Matt nearly lurched out of the car then and there. The ear piercing scream had caught him off guard, and made his heart skip a beat or three. "Foggy-!"

By the time Matt had thought to shout at Foggy, the car had slowed enough for Matt to pop the door open and jump out. He took off, pain throbbing up from his injured leg with each hurried step, even with the assistance of the umbrella.

Claire started to shout at him for bolting but couldn't bring herself to when she heard Kasey's cry. She and Foggy shared a fearful look and quickly pulled over as close as they were willing to get and were forced to wait.

Matt heard the sounds of the fight as he sprinted down the next couple blocks. Punches, kicks, the sound of something metal hitting the ground with a clang, the sound of her webs.

Lots of her webs.

He could already smell the iron thick in the air despite the rain as thunder crackled over head. He heard more punching and fighting but it sounded more one sided now- Suddenly the sickening sound of multiple bones being broken reached his ears.

Just a bit further-

He heard someone painfully gasping for breath, trying to beg someone to stop, judging by the voice being male they had to be talking to Kasey-

He heard some of those broken bones get crushed and the man's muffled scream as he just about reached the corner of the alleyway.

The man was trying to say something but had been fully muffled now as Matt heard another bone crunch.

And he turned the corner, trying to locate them before realizing they were suspended several feet above him, a bit deeper into the alleyway.

There on the web sat Kasey, soaked to the bone and reeking of iron with the man tied tightly up in her large web.

Matt soon found himself directly below them, looking in the direction of the web. The whole area reeked of iron, so much so that even the rain wasn't washing it away. He panted, trying to catch his breath from running, and trying to ignore the pain in his leg.

"Kasey! You have to stop! Think about what you're doing!" Matt called out to her, begging her not to go any further. "Just- Just come down and we can talk for a minute!"

Kasey did indeed stop for a minute, her head tilting in surprise. She hadn't heard him approaching. She was tense as she sat on the webbing, her hands still gripping the webbing the man was tangled in. She hesitated for a moment which made Matt hopeful for a minute until she replied.

"You shouldn't be here." Her voice was hollow and cold towards him as she gripped the webbing a bit tighter. "You need to leave." he could hear the faint waver in her voice, the unspoken plea begging him to just leave.

Matt solidified his stance, and hardened his expression. He wasn't going anywhere, especially after hearing her like that. "I can't do that, Kasey. You know that."

The waver to her voice only made him want to stay more, and climb up there to talk to her. Unfortunately he couldn't do the latter. "With the path you're heading down, you're going to end up doing something you regret."

She sat there, listening. The man was staring at her and glancing down at him in fear.

She was quiet before speaking again, her voice softer now. "You haven't even noticed why I'm doing this, have you?"

She chuckled darkly. "Maybe if you stopped and paid more attention to your surroundings, you would." She had turned her voice back to the cold and hollow tone.

"I know that you're upset, and you have a right to be but-" He paused, a sound pricking his ears. He hadn't noticed when he first came to the alleyway, but there was someone else, tucked into the very back corner of the alley. Having heard Kasey scream, and coming upon this scene, he didn't think to look for anyone else.

"Who is that?" From what he could tell, they were on the smaller side, and scared. But they didn't seem like the type of person Kasey would attack.

Kasey didn't turn to him. "I don't know but he was trying to take her." She replied with a small growl. "She was trying to get away when I got here."

A faint whimper came from the alleyway, barely noticeable in the pouring rain. They seemed to be tucked behind something, a dumpster? Hiding.

"I could've sworn-" He stopped, knowing he must've been mistaken. His super intense, never-gotten-it-wrong-before hearing had to have been wrong. Matt was then met with a moral issue. Deal with the man trying to kidnap a girl, or focus on Kasey?

"Then come down, and we'll take both of them to the police station, alright?" He tried to appeal to her sense of justice.

She shook her head. "I can't do that." She replied firmly. "It won't work. He'll just get out and try again."

The girl's heart was racing as she panicked.

"Then we'll make sure he stays there, for a long, long time." Matt had no way to guarantee that, but he might be able to have some hand in the court dealings, if he played his cards right.

"Kasey, just take a step back and think about what you're doing."

"YOU DON'T GET IT! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!" She snapped, finally turning towards his direction. "HE WORKS FOR THEM!" She snarled with venomous hatred. "THEY ARE STILL GOING AFTER PEOPLE!"

Her heart was racing as she glared down at him, her grip tight on the webbing around the man but facing away from him and glaring down at Matt.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE DONE TO HER! WHAT THEY'LL DO TO OTHERS! HELL YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!" She yelled at him over the thick pouring rain that was running down her frame and to the ground, splattering when it hit.

"YOU CANNOT STAND THERE AND TELL ME HE AND EVERYONE HE WORKS WITH DON'T DESERVE THIS!"

"They may deserve it, but you don't have to stoop so low as to deliver it!" Matt shouted back, stepping forward once, leaning heavily on the umbrella at this point.

"I know how you feel! God knows I've been in that position multiple times before!" Matt frowned, debating his options. Normally he might take his mask off to show her who he was. Unfortunately that wouldn't work as easily here.

"If I don't then who will?!" She asked him. "Cause he and everyone he works with will not stop until someone makes them stop!" She demanded. "I am not going to standby and let them put others through the absolute hell they put me through!" She argued with him. "You say you get it but you don't!"

She was crying now. She hated this. She didn't want to fight with him. She didn't want things to be this way but if she had to become a monster to slay the real ones? Then that's fine by her. It meant no one else would suffer the way she did.

No one else would be ripped from their homes. In this world or another.

"If you kill that man, there's no coming back from that! Doing it once will mean you're fine with doing it again, and again, and again until there's no longer any part of the old you left!" He had to shout, the pouring rain threatening to drown his voice out.

"There've been many times where I've come close to becoming a monster. Every time, I've backed down before I did. That time back at the warehouse was one of those times."

"Yeah?" She took a shaky breath as she let a weak chuckle past her lips. "Well, I hate to tell you, but it's a bit late for that." She glanced away from him, her grip tightening on the webbing.

Matt let out a tired, weathered sigh. He didn't know how he was supposed to get through to her. She just kept deflecting everything he was saying, refusing to listen. "Please. You're going to ruin yourself."

She let out a pained laugh as her voice strained. "Who's to say I'm not already?" She replied, her voice shaking. "I don't even remember most of the fight at the warehouse-" She admitted.

"Then maybe, instead of jumping into fights on a whim, train with me, or even with Tony." Matt offered. If she gained more skill, and more awareness of her surroundings, she would be able to both remember her fights easier, and take down her enemies without having to kill them.

"True strength isn't knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one." He spoke.

She fell quiet at that, thinking to herself. "...Can you get her out of here?" She asked softly. She sounded tired and resigned. "I-" She hesitated. "I won't do anything more..." She promised him, fully sitting on her webbing and letting go of the webs that held the man but he remained suspended.

"Yes, I'll get her out. Claire and Foggy are waiting in a car just outside of the alley. Go to them and try to dry off somewhat." Matt told her, letting out a breath of relief. He turned and went deeper into the alley, stopping in front of the girl. He tucked the cane under his arm and extended a hand to her. "C'mon, you're safe now."

Kasey hesitated, not wanting to move. After all, she was soaked.

And not just with water.

So she stayed put instead and listened to Matt try to lure the girl out.

The girl's eyes widened when he appeared in front of her and gave a small cry as she shrunk away from him. "Leave me alone!"

Which would have been fine, had her voice not sounded exactly like Kasey's.

Matt's ears pricked up, hearing the voice. It was strange, it was definitely Kasey's voice, but Kasey's heartbeat was still behind him, up near the webbing. "I'm not going to harm you, okay? We can take you to the police station, get you home and away from here."

She very reluctantly looked up at him, tears spilling down her face from her vivid azure blue eyes, searching his face for a moment before cautiously taking his hand with a small nod. "O-Okay..." She was quieter now and he could feel her trembling from a mix of terror and the chill of the rain.

Kasey had heard the voice and Matt could tell she was sitting rigidly on the webbing now, almost silently had it not been for the way her heart was racing.

The man tried to shift but the way Kasey's head sharply glanced at him made him stop and stay still.

Matt helped her up as gently as possible, and handed her the umbrella to use as it was intended. It also doubled to keep her from looking up where the man was suspended on webbing. "Come on, I've got some friends that can help us out."

He heard Kasey's heartbeat pick up, and he knew something was connecting the two of these girls. The one holding his hand sounded like Kasey, but that shouldn't be right... should it?

She nodded a little bit and hesitantly stuck close to him as he led her out of the alleyway, shivering as she clung to the umbrella.

Kasey listened to the two of them leave the alleyway, her breathing a bit shaky. Had she really heard right? That... That couldn't possibly be-

She looked up towards where they disappeared around the corner.

Could it?

---

Matt accompanied the girl to the car, opening the door for her as well. "She was in the alley among the trouble. I told her I'd take her to the police station. I'll be back with Kasey." He turned, and made his way back to the alley.

Foggy and Claire startled a little bit but stared at the soaked teenager, nervously standing there before climbing into the car.

Claire instantly went into nurse mode. "My name is Claire, I'm a nurse. What's your name and are you hurt at all?"

She shifted a bit nervously, mumbling a soft reply. "K-Kassidy..." She slowly looked up at her and Foggy, both of them startling a bit at how much this girl looked like Kasey.

Kassidy looked confused by their reaction but Claire quickly apologized and said she just looked familiar. "As for being hurt?" She started, rubbing her arms slightly. "I... I don't think so. He was trying to inject me with something but he was pulled away before he could."

Claire sighed. "Alright, just try to warm up, okay? We'll bring you to the station soon."

She gave a small nod and the three of them were left to wait.