Judge, Jury, Executioner

Bill Taylor

Just So You Know: I didn’t create G.I. JOE or the Punisher. This is total fan fiction and has no connection with either series. G.I. JOE belongs to Hasbro and Sunbow (or something like that) and the Punisher belong to MARVEL Comics. Oh, and by the way, katana is the Japanese word for sword. Well, or at least I think it is. It’s either the Japanese word for sword or it’s a style of sword, I can’t remember. If I made a mistake, please tell me, cause if I got it wrong I’d feel like a jerk.

“Come on God… Answer me. Why? After all these years I’m still asking you why? Why did it happen? Why did it have to be them? Where is justice? Where is punishment? Is it my duty to see to it that there is justice? Is it my duty to see to it there is punishment? If so, why…”

The scene played in his head, over and over, the same scene, the same scene he had seen every night for what felt like a hundred years, the scene that would haunt what was left of Frank Castle, the Punisher, for the rest of his life.

The park, a beautiful day, just back from the army eager to spend time with his family, his wife Maria, his kids, daughter Barbara, son Frank Jr. Then the mobsters, the dead man hanging from the tree, the bullets, and the blood.

Then came the ring on the phone in the warehouse he was hauling up in. Frank picked it up and said, without a hello, “Barry, where are the guns coming in?”

“Pier 30, warehouse number 108, due next week,” replied the informant. “There’s something else.”

“What’s that?” asked Frank.

“Are you familiar with COBRA?”

“COBRA? International terrorist organization out to control the world, kept in line by special forces team G.I. JOE.” Frank replied effortlessly, lifelessly.

“Just wanted to make sure. Guess you’re gonna back out then, huh?”

“They’re guilty,” Frank replied lifelessly. “If you’re guilty, you die.”

“Okay,” replied the informant, “you’re funeral.”

Scarlett reached under the blue COBRA helmet she was wearing to readjust her long hair so it wouldn’t fall out from under the helmet for what seemed to be the hundredth time. In G.I. JOE, she never had to bother with it, but as her long red hair was something of her trademark, it was necessary to keep her hair out of view from the general COBRA public while undercover.

Scarlett walked fifth in a line of COBRA women, with a taller woman than herself walking in front and a taller woman than herself walking behind, Scarlett felt almost claustrophobic in the warehouse as they surveyed the guns that were being run.

The Baroness led the line, marching them up to Cobra Commander. Destro was nowhere to be found, and perhaps it was better that way for the time being, as he was a somewhat terrifying fellow to be around. Then again, if Destro was present, and G.I. JOE managed to crack this place, then both Cobra Commander and Destro could be nailed at the same time.

Can’t have your cake and eat it I guess, Scarlett mused to herself.

“You’re absolutely sure that no one knows we’re here?” Cobra Commander hissed to Baroness.

“For the last time commander,” the Baroness response sounded like a pouting child, “we are far beyond the reaches of the police and/or even G.I. JOE intelligence.”

“Good,” hissed Cobra Commander. “Then we may proceed with our spring cleaning.”

Scarlett imagined what kind of amused look was twisting on the man’s face behind his chrome mask.

“We’ll sell our smaller equipment to the local gangsters and muggers who populate the slums around here then we’ll move on to South America, Columbia, Cuba, all the places were the politicians are basically criminals and sell them whatever they need to either stop a revolution or start one.” Cobra Commander laughed, so convinced of his own brilliance.

“And once we’ve done that, we’ll take the money we made to buy new weapons or steal the materials to build them.” Scarlett cursed herself for letting her mouth speak behind the black mask, then hoped to God that Cobra Commander hadn’t heard her. He had.

The chrome masked maniacal terrorist turned around from Baroness and approached her directly in the middle of the line. “No, we are going to steal either new weapons or materials to build weapons and keep the money for ourselves,” he hissed in a calmly. “But I like a woman whose inquisitive anyway,” then walked away. Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief, surprised he didn’t go all egomaniacal on her.

Cobra Commander picked up a horn like the ones police use when communicating over a few yards with each other or fugitives and spoke into it, “Soldiers or COBRA, we move these weapons from this pier here tonight to a more suitable warehouse personally picked out by myself and the baroness tonight in the heart of this fare city! So hustle up!”

Baroness dismissed the women COBRA soldiers to do their nightly duties, mostly assisting the male COBRA soldiers with handling the guns and tanks and other deadly weapons in the warehouse. Scarlett got nudged in the shoulder by one of the other COBRA girls. “Don’t feel bad, we’ve all asked stupid questions.”

Scarlett grinned under the black mask. She infiltrated nearly a month ago and, while she missed her friends at G.I. JOE, she found the women who worked for COBRA to be surprisingly friendly people to hang out and work with. She had made a lot of friends with the women COBRA operatives, using the name Susan McIntosh, and felt a bit bad that she would have to bring them all down.

Too bad you didn’t join G.I. JOE instead, she thought sadly as she prepared to duck out of sight, but another one of the girls called to her.

“You’re hair fell out again.”

Scarlett reached behind, felt her long hair come out, quickly called back “Thanks,” and stuffed it back under the helmet, hoping to God that neither the Baroness nor Cobra Commander had seen it.

“Frank, back off this one!” pleaded Microchip.

“Not with the guilty in town.” Frank didn’t even look at his partner, just kept looking at his guns.

“But Frank these aren’t a bunch of shit head thugs of mobsters these are terrorists!” Microchip had a vein popping out in his throat. “These guys are way out of your league!”

“I’m a soldier, they’re soldiers,” replied Frank in his detached, lifeless manner. “Simple as that.”

“Frank these guys chew up and spit out guys like you for breakfast! This is a job for G.I. JOE! Not the Punisher!”

Frank gave Microchip the glare. “They’re guilty on a larger scale, that’s all,” he said coldly. “It’s time they were punished.”

A half an hour, Frank Castle left his warehouse base, ready to tackle COBRA as the Punisher.

Scarlett had finally made her way outside and was now checking her private radio to G.I. JOE and hoping that the batteries weren’t dead. “Scarlett to G.I. JOE. Scarlett to G.I. JOE, come in please!” she whispered desperately through the radio. Even alone in the alley, she didn’t want to risk her voice being overheard. “Come in please! General Hawk, Duke, Flint, someone please acknowledge this transmission!”

It took a few minutes, but finally, a familiar voice appeared over the radio. “We’re reading you loud and clear Scarlett,” rang the voice of Duke.

Thank God, Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief. “Took you guys long enough to pick up. I felt like I was ordering a pizza.”

“Did you finally find out where COBRA’S bring in those guns?”

“Yeah, I’m here at the place right now in a New York harbor.”

“New York?”

“They wouldn’t say anything to us lowly lady soldiers. They just put us on a truck and told us to be in for a long ride, didn’t say where we were going, told us we’d see when we got there.”

“Sounds like old chrome dome’s getting paranoid,” joked Duke. “Okay, we’re homing in on your coordinates right now, so till the cavalry arrives, you keep doing business as usual.”

“Right Duke. But you’d better hurry because they’re planning to move to an-” Scarlett felt herself stop as a gun cocked to her head.

“Scarlett? Scarlett are you there? Scarlett?!”

The Baroness shot the radio out of Scarlett’s hand. “Only one woman has hair as red as yours, Scarlett dear,” the Baroness spat in Scarlett’s ear.

Shit. Scarlett stood up slowly, not trying to tempt the trigger finger of the Baroness, then, with lightning speed, threw her elbow out and hit the Baroness across her jaw. Scarlett would’ve run, but someone kicked her in the knees, then grabbed her head and brought down into a knee.

“Women are-” began Tomax.

“Much too rough with one another-” filled Xamot.

“-These days.” Tomax finished.

At G.I. JOE head quarters…

“Scarlett? Scarlett?!” Duke banged his fist on the computer console, frustrated and worried. Turned to Breaker. “Breaker, did you get the coordinates?”

“Just barely,” replied the computer technician as he chewed on Juicy Fruit bubblegum. “She’s at Pier 30, last house on the dock.”

Duke turned in the room and eyed Flint. “Flint, organize a unit on the double.”

“Right.” Flint nodded and rushed out of the room.

Duke rubbed his knuckles, already feeling too much adrenalin burning in his blood.

“You really should’ve considered dying your hair before infiltrating us, Scarlett,” Baroness chuckled as the Crimson Guards, Xamot and Tomax, escorted the fiery haired prisoner through the warehouse.

“Well Baroness, has your game finally come to an end?” asked Cobra Commander as the black haired, leather clad villainous stalked up to him with the Crimson Guards holding her behind.

“Sadly Commander it has.” The Baroness smiled, making no attempt to hide her glee. She looked over at Scarlett. “In case you’ve been wondering, we’ve been well aware of your presence in our ranks for quite some time. We merely decided to let you do as you wished until this moment, when we could cackle over your failure.”

Would explain why CC wasn’t incredibly obnoxious earlier.

“I’m sorry to say Scarlett, but we shall be long gone by the time your G.I. JOE friends arrive. Your attempt to infiltrate us was a complete failure.”

“Knew I should’ve gotten that haircut,” Scarlett managed to joke.

“Still high spirited even when defeated,” hissed Cobra Commander as he walked over and touched her cheek. “As a reward for being such a good sport, perhaps I should let my men have some fun with you before we kill you.”

Scarlett spat in his mask. Cobra Commander prejudicially wiped the spit off his gleaming mask of metal, then hit Scarlett across her jaw.

“Xamot, Tomax, go tie her somewhere until I’ve decided what fate is best, or should I say, worse, for her.”

“Yes, Cobra Commander,” answered the guards in simultaneously as they hauled her away. Scarlett never could remember which one was which. She believed what differentiated them was their voices, both glinted with British accents, but one undeniably deeper than the other. Also one of them had a scar across his cheek, but still, it was hard to remember which one was which. The twins tied a chain around her wrists then hoisted her up into the air by machine at the far end of the warehouse where the tanks were parked.

The Punisher pulled his van in between two warehouses down from number 108. he had cracked into hundreds of warehouses before, but tonight would be slightly more difficult. Punisher jumped out of his van, threw on a black trench coat, black as his costume, and slowly made his way up to the warehouse where COBRA was supposedly hauled up. He went into what would be the alley of the on the dock, and climbed up to the window at the top via all the wooden crates in the alley. Inside, he saw exactly what he expected, blue costumed goons hauling around and packing weapons, machine guns, bombs, the whole shebang.

The Punisher also noticed a woman, fiery red hair, hanging by a chain on the other side of the warehouse. She was dressed in blue, but he couldn’t help but wonder briefly why hang one of your own? He figured it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he punish them.

“Sorry to keep you hanging around, Scarlett,” hissed Cobra Commander as he stood beneath the red haired JOE, with the Crimson Guards on his left and the ninja Storm Shadow on his right. “But I still haven’t decided a decent death. Who knows? Perhaps you could join us.”

“Never, chrome cheeks.”

“Stupid woman. Brave, but stupid. You probably deserve a grandiose death, but we’re on a busy schedule and I don’t have all night to figure out demises, so I guess we’ll just shoot you and dump your body in the harbor.”

Punisher walked up to the warehouse gate, set the C-4 in place with the charges, then rushed back to his van, and pushed the button.

The explosion blew down the metal gate of the warehouse and incinerated anyone within ten feet of the explosion. Cobra soldiers rushed to the burning entrance and were immediately gunned down by a tall, muscular but faceless figure with a mini-gun and a skull on his chest.

“What the Hell was that?!” hissed Cobra Commander.

“Someone’s attacking the warehouse!” yelled a nameless Cobra soldier.

“Who? G.I. JOE? Here are already? Impossible!”

“Nothing’s impossible, dumpster face,” said Scarlett sardonically.

“Silence woman!” Cobra Commander took out a pistol from his belt and, to Scarlett’s surprise, rushed towards the direction of the violence, with the Crimson Guards and Storm Shadow breaking and going around him, probably paid to protect him. “COBRA will triumph! Death to all who oppose us!”

He’s got more guts than I thought, Scarlett mused as coiled the muscles in her arm to pull her head closer to her hands so as to pull out one of her hairpins and pick at the lock on the chain that suspended her in mid-air. After unlocking her wrists she had to catch the chain so as not to fall to her death or broken leg. Scarlett started to swing back and forth in the air until finally, she built up the acquired momentum and was able to jump, summersault through the air and land on her feet with the grace of a cat.

The Punisher stalked through the warehouse of COBRA, blowing away any and all COBRA soldiers who happened to catch his eye. Punisher yanked a grenade off his belt and threw it to the right, taking out the three or four COBRA soldiers who had submerged themselves there and setting off an explosion thanks to the gasoline and the other bombs there.

Then he heard some Japanese battle cry from behind him, and as he turned to shoot the yeller, a white figure jumped over his head and landed behind him.

Storm Shadow sliced Punisher’s gun at the nozzle as he turned around to shoot and took a few slashes at him, but Punisher managed to dodge them with only a slice on the skull on his chest. Storm Shadow slashed at him again, but Punisher ducked, spun around, and kicked him in the stomach.

Punisher reached down to the ground, grabbed a chain he saw lying there, and started twirling it in the air like it was a slingshot.

“Such a foolish play will not save you!” shouted Storm Shadow as he slashed at the Punisher once again. This time, Punisher wrapped his newfound chain around Storm shadow’s katana and managed to whip it away from the white clad ninja.

Storm Shadow leapt up into the air and kicked the Punisher right in his face. As the white ninja landed, he noticed the Punisher seemed hardly effected. Storm Shadow swung out his arms, but the Punisher blocked each blow and delivered two hard ones right in the ninja’s face, followed by a kick aimed to the head, but the ninja blocked it then rolled back for his katana.

As he grabbed it, rolled to his feet, he raised it above his head for an attack, but the Punisher had been on him the whole time and tackled the white ninja, pushing him up into a giant wood crate. Storm Shadow shifted his weight, managed to grip the Punisher and ram his head at the box. As Storm Shadow broke free from the vigilante’s hands, he attempted to bring down his hand on his neck to kill his enemy, but the Punisher moved his head just in time for Storm Shadow to smash his hand on the box. The Punisher started punching Storm Shadow’s lower back where the kidneys were located. The Punisher focused on these places for about a minute then backed off and kicked Storm Shadow in the lung.

Giving the white ninja space was a mistake, as he was able to now deliver a jumping spin kick the Punisher’s face. Punisher staggered back, caught off guard, Storm Shadow moved in delivering quick blows to his enemy’s head and chest, then received a back fist across the face. Punisher dove for the sword he had knocked away from the ninja earlier, grabbed it, rolled up and threw it right through the ninja’s chest. Storm Shadow was dead before he hit the ground.

Scarlett tried to make her way around to see who the mystery attacker was. It definitely wasn’t Duke and the other JOES, because she figured they would’ve tried something subtler with her being a prisoner and everything. Whoever it was, he was no amateur with guns.

From the darkness, a blue laser flew past her face. She barely snapped her head back in time to avoid having her face melted. Another shot, aimed at her legs, failed thanks to quick reflexes and a back flip. From out of the darkness, came the voice of the Baroness.

“Don’t know who you’re friend is deary,” the villain chuckled as Scarlett dodged, ducked and back flipped away from the shots. “But-”

Scarlett managed to make her way to Baroness, grabbed her wrists, “But nothing!” and threw her up against a wooden crate, the gun flying wildly to who knows where. Scarlett rushed at Baroness and tried to bring a karate chop down on her head, but Baroness blocked, punched Scarlett in the stomach. Scarlett stumbled back, waited till Baroness got closer, hit her across the jaw, got hit back, then kicked Baroness in the gut.

Baroness collapsed to her knees, the wind knocked out of her, then Scarlett kicked her in the face, banging her head against the crate, knocking her out. Broke her glasses too.

Xamot jumped on top of the Punisher as he came around a turn of grenade crates and, caught off guard, wrestled him to the ground. Punisher stood up and threw him off, then felt someone, Tomax, kick him in the back.

“Nice timing, brother,” laughed Xamot.

“Nice indeed,” Tomax laughed back.

Xamot and Tomax grabbed Punisher as he staggered to his feet and began ramming their fists and feet into his chest and face until he hung in their arms like a rag doll. “Not as tough as he-” Xamot began.

“Looks.” Tomax finished. “Let’s mount his chest on our wall.”

“What a splendid idea!” laughed Xamot.

Just as the two brothers laughter hit its high point, their laughter was cut short by an icy, lifeless voice.

“I gotta admit…” breathed Punisher. “You almost had me.” Punisher rammed his elbow into Tomax’s stomach and, just as Xamot was feeling the impact, threw out his fist and punched Xamot in the stomach and then hit him in his face, breaking Xamot’s nose and Tomax’s nose at the same time. The Crimson Guards fell, and the Punisher stood above them. “But those who hesitate lose.”

Scarlett had taken the Baroness’s gun and tied her up and was now looking for a way out. As she made her way, she noticed a tall, black haired man, dressed in a black costume with a white slashed skull, white gloves, white boots, wearing a belt that had every hand gun and grenade imaginable, setting up explosives too a tank.

When he noticed her, she immediately held the gun on him, but he pulled out a berretta .380 automatic. As if on cue, they both immediately asked, “Who’re you?”

“Dead is what you are!” Cobra Commander hissed from behind Scarlett, sticking his pistol to her head. “You, drop your weapon or the woman dies!”

Scarlett back stomped her foot on the commander’s foot and started to cartwheel away from him towards the Punisher, but felt a hot laser burn through her forearm, causing her to drop and clutch at the burning, bleeding injury. The Punisher shot at Cobra Commander, but the bullet bounced off his mask, and he pointed his gun at Scarlett.

“Drop your weapon skull boy, or she dies!”

Punisher considered the situation. He never gave into the guilty, but he didn’t want an innocent to die in the crossfire, as he figured she didn’t really work for Cobra. Neither one would happen.

Punisher dropped his berretta, pretending to surrender.

“Now drop the rest of your weapons!”

Punisher reached down, appearing to un-strap his belt, but instead he pushed a button on the side that set off the explosives on the tank. The tank blew up, taking with it the other tanks down the row. Scarlett managed to roll herself out of the way as Cobra Commander was thrown forward by the shockwave of the explosion.

When Cobra Commander lay at his feet, the Punisher took out .45 long-slide, and made sure the clip had armor piercing rounds.

“Who are you?!” hissed Cobra Commander again and again for a few minutes. Then Punisher kicked him and stepped on his neck. Weakly, the Cobra Commander hissed one last time “Who are you?”

Without answering the Cobra Commander’s question, Punisher shot him in the face plate about 7 times; two for his eyes, one for his nose, and a few for his mouth.

Punisher kicked the body over to make sure there was blood. Once he saw to this, he grabbed his berretta, then he turned away from the corpse, not bothering to check on Scarlett, and walked away.

As the Punisher approached his self made entrance soon self made exit, he came to a crate that had machine guns and grenades and bombs inside. He didn’t forget to blow it up, he merely set it aside for himself to take. He even left his black trench coat there to remind himself that this one was his. Punisher threw on his black trench coat, grabbed the crate, hoisted it up, then disappeared through the burning doors.

Alone now, Scarlett asked aloud to no one in particular, as they were all dead, “Who was that man?”

G.I. JOE arrived about an hour after the Punisher left, which was half an hour behind the arrival of the cops.

As Doc bandaged her arm, Scarlett spotted out of her left eye two figures pushing their way through the crowd of Joes and cops towards her; it was Duke and Snake-Eyes.

“Scarlett!” yelled Duke, trying not look out of control. “You okay?”

They stood right next to each other, Snake-Eyes and Duke, right in front of her. Scarlett couldn’t see if Snake Eyes was worried or not, what with his mask, but she could feel it. She couldn’t tell which one was more worried, but after a month, it was good to see them. “I’m fine you guys.”

“Are you sure?” asked Duke. Simultaneously, Duke and Snake-Eyes dropped to their knees to look at Scarlett’s face.

“Sure as the sun sets.”

Duke took in a few deep breaths, then relaxed, let his head shoot about the warehouse. “The Cobra equipment?”

“All destroyed, I think.”

“The Cobra soldiers?”

“Most of them are dead, except for the Crimson Guards and the Baroness.”

“Cobra Commander?”

“He’s dead too.”

“Did you-”

“Nope. Someone else did.”

“Who?”

“I have no idea.”

“Could you give a vague description?”

Scarlett rubbed her eye, bruised in her fight with the Baroness. “Tall guy with black hair, big guns, five o’clock shadow, wore a skull on his chest.”

“A skull?”

“Yep.”

“Duke! Scarlett! Snake Eyes!” The three looked over their shoulders to the approaching Mainframe. “I found the guy you just described to me. He’s an inner city vigilante. His name’s Frank Castle, but he’s been calling himself the Punisher for the last few years.”

“The Punisher?” Duke asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yup.”

“So why’s he hunting New York’s worst?” asked Scarlett.

“Few years ago his family got blown away by some mafia jerks. He wants blood.”

Duke shrugged. “Another angry guy with a gun.”

“Oh he’s more than that. Castle’s an ex-marine captain, won the Congressional Medal of Honor, guy’s a goddamn war hero.” Mainframe looked like he was bursting at the seams with envy. “He’s a tactician, he hunts, he studies, he memorizes, he plans. He’s wanted for the murder of over 521 New York crime lords.”

“Busy man,” Scarlett deadpanned.

“To say the least.” Mainframe laughed. “Maybe we should give him a job, put him on payroll.”

Duke surveyed the warehouse then looked back at Mainframe with doubt registered on his face.

Scarlett vocalized the doubt Duke felt. “I think he’s a bit too anti-social for us.”

It started to rain.

It was 4:00 A.M. and the Punisher was still driving back to his base of operations. It wasn’t just the rain slowing him down. This was a time to reflect, to remember, to make note for his war journal.

“COBRA warehouse destroyed. It wasn’t that much harder than the typical thugs and gangsters I get around here. Those soldiers were weak, poorly trained. I’m wasn’t. I took some of their weapons for myself. I have to keep stocked because this is the kind of war where only the strong and the well equipped survive. Whether or not I’ve done the nation and the world a favor is yet to be seen.

“I still talk to God sometimes… I ask him why this happened to me… I ask him why he picked me to see to it that the guilty are punished… I ask him if he picked me to see to it that the guilty are punished… I ask him if what I’m doing is right or wrong… Still no answer… Maybe he stopped listening to me… All I can do now is keep going the direction I’ve been for the last few years, because it’s too late for me… It’s too late to go back… and the guilty… the guilty must be punished…”

The End