Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.

Andrew's eyes were fixated on the large gaily wrapped present, his eyes were cold; that present had something horrific waiting for him.

'Open it,' Bruce said softly, 'Open it.'

It had come in a few days ago for his birthday which Andrew was sure Tony was planning something huge for him, he didn't want to open it so he walked away from it.

Tony frowned and said, "Why is he not opening it Pepper? I'd be all over something that pretty."

Pepper didn't want to mention it to Tony but this gift freaked her right the hell out as it had no return address, she didn't want to scare Andrew but she had a bad feeling about it and besides it was his birthday.

As Andrew walked to his room he heard JARVIS say, "Andrew, your Aunt expects you back in the main room soon."

Andrew nodded as he opened his closet, entered the small workspace and looked at his new bat suit, he had incorporated several new upgrades to it plus a few ideas from Batman's enemies though lesser versions of their chemicals so he expected his patrols to go better now as he had hidden the bruises from Aunt Pepper and Uncle Tony.

'You have improved,' Bruce's voice said, 'But you need to become faster, better and stronger.'

"Yeah," Andrew said softly, "Stronger and better."

Andrew looked around and frowned, he knew something was off even Aunt Pepper and Tony had been off around him, it was like they were sheltering him from something and it all began with a phone call they got a week ago, she was pale and Tony was angry, even Steve, who Andrew thought was generally mild tempered, was upset.

"Andrew," Pepper called, "Your friends are here so please hurry up."

"Peter?" Andrew smiled softly, "That's good."

Andrew liked Peter, he knew that Peter was funny and smart and he felt embarrassed at his crush on him though Bruce told him that it wasn't truly bad to love another man.

As Andrew walked down he thought, 'Friends? Oh she must mean May and maybe the girl that Peter had a thing for.' When he saw Peter, he frowned and thought, 'Harry Osborn? That's right, Peter was friends with Harry.'

"Hey," Harry said, "Umm Andrew, it's nice to meet you, Peter's got such a little crush on you."

"Hey!" Peter said lightly smacking Harry, "He's my best friend but he's shy so he needs a best friend."

Andrew nodded and Harry shook his hand and said, "It's nice to meet you Andrew."

Harry frowned, 'This kid has a grip like iron.'

As they looked around Andrew frowned at the large present and Bruce whispered, 'Prepare yourself for anything Andrew, be strong and overcome your fear.'

He walked towards it and Pepper said, "Umm, honey? I have a bad feeling about this."

Andrew ignored her and opened the present, he had to be strong.

He opened the present and saw, in a jar, two eyes that looked so familiar, though he thought they belonged in a friend's head, he walked away and felt the rage wash against him like tidal wave.

Pepper walked over, she saw what was inside and nearly vomited, she whispered, "Oh god! Tony, make sure Peter and his friend don't look in!"

Tony looked pale and ushered the kids into his lab, he ran back and saw Thor and Steve looking angry, 'Shit!' he thought, 'Even Legolas and Natasha looked pissed off.'

Pepper was in tears and Tony said, "Warren, it's that bastard, isn't it?"

She looked at the others and said, "Sorry, Warren escaped from the place that the mayor had sent him too, he killed several people on his way out and umm."

"The psychotic bastard scooped out Andrew's friend's eyes and we didn't know what he did with them until now."

The present began to vibrate and they backed away and Warren's voice said, "Hey there little guy, I missed you and hey, things went well. I hope you like your presents, you always said that Jonathon had such pretty eyes and hey, you keep them in the jar and they'll be fresh, just for you."

A spray of bright red and blue confetti sprayed from the box.

Tony frowned and said, "Jarvis, we're gonna be inspecting every parcel Andrew gets from now on, every parcel."

"Of course," the AI said, "Shall I dispose of these?"

"No," Pepper said, "We might be able to use them to help his friend, if this solution somehow kept them fresh then we might be able to help his friend."

Tony nodded and said, one of Andrew's friends told us that the kid tried to off himself one time, guess he was a friend. And Pepper we should check on Andrew, now."

They walked in and saw Andrew on the bed looking calm, he looked up and Pepper asked, "Honey, do you want to talk about it?"

Andrew shook his head and simply looked down and said, "Sorry for spoiling the party."

Tony shook his head and said, "This isn't your fault Andrew, it was that sicko's fault and we're going to get him."

"Okay," Andrew said, "I'm tired, can I go to sleep now?"

Tony nodded and said, "Umm, you want anything?"

"No," Andrew said,"Please let me rest."

They left and Andrew heard muffled apologies and he fell asleep.

A few hours later Andrew woke up and looked at his watch and thought, 'Midnight, time for the patrol, time to calm the rage.' He shut off the cameras in his room, walked to his little space and said, "Time to go."

Andrew put on his suit and leapt down from the window and sighed as he caught himself on a ledge and looked at the glittering city, the lights were so beautiful, so very beautiful but it seemed a sin that Jonathon would never be able to see them and the rage built up and he said, "The night's young."

Over the next hour Andrew brutally beat several muggers and stopped several robberies but the rage hadn't abated.

'I must fight more and more,' Andrew thought as he smashed some punk's face in, he roared, "Come on you worthless bastards, fight me now!"

One ran up to him with a chain and smashed against his side and Andrew roared in rage as he threw down one of the new gas pellets, he smirked as his suit applied several filters to protect himself from the yellow gas.

The men around him began to cough and sputter as the gas did its work, Andrew leapt up into a fire escape and watched the gang panic.

Andrew whispered, "Your enemies are all around you punk."

The man gasped and screamed, "Muties! Fucking muties!" and started using his chain weapon on a friend who was trying to hide from him.

Andrew leapt down and easily dispatched them and as he tied them up he looked up and said, "Yes? You've been watching me?"

"Yeah," a heavy masculine voice said, "I saw you beat them so badly. Hell, you've been on a one man spree: twenty two men, beaten brutally by the Owl-Man."

Andrew turned around and said, "The Punisher?"

"Yeah," the man said as he came out of the shadows.

"Thought you died in the alien attack," Andrew with a smirk, "At least that's what I heard."

"First, call me Frank, kid," the man said, "I liked what you did. Hell, I've heard good things about you kid: you're vicious, they say like a shadow, you got the half the scum of the city shitting their pants."

Andrew frowned and said, "Why are you approaching me?"

"Cause it hurts me to say this but I could use your help; there's some bastard selling drugs to kids and a few have OD'd on this bad stuff," Frank said coldly, "I want him gone."

Andrew frowned and said, "You got me and by the way I won't kill him, I don't do that."

"But you brutally beat men nearly to death," Frank said with a smirk, "That's not much better."

"The law will deal with them," Andrew said as he followed Frank to a van.

As they drove Andrew was silent, Bruce had him study up on Frank Castle as he had been certain that they would meet Frank Castle sooner or later, he had changed his name Castle, had been a career soldier in Desert Storm, he was a very good soldier, well respected. He had been considered for a position in SHIELD, hell, he'd have gotten it if not for his family wandering into a gang fight: his wife, son and daughter were gunned down by two rival gangs and, because of a legal loophole, none of the gang members were punished severely but Frank killed them himself and became a vigilante.

"I heard about your family," Andrew said, "I understand why you did it, I don't agree with your methods but I understand them."

"Good," Frank said with a smirk, "And you did your research on me, impressive."

Andrew gave a frosty nod and said, "Remember, I don't kill and I won't let you kill anyone."

Frank nodded and said, "You have convictions, impressive. I respect that but this man is scum, there are rumours about him on the streets that says he got some new supplier and this stuff can wreck hell with its victims."

"What is it?" Andrew asked, "Heroin? Crack?"

"Not sure but it's addictive," Frank frowned and said, "It's killed several of its users."

Andrew frowned and said, "Most dealers prefer their buyers to live as it is bad for business for the buyers to die, too much attention. Wait a moment, why haven't I seen this on the news?"

"The police think it's a new type of heroin," Frank said, "But I know better, this isn't about moving product this is about inspiring fear."

Andrew frowned as he drew his cloak around himself and almost faded from sight, Frank frowned and said, "When we get to this factory we go in separately, the factory's isolated and I don't know how many men and workers this guy has."

When they got to the factory Frank parked away from the place and said, "Now kid."

He frowned and said, "He's gone, nice trick," He heard a beeping in his ear, turned on his communicator and said, "Kid?"

"Yes," Andrew said, "I'm up on the roof already, I'll go in from the top."

Frank nodded and said, "Radio silence from now on."

Meanwhile Peter was swinging through the city and frowned, what the hell happened at Andrew's party? He had been hoping to see Andrew smile but then he opened the large present and suddenly they were rushed out, something bad had happened. He'd do something with Andrew tomorrow but for now he was hunting down Frank Castle, he knew the Punisher wasn't bad but he was ruthless and remorseless and he was hunting someone tonight.

'Plus Owl-Man,' Peter thought, he had only run across the silent vigilante a few times since their first meetings and the rumours were that the criminals and even a few of his own roster of rogues were nervous about him.

But tonight he had to find the Punisher and quickly.

At the factory Andrew moved quietly, dispatching the workers and their guards, he wasn't killing them but he wasn't be gentle with them either.

Frank shuddered as he heard screaming coming from the upper floors, he had found several punks gagged and terrified, like really terrified, the smell of shit and piss were heavy in the air and he saw eerie movements in the flickering shadows and light and nodded his approval, Owl-Man preferred his enemies frightened.

Owl-Man came out of the shadows like a demon from hell, dragging some poor sucker into the shadows.

When they met up Andrew looked at Frank and said, "There's still a few of them around, they're holing up in the main office and the dealer you're looking for is there too."

"Good and kid I approve of your fighting style," Frank said, "But let me know when you're ready to take it to the next level."

As they ran though the hallway Andrew heard a smashing sound, they got to the office and Andrew frowned as he found out it was Spiderman, after their first meeting he had looked up the man; nothing but smear campaigns from the Bugle and some, he supposed, harmless if somewhat strong supporters liked him.

Frank frowned and said, "Spiderman?"

"Oh well look who it is, my favourite vigilante and the Punisher," Spiderman quipped, "Now I gotta ask you; the police have been all a twitter about several brutalized crooks, now who did that?"

Andrew frowned and said, "Yeah?"

"Well one of them was having a heart attack," Spiderman said, "So that's a bit brutal."

"I've had an unsettling day," Andrew said in a dark voice, "I was upset and the criminals were in the way."

Andrew growled and said, "Then I met him and he told me about this drug so I decided to help him."

As they looked around Andrew saw Spiderman work on the computer and Andrew saw a very familiar chemical solution and paled visibly, 'What the hell is going on?'

Andrew heard whimpering, he kicked the door down and saw a worker and he picked the guy up and said, "Where did you get the formula for this?"

The worker spoke in Spanish, something Andrew could understand thanks to Bruce, he frowned and said, "Castle, your dealer's been lacing his product with something that someone told him would give him an incredible high."

Before Frank or Spiderman could ask Andrew disappeared, Andrew sat on the roof of the factory, he tried to fight back the bitter tears and he looked up at the night and roared, "WARREN!"

In a small town Warren sat next Drusilla and cackled madly, he said, "Oh my, it's like I can feel the big bad bat in my heart, he's becoming just like I want him."

She simply giggled, looked at the family they had taken hostage and said, "Shall we play with them my jester?"

Warren simply licked his lips, drew out his knife and nodded.

Back in Sunnydale the Mayor looked at Faith and said, "I need your help my dear: Mr Mears has escaped and I want him gone, no more free rides. I thought the boy could be useful but he attracts so much unwanted attention."

Faith frowned and said, "What about graduation?"

The mayor shrugged and said, "I'll handle things here but Mears has to be taken out. Pity, Warren was a bright young man and he had a bright future but you need to stop him from causing undue attention to Sunnydale."

She nodded and left Sunnydale to go hunting.

'I'm going to enjoy this," she thought to herself.

TBC

Should Andrew meet the Punisher again? What should their ultimate relationship be: Rivals or Friends? When should Tony and the others suspect Andrew's nighttime activities? Should Andrew meet any other Marvel characters?

Please rate and review.