Punisher War Journal Vol. 2 # 10 - Sunset

Overview

The Punisher's one-man crusade to stop the white-power border war kicked off by the Hate-Monger comes to a head in this, the bloody conclusion to BLOOD AND SAND. Everybody's trying to kill everybody else. Frank Castle's been beaten within an inch of his life. Hate Monger's terrible machines broadcast wave after wave of unbridled rage into the desert, making it even harder for Clarke and Bridge to trust one another. By the end of the night, it'll be all our heroes can do to aim straight... and not at each other.

This Cannot End Well.

Bridge and the Hate-Monger are at a standoff. Bridge tells them that he has a partner that will destroy their base. Hate-Monger doesn't believe it until there is an explosion in the background. Hate-Monger leaves Bridge and Frank to secure their base. Now it is just Bridge and the Punisher (with Frank still tied up). Frank waits for Bridge to shoot him. He unties Frank instead saying that Stuart will need their help in trashing Hate-Monger's hideout.

The place is going up with explosions all around. Stuart has find the body of his girlfriend, Tatiana. He has only one word as more of Monger's soldiers arrive, "Die." He begins shooting all the men, vowing to kill whoever is responsible for her death. He's going to kill them all.

Outside, Hate-Monger gathers his men to enter and defend the building and protect the H-Ray generator. Suddenly the men are getting picked off, one by one. Frank has shown up. It's now down to Frank and the Hate-Monger. It's a fist fight now. Frank can still feel the hate and anger seeping into him. He tries to fight it. The Hate-Monger tells Frank that they are the same man with the same hate. He begins to remind him that he killed "the girl" (Tatiana) when there is another explosion behind him. Hate-Monger is knocked out and Frank has the chance to take him out easily.

Hate-Monger starts to come around and Frank removes his mask to expose a bald scared man. Frank tells him his little empire has been destroyed. It's over.

Bridge sits outside and calls S.H.I.E.L.D. He tells them they should send a Superhuman Event Squad to his location. Then he sees what he was waiting for and takes care of the number 2 guy.

Stuart finds Frank holding a knife over Hate-Monger's body. Frank has cut away his uniform. He tells Stuart that even though it had been changed, it was still "His" uniform. He won't allow anyone to desecrate the memory of Captain America. Stuart then sees the machine that fueled the hate and anger that killed Tatiana. Frank tries to speak. He tells Stuart that the machine got in your blood and made everyone crazy. He cuts off Frank, telling him to stop making excuses. He tells him that he's going to track down and kill everyone involved until he finds the person that killed her.

Frank doesn't know what to say to Stuart. They leave the building prepared to get arrested. Bridge is waiting out there. He says he will regret his decision for the rest of his life and tells them they have five or six hours to leave before reinforcements arrive.

At the police station that Tatiana visited before this ordeal started, Stuart pays a visit to the Sheriff that betrayed her to the Hate-Monger's men.