Force Works #21
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Iron Man had betrayed his friends an allies to the force of Kang the Conqueror. This led to the Avengers and Force Works teaming up to stop them. In the aftermath of the battle, Tony Stark is dead, leaving his former allies to pick up the pieces.[1]
In the aftermath of the battle, Force Works have returned to their headquarters where they play a final will recorded by Tony just before he formed Force Works.[2] The recording commends Force Works for the future work they will do and that he wants them to stay together in the event of his death.
The Scarlet Witch takes this particularly hard because she and US Agent were unable to make it in time for the final battle. She worries that had they been there they might have been able to do something to save Tony’s life.
Down in the med-bay, US Agent is checking on Suzie Endo who had been placed in cryogenic suspension and replaced with an impostor shortly after she arrived in Los Angeles.[3] Now that she is back on her feet, Suzie wants to talk to the woman who took her place. US Agent takes her down to the holding chamber where they have been detaining Cybermancer since they defeated her.[4] Cybermancer reveals that she is Suzie Endo from many years in the future and revels in the fact that her younger self will eventually become the merciless cyborg she is now.[5] Suzie refuses to accept that, saying that seeing the evil person her future self has become is the best detourent to prevent her from going down that path. Cybermancer doesn’t buy it and assures Suzie that this is her destiny. Despite her denials, the present day Endo can’t help but find her eyes drawn toward Cybermancer’s high tech armor.
Back upstairs, Scarlet Witch stops Century in the hallway and asks him how his quest in space to determine his past turned out. Century tells her that the information he gathered were inconclusive and it made him realize that his place was here on Earth. Wanda welcomes him back home and tells him that he’ll always have friends in Force Works. As Wanda walks off, Century wonders how he can tell her that the other reason why he came back is because he realizes that he loves her.[6]
In the tech-lab, Spider-Woman is assisting Fisher Todd in shutting down the time corridor that Kang used to gain access to their headquarters. As they work the portal suddenly springs to life just as US Agent comes down to check on them. That’s when two entities emerge from the portal one a man in a suit of high tech armor and the other a robot. US Agent instantly recognizes the robot as Ultron and a fight breaks out between them all.
PLATO, Force Works’ resident artificial intelligence, detects the fight and warns the Scarlet Witch. Unable to raise her teammates in the techlab, Wanda summons Century and tells him to meet her down there. PLATO then goes to check on Suzie Endo and tell her to seek sanctuary in her quarters while Force Works handles the intruders.
The Scarlet Witch and Century run into the armored intruder en route. When the man unmasks they are shocked to discover that he looks exactly like Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. This should be impossible since Simon died on Force Works’ first mission. When Wanda reaches out and touches his face she is shocked how cold an metallic it feels. Simon is equally surprised to see that Wanda is still alive and apologizes before knocking her out. Century tries to defend Wanda but is easily batted aside by this Simon Williams. Back down in the lab, US Agent continues to fight Ultron and is shocked when he punches the creature in the mouth and it starts bleeding. This distracts the Agent enough that Ultron knocks him out.
Meanwhile, the other Simon Williams gets to the holding cells and frees Cybermancer. As it turns out, these version of Simon Williams and Ultron come from Cybermancer’s timeline. They have come to the past because their timeline is now collapsing. With Cybermancer free, they then head down to recover her cybernetic armor. PLATO, detecting their approach, tries to warn Suzie Endo once more. However, since she is the only one left standing she is not going down without a fight and prepares to put on the Cybermancer gear. At that same moment, the temporal portal opens up once more and begins sucking in everything that isn’t bolted down.
Recurring Characters
Force Works (Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Spider-Woman, Century), Cybermancer, Simon Williams-9528, Ultron-9528, Suzie Endo, Fisher Todd, PLATO, Tony Stark (hologram), Rachel Carpenter
Continuity Notes
The facts surrounding the death of Tony Stark are a lot more complicated than they are presented here. The details:
This follows The Crossing storyline. In it, Iron Man is presented as being a sleeper agent for Kang the Conqueror for years. Kang then attempted to take over the present day only to be defeated by the Avengers and Force Works. The story ended with Stark being killed and replaced with his younger self from the past. See Avengers #390, Iron Man #319, Avengers: The Crossing #1, Force Works #16, Iron Man #320, Avengers #391, Iron Man #321, Force Works #17, Avengers #392, War Machine #20, Iron Man #322, Force Works #18, War Machine #21, Iron Man #323, Avengers #393, Force Works #19, War Machine #22, Iron Man #324, Force Works #20, War Machine #23, Avengers #394, Avengers: Timeslide #1, Iron Man #325, Avengers #395, Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1.
These events are later revealed to be a massive hoax created by Kang’s future self Immortus. It was all part of his on going scheme to manipulate the destiny of the Avengers. See Avengers Forever #8 for details.
Although Stark did indeed die in Avengers #395, he won’t stay dead for long. When the Avengers and Fantastic Four sacrificed their lives to defeat Onslaught in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, the teenaged Tony Stark was one of the many who sacrificed his life. When everyone was transported to Counter-Earth, teen Tony was replaced with an adult version Stark starting in Iron Man (vol. 2) #1 which will be brought back to the Marvel Universe proper in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. Avengers Annual 2001, it’s explained that Franklin Richards used his powers to resurrect the deceased Stark and merge him with his younger self.
According to the Marvel Chronology Project, Tony recorded this will between pages 16 and 17 of Force Works #1. This was just prior to Wonder Man’s death in the same issue hence why his passing wasn’t mentioned. Wonder Man also cheats death later on. See Avengers (vol. 3) #2 and 10-11.
Suzie Endo was offered a job to work for Force Works directly in Iron Man #321. Instead she was kidnapped by her double, Cybermancer who took her place starting in Force Works #17. It was revealed that Suzie was in cryogenic suspension this entire time in issue #19.
Cybermancer was defeated in a battle with Force Works last issue.
Cybermancer comes from a future timeline that is about 14 years ahead of the present day (per Force Works #18). Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 indexes her future as Reality-9528.
When Century appeared on Earth in Force Works #1 he had no memory of the past. He left for space to uncover these mysteries in issue #15. He found those answers in Century: Distant Sons #1, where it was revealed he was a composite being created by his people to destroy the menace known as Lore. Century returned to Earth in Force Works #19. His romantic interest in the Scarlet Witch doesn’t go anywhere in case you’re wondering.
