Previously, a serial killer set his sights on Washington, killing several victims and removing their faces as trophies before the Punisher got involved. After his encounter with the Jester, Frank found he was outmatched and was rescued by a college student named Chip, who gave Frank the lead he needed to get to the Jester’s next victim before he struck again.

Unfortunately, the Punisher was too late, as the Jester had already slaughtered another victim and was now on his way to claim his next prize…the daughter of Frank’s old friend, FBI Agent Griffen. Now it’s a race against time to save her before the Jester can slaughter her and then move on to his next target…Chip.

SMILE, DARN YA, SMILE

Part III

By Tobias Christopher

Hannibal Dinner Theater
Three Months Ago

Ever since he was a little boy, Jonathan Powers wanted to be an actor. To be loved by people the world over, to have everyone know his name. To be an idol to people everywhere was something Jonathan Powers dreamt of every night.

Unfortunately, the man had zero acting talent. He could juggle, do gymnastics and many other amazing tricks, even putting on quite a donkey show at one point. When it came to captivating the audience, however, that was the one thing he could not do.

And tonight, what should have been his breakthrough performance, was instead the breaking point of his mind.

After a disastrous opening of the play ‘One More Day at a Time’, Powers was humiliated on stage after only five minutes when the audience started pelting items of all sorts at him. Powers went back to his dressing room, looking at himself in the mirror in disgust. It wasn’t as if this sort of thing hadn’t happened before, but the previous times he hadn’t just woken up from an exorcism-induced coma.

“No, I won’t go back to that criminal life,” Powers said as the door was slammed open and the play’s producer, a middle aged bald man, stepped in.

“What the fuck was that!” the man shouted. “You idiot, you’ve ruined me! No one’s going to want to see this play now!”

“It was just…opening night jitters,” Powers tried to play it off. “I just-”

“You just nothing, your incompetent ass has screwed every actor in this play!” the producer shouted, spitting as he spoke. “You no good, talentless hack! You’re worthless! You’re not worth the flesh you’re printed on! And another thing-”

As the man continued to shout at Powers, a rage grew deep inside of him, one that he had thought had long been exorcised from his soul. He clenched his fist, trying to contain the rage that was slowly coming to the surface.

“-with a broomstick that not even the Hulk will be able to remove!” the producer, now red in the face from all of his shouting, finished.

“Is that it?” Powers asked calmly.

“No,” said the man. “YOU’RE FIRED! Pack your shit and get out! You’ll never work in this town again!”

The man turned around to leave, just in time to miss a demonic yellow glow appear in Power’s eyes. As soon as the producer was gone, Powers turned and looked in the mirror. A small laugh started growing more fierce as Powers looking at his hands.

“No, the demon was gone,” he said in his normal voice as he looked at his reflection.

“I’m never gone,” the man in the mirror replied with a laugh. “We are one, now and always!”

The producer sat in his office later that night after having to refund the money to the audience, and was now attempting to find a way to salvage this disaster. Once the play reviews hit in the morning it would be all over. As the man sat there, he felt a chill run up his spine, despite the lack of windows in the office. He moved the guest sign-in book and reached for his heart medicine, looking up to see a shadowy figure standing in the doorway.

“Powers?” the man asked, as the lights seemed to have mysteriously gone down in the hallway. “I thought I told you were fired. Now get out!”

“Not just yet,” Powers said, keeping his voice low. “I have one last piece of business with you.’

The producer looked around, noticing the lights were starting to dim around him. He reached for his drawer where he kept his gun as Powers walked closer.

“What do you want?” the man asked as he looked up from the drawer and seeing Powers was gone. He removed his hand from the drawer and looked around but seeing nothing. He stood up and headed to the door to close it and walked back toward his desk and sat down in his chair. He was just calming down when he realizing something was wrong. He turned his head and saw Powers, dressed in a Jester’s costume, smiling at him as the man sat himself down on the producer’s lap.

“Hi, how are ya?”

The sudden shock sent the producer’s heart into overload. He reached for his heart medicine, but the Jester grabbed it, laughing.

“Don’t you know that drugs are bad?” asked the man with the hideous smile.

“My heart, I need my pills!” said the producer as he fell back against the wall.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” replied the Jester, who opened the bottle and poured the pills onto his hand. “Why, they look just like candy! All we need is a pinata.”

The Jester laughed as he gave the producer his pills, who quickly swallowed them. “Thank you, thank you-”

It was then that the man looked up and saw the Jester holding a broom. “Guess what, kids! I found the pinata! Get ready for candy!”

The broom came down hard against the man’s stomach and the sound of bones crunching was heard. The broom came down again. And again. And then several more times as blood started splattering across the room, until there was nothing left to hit.

“Aw,” said the Jester as he saw the broken broomstick in his hands as well as the mess on the floor. “No candy.”

As he exited the room, he spied the sign in book sitting on the desk, smiling viciously. “But this is just as good.”

Now

“Who the hell are you?” Jasmine Griffen asked as she looked the man over who was standing outside her door. “And why shouldn’t I call my father, you know, the FBI Agent?”

“Look, I know you have no reason at all to trust me, but you’ve been targeted by a serial killer and he could be on his way here right now,” argued Chip, knowing that if the killer showed up now they were both screwed right up the ass.

“Goodnight,” Jasmine said as she closed the door. Chip pounded on the door, hearing the sound of the lock sealing him outside.

“You have to protect yourself!” shouted Chip, realizing he had to take drastic measures if he was going to help save the girl.

Jasmine laughed to herself as she finished locking the deadbolt. As soon as she turned around, she came face to face with the Jester.

She screamed frantically as Chip heard her through the door. “Shit!” yelled Chip as he started looking for a way to get through the door.

“Well, aren’t you the pretty one?” asked the Jester as he ran a finger through Jasmine’s long hair. “I came here for your face, but before we get down to business, how about a little head?”

It was then that Jasmine kneed him in the groin and started running. The Jester fell to his knees before he recovered and started following her.

Outside, Chip found the security system and opened the box, setting it off to alert the police, hoping they’d get here before it was too late. As soon as he set off the alarm, he looked for a rock to smash open the window to get to Jasmine…

Elsewhere, the Punisher and Griffen were on their way to Griffen’s house as the frantic father was trying to get through to his only daughter on the phone, but was having no luck. “She’s not answering,” said Griffen as he looked over at Frank. He wouldn’t show it, but there was concern in his tone. This was his baby girl, the one person he’d move heaven and hell to protect.

“We’ll save her,” promised Frank as he turned down the street. He knew how important Jasmine was to his friend, just like Frank’s kids were still important to him. He wouldn’t let Griffen go into the darkness the way he had when he’d seen his little girl’s lifeless body laying in the park grass on that fateful day.

Chip had smashed open the window and climbed inside, not hearing anything other than himself. He pulled out Connor’s gun and started heading upstairs and slowly started moving towards one of the rooms, ducking and rolling in, accidentally knocking over the nightstand in the process.

Jasmine was hiding in one of the upstairs closets with the Jester laughing while he searching for her. She could see his shadow slowly moving past in the moonlight that crept in under the door.

“Come on out, baby, it won’t hurt,” promised the intruder. “I’ll make it as painless as possible for you. Your beauty will be preserved forever.”

As soon as Jasmine saw his shadow had moved past, she waited for a few minutes before she slowly opened the door. She carefully stepped out and looked around before starting to walk slowly toward the stairs, not realizing Chip was already upstairs and searching for her. Jasmine set one foot on the stairs, causing it make a creaking sound as she quickly pulled back, cursing silently as she heard the Jester laughing and getting nearer.

Chip, having heard the noise coming from the stairs, exited the room he was searching only to be hit over the head with a vase, which knocked him unconscious. As soon as she saw Chip’s body falling to the ground with the Jester standing over him, Jasmine finally started screaming just as a paralyzing dart hit her neck. It worked quickly on her slender frame and she immediately started to fall, but the Jester caught her before she could tumble backwards down the stairs.

The murderer smiled wickedly as he looked over her body. “Oh, yeah,” he said as he laid her on the ground. He ran a hand over her clothed chest, liking what he was seeing and feeling. “Let’s see what treats you have in store for me…”

A gunshot rang out past his head as Griffen ran up the stairs, rage plain on his face with the Punisher right behind him with his own gun drawn. “Get THE FUCK away from her!” shouted Griffen, as Chip started coming around and picking himself up as he saw the Jester holding two darts behind his back, getting ready to toss them at his new targets.

“Watch out!” Chip shouted as he picked up his gun and fired it at the Jester, but because of his lousy aim he hit Griffen in the shoulder instead, sending the FBI Agent backwards down the stairs, the fall rendering him unconscious. Frank saw that his friend was still breathing but the Punisher was now angry at every single person in front of him.

“Really?” snapped Frank as he looked back at Chip, which gave the Jester time to get up. Shaking his annoyance off, the Punisher opened fire but his shots missed as the killer ducked and dodged the bullets, laughing wildly. The Jester somersaulted down the hallway, laughing like a fool as he jumped out the window to escape.

“I told you to stay in your apartment!” Frank shouted at Chip as he looked out the window but seeing nothing. The Jester had escaped once again.

Before Chip could say anything, he noticed a laser sight on the back of Frank’s neck.

“FREEZE!” the FBI Agent shouted as he entered the room and saw Frank and Chip standing next to the shattered window. The officer was backed up by several others, all of them with their guns trained on the two as the lead officer talked into his throat mic. “We’ve got two injured here and it looks the Punisher’s our serial killer.”

Griffen and his daughter were taken to the hospital, both of them temporarily comatose and unable to vouch that Frank and Chip had been there to catch the real killer. As a result, the Punisher and the young man were both taken into custody, read their rights and handcuffed.

“I’m sorry,” Chip said as he looked at Frank as they sat in the back of the transport. “I couldn’t let someone else die. I had to help her.”

“Kid, if we get out of this, you are never even to LOOK at another gun again,” Frank promised, his tone cold and bitter.

Chip swallowed hard as he leaned back against the wall of the van.

“Both Agent Griffen and his daughter are doing fine and will hopefully wake up soon,” the representative for the FBI told the reporters as he stood outside of the hospital. “The Punisher obviously felt that Agent Griffen was getting too close and decided to take him out. Fortunately our men got the alert from his security system and rushed over just in time. This time I guarantee that the Punisher will not escape justice. He is currently being held at the Washington PD-“

The Jester laughed as he watched the news report of the Punisher being arrested for attempted murder. He had just finished putting his latest acquisition into his trophy case and marked off the name.

“Looks like these two will have to be put on hold,” said the man as he went past Chip and Jasmine’s names to the next victim. “Don’t worry, Uncle Jester will be back for you shortly.”

“Of course he’s not going to say anything,” Sergeant Blokowski said to his Chief as he watched Frank Castle sitting in the cell. “He’s the fuckin’ Punisher! Nothing you or I do is going to crack that son of a bitch. But the kid…he’ll sing like a bird.” He looked through the two-way mirror as Chip sat alone in the interrogation room. “Put enough pressure on him and he’ll give us everything we need.”

The Sergeant walked into the room where Chip was sitting and smirked; this was going to be too easy. “Chip Carter?” Blokowski said as he slammed Chip’s criminal record down on the table. “Let’s talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Sergeant…” Chip squinted and read his badge, grinning as he did. “Blojobski.”

Blokowski tried to hide his anger. The sooner he made this kid cry, the better.

Frank sat in the cell, knowing that if it was just him he could get out of this situation easily. But now he had to worry about rescuing Chip; if the kid sang like Frank thought he would, things were going to get worse, fast. He looked up as Chip was brought back in.

“Keep that fucking kid away from me!” Blokowski shouted as he stormed off to his office.

“I took psychology my first year of college,” Chip told Frank as he sat down. “What, you didn’t think I was going to fall for that ‘bad cop’ bullshit, did you?”

“Is there anything else you know about this clown?” asked Frank.

“I think he was a Sergeant,” Chip told him as he looked up. “Oh, you mean the Jester. After you left I did some more research and learned a couple of things. His real name is Jonathan Powers and he was the lead actor in that play on the night when all the victims were attending. He’s a reformed criminal and a…horrific…actor. He’s tussled with Daredevil a few times but never made it to the big leagues. Apparently he got possessed by a demon the last time he met up with ol’ hornhead, then got exorcised and ended up in a coma for six months. He woke up and tried to go straight. Until now.”

“Then the demon might still be inside him,” realized Frank as he looked around. “That explains how he’s been able to pull his disappearing acts and the enhanced strength. Now that we know what we’re dealing with, we can be prepared the next time.”

“Next time?” asked Chip as he looked around. “We’re sitting in a fuckin’ jail cell! How are we supposed to stop him from in here? How the hell do expect us to get out of this?”

An awkward silence briefly filled the air.

“Kid, I once escaped from Ryker’s with a sharpened pudding lid and a handful of Cap’n Crunch,” the Punisher told him with a deadly serious straight face. “And I’ll be damned if I let one of the holier-than-thou Daredevil’s rogues beat me.”

Another awkward silence filled the air, this one lasting considerably longer before the Punisher spoke again. “Take off your shoes and give me the laces, and the string from that hooded sweatshirt you’re wearing.”

Chip just stared blankly at him and did as he asked. Ten minutes later, Frank walked out of the police headquarters, once again fully armed with Chip right behind him, the guards bound by the laces against the bars of the cell. The other cops who had tried to stop them along the way had all been knocked unconscious but otherwise unharmed.

“You’re a regular McGuyver,” Chip said as he looked over his shoulder then back at Frank with newly reaffirmed fear. “A fucked in the head, homicidal McGuyver!” Despite this, he quickly ran behind Frank, following him whereever it was he was headed.

The Jester smiled as he examined his new acquisitions. He’d been able to collect several faces over the course of the night with no Punisher to harass him. By the time the police were smart enough to figure out his pattern he’d have his collection completed.

“Who’s next on the list?” asked the Jester as he read off the next name, smiling gleefully, seeing that one of Washington’s Finest had also been in attendance of the play that evening.

“Fools! Can you not see an actor at work!” asked Powers as he stood on the stage.

“No, we just see some asshole whose ripped us off!” Joseph Blokowski shouted as he tossed a glass of wine at the man, followed by more objects flying up at the stage, forcing the would-be actor to flee.

The Jester smirked as he closed the book and got ready to claim his next victim.

“Frank, where exactly are we headed?” asked Chip as he ran behind Frank, trying to keep up despite the fact that the Punisher wasn’t even running to begin with. “We should be getting more weapons or calling in the heavy artillery.”

“What do you think we’re doing?” Frank asked as he looked up at the church that they’d just walked two blocks to find. “There’s no better demon fighting artillery than in a church. Let’s get to work.”

To Be Concluded