Marvel 2000 Presents

Force Works 35

"National Sanity."

Part 1

Reagan National Airport

Charlie Burlingame drummed his fingers on the consul, completely bored out of his mind.

"So is there actually going to be any action on this mission, or what?"

"The chances haven't become any better since the last time you asked," replied his teammate, Technocrat, "if there was, do you think Danielle would have assigned you the mission?"

"Start one lousy riot…" Charcoal sighed, "why we even here, man?"

The two members of Force Works were in a small aircraft provided by Nova. It was little larger than the average SUV, and more sophisticated than almost anything Technocrat had encountered. Even better the craft was designed to work for a multitude of species, thus enabling Taki to master its control with only a minimum of effort.

"We're here as a favor," with his tech-pak, Technocrat was connected directly into the sensors, allowing him to monitor virtually the entire airport without ever leaving his seat, "one of the private hangars is owned by a Shield front company, and they're moving some super processors and assorted other rare parts. There was some Intel about them being intercepted, but not concrete enough to justify extra personnel. So by being here, Shield owes us a favor and we stop anything that might happen. It's called being pro-active, something we strive for."

"Thought beating up villains at home was being proactive," Charcoal sighed.

"There is far more to being pro-active than just violence," Technocrat answered, "and often, if we do our job right, no one sees anything at all."

"Well, this seems like a nice, quiet transfer. Nothing's going to go wrong," Charcoal observed.

Technocrat glared at him, and several tense seconds went by.

"Damn," Charlie sighed, "that usually works."

And that was when another hangar, this one three rows down from the one they were observing, exploded.

Metro City, Force Works Briefing Room

"So no go as far as San Francisco is concerned?" Mirage asked.

"Afraid so," Hoffman replied, "all the locals are still circling the drain while contacts are hard to come by. Unless you're willing to move there long term, I don't see us having much luck there."

"Damn," Mirage muttered, "it's been too long since I was in a target rich environment. What's another possible target?"

"So how about Flag Smasher?" said Nova.

"Why him, hon?" Namorita asked.

"Just to show we ain't soft on guys who sound nice," Nova replied, "I mean, one united world sounds nice and all, but he racks up a body count wherever he goes."

"That's a good idea," said Mirage, "Hoffman, is there any intelligence about Ultimatum's latest activities?"

"You know, when I was with the Company, we went after threats, not good PR," sighed Bruce Hoffman, former Intelligence Officer and now Force Works main pipeline for Intel.

"No, you went after threats to United States interests without much regard to the morality of your actions," Namorita countered, "now please, stop grumbling. We all agreed that one of the best way to define this team's mission statement was by our choice of enemies."

"Well, Flag Smasher is a bust at the moment," Hoffman replied, "they're laying low, though chatter indicates that they have something in the pipeline. I don't like our chances at finding out any better than Shield, who are working on it. However, if we're looking for good bad guys, pardon the pun, there's something here about North Korea kidnapping and brainwashing mutants. Two confirmed reports, but they won't reach the brass for another two weeks and won't be addressed for another three."

Mirage tapped her fingers against the table, contemplating. The four of them were in Force Works' main Briefing Room, trying to decide on their agenda for the next week. Unlike many of their peers, Force Works preferred to seek out targets, rather than just being targeted.

But unfortunately, finding threats wasn't half as easy as being attacked.

"North Korea sounds good. They're like modern Nazis, no one'll complain if we beat them up," Said Nova, a goofy smirk on his face.

"Rich has a point," Danielle replied, "North Korea is far from a favored nation. We pull off a mission there, and I think we'll be in news cycles for at least two weeks. I'll start mission planning, see what we need to do before we launch a mission."

"I'll begin putting the news packets together," Namorita began, "maybe…"

"Technocrat to Work Tower, come in! We have an emergency!"

Everyone in the room turned to the monitor on the far wall. Technocrat's face was plastered across the screen, an uncommon look of terror playing across his face.

"What's the situation, Taki?" Mirage asked.

"We have a Magneto-class superhuman attacking Reagan National!" Technocrat exclaimed, "agenda unknown. I'm afraid Charcoal engaged before I could stop him, and I don't think his chances of success are terribly great."

"Nova," Mirage turned towards her second in command, but by the time she'd turned around, he was already gone, the papers in front of his desk fluttering in the air like leaves from a tree, "'Nita, activate the general alarm and have everyone here meet me in the hangar!"

"Will do," Nita turned to Technocrat, "Taki, any chance you can zoom in on the attacker? Is this a new player, or someone with new packaging?"

"I'll patch you into the outboard computer," Technocrat quickly typed in a few commands, "I've already run his face through several different law enforcement databases and came up empty."

The camera zoomed into the image of a young man, with red hair and freckles that flitted through the air as Charcoal hurled blasts of flame in his direction. The unknown attacker was wearing a black body suit and matching cape, and over that wore a sleek silver chest plate with a bright, pulsating blue light in the center that seemed to easily withstand Charcoal's fire. Taki paused on a close-up of the assailant's face.

"Anyone you might know?"

The monitor was a high definition model that wouldn't be available for commercial purposes for two years, and Namorita's eye sight was razor sharp, so much so that the blackest ocean depths were like a summer's day to her. And yet she still couldn't believe what she saw.

"John?"

Technocrat blinked, "You know this person? How…?"

Namorita didn't even hear Taki as she darted towards the Hangar as breakneck speeds.

"Typical, run off in a dramatic fashion," Technocrat sighed, "because God forbid we act completely intelligently."

"You get used to it," Hoffman said. Technocrat hadn't even noticed him, "guess we'll invade North Korea next week…"

Crystal City, Arlington

Richard Rider made it from Metro City to Reagan National Airport inside a minute and a half, and that extra thirty seconds was because his helmet's computer had an annoying lag-time when it came to linking up with the FAA servers. The last thing the Human Rocket wanted was to become a Human Missile, and tear apart a passenger jet that was in between him and where he wanted to be.

Nova came in high, and observed an almost transparent force-field that was wrapped around the airport, and dozens of people were pounding against it futilely, struggling to get out. Nova saw a large, black blur speed past his head, and realized quickly realized what it meant.

He chased after it, and caught Charcoal just three miles past the Pentagon.

"You okay there Chucky?" asked Nova.

"Don't call me Chucky," Charcoal groaned. He rubbed his head with his giant, block-like fingers, "that guy's got one hell of a pimp hand, I'll give him that."

"And he certainly showed you the back of it," said Nova, "ready to show him the benefits of teamwork?"

"Run, run from the electro-magnetic might of Pulsar!" shouted the man, as he held his hands high and lightning flowed wildly from his gauntlets. It ran all across the tarmac and into the airport like water bursting free from a dam.

Vending machines exploded, clocks sparked wildly, an evacuated plane caught fire, as energy flooded the airport like water. However, while this was all happening, not a single human being was so much as singed by the maelstrom of power.

Electrical energy curved around a terrified sixty year old woman, a magnetic shield covered a father and his young baby and defected shrapnel that would have otherwise crushed them and a hundred other examples.

Pulsar stopped his barrage for a moment to drink in all at the unbridled destruction he'd unleashed. For a moment, looking at the destruction, the rubble strewn about like litter, scattered baggage turning like oil drums and scorch marks that covered nearly every wall like graffiti. Inside of ten short minutes, Pulsar had turned a busy airport into a reflection of a Third World battlefield and even smacked around a superhero!

The sheer scale of what he'd just done actually surprised and scared the fledgling villain, just a little bit. Even though Pulsar personally created the harness that gave him the strength to accomplish all this, he never truly grasped just how powerful it was until now. Before, it was just math and metal, now it was stone cold reality.

The thought of unimaginable power made different people react in all kinds of strange manners. Pulsar just happened to be one of the rare few who were enraged to the very core of their being. But it was a deep, abiding rage that had long since past yelling and now simmered constantly, waiting for a trigger.

The rookie villain actually managed to put that aside when he heard a familiar -beep!- warning him of an incoming attack, just seconds before something smashed into a wall of gravity with such strength that Pulsar was slammed backwards, hitting the ground hard and carved out a shallow trench before he came to a stop.

"Thank God for auto-defenses," Pulsar mumbled as he rubbed his head. He was still laying flat on the tarmac, and saw spots in his vision. His head was pounding, and it wasn't helped at all by Charcoal and Nova, who were hammering at the force-field that now surrounded him.

"Finally," Pulsar smiled as he sent a wave of energy outwards, knocking both heroes backwards, "an audience!"

"We're approaching Reagan National now," Arsenal said flatly, "everyone get ready. Hope you're not too rusty, Namorita."

"Rusty?" Namorita bristled, "fighting's in my blood Bobby, you just worry about yourself."

"Opening drop doors," X-Treme said loudly, opening to divert attention, "I'll join you guys when I find some place to set the Stealth Wing down out of the way."

"Clarice, bring us down," Mirage ordered.

Blink teleported Arsenal, Namorita, Sabre and Mirage down onto the tarmac beside Nova and Charcoal. Pulsar hovered in the air several yards away, arms crossed on front of his chest.

"Sit rep?" Mirage asked Nova.

"My name is Pulsar," volunteered the villain, "and I'm here to begin my first act of mass destruction."

"Why John?" Namorita stepped forward, "can you at least explain to me why my science tutor is destroying a major airport?"

Pulsar seemed to do a double take when he saw the Atlantean Princess, and swallowed hard. He recovered quickly enough, however.

"'Nita! I didn't expect to see you here. But I really should have, should I?" Pulsar mused wistfully, "after all, you're the only superhero I know."

"John…"

"The reason why I'm here is multifaceted actually," Pulsar said, "but honestly, does one really need an excuse to destroy an airport named after a man who fired thousands of airline workers? Frankly, I think the people who work here would thank me!"

"Hell with this," Sabre muttered. She had little patience for villains, even less for pointless rants and a love of action. The superfast mutant raced towards Pulsar at the speed of sound, and came within three feet of him when she sensed…something, and veered off instinctively.

It was all that saved her life, as she ricocheted off an invisible forcefield, tripped and skidded down the runway.

"Eager, huh?" Pulsar smirked, "another reason why I'm doing this? Because if it were possible to get drunk on power, I could give all of Tijuana alcohol poisoning."

Pulsar held out his palm, and a wave of gravity swept all save Nova from their feet.

The Human Rocket looked back at his team, now scattered about on the ground like liter in a park.

"You got power, I'll give you that," Nova remarked. He then blasted forward and slammed into Pulsar's force-field with such force that the villain's teeth ached, "so lets see how far ahead you thought, eh?"

Nova slammed his palms together, and the resulting sonic boom brought Pulsar to his knees.

"Okay, oww!" Pulsar said, though his ears were ringing so hard he couldn't even hear himself think, "point for the Neanderthal!"

"Rider, step back a moment," Technocrat requested over Nova's radio, "let me try something."

Technocrat landed next to Nova, his wrist covered in what could only be described as a giant TV dish, and pointed it in Pulsar's direction. Several tense seconds passed, as Nova looked on.

"…well?" Nova had no idea what Taki was trying to accomplish, but all he could see was his teammate pointing something weird at their enemy.

"I'm trying to remote hack his systems!" Technocrat hissed, as if it should be obvious.

"Sorry, I use a closed system," Pulsar said smugly. He pointed his hand at Technocrat, "now goodbye."

Pulsar unleashed a short burst of energy, and watched in surprise as it passed harmlessly through his target.

"How…?"

"Okay, amateur hour is over," Mirage snapped, "Surrender now, or it gets ugly."

"I'm new at this. How do most villains say 'screw you'?" Pulsar asked.

"Usually with big words and run on sentences," Mirage answered, "Arsenal, Nova, Charcoal!"

Force Works' most powerful members shot forward as one, but Pulsar simply yawned as they crashed harmlessly against his force-field.

"Need to do better than…," Pulsar felt a psychic arrow breeze past his head. He spun around, and saw Mirage aiming another volley at him. Pulsar reacted instinctively, and let loose a microwave blast that sent her diving for cover.

"Nova, now!"

Pulsar rolled her eyes. Wasn't Force Works supposed to be smarter than average?

The Electro-Magnetic villain was about to say something witty, when what felt like a freight train slammed into him, and fingers as hard as steel grabbed him by the neck and pitched him into the ground.

Pulsar' his head spinning, saw Nova looming over him, the palm of his hand pressed resting against his head.

"One wrong move, and you won't need a haircut ever again," Nova warned.

"…how did you get past my defenses?" Pulsar choked, his world still swimming. At a moment like this, his science was all he could focus on.

Several feet behind Nova, Blink stood there smirking. She wanted to brag about how she simply teleported his force-field away to allow Nova to tackle him, but knew better. After all, how many times had she heard stories about villains who were beaten simply because they didn't know when to shut up?

"Now we talk, John," Namorita stated, "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

"What, you're not going to ask how?" Pulsar demanded, "how I became so powerful? How I can do this?"

"You have somehow created a micro-sun, contained it in a pocket dimension and control its various energies via your armor," Technocrat summarized, "close enough?"

"…you could at least say that with a little more awe," Pulsar muttered, "I've taken a star and made it my bitch with technology! Come on!"

"Yes, yes, yes, all very nice," Technocrat replied, while deliberately trying not to think about what he'd said. Of all of Force works, Taki knew that he was the only one who fully understood the implications and could appreciate the sheer genius of Pulsar's creation. He only hoped that the villain lacked the tactical ability to fully exploit it, "but we'd like to hear why you haven't simply patented your devise, and retired a young billionaire with several Nobel prizes for solving the world's energy needs."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Pulsar smirked.

"And where's the Freshman who took pride in tutoring senior Business Majors?" Namorita asked, "please John, why are you doing this!"

"Because…" Pulsar's voice became mixed with anger and regret, "because there is an even greater lesson that must be taught. This country must be taught to care, to realize their negligence. And where better to start than at an airport named after the man who started it all?"

"…I have no idea what he's talking about," Charcoal stated.

"In due time, in due time," Pulsar assured the hero. With a mental shrug, he unleashed a wall of gravity in every direction, throwing the young heroes backwards, "now, isn't it customary to have a brawl? Help me out, I'm still new at this."

Metro City, Starbucks

Tarene set down her pencil and stretched. Whereas most people preferred to do their homework in the privacy of their own room, Tarene preferred to do hers in public. Living in the Tower with just a handful of people did not a social experience make.

Still, it was nice to have a familiar face, especially when you were having trouble with a homework assignment. Her teammate, Vibraxis, M'Kano the Second, was more than eager to help when he learned that said assignment was regarding African history.

"Thanks a lot for your help, M'Kano," Tarene closed her notebook and placed it in her backpack, "you really made the assignment fun."

"Anything to help a comrade in arms," M'Kano replied evenly, "kindly inform me of your grade, however. Western teachers can be so fickle with regards to their knowledge of African history. We wouldn't want the American Education system to fail even more."

"Err…right," Tarene pulled out her math book, "think you could help me some with my algebra? Bobby's been tutoring me, but he's been so different lately."

"It isn't a problem at all," M'Kano said, "just give me a moment to replenish my drink."

Tarene flipped open her book, and was looking at her assignment when she heard someone yell…

"What do you mean drinks are not refilled free of charge?"

Tarene, mortified, tried to cover the side of her face with her hand and somehow prayed it was enough to prevent anyone from seeing her.

And of course, that was when a middle aged woman walked into Tarene, and dropped her purse all over the table.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" the woman scrambled to pick up everything that had spilled out of her purse, "guess I should pay more attention to where I'm going and not jerks at the registers, huh?"

"They can be embarrassing…I mean distracting!"

"Looks like my lipstick fell into your backpack," the woman leaned down and snatched it up and threw it into her purse, "thanks dear, I'm so sorry."

The woman walked away as Tarene fought to stave off death by embarrassment. When she turned a corner, she reached into her purse and removed a USB drive that she'd removed from Tarene's backpack. According to her briefing, it was supposed information regarding Force Works' contacts, observations about their security system, and their comings and goings.

In essence, the small piece of plastic was Force Works' entire operation on a silver platter.

"I remember when these things were twice the size with a fraction of ze information," sighed the woman, "maybe I might not have a bullet in the shoulder, if information was this small before…."

Adam Sol, AKA The X-Treme, moved from one hangar to the next in text book commando style. When he reached the hangar, he listened, looked, and waited for any sign that something was amiss.

He didn't need to be told this attack was a diversion, or that his combat skills would be next to useless against an enemy like that. So X-Treme instead focused on using his espionage training towards ferreting out why some megalomaniac would be tearing up an airport.

Sure enough, X-Treme found three individuals at the farthest hangar from the battle, and a half dozen unconscious SHIELD agents scattered on the ground. There were only three people even standing. One was a large fellow in regular jeans and a T-shirt, a much older man in camouflage pants, and a single female in a sleek, full body armor with square mirrors that ran the length of her wrists.

The big one was moving crates out of the hangar into a small, oval hovercraft, while the other two stood guard. They didn't look especially afraid of discovery, and Adam was sure they weren't. After all, he hadn't seen them on approach, the hairs on the back of his head were standing on end and the air had a metallic tang to it. Some form of cloak, no doubt.

X-Treme casually wondered how long they'd been planning this operation. The technical side was exception, but the way the three moved was like a pamphlet on their inexperience. There was no discipline, no real structure.

"Almost too easy," X-Treme muttered as he took out two daggers. The three still hadn't seen him, but from his position he saw an easy way to route all three, regardless of their powers. The big one first to instill fear and then quick strikes to disable the other two, he reasoned.

X-Treme burst from his position and raced across the tarmac like a cheetah. He knocked over two oil drums to make sure they heard him, and by the time all three realized he was there, X-Treme was in front of the big one, knives ready to be inserted into vital muscles.

"Aaaaahhhhh!" The Big One screamed, dropping the crate and scrambling away as fast as his legs could carry him.

X-Treme froze. This wasn't the first time he'd utterly terrified an enemy, but it was the first time the enemy displayed a genuine, child like terror that was all but impossible to fake. He studied his enemy's face, listened to his voice as he cried for help and quickly realized he had just come within inches of wounding a mentally disabled enemy.

"Max!"

Fortunately, a blast of solid light struck X-Treme before guilt and disgust could fully sink in. Adam was thrown off his feet, and landed hard on his back.

"How could you!" the female demanded, her hands smoldering with energy "he's mentally disabled!"

"I didn't bring him to a fight," X-Treme muttered as he flipped to a standing position, "hells…"

X-Treme saw over a dozen perfect copies of the woman who blasted him, and each one had him in their sights.

"So what's your deal?" X-Treme asked, hoping to buy some time, "you've obviously been planning this for a while."

"The name is Reflection," the woman stated, "as for our plan, you'll find out soon enough. But now I have to ask you to leave."

All dozen images of Reflection let loose a thin stream of energy, and X-Treme just barely leapt out of the way to avoid being hit. He dropped his two daggers, unsheathed his sword with one hand and activated an emergency button with his other as he parried the blasts.

X-Treme was like a blur as he bounced back blast after blast and though it wasn't much of a physical strain, he was beginning to sweat. He was pinned down and being toyed with. Unless he got back-up, X-Treme wasn't confident he'd last ten more minutes.

Nova hefted the fuel truck in his hands, and then threw it towards Pulsar like a javelin.

"Caveman please," Pulsar blasted it out of the air with a wave of difference, "that works for an action movie, but not…"

Pulsar was going to say 'real life', but what amounted to napalm washed over him. His force-field kept most of it off, but the burning fuel landed all around him and began smothering him in smoke.

"Arsenal, Charcoal, contain him!" Mirage ordered, "Sabre, control the fire!"

Arsenal unleashed his optic blasts while Charcoal unleashed a hose of flame. Both powerhouses stood within the fire itself, mere feet from Pulsar. The villain hacked like a man with a lung infection, while his force-fields kept him safe from the fire and head, it did nothing about the smoke.

"This caveman has some tricks," Nova grunted.

"Hold back," Mirage ordered, "be ready to back them up if something goes…",Mirage heard a quick SOS signal over her communicator, "wrong…"

She knew immediately what was happening. This attack smelled like a distraction, and X-Treme was the one investigating that possibility. Only now he needed a rescue, and she wasn't certain who to spare.

Luckily, the indecision lasted no longer than a second, "Charcoal, X-Treme needs back-up! Get going!"

"Gone, boss lady!" Charcoal rocketed into the air like a firecracker.

"Hell, I could be there and back by the time he reaches X-Treme," Sabre snapped, "just watch!"

"Sabre, wait!"

But it was already too late. By the time the speedster's words reached Mirage's ears, the young legacy heroine was already gone.

So too was the cyclone that had been keeping the smoke trapped around Pulsar. In an act of desperation, the Star Powered Villain rose into the air as he unleashed a powerful burst of gravity that swept the smoke away from him.

"Clever," Pulsar wheezed, "but that won't work twice…"

Sabre raced across Reagan National just under the speed of sound, largely for maneuverability. The faster she went, the harder it was to evade obstacles and more dangerous it became to hit something.

But no matter how fast she ran, she still wasn't fast enough to avoid something going just under the speed of sound. X-Treme deflected a stray energy blast just as Sabre approached. It sliced through a calf muscle, and sent her sprawling across the tarmac.

X-Treme saw her tumbling across the runway, and realized she was heading right towards the enemy's metal hovercraft at dangerous speeds. With a grunt he pushed forward, his sword still swirling as it blocked blast after blast, but more and more slipped through his defense as he was forced to move to try to save his teammate. The blasts burned like a sharp knives on his skin, but Adam was just glad they didn't cut him in half.

He broke through the barricade of solid light, and leapt in front of Sabre with only seconds to spare. She slammed into him at high speeds, and in turn crushed him up against the hard metal of the ship. Both were instantly knocked unconscious.

"Are they hurt?" Max wringed his hands nervously, "you said we'd only hurt those who deserve it, but they heroes. I saw it on TV!"

"They're fine," Reflection said with complete indifference, "drag them away from the hover ship and lets finish up. John can't keep them busy forever."

Max had just finished dragging the two away from their getaway craft when their hovercraft exploded into so much scrap metal.

"So hey, could you guys stick around to answer a few questions?" asked Charcoal.

"Allow me," said the older man. He pointed his hand at Charcoal, and unleashed a blast of sheer power that bowled the young hero over.

"That was just a love tap," snarled the older man, "you asshats called me Neutron Bum when I first got my powers. Probably thought it was real funny too. You don't step aside right now boy, and I'll turn you into free floating particles."

Charcoal felt the metal beneath his feet, "Sorry, gramps. Maybe next time."

Charcoal kicked outwards, and a large piece of metal went flying through the air. Neutron Bum vaporized it effortlessly, but Charcoal had just enough time to reignite and blast into the air.

"Come and get jerks!" Charcoal shouted, hoping they'd ignore how X-Treme was regaining consciousness. With any luck, the two of them would have the situation wrapped in a few minutes.

"For round one, I think I did okay," Pulsar coughed. His high tech suit was marred by smoke, his heart was hammering and sweat poured down his forehead.

Force works wasn't in much better shape. Arsenal, Mirage, Technocrat, Blink and Nova were covered in scrapes and bruises and breathing heavily. What their foe lacked in experience, he made up for in sheer power and defense, a bad tactical combination for them.

"Should I make a foreboding, dramatic statement before I leave?" Pulsar asked in all seriousness, "I hope not, because I just forgot the perfect one liner I had. I swear, Magneto makes it look so easy!"

"Damn it, John!" Namorita flew up to Pulsar, but refused to throw a punch. As much as she wanted to, she knew her words would have far more power, "this isn't a joke, and this isn't you!"

"You barely knew me," Pulsar growled, in a low tone completely at odds with his earlier attitude, "and you don't even know why I'm here. So don't you dare say this isn't me! That I'm wrong! Besides…"

Pulsar formed a sphere of energy in his hands, and then casually tossed it aside. The globe shot through the air even faster than Nova could follow.

"A Delta flight just lost all instruments," Pulsar looked over Force Works, "I intend to leave. So you may follow me, or save several hundred lives. I'd say it's your choice, but…"

"Damn it…" Nova growled. The Human Rocket looked towards Pulsar with a look of pure contempt before he said, "Arsenal, Technocrat, Blink, we need to go. It'll take all of us to land that thing safely."

Force Works flew one way, Pulsar flew the other. With barely a moment of consideration, Namorita followed the villain.

"Swing and a miss!"

Charcoal hoped he sounded cockier than he felt. The old guy with the blasts was a poor shot, but Charlie could feel the heat from his blasts even when he missed by a full five feet. He didn't know how much punishment his Charcoal body could take, but he wasn't eager to find out.

But he knew he wouldn't have to worry much longer. X-Treme was conscious again, and was barely a foot away from the old man. This fight would be over in a second.

Charcoal was painfully correct, but he was wrong about which side was about to claim victory. X-Treme suddenly fell to his knees, and the ground around him literally sank a full foot, while Charcoal found himself plummeting to the earth like a stone. He poured more and more energy into his legs, providing enough thrust to reach orbit but he still crashed like a lead balloon.

"It is time to leave, my Psionex," Pulsar said as he levitated his followers, and then looked at the equipment Charcoal had smashed, "hmm, well, that's what I get for trying to be too clever."

"Damn it John!" Namorita snapped, "stop treating this like a joke! You've hurt hundreds and endangered countless people! Stop this insane act before it goes too far!"

"Insane?" Pulsar's upper lip twitched, "how ironic. I've hurt less people than you know, and what I have planned isn't insanity, it's pure, karmic justice. However, if you wish to find me, all you need do is search state run mental asylums."

Namorita gave her once friend an odd look. It wasn't every day that a villain told you exactly where they could be found.

"I'll see you soon, Nita."

Pulsar disappeared from sight, followed by a sonic boom. Namorita didn't know how it happened, but she was smart enough to know that she didn't have a chance in hell of finding him now.

"So…you know that guy?" asked Charcoal as he picked himself up and brushed off some loose debris.

"…I thought I did," Namorita said in complete disbelief, "I thought I did."

Next Issue: The not so secret history of Pulsar! What's his past, what's his connection with Namorita and what is he planning next?