"R-Reyes?" Danny stared at the newcomer, shocked at his arrival.
"Learned a new trick, I see," Spider-Man noted. "When'd you start mixing flames with your chains?"
"Ghost Rider has been a good mentor," Reyes replied simply, before addressing Punisher. "Speaking of which, he's on his way here now. I'd surrender while you have a chance!"
"Like hell I will!!" Punisher spat, bringing up a pair of pistols.
"Get behind me!" Reyes commanded as Spider-Man flipped over him as Punisher began to shoot. The bullets were hitting the boy, but they didn't seem to have any effect.
"How the hell are you doing that!?" Asked an incredulous Spider-Man.
"While I'm in this form, my body is immune to certain damage," Reyes explained. "But I can only keep it up for about 15 seconds, so I have to end this quick."
He summoned two chains that appear from behind him, but instead of launching themselves towards his opponent, they twist around the boy's hands and wrists, as if they were boxing wraps, but made of iron. The part that passed over Reyes's bent fingers glowed orange, like red-hot iron, and the boy raised his fists in his familiar boxing stance.
"So he uses his fists…" Punisher muttered, putting away his gun and raising his closed fists up. "Alright, you wanna throw hands? Let's go!"
Robbie complied, charging forward and throwing a 1-1-2 combination at Punisher's head. Being in his skull form, he gained an increase in strength and stamina, but one thing diminished; his speed. The weight of the chains was still heavy enough to slow down his punches, and Punisher was able to slip the blows and come in with a hook to the midsection before rolling out.
The combatants threw several multiple punch combinations at each other, blocking or narrowly avoiding their respective blows. It was even more vital for Punisher to dodge the heated metal fists, and he of course didn't throw anything at the flaming skull. Once in a while though, he would land a solid punch to the torso, taking advantage of the boy's lack of agility. Still, to him it felt like punching a brick wall.
Finally, Roberto saw the opening he was looking for, and knocked his opponent's hand away. He rushed forwards and grabbed Punisher by the shoulders, staring deeply into his eyes as his own empty sockets appeared to glow an ethereal orange.
"Francis Castiglione," he growled in an ethereal voice. "Your sins are innumerable. I am here to wreak vengeance upon your soul!!"
But Punisher was unfazed, instead bringing up a double barrel shotgun and blasting Reyes backwards with a pull of the trigger. "Is that a fact?" He retorted, pumping the shotgun and disposing of the empty shells.
Reyes's skull turned back into his human face, grimacing with pain as Danny grabbed the downed boy and attempted to heal him with his chi. Punisher raised the gun and pulled the trigger again.
"Reyes!! Chains!!!" Danny yelled, as Reyes shot out a series of metal chains from his back. They moved quickly and blocked the rounds.
Spider-Man looked over Reyes, "What happened? Was it that 'Stare' thing you did to me? Why didn't it work?"
Reyes clutched his head with one hand, "The Penance Stare only works on those harboring guilt over their sins. This man, I can tell from his eyes that he has no sense of guilt. He feels justified in his actions."
Punisher brought up a new semi auto rifle, "Looks like I need to up my game."
Reyes narrowed his eyes and shoots out chains towards his enemy. Punisher was quick enough to dodge the chains, however, and fires a burst of rounds at the boy. Robbie brings his chains in front to shield himself and his classmates.
"Where the hell does he keep getting those guns!?" Roberto asked through gritted teeth.
"The van..." Danny struggling over to Frog-Man, attempting to use his chi to heal him. "He keeps his weapons in that van back there. He can teleport them to himself."
"Something's not right," Spider-Man muttered. "He'd be better off falling back to where we can't reach him, or getting a higher vantage point. So why-"
Suddenly, his lenses widened as he came to a realization, "That's it..."
"What?" Reyes turned to the boy.
"Every quirk has its limit, right?" Spider-Man went on. "Usually it's based around how long a person can use it, but his quirk must have a range. That's reason he's not falling back, he can't summon his weapons from a distance!!"
From his position, Punisher overhears the boy's deductions as he reloads his gun. He grinned slightly, "Not bad, kid..."
Frank Castle, alias: The Punisher. Quirk; Arsenal. He can teleport any weapon he's imprinted on to his position, but only within a range of 400 yards.
"So what's the plan, then?" Reyes asked, now struggling to keep up his shield against a fresh barrage of bullets.
"What I wanted was to carry these two out of here," Spider-Man replied, indicating Danny and the downed hero. "But I'm all out of webbing, and he keeps bringing out more weapons. So a quick getaway's a no-go, and he's geared up to fight at a distance..."
"Then we'll have to get in close again," finished Reyes. "Or we move the van."
"I think we can trap him..." Danny stood back up shakily. "If I can make an opening, can you wrap him with your chains, Reyes?"
The Hispanic boy looked at him, "What kind of opening?"
"If I can focus my chi, I can launch a shockwave. It'll knock him off his feet if nothing else," Danny replied, referring to the move he used against Riri Williams in the Sports Festival. "But I'll need time to charge it..."
Spider-Man looked over Danny. He was the one who went after the Punisher, and would be dead if not for his intervention. The boy clearly went into the fight hot headed and without regard for his own safety. But now he seemed more like his usual self, level headed and focused. Revenge no longer burned in his eyes, only a desire to protect his friends. And right now, that was enough for Peter.
"I can distract him," he said. "Keep the shooting off you. How long do you need?"
Danny began to focus his breathing, "A minute, maybe more. I'm not in my best condition..."
Spider-Man looked over at Punisher, who was reloading a clip in his gun. He clenched his fists and the lenses of his mask narrowed. "You've got 45 seconds, make them count," he said, leaping into the air past the safety of the chains.
Snapping towards the red and blue blur, Punisher shot his gun at the Wall-Crawler, who rushed along the wall in an effort to avoid the rounds. "Jeez, Frankie, who taught ya to shoot!?" He yelled down. "Mind if I call ya that? Spooky down there said your name was 'Francis,' but frankly, it felt a bit weird calling you that!"
"Y'know, there's usually not a lot of talking in a fight!!" Punisher yelled back, emptying his clip and preparing to load another.
"What can I say?" Spider-Man shrugged, "I'm a chatterbox, it's part of my charm!"
40 SECONDS
"Not being too subtle with those guns, Frankie!" He called, getting closer as Punisher shot another round of bullets. "I know things are kinda loud right now, but we do have 'shot spotters' in this city! By now, the cops know there's a shooting in progress and are on their way along with Ghost Rider!"
Punisher threw his gun aside, pulling a handgun and shooting along the wall. "Does it matter?" He asked, "You think cops will get anywhere near this place with those friggin' robots flyin' around!?"
35 SECONDS
"Fair point," Spider-Man landed on the ground a short distance behind his foe. "Counter point, you think they'll last long against the pros in the area? They're called 'pros' for a reason, y'know!"
Punisher glared, bringing up another gun. "If these guys were pros, then how come my family's dead, huh!?"
Spider-Man's lenses twitched at this remark, "Wait, what did you-" His spider sense rang out, the man was pulling the trigger and a bullet would be on its way in half a second.
30 SECONDS
Days ago, Peter would've been freaking out, not knowing which way to go. But thanks to his training with Stick, he was much more in tune with his instincts. He narrowly dodged the bullet, and the two preceding it before leaping back onto the wall, scooting upwards to avoid the rest of the rounds.
"Hold on, time out!!" He said, making a "T" shape with his hands. "Is that what happened to you?"
"What d'you care? It was before your time," Punisher retorted, and started to reload his gun.
25 SECONDS
"I'm serious! I just wanna talk!" Spider-Man raised his hands in front of his chest, crossing his heart with one, "No punchy, no kicky. But no shooty from you!" He pointed at Punisher's hands, paused in the process of loading a clip.
The man's eyes narrowed at the costumed boy clinging to the wall. Finally, seeing no other option, Peter raised his hand to his head and took off his mask. He looked at Punisher dead in the eyes, "Tell me what happened... Please..."
Beyond the fighting, Reyes watched in fascination as his normally chatty classmate took a radically different tactic. He hadn't expected the boy to unmask before the enemy, but if he could get Punisher talking, it might buy them more desperately needed time. Reyes himself was running on fumes from the continued use of his quirk, and a pause in action was needed.
Danny continued to power up his chi, but it was still slow going. His bleeding chest wound was fighting for his attention and made it hard to concentrate. But this was no time to worry about himself and dwell on his failings. Instead, he worried about his friend, especially being so close and essentially unarmed against a trained killer. The boy ignored his own pain and continued to build up the energy in his fists.
Meanwhile, Punisher stared at the Peter, as if taken aback. His opponent was another kid, as the man'd suspected, but there was something different about him. He had a look of genuine concern and sincerity in his eyes. Unlike other 'pros' who gave a bit of sympathetic lip service when the moment called for it, this kid was being dead serious.
20 SECONDS
The man lowered his gun slightly, "It happened 4 years ago. I was in Central Park with my family, had the day off from work. We're walking around, minding our business, then all hell broke loose. Suddenly we're caught up in the crossfire of one of those damn fights between some Capes and a gang. I don't even remember who was fighting who anymore. But I remember every bullet that flew, the screams of Lisa and Little Frank, holding my wife Maria in my arms as she bled out. Then everything went black, next thing I know I'm waking up in a hospital wrapped in bandages..."
Punisher leaned back against the wall, the memories clearly painful. "The tell me later it was a million to one I survived, called it a 'miracle'. Found out a minute later my family died at the scene. Next day, some reps from a hero agency comes down to 'offer sympathies on behalf of' whoever it was they worked for. Capes didn't have the balls to come down themselves. They offered me 37 grand in restitution, provided I didn't pursue legal action."
He nodded angrily, "37 grand. That's how much my family was worth to them... I wanted to stuff it down the suit's throat! That's when it hit me: those bastards didn't care. They're too busy with the press and getting pat on the back. They don't deal with the real problems, it's all about inflating egos!!"
15 SECONDS
Peter listened, shaking his head at the last remark. "It's not right," he said.
"You're goddamn right, it's not," Punisher retorted.
"So what'd you do?" Asked the boy.
"Broke outta the hospital that night," replied Punisher. "I went to where those scumbags were getting arraigned and shot 'em to hell once I got close enough."
"Wait, they let you just walk in?" Peter asked, dumbfounded. "What'd you work there or something? Were you a cop?"
"It doesn't matter, ancient history now," Punisher said, leaning off the wall. "They were the first, that was for my family. Everyone else, let's say it serves a higher purpose."
10 SECONDS
"A 'higher purpose'?" Peter's eyebrow raised in suspicion, "What? Are you 'on a mission from God' or something? Because I saw that movie, and you don't look like you can sing or dance."
Punisher scoffed, half laughing, "Heh, it ain't like that, Elwood. Look around ya, the whole world caters to every asshole in tights. They don't care about the little guy, we don't matter!" He hit his chest as if to illustrate his point.
"Yes, you do!" Peter snapped, standing in front of the man. "That's why I wanted to become a hero! Sure, I look up to guys like Iron Man, but I'm not some glory hound! I wanna help the little guy, and I was doing that before I even started at M.A!"
5 SECONDS
"Yeah, bull!" Punisher retorted. "I thought you had a chance. But you're just like the rest 'a them; a half measure who talks a big game when he should keep his mouth shut!" He began to raise his gun at the boy.
"NOW!!!"
Peter's eyes widened, reacting on pure instinct and following his spider sense. With all his strength, he jumped upwards before Punisher could pull the trigger.
From behind them, Reyes leapt aside as Danny grit his teeth and clapped his palms together. The resulting shockwave wasn't as powerful as the one he used on Riri, but it was enough. Punisher was knocked off his feet as his gun flew through the air.
Reyes' head burst into fire and he shot two flaming chains at the enemy. The first wrapped around his wrists. The other wrapped around the leather trench coat and Kevlar armor, trapping his arms in place.
"What th-!?" Punisher could barely comprehend what happened, it all went down so fast. "Hey!! Lemme go!! Is this shit on fire!?" He struggled in vain against the chains, trying to get free.
"Hey Frankie!" A voice called. "What'd the 5 fingers say to the face!?"
"Hnnn?" He grunted, looking up in the direction it came from.
And from the shadows, a re-masked Spider-Man leapt down and delivered a devastating punch to the face, "SMASH!!!"
Punisher's whole body twisted around from the impact, following his head as he fell to the ground. He was down for the count.
Reyes de-powered and walked over towards his classmate, eyeing their beaten foe. "I'm not sure that's how the joke went, Araña," he said.
"Eh, I like my version better," Spider-Man replied.
"Mmm," Reyes shrugged, not really caring. At his side, he supported a limping Danny. He slid off his yellow mask and stared down at Punisher. This monster was responsible for so much pain, not to mention his own. Now he was just a man, laying on the ground, covered in alley grime.
"Danny..." Spider-Man looked warily at the boy, worried he might do something rash. As if on cue, Danny's fist clenched and began to glow slightly. "Danny," he said again, a bit sharper this time. It thankfully got his attention.
"It's over." His classmate took off his mask and looked him in the eye, "Don't sink to his level..."
Danny saw an expression of sympathy on Peter's face, but his eyes were alert, as if prepared for stop him if necessary. Danny looked at Reyes, who nodded in agreement, before looking back down at Punisher.
For a moment, the boy did nothing. Finally, he let out a slow exhale, and the golden glow left his fist. He grimaced slightly, as tears began to stream down his face. Peter put a hand on his shoulder as Reyes allowed Danny to lean into him. Indeed, the fight was finally over.
.
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Barber's Chair
• Whew!! This fight was a doozy to write. I had to dig into comic lore to see if Punisher could withstand the Penance Stare (he can), not to mention figure out a way that he'd hold an advantage over the trio. That came in the form of the close quarters battle, leaving them with little room to maneuver. And for Spider-Man to be without his webs, that was a major tool in his arsenal that he couldn't use.
• I wanted to keep as close to possible to the comic version of Punisher, while giving him a Quirk that suited not only his gimmick, but aided in the mystery around him. So using the van he always drove around in from the comics, he had a roaming armory close by at all times. All his Quirk did was transport them to his location.
• This version of Frank Castle's origin was inspired by the Garth Ennis comic Punisher vs the Marvel Universe, where instead of a mob hit, his family was caught in the line of fire during a super powered battle. And from what's been seen in this universe, his claims aren't entirely unfounded. Still, it's not as over the top as that particular Elseworld's story, or his run on The Boys.