M2K
Presents
Force Works 19
Eye
of the Beholder
Part 3
The story thus far: Force Works has been ordered to bring in the rogue mutant team, Factor X, though they have doubts about the team's guilt. The issue has come to a head, with Factor X seen live on national television. Before the wounded Factor X could escape the scene, Force Works arrived (albeit a few members short) ready for action and demanding answers.
The Destroyed Residence of U.S Senator Arthur Marshall
"I want some answers," Mirage growled, her bow taunt with a ready arrow,"and if I have to beat them out of you, so much the better!"
Fixx, leader of Factor X, knew that wasn't an idle threat. When Blackwood had informed her Force Works was on their trail, Fixx couldn't help but worry. Force Works was a skilled and powerful team, a challenge for Factor X when they were on the top of their game. And following their recent battle, Factor X was, by any measure, far from peak shape. Thankfully, Fixx realized, not all of the Force Works team was present. But the paired down Force Works team of Mirage, Tarene, Speedball, Wiz Kid, X-Treme and Nova was powerful enough in its own right.
"As I'm certain Blackwood has already explained, we cannot do that." Fixx stated.
"That was before this." Mirage nudged a piece of plaster, a small part that was now the rubble of what had once been the home of a rather important United states Senator.
"My statement remains. Now either attack, or let us leave in peace." Fixx ordered. Her eyes glowed for a moment, a display of her telepathic power.
"Dani, are you sure about this?" Nova whispered.
"Just trust me here, okay?" Danielle asked seconds before yelling, "Force Works, attack!"
Nova shot forward towards the mutant mercenary known as Random, and was met with a powerful hail of white, organic bullets right to the chest. Nova flew backwards and out of sight.
"Dagnabit! What are you doing here Sil and where are your two point three kids?" Speedball demanded as he bounded towards his old teammate.
"Unaffiliated mutants are an easy target these days," Silhouette stated as she stepped to the side to avoid the masked marvel's half hearted attempt at an attack, "so I became affiliated."
"But Dwayne..."
"I refuse to depend on my ex for the rest of my life, Robbie." Silhouette, channeling her command over the darkforce, willed her own shadow to raise itself up off the ground like a snake charmer commanding its loyal pet. The shadow shot outwards and engulfed Speedball bodily. He fell to the earth, his world now one of total darkness.
His teammates weren't exactly faring any better. Wiz Kid and Mirage had seemingly been dispatched by Fixx's telepathic abilities as Tarene fought off the dual assault of Random and the twenty foot tall Helix
Meanwhile, X-Treme struggled to fight off both Wildchild and Weapon X.
"I thought you guys knew the plan." Wildchild muttered as he took a swipe at X-Treme. X-Treme dodged the swipe easily enough and threw two blades that forced Weapon X back. X-Treme took a few steps back to considered his situation.
At the end of the day, no matter what, he never liked the idea of just giving up. It went against the core of his person. But he was also something of a follower, and orders were orders.
Wildchild lunged forward, unwittingly preventing Weapon X from exploiting an opening he saw in X-Treme's defenses. Wildchild slashed at X-Treme's chest with his razor sharp claws, the least lethal attack Wildchild knew. X-Treme took two steps back to avoid the clumsy attack, pulled his arm back and then slammed the back of his hand into Wildchild's face, sending blood and teeth flying.
"Well, he has a healing factor." X-Treme thought to himself.
Weapon X waited a moment, energy lance in hand as he observing X-Treme for a moment. He then attacked.
Like Wildchild, he slashed his dagger at X-Treme's chest, but he never actually intended to hit X-Treme. X-Treme ducked under the energy lance, and Weapon X's upraised knee then crashed into jaw.
Stunned, X-Treme fell backwards. Weapon X pulled his right fist back, and then fell forward, slamming the palm of his right hand into X-Treme's face. The alien warrior fell top to the ground, and didn't get back up.
That left only Tarene, the most powerful member of Force Works. Mutant bullets from Random slammed against her backside, blind sleet and hail created by Monsoon crashed against her body all around while Helix's large fists connected with her body time and again, and still she refused to fall.
"Damn, what's it take to put this girl down?" Random demanded as he continued to fire his hand cannons at the young goddess.
Tarene continued to fight back against the assembled Factor X with all her might, unwilling to yield until...
"Tarene, follow the damn plan!"
Tarene's heart sank when she heard that order, in the heat of the moment, she'd forgotten her orders.
Seeing an opening, Helix grabbed Tarene's ankles in his large paws and slammed her down to mother earth with all his considerable strength. Like her teammates before her, she didn't get back up.
Once Tarene was downed, Factor X gathered together quickly and were instantly teleported away by Silhouette.
"I can't say this will look that good in the next press release." Moonstar groaned as she and her team picked themselves up off the ground.
"We'll live." Nova commented as he dropped down from the sky. He pointed towards the edge of the estate where the reporters and policemen were gathering, "I'll handle the cops. You and Taki need to see what's going on here."
"Agreed." Dani turned towards the others, "You guys go make nice with the media. Smile, and try to play down their concerns."
"Easy for you to say," Speedball mumbled, "you're not the one who has to explain on national television why we got our asses handed to us."
Danielle strode towards Wiz Kid, who's tech-pack was brimming with all kinds of instruments and scanning arrays.
"Are you certain it was wise to order to take a dive like that?" Wiz Kid asked as he scanned, "Fixx didn't give us a lot to go on."
"Time was short." Dani answered, "Fixx just asked for two more days to prove their innocence, and I owe them that."
"Why? Because they wear an X?" Wiz Kid asked, "Not like we're part of any inner circles."
Dani said nothing.
"At any rate, I've detected a variety of energy signatures here."
"But...?"
"But between us, Factor X and whoever they were fighting, if they were fighting someone, the signatures are too intermingled to identify right now." Taki sighed, "I can tell you one thing though, someone who lived here was an omega level mutant. His energy signature has soaked this entire area, whoever it was."
Mirage was visibly startled by that assertion, "Wait...so you mean to tell me that there was an omega level mutant here who's been kidnapped?"
"They didn't tell you that, did they?"
Danielle scowled, "It seems there's a lot they don't tell me."
"How would you characterize your foes?"
"Do you have any idea why they were hear?"
"How do you feel about being defeated?"
X-Treme and Speedball tried their damnest to answer the questions of the dozens of reporters who were shoving microphones and blinding them with flashing lights from the cameras. X-Treme had to continually resist the urge to force to draw his sword and slice these people in half.
Tarene stood away from her friends. She always felt uncomfortable addressing the media. Being the center of attention like that always made her terribly uncomfortable, and so she always shied away towards the back during press conferences whenever possible. The others liked it okay after all, so they didn't need her she reasoned.
And to reporters, that was like blood in the water. Several newsmen slipped past Speedball and X-Treme.
"Tarene, Tarene!" One shouted, "How do you feel about your loss to this band of terrorists?"
Tarene, honest to the core, just shrugged, "Not that bad. We weren't trying very hard to beat them, after all."
The reporters fell silent, amazed by the fact that they'd seemingly been handed an incredible scoop with little effort.
"So does that mean you condone terrorism?"
"Is that why the rest of your teammates aren't here?"
"Why exactly weren't you trying that hard?"
If Tarene thought she was getting swamped before, it was nothing compared to what was happening now. She was being buried alive under tons of reporters and flashing lights, barely able to see an inch in front of her face. Thankfully, salvation in the form of her teammates was fast in coming.
"This press conference is over!" Mirage barked as she pushed past the reporters and grabbed Tarene by the wrist. Wiz Kid had been monitoring the broadcasts, and warned his leader just in time for damage control.
"We'll make an official statement later today. I'm sorry, but we must be going." Dani said as she hastily shuffled her team into their jet. She was already fearing the fallout from Tarene's remark.
The flight home was disturbingly quite. The majority of the team was dreading the media fallout from Tarene's remarks. Tarene herself was fearfully awaiting the moment Danielle would tear into her for publicly admitting the team took a dive in their battle with Factor X. But that moment never came. X-Treme landed the Stealthwing in the hangar with ease, and as the team stepped out they were greeted by their three missing teammates.
"You are not going to believe the hellstorm Tarene's comments caused." Kymaera remarked as they stepped down. In the back Tarene cringed.
"Why didn't ye call the rest o' us?" Rahne asked.
"I'll explain later." Dani answered, "any reason you guys are waiting for us?"
"Because Parvenue is here, and he's about ready to shit a brick." Arsenal informed Mirage, his hands crossed over his chest, "and I don't blame him."
Danielle massaged her sore temple, "Fine, lets get this over with."
Moonstar, followed by her squad, made their way from the hangar to the main meeting room. The mood was exceptionally quite, with no one quite sure what to say to break the tension that hung in the air.
When they reached the main meeting room, the door was already opening waiting for them. Parvenue stood at the head of the table, his back to Force Works. Edie Sawyer, his assistant and Malcolm Hearte, their director of Public Relations stood at his side, both scowling, albeit for very different reasons.
"Sixty million dollars a year." He began, never facing the team, "several state of the art aircrafts. A tower worth some thirty six million dollars. Cutting edge technology and access to virtually every country on the planet. I gave all this to nine youngsters who were all but strangers to me, because I felt it would benefit the world and honor my late wife. It amazes me that that's not enough to earn your loyalty and trust. It just amazes me."
"Sir, I don't think we have all the facts here." Moonstar countered, "I've run operations like this before..."
"So I've heard you say. But I've seen little proof of this." Parvenue retorted, "I don't feel I'm asking too much of this team, Dani. You have one last chance to redeem yourselves. Either capture Factor X, or bring me proof that they are indeed acting in society's best interests. Otherwise, I will dismiss the entire team and start all over. That is all."
Parvenue nodded towards his assistant Ms. Sawyer, and the two were teleported away before anything close to a rebuttal or defense could be given.
"Now that the lecture's over," Mr. Hearte commented, "we have to do something about the fallout from this mission. 'We weren't trying very hard' to capture terrorists who strike in America's heartland does not go over well with the public."
"Tarene was taken out of context," Kymaera said simply, "Force Works' first responsibility is to protect bystanders. We sought to contain Factor X first and foremost and were defeated as a result."
"That's certainly a different way of spinning the facts." Speedball remarked.
"Yes well, Oracle Inc. didn't run itself." Kymaera smiled proudly, "Let me handle the media, Dani."
"Well, if you're gonna twist my arm like that..." Moonstar pulled out a chair and slumped down wearily.
"Dani?" Tarene hesitantly stepped forward, "I'm sorry for making this mess."
"Tarene...?" Mirage, obviously soul tired, looked up at Tarene and said, "...you did nothing wrong whatsoever. So don't go beating yourself up over it. Now, unless you guys need to talk to me, I'd like to be alone."
Of course, there was no pressing agendas that needed to be addressed, and so the team filed out and went about their business.
And so, Danielle Moonstar, known to the world as the heroine Mirage and leader of Force Works, sat alone in the darkness. She thought about the situation, she thought about how alone she and her team was, how little trusted they were by others in the field, and just how annoyingly familiar this entire ordeal was.
She slammed her fist down on the meeting table in frustration so hard she nearly cracked the wood, cursing all those who'd forced her into this position.
"Hey Rahne, hold up a moment!"
Rahne Sinclair nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her name called. She turned around to Robbie Baldwin, holding something bundled in his arms.
"Sorry Rahne, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Tis all right, Robbie." Rahne stepped closer, and her eyes widened as looked and saw what the bundle Robbie was carrying really was, "Oooh! Who's the cutie?"
"Score one for me. Eat that Adam." Speedball thought to himself. He gently picked up Neals the Cat and handed him to Rahne, "This here is Neals. He's got powers just like mine, don't ask."
"Oh, he's so cute!" Rahne cooed as she took him into her arms. Even though she possessed lupine powers, Rahne was an animal lover of all kinds.
"Yeah, my mom was watching him for a little while, but she got sick of it." Speedball explained, "I kinda get tired of him at times too, but..."
"I ken take care o' him if ye want!" Rahne instantly volunteered.
"Sure, if you want." Robbie struggled hard not to smile in victory.
"Thank ye Robbie. I've been meaning ta get a pet."
Robbie watched the cheery Rahne walk away, a victorious smirk plastered on his face.
"A cat. Well, I guess that doesn't scream desperate by that much."
Now it was Speedball's turned to be surprised. He spun around to see Richard Rider, dressed casually with his hands in his pockets.
"Bite me." Speedball snapped, "I didn't laugh every time Namorita shot you down before she gave up trying to beat you back, did I?"
"Yeah you did."
Speedball shrugged, "Well, that's because it was funny."
"Robbie, lets bet serious here." Rider took his hands out of his pockets and put his arm across Speedball's shoulder in a friendly gesture, as if the two were brother. Speedball couldn't help but notice how Nova's posture and tone changed, "Rahne likes Adam. A lot. And that's not likely to change in the near future."
Speedball pushed Nova away, more than a little annoyed, "Hey, I don't recall asking for advise in my love life, rocket head!"
Nova put his hands up in a peaceful gesture, "I know man, I know. But you're my friend, and so's Rahne. I don't wanna see either of you get hurt. Just watch yourself, that's all I'm asking."
And with that, Nova turned and left Speedball alone with his thoughts.
The call was hardly unexpected. At least, to someone of Takeshi Matsuya's genius. The others were so tied up in the battle and it's aftermath, few realized the true implications of the defeat itself.
Force Works had failed to save the nephew of a powerful member of the United States Senate. Men of incredible influence who made decisions that impacted lives day in and day out. Men used to getting their way in some fashion.
And so Wiz Kid sat in his wheelchair (something he kept to remind himself of his humanity whenever possible) stationed in front of his lab monitor, and waited patiently for what he knew was to come. He didn't have to wait long.
The signal came in a coded transmission using protocols worked out in advance with the United States government in case of emergency, and with a mental nudge, the transmission was directed to his lab.
The image that came across his screen was a well dressed man in a black suit, his features hardened by both age and war, it seemed. Though he was of average height and nothing could be seen behind the man, the senator still seemed to radiate an air of untouchable moral authority.
Wiz Kid found himself impressed despite himself. Arthur Marshall was all his foes and proponents made him out to be.
"Where's Mirage? I want to speak to your leader, now." Marshall said, wasting no time with pleasantries.
"I'm afraid she's otherwise occupied at the moment. I've been authorized to speak on Force Works' behalf." It was a lie, but one he felt protected the team.
"Alright then half-pint, where's my nephew and why didn't you stop those mutant terrorists who kidnapped him?" Marshall demanded.
"I'm afraid I don't know where your nephew is, and we did try..."
"Bullshit!" Marshall snapped, his expression one of tightly controlled rage, "I'm not stupid, kid. My military advisers tell me your team was more than equipped to take those bastards out. What to know what else my advisors tell me?"
"Could I stop you?"
"They tell me that the performance of your team in battle was too poor to be anything other than an fraud." Marshall pointed an accusing finger at Wiz Kid, "So you damn well better explain yourself right now, or I'll shove the entire U.S army down your ass before you can even blink!"
Taki steepled his hands together, "Firstly, Factor X did not kidnap your son. He was not present on the battlefield when Force Works arrived. Had they tried to take him, we of course would have stopped them. Two, no one is perfect. Factor X will not get the better of us again, Senator, on that you have my word. And third and finally, I know your voting record...so don't threaten me or my team."
Marshall found himself more than a little taken back by the venom in Taki's voice, "Excuse me young man?"
"Your nephew is a mutant, yet you declined to vote against both Operation Zero Tolerance and the Mutant Registration acts." Taki explained, "Such apathy for your family wouldn't go over well in your state, I would think."
"You wouldn't dare." Marshall hissed.
"Try me." Taki said simply.
"Have you people no shame?!" The senator demanded, utterly livid.
"They do. I don't." Taki bluffed, "Let me be clear, Senator. Force Works will move heaven and earth to find your nephew and return him to you unharmed. However, should you move against my team publicly, and there will be consequences."
Wiz Kid then terminated the signal, leaving the threat hanging. Tired beyond belief now, he rubbed his sore eyes. That certainly could have gone better, he thought.
Most of what he told Marshall was largely a bluff. The man had a long record of integrity that went back decades. And Wiz Kid knew the man stayed away from mutant issues publicly to appease his more conservative base while he worked behind the scenes for equality all. The threat was worse than the reality.
But at the same time, Senator Marshall could have been devastating to the team's ability to operate. He could have called hundreds of press conferences and made wild accusations against Force Works. He could have subpoenaed the team to appear before the Senate committee on Mutant Affairs and grill them that way. Or he could have convinced the Council on Superhuman Affairs to investigate Force Works themselves. All that and more would have crippled the team's ability to operate.
So, Taki chose the lesser of two evils. Marshall was checkmated for the moment, long enough to address the Factor X situation. After that...he didn't want to think about it. He'd made an enemy for Force works today, he was under no illusions otherwise. But, he'd studied Marshall well enough to know it was really the only way.
"I just hope Namorita is having a better time with the media." Wiz Kid sighed.
Namorita for her part, was doing just fine. She was born in Atlantis, raised in New York and graduated Empire State University with honors. Combined with running both Atlantis and Oracle Inc. in her cousin's stead, she was more than suited for swimming with the sharks, as it were.
And so dressed in her best executive power suit, Namorita commanded the attention of the gathered News media as she went about damage control.
"Ms. Prentiss, how do you explain Tarene's remarks that Force Works wasn't, quote, "...trying that hard..." to defeat Factor X?"
"I'm afraid Tarene simply misspoke." Nita explained evenly, "You see, the concern for all bystanders is Force Works primary objective. We sought to contain Factor X before engaging in a full scale counter assault. Tarene, however, is one of Force Works' most inexperienced members. Therefore, at times we take...liberties with how we phrase the orders we give her. That's where her misunderstanding stemmed from."
"Will Ms. Tarene be disciplined for her...misunderstanding?" One reporter prodded.
Namorita chuckled and smoothly brushed a stray blond hair to the side, "No, of course not. After all, if we punished everyone for youthful indiscretions, we wouldn't have a president would we?"
The press room enjoyed a good chuckle before the next question hit.
"Ms. Prentiss, why weren't you, Wolfsbane and Arsenal with the team when they confronted Factor X?"
"The three of us were engaged elsewhere in personal business when we learned about Factor X's attack. Mirage felt that time was of the essence, and therefore did not wait around for us to return. Next question."
"So what is your official position in regards to Factor X?"
Namorita took a moment to gather her thoughts before answering, "As it stands, Factor X has committed damages in excess of a billion dollars, and cost good men and women their jobs. To allow such a group to operate as if it were above the law is reckless beyond words. It was in an effort to curtail their destruction that allowed them to defeat us. It will not happen again, that I assure you."
Later that day
There were dozens of monitors that filled the room, processing all kinds of information across their screens. Scenes showing Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four or X-Corp in battle flashed on the screens followed by reports from MSNBC News and CNN. Thanks to a special program created by the team genius Wiz Kid, each and every report was analyzed for potentially valuable information, stored in its own little folder and filed away for closer inspection at a later date. Not only that, information that Force works legally shouldn't have access to, like FBI encrypted transmissions and secret taps on U.S government spy satellites, was cross references with the daily news reports. This massive culling of information was made all the easier by special Shi'ar technology supplied by X-Treme that granted the computers unlimited memory and ability to recognize patterns, greatly assisting Force Works' ability to combat various threats.
But what Edie Sawyer found the most impressive, as she sat at a desk in the heart of Force Works' information center, was that she could actually understand and use everything here. Ms. Sawyer was by no means a stupid woman, in fact all her friends and teachers would describe her intelligence as far above average as one can get without being an actual genius, but she still recognized the fact that the systems she was using light years ahead of anything available to the public.
But that did nothing to obstruct her search whatsoever. She fed a CD into the giant computer a copy of the energy signatures of Factor X, taken from their first strike against Masterson Technologies. She then entered in a simply search parameter, and waited.
The information was routed through dozens of government sensor stations up and down the eastern and western seaboard, government satellites of a dozen different countries and more as a high tech hunt for Factor X commenced.
It took all of five minutes for a positive result. Coordinates flashed up on the screen in front of Sawyer's face. The computer screen reflected the sinister smirk of Edie Sawyer as she then quickly deleted the information from the screen. Once that was finished, Sawyer reached into her purse and activated the emergency beacon given to her by the team.
Their response time was only seconds, as the entire team stormed into the room in full uniform. Their faces were flush with concern. After all, the Work Place tower was their sanctuary, their haven from the threats they hunted and faced down regularly. The idea that it had been penetrated scared them all more than they could ever admit to themselves.
Confusion replaced anxiety as they entered the comm. room. Only Mirage, Nova and X-Treme even had time to become suspicious before the walls of reality surrounding the team begin to flutter and change. The reality of the Work Place comm. room disappeared and was replaced with a bright, high tech city at war. The first thing the team saw was the towering Helix battling men in sleek, silver armor alongside the Factor X weather master Monsoon. What was also readily apparent was that Sawyer had dropped them in the middle of a war zone. Men in armor were everywhere, struggling to prevent Factor X from accomplishing some unknown goal.
"Time to earn your pay, Force Works." She spat, before exiting stage left via her powers.
For a split second that seemed to span an eternity, Force Works stood there dumbstruck. Just what the hell had they been dropped into...?
Next Issue: Answers! It's Force Works and Factor X against the enemy that's forced these two teams into conflict! All that and more in what I can't promise won't be a giant sized issue!