Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Last issue the Thunderbolts sneaked into Asgard, ignoring the ongoing battle, to find the Spear Of Odin for Norman Osborn. The ex-Mighty Avengers Amadeus Cho, Stature, U.S. Agent and Vision tried to stop them but team leader Scourge, now openly the cyborg Nuke, got hold of it. In Siege #3 the battle turned against Osborn, as Iron Patriot, when US Government forces attacked his side and Tony Stark appeared in an old Iron Man armour to shut down his Stark-Tech suit. So he sent Sentry to reduce Asgard to ruins (which complicated the TBolts/MAv fight).
Now helpless IP faces IM, and Norman desperately calls for the Spear. Nuke tells him he's got it and he's on his way. He tells Mr X and Grizzly to keep the heroes off his back, and Paladin to clear the way ahead. But last issue Paladin decided that his boss Osborn was *too* crazily villainous, so now he shoots Nuke in the face.
Last issue Vision's AI system was damaged by the Spear. Amadeus tried to help him but Ghost materialised. Cho tells the TBolt to keep off Vizh, but Ghost reveals that it was *he* who contacted him (TBolts#141 and MAv#35) to warn him about the TBolts' plan. He asks where Hercules and Quicksilver are - Herc is dead but Cho has been unable to reach Pietro Maximoff. So Ghost boosts the power of his phone and suddenly Amadeus is talking to Pietro in his homeland - Transia in Eastern Europe. And seconds later Quicksilver is zooming on his way.
Paladin continues blasting at Nuke until his blaster runs out of juice, and Grizzly grabs the Spear and starts to throttle him with it. Ant-Man, who also 'came to his senses' last issue, attracts Grizzly's attention and then goes ant-size to run up his foe's arm and into his ear - where he kicks the eardrum. With Grizzly down Mr X takes up the maguffin. Vision, fully revived possibly thanks to Ghost, flies to the attack. But X is able to read even the synthezoid's brain and predict his moves. And with the power of the Spear he soon has the robot, Cho and Stature at his mercy. But a wind announces the arrival of Quicksilver, whose moves are so fast that Mr X's 'precognition' doesn't help. Pietro's repeated blows wear the man down, including smashing his limbs with an iron bar. And Ant-Man slips away with the miniaturised Spear.
All that's left is for the MAv 4 to polish off Grizzly and Ghost (Vision does that, so maybe Ghost *didn't* revive him). Amadeus belatedly tells Jonas he should have gone easy on the villain because he helped them. Vision replies that he picked that info up from the villain's cyber-suit, but also that he recently tried to kill Tony Stark (Iron Man (2008) #20-24).
Quicksilver has found U.S. Agent, whose arm and leg Nuke chopped off with the Spear last issue. They decide to take him for medical attention before returning to the fight. They'll head to wherever Norman Osborn is, assuming that the 2 missing TBolts (Ant-Man and Paladin) have the Spear and will take it there. Those 2 watch them leave. Paladin didn't want to give the Avengers the Spear in case Osborn *still* won the day, and then they'd be in big trouble. He says he'll take it away and keep it hidden.
Later we see Amadeus Cho, Quicksilver, Stature and Vision watching a later part of the battle - heroes vs the Void. And we see Grizzly and Ghost being carted away by US troops. And Paladin on the road with the Spear.
2 weeks later Eric O'Grady visits Cleavon Twain's brother Cody to explain some of what happened to him (he died in #140). He gives Cody the Headsman suit and weapon, and hopes the brother can become a hero with it.
Our last scene sets the stage for the next iteration of Thunderbolts. Luke Cage and his wife Jessica Jones and their baby Danielle Cage watch from a distance the refitting of the Raft, the island prison in New York's East River. We learn that he has been given a job there rehabilitating supervillains. Ie he's going to run the next version of the Thunderbolts.