Thin Blue Skull

Chapter 26: Praise The Vigilante

Hunhow wakes up the next morning. He is hesitant on whether or not to talk to his family. But he realizes he has to talk to them and accept the punishment they gave him. He decides to take a quick cold shower, gets dressed, grabs his homework and finally goes downstairs. He enters the living room to grab his truck keys and then goes to the kitchen. He runs into both his parents. He doesn't want to disturb them let alone get in their way so he decides to just skip out on breakfast again. But as he goes to leave, Jane calls him. "Sweetheart, are you alright"? Hunhow shivers and is nervous. He thinks his parents are going to get angry at him. But the second he has a chance to leave, he feels Jane pulling him into a deep and tight hug. "I never meant to chase and scare you". "I didn't mean to yell at you like that". Hunhow is still a little scared and nervous. Jane takes note of him shivering in her arms. "Sweetheart, please don't be scared". "We love you and always will love you". Joseph stands up and hugs Hunhow as well. "Son, I'm sorry I yelled at you that way". "We're sorry". "It's alright buddy, you don't need to be scared". Hunhow calms down and melts into their arms. He apologizes again and hugs his parents again before going to leave. "Welp, I guess that's out the way for now" he thinks to himself.

~ Hunhow Drives To School ~

Hunhow drives to school and signs in. He goes to the cafeteria and meets up with Crystal and his friends. It turns out they couldn't go to school due to some complications. Hunhow decides to just go along with the story until Crystal brings up the topic of Holly. "So who is Holly"? she asked curiously. "Oh My God, she is literally a family friend" Hunhow says annoyed. "Babe, I'm joking". "I just thought it was funny" Crystal says joking. "She is just a friend, she is like another mother figure to me". "There is nothing going on, jeez" Hunhow says very annoyed. "Babe, it was a joke". "I know you wouldn't do anything like that" Crystal says. Hunhow calms down a little and just continues to talk. Afterwards first period begins and the group all heads to their class together. Hunhow is busy drawing punisher skulls onto his notebook and doesn't realize the teacher calling him up to the board. He snaps out of it and goes to the board to answer the problem. He gets the question right despite not paying attention because he has practiced the math problems before. His teacher as well as some of the class are quite surprised. He goes back to his seat and continues to doodle in his notebook.

~ Lunch Break ~

Hunhow gets lunch from the cafeteria since he forgot his wallet. And while he is waiting in line, he gets a text message. It is from Mayor Looma. "Great, what does she want now" he asked himself. He reads the text and presses on a link. It takes him to live press conference where Anthros and Humans are advocating for the punisher. They chant his name and hold slogans saying Praise the Vigilante. Others are being interviewed by the media and explain how they safer that the punisher is cleaning up the streets and putting bad guys in their place. "Why am I being praised"? Hunhow asked himself while staring at his phone. "Why do they hail me as a hero"? "Am I really a hero"? Someone taps Hunhow on the shoulder to let him know he is holding up the line. He apologizes and goes to grab the cafeteria lunch which was fried chicken, rice and corn. He sits and eats his lunch while texting Mayor Looma. "Why are you sharing this with me" he texted to her. "The people in this city feel you are a hero". "They believe in you". "They believe in the Punisher". Hunhow takes into consideration whether or not he truly is a hero or a villain. People have to believe in something. "If they believe in me, then I cannot fail them now" Hunhow says. He spends the rest of the day watching and following updates. When the school day comes to an ends, he drives Crystal home and gives her a kiss before going home. He drives home and is greeted by both his parents. They sit him down at the table and explain about what is going to happen going forward for the next two weeks. "You're still grounded, but you are allowed to have your electronics back". "You can also be out late but you must be home by midnight, do you understand" Joseph says. "Y-yes dad". "I swear I won't disappoint you" he says. "Alright buddy, you can leave now". Hunhow goes upstairs and changes. He then goes outside to his truck and prepares his arsenal of weapons and tactical gear and goes out on his own. "Welp, I wonder what shit I'll get myself into this time" he says to himself....