Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 20:00:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Marvel Knights 13 Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. It has no intentions of resembling any real persons dead or alive. This is entirely from my imagination, with a little help from already established sources. This story is based loosely on the comic book character "The Punisher" from Marvel Comics. Other characters may appear from Marvel comics as well as DC Comics. Punisher and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics. Blade and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel copyright Joss Whedon, United Paramount Network and Warner Bros. Respectively. The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice. I have written another story on nifty entitled "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". It is in the Celebrity/Boy Bands section. Batman may appear in this story once or twice, as the Punisher may appear in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". Any comments may be sent to authorjames2002@yahoo.com Thank you and enjoy. Chapter 13 Rough Play Whistler walked past Blade toward another room that was seldom used. He opened the door and the vampire was chained up in front of the window. "I figure he can last till dawn. If he's smart he will give us the information we need. Either way when the morning sun rises to kiss the day, it can kiss his ass goodbye." Blade walked up to the vampire who was stripped down to nothing. Marks of crosses and liquid burns were throughout its body. On a small table off to the side was a cross and a bottle of holy water. "You did this?" Blade asked. "I had to get information out of him any way I could." Blade nodded in approval. "I'm starting to like you, Whistler." Whistler smiled and nodded. Blade turned to the vampire. "As for you, I want to know what Ahriman wants with my friends." Blade picked up the cross and moved toward the vampire. The vampire looked on Blade fearfully. "What the hell do you want with us?" Ty said to Ahriman. The four were chained up against the wall of Ahriman's penthouse. Ty, Tandy, and Davey had the Friends of Humanity neutralizers binding them so they could not escape. Harris had nothing except the chains since he wasn't a threat to Ahriman. Ahriman sat on a couch with his right leg bent and foot resting on the cushion. He looked upon his captured and smiled. "You stupid fools. You do not realize what I am capable of. You go about at night mocking my very existence by your continuous hunt of vampires. You do not believe me capable of building an empire to find my sister. You will regret the day you ever believed me powerless." "We never thought that," Tandy replied. "That's why we were preparing to kick your undead ass." "Tandy!" Ty said. "We don't want to provoke the psycho." "Oh," Tandy responded realizing the error of her remark. "Oops." "No matter," Ahriman said. "I will still come out victorious. You super-powered heroes will not defeat me. I will have my empire and I will have my sister." "We know about your sister," Ty blurted out. "We have information." "Really?" Ahriman looked upon him narrowly. "What information?" "She is awake. And she is heading this way. We think she is sensing your presence and is seeking you out." "So you don't need to build your empire," Tandy said. "You can just sit here in your penthouse and wait for your sister to show up. Then the two of you can get the hell out of here." Ahriman looked upon Tandy. "I don't appreciate your insolent tone, little one. I may have taught you to tap into the darkness that is the Slayer, but that does not mean you can walk all over me as if you are more powerful." "You aren't afraid of us," Ty muttered. "That's why you have us so close to you. It isn't us you are worried about. It's Blade that has you spooked. You're afraid of him." "Don't be absurd," Ahriman stated. "You've studied us. That's why you took Tandy, to study her and what she could and could not do. Even at her most primal state, the Slayer would not be strong enough to stop you." "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ty," Tandy said exasperated. Ty did not listen to her but continued. "You're afraid that if Blade finds out where you are, he will come for you. But you have us as hostages to negotiate with. You don't think he will come after you if it risks us getting hurt." "I think you've placed too much importance on us," Tandy added. "Blade won't have a problem if you kill us. His whole existence is to hunt vampires. He could care less about what happens to us." "Tandy!" Ty and Davey both said to her. "What?!" Tandy replied. "God, you are so stupid," Davey said. "Ahriman has no reason to keep us alive now." "Oh," Tandy realized again. "Oops." Ahriman smiled on at the four chained to the wall. The vampire screamed in pain. Blade pulled the cross off its genitalia and smiled. "Where is Ahriman's hideout?" Blade asked again. "I'll...never...tell...you," the vampire muttered between breaths. "Fine. Hang there until the sun comes up. We'll find Ahriman. And when we do, his ass is dust." Blade turned and walked away. Whistler followed and they entered the central room. Blade sat down at the table. Whistler sat across from him. "You're worried about them," Whistler stated. "They've never been on their own before. We have always been in contact in some way or another or knew where each other was. Now..." "Now they are lost from your knowledge." "And it scares the hell out of me." "Maybe we can piece together where Ahriman could be from what we know about him." "Then let's get started," Blade said. The hours moved on for both teams. Blade and Whistler sat and went over all the information they had concerning Ahriman. Using his personality make up, Whistler and Blade systematically went over possible places where Ahriman would feel safe. For Ty, Tandy, Davey and Harris, the hours were harsh on their nerves, Harris most of all. He was not used to being put in the situation he was in. Having a boyfriend who fought evil things, whether demons or people, would really change his experiences in life. Ahriman walked up to Harris and unchained him. "Come sit with me," Ahriman suggested. "Don't kill me," Harris muttered. His words broke Davey's heart. "Don't worry," Ahriman reassured. "I'm not going to kill you unless you give me reason. I just want to talk with you." Ahriman escorted Harris over to the couch and sat down with him. "I find humanity interesting. I used to be human, you know. In many respects, I still am human. I have my soul. I'm not the demonic creatures that brought you in. No, not at all. I'm much more like you. I love, just as you love. I hurt, just as you hurt. I cry, just as you cry." "And you are willing to kill anyone who gets in your way of your sister. You're a freak!" Ahriman backhanded Harris and Harris flew into the chair across from the couch. "Don't touch him, you bastard!" Davey screamed. Ahriman glared at Davey. Harris lay hunched in the chair clutching his already bruising face. Ahriman grabbed Harris by the arm and lifted him clear off the floor. "You don't talk to me that way, boy. I am a god compared to you. I feel as you feel, but I am more powerful than you can possibly imagine. I can burn vampires with a wave of the hand. I can cause human beings to explode if necessary simply by willing their blood to boil. I can do anything." "Oh, yeah?" Harris said. "Why don't you get a tan?" Ahriman snarled at Harris and threw him across the room. Harris let out a scream as he flew against the wall and slid down to the floor crying. "You little worm. I'll teach you to treat me like that!" Ahriman walked up to Harris and kicked him in the stomach. Harris lifted off the ground and went up the wall three feet before crashing down to the floor. Ahriman grabbed him by his shirt and picked him up. "Are you going to give me the respect I deserve?" "I...already (cough)...have." Ahriman threw Harris across the room. This time he landed against the wall right next to Davey. As he slid down the wall, Davey looked at him and then up at Ahriman with tears streaming down his own face. "You say you are a human being. A human wouldn't act like this toward one another." "You must watch more television, boy," Ahriman said approaching the three still in chains. "The whole world is one giant cesspool of hatred and contempt. People strive against one another over borders, skin color, religion, gender and biology. Your own country has declared their views by the way they treat mutants, women and homosexuals, not to mention the past treatment of those of different ethnic backgrounds. It even is carried on today. You call humanity kind and considerate. You call humanity enlightened. You are all savage barbarians. "And like barbarians, you need a god who will actually do something besides sit on his or her ass and dictate to you how to live instead of intervening. Imposters come and go, but true gods live forever." "You won't...live forever," Harris muttered. "Harris, stop," Davey whispered. "Don't give him any more excuse to hurt you." Harris looked up at Davey and Davey gasped. Blood was running out of Harris's mouth and nose and his eye was swelling up. "I love you, Harris. I don't want you to die." Ahriman walked up to Harris and picked him up. "Perhaps you would like to see what eternal life is like. You cannot understand the power since you do not feel it coursing through your body. If you had a taste, maybe then you would grasp the concept." "God's...heal," Harris said. "Not...kill." "Interesting point," Arhiman said carrying Harris over to the couch. He laid him down. "Would you like me to heal you, boy? Would like me to make the pain go away? I can, you know. I'm a god." "Why? So you can...hurt me again?" "Based on this information, he likes high places," Whistler said. "That narrows it down to almost every building in Columbus. We need to narrow it down a bit further than that." "Wait a minute," Whistler said. "What about the building Tandy came out of?" "She never said where it was." "But the newspapers may have where it was. Someone busting through glass and an elevator crashing to the ground is a newsmaker." Blade smiled at Whistler and grabbed the stack of old newspapers. The Punisher and Ghost Rider made their way to one of the small offices of the Friends of Humanity. Punisher figured they could obtain the information they needed from the smaller office without alerting too many F.O.H. commandos. As much as the Punisher did not hesitate to kill any of the commandos, he wasn't up to par on the physical violence at the moment. The two walked up to the front door and Punisher began picking the lock. In a moment, he had the doors open and poked his head around the corner looking for the key pad to the alarm system. "That works," Punisher said. "What works?" "I can use the infrared beam on this controller to determine the code to the alarm system and disarm it from back here." Johnny nodded as Punisher pulled out a small device and typed in code. Johnny had to stay Johnny so as not to bring suspicion to the two. He had to look as normal as possible. Through the help of the entity who created Johnny into Ghost Rider, Johnny learned out to control the powers quickly and easily. "That should do it," Punisher muttered as the system beeped twice and the key pad lights turned off. Punisher slowly placed a foot inside waiting in case he was wrong on his codes. When no sound came, he stepped inside completely. Two more steps revealed the alarm had been completely disengaged and he motioned for Johnny to follow. "Start looking," Punisher said. "Look in all the drawers and file cabinets for anything marked 'Punisher' or 'Weatherby' or 'Blaze'. Since they were trying to get me, they may have placed it in a file with my name or your name." Johnny nodded and went to work. After about ten minutes of looking, Johnny came across a folder that had the name 'Blaze' on it. "I think I found something," he said as he moved toward Punisher. "Bring it here," Punisher said. Johnny took the file over to the desk and opened it. Punisher went through the documents skimming for information he was used to finding when he looked through classified documents and such. In a moment, he found the information he needed. "It seems they are being kept in a safe house in familiar territory for me, an apartment building in Columbus, Ohio." "Columbus, Ohio?" "That is where I was before here. I had a few friends down there, sort of. I followed Exeter from Columbus up to Canton, then Akron and finally up here to Cleveland. "We can go down there. It will take about two and a half hours. What do you say?" "It is my son who is in trouble," Johnny replied. "Let's do it." Punisher smiled. He wrote down the address and the two exited the building and walked down the street where the Suburban was parked. They had already put Johnny's motorcycle into the back of the Suburban amongst all of the Punisher's weaponry. They climbed into the van, Punisher started it up, and they drove off heading toward I-71, which would take them straight into Columbus. To Be Continued...