Peter carefully applied the finishing touches, the formula for his new web fluid at last completed. With one last thing left to do, he took it and carefully poured the liquid into one of his web shooters via a small transfer unit so as not to expose it to air and cause it to prematurely harden. Strapping the device to his wrist, he walked over to an emptier section of the lab, raised his hand and applied the usual pressure with his middle two fingers, a thicker web than normal coming out.

With that, step one was complete; the formula worked, at least as far as producing the strands themselves. He still needed to test it against intense heat such as what Mark could produce as Molten Man. While he didn't have anything to generate something near that intense, he did have the means to at least produce a modest heat, so he went over to test it. However, before he did so, he got an alert on his phone. Pulling it out, Peter could feel his eyes widen as a news alert had come through regarding a break in at the local jail, after which a "man on fire" had escaped with Liz.

Quickly putting his phone away for the moment, Peter scrambled to shut everything down in a hurry, though still being careful to ensure even the minimal equipment he had used that night was closed down properly. As he then began changing into his Spider-Man outfit, he pulled his phone back out and dialed Mary Jane.

"I heard on the news," his wife said as soon as she answered. "I'm on my way too."

"No, M.J, let me handle this," Peter insisted. "If Mark is powered up again, it's too dangerous."

"I know, but if you can draw him away from her, I can come in and get her out of there," Mary Jane reasoned.

As Peter threw on his mask, he realized he didn't have time to argue.

"Alright, but don't go in until you're sure I've got him distracted and out of range enough," he replied.

"Okay, be careful," M.J. said before hanging up. Peter hated that she was getting herself mixed in with this, but at the same time he understood where she was coming from. Even without his powers, he'd likely want to do the same thing if it was a friend of his that was in danger. He just had to trust that his wife would keep her head and be smart about how she went about this.

He also had to trust that he could hold up on his end.

Matt had just closed the door to his apartment when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Matt, I just got word that Liz was taken," Karen quickly replied on the other end.

"Taken?" Matt questioned.

"Some guy with fire powers came and broke her out of jail," Karen clarified. "I don't know for sure, but if I had to guess..."

"... it's the brother," Matt finished for her.

"What are we going to do?" Karen asked.

Matt didn't respond but kept the phone to his ear as he wandered across the apartment until he came to his bed, where he pulled out a large case that had been underneath. He set it on his mattress, undoing the clips and lifting the top open to reveal his old suit and equipment.

He couldn't run anymore.

It was time.

Liz and her captor entered a seemingly vacant junkyard lot, where he tossed her down onto the ground. Catching herself, she turned to face her kidnapper, who removed his metal glove that he'd used to ensure he didn't burn her skin as he carried her to their destination. Now that she had a good, up-close look at him, she could see it, and she could feel her jaw drop to the ground.

"Mark?"

"What do you think, sis?" her brother said, arms outstretched.

"I... what happened to you?" Liz questioned.

"This is my salvation," he replied, "or at least it was. The arrangement was simple, really: I do what they tell me, and I get power like no one else has. The thing is, even this might be taken away from me, thanks to you and that annoying lawyer of yours."

Mark then bent down, narrowing his gaze at her, causing Liz's heart to pound mightily. So many emotions were swelling inside of her, but right now, as she could feel the heat off her brother's body, fear seemed to be winning out right now.

"So, you're going to help me," he continued.

"Help you?" she asked. "How?"

"After I let you go, you're going to make your way back to jail," he explained. "Then, tomorrow, you're going to get on that stand and you're going to confess to everything you're being accused of."

"Are you insane?" Liz questioned, her blood suddenly turning hot as anger slowly overtook the fear within her. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you OWE ME, LIZZIE!" her brother yelled, stomping so hard on the ground that his foot buried a whole in the concrete and caused it to crack in a couple of different directions. Liz cowered back momentarily, but slowly regained herself.

"Why do I owe you?" she asked, trying her best to show as little nervousness in her tone as possible.

"You, our parents, all of you turned your backs on me," Mark insisted. "All you cared about is your stupid business; you got to watch your dream succeed, while mine was taken from me. Well, now, I have a new dream, and this time, nothing and no one is getting in my way!"

Liz finally stood at her feet, rising slowly. She then looked her brother in the eye, daring to take a step closer.

"Mark, I'm sorry for what happened to you," she said. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you like I should have been. You're right, I was so consumed with my work that I just pushed everything else aside, and there's no excuse for that. But there's no excuse for what you're involved in right now either. Let me help you; you can cut a deal and explain what's happened, and then..."

"And then what, I have to wait five, ten years at least before I even get a shot at life again?" Mark questioned. "I've had enough taken from me as it is; I'm not losing anything else."

"Losing what?" Liz asked. "A life of crime, where all you do is take stuff that isn't yours, where you never actually earn anything!?"

"I tried the straight and narrow already!" Mark insisted. "I worked harder than anyone else growing up to be the best of the best on the field, and everyone rode me off after one injury! That's when I learned a hard truth about life, sis: we all have to take to get what we really deserve. So, can I count on you to help me just this once?"

Liz just looked at her brother for a moment, her brain struggling to process how the man in front of her was the same boy she'd grown up with. He'd once been such a kind, sweet kid, but now...

"I'm sorry, Mark," she said, tears slowly beginning to run down her cheeks as her emotions swirled around within her. "But I won't help you."

Her brother quenched his fist slowly.

"Then I'm sorry too," he said. He then formed a fireball in his hand, holding it up.

"Mark," Liz said, holding her hands up as she backed away slowly, "no, please..."

Her brother said nothing in reply, slowly raising his arm back. Liz shut her eyes and turned her head, holding her arms out as if they would shield her from the blast. She then heard a loud crashing sound that made her fall over and almost jump out of her skin before suddenly she was being grabbed a few seconds later.

"Liz!"

The woman opened her eyes to see Spider-Man, Peter, in front of her. He quickly helped her to stand.

"Get out of here; head down the street," he instructed, gesturing towards the way her and her brother had come. "M.J.'s on her way to get you, and I'd prefer if both of you were out of the danger zone when she does."

Liz glanced ahead to the path towards the road, then back at Peter. It was as if her brain was on the fritz somehow, and her body had forgotten how to function. Before she could make herself do something though, Peter suddenly grabbed her and leapt to the side, the two of them spinning through the air as a car flew past them. They then landed on their feet again, and Liz could see Mark, whose flame was more intense than before, as was his anger.

"Go!" Peter yelled at her. This time she didn't hesitate, quickly taking off towards the exit area. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, doing her best to ignore the chaos and loud crashing noises she could hear behind her. At one point she tripped, and she glanced back to see a car flying in her direction before a web attached to it and flung it harmlessly to the side. Quickly, Liz got back up, exiting the area and heading out onto the street. As she got free, an individual on a motorcycle seemed to be heading her way. It didn't take her long to recognize that it was M.J, who made a sharp turn before coming to a stop.

"Get on!" her best friend yelled. Liz quickly obliged her, all but jumping on and strapping on the helmet M.J. gave her. A large explosion came from the junkyard, but neither Mark nor Peter could be seen amidst it, and M.J. quickly took off before anything more could happen, speeding off down the road.

"Nice work, M.J," Peter muttered quietly to himself. He'd certainly had his reservations and then some about her coming out here too, but now he was grateful that she'd been able to get Liz and get out. With both women out of the picture now, he could really focus on what he needed to do. Mark hadn't given him much chance to use his webbing so far though, his opponent having resorted to throwing objects instead of fireballs. Perhaps now would finally be his chance.

"You shouldn't have come here!" Mark yelled from his spot on the ground. "This whole thing is none of your business!"

"Sorry, but when a guy on fire breaks into, well, anywhere, but especially jail, it kind of becomes my business," Peter retorted. Mark responded by forming a large fireball between his hands, hurdling it at amazing speed. Peter leapt from his higher vantage point, firing a web and swinging off as several more fireballs came his way. His opponent was doing a good job of keeping him backpedaling and just playing keep away so far. If he was going to end this, he would need to find a way to turn the tide and go on the attack.

Unfortunately, Mark's own rate of attack only sped up, leading to one particularly large fireball causing an explosion near him that sent Peter flying out of the area and crashing out onto the street. He quickly got up, watching as his opponent strode out onto the street, another fireball already loaded up. He then chucked it, but Peter easily dodged it. However, the ensuing explosion it created sent debris crashing down towards a couple of civilians. Instinctively, Peter dived their way. He barely knocked them away before the debris collapsed on top of him stead, pinning him to the ground.

As he struggled to free himself, Mark came over.

"This time, I'm going to make sure I watch you die."

He then formed another large fireball in both hands, raising it above his head, preparing to bring it down on top of Peter when, suddenly, a red figure flew in, landing a power kick into Mark's side that sent him tumbling a little way down the street. The figure then flipped over, taking a square chunk of metal out from under his feet just as he landed, a cable collapsing into his baton.

It was Matt, in all his Daredevil glory.

Finally forcing the debris off himself, Peter quickly got to his feet.

"Glad you could join the party," he said. Matt didn't answer, but his lip curled into a half smile as he nodded. Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to celebrate as Mark quickly went on the attack again, forcing them to retreat.

"I don't suppose you had an actual plan for once, did you?" Matt asked.

"Excuse me, I come up with plans all the time!" Peter defended. "I have a special web fluid I made that should contain him, but he's not given me much chance to go on the offensive."

"Let's him from opposite sides, split his attention," Matt suggested. "I'll go right, you go left."

"Sounds good to me, but be careful," Peter said. "He's fast enough that even I've had trouble with him even from a distance at times."

Matt nodded, and then the two men leapt out from behind their spot, coming after their opponent. As they got closer, they split up, running and leaping further apart. Mark tried to target both, but his results were noticeably worse due to having to contend with two people. Peter then watched as Matt did something exceptionally bold: he charged directly towards Mark, flinging a couple objects at him to allow him to get closer. At first, he thought his friend had lost it, but then he realized what the man was doing: drawing their opponent's sole attention, thus leaving him vulnerable.

As Peter got into a better position, Matt flipped out of the way of one of Mark's blasts, but their opponent was readier faster than Matt was prepared for. He managed to avoid the second blast, but the explosion sent him flying against a nearby vehicle. Fortunately, this gave Peter just the opportunity he needed, and he fired webs out of both wrists from his perch on a lamppost, wrapping up his fiery opponent as tightly as he could. The man struggled against his thickening restraints, but it proved worthless.

Peter then leapt down, coming over to Matt to help him up.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm not going to lie, I really hadn't missed that part," Matt replied.

Yeah, he'd be fine.

Fortunately, it wasn't long after that Mark cooled down for good, and soon the police were able to take him away. Peter and Matt then retreated up to a nearby rooftop, where they remained perch as they oversaw what was left of the scene.

"So?" Peter asked, turning to Matt. "How'd it feel?"

Matt let out a light huff through his nostrils.

"Not bad; it'll take some getting used to again, but I'll get there."

"For my part, it was nice to have some backup out there again," Peter replied, "since, you know, most others of our kind are more the travelling type."

This time, Matt said nothing in response, so Peter turned back to the scene below just in time to observe Mark finally getting loaded into the back of a police car.

"So, how much do you think this is going to shake things up?" he asked.

"I can't say, but I'll definitely be having a conversation with the judge first thing in the morning," Matt assured him.

Peter said nothing in reply; he was uncertain of how much attention to draw to Matt's return as Daredevil, given why he'd abandoned the role in the first place.

"Well," he finally spoke up, "I better get out of here."

He turned to leave, before suddenly, Matt spoke.

"After Foggy died, I just had a really hard time finding a reason for being out here. I guess I figured that, if I couldn't save my friend, and if the good I'd supposedly done as Daredevil was the reason he died in the first place, then what was the point?"

Peter took a couple steps back towards his friend.

"I mean, you saved my life tonight; maybe I'm saying this from a selfish perspective, but I like to think that was something good."

Matt let out another huff, and this time Peter could also see the faintest curling up of his friend's mouth into a smile.

"I've also seen you save a lot of other lives too," he dared to continue, "like that one time you and I got people out before one of Fisk's old buildings collapsed. Remember that time you handed that little girl back to her mom? Remember how happy they were? Whenever I have those same questions, which is honestly more than I care to admit, I try and remember those things. I get to go home to my wife tonight because of you. THAT'S what makes it worth it."

Matt then stood up, turning to Peter.

"Thank you for what you said the other day," he said. "I don't think I knew how much I needed to hear it until that point."

Peter put his gloved hand on Matt's shoulder.

"What are friends for?"

I know the bit with DD was shorter, but don't worry, there is more to come!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." John 3:20-21