Jessica Campbell—who would later become the superhero Jessica Jones—was Peter Parker's high school classmate.
During a family trip, she got into an argument with her younger brother, which distracted their father, who was driving. Their car collided with a military vehicle transporting radioactive chemicals. The crash killed her entire family; Jessica alone survived, though she fell into a coma.
When she awoke months later, she had gained superhuman strength. She was subsequently adopted by the Jones family and renamed Jessica Jones.
Jessica briefly operated as a superhero under the alias "Jewel," but her career was derailed when she was captured and psychologically tortured for months by the villain Purple Man, who used his mind-control powers to enslave her. The experience left her with severe post-traumatic stress and a deep distrust of her own agency. Eventually, she abandoned superheroics altogether and became a private investigator.
As an adult, Jessica married Luke Cage, and the couple had a daughter, Danielle. They later joined both the Defenders and the Avengers.
Damian, sifting through the original owner's memories, discovered that although he and Jessica Campbell had been neighbors and classmates at Midtown High, they were hardly close. The reason was simple: if Damian dared claim second place in the school's unofficial ranking of chronic class-skippers, Jessica Campbell would—without hesitation—claim first.
Moreover, the original owner of this body had been introverted and timid, while Jessica was bold, outspoken, and fiercely independent. In another era, she'd have been the kind of chivalrous outlaw who robbed corrupt officials to feed the poor. Their personalities clashed so thoroughly that calling them "nodding acquaintances" would be an understatement—they were practically strangers who knew just enough about each other to stay out of each other's way.
Damian pushed away the fish on his plate, which he'd nearly shredded into meat floss with his fork, looking thoroughly disgusted.
"Wasting food is shameful," he muttered, "but whoever cooked this fish deserves a medal—for cruelty."
One bite was all it took. In that moment, he tried to recall every grievance and humiliation from both his past lives—and realized none of them compared to the injustice suffered by the poor fish that died for this abomination.
"This," he declared, "is why the United States has a developed economy and abundant resources. For just six dollars, you can buy a lethal dose of poison—and get a side of fries! Unbelievably cost-effective!"
He had serious reason to suspect the chef at Midtown High's cafeteria might actually be Heisenberg—Walter White, not the physicist.
At that moment, Jessica Campbell arrived, plate in hand, and sat down across from him.
Her lunch was simple: fries, a cheeseburger, and an iced cola.
"By the way…" she said, "why did you suddenly decide to show up at school? Got a sudden burst of academic passion?"
Damian propped his head up with his left hand and replied with a bored expression, "Academic passion? Please."
Jessica sighed, her expression pained. "Yeah, right. My dad impounded my motorcycle. Said he won't give it back unless I pass my final exams."
Damian's eyes widened instantly. "Your dad went too far!" he exclaimed, indignant. "If he wanted to ban you from riding, he should've just said so. Why drag final exams into it? That's a ridiculous excuse! I stand with you in despising him!"
As a staunch adherent of Marx's famous dictum—preferring "criticism with weapons" over "weapons of criticism"—Jessica had little patience for studying. Her grades were consistently abysmal. Compared to her, even Flash Thompson qualified as a seasoned test-taker. And that was saying nothing of academic titans like Peter Parker or Gwen Stacy.
Jessica Campbell glared at him and said angrily:
"Hmph! Since there are so many people here, I won't beat you up—here!"
Upon hearing this, Damian's smile grew even more arrogant. With a dead-serious expression, he said:
"Tch~ You just don't understand me—that's why you want to beat me up. If you did understand me…"
"So I wouldn't beat you up?"
"You made your move a long time ago!"
"…"
Jessica Campbell felt a pang in her chest. She snatched up her hamburger and took a big, hard bite—as if she were chomping down on a particularly idiotic statue.
Seeing her eat with such ferocity, Damian felt a twinge of hunger himself. But a glance at the fish on his plate—its glassy eyes frozen wide in death—quickly killed his appetite. He casually asked instead:
"By the way, how's your uncle's health? Does your family have any travel plans coming up?"
Jessica immediately narrowed her eyes, shooting him a wary look. "My dad is in perfect health," she said suspiciously. "He can handle my mom 'tormenting' him three to five times a day and still walk it off."
She paused, then added, "But why do you care about our travel plans? What are you planning?"
Damian, however, seemed not to have heard her second question. His eyes lit up with sudden excitement as he leaned forward urgently:
"Wow! Please elaborate—how exactly does Auntie 'torment' Uncle?"
He lowered his voice conspiratorially:
"Especially the part about going in and coming out... I have a friend who can turn invisible and loves eavesdropping on stuff like that!"
He quickly backpedaled:
"Don't worry! I didn't mean anything by it—I just want to learn some… techniques. I mean—knowledge! Purely academic!"
Jessica stared at him in silence for a long moment before speaking slowly:
"I feel like… you're different from before. You used to hardly talk at all, let alone crack dirty jokes like this."
She tilted her head, genuinely curious. "What happened? What caused such a huge change in you?"
To be fair, although Jessica Campbell's grades were terrible, she wasn't dumb—in fact, she was quite sharp.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have become a detective later on.
She hadn't interacted much with the "original" Damian, but she had a basic sense of his personality:
shy, introverted, even a little insecure.
Not confident, cheerful, and… kinda silly like this.
Yet in certain small ways, the current Damian still matched the original:
he hated ice water, was picky about food, and always propped his head up with his left hand.
So Jessica was convinced he hadn't been replaced—just profoundly changed by something.
At her question, Damian fell silent for a moment. Then, with a meaningful look and grave tone, he said:
"Hmm… Those who understand, understand. Those who don't—well, even if I told you, you wouldn't get it. So it's better left unsaid."
He waved a hand vaguely.
"Don't ask me what happened. Too many interests are involved. It wouldn't do you any good to know. Just… pretend you didn't hear anything."
He sighed dramatically.
"All I can say is—it's complicated. Involves a lot of important people. Most of the details have been scrubbed from the internet. So really… those who know, know. And as for the rest? Nothing I can do."
Jessica stared at him, speechless—then gritted her teeth.
"You're kidding me?!"
Damian gave her a look that clearly said, "I was trying to trick you, and you didn't fall for it."
With an air of mock innocence, he replied, "If that's how you put it… then you can't say it that way!"
He shrugge
d.
"Sure, subjectively, I intended to trick you. But objectively—you didn't fall for it, did you?"
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL to gain access to 40+ chapters