“Oh hell . . . Half-Life . . .” The Fixer had hoped that after springing her as a distraction from the Raft a few months back that it would be the last he would ever seen of the radioactive alien.

“Who’s that?” asked Killer Shrike.

“She’s an alien, some sort of radioactive powers, and she’s more than a little crazy,” said the Fixer. “Oh, and whatever you do, do not let her touch you.”

“Why?”

“Because she can age anything she touches,” said the Fixer. “Guess they were right when they said no good deed goes unpunished.”

“What do you mean?’ asked Killer Shrike.

“I’m the one who set her free from the Raft.”

“Ironic,” said Killer Shrike.

“Would probably call it shit luck, not irony, but we can split hairs over definitions later,” said the Fixer.

Half-Life emerged from the truck, her eyes surrounded by a glow that matched the aura around her closed fists. The Fixer’s built-in Geiger counter told him all he needed to know about her energy signature.

She spotted Jack O’Lantern and made him her first target, hurling a blast of radioactive energy at him. The Red Skull’s former lackey kicked his glider into high-gear, narrowly avoiding her blasts. She hurled another volley towards Lodestone, but she used her magnetic abilities to summon as much metallic objects as possible to deflect the attacks.

The Constrictor and the Smuggler took cover but after spotting Lodestone encasing herself in metal to protect herself, he realized there was one member of their team unaccounted for. The Constrictor risked a peek around the car they used for cover and saw Klaw still lying unconscious. “Shit,” he muttered.

“On it,” said the Smuggler, vanishing into a Darkforce portal. He re-emerged near Klaw’s body, his arms elongating and yanking his teammate into the portal with him, transporting them both back to the Constrictor’s side.

The Constrictor nodded his approval to the Smuggler, then glanced over and saw the Fixer and Killer Shrike nearby, also crouching low for cover. “So what now?” asked the Constrictor.

“I’d say that’s a damn good question,” said the Fixer.

CRESCENDO

Part IV

By Steve Seinberg and Dino Pollard

Hydra Island
South Pacific

Andreas Von Strucker, known to many as the Swordsman, and the current Supreme Leader of Hydra, turned off the tablet computer, ending the footage of the battle between the Thunderbolts, the Masters of Evil, and the sudden arrival of Half-Life. He handed the tablet off to its owner, who was his guest on the island—Justin Hammer.

“I believe I’ve seen enough,” said Andreas. “You certainly do seem to have the jump on everyone, Justin.”

“Hence why we should work together,” said Hammer. “We can use the support of each other. You have all of Hydra behind you in addition to a platoon of superhuman henchmen. And for my part, I have things well in hand again, too. I’ve consolidated my power on multiple fronts and I’ve spent the time since my return from seeming death stabilizing my standing within Control.”

Andreas narrowed his eyes at the mention of the organization. “And here I thought it would take a bit more effort before you spoke of their name.”

Hammer shook his head. “No point. It was a simple matter to determine that once you killed your father, you would have no doubt also discovered some other information relating to his involvement with our organization. And I know you want your father’s seat in the Damocles Chamber.”

Andreas sat down at the table across from Hammer. “You’d be correct. Anything else to add?”

Hammer gestured to the tablet. “In addition to the recruitment of Half-Life, both the Null-Bands and the Metalloid will soon be secure within my position, granting yet more super-operatives to do my bidding. My information network is also unparalleled, demonstrated by outfoxing both Zemo and my traitorous harridan of a daughter, as well as keeping tabs on the dear Dr. Sofen. Who, I should add, is still waiting for that audience with you…”

Zengzhou, Henan
China

“This is taking too damn long,” muttered Graviton.

“Hush, Franklin,” said Moonstone. The two supervillains stood outside a Chinese factory, a cover for a Hydra outpost, staring down two dozen Hydra agents as they waited for some confirmation from Hydra Island. “We find ourselves in the odd position of needing Strucker’s help. And all things considered, he doesn’t need ours.”

“That can change,” said Graviton. “The longer he keeps us waiting like this, the more he’s pissing me off and giving me less reasons not to atomize this godforsaken hellhole before coming for him myself.”

Moonstone fixed a hard gaze on Graviton from behind her mask, her eyes crackling with the power of the stone which she took her name from. “This is why I am the brains of our little partnership, my dear. Threatening the man who can help us is a terribly misguided tactic. So keep your mouth shut and leave the talking to me.”

One of the Hydra agents emerged from the factory’s front doors, the other guards parting ways for him to come through. He bowed to both Moonstone and Graviton and then revealed the small holographic projector he held in his hand. At the push of a button a life-size projection of Andreas Von Strucker, clad in the Swordsman armor except the helmet, appeared before Moonstone and Graviton.

“Karla, it’s been a long time,” said the Swordsman.

“Indeed it has, and I see you’ve done quite well for yourself in my time away,” said Moonstone. “You seem to have a renewed energy these days.”

“Killing your father will do that. Now let’s cut to the chase, shall we? I’ll save you the time of both explanations and requests—I know Graviton sprung you from Castle Zemo during the invasion and somehow revived you. And I know you are smart enough to realize the two of you can’t remain in Mt. Charteris forever. Now here you are, coming to me for aid.”

“That’s the short version of it, yes,” said Moonstone. “All I ask—”

“Please, Karla. Tell me why I should bother listening to anything you have to say?” asked the Swordsman. “You did absolutely nothing for me when you ranked above me in the Thunderbolts. I can’t recall us even speaking more than a handful of words to each other.”

“You sonnuva—”

“Franklin, please.” Moonstone held up her hand to silence her zealous partner. “Forgive Graviton, Andreas. He’s on something of a short fuse these days. But one thing you cannot deny is the power the two of us possess. Although I’m sure you’re very happy with the additions to your Hydra army, can any of them really hold a candle to either of us?”

The Swordsman remained silent for a moment and Moonstone fought the urge to smile. After a moment, he said, “Very well. I’ll grant you an audience. Stay where you are, I’ll send transport shortly.”

The transmission ended and the Hydra agent bowed again and walked off. The rest of the guards slowly filed inside the factory, leaving Graviton and Moonstone alone. Once she was sure they were once again alone, she addressed her teammate.

“Did you notice anything about Strucker?” she asked.

“Sure. I noticed it seems he’s spending half that Hydra budget on hair-gel.”

“How did you ever become a scientist?” Moonstone rolled her eyes. “What I mean is that Andreas didn’t seem the least bit surprised to hear from us. He knew far too much about our current whereabouts and what we’ve been doing. Now why do you suppose that is?”

“Hey Payne, how about we call a truce until we take out this crazy bitch?” asked the Fixer.

The Constrictor gave his enemy a look of surprise. Half-Life was too powerful for just him, Smuggler, Lodestone and Klaw. But with the added might of the Thunderbolts here, that could give them a fighting chance. He gave a nod.

“Don’t try anything stupid, Ebersol,” said the Constrictor.

“Take her out!” shouted the Fixer.

“You heard the man!” the Constrictor added.

The Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts teamed up to take on the power of Half-Life. Lodestone drew Half-Life’s fire, hurling metal objects at her to keep her distracted. That enabled both Killer Shrike and Jack O’Lantern to move in closer and unleash their own long-distance weapons. Killer Shrike bombarded Half-Life with his power blasters as Jack O’Lantern kept at her with pumpkin bombs.

Half-Life shrugged off the explosions and jumped, tackling Killer Shrike. She placed her hand on the part of his face not covered by his mask and he screamed as he felt his energy fading, his skin wrinkling beneath her touch.

The Smuggler appeared from a Darkforce portal behind Half-Life, his arms wrapping around her neck and pulling her away. The Killer Shrike weakly raised one of his arms, unleashing a blaster charge from his gauntlet.

Half-Life grabbed the Smuggler’s arm, her touch burning through his suit. The searing pain caused Smuggler to scream and it took a strike from one of the Constrictor’s adamantium coils for Half-Life to release her grip on him.

She looked at the gathered team that surrounded her, eyes and hands crackling with radioactive energy. Even outnumbered, she wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Half-Life, let’s go!” said Tarantula, emerging from the truck with Sandman by her side.

The alien snickered and looked back at her enemies. “No, not yet. I’m having too much fun.”

Tarantula glanced at Sandman and he transformed into a column of sand, jumping from one spot and reforming behind Half-Life. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into the truck, despite her protests. Tarantula gave a smile to the Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts before climbing inside as well. A huge flash of light appeared from inside the truck and it was completely gone.

And with it, both the Null-Bands and the Metalloid.

“Dammit!” said the Fixer.

Klaw had begun to come to at that point, rubbing his head and looking around. “What’s going on?”

“Conveniently he wakes up after the action’s over.” The Fixer pointed at Klaw. “What’s going on is the goddamn Sandman got the better of us! And all because your so-called ‘Masters’ can’t handle one rogue alien!”

“I seem to recall overhearing something about you releasing Half-Life from the Raft,” said Lodestone.

“Hey, spare me your accusations, Magneta!”

Lodestone stretched out her fingers and the Fixer could feel his tech-pack tighten around his torso. “What was that?”

“Enough!” said the Constrictor, examining the Smuggler’s wounded arms. “This job’s a bust, so let’s just get the hell out of here.”

Klaw examined his ruined sonic weapon and nodded. “Frank’s right. We have to report back. Smuggler?”

“Yeah, yeah,” said the Smuggler, creating a Darkforce portal for his team to retreat into. Once the Masters departed, the Fixer kicked the ground.

“Fuck,” he said. “Helmut’s not gonna like this.”

“Looks like Maddicks is getting better after Half-Life’s death-touch,” said Jack O’Lantern.

The Fixer looked at Killer Shrike and saw that he had returned to normal since Half-Life’s departure. That was one small victory, at least he’d return with his team intact. But then the Fixer realized something else and looked around the battlefield. “Oh shit…”

“What is it?” asked Jack O’Lantern.

“Carnage is gone.”

Hydra Island

“Then we have an accord?” asked Hammer.

Andreas steepled his fingers together before reaching across the table and shaking Hammer’s hand. “We do.”

“Excellent,” said Hammer. “I should add that though Sofen is a treacherous little bitch, she’s at least comparatively sane. And she can provide useful information on Zemo’s operation, perhaps even an adequate ally.”

“And Graviton?”

“He’s an entirely different story. Hall will need to be dealt with at some point, preferably sooner rather than later.”

“Agreed,” said Andreas. “But we should meet them in person first, see where their heads are at before deciding on any drastic courses of action.”

“Indeed.”

Andreas rose from his chair. “Now if you’ll accompany me?”

Hammer blinked but stood and walked at a quick pace to keep up with the Hydra leader. Andreas led him inside the building and picked up a remote, activating an array of monitors arranged against the wall. There were a number of operatives with some familiar looks.

“Some of the people who worked for my father were lost during the assault on Castle Zemo. But the weapons they wielded will soon be put to good use by some of the more skilled Hydra agents in my employ.”

Hammer studied the people in the screen, watching footage from their training sessions. He recognized the Ringer’s suit as well as someone wearing the Blizzard suit that Donnie Gill had recently surrendered. But one woman, with long red hair and a familiar clawed, red gauntlet, caught his attention and he pointed at the screen. She wore a black bodysuit with a red silhouette of a wolf emblazoned over most of it.

“Who is this?”

“That is Fenris,” said Andreas with a grin.

“The name you and your sister once shared,” said Hammer.

Andreas nodded. “Do you notice her weapon?”

“Is that your father’s Satan Claw?”

“It was. I sliced it off myself.”

Hammer noticed something else about the new Fenris. Despite her hair color, she bore a striking resemblance to the late Andrea Von Strucker. But he thought it better not to mention this.

Carnage moved through the woods until he finally came to a rest stop. He saw a trucker step out of the bathroom and stop in front of a vending machine, studying the options. Carnage grinned, his fingers elongating into sharp claws.

No, Cletus!

“Dammit, why not?” asked Cletus Kasady. “I’m finally free! Zemo and the Thunderbolts are behind me, I got away!”

Exactly. And maybe we got away too easy. By now, Ebersol probably realizes we ran off. And if you start dropping bodies, that creates a trail for him to follow.

Cletus grumbled, the claws receding. “Yeah, I guess yer right…”

Just keep on for now. And I promise you, we’ll have our fun soon enough.

“Better keep yer damn word.” The symbiote reformed around Cletus’ body, revealing his face and transforming into the appearance of street clothes. Cletus stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and walked towards the rest stop.

The trucker stood, having grabbed his can of root beer and popping open the top. When he saw Cletus he gave him a smile and raised the can to him. “Nice night, huh?”

“Yup, sure is,” said Cletus, walking past the trucker. Then he added in a whisper, “You don’t know how lucky you are, Bandit.”

To be concluded . . .