Metro City
Dead. That single word echoed through the mind of Christopher Aaronson for reasons he couldn't fathom. After all, he was no stranger to death. When his parents threatened to separate him from his beloved younger brother and send him to military school, he caused the accident that ended their lives without hesitation. The only regrets he had was that he was nevertheless separated from his brother. And the deaths didn't end there. There were those Bedlam killed while in the employment of others. Those he killed who simply stood in his way and eventually (though no fault of his own for once), the death of his once cherished younger brother at the hands of Sentinels. No, the self proclaimed King Bedlam was no stranger to death.
That was why the young criminal felt such confusion accompanied with pain and guilt. Why did Paradigm's death, initiated by Force Works as a mere distraction, haunt him so? At times the techno-organic mutant seemed like little more than a robot with slight social skills. Bedlam couldn't think of any especially pleasant conversations he'd had with the hybrid their entire time together.
But at the same time, King Bedlam couldn't remember any unpleasant conversation with the young man, or even anything that rated as an annoyance. Paradigm was the perfect soldier. He always did what was asked of him and remained loyal though out any unforeseen complications.
Loyalty was also the mark of a good leader, King Bedlam reflected, and perhaps that explained his emotional turmoil. Such loyal soldiers shouldn't be snuffed out so callously, and if they were it fell upon their leaders to avenge them.
That was King Bedlam's slightly amended goal now. Some third factor had entered into his Cabal's feud with Force Works, and they barely made it back to a designated safe-house in one piece, rejoined by Warhead. Seeing the vast robot army their unknown foe possessed, the aspiring criminal doubted that Metro City would survive in one piece. But the underworld would reward him handsomely for their deaths regardless, and more lucrative work would certainly follow.
Force Works was always going to die in Bedlam's plans, but now they would die for a higher purpose. There would be no allying with them to face the unknown menace that sung over the city. They made their bed, and they would die in it.
And for the sake of honor, King Bedlam promised both himself and the departed Paradigm, Force Works would die. Painfully.
&&&
Marvel 2000 Presents
Force Works 24
The siege of Metro City
Part 3
Storming the Tower
&&&
The Work Place
Rahne Sinclair was going to die, painfully. And at the hands of her worst enemy. And the most damning part of it all, was, that she knew it was her own fault.
Barely an hour ago, her team was attacked by robots that were disturbing familiar. Some small part of her demanded she investigate the truth, and thought that her skills of stealth, learned in passing from a variety of different experts, would be enough to protect her.
They weren't.
And now she was at the mercy of Cameron Hodge, perhaps the greatest anti-mutant bigot on the planet. The first time she crossed swords with the racist madman, her first love was killed in the crossfire. The second time she fought him, Rahne came within a hair's breathe of being a mindless slave forever and nearly lost a dear friend in the process. She was trapped in her wolf form for months due to the genetic damage Hodge inflicted, and the emotional scars were enough to last a lifetime.
And now he'd returned somehow, stronger and more powerful than ever. He had co-opted Force Works' multi-million dollar base and turned it into a weapons platform, creating a robot army. He'd even taken the luxury of building himself an android body resembling his old human form with a finely tailored suit.
Hodge gripped Rahne by her throat and dragged her up to eye level. The bigot looked Rahne up and down like a fisherman regarding a prime catch.
"Well, well, having you back in my clutches…I have to confess it brings back warm memories, Mutate 495," Hodge smiled dreamily at the memory, like he was remembering a first kiss, "it actually means a lot to me to have you here," the grip on Rahne's throat tightened until her vision blurred. Just moments before the young Scotswoman would have lost consciousness, the tension on her throat slacked off. Hodge had experience with this sort of thing.
"…how…?" Rahne managed to choke out. Hodge was dead, he had to be! Over a dozen X-Men watched his techno organic body fall from the tallest mountain on the planet. SHIELD had even confirmed his death!
Hodge smiled at her, a smile that seemed more animal and wolf-like than Rahne herself ever did.
"The very same way I survived when dear old Warren Worthington removed my head from my shoulders. I bargained with a demon for immortality, and they keep their promises. I'll admit, my survival wasn't easy to adjust to," Hodge explained, "It took me months to orientate myself in cyberspace. Months of barely existing…when you're flooded by everything, it's very hard to make sense of anything."
"Why…why are you here…?"
Hodge, his hands still around her throat like a vise, turned slightly so that his victim could see the giant contraption Hodge had created. Before he dedicated his life to the destruction of mutants, Cameron was a highly successful public relations manager. His brilliance and creativity in the field was enough to convince the original X-Men to pretend to be mutant hunters, based largely on his word. In all those years in the business, Hodge had naturally developed a habit of gloating. Becoming immortal and therefore (in his mind) invulnerable didn't help that character flaw much.
The machine looked like a super computer mixed with a steam engine, a large plastered on the front, as large as a dump truck, twice as ugly and fitted with various ports and vents that bled energy of all colors.
"That, Mutate 495, is a Genoshian final solution," the once public relations manager explained, "as you hopefully remember from your time as a mutate slave, their entire country was built upon mutant slave labor. That machine there was built in case their work force actually managed to muster what little willpower they had and decided to rise up. But those people were a crafty and thoughtful sort…waste not want not was in their blood."
Rahne understood explicitly what he meant, "Yuir nae… going tae kill anyone, are ye?"
"Oh, where's the fun in that?" Hodge chuckled, "you taught me that, little girl. No, when my weapon detonates, the resulting electro magnetic pulse that will blanket the country will simply destroy the higher cognitive functions of all mutants, not kill them. After all, Genosha had the right idea. Mutants are a natural resource, one that should be exploited to the utmost."
Hodge turned his eyes towards Rahne appraisingly. The young woman never felt more disgusted or scared, "Maybe when this is all over, I'll enjoy exploiting you. I've always liked them young. What do you have to say, mutant trash?"
"The only thing I can say," Rahne answered honestly, "…I forgive you."
That was, far and away, not the answer Hodge had been expecting or hoping for, "…excuse me?"
"Jesus teaches us to love an' forever those who hate and persecute us," Rahne coughed, tasting blood in her lungs, "an' I cannae thing o' anyone who fits that bill better than ye. Yuir a hateful man who tears down others out o' greed and envy, and I'll be damned before I let ye tear me down as well. So I can only give my forgiveness, like the Lord would ask o' me."
Hodge was trembling, his entire body shaking with rage. That this pathetic hanger on slip of a mutant would dare try to trump him morally. Before he could catch himself, Cameron struck his captive with such force she was thrown across the room where she landed in a painful heap.
"You…you think you have any right to judge me?" Hodge screamed, his artificial voice box almost squawking, "you filthy, daughter of a whore! Don't think for one moment your 'forgiveness' will stop my plans!"
"No, maybe not…" Rahne forced her battered and bruised body into a sitting position. She stared back at Hodge with strength and conviction the bigot found very unsettling, "…but I promise ye, muh friends will stop yuir plans. Mark my words."
"Oh?" Hodge sneered derisively, "how? With your righteousness?"
"Ye've dealt wit' public relations. Yu shid know the power of information," Rahne tapped her forehead gently, "everythin' I know, they do, Hodge."
For a moment, the supernatural immortal bigot had the most amusing dumbfounded look plastered across his face. Then he remembered the files on Xavier's students that he'd liberated from X-Factor so long ago. The team leader of Force Works, Mirage, possessed a low level telepathic connection with animals. And that included a psi-link with Wolfsbane whenever she was in her wolf form, like now.
Hodge's robot minions were already by the time he screamed, "Kill her! Kill her now!"
&&&
A few moments earlier and over a dozen blocks away…
"Rahne!" Danielle Moonstar screamed as pain lanced through her mind.
"What! What's going on?" demanded Speedball, his face so close to Mirage she could feel the heat of his breath.
"Hodge, Cameron Hodge has Rahne and our base!" Mirage gasped out.
Kymaera, one of the more well read members muttered an ancient Atlantean curse while Speedball seemed ready to explode. He cared for Wolfsbane deeply even if she didn't feel the same way for him. So deeply Robbie hadn't even realized he was yelling in his team leader's face, his face only inches from hers.
"Damn it Speedball, get out of my face!"
Mirage shoved Speedball aside rudely and began concentrating and focusing like never before. There might be a way to save her friend's life, but it was a long shot unlike anything she'd ever attempted before.
&&&
"Kill her! Kill! Her!"
The robot minions took twenty seconds to calibrate their weapons systems. Wolfsbane, too wounded to move even if there was cover to be found (there wasn't) could barely mutter a prayer before enough ammunition to annihilate an armored division. No one short of The Thing could possibly survive.
AS Hodge and his robot drones learned when every last bit of ammunition and firepower was thrown right back at them at twice the release speed. Hodge raised his hands to cover his face as rounds tore through his artificial body and decimated his troops, and that wasn't the worst of it. Several loose rounds and a spare missile had managed to strike his final solution. Hodge saw the gaping hole in its frame, and a fiery rage greater than a thousand suns swelled in his breast. How in heaven and earth did that slip of a mutant survive…?
"Meow!"
Hodge spun on his heel, and saw the oddest sight. Resting in Ms. Sinclair's lap was an orange cat surrounded with multi-colored bubbles, just like Speedball.
Neils the Cat, Hodge recognized the little vermin from Force Works' files. It was involved in the very same accident that created the Masked Marvel, and now, for whatever reason that defied the logic of the animal kingdom, had decided to protect Wolfsbane.
A cat protecting a wolf. The Hodge would have found the irony side splitting had it not been so infuriating. Not only was his weapon severely damaged, he was unable to punish the bitch who leaked his plans to the arrogant, self righteous and self appointed protectors of this city.
For the first time since his return, since he'd seized this base, Hodge felt doubt and fear beginning to creep into his mind. The element of surprise was gone. Would Force Works storm their own base, one last charge of the Light Brigade in a desperate attempt to stop him? Maybe. It would cost them their lives, but they had the will to do it. And that worried him.
Yes, he was confident he could stop them. But that would cost precious time. Time for other heroes, mutants or otherwise, to rally and stop his plans. Hodge felt as though he was suddenly racing an invisible clock, before he had an epiphany.
He was immortal. He wasn't some bits of code strung together, but some supernatural miracle spared by the Almighty himself to be his hand. If he failed here, there would be plenty of other suitable refuges for him. Perhaps the Shield helicarrier…?
The ghost in the machine looked back towards Rahne. She was slumped against the ground, unconscious, still protected by that damn cat. A pity. Now that the damage was done and Hodge didn't feel quite so angry, he wanted an audience. He was honest enough with himself to know that was a large part of the reason why public relations drew him in. Oh well, maybe later he shrugged.
&&&
"She's safe."
A loud sigh of relief came from every member of Force Works present.
"What'd you do?" asked Tarene.
"I used my animal telepathy to convince Speedball's cat to protect Rahne," Moonstar supplied as she attempted to get her pounding heart back under control, "she's fine for now. That's not to say I won't kill her later, but she's safe now."
"And Hodge's plan?" asked Kymaera.
Mirage explained the mad man's malevolence intentions quickly. The entire team was disgusted, but didn't dwell on the matter long. Most of them had been battling madmen like Hodge for years and never once had simple moral outrage won a battle.
"So what's our plan?" Arsenal asked, "storm our base and take out Hodge?"
"I don't know if I'd advise that," Wiz Kid explained evenly, "Hodge is deeply entrenched and can turn our bases defenses, and they are considerable, against us. We need to circumvent those if we're to have any real degree of success."
"And lets not forget King Bedlam and friends who'd be waiting for us if and when we beat Hodge," Kymaera supplied.
"Why don't we take those guys out first?" Speedball suggested, "I mean, I think we can take 'em if we surprise them first!"
"Perhaps, but what's to stop Hodge from sending his army to slaughter us like the last time?"
"So our choices are death by crime lord or death by bigot," Arsenal gritted his teeth. Death didn't scare him so much as losing did.
"Yeah, that's a great way to look at it," Sabre leaned up against the nearest wall, "I'm beginning to think God was trying to tell me something when he gave me my powers…"
"Dani, what do we do?" Tarene finally asked. Like the rest of the team, she was willing to do whatever it took to save the day, but needed guidance.
Seven heavy sets of eyes fell upon Danielle Moonstar all at once. Almost instantly the young leader felt herself torn between her loyalty and love for her best friend, the best plan tactically and the consequences. Should they make an assault on Hodge and damn the rest? Try to barter a truce with King Bedlam to take down Hodge? Would they go in for that, or would they kill them outright? Too many questions, too many variables with no easy choice and her heart aching to save Rahne. Long seconds ticked by, and all Danielle could think to say was, "I…don't…"
"Hodge has to be our priority."
The team turned towards Nova as the Human Rocket stepped forward. His body language was calm, assured, "From what we know, he intends to cripple all the mutants in North America, and that's assuming his machine works right. King Bedlam only wants to play Kingpin."
"So what do we do?" Tarene asked.
"These guys have thrown us off our game," Nova began, "they came at us sideways, used the element of surprise and luck to ambush us, and we're usually the ones doin' the ambushin'. We can still win this, I've faced longer odds fighting an army of Skrulls and I'm still here. But we need to make sure we haven't screwed up already. Taki?"
Sabre, preferring to relax a little bit and let the professionals do their thing, didn't even notice the small prick on her back until her feet were two inches off the floor. Reacting with her natural speed, she tried at first to sprint away, but her feet couldn't find purchase on the floor. She looked almost comical as her legs moved back and forth in a blur, like some Warner Brothers cartoon character. When that failed, Sabre tried to remove the anti-gravity devise, but it was placed perfectly on the small of her back, just out of reach.
"Okaywhatthehellistheidea?" spat the mutant speedster.
Nova filled his pupils with cosmic energy that crackled while he spoke, "I want some proof that you're not a spy. For all I know, you're a sleeper agent for Bedlam, or A.I.M or some other bastard we've pissed off. Seems to be dog pile on Force Works day, after all."
Sabre huffed indignantly, "I explained it already, you paranoid jerk! I'm working for World Watch! They're interested in a business merger, but you guys gotta survive long enough for that to happen, so they sent me."
"Any proof?"
Sabre rattled off her social security number, "Have your tech guy look up my current employer. You'll see it's World Watch, Richard Rider."
Few things stunned the entire team of Force Works that their mouths would drop to the floor. A new comer knowing the secret identity of a team member was one of them.
"Robbie Baldwin, Danielle Moonstar, do I need to go on?" Sabre asked, "My bosses in World Watch have more than a few connections. If I wanted to hurt you guys, there are a lot easier ways than jumping in the middle of a battle between two sides that are already trying to kill you, don't you think?"
Nova glanced towards Wiz Kid.
"Her vitals remained steady the entire time," the Techno-morph answered, "either she's a damned skilled liar, or telling the truth. And according to my research, she's indeed been working for World Watch for nearly four years."
"Well, I think we'll go out on a limb and assume, for now, that she's telling the truth. Taki, let her down."
Wiz Kid ordered his anti-gravity to gently lower the speedster to the ground and return to him. Sabre observed that the damn thing was completely transparent. No wonder she hadn't seen it coming.
"So now we've decided who to go after first, do we have an actual plan?" Speedball asked, "or do we just wing it?"
"Little bit of both," Mirage answered. Her team's attention was once more upon her, but it didn't seem quite so heavy now. She took a moment to spare a glance towards Richard Rider, then addressed her team
"We've got two threats, both equally important. I don't think we need to divide ourselves to deal with them both. Hell, I bet that's what both Hodge and King Bedlam are now counting on. We'll have to play into their hands, for now, so they don't see us playing ours."
"Which means…?"
Mirage explained her plan as quickly and concisely as possible. She allowed her team a moment to think it over before asking their opinions. Rolling the plan over in their minds, they had to admit it sounded pretty good. Two birds, one stone. One of the oldest plans in the book really, but still effective.
"Only flaw I can see is that we need Sawyer to go along with it, and she's never been our biggest fan," Arsenal pointed out.
"Let me handle her," Wiz Kid said confidently, "she's in, trust me."
"Then we just have one problem then," Nova said finally.
"Where the hell did X-Treme wander off to?"
&&&
Like Force Works, Adam Sol, AKA The X-Treme, knew the value of safe houses. He kept his fair share of weapons at The Workplace, but far from all of them. Wiz Kid assured him the security was airtight, but X-Treme knew from experience that no matter how sophisticated a security system was, it wasn't really worth a damn until it'd been tested.
Three explosive spikes, sleek silver devises not much bigger than magic markers, were removed from the far wall and fitted into the holsters on his belt. Five Skrullian razor discs, round weapons the twice size of a silver dollar were fitted into a rear compartment on his belt. A kree magnetic knife, the edge of which was no wider than three molecules, was slid into a magnetic sheath and then concealed within his boots.
Adam Sol moved quickly but thoroughly. He had weapons aplenty, but not time. He took less than five minutes before he was satisfied. Doing one final weapons check, made his way to his garage. There was only one type of vehicle he could use for an assault like this.
&&&
"Yeah, yeah who wants some?" roared Louis Bade, his hands aflame. A disgruntled mutant, he saw this riot as a legitimate chance to express his discontent. His two friends, both mutants, agreed fully. As of yet, however, all they'd done was courageously burn down the Korean ABC store.
"You guys hear that?" Eddy Rundell, blessed with snake like skin and abilities, asked.
"Sounds like a Kawaski Ninja ZX ™-14," Patrick Keesee rattled off, gifted with the less than awe-inspiring power of photographic memory and above average intelligence. Were it not for his green skin, no one would ever have pegged him for a mutant, a fact he often lamented.
X-Treme sped down the street towards the three like a bullet, his jet black bike shooting down the street like a missile. Though it was far too fast to see, the wheels were actually two inches off the ground, the bike propelled by powerful energy fields like a bullet train.
X-Treme waited until he was almost on top of the three rioters before he slammed on the front brakes. The rear end of the motorcycle, guided by X-Treme, swung forward and swatted them aside and into the air like they were ten pins.
"Behave," Adam growled.
He eyed the team headquarters in the distance, steeled himself and cranked the accelerator. It took all of ten seconds for his bike to go from zero to one hundred and fifty miles per hour. Zipping through the debris and people for the first block was easy enough. The engine was deliberately altered so that it would roar like a lion or purr like a kitten, whatever X-Treme needed at the time. And it was roaring so loudly everyone with half a brain got the hell of the street.
No, the problem came when the automated security system Hodge had hijacked noticed X-Treme's approach, and dispatched several Egg-soldiers to deal with him.
X-Treme easily evaded the first two as they strafed him from above, but once he was within two blocks of his target, the two became seven and significantly harder to dodge. His rear view mirror seemed to become nothing but fire, explosions and near misses as he roared down the street.
Well trained instincts won over any fear, and the only response to it all X-Treme gave was to give the throttle more gas. Less than ten seconds more of bobbing and weaving passed before he saw his target in all it's current glory.
The front entrance to The Work Place actually looked virtually untouched; nothing that might indicate the building was occupied by hostile forces. Hardly surprising, considering the team almost never actually used the front door, preferring to fly out or use various secret passages built into the place when Shield used it as a field office, once upon a time.
When he saw the building wall fast approaching, X-Treme jerked backwards with most of his strength. His bike responded perfectly, standing up on the rear tire. Pressing a specially designed button on the handle bars, a surge of power shot through the electric blue wheels and the bike shot into the air and collided roughly the stone wall. The magnetic grips on the wheels took a fraction of a second to affix themselves to the wall before the bike raced up the wall in a vertical climb as easily as it might shoot down a hill.
Since they were flying themselves already, X-Treme's pursuers stayed on his tail, now trying to scrape him off the wall, literally. That was okay, in fact, X-Treme counted on that. As fast and well built as his bike was, he knew he couldn't defy physics for long. He'd just passed the tenth floor when he felt his momentum bleeding away. He knew he had to act quickly.
Thank the Gods speed is my third name, X-Treme thought to himself as he flipped one final switch. He did a quick mental calculation and then pushed himself off the bike with every last bit of super strength he had.
The alien enhanced motorcycle exploded spectacularly, but X-Treme didn't see it. He spun in midair and his feet smashed down upon the middle Egg soldier who'd been trying to kill him up until now. The blow was enough to smash the robot's face plate, and Adam pushed off the robot like an Olympic jumper, landing just inside the hole that his motorcycle had created. Reaching into his belt, X-Treme removed several grenades and flung them backwards like darts with laser precision. He used three grenades against the seven, but it was enough.
The alien warrior quickly withdrew his axe and waited. Though his heart demanded battle, his intellect knew better. Without any form of reconnaissance and knowing the cocky nature, X-Treme knew it was better to wait for his foe to show his hand before rushing in (moreso). He didn't have to wait long.
"Ah, X-Treme, welcome home!"
Hodge appeared before X-Treme, and it took some effort on the part of the Hybrid hero not to attempt to behead the man then and there. That would have been pointless at best, as this 'Hodge' was only a hologram, and a sign of weakness at worst. X-Treme knew the only way he'd survive this was by keeping calm, even if his actions up until now were anything but.
"You have someone I want. Give her to me, and I may not kill you," hissed X-Treme.
Hodge said nothing at first, as he walked around the mutant and looked him up appraisingly. X-Treme didn't give the man the satisfaction of turning around as the vulture looked him over, he just stared straight forward while he awaited his answer.
"Bold threat. And I suppose because you have all kinds of combat training, you actually think you can carry it out. If I were you, I'd run while I still could."
"Of course you would. That's because you're pathetic parasite."
Hodge glared daggers at the mutant, "Tread carefully boy, or I may not make your death too swift."
"It's the truth, isn't it? I read your file," X-Treme chuckled, like he was remembering a fond joke, "you hated Warren Worthington because he was everything because he was everything you weren't. Handsome. Rich, kind." X-Treme paused, "and loved."
"Shut your filthy mouth!"
X-Treme could feel the slight vibrations in the floor, and knew what they meant. He gave no sign, however. It was a universal negotiation tactic, especially in hostage situations. Every second was precious. Stall for time. The longer Hodge talked, the more time Force Works might find a way to rescue Rahne and shut him down, "When you kidnapped the New Mutants, you couldn't wait to steal Warlock's power, a shape shifter. Why? According to the files, your robot body was already powerful enough to take on three different X teams. Amazing that a man with your money and connections couldn't have found a better robot body. Maybe that's because you really see yourself as a giant cock roach. That would certainly explain how you've survived so damn long."
"I survived to bring the end to mutants," Hodge spat, "I survived to exterminate the mutant race!"
"There's that cockroach imagery again," X-Treme needled.
"Mock me all you want Warren, but I'm the one who's really death here!" Hodge roared. With a single mental command, a half dozen holes appeared in the surround walls. Egg soldiers, Life Model Decoys that looked like hundreds of people Adam had never seen mixed together with Prime Sentinels poured through the holes like water from a damn, "I'm death, war, pestilence and every damned disaster that God bore down upon this earth!"
X-Treme met them head on, his axe tearing through the first wave like a scythe through wheat, "You're just a man, Hodge, and you'll die like any other!"
Adam pulled out a Skrullian level eight grenade and pitched it towards the rear of the mob. With little pretense for courage, X-Treme then threw himself to the ground and was quickly dog piled by his enemies.
That, ultimately, saved the young man's life. There was a flash of blue, and the explosion and shockwave that followed took out a quarter of the steel and concrete reinforced wall and was more than enough to wash any virtually every offending robot that was caught in it's path.
X-Treme stood up, his left side singed slightly and a trickle of flowed down his forehead, but otherwise fine was fine. Only he and Hodge, who was a hologram projected from upstairs to begin with, remained standing.
"That all you got Hodge?" sneered Adam, "I've barely gotten started. And its X-Treme, you whiney fuck, not Warren."
The look of rage on Hodge's face was one Adam decided he'd cherish all his life, no matter how short it might be. Sadly, it didn't last.
"Well, as the saying in war goes, boy, 'I have barely begun to fight'!"
Adam felt the tell tail vibrations of an army approaching, and he readied himself. Withdrawing his sword with his free hand, he mentally prepared himself for what lie ahead.
The first attacked dropped down from the ceiling, and X-Treme sliced him in two.
"You think this is war, do you?"
Another four descended, and were met with explosive razor discs to the skull.
"Don't make me laugh!"
A wave of robots, more than a dozen, erupted from the floor beneath X-Treme this time. A lesser man would have been overwhelmed, but X-Treme rode the wave like Neil Armstrong riding a bike. He stayed atop of it, all the while swing his sword and axe downwards, chopping and slicing his way to the floor.
"You want war, Hodge!"
X-Treme swung his weapons outwards with rage in his hear, and his foes fell like Linkin Logs before him.
"I'll give you war! You hear me! I'll give you war!"
&&&
"I just wanted a little peace and quiet," Clarice Ferguson sipped on her coffee as the officers filed the more violent offenders into the bandwagons. Commissioner Stone was leaning up against the wall next to her, waiting patiently. The duo had been teleporting all over the city, coordinating the police response to the riot, removing the injured officers from the street and overall trying to tame an entire city by themselves.
Stone had to admit, he was impressed. He was observant enough to know that super powers weren't as easy on the body as TV snippets and reports made them out to be, and while he could see the weariness in her body, this was the first rest she'd asked for in an hour and a half. She carried herself like a real soldier, and Stone had to admit that was a more than a little unsettling. Since when did twenty year old mutants walk like forty year old combat vets?
"That why you left the X guys and settled here?"
"Somewhat. High mutant population helped, no offense."
"None taken. No one wants to stand out in a crowd."
"Me and my boyfriend had an itch for a normal life," Blink sighed as she looked out over the vandalized street, "except it made me realize how normal we weren't, even when surrounded by other mutants. Taking on Onset, Mr. Sinister or my gender switched clone was easier than balancing a check book, filling out a resume or remembering to pay power bill."
"Gender switched clone?" Stone asked incredulously.
"Long story. Eventually, it got to be too much for us. We argued, I didn't want to give up trying, but Joe said he was tied of pretending that we were something we weren't." Blink didn't feel much like mentioning that she suspected that Joe had more than a little subtext in that statement.
"What're gonna do now? I don't have to tell you you ain't gonna be winning Ms. Metro City after helping me out like you've done. Hitch back up with the X-Men or X-Corp?"
"I don't know," Blink answered honestly, "I'm not saying my life here was perfect, but it was mine. I built it, and I'm not sure I want to give it up."
"Assuming we survive the day," Stone observed.
Blink gulped down the last of her coffee, "What, this? Try surviving an attack by Apocalypse's Elite guard while having your period. This is a cake walk."
&&&
Seattle Washington
Edie Sawyer had just finished several reports and was getting ready to check in on her sleeping daughter when her loft phone rang. She grabbed it quickly, and answered in a hushed voice to avoid waking her child.
"Hello?"
"Edie? Taki. We need help."
"Then call a professional," she hissed.
"I'm sorry, I should have been clearer. We need your help." Taki replied evenly.
"I'm not a professional."
"Our standards aren't that high at the moment."
"Funny. I'm hanging up now."
"You do that, and I promise by the next time the sun sets, you'll be in jail," Wiz Kid's tone was flat, but polite.
"I beg your pardon!" Edie snapped lividly.
"When Danielle and Rahne were considering joining our merry little band, their decision was hijacked when a group of terrorists held a group of children hostage."
Edie felt a lump form in her throat.
"The trip was sponsored by a holding company of Parvenue, five times removed. I salute your thoroughness, however. It actually took me several hours to conform my suspicions."
Edie Sawyer's face paled, "If you go public with that information…"
"I'll destroy everything my team was accomplished up until now," Wiz Kid concluded evenly, almost serenely. His voice didn't betray for a moment that he wouldn't hesitate to tear his own team down, "but desperate times and all that. You'll fair the worst, of course as you were complicit in the hostage situation. Still want to hang up?"
"…no."
"Good. I've taken the liberty of activating a homing beacon attuned to your teleportation signature. I've also placed a call to a nanny service. They'll be at your home within ten minutes, and then you'll be free to join us. See you soon. Dress casual, won't you?"
Wiz Kid terminated the signal before Sawyer could dish out that some moral outrage and turned towards his teammates. They hadn't heard a word of the exchange, mainly because the techno morph had used an electronically generated voice that mimicked his own perfectly for his chat. The team didn't need to know about the faux hostage situation that occurred when the team was officially founded was staged, nor the fact he was currently using it as blackmail. It would needlessly divide the team.
And by now, they'd probably already figured it out. Some things really were left best unsaid.
"Sawyer's on board."
"Good, now all we need to do is find a garage and we'll have our trap," Moonstar stated.
"With us as the cheese," Speedball quipped morosely.
"Hey, look at the bright side. If nothing else, we'll give them food poisoning," Sabre observed.
"And Hodge, how do we deal with him?" asked Tarene.
"I'm for hitting him lots," Speedball suggested, "I'm a fan of the classics."
"But isn't he like some big computer virus? How do hit that?"
"Tarene's right," Arsenal stated, "maybe we could fry all the electronics in the building?"
"I may have a solution or two," Wiz Kid reassured them, "but we'll simply have to play it by ear."
&&&
Metro City
"So how exactly do we find Force Works, knock door to door Kingy?"
King Bedlam felt his temper boiling over as Charcoal needled him. He was a man who demanded order, who thought three steps ahead before taking one. And since Hodge appeared on the scene, all his careful planning was obsolete. His Cabal was short two members, with Paradigm dead and Warhead missing, and they were forced to take up residence in a condemned building as they regrouped.
"Keep wagging your tongue and I'll simply hang you off the highest building as bait!" snapped Bedlam. With a mere thought, he sent a wave of total confusion washing over the once Thunderbolt, confident it would shut the boy up for several minutes.
Though the mental blast more than a little disorientating, it was mild compared to what Charcoal was now accustomed. Up until now, a telepathic attack from Bedlam would have reduced Charcoal to an instinctively obedient and docile lackey, no doubt due to King Bedlam carefully seeding his mind with telepathic land mines. But ever since he'd been shattered by Sabre and rebuilt himself, a terrifying and painful experience, Charcoal actually felt calmer and more rational than he had in weeks. But that was something young former villain felt was best to keep to himself, at least for now.
"Can you track them, Tiger?"
The orange feral mutant simply shook his head no. Though he often acted the feral, there was a sign of intelligence in the mutant's eyes that was hard to miss.
"If we do not find the heathens, how ever will we teach them the glory that waits within them?"
"Which is crazy for, how can we kill Force Works if we can't even find them?" Lodestone clarified, all the while keeping a weary eye on the maniacal Madcap. King Bedlam swore that he had the former Choir Boy on a leash, but her experience with the Mob had taught her that even well heeled dogs could turn on their masters if they were so inclined.
For the millionth time Andrea Costanzo cursed both her ex-husband and Philip Basin, men whose abuse, neglect and mistreatment set her upon this path. Lodestone had one simple goal, reuniting with her son, and that meant gaining allies against his mobster father, her ex-husband. She was led to believe that all that meant was killing some self righteous brats and then stepping on her ex like the bug he was. That she could handle. But now, finding herself in between a war Force Works and some unknown force, she began to doubt herself.
Just how did heroes handle this kind of stress every day? Lodestone wondered.
"Tarot?"
"My cards may divine the future, but cannot track people in the present my love."
"Damn it all! Force Works could be atop us right now and we'd never know it!" King Bedlam hissed.
"Let them come!" Conquest laughed casually, "My sister and I still have issues to address."
"Speak for yourself sister. I signed on for the big pay off, not to be fighting some mystery badguy!" Delilah countered. It went unspoken; they all knew Delilah also stayed on to work off her 'debt' to Bedlam, who'd freed her from jail. That was the way it worked in the underworld. When one criminal broke another out, they were indebted to that person. It was a sign of good business character. Otherwise, ideologically or personally, she had little invested in this affair.
Just then, large, beefy metal hands tore through the far wall to reveal Warhead. His large, radioactive form was battered and smoldering, but his eyes had murder in them.
"I can't believe you damn pussies are just standing around! I signaled you people half an hour ago!"
"Paradigm is dead, you cybernetic red neck!" King Bedlam snapped, "And for all you know, you've led them straight to us!"
"The hell I did! Paradigm gave me upgrade a while back. 'According to my scanner thingies, they've holed up in a parking garage two miles south. Four of them've been searching the city now in straight lines over it for half an hour now. What're we waiting for?"
King Bedlam let out a loud, jubilant heart felt laugh, "What indeed! It's time to finish this and quit this city. I'm certain the Avengers or some one else will clean up after whoever's decided to involve themselves in our business. Shall we?"
The smile never left King Bedlam's face. Paradigm was a fine soldier indeed; even in death he still assisted his team in victory. How ironic that poetic justice would be the death of Force Works, Bedlam reflected.
&&&
Nova the Human Rocket flew across Metro City in a perfect line from his starting point, an office parking garage closed because of riots and chosen because it and the surrounding buildings were empty of innocent civilians (Sabre, Nova and Wiz Kid all checked and rechecked that fact. No need for further complications). He, Tarene, Kymaera and Arsenal were flying straight lines over the garage, north, south, east and west, respectively.
Inside, standing anxiously in a loose circle were Wiz Kid, Mirage, Sabre and Speedball.
"Any sign of them?" Dani asked Nova over the team comm.
"No, but that's the plan isn't it?"
"True," Dani switched her comm. signal so that only Nova was receiving, "By the way, thanks for the save back there. I owe you one back there."
"No problem, Second in command, remember? No one's perfect, but as the saying goes, 'never let them see you sweat'."
"Truer words were never spoken. Good hunting." Dani clicked her comm. off and faced her team, "Alright team, yellow monkey ashcan!"
The gathered members of Force Works looked at their leader in confusion, and it took Mirage only a split second to realize the implications of her statement.
"Oh, I'm sorry," King Bedlam whispered in her ear, "did I break your concentration?"
&&&
London, England
Malcolm Bennett and Nathan Freeman had just finished their coffee break when the call came in. Donald Parvenue had decided to leave London early and they were to prep his personal jet.
Neither found this odd. The billionaire had expressed a love of flying on more than one occasion, even if his personal assistant could teleport him all over the world with less than a thought. They smoothly ran through the preflight check, and by the time they were fully fueled Parvenue's car pulled up.
The older man quietly entered his plane, his mood somber and serious. The two pilots couldn't help but notice. Generally, their boss was a smiling, buoyant man who eagerly greeted his employees whenever the chance arose. Not today.
The pilots thought little of it. Perhaps a business deal had gone wrong, or some other trouble. They were paid to fly, not consul. The personal jet climbed into the air towards America and its final fate without a single bump or unnecessary word.
&&&
"Bedlam!" Mirage jumped back from the man like he was a hissing Rattle Snake. Just behind the telepathic villain was his entire Cabal, in all their murderous glory, or infamy, depending on how you looked at it.
"Mirage, how kind of you to divide your forces," King Bedlam smiled, "Your strongest never even saw us stroll down the street thanks to my powers. Make a move for your comms and die. Now, any last words?"
Dani felt Bedlam's telepathy at just the edge of her consciousness. Wiz Kid's telepathic blockers were running at full steam now that the villain had been lured in, "Yeah, a couple actually. First, open channel. Second, you're surrounded, you cocky SOB!"
Nova, Tarene, Arsenal and Kymaera punched through the ceiling of the Parking Garage atop the Cabal and came down around them. The Cabal tensed, and Force Works made sure not to make a threatening move. A stand off was what they were aiming for, at least for right now.
"You've led us into a trap, you fool!" Conquest barked as she gripped her sword.
"It doesn't have to go down this way, Bedlam," Dani explained, "the man who took over our headquarters is a much greater threat to the both of us. If you help us take him down, I'll let you walk away, no questions asked."
"I'm not so stupid as to believe your lies, woman," King Bedlam answered, "and don't think because you have us surrounded we're beaten. You're down two members."
"Tarot, please. We were rivals, never enemies! You know me, I swear on my honor we're not lying!" Danielle pleaded, "can't you make him listen?"
"My beloved does as he will." Tarot answered simply.
It was then that Mirage realized any further attempts at negotiation were futile. Bedlam was dead set against helping them and the closest thing Force Works had to the team to an ally wouldn't stop him.
"Fine. Part of me didn't want to do this, but this is war..."
The Cabal didn't have any real desire to see Mirage finish that sentence. they rushed forward, and in response Force Works stepped forward to meet them. No one saw Edie Sawyer appear behind Mirage until it was too late.
"…and you've just been drafted."
And the two teams vanished.
&&&
Hodge had been leisurely watching his automations rebuild his ultimate weapon, Wolfsbane, who was barely conscious, a mere after thought when he heard a rumble in the floor underneath him.
An axe burst through the floor several feet away, then slicing through the steel like the fin of a shark parting water. Two leather gloved hands then came up and pushed the seam apart.
Cameron Hodge was utterly speechless as he watched X-Treme haul himself up. He had devoted countless soldiers to destroying the man, set them on an automated run, and all but forgotten about the young man.
Clearly, that was a mistake. X-Treme was far from undamaged, however. Blood ran down his left arm, there were cuts all across his body and he walked with an obvious limp, but that hardly seemed to matter. The man was still here, after all.
X-Treme limped his way towards Rahne's side. Neils the Cat's hair stood on end as he hissed and growled at this aggressive warrior, but one gentle pet from Rahne let the animal know all was well.
Adam collapsed to his knees in of her.
"Where…are the others?"
"Don't know. I just came for you," X-Treme embraced Rahne with perhaps the most passionate and relieved hug of all his life. The world seemed to melt away now that he knew she was safe, "your mom said to have you home by ten, and I like to keep my promises."
Rahne chuckled slightly at the joke, despite all the pain that raced through her body, "Ye told a joke wit' out messing up the bloody punch line, are ye tryin' to make me blush?"
Cameron Hodge cleared his throat, and the two lovers looked towards him, "Touching, truly. And I am impressed, X-Treme, and I don't impress easily. But you're ignoring one thing."
Hodge, reveling in his own gloating, never noticed the slight ripple in the air, like dropping a pebble in water, above him.
"You're mine. And as romantic as this situation is…it's now over."
"Over?" a voice called out. Hodge looked up to see a portal opening over his head. Members of the Cabal, Force Works and Edie Sawyer started to spill out.
Mirage glared daggers at the man as she landed with practiced grace,
"Hodge, it hasn't even started!"
Next issue: It's Cabal vs. Force Works vs. Hodge! Or is it Cabal vs. Hodge vs. Force Works? Whatever the case, the Siege of Metro City comes to a powerful conclusion next issue our heroes battle it out in enemy territory that will cost a founder their life and change the team forever! 'Nuff said!