Polarity

by Chris Myers

When a Romero-style zombie outbreak hits, three supervillains, led by a long time loser, find themselves doing whatever it takes to save themselves, and eventually, the rest of humanity.

32. Strange Attractions

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Oh, come on," Electro teased as my body had a spasm from the electricity being arced through my body. "That's not even enough wattage to power an Easy-Bake oven!"

Hey, having a steady amount of voltage pumped through your body is gonna hurt, no matter what the level. My back arced off the stone altar as Electro's hand on my exposed wrists acted like the fork in the light socket.

"Either your tolerance is getting lower, Herman, or I'm more powerful than I thought." After a few seconds, Dillon let go of my wrist. I collapsed on the altar, panting from the pain as the electricity grounded through the stone slab. I would have probably rolled off if my legs and right arm weren't bound with straps of leather. Over my heavy breathing, the steady sound of the Punisher's blood beat into my eardrums, the backbeat to the hell that was currently my life.

"Well, we'll just have to take a little break. Reaper wants you alive after all." Oh, thank Christ, I almost managed to whisper as Electro stepped away from me. The only measure of time I had was the sound of fading life dripping on the stone floor behind me. Minutes? Hours? I couldn't even see the stained glass windows, and any daylight (if dawn had come yet) pouring through was obscured by the backsplash of white from the floodlight shining on the Punisher's body. He may not have been creative, but the playbook of torture Dillon was reading from served its purpose. Short, high intensity bursts. Long, lower intensity currents. High shock then low shock then high shock again. And each time when it looked like I might finally have had to0 much, Electro would back right off.

His power...the electricity felt different this time out. As opposed to when we tangled in the bank last time...this was greasier. A bit more tainted. After he finished shocking me, what was left felt...just dirty. I felt violated somehow, like what Electro shot through me was lingering in my system, a reminder of just how helpless I was right now.

"I don't know about you, but I'm having a blast, Herman." Electro looked up at the Punisher hanging above us. "What about you, Castle? You must be having a good time. You're still hanging around." Chuckling at his own wit, Electro put his arms out to his sides, and screamed out at the empty cathedral. "HEY, MA! CHECK ME OUT! GUESS WHO'S FINALLY AMOUNTING TO SOMETHING!" As his parental issues echoed across the church, I saw the wide smile of dark joy on my former colleague's face. "Oh, and that dumb bitch said I'd never make it anywhere. I really wish I had kept her alive. But hey, who here doesn't have problems with their family? Well, not Herman, he doesn't have any now that Aleksei's dead and Mommy and Daddy kicked the bucket years ago. And I just can't imagine, for the life of me, the Punisher having a wife and kids. You're just not the marrying type, Castle."

I hurt. Really bad. This wasn't like the previous times, the nick, cuts, wear, tear, and all out barrage of abuse that I had taken over the past few times. This was torture, long, drawn out, and leaving very few marks. Short term agony vs. long term suffering. And from the look of glee on Electro's face, this was going to be a long night. And out there, somewhere, whatever grand design the Grim Reaper had was being put into motion...why the hell did I give a damn about that? I should be focusing on the here and now and the amps that my body's absorbing, not worrying about the rest of the world...but for some reason, my plan, if I ever came up with it, would involve beating the batteries out of Electro and heading to stop Eric Williams. How, I didn't know, but that was the entire point of coming up with a plan in the first place.

"This is something. The two people who got me killed, right here at my fingertips. I'd call it karmic justice." Electro calmly walked over to the wooden throne, coming to a stop just beside the drips of bloods falling through the air. I craned my neck back to see him staring up at the Punisher. My right hand began to trace the knot on my wrist as Electro called up to the vigilante. "Do you know what it's like to die, Castle? You love to just dish out death like it's going out of style, but have you ever been on the receiving end? I ain't talking about near death experiences here, I'm talking actually, final death." Ok, there's the first bind...where the hell did Electro learn to tie knots? In my mind, I tried to recreate the pattern. But my finger kept twitching from all the shock therapy. "Let me tell you Castle...it sucks. And if my boss hadn't told me to just let you bleed out, I'd blast you just so you'd know firsthand..."

BZZZZT!

It was only a joy buzzer's worth of juice, but it was enough to make me lose my concentration. "...and the same goes for you, Herman." Yellow boots squished through the edges of the sticky red pool before Electro dropped down into the wooden throne that Reaper had used earlier. "Pain just gets cut off. I was bleeding from my organs being shredded and bone chips being blown through my chest cavity, and then it just all went away. Then, your senses go. One minute everything's kind of fuzzy, and the next, it's just you and your thoughts. It's...it's not even pitch black like when your eyes are closed. There's nothing, no light, no sound, not even the taste of stale air. And you know what's happening. You know this is death. Not dying, but death. The Big Empty."

I hoped I had picked up where I had left off. Safes were my forte, but you learn a thing or two about proper knotwork after a few months of tying up rent-a-cops and bank tellers. And apparently Electro never bothered to study the craft. The knot was simple. A little pressure, if I could apply it, and a sliding motion would loosen up this binding.

"Ever been alone with your thoughts, Herman? I mean, truly alone, not even a sense of hope. Because I knew I was dead. And I knew what was coming next. Was I going to know I was back up and stumbling around? Was I going to want to eat human flesh, or was I going to fight against that urge...and end up losing?"

Ok, Herman, right there...it's like trying to hook a bra in the dark...my finger managed to find just a little space between the 'threads' of the knot. As Max kept talking, I started to work it just a little looser.

"There wasn't anything to focus on but rising panic. So that's all I could do. I was dead, Castle, and my fate was right there in front of me. To spend eternity walking around as a zombie. No one wants that. But hey, it's not like the little curse the Grim Reaper helped lay upon the world gives someone a choice. You know what those situations are like, Herman," he teased. "When you'll do anything to get away clean, make any bargain, cut any deal, praying to God after years of neglect to just bail your ass out just this one time."

I moaned a little louder than I felt, hopefully distracting Electro as he just went right along. Did I ever sound like that, monologing while I had Spider-Man on the ropes? No wonder webhead kept handing me my ass.

"Oh, save it, Herman. We haven't even gotten started. Besides, I know you want to be alive when the Punisher finally croaks." Electro's laugh held merriment as he taunted the Punisher. "Ain't that a bitch, Castle? You had three of New York City's most infamous villains dead-to-rights, and one of them is still alive and kicking, while the other two are still kicking."

I'll give the Punisher this. He never rose the bait. He didn't moan, groan, or complain. I knew he was still alive. His labored breathing could be heard between drips. Whether we was conserving his energy or just not willing to give Electro the satisfaction...probably both.

There. I had managed to slide my finger into the knot. Now, a couple of good twists for wiggle room...

"It's strange. People always kept saying I was an underachiever. That I had all this power, and all I was good for was getting the crap beaten out of me by Luke Cage and Spider-Man." He settled into the throne, a smug look on his face. "If they could see me now. When Reaper's voice spoke, the very sound of his words in that nothingness was my salvation. My eyes ripped open, and the pain...the blessed pain, Herman and Frank, telling me my ass was alive. No...was back in the land of the living. There he was, his scythe touching my shoulder, reaping my soul from the living dead and giving it right back to me."

His eyes narrowed as he stood up from the throne. The knot was loosening...almost there...

"No one should have to go through that experience. Dying, then coming back? To go from nothingness to the pain of death? I'll always have these gunshot wounds because of you two. Bleeding out for eternity. Because my ass is going to live forever. Reaper told me. And he showed me as well."

Go on, Max, keep talking, keep talking...got it! Immediately, I grabbed the strands of leather as they fell away from me. I had to keep the illusion up until...well, I came up with a new plan. But having two limbs down was better than three limbs down.

"Those guys in the vault were lucky. They would have suffocated if it wasn't for me opening the vault and letting them out. Of course, they're still dead, but they got to be players in something grander than a bank heist. You can't take someone away from Death without giving something back in return...at least that's what Reaper said. Hell, maybe he was just testing my loyalty. But he told me to kill them, Herman, and I did. And now here I am. So yeah, that's my unlife story. Back to the torture. Remember the torture, Herman?"

I wrapped the leather around my wrist tightly as he walked towards the altar, his boots leaving bloody footprints in his wake. "Alright, I think I'm gonna try something different this time. Can I use these candle stands to turn Herman Schultz into the bottom of a Jacob's Ladder? Probably not, but damn, I'm gonna have fun trying." His hands reached to grab me by the shoulders. "First, how about..."

My hand slipped out of the leather strap, and I hauled off across his face...

...I slapped him across his face...

...would you believe I patted him lightly on the cheek?

I didn't even do that. It was like a damsel in some old silent film wailing half-heartedly at the villain. "Oh," she'd cry, "get away from me you brute." Well, my hand brushed against Electro. I could feel the slight electricity between us at the contact before my hand fell away. He looked more surprised than hurt, putting his hand on his cheek where I had touched him. "What...what the hell was that, Herman? THAT was your bold move?"

I didn't even have a snarky response stored up. I splayed out on the altar, my arms limp as they fall to the ground. Electro was still holding his cheek, disbelief in his eyes. "Wow. Seriously, Herman, that's the best you can do? The great unflappable savoir of humanity, the Shocker, hits like a little girl. Come on, man...if you're gonna fight, put up a fight! You killed me! I'm going to kill you! Show a little spark!"

His hands grabbed me by the throat. Standing at my side, he yanked me into a sitting position. I could already feel the current flowing through my body as it started to convulse. "Herman...Herman!" My head had fallen forward onto my chest, but he put my chin up, opening my eyes. "Look, Herman. Open your eyes and look. You see that church out there? People would come here to pray every day for something. Salvation, material things, others, it didn't matter. At the very heart of religion in this city, your ass is going to croak. Now, I have no problems with you not being able to fight back, but if you're going to try, at LEAST make it interesting for me!"

My eyes jerked open from the shock as he pumped up the voltage. "You can scream if you want to, Herman...come on, give me something! A little reaction! You're about as boring as the Punisher! Just lying there, letting me do what I wanted!"

I was viewing the darkened cathedral through shakey-cam. Any minute now, the Cloverfield creature was going to come through that door and kill me. My body convulsed as Electro squeezed my throat a final time before the voltage died down, leaving me panting. A tempest brewed in Electro's eyes, complete with lightning and blood red seas. Electricity arced over his body as he stared daggers at me. I could see the rage in him, the anger. Yeah, maybe I had a role in his death, but screw it, he tried to kill me. And now he's trying to do it again and taking his sweet ass time about it.

"Give me something, Herman," he hissed at me through clenched teeth. "Give me something I can take from you before we kill you."

"Whoa! Hold up, Sparky, it's getting a little Brokeback up in here."

I never, ever, EVER in my life thought I'd be happy to hear that squeaky, sarcastic voice.

Electro's eyes whipped towards the darkened cathedral. "No...no! Not you, not now!"

"You know, mate, Dillon's a little too butch for a cowboy joke. This is more of a'Pulp Fiction' vibe."

And I never thought I'd hear that voice spoken in conjunction with the first one.

The sound of metal whipping through the air, and then something passed over my ankles. I felt the leather strap loosen, one immediately after another, as a silver glint whipped back into the darkness. Ever as I was freed, twin lines of webbing wrapped around Electro's wrists, and the Villain of Voltage got yanked forward, away from the altar. He landed chin first on the stone steps leading down from the altar to the pews, a small 'oof' escaping him.

I managed to remain upright as Dillon slapped the stone in frustration. "Fine then! I knew being left behind would pay off, because now I have a chance to finally kill my biggest nemesis once and for all!" He threw his arms into the air, globes of bright lightning swirling around his fists. "LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

All the fixtures in Saint Patrick's snapped on at once, flooding the cathedral with light. Crouched on a pew, the red-and-blue-clad Spider-Man stared at Electro from behind white fabric. But it was the blue-and-purple man next to him, having just picked his weapon of choice out of mid-air after it freed me from my bindings, that was the bigger shocker of the two.

Boomerang flashed a snarky grin in Electro's direction. "Hey there, Max. You mind moving away from my friend there so we can settle this like men?"

The lightning bolt went for Spider-Man first. Even before it had left Electro's hand, the wall-crawler was leaping for another pew. Boomerang, out of the line of the fire, still dove to the side, diving between two rows to escape the blast.

"I don't know why you're bothering, Spider-Man. In the long run, it doesn't matter, even if you somehow manager to defeat me and save Herman!" Electro's body crackled as he charged up, leaping onto the first row of pews. "This world's coming to an end, and nobody's gonna be able to stop it!"

"Yeah, well, I couldn't live with myself if the world ended and you were running around like Mad Max, Max!" Spider-Man threw himself toward Electro. Just before Electro fired a blast at him, a line of webbing zipped into the air, and the wallcrawler swung himself above the bolt, flying over the attack before slamming into Electro with both feet. "Yow! Someone's all worked up," Spider-Man said as he flipped away from his foe. "That kick gave me quite a kick! Boomerang, go check on Herman!"

On the far end of the pew, Fred emerged. He ran at a low crouch, one wary eye on where Electro had pulled himself to his feet. As he threw a punch at Spider-Man that the hero easily dodged, Boomerang reached the altar. Even as he bobbed and weaved his way towards me, he still had that grin on his face. "Hey, Herman," Fred quipped as he reached me and threw my arm over one of his shoulders. "Never thought I'd see you and the Punisher hanging around."

"You think up that joke on your own," I wheezed out. "Just get me the hell off this altar..."

A loud bang echoed throughout the chamber, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Spider-Man go flying away. And Electro's voice boomed. "Oh, come on, Fred, you're not going to..."

Fred's free hand whipped out. A razorang sliced through the air towards Max, but Electro easily swung to the side, letting it harmlessly clatter of the stone wall behind him. Almost immediately, a second boomerang flew at Electro, but that one was easily dodged as well, sending a small spray of sparks as it bounced off one of the stone pillars. "Fred, why..."

The third one, Electro just raised his hand and blasted it out of mid-air. He was packing a hell of a charge now, upping his reflexes. "Seriously, Fred. I'm a walking dynamo and you're using Australian toys to fight me."

"Fight you? Mate, there is no way I'm that stupid. I'm just distracting you so the Virgin Mary can hit you upside the head."

One of Electro's eyebrows went up at the statement. "Really. You're invoking the Vir..."

That was all he got out before a small stone statue slammed into the back of his head. Electro dropped to his knees as the statue clunked to the ground, the serene carving of the Virgin Mary's face facing me as Boomerang hauled me off the altar.

"Mother Mary, forgive us sinners for using you for violence," Spider-Man said as he climbed over the pews. "But I'm thinking, right now up in Heaven, she's smiling and throwing me the horns at knocking..."

"Cretin!" A bolt of lightning slammed into Spider-Man's chest, sending him sprawling through the air. He crashed into a pew, splintering the back support as Electro climbed to his feet. "Do you really think you're dealing with the same old Maxwell Dillon. He's dead, and as you can see, obviously not buried! First, let me deal with the wall-crawler, and then, I'll turn my attentions to Herman and that annoying Boomerang..."

"Aw, crap," Fred said as he tried to leading my hobbling form towards the safety of a side vestibule. "He's talking to himself. Who the hell went and jump started Electro back from the dead?"

"You won't believe me..."

"At this point, mate, I'll believe anything. Rescue first, story second though." Electro's attention, by the sound, fury, and accompanying light show, was directed towards Spider-Man. Flashes and booms filled the air as we made it to the alcove that ran along the back of the church. "Here, Herman," Fred as he carefully leaned me against the wall. "Can you stand?"

"Barely," I said as I wedged my foot against the nearby support. "Give me a second...my nervous system feels like it's rebooting."

"Well, boot the damn thing in safe mode. We're getting the hell out of...bloody hell Jesus!" A stray bolt of lightning scorched the wall a few openings down from where we stood, and we could both hear Electro scream in frustration. "...we're getting the hell out of here, as soon as you can walk. I can sneak us out, webhead's being stupid enough to provide the distraction."

"No...no. My vibro-smashers," I said, shaking my head. "They're around here somewhere...we have to find them."

"Your...ok, Herman, the guy who goes back into the house for his gun, or his cell phone, or his puppy? He always croaks, mate! Come on, we can get your backup pair back at the warehouse..."

My thoughts were coming back into focus. "I can't...my spare pair...Chameleon...he's got them..."

"Ah, damn it, yeah. Yeah, I forgot. Remind me to tell you about that. Bastard tried to fire a blast, broke his arm by slamming it into a fire main. So, where the hell are they?"

"Wow. You're even more of a dim bulb now that you're dead, Electro!"

"Aaargh! Stand still, Spider-Man!" A series of crackling sounds filled the air, followed by a high pitched scream of pain. "Aha! Who's laughing now, wall-crawler!"

"I don't know...I woke up on the altar without them."

"Damn...you sure you can't live without them?" Even after being used as a closed circuit for the better part of who-the-hell-knows-how-long, I managed to muster up enough annoyance to shoot a glare in Boomerang's direction. He put up his hands, cursing under his breath. "Can't just make a new pair out of chicken wire and RC car parts...alright, fine. I'll look over there, you look over here."

"Yeah, sure," I said, waving a hand. The second I moved from this wall, I was going to slump to the ground. But if Fred found my weapons, I'll endure lying on the ground in a heap for a few embarrassing moments. Boomerang peeked out from behind the support beam. The flashes were coming from the front of the church, well away from us, but my friend still crouch-ran his way towards the opposite side.

My arms were responding now. I used them to support myself, one hand on the wall as a guide. Legs were still wobbly, but as long as I didn't get distracted and watched my footing, I could move. The blood slowly circulated through my body again as I started to search my side of the church. I swear, when all was said and done, my ass was taking a vacation.

A loud whistle split the air. I had barely begun my search when Fred got my attention. When I looked in his direction, my friend was already double-timing it back towards me, a gauntlet in each hand. "Damn," he told me as he came to a halt under the cover of the arches, "they're going at it tooth and nail down there."

He offered the vibro-smashers to me. I took one of them and immediately initialized it. Whoever had removed them from my hands had also turned them off. Probably Electro...but he hadn't pulled the charge out. "Alright," I said in small triumph as the power meter was comfortably in the green. I slid my vibro-smasher on, locking it into place. The hum of the power core was, to abuse a metaphor, music to my muscles. As Boomerang silently urged me on, the process repeated with the second one, also in the green and also working as intended.

"That's right, Spider-Man! You have nowhere to run! Years of putting me to shame are coming to an end tonight! You're lucky," Electro's voice sizzled through the air. "My boss didn't say a damn word about you. So I can kill you quickly and not worry about his wrath! Just hold still, and die!"

"Man, they're tooth and nail out there," Boomerang said as I flexed my fingers. I still felt about a second behind the rest of the world, but I had my weapons back. And, from banging my forearm lightly against one of the stone pillars, the contact plates in my suit still were functional. "Herman, is there a back door out of this place? Ain't ever been in here, but I'll tell you this right now, there's no way we're going out the way we came in."

I never considered the other option. By this point in that story, that's all I need to say.

"We're walking out the front door, Fred. After we kick Electro's ass."

Silence. Fred just stared at me, slackjawed, as I leaned out from behind the pillar. Electro, from what I saw, had Spider-Man boxed in at the far end of the church. The wall-crawler spun lines of webbing through the air, but each one was stopped in mid-air by a bolt of lightning. Spider-Man always had damn fast reflexes, quicker than even Speed Demon. But Electro...since he was dead, maybe his body could hold even more power and not have to worry about fatal burn out. His yellow glow was unearthly, flickering like the fire from a burning nuclear power plant. He had his fists out, holding lightning between his fingers. Spider-Man would flinch one way, and Electro would be there, cutting him off at the pass. "Nowhere to run, little spider," he taunted the hero. A bolt of lightning at his feet caused Spider-Man to leap into the air, but a bolt right above his head drove him right back down to the ground.

"Wow, who would have thought it'd take death to finally make Electro a match for me?" Even cornered like a rat, he still kept us the bravado I used to hate about Spider-Man. "I think your badassness is leaking out of your chest there though, Max..."

"Herman," Fred said, urging me silently, "come on. Let's just find the back door and blow this popstand. Let Max take care of Spider-Man. By the time he gets back to us, we can be across the river in Jersey!"

"Can't do that, Fred. We're gonna need Spider-Man. And if we don't stop Electro now," I told him, "then we're gonna run into him again. We got numbers on our side this time."

"Jesus Christ, Herman! Come on, the hero stuff...look what it's gotten you! You tortured and Aleksei dead! There comes a time, Herman, where you just go 'screw this' and walk away, and Herman, these boots were made for walkin'."

My fists clenched inside my gauntlets. "There ain't gonna be a world to walk away to, Fred. The Grim Reaper's behind all of this, Fred. Eric Williams has snapped, and he's working for a god. Fred, I am not making any of this up. I saw this god. I can't even say his NAME, that's how close I came to crapping my uniform. This isn't going to be 'cure the infection and go back to normal,' Fred." I took a deep breath, trying to find that steel for what was about to go down. "This is the end of the world. Galactus eating the Earth levels of apocalypse. And no, I'm not insane, although staring in the eyes of a god would probably shove me around the damn bend anyway!"

The sound of lightning and cries of anguish filled the silence between Fred and I. He was just staring at me, dumbfounded. "...the Grim Reaper? Really? " Boomerang's face went a little pale at the final realization. "Bugger's finally snapped, believes he's the Fourth Horseman?"

"I don't think it's belief, Fred. Look, I know this sounds insane, Fred..."

"Yeah, Herman, it does, and coming from anyone else but you, I'd call it utter bull." He looked back over his shoulder at where Electro was throwing lightning at the webhead, who had broken free and was now skittering across the front wall of St Patricks. "Christ...alright, alright, fine. You beat Electro one-on-one before, surely three-on-one is going to be a piece of cake. But when this is all done, you better sit down and explain to me why Aleksei's dead, why the Chameleon is running around looking like you, and why the hell Electro's walking around with bleeding bullet wounds!"

"Promise. First things first..."

"Right, right. Alright, I got a couple flashrangs in here, maybe we can blind him..."

"No, Fred. I need you to do something else."

The Australian laughed at my statement. "Of course, of course, Herman. You got the plan, what do you need me to do?"

"Cut down the Punisher."

The laughter died. Cue the shocked, dumbfounded look again. "What...cut him DOWN? Ok, Herman, now I KNOW you've lost it. He tried to kill you!"

"Yeah, well, we'll deal with that later." I put my hand on Fred's shoulder, looking him in the ear as thunder boomed through the vestibule. "Fred, we need him. He may be a psychotic vigilante who tried to shoot me a few days ago, but if we're going to fight the Grim Reaper, we need a guy like him on our side."

"...madness. Madness. Alright. But," Fred said, jamming a finger at me, "if he kills me, when I come back to life, I'm going to make damn sure I bite you in the ass before someone offs me."

"I never knew you cared, Fred. Now go on, get him down." Mumbling, Fred trotted off, hugging the wall on his way back to where Frank Castle hung bleeding. How the bastard was still alive, I didn't know. But there's tough, there's Ford tough, and it wouldn't surprise me if there was Punisher tough. Unless the first thing he did was try to kill Fred once he was free, he could do nothing but come in handy. And...I couldn't leave a man to die to bleed to death.

Not now, anyway.

God, this past week's been weird. Understatement of the year, but still. New York..the world...had been through crisis after crisis after crisis before. Each and every time, the heroes pulled it back from the brink after getting the crap beat out of them. And each and every time, I had just gone about my merry way. The Hulk smashing up New York City? Hey, time to make an obscene profit selling supplies to accountants! Heroes going at it in the streets? That means no one's watching the BMW dealership! Nick Fury declaring war on Doctor Doom? Hell, Doom was hiring, and Doom always pays well. Taking advantage of a situation without putting my ass in the way of major harm, that's me. Or it was me. Because...this time, something had been different. I'll never be able to put my finger on it, though looking back...this conflict hit at the street level. Every human on the planet, no matter where they were, was in danger. And unlike an alien in the sky, I could have done something about it this time. And I did. And as you've read, I got my ass beat pillar to post from the damn get-go. And I didn't quit. I kept coming back for more even when every nerve in my body and every friend I had told me "you've done enough, just stay down." Spider-Man never stayed down. Ms. Marvel never stayed down. Captain freakin' America never stayed down.

Rhino never stayed down.

Because Aleksei was a damn hero. I don't care what anyone else says. This past week, he earned that title. And damn it, so did I.

Herman Schultz. The Shocker. Hero

Wow. This is what self-confidence feels like.

I strode out from under the arches, pulling my mask back on and locking it into place. I knew this stride. I had come close to it time and time before. I thought I had it, but I didn't. But when I saw someone else with this stride, I knew, in my subconscious, someone was going to get their ass kicked. Well, for once, that someone isn't going to be me. It's going to be the undead human dynamo at the other end of the church.

He was staring into the rafters, trying to track Spider-Man. I walked to the edge of the vestibule, my hands at my sides, thumbs on the triggers of my vibro-smashers. I should have just gotten the drop on him. But screw that. I wanted him to know what was going to happen.

"ELECTRO!"

Electro stopped. His neck slowly craned down. The yellow aura of electricity surrounded him, ionizing the air. When he saw me, standing alone at the end of the aisle, his face took on a predatory grin. "Herman. Finally come out to play."

"Yeah, Max. You and me, round 2." I raised one of my hands, pointing at the Villain of Voltage. "And this time, I'm going to beat the living dead out of you."

I charged at him. Sprinting down the aisle, full-tilt, one arm cocked back, ready to knock his ass out with a blast-assisted jab. I could only imagine how cool I looked, running all out through the empty church...

Electro didn't see it that way though. He simply raised his hand and blasted me in the chest with a bolt of lightning. I stopped dead in my tracks...the upper half of me did, at least. My legs kept going, swinging out from under me. I was perfectly airborne for a moment before slamming onto the carpeted floor back-first.

"Ok," I thought as I stared up at the rafters, "that didn't go according to plan."

"Tsk tsk," Electro said. "That was supposed to be your big entrance, huh?" Both hands lashed out at me, and I barely managed to roll away from the twin blasts that emanated from the Villain of Voltage, squirming under a pew as his attack scorched the carpeting. Scrambling to my feet in the confined space, I spun around, firing off two level-threes at Electro. Both blasts caught him in the face, staggering him as he put his hands up in defense. I held my thumbs down, watching the power gauge slowly drop as the air exploded around him.

Blindly, Electro whipped a lightning bolt in my direction. Now, I need to clarify something here, because I see the guy in the back, with the Masters from MIT, going "hold on, hold on, you're dodging LIGHTNING? Which, you know, moves at the speed of light? Mr. Schultz, I find this story highly unlikely and increasingly unplausable."

First off, unplausable isn't a word. I ain't an English major and I know that much. And second, all that power Electro was generating may have lit up a small upstate town, the bastard was telegraphing his moves. A gesture with his hand, a sudden flare up in his electrical field...it was the only thing that let me know when he was going to strike. And it wasn't like I was casually sidestepping a bolt of lightning. It was more along the lines of dodging out of the way before my conscious mind screamed "HOLYCRAPINCOMINGLIGHTNING!"

It didn't matter, because the bolt sailed past me. Boldly, I stepped out of the row of pews, still letting off vibration after vibration, keeping them on a narrow band directly at his face. I wanted to open big, to just level five his face right off, but power was a concern. I sacrificed power for accuracy, punching him from a distance. Each step closer meant more power over a tighter area. He was growling, standing in place, trying to ward off my shots, waving his arms in a futile attempt to knock them away. I smiled under my mask as I closed to within ten feet, feet planted in the aisle, firing from point blank range, just pouring the vibrations into him...

Slowly, he stopped fighting back. Even as I kept attacking, he just put his arms down, and straightened up. My shots exploded the air around him, but he put his hands on his hips, and smirked at me. "Herman, Herman, Herman," Electro taunted me as he shrugged my attacks off." Really? You're not even tickling me with those attacks. You can't bring that AAA battery stuff against me anymore."

Crap. If...

No, Herman. Don't doubt yourself.

"Yeah, Electro. You're right." My left glove fired first, this one a level four aimed right at his face. Almost casually, Electro seemed to swat the blast away, his hand moving with superhuman reflexes. A second blast came from my vibro-smasher, a ball of exploding, vibrating air. This one, he simply seemed to "catch," the ionized air around his lightning-clad hand somehow counteracting the attack right in front of his nose. Dandy and fine by me, because that meant he missed the blast from my right gloved. Aimed directly at the metal ceiling fixture over his head.

A taunt was coming, but the poor sucker didn't even get a chance to get it out, as the chandelier that had been suspended from the ceiling crashed on top of him. That had to be a ton of ornate metal and carved stone slamming down on Electro. He didn't even notice until the chandelier impacted his skull, sending him down to the floor. The cable came next, followed by a large piece of masonry that had supported the fixture for years crashing down around him. The loud boom felt like God himself was shaking his finger at me for destroying this holy landmark, but He hadn't struck me down with a bolt of lightning yet. And Dillon had.

As the dust and debris settled around the fallen Electro, I did the appropriate thing. I lowered my hands, and found myself striking a casually heroic pose over the pile of stone and metal. "And the name's not Herman, Electro. It's Shocker."

"Jeez. Looks like you took a level in bad-ass, He...Shocker."

Spider-Man descended from the ceiling, hanging upside down by a line of webbing. "Nice job taking Electro down. But how do you know..."

Two of my level-four blasts shook the debris. A piece of stone fell off the pile, cracking into several pieces on the floor, as I lowered my fists and turned to Spider-Man, raising a cocky eyebrow under my mask, before realizing I was wearing a mask and he couldn't see it anyway.

"...he's not just playing possum. Alright, you took a page out of Ms Marvel's book there. Well played."

"Well, I had to do something...and where the hell were you, Spidey? Just hanging out on the ceiling? I could have used a hand."

He gave an upside-down shrug. "You looked so happy doing that power run from the altar, I just didn't have the heart to stop you. Besides, you had things under control, and I didn't want to mess up your vibe. Although...why didn't you just blast the hell out of him? You were lobbing softballs at him. You've cracked me harder than that."

"Yeah...but I like Electro."

"...don't quit your day job, Shocker. Leave the schtick to the professionals and the mercenaries."

The pile of rubble wasn't moving as I spoke. "I can level three all day long, but anything higher and I gotta start rationing my shots. I save the big stuff for when I'm outgunned. Remember our little tussle in the subway last year? That was the big stuff."

"I've never seen you run out of juice when we've gone at it," Spider-Man countered.

"Yeah...and how many times have you run out of webbing?"

"Point."

I turned and looked over my shoulder. "Yo, Fred. How's it coming?"

Behind us, Fred was floating in mid-air, his rocket boots keeping him airborne. "It's coming, it's coming." One of the Punisher's arms, I could tell, was undone, because it hung limp over the side of the cross. "He's barely moving, though. Bastard lost a lot of blood. He's gonna need a doctor, bloody stat."

"Boomerang helping the Punisher. Oh my giddy aunt," Spider-Man mused.

"Yeah, the world turned upside down. You go help Boomerang, I'll keep an..."

Suddenly, Spider-Man's arms were around me. I left the ground, shooting for the ceiling, my face at his crotch. Absolutely lovely, but a lot better than being where I had been. The ornate chandelier skittered down the aisleway, scraping across the stone as it bounced through the now-thankfully-empty-of-Shocker space. I had to crane my neck and look over my shoulder to see Electro brushing the dust off his shoulder. A thin line of blood ran down from the top of his bald skull, caking some of the dust that had fallen onto him. He looked up at us, his fists clenched as small tempests formed around them. "You have no idea how pathetic the two of you look right now. You'll have to drop a whole church on me to even have a prayer of beating me, Shocker."

"Wow. The world comes to an end and apparently everyone's self-esteem problem go bye-bye. Heck, all the Sentry needed was a zombie apocalypse to clear up his issues. Why should I have thought different with you, Max?" Spider-Man had hit the ceiling now, crouched, and holding me with one arm at his side. "Let me guess. You had a lovely talk with Moonstone and it cleared up all of your mommy issues?"

Even from up here, high above the church, I could see the lightning in Electro's eyes. "Why the hell did you have to make a 'your mom' joke, you idiot," I muttered just before a storm erupted from his body. A huge cloud of electricity filled the air between us, racing towards Spider-Man and myself. Immediately, Spider-Man did the smart thing, and let go of the ceiling. We shot towards the floor, and for a split second, the thought of impact filled my mind until the hammock of webbing appeared below us, anchored to the floor on one end and the wall on the other. Upon impact, the webhead let me go, and harmlessly bounced off the makeshift trampoline, landing with perfect grace on a nearby pew.

Myself? Shoulder first on the stone floor. "Ow." I attempted to stand back up, but the wooden pew being thrown at me hindered that plan. I covered my head as the hand-crafted, well-tended pew shattered against the wall, splinters raining down on me. As I looked up, Electro was already leaping through the air with an electricity-assisted jump. By the time I got my hands up to blast him out of mid-air, he had tackled me into the stone wall, sending a jolt of electricity through my body. "We've done this song and dance before, Herman," Electro said, his body trying to jam me against the stone as he reached for my vibro-smashers. "I grab your gloves, drain..."

I got an elbow up and drove it into his face. It was like sticking my arm into an open streetlight socket, and yanking my arm away on reflex didn't allow me a follow-through. But it gave me room to spin around and put my gauntlets right under his chin: two level threes right to the jaw from literally point blank range. If Rocky Marciano had done steroids, one of his uppercuts would have looked something like this. Electro's head snapped back right before his body went airborne, going almost straight up into the air at the impact. The hang time was enough for Spider-Man to land a side-kick square on Electro's jaw, changing his direction from "straight up" to "violently sideways." Electro crashed into a nearby pew and fell behind it, disappearing from our sight for a moment.

"He's stronger, and he's packing a lot more juice," Spider-Man proclaimed as he landed from his attack. "Whatever the hell happened to him, it's made him a tough bastard."

"Death will do that to a guy. Listen," I said, cutting off any questions, "we're running out of time. Whatever the Grim Reaper has planned, it's going to go down soon. We can't waste time duking it out with Dillon. We gotta drop him, quick."

"The Grim...Eric Williams? He's the one behind all of this?"

"No...but he's the Prophet. It's the best way to put it, really."

That was Electro's voice, and it wasn't coming from where he had landed. It was still coming from inside the church, but...the source couldn't be placed. I stepped away from the wall, my gloves at the ready. The hackles on my neck stood up as I whipped my head around, searching for the source of Electro's speech.

"I'm sure...Herman...will fill you in on everything, but just know that it's already too late. The Grim Reaper knows you're here, but he's calling me away. There are other power lines out there. I can see them now...mystical energy flowing towards the center of the city. It's started, and there's nothing you, Spider-Man, or anyone else can do about it. End of the world...and I'm gonna be the one laughing as your corpses shamble about. See you in Central Park, if you got the guts."

Suddenly, his green-and-yellow form leapt into the air, near the front of the church. Moving so fast that he was a blur to my eyes, he raced out the door into the New York night. "Damn it," I cursed. "Should we go after him?"

"We know where he's going. If he's stupid enough to go to Central Park, where the Avengers are waiting for him? Yeah, even the new and improved Electro's gonna get his butt handed to him by Iron Man. Besides, YOU owe me an explanation. You told me Electro was dead. And what does the Grim Reaper have to do with all of this?"

"You are out of the damn loop, aren't you?" I looked down at the far end of the church, where Boomerang was still untying the Punisher. "Help Fred get the Punisher down, and I'll fill everyone in before we head out. And for God's sake, make sure the Punisher doesn't try to kill Fred."

"Yeah, give me the impossible task," Spider-Man said before shooting a line of webbing and swinging away. I followed, walking down the center aisle towards the altar. Spider-Man swung up beside the inverted cross, and I could hear the whispered arguing between himself and Boomerang flare up almost immediately. But as they bickered, they were untying the thick wires that had bounded the Punisher to the large piece of wood. By the time I reached the altar, the two of them were carefully lowering him to the ground. His head was on his chest, and his arms hung limp at his sides. "Careful...careful..." I could hear Spider-Man say as they gently eased him forward, putting him on the ground well away from the pool of his own blood that stained the vestibule floor. "I got you, Castle," I heard Spider-Man say.

Boomerang stayed well back as Spider-Man helped Castle limp over to the altar. I was waiting for them there, and in my hand was the goblet I had drank from earlier. Boomerang gave me a quizzical eye as I filled it with a little bit of communion wine. As Spider-Man sat the Punisher against the altar to let him rest, I offered him the goblet. "Here, Castle. Take a..."

The man had been hanging upside down for more than a day. A large puddle of his blood covered the rear of St Patrick's Cathedral. But when his eyes locked with him, I saw the furthest thing from a defeated man. Anger still burned, smoldering like a mine fire deep within the reaches of the Punisher's soul.

"...sip," I said, finishing my sentence. I tried to lift the goblet to his lips, but, with a grunt, he took the goblet himself. He tilted the red liquid into his mouth, and after swallowing, he handed the cup back to me, and uttered one word.

"More."

And damn right, I gave him more. Any thoughts I had about being a damn bad-ass were quickly diminishing standing next to the Punisher. I gave him just a little more wine this time, but when I went for a third refill, he shook his head before I started to pour.

"Ok, Herman," I heard Spider-Man say as I turned to put the goblet down, "would you fill us in on..."

"HE'S GOT A KNIFE," Boomerang's voice bellowed.

As I whipped around, I caught sight of the hunting knife clutched in the Punisher's hand. The vigilante lunged towards me, bringing the knife down at me before I could get my gloves up in defense...

The webbing attached to the blade and yanked it away just before impact. The Punisher slammed into me lightly, pushing me backwards a bit. His body was limp, falling against mine, like he had put everything into what he had hoped was a killing stroke. After a moment or two of shock, anger rose up, and I shoved the Punisher back into the altar. "The hell, Castle? I just helped save your life!"

"That's supposed to make up for a lifetime of crime. You're still scum, Schultz." He managed to cram so much malice into a whisper, I took a step backwards.

"Told you, mate. The Punisher's too damn stupid to work with anyone. And he killed Stilt-Man, for Christ's sake, the most harmless criminal on the planet," Boomerang chimed in. "Seriously, we should off him right now and just spare everyone the grief." One hand went to a razorang hanging from his belt.

"You're more than welcome to try, Myers," the Punisher growled.

"Alright, everyone, KNOCK IT OFF!" Spider-Man flung the blade away. It clattered somewhere among the pews as he pointed a finger at Boomerang. "You! Can you calm your murderous tendencies for just five minutes! And the same goes for you, Castle! There's much bigger fish to fry here, and Shocker is the only one who can explain what the heck is going on! So, seriously, Herman, you can start with telling us why Electro, who you said the Punisher shot and killed, was walking around and talking like he was still alive?"

"You're probably going to want to break out the wine again for this," I groused, still staring at the Punisher. "Electro is dead. You saw him, you saw the bullet wounds. The Grim Reaper apparently brought him back to life. He's the guy behind the whole zombie mess...I know. He told me himself. And Castle can back me up on this."

After a few seconds, Castle nodded. "I overheard the whole thing. Williams is nuts, but apparently he's working for some kind of mystical being."

"Great..." Boomerang rubbed at his face. "So it IS the Book of bloody Revelations."

"Mystical being...well that narrows it down. Either of you wouldn't happen to have a name, would you," Spider-Man asked.

The Punisher shook his head, but I spoke up. "I know it. I met the guy. I saw him with my own eyes. Hell, I don't even want to say the guy's NAME, Spider-Man. It'll draw his attention."

"Shocker, we gotta know what we're dealing with here. Besides, if you talked to the guy, he already knows who you are."

Webhead had a point. "Alright, alright. Heck, we're still in a church, maybe it'll static it up." Not likely. I took a deep breath before saying his name in a low voice. "Dormammu. That was its name."

I couldn't see his face under the mask, but by the way Spider-Man's shoulders slumped at the sound of that name, his next sentence wasn't unexpected at all.

"Oh, crap."

"That bad?" Boomerang asked.

"That bad, Boomerang. Let me put it this way...the Fantastic Four have Galactus. The Avengers have Ultron. Doctor Strange has...him. He's bad news. When he shows up, dimensions come to an end. I know...I've tangled with him once or twice."

"Great," Boomerang murmured. "Is there anyone in this damn world you haven't picked a fight with, wall-crawler?"

"Hey, I don't go looking for trouble. All you idiots keep crossing paths with me..." Spider-Man held up a hand to interrupt whatever Boomerang was going to say next. "Cram it, mate. You want to argue, we'll argue later. Herman, go on."

"Apparently," I said, "this guy showed Reaper a vision of the future where Norman Osborn is responsible for getting him killed, and then goes on to wreck the world. Reaper's looking to beat him to the punch by killing Osborn and going on to wreck the world his way...his boss' way. Which apparently means killing damn near everyone on the planet and leaving the rest for Reaper and his crew to rule over."

"Osborn." That was Boomerang, sighing loudly at the edge of the group. "Just so I can get a grasp of the 'how screwed we all are' scale, between the Grim Reaper, his boss, and Norman Osborn, where should I rank Norman?"

His statement triggered something I had been meaning to ask. "You mentioned Chameleon earlier..."

"Yeah, that bastard. Got of the damn helicopter acting all solemn and morose, and when I asked where Aleksei was, he told me that the Punisher showed up and killed him. I pretty much knew right there something was up."

"...I don't get it," I replied. "How was that a clue?"

Fred gave a small nod towards the Punisher. "You want to explain this one, or should I?"

The Punisher wiped his cracked lips with the back of his hand. "Systevich and I...had an agreement. He kept his nose clean, I didn't go after him."

THAT was news to me. I knew Aleksei had tangled with the Punisher before, but both times, the Punisher had seemed out for blood. "Wait...he kept his nose clean, and that was it?" The vigilante nodded...which just set me off. "And, what, all the stuff I did this past week didn't count as keeping my nose clean?"

I didn't like the angry look he shot at me, but screw him. "You tried to kill me, Schultz, by leaving me to those ghouls in Washington Square."

"Only because you were going to shoot me in the fountain! And you tried to shoot me in the bank! And you tried to stab me! TWICE!"

"ANYWAY," Boomerang's voice cut through our argument. "If I can finish this story, I figured out something was up, so I tried to track down someone to talk to, like Ms. Marvel or Hank Pym. Instead, I run into Spider-Man..."

"Love you too, Boomerang." Spider-Man motioned to my friend with a gloved thumb. "Fred here tells me something is up...and since Norman Osborn's involved, that makes me triple-suspicious. When we confronted Chameleon, it took me threatening him for the poor schmuck to try to fire one of your gloves. The broken radius bone in his forearm was the final piece of evidence. Poor bastard didn't know how to handle the recoil."

"We refused to get him medical attention until he told us everything," Boomerang added. "Even then, it took a little...convincing on my part to get him to confess. He told us how Osborn killed Aleksei and left you to die. After we handed him over to SHIELD, Fury told Spider-Man to go looking for you."

"And Fred here...he insisted on coming along," Spider-Man added.

"Don't read anything into it," Boomerang quickly added. "I just wanted to make sure the wall-crawler here didn't try anything fishy."

I had to give Boomerang credit...and Spider-Man. "Nice job, you two. So how the hell did you track me down?"

Spider-Man scratched at the back of his head as Boomerang answered. "Remember when you ran into Spider-Man outside the bank? Bastard stuck a tracer in your uniform so him and his spandex-buddies could keep track of you."

I did one of those annoyed nods. "Of course. Once again, Norman Osborn gets a free pass to run around the damn Helicarrier and I get bagged and tagged like a wild animal..."

"Trust but verify, Schultz. And besides," Spider-Man said with that smarmy edge of us, "if I hadn't stuck a spider signal on you, Electro would still be treating you like a spool of copper wire." Again, Spider-Man had a point, and I nodded, conceding the point to him. I still didn't like it, but whatever. "And while we're on the topic of Electro...he's working for the Grim Reaper?"

"So's Toomes," Castle said, sitting up straight now against the altar. "And Mordo..."

"Yeah. Wherever Dormammu goes..." I winced at Spider-Man's use of his name. "...Mordo ain't too far behind."

"He's not alone. He's got Black Talon," Punisher added, "Chondu, Llan, and Nekra. And something called the Darkhold. That's what Williams was waiting for, the last piece of the puzzle. He left here with all of them to head to Central Park and start whatever his grand plan is about two hours ago."

"Everything was fine when we left," Spider-Man said. "Doctor Strange was getting ready to open up the portal and get all the civilians moving. So if the Reaper's put his plan in motion, we probably still have time to stop it. But we gotta hurry, like right now."

"Yeah, let's stop the damn bickering and get a move on," I proclaimed. "Castle, you ok to walk?"

The Punisher and Boomerang both blinked at my question. Castle recovered first. "You're concerned? I just tried to kill you about a minute ago."

"Personally, I'm pretty damn pissed about it, but I'm willing to put it to the side for now. The end of the world and thousands of civilians up in Central Park kind of takes precedent at the moment. I'm not the kind to hold grudges..."

(Pause here for reader laughter)

"...so I'll set it aside if you will."

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. The look on the Punisher's face said it all. Here was a guy who dealt in nothing but absolutes. Good was good, evil was evil, and shades of gray were just lighter mixes of black. For a second, I was jealous of the Punisher...it must have been so liberating to be able to see the world in such a simple way.

"How about you just take it under advisement for a while, Castle?" Spider-Man stepped between me and the vigilante, taking the full brunt of Castle's stare. "Shocker's right. We need your help, but damn it, I'm going to risk my street cred and vouch for Shocker on this one. You want to go after him again...wait until we've stopped the Grim Reaper and whatever plan Osborn's cooked up. They're the A-list problem right now, not Herman."

"I think I'm almost offended," I said.

"Hey, Herman, if it's any consolation...right now, you're a VERY solid B-list, B-plus-list even. You're one good 'take over the world' plan from making the A-list."

"How the hell can you make jokes at a time like this, Spider-Man," the Punisher growled.

"Um...have you MET me, Castle?" Spider-Man waved a hand. "Never mind. Less time bickering, more time moving. Get ready to go, I'm gonna call this one in." He turned away, pulling something out of his costume. He flipped it open, revealing a communications device. "Spider-Man to Colonel Fury, come in..."

"Mate...this is finally insane." Boomerang stepped close to me, whispering in a low voice. "The living dead's crazy. Working with superheroes is loony. Electro coming back from the dead's over-the-top. And now, teaming up with Spider-Man and the Punisher to stop the Grim Reaper and some god from taking over the world?" He stuck his thumb in his mouth and popped his cheek. "That's the sound of a self-induced lobotomy, because my brain just can't handle all this."

"Oh, and you think I'm all daisies and lollipops, Fred? I don't know how the hell I haven't had a nervous breakdown at this point. I just talked to a GOD, Fred, and I can barely talk to a female member of the Serpent Society!"

"That's my point, Herman. This is just too damn much for me. Superheroes and supervillains, I can deal, but you add magic and mystical mumbo jumbo to the mix? Yank me from the game and send in a relief pitcher, because my mother didn't raise a bloody idiot." He put up his hand and took a step back. "I'm out. This is the damn end of the line for me, Herman."

"Fred...you're absolutely right." That got Fred's attention. I knew what he was expecting, more point-and-counterpoint like we had always used when arguing. So...hey, I fight dirty, why not argue the same way? "This is way over both our heads, man. Seriously, what, Doctor Doom I think is where my upper level of villainy ends. Beyond that, that's Avengers-level fighting, and they can deal with it. Taking on gods is WAY above our pay grades."

"Damn right..."

"That's why I'm staying." Boomerang let out a resigned sigh as I spoke. "Fred, they need everyone. This is the big one, freakin' D-Day here. It's our damn civic duty..."

"Hah! You didn't even VOTE in the last election, Herman!"

"...ok, if that's your counterargument..."

"Herman, it's a god, like you said. You know what that means? Game over. He wins, you lose..."

I had it. Just absolutely had it. "You coward, Fred. You damn coward."

His eyes narrowed, like a pitcher staring down a batter with a full count. "Don't you dare say that, Herman. I ain't no coward. I just know when I'm licked, and from what it sounds like, humanity's licked."

"And you won't even stand and fight for it? You're a human, Fred. You don't think the end of the damn world doesn't affect you?"

"No, Herman, it doesn't. I've kept my head down, like YOU always did. Before this whole mess started, I would have thought you would have done exactly what I did. Low profile, hide out, wait it out. But no, you had to go play hero and get a swelled head in the process and now all that ego's pushing on your brain! You're the one who waved his hands going 'look at me, look at me, I'm the damn Shocker!' Well, now the Grim Reaper knows who you are, and when you show up in Central Park, you're gonna have a big bullseye plastered on your chest...oh, and let's not forget, Norman Osborn also has it out for you, so when you show up, he's gonna want to kill you again! Rock, hard place, and your ass is stepping right into the middle!"

"You don't think I know that! Fred, this is bigger than that. And a lot more personal. The Grim Reaper tried to get me killed. Osborn tried to kill me. He killed Aleksei. I saw my best friend die, right in front of me, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it. You don't want to take a swing as Osborn for that? Aleksei was your friend too."

"Yeah, he was...and he's dead. And I don't want to watch another friend die right in front of me. You want to have a nice life, what's left of it, go ahead. My ass is going down to Aruba, and..."

"Myers."

Both of us stopped, and slowly turned. Standing beside us, having lurched up without either of us noticing, the Punisher's gaze was fixed on Boomerang. One look from the vigilante, and Fred shut right the hell up. "Myers, if you run, I will find you. If you think about running, I will find you. If you stray outside of a one-block radius from Central Park, I will find you. It doesn't matter if it's seven minutes or seven years, if you don't come with us to Central Park, I will hunt you down, I will find you, and I will kill you."

Some people make threats. The Punisher states fact. Fred went pale white at the final words of the Punisher, and almost forgot to nod. "Al...alright, mate. I got it."

The Punisher's nod were barely noticeable, but you could see the relief on Fred's face as Castle turned to look at me. "Just because we're doing this, don't think we're friends. You're still scum, Schultz, and if you put one foot wrong, I don't care how many friends you made in high places, I'll put you down right then and there."

"...got it," I managed to get out after a moment.

Thank God for Spider-Man, who chose that moment to come back over. "Problem. I was trying to get through to Nick Fury, but we got cut off by a long burst of static."

"Electro," both Castle and I said at the same time.

"Yeah," Spider-Man agreed, "jamming cell phones is a common trick for him. But jamming encrypted SHIELD communications is too new for comfort. We roll, now. You need a hand, Castle?"

The Punisher waved him off. "Just blood loss. I've had worse."

I so wanted to ask 'when,' but I refrained. "Alright. Let's get the hell out of this church."