This is a spin off story off my All-New Spider-Man story that is taking place in the same universe and after the Punishment multi-chapter. The relevant details for new readers will be given. Okay to reiterate the rules for this story: this is a Marvel Universe where it's only Spider-Man related heroes and an exception for some that will have reworking. So some other characters from other parts of the Marvel Universe including villains to rework to fit into this universe and Punisher related characters gets a free pass as the character debuted fighting Spidey. There is non-Punisher villain planned for this story but in this universe no X-Men, Fantastic Four or Avengers.
In a New York apartment; a frizzly haired black woman in a red shirt with a special prosthetic right arm was preparing dinner. When it was done; she seated herself in front of the TV which was on the Daily Bugle news which was doing a report that little over an hour ago the King building had exploded and Spider-Man was seen rescuing philanthropist Wilson Fisk.
"Fuck Spider... Should have just left him there... You would have done the city a favour." the woman muttered shaking her head as there was a knock on the door. "I warned you that I'm not interested in signing up for your cult..." said as he then answered the door and there was a grey haired man in a suit and a longcoat.
"Detective Mercedes Knight?" the man asked as she then shook her head.
"I like to go by Misty and I haven't been a detective in a year." the woman replied as the man showed a FBI badge. "I am assuming that you have a warrant?" Misty then asked eyeing.
"Assistant Director Lou Caldwell and consider me here to recruit you. May I come in?" the man asked as Misty then invited him in. "So... I read your files... A strong dedicated officer with a thirst for justice and... Losing your arm in the line of duty; please forgive me if I am being inappropriate and overstepping any boundaries that you feel comfortable with..." Caldwell said as Misty shrugged.
"I've adapted and I got the physical therapy to help me cope... Medically discharged me from the force and it was the excuse that they were looking for..." Misty then said as Caldwell grinned.
"I've read your files as I said... Two suspensions and repeated warnings... Warned to stop badgering City Councillor Mariah Dillard by a superior officer and took them both down." Caldwell said as Misty grinned at the memory.
"Didn't expect her to be on the take of Black Mariah but I didn't complain." Misty then said.
"You know that Frank Castle escaped?" Caldwell asked as Misty looked confused as to how the conversation shifted.
"The Punisher? How could I not... Was all over the news this morning and hearing that a restaurant filled of suspected mob leaders were slaughtered... Had to be his work and if you ask me if I think that he had anything to do with the King Building..." Misty then replied.
"So did you hear of him in your time in the PDNY?" Caldwell asked as Misty snorted.
"Pretty much treated as a bogeyman... As this unstoppable one man army that terrorised the criminal underworld and was already a force to be reckoned with in the military... A one man legend and I thought that the stories were entertaining... But the stories and how they built him up... They forgot that he was still caught and locked up... The stories of him being capable to single handily topple dictatorship regimes if he was in the position to... They were out of probability..." Misty then answered.
"Though considering we now have a masked circus freak swinging around on webs, a man with robotic arms and a man with the powers of electricity... What we believed to be possible has shifted in a short time..." Caldwell said as Misty snickered and nodded. "Do you think that he should be caught again?" Caldwell asked as Misty thought about it for a minute.
"I won't lie... I will say that a good chunk if not most of if not the all of the people that he killed ever since putting on that skull deserved it and the world is a better place without them in it... But such a man that lived through war like that and he spent 15 years in the prison... The frame of mind of him after all that time and wanting to pick up where he went off... Plus the idea of him inspiring people to think that justice could only be done by yourselves and picking up a gun... Dangerous thinking and I do think he needs to be stopped..." Misty then answered.
"More people in power thinks that he needs to be locked up or killed. You know that the DA was found seriously maimed in his face and had to be rushed to the hospital for surgery." Caldwell asked as Misty smirked. "You had an incident when he visited your precinct and put the moves on you... One of the times that got you suspended and it was only your record that saved it..." Caldwell said as Misty shrugged.
"why the talk of Castle?" Misty asked as Caldwell looked more serious.
"My superiors are calling for a special task force to be put together for special cases. Chief among him; hunting down Frank Castle. I want you on this task force." Caldwell answered offering a hand and Misty thought about it.
"I am now desperate for action and since the city has gotten weird..." Misty said as she then accepted the handshake. Misty asked "I take it that we will be searching for leads for a while when I get started? If I was in his position; the last thing I would want to do is draw attention to myself..."
Outside of New York; an advanced black van was driving the road out of the city. It kept driving until it reached a gas station. Inside the truck were an array of military grade weapons, computer equipment and a large well built aged man lying on a mattress. the man was resting on the mattress as there was the driver calling to him saying "Frank..."
The man named Frank Castle got up to see the man driving the truck and was the only other person there; an obtuse man with a five o'clock shadow and glasses. "I am stopping at this station for some fuel for the Battle Van. Do you want to pick out some snacks as well?" the man going by Microchip asked as Castle was silent as he got up. He then looked to a belt with pouches in it and picked it up to put it on. "You really insist on... Okay but if they asks for it to be searched then we're hightailing it..." Microchip then said as they got out of the van.
The fuel station was on one side of the road and on the other was a roadside bar. Castle then waited as Microchip then filled up the 'Battle Van' and Castle went inside the store. Castle looked to the section of snacks on sale as well as a small collection of journals. He was drawn to it and picked it up.
"Jesus Christ... I am really starting to insist Caitlyn... Leave the bastard... Take everything in my register and the keys to my truck and just leave right now..." the elderly man at the till was saying to an anxious woman.
"I can't do that... Marcus gets angry if he even suspects that I might have thought of leaving him and he's drinking at the bar... Please just drop this... I don't want the chance of one of his friends being here and hearing this... He's at his worst when he's drunk..." the woman pleaded with tears in her eyes and Castle noticed that it looked like her makeup was covering up marks.
Microchip then came in and Castle tossed the journal to him and then went out to walk to the bar on the other side of the road. He went in and saw there was a lot of big men with tattoos and bikers. "Excuse me! Can anyone direct me to Marcus who has a girlfriend or wife named Caitlyn?" Castle called out as there were coughs and stares at him.
Then came up was a bald headed man with a Grim Reaper's tattoo over his eye came up to Castle sizing him up along with a bunch of other big men. "I'm Marcus and did the bitch say something about me? If so then she is in need of another beating..." Marcus then said as Castle then pushed him back as there were stares and shakes of the head as if the stranger was heading to a beating.
"You will never lay a hand on her ever again. Do you hear me? This is the only warning you get; I get a hint of you doing anything of the sort then I will personally hunt you down..." Castle warned in a low voice as there were laughter being broken out in the bar and snickers from Marcus' crew.
"Idiot just signed his own fucking death warrant..." snickered one of them as he then patted Marcus on the back.
"What I do with my wife is none of your goddamn business... Now I am owed an apology tough guy..." snapped Marcus as the music player in the bar started playing Step Up by Drowning Pool.
"You're right. You are owed an apology..." Castle then said as he then death glared at Marcus as he then laughed with his friends; Castle taking out an army knife from his pouch. "Whoever did that to your eye, said you didn't look ridiculous and let you go out in public should be on their knees." Castle then finished as Marcus then charged at Castle only to get knifed in the stomach by Castle.
There were yells as the gang with Marcus then jumped at Castle; he had his arms grabbed but pulled the one with the knife free and used it to slit the throat of the guy holding his other arm. He was pushed back and he grunted but used his free hand to get out a hand gun and shot someone coming after him in the throat making him scream.
He started shooting more of the men until he ran out of bullets and then put it away; a man using a snooker cue then ran after Castle. Castle used his army knife to slice it in half. He then pushed it through the gut someone else as he noticed 1 of the remaining guys with Marcus dragged the crying in pain and bleeding Marcus out of the bar.
"We are taking you to a hospital man..." the man said sounding scared as the remaining man tackled Castle before he could follow; Castle was punched in the throat before he started punching back and managed to reach and get his army knife to to stab it in the guy's arm making him scream before he then broke the arm.
Taking the knife and putting it away; Castle saw that Microchip was there as Castle noticed that Marcus was put into a car by the man and he then started off. "What is going Frank..." Microchip asked as Castle then rushed to the Battle Van and then got out a rocket launcher. He then aimed it at the getting away car and then fired with a single rocket connecting ait and making it explode in fire. Everyone who had ran out of the bar as the fight started were now screaming.
There were also the vendor at the fuel station and Caitlyn who were open mouthed; "Marcus won't hurt you ever again..." Castle told her softly as he then went to the back of the van and then Microchip went into the driver's seat to drive off as Castle closed the doors.
A special office of the FBI as Misty entered the door and passed an agent saying "Caldwell saying that this guy could give us a lead on the Chameleon Case..."
Misty then had a man knock into her and he said apologetically "sorry... You must be the new Agent... Ms Knight; is it? Martin Soap." Martin then offered a hand shake to Misty who then accepted it as other agents started laughing.
"Already making a bad first impression on the new meat already Soap?" asked a man who was standing in the middle of the room as he then threw a dart right at a dartboard on the wall and it hit the bullseye. "Am I great or am I great?" the man boasted to cheering from the agents as Misty rolled her eyes. The man then went up to Misty and took her hand to shake saying "Agent Marv Brown. I run this task force. Now that you're here... Please come with me..." the man said with a smile and then motioned for her and Martin to follow him.
He showed him to a set of chairs in front of a board with all sorts of photos and newspaper articles about Frank Castle. "Okay everyone... Give a hand to Agent Mercedes Knight here or Misty..." Marv said as there were claps for this as Misty shrugged. "Now let's get this started and give the basics about our target... Frank Castle; served in the marines and made it to Sergeant... Fought in the Siancong War as well as some of the worst places on Earth; was considered a superman by those who served in him... Giving full credit for turning seemingly hopeless battles around and proceeded to earn every medal or honour that someone could there. Returned home a hero... Went to enjoy a nice picnic with his wife and children when they came across a mob hit squad... Castle was the only survivor and you turn who people considered the world's greatest soldier into a grieving father and husband who lost everything... Well... Hell came to New York's criminals... Spent 5 years evading all mahunts and hit jobs sent safer him as he laid waste to the criminal underworld... Before he was finally caught and sent to Stryker's Island where they had to give him a special cell... Now he's free..." Marv then said pointing to the corresponding photos and articles.
"What do we know about how he escaped?" asked one of the agents as Marv pointed to Soap. Marv then looked at Martin with eyebrows raised which startled him to laughs.
"Well..." Martin said shuffling his papers; "The ones that personally broke him out were highly trained and they had someone who was able to hack into the prison's security feed... Plus they found an EMP device that... Showed up as one exclusively and confidentially used by higher up agencies in the government... Advanced and the explosives that took the King Building down... The remains found in the rubble belonged to the agencies as well..." Martin then explained.
"Glad to see that you are not totally useless Soap." Marv said as there were snickers as Martin looked embarrassed.
"So whoever broke Castle out has access to advanced hardware used by some government agencies?" Misty asked as Marv sighed nodding his head.
"A reason why the higher ups here in the FBI wants Castle found and retrieved so that they can get to the bottom of this." Marv said shaking his head. He then said "I can imagine him being allied with potentially someone dangerous..."
Microchip was driving the Battle Van as Castle had his new journal opened up on the first page and had a pen. "You know Frank next time that you need to do your thing and you don't have time to change into your uniform... I got some shirts with your skull logo on it to keep with the branding." Microchip then said as Castle turned his head to face him.
"Branding? What the fuck are you talking about?" Castle asked as Microchip coughed.
"Well... The Punisher branding and your MO... You punish scum with that skull on your chest... That's your branding... Your logo... Your symbol..." Microchip said as Castle got frustrated.
"There is no branding; I am not some celebrity endorsing something or superhero shit... I choose to use the skull to let scum know that their deaths are coming when they see me and that name... I never cared for it even if I didn't tell people not to call me that... I am just a pan dispensing justice. You can call me what you want but don't think this is some sort of branding shit." Castle retorted as Microchip nodded.
"Sorry Frank." Microchip then said and then a minute passed. "You know that I am excited... The two of us against the world; in this van going where the road takes us... A dynamic duo out of something from a TV show or a movie..." Microchip said excitedly as Castle then looked at him.
"Microchip. Do you know what will make this journey better for the both of us?" Castle asked as Microchip then faced him to hear the answer. "If you shut your fucking mouth!" Castle then informed him as Microchip nodded and then faced the road.
"Sorry Frank." Microchip then said as Castle gathered his thoughts to start writing in his new journal:
They say that war is hell; that is a load of bullshit. I've been in war and by comparison; Hell would be a hot Summer's beach holiday in comparison. The sweat on your forehead, tension in your veins and the feeling that you might lose yourself as you are sent to fight and kill. Without even getting into questioning the conflict that you were sent to. My name is Frank Castle or rather was. The man that came home wasn't the same man that left. His family was last thing anchoring him to his humanity.
A park picnic was supposed to be a happy family get together; it started out that way but then the shooting started... Organised crime types that worked for a mob Don by the name of Rigoletto. All of them died.
Sure the records said that the husband who had came back from war had survived but what was left of the man's humanity had been torn away by the loss of his family. All what was left was me; the killer on the battlefield who was going to use every trick he earned and used since signing up to make the bastards responsible pay.
5 years before the cops managed to get me; locked me up and had to be moved to a special cell just for me because I taught some crooked guards and prisoners that I wasn't locked in with them. They were locked in with me.
I was broken out by Microchip; a hacker who thinks we're buddies but I humour him because of his resources and talents. Found the guy that ordered the hit on my family, he prosecuted me in my trial and ended up becoming. Turns out that the guy was a vain petty piece of crap that valued his good looks over anything; I decided to painfully rob him of it and make sure that he lives in his own personal hell like I do mine. I would have taken down the final guy on my revenge list; Rigoletto's right hand man who had become the Big Man of Crime but the new superhero got in the way... New York had changed in the 15 years I was locked up. Kid's heart in the right place but is naïve. Still I'm rusty and I'm going to build myself up and return to finish the job. The kid better stay out of my way this time when I do.
On the run and my closest ally is a guy I don't even fully trust but is useful.. Just had my first fight since we got on the road; I am not as young as I used to be and still out of practice. A younger me would have finished it in less time and with less effort. Have to work on it but wherever this road takes us; I will find someone needing punishment and I will take the practice that I need to build myself back up.
Castle finished his first entry with a serious look in his eye.
Yeah Misty Knight is one of the exceptions I made to rule but reworking her to be a FBI agent and will play a role similar to Dinah in the Punisher show and she and the FBI agents are acting as Phillip Gerald to hunt the protagonist down as agents of the law. For the agent in charge of this task force Marv Brown... Don't look him up as you won't find a reference to the name but there are plans for him in this story...