Thunderbolts (2013) # 32

"The Punisher Vs. the Thunderbolts, Part 6"

Cover Date: December 2014; Publication Date: October 2014

Writers: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker; Artist: Kim Jacinto; Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino; Colorist: Isreal Silva; Editor: Jordan D. White; Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: David Yardin

Six months after the dissolution of the Thunderbolts, the Red Leader (who faked his own death at the Punisher's hands) has taken control of the Central American county Kata Jaya, where the Thunderbolts had their first mission.  With an army of Crimson Dynamos and soldiers powered by gamma radiation, Red Leader has established total dominance over the country and rules it with an iron fist.  He goes on a tour of his compound with his assistant, Caitlin, where he has renegotiated his deal with Mephisto to own a pocket of Hell in which to torment his brother, Madman.  The Leader has established an empire by providing scientific resources to other villains and criminal organizations, but what he really wants is the love of Caitlin, who constantly rebukes his attempts at winning her heart. 

The compound is attacked by the reunited Thunderbolts (Red Hulk, Deadpool, Elektra, and the Punisher), who have arrived with the Avengers to take out the Red Leader.  Following their imprisonment six months ago, Red Hulk and the Punisher were given a deal to "clean up their mess" and be awarded their freedom.  While Hawkeye and the Avengers stay to deal with the army of soldiers and demons, the Thunderbolts go into the compound, where the Leader successfully evades all of their attempts to capture him.  To the villain's surprise, he is shot in the back with tranquilizer darts by Caitlin, who is an undercover SHIELD agent.

Back in a prison facility in the United States, the Red Leader is imprisoned.  The Punisher holds up Ghost Rider's severed skull, which uses the Penance Stare to place the Leader in a cycle of torment.  Hawkeye and the Thunderbolts leave, but the team disbands, leaving Red Hulk alone.  Inside the prison, Ghost Rider's skull is deactivated by Mephisto, who has Leader sign a new contract (upon which the power of the Ghost Rider returns to a relaxing Johnny Blaze as he's reading a book in his home).  Mephisto then escorts Red Leader to Hell for an eternity of torture and damnation. 

Thunderbolts (2013) # 29

"The Punisher Vs. the Thunderbolts, Pat 3"

Cover Date: October 2014; Publication Date: August 2014

Writers: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker; Artist: Kim Jacinto; Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino; Colorist: Isreal Silva; Editor: Jordan D. White; Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: David Yardin

After surviving the bomb placed inside his safe house, the Punisher begins his war on the Thunderbolts.  He starts with Deadpool, who he cuts into several pieces and seals inside vibranium canisters to keep him from regenerating.  At Thunderbolts headquarters, Elektra argues with Ross and Johnny Blaze about the attempted murder of the Punisher, which Ross neither admits or denies culpability.  Elektra disappears, quitting the team, and Ross orders the Ghost Rider to go get the Punisher.  Unbeknownst to her, however, Hawkeye has placed a tracking device on Elektra, and he has used SHIELD resources to determine that the Red Hulk has been with her.

Ghost Rider's search for the Punisher does not take long, as he finds Castle waiting for him in the middle of the street.  Months ago, when Blaze joined the team, the Punisher went to great lengths to work up a contingency plan to kill the Ghost Rider.  Visits to Dr. Strange and Elsa Bloodstone led Castle to a satanic church, where he met the fallen angel Zadkiel, who Blaze had sent to Hell.  Due to Blaze angering Mephisto, Zadkiel was sent back to Earth to kill the Ghost Rider with Mephisto's mystical sword, stating that only a weapon "forged in the beyond" can remove the Spirit of Vengeance from its host.  Castle grabbed the sword and killed Zadkiel, and now has the weapon for his face-off with Ghost Rider. 

The battle between the two vigilantes does not go well for the Punisher, who uses "uru shivs" provided by Elsa Bloodstone and Carter Slade's "spirit guns", neither of which have any effect on Ghost Rider.  While the Rider whips him through the air with his chains, Castle throws Mephisto's sword at him, but Ghost Rider catches it and pulls Castle in to hit him with the Penance Stare.  To Ghost Rider's surprise, the Penance Stare has no effect on the Punisher, who feels no regret for anything he's done.  Castle attempts to use the sword again, but Ghost Rider shatters it and wrestles Punisher to the ground.  Realizing that the Spirit of Vengeance can "only be felled by weapons forged in the beyond", Castle chokes the Rider with his own chains, which somehow removes the demon from Blaze's body.  Blaze is overjoyed that he is freed from being the Rider's host, prompting him to thank Castle and wander away to live his life.  Frank is then approached by Elektra, who attempts to make peace, but Castle merely smiles and tells her that she too is on his list.

Thunderbolts (2013) # 28

"The Punisher Vs. the Thunderbolts, Part 2"

Cover Date: September 2014; Publication Date: July 2014

Writers: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker; Artist: Gerardo Sandoval; Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino; Colorist: Isreal Silva; Editor: Jordan D. White; Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: David Yardin

During the Avengers' battle with a giant monster in New York City, Hawkeye notices something going on atop a nearby building.  After the battle, Hawkeye and Iron Man investigate the rooftop and find evidence of both the Punisher and Ghost Rider being present.  Iron Man tells Hawkeye to find out what happened, and when Hawkeye later uses a SHIELD station to look in on one of the Punisher's safehouses he learns that the building had recently been site to an explosion.

At Thunderbolts Mountain in Michigan, Red Hulk addresses the remaining team members (Deadpool, Elektra, Ghost Rider, and the Leader) about the Punisher's recent departure.  Ross tells the others that they need to decide if they're in or out, especially since he's running the team and making all of the decisions, such as the one to keep the villain Dr. Faustus around as a conscripted prisoner/associate of the team.  Johnny Blaze goes to a nearby bar and encounters a pack of killer werewolves, prompting him to transform into the Ghost Rider to destroy them, all the while contemplating whether he should stay with the team or not.  The Leader makes his decision to stay, while also thinking about ways to incapacitate the others.  Deadpool discusses the team with his wife, the vampire Shiklah, during a battle with various assassins.  Red Hulk interrogates the captive Faustus, telling him that he's part of the Thunderbolts now whether he likes it or not.

Meanwhile, Elektra visits the Punisher's destroyed safehouse and finds Hawkeye there investigating.  After a brief fight, Hawkeye tags the departing Elektra with a tracking device.  Deadpool resigns from the team by phone, leaving Hulk and Ghost Rider to be confronted by an enraged Elektra, who accuses Ross of killing the Punisher out of revenge for quitting the team.  Their fight is interrupted by the sound of gunshots, and they find both the Leader and Faustus dead.  The Punisher has killed the villains and taken the anti-Hulk gun taken from Faustus' mercenaries, leading Red Hulk to realize that the Punisher "has declared war on the Thunderbolts".

Thunderbolts (2013) # 27

"The Punisher Vs. the Thunderbolts, Part 1"

Cover Date: August 2014; Publication Date: June 2014

Writers: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker; Artist: Carlo Barberi; Inker: Carlos Cuevos; Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino; Colorist: Isreal Silva; Editor: Jordan D. White; Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: David Yardin

While the Avengers fight a giant monster in the middle of Manhattan, a group of mercenaries specially armed with weapons designed to kill the heroes are preparing to attack from a nearby rooftop. The soldiers are stopped and killed by the Thunderbolts, their bodies incinerated by Ghost Rider to remove all evidence of their presence. The Punisher and Deadpool note that they have perhaps been seen by Hawkeye, but Castle dismisses it as impossible from that distance. The Red Leader has traced the signal from the soldiers communicators back to their source, and while en route Elektra notes that all of the guns are specially designed to kill their target except for the one meant for Captain America, which is loaded with tranquilizers.

They trace the signal to a high school, where inside they find all of the students not only dead but petrified in place. Overwhelmed with the deaths of so many innocent children, Ghost Rider nearly erupts into a tantrum before transforming back to Blaze. In the school's auditorium, the dead students come alive as zombies and attack the team, biting and infecting them until only Deadpool and Ghost Rider remain. This, however, is merely a horrific dream sequence brought on by a type of gas released by an old foe of Captain America, Doctor Faustus. Deadpool, however, was unaffected by the gas and kills Faustus' men, taking the villain hostage. While each of the other Thunderbolts see their own personal terror (the Punisher turned into a zombie, Red Hulk having killed his teammates, Elektra learning she is a Skrull, and Blaze being given the Penance Stare by Ghost Rider), Deadpool wakes them up by spraying them with a water hose. Castle wants to kill Faustus, but is stopped by Ross, who says he will make Faustus work for them to help as many people as he's killed. Punisher refuses to go along with this and quits the team. Castle returns to his personal safehouse in a rage, hoping that he's not still feeling the effects of Faustus' gas, and finds a bomb in his refrigerator that reads "you don't quit us, you're fired". Then the building explodes.