Jessica Drew
SPIDER-WOMAN
Chapter 1
Imbued with superhuman powers while still in her mother’s womb, Jessica Drew’s life was destined to be extraordinary. Soon after the mysterious disappearance of her parents, Jessica was raised and trained by the powerful criminal organization known as HYDRA. Rejecting what she has become, Jessica turned against her would-be captors and fled to begin life anew.
She soon attracted the attention of Nick Fury, who was then the Executive Director of SHIELD. Working as a double agent for both organizations; she provided vital information which slowly lead to the downfall of HYDRA, crippling many of its diabolical plans to take over the world.
Then the Skrulls secretly infiltrated Earth and captured her. Replaced by the Skrull queen Veranke, Jessica was put on suspended animation by her abductors. As the last remaining Skrull battleship plummets to earth, she was eventually set free and soon regained her powers and the life she once had. Jessica now lives in a rented apartment in downtown Brooklyn and has been invited to join the New Avengers, a group of superheroes who share a common goal; to take down Norman Osborn and the newly sanctioned government institution known as HAMMER.
It has been a long time since the surroundings of Wundagore had such calm weather. The sun shines its warm vibrant rays on the open grasslands, accentuating the serene and natural beauty of the mountainside. The trees dance in unison as they greet the southern wind that carries its soft, silent breeze from the nearby ocean. In a distance where a beautiful house nestles on a hill top, a woman can be seen with her child, resting comfortably under a tall, flourishing oak tree. Lying on her lap, the girl waits in anticipation, as her mother reads to her one of their favorite fairytale stories.
That peace is suddenly polluted by the roaring sound of a speeding vehicle, heading towards them. The car screeches pass them and stops just meters away from where they sat. A man slams open the car door and runs towards the surprised mother and daughter.
“I need more blood samples from her. Give her to me!” the man shouts. Without hesitation, he grabs the girl from her mother’s arms and heads towards the house.
“Stop it Jonathan! Stop it! She’s just a child! She’s your daughter. How can you do this to her?!” the woman cries out as she runs towards him. “Put her down, Jonathan! Stop this madness right now!”
“Mommy! Mommy! Please Mommy! I’m scared.” the young girl replies frightfully, as her father continue running towards the house, with her in his arms.
Catching up to her husband, the woman grabs his collar and turns him around. “I said put her down!!” she yells out in anger. Before she can retrieve her daughter, the man shoves her back and flings the little girl to the ground. He then focuses his attention on the woman; eyes wide open in uncontrollable rage.
“You bitch!! No one is going to stop me from doing this! No one is going to prevent me from making this discovery! Not you, not her, nobody!!” He shouts out in desperation as he sinks his hands on the woman’s throat, squeezing it tight, tighter and tighter until she could barely breathe.
As the woman retaliates and fights back, the grip on her throat tightens even further and soon she began to lose consciousness and the will to struggle. Looking into her husband’s eyes with tears flowing from hers, she knew that she has lost him completely.
“Please Daddy! Noooo! Let go of Mommy! You are hurting her! Stop it Daddy pleaseeeee!” The little girl screams in horror.
Unfortunately, her pleas go unheard. As the man is about to draw his wife’s last breath, a sudden burst of yellow energy came crashing on him, hurling him a few meters up into the air and then slamming him back on to the ground like a rock.
The woman turns her head towards her daughter and faintly smiles.
“Mommy, are you…..” before the little girl could continue, she slips into complete darkness and passes out, yellowish fumes emitting from one of her hands.
She wakes up and finds herself suspended in a giant transparent glass tube, wires and cables protruding from almost every inch of her body. She screams in panic but there is no sound. She soon realizes that she is no longer a little girl but a young woman.
A man with glasses dressed in a doctor’s uniform walks up to her and observes her closely. He signals another to come forward. The other man acknowledges and hands him a huge needle-like instrument. As he is about to inject it into one of the tubes, he suddenly changes his shape and form. Before her very eyes, the man transforms into a large, hideous green creature.
The creature looks up at her and grins, “The Skrulls love you.”
Jessica springs out of her bed in cold sweat. She has just experienced yet another nightmare and tries her best to shrug it off. It has been 2 weeks since the end of the Skrull invasion but the nightmare continues and never seems to cease. She looks around the dark corners of the room and instantly senses an unknown presence in the room with her. She raises her hand towards the couch, ready to unleash a round of venom blast when a voice cries out.
“Don’t shoot! It’s me Jessica.” The shadowy figure stands up and calmly walks towards the window. As the moonlight shines through, the identity of the intruder is revealed.
“Nick Fury? Is that you? What are you doing in my apartment in the middle of the night? I could have killed you!” Jessica replies.
“I know.” Nick Fury responds with a smirk. ”Still having those nightmares huh?! I can tell you, you’re not the only one having them since we kick those green pointy sons of bitches back to where they came from! I need your help again Jessica. I need you to do something for me.”
“Do I have the option to refuse?” Jessica asks hesitantly.
“You do but I don’t think you will because this has something to do with your mother. She may be alive.” Nick Fury replies.
Jessica jumps out of her bed in astonishment. “You are sure?!”
“She’s been spotted in a small farming village in Peru by one of my agents. It could be her. Look! During the siege, one of the last remaining Skrull battle cruisers was reported to have crashed somewhere near that village. And I’ve just been told that HYDRA wants what’s left of it. My guess is that Von Strucker hopes to salvage whatever technology he could find in that ship and use it against us. Gut feeling tells me your mother may be involved, somehow.” Nick Fury explains.
“Looks like I don’t have a choice but to agree to do this after all.” Jessica replies; slightly amused from what she has heard.
“You need to stay low on this one Jess! You wouldn’t want to be seen flying around in red and yellow. The last thing you need is unnecessary attention from the locals. Soon as you arrive, I’ll make sure my agents contact you there. You can go back to bed now. I’ll see myself out. I’ll be in touch!” Nick Fury responds as he walks out of the room silently.
As Jessica sits on her bed folding her legs tightly against her chest, uncertain yet reassuring thoughts start to flood her mind. “Mom, if you are there, I’ll find you. I’m coming to get you.”
For a very long time since her mother’s mysterious disappearance, there’s hope once again, hope of actually finding the one person she loved the most…..alive.