Force Works #2
Aftermath
With the entirety of his new team captured by the alien swarm known as the Scatter, Iron Man races back to their Works headquarters. There he orders PLATO — the base’s artificial intelligence system — to focus all resources on locating his missing teammates. The computer cannot pinpoint the locations of the Scarlet Witch, US Agent, and Spider-Woman, but confirms Tony’s fears that Wonder Man perished in their battle with the Kree.[1]
That’s when Iron Man gets a call from the Black Widow at Avengers Compound.[2] The area has been secured and the Kree prisoners, Century, and Recorder RE-404 are being picked up by Guardsmen to be sent to the Vault prison. However, as she is relaying this information, Century suddenly teleports away. He appears inside the Works. After a scan from PLATO to determine his nature, Century is identified as an alien being who may have been surgically altered into his current form.[3] Century explains that he has come because his staff — called Parallax — allows him to traverse dimensions and is able to track the Scatter to wherever they took the rest of Force Works. Iron Man demands answers, but Century doesn’t remember much of anything prior to his arrival on Earth, only that he knows that he can do what he can do. With no other choice, Tony decides to take a risk and accept the alien’s offer of assistance. With that, Century activates his dimensional hopping abilities, warning Iron Man to brace himself because the process can be disorientating.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team — the Scarlet Witch, US Agent, and Spider-Woman — have been brought to an unknown location by the Scatter. The dimensional trip was painful but they soon recover. US Agent is spoiling for another fight, but the Scarlet Witch suggests they hold off and see what’s going on since they have no idea where they are or how to get back home and their captors speak an unknown language. Suddenly, the Scatter take off without any explanation. Moments later, the heroes are visited by members of the alien race that live on this world. Able to speak English, they invite Force Works back to one of their cities. The leader of this group of aliens explain that the Scatter devour every world they happen upon and that he and the others are the last survivors of their species. Soon they too will be consumed and the Scatter will find another world to feast upon. They have no idea where the Scatter came from but they believe that the creatures were brought here by the entity known as Century.
Before Force Works can get any more answers the Scatter arrive to feast. However, the heroes refuse to let the creatures devour any more victims. When the Scarlet Witch blasts one of the Scatter with her hex powers it suddenly explodes into tiny insects. To her horror, Wanda realizes that what they thought were the Scatter were just host organisms for the tiny creatures to consume from the inside out. Warning her teammates not to let the creatures touch them, they fight back but with little success. When Spider-Woman tries to use her psi-webs against the Scatter it causes a strange mental link and she is overwhelmed by the endless sea of alien thoughts.
Luckily, Iron Man and Century arrive in time to save her from being made into a new host for the Scatter hive. When Century suggests a tactical retreat, US Agent isn’t willing to trust him after hearing how he was accused of bringing the Scatter to this world. However, the Scarlet Witch pulls rank and suggests that they try and trust Century since he brought Iron Man to rescue them.
Back on Earth, PLATO has been flooded by calls from Captain America, the Vision, and Nick Fury, who all want to talk to Force Works about their new operations. Unfortunately, he is unsure when the team will be back. The AI is then visited by the Recorder, who also managed to escape from the Guardsmen. He explains that his purpose is to record significant events and that he has taken a special interest in Force Works and has decided to come and document their activities moving forward.
While on the alien world, Force Works makes a hasty retreat from the Scatter. This is so Century can have enough room to open a portal back to Earth for them all to travel in. While Iron Man holds them back, Century activates Parallax and they are returned to the Works headquarters in California. However, the threat is far from over as Century warns them that he sensed the coordinates from the Scatter’s machines and has learned that their next destination will be the Earth itself!
Recurring Characters
Force Works (Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Spider-Woman, Century), Recorder RE-404, Scatter, Black Widow, Vision, Captain America, Nick Fury, Guardsmen, PLATO
Continuity Notes
Wonder Man didn’t die last issue per se, but finds himself lost in the gulf between life and death. His essence will be summoned back to the land of the living by the Scarlet Witch in Avengers (vol. 3) #2. After a time living as a being of pure ionic energy, Wonder Man will be fully restored to flesh in issues #10-11 of that series.
The Black Widow was at Avengers Compound last issue to shut the place down after the West Coast Avengers were disbanded in issue #102 of their own series.
This is a hint at Century’s origins. It is later revealed that he was created by the Hodomurians to hunt down and destroy their enemy Lore. See Century: Distant Sons #1 for all the details.
Topical References
PLATO laments about the Recorder’s presence, referring to him as a “robot Dan Rather”. Dan Rather was an journalist who reported the news for CBS since the 1960s until he was fired in 2006. While he’s still active he’s now 91 years old at the time of this writing (November, 2022) and probably isn’t long for the this world. That said, this should be considered a topical reference as you could substitute Rather’s name for a more contemporary news reporter.
