Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel or DC came up with first

Justice League: Warzone

Ch. 3: Different universe, same war

Metropolis

(A quick ride to Metropolis for a quick but important objective, then I can start the war here, I can't start the war without doing this first, I just can't.)

Castle steps off the Greyhound Bus and makes his way to his destination on foot, not far, maybe a quarter mile from the bus stop.

(Don Tony Costa, kingpin of the great, or formally great, Costa crime family, the scum responsible for my family's death, on a sunny day in the park Tony Costa was busy killing off some rivals when we walked in on them, Don Costa couldn't have any witness' so he opened up on us. In my reality Frank Castle became the Punisher on that sunny day in the park. Where I am now, Frank Castle died, physically, with his Family. I killed Tony Costa almost thirty years ago; Tony Costa lived here, once a kingpin of the Metropolis underworld, now thanks to Intergang and a bunch of superheroes and villains, Don Tony Costa is an old man in a retirement home.)

Castle sneaks into the back of the "Golden Years Metropolis Home" no real security here, after getting inside Castle heads up stairs to the corner one man room, the only thing his influence could provide him in his waning years.

"Huh, wha…whose there, whose there" an old man wakes up startled in a black room reaching for his thick glasses to aid him in his search for the intruder.

"If its one of you thieving orderlies I swear to god I will fucking shank your fagoty ass" Costa starts screaming into the dark room.

"Relax Don Costa, I am not here to steal anything from you" a voice says from the darkness.

"I haven't been called that in a long time, not since before all these super weirdoes took over the game, and kicked me out into the cold, to die here."

"Do you remember killing my family in the park on that warm sunny day about thirty years ago, we were caught in a cross fire between you and some other scum" the voice asks in a voice that could chill hell.

"What do you want from me man I'm an old fart without any dignity, just let me alone" Costa rages.

"You killed them Costa and now you're going to pay." The voice says calmly.

Suddenly there is movement; all Costa can see is a dark figure with a white skull in the center approach his bed slowly, more movement and then a loud bang and Don Antonio Costa perished. Nurses and orderlies came running in, too late to catch the assailant who had already escaped.

Gotham City

(Back in Gotham, now I can start the war, I am still taking this way to well)

Castle walks down the streets of Gotham, blending in with the crowd heading for his first objective, a run down bar across the street from the crack house Castle is going to clear out.

(Now all I gotta do is a quick recon of this crack house over the night and I can hit it tomorrow, get some cash and some more weapons, a good start.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Three a.m. and the crack house is in full swing, I count about forty crack heads who have come in the building, only five have left since nine p.m., during the day I have seen enough activity to suggest about fifty people who live there, and I can probably add another twenty to that for people who are just drugged out to immobility. So about 110 crack heads, dealers, and assorted other peoples. Probably a quarter of them armed, high, and not fond of vigilantes. I should be able to get the cash, guns, and ammo I need to start up the war from here, maybe an hour inside, kill all the scum get out and start setting up active operations. Alright I have seen enough, time to get back to the motel, rest and prep for the attack.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Two thirty, time to hit the crack house.)

Castle advances to the crack house going through the rear entrance; he has two ten gallon bags, a K-bar, and his .45 with three magazines. He sneaks up and takes down the single man standing at the back door, tripping him and following up with a knee to the face. Castle takes the guards glock and puts it in one of the bags. Castle proceeds to through the back door.

(This will be easy, just like any regular crack house, just need to clear every room and take down the twenty something enforcers, get out and go back to my motel, First some information.)

Castle goes into a room, finds a couple of strung out druggies on floor, watching TV, the TV is broken.

"Hey druggie I got a couple of questions" Castle says to the druggie closest to sentience of the two.

"Whaaat" he looks to the other druggie "Dude, do you see that skull guy floating there"

Castle grabs the guy by the collar "hey punk, who runs this shit hole."

"This dude named Ramone, kindof a douche, chargin…too much……" he trails off into space.

"Get some rehab" Castle releases him and walks out the room, searching for some more guns, money, and drug dealers to kill.

(Figures I didn't get any information from them, druggies seem to be as useless in this reality as they are in mine. I am still taking this whole thing way to well.)

Forty-five minutes and three floors later, Castle was almost done, moving to the staircase, he had one more floor to go.

(One more floor left, this is where it could get hairy, I have taken out eleven people in this entire building, and two of them weren't dealers or enforcers, a couple pieces of shit raping some drugged out girl. Now I can us firearms, no reason to play it stealthy anymore, at least I have a twelve gauge now, should make taking down this last group easier.)

Castle, with shotgun up and ready heads up the staircase; the door suddenly swings open and someone stumbles out, in a drunken stupor, pistol drawn, not noticing Castle until it was far too late, Castle's Remington 12 gauge blows him in half. Castle then sprints past the corpse bursting into the smoke filled, bass dominated floor, and the five or so shocked dealers counting cash, organizing and weighing drugs didn't have a chance to draw their weapons before Castle cut through them with the shotgun. He stops before the hallway to reload.

(This kind of operation always starts easy, scum used to drive-by's, hits, and intimidation are always caught in a state of shock, like deer in the headlights they are slow to react. The trick is to take most of 'em down before they can organize and set up in a stronghold, which would be a bitch to take out, probably couldn't get it done before the cops arrived either. Thirty seconds since I started firing, someone will probably call the cops in the next five minutes, unless some narc unit was watching the place, if so, I'm fucked.)

Castle spots another seven enforcers going down the hall investigating the gunfire, weapons drawn, but not up, they are all within a foot of each other.

(If only I had a grenade, oh well can't have everything.)

Castle then peeks the barrel of the shotgun into the hallway and opens fire on the advancing enforcers, unprepared for the holocaust of buckshot that washed over them; the only shots they fired were into the ceiling, only a reflex that signaled their deaths.

(Music stopped, the rest know something is up, I can already here them moving up and down the hall, going to their leader, rallying to him, I have to end this now. No time to reload the 12 gauge, Mac 10 and my .45 will have to do.)

Castle sets down his bags and shotgun then whips around the corner ready with the Ingram made automatic. Running and shooting down the hall, taking down dealers and enforcers as they come up, most don't get a chance to shoot back. Castle reaches the end of the hall, right next to the last room in the attic level apartment.

(One more room to go, cant be more than six in there, granted they are all armed and waiting for me, I'm also out of ammo for the Ingram, that means my .45 will have to finish the fight, I have 8 rounds and no time to reload once I'm in there, maybe if I take Ramone out…)

"Wow wee, the league is taking out local drug rings now, man not enough super villains or aliens to keep you busy, you gotta fuck with small business, Batman and his "family" are the only ones that fuck with us, and they don't use guns. So HE-ro why the interest all of the sudden."

(Must be Ramone, I am gonna end this now.)

"Okay Ramone let me tell you whats what and why the league is interested"

"This'll be good, can't wait for…"

Castle bursts into the room, killing the one talking and taking advantage of the enemy's shock takes down two more before diving behind a couch to the side of the room, they all start shooting at where the gunfire started where they expected their enemy to be, the doorway, not the side of the room. After a second Castle reemerges from behind the couch and opens fire from his targets blind spot, he takes them all down in less then ten seconds. After changing out magazines Castle advances on the heap of fallen dealers, only two are alive, one is Ramone.

"Well Ramone aren't you the lucky one, I must have barely missed your heart."

Between blood splattered breaths Ramone speaks did the league…cough…start…cough…killin…cough."

"Ramone, I'm not in "the league." Castle retorts before shooting Ramone in the head.

Castle then begins, quickly, to collect all the guns, ammo, and cash that he can and then shove them into his two bags. Sirens can be heard approaching from the background.

(Time to go, I have a nice four mile walk ahead of me to the motel, after tonight I should be able to upgrade to something more private and better suited to my needs, can't stash weapons and cash with a friggn' turnover service snooping around, they probably stole all my spare change, bastards. I am still way to calm about this whole alternate universe thing, no way I'm that well adjusted.)

Castle then steps out the back of the crack house, away from the approaching sirens and toward his motel.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Holy fuck, what happened here Montoya?" a large heavy set man in a ruffled shirt and trench coat, coffee stains cover both said as he stepped into the blood stained crime scene.

"Morning Harvey, turf war I suppose, Ramone, the local crack "king", and all of his subordinates are dead, save four, three will probably die in the next couple hours, the other one should be able to speak to us in a day or so, lost a lot of blood but his fat friend who died on top of him kept enough pressure to stop him from bleeding out." An attractive Latina in dress pants and black turtleneck replied. "The only thing I don't get is that all the drugs were left, and only the cash and guns were taken…"

"Sounds like a robbery to me but…" Detective Harvey Bullock interrupted

"All the drugs were left behind, something anyone capable of producing all this carnage and taking all this carnage and weapons would definitely want to get there hands on half a million worth of narcotics." Someone said from the dark.

"What the hell…Christ Batman, why do you always sneak up on us like that?" Bullock inquires, angrily.

"It's my thing." Batman replies

"Well hello Batman, what do you make of this?" Montoya speaks in

"I have a couple of theories." Batman replies in a non-chalant manner.

"Care to enlighten us." Bullock is flippant.

"One. This could be a blind, an attempt to conceal something else, much like a murderer who takes the wallet of a victim to make it seem like a mugging. Two. This one is far more farfetched but it could be some black ops thing; that is more the Questions kinda thing but still a possibility. Three. A vigilante could be responsible; he would need guns and money, but no need for drugs. I am more inclined to go with theory one because with the league there is a place for people who wish to fight crime, outside the traditional avenues of course."

"This could be some sort of psycho in a cape, if you went further beyond the edge then you or your cape and cowl friends have." Bullock's antipathy is transparent.

"I took that into consideration; generally a hyper-violent vigilante that is capable of this kind of carnage will suffer a catalyst that sets him off, and to prevent these kinds of things I keep myself apprised of any thing that may cause this kind of action." Batman answers with near mechanical coolness and no visible signs of irritation at Detective Bullock's tone or comment.

"Yeah whatever Batman" Bullock is dismissive.

"What do you plan on doing Batman?" Detective Montoya is inquisitive contrasting to her partner's cynicism.

"I will need some copies of your files on this so I can go over the evidence more thoroughly; I also sent Batgirl and Nightwing out to search for the assailants trail." Batman concluded as he headed for the window. "I will be in touch detectives." And then he was gone.

"God that annoys me" Bullock near growled.

Next: What's with the tights?