Appearing in "Old Scores"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- The Frog (First appearance; dies)
Locations:
- Raft
- unidentified dimension
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Old Scores"
Luke Cage has had it with the Thunderbolts with their sociopathic tendencies. He declares that once an evaluation mission with Steve Rogers is over, he'll be done with the Thunderbolts. Ghost is able to determine what he's saying through his phase suit's ability to read lips. Rogers, Iron Man and Thor then arrive to accompany the Thunderbolts on a mission to take out a hidden base of MODOK's. However, Moonstone is excluded from the mission due to Cage learning that she didn't help out Fixer and Songbird when they were incapacitated by the Hand.
Before heading out, Iron Man has a small chat with Ghost who is still paranoid that he's still a corporate conglomerate; Thor goes over to the female section of The Raft, where he attempts to counsel Gunna over her origins as an Asgardian. However, Gunna, refusing to believe that she's anything but a troll, bites his finger.
Feeling that they'll be thrown back in their cells once the mission is over, Ghost conspires with Juggernaut and Crossbones to mess with Man-Thing's teleportation with Thor's hammer. But instead of sending them thousands of miles away, they all end up in a dimension that's not on Earth. Nearby is a lake, which can show person's true self when they see their reflection, as explained by an anthropomorphic Frog; i.e. Iron Man sees himself as a little boy and Rogers sees himself in his Captain America uniform.
As even Thor doesn't know what dimension they are in and only Man-Thing can get them back, the Avengers resolve to first find the other Thunderbolts. While Thor and Cage tackle Juggernaut, Iron Man searches for Ghost. However, Ghost is able to blindside him and attempts to crack his armor's firewalls. Instead, Iron Man grants him access, showing that Stark Industries has been reduced to small Stark Resilient. Seeing as his archenemy is not long a corporate conglomerate, Ghost declares that he's no longer the enemy. Back with the Juggernaut fight, he and Cage tumble off the side of a cliff. Just as he was about to pound the former, he sees his reflection in the water constantly changing. Iron Man then arrives and starts firing a sonic assault at Juggernaut, causing him immense pain until Cage urges him to stop. He reminds everyone that they have to find Crossbones. Ghost advocates that action and shows a recording of Crossbones manifesting a fiery power which he used to kill Darris Kimbro.
At the moment, Crossbones is determined to finish the job he started with Rogers -- by killing him. But just as he is about to murder his foe, he notices his reflection in the water and sees himself as the Red Skull. Refusing to accept that he,s just a pale reflection of someone else, Crossbones starts firing into the water, giving Rogers the opening to dunk his head in the water, knocking him out cold.
The next step is to figure out how to get Man-Thing to bring them back home. Juggernaut comes up with idea: he has Ghost project an image of Moonstone, beckoning Man-Thing to leave. As they prepare to leave, Cage has a change of heart and decides to stay on the Thunderbolts. Rogers is confused why he would want that after the team attempted to escape; Cage doesn't think that they attempted an escape, reasoning that it must have been a transport malfunction. As the Avengers and Thunderbolts depart, the Frog races after them.
Arriving back in the Raft, Rogers remarks that despite the friction amongst the Thunderbolts, Cage has done his best with them. However, they had Crossbones scrapped from the program. As they way away, a small frog tries following them, only to go splat when a door slams on it.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- Also includes the "Thunderbolts Saga", telling the history of the Thunderbolts, as well as a reprint of Thunderbolts #1
- This story is reprinted in Shadowland: Thunderbolts.