olympian_elf:

 Kael had been more quiet and insular than usual upon their return from Olympus. The day had been won though hard fought, but Kael was not in any mood to celebrate. Kael was in the training room fighting a copy of the being he fought on Olympus, the Flame. This version, while formidable, was not quite the equal of the real thing. The computer said something about "safety protocols" when he tried to give his opponent equivalent power. So Kael had to settle for what he could get. He spent a long time just going back and forth with his adversary, He was bruised and bleeding, but nothing too serious,

Kael remembered being there..the home of his father. He remembered seeing Zeus..and how the arrogant bastard dismissed them all after they saved his kingdom. So that was how Olympus was represented. This was the other side of his heritage!? Kael roared in rage, attacking his faux-enemy with absolute fury. he barely registered that his opponent's sword-arm was cleaved off. His swords were dropped as he knocked the enemy to the ground and proceeded to punch it continuously, screaming in the language of the Dark Elves.

got_the_touch:

"Pass the pretzels." Mason murmurs to Alex, his eyes transfixed on the hockey game on tv. By all rights, Jordie should be present, given the teams playing, but he'll have to settle for the DVR.

nextgen_holiday:

"A simple 'I love you' means more than money." – Frank Sinatra

bloody_irony:

It'd been awhile since Dmitri had visited his family at the mansion, but he always felt at home there.  He was already walking around in his underwear, raiding the fridge, and not caring who saw.  Though, he was keeping his eye on the time.  Vlad should have been up by then, because they were supposed to do some brotherly bonding in half an hour.

Until then, Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

notafailure:

The fruits were surprisingly Earth-like (blackberry-like, peach-like, and pear-like, respectively) for being readily available out here. Some sugar was easy to do, as she'd had a lot of practice with it. On a less synthesizing-oriented note, she'd really been working on these crusts.

And eventually, six pies are cooling on the racks of Jean-Louise's little stand in Knowhere.

frosted_water:

Korra was nervous. She wasn't going to lie about that. She had butterflies in her stomach, and she was pretty sure her heart was beating faster than it should be. Not that she really had a reason to be nervous. Her sister's teammates were wonderful people, even if she'd only met them a handful of times. But still. It was nice of them to let her join, even if she had zero heroing experience. And she had to stop being so nervous. She was going to help people, like she wanted to. She was going to see new places and make new friends. Everything was going to be fine.

The car pulled up to Alpha Flight headquarters, and Korra got out, thanking the driver as he handed her her luggage. She only had a couple of suitcases, but her mother said she'd send her more of her things once she'd settled in some. Taking her luggage, Korra walked up to the door and rang the buzzer.

quitethecharmer:

Vincent's thoughts wandered as he went over some of the paperwork for one of his college courses. Valeria and Bentley may have gotten there ahead of him, but he was confident he'd have his first doctorate in a perfectly respectable amount of time as well. Still, he'd been thinking of the holiday party, and Lyta Worthington. She'd played hard to get. Not something he was accustomed to encountering in his lifetime, and he was intrigued. His paper didn't make much more headway before he put it aside to put his mind to work on contacting her. As soon as he has it, and has his thoughts collected, he calls her cell.

anyastark:

"Well it was a good game," Anya said to Buck as the clock wound down to zero. The Ravens won the game, though she had been rooting for San Francisco. Her team, the Giants, didn't make it and she wasn't a fan of either game, but she was a fan of a good game and it had been one. They had watched the game from a luxury box with a very large spread of food and a wide variety of foods.

She had invited Buck of course, but also anyone from the Avengers, Big Hero 6, Champions, Thunderbolts, Alpha Flight, Nightstalkers, Defenders, Future Foundation, X-Men, anyone else who wanted to go and she even extended an invitation to the Genoshan embassy. After saving the world on almost daily basis, they could all use some fun and a chance to kick back and relax.

nextgen_misc:

The trail eventually led the Avengers, Future Foundation and the Defenders to the other dimensional realm that served as the home of the Greek gods. They traveled to a few realms that were home to other gods only to find them destroyed and in ruins. Olympus wasn't in ruins, but it was under attack. Battle raged all around and the skies thundered and were lit up by lightning bolts.

onthewall:

under_the_skin:

wiz_kid:

Bentley Wittman the 23rd had a problem. The pinnacle of his scientific career so far was about to come to fruition, and he had no-one to celebrate with. The whole 'for science!' meme lost some of its luster without witnesses who weren't obligated by contracts to collaborate with you. With that in mind, he checked his schedule, and the time relative to a few thousand miles away, and got into his personal flier.

***

A short time later (shorter than safety guidelines for the machine's specifications would indicate, really), he's hovering outside Valeria Richards' window, tapping on it insistently. If she's not there, he's going to have to raid her lab next, and she always gets so cranky about that.

_tsunami_:

It was a perfect vacation. Tropical island. Sun. Sand. Surf. Vlad. It was more than Cait could ask for. The sun was setting on the horizon and the stars were just starting to come out. It was for a better lack of words perfect.

"I could stay here forever," she said to Vlad.

aceofhearts:

Etoile planned a trip with a few friends to luxury resort to Bora Bora. Suddenly her friends backed out due to personal reasons. Etoile wasn't going to let this stop her from going on a much needed vacation. She packed up what is needed for her trip and took a very long plane ride and soon a boat ride to get to the main island. This island would have one of the best luxury resorts.

She suffered from a bit of jet lag, immediately she after getting set up in her little hut. She slept a good day, a very much needed rest. Etoile freshened up, slipping into one of her many bikini's, pulling on a pair of short-shorts and a tank top. Today would be the day for her to get her munch and sunshine on.

This place is pure heaven right now. She is glade she came here, even if she is alone.

devilonstrings:

Jo spread out a blanket and took her sneakers off. Even if she could still feel the grass crunch underneath her weight, it was a stretch of unseasonable warmth, and the sun was shining. She was able to dress relatively lightly and get out to enjoy the day. Ferries in the distance, tourists and day-trippers milling about, and at least half a dozen restaurants' grease traps filling the air from the middle distance. She was still in need of a new violin bow, but there was no reason she couldn't get out and take it easy while working on some arrangements. She digs out her notepad and gets to work, humming to herself, the notes carrying on the breezes around her.

junoslace:

Jazz was happy to get out of the city with her older sister who she has come to open up to. She was even thinking about talking to Natasha which would be a big step for her. But for now she was laying on her stomach letting a very attractive man rub the tension out of her shoulders and oil her back up. This was an amazing way to live.

shield_legacy:

Tim had promised Etoile they would go rock climbing and he wasn't one to break his promise. He gathered his gear and his suitcase. He met her at the airport and together they headed for Arizona. Once they touched down in Phoenix they climbed into a Jeep Wrangler and drove toward Canon de Chelly National Park where Spider Rock was waiting for them.

Tim pulled the Jeep into a small parking area and killed the engine.

hotshot_hawkeye:

The objective was breathtakingly simple: Take out a warehouse full of black market weapons and tech that the bad guys had been using as a cache, but do it to a) leave a message and b) not be traced back to the good guys. Beautiful, direct. It was also much easier on paper than it looked on a rooftop adjacent to said warehouse.

"You know, I'm spotting some actual security on this place, instead of the usual. Cameras, floodlights, hell, even the armed guards look alert. Smart grunts, that's new."

shield_maiden:

Svalin wasn't quite sure how it happened, but she found herself along with Aridis on a road trip with Frances. Vernique had gone shopping with Brandr and Solver, saying that Solver needed more clothes. Though Svalin was quite sure their son had enough clothes and shoes and everything else a child could need. Svalin was of the mind that he could have used a few more wooden weapons, but her wife was quite keen on limiting the number of those.

Aridis and she had been in the training room when Frances found them. The next moment they were in the car and heading somewhere.

"Where art we?" Svalin asked as they climbed out of the car.

shield_maiden:

There were a lot of things on Migard one could indulge in, but Svalin only had two. The first was chocolate. She couldn't get enough of it and loved it in any form. The other was a shower. Svalin loved showers. She took one every day, not because training and working with the horses worked up a sweat and usually left her quite fragrant, but because she loved the feel of hot water falling down on her.

Svalin stepped out of the shower and quickly toweled herself off. She wrapped the large turkish bath towel around herself and stepped out into her bedroom. Now to find something to wear. What did one wear on a date?

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.

nextgen_misc:

Gbadu and her followers gathered outside a small unknown temple in the desert near the ancient site of Akkaba. Inside one of the ancient temples the mutant known as En Sabah Nur lay in a state of suspended animation. Today they were here to awaken Apocalypse and unleash him on the world.

feathers_:

Lyta was Going Out tonight. And when one was going out, you needed shoes to go with the outfit. Luckily, Lyta knew just were to find the perfect pair. They just weren't in her closet. They were in one of her "back-up closets." And Lyta knew which one.

She made her way down the hallway to Joe's room and knocked on the door. "Joe? You in there? I need a pair of my shoes."

girlspy:

Sammy was Alice's best friend. And, as her best friend, it was her job to make sure that her birthday was awesome. Alice got Sammy a new gun, and sent her a text.

You. Me. Birthday burgers and beer after work. No arguments.

agent_v:

Mission complete, thank God.  Peter had just returned to the Helicarrier, gone to his personal quarters, showered, and emerged once more to wander the halls.  He was on free time at the moment, for however long that lasted.  Why not take that time to see who wasn't doing anything important?

shield_legacy:

Tim had been preparing for Sammy's birthday for some time. He always did. Sammy wasn't the type he just bought something for. Each year his birthday and Christmas gifts to her were things he spent time making. This year he made a one of kind Sammy Fury action figure for her along with a new gun. It was encoded to her DNA and could only be used by her. The fun part was that it collapsed down to something about the size of an iPhone. It would fit in a pocket.

He left the items in her office with no note. She would know who they're from.

snarkfighter:

Having checked the records, Agent Power did his very best to break into Agent Fury's office. Cheating was resorted to. Left on her desk was a jewelry-store box containing a pair of silver hourglass earrings. The small card with it had no signature, just a sketch representing the design pattern on the Counterweight costume.

aceofhearts:

Etoile's world has been thrown into a loop, the days she had suddenly appeared at the front gate of Xavier's. She was sent here, not only to escape from being caught, but to gain more help from Xavier. Also, she wanted to lead a decent semi-normal life as a young mutant. University, building friendships, possibly love? Mainly, she wanted to be a part of the X-Men team. Both her parents were part of them for years, she felt the need to follow along.

( Race, life's a race, and I'm gonna win )

ng_divine_ones5:

Ophois unleashed the Egyptian goddess Sakhmet on the city of Budapest. The goddess' blood lust was insatiable and she tore through the city leaving a sea of blood behind her. Anyone that got in her way was cut down and the blood flowed freely.

nextgen_baddie:

A blizzard covered northern Canada in white, but it wasn't the only thing causing problems. Alpha Flight was correct when they mentioned that the Great Beasts were in fact more than one and usually showed up at the same time.

Tanaraq left a path of destruction in his wake as he made his way toward the more populous areas.

Not too far from Taranaq, Kolomaq left a similar path of destruction in his wake.

anyastark:

CES was a BIG deal every year, but this year it was even a bigger deal for Anya. Stark Inc's computer division had a booth as usual, but right next to it Renaissance Tech had a booth. Anya was showing off the new operating system her company developed and hoped to get it some attention. So far it was working. People were interested and liked what they saw.

The best part about CES, outside the really cool electronic toys of course, was that it took place in Vegas. Vegas was one of her favorite places, even though she wasn't old enough to gamble. It wasn't about the gambling. It was about the lights, the shows, the people and the food. Of course the shopping was important too. Anya wasn't one to pass up a trip to Vegas.

It was a busy week for Anya and Sunny. There were lunches and dinners with industry leaders and a few celebrities that happened to be in town. Now it was Friday and the show was over and the weekend had started. A weekend in Vegas to relax was just what she needed. Along with her boyfriend. She had contacted Buck earlier in the week to see if he could make it out this weekend and was happy that he could. She had spent the week praying to whatever deity would answer that things would be quiet so Buck could make it out.

There was enough time after her last meeting of the day and the time Buck got here for a quick nap. It had been a long week. She hit the pillow and was asleep in no time.

magic_hands:

anyastark:

Anya ran as fast as she could but she knew that bastard was catching up to her. It was dark and she couldn't see, but she knew he was behind her. If she stopped or slowed down Temujin would catch her. She kept running. Something was in her path and she stumbled.

She felt him get closer and she tried to scramble to her feet. A hand grabbed her ankle and she screamed.

Anya woke screaming. She had fallen asleep on the couch and had a nightmare. She was shaking and and her shirt was soaked with sweat.

"Dammit," she swore. She thought she had the nightmares beat, but the recent round of mind control must have brought them back.

lightningbolt:

With all that had been happening Shane decided that he needed a day off from work. All things considered it might be a while before he really could get a day off again. So he called out of work with an excuse and slept in a bit.

He got up later and made himself a nice late big breakfast for himself. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon. And of course a nice cup of hot coffee.

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?"

shield_legacy:

Big Nick's was one of Tim's favorite places for a burger and some beer. Sometimes he got pizza with the works instead. Tonight was a burger day with a glass of Guinness. It was on the late side of the night, but that was one of the great things about Big Nick's. It was open late to satisfy beer and burger cravings.

He sat in a booth and drank his beer while he fooled around on his computer tablet. His burger would be coming soon.

fullmoonfever:

New Orleans. Not one of Greg's favorite cities. It was usually too warm, too humid and the smells were almost overwhelming. If he could have avoided it he would have, but his prey had come to this cesspool and Greg had no choice but to follow.

A vampire had left a trail of corpses in Seattle and Greg had gotten close. The vampire fled and Greg had tracked him to New Orleans following the corpses the vampire left in his wake.

Greg stood outside the club he had seen the vampire enter earlier and waited for him to come back out.

Unknown to Greg, someone watched him and had set a trap for Greg to walk into.

shield_legacy:

Tim stood by the SHIELD jet waiting for Brad to arrive. They were scheduled to test fly a new experimental plane, but first they had to get to the test sight. Tim leaned against the plane and checked his email. Despite being out of the lab for only five minutes, he was still working.

nextgen_misc:

Once the Champions returned to their headquarters and destroyed the Quantum Mirror returning all the heroes to normal. Once that was done they called a meeting of the superhero teams. Irina transported the Champions to the Avengers Mansion and volunteered to provide transportation for the other teams.

hotlittlehands:

Amiko sat solemnly at her desk, looking at two pieces of paper. One was a requisition form from a univesrity library, the other was a security report, a little more crumpled than Amiko normally keeps her papers.

nextgen_holiday:


You are cordially invited to attend the 28th annual Maria Stark Foundation's Winter Charity event.

Four Seasons Hotel
57 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022

Friday 21st of September
Seven O'clock pm - Midnight

Formal dress required.

Please bring a donation for Toys for Tots.


The grand ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel on 57 East 57th street was festively decorated for the holidays. A series of lit candles on every table gave off warm light and the dulcet tones of a jazz ensemble filled the room.

People, the upper elite of New York society, Hollywood celebrities, musicians, politicians and even superheroes moved around the room. People sat at tables and talked, while some moved gracefully around the large dance floor.

Tables loaded with unwrapped and unopened toys lined one wall and at one end stood a very large decorated Christmas tree. Wrapped presents sat under the tree, but they were just empty boxes wrapped for decoration. Mistletoe hung from the ceiling near the tree and people stopped to kiss.

The air was light and the mood happy and festive.

shield_maiden:

Svalin didn't sleep during the night as she never could sleep on the eve of battle. Instead she waited with armor and Vigfrior ready. This would be the toughest battle of her life so far and though she knew she'd lose, she wouldn't go down without putting up a fight. She didn't know when she would be whisked away, but she would be prepared for when it did happen.

One moment she was in the small bungalow she shared with her wife, son and Brandr and the next was at the base of Yggdrasil.

shield_maiden:

How was one supposed to feel knowing that tomorrow they would die? Svalin was fully aware that when she went into battle there was a good chance she wouldn't come back. This was different. She was going to die tomorrow. There were no doubts. It was unsettling to know death was certain, but Svalin had other things to focus on.

Her wife and son.

Today would be a day she was going to focus on them and not on tomorrow. She had the day planned out, but there was one thing she had to do before spending time with her son and wife.

She got the number from Sydney and called Jordan Bochs from Alpha Flight.

girlspy:

Alice did not like how mopey her cousin had been lately. She knew Tim was feeling a little blue lately, and she was going to fix that. She'd made a call to the Baxter Building, and set Tim up on a blind date with Valeria Richards of the Future Foundation. She was cute. She was nerdy, and she loved science. Perfect for Tim. He deserved a nice girl. And if he if also got laid in the process, then that was pretty awesome for him, too.

Alice made her way to the lab when she knew that Tim would be there by himself. She walked in, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, Timmy!"

Nope. Totally not up to something at all, not her.

frosted_water:

Korra had been doing a lot of thinking, lately. On her eighteenth birthday, she'd asked her parents to allow her to join a superhero team, to allow her to spend more time on the surface, and so she could be a hero like her cousin and older sister. Her parents agreed, under the condition that she either join Alpha Flight, with her sister, or the Avengers with her cousin, Mackenzie. Korra had given it a lot of thought, and decided on Alpha Flight, her sister's team.

Now came the hard part. Seeing if they'd actually let her on the team. Korra had butterflies in her stomach thinking about it, but she wasn't going to wait around any longer. While she was at her mother's house one day, she called her sister, Nim. She'd talk to her about coming out and at least visiting the team, first.

shield_legacy:

Tim did the one thing most people do when they didn't want to think; he threw himself into his work. He spent the past week in his lab working on projects. When he was working he wasn't thinking about things like feelings and whatnot. Life was better that way.

shield_maiden:

It was a rare occasion when most of the Defenders were out of the compound and elsewhere. Today that happened as most were out shopping or doing other errands. Christmas and Yule were coming and some still had gifts left to purchase/make. Svalin had been done for days since she knew she wouldn't be here. She was taking advantage of the quiet to get some chores done. There were stalls to clean out, horses to groom, saddles to oil, weapons to sharpen and other chores.

Right now she was grooming Snowflake outside while he grazed.

heytheredelilah:

Aleks has been hard at work with a lot of the preparation, wanting everything to be perfect. He knows Lena wants to help - so he's made sure to stock up on things for a salad (with garlic croutons), and asked her to bring the wine or whatever she'd like.

On the main menu is pizza. Specifically, he's worked on cooking crushed garlic into the homemade crust, and building a garlic and oil sauce - for the garlic, chicken, garlic, bacon and garlic pizza. As the time of arrival approaches, he's working on the dough, with everything else laid out neatly for when its ready.

treadlightly:

So, Anya talked him into hosting this year... so Avengers Mansion is all set up for a proper party in the main lounge. Extra couches set around the giant screen, plenty of food - ranging from the chips and soda to the pretzels and beer.

The front doors are left watched, but open, and invitations have been sent out to the guys on all the teams the Avengers are in contact with... so... potentially a lot of people.

anyastark:

The annual Maria Stark Winter Charity Ball was coming up and Anya didn't have a thing to wear. Sure she had a closet full of evening gowns, but she couldn't wear one of those. She had to have a new one, not to mention her sister needed a dress. That only meant one thing. A shopping trip. Not just any shopping trip, but a worldwide one.

She sent out invites to Vernique, Toni and Lyta. It would be a shopping trip like the ones they used to have before their lives got busy.

She had the Stark plane readied and had Sunny make the hotel reservations. London, Paris and Milan were on the agenda for this trip. Sunny of course could come if he wanted to. Anya found that she couldn't live without the man.

When it was time she headed for JFK and the waiting jet.