Disclaimer: I do not own Daredevil, Arrow or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
R.I.P Stan Lee, the inspiring Legend who brought so much joy to our lives in the form of superheroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, the Avengers, Daredevil, Black Panther and amused us so much with his show-stealing cameos. You will be missed. Excelsior!
Chapter 16- Battle at the church
Karen shrank back in her chair as the man staggered to the side on being hit by the gunshot. And then there was another gunshot. And another. A third. And a fourth. The man fell down, seemingly dead.
All the people started screaming and running around in terror.
Lantom too ran from where he was standing, trying to help the terrified people.
None of them noticed the man's fingers twitching. His eyes opened and he rose up. Seeing that, Karen snapped out of the numb state of mind she had been thrown into.
She got up and started running. Due to all the people running around, she failed to see who had shot the man.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" a rough voice shouted. Due to all the frightened people's screams, Karen failed to recognize the voice.
But many people did get down on hearing that, including Karen and Lantom, as the man got up and started firing his semi-automatic around.
From behind one of the pews, a man fired a shotgun at him. That man was the one who had shot him to save Karen. The shot missed and the big man continued firing around.
Karen tried to crawl away to escape him. One of his gunshots hit a woman who had not gotten down and was still running. She fell down on Karen, dead.
The man saw the guy with the shotgun running around and fired at him. He leapt behind another pew to save himself.
So he then walked over to Karen, who had been pinned to the floor by the dead woman.
Oliver, Elektra, Slade and Roy had heard the gun-fighting and had quickly dressed up in their suits and gone out with their weapons.
They were horrified to see people running around in terror, screaming. A big man was firing a semi-automatic around. And now he stood over Karen, aiming his gun at her.
Oliver took out an arrow, intending to disarm the man.
But before he could fire, a man leapt out from behind one of the pews and fired at Karen's attacker with a shotgun.
The bullet hit him, making him stagger away. The man reloaded his shotgun and fired again, throwing him off. And like that, he fired three more times. The man was slammed against a pillar and fell down, seemingly dead again.
The four turned to look at the shotgun wielding man and immediately recognized him.
"Frank", Slade muttered.
The four and Frank Castle ran over to where Karen was now getting up.
"You okay, Karen?" Frank asked as they started helping her up.
Karen couldn't speak due to how horrified she was.
"Thank you, Frank", Oliver said sincerely.
That moment, the man's eyes opened again and he started getting up.
All six of them looked at him, horrified.
"What the hell?" Slade said. Even on Mirakuru, he did not think he had the strength, durability and healing factor to get up immediately after getting hit by so many gunshot wounds and being slammed against a pillar.
Fortunately, his gun had fallen far off this time.
The six made to run out with Karen when there way was blocked by Prometheus, Dexdevil, Joe, Diaz and the Longbow Hunters.
They had decided to come in on hearing all the gun-fighting.
"Adrian!" Oliver growled.
"Oliver", Adrian said, "I told you, I am always ten steps ahead."
The heroes backed off with Karen and glanced back to see the big man moving towards them.
That moment, Matt leapt up from behind the villains and gave a flying kick to Dexdevil, throwing him off.
The others quickly jumped off into different directions. Oliver, Slade and Roy on one side and Frank, Elektra and Karen on another.
Frank then got up and shot the big man a few more times, making him stagger away. Silencer was about to activate her device when Elektra threw a knife which cut off its straps from her wrist, making it fall on the ground.
She then leapt and charged as the three Longbow Hunters charged at her.
Oliver, Slade and Roy too charged and Adrian, Joe and Diaz moved to fight them.
Elektra deflected a dart and blocked Kodiak's shield before kicking him away. She ducked to avoid a rotatory kick from Silencer before elbowing her in a rotatory motion, making her stagger away.
Oliver ducked to avoid a swing from Adrian's sword before trying to smack him with his bow. Adrian blocked and they were both in a deadlock. Joe roared and rushed Slade to bring his sword down on him but Slade just backed off to avoid. Roy ducked to avoid a flip kick from Diaz and tried to smack him with his bow, which he backed to avoid.
Dexdevil got up and tried to attack Matt. Matt blocked, punched him twice and slammed his head on a pew. He got up again. Matt punched him twice and gave him a flip kick, throwing him down.
He got up and ran at a civilian, grabbing him to use as a hostage. But Matt leapt into the air and aiming his feet, kicked Dexdevil on the face, throwing him back again.
Oliver punched Adrian on the face before flipping him over his shoulder. Before he could strike again, Adrian raised his feet and kicked him on the face, making him stagger back.
"Why are you doing this?" Slade asked Joe.
"Because I have the strength to do what you can't", Joe said, "I am what you were supposed to be."
Joe attacked but Slade blocked and pushed him back.
Roy flip kicked Diaz on the face and then smacked him with the bow, making him stagger away.
The big man tried to get back up again but Frank hit him hard on the head with the shotgun, making his head tilt back down. He then backed away a little as the man started getting up again. As he got up, Frank fired with his shotgun. But the man suddenly snatched it from him and snapped it like a twig. Seeing that Frank jumped away and hid behind a pew, before crawling away to where that man's semi-automatic had fallen.
Dexdevil got back up. Matt tried to kick him but this time, he grabbed his leg and threw him down on some candles before punching him on the face, stunning him.
He then looked around to see all the others were still fighting. He then looked at Karen, who was standing with Lantom, helping the others get out. He threw his stick at Karen.
Karen closed her eyes, waiting for the end. But it never came. She opened her eyes and gasped in horror on seeing what had happened.
Lantom stood in front of her, the stick sticking out of him. He had jumped in the way and taken the hit meant for her. As he fell down, Karen took him into her arms sobbing.
"NO!" Matt yelled and leapt at Dexdevil, slamming him into the ground. The others had seen what had happened too.
Oliver and Adrian charged at each other. He grabbed Adrian by the waist and slammed him to the ground before punching him repeatedly.
Roy pinned Diaz to the pillar with his bow and started punching him with his normal arm.
Slade blocked all the attacks Joe was bringing down on him and kicked him away.
Elektra ducked to avoid an attack from Kodiak before grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to a corner, knocking him out. She then cut off the device on Red Dart's wrist before leaping into the air and kicking her away, knocking her out. Silencer rushed her but Elektra kicked her on the knee, bringing her down before punching her out.
Frank picked up the big man's semi-automatic and fired it on him, making him stagger away a little. Elektra leapt into the air and gave him a flying kick. Her strength made him stagger back by a few paces.
She tried to kick him in a rotatory motion but he grabbed her foot and slammed her to the ground. He tried to smash her with his foot but she rolled away.
Matt punched Dexdevil on the face repeatedly, angry at what he had done to Lantom.
"Matthew."
Matt stopped on hearing Lantom whispering to him.
"Please forgive us", Lantom said and with a last exhale, closed his eyes, never to open them again. Karen started sobbing again.
Dexdevil pushed him off and tried to punch but Matt blocked and kneed him. He then slammed him into a pillar and then on a pew before punching him repeatedly and then throwing him down.
Frank fired the semi-automatic at the man while Elektra gave him a flying kick on the back, making him stagger.
"We need to get him out of here", Elektra said, "So that he doesn't do any more damage."
Frank then ran to the back exit and fired more shots at the big man. Elektra ran up next to Frank. Matt had heard them so he was not going to interfere with whatever they had planned.
But he did say out loud, "It's not a man! It's a machine!"
"A machine?" Frank grumbled, "Oh fuck!"
Nuke had an advanced intelligence system. It had the capacity to disobey orders if it considered it was at risk. And right now, it considered the man with the skull vest and the red-suited woman were risks to it. So it ran after them instead.
They ran out of the back door and into the alley. Nuke ran after them at full speed.
They managed to spot a car with its door open. The owner had carelessly left it open and the keys inside when he had gone off. Frank and Elektra jumped behind the open door. Frank then fired the gun at a fuel tank of another car in the front, causing a small explosion and flames to go up.
He then sat in the car with Elektra next to him. He started it and backed up. That moment, Nuke leapt out from the fire and grabbed onto the car.
As Frank backed it, Nuke punched the mirror, breaking it. It wrapped its hand around Elektra's throat. Elektra grabbed its hand, trying to remove it from her throat.
As Frank backed it up, he smashed the car against another parked car. The impact threw Nuke off the car. Frank then hit the accelerator and drove the car at full speed.
The man whose car had been parked walked out of a nearby shop. He had seen the car smashing against his and Nuke falling down.
He immediately opened the door of his car to walk inside and started dialing 911. That moment, Nuke got up.
It squeezed the man with the car door before slamming his head on the car, knocking him out. It then threw him away and sat in the car. It closed the door and hit the accelerator, following Frank and Elektra.
Frank looked at the rear view mirror and saw Nuke following.
"Take the wheel!" he told Elektra.
Elektra immediately took the steering wheel while Frank got out of the window and fired at Nuke's car. Nuke steered around to avoid. The chase continued.
Back at the church, the fight continued.
Chase pushed Oliver off and s the two got up, he threw a shuriken. Oliver managed to deflect it with his bow before throwing a fletchette which Chase avoided by jumping to a side.
Slade blocked an attack from Joe and grabbing him by the shoulder, slammed him into a pillar, throwing him down.
Diaz kept trying to punch Roy who kept jumping back to avoid.
Matt lifted Dexdevil by the collar and angrily head-butted him before throwing him at a pillar. Matt tried to kick but Dexdevil rolled away to avoid.
He then threw some candles at Matt which he avoided. He then threw down a statue which Matt avoided before kicking him. Matt tried to hit again but Dexdevil grabbed his arm and flipped them both to the ground.
He then picked up some rubble to throw at Karen but Matt threw a piece of rubble at his hand, disarming him.
He then punched Dexdevil thrice and slammed him into a wooden door before flip kicking him, smashing the door behind and throwing him inside.
He then punched picked up Dexdevil and punched him twice before slamming his head on the other side, smashing it.
Adrian threw another shuriken which Oliver deflected with an arrow. He leapt at Oliver with his sword but Oliver backed to avoid before jumping into the air and kicking Adrian with both feet, sending him flying back.
Dexdevil tried hit Matt but he kicked him on the chest, sending him slamming onto a pew. Dexdevil tried to hit again but Matt grabbed his hand and elbowed him on the face before throwing him onto a pew.
Dexdevil picked up rubble to hit Matt grabbed his hand again and punched him. Dexdevil managed to hit him with some rubble, though Matt put his elbow in the way, managing to avoid major damage.
Karen was running to the door to distract Dexdevil. He threw his stick at her, though Matt leapt on him. Oliver fired an arrow at the stick. The two projectiles deflected harmlessly off each other as Karen lead all the other attendees out.
Dexdevil ripped off a small part of a pew and hit Matt, knocking him down. He then punched Matt repeatedly before Karen yelled, "Hey! I'm the one you want!"
Dexdevil picked up a necklace of beads and ripped it off before throwing them at her. She ducked to avoid but they still hit the glass, breaking it.
Chase kicked Oliver in a rotatory motion, making him stagger back. He then tried to swing his sword but Oliver blocked with his bow before punching Adrian on the face. He then grabbed him by the back of the collar and threw him down.
Karen ran upstairs. Dexdevil followed her. Matt got up but Dexdevil threw a big container on him, sending him down again.
Joe leapt at Slade and managed to punch him on the mask. He then grabbed Slade by the back of the head and slammed it on a pillar four times before Slade gave him a backwards head-butt, making him let go.
Diaz took out a gun but Roy fired an arrow, disarming him. He then leapt at Diaz and gave him a kick, throwing him off.
Dexdevil was looking for Karen upstairs when he saw Matt staggering to him. He tried to punch but Matt blocked and punched him instead.
He tried to punch again but Dexdevil grabbed him and punched him on the side before throwing him down. He then punched him on the face repeatedly. Matt now just lay on the ground, weakened.
Dexdevil picked up a pointed object and brought it down on Matt. Just before it could hit him, Karen popped out of her hiding place and hit him with a small statue of Christ, making him fall off the balcony.
"Oh, my God", Karen said as she kneeled near Matt, "Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt, you okay? You okay? Hey."
"I can't-can't let him leave", Matt stammered.
Karen looked down and saw that Dexdevil was no longer there.
"No, no, no", Karen said, "Oh, shit, no, he's gone."
Downstairs, Adrian commanded, "Fall back!"
Once again, all the villains started retreating, including the Longbow Hunters who had got back up. Diaz, like before, threw a flashbang grenade to cover their escape.
"It's okay. It's okay", Matt told Karen before losing consciousness.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey", Karen said in a scared tone as she cradled Matt's head, "Matt? Matt?"
She then started sobbing due to everything that was happening.
Nuke managed to smash its car against Frank's and Elektra's car and that smashed it into a wall, trapping it.
Elektra jumped to the back seat and opened the back door. Both of them jumped out of it. Then the saw the side stairs of a building and started running up. Nuke followed them.
The two reached up and Nuke arrived there too, ready to fight them.
Frank once again fired the semi-automatic while Elektra gave it a flying kick. It staggered back. Before it could recover, Elektra swung her sword.
The sword hit its eye and the skin near it, damaging it very badly.
She swung her sword again but Nuke grabbed it and using it as a lever, threw her away.
Frank neared him, firing more shots. Nuke grabbed the gun and pushed Frank away, throwing him down. Nuke then aimed the gun at him.
Putting the gun on Frank's face, it then pulled the trigger-
But nothing happened. The gun was now empty.
Frank then suddenly brandished a pistol and fired more shots at it.
Elektra got up at that moment. Nuke reached out with its hand, intending to snatch Frank's pistol too.
At that moment, a swinging figure hit it, sending it flying off the roof to the ground. It was someone wearing a red and blue spandex suit with a symbol of a spider on the center of it.
Spider-Man!
"Take that Terminator!" he said.
Frank and Elektra ran to the edge of the roof and looked down-
Only to see it was not there.
"You're the Punisher aren't you?" Spider-Man asked as Frank and Elektra turned to him, "I must say, not a big fan of all the kill-"
"Kid!" Frank said in a firm voice, shutting him up, "Where the hell are the Avengers?"
"Them?" Spider-Man said, "They've gone away on a mission. I'm here because someone is supposed to patrol the streets."
"When they get back", Frank said, "Tell them to put an end to Wilson Fisk's BULLSHIT!"
"Okay, okay, calm down", Spider-Man said, "I will tell them."
He then made to swing away when Elektra said, "Thanks for the help, kid."
"No problem", Spider-Man said, "It's just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."
He then swung away while Frank and Elektra decided to regroup with the others.
The shootout in the beginning was inspired by the Tech Noir scene in the first 'Terminator' movie.
So Spider-Man is here too. This was to set up something that will happen in a later chapter.
So Frank Castle returns. Daredevil Season 3 was amazing but it did hurt the Netflix corner of the MCU and Frank's character.
Frank cares for Karen like family so he would do anything to protect her. The attack on the Bulletin was highly publicized. So I just keep wondering why Frank didn't show up to help Karen after seeing that.
Of course the showrunners did not want to do any crossovers but I think they should have given a small explanation for why Frank didn't show up.
Doesn't mean I don't love Daredevil Season 3. Because it was amazing nonetheless.
Please review. I always appreciate your feedback.