The Punisher MAX #1

6 Months Ago...After the Deaths of Frank Castle and Wilson Fisk...

"Multiple reports coming in of mass vigilante uprisings all throughout the city, though it's unknown at this time if they're connected or simply--"

--"breaking news. Frank Castle, also known as "The Punisher", dubbed such by the media nation wide has been found dead-"-

--"Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher", was found dead yesterday morning from multiple wounds"--


3 Months Ago...

"As you can see sir, here at S.H.E.I.L.D., we--" the solider began.

"Wait. What's this room? Is that--" the congressman cut off the agent, in a shocked manner.

"We have a bird watcher. Repeat. We have a bird watcher. Code 805. Over." the soldier replied.

"Code 805?" the congressman said confused.

"Sir, you'll need to come with us," two agents said forcibly dragging the congressman away.

"Wait! What's a bird watcher?! WHAT'S A BIRD WATCHER?!?! NO!!! HELP!! NOOO!!"

2 Months Ago...

--"we now go live to Roankoke, Virginia, where Congress man Daniel Peter Neeley's body has been found. The assailant, currently in a stand off with federal agents, is believed to have been a local homeless man"--

"I didn't do anything! I didn't kill any--"

BLAM! BLAM!

1 Week Ago...

Phoenix, Arizona.

"You son of a --" she said, standing up herself.

"Let him go Carol!" Ironman yelled at Ms. Marvel.

Castle ran.

"Are you insane?! We have him!" she responded.

Frank ran through the desert away from the scene.

"Damn it. Just forget it. Let him go. We have who we came for," Ironman replied standing over Bucky.

Now...

Punisher War Journal: "I find myself sitting on a fire escape in the Bronx. The Barrett .50 cal in my hands is aimed at the window across the alley, three floors up. I'm watching Donnie Seneltski have his way with two whores from a block over. The man has stamia, I'll give him that. Unfortunately his stamina won't be enough for him to avoid a shot to the left temple, dropping him where he's currently squatting."

Frank looked through the scope watching Donnie enjoy a bottle of Jameson Whiskey and the two whores. He had been following Donnie for a week. Donnie was known as the right hand to two twins, Shawn and Shane Pinkerson. Two brothers that had become quite popular for their heroin and "protection" they were giving the local small businesses.

Frank didn't like "protection". What it really meant was that Shawn and Shane's small local racket was protected by no one in the neighborhood going to the police because they were afraid.

It was time for Shawn and Shane to be afraid.

BLAM!

The shot rang out like a knife in an ear drum.

"Stupid," Frank thought as he fell from the third floor fire escape crashing through a stack of wooden pallets into the grimey alley below.

The figure landed on the ground next to him.

"You make it kind of hard to enjoy this shit, if you're just gonna let me kick your ass all night," the cold voice whispered harshly.

Frank stumbled to his feet. Before he was able to catch his balance however--

CRACK!

The white fist plastered Frank in the nose sending him stumbling back through the alley.

"HAHAHA!!! You fucking fuck! Fuck you! You fucking think you can fucking tail me for a fucking week and I won't fucking notice, you fuck?! Do you?! Do you fucking think that?!" Donnie yelled from the window, laughing at Frank. The two whores stood on either side of him laughing as well.

"Get up," the assailant on the ground whispered harshly with his raspy voice.

"Lonnie Lincoln. Tombstone," Frank muttered getting back to his feet again.

Tombstone straightened his tie, and brushed off the shoulder of his armani three piece suit.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he whispered as he walked toward Frank, grabbing him by the throat.

"GRAH!!!" Frank howled in rage bringing his teeth down on the forefinger of Tombstone's hand.

"AHHHH!!! LET GO! LET GO!!!" Tombstone screamed, blood pouring over his hand.

"QUIT FUCKING AROUND YOU FUCK AND FUCKING KILL THAT FUCKER!" Donnie yelled from the window.

Tombstone brought his other fist into Frank's jaw sending him crashing into a pile of aluminim trash cans.

"GAH!!! FUCK!!! You damn near ripped it off," Tombstone whispered in harsh tones, straining his voice and holding his hand between his legs in pain, slightly bent over.

"GRRR!!!" Frank yelled rushing forward slamming his knee into Tombstone's chin, knocking the big man down onto his back.

Frank shot a glance up where Donnie was.

"FUCK YOU, CASTLE! FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKIN' FUCK! YOU WANNA BE A FUCKIN' HERO, HERE, BE A FUCKIN' HERO!" he yelled as Donnie shoved one of the whores out of the window.

The sound of her hitting the pavement below was like the sound of a raw steak being dropped on a kitchen floor. Franky didn't move to try to save her. He simply looked at her with no emotion.

"You-you were supposed to fuckin' save her," Donnie said in shock and disbelief.

The whore, naked and bloody, with both of her legs broken in several places and one arm twisted in an odd way behind her neck moved.

"Gnnn," she blurted.

Frankly slowly walked up to her, never taking his eyes away from Donnie, while pulling out a .45.

BLAM!

She stopped moving.

"FUCK!!!" Donnie screamed and took off running through the room he was in.

Frank ran down the alley to a first floor door of the building Donnie was in and kicked hard sending it flying open. He ran down a hall where a transient slept and up a flight of stairs.

Donnie, stark naked, ran down a hall to a flight of stairs that led down. He heard Frank coming.

"FUCK!!!" Donnie screamed and took off running back the other way up the stairs.

Frank followed.

Donnie eventually reached the top floor of the eight story building where he burst out onto the tar covered roof.

Frank walked slowly through the door toward Donnie.

"FUCK YOU, MAN! FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR STUPID SKULL AND YOUR STUPID GUNS AND YOUR STUPID....STUPID. YOU STUPID!!!" Donnie yelled in fear as he backed toward the ledge.

Frank walked slowly toward him.

"YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU FUCKIN' LUNATIC!!" Donnie yelled.

Frank came closer.

"GRAHHHH!!!" came the scream. The second whore leaped onto Frank's back, one of her hands ripping into his cheek as her finger nails dug in.

Frank leaned forward sending her falling over top of him. She turned over and was on her hands and knees. Frank brought his boot up into her chin sending teeth and blood flying, leaving her out cold.

Frank reached Donnie. Before he could fall though Frank grabbed him by the throat.

"Y-you-you c-can't kill me. You-you want m-me to deliver a message to the Pinkerson's right? Right?" Donnie asked, trembling in Frank's grasp.

Frank didn't speak. He just shoved Donnie.

Donnie's body fell, impaling itself through a fire hydrant below. A local pedestrian came along on a mountain bike, not paying attention, and the front wheel slammed into Donnie's lifeless head. The biker crashed into the sidewalk.

"Ahhh," the girl screamed, kicking her bike off of her self and staring in shock at Donnie's naked body impaled on the fire hydrant.

Frank new that would mean the police would be coming soon.

"Fucker," Frank said in disgust.




Punisher War Journal: "Thought I was dead. Leave it to Nick Fury to use a life model decoy for the grave. S.H.E.I.L.D. medics did a hell of a job. I'm 62. Nick Fury's aging was slowed by the Infinity Formula, a serum created by Dr. Berthold Sternberg. Fury was first inoculated with the serum in the 1940s. Fury took the serum for decades and as a result he doesn't need additional doses to prolong his life span. Fury began giving me doses of a different strain back in the 80's. It hasn't slowed my aging. It's just a derivitave. But it keeps me healthy. Keeps me in the war. No one has ever known. Whatever tools it takes to get the job done. I'm not sure why Tony Stark, the new director of S.H.E.I.L.D., and Nick Fury wanted to make sure I lived when Fisk and I went at it. Fury doesn't do anything unless he gets something out of it. I'm willing to bet Tony Stark has the same mentality. That's fine. They're both shit out of luck if they think I'm going to play dress up and join their spandex club. Regardless of my feelings on that, there was no way I was going to let Fury be impersonated. I may not jump through Fury's hoops, but I sure as hell won't let someone impersonate him."

"The run from the covert S.H.E.I.L.D. base in Phoenix, back to New York wasn't easy. Was able to hop a train and take it to Houston. Beat down some local thugs who had shot and killed a convenience store clerk. I emptied the register. Used the money to take the bus back here. No more safe houses. No more tech. I kept the 9mm that one of the thugs had, to rebuild slowly. Taking out a gangbanger raping women here. Dealing with a meth dealer there. Slowly but surely I was able to bring together enough cash to rent this small one room apartment. Kept whatever guns I found. Pawned what I didn't need. Invested in better stock. It's amazing what a man can do in a week when they're at war."

"I'm in the Bronx. I hate the Bronx. Plan to leave soon. But first the Pinkerson's. Them. And they're thug, Tombstone...."




Punisher War Journal: "I'm kneeling on top of a toilet in urine stained, graffit covered bathroom at a club called The Five. Shawn Pinkerson is supposed to be here tonight. Time to go to work."

Frank stayed quiet in the stall. He heard the bathroom door open and peered through the crack between the door of the stall and it's frame. Tombstone stood at the sink, coming back his thin white hair.

WHAM!

Frank kicked the door of the stall off of it's hinges, sending it flying and smashing into the back of Tombstone. Tombstone's face smashed into the mirror in front of him, cutting a deep slice into his white forehead.

"SON OF A--"

CRASH!!!

Frank cut Tombstone off by grabbing the back of his head and slamming it into the shattered mirror a second time, knocking the big man out cold. He then left the bathroom.




Punisher War Journal: "Had a dream last night. I never dream. Maria stood over me. Two AR15's, one in each hand. She wore the skull on her chest. Blew me away. Dreams are a waste of time."




The club was packed. People were everywhere and it was difficult to wade through the mass of humanity as it bounced to and fro to the bass and electronic beat. Red, blue, yellow, green, and white strobe lights flashed everywhere. The smell of cloves bought by college kids from suburbia mixed with the scent of tequila on their breath. Shawn Pinkerson sat at a booth with three women. One was under the table servicing Shawn while Shawn's head swayed back and forth near the table with a straw up his nose snorting coke.

Frank brought his fist down into the back of Shawn's head.

WHAM!!!

THUD!!!

CHOMP!!!


"GAHH!HHNNN!!! AHHH FUCK!!! FUCKK!!!" Shawn screamed. Frank's fist has drove Shawn's face down sending the straw up and deep into his nose. The result was the table thudding into the top of the girl's head who was under the table hitting her head....which caused her to chomp.


"SHE BIT IT OFF!!! OH MY GOD!!! AW FUCK--"

BLAM!

Frank fired one round into the face of Shawn, blowing out the back of his head, with a .44 magnum.

WHAM!!

The stall door smashed into the back of Frank as Tombstone swung it like a baseball bat. Frank flew over the table landing on Shawn Pinkerson's corpse.

"I'm gonna fuck you!! I'm gonna kill you! Then I'm gonna fuck you!!! Then I'm gonna kill you again, mother fucker!" Tombstone growled.

CLICK-CHAK!

The sawed off shot-gun was pressed against Tombstone's skull. The bartender's finger was twitchy. She was ready to blow Tombstone's head clean off.

"Maria?" Frank said confused.


TO BE CONTINUED!

Damn Craig You nailed it with this! You're like a machine!lol I dig the way it flowed between scenes with the flashbacks and all. Cool ad on with the video too.

Thanks Erik. I plan to either kill a shit load of people in this story or this story is gonna kill me.

As visual as it was bad-ass, Craig. It's easy to tell how much you love the Punisher and using Fury's formula...awesome.

Impressive work as always man. Using Fury's formula was frickin' awesome.

I must admit I was never much of a punisher fan however this story is stellar, you've made me a believer Craig.