◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon of which 10 are free Chapters. if you're interested: patreon.com/Heroicverse
------------------------------------------------
Three days later, Los Angeles, a retro café near Union Station.
The sun was shining, but the atmosphere inside the café felt oddly eerie.
Skye wore an ordinary hoodie and a baseball cap, sitting in a corner while her fingers flew across a laptop keyboard.
Outside, in a black SUV, Phil Coulson held binoculars, an ambiguous half-smile on his face.
"Target confirmed, sir," Ward's voice crackled through the earpiece.
Coulson lowered the binoculars. "May, move in. Don't hurt her."
"Copy that."
May pushed the car door open, face cold.
Inside the café.
Skye stared at the intentional backdoor she'd coded into the screen, silently counting: "Three… two… one."
"May I buy you a drink, miss?"
Ward's voice sounded above her.
Skye looked up, feigning panic, snapped the laptop shut, and tried to bolt.
But the rear exit was blocked by a grim-faced Asian woman in a leather jacket.
Through the front door walked the middle-aged man with a slightly receding hairline and a professional smile.
Phil Coulson.
"Skye, right?" Coulson flashed the black badge.
"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division—or you can just call us S.H.I.E.L.D."
"We'd like a word."
Skye backed against the wall, eyes full of fear and vigilance, her right hand instinctively brushing the cold mechanical watch on her wrist.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Skye sneered.
"The bunch turning the whole World into a prison? Here to arrest me—or to shut me up permanently?"
"Maybe."
Melinda May, the woman nicknamed "the Cavalry," had somehow appeared behind Skye, speaking coldly.
Skye slowly raised her hands in surrender.
"All right, all right. Big bad S.H.I.E.L.D. rolls out in force to nab one helpless girl," Skye mocked.
"Should I feel honored?"
"You're hardly helpless." Coulson stepped up, his nice-guy smile gone.
"You hacked our database, exposed our Agents, made us look like fools across the globe."
"By rights I should throw you in the Fridge."
Skye's heartbeat skipped; she fought the urge to touch her watch.
"But…" Coulson's tone shifted. "I think you've got talent."
"We've got a new proposal. I'm putting together a team for… special cases."
"We need someone who knows computers—someone who thinks… differently."
Coulson extended his hand toward Skye.
"So? Want to see… the real World?"
Skye stared at that hand.
Everything was unfolding exactly as Anthony had scripted.
Down to the last detail.
She pretended to hesitate, struggle, then finally sighed in reluctant acceptance.
"If I say no, will you let me walk?"
"What do you think?" Ward added coolly from the side.
"Fine."
Skye rolled her eyes and shook Coulson's hand.
"But I have a condition."
"Name it."
"I bring my van." She pointed toward the alley.
Coulson smiled.
"No problem. Our plane… is big."
… Thirty thousand feet.
The "Bus," a retro-fitted Boeing C-17, cruised in the stratosphere.
Skye was led into a lounge; the door locked behind her.
She sat quietly on the sofa, thinking.
Step one: successfully infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.
Next, she had to play the "recruited hacker" convincingly in front of these sharp minds.
The door opened.
Ward walked in carrying two bottles of water.
"Drink?" He set them on the table, trying to break the ice with rugged charm.
"I don't take drinks from strangers," Skye replied warily.
Ward shrugged, cracked one open, and took a swig himself.
"Look, Skye—whoever you worked for, whatever your game was…"
He sat opposite her, leaning in, brows knitted, exuding pressure.
"Now you're on my ship. Try anything funny…"
"And what will you do?" Skye glared back.
"Brow-beat me to death?"
Ward was momentarily choked.
"Just a reminder," he said coldly.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't keep deadweight. If you're useless, even Coulson can't save you."
"Useless?"
Skye smiled.
She pulled a USB drive from her pocket and tossed it onto the table.
Inside: intel on three secret Centipede Project hubs recently active in L.A.
"A little welcome gift."
Ward froze, eyebrows twitching.
He picked up the drive and gave Skye a complicated look.
The Centipede Project—S.H.I.E.L.D.'s biggest headache lately. A super-serum that makes people explode was spreading through the streets.
"How did you get this?" Ward asked.
"I've got my channels," Skye answered mysteriously.
"I do have friends, you know."
Courtesy of Anthony, of course.
Vought's intelligence web had seeped into the underworld; the so-called Centipede soldiers were just a degraded version of HYDRA's Extremis virus.
Anthony fed Skye the intel so she could secure her place inside S.H.I.E.L.D. fast.
"Good."
Ward pocketed the drive and stood.
"Seems you're more useful than I thought."
He paused at the door.
"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D., Skye."
The door shut.
Skye exhaled, head lowered, gently caressing the watch on her wrist.
"I did it, Homelander."
… Outside the window, Manhattan's nightscape sparkled like scattered stars, but Anthony had no mind for the view.
All his attention was on the system panel.
"Current Special Popularity: 69,500"
Anthony stared at the number, fingers drumming the armrest.
"Almost seventy thousand…" he muttered, brows knitted.
In his previous life he'd saved 300k for a ten-pull to chase an SSR.
Problem was—he was a gambling addict.
"Screw it! Single pulls bring miracles; ten-pulls ruin lives!"
He stared at the "Superhero Lottery Box" button glowing seductively, as if whispering: come, have fun, we've got all the time in the World.
"System," Anthony said mentally, "let's talk. Your gacha screen is too plain—no VFX at all. I need some satisfaction."
The system stayed silent.
Anthony curled his lip. "Next time add some SFX, will ya? When I hit jackpot, shout—'Whoa! Golden… Legendary!'—give me some ceremony, alright?"
Still no response; the system might as well have crashed.
"Fine, you saint, you win."
Anthony rolled his eyes and cut the chatter.
"Alright, all in! Give me two pulls!"