vicious_cycle:

Its been a long ride, though as the Rider goes, a fast one. The trail led him, eventually, to the outskirts of New Orleans, and, of all things, an abandoned amusement park. Before exploring too far, he lets the flems die out, returning to his mortal guise, and hits the nearest payphone to let the team know where he's at.

nextgen_misc:

"Today we cut the ribbon and open a new shelter for the homeless here in Manhattan. The facility has two hundred, yes, two hundred beds and a kitchen that can feed all of them. New York will not ignore the homeless any longer. They are citizens of our city and we will help them."

The crowd around cheered.

"This is but one of five shelters, one in each of the five boroughs, opening today. These shelters are but the first of new shelters that will be opening here in this great city. I urge all New Yorkers to volunteer at these shelters and help your fellow man. There are some that call us New Yorkers rude, arrogant and cold, but I say they are wrong and it is time we show them how wrong they are. Show them by being generous with your time and energy. Show them what it means to be a New Yorker!"

The crowd cheered again.

perenawska:

The cold winter wind blew through the streets of New York and over rooftops. The cold and the wind was a sharp contrast to the warm Southern California weather she and Argo just stepped out of. She immediately spotted Nicholas.

"Are you okay?" she asked Argo. "Sometimes people do not react well to teleporting."

vicious_cycle:

So a bet was laid before him, he'd have to catch her when she had no clothes. He can't help but take her seriously. Rigging the locks to the bathroom was no big deal. She's also had some long days, and he's plenty quiet, so he's pretty sure making off with every item of clothing, the towels - pretty much every scrap of cloth but the washcloth she was using for her shower went unnoticed.
Ok, so sure, he could have peeked, but that isn't half as fun as listening to her reaction.
Everything is laid out neatly on her bed, her blades haven't been disturbed, and so on, and sure, she's a teleporter, but he's pretty sure she's not going to go anywhere that way if its not an emergency and she's unarmed.

He settles in a bit down the hall, sipping at a cup of coffee.

perenawska:

Irina dropped Nicholas off in New York and then teleported out to Los Angeles. She had an address and that was enough to get here outside of the Defenders' compound. No way would she teleport inside of it. Not with six godlings on the team. Popping in unannounced would be asking for trouble.

Irina rang the buzzer on the gate.

nextgen_holiday:

The grand ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel on 57 East 57th street was festively decorated for the holidays. A series of lit candles on every table gave off warm light and the dulcet tones of a jazz ensemble filled the room.

People, the upper elite of New York society, Hollywood celebrities, musicians, politicians and New York’s own superheroes moved around the room. People sat at tables and talked, while some moved gracefully around the large dance floor.

Tables loaded with unwrapped and unopened toys lined one wall and at one end stood a very large decorated Christmas tree. Wrapped presents sat under the tree, but they were just empty boxes wrapped for decoration. Mistletoe hung from the ceiling near the tree and people stopped to kiss.

The air was light and the mood happy and festive.

perenawska:

Irina had always known her apartment in Moscow was small, but now with two people in it, it felt cramped instead of cozy. Not that she minded having Nicholas here. He was nice company, despite knowing there was a demon inside of him. That part was just a little weird, but weird seemed to be the ongoing theme lately.

She never expected someone to come out of a portal when she opened one, but Nicholas/Ghost Rider had and now they were trying to figure out what exactly was going on and how to battle a demon and a god. She had used all of her resources with the Winter Guard to find out as much as she could about Mephisto and Pluto.

Little was found except the traditional Greek myths and a few mentions relating to the Avengers. What exactly were Pluto and Mephisto up to? How could Nicholas and she stop them whatever their plans were?

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.