[center][sub][h1][img]https://i.postimg.cc/FHxsDqvr/punisher2.png[/img] [b][color=white] T H E P U N I S H E R[/color] [color=black]T H E P U N I S H E R[/color][/b][/h1][/sub] [sub][h2][b][color=white] I S S U E # 5[/color] [color=black]I S S U E # 5[/color][/b][/h2][/sub] [sup][h3][b][color=white] N I G H T T E R R O R S[/color] [color=black]N I G H T T E R R O R S[/color][/b][/h3][/sup][/center] [i]The sun rises in the east as I lean against the balcony's railing and take a sip of my coffee. The smell of bacon wafts through the air from the open sliding glass door leading to the kitchen, Maria hard at work cooking breakfast for the family. I peer down at the traffic below, both the cars in the street and the people heading in and out of our apartment complex. [color=palevioletred][b]"Frank! Breakfast is ready!"[/b][/color] Maria calls out from inside. I smile to myself and walk back into the apartment, setting my mug on the dining table and taking my seat next to Maria. Frank Jr. is tearing into his pancakes, his bacon already reduced to crumbs on the plate. Lisa doesn't share her brother's enthusiasm, picking at her bacon with a fork. [color=black][b]"What's wrong, baby?"[/b][/color] I ask as I use my fork to cut into my pancakes. Lisa lets out a heaving sigh. [color=lightpink][b]"I'm just not hungry, daddy. Can we go to the park yet?"[/b][/color] [color=black][b]"Not until we've all ate."[/b][/color] [color=lightpink][b]"But I don't wanna eat, I wanna go play!"[/b][/color] [color=black][b]"Well you're not gonna have the energy to play if you don't eat. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Without it, everyone's just a zombie."[/b][/color] To emphasize my point, I loll my tongue out, close my eyes, and stick my arms out while groaning like a zombie. The kids giggle and Maria chuckles quietly. Then everything goes to hell. The gunshot right outside our apartment makes me jump to my feet, my chair sliding back into the wall as my hand reaches for the gun at my side- the one that isn't there. A man kicks the front door open and steps inside, a Beretta in his hand. Another gunshot and I feel a sharp pain in my gut, falling onto the table. It cracks under my weight and slams to the floor and I find myself staring at the ceiling. I hear my kids screaming. [color=palevioletred][b]"FRANK!"[/b][/color] Maria cries out. Two gunshots. The children go silent. Maria wails in despair. Another shot. And then she too is silenced. The man looms over me, crouches down and gazes into my eyes. Then he stands and puts another bullet in my chest. I'm falling into the abyss. Dark clouds swirl around me. I feel the icy cold grip of death, choking me out. Pulling me deeper into the void. And I welcome it. Because then I can see them aga [b]*BEEP!*[/b][/i] My eyes snap open and I jolt up from my cot. My breathing is rapid, heart pounding, veins pumping battery acid. Every nerve in my body is on edge, every muscle tensed and ready to spring into action. I look around frantically, trying to find the man that just broke into my apartment and shot my- Inhale. Count to ten. Exhale. I'm in a warehouse. Not my apartment. It's been a month since my family was killed. Four days since the funeral. Three days since Billy the Beaut had his face rearranged. Two days since Timothy De Luca took a bullet to the brain. One day since the news broke that police officer Frank Castle was waging a one man war on crime as "the Punisher." And one minute since I got a text on my burner from Dave... Or Microchip, as he wants to be called. [hider=(212) 555-0925] [color=darkkhaki]Docks. Hell's Kitchen. Saints getting shipment of guns. 1 AM. Don't be late.[/color] [right][color=black]On it.[/color][/right] [/hider] I snap the flip phone in half and toss it to the side, pulling myself off my cot. I get dressed: black Henley, black cargo pants, black boots. I take a look at the kevlar vest laying on a table next to a can of white spray paint. Dave told me that I needed a symbol. Something to strike fear into every lowlife that stalks this city's streets when they see it coming. And now I had one. [center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/L8jqYSDT/punisher-skull-1-by-jmk-prime-d7lcwck-fullview.png[/img][/center]