Michelle "MJ" Jones

I went to school, as per normal. Before my first class of the day, Peter texted me to let me know that he was on way his way to fly out to Southeast Asia. I texted him back, telling him to be careful and telling him I love him. He responded by telling me he love me and promised to bring me a souvenir. I was still a bit worried, but I knew that the others were going to look after him. So, I decided to focus on school. During school, I started to hear whispers about me all over school. I didn't pay attention enough to know why that was. It wouldn't be the first time rumors about me flew around school. I thought nothing of it.

But then I got called into the principal's office.

I made my way there at a steady pace. Why I was being called, I did not know. A part of me wondered if they linked the chemistry lab fire to me. A part of me wondered if Agent Cleary was taking another go at me. When I arrived at Principal Morita's office and stepped inside, I was a bit caught off guard to see…

"Yuri?" I said.

Indeed it was – Yuri Watanabe. She looked at me and smiled. She was wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and a dark blue jacket. I saw the badge on her belt.

"It's been a while since we've seen each other face to face," Yuri replied with a nod.

"I wasn't aware you two knew each other," Morita said. I almost forgot he was even there.

"She's my neighbor," I explained. I smiled briefly. "I take it you're not here to catch up, though."

"I'm not," Yuri confirmed. "Please sit." Without a word, I did as I was told, sitting in one of the chairs front of Morita's desk.

"Do you need me to leave?" Morita asked.

Yuri looked at him. "That depends." Yuri looked back at me. "Are you uncomfortable with his presence?" I shook my head. She looked at Morita and smiled. "Then you may stay." After that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. As she went through it, she spoke. "The reason you've been called into this office is because we recently arrested a man who is a suspect in multiple reported crimes. Said crimes range from robbery and false imprisonment to sexual assault and rape. The reason I'm talking to you in this matter is because I came across cellphone footage that went viral."

She brought her phone out to me. I took it from her and looked at the screen. It was a video on pause. I looked at her. She gave me an encouraging nod. I looked back at the screen and tapped it with my thumb, playing the video. As the video played, I realized what the footage was. It was a video of my fight with that guy who tried to come after me with the knife. Fortunately, for me, the footage ended before me taking money off of the creep.

"Is that you?" Yuri asked.

"It is," I replied honestly.

"I see." She took the phone away from me briefly. After going through it again, she handed it back to me. This time, it was a picture of a man. I took in his features – the short brown hair, the dark circles around his brown eyes, the stubble… yeah, it was all there. "Is that the guy you tussled with?"

I nodded. "Yes it is."

"The man you are looking at is Bradley Turner. He's already looking at several charges, as I stated before. But since you identified him, I think we can add attempted assault to the list. With that being said, I'd like to get a written statement from you. Can you come with me to the precinct?"

"Um…" I trailed off as I looked at Morita.

"I will make sure that all the homework assignments that you may be assigned from the rest of your classes are e-mailed to you," Morita assured. "While I do care about your academic performance, I think it would be better for your wellbeing and the wellbeing of every decent person in New York if you do your part in making sure he's behind bars."

I nodded at him before I looked at Yuri. "Shall we?"

A few minutes later, I was in Yuri's squad car. As I rode shotgun, I stared out the window. I started to have memories of that night – the night I met Yuri properly and found out she was an officer. I didn't trust her at first. But then she got me and my sister out of a very bad jam.

"So, what's been new?" Yuri asked.

I thought about the last time her and I talked. "Let's see… I made some new friends outside of school," I began. "I'm actually dating one of them." I looked over at her. While her eyes remained on the road, the smirk of amusement was hard to miss. "Other than that, I decided where I'm going to college at."

"You're not going to MIT?"

"That's still a possibility, but I want to stay a bit closer to home, so I decided to apply at Empire State University."

"Hardly a step down, I think." Yuri nodded. "So about that video… did you always know martial arts, or is that a new thing?"

"It's sort of a new thing. I've been training with Colleen Wing. I was encouraged to pursue martial arts several weeks ago and I finally got around to it recently. It's a good thing I did, too."

"I agree."

I smiled before I looked out through the windshield. "So, what about you?" I asked. "Anything new with you?"

"Well, nothing really," Yuri replied. She paused. "Except for the addition of dealing with the DODC."

I looked at her. "How come?"

"Well…" She trailed off. "…What I'm going to say stays between you and me, okay?" I nodded. "Basically, the DODC has been investigating the NYPD and have been questioning officers that have worked with any of the local unregistered heroes at any point. I've been questioned recently because I worked with the X-Men before, prior to them becoming the X-Men."

I tilted my head forward and raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack. The thing about the NYPD is that the agency is not required to enforce the Accords. Unfortunately, when an occurrence involves an officer – or officers – and an unregistered hero, the DODC comes knocking. I've already been investigated three times, the last time regarding the prisoner riot." She shook her head. "It's a bit of an annoyance."

I nodded. "So the NYPD and the DODC are at odds?"

"For better or for worse, the NYPD and the law enforcement agencies within the U.S. government have a long history of being at odds with each other for varying reasons."

When we got to the station, I gave my statement. I was then dropped off at home. Not feeling like lounging around before work, I called in and asked if I could come to work early. Why not make some extra money? After getting the go ahead, I went into the bathroom to freshen up.

"You had yourself an interesting last few days," Mirror Me commented as I soon as I stepped in front of the mirror. I looked at her. She smiled. "I have to admit, seeing that creep get dropped in 4K made my day."

I scoffed as I shook my head. "I bet it did," I replied. I stared at her pointedly. "Don't expect me to go around patrolling the streets at night."

She shrugged. "The night time space is heavily saturated, anyway. The day shift, however, seems to be wide open."

I grimaced. "Yeah, I'm going to have to pass on that. I don't think there's much in the way of benefits."

"I don't know. The X-Men seem to be doing well for themselves. I mean, they have a fancy apartment, they travel all over the world…"

"They're constantly targeted, they're slandered and libeled by certain media outlets, they literally have to keep a therapist on speed dial…" I shook my head. "It's not all sweet."

"I know, I know. Look, I've been stuck here for seemingly years. Let my imagination go wild for a bit, okay?" She smiled. She then frowned. "You think The Loser is going to be okay?"

I nodded. "He's in good hands, I think."

"…But you wanted to go with his suggestion. I felt it."

"Yeah, I did."

"So why didn't you?"

"It's like I said, I care too much about Peter and the others. I don't want Peter to be in his own head and have him and the others hurt because of it. And besides, I'm trying to ready myself for what could possibly happen after my mom and dad meet with Gayle. I think it would be best for the both of me if I take these problems on one at a time."

Mirror MJ looked at me for some seconds. She then nodded slowly. "I guess you have a point," she conceded.

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to get this over with, too, huh?"

"Well, yeah, of course I do. I've been stuck here for a very long time, after all. I mean, you've seen it. It's not exactly a vacation spot over here."

"You could pass the time at Coney Island."

"I already have, multiple times. It got real old, real quick." She shook her head. "If there is a bright side, though, I think I figured out how some of the workers rig their games."

I smiled briefly. "Just hold on a little longer, okay? Once the X-Men are done with Kraven, you'll be at the top of my list of priorities. I promise."

"I know." She took in a breath before she smiled. "So, seen any good movies lately?"

After that conversation, I got ready for work and made my way to Peter Pan. The day went by normally for the most part. Of course, Peter wasn't there for his usual. Ned, however, did swing by with Betty. After I served them their order, I explained to them why I left Midtown earlier in the day.

"Yeah, we came looking for you," Betty explained. "Everybody was talking about that video. We couldn't quite make out if it was you or not." She smirked. "I have to admit, it was something seeing you go all Michelle Yeoh on that creep."

"I won't say I'm on that level," I replied as I wiped down the counter. I couldn't help but smirk at the compliment, however. "Still, it felt pretty good to be able to handle myself."

"You sure you don't want to go into Peter's line of work?" Ned teased. I gave him a look. He responded with a cheeky smile. I rolled my eyes before I went back to wiping down the counter. "Speaking of Peter, where did he go this time?"

"He's going to this country called Madripoor,"I explained.

"…I'm sorry, what?" Betty spoke up. I looked at her. She had a look of surprise on her face.

"You heard of it?"

"I have. I remember hearing about it on a news report. One of the Friends of Humanity – I think his name is Buck Cashman or something – apparently escaped to that country. According to that report, the country has a no extradition policy."

"I see." After I scrubbed off a particularly stubborn spot, I balled up the rag. "Peter did mention it was a lawless place. I just hope he's careful there."

Betty smiled. "I'm sure he'll be fine. He's got the right people around him."

"But what if –?" Ned began.

"Ned," I interrupted with authority. "I understand you're worried about them. I get that. But last time you started worrying, you had Betty and I worrying to the point that we agreed to stuff that we wouldn't normally agree to and did stuff that was rather stupid to get to Palm Springs."

Ned glared at me. "But we helped with that situation!"

"That we did. That still doesn't change the fact that we put ourselves in a situation we weren't really equipped for. We were lucky then. We could have ended up in worse shape. So, let's just trust the process." The front door opened up. I glanced at it. Seeing who it was, I kept a neutral expression. I looked back at my friends. "Let me take care of this customer."

I walked up to the register and put on my normal mask of politeness. "Welcome to Peter Pan," I said in an even tone. "How may I help you?"

The man looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you could be so polite," he replied casually.

"I can be rather polite, Agent Cleary. It's part of the job." It took a lot of effort to keep the venom out of my voice.

Cleary nodded. "Well, if you would kindly, I'd like a regular cup of coffee, black."

"Okay, that'll be two dollars and eight cents." Without saying a word, Cleary reached into his pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill. He held it out towards me. I took it from him, rung him up, placed the five dollar bill into tray, and then gave him his change. I then grabbed a regular cup and went about fulfilling his order. After putting the top on the cup and placing the cup in a sleeve, I walked up to the counter and handed him his order. "I hope the coffee is to your liking."

"I'm sure the coffee will hit as well as you do," he said slyly. "That is, if the viral clip is anything to go by."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just a girl trying to defend myself, nothing more."

"See, I don't quite believe that you're nothing more, Michelle. On the contrary, I think you're far from normal. The type of training one would need to take down a guy in three moves is not something you can find anywhere or in anyone."

"I'm taking self-defense classes, Cleary. I don't know if you noticed this or not, but it's pretty dangerous for someone like me."

"I'm sure it is." He took a sip from his coffee. He looked at the cup and nodded a couple of times. He looked back at me. "I'll be watching you, Jones. Understand that aiding and abetting a violator of The Accords carries extreme consequences. You can cooperate with me and tell me your connection with You-Know-Who and I'll make sure any charges you would face be gone with the wind. But if you don't, well… it'd be a shame that you, an ESU and MIT prospect, gets put behind bars before you reach your full potential."

I raised my eyebrows slowly. "And it'd be a shame if you put so much effort into investigating me to find out you're wasting your time, along with the taxes paid by the people of this country. Now, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to get back to work, so unless you're getting something else…"

"I got nothing else. You have a nice day, Jones."

"You as well, Cleary."

I watched as he left. I then sighed before I turned my attention to Ned and Betty. I walked up to them.

"MJ, are you okay?" Ned asked.

I smiled. "I'm good," I replied.

No. No I was not good.