Continuity Note: This story takes place between THUNDERBOLTS #26 and #27. You Captain America continuity fans are on your own.
"Charlie!" Charlie Burlingame had just turned a corner and began walking very quickly down a corridor. To be quite honest, he didn't know just where he was going--he simply hadn't lived here long enough to familiarize himself with his surroundings--but he was used to navigating _terra incognita_ after a childhood of moving from place to place with his dad. In this case, he was more interested in eluding his pursuer than actually getting anywhere. For a moment he thought he had lost her, thought that he might have made the turn before she saw him. But those hopes were dashed when he heard the voice from behind. "Ha! Nice try, but you don't outrun me that easy!" And Charlie felt a slight crackle in the air, as she put on a burst of speed. He didn't bother to increase his pace--there was no point. There were just some things you couldn't run away from. Hallie Takahama was one of them. "Where you going, Charlie?" the voice asked him. In a few seconds it was now behind him, almost moving alongside of him. Charlie could see the fading flash of energy. Nope. Running wasn't going to get him anywhere. He opted for talking. "Nowhere, really," he said in as casual a tone as he could. He hadn't tried to speed up, but he hadn't slowed down either. He hoped that maybe he could convince her that he wasn't deliberately trying to avoid her. "Just thought I'd take a solo tour of our new HQ." "Is that all?" Hallie was still flashing bursts of red and yellow energy from her hands and eyes. That was her power, of course, to generate biochemical power for enhanced strength and speed, as well as a coincidental extension of her expressive personality. "Mind if I join you?" "Uh, sure. Fine." He was beginning to think he'd never shake her. Ever. He'd been back since last night and she'd been hounding him since this morning. He wondered if she ever slept, and if she hadn't just been sitting in front of his door all night waiting eagerly for him to wake up. "Soooo..." Hallie said, swinging her hands back and forth in a subconscious motion. "What's going on?" "Not much," Charlie answered carefully. He let a brief smile grow on his face. He was starting to take a demented pleasure out of this. Apparently, that was all she could stand. "Look, are you gonna tell me or not?" Hallie suddenly demanded. "Tell you what?" Charlie replied. "There's not much to tell, OK? Are _you_ ever gonna quit pestering me about it?" "Not much! Stop trying to play the modesty act, Charcoal! It doesn't work with me. You met him! Him! In person! I bet you probably talked to him, too!" "Maybe..." Charlie quipped. "Gaaahhhh! Will you just tell me about it, already? You've hardly said two words since you got back from Georgia!" She was practically pleading with him now. Charlie sighed. "OK, OK! If it'll just get you off of my back, then fine!" He opened a door in the hallway and found a set of chairs in the room. He sat down in the one nearest the opposite wall. "I didn't know this was so important to you, anyhow. Way I heard it, he's not exactly the most popular guy around here." "What do you mean by that?" Jolt challenged. She pulled up a second chair and sat in it backwards, draping one leg over the back. "Well, that's what I was told at my briefing," Charlie began. *** "Soon, very soon I estimate, a bomb I have planted in the Seagate prison will detonate, killing Abner Ronald Jenkins. I have no ransom demands, nor will I be coerced from carrying out my plans. I'm doing this for one reason, and one reason only. It was as MACH-1 that Jenkins took part in the Thunderbolts' interference in one of my endeavors. I have chosen to exact my revenge by destroying him, the Thunderbolt most vulnerable at this point. Additionally, I am making this broadcast to announce my intentions to the rest of the Thunderbolts, simply to demonstrate how powerless they are to stop me. "No doubt other authorities have intercepted this transmission. To them I say that I have also accounted for your interference, and you won't be able to deter me either. I leave you now, Thunderbolts, to consider your teammate's fate, and to regret ever having crossed me. Good day." The screen went blank as the message came to a close. Charlie Burlingame turned from it to the other man in the room. "So what do we do?" he asked. "We don't do anything, kid. That's the Mad Thinker you just saw. His gag is to predict outcomes with a fancy computer, and prepare for the most likely contingencies. That's why the Thunderbolts beat him in the first place, 'cause his equations never realized that MACH-1 and the others would try to stop him while posing as the good guys." The man was Hawkeye, and he spoke of a much different Thunderbolts. It hadn't been that long ago when six supervillains banded together in a plot to scam the world disguised as heroes. Since then, the Thunderbolts had evolved beyond the scheme, and became a ragtag band of crooks trying to reform. Hawkeye had joined the team to help them with that, and Charlie had come along to reform along with them. Together, they comprised a new Thunderbolts, but they were still plagued with holdover grudges from the original roster. "Nothing?" Charlie asked. "But he's going to kill MACH-1, right? We can't just sit here--" "Believe me, Charlie, you haven't told me anything I haven't already heard," Hawkeye said. "The other Thunderbolts are champin' at the bit to save their partner, and I can't blame 'em. Me, I sent him to jail in the first place, so this is kinda my fault. Anyway, the point is that we _can't_ do anything because the Mad Thinker would be expecting it. For all we know, that bomb of his is rigged to go off if a Thunderbolt comes within a hundred miles of Seagate Prison. "And I can't get that through to the others. But it's not as hopeless as it seems. I got off the phone with a buddy of mine yesterday. He was tuned in to the Thinker's broadcast, too." Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Friend of yours? This guy's an Avenger?" "Yeah, you _might_ call him that," Hawkeye said sardonically. "Ever hear of Captain America, kid?" "Oh. So then he's on the case, right? We don't have anything to worry about. So what does this have to do with me in particular?" Hawkeye smiled. "Methuselah's on the case, sure. But that doesn't mean he's got it solved. Like the Thinker said, he's prepared for outside intervention, so he might be expecting Winghead to try something. That's where you come in. I'm looking to improve the odds." "What do you mean, Hawkeye?" Charlie asked. "I thought you said there was nothing we could do." "Sure, nothing _we_ can do. And that's gettin' to be bad for morale around here. Us Thunderbolts don't exactly enjoy sitting around and letting other people fight our battles for us. Throw in the fact that Captain America is their second least favorite Avenger, and they're double bummed. But it just so happens I've got an ace up my sleeve: you, as in solo." "Me?" Charlie blurted out. "You want me to go to Seagate by myself to stop the bomb from going off? That's crazy, Hawkeye! It'd never work! I don't even know where that is! I've never seen MACH-1 without his armor on! And how can I do this alone?" Hawkeye was grinning from ear to ear now. "And that's exactly why the Mad Thinker wouldn't see it coming. Best of all, he doesn't even know you're a Thunderbolt--I'd bet he doesn't even know about you at all--so he'd have no way of fixing that bomb to be Charcoal-proof. Think about it Charlie. All the others are going off half cocked because their friend is in trouble. And it sticks in my craw, too. But you, you barely even know MACH-1, so you'd probably be safe from whatever tricks the Thinker has in store for the rest of us." "Probably?" Charlie squeaked. "Lemme sell it to you another way," Hawkeye said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're the newest Thunderbolt, and you first met the team when you tried to kill them, right? Well, that's all water under the bridge. They're gradually accepting you, but they still resent you from before. First impressions still count, I guess. Anyway, I'm thinking that if you can pull this off, the team will start to see you in a new light. It's kinda like the way we've been showing the public how we've reformed. Only you gotta show the T-Bolts how you're on their side. Does that make sense?" "Wellll," Charlie stymied, "I suppose it would be a chance to show the others that I'm serious about this. And if it's the only way to help MACH-1 out..." "That's the spirit, kid!" Hawkeye beamed, slapping the young man on the back. "You can use my atomic steed to get you to Georgia, and I'll get you all the stuff on Seagate before you go." *** "Solo, huh?" Hallie mused. "C'mon, didn't you ever get a chance to go on a mission by yourself?" Charlie asked. "Once or twice," Hallie said. "Of course, looking back, that must have been Zemo trying to get me out of the way so he could work out the scam with the others. But I never took off for the other side of the country!" "You could probably jump all the way over if you drank enough Mountain Dew," Charlie remarked, pointing to her absent-minded fingers drumming on the table. "Do you ever just sit still, or do you like making me nervous?" "At least I don't smell like the inside of a chimney," Hallie rejoined. "Anyway, weren't you telling me your story?" "Right," Charlie said. "So, anyway, I was riding the atomic steed to Georgia..." *** It wasn't the best way to fly, but then the steed didn't require ID checks and security procedures. Today's airlines simply didn't accommodate the fugitive vigilante. And he was making pretty good time anyway. In his Charcoal form, Charlie was essentially a sentient mass of carbon and simple carbon compounds. He was much less sensitive to the windshear as he flew, and he could shape his body to make the ride more aerodynamic. Without catering to the average human, the atomic steed was a much more effective mode of travel, and he could go a lot faster than usual. Best of all, he could put his head up against the radio and hear the music over the howl of the rushing air. His glowing red eyes peered over the "head" of the device to watch where he was going. It was weird, but not so bad. And that story could define his whole life. He and his father traveled to wherever there was work, and eventually they hooked up with a revolutionary faction called the Imperial Forces of America. From there he was tested and mutated to become Charcoal, a super powered enforcer for the IFA. After the Imperials were routed by the Thunderbolts, he ran off and later decided to join their ranks. And life with them hadn't been easy so far, but it certainly had its good points. He landed the steed behind a lonely billboard on a highway nearby the Georgia coastline, and ignited his legs to get back into the air. Charcoal could fly this way pretty well, and his body regenerated fuel for propulsion, but he wouldn't have dared use it for long range travel. As for the steed, well Hawkeye's notion about the bomb going off if the Thunderbolts came near it made him decide to leave it behind. Besides, he wasn't sure if the prison guards would take too kindly to him landing on their island. He touched down on the edge of the island and looked around. Seagate was built to cover almost the entire area, so most of the scenery was dominated by the stark grey building before him. All he had to do now was get inside. He studied the bare wall in front of him. No lookouts in this particular spot, of course. There wasn't enough room on this side for any conventional escape attempt to work, or for any aircraft to land. Still, if he tried to climb over the wall, there'd certainly be someone to see him as he got to the top. There were windows and ventilation shafts, but those were sealed off with bars. He could mold his shape in Charcoal form, but that would take time, and he might have to make a break for it in a hurry. He scratched his misanthropic head and squinted his eyes. This was getting complicated. "That's far enough." At the sound of that voice, Charcoal turned and saw a prison guard standing ten feet away from him. "Huh? Shouldn't you be inside, doing your job?" Charcoal asked in confusion. In a single leap, the guard crossed the distance between them and landed square in Charcoal's chest, knocking the Thunderbolt on his back. "I am doing my job, mister," the guard proclaimed. "I'm keeping the inmates safe from creatures like you." He stood on top of Charcoal's gut and noticed black powder had rubbed off onto his boots. "I've never seen anything like this before," he mused to himself. "The Mad Thinker must have redesigned his Awesome Android somehow..." Before he could react, a massive arm swung up and brushed him off like a bug. Charcoal jumped to his feet. "Buddy, you're gonna _wish_ I was an android!" He willed his body to ignite, flashing his once dark, opaque form into a conflagration of orange and white. "I'm Charcoal! Charcoal the Burning Man!" The guard stood slackjawed as he fired a blast of hot material from his hand. "See?!" Charcoal shouted. The man ducked the attack with blinding speed. "I see," he answered with considerable calm for a man facing a fiery monster. "I see you're obviously not working for the Thinker, since he wouldn't be foolish enough--" The guard put his right hand onto his left wrist, then did a somersault straight into Charcoals face. "--to send a Burning Man to attack a place surrounded by water!" With that, Charcoal was blinded by a flash of bright light and dazzling sparks, and he felt a force powerful enough to knock him off balance. He stumbled backward, holding his face in his hands, then he felt a second force shove him into the tide. Suddenly Charcoal's temperature dropped like a stone. There was no oxygen to keep him lit, and he was covered in the salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He opened his eyes and saw his opponent looking down on him from a ledge about twenty feet above. Seagate was built to discourage escapees from swimming to shore. If he had been a normal man, he'd have been crushed against the rocks. Apparently the guard figured he could take the fall. And why were they fighting anyway? He was supposed to be _saving_ the prison, wasn't he? Granted, Charcoal had been planning to sneak in somehow, but that didn't mean he should lash out when his cover was blown. Clearly his only option left was to explain himself. "I surrender!" he shouted from below. "You're right, I'm not working for the Mad Thinker! I'm here to stop him!" "Stop him?" the guard asked. "Who are you, and how do you know about the Mad Thinker?" Charcoal began climbing up the ledge. He had been thoroughly soaked, and that made him a lot heavier, despite the fact that some of his more powdery composition had been washed away. Still, he figured that he wouldn't be attacked once he got back to the top, so it was worth the effort. "My name's Charcoal," he explained as he reached the top. "I'm with the Thunderbolts..." "Thunderbolts?!" the guard snapped. "What are the Thunderbolts doing _here_? I thought I discussed this with--" "Wait a minute?" Charcoal interrupted. "How would you know about us coming over here or not?" In response, the guard pulled off his helmet and revealed an all too familiar mask underneath. If that wasn't enough, there was always the "A" on his forehead to spell it out. "Oh," Charcoal said. "Now, why don't you tell me what you're doing around here. For that matter, I've met the Thunderbolts several times, and I've never heard of you." With his disguise off, Captain America seemed to take on a much more imperious attitude. Charcoal started to get nervous. "Well, I'm new to the team," he stammered. "That's why Hawkeye sent me down here. He figured that the Mad Thinker wouldn't see it coming." Captain America started to remove the rest of his disguise, revealing the legendary uniform he wore underneath. "Did Hawkeye also figure that you'd light yourself on fire and scream at the top of your lungs, exposing both of us?" he sighed. "Uh... I'm sorry," Charcoal said contritely. "I just kinda lashed out. If I had known it was you..." "And if Hawkeye had bothered to tell me about you in the first place," Captain America said, pointing an experienced finger at the young Thunderbolt, "I never would have attacked you in the first place. Not that he bothers to think about things like that. It a wonder that hothead hasn't been the death of _both_ teams..." He trailed off and his eyes rolled to the left side of his face. "Well, at least we've gotten in touch, right?" Charcoal rationalized. "And I don't think anyone saw us--" "Quiet," Captain America hissed. "Someone's coming." "Oh," Charcoal whispered. "What do we do?" "We get inside, for starters. Have you ever seen _Star Wars_?" *** "So you _fought_ him?" "No, he whipped me like a dog," Charlie replied. "If I'd known it was him, he probably wouldn't have surprised me like that, but like I said, if I'd known it was him, we wouldn't have been fighting at all." He blinked a few times, then continued. "Why do you care? I thought the Thunderbolts didn't like the guy that much. I can't say I'm wild about the guy either." Hallie sighed. "The others don't like him because he beat them all up. Cap has this thing about stopping criminals, you know. He also led the team when we attacked that HYDRA submarine, and we didn't gel well at all." "Well, there you go," Charlie concluded. "No, _I_ happen to be a big fan, thank you," Hallie objected, pointing a thumb at herself. "While Moonstone was getting whacked with that indestructible shield, _I_ was reading history books in school with entire sections dedicated to the Invaders... And I used to clip Avengers articles from newspapers whenever I found them..." "OK, OK," Charlie surrendered. "I get the message. Thank you, Jolt, for gracing the rest of us with your squeaky clean background." Hallie didn't seem to pay attention to what he had said. "Sorry. Anyway, where were we?" "You were telling me about what a fine American you are." "No, I'm just saying that I've always been big on Captain America. I'm not saying he's my favorite Avenger--top five, anyway--and yeah, he's a not quite the same in person--not that I've met him on the best terms--but he's still _awesome_. And if Hawkeye wants to send you to go meet him in person instead of me, then I'll just have to squeeze every detail I can get from you." "I'm telling you the story, aren't I?" Charlie said. "Well, was he still using his energy shield?" Hallie asked. "Yeah, I figured that out after he knocked me into the water. At first I thought it was a stun gun, but those don't throw you like what I got hit with. Besides, I don't conduct electricity that well," he smirked. "And we're all proud of you, too," Hallie retorted. "But, see? He knew exactly how to stop you. As soon as he realized that you were made of flammable stuff, he just immersed you in water. And you were so soaked, you couldn't reignite or even generate enough internal heat to convert to diamond!" She paused for a moment. "AND you would have conducted electricity!" "Great, so he's brilliant," Charlie grumbled. "You're so sold on him, I'm surprised you haven't asked me what he was wearing." Hallie's eyes flashed with shock. "He _was not_ wearing a new costume. You'd better not be telling me that. The original is _classic_. That's why I was so thrilled to beat up that crappy black outfit U.S. Agent wore when he ambushed us! Red, white, and black. Yeah, that makes sense." Charlie grinned. "Oh, well he had on a whole new suit this time. You'd like it. Green and pink... I thought the tutu was a bit much, but when a guy wins World War II, I guess he's earned the right to make his own fashion choices--" "Just get back to the story," Hallie insisted. *** Captain America looked all around him. Five million angry prisoners surrounded him, and they were hungry for blood. He adjusted his green gloves and cinched the straps on his My Little Pony backpack. Ballet class was in two hours, and by God and country, he didn't plan on being late... *** Hallie raised a fist over Charlie's head. "Knock it off, and tell it right!" she demanded. "Geez, calm down!" Charlie said. *** "--want to thank you again for bringing this..._thing_ in," the warden said, shaking Captain America's hand. "We'll see to it that he's contained until the proper authorities can deal with him." "Just doing my duty," Captain America said modestly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to investigating that bomb threat--that is, if you're satisfied that I'm cleared to operate here." "Oh yes," the warden agreed. "I just got off the phone with the governor, and he says that it's all been arranged with S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm a little surprised I wasn't informed, but I guess they didn't want to risk blowing your cover." Captain America nodded. "There's a lot of people who have a stake in making sure Jenkins lives out his sentence, warden. I'll do my best to make sure he does." Without warning, Charcoal raised his arms and shoved the two guards flanking him to the floor. "Look out, he's escaping!" Captain America shouted, as he dropped to the ground with the warden. Before he could get back up, the Thunderbolt was halfway down the corridor. "Sorry, warden," Captain America said as he helped him to his feet. "I had to make sure no one was hurt before I could confront him." "No--no apologies necessary, Captain," the warden answered. "My staff is more than prepared to handle super-powered escapees. We'll have him back in no time. In fact, I think you'd be of better service searching of that bomb." Captain America nodded. "You're right, warden, he's taken up too much of my time already. Good luck." With that, he turned around and headed the other way. Charcoal had given up running as soon as he had managed to dry off his feet. From there, he ignited himself and flew down the hall, using the heat to dry the rest of him a little faster. He wouldn't stand a chance against the Seagate guards until he was free of the moisture, and he needed to conceal himself anyway to look for the bomb. Turning back into his human form was no option. Charlie Burlingame might have been tall enough to pass for a legally adult inmate, but his street clothes underneath would make him a dead giveaway, and someone might get the drop on him before he could change back. He was relatively safe as he was, though. For every occasional guard who spotted him, the only resistance he encountered was the occasional stun ray or firearm, and both were useless against his massive carbon hull. Still, it was only a matter of time before they mobilized, and Captain America had already explained to them how _he_ captured him. Worse, the longer he kept flying around like a Roman candle, the more likely he was to start a prison riot, and that was bad for everybody. In all the confusion, a would-be bomber could strike and no one would be able to find MACH-1 to stop him. It finally hit him as he turned a corner to hide. He could disguise himself, just like Captain America had. It had worked before when the other Thunderbolts had snuck on board the Masters of Evil base. It was too bad that Captain America had return his own uniform after he was discovered, but he could still make it work. Momentarily a guard passed by looking for him. He seemed to be smelling for smoke, Charcoal noted. He decided that he'd have to be careful about using his powers in this place. "Ha! There you are, you big--" the guard's words were cut off by a massive diamond hard fist in his face. "I sure am, Foghorn." Charcoal quickly stripped down the guard and contorted his monstrous body into human proportions. It wasn't easy--he was pretty big, and he couldn't compact himself that easily. Fortunately, the guard was pretty big as normal men go, so he finally worked himself into the outfit. With the visor lowered, and in the right light, he looked just like anybody else. Hopefully, no one would ask him to take off his helmet. He fingered the keys in his hand. It was time to start looking, and he had a good idea where to start. After several minutes of searching, he found the cell he was looking for. "Jennings." he said, trying to change the sound of his voice. "Jenkins," the voice inside corrected. "But I figure you're looking for me, since I'm the only one here. Charcoal wasn't sure how he'd scored solitary confinement, but at the moment he didn't care. He opened the door. "I need you to do me a favor," he said, dropping an unconscious man in his underwear onto the cell floor. "Keep an eye on this guy until I get back." "What the--?!" the inmate asked. "I thought this was supposed to be solitary! What are you doing leaving naked guards in my cell?" "Uh...he's not a guard. He's an escapee. We caught him trying to get over the wall in a parachute made out of his clothes. I just want to leave him her for a minute, OK?" "He's wearing 'If Shania Was Mine' underwear," Jenkins pointed out. "If that's prison issue, I'd like to know where my civilian boxers are. Who are you? Did Hammer send you here?" "Quit asking questions, Jenkins," Charcoal barked, "before I throw you in the hole." "This _is_ the hole!" Jenkins snapped. Suddenly, a trace of fear crossed his defiant face. "Wait, you're not even a real guard, are you? You're here to kill me, aren't you?" "No! I'm here to help, really! I just...don't think you should know who I am. That's all." Charcoal had only met MACH-1 when he and the Thunderbolts were on opposite sides, so he had already resolved not to reveal himself to him. No sense worrying the poor guy. "There's no bombs here, right?" "No," Jenkins said warily. "The guards started checking my cell every morning after the threat was sent in. The working theory I hear is that whatever the Mad Thinker is up to is gonna take out the whole prison--or it's mobile." He stared at the pantsless man at his feet. "You don't think--" Charcoal said, eyeing the guard, hoping for some sign that would tell if he were rigged to explode. "No, he'd put it in my food first," Jenkins concluded. "And the Thinker wouldn't have predicted that anyone would be dumb enough to just leave things in my cell like this guy." "Still, maybe I'd better--" Charcoal began as he reached for the guard. "Maybe you should," Jenkins agreed. "I feel safer already." *** "You met Abe, too?" Hallie asked. "Sorta. I'm still trying to forget that one," Charlie admitted. "At least you figured out that the bomb wasn't in his cell, though," Hallie said. "But did he say anything else?" "No, not really," Charlie shrugged. "What did you think he'd say?" "I don't know, I just thought he'd want to try to pass a message along to us. You know, like 'Whoever you are, would you tell Melissa that I love her if you get the chance?'. Something like that." "I think he didn't trust me enough. I could have told him I was a Thunderbolt, but I wasn't sure he'd believe it. Cap sure didn't. And he probably just wanted me to leave." "He's gonna love to hear about this when he gets out," Hallie chuckled. "I hope so," Charlie said. *** After dropping the hapless guard off in a vacant cell, Charcoal embarked on a cell by cell search of the prison, and he came up with nothing. It had occurred to him that he could simply stand right next to MACH-1, and then protect him when the bomb went off, but once the possibility of a prison-wide bomb was raised, he decided not to put so much confidence in his own invulnerability. Anyway, Hawkeye would have kittens if the entire prison were leveled. But the bomb could be just about anywhere, and he simply couldn't find it. For that matter, it could go off at any moment, so he had no idea how much time he had to look for it. He had to start thinking this out. How would you even plant a bomb in a prison, he asked himself. It could be hidden on a man, as MACH-1 implied, in which case, it was just a matter of getting him inside the prison. Consequently, it could be planted by any inmate who had been incarcerated after MACH-1, or by any guard who had left the island and come back during MACH-1's sentence. Or, it could be outside the prison altogether. A missile or a torpedo fired at the prison. He ruled that out, since there was no way he could find or intercept something like that until it was too late, and besides, the Coast Guard would be on top of it long before he could. Or, he reasoned, it could be built inside the prison using available materials, and then planted. Again, this was a weaker possibility, Charcoal decided, since it was unlikely there was enough resources her to construct anything powerful enough or precise enough to do the job. And this place was intended to house super-villains. It stood to reason that the guards kept an eye out for that sort of thing in particular. And whoever could pull it off would have to also find some way to protect himself from his handiwork. So that left someone bringing the bomb in from the outside. And since it would have to be possible to conceal the bomb from the guards, why not just keep it on your person while you were inside? That way, you wouldn't have to worry about someone accidentally finding it or some freak malfunction. And they've already searched you when you came in, so no one would suspect you. This gave him a few leads. He could get into the prison records and rule out any recent prisoners who couldn't have done this, and then he could focus on the guards, since they weren't under as much constant scrutiny. That led him to the warden's office. It was a fairly simple matter to get inside. Everyone was so busy looking for him or the bomb that they didn't pay any attention to Charcoal as he crept into the warden's office. On his desk he found a computer terminal, a file of papers in vanilla folders, and a half-eaten sandwich. The computer required a login, and Charcoal didn't have time to guess at passwords, so he flipped through the folders. Nothing out of the ordinary there, he surmised--not that he was entirely sure what sort of paperwork a prison warden was supposed to have on is desk, but this seemed to be reasonable. Requisition forms, records of prisoners' conduct, a report on the recent riot that was instigated by the Rhino's escape attempt. Charcoal picked up another handful of folders, only to have a loose pamphlet fall out. It was a tourist brochure for New Zealand. It was too good a lead to pass up, Charcoal decided. Somebody had been planning a vacation, and that somebody was close enough to the warden to leave this in his office. Anxiously, he pulled open the desk drawer, hoping to find something else. Indeed, there was a maroon colored daily planner. He opened it to today's date and read the entry: Atlanta--catch plane at 9:45 a.m. The entire week was highlighted with the words "New Zealand", and various other travel plans were scrawled in the margin. But that still didn't prove anything. Maybe he just called off his plans. Maybe they weren't his plans at all--his wife might have been going a trip and he just noted it in his schedule. He needed more... "Figured it out, did you?" Suddenly the computer terminal had come to life, and a face had popped onto the screen. He was the same man from the video Hawkeye had shown him. But how-- "I'll assume that if anyone is hearing this recording," the computer declared, "then the Thunderbolts have not attempted to infiltrate Seagate. If they had, and I estimated there was an 85% chance they would, then they would have detonated the bomb by entering the grounds. I had devices installed to detect their energy signatures and voice patterns." Charcoal watched in utter fascination. This guy seemed to enjoy gloating before the fact. "In that case, you must be an independent agent. From the Avengers or the Fantastic Four. And somehow you managed to get into the warden's office-- and into his desk long enough to set off this automatic message. Given that eventuality, I estimate there is a 96% chance you have discovered where I planted the bomb, and how." Charcoal's eyes widened beneath his helmet. He _hadn't_ solved it. Unless the warden was the culprit, and even so he still didn't know how he planted the thing. "It will do you no good, I'm afraid," the Mad Thinker insisted. "After you opened the desk drawer for more than two minutes, the same trigger that started this recording has also set off the timer to the bomb. There is a 45% chance that it will detonate in ten minutes..." Forty-five? Why such crappy odds on what was probably a jerry-rigged stopwatch? Was there a chance he could still stop it? "...unless of course you or one of your allies tries something heroic and attempts to disable it. Then it will go immediately. I predict a 53.8% probability of that, since I know how much people like you enjoy desperation tactics. I wouldn't be surprised if you had already rushed off to get the bomb. "If you are still here, I don't recommend it. There's a 1.2% chance of some other eventuality. You might escape with your life, or miraculously defuse the bomb, or the rapture could evacuate the prison. Whatever. I suggest that you take the opportunity to leave. This isn't your concern, and no one will miss this wretched populace anyway. Choose quickly." The recording ended and the monitor returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Nine minutes and change, Charcoal thought as he removed his disguise. And he still didn't know where the bomb was! Or how to stop it without setting it off prematurely. True to his name, the Mad Thinker had thought of everything. Or had he? The entire recording had been based on faulty assumptions. He _was_ a Thunderbolt, and he hadn't set off the sensors. He _hadn't_ figured out the plan, and the recording came on anyway, and it foolishly divulged stuff he needed to know. And the people here _would_ be missed, one in particular. So maybe that 1.2% wasn't such long odds after all. He ignited his legs and blasted out the door. Charcoal didn't know exactly where to look, but he did have confirmation that he was on the right track. Find the warden and you find the bomb. He wished he had put a piece of his charcoal body on the man so he could track him, but there was no way he could have known. Now it was just a race against time-- "Hey! It's that coal monster!" A guard had spotted him from the floor of the corridor. "Never mind him!" another guard shouted. "We gotta stop the riot in the cafeteria before the warden gets killed! That freak'll just have to take a number!" He couldn't believe his ears. As gracefully as he could, Charcoal extinguished his feet, twisted his body in midair, and re-ignited them to follow, then pass the guards. If there was a riot, then Captain America might be involved, and he might be able to help him with the bomb-- And a very horrified look crossed his face. *** "Wait, so where was Cap during all of this?" Hallie asked. "The way I heard it," Charlie said, "he was looking for the bomb just like me. Problem was that everyone else knew about it, so they kept pestering him and trying to help. Later, he told me that if the warden hadn't refused to let him in, he might have looked in his office just like I did. "So the warden was trying to keep him from finding it because he had planted the bomb all along?" Hallie asked. "Uh... not exactly." *** In the cafeteria, at least fifty prisoners were waving chairs and trying to dogpile on the center of the room. Charcoal arrived just in time to see the pile blow apart from the inside out. "I'm not interested in the free workout, people!" Captain America said as he tossed the remaining inmates away from him. "So why don't you go back to your tables and fall in line!" Now Charcoal entered the fray, trying to give his silent partner some help. "Get off that small fry, punks! I'm the one you want!" He was hoping that he could convince everyone that he was just some kind of raging monster. The inmates didn't seem to care, and they were looking for a fight anyway. "Nuts to that action, flag-man!" a particularly large man bellowed to Captain America. "Rumor has it that you lost yer shield, and that makes you easy pickings!" He charged the costumed man, along with five others who still had some fight left. "I don't need a shield to take you down, mister," Captain America muttered as he braced himself for impact. And it'll take a lot more than rumors to stop me!" He held his left wrist and a force field emerged from his glove, decorated with the same red, white, and blue patterns as the original shield, only translucent and crackling with energy. The six men slowed as they saw it, but they couldn't stop in time before they collided with the weapon, and they went flying across the room as they bounced off the field. Charcoal, too was having an easy time of it. These inmates were normal humans, as opposed to the super-villains Seagate also held. Between his invulnerable carbon exterior and his strength, they were easily defeated. "Anybody else want to try?" the Avenger said casually. There were no takers. He deactivated the shield and faced Charcoal. "So, did you find anything?" "Yeah! The warden's got the bomb! Or at least I'm pretty sure he does!" Charcoal blustered. It's set to go off in less than six minutes!" "Five minutes, thirty-eight seconds," the warden corrected as he emerged from behind a fallen folding table. "I don't know who you are, creature, but it's not going to matter very soon." "Why are you doing this?" Captain America demanded. "Why would you want to help the Mad Thinker blow up your own prison?" "Who cares?" Charcoal shouted. "Let's just get the bomb from him!" "But you'll have to find it first, Captain," the warden smiled. "I've had days to plant it and unlimited access to the grounds. You've got five minutes and twenty seconds. Of course, if you'd like to beat it out of me, you're welcome to try." Captain America stared the warden in the eye for what seemed like an eternity. If he had been in his human form, Charcoal was sure he'd have peed his pants. "Come on! What do we do?" he pressed. "_We_ aren't doing anything," Captain America answered. "_You're_ going to defuse the bomb." "What?!" Charcoal yelled. "NO!" the warden screamed. "The Thinker would never have relied on a human accomplice like you!" Captain America explained. "It would introduce too many variables into his equations to have an accomplice mad enough to be willing to blow himself up! Therefore, you must be one of his android constructs, and where better to hide the bomb than inside yourself?!" Charcoal quickly caught on. "Hey, yeah! And that recording said that you'd blow up if some superhero tried to stop you, but so far your boss hasn't been counting on--" he struck the warden with a diamond hard blade from his arm, "--me!" The "warden" went flying, his simulated flesh tearing to reveal his mechanical innards. Still, he didn't explode. "Don't burn him or punch him!" Captain America ordered. "He may be designed to react to the Human Torch or the Thing!" "And we still have to find some way to shut him down in four minutes!" Charcoal concurred. The warden leaped to his feet and made a dash for Captain America. Charcoal intercepted him and put an ashen hand to his exposed workings. "Maybe I can put some grit in his gears! Slow him down!" The prisoners were dumbfounded, watching a surreal fight between a hated superhero, a bizarre monster, and a despised authority. There was no point in evacuating them. Where could they go in four minutes? Charcoal wiped graphite residue onto the machine's eyes. "This isn't working! I can fight him all day, but I don't know how to stop him from exploding! What else would he be rigged to detect?" "Bullets, energy attacks, magic, force fields," Captain America said as he ran through the list of prominent Avengers and other superheroes. "He's got to have a lot of complicated sensors inside of him--that's it!" Without hesitation he raised his arm and activated the shield generator, this time firing his energy shield at the ceiling. The impact ruptured a water pipe connected to the sprinkler system, and a stream of cold moisture began to spurt from the tear. From there he performed a running leap onto Charcoal's back, bouncing off the Thunderbolt and flying to the pipe he had cut. As he grasped the metal tube in his hand his weight bent it down toward the ground, spraying gallons of water to the ground. The prisoners recoiled as they were hit with the deluge. "Now!" Captain America shouted. "Push him over here!" Charcoal wasted no time, and with a shove of his hand, the android fell under the shower. There was a crackle of short circuits, and a slight scent of ozone, and then the humanoid explosive fell silent. "Is it--?" Charcoal asked. "I'm no expert," the captain replied, "but it seems to be deactivated. Let's let the experts decide." As soon as he said it, a group of men clad in blue uniforms carrying special equipment scurried into the room. "We had a bomb squad here the whole time?" Charcoal said, putting a massive palm over his face. "On the mainland, yes," Captain America answered. "S.H.I.E.L.D. asked me to flush out the bomb before we risked sending them in. Naturally we figured the Mad Thinker had calculated for the authorities." "All clear!" a uniformed woman said as she held a scanner over the android's chest. "Looks like this thing never had a timer to begin with! And all the sensors are shut down." "No timer?!" Charcoal shouted. "Oh, wait. He wanted someone to set the thing off for him, didn't he? I'm starting to understand how this guy works." He turned to Captain America. "So how'd you know to use water on the guy?" "Guessed," the Avenger shrugged. "I try to keep an idea of what's around me at all times, and I couldn't think of any superheroes with water-based powers. Well, there are some, but I took a chance that the Mad Thinker hadn't bothered to worry about them. After all, he can only make these robots _so_ complex." "And you shorted out most the internal sensors to boot," the woman piped in. "Nice piece of work here. Well, as long as Thor doesn't punch him on the way to the Helicarrier, I think we're safe here." Captain America put a hand on Charcoal's shoulder. "I want to thank you for helping me out here... Burning Man, isn't it?" "Uh... Charcoal. I mean, everybody just calls me Charcoal. And you seemed to be handling things OK till I got here..." "Stow that talk. If you hadn't been here, I would have been searching for that blasted thing forever. It didn't have a timer, remember? So unless the warden challenged me to a boxing match, we never would have been rid of it. The Thinker always has an x-factor in his plans, a variable he can't account for, no matter how well he refines his equations." "And that was me today, huh?" Charcoal said. "Well, thanks Cap. I can call you that, right?" "Any of friend of Hawkeye's is a friend of mine," he answered. "I'm starting to see why he let you onto the Thunderbolts." "Yeah, well I gotta say the T-Bolts got you figured all wrong. You're not nearly as big a showoff as Hawkeye is!" Captain America smiled. "I'll have to tell him you said that the next time I see him." *** "Wow." Hallie said as she rocked back and forth in her chair. "So you really hit it off with him, huh?" "I guess," Charlie said nonchalantly. "I helped him out, and he knows my name. It's not a big deal or anything." "I don't _believe_ this," Hallie groaned. "You actually made friends with the Living Legend of World War II and you don't even _care_. I outghta kill you except you've got a terminal case of modesty anyway." "Well," Charlie said putting his hands behind his head, "one of these days you'll get to be in the Big Time like me. When you're ready," he added to rub it in. "I swear, I will make you pay for this," Hallie said. "So what happened around here while I was gone?" Charlie asked. "I've been out of circulation since two days ago." "Well, they found the Seagate warden, for one thing," Hallie started. "Oh, yeah, I just assumed that he was dead, or really on vacation all along," Charlie said. "How'd they find him?" "Well, first they went AWOL, and flew to Ryker's. Hawkeye kinda grounded them for a week, though." Charlie squinted. "What?" *** He hadn't been in contact with Model 93 in over three hours. Much as it pained him to admit it, there was now a 79% chance that the device had been shut down. That probability would increase to unity in matter of hours. Ah well, he thought. At least he gave the Thunderbolts a good scare. And he still had the real warden as a hostage for some later venture. He stared at the drab walls of his cell. Perhaps an escape was in order. He didn't mind living in jail, but it did make it a lot harder to perform his calculations. His train of thought was interrupted by the sight of a woman phasing through the wall of his cell. First hands, then knees, and finally he recognized her. He wasn't terribly surprised. "Ah, Moonstone," the Mad Thinker declared. "So you've come to interrogate me, eh? Well that means that Atlas and Iron Man are probably fumbling their way through Seagate's fusebox as we speak. Sorry to waste your time." So the bomb was still alive, he decided. Why else would she be here? Of course, that meant there was a good 60% chance that there was an early tropical storm over Georgia right about now-- "Oh, shut _up_, Thinker" Moonstone said brusquely. "I don't give a whit about your useless figures and statistics. I just want to take it out of your hide." "I anticipated your arrival," the Thinker muttered. "You're not getting one word out of me, and I can always call for the guard." "I'm an idiot, Thinker. We told Hawkeye we were going out for some fresh air, then we flew down to the nearest airport and hitched a ride on the wing. My hair is a mess, I'm tired, and on top of it all, I caught the news when we arrived in New York and they said the bomb had been _defused_. So this is a _complete_ waste of time. But Hawkeye's going to throw a fit anyway, so I may as well take it out on you anyway. So go ahead. Don't say a word. Call the guard. No, I'll do it for you." her irritated tone suddenly became honey and graham crackers. "Oh, guard? Would you come here, please? This fellow seems to have a problem!" This was insane, he thought. She was here for no reason! And she had either already dealt with the guard or she was just being ridiculous (accursed x-factor again). He braced himself. Sixty percent chance still remained that he was in for some physical discomfort. "Nothing. I'm not going to tell you anything about my plan. And when you're gone, I can always try to kill the Beetle all over again." Hah. let her choke on _that_. "No, you're not going to tell me anything," Moonstone purred. The guard came to the bars. Even out of the corner of his eye, he could tell he was several inches shorter and didn't fit the uniform at all. And then he suddenly was violently thrown against the opposite wall by a giant pink vice now wrapped around him. "You're going to tell _her_," Moonstone said as the ersatz guard took off her hat to reveal long white hair underneath. "Hey, Think. I heard you had some kind of problem with my guy. I thought we could talk it over." "This is the last time I let your constant pleading get the better of me, Melissa," Moonstone announced. "And you _owe_ me. Don't even dare forget that." "Yeah, yeah," Songbird grumbled. "So, do you like chicken wings, Think?" His eyes widened as his assailant cracked her knuckles with glee. Somehow, he didn't think he'd be keeping that warden as long as he thought. THE END