One Man Army:Part 3 of 5.
Hell's Kitchen, New York.
It was going to be a long, bloody day.
Frank could already tell. It was only 11 in the morning and already he was crouching behind a filthy, rusted dumpster with bullets flying all around him, all being fired from the entrance leading into the local crackhouse that polluted Hell's Kitchen.
With complete skill and finesse Frank popped up from behind his makeshift cover and aimed his carbine rifle at the local dealer firing blasts of hot lead towards him, with a quick squeeze of the trigger Frank shot the scum in the stomach with half a dozen bullets, sending him toppling to the ground.
"Shoot him!" The head of the house yelled from a window on the top floor of the building. "KILL HIM! Kill the Punisher!" Two armed guards wielding automatic rifles emerged from the house, firing inaccurate and uncontrolled bursts of lead, none of which landing remotely close to their target.
Frank returned fire, sticking behind cover and firing blind, not bothering to look at where he was aiming. He wanted to keep his attackers on their toes, both of the guards stopped shooting as they scrambled desperatley to avoid the random and erratic gunfire, their frantic search for cover giving Frank the opening he needed. Quickly, with speed earned through years of training and combat, Frank emerged from the dumpster and fired at the two criminals with his rifle, striking both in the chest and knocking them to the floor, covering the alley floor in blood.
"What the hell is going on here?!" A fat, african american woman yelled from the street, looking into the alley where Frank stood. Apparently this little siege wasn't going unnoticed.
"Pest control." Frank replied while qucikly reloading his weapon. He pulled a black ski mask from his trench coat's pocket and pulled it over his face, it was a bad idea to have his face seen when he was so close to home. "Get out of here." He ordered, his tone stern and completely serious. "It's not safe."
"You just killed those guys!" The woman yelled, her puffed up afro shaking as she shook her body. "Don't you feel bad?!"
"Do you feel bad when you flush the toilet?" Frank shrugged before walking briskly through the crackhouse's entrance and opening fire at another of the building's defenders.
"Somebody call the Avengers!" The woman yelled before wobbling frantically down the street.
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Frontlines Offices
Ben Urich grumbled slightly at the utter joke his life was slowly becoming. He stared at the large, retro phone lying on his desk and couldn't believe the twist his life had taken in the past few years. He was getting older now... nearly in his fifties, he'd been a New York reporter for the past thirty years, the last thing he'd expected when he'd started was that he'd become an informant for nearly every masked vigilante on the planet.
For whatever reason, people like Spider-Man, Daredevil and of course, the Punisher seemed drawn to Ben... and obviously, due to his career, he was drawn to them. Superheroes and Ben were like peas in a pod, if the pod had no choice in the matter. He had a quick glance around his office, looking at the numerous newspaper clippings hung up around the wall. Something to be proud of. Strangely enough, as the years went by, the headlines slowly started to become much stranger and paranormal. Maybe... maybe it was time for Ben to step back from his career of reporting on the odd and peculiar. Maybe it was time for him to-
"This just in!" Someone from outside Ben's office yelled. "We've got a shootout in Hell's Kitchen! Something about the Punisher taking on-"
Ben was already out the door, jacket over his body and notepad in hand.
"I'm on it." He said.
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Frank Castle was the exact definition of a soldier, strong and calm in the worst situations, while brave and ruthless when the situation called for his less noble skills. He quickly and efficientley tore his way through the crackhouse's ill lit hallways, occasionally pausing to either take cover or to reload his weapons.
"Elevator." Frank said to the survivor of one of the rooms he'd cleared out. "Where is it?"
"Take the next hallway to your left..." The addict gasped, several bullets decorating his torso and causing bright red blood to spill all over the floor.
"Thanks."
BLAM!
Slowly the Punisher made his way up to the top of what had once been a bright, popular apartment building, he left in his wake a trail of dead bodies and discarded bullets. Finally after several minutes he arrived outside the office of his target.
Angelo Martinez, world renowned drug lord and human trafficker, he specialized in selling women to clients abroad. He wasn't a good person... and without a second's hesitation Frank barged through the door, weapon at the ready and completely willing to do whatever he had to do. Angelo stood behind his desk, clad in a red tracksuit and wielding a strange, green metal gun.
"Time's up, Martinez." Frank growled, trying to remember where he'd seen the gun before. Angelo seemed very nervous, his fingers twitching around his weapon. "No where to run."
"Screw you, freak!" Martinez yelled, his mexican accent slurring his words as he pulled the trigger of his weapon. A green, fuzzy beam of energy shot from the chamber, striking a marijuana plant next to the door. Frank didn't hesistate before returning fire, a single bullet tore through the druglord's forehead, spraying the man's bloody over the walls.
That was when Frank remembered where he'd seen the weapon. It was far too late by this point... the 'vege-ray' had once been used by the C-List Iron Man villain known as the Plantman, a relatively obscure villain who'd used the weapon to bring plants to life in order to try and tear New York apart. Frank had stabbed him in the eye the last time he'd visited Rykers during a prison riot.
At this current time however, that was unimportant.
What was important was the marijuana plant slowly growing in size and weight while also sprouting several large, leafy limbs. The Punisher stared in stunned silence, amazed at his bad luck as the towering foliage gained sentience and stepped towards him, giant green fists preparing to crush the Hell's Kitchen Vigilante into paste.
"Oh crap..." Frank grumbled before opening fire. He ducked out of the way as the beast swatted angrily at him, knocking aside Angelo's desk and demolishing part of the wall leading into the next room.
Frank let off a burst of blinding, violent gunfire, his bullets proving ineffective as they simply passed through the beast's large, over encumbered body. With no other option, Frank ran out the room, quickly checking his belt for any grenades and quickly realizing he'd left them behind in the van he'd parked across the street.
"BBREEEAAARRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!" The giant gargled as it smashed through the wall, slowly pursuing its target, the creature's head almost touched the ceiling as it marched forward, roots sprouting from its feet everytime it took a step forward. Frank let off another round of bullets, however he soon heard the sound of a hollow click.
He was out of ammo.
"Sh!t!" Frank growled as he tossed the rifle to the ground and ran down the hallway at full speed, trying desperatley to keep out of the monster's grip.
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Outside the apartment building stood the proud members of the Punisher Task Force, members of the NYPD that were either unpopular with the rest of the Department or incredibly incompetent. The reason behind this was a controversial one, however it was generally due to the fact that many members of the NYPD didn't actually mind the Punisher doing their work for them. It saved them being shot at by criminals that deserved to be dropped from the tallest building in New York. Still the Police Force was expected to do something about the homocidal vigilante plaguing their streets... they just didn't have to anything effective about it.
"Alright gentlemen." Lieutenant Sanchez heard the sounds of gunfire coming from the crackhouse and did a quick check of his equipment, SWAT body armour and a Stark Industries Tranquilizer Assault Rifle. "Sounds like the freak is coming our way." A dozen of Sanchez's colleagues cheered, all were donning similar body armour and equipment. "Let's give him a good old fashioned NYPD welcome!"
All the officers readied their weapons as the doors to the building flew open, all placed their fingers on the triggers as Frank Castle flew out the building and started running directly towards them.
"Frank Castle!" One of the officers yelled. "Put your hands above your head an-"
A loud booming filled the air as a large plant creature smashed through the walls and stepped out into the streets. All the Task Force stared at the beast in horror as it lumbered towards them.
"Oh my god!" Sanchez gasped, his lip starting to wobble at the giant creature.
"EVERYBODY RUN!" Frank ordered as he leaped over one of the Task Force's vehicles and dashed towards his sleek, black van across the street. The SWAT opened fire at the plant creature, their weapons largely ineffective against the natural, down to earth monster. Thanfully the monster seemed fixated on Frank, instead of simply squishing the insects by its feet, it flipped the SWAT's vehicles out of its way and charged towards the Punisher who was busy fishing a weapon out of the back of his van. It raised its fist up into the air and prepared to squish the bothersome vigilante under its sheer, raw power.
Unfortunately for the creature, it was dealing with the Punisher. A man who was infamous for dealing with people that were out of his comfort zone. People like the Hulk, Doctor Doom and the X-Men had all quickly learned not to underestimate the troublesome opponent. The plant quickly realized its mistake as the Punisher aimed his missile launcher towards its chest and fired.
The Punisher pulled the trigger and grinned as a look of horror filled the marijuana's disgusting, mashed up face.
"Bang."
Next Issue: Gangwar!
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