Asgard, Oklahoma - 03:00AM 29th August
The sound of boot steps rumbled almost as loud as the distant flashes of thunder, audible through the charred remains of the galleries and halls of Asgard. Up ahead glowing beetles scurried under a collapsed beam and up some stairs, through which the flash of gold and blue lightning could be seen. Abe sighed in relief and fatigue, they had made it up to an exit in time to get the hammer, if Kephi and Osborne could wrestle it away from Bullseye who was raining pin-point blasts of lightning on his foes. Abe pulled himself out to see various HAMMER agents and Initiative members standing on the ruins just staring up at the sky.
"What the hell are all these people doing standing around?" Rachel asked as she pushed past a gaggle of HAMMER agents nervously tracking Bullseye with their hand-guns.
"Spotting," Abe announced, "No bravery among the canon fodder I guess."
"Hey buddy." one of the agents snapped, "You want to go out there and get massacred be my guess, that," he said pointing up at the lightning, "is above my pay grade."
"Cowards." Delphyane hissed taking the agent's Pulse Rifle away, "These people won't help us." Abe nodded and pushed through the others slipping through the ranks until they reached the front. Abe knocked into a guy who angrily turned round to glare at him.
"What the hell." he yelled, "Abe?" he said in a quizzical tone, "What the hell are you doing here."
"Harrier right?" Abe asked, "You used to be a Thunderbolt?"
"That's right, how are you here, you died." Harrier said in the same confused voice.
"Rumours of my demise and all that." Abe grunted, "Listen why is nobody helping them."
"We did to begin with, but the attrition started to take it's toll until only the devoted were fighting. A few of us thought about doing a sneak attack on Bullseye but we didn't have the numbers. A lot of them decided to leave and get out while they still could, only the Taskmaster and a select group still want to fight but there too badly injured." Harrier mentioned, "Why are you here?"
"Things are about to go to hell, we need to get the hammer away from Bullseye and Osborne or else its game over." Kraven growled, "It is clear that to get Mjolnir we must act now."
"Then I might have the guys to help fill your slots." Harrier answered, "Come with me and fly low, you don't want to attract Bullseye's wrath just yet." he added as he picked up Delphyane before flying low down to a smouldering pile of wreckage at the base of the ruins. Abe picked up Rachel and turned to face Kraven who was sniffing the air and growling lowly.
"My path diverges my friends." he announced, "I don't suspect we will meet again."
"What why?" Rachel yelled, "An immortal man would be useful."
"I go to find something more valuable, a scent I haven't smelled for months. I go to my destruction for at last he has returned to this world just as I long ago did." Kraven said before vanishing into the crowd of agents and Initiative Members. Abe turned and glided down to where Harrier and Delphyane was waiting.
"Where's Kraven?" Delphyane asked.
"He embarked on his last hunt. I think we all know what that means, I only hope that whatever the outcome it is for the good." Abe explained as Harrier skited round a broken down M2 Bradley into to clearing where a charred Thunder Hawk sat.
"Guys, look what I found." Harrier yelled. From out of the Thunder Hawk a big hairy blue creature bounded up to Harrier and squinted. "Doctor Henry McCoy meet Abner Jenkins one of the best engineers around." he announced.
"You reputation proceeds you doctor." Abe admitted, "All though I was under the impression that you had vanished."
"I was held prisoner until the Director thought it wise to release the prisoners, before asking that we came here to help take down Osborne." Beast announced, "And while I certainly don't wish to do anything permanent to the former director I do see the consequences if we leave him free to claim Mjolnir."
"So what is the plan?" Rachel asked, "And is it better then Antman's stupid wait for everyone else to take down Super Bullseye?"
"That's not what he said." Delphyane hissed, "Who is this new Director you mentioned."
"Let me show you the plan first." Harrier explained as he and Beast led the Thunderbolts into the Thunder Hawk and down into a wrecked bunker filled with Asgradian torches that glowed an ominous blue.
"Tell me you found them Harrier?" a man asked as he a young woman turned the chair around to face the new-comers. Abe saw the man in the chair was scared and blistered as well as missing a hand. "Tony Masters." the man said, "The Director took me up on the offer to attack Osborne and get the hammer back. Despite me, damage I'm willing to do anything you need as per the Director's orders."
"Thank you?" Abe said cautiously, "Tell me who is this Director." A screen flickered and an image of Avengers Tower appeared with Melissa sitting behind the desk.
"Director Gold." the Taskmaster replied, "We found them, shall we read them in?"
"Yes, Abe it's good to see your alive and in one piece." Melissa announced
"And you became the Director of HAMMER, big career move, how much does it pay?" Abe asked shakily, "So you're the new Osborne then."
"The New Nick Fury and I am only the interim Director as nobody else wants to clean up after Norman's mess." Melissa replied, "We're getting rolling down here but we need that hammer and we need a god. That's why I'm acting, I don't trust Kephi or her champion, that's why the Lightning Rod Protocol has been established. A team of volunteers will take Mjolnir and fly it to New York where the Sexton will use the weapon to knock Carrion out of Midgard once and for all."
"I don't mean to be a buzz-kill but how are we going to get the hammer, I mean Kephi and Osborne are having a hard time and they are more powerful then us." Rachel mentioned.
"Always the downer Rachel." a woman said as she climbed up out of a hole below the bunker, "And always the voice of reason."
"Tanya," Rachel exclaimed, "It's good to see you." she added as she ran over and hugged Black Mamba, "Did you sign up for this suicide mission?"
"The premise sounded more heroic five hours ago but yeah thought I could lend a land. Hell I'm the crazy idiot whose flying that piece of rust upstairs to jump altitude." Tanya replied.
"Wait a second." Abe replied, "You guys are going to jump out of that rusted Thunder Hawk and attempt to tackle Bullseye mid-air to get Mjolnir. Melissa that's suicide, you created a suicide squad? Your as crazy as Osborne."
"Of course I didn't." Melissa yelled, "I studied footage of Thor and found somebody who can take Mjolnir away. As we speak Doctor Chen Lu is charging up under the base to rip the inertia away from Mjolnir while Doctor Williams plans a large scale adhesive bomb to keep Bullseye busy long enough for you and Harrier to snatch it."
"I have a problem with this plan." Delphyane said raising her hand, "That's divine lightning, that helicopter won't be able to take more then three or four hits before it explodes and then you have to get the Hammer out of range before Bullseye escapes, which not to diss Doctor Williams and his or her bomb won't be long."
"Fixer has arranged extraction, as soon as Mjolnir is retrieved the team is going to retreat through the escape portal to Central Park where we will try and contain Carrion up until your arrival." Melissa explained, "Abe I need you and Chen to boost the EM shields so Mamba and Icarus Team can stay in the air long enough to get to altitude and then drop back to safety."
"This is a gamble but you seem to have thought things out." Abe replied, "Melissa be careful, don't let this job ruin you like it did Osborne, Hill, Fury or even Stark, don't get comfortable because that chair is a curse to all who sit on it." Abe warned before the image vanished. Wearily he activated his armour's welding function and headed outside, not bothering to look up at the lightning that flashed across the sky. It took Abe twenty minutes to start the initial process but he had doubts if the frail looking Thunder Hawk would be able to absorb even a single hit even with the shields and extra armor plating. As he worked his armor beeped a warning, images popping up on his HUD of a hostile silhouette approaching. Abe turned just in time to see Venom mounted on a One Man Ariel Platform come screaming in at him hissing and spitting before launching himself onto Abe with a full body tackle.
"Well isn't this quaint." Mac hissed, "Beetle working for the bitch that started this mess."
"Melissa didn't do this." Abe growled throwing Venom off of his suit before activating the armour's flamethrowers causing Mac to back off.
"Didn't she?" Mac replied, "She was the one who decided to give Osborne a second chance, she was the one who crippled Bullseye making him even more fucking misanthropic in the first place, she was the one who saved me from the Swordsman and I'm the one who's going to kill you."
"Try it Mac, because I have been through bigger fucking retards then you in the last couple of days. Osborne is finished just surrender and help us out, for old time's sakes." he asked as Mac swung over his head before tying the webbing around him and hoisting him up towards the Thunder Hawk's rotor.
"Let's see how chatty you are without a head." Mac suggested swinging inside and activating the main rotor blade activation switch. In an instant the blades sprung to life and Mac jumped back on the floating platform he had used before extending the webbing he had made and lifting Abe closer to the spinning rotor. Calmly Abe activated the armour's thrusters and pulled dragging Mac off his platform and through the rotors, shreds of Symbiote flying every where.
"Don't you understand." Abe told Mac's naked form as the Avenger tried to crawl away, "Osborne will destroy everything, use your head Mac." he pleaded as a single strand of Symbiote wrapped around Mac' hand.
"Oh I understand." Mac hissed as he fired a jet of webbing, not at Abe but the Thunder Hawk's side mounted Machine Gun, the organic string curling around the trigger and squeezing as heavy .50 calibre rounds chewed through Abe's suit as the Symbiote coalesced back around his body. "I wonder what it costs to mail a head to New York." Venom mused advancing on Abe as blood leaked out of the armor, and the suit's lights blinked on and off. "This is a message to Songbird." he growled picking Mac up by the neck. "You know this makes me happy." Mac told Abe as he begun to pull. Suddenly with a hiss and a scream the Symbiote spiked as Chen placed his other hand on Venom's shoulder, the radiated heat weakening the alien menace as he dragged the creature off Abe's dying form.
"What is this a Thunderbolt Reunion?" Venom asked as he shot a strand of webbing up at Chen only to have it vaporized by a burst of radiation.
"No it's the wake of Venom." Chen replied spraying waves of microwaves over Venom causing the Symbiote to bubble and pop revealing Mac Gangran cowering underneath.
"You killed it." he whimpered, "Oh my god you killed it, you freed me." he gasped
"Your free to your own life, now get out of here." Chen spat as Rachel emerged from the bunker and ran over to Abe.
"Abe don't die." Rachel sobbed
"It's finished the Thunder Hawk should stand a few hits." Abe whispered, "I'm bleeding out, the armor software is offline, you can't help me, only a miracle can help me."
"But we have doctors." Rachel replied, "Doctor Lu, Doctor McCoy, Doctor Williams, they could save you."
"Tell Melissa I love her." Abe said, "Look after her for me Rache."
"Your not allowed to die." Rachel screamed, "Chen do something." she bellowed
"I can't not without risking high levels of radiation, something that would be more dangerous then the wounds." Chen replied, "I'm not a religious man but his fate is in the hands of the gods." Rachel suddenly looked up at Asgard and begun to shred the remains of the MACH V armor. "Chen get me a stretcher I have an idea, I know how to save him." Chen walked back to the bunker and descended as Mac scrabbled around before pulling a foot long knife out of the wreckage.
"Two deaths for the price of one." he sneered as he snuck up silently behind Rachel and got ready to strike.