The Kidnapping of Daredevil was the abduction of Daredevil executed by the Punisher who chained him to a rooftop, both to keep him from interfering in Castle's campaign of revenge, and to convince the masked vigilante that the only way to stop criminals was to kill them.
Background[]
In order to capture Punisher, New York City Police Department sent Grotto with wire towards Edgar Brass' warehouse. Grotto seemingly spotted Brass standing between some shipping crates but he was a cop who reported to the station. Foggy Nelson and Karen Page guessed that Samantha Reyes lied to them and all operation was organized to arrest the Punisher and Grotto was used as bait.
Meanwhile, Punisher took position on a nearby rooftop and once again took aim at Grotto, and sent a track with dead driver for destruction. However, he was interrupted and attacked by Daredevil and the pair began to fight once again. Punisher and Daredevil continued fighting as they dodged the many bullets being fired at them. Eventually, they fell through a glass ceiling and the Punisher saw that Daredevil was suffering great pain. Punisher was able to take the wounded Daredevil hostage onto a rooftop.[3]
Kidnapping[]
- "Somebody ask you to put on that costume or you take it upon yourself? You know what I think of you, hero? I think you're a half-measure. I think you're a man who can't finish the job. I think that you're a coward. You know, the one thing that you just can't see? You know, you're one bad day away from being me."
- ―Punisher to Daredevil[src]
Upon awakening, Daredevil discovered that he was chained to a chimney on a rooftop. As he struggled against the chains and tried to free himself, Punisher wished him a good morning. When Daredevil asked him why he didn't remove his mask, he responded that he didn't care about his identity. Daredevil deduced that the man was a soldier and tried to get him to reveal information about himself.
The two began to argue about their differing methods of justice. Daredevil argued that all human beings had a spark of goodness in them, and that there was always hope they would find redemption and change their ways to become better people, while Castle argued that the criminals Daredevil put away always got out of prison again, and continued to hurt innocents, therefore Daredevil's methods were worthless. Castle claimed that the only way to stop the cycle was to kill them. Daredevil then told Castle that he would never stop coming after him, because he was insane and needed to be stopped, so Castle knocked Daredevil unconscious by hitting him with his gun.
When Daredevil regained consciousness, he was horrified to find that the Punisher had duct taped a gun to his hand. Castle informed him that there was only one round in the chamber, and that he was wearing body armor, so the only way to stop him was to shoot him in the head. Castle then dragged Grotto into Daredevil's view, explaining that he was going to kill him, and the only way Daredevil could stop him was to shoot Castle.
Castle coerced Grotto into telling Daredevil that he had performed hits for the Kitchen Irish mob while he was working for their leader Nesbitt, while being beaten, Grotto finally admitted to killing an old woman who had witnessed one of the hits. Despite hearing all this, Daredevil refused to shoot Grotto. Frank said that he would do it himself, and the only way for Daredevil to stop that from happening would be for him to shoot Frank. Murdock, however, found another way - he used the one bullet in the gun to shoot through his chains and free himself.[4]
Aftermath[]
Daredevil fights against the Dogs of Hell
Now free, Daredevil attacked Punisher, but was unable to stop him from fatally shooting Grotto. As Daredevil tried to comfort the dying Grotto, Castle took aim at motorcycles parked outside the Dogs of Hell's Club. With Grotto now dead, Daredevil launched himself at Castle, but he was still able to take the shot, causing an explosion, alerting Jimmy the Bear and his men. Daredevil fought and eventually subdued Castle, taking him inside the building and placing him in a freight elevator to make escape quickly.
Just as Daredevil was about to leave the building with the still unconscious Punisher, bikers from the Dogs of Hell arrived, angry at the destruction of their bikes. Daredevil managed to fight them and defeated all bikers.[4]