A/N: Forgot to mention, a character from Dredd's past is returning in this chapter! They're one of the only ones from Dredd 2012 showing up though. This isn't a complete Judge Dredd story.
Oh, and the scenes with Butcher from episode 5 are heavily changed. Just a heads up.
Music: "She's a Pass" from Dredd
2111
Mega City One
Judge Anderson, wearing her clean uniform and polished badge to show she was a Street Judge, rode her Lawmaster through the city, patrolling her sector, when she suddenly received a transmission from Control.
"Control to Anderson, head to Tek-21. Chief Judge's orders."
Anderson frowned. Tek 21 was where Project Proteus was still being developed. It was also the reason why Dredd was no longer with them. Could it be…?
"Anderson to Control, I'm on my way." Cassandra quickly replied, before revving up the bike and speeding through the streets.
Anderson all but screeched to a stop once she arrived at Tek 21, and after taking off her Judge's helmet, briskly walked inside, where Chief Judge Silver was waiting for her. Just like last time.
"Why am I here?" Anderson asked, attempting to match the low and emotionless growl her mentor Dredd had.
"The Tek Judges had finally polished Project Proteus." Silver informed, as they walked towards the Project Proteus lab. "In doing so, we also discovered what malfunctioned when former Judge Stich sabotaged the machine."
"So you've found Dredd?" Anderson asked, letting her hopeful attitude trickle out slightly.
"Not exactly." Silver pursed her lips in discomfort. "We found out where he was sent… just not him."
"Where was he sent?" Anderson asked, eager to find her mentor and friend.
"The Tek Judges were able to look to trace the energy output of Proteus, and determine he was sent back in time by one hundred years, instead of going forward ten." Silver revealed.
"Then that's where I'm headed." Anderson declared, as they stepped into the lab to be greeted by the familiar face of that Tek Judge with the red beard and bald head. Odd, she had never gotten his name.
"Not necessarily…" Silver told her, and nodded to the Tek Judge.
"Judge Anderson, Chief Judge." The bald man greeted with a nod of his head. "If our calculations are correct, the time that Dredd is in right now would be ten years after he was originally sent back, as well as a week."
"So… 2021?" Anderson asked, mentally crunching the numbers.
"Exactly." the Tek Judge answered, as he walked over to the computers and imputed the date.
"Your assignment is reconnaissance, and if Dredd is alive, rescue." Silver told Anderson. The Psi-Judge nodded, and walked up the steps of the time machine, seeing the metal rings halo-ing the small gray pad.
"Oh, wait-"
Anderson turned around, just in time to see the Tek Judge hand her a brown belt with a bronze circular disc in the middle.
"That's a temporal jump belt." the man explained. "We were able to miniaturize Proteus' technology. Once you're done, simply input the current date and time, and you should come back here."
Anderson nodde, and the Tek Judge hurried back to the computers, pressing a button. The metal rings began spinning around her, and blue lightning flashed.
"Okay, sending you to September 30th, 2021…"
The blue lightning flashed, blinding Anderson for a moment, before she was sent back in time.
2021
New York
The blue light faded from Anderson's vision, and she knelt down, staring at the ground. Her gaze shifted to her right, seeing a newspaper on the ground, the date saying Sep. 30th, 2021. The headline itself, however, was more intriguing, as well as the picture.
Billy The Butcher Still At Large!
The image itself showed a man in a black duster jacket, with a thick black beard, and messy black hair. Anderson frowned, picking up the newspaper. Despite this time's primitive form of news, as holovids in the mega blocks would be more detailed, she could still make out the man's features. As she stared at the image of this man, Billy Butcher, a nagging thought in the back of her mind rang with recognition. If he had no beard, she could almost see a mental image spring forth in her mind.
"Dredd?"
Queen Maeve stepped through the wreckage of downtown Chicago, as ash fell over her head, and fire rained from the sky.
"Ruby?" the heroine called out. "Ruby!"
"Over… here…"
Maeve's eyes widened, seeing an arm with a heart tattoo trapped under rubble, and she quickly ran across the street, lifting the debris with one hand.
"Ruby, no." Maeve choked out. "You can't die."
"Come on, Red…" Ruby coughed, spitting out blood. "We both knew this would be a one way trip for me… I'm not strong like you…"
"But you are, Ruby." Maeve insisted, leaning in to kiss the dying woman. "You are-"
"Aaannd, cut!"
Maeve and Ruby looked up, seeing the director walking towards them. The director, a man by the name of Josh Weaden, pushed his glasses up to his face, and smiled.
"That was fantastic Maeve!" Josh complimented. "So much emotion! And Ruby, good job with spitting out that fake blood! Now, we're going to take five, then go back to shooting-"
Maeve already tuned Weaden out, and marched over to Homelander, who was sitting in the producer's chair.
"Why the Hell are you torturing me like this?" Maeve demanded.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Homelander innocently smiled.
"Having me almost kiss Ruby." Maeve elaborated. "If this was because of that fling I had years ago-"
"Maeve, I am in no way targeting you." Homelander scoffed. "Since this scene is about female empowerment, the director and I agreed there should be some girl on girl action! The tagline is called Girls Get It On, right?"
"Girls Get It Done." Maeve muttered, right before Ashley walked up, wearing a light orange pantsuit and carrying a tablet in her hands.
"Homelander, you have to see this." Ashley said, with wide eyes. "It's an emergency!"
"Oh Jesus, what now?" Homelander groaned, taking the tablet and giving it a look.
On the tablet was a video of a black man in a white robe manipulating the wind in his village. Clearly, a super villain. The video panned to the right, showing Homelander walking towards the supe.
"Ooh, scary." Homelander held up his hands in mock fear, before suddenly shooting laser beams out of his eyes. The lasers cut the man in half easily, and Homelander took off to the skies. That wasn't the end of the video, however, as the camera then followed a screaming woman, cradling a little boy who was cut by the 'hero's' lasers.
"Oops." Homelander shrugged. "Wait, how can they be starving, but still have cellphones?"
"Not the point." Ashley said nervously. "I wish you met with me on this-"
"Christ Ashley, I saw an easy win." Homelander rolled his eyes. "How many views?"
"Well, it was posted last night, and we scrubbed it ten minutes later, which is forever on the Internet-"
"Ashley." Homelander grit his teeth and held out his hand, all fingers pointed right at her. "Get. To. The. Fucking. Point."
"You have a lot of blowback." Ashley gulped, as she switched to another video surfaced, portraying people holding signs. On those signs was Homelander face, seemingly crossed out.. "And you're down by ten points."
"What?!" Homelander nearly shouted, causing Ashley to back up in fear, as well as Stormfront to look at him in curiousity. "And they're protesting me? Jesus, can't these filthy ingrates see that I killed that terrorist for them!? That's what Saving America is! How long has it been going on?"
"All afternoon." Ashley's face sank with despair. "The board want you to issue an apology-"
"No." Homelander snapped. "No fucking apologies-"
"Then no comment, at this time." Ashley all but begged. Homelander scoffed, and rolled his eyes. After all, he didn't care about anyone anymore. Not Stillwell, not Becca, not even Ryan. He didn't need their approval.
They didn't want him to comment? Fine. He won't comment. Let the mud people argue amongst themselves from now on. But… he still needed to find the Boys, and unfortunately, with him being busy, he would need these weak people to look out for them.
Homelander shook his head in frustration, and briskly walked into his trailer. Upon entering, he slammed the door shut so hard, the glass shattered.
Music: Constantine's tv show theme
"Bollocks!"
John Constantine sat on a stool in Josie's Bar, downing a shot glass full of whiskey.
"Is this what passes for alcohol here, mate?" the demonologist slurred towards the bartender.
"Well, you're still drinking it." the bartender, a bald black man, pointed out.
"Touche, Cage." Constantine shrugged. "Didn't think you'd come crawling back to Hell's Kitchen after your spat with Kilgrave."
"Let's just say I outgrew being the King of Harlem." Cage muttered.
"That's a load of shite." John snarled. "You only backed off after that super dick came knocking on your door."
"Seems a lot of those guys are knocking on doors lately." Luke Cage nodded, behind John, causing him to swivel on the stool. Standing in the doorway was a man in some kind of riot armor, with golden pauldrons, a red and black helmet, and a badge that read 'Dredd' on it.
"Who the Hell are you?" Constantine asked, as the man began walking towards him.
"John Constantine." Dredd spoke in a commanding voice. "I need your help in finding Tony Stark."
"Stark?" Constantine raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you heard? He's gone off the grid since Thanos wiped everyone out!"
"I heard." Joseph's voice boomed throughout the bar. It was a miracle nobody else looked in their direction. Or perhaps they were too drunk. "But if your reputation is true, you can find him."
"And what is my reputation, mate?" John asked, wearing a half smirk.
"Exorcist, demonologist, master of the dark arts." Dredd listed off. "Known for the Newcastle incident, which left a girl, Astra Logue, damned to Hell-"
"Okay, I get the bloody point." Constantine sneered. "So what is it you want?"
"I need you to perform a locator spell."
"To find Stark?" Constantine asked.
Dredd nodded.
"Bollocks." Constantine sighed, before pulling out a needle from his beige trenchcoat. John held the needle in front of him, and turned towards a map of the United States of America in the far corner.
"Viendes Locuse Tony Stark."
The needle glowed golden, and flew towards the map, embedding itself in a northern area of New York.
"Well, looks like he's living near Lake Placid." Constantine commented. "Surprised you didn't freak."
"What do you mean?" Dredd asked, confused.
"Usually, people are stunned that magic exists." John shrugged. "Oliver Queen was pretty shook when he saw it up close. Even A-Train wet himself after his brother introduced me to him-"
"Thanks." Dredd growled, and began walking out of the bar. He was planning on having him locate Becca as well, but the magician was already rubbing him the wrong way. Constantine had no idea what he's faced. The moment he left, throwing the door back and letting it slam, John turned back to Cage.
"Interesting git, isn't he?"
Dredd walked outside and mounted his motorcycle, just as his cell phone went off. Joseph grit his teeth in frustration. Why hadn't he gotten rid of it when he put his gear back on?
"What is it, Castle?" Dredd growled.
"Don't be a prick, Joe." Frank growled from the other end. "I've been trying to tell you since last night that we found out who Liberty is."
"And?"
"She's Stormfront." Frank answered. "Vought changed her name and moved her around the country like a fucking Catholic priest. We're still not sure if she killed Rawlins, but Annie's helping us figure that out."
"Good." Dredd nodded to himself. "The sooner we find the creep who murdered him, the better."
"Hey, where are you?" Frank asked.
"I'm heading upstate. Gonna see an old friend." Dredd then shut off the phone, revved the engine on the motorcycle, and sped off. Unbeknownst to the Judge, a certain supe, wearing all black armor, crouched on the roof of Josie's, staring at the bike intently.
Black Noir wasn't the only one eyeing Dredd. In the alley of Hell's Kitchen, a woman with the same uniform, sans helmet, as Joseph stayed in the shadows, watching as the form of her mentor blurred into the horizon.
"Dredd… what happened to you?" Anderson wondered, taking out the scrap of newspaper and staring at the photo of Billy Butcher.
Music: "Own Worst Enemy" from Arrow season 2 OST
Frank Castle pocketed his phone, sighing out of tiredness, and approached Diggle, who was looking at the monitors.
"Have you found his wife?" Castle asked.
"That's a negative." Dig murmured. "Vought's been thorough in hiding her. If there are any cameras wherever she is, they must be on a completely different system that's not hooked up to the city's."
"That's why we should ask Smoak." Frank insisted. "She can hack into Vought-"
"No, man." Diggle told him. "Bad enough we got her roped into digging up the Compound V. She has a daughter. If Vought found out she was involved in any way…"
Diggle stopped himself, staring back at the monitors.
"I know." Castle hung his head. "Sorry."
"Frank, I know you're trying to save Billy's… Joseph's family, to make up for being unable to save your own." Diggle told him. "But you can't just bring in other families to help fight your war-"
"You think I don't know that?" Castle nearly shouted. "I'd prefer to do this alone! But there's some things that I can't do on my own!"
Diggle looked at the ground again, sighing heavily.
"I'm sorry. I just miss Lyla, and JJ, and Sara…" Diggle murmured. "And... I don't want to lose another brother, or someone else."
"Queen?" Frank guessed. Diggle looked up at the Punisher and nodded.
"He was my best friend for eight years. I even considered him a brother." Diggle explained. "But there were times I didn't always have his back."
"Such as?" Castle inquired.
Diggle sighed, and stared at Frank.
"You remember the outbreak of the Alpha and Omega Virus?"
"Yeah, it was caused by some terrorists that crashed an infected plane in Star City." Castle scoffed.
"That was the official story the press ate up." Diggle shook his head. "What really happened was the League of Assassins used carriers."
Castle's eyes widened slightly. He heard about the League of Assassins. Some of his brothers in the Corps, including Russo, would talk about them when they passed stories in the barracks. But that's what they were; stories.
"Why are you telling me this?" Frank asked.
"Oliver was forced to join the League under extreme circumstances, in order to destroy them from within." Diggle continued. "To do that, he had to go to extreme lengths to keep up the charade, including kidnapping my wife."
"Lyla." Frank looked down at the ground.
"Yeah. I didn't forgive him for a while, even though she did." Diggle mumbled. "I just couldn't trust him after that, even though he succeeded in killing the League's leader, Ra's Al Ghul. That mistrust kept me from asking Oliver to help investigate my brother's murder, and to open up about my drug problem."
"You said he died of a heart attack." Frank's brow furrowed in confusion, as he remembered the story he gave to Valerie in North Carolina.
"That was a lie." Diggle sighed, placing a hand on his forehead. "Andy's family was killed by some supe, and he turned to the terrorist group HIVE. They promised they'd get him justice against Vought, but they only focused on the Green Arrow and Star City. If I had just listened to Oliver about being cautious of my own brother... maybe Laurel would still be alive."
"Laurel Lance?" Frank stepped back in confusion. "She wasn't part of the half Thanos dusted?"
"Different Laurel from Earth 2." Diggle groaned. "The Laurel from our Earth was killed by HIVE's leader, Damian Darhk, and Andy helped him do it. Instead of a heart attack, like I told you guys the other day, I shot him dead. My own brother, and I killed him in cold blood."
"You did what you had to do." Frank told him, before slightly narrowing his eyes. "And the drug problem?"
"I was taking painkillers to suppress the shaking in my arm." Diggle revealed. "I'm not taking them anymore, but when Oliver found out, he was beyond pissed. Truthfully, he should've kicked me off the team."
"Why didn't he?" Frank asked.
"I don't know." Diggle sighed, looking up towards the ceiling. "There's a lot of things I said and did to Oliver that I regretted. But the biggest one was that he died twice during Crisis, and I wasn't there for him either times."
Dig pinched the bridge of his nose, and looked up at the Punisher.
"Do you know what that's like, Frank? To put your brother through Hell, then not be there for him in his last moments?"
"Can't say I do." Frank murmured. "You can't change what you've done or said. But you can make it right by being there for your brothers now."
Diggle nodded in understanding, before looking at the monitors, seeing Dredd's figure zoom across the street on a motorcycle.
"Joseph's on the move."
"I see him." Castle grunted, as he leaned in close to the monitors. Where did he say he was going again? Upstate?
"Okay. I'm going after Dredd." Frank decided, heading over the black van.
"Do you know where he's going?" Diggle frowned.
"Yeah." Frank nodded, pulling out a small remote. "That tracker he placed on Mesmer? Tagged him with the same one. You coming?"
"No, man." Diggle shook his head. "I better stay here in case Dax and Allyson ever come back."
Castle shrugged, and got into the van. A minute later, the lights flickered on, and the vehicle backed out of the hideout, leaving John alone at the computers.
Queen Maeve pulled a flashdrive, shaped like the Vought logo, from Ruby's corpse, as Agent Kramer walked up to her.
"Oh thank God you got the flashdrive." Kramer grinned, straightening his black suit. "But how are you going to get all these guys?"
Maeve looked out, seeing three men in bright green suits walking towards them, pretending to hold rifles.
"Don't worry."
Maeve turned around, smiling as Starlight and Stormfront approached them.
"Girls get it done!" Stormfront proudly exclaimed.
"Aaaannnd, cut!" Josh shouted, running over to the trio of superheroines. "No one move, please! Mark them closer together, people! Now Starlight, I'm not touching you, but please get closer to Stormfront. Pretend you like her."
"Oh, okay, if I have to!" Starlight playfully laughed, prompting Weaden to walk off.
"You clearly do, since you've been eyefucking me all day." Stormfront grumbled. "And I thought Maeve was the gay one."
"It's not like that!" Starlight quickly said. "I just think you're a good actress! And I feel like a fembot up there-"
Stormfront suddenly walked off, leaving Starlight to stay put and let the crew reapply their makeup. As the lipstick was being put on again, Annie couldn't help but stare at Stormfront, suspicious after what she learned about her just the day before.
Allyson Nelson walked into the Burren Club, seeing three members of the Kitchen Irish sitting at a far table.
"Well, look at what fate brought us today, lads." a red haired man with a beard, named Finn Cooley, exclaimed. "Grotto, go see about the lass."
A man in a brown leather jacket and unkempt hair, presumably Grotto, walked over to Allyson, looking her in the eye.
"Well, she looks like a good bite-"
Allyson kicked him in the shin, making Grotto go on one knee, and gripped his right ear. Finn and his accomplice, a man in a suit named Nesbitt, got up in alarm, as Allyson ripped part of Grotto's face completely off. Nesbitt barrelled towards her, attempting to throw a punch, but Allyson easily dodged, before grabbing his head and twisting it around a complete one hundred and eighty degrees.
Finn pulled out a pistol, and began shooting at Allyson.
"You fucking cunt!" Cooley yelled, firing round after round. Allyson kept walking towards him, the bullets not fazing her in the slightest. She had taken gunshots before, not to mention being tortured with a power drill, and that was without the Compound V.
Once Allyson got close enough, she grabbed Finn's arm and snapped it like a twig. As the Irishman screamed, she grabbed the gun, jamming the barrel end into his eye and killing him instantly. With the Kitchen Irish dead, she proceeded to walk out the backdoor, just as Dax came in through the front.
"Holy fuck." Dax murmured, looking at the carnage, before continuing to follow the girl.
Music: "Anderson's Theme" from Dredd
Frank drove through the alleys and backroads of New York, careful not to be spotted often. Just as he turned a corner, he noticed a peculiar female individual hiding in an alley, wearing a similar uniform to Dredd's.
"What the Hell?" Castle thought, parking the car right in front of the alley. As he stopped the vehicle, he looked out, just in time to see the woman turn away and run off.
"Hey, stop!" Frank shouted. "Are you a friend of Dredd's?"
The woman stopped, and turned around.
"How do you know?"
"You're wearing a similar uniform to him." Frank grunted. "Lucky guess."
"My name's Anderson." the woman stated, pointing to her badge.
"Where's your helmet?" Castle asked.
"It interferes with my… psychic abilities." Anderson explained.
"They still have supes where you two are from?" Frank asked.
"What are supes?" Anderson frowned. Frank shook his head, before looking back to her.
"You're looking for Dredd?"
"Yes. How do you know of him?"
"I didn't." Frank grunted. "He introduced himself as someone else."
"Like this?" Anderson inquired, pulling out a piece of newspaper with the face of Billy Butcher, as well as his name.
"Yeah." Frank nodded.
"Do you know where he is?" Anderson asked.
"I know where he'll be going." Frank offered. "You need a lift, Anderson?"
Anderson looked towards the van, then back at Castle.
"Sure."
The pair walked towards the van, and after entering, the vehicle drove back down the street.
"How much did Dredd tell you?" Anderson asked.
"Not much." Frank admitted. "Just that he came from the year 2111, in a place called Mega City One, and the law enforcement officers there are called Judges."
"And you're not surprised."
"Ma'am, I watched some people crumble to dust before my eyes." the Punisher revealed. "And I watched my family die in front of me. Nothing much surprises me anymore."
"I'm… sorry to hear that." Anderson said solemnly, as she used her psychic talent to see into Frank's mind. How a man with superspeed ran through his wife and children. How he met Dredd, who went by Billy Butcher at the time. How he killed the man who murdered his family, then took it upon himself to kill supes-
"You can stop now." Frank told her. Anderson blinked.
"What?"
"You can get out of my head now, Anderson."
Anderson opened and closed her mouth, at a loss for words.
"How did you know?"
"You were eyeballing me, and not saying a word." Frank told her. "That, and my brain felt like it was being picked at with ice cold fingers."
"Sorry." Anderson mumbled, as she turned her head back to the front of the road.
Starlight walked into the lunch tent, looking around and seeing Stormfront talking with her mother. Her eyes widened for two reasons; one, because Donna was there at all, and two, because it was Stormfront talking to her.
"Mom?" Starlight asked, walking over to the two. "What're you doing here?"
"Oh, she was just telling me about the hero pageants you went to." Stormfront smiled, drinking from a cup and straw. "Lucky you. My mom never let me. 'Adele doesn't walk into this shit', she'd always say."
"Honey, I just wanted to see you." Donna said sweetly. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to ambush you or anything."
"I think we need to talk about this in private." Starlight said slowly.
"Hey Donna, can I just tell her?" Stormfront whined.
"Tell me what?" Starlight asked, confused.
"Donna is just so sorry about the whole Compound V thing." Stormfront announced.
"And I'm so sorry I propped you up to make myself look good, I see that now." Donna insisted.
"Mom, why are you talking to a stranger about this?" Starlight inquired.
"She's not a stranger, she's your team mate." Donna protested.
"She's a stranger to you." Starlight pointed out.
"Look, Annie, the whole world knows about Compound V now." Donna told her daughter. "Lots of parents did the same thing I did. I just want you to forgive me."
"Is that supposed to make it better?" Starlight was baffled. She closed her eyes, and shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry, but this is not the time, nor the place-"
"Look, everyone's pissed about Compound V." Stormfront interrupted. "I mean, someone leaked it to the press! You got any idea how mad they must be? Whoever they are..."
Starlight's eyes slightly widened in mortification. Did she know?
"I'll just let you two hash it out." Stormfront declared, standing up from the table. "But, if it was me, I'd be grateful to have a mom like Donna."
As Stormfront left, Donna took her seat to be closer to Annie.
"Annie, will you please forgive me?" Donna pleaded. Starlight looked down at the table, feeling tears springing forth from her eyes.
"I'd better get back to set." Starlight said, standing up. "Do you need someone to drive you back to the hotel?"
"No. I can get a cab." Donna murmured. Starlight slightly nodded, and walked away, leaving her mother heartbroken.
Judge Dredd parked his motorcycle right in front of a small lake house, dismounting from the motorcycle and marched up the steps. Once he got to the front door, he sharply knocked three times, and the door opened to reveal a man with black hair and a mustache, as well as a goatee, and wearing glasses. On closer inspection, the sides of his hair had shades of white to them.
"Tony Stark." Dredd spoke in a low voice.
"Who the Hell are you?" Stark asked snidely, as a woman with red hair stood behind him, holding onto what looked like a three year old child.
"Tony, who is it?" the woman asked.
"Pepper, take Morgan upstairs." Tony called back.
"My name is Judge Dredd." Joseph introduced himself. Tony stared closely, trying to see past Dredd's visor.
"Butcher?" Tony asked. "William Butcher?"
"How did-"
Dredd stopped, mentally reminding himself that he worked as head of security of Stark Industries, years ago. While though, he quickly found out that Stark had come up with an invention for everything. And most likely, he had installed some type of program in those glasses to identify him.
"Sorry, force of habit with wearing EDITH." Tony apologized, taking off his glasses. "But I thought you died during the Battle of New York."
"Not dead." Dredd grunted. "Went off grid after what Homelander did to my wife."
"Yeah, I hacked into SHIELD's and CIA's files." Stark told the Judge. "I saw the footage. I'm sorry that happened to you."
"I'm not here for your pity, Stark."
"Of course not, you can get that from some cheap scotch." Tony humorlessly smirked.
"I need vibranium."
Tony's face fell.
"Who told you I have it?"
"Hammer."
"Of course he would." Stark muttered.
"Do you have it?"
"Of course I do. I took Captain America's shield." Tony scoffed. "But that's the only vibranium I have, since Wakanda closed its borders off after Thanos snapped half the universe away."
Tony stared at his former head of security, wearing a look of mild annoyance and confusion.
"What do you want with the vibranium anyway?"
"I'm going to kill Homelander." Dredd said bluntly.
"There's no weapon that can kill him." Tony groaned.
"I think there is." Dredd pressed, stepping into the house. "My wife is alive."
"What?" Tony stepped back in shock.
"Becca, she's alive." Dredd repeated. "And I've got to save her from that creep."
Dredd held up the ammo crate he had taken from Justin Hammer, and opened it up, revealing the Judas Bullets.
"I just need you to break these down, make them compatible to these-" Dredd pulled out a clip full of armor piercing rounds for the Lawgiver. "And mold vibranium tips onto them."
Tony sighed, looking at the Judge.
"Fine, I'll help you make the miracle bullets." Stark said sarcastically, as he led Joseph to the basement.
Dax continued trailing Allyson, following her into Clinton Church, where she sat in a pew next to Valkyrie. The mercenary's eyes widened, as his old friend passed Nelson an envelope.
"Val?" Dax asked, his mouth agape. Both Allyson and Valkyrie turned around, seeing his shocked expression. "You're paying her to take hits?"
"Well, I'm not paying her. The Albanians are." Valkyrie shrugged. "I told you, she's not some kitten in a tree."
Dax stepped closer, and knelt next to Allyson.
"Allyson, I know you blame yourself for Cameron's death." Dax said softly. "But this isn't the way. Trust me, I know."
"What do you know?" Allyson snarled, standing up. "You've done shit like this."
"I know that you're not a monster." Dax tried to reason. "I know you blame yourself for what happened to Cameron, but it's not to late-"
"Shut up!" Allyson shouted, roughly pushing Dax away. "You don't know anything about me! How can you say I'm not a monster, when I had already killed two people long before I had Compound V pumped in me?"
Dax looked around, only now noticing the three of them weren't alone. If anyone paid attention to them, they didn't show it.
"You know what, fuck this. Fuck you." Dax threw his hands up in frustration. "Be a monster for all I care."
With that, Dax walked out of the church, leaving Valkyrie and Allyson alone.
"You still gonna take it?" Valkyrie asked, holding out the envelope. Allyson glared at the other woman, before snatching the envelope and storming out of the church.
Dredd and Tony entered the lake house's basement, seeing a large metallic ring made of pipes. In the corner, amongst all the scrap junk and tools, was an old box television, which was depicting protestors. The protestors held up signs of Homelander, with his face crossed out and calling him a war criminal. At the center was a woman with a microphone. Congresswoman Neumann, if Dredd remembered correctly.
"Homelander's war crime is in direct violation of the Sokovia Accords!" Neumanna declared, as the crowd cheered. "The supes, and the Seven, need to realize that no one is above the law!"
"Glad to see people are finally realizing how much of a dick he is." Stark commented, as he rummaged through the junk and pulled out a circular shield, painted red and white, with a star in the middle of a blue circle. "I can't believe that Cap and I were fighting over a law that hasn't been doing jack shit. Ironic, we need it more than ever now."
"What happened?" Dredd asked.
"You didn't hear?" Tony frowned. "He was stopping a 'super terrorist', and killed a kid in the process."
"They do that all the time." Dredd noted. "Guess someone finally recorded it."
Tony glumly nodded, and set the shield down in front of the pipes, above a metal tray.
"What is this?" Dredd asked.
"Miniature particle accelerator." Tony revealed. "I helped build the bigger one at STAR Labs over in Central City."
"And this will cut through the vibranium?"
"No, it'll melt it." Tony told him, as he approached what looked like a valve wheel, and turned it a little ways to the right. Dredd looked at the pipe, seeing an opened window, with a prism moving slightly.
"I'd advise you to stand back." Tony suggested, grabbing some goggles and putting them over his face. Dredd obliged, and stood behind Stark.
"FRIDAY, turn the power on."
"You got it, boss."
Music: "Mark I" from Iron Man
A blue beam shot out of the particle accelerator and hit the shield, where Dredd noticed it began to instantly heat up. A few moments later, the shield melted, the heated up vibranium collecting in the tray.
"Power levels reaching maximum capacity." FRIDAY warned, just as the last of the shield had melted.
"FRIDAY, shut it down." Tony ordered, and the blue beam ceased. Dredd and Stark walked over to the tray, where the inventor picked it up and set it onto the table.
"I'm sorry Steve." Stark murmured grimly, as he grabbed another smaller tray with holes in it. "Hold this for me."
Dredd held onto the plastic tray, and Tony carefully poured the vibranium into each of the holes.
"Okay, it'll take time for vibranium to cool, so why don't you hand me the actual rounds?"
Dredd opened up the ammo crate and pulled out a Judas Bullet, while simultaneously taking out a clip of his armor piercing rounds.
"Impressive." Tony commented, staring at the two different rounds. "Are you sure this will work?"
"The last time I saw Homelander, he had a bruise on his face." Dredd explained. "There's only one weapon that could possibly do that. One that no one has tried yet."
"And your wife might have it." Tony connected the dots, as he stared at the armor piercers. "Why do you need the Judas Bullets then?"
"I want to make sure they'll go through." Dredd deadpanned gruffly. "Make sure they get the job done."
"Understandable." Stark nodded, as he picked up a clamp from a nearby table and pulled the tip of the Judas Bullet off. Then, after picking up a pair of twin, tweezer-like tools, Stark pulled out the inner shrapnel, as well as a small, rectangular piece.
"What's that supposed to do?" Dredd asked, pointing to the small component.
"That allows the bullet to drill into its target." Stark explained. "Once fired, the bullet will eat into the substance, before exploding."
"Interesting." Dredd nodded, watching Tony take one of the armor piercing rounds and pull the tip off with another clamp, and poured the gunpowder out onto the floor. Carefully, Tony took the insides of the Judas Bullet, and placed them into the armor piercer's shell.
"Is there an actual reason you need them in the shell casing?" Stark asked, picking up another round.
"In order for them to be fired." Dredd stated bluntly. Tony bit back a curse and nodded, continuing to load the rounds by hand.
Stormfront sat in her trailer, staring at the photo of her mother. Or at least, who everyone thought was her mother. She let out a heavy sigh, holding out a finger to touch the photo's cheek. God, did she miss her. Not a day went by when she didn't-
Suddenly, someone knocked on Stormfront's trailer door, and she looked up.
"Come in!" she said cheerfully, seeing Homelander enter.
"I need your help."
"If this is about A-Train's recasting for Dawn of the Seven, I already said to go with Terrence Howard." Stormfront smirked. "The audience won't know the difference, they all look the same!"
"Not that." Homelander chastised. "I need your help in sweeping this under the rug."
"You mean what happened this morning?" Stormfront grinned. "Honestly, you accidentally kill one towelhead, and everyone and their mother is crying like a bitch."
"You're not wrong, but you seem to have a way with... speaking to the masses." Homelander noted. "I need your help in calming this bullshit down."
"No problem, I'll just have Logan churn these out."
Stormfront walked over to her counter and opened a laptop, revealing all these memes of Homelander. One depicted the incident he caused today, right next to an image of the World Trade Center being destroyed.
Better here, than there, the image said.
"Where'd you get these?" Homelander asked, seeing another meme with the words Opinions don't save nations.
"Logan, my meme queen." Stormfront smiled. "Really, it's amazing what a few Arby's gift cards can get you."
"Interesting." Homelander smiled. "So how does this work?"
"Oh, you know... a few memes here, an emotional speech there." Stormfront grinned. "They'll be back to sucking your dick in no time."
Homelander snorted, but kept his smile.
"So why do you need everyone to calm down over this shit?" Stormfront asked. "I thought you didn't care about what anyone thought?"
"I don't." Homelander admitted. "But I need them to find some assholes who've been fucking with us. I can't be everywhere at once. Especially when I'm supposed to be here..."
Tony finished with gutting the Judas Bullets and placing them into the armor piercing rounds, just as the vibranium round tips cooled off. Stark picked up a flat jaw gad tong, and slowly picked the tips out of the tray, placing them carefully into the shell casings.
"That's it?" Dredd asked, picking up one of the rounds.
"Not quite." Stark told him, grabbing the round back and heading to a bullet press machine at the back. Tony set the bullet onto the press, and yanked the lever down, where the vibranium tip was slammed into the shell. Stark repeated this over twenty times, until all the rounds were ready to fire.
"Now, just fire them into whatever gun you used those rounds in, and voila." Tony told the Judge.
"Thanks." Dredd grunted, putting the new and improved rounds back in the clip.
Right when Joseph and Tony walked back up the stairs, they both heard knocking at the door, and Stark sighed.
"Who is it now?" Tony groaned, throwing open the door to find two individuals. One of them, a male, was wearing a kevlar vest with a white skull crudely painted on it. The other, a woman, wore a uniform strikingly similar to Dredd's, but without a helmet.
"Anderson?" Dredd asked, addressing the woman.
"It's good to see you again, Dredd." Anderson nodded.
"How'd you get here?"
"We followed you in the van." Castle explained, pointing to the black van parked next to the motorcycle.
"No, I mean how did you get to this time?" Joseph asked Anderson.
"Project Proteus." his former protegee revealed. "The Tek Judges figured out where Stich sent you."
"And your assignment is to bring me back." Dredd guessed. Anderson nodded.
"You're wasting your time." Dredd growled, preparing to get onto his motorcycle. Just as he was about to rev the engine, he stared into the mirrors on the handlebars, seeing a figure hiding amongst the trees, all dressed in black.
"Drokk." Joseph grimaced. "Black Noir's here."
"He must've followed us." Frank muttered, pulling out his guns.
"Or me." Dredd grumbled. "Where's Nelson?"
"Not here." Frank pointed out. "Dax has been following her around Hell's Kitchen. Dig's still at the hideout."
"Then be prepared for a fight." Dredd grimaced, before turning to Tony. "Mister Stark, I'd advise you to stay in your house. This is not your battle."
Tony nodded, and shut the door.
Dredd, Anderson, and Frank turned towards the treeline, seeing Black Noir begin to walk towards them, with his palms slightly raised. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the lawman. Frank was the first to shoot, holding up his pistol and firing a volley of rounds. Anderson was about to follow suit, mostly out of instinct, until Dredd placed his hand over her Lawgiver.
"Stand down." Dredd growled. "You too, Castle."
"What do you mean, stand down?" Castle snarled. "That's Black Noir right there! And we all know that he's Michael Myers underneath the suit!"
"Nelson was able to calm him in the tunnels." Dredd told him, as Black Noir got closer to them. The supe finally got within reaching distance of them, and simply stood there, breathing heavily.
"What do you want, Myers?" Frank growled in a low voice.
Black Noir didn't say anything, and instead, slightly tilted his head downward. Dredd followed the movement, noticing there was a small camera attached to his chest. Joseph's hand curled into a fist, and he smashed the camera with a single punch, making Black Noir step back slightly.
A cell phone suddenly rang, and Black Noir answered, holding it up to where his ear would be.
"Black Noir, your camera has malfunctioned. What's happening-"
Black Noir ended the call, and quickly snapped the entire phone in half. The supe proceeded to take off his mask of black fabric and metal, revealing his bald face with white stubble. Dredd watched, as he dug his fingers into his shoulder, ripping past his suit's fabric and his flesh. Noir eventually pulled his fingers back, revealing a small metallic tube, which he crushed underfoot.
"Allyson…" Michael murmured.
"She's not here." Dredd informed. Michael stared at the three of them for what seemed like hours, until he began walking towards the van.
"What are you doing?" Frank asked, as Myers opened the van doors and climbed in. Michael didn't answer, and instead sat in the back, patiently waiting.
"He wants us to take him to her." Anderson announced, having read his mind. Michael slowly turned towards the Judge and nodded.
"Well, let's hope Dax brought her back then." Frank muttered, as he climbed into the van and entered the driver's seat.
"Are you coming, Anderson?" Dredd asked, getting onto his motorcycle.
"Sir, I'm supposed to bring you back to Mega City One-" Anderson said, but was interrupted.
"Right now there are greater priorities." Dredd scowled, as he revved up the bike. "You can come along, or you can go back."
Anderson grit her teeth, but she nevertheless climbed into the passenger seat of the van. The Punisher started the engine, and they all left Tony Stark's lake house.
In Vought Tower, Stan Edgar stared at the blank tablet worriedly. This man, with an outfit similar to Gunpowder's, had shattered Black Noir's body camera, then presumably destroyed the cellphone designed to only receive calls from the president of Vought himself: him. Even more worrisome was the fact that Frank Castle, who Homelander outed the other day as the Punisher, had called him Myers. If they knew who Black Noir really was... it would only be a matter of time before it would be made public, unless these individuals were found and silenced.
For the first time in his adult life, Stan Edgar shuddered in fear.
Music: "Escape the Base" from the Punisher
Starlight waited at a food truck, patiently tapping her foot for the person ahead of her to finish their order. She looked to her left, seeing that Stormfront and her agents walking out of her trailer, and an idea suddenly went off in her head. Annie left the line at the food truck, ignoring the growling in her stomach, and silently walked up the trailer's steps, opening the door and slipping inside.
The inside of the trailer looked decent. All cleaned up, no mess. Stormfront's black backpack was draped over a chair, and on the table in front of it was a laptop. Starlight opened up the computer, seeing the monitor locked by a password, and typed in LIBERTY.
Incorrect Password.
Starlight looked around the trailer, her eyes settling on a photo of Stormfront with an old lady. It must be her mother. What was her name?
Oh that's right. Adele. She told her that when running her mouth to Donna.
Annie was about to type the password in, but suddenly hesitated, turning her head slightly to the right. Next to the laptop, on the edge of the table, was a Translucent comic book. The invisible supe was caught in crosshairs, while a man wearing a blue jumpsuit was drawn at the far left of the comic, holding a sniper rifle. The blue suit had a bright white skull painted on the chest, and the man wore white gloves and white boots. Above the man's head was the caption, "He's different, he's deadly, he's... the Punisher!"
Annie scoffed, realizing this was Vought Comic's version of Frank, to propagate that he's an evil terrorist and killer. But the thing that made Annie rolled her eyes more was the ridiculous costume they drew him in. Castle didn't wear anything like what was portrayed on that comic cover.
Starlight turned her attention back to the computer, put in the password ADELE, and slightly smiled when she was granted access to the computer's emails. Her smirk was quickly erased, however, when she saw all the emails were either addressed or about one place in particular.
Smith's Grove Sanitarium.
Starlight suddenly heard the trailer door open, and she shut the computer, just as Stormfront walked in.
"What the fuck are you doing in my trailer?" Stormfront asked, her eyebrows raised.
"You know, you had no right to talk to my mother about personal shit." Starlight told her, folding her arms over her chest. "What are you trying to prove?"
"Alright, sorry." Stormfront rolled her eyes. "I was just trying to help-"
"She didn't just lie to me about Compound V." Starlight revealed, choking up from tears threatening to pour down her face. "She lied about everything. So don't try to broker a peace between us, because I don't want it."
Stormfront looked at the ground for a moment, with a ghost of a smile on her face.
"Wow. Now that is one Hell of a performance." Stormfront smiled. "I mean, you almost got me weepy. You don't suck, Starlight! You're like Tilda fucking Swinton! Oh, by the way, I know you leaked it."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yes you do." Stormfront grinned bigger. "Guess the magic's gone. But I'll spell it out, since you're playing retard: that hack-a-limb Gecko, he stole the Compound V, then you gave it to MSNBC. How do you think Vought's going to feel when I tell them?"
"How do you think the world's going to feel when I tell them you used to be Liberty?" Starlight shot back.
"Well, how about that." Stormfront feigned shock. "You are a special kind of poison flower, for going against your own people."
"What people? White people?" Starlight inquired.
"Don't be racist, I'm talking about superheroes." Stormfront taunted. Starlight's anger flared, and her eyes glowed, making the lights in the trailer flicker.
"Aw, that's adorable!" Stormfront laughed, completely unfazed. "Really, Starlight, you got spunk. You're going to be a big help."
"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Starlight asked, just as they both heard knocking on the door again.
"Come in!" Stormfront called out, and Homelander entered the trailer.
"Am I… interrupting something?" Homelander asked.
"Nope, not at all." Stormfront smirked. "Starlight and I were just finishing our lines."
"That we were." Starlight wore a fake grin, as she walked out of the trailer.
"Can't wait to shoot our scene together!" Stormfront called out, before shutting the door and turning back to Homelander. "So, what's up?"
"I am." Homelander grinned. "By five points. People are calling me patriotic."
"Oh, that's so great!" Stormfront said in a baby voice, while clapping her hands. "And here I thought you didn't care about the opinions of these mud people."
"I don't." Homelander countered, as he pulled out a small video camera. "I just need them to be onboard for what's next…"
Diggle sat at the computers in the hideout, Dax standing next to him, and watching footage of the Punisher's van and Dredd's motorcycle riding through the streets, when he overheard the news on the television in the corner.
"This just in, we are receiving video footage from Homelander himself." the news anchor announced, as the scene suddenly shifted to Homelander's smiling face. Behind him was the background of the American flag.
"Hello, New York!" Homelander smiled wide. "This is Homelander! Somewhere in this city are five criminals."
Allyson walked down the streets of Hell's Kitchen, when she came across a television in the display window. On the screen were images of herself, Frank, Dax, Billy Butcher, and Diggle, as well as their names.
"We all know who they are." Homelander continued speaking. "They're the ones who actually killed Translucent. They've also killed A-Train, and now the Deep. I also just heard that they kidnapped Black Noir. I want them found, and brought to justice."
"Shit." Allyson muttered, turning around and running through the streets.
"Now, I can't do everything. I can't be everywhere at once." Homelander smirked, as Stormfront focused the camera on him in one of Vought's studios. "And I know that the CIA isn't doing shit, so I implore you all to help us hunt them down."
Frank, Dredd, Anderson, and Black Noir entered the hideout and walked up the stairs, staring at the television as Homelander kept speaking.
"Remember, you guys are the real heroes." Homelander said. "Anyone who won't help bring these criminals to justice, I'd suggest staying in your homes until they're found. If I hear anyone is helping them, you will be charged with aiding and abetting murderers and terrorists. But if you're as sick of these cocksuckers as I am, then I strongly encourage you to help us find them. And as for you, Butcher, and your little club… sit tight, or run. Makes no difference to me. We'll find you, eventually."
The television switched back to the news anchor, who cleared his throat.
"As you could see, that was Homelander, confirming that A-Train and the Deep are, indeed, dead-"
Diggle shut off the tv, as Dredd grimaced, realizing Homelander just reignited the manhunt against them.
"Drokk."
A/N: I changed some of the parts with Homelander and Stormfront, especially with adding his message for the Boys, because honestly, I want the pressure to be upped for Frank, Dredd, and their friends. I know, they're living in the basement of a pawn shop in the actual series, and they keep themselves disguised, but they never actually show what happens when someone actually realizes it's them. Hell, in the episode the next chapter is based on (The Bloody Doors Off), the Boys go into a hospital, and not a single person tries to stop them and alert the authorities, apparently. So the next chapter will show a little bit of the manhunt against the Boys. It'll mostly be in Frank's segments though, kinda like the bounty hunters in Punisher season 2.
Oh, I also cut out the scene where Homelander interrupts the protest because I'm saving that scene for later in the story. Much later.
And I changed the Black Noir fight scene because with the way I wrote him, I don't think he'd get into a fight with them since he knows Allyson is helping them.
Last thing, starting next chapter, all the chapters will be extended out to 10,000+ words. Just a heads up on that one.
Until next time.