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Early the next morning.
No private jet this time.
Anthony simply scooped Jessica into his arms, took off from New York, and flew across the Atlantic.
"Aaaaah—!!!"
At thirty thousand feet Jessica clung to Anthony's neck like a koala, her whole body wrapped around him.
"Slow down, you maniac! The wind's twisting my face off!!"
"Open your eyes, Jessica!" Anthony's voice cut cleanly through the gale.
"Look at the World—how beautiful!"
Jessica forced one eye open.
Beneath them stretched an endless ocean of cloud, golden sunlight spilling across it like a burning plain of gold.
It was beautiful.
If you ignored the constant terror of plummeting to a messy death.
"First class sounds pretty beautiful too!" Jessica roared.
"First class doesn't give you this view."
Anthony nosedived through the clouds.
Fog-shrouded London appeared beneath them—Hillingdon, the derelict factory on Blyth Road.
London air was damp, gloomy, and carried that ever-present reek of mildew.
"I hate this place," Jessica Jones muttered, tightening her trench coat.
"It smells like stale beer soaking in an ashtray the size of a city."
"Exactly. Authentic British charm."
"Hardly looks like a charity-gala venue," Jessica said, glancing around.
"More like a psycho's body dump. Did you lure me here to kill me for drinking on the job?"
"Don't be dramatic." Anthony pointed ahead. "Look there…"
A cement mixer floated lazily in mid-air, rotating for no reason at all.
"What the hell?" Jessica stared. "magic?"
"Is this another of your Martial Arts tricks?" she asked, pointing at the truck.
"No, it's a gravity anomaly," Anthony said. "A thin spot in space. We found the right place."
"And," he added, nodding toward a nearby building, "some interesting friends."
A handful of local kids were playing shuttle-toss: they hurled a glass bottle into a stairwell; instead of falling, it vanished mid-air, reappeared seconds later overhead, and the cycle repeated.
At the same moment Thor's girlfriend—and future Goddess of Thunder—Jane Foster flicked an empty can into the shaft, but after it disappeared it never came back.
A polite cough interrupted her scientific curiosity.
Jane and her two interns—Darcy and Ian—turned around.
Their jaws dropped.
"Oh… my… god…" Darcy clapped both hands over her mouth.
"Jane! Jane, look! Who is that?!"
"Ow—!" Jane yelped.
"You're… Homelander?!"
"And Queen Jones?!" Ian, Jane's male intern, was practically bug-eyed.
Anthony wore a warm, camera-ready smile as he strolled over.
Jessica Jones followed, stone-faced, every inch the dutiful bodyguard.
"Mr. Homelander?!" Darcy flipped into fangirl mode and rushed forward—only to be stopped by Jessica's outstretched arm.
"Keep your distance, miss," Jessica said coldly.
"It's fine, Queen." Anthony waved, giving Darcy a wink.
"You're… Ms. Darcy Lewis? And the renowned astrophysicist, Dr. Jane Foster?"
"You know me?!" Darcy squealed.
"Homelander knows me! I'm tweeting this—oh my gosh!"
"Thor's mentioned you. Nice to meet you."
Jane Foster, no stranger to alien princes, kept her composure, but even she looked stunned to meet Earth's current superstar hero.
"Mr. Starr… what brings you here?" Jane asked. "This isn't exactly… well, the United States."
"Vought's business is global, Dr. Starr," Anthony replied, gesturing around. "Our satellites flagged anomalies here; I thought I'd check it out."
He stepped closer, eyeing the jittering device in her hand.
"What have you found, Doctor?"
"This place is off the charts," Jane said, frowning at the readings.
"They're spiking. I need to investigate…"
"Sorry, Mr. Starr, I have to run," scientific drive overriding superhero curiosity.
Jane started forward; Anthony suddenly blocked her path.
"Looks dangerous in there," he said, voice grave with concern.
"An unknown energy field—who knows what could happen."
He turned to Jessica.
"Jessica."
"What?" She was tossing assorted trash into the stairwell, amused when it rained back down.
"Dr. Foster's only human. Since we're here, it's fate. Escort her in—keep her safe."
"Huh?" Jessica pointed at herself.
"Do I look like a bodyguard?"
"You're a hero," Anthony murmured.
"But this place feels wrong. If there's an alien monster in there… you know the drill."
Jessica rolled her eyes but moved to Jane's side.
"Let's go, Doc." She shrugged.
"Boss says I've got your back."
Jane shot Anthony a grateful smile. "Thank you, Homelander."
"Off you go," Anthony said, smile unreadable.
"Stay safe."
Device in hand, Jane stepped inside; Jessica followed, both figures swallowed by the building.
Darcy sidled up, star-struck.
"Um, Mr. Homelander, can we take a selfie? Or maybe… an autograph? On my, uh—this jacket?"
Anthony looked down at the bubbly intern and gave his practiced smile.
"Of course, sweetheart."
…Just as Jane and Jessica entered a dim corridor.
A violent suction erupted!
"Ah—!" Jane's scream was cut short as an invisible vortex yanked her in!
"Jane!!"
Jessica reacted instantly, lunging and snatching Jane's arm without hesitation.
"Got you—don't let go!!" Jessica yelled, heels gouging twin trenches in the floor.
But the force—immense—space itself collapsing.
"Fuuuuck—!!!"
Jessica's World went black as she and Jane Foster were swallowed whole by the ravenous void.