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:

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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.

nextgen_holiday:

The beginning of a New Year, a time for new hopes, new experiences to come. A time to reflect on times past, remembering fond memories happily and trying to put less pleasant thoughts and experiences in the past.

It is a time of renewal, a time of rebirth. And for much of the world, it is a time of celebration. This is no less true for the super hero set as anyone else. If anything, they just have that much bigger of things to look forward to.

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...

nextgen_deviant:

It was time to bring Set back into the world and bring about a new age for the Earth. Mammals would no longer be the dominant species and humans, those foul evolved apes, will be slaves once more. Slaves like they used to be before the accursed Celestials wiped out most of the deviants and lizard men.

The priests knew what needed to be done. One of the special deviants, those modified to better fight for Set, would accompany them and take the brides into custody. Teleporting was much easier now that Set’s influence in the world was getting stronger. The priests did it now with very little effort.

The priests teleported in near the brides, they were marked and easy to find now, and once they were alone, a small spell was cast and the bride went unconscious. The priest’s escort picked her up and the trio teleported back to Lemuria.
It had only taken a matter of moments to retrieve all seven brides.

Once they were back in Lemuria, the brides had been dressed in white dresses and cloaks and prepared for the coming of their lord Set. They were then arranged around the serpent crown and the ritual began.

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:

Well, Mason Jeffries' first day as a superhero was off to a pretty good start. He'd already met a pretty girl and gotten his stuff dropped at his quarters. Now for a little looking around, see who else there is to meet, and hopefully track down his big brother Jordan.

Oh yeah. This was gonna be awesome. First day as a superhero and he's already set up for his first date.

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:

Melanie Hall was cheering herself up a bit by doing something useful at which she was good. Beside the purple oven, currently, were cooling a batch of almond meringue cookies and a batch of butterscotch oatmeal cookies.
After the ventilations shift to send the scent further throughout the building, the oven door opened on a blackberry pie. She returned to herself and started transferring half of two-thirds of each batch of cookies onto plates, and one third of each batch into a sealed container. She put the container in a box with a note that said, simply, "Hope you and your brother are doing okay."

Once the package for David Roberts at Xavier's was set to be mailed, Mel returned to the kitchen to see if the others were there.

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.

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.