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Jasper leapt through the night sky with Michelle Jones in his arms, landing smoothly on the rooftop of a tall building. He gently set her down—she was shivering like crazy. No wonder—she wasn't wearing much, and it was freezing up here with the night wind blowing.
Michelle quickly ducked behind a water tank to shield herself from the wind, finally stopping her shivering.
Meanwhile, Jasper pulled out a coin and started channeling electricity to generate a magnetic field.
He'd been studying the idea of the "railgun" lately. Knowing that the real Railgun (Misaka Mikoto) might actually exist if he kept jumping across worlds, he figured he'd better brush up on physics—especially electromagnetism and current flow—just in case. He'd been grinding through it every day with a ton of practice. And not long ago, he finally managed to shoot a coin like a bullet.
Still, he wasn't on Misaka Mikoto's level yet. The revolution is far from over, and there's still work to do!
Watching Jasper messing around with the coin, Michelle couldn't help but complain, "It's freezing~!"
"It's not that bad," Jasper muttered, still focused on the coin. When the heck will this thing be strong enough to punch through a wall?
He gave the coin a quick rub, aimed at a soda can someone had tossed nearby—didn't matter who.
Then—snap!
The coin zipped out, tracing a streak of orange light through the air, smacking the can and sending it flying. His aim was solid. Just... still lacking power.
Jasper let out a sigh.
Clap clap! Michelle applauded. "That was awesome!"
Jasper looked at her seriously. "You've been running around town with me for three days straight. Don't your parents get worried?"
Michelle glanced at him. "They're not worried at all. They're actually kinda happy I'm out with you."
"…Your parents sure trust me," Jasper said, then hopped onto the water tank to look out over the city at night.
Michelle couldn't climb up on her own, so she called out, "Help me up."
Jasper nodded and pulled her up beside him. Her hands were cold and stiff—she'd probably gone numb from the cold earlier.
She stuffed her hands into her bag and said, "This view's amazing."
Jasper nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty great."
Michelle laid down on the tank and stared up at the sky. The stars at night were just… mesmerizing.
A few minutes later, Jasper heard the sound of police sirens. He stood up and said, "Time for me to go."
Michelle looked up at him. "Okay."
A few minutes later, Jasper carried Michelle back down to the street.
He raised his wrist and shot out a web, swinging away quickly.
He wasn't actually planning to help out. That was just his excuse to get Michelle to head home.
Michelle talked way too much—Jasper couldn't concentrate on training with her around.
Web-swinging through the city, Jasper soon arrived at the scene. A bunch of gang members were in the middle of a shootout.
Jasper pulled out a coin and decided to give them a little taste.
The coin wouldn't kill anyone, but getting hit by it sure as hell wouldn't feel good.
One by one, the coins smacked into the gang members' hands, knocking their guns to the ground and leaving them stunned.
But the cops weren't stunned—they rushed in and quickly took control of the situation.
"Wow~! Somebody's been studying physics," said a familiar voice behind him.
Iron Man had flown in silently and was now hovering at Jasper's back.
Jasper glanced back, frowned, and said, "Are you teasing me? Coming from a genius physicist like you, that's just mean."
Jasper couldn't tell if Iron Man was joking or not, but whatever. He had given Jasper a suit before—guess that earned him a little leeway.
Iron Man looked at him and said, "Wanna fly?"
"Fly? You mean like gliding?" Jasper asked. He could already glide a bit with the suit Iron Man gave him earlier.
"I mean really fly," Iron Man said, pulling out a triangular device and placing it on Jasper's chest.
The moment it attached, liquid nanometal began spreading across Jasper's body, covering him in seconds.
"Whoa—! This is a nano suit?!" Jasper said, stunned.
Tony Stark nodded. With more and more monsters showing up lately, he was under a lot of pressure. Working on tech was the only thing that gave him some peace of mind. Before he knew it, he'd built this nano suit.
Tonight, he'd just wanted to go out for a ride—and then he stumbled upon Jasper casually stopping a gang fight with coins. It made him smile. Even though Stark always said he wasn't here to save the world, deep down, he always stepped in when people were in danger.
He found Jasper kind of cute in his own awkward, stubborn way—definitely still a kid.
So he decided to give Jasper the nano suit. No big deal. He could make another one anytime.
"I wanna fly!" Jasper shouted, and in the next second, nanometal on his back shifted, forming mechanical wings.
WHOOSH! Jasper soared into the sky.
Tony Stark watched him go, smiling like he'd just given a kid a shiny new toy.
The Next Day
Jasper showed up to class with massive bags under his eyes, completely exhausted. He'd stayed up way too late flying around and basically didn't sleep at all. He was half-dead from sleep deprivation.
He didn't even have the energy to glance at Annie.
At least no one was bothering him.
"What's up with him?" Gwen Stacy asked, eyeing the sleeping Jasper.
Peter Parker just clasped his hands together. "Probably out saving the world again."
Gwen thought about it, then said, "Does Jasper actually want to be a superhero?"
Nope. Not even a little. All he wanted was to enjoy a quiet, chill life.
Peter pretty much had Jasper figured out now. If he could slack off, he would. If he could sit, he wouldn't stand. The guy was a total couch potato at heart.
Lunch Break
Annie showed up. She'd come looking for Jasper since he hadn't looked her way at all this morning, and she was kinda weirded out.
Then she saw him passed out at his desk, dead asleep.
She was just about to wake him when Jasper opened his eyes on his own.
He rubbed them and looked up at her. "What's up?"
Annie reached out, brushed his hair, and asked, "Are you sick or something?"
Gwen Stacy quietly watched the exchange between Annie and Jasper.
Then Michelle Jones chimed in, "He stayed up all night gaming. That's why he's been sleeping all morning."
So that's what it was, Annie thought. She'd actually been worried he was mad at her or something.
"Well, let's go grab lunch!" Annie said.
Jasper nodded.
"....."