The events of this story occur concurrently with those of Secret Warriors #8….

On the run from the Thunderbolts, the Black Widow (Natasha Rominov) and Songbird (Melissa Gold) had fled to one of Nick Fury’s safe houses to be extracted only to discover that Norman Osborn laid a trap out for them.[1][2] They are handed over to the Thunderbolts — Scourge, Headsman (Clevon Twain), Paladin, Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady), the Ghost, and Mister X — for execution while Norman deals with Fury. Natasha plays on Paladin and Ant-Man’s reluctance to kill in the hopes that she can get them to help at the last minute.

However, it is the Headsman who ends up helping them in the end. Instead of decapitating Songbird with his axe, he turns and strikes Scourge in the chest. Unfortunately, this does little harm to Scourge who is revealed to be a cyborg of some kind. While everyone is distracted, Paladin manages to shoot off the Black Widow’s handcuffs allowing her to flee while Mister X deals with the traitor. When Scourge tries to grab for his shotgun, the Headsman cuts his arm off. Mister X is poised to kill Paladin after pinning him to the wall with one of his swords. X boasts about how his mutant powers allow him to predict their every move, making it impossible for them to do anything but die. However, the Ghost’s thoughts cannot be read while he is intangible, allowing the spectral member of the Thunderbolts to sneak up on X and incapacitate him. He then helps Paladin get free and rather than flee, the Ghost convinces Headsman and Paladin that he will alter the security footage to make it look like they didn’t just betray their teammates. After all, they still have good reason to remain on the Thunderbolts for the time being. This is all overhead by Ant-Man who has been hiding in the airducts this entire time and he doesn’t like what he is hearing.

Meanwhile, Songbird and Black Widow manage to escape to the surface, but find the area above Fury’s bunker surrounded by HAMMER soldiers. Natasha manages to hotwire a military transport so they can escape. However, they are quickly followed by a HAMMER attack helicopter. Hit by a missile, they are forced to swerve into the side of the George Washington Bridge. The two women are rattled, but manage to bail out just before a second missile blows up their vehicle. Rather than splash down in the Hudson River, Songbird and the Widow are rescued in midair by Melissa’s former teammate Mach-IV (Abner Jenkins). The helicopter pursuing them attempts to follow, but something shuts down its systems causing it to crash.

Mach-IV takes the Black Widow and Songbird to a run down building where the Fixer (Norbert Ebersol) is waiting for them. There they all compare notes about what went down and redouble their efforts to take down Norman Osborn. When Natasha tells them that Nick Fury was killed, Norbert corrects her, explaining that the man they thought was Nick Fury was actually a Life Model Decoy.[3]

While back at Avengers Tower, Scourge is reporting back that Fury, Romanov, and Gold managed to escape. Osborn is furious and demands that they all be brought in. Scourge, removing his mask, says that he is having trouble with his new identity because it’s not who he is. As it turns out, “Scourge” is actually Frank Simpson, the super-soldier known as Nuke. However, Osborn insists that he continue using the Scourge identity. Confirming that Nuke wants to serve his country, Osborn figures that he might be due for demotion as he intends to bring new blood onto the team. Pushing a button on a nearby console reveals a hidden stasis chamber where Osborn has been keeping the real Yelena Belova a prisoner!

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Scourge, Headsman, Mister X, Ant-Man, Ghost, Paladin), Norman Osborn, Black Widow (Belova), Black Widow (Romanoff), Songbird, Mach-V, Fixer, HAMMER

Continuity Notes

1. Songbird had been a Thunderbolt since the very beginning. After Norman Osborn took control of the team in Thunderbolts #110, she frequently sparred against him. She started getting her way after obtaining material to blackmail him in issue #121. However, after the Skrull invasion, this could no longer protect her and she was forced to flee the Thunderbolts to save her own life and has been a fugitive ever since. She has been in hiding ever since after the Swordsman helped her fake her death. See Thunderbolts #126-127.

2. Natasha Romanov has been posing as Yelena Belova since Thunderbolts #128. She revealed her disguise in issue #134.

3. Nick Fury was seemingly shot in the head last issue. However, as seen in Secret Warriors #8, this was actually a Life Model Decoy.

Topical References

• Fury’s bunker is depicted as being below Yankee Stadium. References to the Yankees should be considered topical as they are a real world baseball team.