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.

nextgen_holiday:

Each year toward the end of December people come together with friends and family to celebrate and exchange gifts. The atmosphere is light, merry and there is plenty of cheer to go around. Holiday music fills the air while bright colorful lights light up the nights. Mistletoe is placed in strategic locations and people are willing caught under it.

It's a time of celebration, even for superheroes.

brit_sorcerer:

The annual tradition of Rate the Babe was usually held at the Avengers mansion, but this year it would be held at Excalibur's headquarters in London. Quinn was more than happy to play host and set up refreshments. There was of course plenty of beer and it was accompanied by pub food.

Quinn was already on his fourth beer when the guys started arriving.

ze_leaper:

Adrienne was not, by nature, much of an early riser.  Not when her "job" very often required her to be out very late at night.  In many of the cities of the world she had traveled to in her time as a cat burglar, this was not a problem.  There were ever so many cities that never seemed to sleep.

But now, when she only pulled a job on rare occasion (and always, she would stress, from someone who actually deserved it), and kept her skills sharper through the occasional consultation job, she actually spent regular hours in a bed.  Distressing, really.  She was quite nearly legitimate these days.

Not that it made her father any less proud.  He had nearly gone straight himself a time or two, and both of them lived quite well by their codes of honor.

But at the moment, it was still fairly nearly in the morning, a little after seven.  Adrienne was the first up--or at least, the first one into the kitchen--so she was making some crepes.

magic_hands:

Martin patiently waited by the door for Manny. Since it was colder now, he wore a blazer on top of his vest, but the ever-present hat was still perched on his head. 

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.

ze_leaper:

Adrienne had, despite the lack of any real Thunderbolts action since their "test", still managed to keep relatively busy.   There were always clients with jobs, though she had, in fact, been turning the majority of them down or referring them to other, capable, individuals.  Perhaps her time as a hero was turning her soft. 

But she did still take the odd job, nothing that would lead back to her teammates.  Several of them had, in fact, been legitimate enough, in that companies liked having someone capable test their security systems (and it gave her a leg up if she ever needed to break into them on her own).  And, of course, there had been a few jobs she'd done without being hired to do, corrupt individuals or businesses who preyed upon others that could stand to lose something.  Most of that money went to better causes than herself.  Like ze Robin Hood, no?

And there was Millicent, of course, out there somewhere, with those people who had attacked them.  Who had warned her to run while she could.  As if she had ever been good at doing what she was told?  She had not told the others that she had known her attacker.  She had no desire to see her friend bring the wrath of the super-powered Gendarmerie upon herself.

Today, however, she was in the gym, going through some gymnastics routines.

charmedlife:

"Manny? Kelly?" Bea asked over the comms. "Could you meet me in the den?"

soft_inside:

 Manny was getting ready for movie night. He had a big bowl of chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream in one hand, and a bag of cheddar cheese Ruffles in the other. He hadn't decided on what to watch yet, but that was half the fun.

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.

magic_hands:

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:

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.

charmedlife:

Fava beans, and a nice Chianti.

Bea had definitely not prepared any liver, though. Just rice and cheese and potatoes. Finally, it was all ready, and she poured the wine, plated the food, and got on the communication system. "Manny, could you meet me in the dining room, please?"

soft_inside:

 Manny sat in the massive chair, nervously twiddling his thumbs, taking frequent glances at the door. He took several breaths in an ateempt to settle his nerves, but it wasn't really helping.

magic_hands:

"Manny? Are you free for lunch?" He'd been showing up to HQ more since the whole therapy thing suggested he should. But he still needed to get out of the HQ for some fresh air and he needed someone to come with him if he wanted to eat out. The Sanctum was currently being used for whatever serious business Dr. Strange was dealing with, which meant that he couldn't stay over there. "We can stay in the city I promise! I can't go for lunch by myself..." He hoped the older guy would agree, Manny was nice and Martin figured he'd be good lunch company.

soft_inside:

 Manny had managed to have a suit made to fit his body, even if it cost him a pretty penny. He wasn't going to embarrass Bea by going to a fancy restaurant "naked". He carefully opened his dresser and picked up the coupon like it was a precious item. With a deep breath he went to find Bea.

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."

nextgen_misc:


You are cordially invited to attend

Terra Nova Charity Fundraiser

Twenty-Fourth of September Two Thousand Twelve

New York Botanical Gardens' Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

Seven pm until one am.

Formal dress required

ze_leaper:

It was, in her estimation, not exactly a difficult job, though the security system was more advanced than what she was usually used to.  But Adrienne had spent a considerable amount of time staking the place out and watching the comings and goings of the people who lived there.  More importantly, the plans provided by her employers, along with a few technological extras (she'd waived a portion of her fee in exchange for getting to keep them, in fact), should have made it easy enough.

More importantly, if she had done her work correctly, there was a slight gap in where the external security cameras covered.  But you would have to be able to fly, practically, to hit the spot correctly.

Fly... or leap.

She took a step backwards and then ran forward across the roof, leaping at the last second.  The strength in her legs was great and it carried her the distance, the suction cups she'd applied to her gloves letting her cling to the building's side.  Small tools made short work of the window latch and the security system, and she was able to slip inside.

She looked around and quickly nodded to herself, moving with all stealth.  The nice thing about most security systems was that when people were actually there, they tended to run at a much lower level.  Perfect.  And there was the lab.   And someone had even left the door slightly ajar. 

Almost too easy.  Carefully and quietly, she began to creep inside.

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!"

anyastark:

It was Saturday and that meant spending the day with Buck, but apparently bad guys had no consideration for her love life and had decided to attack. How rude. The Avengers were called out and Buck had texted her to let her know something had come up which meant that Anya had a free day.

There was the temptation to go hide in the lab or even go into the office, but she decided to stay in her pajamas and make her way down to the rec room. It had been forever since she had been able to sit and watch a movie. Today she was going to take advantage of the cancellation in plans and do her best impression of a couch potato.

She popped in Breakfast at Tiffanys and stretched out on the couch.

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.

soft_inside:

 Manny walked steadily, slowly maybe (?), looking for Bea. Why the heck was he so nervous. It wasn't  a date..was it. Was that what he was thinking of doing? No, no, no...no?

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.

charmedlife:

Oh, Bea couldn't be having with this anymore. Not after nearly 71 hours.

She found the number, got on the phone. "Hello, is this Buck Rogers, in whatever century is appropriate?"

soft_inside:

 Manny's current job had him looking after a wannabe-popstar. Not exactly a glamorous gig. The worst he'd had to deal with was an over-enthusiastic fangirl screaming she wanted to have the guy's baby. Manny rolled his eyes. It certainly looked like he was hitting a slump. Maybe he should try and work things out with the UWF execs.