[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XV1PIyT.jpg?2[/img][/center]

After getting ready for the day, I creep downstairs, and hear the TV as dad watches the news. I can tell whatever he's watching is affecting him. I can hear the grunts and groans that are normally reserved for Met or Jet games. Man we are fans of really, really terrible sports teams. Why couldn't we have been born into the Yankees/Giants side of things? Maybe someone has a time machine and I can fix that down the line.

I slip up to the opening by the living room and listen into the broadcast.

[quote=@Simple Unicycle]
[color=silver][b]"This is Ben Urich reporting for ABC7, live from the Royal Palace hotel in downtown Manhattan where a gunfight broke out between a lone man and the hotel's security guards. The receptionist states that an Asian man in his late twenties entered the hotel and went into the elevator. Not long after, she heard gunshots. The firefight lasted for approximately fifteen minutes, and resulted in a bodycount of [i]41[/i], counting multiple guests that were executed as well.

"All the guests killed were connected or rumored to be connected to the criminal underworld of New York City. The sole survivor of the security guards, who wishes to go unnamed, said that the perpetrator called himself 'the Punisher'. This points towards vigilantism as the perpetrator's motive, but the police have said they are not ruling out that it may have been a criminal hit.

"The NYPD urges anyone who may have information on 'the Punisher's' whereabouts to come forward. This has been Ben Urich speaking for ABC7. Back to you in the studio, Jim."[/b][/color] 
[/quote]

So the guy who's been killing Manfredi's men isn't from a rival gang. At least, he certainly isn't making it seem that way. Could be on purpose of course. A smokescreen to mask what is really going on. That could send the cops on a wild goose chase that would allow them to continue to destabilize the existing criminal power structure in New York. Or maybe he is just a lunatic vigilante leaving a river of bodies in his wake.

[color=ec008c]"Well you failed to tell me about that,"[/color] I say as I come around the corner, my arms crossed. Instantly I know he's embarrassed, [color=ec008c]"It's not like I wouldn't of found out, Dad. This guy sounds like a maniac. Please tell me you're not planning on taking this guy out."[/color]

His eye raises, [color=7bcdc8]"Not me personally. No. But my unit will. This is what I talk about when I say all it takes is a few bad weeks, Gwen. Spider-Woman may not be dangerous to the common man, but what about this guy? What about the Batman? What about the thrill killers who are only in it to clear a grudge? The people who don't care who gets in their way as long as their target dies as well? We can't let these people multiply. A statement needs to be made. And we'll make it by putting the Punisher away for good."[/color]

My eyes instinctively roll. I don't know what Dad is thinking Major Crimes and him can do to stop a guy like this, but I know when someone is inherently dangerous. If the news is to be believed, he's a rabid dog let off the leash. You don't want to put someone like that in a cage. Who knows what they'll do if you're in their way.

[color=ec008c]"Fine, Dad,"[/color] I shake my head, knowing he won't relent. [color=ec008c]"Just please, be careful. I don't need to see your face up on the news."[/color]

He stands and puts his hands on my shoulders before pulling me close, [color=7bcdc8]"Don't worry, baby. I'm not going anywhere."[/color]

[color=ec008c][i]That's right,[/i][/color] I think. [color=ec008c][i]Because I'm going to catch the Punisher first.[/i][/color]

[center]**********[/center]

[b]Royal Palace Hotel[/b]

My shadow falls over a window blasted out by the rampage of the Punisher. Glass this high up would be strong. Possibly ballistics grade. The fact that it broke means Punisher really is using the best-of-the-best level stuff. He's dangerous, to say the least. Who knows how many people dead in this attack are innocent. Whether they're adjacent to Manfredi's operation or not, people don't deserve to die if they're criminals.

At least that's not for us to decide.

I slip through the broken window and slink across the ceiling of the crime scene. My eyes go wide as I see the torrents of blood that cover the hotel room massacre. The bodies are long gone, but the remnants make things clear enough. The mass amount of death that happened in this room is unlike anything I've ever seen. After the news report, I thought of the Punisher as a monster. He might have a good reason to do what he does, but a monster none the less. But now that I see this, that label isn't all that correct. The Punisher isn't a monster.

He's a machine.

The shots he fired are pinpoint. Looks like he barely missed. Barely. But there are a few bullets embedded into the walls and the ceiling, shot in the direction of the victims. I manage to match the shattered bullets I pick out of the drywall to some casings on the ground. Dad's guys were not as thorough as they should have been. I'd bring that up to him, but that'd probably blow my cover. 

The bullets roll around in my hand, and I'm surprised what I see. Handgun rounds, and small caliber. I would have expected, considering the amount of death this guy dolled out I would have figured he had an AR-15 at the very least. But no, just handguns. Handguns and scary, scary accuracy. This guy is the Terminator. He's Jason Vorhees with a pistol. The worst part of all this is if he had broken in here and captured his target, the guy would be in prison right now, more than likely. Instead, I'm gonna take the Punisher down.

I press a button on my webshooter and hear the phone ringing in my ears. When a voice answers on the other side, I say, [color=ec008c][b]"Pete? You got plans for tomorrow?"[/b][/color]

[color=0054a6]"Gwen,"[/color] he grumbles on the other end of the line, [color=0054a6]"it's like midnight. What the hell is going on?"[/color]

[color=ec008c][b]"I may or may not be combing through the Punisher's latest massacre,"[/b][/color] a nervous chuckle escapes me.

[color=0054a6]"Gwen, are you crazy?"[/color] he clearly shoots up in bed and is fully alert. [color=0054a6]"Isn't that place crawling with cops?"[/color]

[color=ec008c][b]"Not at this time,"[/b][/color] I say. [color=ec008c][b]"Probably someone at the door. That's about it."[/b][/color]

[color=0054a6]"Fine,"[/color] he sighs. [color=0054a6]"What do you need me for?"[/color]

[color=ec008c][b]"We need to do some ballistics research at Oscorp,"[/b][/color]  I say as I pocket the bullets. [color=ec008c][b]"And I may or may not need you to hack into my Dad's police computer."[/b][/color]

[color=0054a6]"Gwen, if I go to jail, you're paying my bail,"[/color] Peter says as he hangs up.

[color=ec008c][b]"Joke's on him,"[/b][/color] I laugh as I swing back into the New York Night. [color=ec008c][b]"I don't have any money!"[/b][/color]

[center]**********[/center]

[b]Parker Residence
The Next Day[/b]

I lounge on the floor, as Peter toils over my dad's work computer. He "left" it at home today, and I "managed" to find it too late for him to come home and get it. He's got his computer at the office, which he'll use today. Plus, I need to know where the bullet we reconstructed at Oscorp today originated. It's pretty nice that we work in a super science lab run by our friend's dad. No one asks us too many questions when we do some...side projects.

Taking a deep breath, I soak in the Parker house air. You know when you get a whiff of the smell of a place that, no matter how old you get, or how long you've been away from them, you get a flood of perfectly clear memories rushing back to you? That's me with the Parker house. Aunt May has always kept an impeccably clean home, and it's always smelled faintly of pine and chocolate chip cookies. Even since the death of her husband, the house is spotless.

So many of my memories I've had in this house. Peter and I reading comic books and watching cartoons on Saturday mornings. Sitting down to dinner with Peter, May, and Ben so many times. Sitting in this very bedroom and telling Peter about my super powers. All of it in this house. So many of them are good, happy memories. But recently things have been weird here. I'm sure it's part of the normal mourning period, but I'd love to see happy days here again.

At the desk, Peter works away on the computer, which he's already put a thumb drive into. He told me it's what he uses to make sure no one at Oscorp knows when he's doing super hero-related things. The kid is honestly incredible. People are usually geniuses in, like, one specific situation. Meanwhile Pete is over here with engineering, biology, computer science, and chemistry down pat. He may not believe it now, wishing he could be like me, but he's going to do great things on his own.

[color=0054a6]"Done,"[/color] he says and whips the thumb drive out of my dad's computer. 

I recoil in surprise, [color=ec008c]"What do you mean 'done'?"[/color]

[color=0054a6]"I just copied the entirety of the NYPD database...and no one will ever know,"[/color] a mischievous smile spreads across his face. He really can be incredible sometimes. [color=0054a6]"So now we match the bullet up with the last known owner of the gun. Then we at least have a lead."[/color]

I plant a kiss on Peter's cheek, and he goes beet red, [color=ec008c]"Parker, you are a lifesaver."[/color]

Of course, right at that moment, May Parker comes in with a tray of cookies. She smiles broadly at the site of my arm around Pete, and I curse my luck. This will get back to my dad and MJ's aunt, which means both of them will be on my case about the Peter situation sooner rather than later.

[color=bc8dbf]"I thought you kids would like some snacks,"[/color] she puts the tray down. [color=bc8dbf]"Sorry for barging in!"[/color]

[color=ec008c]"Not a problem, Aunt May,"[/color] I smile and give her a big hug. [color=ec008c]"How are you doing?"[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]"Oh fine, fine dear,"[/color] she smiles sweetly. [color=bc8dbf]"Peter and I are coming along. It won't be the same as it was, but we'll live every day remembering the kind of man Ben was. I do hope you and the others keep coming over. It does me good to see you kids more often."[/color]

I nod to her, [color=ec008c]"I'll make it a point of bringing MJ and Harry next time. I'm sure they'd love to see you."[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]"I'll make my famous meatloaf on that night,"[/color] she says and heads back out of the room. The meatloaf is actually one of the few things Aunt May cooks that isn't good. She makes it almost every time the four of us came for dinner, but none of us have ever had the heart to tell her. Uncle Ben himself didn't like it either. I remember him telling us one time when we had a sleepover. He always made sure to give us a little extra ice cream the nights she made it.

He really was the best.

[color=0054a6]"I found a name,"[/color] Peter taps me on the shoulder, as he continued to work as Aunt May came in. "[color=0054a6]Emil Greco. Arms dealer in the city. Believed to be employed by the Kingpin, but nothing to back that up. Has a shop in the Bronx. Looks like that might be where the Punisher got his guns."[/color]

[color=ec008c]"Well then, looks like I've got someone to visit,"[/color] I crack my knuckles.