nextgen_holiday:

Mothers are the place that we call home.
On them we rest our heads and close our eyes.
There's no one else who grants the same soft peace,
Happiness, contentment, sweet release,
Erasing nighttime tears with lullabies,
Restoring the bright sun that makes us bloom. - Anonymous

ng_omega_flight:

The masks had arrived and Omega Flight was ready to enact their plan to bring down Alpha Flight. Madame Masque had out done herself and the masks were works of art. As soon as the members of Omega Flight each put on a mask, they took the identity of a member of Alpha Flight and they had their abilities. Maybe not at the same strength as the members of Alpha Flight, but enough to convince others that they were really Alpha Flight.

It was time to start.

They would start small. Start creating doubt about the famous superhero team and then work their way up to something really big.

They went in different directions in Toronto and each of them held up a convenience store or two before returning to their base.

It was just the beginning of things to come.

They could just imagine the questions Alpha Flight would now get.

ng_omega_flight:

The Canadian National Tower in Toronto stood an impressive 553.3 meters(1,815ft) and was still the largest free standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. It was a popular tourist attraction and many people have taken the elevator up to the top to look out over the city of Toronto.

Today Omega Flight was visiting the tower, but they weren't there as tourists. Today they were going to destroy the tower and turn it into a pile of rubble.

sea_shelly:

They could have swam it, but Canada (and Alberta in particular), was quite the distance away from Atlantis.  And frankly, what was the point of being a Princess if you couldn't ride in style every now and then?  So the daughters of Namor were being taken home (or to the shore, at least), in an Atlantean Royal transport.

It was luxurious, if slightly military, but comfortable to say the least.  Marrina sat on one of the couches, idly munching on candied sea urchins.  Her father had introduced them to her on one of her last visits.

Her sister.  She was bringing a sister home.  There were probably going to be all kinds of diplomatic issues involved (especially once Emma Frost found out), but she would do everything she could to keep her sister safe.

"So..." she ventured.  "You told me a little about you.  Only fair if I talk too.  Anything in particular you want to know?"

nextgen_parent:

Namor allowed Kassia to rest while he waited for Marinna and considered his plan. The idea he'd come up with was a more cunning plan than any other he'd ever engineered, and it was worth mentioning that he considered not following through upon it for Kassia's sake. She'd been hurt enough as it was, and he'd lost enough time with her. What time was there to waste upon vengeance on the one responsible for taking her from him? Perhaps it would be best to let bygones be bygones and allow Kassia's mother to live with the knowledge that Namor could strike at any time, and never know when or how the day was coming.

But if Emma Frost possessed even THAT scant knowledge, she would attack him first, likely with Shaw's aid.

And Namor's decision was made.

"Paras, you are to arrange a meeting with Victor Von Doom for me, to take place after my meeting with Marinna. Neither of us need travel; I will speak with him from the war room. Word of this is not to be breathed to anyone, not even Marinna. Are we clear?" he says.

"Yes, my King. And speaking of the Princess...she has arrived." Paras says.

"Usher her to me, then leave us." Namor says, sitting down upon the throne.

sea_shelly:

Marrina had been having unusual pain in her ankles for the last few days.  They'd been sore to the touch and a little swollen.  She'd had the team doctors look them over, but they couldn't find anything.  Given that they had only the barest understanding of how her biology worked (she apparently had a few organs no one could figure out the purpose of) in the first place, it had not been that surprising.

The previous night, however, had proven to be a particularly bad one.  The pain had roused her from her sleep several times until, just before dawn, it had become almost unbearable.   She'd woken biting down the urge to cry out from the pain, pain so bad it felt like her ankles were going to split open.

Which is what they had been doing.  From her ankle bones, on either side of her leg, something had been pushing through, forcing its way out from underneath the skin.  It hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it....

was wings?  Smallish wings had sprouted on her ankles, strange and sudden in the water.  They were definitely a part of her.  She could feel them.

Slowly, she pulled herself out of her sleeping pod and swung her legs over the sides.  She put careful weight on her feet and stood up. 

Namor had wings like this.  So did Namora and Namorita.  She was from that same bloodline.  Did that make it make sense that she did too?  But why now?  Did it have something to do with her Plodex half?

She opened the door to the hallway.  There had to be... something she could do to figure this out.

(And she was more than a little interested in seeing if she could actually fly...)

sea_shelly:

Marrina doubled checked the locks on the doors.  They were absolutely locked.   She double checked that the security cameras for the pool had been turned off.  They were.

The pool in Alpha Flight's headquarters was, by her request, entirely fresh water, no chemicals and no chlorine, and on a constant purification cycle.  It was expensive, but her physiology depended on being able to properly hydrate and submerge herself at least once every seven hours or so.  She preferred to only go about five, but seven started to push it.  And if she was out of water for more than twelve...

She didn't like to think about that.

Today, however, had been a particularly stressful day.  The submersion chamber she used for sleeping was being cleaned, so that was out.  And she'd spent the better part of the day assuring various government officials, who'd finally gotten around to reading the mission logs, that her first loyalty was to Canada, while also telling them in no uncertain terms that she was not going to be used to put any kind of pressure on Namor and that she was fully intending to keep her royal title.

And then she'd talked to her parents, the Smallwoods, about her encounter with her birth father, something she'd been putting off.  It had been a good conversation, she assured them that they would always be her parents in her mind, but that she did also need to try and make room for Namor, who would have raised her if he had but known.

She sighed.  It had been way too long a day and the only thing she'd wanted to do was catch a quick nap.  But since that was out of the question, she'd gotten herself a little privacy this way.  She disrobed and dropped into the pool, sinking to the bottom and just breathing in and out, letting the water take her cares away.

sea_shelly:

The Olympics, as everyone knew, were being held in Canada this year.  Canada took this very seriously.  Canada took everything that put it on the international stage seriously, which meant that they were taking security for the Olympics very seriously.  Which meant using their very own super-hero team.  Which meant, of course, Alpha Flight.

Fortunately, it had been quiet so far and with nothing that could not be handled by regular security had happened.

Marrina was just glad there was no Atlantean team.  It left her free to root for Canada.  They'd done well, but but nearly as well as she'd like.

She tapped her communicator.  "This is Marrina, checking in at the hockey rink.  No problems here."

got_the_touch:

So... yeah, okay. They'd still never had time to address the whole dating versus boyfriend/girlfriend issue yet, but Mason was content to let that wait a little longer. He'd never dated before.

But it was Valentine's Day, so the girl gets romance. That's just how it goes. He'd tried calling Dad to get some advice, but Mom had wrestled the phone away from him to stop him talking, and before he could build a new one, told Mason just to be himself. Which didn't help at all. So, he'd set to work on his own.

He'd automatically decided that something handmade was best. Of course he'd cashed in one of the vouchers from Jordie to set up dinner reservations, after some careful prodding in conversation to figure out what kind of food suited Marrina best, but he wanted do something on top of that. Money was money, and could buy very nice things, but he wanted to show the effort himself.

He'd torn apart a greeting card that played music, "Just what I Needed", to extract the audio component, and inserted it into one he made himself. Well, that was after a dozen or so papercuts and a lot of aborted attempts. (He wished he could reconstitute paper products, but his powers still didn't seem to be able to crack the organic/inorganic barrier. Oh well, that's what recycling bins were for.) It was a rather nice, if simple, card (he can't draw), brightly colored with a mosaic heart of various bits of construction paper glued on the front and with a brief note inside.

Marrina,

You are a very sweet, strong, and intelligent member of the team, and much more attractive and awesome than I ever expected anyone willing to go out with me would be.

XOXO
Mason

P.S. I'd like you even if you weren't a princess or a superhero.

He came within a hair of putting in 'Love, Mason', but chickened out just a little. He doesn't want to be too aggressive.

The homemade chocolate had come out well, according to the test pieces he'd sectioned off from the main assortment. Only a few burns, and no major kitchen disasters.

Finally, the 'hard' gift. A metal jewelry box lined with velvet (okay, so he couldn't make the velvet himself, he had to cut up some from a fabric shop). He'd used acid etching to decorate the surface of it, and again came out with only a couple minor burns, and scratches from the edges before he got them smoothed out. Now granted, his mutant powers made handmaking the jewelry box a little less of an undertaking than it would be otherwise, but he was quite pleased with how it came out. Inside the box were a pair of spiral shell earrings he'd plated with metal.

And so, he knocks at Marrina's door at the appointed time, dressed in the nicest jacket he has, arms full of his efforts, hands partially bandaged, and ready to take her out to dinner.

sea_shelly:

Namor had been surprisingly grateful for the assistance of the Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight, and once his own transportation had been sent for, had even thrown a feast for his victorious allies.  They would be all be going home soon.

But before that could happen, Namorhad asked to see Marrina.  Privately, away from the others.

Her birth-father.  Who didn't know.

She knocked, was bidden to enter, and entered the private chamber quietly.  "You...  wanted to see me, your highness?"

ng_atlantis:

When last we left our heroes, the hordes of Atlantis were heading straight for Canada, ready to enact great vengeance upon the surface world.  The Fantastic Four had intervened, but were shot down over the open ocean  (fortunately, the could all fly).  But now they face an army of Atlanteans, including their mysterious leader....

Alpha Flight, alerted to the thread to Canada, has set off in its Alpha Flier in order to fight for truth, justice, and the Canadian Way!  Fortunately for all concerned in this aquatic battle royal, Alpha Flight possesses not just one, but two aquatic heroes--the shapeshifter, Alex, and Marrina, daughter of the legendary Sub-Mariner himself!

Who will win?  Will the hordes of Atlantis overtake Canada and then the world?  And what has happened to the Atlantean Royal Family, Namor, Namora, and Namorita?

Find out...

got_the_touch:

Mason had been feeling like an ass.

Well, no, that's not entirely true. He was feeling pretty good in some aspects. Survived his first mission, chemical burns were pretty much healed. He also had a really pretty girl that he was dating (way too soon to declare girlfriend).

The ass part came in with teammates having given him way better presents than he'd had the money to get them at the time.

Now however, he had some government paychecks under his belt, and it was time to start making some contributions to the team. Starting with picking up on what Jordie had missed out on with his man teen-cave. Official-looking signage politely explained why there was a large two foot thick iron plate blocking the doorway should anyone open it. Heavy enough it took multiple transfigurings to open and shut the hole in it he passed, but security was important for this.

First order of business had been seating. Leather couches were slick, and shiny, but they just didn't have that crash space feel. That's why everyone was getting their own Sumo chair. Plush, stylish, nice. Not being shippable to Canada, these had taken some doing. Fortunately, Mason still had the address of a primary school pen-pal from New York on file, so they were shipped there, then the friend was wired the funds to mail them on to the base. Well, not the base actually, but the nearest post office he'd been able to rent a mailbox at. Along with regularly renting an unmarked van, Mason had been able to get them to the base without ruining the surprise of what they were. The same trend of mailbox followed by private transit followed for the rest of the gear.

Jordie had done a great job getting the place situated so far for music needs, but there was a vital component missing. Karaoke. Mason bought the best machine his budget allowed for, then had it sent to his Dad, who installed a speech to text program and hardware so they could make non-karaoke cd's work just the same as regular ones. There was some disclaimer Madison included about the potential of the unit melting if certain selections by Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Curt Cobain, or Jimmy Reed were put in for translation. This was clearly marked on a sign next to the unit, requesting that official cd's be used for them. The machine was set up with a small stage for people to step up on, various microphones (stand, overhead, or headset), and small spotlights. The stage was notably wheelchair accessible.

Finally, not to rain on Mel's culinary parade, but junk food was needed. What Mason referred to in his head as a 'campus kitchenette' took shape in a corner nearest the main tv. Soda fountain from a restaurant supply store, toaster oven, and microwave. A cabinet had been installed that was now stocked with Hostess products, Pop-Tarts, candy, chips, and dip. There was no need for microwave popcorn, as an actual popcorn popper stood next to the soda fountain. A mini-fridge in the bottom of the cabinet stocked with cheese and cold-cuts seemed to furnish nacho and sandwich needs, and a bulletin board with takeout menus arranged by cuisine style completed the setup. Paper plates and biodegradable disposable utensils only.

"Awesome." He smiled and nodded to himself as he finished with the last of the installations, then retreated to shower and change.

After he was presentable, he announced that everyone was to report to the Temple of Boom for the unveiling of what the Official Jeffries Business had been for the past half a month. They'd find him in one of the sumo chairs with a plate of fresh nachos.

nextgen_misc:

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

New Year's Resolutions
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Anonymous entries accepted.

nextgen_deviant:

The brides were clad in white and lined up in front of the altar. A semi-circle of priests stood behind the brides and were chanting. The magic in the air became more powerful as the priests chanted. A small circle appeared in the air before the brides and started to get bigger.

Standing behind the priests was a large group of deviants. They were witnessing the rebirth of their god into the mortal realm. It was an honor and privilege to be witness to this historic moment.

old_saint_nick:

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

Christmas Day is a Christian holiday, it's true, but it also has become increasingly secular. It is an opportunity for love, charity, and goodwill.

There is some debate within mystical circles if there is indeed such a creature as the embodiment of Christmas Giving known as Santa Claus. But whether or not there is such a being, the spirit of giving itself is very real, be it incarnated in a fat man in a red suit or not.

Throughout this small blue planet of Earth, people have brought trees into their homes, decorated them with lights and ornaments, and placed them in locations of honor. Stockings have been placed on the chimneys. And gifts have been placed under the tree.

Some are looking forward more to the receiving than the giving. But for many, it is the act of giving which warms them, which fills them with the holiday spirit.

Each person, in their own way, becomes a part of this spirit of giving. Each person, in their own way, becomes Santa Claus.

Alpha Flight headquarters are fairly drab, but some lighting and decorations have been hung, and a tree sits in the common area. As for the team themselves...

mapleleafsuit:

Before entering the building he reads his personnel file one more time.  Randy was always more intuitive with these files then he was.  If he didn't feel the ex-MP was the only one he could trust Bryan would never have shared a damn thing with a civilian, even if it wasn't Randy's fault. 

Jeez, it was a year ago.  They'd sent his fiancée into so-called a domestic disturbance call.  It turned out to be a hostage situation and the punk targeted Randy.  Being a generous soul, Randy wrote the whole thing off as a bad coincidence - just something that could happen to any cop, much less one around a highly armed population.  Bryan was more cynical.  He thought Sir - his nickname for his dad - might have hand in it.  Randy, of course, make a joke about Bryan's paranoia at the very idea.  What he hadn't told the love of his life is that Sir offered a command and promotion if he found someone more "military wife" material. 

Besides, Randy could have been the next Tony Stark.  The Vinicator suit performed a lot better after a week in their basement.

Well Sir, he thought You wanted me serving my country honorably?  How do you like this?   He walks into his new command, literally wrapped in the flag.  Let the fun begin.

got_the_touch:

Movie tickets? Check.

Dressed semi-nicely? Check.

Flowers? ...kind of.

Mason straightened himself up and knocked on the door to Marrina's room. His First Date ever; hopefully it wouldn't be a total wreck. Jordie had given him pretty good advice after all, and he always seemed to do alright with the ladies back home.

nextgen_deviant:

The town of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada had a population that was close to 5500. It wasn’t a big town in terms of towns, but it had a long history and was in a good location. It sat in Conception Bay protected from the harsh winter storms and not far from St. Johns the capital of the island allowing the town to be a hub for transportation and distribution for the island.

It was Halloween and the residents were celebrating. The children were dressed up and trick-or-treating and some adults were dressed up as well. Some adults dressed up as things from pop culture and some a ghoulish fiends. It was a night of fun for everyone.

Along the shore in the bay a more sinister thing was happening. Dark misshapen figures crawled out of the water and crawled ashore. These were creatures of nightmares and they weren’t costumes. The Deviants, with a few priests, started walking toward the town.

purplegeist:

They'd managed to wake Emily to get the elephants taken care of. They'd managed to get everyone back to Alpha Flight headquarters. They'd managed to call David and Misha's parents on the way. They'd managed...a lot of things, really.

The first thing Mel had done upon arriving home was dash to a washroom to be sick for a moment, then to clean off her face and hands. From this, figuring no one could need her for any more right now, she snuck into her own room, into her own walls, and put on some music.

No one will be prevented from entering the 'empty' purple room, certainly. But she wasn't going to bother anyone anytime soon.

ng_weaponx:

Tessa stayed huddled in the corner even after the lights came back on. She watched Misha in his cell until they came and took him away. The guilty feeling got worse when they dragged him out of the cell and took him away. Tessa knew where they were taking him and what they were going to do to him.

There had to be a way to help him and his brother even from within this cell. The question was what could she do from in here and with her powers. It wasn't like she could blast her way out or even use her powers on the guards in the immediate area.

Tessa stood up and started pacing. There had to be a way out of here. Nothing was escape proof. She just had to think this through. While anyone wouldn't consider her a genius, she wasn't an idiot either and wasn't a mass of flesh like Nicholas. Given time she could figure things out on her own. The problem was she didn't know how much time she had before they came to get her for reprogramming.

Before a plan or an idea could take root in her head, the lock on the door to her cell clicked open. Cautiously she approached the door and tried it. It opened and she took a hesitant step into the hallway. Not a guard in sight. This was definitely unexpected and she wondered if it was a setup. Now she was just waiting for Nicholas to appear out of nowhere and kill her while she was 'attempting to escape' or some other thin excuse like that.

While she had some temporary freedom, she may as well try to get the younger Logan kid out of his cell and try to get him out of the complex. Carefully and very cautiously she walked over to his cell.

strongbox:

In the process of spending a ton of time getting everyone's new computer equipment set up, Jordan does some reading. If this is going to be Alpha Flight, he wants to make sure they're not missing anything important. He's read the contracts several times, but the government and Alpha Flight's history may include something he's missed.

While skimming, something makes him stop in the Weapon X Project. Sure, its officially disbanded, but it was still another government run organization - if something like that started up again, where would they fall?

"The hell? Why did they move all the equipment to the states? That doesn't make any sense." He does some more digging, including a little hacking. Just a little, really. Every step he takes makes him more and more confused. Especially when some cross checking turns up the news regarding Logan's sons.

"This is really not good."

He pokes the coms. "Folks, I think we have a problem."

strongbox:

The base was nice, and definitely spacious, but it wasn't home. The government gave them no real budget for outfitting the base with creature comforts, and while the current set up would be quite comfortable, even luxurious for line soldiers, as far as Jordan was concerned, it was entirely unacceptable for teenagers. This was going to be fixed.

The one thing he has relatively easy access to is electronics at a discount, so that's where he starts, along with the necessities. Even then, its a busy day.

It starts with the subtle stuff he can sneak into people's rooms. He has no idea what people have for computer systems of their own, but the government issue 'can check e-mail and file reports and not much else' systems are entirely insufficient. So everyone gets gift certificates to either get a custom cpu, or seriously upgrade what they have.
Everyone also gets a sound system worthy of belonging in a teenager's room. Music is a must. To go with it, there's gift cards for 'The Beat Goes On', so everyone can get a few dozen used CDs or several new ones.
Alex in particular takes some work, but Jordan insists he be treated like everyone else. So he gets a 128 CD changer and a large push button remote so he'll never need to handle a CD once they're loaded, and could change the CD in almost any form with paws.

He's not as connected where beds are concerned, but military style twin beds are also not ok. Ikea gift certificates are added so people can bring in something nicer, or equip the kitchen instead if they like. Alex, again, is included, with explanation that Jordan will pick something up on his behalf.

The real changes, however, are in the process of being made to the main lounge. The old metal card table and 6" TV are stuck in a closet. A coffee table complete with cupholders is ordered instead. The room is equipped with movie theater quality surround sound, Jordan hangs the speakers himself for best effect. Black leather couches are on order as well, and a room layout taped out. Jordan is currently working on installing the 60" flat screen TV, the centerpiece of the room, and hooking the sound system to it.
He's made sure to be as sneaky as possible, and work a lot in the middle of the night so there's some surprise involved, so the first sign most people are likely to get of the work being done is the sound checks, as well as the sign now hung over the lounge door:
Welcome to the Temple of Boom.

strongbox:

True to his word, Jordan found the kitchen, but no one cooking. Finding a good selection of the food put out for their arrival, but no grill, he takes a couple grates apart, cleans them up, and sets up a firepit outside with makeshift grills over it. A good fire follows, and its not long before the phantom smells of steak earlier are becoming real ones. The heat doesn't seem to bother him any, beyond being warm enough to hang his shirt over a tree branch. Despite his commentary, he hasn't given anyone a hard time for bikinis or lack thereof.

strongbox:

It had been a long flight. It took a while, but eventually he had managed to convince his adoptive parents that this was the right decision. He'd read all of the government's materials on the way over, getting a pretty good idea what was in store for the new Flight team. Expendable he could handle - what was the use of invulnerability otherwise? Not sure he liked that atmosphere for his teammates, but then no one was forced to join either, right?

Having connections to the Alpha and Gamma programs both, and parents the government wanted to remain on good terms with had its benefits. He was the first to arrive, even before their handler. He had his security card from the information packet, so getting in to the low security areas was no problem. He picked out a room and tossed his bags in, then grabbed a towel and headed for the shower to wake up and clean up after the all too crowded flight.