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Aunt May was definitely super warm and welcoming—but what the hell was Tony Stark doing here?!
While Aunt May was busy in the kitchen, Jasper walked up to Tony Stark and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Peter Parker looked just as confused. He hadn't expected Tony Stark to show up either.
Tony looked at the two teens in front of him and shrugged. "Am I not allowed to be here?"
Jasper squinted at him. "Alright then~ Let me guess, you came here for the food?"
Peter stared seriously at Tony, and the next second, Tony nodded and said, "Yeah, I came here to eat."
Jasper and Peter clearly didn't believe him, but they didn't press any further.
Jasper sat down next to Tony. "This is weird, man."
"Iron Man, Spider-Man, and some guy nicknamed 'Raging Spider' all having dinner together? Yeah, weird doesn't even cover it," Tony said. Jasper had earned that nickname after brutally beating the Abomination—it stuck.
Peter lowered his voice and glanced toward Aunt May. "Guys, can we not talk about this kind of stuff here?"
Jasper also glanced over. Aunt May was still busy with the food.
Tony casually patted Peter on the shoulder. "Don't be so skittish."
The three of them exchanged glances for a moment. The air felt a bit tense.
Jasper flopped onto the couch. "This isn't fair. How come you guys get to be superheroes and I don't?"
He said that, but honestly, Jasper didn't actually care about being a superhero.
Tony gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You are one. At least, I think so."
Jasper looked over at him. Huh, Tony Stark knows how to comfort people?
Peter, meanwhile, was visibly uncomfortable, worried someone might overhear them.
A moment later, Aunt May came out with the food, and both Jasper and Tony immediately shut up.
"What's going on? The vibe's a little off," Aunt May asked, looking at the tense trio. Peter seemed nervous, while the other two were unusually quiet. Had something happened?
"Ah? Nothing!" Peter blurted, then looked at Jasper and suddenly said, "Jasper was asking Tony Stark to tutor him. His grades are really bad, after all!"
Jasper: "…"
Okay, sure, Jasper wasn't exactly top of the class, but he wasn't that bad either. Peter just threw him under the bus to change the subject.
"Right! I should help him out with his studies," Tony said, nodding at Jasper.
Aunt May looked at Jasper and kindly said, "If you need help, feel free to ask me too. I used to do pretty well in school."
Jasper: "…"
Then came dinner time.
After they finished eating, Jasper, Peter, and Tony left together.
"I'm gonna walk them out, Aunt May," Peter said.
"Okay," Aunt May nodded.
"Spider-baby!" Tony teased as they stepped outside. He didn't mean it as an insult—he actually found Peter quite polite.
Still, to Jasper and Peter, it totally sounded like he was making fun of him.
Jasper muttered under his breath, "Spider-baby…"
Peter shot him a side glance and quipped, "Spider-flunky."
Jasper: "…"
Spider-flunky?! He was in the top 20 at school, for crying out loud! Why did Peter always give him these weird labels?
"So, what now?" Tony asked. "You guys heading home?"
"Home? Nah—we're going out!" Jasper said, pulling out his nanotech device and placing it on his chest.
In a flash, his suit formed over him.
Peter's suit formed bit by bit too—courtesy of Tony Stark's design.
The next moment, the three figures blasted into the sky.
To Tony, it kind of felt like he was taking two kids out to play... but he didn't really mind.
"FOUND YOU!!!"
Right then, the Abomination burst out from the sewers. After getting his butt kicked by Jasper and being abandoned by the government, he was itching for revenge—he had to prove himself by defeating Jasper.
But the moment he popped up and saw Spider-Man and Iron Man there too, he froze.
Before he could even say a word, Jasper's fist smashed into his face.
The Abomination stumbled back a few steps, rubbing his head.
And then—bam!—Spider-Man and Iron Man's punches came flying in too. Since Jasper had already made the first move, there was no way they were gonna just stand around.
BOOM!!
The Abomination hit the ground hard. He was pissed.
He roared as he stood up and hurled a car at them in pure rage.
Jasper's arm nanotech quickly formed a sleek sword.
With a clean swing, he sliced the car in half.
Then Iron Man blasted Abomination with a laser, sending him flying.
Spider-Man snagged the chopped car pieces with his webs and swung them right back at the brute.
WHAM WHAM!!
The sounds echoed loudly.
Abomination ended up lying in a giant crater, totally wrecked and reevaluating his life. There was no way he could take on all three of them at once.
Damn it.
Grunting, he started clawing at the ground, digging hard until he broke back into the sewers, then disappeared down the tunnels.
Jasper stepped forward to check. All he saw was a massive pit.
Was this guy a rat or something?
Jasper clicked his tongue. "Seriously? Comes flying in just to get beat down and run away again? Is he trying to be funny?"
"Later!!!" Jasper shouted, then dove into the shadows and vanished.
Peter glanced at Tony. "Guess I should head out too."
And with that, Peter zipped away.
Tony Stark headed home not long after.
Back at home, Jasper cracked open a bottle of soda.
Shadow-Spider looked at him and said, "I haven't eaten yet."
Jasper replied, "Don't you not eat?"
Shadow-Spider didn't answer. She just grabbed a book and walked out of Jasper's room. These past few days, she'd been eating with him all the time. And now, just because he didn't need her anymore, he completely ignored her feelings. Hmph. Men really are the worst.
She sat in the living room and started reading.
Jasper came out, glanced at her, and didn't say anything.
Shadow-Spider: "…"
She couldn't focus on the book anymore. Why didn't he say anything? Was he mad?
Her thoughts started to spiral. Sure, she was supposed to be the embodiment of Jasper's darkness and desire… but she was also her own person now, okay?
Ten minutes later, Jasper showed up in front of her with a bowl of egg fried rice.
Shadow-Spider stared quietly at the food.
"Come on, eat. Sorry—I shouldn't have ignored you," Jasper said seriously. He thought she didn't care about stuff like that. Turns out, she really did. She was getting more human by the day.
Shadow-Spider lowered her head and started eating. After a few bites, she looked up and said, "Master, it's really good."
"As long as you like it," Jasper smiled, ruffling her hair.
Shadow-Spider gave him a look like a happy little puppy. Dang, she was pretty cute.
Jasper checked the time. It was only 10 PM—still time to get in some gaming.
Once Shadow-Spider finished eating, Jasper headed off to play games.
She sat on his bed reading for a bit, occasionally glancing up at him while he played.
Next morning.
Someone was demanding that Tony Stark take responsibility for last night's chaos.
Of course, Tony didn't back down. He just told them to go ahead and sue him—and that shut everyone up real fast.
At school, Jasper saw Ned and the others excitedly talking about how they beat up the Abomination.
"Hey, Ned," Jasper greeted him.
Ned looked over and waved back.
Jasper took his seat and, out of habit, stared out the window.
Annie was doing her warm-ups outside. Her smoking hot figure was impossible to ignore—just watching her stretch her back was enough to make guys lose their minds.
Jasper spotted a guy who got way too excited and had to awkwardly run off to hide.
Yep. Total succubus.
Then Annie spotted Jasper and immediately waved at him, even blowing him a kiss.
Jasper waved back casually.
"Wow~ So jealous," Ned said, eyeing the whole exchange.
Jasper turned to him. "How'd you get here?"
"Walked," Ned replied.
Annie started jogging.
Jasper looked away, but Ned kept staring and mumbled, "No wonder she's the hottest girl in school."
Jasper didn't respond. He just laid his head down on the desk, zoning out.
"Hey~ Jasper, wanna go to the library with me at lunch?" Gwen Stacy asked, walking up close and lowering her voice. "Some guy keeps bugging me."
Ugh. Another decoy mission?Jasper frowned. He hated being used as a shield.
Before he could answer, Gwen had already walked off.
Well, they were friends. He should help her out.
So Jasper got up, grabbed the guy who'd been bothering her, and dragged him straight out of the classroom.
He pulled the guy into the restroom.
"Stop bothering Gwen Stacy," Jasper said bluntly.
The kid glared at him. "Why should I?"
"Because she doesn't like it. So knock it off."
The guy shook off Jasper's hand. "It's none of your business."
Jasper sighed, grabbed the guy again, and called the cops.
"You're basically stalking her now," Jasper said. "Let's have the police straighten you out."
About thirty minutes later, the guy was taken away—along with Jasper and Gwen for statements.
At the police station, Gwen's dad glared at the guy who'd been following his daughter. He was not going to go easy on him.
Gwen glanced at Jasper and asked, "Don't you think that was a little much?"
"This was the best way to handle it," Jasper replied calmly.
After giving their statements, they were allowed to leave.
Walking down the street, Gwen looked at Jasper and asked, "Wanna go chill somewhere?"
Jasper nodded. No school today, then.
"....."