their hands full with Nick and needed a break. Anya volunteered to babysit. Though she wasn't going to do it alone. Even she knew she would need backup so she called His Highness Prince Dork. Not only would he have her back, but it would give the three of them some quality sibling bonding time.

A day at the Bronx Zoo would provide just that.

anyastark:

It had been a long day of enforcing her lord's will and delivering his justice and Lady Mandarin returned to the base and to her lord. She removed her armor and let the servants take it away. Her arms went out and the two women worked efficiently to remove the clothes she wore. Once she was naked, Lady Mandarin stepped into the hot shower that had been prepared for her.

anyastark:

Anya had gone out to KC to see Toni for her birthday and brought Justin's gifts as well. His birthday was the day after Toni's. Anya wrote him new upgrades for Tony, his suit's AI. She also wrote upgrades for the suit to better integrate with his nanites. The response time between Justin and the suit would be better and allow quicker reactions.

Anya also got him a new watch. Originally it was a Bretling, but there had been upgrades of course. Built in laser cutter, video and audio recorder, EM scrambler and emergency comms. Dad had helped quite a bit, but Anya had decided what was to go into the watch.

Before she left she went looking for Justin.

anyastark:

Toni's birthday wasn't until tomorrow, but as part of her gift to her best friend in the entire universe, Anya headed to Kansas City the day before and would spend the night out there. It had been awhile since the two of them had some best friend quality time together. Life had gotten hectic for both of them and sometimes a timeout from the rest of life was needed.

Anya knew Toni had a thing for sailboats so she got her a gold sailboat charm with chain for part of her gift. Anya would have bought her a real sailboat, but there just wasn't any ocean to go sailing in the middle of the US. Rivers didn't count as a place to go sailing.

Anya also made a digital photo album of every picture she had of the two of them. Anya's parents and Toni's had been helpful in supplying pictures for it. There was even one of Anya in her cardboard Iron Man suit and Toni in her cardboard War Machine suit taken when they were five.

She also brought along a stack of Toni's favorite movies and a huge box of Belgium chocolates. There had been many movie nights with too much chocolate and a lot of laughing. There would be many more. Anya had faith that Toni would be fine and they would grow old together and tell their kids and grandkids of their adventures.

She showed up and rang the buzzer instead of letting herself in. It never ever hurt to pay attention to social niceties.

mishaloganovich:

With Darlene's help, Misha had Anya's birthday box ready for mailing in time for her birthday. Included with the must have Mets jersey (he didn't want her to forget the greatest team in baseball history!) were a pair of Cthulhu slippers and gift cards to burger places around Boston.

And truffles. Always remember the truffles.

anyastark:

Anya Stark-Barton was a workaholic. It was genetic really. Her father was one, her mother was one and according to Dad her grandfather had been one. Anya was carrying on a fine family tradition, but unlike them every once in awhile she needed a day off. Today she was taking one.

She slept in and got six hours of sleep instead of the usual four. Instead of jumping out of bed and hitting the ground running, she slid out of bed and zombie shuffled her way downstairs. She grabbed a bowl of cereal, didn't set it on fire, and headed into the rec room. She fell onto the couch and turned on the tv. Today was going to be a day of doing nothing but sitting in front of the tv and watching movies. Her laptop was upstairs and Goddard was screening all of her calls. He was under orders to only allow calls from Steve and the rest of her family through. Work was going to wait until Tuesday.

Tomorrow morning she'd fly to New York to spend the weekend and her birthday on Monday with her husband. Today was a day just for herself and any other Thunderbolts who wanted to watch movies.

this_fire_burns:

(Takes place around the same time as this scene.)


First, Matt Walker tried setting up an appointment with Anya Stark the old-fashioned way. He called, introduced himself and asked if he could speak to her on a matter of legal importance. When the person on the other end asked if he was a lawyer, and Matt said no, they hung up on him. The second day, he tried again, but pretended to be with one of those gossip magazines. They managed to trip him up rather easily and again, he was hung up on.

( Read more... )

toni_rhodes:

She let of a blast of electricity, the voltage enough to power a city block for the better part of a day.  She followed quickly with infra-red radiation, then microwaves.  Radio waves, x-rays, gamma rays.  Toni was immune to the effects of the radiation itself, and the room would scrub itself down afterwards, but the effect of expending that much power left her feeling both better (not unlike cooling down after a day in the hot sun) and worse (tired, burned out, spent...).

She finally stopped and carefully unclipped her armbands, placing them in the unit that popped up, and replacing them with the next pair in the sequence.

Thirty-six hours this time.  Thirty-six where she hadn't otherwise expended any injury or taken in any additional power.  She'd started feeling hot... too hot, as the timeline had gotten closer.  She could make it longer if she was actively using her abilities, though she rather needed to expend any extra she took in fairly quickly.

She sighed as she snapped the armbands into place.  That brief moment where her energy was entirely unregulated was a terrifying one, the power surging up and making her every nerve stand on end, but it passed as the devices performed their function, regulating her body's energy flow.

Mutants were supposed to be immune to the effects of their own powers.  Why the hell were hers so screwed up?

She made her way back upstairs, to the kitchen, finding a frozen dinner in the freezer.  She popped it into the microwave and took a big step back and away.  She didn't need to pick up any stray rads.

Three minutes, according to the little digital timer.

iron_hide:

"Mr.  Rhodes, we have to say, this is the most forward thinking and far reaching work we've ever seen. The coding is superb and the device itself is not nearly as bulky as its television counterpart. We received several excellent submissions, but your work stood head-and-shoulders above the rest. The data storage and recollection capabilities are also second-to-none." says Mr. Will Wright, a trustee of the X-Prize Foundation.

( Read more... )

 

 

ryanspector:

Ryan was at one of the Museum Gala for his mom's Museum the Natural History Museum. This really wasn't his cup of tea. He never felt comfortable with this type of thing ever since he was a little kid. Mom says he took after his dad in that respect. He just had another hour of this before his mom would let him quietly leave.

He did look rather dashing in his tux if he did say so himself as he leaned against a wall of to the side looking bored with with glass of punch.