Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 18:52:06 -0700 (PDT) From: James Geckler Subject: Punisher 15 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. 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 jmsotc1@yahoo.com Thank you and enjoy. Chapter 15 Marvel Knights Blade ran up the stairwell, every now and then checking the floors to see if he could see or sense any sign of the wizard. He suggested Dagger take the elevator up to the top floor and work her way down figuring they would catch the wizard somewhere in the middle. Besides, Cloak would met her on the top floor from the outside and assist her descending search. At times like this he was glad he was part vampire. It kept him from getting tired, as most human beings would be by now. When he was a few floors from the top, he heard a loud bang and ran up the rest of the way, stopping just short of exiting the stairwell onto the main floor. He leaned up against the door listening for any more sounds. "Damn kids," he heard someone mutter. "Why do they have to meddle in other people's business?" Blade heard footsteps and then a sudden blast. The wall rocked slightly under the power. "What the hell is going on? A wizard's duel?" Punisher ran down the hall. A door at the end slammed shut and he heard the door lock. "Not going to save you, Exeter." He pulled out his gun and fired into the doorknob. The wood splintered and the Punisher kicked the door open. To his surprise, Lilandra was standing with her gun pointed right at his head. "Surprised to see me, Punisher?" "How did you get up here so fast?" "Secret elevator. The one Exeter is taking down right now." Punisher made a move to go around Lilandra but she pulled the hammer back on her gun, letting him know she was serious. "You are not going after him. He is a good man and doesn't deserve your judgment." "Oh, really?" Punisher feigned. "What makes you decide who is a good man?" "A man with morals and a purpose. Exeter has both. You do, too. You could join us and become a very powerful ally in the fight against immorality." "Men and women like Exeter are nothing but dictators. They don't embrace the diversity that is the human race. Instead they condemn anything different than them as something immoral. That is not someone with morals and a purpose. That is an ignorant bigot." "How could you say such things? He accepts gay people. He hasn't said anything wrong against you or your kind. Why do you fight for those with whom you don't belong?" "Mutants are just like gay people. They are born different than the norm of the human race. But because they can do special things or appear radically different, they are hated and feared. Non-mutants do not understand what it is like to be a mutant and a majority of them disapprove of mutants. It is the same with gay people. Many non-gays take homosexuality and make it wrong. They start putting their own ideas and beliefs onto homosexuality and declare it gospel truth. I don't know how many people I've heard say homosexuality is a choice. That is such bullshit! Why would anyone want to live a life where they are persecuted? "Mutants do not deserve the kind of hatred the Friends of Humanity perpetuates by propagandizing fear. Your brand of justice and morality is the wrong brand. Since you have the government sanctions to do what you do, they cannot punish you for your crimes. But I can." Blade felt another blast hit the wall the elevator was on. "Tone the power down, Cloak. I'm not really into plummeting down the elevator shaft. I don't call that a good thing." Footsteps ran close to the door. Blade swung the door out hard and hit the runner. "Ouch!" the wizard exclaimed. "Damn that hurt!" Blade stepped out of the stairwell and kicked the wizard, knocking him down the corridor. "It's safe," he called out to Cloak and Dagger. The two peeked their heads out of the slightly opened door to see Blade standing before them. The door opened all the way and the two exited. They turned to face the wizard, who was slowly getting up off the floor. "Why were you bringing vampires to the Axis?" Dagger asked. "They are normally smart enough to stay away after we've assaulted them at a specific location. Did you want them dead?" "I just wanted the reports to mount up of the evil activity at the gay club. That was what I was paid to do." "Paid?" Blade asked. "Someone paid you to draw vampires to the club." "Why?" Cloak asked. "To make gays look evil," Blade answered. "Let me guess, you came here to inform your employer of our discovery." "Who is his employer?" Dagger asked. "Start looking on the office doors," Cloak answered. "Oh," Dagger said, realizing how simple that could have been. "Why didn't I think of that?" Dagger made her way to the office the wizard was standing in front of. She read the name and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness!" "What is it?" Cloak asked. "He was hired by Reverend Exeter! No wonder he was trying to make the gay bar look bad! He's a Christian!" "That doesn't necessarily mean too much, although Christianity has been a major player of organized religions condemning homosexuality," Blade replied. "Reverend Exeter is in charge of the Friends of Humanity as well. He has always seemed like a supporter of homosexuality, unless this was a way of setting up his next political campaign against immorality. Is that it?" "I really don't know," the wizard lied. A gunshot rang out down the hall drawing everyone's attention. "We have to get to the Punisher," Dagger said, "and tell him what has been going on." Dagger took off running down the hallway passing up the wizard. Cloak followed her. Blade followed as well; however, when he got to the wizard, he reached down and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him down the corridor toward the gunshot. "It's too late, Lilandra. I know what kind of man Exeter is. He will not be swayed. He is too set in his ways. If he will not step down from power, I will have no choice but to remove him myself." "Punisher, come one step closer and I will fire." Punisher watched Lilandra, trying to gauge the speed he would have to move in order to knock her down or disarm her, calculating the risks to each. "Punisher!" Dagger called out from behind him. Punisher turned around to see her running toward the office. Lilandra took aim at Punisher's head. "Look out!" Dagger called, as Lilandra fired the weapon. Punisher dropped to the ground as the gun fired. Dagger turned and dove backwards, tackling Cloak as the bullet soared overhead to strike the wall. Punisher kicked upwards connecting with Lilandra's gut, knocking the wind out of her. She flew back against the wall and her gun went flying. "Punisher," Blade called out. Punisher stood up and saw Blade dragging a man in robes toward the office. "Exeter hired a wizard to draw demons and vampires to the Axis club. He was setting up his next big issue by showing the so-called evilness of homosexuality." Punisher turned to Lilandra. "See what your good man is doing? He's creating his own evil to fight to make himself look good. What kind of a good man is that?" Lilandra shook her head in disbelief. The man she had followed most of her life, the man who had been like a father figure to her, the man who represented God to her, has turned out to be a normal, selfish politician. A man who has created his own enemies to appear righteous, as most Christian organizations has done in the past. Her disappointment overwhelmed her, a crucial moment now in her life. In the great moment where a man whom she thought was connected with God has fallen, will she accept that he is just a man, or will she lose all her reasoning abilities to defend someone no longer worthy of being defending. "No," she said under her breath. "No, I don't believe it. No!" Lilandra ran at Punisher and tackled him. The two rolled into the hallway together. Dagger, Cloak, Blade and the wizard stayed back while the two normal humans fought it out. Lilandra jumped to her feet, as did Punisher, and they squared off. "You bastard," Lilandra exclaimed. "You set this up! You want to discredit him with lies! You are the one trying to make yourself look good!" "You are right about one thing. I do want to discredit Exeter, but with truth, not deceit. He has been lying to the people who have been most faithful to him. Am I trying to look good? Am I trying to look righteous? I don't give a damn how I look to you, or anyone else. What I care about is equality. What I care about is punishing those who blatantly do wrong. It that makes me many enemies, I don't care. I've lived this long through life alone. Whatever amount of time I have left will probably be spent the same, alone." Lilandra rushed at Punisher. He pushed her arms to the side and swung his leg up kicking her in the stomach. He pushed her into the office across the hall and then followed her in. She whipped out a knife and swung it at him cutting his chest. "If I have to, I will cut your lies off a piece at a time." The Friends of Humanity commander swung the knife again at Punisher. He ducked and then jumped back as the female swung it back at him. Kicking his leg out, he connected with the knife-wielding hand. The knife went flying into the wall. She swung the back of her fist at Punisher backhanding him in the face. He swung full force and punched her in the face. She jerked back. The Punisher then did a snap kick connecting with her stomach. She fell backwards, tripping over the corner of a desk and smashing through the window. Everyone heard her screams as she plummeted down to the concrete below. "Cloak!" Blade said. Cloak ran to the window preparing to stop Lilandra's fall. When he got to the window and looked down, however, he saw he was too late. He looked back at Blade and shook his head. Blade's eyes went to Punisher. "You didn't have to kill her." "She didn't give me much choice, did she?" "There is always a choice. I see we are not going to be able to work together any more." "Not a problem," Punisher said walking out of the office. He walked back toward Exeter's office and entered. "What are you doing?" Cloak asked. "I'm going through Exeter's files. Perhaps I can figure out where he's going to. He won't be so keen as to stay in Columbus, but he won't want to stray too far from his battlefield, either. Maybe he has some contacts in Ohio or nearby states." Punisher opened the file cabinet in Exeter's office. He searched through several files until he found some names of people and their cities. A majority lived up north in the Canton, Akron, and Cleveland areas. "Your friend is a killer," the wizard said to Blade. "How interesting." "And you're not a killer? What the hell do you think all that was in the Axis? And don't tell me you weren't responsible." The wizard laughed. "And by the way, he's not our friend." Punisher took the names and addresses and walked toward the elevators. Blade, Cloak, Dagger and the wizard joined him. "Going down?" Dagger asked. "He is," Cloak said referring to the wizard. "What do you do with a guy like this?" "I don't know," Blade replied. "Would the local authorities be able to keep him behind bars? Would they be willing to accept his mystical abilities in the first place? So many questions." "I have a solution," Punisher muttered. Everyone turned to him and gave him the evil eye. "But you wouldn't go for it." The elevator reached the first floor and the doors parted. Punisher didn't waste much time. He ran down the corridor and out the doors only to be stopped by a horrendous sight. Davey lay on the ground in his Marvel Boy costume with a pool of blood surrounding him. Immediately Punisher's training kicked in. He checked the boy's vitals and checked the wound, applying pressure to help ease the bleeding. Dagger let out a scream when she saw the Punisher hunched over Davey. "Oh my God, no!" She ran down the steps to be joined by Cloak and Blade. "What do we do?" she asked excitedly. "Go inside and call 9-1-1. Now," Punisher answered. Dagger ran back up the steps to the offices. "Is he..." Cloak asked. "He's alive, barely, but alive. I hope his mutation can save him." The wizard muttered, "Deliquesco," and disappeared. "Damn," Blade muttered. "But he is the least of our worries right now." Davey slowly opened his eyes. "Punisher?" "I'm taking care of you at the moment," Punisher said. "An ambulance is on it's way." "I should...not be seen...in these clothes." Blade looked to Cloak. Cloak nodded. "Alter idem." A red cloud formed around Davey for a moment. When it dissipated, Davey was wearing the clothes he wore at the Axis. Cloak, now Ty, was wearing the clothes he wore at the club. Dagger came running out. "The ambulance is on its way. How is he?" "He just might make it," Punisher replied. "Thanks to you," Blade responded. "Who did this to you, Davey?" "Lilandra...saw her...run past me...into...building." Punisher nodded. "Be sure to tell the police that when they come after you. Lilandra shot you. That may put a splinter in the Friends of Humanity's operations in Columbus. It just might be the spark that causes the organization to go up in flames." Punisher stood up and walked to his Suburban. "You're going to be okay, Davey. Just rest." He opened the door and climbed in. "Where are you going?" Ty asked. "I'm hunting down Reverend Exeter. He will not escape punishment for his crimes." "Take care of yourself," Blade said to him sticking out his hand. Punisher looked at Blade's hand and then up at Blade. He reached out and took it shaking it firmly. "You, too." With a rumble, the Suburban's ignition turned over and Punisher took off up the road heading for the highway. "What do we do, Blade?" Dagger asked. "We get on the motorcycle and find a safe place to watch. Once Davey is safe with the paramedics, you and I go get Harris." "Oh, God, what is Harris going to think?" Ty replied. "His boyfriend got shot." "He will be worked up. It will be our jobs to keep him together. Let's move." Blade and Dagger climbed on the motorcycle and drove into an alley to watch Davey and Ty. Within moments the ambulance showed up. The paramedics climbed out and ran to Davey checking his vitals and wound. "He's going to make it," one said. "Whoever did his dressing knew exactly what he or she was doing. You can thank them, young man." Ty climbed into the back with Davey and a paramedic as the other one climbed into the driver's seat. The sirens blared and the ambulance took off for the nearest hospital. "Oh, Davey," Dagger muttered. "Can you drive the car?" Blade asked. Dagger nodded. "Get it back to the apartment building." Dagger ran over to the car, climbed in and started it up. She followed Blade up the road toward the apartment building and awaiting boyfriend of Davey. Punisher drove the Suburban up Interstate 71. His destination was Akron, Ohio where he hoped to find Reverend Exeter and mete out punishment for the minister. "No one escapes the Punisher," he muttered. "No one." To Be Continued... Do you like this story? Should I continue writing or just end it with them going their separate ways? I have plans for the characters, as stated below. But if no one is really interested, I will stop writing. Please let me know what you think. Blade, Cloak, Dagger and Marvel Boy have become a very integral part of the story. I've received several emails from readers saying how they have taken to Davey and Harris's romance. As a result, from this moment out, the story will be called Marvel Knights. Also, from this point on, there will be two storylines going on at the same time in this story: one with Blade and company, the other with the Punisher. Look for part of Punisher's story to be crossing over with "Trials of a Real Dark Knight" Chapters 2 - 6. And look for a new character to help Blade and a new character to help Punisher. Good stuff coming up. Keep reading. Questions and comments are always, always, always welcome.