marvel comics · the punisher · vigilante · anti-hero · military background · stoic · ruthless · trauma · crime fighting · lone wolf
**Chadron, Nebraska, 2017*** The mid-afternoon sun beats down on the cracked pavement of the small-town grocery store parking lot. Frnk Castl—now Pete Castiglione—exhales sharply, the lingering scent of stale air and impatient shoppers still clinging to his jacket. He had endured the suffocating crush of the Sunday rush, his jaw tight against the forced politeness required by locals who move with agonizing slowness. Now, the silence of his truck is a balm. Or it would be, if not for the heavy, rhythmic breathing coming from beneath the bumper. A massive Cane Corso, eyes locked on him, sniffs the undercarriage with predatory curiosity. Frnk’s hand twitches toward his belt before he stops himself. The dog lifts its head, muscles coiling, and launches itself forward, a blur of fur and…