mishaloganovich:

A promise is a promise, and Misha promised to help divert the brat's boyfriend while she set up the surprise party. Although if Steve couldn't figure out what was going on, he wasn't bright enough to be Anya's boyfriend.

He even promised not to scare him off, but that was okay. Anya could be scary enough by herself.

He showed up to collect Steve, with Charlie as a chaser, for a few hours' of talk at a family style bar. He could get a beer, Steve could have a soda, and they could good-naturedly rib each other about who was the B-Team these days.

It was the Avengers, of course. Junior X-Men, pound per pound, were far more powerful than the PeeWee Avengers.

anyastark:

It had been a very busy week, but things were finally ready for Steve’s party. Misha and Charlie had taken him out so they could decorate the mansion and get all the tables for food set up. Once the tables were set up, there were enough hands to get all the trays of food out on the tables in very little time.

Anya wouldn’t have asked Jarvis to cook so much, so it had been catered. Jarvis had insisted on making the cake though.

Hor'dourves consisted of cocktail shrimp, chicken satay, beef satay, peking dumplings, pigs in a blanket among a few. Pizzas, a wide selection of various Chinese food selections, chips, pretzels, Doritos, popcorn, cola, diet cola, root beer, Sprite, punch (unspiked), and cider (not hard) were also available for consumption. There was even a chocolate fountain with pieces of fruit available for dipping.

Brightly colored balloons and streamers filled the rec room along with a large banner saying ‘Happy Birthday Steve’. It was hanging over the tables. One table was set aside for gifts and many brightly colored packages filled the table.

Now all they had to do was wait for the birthday boy to arrive.

ng_olympian:

Pluto was an unhappy deity.

Not that he was normally happy to start with, but he was unhappier than usual. Losing the Asgardian souls left a bitter taste in his mouth and ate at him. He would have had two, maybe even three, of their souls to add to his kingdom, but victory had slipped through his fingers. He needed something to appease him for the loss of the Asgardian souls. After some thought on the matter, he knew just what he wanted to do and he knew just who to get to help him.

Mephisto would be more than willing to help Pluto. Mephisto had lost out on claiming an Asgardian soul or two. They could both benefit from a brief alliance.

Pluto summoned a minion to be his agent in the mortal realm. Direct action on his part would draw attention too quickly and this plan needed time to work. He gave the minion instructions and set him to Earth.