Punisher: From the Smoke

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Punisher: From the Smoke

The continuation of Frank Castle’s story through untold missions from the past and future.

21/10/2023

Issue #9

War Journal entry 000-45

I’ve been all over Latin America and it’s Always the consistently best weather there is. Sure it can be a bit too humid in some parts but here in El Salvador it’s warm and breezy. You’d have no idea that this place is currently the murder capital of the world.

Kids are playing soccer, cows are mooing and lovers are strolling around in love...and somewhere at this moment someone is getting killed for a petty debt or extortion. Someone nearby is getting tortured to death and smugglers are going back on their words and killing off the people they were paid to smuggle.

That’s where Salvador “The mailman” Contreras comes in. I was on his trail in Miami a few years ago. His crew was easy enough to bump off. A bunch of lazy pot heads who hadn’t been in any real gunfights. Just a bunch of thugs accustomed to assaulting unarmed civilians.

I had Contreras cornered in his loft and I was ready to gun hm down when he ducked behind a bunch of women that he was trafficking. He made it to his mini gun and I couldn’t risk returning fire and hitting the girls.

He laid down some withering gun fire as I took cover. An armored jeep rolled up with a goon on a mounted 50 caliber. It was too much for my sawed off shot gun. I could have thrown a gr***de but again, I didn’t want to risk hurting the girls. So Contreras got away.

He knew the states were too hot for him now so he ran and ran, all the way to El Salvador. I knew where he was I just had been putting off coming down here until I had a good excuse.

Leaving North Korea the way we did and ditching Tony Stark was a good enough exuse. Microchip still has chairman Kim tied in knots and the international blow back isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. All the blame has landed on chairman Kim as it should be.

Contreras came down here and just started right back up again. PImping, co***ne, guns and murder. Same mailman same cargo different crew.

His new crew just happened to be worse than his last crew. No discipline and no aim. Like fishing in a fish market. I cut though Contreras’s men and then used a home made pipe bomb to return the mailman to sender.

After inspecting what was left of Contreras’s body I collected all of his loot that was laying around and put it into the food truck that micro had converted into a Battle Van. As I closed the van door I took a poison tipped roundhouse kick to the rib cage.

The toe spike got through my Kevlar. I still don’t know where this guy came from I cleared the grounds. Apparently not good enough. Lucky for me the Tarantula wasn’t going for a head strike. I rolled to my left, whipped out my side-arm. A couple of wild shots while I was rolling bought me enough time to get back onto my feet and damn it if I didn’t already feel the tarantulas poison doing it’s job.

I have detailed files on all of the best active hitters. I didn’t figure for Contreras to have enough juice to secure the services of the Tarantula.
They were both Cubans so maybe that was the connection.

The Tarantula wasn’t the top of the heap but he could hang in a hand to hand fight with the likes of a Captain America or Black Panther.

My head was starting to spin, my knees were wobbly and my mouth went dry. The Tarantula rushed at me throwing punches and kicks.

I’m a good fighter even when I’m close to being knocked out. I blocked the punches and kicks coming at me. At that point I was seeing three blurry guys in red under-Roos in front of me. I emptied my pistol at all of them and hit center mass at least once. Tarantula most likely wears some ballistic fiber or chest plate. I still think I sunk a round or two home because Twinkle Toes decided to haul ass rather than stay and fight.

I watched Tarantula run off into the corn fields as I dug an anti toxin shot out of the van. I had to call Microchip to come take the Battle Van wheel and extract me. Even with the anti toxin shot I wasn’t in any condition to drive. I held onto my aching rib cage with one hand and pulled a loaded 38 out of the vans glove box.

Seeing Microchip sputtering up to me on a Vespa motor scooter, he looked like a bear riding a tricycle. The Tarantulas poison was probably still pretty thick messing with my head.

I was at least clear headed enough to know that Micro had pulled my ass out of the frying pan. Wasn’t the first time and probably wouldn’t be the last.

16/09/2023

Issue #8

Frank grabbed the hackers van keys and muttered as he walked passed Microchip,

“”I’ll save him the trip.”

Frank walked outside of the hacker lodge into the crisp morning air. He fired up the hackers van and drove down the hillside towards U.S agents submersible. He quickly passed up U.S agent and parked the hacker van on a rocky landing next to the bay.

U.S Agent had turned around when he saw Frank in the van and was now walking towards Frank. The Punisher exited the van with his pistol drawn and at a low ready.

I.S Agent had his shield at his side

“Frank, put away the gun. I’m here to talk.”

Frank kept the pistol tensed,

“I can talk while armed.”

U.S Agent cleared his throat and shook his head,

“This isn’t as big a mess as you think it is Frank. What you’re doing now is on the brink of insanity. Just come back home. We can fix this. you don’t have a snowballs chance in Hell surviving like this.”

Frank took a step back and raised his pistol hand a bit,

“You must not know who I am. Causing damage behind enemy lines against the odds is what I do.”

U.S Agent frowned and took a step forward raising his shield a bit as Frank seemed to be circling him now,

“Frank Castle, this has got to be a new low for you. Just give up.”

Frank nodded his head and continued to circle raising his pistol a little higher,

“Yeah, it’s definitely a let down. I don’t even rate the real Captain America. Instead they send a cheap knock off to haul me in.”

Frank raised his gun to point directly at U.S Agent. U.S Agent hurled his shield at Frank and knocked the gun from his hand. The shield landed vertically deep into the bays soft wet sand. Frank unsheathed his combat knife and lunged forward taking several slices at U.S agents neck and rib cage.

U.S Agent dodged and blocked Franks knife attacks and punched Frank square across the jaw. Frank intentionally fell to the ground and countered the punch with a leg sweep that took U.S Agent off of his feet.

Frank wiped blood from his mouth as U.S Agent rolled back onto his feet and put his open palm out,

Frank this is madness, stop!

The Punisher reached down and retrieved his pistol. U.S Agent attempted to roll away from the gunfire as Frank aimed at him and squeezed the trigger several times. A bullet caught U.S Agent in the Abdomen and got through the armor weaving of his uniform.

U.S Agent rolled onto his back and winced in pain as the bullet found his intestines. Frank slowly walked over to U.S Agent and aimed his pistol for a headshot,

“Don’t bring a shield to a gunfight.”

The voice of Tony Stark barked from the watch on U.S Agents wrist,

“That’s enough Frank! Stop!”

The Punisher kept the gun aimed,

“You made threats first, remember that. You and this clown don’t belong here. Stay out of my business.”

Tony Stark huffed,

“You are an American citizen and you are creating a gravely dangerous situation that could potentially threaten the entire planet!”

U.S Agent continued to wince on the ground in pain as Frank looked at Stark in the watch screen,

“The world has been in danger for decades now because of the right thing not being done when it needs to be done. This is way overdue. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

The Punisher grabbed onto U.S Agents boot and dragged him over towards his submersible. He also picked up U.S Agents shield. Stark continued to shout out of the communicator wrist watch,

“Frank, get into the submersible and come home. We can make a deal!”

Frank snickered,

“You have deals for me Stark? Have your agent call my agent.”

Frank rolled up U.S Agent and dumped him into the submersible with his shield into the open hatch. The hatch closed automatically and Tony Starks voice continue to badger Frank as he walked away. Frank got back into the hacker van and drove off as the submersible sunk back into the North Korean bay.

Frank reached the hacker lodge with urgency and swatted Microchip on the shoulder as he walked in,

“Get everything ready for operation Puebla and set up. We gotta move again.”

Microchip took a deep breath and cleared off a desk top. He placed a lamp on the desk and wheeled a chair over to it,

“All right Frank, have a seat when you’re ready.”

Frank sat down at the desk and Microchip tapped away at his laptop for several minutes. He then pointed a video camera at Frank,

“Lights, camera, action.”

Frank looked into the video camera and adjusted in his chair before speaking. His voice was put through a disguise speaker and his image was blurred and pixilated. His transmission was being piped into every North Korean military base and to one middle eastern news agency. Franks words were being delivered in Pashtun, Russian, Mandarin and Arabic,

“Good morning, chairman Kim. Your words of war have been heard. Your threats taken seriously. I am revenge coming to your doorstep. Revenge for the menacing of the world with your weapons of mass destruction. You will now taste the fruits of the rancid tree that you have planted. We are the Lazarus group 6-6-6 that was once loyal to you. We will rest control of our great nation from you. We now control every nuclear weapon in the DPRK arsenal and will detonate one as an example of what will befall you should you seek to threaten the world with your weapons again.”

The transmission ended and Microchip took a deep breath,

“That was good. First take. Alright. Time for the fireworks.”

Frank stood up and moved to look over Microchips shoulder as he worked. Microchip tapped in codes and directives into his laptop. Frank pointed at the map on the laptop screen,

“So, what do we hit next if chairman Kim wants to call our bluff?”

Microchip chuckled,

“He’d have to have a huge pair after this, but for arguments sake there’s several other military only locations that wouldn’t lead to civilian casualties. After those are used up everything else is too close to cities and towns.”

Frank nodded,

“What are we waiting for. Hit it.”

Microchip took a sip of his coffee and adjusted his glasses,

“One Armageddon coming right up.”

Microchip hit the detonate switch on a nuclear warhead still buried underground beneath a military base in the eastern region of North Korea.

The ground rumbled beneath the feet of the soldiers stationed at the North Korean missile installation. They fell to the ground from the seismic like concussive force. The ground of the military base opened up and a gargantuan cloud of fire shot into the air and mushroomed into a ball of yellow orange and red.

Frank looked at the screen,

“Alright, let’s move out. Get the passports and tickets ready for El Salvador. I have a score to settle down there.”

02/09/2023

ISSUE #7

Frank and Microchip floated on the Yalu River from Dandong over to Sinuiju. The motor boat that they were using was sturdy but barely had room for any supplies. They had greased wheels on both sides of the Chinese North Korean border and were now closing in on their North Korean guides location. Microchip pointed him out in the underbrush on the other-side of the river bank

“There he is right there, that’s Bruce.”

Frank lowered his binoculars and guided the boat over to Bruce who was kneeling near three mopeds. Bruce stood up and dusted off his knee. He was a short thin North Korean national with a gold front tooth and a neat haircut. Frank stepped out of the boat and hoisted a backpack onto his shoulders. He looked Bruce up and down and observed his trendy brand name track suit and expensive sneakers

“A bit flashy for smuggling, don’t you think?”

Bruce’s English was very good as he let loose a big grin,

“Hey man, I work hard for the nice things. Everybody knows me. I have nothing but friends!”

Bruce pointed to the mopeds,

“I know you like these. Their fun to ride. Let’s go.”

Microchip looked around nervously and unzipped his coat as he tested his weight on the moped. The trio took a well traveled smugglers road and were on the outskirts of Sinuiju city rather quickly. They parked the mopeds on the side of a small barn and Bruce led them inside,

“Mr Linus said you won’t stay here very long but this is yours for as long as you need it.”

Bruce opened up a crate in the corner of the barn. Frank looked inside and started to inspect the contents,

“Hey, back there on the road, those lady’s with the shop tables were playing K-Pop and selling romance videos. I thought Chairman Kim executed people for having stuff like that.”

Bruce nodded his head

“Oh he does, but only in certain places. He knows what we do out here. He don’t care. He can’t even feed nobody, killing people here would just be doing them a favor. We all got to get by somehow. Chairman Kim needs us so much more than we need him. Especially now. His soldiers spend half their time guarding nothing. The rest of their time is spent looking for food or smoking meth.”

Franks brow furrowed. He had read about rumors like these but was surprised to hear them confirmed. He picked up an AK-47 from the crate and gave it a close look

“This is pretty beat up Bruce. Looks like it was fired everyday for a year without being cleaned.”

Bruce shrugged

“I think it was, by Chechen rebels.”

Bruce lifted an unloaded 44 Magnum out of the crate and handed it to Frank

“I know you like this, very clean.”

Frank opened the cylinder and almost smiled

He found the shoulder holster for it in the crate,

“Yeah, this is good”

Bruce smiled and started to stack ammunition onto the table,

“Look at these little lemons”

Bruce put three F-1 gr***des onto the table and set a pair of ballistic knives next to them,

“Don’t test those until I leave. Those things scare me.”

Frank pulled a MP-443 Grach pistol out of the crate and shifted the weight of it before dropping the clip. He inspected the boxes of ammo on the table to make sure they were all correct,

“No extra clips?”

Bruce shrugged again,

“give me time, let me know where you move, call me I’ll be there quick as I can with more stuff. Look at this.”

Bruce opened a second crate on the floor. It was packed with MRE’s and bottled water. Frank looked at microchip,

“You’re going on a diet.”

Microchip shook his head,

“No I’m not, I saw those lady’s with noodles, coffee and pancakes back there.”

Frank looked at Bruce,

“you said you had travel permits for us”

Bruce reached into his pocket and took out 2 large copper coins and handed them to Frank

“Oh yes, show these coins of grandpa Kim to soldiers and cops when you need to. Also give them a little bit of won just to be nice. You won’t have any problems in the countryside and mountains. The other cities and towns should be completely avoided. They have different smugglers different rules, lots of snitches and minders.”

Bruce looked at his watch and started to walk towards the barn door. Frank walked with him,

“One more question. Are there other Americans around here?”

Bruce nodded his head,

Yes and Europeans. More than you would think. In the capital and other cities they all have minders. Out Here people go where they want when they want. Just show respect and you will receive respect.”

Bruce walked out of the barn and got onto his moped,

“Remember, let me know where you end up. I have my eyes on more stuff for you.”

Frank watched Bruce drive off and then he eyed the mountains. He looked over at microchip,

“You ready for a hike big guy?”

Frank and Microchip hiked a short distance up the mountain range and stopped beside a calm brook. Frank refilled his canteen and microchip took a leak on a tree. Frank looked through his binoculars and spied on the small lodge a little further up the mountain. Microchip sat on the ground and opened up his laptop. He hammered away at his keyboard for several minutes and then he brushed imaginary dust off of his shoulder after hacking into the Lazarus cell that he was targeting

“Got ‘em, these guys are one of the cells responsible for keeping chairman Kim’s slush fund pumping. Word is, he’s not at all happy with his hacker groups lately. They haven’t been bringing in the same coin as they used to, so he’s been rolling out more and more groups which has led to a drop in quality. His Lazarus guys have been getting compromised at a higher clip now too. When a cell knows that they’ve been infiltrated each member eats a cyanide gummy worm. It’s what they’re trained to do. Chairman Kim just forgets about them. He never goes back to the same place twice. He has strict orders for his soldiers to away from compromised areas he’s paranoid that the CIA is is taking out his guys. He doesn’t want that digital trail somehow getting back to him.”

Frank continued to surveillance the lodge through his binoculars. He didn’t see any overt security measures in place. He counted six North Korean nerds in total, working, smoking and watching he**ai in their one room style computer lab dormitory. Frank put his binoculars down and looked at Microchip,

“Is the CIA taking out Kim’s hacker cells?”

Microchip smiled,

“Sometimes”

Microchip squeezed a peanut butter ration into his mouth and washed it down with some chocolate flavored water.

“Sometimes it’s M I 6 or Good Samaritan hackers like me and sometimes these weirdos just off themselves because their favorite American sitcom got cancelled.”

Frank shook his head,

“Do you need any of these guys alive?”

Microchip shook his head

“No, just try not to shoot up their hardware or desks too badly. I like a comfy work area.”

Frank raised up out of his crouch and stalked off towards the lodge. He crept up along side the back door of the lodge and tried the door handle. It was open. He let himself in and made a shoulder roll onto the kitchen floor taking cover behind a counter top that was littered with empty beer bottles and dirty plates. Frank peered into the live work space where the hackers were laughing with one another and fiddling with their computers. All six desks were occupied. Frank raised up from the kitchen floor and drew the 44 magnum from his shoulder holster.

He stepped into the live work space and fired and single round through the forehead of the hacker seated closest to the kitchen. The hackers blood spray covered his monitor and keyboard completely as what was left of his head landed on his desk.

The remaining hackers jumped in their seats but were frozen in place by the boom of the 44 magnum. After taking a quick look at Frank they all reached for the gelatin hit of cyanide sitting on small trays on their desks. As they trembled and scooped the fatal doses into their mouths Frank fired slugs into each of the hackers and then reloaded.

Microchip could see Frank walking around the rest of the lodge though his binoculars. Frank gave the clear signal and microchip grabbed the gear and joined Frank down at the lodge.

Frank searched the exterior of the lodge and found a shovel in a tool shed. He started digging a shallow pit to dump the dead hackers into while microchip cleaned up inside the lodge.

After a couple of days of settling in Frank began to work on the next leg of his battle plan. He sat at a desk that he had pushed into a corner. Frank updated his war journal after taking the AK-47 apart for cleaning. Frank jotted down notes into his journal and chewed on a heated up piece of MRE meat that claimed to be pork.

Microchip saw Bruce climbing the ridge in a battered yellow pick up truck at almost exactly the time he said he would be arriving. Microchip went outside to greet Bruce and he took his laptop with him. Microchip sat down on a patio table and Frank also got up and walked outside to meet up with Bruce.

Bruce parked the truck and stepped out of it with a big smile. He dropped the tail gate to his truck and unloaded two big duffel bags,

“I brought a lot more food and some other nice things for you. Mr Linus, thank you for the last payment by the way. Very generous!”

Frank took the duffle bags from Bruce as Microchip called Frank over. Microchip looked at his screen and pointed,

“Frank, look at this.”

A video feed of a submersible was on microchips laptop screen. It rose out of the water and nestled into the North Korean shoreline. A heroic looking figure stepped out of the submersible and slipped a large round shield onto his back. The figure tapped his watch and started to walk in the direction of the lodge. Frank took in a deep breath and exhaled,

“U.S Agent.”

The big smile ran away from Bruce’s face as he looked over Microchips shoulder. Bruce fumbled for the truck keys in his pocket,

“Mr Linus, what’s a U.S Agent.”

Microchip looked at Frank and then at Bruce,

“It means you should leave and not come back unless we call you.”

Bruce started to jog towards his truck,

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

U.S Agent looked at the camera on his watch and spoke directly into it as if he could see the Punisher and Microchip,

“Frank Castle, this is U.S Agent. Put down your weapons. I am less than a quarter of a mile away from your location and I’m coming to have a conversation with you.”

15/08/2023

Issue #6

The device that Hawkeye had given Frank got him to the perimeter of the kingpins building without being noticed. Frank skulked in the shadows and slipped by hotel staff to get to the kingpins lift. Wilson Fisk was confident in his cyber security and didn’t travel with very many bodyguards. The few he had brought were top students of the Taskmaster and were hanging around in the hotel lobby blending in with the tourists.

Frank spotted them with a deductive eye from their builds and postures. He also could tell that they had holstered guns and bullet proof vests hidden underneath their clothing. The Trained killers looked too slimy to be cops or feds.

Frank made his way around them on the outside and and got into the kingpins elevator. The device granted him access into the locked lift and was covering up Franks presence and filtering him into invisibility to any camera lenses or thermal detectors. His ride on the elevator was even functionally concealed as he glided up to the top floor of Wilson Fisks penthouse.

Microchips voice was low in Franks earpiece,

“Alright Frank your in. The big man is at his desk alone. He’s got a bottle of liquor and a laptop in front of him. He’s alone. No guns, no goons.”

Frank crouched in the shadows of the dim penthouse foyer just beyond the kingpins office,

“Are you sure Micro? This is just way too easy. No traps, no bodyguards?

Micro reassured,

He’s got plenty of cyber security in place. The guards in the lobby would be all over you if it wasn’t for Hawkeye’s little toy….wait Frank there is something….a hologram just ported into the office with Fisk.”

Frank lowered to his belly into a crawl
With his M-16 out in front of him. He inched further down the hallway until he could see into the Kingpins office. Frank craned his neck and focused his rifle scope onto Wilson Fisks enormous center mass. Franks jaw clenched as he saw that Tony Stark was standing in the room off to the side of The Kingpins desk. Frank whispered

“Micro, is that Tony Stark? Is he really here?”

Microchip responded,

“No he’s not really here. That’s the hologram that I was telling you about. He’s just projecting himself here digitally.”

Frank wanted to hear their conversation before he stared shooting. He inched just a little further into ear shot of the office as he could hear Tony Starks voice clearer than Wilson Fisk’s arrogant growling,

“Hey Wilson, it’s great to finally meet up with you. I wish it was in person but this is the best that I could do”

The Kingpin nodded and pointed at the alcohol on his desk,

“I brought out a great year to share with you. Nineteen forty two. it’s significant. Wars should never be fought. There should always be peace through negotiation. Bloodshed is just unfortunate and delays the inevitable victory of one or the other. No one needs to lose when two sides can both win. I’m glad that you’ve Finally assumed leadership and convinced my adversaries that partnership is more intelligent than war.”

Tony Starks hologram stepped closer to The Kingpin and he placed his hand on Wilson Fisk’s shoulder. Before he could speak Frank squeezed the trigger of his rifle and let loose a hail of bullets into the Kingpins chest, head and throat.

The Kingpin stood up and charged like a Bull and attempted to get around his desk. He stomped forward with blood soaking through the front of his white suit and spouting from his thick neck. Frank let loose another burst of gunfire that cut off the Kingpins advance. The gigantic crime lord gurgled and choked on his own blood as he collapsed in front of his desk with a enormous thud.

Frank stood up and stepped out of the shadows. He kept his weapon trained on the fallen crime lord as he stepped further into the room with Tony Stark watching him in disbelief and disgust. Frank inched closer to Fisk until he was nearly on top of him, confirming that the big man was dead. Tony Stark cleared his throat and it was full of agitation,

“You’ve really done it this time. Do you know how much hard work and effort you just shot down the drain? For so long you got a pass. For so long we looked the other way. This is the final straw castle. You think that you just did the right thing but you have no idea what type of wickedness you just unleashed into the streets. We had Fisk exactly where we wanted him. The war for the Kingpins empire is going to lead to more innocent people being hurt than any of us can Count!”

Frank lowered his rifle and walked up to Starks hologram. He looked into Starks eyes

“You’re talking to me about innocent people getting hurt? if you ever want to have this conversation face to face and man to man, leave your buddies and your fancy armor behind and come find me. Make sure you give Pepper and Morgan a big hug before you do.”

Tony Starks face was expressionless,

“You had plenty of opportunities to come in. You had plenty of Opportunities to do the right thing. You chose to do this. What happens to you next will be all your own fault.”

The hologram of Tony Stark dissapaited. Frank checked on the Kingpin one last time and stepped around the lake of blood that was pouring out of the big man’s body. He then slipped out of the building the same way that he had come in. Once he was back on the road he checked the battle vans rear view mirror and took a deep breath,

“Hey Micro, it’s done.”

Microchip let out a long sigh,

“Yeah, I heard. That was pretty intense. I didn’t want to say anything to break you out of the War-zone.”

Frank sped the battle van up a bit as he got onto pacific coast highway,

“Pack our stuff Micro. We gotta get outta town. Get us an inconspicuous Flight. We gotta go somewhere, where we can’t be followed.”

Microchip wrinkled his nose and adjusted his glasses,

“Where would that be Frank?”

The Punisher looked into his rear view mirror again,

“Get us to China first. Then we”ll cross the Chinese border on foot into North Korea.”

29/07/2023

ISSUE #5

Microchip slathered more suntan lotion onto his belly and ankles as the large beach umbrella he was using continued to provide adequate shade from the warm San Diego sun.

The breeze was consistent on this sunny morning in Imperial Beach and Microchip enjoyed a soda and bag of chips as he watched the Surfline through his tinted prescription glasses

“Hey Frank, I just saw another guy walk out of the water wearing denim jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Didn’t look suspicious though. He’s probably headed to a job interview.”

The Punisher bit into his sandwich and continued to monitor the beach parking lot for a drug transaction. He put down his binoculars and watched the soggy man plod down the street to a bus stop.

“Yeah, I saw that guy too.”

Microchip pushed a few chips into his mouth and crunched them

“Hey, the lifeguards are putting up a riptide warning and closing the south end of the beach near the seawall. Good thing I didn’t get into the water.”

Microchip watched as the lifeguards sectioned off the beach and moved their truck closer to the seawall. One of the lifeguards grabbed a surfboard and paddled out passed the waves

“Hey Frank check out the south seawall. Lifeguard just paddled out there on a surfboard, maybe somebody’s drowning, or our intel was right about this spot.”

Frank focused his binoculars onto the rusty metal seawall that was dividing Mexican waters from Imperial Beach. The lifeguard was well beyond the naked eyes visibility but the binoculars could see very clearly what was happening.

A man in a wetsuit popped up beside the lifeguard as he sat on his surfboard. The wet-suited man fastened a bundle of wrapped drug bricks onto the surfboard and then he disappeared back into the water.

The lifeguard then paddled back to the shore and placed his loaded surfboard into the lifeguard truck. His partner who had been playing lookout then took down the rip tide warnings and went back to his tower.

The lifeguard truck pulled up into the far end of the parking lot and Frank turned the Battle-vans rear camera on

“Micro, get back up here.”

As Microchip was gathering the umbrella, chair and towel a red taxi cab cruised slowly into the beach parking lot

Frank adjusted his earpiece mic

“Friendly Red Cab just arrived in the lot. The intel was right. Wait for me on the curb in front of the liquor store across the street.”

Microchip crossed the street with his beach paraphernalia as the taxi cab driver pulled up to the lifeguards truck. The lifeguard walked away from his truck and the taxi driver began to remove the drug bricks from the surfboard and tucked them into the trunk of the taxi.

The taxi driver looked around and then got back into his cab. Frank already had the Battle van started and he pulled out of the parking lot before the taxi driver did. Frank drove to the backside of the liquor store while keeping an eye on Red Taxi. Microchip climbed into the back of the van and began to towel the suntan lotion off and changed his clothes

“We’ll it was a pretty good morning. I wouldn’t have minded staying out there passed lunch.”

Frank didn’t respond. He kept focused on the taxi driver and tailed him as the driver made his way for the 5-North. The taxi driver stayed on the 5-North and then pulled onto the 24th street off ramp. The taxi cruised down some lonely industrial streets until coming to a stop in front of a beat up chain link fence and a service road that led to a wooded area under a freeway bridge next to the trolley tracks. There was a shallow aqueduct that led out to the ocean splitting the freeways in both directions.

Frank stayed out of view of the Taxi and parked the Battle Van

“I’m going out on foot. Keep coms on.”

Frank exited the van and headed towards the service road as the taxi drove deeper down the road into the wooded area. Once parked the driver got out of the taxi and made a phone call. Microchip saw an approaching jeep

“Hey Frank get cover. You have a silver jeep coming your way.”

Frank lowered down underneath a thicket of brush where a homeless camp had apparently been set up. The area smelled like old urine and burnt wood. The garbage and graffiti under the bridge hadn’t been touched in while.

The jeep drove down the service road and parked next to the taxi. A tall Latino looking man stepped out of the jeep and walked up to the taxi driver who was also Latino but much shorter. They talked for a moment and Frank zoomed his binoculars closer to the taxi cabs trunk as the jeep driver started to inspect the packages.

The jeep driver opened a brick with a knife and snorted a line of co***ne off of the blade. He offered a line to the taxi driver and it was quickly also snorted up. The jeep driver unwrapped another brick and it appeared to be black tar he**in.

The jeep driver placed the bricks into his jeep and Frank noticed the not well maintained pistol on the tall Latinos belt line.

Frank took aim on the jeep driver with his sniper rifle and fired a round into the back of his head. The gun shot startled the taxi driver and he attempted to close the trunk of his taxi as the jeep driver collapsed to ground with a bloody mess on his shoulders.

The taxi driver made a dash for the drivers seat but Frank clipped him in the back of his right thigh with a sniper round. The taxi driver fell and began to scream in pain as a trolley rolled by in the distance sounding its federal horn to warn trespassers. The horn drowned out all commotion around it.

Frank watched the trolley pass and then walked over to the still screaming taxi driver who was lying on his back with his injured leg in the air. A laptop in the trunk of the taxi started to ring. The taxi driver looked up at Frank and yelled

“If I don’t answer that call, you’re in deep s**t, man! You don’t know who you’re fu***ng with!”

Frank upholstered his sidearm and looked at the taxi driver

“Do you have any important information to share with me?”

The taxi driver spit at Frank and shouted

“I’m not telling you s**t!”

Frank raised his pistol and fired a bullet in between the taxi drivers eyes

“Micro, I got an enemy laptop over here. Can you work with it?”

Microchip located the laptop, accessed it and started to hack as Frank let the laptop ring until it stopped. Frank found a duffel bag with stacks of cash in the trunk of the taxi

“You getting anything Micro?”

Microchip whistled through his teeth

“That taxi driver wasn’t kidding. The cell phone tree goes all the way up to the Arranger as in Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin’s Arranger! Yadda Yadda Yadda, based on these convos the Fat Man is here in San Diego on some extended business. Take some screenshots, download some files…”

Frank picked up the duffel bag out of the taxi trunk and searched the rest of the car. He then searched the Jeep. Nothing of interest. He jogged back to the battle van and saw Microchip sitting in the drivers seat looking at his laptop nervously

“Hey Frank, we got a problem. I gleaned some good info from that laptop but I got caught on the way out of their network. Side chatter is showing an assassin protocol was triggered. Wire transfers have been sent out to two hitters named Boomerang and Typhoid Mary. The warehouse isn’t safe.”

Frank climbed into the back of the van and started to store the money away

“I still want a shot at Fisk. To get him away from his tower is a golden opportunity. Drive up the coast to Oakland. Our Hollywood spot is still too close.”

Microchip settled into the drivers seat and pulled the van out onto the road. It was going to be an eight hour drive to Oakland. They cruised down the road for about 25 minutes. As they passed the San Onofre nuclear plant a motorcycle came sidling up to the battle vans driver side widow. The vans monitor blinked on and a face shrouded by a hood and mouth covering spoke while looking directly at Microchip

“Hey, tell Frank he’s got a hit man bearing down on him from above. I’ve got one that’s been tailing me since we left the city limits. I’m going take it off road and split them up.”

Microchip looked back into the monitor and cleared his throat

“Hey, thanks for calling emergency plumbing my name is Linus, how can I help you?”

The hooded man laughed

“You’re really high tech for a plumbing company. Nice to meet you Linus, my name is Hawkeye formerly of the Avengers. You guys need to buckle up. Boomerangs calling card is a screaming explosive shatter rang.”

Frank stepped out of the back of the van and looked into the monitor

“Thanks for the help but no thanks. We’re good.”

Hawkeye chuckled

“If you survive, we can talk about the Kingpin, we both want the same fish.”

Hawkeye sped up and raced away from the Battle Van. Another motorcycle sped passed the battle van and Followed Hawkeye down a craggy road alongside the defunct nuclear power plant fencing.

Frank and Microchip heard a screaming searing sound cutting towards the Battle Van. Frank looked out of the vans back window and an explosion rocked the van. The airbags deployed and hit Microchip in the face as Frank covered up. The vans front Ram bar also deployed as the back end of the van was lifted off of the ground. The vans armor saved it from the blast but it was still violently forced off of the road.

The van rolled into a tree and the ram bar absorbed most of the impact, knocking the tree onto its side.

Microchip was dazed and Frank grabbed his sniper rifle and ran out of the van. He ran over to a short cliff overhang and clutch of boulders hoping to draw the assassin away from Microchip.

Boomerang circled over the crash site like a buzzard as Frank trained his rifle scope on him. Boomerang was flying with his jet boots about 100 yards in the air. Frank was attempting to land a kill shot but when he fired his shot it went low and hit Boomerang in his left heel. The jet in his left heel exploded and Boomerang summersaulted out of control.

The assassin regained his equilibrium and used his remaining rocket to lower himself to the ground. Frank readied another shot and fired as Boomerang was descending. Frank landed a head shot but Boomerang had tucked into a ball and the bullet ricocheted off of the top of his helmet.

Boomerang responded by hurling an explosive rang at the clutch of rocks that Frank was using as cover. Frank darted from the rocks into a trio of trees and some brush. The boomerangs Payload thundered against the rocks and collapsed the short cliff overhang.

Across the freeway Hawkeye and Typhoid Mary were battling each other with katana blades. Boomerang hid in a riverbed ditch and pulled a razor rang from his back and launched it at the trees that Frank was hiding behind. The boomerang passed the trees and Frank lowered completely flat to the ground as the boomerang came whizzing back on its return trip digging deep into the tree that Frank was hiding behind.

The rang began to emit a piercing disorienting screech. Frank blocked out the pain in his ears until his hearing failed entirely. He readied his rifle trying to see where Boomerang would emerge from. Franks eyes began to water and his hands were unsteady as he could feel the powerful reverberations from above him. He rolled onto his back and knocked the rang out of of the tree with his rifle butt. The sound ended and Frank risked running out of his cover to evade Boomerang.

Boomerang crept out of the other end of the riverbed ditch and gripped onto an explosive rang. He could see the Punisher flushed out from behind cover running towards a hillside trying for higher ground. Boomerang stood up ready to pitch the explosive rang at Frank when he was walloped from behind by the Battle Van. Microchip punched the accelerator. The ram bar and front end of the van crunched into and over Boomerangs left leg. The assassin fell to the ground but bounced back up cocking his arm to fling the explosive rang at the Battle Van. As he did, Frank put two sniper rounds into Boomerang’s lower back. Boomerang spun around and then collapsed into a gasping dying heap.

Microchip drove halfway up the hillside providing cover for Frank to get back into the van. They drove back down to the freeway shoulder. They could see Hawkeye and Typhoid Mary still locked in combat on the other side of the freeway.

Mary swung her katana downward breaking Hawkeyes blade in half. Hawkeye fell to ground backwards but then rolled forward quickly and slashed the broken blade underneath Typhoid Marys right knee. He then jutted the blade up deeply into Mary’s abdomen.
He twisted the blade as she smiled at him wickedly and sank to the ground. As she fell she whispered

“See ya round Hawkeye.”

Hawkeye tossed the broken katana onto the ground and grabbed his shorter katana from its sheath. He then spotted the van across the freeway and walked towards it. Frank stepped out of the van and drew his pistol. Hawkeye received a call as he jogged through oncoming traffic. He pulled his hood and mask off of his face and smiled at Frank

“I’m glad the other guy chose you. It would have been a real bitch trying to get him to land.”

Frank holstered his gun as he recognized Hawkeye and eye balled his black and gold ninja outfit

“You got a new look?”

Hawkeye nodded

“Yeah, turned in my old gear. That’s kind of why I’m here.”

Hawkeye looked over at the van and Microchip and winked at him

“You see, when your guy Linus got into Fisk’s system. I was already in there. They caught your guy and then subsequently me too. I had a falling out with Avengers management. You see they had a plan for dealing with the Kingpin that I didn’t agree with. A few of us didn’t agree with. They want to work with him and put him on some kind of criminal endangered species reserve where they can watch and control him.”

Frank made a face like he had just bit into a rotten sun flower seed. Hawkeye laughed

“Yeah, that’s the same way I looked when I heard about the deal. That’s why Fisk is in San Diego. He’s taking over the entire illicit trade on the west coast. Starting with Southern California. The way this guy operates, he wants his fingers on everything. Every shipment every payout every detail down to the last nickel. That’s what the brain trust has deduced. The Kingpin doesn’t do it for the money. He doesn’t do it for the violence. He does it for the thrill of being in total control of all of the moving parts. Its what he endlessly craves.”

Hawkeye paused to watch a car honking as it zipped by them. He pulled what looked like a flash drive out of his vest pocket and he shook it

“This little dude right here. Can give you twenty four hours of electronic cloaking. It’s hides you in plain site. All you need to worry about is flesh and blood eyes and ears. This little buddy will grant you proximity access to the Fat man’s private corridor and lift straight to the top floor of his private office at the grand west hotel.”

Hawkeye handed the device to Frank

“I was going to take out the Kingpin myself…but something else came up that was even more important. You want it. It’s yours. You don’t, it’ll self destruct in a day.”

Hawkeye shrugged

“Oh yeah, Natasha wants to talk to you.”

Hawkeye pulled out his phone and Black Widow was seated at a desk on the screen

“Hello Frank. Hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to apologize for our last go around. I had orders to follow.”

Frank looked into Hawkeye phone

“Yeah, no harm no foul. The mission objective was still completed.”

Natasha smirked

“I hope your jaw is O.K”

Frank didn’t smile back

“My jaw is fine. You hit like a girl.”

Natasha laughed out loud

“I knew I should have kicked you in the balls. Anyway, I know you’re not a team guy but Iif you succeed in un-A-living the Kingpin, things are going to get very…let’s say complicated for you. Our number is on that device. Just save the number just in case. You ever need info , we might have it. You’re ever in a jam we might be able to help. And god forbid if you ever wanted to join us…well, we’ll be around doing what needs to be done. Take care Frank and good luck.”

The call ended and Hawkeye saluted Frank. He then ran back across the freeway to retrieve his motorcycle. Hawkeye then sped away from the scene in a cloud of dust.

Frank walked back to the van and handed the device to Microchip

“Check this thing out. I’ll drive. With those two off our tail I feel better about the Hollywood warehouse. We”ll get a bit of rest and then drive back down here. I’ve got a twenty four hour window to kill the Kingpin.”

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Issue # 3 Rolf passed the marijuana cigarette to Paulo. Paulo took a big hit and let out a tiny cough and blew out the smoke from his nose and mouth “You know Vinny should really think about moving this shop to somewhere else.” Rolf took the joint back and puffed it “Oh yeah, why?” Paulo took a flask from his pocket and drank down a shot whiskey “Didn’t you hear about that old radio station on the east side where those terrorists got smoked?” Rolf took the flask from Paulo and drank from it “Oh yeah, the wackos making diseases. Yeah, what about it?l Paulo reached for the joint again “Dude, that was the Punisher. The Punisher is back on the east coast.” Rolf pulled the joint away from Paulo and didn’t let him grab it “That’s it for you. I’m cutting you off. Every time some dumb asses get shot up it’s always you paranoid f**ks that bring up the Punisher this and the Punisher that. I’m sick of hearing about that overrated lucky son of bitch! I had a chance to blast on him back in Yonkers. I was dropping off some designer stuff to a club out there. He busted in shooting up the place. I had a clear head shot on him but decided to just get out of there before the cops showed up. I had cash and product in my car outside. If I would have lost that load I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. Those terrorists got killed by ATF or CIA and they just wanted to pin it on the Punisher to avoid the bad press.” Paulo took another drink from his flask and laughed “Oh yeah, you sound like every other mook on Long Island. I could of shot the Punisher, I was beating up the Punisher. You guys are too funny! The Punisher can’t be killed by no bullets or bombs. He’s a mutant. He just heals right back up after he gets shot. That’s why he doesn’t bother wearing a swat face shield or a helmet. He’s got super powers. How else do you explain him just walking in on wise guys, standing straight up tall, guns blazing. He ain’t

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