"Tortured Soul" part 3 of 3

Deep within the recesses of The Punisher’s mind…

The Punisher: No…no…nooo! Give me back control! Sin-Eater! Do you hear me? Show yourself!

The Punisher looks around and he is surrounded by a white featureless landscape for as far as the eyes can see. The last memory he has is of shooting his friend and partner Microchip when a being had possessed Micro known only as Sin-Eater. Upon shooting his friend, the Sin-Eater leaped from Micro and into the Punisher’s body, taking control of it. Now the Punisher must try and fight an enemy that has no psychical form and is using his body to wreak havoc on the outside world.

The Punisher: Show yourself!!!! Dammit. Dammit!!

With that the Punisher collapses to his knees.

Meanwhile, in the "real" world, the gathered force of Elektra, world renown super-assassin, Daredevil, Hell’s Kitchen’s defender and resident "Man without fear", and the teenage mutants named Cloak, with his ability to travel in shadows through his cloak, with his partner the lovely Dagger are discussing the Punisher after he opened fire during a packed basketball game at Madison Square Garden just last night.

*See Issue 5 for the bloody details! Gute says!!*

Daredevil: It was clear to me, from what I "saw’ on TV, that the Punisher wasn’t himself. His breathing seemed labored and his aim lacked the lethal outcome that usually follows him.

Dagger: Well, I don’t know about all that stuff, but Cloak said he could sense another "being" from the dimension that he draws his abilities from.

Cloak: That’s correct. The denizens from that dimension give off a distinctive aura and are known for "liberating" a soul from its rightful owner. The one that’s located in my cloak feeds on the light given off by everyone’s soul.

Daredevil: Could you ask the "thing’ in your cloak how the other one got out.

Cloak: The inhabitant of my cloak and I … don’t speak. You see I am a living portal to his realm and I give him sustenance by "feeding" him the low lives of this world. The process doesn’t kill the criminals, just leaves them a virtual blank slate.

Dagger: I also help Cloak by shooting some of my light daggers into him when we haven’t run into anyone for Cloak to feed on.

Daredevil: I see. Anyway, Cloak you said that you can sort of sense the being right?

Cloak: That is correct.

Daredevil: Good. Then with your sense and my ability track the Punisher, after having met him several times before, we should be able to wrap this up quickly. What do you think Elektra? Elektra?

Elektra: What..?

Daredevil: Hello…Earth to Elektra! We were just discussing our next step care to join us?

Elektra: Sorry, I was lost in thought. I’m sure whatever you devised will work. You always did have a way of pleading your case.

The two ex-lovers lock eyes and enjoy, even if for the briefest moment, the meaning behind the inside joke. Cloak and Dagger look at each other oblivious to the reference and the quartet head off in search of the Punisher. What Daredevil is not able to "enjoy" though, is what Elektra was so deep in thought about. Elektra had a dream a few nights ago that foretold of a man with a skull on his chest killing her ex-lover, Daredevil. She keeps thing that it couldn’t possibly be the Punisher…could it?

Meanwhile, several blocks away, Annette Packard is heading home after her late shift as a waitress at local diner. She only lives 2 blocks away from the diner and has walked these streets for as long as she can remember. The closest she ever got to trouble was one night she left her keys back at the diner and had to walk back to get them. Tonight…is a different story.

Annette: (to self) I’m beat. I’ve really got to start going back to school in the Spring so I can get out of this dead end job and this nowhere life. Keep talking that way Nette, and it just might come…

Just then Annette is grabbed and pulled into the shadows beside her building.

Annette: Arrggghh!!!! Help me!!

Annette turns and sees what has pulled her into the alley. A man dressed in all black with a huge white skull emblazoned on the front of his chest. His face is contorted and his breath is hot and putrid smelling against her face.

The Punisher: That’s it! Scream! Scream so loud that it wakes the dead! HAHAHA!

Annette: Arrggghh!!!!

Annette summons up all her energy and screams as loud has she can, so loud in fact that after a short time, your voice box "pops"

Annette: Arrggg***!!!! aarghh…

The Punisher: Now look what you went and did. You lost your voice, which means you can’t yell…which means you, are of no use to me.

As the terrified young woman looks up at her attacker, he pulls a hunting knife that measures 16 inches long from one of the many pouches that line his waist. He raises the knife above his head and is about to drive the blade into the young woman’s chest, when a red billy-club flies through the air and knocks the blade from his hand.

The Punisher (turning his head in the direction from where the billy-club came from) : What was…Oh it’s just you.

The Punisher looks and sees the red clad Daredevil, catching his billy-club as it returns to him, standing at the alley entrance.

Daredevil: Let me guess this poor woman is actually a shoplifter, jaywalker, or something equally as nasty, hmm?

The Punisher (turning his body to stand in front of Daredevil): I’m so glad you showed up. I haven’t killed anyone in a good 12-15 minutes and I was getting bored with the ones that don’t fight back.

The Punisher pulls out two AK 47 assault rifles and begins to fire them at Daredevil.

Daredevil uses his incredible agility to dodge the shots.

Daredevil (to self): Obviously he’s possessed. Even with my radar and heightened senses, he’s shot me in the past, but today he’s really just firing wildly with no rhyme or reason. I’ve got to take him out.

Annette, stunned by what is happening around her, can only stand and watch as Daredevil bounds up a fire escape, just scant inches ahead of the barrage of bullets, and jumps down and lands a thunderous kick to the Punisher’s chest…having no effect.

Daredevil (falling to the ground): Offf!

Punisher: HAHA! I guess this is the end of the line.

The Punisher lowers his guns to within a few inches of Daredevils face.

Elektra: NOO!

The Punisher, Daredevil, and Annette look skyward has the assassin Elektra leaps from the top of an adjacent building throwing her sais at The Punisher. The two bladed weapons pierce his shoulders.

The Punisher: AAARRGHHHAHAHAHA! Pain! Oh how wonderful it feels! Do it again!

The Punisher turns and begins to fire at Elektra as she lands.

Elektra dodges the blast and leaps behind a garbage dumpster. The ricocheting bullets nearly hit the still stunned Annette. Daredevil, still on the ground but now behind the Punisher, leg swipes the vigilante knocking him to the ground. The sudden blow causes the Punisher to fire wildly into the air. Daredevil quickly gets to his feet and stands poised to attack again.

Daredevil: Elektra! Get that woman out of her and hurry back!

Elektra hesitates for a minute, still thinking about her dream, as she watches the Punisher stagger to his feet and lunge at Daredevil. Then, from the shadows, several "light" daggers appear and hurl toward the Punisher. When they strike him he feels a pain like nothing before.

The Punisher: Arrr!! What hit me?

Dagger (stepping from the shadows with, Cloak): I did, and I’ve got plenty more where those came from!

Dagger throws another series of daggers at the stunned Punisher striking him repeatedly. The blows cause him to fall against the dumpster that Elektra had pulled Annette behind.

The Punisher: What are you doing to me? I will not release this soul…he’s mine!

The Punisher leaps at Dagger, only to be met by Cloak. Cloak opens his cloak wide and the Punisher is drawn inside.

The Punisher: Nooo!

The heroes stand in silence as The Punisher is engulfed by the teenager’s cloak.

Daredevil: What do we do now?

Cloak: We wait.

At that moment, inside Cloak’s cloak…

The Punisher/Sin Eater: What where am I? Wait! I’m back in my home dimension! How did this happen?

The Punisher: I don’t know…and I don’t really care. All I know is that I’ll have my body back!

Sin Eater: How did you get to my world? You shouldn’t be here!

The Punisher: I don’t know…or care about that either. Now, give me back my body!

The Punisher leaps at the Sin Eater tackling him to the ground. He begins to pummel him a series with thunderous punches that do serious damage to the Sin Eater.

Sin Eater: How..ow..is this…offff…possible? How can you be…ow…be beating me?

The Punisher: Shut up and give me my body back.

The Sin Eater can feel his hold over the Punisher’s psyche rapidly slipping away. He can sense the fellow denizens of this strange dark plane feeding the Punisher with enough power to destroy him. He can almost hear them saying that this is his punishment for jumping dimension while they couldn’t.

Sin Eater: Here! Take your body and leave me!

The Sin Eater summons up his strength and tosses the Punisher off of him…

Back in the alley…

Annette (in harsh raspy whispers) what…happened?

Daredevil: Please miss, come with me. I’ll get you to a hospital and to a doctor,

Just then…

Cloak: ARRGH!

Cloak’s cloak opens and the form of the Punisher is thrown out with tremendous force. It hurls him to the end of the alley and he slams hard against a brick wall.

Daredevil: Get behind me.

The heroes stand with weapons drawn and ready to attack. Daredevil quickly uses his hyper hearing and listens to The Punisher’s heartbeat and notices that it is regular.

Cloak: I don’t sense the being anymore. It looks like the plan worked.

Dagger (walking over to the Punisher’s side): His breathing is shallow but he seems like he will be ok, but we should get him to a hospital just to be safe.

Daredevil: I know a doctor that doesn’t ask too many questions that should be able to help.

Daredevil walks over and picks the Punisher up and throws him over his shoulder and begins to walk out of the alley.

Elektra: Cloak…Dagger, thanks to both of you for your help.

Dagger: Our pleasure.

With that the two teenagers disappear inside Cloak’s cloak.

Elektra (turning to Annette): Come on. Let’s get you to that doctor.

End of issue 6

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