Back to GatefoldIssue #10 by Mike Exner III
THE TRIAD RESOLUTION Part 1: "Oh Brother and Sister, Where Art Thou?" |
Previously in Thunderbolts: The Man-Beast was thwarted by the Thunderbolts - with some help from the Shadow King and Baron Zemo, of course - and went on their merry way. Firelord was none too happy about being mind-controlled and let it show as he made the Man-Beast pay big time by destroying his headquarters. Why would the Shadow King want to help the T-Bolts take out the Man-Beast you ask? Well, take a gander below, fans of justice, and find out for yourself!
The sound of rock and steel cracking and rending underneath the massive pressure of the mountain filled the air both above and below the former base of the Man-Beast. The damage done to it by the cosmic being known as Firelord had been so devastating and done so quickly that soon the mountain would be nothing more than a depression in the great earth. Firelord had been kind to the creatures within the mountain when he had transported them away from certain death with a snap of his fingers. Only he and the Man-Beast had been left within the collapsing peak.*
*It all happened last issue - Mike
But Firelord had forgotten someone. When Firelord had probed the complex to rid it of the humans within, he had used his cosmic powers to locate their minds and whisk them away. But there had been one within the mountain that Firelord had not been able to sense. The brain patterns were dulled and shielded by an outside force and the man was left to die amidst the crushing rock.
Arnim Zola screamed long and hard for the second time in as many minutes. He was free to move but there was nowhere to go. The mountain was collapsing all around him and he knew that nothing he did could save him.
He had resigned himself to his fate of death, but he screamed for help all the same. He couldn't understand the panic that clutched his heart. But it clawed and raked at him mercilessly nonetheless. He had lived for a very long time and regretted nothing. But still, much of that life had been used in the service of others.
After he had become the top geneticist for Hitler his life had become a shadow of what it had once been. He had been manipulated because of his genius. The Shadow King had manipulated and used him for years after his service to Germany was done and then the Man-Beast had done the same. He vowed silently to himself as he screamed for help that if he lived through this he would find a way to make them pay for using him and that he would never be mind-controlled again.
Oh, Arnim. Did I really treat you all that badly? said a voice and Arnim Zola stopped screaming. He wanted to scream but he could not. Something had taken control of him and his body. He was completely aware of what was happening but was powerless to stop it. Powerless again.
I have need of you once more, Zola said the voice of the Shadow King and tears began to issue from Arnim Zola's artificial eyes. He could still control those it seemed, if he could control nothing else. The Shadow King began to manipulate his body, sending him on a track throughout the mountain. Soon Zola came to an opening in the shifting rock.
The Man-Beast had quite a plan. Almost everything was worked out perfectly. But his one error was in taking what rightfully belonged to me. You, Arnim Zola. In a way, you were the downfall of the Man-Beast.
Arnim Zola struggled to scream, struggled to resist, struggled to cry out that he did not belong to the Shadow King. That he was not a slave.
But of course you are, Zola. I have finally clasped my prey in a grip he cannot possibly escape and am prepared to strike. But I have use of you now. You are mine once again.
And as more tears fell from Arnim Zola's face, he fled the darkness of the crumbling mountain, and entered the shadows of the world beyond.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Oh, where in the hell is Citizen V now?!" cried Atlas as he shot up to nearly thirty feet in size and began to scan the area around the crumbling mountain. The Thunderbolts were all outside gathered before what was left of the Man-Beast's base.* The self-styled Masters of Evil were all neatly wrapped up in coils courtesy of Mach-1's suit of new and improved armor. Baron Zemo and Techno were nowhere to be found.
*As they were when we saw them last issue - Mike
"She was here a second ago," said She-Hulk but her voice was distant and distracted. Finding Citizen V was definitely at the very lowest of her priority list. She had spotted something a bit more interesting to grab her attention. "Do you guys see that?"
"See what?" snapped Moonstone and glanced in the direction She-Hulk was pointing. She was upset about quite a few things. Baron Zemo and Techno had both fled and were still out there plotting against her team. She-Hulk was a wild card that could cause even more problems than Hawkeye ever could have. And she didn't like the way Firelord had just zipped them out of the mountain as if they were children that needed his help. If anyone should have been saving the day, it should have been her.
"I see it, some kind of disturbance on the horizon," said Songbird and Mach-1 shook his head.
"No, that's not just a disturbance. That's a convoy of some kind. My scanners are picking up multiple vehicles that are all moving this way."
"Maybe we should scram then," said Atlas as he shrunk back down to the level of the rest of the Thunderbolts.
"And what? Leave the Masters of Evil just sitting here for this mysterious convoy to pick up?" growled Moonstone. "I don't think so."
"So we're just going to sit here and wait for them?" asked Living Lightning. Moonstone could taste the skepticism in the little brat's voice and had to fiercely resist the urge to turn and strike him.
"That's exactly what we're going to do," replied Moonstone as she clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the approaching vehicles. "This is our battle, our victory. Nobody is taking that away from us."
"Mach-1, maybe you should take to the air and scout these guys out a bit," suggested She-Hulk as she watched Moonstone grow more frayed by with each passing second.
"Good idea," said Mach-1 and activated his boot and back thrusters. He marveled, not for the first time, at the way they hummed to life and lifted him from the ground with barely a sound.
"Squash that order and plant your butt back on the ground, Abe," said Moonstone and the tone of her voice caused Mach-1 to immediately cut his engines. "I don't really give a damn who these people are. If they're allies, fine. Maybe we can hand over our prisoners and be on our way without any violence."
Moonstone turned to face the others, but her eyes kept lingering on She-Hulk.
"But if they're not allies, we'll cut them in half and take all of this scum and that scum back to the Vault where they belong."
"Karla, you can't be serious," said Atlas and Moonstone shot into the air and hovered over the Thunderbolts' heads.
"I'm dead serious. If you want a scout, fine. I'll be the blasted scout," Moonstone said and then zipped on a line towards the rising cloud of dust heading the T-Bolts' way.
In seconds, she was back.
"We should go," Moonstone stated matter-of-factly.
"You're joking, right?" asked She-Hulk but one look into Karla Sofen's eyes pushed all thoughts of a mid-morning prank from her mind.
"It's the CSA, and they're packing some major heat," replied Moonstone and Mach-1 began to laugh.
"Karla, it's cool. The CSA is the only reason I'm here, remember?* They're on our side," said Mach-1 and then kicked his thrusters into gear and leapt into the air. "I'll talk to them."
*As Mach-1 explained to the rest of the team last issue - Mike
"Abe. Don't," said Songbird but Mach-1 simply waved her off and slipped towards the convoy.
"Oh crap," said Atlas who nobody had noticed jump back up to thirty feet.
"What is it?" snapped Moonstone and rose up to the level of his face.
"It looks like the CSA had the same idea as you, Moonie," replied Atlas with a groan. "Do you see 'em? Coming out of those vehicles...those are Guardsmen."
"The CSA must be working hand in hand with the newly rebuilt Vault," said She-Hulk. "I just hope Abe knows what he's doing."
"He doesn't," said Atlas.
"What do you mean?" cried Songbird and Atlas peered down at her.
"They're shooting at him."
# # # # # # # # # #
"What the heck is wrong with you freaks?" yelled Mach-1 as he dodged the lethal energy blasts issuing from the Guardsmen who had popped out of the oncoming vehicles like popcorn from the microwave. "Get Warton on the horn or something! I'm on your side!"
"Forget it, criminal," came the amplified voice of one of the Guardsman as he took another shot at Mach-1. The hero easily dodged the blast. "Our orders come from Director Warton himself. You and the other Thunderbolts are to be captured on sight."
"Son of a..." Mach-1 muttered to himself but then cut himself off as things finally clicked into place for him. Emil Warton had set him up. He'd used Abe to not only take out the Man-Beast, but apprehend the Thunderbolts as well. All the talk about a pardon was just a lot of pissing in the wind.
"Piss on my face makes me angry," growled Mach-1 and launched two E-M* air-to-air missiles at the nearest Guardsmen.
*Electro-magnetic - Mike
Mach-1 watched as the Guardsmen's armor sputtered and then went dead. Other Guardsmen rushed to their compatriot's aid and Mach-1 took the opportunity to haul his butt out of there.
"Abe, what the hell is going on?" yelled a voice surprisingly close to his ear. Abe glanced to his left and saw the Living Lightning there.
Damn, you're fast," replied Abe as he continued on a straight line towards his assembled team. "The CSA pulled a double-cross. They're here to nab the bad-guys...and us."
"Oh crap," said Living Lightning, and skipped - at the speed of light - back to the others.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Oh crap," muttered Atlas under his breath as Living Lightning relayed the message.
"Crap indeed," stated Moonstone as she took stock of options in her head.
"We've got to leave now, Moonstone," came the annoyingly noble voice of She-Hulk in her ear and Moonstone winced.
"Not planning to switch sides and join the CSA in taking us down?" snapped Moonstone and She-Hulk flinched.
"Hey now, Karla. That's not fair," huffed Atlas but She-Hulk put up a hand to stop him.
"No, Atlas. It's fine. Karla's right. For a brief second I thought about helping to bring all of you to justice. But I'm a part of this team," She-Hulk said with pride bubbling in her voice. "For better or worse now, I'm one of you. I'm a Thunderbolt."
"Me too," chipped in Living Lightning with true excitement and Moonstone rolled her eyes.
"We'll see," Karla stated simply and then turned to the others. "Scatter everyone. Mach-1 will get the idea when he sees us moving. She-Hulk, take Atlas and head west. Living Lightning, just go. Nobody is catching you. Songbird and I will head east. That leaves Mach-1 to head north. Hopefully Abe is bright enough to see what we're doing."
"He is," said Songbird as she took to the air.
"Right. Whatever. Ok, Thunderbolts. Back to base...Let's move!"
# # # # # # # # # #
"Sir they're making their escape," said one of the numerous Guardsmen who flooded the cramped interior of one of the hovering CSA transports. His armored fingers danced lightly over the keypad in front of him and a screen lit up in the middle of the cockpit showing the Thunderbolts break off and head in opposite directions.
"Just like I figured they would," said the man sitting in the Captain's chair. "Flash to a shot of our wolf in sheep's clothing."
"Yes sir," said the Guardsman and once again flicked his fingers over the keypad before him. In seconds, a picture of Mach-1 - on a course heading north now - flashed onto the screen.
"Should I inform the regiment to pursue, sir?" asked a quivering sack of waste at his side and the man gazing at the fleeing form of Mach-1 grimaced.
"Get out of my sight, you worm!" he shrieked and the Guardsman slinked away. The rest of the crew had turned to look at their leader.
"Pilot, bring this vehicle to the Thunderbolts' last known location and pick up the stragglers they left behind," said the man, and then as if it were an afterthought. "We are not, I repeat, not going after the Thunderbolts. We have a duty to the CSA and I mean to fulfill it."
With that, the man straightened in his chair and peered into the viewing screen at lowly Abe Jenkins once again. Mach-1 was flying like a free little bird without a care in the world.
"How would you feel, I wonder, if you knew you were bugged?" he muttered to himself and then smiled. The smile was truly terrible. "Run as far as you like, T-Bolts. Your butts belong to me."
# # # # # # # # # #
When She-Hulk finally landed in the hangar of the Mount Charteris base, she was completely lost in her own thoughts. Her first thought was that Moonstone was just one royal pain in her green butt. Their fearless leader knew it would take She-Hulk a long time to leap here from the Man-Beast's base. But instead of pairing Atlas with Moonstone and letting She-Hulk ride with Songbird, she'd made everyone's favorite green-skinned babe jump all the way back just to spite her.
She wanted to be angry, but as soon as this first thought passed through her head and got her all worked up, a second thought came that pushed all that anger away. Why hadn't the CSA chased her down? She was pretty quick jumping from spot to spot on her way back, but she wasn't that quick. Those Guardsmen could have easily ran her down and taken her and Atlas at any time. Not that the two of them would have been taken easily, but still. Something must have held them back. What was it?
This thought hammered and hammered in She-Hulk's mind until she thought it would crack her skull. There had to be a rational explanation and it seemed to be right there on the tip of her tongue. If she could just spit it out, there it'd be.
It didn't help matters much that Atlas kept grabbing places on her body that caused rational thought to melt away like an ice-cream sandwich on a summer day. The funny thing was that she didn't really think the big lug even intended to do it. He was just trying to hang on for dear life. And they'd been jumping for a long time.
"Remind me never to ride with you like that again," Atlas groaned as he stretched and cracked his back into some form of a reasonable shape.
"I don't know, I kind of liked having you holding onto me for a couple hours," replied She-Hulk and Atlas turned towards her with a wide grin planted on his face. She briefly wondered how her lips would look planted on his face and dismissed the thought as schoolgirl shudders slipped up her spine.
"Stop being silly, girl," she muttered to herself.
"What did you say, Jen?" asked Atlas and She-Hulk opened her mouth to reply when a firm sound that could be nothing other than Moonstone clearing her throat issued through the vast confines of the hangar.
"If you two are done, I suggest you head with me to the conference room. Ogre has something he'd like to show us," said Moonstone and She-Hulk and Atlas followed her out.
# # # # # # # # # #
"So you found Charcoal?" Melissa Gold asked Ogre and the diminutive man shook his head in negation.
"I'm not saying that, Songbird. All I'm saying is that I tracked young Mr. Burlingame after he left so abruptly because I thought it would be a good idea," replied Ogre as the Thunderbolts hovered over a virtual viewing screen built into the table Ogre was now fingering. "I was able to map his significantly increased heat signatures with relative ease. His power increase after absorbing Firelord's energies helped quite a bit."
"Time to toot your own horn later, big guy," said Atlas as he poked one of his own fingers at a dim red line tracking across the Colorado landscape. "We've got to find Briquette. I'm assuming this is him?"
"You would assume incorrectly, Atlas. This red line indicates Charcoal's passage, not the young man himself. If this red line were him, he'd be spread quite thinly throughout the entirety of this state," replied Ogre with a small chuckle.
"I really don't see what's funny about the situation, Ogre," said Moonstone with an edge that everyone could sense. Ogre immediately straightened up and regarded the rest of the team with a frank seriousness.
"I apologize, Moonstone, everyone. I did not mean to make light of the loss of our friends and teammates. I've simply sensed something of a tension and hoped to alleviate it, if only slightly. I apologize again."
"No harm done, Ogre. Why don't you tell us what you know?" said She-Hulk and Ogre absently stroked at his beard and then nodded his head.
"What I know is this. Young Charles Burlingame fled from the base and journeyed back to the location where he and Jolt were both found unconscious. There was a build up of energy at that location. It may have been a struggle of some kind. Then the energy signature simply vanished."
"So maybe Charlie was nabbed and Jolt had the same thing happen to her?" said Atlas in more of a questioning tone than one of affirmation.
"I think it very reasonable to assume that both of the events that you refer to happened in just such a way, Atlas," replied Ogre and then regarded the team with his aged eyes. "I would suggest a course of action to bring our young members back, but I see by your faces that no such recommendation is necessary."
"You're darn straight," stated the Living Lightning suddenly and then flared brightly, lighting the room. "I'm going to get Charlie and Jolt back!"
"Oh, c'mon now. This is getting ridiculous," said Atlas but in an instant, the Living Lightning was gone.
"Blast! I'm going after him. The rest of you get prepared and follow together as a unit. Whatever it is that took Hallie and Charlie is probably still out there. I'm not letting it get Miguel too," ordered Moonstone and then took to the air after Living Lightning.
"You heard the lady, folks. Let's get cracking," said Mach-1 and the rest of the Thunderbolts rushed out of the conference room, leaving Ogre alone with his thoughts.
# # # # # # # # # #
"My name is Jonathan Tremont. And I am going insane," said the man standing in front of the mirror. He raised a hand to the darkened skin of his face and stroked his goatee. Streaks of gray ran through it and pooled at his chin. His dark hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail that gave him the slick image of a television evangelist.
The man raised his eyes from the image of himself and turned away from the mirror. A bank of television screens sat behind his desk and he moved over to his plush leather chair and sat down. On the flickering television screens images of the Avengers - Earth's mightiest heroes - passed from one frame to the next at an alarming pace.
The man watched the images with an increasing amount of rage twisting his face with each passing second. His face was that of a rabid animal struggling to control the disease pushing at its mind. With the slightest slip, a rabid pet could turn from a child's best friend, to a child's death sentence.
"With the slightest slip, I could change from the founder of the Triune Understanding, to a raving lunatic," said Tremont and then smiled a ghastly smile at the screens before him. The heavy tread of someone entering his private office cast his mind away from such thoughts and he turned towards the figure that had entered his chamber.
"Pagan, my servant," said Tremont and the lumbering monster wrapped in chains known as Pagan noisily exhaled through his nose. "Ah, yes. You do not like to be called servant. I understand how you feel, my friend. I was the servant once and I did not care for it either."
"You summoned Pagan," replied Pagan and Jonathan Tremont smiled.
"Yes, I summoned Pagan. I need you to go to the spot where you captured the light-girl for me, Pagan. I'm certain that you remember the location. There will be people waiting there for you. I need you to kill them for me."
"Pagan kill," Pagan mumbled to himself and the red eyes beneath the metal coverlet over his head gleamed in the dim lights of the room.
Kill them all whispered a voice in Pagan's head and he grimaced. The intense red color of his eyes grew colder and Pagan growled deep in his throat.
"Kill them all," whispered Pagan with a deep menace and then left the room. Jonathan Tremont watched him leave silently. When the room was empty, he spoke again.
"You may enter now, Templar. He is gone," Tremont said to the room and the being known as Lord Templar slipped through the walls and stopped, hovering before Tremont.*
*Tremont, Lord Templar and Pagan have all shown up in the MU Avengers title - Mike
"I was not afraid of the beast, Tremont. I have faced him before. I have faced the Avengers before. I have faced far greater adversaries than all of them. I was not afraid," spoke the hovering man with the gray skin and the white and red armor that fit tightly to his body.
"I believe you, Templar. But your fear means nothing to me. I need for us to meld with each other once again. I need you to still the quaking within my mind."
"It is becoming more and more frequent, Tremont," stated Lord Templar flatly and Tremont smiled his ghastly smile again.
"Yes, it is becoming a regular habit indeed. But I need it to focus, Templar. In order to stave off the insanity that claws at my brain, I must have your balance."*
*Lord Templar and Tremont first melded in MU Avengers #15 - Mike
"Very well," replied Lord Templar and approached Tremont. Tremont sat completely still in his chair as Lord Templar flowed within him and immediately felt the madness within him begin to quiet.
For a single moment, Lord Templar could sense the thoughts of insanity running through Jonathan Tremont's head. Thoughts of a raven-haired woman of immeasurable power and a dark, sword-wielding figure that caused him to feel the same fear that Tremont struggled with every second of every day. Then the madness fled and Lord Templar closed his eyes and slept. Tremont would wake him when he was completely recovered. It was only a matter of time.
# # # # # # # # # #
Moonstone landed in the middle of the strange clearing of blasted rock and uttered a small sigh.* Living Lightning was directly ahead of her, frantically looking about for any sign of his vanished friend Charcoal.
*The same spot in T-Bolts #1 where Jolt and Charcoal were ambushed - Mike
"Miguel," spoke Moonstone softly and Living Lightning turned to face her. There were no tears in his eyes, but Moonstone thought that they weren't far away. She gnashed her teeth and thought dimly of what she would say to the boy. In truth, she was becoming a little bit annoyed with the brash reactions of the younger members of her team. Far too many of them were hurtling off of their own volition lately and it was becoming something of a problem.
Moonstone opened her mouth to continue this thought and, if necessary, beat it into the head of the young man standing before her, but Living Lighting never gave her the chance.
"Moonstone, I'm sorry. I was an Avenger and if there's one thing being an Avenger teaches you, it's that you don't desert your team, no matter what," said Living Lightning and Moonstone frowned slightly. She was really getting tired of hearing about the Avengers.
"Charlie made that mistake and whatever took Jolt got him too. I should have known better than to rush off like I was going to make a difference on my own. I'm sorry," said Miguel and Moonstone regarded him with eyes that did not change from the expression of an annoyed parent. She had to remain in control of the team, and the only way to insure Lightning's loyalty was to keep him reined in.
"It's all right, Miguel. You just did what any friend would have done in your place," said Moonstone and then almost comically raised her hand to slap her forehead. Had she just uttered these words?
"No, I completely understand if you want to remove me from the team. I really screwed up," Miguel said and Moonstone smiled a hidden little smile. Maybe she had screwed up once, but here was a prime opportunity to bend the kid to her will again. She opened her mouth to berate him and finally pin this bug by his wings when suddenly the look on Living Lightning's face went from an expression of shame to one of horror so quickly that it seemed as if she had been watching the boy on film and missed a few reels.
The ground suddenly cracked and heaved and Moonstone was sent sprawling towards Living Lightning. Her first instinct was to become intangible and save herself from harm, but Miguel was frozen and she had to protect him. She latched onto one of his arms and lifted. Large rocks danced around her head and thumped heavily off of her back. Moonstone took to the air and cleared the debris with little aggravation.
Then something that felt like a wrecking ball crashed into her spine and Living Lightning was torn from her grip. She watched in slow motion as Miguel crashed to the ground beneath her and then heard the roar of rage in her ears and felt the hot breath on her back.
Something large - could it have possibly been a hand? - swatted Moonstone to the ground with such force that she immediately thought of the only other time she had been hit with so much strength. That only other time had been the Hulk.
Moonstone crashed into the rocks and shattered a large boulder beneath her. The blow didn't hurt as much as she thought it would have and she noticed dimly that she had gone partially intangible to deal with the landing. The heavy thudding of something landing in front of her caused Moonstone to raise her eyes towards the sound.
Standing in front of her was a lumbering giant. A long shag of raven hair spilled from the strange helmet shadowing his face. The face itself was nothing more than darkness. All Moonstone could see were raging red eyes and the glimmering of sharp white teeth issuing from the black. His armor covered the whole of his body except for his massive arms. The armor was silver and blue. The exposed arms were a strange grayish-brown color.
"Looks like you came out of the Middle Ages, friend," said Moonstone but the creature said nothing. The monster growled deep within its throat and approached. Moonstone watched the immense chest expand and then contract and was once again reminded of the Hulk.
There were really only two options left to her. She could battle the creature and hope that it wasn't as durable as the Hulk. Or she could gather Living Lightning and run like the wind.
Or you could just run whispered a voice in her mind. Moonstone struggled to lock it away.
"Ah, screw it!" she yelled, alarmed at the recklessness in her voice, and flattened her palms towards the beast. Her energy lashed out from her hands and hit it head on. The creature was blown back and into a great pile of boulders that parted around it like the red sea and swallowed it whole.
"How do you like that?" yelled Moonstone and watched as the smoking remnants of the boulders settled over her adversary. She turned away from the pile and looked over her shoulder. "Miguel? Are you all right, Miguel? Talk to me kid!"
Moonstone lifted into the air slightly and spotted Living Lightning lying in the middle of a few giant pieces of shattered rock. He was unconscious.
"At least those rocks didn't fall on you," said Moonstone and then a huge hand closed over her head. Almost immediately the hand opened and Moonstone watched the rocky landscape rush towards her face. In her panic there was no time to go intangible. Moonstone's face cracked off the mountainside with a dull thud and she lost consciousness almost instantly.
Pagan loomed large over the two fallen heroes and growled again. Tremont said that there would be many heroes and that he had to kill them. These two were not dead, but if he killed them now, the rest would be easier to kill later.
"Silly witch did not know about Pagan's ability to slip through the rock, did you?" said Pagan and growled again. The witch reminded him of someone, but when he tried to think about it, his head hurt. Whoever it was that she reminded him of, it was from that faraway land he dreamt about that Tremont told him didn't matter anymore.
"This is your world now," said Pagan, quoting Tremont's words as he remembered them. "I took you from your home because it was dying, Pagan. I saved you."
Pagan didn't trust Tremont, but he believed him. His world was dead. He knew it to be true because he could feel it. He could feel it in the pain that sometimes came to him. Pagan couldn't remember ever feeling pain before his world died. Only Tremont could take the pain away and because of that, Pagan was loyal to him. If Tremont wanted these heroes dead, Pagan would be glad to do it.
Kill them all whispered the voice in Pagan's head and Pagan smiled. It looked remarkably like Tremont's.
# # # # # # # # # #
Next Issue: Pagan is just moments away from squashing Moonstone and Living Lightning! Will the rest of the Thunderbolts make it in time to save them?! What is the deal with Tremont and Lord Templar? What is the deal with Tremont and Pagan? What's the deal with...oh, just come on back next issue and find out for yourself.
# # # # # # # # # #
Lightning Strikes
It has been a while since I wrote an issue of T-Bolts. I had to kind of dig to find the letters. If you wrote me one and don't see it here, let me know and I'll definitely post it next issue. Until then, write me about this issue! Our first comes from the question-man, Jason Trenner.
Amazing issue, though I wonder about Moonstone being the leader of the group (wouldn't you want someone more...trustworthy?). Though I doubt anything Firelord could do would stop Man-Beast forever (after all the stuff that's happened to him). Now on to the questions... I have to agree that the Man-Beast is a pretty resourceful guy. Who knows when that slobbering evil-doer will return? Hopefully Firelord can keep him distracted for a while.
1) Is there any chance of a new leader (I'd love to see it be Pete Wisdom..but he's busy with X-Force)?
Alas, good old Pete Wisdom is pretty busy dodging cigar smoke and controversy over in David Wheatley's excellent X-Force title (cheap plug!). I'm pretty pleased with Moonie as the leader, but hey, you never know with comics. Things have the habit of turning on you pretty quick.
2) Now that the Man-Beast is gone, will the CSA be their biggest problem?
Well, as you can see, the CSA is making quite a nuisance of themselves already. But it also seems like the CSA isn't the only problem the T-Bolts are going to have over this story-arc. The Triune Understanding is up at bat too.
3) Is there any chance of the Thunderbolts having a crossover with the New Warriors? Or with the Defenders? Or with all three dysfunctional teams at once?
A crossover with the New Warriors is never out of the question because I happen to script that title with my main man, Russ Anderson (another cheap plug!). It probably won't be anytime really soon, but the possibility is there. Defenders, written by Will Short (and another!), is pretty deep into its own story-arc, so a crossover doesn't seem all that likely. But you never know...
4) Is there any chance of Dusk joining the team?
There will be others joining the Thunderbolts before I'm through with my run on the title. I have a very specific idea I mind of how I want the team to look when I'm through. Dusk is an intriguing possibility. Stay tuned.
5) Is there any chance of Nova joining the team?
See answer to number 4.
6) Is there any chance of the team going to the Ultraverse (love to see Moonstone deal with total unknowns)?
I don't know about that one. I like the Black Knight an awful lot, but the Ultraverse has never really done it for me. I won't rule it out, but don't put any money on it either. Thanks for the letter, Jason!
Our next letter comes from my co-writer on New Warriors, Russ Anderson. Russ is expecting a baby everybody! I want everyone who reads this issue to email Russ and gush all over him. Go on. Do it! Russ is a great writer who also pens Scarlet Spider and Fallen Angels.
My favorite part of this issue was the insight into the Man-Beast's psyche. I consider myself pretty "up" on Marvel lore, but going into this story, I knew nothing about this guy. Now I know plenty. Mike took two different tacks here, first giving us a subtle look at the fears that drive the Man-Beast (as when the members of the Penance Council were calling him "ugly", and nothing more than "a dog"... echoing his own secret beliefs perhaps?), then just hitting us over the head with a great big neon sign when this issue's mystery savior tore his mind apart.
Doesn't Russ just say the nicest things? I was particularly pleased with the first scene I wrote of issue #9 and I'm glad that you enjoyed it too, Russ. The issue (though it did have many flaws) was really fun to write because of the focus I gave to the Man-Beast, who I think is just one hell of a character.
All in all, this has been a satisfactory wrap-up to what couldn't have been an easy story to write. Mike was left with a lot of baggage on this book, and even tho he's pretty much a master at making gold out of another writer's dangling plot threads, T-Bolts (both the "real" and "fic" versions) is a whole different order of complicated. For taking this book on at all, Mike deserves accolades. For doing cool stuff with it, he deserves to have young virgins thrown at him.
Never had young virgins thrown at me, but I certainly wouldn't turn down the offer. Heck, I'd even settle for having dirty, filthy-minded tramps thrown at me like Mike McGee gets on a regular basis. Man, I hate that bastard.
Mach-1's battle against the Masters of Evil was kinda cool, tho I might find it hard to take any of these guys seriously next time they show up. In any case, it's a solid win for Abe, who's had more than his share of failures of late.
Well, they'll probably never show up again during my run of Thunderbolts. Maybe you can take over for me after I'm done and write and issue where these guys come back and put Mach-1 through the most torturous battles of his career. Hmmmm, actually that sounds like a pretty good idea!
As happy as I was with the conclusion of this Masters of Evil/Firelord/V-Battalion/Man-Beast storyline, I had two minor issues with this chapter. One, the appearance of the Shadow King felt too much like a deus ex machina. Maybe Mike intended all along to have Amahl show up and pop Man-Beast's brain like a cork, but I can't remember any foreshadowing before this issue, and so it just felt thrown in at the end to get the T-Bolts out of this jam Mike got them into. Also, I was disappointed in Moonstone's handling of the Firelord battle. After taking such a desperate chance by challenging Firelord to combat, I kept waiting for her to pull an ace out of her sleeve to give herself SOME kind of unexpected advantage.
Yeah, there were flaws in the issue and you've managed to pull out the two most glaring ones right there. I totally planned to address why the Shadow King was doing what he was doing in a previous issue and in this issue and both time (BOTH TIMES!) I forgot to do it and left it out. Anyway, I explained it in this issue a bit and I hope that makes up for things I left out. Also, I did have a plan for Moonstone to do something mighty clever to hold her own against Firelord, but I backed out at the last second. Maybe I should have stuck with it after all.
Mike's eminently readable narrative style + complex plot threads + a large, well-juggled cast of characters all make for a great book. Now that this major plot thread is wrapped up, hopefully we'll get to see a little more T-bolt downtime, to build on some of these relationships Mike's been hinting at over the last months. If you haven't read the series yet, I'd suggest going back and reading it from the beginning rather than jumping in at this issue. It's well worth the time.
Thanks, Russ. You're a peach and if anybody says otherwise, I'll fix 'em real good.
-Mike Exner III
The sound of rock and steel cracking and rending underneath the massive pressure of the mountain filled the air both above and below the former base of the Man-Beast. The damage done to it by the cosmic being known as Firelord had been so devastating and done so quickly that soon the mountain would be nothing more than a depression in the great earth. Firelord had been kind to the creatures within the mountain when he had transported them away from certain death with a snap of his fingers. Only he and the Man-Beast had been left within the collapsing peak.*
*It all happened last issue - Mike
But Firelord had forgotten someone. When Firelord had probed the complex to rid it of the humans within, he had used his cosmic powers to locate their minds and whisk them away. But there had been one within the mountain that Firelord had not been able to sense. The brain patterns were dulled and shielded by an outside force and the man was left to die amidst the crushing rock.
Arnim Zola screamed long and hard for the second time in as many minutes. He was free to move but there was nowhere to go. The mountain was collapsing all around him and he knew that nothing he did could save him.
He had resigned himself to his fate of death, but he screamed for help all the same. He couldn't understand the panic that clutched his heart. But it clawed and raked at him mercilessly nonetheless. He had lived for a very long time and regretted nothing. But still, much of that life had been used in the service of others.
After he had become the top geneticist for Hitler his life had become a shadow of what it had once been. He had been manipulated because of his genius. The Shadow King had manipulated and used him for years after his service to Germany was done and then the Man-Beast had done the same. He vowed silently to himself as he screamed for help that if he lived through this he would find a way to make them pay for using him and that he would never be mind-controlled again.
Oh, Arnim. Did I really treat you all that badly? said a voice and Arnim Zola stopped screaming. He wanted to scream but he could not. Something had taken control of him and his body. He was completely aware of what was happening but was powerless to stop it. Powerless again.
I have need of you once more, Zola said the voice of the Shadow King and tears began to issue from Arnim Zola's artificial eyes. He could still control those it seemed, if he could control nothing else. The Shadow King began to manipulate his body, sending him on a track throughout the mountain. Soon Zola came to an opening in the shifting rock.
The Man-Beast had quite a plan. Almost everything was worked out perfectly. But his one error was in taking what rightfully belonged to me. You, Arnim Zola. In a way, you were the downfall of the Man-Beast.
Arnim Zola struggled to scream, struggled to resist, struggled to cry out that he did not belong to the Shadow King. That he was not a slave.
But of course you are, Zola. I have finally clasped my prey in a grip he cannot possibly escape and am prepared to strike. But I have use of you now. You are mine once again.
And as more tears fell from Arnim Zola's face, he fled the darkness of the crumbling mountain, and entered the shadows of the world beyond.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Oh, where in the hell is Citizen V now?!" cried Atlas as he shot up to nearly thirty feet in size and began to scan the area around the crumbling mountain. The Thunderbolts were all outside gathered before what was left of the Man-Beast's base.* The self-styled Masters of Evil were all neatly wrapped up in coils courtesy of Mach-1's suit of new and improved armor. Baron Zemo and Techno were nowhere to be found.
*As they were when we saw them last issue - Mike
"She was here a second ago," said She-Hulk but her voice was distant and distracted. Finding Citizen V was definitely at the very lowest of her priority list. She had spotted something a bit more interesting to grab her attention. "Do you guys see that?"
"See what?" snapped Moonstone and glanced in the direction She-Hulk was pointing. She was upset about quite a few things. Baron Zemo and Techno had both fled and were still out there plotting against her team. She-Hulk was a wild card that could cause even more problems than Hawkeye ever could have. And she didn't like the way Firelord had just zipped them out of the mountain as if they were children that needed his help. If anyone should have been saving the day, it should have been her.
"I see it, some kind of disturbance on the horizon," said Songbird and Mach-1 shook his head.
"No, that's not just a disturbance. That's a convoy of some kind. My scanners are picking up multiple vehicles that are all moving this way."
"Maybe we should scram then," said Atlas as he shrunk back down to the level of the rest of the Thunderbolts.
"And what? Leave the Masters of Evil just sitting here for this mysterious convoy to pick up?" growled Moonstone. "I don't think so."
"So we're just going to sit here and wait for them?" asked Living Lightning. Moonstone could taste the skepticism in the little brat's voice and had to fiercely resist the urge to turn and strike him.
"That's exactly what we're going to do," replied Moonstone as she clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the approaching vehicles. "This is our battle, our victory. Nobody is taking that away from us."
"Mach-1, maybe you should take to the air and scout these guys out a bit," suggested She-Hulk as she watched Moonstone grow more frayed by with each passing second.
"Good idea," said Mach-1 and activated his boot and back thrusters. He marveled, not for the first time, at the way they hummed to life and lifted him from the ground with barely a sound.
"Squash that order and plant your butt back on the ground, Abe," said Moonstone and the tone of her voice caused Mach-1 to immediately cut his engines. "I don't really give a damn who these people are. If they're allies, fine. Maybe we can hand over our prisoners and be on our way without any violence."
Moonstone turned to face the others, but her eyes kept lingering on She-Hulk.
"But if they're not allies, we'll cut them in half and take all of this scum and that scum back to the Vault where they belong."
"Karla, you can't be serious," said Atlas and Moonstone shot into the air and hovered over the Thunderbolts' heads.
"I'm dead serious. If you want a scout, fine. I'll be the blasted scout," Moonstone said and then zipped on a line towards the rising cloud of dust heading the T-Bolts' way.
In seconds, she was back.
"We should go," Moonstone stated matter-of-factly.
"You're joking, right?" asked She-Hulk but one look into Karla Sofen's eyes pushed all thoughts of a mid-morning prank from her mind.
"It's the CSA, and they're packing some major heat," replied Moonstone and Mach-1 began to laugh.
"Karla, it's cool. The CSA is the only reason I'm here, remember?* They're on our side," said Mach-1 and then kicked his thrusters into gear and leapt into the air. "I'll talk to them."
*As Mach-1 explained to the rest of the team last issue - Mike
"Abe. Don't," said Songbird but Mach-1 simply waved her off and slipped towards the convoy.
"Oh crap," said Atlas who nobody had noticed jump back up to thirty feet.
"What is it?" snapped Moonstone and rose up to the level of his face.
"It looks like the CSA had the same idea as you, Moonie," replied Atlas with a groan. "Do you see 'em? Coming out of those vehicles...those are Guardsmen."
"The CSA must be working hand in hand with the newly rebuilt Vault," said She-Hulk. "I just hope Abe knows what he's doing."
"He doesn't," said Atlas.
"What do you mean?" cried Songbird and Atlas peered down at her.
"They're shooting at him."
# # # # # # # # # #
"What the heck is wrong with you freaks?" yelled Mach-1 as he dodged the lethal energy blasts issuing from the Guardsmen who had popped out of the oncoming vehicles like popcorn from the microwave. "Get Warton on the horn or something! I'm on your side!"
"Forget it, criminal," came the amplified voice of one of the Guardsman as he took another shot at Mach-1. The hero easily dodged the blast. "Our orders come from Director Warton himself. You and the other Thunderbolts are to be captured on sight."
"Son of a..." Mach-1 muttered to himself but then cut himself off as things finally clicked into place for him. Emil Warton had set him up. He'd used Abe to not only take out the Man-Beast, but apprehend the Thunderbolts as well. All the talk about a pardon was just a lot of pissing in the wind.
"Piss on my face makes me angry," growled Mach-1 and launched two E-M* air-to-air missiles at the nearest Guardsmen.
*Electro-magnetic - Mike
Mach-1 watched as the Guardsmen's armor sputtered and then went dead. Other Guardsmen rushed to their compatriot's aid and Mach-1 took the opportunity to haul his butt out of there.
"Abe, what the hell is going on?" yelled a voice surprisingly close to his ear. Abe glanced to his left and saw the Living Lightning there.
Damn, you're fast," replied Abe as he continued on a straight line towards his assembled team. "The CSA pulled a double-cross. They're here to nab the bad-guys...and us."
"Oh crap," said Living Lightning, and skipped - at the speed of light - back to the others.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Oh crap," muttered Atlas under his breath as Living Lightning relayed the message.
"Crap indeed," stated Moonstone as she took stock of options in her head.
"We've got to leave now, Moonstone," came the annoyingly noble voice of She-Hulk in her ear and Moonstone winced.
"Not planning to switch sides and join the CSA in taking us down?" snapped Moonstone and She-Hulk flinched.
"Hey now, Karla. That's not fair," huffed Atlas but She-Hulk put up a hand to stop him.
"No, Atlas. It's fine. Karla's right. For a brief second I thought about helping to bring all of you to justice. But I'm a part of this team," She-Hulk said with pride bubbling in her voice. "For better or worse now, I'm one of you. I'm a Thunderbolt."
"Me too," chipped in Living Lightning with true excitement and Moonstone rolled her eyes.
"We'll see," Karla stated simply and then turned to the others. "Scatter everyone. Mach-1 will get the idea when he sees us moving. She-Hulk, take Atlas and head west. Living Lightning, just go. Nobody is catching you. Songbird and I will head east. That leaves Mach-1 to head north. Hopefully Abe is bright enough to see what we're doing."
"He is," said Songbird as she took to the air.
"Right. Whatever. Ok, Thunderbolts. Back to base...Let's move!"
# # # # # # # # # #
"Sir they're making their escape," said one of the numerous Guardsmen who flooded the cramped interior of one of the hovering CSA transports. His armored fingers danced lightly over the keypad in front of him and a screen lit up in the middle of the cockpit showing the Thunderbolts break off and head in opposite directions.
"Just like I figured they would," said the man sitting in the Captain's chair. "Flash to a shot of our wolf in sheep's clothing."
"Yes sir," said the Guardsman and once again flicked his fingers over the keypad before him. In seconds, a picture of Mach-1 - on a course heading north now - flashed onto the screen.
"Should I inform the regiment to pursue, sir?" asked a quivering sack of waste at his side and the man gazing at the fleeing form of Mach-1 grimaced.
"Get out of my sight, you worm!" he shrieked and the Guardsman slinked away. The rest of the crew had turned to look at their leader.
"Pilot, bring this vehicle to the Thunderbolts' last known location and pick up the stragglers they left behind," said the man, and then as if it were an afterthought. "We are not, I repeat, not going after the Thunderbolts. We have a duty to the CSA and I mean to fulfill it."
With that, the man straightened in his chair and peered into the viewing screen at lowly Abe Jenkins once again. Mach-1 was flying like a free little bird without a care in the world.
"How would you feel, I wonder, if you knew you were bugged?" he muttered to himself and then smiled. The smile was truly terrible. "Run as far as you like, T-Bolts. Your butts belong to me."
# # # # # # # # # #
When She-Hulk finally landed in the hangar of the Mount Charteris base, she was completely lost in her own thoughts. Her first thought was that Moonstone was just one royal pain in her green butt. Their fearless leader knew it would take She-Hulk a long time to leap here from the Man-Beast's base. But instead of pairing Atlas with Moonstone and letting She-Hulk ride with Songbird, she'd made everyone's favorite green-skinned babe jump all the way back just to spite her.
She wanted to be angry, but as soon as this first thought passed through her head and got her all worked up, a second thought came that pushed all that anger away. Why hadn't the CSA chased her down? She was pretty quick jumping from spot to spot on her way back, but she wasn't that quick. Those Guardsmen could have easily ran her down and taken her and Atlas at any time. Not that the two of them would have been taken easily, but still. Something must have held them back. What was it?
This thought hammered and hammered in She-Hulk's mind until she thought it would crack her skull. There had to be a rational explanation and it seemed to be right there on the tip of her tongue. If she could just spit it out, there it'd be.
It didn't help matters much that Atlas kept grabbing places on her body that caused rational thought to melt away like an ice-cream sandwich on a summer day. The funny thing was that she didn't really think the big lug even intended to do it. He was just trying to hang on for dear life. And they'd been jumping for a long time.
"Remind me never to ride with you like that again," Atlas groaned as he stretched and cracked his back into some form of a reasonable shape.
"I don't know, I kind of liked having you holding onto me for a couple hours," replied She-Hulk and Atlas turned towards her with a wide grin planted on his face. She briefly wondered how her lips would look planted on his face and dismissed the thought as schoolgirl shudders slipped up her spine.
"Stop being silly, girl," she muttered to herself.
"What did you say, Jen?" asked Atlas and She-Hulk opened her mouth to reply when a firm sound that could be nothing other than Moonstone clearing her throat issued through the vast confines of the hangar.
"If you two are done, I suggest you head with me to the conference room. Ogre has something he'd like to show us," said Moonstone and She-Hulk and Atlas followed her out.
# # # # # # # # # #
"So you found Charcoal?" Melissa Gold asked Ogre and the diminutive man shook his head in negation.
"I'm not saying that, Songbird. All I'm saying is that I tracked young Mr. Burlingame after he left so abruptly because I thought it would be a good idea," replied Ogre as the Thunderbolts hovered over a virtual viewing screen built into the table Ogre was now fingering. "I was able to map his significantly increased heat signatures with relative ease. His power increase after absorbing Firelord's energies helped quite a bit."
"Time to toot your own horn later, big guy," said Atlas as he poked one of his own fingers at a dim red line tracking across the Colorado landscape. "We've got to find Briquette. I'm assuming this is him?"
"You would assume incorrectly, Atlas. This red line indicates Charcoal's passage, not the young man himself. If this red line were him, he'd be spread quite thinly throughout the entirety of this state," replied Ogre with a small chuckle.
"I really don't see what's funny about the situation, Ogre," said Moonstone with an edge that everyone could sense. Ogre immediately straightened up and regarded the rest of the team with a frank seriousness.
"I apologize, Moonstone, everyone. I did not mean to make light of the loss of our friends and teammates. I've simply sensed something of a tension and hoped to alleviate it, if only slightly. I apologize again."
"No harm done, Ogre. Why don't you tell us what you know?" said She-Hulk and Ogre absently stroked at his beard and then nodded his head.
"What I know is this. Young Charles Burlingame fled from the base and journeyed back to the location where he and Jolt were both found unconscious. There was a build up of energy at that location. It may have been a struggle of some kind. Then the energy signature simply vanished."
"So maybe Charlie was nabbed and Jolt had the same thing happen to her?" said Atlas in more of a questioning tone than one of affirmation.
"I think it very reasonable to assume that both of the events that you refer to happened in just such a way, Atlas," replied Ogre and then regarded the team with his aged eyes. "I would suggest a course of action to bring our young members back, but I see by your faces that no such recommendation is necessary."
"You're darn straight," stated the Living Lightning suddenly and then flared brightly, lighting the room. "I'm going to get Charlie and Jolt back!"
"Oh, c'mon now. This is getting ridiculous," said Atlas but in an instant, the Living Lightning was gone.
"Blast! I'm going after him. The rest of you get prepared and follow together as a unit. Whatever it is that took Hallie and Charlie is probably still out there. I'm not letting it get Miguel too," ordered Moonstone and then took to the air after Living Lightning.
"You heard the lady, folks. Let's get cracking," said Mach-1 and the rest of the Thunderbolts rushed out of the conference room, leaving Ogre alone with his thoughts.
# # # # # # # # # #
"My name is Jonathan Tremont. And I am going insane," said the man standing in front of the mirror. He raised a hand to the darkened skin of his face and stroked his goatee. Streaks of gray ran through it and pooled at his chin. His dark hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail that gave him the slick image of a television evangelist.
The man raised his eyes from the image of himself and turned away from the mirror. A bank of television screens sat behind his desk and he moved over to his plush leather chair and sat down. On the flickering television screens images of the Avengers - Earth's mightiest heroes - passed from one frame to the next at an alarming pace.
The man watched the images with an increasing amount of rage twisting his face with each passing second. His face was that of a rabid animal struggling to control the disease pushing at its mind. With the slightest slip, a rabid pet could turn from a child's best friend, to a child's death sentence.
"With the slightest slip, I could change from the founder of the Triune Understanding, to a raving lunatic," said Tremont and then smiled a ghastly smile at the screens before him. The heavy tread of someone entering his private office cast his mind away from such thoughts and he turned towards the figure that had entered his chamber.
"Pagan, my servant," said Tremont and the lumbering monster wrapped in chains known as Pagan noisily exhaled through his nose. "Ah, yes. You do not like to be called servant. I understand how you feel, my friend. I was the servant once and I did not care for it either."
"You summoned Pagan," replied Pagan and Jonathan Tremont smiled.
"Yes, I summoned Pagan. I need you to go to the spot where you captured the light-girl for me, Pagan. I'm certain that you remember the location. There will be people waiting there for you. I need you to kill them for me."
"Pagan kill," Pagan mumbled to himself and the red eyes beneath the metal coverlet over his head gleamed in the dim lights of the room.
Kill them all whispered a voice in Pagan's head and he grimaced. The intense red color of his eyes grew colder and Pagan growled deep in his throat.
"Kill them all," whispered Pagan with a deep menace and then left the room. Jonathan Tremont watched him leave silently. When the room was empty, he spoke again.
"You may enter now, Templar. He is gone," Tremont said to the room and the being known as Lord Templar slipped through the walls and stopped, hovering before Tremont.*
*Tremont, Lord Templar and Pagan have all shown up in the MU Avengers title - Mike
"I was not afraid of the beast, Tremont. I have faced him before. I have faced the Avengers before. I have faced far greater adversaries than all of them. I was not afraid," spoke the hovering man with the gray skin and the white and red armor that fit tightly to his body.
"I believe you, Templar. But your fear means nothing to me. I need for us to meld with each other once again. I need you to still the quaking within my mind."
"It is becoming more and more frequent, Tremont," stated Lord Templar flatly and Tremont smiled his ghastly smile again.
"Yes, it is becoming a regular habit indeed. But I need it to focus, Templar. In order to stave off the insanity that claws at my brain, I must have your balance."*
*Lord Templar and Tremont first melded in MU Avengers #15 - Mike
"Very well," replied Lord Templar and approached Tremont. Tremont sat completely still in his chair as Lord Templar flowed within him and immediately felt the madness within him begin to quiet.
For a single moment, Lord Templar could sense the thoughts of insanity running through Jonathan Tremont's head. Thoughts of a raven-haired woman of immeasurable power and a dark, sword-wielding figure that caused him to feel the same fear that Tremont struggled with every second of every day. Then the madness fled and Lord Templar closed his eyes and slept. Tremont would wake him when he was completely recovered. It was only a matter of time.
# # # # # # # # # #
Moonstone landed in the middle of the strange clearing of blasted rock and uttered a small sigh.* Living Lightning was directly ahead of her, frantically looking about for any sign of his vanished friend Charcoal.
*The same spot in T-Bolts #1 where Jolt and Charcoal were ambushed - Mike
"Miguel," spoke Moonstone softly and Living Lightning turned to face her. There were no tears in his eyes, but Moonstone thought that they weren't far away. She gnashed her teeth and thought dimly of what she would say to the boy. In truth, she was becoming a little bit annoyed with the brash reactions of the younger members of her team. Far too many of them were hurtling off of their own volition lately and it was becoming something of a problem.
Moonstone opened her mouth to continue this thought and, if necessary, beat it into the head of the young man standing before her, but Living Lighting never gave her the chance.
"Moonstone, I'm sorry. I was an Avenger and if there's one thing being an Avenger teaches you, it's that you don't desert your team, no matter what," said Living Lightning and Moonstone frowned slightly. She was really getting tired of hearing about the Avengers.
"Charlie made that mistake and whatever took Jolt got him too. I should have known better than to rush off like I was going to make a difference on my own. I'm sorry," said Miguel and Moonstone regarded him with eyes that did not change from the expression of an annoyed parent. She had to remain in control of the team, and the only way to insure Lightning's loyalty was to keep him reined in.
"It's all right, Miguel. You just did what any friend would have done in your place," said Moonstone and then almost comically raised her hand to slap her forehead. Had she just uttered these words?
"No, I completely understand if you want to remove me from the team. I really screwed up," Miguel said and Moonstone smiled a hidden little smile. Maybe she had screwed up once, but here was a prime opportunity to bend the kid to her will again. She opened her mouth to berate him and finally pin this bug by his wings when suddenly the look on Living Lightning's face went from an expression of shame to one of horror so quickly that it seemed as if she had been watching the boy on film and missed a few reels.
The ground suddenly cracked and heaved and Moonstone was sent sprawling towards Living Lightning. Her first instinct was to become intangible and save herself from harm, but Miguel was frozen and she had to protect him. She latched onto one of his arms and lifted. Large rocks danced around her head and thumped heavily off of her back. Moonstone took to the air and cleared the debris with little aggravation.
Then something that felt like a wrecking ball crashed into her spine and Living Lightning was torn from her grip. She watched in slow motion as Miguel crashed to the ground beneath her and then heard the roar of rage in her ears and felt the hot breath on her back.
Something large - could it have possibly been a hand? - swatted Moonstone to the ground with such force that she immediately thought of the only other time she had been hit with so much strength. That only other time had been the Hulk.
Moonstone crashed into the rocks and shattered a large boulder beneath her. The blow didn't hurt as much as she thought it would have and she noticed dimly that she had gone partially intangible to deal with the landing. The heavy thudding of something landing in front of her caused Moonstone to raise her eyes towards the sound.
Standing in front of her was a lumbering giant. A long shag of raven hair spilled from the strange helmet shadowing his face. The face itself was nothing more than darkness. All Moonstone could see were raging red eyes and the glimmering of sharp white teeth issuing from the black. His armor covered the whole of his body except for his massive arms. The armor was silver and blue. The exposed arms were a strange grayish-brown color.
"Looks like you came out of the Middle Ages, friend," said Moonstone but the creature said nothing. The monster growled deep within its throat and approached. Moonstone watched the immense chest expand and then contract and was once again reminded of the Hulk.
There were really only two options left to her. She could battle the creature and hope that it wasn't as durable as the Hulk. Or she could gather Living Lightning and run like the wind.
Or you could just run whispered a voice in her mind. Moonstone struggled to lock it away.
"Ah, screw it!" she yelled, alarmed at the recklessness in her voice, and flattened her palms towards the beast. Her energy lashed out from her hands and hit it head on. The creature was blown back and into a great pile of boulders that parted around it like the red sea and swallowed it whole.
"How do you like that?" yelled Moonstone and watched as the smoking remnants of the boulders settled over her adversary. She turned away from the pile and looked over her shoulder. "Miguel? Are you all right, Miguel? Talk to me kid!"
Moonstone lifted into the air slightly and spotted Living Lightning lying in the middle of a few giant pieces of shattered rock. He was unconscious.
"At least those rocks didn't fall on you," said Moonstone and then a huge hand closed over her head. Almost immediately the hand opened and Moonstone watched the rocky landscape rush towards her face. In her panic there was no time to go intangible. Moonstone's face cracked off the mountainside with a dull thud and she lost consciousness almost instantly.
Pagan loomed large over the two fallen heroes and growled again. Tremont said that there would be many heroes and that he had to kill them. These two were not dead, but if he killed them now, the rest would be easier to kill later.
"Silly witch did not know about Pagan's ability to slip through the rock, did you?" said Pagan and growled again. The witch reminded him of someone, but when he tried to think about it, his head hurt. Whoever it was that she reminded him of, it was from that faraway land he dreamt about that Tremont told him didn't matter anymore.
"This is your world now," said Pagan, quoting Tremont's words as he remembered them. "I took you from your home because it was dying, Pagan. I saved you."
Pagan didn't trust Tremont, but he believed him. His world was dead. He knew it to be true because he could feel it. He could feel it in the pain that sometimes came to him. Pagan couldn't remember ever feeling pain before his world died. Only Tremont could take the pain away and because of that, Pagan was loyal to him. If Tremont wanted these heroes dead, Pagan would be glad to do it.
Kill them all whispered the voice in Pagan's head and Pagan smiled. It looked remarkably like Tremont's.
# # # # # # # # # #
Next Issue: Pagan is just moments away from squashing Moonstone and Living Lightning! Will the rest of the Thunderbolts make it in time to save them?! What is the deal with Tremont and Lord Templar? What is the deal with Tremont and Pagan? What's the deal with...oh, just come on back next issue and find out for yourself.
# # # # # # # # # #
Lightning Strikes
It has been a while since I wrote an issue of T-Bolts. I had to kind of dig to find the letters. If you wrote me one and don't see it here, let me know and I'll definitely post it next issue. Until then, write me about this issue! Our first comes from the question-man, Jason Trenner.
Amazing issue, though I wonder about Moonstone being the leader of the group (wouldn't you want someone more...trustworthy?). Though I doubt anything Firelord could do would stop Man-Beast forever (after all the stuff that's happened to him). Now on to the questions... I have to agree that the Man-Beast is a pretty resourceful guy. Who knows when that slobbering evil-doer will return? Hopefully Firelord can keep him distracted for a while.
1) Is there any chance of a new leader (I'd love to see it be Pete Wisdom..but he's busy with X-Force)?
Alas, good old Pete Wisdom is pretty busy dodging cigar smoke and controversy over in David Wheatley's excellent X-Force title (cheap plug!). I'm pretty pleased with Moonie as the leader, but hey, you never know with comics. Things have the habit of turning on you pretty quick.
2) Now that the Man-Beast is gone, will the CSA be their biggest problem?
Well, as you can see, the CSA is making quite a nuisance of themselves already. But it also seems like the CSA isn't the only problem the T-Bolts are going to have over this story-arc. The Triune Understanding is up at bat too.
3) Is there any chance of the Thunderbolts having a crossover with the New Warriors? Or with the Defenders? Or with all three dysfunctional teams at once?
A crossover with the New Warriors is never out of the question because I happen to script that title with my main man, Russ Anderson (another cheap plug!). It probably won't be anytime really soon, but the possibility is there. Defenders, written by Will Short (and another!), is pretty deep into its own story-arc, so a crossover doesn't seem all that likely. But you never know...
4) Is there any chance of Dusk joining the team?
There will be others joining the Thunderbolts before I'm through with my run on the title. I have a very specific idea I mind of how I want the team to look when I'm through. Dusk is an intriguing possibility. Stay tuned.
5) Is there any chance of Nova joining the team?
See answer to number 4.
6) Is there any chance of the team going to the Ultraverse (love to see Moonstone deal with total unknowns)?
I don't know about that one. I like the Black Knight an awful lot, but the Ultraverse has never really done it for me. I won't rule it out, but don't put any money on it either. Thanks for the letter, Jason!
Our next letter comes from my co-writer on New Warriors, Russ Anderson. Russ is expecting a baby everybody! I want everyone who reads this issue to email Russ and gush all over him. Go on. Do it! Russ is a great writer who also pens Scarlet Spider and Fallen Angels.
My favorite part of this issue was the insight into the Man-Beast's psyche. I consider myself pretty "up" on Marvel lore, but going into this story, I knew nothing about this guy. Now I know plenty. Mike took two different tacks here, first giving us a subtle look at the fears that drive the Man-Beast (as when the members of the Penance Council were calling him "ugly", and nothing more than "a dog"... echoing his own secret beliefs perhaps?), then just hitting us over the head with a great big neon sign when this issue's mystery savior tore his mind apart.
Doesn't Russ just say the nicest things? I was particularly pleased with the first scene I wrote of issue #9 and I'm glad that you enjoyed it too, Russ. The issue (though it did have many flaws) was really fun to write because of the focus I gave to the Man-Beast, who I think is just one hell of a character.
All in all, this has been a satisfactory wrap-up to what couldn't have been an easy story to write. Mike was left with a lot of baggage on this book, and even tho he's pretty much a master at making gold out of another writer's dangling plot threads, T-Bolts (both the "real" and "fic" versions) is a whole different order of complicated. For taking this book on at all, Mike deserves accolades. For doing cool stuff with it, he deserves to have young virgins thrown at him.
Never had young virgins thrown at me, but I certainly wouldn't turn down the offer. Heck, I'd even settle for having dirty, filthy-minded tramps thrown at me like Mike McGee gets on a regular basis. Man, I hate that bastard.
Mach-1's battle against the Masters of Evil was kinda cool, tho I might find it hard to take any of these guys seriously next time they show up. In any case, it's a solid win for Abe, who's had more than his share of failures of late.
Well, they'll probably never show up again during my run of Thunderbolts. Maybe you can take over for me after I'm done and write and issue where these guys come back and put Mach-1 through the most torturous battles of his career. Hmmmm, actually that sounds like a pretty good idea!
As happy as I was with the conclusion of this Masters of Evil/Firelord/V-Battalion/Man-Beast storyline, I had two minor issues with this chapter. One, the appearance of the Shadow King felt too much like a deus ex machina. Maybe Mike intended all along to have Amahl show up and pop Man-Beast's brain like a cork, but I can't remember any foreshadowing before this issue, and so it just felt thrown in at the end to get the T-Bolts out of this jam Mike got them into. Also, I was disappointed in Moonstone's handling of the Firelord battle. After taking such a desperate chance by challenging Firelord to combat, I kept waiting for her to pull an ace out of her sleeve to give herself SOME kind of unexpected advantage.
Yeah, there were flaws in the issue and you've managed to pull out the two most glaring ones right there. I totally planned to address why the Shadow King was doing what he was doing in a previous issue and in this issue and both time (BOTH TIMES!) I forgot to do it and left it out. Anyway, I explained it in this issue a bit and I hope that makes up for things I left out. Also, I did have a plan for Moonstone to do something mighty clever to hold her own against Firelord, but I backed out at the last second. Maybe I should have stuck with it after all.
Mike's eminently readable narrative style + complex plot threads + a large, well-juggled cast of characters all make for a great book. Now that this major plot thread is wrapped up, hopefully we'll get to see a little more T-bolt downtime, to build on some of these relationships Mike's been hinting at over the last months. If you haven't read the series yet, I'd suggest going back and reading it from the beginning rather than jumping in at this issue. It's well worth the time.
Thanks, Russ. You're a peach and if anybody says otherwise, I'll fix 'em real good.
-Mike Exner III