anyastark:

The chess pieces were set and it was time to strike.

Lady Mandarin and the Skeleton Crew were sent to the Thunderbolts' headquarters. Lady Mandarin hovered just outside the building. She brought both hands up and unleashed her repulsors. The force hit the wall and it blasted apart.

ngserpentsoc:

Vadoma gave the members of the Serpent Society instructions on what they were to do. They were being paid quite handsomely to do a small job. The job was to destroy a factory in the Boston area.

It was a simple plan. Get in and do as much damage as possible. Then get out before being captured.

anyastark:

Iron Girl flew in through the missing wall and landed in what used to be her office. Her helmet opened and her armor started coming off. As the armor was coming off she did a quick survey of the wounds caused by the adamantium piercing her armor.

ng_underworld:

 Stephen Remus sat in the office of his penthouse, smoking a cigarette as he looked out the window.

"You have your team. You ready for your first outing?" Remus asked the figure behind him.

"Yes," came the audibly distorted voice. "We know where they'll all be."

Remus takes another drag of his cigarette before responding. "Good. You've all been practicing, let's see how you do against the real thing. Good hunting."

The sound of metallic boots are heard leaving as the figure goes to announce the mission's start.

nextgen_misc:

In England near Glastonbury Tor a portal opened up and a large demonic red creature emerged. The Red Lord emerged from Otherworld and had been unleashed upon the mortal world. Chaos and destruction followed in his path.

treadlightly:

They'd done their scouting. They've put up all the defenses they could, and put themselves in a position to attack. Buck has reviewed what they have on hand, and the situations exploding around them.

"Alright, folks, thank you for your patience. I know its been a tense situation waiting and doing patrol work... but I think we've identified some key points in the enemy strategy. We're still going to have to be careful. We're dealing with major influences here, but...

Alpha Flight... and their current guests, should be obvious. There's every sign that more of the Great Beasts will be awoken... that's a top priority situation.

X-Men... and the Genoshans - in following up the uprisings earlier, we've identified a 'Cult of Apocalypse', who took the whole massive fight before as a sign its time for En Sabbah Nur's awakening. We've located some of their likely strike points, your leadership has marked maps.


Champions and Thunderbolts, we've located a massive danger in the Red Lord. Its been determined that it will likely take both teams to deal with it.

Nightstalkers and Big Hero 6, we have a second target of the same type, Sakhmet. You two are on that.

SHIELD will be picking up on all of the general monitoring, crowd safety and control, and other work we've been doing in the lead up to this.

Finally, Avengers, Defenders and FF - you're with me. We're targeting the masterminds behind this.

Any questions?"

anyastark:

It was a day full of meetings and scheduled phone calls. As always. Anya looked at the clock and had twenty minutes before her next meeting. Just enough time to head down to the cafeteria and grab something to eat. She was starving and needed some caffeine. She had too much blood in her caffeine stream. She hated it when that happened.

She stood up and left the office heading for the cafeteria.

nextgen_citizen:

"Now, in the interest of erring on the side of caution, this court will have none of 'the subject' or 'the product'. The being self-identifying as 'John 'Jack' Smith', will be referred to as 'him', or 'the individual' if the plaintiffs insist on being clinical." The judge cast a stern eye around the courtroom. There was more than a fair representation both of the Thunderbolts and the Leap Foundation. A few notable superheroes with impressive civilian credentials, such as Doctors Pym and Samson, were also on the witness list.

Some shuffling of papers and agreements are issued, before the lawyer for the Leap Foundation steps up.

"We call Beatrice Dayspring to the stand."

nextgen_citizen:

A small crowd of people arrives at the front door of the Brownstone. Two men in suits, one of much higher quality than the other, a trio of uniformed police officers, and a trio of unmarked security personnel with more expensive uniforms. The man in the cheaper suit stands closest to the door, taking out a paper from his coat pocket.

"Just remember, Mr Primm, we're allowing your and your staff's presence here as a courtesy. I tell you to clam up or leave, you do it."

"Of course, Detective. We're just happy to assist. One of your officers will accompany each member of my staff at all times, I assure you."

The detective grunts something and knocks.

nextgen_misc:

Seven confirmed 'civilian' sightings in the neighborhood in eight days, and there had been more than enough news footage of a young male matching the product's physical characteristics in the company of the dasypodidaen metahuman. This had to be where he was being kept. The brownstone was a Stark holding, which had brought an entirely new wave of clamor to the boardroom. A few of the more paranoid types were now convinced that the product's escape had been part of some corporate espionage, or prototype theft. Professor Graft didn't care. She just wanted her work back for analysis and possible sterilization if the programming couldn't be corrected.

So, over the course of a few days, there are a few surveillance agents that end up going by the unassuming Brownstone that houses one of the world's premier crime-fighting teams. They're good at their jobs, and all but the best would likely not notice them.

nextgen_parent:

"Thank you both for agreeing to conference this discussion. I know we all have concerns about the young man. I think he's fairly significantly tied into the attacks by the... beings that were wearing the generic suits the Thunderbolts recovered." Dr Henry Pym, Scientist Supreme (it's on his business cards and everything), addresses the others present.

"Before I share my findings, and present my working theory at this point, I'd like to hear both of your thoughts on Jack."

magic_hands:

In the middle of the Thunderbolt's kitchen, a familiar swirl of blue flame comes out of nowhere and the young mage pops in. He'd come on a very important mission.

Ice cream sandwiches.

A species so rare in this freezer that it was almost extinct. Every single time they'd get more boxes of the stuff, it'd disappear almost immediately. Even the ones he'd specifically labelled with his name on it!

Now to find out if there were any left. The freezer door swings open on its own. There were boxes yesterday surely....

"JACK!"

nextgen_misc:

It was a quiet misty morning in New York City. Thus far nothing to out of the normal had happen but the day was still young.

Then a loud roaring like thunder came from the sky as a burning and crashing spaceship headed towards the center of Central Park.

A loud boom struck through the entire city as the ship crashed in the park leaving a big crater. Then the crew of the ship began to make there way out of the wreckage of the ship.

onearmofhydra:

Night settled on the city of Cambridge and the activity level in the city slowly died down as the hours of the night progressed. Midnight came and went and the minutes and hours rolled slowly by. By three am there was almost no activity on the sidewalks and an occasional car rolled down the street.

The quiet of the city night was shattered by a loud explosion at the location of 491 Broadway. The explosion sent brick and mortar in all directions and the concussion blast set off the alarms of nearby cars. Men in yellow uniforms with full yellow helmets on poured out of four nearby transports and rushed into the hole in the side of the building created by the explosion.

The men in yellow weren't the only ones who were interested in getting into the renovated firehouse in Cambridge. Another small team had been sent to retrieve a certain device and schematics for it. That team wasn't going in by the gaping hole created by the explosion.

nextgen_parent:

"Anya, remind me to send over Christina with my credit cards for the two of you to go on a shopping trip on me. These are beautiful." The floating image of Dr Henry Pym states over holo-conference with Anya. "The fabric sheets are nano-thin solar paneling and batteries in one, and unless I'm somehow horribly mistaken, they're borrowing some Shi'ar-tech principles for molecular suspension.

Wear this suit, and get enough daylight, and you won't need to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, or even expel waste." He pauses, then pokes his finger through a bullet-hole. "Unless it gets ruptured, of course. Haven't run the tests on high pressure or vacuum conditions yet.

It actually reminds me a little of some ideas your father and I threw around, ages ago, before he set up the first generation of the current line of waste disposal systems for his suits."

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_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 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:

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 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.

anyastark:

Anya entered the firehouse that served as the Thunderbolts headquarters and dropped her backpack. She looked out the window and down at the street below. The four guys were /still/ there. She would have thought they would have left when she went inside. The quartet followed her back here from class and had been acting strangely.

One professed undying love. One tried to kiss her and got punched for his efforts and was now sporting a swollen lip. One tried to carry her backpack for her. The last one recited poetry to her as they walked. For a few fleeting moments she wished she could put on a gauntlet and blast them away with a repulsor blast, but it would cause a /scene/.

What happened? Anya had known these guys since her first day of college and all of them had been nice and nothing like this. They even knew she was married and yet suddenly they were acting like this. Idly she wondered if there was something in the water that was making them act so weird.

She watched them and prayed they would just go away.

childrenofgaea:

It was spring and love was in the air. Well it really wasn't, but it should be. Spring should be the time when a young man's fancy turned to love, but Rainflower Sunshine wasn't /feeling/ it. This was the 60's. Love should be all around and yet it wasn't. It made her sad.

Things would have to change. Now. It was time to get others to feel the love and stick it to the man.

She got her group together, Moonbeam, Starshine, Rose Flower, and Rain Shower (they were actually Haze, Pink, Fleetwood, Dirt and Free Spirit) and they broke into Biogen IDEC and stole a new chemical they were developing. It hadn't been hard to get in and get it. Rain had a plan for it.

That plan involved the Poland Springs water company and their bottling plant.

It wasn't hard to break in and dump the chemical into the water. Soon all of Boston and Cambridge would be feeling the love.

princessbruiser:

Molly was enjoying a nice day of doing nothing. She had woken up that morning and decided that she needed a day to just relax around HQ and do noting but veg and lounge.

So she slept until ten, put on sweatpants and a t-shirt, and made her way downstairs. She made her way to the local mini-mart and bought a couple of pints of ice cream (strawberry cheesecake and Americone Dream), a twelve pack of Diet Coke, some microwave popcorn, and some M&Ms.

When she got back to Thunderbolts HQ, she laid out her stash of junk food on the coffee table, popped in Despicable Me, grabbed a blanket, and lay down on the couch.

Her butt was not moving from this sofa, unless Thanos decided to blow up the planet...or something of equal importance.

anyastark:

Word about certain things spread fast in the cape community and Anya learned that Vernique and Svalin were getting married, in Asgard, and Svalin was expecting a baby. This of course meant one thing. There had to be a party to celebrate both things and Anya was the perfect one to throw it. Anya had known Vernique since forever and there had been many marathon shopping trips.

She sent invitations out to the female members of the X-Men, Champions, Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Defenders, X-Force, Alpha Flight, Excalibur, Fantastic Four, Sammy and Alice in SHIELD, Kelly and Melissa. It was also the first get together the Thunderbolts would be hosting.

The renovated firehouse in Cambridge was cleaned from top to bottom and supplies were laid in. Stephanie was given cart blanch on the menu and snacks. Anya and Molly went shopping for the drinks and for gifts for Vernique and Svalin. Since the crowd was very varied they got a wide selection of sodas, juices, beer and also picked up a lot of water. Anya even booked rooms at a nearby hotel just in case people didn't want to make the trip home that night. Anya had spoken to Irina and arranged for pick up of the various team members around the world.

Saturday rolled around and Anya was up at the crack of dawn double checking everything. Then she headed down to the lab until the first ladies arrived.

ice_ice_baby:

The Super Bowl.  I'm at the @!*@!#*$*#@ SUPER BOWL.    And the Jets made it.

I wish Dad were here.

CeCe looked out the window of the private box suite that Anya had secured at Cowboy's Stadium.   She was here to watch a football game of historic proportions, as the winners of the first three Super Bowl's ever, the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets, were going to play for the championship.

CeCe's dad was a DIE HARD Jets fan.   It cost her two weeks of tutoring income to get tickets to see the 45-3 debacle at Gillette Stadium when the Jets came up north to play the Patriots.   But she screamed when the Jets beat the Steelers 2 weeks ago to make it here.

And then Anya had the idea of bringing the Thunderbolts to Dallas for the Superbowl as a team activity.   The team was down, thank God.   And there were even a couple of friends along...including Franklin.   She was VERY happy to see Franklin.

She looked out the window again, staring.   The Jets hadn't won a title since Dad was a kid.   She had hoped that he had done enough repenting to be seeing this game from above.

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.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
+

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.

nevermisses:

Greyson had made a quick trip to New York City for information. He had heard about how someone had become the new Kingpin.  So he started looking around to find out who it was that way so he could see if he could find out if they might know where he could find his father. The old Kingpin had used his father for work a lot so it stood to reason that the new one might know where he was.

Though it quickly became apparent that this new Kingpin did not like him looking for her identity and he had gotten pretty close when couple of her better thugs got the drop on him. Now he was very good in a fight and could have taken down anyone of them in a one on one fight but they were actually working together well.

It quickly became apparent that it was smarter to run than fight and after some work Greyson had managed to lose them and he doubled back to where he had been staying in Boston. After a couple of hours of peace they had managed to find him which seemed rather odd to him to be operating out of New York but he knew the lay of the land he much better than they did letting him lose them.

Remembering what the armor user had said to him as much as he disliked having ask for help he made his way to where the Thunderbolts were based in what was approximately a costume for him.

next_avenger:

With Charlie gone and as a male member of the Avengers, in addition to being the leader, it was up to James to uphold a few traditions that didn't have to deal with battling bad guys. Though he had to admit that he would rather be fighting bad guys than doing this. It just wasn't his thing.

He wasn't as industrious as Anya, but James had managed to collect the necessary photos. It hadn't been easy and a part of him felt like he was cheating on Val.

Invitations were sent to the Avengers, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, Champions, Excalibur the X-Men and the Defenders guys.

With the help of Jarvis food and drink was laid in. James made sure they had a wide variety of pizza, chips, pretzels and drinks.

He loaded the photos in and took care of the security systems. The girls were not allowed to watch. Now all that was left was people showing up.

anyastark:

Anya didn't have many traditions in her family, unless you counted being a bastard as one of them. The Avengers however did have a few time honored traditions that must be kept going. Sure saving the world from alien invasions, beating up the world level threats and other heroic things were some of those traditions, but not everything could be about beating up the bad guys. One such non-heroic thing was Rate the Hunk.

Each year the female Avengers got together and rated their fellow male Avengers. The new generation had eagerly picked up and kept this tradition going. However, they had expanded it a bit.

The day after Thanksgiving was a perfect day to avoid shopping crowds, take over the rec room, banish the males and look at pictures of them. Anya had run it last year and she took it upon herself to do it again this year. Invitations went out to fellow female heroes. Avengers, X-Women, Defenders, Champions and Thunderbolts all got invitations to come to New York to Rate the Hunk.

Food, drink and snacks were laid in. Signs were put up on the doors and electronic surveillance was set up to see if males dared to interrupt.

Anya settled in on one of the couches and queued up the stash of photos she had collected in the past year.

nextgen_holiday:

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." JFK

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:

The Thunderbolts unlike most teams didn't do much together. Each member had their own thing and it was rare that they spent time hanging out with each other. It was time to hang out a bit and regroup. They had a new member to get to know and the best way to hang out was a movie night.

Anya got a variety of takeout of from a few different places around town and stocked up on the usual fare of chips, dip and pretzels. Soda, juice and water was provided for drinking. Anya collected a few movies from a few different genres since she didn't know everyone's viewing preferences.

When everything was gathered and ready, Anya sent a text out to all team members and then flopped down on one of the oversized couches in the newly renovated rec room.

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:

The Masters of Evil had attacked the Thunderbolts headquarters and had made off with Victor's body and with it a way to eventually access Ultron's files on the Avengers. It was a situation where a collaboration of the Thunderbolts with another team was needed. They needed to get Victor's body back as soon as possible.

The Thunderbolts made the trip to New York and were gathered in the conference room at Avengers Mansion along with the Avengers. They needed to discuss strategy and form a plan to retrieve Victor's body.

Anya sat back in her chair and let her brother take the lead. James was more experienced with leading a team and if anyone could get them to all work together as one big team, he could.

lady_hood:

Despite the garbage that went down earlier in the week, Melissa found herself a happier camper today. The Boss Man's check cleared; she and Kelly were now much more financially solvent. After a call to her lawyer, Diane, to get bills and things paid, Mel goes downstairs to have herself a victory dance, or as they're called, a beer. Never mind that it's early in the morning and that she hasn't hand breakfast, which also sounds like a good idea, Mel just wants to enjoy having her money, her girl, her magic and her guns.

Kelly was right about this whole mercenary gig; it paid dividends, even if being shot at and nearly killed by life-draining nutjobs was part of the job. They'd also done the world a favor by removing Benedict Kine's sorry self from it, and Mel figured they deserved medal for that. Instead, they got hefty-paychecks. Maybe she'd /buy/ herself a medal.

She walks into the kitchen, going through the cupboards to see if there's any eggs to make an omelet. If there is bacon, it's left untouched.

Bacon is against her personal religion.

nextgen_holiday:

The air was warm and the sun was bright making it a perfect day for a cookout to celebrate Labor Day. Classes would start on the 8th (for those going to college they started a week ago) and it was the last chance to kick back and cut loose before hitting the books.

At the Avengers' Mansion in NYC Jarvis and some helpers he managed to rope into helping with the preparations were busy getting the food ready. Tables had been placed out around the pool and the large grill fired up to get nice and hot. Burgers, hot dogs, sausage, ribs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, salad and fruit salad were just some of the food available to eat. Soda, water, fruit juice and other beverages were on ice.

To help get to know each other the Thunderbolts received an invitation to attend.

It was a day of rest and relaxations for those who put their lives on the line for others.

anyastark:

Anya didn't exactly feel like celebrating anything, but she wasn't going to let a birthday go by because she didn't feel like celebrating. Molly's birthday was today and Anya was going to make sure she had a good one. Strawberry cake was purchased from the bakery across the street and Anya had stayed out long enough to get strawberries and a gift card with $250 on it.

Cake, candles and gift were ready. Anya called the Thunderbolts to the kitchen.

anyastark:

Anya had spent a few days in the lab, coming out only for food and classes, and it was time for some fresh air. Otherwise Toni or Steve would find out and she'd hear about spending too much time in the lab. Which she didn't, but they thought she did.

She wandered out of the lab and with Darwin and Schrodinger following, she went to see what the other Thunderbolts were up to.

dont_bug_me:

Sydney stared as her own reflection in the full length mirror.  Gray skin, green hair, weird yellow eyes, wings, three-toed feet, overly jointed fingers, wings, tiny antenna...  And there was more there too, she could tell, things waiting for her to figure out.  Little trace of who she had been, physically, remained.

She wondered if she was even technically human anymore. 

But for the moment, she could forgive it all.

Because she was walking.  Without mechanical assistance of any kind.

anyastark:

With Sydney in SHIELD medical and turning into a bug, Elise's birthday almost pass unnoticed. Almost. Thankfully Anya caught it and was able to get her something. A Visa gift card with $250 on it. Elise had arrived with the clothes on her back and Anya knew she could use more clothes. Shopping was never a bad thing.

Along with the gift card and a card left in her room, there was a big chocolate cake on the counter with her name on it. And a warning that if anyone else ate it they would suffer dire consequences.

dont_bug_me:

Days had passed since SHIELD medical had taken Sydney away.  Nothing they could do had been able to penetrate the cocoon, or even scan within it.  There had also been some kind of jurisdictional dispute with SWORD, but Fury could outscary and outmaneuver Brand in his sleep.

So far, it had been quiet.

But quiet, in the life of super-heroes, only lasts for so long.  Today... today the cocoon was beginning to crack.

dont_bug_me:

Sydney seriously could not remember a time when she had felt lower.  Her first feel outing with the Thunderbolts and she'd barely had time to do anything before both her armor and she herself had been taken out of the fight.  At least the SWORD medics had been able to patch her up and given her an otherwise clean bill of health.  The other T-Bolts had checked out fine too, before being given a clean bill of health, and the SWORD troops, after bringing in a piece of heavy ordinance, had routed the rest of the bugs (though not without  a few injuries of their own) and confiscated the ship.

Now, a couple days later, Sydney was hunched over a table in the lab, working on designs for her suit.

She had to be better.  She had to have some kind of purpose here.  Because right now?  She wasn't seeing it.  Not with Stark here.  Who needed her second-rate gear when there was genuine Stark-tech around?

nextgen_cosmic:

The ship's flight was ungainly, as it tore through Earth's atmosphere.  It had exited hyperspace too near the planet to have been stopped by SWORD's orbital monitoring station, and no one would risk detonating an unknown quantity while it was in the atmosphere.  It was ugly and utilitarian, clearly not Kree, Skrull, Shi'ar, Kymellian, Snark, or belonging to any of the other major galactic races. 

But it was there just the same, and it was screaming over the skies of Boston, heading toward the harbor.

SPLASH!!!

The ship hit the waters of Boston Harbor hard, sinking several boats in the process, before bobbing back toward the surface, it's hull pining as its metal cooled, sending showers of steam into the atmosphere.

A SWORD team was already on its way, but this "landing" would not go unnoticed by others.

neogoblin:

Since the fearless leader was away, Jay seized the opening and went down to the lab. The recent fight and seeing the rest of the team in action had him thinking. He needed a bit more bang in his arsenal. So it was time for some work.

Several pumpkin bombs of different varieties were on a nearby rack, recently completed. A few more were slowly being filled by chemical drips. Jay was paying more attention to another set of beakers and burners though. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, the young man that calls himself the Hobgoblin is carefully mixing chemicals according to the instructions on a small scrap of paper. "Damn things so troublesome to make..." he mutters to himself.

dont_bug_me:

Sydney leaned over the table, carefully working on the circuits inside the Beetle-suit's right glove.  The circuit linkages had been running a little slow the last few times she'd tested them, so hopefully this would sort that out.  While the suit did employ some cybernetics, it also relied more heavily on simple linkages and feedback responses, allowing for certain movements and muscle responses to trigger certain actions from the suit itself.

It would never be in the same power-class as the Stark armor Anya wore, but in the short term, it could fly rings around it.  Speed and agility prioritized over sheer power.

If she could get the damn linkages fixed.

anyastark:

The move to Cambridge had gone surprisingly smoothly. Anya had her two suits packed into shipping containers and packed onto a truck. Along with other various pieces of equipment, mainly computers and screens, and a trunk or two of her clothes. The ride up was uneventful as Anya followed the truck in her car.

The renovations to the old firehouse were almost done. There was still a little bit of work left to be done, but the place was liveable now and ready for the new team. It was an old firehouse with four floors for living space, a garage at the bottom and a expansive basement. Anya was claiming the basement area for her lab. It was the most open space in the building and could be secured better than the rest.

The ground floor was for vehicles. So far there was only her car, but she was sure there were more to come. The first floor was the kitchen and living area, the second a gym and a game room, and the other two floors were bedrooms. Each member would be able to have their own room along with an extra room for a guest room. It had come along quite nicely.

Moving day had arrived and one by one the members she had invited to join the team had arrived. Rooms where claimed and they put away belongings.

By the time dinner time rolled around, everyone was tired and no one wanted to cook. In Anya's case it was lack of skills which prevented her from cooking. So it was dinner out on Anya. They headed down the block to Cinderella's. It was Italian food and she was sure everyone could find something to eat.

They sat around the table and talked while they ate.

ng_rgoodfellow:

The order hadn’t really done anything in a while and decided to do a little something to make up for the inactivity.

No one in the Museum of Natural History noticed the man in the leather jacket walk into the museum or that he headed straight for the dinosaur exhibit and then immediately left. However people did notice when the dinosaur bones started moving and running around like real dinosaurs and it didn’t take too long for them to escape the museum and start running around Manhattan.

nextgenrunaways:

"Martinez! You got the tranny replaced on the Impala?" The garage's owner, a balding but fit Mexican man in his late thirties called to his assistant.

"Probably another half hour, boss. You can head home, I'll wrap up. Nothing going up on the lift so no worries." A voice calls back from under the Impala.

"Thanks Victor." The man raps his knuckles on the hood of the car gently. "You're a good kid. I'm supposed to say you should be in school, but I'd miss my best mechanic." He chuckles. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Once the footsteps fade, the door shuts, and he gives it a thirty count, there's a crackling of electricity from underneath the car. Bolts tighten, points secure, everything seems to snap into place faster than two hands could manage.

Victor Mancha slides himself back out, wiping his forehead and hands. It wasn't a great living, but it was a living. The one he could make best since... well, since life happened. Molly had gone to Xavier's, Gert and Chase were somewhere, same with Carolina and Xavin, and Nico... well, he didn't really blame her. Not easy keeping up a relationship when you're rolling into your twenties and your boyfriend still looks like he's in his teens.

Back then, beating Ultron's programming had seemed like the best thing possible. Too bad breaking free of his control also turned all the preprogrammed growth routines into a trainwreck. No more nanite conversion into organics. No more growth.

It wasn't like he was helpless. He could sweet-talk machines, electromagnetic powers, the generic enhanced physicality package. 'Papa' knew how to build 'em. He'd toyed with the idea a couple times of reaching out to 'Grandpa' Pym, but he knew bringing Ultron tech near another source of it wasn't safe. So, he made the best living he could. Shuffling around the West Coast, working with his hands, not staying in one place long enough for anyone to notice the lack of aging. He'd get a year at least, maybe two if a neighborhood was less dense. It was a living.

He wanders over to a utility sink, washing his face as he thinks to himself. He should call Nico. He knows he probably won't though. He mumbles as he stands up again. "Look, Gepetto, I'm a real live boy. Yeah, right."

dont_bug_me:

She wasn't sure how long she had been running, but it had almost certainly been far too long.  Days of looking over her shoulder, stealing power from electrical grids, eating sparingly of what small food stores she could take with her, days of running.  She hadn't seen any of the Masters of Evil in at least a day, but that didn't mean they'd forgotten about her.  Not by a long shot.

But she had finally made it to New York City, finally made it to Avengers Mansion.  She had to let them know.  No matter what it cost her.  The Masters had to be stopped.

Why had she ever hooked up with them in the first place?  Because she'd been bored.  Because it sounded like a good way to get a cheap thrill.  And then, almost from the first outing, she'd been appalled by what she'd  seen.  She'd thought they'd just do things like rob banks or steal pieces of technology or something.  She never expected to get caught up in vendettas or associating with murderers.  And so she'd done what she could to mitigate that.

Until they'd tried to murder the Rogers boy in a public spectacle.  And that had been the last sign that she hadn't belonged there, ever.  But she'd stayed, because she thought maybe, just maybe, she could keep track of them, try something, maybe get some of the others to walk.

But she couldn't.  They weren't like her.  Weren't redeemable.

And when she'd tried to contact SHIELD about the ambush at the prisoner transfer... she'd gotten sloppy and gotten caught.  But she was here now.  Safe... enough.

And terribly close to being out of power.  As she cleared the top of the mansion gates, her wings shut down, sending her crashing into the lawn below.

anyastark:

Anya looked at the outside of the building and considered her options. She had already taken a tour of the inside of the firehouse and it wasn't in bad shape. It definitely had the space and facilities to serve as a headquarters for her new team. There was another location she was considering, but that one was a little too far from campus for her tastes. This one was closer to MIT and even had parking facilities. It would be a good headquarters for her new team.

She just had to get the new team together.

She already had Rok as a member and Molly helping out. She just had to find a few more to fill the roster and make the team. There was one person she had in mind, she would just have to go to the West Coast and talk to him. There were still about four others to go. Mom could help find potential members. It would give her something to do and she did have access to SHIELD's files, not to mention it would be a huge help.

"Miss Stark?" the Realtor asked.

Anya blinked and came out of her reverie. She smiled. "It's perfect. I'll take it." Her smile grew. "I'll have one of my people contact you." Anya was still only seventeen and couldn't legally purchase real estate, but the Maria Stark Foundation could do it for her and serve as the funding for the Thunderbolts.

"Great," the woman said. "I look forward to hearing from your people."

"Thank you for showing me this place," Anya said to the woman. Now she just had to make a list of supplies and equipment the team would need and of course contact potential members.