Seoul

Warnings flashed over the heads-up display installed in Parnell Jacobs’ helmet. They were projected directly onto his retina, alerting him to the high level of radiation in the area. “I know, you stupid computer, now stop telling me about it!”

The man who called himself War Machine hovered above the busy streets of Seoul. The flaming skeleton that belonged to the Atom Smasher slowly rose above the streets as well.

“Alright man, let’s just take this easy, okay?” asked War Machine. “No reason we can’t be civil about this whole thing.”

The Atom Smasher threw his arms forward, emitting powerful blasts of radioactive microwaves from his fingertips. Waves which caught War Machine in their blast radius.

“We’ve got a problem here…!” he shouted, transmitting the message back to the Infiltrator via his armor’s comm-systems. The rocket launcher flipped up from its position on his back and launched several projectiles at once at the Atom Smasher. He quickly destroyed each of them before they posed the slightest threat, but it gave War Machine a distraction to rush forward, opening fire with the gatling gun mounted on his other shoulder.

“Bridge, do you read me or did you run to the can or something?”

“I read you, War Machine.”

“Good, then how about some back-up? This guy’s gonna be a handful!”

“We’re preparing to deploy some back-up right now.”

“Please tell me it’s Deathlok with some kind of really big gun…”

“Not quite.”

“Then who else is gonna stand up to someone like this?” asked War Machine. “…oh crap, you decided to send in the psycho freak, didn’t you?”

{I’d watch what you say if I were you, Mr. Jacobs,} came a voice inside War Machine’s head. {It might remind me of how much I dislike you.}

The X-Man descended from the clouds, his eye crackling with energy as he extended his arms, generating an invisible field around the Atom Smasher and slowly closing it in. The Atom Smasher seemed to struggle against it, trying to force it open, but the more energy he expanded, the more X-Man tightened his psionic grip, forcing the radiation to remain inward until he found himself containing a miniature atomic explosion with nothing but the force of his mind.

{I’m not detecting any thought patterns. He’s dead.}

“That means we can go home now, right?” asked War Machine. His HUD began displaying warnings once again, far more frequently and far more urgently. “Wait…something’s wrong here. I keep getting radiation readings.”

“Residuals?”

“Nah, can’t be,” said War Machine. “If it were residual, it’d be lower than the Atom Smashers. But what I’m gettin’, it’s showing increased radiation levels.” He looked at the X-Man. “You sure this guy’s dead?”

“Yes,” said the mutant shaman, but without even looking at War Machine. Instead, he looked to the skies. “But that doesn’t apply to them.”

At least a dozen more black skeletons surrounded by yellowish green flames descended from the heavens, an entire squadron of Atom Smashers, each of them prepared to do the bidding of their leaders.

“Fuck me sideways…” muttered War Machine.

ATOMIC

Part III

By Dino Pollard

The Infiltrator

“I don’t think I heard you correctly, War Machine,” said Bridge. “Did you just say there are more Atom Smashers?”

“He did. Colonel, look at this,” said Cybermancer. On the large screen was a display of the dozen or so Atom Smashers descending on Seoul. “This is a live feed transmitted from Jacobs’ visual receptors.”

Bridge watched the screen with horror and slowly began shaking his head. “This…this isn’t possible.”

“I’m afraid it is,” said Cybermancer. “It looks like the North Koreans have done more than amplified the Atom Smasher’s powers—they’ve found a way to duplicate them.”

“With all that power, they could replicate Hiroshima and Nagasaki at least a dozen times over,” said the Black Knight. He pulled his helmet on and faced the remainder of the team. “Okay, here’s what we need to do. Cybermancer and Deathlok, I want you two out there helping X-Man and War Machine. Deathlok’s immune to the radiation and as for Cybermancer, you’ve got forcefields that can protect you.”

“What about the rest of us?” asked the 3-D Man.

“Century is going to transport us and the Widow back to North Korea. Maybe there’s a way to call them back or something, I don’t know. It’s the only chance we’ve got.” The Black Knight faced Bridge. “You have to get in touch with SHIELD, we need to start evacuating Seoul as soon as possible.”

“Whitman, with what’s going on here, we may need to evacuate half of Asia,” said Deathlok.

“Unless you’ve got a gateway to some sort of pocket dimension in that armor, that’s not an option,” said the Black Knight. “We stick with what we’ve got and get people as far away from ground zero as possible. The radiation poisoning from the battle alone is dangerous enough.” He turned to Century. “Are you ready?”

The alien nodded and raised his scythe, spinning it around and creating a hole in space and time. “The portal is open, we must go now.”

Black Knight, Black Widow and the 3-D Man gathered around Century as the portal began to suck them in. Before they were transported, the Black Widow looked at the team’s leader. “You do realize security will have heightened since our last visit, right? And this time, we don’t have Jacobs or Grey with us.”

“So good to know we’ve got an optimist onboard…” muttered the 3-D Man.

Elsewhere

Joey hummed a tune to himself as he dug through the dumpster he found himself in, looking for something to eat. He had spent most of his adult life on the streets, scrounging for whatever food he could find, and he didn’t seem to mind the lifestyle. Of course, if he had the choice, he would rather be living in the lap of luxury, but he had grown content with his lot.

“Eh…?” He stuck his head out of the dumpster when he heard what sounded like a thunderclap. His gaze went to the clouds but the skies were clear. He looked around the narrow alley and saw a bright light emanating from nearby. Curiosity got the better of Joey and he climbed out of the dumpster and walked towards the soft, red glow.

Once he reached it, he saw the source—a man laying unconscious in the alley, dressed in odd clothes. Joey slowly approached him as the light died down and began to shake him a little.

“Hey buddy…you okay?”

The strange man’s eyelids slowly opened and Joey startled at the sight. The man’s eyes seemed to glow with crimson energy. “Yo man, what’s up with your peepers?” asked Joey. “Been smoking up too much?”

“Where…where am I?” asked the man with the strange eyes.

“…you’re in an alley. Dunno when you came, I been here all day and I didn’t see you.”

The man saw something crumpled nearby, an old newspaper and picked it up. On the front page was a photograph of a superhuman with a headline that caught the man by surprise.

“No…I was sent somewhere else…” he muttered.

“What do you mean?” asked Joey.

“This isn’t the right place,” he said.

“Well, you want help finding where you’re supposed to go?” asked Joey. “Look man, I know this city like the back of my hand, I can get you where you’re going.”

“Somehow, I doubt that,” said the man, staring at Joey. Slowly, he began to smile and those crimson eyes seemed to flicker with menace. Joey noticed this and backed off just a bit.

“Hey…take it easy, now…”

The eyes crackled with energy and Joey’s screams could be heard from several blocks away.

Seoul

“Get me closer,” said Deathlok.

Cybermancer nodded and flew in closer towards the battle, where X-Man and War Machine were struggling against the Atom Smashers. When they came close enough, Deathlok said, “here is fine.”

Cybermancer threw him towards the action just as they had discussed. As he fell towards the battle, Deathlok pointed both his palms towards the Atom Smashers. Missile launchers emerged from compartments on his forearms and he opened his mouth wide, a gun barrel extending past his lips.

The computer his brain had become fused with targeted one of the Atom Smashers and once he was locked on, the missiles fired and deadly energy bursts emerged from his palms and the barrel in his mouth.

The blasts caused the Atom Smasher to stagger but didn’t kill him. By this point, Deathlok had hit the ground and raised his right arm. There was a whir of gears as the arm converted, his hand shifting into a shotgun barrel that extended. Deathlok locked onto the Atom Smasher once more as he flew towards him and unleashed a powerful plasma discharge, knocking the irradiated man from the sky.

Deathlok walked towards the fallen creature and stood over it. He pointed the gun-arm once more at the Atom Smasher’s head and fired, taking it out of the equation. Then, a voice echoed inside his head.

“Are you insane?”

“I wasn’t aware taking out our enemies qualified as insanity,” said Deathlok.

“You don’t know what these things are, you could have triggered a nuclear explosion.”

“But I didn’t,” said Deathlok. “Now could you stop with your moralizing and do your job, Cybermancer?”

“What?” asked the Cybermancer as she flew overhead. “Did you just call my name?”

“Don’t get cute, Endo,” said Deathlok. “I told you to get off my back.”

“Truman, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Cybermancer.

Deathlok remained still for a moment as Cybermancer flew past him to engage one of the Atom Smashers. She surrounded herself with a hard light forcefield as her gauntlets released electrical discharges to try and keep the Atom Smasher off-balance.

North Korea

Gunfire opened as the four members of Force Works went for cover. The Black Widow shot an angry glare at the Black Knight. “It would have been nice if someone considered the possibility of enhanced security!”

The Black Knight looked to the 3-D Man. “You up for this, Del?”

“You know it, brother,” said the 3-D Man with a smile. He tapped the Black Widow on her shoulder. “Check this out, babe—you might learn something.”

Delroy Garrett jumped out from the corridor they took refuge in. With his enhanced senses and reflexes, he was able to avoid the bullets as they whizzed around him. The 3-D Man acted instinctively as he came closer and closer to the three guards. Once he came within range, he jumped at one of them, his legs wrapping around the guard’s neck and bringing him crashing to the ground. The 3-D Man flipped back and landed on his hands, using them to propel him towards the second guard, delivering a kick to the head that knocked him out. The third one, he landed behind. The guard tried to turn and attack, but the 3-D Man was faster, grabbing the guard’s rifle and swinging it like a bat, the blunt end striking the guard in the skull.

“Any more criticism?” asked the Black Knight as he entered the corridor and gave the 3-D Man a smile. Century followed his lead and the Black Widow came last, rolling her eyes. Once they turned the corner, they encountered two more guards. The Black Knight raised his left arm, a photonic shield generated by his glove. His right hand removed the hilt attacked to his belt and he activated his photon sword. Charging forward, the shield took the brunt of the bullets and he jumped into the air, bringing the sword down in an arc.

The Black Widow ducked to avoid the gunfire and extended her arm. A cable fired from the golden bracelet clasped over the leather glove and the grappling end of the Widow’s Line went through a guard’s neck. She retracted the line, dragging him towards her and once he was within reach, she used her free hand and unleashed the Widow’s Bite, a powerful burst of electricity that killed the man.

The Black Knight shot an angry glare at the Black Widow as he pointed at the man she just killed. “That isn’t how we work.”

“That isn’t how you work,” said the Black Widow. “How I work is no business of yours.”

“When I’m in charge of this group, it is.”

The Widow suppressed a laugh. “Yes. You are in charge. Of course. Forgive me, poor memory.”

Century moved ahead silently and took point with the Widow following. The 3-D Man came beside his fellow Avenger. “Don’t let her get to you. She just wants to rile you up.”

“It’s working…” muttered the Black Knight.

In the next hall, Century charged forward with Parallax. He swung it down, the scythe slicing through the barrel of one rifle and then rammed the blunt end against the head of the second guard. He elbowed the first guard, driving his head against the wall. When the rest of the team came around the corner, Century used Parallax to slice through the door to their goal.

As they walked past the unconscious guards, the Black Knight said, “good work. That’s how it’s supposed to be done.” The Black Widow scoffed.

Century set Parallax down as he took a seat at the computer terminal. The rest of the team stood behind him as he went to work on the system, seemingly completely aware of what he was doing.

“Since when are you an expert on North Korea’s defense computers?” asked the 3-D Man.

“I am a collection of the greatest minds of my people, so I have knowledge/comprehension/proficiency of the technology of Hodomur, which is far more advanced than that of Earth,” said Century. “Therefore, cracking into this system should be Chucky.”

“…Chucky?” asked the 3-D Man.

“Yes, the murderous doll from many films,” said Century.

The 3-D Man laughed. “I see, you mean it’s child’s play.”

“Precisely what I said.” The commands scrolled through the screen on Korean extremely quickly and Century just seemed to absorb the knowledge instantly.

“You understand Korean as well?” asked the Black Widow.

“During my travels, I mastered many of Earth’s languages,” said Century. “I have cracked the system.”

“Good, now see if there’s some sort of kill-switch for the Atom Smashers,” said the Black Knight.

“Unfortunately, I am coming up with nothing,” said Century. “Once they are dispatched, it seems there is no way of bringing them back. However, they have gone through extensive psychological tampering, rendering them almost mindless slaves.”

The Black Knight rubbed his chin in thought. “You don’t say…”

“You have a plan?” asked 3-D Man.

“I think I do,” said the Black Knight. “Blue, what else can you find out about these things? How were the North Koreans able to get their hands on the original Atom Smasher, let alone create duplicates?”

“It seems obvious/apparent/right under your nose without continuing to delve into their systems.” Century looked at his leader. “They had assistance.”

“I know, but who?” asked the Black Knight.

“Just a few more moments and I will have the answer,” said Century.

“You do that. Meanwhile, I have a call to make to the Infiltrator.” The Black Knight pressed a hidden switch on the side of his helmet, activating the comm-link implanted inside. “Black Knight to Infiltrator.”

“Copy that, Knight.”

“Bridge, I want you to patch me through to X-Man immediately,” said the Black Knight.

The surviving Atom Smashers hovered above Pyongyang, people looking up in horror at the glowing skeletons. Above them, his eye crackling with energy was the X-Man, single-handedly controlling each and every one of the creatures. The Black Knight, Century, War Machine and Cybermancer flew onto the scene, with the Black Knight moving close enough to the North Korean leader.

“Just so you’re aware, we’ve also got this being broadcast across the world so you won’t be able to keep a lid on this,” said the Black Knight. He nodded to his companion and Century translated his words. Then he continued. “We discovered your plan to send this nuclear-powered army to Seoul, one you created by performing illegal experiments on men after you psychologically broke them. But unfortunately for you, by destroying their free will, you made it easy for my friend up there to take mental control of your persons of mass destruction.

“So here’s the deal: you abandon these weapons programs immediately and in return, we won’t turn your weapons against you.”

Century repeated the Black Knight’s words in Korean and then the Black Knight had one final thing to add: “I should also let you know that this offer is non-negotiable. If we find out you’re continuing these programs, we’ll be back. And next time, we won’t be so forgiving.”

The North Korean leader shouted something up at them and then Century looked at the Black Knight. “He’s asking who you think you are.”

“We’re the watchdogs, keeping an eye on this world and defending the people in it. And if you step out of line, we will take you out without hesitation,” he said. “We’re Force Works.”

They began to depart back towards the Infiltrator as the leader shouted more things at them. Century flew close to the Black Knight’s craft. “He claims his country has no superhuman program, that he’s being framed.”

“Does he really think we’re stupid enough to fall for that?” asked the Black Knight.

Unidentified Location

Behind a metal mask, a man with a scarred face watched the events unfold on the screen. One of his technicians turned to him and asked, “what do we do now, sir?”

“Now we wait,” said the armored man.

“But the Atom Smasher Initiative…”

“Is dead, yes I know. But we continue to move forward. North Korea has been implicated in this, which means the rest of the world will be too busy dealing with them to know who was truly behind this matter. And in the meantime, I want to know everything there is to know about this new Force Works.”

The armored man spun on his heels, the cloak moving with him and billowing behind him as his heavy footfalls echoed through the facility.

SHIELD Helicarrier
One Week Later

Nick Fury sat in his office, reviewing the footage of Force Works’ actions in Asia, rubbing his chin while in deep thought. Once the feed ended, the image shifted to a video conference between him and members of the United Nations Security Council.

{Colonel Fury, I think you’ll agree that we allow SHIELD to run relatively independently, correct?}

Fury nodded as he lit a Cuban cigar. “For the most part, that’s true. So I want to know what this Force Works business has to do with me.”

{The intelligence that Force Works has access to and the precision with which they operate suggest they have a lot of powerful resources at their disposal. Perhaps SHIELD resources?}

“Gentlemen I assure you, there is no chance of Force Works having any involvement with SHIELD, either on or off the record,” said Fury.

{And if there were an involvement off the record, would you tell us the truth, Colonel?}

“You want me to be honest or you want me to tell you what you want to hear?”

{I think you know the answer to that question.}

Fury paused for a moment. “No, I wouldn’t.”

{So how can we expect to believe you this time?}

“That’s what you have to figure out for yourselves, sir,” said Fury. “Go ahead and do a thorough audit of SHIELD’s budget. You’ll find that everything is accounted for and can be traced. We may keep secrets from the rest of the world, but you gentlemen are in the loop, I’d stake my good eye on that.”

{And what of the rumors of a vanishing ship?}

“Excuse me?” asked Fury.

{There were rumors of a vanishing ship in the Sea of Japan, off the coast of North Korea. This sounds a bit like Project: INFILTRATION, doesn’t it?}

“…we never developed an Infiltrator prototype,” said Fury. “Well we did, but it didn’t work and was scrapped.”

{You had best get to the bottom of this, Fury.}

The screen went black. Fury turned away from his monitor and saw a man standing nearby in the shadows. “You can come out now.”

The masked man stepped out into the light and Fury looked him over as he puffed the cigar. “So you see what our problem is?”

“I do.”

“GW Bridge was assigned to head up the Infiltrator project. Shortly after its demise, he went AWOL,” said Fury. “I want you to find him and see if he’s got any connection to these jokers calling themselves Force Works.”

“You can count on me, sir,” said the masked man.

Fury nodded. “I hope so, Moonraker.”