Chapter Text
“Director, we have a situation.” Dorthy’s unusually small-sounding voice came through frantically on the coms. It was unlike her to present a lack of confidence, even when she did not feel as much, which immediately put Skyler on edge. Not that she wasn’t on edge, since her spider senses (damn, they need a better name for that) had been going off all day.
“What is it?” she asked briskly.
“Hold on, I’ll put you on with Kim.”
The line was eerily silent for moments that felt like an eternity. Then her enhanced hearing picked up the subtle click of the addition of a line. “Agent Possible, what’s the sitch?” Normally, Skyler would be teasing the older girl about the iconic line that she was almost certain had been trademarked by someone (*cough* Disney *cough*). Today she did not have the time for that luxury.
Kim sighed, sounding exasperated in a way that Skyler could already imagine her furrowed brows and scrunched green eyes. “The ‘Syndicate’. Or whatever it is they call themselves.”
“Oh, and the Vulture’s here, too,” she heard Spider-Man—no, Peter, she now knew—cut in anxiously. Well, wasn’t that just swell?
“What are they doing now?” She had to bite her tongue to keep the firm question from coming out as a growl.
“Well,” Possible answered thoughtfully, “I think they might be stalking us…? I’m not sure. They haven’t done anything. Yet.” Oh no. Oh hell no.
“Who’s all there?” As much as Skyler didn’t want to keep prying and inquiring about the grown adults who decided to make it their lives’ mission to try to take over the world and harass children and teenagers, she knew she had to. There was too much valuable information about what their intentions were this time that would give her a fighting chance to intervene before they could do any more damage to her team. Sure, one could argue that C.H.A.O.S. should be treated the same way Nick Fury treated S.H.I.E.L.D. (in an indifferent, distanced, and not at all personal way, if you were wondering).
But these kids… These … They’re like family to her. Scratch that. They are family to her.
And the Syndicate (or any other villain-run organization for that matter) was not taking that from her. Not if she had anything to say about it.
Her cousin Jimmy answered, “Calamitus, like he always is. Crocker, Plasmus…” She could tell he was thinking about what he was going to say next, and she didn’t even need to hack the multiple cities’ worth of security cameras to see it.
“Dracken too,” Kim added. “Although I don’t think he’s a threat since Shego isn’t here.” Well, that was one less problem. “And that one creepy uhh… family? That Numbuh Five called ‘the Delightful Children’ I think?”
“Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic,” Skyler muttered sarcastically. “We don’t have a code Crazy Monkey, do we?”
“Thankfully, no,” Jimmy replied, sounding relieved. “Blossom isn’t here so if I had to guess, Mojo Jojo probably didn’t think it was worth it to come.” That logic was sound. It was basic economics. Supply and demand, a choice to make, and an opportunity cost.
“Hey, do you think we can get a move on here?” she heard Phantom snap, sounding somewhere between irritated and terrified. “I am so not being cloned again.” Ice flooded her veins as the implications of his words set in. And then so did the rage.
'Not on my watch, Skyler thought bitterly.'
“Okay, here's what we’re going to do,” Skyler cut in, her voice firm and authoritative in a way she never thought possible. These damn kids. Or maybe not “kids” since she was still technically a kid. But still. “You’re going to evacuate the area and then go home.”
“But Sky-” Dorthy snapped incredulously from the other line.
“That wasn’t a suggestion. That was an order.”
“But we’re right here,” she heard Turner argue. So Dorthy was probably with Timmy. That would make it slightly more challenging, but she could make it work. “We can help!”
“You think I don’t know that?” Skyler was certain her frustration (and perhaps her anxiety, too) was deeply embedded in her tone. “I’m not just going to sit here and let these creepy grown men stalk you into oblivion or worse. I’ll deal with them.” Okay, maybe they weren’t necessarily creepy, but it was objectively creepy how they wouldn’t leave children alone to cause destruction. Then again, minors shouldn’t be saving the universe daily. But here they were.
They all probably wanted to argue because she was their director/president. But Skyler was going to be damned if she let a bunch of adults who can’t be bothered to find an actual purpose in life try to kill her team. Her family.
She could only silently thank Tony for the practically indestructible vibranium-infused keyboard, as she typed away furiously at the computer in a way where she was constantly key-smashing, having opened several holographic views of their location, the silence from the other 2 lines began to gnaw at her stomach. She didn’t mean to hurt their feelings if she did. But it was her job to keep them safe as much as it was their (and hers just as much) job to keep the various cities and dimensions of the universe and multiverse safe. She had to calculate where all of the villains would be at once and ensure that they’d be in a perfect line of fire if she wanted this to end the best way.
Good thing she’s adept at strategy and sharpshooting. Even if the angle and inner workings of the electronic webs were an issue.
“Alright.” It wasn’t so much dejection as resignation she heard, but she still felt horrible about it.
“You know I’m not… Like dismissing you, right?” she asked, probably a little too worriedly for her liking.
“Of course,” Phantom said in a way that Skyler could hear the teasing grin. “Just admit it. You do care about us.”
Skyler scoffed. “Why wouldn’t I?”
And she meant that. Of course, she cared about them. That was the entire reason she took every single precaution she could possibly take in their missions. Making sure she not only picked the ones who would get the job done the most efficiently but also who would “click” together. And vigorously checking cameras and doing her due diligence in research to ensure that the conditions would be the safest or most manageable she could make them. Jimmy, Peter, Danny, Dorthy, Dexter, Blossom, Ben, Abby, Kim, and the many others on the “JV Team” of C.H.A.O.S. … They meant everything to her. And she would do whatever it took to keep them safe. Or as safe as humanly possible for adolescent vigilantes
Which is all the more reason for her next actions. “E.D.I.T.H., activate the sharp shots protocol.”
“You got it, Boss,” the AI that Mr. Stark had gifted her (in the form of a pair of glasses) replied. Before immediately shooting, the web fluid, lined with nanobots, would emit a strong voltage of electricity when activated. She waited for the perfect moment to strike.
When all of the villains were lined up perfectly on the monitor, she did it. Clicked the button. Before willing her powers to emit a much stronger shock with it. To pack an extra punch.
Just as she had planned, the screams of 5 grown men rang out. On her computer, it was rather quiet, but Skyler was sure that their screams could be heard from the next town over. Plankton was lucky he decided to stay out of this one.
“That’ll learn ‘em.”