Force Works 8
All in a Day's Work
Roughly fourteen miles off the coast of the United States, specifically off of Metro City
"They are about a thousand things I would rather being doing today than this." Speedball stated as he looked out over the water from the coast guard boat he was traveling in. Scattered about on the deck were his teammates Mirage, Wiz Kid, Nova and Kymaera.
"What's the matter toothpick," Nova asked, "nervous?"
"Why would I be? We're only going to be walking into one of the world's most volatile superhuman prisons on the off chance that one prisoner inside has information that we might need and might be able to use."
"You know toothpick, you sound like a freakin' narrator when you're scared." The Human Rocket smirked.
"Bite my blue ass, Nova."
"Why are you so keen to talk to the Grey Gargoyle anyways, Mirage?" Wiz Kid asked, "We beat him, and he's in jail. It's not like he's going to tell us who sent him."
"He may be in jail, but we don't know who gave him his enhanced powers. Without that information, we have no way of preventing them from just sending someone else after us." Mirage explained, "I've talked to the D.A. She's willing cut some time off Gargoyle's sentence if he gives up the name of whoever empowered him. It's not much, true but it's better than nothing."
"We gotta try to stay ahead of the curve," Nova joked, "by being pro mutants, we've already pissed off a lot of bad guys. We gotta get them before they get us."
"Agreed, I suppose." Said Taki.
"How longer before we get to Tartarus anyway?" Kymaera asked, "We should have just flown out by ourselves."
"We're only a few more minutes away," Wiz Kid said, "Besides, any superhuman its security scanners detect flying towards it are shot out of the sky without question, and only authorized vehicles are allowed to approach."
"Besides, I wouldn't be in a hurry to get out there," Mirage spat, "I'm half tempted to throw your ass in one of the cells and forget about you for cutting on our rescue mission."
"And I'd do it again, Dani." The Atlantean princess evenly replied from her seat as the wind whipped her blond hair about
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching the international penitentiary known as 'Tartarus'." The captain announced.
The members looked north and saw the already infamous prison known as the Tartarus. It was built into a three-mile wide rock protrusion that was once served as an oilrig. The rock was jagged and reaching to the sky, with prison buildings dotting the surface. It looked like someone had merged Alcatraz with even more solid rock and a portion of hell. Four towers surrounded it in all four direction, the tops armed with anti aircraft missiles and Gatlin guns that shot three hundred bullets a second filled with titanium hollow point bullets and equipped with laser sighting. As the boat pulled up to the dock, the members of Force Works all felt a chill go down their spine. Because, well, they represented one side of the law, and they were entering a place where the other side of the law was caged, beaten down and suppressed every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
"Welcome Force Works, to Tartarus." Warden Clay said as Force Works disembarked. Clay was a plump, middle-aged man, who wore a light gray business suit that looked like it cost no more than twenty dollars, if that. Flanking him were two heavy set men carrying high tech rifles that certainly discharged something far more dangerous than bullets and wearing custom made riot gear, "I have the prisoner already waiting for you in the interrogation room. If you'll step this way?"
"Thanks again for agreeing to this, Warden." Moonstar stated as they walked from the docks to the main entrance tunnel that led into the bowels of the prison. As Force Works entered the prison they were struck by the smell and humidity. The air was so damp it would be impossible to light a match, and the air smelled like a vile combination of rotting meat and urine.
"If we can get the Gargoyle to talk to us, it'll be a great help with out efforts to deal with threats before they become a bigger problem." Mirage explained, all the while trying not to breath too deeply.
"Oh, it's not problem. The mayor told me all about what you needed. I'm surprised you agreed to come here. I imagine this is something you so called heroes aren't used to." Clay needled as they passed the cells of the deadly Nightshade, Burner of the Resistance, the explosive Powder Keg, flaming Scorcher and the insane Supercharger, "This must be an... unsettling experience for you all."
"I'm used to seething hatred." Mirage answered, trying to remain impassive as they walked thru the cellblocks to their destination. The Warden seemed intent on being an ass, though, "I admit that I've been curious about this place. I've read a lot about it."
As soon as Dani said that, Warden Clay seemed to glow with pride, forgetting any petty grudges over 'baby sitting' Force Works, "Well, Tartarus is very unique, so I can understand your interest. The oil companies that helped build Metro City back in the forties built what is now the infrastructure of this prison when oil was discovered off the shores. Unfortunately, the amount of oil was greatly overestimated, and the station was abandoned in the eighties until about three years ago."
"What happened then?" Nova asked
"The Vault was faced with overcrowding and third world nations were having trouble containing what few superhumans they had locked away in their prison cells. America isn't the only nation plagued with superhumans, after all. Superhumans are expensive to imprison, after all, and so they petitioned the U.N and U.S for help. I was a consultant for a private correctional firm, and came up with this." Clay explained.
"This being?" Nova asked
"Well, the problem with other prisons designed for superhumans is that said superhumans keep breaking out of them, due largely to their power and connections. You have to give them a darn good reason to stay inside the prison."
"And how do you do that?" Mirage asked
"By using deep sea pressurization chambers with the more dangerous criminals and mild drugs in the food to placate the rest." Warden Clay said with a wicked smile, "If anyone too powerful breaks out, they'll die of the bends."
Mirage was slightly startled by that information, though her body language didn't betray that fact.
"And thanks to the fact that Tartarus was built as a joint operation between the United Nations and the United States, and placed in international waters and operated by a private firm, exactly who's responsibility it is legally...questionable." Speedball added with an obviously sarcastic smile, "It lets you get around all those pesky civil rights laws and international agreements because one court can deny responsibility in favor of another."
"Sometimes, extra measures have to be taken with people who can knock down a building with a sneeze, Superball!" The Warden barked as they reached the Interrogation room, "The Gargoyle's waiting for you, along with Dr. Chen who'll supervise. Say your piece quickly, because he's being transferred in three days. The guards will see you out."
With that, the Warden waddled away down the metal corridor.
"Thanks a lot, Speedy." Dani muttered
"Hey, you're the one who has to be diplomatic." Speedball winked, "I still get my opinions."
"Well, keep them to yourself for now. You, Kymaera and Wiz Kid will stay behind the two way glass while Nova and I talk to the Gargoyle." Dani said as they entered the room. She saw a tall, Asian male with a shaved head wearing the stereotypical a white lab coat and pocket protector. What struck Dani as odd was the man couldn't have been a day over twenty-five, if that.
"Force Works, pleased to meet such upstanding super humans," he said as he extended his hand, "As you might imagine, I don't see a lot of that here."
"Dr. Chen?" Nova asked before he caught himself.
"Child prodigy." Dr. Chen answered on reflex. It'd been a question he had been asked many a times, "I have to say, I'm honored to meet you. I've been following your activates since the time you first formed."
"Thank you, doctor. What can you tell us about the Gargoyle?" Dani asked as she shook his hand.
"Well, I've had several interviews with him, and I haven't been able to get out of him who sent him to Metro City. With due respect, I doubt you'll have more luck, though we can hope for the best. The odd thing is that I feel that he wants to tell us, but won't for some reason." Dr. Chen politely explained.
"Maybe we'll have better luck, Doctor." Dani said, "Me and Nova will go in and talk to him, maybe intimidate him into giving up his employers. The rest of you guys just wait here."
"Then why'd you even bring the rest of us here?" Kymaera asked, annoyed.
"Insurance. I'm gutsy, not stupid." Dani smirked
"Man, can you believe Force Works is here? Who would have thought Clay would have let them mutie lovers and freaks in this joint?" John Michaels, stationed on the North guard tower, asked his partner Jacob Day.
"He ain't have much choice. Way I here it, Force Works leaned on the governor to let 'em see the Grey frog. Clay wasn't too happy about dat. Besides, I'm sure Clay's keepin' a close eye on dem. Could be worse." Day replied.
"Yeah, they could be from Amnesty International. They get in here, and we'll all be out of a job." Jacob replied, "Hey, did you see the fight between Bison and that Delilah chick? She knocked the shit out of that freak!"
As the two guards bantered, neither noticed a small, techno-organic ship approach the docks, in large part because it bent the light around them, thus rendering them invisible. The sensors that protected Tartarus did detect it however, but they were asked by the craft not to sound the alarm; and so they didn't. The craft landed on the dock and it's passengers disembarked carefully away from the eyes and ears of anyone who might be lurking.
"The sensors I placed in Powder Keg's body have worked perfectly. I know where our targets are, where now next member is being held, as well as the fact I have detailed knowledge of the prison." Paradigm explained, "What are your orders, Lodestone?"
"Keep the cloak up. We need to get into position, and wait. The point of this mission is two fold. To test Force Works, and to acquire a new member." Lodestone replied.
"To hell with testing Force Works," A bulky figure snarled. He was built like the Hulk, and his hands glowed with power, "I want to kill me a human rocket."
"All in due time." The Lodestone said, "But not now, we wouldn't be ready for the consequences. This is a no killing mission. And anyone who forgets that I will personally take apart."
"What about beating them within an inch of their lives, is that acceptable?" The huge figure asked.
"Actually, it's required." Lodestone answered
A fourth figure said nothing. He simply crouched towards the back, and licked his long, red nails. Soon, very soon, the hunt would begin.
Children's Hospital, Baltimore
"This is so dull." Tarene whined as she signed autograph after autograph in the courtyard of Children's Hospital. Beside her Wolfsbane and Arsenal were kneeling on the ground so that they could talk to the children directly.
"Well, we have two more appointments today," Rahne said without turning to face Tarene, "So ye won' have a chance to hurt any bad guys today."
"I never want to hurt anyone." Tarene corrected, "I just want to fight." Rahne was about to reply, but then thought the better of it.
"Do they work?" Patrick Pollard asked Arsenal as he shyly approached. Patrick was a bald ten-year-old boy who was staying at Children's Hospital while he underwent chemotherapy. He was canny enough to read the doctor's expressions to know that things weren't going well, and it scared him a little. But right now, it didn't seem to matter.
"You mean my wings?" Arsenal asked.
"Yeah, they're all shiny like metal, but you can't glide with metal." Patrick said as he reached out to feel Arsenal's wings. He touched them, and they felt warm to the touch. Like real feathers, but stronger.
"Yeah, they work. But they're not really wings. I use them to fly."
"You mean you don't glide on the air, but the wings provide propulsion?" Patrick asked
"Yeah, exactly. How'd you guess something like that?"
"My daddy's a pilot, and I want to be like him someday. He's the one who explained the difference between a bird's flying and a plane's flying." Patrick said, "I'm gonna fly one day too. I hope." He added
"You will." Arsenal said as he reached behind his back. He grabbed a portion of his wing, and gave it a slight tug, "And here's something for good luck."
Patrick's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when Arsenal gave him one of his metal feathers. Ironically, said feather could also have blown him over at that very moment.
"You very pretty." Heather Munn, eight years of age, said to Rahne, who was only barely shifted into her wolf form. Her skin was covered in a fine coat of brown fur, but her claws weren't long and her canine teeth didn't really show.
"Thank you, sweetie." Rahne replied
"Can I umm, feel your fur?" She asked.
Rahne extended her hand forward, "O' course."
"You're nice, not like the nurses. I think the nurses are mad at me." Heather said as she stroked the fur on Rahne's hand.
"Why is that?"
"Because I'm always asking them for stuff because of my bad kidney."
Rahne chuckled slightly, "Me mum trained as a nurse. I promise ye sweet heart, yuir nae troublin' anyone."
"We are your other friends?" She asked
"They're...making new friends tae." Rahne answered
Tartarus
"Did you get anything?" Speedball asked as Mirage and Nova came out of the interrogation room and entered the adjoining room.
"Not a damn thing." Dani said. She looked at the Gargoyle thru the two-way mirror. He was clutching his head in seething anger and expressing some very unique profanities, "I even tried to pull the image out of his mind, but his shields were too strong."
"Odd. I would have pegged the Gargoyle as someone who would sell out anyone for his own self interest." Dr. Chen noted.
"Well, it was worth a try." Speedball said as they exited. When he walked into the hall, his foot stepped in a liquid, and his foot flew out from under him and he landed hard on his ass before bouncing up to his feet again, "What the...." He said, but the words died in his throat. The rest of Force Works saw what he was referring to, and was appalled by what they saw.
Lying on the ground not three feet from the door were the bodies of the two guards who were assigned to escort Force Works. Their internal organs were spread across the steel floor, and Force Works quickly recognized that the men were killed so fast they couldn't even scream
"You certainly took your time." A voice said. Force Works looked up and saw the villains known the Lodestone, the orange and red Smiling Tiger and Warhead, a mechanical monster built like three N.F.L quarterbacks merged into one combined with the firepower of a battle ship.
"Dr. Chen, get inside, lock the door and pray." Dani snapped without even looking at him, "Don't come out until I tell you to."
"Understood. I'll be fine, good luck." He said as he briskly stepped back into the interrogation room and closed the door calmly.
"Cabal, Attack!" Lodestone shouted.
Smiling Tiger leaped at Mirage. Dani barely ducked under the lunge, and she spun and unleashed a barrage of arrows at Smiling Tiger. She missed but forced him back before he lunged at her again.
"Nova, today you die for the death of my brother!" Warhead yelled as he tackled the human rocket, seething with a combination of power and hatred. Nova activated his ability to fly and flew straight up, smashing Warhead into the ceiling.
"You don't even have a brother, you bald brainwashed idiot!" Nova shouted as he broke free. He flew a few feet back, and then slammed into Warhead, knocking him down the narrow hall, and barely missing Wiz Kid, Speedball and Kymaera, who were attempting to contain Lodestone.
"This place is too freakin' small for a hoe down!" Speedball said as he blasted Lodestone with his bubbles.
"It's just fine for me." Lodestone smiled. She reached out with her magnetic powers, and grabbed Wiz Kid's tech pack. Before he could act to stop her, she slammed him into Speedball and wrapped the two together using the metal of Wiz Kid's tech pack. Before Lodestone could do anything further, a powerful webbed fist smashed into her magnetic shields.
"Let's go, you third string Magneto." Kymaera growled and she smashed Lodestone's force field again
"I'm hardly third string, smurf," Lodestone said as she lashed out with her powers hitting Kymaera in the stomach with a magnetic blast. She was holding back, but only slightly. Kymaera was stronger than she looked, and was testing Lodestone's shields to the limit, "Besides the fact that I took two of your teammates out, who do you think is keeping the entire cell block isolated from the guards? I used my power to expel them from the entire cellblock before any alarms could be raised. You're on your own, honey!"
"So, if I kick your ass, that means we get some help. Thanks for that info." Kymaera stated as she smashed another fist into Lodestone's shields.
The prisoners locked in their cells were getting rowdy now, their pent up rage boiling over.
"Drown them in their own blood!" Quicksand yelled
"Snap their human necks and rip off their heads!" The human bull Bison screamed
"Burn them!" Scorcher yelled
As Force Works and the Cabal battled, the entity known as Paradigm hovered down the hall, cloaked, searching for one pressurized maximum-security cell in particular. He stopped when he found it, marked Delilah. According to the New York City police files Paradigm had on her, Delilah was a former enforcer of the would be crime lord, the Rose. She had fought the hero Spiderman to a standstill numerous times. Paradigm connected to the security cameras, and watched a tall, raven haired woman wearing prison grays practicing a set of complex martial arts strikes.
Totally ignorant of the battle raging outside her cell thanks to the thick metal walls, the woman known as Delilah practiced her martial art skills with flip kicks and nerve strikes to imaginary foes. Although she possessed enough strength to tear an eighteen-wheeler apart with her bare hands, it still wasn't enough as far as she was concerned. She had power, and after her defeat at the hands of vampire Bloodscream, she recognized that she needed more skill. Imprisonment in Tartarus actually helped her develop that skill. The guards loved to arrange fights in the exercise yard, and Delilah was becoming something of a favorite ever since she maimed three other guards in an escape attempt. So far she had beaten Bison, Joystick, Mongoose and the Absorbing Man, though the last two were by the narrowest of margins. Delilah knew the only way she would survive prison now was if she got a transfer, which she knew she would never get.
"Delilah, may I speak with you?" A voice that sounded not like the voice of an answering machine, asked. Delilah jumped, so into her training that she hadn't really noticed the outside world. Paradigm floated a foot off the floor, directly in front of the door of her cell.
"What...are you and what do you want?" Delilah asked, thrown for a loop by the appearance of such a strange creature in her cell.
"I am afraid I do not have the time for a full explanation for you at this moment. To be brief, I am here to offer you freedom from this prison that will likely serve as the place of your death in the coming days, and offer you a position on an elite cabal that will result in an economic windfall for all it's members." Paradigm explained.
"How? This cell is pressurized. If I leave this room too soon, I'll get the bends and die!" Delilah asked as she tried to absorb this information
"I can use my techno organic body to encase yours and gradually decrease the pressure on your body, thus saving your life. Decide now, will you join us?"
Lodestone gritted her teeth as Kymaera smashed her magnetic fields again and again. Lodestone again lashed out with a magnetic blast that hit Kymaera squarely in the chest, but she just kept coming.
"Dani, swing 5!" Kymaera shouted. Mirage, who was still dodging Smiling Tiger, didn't acknowledge the statement. Smiling Tiger leaped at her again, and Dani leapt to the floor, again dodging Smiling Tiger. She jumped up; she unleashed an onslaught of psychic arrows. Not at Smiling Tiger, though, rather at Kymaera and Lodestone behind him.
Five. Kymaera thought as she threw herself against the wall. The attack was perfectly timed, and extremely effective. Lodestone's force fields stopped the majority of the arrows, but one struck her and weakened her enough for Kymaera to punch thru her fields and grab her. With a slight tug, Kymaera whipped Lodestone around and pitched her into Smiling Tiger. Loadstone smacked into him with a loud clang!
"You okay, Mirage?" Kymaera asked as she flew to her friend's side. Dani's left shoulder was bleeding freely.
"I've been better, but don't worry about it. This guy just got a lucky shot." She explained
"His name's Smiling Tiger. Last time I heard, he was in Madipoor, what's he doing here?" Kymaera asked as she turned towards Wiz Kid and Speedball. With Lodestone down, command of Taki's tech pack returned to him, and in moments they were free.
"I'm on a mutant team. How did I not foresee someone with magnetic powers taking over my tech pack?" Wiz Kid asked himself.
"So glad that's over." Speedball said, "I want a chance to strut my stuff!"
"Damn it, this isn't part of the plan." Lodestone muttered as she picked herself up off Smiling Tiger. Lodestone was by no means stupid. She knew that with Warhead clashing farther down the hall with Nova, that that left her and Smiling Tiger alone against four members of Force Works. Not good odds.
"We are finished here." A voice declared over her wrist communicator. Armed with that information, a devious grin came across Lodestone's face.
"I think it's time my friends and I left." Lodestone said as she started to cackle with power. She focused her power outwards, and began to glow like a dying star. Everyone present, even Nova and Warhead who were clashing twenty feet down the corridor, had to look away. And just as quickly, the light originating from Lodestone faded.
"Umm, what did the night light just do?" Speedball asked as he tried to blink the spots out of his eyes, unable to observe any effects from Lodestone's display of power.
"It's really simple." Loadstone said with a sinister smile, "I simply used my magnetic powers to shut down the power core of Tartarus. Unless you jumpstart it in the next twenty minutes, the two hundred prisoners kept in the deep-sea pressurization chambers will die from the bends. I also don't think the power reserves on the other prison cells will last much longer, now that I think about it. So I'm giving you a choice, chase us, and allow two hundred men and women to die and a riot to start or save Tartarus. Your choice." Not waiting for a response, the Cabal casually walked away with their backs to the heroes, just to taunt them.
"We can't let them get away!" Speedball said
"Wiz Kid, get Tiger, me and Speedy'll get Lodestone!" Kymaera said as she stepped forward. Mirage put her arms out, stopping her team from engaging the Cabal, "If we hit them fast enough..."
"No, she's right!" Dani said as she started to stop her team, "We need..."
Wham!
Before any more decisions could be made, Nova flew over the heads of the Cabal and smashed into Kymaera, knocking her down.
"I ain't done yet, baldy. One lucky shot don't put me down." Nova said as he picked himself up, "What are we waiting for?" Nova asked as he saw the Cabal strolling away. He was about to surge forward before Mirage stepped in the way.
"Forget them, Nova, we've got more important matters to deal with. Loadstone crashed Tartarus's power core! We got to do something about that first before we're left with dozens of dead convicts!" Dani explained
"What? Oh, hell!"
"She also released fifteen super criminals, I assume to slow us down even further." Wiz Kid commented.
"Huh?" Dani asked, "What are you talking about?"
Wiz Kid pointed directly behind them. Force Works turned to see the doors lining the corridor swinging freely as the former prisoners stepped outside their cells and looked towards Force Works with looks of pure malice.
"Spirits..."Dani muttered as her blood ran cold, "Taki, who do you need to jumpstart the power core?"
"Nova, he's the only one with enough raw power to jump start this place. According to my scanners, there's a conduit several corridors behind us that I can use to tap into the main power system." The mutant engineer replied. Dani winced. Nova was their most powerful member present, and his absence would decrease their chances of survival incredibly.
"Go." Mirage said
"But..."
"Now Nova!" Mirage snapped. A blink later, Nova and Wiz Kid were gone and Mirage, Speedball and Kymaera were left alone to face over a dozen supervillains.
"So..." Mirage said as she created a psychic arrow and took aim, "How's that rehabilitation thing coming?"
Charging forward as one, the villains answered with blasts of flame, ice and electricity.
"X-Treme, where art thou!" Speedball shouted as he leaped forward
Metro City, the Magnolia Heights, two blocks from the Work Place
"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" Jack North shouted to the man pounding on his door. He looked thru the peep slot, and saw a utility worker dressed in a light gray suit, standing with his arms at his side wearing a black baseball cap backwards. What North found odd was that the man wasn't carrying a clipboard or wearing an I.D badge. North opened the door slightly, with the chain still attached.
"How can I help you?" He asked.
"I've been told your dung disposer isn't working correctly." The man said as he pushed the door open breaking the chain and inviting himself in. The utility man seemed oblivious to the fact that he was disturbing Mr. North, and he closed the door.
"I'm sorry for the deception, but I need to see some information on your computer." The utility man said as he reached down and touched an invisible button on his belt. His appearance shimmered for a few seconds, and then revealed the heavily armed figure of...
"X-Treme! What is the meaning of this?! Why are you invading my home!" North demanded. X-Treme seemed to ignore him. He walked over to North's personnel computer, which was sitting in the living room and turned it on.
"Spare me the dramatics, Mr. North, if that's your real name." X-Treme said as he attached a spider like devise to the side of North's computer. It was a creation of Wiz Kid's, and it prevented the computer from deleting any information that X-Treme didn't want deleted while also allowing X-Treme free access to the information within.
"Excuse me! Give me one reason why I shouldn't have you arrested!" North demanded, "This is an invasion of privacy!"
"Because you're really an agent of the Volcan Domuyo secret police. You're one of a dozen other agents of various other intelligence agencies, like the C.I.A and M.I 6 stationed throughout Metro City for the express purpose of keeping tabs on the day-to-day operations of Force Works." X-Treme explained without bothering to face North, "I know this because the Crystal Claws trained me in counter espionage techniques, and together with Wiz Kid, I found each and every one of you spy bast'jaks."
North was almost speechless. He thought he had been careful, that Force Works was just a bunch of self righteous kids who had no idea that they were being watched, that they were just lucky that they hadn't been spotted. North slowly started walking towards the kitchen, where he kept his piece.
While he did that, X-Treme scrolled thru the information North had on his computer regarding Force Works. He liked most of what he saw. So far, no one had managed to find out how Force Works came and went from the Work Place, which greatly decreased the likely hood of being ambushed that Dani was always worrying about. Only Rahne's file had significant information in it, and that was because she was dating Doug.
"Huh..." X-Treme paused for a moment, slightly confused. Before he realized what he was doing, he had opened Rahne's file, though why he couldn't say. He closed it before he could read anything and then opened his own file, studying it intently. Of all of Force Works, he was the only one who chose not to live at the Work Tower. After studying the information for a minute, X-Treme downloaded the information into Wiz Kid's little toy, deleted all the information from the hard drive and stood up. He placed the gadget in his back pocket, and then heard the hammer of a gun pull back.
"I can't let you leave here with that information." North said as he pointed a 45 magnum equipped with a silencer at X-Treme.
"I don't think so." X-Treme said evenly as he opened the door to leave, "Even if you were fast enough, and you're not, do you really think you can cover up my murder with all the press Force Works gets? My teammates do know I'm here, you know."
North lowered his weapon and glowered at X-Treme. As a spook, the limelight was the last place he, or his employers, wanted to be.
"And tell your friends in the underground that if they keep spying on us, I'll come after them. And it won't be pretty." X-Treme warned
X-Treme quietly closed Mr. North's door, and activated his image inducer. Technically, his mission was a success. He'd gotten a copy of all the information various intelligence agencies had on Force works and he'd put them on notice. But, he didn't find anything pertaining to his current problem.
Not a damn thing to explain my black outs He thought as he put his hands in his pockets and fear started to creep into his mind.
Tartarus
"Damn it, go down!" Kymaera snarled as she grabbed the horns of the half human, half bull creature known as the Bison and wrestled him to the ground. She wrapped her left arm around his neck, and punched him repeatedly in the face until he finally stopped struggling. Kymaera stood up, and was faced with the fiery villain known as the Scorcher.
"Time for some crispy fish sticks." Scorcher said as he pointed his burning hands forward and unleashed a torrent of flame.
"'Nita, move!" Speedball shouted as he bounced off the wall and knocked Kymaera to the ground. He then hit Scorcher with a blast of kinetic energy, knocking him out.
"Thanks, Speedy." Kymaera said as she leaped back into the fray, tackling the villain known as Bloodstrike, a former member of the Folding Circle.
"Hey, do you know what 'Tiger was up to, by any chance?" Kymaera asked as she slugged it out with Bloodstrike.
"I couldn't carry less, the Folding Circle is gone." Bloodstrike replied as he attempted to block Kymaera's blows, "As you will be soon, babe."
"Promises, promises."
Mirage took a second to take stock of her situation. To say it was bad was an understatement. She was surrounded by four villains with Icemaster behind her, Stiletto to her left, Disc to her right with the electrical Supercharger in front.
"This must be awkward for you guys," Mirage said calmly, "each of you want a piece of me, but none of you wants to be the first and get in the way of the others. Too bad."
Mirage spun around and nailed Stiletto with a roundhouse kick to the face. She spun again and nailed the lunging Disc with an elbow to the nose, eliciting a satisfying crunch. Supercharger gathered up his courage as Mirage turned to face him and unleashed a powerful electrical blast, but he was far too slow. Mirage saw it coming a mile away and dropped back while unleashing a psychic arrow at Supercharger. The end result was Supercharger's blast not only missed Mirage, but the pain the arrow created made him expend all his electrical energy, knocking out the villains known as Ice Master, Hydro Man, Sunstroke and Powder Keg.
"Too bad the drugs in your system slow you down and make you stupid, I mean." Dani said as she got up. Mirage discovered there were still many supervillains still standing as she dodged a fist the size of a dumpster made completely out of sand.
"You're not leaving this prison alive!" The villainess known as Quicksand said as she lashed out with a blast of sand that bowled Mirage over. Quicksand washed over her in a second, like a wave crashing upon the surf. Mirage became trapped in sand harder than cement, and unable to aim her arrows. Quicksand reformed her body directly over Mirage's head and shaped her fists into an ax, "Time to die, mutie."
"You need a better watch, lady!" Speedball shouted as he blasted Quicksand with his bubble bombs. Quicksand exploded into a puff of sand, and Speedball bounced towards his leader.
"You okay, chief?" Speedball asked as he helped her up.
"Been better." She replied, "Man...
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw the Resistance member known as Mist Mistress trained her acidic mist on herself and Speedball. Mirage pushed Speedball out of the way as she herself backpedaled to avoid the deadly gas.
"You'll pay for putting me in here!" She screamed.
"What the hell is keeping Wiz Kid and Nova?" Speedball finished
Roughly four corridors down, another member of Force Works was wondering a very similar question,
"What the hell is taking so long?" Nova demanded. He wasn't close enough to the battle to see what was happening with his teammates, but he could hear it. And as a man of action, it was driving him insane. Only three feet away to his right was a solid steel door, likely made of some form of super metal, and the only thing keeping the guards from entering the cellblock and helping Force Works. Nova considered trying to break thru it before Wiz Kid informed him that it could easily take anything he could dish out.
"I'm working as fast as I can!" Wiz Kid replied. His tech pack was morphed around his wrist, with cables reaching out and merging with the steel metal floor of Tartarus. Using the floor as a conduit, Wiz Kid's tech pack connected with the power lines underneath. After several tense seconds, Taki finished his manipulations.
"It's ready." Wiz Kid said as he stood up and stepped aside to reveal what looked like two computer joysticks protruding from where he was kneeling moments before.
"What's ready? What the hell did you do?"
Taki rolled his eyes, almost unbelieving of Nova's stupidity, "Those," He said, pointing to the 'joysticks' like devises, "are like jumper cables, and you are the battery. They connect directly to the Tartarus' power core. You grab them, they tap your power source, and the Tartarus' power core is jumpstarted. Simple enough?" He asked thru gritted teeth. He didn't expect everyone (or anyone really) to be as smart as him, but still...
"Find another solution. I'm not doing it." Nova said.
"What...did you say?"
"I said find another way. I'm not giving up my powers for a bunch of criminals. Now find another way, or we can go back and help the others."
By now, Wiz Kid would have pulled his hair out of his head in frustration had he not been wearing a helmet, "You pathetic power hungry..."
"I've lost to damn much because of them, just to lose them again for a bunch of criminals." Nova said firmly.
"Nova, you stupid idiot, you won't lose your powers! You channel an external force thru your body! My machine is designed to tap that source!" Taki exclaimed
"I thought..."
"Forget what you thought! The power in your body has varied because of your access to the Nova force. Why do you think that when you first got your powers back, you were stronger than ten men?" Taki asked furiously. Time was short, and Nova's fear of losing his powers was eroding what little patience Taki had.
Nova, upon realizing that he wouldn't lose his powers, took a split second to compose himself before grabbing the 'joy sticks' Taki had created. He wasn't ashamed of the fact that he was scared of losing his powers. They defined him and gave him direction, after all. He just knew what was going to come next would hurt A LOT. At the speed of sound, Nova grabbed the 'joysticks' in his hands. He felt as they started to tap into his power.
And his scream was heard all though out the prison island.
"Night, night, Night slim shady!" Speedball said as he cold cocked the deadly Nightshade into unconsciousness.
"Well, it looks like it comes down to a battle in loser legends!" A voice declared as something cold and wet wrapped around Speedball's throat. Speedball turned to see that the cold and wet thing that was wrapped around his throat was a tongue (so gross) belonging to the Terrible Toad. Toad strengthened his tongue's grip around Speedball's neck, attempting to strangle him, "And I promise you, Spazball won't end up on top!"
"There's a difference between you and me," Speedball gasped. He pointed his fingers at Toad, and unleashed his bubbles, slamming Toad into the unforgiving metal walls of the prison and knocking him out, "while at first look it may seem that we are both lame, you actually are lame." He looked around, and saw that it was finally over. He, Kymaera and Mirage were still standing, whereas no one else was.
"Mirage, you know how I said you were trying to make us into X-Force lite with all those hours in the training room practicing teamwork and fighting?" Speedball asked as he wiped imaginary sweat off his brow. He didn't sweat as Speedball, but it was an instinctive response after incredible stress, and quelling a prison riot qualified easily.
"Kinda, You were... mostly saying that stuff... behind my back." Mirage answered between gasps. She was bent over, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"Well, I take it all back now." Speedball said, "I'm so glad this is over."
"We need to find Rich, did you hear that scream?" Kymaera said
Mirage looked over the fallen criminals, and noticed something important, "Question, how many criminals... did Taki say had been freed?"
"Fifteen." Speedball answered, "Why?"
"Because... I only count fourteen." Mirage stated. Speedball and Kymaera quickly did their own head count, and came up with the same number.
"Maybe he miscounted?" Speedball said.
"Taki miscount? How likely do you think that is?" Kymaera asked.
"I don't think aaah!" Mirage and Kymaera clutched their heads as images of winged reptile men invaded their minds. Speedball's head snapped from side to side trying to find the source of their distress.
"You are immune to telepathy. Interesting." A voice squarely stated. Speedball spun around and was confused by what he saw. Or rather, what he didn't see. He knew he heard a voice behind him, but he couldn't see a thing. He looked hard, and could see what looked like a transparent figure the size of the Hulk with some kind of invisibility, like the alien in the movie 'Predator'. It wasn't until he was sailing down the hall that Speedball realized the only reason he had seen the cloaked figure was because it was charging him.
"Protocol?!" Kymaera gasped as she saw the transparent figure smack Mirage aside.
"No, not Protocol." The being hissed as it smashed it's fist into Kymaera's face and into the metal wall. Faster than the eye could follow, he caught Speedball by the neck as he rebounded back with his left hand.
"I am the past, and the future. I am the one eyed man in a world of blind men! I am Brainstorm 2020!" The figure snarled as he brought Speedball face to face with himself. The creature had dropped his camouflage, allowing Speedball to see his behemoth form. Brainstorm, stood a good eight feet tall with sharp teeth and oily light green skin. He had massive muscles, and slight protrusions down his back. In all, Brainstorm looked like the bastard love child of Godzilla and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
"I'm Speedball, and you're invading my personal space." Speedball said as he pressed his hand to Brainstorm's face and unleashed a powerful blast of kinetic energy that obscured Brainstorm's face for a full minute. Speedball expected the pressure on his neck to lessen, but that didn't quite happen.
"Heh, tickles." Brainstorm smiled as he tightened his grip around Speedball's throat.
"Ack...you don't understand, after the good guy gets off a really cool one liner, the bad guy is supposed to fall down..."Speedball gasped as he started to black out.
"I've decided to start a new rule. After a good 'one liner', the hero has his head popped like a pimple." Brainstorm explained. Before he could apply even more pressure to Speedball's neck, a psychic arrow struck him in the head, forcing him to drop Speedball.
"I can't say that I'm a fan of what comes out of that head, but I'm afraid that I have to insist that it stays where it is." Mirage said weakly. She was propped up against the wall, her legs trembling, not in fear, but in exhaustion. Her body begged at her to rest, and her appearance screamed that fact, "How about you make this easy and just surrender?"
"The future is never easy, and I see no reason to be so myself." Brainstorm stated
"If you're the future, God help us all." A voice stated from behind Brainstorm. Brainstorm turned and saw Wiz Kid standing there, with what looked like two mini missile launchers in both hands, "Good night."
The first missile flew forward and smashed into the center of Brainstorm's chest, expelling the air from his lungs. The second missile flew forward a split second later and struck Brainstorm's face. This missile was filled with a specially designed gas, which filled Brainstorm's lungs when he gasped for breath. Brainstorm fell to the ground in a deep slumber
"Could you cut it a little closer next time!" Mirage scowled.
"The way you complain about my effectiveness, one would think you didn't like a job well done." Wiz Kid said as he approached his teammates.
"Where's Nova?" Kymaera asked as she picked herself up, "Is he alright?"
"I'm fine, babe." A voice said weakly from behind Wiz Kid. Nova lurched forward, steam rising from his body.
"R...Nova!" Kymaera shouted as she rushed to her lover's side and put his arm over her shoulder to prop him up.
"Taki, get that damn door open," Mirage pointed towards the end of the corridor where a large steel door was placed over the way they had come in, "and let's get the hell out of here."
No sooner than Mirage had said that than the barrier opened, revealing a mass of heavily armed guards with their weapons trained towards Force Works. They rushed in, and started to secure the prisoners.
"Quick work, 'Kid." Speedball commented.
"I didn't do a thing." He stated.
"Fine job containing the riot, Force Works." Warden Clay said as he shuffled in after the guards. "We tried to reach you when those others attacked, but we were stymied until just now."
Mirage glared at Warden Clay. As a mutant and former Shield agent, she could smell bullshit a mile away, and Clay was standing barely five feet away. She knew, not suspected, but knew that Clay's men were waiting until Force Works had either defeated the prisoners or were killed by them before they made their move. That the guards and warden were more than willing to let Force Works die before they did their job.
"We were glad to be of assistance." Mirage said thru gritted teeth, "Now, we'll see ourselves out."
Mirage grabbed her cut shoulder as she walked towards the docks with the rest of her team and sighed, "Spirits, what a shitty day."
The End
Next issue: Hi ho, hi ho, it's a hunting Force Works goes! The team takes aim at one John Sublime and we learn the origin of Arsenal. There's only one thing standing in their way, the Press!?
Notes
Kymaera cut out on a Force Works' mission in issue 6. That mission went south, though not as a result of her absence.
This is the first appearance of the prison Tartarus
Grey Gargoyle was empowered by the Everlasting to attack Force Works and was defeated in issue 5. It was also revealed in that issue that the Everlasting took steps to prevent him from implicating them in his attack
Powder Keg was implanted with sensors in issue 6. Now you know why
Nova was stated to have the strength of ten men about every fifteen minutes in Nova Volume 1.
Work Letters
Last issue got me a letter from question man Jason Trenner. Take it away, Jason!
"Interesting story, with an odd ending. Yes you can put a price on love, whether you know it or not."
Thanks. The ending was meant a little odd, as the situation was by no means black and white.
"Seems Mirage can't find time for her friends anymore...and something is going to give either Mirage finding out she's overlooking the small stuff or Rahne's "boyfriend" being gutted like a fish. Or both. On to the questions:"
To be fair, Mirage is running a superhuman team that's always in the media spotlight, and doesn't have a lot of time for much else. As to what's going on with Doug, you're a little off the mark. Rahne isn't a Wolverine knock off, after all. This will be made a little clearer in issue ten
1) Is there any chance of the Orphan joining the team?
No likely, no. Nine's enough members for me.
2) Is there any chance of the Living Lightning showing up?
Nope.
3) Is there any chance of Force Works fighting the Masters of Evil?
Naw, they're stuck slumming it in Thunderbolts ;)
4)Is there any chance of Force Works rescuing Nate Grey and have him join the team?
I already have a pocket Thor on the team, a pocket phoenix is overkill, don't you think? I can tell you that there are big plans for X-Man at M2K, though, just not in Force Works
5) Is there any chance of Death's Head showing up?
Never know, but chances are slim.
6) Is there any chance of Force Works taking a trip to the Negative Zone?
Not in the near future, no. The 'Zone doesn't really fit the feel of the book
7) Will the U-Men appear when Arsenal's origin is shown?
Heh, heh. Kinda.
All in a Day's Work
Roughly fourteen miles off the coast of the United States, specifically off of Metro City
"They are about a thousand things I would rather being doing today than this." Speedball stated as he looked out over the water from the coast guard boat he was traveling in. Scattered about on the deck were his teammates Mirage, Wiz Kid, Nova and Kymaera.
"What's the matter toothpick," Nova asked, "nervous?"
"Why would I be? We're only going to be walking into one of the world's most volatile superhuman prisons on the off chance that one prisoner inside has information that we might need and might be able to use."
"You know toothpick, you sound like a freakin' narrator when you're scared." The Human Rocket smirked.
"Bite my blue ass, Nova."
"Why are you so keen to talk to the Grey Gargoyle anyways, Mirage?" Wiz Kid asked, "We beat him, and he's in jail. It's not like he's going to tell us who sent him."
"He may be in jail, but we don't know who gave him his enhanced powers. Without that information, we have no way of preventing them from just sending someone else after us." Mirage explained, "I've talked to the D.A. She's willing cut some time off Gargoyle's sentence if he gives up the name of whoever empowered him. It's not much, true but it's better than nothing."
"We gotta try to stay ahead of the curve," Nova joked, "by being pro mutants, we've already pissed off a lot of bad guys. We gotta get them before they get us."
"Agreed, I suppose." Said Taki.
"How longer before we get to Tartarus anyway?" Kymaera asked, "We should have just flown out by ourselves."
"We're only a few more minutes away," Wiz Kid said, "Besides, any superhuman its security scanners detect flying towards it are shot out of the sky without question, and only authorized vehicles are allowed to approach."
"Besides, I wouldn't be in a hurry to get out there," Mirage spat, "I'm half tempted to throw your ass in one of the cells and forget about you for cutting on our rescue mission."
"And I'd do it again, Dani." The Atlantean princess evenly replied from her seat as the wind whipped her blond hair about
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching the international penitentiary known as 'Tartarus'." The captain announced.
The members looked north and saw the already infamous prison known as the Tartarus. It was built into a three-mile wide rock protrusion that was once served as an oilrig. The rock was jagged and reaching to the sky, with prison buildings dotting the surface. It looked like someone had merged Alcatraz with even more solid rock and a portion of hell. Four towers surrounded it in all four direction, the tops armed with anti aircraft missiles and Gatlin guns that shot three hundred bullets a second filled with titanium hollow point bullets and equipped with laser sighting. As the boat pulled up to the dock, the members of Force Works all felt a chill go down their spine. Because, well, they represented one side of the law, and they were entering a place where the other side of the law was caged, beaten down and suppressed every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
"Welcome Force Works, to Tartarus." Warden Clay said as Force Works disembarked. Clay was a plump, middle-aged man, who wore a light gray business suit that looked like it cost no more than twenty dollars, if that. Flanking him were two heavy set men carrying high tech rifles that certainly discharged something far more dangerous than bullets and wearing custom made riot gear, "I have the prisoner already waiting for you in the interrogation room. If you'll step this way?"
"Thanks again for agreeing to this, Warden." Moonstar stated as they walked from the docks to the main entrance tunnel that led into the bowels of the prison. As Force Works entered the prison they were struck by the smell and humidity. The air was so damp it would be impossible to light a match, and the air smelled like a vile combination of rotting meat and urine.
"If we can get the Gargoyle to talk to us, it'll be a great help with out efforts to deal with threats before they become a bigger problem." Mirage explained, all the while trying not to breath too deeply.
"Oh, it's not problem. The mayor told me all about what you needed. I'm surprised you agreed to come here. I imagine this is something you so called heroes aren't used to." Clay needled as they passed the cells of the deadly Nightshade, Burner of the Resistance, the explosive Powder Keg, flaming Scorcher and the insane Supercharger, "This must be an... unsettling experience for you all."
"I'm used to seething hatred." Mirage answered, trying to remain impassive as they walked thru the cellblocks to their destination. The Warden seemed intent on being an ass, though, "I admit that I've been curious about this place. I've read a lot about it."
As soon as Dani said that, Warden Clay seemed to glow with pride, forgetting any petty grudges over 'baby sitting' Force Works, "Well, Tartarus is very unique, so I can understand your interest. The oil companies that helped build Metro City back in the forties built what is now the infrastructure of this prison when oil was discovered off the shores. Unfortunately, the amount of oil was greatly overestimated, and the station was abandoned in the eighties until about three years ago."
"What happened then?" Nova asked
"The Vault was faced with overcrowding and third world nations were having trouble containing what few superhumans they had locked away in their prison cells. America isn't the only nation plagued with superhumans, after all. Superhumans are expensive to imprison, after all, and so they petitioned the U.N and U.S for help. I was a consultant for a private correctional firm, and came up with this." Clay explained.
"This being?" Nova asked
"Well, the problem with other prisons designed for superhumans is that said superhumans keep breaking out of them, due largely to their power and connections. You have to give them a darn good reason to stay inside the prison."
"And how do you do that?" Mirage asked
"By using deep sea pressurization chambers with the more dangerous criminals and mild drugs in the food to placate the rest." Warden Clay said with a wicked smile, "If anyone too powerful breaks out, they'll die of the bends."
Mirage was slightly startled by that information, though her body language didn't betray that fact.
"And thanks to the fact that Tartarus was built as a joint operation between the United Nations and the United States, and placed in international waters and operated by a private firm, exactly who's responsibility it is legally...questionable." Speedball added with an obviously sarcastic smile, "It lets you get around all those pesky civil rights laws and international agreements because one court can deny responsibility in favor of another."
"Sometimes, extra measures have to be taken with people who can knock down a building with a sneeze, Superball!" The Warden barked as they reached the Interrogation room, "The Gargoyle's waiting for you, along with Dr. Chen who'll supervise. Say your piece quickly, because he's being transferred in three days. The guards will see you out."
With that, the Warden waddled away down the metal corridor.
"Thanks a lot, Speedy." Dani muttered
"Hey, you're the one who has to be diplomatic." Speedball winked, "I still get my opinions."
"Well, keep them to yourself for now. You, Kymaera and Wiz Kid will stay behind the two way glass while Nova and I talk to the Gargoyle." Dani said as they entered the room. She saw a tall, Asian male with a shaved head wearing the stereotypical a white lab coat and pocket protector. What struck Dani as odd was the man couldn't have been a day over twenty-five, if that.
"Force Works, pleased to meet such upstanding super humans," he said as he extended his hand, "As you might imagine, I don't see a lot of that here."
"Dr. Chen?" Nova asked before he caught himself.
"Child prodigy." Dr. Chen answered on reflex. It'd been a question he had been asked many a times, "I have to say, I'm honored to meet you. I've been following your activates since the time you first formed."
"Thank you, doctor. What can you tell us about the Gargoyle?" Dani asked as she shook his hand.
"Well, I've had several interviews with him, and I haven't been able to get out of him who sent him to Metro City. With due respect, I doubt you'll have more luck, though we can hope for the best. The odd thing is that I feel that he wants to tell us, but won't for some reason." Dr. Chen politely explained.
"Maybe we'll have better luck, Doctor." Dani said, "Me and Nova will go in and talk to him, maybe intimidate him into giving up his employers. The rest of you guys just wait here."
"Then why'd you even bring the rest of us here?" Kymaera asked, annoyed.
"Insurance. I'm gutsy, not stupid." Dani smirked
"Man, can you believe Force Works is here? Who would have thought Clay would have let them mutie lovers and freaks in this joint?" John Michaels, stationed on the North guard tower, asked his partner Jacob Day.
"He ain't have much choice. Way I here it, Force Works leaned on the governor to let 'em see the Grey frog. Clay wasn't too happy about dat. Besides, I'm sure Clay's keepin' a close eye on dem. Could be worse." Day replied.
"Yeah, they could be from Amnesty International. They get in here, and we'll all be out of a job." Jacob replied, "Hey, did you see the fight between Bison and that Delilah chick? She knocked the shit out of that freak!"
As the two guards bantered, neither noticed a small, techno-organic ship approach the docks, in large part because it bent the light around them, thus rendering them invisible. The sensors that protected Tartarus did detect it however, but they were asked by the craft not to sound the alarm; and so they didn't. The craft landed on the dock and it's passengers disembarked carefully away from the eyes and ears of anyone who might be lurking.
"The sensors I placed in Powder Keg's body have worked perfectly. I know where our targets are, where now next member is being held, as well as the fact I have detailed knowledge of the prison." Paradigm explained, "What are your orders, Lodestone?"
"Keep the cloak up. We need to get into position, and wait. The point of this mission is two fold. To test Force Works, and to acquire a new member." Lodestone replied.
"To hell with testing Force Works," A bulky figure snarled. He was built like the Hulk, and his hands glowed with power, "I want to kill me a human rocket."
"All in due time." The Lodestone said, "But not now, we wouldn't be ready for the consequences. This is a no killing mission. And anyone who forgets that I will personally take apart."
"What about beating them within an inch of their lives, is that acceptable?" The huge figure asked.
"Actually, it's required." Lodestone answered
A fourth figure said nothing. He simply crouched towards the back, and licked his long, red nails. Soon, very soon, the hunt would begin.
Children's Hospital, Baltimore
"This is so dull." Tarene whined as she signed autograph after autograph in the courtyard of Children's Hospital. Beside her Wolfsbane and Arsenal were kneeling on the ground so that they could talk to the children directly.
"Well, we have two more appointments today," Rahne said without turning to face Tarene, "So ye won' have a chance to hurt any bad guys today."
"I never want to hurt anyone." Tarene corrected, "I just want to fight." Rahne was about to reply, but then thought the better of it.
"Do they work?" Patrick Pollard asked Arsenal as he shyly approached. Patrick was a bald ten-year-old boy who was staying at Children's Hospital while he underwent chemotherapy. He was canny enough to read the doctor's expressions to know that things weren't going well, and it scared him a little. But right now, it didn't seem to matter.
"You mean my wings?" Arsenal asked.
"Yeah, they're all shiny like metal, but you can't glide with metal." Patrick said as he reached out to feel Arsenal's wings. He touched them, and they felt warm to the touch. Like real feathers, but stronger.
"Yeah, they work. But they're not really wings. I use them to fly."
"You mean you don't glide on the air, but the wings provide propulsion?" Patrick asked
"Yeah, exactly. How'd you guess something like that?"
"My daddy's a pilot, and I want to be like him someday. He's the one who explained the difference between a bird's flying and a plane's flying." Patrick said, "I'm gonna fly one day too. I hope." He added
"You will." Arsenal said as he reached behind his back. He grabbed a portion of his wing, and gave it a slight tug, "And here's something for good luck."
Patrick's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when Arsenal gave him one of his metal feathers. Ironically, said feather could also have blown him over at that very moment.
"You very pretty." Heather Munn, eight years of age, said to Rahne, who was only barely shifted into her wolf form. Her skin was covered in a fine coat of brown fur, but her claws weren't long and her canine teeth didn't really show.
"Thank you, sweetie." Rahne replied
"Can I umm, feel your fur?" She asked.
Rahne extended her hand forward, "O' course."
"You're nice, not like the nurses. I think the nurses are mad at me." Heather said as she stroked the fur on Rahne's hand.
"Why is that?"
"Because I'm always asking them for stuff because of my bad kidney."
Rahne chuckled slightly, "Me mum trained as a nurse. I promise ye sweet heart, yuir nae troublin' anyone."
"We are your other friends?" She asked
"They're...making new friends tae." Rahne answered
Tartarus
"Did you get anything?" Speedball asked as Mirage and Nova came out of the interrogation room and entered the adjoining room.
"Not a damn thing." Dani said. She looked at the Gargoyle thru the two-way mirror. He was clutching his head in seething anger and expressing some very unique profanities, "I even tried to pull the image out of his mind, but his shields were too strong."
"Odd. I would have pegged the Gargoyle as someone who would sell out anyone for his own self interest." Dr. Chen noted.
"Well, it was worth a try." Speedball said as they exited. When he walked into the hall, his foot stepped in a liquid, and his foot flew out from under him and he landed hard on his ass before bouncing up to his feet again, "What the...." He said, but the words died in his throat. The rest of Force Works saw what he was referring to, and was appalled by what they saw.
Lying on the ground not three feet from the door were the bodies of the two guards who were assigned to escort Force Works. Their internal organs were spread across the steel floor, and Force Works quickly recognized that the men were killed so fast they couldn't even scream
"You certainly took your time." A voice said. Force Works looked up and saw the villains known the Lodestone, the orange and red Smiling Tiger and Warhead, a mechanical monster built like three N.F.L quarterbacks merged into one combined with the firepower of a battle ship.
"Dr. Chen, get inside, lock the door and pray." Dani snapped without even looking at him, "Don't come out until I tell you to."
"Understood. I'll be fine, good luck." He said as he briskly stepped back into the interrogation room and closed the door calmly.
"Cabal, Attack!" Lodestone shouted.
Smiling Tiger leaped at Mirage. Dani barely ducked under the lunge, and she spun and unleashed a barrage of arrows at Smiling Tiger. She missed but forced him back before he lunged at her again.
"Nova, today you die for the death of my brother!" Warhead yelled as he tackled the human rocket, seething with a combination of power and hatred. Nova activated his ability to fly and flew straight up, smashing Warhead into the ceiling.
"You don't even have a brother, you bald brainwashed idiot!" Nova shouted as he broke free. He flew a few feet back, and then slammed into Warhead, knocking him down the narrow hall, and barely missing Wiz Kid, Speedball and Kymaera, who were attempting to contain Lodestone.
"This place is too freakin' small for a hoe down!" Speedball said as he blasted Lodestone with his bubbles.
"It's just fine for me." Lodestone smiled. She reached out with her magnetic powers, and grabbed Wiz Kid's tech pack. Before he could act to stop her, she slammed him into Speedball and wrapped the two together using the metal of Wiz Kid's tech pack. Before Lodestone could do anything further, a powerful webbed fist smashed into her magnetic shields.
"Let's go, you third string Magneto." Kymaera growled and she smashed Lodestone's force field again
"I'm hardly third string, smurf," Lodestone said as she lashed out with her powers hitting Kymaera in the stomach with a magnetic blast. She was holding back, but only slightly. Kymaera was stronger than she looked, and was testing Lodestone's shields to the limit, "Besides the fact that I took two of your teammates out, who do you think is keeping the entire cell block isolated from the guards? I used my power to expel them from the entire cellblock before any alarms could be raised. You're on your own, honey!"
"So, if I kick your ass, that means we get some help. Thanks for that info." Kymaera stated as she smashed another fist into Lodestone's shields.
The prisoners locked in their cells were getting rowdy now, their pent up rage boiling over.
"Drown them in their own blood!" Quicksand yelled
"Snap their human necks and rip off their heads!" The human bull Bison screamed
"Burn them!" Scorcher yelled
As Force Works and the Cabal battled, the entity known as Paradigm hovered down the hall, cloaked, searching for one pressurized maximum-security cell in particular. He stopped when he found it, marked Delilah. According to the New York City police files Paradigm had on her, Delilah was a former enforcer of the would be crime lord, the Rose. She had fought the hero Spiderman to a standstill numerous times. Paradigm connected to the security cameras, and watched a tall, raven haired woman wearing prison grays practicing a set of complex martial arts strikes.
Totally ignorant of the battle raging outside her cell thanks to the thick metal walls, the woman known as Delilah practiced her martial art skills with flip kicks and nerve strikes to imaginary foes. Although she possessed enough strength to tear an eighteen-wheeler apart with her bare hands, it still wasn't enough as far as she was concerned. She had power, and after her defeat at the hands of vampire Bloodscream, she recognized that she needed more skill. Imprisonment in Tartarus actually helped her develop that skill. The guards loved to arrange fights in the exercise yard, and Delilah was becoming something of a favorite ever since she maimed three other guards in an escape attempt. So far she had beaten Bison, Joystick, Mongoose and the Absorbing Man, though the last two were by the narrowest of margins. Delilah knew the only way she would survive prison now was if she got a transfer, which she knew she would never get.
"Delilah, may I speak with you?" A voice that sounded not like the voice of an answering machine, asked. Delilah jumped, so into her training that she hadn't really noticed the outside world. Paradigm floated a foot off the floor, directly in front of the door of her cell.
"What...are you and what do you want?" Delilah asked, thrown for a loop by the appearance of such a strange creature in her cell.
"I am afraid I do not have the time for a full explanation for you at this moment. To be brief, I am here to offer you freedom from this prison that will likely serve as the place of your death in the coming days, and offer you a position on an elite cabal that will result in an economic windfall for all it's members." Paradigm explained.
"How? This cell is pressurized. If I leave this room too soon, I'll get the bends and die!" Delilah asked as she tried to absorb this information
"I can use my techno organic body to encase yours and gradually decrease the pressure on your body, thus saving your life. Decide now, will you join us?"
Lodestone gritted her teeth as Kymaera smashed her magnetic fields again and again. Lodestone again lashed out with a magnetic blast that hit Kymaera squarely in the chest, but she just kept coming.
"Dani, swing 5!" Kymaera shouted. Mirage, who was still dodging Smiling Tiger, didn't acknowledge the statement. Smiling Tiger leaped at her again, and Dani leapt to the floor, again dodging Smiling Tiger. She jumped up; she unleashed an onslaught of psychic arrows. Not at Smiling Tiger, though, rather at Kymaera and Lodestone behind him.
Five. Kymaera thought as she threw herself against the wall. The attack was perfectly timed, and extremely effective. Lodestone's force fields stopped the majority of the arrows, but one struck her and weakened her enough for Kymaera to punch thru her fields and grab her. With a slight tug, Kymaera whipped Lodestone around and pitched her into Smiling Tiger. Loadstone smacked into him with a loud clang!
"You okay, Mirage?" Kymaera asked as she flew to her friend's side. Dani's left shoulder was bleeding freely.
"I've been better, but don't worry about it. This guy just got a lucky shot." She explained
"His name's Smiling Tiger. Last time I heard, he was in Madipoor, what's he doing here?" Kymaera asked as she turned towards Wiz Kid and Speedball. With Lodestone down, command of Taki's tech pack returned to him, and in moments they were free.
"I'm on a mutant team. How did I not foresee someone with magnetic powers taking over my tech pack?" Wiz Kid asked himself.
"So glad that's over." Speedball said, "I want a chance to strut my stuff!"
"Damn it, this isn't part of the plan." Lodestone muttered as she picked herself up off Smiling Tiger. Lodestone was by no means stupid. She knew that with Warhead clashing farther down the hall with Nova, that that left her and Smiling Tiger alone against four members of Force Works. Not good odds.
"We are finished here." A voice declared over her wrist communicator. Armed with that information, a devious grin came across Lodestone's face.
"I think it's time my friends and I left." Lodestone said as she started to cackle with power. She focused her power outwards, and began to glow like a dying star. Everyone present, even Nova and Warhead who were clashing twenty feet down the corridor, had to look away. And just as quickly, the light originating from Lodestone faded.
"Umm, what did the night light just do?" Speedball asked as he tried to blink the spots out of his eyes, unable to observe any effects from Lodestone's display of power.
"It's really simple." Loadstone said with a sinister smile, "I simply used my magnetic powers to shut down the power core of Tartarus. Unless you jumpstart it in the next twenty minutes, the two hundred prisoners kept in the deep-sea pressurization chambers will die from the bends. I also don't think the power reserves on the other prison cells will last much longer, now that I think about it. So I'm giving you a choice, chase us, and allow two hundred men and women to die and a riot to start or save Tartarus. Your choice." Not waiting for a response, the Cabal casually walked away with their backs to the heroes, just to taunt them.
"We can't let them get away!" Speedball said
"Wiz Kid, get Tiger, me and Speedy'll get Lodestone!" Kymaera said as she stepped forward. Mirage put her arms out, stopping her team from engaging the Cabal, "If we hit them fast enough..."
"No, she's right!" Dani said as she started to stop her team, "We need..."
Wham!
Before any more decisions could be made, Nova flew over the heads of the Cabal and smashed into Kymaera, knocking her down.
"I ain't done yet, baldy. One lucky shot don't put me down." Nova said as he picked himself up, "What are we waiting for?" Nova asked as he saw the Cabal strolling away. He was about to surge forward before Mirage stepped in the way.
"Forget them, Nova, we've got more important matters to deal with. Loadstone crashed Tartarus's power core! We got to do something about that first before we're left with dozens of dead convicts!" Dani explained
"What? Oh, hell!"
"She also released fifteen super criminals, I assume to slow us down even further." Wiz Kid commented.
"Huh?" Dani asked, "What are you talking about?"
Wiz Kid pointed directly behind them. Force Works turned to see the doors lining the corridor swinging freely as the former prisoners stepped outside their cells and looked towards Force Works with looks of pure malice.
"Spirits..."Dani muttered as her blood ran cold, "Taki, who do you need to jumpstart the power core?"
"Nova, he's the only one with enough raw power to jump start this place. According to my scanners, there's a conduit several corridors behind us that I can use to tap into the main power system." The mutant engineer replied. Dani winced. Nova was their most powerful member present, and his absence would decrease their chances of survival incredibly.
"Go." Mirage said
"But..."
"Now Nova!" Mirage snapped. A blink later, Nova and Wiz Kid were gone and Mirage, Speedball and Kymaera were left alone to face over a dozen supervillains.
"So..." Mirage said as she created a psychic arrow and took aim, "How's that rehabilitation thing coming?"
Charging forward as one, the villains answered with blasts of flame, ice and electricity.
"X-Treme, where art thou!" Speedball shouted as he leaped forward
Metro City, the Magnolia Heights, two blocks from the Work Place
"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" Jack North shouted to the man pounding on his door. He looked thru the peep slot, and saw a utility worker dressed in a light gray suit, standing with his arms at his side wearing a black baseball cap backwards. What North found odd was that the man wasn't carrying a clipboard or wearing an I.D badge. North opened the door slightly, with the chain still attached.
"How can I help you?" He asked.
"I've been told your dung disposer isn't working correctly." The man said as he pushed the door open breaking the chain and inviting himself in. The utility man seemed oblivious to the fact that he was disturbing Mr. North, and he closed the door.
"I'm sorry for the deception, but I need to see some information on your computer." The utility man said as he reached down and touched an invisible button on his belt. His appearance shimmered for a few seconds, and then revealed the heavily armed figure of...
"X-Treme! What is the meaning of this?! Why are you invading my home!" North demanded. X-Treme seemed to ignore him. He walked over to North's personnel computer, which was sitting in the living room and turned it on.
"Spare me the dramatics, Mr. North, if that's your real name." X-Treme said as he attached a spider like devise to the side of North's computer. It was a creation of Wiz Kid's, and it prevented the computer from deleting any information that X-Treme didn't want deleted while also allowing X-Treme free access to the information within.
"Excuse me! Give me one reason why I shouldn't have you arrested!" North demanded, "This is an invasion of privacy!"
"Because you're really an agent of the Volcan Domuyo secret police. You're one of a dozen other agents of various other intelligence agencies, like the C.I.A and M.I 6 stationed throughout Metro City for the express purpose of keeping tabs on the day-to-day operations of Force Works." X-Treme explained without bothering to face North, "I know this because the Crystal Claws trained me in counter espionage techniques, and together with Wiz Kid, I found each and every one of you spy bast'jaks."
North was almost speechless. He thought he had been careful, that Force Works was just a bunch of self righteous kids who had no idea that they were being watched, that they were just lucky that they hadn't been spotted. North slowly started walking towards the kitchen, where he kept his piece.
While he did that, X-Treme scrolled thru the information North had on his computer regarding Force Works. He liked most of what he saw. So far, no one had managed to find out how Force Works came and went from the Work Place, which greatly decreased the likely hood of being ambushed that Dani was always worrying about. Only Rahne's file had significant information in it, and that was because she was dating Doug.
"Huh..." X-Treme paused for a moment, slightly confused. Before he realized what he was doing, he had opened Rahne's file, though why he couldn't say. He closed it before he could read anything and then opened his own file, studying it intently. Of all of Force Works, he was the only one who chose not to live at the Work Tower. After studying the information for a minute, X-Treme downloaded the information into Wiz Kid's little toy, deleted all the information from the hard drive and stood up. He placed the gadget in his back pocket, and then heard the hammer of a gun pull back.
"I can't let you leave here with that information." North said as he pointed a 45 magnum equipped with a silencer at X-Treme.
"I don't think so." X-Treme said evenly as he opened the door to leave, "Even if you were fast enough, and you're not, do you really think you can cover up my murder with all the press Force Works gets? My teammates do know I'm here, you know."
North lowered his weapon and glowered at X-Treme. As a spook, the limelight was the last place he, or his employers, wanted to be.
"And tell your friends in the underground that if they keep spying on us, I'll come after them. And it won't be pretty." X-Treme warned
X-Treme quietly closed Mr. North's door, and activated his image inducer. Technically, his mission was a success. He'd gotten a copy of all the information various intelligence agencies had on Force works and he'd put them on notice. But, he didn't find anything pertaining to his current problem.
Not a damn thing to explain my black outs He thought as he put his hands in his pockets and fear started to creep into his mind.
Tartarus
"Damn it, go down!" Kymaera snarled as she grabbed the horns of the half human, half bull creature known as the Bison and wrestled him to the ground. She wrapped her left arm around his neck, and punched him repeatedly in the face until he finally stopped struggling. Kymaera stood up, and was faced with the fiery villain known as the Scorcher.
"Time for some crispy fish sticks." Scorcher said as he pointed his burning hands forward and unleashed a torrent of flame.
"'Nita, move!" Speedball shouted as he bounced off the wall and knocked Kymaera to the ground. He then hit Scorcher with a blast of kinetic energy, knocking him out.
"Thanks, Speedy." Kymaera said as she leaped back into the fray, tackling the villain known as Bloodstrike, a former member of the Folding Circle.
"Hey, do you know what 'Tiger was up to, by any chance?" Kymaera asked as she slugged it out with Bloodstrike.
"I couldn't carry less, the Folding Circle is gone." Bloodstrike replied as he attempted to block Kymaera's blows, "As you will be soon, babe."
"Promises, promises."
Mirage took a second to take stock of her situation. To say it was bad was an understatement. She was surrounded by four villains with Icemaster behind her, Stiletto to her left, Disc to her right with the electrical Supercharger in front.
"This must be awkward for you guys," Mirage said calmly, "each of you want a piece of me, but none of you wants to be the first and get in the way of the others. Too bad."
Mirage spun around and nailed Stiletto with a roundhouse kick to the face. She spun again and nailed the lunging Disc with an elbow to the nose, eliciting a satisfying crunch. Supercharger gathered up his courage as Mirage turned to face him and unleashed a powerful electrical blast, but he was far too slow. Mirage saw it coming a mile away and dropped back while unleashing a psychic arrow at Supercharger. The end result was Supercharger's blast not only missed Mirage, but the pain the arrow created made him expend all his electrical energy, knocking out the villains known as Ice Master, Hydro Man, Sunstroke and Powder Keg.
"Too bad the drugs in your system slow you down and make you stupid, I mean." Dani said as she got up. Mirage discovered there were still many supervillains still standing as she dodged a fist the size of a dumpster made completely out of sand.
"You're not leaving this prison alive!" The villainess known as Quicksand said as she lashed out with a blast of sand that bowled Mirage over. Quicksand washed over her in a second, like a wave crashing upon the surf. Mirage became trapped in sand harder than cement, and unable to aim her arrows. Quicksand reformed her body directly over Mirage's head and shaped her fists into an ax, "Time to die, mutie."
"You need a better watch, lady!" Speedball shouted as he blasted Quicksand with his bubble bombs. Quicksand exploded into a puff of sand, and Speedball bounced towards his leader.
"You okay, chief?" Speedball asked as he helped her up.
"Been better." She replied, "Man...
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw the Resistance member known as Mist Mistress trained her acidic mist on herself and Speedball. Mirage pushed Speedball out of the way as she herself backpedaled to avoid the deadly gas.
"You'll pay for putting me in here!" She screamed.
"What the hell is keeping Wiz Kid and Nova?" Speedball finished
Roughly four corridors down, another member of Force Works was wondering a very similar question,
"What the hell is taking so long?" Nova demanded. He wasn't close enough to the battle to see what was happening with his teammates, but he could hear it. And as a man of action, it was driving him insane. Only three feet away to his right was a solid steel door, likely made of some form of super metal, and the only thing keeping the guards from entering the cellblock and helping Force Works. Nova considered trying to break thru it before Wiz Kid informed him that it could easily take anything he could dish out.
"I'm working as fast as I can!" Wiz Kid replied. His tech pack was morphed around his wrist, with cables reaching out and merging with the steel metal floor of Tartarus. Using the floor as a conduit, Wiz Kid's tech pack connected with the power lines underneath. After several tense seconds, Taki finished his manipulations.
"It's ready." Wiz Kid said as he stood up and stepped aside to reveal what looked like two computer joysticks protruding from where he was kneeling moments before.
"What's ready? What the hell did you do?"
Taki rolled his eyes, almost unbelieving of Nova's stupidity, "Those," He said, pointing to the 'joysticks' like devises, "are like jumper cables, and you are the battery. They connect directly to the Tartarus' power core. You grab them, they tap your power source, and the Tartarus' power core is jumpstarted. Simple enough?" He asked thru gritted teeth. He didn't expect everyone (or anyone really) to be as smart as him, but still...
"Find another solution. I'm not doing it." Nova said.
"What...did you say?"
"I said find another way. I'm not giving up my powers for a bunch of criminals. Now find another way, or we can go back and help the others."
By now, Wiz Kid would have pulled his hair out of his head in frustration had he not been wearing a helmet, "You pathetic power hungry..."
"I've lost to damn much because of them, just to lose them again for a bunch of criminals." Nova said firmly.
"Nova, you stupid idiot, you won't lose your powers! You channel an external force thru your body! My machine is designed to tap that source!" Taki exclaimed
"I thought..."
"Forget what you thought! The power in your body has varied because of your access to the Nova force. Why do you think that when you first got your powers back, you were stronger than ten men?" Taki asked furiously. Time was short, and Nova's fear of losing his powers was eroding what little patience Taki had.
Nova, upon realizing that he wouldn't lose his powers, took a split second to compose himself before grabbing the 'joy sticks' Taki had created. He wasn't ashamed of the fact that he was scared of losing his powers. They defined him and gave him direction, after all. He just knew what was going to come next would hurt A LOT. At the speed of sound, Nova grabbed the 'joysticks' in his hands. He felt as they started to tap into his power.
And his scream was heard all though out the prison island.
"Night, night, Night slim shady!" Speedball said as he cold cocked the deadly Nightshade into unconsciousness.
"Well, it looks like it comes down to a battle in loser legends!" A voice declared as something cold and wet wrapped around Speedball's throat. Speedball turned to see that the cold and wet thing that was wrapped around his throat was a tongue (so gross) belonging to the Terrible Toad. Toad strengthened his tongue's grip around Speedball's neck, attempting to strangle him, "And I promise you, Spazball won't end up on top!"
"There's a difference between you and me," Speedball gasped. He pointed his fingers at Toad, and unleashed his bubbles, slamming Toad into the unforgiving metal walls of the prison and knocking him out, "while at first look it may seem that we are both lame, you actually are lame." He looked around, and saw that it was finally over. He, Kymaera and Mirage were still standing, whereas no one else was.
"Mirage, you know how I said you were trying to make us into X-Force lite with all those hours in the training room practicing teamwork and fighting?" Speedball asked as he wiped imaginary sweat off his brow. He didn't sweat as Speedball, but it was an instinctive response after incredible stress, and quelling a prison riot qualified easily.
"Kinda, You were... mostly saying that stuff... behind my back." Mirage answered between gasps. She was bent over, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"Well, I take it all back now." Speedball said, "I'm so glad this is over."
"We need to find Rich, did you hear that scream?" Kymaera said
Mirage looked over the fallen criminals, and noticed something important, "Question, how many criminals... did Taki say had been freed?"
"Fifteen." Speedball answered, "Why?"
"Because... I only count fourteen." Mirage stated. Speedball and Kymaera quickly did their own head count, and came up with the same number.
"Maybe he miscounted?" Speedball said.
"Taki miscount? How likely do you think that is?" Kymaera asked.
"I don't think aaah!" Mirage and Kymaera clutched their heads as images of winged reptile men invaded their minds. Speedball's head snapped from side to side trying to find the source of their distress.
"You are immune to telepathy. Interesting." A voice squarely stated. Speedball spun around and was confused by what he saw. Or rather, what he didn't see. He knew he heard a voice behind him, but he couldn't see a thing. He looked hard, and could see what looked like a transparent figure the size of the Hulk with some kind of invisibility, like the alien in the movie 'Predator'. It wasn't until he was sailing down the hall that Speedball realized the only reason he had seen the cloaked figure was because it was charging him.
"Protocol?!" Kymaera gasped as she saw the transparent figure smack Mirage aside.
"No, not Protocol." The being hissed as it smashed it's fist into Kymaera's face and into the metal wall. Faster than the eye could follow, he caught Speedball by the neck as he rebounded back with his left hand.
"I am the past, and the future. I am the one eyed man in a world of blind men! I am Brainstorm 2020!" The figure snarled as he brought Speedball face to face with himself. The creature had dropped his camouflage, allowing Speedball to see his behemoth form. Brainstorm, stood a good eight feet tall with sharp teeth and oily light green skin. He had massive muscles, and slight protrusions down his back. In all, Brainstorm looked like the bastard love child of Godzilla and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
"I'm Speedball, and you're invading my personal space." Speedball said as he pressed his hand to Brainstorm's face and unleashed a powerful blast of kinetic energy that obscured Brainstorm's face for a full minute. Speedball expected the pressure on his neck to lessen, but that didn't quite happen.
"Heh, tickles." Brainstorm smiled as he tightened his grip around Speedball's throat.
"Ack...you don't understand, after the good guy gets off a really cool one liner, the bad guy is supposed to fall down..."Speedball gasped as he started to black out.
"I've decided to start a new rule. After a good 'one liner', the hero has his head popped like a pimple." Brainstorm explained. Before he could apply even more pressure to Speedball's neck, a psychic arrow struck him in the head, forcing him to drop Speedball.
"I can't say that I'm a fan of what comes out of that head, but I'm afraid that I have to insist that it stays where it is." Mirage said weakly. She was propped up against the wall, her legs trembling, not in fear, but in exhaustion. Her body begged at her to rest, and her appearance screamed that fact, "How about you make this easy and just surrender?"
"The future is never easy, and I see no reason to be so myself." Brainstorm stated
"If you're the future, God help us all." A voice stated from behind Brainstorm. Brainstorm turned and saw Wiz Kid standing there, with what looked like two mini missile launchers in both hands, "Good night."
The first missile flew forward and smashed into the center of Brainstorm's chest, expelling the air from his lungs. The second missile flew forward a split second later and struck Brainstorm's face. This missile was filled with a specially designed gas, which filled Brainstorm's lungs when he gasped for breath. Brainstorm fell to the ground in a deep slumber
"Could you cut it a little closer next time!" Mirage scowled.
"The way you complain about my effectiveness, one would think you didn't like a job well done." Wiz Kid said as he approached his teammates.
"Where's Nova?" Kymaera asked as she picked herself up, "Is he alright?"
"I'm fine, babe." A voice said weakly from behind Wiz Kid. Nova lurched forward, steam rising from his body.
"R...Nova!" Kymaera shouted as she rushed to her lover's side and put his arm over her shoulder to prop him up.
"Taki, get that damn door open," Mirage pointed towards the end of the corridor where a large steel door was placed over the way they had come in, "and let's get the hell out of here."
No sooner than Mirage had said that than the barrier opened, revealing a mass of heavily armed guards with their weapons trained towards Force Works. They rushed in, and started to secure the prisoners.
"Quick work, 'Kid." Speedball commented.
"I didn't do a thing." He stated.
"Fine job containing the riot, Force Works." Warden Clay said as he shuffled in after the guards. "We tried to reach you when those others attacked, but we were stymied until just now."
Mirage glared at Warden Clay. As a mutant and former Shield agent, she could smell bullshit a mile away, and Clay was standing barely five feet away. She knew, not suspected, but knew that Clay's men were waiting until Force Works had either defeated the prisoners or were killed by them before they made their move. That the guards and warden were more than willing to let Force Works die before they did their job.
"We were glad to be of assistance." Mirage said thru gritted teeth, "Now, we'll see ourselves out."
Mirage grabbed her cut shoulder as she walked towards the docks with the rest of her team and sighed, "Spirits, what a shitty day."
The End
Next issue: Hi ho, hi ho, it's a hunting Force Works goes! The team takes aim at one John Sublime and we learn the origin of Arsenal. There's only one thing standing in their way, the Press!?
Notes
Kymaera cut out on a Force Works' mission in issue 6. That mission went south, though not as a result of her absence.
This is the first appearance of the prison Tartarus
Grey Gargoyle was empowered by the Everlasting to attack Force Works and was defeated in issue 5. It was also revealed in that issue that the Everlasting took steps to prevent him from implicating them in his attack
Powder Keg was implanted with sensors in issue 6. Now you know why
Nova was stated to have the strength of ten men about every fifteen minutes in Nova Volume 1.
Work Letters
Last issue got me a letter from question man Jason Trenner. Take it away, Jason!
"Interesting story, with an odd ending. Yes you can put a price on love, whether you know it or not."
Thanks. The ending was meant a little odd, as the situation was by no means black and white.
"Seems Mirage can't find time for her friends anymore...and something is going to give either Mirage finding out she's overlooking the small stuff or Rahne's "boyfriend" being gutted like a fish. Or both. On to the questions:"
To be fair, Mirage is running a superhuman team that's always in the media spotlight, and doesn't have a lot of time for much else. As to what's going on with Doug, you're a little off the mark. Rahne isn't a Wolverine knock off, after all. This will be made a little clearer in issue ten
1) Is there any chance of the Orphan joining the team?
No likely, no. Nine's enough members for me.
2) Is there any chance of the Living Lightning showing up?
Nope.
3) Is there any chance of Force Works fighting the Masters of Evil?
Naw, they're stuck slumming it in Thunderbolts ;)
4)Is there any chance of Force Works rescuing Nate Grey and have him join the team?
I already have a pocket Thor on the team, a pocket phoenix is overkill, don't you think? I can tell you that there are big plans for X-Man at M2K, though, just not in Force Works
5) Is there any chance of Death's Head showing up?
Never know, but chances are slim.
6) Is there any chance of Force Works taking a trip to the Negative Zone?
Not in the near future, no. The 'Zone doesn't really fit the feel of the book
7) Will the U-Men appear when Arsenal's origin is shown?
Heh, heh. Kinda.