Issue #1
"Revenge And Redemption"
Part One: Earthbound
Written by Joey Guerra
Its nearing dark in the New York area. New York City spreads out in all directions, giant yet beautiful. But its what's happing below this city that is of interest right now, way down below the giant skyscrapers, the maglev tracks, and all the beauty of Uptown, lies the cancerous bottom to this city known only as Downtown. Two raggedly clothed down towners walk by a particular alley in which a fight has just ensued, and for John daSilva this is a fight for survival. (**See the Punisher Prologue for details on John daSilva, and this fight**) A shot rings out into the lightly sunlit sky. John daSilva is now spiraling around on his back, a dead Freaker lays on top of him with a bullet through his brain. John is a big, muscular man, who ordinarily would just throw this Freaker aside, but he has sustained injuries and blood loss from his two previous fights with the Freakers.
"Shock, he just killed Tim." cries out one of the Freakers.
The Freaker who carries a pipe comes running out of the darkness. "He can't get up!", yells his voice.
Two more Freakers appear, and they block off the end of the alley. One of them carries a pipe and the other has a chain. John pushes and whips around wildly until he succeeds at getting the dead Freaker off his stomach. He then rises quickly off the ground and onto his feet, only to feel a heavy burning sensation in his right leg, and he remembered he had torn several muscles in it when he had last escaped the Freakers. Still, John daSilva was determined to win this fight, he would not lose, he would not die this way. Then his thoughts were disrupted and the attack began.
"Die blackboot scum!" yells the attacking Freaker.
John quickly dodges the swing of his attacker and counteracts with a solid punch to the man's ribs. The Feaker winces in pain and John hits him again, this time in his head with a loud smush sound, as his uppercut connects. The Freaker goes down and again the alley is filled with the sound of gunfire as John shoots the downed Freaker. But in shooting this Freaker John took his eyes off the other two. As he turns to face them he feels a sharp pain in his hand and notices the Feaker that had been carrying a heavy chain has relieved him of his gun.
"Whatcha got now, huh?" ask the Freaker, as he steps to within arms distance of John, his other remaining gang member grabs John's gun and begins to aim at it, John.
"Now?" screams John, and before the chain carrying Freaker can move John grabs him and puts his arms around his neck.
"Now, I've got you, you shocking pusbag!" yells John.
And before the Freaker has a chance to fight back, John swiftly breaks his neck with a loud crack.
"Three down and you to go." John motions to the last standing Freaker as he drops the other dead body. Now this man was not stupid, he had just seen John kill three of the best fighters he knew, and even though he had John's gun he turned and ran, as fast as he could dropping the gun a few feet from the alley.
"Another time." whispers John to himself."Now I've got to get home."
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Meanwhile-
High above the surface of the Earth Vendetta and her giant spacecraft lie. It was nearing evening in the New York area and she had decided now would be the best time to go back to the surface. she gathered all the gear she thought she might need, guns, ammo, she wanted to wear the costume in Gallows honor, but she decided to go in regular street clothes so she wouldn't draw unnecessary attention to herself. So Vendetta loaded herself and her gear into a small escape pod, type of vehicle, and ordered the computer to input the New York City area as the final destination, and then she blasted off from the ship on her way to a future which is both bright and bleak.
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Back On Earth-
He has been drifting in and out of consciousness for a week now. This time he has managed to stay awake for quite some time. It seems to be night, for he can see nothing around him.
"Somehow,", he whispers to himself, "this place seems familiar." "But I can't remember if I've been here before or not." then something hits him. For the first time since he woke up an hour ago, he realizes he can't even remember his own name! He had been so caught up in the place that he hadn't even wondered who he was. Now he was becoming frightened.
"WHO AM I?", he screams.
"Is there anybody else here, please help me!"
But nobody answers, there seems to be nobody else there. After another five minutes pass, he gives up the yelling and begins to feel tired again.
"Not now!" he demands.
"I don't want to pass out again, shock it!, I might remember something"
But this man can't fight off the dizzy spells any better than you or I could and he slowly begins to lose the battle. Until a wave of dreams surrounds him, dreams of a life he once lived, dreams which he cannot remember when he wakes, dreams which some would consider more like nightmares.
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The Next Morning-
Vendetta awakens as the ship crash lands in a remote area just outside of New York City. She quickly jumps out with her gear and begins on her way to New York City.
"You will be avenged Gallows." she says under her breath.
It would take her an hour of walking but she would finally make her destination, and she doesn't believe the sight of it when she does.
"Shock"
Is the only word she can muster as she looks out at the city in partial ruins. It never looked this bad when she had been here, and she promises the people responsible will pay.
"The first thing I gotta do is get a bead on Gallow's old contacts and hideouts, like that guy what's his name... Axel, Matt Axel!"
"And I think I know where to find him if he isn't dead."
So Vendetta starts her search for Matt Axel, only to be watched by another. Someone who's VERY interested in finding out about Gallows, his contacts, anything that has to do with the man who was the Punisher. This mysterious stranger knows of Vendetta and decides he will use her as a way of finding Gallows if he's still alive, and if he is, this stranger wants to make sure he doesn't stay that way!
The morning sun hits John daSilva's face with an unexpected warmth, that causes him to wake up. He stands up realizing he's in the same alley he had fought the Freakers in before, three dead bodies still lay around him.
"I must have lost a lot of blood." he thinks.
"Either that or I'm just really tired.", he says as a joke to himself.
John knows he needs medical care, and he decides its time he gets it. Being careful (He doesn't know if someone else will screw with him) he scrambles out of the alley, grabs his gun, and hits the road that leads back Uptown. Once he reaches Uptown John has the same reaction as Vendetta.
"What the shock happened?"
"Where is Director Gallows?"
"Why did he not stop this from happening?"
John puts his medical problems on hold as he sees two thugs trying to mug an elderly woman.
"Pathetic fools!" he yells to get there attention.
One of the men turn and start to run, John takes out his gun and takes aim, he fires once and the man's knee spews red fluid from it. Now the second man pulls out a gun, that shoots a microwave at John, but he quickly ducks and fires a nice, hard piece of lead at the man, which leaves an equally nice hole in his head. Having accomplished, saving the woman John begins to feel dizzy and tired.
"Are you all right?" asked the elderly woman as she approaches John.
"I need to see a doctor, please help meee...." and with those words, John daSilva passes out from blood loss.
The elderly woman runs out into the street to flag down a car for help, the first car she motions at drives by, but the second stops. A young man in his twenties steps out of the car-
"What's the problem here?" he asks.
"That man needs help.", she says pointing over to John.
The man walks over to him and looks down at him, "Shock it" he says.
"Do you know who this man is?" he asks the woman.
"No, is he a SHIELD officer?"
"Not quite, he's a Punishment Police officer, one of the people the Punisher hand-picked for an "elite" group."
"Oh shock, then we should get away from him you know what happened to the Punisher."
"No, the Punisher saved a friend of mine when he was the SHIELD director, I'm going to help this man." but as he turns to the elderly woman he sees she has already fled.
"Oh well, I guess it's just you and me buddy."
The man picks up John and carries him to his car, once he's safely inside the man drives away as fast as he can. In twenty-four hours John daSilva will regain consciousness only to have his whole world turned upside down again...
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It has been an hour since Vendetta returned to this city. Now she begins to wonder if she will ever find out anything. It seems everyone who can help out is gone. She has looked for Matt Axel at his house and at the Degen Hospital he once ran, but he's nowhere to be found. Then she thinks of one last spot not too far away from where she can check for him, Gallows old home, where he had his base! Of course, if Axel is still alive he'll be there. She grabs her stuff and runs all the way to what's left of the house, all the while being followed by another whom she is not yet aware of. Vendetta races inside and downstairs to where all the equipment and secrets of the Punisher lied. She turns a corner and goes into the main control room, as she opens the door and walks in she is greeted with a gun in her face.
"I don't believe it, it's you, its......
Next Issue- Who's the wise guy pointing the gun at Vendetta's pretty face? Just where is John daSilva being taken to? Who are our two mystery men? And can Jake Gallows still be alive? Check out "Revenge And Redemption" Part 2, for all of (or at least most of) those answers!
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