Castle Zemo

Throughout their headquarters, each of the Thunderbolts received a transmission via communicators designed by the Fixer. The message came from Baron Helmut Zemo himself from his war room.

“We have just received notice that an invasion of the Castle is underway and will arrive within minutes,” he said. “This invasion has been organized by Strucker himself. You have all been given assignments in case of such an eventuality, so man your posts and ready yourselves for the coming battle. I expect all of you to prove you are the warriors you claim to be. Those who cannot will likely not survive. Zemo out.”

“Layin’ it on a bit thick, aren’t we Baron?” asked the Fixer. A compartment on his tech-pack opened and several tiny, flying cameras emerged, leaving the war room and scattering themselves throughout the Castle. Within moments, the monitor bank the Fixer stood before lit up with various scenes transmitted by the cameras.

“Do not take this matter lightly, Fixer. Strucker may be a bitter old fool, but that only makes him all the more dangerous.” Zemo’s eyes crackled with the mystical properties of the three moonstones he had bonded himself to. A swirl of energy appeared before him revealing a man with a slim build and dressed from head to toe in a black costume with white trim.

“What gives?” asked Bullseye. “Thought you wanted us at our posts?”

“Your post has changed, Lester,” said Zemo. “Octavius.”

“What about him?”

“The good doctor is hiding something and he cannot be trusted,” said Zemo. “I want you to shadow him. Should he make even the slightest hint of aiding Strucker’s forces, I expect you to get something very sharp past his tentacles and as deep into his eye socket as possible.”

“So you want me to be your own personal brain surgeon, eh?” asked Bullseye.

“Do you think you can manage that?” asked the Baron.

Bullseye offered a sly grin in response and followed it up with: “You know me, Baron—as long as you keep paying the bills, I’m down for whatever mayhem you want. I haven’t seen much action in a while, so I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty again.”

“Remember Bullseye—I do not want Octavius dead unless he shows signs of betrayal,” said Zemo.

“And I get to be the judge of what constitutes a betrayal sign?”

“Yes, but be warned you will have to justify your actions to me after.”

Bullseye shrugged. “Fair enough, boss.”

“Hate to interrupt here, but I thought there’s something you’d like to see, Baron,” said the Fixer.

Zemo waved his hand and Bullseye vanished, returned to his post. The Baron came to the Fixer’s side and watched the monitor bank with him.

“We’ve got incoming,” said Ebersol.

MASTERS AND SLAVES

Part VII

By Steve Seinberg and Dino Pollard

In the central foyer of Castle Zemo, eight of Strucker’s strike force transported in—the Wrecking Crew as well as the Rhino, Unicorn, the Man-Ape and Graviton. The Wrecker took point, having been named the designated field leader.

“Awright, here’s the plan—my Crew’s takin’ the west side of the Castle. Rest of you can take the east. We got two jobs from the boss—max damage and max body count. Double points to the man who brings Zemo’s head!”

“Visual confirmation on eight heavy hitters,” said the Fixer. “They’re splitting into two groups so that makes them easier to deal with, but we’re still going to have trouble with them.”

Zemo spoke into his hand-held transmitter. “Dr. Chen, you’ve dealt with Norse-powered individuals before, I want you leading Hawkeye, Carnage, Octavius, Bullseye and Lady Mastermind after the Wrecking Crew. Emil, take Tiger Shark, MACH-IV, Songbird, the Swordsman, Blizzard and Jack O’Lantern after the others.”

“That’s our entire force,” said the Fixer. “Haven’t you noticed the distraction? The intel we got from Kraft before he was killed showed that the Eel, the Wizard and Speed Demon were working for Strucker as well.”

“I am well aware of Strucker’s gambit, which is why you and I are staying behind for the moment,” said Zemo. “Right now, we need our entire strike force to take on the strength assembled by Strucker. You and I should be sufficient to engage the other three should they appear.”

Hawkeye dove to the ground of the med-lab as Thunderball’s namesake flew over his head. He pulled the cable on his bow and let loose with a sonic-tipped arrow which caused the villain to stagger. Once the effect died down, Carnage dove out at Thunderball from behind, his symbiotic-covered fingers extended to razor-sharp, foot-long blades.

The former Avenger looked away as the madman he was forced to call a teammate attempted to shred Thunderball to pieces. But the Wrecking Crewman was too durable for that. Hawkeye drew another arrow and looked to the compartments lining his costume, debating over whether or not to use an incendiary one that may not cause any damage to Thunderball but would definitely take Carnage out of the fight.

The pause as all the time Bulldozer needed to charge towards the archer. An adamantium tentacle smacked Hawkeye out of harm’s way. Barton rose to his feet, prepared to fire an arrow at the only man capable of the apparent attack but then he witnessed Doctor Octopus engaged in combat with Bulldozer. The physicist glanced back at Hawkeye and offered a slight smile.

“Not sure which is worse—gettin’ flattened by Bulldozer or saved by Doc Ock,” muttered Hawkeye.

The Rhino huffed as he ran off in a charge towards the Abomination, but the former KGB agent held his ground and braced himself. As the two Russians connected, the Abomination found himself being forced back just a bit, but then he grabbed the Rhino by his horn and used it to raise him into the air and slam him to the ground.

“You’re an insult to your countrymen, Systevich,” said the Abomination.

Tiger Shark jumped in the air after dodging one of Unicorn’s horn blasts, his claws and teeth bared as he drew first blood from the man. The Unicorn pulled back just enough to cut loose with another burst of energy, knocking Tiger Shark back but then finding himself dodging a pumpkin bomb courtesy of the Jack O’Lantern.

The Man-Ape, meanwhile, found himself having to fend off energy bursts from MACH-IV as well as sonic constructs from Songbird. Graviton however, just hovered in the background, witnessing the events.

Blizzard was about to move in when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Swordsman. Andreas Von Strucker simply shook his head.

“Now is not the time, Donald.”

Four more individuals transported into the Castle, just as Zemo and the Fixer had predicted. The stealth team, designated by Strucker to enter only once the initial strike force had provided a suitable distraction, consisted of the Wizard, the Crimson Dynamo, Speed Demon and the Eel.

“Get to the Castle’s mainframe and turn it into scrap,” said Speed Demon. “I’ll be around.”

With that, he was gone in a blur.

As Speed Demon passed through the Castle, he witnessed as Songbird and MACH-IV overpowered the Man-Ape and left to another area. Tiger Shark and Jack O’Lantern had managed to make short work of Unicorn and the Abomination stood victorious over the Rhino.

“That’s why the pawns go first…” muttered Sanders.

But then, the entire room began to quake and everything slowly rose above the ground. Speed Demon tried to right himself but found it impossible and then he realized the source of it—a man who was perhaps the most unstable wild card in Strucker’s deck.

Graviton walked calmly over air, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes crackling with the raw power at his command. He first glanced to the Abomination and made a clicking noise with his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk—you are quite heavy, not to mention an eyesore.” Graviton raised his hand and flicked his fingers. At that motion, the Abomination rocketed through the roof of the Castle. “Much better, now I can actually keep my lunch down.”

He smiled at Tiger Shark. “You, I think I’ll keep for a pet. You remind me of a goldfish I killed when I was five.” But he shook his head at the Jack O’Lantern. “You will become my favorite Halloween decoration. You know, once I’ve turned your body inside-out.”

Once again, Speed Demon tried and failed to escape and that’s when Graviton’s psychotic gaze and craze smile turned to him. “Now Jimmy, you wouldn’t want to leave so soon, would you?”

“Me? Uhh no, not at all,” said Speed Demon. “I just…the boss wanted me to handle recon and you know how he can be.”

“Hmph, perhaps,” said Graviton. “I like you, Jimmy. That’s why I have a proposition for you. I want you to use that much-vaunted speed of yours to locate something very precious to me. Can you do that?”

“What do I get in return?” asked Speed Demon.

“Maybe I’ll be so grateful, I won’t turn you into paste.”

“…yeah, tha-that works for me.”

The Wizard stood in awe of the servers in the central core of the Castle. “My, my Norbert, you’ve been a busy little bastard, haven’t you?”

“What do we do?” asked the Crimson Dynamo.

“Seems fairly obvious, Big Red,” said the Wizard. “We’re going to destroy it all.”

“Where do we start?”

“First, you do some recon—I want to make sure we won’t be disturbed in here.”

The Dynamo nodded and wandered off. Once he was gone, the Wizard gently ran his fingertips over some of the equipment. “Now the question becomes what do I have to do to get this stuff out of here and into my basement?”

Something tapped the Wizard’s helmet. He muttered a curse under his breath as he turned and found himself staring down the blade of the Swordsman’s weapon. “Thought the Swordsman was dead.”

The Swordsman brought his second sword around swinging it towards the Wizard. The scientist brought up his gauntlet to guard himself. He threw a punch, his Wonder Gloves’ gravitational force increasing his strength. The Swordsman backflipped and the Wizard brought both his gauntlets forward, unleashing a powerful electrical blast.

The Swordsman crossed his blades and the blast harmlessly struck the metal, absorbed into the weapons. He dropped to the ground and swung out his leg, knocking the Wizard on his back. The Swordsman was back on his feet in an instant, his sword poised to strike at his opponent’s throat.

Rather than strike, the Swordsman sheathed his second blade and removed his helmet, revealing the handsome face of—

“—Andreas Von Strucker?” asked the Wizard. “The hell are you doing with Zemo?”

“Zemo is nothing more than a means to an end, a way for me to strike at my father,” said Andreas.

“So it’s you, isn’t it?” asked the Wizard. “The one who’s been contacting me through that Hydra agent.”

“This is one of those moments of truth in life, Mr. Wittman,” said Andreas. “I need to know right here, right now—are you with me until the end?”

The Swordsman heard the whir of machinery and turned his head slightly to the side. The Crimson Dynamo stood behind him, his arm extended and a rocket armed, prepared to fire from a compartment.

“Stand down, Strucker,” he said.

“Funny…”

The Dynamo made no movement as Blizzard appeared behind him, his body surrounded by quickly-cooling air. “I was just about to give you the same proposition.”

With Blizzard’s distraction, the Wizard pushed a stud affixed to one of his gauntlets. The Dynamo fell to his knees, his body convulsing as electricity coursed through his armor. The Wizard looked up at Andreas as the Dynamo lay on the ground, motionless. “There’s your answer, boss. I built a backdoor into the Dynamo’s armor. If you want to strike at your father, now’s the time, while he and his bodyguards are distracted.”

The Swordsman put his helmet back on. “Can you get us to his location?”

Wittman scoffed. “Hacking into Strucker’s assets was child’s play. I can reopen the teleport gates whenever I please.”

The Swordsman looked at Blizzard. “Time to go.”

MACH-IV and Songbird entered the room just in time to watch the Swordsman and Blizzard follow the Wizard into a portal. Songbird looked at her former lover. “Are they chasing him or…?”

“One way to find out,” said MACH-IV. He paused before moving as the voice of Zemo crackled through both their comm-links.

{Barton and the others could use assistance in the med-lab.}

“Go,” said MACH-IV. “There’s something funny going on with the Swordsman and I’m going to find out just what that is.”

“Get the hell away from her!” shouted Thunderball as he hurled his namesake towards Piledriver.

Piledriver swatted it away with his massive fists, the two teammates squaring off against each other. “Stay outta this, Franklin! She’s my girl!”

Lady Mastermind sat off to the side on one of the medical gurneys with her legs crossed. Her elbow propped up on her leg with her chin resting in her palm, a devious smile playing across her lips as she watched the two titans. Crafting an illusion in their minds that made them both see her as a lost love the other was after had driven them to blows.

She observed the rest of the room. Bullseye and Dr. Octopus seemed to have been removed from the playing field, while Carnage and Hawkeye were busy tangling with Bulldozer. She considered lending her assistance to them, but then decided against it. The battle between Piledriver and Thunderball had proven to be far more entertaining and if an ex-Avenger and alien-powered serial killer couldn’t take out a waste of skin like Bulldozer, then maybe they didn’t deserve to stay among the living.

Her glance drew her towards the leader of their squad—the Radioactive Man. He and the Wrecker had launched the opening attacks and they were exchanging blows continuously ever since. Although the Wrecker may have a slight advantage in power, Chen more than made up for that with his genius intellect. Lady Mastermind mused over the possibility of drawing all the men in the room into her illusion, pitting them all against each other in a winner-take-all competition.

“Decisions, decisions…” she sighed.

“Chen’s team seems to be wearing the Wrecking Crew down and Wyngarde even managed to turn two of them against each other,” said the Fixer. “And Blonsky’s team has managed to take out all of their foes, with one exception.”

Zemo crossed his arms and watched the madman on the screen. “Graviton.”

“Only ones left to stand against him are Blonsky and Tiger Shark. Songbird just reported in, she’s en route to the med-lab to assist Barton. Octavius, Bullseye, and Jack O’Lantern are all down for the count.”

“Strucker? Jenkins? Gill?”

“No word,” said the Fixer. “Hunh, that’s interesting…”

“What is?” asked Zemo.

“Well, I can’t find any trace of them anywhere in the Castle,” said the Fixer. “They’re nowhere on this dimensional plane.”

“We’ll worry about them later, right now I need you to head to the armory and ensure its defense.” Zemo drew his broad sword, examining it in the light.

“And what about you, Baron?”

“Graviton is now our largest threat, I’ll see to him.”

“You’re taking on Hall yourself? Isn’t that kind of a tall order, even for you?”

“I’m in possession of three moonstones and hardly in need of nursemaiding, Ebersol,” said Zemo. “Worry about the armory, I’ll worry about Graviton.”

Graviton held the Abomination in his grip, slamming the massive behemoth all around the room before leaving him to rest on Tiger Shark. Hall held his hand in front of his mouth as he let out a loud, annoyed yawn.

“This is getting boring,” he said. “Where the hell is Sanders? I’m getting very impatient. And when I get impatient, I start twisting off heads.” He raised the Abomination up to his face. “Would you like to see that, fish-man?”

A massive force burst separated the Abomination from Graviton and Frank Hall briefly lost control over his abilities, his body crashing to the ground. He slowly got to his feet and wiped the blood from his lip. A bright, golden glow appeared before him, nearly blinding him. Hall raised his hand to shield his eyes, trying to get a glimpse of the source.

As the light faded, he saw Baron Zemo hovering before him with three moonstones circling around his left hand, his broad sword held in his right.

“You’re trespassing, Mr. Hall,” he said. “Now you must face the consequences of your short-sighted actions.”

Graviton smiled. “About time I had some fun.”