The Game Cafe in Marvel and DC

59 – Frank Castle’s Dilemma

[A/N: So, I did some reading and spent a few minutes reading through comments and reviews on R.R., Scribble Hub, and Q.Q. Something that a lot of you guys agree on is that the chapters lack substance. So, I'm going to try to do better. Please keep giving me feedback and suggestions so that I can write better stories for you guys in the future. Also, do keep in mind that I am working full-time and in college. That's why you guys only get a chapter a week from the three stories I post publicly]

Days passed since Superman decided to grace my Cafe with his presence, but since that Meteor, I haven't seen even a single sign of the hero. I would be worried about the hero, but to be frank, I was not. Few things could put that cockroach down, and if any of them were on this planet, I bet I would know by now or at least have seen some news on it. Speaking of news, Logan has been coming by once a week to get a few cases of Siera Madre Martinis, always paying upfront with his Karma.

On the other hand, Alfred has also been stopping by weekly to get food, drinks, and medicine and informed me that his 'Master' was back from a trip and quite exhausted, so I recommended he gift them a box of Premium Coffee from Stardew Valley. To my surprise, a lot of the goods from Stardew Valley proved to be a big hit as they were fresh and somehow better quality than anything on Earth, and Alfred gave it his stamp of approval, as he was pretty strict towards the quality of the ingredients he used when cooking.

If anything, it was clear that Alfred was using my Cafe as a supermarket to get everything he needed to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I enjoyed his company so much that I sometimes helped him load the goods into his car. Other than that, nothing unusual. I still had no idea where Frank and his Assaultron were and that Kyle had somehow managed to recreate an Eyebot that follows him around with scrap he scrounged for in abandoned factories and the dump.

As for my resident Agents, they were also making progress in their respective games. Clint and Harley, who were in Ark Survival Evolved, have been making progress with the Obelisks and Survivor Notes by using the help of the other players in the server, who all were living in the same region of the Island, the southern beaches. With the help of the other Players and some fantastic high ground, they managed to kill the Spino camping the river by the death of a thousand cuts.

As it turns out, the Dinosaur was quite challenging. Nothing they had could do any real damage, so Harley suggested simply bleeding it out with stone arrows and spears. Having no better idea, they enacted their plan with the help of three other players. Harley, riding a Raptor, caught the Spino's attention, luring it into a small valley in land where the other players and Hawkeye waited on the cliffs.

After over an hour of effort, they managed to take the Spino down at the cost of Beasty, Harley's Raptor, which sacrificed itself to save its owner after Harley made a mistake. In hindsight, I should have expected it, but it seemed that Harley cared for that Raptor, as she ended up charging the Spino, spear in hand, and died a good dozen times to get revenge for her 'Baby.'

When it finally did die, all of the Players present leveled up a few times, with some gaining five levels based on their contribution towards the kill, with Harley getting the most, reaching level 20, unlocking the smithy Engram and metal tools.

From there, the Players, now in a Tribe, traveled to the Red Obelisk and found the console directly beneath the Obelisk on a metal platform in the middle of a raised collum of stone in the middle of a crater where they discovered the boss requirements through the use of their Specimen Implants.

From there, they began exploring the Island, searching for more Survivor Notes and any hint of where they could find the Artifacts hidden across the Island, and that's where they were now, scouring the Island for Artifacts as well as exp for levels and engrams.

Then there was Black Widow, who was now in Fallout 2, having completed Fallout 1 not too long ago. Her journey wasn't anything special, but something I noticed was she was journaling. At the same time, she traveled the Wastes, writing anything of interest down, likely to report to Fury once her session was over.

Speaking of Fury, I had a few new customers, totaling six, that just screamed 'Agent,' the fact that some of them immediately joined Ark to help Hawkeye only further proved it. Though one of them, a young fit man, was assigned to...Stardew Valley and they clearly did not like it very much if their attitude in the game was anything to go by.

Only after paying attention did I catch his name while he was talking with the Mayor in the game. His name was Grant Ward.

At first, I did not recognize him, but the more I observed, the more I felt it to be familiar. It took me half an hour, but eventually, I recognized him. He was featured in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, a supposed non-canon show that featured the events after Coulson died in Avengers; only in the show did he not die and was instead revived. It's been ages, but I remember binge-watching the entire show quite a few years back, though I found the later seasons weird. 

So, if he exists here, does that mean those Inhumans hiding somewhere on Earth also existed? What was it called again...Afterlife? It is such a strange name to call a hidden village.

...

Meanwhile, in a hidden safehouse within Hell's Kitchen, a man could be seen strapped to a chair. He was bloodied and battered, covered in bruises, and hooked up to multiple machines. His nails and toenails were ripped off, and his body was treated like a fish as someone began to fillet his skin, removing entire sections.

This man was Frank Castle—the Punisher.

Weeks prior, unknown men tracked the man and his robot down in the middle of the night, attacking them both in the middle of the night. The men that attacked him were highly trained and boasted military equipment and technology, nearly instantly decommissioning the Assaultron. 

However, Assaultron managed to deal with some damage to the professionals before its destruction. The assailants first tried using E.M.P., but little did they know, the Assaultron was designed with a metallic shielding inside its frame that would protect it from most of the damage the E.M.P. would have caused. Unluckily for Frank, the E.M.P. did knock out the Assaultron's Head Laser, leaving it to use only its blades.

Even then, the Assaultron did not make it far, as the assailants, after noticing that the localized E.M.P. did not work, used some weapon that sent electrical discharge through the Assaulton's frame, dealing significant damage to its internals as the discharge fried a lot of the Assaultron's internal wiring and systems.

From there, they quickly captured Frank and what remained of the Assaultron, retreating from Frank's home where they placed him in a safe house nearby and began torturing the man for information. All to find out one singular question: who made the Assaultron? 

While these Assaliants were unknown, something that Frank did notice, even in his state, was the strange Eagle symbol on their uniforms.

SHIELD.

Suddenly hearing the sound of shattering glass, Frank let out a slight twitch, showing that despite his injuries, he was very much still alive.

Thinking it was an adequate distraction and that his time had come, he began struggling in the binds that held him to his chair before tumbling over onto his side.

Struggling as hard as he could, he eventually managed to free one arm by dislocating his wrist. 

From there, escaping from the rest of his binds was easy.

Once on his feet, he rushed towards the door, waiting to ambush whoever would come to his cell. He may not win, but he would be damned if he will die without taking a few with him.

Hearing screams come from outside the door, he waited. Whatever was coming must have been slaughtering his captors like a scythe to wheat. That's when an explosion blew the door open, throwing him into a nearby wall.

Looking up, he was met with a petrifying sight.

A skeleton on fire, wearing a biker's jacket, jeans, and boots, wielding chains that looked like molten metal.

That's when the skull glanced towards him, its empty eyes making Frank feel as if his blood was boiling, his skin melting, and his heart burning. 

"GUILTY!" The skull seemed to shout as it pointed its skeletal finger at him.

That's when something blew up, sending the skeleton flying into a nearby wall, where it sunk deep into the concrete.

Unscathed, the skeleton began trying to claw its way out.

That's when half a dozen men stormed into the room, all unloading their guns into the moving skeleton, pushing it back into the wall.

Seeing his chance, Frank acted, sneaking up behind one of the men, where he reached towards the waist of one of the men, and in a flash, unholstered their pistol, shoved them into the others, and took aim.

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

Unloading the pistol's magazine, he cursed, throwing the pistol at one of the men who was raising their gun to shoot him before pushing out of the room as the skeleton on fire reached out and grabbed the man about to shoot him.

"LOOK INTO MY EYES!" The hellish being spoke ominously as Frank fled.

As Frank ran through the corridor, he noticed a large amount of ash and scattered weapons. Not wasting the opportunity, he grabbed a rifle from the ground as he ran, ignoring the pain that screamed from his beaten body.

Slamming through a door, he found himself in another corridor that looked to be part of some apartment building.

Rushing down the hall, he ran for the staircase, rushing down the stairs and out of the burning building behind him, as whatever hellish creature in there finished off whoever was left.

Not looking back and gritting his teeth, Frank fleed for the only place he could likely find refuge.

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