Chapter 2

Jessica's sense of direction was completely gone. She and Lucy had started their walk from her house and had somehow ended up in Soho. The odd thing was that Jessica couldn't tell how they had gotten there.

"I'm completely lost," Jessica said, scratching her head.

"That's why I'm here, love," Lucy replied. "Just stick with me."

Jessica looked at her. "Give me your cell number…just in case."

A few minutes later, Jessica and Lucy were standing in a large open area that was milling with people. Two fountains stood in the center of the square and a magnificently opulent building rose in the background.

"Where are we now?" Jessica asked.

"Trafalgar Square," Lucy replied. She led Jessica over to one of the fountains and sat down on its edge. Jessica sat next to her.

"What's this about?" inquired Jessica, glancing nervously behind her. Why, she couldn't tell, but something felt off about this place.

Lucy sighed. "I was hoping you might be in more of a mood to chat. Last night wasn't exactly the best time."

"I know…I've had a lot on my mind recently," Jessica said. "It's enough to drive me crazy, what with Brian's memories and this 'Bulldog' character. I never met anyone named Bulldog, and I heard that he escaped New York Zero. What if-"

"Relax," Lucy cut her off. "You see, you're getting worked up again over all that gallivanting about that you did in New York three years ago."

"I'm trying to relax," Jessica said. "I really am."

"No, you aren't," replied Lucy sternly. "I can tell. You're under a lot of stress and it's not good for you." In a low voice, she added, "It may have an adverse effect on your…mutations."

"That's not important right now," Jessica whispered.

"Of course it is," Lucy told her in a normal voice. "Look, cousin, I'm genuinely concerned about you. You're not well. You have a lot of steam to blow off indeed. Your aunt was right."

Jessica snorted. "First time in a long time."

"Tell you what," Lucy said, grinning. "I'll get in contact with one of my old flames. See if we can't get you set up on a date…huh?"

Jessica blinked at her. "A blind date? That's your idea?"

"It's better than nothing," Lucy replied.

"My options are rather limited," said Jessica.

Lucy looked down at the ground. "Do you feel that?"

Jessica looked around. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but she could feel the ground beginning to shake. The people around them were noticing it as well.

"This can't be good," Jessica groaned.

"It's probably just an earthquake," Lucy offered. "We should-"

The ground erupted a little ways toward the north, and then again to the east and south. Three snakelike creatures had just burst out of the earth in a spray of dirt and concrete.

"Oh my God!" Lucy exclaimed.

Jessica looked at the creatures in horror. She had seen them before, but had never actually had to fight one.

"Hydras!" She yelled. Jessica turned and grabbed Lucy around her midsection and sprinted off in a westward direction. People were running around in a panic, but Jessica merely pushed them out of the way.

Once they were clear of the Hydras, Jessica put Lucy down and told her to run.

"I'll deal with this," she told Lucy, "so you just get the hell out of here! Go!"

Lucy did just that.

Jessica turned around and sprinted back toward the Hydras. They started flinging bits of building and street debris at her. She rolled out of the way in order to dodge the detritus and morphed her right arm into a whipfist.

As one of the Hydras threw a chunk of concrete at her again, Jessica latched onto it with her whipfist, whirled around, and slammed it on top of the same Hydra. They thing howled and went down.

Jessica obviously got lucky, as it didn't move again. Still, there were two more Hydras just waiting to be killed.

Morphing her arm into a blade, Jessica dashed toward the next Hydra. She jumped at it with hard slashing attacks that eventually sliced the monster to ribbons. As a last gesture, she made an attempt to absorb it, and actually managed to do so.

Looking at the last Hydra, she was surprised to find it already dead.

Six individuals were walking towards her and they all looked ready to fight. Then a seventh landed right in front of her.

The man in front of her wore dark sunglasses and had long black hair that fell to his shoulders. His skin was pale, yet darkly veined from excessive mutation. He looked less than human.

"Chaos," he said coolly. "What a pleasant surprise to find you in England."

"Bulldog, I presume?" Jessica spat. "You the lousy piece of shit that's ruining my vacation?"

Bulldog laughed. "You have bite! I can see why Mercer picked you. Unfortunately, he's dead."

"Yeah," Jessica replied. "I heard that Heller turned him inside out."

"Sad to say that Mercer wasn't capable of commanding an army of evolved, and Heller is unwilling. He has the same issues that you do." Bulldog paused and looked out at the city. "Misguided fools and your sense of self-righteousness."

"We are not self-righteous," said Jessica.

"Lies," Bulldog shot back. "You turned your back on your brothers and sisters. Everything that we are. You paved the way for Heller to make his move. He destroyed everything we had in New York…but he didn't destroy all of us."

Jessica crossed her arms. "So now you come to London. You think the British will be easier targets?"

"No," Bulldog said, "but this is our chance to start over. Mercer had a vision, and even though he wasn't strong enough to see it through…I am." He morphed his right arm into a blade and his left into a whipfist. "It begins with your death."

He attacked her so suddenly that she almost couldn't counter his strike. He threw her guard away and kicked her into the air. Bulldog followed up by grabbing her with his whipfist and slamming her into the ground with great force.

Jessica recovered swiftly and jumped at him, launching off a flurry of strikes with her claws. Bulldog took three of the swipes, but once he recovered he formed a hammerfist. Jessica barely had time to dodge before it came down with a mighty crack.

It was then that she noticed the other evolved coming towards her. They each had blades and claws and were charging right for Jessica.

I know when I'm outmatched, she thought. As they jumped at where she was, she dove off to the right and sprinted up the nearest building.

Jessica was grateful that the buildings of London were packed so close together, and also that they weren't all skyscrapers that she'd have to sprint up. It made jumping over the buildings easier, and her traversal of the city became a breeze.

She couldn't tell where she was going in the general sense of things, but Jessica did know that there were seven evolved right on her heels. She didn't have the time to stop and find out where she was.

I need a way to lose these bastards, she thought fiercely.

Then she noticed more evolved climbing over the buildings ahead. This city's already crawling with these things.

To change things up, Jessica dove down into the street. She startled a group of pedestrians, but they ran screaming when the horde of fifteen evolved landed on the same lane.

Jessica dashed through an alley and was grateful that it seemed to connect to more alleys as it went along.

A minute later, Jessica emerged back onto a street. The structure that rose in front of her was surrounded by opulent gardens, but Jessica didn't have time to admire the view. She dashed up the wall as quickly as she could, and once she reached the top, she stopped.

"Need to…get my…bearings," she panted softly to herself. She took a quick look at her surroundings. It didn't take her long to realize that she was on top of Buckingham Palace. The view was quite spectacular.

"Oi," said someone from right next to her. "How the hell did you-" The man was grabbed and absorbed before he could finish his sentence. The evolved who had done the deed stood off to the right, looking smug.

"Civil servants always have little flavor," said the blonde woman. Her accent was heavily Australian. "I'm sure you wouldn't know."

"How did you find me?" Jessica asked.

"I was the only one who saw where you went," the woman replied. "I couldn't tell Bulldog…he was nowhere near me at the time. Funny thing is that we can't track you."

"I don't really care," Jessica replied. "You're not reporting back to Bulldog."

The woman laughed. "It'll be interesting to see what happens once I've absorbed you. I wonder what sort of memories are tucked away in that little head of yours."

She formed her blade and slashed at Jessica with such ferocity that it would have cleaved her in two. Fortunately, Jessica ducked and cracked the woman's knee with a kick. She then gave the woman two solid and lightning fast punches in the groin and gut respectively, following up by grabbing her throat in a vice grip and then slamming her into the ground where Jessica then smashed the woman's head with her foot.

As she absorbed the woman, more memories came to her.

"Are we clear on the plan, Tamora?"

"We are," Tamora replied. "Anything else, Bulldog?" She stroked his arm. "Maybe you want some company."

"So long as the Whitelight is in place," said Bulldog, "yes…I could use some company." His hand slid down her back as they kissed.

The remainder of the memories made Jessica retch, but they were there nonetheless. She pulled out her phone and called Lucy.

"What do you mean 'you're on top of Buckingham Palace'?" Lucy exclaimed. "What the hell happened?"

"Long story," Jessica replied. "I'll fill you in when you get here."