charmedlife:

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

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.

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.

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?"

charmedlife:

Power was back on. They had as much information as they could get at the moment. Bea'd asked Manny to check on a few things for her and was taking the opportunity to down the maximum safe amount of standard painkillers with a tall glass of water.

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?"

anyastark:

Traditions were important.

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

Anya had been up at the crack of dawn and readied the Thunderbolts' headquarters. Normally this would take place in the Avengers Mansion, but the boys would be holding Rate the Babe there and the girls needed their own space. She made travel arrangements for everyone invited. Avengers, X-Men, SHIELD, Future Foundation, Alpha Flight, Champions, and the Defenders.

Anya had the event catered by a local restaurant, not wanting to make the Thunderbolts chef have to feed so many people. She had even made sure that all of the Kelly's guns were unloaded.

Everything was ready for their guests.

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.

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."

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!"

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. 

nextgen_citizen:

Car alarms went off and people screamed, a few firing shots, as a metahuman rampage is in progress. Police bands are abuzz with reports of six mutants or robots or something that shouldn't be causing significant property damage. Reports are sparse, with the only details about the attackers being 'tall', 'strong', and 'brightly colored'.

The individuals were human in shape, but completely covered in single color suits. They were strong, and fast, and nothing police or bystanders seemed to be throwing at them would make them stay down for long.

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:

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

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

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

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.

favoredheir:

Nicolai made sure that a message was send to the Wild Pack letting them know that they had a conference call meeting at 11 about a potential mission. He wanted them all there and on their best behaviors. There were a lot of zeroes attached to this.

When the others got there they would find Nicolai seated a cup of coffee in front of him on the table going over the latest reports and numbers. The conference room itself was fairly nice looking with a modern feel to it.

charmedlife:

"Okay. Our appointment at Ryker's is tomorrow," Beatrice told their guest. "This afternoon, would you care to watch some Man From U.N.C.L.E DVDs with me?"

sand_girl:

Sarita stood at the airport, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the representative of Silver Sable International. She briefly contemplated her sutcase. It was the first time she'd left the country, let alone home. However, she was determined to see this through. She had to learn the truth about what happened to her dad. The idea of him returning to crime just didn't feel right, not when compared to the caring man she'd known growing up. And now that she'd inherited her father's gift, she wouldn't let anyone get in her way of finding him.

favoredheir:

At Zaytinaya the next day after Kelly’s little surprise Nicolai had shown up there with Bea. It wasn’t a long flight to get there from New York. They briefly talked to the Hostess before being taken to a table off to the side for a little bit of privacy.

goesbothways:

On their return to Symkaria, Kelly called up her sister to let her know there were presents for her and Nicolai, but she'd have to present them to them at the same time.

While she's waiting, in her typical officious and severe manner, she's switched into her Facebook styled 'SEX WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND - 79 PEOPLE LIKE THIS' t-shirt, and is practicing playing DDR - standing on her hands.

charmedlife:

Shortly after her latest Realization, Beatrice managed to find Nicolai when they could be alone. This required some discretion -- one could argue that telling Kelly had been a bad idea, then, Bea trusted her not to do anything dangerous in a way that wouldn't be profitable or amusing.

"Nicolai, we have to talk about Sean."

dont_touch_me:

Sean had been stuck with eyes on him at all times during his stay with Wild Pack.  Honestly, the boss really knew how to pack on the punishment.  Getting stuck playing prisoner/teammate for these guys was horrible.  He had the urge to take off his suit sometimes and just bodyslam Kelly into the void.  Of course, that would get him in trouble with more than just Wild Pack.  So he had to deal with it.

And he dealt with it by grabbing a bite to eat.  He was at least allowed enough access to get that.

nextgen_misc:

The invitations to THE wedding of the year went out today. Heads of state, diplomats and dignitaries from all over the world would be receiving invitations. The fervor over the wedding was building and would reach a peak when Kate Middleton walked down the isle.

charmedlife:

It was Paris Theodore Day, a family tradition for Beatrice Dayspring and her mother, and Bea's place had been chosen for the rendezvous point, because one can't go the restaurant and open Paris Theodore Day gifts there. People, surprisingly, frowned on that sort of thing.
Mom wasn't there yet, and neither was Kelly. She hoped this would go well. She'd tried to warn Mom.

She had both of their little presents packaged and on the coffee table. She'd told Kelly not to bother, because she'd included a traditional Paris Theodore Day gift in her Christmas present.

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.
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+

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.

dont_touch_me:

"Yes, sir," Sean 'Weatherly' replied before being left at the doorstep of Nicolai Sablinova.  Apparently, it was now his job to make things right with the guy for failing to spy on him effectively.  At least, that was what he was told.  There was, of course, an undertone of 'we expect to hear things about the team from you'.  Sean just wondered how it was possible that Nicolai and his hired help even agreed to this.

Whatever, though.  Nothing to dwell on.  It wasn't his job to think about why he was sent to do things.  He just had to do them.  With that in mind, he knocked on the door.

favoredheir:

Symkaria’s recovery after all it had been through was well underway and there wasn’t much more Nicolai could do to help out. Overall the recovery was going smoothly and quickly which was good. The scientists were of course looking into new security upgrades and improvements to their weapons to overcome any difficulties they had come into during the attack. A lot of the research was into electromagnetic pulse technology after all the robots.

Nicolai had gone by to New York to help with running Silver Sable International. He was also looking into thing with HYDRA. What they did would not go unpunished even if it took them decades to do it. He was in his office going over files.

charmedlife:

Definitely needed to distract Nicolai before they all went mad on the news. Until he got clearance to go home, they needed something to get their minds off of This.

So she came in carrying the file someone else had just prepared. "They finished the background check on my sister's girlfriend. And...there's a little insight into her Upsetting Family Issues, at least. She's the orphan of criminals."

charmedlife:

Beatrice new how on-edge Nicolai was as they watched the limited news coverage of the Latverian invasion of Symkaria again. There was no evidence of massive casualties, but then there wasn't evidence of much, and that just added to how infuriating the situation was.

Eventually, "If you don't mind the non sequitur, I recently met -- under admittedly weird circumstances -- a couple of operatives available for work."

nextgen_media:

"Reports are coming in from Symkaria that both major cities are under siege by what are unmistakeably Doombots and other Latverian military automata.

After decades of only occasionally mildly disturbed peace, Latveria has apparently finally invaded its southern neighbor.  Victor Von Doom's motivation for this attack remains unknown; he has made no public statement."

charmedlife:

Not long after her arrival in New York, Beatrice Dayspring was walking down the street to her hotel after handling some business at the local SSI office.

Sometimes she hated 'conveniently' knowing all kinds of things about the people who passed through her Personal Space. That cutie over there had some unfortunate medical conditions, for instance. And the guy who just passed was on heroin, and -- and the two women over there were carrying a total of seven guns, four knives, and not a single permit.

Beatrice couldn't help but slow down to give them a second look.