M2K Presents
Force Works 13
Cause and Effect Part 1
New York, Greenwich Village
The man called Nova, alongside his teammates Tarene, Kymaera and Arsenal, regarded odd mansion in front of him and like many before him, wondered about a peculiar fact regarding it.
"You know, I've flown past this area a million times..."
"And you never noticed this mansion before. Yeah, I know." Kymaera sighed and waved her hand dismissively as they walked up to the oak doors of the mansion. Kymaera knocked once, and waited patiently. To her surprise, the man who opened the doors wasn't the Asian servant the young princess expected, but...
"Steve!" Namorita exclaimed as she hugged the red-cloaked man who'd opened the door, better known in certain circles as Dr. Strange, "How's my favorite faux uncle?"
"I'm doing quite fine, 'Nita, though not as well as you it would seem. Namor said something about a bachelor's degree in business?" Dr. Strange asked conversationally as he reciprocated the hug.
"Yeah," Namorita said she broke the embrace, "I got credit for all that time I ran Oracle Inc. Where's Wong?"
"I gave him the day off today," The master of mystic arts explained as he motioned for the young heroes to enter, "Given the nature of our investigation, things may become...unruly. And I'm sure Tarene would appreciate some degree of privacy regarding what we may discover."
"We'll try to make sure it doesn't come to that." Arsenal said, attempting to reassure the doctor.
"Do you think you can fix my memories?" asked Tarene
"I will certainly do my best, young lady." Strange said as he willed the doors closed. He then motioned for the heroes to follow him, "But I can tell you already that you are a most unusual case. Tell me, 'Nita, have you ever given any thought as to why young Tarene looks so much like the Avenger Thor?"
Namorita shook her head as they reached Dr. Strange's private study, with wax candles and a skylight providing the only illumination in the room. Despite her enhanced vision, Namorita had a hard time making out the boundaries to the walls, "No, because she doesn't. She just has a war hammer, like him and... similar powers."
"Oh?" Dr. Strange muttered an ancient spell, and with a single breath, blew it towards the unsuspecting Tarene, "look at her now."
The three heroes did as Strange requested, and could barely keep their jaws off the floor in shock. It was as if a veil had been lifted from their eyes, an obvious truth hidden in plain sight that they simply could not see before.
"Holy crap..." Nova muttered
"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Arsenal asked, astonished
"What?" Tarene asked innocently as her head darted around, looking for what her friends were gawking in confusion at, unaware of the fact that they were actually staring at her.
"I'll be damned. The color scheme, the winged headband, the boots, she looks like Thor!" Richard Ryder declared, more than a little dumbfounded, "if Thor was feminine, I mean."
"How come we never noticed this before?" Arsenal asked as he rubbed his head in confusion, "I mean, it's so obvious!"
"Because her true appearance was hidden behind a glamour, one that clouded your minds." Strange stated, "Miss Tarene has had a minor spell placed upon her at birth, that in effect made her 'just another face in the crowd'. I'd be willing to bet that only computers and the like would see the similarities."
"But why, and who placed it on her?" Kymaera asked
"That's what I intend to find out." Dr. Strange said as he summoned the Eye of Agamotto before him from his amulet. Strange walked in front of Tarene and placed his hands on the sides of her head, "I need you to calm yourself, young lady, free your mind of all conscious thought and earthly desires."
"Kay'."
Dr. Strange crooked his head towards Kymaera, who just nodded in sympathy. Dr. Strange took a deep breath, and willed the light of Agamotto to cast it's light upon Tarene. Tarene's eyes began to glaze over as the light began opening secret doors in her mind, "First, we must find out what you are, before we find out who you are, young lady. Lets begin."
Metro City, the Workplace
"This pile never gets smaller, does it?" Wiz Kid asked as he regarded the dozens upon dozens of papers strewn about the Force Works conference table. He and Mirage were in full costume, though solely out of habit.
"Welcome to my life." Mirage said as she picked up a manila folder and looked thru it, "It's been a while since gone thru all these P.A.C* endorsement requests, and I need some help. You'd think with X-Corp on the scene, this pile would have gotten a little smaller."
( P.A.C= Political Action Committee- Political Dave)
"When you want serious celebrity endorsement, you don't go to the likes Dennis Rodman or Adam Sandler," Wiz Kid explained as he examined another folder, "you go to the likes of Michael J Fox and Martin Sheen, though X-Corp likely get just as many requests. It seems out vigilance to keep the media out of our personal lives and focused on our public actions has paid off."
"Well, lets see what we got." Dani said as picked up a pile and leafed thru it, "PETA wants Rahne's endorsement. N.O.W wants Kymaera to attend a fundraiser; NASA officials would like Nova to testify before a congressional subcommittee that controls their budget...Spirits and the list goes on. And not the list I want."
"It's hard to stand only on one issue considering some of your teammates." Wiz Kid remarked. He then turned his head sharply, as if he heard a sound only he could detect.
"What? What is it?"
"Remember when we gave the police access codes and I set up a directory in case they ever needed to find us in the tower, in the event of an emergency?" Wiz Kid asked.
"Yeah, why?" Dani asked worriedly, "Are they here now?"
"Yes, and they're looking for X-Treme."
The Workplace, Exercise room.
Adam Sol and Rahne Sinclair began circling one another on the mat, both wearing karate gis.
"Now remember, watch the body language, that's how you know when your foe is preparing an attack. Ready?" Adam asked.
"I've ne'er had a villain ask me if I was ready before, ye know." Rahne commented.
"Cocky are we?" Adam asked as he rushed forward and lashed out (though hardly at full speed or with a desire to harm Rahne. This was practice after all). Rahne ducked, Adam blinked, and found himself flat on his back with Rahne standing over him.
"Nae cocky, jus' well trained." Rahne smirked as she crouched down over Adam.
"Well, I guess I can skip basics, huh?" Adam asked as he flipped up.
"You'll probably have to skip a great deal of other things too, Mr. Sol." A new voice stated. The two heroes spun around to see Commissioner Stone, accompanied by a Swat Team (weapons naturally trained on the two mutants).
"What's the meaning o' this?" Rahne demanded as she shifted to her wolf form and crouched slightly on instinct.
Stone, unimpressed, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a blue slip of paper, "I have here an arrest warrant for Mr. Adam Sol, miss Sinclair."
"Arrest for what?" Dani asked as she and Wiz Kid entered the room in full costume. Several Swat team members instantly trained their weapons on the two, but Stone motioned for them to remain trained on X-Treme.
"Arrest for the murder o' several anti-mutant activists in various areas around Metro City." Stone stated, "Are you going to come quietly, Mr. Sol?" Stone asked, as he looked at the alien martial artist straight in the eyes.
Adam remained silent for a moment, and avoiding the gaze of his teammates for the longest moment before stepping forward and saying, "I'll come peacefully."
Stone pulled out two high tech bracelets and carefully walked towards X-Treme, who held his hands straight out, "Looks like you know the procedure. These cuffs won't hurt ya none, but you understand we gotta take precautions. Don't make any sudden moves now."
"If I made a sudden move, you'd never know it until it was too late." Adam said as the cuffs were placed on his wrists. With that done, Stone led the Swat team and X-Treme back the way they came to the awaiting paddy wagon.
"Dani..." Rahne had watched this all happen in shock, too numb to move until now. Adam couldn't possibly be a murderer. Rahne began to walk after the policemen in disbelief, unsure of how to react.
"Stay cool, Rahne, we'll get to the bottom of this." Dani said reassuringly, "go get your union suit on and we'll get down to the police station and see just what the hell is going on."
With that, the young Scotswoman took off in a mad dash towards her room, with Dani and Taki walking behind her. Wiz Kid waited until Rahne was out of ear shot before he inquired, "You didn't notice, did you?"
"Notice what?" Dani asked.
"X-Treme never once uttered a single word regarding his innocence."
Dr. Strange's Sanctum
Nova tapped his foot impatiently as Dr. Strange continued to pour magic light onto Tarene's face from his eye thingy. For his part, Nova hated magic. Not because it 'defied science' like all the big brains liked to bitch, but because it wasn't solid enough for his tastes. Hard to combat and even harder to understand. But he still respected it's value, and he knew the hero 'rules'. If you need a leader and firepower, go to Captain America and the Avengers. Telepathy? One of a million X teams. And Dr. Strange was the hero's magic man. Finally, Dr. Strange released Tarene and allowed her to step back.
"What have you found out, Doctor?" Arsenal asked.
"Quite a bit, if what I suspect is true." He stated, "Answer me these two questions first. Does Tarene have something of a temper in battle?"
"Umm, kinda." Tarene said sheepishly, "I just get really mad sometimes, I don't know why."
"And now tell me this, have you compared her power to that of Thor's?" Strange asked.
"Yeah, an old Avenger buddy gave us the file for comparison when we were trying to figure her out." Nova explained, "Obvious physical differences aside, Tarene here ranks up there with him."
"I suspected as such." Dr. Strange said, "And there is a reason for both Tarene's power and rages." Strange then looked towards the young woman, "it's your dual nature fighting for dominance."
"Dual nature?" Kymaera asked.
"Yes. My mystical scans revealed that young Tarene here is the daughter of two Asgardions Gods whose very nature conflicts with the other. In this case, I suspect that the parents are Tyr, the Asgard wargod and Lorelia, the sister of the Enchantress and minor goddess of love, if I recognize the auras about you correctly." Dr. Strange explained.
"How does that explain Tarene's temper?" Arsenal asked.
"The children of gods are more apt to take on the attributes of their parents, moreso than mortals." Dr. Strange stated, "The Asgardions are by nature war gods, thus the inner conflict within Tarene increases her potential for power. Combine that with her bloodline, only one generation removed from Odin, young Tarene is a force to be reckoned with."
"Umm, okay. Can we go now?" Tarene started to rush towards the door, but Arsenal grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her, though she nearly bowled him over before she stopped.
"Not yet. We only know what you are now, not who you are." Arsenal explained as he regained his footing, "When that's settled, we can leave."
"Do we have to?" Tarene asked nervously.
"It's for the best, Tarene." Dr. Strange assured her, "However, it may be a few hours. I need to research a potion that will safely retrieve your memories. Were you a average mortal, the formula will be easy, but for a goddess, it will take some time."
"Uhh, you don't have to trouble yourself." Tarene offered, "I'm fine, really!"
"It's no trouble, young lady." Dr. Strange chuckled, "I enjoy a good, non life threatening challenge every now and then. Why don't you and your friends make yourself comfortable in the living room? I promise you'll find something to pass the time."
"Works for me," Nova commented, "Can we raid the fridge, too?"
"Nova!" Kymaera snapped, "don't embarrass me in front of my cousin's friends!"
"My fridge has survived the hunger of the Incredible Hulk and Namor the First together. Make yourself at home." Dr. Strange said.
"Will do, happy hunting." Arsenal said.
"Umm, what he said." Tarene commented unconvincingly
"Have no fear, Tarene, before this day is out, you will remember the truth." Strange said before teleporting himself to another part of the house to gather the proper books.
Tarene chewed on her bottom lip nervously and muttered softly, "That's what scares me."
Metro City Police Station, District Five, Commissioner Stone's Office
"You heard me Stone, I want to know what the charges are, were Adam is and what evidence you have against him." Danielle Moonstar said as she leaned forward over Stone's desk, flanked by Wiz Kid, Speedball and Wolfsbane. For his part, Stone simply could not believe the sheer audacity of Mirage, a private citizen who couldn't be much older than twenty-two, storming into his office and making such outrageous demands. Stone took a deep breath, and vowed to avoid turning this into a pissing contest that would waste everyone's time.
"While I'm not obligated to tell you anything, if it will get you the hell out of my office, I'll tell you what I can." Stone compromised, "Your friend Adam is being charged with first-degree murder, and will be arraigned this Thursday. He's currently being held at Tartarus."
"Tartarus...?" Rahne gasped.
"Uhh, is that a good idea?" Speedball asked, "I mean, hell, those guys were baying for Force Works blood before we stopped a riot!"
"Are you trying to get him murdered!" Dani shouted, not caring who heard them. They were already quite a sight, a bunch of spandex wearing trouble makers was the opinion of the office, many of whom were obviously interested in what was happening and spying a glance whenever they could, "Souls of my ancestors, he'll be killed!"
"It's the only place that can hold him." Stone said thru gritted, "We have evidence that Mr. Sol used his powers to burn the blood of several anti mutant activists to such a degree that they died an incredibly painful death."
"And since when did Metro City suddenly get a qualified meta crimes unit?" Wiz Kid asked contemptuously.
"Excuse me?" Stone snarled
"Last time I checked, Metro City's forensic labs failed to meet any of the standards set by Quantico," Wiz Kid answered, "has this changed?"
"No." Stone said with impotent fury.
"Let me guess, on the list of things to do." Wiz Kid stated smugly.
"Then...may we see the evidence? We'll see it at discovery anyway." Speedball stated, thankful that some of his father's legal knowledge rubbed off, "if everything's been properly documented, it's not like we could contaminate the crime scene."
"This way may save us all some time." Wiz Kid added, "Unless you really do think that we'd willingly harbor a killer."
Stone picked up a folder from his desk and tossed it forward, "This folder's got an abridged edition of our evidence. I'm telling ya right now, improper investigation won't fly before a jury."
"Oh, why is that?" Dani asked.
"Because Mr. Stone an' his department wasnae in charge o' the investigation." A voice said in an Irish brogue. The members of Force Works turned around to see a man with reddish blonde hair and a suit that was like a neon sign saying 'federal agent',
"My department was." Sean Cassidy said.
"Sean?"
"'ello Rahne. It's...good tae see ye." Sean said unconvincingly
"I'd heard you gotten a new job, but didn't know it was investigating mutants." Dani quipped.
"Cute, Moonstar. I oversaw the entire investigation an' I can assure ye that X-Treme is guilty o' murder." Sean said, "we have D.N.A, finger prints an' after a murder last night, video evidence."
"Fine, then you can help us conduct our own investigation." Dani said as she brushed past Sean and out the door of the office, followed by her teammates.
"See what I have deal with?" Stone sighed to Sean.
"Heh, I've dealt wit' worse, Stone." Sean smirked.
"I'm going to divide the murder scenes in half. Taki, you and Speedy take one half and me and Rahne will take the other half." Dani explained, "Cassidy will probably meet us at the scenes, along with regular patrolmen"
"You really think we're going to get anything from examining the scenes?" Speedball inquired as they shuffled down the hall, "I mean, the cops have probably already gone over everything with a fine tooth comb and all that jazz, and they're gonna be watching us like a hawk."
"Leave no stone unturned..."Dani sighed, "Probably not, but we need to make sure. We need to find out the truth."
"Adam's nae a killer." Rahne said firmly. Much to her distain, no one offered any supporting statements.
"Dani? We got an extremely important problem brewing." A voice commented over Dani's comm. unit, a voice Dani was never all that happy to hear.
"Gee, puns and public relations, Mr. Hearte, I'm impressed." Dani remarked as they made their way down the last flight of stairs of the precinct towards the front exit.
"I try. Anyways, this issue with X-Treme is getting out of hand. The media is eating this situation up like a starved wolverine! The media wasn't that warm to him to begin with, and well, you've seen the man!" Hearte explained.
"Get to the point." Dani snapped.
"The point is, that guilty or not, X-Treme is beginning to pull down Force Works." Hearte stated, "so tread carefully."
"This is different from any other day how?" Dani asked herself flippantly as pushed open the bullet proof glass doors of the police station and was met with a flurry of flashbulbs and cameras.
"Mirage, over here! Is X-Treme guilty?"
"Wiz Kid, a statement please! Is X-Treme capable of cold blooded murder?"
"Speedball, a word?"
'No comment' was repeated time and again as Force Works politely but firmly pushed thru the crowd of modern day vultures to reach the hover platform they'd parked in front of the station. They'd almost made it aboard before a loud, powerful voice boomed, "They have no comment because they know this 'X-Treme' is as guilty as original sin!"
The media personal were instantly quieted as Gabriel Thorne local cult leader and flanked by body guards, stepped forward from down the block. Dani, along with Taki and Rahne, instantly felt a presence brush against her mind, and though they easily blocked it, Dani recognized it for what it was, a telepathic intrusion.
Thorne looked at Dani in disapproval for a moment before continuing, "There is no room for doubt regarding X-Treme's guilt. My sources inside the police department say that every modern form of identification link him to almost each and every crime scene!"
"We have no comment." Dani repeated, this time a little weaker. She could see that Thorne was getting to the reporters on the scene, and it began to worry her. Regardless of X-Treme's innocence or guilt, he was already being tried and likely convicted in the court of public opinion. Right now, he was becoming an increasing liability, but Dani thought, to her everlasting shame, one easily removed.
"Tell me Mirage, in the face of such overwhelming evidence, do you stand for justice, or cronyism?" Thorne spat, and the crowd, media included, jeered in agreement, "Protecting your own at the expense of the people, and you call yourselves heroes."
With a heavy heart, Dani stepped forward and said, "I'd like to say that for the record, that we are still investigating this case and do not believe that everything has yet come to light. However, Mr. Thorne is correct. As the leader of Force Works, I cannot ignore the overwhelming evidence in this case, and I cannot allow a murderer, if these charges are true, to remain on my team."
Dani swallowed hard and said, "As a result, X-Treme is hereby expelled from Force Works."
Somewhere in front of the police station, a pen dropped. And everyone heard it.
Next Issue: The case against X-Treme gets even worse as Force Works investigate the murders that have been plaguing Metro City for the past several weeks, while the other half of Force Works delves further into the mystery of Tarene, but one member of Force Works is dead set against it.
Works Letters
Force Works #12 by David Ingram
THE GOOD: The team takes on Factor 3 in a pretty well choreographed fight. Force Works does some pretty neat things with their powers and takes their opponents down. I also enjoyed the little Magik guest appearance. It's good to see her back in action again. The new Eric the Red also looks like a guy to be feared. I wouldn't want to mess with him anytime soon.
Glad you liked Magik (though she wasn't in action a lot. She sorta disappeared after a bit) and Eric the Red. Eric is a bad ass, and he'll be back to menace the teams (no, that wasn't a typo) soon
THE BAD: Factor 3, with the exception of their leader, was not impressive at all. They were a bunch of pushovers IMO and David could have better executed the threat they potentially represent. After this issue my view of this team is tarnished and it will take a lot of work to make me impressed again.
Well, it was their first time out of the gate. Trust me, next time Factor 3 shows up, it'll be a whole 'nother story.
OVERALL: A solid issue from Ingram as always. If you like Force Works check this story out.
Rock! Heed and obey!
I'd say it's Wednesday again, but it's Thursday where I am, so this is a little late. What can I say about this week at M2K? We had a lot of issues out this week, yet again and the board has had a lot of activity on it as well, and it's a great time to be a part of the group as a writer or a reader and as the year draws to a close you get the feeling that something's going to happen - something special and not just me quitting!
We'll miss ya Dave, I promise ya that!
Look at what's been out this week - Amazing Spider-Man by Nate Charles, Daredevil by Jason Eberly, another Champions issue by Mike Exner (are we glad he's back or what?) and David Ingram's intense mini series In The Name Of Science. I know Chris and Mike have some good writers lined up as well so things truly can only get better. However it's time for the here and now and the EC goes to...
Force Works #12 by David Ingram
Yeah! Go me! Again!
Moira MacTaggert! He's using Moira for the first time since.... since... well, X-Men Omega #42 a few months back, but it's been a while since she's got as much to do as she's had since Ageless Fury. To be fair, it's been coming with Rhane being on the team, but I'm glad it went over as well as it did with such an action packed issue, and Factor 3 were as different to the Super-Skrull as he was to the other villains that have been in Force Works. David gives the series a variety that works well indeed.
Villain diversity is what I aim for. So many choices, sooo little space!
Is there a downside to the issue? Other than the editing I have to do for the speech bits... For me I was disappointed that David didn't do more with the Rhane thing from last issue when Nova confronted her about her bruises etc. It didn't seem to come up this issue, and the last one was more about Nova battling the Super-Skrull. I was hoping for more and it wasn't there. Still, it looks as though David will get to it next issue from the look of the final scene from this issue!
It came up, but Nova deferred it to Namorita. And yup, Rahne's issue with Doug came to a head hopefully no one was expecting.
It's another solid issue in a solid series and David's going to have fun when he takes over Excalibur, you can feel it, so congrats, David, you are this week's Editor's Choice.
*Holds globe in hand and laughs evilly* You have no idea ;)
David Ingram, the writer of Force Works (just in case you didn't know), pulls a great amount of entertainment out of these B-characters...and #12 is no exception.
I try to be consistent *eats fiber*
David has done a great job sharing the spotlight on all the characters on this team. Everyone seems to have something going on, yet they all feel like a team.
That's what I aim for, a team with issues. But what team doesn't have those?
As for Factor 3, the new antagonistic team introduced this issue...all I can say is that David really dug deep for these characters. Other than Eric the Red, the only character I think I remember was SHOC (though I tried for several years to forget that Howard Mackie creation). Yet David's got a great way of giving all the characters, heroes, villains, and supporting characters, a fairly well-defined personality.
Thanks. Factor 3 took a lot of effort to scrap up, but I think it paid off in the end
David's even done a great job of shortening up his issues a bit, which used to be my only complaint about Force Works...which was that they were too long. Now they're about right.
People these days, no attention span! Is 25 pages too much to ask?
I have to give Force Works #12 3.5 out of 5 "insert witty trademark review symbol here"'s.
Looking forward to the Annual!
~Jason E.
Thanks for the review, man!
Force Works 13
Cause and Effect Part 1
New York, Greenwich Village
The man called Nova, alongside his teammates Tarene, Kymaera and Arsenal, regarded odd mansion in front of him and like many before him, wondered about a peculiar fact regarding it.
"You know, I've flown past this area a million times..."
"And you never noticed this mansion before. Yeah, I know." Kymaera sighed and waved her hand dismissively as they walked up to the oak doors of the mansion. Kymaera knocked once, and waited patiently. To her surprise, the man who opened the doors wasn't the Asian servant the young princess expected, but...
"Steve!" Namorita exclaimed as she hugged the red-cloaked man who'd opened the door, better known in certain circles as Dr. Strange, "How's my favorite faux uncle?"
"I'm doing quite fine, 'Nita, though not as well as you it would seem. Namor said something about a bachelor's degree in business?" Dr. Strange asked conversationally as he reciprocated the hug.
"Yeah," Namorita said she broke the embrace, "I got credit for all that time I ran Oracle Inc. Where's Wong?"
"I gave him the day off today," The master of mystic arts explained as he motioned for the young heroes to enter, "Given the nature of our investigation, things may become...unruly. And I'm sure Tarene would appreciate some degree of privacy regarding what we may discover."
"We'll try to make sure it doesn't come to that." Arsenal said, attempting to reassure the doctor.
"Do you think you can fix my memories?" asked Tarene
"I will certainly do my best, young lady." Strange said as he willed the doors closed. He then motioned for the heroes to follow him, "But I can tell you already that you are a most unusual case. Tell me, 'Nita, have you ever given any thought as to why young Tarene looks so much like the Avenger Thor?"
Namorita shook her head as they reached Dr. Strange's private study, with wax candles and a skylight providing the only illumination in the room. Despite her enhanced vision, Namorita had a hard time making out the boundaries to the walls, "No, because she doesn't. She just has a war hammer, like him and... similar powers."
"Oh?" Dr. Strange muttered an ancient spell, and with a single breath, blew it towards the unsuspecting Tarene, "look at her now."
The three heroes did as Strange requested, and could barely keep their jaws off the floor in shock. It was as if a veil had been lifted from their eyes, an obvious truth hidden in plain sight that they simply could not see before.
"Holy crap..." Nova muttered
"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Arsenal asked, astonished
"What?" Tarene asked innocently as her head darted around, looking for what her friends were gawking in confusion at, unaware of the fact that they were actually staring at her.
"I'll be damned. The color scheme, the winged headband, the boots, she looks like Thor!" Richard Ryder declared, more than a little dumbfounded, "if Thor was feminine, I mean."
"How come we never noticed this before?" Arsenal asked as he rubbed his head in confusion, "I mean, it's so obvious!"
"Because her true appearance was hidden behind a glamour, one that clouded your minds." Strange stated, "Miss Tarene has had a minor spell placed upon her at birth, that in effect made her 'just another face in the crowd'. I'd be willing to bet that only computers and the like would see the similarities."
"But why, and who placed it on her?" Kymaera asked
"That's what I intend to find out." Dr. Strange said as he summoned the Eye of Agamotto before him from his amulet. Strange walked in front of Tarene and placed his hands on the sides of her head, "I need you to calm yourself, young lady, free your mind of all conscious thought and earthly desires."
"Kay'."
Dr. Strange crooked his head towards Kymaera, who just nodded in sympathy. Dr. Strange took a deep breath, and willed the light of Agamotto to cast it's light upon Tarene. Tarene's eyes began to glaze over as the light began opening secret doors in her mind, "First, we must find out what you are, before we find out who you are, young lady. Lets begin."
Metro City, the Workplace
"This pile never gets smaller, does it?" Wiz Kid asked as he regarded the dozens upon dozens of papers strewn about the Force Works conference table. He and Mirage were in full costume, though solely out of habit.
"Welcome to my life." Mirage said as she picked up a manila folder and looked thru it, "It's been a while since gone thru all these P.A.C* endorsement requests, and I need some help. You'd think with X-Corp on the scene, this pile would have gotten a little smaller."
( P.A.C= Political Action Committee- Political Dave)
"When you want serious celebrity endorsement, you don't go to the likes Dennis Rodman or Adam Sandler," Wiz Kid explained as he examined another folder, "you go to the likes of Michael J Fox and Martin Sheen, though X-Corp likely get just as many requests. It seems out vigilance to keep the media out of our personal lives and focused on our public actions has paid off."
"Well, lets see what we got." Dani said as picked up a pile and leafed thru it, "PETA wants Rahne's endorsement. N.O.W wants Kymaera to attend a fundraiser; NASA officials would like Nova to testify before a congressional subcommittee that controls their budget...Spirits and the list goes on. And not the list I want."
"It's hard to stand only on one issue considering some of your teammates." Wiz Kid remarked. He then turned his head sharply, as if he heard a sound only he could detect.
"What? What is it?"
"Remember when we gave the police access codes and I set up a directory in case they ever needed to find us in the tower, in the event of an emergency?" Wiz Kid asked.
"Yeah, why?" Dani asked worriedly, "Are they here now?"
"Yes, and they're looking for X-Treme."
The Workplace, Exercise room.
Adam Sol and Rahne Sinclair began circling one another on the mat, both wearing karate gis.
"Now remember, watch the body language, that's how you know when your foe is preparing an attack. Ready?" Adam asked.
"I've ne'er had a villain ask me if I was ready before, ye know." Rahne commented.
"Cocky are we?" Adam asked as he rushed forward and lashed out (though hardly at full speed or with a desire to harm Rahne. This was practice after all). Rahne ducked, Adam blinked, and found himself flat on his back with Rahne standing over him.
"Nae cocky, jus' well trained." Rahne smirked as she crouched down over Adam.
"Well, I guess I can skip basics, huh?" Adam asked as he flipped up.
"You'll probably have to skip a great deal of other things too, Mr. Sol." A new voice stated. The two heroes spun around to see Commissioner Stone, accompanied by a Swat Team (weapons naturally trained on the two mutants).
"What's the meaning o' this?" Rahne demanded as she shifted to her wolf form and crouched slightly on instinct.
Stone, unimpressed, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a blue slip of paper, "I have here an arrest warrant for Mr. Adam Sol, miss Sinclair."
"Arrest for what?" Dani asked as she and Wiz Kid entered the room in full costume. Several Swat team members instantly trained their weapons on the two, but Stone motioned for them to remain trained on X-Treme.
"Arrest for the murder o' several anti-mutant activists in various areas around Metro City." Stone stated, "Are you going to come quietly, Mr. Sol?" Stone asked, as he looked at the alien martial artist straight in the eyes.
Adam remained silent for a moment, and avoiding the gaze of his teammates for the longest moment before stepping forward and saying, "I'll come peacefully."
Stone pulled out two high tech bracelets and carefully walked towards X-Treme, who held his hands straight out, "Looks like you know the procedure. These cuffs won't hurt ya none, but you understand we gotta take precautions. Don't make any sudden moves now."
"If I made a sudden move, you'd never know it until it was too late." Adam said as the cuffs were placed on his wrists. With that done, Stone led the Swat team and X-Treme back the way they came to the awaiting paddy wagon.
"Dani..." Rahne had watched this all happen in shock, too numb to move until now. Adam couldn't possibly be a murderer. Rahne began to walk after the policemen in disbelief, unsure of how to react.
"Stay cool, Rahne, we'll get to the bottom of this." Dani said reassuringly, "go get your union suit on and we'll get down to the police station and see just what the hell is going on."
With that, the young Scotswoman took off in a mad dash towards her room, with Dani and Taki walking behind her. Wiz Kid waited until Rahne was out of ear shot before he inquired, "You didn't notice, did you?"
"Notice what?" Dani asked.
"X-Treme never once uttered a single word regarding his innocence."
Dr. Strange's Sanctum
Nova tapped his foot impatiently as Dr. Strange continued to pour magic light onto Tarene's face from his eye thingy. For his part, Nova hated magic. Not because it 'defied science' like all the big brains liked to bitch, but because it wasn't solid enough for his tastes. Hard to combat and even harder to understand. But he still respected it's value, and he knew the hero 'rules'. If you need a leader and firepower, go to Captain America and the Avengers. Telepathy? One of a million X teams. And Dr. Strange was the hero's magic man. Finally, Dr. Strange released Tarene and allowed her to step back.
"What have you found out, Doctor?" Arsenal asked.
"Quite a bit, if what I suspect is true." He stated, "Answer me these two questions first. Does Tarene have something of a temper in battle?"
"Umm, kinda." Tarene said sheepishly, "I just get really mad sometimes, I don't know why."
"And now tell me this, have you compared her power to that of Thor's?" Strange asked.
"Yeah, an old Avenger buddy gave us the file for comparison when we were trying to figure her out." Nova explained, "Obvious physical differences aside, Tarene here ranks up there with him."
"I suspected as such." Dr. Strange said, "And there is a reason for both Tarene's power and rages." Strange then looked towards the young woman, "it's your dual nature fighting for dominance."
"Dual nature?" Kymaera asked.
"Yes. My mystical scans revealed that young Tarene here is the daughter of two Asgardions Gods whose very nature conflicts with the other. In this case, I suspect that the parents are Tyr, the Asgard wargod and Lorelia, the sister of the Enchantress and minor goddess of love, if I recognize the auras about you correctly." Dr. Strange explained.
"How does that explain Tarene's temper?" Arsenal asked.
"The children of gods are more apt to take on the attributes of their parents, moreso than mortals." Dr. Strange stated, "The Asgardions are by nature war gods, thus the inner conflict within Tarene increases her potential for power. Combine that with her bloodline, only one generation removed from Odin, young Tarene is a force to be reckoned with."
"Umm, okay. Can we go now?" Tarene started to rush towards the door, but Arsenal grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her, though she nearly bowled him over before she stopped.
"Not yet. We only know what you are now, not who you are." Arsenal explained as he regained his footing, "When that's settled, we can leave."
"Do we have to?" Tarene asked nervously.
"It's for the best, Tarene." Dr. Strange assured her, "However, it may be a few hours. I need to research a potion that will safely retrieve your memories. Were you a average mortal, the formula will be easy, but for a goddess, it will take some time."
"Uhh, you don't have to trouble yourself." Tarene offered, "I'm fine, really!"
"It's no trouble, young lady." Dr. Strange chuckled, "I enjoy a good, non life threatening challenge every now and then. Why don't you and your friends make yourself comfortable in the living room? I promise you'll find something to pass the time."
"Works for me," Nova commented, "Can we raid the fridge, too?"
"Nova!" Kymaera snapped, "don't embarrass me in front of my cousin's friends!"
"My fridge has survived the hunger of the Incredible Hulk and Namor the First together. Make yourself at home." Dr. Strange said.
"Will do, happy hunting." Arsenal said.
"Umm, what he said." Tarene commented unconvincingly
"Have no fear, Tarene, before this day is out, you will remember the truth." Strange said before teleporting himself to another part of the house to gather the proper books.
Tarene chewed on her bottom lip nervously and muttered softly, "That's what scares me."
Metro City Police Station, District Five, Commissioner Stone's Office
"You heard me Stone, I want to know what the charges are, were Adam is and what evidence you have against him." Danielle Moonstar said as she leaned forward over Stone's desk, flanked by Wiz Kid, Speedball and Wolfsbane. For his part, Stone simply could not believe the sheer audacity of Mirage, a private citizen who couldn't be much older than twenty-two, storming into his office and making such outrageous demands. Stone took a deep breath, and vowed to avoid turning this into a pissing contest that would waste everyone's time.
"While I'm not obligated to tell you anything, if it will get you the hell out of my office, I'll tell you what I can." Stone compromised, "Your friend Adam is being charged with first-degree murder, and will be arraigned this Thursday. He's currently being held at Tartarus."
"Tartarus...?" Rahne gasped.
"Uhh, is that a good idea?" Speedball asked, "I mean, hell, those guys were baying for Force Works blood before we stopped a riot!"
"Are you trying to get him murdered!" Dani shouted, not caring who heard them. They were already quite a sight, a bunch of spandex wearing trouble makers was the opinion of the office, many of whom were obviously interested in what was happening and spying a glance whenever they could, "Souls of my ancestors, he'll be killed!"
"It's the only place that can hold him." Stone said thru gritted, "We have evidence that Mr. Sol used his powers to burn the blood of several anti mutant activists to such a degree that they died an incredibly painful death."
"And since when did Metro City suddenly get a qualified meta crimes unit?" Wiz Kid asked contemptuously.
"Excuse me?" Stone snarled
"Last time I checked, Metro City's forensic labs failed to meet any of the standards set by Quantico," Wiz Kid answered, "has this changed?"
"No." Stone said with impotent fury.
"Let me guess, on the list of things to do." Wiz Kid stated smugly.
"Then...may we see the evidence? We'll see it at discovery anyway." Speedball stated, thankful that some of his father's legal knowledge rubbed off, "if everything's been properly documented, it's not like we could contaminate the crime scene."
"This way may save us all some time." Wiz Kid added, "Unless you really do think that we'd willingly harbor a killer."
Stone picked up a folder from his desk and tossed it forward, "This folder's got an abridged edition of our evidence. I'm telling ya right now, improper investigation won't fly before a jury."
"Oh, why is that?" Dani asked.
"Because Mr. Stone an' his department wasnae in charge o' the investigation." A voice said in an Irish brogue. The members of Force Works turned around to see a man with reddish blonde hair and a suit that was like a neon sign saying 'federal agent',
"My department was." Sean Cassidy said.
"Sean?"
"'ello Rahne. It's...good tae see ye." Sean said unconvincingly
"I'd heard you gotten a new job, but didn't know it was investigating mutants." Dani quipped.
"Cute, Moonstar. I oversaw the entire investigation an' I can assure ye that X-Treme is guilty o' murder." Sean said, "we have D.N.A, finger prints an' after a murder last night, video evidence."
"Fine, then you can help us conduct our own investigation." Dani said as she brushed past Sean and out the door of the office, followed by her teammates.
"See what I have deal with?" Stone sighed to Sean.
"Heh, I've dealt wit' worse, Stone." Sean smirked.
"I'm going to divide the murder scenes in half. Taki, you and Speedy take one half and me and Rahne will take the other half." Dani explained, "Cassidy will probably meet us at the scenes, along with regular patrolmen"
"You really think we're going to get anything from examining the scenes?" Speedball inquired as they shuffled down the hall, "I mean, the cops have probably already gone over everything with a fine tooth comb and all that jazz, and they're gonna be watching us like a hawk."
"Leave no stone unturned..."Dani sighed, "Probably not, but we need to make sure. We need to find out the truth."
"Adam's nae a killer." Rahne said firmly. Much to her distain, no one offered any supporting statements.
"Dani? We got an extremely important problem brewing." A voice commented over Dani's comm. unit, a voice Dani was never all that happy to hear.
"Gee, puns and public relations, Mr. Hearte, I'm impressed." Dani remarked as they made their way down the last flight of stairs of the precinct towards the front exit.
"I try. Anyways, this issue with X-Treme is getting out of hand. The media is eating this situation up like a starved wolverine! The media wasn't that warm to him to begin with, and well, you've seen the man!" Hearte explained.
"Get to the point." Dani snapped.
"The point is, that guilty or not, X-Treme is beginning to pull down Force Works." Hearte stated, "so tread carefully."
"This is different from any other day how?" Dani asked herself flippantly as pushed open the bullet proof glass doors of the police station and was met with a flurry of flashbulbs and cameras.
"Mirage, over here! Is X-Treme guilty?"
"Wiz Kid, a statement please! Is X-Treme capable of cold blooded murder?"
"Speedball, a word?"
'No comment' was repeated time and again as Force Works politely but firmly pushed thru the crowd of modern day vultures to reach the hover platform they'd parked in front of the station. They'd almost made it aboard before a loud, powerful voice boomed, "They have no comment because they know this 'X-Treme' is as guilty as original sin!"
The media personal were instantly quieted as Gabriel Thorne local cult leader and flanked by body guards, stepped forward from down the block. Dani, along with Taki and Rahne, instantly felt a presence brush against her mind, and though they easily blocked it, Dani recognized it for what it was, a telepathic intrusion.
Thorne looked at Dani in disapproval for a moment before continuing, "There is no room for doubt regarding X-Treme's guilt. My sources inside the police department say that every modern form of identification link him to almost each and every crime scene!"
"We have no comment." Dani repeated, this time a little weaker. She could see that Thorne was getting to the reporters on the scene, and it began to worry her. Regardless of X-Treme's innocence or guilt, he was already being tried and likely convicted in the court of public opinion. Right now, he was becoming an increasing liability, but Dani thought, to her everlasting shame, one easily removed.
"Tell me Mirage, in the face of such overwhelming evidence, do you stand for justice, or cronyism?" Thorne spat, and the crowd, media included, jeered in agreement, "Protecting your own at the expense of the people, and you call yourselves heroes."
With a heavy heart, Dani stepped forward and said, "I'd like to say that for the record, that we are still investigating this case and do not believe that everything has yet come to light. However, Mr. Thorne is correct. As the leader of Force Works, I cannot ignore the overwhelming evidence in this case, and I cannot allow a murderer, if these charges are true, to remain on my team."
Dani swallowed hard and said, "As a result, X-Treme is hereby expelled from Force Works."
Somewhere in front of the police station, a pen dropped. And everyone heard it.
Next Issue: The case against X-Treme gets even worse as Force Works investigate the murders that have been plaguing Metro City for the past several weeks, while the other half of Force Works delves further into the mystery of Tarene, but one member of Force Works is dead set against it.
Works Letters
Force Works #12 by David Ingram
THE GOOD: The team takes on Factor 3 in a pretty well choreographed fight. Force Works does some pretty neat things with their powers and takes their opponents down. I also enjoyed the little Magik guest appearance. It's good to see her back in action again. The new Eric the Red also looks like a guy to be feared. I wouldn't want to mess with him anytime soon.
Glad you liked Magik (though she wasn't in action a lot. She sorta disappeared after a bit) and Eric the Red. Eric is a bad ass, and he'll be back to menace the teams (no, that wasn't a typo) soon
THE BAD: Factor 3, with the exception of their leader, was not impressive at all. They were a bunch of pushovers IMO and David could have better executed the threat they potentially represent. After this issue my view of this team is tarnished and it will take a lot of work to make me impressed again.
Well, it was their first time out of the gate. Trust me, next time Factor 3 shows up, it'll be a whole 'nother story.
OVERALL: A solid issue from Ingram as always. If you like Force Works check this story out.
Rock! Heed and obey!
I'd say it's Wednesday again, but it's Thursday where I am, so this is a little late. What can I say about this week at M2K? We had a lot of issues out this week, yet again and the board has had a lot of activity on it as well, and it's a great time to be a part of the group as a writer or a reader and as the year draws to a close you get the feeling that something's going to happen - something special and not just me quitting!
We'll miss ya Dave, I promise ya that!
Look at what's been out this week - Amazing Spider-Man by Nate Charles, Daredevil by Jason Eberly, another Champions issue by Mike Exner (are we glad he's back or what?) and David Ingram's intense mini series In The Name Of Science. I know Chris and Mike have some good writers lined up as well so things truly can only get better. However it's time for the here and now and the EC goes to...
Force Works #12 by David Ingram
Yeah! Go me! Again!
Moira MacTaggert! He's using Moira for the first time since.... since... well, X-Men Omega #42 a few months back, but it's been a while since she's got as much to do as she's had since Ageless Fury. To be fair, it's been coming with Rhane being on the team, but I'm glad it went over as well as it did with such an action packed issue, and Factor 3 were as different to the Super-Skrull as he was to the other villains that have been in Force Works. David gives the series a variety that works well indeed.
Villain diversity is what I aim for. So many choices, sooo little space!
Is there a downside to the issue? Other than the editing I have to do for the speech bits... For me I was disappointed that David didn't do more with the Rhane thing from last issue when Nova confronted her about her bruises etc. It didn't seem to come up this issue, and the last one was more about Nova battling the Super-Skrull. I was hoping for more and it wasn't there. Still, it looks as though David will get to it next issue from the look of the final scene from this issue!
It came up, but Nova deferred it to Namorita. And yup, Rahne's issue with Doug came to a head hopefully no one was expecting.
It's another solid issue in a solid series and David's going to have fun when he takes over Excalibur, you can feel it, so congrats, David, you are this week's Editor's Choice.
*Holds globe in hand and laughs evilly* You have no idea ;)
David Ingram, the writer of Force Works (just in case you didn't know), pulls a great amount of entertainment out of these B-characters...and #12 is no exception.
I try to be consistent *eats fiber*
David has done a great job sharing the spotlight on all the characters on this team. Everyone seems to have something going on, yet they all feel like a team.
That's what I aim for, a team with issues. But what team doesn't have those?
As for Factor 3, the new antagonistic team introduced this issue...all I can say is that David really dug deep for these characters. Other than Eric the Red, the only character I think I remember was SHOC (though I tried for several years to forget that Howard Mackie creation). Yet David's got a great way of giving all the characters, heroes, villains, and supporting characters, a fairly well-defined personality.
Thanks. Factor 3 took a lot of effort to scrap up, but I think it paid off in the end
David's even done a great job of shortening up his issues a bit, which used to be my only complaint about Force Works...which was that they were too long. Now they're about right.
People these days, no attention span! Is 25 pages too much to ask?
I have to give Force Works #12 3.5 out of 5 "insert witty trademark review symbol here"'s.
Looking forward to the Annual!
~Jason E.
Thanks for the review, man!