Back to GatefoldIssue #3 by Ben Jolly
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Citizen V packed her suitcase hurriedly, jamming clothes and a spare costume alongside surveillance equipment. For the past month, she had lived in a small flat in Burton Canyon, located on the other side of Mt. Charteris from its sister town of Burton. It was small -just a mattress and an old wooden table-but it had suited her purposes. Here she had had access to a good view of the Thunderbolt's headquarters, and she had been spying on them and learning their routine.
Her bosses, of course, were not pleased with her actions. She had believed that they would never risk being seen by the public. However, an AWOL agent was apparently enough of a risk to sanction possible exposure. When she got back from the Burton General Hospital just minutes ago, her radar system had showed a large object moving towards Colorado. At the time, it had been high over Kansas, but who knew how close it was by now. She turned towards the radar monitor and realized she had bigger problems.
The top of the monitor was turning into a head, a very familiar one, at that. She recognized the dark, metallic goatee of Techno, Zemo's lackey. Arms, along with a large energy cannon were forming around the head. Before she could react, she heard the dull thumping of a helicopter close by. She was on the fifth floor of the apartment building, could a helicopter attack her here? Her answer came in the form of a man crashing through the window, splitting the table in half, and knocking Techno, causing the shot from his cannon to miss.
She recognized the bright costume of Klaw immediately. As a large blade cut a hole in the ceiling and a green-costumed man appeared she realized whom she was facing: Zemo's Masters of Evil had come for her; and the V-Battalion was only minutes away. Perhaps once it arrived, she could manipulate them into fighting each other, and cover her escape. But until then...
Citizen V jumped to avoid a sonic boxing glove thrust at her from Klaw. She felt a sharp pain in her upper back as the Scorpion's tail hit her. A flash of searing pain reminded her of the Interpol super-villain criminal stats she had taken years to memorize. The Scorpion's tail emitted a venomous chemical to incapacitate and eventually kill his victims. She pulled the blade out of her back with a painful lurch, and pulled the tail hard, sending the Scorpion crashing into the now fully-formed Techno.
She ducked a sonic broadsword from Klaw, then drew her blade, smashing his hand. Citizen V noticed something: none of her opponents had said a word, almost as if... they were waiting for something. Then she heard it, the low thumping sound of the stealth helicopter, much closer now, almost right outside the window. But before she could react, a man leaped through the hole in the wall created by Klaw. It was Baron Zemo.
# # # # # # # # # #
After the Thunderbolts left to fight Firelord in Los Angeles,* the Ogre had kept himself busy repairing and cleaning the remains of Mt. Charteris. The damage was even worse than he had originally surmised: several of the inner forensic labs were completely gone, buried beneath tons of rock, and the main control room had lost most of its monitors. Worst of all, the image-inducing technology that kept the hangar invisible to the outside world had been destroyed, leaving the base very open and vulnerable. For years he had striven to take care of the mountain, keeping it clean and operable. He remained in the shadows, aiding whoever possessed the base. But now, his worst fears had been realized. The facilities were a disaster, ripped apart by persons unknown.
(* Last issue--Russ)
He stepped back from the circuitry he had been repairing to look around. The clean burns suggested some sort of laser bomb. His thoughts deep within the schematics of concussive repulsors, he heard a noise from the hangar. Could the new team, the Thunderbolts, be back already? He could not yet discern whether they were heroes or villains, although it mattered little to him.
The Ogre opened a metallic panel in the wall and pulled out an Uzi. Can never be too careful, he reassured himself. He raced down a corridor, through a hidden passage in the wall, then up a flight of stairs to the hangar. What he saw as he reached the top of the stairs astounded him. A giant metallic object filled the hangar, looking something like a mix between a space shuttle and the SHIELD hellicarrier. He walked along its side towards the open hangar door. As soon as he got to what he thought was the front, a door opened and a bright light flashed in his eyes. "Ow!" He shouted, even through his goggles, the light burned.
Suddenly, the light stopped. He looked up to notice a figure standing in the doorway. As the spots in his eyes disappeared, he could see that it was a man-a very strange man. His entire torso was a large head, and where his head should have been was a strange antenna.
Ogre clutched his eyes as the man spoke: "I am the brilliant Arnim Zola, cretin. Take me to your leader." As he moved his hand, Ogre could also see Zola's hands-and two very large guns pointed right at him. "Not one for words, eh? Perhaps actions work better with you," he said, then squeezed the triggers.
The Ogre felt a burning sensation all over his body, then he hit something hard. As he flew out into the Colorado air, he thought he could see the Thunderbolts coming back before he blacked out.
The Thunderbolts arrived at Mt. Charteris expecting a long break and a little R&R. They (Moonstone, Songbird, Charcoal, She-Hulk, and their newest member, the Living Lightning) found something completely different. It was a shocking scene at first; Ogre lying unconscious outside the hangar, a massive hovercraft parked inside, and in the middle of it all was the mad geneticist Arnim Zola. However, once they had regained their senses, the Thunderbolts acted immediately. Moonstone barked out orders: "Charcoal, Songbird: attack from above! You, Lightning: get behind him and wait for my signal," although she still wasn't used to being in command. She preferred acting from the sidelines, manipulating people.
"Hmmm..." Zola muttered, "one more than I had expected. Ah well, time to get down to business." He fired a volley of shots from his twin guns at the two oncoming Thunderbolts, then spun around to the approaching Living Lightning and fired again. Charcoal easily dodged the lasers, but Songbird was hit dead-on. And when she was knocked unconscious... "The sonic V-wing!" She-Hulk shouted, "it's dissipating!"
Moonstone reached out to the jade giantess and grabbed her arm, at the same time flying towards Zola. "You ready to be a wrecking ball?" she asked.
"Not like I have much of a choice," She-Hulk replied, swinging towards Zola and kicking him. Her momentum, not to mention brute strength, knocked Zola onto his back, right in the path of the Living Lightning's lightning bolt.
Arnim Zola's mechanical body parts started sparking as he convulsed wildly, his arms jerking about. He finally stopped after several tense moments, his body resting in a fetal position, smoke wafting eerily up from his torso.
The Thunderbolts gathered cautiously around him, still keeping their distance. "Your move, Zola," Moonstone called out.
The mad doctor grunted as he struggled to his feet. "Henh. You may have defeated me, heroes, but you'll never be able to defeat... yourselves!" They watched as the antenna on his head sparked, and several smaller doors on the hovercraft opened revealing five figures. "Behold... My very own Masters of Evil, spitting image clones of you: Moonstone, Power Man, Screaming Mimi, the Beetle, and the one called Charcoal, pulled from the time he spent as a member of the Imperial Forces."
The Thunderbolts were so shocked that they did nothing as the clones started towards them.
# # # # # # # # # #
Erik Josten, a.k.a. Atlas, walked casually into the Downslope Sports Bar & Grill. Before arriving at their base, the Thunderbolts had dropped off in the small hamlet of Burton Canyon. For the past several weeks he had come here, although he never understood why. He sat down at the bar, only a few feet away from him was the woman known as Man-Killer, a former member of the Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil. And what did he think of the Cowl herself? She had been revealed to be Dallas Riordan, a woman he thought he loved. But did he still?
His thoughts were interrupted when the bartender, Man-Killer (although he had come to know her as Wilma) approached him and asked: "So, Erik... The usual?"
"Sure, Wilma," he replied in a somewhat cheerier tone than usual.
"You're in here a little early, aren't you?" she asked. "Usually, the only person in here this time of day is Mr. Daniels over there."
Erik glanced at his watch. It was only 12 PM; although it felt like it had been ages since he fought the Living Laser, it had been less than a day. Wilma turned on the T.V. and watched it for a moment. Erik listened for a moment; it was the news at noon. "We now go to Mr. Henry Peter Gyrich, a spokesperson for the Commission on Superhuman Activities to talk exclusively with our reporter about this startling news."
Erik looked up when the anchor mentioned 'superhuman'. He saw a large, smoking building with several enormous holes in it. "Once again, this footage shows the present condition of the government-funded superhuman containment facility known as the Vault. Mr. Gyrich?"
Gyrich was walking down a city street, followed by several people holding microphones. "The Commission is presently investigating what happened at the Vault. All I know at the moment is that at least 150 guards and personnel are dead, along with some 25 super-powered criminals. In an apparent escape attempt, just days after the Vault was completed, several criminals instigated a riot, then escaped using explosives planted during construction. As you can see," - a computer-generated image showed the building, as a small portion of the wall exploded in flames - "there were two explosions. The first destroyed part of the extremely thick wall. The second destroyed the entire building, killing many of the facility's guards as well as those 'super-villains' who had not left the area."
"But Mr. Gyrich," the reporter interrupted, "I'm told that the walls were concrete, reinforced with Adamantium. How could even the largest explosion even scratch such a material?"
Gyrich paused for a moment, a look of anger flashed across his face. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to personally investigate that right now. No more questions."
"But Mr. Gyrich..." the reporter began.
"No more questions. Good day." Gyrich walked away from the flock of reporters and headed into a large brick building.
"And there you have it, folks."
Wilma turned the T.V. off, and looked at Erik. "Wow," she said, "that 'Vault' sure was giant. Must have been some powerful explosives."
Erik looked up at her, confused. She was emphasizing certain words in a strange way. Wilma smiled at him, a strange, vicious smile he'd never seen before. He chugged the rest of his drink and stood up. "I've really got to go now," he said. "Got to, uh... get back to work. What I do, it's, uh... real important stuff, y'see..."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Wilma said to Erik as he walked towards the door. "I listen to a lot of sob stories tending bar, and some guys come in here... it's like they've got the weight of the world on their back."
# # # # # # # # # #
Citizen V fought hard, not stopping a moment in her battle against four deadly and powerful men. She kicked a Colt .45 from Baron Zemo's hand, at the same time dodging the Scorpion's tail.
"Give it up, young lady," Zemo said irritably. "Resistance is futile." He dove over an over-turned table for his sidearm, but was stopped when she elbowed him in the back. She only had to keep them occupied for a few more minutes, she realized, glancing at one of the monitors scattered across the floor. The Vanguard ship was right on top of them. She threw a V-shaped throwing knife at Techno to distract him, then raced out of the room.
The sudden burst of light and sound from the window proved her correct: the V-Battalion had arrived. Zemo's helicopter, now a piece of burning slag, burst through the wall, crushing Klaw and Techno. The Scorpion Pulled Zemo out of the way at the last second. "Get her, buffoon!" he shouted.
"I'm afraid you've got other problems at the moment, scumbag," said a booming voice from behind him.
"Eh? Who dares?" Zemo spun around to see his enemy: The Destroyer and his fellow members of the Penance Council.
# # # # # # # # # #
Henry Peter Gyrich walked irritably into the global offices of International Information Services-- at least, that's what it said on the side of the plain brick building in downtown Boulder, Colorado. It was, in fact, a cover for the Commission on Superhuman Activities. Beneath the two-story office building was an elaborate complex stretching 12 stories into the rocky ground, the Commission's information headquarters for the entire Western United States. It was here that he'd find the answers he sought.
That morning, he'd walked into his office in Pasadena, California at 8 A.M., as usual. But, unlike most days, the office was a mess. People running around, making phone calls and faxes, murmuring about SHIELD authorization and activating Prime Sentinels. He knew, before he walked into his personal office that something big had happened the previous night. But he could never have suspected what he'd found. Waiting in his office was Valerie Cooper, one of his peers, sitting next to a video connection with SHIELD director Nick Fury. He had heard Fury finish a sentence as he opened the door: "...well Dr. Cooper, the helicarrier's over Kansas at the moment, so if you need our assistance, just ring me. Fury out."
The screen went dark. "Peter," Dr. Cooper had said, "where have you been? The media's having a field day at our expense, there's rumors that Congress wants to re-activate those nasty Prime Sentinels and send them to Nevada."
"Nevada?" he had asked, setting his briefcase on his desk. "What's going on in Nevada?"
"You... you haven't heard? My God, Peter, it's on all the news stations. The Vault got blown open last night."
Gyrich stopped what he was doing immediately. "The Vault?!? What the hell are you talking about?? Blown Open?" A wave of fury rushed through his body.
"Here," she said, picking up a remote and turning the monitor back on, "the local media can probably explain it better than I can." And so he'd heard the whole story, making him even angrier. So he'd caught a commercial airline flight out to the big office, and here he was. Here, he hoped to find some semblance of a sane explanation. Because here in the top-secret hospital wing was where they were keeping Dr. Dudley.
Not that he liked Dudley that much, the short, balding psychiatrist could get on anybody's nerves. But, as the highest-level survivor, he was the one who needed to be questioned. He entered the hospital area. Not that it was much of a hospital, it only had maybe a dozen rooms at most. He found Dudley's room and went in. A nurse told him that Dudley had just woken up; after suffering a concussion, two broken arms, several broken ribs, and multiple bruises, he wasn't in much condition to answer questions. Gyrich didn't give a damn. He needed answers, and he needed them fast.
"What happened, Dudley?" he asked harshly.
"The one called... Mr. Hyde... he choke-slammed me into the floor, and then-"
"Not to you," Gyrich said angrily, "to the Vault! What the hell happened? That was adamantium, dammit!"
Dudley didn't say anything for a minute. Then he muttered quietly: "I've got a, uh... confession to make... that wasn't Adamantium."
"What? Are you telling me the construction team lied to the US government?!?"
"Yes... one of the workers came to me... said he had a guilty conscience... said they used something else... cosmic-no, cosmodium... said that adamantium was so scarce, costly... they had to use a substitute to complete the walls..."
"So the walls weren't adamantium? Damn. What was the name of the construction team?"
"I'm not sure... and all the people who would know are dead. All I know is that it was a large firm, from Oregon I think."
"But surely there must be some files left."
"Most likely... they were destroyed... the whole archives department was blown to bits in that second explosion."
"Blast," Gyrich said. His cell phone rang, he picked it up and answered: "Hello?"
"Peter, it's Val. You're fired."
"What?!? That's ludicrous!"
"Sorry, Peter, but Commissioner Warton is with me. He says with all the Vault personnel dead, responsibility for the project falls into your hands. And this project failed. I'm sorry, Peter, I really am."
"Well tell Warton he can piss off." He hung up and stormed out of the building.
# # # # # # # # # #
Citizen V ran out of her flat and down the hall at record speed. But one of her more noisy neighbors stopped her. "What the hell are you doing?" Mr. Richards, a fat slob in his late forties asked her. "I'm trying to take a nap."
"Then take a nice long one, cretin," a voice down the hall said. Richards fell down, coughing blood. She could see a Sai blade sticking in his back, and behind that was the notorious Bullseye, holding another blade in his hand. He threw it at her, faster than anything she'd thought possible, but she knocked it away from her with her sword.
"Oh? This one has guts, it seems." He pulled another blade from his belt and looked ready to use it, but stopped when Zemo called him.
"Bullseye, get in here now!"
"Well, you'll have to excuse me," he said, pushing past her and heading back towards her room. He flung the blade over his shoulder, hitting her in the arm. She paused for a moment, then sprinted for the fire escape.
# # # # # # # # # #
Back at Mt. Charteris, the Thunderbolts were locked in fierce combat with their worst enemy: themselves. Charcoal, Moonstone and Songbird fought their counterparts while She-Hulk tackled Power Man and the Living Lightning took on the Beetle.
"Jeez," She-Hulk said, "I can't get a bead on this guy. How can anybody so big move so fast?" She muttered, dodging a swift uppercut executed by the clone of Atlas' former identity.
"Que lastima, She-Hulk," the Lightning said, "I'm having problems as well." He and the Beetle were flying circles around each other, blasting at the other, then dodging, then firing again. "I think if I can hit him, it'll only take one shot to short out his armor, but he's dodged every single one of my shots."
"Keep fighting, Thunderbolts!" Moonstone shouted. "They've got the power, but we've got the skill." She herself had already scored several hits on her opponent while she remained unscathed.
Songbird, with much better powers than her younger self was faring even better. Within a few minutes, Screaming Mimi was lying unconscious on the ground. I guess I have changed since I joined the T-bolts. Since I became a heroine, she thought to herself. Songbird was distracted by her thoughts; so much that she never saw the Beetle rocket towards her.
Moonstone did see it, though. She noticed Screaming Mimi stirring just seconds before her clone split off and blasted She-Hulk. Songbird was already down, the Charcoal clone had torched the Living Lightning, and Screaming Mimi was in position to knock the real Charcoal out of the sky. And she knew, before it happened, what was coming next: Power Man was already creeping up behind her, arms outstretched. Just before he slammed her head into the cold steel of the hangar floor, she had one last thought of hope: Atlas was still free.
# # # # # # # # # #
Erik Josten walked down a small alleyway in Burton Canyon. He was still confused about what had happened at Wilma's bar. Could she know my secret identity? She sure used some strange adjectives when we were talking. Was it pure circumstance or was she hinting that she knew about my old alias 'Power Man' or maybe 'Giant Man', since he's got a similar power? Ok, maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, he thought to himself as he pulled the cover off a manhole, leading down to a subterranean shuttle which would send him back up to Mt. Charteris. But that last statement... I could swear she was talking about the 'Atlas' of Greek legend.
He stepped out of the shuttle into the wreckage of the hangar. But usually the only thing here was the old Champscraft and Hawkeye's atomic steed. Now, there was an enormous ship docked inside the bay. Atlas jogged to the hangar's entrance, and was in for the surprise of his life. What he saw was the most shocking scene imaginable: Arnim Zola stood in the hangar, above the unconscious Thunderbolts, and surrounded by the old Masters of Evil.
His own clone, dressed like Power Man, was lifting Moonstone high over his head, it looked as though he was going to drop her off the edge. But Atlas acted faster, growing to a giant size, running past the others, and grabbing Moonstone. Then he kicked Power Man out the hangar doors and turned to face Zola.
"Kill him!" Zola shouted. His clones acted at the command and raced towards him.
"As most bad guys would confess, it's a lot easier said than done, buddy." He grabbed the Beetle buy the legs and slammed him into Screaming Mimi, then KO'd Charcoal with one punch. The other Moonstone paused, then grabbed the others and fled into the hovercraft.
"Indeed. It appears you win this time, but I'll be back." Zola jumped through the door of the hovercraft and the whole thing took off, almost hitting Atlas on its way out. Atlas shrunk down to normal size and went to check on his teammates.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Hmm..." The Destroyer murmured, dodging a blow from Baron Zemo. "You're faster than your father, but not good enough!" He, along with his teammates Nuklo, Iron Cross, Topspin and their newest addition, the Red Baron fought fast and hard against Zemo, Bullseye, the Scorpion, and Techno. Not what they had come for, but it was good enough for him.
But Zemo apparently had other plans. "You fools have cost me my quarry, and one of my men. But you'll never defeat me." He activated a transporter chip and the Masters of Evil were gone.
"The devils got away!" Iron Cross shouted.
"As did your Citizen V," the Red Baron noted.
"Yes... I have a few questions of my own," Destroyer replied, "starting with, where did Ms. Riordan escape to? But this has been enough excitement for one day. Come, we shall return to Symkaria." With that, they left in the Vanguard shuttle and were gone, leaving the mortally wounded Klaw, along with Citizen V, peering through a crack in the wall.
"Curiouser and Curiouser," she said to herself, then left to find her glider and another base of operations.
Her bosses, of course, were not pleased with her actions. She had believed that they would never risk being seen by the public. However, an AWOL agent was apparently enough of a risk to sanction possible exposure. When she got back from the Burton General Hospital just minutes ago, her radar system had showed a large object moving towards Colorado. At the time, it had been high over Kansas, but who knew how close it was by now. She turned towards the radar monitor and realized she had bigger problems.
The top of the monitor was turning into a head, a very familiar one, at that. She recognized the dark, metallic goatee of Techno, Zemo's lackey. Arms, along with a large energy cannon were forming around the head. Before she could react, she heard the dull thumping of a helicopter close by. She was on the fifth floor of the apartment building, could a helicopter attack her here? Her answer came in the form of a man crashing through the window, splitting the table in half, and knocking Techno, causing the shot from his cannon to miss.
She recognized the bright costume of Klaw immediately. As a large blade cut a hole in the ceiling and a green-costumed man appeared she realized whom she was facing: Zemo's Masters of Evil had come for her; and the V-Battalion was only minutes away. Perhaps once it arrived, she could manipulate them into fighting each other, and cover her escape. But until then...
Citizen V jumped to avoid a sonic boxing glove thrust at her from Klaw. She felt a sharp pain in her upper back as the Scorpion's tail hit her. A flash of searing pain reminded her of the Interpol super-villain criminal stats she had taken years to memorize. The Scorpion's tail emitted a venomous chemical to incapacitate and eventually kill his victims. She pulled the blade out of her back with a painful lurch, and pulled the tail hard, sending the Scorpion crashing into the now fully-formed Techno.
She ducked a sonic broadsword from Klaw, then drew her blade, smashing his hand. Citizen V noticed something: none of her opponents had said a word, almost as if... they were waiting for something. Then she heard it, the low thumping sound of the stealth helicopter, much closer now, almost right outside the window. But before she could react, a man leaped through the hole in the wall created by Klaw. It was Baron Zemo.
# # # # # # # # # #
After the Thunderbolts left to fight Firelord in Los Angeles,* the Ogre had kept himself busy repairing and cleaning the remains of Mt. Charteris. The damage was even worse than he had originally surmised: several of the inner forensic labs were completely gone, buried beneath tons of rock, and the main control room had lost most of its monitors. Worst of all, the image-inducing technology that kept the hangar invisible to the outside world had been destroyed, leaving the base very open and vulnerable. For years he had striven to take care of the mountain, keeping it clean and operable. He remained in the shadows, aiding whoever possessed the base. But now, his worst fears had been realized. The facilities were a disaster, ripped apart by persons unknown.
(* Last issue--Russ)
He stepped back from the circuitry he had been repairing to look around. The clean burns suggested some sort of laser bomb. His thoughts deep within the schematics of concussive repulsors, he heard a noise from the hangar. Could the new team, the Thunderbolts, be back already? He could not yet discern whether they were heroes or villains, although it mattered little to him.
The Ogre opened a metallic panel in the wall and pulled out an Uzi. Can never be too careful, he reassured himself. He raced down a corridor, through a hidden passage in the wall, then up a flight of stairs to the hangar. What he saw as he reached the top of the stairs astounded him. A giant metallic object filled the hangar, looking something like a mix between a space shuttle and the SHIELD hellicarrier. He walked along its side towards the open hangar door. As soon as he got to what he thought was the front, a door opened and a bright light flashed in his eyes. "Ow!" He shouted, even through his goggles, the light burned.
Suddenly, the light stopped. He looked up to notice a figure standing in the doorway. As the spots in his eyes disappeared, he could see that it was a man-a very strange man. His entire torso was a large head, and where his head should have been was a strange antenna.
Ogre clutched his eyes as the man spoke: "I am the brilliant Arnim Zola, cretin. Take me to your leader." As he moved his hand, Ogre could also see Zola's hands-and two very large guns pointed right at him. "Not one for words, eh? Perhaps actions work better with you," he said, then squeezed the triggers.
The Ogre felt a burning sensation all over his body, then he hit something hard. As he flew out into the Colorado air, he thought he could see the Thunderbolts coming back before he blacked out.
The Thunderbolts arrived at Mt. Charteris expecting a long break and a little R&R. They (Moonstone, Songbird, Charcoal, She-Hulk, and their newest member, the Living Lightning) found something completely different. It was a shocking scene at first; Ogre lying unconscious outside the hangar, a massive hovercraft parked inside, and in the middle of it all was the mad geneticist Arnim Zola. However, once they had regained their senses, the Thunderbolts acted immediately. Moonstone barked out orders: "Charcoal, Songbird: attack from above! You, Lightning: get behind him and wait for my signal," although she still wasn't used to being in command. She preferred acting from the sidelines, manipulating people.
"Hmmm..." Zola muttered, "one more than I had expected. Ah well, time to get down to business." He fired a volley of shots from his twin guns at the two oncoming Thunderbolts, then spun around to the approaching Living Lightning and fired again. Charcoal easily dodged the lasers, but Songbird was hit dead-on. And when she was knocked unconscious... "The sonic V-wing!" She-Hulk shouted, "it's dissipating!"
Moonstone reached out to the jade giantess and grabbed her arm, at the same time flying towards Zola. "You ready to be a wrecking ball?" she asked.
"Not like I have much of a choice," She-Hulk replied, swinging towards Zola and kicking him. Her momentum, not to mention brute strength, knocked Zola onto his back, right in the path of the Living Lightning's lightning bolt.
Arnim Zola's mechanical body parts started sparking as he convulsed wildly, his arms jerking about. He finally stopped after several tense moments, his body resting in a fetal position, smoke wafting eerily up from his torso.
The Thunderbolts gathered cautiously around him, still keeping their distance. "Your move, Zola," Moonstone called out.
The mad doctor grunted as he struggled to his feet. "Henh. You may have defeated me, heroes, but you'll never be able to defeat... yourselves!" They watched as the antenna on his head sparked, and several smaller doors on the hovercraft opened revealing five figures. "Behold... My very own Masters of Evil, spitting image clones of you: Moonstone, Power Man, Screaming Mimi, the Beetle, and the one called Charcoal, pulled from the time he spent as a member of the Imperial Forces."
The Thunderbolts were so shocked that they did nothing as the clones started towards them.
# # # # # # # # # #
Erik Josten, a.k.a. Atlas, walked casually into the Downslope Sports Bar & Grill. Before arriving at their base, the Thunderbolts had dropped off in the small hamlet of Burton Canyon. For the past several weeks he had come here, although he never understood why. He sat down at the bar, only a few feet away from him was the woman known as Man-Killer, a former member of the Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil. And what did he think of the Cowl herself? She had been revealed to be Dallas Riordan, a woman he thought he loved. But did he still?
His thoughts were interrupted when the bartender, Man-Killer (although he had come to know her as Wilma) approached him and asked: "So, Erik... The usual?"
"Sure, Wilma," he replied in a somewhat cheerier tone than usual.
"You're in here a little early, aren't you?" she asked. "Usually, the only person in here this time of day is Mr. Daniels over there."
Erik glanced at his watch. It was only 12 PM; although it felt like it had been ages since he fought the Living Laser, it had been less than a day. Wilma turned on the T.V. and watched it for a moment. Erik listened for a moment; it was the news at noon. "We now go to Mr. Henry Peter Gyrich, a spokesperson for the Commission on Superhuman Activities to talk exclusively with our reporter about this startling news."
Erik looked up when the anchor mentioned 'superhuman'. He saw a large, smoking building with several enormous holes in it. "Once again, this footage shows the present condition of the government-funded superhuman containment facility known as the Vault. Mr. Gyrich?"
Gyrich was walking down a city street, followed by several people holding microphones. "The Commission is presently investigating what happened at the Vault. All I know at the moment is that at least 150 guards and personnel are dead, along with some 25 super-powered criminals. In an apparent escape attempt, just days after the Vault was completed, several criminals instigated a riot, then escaped using explosives planted during construction. As you can see," - a computer-generated image showed the building, as a small portion of the wall exploded in flames - "there were two explosions. The first destroyed part of the extremely thick wall. The second destroyed the entire building, killing many of the facility's guards as well as those 'super-villains' who had not left the area."
"But Mr. Gyrich," the reporter interrupted, "I'm told that the walls were concrete, reinforced with Adamantium. How could even the largest explosion even scratch such a material?"
Gyrich paused for a moment, a look of anger flashed across his face. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to personally investigate that right now. No more questions."
"But Mr. Gyrich..." the reporter began.
"No more questions. Good day." Gyrich walked away from the flock of reporters and headed into a large brick building.
"And there you have it, folks."
Wilma turned the T.V. off, and looked at Erik. "Wow," she said, "that 'Vault' sure was giant. Must have been some powerful explosives."
Erik looked up at her, confused. She was emphasizing certain words in a strange way. Wilma smiled at him, a strange, vicious smile he'd never seen before. He chugged the rest of his drink and stood up. "I've really got to go now," he said. "Got to, uh... get back to work. What I do, it's, uh... real important stuff, y'see..."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Wilma said to Erik as he walked towards the door. "I listen to a lot of sob stories tending bar, and some guys come in here... it's like they've got the weight of the world on their back."
# # # # # # # # # #
Citizen V fought hard, not stopping a moment in her battle against four deadly and powerful men. She kicked a Colt .45 from Baron Zemo's hand, at the same time dodging the Scorpion's tail.
"Give it up, young lady," Zemo said irritably. "Resistance is futile." He dove over an over-turned table for his sidearm, but was stopped when she elbowed him in the back. She only had to keep them occupied for a few more minutes, she realized, glancing at one of the monitors scattered across the floor. The Vanguard ship was right on top of them. She threw a V-shaped throwing knife at Techno to distract him, then raced out of the room.
The sudden burst of light and sound from the window proved her correct: the V-Battalion had arrived. Zemo's helicopter, now a piece of burning slag, burst through the wall, crushing Klaw and Techno. The Scorpion Pulled Zemo out of the way at the last second. "Get her, buffoon!" he shouted.
"I'm afraid you've got other problems at the moment, scumbag," said a booming voice from behind him.
"Eh? Who dares?" Zemo spun around to see his enemy: The Destroyer and his fellow members of the Penance Council.
# # # # # # # # # #
Henry Peter Gyrich walked irritably into the global offices of International Information Services-- at least, that's what it said on the side of the plain brick building in downtown Boulder, Colorado. It was, in fact, a cover for the Commission on Superhuman Activities. Beneath the two-story office building was an elaborate complex stretching 12 stories into the rocky ground, the Commission's information headquarters for the entire Western United States. It was here that he'd find the answers he sought.
That morning, he'd walked into his office in Pasadena, California at 8 A.M., as usual. But, unlike most days, the office was a mess. People running around, making phone calls and faxes, murmuring about SHIELD authorization and activating Prime Sentinels. He knew, before he walked into his personal office that something big had happened the previous night. But he could never have suspected what he'd found. Waiting in his office was Valerie Cooper, one of his peers, sitting next to a video connection with SHIELD director Nick Fury. He had heard Fury finish a sentence as he opened the door: "...well Dr. Cooper, the helicarrier's over Kansas at the moment, so if you need our assistance, just ring me. Fury out."
The screen went dark. "Peter," Dr. Cooper had said, "where have you been? The media's having a field day at our expense, there's rumors that Congress wants to re-activate those nasty Prime Sentinels and send them to Nevada."
"Nevada?" he had asked, setting his briefcase on his desk. "What's going on in Nevada?"
"You... you haven't heard? My God, Peter, it's on all the news stations. The Vault got blown open last night."
Gyrich stopped what he was doing immediately. "The Vault?!? What the hell are you talking about?? Blown Open?" A wave of fury rushed through his body.
"Here," she said, picking up a remote and turning the monitor back on, "the local media can probably explain it better than I can." And so he'd heard the whole story, making him even angrier. So he'd caught a commercial airline flight out to the big office, and here he was. Here, he hoped to find some semblance of a sane explanation. Because here in the top-secret hospital wing was where they were keeping Dr. Dudley.
Not that he liked Dudley that much, the short, balding psychiatrist could get on anybody's nerves. But, as the highest-level survivor, he was the one who needed to be questioned. He entered the hospital area. Not that it was much of a hospital, it only had maybe a dozen rooms at most. He found Dudley's room and went in. A nurse told him that Dudley had just woken up; after suffering a concussion, two broken arms, several broken ribs, and multiple bruises, he wasn't in much condition to answer questions. Gyrich didn't give a damn. He needed answers, and he needed them fast.
"What happened, Dudley?" he asked harshly.
"The one called... Mr. Hyde... he choke-slammed me into the floor, and then-"
"Not to you," Gyrich said angrily, "to the Vault! What the hell happened? That was adamantium, dammit!"
Dudley didn't say anything for a minute. Then he muttered quietly: "I've got a, uh... confession to make... that wasn't Adamantium."
"What? Are you telling me the construction team lied to the US government?!?"
"Yes... one of the workers came to me... said he had a guilty conscience... said they used something else... cosmic-no, cosmodium... said that adamantium was so scarce, costly... they had to use a substitute to complete the walls..."
"So the walls weren't adamantium? Damn. What was the name of the construction team?"
"I'm not sure... and all the people who would know are dead. All I know is that it was a large firm, from Oregon I think."
"But surely there must be some files left."
"Most likely... they were destroyed... the whole archives department was blown to bits in that second explosion."
"Blast," Gyrich said. His cell phone rang, he picked it up and answered: "Hello?"
"Peter, it's Val. You're fired."
"What?!? That's ludicrous!"
"Sorry, Peter, but Commissioner Warton is with me. He says with all the Vault personnel dead, responsibility for the project falls into your hands. And this project failed. I'm sorry, Peter, I really am."
"Well tell Warton he can piss off." He hung up and stormed out of the building.
# # # # # # # # # #
Citizen V ran out of her flat and down the hall at record speed. But one of her more noisy neighbors stopped her. "What the hell are you doing?" Mr. Richards, a fat slob in his late forties asked her. "I'm trying to take a nap."
"Then take a nice long one, cretin," a voice down the hall said. Richards fell down, coughing blood. She could see a Sai blade sticking in his back, and behind that was the notorious Bullseye, holding another blade in his hand. He threw it at her, faster than anything she'd thought possible, but she knocked it away from her with her sword.
"Oh? This one has guts, it seems." He pulled another blade from his belt and looked ready to use it, but stopped when Zemo called him.
"Bullseye, get in here now!"
"Well, you'll have to excuse me," he said, pushing past her and heading back towards her room. He flung the blade over his shoulder, hitting her in the arm. She paused for a moment, then sprinted for the fire escape.
# # # # # # # # # #
Back at Mt. Charteris, the Thunderbolts were locked in fierce combat with their worst enemy: themselves. Charcoal, Moonstone and Songbird fought their counterparts while She-Hulk tackled Power Man and the Living Lightning took on the Beetle.
"Jeez," She-Hulk said, "I can't get a bead on this guy. How can anybody so big move so fast?" She muttered, dodging a swift uppercut executed by the clone of Atlas' former identity.
"Que lastima, She-Hulk," the Lightning said, "I'm having problems as well." He and the Beetle were flying circles around each other, blasting at the other, then dodging, then firing again. "I think if I can hit him, it'll only take one shot to short out his armor, but he's dodged every single one of my shots."
"Keep fighting, Thunderbolts!" Moonstone shouted. "They've got the power, but we've got the skill." She herself had already scored several hits on her opponent while she remained unscathed.
Songbird, with much better powers than her younger self was faring even better. Within a few minutes, Screaming Mimi was lying unconscious on the ground. I guess I have changed since I joined the T-bolts. Since I became a heroine, she thought to herself. Songbird was distracted by her thoughts; so much that she never saw the Beetle rocket towards her.
Moonstone did see it, though. She noticed Screaming Mimi stirring just seconds before her clone split off and blasted She-Hulk. Songbird was already down, the Charcoal clone had torched the Living Lightning, and Screaming Mimi was in position to knock the real Charcoal out of the sky. And she knew, before it happened, what was coming next: Power Man was already creeping up behind her, arms outstretched. Just before he slammed her head into the cold steel of the hangar floor, she had one last thought of hope: Atlas was still free.
# # # # # # # # # #
Erik Josten walked down a small alleyway in Burton Canyon. He was still confused about what had happened at Wilma's bar. Could she know my secret identity? She sure used some strange adjectives when we were talking. Was it pure circumstance or was she hinting that she knew about my old alias 'Power Man' or maybe 'Giant Man', since he's got a similar power? Ok, maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, he thought to himself as he pulled the cover off a manhole, leading down to a subterranean shuttle which would send him back up to Mt. Charteris. But that last statement... I could swear she was talking about the 'Atlas' of Greek legend.
He stepped out of the shuttle into the wreckage of the hangar. But usually the only thing here was the old Champscraft and Hawkeye's atomic steed. Now, there was an enormous ship docked inside the bay. Atlas jogged to the hangar's entrance, and was in for the surprise of his life. What he saw was the most shocking scene imaginable: Arnim Zola stood in the hangar, above the unconscious Thunderbolts, and surrounded by the old Masters of Evil.
His own clone, dressed like Power Man, was lifting Moonstone high over his head, it looked as though he was going to drop her off the edge. But Atlas acted faster, growing to a giant size, running past the others, and grabbing Moonstone. Then he kicked Power Man out the hangar doors and turned to face Zola.
"Kill him!" Zola shouted. His clones acted at the command and raced towards him.
"As most bad guys would confess, it's a lot easier said than done, buddy." He grabbed the Beetle buy the legs and slammed him into Screaming Mimi, then KO'd Charcoal with one punch. The other Moonstone paused, then grabbed the others and fled into the hovercraft.
"Indeed. It appears you win this time, but I'll be back." Zola jumped through the door of the hovercraft and the whole thing took off, almost hitting Atlas on its way out. Atlas shrunk down to normal size and went to check on his teammates.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Hmm..." The Destroyer murmured, dodging a blow from Baron Zemo. "You're faster than your father, but not good enough!" He, along with his teammates Nuklo, Iron Cross, Topspin and their newest addition, the Red Baron fought fast and hard against Zemo, Bullseye, the Scorpion, and Techno. Not what they had come for, but it was good enough for him.
But Zemo apparently had other plans. "You fools have cost me my quarry, and one of my men. But you'll never defeat me." He activated a transporter chip and the Masters of Evil were gone.
"The devils got away!" Iron Cross shouted.
"As did your Citizen V," the Red Baron noted.
"Yes... I have a few questions of my own," Destroyer replied, "starting with, where did Ms. Riordan escape to? But this has been enough excitement for one day. Come, we shall return to Symkaria." With that, they left in the Vanguard shuttle and were gone, leaving the mortally wounded Klaw, along with Citizen V, peering through a crack in the wall.
"Curiouser and Curiouser," she said to herself, then left to find her glider and another base of operations.