Prologue

Arendal, Norway

The silver moon shone bright down on the city. It was almost midnight, meaning the citizens were inside, sleeping in the beds, awaiting the next day. However, there was still the odd individual out and about under the black sky. These included a young woman with brown hair, tied in a small ponytail, walking down the street and carrying a box the size of a car wheel. Jessica Cambridge was her name, and she was in a foul mood.

Work was the source of the black clouds blanketing Jessica's mind. It was also the reason that she was out late that night, as she had to deliver some important materials. Her position wasn't of great importance, at least as far as her superiors were concerned, but if she missed the delivery window, she'd receive one hell of a tongue lashing. The "company" she worked for had fallen on some hard times recently, and everyone, even the lowest on the totem pole, such as herself, were feeling the pressure. Jessica merely wanted to go home and sleep like every reasonable person, but that wasn't an option right now. Failing that, she wanted to get these items to her boss and then go home. Nothing else would stand in her way.

Or at least, that was her hope. As her shoes slapped against the pavement, her ears picked up a second set of feet making the same sound behind her. In fact, the other set of feet was moving at almost the same pace as hers. It didn't take a genius to figure out that somebody was probably following her. Jessica didn't turn around, not wanting to alert whoever was behind her. She instead made a quick movement into a nearby alleyway, expecting to lose her pursuer in the darkness. Her plan was to suddenly quicken her pace once she was out of sight, thus leaving whoever it was unsure of which direction she took.

Unfortunately, that plan wouldn't come to fruition. Once she turned the corner, she sped up, but was forced to slow down once she saw that another figure was blocking off the exit. They didn't appear to be moving, leading her to deduce that they were working with whoever was following her. Jessica came to a stop in the middle of the alley, before setting down the box. A quick glance behind her confirmed that she was still being followed.

"Hey there, young lady," said the man in front of her, in Norwegian. "Lovely night for a stroll, isn't it?"

"You know what else it's a good night for?" added the guy behind her. "Handing over everything in your wallet. And throw in that box, for good measure."

Jessica started reaching one hand into her pocket. "I wouldn't be asking, if I were you," she replied. "Trust me, you don't want this." Her fingers curled around a metallic object.

The alleyway was filled with the sound of laughing men. "Oh, that's cute. She thinks she can actually be threatening!" Both men pulled out switchblade knives. "Hate to say it, girl, but you ain't Natasha Romanoff. If I were you, I'd start—"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" came a new voice.

Three heads turned to face the direction Jessica had come from. Standing at the alley entrance was another woman, with a slim body, and shoulder-length platinum blond hair. She wore a navy-blue jacket with a set of matching pants, and white gloves. Her eyes were a piercing ice blue, and she glared furiously at the two men.

"Look, girl, we ain't heartless," said one of the men. "We only intended to rob one person tonight. So just turn around and walk away, tell nobody you saw us, and we'll let you go."

To her credit, the woman didn't back down. If anything, she looked even angrier. She folded her arms.

"I told you to leave her alone," she continued. "And I'm not interested in playing around with you two. Now leave her in peace, or suffer the consequences."

The man who'd been behind Jessica rolled his eyes. "Fine, have it your way." He twirled his knife carefully between his fingers, popping out the blade. "We'll start with you." He began to approach the newcomer, with clearly hostile intentions.

The newcomer didn't even bat an eye. Instead, she slid one foot backwards, and reared her right fist backwards. As she did so, Jessica could've sworn she saw white wisps of light gather around that arm, and the moon light began to gleam off the hand. The man didn't notice, and instead thrust forwards with his knife. The woman sidestepped the stab, and punched him in the face with her right hand. Jessica heard the man's nose shatter like a hollow eggshell from the blow, and he fell backwards onto his back. The knife dropped from his hand and hit the ground.

"HEY!" yelled the second assailant. He pushed past Jessica, rushing over to his fallen ally, and checked him. Jessica made no movement, but she was fairly certain the other guy was unconscious. That idea was confirmed when the second rose upwards, raising his own knife. "You'll pay for that, missy!"

The woman smirked at him, before stomping one foot. From the point it touched the pavement, Jessica saw something reflective spread outwards, towards the charging man, who began to stumble and slip as his own shoes touched it, and went right into the woman's next punch. She hit him square in the jaw, sending several drops of blood flying outwards, and causing the guy to crash into the wall. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Seemingly satisfied with her handiwork, the woman began to step towards Jessica. As she did so, Jessica saw more white wisps float around her fingertips, and the gleaming substance on the ground and the woman's fist faded away.

"Are you alright?" she asked Jessica. "Those two idiots didn't manage to do anything before I got here, right? Do you have a phone to call the police?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine," Jessica answered. "Thank you. How did you do that?! What was that?!"

The woman shrugged. "Self-defense classes," she replied. "They teach you a lot more than you'd expect. If you're okay, I guess my work here is done." She turned on her heel. "You should be okay from here. Robberies don't happen too often in this city."

"Wait a minute!" Jessica stopped her before she could walk away. "Who are you?"

The woman turned with a swish of her hair. "My name is Elise. That's all you need to know." Then she took off running, disappearing from Jessica's view.

Jessica watched her go with fascination, before turning her attention to her unconscious attackers. She was fairly certain what she'd just seen wasn't the product of martial arts. A quick touch to each of their faces confirmed there was also water on their skin, not just blood, and the ground Elise had stomped on was wet too, despite there being no rain for days. A smile slowly began to grow on Jessica's face. She reached into her pocket and seized her cell phone. But instead of dialing the police, she called her employer, who picked up after the first ring.

"Hello," she said in English. "It's Agent Cambridge. Yes, I'm on my way to the rendezvous point. Yes, I'm aware, but there's been another development." She looked around, making sure she was absolutely alone, before saying two final words.

"Hail Hydra."