Jessica scowled as she looked across the campus. She had tried the whole college thing years ago. It didn't go well. She didn't enjoy being back on a college campus again. Even though it was starting to get cold out, the place was crawling with excitable, bright-eyed students. Jessica hated it.
Empire State University was big, both in geographic size and student body. It had only taken Jessica a few minutes of research to find out who Peter Parker was: a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle who was enrolled in the biology program at ESU, where he lived on campus. It didn't make finding him particularly easy, but at least she knew where to look.
It seemed suspicious to Jessica. As far as she could tell this kid was barely old enough to drink. How was he able to get such high-quality photos of criminal activity? She had seen pictures of him on his social media pages; he was not a tough looking person. She couldn't imagine him getting anywhere near a criminal without getting his ass beat, but somehow he had managed to get photos of an arms deal. She had to find out how.
Jessica was doing her best to keep warm with her multiple layers. She had blue flannel, a grey hoodie, and her black leather jacket on in addition to a grey scarf and black fingerless gloves. She wore her usual jeans and boots, though she had also invested in a layer of thermal underwear as well. She knew it was dorky, but her job did involve many long hours in the cold, so it was worth the loss of cool points.
"Gotcha," said Jessica.
She watched the lanky boy she recognized as Peter Parker walk out of the dorm. He was dressed just like he was in all of his online photos: baggy hoodie, pale jeans held up by a tight belt, worn out sneakers, and a large overstuffed backpack. Yeah, there was no way this dweeb sneaking around at night being a master photojournalist. Something was up.
Jessica, who was leaning against a tree across the way from the dorm, stood up straight in anticipation of following Peter. The moment she moved she noticed something strange: Peter suddenly became more alert. He even looked in her direction, although he didn't seem to notice her. He then lightly jogged around the corner of the building.
"What the hell?" whispered Jessica.
Before she could follow him, she noticed a small group of students who were loitering by a nearby bench head straight in Peter's direction. A broad-shouldered kid seemed to be the ringleader, with a skinny blonde girl following right behind him. Jessica tailed them at a distance and slowly approached the edge of the building before peering around the corner.
She could now see that there was a secluded walkway around the building. Small trees lined one side of the path to help make it look presentable. It was heavily shaded by the two buildings on either side of it, making it dark and largely devoid of students. The only ones there were Peter and these other kids. Peter looked nervous as the boys in the group surrounded him.
"Well, well, well," sneered the leader, "Looks like Puny Parker thought he could hide out back here, huh?"
"Come on, Flash," pled Peter, "Not today…"
"Jason, Charlie: grab him," ordered Flash.
Jessica continued to watch, making sure she was hidden.
"Guys!" whined Peter as the two boys roughly grabbed ahold of him by the arms.
Jason and Charlie tightened their grip and forced Peter to face away from Flash. Flash proudly clapped his hands together and rubbed them with anticipation and a devious grin.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "You're all about to witness a Flash Thompson-style wedgie!"
"No, wait! Flash!" begged Peter, before letting out an embarrassingly high pitch squeal.
Jessica winced in sympathy. Flash had reached into the back of Peter's jeans, grabbed the waistband of his underwear, and yanked the stretchy white fabric upward with such force that Peter was hoisted clean into the air. Flash held Peter aloft as the skinny boy grabbed his crotch in agony. Flash's whole gang was laughing at him now.
"Hey Flash," giggled the blonde girl beside him, "You think you could hang him from that tree?"
"Seriously Liz!?" Peter cried out indignantly.
"Only one way to find out!" declared Flash.
Jessica watched as Flash carried Peter over to the tree, going out of his way to painfully bounce Peter while walking. Then he put his strength into hoisting the waistband of the undies even higher until he was able to hook it to a knot on the biggest branch. Flash let go slowly and took a step back, leaving Peter dangling helplessly as everyone continued to laugh.
"Very funny guys," managed Peter through the grunts of discomfort, "but could one of you help me down?"
"Aw, I would," smiled Flash, pretending to check the time on his nonexistent watch, "but I've got class starting soon. Just hang in there until I get back, okay?"
Flash led the laughter as he and his gang walked away. Jessica heard one of them let out one last "What a loser!" before they rounded the corner and left. Jessica looked at Peter, still dangling helplessly from the tree. She almost felt sorry for the kid, but reminded herself that finding out how he got the photo was the priority.
"Hey," barked Jessica as she entered the walkway and approached Peter's tree, "Are you Peter Parker?"
"Yes," he uttered, "Could you please get me down from here?"
"Maybe," shrugged Jessica, "It depends on how much I like your answers to my questions."
"Wait a minute," realized Peter, "Aren't you Jessica Jones?"
"Doesn't matter."
"You ARE, aren't you?"
"Are you going to let me ask my questions?" asked Jessica sternly, "Or do you want to hang up there all day?"
"Wait," realized Peter in distress, "You're not going to help me down?"
"Not if you don't answer my questions."
"But heroes are supposed to help people!"
"I'm not a hero," she said, "I'm just looking for some answers. You take pictures for The Daily Bugle?"
"Sometimes," squeaked Peter, slowly and unintentionally turning away from Jessica as he hung there.
"The Oscorp story," she continued, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him back to face her, "How'd you get that photo?"
"I can't," squeaked Peter again before affecting a deeper voice, "I can't tell you that."
"Let's try this again," sighed Jessica.
"Wait, what are you doing?" he asked fearfully as Jessica reached up and grabbed the front of his belt.
Peter let out a "Yipe!" as Jessica pulled down hard, bringing Peter to her eye level by stretching his underwear further, straining the fabric in the process. Strings of the elastic popped as the nylon was forced painfully farther up Peter's butt. As Jessica continued to pull downward, the undies became more and more taut like a strained rubberband.
"Tell me how you got the photo and I won't launch you to Staten Island," growled Jessica.
"I can't tell you!" moaned Peter in severe pain.
"You think I'm bluffing!?" demanded Jessica, pulling down further as she heard more ripping sounds from the underwear.
"I don't care," grunted Peter, clenching his eyes and teeth in pain, "I won't tell you."
What is with this kid? wondered Jessica, Is this all for journalistic integrity?
Jessica's grip on Peter's belt loosened. Peter whimpered, knowing if Jessica let go he'd go flying. Jessica, frustrated, tightened her grip and yanked down as hard as she could instead.
RRRIIIPPP!
Peter hit the dirt with a thud, several feet of ripped and stretched out elastic sticking out of his jeans. Jessica looked up and saw the remains of the other half of the underwear still hooked to the tree branch. She bit her lip in frustration with herself.
"Thanks," said Peter weakly, face still in the dirt.
"Shut up," said Jessica dismissively as she turned and walked away.
Before Jessica had completely exited the alley, she turned back and saw Peter slowly get to his feet. He shoved his hands down the back of his pants to remove the wedgie and proceeded to carefully tuck the stretched fabric back in. Jessica frowned and left.
Jessica looked at the chain link fence that blocked her way into Oscorp, complete with "Do Not Enter" sign. She had avoided trespassing last time, but she had a hard time believing Peter's photos were obtained as legitimately. She had gone over all of his photos related to the story from the online gallery and some of them were at angles she didn't think possible from outside the property. She had to know how he did it.
Jessica looked around to make sure no one was looking, crouched, and leapt high into the air over the fence, landing hard on her feet on the concrete on the other side. She quickly ducked into a corner, checked to make sure no one was watching again, and kept going.
She watched from behind a pile of crates as Oscorp employees filtered in and out of the garage. One of the photos Peter had on the story was of this garage. The photo seemed to be from a distance, but the garage was in an enclosed area surrounded by Oscorp structures. There was no way that would have been possible. Unless…
Jessica looked up. There was a short storage warehouse behind her, directly across from the garage. She peered back and forth to make sure no one was watching a leapt again, this time to the top of the warehouse. She immediately laid flat on her stomach to hide from view. She crawled to the edge of the roof and looked at the garage. It looked possible. She pulled her camera out, rested it in front of her, and pointed it at the garage. Almost. She zoomed in and out a few times, then she adjusted the lens.
"Bingo," she whispered.
It looked exactly like Peter's photo. He would have had to have been here to take it, which meant he would have had to trespass and get to the top of this building. That explained why he was unwilling to say how he got it, but how did that shrimp sneak past the security and get all the way up here?
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
The high-pitched laugh accompanied the roar of a small set of thrusters. Jessica as she spun onto her back to see what it was. Floating barely a foot above her and mere inches away was a cackling man in a green and purple costume standing atop a small, silver, bat-shaped jet. His face was green as well and he boasted bright yellow eyes and a maniacal smile.
"You've got to be kidding me," Jessica cursed.
She recognized Green Goblin from the news. He was some deranged super-powered terrorist who showed up a few weeks ago and went around bombing people, seemingly at random. He had clashed with Spider-Man more than once, but Green Goblin always escaped before he could be caught.
"How funny!" cackled Green Goblin, "I was hoping to exterminate a SPIDER today, but it looks like I've found a RAT instead!"
"Shit."
Green Goblin tapped his heel on the glider. A small, orange, metal sphere launched straight up. Goblin grabbed it out of the air and stared at Jessica menacingly.
"Say goodnight, Gracie!" he howled, flinging the sphere directly at her.
Jessica moved without thinking. She swung her legs and leapt up onto her feet, at which she broke out into a full sprint across the roof. Unfortunately she only made it two steps before Goblin's bomb struck her previous location, detonating upon impact. Jessica cried out as a massive burst of pain and heat seared across the back of every part of her body. The next thing she knew she was flying through the air, hurtling between Oscorp structures. Jessica cried out in pain as she struck the side of the garage, before falling straight down and landing with a muffled thud in a pile of garbage bags inside a dumpster. Jessica groaned as she writhed in pain.
"Damn it," she coughed, annoyed with herself for being caught off guard.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" sang Goblin as he swooped down between the buildings.
Jessica stayed still. There was no way she could take on someone with this kind of weaponry. She would have to play it smart and find a way to escape. This would take care and finesse.
"Hey asshole!" shouted Jessica as she stood up in the dumpster and waved at the Green Goblin.
Goblin spun his glider around to face her, grinning. He then tapped his heel and the glider sped toward her, swooping down like a bird of prey. Jessica waited until she was confident Green Goblin would keep going in a straight line. Then she saw her opening.
"Catch!"
Jessica flung a heavy trash bag directly at Green Goblin, leapt out of the dumpster, and began a sprint for the chain link fence she had climbed in on. There was no time for Goblin to redirect his flight, so the trash bag struck him directly in the face. The bag ripped open upon impact as spoiled food and other garbage splattered all over him. Goblin screeched in frustration and disgust as he redirected his glider straight upwards, flying into the sky to avoid crashing as he wiped the filth from his face. By now Jessica had reached the fence. She mentally prepared herself to jump over it, but reconsidered as she heard thrusters and maniacal laughter behind her.
"You're not going anywhere, Rat!" he cried.
Instead of jumping, Jessica leaned in shoulder first and ripped apart the chain link fence as she hit it with the force of a charging gorilla. Though she was away from Oscorp and out on the street now, she could still here Goblin directly behind her. Pedestrians noticing the chase screamed and ran for their lives.
Remembering the destructive force of the bomb from earlier, Jessica ducked into a back alley to lure Goblin away from the street full of fearful civilians. She had planned to find a fire escape and make her way onto a roof, but was disappointed to find nothing but a dead end.
"You ever play Mousetrap?" cackled Goblin as he slowly floated closer, bomb in hand, "I never finished a game of it myself, but I always loved setting up the trap and watching it ensnare the rats!"
"Spare me the standup routine," sighed Jessica, "If you're going to kill me, just kill me."
"If you insist!" laughed Goblin, holding the bomb high as he readied himself to toss it.
Goblin never got the opportunity though, as a stream of white webbing struck the bomb and yanked it up and away. Jessica watched as Spider-Man, who was crouched atop the building overlooking the alleyway, flung the bomb high into the air where it detonated harmlessly in the sky.
"Goblin!" gasped Spider-Man in a mocking tone, "Tell me this isn't what it looks like! You're fighting other supers now? I thought we had something special!"
"Spider-Man!" shrieked Goblin, spinning his glider back and flying up to him.
Talk about a lucky break, thought Jessica, heart rate still soaring as she coped with how close she had come to death.
By the time Jessica had gathered her thoughts, Spider-Man and Green Goblin were entangled in a fistfight aboard the glider. Goblin let out a yowl as the glider jerked to the side, flinging Spider-Man off and sending the web slinger plummeting to the ground. Jessica winced as she watched him land in a large puddle of water. He seemed unharmed, but Jessica couldn't imagine a full body spandex suit soaked in dirty water was comfortable. Green Goblin cackled in the distance as he flew off, having escaped once again.
"Are you okay?" asked Spider-Man as he slowly rose to his feet, dripping wet.
"Yeah," nodded Jessica, "Thanks."
"You're Jessica Jones, right?" he continued, "That super who took down that Shocker guy?"
"What's it to you?"
"Are you still investigating Oscorp?" he asked, "Because I think we have similar interests."
"Sorry," said Jessica, shaking her head as she walked past Spider-Man and toward the exit of the alley, "I don't do the whole 'super friends' thing."
Jessica had only made it about a third of the way to the street when she was pulled back by something. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Spider-Man was holding a web line attached to her back of her jacket.
"As cool as the whole lone wolf thing is," he said, "I still need to know what you know."
Jessica was done dealing with this shit. She spun in place and gripped the web line with both hands. Then she tugged as hard as she could to reel Spider-Man in and disorient him. To Jessica's surprise, this failed. The tug had no effect as Spider-Man stood his ground. Then Spider-Man tugged in response. Jessica was spun around and yanked backwards, caused her to stumble and fall over. She grimaced as she landed ass-first in the same puddle Spider-Man had landed in earlier.
Fuck, thought Jessica, He's stronger than me.
To add to that indignity, Jessica's jeans, thermal leggings, and underwear were now soaked through with dirty street water. She gritted her teeth as she tried not to show her extreme discomfort.
"For what it's worth," said Spider-Man, "I'd much rather work alongside you than interrogate you."
Jessica pulled her jacket off, web still attached, and tossed it aside. She did not like the idea of being on some sort of web leash.
"Fine," she grunted, getting to her feet, water dripping from her butt, "Yeah, I'm looking into Oscorp. What's it to you?"
"I think they're connected to our jolly green friend," said Spider-Man.
"That checks out," nodded Jessica, "I was on Oscorp property when he attacked me."
"Did you find out anything useful?" asked Spider-Man.
"No," lied Jessica.
"Well anything you do know would be helpful," continued Spider-Man, "Goblin could really hurt somebody next time."
Jessica considered for a moment.
"Schultz," she said, "That Shocker guy. He had some sort of deal with Oscorp to deal their stuff on the black market."
"He's in prison though," noted Spider-Man, "We can't exactly ask him about it."
"True," said Jessica, "but I bet his buddies know something."
"Cool, let's have a chat with him," said Spider-Man, firing a web at Jessica's discarded jacket and flinging it back to her, "and you should keep this. The webbing will loosen if you pull gently, kinda like a seatbelt."
"Thanks," said Jessica, gently plucking the webbing from the jacket, "Do you want to change suits first?"
"This suit is actually a quick-drying fabric," said Spider-Man, "So I'm good. Let's go!"
"Alright," agreed Jessica, trying to ignore her soaking wet ass.
"This is it," said Jessica as Spider-Man leapt to the ground next to her.
"Whoa, check it out!" whispered an onlooker, "It's Spider-Man!"
"Someone's popular," said Jessica.
"Depends on who you ask," responded Spider-Man, "So which window is theirs?"
"How the fuck would I know?" asked Jessica.
"Well how are we supposed to get in?"
"The door."
"Oh, right."
Jessica and Spider-Man walked through the grungy apartment lobby and into the elevator. They rode it up one floor, at which point a resident got on with him. He smirked at Spider-Man and gave him a nod.
"Nice costume," he said.
"Thanks!" responded Spider-Man earnestly, "I made it myself."
Jessica raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?" he asked innocently.
They arrived at the intended floor, heralded by heavy metal and the stench of booze and weed.
"They must still be dealing," thought Jessica out loud, "They've got a new stereo."
"New stereo?"
"We had a disagreement last time I was here."
Jessica and Spider-Man walked up to the door. Spider-Man gently rapped on it with the back of his knuckles. Jessica sighed and looked at him in frustration.
"What?" he asked again, apparently unaware of how naive he was coming across.
A loud BANG filled the room as Jessica kicked in the door and the people inside scattered. Mack himself was sitting on the couch with a beer in hand when they arrived and leapt to his feet in a frenzy when he saw them.
"Shit!" he yelled, "The bitch is back!"
"Is that Spider-Man?" asked another.
"Hi!" responded Spider-Man cheerily.
"It's been a while," said Jessica dryly as she approached Mack, "How have you been? How's business?"
"Hey now," said Mack nervously as he raised his hands and began backing up, "We don't want any trouble."
"Then maybe you should've learned from Schultz's mistake," said Jessica, continuing her approach as Mack continued to back up until she cornered him in the bathroom.
"Hey, hey, hey," said Mack, "That's not fair. You can't- GACK!"
Jessica had grabbed Mack by the throat and lifted him into the air. He choked and gasped for air as he gripped Jessica's wrist and futilely tried to ease the pressure off his neck.
"Whoa," said Spider-Man in a concerned tone.
"Let's make this simple," said Jessica, "Who was Schultz's contact at Oscorp?"
"I… don't…. know…" coughed Mack.
"Wrong answer."
Jessica slammed Mack into the wall beside her, readjusted her grip so she had him by the back of his hair, and then threw him down and face first into the open toilet beside them, thrusting his face into the water and holding it there as he gargled and coughed under the water. Then she pulled his dripping wet face back out to face her.
"Try again," she said.
"I'm serious!" he pleaded, "Schultz handled all the Oscorp stuff!"
"Strike two," said Jessica, shoving his face back into the toilet amid the sounds of panicked pleas and splashing.
"Hey Jess," whispered Spider-Man, walking up to them, "Maybe ease up a bit?"
"Fuck off," said Jessica as she pulled Mack's coughing face back up for air before shoving it back down again.
"But heroes are supposed to help people!"
Jessica froze, letting go of Mack's head. She stared intently at Spider-Man and ignored Mack's desperate gasps for air. She thought carefully. She had heard him say that exact phrase before...
"Wait a minute," realized Jessica, "Are you that wedgie kid?"
"What? No!" squeaked Spider-Man defensively, before adding in a much deeper voice "I mean, what are you talking about?"
"Holy shit. It is you," said Jessica, "That's the exact way your voice cracked when that guy wedgied you."
"That wasn't me!" insisted Spider-Man, stomping his foot indignantly.
"A wedgie?" chuckled Mack, "Seriously?"
"Shut up!" shouted Spider-Man.
"Oh God," groaned Jessica, "I can't believe I'm interrogating arms dealers with a teenager."
"I'm not a teenager!" whined Spider-Man, "I'm 21!"
"Wow," snickered another dealer in the room, "So Spider-Man's just some nerdy little kid?"
"I'm not a kid!"
Jessica threw Mack into the corner of the bathroom, leaving him a heap of gasping and dripping as she stood up.
"Follow me," she told Spider-Man as she walked past him and toward the exit, "You and I need to have a fucking talk."
"What about me?" asked Mack, wearily wiping his face with his hands.
"You should probably clean that toilet," quipped Spider-Man, "because something tells me she'll be back for you later."
"I said FOLLOW ME," barked Jessica loudly from the hallway.
"Coming!"
"Stay here," ordered Jessica as she and Spider-Man walked into her apartment.
"Why?"
"Because my ass is still damp from the stunt you pulled in the alley and I want to change."
"You started it…"
Spider-Man returned to silence when Jessica shot a glare at him. Even though he was stronger than her, her aggression and brutality still scared him into compliance. What was more, she knew his secret now. She had more power over him than anyone.
Jessica returned wearing a fresh pair of jeans and underwear. She had also changed out of her jacket and into a tank top. She began fixing herself a drink in the kitchen. She returned with a glass of rum and sat at her desk, looking up at Spider-Man.
"Alright," she said, "Let's talk."
"Are you…" asked Spider-Man hesitantly, "Drinking on the job?"
"Wow," said Jessica, rolling her eyes, "Even I want to give you a wedgie at this point."
Spider-Man looked down uncomfortably at his feet, twiddling his thumbs nervously.
"Would you take that mask off already?" added Jessica, "You look ridiculous."
Spider-Man complied and slowly removed his mask, indeed confirming Peter Parker to be the mussy-haired boy underneath. Jessica locked eyes with him, but looked away uncomfortably when she saw his look of insecurity and shame. She took a sip of her drink.
"I'm…" began Jessica, "Sorry about how I treated you the other day. On campus."
"Oh," said Peter meekly, "Thanks."
Jessica continued to look at him for a few seconds, drumming her fingers on her desk. She wasn't sure where to start with her questions. So she just asked the first thing that came to her mind.
"Why do you let those guys push you around?" she asked, "You can lift cars, for Christ's sake."
"It…" started Peter, choosing his words carefully, "It wouldn't be right for me to use my abilities against them. I believe that when you have power over someone, you have a responsibility to use it in a just way. I'm not a judge or a jury. I'm a hero. That means I protect people weaker than me, not take advantage of them."
There was an uncomfortable silence as Peter and Jessica stared at each other. Peter shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Jessica looked at him irritably.
"That's a load of shit."
"Alright then," sighed Peter.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" asked Jessica, "You're not making the world a better place by letting some deadbeats kick the shit out of you!"
"I thought you'd understand," said Peter, "You know, hero solidarity and all that."
"I already told you," said Jessica, taking another swig of rum, "I'm not a hero."
"Right," said Peter.
"Forget it," said Jessica dismissively, opening her laptop, "Let's just compare notes on Oscorp."
"Here it is!" announced Spider-Man, standing up and pointing down at a locked hatch.
"Would you get down?" requested Jessica irritably, "Someone could see you."
"Oh, right."
"Do you always wear the bright red spandex when sneaking into secret weapons facilities?"
"The costume is kinda part of my whole thing, yeah."
Jessica and Spider-Man were stood atop the same warehouse Jessica had fought Goblin on earlier that day. It was late at night now and both vigilantes were looking at a hatch on the roof leading into the building.
"Alright," said Spider-Man, gripping the side of the locked hatch, "I hope their insurance covers investigative break ins. It might raise their premiums though, you know insurance companies-"
"Wait," said Jessica, "don't do that."
"Wow, tough crowd. I know it wasn't my best joke, but-"
"No, I meant the hatch. Move."
Spider-Man let go of the hatch and stepped back. Jessica looked it over carefully and then pulled a lock picking set out of her back pocket. She grabbed two of the tools and carefully worked them into the mechanics of the large lock holding the latch shut. After a few seconds she heard the snap of the internal mechanism breaking. She flipped the hatch open.
"Harder for them to know we were here this way," said Jessica.
"Wow," said Spider-Man, "Think you could teach me that?"
"Google it."
Jessica hopped down into the wide storage room just below the roof. Spider-Man followed right behind her. They were effectively in the attic of the warehouse. Disorganized piles of marked and unmarked boxes surrounded them on all sides.
"You think this is where Goblin gets his gear?"
"Oh yeah," said Spider-Man, "This is definitely where Greenie goes trick-or-treating."
"What makes you say that?"
Jessica didn't hear a response, so she turned to look at Spider-Man. He had opened one of the boxes and was casually pointing down into it. Jessica walked over and looked in as well. The box was filled with silver metal spheres.
"What are these?" asked Jessica.
"Goblin's bombs."
"They don't look like them."
"Picture them in orange. You know how supervillains love to accessorize."
"Still…"
"Listen," said Spider-Man, "This might shock you, but I'm something of a tech geek. I can tell you with confidence that these are the same devices that Goblin uses."
"Getting your tighty whities pulled over your head on a daily basis doesn't mean you're qualified to identify military-grade explosives."
"That's not what I meant!" said Spider-Man indignantly, "And for your information: those were compressions shorts."
"Excuse me?"
"Not tighty whities," he continued, "This costume is skin tight, so I make sure to always wear compression shorts."
"I really didn't need to know-"
Jessica and Spider-Man both went silent as they heard a loud metal ting directly behind them. They spun around just in time to see a small orange sphere bouncing along the floor in their direction. The green lights on top began blinking at a faster and faster rate, accompanied by an equally accelerated beeping.
"RUN!" shouted Spider-Man.
Both Jessica and Spider-Man broke out into a sprint past the bomb and for the open hatch in the ceiling. The two leapt up and out of the hatch and onto the roof just as they heard the bomb go off. It ignited the box of silver metal spheres, so it was shortly followed by a series of much louder explosions as an entire wall of the warehouse was blown away in flames. Spider-Man and Jessica stared at the flames from the roof in shock.
"Okay," admitted Jessica, "So you were right. Those were bombs."
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Green Goblin descended on his glider and hovered in front of the two, just over the edge of the rooftop.
"Alright Goblin," said Spider-Man, "as much fun as this has been, I think I'm going to have to put my foot down on this whole 'indiscriminate destruction' thing you insist on doing."
"Very well," cackled Goblin, "I'll start my narrowing my scope to spiders and rats!"
Goblin tossed another bomb at their feet as it began to flash and beep. Jessica and Spider-Man dove in opposite directions across the roof. Jessica landed on her side and threw her arms up in front of her face to shield herself from the debris of the coming explosion. To her surprise, none came. Instead, the bomb released a fwee! that sounded like a party horn.
Jessica realized it was a distraction moments before she felt the intense impact of Goblin hitting her with his glider. She coughed as the force of the blow carried her with it, lifting her feet off the ground. She gripped onto the glider for dear life as they flew out over the rest of the Oscorp property and beyond. Jessica couldn't bare to look down and see how high they were, so she looked up to Goblin instead.
"Aren't you a stubborn one!" he squawked.
Jessica was unsure of what he meant until she looked to her right shoulder and saw a blade from the front of the glider had stabbed right into it, covering that area in blood. Jessica gritted her teeth. The shock must have stopped that pain from taking effect, but she'd feel it later.
Angry and not knowing what else to do, Jessica grabbed Goblin's ankle and squeezed as hard as she could. It didn't do any good. Goblin yanked his leg free, brought it back, and then swung it forward directly into Jessica's face. Jessica's vision became a grey blur as the sounds faded into a distant ringing. She felt a burning sensation in her shoulder followed by a lurch in the pit of her stomach. Jessica's vision slowly returned as she tried to make sense of where she was. The city streets were far below her, Goblin was no longer in her field of vision, and her shoulder was hurting more and more. She then realized there was something tightening on the shoulder and looked over to see it was her own jacket, which was being pulled tightly taut across her upper body.
Jessica looked up to see that the glider's other blade had pierced the center back of her leather jacket, stabbing through it and hooking it as she fell, catching her. Goblin was still soaring through the sky, carrying Jessica with her.
"Would you just DIE!?" demanded Goblin.
Jessica looked forward just in time to realize they were headed straight for a building. At their current trajectory, the bottom of the glider would just graze the top of the roof. This meant Jessica, who was dangling beneath the bottom of the glider, would end up like a bug on a windshield.
Jessica cried out in pain as she flex both of her arms inward as hard as she could. This tightened the jacket with such force that it ripped completely apart and freed Jessica, sending her plummeting to the ground below. She closed her eyes and awaited the impact.
The impact came, but in a different way than she expected. She felt a force hit her from the side as Spider-Man swung into her and caught her, redirecting her fall and slowing it down letting her off on the ground. Jessica turned to face him.
"Thanks," she said.
"Wow," said Spider-Man, "That wound is nasty. You should probably-"
"SPIDER-MAN!" screamed Goblin as he soared around the corner of the building and dive bombed in their direction.
Spider-Man spun in place and jumped up into the air. Jessica clutched her bleeding shoulder and watched in frustration as the fight returned to the skies. Spider-Man had latched a web onto the glider and was attempting to either board it or bring Goblin down. Jessica couldn't tell which.
"Whoa," said someone behind Jessica.
"I told you he was here," said another.
Jessica turned around to see a small crowd had gathered. It was late at night and indeed many of them appeared to have just rolled out of bed, but apparently the excitement of seeing Spider-Man in action had drawn them all outside. There must have been a dozen of them. Most of them had cameras out and were filming.
"Hey," said another one, looking directly at Jessica, "Do you know what's going on here?"
"Dude, look at her shoulder!"
"Oh shit, do you need help?"
You have no idea, thought Jessica, but shook her head and returned her attention to the fight.
Spider-Man was now onboard the glider. Jessica saw Goblin tap his heel as a bomb popped out of the glider and up towards his hand. In the midst of his struggle with Spider-Man, Goblin failed to grab the bomb. Spider-Man made a grab for it too, only to miss as it dropped down to the ground below.
"Shit," realized Jessica as she saw the blinking lights and heard the beeping as the bomb plummeted toward her and the crowd.
"No!" shouted Spider-Man desperately, realizing the same thing.
Jessica readied herself. The bomb was directly above her. From what she could tell they were timed, so if she knocked it away before it went off they'd be safe. Jessica watched it fall carefully and swung her fist at it just as it fell within range. She missed.
Everyone gasped as the bomb hit the pavement and bounced into the middle of the crowd. It was now blinking and beeping at its fastest rate. Without thinking, Jessica leapt into the crowd and threw her body onto the bomb.
"I guess this is it," muttered Jessica to herself as she awaited the fatal inferno.
Fwee!
Jessica stared in shock at the inactive bomb for a few moments, considering the odds of what had just was alive. Her shoulder still hurt beyond belief, but she was alive.
"False alarm," she assured everyone as she rose to her feet.
"Thank you," said one woman quietly from the back of the crowd. Jessica gave her a nod.
"Look!" shouted someone else, "He did it!"
Jessica followed his pointing finger to see that Goblin was pinned to the side of a building by a full body spiderweb. Spider-Man was hanging off the wall beside him. Spider-Man waved to the crowd. Then he looked directly at Jessica, gave her a thumbs up, and swung away.
"Yeah," whispered Jessica, "He really did."
Jessica missed her leather jacket. It had been completely ruined by the glider, so she had been wearing one layer less than usual. Jessica tightened her hoodie as another brisk wind blew by. She regretted this immediately. Her shoulder throbbed in pain from the pressure of the tightened fabric. She was a faster healer than most, but being stabbed through the shoulder still took some time to recover.
It had been over a week since the fight with Goblin. Jessica had gone straight home from there, treated her wound with some help from the internet, and then basically stayed in bed for the following week. Goblin was arrested and revealed to be Norman Osborn, the CEO of Oscorp. Apparently in addition to facilitating the black market deals to criminals like Schultz, he had been experimenting on himself and testing out new weapons on anyone who threatened Oscorp. Evidently the experiments affected his sanity. He was currently awaiting trial for his crimes.
"Jessica?" asked Peter, recognizing her as he walked by.
"That's me."
Jessica was back on Empire State University campus. She hadn't spoken with Peter since the incident, but she had finally decided that it would be a good idea to chat with him. She had even thought of a clever way to thank him.
"How's the… um… I mean..." stuttered Peter, "How are you?"
"I'm okay, all things considered," she said, "How about yourself?"
"Same, I guess."
"I wanted to show you something."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Follow me."
"Somebody let me down!" cried out Flash, getting only laughter in response.
In the center of Empire State University's campus was a tall post with a large analog clock at the top. It was in the center of the campus's main quad, which was always busy and bustling with students. Right now the top of the clock was decorated by Flash Thompson. The waistband of his dark green boxers was completely stretched over the top of the clock, leaving him hanging in a painful wedgie. A moderately sized crowd had gathered and were laughing at his expense.
"Oh my God…" whispered Peter.
"Yup."
"You didn't…!"
"I did."
"Jessica!" groaned Peter, "Weren't you listening at all when I told you why I don't do stuff like this?!"
"Relax," she said, "No one saw me do it. Not even him."
"That's not the point," pouted Peter, "Heroes are supposed to help people, not-"
"Maybe you're the one who wasn't listening," said Jessica, "Like I told you: I'm not a hero."
Peter frowned at her.
"Oh come on," she sneered, "Look at that and tell me it doesn't feel at least a little satisfying."
"It…" began Peter, watching as even Liz snickered at Flash's fate, "Maybe a little. Like, a tiny bit."
"Attaboy."
"For what it's worth," said Peter after a few seconds of consideration, "The other night… I saw you jump on that bomb. You risked your life to save those people."
"It was a dud."
"You didn't know that," said Peter, "as far as you knew, you were sacrificing yourself."
"Whatever."
"You are a hero, Jessica Jones," said Peter emphatically.
"And you," smiled Jessica as she began to walk away, "are a huge nerd."
Peter smiled to himself as she turned and left.
Elsewhere, at a dive bar in Hell's Kitchen, a thin woman with black hair in an undercut quietly sipped her gin. Every patron that surrounded her was either twice her size or scary looking enough to make up for it. It was the kind of place where a fight could break out at any moment and no one would try to stop it. Conversations everywhere centered around unsavory activity of some sort.
"I'm telling you he's a kid!"
"Fuck off, Mack. Spider-Man? A kid?"
"I'm serious! 21, that's what he said! He looks and sounds like it up close, too."
"Then how is he so strong?"
"I don't know, but from what I can tell he's pretty new at this. He might be strong, but he seems naive."
Perfect, thought Felicia Hardy as she finished her gin, Looks like I've found my next mark.