Writer's Note:
At first, I considered having Shadow face the Ghost Rider. But then, I decided to have him fight The Punisher. Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form, seeks out strong foes. So, we shall see how he fares against one of the Marvel universe's strongest antiheroes. Reader discretion advised; this may be kind of violent.
Seqoya, Florida; a massive city on par with New York. It almost rivaled Manhattan as one of America's largest and most important cities with buildings that could nearly touch the sky. Be it in the daytime or during the night, Seqoya was incredible, full of tourist spots and many historic landmarks that could've served as one of the many wonders of the world.
By day, the city was busy and crowded. But at night, there wasn't much hustle and bustle even though cars still drove around and people often went walking. Luckily for the casual citizen or visitor, Seqoya did not take away New York's well-known title of "The City That Never Sleeps", the town's politicians made sure of that and so did the President of the United Federation.
Now that you know about our main location, this is where our story begins. It was a dark night, the stars were gleaming and the full moon was in the sky, bringing light to what was usually a dark city in the nighttime. Many people had gone to bed while others stayed up, while the city looked safe and crime-free in the day, night time was when criminals played.
Downtown, the Seqoya Bank was closed, but its security wasn't very efficient. Tonight was going to be the first time in a long time when one of America's most important banks came under attack. Motorcycle engines rumbled as men dressed in black approached the building, their guns fully loaded and TNT explosives ready to be used.
However, when it came to the scum of Seqoya, this town was not undefended. Every night, whenever the criminals roamed, someone stepped in to do what the police were supposed to do. He had been roaming around for years, protecting people in his own way and punishing those who harmed the innocent, the man's name was known only as... The Punisher.
Just before the criminals could initiate their attack on the bank, a gunshot rang out and one of the gang members went down. A small pool of blood was streaming from his head and his eyes were closed. Warren Breykowt, a known member of the Dynagun Crookers, was now dead, having been punished for his many criminal activities.
More gunshots rang out and bullets pierced the heads of the other gang members in seconds. Joel Skrach, Carlos Kent, Andy Zakon, Little Lou and Big Bradly were all dead as well. On this night, justice had come for them and they'd been punished. Knowing what was afoot, Lucky Marko, the gang leader, ditched his weapons and climbed onto his motorbike.
Lucky Marko hadn't always been a criminal, he'd served in the marines for a time until he was discharged from service after an incident that nearly cost him and his entire unit their lives. After leaving military service and with his family on the verge of becoming broke, Marko turned to a life of crime out of desperation to save his would-be bankrupt family.
If there was one thing he didn't expect, it was that his life as a crook would lead to him becoming the target of the vigilante known as The Punisher. Marko had heard stories about him, just as he'd heard many legends about the mysterious Ghost Rider. Just as the Ghost Rider went around and punished bad guys, The Punisher went after criminals too.
On countless occasions, in the years since he became a crime gang leader, Marko had earned his reputation as Lucky Marko since he'd evaded the hand of justice with his well-trusted gang members countless times. But now, since he knew The Punisher was close by, Marko finally realized the error of his ways. He pulled out a cross necklace and began praying for forgiveness.
The now remorseful criminal drove as fast as he could to get away from the one who'd shot down his "associates", Marko prayed and thought about his family. His wife and their children were still alive, waiting for him to come home. But he knew he may not survive; however, he would see them again one day.
BLAM! A bullet shot the back wheel tire of Marko's bike, gas oozed out of it and the motorcycle swerved before crashing into a fire hydrant. Marko fell off his ride, dazed and slightly injured. He heard footsteps and looked up to see The Punisher walking towards him, wearing his black skull shirt and black leather jacket, his gun primed and ready.
One look at the skull on The Punisher's shirt and it was clear to Marko that The Punisher was the bringer of death and his companion was the Grim Reaper, who followed him wherever he went. Marko held his cross that he'd carried around for many years, he'd known that what he was doing was wrong, but he had been desperate. He wasn't a bad person, he just had bad luck.
The Punisher pointed his gun at Marko's head, ready to do what he was meant to do. "You have eluded justice for too long and now it is served." Frank Castle said, he pulled the trigger and the bullet fired. Seconds later, Marko lay dead on the ground. The Punisher blew away the smoke emitting from the tip of his gun and smiled with pride, tonight was a good night for him.
Rumbling motorcycle engines from nearby attracted Frank's attention, he turned and spotted a group of skinhead Neo-Nazis coming his way. Neo-Nazis; everyone's least favorite people who tried to honor the dark legacy of the Third Reich from decades past. The Punisher reloaded his gun, primed it and took aim at the incoming Neo-Nazi bikers.
BLAM, BLAM, BLAM! CRASH! The dark-clad antihero rapidly pulled the trigger and shot the bikers, the Neo Nazis fell and their motorbikes crashed over in a heap. Justice had now been served to the forces of Neo-Nazism, another massive defeat for the long-vanquished dictator Adolf Hitler, who was influencing these crazy Fascist wannabes from beyond the grave.
Watching the Neo Nazis fall as he smiled again, The Punisher sheathed his gun inside his pocket and strolled through the city suburbs, breathing in the night air and looking out for more punishable dastardly deviants. Just then, he heard a strange sound, a noise that sounded like someone was using some kind of warping device to teleport themselves somewhere.
KER-SHWRP! The noises continued and The Punisher could feel the presence of someone watching and stalking him, preparing to strike at any time. With chills crawling up his spine as he heard the odd sound again, The Punisher turned to see someone approaching him through the darkness. As the figure came closer, Frank could see it looked like... a black hedgehog?
"You are quite something, Frank Castle the Punisher." Shadow the Hedgehog said with a sneer.
"Just who the hell are you, hedgehog? Are you challenging me?" Frank growled in response.
"I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form, and I seek strong foes. This is who I am."
"And what does that mean?"
"You fit the bill; I've seen you. Now prepare yourself for the ultimate punishing, Punisher."
"This should be damn interesting, I can't wait to gun you down, Shadow the Hedgehog."
Frank pulled out his machine gun and fired on Shadow, trying to gun him down. The dark hedgehog just teleported out of the way with a smirk, avoiding the bullets even before they'd gotten close to him. Shadow reappeared behind The Punisher and whacked him in the head with a roundhouse kick so hard, he knocked Frank to the ground.
"Hmph." The dark hedgehog mused as The Punisher groaned, "I didn't think you'd last five seconds, you're just pathetic." Upon hearing what he perceived as an insult, The Punisher got back on his feet and pointed his guns at Shadow. He yelled at the Ultimate Life Form for insulting him and pulled the trigger, sending countless bullets at Shadow.
While The Punisher did his best to aim for his target, the dark hedgehog dodged out of the way of each bullet and he ducked when Frank threw a knife at him. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow yelled and he threw a Chaos Energy-made spear from his hand towards the mercenary. Frank tried to dodge, but the energy spear hit him in the knee and went through it like a bullet.
"OW! SH*T!" Frank yelled. He kneeled over and grasped his injured knee, Shadow appeared behind The Punisher, grabbed him by the scruff of the jacket and tossed him into a nearby lamp post. The impact was so hard, The Punisher felt as if he'd just been thrown in front of an oncoming train. He fell on his back and lay there for a while, motionless, but still alive.
He rolled over, groaning in a bit of agony. Frank rose to one unhurt leg and slowly stood up, even though he felt pain from using his other leg that had just been injured. The Punisher cracked his knuckles and tilted his head from side to side, glaring at Shadow in a very intimidating manner and letting him know that they weren't done yet.
The black hedgehog picked up one of Frank's firearms and smirked tauntingly, looking forward to the fact that they would be fighting for a bit longer. "You're very persistent, Mr. Punisher." Shadow mused, "But you're nothing compared to Black Doom." Boiling with irritation and ignoring the pain in his leg, Frank took a step forward and began to run towards Shadow.
Running with an injured leg was hard, but the pain fed The Punisher's adrenaline just as anger fueled it. Frank had fought many battles against many enemies and he was not about to let some dark hedgehog outclass him, there could only be one Punisher. Shadow aimed his pistol at the black-clad man and fired off a few shots, watching as the bullets headed right for Frank.
With barely enough distance for The Punisher to close between himself and Shadow, he cried out as a bullet struck him in the right shoulder and another hit him in the left arm. It was so agonizing, it felt like two darts had gone through him. Frank swerved to avoid being hit by another shot from Shadow, he approached him from a different side and pounced.
The Ultimate Life Form teleported out of the way, vanishing into thin air before The Punisher could tackle him. As Frank looked around for his foe, while reclaiming some of his dropped weapons, Shadow snuck up and drop-kicked The Punisher in the legs. Between getting shot and getting kicked, the kick hurt him as equally as when he'd gotten shot in the knee.
Frank fell over, but just as he was about to hit the pavement, Shadow froze time with Chaos Control and kicked him up into the air as if The Punisher was only a ragdoll. "Damn it!" The skilled mercenary groaned; he could not believe what he was going through. Just before gravity could take hold, Shadow teleported in front of him and whacked Frank in the face with both fists.
The strong vigilante fell back towards the earth, but right as he was about to hit solid ground, the flow of time suddenly began slowing to a crawl. Shadow appeared; his rings aglow as he used Chaos Control. KER-POW! The dark hedgehog gave The Punisher another roundhouse kick that sent him crashing into a Seqoya Taxi cab that was parked nearby.
As Frank crashed into the vehicle, the weight and impact of his landing upon the taxi cab severely dented the hood and shattered half the windows. In the following seconds, the taxi's lights lit up and the car alarm began honking like crazy. "Oh, my back!" The Punisher groaned, feeling intense pain in his spine from the impact, "My back, urgh!"
His fighting spirit was still there, but continuing the fight was hard to do now, especially since he'd just taken some injuries. Frank was about to rise again when Shadow teleported up to him with his own knife, the dark hedgehog looked into The Punisher's eyes and stabbed him in the other knee. Frank Castle yelled in pain, it felt like he'd just gotten a massive needle in his leg.
Shadow removed the knife, picked up Frank and slammed him into the pavement so hard, it seemed to bruise The Punisher even more and he almost felt as though some bones in his body were now broken. At this point, the battle was over, Shadow was number one. Frank knew that not only did he have some physical injuries; his pride and spirit were wounded as well.
"Just look at yourself." The dark hedgehog mused coldly as he turned The Punisher over on his back so he could look at him in the eye, "You who once thought you were the coolest, but now you've just been outmatched by the Ultimate Life Form. So, 'Punisher'? What are you going to do now? Farewell until we meet again one day, it's been... quite an experience."
With those very words, Shadow teleported away, leaving The Punisher behind as he lay on the ground. Frank groaned in pain, unable to move a limb. It would be a while before he healed, in fact, it may as well be a long time before he could punish anybody again. Despite feeling a sense of shock initially, Frank Castle felt nothing else but anger and resentment towards Shadow.
Meanwhile, in a vast desert, the silence of the night was broken as a bright light flashed and Shadow appeared. He stood upon a rock, crossing his arms and smiling as he looked up at the moon. Shadow savored this night, knowing that he would never forget such a memorable battle like that, it felt good to defeat such a strong foe like The Punisher.
Just then, the mood shifted. The dark hedgehog heard the rumbling of motorcycle engines nearby and turned to see a man with a flaming skull for a head dismounting his ride, clad in a dark biker's outfit. The man approached Shadow as his dark eyes gleamed blood red, the Ultimate Life Form braced himself, wondering what was about to unfold next...
The End