Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. It has no intentions of resembling any real persons dead or alive. This is entirely from my imagination, with a little help from already established sources. This story is based loosely on the comic book character "The Punisher" from Marvel Comics. Other characters may appear from Marvel comics as well as DC Comics.
Punisher and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.
Blade and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel copyright Joss Whedon, United Paramount Network and Warner Bros. Respectively.
I have written another story on nifty entitled "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". It is in the Celebrity/Boy Bands section. Batman may appear in this story once or twice, as the Punisher may appear in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". Any comments may be sent to jmsotc1@yahoo.com
Thank you and enjoy.
Chapter 3 Backers
Weatherby took Kevin back to the apartment building and went straight to his apartment. He didn't have much to say to Kevin. His mind was on the Friends of Humanity, the group against mutants, people born different. "If a group of people are willing to kill mutants, I'm sure other minorities will not go unnoticed for long," he said out loud to no one in particular. "They need to be taught they are wrong. They need to be punished for their crimes. They need a punisher."
Weatherby grabbed his new purchases. He showered and donned his new clothes. Strapping the ammo to his body he headed out.
Down the road he drove heading towards the club he was at earlier. He had no specific location to head for. He was looking for the van that visited earlier. There may be some people at the club who approve of the hate group. He was going to find out whom.
The black Suburban pulled into the parking lot. Weatherby climbed out and went inside. He walked up to the bartender.
"Back already, eh? Couldn't get enough of these hot guys, huh?" the bartender said with a grin.
"I need information."
"I'm sorry. I..."
"It's about the Friends of Humanity."
"What do you want to know?"
"Does anyone here support the group?"
"I don't know. Why don't you ask?" the bartender said with slight sarcasm.
"I think I will."
Weatherby turned around and saw a speaker across the way. He pulled his gun down, aimed and fired. The music slowed to a stop and everyone dropped to the floor screaming. "Quiet!" Weatherby yelled. The crowd quieted. "Who here supports the Friends of Humanity?"
Several people raised their hands.
"Where is their headquarters?"
No one answered.
"So you all lied?"
"We thought you were with them," a clubber responded sheepishly.
"I'm not with them. I don't agree with them. They are vile, ignorant bigots."
"What are you to them?" another asked.
"Their Punisher."
Weatherby turned and left the club. He climbed into his Suburban and headed off down the road hoping to find the van of the F.O.H.
"That was fun," Marvel Boy said to Blade as they sat at a traffic light.
"You enjoy it too much," Blade replied. "It's a dangerous game, especially for you and Dagger."
"Dagger was made to do this. I just think it's fun. Besides, I get all kinds of guys hitting on me. Do you think it's my skin-tight costume or the way I kick ass?"
Marvel Boy smiled. The light turned green and Blade took off without answering.
The motorcycle and the sports car drove down the road. At the next intersection a large van came careening. It slammed into the sports car throwing it onto the sidewalk. Blade, Marvel Boy and the motorcycle spun out. The occupants of the van jumped out and attacked the four vampire hunters before they could gain their bearings.
The Punisher drove his Suburban down the road. He saw a van moving slowly down the street as if the occupants were looking for someone. He decided to follow. After a few minutes of driving, the van must have seen who they were looking for and sped up. The Punisher lost them for a moment but regained sight of them in moments. He watched as the van drove into a sports car and a motorcycle.
"My God," the Punisher thought. "They are going to kill them."
The Punisher screeched to a halt and jumped out. He watched as the people from the van grabbed the dark-skinned man and the light-skinned teen from the motorcycle. A small group grabbed the young girl and the man with the cloak from the sports car.
The vampires drug the vampire hunters together. The leader leaned down to speak. "You have been interfering with our operations for a long time, Blade. It must stop. Tonight, it does."
"Not on my watch, bastards," a voice said from behind the vampires. They turned to see a man in all leather hefty two pistols. The man open fire on the vampires. The impact of the bullets hurt them but didn't kill them for obvious reasons.
The distraction was enough for Cloak to do what he did best.
"Spirits of fire I call upon thee. Loose our bindings and set us free."
The ropes burst into flame and broke. Once broke, the flames disappeared. The four vampire hunters jumped up, pulling out their weapons.
Blade pulled out his silver S-shaped weapon and hurled it at a vampire. It decapitated the demonic being and came back to him. The vampire turned to dust.
Cloak held his hands out palms up. Two small fireballs appeared. He hurled them at two vampires and they burst into flames then turned to dust.
Dagger pulled out a wooden stake. A vampire lunged at her and she spun out of the way. Marvel Boy was behind her but was not suspecting Dagger's move.
"Dagger!" he said as the vampire tackled him.
"Oops! Sorry!" she said sound very sincere. She knelt and jammed the wooden stake into the demon's back.
"Aaah!" the vampire exclaimed clutching at his back.
"Oh! I missed the heart!" Dagger jammed the stake in him again, this time hitting his heart. He turned to dust and she fell on Marvel Boy.
"Look out!" Marvel Boy exclaimed.
A vampire grabbed Dagger and lifted her off him. The vampire tossed her across the street and into the vampires' van.
Marvel Boy flipped up and spun around kicking the vampire in the face. Doing a snap kick, he caught the vampire in the face. The vampire flipped into the air and landed on his back. Marvel Boy pulled out a wooden stake and ran it into the vampire's heart. It turned to dust.
Punisher looked at the beings he just shot. "That should have killed them," he thought.
"Bullets don't work on us," a vampire said as she lunged at him.
Punisher readied himself to grapple with the female. To his surprise, however, this female was not of human strength. She easily tackled him, knocking him to the ground. He watched as the female's brow furled and her eyes yellowed. Her teeth became jagged.
"What in the hell are you?" he exclaimed.
"Vampire." The female leaned closer to his neck. Her hands pinned his hands down so he couldn't move. He felt intense pain in his neck as her teeth punctured his skin, his carotid artery. In surprise she stopped and she looked up. In an instant later, she turned to dust. The man in leather stood over Punisher with his hand outstretched.
"Come on," the man said.
Punisher grabbed his hand and Blade pulled him up. Blade didn't waste time with Punisher, however. He turned and pulled out a gun. He fired on the vampires and watched as the vampires turned to dust.
Blade looked back at him. "Wooden bullets."
Punisher nodded and watched the four dust the group of vampires. They walked over to their crashed vehicles.
"Look at our car," Dagger said to Cloak. "What are we going to do?"
"And the motorcycle," Marvel Boy replied.
"If we could get it back to the shop, we could repair them," Blade replied. "But what towing company can we trust to do this?"
"I can do it," Punisher answered.
"What?" Blade said.
"My Suburban could probably tow your car. The bike can fit in the back. And all of you should fit nicely."
Blade looked to his friends.
"He did try to rescue us," Cloak said.
"True," Blade answered. He looked back at Punisher. "I guess we can trust you. How do we hook the car up to your van?"
"I have some chain in the back. It should do."
Punisher brought his Suburban to the car and hooked the sports car up. Blade and Cloak put the motorcycle into the back. Once the vehicles were hooked up, the group climbed into the Suburban; Blade in front with Punisher, Cloak, Dagger and Marvel Boy in the back.
The Suburban drove off with the car in tow and Blade giving directions as they went.
"What's your name?" Punisher asked.
"Blade."
"Interesting name."
"These are my colleagues, Cloak, Dagger and Marvel Boy."
"Interesting names."
"What's your name?" Marvel Boy asked.
"Punisher."
"Punisher?" Blade repeated. "You have an interesting name, too. What are you punishing?"
"Bigots, mostly. I just got started. I noticed you fight...vampires? I never thought they existed."
"Many things exist that people don't believe exist. All four of us are living proof of that.
"Take Cloak, for instance. He's a mutant. His mutant ability is sucking people into a dark realm. He is also a wizard, taping into supernatural forces.
"Dagger is a mutant, too. She can create knives made of light. Used on human beings, it shocks their nervous system, paralyzes them. If she intensifies it hard enough, she can decapitate a demon or set a vampire on fire.
"It hurts if I do that too much, though. The decapitating thing and setting things of fire," Dagger added.
"She is also a vampire slayer, born to hunt and slay vampires.
"Marvel Boy is a mutant, too, with heightened strength, speed, stamina and ability to heal. He's also a pain in the ass, sometimes."
Marvel Boy grinned at Blade.
"What about you?" Punisher asked.
"I'm part human part vampire. A vampire bit my mother when she was giving birth to me. The vampire's strength was transferred to me, along with the blood thirst. The only advantage is I can go out in the daylight and normal stuff is what kills me. Crosses and holy water don't do much to me."
"What about you, Punisher?" Marvel Boy asked. "Are you a mutant? Do you have any special powers?"
"I was in the Marine Corps for a few years and I can kick ass if I need to."
"Why are you punishing bigots?" Cloak asked.
"I hate groups of people who think they are better than others."
"What's a bigot?" Dagger whispered to Marvel Boy.
"Someone who thinks they are better than someone else."
"Oh," she said.
"Normally people involved in such causes have a personal interest. What is your personal interest?"
"I was discharged from the military because of bigotry. I'm gay."
"YES!" Marvel Boy exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at him. "Oh, sorry." Marvel Boy's cheeks reddened.
"Anyways, I've heard the Friends of Humanity and their spiel on mutants. I hate hate-groups. They need someone to punish them for their arrogance. I think I'm the man to do it."
Blade directed Punisher to pull into an old factory. "Here it is," he said. Blade pulled out a small remote control and pressed a button. The door opened and the Suburban pulled in.
To Punisher's surprise, the factory was set up nicely with all kinds of equipment. He saw several weapons cabinets containing assorted weaponry for slicing and dicing. He was impressed.
The men and woman climbed out of the Suburban. Blade went back to the car and began to unhitch it from Punisher's vehicle. Cloak pulled off his cloak to reveal long jet-black hair and deep brown eyes. His cheekbones were high, his lips full, and a strong chin to complete the face. His body was not bulky but nicely ripped and defined. Punisher had a hard time keeping his eyes off Cloak.
"Can you give me a hand?" Blade asked Punisher. Punisher went over and helped unhitch the car and pull out the motorcycle. "Thanks for your help tonight."
"You're welcome."
"It's much appreciated. Now I have to get to work on these."
"Do you need help with it? I was in the military and learned how to work on vehicles. I can help if you want."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Why not? I have time."
"Thanks again."
Punisher pulled off his leather overcoat and threw it in his Suburban. He and Blade pushed the car over to the lift and lifted it partially off the ground. From there they took off parts of the car's body to check out the inner workings.
Marvel Boy, without his costume on, came out of a small room hefting a backpack. "See you guys tomorrow night," he said as he climbed onto his bike and headed out of the warehouse.
"Looks like we have our work cut out for us," Blade said.
"Then we should get started."
The small group of men drove the van into an underground parking deck. They disembarked and headed to the elevator. It ascended to the top floor, where they exited and went to the office at the end of the hall, the one with the light on, and knocked.
"Enter," a soft voice replied.
The group entered. A chair was turned facing the window. Slowly it turned around and the man occupying it looked up at the men. "How did it go tonight?"
"It went well, we think, Mr. Exeter," James Stone answered.
"Excellent. Do you think the populace is willing to help us exterminate the mutant threat in this area?"
"Probably. We've made it completely clear that if they do not assist us, there will be consequences."
"Excellent. I think you've done a good job for this evening. Go enjoy yourselves."
"Thanks, Mr. Exeter."
The group of men turned to leave.
"Oh, and boys." The men turned back. "It's Reverend Exeter."
The men smiled and left the office. The Reverend stood up and grabbed his overcoat and then left the office as well. He took the elevator down to his car. As he pulled out onto the street, his cell phone rang.
"Hello...Hello, Wilson. It's good to hear your voice...Yes things are going well here. We are establishing our presence quite nicely. How are things in New York...Really...that's interesting. I'm sure things will be looking up for you. Take it easy."
Reverend Exeter hung up his cell phone. "Why do weirdoes in masks want to cause problems for us. We are merely doing what needs to be done to keep our race alive and well. God approves of that."
To Be Continued...
It looks like Punisher has a religious zealot on his hands. I can't think of anything more dangerous.
I've drawn some pictures of the characters. If you would like to see my rendition of them, email me and I would be happy to email them to you to view.