Virginia
Nova hated being right, because he was never right about the good things, only the bad. He could never predict which team would win the game, when his girl was in a good mood or when he'd actually find some peace and quiet to just fly, he was always wrong about that stuff.
But when there was trouble, his instincts never steered him wrong. And trying to find a secret list with the names of politicians with mutant relations? That reeked of trouble, though then again, so did most things in his line of work.
Which was why he wasn't surprised that he found himself, alongside his teammates Technocrat and Sabre, facing down a team of heavies known as the Pantheon, looking for the exact same thing and issuing threats. And the Human Rocket never took kindly to those.
"Now, what were you saying about with you or against you?"
"We're both after the same thing," growled Atlanta (definitely their leader, thought Nova), "and there's no second place in this little race. I've followed the work you guys have done, and there's no reason for us to cross swords."
"How did you guys even know about this damn list?!" snapped Nova, nostrils flaring like a bull ready to charge, "you the ones who bugged us, or you got some psychic who looks into a crystal ball?"
"Yes, actually," Atlanta shrugged, "the psychic one, that is. Delphi uses a pool of water, if you must know."
A pause.
"What a freaky world we live in," Nova rubbed the back of his head, "still, you gotta know we can't let you have that list."
"Is that so?" scoffed Atlanta, "are the high and might Force Works are the arbitrators of morality? Hell, on the same token, what makes you think we can just let you get that list?"
"Easy," Nova replied, his eyes glowing with energy. Without moving an inch, he willed force a wave of energy that knocked the Pantheon members backwards with the force of a runaway car.
"Because you can't stop us!"
&
Marvel 2000 Presents
Force Works 28
Relative Threats
Part 2
&
Sabre snickered as she saw the Pantheon strike-force struggle back to their feet, "That's my kind of debate!"
The super sonic mutant was a split second from pummeling their foes at high when Nova grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Hold up! Technocrat!"
Taki tossed Kim a small devise that reminded her a little bit of those tricorders from Star Trek to the speedster.
"With that and your feet, you should be able to find that list, if it's hiding here," explained Nova, "so get going!"
"You hurd my friends!" The eight foot tall powerhouse in the golden armor known as Ajax roared. The earth itself shook with each footfall, but thankfully for the heroes, Ajax was still damn slow.
"Go!"
"Don't have to tell me twice…" Sabre commented under her breath. She sped off towards the cabin in the distance
The Human Rocket flew forward and ploughed into the metal giant, slamming his shoulder into his foe's stomach. To Rider's credit, Ajax skidded to a halt, but when Nova looked up into his foe's eyes, he didn't see a trace a trace of pain.
"You jus' a bug!" Ajax brought his fists up high, "an' I gonna squish you!"
Nova just barely dodged the two crushing fists as they came down, flying backwards just out of range. Ajax hit the ground, and almost instantly created a crater six feet deep and ten feet wide. But what really made it scary was that it seemed Ajax had done so completely on accident, as he tipped backwards into the pit
"Technocrat? Care to tell me what I'm facing?" asked Nova rhetorically as he hovered several feet away from his opponent.
"According to Shield files, his name is Ajax," explained Technocrat, "and he's faced down the Hulk. That enough information?"
"Great," Nova gritted his teeth as his foe stomped forward. On the one hand, he didn't relish the idea of beating on a foe that was mentally handicap. But on the other, he sure as hell didn't want to take a beating from a mentally handicap man strong enough to fight the freakin' Hulk!
"I mash you good!"
Technocrat morphed a series of tools over his hands, "Hold on a second, Nova. Maybe if I can disable his armor..."
An arrow of pure energy brushed past Taki's cheek, just shy of singing it and he was suddenly reminded that the Pantheon wasn't quiet yet defeated.
"You even think about messing with my brother's armor, and the next one goes through your eyes," warned Atlanta.
"What she said, but with more ass kicking and more smiles," warned the silver haired woman (Technocrat quickly identified her as Delphi).
"Handle them, I'll get the big guy," Nova ordered. He shot forward, flying so close to the ground that his chest brushed against the tall grass. Ajax kept charging like a runaway rhino, exactly like Nova had hoped.
The Human Rocket slammed into Ajax's ankle full force, and the armored powerhouse couldn't help but stumble.
Nova smiled. He had him.
Wrapping his arms tightly around Ajax's thick leg, Nova poured every last ounce of power he could into his flight abilities and shot into the surrounding forest like a bullet. Sure, Ajax could trade blows with the Hulk, but he couldn't fly and strength without leverage was useless, as Ajax was quickly discovering.
Unfortunately for Technocrat, however, Nova's tactic still left him alone against two super humans and their heavily armed strike force.
"If your friend hurts Ajax, I'll take his eye," snarled Atlanta.
Taki scowled at the woman, "You're the one who brought their mentally handicap sibling into battle. I'd place the blame for any injury he suffers squarely at your feet."
Three plasma arrows were sent flying, but the targeting computer on Technocrat's laser enabled him to pick them out of the air like clay pigeons. Rather than wait for the rest of the Pantheon forces to attack, he instantly created a dozen holograms of himself while his techpack released a fine mist that covered the ground.
"Well crap," mumbled Atlanta. She knew that without special equipment, the only way she'd be able to know which one was the real deal and not a hologram was to observe which one had crushed the grass underneath their feet.
Still, there was more than one way to skin a cat. Releasing three arrows at once, Atlanta watched with smug satisfaction as they altered their course, slicing through the holograms at frightening speed.
Sabre, move your super sonic rear! thought Taki as his genius mind began formulating another strategy.
&
"How many books does this guy have?"Sabre rummaged through one book shelf after another, examining book after book, looking in anything that might hide a CD, flopping disk, or any other means of hiding information. So far, other than some books, an old bed and more dust than should be legal.
The small cabin had only had about four rooms, and from all appearances hadn't been used in months. If this was where the black mail material was being hid, the bastard sure did a good job of making it look inconspicuous!
Sabre looked underneath the old rugs, behind the old refrigerator, underneath the sticky and cob webbed mattresses, every possible location where someone might conceal a zip drive or a CD full of blackmail. When that turned up nothing, Sabre decided to throw caution to the wind.
After all, it wasn't like there was anything that looked like family heirlooms, and the team had insurance.
She tour apart the mattress looking for clues, and when that revealed nothing, she dismantled the fridge.
In under four minutes, the cabin looked as if a hurricane had struck it, but Sabre still hadn't found a thing. She glanced at the scanner that Technocrat had given her, and saw that its screen was equally empty.
"Damn. Should have known it wasn't going to be that easy," sighed the speedster.
&
"I'm gonner break yo' face!" roared Ajax as he shook his giant hand at Nova.
Nova, for his part, grinned in satisfaction. It wasn't that he felt especially proud for outwitting a mentally handicapped man, Nova was nothing if not decent, but instead he felt proud that he found a way to disable the power house without having to throw a single punch.
Some two miles away from the property, there was a large river bed that Nova found while dragging the lug through the air. The original plan was to dump the big lug off in the forest, but when the Human Rocket saw the river bed, he knew when he'd been given a golden opportunity and instead embedded the golden giant in the silt and mud, where only his weight mattered.
Nova hovered there for a moment, until he was sure that Ajax's massive weight wouldn't drag him down further where he might suffocate, and then rocketed away. Technocrat hadn't radioed for assistance yet, so the Human Rocket felt like indulging himself in a guilty pleasure that doubled as a good tactic.
&
Technocrat took several steps back as plasma arrows and electrical energy slammed against his hastily created shield. The two had been working together to box him in while their support soldiers were ordered off into the woods, to look for some indication that McNeal had hidden the information not in the cabin itself, but outside.
Taki's scanners had already confirmed that there was nothing hidden out here, but he respected the wisdom of their orders. Plus, it kept their men out of Sabre's way, who they didn't have a snowball's chance in hell against, thus they weren't needlessly in harm's way. All in all, Technocrat had an easy time respecting these foes.
A plasma arrow just barely punctured his shield, and Technocrat quickly realized, respect or not, his foes weren't about to cut him any breaks, and decided to switch from defense to offense.
But before he could even move his right hand to take the offensive, there was a sudden blur of motion and then both women were on the ground unconscious while Sabre just stood there with a smug look.
Though he tried not to show it, Technocrat found himself annoyed by how his teammates never ceased spoiling his plans. Things would always be so much more efficient if they just let him do things his way.
"You didn't find anything, I take it?" asked Taki as he reabsorbed the shield.
"Not a thing, unless this gizmo is broke," Sabre thumbed towards the woods, "want me to finish off the red shirts out there?"
"Don't worry about it," Nova descended from the sky, landing in between the two, "they won't stop us from leaving and turning them over to the cops would just be too much damn trouble. I'll air lift us back to base."
"What? That sucks!" Sabre kicked the unconscious Atlantis in the ribs, "they blew up our plane and we're just gonna let them get away with it?"
"Well, they aren't getting away unscathed, lets just leave it at that."
&
Later
"…ar me? Commander, I think she's coming around!"
Altanta waved the man off, and though groggy, sat up and began to survey the situation.
"Sit rep?" she asked the closest Pantheon soldier.
"Ajax is about two miles due west, embedded in some mud. We're working on getting him out now, but it's not easy," explained the soldier, "We examined the area, but didn't find the information. We don't think Force Works found anything either. We're still waiting on pickup before we can head out."
"What happened to our plane?"
The soldier scratched the back of his head and looked aside, "Nova felt a need to leave us a message. He used the jet as both the pin and paper. It read, and I quote, 'payback's a...'"
"I think I can guess the message," Atlanta finished, "alright. Have the men on stand-by, in case Shield or someone decides to show up. I'm going to go give them a hand with Ajax. Point me towards him, eh?"
The soldier obeyed, and soon Atlanta was strolling through the woods with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company, something she hated right now. Her conscience was bugging her something fierce, like a splinter under her skin that she just couldn't reach. Atlanta was a born warrior who loved what she did, fighting the good fight alongside other members of the Pantheon like Ajax and Delphi, her own flesh and blood. She was no stranger to morally questionable missions, even if they weren't her favorite kind.
But this mission…it was different. They weren't trying to depose of a dictator or punish some corrupt polluter, they were trying to find a list for the sole purpose of blackmail in pursuit of their agenda. The more she thought about it, the more Atlanta was beginning to question her mission. Could such corrupt tactics, exploiting racism, secrecy and relying on blackmail ever justify their noble ends? And just how far would they go?
Slowly, the questions Atlanta began asking herself became more troubling than the few answers that she knew.
&
California
"Do you think that we're really doing the right thing here?" asked Blink. She had begun rifling through the main office's desk, though like everyone else she had little idea what she was looking for. All the CDs and such had already been examined by a devise Technocrat had given them, and several scanners that they'd brought along hadn't found anything either.
Which left the old fashioned way, which was both long and tedious.
"I suppose that depends on what you think the right thing is," Moonstar answered, "but to tell the truth, I'd rather have us deciding it than someone else. I don't intend to let anyone, and that includes us, use it, if that's your question."
"I'm not sure what I meant myself," Blink confessed, "With lavender skin, hiding who I am was never really an option until long after I got used to the stares. And in that other reality I told you about…there really wasn't a way to hide if you were a mutant or not."
"Do you think you would have revealed someone as a mutant, if that's what it would have taken to bring them into the fight?" asked Arsenal.
"I…honestly don't know," Blink answered. While she personally had never hesitated to fight, to do the right thing, she was a little less certain about making others she didn't know do the same thing.
"I do. People have a right to know if their neighbor is a monster or not."
Blink looked at her teammate incredulously, "And what do you mean by…"
"Blink!" Mirage cut off the teleporting mutant quickly. Placing a finger to her lips, and then pointing towards the window, said, "I think I've found something."
The three young heroes braced themselves instantly, and they weren't disappointed.
The far wall exploded outwards to reveal three individuals, standing on a platform of solid energy. Two women, one Asian and another short haired blond, and an African American male who was generating the platform for the other two. They wore matching blue uniforms, vaguely reminiscent of Shield, and both Mirage and Arsenal recognized them instantly.
"Defense Force, huh?" Dani had to admit, she wasn't as surprised as she should have been. They ran into this crew during a cover-up once already, "I have to admit, when I thought someone was listening in, I didn't think it would be you. I'm glad to see that you're still alive, Sam."
"Thanks. You'd be surprised how little I hear that," Flashblade winked, "We do have a way of running into each other in…compromising positions. I'd just as soon not fight, but we need that information from you."
Dani smirked underneath her mask, "I knew you were listening in, Flashblade. We've searched this place from top to bottom and found nothing. I just wanted to know who some of the players were in this race."
"…"
The trio stood there for a moment, awkward being too small a word to describe their feelings.
"I knew this was a mistake from the beginning," muttered Savant.
"Don't worry," Arsenal unsheathed his claws and activated his steel skin, "you can explain it to the cops."
"Bobby, stop!"
Arsenal raged forward, and Twilight just barely created an energy shield to stop the steel fist aimed at his head. Flashblade reacted on instinct, hitting Arsenal with a flurry of energy knives.
The assault drove him back only inches, and he instantly retaliated with an optic blast that blew the three off the platform they'd been standing on and out into the street.
"Arsenal, stop, that's an order!"
The winged hero didn't so much as slow down as he dove out the hole.
"Damn it! Blink!"
"On it!"
&
Arsenal was so focused on the three superhumans recovering on the street that he barely registered the –blink!- sound of his teammates teleport signature. A moment later, he felt as if his entire body, from his brain to his heart to even his cells, were being dragged through a strainer. He barely realized that his trajectory had changed so that instead of flying parallel to the ground, he was flying at it full force.
The impact cracked the street and between the strain of teleporting and the crash, Arsenal blacked out.
Blink teleported beside her teammate, and after a quick check to confirm that he was okay, turned her head towards the three members of Defense Force.
"Get out of here. This isn't over, but we'll deal with you later."
Flashblade looked like she wanted to say something, but simply bit her lip and nodded curtly.
Blink looked down at her unconscious teammate, and silently hoped that the others were having better luck.
&
"We are Legionix."
X-Treme and Wolfsbane barely dove out of the path of a flaming fireball. Luckily the street behind them was free of bystanders. There were plenty of people both stupid and brave enough to linger, of course, but they had the good sense to at least hide behind the parked automobiles.
A slight hum pierced the air, and Vibraxis appeared as if out of thin air.
"Any chance you could phase us next time?" X-Treme growled.
"Regrettably, my power extends to only myself," Vibraxis stated, "unless your body can channel vibrations powerful enough to move mountains, that is."
"Just love to play up your resume," X-Treme grated under his breath.
"Boys," Wolfsbane interrupted, "stop yuir whining and focus. We're still in the middle of a fight."
X-Treme eyed their foes carefully. There were six total, and each were wearing identical armor, blew uniforms underneath shining white armor and helmets that covered their entire face with a single, inch wide slit for their eyes. To the naked eye, they were all completely identical.
"We are Legionix," the men repeated.
"Noted," X-Treme dashed forward, leapt into the air aiming a kick towards the Legion member that had tossed the fireball…only for another member to step forward and clap his hands. There was a massive sonic boom, and X-Treme found himself tossed backwards like a blade of grass caught in a hurricane.
Vibraxis unleashed his own powers to counter the shockwave, and was halfway successful. A rush of air dislodged his communicator, but no further damage was done. X-Treme managed to land on his feet, and Wolfsbane was at their side in moments.
"We are Legionix."
The men began to spread out, blocking the street off.
"Think we caught that the first time," X-Treme mumbled.
"It is a cover," Vibraxis stated, eying their foes with suspicion, "the vibrations inside their helmets are not the same as what we hear. We simply can't hear what they are saying."
"And they have image inducers," Wolfsbane added, "they create a slight hum I'd recognize anywhere."
"Meaning we can't tell them apart or what they're planning. Clever idea, actually…" X-Treme weighed the situation in his mind, "we can still take them. We've got speed, power and experience on our side."
"But not wit' out collateral damage," Wolfsbane warned, "we should jus' leave."
X-Treme looked at Wolfsbane as if she's grown another head. There were few situations in which Adam considered retreat a viable option. Faced with an overwhelming force or immediate death and or explosion were the main ones, and this situation hardly approached that level of danger.
"And just let them get away?" X-Treme hissed.
"We didn't find a damned thing!" Wolfsbane snapped back, "ye want to explain to the police that we're looking for blackmail material!"
"This assumes they allow us to leave unharmed," Vibraxis remarked, "I, for one, will not shy from battle."
"We are Legionix!" The six armored men moved as one…and six shots rang out, fell as one.
"What in the hell just happened?!"
The three heroes began looking around frantically as the gathered crowd ran away in a panic.
"A good Samaritan?"
"Leavin' us to handle the police and six bodies?" Rahne scoffed, "he's a bloody devil, whoever it was…"
&
Jose Manual jogged down the street, away from the fleeing crowds to where he had his car parked. Rubbing his throat as if it were sore, he activated a special throat implant, designed by his team's resident genius, Savant. Using it was a little like whispering, a little bit like throwing your voice, but no one questioned the benefits. It allowed them to have complete conversations instantly, with people no less than three feet away unable to hear a single word.
"Arrowsmith here," he reported, "Force Works didn't find anything at the town house and were ambushed as they were leaving. You guys have any better luck?"
"Negative," reported their leader, Flashblade, "the cabin was searched before the others got there and we got smacked around at his LA office, but that was it. I'm to think this bastard took his secrets to the grave with him."
"It's not over yet, boss lady," Arrowsmith looked at the communicator in his hand, "and if they do find it, we'll be the first ones to know."
&
"Dani, we have a call," Arsenal said gruffly. He was in the pilot's seat, and was apparently still sore from recent events.
"Hope this is good news…" Dani flicked on the monitor in front of her seat, and was greeted by a split level screen with Nova on the top and Wolfsbane on the bottom. Just one glance at their faces was all she needed to predict what they were going to say.
"Nothing at all?"
"I was kinda hoping you had somethin'." Nova commented.
"We found plenty o' trouble," Wolfsbane said, "we got attacked, and then someone killed them! We're still dealing with the police!"
"We ran into Defense Force," Dani stated, "they had a marksman in their team, it might have been him."
"Does it really matter?" asked Rahne, "we're spinning our wheels and every second we waste brings someone else that much closer to finding this information!"
"WE're going about this all the wrong way," Nova sighed, "This McNeal guy, he wouldn't have been dumb enough to leave this information lying around where anyone could find it. But he'd also be smart enough to hide it where someone who knew him might be able to find it, if things went south."
"I see what you're saying," Dani nodded, "we need to talk to his assistant."
"Exactly. If anyone could point us in the right direction, it's him."
&
Arlington, Virginia
Peter Miller glanced around, feeling as though someone was staring at him for some odd reason. He scanned the nearby apartment buildings, glanced down the street, and still saw nothing.
Half dismissing the thought as paranoia, but still very aware of the fact people were looking for the information his deceased employer had cultivated. He looked a second time, and his mind finally at ease, went inside his house.
Crouched on the roof of an apartment block just two blocks away, the mutant terrorist known as Fantomex adjusted his binoculars, and awaited the arrive of his teammates.
Next issue: Force Works finds themselves within spitting distance of their target, but unfortunately for them, so does everyone else! How far will Force works go to secure information whose only value is blackmail?