Note: A shorter issue for a shorter arc, just to give the series some breathing room. :)
Broken: Part 1 of 2.
New York City
The blood splattered on the walls had been the tamest part of the meeting.
There they stood, several of the greatest crimelords on the planet, each standing in the wreckage and debris that the man known as Frank Castle had left in his wake.
"Well... this little idea was a shambles." Leland Owlsley, the Owl of Wall Street grumbled from his seat by the shattered remains of the auction table. "Hard to believe a few minutes ago we were enjoying a nice little bidding war."
The rest of the crimelords all seemed irritated by Owlsley's presence, from the 27 representatives that had attended the Fesack auction, a mere four had remained. Seven of the smaller gangs had been killed during the crossfire between the Punisher and the psychopath known as Nuke. The rest had fled to the safety of their homes.
Except for Owlsley. Despite being a coward, he smelled opportunity. He didn't know how... but he could sense it on the wind.
"Calm yourself Leland." The representative of the Japanese gang, the Reddo Doragon said, his face hidden behind an array of colourful tattoos and piercings. "Or else I'll have to MAKE you calm."
"I am calm!" Owlsley snapped, keeping true to his reputation as a bird of prey. "Numbers keep me calm, boy! And right now I'm counting the number of hours before the Punisher puts a goddamn bullet in all our skulls!"
"You are... gang leader?" A member of the Hand asked in broken English, his gaze hidden beneath blood red robes. The ashes of his fallen comrades littered the ground around him. Owlsley glared at the robed Ninja with small, beady eyes... like he was waiting for a chance to tear out his throat. "No. You are disgrace." The Hand's warrior pulled a dagger from his belt and stabbed it into a nearby table, ensuring he had everyone's attention. "We will find and kill, this... Punisher."
"We?! We'll kill the Punisher?!"" Leland snorted in an attempt to hide the fear he was feeling, sweat dropped down his charred forehead as all eyes in the room locked onto him. "Everyone else has either disappeared or died!" Owlsley let out a little sigh and looked defeated. "It's not that simple."
The Ninja gave no sympathy from under his cowl. Instead he simply plucked a yellow flower from a nearby, undamaged vase and crushed it under his fingers, leaving nothing but damaged petals.
"Yes it is."
____________________________________
Mercy Hospital
The smell of death and decay seemed to have become a permanent fixture in Frank Castle's life.
Slowly his eyes fluttered open to a white, blinding light shining from the ceiling, dark shadows occasionally passed him by from his makeshift prison. It appeared he was lying in a sort of hospital bed, his body and skull covered in heavy bandages. Frank let out a deep, low groan and realized he was drugged up with painkillers.
That would explain the numbness he was feeling.
"Frank?" A familiar face appeared in Frank's vision, it was the old man from Fogwell's Gym... the man who Frank had ran to after his battle with Nuke... and collapsed in front of. "You're finally awake."
"Where... where am I?" Frank asked, his mind dull from the drugs flowing through his system. "What... what happened?" He felt cold, lifeless... it was like someone had drained out all the energy and life from his body before discarding it right before his eyes.
"You're in the hospital." The old man replied, eyes frantically darting up everytime someone passed by. "I'm sorry Frank, there's nothing I could have done. I'm not a doctor, I-"
With a loud grunt Frank tried to get up from his bed, quickly realizing he was also bandaged around his right leg... with a neck brace covering the damage Nuke had caused there as well.
The battle had certainly left its mark.
"Have to get out..." He grumbled. "The men I tried to kill... they're probably on their way... they'll kill everyone right in fr-" Before Frank could finish he realized his daring escape wasn't going to happen. As he tried to get up onto his feet he was pulled back by a pair of handcuffs around his wrist, shackling him to the bed.
"Trying to run, freak?" The green curtain seperating Frank from the rest of the word pulled back to reveal Lieutenant Sanchez of the Punisher Task Force smiling triumphantly. "That ain't gonna happen!" He gloated, thick brown moustache jumping up and down as he chuckled to himself.
It was almost as if he'd done the work himself.
"Listen to me..." Frank growled, feeling his arm shift slightly as he accidentally put his weight on it. "If you don't let me go... everyone in this building is going to die..."
Sanchez snorted befoe giving off a deep, throat cough. Cigarettes probably... Frank could smell them on the Lieutenant.
"Yeah right." Officer Sanchez replied, rolled his eyes. "We've got a dozen officers guarding this place, Castle. Some of the Punisher Task Force's best and brightest are here! You're not going anywhere!"
Frank gave the Lieutenant a grim look before sinking slowly back into his cushion.
"I'm not the one you have to worry about."
____________________________________
They sprinted across the rooftops of New York like predators hunting down their prey. Seven of the Hand's greatest warriors arrived at the edge of the roof overlooking Mercy Hospital, each one equipped with some of the deadliest equipment on the planet... and at the forefront was their leader, the greatest of them all.
He was known simply as the Red Fury. Not for the robes he wore, they were black. They called him 'the Red Fury' for the trail of bright red blood he always left in his path.
"Kare wa soko ni arimasu ka?" One of the Ninjas asked in his native tongue. The Red Fury clambered down the side of the building in silence and stood on the side of a piece of scaffolding.
He answered by drawing the long, thin blade that had once belonged to his ancestors. A black eye peered straight at him from the center as his men formed around him.
"Ido shiamasu." The Red Fury ordered, weapon drawn as snow fell around him. "Sorera o isso."
The Hand's greatest warriors nodded in silence before following out their leader's command. Together the six Hand underlings leaped forward towards the large fortress containing their target...
And they'd tear through anyone that got in their way.
Next Issue:The Punisher VS The Hand!
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