Synopsis
Norman Osborn led the Thunderbolts to visible success against the Skrulls during Secret Invasion, and was the 1 who gave the killing shot to Skrull Queen Veranke in SI#8. So now he's riding high in public opinion.
This issue opens with Songbird accompanying Swordsman as he burns his sister's body in a spot with a good view on Thunderbolts Mountain. When Andrea died the 1st time she was buried in the family crypt. He doesn't think it appropriate to repeat that (perhaps because she's a clone).
Andreas von Strucker tells Melissa Gold that he intends to complete his contract with the CSA, and then when he is free he will kill Osborn. Songbird reminds him of the nanobots that will disable them if they rebel against Norman. But Andreas dismisses this and turns to the subject of their leader's intentions.
NO has gone to Washington to meet the President and bask in media acclaim. He's left them behind to clear up the mess in their HQ. But Strucker suggests that Norman is cleaning house in a different way, and warns Melissa to be on her guard.
In Washington Osborn attends a meeting of the Senate Oversight Committee on Superhuman Activities. Dallas Riordan commends his actions in the SI and judges it a validation of the CSA's decision to make him Director of the Thunderbolts. But Norman sees the CSA, SHIELD, SWORD and the Avengers Initiative as all criminally failing to prevent the Invasion. They were all infiltrated by Skrulls and were taken over during SI.
He claims that the Thunderbolts were the only group not corrupted, due to his security procedures and using OsCorp Tech which wasn't affected by the Skrull's StarkTech virus. He goes further and suggests that there were human collaborators in the other organisations.
Senator Woodman protests that there's no evidence of such traitors, but Osborn replies that the Skrulls would have covered their tracks. He proposes an independent group to uncover the villains, which Riordan likens to a McCarthy-style witch hunt.
Osborn says he can't continue to work for the suspect CSA, and resigns and says he's disbanding the Thunderbolts. Then he leaves for a meeting with the President. Outside the crowds cheer him.
Later at Thunderbolts Mountain HQ Karla Sofen (Moonstone) calls Robbie Baldwin (Penance) in for a chat as team psychiatrist. He's nearly at the end of his 12-month tour of duty (like Swordsman since #109). But he's been under the psychiatric care of Doc Samson, and Karla must evaluate whether he's fit to remain on active duty.
Robbie remembers how Moonstone tried to kill him in #121 until he blasted her through several walls. But she reminds him that they were all being messed with telepathically then. Because she didn't have her intangibility power at that point she was severely injured. She asks him how it felt.
Baldwin breaks down and says she must hate him. Sofen responds that everyone hates him. Not for the Stamford disaster that kicked off Civil War, but because he's a whining teen who 'punishes' himself with spikes in his costume to get his power to work. He's turned adolescent angst into a superpower. She suggests if he loathes himself that much he should commit suicide.
Robbie is taken aback. But Sofen softens and and claims she was just provoking him to see if he could be trusted to control himself. She gives him a drink of water. When he's downed a lot of it she asks him if he'd like to see his new costume. Confused Baldwin sees her holding a straitjacket, which she says is de rigueur where he's going.
He tries to stand but falls over. Now Sofen lets her real feelings show. She tells Robbie he's going to a maximum security mental institution. The drink contained a powerful anaesthetic which stops him feeling pain to kick-start his power. And a tranquiliser which sends him to sleep. That'll teach him to punch her through a wall.
Karla rings Norman Osborn to report her progress. Then she tells Mac Gargan to clothe himself in the Venom symbiote and go after Songbird and Radioactive Man (Chen Lu).
Melissa is in her quarters, wrecked like everything else after the telepaths sent Osborn on a rampage as Green Goblin in #120-121 and the Skrull Captain Marvel attacked in #122-123. She's sorting through the wreckage salvaging stuff like a picture of the old Thunderbolts team.
Chen Lu comes to see her to tell her that the Chinese government have recalled him home immediately. They go to the hangar bay where a helicopter is waiting to take him away. He tells her that his 1 regret is leaving her because he thought they might become more than friends. Melissa has been friendly up to this point, but she freezes up and brusquely tells him to go. He leaves thinking he has offended her.
But then we learn that Bullseye is behind her and told her to get rid of him. He has a dagger to her back, and now 1 to her throat. He's seeking revenge for #115 where she tricked him into getting his nervous system fried by the nanobots that keep him in check. He's going to insert a dagger into the nerve cluster at the base of her spine, and make Melissa beg for death.
Songbird tells him Osborn will be very angry if he kills her because she has blackmail tapes of Norman going Goblin in #120-121 which will be released if she dies. But Bullseye informs her that Osborn has dealt with that, and asked him to kill her. She's not part of Norman's plans for the team.