"Natasha, soone's hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainfra. The signal's coming from inside your building. Find that person—now."
Nick Fury's voice was colder and sharper than usual, the kind that made even seasoned agents straighten up instantly.
And it was serious. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s central system—known to be one of the most secure networks in the world—had just been breached. If that wasn't a crisis, nothing was.
Natasha turned her head, eyes narrowing imdiately at Skye, whose fingers were flying across her keyboard like a machine gun. The way she typed, the confident grin, the timing—it all added up.
"Director," Natasha said into her comm, "I've found the culprit. It's the young woman—Lucas's assistant. Judging by her skillset, she's a top-tier hacker."
"A valuable talent," Fury replied after a beat. "See if you can persuade her to join S.H.I.E.L.D."
Before Natasha could respond, a furious voice bood through the comms—Skye's voice, echoing inside Fury's own office.
"Dream on, you one-eyed egg! I'm not working for you creeps! Keep it up and I'll have Lucas blow your whole damn S.H.I.E.L.D. sky-high!"
The line went silent for half a second. Then Fury exploded.
"Motherf—!!! Are my tech teams eating dirt?! Didn't they say the intrusion was contained?! Why the hell can she still talk through the channel?!
You've got one minute to restore the mainfra—or I swear, every last tech in this building is going to Africa to dig mines!"
Agent Coulson, standing nearby, blinked. He had never seen the director lose his cool like that—not even during global-level threats.
Back in the office, Natasha looked at Skye in disbelief. "You… you're still connected to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network? You weren't purged from the system?"
"Please," Skye scoffed, brushing her hair aside with a smirk. "Your so-called 'secure mainfra' isn't that special. It's no harder than the Pentagon. You guys just have a bigger ego, that's all."
She shot Natasha a look of pure disdain. "Maybe teach your people to use real firewalls next ti."
Natasha gave a low whistle. "Impressive. Really impressive. You're wasted here, you know. You should be with us—S.H.I.E.L.D. could give you resources, a lab, everything you'd ever need."
"Ha! Not interested!" Skye snapped, hugging the curious little Moguri creature in her arms protectively.
Of course, Natasha couldn't see Moguri. To her, Skye was just clutching at thin air—but she didn't comnt.
Lucas, watching the entire exchange, could only sigh internally. He already knew Skye was talented, but this was sothing else. Not only had she hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainfra in minutes—she'd stayed inside after being detected and even left a backdoor.
Guess real life doesn't follow TV logic, he thought with amusent.
But that reminded him of sothing else—Skye's real potential. In this world, she was destined to awaken as Quake, a powerful Inhuman.
He glanced thoughtfully at her. Maybe it's ti I help her unlock that power... but only if she wants to. I'm not forcing anyone.
Still, the artifact that could trigger her awakening—the Obelisk—was in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s possession. He'd have to find a way to get his hands on it.
After ntally running through the Marvel tiline, Lucas frowned. The nearest major event should be Tony Stark's kidnapping... but S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't really involved in that, were they?
Colson only approached Stark and Pepper after the kidnapping. Hm… this might be tricky.
He needed S.H.I.E.L.D. to co to him, not the other way around. That was the only way he could use the Obelisk as a bargaining chip.
Across the room, Natasha had given up trying to recruit Skye and leaned lazily against the sofa, stretching her long legs. Her body language was pure temptation—but Lucas was so deep in thought he didn't even notice.
Then—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
A sharp alarm burst from Skye's computer.
"What's going on?" Lucas imdiately looked up.
Skye's eyes darted over the data streams. "We've got a hit! Marco just appeared—he's driving a stolen truck down the main street!"
She quickly pulled up multiple cara feeds, chaining together every surveillance view in the city—and even tapping into satellite imagery.
Natasha whistled. "Wait… is that military-grade satellite footage? You hacked the Pentagon again, didn't you?"
Skye didn't even bother to deny it.
Natasha shook her head in disbelief. "You're really sothing else. You sure you won't reconsider joining S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Skye ignored her completely.
On the screen, Marco's truck was barreling through traffic, leaving chaos in its wake.
"What the hell is he doing? He's gone insane," Lucas muttered.
At that exact mont, another feed popped up—a police ergency alert flashing red.
Ard Robbery in Progress – Manhattan District Bank.
Suspect possibly tahuman. Can generate and control sand.
The report continued: the entire interior of the bank had been filled with sand, trapping everyone inside. anwhile, Marco was using his powers to create sand walls on the surrounding streets, completely blocking traffic.
"Skye! Pull up all surveillance from his previous movents—every street he's passed through!"
Skye complied instantly. Within seconds, several cara feeds appeared on the screen. Lucas studied them carefully—and then his eyes lit up.
"See this? Those earlier 'sand-related traffic accidents'? Sa locations. Marco was rehearsing! He was running test drills for this bank heist!"
Skye's jaw dropped. "So this was all preditated…"
Exactly. Marco's plan had been simple but genius—use previous incidents to test his power range, then unleash it for real. Now, with the streets blocked by sandstorms, not a single police car could reach him.
anwhile, Marco himself was having the ti of his life.
"Hahahaha! You useless pigs! Co catch Grandpa Marco if you can!"
He laughed wildly as his truck tore down the streets, sand surging behind him like a living beast. Cars were flipped, traffic lights buried, and terrified citizens scattered everywhere.
Bang!
Suddenly, there was a loud thud on the truck's roof.
Marco frowned. "What the—?"
Sothing—or soone—had just landed on top of the vehicle.
Then, through the howling wind and roaring engine, a calm, cold voice ca from outside.
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