Chapter 2: Looking For Punishment
A large cruise ship prepared to leave the harbor of the small tourist harbor town on the edge of Canada. "Alright we're about to pull out," One of the hands said as they prepared to pull anchor. "Next stop, Scotland."
The large ship's horn blew and it slowly pulled away from the harbor, and started out of the lagoon-like harbor, passing under a large cliff. "Nice weather," one of the hands said looking up at the sun, before it was blocked by a shadow. "What the?" He cried jumping back to miss the large stag that leapt down to the deck of the ship and dashed into an open door past several members of the crew.
"There's a beast on board! Watch yourselves!" They cried running the way the stag went, almost running over a passenger. His dark hair was hidden under a cowboy hat. His sideburns ran down his cheek, and he was dressed in a flannel shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. "Sir have you seen a wild animal run through here?"
"Big deer?" He asked, his brown eyes sparkling, "Yeah, it ran and jumped out over the edge and swam to that beach over there, ey," he said pointing to a beach some ways back. "What was a deer doin' on board anyway? What happened to no pets allowed?"
"It was a mistake, Mister …"
"Logan," Logan nodded, "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I'll head back to my room." he said and walked away from the men, grinning deviously. He then glanced up at the afternoon sky, "I'm a comin' Dog, and hell's coming with me."
---
"You traitor!" Crabb and Goyle shouted pushing into the Great Hall and glared daggers at Draco.
"Oh whoopee do," Draco shrugged, turning and looking lazily at the two teenaged thugs. "So I don't want that ass who must not be shit on to rule the world, I'm a traitor. Sit down before you hurt yourselves."
Students began to look worriedly and Dumbledore stood up to watch the scene unfold.
Crabb and Goyle pulled their wands and pointed it directly at Draco. Draco rolled his eyes and pulled his wand but was surprised to see Ron standing beside him with his own wand drawn. "So you're spies then?" Ron asked narrowing his eyes on the two Slytherin teens.
"What if we are?" Crabb smiled evilly, "What are you going to do old man? The Dark Lord is coming and everyone who doesn't bow to him is going to die just like Potter!" he continued and started to laugh, but suddenly stopped when a sticky web-like substance covered his mouth.
Silky webbing shot down and attached to both boys' wands and jerked them into the air before a massive web-like net pushed them into the wall and held them there. Crabb and Goyle screamed when the large white reflected eyes came down to their faces.
"Listen here you little jerks, Harry Potter was the best of the best of the best and if you had a eighth of a brain cell between you, you'd look up to him instead of that wannabe world conqueror." Spider-Man snapped, hanging upside down before them. "Face it boys, I've seen world conquerors come and go. And you know what, they all go down to heroes like Harry, me, or some other costume or non-costumed guy or gal who won't go down to some idiot wanting glory and power. You and your lil Lord Voldie are going to go down and go down hard. Comprende?"
"Now then," another voice added from the shadows. Crabb and Goyle's eyes widened when a 'devil' walked out spinning a pair of chucks over his shoulder. "Are there any other spies in the school?" Daredevil asked his solid, blood-red eyes looking directly at the boys. "Talk and you don't lose any body parts."
"The others have all disappeared," Goyle whimpered.
"They're telling the truth," Daredevil stated placing his chucks on his belt.
"Yes, school's finally clean of vermin!" Ron pumped his fist into the air, before giving Draco a high five. Then realizing what they did and they turned their backs to one another with a huff.
"Nice to know I was good bait, Headmaster," Draco snorted toward the aged Dumbledore.
"Save your smart remarks for the enemy, Mr. Malfoy," Prof. Dumbledore stated. "But what these two had said was very much a potential fact." He said watching Spider-Man drag the two boys off. "Any student who is skilled enough to fight and are willing to fight. Professor Xavier, Dr. Strange, and myself will give you advance lessons in the event of a worse case scenario."
The students all had mix reactions. But for majority of the elder student body it was unanimous: they would stand and fight.
"If only Hermione would get out of her rut," Ron glanced toward her empty seat. "She could make a big difference."
---
Hermione sat alone in her Head Girl dormitory. She let out a sigh, a picture of her and Harry holding one another laughing and kissing was held in her trembling hand. "Hey, can I come in?" a feminine American voice spoke as her door slowly opened.
"Mary Jane?" Hermione asked glancing up.
"Hey, girl, you ok?" Mary Jane Watson asked walking into her dorm room.
"Yeah, I'm fine, never been better," Hermione forced a smile.
"You're as bad a liar as Peter," Mary Jane said resting her fists on her hips.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked avoiding eye contact.
"I was with Peter when he found out what happened to Harry," Mary Jane said sitting down beside her friend. "I came for two reasons. I know Peter's going to find someway or another to make all of this his fault, so I came to stop him from doing this. And also, I knew you needed someone who knows what you're going through."
"Know what I'm going through?" Hermione snapped, turning her flaming eyes to the girl. "Peter's not gone, you have him to go to and hold and love still. How can you POSSIBLY know what I'm going through?"
"I thought you might react like that," Mary Jane smiled sadly and pulled something from her pocket. She pulled a newspaper clipping and tossed it in Hermione's lap.
Hermione's eyes widened at the headline. "Spider-Man Killed?" Hermione asked, and gawked at the picture of the Spider-Man mask in a police officer's hands, who was holding it like it was some grand prize.
"Peter was fighting someone, I don't even remember who now," Mary Jane said, closing her eyes as the memory flooded her mind, "The super-criminal got away, but the police came. One of the cops had a good shot. Got him in the back, and Peter fell into the Brooklyn."
"I cried for almost a week straight," Mary Jane confessed, "Depressed for two weeks longer. Then I got a call from the Xavier Estate saying he was ok, just hurt and still weak. Really didn't help that much but at least I got a second chance."
"But I don't see a second chance coming for me …" Hermione said sadly, handing the clipping back to the teen.
"You'll make it through this, Hermione," Mary Jane said hugging her friend. "You're strong."
"No I'm not," Hermione whimpered, "Not without him."
"You'd be surprised," Mary Jane said pulling back. "Listen, if there's one thing I've learned from being around Peter and the other costume types. Miracles happen with these people, often." She then gave her friend a sad smile, "At the least you know he's always going to be watching you and waiting for you in Heaven."
"What if I don't believe in Heaven?" Hermione responded, looking away.
"Come on," Mary Jane said, pulling Hermione to her feet, "Show me where we can find some food in this place."
---
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Nymphadora Tonks sighed as she stretched out in the back seat of the group of Order Aurors' rental car. "We've looked for this guy from California to almost the Atlantic bloody Ocean," Tonks moaned, holding the back of her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. "Can't we go back home now?"
"We will once we find this Frank Castle," 'Mad Eye' Moody said as he reclined the passenger seat and listened careful to the Muggle police scanner.
"One Muggle in the whole United States of America, oh that's gonna be a snap!" Tonks complained again.
"How hard can it be," Remus Lupin smirked, "I mean, it's such a small set of states. Just what … fifty? Not bad at all!"
"Oh yeah, a bloody picnic," Tonks moaned.
Lupin was about to retort, when Moody jumped to a seated position and cranked the volume on the scanner, "Shut up and listen!" he barked.
"Explosion at the game room on fifth and nine," the dispatcher called, "All units proceed with caution, one of the suspects is confirmed as the Punisher."
"GO! GO! GO!" Moody barked, and Lupin floored the gas.
---
The two wizards and the witch slowly made their way to the barely standing game room. Tonks quickly covered her mouth as they crouched below one of the blown out windows. The stench of recently dead bodies filled the air. Tonks' mind quickly went to think about how Harry's body left to lie in the mud, but quickly shook it off and glanced at the scene inside.
A biker gang had been in there, and now they were all scattered on the floor dead, many mutilated. All that was left was one gang member who was on his knees crying like a child and another man standing before him holding a gun to his head.
Tonks quickly identified the man with the gun as Frank Castle. He was tall and his body was hidden under a long black trench coat. Only a tank top with a Skull symbol and black jeans could be seen under the coat. His face was cold and angry in appearance, with a dark, five O'clock shadow and his unkept dark hair put Tonks in mind of Harry.
"Please don't hurt me man, please don't hurt me!" The biker begged, tears rolling down his cheeks, "Please, I'm begging you! Please, mercy! Please!"
"Mercy?" The Punisher scoffed, "Does any of what you just said sound familiar? How about that young family on vacation you murdered just to take their money, valuables, and of all things their car's gas? You leaches need to be cleansed from the gene pool."
"It was just one family dude, we … we had to …"
"You had to?" Punisher growled, "Jack and Amy Stewart. Jack age thirty-two, Amy age thirty. One son, Matthew, age six. Did they beg for mercy? DID THEY?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Did you give any of them mercy?"
"…"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION!"
"No …"
"Then you will not have mercy," Punisher said coldly, and mechanically pulled the trigger on the .45 pistol.
Tonks looked away as the sound of the gun echoed through the area. 'This is the guy Xavier said to get to help? He's a raving psychopath!'
She then glanced at Lupin who slowly stood up, "Frank Castle, are you Frank Castle?" Lupin called out. "We need your help, Mr. Castle."
"LUPIN YOU IDIOT!" Moody snapped, but it was too late, and Lupin went back with a bullet wound to the shoulder.
Tonks pulled him over and looked at his wound. "I thought he was one of the good guys …" Lupin blinked gingerly touching the bleeding wound.
Moody and Tonks tried to get his attention, and they got it all right. Machine gun fire shot out from the window they were ducking under. "Lupin, when dealing with a Muggle with a gun, you DON'T JUST WALK UP AND SAY BLOODY HEY HELLO!" Moody scolded.
"How much ammo can this guy have?" Tonks asked, gripping her wand and peaking over to see him holding two machine guns in each hand and firing them at their direction. "That's it, I'm taking him on," She said determinedly. She kicked off her heels and slid out of her Auror robe leaving her only in a pair of shorts and a sports bra. "The git's going down," She said kicking off the ground and flipping into the building, gracefully dodging the Punisher's fire, casting her own spells his way in route.
She knocked the machine guns from his hands with a disarming spell but he quickly pulled a pair of pistols and she narrowly missed a few shots.
She finally moved in too close for his gunfire to work and he drew a medium sized knife and began slashing at the pink haired woman.
Tonks kicked the knife out of Punisher's hands and kicked him again in the chest before diving at him. She pressed the end of her wand to the side of his head while he pressed the barrel of a hidden pistol in his sleeve to the side of hers. "You're pretty good?" Punisher breathed, glaring at her.
"You're not too bad yourself," Tonks panted, staring at him defiantly.
"What do you want?" The Punisher questioned letting the young woman go and replacing his gun. "Your friends can come in now too." He said turning his back and kicking one of the dead bodies out of his path.
"We need your help," Tonks stated.
"Is that so?" Punisher asked dully, lighting a cigarette.
"Charles Xavier said you might help us," Moody said walking in, helping the injured Lupin in with him.
"Prof. X?" Punisher asked, somewhat interested now. "What would hot wheels want with a killer like me?"
"We're gathering a force to stand against an army of mutants, androids and dark wizards," Moody explained, "Your expertise would be a great aid."
"That's great, but I work alone," Punisher said starting to walk off.
"The army is lead by a Wizard named Tom Riddle. He has murdered several hundreds of people." Tonks spoke up, and the Punisher froze in his tracks. "His latest victim was a teenaged boy named Harry Potter. He just joined the X-Men last year. Riddle murdered him in cold blood. Just like how he killed his parents sixteen years ago. Harry was going to graduate in a few months, Mr. Castle. He had a girlfriend who loved him with her whole being. We all were counting the days till they were going to finally get married and give us children to spoil. He was a friend of mine a good friend of mine. Harry was a special boy. He had dazzling green eyes, and a smile that when he flashed it things just felt like they would all work out ok. Riddle took that from us. He has to be stopped, Mr. Castle, he has to be Punished. Please … please help us stop him. Stop him from causing our pain to spread to others. To stop your pain from spreading to others."
"What's your name?" Punisher asked quietly.
"Nymphadora Tonks, why?" Tonks asked taken back by the question.
"And your friends?"
"The guy you shot was Remus Lupin, and the man with the funny eye is Mad Eye Moody, again why are you asking?" Tonks asked in confusion.
"If we're going to work together I can't just go around and say 'hey you', now can I?" Punisher said giving her a smirk, "Now lets go before the police get here and try to bring me in … again."
---
Hermione and Mary Jane walked into the Great Hall just in time to get the tail end of Dumbledore's announcements. And what Hermione heard caused her to tremble in rage.
"I have taken the names of all those willing to take part in the 'Dumbledore's Army' rest assured you won't be on the front lines, and hopefully, none of you will have to fight at all. This is only a last hope sanario. And as many of you are aware, Ms. Granger has suffered a great loss. Until I deem her fit to continue on as Head Girl, Ms. Lavender Brown will be acting Head Girl."
"I am fit to be Head Girl," Hermione snapped stepping toward the headmaster with a purpose. "And I won't stand for you making these students think your letting them chose, you manipulative old goat!"
"Hermione! Calm down!" Ron said trying to calm her down but she just shoved him back.
"No I won't calm down," Hermione snapped before turning her hateful gaze on Dumbledore, "You filled Harry's mind with the rubbish that he could take on Voldemort by himself and win. It's your fault he's dead, Dumbledore," Hermione spat hatefully, "He was seventeen years old. He wasn't even a full-fledged Wizard yet, and you pushed that nonsense into his head to the point he believed it too, till the point we all believed it. But if that was true, why isn't he here, Dumbledore, why isn't Harry alive??"
Dumbledore was dumbstruck and the Great Hall was deathly quite. But Hermione's rampage had only just begun. She then turned to the X-Men, "And you, all of you! Harry thought of you as his family, he loved all of you! And how do you repay that? You left him to die! You didn't even give him the decency at having his body laid to rest with his parents? Voldemort probably left it lying in the mud to rot."
She then turned back to Dumbledore, "Fine, Dumbledore, you don't want me to be Head Girl anymore? Fine, take it! I don't want it!" she then turned and stomped out of the Great Hall leaving all stunned.
"Harry …" Ron said sitting down and laying his head on the table, "Why the bloody hell AREN'T YOU HERE?!?!" He screamed not caring anymore. "Hermione's coming apart the seams, the whole school's stressed and I … I need my best friend!" Jubilee walked over and rubbed his back gently, "Harry we all need you here … we need you here now!"
To Be Continued …
Next Chapter: The Purgatory of Harry Potter