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

anyastark:

Anya entered the firehouse that served as the Thunderbolts headquarters and dropped her backpack. She looked out the window and down at the street below. The four guys were /still/ there. She would have thought they would have left when she went inside. The quartet followed her back here from class and had been acting strangely.

One professed undying love. One tried to kiss her and got punched for his efforts and was now sporting a swollen lip. One tried to carry her backpack for her. The last one recited poetry to her as they walked. For a few fleeting moments she wished she could put on a gauntlet and blast them away with a repulsor blast, but it would cause a /scene/.

What happened? Anya had known these guys since her first day of college and all of them had been nice and nothing like this. They even knew she was married and yet suddenly they were acting like this. Idly she wondered if there was something in the water that was making them act so weird.

She watched them and prayed they would just go away.

childrenofgaea:

It was spring and love was in the air. Well it really wasn't, but it should be. Spring should be the time when a young man's fancy turned to love, but Rainflower Sunshine wasn't /feeling/ it. This was the 60's. Love should be all around and yet it wasn't. It made her sad.

Things would have to change. Now. It was time to get others to feel the love and stick it to the man.

She got her group together, Moonbeam, Starshine, Rose Flower, and Rain Shower (they were actually Haze, Pink, Fleetwood, Dirt and Free Spirit) and they broke into Biogen IDEC and stole a new chemical they were developing. It hadn't been hard to get in and get it. Rain had a plan for it.

That plan involved the Poland Springs water company and their bottling plant.

It wasn't hard to break in and dump the chemical into the water. Soon all of Boston and Cambridge would be feeling the love.

princessbruiser:

Molly was enjoying a nice day of doing nothing. She had woken up that morning and decided that she needed a day to just relax around HQ and do noting but veg and lounge.

So she slept until ten, put on sweatpants and a t-shirt, and made her way downstairs. She made her way to the local mini-mart and bought a couple of pints of ice cream (strawberry cheesecake and Americone Dream), a twelve pack of Diet Coke, some microwave popcorn, and some M&Ms.

When she got back to Thunderbolts HQ, she laid out her stash of junk food on the coffee table, popped in Despicable Me, grabbed a blanket, and lay down on the couch.

Her butt was not moving from this sofa, unless Thanos decided to blow up the planet...or something of equal importance.

anyastark:

Word about certain things spread fast in the cape community and Anya learned that Vernique and Svalin were getting married, in Asgard, and Svalin was expecting a baby. This of course meant one thing. There had to be a party to celebrate both things and Anya was the perfect one to throw it. Anya had known Vernique since forever and there had been many marathon shopping trips.

She sent invitations out to the female members of the X-Men, Champions, Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Defenders, X-Force, Alpha Flight, Excalibur, Fantastic Four, Sammy and Alice in SHIELD, Kelly and Melissa. It was also the first get together the Thunderbolts would be hosting.

The renovated firehouse in Cambridge was cleaned from top to bottom and supplies were laid in. Stephanie was given cart blanch on the menu and snacks. Anya and Molly went shopping for the drinks and for gifts for Vernique and Svalin. Since the crowd was very varied they got a wide selection of sodas, juices, beer and also picked up a lot of water. Anya even booked rooms at a nearby hotel just in case people didn't want to make the trip home that night. Anya had spoken to Irina and arranged for pick up of the various team members around the world.

Saturday rolled around and Anya was up at the crack of dawn double checking everything. Then she headed down to the lab until the first ladies arrived.

nextgen_parent:

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first annual Maria Stark Foundation Charity Auction. I'm Alison Blaire and your host for tonight's festivities. Prepare yourselves for a night of fun to help a worthy cause. In just a few minutes many very handsome men will be brought out one by one for your chance to win a date with one of them.

Before we begin I would like to bring out Her Imperial Highness Anya Stark. Miss Stark helped arranged tonight's event and will give you a little more information on the charity organization tonight's proceeds will help."

Anya walked out on stage and smiled. "Thank you, Ms. Blaire. All of the proceeds from tonight's event will go directly to Doctors Without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières. This organization was created in 1971 in France to benefit the citizens of the world. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation all across the globe. MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas.

I'm happy to announce on behalf of the Maria Stark Foundation, that all money collected here tonight will be matched dollar for dollar by the Maria Stark Foundation."

"Thank you Miss Stark and that is a very generous offer by the Maria Stark Foundation. Now it's time to begin. So open those wallets and let's bring out our first man." Anya left the stage and went to take her seat.

"First we have the son of Captain America Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. James Romanov-Rogers is currently an Avenger and has recently moved to Seattle to lead the West Coast Avengers."

"Let's start the bidding at a hundred dollars."

ice_ice_baby:

The Super Bowl.  I'm at the @!*@!#*$*#@ SUPER BOWL.    And the Jets made it.

I wish Dad were here.

CeCe looked out the window of the private box suite that Anya had secured at Cowboy's Stadium.   She was here to watch a football game of historic proportions, as the winners of the first three Super Bowl's ever, the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets, were going to play for the championship.

CeCe's dad was a DIE HARD Jets fan.   It cost her two weeks of tutoring income to get tickets to see the 45-3 debacle at Gillette Stadium when the Jets came up north to play the Patriots.   But she screamed when the Jets beat the Steelers 2 weeks ago to make it here.

And then Anya had the idea of bringing the Thunderbolts to Dallas for the Superbowl as a team activity.   The team was down, thank God.   And there were even a couple of friends along...including Franklin.   She was VERY happy to see Franklin.

She looked out the window again, staring.   The Jets hadn't won a title since Dad was a kid.   She had hoped that he had done enough repenting to be seeing this game from above.

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.

nevermisses:

Greyson had made a quick trip to New York City for information. He had heard about how someone had become the new Kingpin.  So he started looking around to find out who it was that way so he could see if he could find out if they might know where he could find his father. The old Kingpin had used his father for work a lot so it stood to reason that the new one might know where he was.

Though it quickly became apparent that this new Kingpin did not like him looking for her identity and he had gotten pretty close when couple of her better thugs got the drop on him. Now he was very good in a fight and could have taken down anyone of them in a one on one fight but they were actually working together well.

It quickly became apparent that it was smarter to run than fight and after some work Greyson had managed to lose them and he doubled back to where he had been staying in Boston. After a couple of hours of peace they had managed to find him which seemed rather odd to him to be operating out of New York but he knew the lay of the land he much better than they did letting him lose them.

Remembering what the armor user had said to him as much as he disliked having ask for help he made his way to where the Thunderbolts were based in what was approximately a costume for him.

anyastark:

Anya didn't have many traditions in her family, unless you counted being a bastard as one of them. The Avengers however did have a few time honored traditions that must be kept going. Sure saving the world from alien invasions, beating up the world level threats and other heroic things were some of those traditions, but not everything could be about beating up the bad guys. One such non-heroic thing was Rate the Hunk.

Each year the female Avengers got together and rated their fellow male Avengers. The new generation had eagerly picked up and kept this tradition going. However, they had expanded it a bit.

The day after Thanksgiving was a perfect day to avoid shopping crowds, take over the rec room, banish the males and look at pictures of them. Anya had run it last year and she took it upon herself to do it again this year. Invitations went out to fellow female heroes. Avengers, X-Women, Defenders, Champions and Thunderbolts all got invitations to come to New York to Rate the Hunk.

Food, drink and snacks were laid in. Signs were put up on the doors and electronic surveillance was set up to see if males dared to interrupt.

Anya settled in on one of the couches and queued up the stash of photos she had collected in the past year.

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.

anyastark:

The Thunderbolts unlike most teams didn't do much together. Each member had their own thing and it was rare that they spent time hanging out with each other. It was time to hang out a bit and regroup. They had a new member to get to know and the best way to hang out was a movie night.

Anya got a variety of takeout of from a few different places around town and stocked up on the usual fare of chips, dip and pretzels. Soda, juice and water was provided for drinking. Anya collected a few movies from a few different genres since she didn't know everyone's viewing preferences.

When everything was gathered and ready, Anya sent a text out to all team members and then flopped down on one of the oversized couches in the newly renovated rec room.

anyastark:

The Masters of Evil had attacked the Thunderbolts headquarters and had made off with Victor's body and with it a way to eventually access Ultron's files on the Avengers. It was a situation where a collaboration of the Thunderbolts with another team was needed. They needed to get Victor's body back as soon as possible.

The Thunderbolts made the trip to New York and were gathered in the conference room at Avengers Mansion along with the Avengers. They needed to discuss strategy and form a plan to retrieve Victor's body.

Anya sat back in her chair and let her brother take the lead. James was more experienced with leading a team and if anyone could get them to all work together as one big team, he could.

lady_hood:

Despite the garbage that went down earlier in the week, Melissa found herself a happier camper today. The Boss Man's check cleared; she and Kelly were now much more financially solvent. After a call to her lawyer, Diane, to get bills and things paid, Mel goes downstairs to have herself a victory dance, or as they're called, a beer. Never mind that it's early in the morning and that she hasn't hand breakfast, which also sounds like a good idea, Mel just wants to enjoy having her money, her girl, her magic and her guns.

Kelly was right about this whole mercenary gig; it paid dividends, even if being shot at and nearly killed by life-draining nutjobs was part of the job. They'd also done the world a favor by removing Benedict Kine's sorry self from it, and Mel figured they deserved medal for that. Instead, they got hefty-paychecks. Maybe she'd /buy/ herself a medal.

She walks into the kitchen, going through the cupboards to see if there's any eggs to make an omelet. If there is bacon, it's left untouched.

Bacon is against her personal religion.

nextgen_holiday:

The air was warm and the sun was bright making it a perfect day for a cookout to celebrate Labor Day. Classes would start on the 8th (for those going to college they started a week ago) and it was the last chance to kick back and cut loose before hitting the books.

At the Avengers' Mansion in NYC Jarvis and some helpers he managed to rope into helping with the preparations were busy getting the food ready. Tables had been placed out around the pool and the large grill fired up to get nice and hot. Burgers, hot dogs, sausage, ribs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, salad and fruit salad were just some of the food available to eat. Soda, water, fruit juice and other beverages were on ice.

To help get to know each other the Thunderbolts received an invitation to attend.

It was a day of rest and relaxations for those who put their lives on the line for others.

anyastark:

Anya didn't exactly feel like celebrating anything, but she wasn't going to let a birthday go by because she didn't feel like celebrating. Molly's birthday was today and Anya was going to make sure she had a good one. Strawberry cake was purchased from the bakery across the street and Anya had stayed out long enough to get strawberries and a gift card with $250 on it.

Cake, candles and gift were ready. Anya called the Thunderbolts to the kitchen.

lady_hood:

Melissa wasn't sure if she could like Boston; the city was nice enough, but it just didn't feel as alive as New York City. She rolled the black hose up her leg, then strapped her combat knife to her thigh. She really didn't like going into a job without her guns on, but she'd at least worked out a way to get those and her hood to her at a moment's notice.

Once she's dressed, she stands up and goes over to the small table where the map of Benedict Kine's estate is laid out, along with a few pieces of Kelly's guns, some markers, and a a white chocolate mocha.

"Okay, babe. So, let's go over this plan one more time..." 

redheadspy:

It was hard to believe Anya and James were turning eighteen. It felt like yesterday that she had just delivered Anya and was holding a small bundle with a tuft of red hair. Kids grew up way too fast.

It wasn't surprising that Anya didn't plan anything and James said he didn't want a fuss. Anya had finals on Monday and Tuesday and needed to study. Natasha never had to worry about Anya and school. Except for of course the times she got expelled. The kids also had significant others they would want to spend time with. Which meant an adjustment had to be made to the celebrations.

Natasha opted for lunch with Tony and all of the kids as their birthday celebrations. This way they all had the evening free to do something with their significant others if they choose to and didn't need to spend it with the old folks.

As for gifts...well the kids could be impossible to shop for, but Natasha went with withe tried and true things. James got new clothes and a new gaming system from her. For Anya Natasha went with a promise for a shopping trip in the near future for new fall clothes.

anyastark:

Anya had spent a few days in the lab, coming out only for food and classes, and it was time for some fresh air. Otherwise Toni or Steve would find out and she'd hear about spending too much time in the lab. Which she didn't, but they thought she did.

She wandered out of the lab and with Darwin and Schrodinger following, she went to see what the other Thunderbolts were up to.

dont_bug_me:

Sydney stared as her own reflection in the full length mirror.  Gray skin, green hair, weird yellow eyes, wings, three-toed feet, overly jointed fingers, wings, tiny antenna...  And there was more there too, she could tell, things waiting for her to figure out.  Little trace of who she had been, physically, remained.

She wondered if she was even technically human anymore. 

But for the moment, she could forgive it all.

Because she was walking.  Without mechanical assistance of any kind.

nextgen_cosmic:

The ship's flight was ungainly, as it tore through Earth's atmosphere.  It had exited hyperspace too near the planet to have been stopped by SWORD's orbital monitoring station, and no one would risk detonating an unknown quantity while it was in the atmosphere.  It was ugly and utilitarian, clearly not Kree, Skrull, Shi'ar, Kymellian, Snark, or belonging to any of the other major galactic races. 

But it was there just the same, and it was screaming over the skies of Boston, heading toward the harbor.

SPLASH!!!

The ship hit the waters of Boston Harbor hard, sinking several boats in the process, before bobbing back toward the surface, it's hull pining as its metal cooled, sending showers of steam into the atmosphere.

A SWORD team was already on its way, but this "landing" would not go unnoticed by others.

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

anyastark:

The move to Cambridge had gone surprisingly smoothly. Anya had her two suits packed into shipping containers and packed onto a truck. Along with other various pieces of equipment, mainly computers and screens, and a trunk or two of her clothes. The ride up was uneventful as Anya followed the truck in her car.

The renovations to the old firehouse were almost done. There was still a little bit of work left to be done, but the place was liveable now and ready for the new team. It was an old firehouse with four floors for living space, a garage at the bottom and a expansive basement. Anya was claiming the basement area for her lab. It was the most open space in the building and could be secured better than the rest.

The ground floor was for vehicles. So far there was only her car, but she was sure there were more to come. The first floor was the kitchen and living area, the second a gym and a game room, and the other two floors were bedrooms. Each member would be able to have their own room along with an extra room for a guest room. It had come along quite nicely.

Moving day had arrived and one by one the members she had invited to join the team had arrived. Rooms where claimed and they put away belongings.

By the time dinner time rolled around, everyone was tired and no one wanted to cook. In Anya's case it was lack of skills which prevented her from cooking. So it was dinner out on Anya. They headed down the block to Cinderella's. It was Italian food and she was sure everyone could find something to eat.

They sat around the table and talked while they ate.

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

anyastark:

As always, Anya knew exactly what to get Prince Dork for his birthday. Gifts for him were never hard. Others, like Mom, on the other hand were almost impossible to buy for. The Dork didn't need anything for Darlene or his motorcycle, so she went with something else he loved.

The New York Mets.

Luckily they were playing in New York on the Dork's birthday this year. Coordinating with Lyta, the girlfriend (hee hee the Dork had a girlfriend and one Anya liked), they came up with A Plan. Lyta would distract the Dork and get him to the stadium. Lyta also was responsible for telling the X-ers and making sure they knew The Plan.

The Plan was simple.

Get to the stadium three hours before the game and join battling practice with the team. Then dinner in the private box before the game, and then watch the game from the private box. Snacks and drinks would be served all night.

It would be the perfect birthday for Prince Dork.

She informed the other Brother Dork, Eliza, Dad and Mom of the plans. Mom excused herself from the activity and said she would have lunch with Prince Dork tomorrow. Which if Misha saw Mom, he would send her right home. She looked exhausted today and it was best that she stayed home. She wasn't sure if Eliza and Dad would make it, but the other Brother Dork was going.

She got ready and grabbed James. They arrived at the stadium before everyone else.

lytaworthington:

The Dark Rider Lyta Worthington flew over the citadel.

They had tried to defeat them. The Avengers and the X-Men had gone against the Horsemen and the Dark Riders, thinking that could DARE to challenge them and the Lord Apocalypse, and they had failed.

A number of the upstarts had been killed in the battle. Some had escaped, but she and her fellow Riders would hunt them down...and do to them what they did to their teammates. There were some, that they had captured. Those...they would make an example of. The whole world had to know that anyone who dared to oppose the Lord Apocalypse was doomed to fail.

Lyta touched down on the ground. It was a new age under Apocalypse, and she felt honored that he chose her to be a part of it.

nextgen_misc:

It was time for the Exiles to move on. Their job in this universe was done and there were many more out there that needed to be fixed or saved.

They were given an hour to say their goodbyes before they moved on.

rogue_star:

Sarah is about as nervous as it gets. A double date was one thing, but she had Anya and Steve along then, and Anya has usually been her social occasion security blanket. And now she has a whole week alone with Molly, who is quickly earning 'as wonderful as it gets' points.
She'd done everything she could to set things up properly. Anya had the trip and reservations in hand, of course. She still had to get help showering and all, so it may have been a bit of a letdown there - not quite so easy to surprise your date with strawberry scented shampoo, slightly tight jeans and the rest when your date helped wash your hair and get you dressed. Ah well.

The wheelchair also isn't quite ideal, but the people on the plane, and then the airport attendants were nice enough to help out so Molly didn't have to do everything. Sarah is also getting use of her arm back, so she can manage short distances on even ground pretty well. Tomorrow should be better still. The limo was a bit tougher, but between the two with super strength and a little help from the chauffer they managed.

Even with all she's seen though, the gates take her aback. "Wow... this place is huge."

rogue_star:

This isn't quite according to plan, but its far better than nothing. The Exiles have been given a little bit of downtime in this world to recover, before their next mission. So she has a little bit of time with Molly, anyway. And a night out with her best friend, said best friend's boyfriend, and, of course, a date. A real honest to goodness date. Despite being in a wheelchair, Sarah is on cloud nine.

Or being wheeled across cloud 9 when Molly has time to get to it, anyway, since Sarah is still needing a lot of help, til the third degree burns finish healing. So far, Molly hasn't seemed to mind - which continually amazes her.

rogue_star:

Sarah gets brought back to Xavier's after her fight with Holocaust, nowhere else has the facilities to deal with these kinds of injuries.. She never regains consciousness on the way home. Indeed, its most of another day before she does. Even by then, she still has broken ribs, a recovering dislocated shoulder, numerous radiation burns, and third degree burns up both arms, her hands are still black. Her sight will recover, but her charts say that she doesn't seem to have much of it currently in her right eye - the one on the side of her face that's mostly black and blue.

They've got her full of enough elephant tranquilizers to let her rest comfortably. Even so, eventually, she does regain consciousness, blinking her blurry eyes.

"Where?"

nextgen_media:

"We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking report. It seems like a giant, what can only be called a citadel, rose from the very ground itself and covered almost the entire area of Central Park just moments ago. The monstrosity seems to be composed completely out of stone and there are no discernible entrances. What appears to be people on flying robotic horses circle the citadel. Who built this and to what end has yet to be discovered."

rogue_star:

After her talk with Anya, still trying to hold herself together, Sarah goes looking for Molly, starting with checking her room.

princessbruiser:

There's pizza on the coffee table, two two-liter bottles of Diet Coke, a big bowl of popcorn, and a gallon of Americone Dream in the freezer with Molly and Sarah's names on it. Molly "reserved" the lounge for the evening, and after going through all of the movies in the Mansion, assembled a pretty decent pile of movies that she thought Sarah would enjoy. A couple of Disney, some chick flicks, an action movie or two, and since Molly was feeling brave, she might as well throw in the original Nightmare On Elm Street while she was at it.

She finished setting up comfy pillows along the sofa, and grabbed the quilt from off her bed. She was dressed in her comfiest pajamas and ready for a night of vegging in front of the t.v. and indulging in junk food. She'd left a note earlier on Sarah's door to meet her downstairs in the lounge, in her pajamas and ready for a full night of movie-watching.

Molly grinned, looking at her set-up. For her first "girl's night in", she'd done a pretty good job. Now, all she needed was Sarah and she'd be all set.

nextgen_misc:

The media watched the battle from the safety of Ellis Island while on Liberty Island the battle raged on.

anyastark:

Anger seethed under the calm surface of the redhead sitting in a holding cell at Xavier’s Institute, but she didn’t focus on it. There would be time to act upon it later. There would be time for vengeance after she got out of here.

Lady Mandarin looked calm and serene as she sat in a lotus position with her eyes close in the middle of the cell. Her mind was focusing on the nanites going through the computer systems that controlled the door and locks to the cell and the other systems in the building.

She would get out of here and free her lord from his prison. Then they would deliver vengeance upon those responsible for her lord’s capture and rebuild his empire.

She opened her eyes. It was time. The work done on the systems was complete. She was not going to sit in this cell a moment longer. She unfolded her legs and stood up. A deep breath and a simple command. The locks disengaged and she walked out of the cell toward freedom.

rogue_star:

Sarah remained unconscious through the flight to the states, and all the way to the east coast, though Talia did what she could for the worst of her injuries. Her healing is good - but it'll still take plenty of time.
The X-Men's facilities are still overtaxed, but they do have healers, and possibly the best chance of freeing Anya's mind, so that's where they end up.

By the time she awakens, she's bandaged, some of the most severe of her wounds are tended, and only 90% of her is in active pain at the moment. At least til she tries to move, then it hits about 97%.

smallestbear:

David isn't one to just ask for advice. But right now he needs it. He isn't one to get tongue tied but this was different. Too bad Lyta isn't here. As a girl she would give awesome advice about this.

He could ask Cait! But he didn't want to be a bother. So David frowns. He grabs a soda and pops it open as he starts to track down any of the older guys. Scent alone clues him in on where a few of them are. He ends up standing there for a minute before deciding that maybe he should go bother Misha.

Or Joe.

Maybe Lucas?

Gah. He nearly slams his head on something before deciding he should just finish his soda. Then figure out what to do. Getting advice without being obvious that he wants advice can be difficult.

He could just forget the whole thing. Except he is pretty sure he has been obvious when it came to sniffing around the grounds. Someone would have noticed.

mishaloganovich:

Middle of the night, unable to sleep again, Misha gave up trying to rest and resumed wandering the halls and sub floors of the mansion. He only had four or five hours before he was due at his mother’s for breakfast. If he didn’t get sleep soon, she’d see for herself he lied about sleeping. If it wasn’t so cold, he’d make the rounds outside.

He ended up in the rec room and put a movie in, something from the B grade horror flick collection. Some mutant killer vegetable action was just what he needed to take his mind off things, or at least fool it for a couple of hours.

soothsayer:

He didn't like what had happened to the school. He had decided to go through with the outing anyways. This would be to help the students out. He had two vans ready to go with a third one if they had anyone else show up who wanted to get out. He has a clip board in one hand and a pen in the other.

Some people might notice that his shoes aren't normal sneakers. He had been wearing the ones that had a leg brace build in for one of his legs. Sometimes when he was more stressed out Ezekiel found it more difficult to use one leg so he had a brace for times like that. He didn't need a cane or anything, so long as he had a brace he would be fine.

He glances at his watch and leans against one of the vans. He would check off names and add any more to his lists. He had a feeling that there would be more people coming and he was prepared just in case. Good thing he had plenty of older students coming too.

dream_catcher:

The Marauders are gone. At least for now. They still haven't determined what that was all about, and right now, Lucas doesn't care. He's been hard at work ever since the attack, despite his own psychological scars, healing who he can. When the medical labs, Hank McCoy, and the other healer assured him they had things under control, he went to talk to Scott, and got permission to do the hardest task yet.
He sighs, setting down the pencil and reviewing the letter.

ng_marauders:

Penny stepped out of the cab and didn't look back to see if Winterkill and Breakneck were getting out. They would follow, of that she had no doubt. They had a mission to do. Penny smiled. They'd have fun doing it too.

Penny smiled more as she practically bounced up to the gate. Makeup covered the bruise she had because of that bastard breaking her nose. Anger bubbled up, but she pushed it back. She couldn't afford to let real emotions get the best of her. She had to play a part right now.

Smiling into the security camera, Penny pressed the buzzer.

nextgen_misc:

The skies were cleared and the cat-people seemed to be calming, if still nervous, as Elder Shadow addressed them.

"My people, we have been so very wrong. Look at the anguish and fear that has only been elevated in our attempts to protect ourselves and our world." He looks towards Lucas, before hurrying down the temple steps to tend to his wound personally, still addressing the others. "We cannot let the suffering and violation of one of our own blind us to the consequences of our actions. The Rituals will never be invoked, for they can only bring more pain and madness."

As he heals the wound, his tone becomes more personal. "Lucas Moonstar, Chris Pym, all members of the X-tribe.. we cannot offer enough apologies, and I give you mine personally. I will take whatever atonement you see fit to repent for the actions of my people's will and my own leadership."

princessbruiser:

( OOC Note-Some readers may find this to be potentially disturbing. Consider this a fair warning. )

soothsayer:

The newest staffer at Xavier's had been trying to figure out how to get to know the students better without scaring them off since his truth telling ability did tend to get in the way of things. That was when he thought back on the last weekend he had with his son no matter how much the kid seemed to hate him he at least had fun with his old man. Ezekiel smirks and taps his chin thoughtfully before setting up a sign up sheet to post in the recreation rooms.

Laser Tag!

Sign up for a night of laser tag and pizza. This is for fun guys. Any questions can be directed to Ezekiel Brooks. We'll be leaving at 5:30 expect to be back by 10 at the latest.

Ezekiel gives himself a proud mental pat on his back and then sets about correcting papers in a corner as h casually pretends to not notice if anyone looks at the sign up sheet.

franklen_four:

Before they left the Baxter Building, Franklin had telepathicly cloaked himself and Dorthy from the view of other people.  And when they got outside, he carried them both away on a telekinetic journey to Xavier's.  The two of them landed outside the gate and Franklin dispatched with the cloaking.  He needed a short rest from the trip, but was otherwise fine.  And he announced to the mansion that they had visitors via an enjoyable device on their gate.

"I wonder who is going to greet us today."

nextgen_misc:

There's a piece of paper and a pen attached to a bulletin board. Across the top is written:

New Year's Resolutions
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Anonymous entries accepted.

pym_kitten:

Chris' eyes opened sharply, the trance over her breaking. The people at large, and most of the honor guard, had had their resolve shaken by the outsiders' actions. The connection with the energy that fueled their civilization was disrupted. The stream of light cut off abruptly, and Chris sat up.

"...what?" She blinked, holding her head. The rattling of the jewlery that had been placed on her prompted her to open her eyes. "I... where am I? Who the hell... this... why am I tarted up like tribal fetish Barbie?!" She screamed, rolling off the altar, transforming back to her human form in her disorientation.

nextgen_holiday:

There were traditions around the holidays and then there were traditions. One such tradition on New Year's Day was a snowball fight at Xavier's Institute For Higher Learning. Each New Year's Day the students and faculty gathered on the front lawn and participated in a snowball fight. Snow was never a problem with the resident weather goddess and in later years hydrokinetics.

A fresh blanket of snow covered the ground thanks to Mother Nature.

High noon struck and the snowball fight was officially under way.

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.

nextgen_misc:

At Elder Shadow's command, the honor guard threw themselves forward as the Ritual of Transformation began and the crowds pulled back. As light poured down from the cavern's ceiling onto the altar where Chris lay, each of the guard members chose an opponent.