War Journal: November 3rd 2024.I’ve been following the same ring of scumbags for a week and a half now. Last night, I caught one of the bastards. He took some convincing before he gave up their location. Harvest Covenant Baptist Church is where they’re moving people. It’s a good few miles outside of Midnd, Texas. No snow in sight. Keep thinking, Maria would be asking me to start Christmas shopping. Always liked to get ahead of things.

  Can’t focus on that now. Work to be done.

  -The church was painted white, a fence around it and a white spire on it’s roof with crucifixes covering the building on every side. It was the only building around for miles, with nothing more than dirt roads in every direction. Observing it on a hill was a man who had been a veteran of one war and the leader in a one-man war, observing the church through a pair of binocurs. A duffle bag of weapons sat to his left.

  The church was surrounded by people carriers, beat up station wagons and pickup trucks. One car that he’d marked down as belonging to the pastor was a brand-new Tes.

  Frank Castle, known to the world as The Punisher, gritted his teeth as he watched the congregation pour out, all shaking hands with a well-dressed balding man with a face turning red under the Texas heat. Families, including those with small children all passed him by one one, all dressed in their Sunday best.

  Minutes after the st of the congregation pulled away, the pastor’s ear to ear smile faded instantly and another car pulled along the dirt road, a rge SUV with bcked out windows and no licence pte.

  Frank moved towards the duffle bag, pulling out a sniper rifle and looking through the scope as three people were brought out of the SUV with bags on their heads, followed by multiple armed men. Six in total, all with tactical shotguns and assault rifles. All wearing body armour that went well beyond the sary of a pastor.

  Two more SUVs pulled up, followed by a third. He counted. There were now six people with bags on their heads and a total of twenty armed personnel that he could see. He held his finger closer to the trigger, but didn’t fire. Grunting, he rested his head on the rifle and breathed heavily. Open fire now, and the captives would certainly be killed.

  The pastor led all of them inside the church and doors shut behind them. Frank looked through the scope again, plotting his next move when he heard something behind him. He spun around, his rifle pointed straight at the target.

  And lowered it when he saw a familiar face. Messy dark hair, a beat-up leather jacket and bags under eyes that she rolled at his mere presence was someone very far from home.“Jessica? What the hell are you doing here?”“Y’know, I could ask you the same thing but I really don’t care.” “You need to stay away from this.”“You do things your way, you’re gonna get a lot of people killed.” “Down.” He hissedJessica Jones hit the deck, both of them now observing the church as some of the armed men took up positions “I’ve been on their trail for a while. Don’t want anyone screwing it up.”

  She smacked his shoulder, taking care not to actually hurt him but making Frank do a double take.“And what do you think I’m doing here? Frank, people are going missing all over. Sorts of people no one else gives a shit about. All of them, going into that building and never coming back out.”

  Frank looked through his scope as a bald eagle flew towards the church, perching himself on top of the spire while holding a metal bucket in his talons. Frank could only raise an eyebrow.“Look, I know your life means jack shit to you, but if you storm the gates, you’re gonna get people killed.”He scoffed at that “Y’know what, Jessica…”

  The captives had been brought before the pastor at the front of the church, most of the armed men surrounding them. A carving of Jesus on the cross hung above the pastor’s head, looking out to the skies. The church had perfect wooden floors, wooden pews and a long red carpet that ran from the front door to the front of the church where the pastor stood.

  “Now.” He cleared his throat “Y’all are gathered here today so that y’all be can be sacrificed to the one true God above all.” He started to pace back and forth “And ya might be thinkin’. Christians don’t do human sacrifices. Well, at least not anymore...” He ughed “Nah, I’m not talkin’ about Jesus. I’m not talkin' about the God you think I’m talkin’ about. There is some other higher power far greater than both and they have shown me the true light!” He stretched out his arms

  One of the captives, a muscur man wearing a red shirt and blue jeans, was trying to speak but his voice was muffled.“Oh the love of…What!?” The pastor snappedThe man tried to speak again, but was once again muffled.

  The pastor groaned, gritting his teeth “Okay, you die first!” He marched towards the captive, pulling off the hood and the duct tape over his mouth. “I said…God’s gonna make ya eat a bag of dicks.” He said matter of factly, a cold look in his eyes as he headbutted the pastor full force, broke free from his restraints and dived towards one of the armed men, knocking him to the ground.

  “Get down you fucking idiots!” He shouted at the other captives, who all hit the deck as he wrestled a tactical shotgun from the arms of the armed man.“Eagly!” He yelled “Now!”

  Outside, Frank watched as the bald eagle let out a call and flew above the church, attempting to fly the metal bucket through an opened window, only for it to bounce off the exterior wall and fall to the ground. “What the…” -Inside the church, the muscur man’s eyes darted to side to side, looking at the room filled with armed men“Eagly…”-Frank gred over at Jessica with a raised eyebrow but she shrugged her shoulders. Both of their eyes were drawn back towards the dirt road as a figure dressed completely in military grab strolled up the way. He had a steel round helmet more appropriate for a past war.

  The two watched in confusion as he approached the guards at the front door. Frank looked through his scope as he watched one figure aim his rifle at the figure only for him to drive a knife through his throat. Before the second guard could respond, Frank unloaded a round into his head, muffled by the silencer. The figure then went to open the front door.

  “He’s gonna get everyone inside killed. Come on.” Jessica sighed, making her way down the hill-Inside the church, the muscur man was still looking nervously from side to side when the front door burst open. As the armed men turned their attention to it, he unloaded on two of them and took cover behind one of the pews.

  A hail of bullets emerged from the front door but through them, he could hear hearty ughter.“Die Nazis!”“What the hell?” The muscur man whispered under his breath, peeking up from cover to blow away another one of the assaints. He got a better look at the unexpected guest, seeing that he wasn’t a man at all but a machine with two rge red circles for eyes and skin of metal. His mouth was agape with joy, filling the entire room with bullets but still taking care not to strike any of the captives, who were screaming underneath their bags and duct tape.

  Within moments, the entire church was clear of assaints, the armed men y in bloody piles on the floor. The machine approached the muscur man, pointing a gun at him.“Are you a Nazi?” He asked“Hey! I resent that.” The metal man narrowed his gaze and the muscur man noticed that he wasn’t carrying any guns, in fact his arms were weapons themselves. “Okay! Okay!” He put the shotgun on the ground and raised his hands “I am not a Nazi. I’ve killed a lot of them!”“Good enough for me.” The metal man lowered his arms, with them reverting to normal and he offered him a handshake.

  “Nice to meet you fellow Nazi-killer. I am GI Robot.”“Peacemaker.”“GI Robot heard that Nazis had made their base here. GI Robot did what GI Robot was made for.”“Wait, I’ve heard of you. You were with Easy Company, right?”

  He nodded“I do miss them.”

  GI Robot turned around as Frank and Jessica entered the church.“What the hell happened here?” Jessica spat“GI Robot fucking happened.” Peacemaker decred proudly, offering the tin man a high-five, which he looked at with puzzlement.

  Jessica squeezed the ridge of her nose “Oh for…Great, this’ll be a fun one to expin to the cops.”“They’re working with the cops.” Frank butted in, gruffly “Of course they are” Jessica sighed

  He examined the carnage in the room, his eyes darting between Peacemaker and GI Robot “What?”“Had the whole thing under control.” Peacemaker nodded“Yeah, I don’t think you did.”“No, I totally did. Didn’t come alone. Got Eagly with me.”

  As he mentioned the name of his animal sidekick, he flew through the front door and dropped the meal bucket at Peacemaker’s feet, which he pced on his head. “See, it was only part of my pn to get captured.”“And you were relying on a bird to rescue you?” Jessica shook her head “Sure, this whole thing went just as you pnned.”

  The carving of Jesus on the wall, which was riddled with bullet holes fell to the ground and all Jessica could do was put her head in her hands, groaning.“Alright. Let’s get these people outta here before the cops show up.” Frank said with a grunt.“Are any of the captives Nazis?” GI Robot asked“Sure…” Jessica rolled her eyes.

  In response, the tin man raised his arm, turning into a gun and pointed it towards the captives. Jessica's eyes went wide and she stood in the way.“GI Robot asks you to get out of the way. Anyone defending a Nazi is a Nazi.”“I don’t think he understands sarcasm.” Peacemaker muttered“Wait! I was wrong. They’re not Nazis!”

  His gaze narrowed “Are you sure?”“Yeah, she’s sure. I can vouch for ‘em, too. I was held captive with them. Not one word of German.” Peacemaker butted in“Hmmm. GI Robot will have his eyes on them going forward.”

  He lowered his gun, revering it back into an arm.“Yeah, no shit.” Jessica whispered “Who the hell is this guy?”“That’s GI Robot. Built for World War Two. Guy’s a damn legend. I’d commend him on his massive balls, but he hasn’t got any.”“Neither do I.”“Yeah, but you’re a woman. He was just never made with them. And I don’t mean that at one point you may have had…”“Stop talking.” Jessica groaned“Whatever you have or used to have is your business.”“Just stop.”

  The pastor rose to his feet, his fine suit torn and stained in blood. Bullet after bullet hit the floor as they popped out of his body. “Well, my my! Look at what a fine bunch we have here!”

  Frank responded by firing a round from the sniper rifle through the pastor’s head, tearing half of it away. His body fell to the ground again, only for the missing half of his face to be filled in by a bck and grey ink-like substance. The Mould. Contorted, sharp teeth and three eyes repced what had been lost.

  “Embrace the one true God!” The pastor’s one voice became many“What the actual fuck!” Peacemaker screamed, his eyes wide

  Frank didn’t even question what was rising before him, firing off four more rounds. Each one tore through the pastor, only for them to be repced with more of The Mould, twisting the pastor’s body as it rebuilt him.

  GI Robot followed suit, but a tendril shot from the pastor’s chest and struck him, sending him flying back and striking the back wall of the church. The tin man kept firing, but with the tendril throwing him off-bance the bullets flew in all directions. Frank, Jessica and Peacemaker all hit the deck, with Peacemaker grabbing Eagly and shielding him.The hail of bullets stopped and Jessica leapt at the pastor, tackling him and sending the two of them flying through the back of the church, leaving a gaping hole as the two nded outside. She went to strike him in the face but six tendrils shot out from bullet holes, each one striking Jessica and knocking her away, sending her flying above the church.

  The Pastor used two tendrils growing from his back to stand to his feet as the others dashed out, unloading on him. He stretched his arms out like Christ on the cross, each bullet tearing more flesh away only to be repced by The Mould. His entire face was repced by it, his pricey suit was entirely torn to pieces two shots from Frank blew off the pastor’s legs, only for these to be repced by tendrils, twisting as the pastor started to charge on all fours towards them.

  Peacemaker stepped forwards, lowering his shotgun “You might wanna step back…” “Activate sonic boom.”

  Before the pastor could make contact, a slight blue glow emitted from the bucket atop his head, and a boom of energy emitted, tearing the pastor apart. The few remaining parts of human flesh and The Mould scattered across the dirt road.

  Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, a smile grew across his face as he turned to face Frank and GI Robot, ughing. All Frank could do was scowl while GI Robot joined in. The ughter stopped as he noticed Frank raising his rifle again and he sharply spun around, seeing that The Mould was starting to reform. “Oh, come on!”

  The three turned their attention to a pickup truck that sped forwards, with nobody at the wheel. Frank squinted, seeing that there was a rag in the gas tank and ran for cover. The truck ignited atop the remains, burning The Mould which let out a scream of a thousand voices as it burned.

  Frank grunted “Incendiary rounds might do the trick.” “GI Robot will need to improve on GI Robot’s arsenal.” “What the fuck was that fucking thing?!” Peacemaker spat, his hands resting on his helmet and his eyes wide.“You got captured by them.” Jessica spoke up, emerging from behind the church“That was part of my pn.”“Did they talk about this at all?”“No, not really. Just a lot of talk about the Bible, but it wasn’t a version I’d ever read before…A lot of talk about wizards.”“Wizards?” Jessica groaned

  The four of them headed back inside, releasing the captives one by one. One of them, a young, bald man with gsses who was wearing overalls, had his eyes wide as GI Robot removed the duct tape from his mouth.“Do not worry, citizen. GI Robot has saved you from the Nazis.”“What? No, you don’t understand. This goes deeper than you think.”“More Nazis?” His gaze squinted“Well, yeah. I guess they are.”

  Jessica approached him “Hold on, you’re Oliver Irwin.”He nodded, rubbing his wrists as he stood to his feet “Your partner hired me to find you.”“Are they okay?” He stepped towards her, his eyes wide.“Just worried as hell.”

  The sound of police sirens echoed in the distance, drawing in closer.“We need to go.” Frank spoke up “Those of you who can run, with me. Carry anyone who’s slow. We don’t leave anyone for the cops.”

  The captives followed the group outside, with Jessica and GI Robot carrying four captives each between them. Frank grabbed his duffle bag on the way but did not slow down, while Oliver stayed close to Jessica as Frank led them over the hill and towards an bck, beat-up van with bcked out windows and armoured pting.“Subtle.” Jessica sighed“I call shotgun!” Peacemaker shouted

  With a grunt, Frank opened the van’s side door, tossed his bag inside and pulled out a rge white banner with a crucifix on it, draping it over the side of the van “Secure that.” He ordered gruffly

  Each captive barrelled inside the cramped space as Frank climbed into the front seat, Peacemaker climbed in next to him, getting a gre from Frank. “What? I called shotgun.”

  The Punisher groaned and started the engine, steering the van down one of the many dirt roads as an army of cops surrounded the church. The cry of their sirens faded into the distance as Peacemaker reached for the radio, only for Frank to shoot him a gre. He raised his hands and leaned back in the passenger seat.

  He opened his mouth to speak, only for Frank to cut him off“No talking.”“Bu…”“No. Talking.”“So no talking and no music. How do you stay sane on these road trips?”Frank shook his head and squinted his gaze as he gred at Peacemaker.“Usually I’m not travelling with idiots.”“Oh, screw you.”

  Frank groaned quietly and faced the road.“I heard about you. The Punisher. Thought you’d be cooler.”“Cooler?” Frank scoffed, looking back over at John “You, you think what I do is cool? Y’know, you’re runnin’ around in tights with a damned pet bird…”“I don’t wear tights!” Peacemaker snapped, pointing a finger at Frank“Same shit. The masks, the tights, the bright colours.”“This isn’t a mask. It’s a helmet. And in case you brain fell out of your ass, it’s pretty damn useful.”

  Frank scoffed once more, his eyes on the road “Still looks stupid as hell.”-In the back of the van, GI Robot sat next to Jessica and Oliver while the other captives tried to find some breathing room.

  “Thank you.” He breathed heavily, taking a puff of an inhaler “Jesus Christ…”“Mind filling us in on exactly what the hell is going on?” “So you saw the Pastor and how he…Changed.”“Bit hard to miss.” “I was looking into people of influence. Doctors, politicians, journalists, pastors.”“Ah, so you’re a war correspondent.” GI cut in“Eh, something like that.” He took another deep breath “I’m an independent journalist. Tend to piss people off but never like this. All these people, Jessica. They’re pnning something. Something huge.”“I knew it.” GI squinted his gaze “Nazis are always pnning something.”“I was chasing a lead in New Mexico when they grabbed me. Turned out to be a trap But, Jessica. These people. The Mould already got to them. Only thing they all have in common is, well, their bigotry. But it all goes back to Scotnd.”

  He gulped.“That seems to be where it originated from. All the communications I found before they grabbed me, they talked about a Queen in Edinburgh.”“Okay. This really sounds like a thing for the heroes.”“Doesn’t that include you?”

  Jessica scoffed“Listen, I was paid to bring you back to your partner in one piece. Stumbled across some bigger shit. What you’re talking about seems to be a job for the Avengers or one of the other groups of capes. So, here’s what’s going to happen. We’ll get all these people home and then you and me are meeting with whatever group we can get a hold of, you’re gonna tell them everything you know and then…”“Then what?”“I would not turn down an opportunity to kill Nazis.” GI interrupted“I mean, knock yourself out.” Jessica rolled her eyes“Knocking myself out would get in the way of my primary function…”“To kill Nazis. I got it.”“Listen, you can join up with whatever team of capes flies off to Scotnd. But I’m not a superhero.”“I mean, you saved all of us.” Oliver shrugged “Six people get to go home to our families because of you.”

  The van pulled to a stop and there was a pounding on the side-door before Frank slid it open.“Alright. It’s a six hour drive between here and New Mexico. If anyone’s gotta use the bathroom, now’s your chance. I won’t be stopping again unless someone’s dying.”

  ****

  The van came to a stop outside of a chain linked gate as the sun started to set. Frank was first out, pulling the gate to one side as John took the wheel, driving towards an abandoned, aged warehouse that towered above them. Many of it’s windows were shattered and there were several pigeon nests within the gaps close to the roof, which was the only part of the warehouse that hadn’t taken it’s fair share of hits.

  The cooing of the birds was the only thing the group could hear as Frank stepped opened the warehouse door with a clicker and drove inside. He stepped out, removed the banner from the van while John followed close behind.“The no talking rule still applies here.”

  Jessica and GI stepped out next and she took a few moments to stretch her limbs “Thank God. He just spent the past six hours talking about all the creative ways you can kill a Nazi.” “I didn’t get through the full list.” “It was pretty graphic.” Oliver adjusted his gsses as he stepped out. “Sorry I missed it.” Peacemaker groaned“The back of that van is soundproofed.” Frank stated coldly.

  The warehouse interior was well-organised. Half a dozen military cots, five weapon racks and a second armoured van. There were five tables with extra equipment, including a military grade radio. Frank had also set up a rge wooden board with string, push pins and photographs, all but one had been crossed out with a knife. A photo of a pastor was included, which Frank approached and crossed off with a bowie knife.

  “Work’s never done.” He muttered under his breath.“Oh dude, you got a murder board?” Peacemaker ughed “Not murder. That’d mean these pieces of trash were human.”

  John raised his hands and took a big step back while Jessica stepped forwards “Well, that pastor definitely wasn’t human. At least, not anymore.”“Hey!” Frank called over at Oliver, who cautiously approached “You seem to know more about this than anyone else here. Who’s running their show?”“They have a Queen in Edinburgh. Used to be a children’s author but now…She’s something twisted.”“She was always twisted, Oliver.”

  -

  War Journal: November 4rd 2024Stumbled upon something a lot bigger than what I thought was a trafficking ring. That would’ve been too easy.This Mould, from what we’ve gathered twists people. Those with hate in their heart. White supremacists, Nazis, those with near-infinite wealth who decide to wage war on innocent people with their money. Trash pretending to be human. Gets to them easier.Maybe they take it willingly.

  Oliver’s a good kid. Trying to do his own version of right. Got in way over his head and almost got killed. Doubt that’ll stop him though. Ran into Jessica Jones of all people down here. Wonder if her and Marie would’ve got on. Dunno how she feels about kids, but I think she’d have taken a bullet for Frank Jr and Lisa. She only pretends she doesn’t give a shit.

  A robot from World War Two and a moron who wears a bucket on his head joined up and now I’m stuck with them. At least they’re skilled.Don’t like waging this war with others but I got no choice.

  Even still.

  Doesn’t matter how strong these things are. Doesn’t matter how widespread they are.The work isn’t done. I won’t stop until I’ve killed them all.

  Frank had removed all of the torn pictures from his board other than that of the pastor, whose image was now in the left-hand corner. The string connected him and half a dozen other new faces to a bnk space at the top. Using a push pin he attached an image of the Mould Queen.

  “One Batch. Two Batch. Penny and Dime.” He muttered under his breath.