Chapter Two: Black as Night

[The Mighty Thor]

Glaring at Victoria as she chided he and his companion’s deeds, the vigilante known as Frank Castle simply waited. He wanted desperately to let his pistols answer the woman’s accusations for him, as had become his MO in dealing with anyone who crossed his path. But things were getting rough out there, and shooting a potential ally would only be detrimental to his cause.

While Castle took Victoria’s verbal abuse, his companions were discussing the Watch and its members. Blade, whose heightened senses allowed him to see and hear beyond the scope of normal mortals, informed his teammates of Rogue’s presence. Not one of the Punishers trusted the Watch, and their accusatory glances let the team of heroes know it. The simple fact that one of the Watch’s group insisted on remaining invisible spoke volumes. It was as if they were trying to conceal their numbers: a wise move, but definitely not one that instilled trust in the newcomers. Spider-man’s quiet, stalking nature also set the Punishers on edge. The leather wearing sharp shooter listened to his teammate’s discussion, but did not allow his eyes to leave the wall crawler. He was familiar with the man he knew as Spider-man, and if this fellow was anything like him, he bore watching. They had not seen much of Tessa, Paige or Barry and couldn’t get a good bead on them, but experience had taught the vampire hunters to judge people upon the company they kept. Which meant they fell under the Punisher’s heavy scrutiny. Most intriguing of all though was the chrome plated alien standing across the room. The bald headed Asian man, dressed in robes of black, watched him closely. The man known as Wong couldn’t help but feel that the Surfer seemed out of place in this group. But as was his way, he said nothing on the subject. He simply kept an eye on him as he directed his attention back to the center of the room and listened as Castle readied his most likely caustic reply to Victoria’s jabs.

Doing his best to keep his composure, Frank responded, “So basically, you’re the cavalry? I’m a proud man, but I sure as hell ain’t stupid. If you’ve been sent to help, then you are welcome to try. But don’t go thinking that just because the vampires are running roughshod over New York that we haven’t been doing our job. The simple fact that you would jump to that conclusion already has you on my bad side, missy. And the fact that big, green and nasty here bares an unnerving resemblance to one of the most vicious vamps this side of Westchester doesn’t exactly sit well with me either. So you’ll forgive me if I take a moment to double check.” His train of thought broke as he closed his eyes, obviously concentrating on some unseen objective. But it did not remain unseen for long, because as he concentrated, the amulet that hung at his waist came to life. The Eye of Agamotto opened, bathing the Watch in an all-revealing light. They stood frozen in the light for mere moments, but it was long enough for Frank Castle to see what he wished to see. The Eye exposed to him the Watch’s true nature. It told him that they could be trusted, and that was good enough for him. He turned to face his comrades and nodded as he said, “They’re telling the truth.” As soon as the words were spoken, the tension in the room seemed to dissipate considerably. The fact remained that everyone was standing amongst virtual strangers, but the extreme distrust seemed to vanish from the Punishers as Frank revealed what the Eye had seen.

Turning back to the Watch, with his team gathered behind him, Castle explained, “I’ve seen too much weird $#@! over the past couple of years to find anything you said surprising. But I had to be sure it was true. Now that I know it is, we can get this show on the road. The short version is this: vampires have taken over New York. They targeted the super powers first. Once that was done, they started to feed on the citizens, with nothing to stand in their way. And now we do what we can to get through the days, and fight like hell to get through the nights. There aren’t many of us left, but we do what we can to try to end this living nightmare. So if you’re here to help, then I’d suggest grabbing up as many stakes as you can, because the hunt is on.”