Chris sat watching the online clock count down as the file transfer bar crawled towards the 75% mark on the rented computer. Melissa had managed to sweet talk Agent Leighton into sending them mug-shots of some of SHIELDs most wanted marksmen in the hopes that 'Bandages', as the sniper was being referred as, would turn up. After paying to use the Internet Café's frustratingly slow computers she had left to look for Joystick, a somewhat futile effort, Chris thought, but then a lot of things that the Thunderbolts had done since he had met them in Port Angeles could be seen as futile yet somehow it mostly worked out.
"Got anything kiddo." Abe asked as he walked up behind Chris and leaned on the chair.
"Still loading despite their claims of having Wi-Fi." Chris moaned, "You heard from Mel yet?"
"She just texted me and told me to turn on the radio and switch the channel to KPLV." Abe answered, "I have no idea why." he added as Chris opened a new window and searched for the broadcast.
"We have a special guest with us today." the DJ chirped, "The recent sensation hitting the highways of our great state; Faye 'Roadrunner' Jenkins, the long distance marathon runner. Good Morning Faye, we have heard that you are issuing a challenge to our listeners."
"That's right." a second woman answered and Abe instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Melissa. "I will be at Doc Romeo Park looking for a challenge. If anybody thinks they can run a distance of two kilometres in a quicker time then me I am willing to pay them five hundred dollars."
"Wow that sounds like a bit of a gamble Faye."
"The whole world is a game just waiting to be played." 'Faye' replied, "That's my outlook on life and while I believe in the merits of simply taking part we all secretly want to win."
"So just a recap then the Roadrunner will be taking all challengers in Doc Romeo Park at 10:30 and five hundred dollars is the prize if you can outpace her." the DJ repeated. "Now Faye do you want to make a request while you are here?"
"Sure, do you have Joystick by the Dazz Band?" Faye asked.
"Sure do and now for a little smooth soul, we will be back with the news, sports and travel after Joystick by the Dazz Band." The DJ stated just before Abe closed the link to reveal the completed download bars. "Well down Mel," he stated, "Listen Chris head out to Doc Romeo Park and set up a little surprise for Joystick, she's fast but a little melted track should be enough to stop her. I'll finish off here and find our second perp."
"You really think that Joystick will fall for the trap?" Chris asked. Abe smiled, "Trust me it's not a matter of falling for it, 'Faye' made a challenge and the one thing that Joystick can't say no to is a challenge."
Melissa stretched her legs as she stood on the end of the Lone Mountain Trail at the northern end of the park watching buzzards circling over the mountains of the horizon. As 'Faye' she was using a set of genetic camouflage nanites that made her appear as a beautiful six foot Amazon with chestnut shoulder length hair, and while the strain of being stretched when she injected herself was utter agony she was secretly enjoying being a full six inches taller. It defiantly made a difference on the casual joggers using the path, guys in particular were taking more notice of her, and while some of it was the shorts and tank top a lot of it was down to her new physique. Smiling to herself she remembered how easy it had been to sweet talk the guard into letting her in and then using her powers to subtly convince the listeners that Faye was a real person. Even more subtly she had sent subsonic pulses out that would make the majority of people dismiss the challenge as something they wouldn't be able to win. Joystick wouldn't be affected, Janice had been known to challenge people to something as mundane as dishwashing, the woman lived for competition.
"Anything?" Chris asked from his concealed ambush point a kilometre up the path.
"Here she comes." Melissa announced as Joystick ran down the road in her usual costume, terminating her run with a set of back-flips before landing in-front of her competition. Mocking a wide eyed stare 'Faye' clapped and extended a hand towards the challenger. "So you're my competition?" Melissa stated, "I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before though."
"The name's Joystick." Joystick told her, "I was the leader of this super team; The Thunderbolts you may have heard of them. They got rid of me when they became too intimidated by my skills, especially Speed Demon, he could never catch up with me."
"Wasn't Songbird the leader of that team, or Baron Zemo, possibly Hawkeye and Moonstone?" Melissa asked, "Wait you don't have super speed or something like that?" she feigned knowing that Joystick would lie about being able to keep pace and even overtake the majority of road worthy vehicles.
"You mean you don't have powers?" Joystick replied sarcastically, "Oh well you may as well give me my half a grand now, I feel like spending lunch at a strip bar before I clock in tonight." Melissa decided that now was the perfect time to slip away, jogging down the path. Joystick cocked her head before fingering one of her energy truncheons and throwing it at the fleeing 'Roadrunner'. The baton whizzed through the air, ionizing the air and leaving a trail of blue gas behind it, heading for Melissa's exposed back. Reflexively she flicked round, her powers propelling her up towards the baton and caught it, the burning energy bar scorching her skin until it cooled down seconds later.
"So it's a relay race?" Joystick asked covering the distance Melissa had run in half a second and slamming her opponent in the face with her second baton, "You must have some super powers to make a save like that." she stated pulling the intercepted baton away from Melissa and kicking her back down into the track, "You know I broke old Demon's legs last time we met, I'd do the same to you but you're kind of cute, you got a boyfriend?" she asked as she grabbed 'Faye' by the shoulder and helped her up.
"Yes, his name is Roland." Melissa replied loudly. Joystick dropped her and shrugged, "My money, it would be nice to get a bonus in addition to what FACT is paying."
"Janice you're an idiot." Melissa hissed before slugging Joystick in the face, "Seriously before you shoot you're mouth off think who you might be talking to." she added bringing in a second punch before being grabbed by Joystick and slapped round the face with a baton and a follow up snap kick sending her sailing down the path before slamming down on her back. Leaping after her Joystick thudded down onto her chest and crossed her batons across Melissa's pinning her down against the concrete. "So you know who I am but while I love guessing games as much as any other kind of competition I figure that you have probably called the cops so I'm just going to beat you quickly and run. Any words about that?"
Melissa replied by spitting in Janice's face and repelling her with a sonic shield pushing her assailant back before taking to the air and soaring off down the path. Thundering after her Joystick passed where Chris was sitting and suddenly felt the melted concrete grab at her legs until it entombed her up to her shins as Melissa swung down and slammed into her feet first knocking her into the rapidly cooling trap. Thrashing around Joystick looked up as Melissa pulled her up enough so that her arms and head were above the surface.
"You fucking bitch, you cheated I want my money or I will…"
"You'll what? Sit there and curse." Melissa finished for her, "Now I know that FACT hired you thanks to that big mouth of yours. Tell me what I want to know before I loose my patience."
"Bite me." Joystick answered, "I can still win." Melissa rolled her eyes before taking Chris's phone and tapping in a four digit number. As she hit send Joystick's wrist bracers begun to flash causing the trapped villain to stare in disbelief at what was happening.
"Two minutes to talk Janice or you blow up." Melissa warned.
"I still win."
"Actually you don't. 'Roland' honey how is the internet saturation of the 'Joystick = Loser' Campaign?" Melissa asked.
"An hour and a half until it is completed." Chris answered nervously.
Joystick snarled something incredibly dirty before attempting to reach for something in her left eye. Bending down Melissa carefully slipped a finger in and removed a contact lens with a miniature power cell. Handing it to Chris she patted Janice on the head, "See that wasn't too hard now was it?" she replied mockingly. "Let's get this thing analyzed." she said turning to Chris, "We are running out of time." she added as they walked away from Joystick her gauntlets beeping.
"Hey come back here you skank." Joystick yelled, "We had a deal turn the chips in my armor off."
"Work it out." Melissa called back before creating a sonic platform and levitating it into the air.
Abe rubbed his temple as he scanned the files; so far he had no viable candidates although with the culprits face covered he could easily have found the shooter already and passed on by. Hopefully Melissa and Chris had managed to subdue Joystick and had some kind of lead to their second perpetrator. Yawning he pressed the next button and suddenly saw an encouraging site, a man whose face was covered in thick bandages and judging from the profile that SHIELD had written he was a perfect candidate for support of the job that Joystick had pulled off earlier.
"Hey baby," a female voice sounded and Abe turned around to see Melissa's genetically altered face towering above him.
"Having fun?" he asked as Chris walked in holding a bag with the contact camera hidden inside. "I assume this isn't from Specsavers. By the looks of it this gizmo is analogous to a black box, it records everything Joystick has done since she put it in her eye" he added. "Good work with Joystick by the way, SHIELD will probably pick her up soon and I'm cleaning up the audio from the conversation you had with Janice, she actually ratted out FACT without realizing it."
"Good work to you too." Melissa replied, "Looks like you found 'Bandages' just in time."
"Yeah Tito Assard AKA the Janissary, a high tech gunman for hire who just so happens to be a bit of a tech whizz. Think of him as the basted offspring of Bullseye and Arcade and then throw a bit of Fixer into the mix and then you have perfectly described this creep. Looks like he's an expert in A-Symmetric combat so he is going to be a pain in the ass to find." Abe stated as he scrolled down the page, "Add in our deadline and it's unlikely we are going to find him."
"Maybe not. If he and Joystick met up after the fight then maybe the eye-spy located where their hideout is" Chris ventured. Abe looked at him with amazement before grinning ear to ear. "It's worth a shot kid." he replied removing the micro camera and examining it. "Got it." he whispered before inverting the contact and removing the chip and inserting it in his phone. "And bingo we are watching the last six hours of Joystick's day from the flight in up until she won a concrete bath."
Melissa landed down on the edge of McCarren International Airport, the place identified as the meeting point that Joystick and Janissary had used at least three times since arriving on a privately chartered plane. Dropping the platform she had been dragging she rubbed her back, after removing her genetic camouflage her spine was feeling a bit stiff, as if it had been stretched, hopefully it would not affect her reflexes too much. Rubbing up against the hanger where the pair of mercenaries had arrived in a Learjet she sent a sonic pulse through the building before removing the tablet mounted on her arm, a 3D sonic map of the structure including the single occupant inside revealed on the screen.
"Good he's in." Abe stated selecting a set of flashbangs and loading them into his revolver. "We go in fast and we go in hard." he added. "Oxide make us a hole." he ordered as Chris walked up to the door and slammed his fist into the massive shutter before reducing the barrier into slurry in seconds. Stepping forward Abe fired a single grenade as all the Thunderbolts surged forward as Melissa tackled Janissary to the ground knocking the rifle from his hand. As the light dimmed Melissa picked up her target revealing it to be a dummy.
"He knew we were coming." Abe snarled looking around taking in the wires spread across the entire complex. "Shit everyone get off the floor." he yelled as the ends sparked and an electrical current pulsed through the floor shocking the entire team and momentarily stunning them as a set of CROW turrets whirred from the corners of the room and filled the air with bullets. Spreading a sonic shield around her team Melissa scanned the room for the real target and watched as one of the packing crates split open revealing the Janissary clutching the same rifle he had stunned her with on the main strip. "Eight O'clock," she screamed using the shield to amplify her words as Assard opened fire, the blast of energy causing the hard sound construct to close in on her.
"Mel." Abe yelled as his teammate collapsed. "You basted you will pay for that." he snarled as he ran towards Assard ducking under the plane and tackling the man back into the crate. Slamming his fist into Janissary's face Abe felt cold steel under the bandages and turned to see an energy gate shut off the only exit of the box. Looking up Abe saw the wall of energy burn through a strand of nano-wire wrapped around the pin of a Freon grenade stuck to the ceiling of his makeshift cage. Hitting the deck Abe felt a wave of cold wash over him and activated the thermal under-layer of his suit, the warm energy cutting through the ice covering his suit ash he sat, helpless to aid his teammates.
Now alone Chris carefully walked over to the crate that Abe was stuck in, scanning the hanger for more traps or the man responsible for the ambush. Movement caught the corner of his eye and a CROW turret reared up from behind a luggage trolley before opening fire; its projectiles long spears dragging lengths of wire behind it that cut through the assorted boxes and crates that were scattered across the hanger. One sliced past Chris's wrist the thin strand of wire leaving a long laceration across the skin. Summoning his powers the last member of the Thunderbolts focused on the wires, the razor sharp steel cables melting all across the room leaving behind grey rivers of metal that flowed across the floor towards him.
Curious Chris stepped on one of the streams watching as the liquid metal shivered when his boot cut off the flow, a pulse running across the entire network igniting the rivers into torrents of blue fire that swirled and eddied across the room towards where Melissa lay unconscious from the sonic attack. Sprinting across the room Chris leapt on-top of her as a torrent of fire washed over them, his body taking the brunt of the heat, his powers working overtime to shield them both until he begun to choke, the smoke causing him to drift into unconsciousness. Looking up he saw a man with a bandaged face and gas mask step forward clutching a pistol, his eyes glowing red against the blue smoke the drifted across the room.
Abe shifted his thermal layer and sudden movement shattering the remaining ice before turning to see Janissary standing over Chris and Melissa, cocking a pistol ready to execute his team members. With a roar of anger Abe walked through the energy gate, the radioactive energy burning his skin through his armor and opened fire with his grenade revolver, the flashbang smacking the handgun from the mercenaries hand and causing him to twirl round and throw a set of bayonet mines at his attacker, their bladed tips embedding in the Lear Jet and the floor before revealing a detonator. Abe surveyed the situation, it was just like the Reno situation, Chris and Melissa were defiantly in danger and the mines weren't simple paint bombs this time. Slowly he removed his sword and placed it on the ground, not taking his eyes off Janissary as he striped his suit of the inbuilt Taser and grenade revolver before kneeling on the floor and putting his hands behind his head. Silently he watched as his HUD came up with a firing solution that would hit his target and tapped his elbows together revealing a hidden micro-flachette hidden in each sleeve. With another tap he fired and watched as the tiny dart bounced off the walls and floor before embedding in Melissa's arm as Janissary tightened his hand on the detonator.
"Sometimes you just punch them." Abe yelled as he got up and charged at the mercenary as he punched instructions, the chemical secretion activating Melissa's powers to bloom into a massive sonic shield at the same time the mines detonated followed by the Lear Jet's fuel tank. Diving through the inferno Abe saw Janissary remove a high powered Tabuk Sniper Rifle and fire a trio of shots before shifting position as Abe fired a second flachette, the dart embedding in Assard's gas mask and causing him to cough and choke as his airflow was cut off. Slamming his fist into the mercenary Abe felt skin under his gloves and watched Janissary collapse into a heap. Picking the villain up and slinging him over his shoulder Abe ran for the door grabbing Melissa and Chris before flinging himself onto the tarmac outside of the now blazing hanger. All around him sirens could be heard getting closer as fire trucks and police cars came thundering down the runway followed by a pair of armoured vans with the SHIELD eagle emblazoned on the side. Sighing with relief Abe pulled the dart out of Melissa's arm and stroked her arm.
"Sometimes you just punch them." he repeated.
Epilogue(s)
"So where are you guys heading?" Boomerang asked Abe as he loaded his tool kit back into the VW Campervan the Thunderbolts had bought in California.
"We're going out towards Texas and then going east until we hit Florida, from there who knows?" Abe replied.
"You're secret is safe with us as ours hopefully will be with you." Centurius told them as he watched Zabo struggling to load up a combat pack.
"Hopefully Fixer will find a way out." Melissa stated, "Thank you for telling us the truth, considering what it might have done to the entire planet it was very brave of you."
"Well you did rescue us from being incarcerated; I just hope that it will be a long time before Hyde resurfaces." Zabo wheezed as Chris handed him a bottle of water from a second pack, "You have our e-mail address, if you ever need another head to figure things out just send us a message."
"Will do." Chris snorted, "It's a shame that Satana didn't come down to see us off."
"Well it's her loss." Boomerang answered, "I'll be seeing you blokes around I'm certain of It." he told the Thunderbolts as he hopped in the back of the Camper Van.
"Umm what the hell." Melissa said, "You are not coming with us Myers."
"Beg to differ boss, I figure that if you're heading to Florida then you can give me a lift to Miami, like I said earlier I was thinking about trying out for the Dolphins and travelling with you I should get plenty of practice." Myers replied, "Plus Abe said it was cool."
"I took a chance. And if FACT is really after the remaining Thunderbolts this may be the best way to find out why." Abe told her as he slipped into the van's driver seat. Melissa rubbed her face before following him inside with Chris shutting the doors behind them leaving Zabo and Centurius alone on the steps. Heading back to the suite Zabo sat down and watched the Thunderbolts head down the strip, while they had been saying goodbye Satana must have ordered room service as a Chinese meal for four had been set out. Absent mentally he walked over and cracked open one of the fortune cookies and read the message out loud.
"Justice is served."
As the last word left his lips the bomb under the table exploded spraying hellfire across the room and engulfing him and Centurius, reducing everything in its path to ash.
Joystick and Janissary were escorted into the chamber where they had first met a few days ago. The Guardsmen stopped at the door pushing them inside as the three people at the table watched them with piercing eyes.
"So you failed." Ms. King, a striking blonde woman in a business suit spat. "Luckily are third operative was ready incase you did."
"We didn't expect more players in the game." Joystick complained. "Besides they have nothing to link you to the attack."
"Really." Mr Umbridge said calmly, his dark skin blending in with the shadows that crisscrossed the room, "The iris-recorder caught everything, you betrayed us Joystick and because of that you're place in the new order is forfeit. Take her away to Deep Storage, we only except winners here."
"I am not a loser." Joystick screamed as a pair of Guardsmen dragged her from the room.
"Mr. Assard." Mr. Lane announced, "You held you're tongue and were betrayed along with us, you are safe but fail us again and you will join Miss. Yostick." Janissary bowed his head before being escorted out as another prisoner was brought in.
"Ah Mr. Gould we are sorry for you're travel arrangements, rest assured you're release is being arranged as we speak." King told the man. "What news from Baron Von Strucker?"
"His faction of HYDRA is interested in you're scheme and wish to be a part of it." Goldbug announced, "Our operatives, weapons and technology will be used to help you."
"Good, when you get out tell the Baron that he has made an intelligent choice and that his reward for being the first of the HYDRA factions to join us, he will be given a new world to mould when we are victorious." Lane told him. Gould smiled as another pair of Guardsmen arrived to take him back to his cell. Umbridge swung on his chair to face the corner, with King and Lane doing the same.
"Thank you for waiting, you succeeded where Assard and Yostick failed." Lane announced, "And while indiscrete it served a purpose."
"My fee." a voice from the shadows replied.
"Of course Miss. Hellstrom." King told the figure hidden in the shadows. "The coordinates of the area where we released the Swamp Walker." she continued holding out a tablet. Stepping out of the shadows, Satana took the device and stared at the map on the screen.
"At last the Man Thing is mine to command." she hissed before disappearing in a jet of flame. Lane sat and turned to the others a grimace on his face, "Soon this world will be ours and the Thunderbolts will be brought to Justice for what they did to us."
Thunderbolts #19
A team of deadly and efficient killers is released on the orders of FACT to hunt the Thunderbolts. Will the team survive the coming onslaught and just who is FACT hoping will join their crusade against the Thunderbolts? Find out as Skylark, Iridium, Melter and Boomerang become Human Prey in the next issue.