Rush Club Part 2: Natural Born Killers

Jim Rhodes has returned to Philadelphia to visit his family. However, after an argument with his parents he went to stay in a hotel. It’s there that Jim witnessed the Rush Club —Locomotive Breath, Gunship, and Sanction — chasing Quarry, their hired target through the street. Changing into War Machine, Rhodes tries to stop the hunt before someone gets hurt. Stopping Quarry (his old military buddy Owen Seager) the two are ambushed by the Rush Club, leaving Quarry dead and War Machine at their mercy.

The Rush Club tells War Machine to back off or else he will become their next target. Jim, however, refuses to let them slaughter an innocent person or terrorize the city. This leads to a 3-on-1 clash between War Machine and the Rush Club. In the ensuing battle, Gunship manages to pump two bullets into Quarry, prompting the Rush Club to cease battle. Locomotive Breath uses his titanic strength to knock War Machine off his feet, allowing the trio to escape. Recovering from the fall, War Machine scans Quarry and is surprised to see that Owen is still clinging to life.

Jim takes Owen to St. Vincent’s hospital and begins interrogating him when Seager finally wakes up. Owen explains that he was approached by their old Navy colleague Carson Rowntree (aka Gunship) who offered him a great deal of money to participate in the Rush Club’s death game. Down on his luck, Owen accepted the job but once he got the Quarry suit he realized that he could make a better living if he just stole the suit and ran. That’s exactly what he did, trying to lose the Rush Club in the city, but as Jim can attest, that didn’t work out quite as planned. Jim points out how incredibly stupid his plan was because people could get hurt. He demands to know more about the Rush Club and Owen gives him an address in Baltimore where he met with Rowntree.

The following day, Jim meets with Carson at a fancy restaurant and reveals that he knows all about the Rush Club and warns Rowntree that if he doesn’t shut it down, he’ll see that they get shut down permanently. Noticing that Jim is using the same turns of phrase War Machine used the night before, Carson correctly deduces Rhodey’s secret identity. This pleases Carson as the Rush Club has always wanted to go up against War Machine. He tells Jim to face his crew two days from now and if War Machine wins the battle the Rush Club will disband willingly. Jim promises to be there.

After his meeting with Carson, Jim calls his parents to see if Rae showed up for their family visit. Jim’s father tells him that Rae did come by but she left but can’t say where.[1] As Jim wonders where Rae could be and how badly he screwed things up, LaCoste has checked into a hotel room. She is in tears after something Jim’s parents told her and she wonders why Jim never told her about it before.[2]

Carson Rowtree has returned to the Rush Club’s hideout to tell them that he has arranged for a fight with War Machine. His associates are furious that he compromised their group to do such a thing and tells him that he can face War Machine alone. Carson is more than happy to do that, confident in his own abilities.[3] After Carson leaves, Locco tells Aaron that he believes that War Machine might be useful to his plans. He pulls up an e-mail from the Tabissara government of Tblunka who have wrote to inform him that he will no longer be allowed access to something called the Program.[4] While this is trouble for Loco, he has a plan and tells Aaron this plan.

Meanwhile, in Santiago, Chile, Sheva Joseph has arrived in the country to investigate human rights violations on behalf of WorldWatch. She is greeted by Jorge Mantone who works for the Eternal Flame newspaper. He was the person who alerted WorldWatch to the potential human rights issues in Chile. Jorge tells Sheva how there is something strange going on in town. The section of the “Old City” has since become a no-go zone, a secret police force has been formed, and people are disappearing. His attempts to get other organizations to take note have turned a blind eye and he hopes WorldWatch will be different. Sheva is curious to know what’s going on as well and asks Jorge to sneak her into the no-go zone. Little do they know that someone is observing their every move.[5]

Back in America, War Machine meets up with Gunship in an abandoned section of town. The two fight it out but ultimately, War Machine’s armor proves superior. After defeating Gunship, War Machine is ambushed by Sanction who shoots him with an electrified arrow so Locomotive Breath can take him prisoner.

Recurring Characters

War Machine, Rush Club (Locomotive Breath, Gunship, Sanction), Terrance Rhodes, Rae LaCoste, Sheva Joseph, Quarry

Continuity Notes

1. Jim’s parents go unnamed here. They are identified as David and Roberta Rhodes in Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury #1. The most recent War Machine profile in Iron Manual Mark 3 #1 verifies these names. However, there have been conflicting names given later. For example War Machine (vol. 2) #6 states that Jim’s mother’s name is Gloria while Iron Patriot #1-5 identifies his father as Terrence. As of this writing (November, 2022) there is no explanation but I wouldn’t be surprised if later handbooks or whatever identify them as David Terrance Rhodes and Roberta Gloria Rhodes, or some variation of these names.

2. In War Machine #24, Rae will tell Jim that his parents didn’t approve of him because, allegedly, he has a son that he doesn’t know about. Apparently, Jim’s parents wanted him to raise the boy with his mother. When this revelation is made, Jim thinks it is unlikely and that his parents could have made it up to break him and Rae up. As of this writing (November, 2022) this claim has yet to be verified. However, since Jim has since interacted with his parents in later stories and the issue of a bastard child hasn’t been brought up, I think we can safely assume it was all bullshit.

3. Gunship’s associates are referred to by Locco and Aaron here. Locco’s real name is revealed to be Laslo Magzel next issue. As of this writing in November, 2022, Aaron’s full name has yet to be revealed.

4. Tblunka is a country in the midst of a civil war between the Slorenes majority and the Dudak minority that live in the region, as seen in Force Works #4-5. As we’ll discover next issue, Locomotive Breath is a resident of Tblunka who created the “Program” which is the source of his power. As we’ll learn in Force Works #11-12, the Program is what gives power to Volkvhy, the secret ruler of Tblunka.

5. As we’ll learn in War Machine #15-17, a group of Neo-Nazis are using a time machine to send modern weapons back in time to Nazi Germany to help them win the war and change history.

Topical References

• The story is stated as happening on New Years Eve. However, according to the Sliding Timescale this is not possible. Since this story could take place at any other time of the year without changing the plot, references to this holiday should be considered topical.