The lights came flickering to life in the warehouse and a booming German accent greeted them all across hidden intercoms.

“Welcome friends! Today is what I hope to be the start of a beautiful friendship.”

Plant Man knew that was the last thing Red Skull wanted. Men like him didn’t value friendship. They valued need. It was why Samuel ultimately hated humanity and bound himself to the power of The Green. Plants understand true harmony and true community. Humanity was so far removed from those concepts it was pathetic to hear them even use the words. He had to come to this place to act as humans do and see what he could gain from Red Skull and the others present. No one here was without an agenda. Unlike everyone else here, Samuel just wasn’t trying to fool himself into thinking otherwise.

The people of the world simply could not be trusted. They were a plague that had brought utter chaos to the natural ebb and flow of the planet. They were like a horde of locusts except the locusts could be excused for a lack of intelligence. Humanity should have known better. Samuel awaited the day nature decided to crush them. It would be a day of exuberant celebration. In the meantime, he would make sue of their world to ensure his goals came to fruition.

Standing next to Samuel was Shockwave, who asked, “Where the hell is he at?”

Samuel’s voice sounded like someone trying to talk while swishing water around his or her mouth. “You’re assuming that he’s even here.”

The voice came again over the intercoms. “Of course I am here Mr. Smithers. Look above you.”

Everyone turned their eyes upward and saw Red Skull floating down from the roof. Shockwave stared at the man’s glowing blue boots and surmised that was how he was giving off the appearance of flight. Sneed wanted to know where the tech came from and how he could incorporate it into his suit. Flight was a useful ability to possess once it was mastered. Sneed doubted that The Red Skull mastered it. Men like him just liked to make grand entrances. They let others do the grunt work.

Plant Man went into a motionless posture when he saw The Red Skull descending downward. The human had called him his lesser name. It was an insult of the highest order for Samuel. He allowed the human world to address him as many things, but Samuel Smithers was not one of them. It was old and weak.

Proto-Goblin snickered from behind Samuel. “Mr. Smithers. Gotta love the Simpsons.”

Twisting his head back without moving his body, Plant Man said, “Watch yourself monster.”

That touched a cord with Van Adder. “Monster! You need to take a look in the fucking mirror you green fuck!”

The Red Skull touched the ground next to Proto-Goblin and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Men. Men. Please let’s all try to be civil. Especially if we’re going to be working together.”

Golddigger was the only one brave enough to step forward and ask, “Working together how?”

It was as if when Red Skull smiled the whole room dropped ten degrees. “Have you all heard of The Thunderbolts?”

Shockwave was a good distance from the private jet with Black Mamba by his side. He was looking down the runway with his arms folded across his chest and his foot tapping furiously. “Where are they? Them two make me doubt this Thunderbolts debacle with every passing day.”

“Golddigger knows what she’s doing. She’ll be here,” Black Mamba said. “If not that’s why we’re here.”

Being the extraction group didn’t sit well with Shockwave, but The Red Skull insisted his plan be followed to the letter. He just wasn’t the sort of man you blatantly disobeyed. Still, Kingpin wasn’t exactly someone you stole from either. Shockwave knew there was going to be consequences for that, but the Thunderbolts had already taken the plunge down into the rabbit hole. He was going to have to see how far the hold would take him. Sneed just wasn’t so sure of the company he had with him. They made the plunge crowded and not enjoyable.

“Angela is fine when she’s on her own, but with Jaguar she’s impulsive and reckless.”

Black Mamba smiled at Shockwave’s assessment. “They do have a bit of a thing for each other don’t they?”

Sneed didn’t see the joke. For The Red Skull’s plans to be successful they required a comprehension of what was being dealt with. The Kingpin was the undisputed master of New York’s criminal underworld and stealing from him required a full understanding of the consequences involved. Joking around and being flirty did not suggest that understanding. When he was apart of MI-6 the sort of behavior exhibited by Golddigger and Jaguar would have been reprimanded.

“You’re thinking too hard Sneed,” Black Mamba said. “They’ll be here. You need to start trusting us.”

“If we get through this then I’ll think about it,” Shockwave said as he felt his rabbit hole get smaller.

Black Mamba heard the car before she saw it and jabbed Shockwave in the side playfully. “Ready to start trusting?”

“Maybe. We’ll see if we actually succeeded when they get here,” Shockwave replied. Just because the car was coming back didn’t mean the goods were. And failing would ear them the wrath of The Red Skull and Kingpin. Sneed was trying to formulate plans to vanish underground in such an eventuality. Those were two people who he did not want to be on the shit list of.

He and Black Mamba watched Angela’s car screech across the runway and come to a stop only feet away from them. Golddigger pushed open her car door and stepped out of the car with the steel box in her hands. Jaguar came out of the other side with a smug grin. He looked over to Black Mamba and winked.

“One package sealed and delivered.”

“Finally, we might get a day without The Red Skull losing it,” Black Mamba said. It had become an almost daily habit for The Red Skull to yell uncontrollably at one of them. Something had him anxious and they all figured it streamed from this mission.

Golddigger walked past Black Mamba and said, “We need to move. Kingpin probably has more people on the way.”

Jaguar moved past Black Mamba as well and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll just kick their asses too.”

Black Mamba rolled her eyes at the chauvinistic bravado and turned to walk across the runway to board the plane. “C’mon Shockwave. Lets get out of here.”

“This had all better be worth it. I don’t like being put in the line of fire for no reason.”

Black Mamba knew one thing for certain. The Red Skull always had a reason. Even if it was no reason at all.

One of the largest and most dangerous fists in New York slammed down on its desk shaking a cup full of pens and displacing papers. The desk was use to the abuse after years of being pounded, slapped and tossed around. It knew that the fist was probably just the beginning of a string of abuse today. Wilson Fisk was not a kind master.

Standing in front of the desk was a tall Italian man with a suit as expensive as his black moustache was thick. The same couldn’t be said for the man’s hair because it was thinning in at least three different places. The Kingpin hated to look at it and wished the man would take his advice to simply go bald. It was pathetic to watch a man desperately try to hold on to his youth.

“So what became of it?” Kingpin asked already knowing the answer. People only felt the need to see him face-to-face when failure was a factor. That was the hardest part about being a king. Everyone beneath you was less worthy and capable than yourself. Being a leader meant depending on people not as great as you.

The man seemed to have trembled before he responded. His hands were clutched tight in front of him. “Two came and stole it. I sent men in pursuit according to your protocols.”

Kingpin rubbed one of his large fingers against his ear and said, “I hope you are not blaming MY protocols.”

Looking as if a death sentence had just been passed on him, the man quivered and said, “No sir. Not at all. I would never suggest that—

Kingpin held up a hand for silence. “I accept that failure occurs with lesser men so I pardon you this once. But what was stolen from me will be retrieved. I’m sending two of my agents to assist you. Don’t fail me again.”

Nervous sweat glistened off of the balding man’s head. “No sir. It won’t happen again.”

“I don’t suspect it will. Otherwise I’ll be charging your family for a tombstone,” Kingpin said motioning with his hands for the man to leave his office. He acted as if he was shooing away a rat.

Kingpin was more than sure that the man would have to be killed at some point. He had too much fear. Fear made for loose lips and such behavior simply could not be promoted in his organization. For the time being, the man would be allowed to wear out his usefulness. Kingpin wanted to see if there was anything else he could squeeze out of the lackey. The resources might as well be used. Kingpin saw little point in allowing things to go to waste. People were like logs of wood thrown into the fire. Some would burn longer than others.

There were two logs that Kingpin wished he could get his hands on. Evidently they had a desire for their turn in the fire to be a short one by crossing him. They were fools and he would make them pay the fee that all fools paid. As he leaned back in his chair to immerse himself in that thought, the cell phone centered in his left chest pocket began to buzz.

Without looking at the number, Fisk opened the cell phone and said, “This had better be good.”

A feminine voice replied, “Oh I assure you that it is good sir.”

The Kingpin snarled. “Who is this?”

“Sunset Bain and I think we may have a mutual enemy.”

Jaguar moved first to answer The Red Skull’s question. “Wasn’t that Zemo’s group? The crooks trying to be heroes?”

“As if that would ever work,” Golddigger said. When she had heard about Zemo’s little plan she could hardly believe the sheer amount of arrogance that went behind it. The do-gooders were all starry-eyed for a reason. Everyone here was realists and operated under a different set of rules. Zemo really thought he could change the wiring in a person. It was stupidity and arrogance at its finest.

For all The Red Skull’s faults, at least Angela could appreciate his realism. He didn’t try to sugar coat anything with you. Unless of course you were a cog in a plan and then he would feed you any line of bullshit he had to. In that regard, Angela was thankful for having a few more positive experiences with him than others. She would never reveal it anyone here, but she had helped The Red Skull train his Scourges.

It was a secret she had kept to herself for quite some time. Amongst the criminal community, the name of Scourge was one regarded with both fear and hate. The various Scourge incarnations had killed many without any real rhyme or reason. If it was known she had helped in training the bastards then she didn’t see herself lasting a month.

“My dear Angela is correct,” The Red Skull said. “The Thunderbolts idea as seen under Zemo was a failure. But I wish to revive it with a new approach. We won’t deny who we are. We won’t try to pretend to be anything but what we were intended to be. The new Thunderbolts will rise up as a force to bring the powers that be to their knees.”

Barton Grimes of the Brother’s Grimm raised his hand and said, “Only one question. When do we start?”

The Red Skull smiled. “In a month. So who’s in?”

Who is the Kingpin sending after the Thunderbolts and just what role does Sunset Bain play in this?

Author's Notes: I know the issues are a bit short, but bear with me. It’s an experiment I’m trying to do. We are all heavy readers I’m sure and our time is limited. I’m trying to make THUNDERBOLTS a title that you know you can get a quick, enjoyable read from. You won’t have to worry about being confronted by a novel when you see my title has released a new issue. I’m trying to harken back to an older form of serial writing that is quick, fun, and painless.