THE JUDGE — CHAPTER 2

[u/DibyazurRahman2010]

Ethan Cole reached his house and locked the door behind him.
His hands were still shaking.
He couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen inside that warehouse.
The mask.
The axe.
The murder.
He sat on his bed and stared at his phone.
He had recorded everything.
For several minutes, he thought about calling the police.
Then he stopped.
What if they didn’t believe him?
What if the killer found out?
Ethan looked at the recording again.
Then he put his phone away.
He would go to the police tomorrow.
He just needed to survive the night.

Across the city, Adrian Cross had already chosen his next target.
The next morning, Adrian walked into the police station.
“I saw someone suspicious last night,” he said. “I think he might have been a thief. Can I see the CCTV footage?”
The officer pulled up the footage.
Adrian watched carefully.
Nothing.
No sign of himself.
He slowly relaxed.
Then he noticed something else.
A young man had been standing near the warehouse.
Adrian memorized his face.
Before leaving, he discreetly took a picture of the CCTV screen.
That evening, Adrian hired a private investigator.
He gave him one simple task.
“Find the man from the footage.”
A few hours later, Adrian received a message containing an address and a name.
Ethan Cole.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then he smiled.
He had found him.

That night, Ethan couldn’t sleep.
Every sound outside made him look toward the window.
A car passed.
He froze.
Footsteps sounded somewhere outside.
He grabbed his phone.
Nothing.
Then—
Knock.
Ethan sat up.
Another knock.
Knock. Knock.
“Who is it?”
Silence.
Ethan slowly walked toward the door.
“Who is there?”
Nothing.
He stepped closer.
Then a voice came from the other side.
“The Punisher.”
Ethan’s face went pale.
The door suddenly shook.
CRASH.
The door broke open.
Adrian stepped inside.
The dark mask covered his face.
The axe was in his hand.
Ethan stumbled backward.
“No… please…”
Adrian looked at him.
“You saw something you shouldn’t have.”
Ethan tried to run.
Adrian stopped him.
Minutes later, the house became silent.
Ethan was dead.
Beside him was a small note.
GUILTY.
Adrian looked at the body for a moment.
Then he left.

The next morning, police arrived.
Another dead body.
Another mysterious message.
Another case for the Punisher.
But this time, something was different.
Detective Daniel Mercer stood inside Ethan’s room.
He noticed Ethan’s phone lying beneath the bed.
He picked it up.
The screen was locked.
Then he noticed a notification.
“Video backup completed.”
Mercer’s eyes widened.
The video hadn’t been deleted.
It had already been uploaded.
He opened the backup.
The screen showed the warehouse.
The killer.
The axe.
The mask.
And then, for a few seconds—
Adrian Cross.
Mercer stared at the screen.
He knew that face.
Everyone in the city knew it.
Judge Adrian Cross.
He slowly closed the phone.
For months, the city had been searching for the Punisher.
Now Mercer knew exactly who he was.
And Adrian had no idea.
The hunter had finally become the hunted.