the_other:

(This scene takes place an one hour after this.)


Ben creeps out his room window quietly, trying not to alert his sister. His parents said he couldn't go out, and that's fine. They didn't say his alter-ego couldn't go out; that was his story and he was sticking to it. He creeps down the side of the building, hand over hand as quickly as possible, until he reaches the alley floor. Once he touches down, he makes a run for it, heading toward Kassi's.

His parents could ground him until he was ninety, but only after his date.

the_other:

Ben didn't know when it would start, only that it would. With all the anti-mutant sentiment going about, it was only a matter of time before it got to Midtown High School. A few people, people he thought he knew well, started going the other way when they saw him coming. Others pretended to be busy with a particular spot on the floor that kept them from looking at him. Gong from one of the most popular sophomores in school to near-pariah in a matter of days didn't bother him nearly as much as where the hate was /really directed.

( Read more... )

 

lady_hood:

Melissa Frost-Robbins will be the first person to tell you she's not crazy. Okay, maybe not /completely/ crazy. She knows some screwed up things have happened to her in her life, and that those things have colored her ideas of right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, moral and immoral. She'll also tell you that she takes care of the people she loves, both friends and family. If Melissa is your friend, she will do anything she can to see you happy.

Even if said happiness rests on expensive food and first-degree kidnapping.

( Did she really go there? Yes, she did.  )

nextgen_holiday:

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

lady_hood:

Melissa appears inside of her (well, it's May's now) apartment, and helps herself to a drink in the fridge. She doesn't see May about and tries to remember her class schedule. Wait, around now...she's at practice for the Gymnastics Team. Melissa knows that her friend is really graceful for being so tall, kind of like Kelly. In fact, Mel can't remember ever seeing either of her two favorite women ever tripping over something or bumping into a wall, like, ever.

Melissa envied them for that, but decided to sit down on the couch and flip on the TV. Less than thirty seconds in, she's flipping the channels aimless, which Spelling Bea greatly dislikes. It's worth sometimes just to see her grumpy, though.

"Anytime now, Pretty Parker. We're on Genuine People Time right now." she says, toying with the idea of fixing up the wards on the apartment while May isn't here. 

She decides to do just that.

queenofcrime:

It was just after the OsCorp’s research and development’s division was closed for the night right between guard shifts that Rose Red had some of her people attack. There was some tech there that she was interested in for less than legal purposes and that she could use to gain an edge for Fisk Industries.

This should be a simple snatch and grab with security being light and the cops that did get there probably wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight either.

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.
19.
20.
+

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.

nextgen_misc:

Franklin and Lyta had worked so hard to put up mental blocks again. Of course, when could anything stay in the green? While Franklin sat down and worked on his homework, something in his brain just clicked. He noticed it, too, but he didn't understand what it was. Instead of worrying about it like he should have, Franklin went back to his homework. If only he had known better.

Suddenly, in the surrounding ten blocks, every teddy bear started to grow and move until they were giant sized. All of them were vicious, and all of them were attacking people in New York City. There were too many for any one hero to stand up against effectively.

nextgen_holiday:

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." JFK

In America today is a day for being thankful for the things in people's lives. Today was a day to celebrate family, friends, prosperity and health with food, family and friends. It is a time to reflect on what is important us and to recognize the gratitude we hold for having those things in our lives.

lady_hood:

Melissa calls May and leaves her a voice-mail.

"It's my birthday, Pretty Parker! Come down to Big Nick's once you're out of class and Gymnastics and see me! Oh, Kelly's going to be there, too! Time for you guys to meet. Love you!"

She picks out her slinkiest Little Black Dress and heels and puts her guns in her purse. She doesn't expect to have to kill anyone tonight, but the first drunk guy that tries to grab Kelly's, May's, or her ass tonight is probably going to the Emergency Room.

"Baby, are you ready? I'm nearly dressed." Mel says, actually dolling herself up a bit. Such is rare, but looking good for two of her three favorite girls is pretty important to her.

She'll go over the teleportation spell in her mind as she waits for Kelly to be ready.

the_other:

"Spider-Man" slams into the side of car, having been hit by the fifth or sixth pumpkin bomb of the evening. He hated whoever threw the damn bomb, and he definitely hates the gang-bangers that tricked him here. They knew they couldn't beat him with all their guns and numbers, so they hired a mask to stop him.

That angers him enough to want to kill this one and he will...as soon as his head stops spinning.

His Spider-Sense goes crazy the moment he stumbles to his feet and he leaps up and to his right, clinging to the side of a building as he escapes the next pumpkin bomb. The car that broke his fall explodes in a hunk of metal and cinders, and he fires a webline at the maniac on the glider.

The gawkers below are innocent people and this Jack-O-Lantern will pay dearly for those deaths.

He just needs to stay alive long-enough for that to happen.

nextgen_media:

Spider-Man on a Rampage! - Just when you thought it was safe to walk the streets of New York again, the menace known as Spider-Man has reared his web-covered head. Recent months has seen an surge of gang violence gripping New York, beginning with the shooting death of a 15 year-old student from Midtown High. Since then, the so-called "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" has attacked any groups with gang-affiliations. Members of street gangs such as the Poison Memories, the Midtown Saints and the Grim Bastards Motorcycle Club have been admitted to hospitals with alarming frequency. ..(CONTINUED ON PAGE 2A)


Local Media Mogul Seeks Support For Relief Efforts- Julian Howard, known as the manager behind the mutant reality sensation, X-Factor, has met in recent weeks with a slew of politicians and attended Congressional hearings in Washington D.C. seeking ways to bring more federal aid to the embattled citizens of Fargo, Georgia.

"We are just a few months removed from this tragedy, but we cannot forget its impact or that there are real people still suffering." Howard says.

Mr. Howard has been outspoken in his desire to bridge the divide between humanity and mutantkind in the wake of the tragedy that took the lives of over 3,000 people. A three-day benefit concert is close to being announced and is rumored to have the names of several prominent mainstream and independent artists on the marquee. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 10A)


USA v. Mutants? - A robbery enacted by a group of mutant criminals two weeks ago was thwarted by a new task force created by the Department of Homeland Security. A unit of the Mutant Response Division, led by Command Master Chief Windham Carter, apprehended the crew of mutant thieves after an hour long stand-off. Eyewitness reports also state that another group of mutants came to the aid of the MRD, but this cannot be confirmed. Colonel Audra Wesker, head of the Division, expressed relief and gratitude that there were no serious injuries or deaths. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3B)

lady_hood:

Melissa Frost knew she'd been a Bad Friend. Both she and May had been so busy since before the end of the semester that they hadn't gone out to do anything or keep up with each other's lives. Melissa felt bad about that, even though her reasons had to do with a hot girlfriend and killing people, two things she greatly enjoyed.

However, it was now time to put on her "normal" face and rebuild the bridge with her BFF, May "Pretty" Parker.

She shifts the bag of Big Nick's burgers in her hand knocks on the door, thinking about how funny it would be to disturb May while she's "gettin' her groove on" with a guy.

webslingergirl:

May loved that ESU had a full selection of summer courses that she could take to knock a couple of gen-eds out of the way. What she loved even more was that she could live on campus (and not have to worry about her nosy roommate), and not have to get up at the crack of dawn to take the subway from Queens to barely get to class on time.

However...she didn't get to spend as much time with Ben as she would like. And after what happened to Sidonie, well, let's just say that she was worried about her little brother even more than she normally was. It wasn't everyday that you saw one of your best friends murdered in front of your eyes.

He needed to get out. And May knew just what to do.

She texted Ben.

Hey twerp, lunch at Big Nick's? My treat.

nextgen_misc:

There is chaos in the street of New York City as a wave of increasing gang violence has swept through the city. The exact groups fighting are unknown at this time but it is believed to be related to the attacks on gangs that has been going on for over a month.

Citizens are advised to stay off the streets as much as possible especially at night and to listen to the news about areas were violence is currently occurring. The police are doing their best to control the situation and to stop the people responsible however they are currently having difficulties as many of the people leading these outbreaks of violence seem to have superhuman powers.

Please standby for more updates.

nextgen_holiday:

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,

He called it ... Dad

rose_red:

Rose Red met with each group individually to tell them what she expected of them for their upcoming attack. The point of these attacks was not to win them and destroy everything though they could if they wanted she didn’t care as long as civilians were kept out of it. The point was too implicit the Kingpin in these attacks and that was all that they really needed to accomplish. The other thing she instructed them to do was if the fight got bad and it looked like they were to lose they were to make a retreat as fast as they could and if they got caught she would have them killed.

nextgen_holiday:

Mothers are the place that we call home.
On them we rest our heads and close our eyes.
There's no one else who grants the same soft peace,
Happiness, contentment, sweet release,
Erasing nighttime tears with lullabies,
Restoring the bright sun that makes us bloom. - Anonymous

marvelkid:

Since he'd finished his patrol and his homework Wally elected to go for a flight on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. It was one of his favorite powers after all. He flies out over the ocean at high speed, enjoying the air and the sun. The hybrid hero skims along the surface of the water and then shot up high into the air. After a few flips and barrel rolls, he notices a plane and flies closer to give people looking out the window a little thrill in the form of getting to see a superhero. With that done, he heads back towards the land.

"Great day so far. Maybe I'll get some more patrolling in," he muses, idly searching for any trouble or other flying heroes as he heads back into the air over New York City.

webslingergirl:

Spider-Girl swung her way over the rooftops of New York. She was on the tale of Thadeus Oliver, a former history professor at ESU that went nuts after being exposed to some mystical ancient Mayan artifact that made him want to take over the world. Or something like that. They were all the same, these possesed psychopaths.

Right now, her guy was headed to the Museum of Natural History, on hot on the trail of some other artifact that would supposedly give him even more power.

By the time she got the museum, Thadeus was gone...along with the artifact. Spider-Girl cursed under her breath. God Damnit. Though she was no detective, she should have been fast enough to catch him. Spider-Girl lowered the string of webbing that she was currently hanging down off low enough so that she could get a good glance at the now smashed case in front of her.

She could do this. Thadeus Oliver wasn't a hard man to figure out. She could find out what his next move would be and stop him.

A tingling feeling shot down Spider-Girl's spine, as her Spider Sense kicked into overdrive. Shit. Thadeus must've tripped the silent alarm when he was breaking and entering. Someone was coming...someone who would likely point the finger at her for making off with the artifact.

Spider-Girl sprung up to the ceiling, clinging to it as to avoid being seen.

webslingergirl:

May had hopped on the first subway to Queens that morning.

She was tired of hiding the truth from her parents. She was tired of just breaking up muggings, knowing that there was more that she could do with the powers that she had inherited.

She was going to tell her parents about Spider-Girl today. And she was going to tell that she fully intended on staying as her, even if they didn't want her to. May had a gift, and she wanted to use it to help people.

Just like her Dad did.

She'd called them earlier to tell that she wanted to talk about something. Something important.

When she arrived at home, May took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.

Here goes nothing...

bornlucky:

About a week ago Casey had made a passing mention of how in Ireland on the day before Ash Wednesday they would celebrate Pancake Tuesday. Well apparently one of the higher up though it was neat and would be a good event to have at Finnegans.  The bar had done some mild advertising for it and they were hoping for some increase in business which is why Casey found himself working a longer shift than usual he barely had time to get to work after teaching his recitation but at least he was certain to make a lot of money today.

When he got there the place was already hopping and the waitresses looked busy. Apparently they were giving out free pancakes and were hoping to use that to make people buy more drinks. By the time Casey got behind the bar he could tell their plan was working with the amount of drinks he had to get. He was definitely making a lot of money today which made him very happy with how crazy it was going to be this afternoon.

lady_hood:

"Melissa, you have the makings of a great student, if you'd just apply yourself to this course. To that end, I'm going to suggest a tutor for you. She's the daughter of an old student of mine, and she's picked up this subject as easily as her father did. If anyone can help you understand this class, it's her."  Doc Connors said.

That was three days ago.

Melissa Frost sighed just as loudly now as she did then, sitting in the study hall waiting for May Parker. The first name lost points, but the last name made up for it. Melissa didn't want to fail Chemistry, but she also didn't want these tutoring sessions taking up too much of her time. John King was still out there, and the Boss could call at any time with a job for her; she needed to be ready to move.

But she also had to keep her promise to her father.

She sat at the table, staring down into the Chemistry book, waiting for the symbols inside to mystically make sense. This was nothing like spellcrafting; she understood that with no problems.

Any day now, Parker. I still have a life to lead after this. she thought to herself.