Damned Are the Guilty

Pain. That was all Frank could feel as he felt his conscious return to him. The pain of broken bones and internal bleeding was nothing compared to the agony he was going through, but it still wasn't the worst pain that he had ever felt before. The night he lost everything still trumped that. But the pain he was feeling still hurt like hell.

Doing his best to ignore the pain he forced his eyes open to see that he was staring up a brick ceiling, while laying on another bed. He tilted his head slightly to see that there was a small window in his room, but it had a pair of bars covering it. Bars that he recognized all too well.

With a grunt he sat up and found that once again he was in a prison cell, but this was a little different than the ones he was used to or had been in. This one was simple, small and had a massive gate instead of bars that was blazing with magic that crackled like lightning, telling Frank that touching them was a bad idea. Then he looked through the bars to the other side to see the princess that he had come to loath on the other side. Princess Twilight.

"Finally awake, huh? We've got to stop meeting like this," Twilight said in a cold voice to Frank, who forced himself to get to his feet and stretch out his aching body. He glanced down at himself to see that while his body was hurting, there was no physical damage that he could find. "Wondering how you're still alive? You can thank us for that. We found your broken and dying body and used our magic to get you healthy again. Then we threw your ass in here."

Frank glanced over at Twilight, making sure she couldn't read his expression as he glared at her. "What about Tirek? Did you and your allies manage to bring him down?"

"No. He was gone by the time we got there. Along with nearly all the magic in the city," Twilight replied with the tiniest hint of confusion in her eyes. She was trying to hide it, but for a brief second Frank could see it. "We saw the destruction he caused as well. The ponies devoid of magic and life. So I'm not going be able to talk long. I've got another monster to find."

"You said nearly all the magic. He missed some?"

"Yeah, two ponies and a foal. They managed to get away. And according to them, it was thanks to you," Twilight said in a dry voice, one that nearly got a smirk out of Frank. She wasn't happy that she had to admit that he had helped others. But then her dark glare returned to her and Frank felt the mood shift. "But now that you've met Tirek, how do you feel being so utterly crushed by him?"

Frank felt her words sink into him, knowing that was right. He had been crushed by Tirek. His weapons hadn't had worked, his planning was thrown out the window and in order to let others escape he had been nearly killed himself. But Tirek was still out there. Was still a monster that was ruining the lives of others. And Frank wanted him dead.

"I'm ready for round two," Frank said to Twilight in a voice filled with nothing but murder, but to his surprise Twilight smirked at his response before she looked at the cell he was trapped in.

"Yeah, that ain't happening. By round two, you mean another attempt to murder him. I'm not letting that happen," Twilight responded with a look to Frank, who glared at her in reply. "My friends and I already have enough on our plate without having to deal with you. And seeing as you escaped from your previous cell, we made this one, especially for you. Indestructible stone. A gate made of sheer magical power. And two guards that, unlike your previous one, won't be tricked by your words."

"You need me to help bring him down," Frank tried to reason with her once more, knowing that they wouldn't be able to beat Tirek. "He isn't the same as you remember. If he can survive bullets, the I'm fairly certain that he can withstand your magic."

"See, I would believe you and would want your help if you weren't a murdering sociopath just like Tirek," Twilight snapped back with a dark glare. "And don't tell me that you did it because you wanted to help others. You've killed over ten beings since you got in this land. But I'm fairly certain that you've killed a far greater number than that on your world. In fact I can see it. There's murder in your eyes."

"I kill the scum that hurts the innocent. And Tirek has hurt the innocent. He needs to be brought down," Frank said with a snarl, one that was met with narrowed eyes. "I can track him. Once I've seen a criminal, I can always find them again. I can help-"

"Shut up!...just...stop..." Twilight whispered as she held a hoof to her head. "I've got to find Tirek. Faust only knows what he's up to. So allow me to make this perfectly clear to you so that I won't have to repeat it. The only way you'll ever get close to Tirek is if I let you. And I'm not going to let you. I'm going to let rot in this cell for the rest of your life while I go stop a rampaging beast. And after what you've done and how many you've killed, I feel that may be too nice for you. Maybe once we catch Tirek, I'll make put him in the cell across from you. Bet both of you would hate that."

Twilight turned as she said this and walked out of the room, leaving Frank to glare through the gate as she left. A moment later she was replaced with two other alicorns, one as white as snow and the other as dark as the night. They radiated power and authority, all of which was directed at Frank. He glared at them in reply, not backing down an inch.

"So this is the human that has been causing you so much trouble. The one that has claimed so many lives," Luna muttered aloud as she sized up the Frank, not looking impressed. "I know that he wielded dangerous weapons, but still, I cannot see how you had so much trouble with him, sister. He does not look that dangerous."

"The trail of bodies he has left would say otherwise, sister," Celestia replied as she looked into Frank's eyes, able to see through him and into the darkness of his soul. "In the week he has been here he has already slain so many. All of them criminals, yes, but living beings all the same. The safest place for him is behind this gate."

"I will get out of here. And then I'll bring down Tirek. Gate or no gate," Frank promised the two princesses. Luna let out a small chuckle at his words, but Celestia gazed at him with a dead serious expression before she poured more of her magic into the cell that held him.

"Highly unlikely. This cell was built specifically for you," Celestia replied as she backed away from the gate a bit. "As dangerous as your are, you are only human. Not even superhuman. Breaking out of here would require power that you are not capable of generating. So as Twilight said, unless she lets you out, you're staying in here for a long time."

.45

The moon was resting high in the sky as Twilight descended onto the prison in Canterlot, tired and angry from a long day of hard work and nothing to show for it. Her efforts to find Tirek had been for naught. She had no luck tracking down the centaur and do to her inability to, another city had lost their magic to him and his wrath. And now she had to return to the prison that held a human that she hated above nearly all others. Her day couldn't possibly get any better.

The guards moved to the side and allowed her to enter the prison area, a place she never liked to visit. She let out a tired sigh as she walked into the first row of cells, shaking her head and forcing herself to move forward. As she walked she found that some of the cells that had been previously empty were now filled with inhabitants. She wasn't surprised. With the rise of Tirek, crime had gone up. She hated to see that.

'And just the other day rumors of another ancient foe surfacing reached us. How many ancient evils are there in this world?' Twilight asked herself as she walked, ignoring the cries that were thrown at her as she passed. 'And even in Ponyville the Flim-Flam brothers tried to scam everypony out of their own homes. Just another day in Equestria.'

She shook those thoughts off as she walked into the special holding cells, spying the princess of the night sitting in a chair on the outside of the human's cell. She looked bored, but still alert. Twilight glanced inside the container to see that the human was fast asleep in his bed, though Twilight didn't know if he was faking or not.

"Hello, Princess Twilight," Luna greeted Twilight as she entered, turning to look at Twilight with bored eyes. "How have you been doing? It's been what, three days since your were last in here?"

"Yeah and I've got nothing to show for it," Twilight replied as she sat down next to Luna, recounting her tales of failure for the princess to hear. When she was done Luna nodded with a bitter smile, as if she understood what Twilight was going through.

"You are not the only one that has had trouble doing your job the past couple of days. I too have been struggling with the human," Luna informed Twilight, who raised an eyebrow at the princess of the night. "See how he's fast asleep there? Well, he's done that three times now. And three times I have tried to enter into his dreams so that I can learn more about him. But I can't."

"Are you having trouble entering dreams?" Twilight asked.

"No. I can enter other dreams just fine. But whenever I try to enter his, it's like a wall of sheer willpower keeps me out. Like he won't let me in. I've never ran into anything like that before," Luna grumbled as she shook her head. "Well, standing around being upset about it won't do any good. What are you going to do next to find Tirek?"

"I don't know," Twilight admitted. "I've tried every spell, every trick in my book to try and find him, but whatever magic he's using to hide himself is beyond me and my friends. I can't send in Discord because of what happened last time and I don't want him to steal your powers, so I have to do this with only them. And it's not enough. Every day we lose more and more ponies to him. The human was right. He's different this time."

"Heh, you know the end of the world is close when we say the human is right. Perhaps when the sun comes up I can come with you and help you to-"

"Frank Castle."

Both Twilight and Luna snapped their heads towards the bed, where the human was now sitting up at glaring at the both of them. He let out a long sigh, like he had finally decided to do something that he didn't want to do. "Frank Castle. Not the human. I'm tired of hearing that. Call me by my name. Or call me what everyone else calls me. Punisher."

"Punisher, huh? That you're "superhero" name?" Twilight asked with a smirk, but there was curiosity in her eyes now. "Why choose now to tell us your name? Fairly certain that you could have done that when we first met, if you weren't so busy murdering."

"Because I'm tired of keeping her out of my head," Frank replied as he cast a glance at Luna, before refocusing on Twilight. "So if you want to know so badly why I do what I do, fine. I'll tell you. I'll tell you why I'm so messed up. And then when I'm done, you can decide if I'm a simple murderer or not. Sit down, ponies. Story time."