WHERE LIGHTNING STRIKES…

By Ryan Krupienski

Robinette, Colorado. A small farming town, it has a population of less than 4,000. Early today, it was just a nice, sunny Wednesday morning, but now… that nice day has been ruined, specifically by the infamous super-villains that go by the name of the Masters of Evil!

Cyclone, Flying Tiger, Tiger Shark, Man-Killer, and Klaw – the Masters of Evil, a band of super-powered criminals, who have recently been on a rampage throughout the United States. Robinette is their latest target.

“How do we know they’re even gonna show, Klaw?” Man-Killer asks, tossing a piece of shrapnel aside.

Klaw turns to Man-Killer and replies, “Believe me, Man-Killer, they’ll show. Why do you think the Crimson Cowl told us to target this town? It’s close to where the Thunderbolts were last spotted.”

As the Masters wait, they continue their massacre on the town. Klaw demolishes buildings with his sonic blasts, as Man-Killer and Tiger Shark tear through cars, trucks, and other vehicles with brute strength. Cyclone and Flying Tiger are airborne, destroying towers and satellite dishes.

“This is fun, y’know!” Tiger Shark says as he punches a car across the street, causing it to crash through the window of a grocery store.

All of a sudden, a blast of brilliant energy hits the ground, throwing Klaw and Tiger Shark off-balance. Man-Killer remains standing, and as Cyclone and Flying Tiger lower to the ground, she looks up to see the wielder of the blast – Moonstone. And with her, the rest of the Thunderbolts – Hawkeye, Atlas, Jolt, Songbird, and Charcoal.

“The Masters of Evil! I knew it had to be them,” Jolt says, as she and the rest of the Thunderbolts lower to the ground.

“‘Bout time you showed up!” Man-Killer says, facing the Thunderbolts alongside her teammates.

“It was a trap, Hawkeye! They lured us here!” Atlas exclaims.

“No duh! And now we’re gonna take you down for good!” Flying Tiger yells, as he and the rest of the Masters of Evil charge at the Thunderbolts.

Hawkeye gets ready for action and orders in a loud voice, “Thunderbolts – GO GET ‘EM!”

“Exactly how many mansions do you have, Mister Worthington?” Jean Grey-Summers, a.k.a. Phoenix of the X-Men, asks sarcastically as she walks around the massive Chicago estate of Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. her teammate Archangel.

“More than you may care to know about, Jean.” A smile washes over his face. “This one is particularly special – it’s one my parents built themselves. They designed it and everything. They sort of abandoned it shortly after I was born, for some odd reason, but for me, it’s home.”

Jean and Warren continue their expedition though the estate, walking through room after room. The ceiling is so high that it creates an echo.

“How are you and Scott holding up? I know it must be rough, having to deal with the fact that he pretty much broke it off with the Professor and all.”

Jean stops to respond to her teammate and friend, “It was a tough break, Warren. It took a lot of courage for Scott to stand up to Charles like that. I know he’ll be okay eventually, he just needs time to absorb what’s happened. But what shocks me is…”

“The incident with he and Storm in the Danger Room. I know, that was… unbelievable. I never thought Storm to be capable of such behavior, to be so judgmental,” Warren says, finishing off Jean’s sentence.

Jean lets out a sigh. “I know, Warren. Ororo was never one to act so… rash. The accusations she threw at Scott were horrible!” Jean exclaims.

“We’re all just gonna need time to work through this. As far as I’m concerned, if the others are going to let Gambit stay with them, I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” Warren replies, bitterness in his voice.

“That’s another thing… there’s so much left unresolved concerning that issue. I know you feel betrayed, Warren. I guess I feel the same, in a way. But I know that no one is beyond redemption. Gambit’s proven himself time and again as an X-Man,” Jean says.

‘How could she say that?’ Warren thinks. Gambit is the man responsible for enacting the Mutant Massacre, an event that not only took the lives of thousands of innocent, defenseless mutants, but that also cost Warren his original wings. And, for a time, his humanity.

“Jean, that ‘man’ worked for Sinister, one of the most evil mutants to ever walk this earth. He banded together the Marauders and led them into the Morlock tunnels. Too many people died – and for what?” Warren is most obviously not enjoying this discussion. Just having to relive the horror of that event – it makes his blood curdle, so to speak.

“Warren, I know it’ll take time, but eventually you have to see that-”

Warren interrupts Jean, “No, Jean, I don’t have to see anything. As far as I’m concerned, Remy LeBeau is a cold-blooded killer who cares about no one but himself. I will never be able to even begin to forgive him as long as I live. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to see about getting the rest of our things moved in.”

With that, Warren walks off, leaving Jean all by herself in the back foyer of the estate. All of a sudden, her husband, Scott Summers, Cyclops of the X-Men, playfully grabs her from behind.

“Scott?!” Jean exclaims, turning around. She instantly smiles and kisses the love of her life.

“I’ve been looking for you. I thought you were with Warren… where’d he go off to?” Scott asks.

“He… went to see about getting the rest of our stuff moved in. Where’s Hank?” Jean asks, a tad of uneasiness layering her voice.

Scott immediately becomes serious. “Hank left. He went to go see Cecilia. Something happened the very night we had our… falling out… with the others. From what I hear, she was attacked at her clinic, by Hydra. A lot of expensive and important equipment was badly damaged… and the clinic itself isn’t in too good a shape. She’s coming to stay here, so Hank left to go pick her up.”

“Oh my God! She’s all right?” Jean asks, concerned.

“Yes, she’s fine – physically. But emotionally, I’m not so sure. Maybe you could talk to her after she arrives. You always seem to have a way of talking to people, making them feel better.” Scott smiles and embraces his wife.

‘Yeah right,’ Jean thinks, thinking back to her conversation with Warren.

Scott pulls back from Jean. “Are you all right? You seem a bit tense. Did something happen with Warren…?”

“Yes… it’s about Gambit,” Jean answers, sighing as she brushes the hair out of her face.

“Why don’t we go for a walk out in the courtyard? You can tell me all about it,” Scott says, putting his arm around his wife as they head out into the snow-covered courtyard of the Worthington Estate.

Cecilia Reyes is a doctor, and a very skilled one at that. She also happens to a mutant, born with a psioplasmic force-field that surrounds her body at all times, becoming visible in the event of her being physically attacked.

She had, for a short time, been a member of the X-Men, but decided to follow her dream and opened up her own medical practice in Salem Center, New York. But, as usual, things didn’t go as planned for Cecilia.

Her clinic was attacked by the terrorist group Hydra, who happened to be looking for the X-Man Wolverine. They left her clinic in shambles, as well as her dream. Her clinic has been horribly ravaged, and it will take time to fix it all up.

“Cecilia… how are you holding up?” Hank McCoy, the Beast, asks Cecilia Reyes as he walks over to her.

Cecilia, standing at the door of her apartment, looks at Hank with sorrow. “My clinic’s been banged up pretty bad, McCoy,” Cecilia says. “Why can’t anything ever go right for me?”

Hank takes Cecilia’s soft, dark-tone hands into his blue-furred ones, and replies, “Don’t worry, Cecilia. From what you told me, everything’ll be fixed up ASAP, and you’ll be back in Salem Center doing your doctor thing in no time!” Hank is trying to cheer her up, but to no avail.

“I know my clinic’ll be fixed up and all, I’m not worried about that. It’s just that… this can’t keep happening. I can’t have a normal life, be a doctor, if I keep getting attacked like this!” Cecilia exclaims.

“Well, you did a pretty bang-up job on Hydra, seeing as how you warded off a whole army of their soldiers all by your lonesome! I know it’s not going to be easy having to live with the constant fear of being attacked and all, but at least you can defend yourself,” Hank reassures her.

Cecilia looks straight into Hank’s eyes. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better. I can tell that’s what you’re doing,” she says, smiling slightly.

“Is it working?” Hank asks playfully.

“No, not really. But I’ll tell you right now, the next person who does this… oh, they are gonna get it in the worst way…” Cecilia says sarcastically, slamming her right fist into her left hand gently.

Hank and Cecilia stand silent for a few moments, then Hank breaks the silence. “Well, I believe we should get going. Warren’s sent a private jet to take us to his estate, and the limo to get us to the airport is waiting outside. I’ll help you with your bags,” Hank says, as he reaches for Cecilia’s luggage.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks,” Cecilia replies, as she grabs her smaller bags.

The two mutants walk through the hall, and make their way out of the building.

“Scott! Jean! I am relieved I found you!” Colossus exclaims as he rushes to their side.

Scott and Jean Summers have been taking a nice walk through the courtyard of the Worthington estate, located at the northern tip of Chicago. That is, until they’re interrupted by their teammate Piotr Rasputin, a.k.a. Colossus.

“Piotr, what is it?” Scott asks, turning around quickly to see an anxious Colossus, decked out in his X-Men uniform.

“You must come quickly! There is a hostage situation in the city. Kitty is looking for Besty and Warren,” Colossus reports.

“Where did you hear this?” Jean asks.

“Kitty was helping me unpack, and we happened to hear it on the radio. The police and the criminals are having a stand-off… they are holding a seven year-old girl as their hostage!” Colossus says with worry.

“My God… okay, let’s go!” Scott says, and Jean uses her telekinesis to fly them back to the main house.

“Warren! Betsy!” Shadowcat yells out, walking through the endless hallway on the top level of the Worthington mansion. She looks in room after room for her teammates. All of a sudden, there’s a reply in the distance, down the hall ahead of her.

“Kitty? What is it?” asks the voice, most definitely Betsy Braddock’s.

“There’s a hostage situation in the city… we’re the only ones who can do anything about it. Peter went to get Scott and Jean. We gotta get going!” Shadowcat exclaims, as Warren and Betsy rushed out of a room.

“No problem. I can shadow-slip us there in a split second,” Psylocke says calmly, as she morphs her clothes into her uniform with her abilities gained from the Crimson Dawn.

Warren looks at her with surprise. How many more abilities had she acquired from the Crimson Dawn? It’s quite unnerving for him… he doesn’t know what to expect next. “Okay, I’ll go suit up,” he says, running back into the room.

Shadowcat goes to stand by Psylocke, just as Colossus, Cyclops, and Phoenix reach them, all decked out in their uniforms.

“Where’s Warren?” Cyclops asks Kitty.

“He’s getting chan-”

“I’m done, let’s go!” Archangel says, flying out of the room, ready for action.

Without a sound, Psylocke activates her mystical shadow-slipping powers and the X-Men begin to sink into a large, dark shadow that’s taken the place of a portion of the wooden floor. After mere seconds, they are gone.

Kiza Magda just wanted to go to the bank to deposit her latest paycheck. She brought along her seven year-old daughter Rachel, who she had just picked up from school. Things went horribly wrong, though, and now her daughter is the lone hostage of a gang of bank robbers who have already shot and killed two security guards. What will they do to her daughter?

She stands outside the First National Bank of Chicago, next to a police car. She has two female officers with her, one trying to calm her down. “Ma’am, I assure you, everything’s going to be fine. We’ve got the best negotiators on the job. They’ll get your daughter back.”

Kiza turns to the officer, her face wet with tears. “I pray… I can’t bear… to lose… my… baby…” she cries, her last words stuttering out.

All of a sudden a man yells, pointing to a dark hole that’s formed in the ground. It just sits there for a few seconds, then suddenly the mutant heroes known as the X-Men rise up out of it. As the hole closes, people gather around and look with disbelief at the X-Men. This is unlike anything that has ever happened in the city of Chicago.

“W-Who are you?” shouts a policeman, as he and five others point their guns at the X-Men. “This is a police matter! Leave now, or we’ll have to arrest you!”

“Please… there’s no need for your guns. We’re the X-Men, and we’re here to help,” Cyclops announces, stepping forward.

“How do I know you can be trusted? How do I know you’re not in league with those psychos in the bank?” the policeman asks, still not lowering his gun.

“Think about it… why would we teleport out here, putting ourselves in your path, when we could have just as easily teleported inside the building? Please, officer, we want to help,” Cyclops says.

The policeman keeps looking at Cyclops, still pointing his gun at him. He hesitates, then decides to lower his weapon. “Thank you,” Cyclops says, smiling.

All of a sudden, Kiza runs over to Cyclops. “Please… save my baby! I’m begging you!” she pleads through a waterfall of tears.

Phoenix walks over to Kiza and says, “We will, I promise.” Kiza smiles, feeling a renewed hope.

“What are we waiting for? Let us find these terrorists and save the child!” Colossus declares, staring at the huge bank.

“It’s not that simple, Colossus. Phoenix and I no longer have our telepathy… we can’t pinpoint the exact location of the child or the ones who are holding her hostage,” Psylocke pointed out.

“You could get us inside, Psylocke. We’ll take of them from in there,” Archangel suggested, looking at Cyclops.

“One problem – we don’t know exactly where they are. What if Psylocke teleports us right to their location? We won’t have enough time to react to defend ourselves!” Shadowcat says.

“That’s a risk we’ll have to take… a child’s life is at stake. Psylocke, take us in,” Cyclops orders.

The six X-Men lower into a shadow, and it closes behind them. Kiza just stares at their former location, and silently prays that her child will be saved.

The X-Men arrive inside the bank, and ironically enough, right in the line of fire of the bank robbers, just as Shadowcat predicted.

Cyclops has a gun to the back of his head before he even realizes they’ve arrived in the bank. “Move and I kill you,” a deep, cruel voice threatens.

Cyclops does not move. Behind him stand the rest of his teammates… except Shadowcat.

“So, the police sent muties in to save the brat? Bad move,” the man with the gun says. Three more men and one woman surround the other X-Men. They dare not make a move if they’re to ensure the survival of the little girl they’re here to rescue. For now, all they can do was play along with the criminals.

Kitty Pryde just used her phasing abilities to lower herself below the floor of the bank. She did it just in time, in fact. Just in case she had been right about where they would end up, which she was, she wanted to be able to search for the girl without endangering her life. She’s now behind the main desk of the bank. All around her is money, various office supplies… and blood.

She doesn’t think about the blood. Instead, she makes her way towards a door that says ‘Manager’ on it. She figures the girl might be in a secluded area. And again, she’s right. She phases through the door, but right into the open. There’s a tall, blonde-haired woman guarding a small, red-headed girl. The woman spots Kitty, and points the gun at the girl’s head. Shadowcat unphases her body, and stands facing the woman and the young girl.

“Marco, you know those muties you said you got? One of them’s in here!” the woman says into a walkie talkie, looking at Shadowcat. “Take another step and the girl gets a bullet in the head!” she says.

“Please… she’s only a little girl!” Shadowcat pleads.

“Back up, bitch!” the woman screams.

‘Bitch? How rude,’ Shadowcat thinks to herself. She has to come up with something. Some way to get the gun away from the woman… after that, the girl will be safe and the other X-Men can deal with the rest of the criminals.

“Take me instead, I beg you! If you let her go, I’ll let you have me as your hostage,” Shadowcat offers.

“Yeah, right. I’m not stupid, y’know,” the woman says, holding the small girl, who’s restrained with rope. She’s been crying, which is evident from her moistened cheeks. She looks at Shadowcat, practically begging her to save her. And that’s just what Kitty Pryde intends to do.

In a fraction of a second, Shadowcat leaps at the woman, kicking the gun out of her hand and across the room. Before the woman can react, Shadowcat kicks her in the jaw, causing her to fall to the ground.

She unties the little girl, who hugs her as soon as she’s free. “You’re safe now. I’m going to take you back to your mom,” Shadowcat says.

“Denise? What’s going on?” says a voice from the walkie talkie. Kitty picks it up, and smiling, says, “Guys, do your stuff.”

What follows through the static of the walkie talkie is the sound of mutant powers flaring. The X-Men are taking down the criminals who robbed the First National Bank of Chicago, and are enjoying it. Not only are they clearly mutant haters, but they’ve held a little girl hostage and threatened to kill her. And to the X-Men, that’s going too far.

The X-Men walk out of the revolving front doors of the bank. Shadowcat is carrying Rachel, the young girl who was being held hostage. Colossus, Phoenix, and Archangel carry out the six lawbreakers, as the police lower their weapons and Kiza runs to the Shadowcat to retrieve her daughter. Kiza hugs Rachel for a long time, not wanting to let go. The X-Men turn the bank robbers over to the police.

“Thank you. You saved my little girl… I will be grateful to you forever. I will never forget this! Thank you,” Kiza says, as she looks at the X-Men with a huge smile on her face.

“We’re glad we could help. Those guys should be in jail for a while,” Phoenix says.

“Thanks to you,” says the same policeman who had at first held the X-Men at gunpoint when they arrived, as he steps toward Cyclops. “You did some good work. I don’t care what the people say about mutants, you’re heroes to us!” The policeman holds out his hand. Cyclops shakes it, and smiling, replies, “Looks like there’s still hope after all.”

“We’ll have to be going now, officer. But remember, we’ll always be around to help if you need us,” Phoenix says.

“That’s comforting to know. Thank you, again. I owe you my life,” Kiza says. “Rachel… can you say thank you to these nice people?” she asks her daughter, who looked at Shadowcat.

“Thank you,” she says meekly.

“Rachel? That’s a pretty name,” Kitty replies, smiling at the little girl.

Phoenix looks at Cyclops and smiles. He know what she’s thinking about – their daughter from the future who had yet to be born, Rachel Summers.

“Goodbye,” Cyclops says with a smile, as he and the other X-Men slip away into the darkness of Psylocke’s shadow portal.

“So long, suckers!” Tiger Shark sneers as he and the other Masters of Evil are teleported out of the small town by the Crimson Cowl, leaving the Thunderbolts amidst the destruction.

The Thunderbolts just briefly fought their arch-foes, who were nearly defeated. Hawkeye and Songbird get up from the ground and the Thunderbolts regroup.

“NO! We were so close! We had them!” Jolt exclaims.

Hawkeye sighs in frustration. “This was a set-up. When the authorities get here, they’re gonna think we did this! It’s gonna be all over the news… damn them!” he says.

“Not if we leave. As in now,” Moonstone says. She becomes airborne, along with Jolt, and Hawkeye hops onboard his iron steed, as Songbird lifts up Atlas and Charcoal onto a platform made of sonic energy.

As the Thunderbolts leave, a female figure arrives in time to watch them depart. She stands atop one of the few standing buildings. Everyone has pretty much fled the town, so there’s nothing she can do to help them.

Cursing silently at the fleeing quasi-heroes, she whispers, “Know this, Thunderbolts… your actions today will not go unpunished. So says Citizen V!”

NEXT ISSUE: Roar Of Thunder Part 1! As Cecilia Reyes arrives in Chicago, the X-Men catch wind of the latest Thunderbolts news – and are prompted to find and turn in the reformed villains themselves! Watching from the sidelines: the Crimson Cowl! It’s the beginning of a story that will rock the X-Men’s world!