Force Works 7
Heroes in the Rough Part 2

Under Pressure...Again

The Story thus far: Force Works, at the polite request of their funder Mr. Parvenue, rescued Mr. DuReight, a member of the board for Dubeers Diamonds, from the terrorist organization known as Ultimatum. After they liberated Mr. DuReight, they made a startling discovery. Despite the fact that he was being threatened with death, he did not want to be rescued! This revelation enabled an Ultimatum to hit the Stealth Wing with an anti-air craft missile. And it only gets worse from here...

"Come on, baby," X-Treme carefully pulled the control stick up, barely stabilizing the rumbling Stealth Wing, "you can do it!"

"Engine two's down, and three's on its last legs!" Arsenal reported from the co-pilot's seat. As he said that, the Stealth wing lurched to left, almost performing a barrel role before X-Treme got it under control and stabilized the plane. Behind him, Force Works and DuReight held onto their seats for dear life.

"Then kill engine three, and reroute power to the aft retro thrusters." X- Treme ordered.

"The thrusters weren't designed to work independently of the engines!" Arsenal warned.

"They are today!" X-Treme declared. Just then, the panel to his left exploded on a ball of sparks and light. X-Treme brought his left arm up to cover himself, and barely managed to keep the Stealth Wing stable. "Dammit!"

"What's the situation?" Mirage asked as she forced herself up to the pilot's seat and held on to the back with a death grip. The Stealth Wing was still doing its best impersonation of a roller coaster, though not as badly as when they were first hit.

"We're going down. There's a village nearby where I can set us down." X- Treme answered

"Thank the spirits for small favors." Dani sighed, despite the situation

"Except that it's burning." X-Treme stated flatly

"What?" Dani asked

"The village, it's burning." X-Treme explained. He pointed to a small but distinct plume of smoke rising in the distance, "I don't think they're supposed to do that, are they?"

"With our luck, yes." Dani turned to her team. Thankfully, someone had the presence of mind to tightly strap Mr. DuReight into a chair, "Nova, there's a village up ahead that may be under attack! Take the team with you!"

"Got it!" Nova shouted

Dani turned to Arsenal, "You're going too, Bobby."

"I'm kinda busy!" He said

Dani didn't argue. She spun his seat around, unbuckled his seat belt, grabbed his costume and forcefully removed him from his seat before he could properly react. She then got in the co-pilot's seat, spun around and checked the instruments, "This isn't a debate. I don't know what the hell I'm sending the others into, and I'm not sending them in without all the firepower we have." She jammed her thumb in the direction of the drop hatch, "Get!"

"I hope whatever gods you pray to have some mercy for us today." X-Treme remarked.

"They always have in the past," Dani replied, "Not that we need it." She smiled.

Arsenal joined the others at the drop hatch, and in moments the rest of the team was air borne, with Nova carrying Speedball and Tarene carrying Wolfsbane.

"Okay guys, get ready for anything. We don't know what's going on up ahead."

Force Works was within eyesight of the village in moments, and were sickened by what they saw. Members of the Revolutionary United Front were ransacking the village, pulling innocent people out of their small wooden houses and huts and into the street for later. Men and women who had already been hurt littered the ground, moaning in pain while their neighbors had been herded out into a make shift courtyard with the soldiers leering lecherously at the more attractive women while guarding them. All in all, the soldiers moved with obvious malice at a casual pace, assured of their victory.

And in the span of three second, that changed.

"That's enough!" Arsenal snarled with a cold, burning, hatred as he saw what was happening. He swooped down amongst the soldiers and plowed his steel form into them, seriously injuring several troops, "You've exploited these people enough!"

"Let's go to work!" Nova shouted to his teammates. Nova threw Speedball at a throng of soldiers; "Hit them hard and fast before they can take hostages!"

"Always discriminating against slow and soft, Nova!" Speedball said as he saw another group of soldiers advancing on him. "Time for a Speedball special!"

He grabbed one of his ever-present bubbles and started to concentrate. A split second later, he stopped and threw it towards the soldiers like a baseball. It exploded with incredible force, throwing the men every which way, "Knocks losers right out of the park!"

Tarene was more personal. She set down in front of several soldiers and simply charged them. They emptied their weapons at her, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off her. Tarene disarmed the men and swatted the soldiers away. Nova, Wolfsbane and Wiz Kid likewise made short work of the troops. The soldiers folded almost instantly, and broke into a frantic retreat. One R.U.F soldier tripped as he was fleeing, and was snatched up by an enraged Arsenal.

"Didn't expect a fight, did you! Didn't think that someone would stop you from butchering these defenseless people!" He roared as a held his bone claws within an inch of the soldier's face, "Did you?!"

"That's enough!" A voice shouted. A blue and gold-gloved hand grabbed Arsenal's wrists and held them in place, "Put it in park, Bobby! Look at him!"

"No it's not! These bastards rape, murder and torture their own people for no good reason! It's not nearly enough!" Arsenal yelled back

"Look. At. Him!" Nova shouted again. And Arsenal did, and what he saw made his blood run cold. The soldier he was threatening to kill, the same one that had been terrorizing innocent men and women only moments before, could not have been a day over thirteen years of age.

"My god..."Arsenal muttered as he released the young boy. The boy wisely ran away as fast as his feet would carry him, while Arsenal just stood there for a moment, shell-shocked.

"Come on!" Nova said as he grabbed Arsenal by the shoulder and pulled hin into the air, "We have to help X-Treme and Dani set the plane down in one piece! Get your ass in gear!"

Arsenal just nodded his head in agreement and followed Nova towards the struggling Stealth Wing. Arsenal grabbed one side, while Nova grabbed the other and carefully set it down on the edge of the village. The other members of Force Works rushed back to the Stealth Wing. Arsenal took a moment to pull Nova aside

"Hey, Rich, thanks for that back there. I just get a little too emotional when I see people exploiting in such an ugly way. Reminds me too much of Sublime." He explained

"You were about to kill someone who posed no danger. There's a reason why we don't kill, and it's because we're supposed to be better than that." Nova said angrily and turned to join the others, "you forget that again, and you're off the team, I don't give a damn what Parvenue says."

"Like you never killed!" Arsenal said impulsively, fed up with Nova's attitude towards him. He regretted it almost instantly. Besides the fact that it was very immature, he knew he was likely ripping open an old wound and pouring salt on it with Nova. Nova paused for a moment, turned around and looked and looked Arsenal directly in the eye, "I killed as a member of the Xandar military, as Richard Rider. As Nova, I represent something better. Especially as a member of Force Works. Any more questions?"

Arsenal didn't reply at first, and Nova joined the others, "Yeah," He muttered, "Why do you hate me?"

"Everyone alright?" Dani asked as she stumbled out of the Stealth Wing. X- Treme followed her, clutching his left side.

"My legs! My legs! I can't feel my legs!"

Everyone looked at Wiz Kid curiously.

"Sorry, I thought we could use a laugh, because we are very much screwed." Wiz Kid said, "By the way, where's Mr. DuReight?"

"Still in the plane. I had to hit him with an arrow to shut him up. He'll be out for a bit." Dani answered

"We have another problem, Dani." Rahne stated as she entered the wrecked plane and came out with the medi-kit.

"I'm fine." X-Treme winced, still clutching his left side.

"No, yuir not." Rahne said, "Now take off yuir shirt so I can deal wit' yuir burns."

"Excuse me?" X-Treme asked

"Ye heard me." Rahne said firmly, medi kit in hand, "Take it off before I have tae rip it off."

X-Treme reluctantly complied, and ignored the appreciative gapes he got from three of his teammates as he pulled his shirt over his head and revealed his bare chest, which was built like a demi god complete with muscles that sent a slight pang of envy thru even Nova. On his left side, the flesh was noticeably reddened with little patches of black charred flesh.

"That was nae so hard, was it?" Rahne asked as she pulled an ice pack out of the kit and applied it to the burn, "Ye might have somethin' o' a scar there, though."

"I don't scar." He said.

"Oh, healin' factor?" Rahne asked.

"Not exactly. I just guess it's bad taste for princes to have scars." X- Treme grimaced, before realizing exactly what he said.

"Excuse me?" Dani asked

"Local joke from where Adam comes from, Dani." Arsenal said quickly, "What are we going to do about Mr. DuReight?"

X-Treme let out a silent sigh of relief as Rahne started to bandage his burn. His stupid, off hand comment had been forgotten. Once Rahne was done bandaging him, he carefully replaced his leather uniform, and listened attentively.

"....he wants to stay, so why not let him?" Speedball asked.

"Why? So those terrorists can kill him? No thanks." Nova replied.

"Why would they do that?" Tarene asked, "He agrees with them, so they wouldn't hurt him, would they?"

"Chief? It's your call." Arsenal stated. Everyone looked towards Dani. She clasped her hands behind her head, and was silent for a full minute

"He's coming home with us." She finally said

"Are you sure?" Speedball asked, "According to Taki, it's not like he was brainwashed or anything..."

"Actually, he was," Dani explained, her arms now folded across her chest "Ever hear of Stockholms? I was briefed on it by Shield before I infiltrated the M.L.F. It's a psychological condition that occurs when person is taken hostage. The victim starts to identify with his captor, and starts to agree with whatever they want. It can take less than three days, and DuReight was held a lot longer than that."

"Like Patty Hearst?"

"Exactly, Nova. Don't always need a fancy machine for brainwashing, though the spirits know we've seen enough of them." Dani stated. "Besides, he wants to stay with Ultimatum so bad, he can go back afterwards."

"Okay, then what do you think we should do next?" Wiz Kid asked

"How quickly can you repair the Stealth Wing?" Dani asked

"It's heavily damaged. The missile that hit it was laced with electromagnetic energy, and fried a lot of the systems aboard. It's almost impossible...

"How long?" Dani asked, cutting him off.

"An hour, at most." Wiz Kid smirked.

"Okay, get to it. Ultimatum won't stay down in all likelihood. What we need to do is set up some kind of a perimeter. Rahne, I need you to...Rahne?"

Although she was standing right next to them, Rahne's mind was a considerable distance away. During the conversation, she had cast her eyes and enhanced senses towards the village.

For someone like Rahne, that was a big mistake.

Force Works had prevented a lot of deaths, and had put out any fires that the R.U.F had started, but the damage was done before they arrived. She could see children, some no older than three years of age, nursing stumps where there were once arms or hands, young girls crying over innocence lost and fathers weeping for their lost sons. Almost all the people had some kind of grievous wound, either missing a hand, or an ear or with some, missing a foot, regardless of age. What hurt Rahne the most was the scent of despair. It was overpowering, stronger than anything or anyone she had ever encountered. Rahne had thought that Namorita was exaggerating when she described what the natives were suffering thru, but in truth she hadn't come close.

"Rahne! Hey!" Dani snapped her fingers in front of Rahne's face several times; bring her attention back to her, however briefly. Dani recognized the problem, and quickly looked around. Thankfully, there was a dirt road in the direction of the Ultimatum base.

"Nova, we need to be ready for when Ultimatum comes after us. Take Wolfsbane about a mile down that road so she alert us if they try to attack us."

"I'll go, too." X-Treme said as he placed his shirt and weapons back on, "My eyesight's almost as good as Rahne's, and I won't be much help here."

"Fine. Nova?"

Nova took the two by the arm and flew them about a mile down the road, "Keep us posted." He said before he rejoined the others at superspeed. X- Treme glanced in the direction of the base before looking towards Rahne. She had her hands in her face, weeping softly.

"You okay?" X-Treme asked as he approached.

"I'm sorry." Rahne said softly as she tried to stop crying. She wiped a few tears off her face, "It's just that I could smell their fear, their... misery. Those people have lost so much, all because of little rocks and trinkets!" Rahne again, tried and failed to wipe all the tears from her face, "I'm sorry...here I am cryin' like a wee bairn for people I don' even know."

"It's okay," X-Treme said as he placed his hand on her should and gently pulled her close, "I wish I could."

Arsenal and Tarene

"They seem scared of us." Tarene commented as she looked towards the villagers. The villagers kept their distance from Force Works, glancing in their direction every now and then.

"We swooped down like the wraith of god on the R.U.F out of nowhere." Arsenal explained, "If I was them, I'd keep a distance from us too. It's probably for the best, we can't really do anything to help them, and they can't help us." Arsenal sighed

"Bobby? Why does the R.U.F do what they do? What are they?"

"It's a complex story. The short form is the Revolutionary United Front is made up of mainly disenfranchised men who lost faith in the countries democracy due to the hardships at the time. They fought with the government regularly, and often attacked small isolated villages that are hard to defend. To get their point across, they used amputation of legs, ears, arms and uhh...more sensitive areas to terrorize the population. As time went on, what exactly the rebels stand for now is unknown. All we know about what the R.U.F stands for is what we see, these days." Arsenal waved his hand towards the village, "Pointless death and destruction for fun and profit. Had we not gotten here when we did, the villagers who weren't killed would likely have been used as slaves for the diamond mines and their children would have been drugged and forced to serve in the R.U.F."

"But what are they?" Tarene asked

"What do you mean?" Arsenal asked, not exactly understanding the question

"Are they robots, demon possessed, what?" Tarene asked in all seriousness

It was now Arsenal's turn to be confused, "Excuse me? What makes you think that?"

"Well, because no one in their right mind would do what the R.U.F does to innocent people, let alone their own people." Tarene said matter of factly, as if she was discussing a point of science, not human nature. Arsenal took a second to take the statement in, before he broke out laughing, despite himself and the situation.

"What?" Tarene asked

"Kid, don't ever change." He sighed as he wiped away an imaginary tear

Nova and Mirage

"Man, I can't get over how they're looking at us." Nova said to Mirage. The villagers would often steal a glance at them, and if caught, would sheepishly turn away as though they had committed some offense, "It's like they're terrified of us, yet at the same time just accepting of our presence."

"You get used to it after a while." Mirage remarked, "I know I have. It's a tragedy to see these people still suffering because of colonialism."

"Huh? How do you figure?" asked Nova

"The main thing that's keeping the R.U.F going is its profits in diamond trades. A market propped up by foreign powers, mostly in Europe, and who are largely untouched by it's effects, I might add. If the market was gone, I doubt the R.U.F could do the damage it's done." Dani explained

"With due respect Dani, that's bullshit. The inflated market could just as easily be used to pull this country out of the mess it's in. Money that buys guns can just as easily be used to build schools and hospitals. Besides, do you think for a second that if the diamond market collapsed tomorrow, that the R.U.F would just lay down their arms and stop fighting?" Nova asked

"No, but I know that if it collapsed tomorrow that the R.U.F wouldn't have such easy access to the funds they need to buy weapons." Dani replied

"And the legitimate government would lose out on a major source of revenue that could really help the country."

Dani pointed to the villagers, "Yeah, look how much it's helped them already."

Wiz Kid

Wiz Kid listened intently to his scanners as wires reached out of his tech pack and merged with portions of the Stealth Wing. His power slowly flowed thru the wires, fixing burnt out connections, reshaping important computer boards and navigational equipment. While this was happening, Taki monitored his long-range scanners and pretended to listen to Speedball.

Repairs are coming faster than I thought Taki smiled to himself. If there was one thing Taki liked, it was a job well done. No loose ends, the problem expunged and everything ready for another day. Taki took a moment to review the data that his long-range scanners had accumulated.

"Well, I must say..." Another thing Taki appreciates is polite language. To him, there is nothing more troubling than foul language, because it is too imprecise. Profanity to him is simply too ineffective to communicate a problem, "...fuck me over."

However, there are always exceptions to the rule.

"I'm getting antsy chief, where are Ultimatum?" Nova asked

"Hopefully still picking themselves up after we took them apart." Dani answered.

"Dani? Is Richard there with you? Because we have a problem." Wiz Kid said over the comm. link.

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked

"We have a problem."

"You've said that already."

"It bears repeating. I've been monitoring the R.U.F's communication's bands. They are a mite bit angry about the beating we gave that contingent, and are massing their forces to lay a carpet over this entire area." Takin explained

"Well, fuck me over." Nova stated

"Exactly, Nova."

"How soon will they be ready?" Dani asked

"Fourteen hours at least. They know they're in for a fight, and are responding accordingly. It's fair to say they want our heads on a stick."

"But we can be gone by then." Nova said, and then he and Dani looked towards one another in sudden realization, "But...oh hell..."

"Exactly, we can be gone by then, but not the village. The R.U.F may lay waste to this entire area just in the hopes of killing us. They may just shoot first and to hell with the questions." Taki said.

"We could hit them first." Dani proposed, "Take them out before they can attack."

"I don't think so chief," Nova said, "The United States frowns of foreign superhuman involvement in civil wars. It makes people in high places very uncomfortable. We hit the R.U.F too hard, the C.S.A may shut us down."

"Are you sure?"

"Got some personal history with this sort of thing. Trust me.*" Nova answered

(See New Warriors Vol. 1 29-30 to see what Nova's talking about)

"Hell." Dani commented

Dani, we have trouble Rahne said over their special psi-link.

"And the hits just keep on coming." Dani sighed, "Taki, why the hell didn't you tell me Ultimatum was on the move?"

"What do you mean?" Taki asked over the comm. link, "They're still...oh, nuts. I don't detect them, but I'm getting some 'echoes' on my scanners. They must have had some kind of cloaking devices. Advanced ones too. Hell."

"Any suggestions?" Nova asked

"Bio modem?" Taki replied

"Excuse me?" Dani asked

"Never mind. Go deal with the immediate threat, I'm almost finished here." Taki reported

When John Millar, born in California and indoctrinated into Ultimatum's one- world order ideals by his liberal father, accepted the rank of Regional commander of Ultimatum's African operations, he never expected he would have to deal with the likes of Force Works. At most, he expected he would have to deal with the Black Panther. But he stoically accepted that he would have to lead Ultimatum against such powerful superheroes.

But fate was on his side. Ultimatum had purchased a teleporter from Power Brokers, Inc that enabled them to move massive amounts of troops and equipment to wherever they were needed. Ultimatum had also purchased a large amount of high tech weaponry, such as hover bikes, high intensity laser pistols, hover platforms armed with plasma casters, mandroid battle armor suits and enough firepower to level three cities without breaking a sweat. The vast majority of this arsenal was secreted underground too, thus saving it from Force Works' first attack. So while Mr. Millar never expected to fight a team as powerful as Force Works, he was hardly unprepared.

"It looks like a George Lucas army." Nova said as he watched the Ultimatum troops advance in the distance at a slow, methodical pace. Nova about five hundred feet above the air for a moment, taking measure of the enemy forces coming his way. He then started to descend to where his teammates were waiting in the jungle. Curiously, they had cleared out a patch of land about fifty feet wide and twenty feet long.

"Phantom Menace or Empire Strikes back?" Dani asked as he touched down.

"I was thinking Return of the Jedi, complete with storm troopers and us the Ewoks." Nova replied, "What's with the remodeling?"

"I've got an idea, not much of one I admit, but it's hard to stare someone down with the jungle in the way. How far off are they?"

"About five minutes." He answered. The two turned as they heard the dull roar of a rocket and watched as Wiz Kid rejoined them with two canisters tucked under his arm.

"I've got the 'special effects' from the Stealth Wing, Dani, how are we going to play this?" He asked as he touched down.

"Just a second. Everyone, group huddle!" She shouted. Her team quickly stopped everything they were doing and gathered around her. "Okay guys, I think it's a fair statement to say our backs are up against the wall. We're gonna need our best poker faces for this one. Our first problem is Ultimatum, and here's what we're going to do..."

As Millar led his troops forward, he took the lead. After all, he wouldn't ask his men to face a threat he himself was unwilling to face.

"Sir, we're coming up on a clearing. Looks man made." An advanced scout warned.

"Good, everyone get ready..."

Get Ready. It's something that's far easier said than done, especially against Force Works. Before Millar could utter another word, everything went black as night. Mirage used her powers to project an illusion of darkness, disorientating the troops, and was immediately followed up by an attack by Nova. He zipped thru their lines at supersonic speed, and the subsequent sonic booms hammered the men. Lightning rained down from the heavens in between the men and armaments, striking no one but blinding many. Millar shouted into his radio, but got nothing but static.

"Attack! Don't just stand there! One World, no borders!" He roared into the radio, to no effect. Suddenly, powerful hands grabbed his and pulled him out of his seat and into the air. He smashed into the ground, directly in front of Mirage.

"Hello, I believe you ordered an ass kicking, with the works?" Mirage said smugly as she pulled her bow taunt and pointed one of her arrows at his face. Behind her Force Works stood at the ready. X-Treme drew his sword, Wolfsbane was crouched and ready to attack, Arsenal had his bone claws unsheathed and steel skin while Tarene swung her mallet, ready to unleash it's awesome power.

Millar reached for his radio again, and again got nothing but static.

"Don't bother. I had one of our members shut off all your communications." Mirage explained with a smile, "Which at the moment, leaves your troops without a leader."

Not twenty feet away, the Ultimatum troops stood posed to strike, but at the same time hesitant. No one wanted to be the one who got the regional commander killed, after all, and Force Works had thrashed them barely an hour ago. It was perhaps the definition of a 'Mexican standoff'.

"Only for a moment." Millar replied as he stood up and brushed himself off, "We want DuReight back, Mirage, and we won't leave without him."

"Not an option. Here's my counter offer, you take your men out of here, and I won't have my team destroy every last bit of weaponry here."

"If you could have done that, you would have already." Millar said confidently, "You're bluffing."

"That's correct." Wiz Kid said as he stepped forward. He casually pushed Dani's psychic arrow away from Millar, "She's bluffing."

"'Kid, what the hell!" Dani demanded

"I thought as much. Now give me DuReight or..." Millar ordered

"I only said she was bluffing. You haven't heard my threat, yet." Wiz Kid smiled. As he said that, twenty globes the size of baseballs came out of the ground around the Ultimatum troops, "Those are E.M pulse devices, specifically designed to cripple every weapon in your arsenal."

"Well, now you're bluffing." Millar said. Wiz Kid pressed a button on the portion of his tech pack that was morphed around his wrist. One globe exploded, and a blue pulse emerged from it, swallowing three mandroid units. The mandroids stuttered, rattled and finally collapsed to the ground. The Ultimatum troops moved back, now aware of the danger and very much afraid. They knew they couldn't react fast enough to disable all the globes, and without their high tech weapons, they wouldn't last ten minutes against the Power Pack, let alone Force Works.

"Still think I'm bluffing?" Wiz Kid asked

"'Kid, what the hell are you doing?" Mirage demanded. This wasn't her plan it all, she had hoped to stare Ultimatum down. But now, she wasn't sure what the hell was going on. If Wiz Kid could cripple them, why didn't he? Where was Taki going with this?

"Trust me Mirage." Wiz Kid said as a waved a dismissive hand, "To answer your question, I haven't crippled your troops because, believe it or not, we're friends, and you have a problem." Taki clapped his hands together and smiled at Millar, "And friends help one another with their problems."

"Excuse me? Friends?"

"Yes, friends." Taki said as he placed a friendly arm around Millar's shoulder, "Come, take stroll with me."

"You're touching me." Millar said as Taki started to pull him towards the edge of the clearing that Force Works had made. His troops watched them both carefully, still uncertain of what to do.

"Yes, I am. Because friends can touch each other platonically." Wiz Kid replied.

"Okay, I'll play your game, kid. How are we friends?"

"Oh, we're not friends personally, but in the spirit of brotherhood." Taki said with an ever-present smile, "We both seek to achieve a goal far greater than us with like minded people. You seek to unite the world under one flag, I seek to unite mutants and humans in brotherhood. Six of one, half a dozen of another, really."

"And I confess I admire what you 'Force Works' youths do, but that does not change my position." Millar stated.

"Let me continue. We have similar goals that sometimes overlap. And that's why I want to help you with your problem."

"What problem is that?" Millar asked. By now the two had stopped at the edge of the clearing, and several devices in Wiz Kid's tech pack prevented anyone from hearing what was being said.

"Despite the inherent nobility of world unification, you and your men are dismissed as, well, terrorists."

"World opinion doesn't matter to me or my organization!" Millar said, "History will vindicate us!"

"Oh, world opinion always matters. How will you change anything if you cannot change the hearts and minds of the people of the world?" Taki asked

"And what do you suggest?" Millar huffed.

"There are R.U.F soldiers massing about twenty miles away from here, in direct defiance of peace treaties that they have signed. The R.U.F are not very popular, for obvious reasons. Were you to stop them, or even destroy a few divisions," Taki said confidently, "Well, I imagine world opinion of your organization will rise."

"Why are the R.U.F gathering so close to this position?"

"Well, when Force Works was forced to make an emergency landing thanks to your men, we came across a contingent, and you can figure out the rest."

Millar put his hand on his chin, and thought for a moment, "No," He finally said, "I won't clean up after Force Works simply because it might make Ultimatum look good. Now, hand Mr. DuReight over and..."

"Actually, you will. Cross your arms across your chest and look like you agree with me" Wiz kid ordered. To Millar's amazement, he did just that.

"How...?"

Taki tilted his head to his left shoulder, still smiling, where what looked like a web cam was sitting on his tech pack, "Bio modem, used by the villain Baron Zemo some time back to take over various armed forces."

"Mind control!" Millar snapped.

"Correct. See, sir, I'm a man of logic." Taki said. He then frowned, "I see a problem, and I fix it, sometimes doing whatever it takes, and make no mistake, I loathe mind control. However, there is a village, filled with innocent people, not far from here that will be burned to the ground by the R.U.F. because earlier in the day Force Works saved them. Now, standing it front of me is the regional commander of a heavily armed self-righteous terrorist group. To me, the solution is obvious. No one will bat an eye when Ultimatum rains down on the R.U.F like the Lord's vengeance because you people have always been leftist, whereas if Force Works were to attack the R.U.F, both the U.N and United States would shut us down for 'abusing' our power."

"And so we become your sacrificial lambs!" Millar snapped, "How dare you!"

"Spare me the morality play." Taki's smile returned, "You're terrorists. I'm simply putting you to good use. But look at the bright side, it make actually make you look better in public opinion." he said calmly. "Now, when I snap my fingers, you're going to forget everything we've said here, allow us to leave unmolested and then make war on the R.U.F. Also, laugh like I said something funny."

"I'll get you..."

-Snap-

"Bahahahahaha!" Millar laughed, "You are pure comedy, my friend."

"Then we are agreed?" Wiz Kid asked as they walked back towards the center of the clearing.

"Yes, take Mr. DuReight home. I think the R.U.F will 'help' our cause far more than he ever could."

"I'm glad you see it that way." Wiz Kid said as he shook Millar's hand, "I'm sorry about all the damage my team caused you today."

"Well, I think we'll meet again someday, and then you'll get yours." Millar said confidently. He then turned towards his men, "Alright, listen up, our assignment has changed..."

"Well, till then, good day." Wiz kid replied as he rejoined his team, "I trust everyone is ready to leave?"

"Taki, what the hell just happened?" Arsenal asked, stunned.

"The power of reason won out." He smiled as he morphed his tech pack into a rocket and flew into the air, "Come on, I'm hungry and not in the mood to eat the junk rations we have on the Stealth Wing."

"...You mean you convinced them to go after the R.U.F?" Dani asked as she entered the Stealth Wing with Force Works, astonished by Wiz Kid's explanation of his actions, minus an important fact or two, "All you did was set one terrorist group after another!"

"I know." Wiz Kid replied, "It's a pretty economical solution if you look at it."

"It dinnae solve a thing!" Rahne protested

"Oh? With luck, two terrorist groups wipe one another out." Wiz Kid said, "works for me."

"I still don't like it." Arsenal said, "It's not how we should deal with things."

"Well, there was another option." explained Wiz kid, "We could have attacked the R.U.F with everything we have and utterly cripple their ability to make war for a time. But if we did that, we would likely be censured by the United Nations for involving ourselves in a civil matter in a foreign country that we entered illegally, the United States would insist we disband and the R.U.F would simply reform at a later date."

There was silence for a moment, until Speedball spoke up, "Okay, lets just say we handled this the best we could, played the hand we were dealt and get the hell out of here, huh?"

"Sounds good to me." Nova said as he sat down in his chair.

"Then I just need Speedball to sit in that chair." Wiz Kid pointed to a large throne situated in the back of the plane that was covered in wires and knobs.

"Umm, why do I have to sit the electric chair, Taki?" He asked nervously

"The chair's designed to absorb your kinetic energy and provide propulsion." Taki explained, "It's the only way we can get enough power to fly across the Atlantic Ocean."

"You stick a plug up my ass and I'm going to be pissed." Speedball said as he sat down in the chair, "Hey, Taki, how'd you create all E.M.P devices back there? I thought..."

"Well, generally, the devices I create are limited by the material at hand and how much of it I have. The more complex the weapon, the more time I need to create it and more material." Taki explained as he strapped Speedball in.

"Yeah, I know. So how'd you do it?"

"There were only two real E.M.P devises there, the ones I adapted from the Stealth Wings weaponry." Taki smiled.

"Remind me never to play poker with you." Speedball said

The flight back to Metro City was fairly quite. For one thing, the team knew that bail and wire were pretty much the only things holding the Stealth Wing together. Wiz Kid had to rebuild the Stealth Wing using existing material, for the most part. For another thing, the team was emotionally exhausted. X-Treme heard a slight collective sigh of relief as he guided the Stealth Wing into the Work Place's hangar.

"I'm so glad this day is almost over." Mirage said as she stepped down the ramp of the Stealth Wing

"It's a good day for me as well, Ms. Moonstar." A familiar voice said. Dani was almost speechless. Standing in the team's hangar next to Mr. Parvenue and Ms. Sawyer, was Valerie Cooper, along with what looked like two federal agents, "This day has been long and coming for Mr. DuReight."

"Why the hell are here, Cooper?" She snarled. Dani did not like surprises one bit.

"Val? What are ye doin'?" Rahne asked.

"Hey, Rahne, it's good to see you again. I wish I could stay and catch up, but I'm rather busy." Val then looked towards Dani, "Down, Moonstar. The Justice Department just wanted someone on hand who always plays by the book to supervise Mr. DuReight's arrest. I won't be staying." She explained as the two agents brushed past the team and entered the Stealth Wing. They emerged seconds later with Mr. DuReight in handcuffs.

"What's going on?" Tarene asked.

"What's going on is Mr. DuReight is a member of an illegal international monopoly and has been under indictment by the Justice Department since 1995. The United States government owes you a debt of gratitude." And with that, Cooper and her men turned and left the Tower with DuReight, who was protesting rather loudly. Dani looked towards Mr. Parvenue, fire in her eyes.

"Did you set this up?" she growled. It was more an accusation than a question.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew." He said evenly, "He's been indicted for years and like Ms. Cooper said, part of an international monopoly, what did you think would happen?"

"..." Dani was speechless, mainly because he was dead right.

"Again, I'm sorry Dani. You're right, I should have thought to tell you, and I was wrong to ask you to take this mission. It won't happen again." Parvenue stated.

"It had damn well better not." Dani said sternly

"Now see here Moonstar..." Ms. Sawyer snapped

"No, she's right," Parvenue interrupted, "Force Works needs to be seen as independent team, not corporate stooges. Again, Dani, I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I'm more than willing to discuss this at greater length later, but I've an appointment in Japan."

Not waiting was a response, Ms. Sawyer teleported Parvenue and herself away.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to hit the dance floor and just try to forget this day ever happened." said Speedball.

"Sounds good to me. What about you Adam?" Arsenal asked. He turned to where X-Treme was standing only a moment ago, but saw no one, "I hate it when he does that."

As the others made plans for the rest of the evening, Rahne went followed Dani towards the press room

"Dani?" Rahne called out as she caught up with her oldest friend.

"Yeah, Rahne?" Dani asked, never breaking stride.

"About that talk" Rahne said, "I..."

"It's gonna have to wait." Dani said, "Sorry."

"But..."

"I'm sorry, I've just got too much to do. I want to go over the press releases again and make sure they mesh with our actions, make sure nothing can come back and bite us in the ass, see about getting another Stealth Wing and then find whatever rock Namorita hid herself under and wring her liberal blue neck!" Dani sighed, "Spirits, give me the strength."

Dani entered the Press Room, leaving Rahne behind.

Arsenal pulled his head gear off and retracted his metal wings into his body. Running a weary hand thru his hair, he made his way towards his room to change his clothes.

"Bobby, I...I need to ask you a question." Tarene shouted from down the hallway, "I think it's kinda important."

"Sure thing kiddo," Bobby turned around to face her, "what's your question?"

Tarene stopped and looked at the ground, as though she was a young child who had been caught in a lie and was trying to look innocent, "First, promise me you won't laugh."

"I promise."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Well," Tarene fiddled with her hands for a moment before she had finally screwed up the courage to ask the question that had been haunting her since they left Africa, "Bobby, did we win today?"

Sierra Leone, Africa

Misha ran away from the R.U.F camp as fast as her legs could carry her. She had been fortunate. The men that were guarding her had gotten too high to notice her slipping out the back of the tent, and now she ran for dear life. But, she was so concerned about someone following her, she kept looking over her shoulder instead of looking in front of her. Misha ran full force into a man that she did not know was there. She fell to the ground and looked in horror at the men she had run into. They were Ultimatum soldiers, though she didn't know that.

"Peace." One soldier said as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and put his hands out to show he wasn't a threat, "Do you speak English?"

"Yes..." Misha stammered, "Who..."

"We're Ultimatum, and we're looking for the Revolutionary United Front. Would you happen to know where they are?" The soldier asked. It took one second for Misha to understand what they were asking, and another to point the direction of the camp.

"Thank you. Please wait here, and we will take you back to your village when we are done."

And for the first time, Misha felt hope.

Metro City

"I'll see you guys at the protest tomorrow!" Brent Anderson yelled back to his buddies in the bar, "We'll teach them muties that Metro City don't want their kind here!"

Brent pulled his trench coat up his shoulders a little to stave off the cold as he walked home. His apartment was only a few blocks from the bar if he cut thru a few back alleys.

"Stupid muties stinkin' up the city..." He mumbled as he ducked into an alley, "We don't need their kind here."

"And the world doesn't need your kind here either." An educated voice said.

"Huh?" Brent looked around quickly, but saw no one. Then, from the shadows, a V shaped throwing blade shot out from the darkness and cut Brent in the shoulder.

"Ahh! My arm...!"

"In fact, you deserve...to burn." The voice stated. Brent couldn't find the strength to scream as his blood was seemly replaced with acid.

Somewhere in America

"Becky, will you marry me?" John Munn asked his girlfriend of the last five years as he presented her a diamond-studded ring

"Yes, I will!" she replied as she wrapped her arms around John. After a deep, passionate kiss, she looked at the ring, "Oh, John, you shouldn't have. It's so beautiful, but the price..."

"Well, it sure cost an arm and a leg," He remarked, "but... how can you put a price on love?"

-THE END-

Next= Force Works attempts to catch up with old enemies, but must enter a superhuman prison to do it. Sounds easy enough, right? Too bad Bedlam's new Cabal is planning a break in at the same time! Come back next issue for "All in a Day's Work."

Notes The bio modem was used by Baron Zemo to control the world in Thunderbolts 12

Information on Blood Diamonds and the R.U.F can be found at



And various other websites

Works Letters

Okay, last issue got me a letter from fanfic legend Derrick Ferguson (with a minor edit). Take it away Derrick!

"Quite a few thoughts I have on this issue and I know that's what's you really wanna hear, so we'll dispense with the usual pleasantries and jump right onto the comments, okay?"

Works for me

"I like your mix of real world politics with superheroics. It's pretty obvious to me that you've done your homework on the issues and topics covered in this issue and even if you didn't, you're a good enough writer that everything damn sure SOUNDED right to me. I was caught up right from the opening scene which showed that even in a world where guys shoot lasers outta their eyes and 98 pound weaklings turn into muscle bound green giants, it's still a world where innocents suffer and terrible things happen to good people."

Yeah, that scene (which is played out all too often in reality) was written to show just how brutal the effects of the diamond trade are. And yeah, I did A LOT of homework.

"Illyana Rasputin: Any chance of her joining the team? I enjoy your characterization of her and the playful, casual way she commands and uses such tremendous power."

Never say never, but the chances are slim. However, she will pop up again in issue 12

"Dani: Growing into her own as a capable leader and linchpin holding the team together. I like her coolness under fire and the way she's always thinking. Reminds me a lot of the way Cyclops operates. I also got a kick out of the imaginative ways Dani uses her powers. The Avengers illusion was brilliant and I always get a chuckle when Dani uses her power to create the illusion that somebody is invisible. Tarene is also rapidly growing into one of my favorites and I like the way you're taking your time about revealing the secrets about her."

Glad you like Tarene. She's a fave of mine as well, so sweet and powerful ;)

"The information giving during this issue about how terrorists finance their operation was dead on. A lot of people don't realize that terrorists get their money from manipulating and siphoning funds from legitimate businesses."

Yup. Terrorists get more from legitimate sources than they have ever gotten from illegal sources. Funny how that works.

"X-Treme: You used him in a really cool way in this story, using him as the team's point man/scout to scope out the terrain and opposition before the team comes in to take care of business. And I was REALLY glad you didn't have him use that wacky power of his where he cuts somebody and 'oxygenates' their blood. I'm sorry, but just how in da HELL does somebody even find OUT they have a power like that anyway? I always felt that when he used it in past issues, it slowed down the story because then you have to explain exactly what he's doing and quite frankly, I don't see why he just doesn't go ahead and wallop the piss outta his enemies using conventional means since he's shown himself to be an outstanding fighter. But again, that's just me..."

X-Treme 'burns' people because not so deep down, he_does_not_like_to_fight. And so, if he had to choose between drawing a small amount of blood or smacking the hell out of someone, he'd go with the blood. Though yeah, it does slow down the pace...

"The plot twist at the end where it turns out that DuReight was a great "Oh, shit" moment that I truly didn't see coming and the classic line; "Jesus, Allah, Buddha...I love you all!" had me laughing out loud."

Glad you liked it! * hides from Simpsons writers*

"Another truly enjoyable Force Works issue and another example of why you're one of M2K's top writers. Shame that Force Works doesn't get more interest from M2K readers as it's a title that everybody should be reading."

Thanks for the ringing endorsement, man.

And now, a review from Brent Lambert, writer of Avengers and Exiles, among others

Force Works #6 by David Ingram

THE GOOD: David addresses a very real issue here and he handles it in a mature manner. He also seems to be very knowledge on this bloody diamond trade and so that makes the story all the more valid. Reading the characterization of David is like waking up to some of your grandma's breakfast. You know it's always going to be good and it just feels right. Magik's guest appearance was a welcome one since she doesn't get to play too much of a big role in M2K.

Oh, I know quite a bit about blood diamonds. It's gotten to the point where I can't stand a single commercial about them, but I'm anal like that ;) Glad you liked Magik's appearance

THE BAD: Give me more Magik! She was only in the issue briefly. I would have liked to see more of her in the issue. And this issue seemed to have a little too much dialogue and not enough narrative in some scenes.

See above. Yeah, there was a lot of dialogue, but Blood Diamonds aren't going to explain themselves ;)

OVERALL: If you like political stories with super characters then this issue is the start of something beautiful for you.

Thanks for the kind words, man.