13638/Punisher vs Daredevil

Punisher vs Daredevil
Date of Scene:	25 December 2022
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Punisher and Daredevil square off when Frank tries to gun down an underworld figure.
Cast of Characters:	Frank Castle, Matthew Murdock

---

Frank Castle has posed:
Frank Castle isn't in great shape. He'd recently been jumped and kidnapped after a massive firefight and manhunt in upstate New York. He'd ended up having to kill his way out of a coke baron's custom dungeon, blast a few dozen henchmen, steal an SUV, steal a boat and hire a private plane to get back to New York. Three broken ribs, a puncture wound in his right calf patched over with bandages and gauze. He had to hope it wouldn't get infected.

But the war didn't wait.

So Frank was here, without the two weeks of prep time he'd intended. Just two days to scout and prep. He didn't like going out this shaky. This banged up. But he wouldn't get another chance like this. Armando Reyes - El Chupacabra - didn't pop his head up like this often. He's in his gear, coat still on against the sharp cold. Leaning into the scope, tripod up, matte black to keep the sunshine from flashing. Watching one of the most vicious enforcers for one of the worst cartels in the whole wide world have a Merry Fucking Christmas with his third family, although the only one in this country, to be fair. But now he was in private, talking business. Family went out skating. Fair game.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt Murdock wasn't in great shape. He'd recently had a really big Christmas dinner. After a series of holidays meals and happy hours. He and Foggy had been taken to a great steakhouse by a longtime client who finally found a bit of money and wanted to make up for having paid mostly with produced. The number of sugary desserts being used in lieu of payment had gone up. He had to hope he hadn't put on any pounds.

Daisy was napping after their big Christmas meal, so Matt decided to go out and patrol the rooftops for a little exercise. "Suit still fits," he says to reassure himself as he dons it, then picking up Boxer to relocate the cat over to nap atop Daisy and keep her warm. Then he's quietly up the stairs and out the rooftop door.

Things had been fairly quiet on Christmas Day. As Daredevil would have hoped. Rather than stand listening for signs of trouble, he'd made the patrol a vigorous one to burn off those extra calories. So it was that he'd gotten closer than normal before he spotted the sniper there on the roof. The scent of gun oil being the first thing that alerted him. The scent of the man himself then caught. Familiar. Even apart from the sniper rifle, there was a fair amount of gun oil in Frank's scent most of the time.

Seeing he's already sighting down the scope, Daredevil throws a baton towards the sight itself. One good hit should knock it out of alignment, while Daredevil jumps over to the rooftop. "Frank, this isn't the holiday spirit you're supposed to be showing," he declares.

Frank Castle has posed:
Frank might have caught on, if he'd been sharper. Better prepped. He'd have known every silhouette, enough to notice the flicker of a swingline in the backlight of the street. Blame the shitty lighting around here. They thought the darkness would help them so they broke out the lights. WOuldn't save them. Not from Frank. And not from the other guy.

So he gets taken off guard, the gun knocked out of line at the moment he pulls the trigger. The bullet still hits the glass, shattering it, alerting the mobsters inside of the attempted assassination.

"Dammit, hero! You always have the worst god damn timing," Frank groans, even as he drops the rifle with his left while pulling a Walther with his right, raising the pistol towards the more ethical vigilante.

"Yeah, well, I thought I'd drop a body or two under the tree this year, for all you guys. You're welcome for the clean consciences you get to have. I'll keep doing your work for ya. Ho fucking ho."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Almost like someone out there didn't want you killing them, isn't it?" Daredevil says as he lands lightly on Frank's rooftop. "Maybe it's time to take a hint there?" he says. In the background he's listening to the crime figure's home caused by the sudden shot. Men shouting and running about.

Daredevil strides forward a fresh pair of batons in hand, slowing as he gets nearer to the Punisher. "There's better ways to deal with criminals. You don't have to kill, Frank," he tells the vigilante.

"Hell's Kitchen has enough bodies dropping without you adding to the count. People can be rehabilitated. But not if they are dead!"

Frank Castle has posed:
Frank Castle hasn't shot yet, but his aim stays steady. He doesn't want to kill Daredevil, even if the guy annoyed him. He knew the guy was coming from a good place. He meant well. He just didn't know yet. He hadn't been taught. Not the way Frnak had. He didn't know the truth.

"Ain't nobody answerin' any prayers anymore. Don't you remember? The angels already came and they hated us. The world's shuttin' down. I'm just sendin' some of 'em to Hell early. They can keep it warm for me when I join 'em."

"And rehab? That motherfucker in there has killed thousands. And not scum like I put down, but some of 'em children. He's killed babies, for fuck's sake. You gonna rehabilitate that? With what? Narrative therapy? Talkin' about their mommies to some shrink hack who don't know nothing but what they read in a book? Nah. I got his rehab. In lead."

And instead of going at Daredevil, Frank turns and runs, sprinting towards the edge of the roof and leaping across, arms outstretched to try and reach the fire escape on the other side of the alley.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"I don't know what those things were, Frank, but whatever they were, they weren't serving God," Daredevil replies back. His hand tightens on the baton though, the leather glove creaking as Frank touches on something that did get to the devout Catholic when it happened.

He's about to reply when suddenly Frank is turning and running for it. "Damn it," he curses and then takes off after him. He sprints for the edge of the roof, having a better opportunity to build up speed before he makes his jump. It allows him to land higher on the fire escape.

Meanwhile, down below men have run out of the house and are searching the windows and roofs. The leaping men may just be shadows to them, but it's enough for them to lift their handguns and start firing. Bullets crack of off buildings and the metals of the fire escape!

Frank Castle has posed:
Five years ago, Frank clears the jump, hits his feet on the stairs on the other side and slides down 'em, fifteen seconds, flat out. But then it all happened. Then he could eat and work out ideally. Then he had sleep. Then he wasn't getting nicked and gouged and worn down, fight after fight, escaping by the skin of his teeth, covered in blood. He took a lot of hot showers. It never really washed off.

Today he hits the railing, on the side. Ribs first, hard, just out of reach of the Devil. Frank hits so hard he bounces and, on the bounce, Matt gets Frank by the hand, interrupting his momentum for a second, the two men almost floating in mid-air in the sharp December cold, frost in Frank's beard as he yanks hard, freeing his hand of the glove Matt's holding and plummeting down. He bounces off the rubber lid of a dumpster and into the shadows of the alley, crumpling on the sidewalk.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt Murdock ducks instinctively at the gunfire and then tries to grab Frank Castle's hand as senses him falling. For a moment he has him, Daredevil just starting to say something about how he'll swing him over onto the fire escape. But then, inexplicably to Matt, the Punisher suddenly wrenches his hand out of Matt's grip.

Daredevil reaches to try to grab him again but gravity already has a hand on him and he's fallen out of reach. A new spat of gunfire erupts, perhaps brought on by the belief they hit one of the men and caused him to fall.

Briefly it occurs to Matt that could have been the case.

Whatever, he throws his baton to lock it around the fire escape as he swings down on the attached wire. He takes one of the gunmen in the chest with both feet, right at the bottom of his swing. The man is launched backwards to crunch into a fence and fall to the ground.

The remaining men swing their guns to fire, though worrying about hitting each other slows them, and Daredevil slides their shots, slamming into a man's legs and taking him down.

Frank Castle has posed:
Frank pushes up to his feet slowly, one hand braced on the wall. He coughs, hard, blood spilling out from a split lip and probably a few teeth knocked out. Not great, but most of 'em were porcelain now anyhow. And most dentists still took cash on the barrel.

Not a good time to be thinking about dental problems. But a severe concussion will do that to you. Still, Frank Castle is the god damn Punisher and he's not done yet. He fires once, twice, three times. Two of them clear headshots, taking out a pair of bodyguards.

But he only hits El Chupacabra himself in the shoulder, taking him down. Nicking a vein as he crumples to the ground next to Daredevil as the hero fights off the last two bodyguards with ease.

Frank goes for the killing shot but he feels a spasm in his arm, his hand going numb and making him drop the weapon. He stares for a moment, pain wracking his torso as he stumbles into the pile of trash.

"Maybe somethin' is protectin' 'im, Devil. BUt ain't no angel o' god, that's for damn sure."

And then Frank slides into the entry slot into the sewers below, dropping out of sight...

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil cries out, "No!" as he sees the two men go down to headshots. He doesn't have time for more than that as he's fending off the other gunmen who aren't distinguishing between the one shooting at them and the one swinging metal batons and kicking and punching.

He knees the one guard in the solar plexus, who bends over as he loses all of his breath. Daredevil flips over his back, a foot to the side of the head downing the other gunmen. Then still in the motion of flipping, he grabs the bent over man and slams him overhead and down to the ground to knock him unconscious.

Seeing the Punisher disappear into the sewers, Daredevil throws a baton to the ground in disgust. The sounds of his retreat are soon echoing in the enclosed spaces, coming from that and other manhole covers until Matt can't tell quite where he is.

He turns back to El Chupacabra, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him off the ground and getting in his face. "Prison's better than a coffin. Make something of the chance."

The man spits in his face, and Daredevil punches him in the side of the head angrily and drops him. The sirens of approaching police cars put an end to the fight. Daredevil looks down, spotting some blood on his arm where a bullet just grazed him.

Great. The Christmas present he was hoping to not give Daisy today. He disappears into the night.