Thin Blue Skull

Chapter 17: Spread Like Wild Fire

Hunhow wakes up the next day and checks the news. And he sees major headlines about his crimes. Except, many have mixed reactions. Hunhow loves to check the the NY Times Morning News and FNN/Furry News Network. At first he sees nothing in particular but then the news cuts to their most top stories. The major headline is 3 Drug Dealers found dead in what appears to be a drug deal gone wrong. Hunhow listens to the broadcast as the reporters speak. "NY Police and Fire department were called to the NY East Side Shipping port after calls of a fire". "When they entered the burning building, they found 2 bodies". "Investigators say the bodies are of a Anthro and Human, both male". "The bodies were also found to have bullet wounds as well as weapons". "Police are trying to peace together what happened and if this is related to a drug deal gone bad" the female human news reporter says. "In other news, a biker from a notorious street biker gang called the Dogs of Hell was found brutality shot and ran over". "Police don't have a motive and believe the incident is connected to possible road rage". Hunhow watches the news and is quite satisfied with the news. He almost smiles to himself about how he not only got his revenge but how others are spotlighting it. Hunhow then gets a call from Crystal. He picks up the phone to answer her call. "Hey babe, are you alright"? she asked. "I'm good, why"? he asked. "Oh it's nothing, just wanted to check and make sure you were okay after last night". "Lizzie said you were a little stand offish but sounded okay for the most part". "Oh yeah, I'm sorry about that" Hunhow says as a lie. "I just wanted to clear my head about some stuff". "Oh okay then". "Can you call me later"? "Sure, I love you". "I love you too". With that Hunhow hung up and continued to watch the news. He then saw a small the reports on the TV and knew what they were talking about. "Officers were called to the alleyway of 2658 N Rockford Avenue and discovered a gruesome sight". "A body found badly burned in a pile of trash". "Nobody knows who the individual is". "But police say this could be connected to the 2 other separate cases involving the Dogs of Hell Biker and 2 Men found in the warehouse at the East Side Shipping port". "Well, what do you know about that" Hunhow says to himself.

~ Time Skip ~

Hunhow goes out to Crystal's house and hangs out with her and her family. He plays it cool to avoid raising eyebrows and enjoys himself as if nothing ever happened the night before. Hunhow, Crystal and her family all go back and eat dinner together and decide to watch TV. They are watching the news when all of a sudden it begins to broadcast the case. A live police conference follows and they deliver the case and findings to the media and public. The police chief speaks and discusses the whole situation. "We have confirmation that this wasn't a random conincidence". "All 4 individuals who were killed all had something in common". "They were all criminals who had backgrounds involving drug dealing, murder, racketeering, arms dealing, fraud and ect". "One of these men was a notorious arms dealer, drug dealer and murder". "His name was Andrew Featherston and the NY State police have had him on our radar for almost 4 years". "Featherston was recently suspected in the shooting death of retired NYPD officer James Maverick". "We have reason to believe that whoever committed these crimes was not another criminal but someone who decided to take the law into their own hands". "We believe this is the act of a possible vigilante" the police chief says. Meanwhile reporters are asking questions and Hunhow looks a little nervous. And it doesn't help that Crystal is studying him hard and so are her parents. "Your uncle's killer is dead"?. "I-I can't believe this" Hunhow says. "Someone killed him"? Hunhow says trying to pretend to be shocked. Crystal however is not buying his shocked expression and starts to suspect something. "I-I have to go and call my parents" he says. Crystal's parents agree and let him leave without saying anything else. He goes to his truck and gives off. He calls his parents and informs them. They both inform him they already received the news. Afterwards Hunhow drives home while making sure nobody is following him.

~ Time Skip ~ Hours Later ~

Hunhow doesn't know what he should do but he just cannot get the trill of putting criminals in the grave out of his head. Hunhow knows what he has to do and decided to go out and get more criminals off the street. He goes to his house and retrieves all the gear he found at his uncle's house. With this vest and weapons ready he drives to the city and goes in search of any criminals he can set upon. He parks on a small bridge and waits patiently for anything to happen. After what feels like almost an eternity, he notices a man following a woman. He sees the guy grab her and tries to take her purse. Hunhow gets out his truck and grabs his Glock 30 but unscrewed the suppressor. He goes to follow the man and woman as they fight for the bag. Eventually they end up in a alleyway and he sees the man holding her against the wall while he searches the bag. "HEY"!! Hunhow Yells. The man and woman look his way and stare. "The hell you want" the man demands. "You like harming young women". "You like money"??. "Maybe, you'll like me bashing your face in just for fun" Hunhow taunts. "Walk away kid" the man argues. "Nah, walking away is exactly what you should do". He says. Angry the man throws the woman's purse to the ground and goes to fight Hunhow. But Hunhow came prepared and body slams the man to the ground. "Get up boy, I wanna knock you down again" Hunhow says. The man angrily gets up and attempts to attack him again. Hunhow dodges his fist as they fly and he lands a solid round house to the man's jaw. He grabs the man's head and slams it into his knee. The man howls in agony. Hunhow then takes his mallet and swings it on the man's left shoulder. The man falls backwards and struggles to get up. "If there's one thing I've learned about thugs like you". "It's that you still have much to learn". Hunhow uses his mallet and pounds the man's knees and chest. The man struggles to breathe as he vomits blood and begins to weez. All this while the woman watches in shock. "You should've never fuck with me". "There's no place for men like you". "And now, it's time to meet your maker and answer for all the harm you've done to people". Hunhow delivers the last few words before pulling out his gun and shooting the man several times. The man lays dead and the woman watches in awe and shock. She hesitates before opening her mouth to say something. "Th-thank you" she says. "Run home miss and don't stay out after dark" Hunhow says in a cold but caring voice. "Wait, w-who are you"?. "Call me the punisher". He then leaves not batting another word or eye and gets back to his truck. He then drives home. He looks in his mirror to see himself covered in blood and bruises on his knuckles. But he embraces it. He embraces what he has done. Hunhow goes home and spends the night watching TV before going to sleep on the couch.

~ Time Skip ~

Hunhow wakes up to the news station and they are reporting about his newest victim. "Bryce Johnson was wanted by police in 4 separate purse snatchings in the last 2 weeks". "But when police responded to a call of an attempted theft only to find the suspect dead and a woman saying a man saved her". A news reporter at the scene begins to interview the woman. "As I was about to be robbed, some man in a dark hood and large vest with a skull came" the woman says. "What did this man look like" the reporter asked. "He was tall maybe 5'9 or taller". "He had brass knuckles on, wore a trench coat, and had a Military like vest with a skull on it". "What type of skull did the vest have"?. "It was a big skull like one of the skulls some of the police in the NYPD wear". "Oh you mean a punisher skull"?. "Something like that". "He beat the man". "And then he shot him". "He said something about being the Punisher and he was here to punish the criminals that plague the streets of NY". "I'm sorry I have to go". "Well, thank you ma'am". "Anyway, that was our interview with the victim who is still trying to process the whole ordeal". "I'm Kathy Mackenzie and we are signing off". "Thank you Kathy". "You know Sebastian, we see to many stories of crime and shootings and drugs and murders". "But it seems someone is out there doing what nobody is willing to do and that is put criminals in their place" the news woman says. "Agreed Chelsey, it's time we start taking violent criminals off the streets". Hunhow watches as the new anchors on air talk about how they feel about the rise of his vigilanteness. And he begins to get a thrill out of it. He goes to spend his morning eating cereal and chatting with Crystal who luckily didn't pay much attention to the broadcast. But Hunhow wasn't done yet... He was only just beginning...