Watching the Mustang grow smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, Bruce didn't show much emotion. He simply sat in his seat and watched as the car disappeared completely.
Withdrawing his gaze, Bruce turned his attention to the central console screen.
It had already changed from its previous appearance. A clear red dot was now moving toward downtown New York.
However, Bruce understood that with Jessica's personality, she would undoubtedly persuade Gwen to abandon the car soon after.
So, this information was really just for reference now.
Bruce restarted the pickup truck and headed toward the Batcave. Although he had great confidence in Jessica and Gwen's ability to protect themselves, that didn't mean he wasn't worried about the two of them.
And at the moment, he didn't have any suitable gear on hand. Even though this pickup had been equipped with some emergency devices by Bruce, they wouldn't be of much use in the current situation.
Bruce's hunch wasn't wrong. After Jessica had Gwen drive into New York City, they found a relatively safe spot, parked the Mustang, and locked it.
"What are we going to do next?" Gwen asked, a bit uncertain. Now that they weren't returning to the Batcave, what were they supposed to do? They couldn't just wander around New York City all day.
But when Gwen turned to look, Jessica was already gone. The Spider-Woman had already changed into her suit.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go catch some bad guys."
Jessica was clinging to the wall of a tall building, waving at Gwen.
Seeing her like that, Gwen had no choice but to activate her nanobots, which covered her entire body.
With a light leap, she landed beside Jessica.
"I'm warning you, don't even think about using your nanobots to tip off that bastard Bruce," Jessica warned seriously.
She truly believed the girl in front of her might actually do something like that.
Hearing Jessica's words, Gwen gave a somewhat awkward smile. Truthfully, the thought had crossed her mind the moment she activated her nano-suit—at the very least, to let Bruce know where they were, so that old bat back home wouldn't worry.
"You didn't already send it, did you?"
Jessica looked at Gwen suspiciously, the younger girl clad in her black-and-white suit.
"No!" Gwen shook her head repeatedly, insisting she hadn't sent Bruce any coordinates. She hadn't even messaged him.
But Jessica continued to stare into Gwen's eyes and spoke slowly and seriously: "You do know I used to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, right? Not a famous one, sure, but I did study psychology."
Despite Jessica's serious tone, Gwen remained unfazed—she knew that no matter how skilled Jessica was, she couldn't see her facial expression through the mask.
"Don't worry. I really didn't say anything to Bruce."
Gwen waved dismissively. Jessica could only drop her suspicion.
With a flick of her wrist, Jessica shot out a webline and vanished from Gwen's side.
Not wanting to delay, Gwen quickly followed after her, not wanting Jessica to get suspicious.
Their figures darted between buildings, weaving through the city.
No structure seemed capable of stopping them.
Eventually, they landed on the top of the Empire State Building, gazing down at the city below.
As order gradually returned to the streets of New York, Jessica just sat there quietly without moving.
Perhaps sensing Jessica's mood, the symbiote suit retracted around her face, revealing an expression tinged with melancholy.
Gwen wanted to ask what they were going to do next, but seeing Jessica's demeanor, she held her words back.
"I had a fight with Bruce," Jessica said suddenly.
Hearing that, Gwen didn't know how to respond.
Given the situation earlier, even a blind person could tell there was tension between Jessica and Bruce.
So Gwen stayed quiet, knowing the most important thing now was to let Jessica express what was on her mind.
"I really just wanted to have a proper talk with him. What was that deal with Kang the Conqueror? What really happened between them?" Jessica looked out at the edge of the city skyline. "I just wanted to show him I care. Let him know there are people in this world who worry about him. So why did he completely ignore that?"
Gwen nodded slowly.
Indeed, Bruce had always given them the impression of someone deeply lonely—as if he didn't let anyone into his space.
"And then, after I took action against that guy with the gun, he told me I was being reckless," Jessica said, turning to Gwen, her eyes glistening with tears.
Gwen leaned closer, wrapping an arm around Jessica's shoulders and gently patting her.
Truthfully, Jessica wasn't that much older than Gwen—only two or three years.
She was still in college.
But with everything going on lately, Jessica had long since stopped worrying about her studies.
"Maybe he has his own troubles—things he can't say out loud," Gwen tried to defend Bruce. She knew Jessica probably wouldn't buy that explanation, but she had to try.
Hearing Gwen's words, Jessica took a deep breath.
She thought about the background files Bruce seemed to have conjured out of thin air.
Bruce's initial identity was fabricated so flawlessly that once Batman appeared, S.H.I.E.L.D. had begun combing through all of New York.
Not to mention, Bruce later took over Wilson Fisk's business empire.
That, too, had made him a target for investigation.
Jessica admitted Bruce was a genius—but people always had blind spots.
And S.H.I.E.L.D. might lack other things, but not agents. With enough people, they were bound to find clues.
Of course, that was until Bruce hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system and left backdoors.
After that, trying to dig up anything on Bruce became nearly impossible.
Jessica had seen it firsthand while working at the console—whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. began looking into Bruce, the system would redirect their queries to completely incorrect data.
Even when they knew it was wrong, they couldn't do anything about it, because Bruce had full control of their systems.
Eventually, their screens would display a giant bat symbol.
Maybe Bruce really was from another universe—someone who wasn't supposed to exist in this world.
As Gwen tried to console Jessica, she too thought of her own universe.
Didn't she also end up here because her universe vanished?In a sense, she and Bruce weren't all that different.
Jessica suddenly stood up, causing Gwen to wobble slightly. If they weren't both Spider-Women, the two of them might have fallen right off the Empire State Building.
"Could you be a little more careful?" Gwen looked at Jessica, who was once again letting the symbiote suit cover her face, and spoke to her with some exasperation.
Jessica reached out and helped Gwen to her feet. "Sorry."
"Is there anywhere nearby where we can really let loose?"
Jessica flexed her wrists. Right now, she didn't want to think about anything—especially not that old bat, Bruce.
All she wanted now was to find some bad guys and beat them up properly.
"Got it." Gwen had already begun scanning the surrounding streets using her nano-suit to check if anything suspicious was going on.
Even though both Gwen's and Jessica's suits were extremely portable,the nature of the symbiote suit made it impossible to process surrounding information and data as quickly as the nano-suit.
"Found something." It didn't take long at all before Gwen located a crime happening nearby.
"You lead the way."
Without another word, Gwen jumped off the Empire State Building. Jessica followed closely behind, the two figures speeding toward the crime scene Gwen had identified.
What they didn't notice was that after they left, it looked like a patch of white cloud had disappeared above the Empire State Building.
Bruce still couldn't quite feel at ease about these two young ladies. More importantly, given everything that had happened recently, Bruce believed this was just the prelude to a major incident.
Whether it was the things Kang the Conqueror said, or the words Reed Richards later spoke to them—it all confirmed what Gwen had experienced: her universe vanishing was an inevitable event.
Bruce also had a strong feeling that something big was going to erupt very soon.
From any perspective, he couldn't just allow Jessica and Gwen to be wandering around outside like this, even if their only aim was to deal with criminals.
Elsewhere, Gwen and Jessica had already arrived at the scene of the crime.
"Hey, fellas! Got anything good in there? Want me to lend a hand?"Jessica clapped her hands to get the attention of the men looting the store and shouted toward them.
The gang of looters, who were in the middle of their "five-finger discount," all turned toward her.
When they saw the spider symbols on Jessica's and Gwen's chests, they instinctively began lowering the goods in their hands.
But the next moment, one of the more aggressive men threw down his stolen items and pulled out a handgun from his waistband, aiming it directly at Gwen and Jessica.
"I don't care if you're bugs or Spider-Women. If you leave now, I won't shoot."
He waved the gun in his hand as he spoke, trying to scare them off.
But rather than intimidate them, the gesture made Jessica laugh. She couldn't understand why this guy still thought pointing a gun at her was a good idea.
If it had just been looting, it might not have been a big deal—but pulling a gun was a whole other matter.
The other men, seeing one of their own pull a gun, quickly tried to ditch the stolen goods and escape. But Gwen and Jessica weren't going to let them get away that easily.
Webbing shot out in an instant, sealing off the shattered storefront windows.
Only the front entrance of the store, where the armed man stood, remained as the sole possible escape route.
"There shouldn't be anyone inside…" Jessica didn't finish her sentence.
But Gwen already understood what she meant and shook her head.
"They're hiding somewhere safe."
Through Gwen's eyes, it was clear that the store's owner and employees had locked themselves behind the bulletproof counter.
"Good."
Jessica launched her attack immediately. Her web wrapped around the man's handgun and yanked it away.
Before the man could even process what had just happened, a red fist filled his vision.
As Jessica charged in, Gwen naturally followed close behind.
Meanwhile, somewhere unbeknownst to them, Bruce was having a conversation with S.H.I.E.L.D.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is dealing with this kind of thing now?"Bruce looked at the team of agents in front of him and asked.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, of course, knew Bruce's unique identity—and that he always had plenty of contingency plans.
Besides, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s stance on the Bat had always been to let him operate freely.
"There was a report that two Spider-Women were attacking civilians," said the team leader. "And with the local police short-staffed, we were sent in."
"Did the caller mention someone pulling a gun?"Bruce already had a good idea of what was going on. He'd prepared himself the moment Jessica and Gwen encountered those thugs.
Even Bruce hadn't expected someone to be armed during a looting spree.
And then to aim a gun at Jessica on top of that.
Hearing Bruce's words, the team leader immediately understood what was really happening.
"Understood." The S.H.I.E.L.D. squad turned and quickly ordered their team to withdraw. There were no civilians being attacked—just some masked vigilantes interrupting a robbery.
As he watched the agents leave, Bruce shifted his gaze back to the nearby store.
Sensing that the situation inside had already been handled, Bruce quietly turned and disappeared into the street.
(End of chapter)
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