sandcastlegod:

The sculpture was coming along beautifully, but was resulting in Corey's keeping odd hours. It was around three a.m. when he stumbled to the kitchen to fix himself some chili-cocoa. He soon noticed he wasn't alone.

"Harmony? What's wrong?"

nextgen_misc:

The moon was rising over the city of New Orleans, however, it wasn't the only thing rising in the city tonight. Corpses were rising from their resting places and starting to move through the city. Decaying flesh hung from rotting bones as they shambled through the streets. At first the tourists thought it was a joke or some sort of production, but when the zombies started grabbing tourists and started biting they knew otherwise.

Elsewhere restless spirits moved around and in their anger and anguish stirring up objects and moving them around. Some discarded trashed hit tourists and sent them running. The spirits were encouraged by this and became more and more violent.

The source of this unrest moved through the streets behind Baron Samedi in the form of a cult. He controlled the zombies and the spirits and they had summoned him. The leader of the cult was quite pleased at the chaos that was now present in the streets of New Orleans.

ng_avatars:

Wrath, being the most feared of the seven, led the ceremony in the abandoned warehouse. The seven demons stood around Harold Jenkins and chanted while their followers stood in a circle around them. Harold was a criminal of the worst sort and had just finished killing a family of four when the demons grabbed him and offered him great power. They chanted along with their demon masters.

Wrath held the Medallion of Power and with it they would being a new Vengeance into the world. This one would serve them and their goals and hopefully distract the Ghost Rider and his companions. The city wasn't big enough for the demons and the Champions and New Orleans was the perfect city for them. Vegas was too showy and over the top for most their tastes.

The voice rose in volume until the ceremony reached it's climax. There was a bright burst of flame around Harold and when it died down Vengeance stood in place.

"Go," Wrath said. "Your job is just beginning. There is a city awaiting you. We have even provided you a motorcycle."

Vengeance nodded and climbed onto the waiting bike. The bike roared to life and Vengeance rode out of the warehouse.

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.

perenawska:

Irina had gotten to know Lyta pretty well in the past eleven months the Champions had been together, including finding out when her birthday was. The day had finally rolled around. Irina had gone with a pair of Prada Motorcycle Boots for if and when her boyfriend took her for a ride. She also gave her a card that promised transportation to anywhere in the world, a trip to the spa and a night of drinking.

She coordinated with Corey for the food for the celebration. Corey was cooking dinner and Irina had taken the responsibility of getting the cake. Finding Lyta's favorite kind of cake had been a little difficult to find out, but she had managed to do it. She and Corey got everything ready, assembled the Champions and called Lyta downstairs.

son_of_hercules:

It took Argo, Andy, and Corey no time at all to make their way to the cemetery where he had met with Pluto.  The Lord of Hades had been true to his word as well, for as soon as they crossed through the gates, a great hole opened up in the ground, flames spewing out of it for a moment, before those subsided.  When the flames had cleared, they could see stairs leading deep into the "earth."

Ancient runes were carved into those steps, in some language none of the three would be able to read.  Roughly translated, however, they said things such as "I meant to do it this week," "I was only trying to help," and "I'm going to make a New Years resolution..."

Argo looked down those steps and thought of the woman he loved.  Harmony came easily to mind and he felt his blood boil.  Mephisto would learn that the Son of Hercules was not to be trifled with.  He would free her even if he had to bring all of Hell down upon their heads.

"Shall we?" he asked his companions.

ng_olympian:

Oceania had kept quiet and out of sight since she had last failed to kill the mortal woman, Harmony Watkins, and had instead only succeeded in injuring her true love, Argo. It pained her deeply that she had hurt him, but he had insisted upon defending the weak, pathetic, brief mortal creature, when all she had wanted was to bring about her quick death.

How could Argo not understand that she was the only one for him? She knew it from the moment she had laid eyes upon him in her mortal disguise of "Sheena," had known it even more after a night of passion beyond her wildest dreams.

Argo would be hers, now and until the end of time, and that was all there was to it.

She would not make the mistake, however, of attacking the mortal bitch where Argo could, in his foolish, but ultimately lovable heroic way, try to protect her. No.

Instead, she had learned Harmony's comings and goings, until she could find her alone...

perenawska:

Their first planned shopping trip had been a disaster. Not the end of the world type of disaster, but enough of one to qualify as a disaster. Now that they had been home for a short while, Irina grabbed Lyta for another shopping trip. This one, however, would be in New Orleans. No teleporting or portals involved what so ever.

Shopping was an active sport and it required drinks and food. There was a pause from the day's activity to grab some food and a few drinks in the French Quarter. Irina let Lyta pick the place and within no time they were seated and cooling off with some potent drinks.

"The best part about shopping," Irina said with a grin before she downed her shot of vodka.

a_blessing:

This was starting to get annoying.  Argo had repeatedly explained to the Fan Club that they needed to move on, he was no longer available for their entertainment and their fangirl lust.  He'd done it nicely even and the majority of the girls had been very gracious about it.  One had even gifted Harmony with some lingere that had made her turn so red that the color took two days to fully leave her face.  However, there was one woman that was insistent upon staying put and more than that, was insistent upon giving Harmony complete crap.  Today it was another note about being a "filthy Jesus freak" pinned to the door of HQ. 

"Argo?"  Harmony tracked him down note in hand.  She hoped she'd seen it first as she didn't want any of her teammates seeing it. They'd leap to her defense, which was noble, but she didn't want them having to deal with such petty drama.

"She's at it again."

son_of_hercules:

Navigating the heady waters of a true relationship was foreign sailing to Argo, but he believed it was one he was proceeding through smoothly enough.  He had, true to his word, attempted to disperse the Fan Club.  Unfortunately, many still gathered outside, though the number had thinned somewhat.  Some had taken it well, others had seemed disappointed, others had gotten angry, and a number acted as though he had not spoken at all.

He would seem to do something about that, though he was not sure what as of yet.

But tonight, he had other things on his mind.  Or rather, he had someone else on his mind: Harmony.  He had vowed to do whatever he could to make her happy, even if he did not always understand the whys and wherefores.  Case in point was tonight.  She had asked that he attend a church service with her and he had agreed.  Argo did not pretend to understand the God that Harmony worshiped, save that He was more unknowable, in his opinion, than the gods of his own pantheon or any of the others who existed.  No god that he knew of could claim to have met this God.

Out of deference to allowing Harmony to keep something of a low profile, he had dressed in mortal clothes (which he did possess), though he feared he was still too recognizable.

He waited in the living room for her to finish getting ready.

son_of_hercules:

Following his conversation with Corey, Argo had spent quite a bit of time thinking. He was still uncertain what to do with the fan club (perhaps he could get them to transfer their attentions to Corey? The boy was currently without female companionship of his own and women liked artists, did they not? Yes, if it could be done, he decided this was the best plan, and a wonderful reward for his loyal worshiper), but he had, at least, resolved to do something about the rest of the situation.

The problem, of course, came in locating Harmony. It had become rather difficult of late to find the two of them in the Champions HQ for any significant stretch of time, or even in the same part of it when they were.

This would take cunning. ...Or possibly just sitting in the living room with an eye on the door. That plan was also good.

a_blessing:

She barely noticed them originally but now she couldn't help but see them or hear them nearly any time she walked by a window.  Argo's fan club.  A collection of women with questionable morals and surgically enhanced breasts.  Women who threw underwear with their phone numbers in them.  Woman Argo had interest in.

Women who were so different from herself.  Harmony turned away from her mirror with a sigh, again trying to convince herself that Argo wouldn't notice her period had it not been for some wine so she just needed to get over it.  Yet...she couldn't.  Spa day and shopping?  Thought about Argo.  Went to the grocery store?  Thought about Argo?  It was getting ridiculous and with that in mind, she wandered to the kitchen in search of a snack in the hope she'd get to clear her head.  Of course, on the way she passed a window and saw the fan club so when she arrived in the kitchen, Harmony looked like someone'd kicked a puppy.

This...was going to be an issue.

son_of_hercules:

Argo had woken late, with snoring that probably would have been loud enough to wake the dead if there had been any on the property.  Fortunately, his snoring caused no zombies, but he did seem to find himself alone in the Champion's headquarters when he did wake.  After a shower, he dressed and headed into the kitchen.

Corey had left a note stating there was food in the fridge for him, with instructions--patient, careful, and precise instructions--on how to reheat it.

As he let that reheat, he checked the external security camera.  Mitzy, Cindy, Candy, Mandy, Daphne (Mmm... Daphne), Sheryl, Carol, Bessie, Alice, Caitlin, Caitlynn, Cait Lynn, Mary Anne, Ginger...   It was a light crowd today.

And yet...  debauchery was not in his heart today.  Oh, certainly, he had partaken in it from time to time in recent history, but he was not as sure his heart was as in it as it once was.

His food finished heating, he headed into the living room to turn on the TV.  Clash of the Titans was in the DVD player still, and he decided an additional viewing would be acceptable fair.

ladydevil:

first she went through all her clothing. Then she tried to o her hair in different styles. She then tried playing different kinds of music. Then she ended up finding herself snapping one CD in half because that pig from Weapon X had sweet talked her into buying it all those months ago when she was still new to this universe and so naive about the dangers here.

She manages to get dressed in something that feels normal after than small temper tantrum. Finding that she wants to get out of the building she decides to go see if the other girls on the team are up for getting out of the base for the day. The boys can fend for themselves.

Heading into the kitchen where everyone seems to meet up she waits to see when everyone will find themselves drawn into the kitchen. It should be easy to talk them into going out.

a_blessing:

Harmony discovered rapidly that walking and trying to help Argo do the same did not mix well with the meager amount of the Olympian wine she'd consumed.  She felt floaty, then giggly, then weird.  And touchy.  Getting to her room wasn't an option.  It was too far down the hall.  But she could get Argo to his.  She hoped.

"Here...here we are!"  She stumbled into the room with Argo before tumbling into the bed.  Everything was spinning.  And warm.  "Hot.  In here."

perenawska:

Irina sat on the barstool in a bar down the street from Champions' headquarters. She didn't feel like going back there just yet, but this place was close enough to make her feel like she was home. Since the incident with rescuing the kids and with her father, Irina hadn't been back to the Champions' headquarters. She didn't want to see the stares or the look of accusation in their eyes.

She didn't blame them. The man who had experimented on children and had done many other horrible things was her father and she hadn't told them. Granted she didn't know about the horrible things he did until Nicholas worked his mojo on Alexi, but it didn't matter. He was a horrible man, a monster, and she had stuck up for him. She protected him from them and didn't hand him over to the authorities like she should have.

Irina gulped down a shot of vodka and refilled the glass.

Maybe it was time to move on. It's not like the Champions were going to forgive her any time soon and quite frankly she didn't blame them. She had in a way betrayed them and she deserved everything she got in return. Leaving Russia and home hadn't felt this bad.

Irina sighed heavily and drank down another shot.

It was time to call the Winter Guard and get reassigned.

lytaworthington:

Through clever research (also known as sneaking a quick pick at her i.d card when she wasn't looking), Lyta had found out that it was Irina's birthday. While it wasn't thirty, twenty-nine was still a pretty big reason to celebrate. Lyta'd bought her a new pair of brand-new, top of the line throwing knives, and fully intended on taking her out drinking with anyone that wished to join them. It was all on her.

Small box containing the knives in hand, Lyta knocked on Irina's door.

nextgen_citizen:

Four, as the girl was known as, looked at the boy standing next to her. Her stomach was twisted up in hunger and she needed to eat. Soon. It had been a few days since the last time they managed to find some food. Dumpsters outside of restaurants were great places to find something resembling edible, but they were usually chased away before they could really find anything worth eating.

The boy shrugged.

"We have to eat," Four said.

"I know," Ten, as he was called, answered. "There's a building there that looks like a club. Maybe there's something in the dumpster out back in the alley." She was right. They had to eat soon. It had been a week since they escaped from the building that had been their home for the past few months. They had no memories of anything before that.

There had been an /incident/ and the two had managed to escape. Ten had always been curious about the outside world. They had made their way to New Orleans and lived in the streets.

Four and Ten made their way to the dumpster behind the club and started rooting around in it.

a_blessing:

Harmony always opted to go to St. Vincent's for mass on Sunday mornings.  They were one of the rare Catholic churches that still did sunrise services once a month, services that had been Harmony's favorite since she was a little girl back in Kansas.  Nowadays they were more than just favored; now they were practical, given how nocturnal Sin generally was.  He'd been very honest from the beginning--he didn't do the "God thing."  Much to her surprise this hadn't put her off.  Harmony chose to accept it and not to press.  He never stopped her from worship and she appreciated that.  It was just an item of life they could not share but had found a middle ground.  This was, she thought, how relationships were supposed to work.  It didn't mean that she had to completely leave Sin out of the little things that made her sunrise mass so important to her.  Coffee and pastries were also part of the routine for her and sunrise services played to her advantage: this early in the morning there were now crowds, only the devoted slipping from the cathedral and onto the morning-lit streets.

Smiling to herself, she paid for breakfast before slowly walking up the street and back to Sin's.  Her mind was already on surprising him, thoughts far from anything more than that.  Distracted, she misses the way the shadows pull from the corners of buildings and that the birds have stopped singing.   She misses everything until she hears a rustle of wings and then a blood-curdling screech-like noise right behind her as a dark, winged creature descends from the sky and heads right for her sending the other people on the street scattering.  And the winged beast is not the only one, just the largest in what appears to be a small army of gargoyles come to life.

Harmony screams.