ROAR OF THUNDER

Part III: Against All Odds

By Ryan Krupienski

Panic and fear take the place of the usual ‘tranquility’ of the city known as Chicago. The streets are crowd with crashed vehicles of all sorts, as the citizens run amok, desperately trying to flee the city. Screaming, car horns, and sounds of crashing drown out the police sirens, plus any and all voices of reason. The city of Chicago has been plunged into a state of total and utter chaos.

The cause of this: the criminal mastermind known as the Crimson Cowl and the all-new Masters of Evil. Less than a half-hour ago, the villains landed in Chicago, declaring the city and all its citizens their hostages.

Presently, the Crimson Cowl stands atop the Sears Tower, the world’s tallest building, and looks down at the streets with a sense of victory. Her master plan is about to be put into full swing, and so far, so good…

“Look at them scurry about the streets like rats,” Crimson Cowl says, standing at the edge of the Sears Tower, watching the chaos below.

Dragonfly, who stands behind the Cowl along with Blackwing, Sunstroke, and Shockwave, approaches her leader. “Cowl… Klaw and the rest of the Masters have been dispatched to deal with the X-Men and the Thunderbolts,” she says, smiling evily, “They should be taken out in no time!”

The Cowl’s glowing yellow eyes narrow with delight, as she grasps her crimson cloak in her fist. She turns to face Dragonfly, “Very good, their deaths shall be an example of our power! Unlike Zemo’s Masters of Evil, we will emerge victorious in whatever we do! All who get in our way will perish!”

Down below, at the bottom of the Sears Tower, the citizens of Chicago continue to scurry about, clearing out of the area which is about to become a battlefield for the X-Men and the Thunderbolts and their rivals, the Masters of Evil.

“You heard me, Masters of Evil – kill them!” shouts Klaw, as he stands atop a large pile of rubble and points at the assemblage of heroes.

Before the heroes can react, they are thrown completely off-balance by the brunt of the Masters’ attack. Energy blasts cut through their ranks, causing the heroes to scatter among overturned cars and trucks, leveled buildings, and large chunks of broken asphalt.

“EVERYONE, GET BACK!” Songbird shouts, as she uses her sonic powers to create a large platform that sweeps right through the Masters of Evil. It manages to down a few of them, but it isn’t nearly enough to stop them all.

“Nice try, but no cigar!” Lodestone snarls, as she slams Songbird against the side of a building with her magnetic powers.

The Masters advance further, but discovers that the X-Men and Thunderbolts are suddenly nowhere to be found. They look through the wreckage around them, but find no sign of their enemies.

“Where’d they go?”

“Maybe they’re dead?”

“They can’t be, Eel, that Songbird bitch put up that force-field so they could escape. Maybe she’s dead, but the rest of them aren’t.”

“Well, Aqueduct, where are they?”

“How should I know? They probably chickened out and ran away!”

“I don’t think so. You obviously don’t know these hero types very well, Shocker. They don’t just give up.”

“WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!” Klaw shouts angrily, turning to face the rest of the Masters. “They are obviously not here, but they couldn’t have gotten far in such a short time… I want them found, so stop babbling amongst yourselves and… what?!”

The ground beneath the Masters begins to shake, and within seconds, it’s blown apart by intense energy blasts.

“We’re right here, Klaw!” Hawkeye says, as he rises from beneath the ground, encased in a telekinetic bubble along with the rest of the Thunderbolts and the X-Men.

“Shadowcat and Moonstone used their phasing abilities to transport us down into the sewers below, so we could have a few minutes to figure out what to do. Looks what we had in mind worked!” Hawkeye says as he grins.

“Clever, Hawkeye. You even managed to knock out a few more of us, but you’re still outnumbered! Surrender now, and I’ll make sure that your deaths are quick and painless!” Klaw says, as he gets up from the ground.

“Forget it, Klaw. X-Men, Thunderbolts, let’s kick some bad guy booty!” Hawkeye commands, sending a trio of stun arrows towards the Masters. The rest of his teammates oblige, and soon the Masters are bombarded by optic blasts, electric jolts, energy blasts, and flying wreckage.

“Colossus, Beast, Shadowcat, Cecilia, Charcoal, Atlas, go in for a direct attack! Archangel, Phoenix, take care of our airborne friends, and Hawkeye, Jolt, and Moonstone, keep the energy blasts and arrows coming!” Cyclops shouts, as he continues firing optic blasts at the Masters.

‘You can do this! Keep it together girl, you’re needed!’ Cecilia thinks to herself, as she charges foward alongside Beast.

“Time to die, babe!” Shocker yells, firing energy blasts at Cecilia. She cringes, feeling the pain through her psioplasmic force-field, but no harm is done to her. Shocker tries to blast her again, but Beast picks him up and restrains his hands.

“Methinks not, thou saucy fellow! Miss Reyes here possesses a force-field that extends six inches from any point on her body, and protects her from any physical attack. You can blast away, but you won’t even scratch her!” Beast says. He throws Shocker right into Puma, who is advancing toward him.

“Thanks, McCoy,” Cecilia says. Just when she thinks the attacks have subsided, Lodestone grabs her magnetically and begins to mess around with her force-field.

“Force-field, eh? I’m sure that it can be manipulated by magnetism!” Lodestone boasts. She continues to tamper with Cecilia’s force-field, as the mutant doctor vigorously tries to resist the attack.

“Cecilia!” Beast exclaims. He leaps at Lodestone, who has foolishly forgotten to erect a magnetic shield around herself. Lodestone is defeated, but just as Beast attempts to reach Cecilia, the ground beneath them breaks apart and they fall into the sewers below, covered in rubble and asphalt.

In the air, Phoenix and Archangel are facing Cardinal, Icemaster, and Flying Tiger.

“I’m gonna put you on ice – PERMANENTLY!” Icemaster says, as he sends a wave of ice towards Phoenix. It shatters around her telekinetic bubble, not having any effect.

“You really think an Iceman reject could defeat an X-Man? You’re pretty pathetic!” Archangel exclaims, punching Icemaster in the face. The villain falls to the ground, but almost immediately, Archangel is shot down by Cardinal.

“Warren!” Phoenix exclaims. Immediately, she encases Cardinal and Flying Tiger in a telekinetic bubble, and sends them hurtling toward the ground at full speed.

Phoenix looks down at the ground, and sees that Cyclops, Hawkeye, Moonstone, and Jolt are being overwhelmed by Klaw, Supercharger, Boomerang, Tiger Shark, Cyclone, Constrictor, and Eel. She flies towards them, but just as she’s about to reach them, she feels a heave in her stomach.

“NO!” Phoenix cries out. She falls to the ground, behind a truck turned on its side, hidden from sight.

“Cyke, I’m running outta arrows!” Hawkeye yells. He shoots another trio of arrows, and they hit the Constrictor, effectly knocking him out. “I’ve gotta go find Songbird, make sure she’s okay! Can you manage without me for a minute?”

“I’ll be fine…” replies Cyclops, as he fires an optic blast at Boomerang, sending him flying through the air. “Go!”

As Hawkeye goes off in search of Songbird, Moonstone and Jolt blast away at Supercharger and Eel, who deflect their attack with their own powers.

“Karla, we can’t even get a hit out of them!” Jolt exclaims, still sending electric blasts towards her enemies. All of a sudden, Cyclone flies right into her, striking her down.

‘Hallie’s down… there’s only one way to finish this!’ Moonstone thinks to herself. She lets loose an incredibly powerful energy blast, which overpowers Supercharger and Eel. She phases through Cyclone’s attack, and shoots him down using a wide-range blast.

“Moonstone, WATCH OUT!” comes the voice of Atlas from behind Moonstone. She turns around to see Bison charging through the air in her direction. Sheis still phased, so he passes right through her.

“Hyde shall destroy you!” Mr. Hyde bellows, grabbing Colossus by the neck and smashing him into the ground. Just as the villain is about to pummel the steel-skinned X-Man, a sharp blade pierces his shoulder.

“YEARRGHH!” Hyde cries in pain, and slumps onto the ground. Standing over Colossus is a woman, completely covered in a purple costume with a silver mask, cloak, and shoulder pads depicting the American flag.

The woman holds out her hand. “I am here to help. My name is Citizen V!”

Back on the roof of the Sears Tower, the Crimson Cowl has been contaced by the president of the United States himself, and is in negotiation to end the Masters’ reign of terror.

“You want WHAT?!” exclaims the president, whose face can be seen on the screen of a small communications device.

“You heard me, Mister President. I want one trillion dollars by dawn, or the city of Chicago shall be destroyed!” the Crimson Cowl announces.

“But… it’ll take longer than seven hours to gather that kind of money! Please, isn’t there any other way…?”

“NO! I have stated my terms, and if not met, you shall have the blood of millions of American citizens on your hands. That is all!” The Crimson Cowl terminates the transmission, just as Dragonfly approaches her.

“Cowl, the Thunderbolts and X-Men are holding their own against the Masters! Thirteen of our own are already down, and only four of…”

“We cannot afford to let them win! I want hostages, Dragonfly. That will ensure the Thunderbolts and X-Men’s cooperation!” the Cowl replies.

“You got it.” Dragonfly says.

One hundred stories down…

“Quicksand, grab any of the Thunderbolts and X-Men you can! The Cowl has a new strategy!” Klaw orders. He points his sonic energy blaster at Shadowcat, who is running straight towards him. She phases through the sonic blast, and through his blaster, causing it to malfunction.

“Let’s see you use your little toy now!” Shadowcat says, as she becomes solid once more. She’s about to physically attack Klaw, but is smothered by Quicksand.

“You got it, Klaw!” Quicksand says. She goes off to capture more of the downed heroes, as Klaw is joined by Icemaster and Man-Ape.

“Icemaster, I want you to gather up all the fallen Masters and take them to safety. Man-Ape, assist Quicksand in taking hostages.”

“No problem,” Icemaster says.

Within minutes, Icemaster, Man-Ape, and Quicksand complete their tasks. The Masters regroup, and Shadowcat, Songbird, Archangel, and Jolt are now their hostages.

The Masters, minus Klaw, Icemaster, Quicksand, and Man-Ape, retreat into their ships, which lift into the air. The remaining villains, holding their hostages, stand atop an ice platform, facing Cyclops, Hawkeye, Moonstone, Colossus, Psylocke, and Citizen V.

“We now have four of your own as our hostages. If you try anything, they will die!” Klaw says. “Take us up, Icemaster.”

Icemaster rasies his fellow Masters and their hostages up into the air on the ice platform, all the way to the top of the Sears Tower. They vanish from sight, leaving the remaining X-Men and Thunderbolts pondering their next move.

“Now what?” Moonstone asks, as everyone turns to Cyclops and Hawkeye.

“I… I don’t know, Moonstone. I just don’t know. I guess the first thing we should do is regroup and make sure everyone else is all right…” Cyclops suggests.

“Good idea.” Hawkeye replies. “Looks like we’re missing Beast, Phoenix, Atlas, Cecilia, and – hey! Who the heck are you?!”

Everyone turns to Citizen V, who’s not been noticed until now, things having calmed down.

“Do not worry, comrades, she is on our side. She assisted me against Hyde,” Colossus reassures.

“My name is Citizen V, and I am here to help,” Citizen V says. “I will explain everything later, but right now, don’t you think it wise to find the rest of your teammates?”

“Here we are,” Atlas says, as he carries Phoenix to Cyclops. “Where are the Masters?”

“They’ve retreated, and taken Songbird, Jolt, Shadowcat, and Archangel with them. And Beast and Cecilia are still missing,” Hawkeye says.

“Well, not anymore, my fellow ex-Avenger. Myself and Cecilia are right here… although Cecilia does not appear well…”

Out of the thick smoke walks Beast, who is carrying Cecilia Reyes… or so it seems.

“Hank, what happened to her?” Cyclops asks, as he and Phoenix rush over to Beast and Cecilia.

“Could… could this be the next stage of her powers?” Phoenix asks, shocked at what she sees.

“Quite possibly,” Beast says.

The three of them look down at Cecilia, whom Beast has set gently on the ground. Her body is translucent… her entire body is not just covered with her force-field, it is her force-field.

“Lodestone, a manipulator of magnetism, did something to Cecilia… the only question is, did it somehow evolve her powers, or seriously injure her?” Beast asks. “Scott, I know this is a desperate situation and all, but I need to get Cecilia back to the estate and find out what’s wrong!”

Cyclops sighs. “Go, Hank, make sure she’s okay.”

“Thank you. I will be back to assist you soon. Good luck.”

Beast picks Cecilia back up, and walks off to board the X-Men’s aircraft. Cyclops and Phoenix rejoin the rest of the X-Men and the Thunderbolts.

“Beast is taking Cecilia back to the estate, which means it’s up to us to deal with the situation at hand,” Cyclops announces. “Any suggestions?”

“I’ve got one – FREEZE!” shouts a woman. Cyclops turns around, and sees a squadron of police officers pointing guns at him.

‘We must have been so distracted by all this, we forgot about the authorities showing up!’ Hawkeye thinks to himself, ‘Time to deal with this, Avengers style!’

Hawkeye walks over to the policewoman. “Excuse me, officer, I’m Hawkeye, an ex-Avenger. If you give me a chance, I can explain this whole situation,” he offerrs.

“You’ve got five minutes, pal!”

Inside the Sears Tower…

“Nice and tight!” Quicksand says, as she ties up the four hostages the Masters of Evil have taken. She then places them against the wall inside the small, dark room, as Icemaster freezes them in place, and walks over to the Crimson Cowl.

“Excellent. Now for the final touch!” the Cowl says. She places a watermelon-sized bomb a few feet in front of the hostages, and takes a small handheld device out of her cloak. “This remote detonator will allow me to arm the bomb long after we have left the city, so in any event, these four will die!”

The four hostages lie there, still unconscious. The Crimson Cowl takes one last look at them. “Alright, let’s retreat to our ships. The President has only six hours left to comply,” she says.

Nearly six hours later…

Hawkeye has explained the situation to the police, and they are willing to work with the X-Men and Thunderbolts – for now.

“How much longer must we wait? Warren and Kitty are in there, and who knows what is being done to them!” Colossus says impatiently.

Psylocke, who is sitting next to Colossus, does not reply, but instead looks up at the Sears Tower. ‘Warren… I want to be concerned for you, but I feel nothing! And that’s what scares me…’

“Lieutenant Davis, any word on what’s going on?” Hawkeye asks.

The tall, short-haired black woman Hawkeye is speaking to sighs. “Well, we just finally got word that the Crimson Cowl contacted the President and is demanding one trillion dollars! If the money isn’t delivered by dawn, a bomb will be detonated somewhere downtown. We’ve already evacuated the city as much as we can, so there should be no civilian casualties.”

“Dawn?” Hawkeye looks up at the sky, and sees the sun starting to come out. “My God, the sun’s coming out already! You better get your men out of here. I have a feeling the Cowl is going to detonate the bomb whether she gets the money or not!” he suggests.

“No way, Avenger. This is my city, and the only way that red-cloaked hootchie is gonna destroy it is over my dead body! I’m in this to the end!” Lieutenant Davis retorts.

Hawkeye excuses himself, and walks over to Cyclops and Phoenix. “Any luck contacting them telepathically?” he asks Phoenix.

“None. Either they’re unconscious, or…” Phoenix lowers her head.

“Don’t think like that. I’m sure they’re okay…” Atlas says, trying to comfort Phoenix.

“I hope so, Atlas. I really hope so.”

Atop the Sears Tower…

“DAMN HIM!” the Crimson Cowl screams.

She turns to Dragonfly and Blackwing. “Prepare to board the craft. We are leaving, and detonating the bomb. This will serve as an example of our power and perhaps provoke the President to comply when I next contact him.”

Dragonfly and Blackwing exit, leaving the Crimson Cowl alone atop the Sears Tower. She takes out the small remote detonator, and presses the button on it.

“Rest in pieces!”

Inside the Sears Tower…

The four hostages taken by the Masters of Evil are still unconscious, but the beeping of the bomb in front of them wakes Songbird up.

Songbird opens her eyes, quickly realizing what’s happening. She uses her sonic powers to break herself, Jolt, Shadowcat, and Archangel from their restraints, but remains the only one conscious. She walks over to the bomb, which is counting down from thirty seconds.

“NO!”

Back down on the ground…

“SONGBIRD! She’s awake!” Phoenix exclaims. The Thunderbolts and X-Men quickly gather around Phoenix, anxious to hear what’s going on.

“She’s with the others, they’re all alive! But… NO! The bomb! It’s going to…”

Detonate.

The bomb is going to detonate. And it does. Before another word can be spoken, the Sears Tower explodes…

NEXT ISSUE: Roar Of Thunder – the conclusion! Will Songbird, Jolt, Archangel, and Shadowcat survive? Will the Crimson Cowl escape victorious, or will the X-Men and Thunderbolts bring her to justice? What’s going on with Cecilia Reyes? And what profound affect will all of this have on our heroes?