THUNDERBOLTS #16
By Ryan Hunt
Story by Beck

It had been a few days since the Professor Power fiasco. His mechanical head was imprisoned at the Vault, and both halves of his body - not to mention his floating castle - were in what was essentially the Vault's version of impound.

Erik and Hallie had just gotten back from buying food (even super-villains, after all, need to eat). Abe and Melissa were getting to go see a movie (wearing holographic faces, of course; their current faces were probably ingrained in the minds of every person on Earth by then), and Karla was reading in her quarters.

* * *

Frank had been paying attention the night before; he knew the day's iterineraries for all the various Thunderbolts that day. He'd planned on getting four of them at the various times when they left the house. Unfortunately, he'd fallen asleep that night, and was still asleep when Atlas and Jolt had left. He decided not to put the two of them to sleep outside, anyway; finding them would have just made MACH-1 and Songbird suspicious when they went to leave.

After about ten minutes' time, the door opened again; Melissa and Abe stepped out, quietly shutting the door behind themselves. As soon as the door closed, Frank leaped from his hiding place and hit Mimi over the head with the butt of his pistol. Abe was surprised at the black-clad, barely-shaven man standing over the unconscious form of his girlfriend.

"You're the Punisher, right?" Abe asked after a moment.

"Yeah," replied Frank. "And I'm takin' out your team."

"Try it."

"Come get some."

Abe threw a punch that Frank immediately blocked with his forearm. Frank responded with a knee to Abe's stomach, and then a kick to the head that laid the pony-tailed ex-villain out on the ground, next to Melissa.

Castle rummaged through the pocket on Melissa's jeans and found the key-card that unlocked the main door.

* * *

Erik had been sitting in front of the fireplace, trying to warm up after being out in the cold, November air. Jolt had retired to her quarters, like Karla; she'd gotten up early that morning and thought maybe now she could get a little extra sleep.

Atlas heard the door open, and went to investigate; he doubted Abe and Mimi would have been back from the movie already. When he stepped into the main hall, he received a rabbit-punch to his gut, and a kick to his chin. He stumbled backward, and looked up to stare his attacker in the face.

"Frank Castle," he said. "I guess we should've seen this one coming."

Rather than respond, Frank threw a punch, intended for Erik's nose. The red-haired Thunderbolt caught Frank's fist in his own hand and twisted the Punisher's arm around. His next move was a kick to the back of Frank's leg; his knee gave out, and the black-clad anti-hero was on one knee before Erik.

Jolt heard the commotion and went to investigate. Before she had the opportunity to do anything, however, a bullet struck her in the shoulder. She cried out, and Frank shot Erik in the leg. Stunned, the Thunderbolt let go of Frank's arm, but then doubled in size. It wasn't tall enough to substantially increase his skin density, but it was all the bigger he could get in the 13-foot passage. Frank switched weapons, opting for a small hand grenade rather the pistol he'd been using. Frank pulled the pin from the "pineapple" and hurled it upward.

The grenade exploded on contact with Atlas's shoulder, and the gas released by it was powerful to fell the enormous hero, who had returned to his normal height by the time he hit the ground.

"You're not going to get away with this," Hallie said. Before she could follow up what she was about to say, however, she was struck on the forehead with the butt of Frank's .45, just like Songbird.

"Sure I will," he said. "I've taken the four of you out, haven't I?"
* * *

Karla heard a knock on the door of her room. She put down her book, and opened it up.

"What is it?" She asked, before she saw the face of the man standing on the other end.

"Hey, baby," the Punisher said. He raised his gun and fired off two rounds. Both, however, were unimpeded by Karla's now-intangible form and embedded themselves in the far wall.

"Great," she said. "Now, not only does some idiot super-villain know where we live, but so does a psychotic, gun-crazed vigilante." She floated up into the air and lashed out with a kick that sent Frank flying back into the wall. He pulled another gas grenade and threw it. Its gas, however, still had no effect on Moonstone's intangible form.

"You're pathetic," she said. "You have no capability to deal with things. When your family was killed, you couldn't take it and your mind snapped. You went insane and started killing anyone you considered to be breaking the law. Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't shot any jaywalkers."

"I am not crazy!" The Punisher yelled as he let loose with a hail of bullets from an uzi. Moonstone melted the barrel with an energy blast.

"That's what all crazy people say," she told him.

"Moonstone!" Abe's voice rang through the hallway as he and Mimi approached, both in full costume. "The Punisher's…oh. I see you've found him."

"Yeah," said Moonstone. "Now I'm going to let him experience what he puts his victims through."

Frank could feel heat coming from Moonstone's body - that meant she was solid now. He smiled, and subtly drew a concussion grenade. "Sorry, babe," he said. "But I don't let off people who tried to take over the world easy." He rolled out of the way and hurled the grenade. At the last instant, Karla made her body diamond hard. It was enough to keep her from being killed, but she was still blown into the far wall of her room.

Songbird formed a hammer out of solid sound and slammed Castle across the room. He hit the wall next to Moonstone. MACH-1 came in, firing off grenades of his own. Castle dove out of their way, and the grenades blew a hole in the wall. MACH-1 slammed into Castle, hurling him through the hole and out into the street.

Dammit, thought Castle. I didn't think it would be this hard. He drew a pump-action shotgun from the holster slung across his back. He pumped it once, and fired. The bullet struck MACH-1's armor, but only did little more than dent it.

"You made a big mistake, Castle," said MACH-1. "I don't care how worthy you think your cause is…you shouldn't attack a whole team of people more powerful than you!" Abe dropped two gas grenades to the ground. Castle attempted to get out of the way, but MACH-1 grabbed him, holding his face in the gas cloud.

"I'm not gonna let you-" Castle interrupted himself as the gas began to take effect. "'s gettin' a little dark. Think I'm gon' go to sleep now." Castle's eyes closed, and his head drooped as he lost consciousness.

"I'll take care of him," said Abe, taking off into the sky.

* * *

Hallie sat on a bed in the Thunderbolts' makeshift infirmary. Her shoulder was bandaged, as well as the wound on her head from where Frank had hit her. Erik's leg and Melissa's head were likewise bandaged.

"Guess we're not gonna be able to see that movie today," Abe said to Melissa.

"I guess not," Melissa replied. "But we can go tomorrow. Unless we get ambushed again."

"What did you do with Castle, anyway?" Jolt asked Abe.

"I dropped him off at a prison," replied Abe.

"Abe, I have a question," said Karla. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have been arrested just as easily as he was! And on top of that, he could tell the cops where we're living!"

"There was nobody around," said Abe. "Besides, I get the impression he won't be staying there long."

* * *

Frank woke up lying on a bed in a helicopter. He groaned as his mind tried to rid itself of the last, lingering effects of the gas. He tried to sit up, but found he was strapped down.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Castle demanded. There was no answer. He cursed under his breath, and waited for the chopper to land…

NEXT: The Thunderbolts go after Baron Zemo! Also, be sure to read "The Punisher" #1 to see what's up with Frank!