Punisher 2099UG Issue 4

Punisher 2099UG

Issue #4

"A New Beginning"

Written by Midnyteson

Edited by Hugo Ferreira

It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out job. They were told that all they had to do was kill her, send the info and they'd have free VR sessions for months. But it wasn't a simple in-and-out job. Something found them and now one of them lies on the floor with a bullet in his head on top of the woman they killed, while the other two are running for their lives.

"It killed him! It shockin' killed him!" yells one of the boys as he storms out of the building.

"The Punisher's dead!" exclaims the other boy as he too runs out of the building."It's his shockin' ghost, man!"

The two boys get into their car and drive off as fast as they can.

"It was all over the news," says Chris, the first boy to get out of the building. "He was killed by one o' those spider things."

"I saw it too, man." That response came from Ben, the second boy to exit the building. "One second he's killin' all the black boots, the next second he's shot with a beam and he's gone."

The two boys, confident that they escaped the ghost of the Punisher begin to drive at a normal speed. Eventually, the boys come upon an intersection and must stop to let the other traffic through.

"Do you think we'll still get our VR time?" asks Chris.

"I hope so, ma--"

BAAAM

A bullet enters through the back windshield and impales itself into the back of Ben's head. Blood splatters all over the windshield blinding Chris's view of the traffic in front of him. Chris doesn't even have time to think before his door swings open and he is confronted face to face (skull?) with the Punisher. All that was left of the Punisher's head was his skull, and it scared Chris so badly that he wet his new poly-denim pants.

"Prepare for punishment!" exclaims the ghost.

Chris is too scared to even scream. The Punisher pulls a gun out of his coat. In cold fear Chris jumps on top of Ben, opens his door, and runs out of the car, praying to Thor that he'll get away alive.

"Stop!" yells the ghost.

Chris never thought that any man could sound so cold. Chris notices a corner up ahead that leads directly Downtown. Turning his head just enough to see behind himself, he sees that the Punisher is following him at a slow pace.

"Just a few more steps and everything will be OK, I can lose him Downtown."

But suddenly from behind the corner, the Punisher steps out in front of him. Chris stops dead in his tracks slipping on the wet pavement and falling to the ground. Chris notices the Punisher's skull again, the skull that he can hardly bear to look at.

"The man said to stop!" says the Punisher.

There was something different about the Punisher's voice this time, it sounded female. But Chris is too scared to take it into consideration.

"Please Punisher please don't kill meeeee..."

"I'm not the Punisher, scum!"

Then suddenly the woman that was thought to be the Punisher raises a stick-like object into the air and...

WHAAAM

...the stick slams down into Chris's head, knocking him out, temporarily at least. The woman pulls up her sleeve, pushes a button and suddenly her skull dissolves to reveal Vendetta, one of only a few of the Punisher's friends.

"I just can't get the adjustments on this power stick," says Vendetta in a relaxed voice. "Every time I use this thing I get the rubber setting."

The other man, also thought to be the ghost of the Punisher reaches under his sleeve and his skull dissolves to reveal John daSilva, an ex-Punishment Police officer, a special group hand-picked by the Punisher himself to bring his own brand of law and order to the city.

"We have to remember to thank Matt for these holomasks," remarks John as he walks up to Vendetta. "Don't worry about the power stick, though, they're hard to get used to. Once in a holotraining session, Director Gallows ran this program called "The Public Enemy" and all we were equipped with was power sticks. Anyway, I got the settings wrong and ended up with the rubber set. It didn't even phase him. I got my butt handed to me."

Vendetta laughs. After strapping her power stick back on her belt, Vendetta bends over and picks Chris up by his shoulders.

"John, could you grab this guy's feet?"

"Sure, you want to take him back to the prison right?"

"Yeah."

Vendetta and John take Chris back to the hearse they came herein, the hearse previously owned by Jake Gallows. Once they secure Chris in the back of the hearse they drive off.

Jim Craig has been asleep for five hours now dreaming about the things that normal people dream about, but suddenly it turns horrific. Buildings everywhere are on fire causing the sky to turn blood red. People are jumping out of they're fifth-story windows to escape the fire not realizing that they'll die from the impact on the pavement below until the second before it happens. EMPs are falling everywhere, crushing innocent people on impact, Jim sees a little girl running to him for help but suddenly a SHIELD soldier fires his gun and a bullet enters through the little girl's eye and exits the back of her head.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screams Jim as he runs to the girl hoping that she's still alive, but as expected, she's not. Jim points up into the sky screaming at the giant seven-story-tall figure who magically appears in front of him: it is clearly Doom, the President of the United States.

"You did this Doom! Didn't you?!"

"Of course, Jim, what did you expect?" responds Doom. "Just wait until you see what I have in store for your family. Ha ha ha!"

"You'll never touch my family, I'll kill you before you have the chance!"

Jim leaps towards Doom only to find himself landing on the ground in front of a small group of SHIELD soldiers. The soldiers raise their guns and fire... Jim leans up with sweat dripping down his forehead, his heart pounding, and scared as hell. Suddenly Jim's door opens wide, a blinding bright white light fills the room, a figure steps into the light leaving only his shadow to be seen. Jim can't make out who it is and decides he should say something.

"Who... who are you?"

The man steps into Jim's cell. He can see him clearly now. He's a fairly tall Caucasian man with brown hair and blue eyes. The man offers Jim his hand.

"I guess I should re-introduce myself, Jim. My name is Bill Smith, your boss, and I think it's time that you came out of your cell."

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

"What the shock was that?" yells Vendetta after hearing the explosion.

"I don't know, all I know is that it sounded like it came from the building where we got the scum in the back. You wanna go back to the building?"

"Yeah, and step on it."

"You're the boss."

John turns the car around and speeds toward the building where they found Chris and his friends. About a minute later John and Vendetta arrive at the previously visited scene only to be stunned to find that the top floor where the crime took place has been blown up.

"What the shock happened here, Vendetta?"

"I don't know, but we better get out of here before SHIELD agents arrive."

John turns the car around again and speeds off. In the shadows behind another building, a figure watches John and Vendetta drive off. He begins to ponder about his next move.

"Where are we going?" asks Jim as he's stepped out of his cell dressed in the new clothes his boss just brought to him. Jim is now styling a navy blue shirt, black pants, and black shoes.

"We're just going to walk around the office and the laboratory, just to basically get you reacquainted with everything." They walk down a hall and into an elevator. Mr. Smith tells the elevator to take them up to the eighth floor.

"Um... Bill, Mr. Smith, what should I call you?"

"Bill is fine."

"Are we good friends, or do we just have a professional relationship?"

"Oh, we're good friends, Jim. In fact, you're one of the most popular guys around Alchemax."

Jim now has a look of confusion on his face. "Is that where we are? Have I been at Alchemax this whole time?"

"Why yes, Jim, as soon as we found out what had happened to you, we took the responsibility of bringing you back to health."

"What happened to me?"

"You were caught in the crossfire of the Punisher and SHIELD agents. The Punisher pushed you out of the way, saving your life."

Jim becomes frustrated. "I know that already, but why can't I remember anything?"

"After the Punisher pushed you out of harm's way, some debris from a building fell on top of you. When we got you out we saw that mark on your head."

Jim puts his hand up to his forehead feeling the bump where the debris hit him. It still hurts a little, but Jim somehow knows he's been through worse. The elevator stops and the doors open to reveal Jim's workplace, a laboratory filled with assistants and scientists. Bill and Jim walk through the lab, everyone in the lab stops what they're doing and focus on Jim. Jim hears greetings from everyone.

"Hey, Jim!"

"Jim, how's it goin'?"

"It's great to have you back, Jim."

Suddenly a woman walks into the room reading over some files on her pocket computer. She glances up to see where she's going then continues to read over her files. Then she snaps her head up again and becomes very excited. She drops her computer and begins to run towards Jim, yelling his name all the way into his arms.

"Oh, Jim! Thank Thor you're OK. I was so worried about you."

Jim doesn't know what to do and silently mouths "Who is this?" to Bill. He can tell that Jim is feeling a bit awkward and decides to pry the woman off of him.

"Jim, this is Mary."

"Hello, Mary."

Mary becomes frustrated. "What is this, some mean joke?"

Bill steps in front of her. "Mary, come with me, please. Jim, could you excuse us for a moment?"

"Yeah, sure Bill."

As soon as Bill and Mary step off to the side a crowd forms around Jim, everyone begins asking him questions about where and how he's been. Bill and Mary's conversation on the other hand is much more interesting.

"Bill, what's going on here?" asks Mary with a look of confusion on her face.

"Mary, Jim has amnesia."

"Well, is he going to remember anything anytime soon?"

"He's already started remembering fragments of things, it won't be long before he's his regular self. We have treatments lined up for him that should help."

"It's just that I love him so much, Bill." Mary begins to cry.

"I know Mary, I know." Bill wraps his arms around Mary and just holds her for a few seconds, comforting her. Bill and Mary head back to the crowd around Jim, who are all laughing about old stories about Jim. Bill steps into the middle of the crowd.

"Now now, everyone, I'm probably the one most excited to see Jim back, but we've got work to do." Bill claps his hands together three times signaling everyone that it's time to get back to work. "There'll be plenty of time at lunch to reminisce about old times."

Everyone goes back to their work areas. Mary picks up her pocket computer and walks over to her desk quickly turning on her computer so she can focus on work to keep her personal issues off her mind. Bill puts his arm around Jim's shoulder like most friends do.

"Jim, let me show you where we work."

Suddenly a voice from the lab entrance speaks. "Not so fast there, Bill. At least let me welcome back Jim before you get back to work."

Bill turns around and is astonished to see Miguel O'Hara standing in the doorway of the lab.

"Mr. O'Hara, I didn't expect to see you, sir."

"Like I said I want to welcome back Jim, is that OK?"

"Of course, sir."

Miguel walks up to Jim, sticking out his hand for a shake. Jim accepts the offer. Miguel notices something strange about him. "There's something different about you, Jim."

"Well, sir, I don't remember our previous meetings so it is nice to meet you again."

"Jim, please, call me Miguel, we worked together a few years ago." Feeling mildly uncomfortable, Miguel says, "Well, I better get going. There's a lot to do when you're in charge." Miguel walks toward the door, but stops in his tracks and turns around to look at Jim.

"Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about your family." With that, Miguel slightly bows his head and walks off, out of the lab.

Jim turns around and looks at Bill with confusion. Bill looks at Jim as though depressed.

"Bill, what's Miguel talking about?"

"Jim, could you come with me, please?"

Jim follows Bill into his office. Bill sits down behind his desk and offers Jim a seat, but Jim declines.

"Bill, what happened to my family?"

"Jim, I wasn't going to tell you this for at least two days, but I guess I might as well now. Jim, your family was also caught in the crossfire between SHIELD and the Punisher. They were fatally wounded."

Tears begin to form in Jim's eyes, one trickles down his cheek, although he can't remember his family, it still hurts him to the core of his being. "Why didn't he save them, too?"

"He couldn't. By the time he saw the three of you in the middle, they were dead. I'm sorry."

Jim looks down to the ground and puts his hand up to his eyes, crying in it. Jim looks up after a few seconds, his eyes are red and tears are still running down his cheeks. Jim finally gets enough composure to talk. "What were they like, my family?"

"They were nice people, Jim."

"Who in my family was shot?"

"Everyone: your mother, your father, and your sister."

"How old was she?"

"She was nine."

Jim suddenly realizes that the little girl in his dream was his sister.

"Jim, let me take you back to your room." Jim agrees and walks with Bill back to the room. The walk back is very quiet, neither of them saying anything until Jim gets in his room and lies down on his bed. Finally, Jim speaks.

"So I guess you're going to lock me up again aren't you?"

"No Jim, I'm not. You are free to come out of your room at any time. Good night, Jim."

Jim goes to sleep and soon dreams of the things that people dream about. Bill on the other hand goes back to work. Everyone is bowing their heads in silence as Bill walks in the laboratory. Bill walks directly into his office, closing the door behind him. Everyone raises their heads and begins to work again. One of them decides to turn on the vidscreen, and they all agree to watch the news. Bill sits behind his desk very depressed wondering how Jim will be for the next couple of days. Suddenly, Mike from the lab runs in.

"Bill, get out here now!"

Bill jumps up and runs out of his office only to find everyone gathered around the vidscreen. Bill watches the anchorman speak about a story.

"They found the first body at about 2:30 in his blown-up apartment building, and the second just an hour ago, also within her blown up home. The bodies have been identified as Cory Adams and Sharon Nelson. Investigators believ--"

"Turn that shocking thing off!" yells Bill as he walks back into his office in a hurry to make a phone call.

The sun has risen and a new day has begun. People are heading to work while others are going to bed, but for Matt Axel, it's been a long day and night. He got a call this morning from a friend terrified to go to sleep. Eventually, Matt talked his friend into letting him come over to talk. That's where he is now. Matt rings his friend's doorbell a few seconds later the door opens.

"Bill, you look terrible, what's wrong?"

"Matt, Cory, and Sharon are dead. I called Loni last night and found out she was killed the day before. Matt, someone's killing us all."

"Are... are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Loni was stabbed and Cory and Sharon died when someone blew up their homes."

"Blew up?!?" Matt realizes that the woman he's talking about was the woman Vendetta and John found dead last night. "How hard is it to find you?"

"I'm the hardest to find. Loni was the easiest, and Cory and Sharon were the second and third easiest to find."

"Who's next on the list then Bill?"

"Um... Jenny is, why?"

"I know someone who can help. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Matt leaves with his secret agenda.

Night has fallen and two figures have just entered the Centra apartment building. They ride the elevator up fifteen floors and walk to the end of the hall to the last apartment. The first figure rings the doorbell, and a woman answers the door.

"Who are you?"

"Hi, my name is Vendetta, and this is my partner John. Someone is going to try to kill you tonight, and we're gonna stop him." Vendetta forces her way in, John follows. John and Vendetta walk around the house making sure the killers aren't already there. The house is clean. John starts to look at the paintings around the house. "This is a nice place you have here Ms. ...

"Kingston, Jenny Kingston. Look, I want you two out of here right now before I call SHIELD!"

Vendetta looks over at Jenny scornfully. "First off Jenny, do you think SHIELD will even come? And second, without us, you're going to die. So if you want to die, just say so and we'll leave, isn't that right John?"

"Yep. Who knows, maybe you'll end up stabbed to death like Loni. Or maybe blown up like Cory and Sharon. On the other hand, if you let us stay you'll probably live."

Jenny looks down for a moment to consider her options, finally, she comes to a decision.

"Fine, you can stay."

A few hours pass, it's now eleven o'clock. Jenny slips in and out of conscience while John and Vendetta are wide awake waiting for the action to begin. Suddenly the doorbell rings. Vendetta tells John to take Jenny to the back room. Vendetta slips a dress over her costume and answers the door.

"Hello?" Vendetta can see at least five men outside the door

"Are you Jenny Kingston?"

"Yes."

The first man, the one who asked Vendetta her name, pulls out a gun. Vendetta closes the door, locks it, and rips off her dress.

"John! This is it!"

John comes running out of the back bedroom with his gun in his hand. Vendetta and John stand in front of the door waiting for the men to cut through the door with a blow torch. Instead, they hear something.

BOOOOM

A dent appears in the center of the door.

BOOOOM

The dent becomes bigger. Vendetta and John take a few steps back so the door doesn't hit them when they breakthrough.

"Two more hits like that and they're in, John. You ready?"

"Bring it on!"

BOOOOM

The dent gets larger once again.

BOOOOOOOM

The door comes flying toward Vendetta and John. The two men with the battering ram run-in with the door. Immediately Vendetta and John open fire on the two. Bullets penetrate the two men, and they drop their battering ram and fall to the ground. One of the men dies instantly from a bullet to the head. The other man has been shot in the chest a few times. He reaches over to his left arm with his right hand. There's a thick metal band on his left arm, and the boy opens the panel on it and pushes a few buttons. He looks at Vendetta and John.

"I do this so my family will be saved."

John looks at the man's left forearm and notices a mark, a symbol. John immediately takes out his sound disruptor gun, aims it at the window and fires. The window shatters leaving a drop of fifteen stories outside. John grabs the man and drags him towards the window. John lifts the man into the air, waits a few seconds, then tosses him out the window.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The man explodes on his way down to the ground, no innocent bystanders have been hurt.

"John, how did you know he was going to explode?"

The three other men start running into the apartment firing their weapons.

"Later Vendetta. Just aim for their heads."

John grabs his handgun and starts firing. Two of the men jump at Vendetta and John taking shots through the chests and legs all the way until they land on top of them. John's and Vendetta's guns fly out of their hands and onto the floor.

"Get to the computer, send the info!" yells the man on top of John as he wrestles with him. The man who didn't jump runs towards the computer on Jenny's desk and starts typing. John reaches over to his gun on the floor. "I don't think so, ratbiter!" John takes his gun, shoves the barrel into the man's mouth and fires. John pushes the dead man's body off of his and grabs the power to stick off his belt. John runs towards the man at the computer and slams his power stick down on the man's wrists. They break instantly. The man screams in intense pain. Vendetta still wrestles with one of the men as she grabs a knife from the strap on her thigh and slits the man's throat. Vendetta pushes the man off of her and walks towards John. The man is in intense pain, rolling on the ground wishing he was dead. Vendetta decides to ask her question to John again now that the threat is over.

"So John how did you know that man was going to explode?"

"I saw the symbol on his forearm. He was a Suicide Boy, they all were. The Suicide Boys are usually hired killers, sometimes they're just sent in to destroy all evidence of a crime. After they've destroyed all evidence and themselves, their families are paid a large amount of money so they can live a richer, fuller life."

"Good work, John."

"Thanks."

As John and Vendetta are putting their guns away and putting their power sticks back on their belts, the living Suicide Boy opens the panel on his metal band with his mouth and activates the explosive with his nose. John and Vendetta start to hear a beeping noise behind the desk. They walk behind the desk to find the timer on the metal band is counting down. They have thirty seconds to live.

"We're all gonna die!" yells the Suicide Boy. "May my family live a good life from now on."

"John! Grab Jenny, we have to get out of here now!"

John runs to the back of the apartment and grabs Jenny by the arm.

"Where are we going!?!" yells Jenny

"This place is going to blow up in a few seconds. We have to get out of here!"

John and Jenny come running out into the living room and towards the door, but Vendetta stops them.

"We don't have time for that exit, we have to jump out the window."

Jenny becomes frantic. "Are you nuts? I can't jump out a window!"

"Don't worry, we've got antigrav belts," says John. He wraps his arm around Jenny's waist and the three of them jump. One second later the apartment explodes.

BOOOOOOM

Their speed increases every millisecond as they fall toward the impending ground. At about the sixth floor John and Vendetta activate their antigrav belts and they slow down incredibly. A few seconds later they softly touch the ground.

"I'm sorry about your apartment, Ms. Kingston," says John as he lets go of her.

"It's OK, I'll be back on my feet in no time, I have a lot of connections."

A few minutes later John and Vendetta drive off in their hearse. Once again in the shadows, the figure watches John and Vendetta leave. He begins to think to himself.

"Damn those Suicide Boys, they never sent me the plans. This sets my plans back awhile. But it won't be long. In the meantime, I'll check up on that Venus 8 Gendoll calling herself the Punisher, so I'll be ready for her next time."

"Get out here, scum!"

Chris is surprised to still be alive, but he knows what's best for him and comes out of his cell.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To the last exit," answers Vendetta.

"What?"

Vendetta doesn't answer, she just pushes Chris into a room in the back. Chris looks at the chair in the room and is terrified.

"What is that thing?"

"It's a molecular disintegrator. Hop in." Vendetta pushes Chris into the chair and it locks him in. Vendetta walks over to the control panel and puts her hand on the lever that activates the machine. "Don't worry it's quick but painful."

Chris begins to cry. "Come on, you wouldn't do this. The Punisher wouldn't do this."

"Yes, he would. He did. Many times. When he offered me the chance to pull the lever I couldn't do it, but now I can. So I guess--" Vendetta pulls the lever down. The four beams penetrate Chris's skin he screams in utter pain and then he's nothing but dust. "--I am the Punisher!"

NEXT ISSUE- The big "The Taking Of New York" four-parter starts! This is the storyline that will change "The Punisher" forever! And it leads into our "Fall Of Alchemax" tie-in coming in Late July. Don't miss it!