Berlin, Germany
Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
3:57 p.m.
Everyone’s reaction to him at first was complete and utter shock, followed by an apprehensive urge to defend themselves when he strode passed them. The officers, trained specifically to weed out the possible threats, instantly reached for their belts, more realistically, their guns, but stopped the moment the pale pink unicorn held up her hoof to them.
They recognized her as the princess’ prodigy. “That won’t be needed, gentlemen,” Starlight Glimmer said with a smile, dropping her hoof. “He’s with me.”
Understanding basic forms of English, the officers nodded and retained their original positions, casting the man an uncertain glare to which he kindly replied with one of his own, only much worse. Starlight didn’t seem to notice and continued on her way. Right behind her, beside the shooter, was the doctor from earlier, trying desperately to get him back in bed.
“Are you certain you’ll be fine?” the doctor asked, his German accent shaky. He clutched onto the clipboard with the X-rays as tight as he could, asking once more, “Do you not wish to stay in bed and let us help you, Mr. Castle?”
Frank Castle nodded. “You don’t have to worry anymore, Doc. It’s just a scratch,” he said, pointing to the fresh cut on his forehead. “I’ll be good. Go help someone who needs it.”
The doctor stopped in his tracks, watching the two enter the command center. He shook his head and readjusted his glasses. “Crazy man,” he muttered in German, finally returning to the makeshift infirmary. Castle cast the doctor one last glance before facing forward once more, already coming up to the ponies he had seen earlier, as well as an Avenger and a hint of royalty.
He mentally grumbled.
Starlight stopped just in front of the two mares, their eyes widening to the sight of Frank Castle standing behind, and without handcuffs. It was as good of a start as any other. “Oh, Starlight, darling!” Rarity greeted, rising to all four hooves. She cast a wavering glance behind her, gulping. “You… uh… managed to do it. Excellent!”
Starlight smiled and chuckled nervously. Frank stared at the Black Widow and Panther, the two seated, the king in his chair and the assassin on a nearby table.
Applejack stepped forward, whistling at the sight of the towering man. “Gotta say, that’s pretty impressive, even fer you, Glimmer,” she drawled, missing the glare Castle sent her way.
Starlight waved her hoof. “Oh, it was nothing really. But I am proud to say that with Frank Castle’s military experience, he will be aiding us greatly in the capture of James Barnes. He has…” pausing to look back, she and Castle exchanged a glance, Frank seeing the uncertainty in her stare, hearing the same uncertainty in her tone, “… managed to convince me that he is willing to help us.”
“You sure about that, Star?” Natasha asked, earning the appropriate stares from Starlight and Frank. She continued. “After what he’s done, after hearing everything he’s done before, you’re gonna give him your trust just like that?”
Starlight’s ear twitched at the sound of Frank’s growls from behind her. She exchanged an unsure glance with Rarity and Applejack before returning back to Natasha. “He’s… he’s proven to me that he’s willing to give up his radical crusade…” she turned back to Castle, stared silently, “for a while.”
That apparently wasn’t enough for Natasha, which was understandable considering the circumstances. “I know people like Castle, Star. They don’t change,” Natasha said, eyeing Castle without even a hint of being subtle. “Trust me… when I say that trust can be easily walked around.”
“You’re Natasha Romanoff, right?”
Everyone froze when he spoke. T’Challa looked away from his fist and onto the man, the very same man who had shot him and lived to tell the tale. The mares all fell silent, Starlight joining her two friends. He seemed to be waiting, standing silently, glaring intently on Romanoff. She eventually came around.
After receiving a nod, Castle continued. “First of all, thanks for giving out the info on HYDRA for the entire world to see. Without it I would have never found those HYDRA agents, or Barnes. I guess you could say it’s all thanks to Miss Romanoff that I’m even here right now.”
Natasha took a double take, tilting her head only slightly. The ponies all looked to Natasha, somewhat startled by the information. T’Challa just smiled from where he sat.
Castle smiled too, saying, “Now… second…” he suddenly got in her face, causing everyone to flinch. Several officers began to reach for their guns, but stopped and waited for what would happen, just in case the conflict never got hot. Castle growled, finishing with: “Shut your damn mouth before I do it for you.”
Unlike the mares, Natasha didn’t feel too threatened, knowing damn well she could defend herself if need be. Instead, her sly, small smile graced her lips as Castle continued. “What I do is my business and my business alone. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what any of you think of me. All I’m even standing here for is Barnes, and I’ll plow through any one of you to get to him.”
Castle didn’t step back. Natasha simply retorted, “Oh, really? You willing to put that on a couple rounds.”
“I ain’t afraid to hit a girl.”
“Shows what kind of man you are.”
“As very entertaining as that would be,” T’Challa interrupted, finally standing up and seeming to break up the rising feud, “I’m afraid we must put our differences aside if we are to bring down Barnes.”
To the luck of the officers in the room, they all watched as Castle stepped away from Natasha, easing the tension. However, the heat never seemed to cool, because he stepped right into T’Challa’s personal space next. “Your Highness…” Castle greeted. T’Challa, though rather unintimidated by Castle’s presence, smiled.
“Heh, I saw you on that rooftop,” Frank chuckled. “You were going for kill shots. You want Barnes just as dead as I do.” T’Challa offered a short nod, only to hear Castle continue with: “No offense, Your Majesty, but Barnes is mine. No one else gets to touch him.”
“I suppose you are going to stop me, eh?” T’Challa asked. “Just like the Captain?”
“I might have to.”
Starlight smacked her forehead. Like it could get any worse. She dragged that hoof down her face, groaning at the possibility that it could most certainly get worse. However, to her great surprise, T’Challa laughed. “I like you already, Mr. Castle. You are ambitious. And just like me, you want to kill the man who slaughtered my father in cold blood.”
“I only kill people who deserve it,” Frank said.
“Ah, is that why you shot me in the back of the head not too long ago?”
Frank smiled. “Well, you just got in the way. And depends… whether or not you pulled some shady shit yourself.”
T’Challa placed his palms behind his back. He said, “Unlike you, the only man I want dead is Barnes. He killed my father.”
“And several others. Not to mention all the shit he’s pulled in the past. Plus… he kicked me ass. No one walks free after that,” Castle said.
“Frank, that’s enough!”
Frank’s rising good mood instantly plummeted the moment Starlight Glimmer said those words. His smile was replaced with a frown, his attention shifting to the unicorn standing with her friends, all of them glaring at him. The look in her eyes and the heat in her voice only meant one thing: lecture time. Joy.
“You promised me no killing, remember? That’s the only reason you’re standing here without getting shot at. And you,” Starlight said, pointing at T’Challa. “You are not killing Barnes, either! We’re gonna see this through the way Mr. Stark and Twilight wanted, by bringing him to justice.”
“Depends on your definition of ‘justice’,” T’Challa added. Frank smiled slyly. Once more, the smile didn’t last.
“Starlight’s right,” Natasha said, stepping in-between the two men. She turned to T’Challa, saying, “Your Highness, I know what Barnes did to you, and that may as well be unforgivable, but our orders are clear from Secretary Ross: Bring in Barnes… alive.”
She turned the other way. Frank did nothing but glare at her.
“You too, Castle.”
He snorted and walked away, finally giving rest to the officers as he made his way to the far-off tables. Starlight sighed, staring at the back of his black jacket. T’Challa cast her a glance before returning back to Castle. He stopped, surprisingly, to the sound of Natasha’s voice calling to him, something that made the ponies’ skin crawl. “You’re lucky we’re not throwing you into a jail cell right about now.”
Preparing for the lash but receiving nothing, the mares watched as Frank lifted up his head, twisted his neck around, and replied briefly, strongly with…
“Imagine how much I give a shit.”
And then he sat down in a chair at the opposite end of the room, his back to the them as a final sign of spite. Natasha just rolled her eyes and walked away, T’Challa following her. Starlight frowned. So much for new impressions. He had a piss poor attitude and was being damn proud about it. That was Frank Castle for you, Starlight supposed.
Starlight, I want to like you, I really do. You're making it impossible.
Natasha would kick the shit out of him.
Pretty much, yeah.
Oh great thinking, Starlight! Didn't you know that Team Iron Man already has a Wakandan King that wants the Winter Soldier dead. Adding another who wants this too, the Punisher of all people, is certainly not going to make "bringing in" Bucky any easier now that the team has two loose cannons to keep an eye on. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/3/27/1117761__safe_screencap_starlight+glimmer_twilight+sparkle_twilight+sparkle+%28alicorn%29_the+crystalling_spoiler-colon-s06e01_alicorn_animated_anxiety.gif
Wait for him to meet Twilight Sparkle and Tony Stark. Who knows, there might be some scuffle before anyone even gets to the airport!
Yea!!! This chapter wasn't just another carbon copy of the scene from the film!
So The Punisher is basically an extremely arrogant jerk? Pretty much the whole Avengers team can kill him in seconds.
8250362
Well, except maybe Hawkeye. Or Tony without the suit.
Oh my...Castle is truly an antihero.
8250362
I think some of the ponies would with little doubt give him a run for his money (hint )
8250462
Hawkeye is a master assassin. He certainly knows how to destroy some plot. I thought of Tony inside his suit so I never thought of it that way.
8251516
There is one pony that is stronger than her, one pony that Tony should be afraid of...
8251538
Stronger how?
Edit: Now I wonder how would the Avengers react to an angry Twilight.
Ah Frank, you sick, manipulative bastard. Never change. Not one bit. And this is the problem when your society is so quick to forgive everything Starlight. You've let loose a dangerous psychopath on the flimsiest of justifications.
8251556
Never underestimate Pinkie's reality warping powers, or she will catch you when you least expect it and then hug you. Such a terrible fate.
8251945
No, indeed. It's just that too many authors tend to make Pinkie omnicient, untouchable and almighty.
8251538
True, but Frank was ex military and killed probably just as many as Clint. If anything, it'd be an equal fight that could go either way.
8252142
Buddy, I don't know much about The Punisher so enlighten me if I'm wrong. But I'm pretty sure a fight between ex-military and a master assassin doesn't go two ways. There is a reason why he is in The Avengers. If every person that joined the military would be able to kill Clint then Avengers should have just recruited a lot of people instead of only choosing people that are qualified to defend the world from stuff like Ultron.
8252303
He has an INCREDIBLY high pain tolerance, has access to a vast number of weapons, and while I don't know if the soon-to-be-released series will do the same, but from what I've read, is a master of SEVERAL different hand to hand combat forms.
Give this a read: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher
"Yeah, we ponies are a pretty horrible judge of character these past few seasons, especially me."
OH COME ON!
Please tell me Frank Castle winds up kicking himself when he learns that Barnes was innocent the entire time...
And...it's Verrückter Mann...
German for;
8252842
Are you talking about a certain Asgardian goddess of death?
media.comicbook.com/2017/03/thor-ragnarok-footage-mjolnir-fate-hela-tease-237796-1280x0.jpg
8252842
No, Death being a woman is ABSOLUTELY going to happen in Infinity War. Kevin Feige himself confirmed it.
How many events are we talking about? I get the first and second Avengers movies, but are there more?
8250261 Ponies are poor judges of character.
8250266 There was no scene like this in the film.
8250362 That's the Punisher's character. He doesn't care what anyone thinks about him. He just does what he does.
8250644 Definitely.
8251564 Exactly! Ponies are too easy to forgive!
8253363
It had the line "As entertaining as that would be," that T'Challa said, so..... close enough?
But that's my point. This chapter was actually something COMPLETELY different. THAT is the kind of stuff I want to see in this fic.
8253049
I CANNOT believe I'm looking at a woman nearing 50.
Great job on the tension between Castle and Starlight's crew.
8253390 Chapters 1-10, 12, 17-19, 33, and 34 were all completely original. Plenty of other chapters also had original scenes. There will be plenty of future chapters that will also be original.
8253926
Ok, those numbers are accurate. I just still don't like that events for the most part are staying the same. Beating a dead horse here, (pun KIND OF intended) but your other story WASN'T like that... until the end. It was for all intents and purposes, it's own thing. This just feels like the novelization but with ponies, Punisher and Daredevil added in. And I honestly expected better of you than that. I don't care if it's hard. Either do it right or not at all.
8253926
I'm personally fine if it's not just a written version of the movie's scenes, with barely any change. I'm fine seeing a part of the chapters with ponies leaving their mark on the events, while having key events still happen.
Anyway, it's your story, and it's up to you as author, at the end, to decide how to write it. Readers are free to like or dislike, to suggest, but not to demand or dictate.
Don't let readers tell you how to write your own story, or to stop writing it.
Please don't feel discouraged, your fanfic is really good!
8254098
i wholly agree with you!!!
Man I honestly feel like Caps got the better team now. Everyone likes each other, they all have the same goal in mind, and they all work well together. Iron man has two people who want to do their own thing, has Frank who doesn't work well with others, and is overall a more unstable team.
Nice to see this team interacting with each other. Even though it kind of proves that this team up is going to be a disaster.
Now we need to see how Cap's team is doing.
8253363
Ponies are better then humans. Humans are morons who are too quick to deal out punishment. Kinda why I hope are species gets wiped out before they acquire space travel. To save the alien species the trouble of having to deal with us.
8831246
Not rewlly. Caps team was never going to be a threat. All the heavy hitters are on Team Iron Man.
8963734
keep telling yourself that.
8831246
That’s part of the reason I sided with team Cap when the movie came out.
It's not going to be easy to work together, but whether they like it or not they do have their orders. While it would be easy for Frank and Black Panther to cut their losses and just kill the Winter Soldier that's not what the government wants to happen. But then again, since when do superpowered heroes 'ever' listen to government proceedings? (Don't answer that)
Anyways, they may come off as just colleagues coming together for the same purpose of bringing down The Winter Soldier but if they are driven by their own egos then this group is doomed to fall apart. At least they are fortunate Tony and Twilight want Bucky to 'live' because 'death' is far too good a release for what he's supposedly done (Without knowing the full details). But then, the temptation to give in to one's instincts is pretty high for two particular members of the group and thusly they'll need to be kept under close watch to ensure everything goes according to plan. But as they say: Plans change... All the time.
8963734
You idiot.
Punisher and Black Widow make an interesting pair. I remember they co-stared in an anime movie together.