Melissa watched as Shocker raised the pickaxe above his head and marvelled about how time seemed to slow down. Abe was in a compromising position, with the Scorpion crushing his legs he couldn't escape so it was up to her to rescue him. Dashing forwards Melissa intercepted the pick as it fell towards its intended victim, grabbing hold of the blade in both hands and sending waves of sonic energy coursing through the tool, the head shattering as time returned to its normal speed. With a sonically powered throw she knocked Shocker backwards before turning on Scorpion and sending waves of energy at him, the sonic tide propelling the fragments of the pickaxe like shrapnel into the villain's face causing him to recoil. In that split second Abe shifted and escaped before getting to his feet as the Scorpion yelled in furry lashing out with the massive claws he wore on his forearms, the former Thunderbolt knocking both his targets to the floor.
"That was almost too easy." Mac Gangran sneered as Shocker staggered to his feet and grabbed Melissa by the neck. "Guess you haven't done the whole hero thing for very long. Either that or you never played in the big leagues." On his last word his tail snaked forward and hovered over Abe, the lethal point poised and ready to plunge through the armor and directly into his heart. The strike never came though as a sudden burst of electricity coursed through the villain's armor causing him to spasm backwards. Wheeling around he saw the culprit, in the split second Melissa had disarmed Shocker everybody had forgotten about Diana and she had used that window to get the drop on the Syndicate as she fired a second burst of electrified pellets into the Scorpion as Abe got to his feet and slammed his fist into Shocker's face causing him to drop Melissa.
"Who the fuck are you guys?" Shocker moaned as he held his bleeding nose while the Scorpion looked form Melissa and Abe to Diana unsure of whom to strike first.
"I'm the Revenant." Diana informed him. "And we're offering you one last chance to…" She stopped as a watery tendril wrapped round her and dragged her towards a shaft in the ground. The Scorpion smiled, his decision made and lashed out at the Thunderbolts behind him with his tail, his targets ducking under the blow. "I'll deal with Mac Gangran." Melissa yelled as she spread a pair of sonic wings, the blue light created replacing the usual pink glow. "You just deal with Shocker." she added as the Scorpion lashed out again, the blow being easily evaded by the now airborne 'Sky Lark'. Abe nodded and vaulted a pile of bricks as his target picked up a nail-gun and squeezed the trigger, sharpened nails ricocheting off the steel structure of the building, the piles of bricks and a few even scratching his armor's surface, but none coming close to penetrating the hardened carapace. As the last couple of nails flew through the air Abe grabbed Shocker by the throat and pulled him close.
"You should have stayed with the Thunderbolts." Abe growled, "You ruined you're last chance to redeem yourself."
"I'm still trying to do that." Shocker sneered back, "Only problem is the only wanker who believed in me went ape-shit and destroyed an entire town, so I'm back in the lurch again."
"You should have tried harder." Abe told him before slamming Shocker head first through the window of the Forman's portacabin. Turning back he saw Mac Gangran scaling the skeleton of the building as Melissa flew through the forest of girders and pipes, occasionally firing orbs of blue energy at the pursuing villain. Diana was holding her own too, Hydroman had emerged from the drop-shaft and was attacking with frozen fists shaped like bladed cudgels and hammers, only to have his weapons shattered by blasts of his target's weaonized arm. Abe decided that Diana could hold her own and rushed after Melissa and Mac Gangran when he heard a familiar sound of blasters charging to maximum power, he looked up just in time to see a new target open fire, the beams of energy glassing the area where he had just been standing. As the shooter dropped down to the ground Abe recognized her, the armor she wore was almost identical to his old Mk. 2 suit, he had heard rumours of a mercenary piloting his suit and now he knew they were true. "So," he yelled at the woman as she begun to charge the suit's blasters again. "Who are you meant to be?"
"I'm the Beetle and you and your friends will pay for interfering in our business."
"I bet." Abe announced and started running towards the super-structure as the beams flew past and blasted a hole through Hydroman and the wall behind him. Diana took a second too long to respond and felt the icy cold hammer smash on her head, the blow causing her to stagger as Bench surged forward like a tsunami, grabbing her and dragging her back towards the shaft. Fighting against the wave Diana unleashed a discharge of heat from her body causing part of the surge to evaporate in a cloud of steam. With a roar that sounded like the very ocean depths erupting Hydroman rose up five meters before coming slamming down towards Diana, the Thunderbolt standing her ground as he fell, the force of the water causing her to flicker and dissipate into a puddle of photons and static.
"Huh what the." Bench muttered before seeing Diana slip under a low beam and onto one of the scaffolding towers. "Don't get comfortable I'm coming to get you."
Shocker moaned as he stirred in the Forman's office, he was bloody, bruised and beaten. Despite his earlier analysis on the group of heros, he had to admit that they knew there stuff. Crawling to the window he saw his boss, the Beetle pursue the armoured guy through the super-structure of the main building. Shocker groaned if she found out that he'd messed up he'd be in hot water. Turning around he almost jumped out of his skin as he saw the figure standing in the darkened corner.
"Your uniform and weapons." the figure announced, "We had a feeling that you might want them."
"Yeah you sneaky fuck." Shocker spat, "Now why don't you get out of here and help the others." He turned to look at Hydroman repeatedly slamming the scaffolding as one of the women fired down at him, her hands morphed into blasters, the blazing shots evaporating holes in his body. Turning back he saw that the shadowy form had once again vanished. "I fucking hate it when he does that." he moaned before pulling the shades down over the remains of the window as he got ready to reenter the frey.
Mac Gangran matched his prey's agile leaps and dives among the super-structure of the incomplete building. Frankly he found the chase boring and the prey even more so, the woman he was chasing reminded him a lot of Songbird although the dress sense of this one completely ruled out that goody two-shoes as his intnded victim. As he dodged a swinging girder, knocked loose by 'Sky Lark', he noticed the tactical error she had made. All the jumping and gliding had led her into the heart of the building and with the right modifications the thick girders could easily become a cage for her. With a laugh that was half crazy cackle and half feral growl the Scorpion fired, blasts of acid spraying from his tail and chewing through the weakest points of the girders he was aiming at until gravity sent them falling towards the seemingly neophyte hero. Sneering Mac Gangran watched a smile creep on his opponent's face, one that made shivers run down his spine as blue energy formed around her before blossoming outwards sending the girders flying towards him. With a snarl Mac ran along the falling beams and lunged at his prey knocking her off the perch and out of the structure as the weakened girders fell around him, cageing him in his own trap.
Melissa fell propelled by the impact of the Scorpion slamming her before slowing herself with sonic wings until she touched down on a pile of masonry. "Talk about bringing down the house." she stated as Mac Gangran's roars sounded from inside the steel skeleton. He would escape but it would take some time, time that Melissa was going to use too turn the tables on the Syndicate and find where they had stashed the vial. Taking to the air again she heard a whistling sound and looked back to see a volley of thrown bricks come flying towards her. Reversing direction she flew through the hail of projectiles until she discovered who was responsible. She groaned when she caught sight of the mystery thrower, dashing from brick pile to brick pile was Speed Demon. Melissa shouldn't have been surprised as soon as Shocker had mentioned the Sinister Syndicate she had guessed that Sanders had been involved and now she had been proved right. Finally out of bricks Speed Demon stopped for a few seconds and Melissa saw what looked like a chemical vial attached to his belt. Grimacing she landed and put her hands up before sighing, "You got me I surrender."
"Really." Sanders said arching an eyebrow, "And why's that?"
"Because you're the sexy Speed Demon." Melissa purred. She was gambling that between Sander's naturally horny attitude and her revealing attire that honeyed words and ample bosom would achieve more then fists and sonic blasts.
"Wait there." Sanders ordered as he rushed off before returning in under a second a red rose in his hand. "For you." he said handing it to Melissa. Grinning she took it and slotted it between her teeth hoping that Sanders would come a little closer. Falling for the bait Speed Demon embraced her and Melissa spat out the rose and kissed him as a sonic pair of scissors cut his belt and let the vial roll off under one of the now empty brick pallets. Her seduction complete Melissa drew back and beckoned for Sanders to come closer once again. Cocking his head Sanders walked forward before getting an elbow in the face, the blow sending him skidding along the ground.
"I'm not that easy." Melissa growled as Sanders skidded past an exposed re-bar and grabbed hold using the pole to slow himself. "I'd never…" the rest of her words were cut off as Sanders slammed into her and turned off towards the building skeleton using her as a scantily clad hood ornament. Melissa tensed up as she felt the first girder strike her the pain still burning as she hit the second, the third up until the thirteenth when it became too much as she begun to black-out, darkness clouding her eyes. Desperately she reached out with her powers and formed a sonic trip wire hoping that Sanders would get caught, with a twang and a sudden jerk she found herself flying before crashing out the other side of the construction site as Speed Demon tripped, the final blow knocking her out of the fight.
Abe and the Beetle watched as Sanders dashed past, briefly united in a moment of craziness for a second before they resumed their battle through the base of the structure. It had come down to hand to hand combat and Abe knew just where to hit his female opponent, with a couple of punches he had targeted the arm joints, slowing her strikes, and while she was still getting some blows in it was mostly one sided. Behind him the soil rumbled and Abe dodged left as the Scorpion re-emerged from the earth again, sailing past him and colliding with the Beetle, his heavily armoured form rolling her over and over until he had cleared her. Spitting with rage Mac Gangran turned and slashed at Abe who ducked underneath, the blow hitting one of the support beams with a defining thud. Gripping his wing-blade Abe slashed back, the blow before being parried by the Scorpion's tail with enough force to send the sword spinning towards where the Beetle was standing, her blaster's charging up. As she oppened fire Abe dodged right and the beam of energy went through the post that the Scorpion had weakened causing the scaffolding to creak before collapsing in on itself.
"Oh crap." Abe yelled before barrelling past the Beetle who just stood there stunned at what was happening. Seconds later Abe could hear crashing steel behind him and saw Mac Gangran following, slamming through the remaining posts in a feral bid to capture his prey. Abe cleared the crash zone and turned charging the arm mounted grenade launcher and choosing a 'glob round' before firing at the Scorpion's face causing him to stall, blinded by the adhesive gel. Tearing at the gel Mac Gangran while spitting and cursing he never realized that he was crushed under a building when it fell on him; Abe looked on and hoped that Mac had survived; Gangran was a tough old basted so it was fully possible that he was unhurt save for his ego. Turning he saw Diana leap from a scaffolding and pass through Hydroman before landing on the other side. Lying between them on the floor was Melissa and standing over her was Speed Demon, Abe yellded before thndering towards the Speedster oblivious to the fact he'd never catch him. As he cleared half the distance a blast of energy struck him and he fell as Shocker walked up to him. "That's for shoving me through a window." Schultz yelled before firing a close range blast causing Abe to fade into unconsciousness. "And that's because I feel like It." he added as the Beetle landed next to him.
Diana landed on her feet and watched as Abe was taken down by the Shocker. She was grossly outnumbered and while she knew who Shocker and Hydroman were, as well as recognizing the Beetle armor she had no idea about the other two villains as the Scorpion crawled out of the wreckage. Switching off her non-lethal defences she fired, swarms of micro rockets and high energy pulses heading for the Syndicate only to be vaporized as Shocker created a sonic shield of energy to protect his comrades. Diana processed the scene, maybe if she could draw them away Melissa and Abe would recover in time for a second strike. Behind her Hydroman solidified his hand into an ice hammer raising it for a lethal snek attack on her exposed back. Turning just in time Diana opened fire again vaporizing his weapon before fleeing towards a set of scaffolding. Speed Demon stepped forward to give chase but the Beetle raised a hand to block him, "No Sanders let our newest member take care of this, let him prove himself worthy to join our Syndicate."
Diana skidded round behind a portacabin and looked back; the Syndicate were not following meaning her ruse had failed. Cursing under her breath she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and turned to see a tall man covered in orange hair staring at her with feline eyes. Morphing her hand into long bladed fingers Diana lunged and the man dodged her blow before climbing onto the cabin's roof, beckoning for her to follow. Taking three seconds to download a module about unarmed combat Diana followed scaling the wall to the roof effortlessly terminating her climb in a graceful flip into a standing position onto the roof. Her opponent bowed his head before lunging in, claws gleaming in the floodlights, his blow heading for her throat, or where it would have been if she hadn't gracefully spun away from his attack.
"Very good." the man purred. "Now how do you deal with this." his words ended as he sprung into the air his blow once again heading for her position. Diana gave a half smile and let her machine reflexes and downloaded knowledge take over, rolling under her opponents strike and elbowing him in the back before he could retaliate. As she readied the next blow though her sparing partner slid round her unexposed flank and threw her to the floor.
"Rule One." he told her as he helped her up, "Never expose your flanks." Diana nodded and slammed her fist into his nose. As she made contact he sunk his claws into her arm, and while she wasn't programmed to feel pain she cried out any way. "Rule Two, always be aware of you're opponents abilities and how they use them." the cat man lectured throwing her to the other end of the roof. Angrily Diana morphed her hand into a blaster and fired, the shots whizzing through the air as her opponent ran through the hail of projectiles, the blaster bolts seemingly flowing round him. "Rule Three, a clear mind will aid you against the toughest of foes." Diana snarled as she morphed her hand back into bladed talons as the roof suddenly creaked and jets of water erupted from underneath sending her toppling over the edge and onto the ground below. As she rolled to a face up position Diana saw the cat man land on top of her claws extended to rip her face off, behind him Hydroman oozed out of the window and stood his arms ending in frozen cudgels.
"Rule Four enough with the Zen crap Puma we have work to do." Hydroman bellowed, "Either knock her out or I will." he added. Puma sighed and sheathed his claws before pulling back a punch and slamming Diana in the face, the blow sending her processers into shutdown while her body slipped into unconsciousness.
With a groan of pain Abe awoke and found that his hands were bound to a post. Next to him Melissa and Diana were already awake and both were bound and gagged. Standing across from the post was the Sinister Syndicate all of them leering at the captives as the Beetle walked over her blasters levelled at Abe's head.
"We've discussed it and we don't really want to kill you." she told Abe, "Besides my first kill is going to really matter. I don't suppose you've heard of Abner Jenkins, the murderer of my sister and her husband, he will be my first kill but cross us again and I will make an exception." With a quick wave of her hand the Syndicate slunk off dropping down the shaft Hydroman had originally came out of. Seconds later the rope fell to the floor and the Thunderbolts wearily got to their feet as Melissa ripped the gag off her mouth, wincing in pain as she did it.
"You okay?" Abe asked.
"I feel like I was hit by a train." Melissa groaned, "Looks like they got away."
"I don't really want to go after them." Abe moaned as he surveyed the destroyed building site. "I guess we'd have the advantage in a narrow space but it's still two to one."
"We don't have to." Melissa announced, "When I was flirting with Speed Demon I stole a vial which may contain the vaccine."
"Flirting with Sanders?" Abe asked, "Do I really want to know?" Melissa shook her head. "Okay then let's just grab the vial and get out of here, I'm surprised the local authorities haven't investigated yet." he added as the last section of the super structure collapsed with the sound of screeching metal and rapidly approching sirens filled the air along with the massive cloud of dust kicked up by the falling girders.
An hour later the Thunderbolts, now out of costume, limped into the motel. Deciding to deal with the vial in the morning Abe and Melissa went to bed leaving Diana alone in the Diner. Ordering her third cup of black coffee for the night, Diana sat and watched the customers leave, the theft of the chemical still on the majority of their minds judging by snippets of overheard conversation. As midnight came and went Diana continues to search the internet for any information on the Sinister Syndicate's members. At four in the morning she chose to abandon her search and decided it was time to get some sleep, twenty minutes was all her system needed for her body to re-set itself although she enjoyed getting more if she could. As she got up to settle the check she almost missed the scruffy young man come in. Like the remaining customers she ignored him until he walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"There here." he said, "The aliens are here."
"Aliens?" Diana asked nervously, "What aliens?"
"I saw a UFO over the old chemical plant." the man replied, "It looked like a bug and hovered over the building before flying off."
"What's you're name?" Diana asked
"Chris." the man replied, "Do you believe me, the aliens are here to take over and S.W.O.R.D is just going to let them brcause they don't care aboutcommunities such as ours."
"Well Chris buy me a coffee and I'll look at you're footage." Diana said as she led Chris back to the booth she had been sitting at. Twenty minutes later Diana had 'borrowed' Chris's laptop and was watching as the Beetle sped away along the highway. Looking over at the now comatose Chris, his state brought on by a quick puff of tranquilizer gas she hacked into the Route 85s Traffic Cameras and downloaded the images onto her own hard-drive before erasing the computer's entire internet history and stored memory. Shooting Chris a quick smile she slipped out of the Dinner and headed back to the Motel. Arriving back at the room she shared with Melissa she noted that her roommate was absent and set about analyzing hours of traffic camera data, the Beetle could run but she couldn't hide and hopefully would lead them to their employers.
"Abe we were destroyed out there." Melissa told her friend as they sat on the roof of the motel.
"We were outnumbered." Abe replied. "Besides we were up against Sanders, Puma, Hydroman, Schultz, Mac Gangran and the Beetle. Even the Avengers would have a hard time containing them if they couldn't use half their powers."
"You were right." Melissa whispered, "About us continuing the Hero thing. This will be the last time we do this right?"
"What about F.A.C.T?" Abe asked, "Do we let them off the hook after what they did to us?"
"We can't really carry on like this though." Melissa replied.
"I'll sleep on it." Abe announced, "The answer will probably be yes." he added as he walked to the door that led off the roof into the motel.
"Wait Abe." Melissa replied, "What do we do about us?"
"Is there an us?"
"Well last night we hooked up and we shared a bed back in Burton." Melissa announced, "What do we do about that?"
"Do you want there to be an us?" Abe asked. Melissa smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Question answered" he added between kisses as he closed the door.
Abe and Melissa walked down to the dinner, from what they had heard on the radio the police were expanding their cordon, not that it mattered with Speed Demon and the Beetle on the team the Syndicate could have easily rushed the vaccine out of town. Diana was already inside and had ordered a massive breakfast and in contrast to Mel and Abe's haggard faces she looked like she had gotten a good night's sleep.
"Morning." she chirped as she chewed a piece of toast. "Help yourselves to anything you want."
"You look happy." Melissa stated, "Its sickening." she added taking a hash-brown off the plate.
"I know who the Syndicate are dealing with." Diana replied. "All it took was a little help from the aliens." she added.
"Aliens?" Abe said nervously. "What kind of aliens?"
"The nerdy kind." Diana answered, "Some conspiracy nut saw the Beetle leaving town and figured it was an alien. Using the video he took I was able to map a flight plan using highway cameras to track her movements to a compound belonging to Legacy Pharmaceuticals."
"Legacy Pharmaceuticals." Melissa repeated, "Never heard of them."
"That's because despite the quote that they have been in business for twenty years, all the information about the company is faked." Diana replied, "It may not even be a real company."
"The only way we're going to find out is to visit Legacy Pharmaceuticals and do some digging." Abe announced, "So everybody pack you're shovels because I've got a feeling that we're in for a right shit storm."
Thunderbolts #7
The Thunderbolts are heading to Legacy Pharmaceuticals on the search for the vaccine. The only problem is that nothing is what it seems and all the odds are against them as the timer counts down to Something Sinister.