Punisher (Comics)/Bio & Battles

Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher, born in New York City, he would grow up to be the greatest enemy of crime on the face of the planet. A Vietnam War veteran, Frank had just settled into a peaceful life with his family when on a picnic with his wife and two children in Central Park, Frank accidentally stumbled upon a Mob killing. When they were discovered, the hitmen opened fire on the innocent family, killing everyone except for Castle, who survived against all odds.

From that day forth, Frank declared a one-man war against all criminals, quickly hunting down and killing those responsible for his family's murder. Now going by the moniker of the Punisher, and equipped with enough weapons to supply a small nation, Frank traveled the US, exterminating criminals wherever he finds them. He is reputed to have killed over 2,000 people and has killed dozens of super-humans through sheer use of his training, tactics, and conventional weapons.

Because of his brutal nature and tendency to kill his targets, the Punisher has a shaky relationship with the superhero community at best, though he does team up with various heroes on several occasions either out of necessity or by accident.

Battle vs. Roberta Cisneros (by MrPacheco101)
Barinas, Venezuela

Deep within a small town of Barinas, Venezuela, an elderly man sets up a stand to sell his fresh crops of fruits and vegetable to pedestrians passing by; the man was in his mid 50's, wearing a white shirt with matching pants and a straw hat to keep him shaded from the hot sun. The man sits on a chair and watches the pedestrians walk by, hoping one or two of them will stop by to purchase his goods. “disculpe a señor” a feminine voice called out. The old man looks up and sees a young woman standing before him. The young woman wore a traditional maid's outfit with her hair tied in a ponytail. A smile lit up on the old man's face. “Ahhh, señora Roberta ha sido un tiempo! Cómo está?” he said brightly. “Muy bien señor Silva.” Roberta responded back with a smile. “Bueno. Bueno.” Silva said, nodding his head lightly. “Entonces, ¿hay algo que pueda llegar?” he asked. “Oh, sí puedo tener un par de tomates y maíz, por favor? parece que la casa se quedó sin recientemente.” The young maid responded. “Como quieras.” Silva said as he starts to bag up the items. “¿Cómo es joven García haciendo?” he asked. “Maestro García está haciendo muy bien. Quiero decir desde la muerte de su padre que había algunos de los principales ... bloqueos de carreteras para superar, pero todo está dicho y hecho.” Roberta responded, her hands clenched. “Eso es bueno para escuchar. Hay que ir la señora Roberta.” Silva said as he hands the bag of groceries to Roberta. “Muchas gracias Snr. Silva! ¿Cuánto te debo?” The young maid said. Old man Silva shakes his head. “Nada, está todo en la casa.” He said with a smile. “Oh, eres muy amable señor Silva, muchas gracias.” Roberta said as she begins to depart. “ En cualquier momento, tenga cuidado!” Silva said waving Roberta goodbye as she walks into the distance.

After several miles of walking, Roberta arrives in front of the Lovelace mansion and opens the door. The head maid steps inside the main hall of the colonial style mansion and locks the main door. “Joven maestro estoy en casa!” Roberta called out, but no one responded. “Garcia? García está en casa? Fabiola?” The head maid called out once more, but with no response. Something doesn't feel right. Roberta thought. Usually, Master Garcia Lovelace was always at the door when she arrives from an appointment, but not this time. “Garcia.”Roberta called out, but once again did not get a response. Roberta checks Garcia's bedroom, but he wasn't there; Roberta then goes out in the backyard where the pool resides and, yet again, finds Garcia nowhere in sight. Algo está mal. Muy mal! Roberta thought to herself as she returns back inside to search once more.“Garcia! Joven Maestro!”Roberta called out as she searches the entire mansion, but with no results.“Garcia.”Roberta then enters the living room and suddenly stops; a disfigured man in a nice suit is sitting on a chair with a group of finely dressed men standing right behind him, his facial expression shows that he was waiting for someone for long while.“Mrs. Roberta, I presume.”The man said calmly.“Or was it Rosarita?”Roberta's calm demeanor quickly changes to an aggravated, pissed-off mood. “¿Quién eres tú! ¿Dónde está García?!” She demanded, her hands clenched into a fist. The disfigured man gets up off his chair and stands in front of the angered maid.“I don't know what the f—k you're saying and it's irritating my f—king mind!”he spurted out.“So I'm gonna make this simple for ya. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”the man said coolly. Roberta nodded her head in agreement which causes the disfigured man to grin with satisfaction. “Good. Now you may be wandering who I am. Well, you can call me Jigsaw. That's all you need to know in the situation you're in, Miss Cisneros.”Jigsaw says pointing his finger at the head maid.“Where I come from, I'm the Big Daddy of the major crime families in New York, and my rule is one of an iron will! Everything from extortion to prostitution is under my command in these streets, but…even with all this power my life is plagued with nightmares.” Jigsaw clenches his fist in anger. “By a man who wears a skull and calls himself the Punisher!”he spat venomously. “All this power is diminishing day after day by man who wears a F—ING SKULL!!!!! The man who f—ked my face up! The man who took out my best men like they were god damn flies!” Jigsaw yelled out as he starts to walk left and right anxiously. “I hired the best hitmen from around the world, but they were just of money…and flesh.”Jigsaw stopped suddenly. “But then it hit me…why don't I hire someone who is just like him, and has no remorse in firing the final blow.”He turns to face Roberta.“And that's what brought me here, to have the infamous terrorist known as The Bloodhound of Florencia do the job.”Roberta starts to grit her to teeth in anger.“So I'll give you a deal…you kill the Punisher and I'll let…Ghk!!!” Before Jigsaw could finish his sentence, Roberta suddenly rushes forward and latches her slender fingers around the gangster's neck, lifting him up high with no struggle. Jigsaw's men pull out their guns and surround the vicious maid. “Now listen here 'Jigsaw'…” Roberta said in perfect English. “Whatever you say will be useless against me now that I have your life in my grasp!”The maid strengthens her grip on the disfigured man's throat. “I don't care if you kill me. I'm not afraid to die for what believe in, but I wonder if you're the same?” She said with an evil grin. Jigsaw begins to laugh manically. “Hahahahahaha! You think you can threaten me with my own life?! Go ahead and do it, that makes your chance of saving your master go down to zero. With just one call by any of my men, the little bastard is brain matter.” He said with a sly grin. “Now, if I was in the position your in I suggest you put the guy who has what you want down…capeesh?” Roberta growled angrily and let the disfigured criminal go. “Much better.” Jigsaw said as he straightens his suit.“This what you need to do. Just kill the Punisher and you'll have your master back. If you try to refuse, well…you know what will happen.” Jigsaw said, he snapped his fingers and one of his men gives him a file.“Here are the plane tickets and the information we scrapped up for you to locate him.”Jigsaw informed her.“I want his head by tomorrow, otherwise little Garcia ain't coming back in one piece.” The disfigured man then snaps his fingers. “Alright boys, lock your guns. It's time to head out.” Jigsaw's henchmen all put up their guns and proceeded to walk away with their boss. “Where's Fabiola?” Roberta demanded. The disfigured man turned around towards the maid's direction. “Who?” Jigsaw asked as begins to ponder over the name given to him until it finally hits him. “Ah, the young maid that was here. Well, let's see…the last time that I saw that sweet little girl was in the kitchen. She was making such a delectable surprise. In fact, me and the boys had quite a feast before you came.” He said in a light-hearted tone. “You should check the fridge if there is any left because *chuckle* what can I say I have a huge appetite for homemade meals. Hope you have a great flight, Roberta.” Jigsaw chuckled before he and his men disappeared out the door. As the door shuts with an abrupt bang Roberta stood there silently for a couple of minutes until finally she begins to slowly walk towards the kitchen. Roberta stood silently near the entrance of the darkly dimmed kitchen; the head maid flipped the switch to the kitchen, which slowly reveals the entire kitchen. “What?” Roberta is shocked to see a near spotless kitchen to her findings, the utensils put in their correct place, the pots and pans placed in an organized way, and the counters were wiped spotless; still something was wrong to Roberta…dead wrong. Fabiola is not here and Roberta began to fear the worst. “You should check the fridge if there is any left.” The phrase began to bounce all over Roberta’s mind. “Worth finding out.” Roberta said to herself as she starts walking towards the fridge. Roberta then stood in front of the fridge and noticed a note posted on it, she then pulled it off to see what was written on it.

SURPRISE it read.

Roberta then drops the note and slowly starts to open the fridge. Roberta's eyes then widen in horror over the discovery she didn't want find out. The once young, beautiful, and strong Fabiola Inglesias in now broken, twisted, and stuffed in a fridge; the young maiden's emotionless eyes hold a very gruesome story to tell. Roberta dropped down onto her knees as she sees the body of one of her most trusted subordinate's body stuffed into a fridge. “Ay dios! What have they done to you?” The head maid could directly tell from the body injuries that the young girl had gone through hell before she untimely passed away. “Look at what I've got you into and look what happened. You didn't deserve this!” Roberta said in sorrow as she clenched her hands into a fist. So many emotions dwelled deep inside the head maid that words couldn't describe what she felt. “Mark my words, your death will not be in vain.”Roberta slowly starts to get up. “Those heathens will pay dearly for what they have done to you and the young master.” The maid said fiercely as she pulls off her cross necklace and held it against her chest, her eyes suddenly closed. “With the Holy Father at my side I shall hunt down and bring justice to all those who desecrate the Lovelace household and take someone who is near and dear!” Roberta states with emotion. “I will bring you back, young master, and make sure that everything was back before all this happen. I promise you that!” The head maid opens her eyes revealing the determination dwelling from within.

“In the name of Santa Maria, a hammer blow of righteousness to all injustice!”

Somewhere in New York City, Nighttime

Within a reclusive safehouse in New York City, Frank Castle aka The Punisher is planning his next hit on the crime family known as Maggia, the ex-vet is polishing his guns while listening to“Bad Moon Rising”by Creedence Clearwater Revival playing on the radio.

I see the bad moon arisen.

I see earthquakes and lightin’.

I see bad times today.

Franks cell begin to ring in his pocket. The vigilante reached up in his pocket and got the phone. He then presses the talk button. “Talk to me.” He said.

Don't go around tonight.

Well, it's bound to take your life.

There's a bad moon on the rise.

“Hey Frank. I've got the blueprint of the Maggia hideout you wanted.” The male voice said. “Alright, lay it on me.” Frank responded.“Alright then, the base is a rented warehouse off the coast of one of NY harbor. It's guarded by 4 henchmen in the front and 4 in the back. I think they're expecting you to come. So, what's your plan, Boss?”“I'll probably take out the guys in the back first. they won't expect that to happen. I'll make swift and silent to reduce the noise.” Frank said. “Sounds good, Frank. Just be careful. We don't know what's really going down there.” The male voice said with worry. “I'm always careful Micro. Take care.”Frank said and he then hangs up the phone. Frank finishes polishing his gun and puts it away, he then looks at a photo of him with his lost family sitting on the table and sighs, he then resumes planning his next hit.

I hear hurricanes ablowin’.

I know the end is coming soon.

I fear rivers overflowin’.

I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Meanwhile Roberta Cisneros is standing atop of a building in front of the Punisher's safehouse holding up her Baretta M82; the young woman changed from her maid attire into her bloodhound uniform consisting of a button up white shirt, black pants, and a black vest. Her hair loosened revealing her long curly hair and removed her glasses covering the latina's piercing yellow eyes. A necklace is around her neck holding a golden locket, she picks up the locket and opens it up revealing a photo of her young master Garcia and his deceased father. “I'm sorry young master that I'm walking on this road once again, but I promise you everything will be as it once was before.” She said to herself as she closed the locket. Roberta then aims the Baretta with her right hand and fires a couple of rounds. The high caliber bullets burst into the air and rip through the safehouse's thick concrete walls and windows.

Don't go around tonight.

Well, it's bound to take your life.

There's a bad moon on th-

Before the song could finish, one of the bullets pierce through the radio destroying. “Hmm?” Punisher notices the song stopped and looks to find his radio destroyed, suddenly a bullet flies past the veteran's face. Realizing he's under attack, Frank ducks down to the ground as a barrage of bullets burst into the safehouse as Roberta pumps out the rounds from afar. “Dammit, I've been found!” he said to himself as the bullets fly across the house. “But by who?” Frank crouches his way towards a button on the wall and presses it revealing a cache of weapons behind the wall. Frank pulls out the M4A1 and puts it against his back; he then pulls out the M60 and quickly rushes towards one of the front windows where the shots are coming from. Frank spots a figure on the roof and opens fire. One of the bullets passes next to Roberta lightly slashing her face. “Mierda!” she said in frustration as she ducks down to dodge the rest of the bullets. Roberta then aims her Baretta and opens fire, but realizes she has already ran out of bullets. “Not now!” Roberta quickly throws away the Baretta and picks up the Heckler & Koch G3 lying on the floor, she quickly runs across the roof to get out of her attacker's sight. Frank stops firing the M60 when he realizes the attacker was nowhere in sight. “Where'd you go you son of a b—ch.” Frank said as he searches through lightly lit darkness. Suddenly Frank hears a loud crash coming from the right side, he quickly turns around and sees Roberta bursting out of the window. The former assassin lands on the ground perfectly as the shattered glass surrounds her. Roberta turns her head around and stares into Frank's eyes with her piercing yellow orbs. “Well, I'll be damned.” Punisher is surprised to see a woman besides Natasha crashing into his safehouse unexpectedly, especially one he has never met before. “Who the hell are you?” Frank demanded. “Your death.” Roberta responded back, she then aims her G3 and pulls the trigger firing a burst of bullets at the Vietnam vet. Frank tries to aim his M60, but it gets knocked out of his hands by the burst of bullets. “S—T!” Frank quickly rolls out of the way as a burst of bullets hit the concrete wall behind him. Frank runs across the room as a load of bullets follow behind him hitting the concrete wall instead of their intended target. Frank pushes one of the tables onto its side and hides behind it. Frank pulls out his M4 Carbine and opens fire on Roberta. The head maid dodges most of the bullets with ease, but suddenly gets hit on the right shoulder. Roberta hisses in pain and shrugs it off, she then runs across the room as Frank opens fire on her. The head maid then hides behind a cache of large boxes as the ruthless vigilante opens fire; Roberta counters the attack with a burst of rounds coming from the side. Soon the Punisher's safehouse became a full fledged war-zone as a hail of bullets cover the place. Roberta fires a burst of rounds with one of them piercing through the table and hitting the Punisher in the right shoulder. Frank winces in pain, but quickly shrugs it off and returns fire until he realizes he ran out of bullets. “Damn it!” Frank then throws his Carbine on the ground. Roberta continues to fire more rounds until she suffered the same fate as Frank and quickly discards the weapon: silence soon surrounds the area. “So what did I do to piss you off?” He asked aloud. Roberta was silent for a while until she finally conceded. “Nothing really.” She responded back. “So if I didn't do s—t to ya, then why are you attacking me?” Frank replied solemnly. “It's not like wanted to do this willingly, Mr. Castle.” Roberta replied back as she reaches both hands into her vest. “So if you're not doing this willingly, then someone is hiring you to kill me? Then who?” Frank said as he reaches into his holster. Roberta snickered over Frank's comment. “Asking for information is useless to a dead man, don't you think?” she commented back as she pulled the dual Colt 1927’s out of her vest. Punisher chuckled a little bit. “What can I say, I pretty much think getting information from criminals is useless, but something in your eyes makes me want to know more about you, stranger.” He replied back as he pulls out his Beretta M9 pistol out of his holster. Roberta then released her Colt's safety switch off. “What can I say…I have to have somethings kept secret till I die.” She replied to the war vet. Frank pulls the safety switch of his Beretta off. “I see. Well, ain't that a shame.” He said in a cold demeanor. “Indeed.” Roberta replied back with a smirk.

Suddenly both warriors burst out with their pistols and began to open fire, their eyes gazing at each other fiercely. Bullets fly across the house missing their intended targets by mere inches. A couple of rounds cut through Frank's sides leaving small gash-like wounds, the vet simply ignored the pain and kept firing his gun. A couple of bullets slashed into both of Roberta's shoulders, but the femme fatal ignored the pain and continued to fire more rounds. Frank fired two more rounds until one of Roberta's bullets hits into his left shoulder causing him to let go of his Beretta M9 and get knocked back. The two rounds then burst into both Roberta's shoulders causing her to drop both of her 1927 Colts; Roberta quickly recovers from the blow and reaches behind her back with her right arm, she then pulls out the KA-BAR knife and charges towards the wounded soldier. Frank recovered from the blow very quickly ignoring the pulsing pain from being shot in the shoulder; Frank sees Roberta dashing towards him ready plunge her KA-BAR into his chest and moves out of the way. Roberta quickly recovers and roundhouse kicks Frank in the face causing him to stagger back, Roberta quickly dashes in front of Frank Castle and slashes him in the chest leaving a huge gash in the middle of his chest. The femme fatal is about to slash the Vietnam vet again until he pulled out his Gerber MkII knife from his leg sheath and quickly clashed blades with Roberta. Their blades clacking at each other as both warriors struggle to be the one on top until Frank kicks Roberta into her stomach causing the femme fatale to stagger back; Frank tries to slash Roberta in the chest, but Roberta recovers and counters the attack by blocking it with her KA-BAR. Roberta counters by kicking Frank twice in the stomach and plunging her KA-BAR into Frank's chest, The Vietnam vet growled in pain and counters the attack by plunges his knife into Roberta's stomach. The femme fatale gasps in pain and responds by pummeling her fist into Frank's face causing the vet to get knocked down onto the ground. Roberta slowly pulls out the knife in her stomach inch by inch and throwing it onto the ground, the femme fatal felt a shudder of pain, but quickly blocks it out; Her breathing becomes more heavy and rustic. Frank slowly gets off the ground and pulls out the knife plunged into his chest then throws it away. He then looks into Roberta's piercing yellow eyes. “Is that the best you got?” He spat out. Roberta gritted her teeth and charges into the wounded vet.

Roberta slams her fist into Frank's face, the gloved knuckles crashing into the man's left cheek. She quickly follows the attack with a bust through the gut sending small shockwaves into Frank's nervous system. She then finishes the routine by kicking the wounded vet twice in the chest causing him to stagger a couple of steps. Roberta tries to hit it off with a left hook in the stomach, but Frank grabs the maid by the left hand and slams his fast into hers causing the femme fatale to gush blood from her nose. He follows the attack with a knee in the stomach followed by an elbow in the back. Frank quickly stands her up and bust through her with a left hand cross in the face causing Roberta to spurt blood from her mouth. Frank follows this attack by grabbing Roberta by the hair and punching her twice in the stomach. He then finishes the attack by throwing the femme fatal across the room sending her crashing into the wall and falling onto the ground. “Finished yet?” Frank said cracking his neck and knuckles. Roberta gets up off the ground and wipes the blood dripping from her mouth, she the looks at the Vietnam vet with her cold piercing eyes. “You'll pay dearly for this.” She said coldly. Roberta charges at the vigilante and swings her fist at him. Frank dodges the attack and swings a left hook at her, but the femme fatale blocks the attack and counters with an uppercut to the chin. She follows this by punching Frank in the face with a left hook followed by a right hook in the face again causing Frank to spit out some blood. She then kicks the Vietnam vet in the left side twice causing him to move a little to the left. Roberta tries to finish the attack with a punch square in the face, but Frank blocks the attack by catching it in mid air he tries to counter with a left hook until Roberta catches his fist in midair. Suddenly both warriors are locked in a mid-struggle as both warriors try to overcome the other with their strength, but with no prevail. “Damn, this bitch is strong, but I have to finish this fight.” Frank thought to himself, he looks into the woman's cold piercing eyes. “There's something about this woman, she doesn't have the same looks like the other criminals I've faced. There's something familiar.” Frank tries to ponder on the subject a little more, but it gives Roberta the edge in the struggle as she pushes onto Frank little more. “Damn it, not now, I have to think of something fast!” Realizing he is losing the edge in the struggle Frank slams his head into Roberta's causing the femme fatale to loosen her grip on the vet's fist. Frank quickly counters by punching Roberta twice in the face causing her to spit out tons of blood. He follows the attack by punching Roberta square in the gut causing her to gasp for air. Frank finishes the attack with a spinning kick in the face causing Roberta to spin in mid-air until she falls on the ground. Frank grabs Roberta by the hair and picks her up; he then throws her onto one of the table causing it to break on impact. Frank slowly walks up to the wounded warrior and grabs her by the throat he then proceeds to strangle her. The war vet's thick fingers wrapping onto the former FARC's slender neck gripping it tightly as it slowly closes the air passage to the lungs. Realizing that she is in some deep s—t Roberta tries to loosen Frank's grip, but with no prevail. Frank then increases his grip on the femme fatale's throat causing her to breath rapidly as more air is being cut off. “Damn it, not now, not yet!” Roberta thought to herself, she quickly reaches one of her hands down below and starts to fumble with her belt. She then clicks a button that causes the belt buckle to open and unleash a small gunshot burst. The bullets rip through Frank's stomach causing some chunks of flesh to burst out. Frank suddenly feels a small burst of pain in his stomach causing him to let go of Roberta. “What the hell?!” Frank looks down and sees a deep wound embedded in his stomach, he then looks up and sees a very pissed off Roberta land uppercut into his chin causing the war get knocked down onto the ground. Roberta quickly gets on top of the fallen warrior and starts pummeling him. “You think I'm gonna let you kill me right here?! I can't die here yet! Not now! Not yet!” Roberta yelled as she slams her fist into Frank's face. Frank was surprised by Roberta's sudden outburst, as he couldn't defend himself from Roberta's unyielding rage. “When the hell did she get this strong?” Frank thought to himself as Roberta slams her fist into his face causing him spit out blood profusely. Frank suddenly snaps himself out of his spaced out state as Roberta was to hurl one of her fist into him once more, but Frank grabs her hand by mid-air and throws her off of him. Frank gets up off the ground and pulls out his piano wire garrote and walks up to the fallen warrior. Roberta slowly begins to get up off the ground until she felt a slight tug on her throat; the femme fatale then realized that Frank is trying to strangle her again with his piano wire garrote. Thinking quick, Roberta reaches from behind and grabs Frank by the neck and throws him over herself and onto the ground. The former FARC quickly follows it by stomping her feet onto the Vietnam vet's face, causing his nose to crack and bleed. Roberta was about to stomp on his face again, but Frank quickly rolls to the left and quickly gets up off the ground. Roberta tries to land a square kick in the chest, but Frank blocks the attack and counters by smashing his fist into Roberta's right cheek. He quickly follows the attack with another fist into Roberta's left cheek, he follows the attack by punching the femme fatale twice in the stomach. Frank quickly finishes the attack by grabbing Roberta by her curly long black hair and headbutt her hard in the face causing her to stagger back. Roberta quickly recovers from the attack and punches Frank square in the face before he expects it. She quickly follows the attack by punching him hard in the stomach, then in the chest, and twice in the face causing him to spurt blood from his nose once again. The femme fatale grabs Frank by the shoulders and knees him multiple times in the gut causing him to gasp profusely. She follows this fatal combo with an uppercut to the chin causing him to stand up unwillingly and finishes the attack with a hard kick to the face causing him to shift to the left. The two warriors continued to pummel each other for hours leaving them both bloody and bruised, suddenly Frank catches one of Roberta's flailing fists in mid air and quickly counters with a punch in the face. He grabs the femme fatale by the vest and throws her hard against the concrete causing her to slowly slide onto the ground. Roberta slowly starts to get up off of the ground until Frank walks up to her, grabs her by the hair, and smashes her head against the wall multiple time.“Damn it, I lost concentration and this is what happens. Is this the end for me now?” Roberta thought to herself as her face crashes into the wall once more, her vision blurs in and out each time her face disconnects from the wall. Suddenly a vision appears before the femme fatale's eyes; Roberta finds herself seeing her master Garcia Lovelace looking at the window, admiring the beauty from outside. He turns his head around and looks at Roberta. “Today seems like a beautiful day to walk. Don't you think Roberta?” He said calmly with a smile. “I'm sorry Young Master for failing you once again. Please forgive me.” Roberta thought as her face disconnects from the wall once more. Instead of finishing her off by slamming her head into the wall once again Frank suddenly throws Roberta onto the ground. The femme fatal found herself sprawled on the ground her face mostly covered in blood, her breathing becoming raspier as her chest continues to heave heavily, her shirt torn in the middle revealing parts of her bra, and her black pants having holes on the side and front. The Vietnam vet walks up next to the heavily wounded and exhausted warrior his face covered in blood, his nose slightly broken, his left nostril closed due to some heavy damage to the face, his skull t-shirt heavily torn revealing the gunshot wound and knife wound inflicted upon by the femme fatal. “Last chance, miss, if you tell who sent you here I might let you live.” He said as he points his finger at her. A grin appears on Roberta's face leaving the vigilante confused. She slowly lifts her upper body up. “Very well, vigilante. If you want to her my story then I'll gladly tell it to you.” Roberta said as she pulls off the necklace with the locket on her neck. “Here, catch.” Roberta then throws the necklace to Frank. Frank catches the necklace and opens the locket, revealing a picture of an elderly man and a young child. “Who's the kid?” Frank asked. “That kid is my young master, his name is Garcia Lovelace.” Roberta responded. “I have known him since he was a little babe.” Roberta continued on. “With all the faults I have in my past to him I'm a kindred spirit, I tried my best to protect him from the evils of the world, but sometimes my strength wasn't enough.” Roberta said solemnly. “Ever since his father died our relationship became distant as the external forces pushed themselves onto him, but after a few years our relationship started to get better…in fact everything seems to be going into place until that fateful day.” Roberta clenched her hands into a fist. “After I came home from shopping, the young Master was nowhere in sight, but someone else was…I think you know him by the name of Jigsaw?” This diabolic name suddenly caused something to spark in Frank's mind. “He told me that the young master is held hostage and if I didn't help him kill you the young master would be killed.” Roberta said in anger. “I could've killed him easily, but the odds were stacked against me so all I could do is concede.” Roberta started to chuckle. “ I thought to myself that this was going to be an easy task before I completed main objective, but I guess I over looked the situation and looked at what it got me into.” She said sarcastically. “Well, now that my story is finished, how, about you go ahead and finish me off. my life isn't worth nothing now!” Roberta concluded, giving her own life to the vigilante. Frank gave Roberta a long look. “No.” he said calmly. Roberta is surprised by Frank's answer. “What, why?! Aren't I a criminal?! Aren't you supposed to give us unmerciful vengeance?!” Roberta demanded. “You're correct about my hatred for low-lifes, but you're by no means a criminal.” He replied calmly. Roberta is confused by the Vietnam vet's statement. “What do you mean?” Roberta asked. “Do I need to explain it to you? You were held against your will, and didn't have any choice. You were doing the wrong thing for the right reason.” Frank said in response. Roberta started to chuckle again. “ I guess you're right there.” She said in a light tone. “So…are you just going to stand there or are you gonna help me rescue the kid?” Frank asked the wounded warrior. A grin appears on Roberta's face. “What do you think, vigilante?” Roberta asked in sarcastic tone. “ I wouldn't doubt um… um…” The vigilante said. “Roberta. Everyone calls me Roberta.” The femme fatale replied. A small grin appears on the vigilante's face, a rare smile that is known for mutual friendship. “Very well, Roberta, here's the plan.”

Tomorrow, Lovelace Mansion

In the Lovelace living room Jigsaw and four of his men are waiting for Roberta to arrive with the package, tagged along with them is the young Garcia Lovelace whose hands are tied behind his back and his face covered in a black cloth. The entrance to the living room opened causing Jigsaw and his men to turn their heads and see who has arrived. A battle scarred Roberta appears out of the entrance holding a large, tattered, black cloth in her right hand. She then stood before the evil assassin and his men. “How did it go?”Jigsaw asked. “Enough talk. I did what you wanted and I have come to take what is mine.” Roberta demanded. Jigsaw began to chuckle. “Tough talk, sweetheart, but do you have proof?” the disfigured criminal replied back. “Here.” Roberta throws Jigsaw the tattered black cloth, revealing it to be a bloodstained part of the Punisher's shirt. Jigsaw looks up at the femme fatale. “What the hell is this?” He questioned. “Your proof.” Roberta replied calmly. Anger filled Jigsaw's head as he violently throws the black clothing onto the ground. “THIS IS F—KING S—T! I told you to bring me his head! HIS HEAD!” Jigsaw yelled out. “During my unfortunate conflict with him, it seems that once I stabbed him in the heart the vigilante fell into the sea. I couldn't recover the body.” Roberta replied calmly. “HOW THE F—K DID THAT HAPPEN?!” Jigsaw questioned. “All you need to know, Yankee, is that I did what you needed me to do and I have come for my reward.” Roberta said in a cold tone. Jigsaw was about to exploded until he eventually calmed himself and straightened his suit up. “Very well then. If you want your reward I'll gladly give it to ya, Tommy, you know what to do.” Jigsaw said as he snaps his fingers. One of his men grabs the young Lovelace and is about to shoot him with his pistol until and a large slim bullet burst out of his neck, causing him to fall on the ground dead. Jigsaw is shocked when he sees his fellow henchman fall on the ground dead. “Kill the kid! We've been set up!” Jigsaw yelled out. The rest of the henchmen pull their guns, but could never pull the trigger as several bullets hit all three henchmen in the neck, head, and eye. Roberta rushes forward and grabs Garcia with her right arm. One of the bullets is rewinded revealing it came out of the windows and was traveling from a sniper rifle wielded by the Punisher who is well hidden from everyone. She then turns and pulls out her 1927 Colt pistol and fires two shots into Jigsaw's shoulder causing the criminal to fall to the ground. She then looks at the bound Garcia who is shaking in fear. “Shh. Shh. It's okay young master. It's okay. I'm here.” Roberta said in a soothing voice trying to calm the fearful child. “Roberta?” the bound child muffled through the black cloth. “Don't speak, young master. Let me free from these things.” She said calmly as she cuts his hands free from the noose with her KA-BAR knife. She then pulls off the black cloth from his head revealing a young blonde haired boy who's covering his eyes in fear. Roberta puts her gloved hands on his cheeks. “You can open your eyes, young master. I'm here.” She said in a reassuring voice. The young boy opens his eyes revealing his auburn colored eyes. “Roberta...” he said meekly. A smile appears on the maid's face. “Yes, it's me, young master.” She replied. Tears begin to overflow in the kid's eyes as he embraces his caretaker. Roberta returns her young master's embrace as he begins to cry on her shoulder. “It's okay, young master, everything is all over.” Roberta said reassuring the young master. “Well, ain't this a touching moment. Too bad that bitch won't be here to see it though. Hahahahahaha!” A familiar voice spoke out. Roberta looked up and spotted the wounded Jigsaw chuckling at them as he lays down on the ground wounded. Roberta pulls Garcia off of her shoulder and looks at him. “Listen to me clearly, young master. I want you to leave this room immediately. I have some unfinished business to take care of.” She said as she looks at the wounded Jigsaw. Garcia was hesitant but soon agreed with her and ran out of the room. Roberta then walks up to the wounded criminal and points her pistol right between his eyes.

“This is for Fabiola.”

Winner: The Punisher.

Expert's Opinion
In a battle between two equals, this match was more than enough for both warriors to handle, but Punisher proves himself time and time again that he still got the touch.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Lara Croft (by The Brave)
The Philippines, the jungle is hot and wet as Lara Croft is walking away from the tomb she had just discovered. She walked towards a rocky area. A sudden noise alerted Lara that someone was near the the rocks. Then a man emerged from the rocks wear black combat gear with a white skull on the chest. Lara pulled out her 870 shotgun and waited. The Punisher pulled out his SPAS-12 and jumped off the rocks and pointed his shotgun and fired.

Lara managed to avoid the shot as she fired in return. The Punisher dodged the round and fired two quick rounds but hit the tree that Lara had hid behind. Lara fired a blind shot but missed, and Punisher fired his last round missing completely. Punisher pull out his M4 with M203 grenade launcher attached to it. Lara rounds the tree and fires her last shot, missing her mark. She pulls out her MP5A3 and takes cover behind some rocks.

The Punisher makes his way towards the rocks as Lara pops up to take a three round burst at The Punisher. He dives to dodge the rounds and fires a long burst at the rocks. Lara returns to cover but leaves her gun exposed. The Punsher shoots her MP5 out of her hand and puts a 40mm grenade into the M203. Lara pulls her only two M67's and pulls the pins and throw them. Punisher sees the grenades and runs. The blast hits and The Punisher flies into the air, but still alive. Punisher hold up his M203 and fires. The round hit near Lara, sending her flying backwards. She lands on the ground but is still alive.

Lara draws her twin USP's and waits for The Punisher. Lara see him and fires a few rounds that knocks the M4/M203 out of his hands. Punisher draws out his M1911 and opens fire with the heavy .45 rounds barely miss there mark. Lara continues to unleash her barrage as the Punisher empties his the last of his clips. The Punisher tries reload, but is met with two guns stuck in his face. Lara pulls the trigger but all there was a clicking noise. The Punisher knock the USP's out of her hands and pulled out his KA-Bar Knife.

Lara Pulled out her bolo machete and slashed at her attacker but missed. Punisher tried to get closer but Lara kept him at a distance. Soon both of them soon clinched and Lara tried to shove the Punisher off. However the Punisher head butted Lara and and she staggered. Punisher runs up to her and grabs her, puts the KA-Bar knife to her throat and slowly drew it across her throat. Lara tried weakly to stop it but she simply choked on her own blood and her body fell to the ground. Punisher then roared in the sky in victory.

WINNER: The Punisher

Expert's Opinion
In a landslide victory, Punisher better training, weapons and pain tolerance beat out Lara's agility.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Red Hood (by Drayco90)
Punisher’s War Journal September 22nd, 2012

“The more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s what you always used to say, Maria, and those words seem truer now more than ever. If there’s one thing I learned from the Civil War, it’s that when the so-called ‘heroes’ spend all their time beating the shit out of each other, the real bad guys suddenly see the whole city as an all-you can eat buffet. Two universes come crashing together, and while men like Spider-Man and Iron Man are in the middle of some petty war with these other heroes, their respective villains are turning their homes into a wasteland. New York has joined with some hell-hole called Gotham City, and seeing the kind of crime that that place has…strange doesn’t even begin to cover half of these punks.

But that’s fine. I’ve seen strange. I’ve played cosmic servant to a deity that may or may not actually exist as some kind of angelic demon slayer. I’ve died and come back as a cheap movie monster. Hell, I even visited some disturbed little town called Riverdale once. I know strange, and while this Gotham City may seem to be populated by little more than murderous clowns and asylum convicts, it’s nothing that I can’t deal with. Maybe all this “Gotham” has ever really needed is some Punishment.

The whole city wails in pain, bursting at the seams with the stress of everything that’s happening. We’re inches away from a full-on gang war erupting in our streets, and I have reason to believe that someone is manipulating things to make this was as bloody and destructive as possible. I ‘persuaded’ some scumbags I caught trying to sneak explosives into one of The Joker’s forward bases. Thing was, they were dressed like The Hood’s men, but the way they paraded that affiliation wasn’t in line with Hood’s strategy at all. A few hours of blow-torches and piranha tanks later, and they told me everything about their boss in a bombed out shell of a city called Blüdhaven. I don’t know who this ‘Red Hood’ is, or what his goals are, but I know that if I cut off the head, the rest of this operation collapses- so it seems I’ve got a road trip to take… just hope there’s enough room in the van for all the ammo.”

Meanwhile, in Blüdhaven

Red Hood spun his Kris between his fingers with a rhythmic pace as he observed the maps laid out before him. The gangs in “New Gotham” were a powder keg, with a fuse that he had carefully seen to lighting. Best case scenario, he could leave the criminal operations in the city so weakened, that steamrolling over them and taking control would be simple. Worst case scenario, he just gets a chance to ruin Joker’s day, and maybe even put a bullet in the clown’s head personally- it was literally a win-win situation for him. Nonetheless, Todd felt a great deal of unease. For weeks, his attempts at increasing the anger between factions had been thwarted by someone- no hero by any definition, as every group of men he sent has ended up returning to him in body bags riddled with bullets. The few that have come back alive have been so traumatized that they can barely speak, save for ominous mentions of a white skull and an “avatar of death” or some other nonsense.

Jason wasn’t concerned about his own personal safety- the radiation from Chemo has mostly cleared out of Blüdhaven, but the city still looks like a wasteland from the outside, and near the only ones that clamber about its ruins these days are Todd’s men. Blüdhaven is a paradise for an operation like Hood’s these days, plus it gives Jason an opportunity to screw with Grayson. No, what concerned Jason was the resolve of his men. His whole criminal empire is built on control, and if the people under him are worried that Jason isn’t good enough to defend them against this vigilante…if they grow to fear him even more than they fear their boss… all of Todd’s plans would be for naught.

Todd heard the door to his “war room” slide open behind him- Roy Harper, former side-kick to Green Arrow and currently calling himself “Arsenal” walked in, throwing a stack of papers on Jason’s table.

“Figured you’d want to see this information on your own personal Red Hood, Jason.” Harper announced. “Jeez, man- do you even know what the internet is? Five minutes in Google was all it took to dig up who this guy was, he’s not exactly low profile.”

Jason flipped through the stack of papers, covered in images of a man in black with a bright white skull on his shirt, guns in hand. Police reports, SHIELD dossiers, witness testimonies, Fox News stories, Daily Bugle articles, the works.

“Guy’s name is Frank Castle, but he’s better known as The Punisher.” Harper continued as he walked about the room. “Served in ‘Nam, reports indicate he was one crazy son of a bitch. Served so many terms, he had to change his identity just to go back- his own squad was scared of him. SHIELD ‘s even investigated rumors in the past that he made some kind of deal with a demon in those jungles to become an ultimate killing machine just so the fighting would never have to end.”

“Where did you get access to classified SHIELD dossiers?” Todd asked, amused at the ease his ally discovered all this.

Harper shrugged. “BitTorrent. Number of times SHIELD has been brought down, picked clean and sold off to the highest bidder, I wouldn't be surprised if I could buy a Nick Fury LMD of my own off Ebay.” Roy chuckled to himself. “Anyway, so Castle gets back from the war, and then criminals kill his family. Instead of dressing up like an animal and taking to the night, he just decides to grab some guns and start murdering the shit out of all these criminals.”

“And he gets away with that?”

“Not only does he get away with it, but he’s actually friends with some of the other universe’s heroes, and Nick Fury himself seems to think the guy is some kind of paragon of awesomeness or something. Dude’s got connections.”

“Well, Roy- you’ve done the research…do you have any suggestions for how I put this Punisher down?” “I don’t think you’ll have to worry, Hood.” Roy said. “He’s got your scent, Roy- he’ll be coming for you. All you have to do is wait.”

Weeks later:

Another day, another patrol put down. Blüdhaven may be doing a great job of hiding the Red Hood from him, but the wasteland was the perfect place for Frank to show just what he could do to these pigs. Yesterday he transformed one of the cars still left on the abandoned streets into an explosive that he used to kill a whole group of men- the last one only lost his legs from the knees down, so Frank pinned him to the hood of the burned out car as a message to other patrols. Another time, he waited while hanging from a wall until the patrol was directly beneath him before dropping a Molotov on their heads. He even came across Hood’s archer side-kick. “Arsenal” wasn’t so glib with a bullet in his knee and Frank’s boot up his ass.

Castle decided that if Hood wasn’t going to face him like a man, then he would keep this up- hitting him where it hurts. Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot- keep pushing them, and they crumble like paper. These gangbangers and hand-me down Mafia mooks don’t have the will to make it big in this business, and if Frank could break them…make their leader squirm in front of them, then he can take down the entire operation at the source. Of course, he didn’t really know if his plan was working or not until he came across a wall with a crude imitation of his skull logo painted in blood on its bombed out surface.

Red Hood sought to start a war, and now he’s got one. Frank opened up the back of his van, gathering a few of his favorite firearms- he knew the time to pinpoint Hood was here, and he decided to show this criminal exactly what happens when you go to war with Frank Castle…

Red Hood roared with rage, his fist impacting through one of the crates against the wall with a splintering crack. This Punisher was driving him to the brink. He had hoped that his men could deal with the problem- he was after all, just one man, and no Batman by any means- freeing him up to keep tabs on his operations in New Gotham and Metropolis. At this rate, however, he may not even have an operation left to direct. Castle has been butchering his patrols left and right. When Hood walks past, he hears the whispers of fear- stories of the white skull of war and the angel of death. The lieutenants and higher ups tried to put on airs around him, but Jason could see his control slipping away in front of him. He knew that he had to put down this Frank Castle, or everything would be undone, but to go to him out there would be a death sentence- all of Blüdhaven could be a booby trap by now for all Todd knew. No- Jason has to get the Punisher to come to him, on his own terms. He decided to start telling his patrols to give the location of his warehouse headquarters the moment the Punisher came for them, but so far Castle was on a “kill on sight” spree. Todd knew his hands were tied- he either had to wait it out until Castle came to him, or go out there, and he could wait- even with the talk of dissent, he hoped that publically putting down a few of the upper echelon would at least keep the men in line until the problem could be resolved…

It was less than a day before Frank decided to make his move. Of course, he knew it was going to be loaded with men waiting for him, he got the location of the warehouse far too quickly for anything less, but he was ready, and his van was ready to go. Sliding his custom Kevlar vest on top of his shirt and attaching his ammo belts, he felt like he was back in Valley Forge, on the beach with his fallen family, climbing up the Baxter Building, all these moments flooded before his eyes, and he felt the need to punish rise, burning in his skull with furious purpose. He slid his M1911 handguns into their holsters on his side and slowly loaded his Mossberg. Red Hood can see this coming from a mile away, but that doesn’t matter- Frank’ll just hit him all the harder for it. There is good in this world, and there is evil, and evil must be punished. His van lit up at his touch, her pitch black armored hide covered in the wounds of a thousand wars, always prepared to add more to her collection. He took off down the haunted streets- his target clear.

With a blast, the hanging silence of Red Hood’s warehouse was broken, as the Punisher’s iconic van rammed through the metal doors, tires screeching on the floor, ramming through crates and slamming into support beams and metal before coming to a dead halt. Red Hood’s men looked about confused and scared for a few moments before approaching, weapons held, but the driver’s seat was empty. With a loud bang, the back doors to the van flung open, and a burst of fire lurched out, scorching three of the nearest men. Punisher, flamethrower strapped to his back exited the vehicle with confidence born of experience. He shed the back mounted weapon as the flames began to spread to other gang members as the initial victims ran about in terror. Quickly pulling the Mossberg from its mounting on his Van's door, Frank unleashed a round of fire into the chest of one of the other thugs, creating an explosive burst of blood as he collapsed on the ground. Everything felt like slow motion as Castle could feel the euphoric adrenaline of combat overcome him again. Compact Crusier in hand he fired behind him, caving in the head of a thug behind him as he rammed his other hand into a man in front of him, knocking the wind out of him. Stunned, the thug fell to his knees before Castle lifted the shotgun and brought it down on his head, shattering his nose and spraying blood across the floor.

A gunshot echoed across the warehouse as a man in the catwalks armed with a hunting rifle fired on Frank, hitting him square in the chest. Benefits of painting a big skull on your chest- pins a target on the most armored part of your body. In one swift motion, Frank exchanged his Mossberg for an M1911 and put a round through the man’s head, sending the contents of his skull downwards like a flowing river. From across the Warehouse, Red Hood finally made his appearance, flanked by some of his Lieutenants while his men poured into the room.

“Well, well Frank. Here at last.” Hood called down to his foe. “26 patrols killed. Over 60 casualties. Good shipment suppression. New York operations quelled. And a marked increase in ominous graffiti. What do you call this little expedition to make yourself feel better about losing your pitiful family? Is it war?” Todd taunted. “Is it a crusade? Think you can buy yourself peace for failing to keep your brat safe by burning the world? Well? What is it!”

Frank observed the army standing before him, and the warehouse around him, spotting a tank of propane near the catwalk. “Work in progress.” He growled, raising his pistol. He knew if he didn’t move fast, he would be cut down in a hail of gunfire, but that didn’t matter- all that mattered was taking as many bastards with him in a blaze of glory, if that’s what it would come down to. He pulled the trigger, piercing the tank in the background, causing the small fire he started earlier to expand as an explosion caved in part of the catwalk, causing Hood to stumble and slam into the railings. One of his lieutenants completely lost his grip and fell face first into the blaze, his screams filling the air as Frank rolled forward to take cover behind a large metal crate.

“Open fire! First person to bring me this bastard’s head will earn triple salary!” Hood roared, firing his uzi into the air.

Frank grabbed the grenade off his belt and tossed it into the horde awaiting him, taking down numerous men as the shrapnel soared through the warehouse, embedding itself in their flesh. His MP5K sub machine guns allowed him to easily tear through most of the others- too panic stricken to even take cover. Behind him, he suddenly felt a strike to the back of his knee, buckling him. He rolled around on the ground to face his attacker, seeing the Red Hood there.

“Hey there, Gramps.” He taunted, firing his Desert Eagle and barely missing the Punisher stomach. “You look a little old for close quarters.”

Frank leapt forward with speed that Jason failed to anticipate, slamming his head into the Hood’s own. “Young enough to kill you.” His voice graveled as he charged, slamming his fist into the side of Jason’s head. The younger man grunted as his head slammed into a crate, but he had to turn the strike to his advantage, bracing himself against the wall to jump upwards, kneeing Castle in the chin, causing the older man to stumble backwards. Jason fired the Desert Eagle, this time directly striking the Punisher in the chest. Still Castle’s vest held true, and the veteran soldier was able to draw his Compact Cruiser again. Anticipating the move, Jason back-flipped behind the crate, dodging the shotgun’s blast.

Castle rolled out of his position behind cover, moving forward through the burning warehouse. Periodic explosions shot up around him as he walked, Mossberg in hands. Jason grabbed his AK-47 and fired back at the vigilante, aiming for the man’s legs, trying to cripple him so he could make the death nice and painful first. Punisher could feel it as he was hit in his thigh, another shot striking him below the chest, and another in his shoulder. He felt the impact, and the feeling of losing blood, but not the pain. Never the pain. He fired the last shot in his compact cruiser, refusing to stop his advance for all the bullet wounds in the world, striking the Hood in the chest, sending the man flying backwards, only protected by his chest armor.

Jason wasn’t liking this at all. Frank Castle moved like a man possessed…like an animal with no regard to pain or personal safety. This was truly a killing machine with nothing left to live for. He needed to distance himself, and he needed to do it now. The Warehouse was huge- he could fall back to an area where the smoke wasn’t fogging up his mask’s lenses, where he could slow the Punisher down with more waves of men and attacks from afar, before weakening him enough to take him down up close. ‘Wait!’ Jason thought to himself. ‘The helmet!’

With only seconds to move, Jason Todd tore off the Red Hood mask and activated the timer- it would explode in only a matter of seconds, but that was all he needed. Tossing it at Castle, he allowed the explosion to detonate right beneath the Punisher, sending the man flying backwards, crashing into crates as the inferno spread, quickly booking it for the door. Frank groaned as he rose up. Adrenaline fading, he could feel the effects of old age and the wounds beginning to effect him, beginning to drain his- ‘no. Not like this. Not here.’ he interrupted his own thoughts. ‘This is nothing, you’ve been through worse than this and lived to tell of it, and you still have work to do. Your wounds don’t matter. The pain doesn’t matter. You don’t matter. Now get up, soldier through it, and put these animals down.’

Meanwhile, Jason tore into another room, climbing up a series of catwalks to a small office that contained a few of his less wieldable weapons. He lined the room with men, placing his Rocket Launcher next to him as he drew his Minigun.

Castle was walking with a slight limp now, but he refused to be stopped. His trusted M4A1 in hand, Frank entered the next room in the warehouse locked and loaded. Before Hood’s men could even open fire on him, he had already fired a round into one of them, causing the man’s head to explode. Red Hood answered back with a hail of Minigun fire. The heavy weapon was taking out a lot of the options Frank still had for taking cover in the room as it tore into the ground. He needed to do something about it, but as long as the sound of the weapon’s firing could be heard, it would suicide to try and sneak off a shot. He crouched beneath the steel door, rifle in hand, until he finally heard the firing halt. Convinced that Hood was stopping to reload, he spun out of cover, firing off three rounds from his rifle and downing three more of Hood’s men before he spotted the leader on the catwalk. ‘Oh, shit.’ He thought as he saw the loaded rocket launcher in Hood’s hands. He tried to leap out of the way, but the rocket was fired too quickly, blasting the ground near his feet with destructive results, sending Frank crashing to the ground.

Red Hood watched with satisfaction as his enemy squirmed, trying to get up from the blast despite the explosion ringing in his ears and making him dizzy in addition to the damage done. He reached for another rocket to reload, but as he carried the process out, he could see that Frank was recovering too quickly. He glared across the battlefield at the soldier, knowing that he needed to move faster to keep Castle down. Frank fired another round from the M4A1, this time striking Todd in the ankle. Hood hissed in pain and surprise, nearly dropping the rocket launcher, affording Castle another shot from the M4, putting a round directly into Todd’s chest. His armor held out, but it knocked Jason from the catwalks, causing him to slam into the ground below. Frank quickly switched to his MP5K, moving forward despite the crash from the explosion certainly breaking one of his arms. He quickly shot down another two men as he made his way across the room, gunning down a third as the man tried to run. Vermin like him don’t deserve Geneva Convention bullshit. By the time Castle made his way to Hood, the former Robin was already recovering, holding his Remington 870 Shotgun in-hand. Jason quickly fired the shotgun, not bothering to aim, striking the Punisher in the chest and shoulder, causing the man to grunt in pain. Jason managed to pull himself up, 870 still in his grip, and fired another round, this one striking the vigilante in the leg. As Castle stumbled backwards, Hood leveled his shotgun at the man’s head.

“You’re pretty good, Castle- I’ll give you that.” The physical exertion was clear in Todd’s voice. “But you still don’t have what it takes to bring me down. Any last words?”

“You should talk less.” Frank grunted as he fired the SMG into Todd’s stomach while simultaneously ripping the shotgun from Jason’s hands.

Jason spun around, half from the force of being shot and half from the need to gain a little distance to draw his twin uzis from their holsters. He knew his wounds were bad, but if he didn’t keep fighting this Punisher would be the death of him. He opened fire directly on the Punisher’s torso, finally beginning to shatter that damned skull on his chest, cracking through the armor that protected him for so long. Punisher grunted as the bullets finally began to hurt, despite all the adrenaline, training and borderline superhuman endurance. He roared and kicked forward as hard as he could with his good leg, knocking Jason to the ground. Castle pulled a grenade from his belt, but before he could pull the pin and drop it on the Red Hood, Jason fired off a desperate and lucky burst of Uzi fire, striking the grenade and creating a small blast.

Everything went black for Castle for a few moment as he could feel the pain rush over him, and the blood rush out of him. He was covered in wounds- his face and neck were burned, bullet wounds, shattered bones, weary body… ‘Fight through it.’ He told himself as he crawled upwards. He couldn’t even feel his left arm below the elbow at this point. ‘Fight through it.’ He looked around, unable to see the Red Hood anywhere. Drawing his M1911, he prepared to move forward, scout the warehouse further, but it hurt just to take a step. His vision began to blur, and haze, and in the pain born fog, he saw a cloudy vision of a beautiful blonde haired woman in the distance.

“Frank.” It called out to him. “Frank.”

Frank tasted the blood in his mouth as he hoarsely croaked back his whispered reply. “Maria?”

“I’m still dead, Frank.” She called to him, a mixture of anger and disapproval in her voice. “WE are still dead Frank.” She motioned around, allowing Castle to absorb it all- the men missing body parts, burnt corpses, brain splattered walls, rising smoke from the burning warehouse clogging the blood drenched gutter that the ground level had become in the fight.

“Maria!” Frank shouted, as he snapped back into full reality.

With a shout, Red Hood leapt at the wounded foe, Kris in hand, burying the knife deep into the Punisher’s side, taking advantage of his foe’s momentary lapse in consciousness.

“You know Frank- you and I? We aren’t so different when we get down to it.” Hood hissed as he pulled the Kris out and roughly drove it back into the back of Castle’s neck. “Only problem…you don’t think. All you can see is the little picture. You think you can win your war on crime? There’s always gonna be criminals, Castle. You can’t kill them all. That’s... why… I…” the former Robin punctuated each word with another stab. “…chose an alternative- control it instead.”

Red Hood began to simply punch the Punisher now, shattering Castle’s nose, hitting him so hard he opened a cut above the vigilante’s eye, obscuring his vision. Todd raised his fist yet again, but this time, Punisher wrapped his broken arm around the blow, stopping Jason’s assault. With his good hand, he drew his heavy M4X knife from his boot and buried it in Red Hood’s chest.

“You think you know what’s best, what’s just?” Castle finally replied. “You’re nothing but a whining punk, lashing out because a far better man than you could ever hope to be had a higher moral standard than yourself. You don’t know what real pain is like.” He pulled out his knife and quickly slashed across Jason’s exposed throat. “You’re nothing more than a petulant child. But above even that, you’re a criminal…and criminals get punished.”

Punisher rose, despite his injuries and began to limp away from the scene, stopping only to spit on the ground in disgust.

Jason saw his Warehouse fall around him- his people were dead or scattered, all his plans ruined, but as his life flashed before his eyes, the one thing that haunted him was the memory of his old mentor. All of Batman’s old wisdom flooded back to him in a torrent, and he felt the tears form in his eyes as he remembered everything. “Bruce-” he choked as he felt the lights around him dim. “I’m sorry Bruce. I’m so…”

Epilogue

The Hood sat in his personal head quarters, displeased by what he was seeing before him: Photographic evidence that Joker’s band of clown thugs had been expanding their territory into his turf, killing his men and generally doing everything short of declaring open war on him. Things had always been heated between the two, but they had always kept a certain balance and subtlety to most things, but the hostility here was beyond anything seen from the clowns before.

“I suppose this proves it” The Hood’s voice echoed across the room. “If the Joker wants a war on his hands, so be it.” He turned to one of the men at his side. “Vector, I want the U-Foes in Arkham Asylum by sunrise, I want the symbol of the clown’s territory in my pocket. Take as many people as you need to see it done. From there, we will begin to take out his supporters, and finally the Joker himself.”

“What if I could tell you that I could get the Joker to come to you.” The informant who brought The Hood the evidence asked.

“That would save me a lot of time and effort. How would you propose this be done?” Hood asked.

“Simple. I have an inside man, hit Joker’s turf hard enough, he can lead Joker on an escape route. An escape route with the destination already known to you.” The man placed a card on the table with a series of phone numbers and information on it.

“And who exactly is this contact?”

“Now, that would be telling.” The man smiled. “Tick, tock. Tick, tock.” He hinted as he walked away.

“We’ll keep in touch, mister…Harper, was it?” Hood called out to the informant as he walked away.

“Just call me Arsenal.” Roy replied back. “So long as you can make Joker dead, I can help you out. I owe it to an old friend, after all.”

END

WINNER- THE PUNISHER

Expert's Opinion
Although an incredibly close battle, won by Castle only by the skin of his teeth, the voters gave the edge to The Punisher because they felt Frank's weaponry was in many cases the more reliable or effective tool for the job, they felt he was a more hardened and experienced warrior, and it was thought that Frank was better prepared to deal with a warrior like Todd than Red Hood was prepared to deal with someone like the Punisher.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Bane (Nolanverse) (by Tomahawk23)
One may question if I realize that what I do makes no difference in the world. Frank thought as he approached a methlab. But they just don't understand......I know my actions don't make the world a safer place....But I pursue this corse because it is what I have chosen to do.

Frank quietly opened the door of the methlab, he through a grenade into the room then shut the door the grenade killed the people in the first room. Frank quickly went in with dual Min-Uzis, 3 men came out from the backroom armed with TEC-9s, he quickly gunned them down with his Mini Uzis.

''Once a man has lost a loved one to society's black underbelly he can never turn his back on it......Never pretend....Or think....That it'll never happen to him. For almost every man I kill.....Several people don't have to endure the pain I went through when I lost my family''.

As he walked away from the burning methlab "Never enough is it?". Frank immediately turned point his Uzis at the voice. It was an old friend of his.......One of the few people he trusts, Nick Fury.

What the hell are you doing here?".

"I got a business proposal for you."

"Hop in my van".

"I assume you heard about this terrorist take over of Gotham City". Said, Fury.

"Yeah what about it?"

"As you know the terrorists have made threats saying that if we invade or if anyone crosses the bridge they set off a four megaton nuclear bomb. We can sneek a small special forces team into the city disguised as guys bringing in food to the ctiy. We're sending three unarmed guys to link up with a group of cops in the town trying to fix the situation. From there they will try to find and disarm the bomb. We want you to go in with them, find and take out their leader. This man who calls himself "Bane". A few months ago he was a wanted terrorist by the C.I.A in West Africa".

"How will I be bringing in weapons?". We'll discuss that later at a breifing. There's an Air Force Base in Rhode Island, take this note, it gives you everything you need to find and get into the base".

"Drop me off here".

He pulled over the van. As Fury got out he said: "I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Bane released the entire Blackgate Prison".

Frank looked at him with a pissed off and silent look on his face.

The Next Day: When I reached the gate, I handed the MP at the gate a piece of paper Fury gave me giving me access to enter the base.

"Take the next left, go to the big building by the B52s" said the MP at the gate.

Frank drove the van and parked right infront of the building with no care what-so-ever as to where to park his van.

As he walked into the building the MP at the desk said: "6th floor".

When he reached the room he was greeted by Fury "Hello, Frank" he said.

They sat down in a dark room with a projection screen.

"Umm.....Colenel, Fury, there's no smoking in..."

"Shut up and run the film this my base I'll smoke as much as I godamn want".

"Can you believe this new smoking shit, Frank?"

"Can't say I noticed".

"Bah, pretty soon smoking will be illegal because of pricks like Rob Reiner".

The film played, showing the U.N food trucks going into the city and the men getting out and loading the food.

"Okay, so you'll be going in with those U.N food trucks, in one of the trucks there'll be 3 special forces guys who are gonna meet up with the surviving cops and try to find the bomb. You'll be in the last truck, once you get out is the part where it gets tricky. You're gonna be lifitng two of those food boxes, they'll contain various weapons, whatever weapons you want we'll put in the box".

"Once you get out of the truck, you'll take those two boxes and move away from the scene, out of sight basically. You'll then pick up the weapons and change, then you'll need to find and take out Bane".

"If they see you walking away, you'll need to get into a place where they can't see you, then quickly and silently kill the guys who follow you"

"You are to use any methods necessary to kill Bane, even if you have to slaughter his entire army to get to him".

"What do I do once I kill him?". Asked, Frank.

"Once he's dead you can't leave the city until the bomb is disarmed. You can help find the bomb, kill his army, do whatever the fuck you want. I'm sure you'd love to go after those Blackgate prisoners he released".

"Room 5 on the 7th floor is where you'll be staying for the next 3 days".

"Alright, Fury. I want a M4A1, a M119, a M60E4, 4 M67s, a MP5K, a Remington 870 and I got my own knife. I want two 200 round belt fed 7.62 ammo boxes for the M60. 4 magazines for the M4, 4 mags for the M119, 4 for the MP5K, and a belt with 16, 12 Gauge Shotgun Shells. I also want 5 ounces of C-4.

"Fair enough, Frank".

3 days later: "Alright Alright everybody in the truck! let's move out everybody out!!" one of the MPs shouted.

"We've got boots on the ground, sir". Said Fury's major.

Fury watched as they got out of the trucks with a cold stare with that cigar in his mouth.

When the trucks stopped, Frank set off an explosion from a piece of C4 he secretly planted a few blocks back.

"What the hell was that!?". Said, Barsad.

"You four go check it out!"

"Yes, sir!" Replied his men.

Barsad opened the truck, right infront of him was Frank he quickly grabbed his neck and snapped it. Killing, Barsad.

He got out of the truck and went into the house right next to the truck draging Barsad's body in with him. Frank put on his vest and loaded with his weapons''. Intimidation, a powerful agent in war''. Frank proceeded to skin Barsad's entire corpse. But what he didn't do, was skin his face knowing that people would be terrified if their boss was skinned alive. Frank skinned him over a large bucket, letting the blood drop into it. After skinning the body, Frank carved a Punisher skull into his body. He then proceeded to grab some rope, he then hung his body head down out the window. He proceeded to dump the bucket of blood onto the ground out the window along with all of Barsad's skin. He then took Barsad's Mk2 Grenades.

"So then......Holy shit! What the f!ck!?"

"Oh my fu!c*king god........Is that... Barsad?"

Frank walked out of the house as we raised his M119 the two League of Shadows members raised their G36s, Frank put two rounds into their heads.

Frank threw a grenade down the street to attract attention.

"What was that?" said one of the near by League of Shadows members.

"We better go check it out" replied his friend.

"Fury, this animal you hired isn't going after Bane, he's going after his entire fuc@king army!" said one of the generals.

"He took what you said seriously".

"What kind of demented ass hole sends the Punisher into an occupied city to assassinate a terrorist leader?"

"All of you shut the f*ck up" replied Fury.

"It's the Punisher, OPEN FIRE!!!" shouted one of the League of Shadows members.

The League of Shadows opened fire, Frank threw a MK2 down the street.

"Grenade!!!!" the League of Shadows members quickly rolled out of the way.

Frank came out of cover and opened fire with his M60. He quickly took out the two who rolled to a bench, he swaped and took out the guy with no cover. One of the guys had good over behind a statue. Frank held down the trigger on the statue just waiting to penetrate it.

Hold the trigger down, don't let go, and just keeping holding it and holding it, and eventually the cover breaks.

Frank suddenly felt the impact of a 9mm bullet his his armor. He quickly turned around to see 6 League of Shadows members standing there, he quickly ran sideways to avoid getting shot by the man behind the statue. As he ran sideways he opened up on his opponents, he quickly gunned three of them down with automatic fire, 4 were able to move to cover in time. Frank now in an ally, kicked open the door to a building there.

"We have spotted the Punisher, he has killed 6 men already. We are currently pursuing him into a building, we are requesting backup".

"You are unable to defeat one man.......One undisiplined man with a gun........You're left to fend for yourselves....Your weakness has cost the lives of six men. Find him!" shouted Bane on the radio.

His men didn't bother to respond knowing that if they did it would only piss Bane off more.

The League of Shadows members kicked open the door, guns ready.

"Fury! Our other special forces team is dead now and now all we have is the godamn Punisher. "Why the hell did you send him in, we have other people who can do they job. He'll be dead before he kills Bane you fu*ck!ng moron.

"I agree with him someone get another team ready!" shouted another general.

"Generals..Try to act your rank for a moment". replied Fury "Frank will easily have all of these men dead soon, he's not trying to slaughter their entire Army, he's luring Bane to him. So shut the f*ck up and have faith in Frank. This guy fought off a massive VC attack in Vietnam with just 4 men".

"This animal of yours better get the job done Fury". The general who said that proceeded to walk out of the room.

As the League of Shadows members searched the building, they turned a corner, Frank suddenly jumped up from cover in a room behind a window with his MP5K he quickly gunned down his opponents with automatic fire.

He walked over to one of the bodies and picked up the radio. "Hey Bane....your men......they're dead now, come and get me."

"You 4 come with me" said Bane. They got into one of the tank's and drove off.

"Just how did you get in here Mr. Castle, and why are you here?" said Bane.

"You released blackgate prison, the power of rage is how I got here".

"Sir, we've got radio interceptions it seems Castle has lured Bane out, they're talking on the radio".

"Good....good". Said Fury

"Perhaps if you knew our real goals and why we were doing this you wouldn't be so quick to kill us".

Two of the generals looked at each other as they listened to the radio interception.

"You see, like you we are vigilantes. 8 years ago Gotham was worse for crime the Detroit, we attempted to destroy the entire city but were stopped by Batman. Now we are here to finish the job. We caused the Great London Fire and the Bubonic Plague to end crime".

"You are truly ignorant to think that I would join you or that you make the slightest difference in the world".

"And you do?".

"No, I do this because it is what I have chosen to do. Since we can never hope to understand why we're here, if there's even anything to understand, the individual should choose a goal and pursue it wholeheartedly, despite the certainty of death and the meaninglessness of action. I may make a small difference in NYC, but that's nothing world wide. I do what I do because for every man I kill several others don't have to suffer what I did.

"Aren't you a firm believer in "the ends justify the means"?

"Not if the means involve killing innocent civilians".

"Well Mr. Castle.....We are right outside of the building where these radio transmissions are, good bye".

Bane fire the tank's canon at the building where he was tracking the Radio. Half of the building crumbled down.

"Bane the radio's not destroyed".

Suddenly a grenade went right through the window of the tank, Bane grabbed it and threw it out the broken window. He quickly opened the hatch and grabbed Frank pulling him down. He head butted Bane then back kicked a League member in face. A League member threw a punch at him, Frank grabbed it he then locked and broke his arm.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted the League member, then snapped his neck.

Bane grabbed Castle's head and slammed it against the wall of the tank.

"Mr. Castle, your years of slaughter are coming to an end". Castle quickly kicked Bane in the balls, two other League members pulled their CZ-75s on Frank, he quickly disarmed one of them, the other League member fired, right when he did Frank duckd and punched him in the balls. He then shot the League member he disarmed. Bane quickly grabbed Castle, Castle shot the other League member in the head with the CZ-75. Suddenly, 5 League members jumped into the tank.

"Mr. Castle, I will not simply kill you here. I will give you a trial". Said Bane.

One of the League members knocked Castle unconscious with his G36C.

Fury and all men in the room watched as they dragged Frank away.

"Great, Fury, because you sent this animal in now he's captured and is gonna be dead. We've lost all boots on the ground because you wouldn't send a full team in GODAMNIT!!!"

"Calm the f!ck down, Castle has been taken alive multiple times, and he has escaped from prisons in Vietnam, maximum security prisons on islands here in the U.S, and even by other criminals. Castle will figure away out before they kill him, and then he'll have Bane dead".

"Your faith better pay off, Fury" replied one of the generals. As he walkek out of the room he mumbled swears

2 hours later at the court: Frank woke up to find himself on a chair in a courtroom surrounded by criminals and Bane's gunmen.

"Frank Castle, AKA "The Punisher you are responsible for an estimate of over 2,000 murders of various criminals. Most commonly in the organized crime community". Said, Dr. Crane.

Frank looked at him with an angry silent stare.

"Your fate has been determined between two options: Exile, or death. Which will it be"?

Frank just kept staring at him.

"Death then. Sold".

Crane hit his hammer down.

"By Exile!"

Bane's men brought him out onto the ice.

"You walk across that ice, you follow the thick ice, you fall you're dead in minutes". Said one of Bane's men. He then took off Frank's handcuffs.

Frank quickly and descively grabbed the merc's armed arm, he put his left leg behind his right leg and tripped him while pushing him down by holding him arm as he did that he shot his gun and put 2 bullets into the other gunman's chest. He then disarmed the gun and shot the one he had grabbed.

Castle then threw their bodies onto the ice in which the ice immediately cracked.

"Well there you go, Castle's already escaping" said Fury.

"We'll see". Replied one of the generals.

Right before Castle went back inside he heard two of Bane's men coming to the door.

"Those weapons they found on Castle are gonna be real useful haw".

"More so his ammuniation, we've got enough weapons we won't need them to much".

"Always wanted to try out an M60".

"They've got them locked away in the basement if you wanna take a shot?"

"Hell yeah I would let's go"

As they turned back Castle snuck up behind them, he smashed their heads together knocking them out. He then cut off bloodflow to their brain's then dragged the bodies outside and threw them onto the ice

They'll assume the gunshots was just warning shots or something. Frank thought to himself.

Castle snuck into the basement and grabbed his weapons.

Frank walked up the stairs, he snuck out of the building.

Frank kicked open the front door, he then opened fire on everyone inside.

As blood splattered everywhere, Bane's men did not panic and tried to get into a safe position. Frank tried to gun them down as quickly as possible.

''These guys aren't just terrorists.....these guys are trained...Veterans of Eastern Europe's massacres in the Yugoslav Wars.....Massacres of villages in Burma...Survivors and perpetrators of Mexico's drug wars..Most of these guys survivors. They know how to react in one....,,,Whether they're the victimes or the murders''.

You gotta take them out as quickly as possible before they can get strategic positions on you.

''One of them's getting the right idea, stay low...stay hidden....flank me....I let go with one hand and pull out a MP5K, without aiming I just spray and prey on full auto. I get him.''

''In times like this I can't help but think about Mai Lai. 347 innocent Vietnamese civilians massacred by US troops. I had a friend who participated in that, he killed himself when he got home''

''One convict jumps at me from the left with a knife. I block it with my MP5, then I just shoot him.''

''Looks like everyone's dead. Maybe not.....Gotta keep firing, make sure nobody's faking, hit the bodies.''

Frank walked over to one of the guy's radios and radioed Bane.

"Bane you hear those gun shots? that we me massacring your court".

"You have made a major mistake Castle. You have proven to be a far superior opponent then Batman. I look forward to claiming victory against you". Bane replied.

"Sir where are you going?" Said one of Bane's men.

"To kill Castle".

Bane got in the tank and headed for the courtroom.

"Put in the building, put the radio in there, go onto a roof top a few blocks away, and when Bane goes in he gets blown to hell". Thought Frank.

5 minutes later at the courthouse: Bane arrived at the courthouse and got out of the tank.

"Nice try Castle, but it's obvious trap".

How the hell did he...........?

Bane walked down the street carrying an RPG, with a G36C on his back, a Mini-Uzi and a CZ-75 strapped to his leg. As well as grenades on his vest, and a sword in a sheath.

Bane took aim at the top floor of the second house to his left with an RPG.

''"Aw hell......" said Frank.''

He quickly shot the window in the house he was in and jumped out onto the fire-escape.

Bane fired the RPG. It hit the top floor. Causing massive damage to the house.

As Frank ran down the fire-escape, a large couch fell onto the fire-escape.

The old and rusty fire-escape was at it's end, the fire-escape collapsed.

As it fell Frank quickly grabbed onto the now vertical fire-escape.

He swung back and threw himself forward crashing into the next window.

Right then Bane came around and saw the window, he threw a MK2 grenade into the room. Then sprayed the hoiuse with 17 rounds of 9mm ammuniation from his Uzi.

Bane proceeded to go into the house.

When he reached the second floor he walked into the bedroom. Frank put a M119 to Bane's head right as he pulled the trigger Bane ducked and upper-cutted him in the chin.

"Experience has defeated you Mr. Castle......I am not your average criminal".

Bane proceeded to kick Frank in the balls.

"Good bye Mr. Castle". Said Bane as he pointed his CZ-75 at him.

Frank unpinned a M67 and threw it against the wall in the room.

Bane quickly ran over to it and threw it out the window.

"A desparate attempt to take me with you. Admirable, but failed".

"No Bane".

Bane turned around to see Castle charging at him.

"It was a distraction!" Castle said as he threw a punch at Bane's face.

Bane blocked and countered Castle, he ducked and lifted Bane up from his stomach and droped him head first on the ground.

Frank then tried to kick him in the face.

Right as Frank threw his kick Bane grabbed it and tripped him.

As he got up Castle quickly jumped up and tackled him out the window onto the fire escape.

As both warriors got up, Frank moved backwards up the stairs onto the roof and pulled out his knife as Bane pulled out his sword.

"You brought a knife to a sword fight? Mr. Castle..I'm disappointed.

Bane made a downwards slash against Castle.

He jumped to the left to dodge it, and threw his knife at Bane. it hit him in his vest, not coming close to getting through at all.

"I thought a man of your reputation would aim for the head".

Bane moved towards Castle. His back now faced the ledge. Bane thrusted his blade at Castle.

Castle jumped back, right then Bane moved forward and threw another thrust.

Knowing he was basically out of options, Castle jumped off the roof, he grabbed onto the ledge of the second window.

He pulled out his M119, barely managing to hang onto the ledge.

When Bane poped his head out, Castle fired, Bane had moved his head back just in time.

Bane then blind fired his other CZ-75 at Castle.

When Bane looked down there was no body, just a broken window.

Bane went onto the fire-escape into the house, when he entered there was an M119 at his head.

He quickly grabbed Frank's arm and held it against the wall, he then poined the CZ-75 at Frank's head.

Right before he shot it Frank pushed the button to take out the magazine.

He then kneed him in the groin moving him a few inches back, Frank then punched him in the face.

He charged at him punching him 5 times in the face.

Bane blocked and countered the 6th one punching Frank back in the face.

"You are a powerful opponent Mr. Castle......But even you can not stop us".

Bane moved toward him and grabbed his hair he then slammed his face against the wall several times.

"Had enough now, Mr. Castle?"

"Maybe so..But let's see how you do with out your mask. Castle replied.

He grabbed the top of Bane's mask and compleely ripped it off.

"AAAAAHH!!!. F**K, GODAMNIT!!. Screamed Bane.

Bane moved back holding his face and screaming, he then charged at Castle trying to retrieve the mask. Castle then threw it out the window.

"Looks like you can't handle shit without that maks of yours!".

He picked Bane up attemtping to throw him out of the window.

Bane quickly grabbed his hand trying to pull his hand off.

Unfortunately for Bane, in the immense pain he was in he simply didn't have the will mentally to release Castle's grip.

By By "Mr. Bane!"

Castle then threw Bane right out of the window where he landed on the ground.

The fall killed Bane in a matter of seconds.

"Now to kill those henchmen of yours, then I'll move on to those Blackgate prisoners you released".

Winner: Frank Castle.

Expert's Opinion
Frank Castle won because of his experience - when you've been killing people for as long as he has, with the same familiar weapons, you simply can't beat him. Up close, Bane had a minor advantage but even then the Punisher was still able to put up a fight - but it was Bane's reliance on closing in to finish Punisher off that was his undoing. Bane might be invulnerable to pain but if you take a bullet to the head - or 20 to 30 in the chest, you're going down.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Deathstroke (by Urbancommando77)
Frank Castle AKA Punisher had just finished killing a serial killer when Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke, who was hired to kill Punisher, walked into the ally. Punisher turned around to see the shadowy figure pull out a shotgun and fired all his rounds at him, missing all except one, which hit his shoulder. Punisher put his M4X away and pulled out his M4 Carbine and fired half a clip at Deathstroke. Punisher ran into the side door of a skyscraper, walking into a room full of civilians. Punisher ran to the stairs, while the frighten civilians watched in horror. A few seconds later, Deathstroke with a AK-74 bursted in. "Did anyone see a man with a skull on his shirt?" No one answered. Deathstroke ran up the stairs, meeting Punisher, who through a grenade at Deathstroke.

Once it detonated, Deathstroke fell through to the second level of the stairs. "Gah!" He shouted in pain. Punisher, armed with his Sawed off Shotgun ran farther up the stairs. Deathstroke stood up, armed with his Tommy Gun. He used the elevator, finding himself in a dark room. He looked around, but couldn't see anyone. Suddenly, Punisher put his garrote around Deathstroke's neck. just in time, Deathstroke kicked Punisher's shin. He fell back, getting shot in the shoulder.

In a hurry, Deathstroke pulled out his Makarov and headed to the top of the building. Punisher slowly followed armed with his Uzi. At the top of the building, Punisher attempted shooting his whole clip into Deathstroke, but missed. Deathstroke fired two rounds into Punisher's shoulder, injuring him. Punisher pulled out his M4X and jumped to the other skyscraper, barely making it. Deathstroke pulled out his Bo Staff, using it to vault over, but it broke, sending through a window at the level below.

Punisher put his M4X next to him and pulled out his Uzi. He leaned against the air conditioner. Deathstroke bursted through the door, armed with his Broadsword. He charged at Punisher, cutting his arm. Finally, Deathstroke got a hold of Punisher. He shoved his Broadsword through him and through him off the Skyscraper, causing him to land in a trash bin.

Afterwards, Deathstroke headed down and took his Broadsword and Punisher's M4X as a trophy.

Winner: Deathstroke

Expert's Opinion
TBW

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Judge Dredd (by Ghost Razor216)
Somewhere in NYC, an abandoned warehouse is being used for a drug smuggling operation. There's a group of 5 criminals with pistols. Next to the mysteriously opened back door, one of the criminals sees a random van parked. Before he can investigate, the lights turn off. A few seconds later, the lights are back on, and a criminal's bleeding dead body is found next to the back door, which has now been shut for reasons unknown to the smugglers. Another criminal decides to take a look at the front door to make sure there are no cops around, and sees a mysteriously parked motorcycle. Again the lights flicker off, they come back on after a few seconds, and surprise, surprise, the criminal's dead, bleeding body is found next to the front door. The lights turn off again, and two gunshots are heard that started at the exact same time. For the third time, they come back on, two bodies are found bleeding, you know the drill. The two mysterious opposers come out of the shadows, get their secondary weapons out (Derringer D32 and Widowmaker 2000 for those of you that skip to the fights.), and draw them straight at the surviving criminal's face. The Punisher looks Judge Dredd straight in the eye, vice-versa, and they both fire their guns to make a hole in the criminal's brain, and since they both fired at the same level, at the same time, the bullets ricocheted off each other and made holes through the smuggler's knees. Being in the same position and pointing their guns at the same level that they were before the criminal got shot, the guns are aimed straight at each other. Judge Dredd recognizes Punisher's face as the vigilante that has been all over the news, and knows to not underestimate him.

FIGHT!

Both of them fire their guns at each other, neither of which hit the opponents. Both of them run out of ammo after 3 minutes of reloading and firing. Judge Dredd runs, steals Punisher's secondary, and splits it in half. "Surrender, while I'm still in a good mood," said Judge Dredd. Punisher leaps behind a stack of packages to hide himself, hoping to get a sneak attack. "Hah, please. If you're in a good mood, then my logo's a unicorn!" said Punisher. "I know you're behind that stack of packages," Judge Dredd said, calmly approaching the stack of packages. Before Judge can react, Punisher bombards Judge with the packages. He starts from the very top, and then once the stack only has 5 rows of boxes, Punisher kicks the bottom of the stack, and makes the stack fall on Dredd. Punisher finds one package unaffected, and lifts it above his head, trying to make the throw as heavy as possible. Punisher throws the box straight at Dredd, who gets up and says "Not today!" in an angry, but calm voice, and pulls out his Daystick and hits the package with a lot of force, hitting it straight at Punishers face, which successfully hits Punisher in the face. Punisher is knocked down by the package, and when his vision is back to normal after getting hit in the face by a huge box, he sees Judge Dredd aiming an Armscor BXP straight at Punisher's face. Punisher punches Dredd in the face, but the distorted Dredd fires the gun at Punisher's shoulder, leaving him at a disadvantage. Punisher knows he needs to heal from the wound before he can get back to action, so he retreats to the back door to get his battlevan. He is successful in doing this and he rides it into the road. "Oh, no you don't!" Judge Dredd angrily yelled, heading for the front door to get his Lawnmaster to ride into the road. Punisher sees the approaching enemy and "rapid fires" his M60 at Judge Dredd. Judge dodges all the bullets though. Judge Dredd fires the BXP at the battlevan's wheels, knocking the van's route off course, and making it crash into a building. Dredd jumps off and says "You can't win! I offered you a chance to surrender and turn yourself in, but that ship has sailed! Now all surrendering is going to do is make your killing quick and painless!" Punisher responds by saying "I think I'll try door #3 then," and fires his M60 with his remaining hand. Judge Dredd does the same thing with his BXP, and eventually, after a long time period of jumping and shooting, they both run out of ammo. Punisher pulls out his Gerber Mk2 and says "You by any chance don't have a knife, right?." Dredd says "No, but I have a baton. Does that count?", pulling out his Daystick. Punisher swings his knife at Dredd, who dodges it. Dredd delivers a devastating blow to Punisher's head, and Punisher gets extremely distorted for a few seconds. Dredd takes this time to enter a building, and climb to the top of the building using the maintenance stairs, and Punisher follows after getting back to normal. They're both on the top of the building. Unlike the warehouse and the street, the top of the building has limited space and cover. Both take opposite ends of the building, and charge at each other with their melee weapons. The weapons fly out of the combatants' hands and get severely damaged. Punisher and Judge Dredd engage in a fist fight, where Dredd was set to be the winner, but Punisher pulls out his M16A3 w/ M203 and Dredd pulls out his Lawgiver. Dredd fires the Lawgiver, but Punisher dodges it. Punisher says "Really?", but Dredd winks, which Punisher can barely see due to the black glass blocking Dredd's eyes. The ammo hit a water tower behind Punisher, which crashes toward Punisher. "Jesus!" Punisher yelled, falling to the ground, barely holding back the water tower with his one available hand. Punisher escapes from below the tower, gets up, and starts firing his M16A3. Dredd fires his Lawgiver at the M16A3 and the objects hit each other. Punisher's gun gets eventually jammed and becomes useless. Dredd quickly dashes toward Punisher and gives him a strong punch in the face. With Punisher down on the ground, and Dredd with the Lawgiver pointed at his head, it seems like a one-sided ending, but Punisher gives Dredd a kick in the nuts, and gets up from the ground. Punisher dashes toward the Gerber Mk2, and breaks Dredd's glass on his helmet. The knife's wooden edge gives Dredd a poke in the eye, and a flat jab in the stomach. Dredd grabs the knife and puts the wooden edge through Punisher's stomach. They both pulled the knife out of their stomachs, and helplessly bled out.

WINNER: TIE

Expert's Opinion
The reason this match ended in a tie is because they both had advantages in different areas of combat. Judge Dredd easily had the weapon advantage because of his more futuristic guns, but Punisher trumped Dredd in physical abilities and experience. The outcome is a tie.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Prologue
Arkham Asylum: 1:00 am

Freezing chills was being felt throughout Gotham that night as snowing from the “ber” months ravaged the city. But one place, Arkham Asylum, was keeping itself warm as fire engulfed the building and the embers glistened in the night sky. The people inside weren’t keeping themselves warm from the snow using chimneys or heaters; they were literally being burned alive inside that godforsaken place.

There was another breakout from one of the Asylum’s most dangerous occupants, and this one left almost half of the institution burning like a bonfire in the dark. The firefighters did their best to put out the flames in the left wing and succeeded, but now the frantic efforts by the paramedics to retrieve the charred remains of everyone that was trapped inside was underway. Another normal night for Arkham Asylum it seems.

But unbeknownst to the firefighters, the doctors, police and others mourning their losses, one visitor would soon change this “normal” routine. He parked his car several yards away from the carnage, pretending that it was abandoned. But inside, Frank Castle, or the Punisher as he’s called, watched the whole aftermath of the destruction from afar. People might think that this vigilante was too late for the show, but in truth he was never there to save anyone, he was just there to punish.

In the next morning, the destruction has died down and everyone besides the remaining staff and police have left. The left wing of the Asylum was badly burned, but the institution as a whole was still intact. Punisher observed that even with the damage, the institution was still operational with the staff relocating the patients to rooms that were untouched by the fire. Not minding the acrid smell of smoke that was in the air, they need to find a better place to put these people than in this charcoal grill. But for now the institution still stands suffice.

Without any further delay, the Punisher grabbed his vest, black jacket and his big black duffel bag and went inside. He stealthily walked inside the corridors, careful not to get noticed by anyone. As he walked, there were still bodies that remained glued and barbecued to the floor due to the fire. The sight of the carnage should be nothing new for the Punisher, but there was just something in the corpses that caught his eyes. He knows what a person’s face look like when they burn to death since he himself is a propagator of such acts from time to time. But the faces in these burned victims were not of pain and anguish as he would have normally seen, instead their faces were smiling and happy. Whoever did this, the Punisher thought, must have some kind of sick humor to do such a thing. A kind of sin that he would love to punish.

As Punisher went inside the control room, he heard arguments and voices that echoed from the door. He stopped, waited first and listened.

“Damn you Bats. All this death and destruction and you still in favor of apprehending that bastard alive?”

“I’m not like him Cash. We’re not like him.”

“Don’t you damn speak to me like you know me or him. For years I basbysitted that psychopath’s ass for you so I know him better than you do. And I’m telling you, for the people he has killed and the people he’ll be killing in the future, you need to stop him… permanently. End him Batman, please.”

The Punisher heard no reply. The other fellow kept a stoic silence.

“Very well. If that’s what you’re gonna do. Then you’re not gonna expect any help from me.”

“Please Cash. There are things that you know that can help us track him down. I need you to give it to me before he does anything else.”

“Fuck you Batman. Fuck you both. From now on, never address me as your ally. What I know, I will give to the police, or anyone else that would do the job better than you.”

There was a moment of silence again, and then the other fellow said, “You’ll give it to me soon. I know you’ve been through a lot last night but what you need is rest, not vengeance. Don’t do anything stupid. If you don’t want to see me as an ally Cash, you won’t like to see me as an enemy either.”

Then the Punisher saw in the window swing by a frightening black silhouette. He’s heard of this man before, this Batman, and this Goth banger was far from the colorful do-gooders back in his own town. He’s never seen anything like him back in New York, and seeing him glide by mysteriously gave him goosebumps, which confused him. There was just something about that Bat Guy that Punisher can feel he had similarities with.

With the coast clear, Punisher entered the room and there he saw one of the staff members, a one-handed African-American security officer by the name of Aaron Cash. The man was broken, sitting in a stool in the center of room with his head bowed down and his hands covering his face.

Punisher walked in front of him and comforted the man. Cash looked up and the first thing he saw was that big white skull. “I’ve never seen that symbol before. You’re not from around here are ya, tourist?” With that statement, Punisher knew that this guy’s no stranger to meeting costumed vigilantes, so he had no trouble getting straight to the point.

“I am here to clean up the mess of this city,” the Punisher said. “You know where to find the guy that did this to your building. If you can give me that information, I’ll take him down for you.”

“You’re gonna do it? You’re finally gonna kill that son of a bitch?”

“Damn right. I’m gonna do the job that the other guy can’t do.”

Cash’s eyes started to flow with tears as he tried to wipe them. He was slightly overjoyed with this, and being both hopeful and desperate, he smiled at the Punisher and said, “My man.”

He then took out a paper and a pencil and scribbled down an address. He folded it and gave it to the Punisher saying, “I heard from one of his drunken goons the place where that clown will be safehousing. I don’t know much about what I heard, but he mentioned about a block and a lot which I’ve written there. It’s not that much but…”

“This will do,” Punisher said before putting the paper in his vest. He then left Cash and started walking around the burned room, touching the walls, smelling the air and feeling the sorrow this place had to go through. He imagined the slaughter, the pain and the sufferings that the victims felt before finally biting the dust. He visualized the kind of maniac, the kind of monster, which would do something like this. He needed to boil his blood, and build up enough rage and anger that he’ll be needing for this fight.

Cash stood up, wiped the remaining tears off his face, and asked, “But you’re a tourist right? Do you know who you’re dealing with here?”

“I heard of stories of this asshole. None of it were pretty. But when the men in tights aren’t doing anything, that’s where I step in.”

The Punisher then opened his duffel bag, and Cash’s eyes widely opened as he grabbed a large SAW machine gun. “Your superheroes aren’t doing anything. Which is the same in my town. They just lock up the loons and leave and they escape again and kill more and more. It’s a never ending cycle and I plan to stop it.”

He then prepped the machine gun in his shoulder and looked at Cash’s eyes for the last time. “I’m going to the holding cells. That’s where all the psychopaths your hero’s been collecting are held, right?”

Cash nodded, and with that signal, the Punisher went to the cells. Then, the peace that Arkham Asylum had finally achieved soon disappeared as shots and screams were heard in the cells. The Punisher went from cell to cell, murdering all the freaks that were still alive to do their bidding for the devil. He shot and ripped them all. Some of them begged and some of them laughed but the Punisher didn’t care.

One of them was a big obese man with a top hat and a monocle who spoke like a true gentlemen; offering the Punisher this and that but was basically begging for his life. The Punisher didn’t listen and he liposunctioned that fatso with his machine gun. There was also another one with the coin and the two faces, and the Punisher happily remodeled his face evenly for free. There was also this pedophilic short man with a hat, and the Punisher had no problem blowing his head off so that he won’t be able to wear any hats anymore. Present also was the infamous serial killer with all the tallies of his victims carved in his skin, but the Punisher’s bullets shredded it so much that there were zero spaces to carve no more. Then there was this crazy clown lady who kept crying for his “pudding”, but the Punisher turned her into pudding instead. Another freak wearing a Pig Face begged for his life as the Punisher unloaded on him, and funny thing is that he made him squeal like an actual pig. There was also this crazy old man who was said to be taking orders from a puppet, but the Punisher sent him to hell so that he can take orders from Satan instead.

Some of the inmates tried to get away, like that big crocodile man who almost succeeded in bending the bars of his cell to escape. But the Punisher offered him a better way to finally leave it once and for all with his SAW. There were also others such as this plant lady, some arsonist with a flame fetish, an anarchist kid, a big mutated bat, and some weird ones like a rapier wielding cavalier guy and a hilariously lame Greek god wannabe. All of them fell instantly and painfully from the Punisher’s gun.

When the noise finally died down, Cash nervously limped his way into the holding cells. He saw all the murdered supervillains, all dead, ripped to shreds and splattered in their cells. The Punisher was nowhere to be seen. The Batman wasted decades trying to catch and bag these people and this guy came here and finished the whole problem in just a few minutes. Cash doesn’t know if he’s done the right thing or not anymore.

Battle
Gotham Harbor: 10:00

In the opposite side of Gotham lies its magnificent harbor. The docks has always been the most peaceful place in the city, the lifeline of the people, but every night it is also where Gotham’s most devious citizens hang out. But tonight, it became under the control of the most devious of them all, the most infamous criminal in Gotham’s history, the clown prince of crime named the Joker.

After his brutal escape from his “vacation place” in Arkham Asylum last night, Joker and his goons took refuge in the docks, turning one of its warehouses into their safehouse. While the henchmen were there sitting down, readying their guns and waiting for any orders to be given, the Joker was busy planning and calculating his next big prank for the Batman.

“Hahahahah-hehehhehe,” the Joker laughed as he busily scratched and scribbled on his drawing board. “Isn’t this place peaceful, the fresh salty air filling our lungs, the humming breeze keeping us relaxed, no filthy cops or men in tights to disturb us. Isn’t this the life?”

“Damn right, sir,” one of the goons replied. His words suddenly got the whole place quieter. The other goons looked at him in awe and surprise, and the Joker stopped what he was doing and slowly turned towards him. The other henchmen couldn’t believe that this guy had the guts to actually talk back to this monster. They slowly stood far away from him, isolating the poor man, while staying still and ready. This gave the guy the goosebumps, for he knew that he messed up and he regretted it as he tried to control his shaking and sweating.

But for some reason, the Joker replied to him with a friendly smile. “Yes it is. I like a guy who can appreciate some of the good things in life. But you do know that we’re not here for the good, only the bad, right?”

The other guy nodded, and Joker jumped from his chair and approached him. Putting his hands on his cheeks, the Joker slowly caresses the nervous man saying, “Peace feels good right? You said so yourself. So much peace. It makes people happy. It makes Gotham happy. Isn’t this the life?”

But before the henchman can reply, the Joker suddenly went volatile, snapped the guy’s neck like a twig and shouted, “BUT I HATE PEACE! I HATE IT! HATE IT! HATE IT! I AM THE AGENT OF CHAOS! I LOVE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION! AND I FUCKING HATE PEACE!!!!!”

The Joker then drew his tommy gun and opened fire on all sides of the warehouse, hitting and killing every one of his goon inside. They all fell down dead with their eyes still open and their mouths still in an eternal gasp of surprise, and the Joker just laughed and relish in the small carnage he caused.

“Now this is the life… or death… whichever you guys preferred AHAHAHAHAHA,” The Joker laughed. “Ain’t I a stinker?”

As the Joker was going to return to his drawing board, the door of the warehouse slowly opened. The Joker turned and aimed his tommy gun at it saying, “Ooooh someone’s here to visit?”

Outside the door stood a large muscular man with a big skull in his chest and a ton of pent up rage: The Punisher himself. “I’m not a visitor nor am I your friend, creep.”

As the two stood at each other in a standoff while the blood from the dead goons flowed through the floor, the Punisher yelled at Joker,” I could have killed you with a single RPG through this house. Or a shot from a rifle, or a spray from a sixty. But I’m here cause I wanna see you face to face, and you did a really dumb move killing all your men. They coulda given you a better chance against me.”

“Big words Mr. Tough Guy,” the Joker replied. “But visiting time is over and no solicitors! HAHAHAHAHAH!” he said before opening fire at the Punisher with his tommy gun.

The tiny .45 ACP bullets only bounced off from the Punisher’s Kevlar vest as he stood his ground and kept a murderous look at the Joker. He then responded by drawing his dual Mac-10s and spraying the whole house. The Joker danced and stumbled comically while dodging the bullets, yelling “Yikes!” in a cartoonish fashion before he dove through a window to avoid being peppered by more bullets.

“You’re not getting away from me you freak!” the Punisher said before busting through the window himself. But to his surprise, the Joker appears out of nowhere and, using his crowbar, knocked out his guns. The Joker then drew his revolver and pointed it at the Punisher’s head, making him pause.

“You’re not like one of those costumed freaks, are you? You actually tried to do me in? I’ve never, I mean I haven’t met anyone who… DAMN! This is weird, very new, and really breathtaking. HAHAHAHAH I LIKE IT! I’M GONNA LOVE YOU BOY! YOU REALLY LIVE… UP TO YOUR NAME…”

The Punisher said nothing, only staring at him with anger. But when the Joker pulled the trigger, a BANG! flag came out instead of a bullet. The Punisher looked in surprise but the Joker just laughed, “HAHAHAHAHAH GOT YA THERE!”

This made the Punisher laugh himself, “Hahahahaha, you fucking idiot.” He then grabbed his twin pistols and shot the Joker in the gut. The force pushed the Joker down on the ground, but as he was clutching his bleeding abdomen, all he did was laugh at the pain with tears flowing in his eyes. “Filthy degenerate,” The Punisher said as he tried to shoot the Joker again. But before can do so the Joker fired his revolver and the Bang! Flag flew and hit the Punisher in the leg, right in the femoral artery.

As the blood started to gush out and the Punisher yelling in pain, the Joker gets up and wiped his own blood on his cheeks saying, “Let’s dance more, tough guy.” Unsheathing a knife, he stabbed the crippled Punisher in the shoulder, digging it right through his collar bone as deep as he can. The Punisher, in a rush of adrenaline, grabbed the Joker and flung him to the side like a ragdoll. The Joker’s body landed in a loud thud while comically yelling “Ouch!” This gave the Punisher enough time to get back up and ready his own Ka-Bar knife.

''“Dammit Frank, you can’t underestimate this guy. You’ve done two mistakes already so get your head out of your ass,”'' The Punisher said to himself. The Joker quickly grabbed his crowbar back and rushed towards Frank, swinging it like a metallic club. But the Punisher shoulder-blocked him away and using his Ka-bar knife, sliced some of the Joker’s digits, which made him drop his weapon. He then tried to plunge the knife right into the Joker’s chest.

However, the Joker caught his attack and as the two struggled holding each other in a lock, the Joker again started laughing, “So you came all the way here to see me? Well, people here always say that meeting me is… electrifying!” The Joker then unleashed his joybuzzers while holding the Punisher’s arms as tight as he can. The electric attack ran from the vigilante’s hand before zapping all throughout his body.

The electrocution was so severe that the Punisher was forced to let go, and he fell to the ground shouting in pain. The Joker jumped on top of him and he pushed his hands on the Punisher’s face, electrocuting him with all the twin buzzers’ might. The Joker laughed as he did so and the Punisher can almost feel his brain melting, his eyes smoking and him uncontrollably pissing from the attack.

With all his strength, the Punisher got out of the Joker’s hold and punched him as hard as he can in his face, breaking both his nose and his jaw. The Joker flew off of him from that punch, and the Punisher continued to convulse and shout in anguish on the ground; the pain flowing and paralyzing his whole body.

The Joker himself manage to get back on his feet and started limping away, cursing with his broken jaw. He managed to fix it using his own hands, but he had just enough of the whole damn fight. As he slowly limped away from the fight, he looked back at the Punisher who was already getting back on his feet himself. “Damn you! I was going to save this for my dear buddy Bats! But you leave me no choice! Now you’ve just ruined our date night!”

The Punisher smirked, “Gee, I’m sorry. Hehehehe!”

The Joker then suddenly sprinted towards another, much larger abandoned warehouse in the docks, and the Punisher continued to give chase.

Punisher prepared his M16 rifle as he entered the dark warehouse. The Joker seemed to have dissolved into the darkness, and it was getting difficult tracking him down in this weird place that looked a large industrial warehouse from the outside, but looked like a makeshift carnival in the inside. The sick bastard must have remodeled the place for his amusement. But the Punisher knew that all these gimmicks are hiding some sinister traps in store.

Then all of a sudden, the spotlights that littered this tiny cinema beamed on Frank Castle. Blinded by the light, the Punisher had to hold his hand above to cover his face. The lights were then followed by sweet carnival music, before being followed by the Joker’s evil voice.

“Welcome to the madhouse, Punisher!” the Joker said.

The Punisher aimed his M16 rifle all over the dark place trying to locate that voice. “Guess you’re not the only one who made your homework. I’ve head of you too, Mr. Frank Castle. AKA The Punisher. What you did in Arkham Asylum was... beautiful. Exquisitely beautiful."

The Joker continued, " But you’re a long way from New York, Mr. Castle. Why? Don’t you miss your family back home? Oh wait, they’re dead, aren’t they? Hahahaha! Well… maybe at least you miss their corpses buried underground?! HAHAHAHA!”

“Shut up…” The Punisher said visibly pissed as he ran throughout the room trying to locate the Joker. The brightly colored lights suddenly started to blink on, and the rides like the merry go rounds and the small roller coasters started to run. Worse, all the music and themes were being played continuously in a loop, creating a painful psychedelic feel to the place. The whole room turned from an abandoned living space for hobos, into a creepy sadistic mind breaking madhouse.

“Face it Frank Castle, you let your own family die…” the Joker said. And as the Punisher tried to locate him, a trapdoor suddenly opened under his feet and he almost fell into a pool that was being electrocuted by live cable wires. The Punisher managed to hang on before pulling himself up.

“You let them die. You’re supposed to be soldier, risking your life so that others can live. And yet you failed to save your own family. Worse, you saved your own life instead. Even for me I think that’s cold and selfish.”

When the Punisher tried to get back on his feet, a huge pendulum axe suddenly fell from the walls and almost cut him in half. Punisher managed to dodge out of the way, but then knives from the ceiling shot itself onto him. While some of it buried deep in his back, none of them were fatal for the Punisher. It did caused him some pain as he tried to pull them out, but he nonetheless continued his search with now a bleeding back.

The Joker continued playing his mind games, “You and me are the same. Just one bad day turned us into monsters. Don’t think of yourself any better, we’ve all had our shares of killing to the max. We’re all freaks Frank. MONSTERS! KILLERS! DESTROYERS! Remember Jigsaw? Microchip? Stevie? Or maybe GW Bridge? ALL DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU IN THE BLOODIEST SHIT IMAGINABLE! YOU AND I, ARE IN ESSENCE… THE SAME!”

“Fuck you! I’m not like you!” the Punisher yelled in anger as empties his magazine all throughout the building. Mind games were something that Frank Castle has tolerated many times before, but this time, the clown got him overpowered.

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a gigantic ballista shot a large arrow bolt towards the Punisher. It embedded itself on his Kevlar vest, piercing right through his left hip, and drawing large amounts of blood. The Punisher managed to slowly yank it away, but his punctured Kevlar vest was of no use anymore. But before he can recover, rifle shots popped from out of the darkness. Frank managed to dodge them but he can hear the echoing sounds of the clown’s laughter in the dark.

The Joker continued to blindly open fire on him, but the Punisher was no slouch to gunfights and he quickly dodged them all while returning some of his own at the darkness. As the two fired at each other back and forth, taking turns trying to fire tracer shots and accurate shots in the hopes of them hitting their targets in the dark, the Punisher carefully tried to pinpoint where the Joker’s laugh was coming from. If he can locate the laugh, he can probably locate the Joker. He doesn’t have to hold out for too long as he’s almost pinpointed the exact location of his laugh. “Yeah continue laughing, freak. I got you now,” the Punisher thought.

More rifle shots continued to burst from where the Punisher thought the Joker was hiding. After dodging another series of bursts from Joker’s assault rifle, the Punisher finally saw his target. He aimed his rifle and opened fire on a silhouette of a human holding a gun in the dark. Afterwards he heard a loud thud that sounded like a corpse dropping, and the deranged laughter finally stopped. It seemed that he finally nailed that bastard, but he had to make sure so he slowly approached the darkness with the barrel of his rifle in front of him. Grabbing a flashlight, he flashed the location where he saw the silhouette. He found no corpse or body, but what he found instead caused him to sigh heavily in disappointment and fear.

“Crap,” he said as he was standing in front of a clown sex doll holding an assault rifle that he mistook for the Joker. He fell for one stupid trap that only idiots would have fall for. He fell for it like a greenie.

But when he took another glimpse of the doll, he noticed that the bullet holes were leaking green gas that was quickly spreading everywhere. He looked down from where he was standing and there he saw a large green mist that had already spread and covered the whole floor. As he slowly backed away, the mist has now started to float up towards the Punisher’s face.

Not taking any chances, the Punisher retreated back to the main entrance. He’s heard of this green gas before, this dangerous Joker Venom that was the trademark calling card of that freak. And the Punisher felt stupid yet again for just standing there and being too late to deduce what it was.

He’s already feeling the effects of the venom as it touched and sear his skin. He felt the burns and the boils already twitching in his hide, and he can feel his face contorting and his eyes watering like crazy. He tried to put on a gasmask that he prepared for the fight, but suddenly the Joker tackled him from the darkness and threw his mask away. As the two wrestled each other on the floor, the Joker wrapped his hands around the Punisher’s neck and started to choke him while the green gas started to creep towards the latter’s face.

“Breath it in Punisher. Breathe… it… in! I promise ya’, it will make the pain go away,” the Joker taunted. The Punisher tried his best to struggle off the Joker’s grasp. If the smoke doesn’t kill him, the Joker can choke him to death or snap his neck. The Punisher tried and tried to get away in panic. He punched, kicked and elbowed the clown but he held him tightly like a vice grip.

As the green gas finally started touching his nostrils, the Punisher, in a fit of desperation, yelled in rage, “NOOOOOOOOO!” and successfully kicked the Joker off of him. He covered his nose and tried to crawl away, but he can now feel his lips stiffening and giggles coming out of his mouth.

The Joker just laughed on the ground while trying to get back up. Laughing and stumbling like a drunk as he freely breathes in the green atmosphere, he watched as the Punisher desperately crawled away. The Joker danced and pranced like a king, feeling that he had won.

But the Punisher slowly got back up, with wobbling legs and his hands wrapping his face. The Joker looked at him and smiled, ready to see just how this sad big guy can laugh. But to his surprise the Punisher looked at him, not in laughter or even a small smile, but only with anger and rage. His eyes watering, his mouth twitching as he tried not to laugh, his skin burning and corroding, the Punisher still stood up tall and faced the Joker.

“You really… are one hard cold man Frank,” the Joker said now with a frown on his face. “You really have no sense of humor. But it’s okay, give time and you will fall from my venom.”

“Ain’t got nothing in my life to make me happy no more, clown. And that’s why you’re humor ain’t gonna work, and hence why you’re gonna lose,” the Punisher said before charging at the Joker with his fists. The Joker grabbed another knife from his belt and slashed at the Punisher, managing to draw blood from his chest. But the Punisher felt nothing and punched the clown straight in the gut. He then follows up with a large hook to his left temple. The Joker, with ears ringing, desperately tried to make another slash, but the Punisher caught his hand, and drawing his Ka-bar knife, hacked his hand multiple time until it was completely chopped off.

The Joker fell on his knees clutching his stump and yelling in pain, “Gyaaaaeeeeaarghh!” Punisher stood up towering over the Joker. The battle was over, and finally feeling that he had won, the Punisher grabbed the Joker’s green hair and hoisted his head like a doll. “Wanna hear a Joke, freak?”

“Fuck you…” the Joker said still trying to put up a laugh during his impending demise. The Punisher can only smirk, “What does a cellophane tearing itself apart sounds like?” “What? HAHAHAHAHA!”

“This…” the Punisher said before putting the knife on Joker’s neck and slicing his throat cleanly, the silent sound of flesh being ripped apart can be faintly heard by the two. The Joker gasped his final breath as his mouth started to vomit blood, before going down. He finally died while twitching like a fish on his own pool of blood. The Punisher spat on Joker’s dead corpse, then leaving before the gas can cause any real effects on him. He limped away into the night, finally relieving the city form years of torment and fear.

Epilogue
Gotham Harbor: 7:00 AM

Morning finally came and shed light to the darkness of the docks. The light showed the carnage and brutality that happened last night, and Gotham Central was there to do what they’ve always been good at: cleaning the mess of these freaks. Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock and Rene Montoya were there studying the scene of the crime. They’ve been through these kinds of gruesome crimes before, but this one was very special for them, for this was the crime scene where the Joker himself was the victim.

They took turns looking and staring at Joker’s corpse, who still had that smile on his face even though his head was almost decapitated and only his spine attaching it to his body. They couldn’t believe that it is the Joker, but deep inside they were in some way, hoping that it is.

Then from the ceiling, Batman landed in front of him. The other policemen were surprised and bolted out of the warehouse at the mere sight of the Bat, but the other three just looked at him like it was nothing more than an occasional visit from a friend.

The Commissioner put away his pipe and asked, “You really think that this is him? That this monster is finally dead?”

Batman nodded, “Yes Jim. It’s him. I ran him on every test that I have and I can confirm that… truly… that is him.”

“Case closed then,” Harvey said before turning his back to walk off.

“No, not yet,” The Batman said. “We need to find who did this. I’ve already talked to Cash, and I found out that it was him who divulged the information of Joker’s whereabouts, this warehouse, to someone. He gave me a description but it won’t…”

“Seriously?” Rene Montoya interrupted him. “You’re gonna bring justice to this freak? He doesn’t deserve any after what he had done over the years.”

The Batman only gave her a serious stare as a reply, but Rene was adamant. “How many did this asshole has killed? How many boy sidekicks did he killed for you Bats? How many daughters had he crippled? Wives and husbands that he killed? HOW MANY BATS? THIS MURDER ITSELF IS JUSTICE!”

“No,” the Batman said stoically. After temporarily pausing, he looked at Rene and confessed,

“I’ve always dreamed of this day. Of once and for all ending him and this fight of ours. But I’m not like him, we’re not like him.”

“Batman’s right,” the Commissioner said wisely. “We’re better than this. We’re cops, and we’re here to serve justice to anyone and everyone. We’re gonna do this… by the book. Prove to that unknown vigilante that what we do here is better.”

But as the three policemen was busy talking to each other, Batman left and disappeared. He was going to find this culprit and bring him to justice, whatever the cost maybe. It’s not going to be easy, but he’ll do everything, not to avenge his arch nemesis, but do the right thing and bring this other psycho to justice. Because that the right thing to do, something that he’s sure that vigilante would fail to understand.

Expert’s Opinion
Experts believed that the Punisher was too much for the Joker to handle in terms of both weapons and x-factors. The Punisher is more serious, saner and physically more impressive that the clown prince of crime hence why he won in a stomp. He’s also more experienced fighting professionally and by himself than the Joker, who likes more to play mind games than fight one on one.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.