The Punisher, once known as Frank Castle, had a storied past as a top-tier Marine Corps operative.
He was an expert in tactical warfare, skilled in every kind of firearm and vehicle, and possessed hand-to-hand combat abilities on par with any master fighter.
He wasn't just good—he was elite, the kind of soldier who could complete missions others wouldn't even attempt. Even Nick Fury took notice, officially ranking him as a "Level 10 Agent."
But Fury's admiration wasn't just about skill. He'd spent considerable effort trying to recruit Frank into S.H.I.E.L.D., and failed every time. Maybe it was because Frank had already seen enough bloodshed.
Maybe it was because Frank knew what real cost looked like. Whatever the reason, he retired from the military and tried to live a quiet life back in New York.
It could've been the start of one of those heroic redemption arcs—cleaning up corruption, dismantling cartels, and living a peaceful life with a loving family.
But this was New York. And fate had other plans.
Frank finally found love, settled down, even had kids. But during one of the alien invasions, his worst nightmare became reality.
His family was caught in the chaos. Instead of evacuating civilians, the government authorized a nuclear strike.
Frank didn't just lose his loved ones—he lost his faith in the system.
So, when General Ross floated the idea of New York becoming an autonomous zone—free from federal oversight—Frank didn't hesitate.
He wasn't going to sit back anymore. He would make sure the city never faced that kind of loss again. Not if he had anything to say about it.
These days, Frank Castle is the head of the Academy City law enforcement division.
He doesn't smile much, keeps his beard rough and patchy, and always looks like he's calculating something deadly.
In the shadows of Academy City, his name alone makes criminals tremble:
The Punisher.
Knock knock—
A firm rap on the door broke Frank's thoughts. He looked up.
"Come in."
Polaris stepped in, followed by Ethan.
"Ethan? The student council president of the Meta Academy?" Frank raised a brow, clearly surprised.
"Didn't know I was that famous," Ethan replied, smirking.
Unlike Magneto, who loved cameras and speeches, Ethan preferred staying out of the spotlight while pulling strings behind the scenes.
Frank gave a slight nod. "Mayor Ross mentioned you a few times. I don't care much for politics, but I do my homework on the key players running Academy City. Take a seat."
Ethan sat without hesitation.
"Honestly, I was hoping this S-class mission would catch the attention of the Lionheart Club's Ice Queen," Frank admitted. "Didn't expect you to show up in person. Makes me wonder what caught your attention."
Frank wasn't naive.
A guy like Ethan didn't get involved in street-level work unless something big was going on. He either was the storm or the one who saw it coming.
"Let's skip the small talk. What's the situation?" Ethan asked, leaning back casually.
"We've identified several intruders. Metas. Each of them carries some kind of device that suppresses or nullifies meta abilities. Makes them tricky to deal with. Here—take a look." Frank handed over a folder filled with surveillance photos.
In the photo, a blond man stands at the front. From the waist up, he looks like any ordinary human, but from the waist down, his body flows like liquid water. Behind him, several blue-skinned figures stand in formation.
They carry unfamiliar tech—devices that look like high-powered inhibitors—and wear strange armor with scale-like textures across parts of their bodies.
"That one in front is called Hydro-Man. Real name: Morris Bench," Frank explained, handing the photo to Ethan. "He got his powers after exposure from the X Crystal. He's slippery—literally. I've tried to bring him in twice, but he always manages to escape thanks to his abilities."
Ethan narrowed his eyes at the photo, focusing on the blue-skinned figures. "And the others?"
"No records on them in any SHIELD or Academy City databases. My guess is they're not from around here—or enhanced beings from some hidden organization. Either way, they're not local. And they've brought tech designed specifically to suppress meta abilities. That's what makes them dangerous."
Ethan leaned back slightly, still staring at the photo. "Then they're not spies from any government agency."
Frank nodded. "Right. If they were just trying to reverse-engineer the X Crystal, they wouldn't need to steal it. Every major player already has samples. What they don't have is the full tech behind it. Only Academy City does."
'And that's thanks to the Kree data we recovered.' Ethan thought to himself.
Ethan allowed himself a small sigh of relief. "Good. That means we're not dealing with another international incident... yet. Governments may be watching, but they wouldn't risk direct infiltration—not now. Their focus is on cracking the X Crystal's formula."
And they'll fail. Without the full Kree tech archives, they're blind.
Ethan nodded, his voice steady. "Still, their presence is a problem. Academy City's balance with the outside world is already delicate. Too many superhumans, too much power consolidated in one place—it makes people nervous."
Frank leaned forward, elbows on the table. "So what do you think? Terrorist group? Or foreign?"
"Could be either," Ethan replied, a hint of amusement in his tone. "Or something stranger. But let's not guess. You called for help, so I assume you have a plan."
Frank cracked a rare smile. "At eight tonight, a shipment of X Crystals is scheduled to transfer from the Academy Research Institute to a SHIELD transport. Airport security will be light on purpose. That's our bait. If these guys are serious, they'll go for it."
Ethan smirked. "Sounds like a solid trap. And I take it you've accounted for their suppression tech?"
"We've got contingencies," Frank said confidently.
Ethan stood. "Then let's not waste time. How are we getting there? Jet? Quinjets? Something Stark lent you?"
Frank didn't reply. Instead, a soft voice behind Ethan said, "Neither."
Ethan turned to see Polaris stepping forward with a smile. She walked toward a heavy steel door and opened it. A flash of purple light shone through—and on the other side was the airport's secure hangar bay.
"We walk through the door," she said simply.
Ethan chuckled, clearly impressed. "You're not from Kamar-Taj, and yet you can do this. The apprentices there would kill you..."
...
At eight o'clock that evening, Ethan stood alongside the Punisher in the airport's monitoring room, watching through a bank of security feeds as technicians from the research institute loaded a crate of X-Crystals onto the transport plane.
"The plane's almost ready to take off, but our intruders haven't shown up yet," Ethan muttered, frowning.
"They're already here," Frank said flatly, eyes narrowing. "This fog? It's too thick for tonight's weather. Thunderbird, got anything?"
Thunderbird, standing nearby with a faint glow in his eyes, nodded. "Someone's on that plane already. I'm sure of it."
Thunderbird's meta ability was a hybrid—enhanced physicality and a sixth sense that let him read traces of the immediate past and near future, like a living snapshot of cause and effect.
"Blink, seal the perimeter," Frank ordered, his voice calm but urgent.
"On it, Captain," Blink replied. A shimmer of purple light unfolded behind her as she opened a portal straight to the plane's cargo hold.
Inside the dimly lit hold, a middle-aged man materialized in front of the crate marked with the X-Crystal insignia. But before he could move, Frank was already there, shotgun raised.
"Surprise, fucker," Frank growled.
The man smirked—right before Frank pulled the trigger. The shot rang out with a loud blast, but instead of blood, the man's body burst into a splash of water.
"As expected from the Punisher," came the voice from the puddle as it re-formed into a humanoid shape. Morris Bench, a.k.a., Hydro-Man—stood tall and unharmed.
"Let's turn up the heat," said Dazzler, leaping forward from the shadows.
A pulse of searing light erupted from her hands, not flame, but heat so intense it shimmered the air and warped nearby metal.
Morris snarled, the flash of light clearly affecting his form.
Cursing under his breath, he turned into dense fog and swirled away, X-Crystal crate in tow.
"After him!" Frank barked. The crystal inside might've been switched, but they couldn't let Hydro get away—not if there were others behind him.
To their surprise, Morris hadn't run. He waited outside, smirking.
"You think I need to run from you? I'm Hydro-Man. Seventy percent of this planet is my domain."
He lifted his arms as if to call upon the air itself. Water vapor from the fog surged toward him, and his form swelled—only it didn't go as planned.
Instead of a tidal surge, a few plastic bottles of mineral water from a vending machine clattered toward him.
"Yeah... we shut off the airport's water supply today," Frank said casually. He hefted a loaded bazooka onto his shoulder and fired.
BOOOSH—
The explosion knocked Hydro back just as the wall behind him shattered inward. Reinforcements had arrived.
Colossus barreled in first, metal skin gleaming. Behind him came was Quill, a meta with porcupine-like spikes—and two armored, blue-skinned soldiers wielding tech based tridents.
Hydro smirked with renewed confidence. "You hear that? If your bosses really want the X-Crystal, these are just the first of many hits."
With a sweep of his arm, his limb morphed into a water-formed cannon. "Let's see how well you hold up against this."
"Da-da-da!" Bullets of pressurized water sprayed from his arm, tearing through metal and concrete like high-caliber rounds.
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Word count: 1600
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