Force Works: The New Generation

by Dan Ingram

Force Works finds themselves in the cross-hairs as an old enemy returns, a traitor lies in their midst and a ruthless foe is revealed!

29. New Day Dawning

Our Father of Mercy Cemetery, Metro City

The funeral was large by any standards. But in instances like this, they always were. Though most would deny it, almost everyone was fascinated by superhumans, their exploits and extension, their associates. Morbidly enough, not even weddings drew as much media attention as funerals did.

And naturally, the funeral of Donald Parvenue, multi-billionaire and patron of an entire city, was no exception. CNN, Fox News, and of course all the local channels devoted hours of air-time to it. The line of mourners that followed from the funeral home to the grave went as far as the eyes could see, and most of Donald's friends and associates agreed that the line wasn't nearly long enough.

Edie Sawyer, her daughter Katie, and the entirety of Force Works (wearing their full uniforms) were at the forefront of the mourners. Both state senators, three congressmen and hundreds of representatives from around the world joined them. Nova, Speedball, X-Treme, Arsenal, Mirage and Kymaera were the pall bearers, as per the last will of Mr. Parvenue. Arsenal numbly placed the casket down with his comrades and took his seat.

The concerned stares of his teammates were no more substantive to him than the rays of the morning sun.

The priest said some words meant to comfort and reassure the living, but Arsenal heard none of it. All he could think of was his time before he met Parvenue. Bouncing from foster home to foster home, he had nothing and no one but himself. When he finally found a foster parent that gave a damn about him, Robert soon knew in his heart that he would have to leave, unwilling to be a burden to the kind woman. Joining the Air National Guard gave Bobby a sense of camaraderie, but it wasn't until Parvenue took him under his wing after Sublime's terrible experiments that Bobby truly felt that he had family. That feeling was enhanced even greater when Parvenue formed Force Works, but Bobby would never, indeed, couldn't ever forget… where his family first started.

And now that man was gone. As his plane crashed in the middle of the ocean, there weren't even any remains to bury along with the casket. The team held out hope for a brief moment that he might have survived, but it was not to be. Wiz Kid scanned the area for signs of a teleporter, Dr. Strange verified that there were no mystic incursions and soldiers from Atlantis swept the area and found nothing abnormal. Despite the circle the heroes traveled in, they found nothing whatsoever that might give them the slightest hope that the man who'd founded and funded Force Works was still alive.

Robbie Baldwin looked at the casket, yet found he could only see reflection of the mistakes and errors that led his team to this dark day. Cameron Hodge, a bigoted and hateful man somehow reincarnated as a computer virus crashed Parvenue's plane, but the Robbie felt that they could have saved him were it not for King Bedlam's attack that occurred at the exact same time. Hodge was impossible to predict, but Bedlam...Bedlam was simple physics.

Nature abhors a vacuum. When Force Works devastated the local drug trade and crime lords, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to step up and fill the vacuum. That Force Works was a little above the average street hero in terms of raw power didn't matter in the end. The scum of the underworld rose to the challenge like the good rats they were, and now it cost them one of the kindest and one of the most idealistic people Speedball ever had the pleasure to know.

Tarene Hayden looked at the casket and cried for the grand father-figure that she'd never see again. Her mind had been tampered with some time ago and even though she was now free, the effects remained to this day. The only family she felt any real connection to was Force Works, and losing a member like this felt like losing a part of herself. But her grief was balanced in no small part by anger at the villain who'd hurt her family. Staring at the oak casket through her tears, she silently vowed to never lose family again, no matter the cost.

Like her teammates, Danielle Moonstar grieved, but by no means as much as the others. She would miss Parvenue dearly and mourn what he could have contributed to the world, but she knew from personal experience his spirit was in a better place. She felt a little guilty though, worrying more about how Arsenal would take Mr. Parvenue's death and how the team she led would continue without his support, than his actual death. Parvenue was the kind of man who thought ahead (a basic requirement of any good business man), but their business was one rife with uncertainties. The sooner they were back on their feet, the better.

The priest finished his eulogy, and the crowd started to trickle away, Danielle quickly moved to Bobby's side.

"How...how are you hanging in there, Bobby?" Dani put her hand on his shoulder for comfort. He didn't seem to notice.

"Fine," he answered. It was less than convincing.

"If you need to talk, or..."

"I need to be alone," Bobby grunted.

"Bobby…"

"Leave him be," Adam Sol, otherwise known as The X-Treme, suggested firmly.

When everyone had finally left, Bobby numbly went over to where the caretaker had left his shovel, and began to fill the grave of the first family member he'd ever had.

&&&

Marvel 2000 Presents

Force Works Annual 2

A New Old Day Dawning

&&&

Several Days later

Rahne Sinclair, Wolfsbane to her teammates, rechecked the instruments for what had the be the thousandth time. The aircraft was state of the art, and according to Wiz Kid idiot proof, but considering how Parvenue...passed away and the similarities to her own journey, one couldn't help but be nervous. The minor fear gnawing at Rahne's gut passed when she saw her destination approaching on the horizon.

Muir Island.

Not surprising considering the circles they traveled, the world famous research island had experienced its own series of adventures in recent weeks. Rahne was somewhat fuzzy on the details, something regarding a battle between X-Force and the Byron Agency. It didn't matter much to the young mutant what really happened, all she cared about was the fact that her adoptive mother was alright.

Rahne pulled the aircraft around to the rear landing pad, and smiled warmly as she saw Moira there waiting for her. Gently touching down, Rahne began running through the shutdown procedures as quickly as possible and was at the hatch within a minute of landing. The blasted thing took too long in Rahne's humble and impatient opinion, so she changed into her full wolf and squeezed past the opening door the moment the opening was wide enough.

Rahne's paws barely touched the tarmac she sprinted towards her mother, leaping into the air, changing back into human and bowling her mother over as Rahne embraced her.

"Oof! Bloody hell, lass, I'm nae as young as I used ta be!" Moira protested, though she reciprocated the hug fiercely.

"Sorry, mum," Rahne regained her composure some and helped her mother to her feet, "I guess I was a little more worried aboot what happen wi' X-Force than I let meself believe."

"What happened was awful," Moira stated, her voice laced with remorse overlapping a deeper hurt. Rahne suspected there was more to what happened than Moira let on, but before she could press the matter, Moira took that option out of her hands, "terrible as that was, that's nae why I asked ye to come visit. Well, nae the only reason. I have missed ye terribly, luv."

Rahne could see her mother tense as they walked inside the Muir Island research center.

"Then why'd ye ask..." Rahne's voice trailed off as her enhanced senses started processing the world, and the scents therein, around her. Given her familiarity with Muir Island, it was easy enough to pick out any particular scent that didn't belong, even with the recent commotion. The two had just reached the recreation room when she realized who was waiting for her there, and instinctively a growl rise from her throat. The single occupant could only wince in guilt.

"Reverend Craig…"

"Rahne, A…A'm here because I want tae make up for my…mistakes…" Craig explained with a good amount of hesitation.

At first, her mouth was to dry to speak. That the man that had haunted her dreams, shaped her fears and destroyed her self worth since before she could remember was now apologizing felt...wrong. As if he could brush aside all her pain with some simple words.

That thought burned in her heart, and the young Scotswoman found her voice again.

"Mistake? Ye led a bloody mob to burn me at the stake!" Rahne shouted, each word louder than the last, "ye treated me like me like trash when I was a child, made me feel worthless on the best o' days and when I needed ye most...as a guardian, as a father, ye tried to kill me!"

"Ah know, Rahne, and ah know an'..."

The Reverend never say the right cross that slammed across his jaw. All he saw were stars on the edge of his vision and Rahne Sinclair standing over him with righteous fury.

"And the only bloody reason yuir here is because the world recognizes me and my friends as heroes!" Rahne shouted, hot tears making their way down her cheeks. Rahne turned to Moira with accusing eyes, "And could ye betray me like this?! I hate you!"

Rahne stormed off into the bowels of the facility, towards where her old room lay. Neither Craig nor Moira moved to follow. Reverend Craig looked pathetically heart broken, but Moira didn't look the least bit surprised.

"This'll be one bloody long day," Moira sighed.

&&&

Mirage, Kymaera and Wiz Kid pored over the papers sprawled out in front of them. Though he was considered part of the Force Works 'brain-trust', Nova the Human Rocket just leaned against the far wall, waiting for his lover and teammates to finish their reading. Though he was hardly an idiot, Richard Rider was a man who led with his gut over his head every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Papers could lie far more easily than any living being, after all.

Sitting at the opposite end of the table were three people, two Nova had just met only hours ago. Irene Basheda, head of World Watch (Nova had barely heard o' 'em before now) and her 'security consultant', Bruce Hoffman. There wasn't a person in the room who didn't peg the man as a former spook. The way the man looked them over, evaluating them with eyes capable of seeing any subtle threat or slight advantage. That made Nova suspicious. Spies always had agendas and retired spooks, well, they had to be the worst of the lot. What they lacked in authority, they tried to make up for in sneakiness.

Worse than that, whenever they started something and it got outta hand, it fell to the army, or in this instance, Nova or another team powerhouse, to cleanup after them. When Nova fought against the Skrulls alongside the Nova Corps, a few missions were launched just to wipe the ass of so-called intelligence branch, always with a high cost. Simply put, Nova didn't like spies no matter their stripe.

"So…", began Mirage, "I've read your proposal, but I'll be honest, most of this stuff might as well be gibberish to me. Basically, you want to sponsor Force Works, right?"

"Yes and no," Irene answered, "World Watch is a human rights watch group sponsored by a host of international companies. Despite what many would have you believe, there are more than a few businesses out there with a conscience. Like the Red Cross, or Amnesty International, we help those who cannot help themselves and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves."

"When Mr. Parvenue died, he made sure that our finances were well taken care of," Kymaera said as she flipped through one contract and moved onto another, "and what you're offering isn't sponsorship per say. As far as the public would be concerned, Force Works and World Watch would be joined at the hip, interchangeable ideologically. Don't think for a second we're going to compromise our ideals for you." Kymaera's tone was polite, firm and final. She knew she was speaking for her teammates as well.

"I don't expect you to," Irene countered gently, "if you'll look at our record, I think you'll find our goals compliment each other rather nicely."

"You know we ain't like that last guy you hired, War Machine," said Nova, "we try to respect international law, at least to a wide degree."

"We understand that…" Irene began.

"Then why did you hire a company man?" Nova cut in quickly.

"Because we both know the world ain't a very nice place," Bruce Hoffman answered, speaking for the first time since the meeting began, "there are assholes in the world who like to use aid workers as human shields or bargaining chips. Sometimes, you need someone who speaks their language. And that'd be me."

"Bruce has had a long career in intelligence and counter intelligence work because he came aboard World Watch," explained Irene, "he's been invaluable in navigating some of the…less kind parts of the world. It's not as though employing former spies is an uncommon business practice."

"Don't worry yourself, kid," Hoffman reassured, "I know what kind of super human intervention is tolerated, and what ain't."

"'Cause you broke an' exploited all those rules already, right?" It was more of an accusation than a question. Rich felt he knew the answer already.

But what happened next he had no way of expecting. Bruce Hoffman's brown hair, with white temples looked like they belonged on a wizened college professor, his face had the lines of a sixty year old, but physically he appeared rather fit. The reason why became obvious to all as his appearance changed from a man wearing casual business clothes to a man dressed in head to toe red spandex with a stylized yellow slash across the chest.

"You never did like spies, not since the campaign on Alpha Seven went south, didja Rider?"

Nova the Human Rocket did a double take as he looked upon a man who was a spitting image of his old (and deceased) friend, the 1950s superhero known as The Comet. It wasn't just that Hoffman looked like perfectly like Comet, he managed to sound exactly like him, not only referring to something only the two of them would know, but perfectly duplicating the older man's raspy voice and the nuance of his accent.

'Comet' shifted back into Hoffman, leaving the heroes slack jawed.

"Shapeshifting and apparent telepathy. Useful tools for the spy trade," Taki observed, "but how did you evade the psi-shields I've given every member of Force Works?"

Hoffman reached into his pocket, removing a single smoke, "I'm pretty low on the power scale, so I slide under the radar. I can only read surface thoughts, but with some concentration I can create a kind of telepathic static so's whoever I'm focusing on pretty much hears what they think they ought to."

"And the shapeshifting?"

Hoffman blew out a ring of smoke, and sighed, "Limited by gender, height, and weight, to a degree. As I'm sure your friend Mr. Hunter of Shield informed you."

Moonstar sat there stunned, when Hoffman mentioned her source inside SHIELD. If wasn't that she suffered any illusions regarding her friend and his loyalties. He passed on some Intel with his superiors silent approval, but she thought the circle of people who knew that numbered no larger than a half dozen people, including herself, her friend and Director Fury himself.

"So you have a few tricks, what use is that to us?" asked Taki.

"I'm tapped into the intelligence community, 'Kid. I know the right people, I know what rules to break, when to break them and how to side step the rest. I'm a wet dream for you self righteous brats." Bruce snorted, "I live and breathe the world you barely get a taste of with your half-assed contacts and hacking."

"And you're so humble about it too," Nova snorted.

"And you, Ms. Basheda?" Taki inquired evenly, "you didn't get to be the head of World Watch by being an idiot. If Force Works becomes affiliated with World Watch, the aid your company provides will come under increased scrutiny, in the best case scenario, removed from an area in need or worst case, used as hostages against us."

"The world hasn't been safe for aid workers for a long time, Mr. Matsuya," Irene answered, "if we are removed there are plenty of organizations willing to replace our efforts. Unlike most businesses, we welcome competition. And if our workers are kidnaped, well...Hoffman himself has arranged for their safety before. I think we can arrange something for the future..."

"I think we've danced around the issue enough, so I'll cut to the chase," Moonstar stated, "we know just about everything we need to know except what's most important. What do you and World Watch get out of this?"

"Ideologically, we get assistance with our stated goal to monitor human rights and provide aid for those in need or cannot help themselves," Irene explained calmly, "in Africa mutants are prized as child soldiers, the Black Tarantula holds a considerable amount of power over the drug trade in the Americas and there are countless superhuman warlords ruling their own little fiefdoms. There are countless crimes out there the regular authorities cannot and will not stop, and other heroes never touch."

Almost unbidden, Richard Rider and Namorita Prentiss thought back to when they founded the New Warriors with a promise much like that, to fight the crimes others never did. The appeal of that never really died in their hearts, even after so much time.

"As far as practical concerns go, our past association with War Machine has damaged our creditability. I believe that if you allow us to sponsor you, it would go a long way to improving our image and thus, our ability to help others."

"So if I understand this right," Taki began, "in return for a world wide information network and funding, your organization gets a ride on our moral credibility."

"…we have moral credibility?" asked a surprised voice.

Only Irene failed to scowl at the Human Rocket.

"You'd be surprised about how many people admire your work, actually. Not just in the United States, but in South America, Europe and Asia as well. That's a considerable amount of people."

"I think we've heard enough," Moonstar stood up, "if you'll give us a moment to confer, we'll give you our answer."

The four young heroes moved into an adjacent room, followed last by Wiz Kid.

"We good?"

Taki examined his wrist monitor, "No bugs, Nova."

"Just makin' sure. Can never be too careful with guys like Hoffman."

"Nita? You're the only one here with real experience with business deals. Is World Watch on the level?"

"As far as I can tell Dani, they're cool. I have a team of expert lawyers I prefer to use for this sort of thing, but at a glance everything is exactly what they say it is."

"And I like what they're selling, I gotta admit. Even if it comes attached with a spook.That bit about Africa, if it pans out..."

"It would be a nice change of pace to rely more upon professionals than my own hacking and research skills. An entire network would certainly allow me greater time for more productive projects."

"It'd allow us to do a hell of a lot more than just put out fires once every other week, as well."

"Nothing this good comes without a drawback though."

"You're right about that Dani. We do this, we're gonna be twice as busy as before and with our luck, twice as many enemies. We'd be cookin' with gas, we got an idea how not to get scorched?"

"Handsome's right. Ideally, we'd be taking a bigger bite out of crime, and Neptune how I hate myself for using that phrase, but how do we keep from choking on it?"

"Taki's got ideas on that I'd bet."

"Dark is the day I don't have something planned for anything," Wiz Kid handed the co-leaders several print outs from his tech pack, "here's a list of possible recruits. I'd recommend you two begin feeling them out while Namorita and I go back and begin negotiations with World Watch to accept their proposal. I'd help with recruiting, but I've been told I lack certain social skills."

"Been told? We all but scream it every day!"

"Besides, you'd probably brainwash or blackmail 'em into joining."

"I'd never brainwashing anyone into joining, for many reasons. Tactical and ideological chief among them."

"I note that you left blackmailing off that list."

Taki shrugged, "We all have our flaws. Some are more willing to exploit them than others."

"Your flaws or theirs?"

"No comment."

&&&

Charlie Burlingame leaned back on the mattress of his 'cell', sighed, and continued flipping through the channels. As far as cells and prisons went, this one was pretty damn nice. It was better than that old A.I.M base Bedlam's Cabal took over and vastly superior to the Vault prison cell the Commission on Superhuman Activities stuck him in after he was captured. He wondered if they would have treated him better if it hadn't been his connection to the Thunderbolts.

The Thunderbolts…

Once upon a time, Charlie was proud to be a member of the reformed villains. Hell, he was closer to them than his real biological family (currently scattered and not really giving a damn about him either). That opinion slowly changed when the team refused to search for Jolt, a fellow team member, after she disappeared on a mission. Sure, they were under attack because of another villain, but so what? If you were willing to give 110 percent to save faceless strangers, you ought to be twice as willing to save a friend.

But his teammates didn't see it that way. So Charlie abandoned them, tired of waiting. Eventually he found Hallie again, but ended up captured by the same villain who kidnaped her. Not his finest moment that, but at least his teammates finally got their act together and saved them both. But their initial unwillingness to help save Hallie stuck in his mind. His opinion of the team started to sour…

…and went straight to hell when the Commission on Superhuman Activities burst into their supposed secret base with monster man-droids months ago. Being the hot head that he was, Charcoal the Burning Man was the first one to wade into battle, easily explaining why he was also the first one defeated. Charlie vaguely remembered the fight, only the important fact that, when the dust settled, history repeated itself, after a fashion.

His teammates had abandoned him now, not Jolt. Charlie knew in his heart that Hallie would never have left him to rot, but he also knew there was no way in hell she had the ability to rescue him. The other Thunderbolts, Atlas, Songbird, Moonstone though, they had the ability. Hell, what super criminal didn't have the ability to break out of jail? If they wanted to, if they really wanted to, they could have saved him.

And they didn't.

So Charcoal rotted in some cell in the basement of the Vault while the Commission tried to find some use for him against his old teammates. That was pretty hard, as they quickly came to the same conclusion Charlie reached. The Thunderbolts just didn't give a damn about him. So when King Bedlam approached them, they allowed him to take the once Thunderbolt in the hopes that once Charlie had blood on his hands, he might actually be useful to them. Maybe they hoped to flip him on his teammates after that.

Bedlam did his best to turn Charcoal the reforming villain into Charcoal the whipped dog and though it hurt his pride to admit it, the self declared King Bedlam came pretty damn close to making him just that. His telepathic mojo was pretty damn impressive and only got worse the longer Charlie was on the team. Unable to think straight without Bedlam's permission, Charcoal did what he was told to keep what little bit of his life he had left. But when Sabre shattered his body, somehow as he instinctively reformed his body, somehow Bedlam's brainwashing was purged.

Picking the right side wasn't so hard after that, regardless of what happened to himself. The Thunderbolts might not have been real heroes, but Charlie sure as hell was. When the Cabal escaped or was caught, Charcoal stayed put.

All things considered, when Charcoal explained his side, the team was pretty sympathetic. They took some understandable precautions, locking him in an ad-hoc jail cell while they 'sorted things out'. Nova, Wiz Kid, Mirage, most of the team members floated in and out, to keep him company and to get to know him better. They would do right by him, Charlie thought confidently. After all, they weren't Thunderbolts.

He's just changed the channel for the millionth time when he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Yeah?" he shouted over the television before turning down the volume.

To his surprise, it wasn't any of the older heroes who entered, but the Thor-Girl (his nickname), Tarene. She looked terribly uncomfortable standing there in the door way, fiddling with her hands and looking terribly nervous, and rather timid. Not at all looking like the power house King Bedlam briefed him on. Sure, she was in full costume carrying her war mace but her manner hardly portrayed her vast power.

Though, thinking about it for a moment, Charlie wasn't too surprised. He didn't exactly look like a guy who could give the Thunderbolts a tussle by himself unless he changed into his bigger, badder and blacker form.

"May I come in?"

"Sure," Charlie stood up and looked around for a chair to offer Tarene, but there wasn't much in the room besides a TV, bed, a few loose magazines and comic books, and that was it, "umm, I'd say make yourself at home, but this room would make that an insult. What's up?"

"Well...I wanted to talk to you about Dan...Mirage. She's going to offer you a place on the team, and..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Charlie held up his hands in disbelief, "I know you guys won't screw me over, but I doubt she ask me to join the team. Probably give me a hundred bucks, a bus pass and see me on my way."

"No, she'll offer to let you join," Tarene's voice was as timid as any Charlie had ever heard, "I...I j...just wanted to t...tell you..."

"Yeah?"

"I'll kill you," Tarene's voice went from timid to lethally sharp in the blink of an eye.

Charlie considered changing into his Charcoal form, but only for a moment. He could literally feel the power that permeated the air, and Tarene didn't seem to be focusing her power at all. In fact, she hardly seemed to recognize the electricity in the room. If she even thought about bringing that power to bear...

"I just lost someone I cared about. Someone I considered a member of my family. I don't want that to happen again," Tarene tightened her grip and continued in a conversational tone, "ever. So if you betray us, I'll end you. Painfully. Do you understand?"

Wide eyed in stark fear, Charlie said the only intelligent thing he could, "Yes 'em!"

"Good!" Tarene's went from threatening to cheery at break neck speed, "I'll see you later then!"

"Oh, there you are," Charlie turned his head and saw Mirage standing in the doorway, "Tarene, I need you to find Bobby and have him meet me at the hangar, okay? I'll be down in a few minutes, I just need to talk to Charcoal here."

"Okay!" Tarene chirped happily.

"Charlie, right?"

Unsure of exactly what to say, Charcoal just mumbled 'yeah?'.

"I've been talking it over with Nova, and here's the deal. We're pretty sure we can get you out of the Commission's hands, but..."

"I have to join? Sounds fair."

Mirage rolled her eyes, "Please let me finish, please. As I was saying, but we don't know what you want. You helped pull our ass out of the fire, so getting you clear of the Commission is the least we can do. You can join us, if you'd like, or we can arrange to set you up with a foster family."

"Well, dunno if that'd be a good idea," Charlie rubbed the back of his head nervously, "most my relatives suck, and Baron Zemo might go after me with the whole revenge yadda yadda thing."

"Zemo's dead."

"Heard that tune before."

"Good point, but we'd make it work, Charlie. Whatever you decide, you're under our protection now."

"What you guys do sounds cool and all..."

"You don't have to decide now," Moonstar turned to walk away, "just think it over. I'll be back later. You can give me your answer then. But...don't make any mistake. The work we do isn't just punching the latest villain in the face. That's not how we operate, and not how we make a difference. Keep that in mind while you're thinking it over, kid."

&&&

Hangar

Danielle handed Rider a list of names and gave him a minute to look it over. Arsenal stood behind her, his arms across his chest and his face far too passive considering recent events, in Nova's opinion. Still, that was gonna be Dani's problem since she asked the pretend mutant to tag along with her.

"So, according to Taki all these guys would make good members?"

"That's what he said. They're young but experienced. Heck, we both recognize a few of the names on the list."

"Rage, Powerhouse, yeah I think I recognize those names just a little," Nova remarked, "how many are we shootin' for? Don't think we need an army."

"Yet."

"Smile when you fantasize about world conquest," Nova smirked, "I think four or five would be a good number. Gives us enough people for two teams."

"Agreed, plus that'd be easier to coordinate into units. If you get someone, give me a call so I know. Happy huntin', Rich."

"Hey, who can resist a face like this?"

&&&

L.A.

"Whew," Miguel Santos, otherwise known as the former Avenger Living Lightning, deactivated his powers and touched down, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow, "man, I heard from War Machine a while back that some street gangs had started old A.I.M weapons. Thought he shut them all down though."

Nova the Human Rocket was silent for a moment, scanning the old warehouse with the alien technology in his helmet. Besides himself and Living Lightning, the warehouse was filled with unconscious gang-bangers and assorted technology that seemed more in step with Star Trek than West Side Story.

"He did," assured Nova as he set back down on terra-firma," These guys just found an old A.I.M safe-house about a week ago. It was something we've been meaning to look into when we got the report, but we've been...distracted."

"If your team knew about these guys, why'd you invite just me?"

Nova rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to start. Though he'd been a member of plenty of organizations, membership was usually just dropped in his lap (or, in the case of Night Thrasher, dropped off a building).

"Well, to be blunt, Force Works is looking for some new recruits, new blood. Your name was one of the one's we came up with." Nova choose to leave out the fact that Living Lightning's former teammate, Charcoal, was currently staying with them. If he joined, any issues that arose could be addressed as they occurred. If he didn't, well...what he didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

At first, the former Avenger didn't know what to say. Miguel knew he wasn't a lousy hero, but the thought never occurred to him that another team of super heroes would actively seek him out. The thought was flattering, at least at first.

But it didn't take long for the electrical hero for remember the reports that he'd seen, to recall what a few of his fellow heroes thought about Force Works'...less than stellar reputation. In the hero community, their methods were divisive, and their attitude seen as arrogant (rumor had it they verbally attacked the X-Men, so say nothing of their confrontation with the West Coast Avengers).

"I'm sorry amigo, I'd like to, but after my time in the Thunderbolts...I need to show I'm a true blue hero before I go out and do anything too radical," Living Lightning didn't sound half as convincing as he'd hoped, "thanks for the offer. No hard feelings, I hope."

"No, of course not. See ya around," the two shook hands politely, and Nova flew off towards his aircraft, "you worthless, pansy excuse for a lightning bug hero. Turn us down but join the Thunderbolts..." the muttering didn't stop for a long, long time.

&&&

West Virginia, X-Camp

"You want me to join Force Works?"

Emily, one time member of X-Force known as Siphon and current staff member of X-Camp, looked at her former teammate with a look of equal parts confusion and surprise. The two were standing in a barren dirt field where nearly a dozen mutant delinquents were doing push ups while the former leader of Freedom Force, the Crimson Commando, was barking out orders and offensive remarks befitting a real drill sergeant.

Moonstar nodded, "We're expanding, and having you in our corner would be a great help. We've worked together before, so I know what to expect from you."

"That's…that's kinda awesome Dani, but I can't," Emily sighed, "I can count on one hand the number of real fights I've been in, and X-Camp's staff turn over rate is too damn high. We had to bust ass since Mimic left, Caliban's here mostly for muscle and Kylun tries to do the sage warrior bit, but I think this job is getting on his last nerve too."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I understand," Dani sighed. Siphon was a long shot at best, Moonstar knew that going in. But having another friend on the roster would have been nice, regardless of their experience, "besides, the work you guys do here easily compares to what Force Works does. Hell, I'd say straightening out mutant brats saves the rest of us time down the road."

"That's the idea. Hey, Rahne told me you shacked up with a teammate," Emily gave Dani a suggestive grin, "So…which one? That hunk X-Treme? Big and beefy Nova?"

"Oh, she gossips about my love life and keeps completely mum about hers!" Mirage rolled her eyes, "I'm seeing Arsenal, the blond guy with wings."

"Oh really? Never pegged you for the boy scout type. How's that working out?"

"It…could be better. I guess you've heard we lost our backer, right?"

"I saw something about that, yeah."

"Well, Mr. Parvenue was something of a father figure to Arsenal."

"Ouch. How's he taking it?"

"I really don't know," Danielle replied, in a tone that conveyed none of the strength Emily had come to associate with the young Cheyenne mutant. Emily said nothing, knowing there was little she could do to help.

&&&

Thomas Jefferson Charter School

"Oh hell no," Elvin Halliday didn't even wait until the Human Rocket's feet were on the ground, "so don't even ask."

"Oh come on, Elvin, help a brutha out!" Nova pleaded sarcastically, "I promise, working with Force Works is alot more interesting than attending private school."

Elvin Halliday, once known as the Avenger and New Warrior known as Rage stared up at the clouds in the sky, "Who says I want interesting, Bucket Head? I'm getting a nice education, have some good friends and no one's trying to cave my skull in for doing the right thing. People here treat me at least half way normal, at least until an unnamed Human Rocket dropped outta the sky. Thanks for waiting until my lunch period, at least."

"Don't be like that," Nova pleaded, "Force Works does the exact same kind of work we did in the Warriors, but we need help. I know it cost us," to put it mildly, Nova thought to himself silently, "but don't tell me you weren't proud of the work we did, as a team."

"I'll never say that, man. Even when my grandma was killed 'cause I was a Warrior, I never thought that," the child giant answered, "and if I see someone in danger, I'll stop it no doubt. But you guys...you're in too deep. You live at your headquarters, get paid, all that stuff. It's like a career choice for your team!"

"What's wrong with that? Personally, I always hated the fact about how my personal life always suffered because I was putting my neck on the line," Nova countered, "our setup takes care of that. Works better for us and better for those we're bustin' our ass to save."

"I know, but your setup ain't much different from the Fantastic Four's or Avengers. Living, breathing and eatin' super heroic stuff twenty four seven. That ain't how I want to live my life man, sorry."

"No problem, Elvin. I'll admit, a normal life is tempting sometimes," Richard Rider hovered several feet in the air, ready to take off, "but I think some people weren't meant for that. See ya around."

"Take care man, and say high to the old crew for me!"

&&&

Canada

Whitman and Kara Knapp (former members of Alpha Flight known as Manikin and Persuasion respectively) were stunned when they received the call from Wiz Kid that members of Force Works would like to speak to them about possible membership. They reluctantly agreed to meet Arsenal and Mirage, listened quietly to Dani's pitch and when she was done, the couple politely declined.

The couple explained that they'd retired from Alpha Flight and from super heroics in general for the moment so that they could live a regular life. In the back of her mind, Moonstar found herself growing sicker and sicker if that excuse. Warpath, Alex Power and more than a few others had thrown that out as they declined membership, and though some part of her understood the logic, an even bigger part of her found it baffling. Because, at the end of the day, none of the people she talked to were remotely 'normal'. It'd been her personal observation that no matter how hard a hero tried to live a normal life, something, either some enemy with a grudge, some world threatening peril or some combination of the two would inevitably drag them back into the life.

Fighting it was pointless, Dani thought. But then that was only because she was born to fight, Dani reflected. Still, the thought of marrying another super hero held a certain appeal. You knew that your partner could protect themselves and had little fear of the villain of the week using them as a hostage. Plus, neither would be overly troubled by the double life thing that often came with super heroics.

Depressing a button in her belt, Mirage summoned down one of the space shuttles that were normally docked in Nova's rarely used space craft.

How many other people our age say they have a space ship they never use? Mirage thought to herself. Next to her, Bobby Gregg, was about as talkative as a statue. As the aircraft began to descend, (thoughtfully hidden by Mirage's powers. No need to advertise that there were heroes around) Dani decided to change that.

"Not even twenty five and they were married and retired from being super heroes. Think that we'll be that lucky?"

Arsenal barely grunted as he entered the shuttle. He took the pilot's seat without another word and began plotting their next course.

Dani scowled at his non-reaction, "Did you devolve when I wasn't looking? Because mild grunts are about all I've gotten out of you."

"You didn't complain about that a few days ago," Arsenal stared straight ahead.

"Okay, grunts and one crude remark."

"Forgive me if I don't give you a speech on my feelings," Arsenal scanned the consul quickly, making a few necessary adjustments, "I was military, remember? They trained us for this."

"They trained you for how to deal with it while in combat. You're not in combat now."

"Noted," Bobby's tone was disturbingly even.

Moonstar opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came forth. True, she knew the pain of losing a parent, but she'd grown up with their love. They were believed dead for a while, but that short time was eclipsed by the time they'd spent together as a family, especially now. It pained Danielle when she realized she couldn't think of a way to comfort the man she loved.

&&&

Wisconsin

M'Kano Khanata, otherwise known as the Master of Vibration Vibraxis, sighed deeply, recounting his past adventures with his teammates, "My battle with the Vibravore was truly one for the ages, my fine American friend. My allies and I, the Fantastic Force…"

"Fantastic Four?"

"No, Fantastic Force. As I was saying…"

"What kinda name is Fantastic Force? Kids these days, trying to make classic stuff all 'kewl' and hardcore, lordy…"

"Sir…"

"Only thing dumber would have been to call yourselves the Man-Scouts!"

"Sir, do you wish to hear this story or not?"

The man straightened a little bit, "No, actually. I came here for a cheese burger with mayo, no lettuce and no tomatoes, small sprite and small fries."

M'Kano, properly chagrined, looked down at his register, "Cheeseburger. Got it."

"Mayo, no lettuce…"

"Small sprite and fries. Understood. Please step aside, we'll call you when your order is ready. Please enjoy your contribution to unfavorable American statistics."

The man stepped aside grumbling, but the former hero didn't care much. From powerful hero to menial servant in some backwater fast food chain, sweet Panther Lord how it galled the young man. He couldn't bring himself to return to his homeland, not after casting some choice words and keeping his pride. And to the self proclaimed Master of Vibration, pride was everything.

When he looked up to serve the next customer, he received quite a shock. He wasn't some inbred hick or annoying tourist who simply needed to fill their gullet as they went from point A to point B. No, this person wore a blue and gold uniform emblazoned with three interlocked stars in the shape of a V. His face was covered with a gold helmet with a large red star splitting the eyes.

"How…may I serve …" Vibraxis' voice trailed off. He recognized the man standing before him as one of the many American heroes that populated the country, but he didn't have the slightest idea why he'd be here of all places.

"Vibraxis…" Nova looked at the PDA with a smirk plastered across his face, "…master of vibration. I guess you've heard all the jokes about ladies lovin' you, huh?"

"Indeed. Twice."

"Shame, because you're going to join Force Works. We're a high profile team, after all and I'm sure that joke will be plastered across late night television. But there are worse things in our profession than getting nailed by the Daily Show."

Vibraxis bristled. As much as he longed for the call of battle, to feel the blood pumping in his veins, he did not care to be ordered around by anyone. Who was this man to strut into this…establishment and order him to join his rabble of a team? Surely he had no idea who he was talking to!

"I think not. In fact, I cannot think of one good reason why I might bless your team with my mighty power."

Nova leaned close and smiled a bit too broadly for M'Kano's tastes, "I can think of one good reason for you to join."

"Do tell."

"Because if you don't, I'm going to round up every homeless man within a twenty mile radius, bring them here with a hundred dollars each, and tell them to have it their way."

Nova could see the blood drain from Vibraxis' face. According to the information Taki had provided, the African hero was an insufferable ass and watching him deal with the customers certainly seemed to confirm that fact. So many rejections grated on Nova's nerves, so he was determined to have fun with this.

"That's…a very persuasive argument."

"Isn't it just? And that'd be just the beginning. Do you really want to see how someone who can move faster than the speed of sound and can bench press a mack truck can make your life a living hell?"

"I…would not, no."

"Glad to hear it. Meet me outside in the parking lot in ten minutes. I've had a long day and I just want to get home."

Nova waited outside patiently for the first few minutes. He'd quit (and been fired) from more than his fair share of crappy jobs. But there wasn't a single job, no matter how humiliating or how grueling, where you didn't make a good friend that you wanted to say good bye to. Misery loves company, and who didn't need friends in a hell hole?

By the time seven minutes passed, Nova was tapping his foot impatiently. Seven minutes was more than enough time for good bye, thought the Human Rocket. Unless he was getting a quickie, but having watched the man serve a few customers Rider seriously doubted that. Any physical...advantages would surely be instantly buried underneath the weight of his unbearable personality.

Nova paused to remind himself that he was the one who'd recruited the guy.

"Well, at least Taki won't be the biggest ass on the team anymore," Nova muttered to himself, "not that he'd thank me for that. Damn bottom barrel choices..."

Ten minutes had just passed when Vibraxis emerged, a triumphant smile plastered across his face.

"What the hell took so long?"

"I need every single blessed second to tell my accursed manager just which body cavity he could place my misbegotten employment."

It took Nova a few seconds to realize the full implications of the young man's statement. Finally, he said the only thing he could think of,

"Just so you know, it doesn't take the average person ten damn minutes to say 'take this job and shove it'."

&&&

Muir Island

"Rahne?" Moira rapped on the door lightly, "Kin I come in, sweety?"

"Go away!" screamed the young meta-morph.

"That's nae happin'." Moira pushed the door open, and saw her adopted daughter sprawled out on her bed, her back towards Moira and her face hidden in her pillow, weeping.

"Why...why did...did ye allow that hateful bastard here?" demanded Rahne between pitiful sobs.

"Because I love ye..."

"Ye have a damned funny way o' showing it!" accused Rahne.

"...and I want ye ta' have a family." explained Moira as she took a seat on her adopted daughter's bed, parallel to her, "I laid the bastard out meself when he first approached me, Rahne."

"He was ne'er my father," Rahne growled despite herself.

"Rahne…"

"I had to get him to beat me ta' even acknowledge my existence!"

"I know Rahne," Moira said softly.

"It...it was never somethin' big," Rahne confessed, her voice a whisper, "jus'...nae sweepin' the church fast enough, or nae cleanin' me room fast enough..."

"I won't argue he wasn't much o' a father, but he's yuir father and he wants to make amends." sighed Moira, "in someways, dear, you've been lucky to be able to choose yuir family..."

"Ye jus' want to get rid o' me, now that ye have Joseph back!"

The accusation was like a knife into the scientist's heart, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. Moira knew it was a lot to ask of any child to accept a formerly abusive. The older Scotswoman herself was entirely certain she wanted Craig back in Rahne's life herself, or if she wanted to share her daughter with the man.

But she knew, as an informed scientist and mother, that this was a choice Rahne needed to make for herself. All Moira could do was stand on the sidelines and encourage her adopted daughter to make the right choice.

"The only regret I have about ye is nae adopting you much, much sooner," Moira hand her hand through Rahne's hair gently, "Blood don' mean a damn thing to me, child."

"Then why should it matter to me?"

"Well, that's your choice to make, isn't it?"

&&&

Metro City

Robbie Baldwin was by his nature a laid back, easy going young man, though it was often hard to tell given his powers. As Speedball the Masked Marvel, he literally bounced all over the place with little to no effort, thanks largely to his powers over kinetic energy. Most people assumed he was a hyperactive kid who never grew up. But that wasn't who Robbie really was. True, his mouth was rarely still, but that was to provide social commentary and lighten the mood. No, he saw himself as a thinker, someone who relied upon their brain to get them through the day instead as opposed to brawn.

That, and Robbie knew he was the epitome of the ninety eight pound nerd/weakling. Admitting that to himself wasn't so hard if only because he knew his Speedball powers would allow him to kick the ass of 90 of the world.

And it was because of those powers, and those of his friends, that he was here today, Speedball ruefully reminded himself. The devastation from the three way battle with Hodge, the Cabal and Force Works was impressive by any standards. The damage was largely contained to several square blocks, but it was still fairly extensive. Some buildings were demolished, others missing their face or burned to a cinder. Cars were strewn about in the street, in various stages of destruction. Some were cut in half, others simply smashed. Several were actually lodged into the pavement itself, requiring the use of heavy machinery, picks and jack-hammers to dislodge.

In an effort to help the community heal and (hopefully), the mayor organized volunteers to help clean up the debris. It was the opinion of his best friend Wiz Kid that Force Works stay away, lest any of the anger the community felt was directed at them. The more morbid part of Speedball's mind recognized that he and his teammates lucked out when Mr. Parvenue's plane crashed. The man was a city saint, and following his death no one really wanted to be the one who questioned the man's legacy. The Masked Marvel also started to wonder when he learned to see luck in the death of another man.

In the end, Speedball felt he couldn't stay away from the cleanup in good conscience, so he elected to help in his scrawnier and less impressive form. As he set about helping with the cleanup, his mind wandered back to the battle as he glanced at various parts of the devastation. Some of the destruction he could identify who did what damage. Within ten minutes though, he was good and beat. But he pushed on, holding out until everyone else was ready for a breather themselves.

"Alright people, take a fifteen minute break!" yelled Jerry Hanes, a retired member of the Army Core of Engineers and their impromptu foreman, "get some water, go to the bathroom, all that fun stuff. The store down the street's servin' lunch, free o' charge."

There were nods of assent, and Robbie's group of twelve began walking towards the diner while making ideal conversation with one another. No one really talked to Robbie though, mostly because they pegged him as an out of towner, and that was fine with the young hero. His thoughts were more than preoccupied. He wondered if, after this battle, the locals resented all new comers as a matter of course. It wasn't as if a single member of Force Works had lived here before the team formed.

He also wondered about his own part n this battle. King Bedlam's Cabal only attacked Force Works as a means to an end. They wanted complete control over the local drug trade, something Force works had stymied shortly after they took up residence and suppressed ever since.

Speedball found himself questioning that decision for days now. Hell, he'd had his doubts when the plan was first proposed. It was like using a sledge hammer to swat flies. It was only a matter of time before said flies retaliated with their own sledge hammer. Speedball prided himself on his intelligence, he knew the issue was far from resolved. King Bedlam might have been stopped, but that only meant others would try where he failed. Hell, Bedlam himself would probably take another crack at the team in a few months. So what exactly did they gain by stopping his team this time?

How exactly do you win the war on a social problem? Speedball asked himself, and how long am I going to fight a fight I wasn't too keen on to begin with?

Those thoughts rattled around in Robbie's head as he entered the diner (the windows were completely scattered, but thankfully someone had swept up the glass) and got himself a sandwich and a drink. He looked around for a place to sit, and saw a good looking young women sitting alone in the corner. Almost instantly he recognized her as the former X-Man Blink, who'd came barging in with the cops when Hodge was dealt with. According to what he'd heard, she'd helped the police keep the riots King Bedlam organized under control, so that made her alright in his book.

As he sat down across from her, she looked up and gave him a cold glare, equal parts suspicion and warning, "You like to live dangerously?"

"Last time, I checked mutants weren't contagious," Robbie replied. A small part of Robbie wondered if he ought to let this 'Blink' know that he too was a super hero.

"That's true, but that's not what I meant. Since I was a hero and helped out the cops, people see me as a good outlet for their frustration." explained Blink.

"Well, if you're attacked, I'd like you to know I can hide under a table with the best of them," he smirked, "Robbie Baldwin. Your name?"

"Clarice Ferguson. Little point in having a secret I.D. when you have lavender skin and eyes like mine, I suppose."

"So, what brings you here to Metro City?"

"I just ended a relationship, and wanted a taste of the normal life."

Robbie looked at her with a raised eye brow, "And you chose Metro City? There are a million cities out there without their own super hero team, in case you hadn't noticed."

"True, but almost none with a mutant population as high as Metro City's," Clarice countered, "I can fit in a little bit, so long as I didn't call attention to myself."

"A conscience is a real pain in the ass, huh?"

"Yeah, and that's just the good days. What about you? I can't say that you seem to be from around her," Clarice gave Robbie a shrewd look, "visiting friends?"

Robbie thought for only a split second before answering. No way in hell would he reveal his I.D. to this young woman, he decided. Not because he didn't trust her, but because he wanted someone, anyone to talk just as himself and not as the 'Masked Marvel Speedball'. And it galled him that the closest person he could find was a former super hero herself. Was he really that out of touch?

"Internship," Robbie sorta lied. The truth of the matter was that, as far as the IRS and public was concerned; Robbie was working at Mr. Parvenue's companies in Metro City under a paid internship. It provided at least a semi plausible explanation as to why both were in the city at the same time.

"Bet you didn't expect to move to a city in the middle of a war, huh?"

"Can't say it's what I dreamed of in High School," Robbie admitted, "but it wasn't like they couldn't have seen this coming. Topple one asshole, and another takes their place. Sometimes makes you wonder if they should have even done it in the first place."

"Depends who you ask, I suppose. In my apartment building...my former apartment building," Blink corrected herself, "at least half the families were had to deal with an addict member, deal with being harassed by drug dealers in their own building, worried about being gunned down on the street, or all three," Blink took a sip of her drink, "I've seen war, and I've seen regular combat. This isn't...wasn't war. It's still a battle worth fighting."

"How can you say that?!" Robbie snapped, not even bothering to catch himself, "look at what happened!"

"Nothing worth fighting for is easy," Blink countered, "and what's done is done. I think the real question is where to go from here."

"Gotta disagree," Robbie waved his hand towards the destroyed block, "this isn't something you can fix. The longer you hold something down, the bigger it'll blow up."

"So they should just give up and walk away?" Blink snorted in disbelief, "you don't win any battles that way."

"Hell, you don't win any battles unless you pick them wisely."

"That's true," Blink shrugged, "but no matter how much you want to, you can't walk away from a mistake."

"You should if you only make that mistake worse," Robbie scowled.

"How does that make things better?" demanded Blink. The idea of backing down from a fight simply went against her basic nature. True, she recognized that not every problem could be solved with violence, but any conflict, physical, moral or otherwise was, as far as she was concerned, a battle. And anything that might be construed as 'giving up' wasn't worth even considering.

"By not making things worse!"

"An old friend taught me that 'all that's needed for evil to prevail is for good men to sit by and do nothing'", Blink retorted, "you plan sounds a lot like the last part."

"'In order to save the village we must burn the village'" Robbie countered, "take a gander outside and tell me which quote seems to apply more to our current dilemma."

"You!"

The two looked towards the entrance where a scrawny kid was standing in the doorway. Dressed in torn jeans, a recently purchased 'don't snitch' T-shirt with an equally new leather over that, the young man looked as if he'd stepped off a parody of a music video. Both of the young heroes might have been tempted to dismiss him as any kind of threat, were it not for one important fact.

The young man's skin was dark blue and his eyes shimmered with a power that at least in color matched his skin.

"My homies would like to have some words wit' you, bitch!" snarled the punk.

Robbie's chest tightened for a moment. He found himself torn between changing into Speedball and protecting his secret identity, even though he knew he had only one choice. He was about to bang his fist on the table to activate the change when the problem was solved with a literal –blink!-.

Clarice teleported behind the boy and in one fluid movement brought her elbow down on his head, rendering him unconscious.

"That's the third attempted gang initiation attempt today," muttered Blink.

"Must be fun," Speedball remarked, "still feel the same as before?"

Clarice glared at Robbie, "Tactful question, but yeah. Thanks for the company Robbie, but I need to head out. See you around."

&&&

Muir Island

The minutes seemed to stretch into hours and days for Reverend Eudard Craig as he waited for his daughter (the admission, even if only to himself, brought no less shame than it always had. Only this time, it was directed towards himself and not his illegitimate daughter).

If someone had told him, years ago, that he'd come to Muir Island, hat in hand asking the woman who'd years ago stood between him and an angry mob determined to put to the flame his own mutant daughter. Like so many, Reverend Craig thought such abilities were an abomination, sin against God. But that fear paled in comparison to the shame and anger he'd found easier to direct at his daughter than at himself, finally given freedom.

The anger, the self loathing that he had finally been allowed to express burned for an impressive amount of time, by any measure. Especially when, finally, Rahne confronted him.

When Rahne was serving with the British heroes of Excalibur, she discovered Craig hounding another mutant girl, so like herself. Armed with her suspicions and a belly full of anger she let it be known that she possessed the truth and if Craig kept up his wicked ways, so would everyone else.

The Reverend could recall that day with painful clarity. It was the day when his final wall of hatred came down, leaving nothing but the self loathing behind.

The following months were not kind to Craig. There was never enough drink that could drown his shame, no place in the town to which he preached morality from which he could escape knowing eyes. His daughter hadn't been the first one to put two and two together, but before he could mask his sin behind rousing teachings, stern lectures on morality and a fiery temper that directed fire and brimstone at anyone who dared question his Godliness.

It wasn't long after that that his church started to decline. Fewer and fewer people had time to listen to a defeated old man lecture them about their sins, so small in comparison to his own. Eventually, the church replaced him with a younger, more soft spoken man while Craig himself was unofficially retired to a life of quiet contemplation.

In many ways, it was more of a punishment than a reprieve. Matters became even worse when Force Works emerged onto the world scene. Unlike her friends, his daughter had no secret identity. Any news agency with a little time on their hands had no trouble finding past associates of the heroine Wolfsbane. The ugly truth was laid bare for all who cared to see.

In a way, that made Craig's decision easier. He had no secrets left to bare. All he had remaining was his shame and one lone daughter. All he could do now was throw himself upon her mercy and beg for forgiveness. Both were traits he knew she possessed in abundance, but…but he wasn't so old and foolish to think that his actions were entirely forgivable, a fact his sore jaw attested to.

Craig's heart jumped into his throat when Rahne and Moira returned. He stood up, and tried to give a detailed apology for everything he'd done, and hadn't done for Rahne. But all he could squeeze past his lips was, "Rahne…I'm sorry."

"I don't care." Snapped Rahne, her voice lacking her usual accent. Craig knew that was because she wanted to make clear her intentions, "I've made my decision. As long as I can remember, you've made my life miserable and, when I needed you most, you led a mob to kill me. I'd like nothing more than to turn you out into the street."

Rahne paused for a moment to let her words sink in, and Craig felt his heart tighten.

"But, sometimes, choice isn't morality. I've always known that God wants us to love our fellow man, and our family especially," stated Rahne, her tone making the sentence more of an accusation than a statement, "I came here to see my mother. If you want to be a part of my life, fine. You know where I live. I can forgive you, Craig. Just not today. I'm sure Moira will help you afford the cost of a plane ticket."

Rahne clenched her fist, then released, "When I see you again Craig, we start over from scratch."

&&&

Metro City

Rather than returning to his work crew, Robbie allowed both his feet and mind to wander. Thinking back to his conversation with Blink, he honestly couldn't say he was surprised about how hard he was on his fellow teammates. Hell, since day one he'd expressed his doubts about the team going ballistic on the local gangs slash drug trade. Nothing good ever came out of overkill.

But it seemed like whenever he expressed that opinion, the others just blew him off. And that seemed to be a disturbing pattern. His teammates hardly seemed to listen to his opinion anymore. More and more they treated him like a fifth wheel.

Well, Taki was different. Somewhat, anyways. The boy genius listened to him, treated him with respect and actually seemed to give a damn about his opinion. Not that Speedball could ever really influence his friend. Hell, when Wiz Kid made up his mind you needed a crowbar to change it. Or kick him in the head to stop him. But he was that way with everyone, at least.

But the others...Speedball founded the New Warriors alongside Nova and Kymaera. And if he hadn't proven himself to Mirage, X-Treme and all the others by now, that sure as hell wasn't his fault. The name Speedball perhaps didn't strike fear into the hearts of men, but he was far from useless. He helped found both the New Warriors and Force Works. Hell, he even went the route of a GED (pissing off his lawyer dad to no end) so he could be a hero full time. He pulled his weight damn it, so why the hell did it seem like his opinion had none?

Thinking back to the destruction he'd seen today, meeting with the displaced families and cleaning up the rubble, Robbie knew in his heart that if he had to do it all over again, he'd make drastically different choices.

But that really wasn't an option, was it? Even with the fantastic lives they were blessed with, Robbie knew no one could turn back the clock (and any attempts always resulted in wacky, life threatening hi-jinks). That wasn't to say there wasn't an alternative…

But said alternative was more fitting of the French than a super hero, Robbie thought sourly.

But at the same time, why should he keep paying for a mistake others made? Robbie asked himself.

"A joke, a joke. My kingdom for a damn joke," muttered Speedball. None of his choices looked the least bit inviting, and that was more than troubling for the usually upbeat hero.

Looking longingly towards his team's headquarters, the hero known as Speedball knew he had only one choice, or course of action he could take. He only hoped that, in time, his teammates would forgive him.

&&&

Washington D.C.

As far as clan destine meetings went, the café in Washington that her contact had chosen was a mite bit unusual, Dani reflected. The prices were inflated, the drinks tasted flat and the service too damn slow. The only reason why Dani even considered leaving a tip was because the waiters were obviously overworked but they were still trying their best to provide the best service they could. Hard work always earned Moonstar's respect.

That respect, however, hardly carried over to the clientele. Each and every person present was a lobbyist, aide to a congressman or some other political shark. Being in a room full of two faced people who'd support her one day and stab her in the back the next didn't bother her. No, it was the fact that they'd do so without the use of violence. Dani, by her nature, loathed that which she couldn't physically fight against. Spirits knew she had her fill of that with Force Works.

"Enjoying yourself?"

The question was sarcastic, but good natured. It made Moonstar feel a little guilty about what she had planned.

Thankfully, being the leader of Force Works gave her plenty of experience with working through guilt.

"Not especially," answered Dani. The mutant warrior then remembered that she was projecting the illusion of an African American woman over her actual appearance, "how'd you know it was me?"

Val Cooper took the seat directly across from Mirage and smirked, "The sharks we swim with are very different, but I can still recognize one of my kind regardless of what they look like. But enough about that. You contacted my office, what did you want to talk about?"

"You tell me."

"Charcoal," Val sighed.

"Correct," replied Mirage, "we came up against him when King Bedlam attacked. Bedlam was hoping to use his strength and firepower to tip the odds in his favor, among other things. But in the course of the battle, Charlie switched sides."

"Charlie?"

"I've gotten to know the kid a little bit," Mirage admitted, "and that's part of the reason why I'm here."

"So...what do you want exactly?" Val asked carefully.It was always better to know what the opposing side wanted before becoming defensive.

"I want you to give us, or guardians we approve of, legal custody of Charcoal."

"'Guardians we approve of'?" Cooper asked with a raised eye brow, "here I thought you were angling for another member."

"He's free to join us if he wants," Mirage shrugged, "Let me be blunt. I know the Commission on Superhuman Activities has it in for Justin Hammer and the Thunderbolts. Wack jobs like the Abomination, Vermin and Typhoid Mary don't get it in their head to team-up one day and try to take down Hammer for shits and giggles. But I'm not going to allow you to manipulate an innocent boy's life just so that you can take them down."

"The Thunderbolts...aren't part of my responsibilities on the Commission," Val said carefully, "what do you have that might persuade those handling the issue?"

"Several things," Dani started counting off, "You can't flip Charlie because he hasn't been with the team since before Hammer took over. Two, Force Works handed you a CEO of a diamond monopoly sometime back and you said you owed us a favor. Finally...I have this."

Dani reached down and picked up a large manilla folder that had been leaning against her chair, and handed it to Ms. Cooper. Val looked at it quizingly before she set about scanning it. Mirage gave her a few minutes to browse the material. When she saw the scowl, she knew it was time to continue.

"Where'd you get this?"

"Where do you think?" Mirage smiled, "we lifted those from their base itself. Before it blew up, that is. 'The United States funds right wing paramilitary group' doesn't make for a good headline in this day and age, does it?"

"When would that ever make a good headline? The Undertow," Val muttered, "does Kymaera know that you're using information taken from them to blackmail us?"

"It was actually her idea," confessed Dani, "look, let me level with you. We both know that The Undertow wasn't sanctioned by the U.S. government. They got some help from government insiders though, and we all know how that would play out in the media."

"I honestly thought you'd relish an opportunity like this, given the way your group swings. You don't even seem mad the Commission allowed Charcoal to be used as a weapon to kill you."

"I've long since learned not to take attempts on my life serious, especially when I'm not the main target. Plus, I don't want to see our nation suffer because of idiots, anymore than it already is," Dani quipped, "The Undertow is dead. They were never sanctioned by the government, they merely got some help from a few clever generals running their own agenda. Provided you clean house, take some steps to prevent something like this from happening again and we get what we want, we're willing to let matters lie. This time."

"Sounds fair. For blackmail," Val added half-heartily. The truth of the matter was she really didn't entirely approve of how the Commission was handling matters in regards to the Thunderbolts (though she agreed with the commission, Hammer had to be stopped), but at the same time was powerless to really do anything about it. If they were going to fight fire with fire, fine. But Valerie Cooper wasn't so cynical as to think that they needed a young boy as a pawn against the supervillain/hero team. Besides, she thought, if Charcoal was useful to them, Hammer probably would have had him killed months ago.

"How do we explain this, though? Your team may be recognized as heroes, but Charcoal is considered a criminal by many and there are some remaining charges against him."

"Taki will type up some bull shit explanation that says Charcoal's powers were in a flux at the time of his crimes but that, with treatment, he's stabilized and fully coherent. Yadda, yadda. Your guys will sign off on it. Deal?"

"Works for me," Val tucked the folder Mirage had given her into her briefcase and stood up, "you may not drive a hard bargain, but you do now how to make an offer that's hard to refuse. Maybe you're not as out of place here as I thought?"

&&&

Somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean

Kim Mai enjoyed the rush of cold air that blasted her face as she blazed down the United States coastline some fifteen miles off shore. She moved with such speed that the churning water beneath her feet was as solid as week old asphalt, and the slipstream her body produced sliced any wave that was too annoying to climb in two.

The ocean was perhaps the only place in the world where Kim, also known as Sabre, could really cut loose for any length of time. No buildings, few boats and the vast majority of animals stayed the hell out of her way. With nothing in front of her, Sabre held nothing back and enjoyed every second of it. At least, that was how it was normally.

Today was different. If everything went according to plan, Kim would be a member of Force Works. Though she wore a costume and even gave herself a codename, the young Vietnamese woman never really saw herself as a superhero.

She'd beaten up a few bad guys for Hoffman, sure, but she failed to see anything too heroic in that. They were chumps that no one had ever heard of, and she half suspected the fights were staged. She could tell Hoffman was checking her out, and not in a creepy sexual way either (which somehow made his actions even creeper). He probably just wanted someone to corrupt and make as bastardly as himself, Kim thought.

But if she joined Force Works, Kim knew she'd be in the line of fire on a regular basis. Part of her was thrilled with the prospect. Her grand father, the Super Sabre, was a war hero who, when he was alive, regularly enthralled her with his war stories. Kim remembered laughing her he told her about how he punched the Red Skull in the crotch, and staring in awe of him when he described in exact detail how he destroyed an entire Panzer battalion by himself. The possibility of living up to the ideal of her grand father, one of the first adults to really give a damn about her, was almost intoxicating.

But another part of herself feared failing that ideal. Kim was by no means the perfect person. She smoked, cursed and allowed herself to be selfish every now and then. Sure, she didn't push little old ladies into the street, but she wondered if she really had the right stuff to be a hero like her grand father.

Kim pondered the issue for what seemed like hours (one minute in real time) when she observed a cruise ship out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't the ship itself that caught her eye, rather the long column of smoke billowing out the side and the fact that a smaller fishing boat right beside the larger ship. Kim's mind ran through about a dozen possibilities, some good, some bad, but all led to the same road.

She had to look into it.

With a sigh, she slowed her speed down and began to turn. Running in a straight line on water was easy. Turning while running on water was like trying to steer a speeding SUV on solid ice. Sure, you could turn but you turned wider than a city block and took twenty minutes to fully turn around. It took Sabre a good three miles before she finally managed change her direction and head back to the cruise ship.

Sabre zipped up the side, carefully decreasing her speed as she reached the top, so that she pooped up only a few feet above the railing. Kim always hated it when her feet weren't touching terra firma. With her enhanced perception, Kim felt as if she were sinking through a vat of molasses. And if she slowed her perception to 'normal', the speedster knew she'd probably land on her ass and twist an ankle.

Sabre landed soon enough, and sped off towards the front of the ship. Sabre noted that the cruise ship seemed empty…up until she reached the front. A large crowd of people were surrounded by no less than a dozen heavily armed men. Standing apart from the crowd were three gaudy dressed men who simply had to be supervillains.

The first was dressed in all black with a lightning bolt insignia on his best and facemask. The second was a young man in a brown jacket, regular jeans. The only thing slightly abnormal about him was the large, fingerless red gloves. Standing towards the back at eight feet tall and all kinds of hairy was what could only be described as a human ox.

Eel, Shatterfist and Bison, Sabre quickly deduced. She remembered them from a cable special about the Masters of Evil. All she recognized about them were their names and faces, but given their unsubtle costumes and obvious naming, well, what more did she need to know?

Still moving at speeds far to fast for the average human eye, the young speedster quickly evaluated the situation. Some hostages were gathered on deck, probably the rich snobs. Far too few people to be the entire crew and passengers, which meant that the rest were probably locked or hiding in their rooms. Kim was about to move into action when she noticed that the seeming leader, Eel, had some small pen like device clenched in his right hand.

At the speeds she was moving at, the regular world was little more than statues, at least Sabre's perspective. She closed in on the villain, and examined his fist. To her horror she realized the man was holding a detonator with a deadman's switch. If he released the button…boom.

True, she could try to snatch it from the bastard's hands, but one small slip and it'd all be over. As fast as she was, Sabre knew even she couldn't outrace a radio signal.

Kim sprinted away until she was out of eye sight, and stopped dead. This…this was foreign territory to her. Supervillains, lives possibly depending on her actions or inactions, for a moment she found it overwhelming and terrifying. Options were non existent. She had no way of calling the Coast Guard (if these guys had half a brain, they'd already jammed all radio communications), no way to contact Force Works or any other hero team and she had no idea where to go for help. Sure, Kim knew where the closest coastline was, but even at her top speed, the time it would take…

No, Kim knew she was on her own as an absolute fact. No matter how fast she ran, she couldn't escape that single fact.

Well, I wanted to know if I could cut it, right?

Her choice made, the young mutant sped off, her mind working as fast as her legs. First, she decided to look for the fire that unlashed the smoke she'd seen earlier while running. She found it soon enough in the rear aft, still burning. It was a small, private ballroom, and thankfully no one appeared harmed, though from the way the doors hung on the hinges and the large crater in the center it was easy enough to deduce that a bomb had caused the destruction. Eel had probably detonated it to show he was serious, thought Kim.

Next on the agenda was to find the second bomb. Kim was by no means a genius, but she wasn't stupid either. The Eel wouldn't have hidden the bomb somewhere where it would immediately sink the ship. He was a thief, not a mass murderer. Still, he'd need a location that would cause a big distraction in the event someone stumbled across him.

Kim checked the engine room first, looking under stairs, wrenching open lockers and examining every little nook and cranny.

Nothing.

Kim went onto the next best place to hide a possible bomb, the bridge. Take that out, and the boat's dead in the water in need of rescue, and leaves you with plenty of time to high tail it to safety. Kim went over it with a fine tooth comb, and again came up empty handed. By now, the heroine was being to sweat anxiously. Where else would be a smart place to put a bomb?

The ship's various kitchens and dining halls were scattered across the boat, but were well marked and easy enough to find. Sabre searched the first two, with little success. A broken stove, some cowering cooks and dirty dishes were just about all she'd found. Disheartened, she came to a stop at an 'All You Can Eat' buffet, grabbed a fistful of fruit, and began eating. The faster she moved, the more it took out of her body and right now, she was famished and she was beginning to become a little worried about her lack of success so far.

"If I was a two bit idiot, where would I hide a stupid bomb?" Sabre asked aloud, between bites.

The engine room and Bridge seemed like obvious choices because a bomb at either location would have crippled the ship without endangering the passengers, and after that the kitchens seemed the most logical place to search. The boat used gas ovens, and that alone would create a spectacular fire. Kim was beginning to wonder if maybe her instincts were wrong. Maybe the Eel was smarter than she gave him credit for. Maybe he really was willing to kill all these people. Even with her speed, Sabre knew there was no way she could search the entire ship. It was too cramped, there were too many hiding places and just too many variables to consider. If this kept up, Sabre knew she'd have to confront that bastard while he had his finger on the trigger. No way that would turn out well…

"If I were a bomb, where would I hide?" Sabre thought long and hard and when she came across the answer, she smacked herself in the head. Wolfing down some more food, Kim raced off with a wicked grin plastered across her face. Once she had that bomb, she could enjoy this.

&&&

Edward Lavell, otherwise known as The Eel watched as his men went through the ranks of the wealthy patrons and 'encouraged' them to donate their wallets and jewelry. The caper was going surprisingly well. People might think to overpower regular thieves and robbers with sheer numbers, but no one was willing to consider the same strategy with super-villains, especially two who'd fought heroes like Thor and Spider-Man. They were far enough away from civilization to prevent the random hero from stumbling across them, and even that failed, the bomb he'd had planted would be enough to ward any rescuers off.

Eel didn't want to pat himself on the back too hard, but all things considered, it was the perfect plan.

So imagine his surprise when his hired help started flying all over the place, like extras from a Jet Lee movie. All he could make out one a blue blur that was targeting his men. By the time Eel had raised his arms to fire his electrical blasts, all twelve men were sprawled out across the deck unconscious.

Sabre stopped on a dime, placing herself between the villains and their gathered hostages, with a cocky grin on her face.

"I know I'm supposed to say something macho, but I'm new at this," explained Sabre, "so I'll go with the classics. Got any last words?"

Eel raised his hands and fired. Sabre watched the criminal move in slow motion, and prepared to dodge when her eyes shot wide, realizing her mistake. Kim barely moved fast enough, throwing herself backwards as Eel's electrical blast struck her square in the stomach. The sheer force of the blast and pain of the electricity coursing through her body (even if she wasn't grounded) nearly made her black out. Her ass hit the floor hard and for a few seconds, she was seeing stars on the edges of her vision.

"…that's it?" Eel asked, astonished. He didn't know this girl from Eve, but after years of fighting heroes one expected a certain amount of difficulty in a fight. One shot didn't even approach that.

"You said we weren't going to hurt anyone!" Bison snapped, his nostrils flaring.

"She's the one who butted in!" Eel retorted as he spun around to face the larger man. For all of Bison's strength, Eel knew the man was no hardened criminal and in Eel's mind, that meant he could be easily intimidated, "do you want to be normal again or not, Billy?"

"Guys?" Shatterfist interrupted, "she's not dead."

The trio of villains looked at Sabre, who was sitting on her knees and rubbing her sore back, "Okay, as first impressions go, that one blew. Seriously. There's no way in hell I can convince you to surrender without a fight now, huh?"

Eel allowed his electrical power to flow freely from his fist, Shatterfist punched his fist into the palm of his hand, producing a sound like a mortar exploding while Bison, standing eight feet tall and too wide across simply glared at her as if she were simply an annoying child to be brushed aside.

"No? Good."

Shatterfist had just started to blink when Sabre charged him. He'd finished about half way before she came to a sudden stop mere inches from his face.

"Buh-bye."

The gaudy dressed villain couldn't have hoped to react in time before a wall of solid air slammed into him and pitched him backwards. The air pressure created by Sabre's super speed felt as if someone had just pitched a brick wall at him. Shatterfist felt several ribs snap as he skidded backwards helplessly, holding onto consciousness by a thread.

Sabre looked over her shoulder at Bison and Eel, the cocky grin from before once again on her face, "I forgot about the people behind me when you blasted me. Trick me once…"

Sabre took a sprinted towards Eel at an average pace for three steps, just so that he could see her coming. So that he could see he was about to get his ass kicked. And after three steps, Sabre blurred from his vision …

…only to reappear inches from his face as her fist brushed past his face so quickly his face burned from the friction of the feather light touch. And just like his friend Shatterfist, Eel was sent flying from the air pressure, his head snapping back painfully and his body tossed through the air.

Bison looked towards his friends, and then towards the short, super fast girl who'd laid them out without even laying a finger on them. Bison wasn't a criminal at heart, and Shatterfist and Eel were hardly his friends, but he knew that if he ever wanted his old life back, he needed money, more money than he could ever earn with honest work. But did he really want to beat up a kid to do that?

"You handled those two like the chumps they are, but you think you can take a real man?" Bison decided to see if he couldn't tough talk his way out of this. He traded blows with the likes of Thunderstrike and Luke Cage, no matter how fast this kid was, she couldn't get past his muscle, "I played football before I became a freak. And that taught me all the speed in the world doesn't matter a lick if you ain't got the muscle to back it up with."

Sabre turned her head so that she was looking directly at the human/animal hybrid villain, "Oh really?"

Kim was still smiling as she reached into her belt, "You've seen guys like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and all those other karate guys break blocks with their bare hands, right?"

"Once or twice," Bison snorted.

Kim removed two titanium 'brass' knuckles from her belt, "They do it by hitting the block quickly and then drawing their hand back just as fast, leaving the cement block to deal with all the kinetic energy," Sabre slipped her brass knuckles on and tapped them together lightly, "and that's just regular humans. I broke mach-two before my first pimple, and these brass knuckles are shiney. What do I think I can do to you?"

Bison snorted derisively, deeply unimpressed. He charged forward, confident that his power was more than enough to overcome some super hero he'd never even heard of.

When Shatterfist watched what happened next, his first thought he was simply hallucinating. If was as if the heroine somehow multiplied as a total of nine different Sabres seemed to appear out of nowhere and began pounding on a different section of Bison's body. One focused on his ribs, another on his knee, and elsewhere. There was almost no part of his body that wasn't being battered mercilessly by an entire hoard of Sabres.

Shatterfist realized to his horror that Sabre hadn't, in fact, multiplied somehow. Rather, she moved so swiftly that, to the naked eye, it merely appeared as if she had.

Sabre moved from one part of her foe's body to the next, pounding the ribs with a hundred super fast punches, then moving on to strike his kidneys with roughly eighty blows and from there pounding the larger man's chin some two hundred times before finding a new routine. Each and every blow was delivered at mach three and never lasted less than three tenths of a second between hitting the larger villain and snapping back for another strike.

Bison made it two long steps because he collapsed to the deck, his powerful body felt as if it were just one giant, pain soaked bruise. His mind barely registered being attacked from, literally everywhere before darkness overtook him. He landed with a loud thud, and both Eel and Shatterfist gulped loudly as they saw Sabre standing over him with her hands on her hips.

Eel finally remembered his back up plan. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking of it sooner when he realized it had barely been a minute since the attack began. He released the switch, signaling for the bomb to detonate. While this bitch was dealing with that, Eel was confident that he and Shatterfist could make their escape. All their loot split two ways…that didn't sound bad at all.

Eel heard the welcome sound of an explosion, and smiled. He expected Sabre to disappear in a blur, to rush off and assess the situation allowing him to slip away. He sure as hell didn't expect her to laugh.

"You stashed your bomb in a broken oven, right?"

Eel felt the blood drain from his face, "Y…yeah."

"I think it looked better stashed in your getaway boat. I'm a woman, trust me."

"Hey, super bitch!" Both Eel and Sabre looked to see a man in a cook's uniform holding an elderly woman with one arm and a gun in hand, aimed at her temple. Sabre wanted to kick her own ass for not noticing the guy before. She should have figured Eel would have placed the bomb before he boarded the ship, and that he couldn't do that in a spandex suit. For a C-list villain, Sabre found she was becoming more and more impressed with the man's planning.

Not that it changed anything, she thought quickly.

"Let us go, or this old hag gets it!" the pseudo cook shouted.

"Respect your elders," growled Sabre.

"Respect the man with the gun!" the crook yelled back.

"You mean this gun?" Kim opened her hand, and as if by magic, the man's gun appeared within it. 'Course, it wasn't magic so much as super speed and a desire to show off, but the effect was the same.

It took the man a moment to realize that not only had his gun been removed, but that his hostage had been sprinted away as well. Now, lacking any weapons or anything resembling protection, he faced someone who'd demolished three super villains by himself. Fear had just started to take hold when he realized something else, and began to scream as if he were being murdered.

"The hell…?" Sabre watched the man before her scream in pain as he clutched his hand to his chest. For a moment, the speedster was baffled. Then she examined her hand again, and shrieked.

"Eww! Oh my God…!"

When Sabre tore the gun from the man's hand, she'd also taken his index finger. She dropped and shuddered comically, "Gross, oh God!"

Sabre mercy/sucker punched the man unconscious and, after a very quick trip to the ship's medical center, bandaged the man's hand as best she could. But by the time she'd finished, Shatterfist and Eel were both on their feet, standing side by side, no doubt ready for some last stand.

Far be it from Sabre to disappoint.

Kim charged towards the middle of them, knocking the two villains in opposite directions. Before Shatterfist had landed, Sabre grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and ran down the length of the boat and skidded to a stop before she finally released her grip on the young man.

Shatterfist sailed across the ocean sky spectacularly, his arms flailing comically as if it might be enough to save himself. The ocean was careening towards him at break neck speeds, and Shatterfist has just started to beg all the Gods and deities he knew in the world to save him when he felt himself slowing down. Air was rushing past his face now, but faster, stronger and it was coming from straight below.

Shatterfist glanced downwards, and saw Sabre's blurred form running in circles beneath him. The subsequent updraft kept Shatterfist hovering some eight feet above the water.

"Drop the gauntlets, and I drop the life jacket and life preserver!"

The choice wasn't as hard as Kim thought it would be. The thug with powers pressed a button on his power gloves, and allowed them to slide off his wrists. They fell into the water and sank like lead weights.

Kim dropped the life preserver and jacket thoughtlessly. Hopefully, Shatterfist was smart enough to survive on his own out here for a few minutes. If not...no big loss to the gene pool.

Kim sped away, back towards the cruise ship. One last piece of trash to take out...

&&&

Eel knew it was only a matter of minutes, perhaps even seconds before that fast footed bitch returned and ran him over like a stampede. But, if he played his cards right and luck was on his side...he might be able to escape with his ass intact. He adjusted the controls on his suit, and maximized the suit's output twice over. Electricity arced around Eel, covering his body like a second skin.

And not a moment too soon. Eel had just seen the blur when he heard a loud screech, like tires squealing on an icy road, a powerful wind blast across his face and then a loud crash. He spun around to see Sabre hanging painfully onto the ship's hand rails, which were bent outwards from the high speed collusion. Looking down Eel would see the black scorch marks on the deck from where Sabre tried to stop herself.

"Oww..."Kim moaned slowly, "that...that was a nasty ass trick, slimey."

Kim didn't feel like admitting how close eel's plan came to actually succeeding. She'd only seen the energy surrounding his body when she was a mere six feet from the man, far too close to possibly.

"Doesn't matter how fast you are if you can't touch me," Eel said smugly.

"Oh, aren't we clever?"

Eel shot his arms out and fired two powerful bolts of electricity, enough to kill ten men. Sabre, though sore as hell, side stepped them with ease. Eel tried again, and again. Each time he missed by several feet. Unfortunately for him, no matter how fast his energy bolts were, his arms weren't half that speed. Finally, after a minute of trying (and failing) to hit an enemy more slippery than himself, Eel's temper snapped.

"Just give up! You don't have a chance in hell of hitting me, and you can't keep this up forever!"

"You're right," Again, Sabre vanished from sight as if she simply ceased to exist. Eel knew he wasn't that lucky. When he felt a breeze on the back of his head, he instinctively knew she'd returned, "I was just catching my breath. I wanted to enjoy this."

Eel spun around, and saw Sabre standing, spinning a large, wooden oar in one hand.

"Wood doesn't conduct electricity. Sucks to be you."

"Oh mother f…"

"FORE!"

A split second later, Eel was painfully careening through the air like Shatterfist had before him. Sabre removed a small digital camera she carried at all times and took several pictures as the villain sailed through the air. There was no way she wasn't posting these pictures online, Kim thought to herself.

It wasn't until after Eel's head popped back up from under the water that Sabre realized the enormity of her actions. She's just saved an entire cruise ship from three super villains and change, all by herself. True, she made a few mistakes, but that's life (or, in the case of some nameless thug, a finger).

Sabre watched Eel flounder in the water, nowhere near the swimmer of his namesake. She'd pull both him and Shatterfist back onto the ship. Eventually. But right now, she wanted to savor her victory.

"I can't believe I ever doubted myself."

&&&

Considering that their headquarters was caught in a three way battle between Force Works, King Bedlam's Cabal and Cameron Hodge, reconstruction was actually surprisingly easy. Once Namorita had gotten a handle on World Watch, Takeshi Matsuya went about focusing on repairing the damage done.

With all the outdated LMDs, first generation Dreadnaughts and various other robotics from his private lab to do the work, the job went far faster than even Taki had projected. He sat in his wheel chair thoughtfully, watching each individual go about the delicate work of bringing the building back online. The list of repairs seemed almost endless. The main frame needed to be repaired, the training room needed to be reprogrammed, the security system needed to recalibrated, the communication relay had to be re-encrypted, the secure connection to the FAA in the hangar needed restored and repaired...the list simply didn't seem to end.

Thankfully, when immersed in his field, Wiz Kid had the patience of the saints themselves. In fact, he saw this as an opportunity to improve the building, make perfect the fortress he and his fellow heroes resided in.

"Taki, got a second?" Taki turned his head to see his best friend Speedball standing at the lab doorway. What really caught the young genius' attention were the backs piled up just beside his friend.

"Certainly Robbie, what's on your mind?"

"Too many things to list," admitted Speedball, "that's why I need a favor."

Taki felt his blood run cold. He was a super genius with a computer like mind, after all. The past several months, he'd noticed the reservations his friend had regarding their missions, both practically and ideologically. Each and every time Taki mentally resolved to talk to his friend, but either something else came up, or Robbie just wasn't in the mood to talk. Now it seemed like his procrastination was catching up with him.

"I'm…I'm leaving. I need you to tell the team for me."

"…why?"

"I just…" Robbie rubbed the back of his head in a nervous gesture, "I think that if I explain myself, I know I'll just be making things worse. You can give them a sob story if you want, or whatever. At this point, I'm past caring."

"No, I mean, why are you quitting like this? Slipping out the back door on your friends?" Taki's voice cracked despite his best efforts, "I at least deserve some type of explanation when I go into the meeting and say 'Oh, Speedball? Founding member? He's decided to leave. What other business do we have?'."

Robbie looked at his friend as if the weight of the world was suddenly laid across his shoulders, "I've fought with the team every step of the way. But more and more it seems like every time I express any doubts, I get the brush off. It seems a little tasteless to say 'I told you so' when we're fighting for our lives and it just gets harder and harder to fight for the mistakes of others."

"And how does this make things better?" snapped Taki, "just throwing up your hands and saying 'I quit!'"

"I may not make things better, but at least I won't be making them worse," Speedball admitted, "sometimes, that's all we can really do."

"Give up, you mean."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Speedball snapped, his voice missing any hint of humor, "I've made up my mind. If you don't want to help me out, fine. Just say so!"

"Fine, desert your friends, Robert. I'm sure I can come up with some adequate explanation that saves you the trouble of actually standing by and explaining your principles to your friends."

Speedball didn't take the bait, mainly because he was surprised about how strongly Taki was reacting. As the two youngest members, they'd been close. Robbie supposed Taki might have been hurt that he hadn't talked to him earlier about his concerns, but how could he? Taki was part of the team brain trust, part of the inner idealogical circle and really...part of the problem. Taki would certainly listen to his opinion, but Robbie knew there was little one could do to change the techno-morph's mind.

"Thanks Taki. You're a friend," Robbie picked up his bags, "I'll...I'll call when things settle down, okay?"

Taki said nothing as his best friend left. Left the team they founded, left the cause they were fighting for, just left them all behind entirely. What made the matter even worse was why his best friend had decided to leave. Not because he needed to devote time to loved ones, or needed some form of a vacation. No, he left because he no longer believed in the cause. Wiz Kid knew, intellectually and emotionally that the chances of Speedball returning to the team were slim to none.

But, being the genius that he was, Takeshi Matsuya was a master of his emotions. He ruled them, they did not rule him. That simply wasn't an effective way to conduct one's self. And as such, only a singular tear rolled down his cheek as he returned to his work, with only a little less drive than before.

&&&

When the loaned spaceship touched down, Mirage waited a full minute before she considered leaving the ship. Given the battle damage the building suffered, she lacked complete faith in the hangar to hold the craft's weight. But several pregnant seconds passed, and nothing happened.

It was easier to think about the possibility of the building collapsing than the fact that her recruitment effort had been a total failure, Mirage reflected, or thinking about the trouble sitting barely two feet away.

Dani unbuckled her belt…and nearly jumped out of her skin when Arsenal suddenly grabbed her wrist. He'd been so silent that she had all but forgotten he was even there.

"I know…I know how it seems," Bobby muttered softly, "but this is how I deal with things. I'll be fine. Trust me."

"I don't have much of a choice there, do I?" Dani said more harshly than she intended.

"No, no you don't."

&&&

They were hardly the power houses Mirage had secretly been hoping for, but she was far from disappointed.

Charcoal had decided to join up, which was a welcome relief. Between his muscles, ability to cast flame and elongate his limbs, there was no doubt her mind that he would be a valuable asset in combat. His previous team experience didn't hurt either.

Next was Sabre, who Dani saw as part of a package deal with World Watch. The speedster was a snarky smart ass through and through, but at least she had a solid handle on her powers. Too many heroes relied on trial and error when refining their powers, something that was just as dangerous as the battles themselves. Dani knew from experience, observation and just plain common sense how useful speedsters could be, but also knew how troublesome they could be with their tendency to rush into situations (which was hardly surprising, given their powers). But with a little training, Dani was confident she could make the young woman a team asset.

Finally, there was Vibraxis, dressed in oddly fitting green spandex with yellow boots and gauntlets (the latter of which acted as a focus and control for his powers). As his name suggested, he could produce vibrations capable of creating earth quakes, toppling buildings and, in a pinch, act as a devastating concussive force. As if that weren't enough, if he focused his powers inwards, Vibraxis could become invisible and or intangible by altering his own dimensional vibrational rate. Any heavy weapon that could sneak past the defense of an enemy was worth its weight in gold.

Though any respect she had for the young man was tempered by the fact he willingly called himself 'The Master of Vibration'.

A good haul, Mirage decided. Once the three were at least somewhat settled in and introduced to the other members of the team, Mirage pulled them aside for a short session in the training room. It had already been a long day, but she still wanted to at least get a handle on how they fought. If their information panned out, they'd have a mission for the entire team in a few days and the sooner they were evaluated, the better.

"Can't we do this tomorrow?" whined Sabre.

"I'm afraid not," Dani said evenly. Answering with aggression would create the wrong impression, she decided, "believe me, this has already been one of the longest days of my life. But one of Force Works' saving graces has been our ability to work as a team, and I need to evaluate you all."

"I for one yearn for the call of battle!" Vibraxis boasted proudly, sticking out his chest, "rest assured I am more than ready to meet any challenge you have in mind. I promise that I will emerge victorious!"

"Yeah, when was the last time you say any action?" Charcoal smirked as Vibraxis silently fumed, "yeah, that's what I thought."

"When was the last time you saw any action that wasn't meant to kill this team?" charged Sabre.

"That's enough, all of you!" barked Mirage, "this discussion is over. The three of you need to be evaluated before I entrust you with the lives of my team. If the safety of your teammates including those standing next to you now mean nothing to you, then you're free to leave."

Properly chastised, the newest members of Force Works fell silent.

"Well said," stated a new voice, startling the gathered heroes, "except one thing. You're off by one."

Mirage spun around to see a young woman with lavender skin, elf like ears, green pupil-less eyes and strange tattoos around her eyes. Danielle recognized her instantly as the X-Man/woman Blink. But just because she recognized the young woman didn't mean that Dani had any idea why the hell she was here.

"How'd you get in here, Blink?"

Blink tilted her head and smiled, "You tell me."

The fact that she didn't know the answer was oddly comforting to Mirage. She knew for a fact that even damaged, Taki's security system was one of the finest around. That Blink could bypass it casually was a testament to her skill. Still, that didn't explain why she was suddenly acting as if she were on the team.

"And you're sneaking about because…?"

"Few reasons. The first one being that you guys blew up my apartment. The second is that when I helped out with the riots, people started to associate me with you guys anyways."

Mirage mentally winced.

"Third, is that when all is said and done, I do believe in what you guys are doing, though don't fully agree with the how. If I'm going to get dragged back into the fight, I'd like to try something new, at least for a little bit."

Mirage nodded in acknowledgement, but mentally her mind was racing. Blink had a well deserved reputation as one of the most dangerous X-Men. In addition, she was a teleporter, as valuable a strategic asset as a speedster. Getting out of a dangerous situation was just as important as getting into one, after all.

"Then welcome to the team, Blink. Ready to change the world?"

Epilogue 1

Somalia, Africa

The mutant criminal known to law enforcement agencies as the Reaper sipped his beer as he waited for his partner. Halfway around the world from his native continent, the terrorist tried to enjoy the simple pleasures. True he didn't know the brand, the bar played some native music that sounded like excrement shoved down a saxophone and the local cigarettes (or whatever they smoked) smelled like rat poison, but life on the run had taught him to enjoy what little pleasures he could squeeze out.

He didn't wait long, however. His partner, the animalistic Wildside, stormed into the bar.

"Grab your damn scythe. We're leaving."

Taking one last gulp, Reaper grabbed his weapon and followed Wildside out of the establishment, brushing past several Hydra agents, men of middle class Arabic descent and youths not old enough to vote in any country but carried weapons like any other soldier. None of them regarded the mutant, or anyone else, with anything approaching respect, but the gathering was peaceful none the less.

When a country was for sale, anyone could find in themselves a little patience.

"Lemme guess, the Bio-asses turned down our offer to create a new Mutant Liberation Front?" Reaper started.

"The bastards don't give a damn about mutants or their own country," muttered Wildside.

"We knew it was a long shot going in," Reaper countered, "hell, we've barely restarted the MLF since we escaped. Lotus, us, and a few other possible recruits, man. Can't say I blame them for turning us down."

Wildside barely nodded in acknowledgment. He was more than 'turned down', he had been outright humiliated in front of dozens of strangers by assholes. It took every ounce of self control and sense of self-preservation to restrain himself from violently answering their insults.

"Lets just find Lotus and blow this God-forsaken country. Christ, I thought Brazil's weather sucked ass…"

"The airhead said she found some cute guy from AIM and was going to find a 'quiet place," Reaper informed his leader.

Wildside sighed. It was probably for the best, he decided. He needed to cool down, and a walk certainly would help in that regard. In theory, at least

&&&

The mutant terrorist duo walked down the unpaved roads of the battered town, drawing stares but no one dared oppose them. Even clansmen armed with semi-automatic rifles gave the two wide berth. They didn't respect the mutants personally, but they, along with the entire town, did respect the inherent power that went with being born with an X-gene.

It took the two an hour and a half of wandering before Wildside finally found the scent of his teleporter. The two thought nothing of it that her trail led into a dead-end alley. It was dark, and Lotus would want privacy with her boy-toy. Normally, Wildside might be inclined to let her have her fun, but he was sick of this country, sick of the food, sick of the people, just plain sick of every damn thing around him.

Reaper walked ahead of his 'leader', equally impatient to leaving and not wishing to be alone with Wildside when he was in a foul mood. As such, he was the first one to spy Lotus.

"'Side? We got trouble."

The young blond woman was unconscious, leaning up against the wall behind several bags of trash and debris that Reaper realized were placed in a deliberate fashion so that from the mouth of the alley, it would have been impossible to see their friend.

"If some bastard hurt her," growled Wildside, his face etched in a feral scowl, "I swear I'll tear this shit-hole apart!"

"She's fine. Nerve strike. But her virtue, well, that was long gone before I met her…"

Reaper and Wildside regarded the man who stood at the mouth of the alley with pure hatred. Dressed in camouflage pants, a black T-shirt and two swords strapped across his back, his stance was too casual, his body language too at ease for their tastes. Without even saying a word, it seemed as if the blond haired mystery man was mocking them.

"And just who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I'm your worst night terror."

Reaper and Wildside just stared in confusion.

"Again," the man put his hand in his face and sighed, "I can't get these earth clichés right to save my life. Alright, just come with it then."

Wildside was the first to answer the challenge. Of the two of them, he was by far the most powerful, with both physical and mental mutations. Concentrating, Wildside activated his ability to distort perceptions and sent the energy in waves towards his mystery foe. Unwilling to wait to see the effects of his attack, the feral mutant charged forward, claws flashing and teeth bared, ready for human flesh. Wildside was convinced that by combining his strengths in such a way, he could kill his foe instantly.

Had he waited but a moment, he would have seen how ineffective his attack was. His foe wasn't even budged by the mental assault and when he slashed outwards with his claw, his foe slapped the hand downwards, barely moving. Wildside fell forward, but before he could catch himself a fist rocketed into his jaw, snapping it in two. His thick skull ricocheted against the wall, and with a pathetic moan of pain Wildside slid to the ground unconscious.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the man warned Reaper.

The albino mutant ignored the comment and swung his scythe at his enemy's head. The man ducked, and the weapon dug itself into the wall. Reaper's eyes shot wide open when he realized his mistake.

"I did warn you."

A simple snap kick was all that was needed to end the fight. With all three foes defeated, the man reached into his pocket and removed a small communicator that possessed a range that belied it's size.

"X-Treme to base. Recon complete. Several targets tried to leave the party early, so I subdued them. Meet me at the extraction point with power restrains for Wildside, Lotus and Reaper. Over."

"Understood," X-Treme recognized the voice on the other end of the radio as Nova, "you going to need help dragging three people across a hostile area to the rendezvous site? I can be there in half an hour if you need me."

"I'll manage. From what I've learned, secretly hauling three unconscious mutants across a volatile area is going to be the easiest thing about this mission."

"So the situation on the ground's really as bad as we were told?"

"Worse," sighed X-Treme as he looked back towards the town, "these guys are just the tip of the iceberg. And if I had to guess, we have two weeks before it becomes a damn inferno."

&&&

Edie Sawyer teleported into an empty room. It wasn't her first time coming here, but she was thankful that it would be her last. A spotlight came down from above, illuminating her for all to see while the room remained pitch black.

"Report, please."

"Force Works has successfully partnered with World Watch. They won't lack for funding."

"Good. And...and Bobby?"

"He's taken it very hard sir."

"I suppose that's to be expected, poor boy. But what's done is done."

"Sir..."

"Don't call me that!" roared the voice with amazing anger and pain. Edie Sawyer flinched as if struck, to hear the man she so admired in such emotional pain.

"Donald Parvenue is dead. He died in a plane crash to assure his legacy. So that they will heal that which I intend to rend, to great a better world. He is nothing now..."

The voice stepped into the light. Though the man was like a second father to her, she still did not recognize this form as the man whom she owed so much. This face, this form was that of a lean, powerful warrior draped in ceremonial armor about to embark on some holy crusade. There was no way to mistake this face with his first, kinder and gentler face.

"...all that remains, is Eric the Red."

Never the End...