14939/Wherefor Art Though Punisher

Wherefor Art Though Punisher
Date of Scene:	17 May 2023
Location:	Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Hank Hall and Steve Rogers independently go to investigate a Punisher crime scene, while Joan Wright works on the area for Damage Control Inc.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Hank Hall, Joan Wright

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Steve Rogers has posed:
The neighborhood is one of Brooklyn's finer. The kind of place that those with money settle, whether gained legitimately or through other means. It was the latter sort that early this morning had drawn the attention of one Frank Castle. AKA The Punisher.

The firefight had been extensive, especially for such an early hour. Scorch marks and damage from small explosions can be seen in a few places on a walled manor tucked away in the high end neighborhood. Bullet holes can be seen in many places as well. Two vehicles near the front gate have just been extinguished by the NYFD which are just finishing up and pull away in their trucks. A light pole is down blocking the road. A multitude of police are on hand, the CSI's finishing up with their evidence gathering and heading out. This one isn't going to be a very tough case to crack that it needs a lot of evidence. Multiple witnesses on hand identified The Punisher as being responsible for the attack before he was driven off.

A motorcycle pulls up, stopping down the block where it will be out of the way. Steve Rogers climbs off, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, with a leather jacket overtop. He locks his helmet to the bike and then makes his way over to one of the officers. He pulls out his Avengers card, saying, "Steve Rogers with the Avengers. I've been hunting Castle for awhile. Would like to look the area over." The uniformed policeman nods, saying, "I'll find you a detective."

Hank Hall has posed:
"Castle gets around," murmurs a blonde man with close cropped hair dressed in plain clothes, easily fitting in to the scene even without the flash of a badge. Metropolis PD, from the quick glance. Which is all the officer intends to offer, because a bike cop from another city might raise some eyebrows as to why he is chasing Castle. The truth is, while he was in plainclothes as Hank Hall, he was really investigating as Hawk of the Titans. It was unclear who exactly had taken out a Yakuza front last week, but it had started a bit of a war between a few factions, and if it was the Punisher, that could settle things fairly quickly.

Did Hank really thank Castle had found so little gang warfare in New York that he had to seek out new grounds for his war? No. But it sure would have been a more convenient explanation to get the war in Metropolis ended.

Joan Wright has posed:
Despite the somewhat grumpy demeanor of some detectives at the scene, a little pink and blue roomba-ish looking bot floats on by into the crime scene. There's a cheerful beep of greeting to the two men as she passes. For those familiar with their tech, they may even recognize it as a custom looking Kord Industries bot.

No one seems to contest the little item as it hovers around but that may have to do with the added wrapper holding its own credentials for being there. Bailey B. Assistant to one Joan Wright.

As the pink and blue bot zooms by, eventually a figure in a garishly bright and visible green, yellow, black, and gray resist weave outfit walks over. Joan is most decidedly not a detective but judging from the safety gear, complete with gloves and glasses, the tablet holding woman is also here in an official capacity. She pauses, looking around before heading closer to the section that had been graced with more attention from explosives. Save for her and the bot, she is the only one heading over there.

Steve Rogers has posed:
A man in a cheap suit returns with the uniformed cop, approaching Steve Rogers and offering his hand. "Al Bixby," he offers as Steve shakes the proffered hand. "Steve Rogers," Steve replies. "I was hoping to look around if I could. Have been after Frank Castle for awhile. Just missed him at once of his safehouses not too long ago, but then haven't had many leads since."

Al nods his head. His eyes go over to Joan Wright and her floating robot as they go past. He gives a little shake of his head, perhaps longing for the quieter days from a few decades back. "Well you can take a look around, the CSI guys are done and I imagine they'll start cleanup soon, I imagine," he says. "I didn't know that Castle warranted Damage Control?"

Steve Rogers gives a shrug on the latter question. "I'm still not quite sure how all that work. Usually I just feel bad they have to be there," he says, garnering a nod from the detective. Steve glances over at Hank Hall, but not having seen the ID, likely thinks he's with the New York Police Department.

Speaking of that group, Detective Bixby's voice turns a bit somber. "I was a friend of Jim Reynold's. We worked together at the 19th precinct a dozen years back," he says.

The name draws a look of sympathy from Steve. "It was a tragic loss. I'm still looking into it. I know SHIELD has some interest in the case too," he says. Steve shakes his head. "That... the assassination, happened in the aftermath of a different Castle attack," Steve says.

Hank Hall has posed:
The names and other stories slide past Hank's ears. He has heard plenty. Assassinations. Attacks. He had heard of Damage Control, too, but they did not have as much of a presence where he came from. That, and he tended not to get involved in building demolishing fights. His last major fight was with a hammer.

Still, his eyes move over the patterns of the bullet spray. Forensics will ultimately have more details on the bullets themselves, guessing at the firearm. But the spray patterns, the execution? It did not take long for him to see that it was not a match for his. These were far too precise, well trained. The Yazuka were mauled down by someone either with no training, or enough passion to overrule the training. Which is he thought of the Punisher, and his motivations.

But this? This was the work of a trained killer. Passionless. The sort of well trained weapon that was pumped out of the armed forces.

He steps out of the way of the arriving Damage Control and offers a nod towards Steve Rogers. An Eagle, perhaps to his Hawk. "This is definitely Castle?" Never hurts to confirm.

Joan Wright has posed:
Joan frowns to the damage and looks over to the bot that is hovering around, pausing every so often to seemingly focus on certain areas. "Bailey, Please focus on this wall first." The woman gestures over to a very swiss cheesed and suspicious looking wall, "That one won't be able to wait."

There's a beep of the affirmative before Bailey zips over, looking over to the damage.

Getting a sense of someone coming up from behind her, a gloved hand shoots out, blocking the path of whoever it is from going any closer. Her head turns, looking over to Steve. "The building's on the historic register." Joan explains, glancing to the wall, She glances over to the CSIs "And I hope they weren't wandering near that wall earlier before the inspection. While you might not think it from appearances, that one's actually load bearing."

She looks back over to the bot, observing as the tiny bit of AI zooms over to her.

There's a bit of a frown at the repeated mention of Castle's name, but she doesn't offer any commentary about THAT man. Instead she takes her tablet to sort through the pictures loading up on her tablet. Tabbing through them. Giving a nod, she pulls up another file, performs some copy and paste and proceeds to send off the photos.

"I'll be right back. Just, please avoid that wall until I'm done with it. I would rather avoid people getting hurt over something that can be avoidable. Bailey, keep watch."

With that, Joan walks over, tablet in hand to one of the CSIs.

The tiny bot hovers, rotating to where one of the sensors is facing the duo.

Beep. Boop.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers is about to reply to Hank Hall, when the warning about the damage to the wall is given by Joan Wright. "Sure thing, ma'am," Steve replies to her. He turns to look over to Detective Bixby and to the uniformed patrolman who is still lingering nearby. "Detective, maybe it would be a good idea to post someone-" he starts, before the detective cuts him off, already agreeing.

"Spano, keep everyone away from the wall would you?" the detective asks the patrolman, before the burly cop looks to Joan. "That work for you?" he asks her.

Steve gives the cop a grateful nod and then turns his attention to Hank Hall. "A number of people identified him, yes," Steve says. "Though I don't think the police have reviewed the footage, someone connected to the Avengers made a positive identification from some traffic camera footage already," he explains. Keeping it to that simple explanation to avoid potentially having to explain who JARVIS is.

His blue eyes going back to the building, Steve says, "There's also enough evidence in the gunfire. How the fight proceeded," Steve says, turning and pointing out the right from one blanket covered body to another leading up to the manor. "Have seen his work before, it's also quite consistent," he says. Steve's head tilts slightly as he regards Hank Hall. "Are you another detective?" he inquires.

Hank Hall has posed:
There is a quick nod of the head from Hank. "This is my first time seeing his work up close," he says, his eyes following the path of the bullet holes. "He's surgical. Dispassionate." A shrug, before turning to look at the war hero. "A perfect soldier, from a certain point of view." He reaches up to rub at the back of his head, looking back to the wall. "Somehow it's personal and yet impersonal. Speaks to a well compartmentalized mind."

He does stay well outside of the perimeter that Joan and Bailey are establishing, however, respecting their process. After all, he is just there for a lookie loo.

Joan Wright has posed:
"I'd appreciate that." Joan responds to the ones agreeing to the perimeter setup. While Joan speaks to the CSIs, Bailey gives a whrr of beeps followed by an adjustment to her manipulators that could be considered the equivalent of a thumbs up.

There's a general murmured exchange between the group before some form of agreement is made. Seemingly content, Joan steps forward, unlatching a hard hat from one of her tool straps before putting it on. She looks over to the cop. "Ok. They hadn't gotten to that section yet because of the damage. I will do what I can to preserve as much. But I will have to move some things."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"He's certainly driven. If lost sight of part of what it is to be a soldier when dealing with civilians," Steve Rogers replies to Hank Hall. The detective nearby just gives a little shake of his head. "Psychopath if you ask me," he says. Steve doesn't make it an argument though, instead looking back to Hank.

"Steve Rogers," He says, offering his hand in greeting to him.

Some members of the press have gathered outside beyond the tape line that the police set out. Snapping some pictures. Damage Control looking at damage always makes for good art to go with the story. And when they recognize a hero there with the officers, quite a few pictures will get taken. There will be talk shows about why Captain America hasn't stopped The Punisher yet, arguing in brash New York accents with callers.

Steve isn't thinking about that for now though. He asks Joan, "Ma'am, anything else structurally that we should be concerned about or show care for?"

Hank Hall has posed:
"A soldier without an understanding of humanity is dangerous," replies Hank, glancing towards the wall. "Just like any weapon." He glances back towards the detective, shrugging, before he looks back to Captain America.

"Hank Hall," he says, taking the hand and giving it a firm, but polite grip. He hears the criticisms over his shoulder and shrugs. "Don't let anyone get you down or deter you. They don't know what it's like to have that kind of weird on your shoulders."

That said, he turns his gaze over toward Joan as Cap does.

Joan Wright has posed:
"You can call me Joan or Miss Wright if you'd like. As for the question, that's a good one to ask." Joan responds, "Right now my concern is to make sure the building doesn't collapse on people or go up in flames. I haven't experienced any signs of the second part yet so right now stabilizing this wall is my priority."

She starts crossing into the area she had previously told others to avoid. "It shouldn't take me long. Just, maintain your distance until I'm done. And if you detect a fishy smell, please let me know."

She gives a glance over to the bot, "Bailey, could you continue your assessment sweep?"

Beep Boop!

The little pink and blue bot zooms off.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve shakes Hank Hall's hand at the greeting. The detective adds, "He's up from Metropolis." This causes Steve to nod and look back to Hank. "Have you had issues with him down there too? I know he doesn't stick to just New York. Though lately it seems where he's the most active," Steve Rogers offers.

He looks back to the building then after Joan's comments Though Steve's sotto voce comment is meant just for himself, Hank or Joan might be able to catch some or all of it. "The kind of person that Frank Castle normally goes after, not the kind of person I'd probably consider a good custodian for a historical building," he murmurs to himself as his eyes go over the building.

Something Joan says causes an eyebrow to rise slightly. "A 'fishy smell'?" Steve clarifies. "Why would that be troubling?"

Hank Hall has posed:
A quick shake of his head in answer to Steve's question. "Not that we're aware of. We had a hit the other day, Yazuka front, blown all to hell. Got all the bees stirred up, and some of us were thinking it might have been Castle because we weren't aware of any particular tensions." Hank lifts up his hand and points out the lines of bullets. "So I came to take a look, see if this scene matched up with ours. But ours was pretty haphazard." Hank shrugs. "Looking and seeing his work here, no way he was the gunman in our case. Don't even need to see the ballistics reports."

He turns to regard Joan, arching an eyebrow. "What kind of fishy smell? And what's that got to do with a building collapse?"

Joan Wright has posed:
Joan is already stepping a distance from the group but the question does manage to reach her ears. "Oh, a fishy smell is one of the signs of a potential electrical fire in the making." Joan answers, "With all the bullet holes in the wall, there's always a chance some electrical could have been compromised. And older buildings have a way of surprising you with how they're wired. There might even be some undocumented work hidden away in there. So basically, we're going to be here awhile making sure things are ok."

Letting out a breath, and giving one last glimpse of making sure no one is standing too close. Joan shakes her head and glances down. Fingers relaxing for a moment before one curls in, making a bit of a finger gun gesture. Looking to the wall, her fingertip starts to move in a swirling pattern. Slowly, pieces of broken wall start to lift off the ground, moving slowly towards the gaudy dressed Damage Control employee.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The explanation from Hank Hall garners a nod back from Steve Rogers. "While those he fights may not be the most precise, there is definitely a signature look to to his crime scenes," he agrees. "At least the ones that I have seen."

His phone rings and he pulls it out, glancing at it and then looking towards Hank, Detective Bixby, and Joan with an apologetic look as he moves a few steps away to take the call. "It's Steve, what do you have?" he asks. He listens for a few moments and then nods his head. "Right, I'll go and check it out."

He hangs up the phone and turns back. "Detective, have a possible sighting of a van that might be Castle's. I'm going to go check it out. I'll call if NYPD assistance is needed. But probably best if I go observe it quietly," he says.

The detective nods in agreement. "Alright, thank you, Captain Rogers. If anything comes of it, well you probably don't need me to tell you to be careful." Steve gives the man a grin and then nods to Hank and Joan again before heading for his motorcycle.

Hank Hall has posed:
There is a nod from Hank. "Yeah, good to know. Honestly, I kind of hate that we're gonna have a war on our hands, but that might be better than Castle expanding his territory." He glances over as Cap takes the call. "Good luck," he murmurs, before stepping away from the crime scene.

He looks over towards Joan and tips an imaginary hat to her. "All yours on clean-up patrol, it looks like."

His investigation concluded, Hank heads back away from the building. This may not have helped any of the folks in NY, but the Titans will breathe easier with his update...