Cody thundered down the street as a police cruiser came flying through the air, siren blaring and lights flashing as if that would help it slow it's travels. With a grunt Cody swung his axe and cut the cop car in half, the blade easily dissecting the vehicle as the remains clanged beside him to the floor. The thrower, a red skinned man with an oversized crab claw for one hand and a long barbed stinger for the other turned and glowered at him with recessed black compound eyes before speaking, his mouth parts flapping contrasting with the hissing of his voice.
"The surface dwellers made a big mistake challenging the might of At'La'Tique. We will drown you're world with the same polluted waters you used to kill my people."
"Right." a voice stated beside Cody, looking down he saw Oxide clad in the orange and black jumpsuit he wore, "So besides being this afternoons Catch of the Day do we know anything about this guy?"
"No." Cody replied as the Crab Man spat more words about pollution and Atlantean superiority, "Although I think I heard of At'La'Tique before."
(Yep it's the same At'La'Tique behind the Fathom Five seen in the real New Thunderbolts consisting of Lyron, Man O War, Blood Tide, Sea Leopard and Dragon Rider in Issues #1 - #5)
"You should have, these guys were brought to justice by the Thunderbolts a few years ago." a third voice told them. Cody flinched, he knew that the person talking to him was back at the tower that they were using as a base but he still found voices entering his head a little intrusive. Calmly he took a breath before marching forward to face the threat as his opponent snapped a lamp post in two. "The creature before you is a mutated Atlantean known as the King Crab. While he never has been a threat to Atlantis or the surface we have good Intel that suggests he has been gathering an army to him after the Phoenix incident."
"We got it Volkner." Oxide replied, "Looks like we're having crab cakes tonight Vassal." he joked as he reached out with his powers and melting the lamp post that the Crab was clutching like a makeshift staff just before Cody reached the Atlantean Terrorist and slammed his axe haft first into the villain's chest knocking him to the floor. Retaliating King Crab aggressively locked Vassal's left leg with his claw and squeezed causing the giant man to grunt in pain as Oxide slammed a burning fist into the Atlantean's shoulder.
"That was unwise surface dweller." King Crab hissed as he threw Cody away down the street, "My armor protects me from the fires of the sea mounts and the arctic depths, you're flames can not touch me." On the 'touch' he twisted and thrusted his stinger into Oxide's hand, the point stabbing through his palm and into the bone. The reaction was instant, Oxide yelled in pain at the impact and second's later fire erupted up King Crab's arm charring it just under the elbow, the ferocity of the Thunderbolts defence causing him to scuttle backwards. His hand now free of the stinger Oxide looked down to see big globs of orange blood leaking to the floor and igniting the tarmac where he stood. "Vassal I need that Freon bandage now before I bleed out." he yelled as both Cody and King Crab got to their feet. With a roar Vassal charged at the Crab, the Atlantean terrorist crumbling as he tackled through him and quickly wrapped a bandage over Oxide's hand, the strip glowing blue before stemming the tide of radioactive blood.
"Thanks man, I almost melted down there." Oxide announced as King Crab hovered over Vassal, his claw positioned ready to guillotine through Cody's neck. With a grunt the Thunderbolt raised his axe and slammed the flat of the blade into the Crab's face causing him to real back before falling backward onto his back.
"Do you really think you can come to Chicago and mess with the Thunderbolts?" Cody asked as he slammed his axe down over the claw keeping it pinned to the ground.
"Thunderbolts." King Crab hissed, "I surrender."
"Sidewinder this is Vassal, King Crab is neutralized but for the sake of security I suggest that somebody escorts him to O' Hare until we turn him over to SHIELD." Cody suggested.
"Not SHIELD this time, the Atlantean Consulate called while you were fighting." Volkner replied over the Comm. Link, "They want to question King Crab themselves and are sending a party to collect him. You and Oxide stay on station until they arrive."
"Got it boss." Cody announced glancing at King Crab writing on the floor as Oxide helped a few police officers move the villain into a van ready for transport as the security cameras relayed images back to a server hub hidden deep under the city, a small group of figures watching the fight with great interest. Turning away the seated man took a sip of bourbon before picking up a check list and handing it to the woman standing on his left hand side. "Mysteria it appears the representative of At'La'Tique will not be taking part today. Who do we actually have left attending our meeting?"
"AIM is already here as are the Druid's Sickle and 88 street gangs." Mysteria announced, "The Maggia is also coming but will be unwilling to participate in any alliance. We may also have representatives of the Quintos Rohas Cartel and Golden Triangle Syndicate joining us by satellite but how much they support they will give us is unknown."
"They will join us." the Silent Partner told her in a confident voice, "Mathemaniac the call you intercepted; alter the physics and send it to Point Alpha Victor, we will need a show of strength to get the others to accept that the Thunderbolts are a danger to their enterprises."
"Can do boss but…well is it a good call to bring them in?" Mathemaniac stammered, "It's just that they are more dangerous to our plans then the Thunderbolts."
"No they are not." the Silent Partner replied quietly, "My superiors at FACT believe that the Thunderbolts are the reason why they failed, before they can proceed with the cleansing the Thunderbolts must be eliminated."
"Of course sir." Mathemaniac whimpered, "They should be here soon but I want nothing else to do with this part of the plan."
"Nor should you." the Silent Partner stated, "Others will be responsible for the carrying out of the rest of this plan."
Seth Volkner looked out over the city, the tips of the skyscrapers gleaming in the mid morning sun. Thanks to the aftermath of the F5s attack Chicago was having unseasonably warm weather, perhaps as a karmic equalling for the early winter that had gripped the city only two weeks earlier. While Seth had been apposed to Cyclone's plot he had to admit that he had come out a winner, business was up and thanks to the need for support staff to aid the Thunderbolts in their campaign against crime he had become the largest employer for the third quarter, a trend that looked like it would continue into the last part of the year too. "As I was saying Melissa the Atlantean situation is under control." he murmured while looking out the window, "But the FAA has picked up an unknown aircraft entering the city's airspace. Cursory scans show the plane is armed with high calibre canons and rockets. Even if it wasn't heavily armed the energy being discharged by the vehicle would make it a danger if it were to crash."
"So you want us to force the pilot to land." Melissa announced as she lifted a pair of sonic dumbbells in the garage. "Or at the very least ascertain who is flying the thing and determine if they are friend or foe."
"Exactly." Volkner answered, "Vassal and Oxide are currently busy but as far as I know everyone else is not busy at the moment." Melissa turned to see Abe working on his armor next to where Boomer, Juno and Quicksand were playing cards. "Everyone is already to go." Melissa replied loudly, "Send co-ordinates to the Interceptor armor and we'll make sure that the city is safe." she added as the sound of scrapping chairs and groans sounded all around her, "Rest assured the Thunderbolts can handle this Sir."
"I have no doubts you can." Volkner reassured her, "But others do. Simply try you're best and the results everyone is hoping for will come to fruition." Melissa nodded before walking over and tapping the garage door button, the heavy shutters sliding upwards to reveal the open sky. Clanking as he walked Abe came to stand next to her before nodding silently at her, this mission was different it required restraint and empathy rather then raw power, it would be a big test of the others abilities.
Five minutes later the booster powered form of the Interceptor armor cut through the low hanging cloud followed by a streak of pink and orange as Songbird and Boomerang followed him up, the former dragging a platform for the remaining Thunderbolts to stand on. Judging from the readings the mystery aircraft was travelling slow and low making it an easy target to stop, Melissa was more worried about the pilot and passengers, something wasn't right but she couldn't figure what it was. When at last the plane came into view she realized why she was feeling so apprehensive, with a big 'A' emblazoned on the stubby wings she instantly recognized the aircraft as an Avengers Quinn Jet, something that made her stomach roll.
"Is that a…?" Juno asked, her voice muffled by the re-breather she was currently wearing.
"Yes it is." Abe quickly replied, "Melissa hail them while I do a sensor scan and plot course trajectory."
Melissa nodded and cleared her throat before sending a stream of sonic vibrations into the vehicle's fuselage. "Attention Avenger Quinn Jet, please identify yourselves and you're destination and then head outside city limits if at all possible." Abe listened as he flew over the top of the aircraft, his suit scanning the hull, as Volkner had mentioned there was a lot of energy but no crew or passengers, it was almost as if the Quinn Jet was the ariel equivalent of the Mary Celeste, a ghost craft doomed to wander the skies forever or at least until it ran out of fuel.
"Nobody is aboard but fuel sensors show that the jet only has 20% of its fuel capacity. I suggest we board her, taker her down to O'Hare and then notify the owners and find out how it got here." Abe stated.
"You're wrong." Black Tarantula answered, "I can sense something is wrong with this plane, it would be unwise to board her."
"Well we have no choice, the last time this happened a MiG 23 flew from Russia to Belgium and crashed into a house killing somebody. Factor in that this thing has a hydrogen fuel cell and is carrying depleted uranium warheads then we are going to have a bigger mess especially if it crashes into a tower block. No it's too risky to leave it, Juno cut this can open and we'll get this thing down to the deck where it can't do any harm." Abe sighed as Juno activated her magnetized boots and stepped onto the Quinn Jet's wing, each foot fall clanging against the hull as she got closer to the hull.
"It's not too late to walk away." Black Tarantula told Abe as Juno fired up an acetylene torch and began to cut through the fuselage. Abe was about to reply when a hatch on the part where Smokescreen was working opened up causing her to topple inside as a shadow emerged from the darkened hold.
"Thou are the villains responsible for the sabotage." the bearded form of Thor cursed, "Thy will pay for such insolence." he added as Havok and Wolverine flanked him in the doorway.
"There the Thunderbolts." Wolverine snarled, "Careful they may look like losers but I know from experience that they are devious especially the pink one."
(Songbird, MACH V and Revenant managed to dupe Wolverine and Luke Cage in Persona Non Grata - Part III)
"They are still thugs and murderers." Havok stated, "And it's our job to deal with them whoever they may be. Avengers Attack." he added before firing an energy beam at Abe, the blast slamming into his torso and charring part of his suit. In that brief second everything went wrong, angered by the attack on their leader the Thunderbolts struck before being repelled by blasts of lightning. It seemed that everybody had forgotten why they had been sent here in favour for the clash of titans that was about to occur. Groaning Abe saw Quicksand slink around the wing to attack Thor from behind as he threw Mjolnir to knock out Boomerang, the Australian marksman harassing the Avengers from above with a flurry of released projectiles.
"Sand no." Abe yelled, "I need you to get inside and bring this thing down."
"Easier said then done." Quicksand replied as she smothered Thor, the Norse God thrashing as Wolverine ran past trading blows with Black Tarantula, the pair of them gracefully dancing around the plane, a swift contrast to the rest of the fighting. "I have a score to settle"
"Well do it on your own time, we were sent here to…" Abe was suddenly knocked back as Songbird came flying at him, her body propelled by one of Havok's energy blasts. Flaring her wings Melissa stopped and dropped under the plane leaving Abe alone in mid air, the already smoking Quinn jet powering away from him. Flaring his boosters he rocketed towards the fight and opened fire, it was clear now that the only way to save the plane was to beat the Avengers and commandeer the aircraft, he sighed it appeared that his team would have to play the villain of the piece one more time at least.
Thor roared, his angry bellow causing lightning to spider web across the sky as he ripped Quick Sand off of him, her form dissipating as she flew away from him. Turning he saw another attacker in the form of Boomerang fly towards him, a pair of Razorangs clutched in his fist, the first angry slash missing him by seconds before the Thunder God slammed him away with Mjolnir. Flying backwards Boomer slammed into a sonic baseball glove hovering next to the jet.
"Maybe I should try out as well?" Melissa asked, "Boomer we need to focus if we're going to stop these guys. If we can get people inside then maybe we can stop the plane and talk this over like the rational people we are."
"We already have someone inside." Boomer replied as he cut power to his thrusters and ducked under an energy blast thrown by Havok just in time, "Smoky who are you doing?"
"Not good." Juno replied through gritted teeth from behind a bulkhead the sound of clanging and gunfire framing her voice, "I'm inside but Captain America is stonewalling me, I could take him out but I'm a huge fan so as such I'm more conflicted then I was last presidential election."
"Anyone else in there?" Boomer asked.
"None of our guys but the Scarlet Witch and some mutant girl are backing the Captain up." Juno announced, "Okay the plane is about to shake but hopefully nothing to severe is about to happen." she added as the last grenade was attached to the oxy-acetylene tank. "Sorry Cap but I need to get through." she added kicking the tank out towards the cabin, her IED exploding half way towards its target and flooding the space with smoke. Running through the fog Smokescreen opened fire, mercy rounds bouncing off the Avengers until red spheres of energy surrounded the pair of Glocks she carried causing her weapons to jam.
"Impossible." Juno spat, "Fucking impossible I cleaned my guns just before leaving."
"Not impossible just improbable." the commanding voice of Captain America announced, "The Scarlet Witch manipulated the odds and played them in our favour." he added as he smacked Juno round the face with his shield sending her crashing into a bulkhead. "Rouge get outside and help the others, for some reason the Thunderbolts are trying to take over the ship and while I'm sure they have a good reason I'd rather know what it is before hand."
Melissa siphoned a blast of lightning along a sonic shaft and diverted it high into the air where it exploded in a brilliant white light. Beside her Abe fired a pair of mini missiles down at Thor only to see the god smack them away with Mjolnir as if they were nothing more then irritable mosquitoes.
"This is stupid." Abe spat, "While Thor stands there we can't get anyone else inside to help Juno."
"I have a plan." Melissa answered, "Quicksand get ready I'm giving you an entrance in a few seconds." she added before hovering above Thor her hands and eyes glowing with a pink aura. "Have at thee Thunderer." she bellowed before summoning a sonic hammer and throwing it at the Asgardian, the construct knocking the deity off the wing and leaving the door unguarded. In an instant Thor returned but he arrived too late, as he repositioned himself the last few grains of sand had snuck through the open door into the Quinn Jet's interior.
Black Tarantula crawled across the bottom of the jet with Wolverine in hot pursuit, the stocky Canadian using his claws to swing across the control surfaces in a speed only a hair slower then his own crawling. Turning Carlos watched as his pursuer stopped out of arm's reach and flipped forward so that he could use his trade mark claws in the battle that was to come.
"End of the line bub." Wolverine snarled as he gritted his teeth. Carlos narrowed his own as he saw something glinting from one of the roof tops; it only took him a few seconds to identify what it was, but it was a second to late as the gunman fired the Stinger missile directly at the Quinn Jet, the rocket slamming into the left missile battery and detonating the warheads with enough force to send the plane spiralling down before secondary explosions ripped the vessel apart. The first struck the cockpit, the force cracking the hardened ceramic of the windows and dragging Juno's unconscious body out into the air outside. Struggling against the vacuum Captain America watched as the Scarlet Witch closed the emergency shutter locking him in the pressurised part of the plane before the entire underside of the cockpit was ripped off sending her flying along with Wolverine and Black Tarantula as their fight resumed.
"Shit there gone." Melissa screeched as Abe fired a pair of micro-flachette into Havok's neck and leg, the mutant angrily plucking the first dart out and firing an energy blast at the Interceptor armor at the same time as a blast of lightning, the combined energy overloading the suit and sending the pilot plummeting past his teammates. "Abe," Melissa screamed as she dived after him, "Abe activate you're auxiliary pack."
"It's part of the plan." Abe replied over the radio, "The old ball and chain. I'll remove Havok so you can keep the jet in the air with less flack from the Avengers." Melissa squinted and suddenly saw what Abe meant. Climbing back up she hovered opposite Havok and threw a pair of sonic shields around his hands effectively neutralizing his powers before coyly pointing at his feet just in time to see the cable attached to the dart yank him off the jet. Scanning the ditch Melissa saw that only Boomer and Quicksand were left, the later wrapped around Thor, her body keeping his arms bound before nodding first at Melissa and then the remaining wing. Understanding the cryptic message Songbird cut through the wing and watched as it, her teammate and her hostage went tumbling before she wrapped sonic coils around the remaining wreckage.
"Melissa look out." Boomerang yelled a little too late as Rouge wrapped her hands around Songbird's neck sending the Thunderbolt into a deep coma. Boomer went to intercept only to see Captain America leap out of the plane and slam into him, sending him veering towards the others. Struggling Myers looked up to see the Quinn Jet detonate, the concussive wave of energy sending the remaining Thunderbolts and Avengers flailing as they fell at breakneck speed towards the ground below.
New Thunderbolts #30
As the Avengers and Thunderbolts fall from grace the head of the underworld factions are set a challenge by the Silent Partner. The goal; the death of the Thunderbolts, The reward is control of the criminal elements. What horrors will they unleash on our Heros and will the Avengers and Bolts unite in time to stop them?