The Punisher MAX #4

Punisher War Journal: "Bad dream last night. Maria found me dead with the children. She began to wage a war on crime slaughtering hundreds. No one should have to have that sort of death toll rolling around in their brain. Enough to drive someone insane..."

"Fuck you Castle!" Tombstone yelled, ducking behind a crate of live chickens in the dirty alley.

Bullets ripped through the poultry splattering blood and white feathers all over the pale skin and jet black suit of Tombstone.

"Here!" Frank Castle yelled from his hiding position behind a dumpster that reeked of egg drop soup and vomit, tossing a .35 magnum to Tombstone. Tombstone began firing back at their assailants.

The Punisher had tracked Tombstone to China Town. Tombstone had tracked The Punisher to China Town. The Punisher wanted Tombstone dead. Tombstone needed The Punisher to help kill Stephen Pinkerson. Both of them found themselves at the end of Pinkerson's associates in the Chinese Triad Mafia.

"You come out we only kill you once!" yelled on of the Asian men firing a small assault rifle down the alley way at Tombstone and The Punisher.

"Fuck you and fuck your Godzilla too!" Tombstone yelled back firing the handgun.

"That's a story based in Japan you idiot," Castle said to Tombstone, firing his weapon at the Chinese Triad Mafia members.

"FUCK YOU IN YOUR GODZILLA!" one of the Chinese men screamed standing up from his cover for a better shot.

Castle squeezed the trigger letting the bullet fly and landing his shot squarely between the Chinese man's eyes.

"They've got more guns than us. This doesn't fucking end well!" Tombstone yelled to Castle over the hail of gunfire.

Frank Castle looked at the environment they were in. Not many options were to be had. He needed to escape this alley before his ammunition ran out, and he still needed to kill Tombstone. Leaving anything to chance, even Tombstone to fend for himself, was too risky. He couldn't let the possibility of Tombstone escaping, occur.

Frank took aim and fired, hitting the release lever of a fire escape sending it crashing down hitting two of the Chinese men and sending the others scattering.

"NOW!" he yelled, turning and running down the alleyway away from their attackers.

"Shit," Tombstone yelled chasing after him.

The two ran out into the busy streets of China Town in New York City. Frank ran up to an old warehouse truck used for hauling food and fired at the back of it. The small Chinese man burst out of the driver side door fleeing for his life.

"Get in!" Castle yelled. Frank jumped into the driver's seat while Tombstone jumped into the passenger's seat. They sped away, with the Chinese Triad Mafia men running out of the alley way after them.

"Fuck that was close!" Tombstone yelled, adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

"Where is Pinkerson?" Castle asked, gripping the wheel as he sped through traffic weaving through and dodging other vehicles.

"How the fuck should I know? He wants me dead. That's why I was looking for you. So you could help me," Tombstone replied.

"I want you dead," Castle stated in a matter of fact manner.

"Well I can see this isn't going to be a very beneficial relationship," Tombstone said lighting a cigarette and rolling down the window.

Frank sat silently and he sped through traffic. Neither man said much more. The dream of his dead wife, Maria kept haunting him. The image of Ray Anne Hansel kept haunting him. The idea that he had to keep Tombstone alive to find Pinkerson made him want to puke.


"I don't fucking care if you have to hunt him down yourself! I want both men fucking dead!" Stephen Pinkerson screamed into the phone.

"Yes. Yes, I understand Mr. Wei. No, I do not think you are ass-fucking me. No sir, I am not trying to ass fuck you. Yes sir. Yes. No sir. Yes sir. Mr. Wei, Lonnie Lincoln, Tombstone, has to die. Yes, I understand sir that you are doing everything you--no sir, I do not want to be ass fucked. Yes sir. Yes. Sir, The Punisher has to be dealt with. If he is keeping Linoln alive then he's an obstacle that has to be removed. Yes sir. I agree. Very much sir. Yes, we have an understanding. Yes, I understand. I said I understand, didn't I? Look--Yes? Yes. Fine, I will call you Mittens while you ass fuck me if I ass fuck you. But sir, I have no intention of breaking our deal. I think we--yes sir. Talk to you soon as well," Pinkerson said hanging up the phone gently.

Stephen Pinkerson sat at his desk in the penthouse office and leaned back rubbing his hands over his face in a dramatic fashion, mentally exhausted. He glanced at the two large men in the office.

"Castle and Tombstone were seen heading toward the Bronx. I want the two of them found and I want them alive. This noodle eating mother fucker is going to send everyone of his fucking ninjas--"

"Sir, ninjas are a Japanese--" one of the large men said interrupting Pinkerson.

"I KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THEY ARE!" Pinkerson screamed standing up at his desk. "This guy is demanding more money than fucking Jesus Christ has! We have to get these fuckers before the Chinese do or we're fucked! ASS FUCKED! DO YOU WANT TO BE FUCKED IN THE ASS?! BECAUSE I SURE AS FUCK DON'T WANT TO BE FUCKED IN THE ASS BY SOME GOD DAMN CHINESE ANIME WATCHING MOTHER FUCKER!!!"

"Sir, anime is --"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND FIND THE PUNISHER AND TOMBSTONE OR I'M GOING TO FUCK YOU IN THE ASS MYSELF!" Pinkerson screamed.

The two large men backed toward the door quickly and left. Pinkerson sat back down at his desk in frustration.


"Yeah, meet us there Petey. Make sure you bring the web-shooters, I'm feeling a little frisky. Yeah, you know how I like it when you tickle my--gotta go! Be there!" Tombstone said quickly ending the call on his cell phone.

Frank Castle walked into the small two room apartment and tossed a black duffle bag onto the only table in the room which was covered in guns.

"Should be enough cash there to get us out of New York and down to Miami," Castle said walking to the refrigerator and taking a beer out of it.

"Good. Look, I thought you wanted to kill me," Lonnie Lincoln asked, picking up one of the hand guns and examining it.

"I plan to," Castle responded, opening the beer and taking a seat at the table and began to examine the weaponry.

"So, why are you keeping me alive?" Lincoln asked.

"You're going to help me find Pinkerson," Castle replied.

"Well that's why I came looking for you. I need him fucking dead too."

"Do you have a point?" Frank asked taking a drink from the beer bottle.

"Yeah. Us."

"Us?" Frank asked.

"Us working together. We make a good team. I know you want me dead, but we could really get some shit done. With Wilson Fisk dead and Pinkerson being the best this city has to offer in terms of leadership for the drug trade, we could run this whole damn city. And if we control New York, we control the whole east coast," Tombstone responded.

"What makes you think I care?" Castle said.

"If you control who's running the racket, you control how the racket is run. If I'm running the racket, you keep me in line. I've read about you. This is a war on crime for you. I get that. But in any war there's a time for shooting guns and there's a time for planning. If you plan this out right you can control New York by having me run it, which means you can run the entire east coast and actually do some damage to the drug trade to damn near a third of the country," Tombstone said.

"I already have a plan," Frank said.

"OK, what?" Tombstone asked.

"To kill you when this is all over."

"You're a real dick, Frank. You know that? A real dick." Tombstone said angrily.

Frank took another sip from his beer.


The balding man, Petey, strolled down the sidewalk admiring the palm trees, wearing his flip flops, Spider-Man tee shirt, and floral pattern shorts. He made his way into the lavish hotel and to his room, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, while carrying a brown paper bag with him. Upon entering the room he sat the bag on a nearby table and kicked the flip flops off.

"Isn't Miami great!? I love it here! And just you wait, when your pal, Castle, shows up with my pal, Mr. Lincoln, we're gonna be home free. You never did tell me how you met The Punisher.....Ray Anne?" Petey's voice trailed off in silence as he walked into the scene in the hotel room.

"Hello Mr. Petey. We believe you are expecting Mr. Punisher and Mr. Tombstone to arrive in the next few days. would like to talk. Or would you like to be ass fucked instead?" Zhang Wei said.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Awesome cliffhanger there, this gets more and more intriguing as I read it, this was well worth the wait Craig.

Your humor came through strong in this installment. Nice work.