A man who has lost much. A man forever making war on those who took so much from him. A special man. One whose army training marked him as a natural marksman. This is a man obsessed with vengeance. With retribution against those that killed his family a long time ago. Some call him insane, others calculatingly cruel. Where those who would strike against the innocent go, he follows. His mission is a simple one. Street criminals must be made to pay for their crimes. His is the man exacting that payment . He is judge, jury and executioner. He is
Frank Castle ran, sweat covered his body, which wore a blank Tank top with his trademarked
skull emblazoned on it, and light brown khaki pants as well as calve high boots. An ammo belt
was slung across the Punishers chest, , but he carried no weapon, other then a scabbarded knife
at his waist. He parted thick jungle fronds and pushed his way through dense growth as all sorts
of living creatures skittered from his path , to either fly overhead, or slither along the ground.
"I can't believe this." He thinks, "I've been running for hours and these two still are tracking me.
Don't know how much longer I can keep up this pace at this point either. "
Castle continues to run, As suddenly a serpent drops down upon him from overhead, its
venomous fangs bared to strike instantly, but The Punisher reacts faster still, unsheathing his
knife and slashing the creatures body in twain with one smooth move, while never missing a step
in his headlong sprint towards freedom. Behind him two figures fly above the underbrush as best
they can, trying to catch a glimpse of their quarry. The most incredible thing about all of this is
that both these men were reported dead years ago. Obviously reports of their deaths were heavily
exaggerated. The Basilisk and Solarr scan the heavy underbrush while cursing under their
collective breath.
"Can't believe this one guy is giving us such a hard time."
"I know Solarr, just keep at it, we'll flush him out in soon.."
Basil "Basilisk" Elks uses his force beams from his eyes to fly overhead, as Solarr superheats the
air around him, causing a lighter then air effect, he floats a hundred yards apart from his
companion, intermittently unleashing a blast of heat to burn more of the thick South American
jungle away.
Far ahead, Frank Castle pauses momentarily to catch his breath. Pulling a small flask from his
belt he drinks deep of the warm water inside. Then corking the bottle he continues running as far
away from his pursuers as he can. He's not fleeing, he's planning. Frank Castles mind drifts back
to two months ago and his arrival in the South American lair of his mysterious host....
The Punisher disembarks from a small prop driven plane, wearing a nondescript white short
sleeved shirt and a pair of light khaki pants. A wide brim hat covers his head and a medium
sized leather suitcase fills his grip as a portly man rushes to greet him towards the craft.
"Hello Senor Castle, my name is Enrique, I am here to escort you to the center."
Castle eyes the man quickly, then simply nods. Enrique continues to speak as Castle follows
silently.
"This land is beautiful Senor Castle. You will love it here. I hope your stay is eventful and long,
as befits a man of your stature."
"What does that mean?"
"Uh, no offense was meant Senor Castle, but you are the world famous Punisher , no?"
Castle looks away before answering.
"Yes, that would be me. I just want to know how you even know who I am?"
"Well sir, I was briefed on your coming, as I am the one selected to see to your every whim
while here."
Castle stares at his guide with eyes that could cut through steel for a long moment. Enrique
gulps, hard. Then finally the Punisher speaks.
"Stay out of my way Enrique, and we'll do just fine."
Enrique nods repeatedly and quickly as Frank enters the large Humvee that awaits him.. Enrique
slides behind the wheel and drives away, towards the jungle.
They drive in silence for a long time , finally Castle speaks.
"How much further?"
"We are almost there my friend I- Wait, Look! There is our destination amigo!"
The Humvee comes to a stop on a ridge, as The Punisher stares in the direction his guide is
pointing. Below him, sprawled across several acres is a huge complex. Even from this distance
Castle can see hundreds of white garbed men practicing all forms of combat, while others march
about the large complex.
"Impressive."
"Si Senor, but wait until you see it up close."
"Just get us there."
The nervous driver nods his head repeatedly once more and guns the vehicle back towards the
hidden lair.
Minutes Later The Punisher steps from the air conditioned vehicle , suitcase in hand, back into
the sweltering Jungle heat. Enrique follows, wiping his brow with a white handkerchief.
"Right this way Senor Castle, please, follow me."
Like a stalking panther Frank follows the small ,round man before him. Taking in everything he
sees as he goes.
"Nice operation." He thinks,"To bad I have to take it down. If this was legit, it would be worth
contributing to."
Minutes pass, as Castle is led deep into the compound, past "students" who train rigorously in all
forms of combat .
Finally they enter a large air conditioned building, and Castle is led to an office. Upon entering a
man rises to meet him from behind a desk. The man wears a white hat and mask, which conceal
his features. He extends his hand as he begins to speak.
"Greetings Mr Castle, so glad to see you once again, please, have a seat."
Frank sits in a plush chair as Enrique nods to both men, again wiping his brow, then leaves the
room.
"So Mr Castle, do you have what we requested of you?"
Frank opens up the one suitcase he's been carrying and dumps its contents onto the desk of the
Scourge of the underworld.
The Scourge abruptly jumps out of his chair as the object rolls to a stop.
"S-so I s-see you did accomplish your goal."
"That's right. And as you can also see , the Taskmaster lost his head over it."
"I uh, suppose I don't have to check the DNA structure of that head for authenticity?"
"Do whatever you like. I could care less. One more criminal is where he'll never bother anyone
again, that's all that matters."
"Hhhm. I quite agree. Very well Mr Castle, This will be your responsibilities here in the
"Wonderland""
"So that's what they call this place." Frank thinks.
"You will train our students in weapons techniques , and more importantly, you will train them
in the proper mind set required in this line of work."
"That's fine ."
"Very well then Frank, May I call you Frank?"
Castle nods in the affirmative
"Good. Then you may take the rest of today to acquit yourself of our compound here. Stroll
about, see the sites. If you have questions, Enrique will provide answers."
"That's fine."
The Punisher rises from his seated position and exits the office without another word.
Outside he surveys his surroundings.
"So this is the Scourges training center in all its glory." He muses, " What have I gotten myself
into here? "
The remainder of the day Frank Castle familiarizes himself with the layout of the compound.
Watching several training sessions, as well as critiquing them , both privately and publicly.
Again to himself, "I'm more impressed by the minute. This operation can give SHIELD's a run
for its money. "
Night falls, and the Punisher knows tomorrow will begin a long arduous day............
But that was two months ago, and right now the Punisher has other things on his mind. He
continues running through the Jungle, trying to get as far away from his pursuers as he can, but
somehow, they're always behind him.
"This is the spot .Time to play my hand." The words fill his mind as he removes his knife once
more, and begins to cut vines and tree limbs. Moments later the roaring of Basilisks eye beams
can be heard as the powerful supervillain flies closer and closer overhead. Suddenly a rock
whips up from the underbrush to smack him in the forehead.
"You've gotta be kidding Castle."
The Basilisk dives down towards the spot where the rock came from, only to fly head long and at
high speed in to numerous vines that wrap themselves around him, entangling him. With a roar
of anger he pulls himself free, tugging mightily with both arms . As he does several vines snap,
and suddenly they release several bent and staked tree limbs that snap up like two huge
mousetraps being released. Basilisk is right between them when they snap together with a crash,
pinning him between them, now tangled even more, with no leverage whatsoever to pull himself
free. Angrily he fires his eye beams haphazardly, but to no avail. He's in such a spot that he can't
just pull free or burn his way out.
"Solarr! " He yells, "Solarr get over here, I need help, bad."
Suddenly a figure parts the brush and quietly stalks forward. Basilisks eyes go wide when he
sees who it is.
"Castle!, Burn!"
He fires his eye beams once more , this time directly in front of himself, where Frank was
standing. Deftly and silently, the Punisher rolls out of danger, as Basilisks limited freedom of
movement hampers him greatly.
The Punisher grins maliciously
"Forget it Elks. You're not going anywhere."
Angrily the villain struggles, but his own strength simply tightens the vines up more.
"I'll kill you Castle! I'll fry your bones !"
Again and again he fires his eye beams at full intensity, gouging huge furrows in the ground. But
missing the Punisher completely.
Suddenly a streaking figure darts through the trees from above, fiery beams of energy leaping
from his hands.
Whoooshkow!
The Punisher dives for cover as Solarr flies over head, peppering the area Castle was just
standing in. Sprinting madly, Castle dives for cover, Solarr in hot pursuit.
The villain laughs as he flies closer and closer to The Punisher through the underbrush.
"Only a matter of time Frankie boy. Sooner or later I'll fry your ass."
Punisher looks back at his enemy over his shoulder.
"Maybe boy, maybe not."
Again Castle leaps for cover as a searing blast of heat incinerates the jungle where he was
standing, starting another small brush fire.
"Your aim sucks boy, try again." He taunts.
"That's it, You're through!"
Solarr streaks closer to the ground unleashing blasts of heat as he goes, always missing the fleet
footed black and tan garbed figure until suddenly....
Braa-kow!
All hell breaks loose, bullets fly everywhere as tree limbs snap and burn, all in the direction of
Solarr!
"Unnghhh!" The villain cries out, as several bullets finds their mark. He drops to the ground in a
heap, quivering. Out of the brush, the Punisher approaches, knife at the ready. The belt of ammo
conspicuously gone from his shoulder.
"Y-you set me up." Solarr stammers.
"Yeah, like a mouse to cheese. You're not going anywhere for a while, that much is obvious."
Solarr bleeds from his legs and his side as Castle leaves the barely conscious villain to rot,
heading back toward "Wonderland".
"Easy enough." He thinks, "To lay those bullets out where I knew his heat would set them off as
he flew through them, He shot himself to death. Hehe. Well almost."
The jog back to the compound is uneventful. Twice Castle comes upon armed patrols. At the end
of those skirmishes, Castle ends up armed, and those men end up dead. Soon he's back at the
now deserted "Wonderland" . Stealthily he makes his way to the lead Scourges office, inside he
finds the head Scourge, waiting for him, gun in hand and pointed at the door. Smoking a
cigarette in a long holder.
"So " The seated masked man blurts out loudly, "As I assumed they would, the fools failed in
their mission against you."
"So it would appear smiley. Time for an unmasking, don't you think?"
"Indeed it is. It is time for you to know who and what you really face you verdammt Amerkan. "
Suddenly Castles blood goes cold as the voice and demeanor of his enemy changes before his
very eyes and ears. With one hand the man reaches up and removes his mask, revealing a far
more horrifying countenance beneath it.
"YOU!" Is all Castle can stammer out.
"Yes you foolish Amerikan, me. Zer RED SKULL !"
To say the least, to be concluded in the epic final issue of our limited series,
"Banging Skulls"
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